Download Language Analysis_Unger_SS 2010

Unit 1 - About Grammar!
Language Analysis
Unit 1 - About Grammar
Grammar
• set of rules that makes one able to communicate and make sense of a string of words
• system by which the words an morphemes of a language are organized into large units,
particularly into sentences
Syntax!
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Morphology!!
the study of sentence structure
the analysis of word structure
derivational morphology!!
inflectional morphology! !
study of word formation
study of the variation in for of single lexical items for
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grammatical purposes
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Phonology! !
Lexicon!
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deals with the sound system (sounds, stress, intonation)
deals with individual items of the vocabulary (words, idioms)
The place of grammar in the description of language
Phonology! !
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Grammar! !
- Syntax
- Morphology
Lexicon
morpheme! !
smallest meaning distinguishing elements of language
collocation! !
colligation! !
tendency of certain words to occur together, "word partnership"
tendency of words to occur in a special grammatical context
Form vs. meaning
Will you be ok?!
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Will you be quiet!! !
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Will you have another sandwich?!!
question
request
offer
Prescriptive vs. descriptive grammar
prescriptive!!
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prescribes how language should be used, gives certain rules and talks
about grammar/language being correct or incorrect
descriptive! !
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describes how language is used, talks about grammar/language being
appropriate or inappropriate, variations are accepted and included
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 1 - About Grammar!
Language Analysis
Grammar books
prescriptive grammar!
manual that gives rules how language should be used
descriptive grammar!
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approach that describes the grammatical constructions that are
used in a language, without making any evaluative judgments
about their standing in society
traditional grammar!
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range of attitudes and methods found in the period of
grammatical study before the advent of linguistic science
pedagogical grammar!
book specifically designed for teaching a foreign language
theoretical grammar!
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approach that goes beyond the study of individual language,
study of linguistic universals
reference grammar!
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grammatical description that tries to be as comprehensive as
possible, reference book (like a dictionary) for those interested
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in grammatical facts
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How to find rules for grammar
introspection!
elicitation! !
corpora!
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examine your own thoughts and ideas
get information from someone else
analyze a collection of (spoken and written) texts
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 2 - Constituents & Word Categories!
Language Analysis
Unit 2 - Constituents & Word Categories
Ambiguous sentences
They chased two dogs in their pyjamas.
THey talked about the disaster on the train.
Cat carrying basket urgently required.
Wanted: modern house with three bedrooms and garage for schoolmaster.
Constituents!!
• building blocks of syntax
• single word or a string of words which are syntactical components in a larger structure
constituent structure!
internal structure of a sentence, starts at sentence level, ends
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at word level
immediate constituent! constituent that immediately make up a construction (phrase,
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clause)
Constituency tests
substitution!!
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movement! !
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replace a group of words with a single word (e.g. pronoun)
Our vicar likes fast cars. - Our vicar likes them.
move element to another position within the sentence
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sentence fragment !
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Our vicar likes fast cars. - It is our vicar who likes fast cars.
ask a question about sentence element
Who likes fast cars? - Our vicar.
Representing constituent structure
brackets! !
tree diagrams!
[Our vicar] [likes [fast cars]]
Classes and functions
syntactic class (syntactic category, part of speech)
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what are they?
categories of words and phrases
grammatical properties a constituent shares with other forms
noun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 2 - Constituents & Word Categories!
Language Analysis
syntactic function
• what do they do?
• relation between constiutents
• syntactic function role a constituent plays in a construction
• subject, object, predicate, adjunct, head, modifier, specifier
parsing!
examine and describe the grammar of a sentence or a particular word in a
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sentence
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Open vs. closed class words
open class
• words can be easily added
• nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs
closed class
• new words appear only over a long period of time
• prepositions, subordinators, coordinators, determiners
Criteria for classification of parts of speech
semantic! !
morphological!
syntactic! !
meaning, traditional way of classifying words
form, how words look
position in sentence, how is a word used
Nouns
Properties
semantic! !
• describe objects (physical and abstractions),
• people, places, things
morphological!
• typical suffixes: -ment, -er, -ness, -ation,...
