Topics in English Syntax An Introductory Course

19.04.23 Lecture notes 1

Topics in English Syntax An Introductory Course


Topics in English Syntax

BibliographyThe following works have been used and quaoted extensively without this use being clearly marked.

Verspoor, M. (2000), English Sentence Analysis: An Intro-ductory Course. Amsterdam: Benjamins

Burton-Roberts, N. (19972), Analysing Sentences. An Introduction to English Syntax. London etc.: Longman

Huddleston, R.; Pullum, G. K. (2002), The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge: CUP



• Introduction to the practical analysis of Present-day Standard English

• two especially favoured dialects „Standard Southern British English“ and „American English“

• spoken or written by (educated) native speakers ( UK, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, ...)

• language of the government, broadcasting, print media, education, science, public discourse

• any topic, • for informal and formal events



• E - language, the externalized language seen as a potentially infinite set of sentences

• performance (errors, slips, other problems)

• corpus data (representativity as a problem)

• I - language, the internalized language seen as a finite set of rules and principles in the mind of a native speaker / hearer

• competence (Chomsky 1986, Barriers)

• idealization

• introspection (methodological problems)



• Syntax: the branch of grammar dealing with the organization of words into larger structures such as phrases and sentences; the study of sentence structure.

• Three basic assumptions: – Sentences have parts which may themselves have parts.

– The parts of sentences belong to a limited range of types.

– The parts have specific functions within the larger parts they belong to.



– Sentence patterns & functions of communication

• give information about something to someone– [John] subject [is leaving] whole verb // declarative

• ask someone for information– [Is] part of verb [John] subject [leaving] rest of verb

// interrogative

• make someone do something– [Leave!] verb only //

imperative

• express one‘s feeling or attitude– [What] What a shock! Rest of sentence // exclamatory



In a declarative sentence speakers give information on

• one or more participants (subject, object)

• the event, state, process, activity (predicator)

• attributes of participants (attribute)

• the setting of the event or situation (adverbial)– The little tiger is happy.

– The boy turned five years old yesterday.

– The boy considered the tiger dangerous.

– A bird hit the car.

– The boy gave the tiger some milk.

– He was holding his balloon up high.

– Pam bought him the book.



Roles Functionabbrev.

1st participant subject S

process / event predicator P

2nd participant direct object DO

3rd participant indirect object / IO

benefactive object BO

attributes of 1st participant subject attribute SA

attributes of 2nd participant object attribute OA

the setting adverbial A



Basic / typical word order patterns of English sentences with

subject - predicate - other participants - attribute - setting

(predicator = verb;

predicate = predicator plus complements other than subject: predication = predicate plus subject (external complement) )

(1) Intransitive verb patternPam is jumping (high). - (1st participant , process)

- (subject, predicate, (adverbial)) - (predicator = intransitive verb cycle,

listen, talk, swim, ...)



Basic / typical word order patterns of English sentences

(2) Copula verb patternTiger is a nuisance.

- (1st participant, process / state) - (subject, predicate,

(subject attribute )) - (predicator = copula verb:

be, appear, grow, seem, look, make, smell, sound,

become, prove, taste, feel,

remain, turn)




(3) The (mono-)transitive verb patternPam read the book.

A bird hit the car.

- (1st participant, process / activity, 2nd participant) - (subject - predicate - direct object)

- (predicator = mono-transitive verb: see, hold, kick, hear,

believe, think, read, print, ...)




(3) The ditransitive patternMother bought Pam a lolly.

John gave Peter the present.

(1st participant, process / activity, 2nd participant, 3rd

participant)

(subject, predicate, direct obj, indirect / benefactive obj)

(predicator = ditransitive verb: give, buy, tell, send , pass,

...)




(5) The complex transitive patternThey elected John the president

- (1st participant, process / activity, 2nd participant,

attribute of 2nd participant)

- (subject, predicate, direct object, object attribute)

- (Predicator = complex transitive verb: make, wipe, drive, call, crown, name, consider, assume, regard,

certify, declare, deem, ...)



• Note:

Many verbs can be used in several patterns• He makes a good teacher. (1)

• He made a goal. (3)

• We made him a cake. (4)

• The troops made him emperor. (5)



• Note:

(1) the declarative sentence pattern can have different communicative functions.

(2) words have different senses in different contexts

(3) „process, state, activity“ are loose or fuzzy labels for events which are denoted by the predicates

(4) there exist terminlogical variants: e.g. subject complement, object complement, used for subject / object attribute



sentence

subject predicate

predicator complement adverbial*

no complement

subject attribute

direct object

dir obj + indirect or benef. obj

dir obj + obj attribute



• Structure: constituents, categories, function sentence

old Sam sunbathed beside a stream

The divisible parts of a sentence are called constituents.

What does the diagram tell us about this sentence?- linear order of words and well-formedness

* a sunbathed old beside Sam stream



- transition word x to word y / class of word x (e.g Adj) to class of word y (N)?

A sentence has different kinds / categories of constituents

sentence Adj N V Prep Art N

N V Prep Art N

How many sequences of English words / word classes result in well-formed (grammatical) sentences ?

Testing: - movement of constituents

- deletion of constituents



- substitutions of constituents

- adding constituents

He sunbathed beside the stream

Sam sunbathed.

Beside the stream, the old dog bathed in the sun.

