definition of syntax (1) “syntaxis” (greek) = “arrangement” the rules of sentence...
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Definition of Syntax (1) “syntaxis” (Greek) = “arrangement” The rules of sentence formation; the study of
the structure of sentences. Language Structure
Phonology Grammar Semantics
morphology syntax
(the specific sense; more traditional)
Definition of Syntax (2)
Popularized by Chomsky (the general sense)
Grammar
Phonology (Morphology) Syntax Semantics
II. Hierarchical Structure (1)A. Concepts of hierarchy
e.g.1: John is easy to please
John is eager to please
Q: Do the two sentences have the same sentence structure (the same syntax)?
Paraphrase:
It’s easy for somebody to please John.
John is eager to please somebody.
Maslow’s hierarchical nature of the needs
II. Hierarchical Structure (2) Analogy:
A. University school board, principle, vice presidents, dean of academic affairs, dean of student affairs, dean of general affairs, dean of research and development, dean of each college, dept. chairs….
B. Country president, vice- president, legistrative yuan ( 立法院 ), executive yuan ( 行政院 ), control yuan ( 監察院 ), judicial yuan ( 司法院 ).
University
School board
President, Vice presidents
教務長 學務長 總務長 研發長
外語 理工 文 法 民生 醫 管理 藝 社科 院長 院長 院長 院長 院長 院長 院長 院長 院長
: : : : : : : : :
系主任 系主任 系主任 系主任 系主任 系主任 系主任 系主任 系主任
country
president vice- president
legistrative yuan executive yuan control yuan judicial yuan
( 立法院 ) ( 行政院 ) ( 監察院 ) ( 司法院 )
: : : :
Hierarchy Hilary couldn’t open the windows.
VP NP
sentence phrases words morphemes
Constituent: part that makes up something; a linguistic unit which is part of a larger construction.
e.g. Can you identify the construction and constituents in the sentence, “the boy jumped” ?
II. Hierarchical Structure (3)Modal of syntactic investigation: Five-rank
hierarchy (Crystal 95)
Sentences Sentencesare analyzed into are used to build
Clauses Clauses are analyzed into are used to build
Phrases Phrasesare analyzed into are used to build
Words Wordsare analyzed into are used to build
Morphemes Morphemes
Upward Expansion Phrases e.g. cars the cars the big cars all
the big cars all the big cars in the garage (premodification) (head) (postmodification)
Upward expansion:Tom couldn’t find his notes, and Davie couldn’t find his textbook, and (repeat the structure) . . . but he still lectured for three hours.
Hierarchy Another way to look at “hierarchies”:
construction and constituents
The young must respect the old people.
(A) the young (B) must respect the old people
(C) the (D) young (E) must respect (F) the old people
(G) must (H) respect (I) the (J) old
people
(K) old (L) people
ClausesClause Types: S+V (The dog + is running) S+V+O (The dog + bites + him) S+V+C (The car + is + ready) S+V+A (The picture + lays +on the ground) S+V+O+O (I + give + him + a pen) S+V+O+C (He + calls + John a fool) S+V+O+A (Mary + saw + John +yesterday) Note: subject (S), verb (V), complement (C), object (O), adverbial (A).
Formats of the Hierarchy Tree Diagram different levels in analysis Phrase Structure (in tree diagrams) Recursiveness (Recursion) Deep and Surface Structure Transformational Generative Grammar: e.g.1. Imperative Transformation e.g.2. Reflexive Transformation andImperative Transformation e.g.3. Passive Transformation e.g.4. Particle Movement
1.Tree Diagrams (1)“The girl chased the dog.” (Crystal 96)
The girl chased the doga. Identify the 2 major constituents (The girl + chased
the dog)b. Divide the next-biggest constituent into 2: chased
+ the dogc. Continue dividing constituents into 2 units until we
can go no further. e.g. the + girl, the + dog, chase + -ed
1.Tree Diagrams (2)
Tree Diagrams: Different levels in analysis
The tree diagram format may be viewed as:a. A static representation of the structure of the
sentence at the bottom of the diagram.
b. A dynamic format, representing a way of “generating” a very large number of sentences with similar structures (by the use of phrase structure rules).
