09/08/2021

ATS2681 – Structure of
English
WEEK 4 (PART 1)
Class 4 - Morphology and Syntax

Functions in syntax

Functions What
within the constituents
clause do
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Functional structure
of sentence
Basic functional division:

◦ Subject – what the sentence is about

◦ Predicate – what the sentence tells us about the
subject

In English, a predicate must have a verb.

Subjects and predicates

Basic functional division:
◦ Subject – what the sentence is about
◦ Predicate – what the sentence tells us about the subject

In English, a predicate must have a verb

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Subjects
Notional definitions are again not terribly useful

◦ ‘The subject is the entity which carries out the action’

◦ Immediately disproved by the possibility of a construction called

the passive

[The man] [bit the dog]

[The dog] [was bitten by the man]

Compare our approach to word classes (semantics wasn’t much

good there either)

Subjects
We need solid linguistic criteria which identify subjects

◦ Three very reliable ones

◦ Two other useful ones
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(1) Question formation

We looked at this briefly in week 2
Polar (yes/no) questions in English are formed by inverting initial NP and tensed verb*
Here, initial NP = subject
◦ Lou is making candles / Is Lou making candles? => Lou is subject

Even if another word order is used, we can still apply the test:
◦ Candles, Lou is making / Is Lou making candles?
◦ In her bedroom, Lou is making candles / Is Lou making candles in her bedroom?

*This is described as “Subject–operator inversion”

(2) Verb agreement

A test we used to identify verbs as a class: different forms in different contexts
One form is important here: the -s form
This is used when the subject of the verb is 3rd person and singular
More technically: in English the subject controls verb agreement
◦ Sebastian is coming home / *Sebastian are coming home
◦ *The siblings is coming home / The siblings are coming home
◦ *I is coming home / *You is coming home

Properties of an object NP are irrelevant:

◦ Sebastian likes cake / cakes / me / you
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(3) Phrasal category

The subject of a clause is almost always a noun phrase (i.e. including single nouns and pronouns)
as in:

Tamagotchi is a gift to this world.

It sits above me.

(4) Case marking

Case: the form of nouns varies depending on their function

English has a residue of case marking in personal pronouns

One set of forms can only be used as subjects: I, we, he, she,
they
For any other function, we use the other set: me, us, him, her,
them

2nd person (you) and non-human 3rd person (it) are invariant
— they never change.
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Subject and object

pronouns
They’re banned, because you have to keep on feeding them.
subject object

(5) Basic position

The unmarked word order of an English sentence is Subject – Predicate

So the basic position of the subject is sentence initially (or more correctly clause initially)

But this can be manipulated (why is something we look at later in semester)

Sentence elements can be moved to the start:

◦ Tomorrow we will go shopping

◦ However no one will miss out
◦ In some cases the result may be surprising
◦ Every last crumb Hector ate
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question position (subjects appear after the tensed verb

in questions)
verb agreement (subjects determine the person-number
In sum properties of the verb)

— spot the case of pronoun (She saw him versus He saw her)
class = noun phrase
subject basic position (in basic clauses subjects appear before
the verb)
obligatory (all regular clauses need a subject)

Non-standard subjects
English requires a subject in all normal sentences

In some cases, this NP does not refer to any entity

◦ Weather verbs: It is raining (What is raining?)
◦ ‘raising’ verbs: It seems that Sarah is leaving (cf Sarah seems to be leaving)

There can be used in the same way:

◦ There seem to be a lot of holes in this shirt (What is seeming?)

Usually called dummy subjects (also pleonastic subjects)

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Non-standard subjects
Certain types of clause can fill the subject slot:

◦ [That Kate is a duffer] is clear to everyone

◦ [That bushfire season is coming] makes me nervous

◦ It is clear to everyone that Kate is a duffer

◦ It makes me nervous that bushfire season is coming

Non-standard subjects
The following highlighted phrases are prepositional phrases — yet they are subjects:

◦ Under the bed is a good place to hide.

◦ Down the street is much posher than here.

Arguments for saying so?

Try forming a question
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Functions in the predicate

Obligatory elements:

◦ In English, a predicate must have a verb

◦ If the verb requires dependents, these are also obligatory

Optional elements:

◦ Circumstantial information (Where? When? How? etc.)

