The structure of this ppt · The sun intransitive is shining SVO The lecture monotransitive bored O...
Transcript of The structure of this ppt · The sun intransitive is shining SVO The lecture monotransitive bored O...
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The structure of this ppt
1.1.-1.10. . Functional issues in the English sentence
2.1.-2.9. . . Grammatical functions and related relations
2.1.-2.2. A VP-internal alternation
2.3. The four dimensions
2.4. Subjects
2.5. Objects
2.6. Transformational relationships
2.7. Complements
2.8. Adverbials
2.9. Order of clause elements
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1. Functional issues in the English sentence
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Quirk et al. (1985): basic binary division: subject – predicate
subject
• typically: topic (= “theme”, “what is being discussed”)
predicate: “something new” (about the subject)
(1) The boy has opened the door.
(2) The door has been opened (by the boy).
• determines agreement (concord),
cf. subject-verb agreement
(3) The boy has/*have opened the door.
(4) The boys *has/have opened the door.
• involved in inversion in questions,
cf. subject-auxiliary (operator) inversion
(5) Has the boy opened the door?
(6) What has the boy opened?
1.1. Functional issues
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Quirk et al. (1985)
five elements of a sentence
1. subject: S (be careful! S = sentence vs. S = subject!)
2. verb: V
3. object (direct vs. indirect): Od vs. Oi
4. complement (subject vs object complement): Cs vs. Co
5. adverbial: A
1.2. Functional issues
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(1) John (S) searched (V) the room (Od) carefully (A).
(2) The girl (S) is (V) now (A) a student (Cs) in Debrecen (A).
(3) His brother (S) grew (V) happier (Cs) gradually (A).
(4) It (S) rained (V) steadily (A) all day (A).
(5) He (S) had given (V) the girl (Oi) an apple (Od).
(6) They (S) make (V) him (Od) the chairman (Co) every year (A).
(7) She (S) saw (V) [that it (S) rained (V) all day (A)] (Od).
(8) He (S) grew (V) happier (Cs) [when Mary (S) arrived (V)] (A).
(9) [That she (S) asked (V) the question (Od) correctly (A)] (S)
pleased (V) him (Od) enormously (A).
1.3. Functional issues
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subject and object complements
~(2) The girl (S) is (V) a student (Cs) / happy (Cs).
(cf. ‘a student girl’, ‘a happy girl’)
Hungarian: A lány diák/boldog. A lány diák/boldog volt.
~(3) His brother (S) grew (V) happier (Cs). (+ become, turn …)
cf. He is/was happier. (as a result)
~(6) They (S) make (V) him (Od) the chairman (Co).
cf. He (S) is the chairman (Cs). (as a result)
1.4. Functional issues
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direct vs. indirect objects
~(1) John (S) searched (V) the room (Od).
~(6) They (S) make (V) him (Od) the chairman (Co).
~(7) She (S) saw (V) [that it (S) rained (V) all day (A)] (Od).
~(5) He (S) gave (V) the girl (Oi) an apple (Od).
cf. He (S) gave (V) an apple (Od) to the girl (A).
Quirk et al. (1985) --- a semantic approach
direct object: the given/received entity – 1st or 2nd object NP
indirect object: the receiver – 1st object NP or PP (A)
-- a structural ( grammatical functional) approach is better
1.5. Functional issues
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S
NP VP
V NP NP
He gave the girl
Oi
O1
an apple.
Od
O2
S
NP VP
V NP PP
He gave an apple
Od
O1
to the girl.
A
A
1.6. Functional issues
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passivization of mono- and ditransitive constructions
He ate the apple (Od O1).
The apple was eaten (by him).
He gave the apple (Od O1) to the girl (A A).
The apple was given to the girl.
*The girl was given the apple to.
He gave the girl (Oi O1) the apple (Od O2).
The girl was given the apple (by him).
*The apple was given the girl (by him).
