¡Descarga Sentence structure y más Apuntes en PDF de Cultura Inglesa solo en Docsity!
- Sentence structure and patterns in English and Spanish: Differences and similarities (I)
2.1. Introduction
We are going to examine the way in which the syntactic categories form clauses in the two languages: English and Spanish.
Most sentences we produce in English and Spanish conform one of these structures: SP, SPO, SPA, SPC, SPOO, SPOA or SPOC.
2.2. Word order parameters in the two languages
The order of the constituents of the clause is one of the most important parameters. This parameter takes into account the relative order of three clausal constituents: S, P and O. It gives rise to six logically possible types of languages: SPO, SOP, PSO, OPS, POS, OSP (2.2.). The three basic and most common word orders are SPO (e.g.: Spanish and English), SOP (e.g.: Turkish) and PSO (e.g.: Irish).
SPO languages : In this type of language, the predicator follows the subject and is placed before the rest of the constituents of the clause.
2.2.1. Basic word order in English and Spanish
An important aspect in which these two languages differ has to do with the question of the flexibility they show in the ordering of elements in the sentences. (2.2.1.) e.g.: English → My sister was crying , *Was crying my sister but Spanish → Mi hermana lloraba , Lloraba mi hermana
e.g.: In English, if we find two objects (Oi and Od), the Oi is always placed before the Od: I gave that little boy an apple , *I gave an apple that little boy. You can instead use a Od and a PO, but never an Oi: I gave an apple to that little boy. In Spanish, however, you can have both orderings: Le di a ese niño una manzana , Le di una manzana a ese niño.
English exhibits less variation regarding word order. This can be attributed to their different linguistic origin. Spanish preserves some of the inflections of Latin, its mother tongue (such as the number and person inflection in verbs). English, on the other hand, has had a morphological reduction of complete laws of grammatical inflection.
2.2.2. Non-basic word order: some major differences between English and Spanish
There is a variety of orders in which the major components of an utterance may occur. Variation in word order is also found in English, but if we observe in which ways and with which frequency, it becomes clear that… (2.2.2.)
Principle of non-synonymy of grammatical forms
A difference in a syntactic form accounts for a difference in meaning and/or pragmatic function. Bolinger believes that absolute synonymy does not exist. For him, every linguistic form has one and only one meaning.
Thematic devices : transformational devices that modify the structure of the sentences for different kinds of prominence. Thematic devices have as a result information-packaging constructions (Huddleston and Pullum).
Information content of sentences is important, because a change in word order often serves as a clue in the form in which a writer or speaker is presenting his information. A basic distinction that has to be made from the point of view of the presentation of a message: topic vs comment (or theme vs rheme ). The comment corresponds to the focus, thanks to the rule known as end- focus principle.
Topic (theme) = given / know information Comment (rheme) = new information
Kernel clause identifies that grammatical construction in which the elements that constitute the clause occupy an unmarked position (i.e., they are in the position they normally occupy).
There are five thematic devices : A. Extraposition B. Passivization C. Fronting D. Clefting E. Pseudo-clefting
A. EXTRAPOSITION
This phenomenon moves an unit to the end of the clause and places the anticipatory pronoun ‘it’ into the empty position. In order to explain it, we have to take into account the principles of end- focus and end-weight.
There are verbs that always require thematic extraposition, such as appear, seem, chance… (3) They take obligatory extraposition.
There are two types of extraposition : of a subject, and of an object.
En algunos casos, estas estructuras no son kernel, porque hay pasivización (para llegar a kernel, habría que quitar la pasiva)
B. PASSIVIZATION
Typical undergone by transitive structures, structures in which a verb combine with an object. From a semantic point of view, these sentences can be said to describe an activity performed by an entity and affecting some other entities which undergo that activity. The entity that performs the activity is the agent and, whoever or whichever undergoes that activity is called patient. Active sentences differ from their passive counterpart (see example in 10)
EXERCISE 2
The S of the active ( María ) is now an A in the passive construction (realized by a PP, introduced by the preposition by ).
The Od of the active construction ( El problema ) becomes the S of its passive counterpart.
Both sentences have the same tense. The Spanish passive has the auxiliary se. Se carries the inflection. This auxiliary is followed by a participle form of the verb in the active construction. There is agreement between the S of the passive and the participle form.
EXERCISE 3
h. It has been said that stress causes cancer ← Non-kernel or derived construction (it results from two syntactic processes: extraposition and passivization) That stress causes cancer has been said ← Someone has said that stress causes cancer Kernel construction
i. Yesterday it was reported that a number of people had been arrested in the capital ← Extraposition That a number of people had been arrested in the capital was reported yesterday ← There are two passive constructions Someone reported that a number of people were arrested in the capital yesterday ‘Yesterday’ is placed at the end, it occupies the canonical position (the A is placed at the end)
j. It was noted that within a year the incidence of illness had increased quite significantly ←
Extraposition That within a year the incidence of illness had increased quite significantly was noted ← Through passivization, this sentence is related to Someone noted that the incidence of illness had increased quite significantly within a year
Passivization is a device we use to reorganize the information in a sentence.
