Syntax and Semantics: difficult terms + examples

Indefinite words/quantifying words/quantifiers

• Existential

• Negative

• Distributive

• Universal

• Disjunctive

• Positive

• Degree

• Proportional

• Alternative-additive

• Indefinite one

• Some, something, any, anything, …

• No, nothing, nobody, none, …

• Every, everything, every one, each, …

• All, both

• Either, neither

• A little, a few, a lot of, several

• Little less least, much more most, …

• Most

• Other, others, another

• One

Free prepositions vs. bound prepositions: explanation + examples

• Free prepositions: have an independent meaning, choice is not dependent on specific words
  → One morning in June, in the first year, he raked leaves in the park

• Bound prepositions: Have little independent meaning, choice depend on the other words. Paired with prepositional verbs
  → they are willing to part with the money, she confided in him

Adverbial particles

Small group of words closely linked to phrasal verbs to which they are bound in meaning
→ Come on, break down

Phrasal verbs vs. prepositional verbs + tests

• Prepositional verbs: verbs followed by a preposition, with which they form one semantic unit. The preposition is selected by the verb, in contrast with other potential prepositions. Functionally, it takes a Prepositional Object (only here does a PO occur)
  → He commented on my essay

• Phrasal verbs: lexical verbs which are followed by an adverbial particle, with which they form a semantic AND grammatical unit
  → he looked up

They can be distinguished by structure: if it can occur without a following NP, it is a phrasal verb
→ They dressed up vs. He commented on

They can be distinguished in 4 tests (1=phrasal, 2=prepositional)

• Word order test: She took the label off vs. He referred the book to*

• Intonation test: she took OFF the label vs. he REFERRED to the book

• Test with unstressed personal pronoun: She took off it* vs. he referred to it.

• Coordination test, can they be repeated in coordination: did she take off the label or off the yellow one vs. did he refer to the book or to the play

Correlative coordinators (vs. determiners & pronouns & adverbs)

Both … and, either … or …., not only … but also …, …

Difference: both Kim and Pat vs. Both players vs. both of them
With adverbs either & neither: She wasn’t impressed, and I wasn’t either vs. Either Kim or Pat

! Word class: coordinating conjunction

Word classes of existential there, negator not and infinitive marker to

• Pronoun

• Negator

• Infinitive marker

Wh-words in 6 classes

Wh-words: umbrella term for words starting with wh. Its classes are:

• Interrogative pronouns (what, who, which)

• Relative pronouns (what, who, which)

• Interrogative determiners (what, which, whose)

• Relative determiners (which, whose)

• Interrogative adverbs (when, where, why, how)

• Relative adverbs (when, where, why)

! The adverbs are actually function words, not lexical words. It is a closed list

Endocentric vs. exocentric phrases

Head inside the phrase vs. outside. The only outside phrase is the PP.

3 Special types of subject

• Empty subject: realized by dummy pronoun it
  → It’s warm here

• Anticipatory subject there (Sgram): grammatical subject
  → There’s a spider in the bath, with spider being Snot: notional Subject

• Provisional subject (Sprov): when the Subject is extraposed
  → It’s a pity that you can’t come, with that you can’t come as Subject

2 Special types of DO

• Empty DO: realized by dummy pronoun it
  → Take it easy

• Provisional DO (DOprov): with extraposed DO
  → We find it necessary to postpone the meeting

Core arguments vs. non-core arguments

• Core arguments: denote direct participants in the event & can be turned in the Subject in a passive construction

• Oblique arguments: elements that are indirectly related to the event. Includes PO, Obligat. A & Option.

