Transcript GRAMMAR III

GRAMMAR III
THE RANK SCALE
The RANK SCALE as a dimension of
organization of the lexico-grammatical
resources
The RANK SCALE is one of the dimensions of organization of the
grammar whereby all the lexico-grammatical resources (clauses,
groups/phrases, words and morphemes) are organized hierarchically,
from higher-ranking units to lower-ranking units. The principle of
organization can be formulated as follows: higher-ranking units (like
the clause) are made up of lower-ranking units (like the groups and
phrases) and these, in turn, are made up of units which are still lower
in rank, like words. The lowest-ranking unit in the rank-scale used by
most SFGrammarians is the morpheme. Words are made up of
morphemes. The rank-scale used in this course and the principle
underlying it is represented in the next slide.
The RANK SCALE used in this course:
clause/clause complex
group/phrase
word
morpheme
Introducing Groups and Phrases
GROUPS
In this course we will be recognizing the following GROUPS:
Nominal group (NGp): trains, those trains, those three trains,
those three splendid trains with pantographs
Verbal group (VGp): understood, had understood, must have
understood, will have been understood
Adjectival group (AdjGp): difficult, very difficult, so difficult I
decided to give it up
Adverbial group (AdvGp): quickly, very quickly, so quickly that
I had difficulties following him.
Introducing Groups and Phrases
THE
PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE
Additionally, at the same rank as groups, we will be
recognizing
PREPOSITIONAL
PHRASES.
See
difference between Group and Phrase in the next slides.
Prepositional Phrase (PP):
She forgave him out of love.
She was born in the 1920’s.
The man at the corner is staring at you.
Life in the 19th century was very different.
the
Difference between GROUPS and PHRASES
Groups are EXTENDED WORDS
Nominal group (NGp): trains, those trains, those three trains, those three express
trains; those three splendid express trains; those three splendid express trains with
pantographs
Verbal group (VGp): understood, had understood, had been understood; had been
being understood; must have been being understood
Adjectival group (AdjGp): difficult, very difficult, so difficult (that) I decided to give
it up, difficult to understand
Adverb group (AdvGp): quickly, very quickly, more quickly than his brother; as
quickly as a machine; as quickly as he could; so quickly (that) I had difficulties
following him
Phrases are MINICLAUSES
A PP such as “out of love” is not an extension of the
preposition, but rather, like clauses, is made up of different
constituents “out of ” and “love”, the latter being the object or
term of the preposition. This object or term of the preposition
is very much like a participant or an element of the clause, such
as “the bridge that morning” (Complement = DO of the
verb) in “The expedition had crossed the bridge that
morning”, i.e. it completes the meaning of the preposition
rather than extend it. So PPs are structures of
Complementation.
Test to confirm differences between Gps and PPs
Instead of expanding/extending a word/the Head, as in slide 7,
do the opposite, i.e. strip the Gp or the PP progressively of all the
elements except for the Head and see what you get
Nominal group (NGp): those three splendid express trains with
pantographs, those three splendid express trains; those three express
trains; those three trains, those trains, trains.
Verbal group (VGp): must have been being understood, had been
being understood; had been understood; had understood, understood
You can do the same with the Adjectival and Adverbial Groups, but
look at what happens with the Prepositional Phrase in the next slide
Test to confirm differences between Gps and PPs
They met at the new railway station.
They met at the railway station.
They met at the station.
They met at …
If we strip a PP of all the elements except for the Head (i.e., the
Preposition), the structure that we obtain in the end is incomplete.
This confirms the PP is a structure of complementation, that can only
make sense if the Preposition is followed by a Complement that
completes its meaning . This is why the Complement of a Preposition
is also called a “Completive”.
THE ADJECTIVAL GROUP
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
Characteristics of the Adjectival Group
Adjectival Groups typically describe people, places and
things. They express ATTRIBUTES (= qualities and states of
things in attributive or linking clauses)
“Mary is hard-working.”
“The town I come from is small and quiet.”
“My new car is very/really fast.”
“The film is so boring I decided to leave.¨”
The adjectival group is made up of three structural elements: the
Head (adj: difficult), a (pre) modifier, that is always an adverb
(extremely difficult), and a qualifier (groups and clauses: good at
chess; difficult to solve; sure that he is innocent; the most difficult I have ever
attempted)
Functions within the ADJG
Structure of the AdjG
It is composed of three structural elements: a head (h), a modifier (m) and a
qualifier (q), which combine to form the following four basic structures:
AdjGp
m
h:
hq:
mh
mhq:
very
very
h
good
good
good
good
q
at chess
at chess
The head of an AdjG is always realized by an adjective, which may function alone in
representation of a whole AdjG. The AdjG is thus also an expanded word
The AdjGp
Syntactic function
The adjective group always functions as Complement in
clauses. Examples of adjective groups in this function are the
following:
These goods are tax-free. It was getting darker and darker.
