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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) 3 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) 3 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 5 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. 6 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. 7 Bibliography Biber et al. 1999 Biber, Douglas et al. Longman grammar of spoken and written English. Harlow : Longman : [Pearson Education Limited], 1999. xxviii, 1204 p. : ill. ; 24.8 cm ISBN 0-582-23725-4 Budai 1986 Budai László. English syntax : theory and practice. 2. kiad. Budapest : Tankönyvkiadó, 1986. 640 p. : ill. ; 20 cm (Tanuljunk nyelveket!, ISSN 0133-1094) ISBN 963-17-9558-6 Budai 1997 Budai László. Crystal 1990 Crystal, David. A dictionary of linguistics and phonetics. 2nd edition, reprinted. Oxford (UK) ; Cambridge (Massachusetts) : Basil Blackwell, 1990. xi, 337, [3] p. : ill. ; 22.9 cm (The language library) ISBN 0-631-14081-6 Ganshina and Vasilevskaya 1954 Ganshina, M. and Vasilevkaya, N. English grammar. 7th, revised ed. Moscow : Foreign Languages Publishing House, 1954. 471, [1] p. ; 22.7 cm ISBN --- McArthur 1992 McArthur, Tom (ed.). The Oxford companion to the English language. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1992. xxix, 1184 p. : ill. ; … cm ISBN 0-19-214183-x Quirk et al. 1991 Quirk, Randolph et al. A comprehensive grammar of the English language. 9th impression. London ; New York : Longman, 1991, ©1985. x, 1779 p. : ill. ; 23.5 cm ISBN 0-582-51734-6 Trask 1999a Trask, R. L. Key concepts in language and linguistics. Reprinted. London ; New York : Routledge, 1999. xviii, 178 p. ; 19.8 cm (Key concepts) ISBN 0-415-15742-0 Trask 1999b Trask, R. L. A dictionary of grammatical terms and linguistics. Reprinted. London ; New York : Routledge, 1999. xv, 335 p. : ill. ; 21.7 cm ISBN 0-435-08628-0 Trask 2000 Trask, R. L. The Penguin dictionary of English grammar. Harmondsworth : Penguin Books, 2000. 148, [1] p. ; 19.6 cm ISBN 0-14-051464-3 8