English Language: Word Classes, Phrases, and Clauses - Prof. Russo, Sintesi del corso di Lingua Inglese

Scarica English Language: Word Classes, Phrases, and Clauses - Prof. Russo e più Sintesi del corso in PDF di Lingua Inglese solo su Docsity! INGLESE Cap. 2 WORD CLASSES Language consists of WORDS. We don’t study a language only on a lexical level. Any definition of 'word' has to be specific to a particular language because words do not behave in the same way in all languages. The COMPOUND WORDS are words such as “world-class” or “world power” made up of two existing words, which might be written with a hyphen or with a space between them. In the case of “world power”, most speakers think of it as a single lexical item despite the way it is written. In English there are also many verbs (known as “multi-word verbs”) which consist of more than one element. IDIOMS are little groups of words whose meaning is not retrievable from the individual parts which make up the idiom (multi-word verbs are idioms). A word can typically occur as a minimal free form. What this means is that a word in isolation can be a complete utterance. WORDS A further approach by which we might consider words as free-standing units is by considering the abilit of one word to be substituted by another word, but not by anything less than a word. Another feature typical of words is that, in addition to being free-standing, the also have a mobility which parts of words do not have. Similarly, we can place additional words between existing words. However, in both cases, it would be impossible to carry out these operations on parts of words. “Cats” is plural while “cat” is singular. Most speakers would accept that “cats” is simply a variant form of “cat”. These abstract forms are known as LEXEME. The forms which are given in dictionaries (what are known as “citation forms”) are in a sense lexemes, although a lexeme is an abstract entity. A word can have different meanings: there are three separate lexemes which are represented by the word-form host. This is an example of HOMONYMY: a homonym is a word-form which just happens to be the same as another word-form even though their meanings are unrelated. By contrast, some lexemes have more than one meaning. When one lexeme has two or more related meanings is called POLYSEMY. We use the term VOCABULARY to talk about words collectively. In linguistics, a term which is often used in preference to vocabulary is LEXIS: lexis is a collective term for words in general or for the vocabulary of a specific language. You may also come across the term “subject-specific lexis” (a set of specialised words relating to a particular topic). When we examine language in relation to its lexis, we are examining it on a LEXICAL LEVEL. A LEXICAL IITEM is an alternative way of referring to a lexeme and a LEXICAL SET is a group of closely related words of the same word class. The term LEXICON refers to the vocabulary of a language (for example, the English lexicon) but is sometimes used to refer to a type of dictionary. ⑳ ⑳ ⑧ · WORD CLASSES Another aspect which we need to consider when discussing words (or lexemes) is that all words belong to a particular grammatical category. These categories are known as WORD CLASSES. There are 9 MAJOR word classes and 2 MINOR word classes: MAJOR WORD CLASSES (9)= are nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, determiners, auxiliaries, prepositions and conjunc-tions. These classes are useful because they group words together according to particular characteristics which they share and give us more precise labels to use when referring to certain words or lexemes. MINOR WORD CLASSES (2)= the class of interjections (the little exclamations) and the group of particles, of which the most notable are the particle “to” as in “to be” or “not to be”, and the negative particle “not”. One group of words which is treated in different wavs by linguists is the group of NUMERALS. It includes both cardinal numerals (one, two, three..) and ordinal numerals (first, second, and third) and the fractions (a quarter, two-thirds and five-eighths). OPEN AND CLOSED CLASSES OF WORDS It is impossible to know precisely how many words there are in the language or to produce a comprehensive and accurate list of them. For one thing, the language is constantly changing. Additionally, old words are given new meanings. We can label all words in terms of the word class they belong to: OPEN CLASS WORDS= nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs, is an extremely large group and it is the extent of the open classes which makes it virtually impossible to count the number of words in the language, especially since the words in this group are constantly changing. The words in the open classes are known as “lexical words” or “content words”; CLOSED CLASS WORDS= pronouns, determiners, auxiliaries, prepositions and conjunctions, it forms a much smaller group and it is possible to make a finite list of its members. The words in closed classes change very slowly. The words in the closed classes are known as “grammatical words” or “function words”. Lexical words may be MONOSYLLABIC but they are equally likely to consist of two, three or even more syllables. Grammatical words, on the other hand, typically contain just one or two syllables. Another striking difference between lexical and grammatical words is the frequency with which we use them. I (C * e I ADVERBS So adverbs are less central than the other three open classes. Many adverbs have a describing purpose in a sentence and adverbs have other features in common with adiectives too. You can check whether a word is an adjective or adverb by seeing which position it can appear in. If the word cannot appear in attributive position then it is an adverb. Adverbs have the ability to give information about how, where and when and to allow you to comment on whole utterances. Ex: Adverbs can be divided into 3 subclasses: ADJUNCTS; CONJUNCTS; DISJUNCTS. The first subclass, adjuncts, is the largest. Fortunately today the dog has eaten his food quietly outside comment when how where Adverbs which are ADJUNCTS provide us with information about how, where, when and to what extent. Adverbs which tell us “how” are adverbs of manner. Ex: The surgeon completed the operation carefully Adverbs of place indicate location or direction: Ex: Put the parcel here She turned the key clockwise Adverbs of time denote when something happened, how long it lasted or how often it happened: Ex: Someone saved my life tonight The symphony lasted forever He telephoned her nightly Adverbs of degree indicate extent, including whether a piece of information applies to more than one item. Some of the adverbs of degree form a further subset of intensifiers. Ex: She found her job particularly difficult in the winter Sometimes adjuncts are WH-WORDS. A wh-word is one