Unit 3

Word Classes:

1. Nouns

Three major families of wordsThree major families of words1.1. LEXICALLEXICAL words (4)words (4)

––

Nouns Nouns --main carriers of informationmain carriers of information––

Lexical verbsLexical verbs

--get stressed in speechget stressed in speech

––

AdjectivesAdjectives

--belong to belong to openopen word classesword classes––

Adverbs Adverbs --often a complex internal structureoften a complex internal structure

--heads of phrases heads of phrases --remain if a sentence is compressedremain if a sentence is compressed

2.2. FUNCTIONFUNCTION words (6)words (6)––

DeterminersDeterminers

--

shortshort

––

PronounsPronouns

--

unstressedunstressed––

Auxiliary verbsAuxiliary verbs

--indicate meaning relationshipsindicate meaning relationships

––

PrepositionsPrepositions

--help interpret units containing lexical wordshelp interpret units containing lexical words––

CoordinatorsCoordinators

--belong to belong to closedclosed word classesword classes

––

Subordinators Subordinators --

no internal structureno internal structure33..

INSERTSINSERTS

A metaphor

If

lexical

words

are the

main

blocks

of

a building…

Function

words

are the

mortar.

Three major families of words/Three major families of words/22

3.3. INSERTSINSERTS––

mainly spoken language mainly spoken language

––

marked by break in intonationmarked by break in intonation––

carry emotional and carry emotional and discoursaldiscoursal

meanings.meanings.

––

They are standThey are stand--alone wordsalone words–

Some

of

them

can be questioned

whether

they

are

words

at

all

(uh-huh, uh-oh).–

Their

frequency

differs

in AmE

and

BrE. (see

fig.

13.3)

–

Many

inserts

are strongly

preferred

within

particular social groups.

–

Biber

et al. distinguish

nine major

classes

according

to their

function.

Inserts: types1.

Interjections: Oh

2.

Greetings

and

farewells: Hello, Cheers3.

Discourse

markers: Well, Right, Now, Okay,

4.

Attention

signals: Hey5.

Response elicitors: eh? see? okay? right?

6.

Response forms: Yeah Yep Nope, Sure, Okay7.

Polite

formulas: please, thanks, sorry

8.

Expletives: shit damn bloody hell fuck geez9.

Hesitators:

Um er er erm uh

(see

table

13.1)

Lexical word classesLexical word classes••

FourFour main classes of lexical words: main classes of lexical words:

1.1.

nounsnouns2.2.

verbsverbs

3.3.

adjectives adjectives 4.4.

adverbs adverbs

••

These words are looked at from a These words are looked at from a threefoldthreefold (triple) (triple) perspective:perspective:

1.1. morphologicalmorphological: what is their : what is their word structureword structure

or form or form (stems & affixes)?(stems & affixes)?

2.2. syntacticsyntactic: what is their : what is their role role at phrase level or in higher at phrase level or in higher units?units?

3.3. semanticsemantic: what type of : what type of meaningmeaning

do they convey?do they convey?

NounsNouns (i)(i)1. Morphological characteristics1. Morphological characteristics••

A A nounnoun

can can changechange

itsits

formform

(i.e., can (i.e., can have have inflectionalinflectional suffixessuffixes) )

toto

expressexpress: :

a) a) A contrast in A contrast in singular and pluralsingular and plural

((--s):s):

dog/dogsdog/dogs* uncountable nouns (they refer to an undifferentiated mass or * uncountable nouns (they refer to an undifferentiated mass or

notion): notion): goldgold, , information, butter, advice, musicinformation, butter, advice, musictherethere

are are clearclear

grammaticalgrammatical

differencesdifferences. (. (chapterchapter

4)4)

b) b) to mark the to mark the genitive casegenitive case

((--’s) (’s) (the girl’s facethe girl’s face); with ); with regular plurals ending in regular plurals ending in ––ss the genitive is marked by an the genitive is marked by an apostrophe (apostrophe (his parents’ homehis parents’ home))