The constituents are arranged in a specifiable manner

Structure def: some parts of an entity are constituents of different kinds (categories) which occur in specifiable arrangements and which have certain specifiable functions



bicycle

frame crossbar wheel spoke handlebar pedal chain

bicycle

frame wheel handlebar

crossbar spoke rim pedal chain bell handbrake

• Diagram of structural relationships: immediate constituents



• Sentence and clauseSyntax is concerned with the way words combine to from sentences. sentence = largest unit of syntax; (intuitively understood concept)

„a syntactically related group of words that expresses an assertion, a question, a command, a wish or an exclamation“

usually begins with a capital letter and ends with a period, question or exclamation mark

word = smallest unit of syntax; (intuitively understood concept)

clause = basic syntactic construction consisting of a subject and a predicate; occurs as main, co-ordinated or subordinated clause



• Simple, compound and complex sentences– a simple sentence consists of one main clause Whales cannot breathe under water.

They have lungs instead of gills.

We will see several applications of this order of the primitives in

the course of the book.

The waitresses are basking in the sun like a herd of skinned seals,

their pinky-brown bodies shining with oil.

Is America streched too far?

Just give me a remote control for the planet.



– a compound sentence consists of two or more (independent) main clauses, connected by

• a coordinate or a correlative conjunction

– coordinate conjunctions: and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet

correlative conjuctions : both ... and, not only ... but also, either ... or, neither ... nor

Whales cannot breathe under water, for they have lungs instead of gills.

• a conjunctive adverb and/or a semicolon – conjunctive adverbs: moreover, so, therefore

Whales have lungs instead of gills; therefore they cannot breathe under water.

...instead of gills; they therefore cannot breathe under water



– a complex sentence contains at least one full dependent clause which functions as a constituent and is introduced by a subordinating conjunction

– subordinating conjunctions: after, although, as, as if, as/even though, because, before, how, however much, if, in order that, now that, once, rather than, since, so that, that, though, unless, until, what(ever), when(e), where(ever), whereas, whether, which(ever), while, who(m)(ever), whose

• a dependent clause may function as adverbialWhales cannot breathe under water because they have lungs instead of

gills– a test for adverbials: move into different positions, e.g. sentenece

initial



• a dependent clause may function as a modifier of a noun (relative clause)

Jane, who always drives fast, bought a Lotus.

Whales, which cannot breathe under water, have lungs instead of gills.

• a dependent clause may function as a subject, object, or subject complement clause; no complete main clause remains

That Jane drives fast is common knowledge.

What is surprising is that whales cannot breathe under water.

We all know that Jane drives fast.

A fact is that Jane drives fast



– a compound-complex sentence contains at least two main clauses and one dependent clause

A tone is what you hear in music and a note is the symbol that you write down for a tone.

– The notion of phrase

phrase def: a word or a group of words without a subject and predicate but functioning as a unit in a sentence:

the old man / recently / in the corner / have mastered / beside the pool


Topics in English Syntax: Verbs

• Subject, object, predicate and predicator“ name syntactic functions which are realized by a certain type of word, or a phrase, or a type of clause.

[ [The mother] subject

[ [gave]predicator

[the little boy] indirect object

[a balloon] direct object ]predicate]sentence

• The predicator is realized by a verb. The verb is the syntactically most important element within the VP (VP = a syntactic category). Verbs are the heads of the VP = they determine what other kinds of element are required


Topics in English Syntax:Verbs

• Verbs are lexical verbs (write, swim, ride, tread) or auxiliary which name events, processes, states, etc.– i. (non modal) be, have, do

– ii. (modal) can, may, will, shall, must, ought, need, dare

– iii. dare, need, be, have, do (are also used as lexical verbs)

• verb forms are finite (tensed) or non-finite (non-tensed)– most lexical verbs have six inflectional forms

finite: bake (plain present tense), bakes (3rd pers. sg present tense), baked (past tense)

non-finite: bake (plain infinitive), baking (present participle/gerund), baked (past participle)



– auxiliary verbs • differ from lexical verbs in their morphology (cf. be, am, was ...);

• modals have no non-finite forms (*to shall ; *musting; *the musted sale); do not occur in an environment where non-tensed forms are required

• do not enter into person - number agreement with the subject

• function in the complex verbal forms for tense, aspect, mood, modality contrasts

• are distinguished syntactically from lexical verbs: they can be negated by a following not and they invert with the subject in interrogatives

I have not seen him. *I saw not them.

Will you go with them? *Want you to go with them?

• Auxiliaries have negative forms

isn‘t. wasn‘t, can‘t, ...




• VP can be simple (gave) or complex, i.e. consist of aux elements plus a lexical verb (will have given)

– progressive be + present participle to express progressive aspectMax writes / wrote an interesting term paper

Max is writing an interesting term paper

Max was writing an interesting term paper

– perfect have + past participle to express perfect aspectThe men set out hours ago.

The men have already set out.

The men had set out hours before we arrived.



– modals + (to) infinitives to express mood and modality (degrees of possibility, factuality, necessity, capability, obligation)

They found something horrible

They must have found something horrible

They may find something horrible

They may leave now.

– passive be + past participle They found something horrible.

Something horrible was found

? Something horrible got found.



– do for questions, negation and emphasis whenever there is no aux verb in the predicator

They walked with their heads down, as if they were ashamed?

Did they walk with their heads down, as if they were ashamed?

