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The structure of this ppt

1.1.-1.10. . Functional issues in the English sentence

2.1.-2.9. . . Grammatical functions and related relations

2.1.-2.2. A VP-internal alternation

2.3. The four dimensions

2.4. Subjects

2.5. Objects

2.6. Transformational relationships

2.7. Complements

2.8. Adverbials

2.9. Order of clause elements

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1. Functional issues in the English sentence

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Quirk et al. (1985): basic binary division: subject – predicate

subject

• typically: topic (= “theme”, “what is being discussed”)

predicate: “something new” (about the subject)

(1) The boy has opened the door.

(2) The door has been opened (by the boy).

• determines agreement (concord),

cf. subject-verb agreement

(3) The boy has/*have opened the door.

(4) The boys *has/have opened the door.

• involved in inversion in questions,

cf. subject-auxiliary (operator) inversion

(5) Has the boy opened the door?

(6) What has the boy opened?

1.1. Functional issues

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Quirk et al. (1985)

five elements of a sentence

1. subject: S (be careful! S = sentence vs. S = subject!)

2. verb: V

3. object (direct vs. indirect): Od vs. Oi

4. complement (subject vs object complement): Cs vs. Co

5. adverbial: A

1.2. Functional issues

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(1) John (S) searched (V) the room (Od) carefully (A).

(2) The girl (S) is (V) now (A) a student (Cs) in Debrecen (A).

(3) His brother (S) grew (V) happier (Cs) gradually (A).

(4) It (S) rained (V) steadily (A) all day (A).

(5) He (S) had given (V) the girl (Oi) an apple (Od).

(6) They (S) make (V) him (Od) the chairman (Co) every year (A).

(7) She (S) saw (V) [that it (S) rained (V) all day (A)] (Od).

(8) He (S) grew (V) happier (Cs) [when Mary (S) arrived (V)] (A).

(9) [That she (S) asked (V) the question (Od) correctly (A)] (S)

pleased (V) him (Od) enormously (A).

1.3. Functional issues

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subject and object complements

~(2) The girl (S) is (V) a student (Cs) / happy (Cs).

(cf. ‘a student girl’, ‘a happy girl’)

Hungarian: A lány diák/boldog. A lány diák/boldog volt.

~(3) His brother (S) grew (V) happier (Cs). (+ become, turn …)

cf. He is/was happier. (as a result)

~(6) They (S) make (V) him (Od) the chairman (Co).

cf. He (S) is the chairman (Cs). (as a result)

1.4. Functional issues

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direct vs. indirect objects

~(1) John (S) searched (V) the room (Od).

~(6) They (S) make (V) him (Od) the chairman (Co).

~(7) She (S) saw (V) [that it (S) rained (V) all day (A)] (Od).

~(5) He (S) gave (V) the girl (Oi) an apple (Od).

cf. He (S) gave (V) an apple (Od) to the girl (A).

Quirk et al. (1985) --- a semantic approach

direct object: the given/received entity – 1st or 2nd object NP

indirect object: the receiver – 1st object NP or PP (A)

-- a structural ( grammatical functional) approach is better

1.5. Functional issues

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S

NP VP

V NP NP

He gave the girl

Oi

O1

an apple.

Od

O2

S

NP VP

V NP PP

He gave an apple

Od

O1

to the girl.

A

A

1.6. Functional issues

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passivization of mono- and ditransitive constructions

He ate the apple (Od O1).

The apple was eaten (by him).

He gave the apple (Od O1) to the girl (A A).

The apple was given to the girl.

*The girl was given the apple to.

He gave the girl (Oi O1) the apple (Od O2).

The girl was given the apple (by him).

*The apple was given the girl (by him).

Od O1 S

Od O1 S

Oi O1 S

Od

1.7. Functional issues

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Type S(ubject) V(erb) O(bject)(s) C(omplem.) A(dverbial)

SV

The sun

intransitive

is shining

SVO

The lecture

monotransitive

bored

Od

me

SVC

Your dinner

copular

seems

Cs

ready

SVA

My office

copular

is

S-related A

in the building

SVOO

I

ditransitive

must send

Oi

my parents

Od

a letter

SVOC

The students

complex-trans.

have found

Od

her

Co

very helpful

SVOA

You

complex-trans.

can put

Od

the dishes

O-related A

on the table

Quirk et al. (1985: 721) 1.8. Functional issues

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problems

1. the columns appear to indicate syntactic positions, but

• in ditransitive constructions the two objects have two

distinct (adjacent), designated positions: V NP1 NP2 …

• the object complement (immediately) follows NP1,

the primary object – it can be an adjectival phrase

(see previous slide) but it can also be a NP, in which

case it is in the same position as the second(ary)

object, NP2, i.e. the secondary object NP and the

object complement NP should be represented in

complementary distribution

2. the adverbials in SVA and SVOA are obligatory this calls

for a more substantial functional distinction: OBLIQUE vs.

ADJUNCT

1.9. Functional issues

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Type S V O1 O2 / C A:OBLIQUE A: ADJUNCT

SV It intr.

shines

(obligatory) (optional)

SVO

It

monotr.

bored

Od

me

SVC

It

copular

seems

Cs

ready

SVA

It

copular

was

S-related A

in the box

at night

SVOO

I

ditr.

sent

called

Oi

my friend

my friend

Od

a letter

a taxi

SVOC

I

compl-tr.

found

called

Od

my friend

my friend

Co

helpful

a genius

SVOA

He

compl-tr.

can put

Od

the book

O-related A

on the table

at night

1.10. Functional issues

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2. Grammatical functions and related relations

* A VP-internal alternation (~GYR)

John loaded hay on the truck.

John loaded the truck with hay.

