Grammar In Use PDF WS 2022/23

GRAMMAR IN USE List of Terminology WS 2022/23 Mag. Dr. Armin Berger, MA NOTE: On the Moodle Course there were lists with importa...

GRAMMAR IN USE List of Terminology WS 2022/23 Mag. Dr. Armin Berger, MA NOTE: On the Moodle Course there were lists with important terminology given for every topic, I searched for the definitions and explanations of them and put them here, as an additional practice material! I hope this helps you! Summary by Bernadette on STUDYDRIVE TABLE OF CONTENTS TOPIC 1 What exactly is Grammar? …………………………………………………………………………………………..…. P. 2 - 3 TOPIC 2 The grammatical Landscape ……………………………………………………………………………………..…… P. 4 - 7 TOPIC 3 Syntactic Functions ……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. P. 8 - 9 TOPIC 4 The Noun Phrase ……………………………………………………………………………………………………..… P. 10 - 12 TOPIC 5 The Verb Phrase …………………………………………………………………………………………...……………. P. 13 - 14 TOPIC 6 Tense ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...….. P. 15 - 16 TOPIC 7 Modality ………………………………………………………………………………………………………..……………..…… P. 17 TOPIC 8 Different Types of Phrases ……………………………………………………………………………………………..… P. 18 TOPIC 9 The complex sentence I …………………………………………………………………………………………….. P. 19 - 20 TOPIC 10 The complex sentence II ……………………………………………………………………………………..………….. P. 21 TOPIC 11 Information packaging ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. P. 22 TOPIC 1 What exactly is Grammar? Grammar ▪ unconscious knowledge of using structures, systems, or patterns to communicate ▪ a book of rules written about this system ▪ branch of linguistics dealing with constructions and the investigation of their properties (divided in morphology and syntax) ▪ derives from the Greek “to write” ▪ the system by which the words and morphemes of a language are organised into large units, particularly into sentences Syntax the study of sentence structure and the arrangement of words that form a sentence Morphology the study of the shape and structure of words and morphemes and how they are combined into words Inflectional morphology = different variants of a single item, no word class change, no separate dictionary entry Derivational morphology = a new word from a different word class is created, separate dictionary entries – this can happen through affixation, compounding, conversion Morpheme smallest meaningful units in language Lexicon all the words used in a particular language or subject, found in a dictionary Lexicon-Grammar Connection between Lexicon and Grammar through Idioms, Fixed/Formulaic Expressions, Collocations and Colligations Prescriptive fixed grammar rules, tells people how to use English, prescribes correctness and right vs. wrong Descriptive studies the usage of language, trying to formulate new rules, no value judgement, describes correctness, and differentiates between formalness, appropriateness, standard Introspection a way of establishing grammatical rules by researchers reflecting on their own language use, which is an introspective process Elicitation a way of establishing grammatical rules by researchers eliciting targeted responses from participants, for example gap texts, this way only one feature can be investigated 2 Corpus / corpora a large body of data which examines all types of texts to deduct rules from that → analysing already existing texts Collocation the combination of words formed when two or more words are often used together in a way that sounds correct, words with a statistical tendency to go together, which have established over time Colligation is a type of collocation, where a lexical item is linked to a grammatical one (for example some words colligate with a specific form of a word class…) 3 TOPIC 2 The grammatical Landscape Constituent word or a string of words which syntactically behaves as a unit in a larger construction, a building block of language (Satzglied) Immediate constituents constituents exist in all levels (sentence/clause/phrase/word level); a sentence can be parted in constituents as well as a phrase or just a combination of two words Constituent tests a way of identifying the constituents in a sentence (does not work on all other levels) Substitution If a constituent is a phrase or a clause then it is possible to substitute a different word for it (for example a pronoun) Sentence fragment forming a question with a “w-word” – if the formation can be the answer to a question it is a constituent Movement moving a constituent to a different position of the same sentence Coordination only constituents can be coordinated by adding and can then combine only constituents of the same kind Construction building block of a language Constituent structure identifying and analyzing the grammatical structure of a sentence (=parsing), can happen through bracketing, underlining or tree diagrams Nested phrase constituents, in this case a phrase, can be part of another constituent, in this case a phrase, as well Tree diagram we can show constituent structure by so called tree diagrams which show the hierarchy between them Labelled bracketing via labelled bracketing we can also present the sentence structure, labelled just means adding abbreviations Syntactic category = syntactic class, word class, parts of speech, word class what this word means and how it grammatically behaves, and what it has in common with other similar words, this means class is determined by semantic, morphological and syntactic criteria 4 SYNTACTIC CLASSES Noun Semantic: people, places, things, concepts