OxfordModernEnglishGrammar

BasAartsisProfessorofEnglishLinguisticsandDirectoroftheSurveyofEnglishUsageatUniversityCollegeLondon.HispreviousbooksincludeSmallClausesinEnglish:TheNonverbalTypes(MoutondeGruyter,1992);TheVerbinContemporaryEnglish,co-editedwithCharlesF.Meyer(CambridgeUniversityPress,1995);EnglishSyntaxandArgumentation(Palgrave,1997,2001,2008);InvestigatingNaturalLanguage:WorkingwiththeBritishComponentoftheInternationalCorpusofEnglish,co-authoredwithGeraldNelsonandSeanWallis(JohnBenjamins,2002);FuzzyGrammar:AReader,co-editedwithDavidDenison,EvelienKeizer,andGerganaPopova(OxfordUniversityPress,2004);TheHandbookofEnglishLinguistics,co-editedwithAprilMcMahon(Blackwell,2006);andSyntacticGradience:TheNatureofGrammaticalIndeterminacy(OxfordUniversityPress,2007).HeisoneofthefoundingeditorsofthejournalEnglishLanguageandLinguistics.

OxfordModernEnglishGrammarBasAarts

DepartmentofEnglishLanguageandLiteratureUniversityCollegeLondon

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InmemoryofmymotherSjéAarts-Postmes(1934–2008)

ContentsListoffigures

Listoftables

Preface

Notationalconventionsandabbreviations

Abbreviations

PartI:Thebasics

Chapter1:AnoverviewofEnglishgrammar

PartII:Formandfunction

Chapter2:Wordstructureandword-formation

Chapter3:Wordclassesandsimplephrases

Chapter4:Grammaticalfunctions,semanticroles,andtreediagrams

PartIII:Phraseandclausepatterns

Chapter5:Complexphrasesandcoordination

Chapter6:Clausetypesandnegation

Chapter7:Finitesubordinateclauses

Chapter8:Non-finiteandverblesssubordinateclauses

PartIV:Grammarandmeaning

Chapter9:Tenseandaspect

Chapter10:Mood

Chapter11:Informationstructuring

Appendix1:Englishirregularverbs

Appendix2:ThestructureoftheICE-GBcorpus

Notesandfurtherreading

Listofsourcesofexamples

References

SubjectIndex

LexicalIndex

ListoffiguresFigure2.1:Thefieldofmorphology

Figure3.1:ThesubclassificationofEnglishverbs

Listoftables

Table2.1: Thepersonsystem

Table2.2: TheparadigmfortheregularverbINSULT

Table2.3: TheparadigmfortheirregularverbBREAK

Table2.4: Theprogressive,perfect,andpassiveconstructions

Table2.5: ThepresenttenseformsoftheverbBE

Table2.6: Non-finiteclauses

Table2.7: Plural-formation

Table2.8: Thecaseformsofpersonalpronouns

Table2.9: Theinflectionalformsofadjectivesandadverbs

Table2.10: Somecommonderivationalsuffixes

Table2.11:

Somecommonderivationalprefixes

Table2.12: Compoundnouns

Table2.13: Compoundverbs

Table2.14: Compoundadjectives

Table2.15: Compoundprepositions

Table2.16: Compoundadverbs

Table2.17: Combiningforms

Table3.1: Wordclasses

Table3.2: Somecommonnominalsuffixes

Table3.3: Thedistributionalpropertiesoftypicalnouns

Table3.4: Pronounsubclasses

Table3.5: Reflexivepronouns

Table3.6:

Reciprocalpronouns

Table3.7: Relativepronouns

Table3.8: Interrogativepronouns

Table3.9: Demonstrativepronouns

Table3.10: Indefinitepronouns

Table3.11: Determinatives

Table3.12: Thedistributionalpropertiesoftypicaldeterminatives

Table3.13: Thedistributionalpropertiesoftypicaladjectives

Table3.14: Themodalauxiliaries

Table3.15: Theperfectconstruction

Table3.16: Theprogressiveconstruction

Table3.17: Thepassiveconstruction

Table3.18: UsesofdummyDO

Table3.19: Prepositions

Table3.20: Complexprepositions

Table3.21: Postpositions

Table3.22: Deverbalprepositions

Table3.23: Subordinatingconjunctions

Table4.1: Grammaticalfunctions

Table4.2: ThepropertiesoftypicalSubjects

Table4.3: ThepropertiesoftypicalDirectObjects

Table4.4: Aselectionoftransitiveverbs

Table4.5: ThepropertiesoftypicalIndirectObjects

Table4.6: Aselectionofditransitiveverbs

Table

4.7: Aselectionoflinkingverbs

Table4.8: Aselectionofcomplextransitiveverbs

Table4.9: ThedistributionalpropertiesoftypicalPredicativeComplements

Table4.10: ThedistributionalpropertiesofPPCs

Table4.11: AselectionofverbslicensingPPCs

Table4.12: ThedistributionalpropertiesoftypicalAdjuncts

Table4.13: Semanticroles

Table5.1: Grammaticalfunctionsatphraselevel

Table5.2: Determinersinnounphrases

Table5.3: Predeterminersinnounphrases

Table5.4: Complementsinnounphrases

Table5.5: Adjunctsinnounphrases

Table5.6:

Complementsinadjectivephrases

Table5.7: Adjunctsinadjectivephrases

Table5.8: Complementsinverbphrases

Table5.9: Basiccomplementationpatterns

Table5.10:

Anoverviewofconstructionsinvolvingnon-locativePPsfunctioningasPPC

Table5.11:

AnoverviewofconstructionsinvolvinglocativePPsfunctioningasPPC

Table5.12: Adjunctsinverbphrases

Table5.13: Complementsinprepositionalphrases

Table5.14: Conjunctiveprepositions

Table5.15: Conjunctivecomplexprepositions

Table5.16: Adjunctsinprepositionalphrases

Table5.17: Complementsinadverbphrases

Table5.18: Adjunctsinadverbphrases

Table6.1: Thepropertiesofdeclarativeclauses

Table6.2: Thepropertiesofopeninterrogativeclauses

Table6.3: Thepropertiesofclosedinterrogativeclauses

Table6.4: Thepropertiesofimperativeclauses

Table6.5: Thepropertiesofexclamativeclauses

Table6.6: Overviewoftheclausetypes:syntaxanduse

Table7.1: Finitesubordinateclauses

Table7.2: Contentclauses

Table7.3:

Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘DECIDE[clausethat…]’

Table7.4:

Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘WONDER[clauseif/whether/wh-phrase…]’

Table Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘MENTION([PPtoNP])[clausethat…]’

7.5:

Table7.6: Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘TELLNP[clausethat…]’

Table7.7:

Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘ASKNP[clausewhether/if/wh-phrase…]’

Table7.8:

Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘PERSUADENP[clausethat…]’

Table7.9:

Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘REMINDNP[clausewhether/if/wh-phrase…]’

Table7.10:

Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘ItSEEM(PP)[clause(that/asif)…]’

Table7.11: Thescalar/non-scalarandequality/inequalitycontrasts

Table8.1: Non-finiteclauses

Table8.2:

Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘WANT[clause(for)NPto-infinitive…]’

Table8.3:

Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘HESITATE[clause,Øto-[clauseinfinitive…]’

Table8.4:

Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘WONDER[clausewhether/wh-phraseØto-infinitive…]’

Table8.5:

Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘TELLNPi[clauseØito-infinitive…]’

Table8.6:

Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘TELLNPi[clausewh-phraseØito-infinitive…]’

Table8.7:

Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘PERSUADENPi[clauseØito-infinitive…]’

Table8.8:

Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘ADVISENPi[clausewhether/wh-phraseØito-infinitive…]’

Table8.9:

Table8.10:

Table8.11:

Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘HAVE[clauseNPbareinfinitive…]’

Table8.12:

Verbsoccurringinthepattern bareinfinitive…]’

Table8.13:

Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘REMEMBER[clauseØ-ingparticiple…]’

Table8.14:

Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘RECOMMEND[clauseNP/NP’s-ingparticiple…]’

Table8.15:

Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘PREVENT -ingparticiple…]]’

Table8.16:

Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘REGARD -ingparticiple…]]’

Table8.17:

Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘FINDNPi[clauseØi-ingparticiple…]’

Table8.18:

Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘DESCRIBENPi[PPas[clauseØi-ingparticiple…]]’

Table8.19:

Table8.20:

Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘HAVE[clauseNPpastparticiple…]’

Table10.1:

FrequenciesoftheEnglishcoremodalauxiliariespermillionwordsintheICE-GBcorpus

Table10.2: Themorphosyntacticpropertiesofthemodalverbs

Table10.3: TheusesofWILL/would

Table10.4: TheusesofSHALL

Table10.5: Theusesofshould

Table10.6: TheusesofCAN/could

Table10.7: TheusesofMAY/might

Table10.8: TheusesofMUST

PrefaceTheaimofthisgrammaristoofferamodern,concise,butneverthelesswide-rangingdescriptionofthestructureofcontemporarystandardBritishandAmericanEnglish.ThebookisintendedforanyonewhoisinterestedinEnglishgrammar,andhasbeenwrittenwithoutanassumptiononmypartthatthereaderhasanypreviousknowledgeofgrammaticalconcepts.

Theaccountofgrammarpresentedinthisbookisdescriptive,notprescriptive:itdescribesthelanguageasitisusedtoday.Readershopingtofindconfirmationthattheso-calledsplitinfinitiveisanodiousmanifestationofthedeclineoftheEnglishlanguage—togivebutoneexampleofacommonusageshibboleth—willbedisappointed.TheviewtakenhereisthattheEnglishlanguageisnotastaticentity,butiscontinuallysubjecttoinevitablechange,whichisreflectedinitslexisandgrammar.

ItisnotpossibletowriteabooklikethiswithoutacknowledgingpreviousworkonEnglishgrammar.Theframeworkadoptedherereliesheavilyonthetwomostcompleteandin-depthaccountsofEnglishgrammarcurrentlyavailable,namelyRandolphQuirk,SidneyGreenbaum,GeoffreyLeech,andJanSvartvik’sComprehensiveGrammaroftheEnglishLanguage(1985)andRodneyHuddlestonandGeoffreyPullumetal.’sCambridgeGrammaroftheEnglishLanguage(2002).ThesegrammarsoffersophisticatedanddetaileddescriptionsofEnglishthatgofarbeyondthescopeofthepresentbook.Itshouldbenoted,however,thatIhavenotinallcasesfollowedthegrammaticalanalysespresentedinthesebooks.ThemajorpointsofdivergencearediscussedintheNotesandfurtherreadingsection.

IoweanenormousdebtofgratitudetoFlorAarts,PeterCollins,RodneyHuddleston,andGeoffreyLeech(inalphabeticalorder)forreadingtheentiremanuscriptandcommentingonitingreatdetail.Iamveryfortunatetohavereceivedthistremendouslyvaluablefeedbackfromsucheminentgrammarians,andtheirinputhasmadethisamuchbetterbookthanitwouldotherwisehavebeen.I’malsogratefultomyeditorsatOxfordUniversityPress,BenHarris,VickyDonald,RebeccaLaneandClareJenkins.FortheirhelpduringtheeditingstageIwouldliketothankJillBowieforhersuperbcopy-editing,HelenLiebeckforproofreading,andPhilAslettforcompilingthesubjectindex.

BASAARTS

UniversityCollegeLondonApril2010

NotationalconventionsandabbreviationsNotationalconventions

*

Anasteriskindicatesanimpossiblestructure,i.e.astructurethatdoesnotconformtothegrammaticalrulesofEnglish.Example:*Theylikestoread.InthisexamplethethirdpersonpluralSubjecttheyisfollowedbyaverbwithathirdpersonsingularinflectionalending.

Ø ThissymbolisusedtoindicateanimplicitSubject.Example:Iwant[Øtoreadit].

Ørel.Thisisusedtoindicateanimplicitrelativizedelement.Example:Thepower[thatØrelenablesthisunion]Coleridgecategorizedastheimagination.

ØsubThisisusedtoindicateamissingsubordinatingconjunctionthat.Example:Theythink[Øsubtheyarefunny].

