Nouns and Pronouns: Parts of Speech

• Parts of speech are categories for words based on their function within phrases, clauses, or sentences.

Noun

• Nouns are words that identify persons, places, or things.
• Functions of a noun include:
• Subject
• Direct Object
• Indirect Object
• Subject Complement
• Object Complement
• Noun of Address
• Nouns can be particular or general
• Articles (the, a) are determiners that specify nouns as particular or general.
• "A house" refers to any house, while "the house" refers to a definite building.
• The indefinite article "a" becomes "an" before a vowel sound for easier pronunciation
  • For example, "an apple," "an orange," and "an elephant."
  • Exception: when "h" is sounded the article is not "an," a hat vs an 'otel

Pronoun

• Pronouns replace nouns.
• Casts/functions of Pronouns:
• Subjective: Used as the subject of a sentence (e.g., "She is eating").
• Objective: Used as the object of a sentence (e.g., "The doctor who treated me is she").
• Types of Pronouns:
• Personal Pronouns
• Possessive Pronouns
• Demonstrative Pronouns (this, that, these, those, there)
• Reflexive Pronouns
• Intensive Pronouns
• Relative Pronouns (that, which, where, when, who, whose, whom)
• Demonstrative pronouns (this, that, these, those) refer to particular people or things.
• These can also be used as adjectives, such as in "this house" or "those cars".
• Indefinite pronouns refer to people or things in general
• Similar to demonstrative pronouns, they can be used as adjectives (e.g., "another day," "both animals," "many weeks").
• Relative pronouns (who, whose, whom, that, which, what) create relative clauses in a sentence
• Example: "The committee, which met last night, discussed your report"
• Interrogative pronouns are relative pronouns used as the subject of a sentence.
• Example: "Who ate the pizza?" Interrogate means ask questions

Verb

• Verbs express action or a state of being
• Action verbs describe an action.
• Stative verbs describe a state.
• Finite verbs have a subject and appear in a particular tense.
• Verbs without a subject are either in the infinitive form (e.g., "to think," "to dream") or are gerunds (present participle used as a noun, e.g., "smoking is bad for you").
• When a verb denotes what a noun is doing the noun is the subject; when it denotes what is being done to the noun, the noun is the object.
• Verbs can take direct and indirect objects.
• For example, in "Parents give children toys," "toys" is the direct object and "children" is the indirect object.
• Verbs are either transitive or intransitive:
• Transitive verbs take objects.
• Examples: tell, give, show, eat, buy, take, and see
• Intransitive verbs do not take objects.
• Examples: sleep, walk, rest, come, and go
• Note: Intransitive verbs may be used transitively in non-standard speech or writing.
• The verb "to be" is intransitive in all its forms (am, are, is, was, were, been).
• Auxiliary verbs (or helper verbs) such as will and cannot assist the main verb.
• Other auxiliary verbs are the incomplete or modal verbs: can, could, may, might, shall, should, and would.
• Forms of "to be" can also be used as auxiliaries (e.g., "I am going", "He was singing", "They have been shopping")
• "Have" forms may be used as auxiliaries to indicate past action.
• The verb form used with auxiliaries is the participle.
• Present participles end with -ing, implying continuing action
• Example: talking
• Past participles often end in -ed
• Example: talked
• Verbs are flexible and can be the subject of a statement
• For example "To walk" is good exercise, "to walk" is the subject
• Infinitive verbs can be object; He likes to walk
• Using participles as nouns: He likes swimming or flying

Adverb

• Adverbs modify verbs.
• Types of adverbs:
• Time (when)
• Place (where)
• Manner (how)
• Frequency (how often)
• Reason (why)

Adjective

• Adjectives describe nouns.
• Types of adjectives:
• Quantifying (number)
• Qualifying (characteristics)

Conjunction

• Conjunctions connect words, phrases, or clauses.
• Types of conjunctions:
• Subordinating: Coordinates a dependent clause and an independent clause.
• Coordinating: Joins independent clauses (using FANBOYS: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).
• Correlative: Work in pairs (e.g., both/and, either/or, neither/nor).
• Coordinate conjunctions join elements that are grammatically the same
• Two or more words
• Two equivalent phrases
• Two equivalent clauses

Preposition

• Prepositions show the relationship of a noun to another word.
• Followed by a noun, pronoun, or noun clause (the object of the preposition).

