Download Classes of verbs

Verb Classes: Sub-categorisation of Verbs
1 Semantico-syntactical function
According to their semantic and syntactical functions verbs may be divided
into full/content/ordinary verbs, catenative/copular verbs, semi-auxiliary verbs
and auxiliary/function/helping verbs. (Budai 1986:15)
1.1 Full/lexical verbs: A full verb has a meaning of its own and can form the predicate by
itself (e. g. give, stand, speak, etc).
1.1.1 Morphological characteristics: Lexical verbs vary for tense, aspect and voice.
1.1.2 Syntactic characteristics: Lexical verbs occur as the head or main verb of verb
phrases, e. g. has written, will be writing. Verb phrases serve as the centre of
clauses.
1.1.3 Semantic characteristics: Lexical verbs denote actions, processes or states and serve
to establish the relationship between the participants in an action, process or
state (Biber et al. 1999:63). See point 4 below.
1.2 Catenative/copular verbs are any verbs that occur with a copular valency pattern,
taking a subject predicative as complement, SVPC (e. g. appear, be green,
become a dentist, come true, end up losers, fall asleep, feel guilty, get angry,
go blind, grow dark, keep busy, lie still, look puzzled, make a very good
actress, prove innocent, remain unchanged, seem logical, smell awful, sound
great, stay loyal, taste different, turn traitor, turn out, wind1 up dead) (Biber et
al. 1999:436)
1.3 Semi-auxiliaries
The semi-auxiliaries consist of a set of verb idioms which express modal or
aspectual meaning and which are usually introduced by one of the primary
verbs have and be. (Quirk et al. 1991:143) Among the semi-auxiliaries we can
distinguish two subclasses (see Table 1 on the next page) depending on
whether they can appear in an equivalent extraposed clause:
*tended2
tended
The boy
to be late.
It
that the boy was late.
seemed
seemed
Table 1 Semi-auxiliaries (Quirk et al.1991:68)
1
2
//
An asterisk signals an ungrammatical form.
1
Subclass i
be about to
be apt to
be bound to
be going to
be liable to
be to
had/’d better/best
have to
have got to
come to (‘happen to’3)
fail to
get to
tend to, etc
Subclass ii
be certain to
be (un)likely to
appear to
happen to
seem to
turn out to, etc
1.4 Auxiliary verbs: An auxiliary verb has no independent meaning of its own but helps to
build up the compound forms of the English verb.
1.4.1 Primary auxiliaries behave both like lexical verbs and auxiliaries. (Biber et al
1999:63, 72-3)
1.4.1.1 Periphrastic auxiliary used as operator (do); this use is normally
referred to as do-support or do-insertion.
1.4.1.2 Aspectual auxiliaries (perfective aspect have, progressive aspect be)
1.4.1.3 Auxiliary of passive (be)
1.4.2 Modal auxiliaries: Modality is the grammatical category associated with the
expression of obligation, permission, prohibition, necessity, possibility and
ability. This term is particularly convenient in discussing a language such as
English which contains a specific set of modal auxiliaries: can, could, may,
might, will, would, shall, should, must and ought to, with their negated forms.
(Trask 1999a:189)
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Inverted marks enclose a meaning.
2
2 Valency/Transitivity
(1)
(2)
There are several interpretations of valency two of which are outlined below:
(i)
The maximal number of obligatory elements a verb requires to complete its
meaning(s) can be referred to as the valency of the verb. Valency can now be
considered as an umbrella term, which covers the scrutiny of all the
possibilities of linking at various levels, as there is no single valency theory at
the moment. Some linguists attribute valency to verbs only whereas others
regard valency to be the linking ability of any linguistic element and speak of
the valency of all word classes, especially of adjectives and nouns. Verb
valency can be defined as the general and specific, variable linking ability of
the verb, through which it can get into, often mutual, dependency relations
with other linguistic elements. Valency can be described in both quantitative
and qualitative terms at the morphosyntactic, logico-semantic as well as
pragmatic or communicative level. Using valency features as classifying
criteria, verbs can enter into valency classes and form valency patterns. (Budai
1997:xvii—xviii)
(ii)
Valency is the grammatical characteristic which gives the number of
arguments4 for which a particular verb subcategorises (Trask 1999b:[296]).