which begins with “wh-“ (how, when, where and why). Adverbs which are adjuncts give additional information either about a particular element of a sentence or about the event referred to in a sentence. ⑳ ⑳ ⑳ offe &i - dill si Adjuncts contrast with DISJUNCTS and CONJUNCTS which relate only to complete sentences and do not give information as such. DISJUNCTS relate to the sentence in which they occur (or possibly to just part of it if it is a complex sentence). One function of disjuncts is to comment on what is being said: Ex: Frankly, I should have told her what happened (I am being frank when I say I should have told her what happened) CONJUNCTS relate one sentence or one part of a sentence to another. They include adverbs such as moreover, therefore, however and nevertheless. If one of these conjuncts appeared in an isolated sentence it would seem strange. A conjunct therefore has the property of linking two sentences together. It could also link two parts of the same sentence. PRONOUNS A pronoun is that it 'takes the place of a noun'. Pronouns can function as substitutes for nouns. Ex: A noun together with some other words which are dependent on it is a NOUN PHRASE. It is also possible for a pronoun to replace part of a phrase and not only a noun. Ex: Some pronouns are used not in a substitutional function but in order to refer to what is unknown. Ex: Michelle was offered an exciting new job and she decided to take it Annette left some fresh jam doughnuts on the table and Ashley came in and scoffed them Somebody has stolen my chocolate muffin The Primary Pronouns of English INT ⑭ Pronouns can be divided into several subclasses of which the most central are the PRIMARY PRONOUNS. They are not a random group but a systematic one. 1)there is a basic distinction of number: primary pronouns are either singular or plural; 2)there is a further distinction of person (first, second or third). All the Primary Pronouns occur in several forms as: PERSONAL pronouns; POSSESSIVE pronouns; REFLEXIVE pronouns. The Personal Pronouns are subdivided again into: the subjective form= is used when the pronoun is in the subject position in a sentence; the objective form= is used when it is in the object position after the verb. This distinction relates to the position in which the pronouns occur. Ex: They love football Them love football The Personal Pronouns The Possessive Pronouns take: a dependent form= dependent form precedes a noun which it qualifies; Dependent possessive pronouns may also be classified as determiners. Ex: This is Janet's house This is her house an independent form= acts as a replacement for a complete noun phrase. Ex: This house is the doctor's (house) and her husband's (house) This house is theirs The Possessive Pronouns Reflexive Pronouns can be used for emphasis but they are usually used to refer back to someone or something mentioned previously. Ex: Gregory himself has been to Lambeth Palace. Gregory went to Lambeth Palace by himself The Reflexive Pronouns As users have become more conscious of gender issues in the language, they have looked for a way of avoiding references which are intended to be non-gender-specific but which actually suggest the male of the species. Sometimes speakers try to get round this difficulty by using “he” or “she”. They is often used instead when the gender of a single referent is unknown. Further evidence that speakers treat they as a singular pronoun is the use of the reflexive form “themself” which is in contrast to the plural “themselves”. A further pronoun which could be included in the table of primary pronouns is the generic pronoun “one”. This is used in the third person singular. The generic pronoun “one” is distinct from the substitute pronoun “one”. There are other subclasses of pronoun: WH-PRONOUNS and they can be divided into subclasses: Interrogative Pronouns= are used to ask questions (who, whom, whose, what, which); Relative Pronouns= are used to introduce relative clauses (who, whom, which, that); Nominal Relative Pronouns= introduce nominal relative clauses (who, whoever, whom, whomever which, whichever, what, whatever); Conditional Pronouns= introduce wh-conditional clauses (whoever, whomever, whichever, whatever). ② ⑳ · A AUXILIARIES Auxiliaries or Auxiliary Verbs are a very small group of verbs and they only occur in verb phrases. They will occur at the start of the phrase, before the “lexical verb”. They are optional phrase elements. There are 2 types of auxiliary verbs: PRIMARY AUXILIARIES= have, be, do MODAL AUXILIARIES= can, could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, must PRIMARY AUXILIARIES (have, be, do) The primary auxiliaries “have” and “be” are used to create different ASPECTS that indicate whether the action or state of a verb is complete or on-going. The primary auxiliaries are also important in the construction of questions and for negation: In questions, if a primary auxiliary is present, it may change position. If no primary is present, then “do” is used. Ex: Phil has composed his first symphony. Has Phil composed his first symphony? Phil composed his first symphony. Did Phil compose his first symphony? In negation, the negative particle is positioned after the first auxiliary. Again, “do” is used if no auxiliary is present. Ex: Phil has composed a symphony. Phil has not composed a symphony Phil composed a symphony. Phil did not compose a symphony The modal auxiliaries have a range of functions: EPISTEMIC Function= they express the degree of certainty associated with the lexical verb; DEONTIC Function= they express the degree of obligation; DYNAMIC Function= they state facts. MODAL AUXILIARIES (can, could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, must) There are also a few MARGINAL AUXILIARIES such as “have to”, “need to” and “ought to” which express similar meanings to “must” and “should”. The marginal auxiliary used to expresses something habitual or continuous in the past. The order of auxiliaries is prescribed. Auxiliaries always precede the head verb. Modal auxiliaries precede primary ones and the primary auxiliary have will precede the primary auxiliary be if both occur. M e ⑳ ⑧ * PREPOSITIONS Prepositions are used to show the relationship between two elements. Prepositions are not the only word class which can express the relationship between one thing and another. Prepositions are normally followed by noun phrases with which they form a “Prepositional Phrase”. Prepositions most typically express relationships of time and place. Prepositions may be: SIMPLE= is a single word such as under, round and into; COMPLEX= consists of two or three words such as according to, on behalf of and with regard to. Prepositions of TIME: about, after, at, before, between, by, during, from, in, out of, past, post, prior to, since, towards, until Prepositions of PLACE about, above, across, against, along, among, at, away from, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, by, by way of, close to, down, from, in, inside, into, near, off, on, onto, outside, over, past, round, through, towards, under, within Prepositions of CAUSE, PURPOSE, ASSOCIATION , ATTITUDE and so on… about, according to, anti, apart from, because of, besides, by, concerning, contrary to, despite, due to, except, for, in return for, instead of, of, regarding, with, with regard to, without Some prepositions have more than one semantic function. About, for example, can express time, place and association: Ex: She arrived about noon. time She walked about the shopping centre. place She was concerned about her health. association A comparable relationship exists between prepositions and adverbs: Ex: She walked about the shopping centre. preposition She walked about. adverb (place) r C I * * CONJUNCTIONS Conjunctions are used to join linguistic elements. They can be subdivided into: COORDINATING conjunctions (or coordinators). There are only 3 coordinating conjunctions (and, but and or). Coordinators join words, phrases and clauses of a similar status. SUBORDINATING conjunctions (or subordinators). Subordinating conjunctions form a much larger group (after, although, as, as far as, assuming that, because, before, if, in case, in order that, provided that, since, that, unless, until, when, whereas, while). Subordinating conjunctions mainly join clauses together. They can be simple or complex. Subordinating conjunctions occur at the beginning of clauses: when a subordinating conjunction introduces a clause in this way it has the effect of making that clause subordinate to another clause in the same sentence (and the sentence will be complex). Some prepositions share the same forms as subordinating conjunctions. Whereas prepositions normally introduce a noun phrase, a subordinating conjunction introduces a clause (a grammatical unit which contains a verb element). Ex: I haven't eaten since lunchtime. preposition I ate at lunchtime and haven't eaten since adverb I haven't eaten since Sue arrived. subordinating conjunction T D WORD-FORMATION STRATEGIES Two further strategies which are also very productive are compounding and conversion. The term “word formation” is being used here as a useful blanket term. As we have already seen, some words are not really 'formed' in that they cannot be further divided into morphemes. Nevertheless, we may need to consider the origin or source of such words in order to provide a contrast with 'forming' processes such as affixation and compounding, and to provide an overview of the full range of strategies used in contemporary English to create open class words. AFFIXATION Affixation is the process by which bound morphemes are added to bases to form new words. A bound morpheme which is added in this way is an AFFIX that can be: PREFIX= an affix which occurs word-initially; SUFFIX= an affix which is added word-finally. INFIX= a bound morpheme which is inserted within the word. It is important to make a distinction between Prefixes and Suffixes because these two types of bound morphemes behave rather differently in forming words. One particular difference is that a prefix will not normally change the class of a word. A prefix is normally class-preserving. Ex: (prefix) “dis-“ + “agree” (verb) = disagree (verb) A suffix may be class-preserving (both king and kingdom are nouns) but is equally likely to be class-changing. Ex: the addition of the suffix -ly to the adjective “sad” results in an adverb “sadly”. A further difference between prefixes and suffixes is that there are many prefixes which can be added to at least 2 word classes whereas suffixes tend to be word-class specific. Ex: the prefix “dis-“ is found in nouns (distaste, disservice), verbs (disagree, disappear), adjectives (dissimilar, disreputable) and obviously the adverbs derived from these adjectives (dissimilarly, disreputably). By contrast, most suffixes occur with a specific class of words only. Furthermore, no morpheme which functions as a prefix can also function as a suffix. There is a particularly large number of noun suffixes. By contrast, there are only a handful of verb and adverb suffixes. Some affixes are used in the creation of words much more than others. ⑳ ⑳ ⑳ There have often been objections to the suffixes “-ess” and “-ette” to denote Female Roles on the grounds that they imply women are in a disadvantageous position in comparison with men. This is because the suffix for the female form (such as actress, stewardess, usherette, ladette) is an addition to a base. Also, there is an arguable imbalance between the male form being a free morpheme and the female form requiring a bound morpheme which is unable to stand alone and therefore suggestive of weakness. The suffix “-ette” is particularly objectionable to some users in that it is a diminutive, indicating a smaller version of something. In recent years, these gender suffixes have to a great extent been replaced completely or the male form has become generic. Another feature of affixes is that any one word may include more than one prefix and more than one suffix. However, prefixes and suffixes do not combine freely and the order of occurrence of prefixes and suffixes is fixed, often due to the word class of the base. There can be both semantic and morphological restrictions on word formation. Two suffixes which sometimes cause confusion are “-ed” and “-ing”. This is because both these forms also occur as grammatical endings (or inflections) on verbs. However, both nouns and adjectives can be formed by the addition of the suffix “-ing” and adjectives can also be formed by the addition of “-ed”. When a new word is formed by adding “-ed” to a noun, the resulting word is always an adjective. However, when -ed and -ing are added to verbs, a new noun or adjective may result. This form is sometimes referred to as a deverbal noun as it derives from a verb. These adjectives can be referred to as deverbal adjectives, again to indicate that they derive from verbs. Some linguists prefer, however, to treat them and deverbal nouns as verb forms so you will sometimes find them referred to as verbs or more specifically as participles. This construction, which consists of 2 roots and in fact 2 pre-existing words is a COMPOUND or COMPOUND WORD. Compound words are often written as one element or hyphenated but they can be written as two separate elements. There is also the possibility of substituting compound words with alternative lexical items which are not compounds. Compounding is a very productive way of forming words in English. COMPOUNDING Compounding is typically the result of joining nouns, adjectives and verbs. Compound verbs are relatively rare and those which do exist are likely to be the result of back-formation or conversion. However, there is a very