Savoring Syntax

Decoding Sentences in the English Language

Sentence: Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo Buffalo.

NOTES: A famous sentence showing the separation between definition of vocabulary and meaning provided by syntax only. Enjoy!

Source: Dmitri Borgmann. Beyond Language: Adventures in Word and Thought. 1967

Organization: none

Syntax: 3 constituents: subject, predicator (in present simple) and object

Speech: 3 adjectives, 3 nouns and 2 verbs (all forms of “buffalo”)

Phrase: 3 NOUN phrases

Clause: independent (pt 1) + embedded dependent adjectival + independent (pt 2)

Sentence Type: complex

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