Scarica Understanding the Genitive Case and Countable vs. Uncountable Nouns in English - Prof. Nav e più Appunti in PDF di Lingua Inglese solo su Docsity!
SYNTAX (module C) – Prof. Nava – A.A. 2020- 2021
Possessive determiners and the genitive
➢ The possessive determiner and the possessive pronoun
These possessives often have an antecedent in the form of an NP and are therefore sometimes considered pronouns. We have opted to concentrate on their determining function and call them determiners. Recall that English his and her refer to the gender of the possessor and are not determined by any feature of the head noun. Unlike the demonstratives, possessives also have a pronominal form distinct from the determiner form: Do not confuse the possessive determiner its , associated with an inanimate NP, with it’s , which is the third-person pronoun it followed by the contracted form of the third person of the verb be. In the possessive determiner its and in the possessive pronouns, - s is not separated from the determiner/pronoun by an apostrophe. The morpheme - ’s can express possession, but only in combination with lexical items, not with pronouns. The determiner one’s is the only exception to this:
➢ The genitive: meaning and form
The genitive is a form relating two NPs: Its written form is spelled ˗’s (‘apostrophe s’) or ˗s’ (‘s apostrophe’) when the noun ends in plural ˗s The genitive is usually added to definite NPs with animate reference, including NPs that refer to animals, or names of institutions that bear some relationship to human activity:
Indefinite NPs in the genitive are equally possible: The genitive is closely related to the possessive in that it is traditionally defined as the marker that indicates possession or possessive case. However, like the possessive determiners and pronouns, it does not always mark possession in the strict sense of the word In English, of-phrases that paraphrase genitive case are sometimes possible alongside the genitive: Often, however, NPs with post-modifying of - PrepPs of this type are ungrammatical: the book of my friend , although perfectly clear, is not correct in Standard English. Two basic rules of thumb are
useful in teasing apart N2 ’s N1 and N1 of N
- If the N2 is human or animate, use the genitive rather than of: our friends’ house , the horse’s head. Of is possible when the N2 is a complex NP: the son of my mother’s colleague (although my mother’s colleague’s son can be used as well)
- Of is usually not possible if the relationship between N1 and N2 can be paraphrased with the verb have : ‘ John has a nephew’ , so English uses John’s nephew rather than *the nephew of John. Conversely, the arrest of the woman (along with the woman’s arrest ) is fine, since the paraphrase ‘* the woman has an arrest’ is impossible. As the genitive functions as a determiner (and usually establishes definite reference), we use the term determinative genitive. The difference with the other definite determiners mentioned so far (the definite article and the demonstrative and possessive determiners) is that in the case of the genitive, the determiner takes the form of a genitive NP. es. I’m in love with the shape of you Noun phrase: head noun + expansion ➔ I’m in love with … →the shape of you →your shape
- SHAPE → noun
- OF YOU → of+noun construction
- YOUR → genitive
➢ The genitive of measure
Another common use of the genitive is in expressions that indicate a measure The paraphrase for examples like a mile’s walk is obviously not ‘ a walk that belongs to a mile ’ but rather ‘ a walk of a mile ’ or ‘ a walk the distance of which equals one mile ’. With what is called the genitive of measure , the head of the NP is always an uncountable noun and the NP in the genitive is indefinite. In other words, the indefinite article (such as a(n) , or Ø) determines the noun in the genitive, and not the head noun If the head is a countable noun, the genitive of measure cannot be used: * a [two hours ]’ presentation. The reason it is not possible to combine a genitive of measure with a determiner falls out naturally from that fact that it is not possible to use two markers that fulfil the role of central determiner When the head noun is countable, the genitive has to be replaced by a complex prehead modifier. Observe that the noun is in the singular although the numeral can be a number higher than one: If the head noun can be used both countably and uncountably, both constructions are possible: certain nouns like drive (a two-hour drive/two hours’ drive), walk (a onemile walk/a mile’s walk) and journey (a three-day journey/three days’ journey) do not have an uncountable use outside this specific construction.
➢ The independent genitive
The head word in an NP with a genitive can be left unexpressed. This is called an independent genitive:
o In ( 105a ) the headword is ellipted to avoid repetition of the same word o In ( 105b ) illustrate the use of the independent genitive of common nouns denoting professions when they refer to their place of business. o In ( 105c ), finally, the headword of a genitive of a proper name or a name of a relationship can be left out when it denotes where the referent lives.
