ARE YOU READY FOR SOME GRAMMAR OVERDOSE? - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME GRAMMAR OVERDOSE?Slide2

CHILDHOOD’S ENDSlide3

CLAUSE

 SENTENCE

CHILDHOOD’S END

Slide4

…and all about them!

ADVERBIALS

NEW!Slide5

ADVERBIALS – general info

An

ADVERBIAL is a sentence element which

gives extra information about the time, place, manner, etc. of the event/state described by the rest of the clause.The adverbial

differs from the other four sentence elements

(S, V, O, C) in several ways:

it has a wider range of meanings (time, place, manner, etc.)

it has a wider range of forms (AdvP, NP, PP, clause)it has a wider range of positions (initial, medial, final)it has the possibility of multiple occurrences (This time

last year

Angelina and I were hiking

for many days

over beautiful Peruvian mountains

.)Slide6

ADVERBIALS – syntactic classes

There are

THREE SYNTACTIC CLASSES of adverbials, depending on

how integrated they are into the structure of the clause.

INTEGRATED

into the structure of the clause

PERIPHERAL

to the structure of the clause, they convey the

SPEAKER’S COMMENT

PERIPHERAL

to the structure of the clause, they have a

CONNECTIVE FUNCTIONSlide7

ADVERBIALS – syntactic formSlide8

ADVERBIALS – syntactic classes

There are

7 syntactic tests for showing that

adjuncts are more integrated into the structure of the clause, unlike disjuncts or conjuncts:Slide9

Yes, adjuncts ARE integrated into the clause structure – EVIDENCE #1

ADJUNCTS CAN BE FOCUSED BY CLEFT SENTENCES:

However, John is dating Angelina

this week.However, it is this week

, that John is dating Angelina.

DISJUNCTS AND CONJUNCTS

CANNOT

BE FOCUSED BY CLEFT SENTENCES (SOUNDS ODD):However, John is dating Angelina this week.It is however, that John is dating Angelina this week

.Slide10

Yes, adjuncts ARE integrated into the clause structure – EVIDENCE #2

ADJUNCTS CAN BE THE FOCUS OF A QUESTION (CONSTITUENT QUESTION):

However, John is dating Angelina

this week.When is John dating Angelina? (A:

This week.

)

DISJUNCTS AND CONJUNCTS

CANNOT BE THE FOCUS OF A QUESTION:However, John is dating Angelina this week. ???

is

John is dating Angelina this week

? (A:

However.

)Slide11

Yes, adjuncts ARE integrated into the clause structure – EVIDENCE #3

ADJUNCTS CAN BE THE FOCUS OF A QUESTION:

However, John is dating Angelina

this week.Is John dating Angelina this or next week

? (A:

This week.

)

DISJUNCTS AND CONJUNCTS CANNOT BE THE FOCUS OF A QUESTION:However, John is dating Angelina this week. Is

John is dating Angelina this week

however

or

whatever

?

(A:

However.

)Slide12

Yes, adjuncts ARE integrated into the clause structure – EVIDENCE #4

ADJUNCTS ARE CONTAINED IN PREDICATION ELLIPSIS:

However, John graduated

in 1999.However, John graduated in 1999 and so did Angelina

?

DISJUNCTS AND CONJUNCTS

CANNOT

BE CONTAINED IN PREDICATION ELLIPSIS:However, John graduated in 1999.However, John graduated in 1999 and so did Angelina.

(

≠

: However, John graduated in 1999 and

however Angelina graduated in 1999

?Slide13

Yes, adjuncts ARE integrated into the clause structure – EVIDENCE #6

MOST ADJUNCTS CANNOT APPEAR IN THE INITIAL POSITION IN NEGATIVE DECLARATIVE CLAUSES:

However, John left

quickly.Quickly

John didn’t leave.

