APUNTS GRAMÀTICA II

1. Prescriptive grammar specifies how language and its grammar rules should be
used.
2. Descriptive grammar is a study of the language, the structure and the rules as
being used in daily life.

STRUCTURE: (dependent/s) + HEAD + (dependent/s)

Word > Phrase > Clause > Sentence

Clauses can be:

- canonical
1. positive
2. declarative
3. main clause
4. simple
- non-canonical
1. negative
2. interrogative and imperative
3. subordinate and relative clauses
4. non-finite
5. compound
- passive
- ergative
- extraposition

CANONICAL CLAUSE PATTERNS BASED ON COMPLEMENTATION

1. Intransitive: SV.
- the ice melted
- the dog died
2. Complex intransitive: SVCs.
- he seems tired
- she feels sad
3. (Mono)transitive: SVO.
- he bought a new car
- we sold our house
4. Complex transitive: SVOCo.
- they held him prisoner
- we found Martha intolerant
5. Ditransitive: SVOO.
- we gave them some food
- we gave Sue a present

CONSTITUENT STRUCTURE
1. Immediate constituents: subject + predicate
2. Division of constituents: subject + verb + objects
STRUCTURAL TYPES OF CLAUSES
→ Finite clauses
→ Non-finite clauses
→ Verbless clauses

SYNTACTIC CLAUSE TYPES AND DISCOURSE FUNCTION

● Declarative clauses: to inform
● Interrogative clauses: to question
- closed: polar (yes/no), alternative, interrogation tags
- open: wh-interrogatives
● Exclamative clauses: to express
● Interrogative clauses: to make command or request

The 4 major communicative functions

● Statement
● Question
● Directive
● Exclamation

APPROACHES TO ANALYZE CLAUSES

Dependents:
1. Arguments or complements: required by the verb
- distinguished by syntactic properties
- related to the verb
- obligatory
2. Non-arguments or adjuncts: optional
- distinguished by semantic properties
- not subcategorized by the verb
- optional
*A complement alters a subject, verb, or object. An adjunct gives extra information. The
complement is crucial in order to understand the sentence.

SYNTACTIC CATEGORIES
- NP
- VP
- AdjP
- AdvP
- PP
- Relative clause
- That clause

SYNTACTIC FUNCTIONS
- Subject (NP)
- Complements
● Object (NP)
● Oblique, AdvC (PP)
● Predicative Complement (AdjP, NP, PP)
 ● X-Compl (VP(non-fin))
● S-Compl (clause)
- Adjuncts (PP, NP, AdvP, Clause)

1. OBJECT
NP
Od and Oi.
Oi preceeds Od.

2. OBLIQUE
PP
the head determines a specific preposition which is a dummy one because it has no
meaning.
Depends on. To read.

3. ADVERBIAL COMPLEMENT
PP, AdvP, NP
Head is a meaningful preposition.
Usually describe location and movement.

4. PREDICATE COMPLEMENTS
NP, AdjP, PP
Express a characteristic of the subject or the object
Cs and Co.

5. X-COMPLEMENT - VP(non-finite)
Non-finite clause functioning as a complement of the verb.
Bill wanted to visit her mother

6. CLAUSE- COMPLEMENT
Clause introduced by a subordinator.
Subordinate clause.
I think that you are a liar.
I can’t remember if you went to the cinema.

7. ADJUNCTS
PP, AdvP, NP, Clause
Not subcategorized by the verb.
Instrument, frequency, time, company.

DEPENDANTS ANALYSIS
1. Clause patterns: SVO (only arguments)
2. Clause structure: SVO(A)
3. Lexical patterns: verb (subj-NP, Obj-NP) (only arguments)
4. Argument structure: verb (subj-NP-agent, Obj-NP-patient) (semantic roles)

SEMANTIC ROLES
- Agent: initiator/ causer
 - Patient
- Theme
- Experiencer
- Source
- Goal
- Location
- Path
- Recipient
- Possessor
- Beneficiary
- Instrument
- Predicative NP
- State of Affairs

COMPLEMENT VS. ADJUNCTS

Complements are licensed by the verb. Their occurrence depends on the type of verb.
● The cat mewed (SV) → intransitive
● John bought a cake (SVO) → monotransitive
● John gave Mary a book (SVOO) → intransitive
Adjuncts are always optional. They occur independently of the verb.
● The cat mewed yesterday
● John bought a cake today

UNIT 3
PREDICATIVE COMPLEMENTS
● AdjP: John is happy
● NP: john is a linguist
● PP: john is under the weather
TWO PATTERNS
1. SVCs
They became friends
2. SVOCo
He painted the house blue

Differences between Predicative complements and Objects

1. M. Monroe was a millionaire (Cs)
2. M. Monroe married a millionaire (object)

1. John insulted a friend of mine (object)

2. John became a friend of mine (Cs)
Semantic connotations: role, office or position.
Classification of Predicative complements

Obligatory vs Optional PC

ADJUNCTS
Adjuncts:
- They are non-arg uments.
- They are optional.
- Syntactic realisation:
● She folded the napkins carefully
● She cut it with a razor-blade
● She didn’t consult us before signing the contract
● They arrived this morning
● Had I known this at the time, I wouldn’t have bought it
● Realising he couldn’t win, Tom began to lose heart
- They can be classified from a semantic point of view.