The 6 peripheral elements

Elements which are not part of the clause structure. They are set off from the rest of the clause by commas or dashes

• Coo./Sub. Conjunctions (and, above all, I want to thank you; Because, I didn’t like it)

• Interjections=Interjections (Ouch, that hurt)

• Tags, in 3 categories; marked “tag”

  • Question tags (they haven’t figured it out, have they

  • Declarative tags (I really enjoyed it I did)

  • NP tags (has it got double doors, that shop) = right dislocation

• Prefaces; marked “preface”: (her parents, I don’t like them at all) = left dislocation

• Parentheticals: elements set off by parentheses (back in the days - the days before - …)

• Vocatives: NPs serving as terms of address (Kim, dinner is ready; Yes, sir)

Complex intransitive verbs

complex transitive verbs

• Copula verbs, take a SP (Ed seemed incompetent) or Oblig. A (Marc was in the bathroom)

• Take a DO and PO (I consider the operation a succes) or DO and Oblig. A (They’re sending us to Disneyland)

Difference between PO and IO

PO is an oblique argument, and thus is always realized by a PP. It cannot be turned into the Subject of a passive clause (Los Angeles was sent the key* vs. Pat was given the key)

Multi-word verbs in 3 classes

• Phrasal verbs: verb + adv. part

• Prepositional verbs: verb + prep.

• Phrasal-prepositional verbs: verb+ adv. part. + prep.
  → Come up with an idea, watch out for something

  • Mono-transitive phrasal-prepositional verbs (come up with an idea)

  • Ditransative phrasal-prepositional verbs (He put down his bad temper on stress)

Free combination & difference with prep. verbs & with phrasal verbs

A lexical verb followed by a preposition or adverb with a separate meaning
→ come down, go back

Different than prepositional verb in 2 ways:

• Idiomatic meaning: Preposition is selected by the verb vs. preposition stands in contrast
  → refer to vs. flew to/over/…

• Passivization: the PO becomes the Subject with prep. stranding vs. the PP is an Adverbial
  → Her book was referred to vs. Boston was flown to*

Different than phrasal verb in 3 ways

• Idiomatic meaning: adv. part. selected by the verb, vs. preposition in contrast
  → broke down vs. glide down/away/…

• Preposing: adv. part. not in front vs. adverb in front
  → Down the car broke* vs. Down they glided

• Insertion of Adverbial: verb + particle cannot be split vs. can be split by Adverbial
  → The car broke slowly down* vs. They glided rapidly down

4 re-arrangement techniques

1. Simple repositioning, in either Preposing/fronting: in the front (The flowers he gave to Jane) or Postposing, either with subject-verb inversion (Even more amazing was his popularity) or subject-finite inversion (Have you read the paper)

2. Extraposition: a constituent is postponed to final position (it’s obvious that the neighbours hadn’t noticed his absence)

3. Special construction types

   1. Cleft sentence (It was John who was wearing a cape)

   2. Pseudo-cleft (What I really need is another cape)

   3. Existential construction (There’s a spider in the bath)

4. Verb alternation (passivization, in which the Subject is demoted and Object promoted)sh

Two linking words in subordination

• Subordinating conjunctions
  → he was screaming because he had to go home

• Wh-words: they have a specific function in the subclause
  → That’s what I would do → function = DO

Coordination tags = hedges = extenders

Constructions that exploit coordination, but don’t really add anything.
→ Are you mad or something; I won’t be interrupted by routines, obligations, appointments and things

Ellipsis in 3 types (dependent clauses: where/how, coordinate clauses and dependent clauses: which)

• Ellipsis in dependent clauses

  • Initial ellipsis (don’t know a lot about history)

  • Gapping/medial ellipsis (Kim lives in Perth, Pat in Newborne)

  • Radical ellipsis in question-answer sequences (Have you got an extra exam on Monday? Two exams.

  • Ellipsis of the sub-clause (If you want me to, i’ll invite Kim later)

• Ellipsis in coordinate clauses (I can’t give a new Bicycle to Kim and just a t-shirt to Pat

• Ellipsis in dependent clauses

  • Comparatives (Kim can run faster than Pat)

  • Dependent interrogatives (There's going to be a meeting, but I don’t know when)

  • Ellipsis in yes/no questions (Anyone seen my glasses?)