DISJUNCTS AND CONJUNCTS

CAN APPEAR IN THE INITIAL POSITION IN NEGATIVE DECLARATIVE CLAUSES:To my regret, John left quickly.To my regret

, John didn’t leave

quickly

.Slide14

ADVERBIAL POSITIONSSlide15

ADVERBIALS: their position and order

She was killed

WITH A KNIFE / IN HER APARTMENT / AROUND 3 O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING / YESTERDAY.

< STILL TERRIBLE, BUT GRAMMATICALLY OK

She was killed

AROUND 3 O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING / IN HER APARTMENT /

YESTERDAY / WITH A KNIFE /.

< TERRIBLE, AND GRAMMATICALLY WRONGSlide16

ADVERBIALS: their position

What can we learn from this sentence:

At that time, he

somehow used to sort of be always seeking,

I don’t know how to say it

, a

religiously valid

reason, I guess, to attack him as soon as possible.A language of an uneducated person?Think again!You’re looking at the sentence uttered by this man:Slide17

ADVERBIALS: their position

AL GORE, US presidential candidate and Nobel prize

winner (and the narrator of the Oscar-winning documentary

An Inconvenient Truth

.Slide18

ADVERBIALS - position

Compared to other syntactic constituents,

the adverbial

can be placed with relative freedom in several positions

in a sentence.

For example, the adjunct

by then

can be inserted in seven different positions in the following sentence:The book should have been returned to the library .

By then, the book should have been returned to the library.

The book by then should have been returned to the library.

The book should by then have been returned to the library.

The book should have by then been returned to the library.

The book should have been by then returned to the library.

The book should have been returned by then to the library.

The book should have been returned to the library by then.

INITIAL

MEDIAL

FINAL

INITIAL

MEDIAL

FINAL

↓

The book

↓

should

↓

have

↓

been

↓ returned

↓ to the library ↓ .Slide19

INITIAL POSITION

INITIAL POSITION:

before the subject:

By then, the book should have been returned to the library.Sometimes we go hiking at weekends.

Last year

we organized a huge party for her birthday.

Today

we are going to talk about adverbials.Slide20

MEDIAL POSITION

MEDIAL POSITION:

in or around the VP

. Depending on the complexity of the VP, there may be several available medial positions:

M1: after the subject, before the first auxiliary (no modal) or modal, before the lexical verb (in a simple VP)

e.g.

This HARDLY is my business. I SIMPLY do not understand you.

M2: after BE as a lexical verb (in a simple VP), between two auxiliaries (if there are only two), between the auxiliary (the only one) and the lexical verbe.g. They have JUST been arrested. She is STILL your friend.

M3: between the second and the third auxiliary

e.g.

The book should have BY THEN been returned to the library.

M4: between the third auxiliary and the lexical verb

e.g.

The book should have been BY THEN returned to the library. Slide21

FINAL POSITION

FINAL POSITION: after the lexical verb and other obligatory elements.

F1: immediately after the lexical verb or after an obligatory complement

e.g. I paid immediately for the book. I haven’t finished my report

yet

.

F2: after a non-obligatory element or, simply, at the end of the sentence

e.g. I paid for the book immediately. Slide22

SO, NOW WE KNOW ABOUT THEIR POSITIONS…Slide23

LET’S BUILD UPON THAT FOUNDATION

MORE PROPERTIES OF ADVERBIALSSlide24

ADVERBIALS – OPTIONALITY

Adverbials are often said to be OPTIONAL sentence elements, i.e. “the adverbial is the optional constituent; it can be left out of the clause; all others are obligatory.”

(David Crystal

)However, that is not always the case, as you will see in the next slide. Slide25

ADVERBIALS - OPTIONALITY

Compare the following sentences:

Anne is Scottish.Anne is a Scotswoman.Anne is from Scotland.

Anne is in Scotland.

WHAT IS ANNE (LIKE)?

WHERE DOES ANNE

COME

FROM?

WHERE IS ANNE?

THE FIRST TWO EXAMPLES CONTAIN A

LINKING/COPULA VERB “BE”

FOLLOWED BY

A SUBJECT COMPLEMENT

. THE VERB “BE” CANNOT BE REPLACED WITH ANY OTHER VERB, I.E. THE SENTENCE CANNOT BE PARAPHRASED WITH ANY OTHER VERB.