••

Often, they contain Often, they contain more than one morphememore than one morpheme::a) a) AffixationAffixation: : buildbuild--erer, , brightbright--ness, ness, friendfriend--ship ship b) b) CompoundingCompounding: : base+basebase+base

clothesline, bombshellclothesline, bombshell

NounsNouns (ii)(ii)2. 2. Syntactic characteristics Syntactic characteristics Normally the chief item (or HEAD) of noun phrases Normally the chief item (or HEAD) of noun phrases

(NPs):(NPs):e.g.e.g.

a new a new bookbook about the cold warabout the cold warthe ugliest the ugliest personperson you’ve ever seenyou’ve ever seen

A noun functions as the subject, object, or complement A noun functions as the subject, object, or complement of a clause,of a clause,

e.ge.g. . ApplesApples are popular I are popular I likelike applesapples

3. 3. Semantic characteristicsSemantic characteristicsRefer to concrete, physical entities (people, objects, Refer to concrete, physical entities (people, objects,

substances)substances)e.g.e.g.

book, friend, ironbook, friend, iron

Or to abstract entities such as qualities or statesOr to abstract entities such as qualities or statese.ge.g. . freedom, wish, friendshipfreedom, wish, friendship

Morphology of nouns: derivationDerived

nouns

are formed

from

other

words

by affixation, conversion

and

compounding.1 Affixation 4.11.1

•

Derivational prefixes do not alter the

word class of

the

base word: patient>outpatient; group>subgroup. They

change

the

meaning.

On

pages

88-89 there

is

a list

of

‘the more frequent prefixes’. It might be an idea to look through them quickly and pay attention esp. to the non-Latin/Greek ones, ie. fore-, out-, under-

(forecast, foresight,

forefront/ outskirts, outsourcing, output/ underclothes, …)

•

Derivational suffixes do often change the word class of the base

word: dark>darkness; agree>agreement.

On

pages

89-90 there

is

a list

of

common

noun

suffixes. Pay

attention

to the

more alien

ones: -ee, -dom, -hood, -ing, -ness, -ship. Those

that

are derived

from

verbs

& adjs. are nominalizations.

Morphology of nouns: conversion2 Conversion 4.11.2Or

‘zero derivation’ (no affix added).The base itself is

converted into a different word class.•

verb>noun: (deverbal nouns)

(state

of

mind, state

of

sensation): desire, doubt, love(event, activity): attempt, hit, laugh, swim(‘object of verb’): answer, bet, catch, find(‘subject of verb’): cheat, coach, show-off, bore(‘instrument of verb’): cover, paper, wrap(‘manner of -ing’): walk, throw

•

adjective>noun: (deadjectival

nouns)a pint of bitter; he’s a natural; the final; newly marrieds;

the dailies; a red

Morphology of nouns: compounding3 Compounding 4.11.3

The creation of a new word by combining two existing words.

•

Points

to

make

about

English

compounds:

NB1: the

head of

the

comp. is

generally

the

last element.Q: What

is

a race horse? Answ: Well, basically

a horse.

Q: What

is

a horse race? Answ: Well, basically

a race.

NB2 Thus, the

compound

may be ‘unfolded’ as a phrase or clause beginning with the head.(A race

horse

is

a horse

that

races. A horse

race

is

a race

that

involves

horses.)(vid. CGE 265b)

Types of nouns1. Proper nouns2. Common nouns

a) Abstract

and

Concreteb) Countable

and

Uncountable

3. Package nouns1.

Collective

nouns

2.

Unit

nouns3.

Quantifying

nouns

4.

Species

nouns

1. Proper nouns•

Most proper nouns take capital letters:

1.

names of people: John Brown2.

names of places: Spain

3.

names of organizations, institutions, religions: the Town Hall; the University of Zaragoza; Catholicism …

4.

names of periods of time: Saturday, July, Christmas …5. address terms for family members: Hey, Mum! Uncle

Fred! …6.

people or bodies with unique public function: the Pope, the President, the King …

7. languages, nationalities & ethnic groups: English, Aragonese, the Irish …

8.

nouns (and adjectives) derived from proper nouns: Marxism, a Londoner, Victorian …

1. Proper nouns•

Proper nouns do not usually have contrasts of singular/plural

or

definite/indefinite. But note the difference bet. Spanish & English:Los Pérez (unmarked plural); the Smiths (plural marked with -s).

