Major components of the noun-head phrase 4 page

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 552.

Except for categorical meaning, i.e. the meaning peculiar to the predicate as sentence element, the predicate expresses the meaning of grammatical categories of forms of the finite verb: Mood, Tense, Voice, Number and Person, for instance, in Tom speaks the grammatical morpheme -s expresses present tense, indicative mood, active voice, third person singular.

The predicate may be composed of a word (simple), a phrase, or an entire clause (compound). From the structural point of view there are two main types of predicate: the simple predicateand the compound predicate.Both these types may be either verbalornominal.

The simple verbal predicateis expressed by a verb or a verbal phrase denoting one action (take a decision, have a look, give a cry, make a move): John runs quickly. She gave him a cry and ran out.

The simple nominal predicateis expressed by a noun, an adjective, an infinitive, or participle I. It does not contain a link verb, as it shows the incompatibility of the idea expressed by the subject and that expressed by the predicate (implied negation). Such sentences are always exclamatory: My son a clergyman! She, a singer! Me a liar! Tonny, good-looking! You said! She complaining! Me trying, to be funny!

The compound predicateconsists of two parts: the structural (expressed by a finite verb - a phrasal verb, a modal verb, a link verb and the notional (expressed by a noun, an adjective, an adverb, a verbal, a phrase, a predicative complex, or a clause). The structural part carries grammatical information about the person, number, tense, voice, modal and aspect of the whole predicate. The notional part contains information about the subject. The compound predicate falls into several types.

The compound verbal phrasal predicatedenotes the beginning, duration, repetition, or cessation of the action. It consists of a phrasal verb of a) beginning (begin, start, commence, set about, take to), b) duration (go on, keep, proceed, continue); c) repetition (would, used to), d) cessation (stop, finish, cease, give up) and an infinitive or a gerund: They began to talk. He started training. They used to talk to me about it. He gave up smoking.

The compound verbal modal predicateshows whether the action is looked upon as possible, impossible, obligatory, necessary, desirable, planned, certain, permissible. It consists of a modal part expressed by a modal verb or a modal expression (be able, be capable, be going) and an infinitive: I can say a word. He has to return. You are going to attend the college.

The compound nominal predicateconsists of a link verb of being (be, feel, sound, smell, taste, look, appear, seem), b) of coming (become, grow, turn, get, make); c) of remaining (remain, keep, stay) and a predicative.

The predicative can be expressed by a noun in the common case (Her father was a teacher) or genitive case (The face was Victoria's), adjective (She looked beautiful), a pronoun (It was he), a numeral (He is twenty), a stative (I was awake), an infinitive (To decide is to act), a gerund (Seeing is believing). It may also be expressed by a phrase (He is on our side), predicative complex (The main problem was his went away), or a clause (That's what has happened).

The compound nominal double predicate consists of two parts, both of which are notional. The first one is verbal and is pressed by a notional verb (die, leave, lie, marry, return, rise, sit, and, shine) which performs a linking function, as it links its second part (a predicative) expressed by a noun or an adjective to the subject: The sun was shining gold and bright (= The sun was shining. The sun was gold and bright). Doris sat silent. (=Doris sat. She was silent)

Mixed compound predicates combine elements of different types:

a) the compound modal nominal predicate (She couldn't be glad), b) the phrasal nominal predicate (He was beginning to look happy); c) the compound modal phrasal predicate (You ought to stop doing that).

Three most typical semantic characteristics of predicates are: identification (London is the capital of Britain), classification(She is a student) and characterization (The book is good).

To sum it up, there are the following types of the predicate:

