Download grammatical functions

GRAMMATICAL FUNCTIONS
ENGL 341
GRAM FUNCTIONS
• Study the ff structures:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Jane saw the thief
Jane is friendly
Jane has paid her dues
They made Jane their spokesperson
Jane gave the students useful tips
1
2
3
4
5
What is the gram role/function of Jane in sentence 1?
Why is it called the subject?
What relationship does it share with the rest of the words
Is the relationship between friendly and Jane in sent. 2 the same as the
relationship between the thief and Jane in 1?
• Explain the relationships
• Is the relationship between Jane and their spokesperson in 4 the same as
that between students and useful tips in 5
• Watch closely the types of verbs used in all 5 structures
List of gram functions
• Another type of grammatical analysis has to do with the
role/function of the gram categories – lexemes, phrases
• These functions are the relative positions of the gram items in a
sentences
• Categories may perform:
•
•
•
•
•
The Subject functions:
The verbal functions
Object functions:
Complement functions
Adverbial/adjunct functions
• These function types are also referred to as the elements of the
clause/sentence (Wiredu, Organised Structure pg 91 – 111)
• In English, the sentence is deemed to have the ff structure:
• SVCOA
THE SUBJECT
• The actor/performer/ the object about whom/which
something is said, always preceding the verb; Examples:
• The tall tree fell unto our house
• Kofi and Ama came here
• Unfortunately, it was not the man.
• The subject may be realised by:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
NPs
Nominal clauses
The empty/dummy ‘it’
Anticipatory it
Adverbial phrase
Adjectival head
Existential ‘there’
Subjects
• NPs: you brought yourself up.
• The game is over
• Your friend is fighting outside
• Obviously, their preparation was enough
• The Nominal clause as subject
– A clause that performs the function of a noun; examples:
•
•
•
•
•
That you could say that to him shows you are very tough.
To overcome teenage financial insufficiency is a major burden for.
Chewing the finger nails is a bad habit
Studying in groups is a good thing to consider.
What you said yesterday shocked all of us.
• The empty/dummy ‘it’ as a subject:
– This type of it is semantically empty and does not refer to any
object; examples:
SUBJECT
• Empty ‘it’ as subject
•
•
•
•
It rains heavily in October in Ghana
It is too cold here
It is too late to go out
It is a long journey
• anticipatory ‘it’
• It surprised everybody that he failed.
• It is easy to forget your keys
• It’s a pity we can not buy you a common drink
• Existential ‘There’ as a subject; examples:
• There is someone in your room.
• There is a man in my life.
• There are too many people in his class
The subject
• Adverbial Ph as subject:
• Now is the time for action
• Here is better
• Adjectival head:
• The poor need support.
• The handicapped are left out in most national policies.
The verb
• The verb describes the action in the sentence.
• It plays very important roles in the sentences:
• It helps identify the subject of the sentence
• The nature of the verb determines whether what
comes after it is an object or a complement
• By its nature a verb may be intensive,
intransitive, monotransitive, complex
transitive, or ditransitive (to be explored later
under complementation)
The Object
• Always placed after the verb and indicates the
entity that feels the impact of the action of the
verb
• They follow a transitive verb
• 2 types of objects:
• Direct object
• Indirect object; examples:
– They sent us gifts
– Kwame showed his friends his house
– You gave me your work
Object
– They sent us gifts
What action did they do?
Who benefited from the action?
– Kwame showed his friends his house
What action did Kwame perform?
Who benefitted from the action?
– You gave me your work
What action did you perform
Who benefitted
Object
• The direct object feels the immediate action of the verb:
• they sent gifts,
• He showed his house
• The indirect object is the beneficiary of the action:
• Us, his friends, me
• The direct object can be used without the indirect object, but the
indirect object can hardly be used without a direct object
• You must drink something
• I like mangoes
• Indirect objects are always animates
• You gave the table your book?
• The indirect object can have an optional prepositional paraphrase,
which functions as a prepositional object
Objects
• Indirect objects/prepositional object
– They sent us gifts
• They sent gifts to us.
– Kwame showed his friends his house
• Kwame showed his house to his friends
– You gave me your work
• You gave your work to me
– You bought us gifts
• You bought gifts for us
Objects
• Following can function as objects:
• Mostly NPs: we gave you our names
• A nominal clause: they like what you said; I knew that
you were coming
• Identify the type of object in the following:
•
•
•
•
They said something
We bought them water as well.