large group of multi-word verbs, formed by the combination of the verb with an adverb or preposition. MULTI-WORD VERBS Multi-word verbs (or Phrasal Verbs) are very common in contemporary English. A multi-word verb is a combination of 2 or 3 elements: verb + preposition verb + adverb verb + adverb + preposition Their meaning is idiomatic. This means that the meaning cannot be fully deduced from the individual meanings of the elements which constitute the multi-word verb. One other feature of multi-word verbs is that the adverb or preposition can sometimes be separated from the verb. · · ⑳ ⑳ · INGLESE Cap.4 INFLECTIONS INFLECTIONS AS AN ASPECT OF GRAMMAR Grammar is the set of rules of any given language that enable us to construct any sentence in that language which we recognise to be well-formed. This aspect of grammar which is concerned with word order is called SYNTAX. In addition to the syntactic rules in our grammatical knowledge, there is another set of rules which tell us how to adapt words according to the grammatical context in which they occur. Grammar is subdivided into syntax and INFLECTION. Endings such as the plural marking and the past tense ending are known as inflections. Because inflections are part of the internal structure of a word, they can also be classified as a branch of morphology. INFLECTIONS IN CONTEMPORARY ENGLISH Inflections are a branch of grammar and that by inflections we mean endings which we add to a word to indicate aspects such as past tense or plural. One of the most important things about inflections is that they are not used to create a new word or lexeme. Inflections are used then to give us more grammatical information about words. They can be used to indicate singular or plural (number) and to indicate tense. They can also be used to indicate other features. Every word has some kind of abstract existence which can be realised in either speech or writing. This abstract form is a LEXEME. When considering inflections, it can also be helpful to use the notion of a STEM that is what remains of a word when any inflections are removed from it. In other words, inflections are added to the stem of a word. Ex: frogs is made up of the stem frog and the inflection -s. Inflections can be found on nouns and verbs, on some adjectives and adverbs and on some pronouns. NOUN INFLECTIONS Nouns can be inflected to show plurality and also to indicate possession. One interesting feature of common nouns is that they do not all have a plural form. Nouns cannot be made plural and therefore their referents cannot be counted, they are known as NON-COUNT NOUNS. By contrast, nouns which have a plural form are COUNT NOUNS. There are also some nouns which don't fit comfortably into either of these categories. 1) there are those which exist in the plural only. Ex: (trousers and scissors). 2) A second group of nouns which are neither clearly count nor non-count nouns is the group of Aggregate nouns. These are nouns which refer to entities made up of several parts. There are also some aggregate nouns which look singular but take a plural form of the verb: COLLECTIVE NOUNS= 'Collective' is a semantic term for nouns which refer to groups but grammatically they are count nouns since they have both singular and plural forms. Ex: Family and herd. Some nouns have both a count form and a non-count one. This depends on the particular meaning of the noun which is being employed. Ex: the word Wine When we talk of wine in the generic sense of a drink made from grapes then wine is a non-count noun= Wine is an alcoholic drink made from grapes. When we talk of different varieties of wine, then wine is a count noun= Australian wines are as enjoyable as French ones. When the take the plural form, count nouns have either a regular or an irregular ending. Here are some examples of nouns which take the regular plural ending, sometimes known as the -s plural: (cake = cakes - bun = buns) There are a number of nouns which form plurals in other ways. In English, the POSSESSIVE form of nouns can be denoted by an inflectional ending, and in written English this is most typically indicated by <-'s>. When we talk about the possessive form or possessive inflection we are not always referring strictly to the ownership of one person or thing by another person or thing. We need to make a distinction therefore between the possessive inflection and a possessive meaning. Sometimes in English we use an “of-construction” rather than a possessive inflection. Possessive inflections can be added to both singular and plural nouns. However, nouns with irregular plural endings can take overt possessive inflections. In writing we indicate a plural which has a possessive quality by using an apostrophe: the dogs' dinners. It is also possible for the possessive inflection to apply to a word group rather than an individual noun. Another term which is sometimes used when discussing noun inflections is CASE. This is a traditional grammatical term used particularly in languages where there is a fuller range of noun inflections than there is now in English. These inflections indicate aspects such as whether the noun is the subject of the sentence (the nominative case), the object of the sentence (the accusative case), or the possessor of something (the genitive case). · VERB INFLECTION The uninflected stem of the verb is known as the BASE FORM of the verb. This form is also referred to as the INFINITIVE and we make a distinction between the “to-infinitive” and the “bare infinitive” (which does not contain the particle to). The base form of the verb may be varied by the addition of 4 regular inflections (found only with lexical verbs): 1) The first of these verb inflections is the “-s” inflection which marks the third person singular of the present tense. The relationship between the verb form and the subject which precedes it is one of “concord” (or agreement). In other words, the person and number of the subject controls the form the verb takes. Ex: I walk - you walk - he/she/it walks 2) The second verb inflection is the inflection “-ing”: the base form of the verb plus the -ing inflection is known as the “-ing participle”. Ex: Fred was walking to the shops 3) The third regular verb inflection is the “-ed” inflection which is used to construct the past tense. Ex: they walked 4) The fourth regular verb inflection is the “-ed participle” inflection. Ex: They have walked three miles today Regular Verb Inflections Inflections of Walk and Take Irregular Verbs NOUN PHRASES A noun phrase may consist of a single lexical item. Noun phrases have the capacity to be long and complex. Noun Phrases have an internal structure which dictates where additional elements occur in relation to the head noun. There are 4 possible positions for these elements: DETERMINERS= can be subdivided into 3 categories: predeterminers - central determiners - postdeterminers. Determiners are not obligatory but if they do occur they will be at the beginning of the noun phrase. Determiners only occur in noun phrases. PREMODIFICATION= There are a range of elements which can occur in a premodifying position. Premodifiers will be adjectives. It is possible to premodify a head noun with more than one adjective. In theory there is no limit as to how many adjectives could premodify a head noun provided their meanings do not contradict each other, but in reality it is unlikely that there will be more than 2 or 3 at most. When more than one adjective appears in the premodifying position, an ordering process may come into pay. Gradable adiectives will occur before non-gradable ones, with the non-gradable adjectives often categorising rather than describing the noun. HEAD NOUN= nouns can precede head nouns. The noun may be either a common or a proper noun. Nouns in the possessive form can also premodify head nouns. POSTMODIFICATION= there is again a range of items which can fulfil this function and, in addition, the post-modification has the potential to be more complex. It is very common for prepositional phrases to postmodify head nouns but adverb phrases occasionally occur postnominally. Only a handful of adjectives occur postnominally and in a limited range of contexts. A variety of clauses occur in postmodifying position. The clause may be a relative clause or a that-clause or a comparative clause or one of a range of non-finite clauses. Prepositional phrases and relative clauses are the most frequent types of postmodifers in noun phrases. Head nouns may be postmodified by more than one item although there are constraints on what may occur. Normally a noun is the head of a noun phrase. However, there are some exceptions to this: 1) a pronoun can also be the head of a noun phrase. The pronoun may occur singly as a phrase or it may be pre- or postmoditied. When a noun phrase is very long and complex you will need to take care to identify the head word correctly as the noun phrase may well contain more than one noun. One way to identify the head word is to decide which word is most central to the meaning. 2) Another method is to identify which element is controlling the verb phrase in terms of it being singular or plural. D ↳ C IIIIII VERB PHRASES Verb phrases may consist merely of the head word. This single item will be a lexical as opposed to an auxiliary verb. A verb phrase may be simple and consist of just a lexical verb or it may include one or more auxiliaries up to a maximum of 4. Auxiliaries subdivide into: PRIMARY auxiliaries= be, have, do MODAL auxiliaries= can, could, shall, should, will, would, may, must, might The modal auxiliaries are used to add shades of meaning to the verb phrase. The primary auxiliaries “be” and “have” are used to construct different aspects and voices. The primary auxiliary “do” is used in question forms, in negative constructions, and for emphasis. One of the features which verb phrases may possess is TENSE. There are only 2 tenses in English: The PRESENT TENSE is indicated by the base form or by an “-s” inflection (in the third person singular); The PAST TENSE is indicated by an “-ed” inflection on regular verbs or an equivalent form in irregular verbs. We need therefore to distinguish between the meaning of a sentence and the grammatical form of the verb phrase. Tense is a grammatical ending on a verb stem not a semantic reference to a particular time. In English, there exists only the past tense and the present tense in terms of inflectional endings. There is no future tense in English. When a verb or verb phrase is marked for tense it is FINITE. By contrast, when a verb is not marked for tense it is NON-FINITE. If a finite verb phrase consists of a lexical verb only then tense will be marked on that element. Otherwise, tense is marked on the first element of the verb phrase. There is also a fixed order in which auxiliary verbs occur with modal auxiliaries preceding primary ones. If the verb phrase contains a modal auxiliary, then tense will be marked on the modal. Modals are unusual in that they do not have contrasting forms for tense in the way that lexical verbs do. One important feature of verb phrases which consist of more than one element is that each auxiliary dictates the form which the following element takes. If there is a modal auxiliary present, the element which follows it will be in the base form. T ID * * · ⑳ Although a verb phrase can only contain one modal auxiliary, it can contain up to 3 primary auxiliaries. The main purpose of primary auxiliaries is to indicate ASPECT that gives us more information about the verb but from a rather different angle. Aspect indicates whether the action or state referred to by the lexical verb is in progress or is complete. This basic contrast is a contrast between the PROGRESSIVE ASPECT and the PERFECT ASPECT. There are 2 perfect aspect combinations: the PRESENT perfect and the PAST perfect. The presence of the primary auxiliary have for the perfect aspect triggers the “-ed form” (or -ed participle). Ex: Aspects are combined with tense, resulting in 2 progressive combinations: the PRESENT progressive and the PAST progressive. Ex: THE PROGRESSIVE ASPECT The resulting verb form in a lexical verb is known as the “-ing form” (or the -ing participle). THE PERFECT ASPECT Both the progressive aspect and the perfect aspect may occur with a modal auxiliary. It is also possible for the verb aspect to be both perfect and progressive, and again there is a contrast of past and present tense. This means that both a present perfect progressive and a past perfect progressive combination exist. INGLESE Cap. 6 CLAUSES WHAT IS A CLAUSE? A clause is a unit of syntactic construction. Clauses are formed from phrases. This does not mean that a clause is a random group of phrases: a clause has a specific structure. A clause is a larger unit than a phrase. The unit of construction larger than the clause is the sentence, which will consist of one or more clauses. Most central to a clause is its VERB ELEMENT. Typically, a clause contains a verb phrase which is finite and which is active. The verb phrase is normally preceded by a subject element and followed by any elements needed to make the clause grammatically complete. Ex: Catherine has gained ten GCSEs This structure is typical of clauses in that it is the structure we use to make a statement. This is known as a DECLARATIVE STRUCTURE. At present, this clause only contains obligatory elements. What this means is that if we remove any of the phrases from the clause, it would be syntactically incomplete. It would be possible of course to add some optional items to this clause. The features which most typify a clause are that the verb phrase will be finite and in the active voice and the structure of the clause will be declarative. THE