• inflectional forms for number (plural/singular)
• possessive case (genitive 's)
syntactic
• used with "the"
• function as subjects, objects and heads of noun phrases
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 2 - Constituents & Word Categories!
Language Analysis
Proper nouns
London, Austria, John, Charing Cross
Pronouns
• are used instead of nouns
personal
• nominative (subject) case!
I, you, he, she, it, we, they
• accusative (object) case!!
me, you, him, her, it, us, them
possessive! !
mine, ours, yours, his, hers, theirs
reflexive!
herself, himself, themselves, yourself, yourselves
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reciprocal! !
each other, one another
demonstrative!
this, that (this/that is what causes the problem), these, those
interrogative!
who, whom, whose, what, which, why (who is it?)
relative!
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who, whom, whose, which, that (the man who is over there)
indefinite!
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some, any each, one, either, neither, none, all, both, many, much, few,
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everyone, everybody, nobody
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Common nouns
• inflect genitive!
a bird's call
• form plural!!
regular: hat - hats, house - houses
irregular: goose - geese, curriculum - curricula
exceptions
invariably singular !
only occur in singular (information), look like plural but are not
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invariably plural ! !
zero plural! !
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(news)
only occur in plural (clothes)
look as if they are singular but are not (people, police)
count vs. mass
John would like another beer vs. John likes beer
collective nouns
• singular noun occurs with plural verb
The team has won again (AmE) - The team have won again (BrE)
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 3 - Word Categories!
Language Analysis
Unit 3 - Word Categories
Adjectives
Properties
semantic
• give more information about a noun
• refer to qualities or states (shape, taste, size, judgements)
morphological
• are gradable and inflect for degree in a three-term system
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one syll.!
absolute!
low! !
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two syll.!
early! !
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wicked!
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three+ syll.! disrespectful!!
comparative!!
lower! !
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earlier!!
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more wicked!!
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more disrespectful! !
superlative
lowest
earliest
most wicked
most disrespectful
• form adverbs with -ly (beautiful → beautifully)
• adjectives derived from nouns: -ful, -less, -ly, -y, -ish, -al, -ic, -ese
• adjectives derived from verbs: -able, -ible
syntactic
• as head of an adjective phrase they can be modified (very careful, absolutely fabulous)
adjective precedes the noun ! !
the green door
• attributive !
adjective used with a linking verb !
the door is green
• predicative !
• post-positive!
often used in job titles!
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the president elected
Verbs
Properties
sematic
• denote to actions, processes, states or events
• doing words: eat, run, talk
• cognitive actions: know, understand
• sensory perception: see, smell
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 3 - Word Categories!
Language Analysis
morphological
• suffixes: -ise, -fy
• inflection
tensed!
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non-tensed!
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locate event or state in time
present (3rd person singular, other)!
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hugs/hug
past! !
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hugged!
accompany tensed verbs, follow a tensed auxiliary
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infinitive!
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present participle (-ing form)!
past participle (-ed form)! !
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hug
hugging
hugged
syntactic
• main lexical verbs!
• function as head of a verb phrase
auxiliary verbs!
• are used before the main verb
• function as dependents of main verbs
• can't occur alone in a verb phrase
primary!
modal!!
be, have, do (aspectual aux., passive aux., dummy aux. do)
will/would, can/could, may/might, must, shall/should
properties of auxiliaries
negation!
don't
inversion!
invert with subject (I will - will I?)
code! !
used as a shortcut, (John never sings, but Mary does.)
emphasis!
I do like grammar
used to, need, dare!!
sometimes act like auxiliary verbs
present participle vs. gerund
verb - present participle
The have been surfing all day
adjective - present participle
The surfing gear is packed
noun - gerund
Surfing is good exercise
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 3 - Word Categories!
Language Analysis
Adverbs
Properties
semantic
• express a wide range of meaning
• manner (fast, how sth is done)
• place (here)
• time (then)
• direction (away)
morphological
• often formed with -ly
syntactic
• used to modify verbs and adjectives
• adjuncts (circumstantial), modify verb phrase
He was driving carelessly.
