Download concorde

Document related concepts

Sanskrit grammar wikipedia , lookup

Georgian grammar wikipedia , lookup

Inflection wikipedia , lookup

Malay grammar wikipedia , lookup

Focus (linguistics) wikipedia , lookup

Portuguese grammar wikipedia , lookup

Modern Hebrew grammar wikipedia , lookup

English clause syntax wikipedia , lookup

Ojibwe grammar wikipedia , lookup

Esperanto grammar wikipedia , lookup

Chinese grammar wikipedia , lookup

Arabic grammar wikipedia , lookup

Ancient Greek grammar wikipedia , lookup

Yiddish grammar wikipedia , lookup

Swedish grammar wikipedia , lookup

Old Irish grammar wikipedia , lookup

Old English grammar wikipedia , lookup

Lithuanian grammar wikipedia , lookup

Latin syntax wikipedia , lookup

Serbo-Croatian grammar wikipedia , lookup

Udmurt grammar wikipedia , lookup

Romanian grammar wikipedia , lookup

Zulu grammar wikipedia , lookup

Kannada grammar wikipedia , lookup

Scottish Gaelic grammar wikipedia , lookup

Turkish grammar wikipedia , lookup

Icelandic grammar wikipedia , lookup

Modern Greek grammar wikipedia , lookup

Russian grammar wikipedia , lookup

Polish grammar wikipedia , lookup

Spanish grammar wikipedia , lookup

Pipil grammar wikipedia , lookup

English grammar wikipedia , lookup

Double negative wikipedia , lookup

French grammar wikipedia , lookup

Transcript
CLASS #1: AP
CLASS #2: AP/AdvP
MIDTERM
CLASS #3: AdvP, PP
CLASS #4: PP
CLASS #5: ADVERBIALS
CLASS #6: ADVERBIALS
CLASS #7: ADVERBIALS AND
MIDTERM OVERVIEW
CLASS #8: MIDTERM OVERVIEW and SIMPLE SENTENCE
CLASS #9: SIMPLE SENTENCE
CLASS #10: SIMPLE SENTENCE
CLASS #11: COMPLEX SENTENCE
CLASS #12: COMPLEX SENTENCE
CLASS #13: COMPLEX SENTENCE ,
WRAP-UP & ORAL EXAM HINTS
FINAL ANNOUNCEMENT!
 THE
MIDTERM EXAM IS SCHEDULED FOR
 MAY 15, 2012
THAT’S NEXT TUESDAY.
 TIME:
 13.30-15.00
 PLACE:
 AUDITORIUM (‘AMFITEATAR’)
IMPORTANT
ANNOUNCEMENT!
 THERE WILL BE NO PRACTICE
CLASSES IN GEJ2 NEXT WEEK
(NEITHER ON TUESDAY
(GROUPS B, C and D), NOR ON
WEDNESDAY (Group A)).
 HOWEVER, YOU WILL HAVE A
LECTURE ON WEDNESDAY.
BEFORE WE START THE LECTURE…
 DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS
REGARDING YOU UPCOMING
MIDTERM EXAM?
THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
LECTURE #2 – 2012-05-09
WHAT DID WE DO LAST TIME?
Basic concepts of a science are notoriously
difficult to define, e.g. atom, number, society, etc.
REVIEW

TWO WEEKS AGO WE DISCUSSED:

THE CONCEPT AND PROPER DEFINITION OF A SENTENCE

WHAT IS A SENTENCE?
SENTENCE vs. CLAUSE
 CLASSIFICATION(S) OF SENTENCES


STRUCTURAL CLASSIFICATION (number and type of clauses):


