OxfordModernEnglishGrammar
BasAartsisProfessorofEnglishLinguisticsandDirectoroftheSurveyofEnglishUsageatUniversityCollegeLondon.HispreviousbooksincludeSmallClausesinEnglish:TheNonverbalTypes(MoutondeGruyter,1992);TheVerbinContemporaryEnglish,co-editedwithCharlesF.Meyer(CambridgeUniversityPress,1995);EnglishSyntaxandArgumentation(Palgrave,1997,2001,2008);InvestigatingNaturalLanguage:WorkingwiththeBritishComponentoftheInternationalCorpusofEnglish,co-authoredwithGeraldNelsonandSeanWallis(JohnBenjamins,2002);FuzzyGrammar:AReader,co-editedwithDavidDenison,EvelienKeizer,andGerganaPopova(OxfordUniversityPress,2004);TheHandbookofEnglishLinguistics,co-editedwithAprilMcMahon(Blackwell,2006);andSyntacticGradience:TheNatureofGrammaticalIndeterminacy(OxfordUniversityPress,2007).HeisoneofthefoundingeditorsofthejournalEnglishLanguageandLinguistics.
OxfordModernEnglishGrammarBasAarts
DepartmentofEnglishLanguageandLiteratureUniversityCollegeLondon
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InmemoryofmymotherSjéAarts-Postmes(1934–2008)
ContentsListoffigures
Listoftables
Preface
Notationalconventionsandabbreviations
Abbreviations
PartI:Thebasics
Chapter1:AnoverviewofEnglishgrammar
PartII:Formandfunction
Chapter2:Wordstructureandword-formation
Chapter3:Wordclassesandsimplephrases
Chapter4:Grammaticalfunctions,semanticroles,andtreediagrams
PartIII:Phraseandclausepatterns
Chapter5:Complexphrasesandcoordination
Chapter6:Clausetypesandnegation
Chapter7:Finitesubordinateclauses
Chapter8:Non-finiteandverblesssubordinateclauses
PartIV:Grammarandmeaning
Chapter9:Tenseandaspect
Chapter10:Mood
Chapter11:Informationstructuring
Appendix1:Englishirregularverbs
Appendix2:ThestructureoftheICE-GBcorpus
Notesandfurtherreading
Listofsourcesofexamples
References
SubjectIndex
LexicalIndex
ListoffiguresFigure2.1:Thefieldofmorphology
Figure3.1:ThesubclassificationofEnglishverbs
Listoftables
Table2.1: Thepersonsystem
Table2.2: TheparadigmfortheregularverbINSULT
Table2.3: TheparadigmfortheirregularverbBREAK
Table2.4: Theprogressive,perfect,andpassiveconstructions
Table2.5: ThepresenttenseformsoftheverbBE
Table2.6: Non-finiteclauses
Table2.7: Plural-formation
Table2.8: Thecaseformsofpersonalpronouns
Table2.9: Theinflectionalformsofadjectivesandadverbs
Table2.10: Somecommonderivationalsuffixes
Table2.11:
Somecommonderivationalprefixes
Table2.12: Compoundnouns
Table2.13: Compoundverbs
Table2.14: Compoundadjectives
Table2.15: Compoundprepositions
Table2.16: Compoundadverbs
Table2.17: Combiningforms
Table3.1: Wordclasses
Table3.2: Somecommonnominalsuffixes
Table3.3: Thedistributionalpropertiesoftypicalnouns
Table3.4: Pronounsubclasses
Table3.5: Reflexivepronouns
Table3.6:
Reciprocalpronouns
Table3.7: Relativepronouns
Table3.8: Interrogativepronouns
Table3.9: Demonstrativepronouns
Table3.10: Indefinitepronouns
Table3.11: Determinatives
Table3.12: Thedistributionalpropertiesoftypicaldeterminatives
Table3.13: Thedistributionalpropertiesoftypicaladjectives
Table3.14: Themodalauxiliaries
Table3.15: Theperfectconstruction
Table3.16: Theprogressiveconstruction
Table3.17: Thepassiveconstruction
Table3.18: UsesofdummyDO
Table3.19: Prepositions
Table3.20: Complexprepositions
Table3.21: Postpositions
Table3.22: Deverbalprepositions
Table3.23: Subordinatingconjunctions
Table4.1: Grammaticalfunctions
Table4.2: ThepropertiesoftypicalSubjects
Table4.3: ThepropertiesoftypicalDirectObjects
Table4.4: Aselectionoftransitiveverbs
Table4.5: ThepropertiesoftypicalIndirectObjects
Table4.6: Aselectionofditransitiveverbs
Table
4.7: Aselectionoflinkingverbs
Table4.8: Aselectionofcomplextransitiveverbs
Table4.9: ThedistributionalpropertiesoftypicalPredicativeComplements
Table4.10: ThedistributionalpropertiesofPPCs
Table4.11: AselectionofverbslicensingPPCs
Table4.12: ThedistributionalpropertiesoftypicalAdjuncts
Table4.13: Semanticroles
Table5.1: Grammaticalfunctionsatphraselevel
Table5.2: Determinersinnounphrases
Table5.3: Predeterminersinnounphrases
Table5.4: Complementsinnounphrases
Table5.5: Adjunctsinnounphrases
Table5.6:
Complementsinadjectivephrases
Table5.7: Adjunctsinadjectivephrases
Table5.8: Complementsinverbphrases
Table5.9: Basiccomplementationpatterns
Table5.10:
Anoverviewofconstructionsinvolvingnon-locativePPsfunctioningasPPC
Table5.11:
AnoverviewofconstructionsinvolvinglocativePPsfunctioningasPPC
Table5.12: Adjunctsinverbphrases
Table5.13: Complementsinprepositionalphrases
Table5.14: Conjunctiveprepositions
Table5.15: Conjunctivecomplexprepositions
Table5.16: Adjunctsinprepositionalphrases
Table5.17: Complementsinadverbphrases
Table5.18: Adjunctsinadverbphrases
Table6.1: Thepropertiesofdeclarativeclauses
Table6.2: Thepropertiesofopeninterrogativeclauses
Table6.3: Thepropertiesofclosedinterrogativeclauses
Table6.4: Thepropertiesofimperativeclauses
Table6.5: Thepropertiesofexclamativeclauses
Table6.6: Overviewoftheclausetypes:syntaxanduse
Table7.1: Finitesubordinateclauses
Table7.2: Contentclauses
Table7.3:
Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘DECIDE[clausethat…]’
Table7.4:
Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘WONDER[clauseif/whether/wh-phrase…]’
Table Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘MENTION([PPtoNP])[clausethat…]’
7.5:
Table7.6: Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘TELLNP[clausethat…]’
Table7.7:
Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘ASKNP[clausewhether/if/wh-phrase…]’
Table7.8:
Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘PERSUADENP[clausethat…]’
Table7.9:
Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘REMINDNP[clausewhether/if/wh-phrase…]’
Table7.10:
Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘ItSEEM(PP)[clause(that/asif)…]’
Table7.11: Thescalar/non-scalarandequality/inequalitycontrasts
Table8.1: Non-finiteclauses
Table8.2:
Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘WANT[clause(for)NPto-infinitive…]’
Table8.3:
Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘HESITATE[clause,Øto-[clauseinfinitive…]’
Table8.4:
Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘WONDER[clausewhether/wh-phraseØto-infinitive…]’
Table8.5:
Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘TELLNPi[clauseØito-infinitive…]’
Table8.6:
Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘TELLNPi[clausewh-phraseØito-infinitive…]’
Table8.7:
Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘PERSUADENPi[clauseØito-infinitive…]’
Table8.8:
Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘ADVISENPi[clausewhether/wh-phraseØito-infinitive…]’
Table8.9:
Table8.10:
Table8.11:
Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘HAVE[clauseNPbareinfinitive…]’
Table8.12:
Verbsoccurringinthepattern bareinfinitive…]’
Table8.13:
Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘REMEMBER[clauseØ-ingparticiple…]’
Table8.14:
Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘RECOMMEND[clauseNP/NP’s-ingparticiple…]’
Table8.15:
Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘PREVENT -ingparticiple…]]’
Table8.16:
Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘REGARD -ingparticiple…]]’
Table8.17:
Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘FINDNPi[clauseØi-ingparticiple…]’
Table8.18:
Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘DESCRIBENPi[PPas[clauseØi-ingparticiple…]]’
Table8.19:
Table8.20:
Verbsoccurringinthepattern‘HAVE[clauseNPpastparticiple…]’
Table10.1:
FrequenciesoftheEnglishcoremodalauxiliariespermillionwordsintheICE-GBcorpus
Table10.2: Themorphosyntacticpropertiesofthemodalverbs
Table10.3: TheusesofWILL/would
Table10.4: TheusesofSHALL
Table10.5: Theusesofshould
Table10.6: TheusesofCAN/could
Table10.7: TheusesofMAY/might
Table10.8: TheusesofMUST
PrefaceTheaimofthisgrammaristoofferamodern,concise,butneverthelesswide-rangingdescriptionofthestructureofcontemporarystandardBritishandAmericanEnglish.ThebookisintendedforanyonewhoisinterestedinEnglishgrammar,andhasbeenwrittenwithoutanassumptiononmypartthatthereaderhasanypreviousknowledgeofgrammaticalconcepts.
Theaccountofgrammarpresentedinthisbookisdescriptive,notprescriptive:itdescribesthelanguageasitisusedtoday.Readershopingtofindconfirmationthattheso-calledsplitinfinitiveisanodiousmanifestationofthedeclineoftheEnglishlanguage—togivebutoneexampleofacommonusageshibboleth—willbedisappointed.TheviewtakenhereisthattheEnglishlanguageisnotastaticentity,butiscontinuallysubjecttoinevitablechange,whichisreflectedinitslexisandgrammar.
ItisnotpossibletowriteabooklikethiswithoutacknowledgingpreviousworkonEnglishgrammar.Theframeworkadoptedherereliesheavilyonthetwomostcompleteandin-depthaccountsofEnglishgrammarcurrentlyavailable,namelyRandolphQuirk,SidneyGreenbaum,GeoffreyLeech,andJanSvartvik’sComprehensiveGrammaroftheEnglishLanguage(1985)andRodneyHuddlestonandGeoffreyPullumetal.’sCambridgeGrammaroftheEnglishLanguage(2002).ThesegrammarsoffersophisticatedanddetaileddescriptionsofEnglishthatgofarbeyondthescopeofthepresentbook.Itshouldbenoted,however,thatIhavenotinallcasesfollowedthegrammaticalanalysespresentedinthesebooks.ThemajorpointsofdivergencearediscussedintheNotesandfurtherreadingsection.
IoweanenormousdebtofgratitudetoFlorAarts,PeterCollins,RodneyHuddleston,andGeoffreyLeech(inalphabeticalorder)forreadingtheentiremanuscriptandcommentingonitingreatdetail.Iamveryfortunatetohavereceivedthistremendouslyvaluablefeedbackfromsucheminentgrammarians,andtheirinputhasmadethisamuchbetterbookthanitwouldotherwisehavebeen.I’malsogratefultomyeditorsatOxfordUniversityPress,BenHarris,VickyDonald,RebeccaLaneandClareJenkins.FortheirhelpduringtheeditingstageIwouldliketothankJillBowieforhersuperbcopy-editing,HelenLiebeckforproofreading,andPhilAslettforcompilingthesubjectindex.
BASAARTS
UniversityCollegeLondonApril2010
NotationalconventionsandabbreviationsNotationalconventions
*
Anasteriskindicatesanimpossiblestructure,i.e.astructurethatdoesnotconformtothegrammaticalrulesofEnglish.Example:*Theylikestoread.InthisexamplethethirdpersonpluralSubjecttheyisfollowedbyaverbwithathirdpersonsingularinflectionalending.
Ø ThissymbolisusedtoindicateanimplicitSubject.Example:Iwant[Øtoreadit].
Ørel.Thisisusedtoindicateanimplicitrelativizedelement.Example:Thepower[thatØrelenablesthisunion]Coleridgecategorizedastheimagination.
ØsubThisisusedtoindicateamissingsubordinatingconjunctionthat.Example:Theythink[Øsubtheyarefunny].
¤Thissymbolisusedwheretheformlabelcanbeofdifferentkinds(thatis,wherethefunctioncanberealizedbydifferentkindsofforms).
arrowsTheseindicatemovement,e.g.passivization,extraposition,orraising.Example: toenjoycricket.Theunderscoresymbolisexplainedbelow.
brackets[…]
Bracketsareused:(1)toindicatewordsthattogetherformaconstituentphrase,clause,etc.Alabelledbracketingincludesasubscriptindicatorofthesyntacticstatusoftheconstituent.Example:[NPCats][VPeat[NPfish]];(2)toindicatethatalexicalitem,usuallyaverb,isfollowedbyaComplementwhichcontainsaparticularword.Example:HAVE[to]indicatesthattheverbHAVEisfollowedbyaComplementthatcontainsthewordto,e.g.Ihavetoleave.
capitals
Theseareused:(1)toindicatefunctionalgrammaticallabels,e.g.Subject,DirectObject;(2)semanticroles,e.g.Agent,Patient.
coindexingItemsthatarecoreferentialcanbecoindexed,i.e.bearthesamesubscriptletter,usuallyan‘i’.Example:Heishaveshimselfitwiceeveryday.
italics
Theseareused:(1)toindicatethefirsttimeaparticulartechnicaltermisused;(2)tocitewords,sentences,etc.aslinguisticforms;(3)toindicatewords,phrases,etc.thatrequirehighlighting.Forunderlineditalics,seebelow.
SMALLCAPS
Theseindicatelexemes(i.e.dictionarywords).Example:theformslaugh,laughs,laughed,andlaughingareinflectionalformsbelongingtothelexemeLAUGH.Thesmallcapsnotationwillbeusedforverbsthroughout,andforotherwordclasseswheneverrelevant.
underlineditalics
Withinitalicizedtechnicalterms,underliningisusedtodistinguishcitationsofparticularwords(orotherelements),e.g.existentialthere,–ingparticipleclauses.
underscore(‘_’)
Thissymbolindicatesa‘gap’intheclausewithwhichadisplacedelementisassociated.Examples:inWhatdidyousee_?thewh-word(seebelow)functionsastheDirectObjectoftheverbSEEandhasbeenfrontedtoformaninterrogativestructure;inthepassiveclauseTheflightwasbooked_bymethegapindicatesthepositionfromwhichtheDirectObjectoftheverbBOOKwasmoved.
wh-words Thistermisusedforasetofwordsmostofwhichbeginwiththeletterswh-,e.g.what,who,butwhichalsoincludeshow.
Abbreviations
A Adjunct
Adj/AdjP adjective/adjectivephrase
Adv/AdvP adverb/adverbphrase
CC ComplementClause
Comp Complement
D/DP determinative/determinativephrase
DET Determiner
DO DirectObject
EXT-A ExternalAdjunct
H Head
ICE-GB TheBritishcomponentoftheInternationalCorpusofEnglish
ind indicative
IO IndirectObject
MC matrixclause
N/NP noun/nounphrase
NICE AnacronymforNegation,Inversion,Code,Emphasisproperties
P/PP preposition/prepositionalphrase
PPi/PPt prepositionalphraseheadedbyanintransitive/transitivepreposition
PC PredicativeComplement
PCR Predicator
PPC PrepositionalPhraseasComplement
Pred Predicate
Predet Predeterminer
pres. present
ps. person
sing. singular
Subj Subject
subjve subjunctive
V-ing -ingparticipleformofaverb
V-ed/-en pastparticipleformofaverb
V/VP verb/verbphrase
PartI:Thebasics
Chapter1AnoverviewofEnglishgrammar
1.1Grammarandgrammarwriting
Grammarisconcernedwiththestructureofwords(morphology),andofphrasesandclauses(syntax).Thereisalongtraditionofgrammarwriting,startingwiththeancientGreeksandleadinguptothepresentday.Thistraditionhashadalastinginfluenceonhowlanguages—notjustEnglish—havebeendescribed.Thebookinfrontofyouisnoexception:itwilldescribethestructureofEnglishrelyingheavilyonthistraditioninmanydifferentways,notleastintermsoftheterminologyadopted.However,itisimportanttostressthatitdoesnotexclusivelybaseitselfontheclassicaltradition,becauseithaslongbeenacceptedthatweshouldnotassumethatthegrammaroftheclassicallanguages,especiallyLatin,shouldserveasamodelforthedescriptionofEnglish.ManygrammarsofEnglishwerewritteninLatinuptothemiddleoftheeighteenthcentury,thoughWilliamBullokar’sPamphletforGrammar(1586),thefirstgrammarofEnglishtobewritteninEnglish,isanexception.After1750grammariansincreasinglyrecognizedthatthedifferencesbetweenLatinandEnglisharetoogreattobeignored.AsanexampleofthemismatchbetweenEnglishandLatingrammar,considerthewordthe,themostfrequentwordintheEnglishlanguage.InEnglishthiswordbelongstotheclassofdeterminatives(seesection1.3),butinLatinthiswordclassdidnotexist,andsoithadtobeintroducedintogrammaticaldescriptionsofEnglish.ItisgenerallyacknowledgedthattheplaywrightBenJonsonwasthefirstpersontodoso(thoughheusedthemorefamiliarlabelarticle).
Inthehistoryofgrammarwritinganumberofdifferenttypesofgrammarcanbedistinguished.Schoolgrammarsaimtoteachbasicandoftensimplifiedgrammaticalpatterns.Veryoftentheyhaveaprescriptiveoutlook,ratherthanapurelydescriptiveone—thatis,theytelltheirreaderswhattodoandwhatnottodowhenspeakingorwritinginEnglish.Theywereusedverywidelyintheeighteenthandnineteenthcenturies.OneofthebestknownexampleswasLindleyMurray’swonderfullyentitledEnglishGrammar,AdaptedtotheDifferentClassesofLearners.WithanAppendix,ContainingRulesandObservationsforPromotingPerspicuityinSpeakingandWriting(1795).Stemmingfromthistradition,butmoreuptodateandmodern,arepedagogicalgrammars,usedinavarietyofeducationalsettings.Traditionalgrammarsaredetailedscholarlyworkswhichbelongtothenineteenthandearlytwentiethcenturies.Theyarecharacterizedbytheirlength,usuallyseveralweightyvolumes,andtheirextensiveuseofliteraryexamples.PrincipalamongthemisOttoJespersen’sAModernEnglishGrammaronHistoricalPrinciples(1909–1949).Theaimoftheoreticalgrammaristodiscoverthe(abstract)rulesandprinciplesunderlyingthestructure(andsometimesuse)oflanguage.Therearemanydifferenttypesoftheoreticalapproachestogrammar.Thebestknownisprobablythetheoryof
theAmericanlinguistNoamChomskywhichaimstoarriveatablueprintforamentallyencodedUniversalGrammarthatallhumanbeingsaregeneticallyendowedwith.
Althoughthepresentbookhasbeeninfluencedbyideasintheoreticalwork,itsoutlookisthesameasthatfoundinmoderndescriptivereferencegrammars.Suchgrammarsdescribethelanguageasitisusedtodaybyitsspeakers,anddonotaimtolegislateinmattersof‘correctgrammar’.Thus,whileyoumayfindadescriptionoftheso-calledsplitinfinitive(tocheerfullysinginthebath)inareferencegrammar,youwillnotbetoldtoavoidthisconstructiononthegroundsthatitis‘badEnglish’.Naturally,thisdoesnotmeanthateverythingutteredbyaspeakerofEnglishwillberegardedasacceptable.Ifsomeonedescribesapaintingas‘executedbrilliantwithalsovividlycolours’,thentheyareviolatingthegrammaticalrulesystemofEnglish.Youmaybewonderingatthispointwhethertheuseofthesplitinfinitive—orindeedmyuseofthepronountheyintheprecedingsentence—doesnotalsoviolatetherulesofEnglish.Theansweris‘no’,andthereasonisthattheuseofthesplitinfinitiveandtheuseofthepluralpronountheywithanon-specificsingularantecedentaresanctionedbywidespreadcurrentusage,theformermoresothanthelatter.Thethinkingunderlyingtheseobservationsisthatthegrammarofalanguageisshapedovertimebythespeakersofthatlanguage,notbyself-appointedindividualsorlearnedbodies.Theeffortsofthosewhohavetriedinthepasttoinfluencehowthelanguageshouldbeusedhavegenerallyfailed.JonathanSwift,whoproposedsettingupanAcademyinhis1712pamphletentitled‘AProposalforCorrecting,ImprovingandAscertainingtheEnglishTongue’,wasunsuccessful,andeventhelexicographerSamuelJohnson,whothoughthecouldimprovetheEnglishlanguagewhenhebeganhismagisterialDictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage(publishedin1755),hadtogiveuponthatidea.JosephPriestleywasopposedtosettingupanAcademy,andhisattitudetousage,expressedinhisRudimentsofEnglishGrammar(1761),foreshadowedmodernthinkingwhenhewrotethattheonlystandardweneedtoadmitisthatofcustom.
Allowingthelanguagetorunitsowncoursemeansthatapreviouslyfrowned-uponusagecanbecomenormal.Fordifferentspeakersthiswillhappenatadifferentpace.Thus,whiletheinterrogativetaginnit,asinHeleftthecountry,innit?,usedinLondonandsoutheastBritain,isnotpartofstandardEnglishatpresent,overtimeitmaywellbecomeacceptableinthesamewaythatn’est-cepasinFrenchisacceptableasageneralizedtag.(Seesection4.1.1.8foranexplanationoftheterminterrogativetag.)AlesscontentiousexampleofusagethatisslowlymakingitswayintoEnglishisaparticularwaythattheso-calledprogressiveconstructionisused.ThisconstructioninvolvestheverbBEfollowedbyanotherverbthatendsin-ing,asinI’mwatchingtelevision.Inthepresenttenseitstypicaluseistoexpressthatasituationbeganinthepastandiscontinuingbeyondthepresentmoment.Recentlyithasbeenpossibletohearpeoplesay,forexample,I’mwantingtolearnaboutgrammar,wherethemoreestablishedpatternisIwanttolearnaboutgrammar.ThisnoveluseoftheprogressiveconstructionisalsofoundinthesloganI’mlovingit!,coinedbyapopularpurveyoroffastfood.Whileusagematterswillplayarolein
thisgrammar,theywillnotbethemainfocusofattention.
InsteadoffollowingtheclassicaltraditiontoocloselyIwillbedescribingthegrammarofstandardEnglishasasysteminitsownright,makinguseoftheinsightsofmodernlinguistics.AsnotedinthePreface,thedescriptiveframeworkadoptedhereisinfluencedbytwomajorgrammarsofEnglish,namelyQuirketal.’sComprehensiveGrammaroftheEnglishLanguage(1985)andHuddlestonandPullumetal.’sCambridgeGrammaroftheEnglishLanguage(2002).ThedescriptionwillfocusonthetwomainstandardvarietiesofEnglish:BritishEnglishandAmericanEnglish.Throughout,Iwilluseauthentic(occasionallyadapted)writtenandspokenlanguagedatatakenfromtwokindsofsourcestoillustrategrammaticalpoints.TheprimarysourceistheBritishcomponentoftheInternationalCorpusofEnglish(ICE-GB),basedattheSurveyofEnglishUsage,UniversityCollegeLondon.Thisisacollectionof500‘texts’(passagesof2,000words)ofgrammaticallyanalysedspokenandwrittenEnglishselectedfromvarioustypesofcategoriesoflanguageuse.ThestructureoftheICE-GBcorpusisoutlinedinAppendix2.Thesecondkindofsourceofexamplesincludesonlinebroadsheetnewspapers,newschannelssuchasBBCNews,andthelike.Thesourcesoftheexamplesarelistedatthebackofthebook.Aswesawabove,traditionalgrammarsoftenusedliteraryexamples,whilemoremoderntextsongrammaroftenusemade-upexamples.Usingauthenticexamplesispreferablebecausetheyofferaninsightintohowlanguageisusednaturallyinrealsituations.
ThegrammarofEnglishisacomplexsysteminwhichallthecomponentsinteract.Inordertohelpreadersgetagriponthissystemtheremainderofthischapterwillconsistofanoverviewofthebasiccomponentsofgrammar.Thesectionnumberscorrespondtothechapternumbers.PartsII,III,andIVofthebookwillthenofferadetailedelaborationofthissystem.ItisimportanttomentionfromtheoutsetthatthegrammarofEnglishisbynomeansfixedandagreedupon,andnodescriptionofitcaninanywayberegardedasdefinitive.Toguidereadersinunderstandingthedifferencesinthetreatmentofparticulargrammaticalphenomenainotherframeworks,IwillincludebriefdiscussionsofothertreatmentsintheNotesandfurtherreadingsectionattheendofthebook.
1.2Wordstructureandword-formation
Westartwithadiscussionofwords.Consider(1)below:
1Theverynoisyvisitorcontinuallyinsultedthereceptionistandthecaretakerinthelibrary.