➢ The double genitive
A common genitive construction in English is the double genitive , so called because it contains two markers for possession: ’s (or a possessive pronoun) and an of - phrase
es. Those steely blue eyes OF HERS / LOLITA’S
A double genitive in a definite NP is possible if the determiner is a demonstrative or if the head is modified by a relative clause The examples that follow illustrate these contexts of use and show that the double genitive is not restricted to partitive constructions: As is clear from the first two examples, using a demonstrative determiner often gives the double genitive a more emotive reading. NOUN + ‘OF’ CONSTRUCTION + INDEPENDENT GENITIVE
Determiners and the English Noun Phrase
o ARTICLES: a, an, the
o DEMONSTRATIVES: this, that, these, those
o POSSESSIVES: my, your, Michael’s
o QUANTIFIERS: some, many, several
The noun tree can occur in the singular and the plural; it is a countable noun. The noun bark only occurs in the singular and with singular verb agreement; it is an uncountable noun. Another way of characterizing this distinction makes use of semantic rather than formal criteria: while the referent of an uncountable noun is ‘the same all the way through’, the referent of a countable noun is not. Any subpart of milk remains milk , and ant subpart of bark is still bark. → homogeneity AN UNCOUNTABLE NOUN IS SAID TO BE HOMOGENEOUS A subpart of a tree is no longer a tree → heterogeneity A COUNTABLE NOUN IS SAID TO BE HETEROGENEOUS
➢ (Un)countability and determiners
The head noun homework can combine with the quantifiers a little (but not with a few ) because it is uncountable, whereas the head noun students , which is countable and plural, can combine with the quantifiers a few (but not with a little ). The quantifiers a few and a little both mean “a small quantity (number or amount) of”. It is the status of the head noun as (plural) countable or uncountable that determines which we use. The same can be said for the pair many/much , which means “a large quantity (number or amount) of”: not much homework / not many students. When constructing an NP, the choice between a few and a little or between many and much is not at all the same kind of choice we make when we choose to use the passive voice rather than the active voice. The latter choice reflects the perspective that a speaker wants to give to her message. The indefinite article a can only combine with a singular countable noun. The definite article the is insensitive to the countable/uncountable distinction and can combine with both types of head noun: the student(s) but also the homework. Countables in the plural and uncountables often function together when it comes to the use of quantifiers: lots of and some , can only combine with a plural countable noun or uncountable NOT lots of pencil or some pencil In a similar way, both plural countable nouns and uncountable nouns can occur without any determiner at all to indicate “an unspecified quantity of”: students are complaining or homework is never fun. This is not possible for a singular countable noun NOT student is complaining
UNCOUNTABLE (advice) COUNTABLE (suggestion) NUMERALS ^ PLURALS USE OF ARTICLES NO ARTICLE QUANTIFIERS: (a) little, (a) few, much, many A little, much Few, many QUANTIFIERS: a good deal of, a large number of A good deal of A large number of
➢ Nouns that are both countable and uncountable
Some nouns appear to be both countable and uncountable. One might consider that in each case there are two separate lexical items, each of which is predictable whit respect to countability. In fact, for a number of similarly related pairs of countable/uncountable words, the lexicon has two completely different words: a cow/a bull (both countable) beef (uncountable) a steady job (countable) steady work (uncountable) intermittent showers (countable) intermittent rain (uncountable) In this example we are referring not to the object that comes out of the oven when bread is baked (to do this, we could use the unitizer loaf ) but rather to a type of bread. Indeed, a bread can be replaced by ‘ a type of/sort of/kind of bread’. Seen this way a bread is not an exception to anything we have said about countability. What is being counted are different kinds of bread (rye, wheat, whole, grain..) and not the referents.
