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Unit 3. Words
3.1. The structure of words: open and closed word classes
There are two major kinds of word- classes in English:
•
‘Open word classes’:
- New lexical items can be added to these word-classes.
- Their membership is fairly open-ended to meet new demands; they are:
adverbs,
adjectives,
nouns, and
verbs.
e.g. computer, email, debug, download, atomic, nuclear, digital…
•
‘Closed word-classes’:
- No or only few new lexical items can be added to these word-classes.
- Their membership is fairly fixed; they are:
articles,
auxiliaries
conjunctions,
prepositions, and
pronouns.
The problem of word classes in English
The description of word-classes in English is rather problematic.
The problems are further worsened by the fact that:
- The labels for word-classes (and often the notion in itself) have been adapted form Latin to
English (synthetic/analytic language).
- English has a very productive phenomenon that ignores word-classes: conversion.
e.g.
Round
Clear
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3.2. Open word classes: classification and basic features
For the description of the open word-classes three criteria will be considered:
a)
Form:
- Derivational morphology: certain suffixes are characteristics of certain word-classes
e.g.
- ion, noun
- ize, verb
- al, adjective
- ly, adverb
-
Inflectional morphology: certain suffixes can be added to change the form of a word in relation
with certain grammatical categories: inflections.
e.g.
Number
-s/-es
Tense
-ed
Degree
-er /-est
Case
-s
Inflections, however, do not always consist of suffixes, but they may also affect:
- the form of a word:
man / men; do / did
- the whole word:
bad / worse; go / went
b)
Function: we can tell the form of a word by the way it behaves, i.e. from the function it has in phrases
or clauses.
e.g. The dry winds from the mountains will dry the clothes soon
There is no difference in form but there is in function.
c)
Meaning can be a help to further check the evidence show from form and function.
Whether these criteria should be ranked:
-
Meaning does not always appear reflected in grammatical differences:
e.g.
Cook N-V
Love N-V
e.g.
It was minsy and the borgons rabe in the outgrab
-
Form is not systematically present in English words because:
- inflectional morphology is very limited in English (very few inflections),
- derivational morphology is not always resent in English and sometimes it is
deceiving:
e.g.
However Adv / slowly Adv
Structural Adj / Refusal N
-
Function is therefore the only reliable criterion. Words acquire their full meaning in
connection with other words. However, word-classes are not syntactically homogeneous.
e.g.
A thick Adj wall was built
A stone N wall was built
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3.2.1. Nouns
a)
Form
- Derivational Morphology:
Suffixes: -er, -ist, -ism, -ion, -ity, -hood, -ence, -ness….
- Inflectional Morphology:
Number: singular vs plural (count nouns).
-s / -es / men / teeth
Case: common vs genitive
-‘s
b)
Function: Head of Noun Phrases
c)
Meaning:
Concrete vs. abstract nouns. This distinction concerns whether they refer to physical (people, objects,
places…) or non-physical (events, states, activities…) entities.
Considering the function, form and meaning of nouns, the following dichotomies can be established:
- Count vs. mass nouns
Count nouns refer to things that can be counted and can therefore have a plural form.
Mass nouns refer to substances, qualities that are not suitable for counting, but are
considered in mass.
- Proper vs. common nouns
Proper nouns denote a person, place
Common nouns classify things into types.
- Collective nouns
There are count nouns that even in the singular refer to groups of items. For that reason
they often combine with singular or plural verbs.
e.g. The Government has / have approved the new criminal measures.
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3.2.2. Verbs
a)
Form:
- Derivational Morphology: suffixes: -ate, -en, -ify, -ise…
- Inflectional Morphology. Verbs may have five different forms:
Present tense or base form
3rd person singular present tense form
Past tense form
Past participle form
Present participle form
Give
Gives
Gave
Given
Giving
Ask
Asks
Asked
Asked
Asking
b)
Function: Head of Verb Phrase
c)
Meaning: the semantic classification of verbs is, to a large extent, a matter of opinions.
- Leech et al. 1982
Actions (Physical (fall…); mental (think…), perceptual (see…)…)
Events (happen…)
Processes (become…)
Activities (perform, develop, start…)
States (stand…)
- Stative vs. Dynamic (+/- control; +/- progressive aspect).
e.g.