2. Phrase Structure
S
NP VP
ART N V NP
(DET)
ART N
the girl chased the dog
Phrase Structure Rules
Phrase structure rules (Nash 75-77): present the information of the tree diagram in an alternative format
S NP + VPVP V + (NP) + (PP) + (ADV) (ART) + (ADJ)* NNP PRO PP P + NP Note: see Yule 105 for symbols and abbreviation definition.
3. Recursiveness (Recursion)
Recursive rule: VP VS (Yule 107)
e.g.: John said [ Cathy thought (Mary helped George)].
Another e.g. of recursiveness
The Rose in My Garden
This is the rose in my garden.
This is the bee that sleeps on the rose in my garden.
These are the holly hocks high above ground, that give shade to the bee that sleeps on the rose in my garden.
4. Deep and Surface Structure Deep and surface structure: “the form of a sentence
we produce and understand is very often not the same as the basic form which shows its meaning” (Nash 79)
A. Deep Structure: the abstract, underlying level, but basic form of the sentence
B. Surface Structure: the superficial, syntactic form that we produce in reality
e.g. old men and womene.g. Annie whacked a man with an umbrella. (Yule 103)
same surface structure form, two underlying interpretations (deep structures)
Other examples: 1. Look! 2. *Help herself. 3. The runner broke the world
record.
Syntactic processing: linking segments Syntactically ambiguous constructionsSyntactically ambiguous constructions
old men and old men and womenwomen
Flying planes Flying planes can be can be dangerousdangerous
Garden path sentences
What problems do you have when you read this?• The girl told the boy the dog bit Mary was coming. The horse raced past the barn fell.The horse raced past the barn fell.
When we read such sentences When we read such sentences and find our initial syntactic and find our initial syntactic interpretation wrong, we can interpretation wrong, we can only get back to the beginning only get back to the beginning for another possibility.for another possibility.
““To be led down the garden To be led down the garden path” means to be confused path” means to be confused (purposely).(purposely).
Transformational-generative grammar Transformations: processes that change the deep
structure into surface structure. Generative: using phrase structure rules, we can
produce (generate) infinite sentences. Surface Structure:
S
NP VP
V NP
eat ART N
the chou tofu
Deep Structure:S imperative
NP VP transformation
pro V NP
ART N
you eat the chou tofu
Surface structure: Help yourself! Deep Structure:
S S
NP VP reflexive NP VP
pro V NP transformation pro V NPpro (reflexive
pro)
you help you you help yourself
SNP VP imperative
Pro V NP transformation
(reflexive pro) Help yourself
You help yourself
Transformation: important criteria
A. Some transformations are required; some are optional.
B. Transformation is in a certain order.
e.g. “Help yourself!”
reflexive transformation is required.
imperative transformation is optional.
Passive transformation
NP1 V NP2 and changes it into
NP2 BE V-EN BY NP1
e.g. The runner broke the world record.
The world record was broken by the runner.
Transformational Process
In this process: won’t change the relationship
and the meaning of the sentence
1. Combination e.g.: You have You’ve
2. Substitution e.g.: You Yourself
3. Deletion e.g.: You X
4. Movement e.g.: Put…on Put on…
5. Addition e.g.: relative clause
Important Contribution of TGG
Not everything we know about a sentence is revealed in the actual form we produce—the surface structure. We must look for deeper structural information.
The deep—surface structure idea=a very important contribution.
Relative clause (1)S
NP VP
NA S V NP (+N) NP VP confused ART N
(+definite) N V NPx (-human) (+N) gave N the students
lecture (-common) (+N)
Nash (+definite)
(-human)
lecture
Relative clause (2) 1st TRNAS: relative clause transformation
S
NP VP
NP S+ART N1 NP N NP VP
(+DEF) lecture(+ART) lecture
(-Human) (+N) (+DEF) (+N) NV
(+DEF) (-Human) (+DEF)
(-Human) (+WH) (-Human) Nash gave
(+PRO) (+WH)
(+PRO)
Problems of TGG
1. Theory is unwieldy. (too cumbersome, too clumsy—too many transformations)
2. Not universal (It’s language specific, not conform to all languages).
3. Psychological unreal (Semantics should be applied first, then comes the syntax)
Ambiguity Children are nice to understand. 1. It’s nice for someone to understand children. 2. It’s nice for children to understand something. S-structure: Children are nice [ Ø to understand Ø ]
D-structure: Children are nice [ Ø to understand Ø ]
D-Structure and S-Structure Definition:
D-structure—in which the basic order of phrases is represented.