child > children, foot > feet, goose > geese, man > men, mouse > mice, tooth > teeth and woman > women A number of nouns borrowed from Latin or Greek take a plural ending different from ˗(e)s , like ˗i or ˗a ( stimulus > stimuli, criterion > criteria ). Some nouns, although they can have singular or plural reference, do not change form in the plural. These include the nouns series, species, means, crossroads and barracks and also a certain number of nouns referring to fish and other animals: one salmon > several salmon; that sheep > those sheep. Other nouns like this include pike, trout, bison, deer and moose. The word fish itself is usually invariable, unless the meaning is ‘ species of fish’ There is a restricted set of nouns in English that only occur in the plural. Nouns like this include (good/bad) manners, minutes (of a meeting), regards and resources. Some nouns, such as dregs , earnings, outskirts, remains, savings and valuables , occur only in the plural. Nouns of the type trousers or scissors: English has a class of nouns referring either to items of clothing ( trousers, shorts, jeans, cords etc.) or to tools ( scissors, tweezers, binoculars, sheers etc.) consisting of two equal, usually conjoined parts that form a single unit. Because the referent has two parts, these nouns are conceptualized as plurals. These nouns always end in plural ˗s and always take a verb in the plural, even when there is reference to one item. Nouns of the type mathematics: Nouns in - ics ( mathematics, acoustics, aesthetics, athletics, economics ), like nouns of the trousers type, cannot be used without - s. Nouns like these also include ethics, gymnastics, linguistics, metaphysics, phonetics, physics, politics and statistics. Modifiers An NP may include additional pre-modifying and post-modifying information which can be expressed in different forms. Many of the forms that give modifying information about the head noun are relatively unproblematic. NP-internal adjectives in English are nearly always placed before the head noun ( red roses, the bright sun ). Modifiers change the essential meaning of a noun: its DENOTATION Pre-modifiers / post-modifiers (a/the) adj.____ MAN _______RC (alone, asleep, ill, sick, sleeping, who’s..)
➢ Adjectives
The head noun of an NP can be modified by one or more adjective phrases (AdjPs)
An AdjP can consist of its head alone or be more complex ; a complex AdjP within the NP is most often preceded by an AdvP: When adjectives are found within the NP, their function is attributive. This is not the only syntactic position for AdjPs in English: they can also be outside the NP, in which case they are related to an NP through the verb be or another linking verb ( seem, look etc.). Here we say that the function is predicative. We can say the baby is asleep ( predicative ), but not *the asleep baby (attributive); conversely, we can say my former roommate ( attributive ), but not *my roommate is former (predicative). If more than one adjective is used attributively, the order in which the adjectives occur is not free. The closer an adjective is to the noun head, the more objective the property is that it refers to.
a big blue car → a referent can only be judged as ‘ big’ within its own class – a big car is still much
smaller than a small house. The colour ‘ blue’ , though usually qualifies in the same way regardless of the noun it modifies. opinion > size > age > shape > colour > origin > material + head noun Attribuitive vs. predicative adjectives
- A man who is alone
- A alone man
- A young man | is sleeping → young: noun phrase
- The sleeping man | is young →young: predicate Predicative-only adjectives
- I’m a sick angry little man!
- I’m an ill angry little man → that man is ill/sick ALIVE, ALONE, AFLOAT, AFRAID, ASLEEP, ILL
The examples above indicate which items can function as relative pronouns : which, who, that or the zero relative pronoun. Two factors determine the choice of pronoun in restrictive RCs: 1)the function of the relative pronoun in the RC and 2)the nature of the antecedent. Here the antecedent is part of a PrepP (=preposition) that function as a Prepositional Object. In order to construct an RC, two options are available: the preposition of the PrepP can either remain in its normal position after the verb or it can be found before the relative pronoun. Preposition Stranding is more common in the ordinary register(a) than the more formal-sounding solution (b). Recognizing the function of the relative pronoun is vital in English for the following reason: relative pronouns functioning as a DO or as an Object of a Preposition are grammatically optional. In other words, the following remain perfectly grammatical without an overt relative pronoun. The antecedent of an inanimate head noun is incompatible with the relative pronoun who , whereas the antecedent of an animate head noun is incompatible with the relative pronoun which. Note that both who and which in restrictive RCs can be replaced by that.
- The research to which we have referred…
- The research which/that/Ø we referred to … → the preposition can be stranded (=placed at the end of the relative clause) Who vs. Whom
- Interrogative whom (correct when functioning as an Object) is very often replaced by who in ordinary use.
- Whom is nonetheless generally preferred when it directly follows a preposition. 128c serve as reminder that the relative pronoun who(m) (like which ) is often replaced by that. 128d show that we can have an RC with no overt relative pronoun when the antecedent functions as an Object.
