SYNTAX 1: word classes

1. GRAMMAR AND HISTORICAL OVERVIEW

Syntax is the study of the ways words, phrases and clauses combine in order to form larger units. Syntax studies: items and their arrangements (Do | I | know | you | from | somewhere?) and transformations (John is ready to eat - John now wants to eat; John can now be eaten). There are two levels of analysis in syntax: surface level and deep level. John is eager to please. - John is easy to please. -> these two sentences have similar surface structures visually but different deep structures (meaning) To swallow safety pins is quite stupid. - It is quite stupid to swallow safety pins. -> different surface, similar deep structures What is the meaning of transformation in syntax ? To establish the meaning of a sentence we have to paraphrase it or transform it. I saw an elephant in my pyjamas: - I saw an elephant that was wearing my pyjamas. - I saw an elephant while wearing my pyjamas. Grammar is: 1. systematic study of morphology and syntax 2. set of rules and examples 3. book containing such rules 4. system in the mind acquired from infancy (abstract, the speaker knows whether sth is acceptable) Prescriptive rules (extralinguistic) state how people should use a word (You shouldnt end a sentence with a preposition), and descriptive rules describe how certain patterns function and how people use it (Present Continuous is used to express an action happening at the time of speaking.) Name three factors in explaining prescriptive rules. Latin - considered to be the perfect language (It is I vs. It is me) Logic - two negatives give a positive (I didnt see nobody = I saw somebody) Tradition - older forms are just, you know, better. HYPERCORRECTION - applying a prescriptive rule when it is now needed in order to sound smarter, more educated or posh Standard English is a variety not restricted to any region, public language of official communication, taught in schools (and to foreign students), written and explained in grammars, dictionaries, guides, identified with educated English, public language of official communication. Refers to grammar, not accent. When something is not standard (non standard, sub standard) there is usually no problem in understanding it but social/extra linguistic judgement is making it look bad (because it is ungrammatical in standard English) e.g. He aint coming.

SYNTAX 1: word classes

Language properties important for grammar: 1. Complexity - out of sight, out of mind = invisible idiot 2. Productivity - we can be productive by breaking existing rules (This jacket is very you) 3. Arbitrariness - we find different word order patterns around the world and all are equally logical 4. Duality (double articulation) - level of sound and level of meaning Grammaticality (competence) refers to the knowledge of a language, and acceptability (performance) refers to the usage of a language. Something can be fully grammatical but not acceptable -> Has anyone really been far as decided to use even go want to do look more like? Acceptability is a matter of degree between unacceptable and fully acceptable. Parsing - stating parts of speech; based on the Latin tradition Rote-learning - rules and definitions had to be memorised and recited, without understanding HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Plato -> divided the sentence into ONOMA (N) and RHEMA (V) Aristotle -> added SINDESMOI (all other words in a sentence - pron, prep, adv...); word = a component of the sentence having meaning of its own, but not further divisible into meaningful units The Stoics -> increased the number of word classes, introduced more precise definitions and indentified case as a nominal grammatical variation Dionysius Thrax -> studied the skills of reading and writing, introduced 8 parts of speech - name, verb, participle, article, pronoun, preposition, adverb and conjunction Varro -> first comparative grammarian, converted the technical terms of Greek into Latin, distinguished between inflection and derivation Priscian -> his grammar is the only complete surviving grammar of Latin from Middle Age William Bullokar -> first grammar of English J.C.Nesfield -> his grammar was used as a standard grammar textbook in schools John Wallis -> his grammar was not based on the rules of Latin grammar

SYNTAX 1: word classes

2. MORPHOLOGY AND WORD CLASSES

Morphology is the study of the structure and content of words. What is the difference between syntax and morphology? The difference between syntax and morphology is that syntax begins with words and their study (they are the starting point) , while words are the end point of morphology. Morpheme is a minimal linguistic unit which has meaning or a grammatical function. Allomorph is a different realization of the same morpheme. Same morpheme appears in 3 different allomorphs -> horses /iz/, beds /z/, cats /s/. Word is a minimum free form, the smallest unit of language that can stand alone. Lexeme is a group of word forms that share the same basic meaning, similar forms and the same word class. e.g. take, took, taken, taking, takes. Orthographic words are linguistic units separated by spaces in written text. Grammatical words are word forms associated with certain grammatical properties (tense, number, word class). Same orthographic words, belonging to the same lexeme but different grammatical words - One sheep, two sheep, fall asleep... Token is an each occurrence of a word in a written or spoken text. POJAVNICA Types are different word forms which occur in a text. RAZLINICA And then we saw the trailers and the movie. -> 9 tokens, 7 word types magnifying, magnifies, magnify, magnifying, magnify, magnified -> 4 types, 6 tokens, 1 lexeme Major word classes: 1. Lexical words (open classes) : nouns, full (lexical) verbs, adjectives, adverbs main carriers of meaning in a text polimorphemic - consist of more than 1 morpheme 2. Function words (closed classes) : prepositions, determiners, pronouns, auxiliary verbs, conjunctions indicate relations between lexical words or larger units, cannot be heads of phrases monomorphemic - consist only of 1 morpheme 3. Inserts : interjections Lexical vs. function words I just called to say I love you. F: I - to - I - you. L: just - call - say - love (Lexical words are easier to understand - Arriving tomorrow!)

