in meta-operational grammar€¦ · especially meta-operational grammar ... the invariant value in...

The Nominal Systemin

Meta-Operational Grammar

Pr Silue S J – s o h o n a 2 0 1 0 @ g m a i l . c o m – 2 0 1 3 - 1 4

mailto:[email protected]

The Nominal Relation

❑Course Objectives:

➢Get students familiar with DA theories, especially Meta-Operational Grammar (MOG) in its application to the analysis of the nominal system;

❑Expectations:

➢Students to be able analyse utterances containing determiners (article and deictic) along MOG theoretical requirements

T h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r

Pre-Requisites in MOG

0. General Introduction

1. Nominal System: the article

2. The Complex Noun Phrase

3. The Deixis System4

Course Outline(Resources required to achieve such objectives)


Introduction - Pre-requisites

❑ The nominal system will be analyzed along the

theory of Meta-Operational Grammar (MOG);

❑ MOG relies on number of principles:

✓ Language as a System

✓ The Invariant Value in Linguistic Analysis

✓ The Centrality of “Relation” in MOG

✓ The Principle of Natural Metal-language

✓ The Dichotomy Extra-Linguistics vs Meta-Linguistics

✓ Utterance but no Sentences

✓ Surface Linear Order and Systemic OrderT h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r

Introduction : Literary Review

❖ The study of the nominal system has inspired a massive

literature in General Linguistics and analyses on this micro-

system has evolved according to the successive linguistic

theories;

❖ In Pedagogical grammars the nominal system is often a

matter of classifying nouns into various categories :

✓Countable nouns : books, table, car, tree, etc.

✓Non-countable nouns:

➢Mass nouns: water, salt, luggage

➢Abstract nouns: life, work, pride, death, etc.6


I n t r o d u c t i o n


❑In the pedagogical approach, it would seem that it essentially extra-linguistic considerations that are prevailing since the nominal system is perceived in terms of correspondence with the extra-ling world.

❑ Very often, pedagogical grammars will come up with recommendations that: “only countable nouns will be used with ‘A’ ;

❑ A version of Discourse Analysis other than MOG –The Enunciation Theory by A. Culioli analyses the nominal system using a very strange and suspicious meta-language: 7




❑Some linguistic operations in the nominal system are labelled “extraction” :

❑e.g.

a cat, a table

❑Operator “a” is said to indicate “an extraction of one element out of others” or out of a class of tables….

❑ In the same DA theory, another operation is said to refer to “pointing” (in French “fléchage”) is supposed to the act of designating a thing in the speaking context:

8




❑e.g.

The table

❑ There are many reasons to challenge this theory as relatively inadequate. Speech effects are being confused with actual abstract linguistic operations:

Consider the utterance:

➢He went into the room his hands full of books. He did not close

the door because there was none.

❑ How can we defend the analysis that a door is pointed out (when there is no door!)?

9



Which nominal operators do you know ?

❖Nominal operators in European languages:

✓The article ;

✓The demonstratives (deitics)

✓The possessive determiners

✓The quantifiers (some, any, no X, both, either, etc.)

10



❖ In African languages determination operations generally realised with operators other than the article;

❖In African languages that clearly display nominal operators, very Nominal markers (general denomination) and sometimes, specifically nominal classifiers;

❖The function of nominal classifiers or nominal markers in African languages, is not to bring grammatical determination but also tell which (semantic class) the noun belongs to.

❖Bantu languages like Lingala provide a clear example of noun classification into different semantic classes and while some markers indicate that the noun refers to an inanimate objects, others indicate that the noun refers to the humancategory:



✓mutu human being (cf plural Bantu)

✓mobali man

✓mwasi woman

✓mwana child

✓moto person

✓movinga someone

12



1.

The Nominal

Determination

13T h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r

WHAT “DETERMINATION” IS

❖Determination is any kind of linguistic operation aiming at modifying the extension of a concept;

❖The different degrees of the extension of a concept will give the philosophical interpretation or comprehension that the concepts refers to an unlimited wide range of things or, the opposite, it is restricted to a particular thing;

❖The determination process or operation is a game from extension and to comprehension….

14


1 . T h e N o m i n a l D e t e r m i n a t i o n O p e r a t i o n


❖When the extension of a concept is large, the comprehension of the thing that this concept names referred to is reduced…

❖By contrast, when the comprehension of a concept is higher this amounts to a serious reduction of the extension of this notion as shown in the figure 1 to follow:

15



Figure 1 : Extension and comprehension

Extension

Comprehension

+

+

-

-




❖The concepts

# life #, # mango #, # car #, # man #, # university #

are very extended and their full extension leads to the

comprehension “anything known as man, mango, car, man,

university….