Morphological: derivational -ity, -ation, inflectional -s, -‘s Syntactic: Head of a NP, Subject, Object, Subject Complement, Adjunct Different types of nouns: Proper Nouns (People, Names, Places, no plural), Pronouns, Common Nouns Pronouns as a part of Nouns = used to refer to another entity Types of Pronouns 1) Personal Pronouns I, You, She, He, We… Me, Us, Him, Her… Can be used anaphoric (referring to something coming first) or cataphoric (other way round) 2) Relative Pronouns Who, What Whom, Which… relate directly back to a noun, cause relative clauses 3) Possessive Pronouns Mine, Theirs, Yours… My, Your, Our… His, Her can be both Personal Pronouns and Possessive Pronouns 4) Indefinite Pronouns Some, Any… can also be viewed as determinatives 5) Reflexive Pronouns Herself, Yourself, Myself 6) Reciprocal Pronouns Each other, One another two subjects involved 7) Demonstrative Pronouns This/These, That/Those can also be determinatives differentiated through time and space 8) Interrogative Pronouns What, Where, Who, Which… At the beginning on a question sentence Verb Semantic: actions, activities, states, events, relationships, sensory perceptions, cognitive processes Morphological: Derivational: -ise/-ize, -ify; Inflectional: 3 finite forms, 3 non finite forms Syntactic: Head of a VP (main/lexical verbs), Dependents (auxiliary verbs, modal verbs, should…) which add more specific meaning Auxiliary Verbs = verb used together with a main verb, like be or have Primary Auxiliary Verbs: be, have, do … can be used to express passive Modal Verbs: can/could, may/might, will/would, shall/should, must 5 Copular Verbs = Linking Verbs verb that joins the subject of a sentence or clause to a subject complement (for example be, appear, seem, look, sound, smell, become, get…) Adjective Semantic: qualities (psychological), properties (physical), attributes and evaluations Morphological: typical suffixes (-al,-ous,-stic), often derived from nouns, verbs, adverbs can be created from adjectives, there are 3 different forms (absolute, comparative, superlative) Syntactic: head of an AdjP, can be changed by degree (like very..) Types of Adjectives Predicative: adjectives in the slot of the predicative complement in the predicate of a clause, they are preceded by linking verbs or copular verbs Attributive: adjective as the head of an adjective phrase which is the pre-head-modifier in a NP Post-Positive: placed after noun or pronouns that it modifies Adverb Semantic: manner, direction, place, time, degree, modifying clauses Morphological: -ly/-wards/-wise to adjectives (however -ly isn’t always adverbs, and not all adverbs are created this way Syntactic: modify verbs, adjectives and even entire clauses, there are circumstantial adverbs which function as adjuncts of a VP, degree adverbs which function as modifiers of adjectives or other adverbs, and sentence adverbs modifying whole sentences (linking words, expressing attitude) Preposition word used to link nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words Subordinator word that introduces a subordinate clause – prepositions can also function as subordinators (before, after, since) Coordinator function that links to or more words, phrases, clauses (and) Determinative express additional information such as definiteness, proximity, quantity, 7 grammatical forms can function as the determinative (articles, demonstrative determiners, interrogative determiners, quantifiers, numerals, noun phrases) Open and closed classes OPEN (lexical, words, content words) CLOSED New words can be added with no problem, they Fixed membership, which means it is hard, carry a significant amount of lexical meaning, almost impossible to add new items not necessarily a grammatical one Noun Prepositions Verbs Subordinators Adjectives Coordinators Adverbs Determinatives Neologism newly created words 6 Finite verb expressing tense, number Non-finite verb not expressing tense, number Syntactic function specific constituents have certain roles in a sentence Determiner word mostly at the beginning of a NP to indicate something (number for example) Head A phrase is classified by its head, which equals the category of the phrase Modifier optional element adding information Complement obligatory element Dependent set off by commas, adds information and is optional 7 TOPIC 3 Syntactic Functions Subject corresponds to the topic of the clause Extraposition a rule of transformational grammar that shifts a subordinate or modifying clause to the end of a sentence for example “It was a shame that he argued” → it-extraposition Predicate adds information to the subject Predicator the predicate consists of the predicator and complements (Objects, Complements) the verb itself is the predicator Complementation some verbs need another part to complete their meanings (objects (direct, indirect) or complements (subject, object) Direct object directly affecting something (NP, non-finale clauses) and can be identified by putting the sentence in the passive voice Indirect object refer to someone who receives something, something less directly involved in the action, cannot occur without a following direct object Subject complement adding information about the subject and refer to it often in connection to a linking verb (be, seem, become) Object complement provides additional information about the object (NP, AdjP), which can only exist with a direct object Attributive subject complement describing a characteristic, typically in the form of a NP or AdjP, cannot