S-structure—in which the actual linear order of phrases is observed; deep
structure positions of phrases are represented by empty categories.
What will Frances drink [Ø] ?
Drano, he drank [Ø] !
D-structure
S
S
NP VP
N V NP
N
he drank Drano
S-structure
S
NPi S
NP VP
N N VNP
Drano he drank tiT=trace “an inaudible copy of the
moved NP is left in the D-structure position of the moved phrase”
i=identical index
D-structure
S
S
NP I VP
N V VP
NFrances will drink what
S-structureS
NPj S
Willi S
N
NP IVP
V NP
What Frances ti drink tj
Language Ambiguity
1. Sentence Ambiguity:
e.g.: Visiting relatives can be a nuisance.
2. Word Ambiguity:
e.g.: The man put his straw on the floor.
Grammatical Hierarchy
Grammar is the structural system of a language . The grammar of the English language is organized into five ranks:the sentence, the clause, the phrase, the word and the morpheme. Each rank is composed of one or more than one grammatical unit of the immediate lower rank,thus the sentence is a grammatical unit that consists of one or more than one clause…the sentence is the highest of grammatical unit while the morpheme is the minimum or the lowest rank . （ Zhang, 2004 ：1 ）
Ex. 1C Page 24Combine each group of sentences into a single
sentence, using coordination, subordination or both. 2. Almost every summer night the cooling northeast
wind swept through our bedroom windows. /It made air conditioning unnecessary./It made a light blanket welcome.
Almost every summer night the cooling northeast wind swept through our bedroom windows, making air conditioning unnecessary and a light blanket welcome.
Sweeping through our bedroom windows almost every night, the cooling northeast wind made air conditioning unnecessary and a light blanket welcome.
4. This is a good spot for a picnic. /A river flows on one side. /A large tree provides shade. / We can spread our blanket on the grassy knoll.
＊ This is a good spot for a picnic that /where a river flows on one side and a large tree provides shade and we can spread one blanket on the grassy knoll.
With the river on one side and a large tree providing shade, this is a good spot for a picnic, and we can spread our blanket on the grassy knoll.
5. Mr. Wood ran up the stairs. /He was panting for breath. /He stood at his neighbor’s door. /He knocked again and again . / Then someone opened the door.
＊ Panting for breath, Mr. Wood ran up the stairs where he stood at his neighbor’s door and knocked again and again and then someone open the door.
Panting for breath after running up the stairs, Mr. Wood stood at his neighbor’s door and knocked again and again till someone opened the door.
7. Jim stood in front of the mirror. He looked at his image. He wondered at the big change. It had come over him in recent years.
＊ Jim stood in front of the mirror where he looked at his image and wondered at the big change which had come over him in recent years.
＊ Jim stood in front of the mirror, looking at his image , wondering at the big change which had come over him in recent years.
Standing in front of of the mirror, Jim looked at his image, wondering at the big change that had come over him in recent years.
10. John was covered with mud. He was shivering . He sat hunched over a bowl of hot broth. The broth had been prepared by his father to drive off the chill.
＊ John was covered with mud, he was shivering and sat hunched over a bowl of hot broth which had been prepared by his father to drive off the chill.
＊ John who was shivering was covered with mud and sat hunched over a bowl of hot broth which had been prepared by his father to drive off the chill.
Mud-covered and shivering, John sat hunched over a bowl of hot broth prepared by his father to drive off the chill.
11. Far above the waters of a beautiful lake stand five pavilions. The pavilions are in Chinese style.They stand over the tops of the tall pine trees. The pine trees grow on the steep slopes of a hill.
＊ Far above the waters of a beautiful lake stand five pavilions which are in Chinese style and stood over the tops of the pine trees which grow on the steep slopes of a hill.