¤Thissymbolisusedwheretheformlabelcanbeofdifferentkinds(thatis,wherethefunctioncanberealizedbydifferentkindsofforms).

arrowsTheseindicatemovement,e.g.passivization,extraposition,orraising.Example: toenjoycricket.Theunderscoresymbolisexplainedbelow.

brackets[…]

Bracketsareused:(1)toindicatewordsthattogetherformaconstituentphrase,clause,etc.Alabelledbracketingincludesasubscriptindicatorofthesyntacticstatusoftheconstituent.Example:[NPCats][VPeat[NPfish]];(2)toindicatethatalexicalitem,usuallyaverb,isfollowedbyaComplementwhichcontainsaparticularword.Example:HAVE[to]indicatesthattheverbHAVEisfollowedbyaComplementthatcontainsthewordto,e.g.Ihavetoleave.

capitals

Theseareused:(1)toindicatefunctionalgrammaticallabels,e.g.Subject,DirectObject;(2)semanticroles,e.g.Agent,Patient.

coindexingItemsthatarecoreferentialcanbecoindexed,i.e.bearthesamesubscriptletter,usuallyan‘i’.Example:Heishaveshimselfitwiceeveryday.

italics

Theseareused:(1)toindicatethefirsttimeaparticulartechnicaltermisused;(2)tocitewords,sentences,etc.aslinguisticforms;(3)toindicatewords,phrases,etc.thatrequirehighlighting.Forunderlineditalics,seebelow.

SMALLCAPS

Theseindicatelexemes(i.e.dictionarywords).Example:theformslaugh,laughs,laughed,andlaughingareinflectionalformsbelongingtothelexemeLAUGH.Thesmallcapsnotationwillbeusedforverbsthroughout,andforotherwordclasseswheneverrelevant.

underlineditalics

Withinitalicizedtechnicalterms,underliningisusedtodistinguishcitationsofparticularwords(orotherelements),e.g.existentialthere,–ingparticipleclauses.

underscore(‘_’)

Thissymbolindicatesa‘gap’intheclausewithwhichadisplacedelementisassociated.Examples:inWhatdidyousee_?thewh-word(seebelow)functionsastheDirectObjectoftheverbSEEandhasbeenfrontedtoformaninterrogativestructure;inthepassiveclauseTheflightwasbooked_bymethegapindicatesthepositionfromwhichtheDirectObjectoftheverbBOOKwasmoved.

wh-words Thistermisusedforasetofwordsmostofwhichbeginwiththeletterswh-,e.g.what,who,butwhichalsoincludeshow.

Abbreviations

A Adjunct

Adj/AdjP adjective/adjectivephrase

Adv/AdvP adverb/adverbphrase

CC ComplementClause

Comp Complement

D/DP determinative/determinativephrase

DET Determiner

DO DirectObject

EXT-A ExternalAdjunct

H Head

ICE-GB TheBritishcomponentoftheInternationalCorpusofEnglish

ind indicative

IO IndirectObject

MC matrixclause

N/NP noun/nounphrase

NICE AnacronymforNegation,Inversion,Code,Emphasisproperties

P/PP preposition/prepositionalphrase

PPi/PPt prepositionalphraseheadedbyanintransitive/transitivepreposition

PC PredicativeComplement

PCR Predicator

PPC PrepositionalPhraseasComplement

Pred Predicate

Predet Predeterminer

pres. present

ps. person

sing. singular

Subj Subject

subjve subjunctive

V-ing -ingparticipleformofaverb

V-ed/-en pastparticipleformofaverb

V/VP verb/verbphrase

PartI:Thebasics

Chapter1AnoverviewofEnglishgrammar

1.1Grammarandgrammarwriting

Grammarisconcernedwiththestructureofwords(morphology),andofphrasesandclauses(syntax).Thereisalongtraditionofgrammarwriting,startingwiththeancientGreeksandleadinguptothepresentday.Thistraditionhashadalastinginfluenceonhowlanguages—notjustEnglish—havebeendescribed.Thebookinfrontofyouisnoexception:itwilldescribethestructureofEnglishrelyingheavilyonthistraditioninmanydifferentways,notleastintermsoftheterminologyadopted.However,itisimportanttostressthatitdoesnotexclusivelybaseitselfontheclassicaltradition,becauseithaslongbeenacceptedthatweshouldnotassumethatthegrammaroftheclassicallanguages,especiallyLatin,shouldserveasamodelforthedescriptionofEnglish.ManygrammarsofEnglishwerewritteninLatinuptothemiddleoftheeighteenthcentury,thoughWilliamBullokar’sPamphletforGrammar(1586),thefirstgrammarofEnglishtobewritteninEnglish,isanexception.After1750grammariansincreasinglyrecognizedthatthedifferencesbetweenLatinandEnglisharetoogreattobeignored.AsanexampleofthemismatchbetweenEnglishandLatingrammar,considerthewordthe,themostfrequentwordintheEnglishlanguage.InEnglishthiswordbelongstotheclassofdeterminatives(seesection1.3),butinLatinthiswordclassdidnotexist,andsoithadtobeintroducedintogrammaticaldescriptionsofEnglish.ItisgenerallyacknowledgedthattheplaywrightBenJonsonwasthefirstpersontodoso(thoughheusedthemorefamiliarlabelarticle).

Inthehistoryofgrammarwritinganumberofdifferenttypesofgrammarcanbedistinguished.Schoolgrammarsaimtoteachbasicandoftensimplifiedgrammaticalpatterns.Veryoftentheyhaveaprescriptiveoutlook,ratherthanapurelydescriptiveone—thatis,theytelltheirreaderswhattodoandwhatnottodowhenspeakingorwritinginEnglish.Theywereusedverywidelyintheeighteenthandnineteenthcenturies.OneofthebestknownexampleswasLindleyMurray’swonderfullyentitledEnglishGrammar,AdaptedtotheDifferentClassesofLearners.WithanAppendix,ContainingRulesandObservationsforPromotingPerspicuityinSpeakingandWriting(1795).Stemmingfromthistradition,butmoreuptodateandmodern,arepedagogicalgrammars,usedinavarietyofeducationalsettings.Traditionalgrammarsaredetailedscholarlyworkswhichbelongtothenineteenthandearlytwentiethcenturies.Theyarecharacterizedbytheirlength,usuallyseveralweightyvolumes,andtheirextensiveuseofliteraryexamples.PrincipalamongthemisOttoJespersen’sAModernEnglishGrammaronHistoricalPrinciples(1909–1949).Theaimoftheoreticalgrammaristodiscoverthe(abstract)rulesandprinciplesunderlyingthestructure(andsometimesuse)oflanguage.Therearemanydifferenttypesoftheoreticalapproachestogrammar.Thebestknownisprobablythetheoryof

theAmericanlinguistNoamChomskywhichaimstoarriveatablueprintforamentallyencodedUniversalGrammarthatallhumanbeingsaregeneticallyendowedwith.

Althoughthepresentbookhasbeeninfluencedbyideasintheoreticalwork,itsoutlookisthesameasthatfoundinmoderndescriptivereferencegrammars.Suchgrammarsdescribethelanguageasitisusedtodaybyitsspeakers,anddonotaimtolegislateinmattersof‘correctgrammar’.Thus,whileyoumayfindadescriptionoftheso-calledsplitinfinitive(tocheerfullysinginthebath)inareferencegrammar,youwillnotbetoldtoavoidthisconstructiononthegroundsthatitis‘badEnglish’.Naturally,thisdoesnotmeanthateverythingutteredbyaspeakerofEnglishwillberegardedasacceptable.Ifsomeonedescribesapaintingas‘executedbrilliantwithalsovividlycolours’,thentheyareviolatingthegrammaticalrulesystemofEnglish.Youmaybewonderingatthispointwhethertheuseofthesplitinfinitive—orindeedmyuseofthepronountheyintheprecedingsentence—doesnotalsoviolatetherulesofEnglish.Theansweris‘no’,andthereasonisthattheuseofthesplitinfinitiveandtheuseofthepluralpronountheywithanon-specificsingularantecedentaresanctionedbywidespreadcurrentusage,theformermoresothanthelatter.Thethinkingunderlyingtheseobservationsisthatthegrammarofalanguageisshapedovertimebythespeakersofthatlanguage,notbyself-appointedindividualsorlearnedbodies.Theeffortsofthosewhohavetriedinthepasttoinfluencehowthelanguageshouldbeusedhavegenerallyfailed.JonathanSwift,whoproposedsettingupanAcademyinhis1712pamphletentitled‘AProposalforCorrecting,ImprovingandAscertainingtheEnglishTongue’,wasunsuccessful,andeventhelexicographerSamuelJohnson,whothoughthecouldimprovetheEnglishlanguagewhenhebeganhismagisterialDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage(publishedin1755),hadtogiveuponthatidea.JosephPriestleywasopposedtosettingupanAcademy,andhisattitudetousage,expressedinhisRudimentsofEnglishGrammar(1761),foreshadowedmodernthinkingwhenhewrotethattheonlystandardweneedtoadmitisthatofcustom.

Allowingthelanguagetorunitsowncoursemeansthatapreviouslyfrowned-uponusagecanbecomenormal.Fordifferentspeakersthiswillhappenatadifferentpace.Thus,whiletheinterrogativetaginnit,asinHeleftthecountry,innit?,usedinLondonandsoutheastBritain,isnotpartofstandardEnglishatpresent,overtimeitmaywellbecomeacceptableinthesamewaythatn’est-cepasinFrenchisacceptableasageneralizedtag.(Seesection4.1.1.8foranexplanationoftheterminterrogativetag.)AlesscontentiousexampleofusagethatisslowlymakingitswayintoEnglishisaparticularwaythattheso-calledprogressiveconstructionisused.ThisconstructioninvolvestheverbBEfollowedbyanotherverbthatendsin-ing,asinI’mwatchingtelevision.Inthepresenttenseitstypicaluseistoexpressthatasituationbeganinthepastandiscontinuingbeyondthepresentmoment.Recentlyithasbeenpossibletohearpeoplesay,forexample,I’mwantingtolearnaboutgrammar,wherethemoreestablishedpatternisIwanttolearnaboutgrammar.ThisnoveluseoftheprogressiveconstructionisalsofoundinthesloganI’mlovingit!,coinedbyapopularpurveyoroffastfood.Whileusagematterswillplayarolein

thisgrammar,theywillnotbethemainfocusofattention.

InsteadoffollowingtheclassicaltraditiontoocloselyIwillbedescribingthegrammarofstandardEnglishasasysteminitsownright,makinguseoftheinsightsofmodernlinguistics.AsnotedinthePreface,thedescriptiveframeworkadoptedhereisinfluencedbytwomajorgrammarsofEnglish,namelyQuirketal.’sComprehensiveGrammaroftheEnglishLanguage(1985)andHuddlestonandPullumetal.’sCambridgeGrammaroftheEnglishLanguage(2002).ThedescriptionwillfocusonthetwomainstandardvarietiesofEnglish:BritishEnglishandAmericanEnglish.Throughout,Iwilluseauthentic(occasionallyadapted)writtenandspokenlanguagedatatakenfromtwokindsofsourcestoillustrategrammaticalpoints.TheprimarysourceistheBritishcomponentoftheInternationalCorpusofEnglish(ICE-GB),basedattheSurveyofEnglishUsage,UniversityCollegeLondon.Thisisacollectionof500‘texts’(passagesof2,000words)ofgrammaticallyanalysedspokenandwrittenEnglishselectedfromvarioustypesofcategoriesoflanguageuse.ThestructureoftheICE-GBcorpusisoutlinedinAppendix2.Thesecondkindofsourceofexamplesincludesonlinebroadsheetnewspapers,newschannelssuchasBBCNews,andthelike.Thesourcesoftheexamplesarelistedatthebackofthebook.Aswesawabove,traditionalgrammarsoftenusedliteraryexamples,whilemoremoderntextsongrammaroftenusemade-upexamples.Usingauthenticexamplesispreferablebecausetheyofferaninsightintohowlanguageisusednaturallyinrealsituations.

ThegrammarofEnglishisacomplexsysteminwhichallthecomponentsinteract.Inordertohelpreadersgetagriponthissystemtheremainderofthischapterwillconsistofanoverviewofthebasiccomponentsofgrammar.Thesectionnumberscorrespondtothechapternumbers.PartsII,III,andIVofthebookwillthenofferadetailedelaborationofthissystem.ItisimportanttomentionfromtheoutsetthatthegrammarofEnglishisbynomeansfixedandagreedupon,andnodescriptionofitcaninanywayberegardedasdefinitive.Toguidereadersinunderstandingthedifferencesinthetreatmentofparticulargrammaticalphenomenainotherframeworks,IwillincludebriefdiscussionsofothertreatmentsintheNotesandfurtherreadingsectionattheendofthebook.

1.2Wordstructureandword-formation

Westartwithadiscussionofwords.Consider(1)below:

1Theverynoisyvisitorcontinuallyinsultedthereceptionistandthecaretakerinthelibrary.

