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Syntax

Syntax. The Verb Phrase: summary. The VP consists of a head verb , either alone or accompanied by one or more auxiliaries If the VP contains only one verb, it is a lexical verb (arrived)

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Syntax

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  1. Syntax

  2. The Verb Phrase: summary The VP consists of a head verb, either alone or accompanied by one or more auxiliaries If the VP contains only one verb, it is a lexical verb (arrived) If the VP contains more verbs, one is a lexical verb and the others are pre-modifying auxiliaries or modals (is arriving, has arrived, may arrive, might be arriving, etc.)

  3. The role of auxiliary verbs They are used to express grammatical categories such as aspect, voice and modality. The primary auxiliary be is used to form the passive voice (the man was hit by a car) and the progressive aspect (I am working) The primary auxiliary have is used to form the perfect aspect (I have worked) The primary auxiliary do is used to form the negative and interrogative forms (I don’t know, Do you know?)

  4. modal verbs and modality they are frequently used in English and belong to the Germanic core of the language they express a wide range of meanings referring either to actions controlled by humans (deontic modality) or to the levels of certainty of an event (epistemic modality) the same modals can express different meanings; the same meanings can be expressed in different ways

  5. the main meanings of modal verbs permission e.g. Can I ask you a question? Could I borrow your notes? (Am I allowed to ask a question?) ability e.g. I can ski (I know how to do it) possibility e.g. She may be ill. She might be ill (Perhaps she is ill) obligation e.g. You must stop talking. You should pay attention. logical necessity(probability) e.g. She must be ill (She is very likely to be ill) volition e.g. I’ll do it for you prediction e.g. It will rain tomorrow

  6. what about modal verbs in Italian? Translate the following expressions into English: Devi smettere di fumare Dovresti smettere di fumare Posso fumare? Potrei fumare? Domani può piovere Domani potrebbe piovere Domai pioverà Sa sciare molto bene Sapeva sciare bene quando era giovane Italian has the verbs potere, sapere and dovere Some modal expressions are expressed through the conditional mood or the future tense, which do not exist as morphologically marked forms in English

  7. other phrases Adjective Phrase (AdjP) e.g. extremely important, very unhappy, good at languages Adverb Phrase (AdvP) e.g. very badly, perfectly well Prepositional Phrase (PP) e.g. in the garden, to London (see pp. 153-158)

  8. How can a clause be analysed? 1.Subject + predicate John (what is talked about) is English (what is said about the topic) 2. The main functional elements of the clause

  9. Clause and clause elements A clause is a syntactic unit made up of one or more phrases, containing at least one VP: e.g. Run! John sang. My brother gave me a beautiful dress. Did you like the concert last night?

  10. 5 major clause elements (constituents) Subject (S) Verb (V) or Predicator Object (O) Complement (C) Adverbial (A)

  11. Word Order (p. 136) Translate the following clauses into English: Seguiranno alcuni esempi Some examples will follow Nel capitolo 3 verrà presentata la grammatica Grammar will be presented in Chapter 3 Giovanni parla molto bene l’italiano /l’italiano molto bene John speaks Italian very well Odio stirare I hate ironing Piove forte da molte ore It’s been raining heavily for many hours C’è un gatto in giardino There is a cat in the garden

  12. CONCLUSION: The unmarked word order in English in SVO, while in Italian this order can vary to a certain extent. The subject is compulsory in English, and not in Italian. If there is no subject, a ‘dummy’ subject will be used (it/there).

  13. The Verb (p. 159) …is the central part of the clause since it determines the other elements (e.g. verb complementation or valency) She was laughing one-place verb She was playing the piano two-place verb She was very beautiful two-place verb She gave him a kiss three-place verb She made him happy three-place verb

  14. clause elements

  15. S+V+Oi+Od (di-transitive)

  16. SV (intransitive verb). No complementation The black labrador was barking clause S:NP P:VP det. mod.(adj.) head (n.) aux. head (v.) the black labrador was barking

  17. A new teacher has arrived

  18. SVOd (monotransitive)Andrew bought a sports car clause S:NP P:VP V Od:NP head (n.) head (v.) det. mod. (adj.) head (n.) Andrew bought a sports car

  19. My sister plays the piano

  20. SVA (+ an obligatory Adverbial)The taxi is waiting outside clause S:NP P:VP V A:AdvP det. head (n.) aux. head (v.) head (adv.) The taxi is waiting outside

  21. The waiter put the bread on the table

  22. SVCs (copular verb)The weather has turned very nasty clause S:NP P:VP V C:AdjP det. head (n.) aux. head(v.) mod.(adv.) head(adj.) The weather has turned very nasty

  23. The news sounds very interesting

  24. My 80-year-old grandmother is in good health

  25. Copular verbs be, feel, seem, appear, look, remain, stay, become, sound, taste e.g. I am / feel rather tired (C: AdjP) She became a nurse (C:NP) You look extremely happy (C:AdjP) Mary appeared in good health (C:PP) That is what I mean (C: clause)