❖By contrast, in the sequences …

the life, the mango, the car, the man, the university

❖The extension of each of these concepts is reduced causing

the comprehension to be restricted to particular life, mango,

car, man, university… 17

The Nominal Determination Operation



❖Depending on the communication motives or intents of the speaker or the contextual or situational requirements, he will reduce the extension of the nominal notion down to various degrees;

❖Such degrees of the modification of the extension of the nominal notion will translate on the surface level with particular determiners;

❖Should the speaker need to build his nominal meaning with an unlimited nominal extension, he will insert the nominal element as it stands in the lexicon

18



❖This operation correspond to putting the noun in the speaking/communication context and in the MOG terminology, such an operation amounts to binding a

relation, a nominal relation:

❖e.g. #car#

19

carContext/Situation Det.



❖When the extension reduction of the nominal notion is minimum that will give impression of non-determination” and in language this corresponds to the speech effect of “indefinite” # car#

❖By contrast, when the reduction of the nominal notion is maximum, this will result in the speech effect of “definite”: #the car#

20



1.1

The Phase 1

Nominal Relation

1. The Phase 1 Nominal Relation

❑As already said, Phase 1 constructions are those where the speaker steps away, so leaving the notion to express itself fully ;

❑ As the notion is fully delivered, this would serve various communication needs such as :

✓Referring directly to reality: Water boils at 100°

✓Referring to something in a generic way : Life is Good (LG)

✓etc.

22


Reference to reality with operator “ N’

❑By being simply named, the notion unfolds in its

full extension (the way it is listed in the dictionary)

which corresponds to the direct reference to reality :

How to account for the use of ?

10a. Life has become very tough these days as a result of the

political crisis the country has sustained

10b. This child does not like milk

10c. Speaking to this man was a fatal mistake

10d. Water boils at a 100 / 10e. Rice grows on water23


1 . 1 T h e P h a s e 1 N o m i n a l R e l a t i o n

❖In these utterances, as a result of inserting notions as they stand in the lexicon or dictionaries, the speech effect so obtained correspond to the “generic”.

24



◆Operator “ ” in Defining utterances

❖As was seen with Phase 1 utterances and in the verbal system, defining utterances are those that state universal or scientific truths and such truths are precisely those that refer to reality or comply to common sense or ideology:

2a. Water boils at a 1000

2b. Rice grows on water

2c. Coffee: tropical plant, brewage obtained by the roasting of its grains and served after meals, cash crop in some African countries…

25



◆Operator “ “ with proper nouns

WHY SHOULD proper nounS OCCUR WITHOUT ANY DETERMINER (OR WITH “” )?

❖The linguistic function of proper nouns is to refer to a concrete and physical persons in the extra-linguistic sphere/domain (a Phase 1 feature!);

❖Understandably, proper nouns look like mere labels that have direct reference to reality :

3a. Johan Herber suggested the evolutionary hypothesis for the origin of

human language

3b. She lives in Cameroon

3c. Ivory Coast is coffee farming country26



❖Those linguistic elements (proper nouns) cease to function as such when used with an article;

❖In such cases they look like mere quotations and are on their way to become common names and when adjectivised, the initial capital letter becomes optional :

Consider the following…

3a. A certain Noam Avram Chomsky who was just a student at the MIT, inaugurated a new era in linguistics with the publication of Syntactic Structures …

3b. The chomskyan revolution turns out to become the chomskyan closure (A. Rivet)

27



◆ Operator ‘A’ + N

How would you compare Operator to Operator ‘A’?

❖When this operator ‘A’ occurring before the noun, this is a manifestation of the nominal notion having been grammaticalized and will no longer be mistaken for another element of word class (e.g. a verb);

❖ Note that #FIRE# remains unspecified as to which word class it belongs, but when preceded by Operator ‘A’ it has definitely integrated the class of nouns;

28




❖With Operator ‘A’, even though the noun is grammaticalized, its introduction in discourse must be considered as relatively “fresh”;

❖In metaoperational terminology, the noun still remains closed to the notional level and in terms of meaning and signification (speech effects), operator ‘A’ will convey the speech effect of “indefiniteness” because the nominal notion remains relatively extended (broad).