Trivially,thisstructurecontainsfourteenorthographicwords,thatis,wordsastheyappearinwritingseparatedbyblankspaces.Inspeechallthewordsarestrungtogetherwithoutpauses,andsomeonewhodoesnotknowEnglishwillnotknowwherethewordboundariesare.Asforthemeaningsofthewordsin(1),ifyoudidnotknowaparticularword,youwouldconsultadictionary.Inallcases,exceptfor

insulted,youwouldlookforthewordinthedictionaryundertheforminwhichitappearsin(1).Thus,inthecaseofnoisyyouwouldlookunderNOISY;inthecaseofreceptionistyouwouldlookunderRECEPTIONIST;butinthecaseofinsultedyouwouldlookunderINSULT.Wordswhichcanactasdictionaryentriesarecalledlexemes(indicatedaboveinSMALLCAPS),whereaswordswhichperformaparticulargrammaticalrole(e.g.‘presenttenseform’)arecalledinflectionalforms(orgrammaticalwords).TheinflectionalformsassociatedwiththelexemeINSULTare:insult,insults,insulted,andinsulting.Noticethatinsultedin(1)isanorthographicwordaswellasaninflectionalform(namelythepasttenseformoftheverbINSULT),butnotalexeme.Manywords,butnotall,haveaninternalstructure.Forexample,thewordinsultedendsin-edwhichiscalledapasttenseinflection.Thiswordthuscommunicatesatleasttwothings:themeaning‘offendverbally’,and‘pastness’.TheinternalstructureofwordswillbediscussedinChapter2,aswellasword-formationprocessessuchasderivation,compounding,andconversion.

1.3Wordclassesandsimplephrases

Traditionallywordsarecategorizedintopartsofspeechwhicharealsocalledwordclasses.Englishhasthefollowingwordclasses:noun,determinative,adjective,verb,preposition,adverb,conjunction,andinterjection.Thewordclasslabelsarereferredtoasformlabels.

Youwillhavecomeacrossthenotionofanounasanamingword,thatis,awordthatnamesaperson,place,orthing.In(1)thewordsvisitor,receptionist,caretaker,andlibraryarenouns.Infrontofvisitorwehavethreeitems.Firstwehavethewordthewhichisanexampleofadeterminative,thoughyoumaybemorefamiliarwiththetermdefinitearticle(theindefinitearticleisa).Wealsohavenoisywhichisadescriptivewordthattellsyoumoreaboutthepersonthatthenounvisitorrefersto.Wecallsuchwordsadjectives.Theadjectivenoisyisitselfmodifiedbyverywhichbelongstothewordclassofadverbs.Next,wehavecontinually.Thisisalsoanadverb,butthistimeitmodifiestheinflectionalforminsulted,whichwecalledaverb.WewillseeinChapter3thatadverbscanmodifyitemsfrommorethanonetypeofwordclass.Linkingthephrasesthereceptionistandthecaretakerwehavethewordand,whichisaconjunction,morespecificallyacoordinatingconjunction.Wewillneedtodistinguishsuchconjunctionsfromsubordinatingconjunctions.Thelatterarewordslikethat,whether,andifwhichcanintroduceasubordinateclause,asin(2).

2Ithink[clausethathesingswithachoir].

AclauseisagrammaticalstructurethatexemplifiesaSubject–Predicaterelationship,thatis,astructurewhere‘somethingissaidabout’(‘predicatedof’)aSubject.Simplesentenceslike(1)containonlyoneclause,whereas(2)containstwoclauses,namelythestructureasawhole,andthestringthathesingswithachoir.Finally,wewillsaythatin(1)thewordin,whichherecarriesaspatialmeaning,isapreposition.Werefertothesequenceenclosedinsquarebracketsin(2)asalabelledbracketing

.Thebracketsindicatethatthestringofwordsisaconstituent(section1.4)whosegrammaticalstatusisindicatedbythesubscriptlabel.

Wordsaregroupedtogetherintophrases.Examplesofnounphrases(NPs)in(1)aretheverynoisyvisitor,thereceptionist,thecaretaker,andthelibrary.Thestringverynoisyisanadjectivephrase(AdjP).Aswehaveseen,thewordsveryandcontinuallyareadverbs,buttheyarealsoadverbphrases(AdvPs).InChapter3wewillseethatawordonitsowncanalsobeaphrase.Thesequenceinthelibraryin(1)isaprepositionalphrase(PP).Afinaltypeofphraseistheverbphrase(VP).InChapter3wewillseethattheverbphrasein(1)doesnotconsistonlyoftheverbinsulted,butalsoincludesthephrasescontinually,thereceptionistandthecaretaker,andinthelibrary.EveryphrasehasanelementthatfunctionsasitsHead.Thisisthemostprominentelementwhichthephraseasawholeisa‘kindof’.ThusinthephrasethenoisyvisitortheelementvisitoristheHead,andthisisbecauseanoisyvisitorisakindofvisitor.Nounphrasesareheadedbynouns,adjectivephrasesareheadedbyadjectives,verbphrasesareheadedbyverbs,andsoon.

1.4Grammaticalfunctions,semanticroles,andtreediagrams

Consider(3)below.

3Thereceptionistandthecaretakercontinuallyinsultedtheverynoisyvisitorinthelibrary.

Herewehavethesamewordsasin(1),butinadifferentorder.Thisresultsinaradicallydifferentmeaning.Howcanweaccountforthis?Inordertoexplainwhywecanhavethesamewordsandyetadifferentmeaningin(1)and(3),weneedtoappealtoafewfurthergrammaticalconcepts,namelygrammaticalfunctions.In(1)wesaythattheSubjectisthestringofwordstheverynoisyvisitor,whilethereceptionistandthecaretakertakenasaunitfunctionsastheDirectObject.(NoticethatI’veusedcapitallettersatthebeginningofwordsthatarefunctionterms.)WefurthermoresaythattheverbinsultedfunctionsasaPredicatorandthestringcontinuallyinsultedthereceptionistandthecaretakerinthelibraryfunctionsasPredicate.ThePredicatorfunctionisalwaysrealizedbyaverb,whilethePredicateiseasilyidentifiedaseverythingexcludingtheSubject.In(3)thereceptionistandthecaretakeristheSubject,whiletheverynoisyvisitoristheDirectObject.

WhatareSubjects,andwhatareDirectObjects?AsapreliminarydefinitionwewillsaythatinthesimplestclausesexpressingactionstheSubjectreferstothepersonwhocarriesouttheactionexpressedbytheverb(the‘Agent’),whilethereferentoftheDirectObjectundergoestheactionexpressedbytheverb(the‘Patient’).Thenotions‘Agent’and‘Patient’arecalledsemanticroles(alsoindicatedbycapitalletters).Wecannowsaythat(1)and(3)donotmeanthesamebecausetheactiondenotedbytheverbinsultediscarriedoutbydifferentindividualsinthetwoexamples,andfurthermoretheundergoeroftheassaultinthetwocasesisadifferentperson(orpersons).Whataboutcontinuallyandinthelibrary?Thesephrasessupply

circumstantialinformation,andwewillsaythattheyfunctionasAdjuncts.

Thestructureofphrasesandclausescanberepresentedinso-calledtreediagrams.Asimplenounphraselikethereceptionistcanberepresentedusingthetreediagramin(4).

4

In(4)thefunctionandformlabelsareindicatedjustabovethelexicalitems.TreediagramswillbediscussedinChapter4,aswillthenotionofconstituent,definedasastringofwordsthatcanbeshowntobehaveasaunitofsyntacticstructure.

1.5Complexphrasesandcoordination

Simplephraseswereintroducedinsection1.3above.InChapter5ofthisgrammarmorecomplexphrasalstructureswillbedealtwith,exemplifiedbythenounphrasesshownbelow.

5ourreviews

6ourfavourablereviews

7ourfavourablereviewsofthemarket

8ourfavourablereviewsofthemarketthatwerepublishedlastweek

9allourfavourablereviewsofthemarketthatwerepublishedlastweek

10perhapsallourfavourablereviewsofthemarketthatwerepublishedlastweek

Withinphraseswedistinguishthefollowingfunctions:Head(inbold),Complement(doublyunderlined),Adjunct(underlined),and,innounphrasesonly,Determiner(italics),Predeterminer(italics+underline),andExternalAdjunct(bold+underline).Themotivationforassigningdifferentfunctionlabelstothehighlightedstringswillbediscussedindetail.Inthischapterwewillalsolookatcoordinatedstructures,thatis,phrasesandclauseslinkedbyacoordinatingconjunction.

1.6Clausetypesandnegation

Languagecanbeusedtodoawiderangeofthings.Forexample,ifIsayPaullivesinLondon,thenI’musingadeclarativeclausetomakeastatement.Icanalsouseaninterrogativeclausetoaskaquestion(DoesPaulliveinLondon?Whatdidtheybuy?),animperativeclausetoissueanorder(Leavethehouseatonce),oranexclamativeclausetoutteranexclamation(Whatanicehouseyoulivein!).Theseparticularstructuresarecalledclausetypes.Whatisinterestingisthatthevariousclausetypesdonothaveaone-to-onerelationshipwiththeusesthatcanbemadeofthem.Forexample,ifsomeoneasksyou‘Areyousurethatyourchildrenaresafelyinbed?’theymaybeaskingasimplequestion,butinasituationinwhichapersonwishestointimidateanotherperson,itcouldbeconstruedasathreat.Theseexamplesshowthatlanguagemustbestudiedsituationallybecausethemeaningofexpressionsinparticularcontextsoftendependsoncircumstances.WewillseehowthisworksinChapter6,whichwillalsodiscussnegation.

1.7Finitesubordinateclauses

Insection1.3abovewedefinedsimpleclausesasgrammaticalstructuresthatinstantiateaSubject–Predicaterelationship.Aswehaveseen,theexamplein(2)containstwoclauses,eachofwhichexpressesitsownSubject–Predicaterelationship.Ontheonehandwehavethematrixclause,whichspanstheentirestructure.Withinthisclausethereisasubordinateclause,namelythestringofwordsintroducedbythat.Wewillsaythatthisclauseisfinitebyvirtueofitslexicalverbcarryingapresenttenseinflection.TheformsandfunctionsoffinitesubordinateclauseswillbediscussedinChapter7.

1.8Non-finiteandverblesssubordinateclauses

Herearesomefurtherexamplesofstructurescontainingsubordinateclauses.

11Ijustwant[youtoalterthescenarioveryslightly].

12Isupposeinawaythatgavethemsomethingincommon,andperhapsmadehim[feelprotectivetowardsher].

13Weare[trainingmoreofouryoungpeople].

14Ihave[benefittedfromthis].

Inthesecasesthebracketedconstituentsarenon-finiteclauses.Wedistinguishfourtypesofnon-finiteclause,namelyto-infinitiveclauses(exemplifiedin(11)),bareinfinitiveclauses((12)),-ingparticipleclauses((13)),andpastparticipleclauses((14)).Suchclausesdonotcarrytense.Theformsandfunctionsofnon-finitesubordinateclauseswillbediscussedinChapter8,aswillclauseswithoutaverb.

IturnnowtothechaptersinPartIVofthebookwhichdealwiththeinteractionofgrammarandmeaning(semantics)inEnglish.

1.9Tenseandaspect

Timeisareal-worldsemanticconceptthatstructuresourexistence.Languagescharacteristicallyusethegrammaticalsystemoftensetoexpresstime.Thus,aswesawabove,theverbforminsultedin(1)grammaticallyencodesthattheeventreportedoccurredatsomepointinthepast.Thereisnofurtherspecificationofwhentheverbalabusetookplace,thoughitcouldeasilybesupplied,forexamplebyaddingthephraselastweekoryesterday.Englishhasonlytwogrammaticallyencodedtenses,thepresenttenseandthepasttense.

AsusersofEnglishweoftenneedagrammaticaldevicetomakereferencetothewayaparticulareventunfoldsintime.Thisiscalledaspect.Forexample,ifwewishtoexpressthataneventtookplaceinthepast,buthasrelevanceatthepresenttime,wecanusetheEnglishpresentperfectconstructionexemplifiedin(15):

15Wehavepursuedalimitedwarforlimitedobjectives.

Compare(15)to(16):

16Wepursuedalimitedwarforlimitedobjectives.

Thedifferencebetween(15)and(16)isthatweviewtheeventin(15)asbeinginsomewaystillrelevantatthemomentofspeaking(forexampleasanexplanationofthereasonwhythetroopscanreturnhometomorrow).Thisiscalledperfectaspect.Anexamplelike(16)islikelytobeusedwhenpursuanceofthewarisviewedasbeingwhollyinthepast,thatis,overanddonewith.Noticethatwecanaddaphraselikesincelastweekto(15),butnotto(16).Conversely,wecanaddyearsagoto(16),butnotto(15).

Englishalsohasprogressiveaspect,whichisusedtopresentaneventasbeinginprogressoveracertaintimespan,asin(17).

17Shewassquinting.