CLASSIFICATION OF SIMPLE SENTENCES BASED ON THE TYPE OF
VERB


SIMPLE, COMPLEX and COMPOUND
7 types of simple sentences: SVC, SVA, SV, SVO, SVOO, SVOC,
SVOA)
SENTENCE ELEMENTS – SYNTACTICALLY DEFINED (what
structures are used to realize a particular sentence element:
e.g. Od can be an NP or a nominal clause)
SENTENCE ELEMENTS
SYNTACTICALLY DEFINED
SYNTACTIC CONSTITUENTS (S, V, O, C, A) can be realized in different forms:
PHRASES and CLAUSES
SENTENCE ELEMENTS
syntactically defined
PP
In the state of nirvana is how I want to feel.
AdvP
Here is the latest report from Tripoli.
Tomorrow is Thursday.
AP
Beautiful beyond words is how I would describe her.
SENTENCE ELEMENTS
syntactically defined
SENTENCE ELEMENTS
syntactically defined
SENTENCE ELEMENTS
syntactically defined
END OF REVIEW
SENTENCE ELEMENTS
SEMANTICALLY DEFINED
SENTENCE ELEMENTS
semantically defined
Let’s take a simple sentence as an example:
Eric Cartman killed Kenny with a knife.
SUBJECT
VERB
OBJECT
ADVERBIAL
A syntactic analysis of the sentence would yield the
following syntactic structure: SVOA
SENTENCE ELEMENTS
semantically defined
Semantically speaking, every verb describes a
SITUATION in which one or more PARTICIPANTS are
involved.
If we look at the sentence “Eric Cartman killed Kenny
with a knife.” we can say that the verb KILL describes
a situation which involves three different participants:
1 = THE PERSON WHO
PERFORMED THE ACTIVITY
2 = THE PERSON WHO WAS
KILLED
3 = THE INSTRUMENT USED
FOR KILLING
SENTENCE ELEMENTS
semantically defined
One SYNTACTIC ELEMENT/CONSTITUENT can have
VARIOUS SEMANTIC ROLES.
For example, the SUBJECT can have three different semantic
roles:
John opened the door. (SUBJECT is the AGENT)
The key opened the door. (SUBJECT is the INSTRUMENT)
The door opened. (SUBJECT is the THEME/PATIENT)
Actually, this is just the tip of the iceberg: the subject can
have as many as THIRTEEN (13!!!) different semantic roles.
SUBJECT – semantically defined
DIRECT OBJECT – semantically defined
INDIRECT OBJECT – semantically defined
COMPLEMENTS – semantically defined
NOW…
…SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT
CONCORD
CONCORD
Concord is AGREEMENT between two sentence elements
with respect to certain grammatical features.
Officially: CONCORD (sometimes termed AGREEMENT) is
the relationship between TWO GRAMMATICAL UNITS
such that one of them DISPLAYS A PARTICULAR FEATURE
(e.g. plurality) that ACCORDS WITH A DISPLAYED (or
semantically implicit) FEATURE in the other unit.
*Marko_ je čitala zanimljivu časopis_.
Marko_ je čitao zanimljiv časopis_.
As we can see in Serbian, there seem to be several types
of concord.
Even in English! But more about it soon.
WHERE CAN WE SEE CONCORD?
*Mary were in London yesterday.
S-V concord (gender, person , number)
*John cut herself.
S-O concord (gender, person , number)
*John cut themselves.
S-O concord (gender, person , number)
*John is an actress.
S-Cs concord (gender, person , number)
*John considers Bill an actress.
O-Co concord (gender, person , number)
*John considers them an actor.
O-Co concord (gender, person , number)
CONCORD – types of
CONCORD
Depending on
SENTENCE
ELEMENT
Subject-verb
concord