Fused-head constructions

Constructions where the Head is combined with another function that is normally adjacent to the Head. The NPs with fused Heads can be analysed in 2 ways (84-85). The word class is the one of the fused head.
→ This bus is full; we’ll have to wait for the next
! when determiners occur without Head noun, they are pronouns. Same with such, which is an indefinite pronoun
→ Those cards are Kim’s, these are yours; Just a few cokes and such

Circumstance adverbials of place

• Position: Indicates a point of place (where, wherever)

• Distance: Indicates “how far” (fell several meters)

• Direction: describes a pathway (she hurried from the scene, she went to new York

Circumstance adverbials of time

• Point (I woke up at five)

• Duration: indicates how long (Ken slept for ten hours)

• Frequency: how often an event occurs (I often read in bed)

• Time relationship: describes the relationship between two events (she read the book for the third time)

Circumstance adverbials of process

• Manner: answers the question ‘how’
  → They use the technique in a simple way

• Means: describes the means by which an activity is accomplishes
  → They ate with chopsticks

• Instrument: item that is used for a task
  → They opened it with a tin opener

• Matter: mention the item about which something is done (usually speaking)
  → Miles constantly talks about music

• Agent: the by-agent in passives
  → The case was opened by John

Circumstance adverbials of contingency

• Cause/reason: answers the question “why”
  → They had to walk because of the bus-strike

• Purpose: can be paraphrased as “in order to”
  → I did it for fun

• Concession: conveys an idea that contrasts with the main idea of the rest of the clause
  → In spite of the recession, travel agents are doing well

• Condition: Express conditions that govern the proposition of the main clause
  → In that case I will accept your offer

• Result: tells the results of an event
  → They gambled away all their money, with the result that …

Circumstance adverbial of:

• Degree

• Recipient

• Predicative

• Focussing

• Exception

• Preference

• Proportion

• Supplement

• Answers the question “how far/much/to what extend"
  → I enjoyed it very much

• Tells to whom an action was directed
  → I did it for you

• A supplementive comement on a specific clause element, most often the Subject
  → Tired but happy, we arrived at home

• Show an idea is being added/ limited to a previous one
  → (some day you’ll be old too)
  → (this is only a test)

• Indicate an exception to the information given
  → There’s nobody here except for Tom

• Indicate something to which the information expressed in the MC is preferred
  → Rather than go there by foot, I’d take …

• Proportion: in a correlative comparative construction
  → the older he gets, the more cynical he becomes

• A supplementive comment on the whole clause
  → we decided to go and see Jane, a decision which we would regret

Stance Adverbials:

• Epistemic

• Attidudinal

• Style

• The accident was most likely faked

• Tells the speaker attitude towards a preposition
  → It surprisingly did not go wrong

• Comments on the manner of conveying a message
  → Frankly, who gives a damn anyway

Linking adverbials

In sum, he had a bad day

Recipient Adverbial vs. PO

• The NP following the prep. for can occur as an argument in an alternative construction
  → He bought/gave her flowers

• Recipient Adverbial: the NP cannot occur as an argument …
  → Did you hear what happened to me

Conditional-concessive Adverbials & distinction with nominal-relative clause

No matter-conditional clauses. preceded by whether in the meaning “no matter if”, or whatever, … in “no matter what, …”.

Nominal-relative clause can be paraphrased as a nominal
→ The business will fail whoever takes over as manager vs. Whoever takes over as manager will have a hard time (or: Tim will have a hard time)
→ You must get the message back to him, wherever he is vs. Put it back wherever you found it (or in the fridge)

Activity verbs + its semantic roles

Verbs of doing/happening; they refer to an activity, volution or non-volution
→ Give it to my dogs, they will eat it

Agent, maybe Patient and maybe Beneficiary
→ John gave the kids money this year ; John kept running

4 Major subtypes of activity verbs and their semantic roles

• Verbs of giving: A=Donor, P= Gift, B=Recipient
  → John gave the book to Jane

• Verbs of motion and rest: A=Moving/Resting, maybe Locus
  → She climbed (up) the mountain
  ! up: hasn’t reached, no up: has reached

• Verbs of manipulation: A: moves/manipulates, P: Manip, Target: comes in contact with Manip
  → John hit the vase with the stick

• Verbs of occurence: verbs that report events that occur, without an actor
  → The lights changed