FIVE CLAUSE ELEMENTS Clauses are made up of a combination of clause elements. There are 5 clause elements: 1) subject 2) verb 3) object 4) complement 5) adverbial Clauses typically contain a verb and a subiect. They also contain any items needed to complete the meaning of the verb like objects or complements. The verb element is always realised by a verb phrase. It is important to make a clear distinction between phrase types and clause elements. Ex: The black Labrador has bitten Mr Allington S V O NP VP NP FUNCTION FORM SUBJECT ELEMENT The subiect typically occurs before the verb element in what may be termed “the subject position”. The subject element is very likely to be a noun phrase. “It” and “There” are unusual subjects in that they refer to nothing in particular. When “it” or “there” are used in this way, the subject is termed a “dummy subject”. A clause can also occur in subject position. A key feature of the subject function is that the subject dictates whether the verb will be singular or plural. Sometimes, it may also be possible to make a distinction between first, second or third person. - - VERB ELEMENT The verb element has to be a verb phrase. The verb element is the most central part of the clause, and the lexical verb present in the verb phrase will also dictate what obligatory elements will follow the verb. The choice of lexical verb will dictate what element or elements should follow the verb element in order to make the clause grammatically complete. This is known as VERB COMPLEMENTATION. A clause has traditionally been divided into 2 parts: the SUBJECT is the focus or topic of the sentence while the predicate is what we want to say about the subject; the PREDICATE is the verb element plus any verb complementation. You may sometimes find the verb element of a clause referred to as a predicator which is indicative of its role within the predicate. Of all the elements in a clause, the verb element is the most important and the most obligatory. OBJECT ELEMENT The object element contrasts with the subject element in that its position is after the verb element. Whereas all verbs can be preceded by a subject, only some verbs need to be followed by an object element. TRANSITIVE VERBS= verbs which require an object; INTRANSITIVE VERBS= verbs which don’t require an object or any other complementation. The object is most typically a noun phrase. Verbs which take 2 objects are DITRANSITIVE. Although there are two objects complementing each of these verbs, the two objects do not behave identically: the first object (INDIRECT OBJECT) can be moved to the end of the clause if the noun phrase is converted to a prepositional phrase with “to” or “for”; the second is the DIRECT OBJECT Some verbs can be both ditransitive or monotransitive, taking just one object. EX: Judith promised Matthew a present S V Oi Od COMPLEMENT ELEMENT There is also a small group of verbs which are followed by a complement. A complement is needed to give completeness when there is a copula or copular verb in the clause. Copular verbs make up just a small set of verbs and include: be, feel, seem, appear, become. The verb “be” is the most central of all the copular verbs and you may sometimes come across it referred to simply as “the copula”. Prepositional phrases can be complements when they follow a copular verb: they describe someone's mood, position or state. A distinction can be made between a Subject Complement (Cs) and an Object Complement (Co). The subject complement gives us more information about the subject of the clause, and the object complement gives us more information about the object element. Verbs which take both an object and an object complement are complex-transitive verbs. There is a wide range of verbs which take an object and an object complement. The relationship between the object and the object complement can be expressed using the copula “be”. · ⑳ CA O ADVERBIAL ELEMENT The adverbial element is so called because it functions like an adverb. This means that its position is less fixed than that of the other clause elements. Adverbials also have a wider range of functions in terms of meaning. An adverbial element is most likely to be an adverb phrase or a prepositional phrase although a clause can also function as an adverbial. Adverbial elements are not obligatory. They could all be removed without any real loss of meaning and without causing grammatical incompleteness. This is another way in which adverbial elements differ from other clause elements. Only a small number of verbs require an adverbial for their complementation. “hare” is grammatically incomplete without an adverbial. Other verbs may require an obligatory adverbial depending on which meaning is adopted. (lean) Sometimes, it is hard to decide whether obligatory prepositional phrases are adverbial elements or object or subject complements. There may occasionally be an argument for treating the obligatory element following the copular “be” as an adverbial rather than a subject complement when it takes the form of a prepositional phrase. CLAUSE STRUCTURES We can therefore summarise what we have covered in terms of the range of basic clause structures possible. All the clause elements in these structures are obligatory. If any element were removed then the clause would be incomplete. They represent a syntactic starting point: any clause can therefore be analysed in terms of these basic structures. The method of address is a VOCATIVE. The vocative is an optional not an obligatory element. ACTIVE AND PASSIVE CLAUSES In an ACTIVE CLAUSE the subject is normally the AGENT, this means that the subject is carrying out the action referred to by the lexical verb. The object on the other hand is the AFFECTED (or patient) the person or thing to which the verb is being done. Agent and affected refer to semantic as opposed to grammatical roles. Only a transitive verb can be made passive. The passive is often seen as a transformation from the active rather than as a primary structure in its own right. This is because the active voice is far more typical and natural to language than the passive voice. Ex: Everyone admired Gill's garden Gill's garden was admired by everyone. The BY-PHRASE functions as an adverbial element in the passive clause Relative clauses only postmodify nouns and pronouns. The relative clause is so-called because it is normally introduced by a RELATIVE PRONOUN which has the function of referring us back to a preceding noun. The noun to which the relative pronoun refers is the antecedent. The relative clause can be introduced by a handful of other items. The relative pronoun “whom” is used when the antecedent would be the object of the verb in the relative clause. Whom is becoming archaic and speakers tend to use “who”. All 3 “wh- relative pronouns” and all 3 relative adverbs can be replaced by “that”. The