Whatthismeansisthatatsomepointinthepastthepersonreferredtoasshestartedsquintingandthiscontinuedforawhile.Thebeginningandendpointsarenotspecified,thoughtheycouldbe,forexamplebyadding‘whilewewereinthemeetingbetween8and9a.m.yesterday’.Aspectisagrammaticalnotion,whichreferstothewaytheassociatedsemanticnotionofaspectualityisimplementedlinguistically.

1.10Mood

Muchofthetime,languageisusedtocommunicatestraightforwardstatementsoffact.However,weoftenneedtotalkaboutsituationswhichhavenothappenedyet,orarehypothetical,uncertain,desirable,ornecessary,asinthefollowingexamples.

18Youmaybeleftoutofitbecauseyouareafreelancer.

19Youmustkeepthemmoist.

20Iwillleavethedecisionuptoyou.

In(18)thespeakerisexpressinga‘possibility’;in(19)an‘obligation’isimposed;whilein(20)a‘resolve’isexpressed.Thesearethreeofanumberofconceptsthatbelongtotherealmofmodality.Thisisasemanticnotion(justlike‘time’and‘aspectuality’),whichisimplementedinlanguagebymeansofmood.Inmanylanguagesmoodisindicatedbyverbendings,butinEnglishmodalityisprincipallyexpressedbyagroupofverbscalledmodalauxiliaries,namelyCAN/could,MAY/might,SHALL/should,WILL/would,andMUST.ThesewillbediscussedinChapter10,alongwithotherwaysofexpressingmodality.

1.11Informationstructuring

Thewordsin(1)alladduptoexpressameaning,namelythepropositionthattherewassomeindividual,namelyavisitortoalibrary,whoonsomeoccasioninthepastverballyoffendedareceptionistandacaretaker.Asfarastheirmeaningisconcerned,thewordsin(1)eachhaveacontributiontomake,buttheyarenotequalinthisregard.Thus,whileitiseasytosaywhatthemeaningofawordlikevisitoris,youwouldbehardputtosaywhatthemeans.Whataboutthemeaningofthestructureasawhole?Althoughthewordsindividuallycontributemeanings,itshouldbeobviousthatthewordsbythemselvesarenotenough.Inotherwords,itisnotenoughtosaythatthemeaningof(1)issimplythesumtotalofthemeaningsofitsparts.Thereasonisthatifweuseexactlythesamewords,butinadifferentorder,asin(3),repeatedhereas(21),themeaningchanges.

21Thereceptionistandthecaretakercontinuallyinsultedtheverynoisyvisitorinthelibrary.

However,itisimportanttoseethatachangeinorderdoesnotalwaysresultinachangeofmeaning,as(22),avariantof(1),shows.

22Thereceptionistandthecaretakerwerecontinuallyinsultedbytheverynoisyvisitorinthelibrary.

Thisisthepassiveversionof(1).Noticethat(1)and(22)meanexactlythesameintermsofwhathappenstowhom.Wewillsaythattheyhavethesamepropositionalmeaning.ThisraisesthequestionofwhyusersofEnglishhaveachoicebetweenthesetwostructures.Theansweristhat(1)and(22)presenttheinformationcontainedintheminslightlydifferentways.Thus,(1)canbesaidtohavethenoisyvisitorasitstopicofinterest,while(22)hasthereceptionistandthecaretakerasitstopic.Speakersveryfrequentlyvarythestructureoftheirutterances,whichgivestheiraddresseesimportant(subconscious)cluesastowhatrequirestheirattention.In

thecaseofthepassive,changingtheorderofthevariousconstituentsdoesnotresultinachangeofpropositionalmeaning,merelyinachangeofhighlighting.FurtherexamplesofvariationsinconstituentorderwhichaffectthewayinformationispresentedwillbeexploredinChapter11.

PartII:Formandfunction

Chapter2Wordstructureandword-formationInthischapterwewilltakealookinsidewordstoseehowtheyarestructured.Wordstructureisstudiedundertheheadingofmorphologyinlinguistics.ThistermisgenerallythoughttohavebeenintroducedinthenineteenthcenturybytheGermanauthorGoethe.Itisusednotonlyinlinguistics,butalsointhegeologicalandbiologicalsciences,andmeans‘thestudyofform’;comparebiology,psychology,criminology,andsoon.Diagrammatically,wecanrepresentthefieldofmorphologyasinFigure2.1:

Figure2.1Thefieldofmorphology

2.1Morphology

Recallfromthepreviouschapterthatwecandistinguishbetweenthefollowingtypesofwords:

•Orthographicwordsarewordsthatappearonapageorscreen,separatedbyblankspaces.

•Inadictionarywelookupthemeaningofaword(orofwordsgrammaticallyrelatedtoit)underanentrycalledalexemeordictionaryword(writteninSMALLCAPITALSinthisbook).Thus,welookupthewordthere(whichhasnovariants)underTHERE,catsunderCAT,andtheverbformswork,works,worked,andworkingunderWORK.

•Inflectionalforms(alsocalledgrammaticalwords)arewordsthatplayaparticulargrammaticalrole:forexample,catsisthepluralofthenounCAT;workedisthepasttenseformoftheverbWORK.

Inflectionisconcernedwiththeformslexemescantake.Forexample,theformsofthenounlexemeCATarecatandcats,andtheformsoftheverblexemeWORKarework,works,worked,andworking.Theendingsonthesewords(-s,-ed,-ing)arecalledaffixes.Morespecifically,theyareinflectionalsuffixes.Theywillbediscussedinsection2.2.

Considernextpre-inPREHEATandun-inUNHAPPY.Thesearederivationalaffixes.Byaddingthesetoalexicalbase(anelementtowhichaffixescanbeappended)wederiveanewlexeme.Derivationalaffixescanbeprefixesorsuffixes.Asthediagramaboveshows,derivationisonetypeofword-formation,abranchofmorphologythatdealswiththecreationofnewlexemes,alongwithcompounding,conversion,andafewminortypes.Word-formationprocesseswillbediscussedinsection2.3.

2.2Inflection

Inflectionisanotionwhichisconcernedwiththealternativeforms,calledinflectionalforms,thatlexemescantake,asdeterminedbythesyntacticenvironmenttheyoccurin.Inflectionisamorphosyntacticnotion,whichmeansthatitisaphenomenonthatisrelevantbothtosyntaxandmorphology.Inflectionsaretypicallyrealizedbydifferentsuffixes.Aswehaveseen,wecanaddapluralsuffixtocatresultingincats.IntheclauseCatsareindependentanimalsthepluralformofthenouncatrequirestheverbBEalsotobeinthepluralform.Thisisamatterofsyntax.Theshapeofparticularinflectionalforms(spellingandpronunciation)isamatterofmorphology.

2.2.1Verbinflections

2.2.1.1ThepersonsysteminEnglish

ThepersonsystemofgrammarcanbeshownasinTable2.1.

Table2.1:Thepersonsystem

Thefirstpersonsingularreferstothespeaker.Inthepluralwereferstoagroupofpeoplewhichincludesthespeaker.Thesecondpersonreferstothepersonaddressed,eitheroneperson(singular)oragroup(plural).Thethirdpersonsingulartypicallyreferstoapersonotherthanthespeakerorthepersonbeingaddressed.Apartfromhe,she,andit,referentialexpressionslikethecat,thechurch,andPaularealsothirdpersonsingular.Inthepluraltheytypicallyreferstoagroupofpeopleotherthanthespeakerandaddressee.Nounphrasesheadedbypluralnouns(e.g.thecats)arealsothirdpersonplural.

2.2.1.2Tensedandnon-tensedverbforms

Considerthefollowingexample.

1Hisrefusaltoresign,compoundedbyhisre-election,insultseveryonewhotruly

holdsEnglishcricketdear.

The-sendingontheverbisaverbalinflectionalaffix,andinsultsisaninflectionalformofthelexicalverbINSULT.Itisamatterofsyntaxin(1)thattheverbendsin-sbecausealllexicalverbswiththirdpersonsingularSubjects(seesection1.4)takethisendinginthepresenttense.However,itisamatterofmorphologythatwecanspeakofanendingontheverb(anaffix)withtheshape-s.

WecandisplayalltheformsforEnglishverbsinagridliketheoneshowninTable2.2fortheverbINSULT.

Table2.2:TheparadigmfortheregularverbINSULT

Suchgridsarecalledparadigms,whichsomereadersmaybefamiliarwithfromlearningforeignlanguages.Inmanylanguagestheverbalparadigmsdisplaydifferentformsforeachpersoninthesingularandplural,butEnglishdoesnothavearichverbalinflectionalsystem,asTable2.2illustrates.

Verbalinflectionalformscanbetensedornon-tensed.Astheirnamessuggest,presenttenseformsandpasttenseformsaretensed.Thepresenttenseformsofregularlexicalverbsoccurintwoshapes:withtheending-sforthirdpersonsingularSubjects(-esforsomeverbs,e.g.Do/does,Go/goes,SNATCH/snatches,HURRY/hurries),andintheplainpresentformforotherpersons.Regularverbshavepasttenseformsendingin-ed,whereasirregularverbstypicallyformtheirpasttenses(andpastparticiples,seebelow)bymeansofavowelmodification(calledablaut),astheparadigmforBREAKinTable2.3shows.

Table2.3:TheparadigmfortheirregularverbBREAK

SeeAppendix1forafulllistofirregularverbs.

WewillsaythatlexicalverbsagreewiththeirSubjectsinthepresenttenseforpersonandnumber,althoughtheagreementisonlyvisibleonthethirdpersonsingularformoftheverb.ThereisnoagreementbetweenSubjectsandverbsinthepasttense,becausetheinflectionalformsareidenticalforallSubjects.However,theverbBEisanexception:itspasttenseformsdoagreewiththeirSubject.Wehavewasforthe

firstandthirdpersonsingular,wereelsewhere.

Thenon-tensedformsaretheparticipleandtheplainformoftheverb.Wedistinguish-ingparticiplesfrompastparticiples.Theformerendin-ing,astheirnamesuggests,whereasthelatterendin-edinthecaseofregularverbs,andin-en(andanumberofothershapes)inthecaseofirregularverbs.ParticiplesoccurastheitalicizeditemsintheconstructionsexemplifiedinTable2.4.

Theprogressiveconstruction:BE+-ingparticipleformofaverb(V-ing)Example(a):Britishsupermarketsaresellingsushi,butnotastheJapaneseknowit.

Theperfectconstruction:perfectHAVE+pastparticipleformofaverb(V-ed/-en)Example(b):Therhetorichaschanged.

Thepassiveconstruction:passiveBE+pastparticipleformofaverb(V-ed/-en)(byNP)Example(c):MrFortywasreportedforcarelessdriving.

Table2.4:Theprogressive,perfect,andpassiveconstructions

Theprogressiveconstructionexpressesanongoingsituation,whilethepresentperfectconstructionintheexampleaboveisusedtosignalthattheeventinquestiontookplaceinthepastandhaspresentresults.(Otherperfectconstructionswillbediscussedinsections3.6.3.3and9.3.1.)Thepassiveconstructionisusedasameansofhighlightingaparticularunitinaclause.TheconstructionsinTable2.4andtheirmeaningswillbediscussedandexemplifiedfurtherinchapters4,8,9,and11.

Thenon-tensedplainformoftheverbisusedininfinitive,subjunctive,andimperativeclauses.Theinfinitiveexemplifiedin(2)isprecededbythewordto.Wecallthistheto-infinitive.

2Iwouldn’twanthimtoleaveherforme,butwhenImethimshe’dalreadylefthim.

Whentheinfinitiveoccursaftermodalverbs(seesection1.10),asin(3),andafterafewotherverbs,itiscalledthebareinfinitive.

3Thesemethodsmaymeanverylittletoyou.

Infinitivescanoccurinawiderrangeofstructures.ThesewillbediscussedinChapter8.

Noticethattheshapeoftheinflectionalformsforthepasttenseandpastparticiplesisthesameforregularverbs(e.g.insulted/insulted).WeneverthelessdistinguishtwoinflectionalformsherebecauseirregularverbsinEnglishoftenhavetwodifferentshapesfortheseinflectionalforms(e.g.broke/broken).

Theplainpresentandtheplainformoflexicalverbsalsohavethesameshape,as(4)and(5)show.

4Theyinsultuswhenevertheycan.

5Theywillinsultus,I’msureofit.

IntheformerwehaveaplainpresentformoftheverbINSULT,whilethelatterhasaplainform.Again,weregardtheseasbeingtwodifferentinflectionalforms.ThereasonforthisisthatthereisatleastoneverbinEnglish,namelyBE,whichhasawiderrangeofshapesforitspresenttenseforms.Ithasthreeformsinthepresenttensesingular,andoneform,namelyare,fortheplural(seeTable2.5).Theplainformisbe.ItisbecausetheverbBEhasaplainformwhichdoesnotshareitsshapewithanyofthepresenttenseformsthatweneedtodistinguishtheplainformasadistinctinflectionalform.AndifwedosoforBEweshoulddosoforallverbs.

