Phrases and Clauses Notes

Introduction to Phrases and Clauses

• Words combine to form phrases, and phrases combine to form clauses.

• This chapter introduces phrase structure and types, and clause elements and patterns.

Phrases and Their Characteristics

• Phrases:

  • Consist of a single word or a group of words.

  • Can be identified by substitution and movement tests.

  • Can be embedded within other phrases.

• Phrase structure can be represented by bracketing or tree diagrams.

• Phrase types differ in internal structure and syntactic roles (subject, object).

Types of Phrases

• Major phrase types:

  • Noun phrase.

  • Verb phrase.

  • Adjective phrase.

  • Adverb phrase.

  • Prepositional phrase.

• Each phrase type has a head word.

• Classification of phrases considers form/structure, syntactic role, and meaning.

Noun Phrases

• Have a noun as their head, with optional determiners and modifiers.

• Can also be headed by proper nouns, pronouns, and adjectives.

• Function as subject, object, predicative, adverbial, or complement.

Verb Phrases

• Have a lexical verb or primary verb as their head, with optional auxiliary verbs.

• Finite verb phrases show tense; non-finite do not.

• Essential part of a clause, determining other clause elements.

• Verb phrases can be interrupted by adverbs or other adverbials.

Adjective Phrases

• Have an adjective as head, with optional modifiers.

• Adjective heads can take complements.

• Function as modifier (attributive adjective) and subject predicative.

Adverb Phrases

• Have an adverb as head, with optional modifiers expressing degree.

• Function as modifiers or adverbials.

Prepositional Phrases

• Consist of a preposition followed by a noun phrase (prepositional complement).

• Can be embedded in larger phrases.

• Function as adverbials or modifiers/complements.

Clause Patterns

• Clause can stand alone as an expression of a complete thought.

• Verb phrase is the central element, and its valency controls the kinds of elements that follow it.

• Major valency patterns:

  • Intransitive: Subject + Verb ($S + V$).

  • Monotransitive: Subject + Verb + Direct Object ($S + V + DO$).

  • Copular: Subject + Verb + Subject Predicative/Adverbial ($S + V + SP/A$).

  • Ditransitive: Subject + Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object ($S + V + IO + DO$).

  • Complex Transitive: Subject + Verb + Direct Object + Object Predicative/Adverbial ($S + V + DO + OP/A$).

Clause Elements

• Phrases serving syntactic roles in the clause.

Verb Phrase (V)

• Central element expressing action or state.

Subject (S)

• Noun phrase that occurs with all verb types.

• Precedes the verb phrase (except in questions).

• Determines the number of the verb phrase.

• Denotes important participant or topic; may be a dummy pronoun (it).

Object (O)

• Noun phrase that follows the verb, occurs with transitive verbs.

• Can be direct or indirect.

• Direct object (DO) denotes entity affected by the verb's action.

• Indirect object (IO) occurs with ditransitive verbs, denoting recipient or beneficiary.

Predicative (P)

• Adjective phrase, noun phrase, or prepositional phrase that characterizes a preceding noun phrase.

• Subject predicative (SP) characterizes the subject, following a copular verb.

• Object predicative (OP) characterizes the direct object, following a complex transitive verb.

Adverbials (A)

• Complete the meaning of some verbs (obligatory adverbials).

• Can be added to clauses with any verb type (optional adverbials).

• Express place, time, manner, extent, attitude.

• Can be adverb phrases, prepositional phrases, or noun phrases.

Long Verb Phrases

• Includes the verb phrase and any following clause elements (object, predicative, adverbial).

Peripheral Elements

• Elements loosely attached to the clause.

  • Coordinating conjunctions: fixed in initial position in the clause.

  • Parentheticals: set off from the surrounding clause by parentheses.

  • Prefaces: Noun phrases placed before the subject.

  • Tags: added to the end of a clause (noun phrase tags, question tags or declarative tags).

  • Inserts: "Slipped into" spoken discourse, mainly to convey interactive meanings.

  • Vocatives: Nouns or noun phrases which generally refer to people, and serve to identify the person(s) being addressed: