Functional Parts of Speech Compare the Two

Functional Parts of Speech: Compare the Two – Preposition & Conjunction Lecture 11

Plan: § 1. The Preposition (Prep-s) § 1. 1. Meaning, Form & Function. § 1. 2. The Notion of Adposition. § 1. 3. Semantic Groups and Other Classes. § 2. The Conjunction (Conj-s) § 2. 1. Meaning, Form & Function. § 2. 2. Semantic Groups. § 3. Prepositions vs. Conjunctions.

The Problem of Functional Po. S The problem of meaning of functional words: they convey mostly grammatical meanings. Major roles in speech: 1) indicating relationships between notional (lexical) words or larger units; 2) indicating the way in which a notional word or a larger unit must be interpreted. Classes of functional words are heterogeneous and include many members: v Ch. Fries: 154 units of functional status split into 15 groups; v Traditionally recognized: v prepositions, conjunctions, particles, interjections, auxiliaries, articles.

Meaning, Form & Function of Prep-s (1) MEANING (semantics): Preposition is a word expressing relations between words in the sentence. Preposition = Subordinating conjunction? ? ? Cf. 1) She never saw him after the concert. // 2) She never saw him after he left town. 1) Traditional analysis: the difference is in combinability – prep. + NP vs. conj. + VP Conclusion: ‘after’(1) and ‘after’(2) are homonyms n G. K. Pullum and R. Huddleston: 1. I remember the accident. // I remember you promised to help. 2. He left after the accident. // He left after you promised to help. Conclusion: Prep-s and subordinating conj-s (except ‘whether’ and ‘that’ ) are combined within one class + unless they surrender, although time is up, while you were on the phone.

Meaning, Form & Function of Prep-s (2) FORM: a strictly closed class of words, limited number 1) NO word-changing categories: invariable 2) Structurally: • Simple (one-word): in, on, for, to, about, after; • Derivative: behind, below, across, along; • Compound: inside, outside, within, without; • Composite: ahead of, because of, according to, by means of, at the cost of, with reference to, with the help of, etc. NB! Not all scholars recognize composite prepositions. Prof. Ilyish: A preposition is a word, not a word group! The term “composite preposition” is too vague. G. L. Morozova: Such groups are equivalents of prep-s which are on their way to becoming full prepositions.

Meaning, Form & Function of Prep-s (3) FUNCTION: different in lang-ges with different structures. ü Synthetic lang-ges (Russian) – prep-s realize circumstantial functions (e. g. перед обедом, за ужином, после завтрака, на столе, из-за опоздания). ü Analytic lang-s (English) prep-s realize both grammatical and circumstantial functions. Grammatical function: prep-s have no meaning outside the grammatical context: 1) He was interviewed by the police (= The police interviewed him). 2) They were discussing the speech of the President (= They were discussing the President’s speech). 3) She sent the letter to John (= John received her letter). Grammatical functions in analytical lang-ges = inflections in synthetic lang-ges. Cf. interviewed by the police // допрошены полицией; the speech of the President // речь президента; sent to John // отправила Джону.

Meaning, Form & Function of Prep-s (4) (3) + COMBINABILITY: preposition is always a member of a phrase. Prepositional Phrase: PREP. + NP / V-ING clause / WHAT-clause He was surprised at her words / her saying this / what she said. !!! Prep-s are not complemented by THAT-clauses: He was surprised that (conj. ) she said this. Choice of prep-s is determined by the head-word: 1) He is quite good at painting. 2) There is no point in arguing. 3) He woke up at 8 o'clock. Occasionally prepositions are used after the complement (in questions and clauses): What are you thinking of? of The things I am thinking of are my business only.

The Notion of Adposition (1) ‘preposition’ < Latin ‘placed before’ Deferment of prepositions can be obligatory: a) in passive clauses: Has the room been paid for? b) in infinitival clauses: He is impossible to work with. c) in gerundial clauses: He is worth listening to. Alternative deferment of prepositions with interrogative and relative NPs: At which house did you leave the car? (formal style) // Which house did you leave the car at? (informal style) Adposition is a particle which combines syntactically with a phrase (pre-positionally, post-positionally, or by some other way) and indicates how that phrase should be interpreted in the surrounding context.