Table2.5:ThepresenttenseformsoftheverbBE

Noticethattheplainpresentformisalwaystensed,whereastheplainformisalwaysnon-tensed.

2.2.1.3Onso-called‘subjunctiveverbforms’

ReadersmayhavenoticedthatIhavemadenomentionofthe‘subjunctiveverb’,atermtraditionallyusedfortheunderlinedverbinthebracketedportionin(6).

6Hisfriendsshoulddemand[thathegetjustice].

Abracketedclauseliketheonein(6)isusedinasituationinwhichaspeakeristalkingaboutastateofaffairsthathewantstoobtain,butwhichdoesnotobtainatthemomentofspeaking.Inasituationinwhichsomeoneutters(6),thepersonreferredtoashehasnotreceivedjustice.Itisimportanttostressthatmanyspeakerswouldopttousethethirdpersonsingularformgetsinstead,asin(7),especiallyinBritishEnglish.

7Hisfriendsshoulddemandthathegetsjustice.

Thisisperfectlyacceptable,andthereisnodifferenceinmeaning.

Theverbinthehighlightedclausein(6)istraditionallycalledapresentsubjunctive

verb,alabelwhichwewillnotbeusing.Thereasonisthattheinflectionalformsoftheso-called‘presentsubjunctive’arethesameforeachperson.Thereisnodistinctinflectionalformforit.Whenthishappenswespeakofsyncretism.Theinflectionalformin(6)istheplainform,andwecallthebracketedclausein(6)asubjunctiveclause.Thenotionofsubjunctiveclauseisuseful,becauseforthethirdpersonsingulartheformthatoccursinasubjunctiveclausediffersfromtheformthatappearsinanon-subjunctiveclausewithwhichitcanbecontrasted,suchasthethat-clausein(7),wheretheverbendsin-s.Inaddition,compare(8)and(9).

8Hisfriendsshoulddemand[thathenotbearrested].

9Hisfriendsshoulddemand[thatheisnotarrested].

Inthenegatedsubjunctivethat-clausein(8)thenegativewordnotprecedesaformofBE,whereasitfollowsonein(9),whichdoesnotinvolveasubjunctivesubordinateclause,butanordinarydeclarativeclause(sections1.6and6.1).

Contrast(6)with(10).

10Iwishwehadmoreofthatsortofcompetitioninthefamilyofnations.

IntraditionalgrammartheverbhadiscalledapastsubjunctiveverbwhoseappearanceistriggeredbytheverbWISH.However,inEnglish,‘pastsubjunctive’formsareindistinguishablefrompasttenseforms.WewillthereforesaythatEnglishdoesnothaveapastsubjunctiveverbinflection.Unlikewiththe‘presentsubjunctive’,inthiscasewewillnotrecognizepastsubjunctiveclausesinEnglish.Thereasonisthatwecannotcontrastaclausecontaininga‘pastsubjunctiveverb’withaclausecontainingapasttenseformoftheverb,inthewaythatwecontrasted(6)and(7),becausetheinflectionalformsareidentical.

Whatabouttheverbformwerein(11)?

11Iratherthinkyouwish[itweretrue].

ThisformoftheverbBE,inthefirstorthirdpersonsingular,canbeseenasarelicofthepastsubjunctive.Noticethatsubjunctiveclausescanbemainclauses(Heavenforbid,GodsavetheQueen),butagainonlyasfossilizedconstructions.

2.2.1.4Thetraditionalmoodsindicative,subjunctive,andimperative

Somereadersmaybefamiliarwiththenotionsindicative,subjunctive,andimperative,andthinkofthemasthemoodsofEnglish,asintraditionalgrammar.RecallfromChapter1thatmoodisthegrammaticalimplementationofthesemanticnotionofmodalitywhichisconcernedwitharangeofmeaningsinEnglishsuchas‘possibility’,‘obligation’,‘intention’,‘necessity’,andthelike.Thelabelsindicative,subjunctive,andimperativewereappliedtoverbformsintraditionalgrammars,suchthattheyrecognized‘indicativeverbforms’,‘subjunctiveverbforms’,and

‘imperativeverbforms’.Indicativeverbformsweresaidtobetypicallyusedinclausesthatmakestatementsbelievedtobetruebythespeaker(‘unmodalized’statements);subjunctiveverbforms,asin(6)and(10),weresaidtobeusedinclausesthatexpressthespeaker’sattitudeoropiniontowardswhatwasbeingsaid;andimperativeverbformsweresaidtobeusedinclausesexpressingcommands.Fromwhathasbeensaidaboveitwillbeclearthatitisbettertoregardmoodasanon-inflectionalnotion.(Theoneexceptiontothisistheverbwere,usedinexampleslike(11).)Englishprincipallygrammaticallyimplementsmoodthroughtheuseofclausetypesormodalauxiliaryverbs.Forexample,ratherthansaythatspeakersuseindicativeverbformstomakeassertions,wewillsaythattheytypicallyusedeclarativeclausestodoso.Thus,ifIutter(12)I’msayingsomethingaboutastateofaffairsintheworldwhichIbelievetobetrue.

12Everyonelikesflattery.

Thelabels‘subjunctive’and‘imperative’likewisedonotapplytoinflections,aswehavealreadyseen,buttoclausalconstructions.Althoughthereisno‘subjunctiveclausetype’,wedorecognizean‘imperativeclausetype’.(Notethatby‘clausalconstruction’Imeanastringofwordsthatformaclause,whereas‘clausetype’isagrammaticaltermwhichwillbediscussedinChapter6.)TheconceptsofmoodandmodalitywillbediscussedfurtherinChapter10.

2.2.1.5Theconceptsfiniteandnon-finite

Wenowturntotheconceptsfiniteandnon-finite,Thetermfinitemeans‘finished’(fromtheLatinfinitus)or‘limited’.Traditionally,‘finiteness’isconcernedwithvariationforpersonandnumber,andisappliedtoverbs,inthattheytakeondifferentinflectionalformsdependingonthepersonandnumberoftheirSubjects.However,inpresent-dayEnglishitmakesmuchmoresensetospeakoffiniteandnon-finiteclauses(orconstructions),sincetheverbalparadigmscontainalmostnoformswithdistinctendings.Asageneralizationwecansaythatanyclausethatistensedisalsofinite.However,notallfiniteclausesaretensed.Specifically,subjunctiveclauses(cf.thebracketedportionin(6))andimperativeclauses(e.g.Openthedoor;seesection6.3)arefinite,butnottensed.Despitenotcontainingatensedverb,subjunctiveclausescanbeconsideredtobefinitebecausetheyalternatewithtensedclauses(cf.(7)),andbecausetheyresemblethestructureoftypicaltensedclausesintworespects:theymusthaveaSubject,andtheytakethesamesubordinatorassometensedclausesdo,namelythat.Imperativeclausesarelessclearlyfinite,butwecanconsiderthemassuchbecausetheyalwaysoccurasmainclauses,thoughnotethatthefactthattheytypicallylackaSubjectdetractsfromthisobservation.

Non-finiteclausesareclausesthatdonotcontainatensedverb,andarealwayssubordinate(section1.3).Aswesawinsection1.8,werecognizefourtypes,showninTable2.6withexamples.

Typeofnon-finite

clause Example

to-infinitiveclause (a)Wouldanybodyliketoeat?

bareinfinitiveclause (b)Theycanstopatanypoint.

-ingparticipleclause (c)Wearesellingthem.

pastparticipleclause Perfect:

(d)Sowehaveplayedourpartinthehistoryofcricket.

Passive:

(e)Shewasdelayedbytraindifficulties.

Table2.6:Non-finiteclauses

Structurescontainingnon-finiteclauseswillbediscussedindetailinChapter8.

2.2.2Nouninflections

Englishnounsdisplaytwokindsofinflections,namelythosefornumber(singular/plural)andforcase(nominative/accusative/genitive).

2.2.2.1Number:plurals

Table2.7showswaysofformingthepluralinEnglish.Thelistsarenotexhaustive.

Regularpluralin-sor-esgroup–groups;idea–ideas;theme–themes;bus–buses;class–classes;potato–potatoes

Withachangeofvowelfoot–feet;man–men;tooth–teeth

Withamodificationofthebase-finalvowel(-y>-ies)activity–activities;body–bodies(butnotif-yisprecededbyavowel:boy>

boys)

Withachangeordoublingofthebase-finalconsonantknife–knives;life–lives;wife–wives;quiz–quizzes

Singularisthesameasthepluralaircraft,bison,deer,series,sheep,trout

Pluralswithoutformalmarkingcattle,people,police

Pluralswithirregularsuffixesbrother–brethren;child–children;ox–oxen

Foreignpluralsalumnus–alumni;antenna–antennae(alsoantennas);criterion–criteria;datum–data(pluralalsousedasasingular);index–indices;kibbutz–kibbutzim;mafioso–mafiosi;tableau–tableaux;thesis–theses

Table2.7:Plural-formation

SomeEnglishnounsoccuronlyintheplural.Thesearetheso-calledpluraliatantum.Amongthemare:auspices,binoculars,jeans,scissors,trousers,valuables.

2.2.2.2Case:nominative,accusative,andgenitive

OldEnglishhadanextensivecasesystem,butinModernEnglishthesystemismuchlessrich.Nominativecaseandaccusativecaseshowuponlyonpronouns,whichalsohavespecialgenitiveforms,asTable2.8showsforpersonalpronouns.

Table2.8:Thecaseformsofpersonalpronouns

NominativecaseistypicallyusedforpronounsinSubjectposition,whileaccusativecaseistypicallyusedforIndirectObjects,DirectObjects,andComplementsofprepositions(seesection1.4andchapters4and5),asthefollowingexamplesmakeclear.

13I(Subject)likeher(DirectObject).

14They(Subject)likeus(DirectObject).

15She(Subject)gavehim(IndirectObject)alift(DirectObject).

16I(Subject)gavethefolder(DirectObject)tohim(Complementofapreposition).

Noticethatyouanditdonotdistinguishnominativeandaccusativecase.

Thegenitiveofnounsisformedbyaddingthesuffix-’stoaregularnoun,orsimplyaninaudibleapostrophe(-’)ifthenounalreadyendsinan-s,cf.(17)–(20).

17thebook’scover

18thosebooks’covers

19Peter’shouse

20Jesus’(orJesus’s)mother

WewillseeinChapter3thatitismoreaccuratetosaythatthegenitiveendingisattachedtonounphrases.Thegenitiveformsaredependentwhentheyoccurinnon-finalpositioninsidenounphrases,asinmyhouse,orindependent,asinThehouseismine,Mineisamodernhouse,orthishouseofmine(seesections3.2.2.1.1and5.2.1.2).Thebasicmeaningexpressedbythegenitiveis‘possession’.ThecaseformsofothertypesofpronounswillbediscussedinChapter3.

2.2.3Adjectiveandadverbinflections

Adjectivesandadverbscaninflectforcomparison.Theplainformofadjectivesisusedtodescribethereferentsofnouns(forexample,thecleanhouse/thehouseisclean).Constructionscontainingthecomparativeformorsuperlativeformindicatethatthepropertydenotedbytheadjectiveappliestodifferentdegrees(forexampleMyhouseiscleanerthanyours/Myhouseisthecleanesthouseinthestreet).Thecomparativeformsareformedbyadding-ertoabase.Thesuperlativeformsareformedbyadding-est.Similarconsiderationsapplytoadverbs,exceptthattheydonotgenerallymodifynouns,aswehaveseen.Table2.9showsthatthereareanumberofirregularitemswhosecomparativeandsuperlativeformsaremorphologicallyunrelated,aphenomenonthatiscalledsuppletion.

Table2.9:Theinflectionalformsofadjectivesandadverbs

Adjectivesandadverbsthathavetwoormoresyllablesusuallydonotformtheircomparativeandsuperlativeformsinflectionally,butanalytically,thatisbyusingmoreandmost,aswithincongruous–moreincongruous–mostincongruous.Adverbsthatendin-lynevertakeinflections.

2.3Word-formation

Underthisheadingwewilldiscussderivation,compounding,conversion,andanumberofminorword-formationtypes.

2.3.1Derivation

Inthisgrammarwewillregardderivationasaword-formationprocessinvolvingsuffixationorprefixation.

2.3.1.1Suffixation

Consideragain(21),takenfromChapter1:

21Theverynoisyvisitorcontinuallyinsultedthereceptionistandthecaretakerinthelibrary.

