DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR seminar Bibliography R Huddleston

DESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR seminar

Bibliography • R. Huddleston, G. K. Pullum, A student’s Introduction to English Grammar, CUP 2005 • R. Huddleston, G. K. Pullum, The Cambridge grammar of the English language, CUP 2002 • Noel Burton Roberts, Analyzing sentences. An introduction to English syntax, Pearson, 2010 E. Finegan, Language, its structure and use, Wadsworth, Cengage Lear 1989 G. Yule, The Study of language, CUP 1991 • •

Seminar topics 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. Basic concepts in grammar, the parts of speech Verbs, tense, aspect, and mood Clause structure, complements, and adjuncts Nouns and noun phrases Adjectives, adverbs, prepositions and preposition phrases Negation and related phenomena Clause type: asking, exclaiming, and directing Subordination and content clauses Relative clauses Grade and comparison Non-finite clauses and clauses without verbs Coordination, information packaging in the clause Passive Voice Morphology : morphological processes

Basic concepts in grammar, the parts of speech • Number of people who speak English all over the world. • Widely spread language • Language varieties/dialects • Dialects and styles

Dialects • Language varieties/dialects • Standard English-the central dialect • Other dialects, non-standard (regional, local, social) Examples: I did it myself. I done it myself. I haven’t told anybody anything. I ain’t told anybody nothing. • Differences in pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar • Grammar more stable and uniform than accent and vocabulary • What does grammar deal with? Form of sentences and smaller units: clauses, phrases and words.

Styles • Formal and informal styles, formal contexts vs casual conversations. He was the one with whom she worked. He was the one she worked with. • Informal style is not restricted to speech, common in mass media, printed books on academic subjects. Informal sentences are not non-standard.

What is the difference between a style and a dialect?

Switching between styles within your native dialect is easy. Switching between dialects is not.

Descriptive and prescriptive approaches to grammar • What grammar books do you know? • Prescriptive grammar books tell people how they should speak and write, give advice. Show to avoid mistakes. Some grammar manuals do not make distinction between standard vs non-standard dialects, formal vs informal styles. They apply the term incorrect to both non-standard dialect and informal style. Is it fair? • Do not mix non-standard or informal with incorrect. It’s me. It’s I.

Descriptive • Descriptive grammar books describe the grammatical system people use when they speak and write. Show what the language is.

Prescriptive • Prescriptive grammar books tell people how they should speak and write, give advice. Show to avoid mistakes.

Grammar manuals Some grammar manuals do not make distinction between - standard vs non-standard dialects, - formal vs informal styles. They apply the term incorrect to both non-standard dialect and informal style. Is it fair? • Do not mix non-standard or informal with incorrect. It’s me. It’s I.

Revision • • • Language/Standard English Standard and Non-standard dialects Formal and informal styles Pronunciation (accent)/vocabulary/grammar Desriptive and prescriptive grammars

Grammatical terms To talk about a language we need some standard terms dealing with 3 different areas within the study of a language: 1. Syntax 2. Morphology 3. Semantics 1 &2 concern the form of sentences or words

Syntax • Study of the principles governing how words can be put together to form sentences. Ex. I found an unopened bottle of wine. (admissible) I found a bottle unopened of wine. (not admissible) Some customers complained a lot about the product. Some customers about the product complained a lot.

Morphology Deals with the internal form of words. Examples: • unopened: un + open + ed • inhabited • inadequately • preoccupied • dysfunctional • illogicality • unwillingness • unwellcoming

Semantics • is about meaning • principles by which words/sentences are associated with their literal meanings. Examples: unopened is the opposite of opened

Other examples of grammatical terms • subject/object • noun, noun phrases, verb, adjective, adverb pronoun • tenses • passive/active voice • imperative • clauses

Misleading definitions of grammatical terms Definition of the Past Tense: „The Past Tense expresses or indicates a time that is in the past. ” Grammatical category vs semantic property Definition works Definition fails • The seminar started one hour ago. • I thought the seminar started next week. • If he said that, he was wrong. • If he said that, she wouldn’t believe him. Past tense but not past time. • I offended my friends. • I regret offending my friends. Not every past time reference involves a past tense.