SYNTAX 1: word classes

What kinds of morphemes are there? 1. Free - can stand alone, appear in isolation a) lexical - open classes (girl, pretty, go) b) functional - closed classes (and, in, the, he) 2. Bound a) roots (-mit, -fer) - have no meaning in isolation, but acquire meaning in combination with other morphemes, Latin words b) affixes i. derivational - [change the meaning of a word] prefixes (un-, re-, sub-), suffixes (-ish, -ate, -ly) ii. inflectional - [do not change the meaning of a word] suffixes (-s, ing, -est) Affix is a morpheme that attached to a word creates a new word. Infixes (bound morphemes inserted between other morphemes that creates a new word) are called the ultimate affixes. Levels of grammatical analysis: 1. Morphological - analyses the structure of words (books - book + s) 2. Syntactic - analyses the way words combine into phrases (nice books) 3. Semantic - analyses the meaning of the form (books are objects in the world) What is the -ing issue? It is a borderline case when it comes to word classes. Hes dancing in the club. - verb, refers to an action His dancing is awful. - gerund (-ing noun) [poss.det (his) is used with a noun] Dancing people are funny. - participle * -ing nouns = gerunds | -ing verbs and -ing adjectives = participles

SYNTAX 1: word classes

3. PHRASES AND CLAUSES

Constituent is an element within a larger structure. English students like this novel. [English students] [like] [this] [novel]. [English] [students] [like] [this] [novel]. Immediate constituents = phrases Ultimate constituents =words A phrase consists of words belonging to particular word classes that are combined in certain ways to make larger units. Identified by substitution ([They] [are reading] [it].) / wh-question (Who likes this novel?) / movement ([This novel] [is liked] [by English students] test. Each phrase may consists of premodification, the head and postmodification. [by [English students]] NP embedded within PP What types of phrases are there? 1. Noun phrase - our old (PREMOD) radio (HEAD) in the garage (POSTMOD) Complex NP - clause embedded in a NP (the plan to rob the bank is silly) 2. Verb phrase a) Lexical (full) - function as the main verb, head of the verb phrase, can appear in isolation or with other verbs, refer to actions, states, processes (go, run, choose) b) Modal - the way in which an action is performed, auxiliary verbs (can, must, may, should) c) Primary - most important, most basic in English, both main and auxiliary verbs (be, have, do) [How do you do that thing you do?] - head/main verb = in a verb phrase can only be lexical or primary, they can be alone or preceded by auxiliary verbs [We have lots of fun collecting the stamps] - finite vs. non-finite - discontinuous/split VP Jennifer has just come home. I will always love you 3. Adjective phrase - an adjective can have attributive position (in front of a noun) - Jaws is a good movie. or a predicative position (after a verb) -> Jaws is a good movie (attributive) - The movie Jaws is good 4. Adverb phrase - adverb adverbial, adverbs = word class, form class, a kind of form; adverbial = function within a clause 5. Prepositional phrase - PP = preposition + NP (prepositional complement) [in a car under the bridge] - extended PPs - with a premodifier (back to the future, exactly at noon) - stranded/deferred preposition - not followed by its prepositional complement or its prepositional object, What are you looking at?

SYNTAX 1: word classes

A clause is the smallest grammatical unit that can express a complete proposition. It is formed by combining phrases. A sentence is an independent utterance, a discourse. a) Simple sentence - single clause (I left my head and my heart on the dancefloor.) b) Complex sentence - 1 main/matrix clause with 1 or more dependent/subordinate clauses (If I said that, would you hold it against me?) c) Compund sentence - 2 or more independent clauses, both can stand alone
(Im out in the club and Im sipping that bub.)

Predicate as 1 unit? Who ate the baloney sandwich in the basement while you were dancing the night away? The mouse did. Clause/Valency patterns (the number in the type of syntactic elements required by the verb): 1) Intransitive = S + V Sarah and Michael disappeared. 2) Monotransitive = S + V + Od The whole family saw the play. 3) Ditransitive = S + V + Od + Oi Maria gave him the keys. 4) Complex transitive = S + V + Od + Co / S + V + Od + Aobligatory We can make you a superstar. / She put her hand on my shoulder. 5) Copular = S + V + Cs / S + V + Aobligatory You are the one, Neo. / Honey, Im home. Clause elements: 1. Subject - She likes him. -> agent/doer of action - It was seen by Ricky. -> in the passive S can be moved after the verb - empty subject/empty it/dummy pronoun -> Its raining. has no meaning, just a grammatical role 2. Object - typical object = a NP (You crashed my BMW convertible) a) direct object - affected entity S did sth to O (She bought a new dress.) or more rarely unaffected entity (Do you speak Zulu?) b) indirect object - beneficiary Oi benefited/received sth from S (A passer-by gave me this jacket.) 3. Complement/predicative 1) subject complement/predicative - typical realisations: NP, AdjP, PP
This is Dr Stefan Frank. He seems happy. He is also in good shape.

verbs: linking 2) object complement/predicative - typical realisations: NP, AdjP, PP

They elected him President. I cant get this open. They left me in a state of shock.

verbs: make, find, consider...