THE LAST TWO EXAMPLES CONTAIN AN

INTRANSITIVE VERB “BE”

FOLLOWED BY

AN ADVERBIAL

. THE VERB “BE” CAN BE REPLACED WITH OTHER VERBS, I.E. THE SENTENCE CAN BE PARAPHRASED WITH E.G. COME, STAY OR LIVE. THESE ADVERBIALS ARE

OBLIGATORY.Slide26

FACEBOOK IS

WHERE YOU TALK TO THE WALL

.

*

FACEBOOK IS

.Slide27

ADVERBIALS - OPTIONALITY

Of course, adverbials are also obligatory in sentences that follow the SVOA

pattern (COMPLEX TRANSITIVE VERBS):

He put the book on the shelf.She put the cheese

back

.

He threw the paper

in the bin.Slide28

ADVERBIALSSlide29

ADVERBIALS

Generally, a RAG-BAG category in linguistic systems:

usually negatively defined as sentence elements which are not VERBS and DO NOT have a participant function in the clauseSometimes positively defined as sentence elements that provide answers to the questions

how/why, where and when. (Crystal)Somehow adverbials that answers to the questions

how/why, where

and

when

seem PROTOTYPICAL.Slide30

ADVERBIALS: Their MeaningSlide31

ADVERBIALS

Etymology: from Latin

adverbium:

ad (“to”) + verbum (“word”)Therefore they are also sometimes defined in the following way (Sinclair 1990): “An adverbial is a word or a group of words that you add to a clause when you want to say something more about the circumstances of an event or a situation, for example, when it occurs, how it occurs, how much it occurs or where it occurs.”

These definitions present adverbials as sentence elements with a secondary importance.

Some idea of the actual frequency of adverbials and their importance in communication can be had from the following example:Slide32

David sat /

silently

/ /

in the grass

/,

watching the insects which lay /at different angles from one another/ /on numerous blades of grass/

,

/like ships out in the roadstead/

. A caterpillar started to wriggle /

towards him

/,

/peering/ /this way and that/ /with interrogatory antennae/

. A large cricket jumped /

to the handrail of the old bench

/,

/swaying/ it /slightly/

and

cleaning its face /like a cat/

.

/ Only then / did David realize that a large tarantula climbed / onto his arm / / looking for a nice place /to bask/ /in the afternoon sunshine/.Slide33

ADVERBIALS

Actually, ADVERBIALS are the most important sentence elements from the point of view of COMMUNICATION.

They are the sentence elements which contain THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECES OF INFORMATION AND THE CRUCIAL DETAILS ABOUT THE STATE OR ACTIVITY EXPRESSED BY THE VERB.

Look at the previous passage with adverbials omitted:Slide34

David sat. A caterpillar started to wriggle. A large cricket jumped. David realized that a large tarantula climbed

onto his arm

(obligatory adverbial)

.Slide35

In

another

life,

I would make you stay,

so I don’t have to say you were the one that got away

.

I

would make you stay.

PURPOSE

TIME

(HYPOTHETICAL)Slide36

I should’ve told you what you meant to me,

‘cause now I pay the price

.

I should’ve told you what you meant to me.

REASONSlide37

EVOLUTION:

Populations of organisms

gradually change

in response to their environment.Populations of organisms change.

MANNER

CAUSESlide38

You could be doing many wonderful things,

if you were not sitting at your computer.

You could be doing many wonderful things.

CONDITION (HYPOTHETICAL)Slide39

ADVERBIALS: their meaning

You will get killed

IF YOU DON’T DRIVE CAREFULLY

.

You will get

killed.

CONDITION

(REAL POSSIBILITY)Slide40

ADVERBIALS: their meaning

They camped

AT THE BEACH

.

They

camped.