be reversed Identifying subject complement singles out something from something, can be reversed Complementation patterns from the handout of the prof 8 Transitivity is the property of the verb which describes how many objects or complements a verb can take Intransitive no objects or complements, however, they can include one or more optional elements, but they do not require complementation Monotransitive can take one direct object Ditransitive can take two objects (direct and indirect) Copulative always have a Subject Complement (Copular Verb) Complex-transitive always with a direct Object and an object complement Adjunct are an optional element expressing circumstantial meanings (degree, place, time, manner…) or attitude, they can usually be emitted and are flexible in their movability. They can be realized in different forms (AdvP, NP, PrepP, Clauses) Obligatory Adjuncts syntactically they can be left out, however, they are necessary for the meaning, there are 2 types: locative and temporal complements PP-complement of prepositional verbs some verbs require prepositions, they are fixed combinations which have acquired a specific semantic meaning Finite clause must contain a verb which shows tense Non-finite clause contains a verb which does not show tense, usually only in subordinate clauses, where we understand the time from the main clause, often it is not clear whether they are considered objects or complements Catenative verb can combine with other verbs and even form a chain of two or three or more verbs (stop, want) 9 TOPIC 4 The Noun Phrase Noun phrase Phrase with a Noun as the most important element, indicates what is being described, can be expanded by adding elements before and after the head (Pre/Post-Dependents) Proper noun Capitalized, referring to people, places, names, usually no plural and determinative Pronoun (types of pronouns already stated in another chapter) referential words which can represent other entities Antecedent a word or phrase that a pronoun refers back to Generic reference personal pronouns: one pronoun refers to an entire class (male pronoun for all people – problematic nowadays) Common noun have plural and singular forms, count & mass nouns, largest subclass of nouns Pre-head dependent determiners (Predeterminatives, Central determinatives, Postdeterminatives) & modifiers: occur before the noun and specify something about it Central determiner most common one, containing following categories: Article the, a/an Demonstrative this/that, those/these Possessive my/your/his/her/its… Interrogative what/which Quantifier each, all, many, none… Genitive phrase genitive phrases Predeterminatives for example: not quite all, both, twice, fractions 10 Postdeterminatives numerals and quantifiers, such as many, several, few, little Modifiers in this context adjectives are pre-head-dependents which can only be added in a specific order: general, size, age, colour, class I (verb particles), origin and class II (adjectives derived from nouns) Post-head dependent complements, modifiers, peripheral dependents Complement very close relationship between the noun and the complement, semi-obligatory Modifier bond is more optional, can have many different realisations Peripheral Dependent usually an apposition or non-restrictive relative clause, set off by commas, optional, additional information Clause grammatical construction containing a lexical verb, sentences consist of one or multiple clauses (main and subordinate clauses which can be either finite or non-finite) Relative clause is a whole finite clause, part of a NP and a post-head-dependent, which is introduced by a relative element, it provides additional information and can be a modifier or peripheral dependent Relative Elements Relative Pronouns (who, whom, whose, which, that...) Restrictive (defining) relative clause & Non-restrictive (non-defining) relative clause From the handout by the prof. Reduced relative clause created out of a restrictive clause, is non-finite, though Sentential relative clause refers to an entire sentence (is finite) Zero relative clause relative clause without the relative element, which has been left out 11 How to distinguish between different relative clauses: Complex NPs contains more than one noun Countable nouns can be counted Uncountable (mass) nouns not countable, mostly do not have a plural form Irregular plural Native: changes, like suffix -n, vowel change Foreign: retain their foreign plurals Invariably singular have a singular agreement, verb is in singular! Also includes non-count nouns, which look as if they are plural already Invariably plural always have plural agreement Summation plural exist only in plural (clothes, trousers…) Pluralia tantum only occur in a given sense in plural (damages, brains..) Zero plural a word which looks like it is singular but it is not (people, police…) Collective nouns subclass of common nouns which refer to a collection of items, for example family, government, even when they are grammatically singular 12 TOPIC 5 The Verb Phrase Situation types is a way of categorizing words into different semantic groups, and they are determined by 3 main parameters (duration, dynamic, inherent endpoint/telicity), which are typically expressed by verbs (each verb itself represents a specific action or state) From the handout by the prof. Verb phrase phrase with a verb as its head – can have pre-head dependents (Auxiliaries) and post-head dependents (complements) Finite verb verb expressing tense and