SYNTAX 1: word classes

4. Adverbial - complements the main verb (the action), adds more information typical realisations: PP, AdvP, NP - Your toast is on the table - adverbial complement/obligatory adverbial - if we leave it out theres a drastic change in the meaning of a clause, or the clause becomes incomplete -> Maria was home. - adjunct/optional adverbial - sentence can function without it; can appear more than one in a clause, in different positions; She played the guitar (in the garden). In intransitive pattern, monotransitive, ditransitive, copular and complex-transitive (all of them). Peripheral clause elements. 1) Conjunctions - link phrases or clauses (Jane is here and you are not.) 2) Parentheticals - style in which additional information are enclosed within parentheses (round brackets) and embedded in the text (As the chart (right) shows... , ...when the party came to power (1979)) 3) Prefaces - typical realisation: NP, not a part of the main clause, in front of the main clause, introduces the topic, has the same reference as the pronoun in the main clause (This woman, she must be ninety!) 4) Tags 1. question tags - for agreement, for emphasis -> It looks good, doesnt it? 2. declarative tags - for emphasis, to stress the idea from the main clause, form: S+V -> Hes alright he is. 3. noun phrase tags - at the end, after the main clause, opposite of preface, the same as the pronoun in the main clause, to clarify the reference of the pronoun -> She is beautiful, your neighbour. 5) Inserts - can be used in isolation, at the end, at the beginning -> Good morning, Charlie. / Yeah, I know. / Hold on, please. 6) Vocatives - function, to address somebody -> Dude, wheres my car?

SYNTAX 1: word classes

4. VERBS
Two meanings: part of speech, lexical category, word class a function Types of verbs: 1. lexical/full - go, run, choose -> function as main verbs 2. modal - should, would, must -> function as auxiliary verbs 3. primary - be, have, do -> function as main and auxiliary verbs Simple VP - consists of only 1 verb -> I believe you Complex VP - consists of 2 or more verbs, main verb is always at the end -> They should be giving me chocolate. Regular verbs take 4 morphological forms: 1.) base form (walk) 2.) s form (walks) 3.) ed form (walked) 4.) ing form (walking) Irregular verbs can take up to 5 forms (spelling changes - stop, stopping) Multi-word lexical verbs: 1. Phrasal verbs -> The plane has taken off. a) intransitive -> Hold on! Ill be there in a jiffy. b) transitive -> Why did you have to bring it up? c) copular -> turn out, end up, wind up 2. Prepositional verbs - lexical verb + prep -> Can you cope with it? a) with prepositional object -> Im listening to Cher. b) with object and prepositional object -> The film reminds me of you. 3. Phrasal-prepositional verbs - lexical verb + adverbial participle + prep Dont take it out on me! a) with prepositional object -> Im looking forward to our trip. b) with object and prepositional object -> Everyone gets rejected from time to time, put it down to experience. 4. Free combinations - Come back, you fool! Copular verbs -> You are sweet. You are a maniac. You are in tears. You are what you eat. a) Current copular verbs i. state of existence (seem, appear, remain) -> He is sad. ii. sensory perception (look, feel, sound) -> The soup tastes wonderful. b) Result copular verbs - result of a process of change (become, grow, end up) -> The exercise proved useful. Middle verbs -> You resemble my cousin Vinnie. - stative monotransitive verbs which normally do not allow the passive (because transitive verbs usually allow the passive). Causative verbs -> X causes Y to do sth - I made my friend dance the forbidden dance.

SYNTAX 1: word classes

Finite vs. Non-Finite FINITE can occur as the VP of independent clauses have tense contrast show concord with the subject have mood (indicative/imperative/subjunctive) only the 1st verb is finite in finite VPs -> She calls him every day. modal and/or primary verb - can go, will go, has gone, is going, had gone, would have gone; morphologically tensed -> present - goes, past went. NON-FINITE cannot usually occur as the verb phrase of independent clauses all the verbs are non-finite in NF VP -> He smokes. - To smoke like that must be dangerous. infinitive - (to) go, -ed participle: gone, -ing participle - going Contrasts in the VP: 1) Tense - present / past / future - grammatical category of time Tense vs. time = tense is a grammatical category that refers to linguistic forms, while time is an extra-linguistic category and refers to hours, minutes etc. (it can be measured). 2) Aspect - the way the speaker perceives the situation ---> simple (unmarked / perfect / progressive / perfect progressive) 3) Modality - unmarked (no modals) / marked (with modals) 4) Voice - active / passive 5) Mood - indicative (fact, state, statement) / imperative (command) / subjunctive (advice,
hypothesis, insistence)

6) Negation/Question - positive / negative / interrogative Word order in complex VP MPPPM (modality, perfect, progressive, passive, main verb) By June, you will have been being taught syntax for three months. Dynamic vs. stative verbs DYNAMIC = actions STATIVE = states a. perception - notice, hear b. emotions/attitudes - adore, agree, desire, hate, love, like, respect, want, wish c. intellectual states - forget, know, realize, remember, understand d. possession - belong, have, owe, own, possess

SYNTAX 1: word classes

10

Progressive vs. Simple Im looking at you. Im listening to you. -> the subject has control over actions -> S is the agent