• modifiers (degree), modify adverbs and adjectives
pretty meanly (adj), more often (adv)
• peripheral dependents (sentence), modify whole sentence/clause
Amazingly, no one was hurt.
Prepositions
Properties
semantic
• express relationships between things and events
morphological
• simple: at, behind, by, for, in, like, of, on, through, with, from
• complex: by means of, in front of, in spite of
syntactic
• used before noun phrases
• express relationship between two things
preposition vs. adverb
He came across prep the bridge ! vs.!
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
He came across adv
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Unit 3 - Word Categories!
Language Analysis
preposition vs. particle (of phrasal verbs)
He turned off prep the main road! vs.!
He turned off part the light
preposition vs. subordinator
They left before prep the speech! vs.!
They left before subord the speech began
Determiners
Properties
• tell us what a noun refers to
central determiners
articles!
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demonstratives!
possessives!
interrogatives!
quantifiers! !
genitive phrases!
the book, a/an book
this/that book, these/those books
her, our, my, John's book
which/what book
any, some, no, enough, each, neither, much, more, most book(s)
the captain's
predeterminers
all the men, both these books, half his money
postdeterminers
one, two, three, first, may, several, few, little, a dozen
Coordinators
Properties
• link units of the same category (NP + NP)
and, but, or,...
Peter went to Paris but his family stayed at home
Mary was wearing a new bracelet and a diamond ring
Should we come before or after lunch?
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 3 - Word Categories!
Language Analysis
Properties
• link clause to some other element (subordinate)
until, as, if, because, although, whereas,...
She left the course [because she didn't like it]
My teachers are very strict [although they are also very supportive]
I wonder [if it will ever change]
Preposition vs. Subordinator
You have to register before prep May!
It's all happened since prep Easter!!
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
vs. !
vs.!
You have to register before subord they print it
It's all happened since subord Mary was born
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Unit 4 - Phrases 1!
Language Analysis
Unit 4 - Phrases 1
Noun phrase
• single noun or pronoun
• group of words containing a noun or pronoun
• functions as subject or object
determiner!
adjective!
noun! !
prep phrase! prep phrase! !
clause
specifier!
modifier!
head! !
complement ! modifier!
peripheral dep.
The ! !
diligent!
students!
of Physics!
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with long hair!,!
who are revising.
head
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can have dependents preceding and/or following it
decides the agreement on the verb when NP is subject
to find head ask: what are we talking about?
can't be left out
complement vs. modifier
complement!
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modifier!
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close link to the head, often obligatory, depends on noun
students (but not children or people) of physics
can be left out more easily, does not depend on noun
students (children/people) with long hair
complex noun phrases!
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offer the possibility to pack a lot of information in them, pre- and
postmodified, often used in academic writing
The uncertainty of the outcome of the doctor's visit has led to
much speculation.
Adjective phrase
happy
quite happy! !
so very happy!
happy enough!
happy about it!
happy to see you!
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pre-modifier
2 pre-modifiers
post-modifier
2 post-modifiers
complement
happy that he is here!
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 4 - Phrases 1!
Language Analysis
Adverb phrase
very quickly
most reluctantly
cleverly for a young child
faster than we'd believed they could
Prepositional phrase
in [China], at [home], over [the wooden bridge]
up [above], (they left us) for [dead], from [over the road]
a boy [beside his mother [on the sofa [at the back [of the room]]]]
Verb phrase
verb phrase!!
extended VP!
verb + dependents
verb + dependents + object
modal aux!
perfect aux! progressive aux!
passive aux! main verb
may! !
have! !
being! !
been! !
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interviewed
Grammatical categories
tense!!
aspect!
voice!!
modality!
grammatical category, contrast between present and past
how an event is seen by the speaker, inside or outside
category of active and passive clauses
indicates attitude of the speaker towards the subject he/she is talking about
Modality
epistemic! likeliness! !
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possibility! He may be crazy.! !
necessity! He must be crazy.! !
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probability ! They should be here soon.!
prediction! The weather will be fine.! !
hedging!
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deontic!
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permission! !
obligation! !
requirement
You may leave.
You must leave.
weak obligation!
willingness! !
You should think of me.
