Transcript Introduction to Syntax Level 1 Course

Introduction to English Syntax
Level 1 Course
Ron Kuzar
Department of English Language and Literature
University of Haifa
Chapter 5
Copular Sentences:
Linking Verbs and Word Order
Linking Verbs
• Certain verbs may replace the copula be in
Cop sentences:
• These are called linking or copular verbs.
• For example:
– John was / became an engineer.
– Mary is / looks sick.
– The book was / remained on the shelf.
(N Cop)
(A Cop)
(P Cop)
• Linking verbs join the group of grammatical
verbs (modals and Aux.).
• They have no valency.
Replacing Be
in the N Cop Sentence
• The following linking verbs are used in N Cop
sentences: seem, remain, and become, and to
a lesser extent stay and turn.
– Fred was
a successful reporter
seemed
remained
became
(stayed)
(turned)
Replacing Be
in the A Cop Sentence
• Many more linking verbs are used in A Cop
sentences: feel, sound, smell, look, appear,
seem, prove, become, get, grow, turn, taste.
– The cheese
is
seems
looks
smells
appears
feels
tastes
spoiled.
More Examples
– Barbara
has been
has become
has turned
– The project has been
much happier
extremely
successful
has proved
has grown
– Bandwidth has been
has gotten
has remained
very slow
Replacing Be
in the P Cop Sentence
• Very few linking verbs operate in the P Cop
sentence, among them: seem, appear,
remain.
– The book
was
appeared
seemed
remained
in place
Terminological Note
• Some of the linking verbs are dynamic; they
are resultative linking verbs (e.g. turn, become).
• They indicate a change of state.
• This brings into question our distinction
between events and states, and our
assignment of the function of expressing
states to copular sentences.
• A possible solution:
– A three-way division of situations:
• Actions (agentive / intentional events)
• Events (non-agentive events, including change of state)
• States (non-events)
The Double Function
of Some Verbs
• The verb appear has two meanings, and may
appear in identical contexts in both meanings:
– to be (in the speaker’s view) Linking verb
– to show up
Lexical verb
• The following sentence is ambiguous between
a linking and a lexical verb:
– The book appeared in place.
More on the Double Function
of Verbs
• Some verbs have a double function, but not in
the same context:
– They sounded the horn.
– She felt the material.
– He looked at her.
Horn
Material
Her
=Obj.
=Obj.
=Obl.
• As opposed to:
– They sounded sick.
– Her head felt hot.
– He looked exhausted.
Sick
=Pred.
Hot
=Pred.
Exhausted =Pred.
Idiomatic Linking Verbs
• Some linking verbs have a very restricted
distribution. They only co-occur with a single
or a handful of nouns:
– You can be / rest assured that all is well.
– The children became / ran wild.
– The speaker turned / fell silent.
– They were / kept warm.
– The door got / flew open.
– They became / made friends.
Marked Word Order
• Marked word order in Cop sentences involves
the fronting of the predicate phrase (NP, AP,
or PP).
• This kind of sentence alternation is very rare.
• When it happens, it leaves the verb be (or
another linking verb) in final position.
• This may happen if there is a need to
emphasize the actual link between the subject
and the predicate.
Examples of Predicate Fronting
• The negation of the link may be stressed:
– Einstein he is not.
(N Cop sentence: He is not Einstein.)
• The link may be highlighted:
– Interesting she certainly is.
(A Cop sentence: She certainly is interesting).
• Similarly:
– Out of their minds they surely are (not).
(P Cop sentence: They surely are (not) out of their
minds.)
Another Word Order Alternation?
• Should we consider the following sentences
another order alternation?
– on the tree were some strange circles of color.
– And then, from around the corner appeared a big
yellow fire truck.
• Note that besides the fronting of the PP, we
also see here the inversion of Subj. and V.
More Oddities
• Note further that this alternation cannot be
carried out with just any P Cop sentence:
– *At home sat a man.
• This is due to some semantic constraints (to be
discussed in a future chapter).
• However, syntactic alternations are mostly
blind to semantic factors.
• So this cannot be a word order alternation.
A Different Construction
• On the other hand, constructions ARE
sensitive to semantic considerations.
• In one of the following chapters we will
consider this form as a separate
construction, a sentence pattern in its own
right.
• It is called the Locative Inversion sentence
Pattern.
A Puzzle
• The following verbs are not usually included in
the group of linking verbs.
– cost, mean, constitute.
• Would you include them?
• Consider them in the following sentences:
– This toy costs three dollars.
– Apnea means a suspension of breath during
sleep.
– You actions constitute a breach of our code of
conduct.
• Answer: ???
Sample Question
• Classify the verbs in the following sentences
as lexical or linking verbs:
– They smelled the odorless flowers.
– I kept awake for too long.
– Suddenly the principal appeared in the courtyard.
• Answers:
– Smelled = lexical.
– Kept = linking.
– Appeared = lexical.
Homework
• Classify the verbs in the following sentences
as lexical or linking verbs:
– Your plan may sound silly to someone else.
– He might be sounding the horn.
– The chattering audience fell silent.
– The picture fell out of sync with the sound.
– Mmm, this feels great!
– She felt butterflies in her stomach.
– I should have felt your pain.
[Continued on the next slide]
– Suddenly a ship appeared on the horizon.
– Some of the tiles appear in good shape.
– The forum grew so big!
– The forum grew so fast!
– These guys ran the Boston Marathon last week.
– The Boxer ran wild at Singapore Airport.
– The window flew open.
– The bird flew out.
– She looks twice his age.
– She looks twice at his photo.