They gave everybody a variety of items
You showed him the room
Compare
• Observe the relationship between the subject and the
item that follows the verb and explain your observation
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
They make enough money
We share the same ideas
It sounds interesting
They sounded the alarm
You have grown tall
They grow tomatoes
They kept quiet
I kept the money.
• What do you think accounts for the change in the
relationship
Complements
• The ff verbs are the English copula/ linking verb
– Be; Look; Feel; Taste; Smell; Sound; Seem; Appear; Get; Become; Grow; Stay;
Keep; Turn; Prove; Go; Remain; appear, find,
• Categories put after these verbs usually perform complement functions;
they refer back to items that precede them
• Complements refer back to other items already mentioned to complete
them; example:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
He is handsome
You are my king
She became a lecturer
He got crazy
They smell nice
They made him their leader
We consider you our friend
• one difference between complements and objects is that, whereas objects
are found after transitive verbs, complements are placed after copula
verbs
Complements
• 2 types of complement:
• Subject complements; and
• Object complements
• Subj comps refer back to the subject to qualify it
• The prototypical/archetypal complement that
follows the copula verb
•
•
•
•
•
•
He is kind
My mother sounds interesting
Your friend looks funny
He appears weird
They became committed
We remained speechless
Complements
• Some complements, however, make comments about the
object; example:
• We made you our friend.
• We found it useful
• We will appoint him our leader
• These are called object complements
• Object complements refer back to objects to give additional
qualities.
• Objects that are complemented usually follow following
special verbs: find, elect, appoint, make, consider;
examples:
• I find him interesting
• We elected him our leader
• We made you somebody
Complements
• Items that can function as complements include
– NPs; examples
• We made him our leader
• You are my king
• He turned a traitor
– An Adjectival phrase; examples:
• We are innocent
• I find your friend very boring
• He doesn’t sound convincing
– Nominal clauses; examples:
•
•
•
•
The point is that you are lying
The crucial question is why he did it
The truth is that we lost him
The fact is we are leaving now
Adjuncts (adverbials)
• Adjunct/adverbials are optional elements in the clause
that add extra info (frequency, place, time, reason, etc)
• Unlike other elements, there can be more than 1
adjunct in a clause:
• On the other hand, we actually meant to give you freely all the
support you need in this circumstance
• Adjuncts are mobile elements in the structure of the
clause
• Use the adjuncts ‘unfortunately’ ‘immediately’ in a
sentence
• They can be initially placed, medially placed and finally
placed
Types of Adjunct
• Adjuncts are grouped into 3 main classes depending on
their functions in the clause:
• Circumstantial adjuncts
• Stance adjuncts; and
• Connective adjuncts
• Circumstantials: provide details about the action or
state described by the verb (time, place, manner,
degree, frequency, direction)
• Examples of circumstantial adjuncts:
•
•
•
•
They came early
we have met already
We visit very often
they spoke gently
They went into the room
We are in Liman Hostel
Types of Adjuncts
• Stance adjuncts: express a speaker’s evaluation
or comment about the message. They are often
set apart from the clause:
•
•
•
•
•
Coincidentally, we met at the entrance of the hotel
Interestingly, we had earlier agreed to meet in the garden
They bumped into the meeting accidentally
Certainly we will not allow them to take us for granted.
Someone is definitely going to be punished
• Other examples
• obviously, undoubtedly, incidentally, apparently, initially,
honestly, frankly speaking, unfortunately, surely, broadly
speaking, supposedly, in fact, in reality, by any chance, to be
frank with you, strictly speaking,
Types of Adjuncts
• Connective adjuncts: connectors which signal a
speaker’s indication of transitions or logical
connections
• Meanings they express may be additive, contrast,
causal, temporal
• He is a motivational speaker and furthermore a great evangelist.
• Students are on strike; nevertheless, examinations will not be
cancelled
• He has been wrongly accused by his friends. Consequently, he has
decided to have nothing to do with them again.
• However, we will conduct a test.
• Besides, they did not give us enough notification.
• Finally, English is foundational to many professions
Adjuncts
•
Items that can function as adjuncts
– An Adverbial phrase
•
•
•
•
•
However, we patiently waited for you
He shouted quite loudly
Alternatively, we can postpone the meeting
We are almost late
It is enough for everybody
– A prepositional phrase
•
•
•
We saw him in his car
In fact, we don’t want to see your face
The man in the room is my husband
– A noun phrase
•
•
•
The next day, we met with him
Last night, we saw light in his office
We will be here next year
– A clause
•
•
•
Frankly speaking, I am no longer interested
Be that as it may, we are determined to get an A
To be frank with you, you disappoint us
• To read for next week: clauses – classification,
verbal types – finite/ non-finite