Syntax Ch 8 PDF

Ch8: Grammatical functions 8.1 Introduction Two sets of concepts bear on the relationship between the verb in a clause and its complements; one is the set of grammatical functions or grammatical relations, that is, subject, direct object, indirect object/second object and oblique object, and...

Ch8: Grammatical functions 8.1 Introduction Two sets of concepts bear on the relationship between the verb in a clause and its complements; one is the set of grammatical functions or grammatical relations, that is, subject, direct object, indirect object/second object and oblique object, and the other is the set of roles such as Agent and Patient. 8.2 Subject The most complex grammatical function is that of subject. Consider the example in (1). 1. The tigers hunt prey at night. Tigers precedes the verb. It agrees with the verb in number, as becomes clear when it is made singular: The tiger hunts its prey at night. Tigers has another interesting property: it refers to the Agent in the situation described by (1).  Subjects have the following major properties: Syntactic properties: A. control of reflexives. Subjects control the interpretation of reflexive pronouns inside single clauses. This is shown in (1), where Augusta and herself refer to the same woman called Augusta. 1. Augusta blamed herself for what happened. B. control of all and both floating, as in (2) and (3) 2. a. All the Tringles came to Merle Park. b. The Tringles all came to Merle Park. c. Both Jane and Elizabeth were at home. d. Jane and Elizabeth were both at home.  In (2b), the word all is part of the noun phrase all the Tringles. That noun phrase is the subject, and all can ‘float’ out of the NP to a position next the finite verb, as in (2b). Similarly, both can be part of the subject noun phrase as in (2c) but can float to the same position, as in (2d). Also, quantifiers can float out of subject noun phrases in both active and passive clauses, as shown by (3a, b). 3. a. All the foxes were hunted by Larry Twentyman. b. The foxes were all hunted by Larry Twentyman.  Morpho-syntactic properties of subjects: A. being involved in person and number links with the finite verb. The subject noun and the verb are linked in number (in English) and in person and number in other languages. B. being in the nominative case. The property of taking nominative case is exemplified in (1). (1) a. Ivan tolknul Mashu (‘Ivan – pushed – Masha’) b. Masha tolknula Ivana (‘Masha – pushed – Ivan’) In (1a), Ivan is in the nominative case and Mashu is in the accusative case. In (1b), Masha is in the nominative case and Ivana is in the accusative case. Similar changes only show up in the pronouns in English, as in I pushed him and He pushed me. 8.3 Direct object Properties of Direct object: A. Direct object nouns, in English, immediately follow the verb in the active declarative construction. For example, in sentences such as (1) the NP following the verb is the direct object. 1. a. Louise broke the cup. b. Alison drove the car. c. Martha chewed the bread. B. One of the properties of the English NPs called direct objects is that they correspond to the grammatical subjects of passive sentences. This is shown in (2a– c), the passive counterparts of (1a–c). 2. a. The cup was broken by Louise. b. The car was driven by Alison. c. The bread was chewed by Martha. We can say that direct object NPs typically refer to Patients. C. In languages with sets of case suffixes, direct object nouns take accusative case. D. The direct object NP is never preceded by a preposition. For example, in the sentence: Martha chewed on the bread, bread is not a direct object because the entity it denotes is not completely affected by the action of chewing. 8.4 Oblique object and indirect object Oblique objects are nouns that are complement to a preposition, where the prepositional phrase is itself the complement of a verb. In (1), to Onegin, to Egilsay and for Jane are oblique objects. 1. a. Tatiana wrote to Onegin. b. Magnus went to Egilsay. c. Frank bought a piano for Jane. Grammars of English would merely refer to verbs such as TELL, SAY, SHOW and GIVE, which occur in the construction:  V NP1 TO NP2 or V NP2 NP1 For example: 2. A. Celia gave the car to Ben. ( the car is NP1 and Ben is NP2). B. Celia gave Ben the car. (the car is NP1 and Ben is NP2). In examples such as gave a present to Ben, with verbs such as GIVE, SHOW and TELL, to Ben was traditionally called the indirect object. Since these are very difficult to distinguish from directional phrases, the notion of indirect object has been abandoned in favor of oblique object. Yet, the notion of indirect object has been kept for the construction with three noun phrases, as in (2) and (3) Emma gave Harriet advice.  In these examples, the phrase to Harriet in (2) and the phrase Harriet in (3) are considered indirect objects. 2. Emma gave advice to Harriet. (indirect object) 3. Emma gave Harriet advice. (indirect object) Summary Three major relationships hold between verbs and their complement nouns (and noun phrases) – subject, direct object and oblique object. In many languages one noun, the grammatical subject, is closely linked to the verb in a clause. Direct object nouns, in English, immediately follow the verb in the active declarative construction. Oblique objects are nouns that are complement to a preposition, as in (spoke) about music and (sent the letter) to the manager.