Interjection

• Interjections express feelings or emotions.

Word Classes

• Words are categorized by how they function in phrases, clauses, or sentences.
• Closed word classes contain a finite number of items to which new words cannot be added (structural words).
• Open word classes are constantly evolving and accepting new words
• Nouns
• Verbs
• Adjectives
• Adverbs

English Language Structure

• The structure of language can be studied in various ways:
• Classes of words (parts of speech)
• Meanings of words (semantics)
• Organization of words (syntax)
• Word formation (morphology)
• Sounds of words (phonology)
• Written forms of words (lexicography)
• Basic elements of meaning:
• Simple words (dog, yes, swim)
• Elements of complex words (un-, -happi-, -ness)
• Morphemes are the basic elements, that combine to make other words
• Morphology studies how morphemes work
• Syntax concerns how words organize into phrases, clauses, and sentences.
• Discourse refers to longer stretches of language
• Discourse analysis studies the structure of discourse.

Noun Phrases

• Noun phrases consist of two or more nouns, noun plus adjective
• They describe a kind of object
• Determiners are words that co-occur with nouns (e.g., the, some, each)
• Noun phrases (NP) are constructions that act as the object, subject, or complement of a clause
• They require a head
• A noun-like word
• They can also contain:
• Predeterminers
• Determiners
• Postdeterminers
• Premodifiers
• Postmodifiers

Phrases

• Phrases can be noun phrases or prepositional phrases. Adjective phrases consist of head as a modifier with an intensifier
• In the phrase very happy, very is the intensifier, happy is the head of the phrase Adverb phrases consist of intensifying expression followed by a head, followed by a postmodifier
• An example is Very happily indeed, very is the intensifier, happily_indeed is the head
• Prepositional phrases consist of head/propositions followed by a noun phrase; Examples: round the bend, on the toilet

Clauses

• Sentences may either be clauses or sentences:
• Sentences are not necessary structures within language or found in all languages
• Grammar uses "bottom up", or synthesizes structure, or "top down", analyses the structures
• Clause elements:
• Subject (S)
• Object (O)
• Verb (V)
• Complement (C)
• Adverbial (A)
• The subject generally appears, the object follows the verb, it controls singular agreement and reflexive adjective
• • The elements may be transitive or intransitive
• Complements add to the meaning of the subject and the object
• • Copular is a linking verb or copulas
• Adverbials add to the meaning, and can appear anywhere in the clause or connecting other clauses
• • Adverbials perform a comment on what's being said
• Verbs come from intransitive or transitive phrases

Sentences

• Vocatives are those that show who a sentence is directed at and are optional
• There are seven elements in clauses. A sentence can be one of seven of the basic types:

Coordinate and Subordinate Clauses

• Coordinate clauses have the same grammatic and are combined with FANBOYS(for, and, not, but, or, yet, since) or other coordinating adjective
• Subordinate clauses work only if main clauses stand alone and function as subject, object, and complement
• Nominal clauses that function as subjects will be converted to adjectival

Theories

• X-Bar: Hierarchical phrase structure used within the structure
• Generative: Grammar focusing on the deep structures
• Diagrams on trees are used for showing the structures of the diagram
• Transformation shows sentences in a two tier way, showing the deep and surface levels
• The constitution tests show for the unit used within

Semantics and Pragmatics

• Semantics: the meaning by words in definition
• Pragmatics: the meaning on speakers within the concept
• Relations are how words define each other, a.k.a. polysemy
• • Words determine if they relate back to each other and the usage within is how it's determined
• • Types: Synonymy, antonymy, meronymy, hyponymy fall within the types
• Compositionality: the rule used in order to combine them; dog chases cat for example
• Truth looks for conditions that are true. They work alongside the arguments for the structure.