LOCATIONSlide41

ADVERBIALS: their meaning

WHEN HE WAS A BOY

,

he

used to dream of owning a sailboat.

He

used to dream of owning a sailboat.

TIME-WHENSlide42

ADVERBIALS: their meaning

The scientist examined the sample

WITH A MICROSCOPE

.

The scientist examined the

sample.

INSTRUMENTSlide43

ADVERBIALS: their meaning

They walked

HAND IN HAND

.

They

walked.

MANNERSlide44

ADVERBIALS

He ran.

Naturally

,

when he saw an

Albertosaurus

, he ran

as fast as he could

.

A sentence without adverbials.

A sentence with adverbials.Slide45

ADVERBIALS: their other meanings

If possible

(A), ring me later. [contingency]

Although he's young (A), he's good. [concession] While she slept (A), I worked. [contrast]

I would go,

except I can't

(A). [exception]

Knowing her (A), I chose a red one. [reason] I fed the stray, to gain its trust (A). [result] The dog obeyed,

as instructed

(A). [comparison]

I would fight,

rather than quit

(A). [preference]

Ankara,

I believe

(A), is the capital. [comment = disjunct] Slide46

IN OTHER WORDS…

WE HAVE

A LOT OF WORK TO DO.WELCOME

TO THE BEAUTIFUL, INTRICATE,

SOMETIMES COMPLEX

AND

ALWAYS FUZZY

WORLD OF SEMANTIC CLASSIFICATION OF ADVERBIALS.Slide47

SEMANTIC CLASSIFICATION OF ADVERBIALS (i.e. their meanings)Slide48

ADJUNCTS

SEMANTIC CLASSIFICATIONSlide49

SEMANTIC TYPES OF ADJUNCTSSlide50

1. ADJUNCTS – PROCESS

They favor the FINAL position

Some can take the MEDIAL position

Co-occurrence possible:She was accidentally

struck

with a racket

by her partner.Slide51

2. ADJUNCTS – SPACE / PLACE (1/2)

Co-occurrence

is possible. Relative order is

fixed:distance + position: He swam

a mile

in the open sea.direction + position: He fell into the water near that rock .distance + direction: She walked

a few steps

towards him

.

two of the same subtype: position

smaller/more specific

+ position

bigger/less specific

Many people eat

in restaurants

in London.goal + source or source + goal (depending on information structure):We flew from Cairo to Istanbul. We flew to Istanbul from Cairo.Only adverbials of same meaning can be coordinated:I drove down Gower Street and into University College

/*several miles.Slide52

2. ADJUNCTS – SPACE / PLACE (2/2)

Position of

SPACE ADJUNCTS

in the sentence:Normally, they take FINAL

positions

If they are clustered, the order is:

DISTANCE – DIRECTION – POSITION She walked [a few steps] [towards him] [in the dark

]

SPACE ADJUNCTS OF POSITION

can be moved to

INITIAL

position:

On the top of the building

, two men were gesticulating wildly.

Some space adjuncts denoting

POSITION AND DIRECTION

cause subject-operator inversion (LOCATIVE INVERSION) when they are placed initially:

Here he is! There was the book. Down swooped the hawk.Slide53

3. ADJUNCTS – TIME (1/5)

They typically favor the

FINAL

position.However, they can often take the INITIAL position:

In 1982

, the economy started to recover.

For many years, no one wanted to buy the house.Some, especially short adjuncts (such as: always, often, just, recently, already) take the MEDIAL position:

She

often

arrives late.

You could

then

take a train to London.

Slide54

3. ADJUNCTS – TIME (2/5)

TIME ADJUNCTS – SUBCLASSIFICATION Slide55

3. ADJUNCTS – TIME (3/5)

TIME ADJUNCTS – SUBCLASSIFICATION:

TIME WHEN/POSITION –

answers the question WHEN? See you

tomorrow

/

then

.Two of the same type: more specific + less specificI’ll see you [at nine

] [

on Monday

].

