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SYNTAX 1
Syntax : it is… How words work together in units that are smaller than sentences, called phrases (syntagma). Some of my friends vs. Some friends of mine How we put together and interpret a sentence or clause (proposizione) The cat chased the mouse vs. The mouse chased the cat How clauses are related in complex sentences [You will find], [when you get older], [that the mind often wanders] Although words are ordered in the same way, two meanings may be conveyed depending on how the words are grouped: Foreign language specialist a) a specialist in foreign languages b) a language specialist who is foreign Word classes: there are 11 word classes When the same form appears in more than one class, we consider the various occurrences as separate lexemes: Smoke (verb) vs. Smoke (noun) Content words (4): nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs Have independent meanings May be meaningful even in isolation Crucial for conveying information Have derivational morphology (suffixes) Have a very large number of members. They are said to form open classes. Function words (7): do not suggest any identifiable meaning. They signal grammatical function and grammatical structure. Few members: closed classes Determiner : the, a, my, which, some, this, that, these Pronoun : I, me, they, anyone, all, some, many, who, which, what Preposition : of, in, to, for, on, at, from, as Conjunction : as, if, when, and, or, but Auxiliary ( verb ): can, will, may, do, be Numeral : cardinal numbers, one, two, first, second Discourse maker : right, wow, ok
SYNTAX 2
CONTENT WORD CLASSES
NOUNS
Make up the largest category (37% of words in any text) Function: nouns are the head of a noun phrase The worst journey ever Stanley’s historic meeting Form: nouns have characteristic suffixes -er singer (but also adjectives like longer or verbs like linger) -ness goodness -ion / tion caution They typically inflect for number (singular or plural) By adding -s/-es, goals, dresses By other forms: woman / women Exceptions: footwear, harm, nonsense, news, physics / belongings, clothes, scissors, cattle, police Meaning: Concrete vs. Abstract: Concrete: physical things, people, places, objects, substances Abstract: events, states, times “Thing” is both Proper vs. Common Proper: individual person, place. They need no article or plural form Common: they can refer to entities which can be counted, have singular and plural form, or refer to something that can’t be counted (sugar) Countable vs. non-countable In contexts where it’s necessary to refer to a single unit or several, we use a unit noun A piece of furniture, Three pieces of furniture Some are both: Paper This bag is made of paper, I have published several papers Improvement: little improvement, suggested a few improvements Collective nouns: a collection / set of individuals, even if singular. Verbs can be singular or plural. Team, army, audience, committee, family ADJECTIVES Function: prototypical adjectives have two functions and can be used in both functions
- Attributive: as a modifier in a noun phrase An old car, black hair, good news
- Predicative: as head of an adjective phrase The car is old, her hair is black, the news is good Never-attributive adjectives: asleep, afraid, liable, content Form: most common adjectives are gradable (they inflect for grade) Comparative, Superlative Some are non-gradable (medical, federal, chief) Can be modified, usually by adverbs: very expensive, too old, extremely useful
ADVERBS
Three major types Circumstantial adverbs : add info like time, place, manner We sold the car hurriedly yesterday Adverbs of degree : modify adjectives and other adverbs. They answer the question “to what degree?” Fairly new, extremely, really Sentence adverbs : apply to the whole clause or sentence, often expressing the point of view of the speaker or a connection between it and another clause. So, the whole think was frankly too awful for words Function:
- Head of adverb phrase. It can stand alone as a minimal adverb She spoke softly It can be preceded and or followed by another word, usually adverbs. She spoke very softly indeed. She spoke too softly for me.