  26. SVOiOd (di-transitive)Gill told her child a bedtime story clause S:NP P:VP V Oi:NP Od:NP head(n.) head(v.) det. head(n.) det. mod.(n.) h(n.) Gill told her child a bedtime story

  27. She should tell me the truth

  28. Di-transitive verbs Give, tell, bring, buy, show e.g. John showed me (Oi) his new car (Od) They bought him (Oi) a new racket (Od) Tell us (Oi) the truth (Od)

  29. SVOdCo (complex transitive)The judges declared Jackie the winner clause S:NP P:VP V O:NP Co:NP det. head (n.) head (v.) head(n.) det. h(n.) The judges declared Jackie the winner

  30. Rebecca considers her brother a genious

  31. SVOdATerry put the rubbish in the dustbin clause S:NP P:VP V O:NP A:PP head (n.) head(v.) det. h(n.) h (prep) C:NP det. h(n.) Terry put the rubbish in the dustbin

  32. The linguistics professor will introduce the chapter on lexis tomorrow

  33. The 7 basic clause patterns SV (intransitive) The dog is barking SVA (intransitive+obligatory A) They are waiting outside SVCs (copulative) You look great SVOd (monotransitive) I miss my family SVOiOd (di-transitive) John showed me his new car SVOdCo (complex-transitive) The judges declared Jackie the winner SVOdA (transitive with obligatory A) The waiter put the bread on the table

  34. In the summer A:PP high humidity levels S:NP make P:VP the weather O:NP unbearable Co:AdjP

  35. Luckily A:AdvP he S:NP found P:VP all the exam questions O:NP very easy Co:AdjP

  36. Complement • Cs complemento predicativo del soggetto It follows copular verbs be, feel, seem, appear, look… I am/feel tired You look/ appear/ seem tired. • Co complemento predicativo dell’oggetto It follows a direct object and occurs with complex transitive verbs make, elect, consider, find, call… This experience made me stronger I found his reaction stupid

  37. Adverbial Optional elements added to the obligatory elements of the clause Circumstance adverbial: additional information e.g. The taxi is waiting outside Stance adverbial: speaker’s feeling / attitude e.g. Hopefully I will pass all my exams in June Linking adverbial e.g. In conclusion, all’s well that ends well.

  38. Obligatory adverbial Adverbials that are required to complete the meaning of the verb E.g. Sally put the bread on the table (obligatory Adverbial) vs. Sally cut the bread on the table (optional Adverbial) Verbs: put, last, live

  39. Adverbials vs. complements John was very quiet (C) John was in bed (A) They are in danger (C) They are in the garden (A) You should stay sober (C) You should stay here (A) Complements describe or characterize the S (or O) Adverbials typically express place or direction.

  40. main and subordinate clauses Mary had been waiting for more than an hour Suddenly, she stood up and went out She said that she was not feeling well because the air in the room was stuffy She wantedto get some fresh air

  41. a main clause always contains a finite verb and typically contains an overt subject a subordinate clause cannot stand alone and needs to be attached to a free-standing clause a non-finite clause is always subordinate simple clauses consist of a clause, compound clauses consist of two coordinate clauses, complex clauses consist of a main and one or more subordinate clauses.

  42. Types of Clauses typical functions of clause types FormFunction declarative statement interrogative question imperative directive exclamative exclamation You’re wearing a new dress. Are you wearing a new dress? Buy yourself a new dress! What a lovely dress you’re wearing!

  43. declarative clauses declarative clauses are normally used to make statements declarative sentences typically have an overt subject, a verb element and any necessary verb complementation declarative sentences may also have optional adverbials Philip will see his dentist in London today

  44. interrogative clauses yes-no questions: Are you happy? wh- questions: Where do you live? question-tag : She’s Australian, isn’t she? She doesn’t love him, does she? So, you have changed your mind, have you? the interrogative structure implies a subject-operator inversion any auxiliary which is used to make interrogative sentences is labelled operator (be, have, do) questions tags may have contrastive or constant polarity

  45. marked structures: Clefting to highlight a particular element of the sentence the focussed element is introduced by a dummy Subject and followed by a relative clause

  46. it-cleft structure Terry plays jazz piano for fun. It is Terry who plays jazz piano for fun. It’s jazz piano that Terry plays for fun It’s for fun that Terry plays jazz piano The man hit the boy It was the man who hit the boy

  47. wh-cleft structure I would like a book for my birthday What I would like for my birthday is a book I want a book for Christmas What I want for Christmas is a book

  48. sentence the largest unit of syntactic structure a sentence must consist of at least one clause (main clause) I agreed to go with them although I wasn’t really happy with the idea. in writing, a sentence starts with a capital letter and ends with a full stop in speech sentences are not always complete

  49. types of subordinate clauses 1. Nominal I just hope (that) they will understand 2. Relative The man who is sitting next to Tom is John 3. Adverbial Call me as soon as you get home (time) because I have to talk to you (reason). The boy stood on the box so that he could see better (purpose). Even though I am tired (concession), I’ll do it. 4. Comparative This hotel is not as nice as I expected

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