2.2. Secondary sentence elements. Traditionally, there are three secondary sentence parts: object, attributeandadverbial. They express various types of semantically similar non-predicative relations. For instance: the object expresses “the thing – process” relation (I read a book);the attribute - relation of quality (It is a good book); adverbial - various adverbial relations: time, place, manner etc (I put the book on the table). However,to draw a demarcation line between various types of secondary sentence parts is sometimes difficult, since the characteristic features of each of the three types are not clearly defined and to describe a word as an object or an attribute, or an attribute or an adverbial in some cases proves to be a matter of predilection. Therefore, in real communication one may come across intermediate cases, i.e. combinations of these three meanings. For instance, the adverbial modifier of manner (expressed by qualitative adverb) in premodification to a verb appears syntactically related to modifying adjectives or nouns and must be therefore treated as verbal attribute: She definitely asked him not to come any more. It is a less distinct, less typical attribute, sharing some properties of both attribute and adverbial. Such intermediate cases result from the very nature of parts of the sentence as produced in speech and created from interaction of linguistic units. Using field structure approach, we can classify sentence parts into core or nucleus and periphery. Core sentence elements are characterized by coincidence of syntactic, morphological and lexical properties. Periphery sentence elements combine syntactic, morphological and lexical properties of different sentence parts. Thus, the differentiation between secondary sentence parts is relative and reflects combinations that occur in speech communication.

Depending on the type of relation to predication, secondary sentence parts fall into dependent and independent. The secondary parts of speech are called dependent if they are introduced together with another part of the sentence as its component, for instance: Sally was a beautifulgirl. (the attribute) The secondary parts of speech are called independent if they join predication as independent units, developing the sentence as a whole, for instance: Adam likes reading. (object) There are no works on Sundays.(adverbial)

2.2.1.The object is a secondary part of the sentence which refers to any other part of the sentence expressed by a verb, a noun, a pronoun, an adjective, a stative, a numeral, or, very seldom, an adverb, completing, specifying or restricting its meaning.

The object can be expressed by nouns in the common case (I saw the birds), personal pronouns in the objective case (I saw them), other pronouns (They didn't know that), numerals (He found three of them), a gerund (He insists on coming), and infinitive (He decided to stop). It may also be expressed by an infinitive phrase (We had to learn new words), a predicative complex (I want it done), or a clause (I don't know anything).

According to the way the object is connected to its headword, it may be either non-prepositional: see you tomorrow or prepositionalnever speak to you again. Many verbs govern their objects by means of prepositions. There are verbs which are never used without prepositions: aim at, consist of, rely on (upon), etc.

From the point of view of their value and grammatical peculiarities, three types of objects are distinguished in English, the direct object, the indirect object, object predicative/object compliment, oblique object, and the cognate object.

The direct object is a non-prepositional object that follows transitive verbs, adjectives, or statives and completes their meaning. Semantically, it is usually a non-person which is directly affected by the action of the verb: I wrote a story. He promised to work upon his pronunciation. You like singing, don't you?

The indirect object also follows verbs, adjectives and statives. Unlike the direct object, however, it may be attached to intransitive verbs as well as to transitive ones. Besides, it may also be attached to adverbs, although this is very rare. From the point of view of their semantics and certain grammatical characteristics, indirect objects fall into two types.

The indirect recipient object is attached only to verbs and expressed by a noun or pronoun which, as a rule, denotes a person who is the addressee or recipient of the action of the verb.It is joined to the headword either without a preposition or by the preposition to (or occasionally for): He gave the kids cakes She did not tell anything to anyone Will you bring a cup of coffee for me ?

The indirect non-recepient object is attached to verbs, adjectives, statives and sometimes adverbs. It is usually a noun (less often a pronoun) denoting an inanimate object, although it may be a gerund, a gerundial phrase or complex, an infinitive complex, or a clause. Its semantics varies, but it never denotes the addressee (recipient) of the action. It is joined to its headword by means of a preposition: I thought about it. One must always hope for the best. She's not happy about her new friend. I was amazed at his being so wise.

The cognate object is a non-prepositional object which is attached to otherwise intransitive verbs and is always expressed by nouns derived from, or semantically related to, the root of the verb: The child smiled the smile and laughed the laugh of contentment. He died the death of a hero. One must live one's own life. The verbs that most frequently take a cognate object are: live (a life), smile (a smile), laugh (a laugh), die (a death), sigh (a sigh), sleep (a sleep), dream (a dream), run (a race), fight (a fight, a battle). The cognate object is always used with words modifying it, never alone: the death of a hero, a heavy sigh, one's own life, etc.