- A modifier in an adjective phrase or in an adverb phrase It’s quite warm outside She’s been behaving rather strangely Form: Many adverbs are formed by adding -ly to an adjective. Except: quite, almost, now, ever, rather, seldom, yet, there, tomorrow, so, too. A few adverbs resemble adjectives in having comparative and superlative forms (sooner, soonest, better, best). Adjectives: early, costly, friendly, unlikely, lovely, lonely Some words that are both adj and adv: early, deep, far, fast, hard, late, long, low, near, well, daily, weekly, monthly, yearly When I was in the hospital, he visited me daily His daily visits to the hospital were appreciated. Meaning: Adverbs answer questions How? Manner adverb: well, nicely Where? Place adverb: here, there Where to, where from? Direction adverb: up, down, away When? Time adverb: then, once, tonight
How often? Frequency adverb: always, usually To what degree? How much? Degree adverb: rather, quite, pretty No questions: sentence adverbs Attitude adverbs -> fortunately, actually, surely, perhaps Connecting adverbs -> moreover, therefore, however, though
I haven’t seen her (since Easter) vs. since she left town Of, in, to, for, with, on, by, at, from, as, into, about, like, after, between, through, over Overlap between prepositions and adverbs (specifically of place and direction) I looked up the chimney (prep) I looked up (adverb) He’s gone outside (adv) It’s sitting outside your house (prep) Conjunctions: linking words. i) Subordinating: join a subordinate clause to a main clause: that, as, if, when, than, because, while, where, although It was hard to write a book together because they live so far apart ii) Coordinating conjunctions: join elements that are grammatically equal: and, but, or, nor Marianne and Diane wrote this book. Diane lives in Vermont but Mariane lives in California. Overlap between conjunctions, prepositions, and adverbs He had never asked him that before (adv) He was there before her (prep) They’d started leaving before I arrived (conj) This was the beginning of his life as a cultivator (prep) As they watched, a flash of fire appeared (conj) Auxiliaries: they precede the main verb in the verb phrase. There are 9. i) Modal: They express modality (possibility, prediction, obligation, volition, ability, futurity). can, will, may, shall, could, would, might, should, must ii) Primary: They act as primary lexical verbs: be, have, do (It is useful, he has two cars…) Have -> perfect aspect: I’ve done that once Be -> progressive aspect or continuous aspect: She was thinking about me Do -> negative statements or questions Discourse Markers: at beginning, middle or end of utterances. They signal feelings and interactive meanings: ouch, oh, heck They indicate how the discourse is developing: right, ok They include response words: yes, no
SYNTAX 4 – PHRASES
Phrase : smallest unit of syntactic construction To make the string of words conform to the rules of English syntax, you will have moved not single words, but groups of words The old man, the chocolate cake We call these word groups phrases IDENTIFICATION OF PHRASES There are three criteria we use to identify which groups of words or single words are phrases MOVEMENT: If a phrase can be moved, then it moves as a whole unit The old man ate the chocolate cake. -What the old man ate was the chocolate cake. -It was the chocolate cake that the old man ate. -The chocolate cake was eaten by the old man. MEANING: phrases don’t just from grammatical units, they also form units of meaning The large evil leathery alligator The leathery, large evil SUBSTITUTION: any phrase that will substitute another is also a phrase CLASSIFICATION OF PHRASES HEAD WORDS or HEADS: lexical items which are central to the phrase. Crucial information would be missing without the head word, and the phrase would be structurally incomplete Select the word you consider to be the key word in each phrase. My hair has been growing very untidy just recently
EMBEDDED PHRASES
One phrase may include one or more phrases (She) (stayed) (for (a few days)) NP VP PrepP, for + NP Main phrase: one which is a direct part of a clause Embedded phrase: one that is part of another phrase The bride of the heir apparent nearly had a fit [/(The bride) (of (the heir apparent))/(nearly) (had) (a fit)] They passed the table with the two men. There are two possible meanings of this clause: a. (They) (passed) (the table (with (the two men))). b (They) (passed) (the table) (with (the two men)). FUNCTIONS OF PHRASES (A PREVIEW OF CLAUSES) Many sentences consist of a single CLAUSE, for example: Some greedy person ate my cucumber sandwiches [(Some greedy person) (ate) (my cucumber sandwiches)] NP -> SUBJECT VP NP-> OBJECT (Each phrase performs a function) The VP is the pivotal element in the clause. As there is only one VP in the structure of a clause, we don’t need to label its function SUBJECT (S) DIRECT OBJECT (DO) INDIRECT OBJECT (IO) Ex: I (S) explained the situation (DO) to my mother (IO)
Ex: About 160 people lost their lives in a cable train fire in Kaprun in 2000 Phrases: (About 160 people) (lost) (their lives) (in a cable train fire) (in Kaprun) (in 2000) NP, VP, NP, PrepP, PrepP, PrepP S, DO, Adjunct (A), A, A ADJUNCT (A) Circonstanziali are phrases that describe incidental circumstances, such as the time, place or manner (when, where, how) of an action, event or state Sam admires Jennifer (very much) AdvP, A They’re syntactically optional John put the book (on the table) -> Not an adjunct, because “on the table” is obligatory in this case.
Pre-head modifiers: add more content to the head. They can be adjectives, nouns, genitives, adverbs in initial position. (The interesting book I am reading) has been banned in several countries. (A garden fence) ( Tokyo’s skyline) ( Quite a noise) Adjectives and nouns are common before the head noun in writing, but participles are rare Flashing lights / Complicated instructions Post-head modifiers: they expand more content to the head Can be: PrepPs -> My aunt is (a woman ( with strong principles )) Relative clauses -> (The book (that) I am reading) has been banned Adverbs -> (The girl upstairs ) Adjectives -> (something nasty (in the woodshed)) Embedded NPs -> (The bandicoot, ( a largely nocturnal marsupial )) PrepPs are the most common type of modifier in academic writing Ex. Evidence for the association of virus particles with the pancreatic cells of the chick DETERMINERS Determiners assign reference to a noun -> they create a link between an NP and the object it refers to in the real world Where is the frying pan? All books borrowed from the library must be returned in good condition Countability is a basic property of the noun that limits the way it can combine with determiners Many students vs. much homework Fewer students vs. less homework
NP with the, a, / NON-GENERIC REFERENCE The speaker refers to one or more individual members of a whole class. Each time a speaker uses an NP for non-generic reference, he judges whether the referent is identifiable by the hearer.