number Non-finite verb verb not expressing tense and number Auxiliary express time, aspect, voice and modality, they occur before the head and in fixed order (modal – perfect – progressive – passive) Primary auxiliary be, have, do Modal auxiliary can/could, will/would, shall/should, may/might, must, ought… Tense locates events in points on a timeline Aspect gives information about whether the speaker is talking about a situation as a whole or just “the middle” of a situation, in English there are 2 aspects: Perfect: viewed from the outside, in retrospect Progressive: viewed from the inside, in progress 13 Progressive aspect o is formed through be + ing-Form o it can express that something is viewed from the inside and also that the end and beginning of a situation are out of focus o it can make an action seem longer or shorter, depending on the situation type stative verbs: compress the time of an action dynamic/event verbs: stretched time Words that are incompatible with the Progressive State verbs of ‘having’ and ‘being’ be, belong to, contain, consist of, depend on, deserve, have, matter, own, resemble… Verbs of inert cognition believe, forget, hope, imagine, know, suppose, understand… Verbs of inert perception smell, taste… Verbs of attitude hate, hope, intend, like, love, prefer, regret, want… 14 TOPIC 6 Tense Tense grammatical expression of time (realized by inflection), 2 tenses in English; Present and Past Time semantic concept Past tense (temporal/social/hypothetical distance) used to express distance Temporal Distance = remoteness in time Social Distance = to express something in a more formal register Hypothetical Distance = distance from reality Present tense used to refer something without distance Historic (narrative) present the use of the simple present to refer to something in the past, usually in the chronological order, no distancing effect (used to express immediacy) Present perfect have/has + past participle close link to present time → refers to past with present relevance Continuative present perfect started in the past and is still the case at the moment of speech STATE VERBS: state extends over a period that lasts up to the present moment and can be compared EVENT VERBS: event is understood as a state which consists of repeated events (habit) Indefinite present perfect the situation has come to an end before the moment of speech = indefinite the situation does not continue until the moment of speech “in a period from then up until now” compatible with state verbs Resultative present perfect points to a present result of a past event, works best with a transitional verb Present Perfect vs. Present Perfect Progressive SIMPLE PROGRESSIVE ACTIVITY Usually highlights results associated Linked with an activity in progress with the end of a certain situation ACCOMPLISHMENT Some sort of endpoint has been The activity is highlighted in its reached, there is a result at the progression – it is incomplete moment of speech ACHIEVEMENT Repetition Past Perfect refers to a situation anterior to something that happened in the past (speaker looks back from a different pov) → used to describe events which happened before other events in the past 15 Future simple will + infinitive used for spontaneous decisions, promises, willingness, predictions Future progressive will + progressive Past in the future = Future Perfect will + perfect infinitive something that will be in the past in the future Future in the past were + going to + verb stem 16 TOPIC 7 Modality Modality a semantic concept that is realized by certain expressions expresses a speaker’s attitude towards the factual content of what is expressed by the main verb/ sentence Modal auxiliary verbs can, could, will, would, shall, should, may, might, must, ought… Stance adverbials = specific adjuncts apparently, unfortunately, in actual fact, as one might expect Stance subordinate clauses seem to, consider it impossible, it is to be expected, I hope that, there is a chance that… Central (core) modals consist of one word, have a function of remoteness/politeness Characteristics: no third person -s, followed by a bare infinitive, have a past form, subject-auxiliary inversion for question, direct not-negation (cannot, needn’t), allow ellipsis can/could, may/might, must, shall/should, will/would, need Peripheral (marginal, semi-) modals consist of more than one word (=periphrastic), between lexical verbs and modal auxiliaries, their behaviour can switch be able to, be allowed to, be supposed to, have to, ought to Epistemic modality deductions from speaker/writer – possibilities, necessities, probabilities, predictions Deontic (root) modality requirements from speaker/writer – permissions, obligations (requires some case of action) Dynamic modality = subject-oriented modality is a description, involves some characteristics of the subject-referent, usually associated with ability Hedging reducing the strength of claims to avoid overstating a case (softening claims, expressing politeness) → often found in scientific writing Subjunctive subjunctive = verbal stem, limited to a few formal context, subordinate clauses after words like advise, ask, suggest… Conditional clauses past tense in the “if clause”, that doesn’t refer to the past but a future hypothetical structure = past as modal past perfect has a past reference but expresses a counterfactual meaning of a situation which cannot happen like this anymore (something could’ve happened but did not) 17 TOPIC 8 Different Types of Phrases Adjective