Types of adjuncts: semantic classification

• Manner • Instrument • Place • Time • Duration • Frequency • Degree • Purpose • Result •
Concession • Condition

MANNER (he drove quite recklessly)

Definition: It describes how the process expressed by the VP is performed.
Realisation:
- AdvP (normally a gradable one)
She departed very hastily (gradable) • The volumes are sold separately (non-gradable)
- PP (“with” “without” and “in” + NP, head=way, manner, style, fashion)
She handled it with great care. • They found the place without difficulty. • She intervened in a
spontaneous way.
- NP (less frequent)
Don’t eat that way.
INSTRUMENT (he killed the waitress with a knife)
Definition: It describes the instrument used to perform the process expressed by the VP.
Realisations.
- PP (with/ without, others)
• They ate with their fingers. • She opened the door without the key. • The letter was written
by hand. • She worked it all out on her computer

PLACE (they have breakfast in bed)

Definition: It refers to the place where the process expressed by the VP takes place.
Realisation:
- PP: I always have dinner in the kitchen.

TIME (i saw her last week)

Definition: It locates in time the situation described by the verb.
Realisation:
- PP(the most common)
• I spoke to her before the meeting.
- NP
• I read your thesis last week.
- AdvP
• They finished it recently.

DURATION (i stayed in Hong Kong all week )

Definition: It describes the extent in time that the process expressed by the verb takes.
Realisation:
- PP
• I stayed there for three weeks. • They built the house in a year
- NP
• We argued about it all weekend
- AdvP
• I’ll stay in your house temporarily

FREQUENCY (she telephones her mother every sunday)

Definition: It describes the frequency of the process expressed by the VP
Realisation:
- AdvP
• We periodically visit our friends.
- NP
• She plays tennis every two days

DEGREE (i almost died)

Definition: It refers to the level of intensity of the process expressed by the verb.
Realisation.
- AdvP
• I absolutely agree with you. • I thoroughly agree with you / I agree with you thoroughly
- PP
• He had for the most part understood what they said.
• I didn’t like it in the least.
PURPOSE (i checked all the doors in order to make sure they were shut)
Definition: It describes the purpose of performing the process expressed by the verb (it
normally entails intention).
Realisation:
- Prep + Clausal complement
• He phoned everybody in order that they may all remember about the meeting. • He phoned
everybody in order to remind them about the meeting. • He phoned everybody so that they
may all remember about the meeting. • He phoned everybody so as to remind them about
the meeting.
- Prep + NP
• I did it for fun

RESULT (it rained all day, with the result that they couldn’t work)
Definition: It describes the result of the process expressed by the verb. It does not imply
intentionality.
Realisation:
- Prep + clause
• They forgot to turn off the light so that / with the result that the bulb didn’t work when they
return home after their summer holidays

CONCESSION (Sonia doesn’t speak French, although she grew up in Paris)

Definition: It expresses contrast between two circumstances.
Realisation:
- Prep + clause
Though an American citizen, he has never lived in the States. • While the first act was
excellent, the second was dull.
- AdvP
The term papers were very brief. Still, they were better than I expected.

CONDITION (if it rains the match will be postponed)

Definition: It describes the necessary conditions so that the process expressed by the verb
becomes true
Realisation:
- if (prototypical head) + clause
• If you touch that wire, you will get an electric shock. • I won’t pass the subject unless I study
harder

DISJUNCTS/ CONJUNCTS
DISJUNCTS
- They usually appear peripherally (at the beginning of the sentence).
- Semantically, they are considered to be the speaker’s attitude towards the
propositional content of the sentence:
● Fortunately, we managed to get there on time
● Honestly, I couldn’t believe him
● To my amazement, he didn’t remember me
CONJUNCTS
- Relate the clause to the neighbouring text, or to the context
 - Jill was the only one with a Ph.D. Moreover, she had considerable teaching
experience (PURE CONNECTIVE).
- In the first place, it hasn’t been adequately costed. Secondly, it violates the spirit of
our agreement (PURE CONNECTIVE).
- There’s little chance that we succeed. Nevertheless, it is important that we try
(IMPURE CONNECTIVE)

EXERCICE
1. It is almost always this warm in Texas. adjunct
2. Frankly, Martha is a bit scary. disjunct
3. If she starts singing again, then I'm not staying. conjunct, conditional, impure
4. She often plays the piano alone. adjunct of frequency
5. I love chocolate; however, I'm allergic to it. conjunct
6. She told him the instructions repeatedly, yet he just sat there. conjunct
7. His mom told him to come home before dark. adjunct time
8. Although he was an actor, he could sing well, too. disjunct
9. She yelled his name loudly. adjunct
10. Fortunately, no one was hurt. disjunct

POSITION OF PREDICATE DEPENDENTS

Core vs. Non-core complements
● Core Complements
- NPs (Objects)
- AdjPs (PCs)
Near the verb.