Know
Become
Resemble
Work
Jump
Sing
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3.2.3. Adjectives
a)
Form:
- Derivational Morphology: suffixes: - able, -al, -ed, -ful, -ic, -ish , -ive, -less, -ous, -y…
- Inflectional Morphology: Inflection for Degree.
Most adjectives are gradable and can inflect for degree (comparative and superlative).
Thus we can tell an adjective by its ability to take –er, - est inflectional suffixes. However,
• The grammatical category of degree can be express through periphrasis (more,
most).
• There are irregular forms (better, worse…)
• There are non-gradable adjectives which can’t inflect for this grammatical
category (atomic, electric, alive…)
b)
Function: Head of Adjective Phrase
c)
Meaning:
Adjectives typically denote some quality or property attributed to nouns. Most commonly they specify the
reference of nouns, e.g. The red building.
Classification of adjective meanings:
- Physical qualities of colour, shape, (big, blue, curly…),
- Psychological qualities (sad, eager, worried…), and
- Evaluative qualities (good, scary, clever, controversial…).
Adjectives may also be classified according to the following dichotomies:
•
Gradable vs non-gradable. Most adjectives can show different degrees of a quality. This is
shown in the capability of adjectives to:
- take comparison (*more atomic, *more electrical, *more chemical)…, or
- be premodified by quantifiers (*very atomic, *pretty electrical, *extremely
chemical…).
•
Inherent vs non-inherent. Most adjectives are inherent, i.e. the adjective applies to the referent
of the object directly.
e.g.
a firm handshake
a firm friend
a perfect excuse
a perfect stranger
a true report
a true scholar
a wooden cross
a wooden actor
•
Stative vs dynamic. Most adjectives are susceptible to subjective measurement are capable of
being dynamic. Stative and dynamic adjectives differ syntactically in a number of ways.
- progressive aspect
* he’s being tall / blonde / old /
- imperative
* be tall / blond / old
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3.2.4. Adverbs
a)
Form:
- Derivational morphology:
Suffixes: -ly, -wards, -wise.
- Inflectional morphology:
Inflection for Degree (comparative and superlative). Thus we can tell an adverb by its
ability to take –er, - est inflectional suffixes. However,
• the grammatical category of degree can be express through periphrasis (more,
most).
Some adverbs resemble adjectives (soon, fast, hard, long, late...)
b)
Function: Head of Adverb Phrase
c)
Meaning:
Circumstance adverbs: they add some kind of circumstantial information. Elicitation test:
Manner (how?) fast, quietly, noisily
Place (where) here, there, far
Direction (where to/ from) onwards, forwards
Time (when) tomorrow, now, afterwards
Duration (how long), long, little
Frequency (how often) seldom, never
Degree (how much) extremely,
Degree adverbs: they modify adjectives or other words in terms of gradability (very, extremely,
really, quite…).
Sentence adverbs: they apply to the whole clause or sentence expressing:
- an attitude towards it (fortunately, wisely, personally, perhaps…)
- a connection between it an another clause or sentence (therefore, however, yet, then…)
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3.3. Closed word classes: classification and basic features
Open and closed word classes differ in several respects:
Number: there are fewer items that belong to closed word classes.
Frequency: closed word-classes are more frequent.
Meaning: the meaning of items that belong to closed word classes is structural, whereas that of
open word classes is lexical.
Closed word classes tend to appear towards the beginning of larger units to which they belong. That is why
they are often considered markers of the units they introduce:
e.g. The result of this has been that our financial support has vanished in the end
3.3.1. Determiners
The concept of determiner is used in a variety of ways:
- sometimes as a functional label (e.g. Quirk, Huddleston), and
- sometimes as a word-class (e.g. Leech et al. 1982).
We will consider that DETERMINER is a FUNCTIONAL label.
a)
Form:
- Articles, usually defined as words that specify whether a noun is:
definite (the), or
indefinite (a / an).
- Pronouns, of various kinds such as:
possessive (my, our…),
interrogative (whichever, what, which…),
demonstrative (this, those),
indefinite (some, any, every…).
…
Pronouns are typically involved in one or more of the following systems:
Number (this, these...)
Proximity (this, that…)
Definiteness (a, the)
Countability (many, much…)
Polarity: assertive (every, some set) vs non-assertive (any set, no).