They did not walk with their heads down as if they were ashamed

They did walk with their heads down as if they were ashamed.



• Verb phrase: relative ordering of auxiliaries in the predicator– the main verb may be preceeded by up to 4 auxiliaries:

modal perfect progressive passive in that order.

– order is rigidly fixed; each position is optional

– each auxiliary determines the inflectional form of the following verb

Auxiliary Inflectional form of following verb

modal base form: may take

perfect -en form: has eaten

progressive -ing form: is reading

passive -en form be taken



Modal perfect progressive passive lexical verbtakes

is taken

is taking

is being taken

has taken

has been taken

has been taking

has been being taken

may take

may be taken

may be taking

may be being taken

may have taken

may have been taken

may have been taking

may have been being taken



• Be, have, do as aux and lexical verbs He is my friend. lex

He is writing a letter aux, progr.

This letter was written by Thomas Cook. aux, pass

He was to write many more letters. aux mood

He has many friends lex

He has written many letters. aux, perf

He has to leave now. aux, mood

He does a lot of work lex

Does he write many letters? aux, interrog



• Sub-types of lexical verbsThe verb is the syntactically the most important element within the VP and the clause. Verbs are the heads of the VP because they determine what other kinds of element are required or permitted as complements of the predicator.

He | always | jogs| before breakfast.

C A P A

He | always | reads | the paper | before breakfast.

C A P C A

Adjuncts are free additions to the VP or clause, are loosely attached

Complements are central to the predicator, have sharply distinct syntactic functions as subject or object, etc.



• Internal and external complementthe first constituent structure boundary in canonical clauses is between subject and predicate; subjects are complements external to the predicate, the other complements are internal to the VP.

• Transitivityall canonical sentences have a subject, but depending on the verb, they may or may not contain an object

S - P clauses are called intransitive :

The Imam fainted.

S - P - O clauses are called transitive

The Imam loved aubergines.



• Many verbs are dual-transitivity verbs

The door opened (intransitive)

She opened the door (transitive)

He reads / He is reading ( intransitive)

He is reading a novel (transitive)

• Intransitive verbs do not take objects or subject or object complements / predicative complements: S - P

Mara dreams

Her heart beats.



• copula verbs like be, seem are called complex intransitive verbs which allow a pattern of S - P- PC

Ed seems quite competent.

The soup tastes salty.

• transitive verbs are divided into mono-transitive and di-transitive verbs depending on the number of objects they have and into complex transitive

just one direct object = monotransitive (S - P - DO)He is drinking whisky and milk.

The local council must observe the law

Troops quickly occupied the city.



ditransitive verbs have two objects, an indirect and a direct Object (S - P - IO - DO)

She told him the truth.

Max gave mother some painkiller.

She baked a cake for her ssister

He bought me a book

complex transitive verbs admit a direct object and predicative complement / object attribute

(S - P - DO - OA)

She considered Ed a decent guy.

They elected George W. the president.



• Note: the direct objects of the three types of transitive verbs may be realised by different structures

– a phrase: I know him.

I know the student.

I know the student who lives next door.

– a clause with a finite verb

» I know that he moved to Münster last year.

» I asked him whether he would join us.

– a clause with a non-finite verb: (to inf, bare inf, plain inf)

» I enjoy listening to cool jazz.

» I forced him to eat the tuna sandwich.

» She made him paint the fence.



• Passive clauses

The positive, active, declarative clause is generally considered the canonical clause. Other types of clauses are made to fulfill certain functions: – passive clauses are used to focus on the goal, the

recipient or experiencer rather than on the agent of an action.

– passive clauses depend on transitive verbs (which have at least 2 roles / participants )

Max bought an expensive painting.

An expensive painting was bought by Max.



• monotransitive verbs and the passive constructionactive clause passive clause

subject by object

object subject

active predicator be + past participle

• ditransitive verbs have two passive alternants : two objects may become the subject of the passive construction

• Max gave Mary the book

• The book was given to Mary by Max

• Mary was given the book by Max



• complex-transitive verbs: one object, one passive alternantWe consider him a nuisance

He was considered a nuisance (by us).

Note: The object attribute becomes a subject attribute

• non-finite clauses and the passive I know [ him to be a noisy guy ]DO.

He is known to be a noisy guy.

I certainly expect [ him to clean up his act soon ] DO.

He is certainly expected to clean up his act soon.

Note: the subject of the non-finite clause, an indirect object, becomes the subject of the passive construction



• multi-word verbs– phrasal verbs: verb + adverb

write up, run off, ring off

– prepositional verbs: verb + preposition run into, agree to

– phrasal prepositional verbs: verb + adverb + preposition

keep away from

– idiomatic noun + preposition verbscatch sight of, set fire to, lose count of



• Tests to distinguish a phrasal verb from a prepositional verb

He looked into the problem.

He looked into it.

He looked up the word.

He looked it up.

Position of pronoun after a preposition but in front of an

adverb = phrasal verb.

If there is no direct object, the verb is a phrasal one.He walked down.



• PhrasesWe analyse sentences as consisting of smaller units (constituents) which are called phrases.

We assume that the words of a phrase “belong together naturally“. We can test this notion by deletion or addition some words of a phrase or by testing different segmentations of a sentence.