Od O1 S
Od O1 S
Oi O1 S
Od
1.7. Functional issues
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Type S(ubject) V(erb) O(bject)(s) C(omplem.) A(dverbial)
SV
The sun
intransitive
is shining
SVO
The lecture
monotransitive
bored
Od
me
SVC
Your dinner
copular
seems
Cs
ready
SVA
My office
copular
is
S-related A
in the building
SVOO
I
ditransitive
must send
Oi
my parents
Od
a letter
SVOC
The students
complex-trans.
have found
Od
her
Co
very helpful
SVOA
You
complex-trans.
can put
Od
the dishes
O-related A
on the table
Quirk et al. (1985: 721)1.8. Functional issues
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problems
1. the columns appear to indicate syntactic positions, but
• in ditransitive constructions the two objects have two
distinct (adjacent), designated positions: V NP1 NP2 …
• the object complement (immediately) follows NP1,
the primary object – it can be an adjectival phrase
(see previous slide) but it can also be a NP, in which
case it is in the same position as the second(ary)
object, NP2, i.e. the secondary object NP and the
object complement NP should be represented in
complementary distribution
2. the adverbials in SVA and SVOA are obligatory this calls
for a more substantial functional distinction: OBLIQUE vs.
ADJUNCT
1.9. Functional issues
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Type S V O1 O2 / C A:OBLIQUE A: ADJUNCT
SV It intr.
shines
(obligatory) (optional)
SVO
It
monotr.
bored
Od
me
SVC
It
copular
seems
Cs
ready
SVA
It
copular
was
S-related A
in the box at night
SVOO
I
ditr.
sent
called
Oi
my friend
my friend
Od
a letter
a taxi
SVOC
I
compl-tr.
found
called
Od
my friend
my friend
Co
helpful
a genius
SVOA
He
compl-tr.
can put
Od
the book
O-related A
on the table at night
1.10. Functional issues
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2. Grammatical functions and related relations
* A VP-internal alternation (~GYR)
John loaded hay on the truck.
John loaded the truck with hay.
NP V NP PP category
subject (predicate)
function
object oblique
load < Agent, Patient, Goal >
2.1. Grammatical functions and related relations
* A VP-internal alternation (~GYR)
NP V NP PP
NP V NP PP
1. load < Agent, Patient, Goal >
NP NP(hay) PP(truck)
2. load < Agent, Goal, Patient >
NP NP(truck) PP(hay)
2.2. Grammatical functions and related relations
2.3. GFs and related relations
topic predicate discourse function
subject object oblique (!) grammatical function
NP V NP PP syntactic category
Agent Goal Patient semantic role
John loaded the truck with hay.
topic predicate discourse function
subject oblique oblique grammatical function
NP V PP PP syntactic category
Goal Patient Agent semantic role
The truck was loaded with hay (by John).
The four dimensions
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2.4. Grammatical functions and related relations
Subjects
form
(category)
NP or S:
John surprised me. - That John was late surprised me.
position before V/OP or after OP:
Everybody left. - Everybody has left. - Has everybody left?
syntactic
“function”
(features)
obligatory except in imperatives (but implied):
Open the door!
determines the verb’s number and person
determines a reflexive pronoun’s person, number (and gender):
The boy likes/*like himself/*herself/*themselves.
subjective pronouns: I like him. – He likes me.
O S (in passives): John invited Eve. - Eve was invited (by John).
repeated in tag questions by a pronoun: The milk is sour, isn’t it?
semantics typically: theme (topic), agentive (see the PREVIOUS three slides!)
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Objects
form
(category)
NP or S:
I know the story. - I know that he lied.
position after V, Oi usually precedes Od (!!!) O1 vs. O2
I gave him [Oi] my address [Od].
syntactic
“function”
(features)
when coreferential with the subject reflexive pronoun &
agreement with respect to person, number (and gender):
The boy likes/*like himself/*herself/*themselves.
objective pronouns: I like him. – He likes me.