Far above the waters of a beautiful lake and over the tops of the tall pine trees growing on the steep slopes of a hill stand five Chinese pavilions.
13. Sarah sank in the nearest chair. She was completely exhausted. Her limbs were stiff with cold. Her mind was a piece of blank.
＊ Sarah, whose limbs were stiff with cold and mind was a piece of blank, was completely exhausted and sank in the nearest chair.
＊ Sarah was completely exhausted so she sank in the nearest chair, her limbs were stiff with cold and mind was a piece of blank.
Sarah sank in the nearest chair, completely exhausted, her limbs stiff with cold, her mind a piece of blank.
15. Mr. Jacob was Tony’s former employer. He had promised Tony a half-day employer. The job would give Tony 20 pounds a week. It was necessary to break this news to his family, Tony thought.
＊ It was necessary to break the news that his former employer Mr. Jacob had promised him a half-day job which would gave him 20 pounds a week to his family, Tony thought .
＊ Tony thought it was necessary to break the news that his former employer, Mr. Jacob had promised him a half-day job which would give Tony 20 pounds a week to his family.
Tony thought it necessary to break the news to his family , that Mr. Jacob, his former employer, had promised him a half-day job at 20 pounds a week.
17. The men of the disbanded royal bodyguard were a potentially dangerous element. The men were suddenly turned onto the street of a capital. The capital was seething with unrest. The men were unemployed. The men were perhaps disgruntled at their abrupt dismissal.
＊ The men of the disbanded royal bodyguard were suddenly turned loose onto the street of a capital that was seething with unrest were potentially dangerous element since they were unemployed and perhaps disgruntled at their abrupt dismissal.
The men of the disbanded royal bodyguard, suddenly turned loose onto the street of a capital seething with unrest , unemployed and perhaps disgruntled at their dismissal, were a potentially dangerous element.
19. He was nearing the top. His eyes were already glowing with triumph. He was climbing faster and faster. He climbed recklessly fast. He suddenly slipped and fell. He tumbled to the ground. He lay motionless there. He was a crumpled pile of arms and legs.
＊ He suddenly slipped and fell , tumbled to the ground, lay motionless there , and was a crumpled pile of arms and legs, because his eyes were already glowing with triumph as he was nearing the top and climbed recklessly fast.
Nearing the top, he climbed recklessly faster and faster , his eyes already glowing with triumph, but suddenly he slipped and fell, tumbling to the ground and lying motionless there, a crumpled pile of arms and legs.
20. Bertrand Russell was one of the very few persons. The very few persons have received the Order of Merit. They have received the Nobel Prize for literature. The British government conferred the Order of Merit on Bertrand Russell. It was conferred in 1949. The Nobel Prize was conferred in M\Norway. It was conferred in 1950.
＊ Bertrand Russell who was conferred the Order of Merit by the British government in 1949 was one of the very few persons who have received it, since they have received the Nobel Prize for literature which was conferred in Norway in 1950.
Bertrand Russell was one of the very few persons who have received both the Order of merit , which was conferred on him by the British government in 1949, and the Nobel Prize for literature, conferred in Norway in 1950.
Word / Compound word
Conceptions Classifications Parts of speech
Attention to the underlined parts
I placed the cup on the table. Jane sent a letter to her mother . He doesn’t have much patience. The store close early on Saturday. He saw a flying saucer last night. David could use some excitement. He likes me.
I already salted the vegetables. There are millions of sleep in New Zealand I was given advice on how to apply. He is married to Henry. He’s a very handsome man. She is too soft with the students. This is a
very soft pencil.
a pretty girl, pretty soon,
Polysemy Pretty is polysemous, and therefore we need to
know that this same word can have different meanings in different contexts. While pretty is often used in the semantic field of beauty, it can also be used as an intensifier with words like soon, quickly, or good. It is not as strong as very but belongs to the same semantic field .
A theory, to theorize , to be theoretical
Mary is very _______ about everything. She has just developed a new_______. She _______ that the less one works, the more one will succeed at a certain tasks.
The Definition of WordThe word is the minimum free form (Bloomfield
1933:37).A word can possess a certain degree of
autonomy:
it can be preceded and followed by a pause;
it can bear stress;
it is fairly unselective with regard to adjacent elements;
it can move independently of its host;
under appropriate conditions words can be moved around in a sentence.