The Notion of Adposition (2) Characteristic properties of “core” adpositions: ü they are among the most frequently occurring words (for English – of, to, in, for, on, with, as, by, at, from); ü they are simple, monomorphemic words; ü they combine syntactically with exactly one complement phrase, mostly a noun phrase; ü they establish the grammatical relationship that links its complement phrase to another word or phrase in the context; ü they do not have paradigms of forms; ü they form a closed class of lexical items and cannot be productively derived from words of other categories.

Semantic Groups & Other Classes (1) v v BY POSITION in relation to the complement: A preposition precedes its complement to form a prepositional phrase The accident occurred near the bridge. A postposition follows its complement to form a postpositional phrase I’d like you all to put your pens down. An ambiposition appears on either side of its complement He slept through the whole night // He slept the whole night through. A circumposition has two parts, which surround the complement to form a circumpositional phrase From now on we will call prepositions ‘adpositions’.

Semantic Groups & Other Classes (2) BY FORM (morphological composition) ü simple adpositions ü complex adpositions Features of fully grammaticalized phrases = complex adpositions: ü made of words that are not used in other contexts: by dint of (= by means of), in lieu of (= instead of); ü the first preposition cannot be replaced: with a view to / *for/without a view to; ü it is impossible to insert an article, or to use a different article: on *an/the account of, for the/*a sake of; ü the range of possible adjectives is very limited: in great favor of / *in helpful favor of; ü the number of N cannot be changed: by virtue/*virtues of; ü it is impossible to use a possessive determiner: in spite of him / *in his spite.

Semantic Groups & Other Classes (3) BY SEMANTICS (most traditional classification) 1. Circumstantial adpositions: • spatial relations: location (inclusion, exclusion, proximity), direction (origin, path, endpoint) SEE MORE • temporal relations • comparison: equality, opposition, price, rate • content: source, material, subject matter • instrument, manner • cause, purpose, agent, etc. 2. Grammatical adpositions – their semantic contribution to the context is minimal or absent: dispense with formalities, listen to my advice, good at mathematics Cf. Russian: отвечать на вопросы, обвинение в обмане, с радостью согласиться

Semantic Groups & Other Classes (4) Spatial relations: 1. Directional adpositions – usually involve motion along a path over time: to, from, towards, into, along, through Bob went to the store (movement over time). The fog extended from London to Paris (non-temporal)). a) telic adpositions involve movement all the way to the endpoint denoted by their complement: to, into, across. 1. atelic adpositions: towards, along Bob went towards the store. 2. Static adpositions – normally do not involve movement: at, in, on, beside, behind, under, above (Bob is at the store. ) a) non-projective static adpositions – their meaning can be determined by the meaning of the complement and the preposition. Your pen is on the desk. 1. projective static adpositions require a perspective or point of view. Your pen is to the left of my book.

Semantic Groups & Other Classes (5) Major differences in the functions and combinability of directional and static adpositions: § Directional adposition phrases unlike static ones can’t function as a predicative. Cf. : Bob is in his bedroom. (‘in’ is static) // *Bob is to his bedroom. (‘to’ is directional). § Directional adpositions can only combine with verbs that involve motion. Cf. : Bob is lying down in his bedroom. // *Bob is lying down into/from his bedroom. § When a static adposition combines with a motion verb, it sometimes takes on a directional meaning: Bob jumped in the water. (= ‘into’) BACK

Semantic Groups & Other Classes (6) BY TYPE OF COMPLEMENT noun phrases: I can think of several things at a time; adj-ve phrases: The scene went from blindingly bright to pitch black; adverb phrases: I worked there until recently; infinitive / V-ing phrases: Let’s think about solving this problem; interrogative clauses: We can’t agree on whether to have children or not; full sentences: Come here after you finish you work. BY FUNCTION 1) modifiers (adverb-like or adjective-like modification) ü (of verbs) sleep throughout the winter, danced atop the tables ü (of nouns) the weather in April, cheeses from France with bacteria 2) complements ü (of verbs) insist on staying home, dispose of unwanted items ü (of nouns) a thirst for revenge, a message inside our bottle ü (of adjectives/adverbs) attentive to their needs ü (of other adpositions) away from the window, from beneath the bed

