Syntactic-Semantic Linearity in Scent of Apples by Bienvenido N. Santos

This investigation emphasizes the syntactic-semantic linearity in Scent of Apples by Bienvenido N. Santos. It points out the analysis of the surface and deep structure of the five select sentences excerpted from the short story entitled Scent of Apples. It takes up structural analysis which comprises the immediate constituents and the semantic components of the sentences, and description of constituents which contains transformations of sentences according to case. It considers that the five select sentences reveal surface and deep structures in syntactic-semantic manner. This supposition is supported by the theories of linear grammar that highlights the structure of the sentence and semantic-based grammar which emphasizes meaning or semantic structure of sentences. As such, in this paper the five select sentences excerpted from the Scent of Apple by Bienvenido N. Santos are utilized as pattern or model for the linguistic analysis. In instituting the structural analytical data, four phases/stages were observed; Phase 1 for Immediate Constituent Analysis, Phase 2 for Functions/Speech Acts, Phase 3 for Notion/Ideas Expressed, and Phase 4 for Sentence Transforms. It reflects that the five sentences extracted from the short story are all simple sentences. Also, shows that the five sentences function as looking/observing, owning, acquiring, remembering, and inducing something. Likewise, the five sentences declare the following notions; in a condition of being ill, possessing ones habitual action, longing something, possessing something, and influencing something, and that the five sentences construct five sentence transforms with five nominative case, five sentence transforms with possessive case, and five sentence transforms with objective case. Consequently, it has been determined that the five select sentences excerpted from the Scent of Apples by Bienvenido N. Santos display the surface and deep structures in syntactic-semantic linearity approach. In this manner, it is commended that English language teachers must create/construct learning tool activities which are fitting to the syntactic and semantic structure of the sentences, for the learners to master the structure and be particular of the functions and the usage of words. Furthermore, language teachers should also apply the various strategies and approaches that would entice students’ interest in learning the correct usage of words and the correct structure of sentences.