Relational verbs

Verbs that report a logical relationship that exists between entities. This can be with a copula
→ They contained nitrogen ; he appeared happy and relaxed

Characterizing vs. identifying copula

• A is a characteristic of B. It can be realized by a NP, AjP, PP. It is not reversible
  → He seemed in control; I became silent

• A identifies B. It can be realized by a NP. It is reversible
  → That’s our back yard ; He is the director

Current copula verb vs. result copula verb

• Specify a current attribute of the S. Two types
  → We are all humans

  • State of existence copulas: specify an attribute as the current state of existence with copula be, of status quo (he stayed at home), appearance (he appears to have changed) and posture (he was lying quite still)

  • Sensory perception copulas: specify an attribute based on sensory perception (look, feel, sound, smell, taste)
    → you look lovely ; they taste awful
    ! look like, feel like, … → prep. verbs

• Specify a result
  → We became dumb

Major types of relational verbs (5)

• Copula verbs

• Verbs of comparing and measuring
  → John differs a lot from his brothhers
  → John weighs fifty kilograms

• Verbs of possession
  → Peter owns five cats

• Verbs of inclusion
  → That book includes four chapters

• Causative verbs: indicate that an entity helps to bring a new event
  → This information enables a new analysis

Mental verbs & their roles

Verbs referring to mental states and activities

The Senser: one who senses something and phenomenon: which is being sensed

3 major subtypes of mental verbs

• Verbs of cognition: S=Cogitator, P=Thought
  → He couldn’t remember his father ; These people don’t understand the law

• Verbs of emotion, in 3 subtypes

  • Wanting & deciding: S=Decision-Maker, P=Course of Action
    → Father will decide when I am old enough, she deserves an award

  • Liking: S=Experiences, P=Stimulus
    → He hates his guts

  • Pleasing: S=Experiences, P=Stimulus
    → the results terrified him

• Verbs of perception: S=Perceiver, P=Impression. Often verbs referring to the senses
  → he watched him pass ; he showed Jane how to mend a blade

Communication verbs & their roles

Verbs of speaking & writing, in between mental & relational verbs.

Roles: Sayer: one wo does the saying, Said: what is spoken about, Receiver: the one to whom the saying is directed

4 major subtypes of verbs of communication

• Verbs of saying:
  → He reported the news

• Verbs of asking
  → He asked the question

• Verbs of permitting and commanding
  → He allowed that they went swimming

• Verbs of promising
  → They promised him freedom

Behavioural verbs & their roles

Verbs of physiological behaviour. They are in between mental and activity verbs. Only one role: Behaver
→ He woke up ; she laughed ; they frowned

Existential verbs & their roles

In between activity verbs and relational verbs. Only one semantic role: existent
→ There was a storm ; there’s a spider in the bath ; Unicorns don’t exist

Secondary verbs in 3 types

Verbs that occur almost exclusively with non-finite subclauses.

• Causative verbs
  → what caused you to open the door

• Aspectual verbs: characterize the stage off progress of an event. Usually appear with a subclause
  → She kept [running out of the room]

• Conative verbs: verbs of trying and striving
  → He attempted to open the safe

Function of Determiners

Specify the kind of reference a noun has (add definiteness or indefiteness)

Bare NPs (and when)

NPs without a Determiner

1. head is plural count noun

2. head is uncountable noun

3. Sometimes singular count nouns (Ed went to school) → idiomatic

All Central Determiners

• Articles

• Demonstrative det.
  → that book

• Possessive det.
  → my book

• Interrogative det.
  → Whose book

• Indefinite det.
  → every book, nearly all books

• relative det.
  → David, whose book I read

• Genitive nouns/NPs
  → Your father’s shoes

• Numerals/NumPs
  → two shoes, close to a hundred books

• Exclamative what
  → What music he played!