However, if one of the two adjuncts is very long, the order is:

shorter

+

longer

I lived there

in the fifties

when my first child was born.DURATION (backward/forward span) – three subtypes:Duration of specific or indefinite length:

answers the question HOW LONG?He walked for 6 hours. He waited from 1 to 5.

He worked all day.Duration – forward span

:

answers the question TILL WHEN?

He will arrive

till

/

until five o’clock

. He didn’t arrive

until 5

. (till + negation)

Duration –

backward span

:

answers the question SINCE WHEN?

He will arrive

till

/

until five o’clock

. He didn’t arrive

until 5

. (till + negation)Slide56

3. ADJUNCTS – TIME (4/5)

TIME ADJUNCTS – SUBCLASSIFICATION:

FREQUENCY

Frequency of occasion: answers the question HOW MANY TIMES?

He did it

twice

. He sent that message

three times. Frequency of period: answers the question HOW OFTEN?

He is paid

daily

/

monthly

.

Definite

frequency:

TWICE, DAILY

Indefinite

frequency – four subsets on the scale:

UNIVERSAL FREQUENCY: always

HIGH FREQUENCY: often, frequentlyUSUAL OCCURRENCE: usually, generallyLOW FREQUENCY: seldom, hardly ever, neverlow frequency time adjuncts sometimes cause NEGATIVE INVERSION when they are in the initial position: Never

have I seen such a play.OTHER TIME RELATIONSHIPS: previously, again, already…Slide57

3. ADJUNCTS – TIME (5/5)

When time adjuncts co-occur, their relative order is:

1.

DURATION – 2.

FREQUENCY

– 3.

POSITION

I was there [for a short while] [every day or so] [last year

].Slide58

4. ADJUNCTS – CONTINGENCY

Mostly occur in the INITIAL and FINAL positions.

When they co-occur in the FINAL position, the order is:

1. RESPECT – 2. PROCESS – 3. SPACE – 4. TIME – 5. CONTINGENCYMany people died [

in Africa

] [

in the 20

th century] [from malnutrition].IMPORTANT NOTE: CAUSE vs. REASON

CAUSE (no subject’s control): She died

of cancer

.

REASON (subject’s control):

Working hard

, she got promoted.Slide59

5. ADJUNCTS – FOCUSING

They

don’t favor any position in particular

. The general rule for their position is that they are placed before the focused element

:

She had

also

questioned only her patients only the previous week also.If the whole predication

is focused, they take

medial

position:

She had

only

questioned her patients the previous week.

HOWEVER

, not all focusing expressions are really adjuncts:

He only wants to help. (

ADJUNCT

)

Only he wants to help. (MODIFIER OF NP)Slide60

6. ADJUNCTS – DEGREE/INTENSIFIERSlide61

7. ADJUNCTS - MODALITYSlide62

8. ADJUNCTS – RESPECT/VIEWPOINTSlide63

9. ADJUNCTS - SUBJUNCTS

Very similar to MANNER adjuncts.

They favor the INITIAL position:

Nervously, he answered the phone. (SUBJUNCT)He answered the phone nervously. (MANNER ADJUNCT)Slide64

THE END OF ADJUNCTSSlide65

HOWEVER, THERE ARE ALSO DISJUNCTS AND CONJUNCTSSlide66

DIGRESSION: frequent words

The most frequent words in English are:

THE

AISAREWAS

WERE

DID

DO

However, these are just INDIVIDUAL WORDS.We know that language actually operates on UNITS LARGER THAN WORDS: PHRASES and CLAUSESSo, what do you think, what is the most frequent phrase/clause in the English language?Slide67

THE MOST FREQUENT PHRASE/CLAUSE IN ENGLISH:

YOU KNOW /j’

nou

/Closely followed by:

I mean

,

I suppose

, You see, Sort of and similar expressions.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

THIS REFERS TO

SPOKEN ENGLISH Slide68

YOU KNOW, I MEAN, YOU SEE…AN EXAMPLE

When my sister and I were children, we had a

small,

ahm, a little, sort

of

,

patch, you know, cunningly a bit tucked away at the back of somewhere at our place and we used to grow tomatoes and the odd vegetable.