❖Operator ‘A’ remains a Phase 1 construction as revealed by contrastive analysis with other languages:

29




❖The structure ‘A + N’ translates in most African languages by the generic construction, that is, the bare notion (noun tem without any class marker see Godieand the Weh languages (Wobe & Guere examples))

❖Remember that he generic is a Phase 1 structure:

6. A lion is a beats of pray

❖ The ‘A + N’ structure is a Phase 1 structure when compared to other European languages, Romance language (French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Roman…) namely;

30



❖Those Romance languages will use the cardinal operator (UN or UNO, UNA) corresponding to numbering/counting;

❖This is the reason why some Discourse Analysis theories (like the one initiated by Antoine Culuoli, “the Theory of EnunciativeOperations” ) would describe the ‘A’ operator as the “operator of extraction”;

❖Extraction in Culuoli’s theory simply means that an element has been retrieved out a class of elements…

❖In Any case be it “counting” or “numbering”, these are extra-linguistic action and extralinguistic things remains concrete things, that is, those corresponding to reality.

31



6a. A man of his status should not associate with crooks!

6b. Would you like A coffee or A Coca-cola?

6c. The house was burned down by A terrible fire

In all these cases non-determination speech effect derives from the fact that the extension of such nominal notions have been reduced in a relatively limited proportion.

32



1.2

The Phase 2

Nominal Relation

1.2 The Phase 2 Nominal Relation

❖With the ‘The + N’ construction, the speaker has now abandoned

the extra-linguistic world to installing all the linguistic/verbal activity

intra-linguistically;

❖All ‘The + N’ constructions are in disruption with the extralinguistic

whatever the speech-effect-oriented beliefs and considerations (i.e;

the noun is determined and the object identified) that Traditional

grammar keeps on advocating;

❖In all these cases the definiteness of the high determination simply

derives from the fact that the extension of the nominal notions have

been reduced in maximum to apply to specific things. 34


❖However, whenever the speaker uses the ‘The+ N’ construction, he does not refer to a concrete object or thing situated in the real world!

Consider the following utterances…

10a. The sun rises in the East

10b. Take the child to the Hospital !

10c. The man who came yesterday works for Phibro

10d. Reportedly, he has raped the girl

How would you analyse these utterances?35



❖In 10a., our common experience informs that the notion of ‘SUN’ is, by nature, restricted to one thing, this astral planet;

❖In 10b., the hospital is what the speaker & the co-speaker both know, by their life experience, as this institution where medical care is provided;

❖In 10c., the man refers to this individual have in mind and who reported the day a day ago;

❖In 10d., presumably there was a rape issue in the media or in all conversations, and understandably, the idea of “girl” is a shared information to whomever feels concerned.



Regarding the non-extralinguistic consideration,

how would you analyse the following utterances?

11a. Take this car to the mechanics;

11b. Take the car to the mechanics;

❖ In 11a., the speakers refers to a particular car and

maybe pointing at this object as the concrete thing that

the speaker can see at the expense of another car: the

reference is concrete and extra-linguistical;

❖In 11b., the car is not necessarily present in the

context but it is the car the co-speaker already knows.T h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r


❖Definitely, the invariant value of the ‘the + N’ construction is the (already) shared information by discourse participants.

❖The shared information might originate from the immediate context (of a text), from the situation of communication or life experience simply.

Reconsider also…(12) Speaker A:

“Selon les données statistiques, un homme meurt toutes les cinq minutes sur les autoroutes aux Etats-Unis”.

Speaker B:

“Oh, le pauvre!”38



◆ Remarks on the Context and Situation

How can the Context/Situation impact Discourse or Linguistic Operations?

❖MOG, along with all reliable Discourse Analysis theories admit or postulate for a distinction between sentences and utterances:

❖The sentence is regarded as an artificial sequence of words that serve pedagogical purposes (illustration of a grammar point for learners to understand);

❖As for the utterance it is any linguistic sign having taken place in a real situation and for real communication purposes…


◆ R e m a r k s o n t h e C o n t e x t a n d S i t u a t i o n

❖In such a perspective, an utterance is an event, even though a (meta)linguistic event - that occurs at a certain time, in a certain place.

❖It follows that an utterance will never be repeated since the circumstances in which an utterance is produced (uttered) are not duplicable, just like extra-linguistic events (accidents, wars, social happening, etc.) ;

❖There are number of theoretical principles attached to the utterance or linguistic operations as events:

❖One such principle is that, as he speaks, the speakers holds a certain accountancy of the operations he performs.



❖He takes into account operations that were already

performed (early operations) and operations he is

currently performing, not to mention those to perform

(late operations):



(I) (II)Late operations

Saise tardive (G.Guillaume

C h r o n o l o g y

Early operationsSaisie précoce (G.Guillaume)

S

❖All this to say that when a speaker performs (produces

utterances), he is bound to take into account the prior

invested (structured) meaning/operations and which

necessarily affects current/contemporary structurations…

❖In other words, the speakers takes into account what is

already in hand, as he structures subsequent operations;

❖By way of example, in an utterance in which we have a

noun subsequently replaced by a pronoun, the noun

represents the prior operation (the operation before) while

the pronoun represents the subsequent operation.