•

Proper nouns can act as common nouns:

•

He believes he is a Shakespeare (an author like Shakespeare)•

I used to know a Juan Pérez

•

A Mr White was trying to contact you•

That Mr White has phoned you again

•

A: “I used to know John Lennon quite well.” B: “Surely you can mean the John Lennon?”

•

In the England of Shakespeare•

Poor old Charles

•

The beautiful Princess Diana (but

Princess Diana)•

The Dr Brown I know comes from Australia

•

The Zaragoza I grew up in has changed a lot.

2. Common nouns: abstract and concrete

•

Concrete nouns

refer

to

entities

which

can be observed and

measured, such

as horse, butter, car.

•

Abstract nouns

refer

to

unobservable

notions, such

as difficulty, idea, certainty, remark.

The

distinction

seems

straighforward, but

in fact

it

can be quite difficult

deciding

whether

a word

is

being

used

in a purely

abstract

or

concrete way.Nouns

such

as football, permit

both

abstract

and

concrete

interpretations:

Thomas can kick a football 50 yards (1 yard = 0.9144 metres)Thomas often plays football on Saturdays

2. Common nouns count and non-count

a) Countable: nouns that are viewed as countathey

have a sing. & a plural form;

they can be counted. They refer to persons, objects, places … specific quantities of substances, materials, liquids, gases; specific realizations of abstract realities.

They can be accompanied by determiners

that refer to distinctions in number:a /one/every studentten/many/those students

2. Common nouns: count and non-count

b) Uncountable: they cannot (usually)be

counted. They refer to substances (steel), materials (paper) , liquids (water), gases (air), abstract realities (love, poverty, expectation) …but also to things like luggage, or furniture.

This category includes singular invariable nouns:•

notably news:That’s the best piece of news I’ve heard in a long time!No news is good news

•

nouns ending in -ics (linguistics, athletics …),•

diseases ending in -s (measles, mumps, shingles)

•

Nouns

that

are ordinarily

non-count

can be converted

into count

nouns

with

two

types

of

special

use:

a)

Different

kinds

of

varieties: selection of cheesesb)

Particular instances: two coffees, please

“Two loves

I have of comfort and despair” by William Shakespeare

Sonnet 144Two loves I have of comfort and despair, Which like two spirits do suggest me still: The better angel is a man right fair, The worser spirit a woman colour'd ill. To win me soon to hell, my female evil, Tempteth my better angel from my side, And would corrupt my saint to be a devil, Wooing his purity with her foul pride. And whether that my angel be turn'd fiend, Suspect I may, yet not directly tell; But being both from me, both to each friend, I guess one angel in another's hell: Yet this shall I ne'er know, but live in doubt, Till my bad angel fire my good one out.

“I saw…” The test for noun classes (Quirk et al.5.2) * not valid

Peter, book, furniture, brick

1Proper noun

2Count noun

3Uncount

2+3Either count or uncount

Zero article No article

Peter book furniture brick

the the Peter the book the furniture the brick

a A Peter a book a furniture a brick

some some Peter some book some furniture

some brick

plural Peters books furnitures bricks

Count and Non-count nouns•

The

clear

grammatical

differences

are:

1. Count

nouns

cannot

stand alone

in the

singular (*I saw book), but

noncounts

can (chess is fun, music is my life).

2. Count

nouns

allow

a plural (I like books), noncount

nouns do not. (*furnitures, *musics).

3. Count

nouns

occur

in the

singular with

‘a’ (a book); noncount nouns with ‘some’ (we need some furniture). Both types can occur with ‘the’ (the book, the furniture)

4. Some

nouns

can be either

count

or

noncount, depending

on their

meaning

and

the

situation:

I’ve had many odd experiences (something that happens to you)I’ve not had much experience (knowledge or skill obtained)

Exercise. Test these words in order to see whether they are countable or uncountable. Translate the Spanish sentence using the English word given.