Imperative A book definition: A form or instruction used to issue a command. Is it a satisfactory definition? • • • Command Offer Request Invitation Advice Instruction • • • Shut up! Have a drink. Please pass the salt. Come to dinner. Have a close look at it. To see the picture click here.

Instead of the term command we can use directive • I direct you to pass me the salt • I direct you to click here, to come to dinner. Go to bed. Sleep well. Both are imperatives. Go to bed is a directive Sleep well. is not. I’m not directing you to sleep well. I’m wishing you a peaceful night. Please pass me the salt. Could you pass me the salt? Both sentences are directives but Could you pass me the salt? is not imperative. It’s a question=interrogative. Directives can be issued in other ways, not by the use of imperatives.

• Imperatives • Declaratives • Interrogatives What’s the main difference between imperatives and declaratives in English? I am happy. I help you. Be happy. Help me. Subjects are obligatory in declaratives and omitted in imperatives.

How do words combine to form sentences in Standard English? Regularities, rules, technical terms. 2 kinds of sentences: • clausual sentences ( a single clause) • compound sentences (coordinated clauses, joined by a coordinator) Ex. : She is a teacher. He is a doctor. I am a student. She is a teacher, he is a doctor, and I am a student. I like coffee. He likes tea. I like coffee but he likes tea. The idea of a clause is more basic than the idea of a sentence.

More technical terms • subject (Subj) & predicate (Pred) • Noun phrase (NP), Verb phrase (VP) Ex. : Subj Pred Things change. Mark studied. Subj Pred Students complained. All things change. Mark studied yesterday. NP VP Some students complained about it. NP NP: things, Mark, students, all things, some students Phrase= head + 0 or more dependents NP = a noun with or without dependents VP

Subj + Pred • Subj = actor Pred = action Semantics vs syntax Subject usually has the form of an NP. Its default position is before the verb. Ex. : Basic clause The seminar has finished. Mark is here. The students complained. Interrogative Has the seminar finished? Is Mark here? Did the students complain? Rule: the subject proceeds the verb in the basic version and follows it in the interrogative.

Words, Lexemes, Inflection Ex. : My students have many books and a computer programme; one book deals with the programme & programme books & book are different words but forms of the same lexeme. Different inflectional forms of the same lexeme, plural and singular. Book and books are inflectional forms of the lexeme book. Ex. : drive, drives, drove, driving, driven fast, faster, fastest Lexeme – a minimal unit (as a word or stem)

The parts of speech, 8 categories noun The students worked. That is Mark. We saw him. verb The students worked. It is clear. I have a headache. adjective He’s smart. It looks easy. I’ve got a new exam. determinative The students worked. He needs some books. All exams change. adverb The lecturer spoke clearly. She’s not very old. I almost died. preposition It’s in my schedule. I gave my notes to him. Here’s a list of them. coordinator I got up and left. Mark or Alice took it. It’s difficult but interesting. subordinator It’s suprising that my students were late. I wonder I don’t know if you’re whether it’s true. telling the truth.

The parts of speech, 8 categories noun The students worked. That is Mark. We saw him. verb The students worked. It is clear. I have a headache. adjective He’s smart. It looks easy. I’ve got a new exam. determinative The students worked. He needs some books. All exams change. adverb The lecturer spoke clearly. She’s not very old. I almost died. preposition It’s in my schedule. I gave my notes to him. coordinator I got up and left. Mark or Alice took It’s difficult but it. interesting. subordinator It’s suprising that my students were late. I wonder whether it’s true. Here’s a list of them. I don’t know if you’re telling the truth.