❖The importance In this particular instance, the speaker

has taken in account, the context in which the noun was

mentioned, that is the text before.

❖Definitely, the context is what is mentioned in the

upstream of a text and often referred to as the “co-text” in

literary orthodoxy!.

❖As for the situation, it is all what is implicit and already

known in the non-linguistic situation, precisely the shared

information among discourse participants…

❖ In saying :

✓14. Give the THE pen;T h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r


❖The accurate interpretation of this utterance (here an

instruction) is possible on the only condition that the speaker and

his co-speaker have a shared information of the thing named here

a “pen”.

❖… And it follows that an individual who does not share this prior

information will not know what is being referred to a “THE pen”

❖The crucial importance of the situation in real interactions can

be illustrated by the “dog is dead” story”!

❖All in all the operations we perform in real situation of

communication are determined by the context (in written texts) or

the situation (when the information is inferred communication

situation).T h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r


❖Definitely, in the nominal system, Phase 2 operations in the nominal system will be triggered either by prior contextual clues or determined by situational prior situational shared information.

❖In this sense, the Phase 2 nominal relation is nothing but a retaking or a resumption of the corresponding Phase 1 nominal relation.



◆The Contextual Retaking

❖ The use of THE will be triggered by the actual mention od the

noun in the upstream context so that the THE operator is a

retaking of the Phase 1 operation.

Consider the following utterances…

15a. Once upon a time, a man was leaving in a small remote village. The man was so poor that he could not even afford to feed himself with flies!

15b. Hermann bought his first car in the 1990s; the car was so cost-effective that he refused any offer to sell it

15c. The President has recently inaugurated an hospital in Gagnoa; reportedly, the Gagnoa hospital is 2 billions XOF worth.



❖Contextual Phase 2 retaking will not always necessarily imply the actual presence of mention of the noun;

❖In real language practice, what stands for the noun mentioned in the context before of the upstream of the text can only suggested just implicitly by some elements

Consider the following utterances:

16. If you leave the car lights on, you will run the battery down

17. He entered the room, his hands full of books; he did not close

the door, because there was non.

How would you account for the occurrence of Phase 2 nominal operator “THE”?T h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r


❖In the following utterance, the occurrence of the Phase 2

nominal operator (THE) can be explained the same way:

18. She did buy her dress at Printemp’s… the only problem if that

the sleaves were too short.

❖In each of those occurrences of the Phase 2 nominal marker,

the battery (16), the door (17) and the leaves (18) are all

presupposed in the context before:



car battery

room door

dress sleaves

◆ Remarks on Contrastivity in Ling Research

❖In linguistic research, MOG advocators make use of contrastivity when necessary!

What do we call contrastivity?

❖Contrastivity is the fact of opposing two linguistic systems (languages) and this for two reasons:

❖It can be a strategy to cross-check whether what was discovered in language A and in connection with the functioning or the invariant value of a meta-operator also holds for language B.


❖Language researchers can also resort to contrastivity as a way of better highlight the functioning or the invariant value of an operator, based on the fact that the operator under investigation is more illustrative language A than in language B.

❖The underlying assumption in the use of contrastive strategy is that some languages are more suggestive, more telling on some particular linguistic phenomena than other.

❖In the particular case of the nominal relation contrastivity between English and Senufo languages is very revealing as for the status of the Phase 2 operator.


◆ R e m a r k s o n C o n t r a s t i v i t y i n L i n g R e s e a r c h

❖It would have been clear to everyone that the noun and it corresponding pronoun contrast in terms of operational or meta-operational time:

❖The noun occurs in the early period of this operational time while the pronoun, which is a retaking of the noun in the same context reveals the late period over the operative time vector:



noun pronoun

Phase 1 Phase 2

❖The thing is that in Senufo language and presumably many other linguistic systems, there is a striking isomorphism between the phase 2 nominal marker and the pronoun;

❖In other words, the operator used in Senufo to indicate that a nominal relation is a case of Phase 2 relation is practically the same as the pronoun:

❖e.g.



pya : (a) child piiwi : the child

Pi iwi maa pan , wi s i n ka r iThe child had come but s/he has left

◆Situational retaking

Consider the following utterance…

19. Did you go to a market?

Why does it sound a bit odd?

❖ The oddity of the utterance comes from the practical fact that

before asking whether the co-speaker has been somewhere, the place

where he as gone is already presupposed in the mind of the speaker!

