Meeting 3b (Syntax)

Some definitionsA simple sentence consists of a single clause

(there is only one VP). Complex sentence consists of clauses with

other clauses embedded in them

Basic clause types & Communicative functions:Clause Type Example (typical) Communicative

Function

1. Declarative. Kyle is digging a hole Statement

2. Interrogative Is Kyle digging a hole? Could Kyle dig a hole?

Question Request/Question

3. Exclamative What a deep hole he’s dug! Exclamation

4. Imperative Dig a hole! Directive

Declarative

Subject Predicate

The governor general resigned in embarrassment.

The new prime minister. will not commit to a policy on refugees.

Eric and Kenny have been playing tennis for two hours

Declarative sentences are most commonly used to make a statement/assertion: to pass on information, to give an opinion etc.

A declarative clause consists of a subject followed by a predicate. In English the predicate position is always filled by a VP, and the subject position is most commonly a NP. Therefore we can represent a declarative clause schematically as NP+VP:

What constitutes NP & VPThe NP can be: The VP can be:

•a single common or proper noun•a pronoun•a noun with: determinative, adjectival, prepositional etc dependents, or conjunctions of the above.

•a single lexical (intransitive) verb or verb string (lexical V preceded by Auxiliary or Modal Vs), •a (transitive) verb or verb string with its complement(s), •a copula verb with a predicative complement, •or any of the foregoing with adjuncts. •A VP can be negated.

However, ….Declarative sentences can have other

communicative functions:Question: You have no beer left?Exclamation: He’s a wanker!Directive: I want you to take those shoes back to

the shop.

Interrogative

Generally speaking, interrogatives function to ask questions (seek information) and to make requests.

There are three structurally distinct types of interrogative sentence:simple inverted: Did Homer eat the donut?tag: Homer ate the donut, didn’t he?wh-: - What did Homer eat?

Who ate the donut?

However,They can also have other communicative

functions:Statement: Do I look like I was born yesterday?Exclamation: Wasn’t that a delicious mudcake?Directive: Could you pass me a muffin

How to form …Inverted interrogatives can be viewed as the result

of ‘inverting’ the order of elements in a declarative:

Declarative InterrogativeMelissa was once a nun Was Melissa once a nun?You could pass me a muffin Could you pass me a muffin?She will drink juice. Will she drink juice?

In the above, the declarative order of subject and auxiliary (including modal and copula) verb is reversed in the interrogative. Therefore, the structure of a simple inverted interrogative is AUX+NP+(remainder of) VP.

If the declarative contains only a lexical verb (no auxiliary), the AUX position is filled by the appropriately tensed form of the verb do. This phenomenon is known as ‘do-support’:Declarative Interrogative I look like I was born yesterday. Do I look like I was

born yesterday? Homer ate the donut. Did Homer eat the donut?

The functionsThe typical function of simple inverted

interrogatives is to seek a very specific kind of information: affirmation or denial (a yes/no answer). The only reasonable (informative) answers to these questions are yes/no/I don’t know. The inverted interrogative does not inherently imply that either affirmation or denial is any more expected than the other.

Another function of inverted interrogatives is to seek information by presenting a number of alternatives: Did Stan buy Eric the green Mega-Man or the blue Mega-Man? Will Elvis sing Love Me Tender or Unchained Melody next?

The tag interrogative also typically asks a yes/no question. Unlike the simple inverted interrogative, however, tag interrogatives imply a particular belief or preference on the part of the speaker, and invite or expect the addressee to agree with the assertion of the declarative clause:

Those shoes are ugly, aren’t they? invites Yes they are.while Those shoes aren’t ugly, are they? invites No

they’re not.

Tag InterrogativesTag interrogatives consist of a declarative

clause followed by a simple inverted interrogative with the remainder of VP left out. This reduced interrogative is called the ‘tag’.

The tag usually has the opposite polarity (positive vs negative) from the declarative clause:

Homer ate all the donuts, didn’t he?Kyle won’t buy Eric a Mega-Man, will he?Melissa used to be a nun, didn’t she?Terry isn’t a wanker, is he?

The double-positive additionally conveys a particular, usually negative, attitude on the speaker’s part:

Melissa was a nun, was she? invites Yes she was. but also implies I don’t believe it for a minute/I don’t

trust nuns.You wrote to the newspaper, did you? invites Yes I did.

but also implies I don’t believe you/I wish you hadn’t.

Wh-Interrogativeswh-interrogatives get their name from

the class of words which introduce them in English: what, who, whom, when, why, where, which, how. They appear to have two different possible structures, depending on whether the wh-phrase is construed with the subject or a non-subject.

interrogatives with wh-phrase subjects look like declaratives, except that the subject is a wh-phrase (a wh-word like who, what etc or a NP with which, whose or what kind of in Determiner position):

Who wrote to the newspaper?What might happen next?What kind of fool am I?Which student spat on the lecturer?

Their structure is wh-NP+VP. They are the only kind of interrogative that does not involve subject-AUX inversion.

interrogatives with wh-phrases construed with non-subjects (complements, adjuncts) have inversion of subject and auxiliary like inverted interrogatives, but in addition to this the wh-phrase occurs sentence-initially, before the inverted AUX:Interrogative (declarative)How are these shoes? (these shoes are ugly)When were you born? (you were born yesterday)What did Homer eat? (Homer ate the donuts)Who(m) did Elvis serenade? (Elvis serenaded the

three ex- nunsWhich song might Elvis sing? (Elvis might sing Love

Me Tender)Their structure is wh-NP+AUX+NP+(remainder of)

VP.

Exclamative

Exclamative constructions all begin with a non-subject wh-phrase, but unlike interrogatives do not involve subject-AUX inversion:What a glutton Homer is!What a fool I am!What a song Elvis just sang!How ugly those shoes seem to me!

Their structure is

Wh-phrase+NP+(remainder of) VP

Exclamatives are almost exclusively used to make exclamations. The fronted wh-phrase is the focus of the exclamation.

Imperative

Imperatives usually lack a subject (though one can be expressed). They also lack tense, meaning that the V appears in its plain form. The subject is always second person (the person or people addressed by the speaker):

Give me a donut! (You give me a donut!)Be good to your dog! (You be good to your dog!)Walk more quickly! (You walk more quickly!)

Their structure is therefore quite specific: (NP[2nd person]+)VP[-tense].

FormNote that in negative imperatives, don’t precedes

the optional NP subject you:

Don’t (you) buy those shoes!Don’t (you) beat your dog!

Be cannot support not in imperatives the way it can in declaratives:

Don’t (you) be a wanker!He isn’t a wanker.*Be not a wanker! (ungrammatical in contemporary

standard English)

FunctionThe typical communicative function of an

Imperative is to issue a directive. The situation referred to is hypothetical (which might explain the absence of tense). The addressee is the only person able to be construed with the subject of the clause, as the intended carrier-out of the action inferred, and so only 2nd person subjects are possible, and therefore omissible.

End of slides