Herethewordreceptionistisanounwhichisformedfromthenounreceptionbyadding-ist.Noticethatwehaveformedonelexemefromanotherthroughaprocessofsuffixation,andthatthesuffix-istisaclass-maintainingsuffix,becauseboththeinputandoutputformsarenouns.Considernexttheadverbcontinually.Thislexemeisformedfromthewordcontinualbyadding-ly,Heretoowehavesuffixation,butthistimeitisaclass-changingprocess(adjective>adverb).Herearesomefurtherexamplesofsuffixation:

22address>addressee(class-maintaining:noun)

23furious>furiously(class-changing:adjectivetoadverb)

24happy>happiness(class-changing:adjectivetonoun)

25regular>regularize/-ise(class-changing:adjectivetoverb)

26relate>relation(class-changing:verbtonoun)

27spite>spiteful(class-changing:nountoadjective)

28work>workable(class-changing:verbtoadjective)

29yellow>yellowish(class-maintaining:adjective)

InTable2.10anumberofcommonderivationalsuffixesareshown.

Table2.10:Somecommonderivationalsuffixes

BritishEnglishspellingpreferssuffixesin-ise/-isation,whileinAmericanEnglishthepreferenceisfor-ize/-ization,thoughthisdistinctionbetweenthetwovarietiesofEnglishisfading,themorecommonspellingbeing-ize/-ization.

2.3.1.2Prefixation

Wecanalsocreatelexemesthroughprefixation.Thisprocessismostlyclass-maintaining.Herearesomeexamplesofprefixation:

30historical>ahistorical(class-maintaining:adjective)

31edit>co-edit(class-maintaining:verb)

32watt>kilowatt(class-maintaining:noun)

33list>enlist(class-changing:nountoverb)

34bus>minibus(class-maintaining:noun)

35earth>unearth(class-changing:nountoverb)

36wit>outwit(class-changing:nountoverb)

37offend>reoffend(class-maintaining:verb)

Table2.11showssomecommonprefixes.

Table2.11:Somecommonderivationalprefixes

2.3.2Compounding

Compoundscanbedefinedasformationsthatinvolve,inthemajorityofcases,combinationsoftwobases,whichcanmanifestthemselvesinvariousshapes.Examplesarecaretaker,boyfriend,andoperationschief.Compoundscanalsoinvolvephrases,asinoff-roadroute.Englishallowsagreatvarietyofcompounds,asshownbyTables2.12–16.Readersshouldbeawarethatnoteveryoneagreesexactlyonhowtodelimittheclassofcompounds.

Itshouldbeborneinmindthatsomeoftheitemsinthetablescanhavedualclassifications.Thus,DOWN-AND-OUTintheNPdown-and-outtrampisaphrasaladjectivalcompound,butinThesedown-and-outsareheremostofthedayitisanoun(witnessthe-spluralinflection).Similarly,MAKE-BELIEVEisacompoundnouninthestrategyofmake-believe,butanadjectivalcompoundinmake-believeallegations.

Thereareanumberofissuesinthestudyofcompoundswhichwedonothavethespacetodiscusshere.Amongthemisthequestionofhowtodistinguishacompoundfromaphrase.Asageneralrulethestressincompoundsisonthefirstcomponent,whileinphrasesthesecondcomponenttendstobestressed.Compareblackboard(‘aboardfixedtothewall,usedinschoolsforteaching’)withblackboard(‘aboardwhichisblack’),whereinbothcasesthestressisindicatedbytheboldfacetype.Individualcasescanremaintricky.Forexample,inTable2.14above,Ihavelistedwhite-collarinwhite-collarstaffasanAdj–Ncompound,butwemightequallysaythatinthisparticularcasetheHeadnounstaffismodifiedbytheNPwhitecollar.

Table2.12:Compoundnouns

Compoundverbtypes Examples

verb+verb blow-dry,daresay,drink-drive,freeze-dry,makedo,stir-fry

noun+noun handcuff,stonewall

noun+verb babysit,brainwash,carbondate,colourcode,hand-wash,proofread

adjective+noun bad-mouth,blindfold,deep-fry,fast-track,short-change

adjective+verb cold-call,dry-clean,whitewash

preposition+noun/verb

upstage,background,overbook,overrun,underestimate

Table2.13:Compoundverbs

Compoundadjectivetypes Examples

adjective+adjective

bitter-sweet,blue-black,dark-red,icy-cold,deaf-mute,squeaky-clean

adjective+noun broad-brush(assessment),white-collar(staff)

adjective/adverb+verb

clean-shaven,easy-going,hard-working,high-rise,long-suffering,plain-spoken,quick-change,well-behaved,well-travelled

noun+verb awe-inspiring,drug-related,hair-raising,home-made,newborn,thought-provoking

noun+adjective

accident-prone,ankle-deep,bone-dry,camera-shy,capital-intensive,dirt-cheap,germ-resistant,head-strong,oil-rich,razor-sharp,self-conscious,sky-high,sugar-free

verb+noun roll-neck(sweater)

verb+verb go-go(dancer)

verb+adjective fail-safe

verb+

preposition see-through(shirt)

preposition+adjective over-qualified,overactive,uptight

phrasal down-and-out(tramp),top-of-the-range,under-the-weather,up-to-the-minute

Table2.14:Compoundadjectives

Compoundprepositiontypes

Examples

preposition+preposition

hereat,hereby,herefrom,herein,hereof,hereon,hereto,herewith,into,onto,thereat,thereby,therefrom,therein,thereof,thereon,thereto,therewith,throughout,upon,within,whereat,whereby,wherefrom,wherein,whereof,whereon,whereto,wherewith,without

preposition+noun downhill,downstairs,indoors,inside,overland,upstream

Table2.15:Compoundprepositions

Compoundadverbtypes Examples

determinative+adverb/adjective/noun

al(l)-series almost,already,also,altogether,always

any-series anyhow,anyway

some-series somehow,sometimes,somewhat

miscellaneousforthwith,furthermore,indeed,maybe,meantime,meanwhile,moreover,nevertheless,nonetheless,nowadays,oftentimes

Table2.16:Compoundadverbs

InadditiontothecompoundsinthetablesaboveEnglishhasanumberofneoclassicalcompounds.Thesetypicallyconsistoftwocombiningformsofclassicalorigin:aninitialcombiningformandafinalcombiningform.AlistofbothkindsisgiveninTable2.17.

Initialcombiningform Finalcombiningform

aer(o)- -(a)emia

andr(o)- -cephaly

anthrop(o) -cide

astr(o)- -crat

audio- -ectomy

aut(o)- -gamy

bibli(o)- -geny

bio- -gerous

cardi(a/o)- -grade

electr(o)- -gram

giga- -graph(y)

heter(o)- -lithic

hom(o)- -logy

hydr(o)- -meric

hyper- -merous

idio- -morph

macro- -morphous

mega- -nomy

morph(o)- -onym

neur(o)- -opia

omn(i)- -opsy

phil(o)- -pathy

phot(o)- -phil(e)

pseud(o)- -phobe

psych(o)- -phone

socio- -saurus

tele(o)- -stasia

the(o)- -stat

Theelement‘(o)’isinsertedtolinkcombiningforms.

Table2.17:Combiningforms

Herearesomeexamplesofpossiblecombinationsofitemsfromthetwocolumns:anthropology,autocrat,bibliophile,morphology.Someofthecombiningformsthatareincommonusecanoccurontheirown,forexampleaudio,homo.Incertaincasestheinitialorfinalcombiningformscombinewithexistinglexemes,asinaeroplane,astrophysics,biodiversity,heterosexual,insecticide.

2.3.3Conversion

ItispossibleinEnglishtocreatenewlexemesfromothersthroughaprocesscalledconversion.Inthesecasesthewordclassoftheelementinquestionchanges.Theresultinglexemecandisplaytheinflectionalformsthatareappropriateforthewordclassitnewlybelongsto.Thefollowingconversionsarepossible.

N>V

Example: Hebaggedthegoods.(BAGN>BAGV)

Otherpossibilities:

badger,bottle,bridge,butcher,can,eye,eyeball,finger,gesture,holiday,knife,mail,vacation,water

V>N

Example: Theassaultwasrecordedontape.(ASSAULTV>ASSAULTN)

Otherpossibilities:

abstract,attempt,cheat,coach,control,discount,guess,import,laugh,read,transfer,whisper

Adj>N

Example:TheseOlympichopefulsarenotreadyforaction.(HOPEFULADJ>HOPEFULN)

Otherpossibilities: daily,intellectual,natural,original,regular,roast

Adj>V

Example: Theyemptiedthebath.(EMPTYADJ>EMPTYV)

Otherpossibilities: bare,better,blind,calm,dirty,faint,right,smooth,weary,wrong

Inthecaseofverb>adjectiveconversionsitisthe-ingparticipleorpastparticipleformoftheverbthatisconverted.

V>Adj

Example: Thesesillystoriesarenotveryamusingatall.(AMUSEV>

AMUSINGADJ)

Otherpossibilities: bored,boring,entertaining,missing,spoilt,stunning

P>V

Example: Hedownedhisdrink.(DOWNP>DOWNV)

Otherpossibilities: out,up

2.3.4Minortypesofword-formation

InthissectionIexemplifyanumberofminorword-formationprocesses.

2.3.4.1Abbreviationsandacronyms

Onetypeofabbreviationismadeupofthefirstlettersofaseriesofwords,which,whenspoken,arepronouncedindividually:AMS(AmericanMeteorologicalSociety),BBC(BritishBroadcastingCorporation),BC(BeforeChrist),ETS(EmissionsTradingScheme),EU(EuropeanUnion),NYPD(NewYorkPoliceDepartment),WWW(WorldWideWeb).Thesearecalledinitialisms.Otherabbreviationsarelesspredictableintheircomposition:etc.,Ltd,viz.

Acronyms,bycontrast,arepronounceableabbreviations.ExamplesincludeCAD(computeraideddesign),FAQ(frequentlyaskedquestion),JPEG(jointphotographicexpertsgroup;pronounced‘jaypeg’),LAN(localareanetwork),NATO(NorthAtlanticTreatyOrganization),UNESCO(UnitedNationsEducational,Scientific,andCulturalOrganization),andWYSIWYG(whatyouseeiswhatyouget).Insomecasestheacronymshavedevelopedintowordsintheirownright,asisthecaseforlaser(lightamplificationbystimulatedemissionofradiation)andradar(radiodetectionandranging).

2.3.4.2Back-formation

Somewordsareformedbyremovingsuffixes.Astockexampleofaback-formationisthecreationoftheverbeditfromthenouneditor.Thisprocessoftentakesplacebyanalogywithotherexistingformations.Furtherexamplesofback-formationsare:headhunter>headhunt;television>televise;recycling>recycle;sculptor>sculpt.

2.3.4.3Blending

Blendingoccurswhentwobasesarecombinedintoanewlexeme.Reductionofoneorbothofthebasesmayoccur.Herearesomeexamples.

channel+tunnel>chunnel

smoke+fog>smog

breakfast+lunch>brunch

breath+analyser>breathalyser

guess+estimate>guesstimate

gigantic+enormous>ginormous

motor+hotel>motel

stagnation+inflation>stagflation

2.3.4.4Clippings

Clippingsinvolveanumberofwaysinwhichwordscanbeshortenedbyremovingsyllables.Personalnamesareoftenshortenedaswell.Someexamplesareshownbelow.

advertisement>ad

doctor>doc

influenza>flu

laboratory>lab

MetropolitanPolice>Met

Michael>Mike

omnibus>bus

Peter>Pete

radiator>rad

Sebastian>Seb

Chapter3WordclassesandsimplephrasesInthepreviouschapterwelookedattheinternalstructureofwords.Inthischapterwelookatwordsaswholes,andhowtheyformphrases.

3.1Wordclasses:distributionaldefinitions

InEnglishwecandistinguishthewordclasses,alsocalledpartsofspeech,showninTable3.1.

Wordclasses

noun

determinative

adjective

verb

preposition

adverb

conjunction

interjection

Table3.1:Wordclasses

InmypreliminaryoverviewofthewordclassesinChapter1Idefinedthemmainlynotionally,thatis,intermsoftheirmeaning.Forexample,Iwrotethatnounsarewordsthatnameaperson,place,orthing.Inmanycasesthisdefinitionwillidentifythenounsinaclause.However,itisnotsatisfactoryifwewishtobemorepreciseaboutnouns.Forexample,withregardto‘things’,howdoweestablishwhattheyare?Atableisathing,butwhataboutfriendship,happiness,idea,intention,love,thought,andyesterday?Thesewordsdenoteconcepts,mentalconstructs,timespans,andthelike.Theproblemisthatwecanonlylabelsomethingasanounifwealreadyknowthatitisathing.Asimilarproblemrearsitsheadwhenwesaythatverbsareaction-words.Notallthewordsthatwewouldliketoclassasverbsdenoteactions.Itiseasytothinkofverbsthatdonot,suchasKNOW,POSSESS,RESEMBLE,andWANT.What’smore,therearenounsthatdenoteactions(e.g.announcement,departure).Whatweneedisadefinitionofeachofthevariouswordclassesthatencompassesallmembers,oratleastthetypicalmembers.