❖While the contextual retaking allowing to move from Phase 1 to

Phase 2 is based on information available in the immediate context (or co-

text), the situational is based on prior information but which is implicit;



◆Situational retaking

❖Once again, the “dog is dead” story is the best

illustration of situational retaking: the Phase 2 nominal

operation is triggered by shared information.

Consider….

20. Beware of the rapist!

21. Mind the adder/the step

212. Mind the step!

Where are the presuppositions here ?



❖In utterances 20, 21 and 22, the terms BEWARE and MIND, are typical presupposition introductory terms;

❖In requiring from someone to BEWARE OF or to MIND something, this thing must have been undisputedly identified or presupposed in the situation…

❖… it is axiomatic that a presupposition is a Phase 2 oriented phenomenon;

❖As a result, the warning expressions BEWARE and MIND will always trigger a Phase 2 (nominal) relation operator:

❖e.g I don’t MIND waiting for himT h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r


2

The Nominal Relation

and the

Complex Noun Phrase

❖A complex noun phrase (NP) is the one built with more than one

noun and in such a structure, whatever the number of nominal

components the underlying structure is a binary structure (i.e.

illustrations 1 to 4 below);

❖Complex NPs are treated in the context of determination because

in such structures one term is the Determined (Ded) and the other is

the Determiner (Der);

❖e.g.

1. The leg of the table

2. The dog’s tail

3. The earthquake

4. The grammar-bookT h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r

2 T h e N o m i n a l R e l a t i o n a n d t h e C o m p l e x N o u n P h r a s e

Where are the (Ded) and the (Der) ?

❖As can be seen, the complex NP offers varied pictures as regards the formal manifestations of the relation between the two terms (Ded (N1) and Der (N2)), like in the following complex NPs:

(a) A book of grammar / (b) A grammar book

❖The complex NP illustrates the notion of extension & comprehension mentioned earlier: the Der ((of) grammar) reduces the extension of the nominal notion book so increasing its comprehension;

❖In these sequences the reference is not to any kind of

book but the one having any given relation (about, on,

in connection, etc.) with “grammar”. …T h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r


Based on the assumptions of MOG how would you

discriminate (a) and (b) ?

(a) A book of grammar / (b) A grammar book

❖From the formal layout of the sequences, the composition

relation in (a) is still fresh or is recently established between N1 and N2,

while in (b) the relation is already solidly established or finalized.

❖Those formal manifestations of the relations between N1 (Ded)

and N2 (Ded ) reflect the phase system, namely the nature of the

relation between the two terms;

❖In (a), the relation between BOOK and GRAMMAR is

loose as the two terms are separated by the preposition

relator “of”T h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r


❖Paradoxically, as of relates the two terms of the

complex NP, it maintains them apart (separate) causing

the relation to be loose;

❖In (b) the absence of any prepositional relator causes

a direct contact between the two terms so giving the

structure a fairly higher compactness;

❖Note that according to MOG’s assumptions, the “older”

a relation between two terms, the more compact the

structure they so form (like in real life!);

❖Definitely the loose structure is a Phase 1 construction

while the compact structure is a Phase 2 structure:T h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r




book grammar

grammar book

of

Phase 1

Phase 2

❖Based on the notion of operative time along with the dating of operations, MOG takes it for granted that Phase 2 relations bear more structural cohesion and more discourse coherence compared to the Phase 1 ones.

❖This observation holds both for the synchronic perspective and the diachronic perspective :

Consider the following complex NPs:

5. The point of view

6. The view point

7. The view-point

8. The viewpoint

❖The difference between the nominal relations in those

NP’s is the “operational time/period” and this is an

instance where the MOG assumptions intersect with the

diachronic dimension (extralinguistic time):



Time n

Time n +1



Point view

view point

of

Century n

Century n+1

view

view

point

point

(II)

(I)

-

The genitive in the nominal relation

❖The genitive construction also falls under the headings of the

determination since one term is determined with reference to

another;

❖Pedagogical grammars offer a poor account of the genitive

construction with a great confusion between the invariant value and

speech effects: a form is given a semantic interpretation!

❖In a construction like:

a) The woman’s dress or b) The dress of the woman

Which is the usual explanation by Pedagogical

Grammars?T h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r



❖Advocators or pedagogical grammar generally oversimplify the analysis of genitive constructions with short-cuts explanations: purely linguistic operations are converted into real life realities;

❖The genitive is generally assimilated to real life “possession” while it should have been clear that the distance that separates “gerund” form possession is similar to the distance from “tense” to “time” or from “sex” to “gender”….

❖Traditional approaches of the genitive constructions make room for a “possessor” and a “possessed thing”!




❖Advocators or pedagogical grammar generally Note that MOG does not deny “possession” as a human reality of as a reality.