I see you. I hear you. -> no control over the situation -> S is the experiencer

Present tense vs. Future time I leave tomorrow. -> action is certain to take place (fixed, predetermined), its a part of a schedule, a timetable, the situation is established by someone else, not by the subject, an impersonal plan, not under human control. I am leaving tomorrow. -> a future arrangement, plan established by the subject, a personal plan, can be controlled. A. Present Simple 1. future time - schedule -> The plane leaves at 12:30. 2. historic present - to make the situation more vivid, immediate -> We leave for Beijing tomorrow. 3. instructions - I take thee, to be my wife. 4. instantaneous present a. actions happening in a sequence - little or no duration, dynamic verbs b. actions happening at the same time 5. performative verbs - you do an action by saying the sentence -> I pronounce you man and wife. B. Present Continuous (Present Progressive) 1. action happening now (in progress at the moment of speaking) -> Im dancing the night away. 2. action happening around now, around the moment of speaking -> Im reading A Game of Thrones. 3. to express a future arrangement -> They are going out tonight. 4. historic present -> 5. annoyance - with always, constantly -> Hes always buying me flowers. 6. a kind of behaviour, a temporary action -> Are you wasting my time - are you just being kind? *youre kind -> a permanent characteristic C. Past Simple 1. finished past actions -> Jenny bought the newspaper yesterday. 2. repeated actions in the past -> I often drank milk when I was a kid. 3. finished past state -> They lived in Australia for 10 years. Past Simple vs. Used To I lived here -> refers to only one period, there wasn't a break in that period I used to live here -> refers to two periods - a period in which I lived here, and a period in which I didn't live here

SYNTAX 1: word classes

11

D. Past Continuous (Past Progressive) 1. action in progress over a period of time in the past -> It was getting darker. 2. interrupted action in the past, background action for another past action -> While I was having a bath, the phone rang. 3. 2 parallel actions in progress in the past -> While he was knitting, she was playing soccer. Past Simple vs. Past Continuous He often bought milk. -> past habits, repeated action in the past He fell asleep while he was buying milk. -> single event over a limited period of time E. Present Perfect Simple 1. an unfinished past state (with stative verbs) -> They have lived in Australia for 10 years. 2. an experience at some point in your life -> I have ridden a horse. [I rode in 2003.] 3. result in present - current relevance -> The Republicans have won the elections. F. Present Perfect Continuous 1. an unfinished past action (with dynamic verbs) -> Tom has been repairing the BMW. 2. an action which has just stopped -> Why are you so red in the face? - Ive been running. Perfective vs. Imperfective duration - duration is not an important factor, the only important thing is psychological time which refers to the speaker's perception of the temporal aspect of the situation The passive voice be + past participle - refers to states, more formal, more often takes an agent (They are worried.) get + past participle - more dynamic, refers to changes of states, more informal and conversational, rarely takes an agent (They got worried.) 1) short passives (agentless) -> He's been killed. 2) long passives (with an agent) -> He's been killed by a spider. Uses of the passive: 1. when we focus on the action rather than the agent -> The house next door has been bought by a Mr Jones. 2. the agent is not important -> The bridge was built in 1964. 3. the agent is obvious -> The streets are swept every day. 4. the agent is unknown -> Your car has been moved. 5. avoiding to mention the agent -> This letter has been opened! 6. the agent is generic (=people) -> He is said to be dangerous.

SYNTAX 1: word classes

12

Modals and semi modals always followed by infinitives, used to show the way in which the action happened 1) central modals - single-word elements = true modals -> can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must 2) semi modals - multi word constructions -> had better, have to, be going to, be supposed to, be able to, ought to modal meaning: a) personal (intristic) - permission, obligation, volition, intention; refers to human control of actions and events, verbs are usually dynamic, the subject is normally a human being b) logical (extrinsic) - prediction, logical necessity, possibility; refers to logical status of states and events, S can be non-human, verbs can be stative You must be tolerant. -> both! MUST vs. HAVE TO He must wear an uniform. -> the speaker feels it is necessary He has to wear an uniform. -> thats the rule I must stop smoking. -> I feel that I have to stop smoking. -> it is starting to affect my health You must see this film. -> the speaker feels it is necessary You have to see this film. -> obligation (e.g. homework) MUST = the necessity of the situation is subjective and internal HAVE TO = the necessity is objective and external MUSTN'T (obligation) vs. DON'T HAVE TO (no external obligation) You mustn't wear a uniform - prohibition (order) You don't have to wear a uniform - lack of obligation CAN vs. MAY You can park here. -> It is possible for you to park here. - possibility (external) You may park here. -> You are allowed to park here. - permission (internal) = possibility created by the speaker CAN vs. MAY vs. MIGHT vs. COULD The road is blocked. -> fact The road can be blocked. -> It is possible to block the road. - general or theoretical possibility The road may/might/could be blocked. -> It is possible that the road is blocked - situational possibility [may is stronger, might is remote, could is more objective]