Ifwecannot(exclusively)appealtomeaning,howdowedefinethewordclasses?Theansweristhatwecandosoonthebasisoftheirbehaviourinclauses.Thatis,weneedtodefinethewordclassesbylookingatthecompanywordskeep.Thisiscalleddistributionalanalysis.Ineachofthesectionsbelowthewordclasseswillbedefinedintermsofthewaytheybehavesyntacticallyinclauses.Whereappropriate,meaningconsiderationswillalsobeincluded.InadditiontothewordclassesIwillalsodiscusssimplephrases,suchasnounphraseandadjectivephrase.ComplexphraseswillbediscussedinChapter5.

3.2Nounsandnounphrases

Thewordclassofnounsincludeswordsthatdenoteconcreteobjectsintheworldaroundus,forexamplebicycle,cat,house,door,planet,vase,pencil,screen.Thenounslistedherearecommonnouns.Wealsodistinguishwordslikehe,she,his,her,who,what,whicharecalledpronouns(section3.2.2),andpropernouns(section3.2.3)suchasPeter,Leonard,Tim.

3.2.1Distributionalpropertiesofnouns

WhatarethedistributionalpropertiesofnounsinEnglish?ThefirstthingtonoteisthatanouncanfunctionastheHeadofanounphrase(NP).AHeadisthemostprominentelementofastringofwords,andanounphraseisastringofwordswhoseHeadisanoun.Herearesomeexamples.

1[NPthehouse]

2[NPthebighouse]

3[NPthebighousewiththeredroof]

IneachofthesestringsthewordhouseistheHead,becauseitdetermineswhatthestringasawholeisakindof.Thusthebighouseisakindofhouse,asisthebighousewiththeredroof.Ineachcasethenounhouseisobligatory.NotethattheHeadcanalsooccuronitsown,asinthefollowingexample.

4Hebuys[NPhouses]foraliving.

Theunityofthewordsinthephrasehasbeenindicatedbythesquarebrackets,withtheopeningbracketcarryingthelabelNP.NPscanperformavarietyoffunctions,suchasSubject,DirectObject,andIndirectObject(seesection1.4andChapter4).Forexample,in(4)theNPisaDirectObject.

Asecondpropertyofmanynounsisthattheycantakeapluralinflection,asin(4)(seesection2.2.2.1).

Thirdly,nounsarewordsthatcanbeprecededbythewordthe,asinthecat.Thatis,

theycanoccurinthefollowingframe:

the—

Thedashindicatesthepositionofthenoun.Mostnounscanalsobeprecededbya,butnotallofthem.Exceptionsareso-calleduncountablenounslikesaltandflourwhichrefertoamassofsomesort,andpluraliatantum(Latinfor‘pluralonly’),suchastrousers,scissors.Uncountablenounscannotbepluralizedbyaddingtheinflectionalsuffix-s:*twosalts,*threeflours(theasteriskindicatesthatastructureisimpossibleinEnglish).Wewillseeinsection3.3thatwordsliketheandabelongtotheclassofdeterminatives.

Anothercharacteristicofnounsisthattheycanbeprecededbydescriptivewords,whichwecalledadjectivesinsection1.3:thebighouse,thehungrycat,thefinaldraft,andsoon(seealsosection3.4).Afewnounscanbefollowedbyadjectives,asinsetexpressionslikegovernorgeneral,presidentelect.

Morphologically,agreatmanynounsendinsuffixesthataretypicalofnouns.InTable3.2somecommonnominalsuffixesareshown.

Finally,itissometimessaidthatnounsarewordsthatcantakegenitivecaseendings(seesection2.2.2.2),asintheseexamples:thecat’spaws,theteachers’reports.However,thegenitiveendingisbestanalysedasattachingtoaphrase,ratherthantoanoun,asbecomesclearwhenweconsidernounphraseslikethefollowing:[thePresidentofFrance]’sstatement,[thewomaninthelibrary]’sbriefcase.Seealsosection5.2.1.2.

Table3.2:Somecommonnominalsuffixes

ThedistributionalcharacteristicsoftypicalnounsarelistedinTable3.3.

Typicalnouns…

•functionastheHeadofanounphrasewhichcanperformavarietyoffunctions,suchasSubject,DirectObject,IndirectObject;

•takepluralforms;

•canoccurintheframethe—;

•canbeprecededbyadjectives.

Table3.3:Thedistributionalpropertiesoftypicalnouns

Typicalnounsconformtoallormostofthesecriteria.However,notallnounsdoso.Pronouns,whichweregardasformingasubsetoftheclassofnouns,areacaseinpoint.Weturntothemnext.

3.2.2Pronouns

PronounsbelongtotheclassofnounsbecausetheycanheadnounphrasesthatcanfunctionasSubject,DirectObject,IndirectObject,Complementofapreposition(seesection3.7),andPredicativeComplement(seesection4.1.3.3).Compare(5)and(6):thefullNPsin(5)arereplacedbypronounsheadingNPsin(6).

5[NPFrankRigby’swife]endures[NPworking-classpoverty]dutifully.

6[NPShe]endures[NPit]dutifully.

Example(6)showsthatpronouns(headingNPs)canoccurintypicalnounphrasepositions.Forthisreasonwetreatthemasasubclassofnounsinthisgrammar.

Insomegrammarspronounsareregardedasaseparatewordclass.Thereareanumberofreasonsforthis.Amongthemarethefollowing.

•Pronounsshowadistinctionbetweennominative,accusative,andgenitivecase,whilecommonnounsdonot.Seesection3.2.2.1.1below.

•Pronounsshowadistinctionforperson(1stperson,2ndperson,etc.;seesection2.2.1.1)andgender(he/she,him/her,etc.),butcommonnounsdonot.

•Pronounsdonothaveinflectionalplurals(seesection2.2.2.1)inStandardEnglish(cf.*yous,*hes,etc.),thoughtheydohavesingularvspluralpersondistinctions(e.g.Ivswe).Thepronounoneisanexception,cf.Ilikethoseones(seesection3.2.2.1.4).

•Pronounsaremuchmorelimitedthancommonnounsintheirpotentialfortakingdependents.Forexample,whilewecanhavedeterminativesandadjectivesinfrontofcommonnouns(aswesawintheprecedingsection),theycannotgenerallydetermineandmodifypronouns.Thuswecannotsay*Theheleftthemeetingor*Intelligentyoudidwellintheexams.Therearesomeexceptions,ofcourse,aswhenwesayI’mnotthemeIusedtobeorSillyoldmeleftthegason.Nounscanbefollowedbyprepositionalphrases(seesections1.3and3.7),asinmycancellationofthereservation;pronounsgenerallycannot.

•NounphraseswithcommonnounsasHeadcanhaveindependentreference,whilepronounsrelyonthelinguisticorextra-linguisticcontextfortheirreference.Thus,if

IsayImetthebossthismorningtheNPthebossreferstoamutuallyidentifiableindividual.IfIsayKatiemarriedHarrybecausesheloveshimthenthemostlikelyreadingofthisutteranceisforshetorefertoKatieandforhimtorefertoHarry.

DespitetheseobservationswetakethefactthatpronounscanactastheHeadsofphrasesthatcanfunctionasSubject,DirectObject,PredicativeComplement,andsoon,asasufficientlyweightyreasonforregardingthemasnouns.

InEnglishwerecognizethetypesofpronounslistedinTable3.4.

Pronounsubclasses

personalpronouns

reflexivepronouns

reciprocalpronouns

relativepronouns

freerelativepronouns

interrogativepronouns

demonstrativepronouns

indefinitepronouns

Table3.4:Pronounsubclasses

3.2.2.1Personalpronouns

Personalpronounsdependfortheirreferenceonaprecedingnounphrase(theantecedent),ortheirreferencecanbeestablishedfromthecontext.

3.2.2.1.1Caseforms

Personalpronounscancarrynominative,accusative,andgenitivecase,aswesawinsection2.2.2.2,dependingontheirfunctioninaclause.ThuswesayIloveher,not*Melovesshe,andwesayIsentthelettertothem,not*Mesentthelettertothey.Thegenitivepronounstypicallyindicatepossession,asinherglasses.InthisexamplethepronounisplacedbeforetheHeadnoun.Wecallthisthedependentuseofthepronoun.Theindependentformisusedinexampleslikethefollowing:theglassesarehersandtheseglassesofhers.

Thedependentgenitiveformsareoftenclassedasdeterminativesbyvirtueofbeingpositionedinfrontofnouns,butinthisgrammarweregardthemaspronounsfortworeasons.Oneisthatdeterminativesdonottakegenitiveinflections;anotheristhatthe

dependentformscanoccurinSubjectposition,asin(7),wheredeterminativescannotoccur.

7Iactuallyfinditquitedifficulttorememberverymuchabout[clausemybeingveryyoung].

Notethatdespitebeingadependentform,thepronounisnotfollowedbyanouninthisexample.Wewillseeinsections3.2.2.3and3.2.2.5thatgenitivewhoseindependentpre-nominalposition(e.g.whosehouse)isalsoapronoun.Seealsosections5.2.1.2and8.1.2.1.

3.2.2.1.2It

Thepronounitoccursinvariousguises.Wedistinguishreferentialit,dummyit,anticipatoryit,andcleftit.Thefirstoftheseisusedtorefertoanentitythathasalreadybeenintroducedintoaparticulardiscourse,asin(8).

8Yougaveittoher.

Dummyitismeaningless,andisusedinSubjectpositionwhenwetalkabouttheweatherortheenvironmentingeneral.

9Itwasraining.

10It’sreallyhotinhere.

ItcanalsobeusedinDirectObjectorprepositionalComplementpositioninidiomaticexpressions.

11Iinterviewpeoplethathavemadeitinsomeway.

12Letthemgetonwithit.

AnticipatoryitisusedtostandinforaclausalSubjectorObjectwhichhasbeenextraposed(displaced)duetoits‘heaviness’,asin(13)and(14).

13

14

Theseexampleswillbediscussedfurtherinsection11.3.2.2.Inasenseanticipatoryitrefersforwardtothedisplacedclause,andcouldforthatreasonberegardedasbeingreferential.However,unlikeitinexampleslike(8),anticipatoryitdoesnotrefertoanentityinthediscourse,andcanneveroccuronitsowninaclause.

Finally,cleftitisusedinso-calledcleftconstructions,exemplifiedin(15)and(16),tobediscussedindetailinsection11.8.1.

15ItisSimioniwho’sgonedown.

16Itwasancienthistorythatattractedme.

3.2.2.1.3There

Thepronountherein(17)iscalledexistentialtherebecauseitoccursinclauseswhichareconcernedwiththeexistenceofaperson,entity,orsituation.ItisregardedasameaninglesswordthatfillstheobligatorySubjectslot.

17Therearelotsofwindows.

In(18)belowthere1isanexampleofexistentialthere,butthere2isnot.Itiscalledlocativetheresinceitpointsoutalocation.Ofthethreeinstancesofitinthispassageit1andit3arereferential,takingtheoccasionalshardoffruitandthechickenasantecedents.It2isanexampleofanticipatoryit,whichsubstitutesfortheextraposedSubjectclausetofindthechicken.

18There1ismorejuliennedcarrotontheplatethananythingelse;whenyoudocomeacrosstheoccasionalshardoffruit,it1isoverripeandwoolly;andit2takesajointactionfrombothsidesofthetabletofindthechicken.There2it3is.

Seesection11.6forfurtherdiscussionofexistentialconstructions.

3.2.2.1.4One

Likeitandtherethewordonealsooccursinseveralguises.In(19)itisacommonnoun,witnessthefactthatitisprecededbyadeterminativeandanadjective,andhasapluralinflection(section2.2.2.1).

19Ilikethesweetones.

In(20)oneisusedasapersonalpronouninaformalmannertorefertothespeaker,ortopeopleingeneral.

20Onecan’tsaythattheygetagoodpress.

Whenonesubstitutesforafullnounphrase,asin(21),whereitstandsinforaphotograph,wealsoregarditasapronoun.(22)isaspecialcase:hereonerefersbacktopartofanounphrase,namelytheHeadnouncancellation.

21HaveIshownyouaphotograph?I’vegotonesomewhere.

22Thisishersecondcancellation.It’snotjustthefirstone.