• Semi-determiners
  → Such mistakes are rarely made

Complex determiners

Multi-word units that fill a determiner slot in the NP. The slot is analysed as Determiner Phrases
→ A few people, A lot of people, A very few mistakes

All predeterminers

• Inclusive quantifiers all and both
  → all the books, both the books

• Fractions: noun half or a third, a fourth, …
  → half the amount
  ! take the form of a whole NPs (take determiners, like in [one third] the time

• Multipliers: constructions with:

  → Cardinal number + times (Five times a day)
  → “Twice, trice” (Twice the day)
  → “Double, triple” (Double the size)

• Semi-determiner “Such”
  → Such a disaster

• Exclamative “what”
  → what a disaster!

Half as fraction noun

It behaves differently from other fractions:

1. Can occur without determiner preceding it
   → half the people

2. Has a wider range of NP heads
   → Abstract nouns with def. det. (half the time, one third the time)
   → with concrete nouns (half the people vs. a third the cake*)
   → With concrete nouns with indefinite determiners (half a day)

Partitive construction

Refers to a fraction of a concrete noun, in which the fraction functions as the head of the NP. Of is added
→ a third of the cake, half of his share
→ See p. 164 bottom

Classes involved in multipliers

• NPs: Three times her salary

• Adverbs: Twice that amount
  → reason: primarily occur as Adjunct in a clause (like Better think twice!)

• Adjectives: Double the size
  → Reason: primarily occur as Modifier in NP (like a double portion)

Semi-determiner

Such and other: function as a determiner

Predeterminers: remember

1. Predeterminer in Predeterminer: double all the money he has

2. Some Modifiers of the Head noun occur before the Determiner: It’s so good a bargain (NOT a predeterminer)

Postdeterminers

• Cardinal numerals
  → Those two mistakes

• Ordinal numerals
  → His third novel

• Degree quantifiers (except much)
  → His many friends, those few outstanding mistakes

• “Other”
  → His other novel

• Semi-determiners “such” (in all det.), “same, last, different, normal, certain … (p.169)” (only in postdet!)

Types of reference (3)

• Anaphoric

• Cataphoric

• Situational

3 types of genitive

1. Specifying genitive: answers “whose X”. Function as Determiner
   → The girl’s parents lived in …

2. Classifying genitive: answers “what type of X”. Function as Premodifier
   → An old people’s home

3. Independent genitive: can stand alone. Can occur after a prep or copula verb, or as a double genitive
   → His attempt was as good as Kim’s
   → All this is Kim’s
   → A friend of Kim’s

See analyses p. 175

Classifying genitive: subtypes

• Descriptive genitive: are NOT part of the Determiner, and is often idiomatic
  → Ladies’ gloves, Florist’s clay (product name), Girls’ school

• Genitive of measure: not part of the Determiner, and a NP filling up a Modifier slot
  → A two hours’ delay, fifty pounds’ worth

Specifying genitive: subtypes

1. Possessive genitive
   → John’s book

2. Genitive of time: specific time, otherwise it’s classifying (a summer’s day)
   → Yesterday’s newspaper

3. Genitive of place
   → London’s churches

4. Genitive of origin: Head = product, genitive = originator
   → Shakespeare’s plays

5. Attributive genitive: Subject argument of a copula construction becomes Determiner in nominalization
   → Jane’s happiness (from Jane is happy)

6. Subjective genitive: Subject argument of a verbal construction becomes Determiner in nominalization
   → My father’s permission (My father gave permission)

7. Objective genitive: Object argument …
   → Within a stone’s throw (someone throws a stone)

Oblique genitive

When the genitive occurs in an of-phrase (so in double genitive). It leaves open the Det. position of a noun
→ those friends of Kim’s

Dependent clauses: formal distinction

1. Finite dependent clauses
   → The pictures which Jane took yesterday

2. Non-finite dependent clauses

   1. Infinitive clauses
      → The book to be written by Jane

   2. Ing-clauses
      → The book being written by Jane

   3. Ed-clauses
      → The book written by Jane

3. Verbless dependent clauses

Functional dependent clauses

• Adverbial clauses

• Complement clauses

• Relative clauses

• Comparative clauses

Adverbial clauses

Subclauses functioning as Adverbials in the main clause, and are usually introduced by a subordinating conjunction (like after, although, because, …)
→ They left before the meeting ended