# A good knowledge of English # is essential # for engineers # and # other staff in charge of aircraft maintenance.#

*A good # knowledge of # English



– Each phrase has a core element which, if deleted, will produce an ill-formed „unnatural“ phrase.

– This core element is called the head element; it

names the whole the phrase, e.g.

verb phrase, noun phrase; prepositional phrase, etc. and determines its category or type.

– We describe the linear order of elements in a sentence either by the sequence of phrasal categories VP, NP, PP or by the syntactic function these units realize in the sentence.



– Functions are subject, direct object, indirect object, predicate, adverbial of S

– Phrases realize functions; „ : “ = „realized by“

Subj: NP Pred:VP dir obj: NP

The white tiger # bit # the magnificent magician#.

– Words are the building blocks of phrases. To determine the type or class of a word, we look for its form and for the contexts in which it can occur.



• Word classes / Parts of speechTraditionally (cf. Latin grammar), we distinguish approx. 11 different classes of words. Attributes of words:

- form (inflectional properties),

- potential of occurrence in specific contexts, i.e. their

syntactic features and their distribution,

- lexical meaning.

- POS determined by semantic features

arbeiten, v = activity; Arbeit, n = activity

arrival, n = activity; arrive, v = activity in, prep = ?



• distributional criteria („distribution“: the set of all environments); homogeneity of approach,

- an objective procedure, intersubjective validity

- an operational procedure = substitution test for

determining POS; function of a word in a phrase

We walk to the office every day

We took a long walk

I put on my walking boots

You‘re a light weight.

Come on, light my fire.

Put the lights out, please, will you.



• noun: bird, freedom, uncle, walk, Henry, farmer, sand

• verb: walk, swim, cycle, ride, consider, think, perceive, write

• adjective: blue, exhausted, painful, big, strong, powerful

• adverb: hard, hardly, happily, very, however, up, merely

• preposition: in, on, at, under, after, amongst, like, since

• coordinator: and, but, or, nor

• subordinator: that, because although, since

• pronoun: we, her, mine, his, who, someone, which

• article: the, a, an

• numeral: three, third

• interjection: oops, , wow



• Noun– proper nouns: Henry Miller, Ford, the United States, Warwickshire,

Thames (referential function); common nouns: table, wood, soap, sand, sea, furniture, freedom, pleasure, pain (descriptive / predicative function)

• concrete : tangible things: car, bike, water; abstract: non-tangible entities: ?? processes: idea, dream, thought; ?? move, walk, transportation

• count: bounded, separable entitites: book, house; non-count / mass nouns: grass, sand, oil, furniture, cattle, love,

• noun form – nouns typically inflect for number (singular - plural) and case (plain

vs genitive)



Noun and Noun Phrase function

1. NPs are prototypically function as a complement in clause structure ( subject, object, predicative complement)

The doctor arrived. We saw the doctor. Kim is a doctor

and as as complement in PPThey were talking to the Dean.

2. NPs also function asspecifying or classifying genitive („subject determiner“ in an NP)

adjunct in clause

modifier in PP, AdjP and AdvP

supplement (Apposition) and vocative (Anrede)


• NP structure– nouns function as heads of NPs, alone or accompanied by one or

more dependents, such as determinatives (articles etc.), pre- and postmodifiers (AdjP, relative clauses)

all of the very expensive vases on the shelf that broke in the quake

Note: nouns do not take objects

– Kim dislikes tiger; * his dislike it



– test for „nounhood“: • 1) occurrence with articles: the ____; a_____

• 2) substitute word with a pronoun: it, they

– test for countabilityone plate, two plates, three plates

* one furniture, *two furnitures, *three furnitures

– note: the count non-count distinction applies to uses of a noun

BP developed three new motor oils



• Verb– verbs denote processes, actions, activities, states, accomplishments,

achievments

• Verb form – lexical verb paradigm: base, -s (3rd sg), plain (present), -ing,

(gerund participle) -ed (past tense), -ed (past participle)

note: syncretism between want - want; wanted - wanted

– forms of the auxiliary be: be, am, are, is, are, was, were,

negated: aren‘t, isn‘t, wasn‘t, weren‘t

– form distinctions of modal verbs (defective paradigm) :

can (plain present), could (past)

negated: cannot, can‘t, couldn‘t



• Verb and VP function– verbs function as predicator and determine the number and kind of

dependents (complements); predicator and complement, possibly with other dependents of type adjunct (modifiers) form the VP

• VP and clause structure– verbs function as head elements in the VP and in the structure of the

clause;

– valency (mono-, bi- trivalent) determines the number of external and internal complements (subject, objects),

– transitivity determines the kind of obligatory complements (intransitive, complex intransitive, monotransitive, complex monotransitive, ditransitive)



He died. (intrans., monovalent)

This depends on the price. (intrans., bivalent)

Ed became hungry. (intrans. complex, bivalent)

He reads the paper. (monotrans., bivalent)

He blamed me for the delay. (monotrans., trivalent)

This made Ed angry. (monotrans. cmplex, trivalent)

She gave him some food. (ditransitive, trivalent)

– verbs determine the choice of prepositions

The cream consists of egg and milk

It all depends on her father.

He supplied them with food and drinks.



– verbs determine the choice of subordinate clause construction

Whether /*That we go abroad depends on the cost.

I don‘t know whether / * that they will like it.