Will you help me?
reducing the strength of claims to avoid overstating a case, express
politeness
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 5 - Phrases 2!
Language Analysis
Unit 5 - Phrases 2
tense!!
time! !
grammatical category, realized in verb inflection
semantic category
Aspect
perfect aspect!
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progressive aspect!
viewed from the outside, in retrospect, relative to some other
situation
viewed from the inside, in progress, ongoing at the moment
Perfect aspect
present perfect !
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past perfect!!
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point of reference is now
I have lived in Vienna.
point of reference is in the past
I had lived in Vienna.
Progressive aspect
• indicates and/or emphasizes duration
• indicates limited duration
• indicates that action is not necessarily complete
dynamic/event verbs!
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←run→!
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stative/state verbs!!
durative!
punctual!
eat, run, swim, change, learn, grow,...
nod, kick, blink, stop, drop, knock, arrive,...
stretched by progressive
Beckham is running on towards an open goal.
deserve, owe, possess, prefer, dislike,...
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shortened by progressive
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He is working for IBM.
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momentary verbs
• use with progressive indicates repetition
He was nodding.
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 5 - Phrases 2!
Language Analysis
state verbs of having and being
be, belong to, contain, consist of, depend on, have, resemble,...
• normally not used with progressive
*He is being tall.
• used with progressive for temporal actions
He is being a fool.
verbs of inert cognition
believe, forget, hope, imagine, know, suppose, understand,...
• normally not used with progressive
*I am thinking that they are coming.
• used with progressive for temporary assumptions, to express politeness or uncertainty
I'm thinking about what you said.
verbs of inert perception
feel, hear, see, smell, taste,...
• normally not used with progressive
*I was smelling onions cooking.
• used with progressive when referring to work or activity
I'm tasting the porridge, to see if it contains enough salt.
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 6 - Phrases 3!
Language Analysis
Unit 6 - Phrases 3
Past tense
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distance yourself from the event
refers to past without connection to present
finished events in mind of speaker
adverbs: in the last century, three months ago, at Easter, on Monday, yesterday
distancing effect!
temporal! !
social!!
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hypothetical!!
Yesterday I worked.
politeness, attitude of speaker
I wondered if you could help me?
If I was famous.
historic present! telling jokes
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This guy comes in, right?
Present perfect
• refers to past but link to the present (current relevance)
• used in newspapers for hot news (Pacific Food Services has filed for bankruptcy)
• adverbs: up to now, since 1990, within the last three months
state/habit up to the present
with state verbs! !
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with event verbs! !
We have lived in Vienna since last September. (still live there)
We lived in Vienna (for 10 years). (no longer live there)
I've always walked to work. (repeated events)
indefinite past
He is a man who has experienced suffering. (in general)
He is a man who experienced suffering (in 1988, in his youth).
resultative past
Peter has injured his ankle. (still injured)
Peter injured his ankle. (okay now)
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 6 - Phrases 3!
Language Analysis
Present perfect vs. past simple
It was a great summer. (summer has already passed)
It has been a great summer. (summer still going on)
Present perfect simple vs. progressive
I have spoken to Kevin. (short)
I have been speaking to Kevin. (long, difficult)
Future reference
• no future time in English
• use of other means to express future
will + infinitive (future simple)
internal factors!
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external factors!
spontaneous decision, willingness
Could I borrow that video? - Sure I will bring it tomorrow.
prediction
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You will feel better after this medicine.
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will + progressive (future progressive)
This time next week we will be lying on the beach. (ongoing activity/state in future)
We will be discussing "syntactic functions" next week. (matter of course)
When will you be paying the €200 you owe me? (politeness)
be going to + infinitive
internal factors!
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external factors!
intention
I am going to get a new job.
prediction based on present evidence
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She is going to have a baby.
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present progressive
I am getting a new job. (arrangement)
present simple
Our flight is at 19.15 local time. (time tables)
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
16
Unit 6 - Phrases 3!
Language Analysis
other ways of referring to the future
The new play is to be staged at the Dominion Theatre next week. (formal written language)
I am about to hypnotize you. (result of plan)
By the age of 20 you will have watched 700k TV commercials. (past in the future)
Last time we met, your wife was going to learn Japanese. (future in the past)
So what are you going to do when you get back? (future reference in subordinate clauses)
Reporting
direct speech!