Trivially,thisstructurecontainsfourteenorthographicwords,thatis,wordsastheyappearinwritingseparatedbyblankspaces.Inspeechallthewordsarestrungtogetherwithoutpauses,andsomeonewhodoesnotknowEnglishwillnotknowwherethewordboundariesare.Asforthemeaningsofthewordsin(1),ifyoudidnotknowaparticularword,youwouldconsultadictionary.Inallcases,exceptfor
insulted,youwouldlookforthewordinthedictionaryundertheforminwhichitappearsin(1).Thus,inthecaseofnoisyyouwouldlookunderNOISY;inthecaseofreceptionistyouwouldlookunderRECEPTIONIST;butinthecaseofinsultedyouwouldlookunderINSULT.Wordswhichcanactasdictionaryentriesarecalledlexemes(indicatedaboveinSMALLCAPS),whereaswordswhichperformaparticulargrammaticalrole(e.g.‘presenttenseform’)arecalledinflectionalforms(orgrammaticalwords).TheinflectionalformsassociatedwiththelexemeINSULTare:insult,insults,insulted,andinsulting.Noticethatinsultedin(1)isanorthographicwordaswellasaninflectionalform(namelythepasttenseformoftheverbINSULT),butnotalexeme.Manywords,butnotall,haveaninternalstructure.Forexample,thewordinsultedendsin-edwhichiscalledapasttenseinflection.Thiswordthuscommunicatesatleasttwothings:themeaning‘offendverbally’,and‘pastness’.TheinternalstructureofwordswillbediscussedinChapter2,aswellasword-formationprocessessuchasderivation,compounding,andconversion.
1.3Wordclassesandsimplephrases
Traditionallywordsarecategorizedintopartsofspeechwhicharealsocalledwordclasses.Englishhasthefollowingwordclasses:noun,determinative,adjective,verb,preposition,adverb,conjunction,andinterjection.Thewordclasslabelsarereferredtoasformlabels.
Youwillhavecomeacrossthenotionofanounasanamingword,thatis,awordthatnamesaperson,place,orthing.In(1)thewordsvisitor,receptionist,caretaker,andlibraryarenouns.Infrontofvisitorwehavethreeitems.Firstwehavethewordthewhichisanexampleofadeterminative,thoughyoumaybemorefamiliarwiththetermdefinitearticle(theindefinitearticleisa).Wealsohavenoisywhichisadescriptivewordthattellsyoumoreaboutthepersonthatthenounvisitorrefersto.Wecallsuchwordsadjectives.Theadjectivenoisyisitselfmodifiedbyverywhichbelongstothewordclassofadverbs.Next,wehavecontinually.Thisisalsoanadverb,butthistimeitmodifiestheinflectionalforminsulted,whichwecalledaverb.WewillseeinChapter3thatadverbscanmodifyitemsfrommorethanonetypeofwordclass.Linkingthephrasesthereceptionistandthecaretakerwehavethewordand,whichisaconjunction,morespecificallyacoordinatingconjunction.Wewillneedtodistinguishsuchconjunctionsfromsubordinatingconjunctions.Thelatterarewordslikethat,whether,andifwhichcanintroduceasubordinateclause,asin(2).
2Ithink[clausethathesingswithachoir].
AclauseisagrammaticalstructurethatexemplifiesaSubject–Predicaterelationship,thatis,astructurewhere‘somethingissaidabout’(‘predicatedof’)aSubject.Simplesentenceslike(1)containonlyoneclause,whereas(2)containstwoclauses,namelythestructureasawhole,andthestringthathesingswithachoir.Finally,wewillsaythatin(1)thewordin,whichherecarriesaspatialmeaning,isapreposition.Werefertothesequenceenclosedinsquarebracketsin(2)asalabelledbracketing
.Thebracketsindicatethatthestringofwordsisaconstituent(section1.4)whosegrammaticalstatusisindicatedbythesubscriptlabel.
Wordsaregroupedtogetherintophrases.Examplesofnounphrases(NPs)in(1)aretheverynoisyvisitor,thereceptionist,thecaretaker,andthelibrary.Thestringverynoisyisanadjectivephrase(AdjP).Aswehaveseen,thewordsveryandcontinuallyareadverbs,buttheyarealsoadverbphrases(AdvPs).InChapter3wewillseethatawordonitsowncanalsobeaphrase.Thesequenceinthelibraryin(1)isaprepositionalphrase(PP).Afinaltypeofphraseistheverbphrase(VP).InChapter3wewillseethattheverbphrasein(1)doesnotconsistonlyoftheverbinsulted,butalsoincludesthephrasescontinually,thereceptionistandthecaretaker,andinthelibrary.EveryphrasehasanelementthatfunctionsasitsHead.Thisisthemostprominentelementwhichthephraseasawholeisa‘kindof’.ThusinthephrasethenoisyvisitortheelementvisitoristheHead,andthisisbecauseanoisyvisitorisakindofvisitor.Nounphrasesareheadedbynouns,adjectivephrasesareheadedbyadjectives,verbphrasesareheadedbyverbs,andsoon.
1.4Grammaticalfunctions,semanticroles,andtreediagrams
Consider(3)below.
3Thereceptionistandthecaretakercontinuallyinsultedtheverynoisyvisitorinthelibrary.
Herewehavethesamewordsasin(1),butinadifferentorder.Thisresultsinaradicallydifferentmeaning.Howcanweaccountforthis?Inordertoexplainwhywecanhavethesamewordsandyetadifferentmeaningin(1)and(3),weneedtoappealtoafewfurthergrammaticalconcepts,namelygrammaticalfunctions.In(1)wesaythattheSubjectisthestringofwordstheverynoisyvisitor,whilethereceptionistandthecaretakertakenasaunitfunctionsastheDirectObject.(NoticethatI’veusedcapitallettersatthebeginningofwordsthatarefunctionterms.)WefurthermoresaythattheverbinsultedfunctionsasaPredicatorandthestringcontinuallyinsultedthereceptionistandthecaretakerinthelibraryfunctionsasPredicate.ThePredicatorfunctionisalwaysrealizedbyaverb,whilethePredicateiseasilyidentifiedaseverythingexcludingtheSubject.In(3)thereceptionistandthecaretakeristheSubject,whiletheverynoisyvisitoristheDirectObject.
WhatareSubjects,andwhatareDirectObjects?AsapreliminarydefinitionwewillsaythatinthesimplestclausesexpressingactionstheSubjectreferstothepersonwhocarriesouttheactionexpressedbytheverb(the‘Agent’),whilethereferentoftheDirectObjectundergoestheactionexpressedbytheverb(the‘Patient’).Thenotions‘Agent’and‘Patient’arecalledsemanticroles(alsoindicatedbycapitalletters).Wecannowsaythat(1)and(3)donotmeanthesamebecausetheactiondenotedbytheverbinsultediscarriedoutbydifferentindividualsinthetwoexamples,andfurthermoretheundergoeroftheassaultinthetwocasesisadifferentperson(orpersons).Whataboutcontinuallyandinthelibrary?Thesephrasessupply
circumstantialinformation,andwewillsaythattheyfunctionasAdjuncts.
Thestructureofphrasesandclausescanberepresentedinso-calledtreediagrams.Asimplenounphraselikethereceptionistcanberepresentedusingthetreediagramin(4).
4
In(4)thefunctionandformlabelsareindicatedjustabovethelexicalitems.TreediagramswillbediscussedinChapter4,aswillthenotionofconstituent,definedasastringofwordsthatcanbeshowntobehaveasaunitofsyntacticstructure.
1.5Complexphrasesandcoordination
Simplephraseswereintroducedinsection1.3above.InChapter5ofthisgrammarmorecomplexphrasalstructureswillbedealtwith,exemplifiedbythenounphrasesshownbelow.
5ourreviews
6ourfavourablereviews
7ourfavourablereviewsofthemarket
8ourfavourablereviewsofthemarketthatwerepublishedlastweek
9allourfavourablereviewsofthemarketthatwerepublishedlastweek
10perhapsallourfavourablereviewsofthemarketthatwerepublishedlastweek
Withinphraseswedistinguishthefollowingfunctions:Head(inbold),Complement(doublyunderlined),Adjunct(underlined),and,innounphrasesonly,Determiner(italics),Predeterminer(italics+underline),andExternalAdjunct(bold+underline).Themotivationforassigningdifferentfunctionlabelstothehighlightedstringswillbediscussedindetail.Inthischapterwewillalsolookatcoordinatedstructures,thatis,phrasesandclauseslinkedbyacoordinatingconjunction.
1.6Clausetypesandnegation
Languagecanbeusedtodoawiderangeofthings.Forexample,ifIsayPaullivesinLondon,thenI’musingadeclarativeclausetomakeastatement.Icanalsouseaninterrogativeclausetoaskaquestion(DoesPaulliveinLondon?Whatdidtheybuy?),animperativeclausetoissueanorder(Leavethehouseatonce),oranexclamativeclausetoutteranexclamation(Whatanicehouseyoulivein!).Theseparticularstructuresarecalledclausetypes.Whatisinterestingisthatthevariousclausetypesdonothaveaone-to-onerelationshipwiththeusesthatcanbemadeofthem.Forexample,ifsomeoneasksyou‘Areyousurethatyourchildrenaresafelyinbed?’theymaybeaskingasimplequestion,butinasituationinwhichapersonwishestointimidateanotherperson,itcouldbeconstruedasathreat.Theseexamplesshowthatlanguagemustbestudiedsituationallybecausethemeaningofexpressionsinparticularcontextsoftendependsoncircumstances.WewillseehowthisworksinChapter6,whichwillalsodiscussnegation.
1.7Finitesubordinateclauses
Insection1.3abovewedefinedsimpleclausesasgrammaticalstructuresthatinstantiateaSubject–Predicaterelationship.Aswehaveseen,theexamplein(2)containstwoclauses,eachofwhichexpressesitsownSubject–Predicaterelationship.Ontheonehandwehavethematrixclause,whichspanstheentirestructure.Withinthisclausethereisasubordinateclause,namelythestringofwordsintroducedbythat.Wewillsaythatthisclauseisfinitebyvirtueofitslexicalverbcarryingapresenttenseinflection.TheformsandfunctionsoffinitesubordinateclauseswillbediscussedinChapter7.
1.8Non-finiteandverblesssubordinateclauses
Herearesomefurtherexamplesofstructurescontainingsubordinateclauses.
11Ijustwant[youtoalterthescenarioveryslightly].
12Isupposeinawaythatgavethemsomethingincommon,andperhapsmadehim[feelprotectivetowardsher].
13Weare[trainingmoreofouryoungpeople].
14Ihave[benefittedfromthis].
Inthesecasesthebracketedconstituentsarenon-finiteclauses.Wedistinguishfourtypesofnon-finiteclause,namelyto-infinitiveclauses(exemplifiedin(11)),bareinfinitiveclauses((12)),-ingparticipleclauses((13)),andpastparticipleclauses((14)).Suchclausesdonotcarrytense.Theformsandfunctionsofnon-finitesubordinateclauseswillbediscussedinChapter8,aswillclauseswithoutaverb.
IturnnowtothechaptersinPartIVofthebookwhichdealwiththeinteractionofgrammarandmeaning(semantics)inEnglish.
1.9Tenseandaspect
Timeisareal-worldsemanticconceptthatstructuresourexistence.Languagescharacteristicallyusethegrammaticalsystemoftensetoexpresstime.Thus,aswesawabove,theverbforminsultedin(1)grammaticallyencodesthattheeventreportedoccurredatsomepointinthepast.Thereisnofurtherspecificationofwhentheverbalabusetookplace,thoughitcouldeasilybesupplied,forexamplebyaddingthephraselastweekoryesterday.Englishhasonlytwogrammaticallyencodedtenses,thepresenttenseandthepasttense.
AsusersofEnglishweoftenneedagrammaticaldevicetomakereferencetothewayaparticulareventunfoldsintime.Thisiscalledaspect.Forexample,ifwewishtoexpressthataneventtookplaceinthepast,buthasrelevanceatthepresenttime,wecanusetheEnglishpresentperfectconstructionexemplifiedin(15):
15Wehavepursuedalimitedwarforlimitedobjectives.
Compare(15)to(16):
16Wepursuedalimitedwarforlimitedobjectives.
Thedifferencebetween(15)and(16)isthatweviewtheeventin(15)asbeinginsomewaystillrelevantatthemomentofspeaking(forexampleasanexplanationofthereasonwhythetroopscanreturnhometomorrow).Thisiscalledperfectaspect.Anexamplelike(16)islikelytobeusedwhenpursuanceofthewarisviewedasbeingwhollyinthepast,thatis,overanddonewith.Noticethatwecanaddaphraselikesincelastweekto(15),butnotto(16).Conversely,wecanaddyearsagoto(16),butnotto(15).
Englishalsohasprogressiveaspect,whichisusedtopresentaneventasbeinginprogressoveracertaintimespan,asin(17).
17Shewassquinting.