Complement clauses, and types

Clauses which are controlled/licensed by a preceding verb, adjective or noun. Can constitute a verb or a phrase

1. Nominal clauses: function as S, Predicative or Object

2. That-clause: introduced by sub. conjunction that

3. Wh-clause: introduced by pronoun/determiner, adverb

→ He knows that she is right, the opinion that she expressed

Relative clauses

Postmodifier in a NP, expands meaning and specifies reference of the Head noun, which is the antecedent. We call the relative word, used to introduce it, a relativizer, which has a function in the clause
→ I agree with most of the things that your father was saying

Nominal-relative clause

The antecedent and relative word are fused: fused relative construction. It is a type of wh-complement clause
→ What your father said was right

Comparative clauses

Complements an AjP or AvP with a gradable word as Head. it is introduced by subordinating conjunction as or than (equal vs. unequal)
→ Ed is more tolerant than he used to be

Formal types of relative construction based on verb form

1. Finite relative clause
   → The book which Jane wrote

2. Ing-participle form
   → The book being written by Jane

3. ed-participle form
   → The book written by Jane

4. infinitive form
   → The book to be written by Jane

Formal types of relative construction, based on type of linking word

1. Wh-relative
   → The book which Jane wrote

2. That-relative
   → The book that Jane wrote

3. Bare relative
   → The book Jane wrote

Relational types of relative constructions, based on external structure of the relative clause (or the relation to the structure

1. Restrictive relative clause
   → The boys who defaced the statue were expelled

2. Non-restrictive relative clause
   → My father, who retired last year, now lives in Florida

3. Fused relative
   → What you say is quite right

4. Cleft relative
   → It was Kim who wanted Pat as a treasurer

Restrictive vs. non-restrictive clause

• Restrictive: provides further information about the preceding NP, is not needed to identify the reference of the noun, and not seperated by comma’s. It is integrated

• Non-restrictive: is not needed to identify reference of the noun, and seperated by comma’s. It is supplementary

Relative gap

The relative word stands for a missing constituent, so it can also be called relative gap
→ The book which he recommended v.s. the book he recommended

Types of relative phrases

1. Simple relative phrase: the book which he recommended

2. Complex relative phrase: The person whose house we were to see

   1. PP: behind which
      → (the curtain behind which he hid

   2. NP containing PP (the result of which)
      → she’s just sat her final exam, the result of which we expect next week

   3. AjP containing PP (prominent among which)
      → The variaties of skin secretions perform a range of functions, prominent among which is sexual attraction

   4. NP with genitive Determiner whose
      → This is the student whose essay he plagiarised

   5. NP with determiner which
      → I said that it might be easier to hold the party on saturday, which suggestion they all endorsed

What can be relativised/be a relative gap

• Subject
  → The man who came to dinner

• DO
  → This is the letter that she received from the governor

• Predicative
  → Her book displays the intelligence of the scholar she is

• Adverbial
  → It was a time in my life when everything seemed to be going right

• Complement of a preposition
  → The Penknife that he was trying to cut it with

• Genitive Determiner
  → One cannot tailor a suit for a client whose measurements remain unkown

• After auxiliaries
  → He told me to design it myself which I simply can’t

• Part of an embedded clause
  → This is the book that I think she recommended: gap is DO of the dependent clause functioning as DO itself

Relative pronouns vs. relative adverbs

• Who, whom, what, that, which

• When, where, why, whereat/by/… (+ whence)

Two types of comparatives

• Scalar comparison: a gradable adj/adv. in comparative degree form
  → She is taller than him

• Non-scalar comparison: a quantified NP (so quantifier + N or quantifier pronoun)
  → She wrote more plays than her father

Comparative complement

The second part of a comparative construction, which expresses the basis of the contrast.