SYNTAX 1: word classes

13

WILL vs. GOING TO WILL a) prediction -> My car will be at the mechanics next week. b) instant decision (prediction made at the moment of speaking) -> We dont have any sugar. - Oh, OK, Ill buy some! c) prediction about the present -> He will be home by now. GOING TO a) prediction based on present facts (external evidence) -> Shes going to have a baby. Its going to rain. b) intention, decision made before the moment of speaking - prediction based on internal evidence -> We dont have any sugar. - I know, Im going to buy some. WILL vs. PRESENT CONTINUOUS vs. GOING TO 1. What will you do when you leave school? -> prediction - deciding at the moment of speaking 2. What are you doing when you leave school? -> future arrangement - it is made in the past, before the moment of speaking 3. What are you going to do when you leave school? -> intention - before the moment of speaking and up to the moment of speaking FUTURE CONTINUOUS 1. Ill study at 6. Ill be studying at 6. -> It will be in progress, Ill start before 6. 2. Well be flying at 30 000 feet. -> a routine - inevitable arrangement (future as a matter of course) 3. When will you come again? -> deciding now When will you be coming again? -> more polite, inevitable, we just want to know the time of the action SHALL vs. WILL SHALL - in 1st and 3rd person Sg -> prescriptive rule!, more formal He will regret it. -> inevitable He shall regret it. -> I will make this more inevitable - the speaker creates inevitability We shall never surrender. -> resolution Thou shall not steal. -> order This company shall not be liable for loss. -> formal promise I shall always be a miss, insisted miss Marple. -> personal promise PAST SIMPLE vs. USED TO I used to live here as a child (and I live here now.) refers to 2 periods: 1 - in which I lived there, 2 - in which I didnt = there has to be a break, we cannot say Ive lived here... I lived here as a child (and I live here now.) -> Ive always lived here. - refers to 1 period

SYNTAX 1: word classes

14

What do MUST and MAY and SHALL have in common? - if there is a speaker involved, they're all personal The subjunctive mood present subjunctive (base form) I recommend that she (not) go there. The committee demands that we be there on time. USES: a) in that - clauses - They insist that he resign (AmE) / should resign / resigns (BrE), usually in formal commands and requests b) in expressions - God save the Queen, Come what may, Long live the King, So help me God, God forbid -> optative forms past subjunctive (were subjunctive) If she were smart, shed sell ASAP. -> formal Suppose everyone were like you. -> formal If she was smart, shed sell ASAP. I wish I was your lover. -> expressing wishes and imaginary past actions, hypothesis -> indicative - less formal If only, imagine, as if / as though, Id rather... Indirect questions What is she doing? - He wants to know what she is doing. Who was Hamlet? - Hamlet was a prince. He wants to know who Hamlet was. - He wants to know who was Hamlet.

SYNTAX 1: word classes

15

5. NOUNS AND NOUN PHRASES

Types of nouns: 1. Proper a. personal names - James Bond, Jupiter b. place names - London, Birmingham, Brazil c. organization names - Nokia, Toyota, the European Union d. time names - August grammatical properties: no contrast of number, we dont usually use determiners; exceptions: the White House, the Cape of Good Hope = multi-word expression, phrasal names 2. Common a. Countable i. Concrete - book(s), day(s), woman/women, town(s) ii. Abstract - idea(s), situation(s) b. Uncountable i. Concrete - furniture, luggage, homework, money ii. Abstract - information, air, love There is no grammatical difference between concrete and abstract nouns, only semantical. Countable vs. uncountable = connected with how we see the world, not with how the world really is Do you like chicken? -> food, meat Do you like chickens? -> animals Plural uncountable nouns Those pants look smashing. -> plural (-s, plural determiner, plural verb) uncountable (a pant, two pants) Proper nouns functioning as common nouns - have articles and have plural We keep buying useless stuff just to keep up with the Joneses. -> the whole family Every large city should have a Hyde Park. -> a place like Hyde Park Mario has always wanted a Picasso. -> a picture of Picasso There were no Shakespeares in the 19th century. -> people like Shakespeare You could do an Arnold Schwarzenegger - just break it! -> an action typical of this person Package nouns ---> 4 classes of countable common nouns: 1. QUANTITY a. Collective nouns i. people, animals, things -> family, committee, staff, team ii. of-collectives + Pl [C] nouns - individuals put in a group, forms after them: countable -> a small group of musicians, crowds of people, a huge bunch of flowers, a flock of geese

SYNTAX 1: word classes

16

b. Unit nouns - start with a mass and than you break it into individual, uncountable -> with a little bit of luck, give a chunk of chocolate c. Quantifying nouns - forms after them: uncountable or plural countable nouns -> a kilo of cheese/apples, life is like a box of chocolates, Ive told you that a hundred times 2. QUALITY a. Species nouns - refers to the type of the item, entity, to a kind of quality, forms after them: uncountable, plural countable, singular countable with a zero determiner -> we need a different type of energy, there are several species of trees here. Number 1) Regular plurals: -(e)s -> horses, days, spies, atlases, waltzes, pianos, volcanoes 2) Irregular plurals: a) MUTATION - vowel change -> foot - feet, goose - geese, tooth teeth, ox - oxen (Germanic Pl ending), brother - brethren (in religious or dramatic context) ! BUT still life - still lifes b) fireman - firemen, Frenchman - Frenchmen (if man is used as the 2nd unstressed part of the compound we use the weak pronunciation of the vowel - Sg and Pl are pronounced the same) c) VOICING - 13 exceptions - calf - calves, elf - elves, half - halves, knife - knives, leaf, life, loaf, self, sheaf, shelf, thief, wife, wolf 3) Zero plurals: a) animals -> sheep - sheep, deer - deer, cod - cod b) numerals used as determiners -> DEFINITE NUMBERS: two hundred of cars, five thousand of people; INDEFINITE NUMBERS (of-phrase) hundreds of people, thousands of cars c) other -> aircraft, series, species 4) Foreign plurals a) Latin i. -us -> -i -> stimulus -> stimuli, focus -> foci, corpus -> corpora, genus -> genera ii. -a -> -ae -> antenna -> antennae, formula -> formulae iii. -um -> -a -> addendum -> addenda, stratum -> strata iv. -ex/-ix -> -ices -> appendix -> appendices, index -> indices b) Greek i. -is -> -es -> analysis -> analyses, basis -> bases ii. -on -> -a -> criterion -> criteria, phenomenon -> phenomena c) Italian i. -o -> -i -> libretto -> libretti / librettos (musicians vs. regular people), tempo -> tempi d) French i. bureau -> bureaux or bureaus, plateau -> plateaux or plateaus ii. chassis -> chassis, rendezvous -> rendezvous iii. (army) corps -> corps

