Chapter 3 Simple Verbal Clauses Syntax (II): Functional Syntax Presenters: 彥甫 姿儀 筑婷 若梅 Date: March 12, 2008
Question 1: What are the major distinction in propositional types? Scope Semantic Types of Verbs Semantic Roles Grammatical Roles
Scope (1) Verb type is the major distinction in proposition types Verbs make up the semantic core of clauses i.e. propositional frame Strong correlation between meaning and form results in describing the syntactic types of simple clauses by describing the semantic type of verbs
Scope (2) Verb Type Propositional Frame Grammatical Roles
Scope (3) Every verb is defined semantically in terms of the semantic roles of the participants in the state or event coded by the clause Participants occupy the grammatical roles: subject, object (direct & indirect), adverb, predicate, etc.
States, Events and Actions(1) A. State: involves no change over time 1. Temporary: of limited duration E.g. She was angry. 2. Permanent: of relatively long or some intermediate duration E.g. He was tall.
States, Events and Actions (2) B. Event: involves change of state over time 1. Unintended E.g. The ball rolled off the field. 2. Intended, a.k.a. action: deliberated initiated by an active participant Bounded: from a distinct initial state to a distinct terminal state, e.g. She kicked the ball off the field. Unbounded: ongoing process without firm boundaries, e.g. They worked steadily.
Major Semantic Roles (1) A. Agent Acts deliberately to initiate the event Typically human B. Patient Either is in a state, or registers a change-of-state as a result of the event Typically either human or non-human C. Dative (Not the grammatical case of indirect object!) A conscious participant Not the deliberative initiator Typically human
Major Semantic Roles (2) D. Instrument Used by the agent to perform the action Typically non-human E. Benefactive For whose benefit the action is performed Typically human F. Locative The place where the state is, where the event occurs, or toward which or away from which some participant is moving Typically concrete and inanimate
Major Semantic Roles (3) G. Associative An associate of the agent, patient or dative of the event Similar role in the event, but not as central or important H. Difference from commonly known theta-roles Dative: Experiencer Benefactive: sometimes equals Goal
Grammatical Roles (1) Four distinct grammatical roles for participants in states or events: Subject Direct Object Indirect Object Nominal Predicate
Grammatical Roles (2) Structural criteria defining English grammatical case-roles: Word-order Morphology Grammatical constraints Topicality in discourse
Grammatical Roles (3) Range of distribution of semantic roles in grammatical roles in simple clauses Subject Direct Object Indirect Object Agent Yes No No Patient Yes Yes Yes Dative Yes Yes Yes Others Not as usual Not as usual Mostly so
Grammatical Roles (4) Access to subjecthood in the simple clause: AGENT>DATIVE>PATIENT>OTHERS
Grammatical Roles (5) Preliminary Definition Morphological markedness: Appearence with or without a preposition Yes: She went to the store No: They cut the meat Grammatical agreement with the verb: third-person singular in English
Grammatical Roles (6) Precede/ Follow the Verb Morphological Markedness Grammatical Agreement Topicality Subject Precedes No Yes Primary (Direct) Object Indirect Object Nominal Predicate Follows No No Secondary Follows Marked No Non-topical Follows No No Non-topical
Grammatical Roles (7) Subject The woman is tall. That man sings well. (Direct) object They cut the meat. She insulted him. Indirect object She went to the store. He cut the meat with a knife. Nominal predicate She is a teacher. John is my teacher.
Grammatical Roles (8) Basic word-order of English S-V-O S-V-O-IO
Question 2: What are the semantic properties coded in prototypical transitive verbs? Three main semantic features: Agentivity Affectedness Perfectivity
Syntactic definition of the transitive clause: Transitive verbs: verbs (and clauses) that have a direct object Intransitive verbs: verbs (and clauses) that don t have a direct object
Question 2: What are the semantic properties coded in prototypical transitive verbs? Three main semantic features: Agentivity Affectedness Perfectivity
Semantic definition of the prototype transitive clause: Agentivity the subject deliberately acting agent (volitional) ex. He built a house. Affectedness the direct object concrete, visibly affected patient ex. She cut her hair. Perfectivity Vt. codes a bounded terminated, fast-changing event (action) that took place in real time
Examples of prototypical Vt. Involve the physical creation of an object where none had existed before ex. He drew a sketch of his girlfriend. Involve the physical destruction of an existing object ex. They demolished the house. Involve a change in the object s physical state ex. He twisted his ankle. Involve a change in the object s physical location ex. They moved the barn.