Non-restrictive relative clauses (NRRCs) give useful additional information about the antecedent, but the information does not serve to narrow down the possible referents of the NP. The choice of pronoun in non-restrictive RCs is determined by two factors: the nature of the antecedent and the function of the relative pronoun in RC. NRRCs are formally marked by the use of commas : there is a comma after the antecedent and, if the relatives is followed by the rest of the clause, one after the NRRC. Note that the relative pronoun that is not used in NRRCs. They can have what is called a sentential antecedent. In this case the relative pronoun used is which , and its antecedent is a complete clause (a) or a predicate (b). NRRCs of this type are commonly referred to as sentential NRRCs. RESTRICTIVE RC NON-RESTRICTIVE RC Example The first ladies WHO WERE TEACHERS have played an important role in Am. history Melania and Jill, WHO WERE MODEL, have an innate sense of style Meaning The meaning changes if we delete the RC The meaning stays the same if we delete the RC
The Verb Phrase
➢ Situation types
There are 4 situation types: State, Activity, Accomplishment; Achievement. State situations vs Dynamic situations STATE SITUATIONS DYNAMIC SITUATIONS Situations that ‘exist’ but do not change Situations that develop, Require energy → Imperative! Own a car Hate football Understand Maths Jog in the park Sing Write an email Paint the ceiling red Faint Drop your car keys Dynamic situations: activities vs accomplishments ACTIVITY ACCOMPLISHMENT (compimento)
- Can go on ( durative )
- Without a natural point of completion ( no inherent endpoint ) - Can go on ( durative ) - Have a natural point of completion ( inherent endpoint ) Jog in the park Sing Sing a song Write an email Build a model train Paint the ceiling red Dynamic situations: accomplishments vs achievements ACCOMPLISHMENT ACHIEVEMENT (realizzazione)
- Can go on (durative)
- Have a natural point of completion (inherent endpoint) - Happen instantaneously (punctual) - Have a natural point of completion (inherent endpoint)
Write an email Build a model train Paint the ceiling red Fall Faint Arrive Drop your car keys Find your keys
➢ Time VS Tense
What is the difference between TIME and TENSE?
- Time → chronology (present, past, future)
- Tense → grammar (verb) One common criterion used to define tense in English is inflection (the change in the form of a word, typically the ending : talk > he talks/he talked ). If we base our definition of tense on inflection, there are only two tenses in English, the present (he talks) and the past (he talked). The criterion we use is based not on inflection but on meaning: a tense locates a situation in time. In some cases a tense also gives information about the temporal relation between situations: it tells the hearer whether a situation happens before (or is anterior to) or after (or is posterior to) another. The verb base is the most basic form of the verb without any grammatical markings. Bare infinitive is the label we use to refer to the infinitive without to .. When the infinitive is marked by the infinitive marker to , we use the label to-infinitive.
➢ The present perfect tense
The present perfect is another tense in English that can be used to locate situation before the moment of speech. This tense locates a situation in the pre- present time-sphere, which is distinct from the past time-sphere. It establishes a different relationship between the moment of speech and the situation referred to in the clause: this tense refers to a situation that either happened or start happening before the moment of speech, but without reference to a specific past time. The present perfect expresses a relationship of anteriority between now and a situation before now. o The past time-sphere may be thought of as completely disconnected from the present. o The pre-present time-sphere is used for situations located before now, that may be thought of as being connected with the present. In both cases, the time referred to lies before the moment of speech. Two meaning of the present perfect tense: Dr. Barras has worked Dr. William Barras has been a lecturer at the University of in Linguistics at the University of Aberdeen Edinburgh since 2016
The continuative present perfect We will use continuative present perfect to refer to a situation started before the moment of speech and still holds at the moment of speech. Its effect will be that focusing on the duration of the situation. The indefinite present perfect The indefinite present perfect refers to a situation located entirely before the moment of speech. The situation does not continue until the moment of speech. The temporal frame situation is located in establishes a link with ‘now’.
- Indefinite present perfect combined with an Activity The speaker wants to indicate explicitly that the pre-present situation is somehow relevant to the present. When the progressive marker is added, the focus is more on the activity.
- Indefinite present perfect combined with an Accomplishment When an Accomplishment is used in the present perfect non-progressive tense, the sentence communicates that the endpoint inherent in the situation has been reached and that there is a result at the moment of speech. The result communicated by each of these sentences is related to the endpoint inherent in the Accomplishment.
- Indefinite present perfect combined with a State The indefinite present perfect can combine with a State. In this case, we very often get an experiential reading The Adjuncts before and at least once are not necessary for the sentences to have an experiential reading.
- Indefinite present perfect combined with an Achievement It is possible to get an indefinite perfect reading in a sentence with an Achievement. If the non-progressive form is used, the meaning will be that the situation referred to happened just once.