SYNTAX 1: word classes

17

5) Nouns with no number contrast a) ONLY SINGULAR i. the noun news -> The news is good. ii. -ics -> Linguistics is awesome. (physics, mathematics) iii. diseases -> Measles is not so pleasant. (rickets, herpes) iv. games -> Anyway, is darts a sport? (dominoes, billiards) b) ONLY PLURAL i. binary nouns (two parts) -> scissors, tweezers, trousers, tights ii. aggregate nouns (indefinite number of parts) -> plural marking: arms, clothes, good, outskirts, remains, troops; no plural marking: cattle, livestock, people, vermin 6) Collective, aggregate or zero plural a) Collective - The family is/are nice. The team is/are playing well. both Sg and Pl, even if we use Pl verb form, the determiner is Sg b) Aggregate - Those arms are dangerous. These cattle are grazing. c) Zero plural - That/Those series is/are excellent. 7) Compounds a) plural marker at the end (close-up -> close-ups, take-off -> take-offs, ginand-tonic -> gins-and-tonics) b) plural marker at the beginning (commander-in-chief -> commanders-inchief, passer-by -> passers-by, brother-in-law -> brothers-in-law) c) appositive relation (woman doctor -> women doctors, manservant -> menservants, man-eater -> man-eaters. Case Nominative case = Common case Genitive case = marked by s -> the ladys opinion, the horses mouth, the bosss secretary, -> the students enthusiasm (the students enthusiasm -> Pl + *zero genitive+) Zero Genitive 1. with plural nouns ending in -s -> my friends' house 2. with classical Greek names ending in -s -> Socrates' wife, Achilles heel 3. with English surnames ending in -s -> Jones' or Jones's, Dickens or Dickenss Genitive or of-phrase? These are fathers trousers. -> with human possessors we to use the genitive form Lets go to the font of the house. -> inanimate nouns go better with of-phrases There were strong objections from the islands inhabitants / the inhabitants of the island. -> sometimes we can use both

SYNTAX 1: word classes

18

Genitive meanings 1) Possessive genitive -> Mr Bonds gadgets - Mr Bond owns gadgets 2) Attributive genitive -> the victims courage - the victim was courageous 3) Subjective genitive -> the prisoners arrival - the prisoner arrived 4) Objective genitive -> the prisoners release - they released the prisoner Genitives of time, measure and location TIME This weeks programme sucks big time. A man deserves a few weeks holiday. MEASURE Pandora was released today on 10 000 dollars bail. I want 3 years supply of whiskey. LOCATION the worlds best universities Africas first arts festival Croatias leading yoga experts Determiner or modifier? a. the specifying genitive -> *the neighbours+ dictionary - whose dictionary? -> functions as a determiner - this dictionary -> the determiner always refers to the head noun b. the classifying genitive -> a *womens+ university - what kind of university? -> functions as a modifier - we can use another adjective, noun... -> a French university, a feminine university Independent genitive 1. elliptic genitive - the head noun is omitted, the genitive stands on its own -> JLos glass is almost empty, and so is Oprahs. -> His devotion is like fathers. 2. conventional independent genitive - dont need to mention the head noun -> sbs home, shops... -> Im at Jerrys. We might go to Harrods (Harrods). Double genitive (post-genitive) - we have an indefinite noun followed by an ofphrase, which contains either a possessive pronoun or a Saxon genitive -> Georges sister - the sister, his sister -> She is my friend. Shes a friend of mine. -> the only one I have -> you know which one Group genitive - if the noun phrase contains elements after the head noun, we add the genitive marker after the noun phrase -> King of Thailands visit, the girls next doors bicycle, someone elses house