• Single-variable: isolate one factor to find a direct relationship
  → Jane is taller than me

• Multiple-variable: Multiple factors influence an outcome
  → She spoke as persuasively as her father had, she trusts you more than her own solicitor

Comparative governor

The element in the first part of a comparative construction that licenses a comparative complement

Types of comparative governors

• In scalar comparisons

  • Degree adverb
    → I am more severely handicapped than you are
    → It was too good to be true

  • Semi-determiner such
    → It was such a cloudy night that we couldn’t see much

  • Adverbs enough and sufficiently
    → You’re old enough to look after yourself
    → Its courses are sufficiently flexible to permit training in diverse areas

• In non-scalar comparison

  • Quantifier
    → Jane has more books than her brother
    → Jane has as many books as her brother

  • Adjectives Enough and sufficient
    → We have time enough to feed an entire army
    → There isn’t sufficient milk to give everybody some

Types of comparative constructions

1. Comparison of inequality
   → more … than

2. Comparison of equality
   → As … as (as objective as I expected it to be)

3. Comparison + result construction with non-finite comparative clause
   → so … as + to-infinitive clause (They went so far as to ban alcohol)

4. Comparison + result construction with finite comparative clause
   → so/such + that-clause (they walked so quickly that I couldn’t keep up)

5. Comparison of excess
   → Too … + to-inf. cl. (too hot to handle)

6. Comparison of sufficiency
   → (…) enough (…) (he is in love with a woman old enough to be his grandma

7. Metalinguistic comparison
   → Ed is more old than middle-aged, he was more dead than alive, she had spoken more in sorrow than in anger

The extreme case of reduction

When a clause is reduced to only one single element
→ He seems to play better drunk than sober

Attributive Premodifiers

Premodifiers expressed by an AjP

Descriptive vs. classifying adjectives

• Descriptor: indicates a quality/property of the entity referred to by the noun Head. Most descriptors are gradable. (long trains, blue trains)

• Classifier: indicates a subclass of the entity referred to by the noun Head. Most classifiers are not gradable. (passenger trains, steam trains). This can also be filled in by a noun!

Order of adjectives in Premodifier position

1. Subjective descriptive adjectives (those lovely two evenings)

2. Objective descriptive adjectives

3. Classifying adjectives are more closely linked to the Head noun, and next to it.

-ing/-ed form (noun) vs. adjective in Premod. position

Paraphrase with PP/rel. clause
→ Standards of living vs. creatures who are still living

Which classes can occur as Premodifiers in NPs?

1. Adjective (descriptive or classifying)
   → long trains, steam trains

2. -ing/-ed forms
   → living creatures, prolonged articles

3. Noun/NP
   → Ordinary nouns (grammar book)
   → classifying genitives (a dog’s home)
   → Sometimes plural nouns (drugs trade)

4. adverb/AvP denoting time and place
   → an away match, the then president

5. Nonce-formations (analyzed as separate category!
   → A no-frills airline, no-fuzzy-edge guarantee

6. preposition/PP (very similar to nonce-formations)
   → an after-dinner cigar, a behind-the-scenes look

Prem. + H vs. compound nouns

e.g. London colleges vs. ice-creams

1. coordination: London and Oxford colleges/ London schools and colleges vs. Ice-and-custard creams*/ ice-lollies and creams*

2. Modification & determination: south-London colleges/London theological colleges vs. crushed ice-cream*/ice-Italian cream*

Which classes can occur as postmodifiers in NPs?

1. Adjective/AjPs: often called postposed adj/AjPs
   → somebody nice (indefinite pronoun), the people present (diff. meaning than attributive), a leader younger than you (long AjPs), all people now alive (a-adj), years past (no difference in meaning with attributive)

2. NPs denoting age, size, time, location or distributive indefinities
   → a man my age, the results last year, fifity miles an hour/ten dollars a head

3. PP
   → a woman of great wisdom, the award of the contract to the other firm

4. Adverb/AvP of place and time
   → The journey back/the concert tomorrow

5. Appositives: have equivalent status as the preceding NP with they modify
   → The opera ‘Carmen’ (or just carmen), the year 1850 (or just 1850)

6. Subclause
   → The book I lent you

Different types of appositives

1. Restrictive appositive: provides further information about the preceding NP, and is needed to identify the reference of the head noun. Not separated by comma’s
   → The opera ‘Carmen’

