Module 2 — Linguistic Forms & Syntactic Functions (Comprehensive Study Notes)

2.1 Syntactic Categories and Relationships

Structural analysis rests on three core questions:
- What units are recognisable?
- Into which classes can each unit be grouped?
- What elements compose each unit and how do these elements relate across ranks?
Units are arranged hierarchically (rank-scale). Pages 19–20 and Chs 2–3 expand these ideas.

2.2 Testing for Constituents

Purpose: confirm our intuitions about where constituent boundaries lie.
Ambiguous clause used throughout the section: Muriel saw the man in the service station.
- Interpretation 1 ⇒ PP modifies man.
- Graphically: || Muriel | saw | the man in the service station ||
- Interpretation 2 ⇒ PP is a separate location adjunct.
- Graphically: || Muriel | saw | the man || in the service station ||
Five major tests (two or more positive results ≈ secure constituency):
1. Coordination
- Only like constituents can be conjoined.
- (i) Object–level: Muriel saw the man in the service station and the woman in the shop.
- (ii) Adjunct–level: Muriel saw the man in the service station and in the shop.
1. Wh-question formation
- (i) Who did Muriel see? – The man in the service station.
- (ii) Where did Muriel see the man? – In the service station.
1. Clefting / Wh-clefting
- It-cleft: (i) It was the man in the service station that Muriel saw. (ii) It was in the service station that Muriel saw the man.
- Wh-cleft: (i) The one Muriel saw was the man in the service station (cannot use who). (ii) Where Muriel saw the man was in the service station.
1. Passivisation
- (i) The man in the service station was seen by Muriel.
- (ii) The man was seen by Muriel in the service station.
1. Fronting (movement to clause-initial position)
- (i) The man in the service station Muriel saw.
- (ii) In the service station Muriel saw the man.
Not all categories respond equally:
- Frequency/modal adverbs resist clefting: *It’s often/usually/probably that …
- Finite verbs resist fronting: *Saw Muriel the man …

2.3 Units and Rank of Units

Language = patterned; not merely beads on a string.
Unit: any sequence forming a semantic whole with a reproducible syntactic pattern.
Four structural units recognised (with conventional boundary symbols):
- Clause ||
- Group |
- Word ( space )
- Morpheme { }
Example: || the effects of the accident are very serious ||
Rank relationships:
- Downwards (componence): each unit consists of ≥1 units one rank lower.
- e.g. Wait! ⇒ Clause → Group → Word → Morpheme.
- Upwards (function): each unit fulfils a function in the unit above.
Embedding: a unit occurs inside another unit of equal or higher rank.
- NG embedding a clause: people who live in the north.
- PP embedded in NG: the effects of the accident.
Book concentrates mainly on Clause and Group units.

2.4 Classes of Units

2.4.1 Classes of Clauses

A Finite vs Non-finite

Central criterion = form of the verbal group (VG).
Finite verbs/clauses: marked for tense or modality (never both simultaneously).
- Present vs past: lock/locked, eat/ate, go/went, exceptions like shut.
- 3rd-pers-sg present adds -s (except be which has more forms).
- Modal auxiliaries (can, must, will …) express modality.
- Examples of finite verbs/clauses: is, eats, locked, went, will stay.
- Blixen excerpt: every numbered clause is finite.
Non-finite verbs/clauses (no tense/modality):
1. Bare infinitive (be, eat)
2. to- infinitive (to go)
3. -ing participle (going)
4. -en participle (gone, eaten, locked)
- Illustrative sentences:
- They want to hire a caravan. (to-inf cl.)
- Tim helped her carry her bags. (bare inf cl.)
- We found Ann sitting in the garden. (-ing cl.)
- The invitations were sent written by hand. (-en cl.)

B Independent vs Dependent

Independent clause (indep.cl): complete, not part of a larger structure; always finite; allows the four clause types.
Dependent clause (dep.cl): linked to an independent clause; can be finite or non-finite.
- Finite example: before they went on holiday
- Non-finite replacement: before going on holiday
Only independent clauses exhibit declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamative moods.
- Examples:
- Declarative: Jack’s flat is in Hammersmith.
- Interrogative: Is his address 20 Finchley Road?
- Imperative: Give me Jack’s telephone number.
- Exclamative: What a large apartment he has!