❖What MOG rejects is to mix up the levels of real world realities (speech effects) with the level of functional linguistic operations (meta-linguistics).

❖On failing to distinguish the extra-linguistic level (i.e. possession) from the meta-operational level (genitive) we will have great pains to analyse:

9. The dog and its master

❖ Where the dog turns out to be the possessor of its master)! T h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r



❖Often times again, Pedagogical grammars instruct that the genitive construction with operator “’s” is used when the possessor is an animate entity or a human;

❖This will work for some cases and yet proves ineffective or inadequate in many other instances such as with the following utterance :

10. The waste water also comes from the factory, this creates another

problem for US Steel, the factory’s owner.

❖If one were to stick on the idea of possession the factory here is the possessor while the company “US Steel” (the actual owner) bears no “animatenes” feature, nor is the so-called possessor a human being…




❖The possession explanation” (a speech effect actually) will fail to account the ways it does the simple complex NP like :

11. Chomsky’s book

❖This NP might refer alternatively to:

1. The book for witch Chomsky is the owner;

2. The book written by Chomsky,

3. The book written by Chomsky,

4. The book bought by Chomsky;

5. The book on Chomsky’s (scientific work or life)

6. The book stolen by Chomsky (the problem being discussed at the

tribunal as a legal case);

7. The book suggested by Chomsky (as supportive reading material);

✓Etc.T h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r



❖The genitive is a form, an operator and not areal world phenomenon:

the genitive is as formal a reality like the opposition between tense and

time and between sex and gender, to some extent

❖The genitive form is more subtle than it would seem in the first place!

❖In face of it, the French linguist Denis Creissel preferred the term

“associative determination” at the expense of “possession” and for the

verb “Have” (avoir, in French) Creissel rather used “associative

predication” (see Silué S. J and Yao K. J-F 1982).

❖Associativeness here means any form of relation existing between

two things as exposed in the sequence: Chomsky’s book with its no

less 7 possible interpretations (speech effects).




❖ The complex NP with a preposition (generally “of”) compared to the NP with the “’s” is a matter of the anteriority of the relation constructed.

❖Whenever we have :

N1 prep N2,

❖This means that a relations have been freshly established like any Phase 1 constructions;

❖By contrast, whenever we have the corresponding form:

N2’s N1T h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r



❖This means that there is a clear congruence between the two terms, that in the situation of communication, the relation between the two terms is clearly known or its existence is fully shared by discourse participants:

❖e.g.

12. This is Gerald Croft, the son of Sir George Croft

❖The language function here is “introducing a person”, which means that before this communication act, they ignored who that person named was the son to Sir George Croft;




❖This means that there is a clear congruence between the two terms,

that in the situation of communication, the relation between the two

terms is clearly known or apprehended by the speaker and his co-

speaker.

❖e.g.

12. This is Gerald Croft, the son of Sir George Croft

❖The language function fulfils here is an introduction – a person is

being introduced to discourse participants – which means that before

this communication act, they ignored that the person named was the

son to Sir George Croft;

Consider now…T h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r



13. For years, people have believed that the shroud, a 14-foot

linen cloth, was the burial shroud of Christ.

How would account for the presence of “OF” here?

❖ Here the term “believe” (to oppose to “ know”) means that is was just a belief unknown by the majority of Christians (actually few Christians are informed of that controversial finding!);

❖In other words, that the shroud be that of Jesus Christ is far from being for granted (the debate is still in progress among Christians and some historian scientists!)




Consider the following…

14. We predicted that one day he would be his country’sbrightest honour.

❖It can be said that the relation between “country” and “honour” was

already in the mind of the speaker; in addition there is the verb

“predict” and both factors converge to suggest the anteriority of such

relation…

❖In utterances like (14), some analysts will talk of the

“personalization” of “country” (see the country’s honour). But

personalization and all other figures of style in literature are precisely

clear cases where the parallel between language and the real world

is precisely abandoned! T h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r



❖e.g. Samory was a lion!

❖Which is a negation of the extralinguistic world to serve

enuniciation purposes (Samory being rather a human being) !

❖Just like with the situational retaking discussed earlier (Phase 2

nominal relation), some clues in the utterance will presuppose the

existence of the relation:

15. The telescope’s primary mirror will be figured on the a

precision optical polisher

16. Hagan found himself in a street where gangs of vagrants

were stopping passing vehicles. One of them threw himself in

front of the car’s wheelT h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r



❖From our (technological) culture, we know that a mirror is always part of a telescope, hence, the non-new relation between “telescope” and “mirror”, the way a car always has a wheel…

❖Definitely the difference between:

a) The leg of the boy and b) The boy’s leg

❖In a) the information is fresh in the sense that we might be informing someone about a problem concerning the leg but in b) the boy had been already mentioned in connection with something wrong about his leg. T h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r



❖It would not be cause of surprise that in the “alienable possession” and “inalienable possession” display significant difference as for the use of the preposition or the genitive morpheme:

❖Alienable possession is when the relation between the so-called possessor and the possessed object is contingent, while inalienable possession is when the relation between the two entities is established once for all.