◦ Attitudinal information (How likely? Speaker attitudes?)
◦ All of these come under the heading of adverbials (more on these later)

(Direct) object
A grammatical relation (like subject) — also usually a noun phrase
◦ Generalises over semantic roles
Tests:
1) The direct object in an active clause can become the subject of a corresponding passive clause

2) Non-subject pronoun forms are used:

Billy hates me / *Billy hates I

3) Object normally immediately follows verb

But where the object NP is long, it often seems better after other elements of the predicate

?I polished the brand new coin which I found yesterday furiously / I polished furiously the brand
new coin which I found yesterday
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Passive
To change an active clause to a passive clause:
◦ The original object becomes subject
◦ The auxiliary be is added (it has to be the final auxiliary)
◦ The main verb is in its -ed form
◦ The original subject may appear in a phrase with by as
its head (but it can be omitted)
More examples:
◦ Olivia loves the dog / The dog is loved by Olivia
◦ The researchers carried out the procedure / The
procedure was carried out (by the researchers)
◦ Jo might have been taking a prescribed drug / A
prescribed drug might have been being taken (by Jo)

In sum class = NP
case of pronoun (She saw him versus He saw her)
— spot the passive (where the object becomes the grammatical subject)
object typically follow the verb (but note they can also be fronted)
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Indirect object
Some English verbs can be followed by two NPs
◦ Heather baked Matt a cake
Semantically restricted – only recipients and beneficiaries
◦ Mike sent Bella a letter
Traditionally called indirect object (the indirect object precedes the direct one)

There is generally an alternative where the recipient/beneficiary is expressed as a prepositional

phrase (a PP )
◦ Heather baked a cake for Matt
◦ Mike sent a letter to Bella

What’s unusual about Heather gave him a kiss

Indirect objects and passives

When there are two objects (direct and indirect) the object nearest the verb is usually the one
that is passivized:

◦ Stewart gave Wanda a present

◦ Wanda was given a present by Stewart

Some varieties also allow the other object to become subject:

◦ (?)A present was given Wanda by Stewart

But most Australians need the preposition in such examples:

◦ A present was given to Wanda by Stewart
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ATS2681 – Structure of
English
WEEK 4 (PART 2)
Class 4 - Morphology and Syntax

Functions in syntax

More
Types of
functions in
transitivity
the clause
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There is a disagreement among experts.

There’s nothing exactly quirky about my Tamagotchi.

Determining the
subject Traditional grammars assumes the subject to be the noun
phrase following the verb be.
The controversial case of
dummy there
Hence these grammars assume something like the following
to be ungrammatical:

There is exceptions / There’s exceptions.

But apply the tests for subjecthood:

question position (subjects appear after the tensed verb

in questions)
verb agreement (subjects determine the person-number
In sum properties of the verb)

— spot the case of pronoun (She saw him versus He saw her)
class = noun phrase
subject basic position (in basic clauses subjects appear before
the verb)
obligatory (all regular clauses need a subject)
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‘There’ looks like the subject

Position:
There appears before the verb.

Subject–operator inversion:
There are exceptions. ——> Are there exceptions?

Case:
There does not show a contrast (but neither do the pronouns you and it). What about the case
of the constituent that follows the verb.
[Who’s coming to the party?] Well, there’s me …

But what about verb agreement

Coordinated subjects normally require plural verbs. For example

Wine and cheese are in the fridge.

But when they are part of a there clause, even Standard English requires a singular verb:
There is wine and cheese in the fridge.
*There are wine and cheese in the fridge

In short it looks like there [ðə] in this sentence is involved in the assignment of person and number
properties to the verb – not only in non-standard varieties of English.
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Complements
Some clauses have:
◦ An NP following the verb
◦ No corresponding passive clause
Example:
◦ Susan is a teacher / *A teacher is been by Susan
◦ Tom has become a student / *A student has been become by Tom
The NP in such cases is called a (predicative) complement

More on complements
Predicative complements can also be adjectives (adjective phrases):
◦ Gina is clever
◦ Nick became more forgetful than his father

All examples so far attribute properties to the subject

◦ A restricted set of verbs can be used for this: be, become,….

Properties can also be attributed to the object of a transitive verb

◦ Abbott made Prince Phillip a knight
◦ The children found the room dirty

So we distinguish subject complements and object complements

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Compared to objects:
complements do not pick out entities which aren't
already mentioned in the clause
In sum class = noun phrase and adjective phrase
— spot the only objects are eligible for passive (*An electrician was
been by Kees)
(predicative) complements occur after a limited set of linking verbs
complement (be, seem, appear etc.)
complements agree in number with the subject (*Kees
was qualified electricians)

Adverbials
So, constituents that may accompany the verbal element include objects and predicative
complements.
Adverbials can also form part of the predicate. We can distinguish them from the other two predicate
elements by a number of properties.

(1) Optional status

Adverbials are the peripheral elements of the clause. They are typically optional and can be freely
added or removed without disturbing the grammaticality of the clause.
The bride’s mother threw a large pickled gherkin at the tormented lover.
The bride’s mother threw a large pickled gherkin.
*The bride’s mother threw at the tormented lover.
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(2) Flexible word order

Adverbials are quite flexible in their positioning — unlike objects and predicative complements,
they move with ease about the sentence.

It’s a small world after all.

After all it’s a small world.
It’s after all a small world.