His acting was brilliant. The knife is too sharp.
He looked awfully tired. The news is most distressing.
He was afraid of the dark. The problem was difficult to
solve.
He was so afraid that he could barely talk.
THE ADVERBIAL GROUP
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
Characteristics of the The Adverbial Group
The Adverb is a more heterogeneous word class than the
Adjective and consists of three major sets.
Circumstantial: space (here, there, outside, inside), time
(today, yesterday), manner (carefully, recklessly)
Expressive: modality (probably/certainly), degree (extremely,
highly, too), attitude (thankfully, hopefully)
Conjunctive: addition (moreover, furthermore), contrast (yet),
condition (otherwise), etc.
All can be extended, but the one with most potential for
being extended is the first class
Circumstantial AdvGps – Meaning
Semantically, circumstantial adverbial groups express
qualities of processes (verbs) (= circumstances), just as
adjectives express qualities of ‘things’.
“She drove recklessly” (manner)
“She got up early” (time)
“She went outside/inside” (location)
“They worked long” (duration)
Functions within the ADVG
The structure of the AdvGp is similar to that of the AdjGp, that is, it
is composed of three elements: the head (h), the modifier (m) and
the qualifier (q). These elements combine to form the following four
basic structures:
AdvGp
m
h:
hq:
mh
mhq:
very
so
h
recklessly
recklessly
recklessly
recklessly
q
enough
that he was bound to
have an accident
The AdvGp
Structure illustrated
The head is always realised by an adverb. The modifier is
realised typically by grading and intensifying adverbs. The
qualifier expresses a different type of meaning from that of
the modifier, as it does in AdjGps. It further specifies the
meaning of the adverbial Head, by expressing the scope or
context of the meaning expressed or by defining the modifier
more explicitly (e.g. more correctly than before).
She decided to live far away from civilization.
He ran so fast that I couldn’t catch him.
She said it (quite) clearly (enough).
THE PREPOSITIONAL
PHRASE
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PP
The PP consists of the sequence preposition + completive,
where the preposition is recognised as the ‘head’ element.
Prepositions may consist of one word: from, two words:
because of, or three: in contact with. All are considered
prepositions.
The completive (complement/object) may be realised by a
pronoun: ‘after me’, a NGp: ‘in town’, for a long time’, an
adjective: ‘in short’, an adverb: for now’, an embedded clause:
‘because of what happened’, but the probabilities for the
completive being a nominal group are higher.
The PP: general characteristics
Note:
A preposition cannot occur without a nominal unit (=
pronoun, nominal group, embedded clause filling the position
of a nominal group) and a nominal unit is not part of a PP if
there is no preposition. Both are equally necessary to form the
group; both have equal grammatical status.
Remember that a prepositional phrase is not an expanded
word, but more a structure of complementation. Just as with
many transitive verbs the ‘Complement’ has to be there, so in a
PP both the preposition and the completive are also
obligatory. Just as a transitive verb ‘governs’ its Complements,
so a preposition governs its completives.
Functions within the PP
The elements of the PP are: the ‘modifier’ (m): straight to bed; the ‘head’ (h)
straight to bed; and the completive (c): straight to bed. The internal
structure of PPs can be represented as follows. Not all PPs contain a
modifier, but all of them contain a preposition and a completive. In fact,
the modifier normally relates to the preposition + completive taken
together as a single item.
PP
m
right
completely
straight
just
quite
only
h
into
out of
along
at
near
by
c
the
policeman’ arms
date
this road
that moment
here
studying hard
The PP: its function in the Clause
PPs usually function in the Clause as Circumstances to a verb expressing
an action, event, happening, or as Qualifiers mainly in nominal groups and
also in adjectival and adverbial groups. Both functions are illustrated below:
Circumstance to a verb: All this happened long before the war. All the
children were running around the playground. They often smoke
during the morning break. She saved him out of love. She asked the
question with great innocence. She works as a shop-assistant. In her
view, he is wrong.
Qualifier in NGp: a bridge [over the river]; apricots [on the tree]
Qualifier in AdjGp: brilliant [at mathematics]; doubtful [about his
chances]; interested [in literature]
Qualifier in AdvGp: away [from home]; far [from here]
There are other uses which are not so frequent as, for example,
Subject: “After dark is the best time for fireworks.”