❖The body parts qualify for inalienable possession while the assets (legal possessions) qualify for alienable possession;




❖It follows that a statistical research might well reveal that the use of the genitive operator “’s” be more recurring with associatievness involving body parts rather than with associativeness involving extra-body belonging.




3.

The Deixis & the

Nominal Relation

3. The Deixis and the Nominal relation

❖The term “deixis” is the generic term for demonstration or

“ostentation” (showing, indicating or pointing out);

❖The deixis is the system of benchmarking utterances and their

interpretations in speaking context. The deixis is taken charge of by

linguistic units that will not be fully interpreted without contextual of

situation additional information (or clues).

❖The operators of the deixis are sometimes called shifters (R.

Jacobson) to say that they cause the final interpretation to shift

according to the main factor of enunciation: the speaker, the time of

speaking, the situation ( “embrayeurs” in French).T h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r

3 . T h e D e i x i s & t h e N o m i n a l R e l a t i o n

❖e.g an utterance like:

1. Could you please go there as soon as possible !

❖The pragmatic interpretation of this message clearly depends on where the speaker is situated and unless the co-speaker had this information he will not be able to report to the indicated place.

❖People often exploit with the shifters or deictics for various enunciation purposes :

❖An announcement on the entrance of an Ivoirian Maquis (Yop):

2. Pour manger à crédit, passez demain!



❖This message is meant just to fool people who want to consume

free! the problem being that each day, the promise to have free

meals holds only the day after!

❖In English human languages, the deixis materializes through

number of operators such as the pronouns (I, you), the adverbs of

location and time (there, here), the associative pronouns (her/his,

mine, etc.)

❖In English and presumably all human languages the deixis system

is also materialized by demonstratives (THIS/THAT, THESE/THOSE,

HERE/THERE) and they even tend to be assimilated to the deictic

operators in general, though they are the only ones.

Why is the 1rst personal pronoun “I” a deictic?T h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r


Deixis in traditional or pedagogical grammars

❖The use of demonstratives THIS and THAT are often

describe in terms of physical reference, THIS indicting

proximity, while THAT refers to distance.

3. This man you see has reported in your office this morning !

4. Look at that man there!

❖Sometimes, those analyses that can be considered as

more refined will state that the distance might not be

necessarily physical but just of a chronological kind:

❖THIS will be used when the things evoked are present

now in the present time while THAT will be in use to refer

to past or remote thingsT h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r



❖Though it is hard to deny outright the distance and

proximity dimension, we must acknowledge that those

effects might have held in the early periods of human

languages;

❖ Space and time might overlap: and in the chrono-

genesis, one can reasonably hypothesize that the

consciousness of space might be earlier than that of

time:

❖What is absent (in space) can be assimilated to what is

past (in time) and as a matter of fact, in the development

of language among young human beings, the mastery of

space is prior to the mastery of time…T h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r



❖Based on the assumption that the human consciousness has

apprehended space and times realities before more abstract things,

there are reasons to believe that THIS and THAT have been initially

used for space and time reference;

❖In contemporary English even though this system of reference still

operates, it is now overridden with abstract reference in language

use:

➢5a) They searched the apartment thoroughly, here and there

❖But not

➢5b) They searched the apartment thoroughly, there and here




❖In contemporary languages (including English) the deictic

operators hardly still confirm to extralinguistic considerations:

5c. Speaker A: Is there life on other planets?

Speaker 5: On those nearest to us, probably not!

Can you see where the “distance” explanation fails?

Where the explanation relying on the ‘distance notion” is seriously

challenged since reference is made here to “the planets closest to us”!

❖The English linguist Martin JOOSE, once lamented that as for the

functioning of demonstratives (THIS/THAT) “is not a matter of

inches”!




❖One should feel challenged by daily utterances like:

6. Revenez ici pour voir si je suis encore là !

What is odd here if the distance explanation could help?

❖The speaker has not moved one inch !

❖THIS and THAT are more formal operators that will not lend

themselves to speech-effect oriented explanations and we should

also wonder about things such as :

✓La vie et la mort and not La mort et la vie

✓He was moving here and there and not He was moving there

and here.T h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r


❖Deixis in traditional or pedagogical grammars

6a. You don’t like this you don’t like that, what do you like then?