Onecanalsobeusedasanumeral;seesection3.2.4below.

3.2.2.2Reflexiveandreciprocalpronouns

Reflexivepronounsaretypicallylinkedtoaprecedingantecedentintheshapeofanounphrase(underlinedintheexamplesbelow),whichreferstothesameindividual(s)orentity.

23Thegoalkeepercommittedhimself.

24ThesubjectsofByzantiumweretocallthemselvesRhomaioi.

InthesecaseshimselfreferstothegoalkeeperandthemselvesreferstothesubjectsofByzantium.InbothcasesthereflexivepronounsfunctionastheHeadsofNPswhichinturnfunctionasDirectObjects.

Areflexivepronouncanoccurwithoutanovertantecedent,asin(25),thoughnotinSubjectposition(cf.(26)).

25Enjoyyourselflots.

26*Myselforderedasteakfordinner.

In(27)and(28)thereflexivepronounsareusedemphatically.

27Sheherselfacquiredasummerdispositionafterthetraumaofherrecentmanneroflife.

28I’mnotdoingitmyself.

Oneself,exemplifiedin(29),isratherformal.

29Itmustbepeculiarlydisconcerting,don’tyouthink,tobeleftforsomeoneentirelydifferentfromoneself?

Increasingly,thepronounthemselfisusedasthereflexiveformofthepersonalpronounTHEYwithasingularantecedent.Toillustrate,compare(30),inwhichtheyrefersbacktosomeone,with(31).

30Ifsomeonedoesn’twearappropriatefootwearordevelopsmusclestrengthimbalances,theycangethurt.

31Noteveryonewhoishandedascalpelconsidersthemselfasurgeon,andnoteveryonegivenaSteinwayconsidersthemselfaconcertpianist.

TheprincipalreflexivepronounsoccurintheformsshowninTable3.5.

Table3.5:Reflexivepronouns

Thereciprocalpronounseachotherandoneanother(Table3.6)areusedwhentheverb’smeaningappliesmutuallybetweentwoormorepeopleorgroupsofpeople,asin(32)and(33).

32Anyhow,youandHarrietknowoneanother.

33That’sagoodwayoftryingtogettoknoweachother.

In(32)thereisanexplicitmentionoftheantecedentthatoneanotherrefersto.As(33)shows,anantecedentneednotbepresent.Reciprocalpronounsarenotonlyusedforpeople,as(34)demonstrates.

34TheenergythatmakesthecomponentsofamusclefibreslidealongeachotherwhenthemuscleexertsapullisultimatelyderivedfromthebreakdownofATP.

Likereflexivepronouns,reciprocalpronounscannotoccurasSubject:

35*Eachotherwatchedthemovie.

Reciprocalpronouns

eachother

oneanother

Table3.6:Reciprocalpronouns

3.2.2.3Relativepronouns

TherelativepronounsinEnglisharewho,whom,whose,andwhich(Table3.7).

Relativepronouns

who/whom/whose

which

Table3.7:Relativepronouns

Thesepronounsbelongtoalargersetofwh-words(thatis,wordsthatbeginwiththeletterswh-),whichadditionallyincludeswhat,where,when,why,andhow.(Althoughthelatterdoesnotbeginwithwh-,itbehaveslikethewordsthatdo,andisgroupedwiththemforthatreason.)Notallwh-wordsarepronouns,aswewillsee.

Relativepronounsoccurinsideawh-phrasepositionedatthebeginningofarelativeclause.Suchclausesprovidemoreinformationaboutapersonorentitydenotedbyaprecedingnoun,calledtheantecedent.Thepronounswhoandwhomcarrynominativeandaccusativecase,respectively,andtypicallyhavehumanantecedents.Whosecarriesgenitivecase,andcanhavehumanandnon-humanantecedents.Whichiscase-neutral,andusuallyhasnon-humanantecedents.Herearesomeexamples.Therelativepronounsinsidethebracketedrelativeclausesareunderlinedineachcase;theantecedentsareinboldfacetype.

36Anotherstudent[[NPwho]wrotethesameessay]madethesamemistake.

37Lunchwasservedintherestaurantdownstairsbytheproprietorhimself–aMonsieurSavlon[[NPwhom]we’dmet_briefly].

38IshallrereadThomasMann’sBuddenbrooks(Minerva),[[NPwhich]Iread_solongagoI’veforgottenalotofit].

39TheFamilyPractitionerCommittee(FPC)[[PPtowhom]yourformwillbesent_]mayhowevercheckyourclaimatalaterdate.

40InareportfromGreenpeacelastyear,andstillavailableonline,retailersandcanningcompanieswererankedinorderoftheirtuna-fishingpolicies.Sainsbury,Co-opandMarks&Spencercametop;PrincesandJohnWest–[[NPmostofwhose]wasfrompurseseiners]–camebottom.

In(36)–(38)thewh-phrasesaresimplewh-NPs,headedbyarelativepronoun,whereasin(39)and(40)thewh-phrasesarecomplex.In(39)itisaprepositionalphrasewhoseHeadtotakesanNPheadedbytherelativepronounwhomasitsComplement.In(40)therelativepronounoccursinsideaPPwhichcomplementstheHeadofanNP(most).Complexwh-phraseswillbediscussedinsection7.3.3.1.

Thesymbol‘_’intheexamplesaboveindicatesa‘gap’intheclausewithwhichtheinitialwh-phraseisassociated.Onewayofviewingtheassociationbetweenthewh-phraseandthegapistoregardtheformerashavingbeenmovedfromthegap

positiontoaclause-initialposition.Thereisnosuggestionthatthismovementactuallytakesplaceinourminds;theterm‘movement’isusedmerelyasaconvenientwaytoconceptualizetherelationbetweenthewh-phraseandthegap.

InformalwritingwhomisusedwhentherelativepronounfunctionsasDirectObjectorastheComplementofapreposition.Thusin(37)whomistheDirectObjectofMEET,andin(39)itistheComplementofto.Thisruleisoftenrelaxed,thoughlesssoafterapreposition;whoisthenusedinstead.

Inalltheexamplesabovetherelativepronounsareusedindependently.Relativewhosecanonlybeusedindependentlyafterapreposition,asin(40).Itisuseddependentlybeforeanounin(41).

41Apparently,Johnsonstillgetstheodd“Morning,Boris”fromsellersofTheBigIssuemagazine,[[NPwhosecover]hecurrentlyadorns_].

In(41)weusewhosecoverratherthanthemorecomplexthecoverofwhich.Weregardwhoseasapronounhere,ratherthanasadeterminative,becauseitcarriesgenitivecase.ItfunctionsasaDeterminerinsidethegenitiveNPheadedbycover.(Seealsosection3.2.2.5fortheindependentuseofwhoseasaninterrogativepronoun.)

In(42)whichisarelativedeterminative.

42Buttheresultswereinconclusive,[[PPatwhichpoint]itssharesweresuspended].

Itisnotapronounherebecausewhichbeforeanouncannevertakegenitivecase(cf.*Thesociety,which’sregulationswereamended,waswithoutachair).SeeSection3.3.5.

Thewordthatinthebracketedrelativeclausein(43)isanalysedinthisgrammarasasubordinatingconjunction,notasarelativepronoun(seesection3.9).

43Itsoundslikesomekindoftherapy[thatyou’redoing].

IwillreturntorelativeclausesinSection7.3.3.

3.2.2.4Freerelativepronouns

Thebracketedstringsintheexamplesbelowarecalledfreerelativeclauses,whichtypicallyoccurinnounphrasepositions.

44[[NPWhat]youdo_]isjusttoswitchitoff.

45Youhavegottherighttodo[[NPwhatever]youwant_],think[NP[whatever]youwant_]andsay[NP[whatever]youwant_].Thoserightswerewonbypeoplewhofoughtforusanddiedforus.

46Isitworthcomplainingto[[NPwhoever]wasincharge]?

Inthesecasesthefreerelativeclausesareintroducedbytheitalicizedfreerelativepronouns,whichfunctionasthenominalHeadofawh-phrase.Themosttypicalmemberofthisclassiswhat.Lesstypicalarewho(m),which,who(m)ever,andwhatever.Theyaresaidtobe‘free’becausetheylackanantecedent.Withintheclausesin(44)and(45)theitalicizedwordsareassociatedwiththegapsindicatedby‘_’,asbefore.

Itisimportanttobeawareofthefactthatthewordswehaveanalysedasfreerelativepronounsabovecanalsobeassignedtootherwordclasses,dependingonthesyntacticenvironmentinwhichtheyoccur.Forexample,whatisaninterrogativepronouninWhatdidyoueat?(section3.2.2.5),andaninterrogativedeterminativeinWhatfilmsdidyouwatch?(Section3.3.4).Finally,in(47)whatisafreerelativedeterminative,tobediscussedinSection3.3.5.

47Shehadsenther[[NPwhatmoney]shecould].

Iwilldiscussfreerelativeclausesindetailinsection7.3.3.5.

3.2.2.5Interrogativepronouns

Interrogativepronouns(listedinTable3.8)arewh-wordsthatoccurinsidewh-phrasespositionedatthebeginningofinterrogativeclauses.Thesearecharacteristicallyusedtoaskquestions(section6.2).Theformswho,whom,andwhoserefertohumans.

Interrogativepronouns

who/whom (occuronlyindependently)

whose (occursindependentlyanddependently)

which/what (occurindependentlyaspronouns,dependentlyasdeterminatives)

Table3.8:Interrogativepronouns

48[NPWho]needsmoreofthese?

49[NPWhom]didyoubeat_inthefinal?

50[PPTowhom]areyouaccountable_?

51[NPWhom]didyouenjoyworkingwith_themost?

52Whentherearecompetingrituals–stockingsorpillowcases–[NPwhose]doyoujettison_?

WhoisthenominativeformusedinSubjectposition,whilewhomistheaccusativeformassociatedwithaDirectObjectpositionorwithaprepositionalComplementposition(indicatedby‘_’).Whomisformal,andmorelikelytooccurinwrittenlanguage.Prepositionalphrasescontaininginterrogativepronounscaneitherbedisplacedasawhole,asin(50),orhaveonlytheComplementmoved,asin(51).Thewordwhosein(52)isanindependentgenitiveformfunctioningastheDirectObjectoftheverbJETTISON.ItcanbecontrastedwiththedependentgenitiveinterrogativepronouninsideanNP,exemplifiedin(53).

53[NPWhosehome]didyoutakeherto_?

Seealsosections3.2.2.3,5.2.1.2,and6.2.1.

Theinterrogativepronounwhichcanbeusedtoaskquestionsabouthumansornon-humans.

54[NPWhichofthesemen]wouldyouchoose_tobabysitforyou?

55[NPWhich]camefirst,thegoldengooseorthegoldenegg?

Bycontrast,thepronounwhatcanonlybeusedtoaskquestionsaboutnon-humans.

56Whatdidyousay_?

57Whatisthetime?

Noticethatin(52)and(55),butnotin(56),wehaveasensethatanounismissing.

Wewilltreatdependentwhichandwhatin(58)and(59)asinterrogativedeterminatives.

58[NPWhichlane]wasthedebrisfoundin_?

59[NPWhatnationality]ishe?

Seesection5.2.1.2forfurtherdiscussion.

3.2.2.6Demonstrativepronouns

Englishhasfourdemonstrativepronouns,asshowninTable3.9:thisandthat,and

theirpluralformstheseandthose.Thisandtheseareusedtorefertoentitiesthatareproximal(i.e.closeby),whereasthatandthoserefertoentitiesthataredistal(i.e.furtheraway).

Table3.9:Demonstrativepronouns

Herearesomeexamples.

60ThisisaperfectlygoodconversationasfarasI’mconcerned.

61Thesearepeanutty.

62That’sthechallenge.

63ThosearedefinedinverybroadtermstoincludetheentireJewishpeople.

Itisimportanttobeawareofthefactthatwhentheyoccurbeforenouns,this/these(asinthisstory/thesestories)andthat/those(asinthatallegation/thoseallegations)aredeterminatives(seesection3.3).

3.2.2.7Indefinitepronouns

Thiscategorycomprisespronounswhichare‘indefinite’inthesensethattheydonotrefertoindividualsorentitiesthatareidentifiabletotheaddressee.Forexample,ifsomeonesaysI’veeatensixcakesandIwantanotherthewordanotherreferstoanycakethatcanbechosenfromasetofcakes.Table3.10liststheindefinitepronounsinEnglishwithexamples.Someofthesepronounsaresimpleinform(all,many,some),whileothersarecompounds(anyone,somebody).

Indefinitepronouns

additive another

(a)Oneexampleisthevertebrateimmunesystem.Anotheristhelearningsystem.

degree few,fewer,less,li