Subjectcomplement
concord
Objectcomplement
concord
Depending on
GRAMMATICAL
FEATURES
Concord of
NUMBER
Concord of
PERSON
Concord of
GENDER
S-V concord: NOUN PHRASES
The CHANGE in male attitudes is most obvious in
industry.
The CHANGES in male attitude are most obvious in
industry.
When the subject is realized by a noun phrase, the
phrase counts as singular IF ITS HEAD IS SINGULAR.
S-V concord: AdvP and PP
Slowly does it!
In the evenings is best for me.
Prepositional phrases and adverb phrases functioning
as subjects count as SINGULAR.
S-V concord: CLAUSES
How they got there doesn’t concern me.
To treat them as hostages is criminal.
Smoking cigarettes is dangerous to your health.
Finite and non-finite clauses generally count as
SINGULAR.
However, there are some apparent exceptions.
S-V concord: clauses add-on
What were supposed to be new proposals were in fact
modifications of earlier ones.
What was once a palace is now a pile of rubble.
Whatever book a Times reviewer praises sells well.
What ideas he has are his wife’s.
 These are NOMINAL RELATIVE CLAUSES:
 their number depends on the interpretation of the number
of the WH-ELEMENT, e.g. with determiners WHAT and
WHATEVER the concord depends on the number of the
determined noun (the last two examples)
S-V concord: general rules
General rule of S-V concord:
A subject which is not clearly semantically plural
requires a singular verb.
In other words: SINGULAR is the UNMARKED FORM
which is to be used in neutral circumstances when
there is no positive.
This explains why in informal speech we can often
hear:
There is hundreds of people in the streets.
S-V concord: exceptions
Measles is sometimes serious.
Our people are complaining.
Apparent exceptions include SINGULAR NOUNS
ending in –S (e.g. measles, billards, mathematics, etc.)
and PLURAL NOUNS lacking the –S (e.g. cattle,
people, clergy, etc.).
S-V concord: exceptions
Crime and Punishment is a great novel.
Brother Karamzov is his masterpiece.
The Cedars has a huge garden.
‘Senior citizens’ means people over sixty.
Plural noun phrases (including coordinate phrases) count
as singular if they are used as NAMES, TITLES,
QUOTATIONS, etc.
Such NPs can be regarded as appositive structures with
an implied singular head: the book ‘Crime and
Punishment’, the expression ‘senior citizens’, etc.
S-V concord: exceptions
The Canterbury Tales exists in many manuscripts.
The Canterbury Tales exist in many manuscripts.
The titles of some works that are collection of stories
may be counted as either singular or plural.
Principles of grammatical concord:
NOTIONAL concord & PROXIMITY
No one except his own supporters AGREE with him.
 The head is NO ONE, but the verb agrees with
SUPPORTERS – this is called PROXIMITY.
 PROXIMITY (also called ‘ATTRACTION’) denotes
agreement of the verb with a closely preceding NP in
preference to agreement with the head of the NP that
functions as subject:
 Proximity is here reinforced by NOTIONAL CONCORD
(‘Only his own supporters agree with him’).
 NOTIONAL CONCORD – how the speaker understands
the concept denoted with the NP (singular or plural)
regardless of the grammatical form
EXAMPLES OF NOTIONAL CONCORD