O S (in passives): John invited Eve. - Eve was invited (by John).
in ditransitive constructions either object can become the subject of
the corresponding passive: We sent Jack a copy of the letter.
(1) Jack was sent a copy of the latter. (2) A copy of the letter was
sent Jack. (!!) (3) A copy of the letter was sent to Jack. (1) is far
more common than (2). Instead of (2), (3) is more usual. (next slide!)
the indirect object usually corresponds to a prepositional phrase:
I’ll send Charles another copy. – I’ll send another copy to Charles.
semantics typically: the affected argument
2.5. GFs and related relations
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Transformational relationships
SVOO He gave Eve a book. passive Eve was given a book (by him).
SVOA He gave a book to Eve. passive A book was given to Eve (by him).
the general passive rule (PR): …NP1…V…NP2… → …NP2…be…V-en…(by NP1)
He wrote a book. → A book was written (by him).
SVOO He gave Eve a book. PR Eve was given a book (by him).
SVOA He gave a book to Eve. PR2 (!) A book was given to Eve (by him).
SVOO He gave Eve a book. PR Eve was given a book (by him).
SVOA He gave a book to Eve. PR A book was given to Eve (by him).
2.6. GFs and related relations
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Complements
form
(category)
NP, AP or S:
Their son is/became a clerk. – We find them very pleasant. -
My assumption is that John made a mistake.
position Cs: after V – Co: after Od
syntactic
“function”
(features)
Cs: (number) concord with the subject – Co: concord with the object
*They/He is a good boy. - I find them/*him good boys.
Cs: if reflexive, (person, number, gender) concord with the subject
She is not herself/*himself/*yourselves today.
*Cs/Co S (in passives): *A clerk was become by their son. – *Good
boys were found them by me. vs. They were found good boys by me.
Cs: pronoun objective form vs. subjective form (more formal)
That’s him. - This is he. (formal)
semantics typically: identifies or characterizes the referent of the relevant
clause element (subject or object) She is my daughter/very pretty. –
I find her very pretty.
2.7. GFs and related relations
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Adverbials
form
(category)
ADVP, PP, NP, or S:
The children were playing loudly (ADVP) in the bedroom (PP) last
night (NP) when I got home (S).
position relatively free; typically final; but obligatory A in SVA and in SVOA:
John lives in London. – John put the book on the table.
syntactic
“function”
(features)
“except for the obligatory adverbial in SVA and SVOA types adverbials
are optional: they may be added to or removed from the clause
without affecting its acceptability and without affecting the relations
of structure and meaning in the rest of the clause.” (Q1985: 730)
Last night John had put the book on the table unexpectedly in the
kitchen just before Mary got home.
“the adverbials in SVA and SVOA are obligatory this calls for a
more substantial functional distinction: OBLIQUE vs. ADJUNCT”
(see slide 12)
negative characterization: the adverbial does not have the syntactic
features subjects, objects and complements have
semantics (i) circumstances of the situation (adjunct) (ii) (speaker’s) comments
on the form/content of the clause (disjunct) (iii) link between clauses
(conjunct)
2.8. GFs and related relations
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Order of clause elements
optional adverbials (=adjuncts) may
intervene between the elements in the
basic clause patterns (SVO(O)(C)…)
You have perhaps heard this before.
It often rains in London.
The house was badly damaged.
yes/no questions: OP SUBJ VP Have you heard from Roger?
wh-questions: WH OP SUBJ VP
except: (i) WHsubj VP
(ii) exclamatives
What did John write?
Who wrote the letter?
What a nice letter he wrote!
2nd person imperatives: usually no SUBJ Show me your paper! Don’t leave!
informational highlighting and
emphasis: initial or final position
That question I won’t answer.
Mary left, and so did John.
shorter elements > longer elements
after V
This made possible new techniques for
brain surgery. She told him calmly
what she thought of him.
stylistically: shorter > V > longer A petition was circulated asking for a
longer lunch break.
2.9. GFs and related relations