2. Non-restrictive appositive: not needed to identify the reference of the head noun. often separated by comma’s
   → A university lecture, Dr. Brown

• Oblique appositives: introduced by of
  → the month of May

Integrated vs. supplementive Postmodifiers

• Integrated Postmodifiers: modifies the noun Head

• Supplementive: modifies a whole NP

! Same as restrictive vs. non-restrictive (meaning), this is a structural division

Analyses p. 233

Premodifiers in AjPs and AvPs

1. Adverb/AvP
   → Very offensive behaviour, surprisingly slowly
   ! some appear as determiners, but are considered adverbs here
   → The bigger it is, the more likely it is, it’s no better than, I’m feeling a little disappointed

2. NP
   → Three years old, a great deal harder

3. PP
   → These in some respects highly controversial ideas

Postmodifiers in AjPs and AvPs

1. PP
   → Annoyed about the delay, the behaved badly in the extreme

2. The adverb enough
   → old enough, highly enough

Compound prepositions

Before or after the meeting

Premodifiers of PPs

1. Degree adverbs
   → the meeting started just before twelve

2. Some adverbs that only occur as prem. of PP
   → I ran smack into the mirrot

3. NPs indicating spatial/temporal extent
   → We live two miles beyond the office

Postmodifiers of PPs

Wide range of examples
→ We’re having a great time over here in Guernsey, To Los Angeles from Chicago

Three options of several modifiers within a Phrase

1. Separate modifiers which are just combined
   → a bright red balloon

2. They may be in a scopal relationship

   1. Submodification: one Modifier has scope over the other, and together they modify the Head
      → a [bright red] balloon

   2. Stacked modification: one Modifier has scope over a phrase consisting of another Modifier and the Head
      → some blue [cotton blankets]

Often, multiple interpretations are possible

See analyses p. 241 + more examples

Peripheral Modifiers + semantic types

Special case of stacked modification. They occur at the periphery of a phrase (often NP), and have scope over the entire remainder of the NP
→ the role of Emma will be taken by [possibly the best actress in the entire world]
→ It lasts [ten minutes exactly]

1. Focussing modifiers (wordclass: adverbs), in 2 types

   1. Restrictive: he loves only his work

   2. Additive: we saw Kim and also her sister

2. Scaling modifiers
   → We were faced by easily the worst situation, After hardly a moment’s hesitation

3. Frequency, domain, modal, evaluative
   → With invariably the most unconvincing, I’d rate this as architecturally the most, With unfortunately very limited

4. Reflexive pronouns
   → The manager herself had approved of the proposal

Fused Modifier-Heads vs. De-adjectival nouns

1. Do not inflect for number vs. do inflect for number
   → the rich, the poor vs. Kim and Pat are intellectuals

2. Take adverb Modifiers vs. take adjective Modifiers
   → the extremely rich vs. a remarkable intellectual

Positions of complement clauses

1. Post-predicate position: after the predicate
   → They are trying to hold it together

2. Subject position
   → That this will be unpopular with the students is possible

3. Extraposed position: contains an empty it. Extraposed clause = S/DO, it =Sprov/DOprov
   → It is obvious that this will be unpopular with students

Noun complement clause vs. relative clause

1. No relative gap vs. relative gap in the subclause

2. Linking word cannot be omitted and is always introduced by a subordinator vs. can be ommited + that can be replaced by which

3. Only possible with certain types of Head word vs. any type of Head word

Functionally:

1. Both are Postmodifier in a NP

2. category: subordinating conjunction vs relative word

3. Linking word has no function vs. linking word has a specific function

Structural types of noun compl. clauses (in 4 criteria)

1. Verb form

   1. Finite

   2. Non-finite

2. Clause type of dependent clause

   1. Declarative clause (that-clause if finite)

   2. Interrogative clause
      → The question who should go first

3. The way in which the compl. cl. is linked to the Head noun

   1. Direct connection
      → The decision whether to hold a public inquiry

   2. Oblique connection in an oblique noun complement clause
      → The decision as to whether to hold a public inquiry

4. Integrated vs. supplementive
   → The question whether laws should be vs. the converse question, whether laws should be