Noun Phrases and Sentence Structure

Noun Phrases and Reference

• Not all noun phrases refer directly to something specific.
• For example, "a famous clown" in a sentence describing Blinko, places Blinko into a category rather than referring to a specific clown.

Clauses and Propositions

• A clause typically includes a verb.
• Clauses can carry propositions, such as "Spring has come early" which indicates the start of a season.

Arguments in Sentences

• The term "argument" encompasses all necessary components a verb needs, including noun phrases.
• These components may be noun phrases like "This evidence" or embedded clauses like "that spring has come early."

Aspect in Language

• Aspect describes how language encodes the duration and progression of events.
• Examples include events building to a climax, or continuing without change.

Causative Sentences

• Causative sentences describe a situation caused by a specific subject.
• The subject's action causes a change described in the embedded clause.

Causative Verbs

• Causative verbs indicate the reason an action occurred.
• Rather than the subject performing the action themselves, they caused someone or something else to perform it.
• Examples include "make," "have," "get," "let."

Vendler's Four Types of Situations

• Zeno Vendler categorized verb phrases into four groups based on how the actions are distributed in time:
  • Achievement: A situation achieved at a specific point in time
  • Accomplishment: A situation taking some time culminating in a finished state.
  • Activity: Continous action
  • State: A situation continuing over time

Examples of Situation Types

• Achievement: Getting an ankle sprained
• State: Having a sprained ankle
• Activity: Getting physiotherapy
• Accomplishment: Getting better

Accomplishments and Activities and States

• Accomplishments contain activities and achievements which may result in states.
• For example, when someone recovers from an illness, there is an activity (healing, taking medicine), which leads to an accomplished state of being well, and a subsequent state of good health.

Achievements and Goals

• Achievements and accomplishments are focused on achieving a particular goal.
• An action is considered complete once the goal is reached: For instance, receiving jeans or a meadow flooding.

This quiz explores noun phrases, clauses, arguments, and causative sentences. Test your understanding of how these components function in language and how they convey meaning. Suitable for linguistics students and those interested in language structure.