❖and not

6b *??You don’t like that you don’t like this, what do you like then?

❖The only hypothesis to put forward here is that the human cognitive

system operates along the operative time with an early

period/moment and a late period/moment (see the Phase System).

What difference do you make between the followings:

What is this

What’s that?



The Deixis in Meta-Operational Grammar

❖Meta-operational Grammar does not reject the speech effects of distance and proximity outright!

❖MOG does admit that these speech effects might having been the main content of THIS/THAT at a certain period of the life of the English language;

❖As regard their so-called “distance” values as advertised by pedagogical grammar M. Joose, a British linguist in despair once lamented…

“…It is not a matter of inches…”



The Deixis in Meta-Operational Grammar

❖In contemporary English and presumably as a result of the

sophistication of discursive features over time, deictics THIS/THAT

(and their corresponding plural variants “THESE/THOSE”) have come to

encode the operative time, say the phase system.

❖This remarks holds for their role as determiners and as pronominal

forms as well.

❖This way, and for the advocators of MOG, those elements now

operate as genuine meta-operators;

❖THIS and THAT constitute a micro-system (just like ordinary

articles) and while THIS occurs as a Phase 1 element, THAT is an

indicator of Phase 2 deictic construction.



(II)(I)

Phase 2Phase 1

THIS THAT


4 . T h e D e i x i s a n d t h e N o m i n a l R e l a t i o n

THIS and the reference to reality

❖As a phase 1 marker in the micro-system of the deixis, THIS will be the most appropriate operator to refer to extralinguistic realities:

1. This is to certify that Harold J R is registered as a

pharmaceutical chemist;

2. This card is valid only when used by the person named

3. This jar contains a full one pound.

❖ In each of these utterances the actual object referred to is precisely the one the speaker is holding in his hands or is looking at…



THIS an the reference to reality

❖Note that in each case, the utterances are indications directly printed on the object and if translated in French…

✓ Le/la présent(e ) X …

❖.. So indicating that the object is there, concretely.



THIS and the “upcoming” information

❖As THIS is on the complete opposite side of “shared information”, this operator will occur when the information is yet to come:

4. The only thing I can say is THIS: it is my hope that this

volume may encourage you to speak a little more freely…

❖Understandably, THIS will also occur in the language functions resorted to introduce an individual to the speaker:

5. THIS is my son , … Telemachus



THIS and the “upcoming” information

Compare :

1a… And now, that’s Alpha Blondy

1b… And now, there is Alpha Blondy

2. This is Alpha Blondy, the Ivoirian Reggae star…



THAT to recall former information /operation

❖While THIS occurs to introduce or announce fresh information,

THAT will take over to recall prior relation or information;

❖The retaking can be contextual:

6. THIS a big step you are taking; is THAT what you really want?

❖The retaking can also be just situational like with the article :

Context: the speaker and his co-speakers are waiting for the census

agents when the door ring is rung:

7. Speaker : THAT will be the census takers

❖… this is to say that the “census agents” is what was in the mind of the discourse participants.T h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r



Consider…

8. THAT cake was very nice

9. I was pleased to hear THAT news

❖Often times however, THIS will occur in situations where it is THAT that is normally expected!

❖This will indicate that the knowledge supposed to be already shared and integrated is rejected by the speaker or that the speaker refuses to adhere...

10. “I’ll not stand for THIS” , he muttered to himself

11. It’s cruel of him to do THIS to usT h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r



❖As the genuine operator of retaking THAT will be particularly

appropriate to render the speech effect of conclusion, a conclusion

being the summary of previously invested information:

12. THAT’s it!

13. ****THIS is it

14. THAT’s it, isn’t it?

Why is utterance (13) rather unlikely?

THIS specializes more in cataphoric contexts and not in anaphoric

ones and a concluding effect has an anaphoric orientation which is

not the prime property of THIS!T h e E n g l i s h N o m i n a l S y s t e m i n M e t a - O p e r a t i o n a l G r a m m a r


Bibliography

ADAMCZEWSKI, Henri. 1982. Grammaire linguistique de l’anglais.

Paris: Armand Colin.

ADAMCZEWSKI, Henri. 1990. Le français déchiffré: clef du langage et

des langues. Paris: Armand Colin.

DELMAS, Claude. 1980. Quelques éléments de la métalangue naturelle.

DELMAS, Claude. 1987. Structuration abstraite et chaîne linéaire en

angalis contemporain. Paris: Société Linguistique de Paris



End of section

Thank you for

your attention !

in meta-operational grammar€¦ · especially meta-operational grammar ... the invariant value in...

Documents