Examples of prototypical Vt. Involve changes in the surface condition of the object ex. He washed his shirt. Involve changes in some less visible internal properties of the objects ex. She chilled the gaspacho. Involve the incorporation of a manner adv. or an instrument into the meaning ex. She murdered him (kill deliberately) She knifed him (stab with a knife)
Non-Prototypical transitive verbs Syntactically prototypical but semantically less prototypical Due to the violation of either one of the three clauses of the prototype s definition (agentivity, affectedness, perfectivity)
Question 3: Why are non-prototypical transitive verbs coded as TRANSITIVE? Please recall what PROTOTYPICAL TRANSTIVE VERBS are.
Non-prototypical transitive verbs are: Conforming to the syntactic structure Semantically less prototypical
Please bear the following definitions in mind. Either of them will make the transitive verbs less prototypical: Their subject may not be a prototypical agent Their object may not be a prototypical patient The event coded by the verb may not be a compact, bounded, fast changing event
The assignment to non-prototypical transitive verbs may be viewed as a metaphoric extension of either the prototype agent or the patient A conspicuous feature of English grammar: The notion transitive is much more syntactic, much less semantic
Dative subjects Dative subjects are typically conscious of the event, but neither intend it nor actively initiate it. They are made metaphorically an agent.
He saw her She felt no remorse They heard the music She understood the problem They know the answer He wanted two oranges
Dative objects n A common extension is toward a dative participant, whose involvement in events is internal, mental. n strongly affected, metaphorically more patient-like.
They insulted her (> producing visible agitation) She entertained the crowd (> and got a round of applause)
Patient-subject as cause n The human-causer subject may now be extended to a non-human cause, a patient subject. The idea amused him The spectacle saddened her
Instrument as patient-subject n The replacement of an instrument at the subject position. The agent, user of instrument, is not mentioned but may be implied.
The hammer smashed the window (> She smashed the window with the hammer) Her fist hit him full force (> She hit him full force with her fist)
Locative direct-object The extension of the patientobject prototypical to a locative participant, one that ordinarily is coded as an indirect object. The locative direct-object becomes patient-like, so that it appears more affected by the event.
She approached the house (> She moved toward the house) They entered the house (> They went into the house) They penetrated the fort (> They moved into the fort)
Cognate objects n In some verbs, the patient-object prototypical is extended to an abstract product, activity or mental event. Such an object is metaphorically endowed with the properties of a physically-created patient.
She sang a song (> She sang; her singing = a song) He gave a brief speech (> He spoke; his speaking = his speech) She uttered a sharp cry (She cried; her crying = a cry) They gave a great performance (They performed; their performing = a performance)
Incorporated patients n Some non-prototypical transitive verbs involve an implied patient whose sense is somehow incorporated into the meaning of the verb. The overt direct object is often the location.
He fed the cows (> He gave food to the cows) She stoked the furnace (> She put wood into the furnace)
Associative direct objects n i.e. to a co-agent of what is, strictly speaking, a reciprocal event. The semantic effect is to downgrade the object from being co-agent to being more like an affected patient. The agent participant is upgraded from being a co-participant to being the sole responsible agent.
He met Sylvia (in the garden) (> vs. He met with her, and she with him) She fought him (to a draw) (> vs. She fought with him, and he with her)
Transitive verbs of possession n These verbs code a state rather than an event. Their subject may be either a patient or a dative; and their patient-object is often abstract and most commonly unaffected. She has a big house I ve got no money They had a beautiful relationship
Question 4: What are the differences between get and become? Discussing the copular verbs: The prototype copular verb be The process copula get The process copula become
The prototype copular verb (or copula) in English --- be : Coding a state: the subj. of the clause is either a patient or a dative, but not an agent Carry little if any meaning: predicate following the copula furnishes the semantic information
The predicate following the copula may be : Adjective: inherent quality: He is tall/irish/smart. temporary state: She is angry/busy/lost.
The predicate following the copula may be : Nominal predicates: of inherent quality(non-referring): He is a teacher. These are houses. of identity (referring): He is my teacher. This is the house we live in.
The process copula get : The same with be : The subj. of the copula get may be either a patient or dative, but not an agent Different from be : Coding a process: a change of state, but not an inherent quality Predicate only codes temporary states, but neither inherent quality nor identity The predicate can only be adjectival, not nominal
Checking list : Inherent quality 〤 * He got Irish temporary state He got angry/busy/lost. He got tall. Nominal predicate of inherent quality 〤 * She got a teacher. Nominal predicate of inherent identity 〤 * She got my teacher.
The process copula become : The same with be : The subj. of the copula get may be either a patient or dative, but not an agent The event coded by it can not be an action The predicate following it can be either adjectival (inherent or temporary), or nominal (referring or non-referring) Different from be : Coding a process: a change of state, but not an inherent quality
Checking list : Inherent quality She became tall. temporary state He became angry/busy. Nominal predicate of inherent quality She became a teacher. Nominal predicate of identity He became our teacher.
Summary : BE GET BECOME Subject Patient Dative Patient Dative Patient Dative Inherent quality 〤 Temporary state Nominal Predicates 〤