relative pronoun “that” is distinct from the subordinating conjunction “that” at the start of that-clauses. Sometimes it is possible to omit the relative pronoun at the start of the relative clause. This is because the relative pronoun will be understood from the context. Where no relative pronoun occurs in a relative clause, we say that the clause has “a zero relative pronoun”. Relative clauses can be introduced by a preposition and relative pronoun. The postmodifying non-finite “-ing” and “-ed” clauses have this capacity to be expanded into full relative clauses, they are sometimes referred to as reduced relative clauses. The final type of clause which can occur in both adjective and noun phrases is a COMPARATIVE CLAUSE. Since comparative clauses can also post-modify adverbs we will consider noun, adjective and adverb phrases together here. There are 2 types of comparative clause: 1) the first type actually expresses comparison and uses than as a subordinator. The head word in each phrases is followed by a than-clause. All these clauses contain a finite verb. In noun phrases, the head word will be premodified by more or less or, in a noun phrase, the head noun may be premodified by an adjective in the comparative form as in a better suntan. In adjective phrases, the adjective will either take the inflectional comparative form. 2) the second type of comparative clause expresses equivalence. The comparative constructions here involve the correlative subordinators “as...as”. The first “as” precedes the head word and the second “as” introduces the post-modifying clause. Noun phrases which take comparative clauses do so in a different way from adjective and adverb phrases. One possibility is that the first as will be attached to an adjective which premodifies the head noun. The second possibility is that the head word in the noun phrase will be a pronoun. NOMINAL RELATIVE CLAUSES A nominal relative clause shares features of both nominal clauses and relative clauses. All nominal relative clauses begin with a wh-word. The feature these clauses share with other nominal clauses is that they occur where a noun phrase might occur. Ex: Where to go was quite a problem NEGATIVE CLAUSES To make negative clauses is used the negative particle “NOT”. Ex: Ravin is a good manager. Ravin is not a good manager Emma might come home. Emma might not come home Louise liked the film. Louise did not like the film The negative particle is added to the verb phrase. There are rules which govern where the negative particle is positioned. If the lexical verb is “be” and the verb phrase contains onlv the lexical verb then the negative particle will occur after the verb. When “do” is used in this way it is referred to as an OPERATOR. Very often when we make a verb phrase negative, we form a CONTRACTION. Contractions are used a great deal in speech since they sound less formal than uncontracted forms. Clauses and sentences can also include negative items other than the negative particle, although they do not negate the truth of a clause or sentence in the way 'not' does. VERBLESS CLAUSES We need to consider clauses which do not contain a verb element at all VERBLESS CLAUSES. Ex: Although unhappy with the decision, Debra agreed to help Paul would like some champagne and caviar, if available In speech in particular we often omit clause elements because we rely a lot on context for interpretation of meaning. The other clause elements are unnecessary. These kinds of fragments are sometimes termed “minor sentences” INGLESE Cap. 7 SENTENCES WHAT IS A SENTENCE? A sentence is the largest unit of syntactic structure. A sentence must consist of at least one clause but it may consist of several. If a sentence contains iust one clause then that clause needs to be a main clause for the sentence to be grammatically complete. If the sentence consists of more than one clause, then for the same reason there will need to be at least one main clause. When we write we indicate sentence divisions by beginning a sentence with a capital letter and concluding it with a full stop. In other words, a writer may adapt punctuation conventions to suit their own purposes. Another consideration is that when we speak we do not speak in neat grammatical sentences. Sometimes speakers leave what they are saying unfinished. Sometimes they make a false start and have to restructure what they are saying. Often speakers join the units of their speech together with items like “and”, “but” and “so”, which can make it difficult to decide where sentences might begin or end. SENTENCE TYPES There are 4 sentence types: TYPE (form) declarative interrogative imperative exclamative TYPICAL USE (function) statement question directive exclamation EXAMPLE You're wearing a new dress Are you wearing a new dress? Buy yourself a new dress What a lovely new dress you're wearing These forms and functions do not always correlate. The selection of sentence type is linked to appropriateness of use. It is very important to maintain a clear distinction between the form and the function of sentence types. DECLARATIVE SENTENCES Declarative structures have an overt subject, a verb element and any necessary verb complementation. The declarative sentence may also contain one or more adverbial elements. Ex: Philip will visit his dentist in Streatham today SVO structure tells us that this clause is declarative. There are some verbs which have a very precise purpose in that the actual uttering of those verbs performs the function to which they refer. By uttering these verbs the speaker actually performs the act of promising, swearing, naming or pronouncing. That is why these verbs are referred to as “performative verbs”. However, they are only performative when used by the speaker in the first person, in the simple present tense and in a declarative context. S V O A A Another structure which makes use of it as a dummy subject is the CLEFT SENTENCE. The purpose of this structure is again to place more focus on a particular piece of information within the sentence. A cleft sentence provides a versatile structure for drawing attention to the information given by a variety of sentence elements. Ex: When “there” is used as a dummy subject in this way to state the existence of whatever is referred to by the noun phrase in complement position, it is known as “existential there”. The existential there construction may be used to change the focus of a sentence. Many sentences are restructured in order to achieve greater emphasis on one of their elements. The part of the sentence whose content is of most importance is the FOCUS. We normally expect this to come at the end of a sentence - what is known as End-Focus. However, it is possible to change the focus of a sentence without the addition of the dummy subjects “there” and “it”. One way to do this in speech is to place greater stress on one