Morphemes The morpheme is the minimum or smallest
grammatical unit, also the smallest meaningful element of speech. e.g. care, -ful, re-, -ness
Root the part of the word left when all the affixes have been removed, care in careful Morphemes fall into two categories: free
morphemes and bound morphemes. A free morpheme has a complete meaning and
can stand by itself as a simple word such as kind, friend, book and take . It can sometimes act as a complete utterance in connected speech.
Bound morphemes cannot stand by itself: it only exists as an inflectional or derivational affix.
affix: Affixes are meaningful, but the meaning is not complete in itself unless it is attached to some other form .It can change the semantic content and /or the syntactic function of a word, but cannot stand alone . e.g. inedible ,counteract, pseudo-science or enslave,refusal,happiness and un-, -s, -ed, -ful.etc.
Stem/root : the part of the word to which affixes of any kind can be added, e.g. care, in careless and carelessness
derivational morpheme: affix added to a word to create a new word,e.g. –ness and- less in carelessness . The verb-forming –ize in characterize and the negative-forming un- in untidy.
inflectional morpheme:affix attached to the end of a word according to its syntactic role in a sentence to indicate grammatical meaning e.g. dogs, watches and John’s and reads , working , and supervised
relationships, e.g.-s ; -ed; -ing
Inflectional Affixes Watching ,Walks ,Jumped, Eaten ( for verbs) John’s ,books ( for nouns ) clearer; faster (for the comparatives of adjectives
and adverbs) Clearest, fastest 内部元音的变化mouse-mice, ring-rang-rung 没有变化 one deer-several deer, hit-hit 替补形式 go-went, be-was bad-worse-worst good-better-best
Affixes
the ,a word or an affix? In spite of some affix-like
properties,it is best considered a word.
Allomorphs and Allophones
one morpheme may have several morphological or phonological forms. Each is an allomorph or allophone of the same morpheme
Allomorph---the same morpheme in different contexts may take different morphological forms:inactive, immature, irregular,illegal
Allophone --- the same morpheme in different contexts may take different phonological forms: cats [ts],dogs [z]; fast, breakfast;head, forehead; day, Monday
English morphemes
Free Bound
Lexical Grammatical Lexical Grammatical
content function content function
Major parts Minor parts Derivational Inflectional
of speech of speech morpheme morpheme
exceed v. 超过 , 越过 excess n. 过度 , 过分excessive adj. 过多的 ,
过分的excessively adv.
过分地，非常地
exceed v. 超过 , 越过 excess n. 过度 , 过分excessive adj. 过多的 ,
过分的excessively adv.
过分地，非常地
proceed v. 前进 , 进行procedure n. 步骤 , 手续process n. 过程procession n. 行进的行 列 , 队伍succeed v. 继承，接续
Family members
ceed, cede, cessceed, cede, cess: go; move forward : go; move forward (( 走走 ))ceed, cede, cessceed, cede, cess: go; move forward : go; move forward (( 走走 )) root
simplify: vt. make sth. easy to do or understand; make simple 使易懂；简化
simplify: vt. make sth. easy to do or understand; make simple 使易懂；简化
Family members: simple + -fy simplify 简化pure + -fy purify 净化solid + -fy solidify 加固beauty + -fy beautify 美化clear + -fy clarify 使明确
Family members: simple + -fy simplify 简化pure + -fy purify 净化solid + -fy solidify 加固beauty + -fy beautify 美化clear + -fy clarify 使明确
excellent - t + ce brilliant - t + ce competent- t + ce consequent
- t + ce
ignorant - t + ce indifferent - t + ce intelligent - t + ce magnificent
- t + ce
significant - t + ce
excellenceexcellencebrilliancebrilliancecompetencecompetenceconsequenceconsequenceignoranceignoranceindifferenceindifferenceintelligenceintelligencemagnificencemagnificencesignificancesignificance
Look at the following nouns and choose from them Look at the following nouns and choose from them to fill in the blanks of the sentences that follow.to fill in the blanks of the sentences that follow.