I mean

, I've always felt that's an important part of ,

you know

,

one's connection

with nature and the soil, and

so,

I

suppose

,

that was part of it.

But then when I, you know, when I came down here, and I just wanted to get stuck in and I'd always wanted to do a bit of farming - I'm not very good at it but fortunately there are lots of other people around to help.

IS THIS GOOD ENGLISH?

OFFICIALLY, THIS IS REALLY BAD ENGLISH!

IF YOU WANT TO SOUND LIKE AN EDUCATED PERSON, YOU SHOULDN’T TALK LIKE THIS.Slide69

WHO IS, THEN, THIS PERSON?

Who is this person that tortures and abuses the beauty of the language of Shakespeare, Chaucer, Dickens, Joyce,

etc

?Who is this uneducated scum of the earth who dares ruin the perfection of English as it has evolved over two millennia?What is his walk of life, education and social background?

PRINCE CHARLES > heir to the throne of England and the man married to

a CamelSlide70

YOU KNOW, YOU SEE, I MEAN…

ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE

DISJUNCTS, ACTUALLY.Slide71

DISJUNCTS

RELEVANT POINTSSlide72

DISJUNCTSSlide73

DISJUNCTS: more info

Disjuncts

are typically PPs and CLAUSES.STYLE DISJUNCTS

convey either:Speaker’s assertion of truth (truthfully

), or

Speaker’s indication of generalization

(

broadly).ATTITUDINAL DISJUNCTS comment on:TRUTH VALUE OF THE SENTENCE (CERTAINTY)General: certainly

General + perception:

obviously

General + comment on reality of content:

really

CONTENT OF COMMUNICATION (EVALUATION)

General:

understandably

General + comment on clause subject:

wisely

(similar to

subjuncts

)Slide74

CONJUNCT

RELEVANT POINTSSlide75

CONJUNCTS (1/2)

They have a

CONNECTIVE FUNCTION

between SENTENCES (sometimes, they are called SENTENCE LINKERS

)

Most typically, they take the

INITIAL POSITION

, but they are not restricted to it.Sometimes, they can take the MEDIAL and FINAL position:Slide76

CONJUNCTS (2/2)

There are many classifications of conjuncts, below there is a list of

THE MOST FREQUENT

classes of conjuncts (there are many other classes, which are not given here):Slide77

CONJUNCTS: add-on

According to most textbooks there are two more groups:

INFERENTIAL CONJUNCTS:They convey an inference from what is implicit in the preceding sentence or sentences:

Else, otherwise, then, in other words, in that caseTEMPORAL TRANSITION CONJUNCTS:

They convey

that the temporal ordering is simultaneous with the previous sentences (similar to TIME ADJUNCTS):

In the meantime, in the meanwhile…Slide78

CONJUNCTS: add-on

Also, according to most textbooks there are four subtypes of CONTRASTIVE CONJUNCTS:

REFORMULATORY CONTRASTIVE CONJUNCTS:

BETTER, RATHER, IN OTHER WORDS…REPLACIVE CONTRASTIVE CONJUNCTS:

AGAIN, ALTERNATIVELY, RATHER, BETTER, WORSE, ON THE OTHER HAND

ANTITHETIC CONTRASTIVE

CONJUNCTS

:CONTRARIWISE, CONTRASTINGLY, CONVERSLY, INSTEAD, OPPOSITELY, ON THE CONTRARY, IN CONTRAST, IN COMPARISON, ON THE OTHER HAND…CONCESIVE CONTRASTIVE CONJUNCTS:ANYHOW, ANYWAY, BESIDES, ALSE, HOWEVER, NONTHELESS, NEVERTHELESS, NOTWITHSTANDING, STILL, YET, IN ANY CASE, AT ANY RATE, FOR ALL THAT, ALL THE SAME…Slide79

THE END

THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME!

CU SOME TIME IN APRIL!