Meaning, Form & Function of Conj-s (1) MEANING (semantics): express connections existing between phenomena in extralinguistic reality. Conjunction is a functional word which joins syntactic units such as words, clauses and sentences. Their meaning is independent of preceding words. (2) FORM: 1) word-building models: simple (and, or, but, till, after, that, so, where, when) derived (until, unless) compound (however, whereas, wherever) composite (as well as, as long as, in case, for fear (that), on the ground that, for the reason that, both. . . and, either. . . or, not only. . . but (also)). 2) word-changing categories: invariable. (3) FUNCTION: to link different parts of utterances.

Semantic Groups of Conj-s (1) Coordinating conjunctions join coordinate (equally-ranked) clauses in a compound sentence, or homogeneous parts in a simple sentence, or homogeneous subordinate clauses in a complex sentence, or independent sentences. v copulative conjunctions – chiefly denote that one statement or fact is simply added to another (and, nor, as well as, both. . . and, not only. . . but (also), neither. . . nor); v disjunctive conjunctions – offer some choice between one statement and another (or, either. . . or, or else, else); v adversative conjunctions – show that one statement or fact is contrasted with or set against another (but, while, whereas); v causative-consecutive conjunctions – denote consequence, result, or reason (so, for). By these conjunctions one statement or fact is inferred or proved from another. ☺mnemonic FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so).

Semantic Groups of Conj-s (2) Subordinating conjunctions (complementizers) join a subordinate or dependent clause to a principal clause, or adverbial modifiers to the predicate in a simple sentence or sometimes homogeneous parts. Occasionally introduce a word or a phrase within a simple sentence (He promised to sell the car if necessary). a) complement clauses: Elizabeth regretted that she had met Wickham. b) relative (attributive) clauses: The cottage which Mrs. Dashwood accepted was rather small. c) adverbial clauses: (The list is not exhaustive!) He could not come because /since / as he was ill. SEE MORE ☺mnemonic BISAWAWE (because, if, so, after, when, although, while, and even though).

Semantic Groups of Conj-s (3) Adverbial Clauses with Conjunctions: • Of Time (when, as soon as, while, as long as, since, by the time (that), before, now that, after, once, until, as): When Fanny returned, she found Tom Bertram very ill. • Of Concession (although, even if, in spite of the fact, despite the fact, notwithstanding (the fact) that): Although Mr D’Arcy disliked Mrs Bennet he married Elizabeth. • Of Manner (as if, as though): Henry changed his plans as the mood took him. • Of Condition (if, unless, on condition that, provided that, providing that, in the event that, in case that, whether … or not): If Emma had left Hartfield, Mr. Woodhouse would have been unhappy. • Of Place (where, wherever): We live where the road crosses the river.

Prepositions vs. Conjunctions (1) Prepositions & Conjunctions have much in common: ü many prepositions are homonymous (have the common etymology) with conjunctions: after, since. ü sometimes prepositions and (mostly subordinating) conjunctions indicate similar relations: I with my friend // my friend and I because // because of; in case that // in case of; due to the fact that // due to ü both the preposition and the conjunction are invariable; both have abstract and vague meanings; ü functionally prepositions are acquiring more and more features in common with conjunctions, e. g. occur at the head of a clause: There is much in what you say. Prepositions + Conjunctions = Connectives

Prepositions vs. Conjunctions (2) The difference between prepositions and conjunctions: ü Modern English – this difference is very much obliterated. Modern Russian – prepositions are closely connected with cases, while conjunctions have nothing to do with them. ü Beware of adpositions in translation! One of the most difficult aspects of a language to learn. Different languages and even regional dialects of the same language often have different conventions. Learning the conventionally preferred word is a matter of exposure to examples. Am Eng “to wait in line”, sometimes “to wait on line”. Conjunctions are simpler in this respect as logical relations are universal.

KEY TERMS ü ü ü ü ü Prepositional phrase Preposition, postposition, ambiposition, circumposition Circumstantial & grammatical adpositions Directional & static adpositions Telic & atelic adpositions Non-projective & projective adpositions Coordinating conjunctions (+ all types) Subordinating conjunctions (+ all types) Complementizer, connective