SYNTAX 1: word classes

19

Gender - a grammatical classification of some linguistic elements as either masculine, feminine or neuter (nouns, pronouns, adjectives, determiners, verbs) In English gender is not a grammatical category (in Croatian it is) but it influences morphology. Glumac je stigao. - Glumica je stigla. --> obligatory forms The actor has arrived. - The actress has arrived. NATURAL GENDER (biological sex) <------> GRAMMATICAL GENDER male / female <------> masculine, feminine, neuter (extralinguistic) (truly linguistic categorisation) Grammatical gender Gender was assumed to be a basic grammatical feature of all languages because it was found in Lation, thats why it is studied in English even though it is not a grammatical category. Specyfing masculine/feminine contrast in nouns 1. different nouns -> father - mother, son - daughter, bull - cow 2. suffixes -> actor - actress, waiter - waitress 3. different modifiers -> male nurse, female officer, woman doctor 4. man/woman as a second part in compounds -> chairman, Englishman, policewoman Avoiding sexism spokesman - spokeswoman -> spokesperson! Someone has left his umbrella. -> his or her, their. The customer can leave his or her belongings here. Customers can leave their belongings here. Determiners - All (PRE) the (CENT) other (POST) people started dancing. 1. PREdeterminers a. all, both, half, what b. multipliers -> once, twice, three times, double 2. CENTRAL determiners a. articles -> zero article, a, an, the b. demonstrative determiners -> this, that, these, those c. possessive determiners -> my, your, his, hers 3. POSTdeterminers a. SLOT 1 i. ordinal numbers -> first, fourth ii. semi-determiners -> same, other, next b. SLOT 2 i. cardinal numbers -> one, two, three, four ii. quantifying determiners -> many, few, every

SYNTAX 1: word classes

20

Modifier or determiner? Shall I compare thee to a summer's day. - what kind of day - modifier She was suspicious of her wealthy brother's girlfriend. - whose girl determiner My best friend's wedding will be at the beginning of June. - whose wedding determiner The firm has captured a lion's share of the UK market. - what kind of share modifier The indefinite article 1. He wants to marry a rich heiress. specific use -> specific individual, but not named unspecific use -> any person of that kind 2. Janet is a singer. classifying use -> a member of a class or entities The zero article Do you like sugar? -> uncountable nouns He doesnt like birds. -> plural countable nouns We usually have lunch at noon. -> with meals, a fixed expression Marica is at university studying English. -> primary function of the institution My dad went to the school to see my teacher. -> the building Peters in bed. -> primary function Shes been appointed (the) head of the company. -> unique role, position by car, train, post, e-mail, cheque, credit card at Easter, at night, on Monday The definite article 1. Fred bought a radio and a TV, but he returned the radio. -> anaphoric reference -> referring back to previously mentioned item 2. She tried to open the front door, but she couldnt get the key into the lock. -> indirect anaphoric reference -> the previously mentioned noun is not repeated but following elements are related to it 3. Im trying to find the book that you mentioned. They destroyed the city of Troy. -> cataphoric reference -> we use it because of some elements that appear after the article 4. Pass the salt, please. Could you turn on the dishwasher, please? -> situational use -> unique in context

SYNTAX 1: word classes

21

Generic reference - discussing all the members of the class An African elephant has larger ears than an Indian. -> any elephant The African elephant has larger ears than the Indian elephant. -> one typical member of the class to represent the whole class African elephants have larger ears than Indian elephants. -> most common 1. You can never use the definite article with plural compounds with men to express a generic reference. The Chinese are nice. The Frenchmen are nice. (specific or generic) (specific, never generic) 2. The rich dont understand the poor. -> all the rich people and all the poor people Possessive determiners I you he she it we they

my your his her its our their DETERMINERS

(before a noun, definite meaning)

mine yours his hers ours theirs PRONOUNS

(used on their own, indefinite meaning)

Demonstrative determiners this watch - these watches -> entities which are near that watch - those watches -> entities which are far away ANAPHORIC REFERENCE -> Ill give you some advice. This advice will help you. -> indefinite CATAPHORIC REFERENCE -> Those students who wish to apply can do so. Quantifying determiners 1) inclusive - refer to the maximum quantity of the head nouns -> all those things, both hands -> each guest vs. every guest -> each = focuses on the individual, with 2 or more reference, Sg/Pl verb -> every = focuses on the individual as a member of a group -> Sg verb 2) large quantity - much interest, many people, plenty of / a lot of / lots of 3) moderate/small quality - some news, enough room, several people, a bit of 4) arbitrary/negative individual or amount - any information, either, neither, no

SYNTAX 1: word classes

22

Determiner or pronoun? Determiner determines a noun while pronoun stands instead of a noun. That is /my/ friend Tom. - determiner The boy is /mine/. - pronoun /His/ books are great. - determiner I believe this is /yours/. - pronoun A few vs. few / A little vs. little A few/a little denotes a medium quantity and has a positive meaning, while few/little has a negative meaning (not enough). We had a little money so we bought some pizza. (+) We had little money so we couldn't buy ourselves a pizza. (-) I have few friends. (-) I have a few friends. (+) Few is used with countable, whilst little is used with uncountable nouns. Numerals as determiners How many books do you nee? I need 2 books. -> determiner I need 2. -> head of the noun phrase The first three pages were stuck together. -> ordinals usually come 1st Semi-determiners (AKA adjectives meet determiners) -> they modify nouns, but their meaning is not descriptive the beautiful shoe -> The shoe is beautiful. the other shoe -> The shoe is other. -> they can be used as pronouns This book is nice. - This is nice -> determiner as pronoun Wh-determiners = what, which, whose a) interrogative clauses - Which witch watches which Swatch watch? b) relative clauses - Solar energy is an idea whose time has to come. What car? -> general Which car? -> limited number of choices Pronouns - used instead of noun phrases Types of pronouns: 1. Personal pronouns - gramm. categories: person, case, number, gender Wheres the blood? It is on the dance floor. -> non-personal reference strong personal relationships -> for vehicles (ships, cars), with instruments (knife), the sea, countries (England is proud of her poets.) 2nd person: What do you think? you two, you guys, you all, yall, youse, yous, yalls (possessive of yall)