Determiners are classified according to the order they take in the noun phrase:
- Pre-determiners: all, both, such, what, multipliers (double, twice).
- Central determiners: articles and pronouns.
- Post-determiners: many, few, little, cardinals, ordinals…
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3.3.2. Pronouns
a) Function:
- Head of the NP: they have generalised or unspecified meaning and are obligatory elements in
the NP.
e.g. I like yours much more than mine
- Determiner: they precede the head of the NP.
e.g. My new teacher
e.g. It takes 3 hours from here to Glasgow whichever road you take
b) Meaning:
personal (I, you…),
possessive (my, our…),
reflexive (herself, themselves…),
reciprocal (each other, one another),
interrogative (whichever, what, which…),
demonstrative (this, those),
relative (who, that…), and
indefinite (some, any, every…).
3.3.3. Enumerators
Leech et al. 1982:
- cardinals: three, ten, fifteen…
- ordinals: first, second…
- a few general ordinals: next, last, other…
They are associated with the word-classes:
- pronouns: cardinals and ordinals
- adjectives: general ordinals
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3.3.4. Prepositions
a)
Function: they introduce prepositional phrases and function as their head, e.g. We slept until
midnight.
b)
Morphology
- Simple prepositions: one word (in, of, after, to…), and
- Complex prepositions: more than one word (because of, according to, on behalf of, due to…)
c)
Meaning: they express relations, such as
Possession (of…),
Purpose (for…),
…
d)
Time (after…),
Place (in, at, on…),
Prepositions vs. Adverbs
- Prepositions take complementation
- Adverbs do not take complementation
Prepositional adverbs:
e.g.
He looked up (the chimney)
He walked past (the haunted house)
Why don’t you come before (7)
Sorry, John is not in (the house) at the moment
3.3.5. Conjunctions
a)
Prepositions vs conjunctions
Like prepositions, they are linking words, however prepositions link words / phrases, and
conjunctions link clauses.
b)
Morphology
- Simple conjunctions: one word (but, and, because…)
- Correlative conjunctions: two conjunctions, one preceding the other, both in interrelation.
Subordinating (If…then), and
Coordinating (either…or, both… and, not (only)…but).
c)
Function
- Subordinating (because, after...), or
- Coordinating (and, or, but …)
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3.3.6. Operator-verbs
Operator verbs are a closed word lass of verbs that function as auxiliaries to full, lexical verbs in the VP
From a strictly point of view, VPs only have one operator, the element in the VP that takes all the
transformations of negation, interrogation…
e.g. They have been decorating their new house
Word class
Function
Op Op
Aux Aux
(Op)
FV
H
Operator-verbs fall into tow main categories:
Modal verbs: they are often invariable, although in some cases, they show tense distinction (past/
present).
e.g. Can / could
May /might
Primary verbs: they can function as operators and as full verbs. They are:
Be
e.g. I was living abroad at that time / I was ill last week
Have
e.g. He has left / I have a red car
Do
e.g. I don’t think so / He always does the cooking while I do the dishes
3.3.7. Interjections
Interjections are rather peripheral to language because they are items that have a purely emotive nature
and that do not enter into syntactic relations with other elements.
Leech et al. 1982 classifies interjections:
- Sounds (uhg, phew, ouch…),
- Swear words (damned…), and
- Greetings (hello, bye…).
3.3.8. Particles
Particles are those grammatical elements that lack lexical meaning and work as markers (conjunctions,
prepositions, interjections).
The word particle is consistent with the system of word-class, only with tradition, but in other respect it is not
readily scientific or descriptive.
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3.4. Word classes in English
Word classes are problematic in the description of English for several reasons:
•
•
•
•
there are several criteria available for their description (form, function and meaning) which result in
different results,
there are countless approaches to word class classification (2 to 23 word-classes), and
classifications are influenced by the classical tradition from the terminological and conceptual point of
view.
conversion evades the limits within the system of word classes
e.g. The earlyAdj train
e.g. He always wakes up earlyAdv
Flexibility is, therefore, as an essential requirement in the system of English word classes, which derives in
the existence of:
• central vs. peripheral members of classes,
• heterogeneity (formal, functional and semantic) within the classes, and
• formal, functional and semantic overlaps
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