● Non-core Complements
- PPs (Obliques & Adverbial Complements)
Far from the verb.

Order of Complements
Head > Core C. > Non-core C
1. Sam gave Mary this book. (SVOO)
2. Sam gave this book to Mary (SVOObl)
3. *The president said to the Press a few words.

Order of Adjuncts
Head > Complements > Adjuncts (default)
1. Sylvia drove me to the station after the class.
2. *Joe read slowly the book.
3. Joe read slowly to their children.

*Head > Adjunct > Core C.

Head > Adjunct > Non-Core C.

EXERCICE Grammatical or Ungrammatical?

a) My brother gave the kids a present last week (grammatical)
b) My brother gave last week a present to the kids (ungrammatical)
 c) My brother gave the kids last week a present (ungrammatical)
d) My brother last week gave to the kids a present. (ungrammatical)

SEMANTIC ROLES
“The thief killed husband and wife with a gun”
- Clause structure: SVO(A)
- Clause pattern: SVO
- Lexical pattern: kill <Subj-Np, Obj-NP>

There are the specifications of the semantic relations that exist between a verb and its
complements.

Semantic relations = semantic roles

3 levels of generality:
1. verb-specific semantic roles
2. semantic roles/ thematic relations/θ Roles
3. semantic macroroles

1. Verb-specific semantic roles

2. Thematic relations (θ Roles)

Generalizations across verb-specific roles (agent, patient, etc.)

3. Semantic Macroroles
Generalizations across thematic relations (actor, undergoer)
Theta Roles. SOme theoretical considerations
Only arguments bear theta roles.
Theta roles are assigned by the verb (i.e. “put”, “see”).
Theta roles are non-inherent properties of NPs, PPs, etc. They depend on tehire occurrence
in the context of a given sentence.

DRAWBACKS
a) No agreement on an inventory of semantics roles.
b) There are difficulties to identify semantic roles.
c) Overlap of roles.

TYPES OF SEMANTIC ROLES

Agent: animate and volitional initiator of any action/event.
- The butler killed the maid
Causer: inanimate or non-volitional entity which is directly involved in the causation of an
event.
- The rain ruined the crop

Patient: entity which is acted upon, affected, or created; or which a change of state is
predicated.
- The ice melted/ Peter melted the ice/ He prepared a paella

Theme: entity which undergoes a change of location or possession, or whose location is

being specified. Entity which something is being predicated.
- The ball is in the park / We put the box on the shelf
- The key is mine/ She wa happy

Attribute
- She was happy
- They felt exhausted
- This topic seems interesting
- Kevin is my brother
- She is in pain

Experiencer: animate entity which perceives a stimulus or registers a particular mental or

emotional process or state. Appears with psychological verbs or verbs of perception (e.g.
see, understand, hear, taste, frighten, etc.)
- John understood the problem

Stimulus: object of perception, cognition, or emotion; entity which is seen, heard, known,
remembered, loved, hated, etc. (i.e. what arouses the feeling or is perceived).
- The situation scares me
- The jury heard his testimony

Instrument: inanimate entity used by an agent to perform some action.

- The key opened the lock
- We employ a PC for our calculations

Recipient: animate entity which receives or acquires something.

- John gave Mary a book

Beneficiary: usually animate entity that something is obtained for or done for.
- I baked a cake for my daughter
- You poured me a drink laced with arsenic

Location: spatial and temporal reference point of the event.

- They stayed at the village
- The meeting is at noon

Source, Goal, Path

- Jenny walked from school (source)
- Walter drove home (goal)
 - The coin rolled across the floor (path)

State of affairs (SOA): we use it with non-finite VPs (X-compl). It refers to situations,
events, etc.
- John saw Liz take the chocolate cookie

Propositions (Props): propositional content of clauses.

- John thinks that Mary is coming to dinner

VERB-SPECIFIC & THETA ROLES

VALENCY ALTERNATIONS
- Passive alternation
- Dative alternation
- Ergative alternation

Passive alternation: SVO → SVObl

● John killed the insect.
● The insect was killed by John.

Dative/Ditransitive alternation: SVOO → SVOObl

 ● John gave Mary a book.
● John gave a book to Mary.

If the verb accepts both patterns SVOO and SVO both objects can be the subjects in the
passive.
Active: i gave the key to susan / i gave susan the key
Passive: the key was given to susan / susan was given the key

If the verb only accepts svo-oblique the direct object can be the subject not the oblique
Active: i confessed my fault to Susan
Passive: My fault was confessed to Susan

If the verb only accepts SVOO not SVO-Obl only the indirect object can be the subject in the
passive.
Active: i envied Susan her strength
Passive: Susan was envied her strength

Ergative alternation: SVO → SV

● The sun melted the ice.
● The ice melted.

There are some verbs that accept the alternation as brake or open.
EXERCICE. Can those verbs accept ergative alternation?
- chip: yes (the tooth chipped)
- change: yes (nature hasn’t changed)
- destroy: no
- melt: yes (the ice melted)
- tear: yes
- cut: yes
- widen: yes (the window widen)
- emerge: no
- drop: yes (his keys dropped)
- occur: no