In English, sentences have a very rigid word order. In active sentences, the agent is normally placed before the predicator (it normally corresponds to the S of the sentence), and the patient is normally placed after the predicator (it normally corresponds to the O).
In passive sentences, however, it is the other way round: the patient is placed before the predicator (it now corresponds to the S of the sentence), and the agent, if any, is placed after the predicator (represented by a PP, introduced by the preposition by ).
Reasons for passivization
(a) Topicalization
In Spanish, there is no need to passivize this structure (11). Spanish word order is quite flexible, so it will place the desired element to be topicalized at the beginning of the sentence. If the information function of the patient is to present a topic, it will be placed at the beginning of the sentence.
(b) Omission of the agent
In English, one important difference between the active and the passive is that in the passive sentence, the agent can be omitted. In its active counterpart, however, the agent cannot be omitted: it normally corresponds to the S. In English, a subjectless sentence is impossible.
From a communicative point of view, we may say that in a passive construction, one is free not to provide the information about the agent. That may explain why we use the passive construction in these particular cases, e.g. (8). The S here is indefinite and non-specific, and there is no need to mention it.
What about Spanish? There is no need to passivize this structure (12) in order to achieve this same effect. Spanish is a pro-drop language. There is no need of using this device - in Spanish we just omit the S of the sentence.
(c) Emphasizing the identity of the agent
(21, 22) a) The Oi cannot be passivized. b) Passive se construction, c) Fronting construction (23) a) The object of the preposition ( la crisis ) cannot become subject of the passive construction. b) Passive se. c) Fronting construction
EXERCISE 4
a. It is surprising that they are questioning whether the incident was an accident Extraposition That they are questioning whether the incident was an accident is surprising
Es sorprendente que cuestionen si el incidente fue un accidente Postponement Que cuestionen si el incidente fue un accidente es sorprendente.
04/03/
b. It is clear that your goldfish has been killed by an evildoer ← Extraposition That your goldfish has been by an evildoer is clear ← Passivization That an evildoer has killed your goldfish is clear
Está claro que a tu pececito lo ha matado un canalla Postposition Que a tu pececito lo ha matado un canalla está claro Que un canalla ha matado a tu pececito está claro Kernel, canonical construction
Formal differences between the two sentences in b ):
- You don’t need to passivize it. In the English subordinate clause you have a passive, in the Spanish one you have an active construction. In Spanish, you don’t need to passivize the structure, because you just have to place an element at the end ( end-weight principle ).
The subject of the active construction ( An evildoer ) is placed at the end, to give emphasis to the information. In English, however, word order is very rigid. One of the devices we have for this thematic effect is passivization.
- There are two subjects in English: an anticipatory it, and the extraposed clause ( That your goldfish has been killed by an evildoer ). In Spanish there is one single subject ( Que a tu pececito lo ha matado un canalla ).
Taking into account the flexibility in Spanish sentences, we must affirm that you always need to place the S before the predicate in English, as you need an element occupying the normal S position. In Spanish, however, as word order is much more flexible, you just place it at the end, and there’s no need of an anticipatory element.
C. FRONTING
Another device that affects the structural ordering of a clause is fronting. It moves an element from a canonical, unmarked position to a marked position. It is a process which moves an element to the front of the clause (hence fronting ), an element which otherwise is unusual there. The fronted element can be a Cs, Od, Co, A (24-28)
An adverbial can only be fronted when it functions as a complement, not as an adjunct (when verb selects, subcategorizes that specific adverbial).
Conslusion: This is only found occasionally in English, and it is much more common in Spanish. In English, it may be used in spontaneous colloquial usage or in carefully composed written styles.
EXERCISE 5
1. That for him to resign now would be a mistake is quite obvious ✓ That introduces the finite nominal clause that functions as a S. For is the complementizer introducing the to infinitival clause. The verb in this clause is to resign.
2. To consider the possible causes remains. ✓ Extraposition There is no overt subject. In cases like this, we may use an X to refer to the subject. 3. They published the book in 1933 ✓
4. That they had an excellent motive was demonstrated clearly Extraposition They clearly demonstrated that they had an excellent motive ✓ Passivization
5. He is selfish ✗ Fronting. Negative is also a transformation. Kernel constructions are active and positive, affirmative sentences, you derive negative sentences from their positive counterpart.
6. He found having to wait so long very frustrating ✓ Extraposition of a clausal object
7. That he has phoned worries me ✗ Extraposition Kernel sentences always are positive
8. That you tell the judge the truth is important ✓
(37) We cannot use clefting in order to give prominence to a VP
There are some differences regarding clefting constructions.