Ten dollars is all I have left.


Fifteen years represents a long period of his life.



[That distance is…]
Two thirds of the area is under water.


[That period is…]
Two miles is as far as they can walk.


[That amount is…]
[That area is…],
BUT:
Sixty people means a huge party.

[That number of people means…]
Principles of grammatical concord:
NOTIONAL concord & PROXIMITY



Conflict between grammatical concord and proximity
increases with the distance between the NP head of the
subject and the VP (e.g. when an adverbial or a
parenthesis intervenes between the subject and the
verb).
Proximity concord occurs mainly in unplanned discourse
– in writing it will be corrected to grammatical concord.
We will discuss GRAMMATICAL CONCORD, NOTIONAL
CONCORD and PROXIMITY in the following cases:
Collective noun head
 Coordinated subject
 Indefinite expressions

COLLECTIVE NOUNS
The audience were enjoying every minute of it.
The public are tired of demonstration.
England have won the cup.
Our Planning Committee have considered…
Singular collective nouns may be notionally plural. In
BRITISH ENGLISH the verb may be EITHER
SINGULAR or PLURAL.
COLLECTIVE NOUNS
The audience was enormous.
The public consists of you and me.
The crowd has been dispersed.
The choice between singular and plural verbs
depends in BRITISH ENGLISH on whether the group
is being considered as a single undivided body or
as a collection of individuals.
On the whole: the plural is more popular in speech,
whereas in writing the singular is preferred.
COORDINATED SUBJECTS
When a subject consists of TWO or MORE noun
phrases (or clauses) coordinated by AND, we must
make a distinction between:
COORDINATION (PROPER)
COORDINATIVE APPOSITION
COORDINATION (PROPER)
Tom and Alice ARE now ready.
=[Tom is now ready and Alice is now ready.]
 What I say and what I think ARE my own affair.
=[What I say is my own affair and what I think is my own
affair]
BUT:
 What I say and do IS my own affair.
COORDINATION REFERS TO CASES WHEN WE HAVE
FULL COORDINATED FORMS (not REDUCED FORMS).
A PLURAL VERB IS USED EVEN IF EACH CONJOIN IS
SINGULAR.

COORDINATION (PROPER)
His camera, his phone, his money WERE confiscated
by the customs officials.
A PLURAL VERB IS ALSO NEEDED WHEN THERE IS NO
COORDINATOR.

COORDINATION (PROPER)
Your problem and mine ARE similar.
=[Your problem is similar to mine and mine is similar
to yours.]
 What I say and do ARE two different things.
=[What I say is one thing and what I do is another
thing.]
Conjoins expressing MUTUAL RELATIONSHIP are
also PLURAL.

COORDINATION PROPER TRICKY
ISSUE
Every adult and every child was holding a flag.
 Each senator and congressman was allocated two
seats.
 Each of them has signed the petition.
BUT:
 They have each signed allocated two seats.
PREPOSED EACH AND EVERY HAVE A DISTRIBUTIVE
EFFECT AND REQUIRE A SINGULAR VERB.

COORDINATIVE APPOSITION
This temple of ugliness and memorial to Victorian bad
taste was erected in the main street of the city.
BUT:
 His aged servant and the subsequent editor of his
collected papers was with him at his deathbed.
 His aged servant and the subsequent editor of his
collected papers were with him at his deathbed.
SINGULAR IS USED IF THE SERVANT AND THE EDITOR
ARE THE SAME PERSON (APPOSITIVE
COORDINATION) AND PLURAL IS USED IF THEY ARE
TWO DIFFERENT PERSONS (COORDINATION
PROPER).

COORDINATIVE APPOSITION
This temple of ugliness and memorial to Victorian bad
taste was erected in the main street of the city.
BUT:
 His aged servant and the subsequent editor of his
collected papers was with him at his deathbed.
 His aged servant and the subsequent editor of his
collected papers were with him at his deathbed.
SINGULAR IS USED IF THE SERVANT AND THE EDITOR
ARE THE SAME PERSON (APPOSITIVE
COORDINATION) AND PLURAL IS USED IF THEY ARE
TWO DIFFERENT PERSONS (COORDINATION
PROPER).

COORDINATION WITH
OR AND NOR
Either the Mayor or her deputy IS (ARE) bound to come.
2.
What I say or what I think IS(ARE) no business of yours.
3.
Either the strikers of the bosses (HAS) HAVE misunderstood the
claim.
4.
Either your brakes or your eyesight IS (ARE) at fault.
5.
Either your eyesight or your brakes ARE (IS) at fault.
When coordinated items have the same number, there is pure
grammatical concord: when they are both singular (1 and 2) the
verb is also singular, when they are both plural (3), the verb is also
plural.
When coordinated items do not have the same number, English follows
the principle of PROXIMITY: whichever phrase comes last determines
the number of the verb. (4 and 5).
NOT…BUT and NOT ONLY…BUT behave like EITHER…OR.
1.
INDEFINITE EXPRESSIONS AS SUBJECT
- CONCORD

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS (anyone/anybody, no
one/nobody, someone/somebody,
everyone/everybody) and NOUNS OF DUAL GENDER
(student, teacher, lawyer, judge, etc.) can be referred to
by personal pronouns in THREE WAYS:
UNMARKED HE (now considered sexist): Everyone thinks he
has the answer to that question.
 HE OR SHE (politically correct, but long and clumsy):
Someone has to make up his or her mind.
 THEY (the most politically correct form):
Nowadays the
best choice
Everyone thinks they or her have the answer.
because of PC.
Nobody called did they.
Every applicant should hand in their application form now.