See 2.1-2.4 in Table 1.
Transitivity is a category in the grammatical analysis of clause/sentence
constructions, with particular reference to the verb’s relationship to dependent
elements of structure (Crystal 1990:316). See 2A-2E in Table 1. This category is a
traditional dichotomy of verbs so they can be categorised as intransitive and/or
transitive (Budai 1997:xvii).
From a practical point of view intransitivity/transitivity is traditionally signalled in
dictionaries. On the other hand more and more dictionaries attempt to display a
systematic indication of the linking elements of a verb.
4
An argument is a noun phrase bearing a specific grammatical or semantic relation to a verb and whose overt or implied presence is required
for well-formedness in structures containing that verb. Arguments may be identified either in terms of grammatical relations (subject, direct
object etc.(syntactic functions)) or in terms of semantic roles (agent, patient etc.). (Trask 1999b:20)
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Table 2 Valency and transitive verbs
2.1
2.2
Valency
Avalent/ambient
verbs: there are
no arguments
connected to the
verb.
Monovalent/
univalent verbs
have only one
argument.
Examples
Transitivity
Intransitive verbs have a
subject and no object.
rain,
snow
die, smile
2A
eat,
understand,
kill, paint
2.3
Divalent verbs
have two
arguments.
describe,
eat,
assassinate, underdestroy
stand,
kill, paint
2.4
Trivalent verbs
have three
arguments.
think sy sg,
paint sg sg (SVOCo),
put sg swhere (SVOA)
give, show
2B
Labile5 verbs/absolute
transitive verbs: an intrinsically
transitive verb occurs with no
overt direct object, the subject of
the verb interpreted as an agent
and the construction being
interpreted as active (Trask
1999b:3)
2C
Monotransitive verbs have a
direct object which is
the second obligatory
argument of a verb,
most typically expressing
a patient
which undergoes
the action of
the verb.
2D
Complex transitive verbs
require clause types SVOCo6 and
SVOA7 (Quirk et al. 1991:54,
McArthur 1992:1051), SVOdPo8
and SVOdA9 (Biber 1999:381).
Ditransitive verbs have two
objects, namely a direct object
and an indirect object denoting
the entity which is the recipient
or beneficiary of the action of
the verb.
Notes (Trask
1999b:[296])
(Trask 1999a:322-3)
5
//
Subject+Verb+[direct] Object+Object Complement
Subject+Verb+[direct] Object+Adverbial
8
Subject+Verb+Direct Object+Object Predicative (noun phrase or adjective)
9
Subject+Verb+Direct Object+Adverbial
6
7
4
2E
3 Morphologic-syntactical function (Budai 1986:15-21)
A single verb may exhibit a number of different forms serving different
grammatical functions and these forms are often divided into two types called
finite and non-finite.
3.1 A finite form is always marked for tense and it also carries agreement, insofar as English
has any agreement. Only a finite form can stand as the only verb in a sentence.
(Anomalous finites have negative forms ending in -n't and are not
used with to do.)
3.2 The forms that cannot form the predicate by themselves are non-finites. A non-finite
form is not marked for tense, it shows no agreement and it cannot be the only
verb in a sentence.
3.2.1 Infinitives
3.2.2 Gerunds
3.2.3 Participles
VERBS
FULL VERBS
AUXILIARY VERBS
Finites
Non-Finites
Anomalous Finites
Present Tense
V-ø and V-s
Past Tense
V-ed
Imperative
V-ø
Infinitives
am, is, are, was, were
have, has, had
do, does, did,
used (to),
shall, will, should,
would, can, could,
may, might, must,
ought (to), need, dare
Gerunds
Participles
Present Participle
Past Participle
4 Classification of verbs into semantic domains (Biber 1999:360-4)
There are two kinds of problem case that should be mentioned. Firstly, for
many verbs there is no single correct classification since their core meanings
can be considered as belonging to more than one category. E. g. the verbs
hesitate, pretend, find and resist can be regarded as both activity verbs and
mental verbs.