phrase phrase with an adjective as a head, consisting of an adjective alone or an adjective accompanied by one or more dependents (complements, modifiers, pre-head and post-heads: modifiers express degree, most commonly adverbs and adverb phrases) Comparative second form of the adjective: big – bigger - biggest Superlative third form of the adjective: big – bigger – biggest Adverb phrase headed by adverbs, pre- and post-head-modifiers are possible, they can take modifiers, but only a few can take complements only in the form of the prepositional phrase Prepositional phrase headed by a preposition, usually combine with NP, preposition comes first then the NP Simple PP consist of one word (at, by, behind, for, in…) Complex PP consist of more than one word (by means of, in spite of, in front of…) Stranded preposition preposition without anything following it, sometimes considered grammatically incorrect, however, they are common in informal language Particle a two-word verb consists of a verb and a particle (either an adverb or a preposition), that has idiomatic meaning Phrasal verb verb with more particles (take off, take up…), meaning can either be transitive or intransitive, they are connected to the verb Fuzzy boundaries syntactic categories are often not a question of either or, the categories are fuzzy and a matter of degree Core if all criteria of a word class apply a word is found in the core Periphery If not all criteria apply a word is found in the periphery of a category 18 TOPIC 9 The complex sentence I Simple sentence independent or main clause (can stand alone) – clause = sentence Compound sentence = coordinated clauses 1 sentence consists of 2 or more clauses, which are all on the same level often linked by a coordinator Complex sentence a syntactic function is realized by another clause (rather than a phrase), one clause is embedded in the main clause (subordinate clause) Main (matrix) clause main clause containing subordinate clauses Subordinate clause clause dependent on another clause Superordinate clause clause which the subordinate clause depends on, also embedded in the main clause Noun clause can function as subject, object and complement and can fill the position of the main clause that-clause “that” as a subordinator – can be pronounced in different ways, no comma before it in English wh-clause also called interrogative noun clauses Adverbial clause can function as adjunct similar to adverb phrases, which give additional information and concerning time, place, reason, purpose, condition and concession introduced by a subordinator (because, although, until, when, if…) Conditionals kind of adverbial clause contain 2 clauses (subordinate clause expressing condition, main cause expressing consequence) Real conditionals (factual and predictive conditionals) factual expresses a relationship between 2 events as generally true often used for generalizations verbs in present tense predictive (1st Conditionals) expresses a relationship between 2 events as likely if + present in conditional clause & present modal will in main clause used for future plans, debts in an argument, instructions 19 Unreal conditionals (hypothetical and counterfactual conditionals) hypothetical expresses a relationship between 2 events as distant and unlikely past in the conditional and past modal perfect in the main clause minor expressions “might have/could have” and “would” distancing effect used for wishes, alternative potential outcomes counterfactual expresses a relationship between 2 events as impossible Past perfect in conditional clause and past modal perfect in main clause minor expressions “might have/could have” and “would” indicating remoteness used for excuses, regrets, blame Comparative clause functions as degree modifiers when they are subordinate clauses are introduced by subordinators like “than” and “as” 20 TOPIC 10 The complex sentence II Non-finite subordinate clause non-finite clause being introduced by a subordinator Infinitival clause = to-infinitive, bare infinitive either with the particle “to” or “without” ing-clause (present participial) = present participle clause, gerunds subject is identical with the one in the main clause ed-clause (past participial) = past particle clause subject is identical with the one in the main clause Dangling non-finite adjunct (dangling participle) = dangling modifiers, dangling participles, non-related modifiers the implied subject of the non-finite clause should be the same as the subject of the main clause Sensory perception verbs these kinds of verbs take either one or the other complement 21 TOPIC 11 Information packaging Information packaging set of variants with the same meaning, differ in the way in which the meaning is presented Unmarked word order contains no extra information to the listener (S-V-O-(C-A)) every sentence required a subject and a predicate Marked word order anything in a different order (for example emphasising the object) (O-S-V) End – Focus (given-before-new) new information tends to come last, given information comes first End – Weight long and complex structures at the end, light and simple constituents come first Topic – Comment (theme – rheme) Theme/Topic = what the sentence is about, it provides perspective, subject, usually refers to given information and can be expected to come first, holds the text together Comment/Rheme = is what is said about the topic, also typically new information Voice = linguistic category expressed by the VP active and passive voice 22