NOW…
…SOMETHING A BIT DIFFERENT…
…AND RATHER NEGATIVE…
NEGATION
BASIC INFORMATION
NEGATION

Negation is a LOGICAL OPERATION of implying the
opposite or absence of something that is without
negation regarded as actual, positive, or
affirmative.
GENERAL TYPES OF NEGATION

CLAUSE NEGATION – the whole clause is syntactically
treated as negative:


Rosie's [not an attractive elephant in any respect] (, is she?)
LOCAL NEGATION – one constituent/sentence element
is negated:

[Nothing] agrees with me more than oysters. LOCAL NEGATION


[Nothing agrees with me more than oysters]. CLAUSAL NEGATION


Oysters agree with me more than anything else CLAUSE NEGATION
PHRASAL NEGATION – one phrase is negated:


Eating nothing agrees with me more than eating oysters. LOCAL NEGATION
She gave me [not even a moment] to somehow collect my thoughts.
PREDICATION NEGATION – very rare, applies to
predication only after certain auxiliaries (usually
depends on pronunciation):

They may [not go swimming]. [=They are allowed not to go swimming]
NEGATION IS REALIZED THROUGH USE OF NEGATIVE ITEMS.
Remember them from GEJ1? Those
NEGATIVE
ITEMS
are the words
that only appear in
nonassertive sentences: any, anybody,
yet, either, any longer, much, etc.
 NEGATION is RELIZED through NEGATIVE ITEMS.

SYNTACTIC BEHAVIOR of NEGATIVE ITEMS:

NEGATIVE ITEMS trigger the use of NONASSERTIVE
FORMS:
John is not coming either.
 I don’t have many friends.
 I seldom get any sleep.


When NEGATIVE ITEMS are placed in the position BEFORE
THE SUBJECT, they can cause a SUBJECT-OPERATOR
INVERSION (a.k.a. NEGATIVE INVERSION):
Never have I seen anything like that before!
 Seldom has a truer word been spoken.


NEGATIVE ITEMS are followed by POSITIVE QUESTION
TAGS:
NEGATION via NEGATIVE ITEMS

The clause can be negated:
EITHER BY NEGATING THE VERB (VERBAL NEGATION),
 OR BY NEGATING OTHER SENTENCE ELEMENTS (NON-VERBAL
NEGATION).


Depending on what sentence element is being negated, it is
necessary to use different negative items:
VERB NEGATION: the negative particle NOT is always used: He does
not drink. She is not a model wife.
 NEGATION OF OTHER SENTENCE ELEMENTS can be achieved using
DIFFERENT NEGATIVE ITEMS:

Words negative in form and meaning (NUCLEAR NEGATIVES): no, none,
never, not
 Word negative in meaning only (not negative in form): rarely, seldom,
scarcely, barely, little, few
 VERBS, ADJECTIVE, PREPOSTIONS with IMPLIED NEGATIVE MEANING:
refuse, deny, fail; reluctant, unaware; without, against; unless

NEGATION via NEGATIVE ITEMS

Nuclear negatives (non-verbal explicitly negative items)
can be classified into:
 NEGATIVE

Nobody came. None of the passengers were hurt. I saw nothing.
 NEGATIVE



COORDINATORS:
Neither today nor tomorrow is suitable.
 NEGATIVE

DETERMINERS:
I expected [no reply]. [Neither team manager] was informed.
 NEGATIVE

MODIFYING ADVERBS:
I felt [none the worse] for it. > modifying AP
[Not many] people turned up. > modifying DETERMINER
[Not even] the president of Pakistan was informed. > modifying ADVERB
 NEGATIVE

