But professor, syntax is hard!
Every few weeks I get an email from a student complaining that syntax is too hard or that they simply can't understand it. Occasionally I even get requests to rewrite my textbook to make it simpler! (For the record, I'm happy to receive feedback on ways I might make the material more accessible, but these student emails rarely contain specifics). So what's going on? Why is syntax such a barrier to many people studying linguistics? Why has my sub-discipline got this terrible reputation? I have some thoughts on why people are intimidated by syntax. Many people come to linguistics from a humanities and arts backgrounds and the minute anything formal is presented to them, especially if they suffer from math-phobia, it scares them. But at the core, compared to other fields, the math behind syntax is actually fairly elementary, it just looks intimidating and unfamiliar. I think syntax also doesn't look like other kinds of science they've been taught. In North American sch...