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use of quoting verbs (quotatives)
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indirect speech!
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Mary (says): "Why do they always have to pick on me?"
use of reporting verb and change of time/tense (backshift)
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present → past → past perfect
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free indirect speech!
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
if utterance still true at the time of reporting, no backshift
Agnes asked why they always had to pick on her.
Why did they always have to pick on her?
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Unit 7 - Syntactic functions!
Language Analysis
Unit 7 - Syntactic functions
Subject
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the doer of an action
what or who is the sentence about
usually the first element in a declarative sentence
typically a noun phrase
• subject moves to the second position in a question
• determines the form of the verb (plural, singular)
light subject constraint! English prefers short subjects
Inside the predicate
• predicate tells us what the subject does, aways a verb phrase
predicate ! verb + object
predicator! just the verb, small verb phrase
complementation
object!!
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complement!
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sth happens to the object
Mary contacted a police officer.!
denotes characteristic, can't become subject
Mary was a police officer.
Object
direct object (Od)! !
patient, goal, directly affected
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indirect object (Oi)!!
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My sister found this book.
recipient, beneficiary, receives sth
can't occur without a following direct object
I gave Mary a cheesecake.
Complement
subject complement!
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object complement!
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SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
tells sth about the subject
Mary is pretty. !
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(attributive)
Mrs Jones is the culprit. ! (identifying, can be reversed)
tells sth about the object
He considered John a fool. (Who is a fool?)
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Unit 7 - Syntactic functions!
copulative verb!
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Language Analysis
link subjects to subject complements
forms of to be, feel, seem
patterns of complementation
Structural pattern!
Example!
S - V! !
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S - V - Od! !
S - V - Oi - Od!
S - V - Sc! !
S - V - Oi - Oc!
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Transitivity type!
Valecy type
Mary stumbled!
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Mary sipped a martini!
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Mary gave her guests a martini!
Mary seems drunk! !
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intransitive! !
mono transitive!
ditransitive! !
copulative! !
monovalent
divalent
trivalent
divalent
Mary made them drunk!
complex transitive! trivalent
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Adjuncts
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moveable, not necessary
give information about why, where, when, how
typically adverb phrases, prepositional phrases, noun phrases or clauses
David gave blood last week.
Clause types (mood)
declarative! !
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indicative, unmarked, statement
He is serious.
interrogative!
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indicative, marked by auxiliary verb
Is he serious? !
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closed (yes/no)
Where do you come from? !
open (wh-questions)
imperative! !
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lack a subject, orders
Be serious!
exclamative!!
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indicative, exclamation
How serious he is!
What great big teeth you have!
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 8 - Clauses 1!
Language Analysis
Unit 8 - Clauses 1
Clause vs. sentence
• sentence as expression of complete thought (traditional understanding)
I shut the door as it was cold. (two thoughts)
EXIT (complete thought but no sentence)
• sentence begins with capital letter and ends with a full stop
what about spoken language?
• therefore we work with clauses instead of sentences
Clause!
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• built around a lexical verb
• if more than one lexical verb therefore more than one clause
• can stand on its own as a full sentence
• can be part of a sentence
one clause! Jill seems quite friendly.
two clauses! I think, Jill seems quite friendly.
two clauses! Jill seems quite friendly, but her husband is extremely shy.
Subordination vs. coordination
main clauses!
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subordinate clauses!
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coordinate clause!!
can stand on their own
John lives in Vienna. (simple sentence)
are embedded and dependent on other clauses
I know (that) John lives in Vienna. (complex sentence)
two main clauses linked together, independent
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John lives in Vienna but he is from Mali. (compound sentence)
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sentence types
simple!
complex!
one main clause
more than one clause, main clause + dependents
compound! more than one clause, main clause + main clause
matrix clause!
subordinate!!
superordinate!
main clause in a complex or compound sentence
embedded in other clause, tend to contain less important info
containing a sentence
relative clause!
is subordinate but not necessarily embedded
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 8 - Clauses 1!