PRONOUNS (e.g. in S or O position):
ADJUNCTS:
Elephants never forget. We found nowhere to stay.
NEGATION via NEGATIVE ITEMS

Negatives with positive-word form (rarely, seldom,
scarcely, hardly, little, few, barely, only, etc.) are treated
as NEGATIVE FORMS because:
 THEY




ARE FOLLOWED BY NON-ASSERTIVE FORMS:
I seldom get ANY sleep.
I’ve spoken to hardly ANYONE.
Few changes in government have EVER taken so many people by surprise.
Only two of us had ANY experience in sailing.
 WHEN
THEY ARE PLACED IN THE INITIAL POSITION, THEY CAUSE
NEGATIVE INVERSION:


Rarely DOES crime PAY so well as Mr Benn seems to think.
Little NEED I DWELL upon the hope that she actually loves me.
 THEY

ARE FOLLOWED BY POSITIVE TAG-QUESTIONS:
She scarcely seems to care for you, DOES SHE?
VERBAL NEGATION vs. NON-VERBAL NEGATION
ASSERTIVE
We’ve had some lunch.
He saw one man or the
other.
We’ve had some.
NEGATIVE (NON-ASSERTIVE
NEGATIVE)
We haven’t had any
lunch.
We had no lunch.
He didn’t see either man.
He saw neither man.
(unusual)
We haven’t had any.
We’ve had none.
• OBVIOUSLY, IN THE VAST MAJORITY OF INSTANCES THE SPEAKER HAS A CHOICE
BETWEEN USING THE VERBAL NEGATION (VERB+NOT) OR NON-VERBAL NEGATION
(NONE, NOTHING, ETC.).
• HOWEVER, ALTHOUGH THESE TWO FORMS ARE SEMANTICALLY EQUIVALENT,
THEY ARE RARELY APPROPRIATE IN THE SAME STYLE OR REGISTER.
• NON-VERBAL NEGATION IS MUCH MORE FREQUENT
FORMAL AND WRITTEN
NEGATIVEIN(NON-ASSERTIVE
ASSERTIVE
LANGUAGE, WHILE VERBAL NEGATION IS NEGATIVE)
MORE INFORMAL.
VERBAL NEGATION vs. NON-VERBAL NEGATION
He saw one or other of
the men.
I’ve bought something for
you.
She sometimes visits me.
He didn’t see either of the
men.
He saw neither of the men.
I haven’t bought anything
for you.
I’ve bought nothing for
you.
She doesn’t ever visit me.
She never visits me.
DIGRESSION: multiple negation

Unlike most other languages, standard national
forms of English (BrE, AmE, CaE, AuE, etc.) DO NOT
FAVOR MULTIPLE NEGATION.
 Multiple
negation is allowed in SUB-STANDARD
varieties of English, e.g. AAVE: Yo, I’m telling you man,
nobody ain’t seen nothing.

The negative item MUST BE FOLLOWED
THROUGHOUT THE REST OF THE CLAUSE BY ONE
OR MORE NON-ASSERTIVE ITEMS.\
I
haven’t said ANYTHING to ANYBODY YET.
DIGRESSION: multiple negation

However, even in standard English it is occasionally
permissible to have two negations if each negative
element negates its own part of the sentence.
 I THE
ca[n’t]
[not THAT
obey].THESE SENTENCES
FACT
 [Not
people] haveHAS
[nowhere
to live].
AREmany
GRAMMATICAL
TO DO
 WITH
[No one]
has [nothing CALLED
to offer to
society].
SOMETHING
“SCOPE
 [Not many OF
Spaniards]
have [no knowledge of bull
NEGATION”
fighting].
 [Nobody here] has [never at any time told a lie].
 Neighbours [should not be] [uncooperative].
NEGATION: SCOPE OF NEGATION


The SCOPE OF NEGATION is the stretch of language
OVER WHICH THE NEGATIVE MEANING OPERATES
AND WHERE NON-ASSERTIVE ITEMS MUST BE USED.
The SCOPE
OF NEGATION
EXTENDS
FROM THE
The POSITION
OF THE
NEGATIVE
NEGATIVE
ITEMdrastically
TO:
ITEM may
INFLUENCE THE
OF THE
WHOLE
 THE END MEANING
OF THE CLAUSE
(NOT
NECESSARILY THE END OF
THE SENTENCE), SENTENCE:
 THE
END OF THE NEGATED PHRASE (IF ONLY A SINGLE
PHRASE IS NEGATED), OR
 THE BEGINNING OF THE FINAL ADJUNCT.

