Introduction to English Syntax Level 1 Course

1. Introduction to English SyntaxLevel 1 Course Ron Kuzar Department of English Language and Literature University of Haifa Chapter 5 Copular Sentences: Linking Verbs and Word Order

2. Linking Verbs • Certain verbs may replace the copula be in Cop sentences: • These are called linking or copular verbs. • For example: • John was / became an engineer. (N Cop) • Mary is / looks sick. (A Cop) • The book was / remained on the shelf. (P Cop) • Linking verbs join the group of grammatical verbs (modals and Aux.). • They have no valency.

3. Replacing Bein the N Cop Sentence • The following linking verbs are used in N Cop sentences: seem, remain, and become, and to a lesser extent stay and turn. • Fred was a successful reporter seemed remained became (stayed) (turned)

4. Replacing Be in the A Cop Sentence • Many more linking verbs are used in A Cop sentences: feel, sound, smell, look, appear, seem, prove, become, get, grow, turn, taste. • The cheese is spoiled. seems looks smells appears feels tastes

5. More Examples • Barbara has been much happier has become has turned • The project has been extremely successful has proved has grown • Bandwidth has been very slow has gotten has remained

6. Replacing Bein the P Cop Sentence • Very few linking verbs operate in the P Cop sentence, among them: seem, appear, remain. • The book was in place appeared seemed remained

7. Terminological Note • Some of the linking verbs are dynamic; they are resultative linking verbs (e.g. turn, become). • They indicate a change of state. • This brings into question our distinction between events and states, and our assignment of the function of expressing states to copular sentences. • A possible solution: • A three-way division of situations: • Actions (agentive / intentional events) • Events (non-agentive events, including change of state) • States (non-events)

8. The Double Function of Some Verbs • The verb appear has two meanings, and may appear in identical contexts in both meanings: • to be (in the speaker’s view) Linking verb • to show up Lexical verb • The following sentence is ambiguous between a linking and a lexical verb: • The book appeared in place.

9. More on the Double Function of Verbs • Some verbs have a double function, but not in the same context: • They sounded the horn. Horn =Obj. • She felt the material. Material =Obj. • He looked at her. Her =Obl. • As opposed to: • They sounded sick. Sick =Pred. • Her head felt hot. Hot =Pred. • He looked exhausted. Exhausted =Pred.

10. Idiomatic Linking Verbs • Some linking verbs have a very restricted distribution. They only co-occur with a single or a handful of nouns: • You can be / rest assured that all is well. • The children became / ran wild. • The speaker turned / fell silent. • They were / kept warm. • The door got / flew open. • They became / made friends.

11. Marked Word Order • Marked word order in Cop sentences involves the fronting of the predicate phrase (NP, AP, or PP). • This kind of sentence alternation is very rare. • When it happens, it leaves the verb be (or another linking verb) in final position. • This may happen if there is a need to emphasize the actual link between the subject and the predicate.

12. Examples of Predicate Fronting • The negation of the link may be stressed: • Einstein he is not. (N Cop sentence: He is not Einstein.) • The link may be highlighted: • Interesting she certainly is. (A Cop sentence: She certainly is interesting). • Similarly: • Out of their minds they surely are (not). (P Cop sentence: They surely are (not) out of their minds.)

13. Another Word Order Alternation? • Should we consider the following sentences another order alternation? • on the tree were some strange circles of color. • And then, from around the corner appeared a big yellow fire truck. • Note that besides the fronting of the PP, we also see here the inversion of Subj. and V.

14. More Oddities • Note further that this alternation cannot be carried out with just any P Cop sentence: • *At home sat a man. • This is due to some semantic constraints (to be discussed in a future chapter). • However, syntactic alternations are mostly blind to semantic factors. • So this cannot be a word order alternation.

15. A Different Construction • On the other hand, constructions ARE sensitive to semantic considerations. • In one of the following chapters we will consider this form as a separate construction, a sentence pattern in its own right. • It is called the Locative Inversion sentence Pattern.

16. A Puzzle • The following verbs are not usually included in the group of linking verbs. • cost, mean, constitute. • Would you include them? • Consider them in the following sentences: • This toy costs three dollars. • Apnea means a suspension of breath during sleep. • You actions constitute a breach of our code of conduct. • Answer: ???

17. Sample Question • Classify the verbs in the following sentences as lexical or linking verbs: • They smelled the odorless flowers. • I kept awake for too long. • Suddenly the principal appeared in the courtyard. • Answers: • Smelled = lexical. • Kept = linking. • Appeared = lexical.

18. Homework • Classify the verbs in the following sentences as lexical or linking verbs: • Your plan may sound silly to someone else. • He might be sounding the horn. • The chattering audience fell silent. • The picture fell out of sync with the sound. • Mmm, this feels great! • She felt butterflies in her stomach. • I should have felt your pain. [Continued on the next slide]

19. Suddenly a ship appeared on the horizon. • Some of the tiles appear in good shape. • The forum grew so big! • The forum grew so fast! • These guys ran the Boston Marathon last week. • The Boxer ran wild at Singapore Airport. • The window flew open. • The bird flew out. • She looks twice his age. • She looks twice at his photo.