• Distinctive syntactic properties of auxiliary verbs – 4 non-canonical constructions are found with aux verbs:

NICE: Negation, Inversion, Code, Emphasis

– He has seen it. vs He has not seen it.

– Has he seen it? (subject - aux inversion)

– He has seen it. And I have, too.

– They don‘t believe he has seen it but he has seen it.



• Distinctive syntactic properties of modal verbs– central modals take bare infinitival complements

They must read the text

They will work on that problem.

They should help us finish the job.– present tense modals don‘t show agreement with the subject

He can buy anything he likes; he has got tons of money.

John may insist on being invited.

Note: The person-number inflection in lexical verbs is determined by

agreement with the subject: knows agrees with the student.

The student knows the professor.

The students know the professor.



• Adjectives

Function of central members of the category– Adjectives typically modify nouns: can be used in predicative,

attributive and postpositive function• Max is / seems / appears sad.

• Max owns an expensive car.

• Here is someone clever.

Gradability– The prototypical adjective is gradable, accepts degree modifiers

and has inflectional or analytic comparatives and superlatives

very many, too bright, much heat

pretty, prettier, prettiest; useful, more useful, most useful



• Dependents– Adjectives characteristically take adverbs as modifiers

• remarkably tough; surprisingly sweet

• Adjective phrases as attributive and postpositive modifiers, and predicative complements

• my new job; all other possibilities; good work• this is new; they seem suitable; we found it easy• something important; a man full of his own importance

1. APs function (mostly) as modifiers in the structure of the

NP as pre-head internal dependent, = part of a nominal,

located between he determiner and the head noun



• 2. as predicative complements APs are dependents in the clause structure, licensed by particular verbs, such as be, seem, find, become, make, appear, feel, look, sound

• 3. post-positive APs function as post-head internal modifier in NP structure; occur commonly after compound determinatives such as someone, anything, nobody– Note: the majority of Adjs can occur in all three functions but a

sizeable number is restricted to either attributive or predicative function

• mere, former, main vs. alone, asleep, glad

– a few Adjs are restricted to postpositive function• gifts galore, president elect



– Note: predeterminer APs occur as external modifier in NP structure, preceding the indefinite article a

• such a fool

• half a pint of bitter

• Adjectives as heads of complex phrasal categories– Many adjectives license

• complements in post-head position and

• modifiers in pre-head and post-head position

• PPs, NPs and clauses in post-head position;

• AdvPs in pre-head position



– Complements of APs in post-head position• fraught with danger;

• mindful of the danger; afraid of dogs

• concerned about the delay; angry about her behaviour

• angry at the news; astonished at the allegations

• distressed by these insinuations

• clothed in linnen; covered in dust

• insistent that the charge be dropped;

• amazed what a fuss she made

• happy to leave it to him



Adverbs– Many adverbs are morphologically derived from adjectives ( -ly);

but note: fast, hard, early, better, worse• a rapid improvement vs it rapidly improved

• a surprising depth vs surprisingly deep

• progress was rapid vs we progressed rapidly

– Adv modify a verb, an adjective or another adverb; they cannot function as predicative complement

• They almost died in the accident.

• Max almost always gets it right.

• She was extremely unhappy with the proposal.



Prepositions

• relate entities; denote place, time, direction, duration, manner, causality, ...

• they have a core function within the phrase which they introduce - they are the head element of a PP and introduce a dependent NP as prepositional complement.

• they are mostly short, simple words of a closed class of function words

• there are several types of complex prepositions:



about, above, across, after, against, along, among, apart from, around, as at, because of, behind, below, beneath, beside, between, beyond, by, concerning, despite, down, during, except, for from, in, in addition to, in case of, in contrast to, inside, in spite of, into, like, near, of, off, on, onto, out, out of, outside, over past, regarding, since, through, throughout, to, toward, under, underneath, until, up, upon, with, with regard to, within, without



• 1. ADV or PREP +PREP

along with, as for, away from, out of up to, etc.

• 2. VERB / ADJ / CONJUNCTION etc + PREP: owing to, due to, because of, etc.

• 3. PREP + NOUN + PREP

by means of, in comparison with, in front of, etc.



Prepositions precede the PP, postpositions occur in• wh- questions:

Which town to you live in

• relative clause: The old hag I was telling you about

• Wh-clause:

What I am convinced of is that terrorist acts will happen.• Exclamations:

What a mess he’s got himself in.

• Passives : She was sought after by all the leading impresarios

• Infinitive clauses: He’s impossible to work with



• Syntactic functions of prepositions: – complements of verbs, adjectives and nouns:

We depend on continued subsidies

I am sorry for his parents

– adjuncts:

The students were singing on the bus

– postmodifiers in NPs:

The people on the bus were singing loudly and out of tune

– disjuncts:

To our surprise, he survived the accident unharmed.

– conjunct:

On the other hand, he was supported by the whole family.



Pronouns and their Subclasses

• personal, reflexive, possessive, reciprocal, relative, interrogative, demonstrative, indefinite

• may be used in two functions: – 1. independently, in (pro)nominal function, replacing a co-referential

noun or a noun phrase

– 2. dependently, almost like adjectives, in determiner function

His book cost over € 75.-

That flower on the window-sill ..

When she arrived in Münster, Tiger went straight to class

Hers cost more than € 100.

And indeed she is impressive

Our American friends really like Sauerkraut.



Features of (major subclasses) of pronouns– They do not admit determiners

* the each book; * the which girl ?