(38) The first difference is intonation. This is an ambiguous sentence: You have to take into account the grammatical status of the clause after the word ‘dog’. There are two possible interpretations, and there are some differences between both of them:
- Restrictive relative clause
- That clause in a cleft construction
(39) This should be interpreted as a cleft construction. The emphasis is placed on the NP ‘the dog’.
(40) The emphasis is placed in the NP ‘the water’, thanks to the rule of end-focus principle. In a context like this, this clause should be interpreted as a restrictive relative clause. It gives information that helps us identify the reference of the noun ‘dog’ (What dog are you talking about?). A second difference is that you cannot have a proper noun followed by a restrictive relative clause, but it is possible in a cleft construction. e. g.: I saw the man that you met yesterday *I saw John that you met yesterday
It was John that bought a bike yesterday
The third difference is, as Huddleston (1984) explains, that in a cleft construction the subordinate clause is an immediate constituent of the sentence, not a constituent of another superordinate clause.
But this does not happen in a cleft sentence, as it is an immediate component of the sentence, not a subdivision.
The focused element is the antecedent of the relative clause, but the antecedent and this clause do not form one sole constituent. The antecedent and the relative do not belong to the same syntactic element.
EXERCISE 6
1. For him to take advantage of this experience may be possible ✗ Extraposition
2. The burglar broke the lamp ✓ Clefting
3. I want to meet Mary ✓ Clefting
4. That you eat well is important ✓ Extraposition
5. We found the money under the mattress ✓ Clefting
6. They charge guards at three o’clock in the afternoon ✓ Clefting
7. He found to speak German fluently very essential ✓ Extraposition
E. PSEUDO-CLEFTING
In a pseudo-clefting construction, the nominal relative clause normally occurs as a subject.
(51) The pattern is essentially the same, except for the absence in Spanish of an element that corresponds to the English ‘dummy it’. This element does not exist in pro-drop languages. In English, the ‘dummy it’ is compulsory, because we must always have a subject in the initial position of a sentence. These two structures in (51) also differ as to their flexibility. In English, the basic configuration of a cleft construction cannot be modified or altered. In Spanish, however, we may have two other variants of this basic pattern, as we have in (52).
In English there is never more than one occurrence of the preposition. In Spanish, the preposition can occur twice. Examples in (49) again.
Differences between English and Spanish pseudo-clefting construction
An English pseudo-clefting construction cannot include a nominal relative clause beginning with ‘who’. How, in Spanish, we can have a pseudo-clefting construction in which the nominal relative clause is introduced by the relative ‘quien’. *Who deals with the matter is the campaign coordinator. The person who deals with the matter is the campaign coordinator. Quien lleva el asunto es el coordinador de la campaña
Just to conclude: In Spanish, clefting and pseudo-clefting constructions are in general not used so frequently as they are in English. The same happens with passivization. The Spanish language has less need of these constructions, as it has other linguistic devices.
In English, clefting and pseudo-clefting are very useful. For example, we may use pseudo- clefting as a device that enables us to place the subject of the sentence at the end.
What impressed me was the part of the film in which… Kernel: “The part of the film in which … impressed me”. We use pseudo-clefting to place the subject at the end. A mí me impresionó la parte de la película en la que… No need of using this device. We just move the subject to the end.
What worries him is that… We use pseudo-clefting to place the subject at the end. A él le preocupa que… We just move the subject at the end, no need of pseudo-clefting.
EXERCISE 7
1. I ordered my brother to sell the bicycle I had given him that. ✗ The relative element ‘that’ should be retrieved and placed in its original position. Obligatory transformation → moving ‘that’ to the beginning of the sentence. You may then apply other transformations, like deleting th ‘that’ element in
the sentence (as we have in the non-kernel construction).
2. That at this time of day to insist that this is the indispensable foundation should be necessary seems strange. ✗ Extraposition
3. That it is the holidays that the students are longing for must be evident Extrapostion That the students are longing for the holidays must be evident ✓ Clefting
4. He told me that it was because he was ill that not to go to the party was decided Extrapostion He told me that not to go to the party was decided because he was ill Clefting He told me that they decided to go to the party because he was ill ✓ Passivization + removing all negative elements, so the sentence is positive 5. That she was so slow annoyed me ✓ Pseudo-clefting
6. People who attended classes the day before the Holy Week will fail the exam ✓ Clefting + removing all negative elements, so the sentence is positive
7. I put that this boy could have done it to you ✓ Extraposition of the O (realized by a clause)
8. That it was the man that we visited last night that said that he did not agree to the proposal is sad Extraposition That the man we visited that last night said that he agreed to the proposal is sad ✓ Clefting + the O must be placed in its original position
9. It is articles about Linguistics, indeed, that I write when I have the time Fronting Indeed, I write articles about Linguistics when I have the time ✓ Clefting
10. They hoped that they would elect John