element. An alternative method of indicating the focus of a sentence is to move an element out of its normal position. The process of moving an element to the beginning of a sentence in this way is known as FRONTING. In contrast to fronting, end-shift may be employed to move a subject to the end of the sentence. Sometimes, a sentence may be inverted through both fronting and end-shift. SIMPLE SENTENCES A sentence that may consist of just one clause is a simple sentence. The clause in a simple sentence has to be a main clause. In other words, it has to contain a finite verb and must be grammatically complete as it stands. If for instance the clause were introduced by the subordinating conjunction “because”, then it would not be a simple sentence but the subordinate part of a larger sentence. When we talk about a sentence being a simple sentence we are referring to its grammatical structure not to the information load it contains. Imperative, interrogative and exclamative sentences are simple as long as the contain a main clause only. It is important to make a clear distinction between sentence TYPE and sentence STRUCTURE. Sentence type will be either declarative, imperative, interrogative or exclamative. The structure of a sentence will be simple, compound or complex. COMPOUND SENTENCES There are 2 ways of incorporating more than one clause into a sentence. 1) One option is to link two or more clauses on an equal basis so neither clause is dependent on the other. 2) The alternative is to pace causes in an unequal relationship so that one is grammatically on the other. The latter method produces a complex sentence, the former a compound sentence. The process of forming a compound sentence by joining two or more clauses on an equal grammatical footing is known as COORDINATION. N ⑧ ⑳ There is an exception to the principle that all words are grouped into phrases and this exception concerns conjunctions, particularly when they are used to join clauses. The conjunctions which we use to join clauses on an equal basis and thus form compound sentences are COORDINATING CONJUNCTIONS. “Coordinator” is an alternative term for a coordinating conjunction. There are 3 central coordinators= and - but - or. The coordinating conjunction must remain between the 2 clauses. The reason it is impossible to place a coordinating conjunction anywhere other than between the 2 clauses which it joins is that the conjunction is a linking element joining the clauses on an equal grammatical basis. A subordinating conjunction by contrast introduces a clause and makes it subordinate to the main clause in a sentence. Because it is attached to a specific clause in this way rather than linking two clauses, if the clause moves its position, then the subordinating conjunction will move with it. A compound sentence contains at least 2 main clauses but more are possible. The coordinators “and” and “or” can be used to join 3 or more main clauses. By contrast “but” can only join 2 main clauses. This is due to its semantic function of expressing contrast or the opposite of what is expected. The coordinator “or” is sometimes accompanied by either at the beginning of the first clause in a compound sentence. This gives emphasis to the alternatives expressed. The pair “either/or” are correlative. They can join both phrases and clauses, as can their negative counterparts neither/nor. However, when neither nor coordinate clauses, the clause structure changes. The correlative pair “both/and” has the capacity to join phrases but not clauses. The less central coordinator “nor” is the negative counterpart of or. This coordinator replaces or when the first clause in a compound sentence is negative, and again it requires a different clause structure with an operator preceding the subject. Nor can coordinate more than two clauses. It can also coordinate phrases as well as clauses. The other less central coordinator is “for”. In many respects this behaves like one of the central coordinators. For differs from the other coordinators in that it is restricted to the linking of main clauses.However, it cannot link phrases nor can it link two subordinate clauses on an equal basis, a property which the other coordinators possess. Sometimes we reiterate information for the purpose of emphasis, but often there is no need to repeat an item just given. Therefore we simply omit the item which would have been repeated because it will still be understood by our audience. This omission of retrievable information is known as ELLIPSIS. Ellipsis can be indicated by using the symbol. I GI C D O G dXB A ~ COMPLEX SENTENCES A complex sentence contains at least 2 clauses. One of the clauses will be subordinate and will constitute an entire element of the main clause. A clause can function as any of the other clause elements. First, we will consider how clauses can act as the subject, object or complement element in a higher level clause. In all 3 examples above, one of the clause elements is a subordinate clause. This means that all these examples are complex sentences. When a subordinate clause acts as an obligatory clause element in this way, the subordinate clause is embedded in the main clause. However, the function of a subordinate clause is less central than this. This is when the subordinate clause unctions as a non-obligatory adverbial element of the superordinate main clause. There is a range of possibilities for the form which a subordinate clause can take. An almost complete range of non-finite clauses can fulfil the object function of a superordinate clause. The subordinate clause which functions as a clause element can also be a finite clause. When a subordinate clause occurs where a noun phrase would more typically occur then the subordinate clause is a NOMINAL CLAUSE and is embedded in the main clause. Sometimes, a subordinate clause is linked to the main clause in a more peripheral way. This is when the subordinate clause functions as the optional adverbial element of the main clause. It is these ADVERBIAL CLAUSES we have seen that sentences are essentially simple, compound or complex. Very often, however, a sentence will not fit neatly into one of these categories. This combination of 2 coordinated main clauses and 1 subordinate clause means the sentence is compound-complex. ADVERBIAL CLAUSES The adverbial element in a clause may be an adverb phrase or a prepositional phrase. In addition, the adverbial element of a clause may be another clause, although this clause will be subordinate. Adverbs as a word class can be subdivided into adjuncts, disjuncts and subjuncts according to their function. Similarly, adverbial elements can also function as adjuncts, disjuncts or subjuncts. The same is true for adverbial clauses, although these largely function as adjuncts or disjuncts. Adjuncts usually express manner, time, place or degree. Ex: CIN A un *