– They often have remnants of case marking – I, me, mine;

– we, us, our,

– they , them, their

– who, whom, whose

– They often have person contrast• 1st person : refers to speaker role• 2nd person: refers to role of person(s) addressed• 3rd person: refers to entity under discussion



– They often have gender contrasthe – him – himself – his

she – her – herself – hers

it – itself- ist

– They show number contrast; mostly by morphologically unrelated forms



Personal pronouns possessive pronouns reflexive pronouns

subj case obj case determiner nominal

1st pers sing I me my mine myself

plur we us our ours ourselves

2ndpers sing you you your yours yourself

plur you you yourselves

3rdpers sing masc he him his his himself

fem she her her hers herself

non pers it its its itself

plur they them their theirs themselves



Personal pronouns:

– replace / substitute for co-referential NPs in neighbouring a) preceding b) in following clauses:

Johni told Mary to wait for himi.

Whenever hei took off his glasses, Johni was difficult to deal with.

– objective case forms are used as (direct or indirect) objects or as complements of prepositions; in informal usage also as subject complements

Tiger spotted them immediately. Max gave them some chocolate.

It’s me. Is it you?

I saw her with them.



Reflexive pronouns

– replace a co-referential NP within the same clauseJohn hurt himself badly.

– the indefinite pronoun one has its own reflexive oneself; other indefinites use himself, themselves

No one must fool himself

Possessive pronouns

combine genitive functions, indicating ownership (my, her, your,

...), functioning attributively / syntactically as determiners,

with pronominal function in the second series: mine, yours, hers ..



Relative pronouns– reflect neutral, personal or non-personal gender of referent, and case

(genitive, and objective)

personal: who, whom, whose

non-personal: which, whose

neutral: that

– introduce dependent relative clauses in which they function as a subordinating conjunction (subordinator) and as a constituent (subject, direct object, indirect object, or prepositional object)

John knows the guy who / whom you met.

John is the guy who broke the record.



John is the guy whose daughter was recently married.

John is the guy for whom I have immense respect

... the house in which I was born

... the games that politicians play



Interrogative pronouns– are used in questions, both in determiner function;

dependently,

personal: whose,

personal or non-personal: which, what

Whose book is it? Which picture do you like most?

What kind of weather do you expect?

On whom do you rely?

– and pronominally, independently,This cat here. Whose is it?

Which do you prefer? What did he want?



– The interrogative pronouns may be used as subordinators introducing dependent questions; however, word order is then the same as in a declarative sentence

Whom did you meet?

I asked whom you saw.•



Demonstrative pronouns

– substitute for a pointing gesture, establish near and distant reference (from the point of the speaker) and function as determiner as well as pronominally

near distant

singular this that

plural these those



Indefinite pronouns and universal pronouns– the universal pronouns comprise each, every, all, the

every-compounds (everything, every body, every one

– most indefinite and universal pronouns can be used dependently, functioning as determiners or independently

Someone thought that all the apples were sweet.

Every man is expected to do their duty.

All (senators) agreed that a reform was needed.

each student: individual reference to two or more

every student: collective reference to three or more



– every one, each, each one have of-constructions Every one of the students should have their own books

Each one /each student has his own book

– the indefinites comprise somebody, anybody, anything, someone, something, nobody, no on; [several, much , both, enough can also be considered quantifiers, like vague numerals; similarly a great many; a few, many a, a lot of, a great deal of ]

once upon a time, someone told us a story about ...

several went into the kitchen

– either, neither have dual reference, none is the negation of every among the universal pronouns



Numerals

– There are two series of numerals, cardinal numerals (one, two, three...) and ordinal numbers (first, second, third ),

– they can be used dependently (as premodifiers) and independently / pronominally

The first student to arrive was ...

He is the first.



Reciprocal pronouns

– are each other and one another

They met each other regularly.

Wolf and Tiger are fond of one another.



Articles

• English has two articles, the, a, an.

• The articles are always used as determiners preceding the noun.

• The is used for specific, definite reference, a / an for indefinite reference.

• The can occur before any common noun



• Connectors – coordinating conjunctions

• link parallel structures, i.e. units of „equal syntactic value”

Tom and Otto

both the boy with the telescope and the girl with the apple

He studies for his exam for he is eager to succeed.

He is reading a book. So he must not be disturbed.

• Conjunctive adverbHe is reading a book; therefore, he must not be disturbed.



• Subordinators– subordinating conjunctions introduce dependent

phrases or clauses

• are subclassified according to – the type of dependent clauses they introduce

subject, and subject complement clause

object, and object complement clause

clauses modifying nouns

wh-clause; that clause; if-clause

– according to their function in the phrase or clause



I know where he lives. (DO)

I know how he works. (DO)

where and how are constituents of the clause and function as interrogative adverbs with a subordinating function

If, whether and that are no clause constituents and function solely as subordinating conjunctions

I don‘t know if he will come by himself.

We believe that he arrived on time (DO)

We asked whether he would be home.



• In relative clauses that post-modify a noun, the relative pronouns who, whose, whom, that, which function as subordinators

The boy [that/whom you met is my pal. ] Subject

Remember [the time when we were young.] DO

the relative pronouns and the subordinating relative adverbs when, where, also function as constituents in clauses

In adverbial clauses introduced by words like when, where, after, since, before, ... these adverbs do not function as constituents of the clause and are called subordinating conjunctions.