Language Analysis
Types of subordinate clauses
finite! !
carry tense
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non-finite!
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John thought that she believed the story.
don't carry tense
infinitive! David loves to play the piano.
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We made David play the piano.
-ed clause! Written in 1864, the book soon became a classic.
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-ing clause! Leaving home can be very traumatic.
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catenative verbs! only take non-finite complement, verbs are chained together
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She seems to want to stop trying avoid meeting him.
only taking -ing clauses! !
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only taking to-infinitive! !
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allowing both!
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enjoy, dislike, avoid, admit,...
He enjoyed watching her all the time.
afford, attempt, decide, hope, manage, want,...
I want to break free.
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little/no meaning difference!
begin, start, love, prefer,...
!
!
!
!
!
Mary began dancing/to dance.
meaning difference!!
forget, remember, stop, regret, go on,...
!
!
!
!
I won't forget meeting you. (already happened)
!
!
!
!
I won't forget to meet you. (not yet happened)
!
!
!
!
!
!
factual vs. theoretical meaning
factual!
!
!
theoretical!
!
!
!
!
!
!
expressed with -ing
It's nice being young.
expressed with to + infinitive
It's nice to be young.
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 9 - Clauses 2!
Language Analysis
Unit 9 - Clauses 2
Finite subordinate clauses
•
•
•
•
noun clause (subject, object, complement)
adverbial clause (adjunct)
relative clause (modifier)
comparative clause (degree modifier)
Noun clause
• introduced by "that" or a wh-word
• "that" can be omitted in casual language
that-clause
I noticed (that) he spoke English with an Australian accent. (object)
That he had done it was obvious. (subject)
My assumption is that interest rates will soon fall. (complement)
We are angry that the swimmer has tested positive. (complement in adjective phrase)
Our belief that John is involved has been confirmed. (complement in noun phrase)
wh-clause
I can't imagine what they want with your address. (object)
How the book will sell depends on the reviewers. (subject)
The problem is who will water my plants when I'm away. (subject)
declarative that-clause
I believe that John is back from London.
interrogative wh-clause
I'd like to know why my friends are involved.! (open)
I asked whether she was unwell.! !
!
(closed)
exclamative wh-clause
I know what a genius she is.
subjunctive
He demands that you be there.
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 9 - Clauses 2!
Language Analysis
Adverbial clause
time! !
!
reason!
!
concession! !
place!!
!
We left after the speeches ended.
She has a hangover because she got drunk last night.
Although John studied hard, he still failed the exam.
He travels wherever he wants.
purpose!
condition!
result
Go to bed early so that you'll be fresh for your interview tomorrow.
If you don't like grammar, I'll be very upset
!
!
Conditionals
factual conditionals !
!
!
!
!
present + present! !
generally true, relationship between two events, generalization,
academic writing
If I wash the dishes, he dries them.
past + past! !
If it rained, we went by bus.
!
predictive conditionals ! likely, used in informal conversation
present + present modal! If I see Mary, I will tell her.
hypothetical conditionals !
!
!
!
!
!
past + past modal! !
!
unlikely, yet possible, used to present wishes, imaginary
events
If I got the job, I would move to London.
counterfactual conditionals !
!
!
!
!
!
!
!
past perfect + past perfect modal!!
impossible, regret, imaginary event that never
happened
If I had called John earlier, he would have helped.
Use of if-clauses
• to fulfill the end-weight-principle
• interpersonal function
• inversion
• politeness
Relative clause
• subordinate clause post modifying the noun
• introduced by relative pronoun
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 9 - Clauses 2!
Language Analysis
which/who(m)
That child who is standing over there seems to have lost her mummy.
Any child which is left alone will soon feel bored and lonely.
that
Where is the girl that/who sells the tickets?
The craziest thing that has ever happened to me was when I was in London.
This is Loma, who/that sells the tickets. (non-defining relative clause)
zero ("that" omitted)
This is the man I met.
This is the man I gave a book to.
whose (possessive relative)
Have you ever lived in a house whose roof was leaking?