Noun (N), (n) Nouns: • • • 37% of the words in almost any text. Physical objects, inanimate objects, abstract nouns Noun categories in traditional grammar: common nouns (book, man), proper nouns (Alice, Europe), pronouns (I, you, his, them) Inflectional forms: singular, plural Nouns function as head in NP. ; have a function of a subject in a clause.

Verb (V), (v) Verbs: • In clauses verbs point at: a) an action: I made a cake. b) some other event: The seminar started. c) a state: Students know Standard English. • Auxilary verbs: do, does, did, have, has, will, am, is, are • Lexical verbs • Verbs are head in VPs, predicate in a clause • Inflectional contrast of tense between past and present: -ed, -s, -ing.

Adjective (Adj) 1. Express properties of people or things; with the verb be describe states. The long seminar. Students are happy. 2. Two adjective functions: ATTRIBUTIVE PREDICATIVE ( after be, become, feel, seem etc. ) The long seminar An angry student The seminar is long. He became angry. 3. Adjectives are gradable. The degree is indicated by: • modifiers like - fairly big, suprisingly good, extremely polite, very cold • inflectional system, comparison- 3 grades: plain, comparative, superlative. old, older, oldest

Adverbs (Adv) 1. Related to adjectives. 2. Most are derived from adjectives by adding – ly. 3. Other common adverbs: almost, always, not, often, quite, rather, soon, too, very 4. Adverbs are modifiers of verbs (or VPs), adjective, adverbs. Modififes a v or VP She spoke clearly. I often teach them. Modifies an adj. a remakably long seminar It’s very long. Modifies an adv. She spoke quite clearly. It’ll end quite soon.

DETERMINATIVES (D) • a, an, the, ; definite, indefinite • this, that, these, those, some, any, many, few, one, two, three, etc

Prepositions (Prep) • Prepositions express relations of space or time. across the street, at the corner, , under the bridge, after classes, before Christmas • Prepositions depend on nouns, verbs/VPs, adjectives. Dependent on a verb/VP I sat by the door. I met him after classes. Dependent on a noun the student in the room the day before that Dependent on an adjective keen on grammar superior to others

Coordinators vs subordinators (Co) vs (Sub) • Coordinators (and, or, but) My students need good books and more time. My students need good books. My students need more time. Coordinators serve to mark coordination between 2 or more expressions of equal syntactic status. • Subordinators (that, whether, if) The seminar is difficult. main clause I realise that the seminar is dififficult. subordinate clause

Complements (object, predicative complement), modifiers • The structure of phrases (VP, NP) VP: He kept her letters for years. ; kept-head, her letters-complement, for years-modifier NP: She regularly gives us very useful advice on grammar. advice-head, on grammar-complement, very useful-modifier • The structure of VP Subtypes of complement: object & predicative complement Predicative complements occur with a limited number of verbs: be, feel, seem. Object Predicative complement I met a friend of yours. She was a friend of yours. She appointed a real idiot. I felt a real idiot. very friendly (Adj. P) can’t be an They seemed very friendly. object

Canonical and Non-canonical clauses Canonical clauses (syntactically the most basic or elementary clauses) • • • Positive: It is easy. Declarative: I can do it. Declarative: I am patient. Main: You’re great. Non-coordinate: That’s Anna. I’m blind. • Active: I finished the seminar. Non-canonical clauses (more complex syntactically) Negative: It isn’t easy. Interrogative: Can I do it? Imperative: Be patient. Subordinate: I know that you’re great. Coordinate: That’s Anna or I’m blind. • Passive: The seminar is finished. • • •

Tasks to do • Assign each word in the following example to one of the part-of-speech categories. We know that Descriptive Grammar is very easy. • Divide the main clauses of the example into subject and predicate: 1. The students in the room over there are studying economics. 2. The thing that puzzles me is why no one asked any questions. • 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Classify clauses below as canonical or non-canonical. For non-canonical ones, say which category or categories they belong to. Most of us enjoyed the seminar very much. Have you understood everything? I’ve never experienced anything like it. Tell me what you want to do now. The tasks have been finished successfully by all of us.