Whatthismeansisthatatsomepointinthepastthepersonreferredtoasshestartedsquintingandthiscontinuedforawhile.Thebeginningandendpointsarenotspecified,thoughtheycouldbe,forexamplebyadding‘whilewewereinthemeetingbetween8and9a.m.yesterday’.Aspectisagrammaticalnotion,whichreferstothewaytheassociatedsemanticnotionofaspectualityisimplementedlinguistically.
1.10Mood
Muchofthetime,languageisusedtocommunicatestraightforwardstatementsoffact.However,weoftenneedtotalkaboutsituationswhichhavenothappenedyet,orarehypothetical,uncertain,desirable,ornecessary,asinthefollowingexamples.
18Youmaybeleftoutofitbecauseyouareafreelancer.
19Youmustkeepthemmoist.
20Iwillleavethedecisionuptoyou.
In(18)thespeakerisexpressinga‘possibility’;in(19)an‘obligation’isimposed;whilein(20)a‘resolve’isexpressed.Thesearethreeofanumberofconceptsthatbelongtotherealmofmodality.Thisisasemanticnotion(justlike‘time’and‘aspectuality’),whichisimplementedinlanguagebymeansofmood.Inmanylanguagesmoodisindicatedbyverbendings,butinEnglishmodalityisprincipallyexpressedbyagroupofverbscalledmodalauxiliaries,namelyCAN/could,MAY/might,SHALL/should,WILL/would,andMUST.ThesewillbediscussedinChapter10,alongwithotherwaysofexpressingmodality.
1.11Informationstructuring
Thewordsin(1)alladduptoexpressameaning,namelythepropositionthattherewassomeindividual,namelyavisitortoalibrary,whoonsomeoccasioninthepastverballyoffendedareceptionistandacaretaker.Asfarastheirmeaningisconcerned,thewordsin(1)eachhaveacontributiontomake,buttheyarenotequalinthisregard.Thus,whileitiseasytosaywhatthemeaningofawordlikevisitoris,youwouldbehardputtosaywhatthemeans.Whataboutthemeaningofthestructureasawhole?Althoughthewordsindividuallycontributemeanings,itshouldbeobviousthatthewordsbythemselvesarenotenough.Inotherwords,itisnotenoughtosaythatthemeaningof(1)issimplythesumtotalofthemeaningsofitsparts.Thereasonisthatifweuseexactlythesamewords,butinadifferentorder,asin(3),repeatedhereas(21),themeaningchanges.
21Thereceptionistandthecaretakercontinuallyinsultedtheverynoisyvisitorinthelibrary.
However,itisimportanttoseethatachangeinorderdoesnotalwaysresultinachangeofmeaning,as(22),avariantof(1),shows.
22Thereceptionistandthecaretakerwerecontinuallyinsultedbytheverynoisyvisitorinthelibrary.
Thisisthepassiveversionof(1).Noticethat(1)and(22)meanexactlythesameintermsofwhathappenstowhom.Wewillsaythattheyhavethesamepropositionalmeaning.ThisraisesthequestionofwhyusersofEnglishhaveachoicebetweenthesetwostructures.Theansweristhat(1)and(22)presenttheinformationcontainedintheminslightlydifferentways.Thus,(1)canbesaidtohavethenoisyvisitorasitstopicofinterest,while(22)hasthereceptionistandthecaretakerasitstopic.Speakersveryfrequentlyvarythestructureoftheirutterances,whichgivestheiraddresseesimportant(subconscious)cluesastowhatrequirestheirattention.In
thecaseofthepassive,changingtheorderofthevariousconstituentsdoesnotresultinachangeofpropositionalmeaning,merelyinachangeofhighlighting.FurtherexamplesofvariationsinconstituentorderwhichaffectthewayinformationispresentedwillbeexploredinChapter11.
PartII:Formandfunction
Chapter2Wordstructureandword-formationInthischapterwewilltakealookinsidewordstoseehowtheyarestructured.Wordstructureisstudiedundertheheadingofmorphologyinlinguistics.ThistermisgenerallythoughttohavebeenintroducedinthenineteenthcenturybytheGermanauthorGoethe.Itisusednotonlyinlinguistics,butalsointhegeologicalandbiologicalsciences,andmeans‘thestudyofform’;comparebiology,psychology,criminology,andsoon.Diagrammatically,wecanrepresentthefieldofmorphologyasinFigure2.1:
Figure2.1Thefieldofmorphology
2.1Morphology
Recallfromthepreviouschapterthatwecandistinguishbetweenthefollowingtypesofwords:
•Orthographicwordsarewordsthatappearonapageorscreen,separatedbyblankspaces.
•Inadictionarywelookupthemeaningofaword(orofwordsgrammaticallyrelatedtoit)underanentrycalledalexemeordictionaryword(writteninSMALLCAPITALSinthisbook).Thus,welookupthewordthere(whichhasnovariants)underTHERE,catsunderCAT,andtheverbformswork,works,worked,andworkingunderWORK.
•Inflectionalforms(alsocalledgrammaticalwords)arewordsthatplayaparticulargrammaticalrole:forexample,catsisthepluralofthenounCAT;workedisthepasttenseformoftheverbWORK.
Inflectionisconcernedwiththeformslexemescantake.Forexample,theformsofthenounlexemeCATarecatandcats,andtheformsoftheverblexemeWORKarework,works,worked,andworking.Theendingsonthesewords(-s,-ed,-ing)arecalledaffixes.Morespecifically,theyareinflectionalsuffixes.Theywillbediscussedinsection2.2.
Considernextpre-inPREHEATandun-inUNHAPPY.Thesearederivationalaffixes.Byaddingthesetoalexicalbase(anelementtowhichaffixescanbeappended)wederiveanewlexeme.Derivationalaffixescanbeprefixesorsuffixes.Asthediagramaboveshows,derivationisonetypeofword-formation,abranchofmorphologythatdealswiththecreationofnewlexemes,alongwithcompounding,conversion,andafewminortypes.Word-formationprocesseswillbediscussedinsection2.3.
2.2Inflection
Inflectionisanotionwhichisconcernedwiththealternativeforms,calledinflectionalforms,thatlexemescantake,asdeterminedbythesyntacticenvironmenttheyoccurin.Inflectionisamorphosyntacticnotion,whichmeansthatitisaphenomenonthatisrelevantbothtosyntaxandmorphology.Inflectionsaretypicallyrealizedbydifferentsuffixes.Aswehaveseen,wecanaddapluralsuffixtocatresultingincats.IntheclauseCatsareindependentanimalsthepluralformofthenouncatrequirestheverbBEalsotobeinthepluralform.Thisisamatterofsyntax.Theshapeofparticularinflectionalforms(spellingandpronunciation)isamatterofmorphology.
2.2.1Verbinflections
2.2.1.1ThepersonsysteminEnglish
ThepersonsystemofgrammarcanbeshownasinTable2.1.
Table2.1:Thepersonsystem
Thefirstpersonsingularreferstothespeaker.Inthepluralwereferstoagroupofpeoplewhichincludesthespeaker.Thesecondpersonreferstothepersonaddressed,eitheroneperson(singular)oragroup(plural).Thethirdpersonsingulartypicallyreferstoapersonotherthanthespeakerorthepersonbeingaddressed.Apartfromhe,she,andit,referentialexpressionslikethecat,thechurch,andPaularealsothirdpersonsingular.Inthepluraltheytypicallyreferstoagroupofpeopleotherthanthespeakerandaddressee.Nounphrasesheadedbypluralnouns(e.g.thecats)arealsothirdpersonplural.
2.2.1.2Tensedandnon-tensedverbforms
Considerthefollowingexample.
1Hisrefusaltoresign,compoundedbyhisre-election,insultseveryonewhotruly
holdsEnglishcricketdear.
The-sendingontheverbisaverbalinflectionalaffix,andinsultsisaninflectionalformofthelexicalverbINSULT.Itisamatterofsyntaxin(1)thattheverbendsin-sbecausealllexicalverbswiththirdpersonsingularSubjects(seesection1.4)takethisendinginthepresenttense.However,itisamatterofmorphologythatwecanspeakofanendingontheverb(anaffix)withtheshape-s.
WecandisplayalltheformsforEnglishverbsinagridliketheoneshowninTable2.2fortheverbINSULT.
Table2.2:TheparadigmfortheregularverbINSULT
Suchgridsarecalledparadigms,whichsomereadersmaybefamiliarwithfromlearningforeignlanguages.Inmanylanguagestheverbalparadigmsdisplaydifferentformsforeachpersoninthesingularandplural,butEnglishdoesnothavearichverbalinflectionalsystem,asTable2.2illustrates.
Verbalinflectionalformscanbetensedornon-tensed.Astheirnamessuggest,presenttenseformsandpasttenseformsaretensed.Thepresenttenseformsofregularlexicalverbsoccurintwoshapes:withtheending-sforthirdpersonsingularSubjects(-esforsomeverbs,e.g.Do/does,Go/goes,SNATCH/snatches,HURRY/hurries),andintheplainpresentformforotherpersons.Regularverbshavepasttenseformsendingin-ed,whereasirregularverbstypicallyformtheirpasttenses(andpastparticiples,seebelow)bymeansofavowelmodification(calledablaut),astheparadigmforBREAKinTable2.3shows.
Table2.3:TheparadigmfortheirregularverbBREAK
SeeAppendix1forafulllistofirregularverbs.
WewillsaythatlexicalverbsagreewiththeirSubjectsinthepresenttenseforpersonandnumber,althoughtheagreementisonlyvisibleonthethirdpersonsingularformoftheverb.ThereisnoagreementbetweenSubjectsandverbsinthepasttense,becausetheinflectionalformsareidenticalforallSubjects.However,theverbBEisanexception:itspasttenseformsdoagreewiththeirSubject.Wehavewasforthe
firstandthirdpersonsingular,wereelsewhere.
Thenon-tensedformsaretheparticipleandtheplainformoftheverb.Wedistinguish-ingparticiplesfrompastparticiples.Theformerendin-ing,astheirnamesuggests,whereasthelatterendin-edinthecaseofregularverbs,andin-en(andanumberofothershapes)inthecaseofirregularverbs.ParticiplesoccurastheitalicizeditemsintheconstructionsexemplifiedinTable2.4.
Theprogressiveconstruction:BE+-ingparticipleformofaverb(V-ing)Example(a):Britishsupermarketsaresellingsushi,butnotastheJapaneseknowit.
Theperfectconstruction:perfectHAVE+pastparticipleformofaverb(V-ed/-en)Example(b):Therhetorichaschanged.
Thepassiveconstruction:passiveBE+pastparticipleformofaverb(V-ed/-en)(byNP)Example(c):MrFortywasreportedforcarelessdriving.
Table2.4:Theprogressive,perfect,andpassiveconstructions
Theprogressiveconstructionexpressesanongoingsituation,whilethepresentperfectconstructionintheexampleaboveisusedtosignalthattheeventinquestiontookplaceinthepastandhaspresentresults.(Otherperfectconstructionswillbediscussedinsections3.6.3.3and9.3.1.)Thepassiveconstructionisusedasameansofhighlightingaparticularunitinaclause.TheconstructionsinTable2.4andtheirmeaningswillbediscussedandexemplifiedfurtherinchapters4,8,9,and11.
Thenon-tensedplainformoftheverbisusedininfinitive,subjunctive,andimperativeclauses.Theinfinitiveexemplifiedin(2)isprecededbythewordto.Wecallthistheto-infinitive.
2Iwouldn’twanthimtoleaveherforme,butwhenImethimshe’dalreadylefthim.
Whentheinfinitiveoccursaftermodalverbs(seesection1.10),asin(3),andafterafewotherverbs,itiscalledthebareinfinitive.
3Thesemethodsmaymeanverylittletoyou.
Infinitivescanoccurinawiderrangeofstructures.ThesewillbediscussedinChapter8.
Noticethattheshapeoftheinflectionalformsforthepasttenseandpastparticiplesisthesameforregularverbs(e.g.insulted/insulted).WeneverthelessdistinguishtwoinflectionalformsherebecauseirregularverbsinEnglishoftenhavetwodifferentshapesfortheseinflectionalforms(e.g.broke/broken).
Theplainpresentandtheplainformoflexicalverbsalsohavethesameshape,as(4)and(5)show.
4Theyinsultuswhenevertheycan.
5Theywillinsultus,I’msureofit.
IntheformerwehaveaplainpresentformoftheverbINSULT,whilethelatterhasaplainform.Again,weregardtheseasbeingtwodifferentinflectionalforms.ThereasonforthisisthatthereisatleastoneverbinEnglish,namelyBE,whichhasawiderrangeofshapesforitspresenttenseforms.Ithasthreeformsinthepresenttensesingular,andoneform,namelyare,fortheplural(seeTable2.5).Theplainformisbe.ItisbecausetheverbBEhasaplainformwhichdoesnotshareitsshapewithanyofthepresenttenseformsthatweneedtodistinguishtheplainformasadistinctinflectionalform.AndifwedosoforBEweshoulddosoforallverbs.
