Syntax Chapter 3: Constructions PDF

Chapter 3: Constructions 3.1 Introduction Constructions are the relatively general patterns that recur in a given language. Since words, phrases, clauses and sentences are all built out of smaller units according to particular patterns, the concept of construction is relevant to all areas o...

Chapter 3: Constructions 3.1 Introduction Constructions are the relatively general patterns that recur in a given language. Since words, phrases, clauses and sentences are all built out of smaller units according to particular patterns, the concept of construction is relevant to all areas of grammar. For instance, many words are built out of smaller bits; field consists of one stem. Fielded, as in fielded the ball, and fielder, as in cricket, are built from the stem plus a suffix, field + -ed and field + -er. Further patterns consist of more than one suffix, as in educational, built out of educate + -ion + -al, or a prefix and a stem, as in overlook. 3.2 Different Constructions and Different Meanings We focus here on constructions in clauses. There are two central ideas: 1. Constructions are not isolated structure but fi t into a general network. That is we can recognize basic clauses and more complex clauses and can work out the relationships between them. 2. Diff erent constructions exist to enable speakers and writers to signal what they are doing with a particular utterance. Examples: 1. a. The wealthy young man bought that piano for his secret fi ancée. b. Did the wealthy young man buy that piano for his secret fi ancée?  ⋙ The example (1a) and (1b) are related: (a) Semantically related, both of them share same situation which is one person, a wealthy young man, bought something, a piano, for someone, his secret fi ancée. (b) Share the major lexical items, wealthy, young, man, buy, piano, secret fi ancée. (c) Share past tense, bought and did The example (1a) is declarative construction (reflecting the idea that the speaker or writer declares something to be the case). The example (1b) is interrogative construction (used by speakers who want to ask whether the event took place, that is, speakers who want to interrogate the person or persons they are addressing (their addressees)). Other interrogative constructions are used when speakers know that a particular type of event took place but not the identity of one or more participants. Consider the examples in (2). (2) a. Who bought that piano for his secret fiancée? b. What did the wealthy young man buy for his secret fiancée? c. Who did the wealthy young man buy that piano for? ⋙ In (2a–c), one of the participants is unknown.  (2a) is related in meaning to Someone bought a piano for his secret fiancée and (2b) is related in meaning to The wealthy young man bought something for his secret fiancée. The syntactic changes are slightly more complex. In (2a), the noun phrase someone is replaced by who and in (2b) something is replaced by what. In (2c) where the identity of another participant is requested, someone is replaced by who. Who and what move to the front of the clause, and did is inserted into the clause just following who or what. Declarative clauses have two types: (1) Active clauses (see examples 1a-b) (2) Passive clauses.  The term “passive” comes from the Latin verb patior (I suffer) or passus sum (I’ve suffered), because the passive clauses take as their starting point the participant on whom an action is carried out or who suff ers the action. In contrast, active clauses take as their starting point the participant who carries out an action or who is active in a given situation. (3) That piano was bought for his fiancée by the wealthy young man.  ⋙ Two properties of passive clauses: 1. The noun phrase referring to the passive participant, that piano in (3), is at the front of the clause and is in a special relationship with the verb (agreement in person and number). 2. The noun phrase, the wealthy young man, referring to the buyer, it can be omitted, as in That piano was bought for his secret fiancée. The construction in (3) is called the ‘long passive’ because it contains an agent noun phrase. Without its agent phrase, as in That piano was bought for his secret fiancée, this construction is known as the ‘short passive’. 3.3 Types of Construction A major split is between constructions: 1. Constructions that have the verb BE (called the copula or link verb) and constructions that have an ‘ordinary’ verb (called the non-copula verb). 2. Both copula and non-copula constructions can be declarative ( that is they can have the structure used for making statements), and interrogative ( that is, they can have the structure used for asking questions). Interrogative constructions split into two types: 1. YES–NO interrogatives are used for asking questions such as Did he phone?, to which the answer is yes or no. 2. WH interrogatives are used for asking questions about participants in a situation: Who phoned?, When did he phone?, What did he say?, Where was he when he phoned?  Declarative constructions can be both active, as in (7a), and passive, as in (7c). Interrogative constructions can be active, as in (8a), or passive, as in (8c). In declarative constructions, the verb can be followed by a noun phrase and a prepositional phrase, as in bought the piano for Jane in (7a) (Oblique Object), or by two noun phrases, as in bought Jane the piano in (7b) (Double Object). Interrogative constructions can be oblique object, as in Did Frank buy the piano for Jane? in (8a), or double object, as in Did Frank buy Jane the piano? in (8b). In turn, the double object construction can be active or passive – Frank bought Jane the piano in (7b) and Jane was bought that piano by Frank; the oblique object construction too can be active or passive – Frank bought the piano for Jane (7a) and The piano was bought for Jane by Frank (7c). 3.4 Relationship Between Constructions Constructions can be and are analyzed in isolation because it is convenient to focus on one structure at a time. However, in a given language, constructions don’t exist in isolation but as part of a system of structures. Let’s address the question ‘What is meant by “system”?’ Two central ideas lie behind the use of the word ‘system’: 1. Each of the above constructions shares certain properties with some of the other constructions. 2. It is possible to specify the relationships between the constructions.  The above constructions fall into two major classes, the declarative constructions in (7) and the interrogative constructions in (8). It is generally accepted that the declarative active construction in (7a) is basic. It is the most frequent type of construction in English, because speakers most often make assertions, indeed assertions about agents, and it allows the widest range of modifications. For example, Frank had been buying the piano for Jane is perfectly acceptable, and even The piano had been being bought by Frank, though awkward, can be used in texts instead of the unmodified passive, although the texts do not run as smoothly.  Examples of the basic construction allow the widest range of adverbs and are semantically basic. Thus, the interpretations of Did Frank deceive Emma? and Frank didn’t deceive Emma both involve an understanding of Frank deceived Emma, to which is added an understanding of what is signaled by the interrogative syntax and of what is signaled by the negative didn’t. 3.5 Copula Constructions The division between copula and non-copula constructions is the topmost one. Therefore, constructions are divided into copula and non-copula , then each of these divides into declarative and interrogative, and so on. Passives are non-copula constructions because a number of constituents can occur in passives that are typically excluded from copula clauses, for example adverbs such as immediately. For example, was given is treated as simply the passive form of give.  ‘Copula’ is the Latin word for ‘link, connection’. The verb is links the subject noun phrase with another phrase, in this case an adjective phrase very happy in (11a), a noun phrase the best student in (11b) and a prepositional phrase in Auchtermuchty in (11c).  Types of copula constructions: 1. Ascriptive copula clauses= used to ascribe a property to an entity 2. Equative copula clauses= used to state that one entity is identical or equal to another entity 3. Locative copula clauses= used to state where some entity is located. Copula clauses can be declarative or interrogative, and they can be YES–NO or WH interrogatives – Is she coming to the party? vs Who is coming to the party? Copula clauses cannot be passive and they do not have double objects. SUMMARY Phrases combine to produce clauses. They combine in different orders, and the links between them are marked in various ways. Some clauses have special markers such as do, does, did for YES–NO INTERROGATIVES. The above differences are said to reflect different constructions; phrases are constructed or put together in different ways to enable speakers and writers to signal differences in meaning. The various syntactic constructions in a given language form a system. One task of syntactic analysis is to work out and state how the constructions are interconnected.