Eg. Tengo un mueble que quiero vender. (furniture)*I have a furniture that I want to sell.I have a piece of furniture I want to sell.√Conclusion: mueble is c.; furniture is unc.Do the same with these pairs of words:1 Tengo una noticia

que te va a sorprender. (news)

2 No me des más consejos. (advice)3 Prefiero el arroz al pan. (rice)4 No puedes salir con esos pelos. (hair)5 Sus conocimientos

de África … (knowledge)

6 Se distinguen varios comportamientos

según la edad. (behaviour)

7 Había un tráfico

denso. (traffic)8 Deja las compras

en la mesa por favor. (shopping)

9 Ha hecho varios trabajos

para el Ayuntamiento. (work)10 Algunas informaciones

no eran correctas. (information)

1 Tengo una noticia

que te va a sorprender. (news)I have got a piece of / an item of news which is going to surprise you. 2 No me des más consejos. (advice)Do not give me any more pieces of advice. (a piece of advice)3 Prefiero el arroz al pan. (rice)I prefer rice to bread.4 No puedes salir con esos pelos. (hair)You can’t go out with that hair.5 Sus conocimientos

de África … (knowledge)

His knowledge of / about Africa6 Se distinguen varios comportamientos

según la edad. (behaviour)

Several types / kinds of behaviour are distinguished according to /depending on the age.

7 Había un tráfico

denso. (traffic)The traffic was (horrendous) / dense / heavy. There was / heavy traffic.8 Deja las compras

en la mesa por favor. (shopping)

Leave the shopping on the table.9 Ha hecho varios trabajos

para el Ayuntamiento. (work)

He has done a lot / some work for the City Hall / Council10 Algunas informaciones

no eran correctas. (information)

Some of the information was not correct.Some of the items of information were not correct.

3. Package nounsThey include the 4 categories of countable

common nouns: 1. Collective nouns2. Unit (or

Partitive) nouns

3. Quantifying nouns4. Species nouns

All package nouns are followed by of-phrases.

3. Package nouns: collective3.1. Collective nounsNouns that refer to groups of people, animals or things; They behave like countable nouns (2+3).•

some are general or neutral (group, crowd …)

•

others have specific connotations (bunch, flock, gang …).

•

Set of is used for abstract nouns: a set of assumptions, conditions, but also for group of things.

•

Some collective nouns have rigid collocations* (cf. a pack of lies/ una sarta de mentiras)

*collocations (Glossary) a combination of lexical words which frequently co-occur in texts

Herd of cows, host of stars, series of accidents, shoal of fish, swarm of bees, troop of inspectors.

3.

Package

nouns/1.collective

nouns

•

Exercise. Decide whether the collective noun is ‘neutral’, whether it colours the noun that it goes with or whether it is a hard-and-fast collocation.

•

a group of children•

a gang of boys

•

a set of spoons•

a herd of tourists

•

a swarm of bees •

a flight of stairs

3.

Package

nouns/1.collective

nouns•

Ex 4.2 Decide whether the collective noun is ‘neutral’, whether it colours the noun that it goes with or whether it is a hard-and-fast collocation.

•

a group of children (neutral)•

a gang of boys (colours: boys=criminals)

•

a set of spoons (neutral? colloc?)•

a herd of tourists (colours: tourists=characterless animals)

•

a swarm of bees (rigid colloc.)•

a flight of stairs (rigid colloc., a set of stairs, usu. between two floors of a building) we live up three flights of stairs

3. Package nouns: partitive3. 2. Unit (or Partitive) nounsThese nouns are usually used to refer to a

unit of something designated by an uncountable

noun: a bit of wood/ a piece

of cheese / an item of information. Unit noun (Count)+ of + Uncountable.Singular partitives Plural PartitivesA piece of cake two pieces of cakeA bit of chalk some bits of chalkAn item of news several items of news

a lump of sugar but also two sugars

3. Package

nouns

/Unit (or Partitive) nouns

•

Exercise. Provide suitable ‘unit nouns’ that collocate with the following nouns:

1. a _ of paper2. a _ of advice3. a _ of coal4. a _ of bread5. a _ of string6. a_ of water7. a_ of bacon8. a_ of dust9. a _ of chocolate10. a_ of applause

3.Package

nouns

/Unit (or Partitive) nouns

•

Exercise. Provide suitable ‘unit nouns’ that collocate with the following nouns:

1. a sheet of paper2. a piece/word of advice3. a lump of coal4. a loaf /slice of bread5. a ball/piece/foot of string6. a drop of water7. a rasher/ slice of bacon8. a speck of dust9. a chunk/bar of chocolate10. a round of applause

3. Package nouns: quantifying/13.3. Quantifying Nouns•

These nouns refer to quantities: a kilo of pears.

•

Structure: QN + of + Count or Uncount

Noun. a pile of bricks / a pile of rubbish•

Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish them from unit nouns: a roll of cloth could very well refer to a ‘unit’ or to a ‘quantity’. Biber

distinguishes 7 kinds:

i) nouns that quantify by referring to a container: a basket of fruit/ a box of matches /a cup of tea …

ii) nouns that quantify by referring to shape: a heap of leaves/ a mountain of work /a pile of money…

iii) nouns that quantify in officially recognized measures: a gallon of petrol/ three miles of motorway …

3. Package nouns: quantifying/2iv) nouns that are plural numerals: dozens/ hundreds/

thousands/ millions of starsv) nouns that refer to large quantities: loads/ masses/

heaps/ tons of fans (mogollón) (unga bunga things to do)

vi) nouns ending in -ful: two teaspoonfuls of olive oil.

-ful can be added to virtually any container: glass, cup, bottle, fist, hand, mouth, room, house, classroom, church

(handful= puñado)vii) the nouns pair &

couple are used differently. Pair

often implies that the items are joined (a pair of scissors/ glasses);

couple usually means a few (wait

a couple of minutes)

in conversation.

3. Package nouns: species•These refer to the species or type rather than the quantity of the following noun: two types of novel, this sort of character, that kind of film•Species nouns can be followed by uncountable nouns (an excellent class of beer) or by countable nouns, in which case there is a choice of singular or plural for both nouns:I don’t like this kind of question (sg

+ sg)

I don’t like this (or these) kind of questions (sg

+ pl)I don’t like these kinds of question (pl + sg)I don’t like these kinds of questions (pl + pl)

•Sort of and

kind of are the

most

common, but

do not confuse with

the

stance

adverbs, used

to

convey

imprecision, very

common

in conversation

(they

are called

‘hedges’)It was kind of strangeI just sort of managed to do what the teacher wanted

Noncounts and their Count equivalents•

Apart

from

a tendency

for

concrete nouns

to

be count and

for

abstract to

be noncount, there

is

no necessary

connection between

the

classes

of

nouns

and

the

entities

to

which

they

refer. Many

noncount

have

an

equivalent

countable

expression. Examples:

NONCOUNT NOUN COUNT EQUIVALENT

This is important information a piece / bit / word of informationHave you any news? a piece /a bit / an item of good newsSome good advice a piece / word of good adviceWarm applause a round of applauseHow’s business? a piece/ bit of businessExpensive furniture a piece / an article/a suite of furnitureWhat (bad/good) luck! a piece of (bad/good) luckThe interest is only 5 per cent a (low) rate of interestThere is evidence that… a piece of evidence

Practice: recognizing types of nounse.g. I like philosophy (a common, abstract, uncountable

noun)1.

Your

books

have

sold

millions

of

copies! [fict.]

2.

According

to

Kant, the

original mass

of

gas cooled and

began

to

contract.[acad.]

3.

The

minibar was

filled

with

candy, mineral water, decaffeinated

soft

drinks

and

dairy

products. “These

are the kind of munchies which our research found helps sleep,” said Jeremy Baka, Hilton’s spokesman. [news]

(from

Conrad

et al.’s Workbook, 4.1)