WHY IS THIS SUCH A BIG DEAL?
SCOPE OF NEGATION

Nothing agrees with me more than oysters.
= There is nothing else that I like more than oysters.

Nothing agrees with me more than oysters.
= I would much rather eat nothing than oysters.
SCOPE OF NEGATION
I definitely didn’t speak to him.
= It is definite that I did not.

I didn’t definitely speak to him.
= It is not definite that I did.

SCOPE OF NEGATION
I wasn’t LISTENING all the time.
= For the whole time, I wasn’t listening.

I wasn’t listening ALL the time.
= It’s not true that I was listening all the time.

SO, WHEN AN ADJUNCT IS FINAL, IT MAY OR MAY
NOT LIE OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF NEGATION.
SCOPE OF NEGATION
I didn’t listen to some of them.
= There were some of the speakers that I didn’t listen to.

I didn’t listen to any of them.
= There were not any speakers that I listened to.

SO, IF AN ASSERTIVE ITEM IS USED IN THE ADJUNCT, THE
ADJUNCT MUST LIE OUTSIDE THE SCOPE OF
NEGATION.
FOCUS OF NEGATION





The FOCUS OF NEGATION is the part of the
sentence within the scope of negation that bears
special stress. E.g.
I didn’t take the <GRAMMAR> exam last week.
I didn’t take the grammar <EXAM> last week.
I didn’t take the grammar exam <LAST> week.
I didn’t take the grammar exam last <WEEK>.
FOCUS OF NEGATION – add-on


Focus of negation is a SPECIAL/CONTRASTIVE
NUCLEAR STRESS which is placed on a particular
part of the clause in order to indicate that the
contrast of meaning implicit in THE NEGATION IS
LOCATED AT THAT SPOT and also that THE REST OF
THE CLAUSE CAN BE UNDERSTOOD IN A POSITIVE
SENSE.
The focus of negation can split the scope of
negation so that the scope becomes
DISCONTINUOUS.
FOCUS OF NEGATION
I didn’t take Joan to swim in the POOL today.
= I forgot to do so. (FALLING INTONATION)

I didn’t take JOAN to swim in the pool today.
= I took Mary instead.

FOCUS OF NEGATION
I didn’t take Joan to SWIM in the pool today.
= I just took her there to see the pool.

I didn’t take Joan to swim in the POOL today.
= I took her to the lake instead. (RISING
INTONATION)

FOCUS OF NEGATION
I didn’t take Joan to swim in the pool TODAY.
= I took her there last week.

I didn’t take Joan to swim in the pool today.
= It was my brother who took her.

SCOPE AND FOCUS



Scope and focus of negation are INTERRELATED,
such that the scope must include the focus.
So, one way of signaling the extent of the scope of
negation is by the position of the focus.
One example of this is when the scope of negation
is atypically extended to include a subordinate
clause, with a contrastive fall-rise to emphasize this:
SCOPE AND FOCUS
I didn’t leave HOME because I was afraid of my
FATHER.
= Because I was afraid of my father, I didn’t leave
home.

I didn’t leave home because I was afraid of my
FATHER.
= I left home, but it wasn’t because I was afraid of my
father.

SCOPE AND FOCUS
She didn’t come to SEE him when he ASKED.
= When he asked, she didn’t come to see him.

She didn’t come to see him when he ASKED.
= She came to see him, but not at the time he asked
her to come to see him.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME!
CU NEXT WEEK!
THE END