Together with these words such objects modify the verb rather as adverbials than as objects: to die the death of a hero = to die like a hero; to sigh a heavy sigh = to sigh heavily, to live a happy life = to live happily, etc. Nevertheless, they are considered to be objects, not adverbial modifiers, because: a) they are expressed by nouns without prepositions, which is not characteristic of adverbials; b) they may occur in the position of the subject of a passive construction: He never doubted that life should be lived as he lived.

The cognate object is not to be confused with the direct object of some transitive verbs which may also be of the same root or semantics as the verb it is attached to: sing a song, tell a tale, ask a question, etc. The latter do not in any way modify the corresponding verbs, but only name the object of the action. Unlike the cognate object, such objects can easily occur alone, without any modifiers of their own: Sing me a song. Tell them the tale. Give me a smile.

Sometimes a notional object expressed by a clause may be introduced by means of the formal objectcalled introductoryoranticipatory) it: I understand it that you are my wife's brother. He objected to it that they should be taken to the island too.

2.2.2.The attributeis a secondary part of the sentence which characterizes a person or non-person expressed by the headword either qualitatively, quantitatively, or from the point of view of situation. Attributes refer to nouns and other words of nominal nature, such as pronouns and substitute words. An attribute forms a nominal phrase with its headword. An attribute is expressed by adjectives (He was a wise man), pronouns (Here's some flowers for your girl), numerals (The third attempt gave good result), nouns in the common case (It happened on winterday ), nouns or pronouns in the possessive case (The flowers' fragrance was sweet), statives (They were asleep), participles (They were looking at shimmering stars), gerunds (Her dressing code was elegant), infinitives (You are the one to be my friend), adverbs (The then government did not do anything to solve this problem). It may also be expressed by a phrase (He had a heart of gold), a predicative complex (This is a book for you to illustrate), or clause (Everything that you may want is in the shop).

An attribute may be expressed by sentences used as a whole (the so-called “quotation nouns”). These are used mainly as hyphenated chains before the headword: She looked at me with a kind of don don't-tell-me-a-word- of consolation-or-I will-cry air. She had take-me-or-leave-me attitude. In this 'a-place-for-everything parlor she felt comfortable. In some structures, the semantic roles of the elements may be reversed: the first (subordinating) element becomes a modifying word, the second (subordinated) - the modified one, as in: his carrot of a nose, the angel of a girl, a hell of a noise, a jewel of a nature, a jewel of a wife. Though logically his carrot of a nose means that the nose is characterized as resembling a carrot, syntactically it is the word carrot that is modified by the of-phrase of a nose. This accounts for the marked stylistic effect of these structures: a skyscraper of a silver cup, an orchid of a woman, a box of an office.

From the point of view of their semantic characteristics, attributes are divided into limiting and descriptive.

A limiting attribute indicates such a quality or characteristic of an object which makes it distinct from all other objects of the class: That he should help a promising child was perhaps the most important thing of all. She sat listening but the sound of her own voice covered any other sound.

A descriptive attribute is used simply to describe an object or give additional information about it: There was a picture of Gleb and a tall fragile fair girl. I showed them an album that contained picturesof some flowers.

From the point of view of their connection with the headword, attributes fall into non-detached (close) and detached (loose).

Non-detached attributes form one sense group with their headword and are not separated from it by commas. They generally adjoin the headword, either premodifying (a nice girl; crimson, white and yellow flowers) or postmodifying (baskets stuffed with towels; the habit of joking at the wrong moment). They are connected with other parts of the sentence only through the headword.

A detached attribute is only loosely connected with its headword and is often optional from the point of view of structure, although very important semantically. It forms a separate sense group in speech and is accordingly separated by commas in writing. It may be placed in preposition, post-position, or often at some distance from the headword. Unlike non-detached attributes, a detached attribute may modify personal and relative pronouns: Clara looked at him, very much disturbed and quite sure that she did not want to marry him. A son of poor but honest parents, I have no reason to be ashamed of my origins.

2.2.3. The adverbial modifies a part of the sentence expressed either by a verb (in a finite or non-finite form), an adjective, a stative, an adverb. An adverbial characterizes the process denoted by the verb from the viewpoint of situation, quality or quantity. An adverbial may refer to the whole of the sentence or to its part: In the evening they gathered together again. I told him again that I do not know about the fact.