Have you ever lived in a house the roof of which was leaking?
whom/who
The woman who/whom I marry will have a good sense of humor. ("whom" is formal)
Where is the person to whom you talked? (formal)
Where is the person who you talked to? (common in today's English)
Restrictive (defining) vs. Non-restrictive (non-defining) relative clause
defining!
!
non-defining!
My sister who lives in London is a musician. (defines person)
My sister, who lives in London, is a musician. (gives extra info)
Reduced relative clause
The man who is writing the report is my friend.
The man writing the report is my friend.
Sentential relative clause
She is very shy, which I think is a great pity. (refers to whole sentence)
Nominal relative clause
I know who is replacing you. (...the person who is replacing you)
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 9 - Clauses 2!
Language Analysis
Comparative Clause
• subclause of adverbial or adjective clause
He performed worse than you did. (modifies adverb "worse")
She is as tall as we had anticipated. (modifies adjective "tall")
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 10 - Beyond the Clause 1!
Language Analysis
Unit 10 - Beyond the Clause 1
unmarked/canonical word order
SVOCA (subject - verb - object - complement - adjunct)
Information Packaging
end-focus/given-before-new principle
• important info comes at the end of a sentence
• old information preceding new information helps to understand the new one
end-weight principle
• long constituents tend to occur at the end of a sentence
• new info needs to be explained, therefore longer units
topic-comment principle (theme-rheme)
• topic: what a sentence is about, given info, occurs at the beginning of a sentence
• comment: what is said about the topic, occurs at the end of a sentence
thematic system
• a set of variants (word order variation) with the same meaning
cohesion
• formal link between sentences
Passive Voice
• expressed by verb phrases
• changes the word order
• distribute info in a coherent way
• move constituent into topic position
use
• given before new
• topic comment
• omission of agent
• avoidance of first-person pronouns (academic writing)
• allocation of different semantic roles
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 10 - Beyond the Clause 1!
Language Analysis
omission of agent
• agent is obvious (Joe has been taken to hospital.)
• agent not known (Diving gear stolen)
• agent not important (The book was published in 1933)
• agent given in previous clause
adjectival passive
The vase was already broken.
verbal passive
The vase was broken by Tim.
get-passive
He got married.
mediopassive
This book reads well.
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 11 - Beyond the Clause 2!
Language Analysis
Unit 11 - Beyond the Clause 2
existential „there“
•
•
•
•
•
„there“ as dummy pronoun
doesnʻt have a meaning
moves the information to the end
prepares listener for the information coming
isnʻt stressed
use
•
•
•
•
to introduce new information
with indefinite subject („a“ dog)
at the beginning of stories
academic writing
example
A dog is in the garden.
There is a dog in the garden.
indirect object shift
• also called dative movement
• indirect object shifts to the right
example
John gave Mary the key.
John gave the key to Mary.
it-extraposition
• anticipatory/dummy „it“ inserted in subject position
• very common in English (light subject constraint. end-focus principle)
use
• in that-clauses, wh-clauses, ing-clauses
• to form impersonal constructions
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 11 - Beyond the Clause 2!
Language Analysis
example
That John went to Paris is surprising.
It is surprising that John went to Paris.
It is claimed that security measures are not tight enough.
raising (of subject)
• variation of it-extraposition
• way of moving sth in subject position
• more personal than it-extraposition
use
• with expressions of difficulty/ease
example
It is a pleasure to teach her.
She is a pleasure to teach.
extraposition from noun phrase/discontinuous noun phrase
• move part of the noun phrase to the end
• head of noun phrase stays at the beginning, complement moves to end
example
The time to decorate the house for Christmas had come.
The time had come to decorate the house for Christmas.
inversion
• subject-verb inversion
• subject and verb swap places
• puts important info at the end
• formal, poetic style
use
• in literature for stylistic purposes
• in reporting clauses (...said the child)
• with fronted adjuncts
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 11 - Beyond the Clause 2!
Language Analysis
example
Especially remarkable was her oval face.
On the horizon is a field overgrown with nettles.
subject-auxiliary inversion
• puts emphasis on first part of sentence
use
• with restrictive/negative adjuncts
• only used in written language
example
Never before has a government shown such incompetence.