- Choice of definite determiner “ the ”: When the referent is present, has been mentioned or can be deduced (I read a book, the author is …)
- Choice of a or /: Introduction of a new referent into the context There’s a woman on the phone The judge asked if there were stains GENERIC REFERENCE The speaker refers to all members of the class. The computer is an important tool A computer is an electronic device Computers are electronic devices MODIFIERS A noun phrase may include 1. Pre-modifying information NP-internal adjectives in English are nearly always placed before the head (following any determiners) Red roses, the bright sun 2. Post-modifying information Modifying info that takes the form of a relative clause [Children who read such books ] will often have nightmares NP-internal adjectives: The head of a noun phrase can be modified by one or more AdjP An incredibly shocking revelation When adjectives phrases are found withing the NP their function is attributive Is that beautiful girl your daughter? The tired workers returned home
SYNTAX 6 - Verb phrases: Structure and verb forms
The verb functions as the main element of a verb phrase. Focus: finite verb phrase Finite verb phrase: the kind of verb phrase in finite clauses. It is marked for tense (present, past) I ( bought ) a book Non-finite verb phrases: Have no marking for tense They advised the minister [( to leave ) the building immediately] Philip went out, [( hoping)(to see ) a rainbow] A VERB PHRASE (VP) CONSISTS OF MAIN VERB (HEAD) AND ANY PRECEDING AUXILIARY VERBS The main verb expresses the general idea of what is happening in the clause (action, event, state of affairs) Auxiliaries : are like modifiers. They add info:
- About a viewpoint on the action ( modality ) She may come
- How we view the action in temporal terms: as being in progress or completed ( aspect ) She is arriving She hasn’t arrived yet
- The way info is presented or organized ( active-passive voice ) The singer performed the song The song was performed by the singer
Fixed orders in which auxiliary verbs occur: Modal + primary auxiliaries Fred (might have arrived) by now If a finite VP consists of a lexical verb only, the tense will be marked on that element: Jane likes music If the VP contains an auxiliary, then the tense will be marked on the auxiliary Sara is helping her sister ( has helped, was helping, had helped) Tense (one of the features VPs may possess): In terms of inflectional endings, there are only two tenses in English:
- Present
- Past Tense is combined with aspect
- Progressive aspect (present/past progressive) They are approaching They were approaching
- Perfect aspect (present/past perfect) They have approached They had approached The verb aspect can be both perfect and progressive Debbie has been skating
Lexical have is very common: Have = eat (have breakfast) Have a drink, have a look around, have a party, have a wonderful time As a lexical verb, have uses do-insertion: I don’t have breakfast unless… She had a baby, didn’t she? Have got When have expresses meaning associated with possession or physical description, it is possible to use the verbal expression have got I have got an elder sister I have got brown hair When have got is used, have is an auxiliary, which means do-insertion is not required: She has got long hair She hasn’t got long black hair N.B. IT ONLY USED IN PRESENT She has a headache / She has got a headache She had a headache Did she have a headache? TRANSITIVE, DITRANSITIVE, AND INTRANSITIVE VERBS Lexical verbs require in some cases certain elements (or complements) other than the Subject for their meaning to be complete -> COMPLEMENTATION
- INTRANSITIVE VERBS: verbs that require nothing more than a Subject The young man fainted from the heat When I walked in, she was laughing
- TRANSITIVE VERBS: require a Direct Object (DO) I like detective novels from the ‘30s I like to read in my spare time
- DITRANSITIVE VERBS: verbs that require both a DO and an Indirect Object Sarah handed Brian the parcel She handed the parcel to Brian Sarah handed* Brian Sarah handed* the parcel Ditransitive vs. Transitive Brian bought Sarah a present (ditransitive) He bought a present (transitive) My mother gave a book to my father.
My mother gave my father a book. *My mother gave to my father a book. Mia madre ha dato un libro mio padre *Mia madre ha dato mio padre un libro. Mia madre ha dato a mio padre un libro. NP/PrepP alternation: NPs can sometimes alternate with PrepPs They’ll offer the best person the job They’ll offer the job to the best person He’ll prepare us a nice, hot meal. He’ll prepare a nice hot meal for us. N.B. The alternation with a NP is not always possible. A PrepP is the only form an IO can take: The teacher didn’t explain the diagram to them *The teacher didn’t explain them the diagram Other verbs that behave like explain : admit, complain, declare, deliver, describe, mention, point out, propose, reply, report, say, suggest To or for in the PrepP: If the IO is realized as a PrepP, it may be headed by to or for : Her assistant will send their partners the new plans Her assistant will send the new plans to their partners (role of recipients -> change in possession) The company built them a very sleek website The company built a very sleek website for them (role of beneficiary -> for someone’s benefit) With some verbs an IO can be either a recipient or a beneficiary and the use of to or for in these cases is predictable Could you please write me a letter as soon as you arrive? (recipient -> write a letter to me) You’re not my GP but could you write me a prescription anyway? (beneficiary -> for me) Other similar verbs: bring, pay, read, sell, send, sing, take