Secondly, some verbs can be used with different meanings belonging to more
than one semantic domain. This is especially true of activity verbs, which often
have secondary meanings in some other domain. E. g. the verbs contact and
raise can refer to physical activities or communicative acts, while the verbs
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admit and consult can refer to physical, communicative or mental activities; the
verbs make and get can refer to physical activities but they are also commonly
causative in meaning.
Most verbs, however, have core meanings belonging to only one semantic
domain.
4.1 Activity verbs
Activity verbs primarily denote actions and events that could be associated
with choice and so take the semantic role of agent10.
4.2 Communication verbs
Communication verbs can be considered a special subcategory of activity verbs
that involve communication activities, common examples are ask, announce,
call, discuss, explain, say, shout, speak, state, suggest, talk, tell, write; point
out.
4.3 Mental verbs denote a wide range of activities and states experienced by humans, their
subject often has the semantic role of recipient11. They include both cognitive
meanings (e. g. think or know; find out) and emotional meanings expressing
various attitudes or desires (e. g. love, want; give up) together with perception
(e. g. see, taste) and receipt of communication (e. g. read, hear).
4.4 Verbs of facilitation or causation, such as allow, cause, enable, force, help, let, require
and permit, indicate that some person or inanimate entity brings about a new
state of affairs.
4.5 Verbs of simple occurrence primarily report events, typically physical events, that occur
apart from any volitional activity, e. g. become, change, happen, develop,
grow, increase, occur; come off, run out.
4.6 Verbs of existence or relationship report a state that exists between entities. Some of
them are copular verbs (see point 1.2), others report a particular state of
existence (e. g. exist, live, stay) or a particular relationship between entities (e.
g. contain, include, involve, represent).
4.7 Aspectual verbs, such as begin, continue, finish, keep, start, stop, go on, characterise the
stage of progress of some other event or activity.
10
11
The wilful initiator of the action.
He who is the non-volitional receiver or experiencer involved in an action or state.
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5 Structural classification of verbs
5.1Single-word lexical verbs
The verb as a lexeme consists of one element.
5.2Multi-word lexical verbs
5.2.1 Phrasal verbs
Phrasal verbs are complex verbs consisting of a simple verb and a particle. A
phrasal verb differs from a sequence of a verb and a preposition (prepositional
verb) in four respects (Trask 2000:101-2).
(i)
The particle in a phrasal verb is stressed: They called `up the teacher
but not *They called `on the teacher.
(ii)
The particle of a phrasal verb can be moved to the end: They called
the teacher up but not *They called the teacher on.
(iii)
The verb of a phrasal verb may not be separated form its particle by
an adverb: *They called early up the teacher vs. They called early on
the teacher.
(iv)
The particle of a phrasal verb may not undergo pied-piping12: *The
teacher up whom they called13 vs. The teacher on whom they called.
E. g. put sg on, fill sg in, go ahead, turn sg on, wake up etc.
5.2.2 Prepositional verbs
A prepositional verb is a set phrase regarded a lexeme including a simple verb
and an obligatory prepositional phrase.
E. g. look at sg, stare at sy, look for sg, wait for sy etc.
5.2.3 Phrasal-prepositional verbs
E. g. get out of, come out of, get back to, look forward to etc.
5.2.4 Other multi-word verb constructions (Biber 1999:427-8), group-verbs
(Ganshina and Vasilevskaya 1954:158)
(a) Verb + prepositional phrase combinations: bear sg in mind ‘remember’,
take sg into account/consideration ‘consider’
(b) Verb + verb combinations: make do with/without sg ‘manage with the
things that you have, even though this is not really enough’ ●Patients had
to make do with quiche or ham salad. ●You have to make do, don’t you?
●For many people, make do and mend was a harsh reality. ‘when someone
manages with the things they have and does not buy anything new’
(c) Verb + noun phrase combinations: take care of sy, take time to do sg, make
fun of sy, have a chance.
12
13
The construction in which a preposition is moved to the front of its clause, just before its object.
The asterisk (*) precedes an ungrammatical sentence, example.
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