Rarely do we see so much neglect of young children.
subject-complement switch
• used with identified subjects
• depending on the focus of the sentence
example
Monet is the best known of the French Impressionists.
The best known of the French Impressionists is Monet.
cleft constructions
• used to apply focus strategies
• add extra emphasis to new info
• info of one clause is split up into two clauses
it-cleft
• info in subordinate clause given or less important
• used to highlight particular element
It was a broken window that caused the trouble.
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 11 - Beyond the Clause 2!
Language Analysis
wh-cleft
• starts with a wh-word
• not very informative
• mostly given information
• used in spoken language
What caused the trouble was a broken window.
reversed wh-cleft
• subject-complement switch
• focused element often from preceding text
• used as a cohesive link
A broken window was what caused the trouble
Fronting
• puts element at the beginning of a sentence in pre-subject position
• makes fronted element the topic
use
• in formal literary style
• in certain dialects
• often with subject-verb inversion
example
Naughty children he canʻt stand.
Selfish he is not.
Left/right dislocation
• „it“ goes in normal position of original element
Left dislocation
• used to announce topic
• give spontaneous reaction
Racial prejudice, I donʻt like it.
My sister, she is going to Taiwan.
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 11 - Beyond the Clause 2!
Language Analysis
Right dislocation
• used to clarify referent of pronoun
• in informal speech
• I donʻt like it, racial prejudice.
• Sheʻs going to Taiwan, my sister.
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 12 - Grammar and Text!
Language Analysis
Unit 12 - Grammar and Text
text level → sentence level → clause level → phrase level → word level
What is a text?
• piece of language in actual use
• written or spoken
• produced for communicative purpose
Cohesion
• links texts together
• gives texts texture
• internal property
• objective
Information packaging
• given-before-new principle
• end-weight principle
• topic-comment principle
Thematic progression
• topic is introduced, focus of one sentence becomes topic of next sentence
• two topics introduced at a time
• one topic after the other
Pronoun reference
anaphoric reference (pointing back)
Look at the sun. Itʻs going down quickly.
cataphoric reference (pointing forward)
Itʻs going down quickly, the sun.
Substitution
• by use of pro-forms, that refers to a similar but different entity
I offered him a seat. He said he didnʻt want one. [a seat]
Did Mary take that letter? She might have done. [taken that letter]
Do you need a lift? If so, wait for me. [you need a lift]
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 12 - Grammar and Text!
Language Analysis
She chose the roast duck; I chose the same [the roast duck]
Ellipsis
• all mention of the original item is omitted the second time
A: Would you like to come to Paris with me?
B: Iʻd love to! [come to Paris with you]
Logical connectors
• link together separate sentences
additive: and, besides, furthermore, in addition,...
adversative: but, however, nevertheless, despite,...
causal: for, consequently, as a result,...
temporal: while, previously, subsequently, after that,....
Lexical cohesion
• repetition of the same words - pineapple ... pineapple
• use of (near) synonyms - pineapple ... the luscious fruit
• use of antonyms - day ... night
Semantic field
• use of field specific vocabulary
apples, pips, fireproof dish, tablespoon, preheated oven,...
Coherence
• text has to make sense
• underlying functional connectedness of a text
• how clauses relate to each other
Situational coherence
• take into account the context of a text, texts are always embedded
Context
• who is talking
• where does it take place
• what is it about
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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Unit 12 - Grammar and Text!
Language Analysis
Register
• variety of language defined according to the characteristics of the situation in which it is
used
Field
• what is it about
• topic or subject-matter of the text
• field specific vocabulary used
Mode
• medium in which language is transmitted and received
• effects on linguistic choices
• spoken vs. written language
spoken: incomplete utterances, little subordination, simple syntax, hesitation, fillers,
discourse markers
written: complete/complex sentences, large sets of connectors, complex phrases, heavily
modified NP
Tenor
• relationship between the participants
• social roles of participants
• degree of formality
formal: explicitness, complete/complex sentences, polysyllabic lexis
informal: reduction, compounds, simple sentences, shorter phrases, colloquial
monosyllabic lexis
SS 2010 - Dr. Johann Unger!
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