Exercises—Word BuildingExercises—Word Building
1. Examinations are not necessarily the best way to measure ___________________.
2. The power station was shown to be dangerous and, as a ___________, was closed down.
3. This discovery was of great __________, but few people realized that.
4. In the “I to you” approach, the workers were in complete _________ of the management’s plans.
intelligence/competence
significance
consequence
ignorance
Exercises—Word BuildingExercises—Word Building
5. I don’t like the department chairman’s ___________ to the teachers who are not in his favor.
6. I hear on all sides of the _________ of your establishment.
7. The sun has both _________ and heat.
8. There is calm and joy, too, when the mind can focus on the ____________ and beauty of nature.
brilliance
excellence
magnificence
indifference
co-
+ director
co-
+ operate
co-
+ author
co-
+ exist
co-
+ pilot
co-directorco-director
co-authorco-authorcooperatecooperate
copilotcopilotcoexistcoexist
Look at the following words that come from word Look at the following words that come from word building and choose from them to fill in the blanks. building and choose from them to fill in the blanks. Remember to change the form where necessary. Remember to change the form where necessary.
1. We must be aware that peace _______ with war.
2. He was the __________ of that film which was
half criticized and half praised.
3. The couple spoke about how they would
_________ in the raising of their child.
4. The pilot was seriously injured and the ______
took over.
5. He is the _________, with Andrew Blowers, of
The International Politics of Nuclear Waste.
coexists
co-author
copilot
cooperate
co-director
-itude ：表示抽象名词的后缀 altitude 高度
multitude 众多 aptitude 才能
solitude 孤独 fortitude 刚毅
plentitude 充分 latitude 纬度
longitude 经度 attitude 态度
decrepitude 衰老
-itude ：表示抽象名词的后缀 altitude 高度
multitude 众多 aptitude 才能
solitude 孤独 fortitude 刚毅
plentitude 充分 latitude 纬度
longitude 经度 attitude 态度
decrepitude 衰老
gratitude: n. the feeling of being grateful or thankful 感激，感谢gratitude: n. the feeling of being grateful or thankful 感激，感谢
返回 Word Building, build up your vocabulary Word Building, build up your vocabulary
exceedingly: adv. to an unusual degree 非常地，极度地exceedingly: adv. to an unusual degree 非常地，极度地
exex-: out; beyond (-: out; beyond ( 向外，超向外，超出出 ))exex-: out; beyond (-: out; beyond ( 向外，超向外，超出出 ))
prefix
Family members:
export 出口 , 输出expose 展开 , 揭露exit 出口exhale 呼气
Family members:
export 出口 , 输出expose 展开 , 揭露exit 出口exhale 呼气
exclude 排外，排斥excavate 挖出，发掘expel 赶出，逐走extract 抽出，拔出
open-class words: closed-class words:
grammatical:/functional
lexical words:
variable:
invariable words:
the membership is infinite,e.g.n.,v. the membership is fixed,e.g. prep
whose role is largely grammatical,e.g. this, the , when
carries the semantic content, e.g. book,
grammatically different word forms arise, e.g. look--looks, looked, looking no grammatically different forms, e.g. since,in, hello
Sub-classification of words
Category
A, the determiner (Det.)boy noun (n.) often qualifierteach verb (v.)very degree word (Deg)small modifier must, should auxiliary (Aux.)and, but, or conjunction (Con.)
Charade There is a word of seven letters, take away five,
a male remains,take away four, a female, take away three, you will have a brave man, while the whole is a brave woman.
Answer :heroine My first means equality; My second
inferiority,And my whole superiority Answer: Matchless(match, less, matchless) A notice : Professor Blackie will meet his
classes tomorrow. Professor Blackie will meet his lasses
tomorrow. Professor Blackie will meet his asses tomorrow.
(decapitation)
Content Words
They,sometimes also called “lexical words” belong to the major parts of speech: nouns, verbs, and adjectives, etc. These categories are said to be “open categories” in the sense that they each have a large number of members and languages readily add new members to these categories through borrowing from other languages borrowed or loan words or invention or coining of new words.