Table2.5:ThepresenttenseformsoftheverbBE
Noticethattheplainpresentformisalwaystensed,whereastheplainformisalwaysnon-tensed.
2.2.1.3Onso-called‘subjunctiveverbforms’
ReadersmayhavenoticedthatIhavemadenomentionofthe‘subjunctiveverb’,atermtraditionallyusedfortheunderlinedverbinthebracketedportionin(6).
6Hisfriendsshoulddemand[thathegetjustice].
Abracketedclauseliketheonein(6)isusedinasituationinwhichaspeakeristalkingaboutastateofaffairsthathewantstoobtain,butwhichdoesnotobtainatthemomentofspeaking.Inasituationinwhichsomeoneutters(6),thepersonreferredtoashehasnotreceivedjustice.Itisimportanttostressthatmanyspeakerswouldopttousethethirdpersonsingularformgetsinstead,asin(7),especiallyinBritishEnglish.
7Hisfriendsshoulddemandthathegetsjustice.
Thisisperfectlyacceptable,andthereisnodifferenceinmeaning.
Theverbinthehighlightedclausein(6)istraditionallycalledapresentsubjunctive
verb,alabelwhichwewillnotbeusing.Thereasonisthattheinflectionalformsoftheso-called‘presentsubjunctive’arethesameforeachperson.Thereisnodistinctinflectionalformforit.Whenthishappenswespeakofsyncretism.Theinflectionalformin(6)istheplainform,andwecallthebracketedclausein(6)asubjunctiveclause.Thenotionofsubjunctiveclauseisuseful,becauseforthethirdpersonsingulartheformthatoccursinasubjunctiveclausediffersfromtheformthatappearsinanon-subjunctiveclausewithwhichitcanbecontrasted,suchasthethat-clausein(7),wheretheverbendsin-s.Inaddition,compare(8)and(9).
8Hisfriendsshoulddemand[thathenotbearrested].
9Hisfriendsshoulddemand[thatheisnotarrested].
Inthenegatedsubjunctivethat-clausein(8)thenegativewordnotprecedesaformofBE,whereasitfollowsonein(9),whichdoesnotinvolveasubjunctivesubordinateclause,butanordinarydeclarativeclause(sections1.6and6.1).
Contrast(6)with(10).
10Iwishwehadmoreofthatsortofcompetitioninthefamilyofnations.
IntraditionalgrammartheverbhadiscalledapastsubjunctiveverbwhoseappearanceistriggeredbytheverbWISH.However,inEnglish,‘pastsubjunctive’formsareindistinguishablefrompasttenseforms.WewillthereforesaythatEnglishdoesnothaveapastsubjunctiveverbinflection.Unlikewiththe‘presentsubjunctive’,inthiscasewewillnotrecognizepastsubjunctiveclausesinEnglish.Thereasonisthatwecannotcontrastaclausecontaininga‘pastsubjunctiveverb’withaclausecontainingapasttenseformoftheverb,inthewaythatwecontrasted(6)and(7),becausetheinflectionalformsareidentical.
Whatabouttheverbformwerein(11)?
11Iratherthinkyouwish[itweretrue].
ThisformoftheverbBE,inthefirstorthirdpersonsingular,canbeseenasarelicofthepastsubjunctive.Noticethatsubjunctiveclausescanbemainclauses(Heavenforbid,GodsavetheQueen),butagainonlyasfossilizedconstructions.
2.2.1.4Thetraditionalmoodsindicative,subjunctive,andimperative
Somereadersmaybefamiliarwiththenotionsindicative,subjunctive,andimperative,andthinkofthemasthemoodsofEnglish,asintraditionalgrammar.RecallfromChapter1thatmoodisthegrammaticalimplementationofthesemanticnotionofmodalitywhichisconcernedwitharangeofmeaningsinEnglishsuchas‘possibility’,‘obligation’,‘intention’,‘necessity’,andthelike.Thelabelsindicative,subjunctive,andimperativewereappliedtoverbformsintraditionalgrammars,suchthattheyrecognized‘indicativeverbforms’,‘subjunctiveverbforms’,and
‘imperativeverbforms’.Indicativeverbformsweresaidtobetypicallyusedinclausesthatmakestatementsbelievedtobetruebythespeaker(‘unmodalized’statements);subjunctiveverbforms,asin(6)and(10),weresaidtobeusedinclausesthatexpressthespeaker’sattitudeoropiniontowardswhatwasbeingsaid;andimperativeverbformsweresaidtobeusedinclausesexpressingcommands.Fromwhathasbeensaidaboveitwillbeclearthatitisbettertoregardmoodasanon-inflectionalnotion.(Theoneexceptiontothisistheverbwere,usedinexampleslike(11).)Englishprincipallygrammaticallyimplementsmoodthroughtheuseofclausetypesormodalauxiliaryverbs.Forexample,ratherthansaythatspeakersuseindicativeverbformstomakeassertions,wewillsaythattheytypicallyusedeclarativeclausestodoso.Thus,ifIutter(12)I’msayingsomethingaboutastateofaffairsintheworldwhichIbelievetobetrue.
12Everyonelikesflattery.
Thelabels‘subjunctive’and‘imperative’likewisedonotapplytoinflections,aswehavealreadyseen,buttoclausalconstructions.Althoughthereisno‘subjunctiveclausetype’,wedorecognizean‘imperativeclausetype’.(Notethatby‘clausalconstruction’Imeanastringofwordsthatformaclause,whereas‘clausetype’isagrammaticaltermwhichwillbediscussedinChapter6.)TheconceptsofmoodandmodalitywillbediscussedfurtherinChapter10.
2.2.1.5Theconceptsfiniteandnon-finite
Wenowturntotheconceptsfiniteandnon-finite,Thetermfinitemeans‘finished’(fromtheLatinfinitus)or‘limited’.Traditionally,‘finiteness’isconcernedwithvariationforpersonandnumber,andisappliedtoverbs,inthattheytakeondifferentinflectionalformsdependingonthepersonandnumberoftheirSubjects.However,inpresent-dayEnglishitmakesmuchmoresensetospeakoffiniteandnon-finiteclauses(orconstructions),sincetheverbalparadigmscontainalmostnoformswithdistinctendings.Asageneralizationwecansaythatanyclausethatistensedisalsofinite.However,notallfiniteclausesaretensed.Specifically,subjunctiveclauses(cf.thebracketedportionin(6))andimperativeclauses(e.g.Openthedoor;seesection6.3)arefinite,butnottensed.Despitenotcontainingatensedverb,subjunctiveclausescanbeconsideredtobefinitebecausetheyalternatewithtensedclauses(cf.(7)),andbecausetheyresemblethestructureoftypicaltensedclausesintworespects:theymusthaveaSubject,andtheytakethesamesubordinatorassometensedclausesdo,namelythat.Imperativeclausesarelessclearlyfinite,butwecanconsiderthemassuchbecausetheyalwaysoccurasmainclauses,thoughnotethatthefactthattheytypicallylackaSubjectdetractsfromthisobservation.
Non-finiteclausesareclausesthatdonotcontainatensedverb,andarealwayssubordinate(section1.3).Aswesawinsection1.8,werecognizefourtypes,showninTable2.6withexamples.
Typeofnon-finite
clause Example
to-infinitiveclause (a)Wouldanybodyliketoeat?
bareinfinitiveclause (b)Theycanstopatanypoint.
-ingparticipleclause (c)Wearesellingthem.
pastparticipleclause Perfect:
(d)Sowehaveplayedourpartinthehistoryofcricket.
Passive:
(e)Shewasdelayedbytraindifficulties.
Table2.6:Non-finiteclauses
Structurescontainingnon-finiteclauseswillbediscussedindetailinChapter8.
2.2.2Nouninflections
Englishnounsdisplaytwokindsofinflections,namelythosefornumber(singular/plural)andforcase(nominative/accusative/genitive).
2.2.2.1Number:plurals
Table2.7showswaysofformingthepluralinEnglish.Thelistsarenotexhaustive.
Regularpluralin-sor-esgroup–groups;idea–ideas;theme–themes;bus–buses;class–classes;potato–potatoes
Withachangeofvowelfoot–feet;man–men;tooth–teeth
Withamodificationofthebase-finalvowel(-y>-ies)activity–activities;body–bodies(butnotif-yisprecededbyavowel:boy>
boys)
Withachangeordoublingofthebase-finalconsonantknife–knives;life–lives;wife–wives;quiz–quizzes
Singularisthesameasthepluralaircraft,bison,deer,series,sheep,trout
Pluralswithoutformalmarkingcattle,people,police
Pluralswithirregularsuffixesbrother–brethren;child–children;ox–oxen
Foreignpluralsalumnus–alumni;antenna–antennae(alsoantennas);criterion–criteria;datum–data(pluralalsousedasasingular);index–indices;kibbutz–kibbutzim;mafioso–mafiosi;tableau–tableaux;thesis–theses
Table2.7:Plural-formation
SomeEnglishnounsoccuronlyintheplural.Thesearetheso-calledpluraliatantum.Amongthemare:auspices,binoculars,jeans,scissors,trousers,valuables.
2.2.2.2Case:nominative,accusative,andgenitive
OldEnglishhadanextensivecasesystem,butinModernEnglishthesystemismuchlessrich.Nominativecaseandaccusativecaseshowuponlyonpronouns,whichalsohavespecialgenitiveforms,asTable2.8showsforpersonalpronouns.
Table2.8:Thecaseformsofpersonalpronouns
NominativecaseistypicallyusedforpronounsinSubjectposition,whileaccusativecaseistypicallyusedforIndirectObjects,DirectObjects,andComplementsofprepositions(seesection1.4andchapters4and5),asthefollowingexamplesmakeclear.
13I(Subject)likeher(DirectObject).
14They(Subject)likeus(DirectObject).
15She(Subject)gavehim(IndirectObject)alift(DirectObject).
16I(Subject)gavethefolder(DirectObject)tohim(Complementofapreposition).
Noticethatyouanditdonotdistinguishnominativeandaccusativecase.
Thegenitiveofnounsisformedbyaddingthesuffix-’stoaregularnoun,orsimplyaninaudibleapostrophe(-’)ifthenounalreadyendsinan-s,cf.(17)–(20).
17thebook’scover
18thosebooks’covers
19Peter’shouse
20Jesus’(orJesus’s)mother
WewillseeinChapter3thatitismoreaccuratetosaythatthegenitiveendingisattachedtonounphrases.Thegenitiveformsaredependentwhentheyoccurinnon-finalpositioninsidenounphrases,asinmyhouse,orindependent,asinThehouseismine,Mineisamodernhouse,orthishouseofmine(seesections3.2.2.1.1and5.2.1.2).Thebasicmeaningexpressedbythegenitiveis‘possession’.ThecaseformsofothertypesofpronounswillbediscussedinChapter3.
2.2.3Adjectiveandadverbinflections
Adjectivesandadverbscaninflectforcomparison.Theplainformofadjectivesisusedtodescribethereferentsofnouns(forexample,thecleanhouse/thehouseisclean).Constructionscontainingthecomparativeformorsuperlativeformindicatethatthepropertydenotedbytheadjectiveappliestodifferentdegrees(forexampleMyhouseiscleanerthanyours/Myhouseisthecleanesthouseinthestreet).Thecomparativeformsareformedbyadding-ertoabase.Thesuperlativeformsareformedbyadding-est.Similarconsiderationsapplytoadverbs,exceptthattheydonotgenerallymodifynouns,aswehaveseen.Table2.9showsthatthereareanumberofirregularitemswhosecomparativeandsuperlativeformsaremorphologicallyunrelated,aphenomenonthatiscalledsuppletion.
Table2.9:Theinflectionalformsofadjectivesandadverbs
Adjectivesandadverbsthathavetwoormoresyllablesusuallydonotformtheircomparativeandsuperlativeformsinflectionally,butanalytically,thatisbyusingmoreandmost,aswithincongruous–moreincongruous–mostincongruous.Adverbsthatendin-lynevertakeinflections.
2.3Word-formation
Underthisheadingwewilldiscussderivation,compounding,conversion,andanumberofminorword-formationtypes.
2.3.1Derivation
Inthisgrammarwewillregardderivationasaword-formationprocessinvolvingsuffixationorprefixation.
2.3.1.1Suffixation
Consideragain(21),takenfromChapter1:
21Theverynoisyvisitorcontinuallyinsultedthereceptionistandthecaretakerinthelibrary.