THE VERBAL GROUP
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VGp
-Verbal group structures can be single, consisting of one
element only (runs, asked), or extended, consisting of one or
more auxiliaries + a main verb (may have been running)
-Up to four auxiliaries can occur.
-The meanings expressed by the auxiliaries are: modality,
perfect tense, progressive aspect, passive voice, in this order
when they all occur.
- The longer combinations are more frequent in spoken than in
written English.
- Non-finite VGps (having been seen) can express perfect,
progressive and passive meanings but not tense or modality.
The VGp:
Single verbal groups further described
A single VGp structure consists of a single element, usually the lexical element,
realised by a finite or non-finite form of a lexical verb, for example drive:
Finite forms
drive They drive on the left in the UK
drives He drives to work every day.
drove He drove out of the garage.
Non finite forms
(to) drive It is important to drive with care
They won’t let you drive without a license
driving Driving to work, I listen to the
news
driven Driven away by night, the car was
abandoned
So there will be finite and non-finite verbal groups
The Vgp: extended structure
Extended structures of the Verbal Group
An extended VGp structure consists of a lexical verb at the
head, preceded by up to four auxiliaries (see meaning of
auxiliaries and ordering in previous screens).
Internal structure of the VGp:
In VGps with only one auxiliary, this is necessarily the
operator (o), and according to its type, selects a corresponding
form of the lexical verb.
Operators typically carry the idea of time and, sometimes, of
person: has driven; is driving; was driven. They can also express
modal meaning (can be there, may be there, must be there) and
positive or negative polarity (did go, didn’t go).
The VGp: extended structures
Extended structures of the VGp:
In VGps with more than one auxiliary, the first one is the
operator (o), the others being just auxiliaries indicating modality,
perfect tense, progressive aspect, voice, etc. and being identified
with an (x). The lexical verb is marked with a (v).
Examples:
must drive
ov
will have driven
oxv
should have been driving
oxxv
can have been being driven
oxxxv
Groups and Phrases
Illustrated
Identify AdjGs, AdvGs, PPs and
Vgs in the following text:
The USA is very big and the climate is
different in various parts of the country. In
the Northern States, for example, like
Maine and Vermont, the weather is very
cold in winter. It snows and you can ski. In
the Southern States, the climate is
tropical. In Florida, the summer months
are very hot and sunny, but it often rains.
It doesn’t frequently rain in winter and it’s
quite warm. Lots of people travel to
Florida in December and January for the
warm weather.
The USA is VERY BIG and the climate is
DIFFERENT in various parts of the
country. In the Northern States, for
example, like Maine and Vermont, the
weather is VERY COLD in winter. It snows
and you can ski. In the southern states,
the climate is TROPICAL. In Florida, the
summer months are VERY HOT and
SUNNY, but it often rains. It doesn’t
frequently rain in winter and it’s QUITE
WARM. Lots of people travel to Florida in
December and January for the warm
weather.
The USA is very big and the climate is
different in various parts of the country. In
the Northern States, for example, like
Maine and Vermont, the weather is very
cold in winter. It snows and you can ski. In
the southern states, the climate is
tropical. In Florida, the summer months
are very hot and sunny, but it OFTEN
rains. It doesn’t FREQUENTLY rain in
winter and it’s quite warm. Lots of people
travel to Florida in December and January
for the warm weather.
The USA is very big and the climate is
different IN VARIOUS PARTS OF THE
COUNTRY. IN THE NORTHERN
STATES, FOR EXAMPLE, LIKE MAINE
AND VERMONT, the weather is very cold
IN WINTER. It snows and you can ski.
IN THE SOUTHERN STATES, the climate
is tropical. IN FLORIDA, the summer
months are very hot and sunny, but it
often rains. It doesn’t frequently rain IN
WINTER and it’s quite warm. Lots of
people travel TO FLORIDA IN
DECEMBER AND JANUARY FOR THE
WARM WEATHER.
The USA IS very big and the climate IS different
in various parts of the country. In the Northern
States, for example, like Maine and Vermont, the
weather IS very cold in winter. It SNOWS and
you CAN SKI. In the southern states, the climate
IS tropical. In Florida, the summer months ARE
very hot and sunny, but it often RAINS. It
DOESN’T frequently RAIN in winter and it’S
quite warm. Lots of people TRAVEL to Florida in
December and January for the warm weather.