Adverbials are elements of clauses with three major functions: to add circumstantial information about the proposition in the clause, to express speaker/writer stance towards the clause, or to link the clause (or some part of it) to some other unit of discourse. Although the relationship between an adverbial and the rest of the clause can differ, it is important to distinguish adverbials from other features which have similar structures but are constituents of a phrase rather than elements of a clause. For example, 1-3 below are adverbials, but 4 and 5 are not: 1. I keep walking in this rubbish.(conv) 2. She grinned widely.(fict) 3. In all honesty, $300 million is not going to make a fundamental change. (news) 4. The $3,000 prize in the women's eventwent to Bev Nicholson. (news) 5.Widely varying types of land are cultivated. (acad) The prepositional phrase in this rubbish in 1, and the adverb widely in 2, provide circumstantial information for their respective main verbs (walking and grinned). In 3 the prepositional phrase in all honesty provides the speaker's comment about the entire subsequent clause. All three of these examples are thus elements of their clauses and are adverbials. In contrast, the prepositional phrase in the women's event in 4 modifies the noun prize, while the adverb widely in 5 modifies the adjective varying. These examples are therefore only constituents of a noun phrase and adjective phrase, and are not adverbials. Adverbials differ from other clause elements in a number of ways. Consider the following text samples ([] are used to distinguish adjacent sequences of adverbials). 6. As I say, we were eleven hundred feet above sea leveland we er reallymoved [here] [because er I could not stand the er the bad weather].(conv) 7. In spite of great efforts by their authors, these books usuallycontain a number of fallacies and errors that are in due coursepassed on [repeatedly] [by later writers of other books]<.. .> Unfortunately, these authors lack <. ..> (acad) These samples illustrate many of the important characteristics of adverbials: 1) they perform a variety of functions: add information about the circumstances of an activity or state described in a clause (e.g. here, usually); give a speaker's comment on the proposition of a clause (e.g. unfortunately); serve connective functions (e.g. as I say marking a restatement of an earlier utterance); 2) they fulfill a variety of semantic roles even in the short excerpts above, for example, adverbials are used to express location (eleven hundred feet above sea level, here); reason (because ...); concession (in spite of...); agency (by later writers); and attitude (unfortunately); time (usually, in due course, repeatedly) 3) they are realized by a wide range of syntactic forms: adverbs (e.g. here, usually, unfortunately), prepositional phrases (e.g. in spite of great efforts, in due course), and clauses (as I say, because ...); noun phrases; 4) they can be placed in a variety of positions: in the initial position of a clause (e.g. as I say), in one variant of the medial position - i.e. before the main verb but after the subject (e.g. really, usually), and in final position (e.g. here, repeatedly, by later writers...), adverbials can also be placed between the main verb and obligatory final clausal elements; 5) multiple adverbials can occur in a clause. In 7, for example, the first clause (the main clause) has two adverbials (in spite of... and usually) and the subordinate clause has three adverbials (in due course, repeatedly, by ...); 6) finally, most adverbials are optional (the only exceptions are associated with certain verbs that require adverbial complementation, for example, the first sentence in the academic prose sample above would be well-formed without the adverbials: These books contain a number of fallacies and errors that are passed on.

It should be noted that not all adverbials exhibit all of these characteristics to the same extent, since a wide range of structures and functions is included in adverbial modification. Thus, each of these characteristics, the relationships among them, and the association patterns with registers are to be discussed in depth. It seems to be reasonable to start giving overviews from three perspectives: the functional classes of adverbials, the syntactic forms of adverbials, and their positions in clauses.

The three classes of adverbials.Adverbials can be divided into three major classes by their functions: circumstance adverbials, stance adverbials,and linking adverbials.Although each class is an element of a clause, the classes differ in the extent to which they are integrated into the clause structure and the amount of variability in the precise functions of the class.

Circumstance adverbialsare the most varied class, as well as the most integrated into the clause structure. Circumstance adverbials add information about the action or state described in the clause, answering questions such as “How, When, Where, How much? To what extent?” and “Why?” They include both obligatory adverbials, as in the first example below, and optional adverbials, as in the second: And where were you this morning then? You weren't in Geography.(conv) Writers on style have differed [a great deal] [in their understanding of the subject].(acad) Furthermore, circumstance adverbials can have scope over differing amounts of the clause. They may modify an entire clause (in this case with a dependent clause within it): After intensive tests, they believe the AIDS virus had been eradicated from the patient's body. (news) Or they can have scope only over the predicate of the clause, as in the following example where the prepositional phrases add information only about the verb sitting: He was even now sitting [beside her] [on the sofa].(fict)

The second class of adverbials is stance adverbials.Stance adverbials convey speakers' comments on what they are saying (the content of the message) or they are saying it (the style). Stance adverbials fall into three categories: epistemic, attitude,and style. Epistemic stance adverbials focus on the truth value of the proposition, commenting on factors such as certainty, reality, sources, limitations, and precision of the proposition: Well she definitelylooks at her mobile. (conv) (news) From my perspective, it was a clear case of abuse. (news) On the whole, sons-in-law were in better paid jobs than their fathers-in-law.(acad) Attitude stance adverbials express the speaker's attitude towards or evaluation of the content: The Yard's wonder boy, appropriately,descends from the clouds. (fict) To my surprise the space devoted to the kinetic sculptures had a lively and progressive atmosphere. (news ) More importantly, they do not provide information about the chemical composition of the substance. (acad) Finally, style stance adverbials convey a speaker's comment on the style or form of the utterance, often clarifying how the speaker is speaking or how the utterance should be understood: Well, yes, technically speaking,I guess it is burnt. (conv) That proves at least that Cassetti or Ratchett, as I shall continue to call him, was certainly alive at twenty minutes to one. At twenty-three minutes to one, to be precise.(fict) Quite frankly, we are having a bad year. (news)

In most cases, as in all of the above examples, stance adverbials have scope over the entire clause; that is, the adverbial provides a comment on the content or style of the entire proposition. In addition, unlike some circumstance adverbials, stance adverbials are always optional.

The third class of adverbials is linking adverbials.Linking adverbials have a more peripheral relationship with the rest of the clause than circumstance adverbials typically do. Rather than adding additional information to a clause, they serve a connective function. They make explicit the relationship between two units of discourse, as in the following examples: 1. They were kid boots at eight shillings a pair. He, however,thought them the most dainty boots in the world, and he cleaned them with as much reverence as if they had been flowers. (fict) 2. Some hospitals use their own ethics committees to settle such cases, but a hospital's biases could creep into its committee's decisions, Ms. Yuen says. Furthermore,the committee's decision wouldn't be legally binding and wouldn't shield a physician from liability. (news) 3. Now clearly, such semiotics are often manipulated <...>. Nonetheless,these Latin and North American "ethno-semantics" capture an important sense in which capitalistic labor is "unproductive" in a material sense. (acad) As the above examples illustrate, linking adverbials can connect units of discourse of differing sizes. The linked units may be sentences, as in 1 and 2. The units may also be larger than the sentence, as in 3 where nonetheless connects the subsequent sentence with several preceding sentences about such semiotics. Linking adverbials can express a variety of relationships, including addition and enumeration, summation, apposition, result/inference, contrast/concession, and transition.

Syntactic realizations of adverbials.Adverbials are realized by a variety of syntactic forms. In terms of overall frequency, prepositional phrases are the most common syntactic realization of adverbials. Adverbs are also relatively common as adverbials. In comparison, noun phrases, adverb phrases finite and non-finite clauses are relatively rare: (1) single adverbs and adverb phrases: Oh she neverdoes anything does she? (conv) We know each other very well and franklywe would have preferred to come out of that first.(news); (2) noun phrases (including single nouns): Well I went to that wedding Saturday.(conv) The man came to stay with them for a few weeks each year.(fict); (3) prepositional phrases: The man came to stay [with them] [for a few weeks]each year. (fict) In this chapterthree of the most important approaches are examined. (acad); finite clauses: I had to turn it off earlier because Rupert was shrieking.(conv) If you read these stories day by day,you simply don't realize how many there are. (news); (4) non-finite clauses:He got up and refilled the teapot, then his cup, adding a touch of skimmed milk.(fict)