(3) Meaning of adverbials

Adverbials typically say something about when, where or how something happened.
So we can then have a criterion that an adverbial is the answer to a question beginning with
something like when?, where?, why?, how?, how long?, how often?, with whom?
But they never answer questions like what? or who?
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(4) Stacking
Adverbials can OCCUR RECURSIVELY, or that they can be STACKED (though in reality more than four
adverbials would be rare!)

[One Christmas], I went [with my boyfriend] [to his parents’ home] [for a few days].

(5) Phrasal category

Almost anything can function as an adverbial: adverb phrases, prepositional phrases, clauses
and even some noun phrases can function as adverbials.

He eventually collapsed. Adverb phrase

The bride’s mother threw a large pickled gherkin at the tormented lover. Prepositional phrase
I need it because it’s the control, the power that you feel. Clause
The ticket inspectors got on three times. Noun phrase
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These are typically peripheral elements and typically

optional
They usually express notions like location, manner, etc.
In sum (and will answer questions beginning with when?, where?,
why?, how?, how long?, how often?, with whom?
— spot the class = adverb phrase; preposition phrase; noun phrase
adverbial and clause
They can be stacked — i.e. you can have as many
adverbials as you like

Sub-types of adverbials
On the basis of both semantic and syntactic criteria it is possible to distinguish four different
sub-types of adverbials: ADJUNCTS, DISJUNCTS, CONJUNCTS and ADVERBIAL COMPLEMENTS

◦ VP adverbials = adjuncts – circumstantial details about state of affairs

◦ [One Christmas], I went [with my boyfriend] [to his parents’ home] [for a few days]

◦ Sentence adverbials = disjuncts – speakers attitude towards state of affairs

◦ [Frankly], I think the situation is hopeless
◦ (Compare: They spoke [frankly])
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Sub-types of adverbials
One other kind of adverb: conjuncts

◦ These connect sentences to their discourse context

◦ Words like however, nevertheless, then

◦ Like disjuncts they are very loosely associated with the rest of the sentence and also belong outside the
predicate

◦ May overlap in function with conjunctions (clause linkers)

◦ But ….

Why however is an adverbial

Conjuncts and conjunctions have different syntax:
Kelly left early. However she forgot her laptop. (Compare Kelly left early, but she forgot her laptop)

◦ Conjuncts can move around the clause (conjunctions can’t):

◦ Kelly left early. However she forgot her laptop. Kelly left early. She, however, forgot her laptop.
◦ Kelly left early. She forgot however her laptop. Kelly left early. She forgot her laptop however.

◦ Only conjunctions allow the subject to be omitted:

◦ Kelly left early. However she forgot her laptop. Therefore she had to come back.
◦ *Kelly left early. However forgot her laptop, therefore had to come back
◦ Kelly left early but forgot her laptop and had to come back.
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Adjuncts (in summary)

Always optional
Add information:

◦ Where: We swam in the ocean

◦ When: We swam first thing in the morning
◦ Why: We swam for exercise
◦ How: We swam vigorously

Examples already show that the type of phrase can vary

Disjuncts (in summary)

One major use is for commitment to truth value
And speakers can have intermediate levels of commitment (not simply true versus not true)
Disjuncts code this:
◦ I will be there
◦ I will certainly be there
◦ I will probably be there
◦ I will possibly be there

Disjuncts also code other speaker attitudes:

◦ I am literally starving!
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Adverbial complements
The verb to put requires a location in its VP as well as an object:
◦ We put the car [in the garage]/[there]
◦ *We put the car

Other verbs also require adverbials:

◦ We were [in America]
◦ *We were

We can think of this as evidence that the verb (be) requires an adverbial complement

ATS2681 – Structure of
English
WEEK 4 (PART 3)
Class 4 - Morphology and Syntax
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A verb which cannot have a direct object: intransitive verb

A verb which must have a direct object: transitive verb
Types of verbs A verb which can have two objects: ditransitive verb
— transitivity There are verbs which can be used either with or without an
object:

◦ We ate / We ate our dinner

The Five Basic Clause Patterns

1. Intransitive Subject Predicator (NP V) The boy slept, drank, ate, jumped.

2. Transitive SPredicatorObject (NP V NP) The boy kicked, caught, threw, saw the ball .

3. Di-transitive SPOO (NP V NP NP) Kees passed, gave, offered, brought her the salt.

4. Complex intransitive (also intensive) SPComplement (NP V NP/AjP) That sounds, is, a good idea
(* do not confuse 4 with 2 — the complement refers to the subject)
5. Complex-transitive SPOC (NP V NP NP/AjP) Kees called, found, thought, made, Wim a liar
(* do not confuse 5 with 3 — the complement refers to the direct object)
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We’ll be revisiting
transitivity again
Bye for now!
when we look at
verbs in Week 7.