TS 12 Syntax PDF

7 Syntax (Part 3) Introduction to English Linguistics – Schleburg 7 Syntax Functions at the clause level: OBLIGATORY ADVERBIAL (AOBL) The criteria of optionality and mobility do not apply to certain constructions that are formally and semantically similar to ADVER...

7 Syntax (Part 3) Introduction to English Linguistics – Schleburg 7 Syntax Functions at the clause level: OBLIGATORY ADVERBIAL (AOBL) The criteria of optionality and mobility do not apply to certain constructions that are formally and semantically similar to ADVERBIALS proper: I quietly stole upstairs. *I quietly stole. My aunt is into yoga. *Into yoga my aunt is. We kept Ronald off cigarettes. You should have your hands on the wheel. Who set the typewriter there? While typical ADVERBIALS indicating circumstances like place, time, reason, manner, purpose etc. can be freely combined with any verb (or omitted), with some verbs specific ADVERBIALS act like complements : They had married in Chicago before. optional They had lived in Chicago before. obligatory 7 Syntax Verb complementation patterns If we strip an English clause of all optional adverbials, what is left will correspond to one of the following basic construction types: Dogs bark preferably at night. SV intransitive The farmer brutally kicked the horse. SVO monotransitive So she bought him a wonderful present. S V O I OD ditransitive He is terribly conceited, in my view. S V CS copular The people twice elected him king. S V O CO complex-transitive When she had left, I stole into her room. S V AOBL intransitive with obligatory A He casually put the letter into the drawer. S V O AOBL transitive with obligatory A The list is complete; combinations like *SVCSO or *VCO are impossible. To all of these types optional adverbials can be added freely. Abbreviations like ›S V O‹ do reflect the most common positions but they are not meant to rule out other constituent order patterns. 7 Syntax And a little variation … Ellipsis of SUBJECT in informal speech: I (But won’t the Bishop object to the proposal? ) – Hm. Don’t think so. Constituent order S V CO O due to principle of end weight: In a surprising move the Parliament elected spokesman an utterly unknown backbencher from one of the country’s most obscure constituencies Extraposition of long OBJECT and insertion of dummy it Something put it in his head that she was a foreign spy. Something put that she was a foreign spy in his head 7 Syntactic Analysis The Recipe 1. Spot the highest-ranking verb phrase, i. e. the VERB of the main clause: Entering the room, the wary detective rather quickly noticed something had changed, although everybody was trying to behave normally. Criteria: The main clause is finite. It is not introduced by a subordinating conjunction. It does not depend on another constituent. You have now got one immediate constituent of the main clause. 7 Syntactic Analysis The Recipe 2. Based on this VERB, determine the other immediate constituents of the sentence: then (s)he thus Entering the room, the wary detective rather quickly noticed it nevertheless something had changed, although everybody was trying to behave normally. Criteria: Each immediate constituent can be substituted by a single pro-form. If it can be shifted, it can be shifted as a whole. If it can be omitted, it can be omitted as a whole. Each immediate constituent must either be a clause or correspond to one of the five phrase types! 7 Syntactic Analysis The Recipe 3. Determine the forms of the immediate constituents you have identified: n.-f. cl. NP AdvP VP Entering the room, the wary detective rather quickly noticed f. cl. f. cl. something had changed, although everybody was trying to behave normally. 7 Syntactic Analysis The Recipe 4. Assign the syntactic functions to the immediate constituents you have identified: A n.-f. cl. S NP A AdvP V VP Entering the room, the wary detective rather quickly noticed SVO= O f. cl. A f. cl. monotransitive something had changed, although everybody was trying to behave normally. 5. Determine the complementation pattern of the highest-ranking VERB. 7 1. constituency Syntax 2. complementation 3. modification Two more syntactic relations extralinguistic ›target‹ 4. Coordination: Structures x and y are parallel constituents at the same syntactic level (but different in reference); they are often linked by a coordinator like and, or, but. The weather will be cold and cloudy. Neither Peter nor his wife wanted the responsibility. 5. Apposition: Structures x and y are parallel constituents identical in both syntactic function and reference; semantically one of them explains the other, and either of them (but not both) could be omitted. Jacques Sauniere, the renowned curator, staggered through the vaulted archway of the museum’s Grand Gallery. He sceptically looked at his birthday present, a book on volcanoes. 7 Syntax Coordination and subordination Simple sentence: one main clause. Snow still lay on the ground. Compound sentence: two or more coordinated main clauses. May had come but snow still lay on the ground. Complex sentence: one or more immediate constituents are subordinate clauses. Though May had come, snow still lay on the ground. 7 Syntax Marking constituency: Subordination Means of subordination: conjunction: I noticed that he spoke with a strong Newfoundland accent. position: I noticed he spoke with a strong Newfoundland accent. wh-form: First we shall inquire who actually noticed anything strange during the night. non-finite verb phrase: Alfred’s favourite pastime used to be collecting medieval French coins. verbless: Dinner finally over, Sir Geoffrey withdrew into his chamber. inversion: Had I but known my ex-husband was there too, I would never have dreamt of going!