C Finite Dependent Clause Types

Circumstantial (subordinators when, if, before, as soon as …)
- As soon as she got home, Ann switched on the TV.
Relative (relativisers which, that)
- … the red apples that his wife had bought …
Nominal clauses (functions: S, O, C)
- That-clause: He saw that the bottles were empty.
- Wh-nominal relative: What I don’t understand is why you have come here.
- Dependent wh-interrogative: I’ll ask where the nearest Underground station is.
- Dependent exclamative: She said how comfortable it was.
Comparative (introduced by than)
- The results are much better than we expected.
Supplementive clauses (non-embedded, comma-set, have own intonation)
- Built of cypress, brick and glass, the house exhibits …
- Freestanding spoken variant: Which is a pity.
Verbless clauses (verb, often subject, omitted—usually a form of be)
- Book your tickets in advance, whenever possible (= whenever it is possible).
- Additional patterns:
  - Wh-Q without finite verb: Why not sell your car?
  - Imperative-flavoured adjuncts: Hands off! Into the shelter, everybody!
  - Ellipted interrog/exclam: Sure? / Fantastic! (= It is fantastic)
  - Proverbs: Out of sight, out of mind.
Abbreviated clauses (Subject + Finite operator only)
- Can you? I won’t. Has she?
- Uses: short answers, tags, or pragmatic acts like reprimand (Must you?).

2.4.2 Classes of Groups

Classified by the part-of-speech of the head (obligatory core):
- Nominal Group (NG): films; wonderful films by Fellini
- Verbal Group (VG): return; will return
- Adjectival Group (AdjG): good; quite good at languages
- Adverbial Group (AdvG): fluently; very fluently indeed
Prepositional Phrase (PP): structurally different → head = preposition + obligatory complement; head cannot stand alone (on the floor ‑ *on).

2.4.3 Classes of Words (Parts of Speech)

Open-class (admits new members): noun, verb, adjective, adverb.
Closed-class (resists new members): preposition, pronoun, article.
- Slight expansion via participial prepositions (including, concerning).
- Pronouns show resistance despite calls for gender-neutral forms.

2.4.4 Classes of Morphemes

Word = combination of morphemes (abstract units with lexical or grammatical meaning).
- e.g. effects = {EFFECT} + {PLURAL} → morphs effect + -s.
Detailed morphology/phonology lies outside current syntactic focus.

2.5 The Concept of Unit Structure

Structure = relationship among internal elements of a unit.
- Analogy: table requires correct arrangement of top + legs.
Everything (houses, cars, plays, football matches) exhibits structure; language mirrors this reality.
Linguistic structures described via:
- Semantic functions (Agent, Process, Affected …)
- Syntactic forms (Subject, Predicator, Object …)

2.5.1 Syntactic Elements of Clauses (with typical examples)

Subject (S): Jupiter is the largest planet. ⇒ $SPCs$
Predicator (P): The election campaign has ended. ⇒ $SP$
Direct Object (Od): Ted has bought a new motorbike. ⇒ $SPOd$
Indirect Object (Oi): They sent their friends postcards. ⇒ $SPOiOd$
Prepositional Object (Op): You must allow for price increases. ⇒ $SPOp$
Subject Complement (Cs): He is powerless to make changes. ⇒ $SPCs$
Object Complement (Co): We consider the situation alarming. ⇒ $SPOdCo$
Locative/Goal Complement (Cloc): We flew to Moscow. ⇒ $SPCloc$
Circumstantial Adjunct (A): The news reached us on Tuesday. ⇒ $SPOdA$
Stance Adjunct (A): Unfortunately, we could not reach York in time. ⇒ $ASPOdA$
Connective Adjunct (A): However, other friends were present. ⇒ $ASPCs$
Interrogative/negative clauses add a Finite function (see Ch 23).

2.5.2 Syntactic Elements of Groups

Nominal, Adjectival, Adverbial Groups share a basic three-slot pattern:
- pre-modifier (m) – head (h) – post-modifier (m)
- Post-head complement (c) distinguished where controlled by head.
- Determiner (d) given equal rank in NGs (specifies definiteness, quantity …).
Illustrations:
- NG: d m h m → those | beautiful | paintings | by Goya
- AdjG: m h c → extremely | difficult | to translate
- AdvG: m h m → very | carefully | indeed
Verbal Group (VG) structure:
- Main lexical verb (v); auxiliaries (x); first auxiliary = finite operator (o).
- Telescoping examples:
- $v$ → plays
- $o v$ → has played [have + -en]
- $o x v$ → will be playing [will + [be + -ing]]
- $o x x v$ → must have been played [must + [have + -en] [be + -en]]
- Adverbial particle (p) may follow v (ring up, break out).
- Transitive phrasals can be discontinuous: I’ll ring you up.
- Particles rarely front (*Up I’ll ring you), except with directional meaning: Down came the rain.
Prepositional Phrase (PP) pattern: (m) h c
- Examples: right | across | the road; quite | out of | practice.

2.5.3 Componence, Realisation & Function

Any structural configuration = set of functions realised by units of lower rank.
No strict one-to-one mapping between class of unit and function:
- NG next time can be Subject, Adjunct, or Direct Object.
- Relatively close mapping only between process and verbal group.
Grammar ↔ discourse relationship:
- Discourse is a pragmatic-semantic unit, not a “super-sentence.”
- Pragmatic acts (e.g. leave-taking) may be realised by full clauses or formulae (Goodbye).
Structural tree (p. 20) exemplifies multi-rank analysis for The bus strike will affect many people tomorrow:
- Clause level functions → Group level compositions → Word level realisations.