Herethewordreceptionistisanounwhichisformedfromthenounreceptionbyadding-ist.Noticethatwehaveformedonelexemefromanotherthroughaprocessofsuffixation,andthatthesuffix-istisaclass-maintainingsuffix,becauseboththeinputandoutputformsarenouns.Considernexttheadverbcontinually.Thislexemeisformedfromthewordcontinualbyadding-ly,Heretoowehavesuffixation,butthistimeitisaclass-changingprocess(adjective>adverb).Herearesomefurtherexamplesofsuffixation:
22address>addressee(class-maintaining:noun)
23furious>furiously(class-changing:adjectivetoadverb)
24happy>happiness(class-changing:adjectivetonoun)
25regular>regularize/-ise(class-changing:adjectivetoverb)
26relate>relation(class-changing:verbtonoun)
27spite>spiteful(class-changing:nountoadjective)
28work>workable(class-changing:verbtoadjective)
29yellow>yellowish(class-maintaining:adjective)
InTable2.10anumberofcommonderivationalsuffixesareshown.
Table2.10:Somecommonderivationalsuffixes
BritishEnglishspellingpreferssuffixesin-ise/-isation,whileinAmericanEnglishthepreferenceisfor-ize/-ization,thoughthisdistinctionbetweenthetwovarietiesofEnglishisfading,themorecommonspellingbeing-ize/-ization.
2.3.1.2Prefixation
Wecanalsocreatelexemesthroughprefixation.Thisprocessismostlyclass-maintaining.Herearesomeexamplesofprefixation:
30historical>ahistorical(class-maintaining:adjective)
31edit>co-edit(class-maintaining:verb)
32watt>kilowatt(class-maintaining:noun)
33list>enlist(class-changing:nountoverb)
34bus>minibus(class-maintaining:noun)
35earth>unearth(class-changing:nountoverb)
36wit>outwit(class-changing:nountoverb)
37offend>reoffend(class-maintaining:verb)
Table2.11showssomecommonprefixes.
Table2.11:Somecommonderivationalprefixes
2.3.2Compounding
Compoundscanbedefinedasformationsthatinvolve,inthemajorityofcases,combinationsoftwobases,whichcanmanifestthemselvesinvariousshapes.Examplesarecaretaker,boyfriend,andoperationschief.Compoundscanalsoinvolvephrases,asinoff-roadroute.Englishallowsagreatvarietyofcompounds,asshownbyTables2.12–16.Readersshouldbeawarethatnoteveryoneagreesexactlyonhowtodelimittheclassofcompounds.
Itshouldbeborneinmindthatsomeoftheitemsinthetablescanhavedualclassifications.Thus,DOWN-AND-OUTintheNPdown-and-outtrampisaphrasaladjectivalcompound,butinThesedown-and-outsareheremostofthedayitisanoun(witnessthe-spluralinflection).Similarly,MAKE-BELIEVEisacompoundnouninthestrategyofmake-believe,butanadjectivalcompoundinmake-believeallegations.
Thereareanumberofissuesinthestudyofcompoundswhichwedonothavethespacetodiscusshere.Amongthemisthequestionofhowtodistinguishacompoundfromaphrase.Asageneralrulethestressincompoundsisonthefirstcomponent,whileinphrasesthesecondcomponenttendstobestressed.Compareblackboard(‘aboardfixedtothewall,usedinschoolsforteaching’)withblackboard(‘aboardwhichisblack’),whereinbothcasesthestressisindicatedbytheboldfacetype.Individualcasescanremaintricky.Forexample,inTable2.14above,Ihavelistedwhite-collarinwhite-collarstaffasanAdj–Ncompound,butwemightequallysaythatinthisparticularcasetheHeadnounstaffismodifiedbytheNPwhitecollar.
Table2.12:Compoundnouns
Compoundverbtypes Examples
verb+verb blow-dry,daresay,drink-drive,freeze-dry,makedo,stir-fry
noun+noun handcuff,stonewall
noun+verb babysit,brainwash,carbondate,colourcode,hand-wash,proofread
adjective+noun bad-mouth,blindfold,deep-fry,fast-track,short-change
adjective+verb cold-call,dry-clean,whitewash
preposition+noun/verb
upstage,background,overbook,overrun,underestimate
Table2.13:Compoundverbs
Compoundadjectivetypes Examples
adjective+adjective
bitter-sweet,blue-black,dark-red,icy-cold,deaf-mute,squeaky-clean
adjective+noun broad-brush(assessment),white-collar(staff)
adjective/adverb+verb
clean-shaven,easy-going,hard-working,high-rise,long-suffering,plain-spoken,quick-change,well-behaved,well-travelled
noun+verb awe-inspiring,drug-related,hair-raising,home-made,newborn,thought-provoking
noun+adjective
accident-prone,ankle-deep,bone-dry,camera-shy,capital-intensive,dirt-cheap,germ-resistant,head-strong,oil-rich,razor-sharp,self-conscious,sky-high,sugar-free
verb+noun roll-neck(sweater)
verb+verb go-go(dancer)
verb+adjective fail-safe
verb+
preposition see-through(shirt)
preposition+adjective over-qualified,overactive,uptight
phrasal down-and-out(tramp),top-of-the-range,under-the-weather,up-to-the-minute
Table2.14:Compoundadjectives
Compoundprepositiontypes
Examples
preposition+preposition
hereat,hereby,herefrom,herein,hereof,hereon,hereto,herewith,into,onto,thereat,thereby,therefrom,therein,thereof,thereon,thereto,therewith,throughout,upon,within,whereat,whereby,wherefrom,wherein,whereof,whereon,whereto,wherewith,without
preposition+noun downhill,downstairs,indoors,inside,overland,upstream
Table2.15:Compoundprepositions
Compoundadverbtypes Examples
determinative+adverb/adjective/noun
al(l)-series almost,already,also,altogether,always
any-series anyhow,anyway
some-series somehow,sometimes,somewhat
miscellaneousforthwith,furthermore,indeed,maybe,meantime,meanwhile,moreover,nevertheless,nonetheless,nowadays,oftentimes
Table2.16:Compoundadverbs
InadditiontothecompoundsinthetablesaboveEnglishhasanumberofneoclassicalcompounds.Thesetypicallyconsistoftwocombiningformsofclassicalorigin:aninitialcombiningformandafinalcombiningform.AlistofbothkindsisgiveninTable2.17.
Initialcombiningform Finalcombiningform
aer(o)- -(a)emia
andr(o)- -cephaly
anthrop(o) -cide
astr(o)- -crat
audio- -ectomy
aut(o)- -gamy
bibli(o)- -geny
bio- -gerous
cardi(a/o)- -grade
electr(o)- -gram
giga- -graph(y)
heter(o)- -lithic
hom(o)- -logy
hydr(o)- -meric
hyper- -merous
idio- -morph
macro- -morphous
mega- -nomy
morph(o)- -onym
neur(o)- -opia
omn(i)- -opsy
phil(o)- -pathy
phot(o)- -phil(e)
pseud(o)- -phobe
psych(o)- -phone
socio- -saurus
tele(o)- -stasia
the(o)- -stat
Theelement‘(o)’isinsertedtolinkcombiningforms.
Table2.17:Combiningforms
Herearesomeexamplesofpossiblecombinationsofitemsfromthetwocolumns:anthropology,autocrat,bibliophile,morphology.Someofthecombiningformsthatareincommonusecanoccurontheirown,forexampleaudio,homo.Incertaincasestheinitialorfinalcombiningformscombinewithexistinglexemes,asinaeroplane,astrophysics,biodiversity,heterosexual,insecticide.
2.3.3Conversion
ItispossibleinEnglishtocreatenewlexemesfromothersthroughaprocesscalledconversion.Inthesecasesthewordclassoftheelementinquestionchanges.Theresultinglexemecandisplaytheinflectionalformsthatareappropriateforthewordclassitnewlybelongsto.Thefollowingconversionsarepossible.
N>V
Example: Hebaggedthegoods.(BAGN>BAGV)
Otherpossibilities:
badger,bottle,bridge,butcher,can,eye,eyeball,finger,gesture,holiday,knife,mail,vacation,water
V>N
Example: Theassaultwasrecordedontape.(ASSAULTV>ASSAULTN)
Otherpossibilities:
abstract,attempt,cheat,coach,control,discount,guess,import,laugh,read,transfer,whisper
Adj>N
Example:TheseOlympichopefulsarenotreadyforaction.(HOPEFULADJ>HOPEFULN)
Otherpossibilities: daily,intellectual,natural,original,regular,roast
Adj>V
Example: Theyemptiedthebath.(EMPTYADJ>EMPTYV)
Otherpossibilities: bare,better,blind,calm,dirty,faint,right,smooth,weary,wrong
Inthecaseofverb>adjectiveconversionsitisthe-ingparticipleorpastparticipleformoftheverbthatisconverted.
V>Adj
Example: Thesesillystoriesarenotveryamusingatall.(AMUSEV>
AMUSINGADJ)
Otherpossibilities: bored,boring,entertaining,missing,spoilt,stunning
P>V
Example: Hedownedhisdrink.(DOWNP>DOWNV)
Otherpossibilities: out,up
2.3.4Minortypesofword-formation
InthissectionIexemplifyanumberofminorword-formationprocesses.
2.3.4.1Abbreviationsandacronyms
Onetypeofabbreviationismadeupofthefirstlettersofaseriesofwords,which,whenspoken,arepronouncedindividually:AMS(AmericanMeteorologicalSociety),BBC(BritishBroadcastingCorporation),BC(BeforeChrist),ETS(EmissionsTradingScheme),EU(EuropeanUnion),NYPD(NewYorkPoliceDepartment),WWW(WorldWideWeb).Thesearecalledinitialisms.Otherabbreviationsarelesspredictableintheircomposition:etc.,Ltd,viz.
Acronyms,bycontrast,arepronounceableabbreviations.ExamplesincludeCAD(computeraideddesign),FAQ(frequentlyaskedquestion),JPEG(jointphotographicexpertsgroup;pronounced‘jaypeg’),LAN(localareanetwork),NATO(NorthAtlanticTreatyOrganization),UNESCO(UnitedNationsEducational,Scientific,andCulturalOrganization),andWYSIWYG(whatyouseeiswhatyouget).Insomecasestheacronymshavedevelopedintowordsintheirownright,asisthecaseforlaser(lightamplificationbystimulatedemissionofradiation)andradar(radiodetectionandranging).
2.3.4.2Back-formation
Somewordsareformedbyremovingsuffixes.Astockexampleofaback-formationisthecreationoftheverbeditfromthenouneditor.Thisprocessoftentakesplacebyanalogywithotherexistingformations.Furtherexamplesofback-formationsare:headhunter>headhunt;television>televise;recycling>recycle;sculptor>sculpt.
2.3.4.3Blending
Blendingoccurswhentwobasesarecombinedintoanewlexeme.Reductionofoneorbothofthebasesmayoccur.Herearesomeexamples.
channel+tunnel>chunnel
smoke+fog>smog
breakfast+lunch>brunch
breath+analyser>breathalyser
guess+estimate>guesstimate
gigantic+enormous>ginormous
motor+hotel>motel
stagnation+inflation>stagflation
2.3.4.4Clippings
Clippingsinvolveanumberofwaysinwhichwordscanbeshortenedbyremovingsyllables.Personalnamesareoftenshortenedaswell.Someexamplesareshownbelow.
advertisement>ad
doctor>doc
influenza>flu
laboratory>lab
MetropolitanPolice>Met
Michael>Mike
omnibus>bus
Peter>Pete
radiator>rad
Sebastian>Seb
Chapter3WordclassesandsimplephrasesInthepreviouschapterwelookedattheinternalstructureofwords.Inthischapterwelookatwordsaswholes,andhowtheyformphrases.
3.1Wordclasses:distributionaldefinitions
InEnglishwecandistinguishthewordclasses,alsocalledpartsofspeech,showninTable3.1.
Wordclasses
noun
determinative
adjective
verb
preposition
adverb
conjunction
interjection
Table3.1:Wordclasses
InmypreliminaryoverviewofthewordclassesinChapter1Idefinedthemmainlynotionally,thatis,intermsoftheirmeaning.Forexample,Iwrotethatnounsarewordsthatnameaperson,place,orthing.Inmanycasesthisdefinitionwillidentifythenounsinaclause.However,itisnotsatisfactoryifwewishtobemorepreciseaboutnouns.Forexample,withregardto‘things’,howdoweestablishwhattheyare?Atableisathing,butwhataboutfriendship,happiness,idea,intention,love,thought,andyesterday?Thesewordsdenoteconcepts,mentalconstructs,timespans,andthelike.Theproblemisthatwecanonlylabelsomethingasanounifwealreadyknowthatitisathing.Asimilarproblemrearsitsheadwhenwesaythatverbsareaction-words.Notallthewordsthatwewouldliketoclassasverbsdenoteactions.Itiseasytothinkofverbsthatdonot,suchasKNOW,POSSESS,RESEMBLE,andWANT.What’smore,therearenounsthatdenoteactions(e.g.announcement,departure).Whatweneedisadefinitionofeachofthevariouswordclassesthatencompassesallmembers,oratleastthetypicalmembers.