• Conjunctions• coordinating conjunction

and, but, or, nor, for, so, yet

• correlative conjunctions not only .. but also, either ... or, both ... and, neither ...

nor

• conjunctive adverbs moreover, however, otherwise, certainly, finally, similarly,

nevertheless, indeed, consequently,accordingly, likewise, now, therefore, thereafter, hence, meanwhile, still, undoubtedly, next, hence, instead, certainly, besides



• Subordinators

after, although, as , as if, as though, because, before, even though, how, however much, if, in order that, now that, once, until, unless, though, that, so that, since, rather than, what(ever), when, whenever, where, whereas, wherever, wheher, whichever, while, who, who(m)(ever), whose



Interjections

OOPS



• Parts of Speech:

major word classes:

V, N (and pronouns), Adj, Adv, Prep

minor word classes:

subordinators, coordinators, determinative, numeral,

major parts-of-speech are marked for the HEAD feature



Levels of description

clause

phrase syntax grammar

word ] morphology

clause: has subject and predicate

phrase : has head element and dependents

word : HEAD feature + or -; only major parts of speech function as head elements (= N, V, Adj, Adv, Prep)

•



Phrases

consists at least of one word but may contain other phrases

phrases have constituents

constituents have functions

constituents have realizations

functions and realizations do not have a 1:1 relation


Noun Phrase

- the most complex type of phrase

- obligatory: head element = noun / nominal / pronoun plus one or two dependents

- prehead and post-head dependents




Noun Phrase functions– NPs prototypically function as a complement in clause

structure (subject, object, predicative complement

– and as phrasal complement in PP

– NPs also function

• as specifying or classifying genitive

• adjunct in clause

• modifier in NP, PP, AdjP and AdvP

• supplement (Apposition) and vocative (Anrede)



NP functions: example sentencesThe doctor arrived.

We saw the doctor.

Kim is a experienced doctor.

They were talking to the Dean.

I liked Sue‘s analysis of the passive construction.

Fred departed the day before yesterday.

The nail was three inches long

Fred arrived a whole day late

The wreck was found a mile under the sea.

I like the novel „Ulysses“.

I finally met his wife, a distinguished linguist.

Michael, I found your book.



Functions of constituents of an NP • predeterminer, determiner, postdeterminers, premodifier,

head, postmodifier • examples of NP constituent functions and their realizations

John

he

the boy

exciting city life

half of the group of experts

the glass



the teacher’s glass

both of the very well known glitterati who intoned Britannia,

Britannia rule the waves

our old apple tree in the back yard

her skin beautifully tattooed with red dragons

England proper

the engine alone

a house as big as I have everseen

the night-life in Berlin

some wonderfully warm woollen blankets

photographs of Maja which her father had taken

a half of bitter



Realisations of constituent functions- premodifiers of NP heads are mostly AdjP; N may be

premodified by one or several AdjP

- nouns which premodify nouns can be considered

adjectives city [premod: AdjP] life [head:N]

- postmodifiers of Np heads are phrases or finite or non- finite clauses, only some AdjP realise postmodifiers



Determiners definite and indefinite article, demonstrative pronouns

preceding the noun: the, a , an, this, that, these, those

Predeterminers both of, both those (copies), half of, all the, such a

Postdeterminersthose two, a half of



Specifying versus classifying genitivesa specifying genitive : an NP which has a genitive as the head of a determiner as in

the child’s book

a specifying genitive can be substituted with a possessive pronoun (his, her, its, theirs)

in a classifying genitive as in

a children’s book

the article functions as determiner of the head noun



Postmodifiersrestrictive (specifying) vs non-restrictive post-modifiers

post-modifiers may be added to an NP to help the addressee identify the referent of the head noun , to specify vague reference as in

My friend who has recently moved to London called me last night. (intonation rising, no comma)

or to give additional information of an already identified referent

Uncle Peter, who has recently moved to London, called me last night. (intonation falling; set off with commas)



Relative pronouns and postmodification

who, whom, whose, which, that

serve a double function as

1. subordinators introducing a dependent clause,

2. as clause constituent realising the function of a subject,

an object or an adverbial of the clause

whose is a dependent pronoun and phrase constituent



Verb PhraseA VP consists of a

- a lexical verb as head element

- or of a comlex verb which contains auxiliary elements and a lexical verb as its head

- and of the dependent complements.

In a verbal complex, the auxiliaries carry tense, aspect, and mood information.

The verbal head licenses complements, i.e. it determines the argument structure of the clause.



Adjective Phrasean AdjP consists of an adjectival head which in many cases has a dependent (syntactically obligatory) complement in postposition realised by a PP or a clause

She is afraid of dogs (optional). She is afraid

Peter was very keen to take part (optional) Peter was very keen.

We are happy to leave it to you (optional) We are happy.

He is mindful of the danger (obligatory) *He is mindful

The airlift was fraught with risks. (obligatory)

*The airliftwas fraught

They were fraught (= anxious, distressed)



Note a large number of adjectives that require an obligatory

complement when used predicatively or in postposition

cannot be used attributively.

This is tantamount to a confession.