NP V NP PP category

subject (predicate)

function

object oblique

load < Agent, Patient, Goal >

2.1. Grammatical functions and related relations

* A VP-internal alternation (~GYR)

NP V NP PP

NP V NP PP

1. load < Agent, Patient, Goal >

NP NP(hay) PP(truck)

2. load < Agent, Goal, Patient >

NP NP(truck) PP(hay)

2.2. Grammatical functions and related relations

2.3. GFs and related relations

topic predicate discourse function

subject object oblique (!) grammatical function

NP V NP PP syntactic category

Agent Goal Patient semantic role

John loaded the truck with hay.

topic predicate discourse function

subject oblique oblique grammatical function

NP V PP PP syntactic category

Goal Patient Agent semantic role

The truck was loaded with hay (by John).

The four dimensions

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2.4. Grammatical functions and related relations

Subjects

form

(category)

NP or S:

John surprised me. - That John was late surprised me.

position before V/OP or after OP:

Everybody left. - Everybody has left. - Has everybody left?

syntactic

“function”

(features)

obligatory except in imperatives (but implied):

Open the door!

determines the verb’s number and person

determines a reflexive pronoun’s person, number (and gender):

The boy likes/*like himself/*herself/*themselves.

subjective pronouns: I like him. – He likes me.

O S (in passives): John invited Eve. - Eve was invited (by John).

repeated in tag questions by a pronoun: The milk is sour, isn’t it?

semantics typically: theme (topic), agentive (see the PREVIOUS three slides!)

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Objects

form

(category)

NP or S:

I know the story. - I know that he lied.

position after V, Oi usually precedes Od (!!!) O1 vs. O2

I gave him [Oi] my address [Od].

syntactic

“function”

(features)

when coreferential with the subject reflexive pronoun &

agreement with respect to person, number (and gender):

The boy likes/*like himself/*herself/*themselves.

objective pronouns: I like him. – He likes me.

O S (in passives): John invited Eve. - Eve was invited (by John).

in ditransitive constructions either object can become the subject of

the corresponding passive: We sent Jack a copy of the letter.

(1) Jack was sent a copy of the latter. (2) A copy of the letter was

sent Jack. (!!) (3) A copy of the letter was sent to Jack. (1) is far

more common than (2). Instead of (2), (3) is more usual. (next slide!)

the indirect object usually corresponds to a prepositional phrase:

I’ll send Charles another copy. – I’ll send another copy to Charles.

semantics typically: the affected argument

2.5. GFs and related relations

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Transformational relationships

SVOO He gave Eve a book. passive Eve was given a book (by him).

SVOA He gave a book to Eve. passive A book was given to Eve (by him).

the general passive rule (PR): …NP1…V…NP2… → …NP2…be…V-en…(by NP1)

He wrote a book. → A book was written (by him).

SVOO He gave Eve a book. PR Eve was given a book (by him).

SVOA He gave a book to Eve. PR2 (!) A book was given to Eve (by him).

SVOO He gave Eve a book. PR Eve was given a book (by him).

SVOA He gave a book to Eve. PR A book was given to Eve (by him).

2.6. GFs and related relations

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Complements

form

(category)

NP, AP or S:

Their son is/became a clerk. – We find them very pleasant. -

My assumption is that John made a mistake.

position Cs: after V – Co: after Od

syntactic

“function”

(features)

Cs: (number) concord with the subject – Co: concord with the object

*They/He is a good boy. - I find them/*him good boys.

Cs: if reflexive, (person, number, gender) concord with the subject

She is not herself/*himself/*yourselves today.

*Cs/Co S (in passives): *A clerk was become by their son. – *Good

boys were found them by me. vs. They were found good boys by me.

Cs: pronoun objective form vs. subjective form (more formal)

That’s him. - This is he. (formal)

semantics typically: identifies or characterizes the referent of the relevant

clause element (subject or object) She is my daughter/very pretty. –

I find her very pretty.

2.7. GFs and related relations

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Adverbials

form

(category)

ADVP, PP, NP, or S:

The children were playing loudly (ADVP) in the bedroom (PP) last

night (NP) when I got home (S).

position relatively free; typically final; but obligatory A in SVA and in SVOA:

John lives in London. – John put the book on the table.

syntactic

“function”

(features)

“except for the obligatory adverbial in SVA and SVOA types adverbials

are optional: they may be added to or removed from the clause

without affecting its acceptability and without affecting the relations

of structure and meaning in the rest of the clause.” (Q1985: 730)

Last night John had put the book on the table unexpectedly in the

kitchen just before Mary got home.

“the adverbials in SVA and SVOA are obligatory this calls for a

more substantial functional distinction: OBLIQUE vs. ADJUNCT”

(see slide 12)

negative characterization: the adverbial does not have the syntactic

features subjects, objects and complements have

semantics (i) circumstances of the situation (adjunct) (ii) (speaker’s) comments

on the form/content of the clause (disjunct) (iii) link between clauses

(conjunct)

2.8. GFs and related relations

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Order of clause elements

optional adverbials (=adjuncts) may

intervene between the elements in the

basic clause patterns (SVO(O)(C)…)

You have perhaps heard this before.

It often rains in London.

The house was badly damaged.

yes/no questions: OP SUBJ VP Have you heard from Roger?

wh-questions: WH OP SUBJ VP

except: (i) WHsubj VP

(ii) exclamatives

What did John write?

Who wrote the letter?

What a nice letter he wrote!

2nd person imperatives: usually no SUBJ Show me your paper! Don’t leave!

informational highlighting and

emphasis: initial or final position

That question I won’t answer.

Mary left, and so did John.

shorter elements > longer elements

after V

This made possible new techniques for

brain surgery. She told him calmly

what she thought of him.

stylistically: shorter > V > longer A petition was circulated asking for a

longer lunch break.

2.9. GFs and related relations