SYNTAX 1: word classes

23

3rd person: a. My old friend Aristarchoss is now... He is Greek and likes musaka. -> anaphoric reference (antecedent = NP that pro refers to + pronoun) b. She arrived at Heathrow. Vittoria Vetra was a strong woman. -> cataphoric reference (pronoun + antecedent) Generic use of personal pronouns: people in general -> We/You/One/ can never be too careful. -> They say its bad luck to spill salt. Archaic: Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo? - S case (you) With this ring, I thee wed. - O case (you) Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done. - poss det (your) Love thine enemy. Thine be the glory. - poss pron (yours) Know thyself. - reflexive pronoun (thy) Abandon all hope ye who enter here. - 2nd person plural - S (you) 2. Reflexive pronouns -> I - myself, you - yourself / yourselves, he/she/it himself / herself / itself, we - ourselves, they - themselves Co-referential with a NP, agree with it in gender, number and person, they have the same reference, they refer to the same thing. 3. Reciprocal pronouns have generic forms (unlike reflexive) -> each other more commonly than one another ! Jack and Jill like themselves. -> Jack likes himself and Jill likes herself. Jack and Jill like each other. -> Jack likes Jill and Jill likes Jack. 4. Indefinite pronouns a. compound pronouns -> anybody, someone -> every, some, any, no + body, one, thing -> no one or no-one, not noone. b. quantifying pronouns -> all, both, some -> have the same form as quantifying determiners -> Some people are here. -> determiner I like some, but not all. -> pronoun I like some of them. -> pronoun c. the pronoun one -> substitute: one, ones -> Youre the one I need. (=person) -> Id like a book. This is a good one. (=book) These are good ones. (=books) -> often proceeded by determiners or adjectives - the one, the other one, the coolest one -> instead of a noun - the one mentioned before or established from the context -> generic: one, ones, oneself -> One should never lose ones head.

SYNTAX 1: word classes

24

5. Wh-pronouns a. interrogative - who, whom, whose, which, what -> Who do you think you are? Whose is this house? b. relative - who, whom, which, that, -> The woman who/that was driving was Judy. -> The actor who/whom/that/ you saw is excellent.

6. COMPLEX NOUN PHRASES

great (PRE) clubs (HEAD) in Paris (POSTMODIFICATION) 1) a noun phrase which contains a premodifier or a postmodifier -> a good book, a book on the shelf 2) a noun phrase which contains a postmodifying clause -> a book which I bought HEAD: noun - the man in the mirror pronoun - the one I need, all of you adjective - the poor PREMODIFIERS adjective - that tall girl participle - broken arrow, exhausting task noun - office furniture, market forces minor premodifying types (not so productive and not so frequent): genitive - a mans heart adverb - the then president sentence - come-to-bed eyes POSTMODIFIER prepositional phrase - a man from the tax office finite clause - the girl who has everything non-finite clause - some kids playing in the snow Appositive noun phrase - Prime Minister Gordon Brown minor types adverb - the road back adjective - something strange reflexive pronoun - she herself permanent characteristic - a timid man temporary state - an afraid man Premodification is associated with permanent or characteristic features. Postmodification is more explicit than premodification (gives us more specific and clear information), premodification is more vague.

SYNTAX 1: word classes

25

Ultimate order of premodifiers: Determiners + Opinion + Size + Age + Colour + Participle + Origin + Material + Noun + Determiner + Head. Simple or Complex? What youre saying is not acceptable. I know that you are Polish. They can make you what you want. She is where the wild roses grow. The relative clause does not make a sentence complex because it does not function as a constituent of the sentence. It does not have a clausal function but the phrasal function of a postmodifier within the NP. The NP is complex, but the sentence is simple. Multiple postmodification the great book on grammar that you stole her loss of confidence which ensued -> both elements modify the head noun

7. ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS

ADJECTIVES 1. Premodifiers in NPs - attributive position -> a cool dude 2. Subject or object complements in clauses - predicative position -> The town is red. They painted the town red. 3. Can be premodified by the intensifier very -> Theyre very happy. 4. Take comparative and superlative forms Types of adjectives: a) Central adjectives - attributive and predicative -> happy people, these people are happy, intelligent geese, these geese are intelligent b) Peripheral adjectives - only attributive or only predicative -> utter nonsense, this guy is afraid Adjective or adverb? adjective + -ly = adverb Bill drove a rapid car. He drove rapidly. Bill drove a fast car. He drove fast. ADJ: Norma arrived in the late afternoon. ADV: She arrived late in the afternoon. ADJ: Take a deep breath. ADV: Breathe deep/deeply. ADJ: I caught an early train. ADV: We finished early today.

SYNTAX 1: word classes

26

Positions of adjectives: 1. Predicative: This information is stupid. 2. Attributive: stupid information 3. Postpositive: something stupid, notary public, attorney general ADVERBS Types of adverbs: 1) Simple (closed class) -> just, only, well 2) Compound (closed class) -> somehow, anywhere 3) Derivational (open class) -> adj + -ly -> oddly, interestingly