Ifwecannot(exclusively)appealtomeaning,howdowedefinethewordclasses?Theansweristhatwecandosoonthebasisoftheirbehaviourinclauses.Thatis,weneedtodefinethewordclassesbylookingatthecompanywordskeep.Thisiscalleddistributionalanalysis.Ineachofthesectionsbelowthewordclasseswillbedefinedintermsofthewaytheybehavesyntacticallyinclauses.Whereappropriate,meaningconsiderationswillalsobeincluded.InadditiontothewordclassesIwillalsodiscusssimplephrases,suchasnounphraseandadjectivephrase.ComplexphraseswillbediscussedinChapter5.
3.2Nounsandnounphrases
Thewordclassofnounsincludeswordsthatdenoteconcreteobjectsintheworldaroundus,forexamplebicycle,cat,house,door,planet,vase,pencil,screen.Thenounslistedherearecommonnouns.Wealsodistinguishwordslikehe,she,his,her,who,what,whicharecalledpronouns(section3.2.2),andpropernouns(section3.2.3)suchasPeter,Leonard,Tim.
3.2.1Distributionalpropertiesofnouns
WhatarethedistributionalpropertiesofnounsinEnglish?ThefirstthingtonoteisthatanouncanfunctionastheHeadofanounphrase(NP).AHeadisthemostprominentelementofastringofwords,andanounphraseisastringofwordswhoseHeadisanoun.Herearesomeexamples.
1[NPthehouse]
2[NPthebighouse]
3[NPthebighousewiththeredroof]
IneachofthesestringsthewordhouseistheHead,becauseitdetermineswhatthestringasawholeisakindof.Thusthebighouseisakindofhouse,asisthebighousewiththeredroof.Ineachcasethenounhouseisobligatory.NotethattheHeadcanalsooccuronitsown,asinthefollowingexample.
4Hebuys[NPhouses]foraliving.
Theunityofthewordsinthephrasehasbeenindicatedbythesquarebrackets,withtheopeningbracketcarryingthelabelNP.NPscanperformavarietyoffunctions,suchasSubject,DirectObject,andIndirectObject(seesection1.4andChapter4).Forexample,in(4)theNPisaDirectObject.
Asecondpropertyofmanynounsisthattheycantakeapluralinflection,asin(4)(seesection2.2.2.1).
Thirdly,nounsarewordsthatcanbeprecededbythewordthe,asinthecat.Thatis,
theycanoccurinthefollowingframe:
the—
Thedashindicatesthepositionofthenoun.Mostnounscanalsobeprecededbya,butnotallofthem.Exceptionsareso-calleduncountablenounslikesaltandflourwhichrefertoamassofsomesort,andpluraliatantum(Latinfor‘pluralonly’),suchastrousers,scissors.Uncountablenounscannotbepluralizedbyaddingtheinflectionalsuffix-s:*twosalts,*threeflours(theasteriskindicatesthatastructureisimpossibleinEnglish).Wewillseeinsection3.3thatwordsliketheandabelongtotheclassofdeterminatives.
Anothercharacteristicofnounsisthattheycanbeprecededbydescriptivewords,whichwecalledadjectivesinsection1.3:thebighouse,thehungrycat,thefinaldraft,andsoon(seealsosection3.4).Afewnounscanbefollowedbyadjectives,asinsetexpressionslikegovernorgeneral,presidentelect.
Morphologically,agreatmanynounsendinsuffixesthataretypicalofnouns.InTable3.2somecommonnominalsuffixesareshown.
Finally,itissometimessaidthatnounsarewordsthatcantakegenitivecaseendings(seesection2.2.2.2),asintheseexamples:thecat’spaws,theteachers’reports.However,thegenitiveendingisbestanalysedasattachingtoaphrase,ratherthantoanoun,asbecomesclearwhenweconsidernounphraseslikethefollowing:[thePresidentofFrance]’sstatement,[thewomaninthelibrary]’sbriefcase.Seealsosection5.2.1.2.
Table3.2:Somecommonnominalsuffixes
ThedistributionalcharacteristicsoftypicalnounsarelistedinTable3.3.
Typicalnouns…
•functionastheHeadofanounphrasewhichcanperformavarietyoffunctions,suchasSubject,DirectObject,IndirectObject;
•takepluralforms;
•canoccurintheframethe—;
•canbeprecededbyadjectives.
Table3.3:Thedistributionalpropertiesoftypicalnouns
Typicalnounsconformtoallormostofthesecriteria.However,notallnounsdoso.Pronouns,whichweregardasformingasubsetoftheclassofnouns,areacaseinpoint.Weturntothemnext.
3.2.2Pronouns
PronounsbelongtotheclassofnounsbecausetheycanheadnounphrasesthatcanfunctionasSubject,DirectObject,IndirectObject,Complementofapreposition(seesection3.7),andPredicativeComplement(seesection4.1.3.3).Compare(5)and(6):thefullNPsin(5)arereplacedbypronounsheadingNPsin(6).
5[NPFrankRigby’swife]endures[NPworking-classpoverty]dutifully.
6[NPShe]endures[NPit]dutifully.
Example(6)showsthatpronouns(headingNPs)canoccurintypicalnounphrasepositions.Forthisreasonwetreatthemasasubclassofnounsinthisgrammar.
Insomegrammarspronounsareregardedasaseparatewordclass.Thereareanumberofreasonsforthis.Amongthemarethefollowing.
•Pronounsshowadistinctionbetweennominative,accusative,andgenitivecase,whilecommonnounsdonot.Seesection3.2.2.1.1below.
•Pronounsshowadistinctionforperson(1stperson,2ndperson,etc.;seesection2.2.1.1)andgender(he/she,him/her,etc.),butcommonnounsdonot.
•Pronounsdonothaveinflectionalplurals(seesection2.2.2.1)inStandardEnglish(cf.*yous,*hes,etc.),thoughtheydohavesingularvspluralpersondistinctions(e.g.Ivswe).Thepronounoneisanexception,cf.Ilikethoseones(seesection3.2.2.1.4).
•Pronounsaremuchmorelimitedthancommonnounsintheirpotentialfortakingdependents.Forexample,whilewecanhavedeterminativesandadjectivesinfrontofcommonnouns(aswesawintheprecedingsection),theycannotgenerallydetermineandmodifypronouns.Thuswecannotsay*Theheleftthemeetingor*Intelligentyoudidwellintheexams.Therearesomeexceptions,ofcourse,aswhenwesayI’mnotthemeIusedtobeorSillyoldmeleftthegason.Nounscanbefollowedbyprepositionalphrases(seesections1.3and3.7),asinmycancellationofthereservation;pronounsgenerallycannot.
•NounphraseswithcommonnounsasHeadcanhaveindependentreference,whilepronounsrelyonthelinguisticorextra-linguisticcontextfortheirreference.Thus,if
IsayImetthebossthismorningtheNPthebossreferstoamutuallyidentifiableindividual.IfIsayKatiemarriedHarrybecausesheloveshimthenthemostlikelyreadingofthisutteranceisforshetorefertoKatieandforhimtorefertoHarry.
DespitetheseobservationswetakethefactthatpronounscanactastheHeadsofphrasesthatcanfunctionasSubject,DirectObject,PredicativeComplement,andsoon,asasufficientlyweightyreasonforregardingthemasnouns.
InEnglishwerecognizethetypesofpronounslistedinTable3.4.
Pronounsubclasses
personalpronouns
reflexivepronouns
reciprocalpronouns
relativepronouns
freerelativepronouns
interrogativepronouns
demonstrativepronouns
indefinitepronouns
Table3.4:Pronounsubclasses
3.2.2.1Personalpronouns
Personalpronounsdependfortheirreferenceonaprecedingnounphrase(theantecedent),ortheirreferencecanbeestablishedfromthecontext.
3.2.2.1.1Caseforms
Personalpronounscancarrynominative,accusative,andgenitivecase,aswesawinsection2.2.2.2,dependingontheirfunctioninaclause.ThuswesayIloveher,not*Melovesshe,andwesayIsentthelettertothem,not*Mesentthelettertothey.Thegenitivepronounstypicallyindicatepossession,asinherglasses.InthisexamplethepronounisplacedbeforetheHeadnoun.Wecallthisthedependentuseofthepronoun.Theindependentformisusedinexampleslikethefollowing:theglassesarehersandtheseglassesofhers.
Thedependentgenitiveformsareoftenclassedasdeterminativesbyvirtueofbeingpositionedinfrontofnouns,butinthisgrammarweregardthemaspronounsfortworeasons.Oneisthatdeterminativesdonottakegenitiveinflections;anotheristhatthe
dependentformscanoccurinSubjectposition,asin(7),wheredeterminativescannotoccur.
7Iactuallyfinditquitedifficulttorememberverymuchabout[clausemybeingveryyoung].
Notethatdespitebeingadependentform,thepronounisnotfollowedbyanouninthisexample.Wewillseeinsections3.2.2.3and3.2.2.5thatgenitivewhoseindependentpre-nominalposition(e.g.whosehouse)isalsoapronoun.Seealsosections5.2.1.2and8.1.2.1.
3.2.2.1.2It
Thepronounitoccursinvariousguises.Wedistinguishreferentialit,dummyit,anticipatoryit,andcleftit.Thefirstoftheseisusedtorefertoanentitythathasalreadybeenintroducedintoaparticulardiscourse,asin(8).
8Yougaveittoher.
Dummyitismeaningless,andisusedinSubjectpositionwhenwetalkabouttheweatherortheenvironmentingeneral.
9Itwasraining.
10It’sreallyhotinhere.
ItcanalsobeusedinDirectObjectorprepositionalComplementpositioninidiomaticexpressions.
11Iinterviewpeoplethathavemadeitinsomeway.
12Letthemgetonwithit.
AnticipatoryitisusedtostandinforaclausalSubjectorObjectwhichhasbeenextraposed(displaced)duetoits‘heaviness’,asin(13)and(14).
13
14
Theseexampleswillbediscussedfurtherinsection11.3.2.2.Inasenseanticipatoryitrefersforwardtothedisplacedclause,andcouldforthatreasonberegardedasbeingreferential.However,unlikeitinexampleslike(8),anticipatoryitdoesnotrefertoanentityinthediscourse,andcanneveroccuronitsowninaclause.
Finally,cleftitisusedinso-calledcleftconstructions,exemplifiedin(15)and(16),tobediscussedindetailinsection11.8.1.
15ItisSimioniwho’sgonedown.
16Itwasancienthistorythatattractedme.
3.2.2.1.3There
Thepronountherein(17)iscalledexistentialtherebecauseitoccursinclauseswhichareconcernedwiththeexistenceofaperson,entity,orsituation.ItisregardedasameaninglesswordthatfillstheobligatorySubjectslot.
17Therearelotsofwindows.
In(18)belowthere1isanexampleofexistentialthere,butthere2isnot.Itiscalledlocativetheresinceitpointsoutalocation.Ofthethreeinstancesofitinthispassageit1andit3arereferential,takingtheoccasionalshardoffruitandthechickenasantecedents.It2isanexampleofanticipatoryit,whichsubstitutesfortheextraposedSubjectclausetofindthechicken.
18There1ismorejuliennedcarrotontheplatethananythingelse;whenyoudocomeacrosstheoccasionalshardoffruit,it1isoverripeandwoolly;andit2takesajointactionfrombothsidesofthetabletofindthechicken.There2it3is.
Seesection11.6forfurtherdiscussionofexistentialconstructions.
3.2.2.1.4One
Likeitandtherethewordonealsooccursinseveralguises.In(19)itisacommonnoun,witnessthefactthatitisprecededbyadeterminativeandanadjective,andhasapluralinflection(section2.2.2.1).
19Ilikethesweetones.
In(20)oneisusedasapersonalpronouninaformalmannertorefertothespeaker,ortopeopleingeneral.
20Onecan’tsaythattheygetagoodpress.
Whenonesubstitutesforafullnounphrase,asin(21),whereitstandsinforaphotograph,wealsoregarditasapronoun.(22)isaspecialcase:hereonerefersbacktopartofanounphrase,namelytheHeadnouncancellation.
21HaveIshownyouaphotograph?I’vegotonesomewhere.
22Thisishersecondcancellation.It’snotjustthefirstone.