Coining New Words
Compounds are the combination of two independent words, i.e. free morphemes, like guesthouse (<guest+house), while affixation a bound morpheme is added to a base, as a prefix(e.g.un.like) or suffix(like.ness)
Compound Features: a word which is composed of two or more
roots When the two words are in the same grammatical
category, e.g. n.+n.= n. Landlady When the two words are in different categories, the
class of the second or final word will be the category of the compound,e.g. adj. +n. =n. gentleman.
Compounds often have different stress patterns from non-compounded word sequences, e.g.`hotdog, hot dog
the meaning of a compound is not always the sum of the meanings of its parts, e.g. `redneck red neck
Word Coinage Patterns Conversion (or ‘zero derivation’), change of
word class without addition of a formal suffix, as from verb to noun .
Clipping syllables are cut off from a word. As in pub<public house, bike< bicycle.
Blends are formed from parts of existing words. Such as brunch (<breakfast+ lunch)
Acronyms i.e. full words formed from the initial letters of other words, such as radar(radio detecting and ranging AIDS, IBM
Function Words
They are called“grammatical words” or “closed categories”, resistant to borrowing or inventing anew. Such categories as determiners (e.g. the , a\n, this, that these\those,sometimes also called “articles” ), pronouns, and prepositions, and quantifiers (e.g. “some”, “many” ) are function word categories. Function words show how the content words in a phrase, or sentence relate to each other, or how pieces of information fit into an on-going communication.
Classes/Parts of Speech maximum homogeneity within the
class’(Gleason 1965:130) Noun : a word or group of words that refers to
a person, place or a thing or any syntactically similar word (Collins English Dictionary)
Teacher ,table ;sky, doorway: red, height, happiness; have a swim or his arrival> representatives (prototype) to peripheral
on pure semantic grounds, we would have to recognize a gradience of nounhood.
Three properties as criteria: Phonological,morphological, distributional
characteristics
Phonological suspect (n.) vs suspect(v.)
blackboard , black board
Morphological modern/modernize;hair/hairy; able/enable;study,studied as a verb’s tense-marker.Nouns’singular or plural forms such as book vs book ox vs oxen etc.
Distributional Typically, certain slots in a syntactic construction are reserved for words of a particular form.
Verb ClassesIn terms of verb construction Main Verb Auxiliary( Primary Auxiliary, Modal Auxiliary, Semi-auxiliary)In terms of complementation linking verbs intransitive verbs mono-transitive verbs di-transitive verbsIn terms of semantics Dynamic verbs Static verbs
Active knowledge of verbs such as Make
God made the country, and man made the town. Mother made me a new suit. She made herself a new dress. I’ll make you some tea. I made it a rule(Object complement) to take a nap
after lunch every day. He made her happy. She made him a good husband because she
made him a good wife.
Verbs followed by an infinitive or a noun or both?
A travel agency announced not to accept any more bookings for tourist travel to China.(?)
A travel agency announced that it would not accept any more bookings for tourist travel to China.
A travel agency announced its decision not to accept any more bookings for tourist travel to China.
It had been decided,a travel agency announced, not to accept any more bookings for tourist travel to China.
Verbs’ Unshared Properties Not all transitive verbs undergo agentive
nominalization
(a) John is one who imports rugs .John is an importer of rugs.
(b) John was one who knew the fact. ＊ John was the knower of the fact.
Not all verbs undergo able-substitution:
(a) His handwriting can be read. His handwriting is readable.
(b) The lighthouse can be spotted. ＊ The lighthouse is spottable.
Verbs’ Unshared Properties
Not all transitive sentences of the form NP V NP undergo passivization.
(a)John kicked the ball. The ball was kicked by John.
(b) John owes two dollars.
＊ Two dollars are owed by john.
Millions of dollars are currently owed by third-world governments
McCawley’s Comparison Parts of speech are much more like biological
species than has generally been recognized. Within any part of speech, or any biological species, there is considerable diversity. Parts of speech can be distinguished from one another, just as biological species can be distinguished from one another, in terms of characteristics that are typical for the members of that part of speech (or species), even though none of those properties need be instantiated by all members of the parts of speech(or species). ( McCawley1986:12)
Assignment Assignment
Read Chapter Two and Chapter Three Subject and Verb agreement and do the related exercise.