*their tantamount confession

They were heedless of the danger.

this heedless destruction od the rain forest



PP complements of adjectives annoyed, concerned, mad, glad, happy about

astonished, adept, hopeless, delighted at

amused, distressed, hurt, unaffected by

anxious, answerable, greedy for

divorced, alienated, removed from

bathed, clothed, engaged, decisive in desirous, reminiscent, scared of



Clausal complements of adjectivesI am glad that you were able to come

I am not sure whether you will understand

too good to participate in the games

Functions of the constituents of AdjPsan Adj may be preceded or followed by a modifier;

- premodifiers are mostly realised by AdvP

- postmodifiers are realised by adverb phrases, NPs,

and mostly prepositional phrases or clauses



Note: his [occasionally [very offensive ]] behaviour = stacked modification

his [[quite unbelievably] offensive] behaviour = submodification

AdjP AdjP

Mod: Head Mod Head

Adv AdjP AdvP Adj

Mod Head Mod Head

Adv Adj Adv Adv

occasionally very offensive quite unbelievably offensive



Determinatives as degree modifiersthe, this, that, no, any, much, little, a little, enough, all

The bigger it is the more likely it is to break

They are this tall

He seemes all confused

We‘re not getting any younger

NPs as modifiersthree years old

five centimeters thick

lots better

a trifle shy

two hours long



PPs as modifierscautious to excess

dangerous in the extreme

deaf in both ears

very good for a beginner

these in some respects highly controversial theories

an on the whole persuasive argument

Discontinuous modifier so very good that he became a member of the team



Adverbialphrases- Advs characteristically modify verbs, adjectives and

other Advs

- AdvPs have Adv as head element and may contain

dependent modifiers and / or complements


Complements in AdvPs- complements are almost always PPs

Our company operates [almost entirely separately from the rest of the enterprise]

We decide independently of an abstract principle of justice.

Luckily for them, President Clinton decided not to run again.

... concomitantly with the process of ageing

... analogously to the calculation above



Modification in AdvPsStacked modification and submodification in the AdvP are similar to modification in the AdjP

Jill loses her temper [only [very rarely]]

Jack and Jill sing [[quite remarkably] well]

Premodifiers

very easily, fairly evenly, incredibly meticulously, all that well

later that morning, a bit slowly, arrive three hours late



Postmodifierseasily enough / clearly enough,

old enough to know better

he behaved badly in the extreme,

later in the day,

faster than anyone could imagine

Discontinuous modifierHe won the race [so easily that he became a member of the national team]



Prepositional Phrases

- headed by prepositions, taking complements and

modifiers as dependents which are realised as NPs,

finite and non-finite clauses, AdvPs, AdjPs, other PPs

- all PPs functioning as non-predicative adjuncts, many

as complements in clause structureAhead of the ship, there was a small island. (PP)

but note: Tired of the journey, the sailor saw a small island. (AdjP)



NP-complements of prepositions

He lived in London for two years.

She sent a photograph of their new house to her parents.

Our new friends are keen on golf.

Concerning the news that you told me ...

just inside the penalty area

He left after the accident.

I haven‘t seen her since last Easter.

note: I haven‘t seen her since. (Prep without a complement?)



Clausal complements of Prepositions

He left after he saw her.

He left after you promised to help.

It all depends on whether he saw her.

I am looking forward to seeing you.

afraid of what will happen.We can‘t agree on whether we should call the police.


Prepositions plus non-NP constituents as complementsThe magician emerged from behind the curtain. (PP)

I didn‘t know about the accident until recently. (AdvP) cf. He stayed with us until last week.

She took him for dead. (AdjP) (predicative

complement) She took him for a friend.(NP)

Modifiers of prepositionstwo years after their divorce

just inside the building

very much in control of thngs



Position of the preposition relative to its complement

- in most cases, the preposition precedes ist complement

- some English prepositions can follow their

complement

notwithstanding the weather vs. the weather notwithstanding

Stranded prepositionWhat are you looking at?

What are you waiting for?



S : NP SA : NP

[He was [a Hindu, a puny wisp of a man, with a shaven head and vague liquid eyes]]

SA : NP post-modifying : NP

[a Hindu [a puny wisp of a man, with a shaven head and vague liquid eyes]]

post-mod : NP post-mod : PP

[a puny wisp [of a man, with a shaven head and vague liquid eyes]]

post-mod : PP complement : NP

[of [a man, with a shaven head and vague liquid eyes]]

complement : NP post-mod: PP

[a man [with a shaven head and vague liquid eyes]]

post-mod: PP complement : NP

[with [a shaven head and vague liquid eyes]]



Noun Phrase Pre-det Determiner Post-det Pre-mod(s) Head Post-mod(s)

article AdjP noun AdvP

pronoun class. genit pronounAdjP

numeral PP

spec. Genitive NP

fin. clause

non-fin clause



Adjective Phrase

Function: Pre-modifier Head Post-modifier

realised by AdvP Adjective PP

clause



Adverbialphrase

Functions: Pre-modifier Head Postmodifier

Realisations: AdvP(s) Adverb AdvP

PP

finite clause

non-finite clause

discontinuous [Adverb] modifier



Prepositional Phrase

Functions: Modifier Head Complement

Realisation AdvP Preposition NP

finite clause

non-finite clause



Verb Phrase

Functions: AUX Head complements /adjuncts

Realisation: tense lexical verb NP

mood PP

perfect aspect AdjP

prog. Aspect finite clause

passive voice non-finite clause

do

Topics in English Syntax An Introductory Course

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