Onecanalsobeusedasanumeral;seesection3.2.4below.
3.2.2.2Reflexiveandreciprocalpronouns
Reflexivepronounsaretypicallylinkedtoaprecedingantecedentintheshapeofanounphrase(underlinedintheexamplesbelow),whichreferstothesameindividual(s)orentity.
23Thegoalkeepercommittedhimself.
24ThesubjectsofByzantiumweretocallthemselvesRhomaioi.
InthesecaseshimselfreferstothegoalkeeperandthemselvesreferstothesubjectsofByzantium.InbothcasesthereflexivepronounsfunctionastheHeadsofNPswhichinturnfunctionasDirectObjects.
Areflexivepronouncanoccurwithoutanovertantecedent,asin(25),thoughnotinSubjectposition(cf.(26)).
25Enjoyyourselflots.
26*Myselforderedasteakfordinner.
In(27)and(28)thereflexivepronounsareusedemphatically.
27Sheherselfacquiredasummerdispositionafterthetraumaofherrecentmanneroflife.
28I’mnotdoingitmyself.
Oneself,exemplifiedin(29),isratherformal.
29Itmustbepeculiarlydisconcerting,don’tyouthink,tobeleftforsomeoneentirelydifferentfromoneself?
Increasingly,thepronounthemselfisusedasthereflexiveformofthepersonalpronounTHEYwithasingularantecedent.Toillustrate,compare(30),inwhichtheyrefersbacktosomeone,with(31).
30Ifsomeonedoesn’twearappropriatefootwearordevelopsmusclestrengthimbalances,theycangethurt.
31Noteveryonewhoishandedascalpelconsidersthemselfasurgeon,andnoteveryonegivenaSteinwayconsidersthemselfaconcertpianist.
TheprincipalreflexivepronounsoccurintheformsshowninTable3.5.
Table3.5:Reflexivepronouns
Thereciprocalpronounseachotherandoneanother(Table3.6)areusedwhentheverb’smeaningappliesmutuallybetweentwoormorepeopleorgroupsofpeople,asin(32)and(33).
32Anyhow,youandHarrietknowoneanother.
33That’sagoodwayoftryingtogettoknoweachother.
In(32)thereisanexplicitmentionoftheantecedentthatoneanotherrefersto.As(33)shows,anantecedentneednotbepresent.Reciprocalpronounsarenotonlyusedforpeople,as(34)demonstrates.
34TheenergythatmakesthecomponentsofamusclefibreslidealongeachotherwhenthemuscleexertsapullisultimatelyderivedfromthebreakdownofATP.
Likereflexivepronouns,reciprocalpronounscannotoccurasSubject:
35*Eachotherwatchedthemovie.
Reciprocalpronouns
eachother
oneanother
Table3.6:Reciprocalpronouns
3.2.2.3Relativepronouns
TherelativepronounsinEnglisharewho,whom,whose,andwhich(Table3.7).
Relativepronouns
who/whom/whose
which
Table3.7:Relativepronouns
Thesepronounsbelongtoalargersetofwh-words(thatis,wordsthatbeginwiththeletterswh-),whichadditionallyincludeswhat,where,when,why,andhow.(Althoughthelatterdoesnotbeginwithwh-,itbehaveslikethewordsthatdo,andisgroupedwiththemforthatreason.)Notallwh-wordsarepronouns,aswewillsee.
Relativepronounsoccurinsideawh-phrasepositionedatthebeginningofarelativeclause.Suchclausesprovidemoreinformationaboutapersonorentitydenotedbyaprecedingnoun,calledtheantecedent.Thepronounswhoandwhomcarrynominativeandaccusativecase,respectively,andtypicallyhavehumanantecedents.Whosecarriesgenitivecase,andcanhavehumanandnon-humanantecedents.Whichiscase-neutral,andusuallyhasnon-humanantecedents.Herearesomeexamples.Therelativepronounsinsidethebracketedrelativeclausesareunderlinedineachcase;theantecedentsareinboldfacetype.
36Anotherstudent[[NPwho]wrotethesameessay]madethesamemistake.
37Lunchwasservedintherestaurantdownstairsbytheproprietorhimself–aMonsieurSavlon[[NPwhom]we’dmet_briefly].
38IshallrereadThomasMann’sBuddenbrooks(Minerva),[[NPwhich]Iread_solongagoI’veforgottenalotofit].
39TheFamilyPractitionerCommittee(FPC)[[PPtowhom]yourformwillbesent_]mayhowevercheckyourclaimatalaterdate.
40InareportfromGreenpeacelastyear,andstillavailableonline,retailersandcanningcompanieswererankedinorderoftheirtuna-fishingpolicies.Sainsbury,Co-opandMarks&Spencercametop;PrincesandJohnWest–[[NPmostofwhose]wasfrompurseseiners]–camebottom.
In(36)–(38)thewh-phrasesaresimplewh-NPs,headedbyarelativepronoun,whereasin(39)and(40)thewh-phrasesarecomplex.In(39)itisaprepositionalphrasewhoseHeadtotakesanNPheadedbytherelativepronounwhomasitsComplement.In(40)therelativepronounoccursinsideaPPwhichcomplementstheHeadofanNP(most).Complexwh-phraseswillbediscussedinsection7.3.3.1.
Thesymbol‘_’intheexamplesaboveindicatesa‘gap’intheclausewithwhichtheinitialwh-phraseisassociated.Onewayofviewingtheassociationbetweenthewh-phraseandthegapistoregardtheformerashavingbeenmovedfromthegap
positiontoaclause-initialposition.Thereisnosuggestionthatthismovementactuallytakesplaceinourminds;theterm‘movement’isusedmerelyasaconvenientwaytoconceptualizetherelationbetweenthewh-phraseandthegap.
InformalwritingwhomisusedwhentherelativepronounfunctionsasDirectObjectorastheComplementofapreposition.Thusin(37)whomistheDirectObjectofMEET,andin(39)itistheComplementofto.Thisruleisoftenrelaxed,thoughlesssoafterapreposition;whoisthenusedinstead.
Inalltheexamplesabovetherelativepronounsareusedindependently.Relativewhosecanonlybeusedindependentlyafterapreposition,asin(40).Itisuseddependentlybeforeanounin(41).
41Apparently,Johnsonstillgetstheodd“Morning,Boris”fromsellersofTheBigIssuemagazine,[[NPwhosecover]hecurrentlyadorns_].
In(41)weusewhosecoverratherthanthemorecomplexthecoverofwhich.Weregardwhoseasapronounhere,ratherthanasadeterminative,becauseitcarriesgenitivecase.ItfunctionsasaDeterminerinsidethegenitiveNPheadedbycover.(Seealsosection3.2.2.5fortheindependentuseofwhoseasaninterrogativepronoun.)
In(42)whichisarelativedeterminative.
42Buttheresultswereinconclusive,[[PPatwhichpoint]itssharesweresuspended].
Itisnotapronounherebecausewhichbeforeanouncannevertakegenitivecase(cf.*Thesociety,which’sregulationswereamended,waswithoutachair).SeeSection3.3.5.
Thewordthatinthebracketedrelativeclausein(43)isanalysedinthisgrammarasasubordinatingconjunction,notasarelativepronoun(seesection3.9).
43Itsoundslikesomekindoftherapy[thatyou’redoing].
IwillreturntorelativeclausesinSection7.3.3.
3.2.2.4Freerelativepronouns
Thebracketedstringsintheexamplesbelowarecalledfreerelativeclauses,whichtypicallyoccurinnounphrasepositions.
44[[NPWhat]youdo_]isjusttoswitchitoff.
45Youhavegottherighttodo[[NPwhatever]youwant_],think[NP[whatever]youwant_]andsay[NP[whatever]youwant_].Thoserightswerewonbypeoplewhofoughtforusanddiedforus.
46Isitworthcomplainingto[[NPwhoever]wasincharge]?
Inthesecasesthefreerelativeclausesareintroducedbytheitalicizedfreerelativepronouns,whichfunctionasthenominalHeadofawh-phrase.Themosttypicalmemberofthisclassiswhat.Lesstypicalarewho(m),which,who(m)ever,andwhatever.Theyaresaidtobe‘free’becausetheylackanantecedent.Withintheclausesin(44)and(45)theitalicizedwordsareassociatedwiththegapsindicatedby‘_’,asbefore.
Itisimportanttobeawareofthefactthatthewordswehaveanalysedasfreerelativepronounsabovecanalsobeassignedtootherwordclasses,dependingonthesyntacticenvironmentinwhichtheyoccur.Forexample,whatisaninterrogativepronouninWhatdidyoueat?(section3.2.2.5),andaninterrogativedeterminativeinWhatfilmsdidyouwatch?(Section3.3.4).Finally,in(47)whatisafreerelativedeterminative,tobediscussedinSection3.3.5.
47Shehadsenther[[NPwhatmoney]shecould].
Iwilldiscussfreerelativeclausesindetailinsection7.3.3.5.
3.2.2.5Interrogativepronouns
Interrogativepronouns(listedinTable3.8)arewh-wordsthatoccurinsidewh-phrasespositionedatthebeginningofinterrogativeclauses.Thesearecharacteristicallyusedtoaskquestions(section6.2).Theformswho,whom,andwhoserefertohumans.
Interrogativepronouns
who/whom (occuronlyindependently)
whose (occursindependentlyanddependently)
which/what (occurindependentlyaspronouns,dependentlyasdeterminatives)
Table3.8:Interrogativepronouns
48[NPWho]needsmoreofthese?
49[NPWhom]didyoubeat_inthefinal?
50[PPTowhom]areyouaccountable_?
51[NPWhom]didyouenjoyworkingwith_themost?
52Whentherearecompetingrituals–stockingsorpillowcases–[NPwhose]doyoujettison_?
WhoisthenominativeformusedinSubjectposition,whilewhomistheaccusativeformassociatedwithaDirectObjectpositionorwithaprepositionalComplementposition(indicatedby‘_’).Whomisformal,andmorelikelytooccurinwrittenlanguage.Prepositionalphrasescontaininginterrogativepronounscaneitherbedisplacedasawhole,asin(50),orhaveonlytheComplementmoved,asin(51).Thewordwhosein(52)isanindependentgenitiveformfunctioningastheDirectObjectoftheverbJETTISON.ItcanbecontrastedwiththedependentgenitiveinterrogativepronouninsideanNP,exemplifiedin(53).
53[NPWhosehome]didyoutakeherto_?
Seealsosections3.2.2.3,5.2.1.2,and6.2.1.
Theinterrogativepronounwhichcanbeusedtoaskquestionsabouthumansornon-humans.
54[NPWhichofthesemen]wouldyouchoose_tobabysitforyou?
55[NPWhich]camefirst,thegoldengooseorthegoldenegg?
Bycontrast,thepronounwhatcanonlybeusedtoaskquestionsaboutnon-humans.
56Whatdidyousay_?
57Whatisthetime?
Noticethatin(52)and(55),butnotin(56),wehaveasensethatanounismissing.
Wewilltreatdependentwhichandwhatin(58)and(59)asinterrogativedeterminatives.
58[NPWhichlane]wasthedebrisfoundin_?
59[NPWhatnationality]ishe?
Seesection5.2.1.2forfurtherdiscussion.
3.2.2.6Demonstrativepronouns
Englishhasfourdemonstrativepronouns,asshowninTable3.9:thisandthat,and
theirpluralformstheseandthose.Thisandtheseareusedtorefertoentitiesthatareproximal(i.e.closeby),whereasthatandthoserefertoentitiesthataredistal(i.e.furtheraway).
Table3.9:Demonstrativepronouns
Herearesomeexamples.
60ThisisaperfectlygoodconversationasfarasI’mconcerned.
61Thesearepeanutty.
62That’sthechallenge.
63ThosearedefinedinverybroadtermstoincludetheentireJewishpeople.
Itisimportanttobeawareofthefactthatwhentheyoccurbeforenouns,this/these(asinthisstory/thesestories)andthat/those(asinthatallegation/thoseallegations)aredeterminatives(seesection3.3).
3.2.2.7Indefinitepronouns
Thiscategorycomprisespronounswhichare‘indefinite’inthesensethattheydonotrefertoindividualsorentitiesthatareidentifiabletotheaddressee.Forexample,ifsomeonesaysI’veeatensixcakesandIwantanotherthewordanotherreferstoanycakethatcanbechosenfromasetofcakes.Table3.10liststheindefinitepronounsinEnglishwithexamples.Someofthesepronounsaresimpleinform(all,many,some),whileothersarecompounds(anyone,somebody).
Indefinitepronouns
additive another
(a)Oneexampleisthevertebrateimmunesystem.Anotheristhelearningsystem.
degree few,fewer,less,li