Understanding English grammar : a linguistic introduction

Half-title......Page 3
Title......Page 5
Copyright......Page 6
Dedication......Page 7
Contents......Page 9
Figures......Page 12
Tables......Page 13
Notes on chapter 2......Page 0
Acknowledgements......Page 16
Typographical conventions and abbreviations......Page 17
Introduction......Page 21
1 What is "English"?......Page 22
2 What is a linguistic perspective?......Page 24
Conceptual categories......Page 28
The expression of conceptual categories......Page 30
Lexical expression......Page 31
Morphological expression......Page 32
Syntactic expression......Page 33
Discourse is a play......Page 34
3 Form, meaning, and use......Page 37
Summary......Page 40
1 History......Page 41
1.1 The Celtic thread......Page 42
1.2 The Anglo-Saxon thread......Page 45
1.3 The Scandinavian (Northern Germanic) thread......Page 47
1.4 The Latin thread......Page 49
1.5 Contemporary influences......Page 52
1.6 The genius of English......Page 53
Exercises......Page 54
2 Typology......Page 56
2.1 Morphological typology......Page 57
Synthesis......Page 58
Fusion......Page 60
2.2 Constituent order typology......Page 62
2.3 Lexical typology......Page 66
Manner and motion......Page 67
Causation......Page 69
Perspective......Page 71
3.1 Characteristics of items in the lexicon......Page 77
3.2 The boundaries of the lexicon......Page 78
3.3 Lexicalization......Page 80
Lexicalization and second language learning......Page 83
Expanding the lexicon......Page 84
Full lexical words and grammatical functors......Page 86
Word classes......Page 87
Verbs......Page 91
Adjectives......Page 92
Adverbs......Page 93
Pronouns......Page 95
Conjunctions......Page 96
3.5 Conclusion: the lexicon and language learning......Page 97
4.1 Some basic concepts in morphology......Page 101
4.2 Types of morphemes......Page 103
4.4 Morphologically complex structures and the notion of derivation......Page 113
Compounding......Page 116
4.5 Phonosemantics and contextual meaning......Page 121
4.6 Conclusion......Page 124
5.1 Properties of nouns......Page 126
Semantic properties of prototypical nouns (meaning)......Page 127
Morphosyntactic properties of prototypical nouns (form)......Page 129
Discourse pragmatic properties of prototypical nouns (use)......Page 132
Proper names vs. common nouns......Page 134
Countable vs. non-countable nouns......Page 135
Collective nouns and collective plurals......Page 140
5.3  Pronouns......Page 142
Personal pronouns......Page 143
Interrogative (WH-) pronouns......Page 145
Demonstrative pronouns......Page 147
Impersonal pronouns......Page 148
Indefinite and quantified pronouns......Page 149
Either, neither, and certain quantifiers......Page 151
6.1 Semantic roles......Page 154
6.2 Verb subclasses......Page 159
States......Page 164
Processes......Page 165
Motion......Page 166
Actions......Page 167
Cognition......Page 168
Emotion......Page 169
Manipulation......Page 170
6.3 The forms of English verbs......Page 171
6.4 "Phrasal verbs" - on the cutting edge of the lexicon......Page 172
Linear order......Page 180
Complementation......Page 181
7.2 Syntactic categories and syntactic functions......Page 183
Syntactic categories......Page 184
Syntactic and semantic Head......Page 186
The Determining function......Page 187
Grammatical relations (relational functions)......Page 189
Predication......Page 192
7.3 Tests for constituent structure......Page 194
Movement......Page 196
Interposition......Page 198
Coordination......Page 199
Omissibility......Page 200
7.4 Constituent structure trees......Page 201
Major tests......Page 203
Secondary tests......Page 204
8.1 The DP hypothesis......Page 206
8.2 The functions of DPs vs. NPs - why distinguish the two?......Page 211
8.3 The GP hypothesis......Page 212
8.4 The IP hypothesis......Page 216
9 Complementation......Page 225
9.1 Predication and Complementation illustrated......Page 226
9.2 Subject Complements......Page 228
9.3 Object Complements......Page 236
9.4 Summary of Subject and Object Complements......Page 239
9.5 Subject-Complement inversion constructions......Page 240
9.6 Existential and presentational constructions......Page 242
10 Modification......Page 248
Predeterminer Modification......Page 249
Numerals and other quantifiers......Page 252
Prenominal attributive Modifiers......Page 255
Restrictive vs. non-restrictive Modification......Page 259
Post-nominal Modifiers......Page 260
10.2 Modification in the Predicate......Page 263
10.3 Modification at the clause level......Page 267
11 Auxiliaries and the "black hole" of English syntax......Page 273
11.1 Types of auxiliaries......Page 274
11.2 The black hole......Page 278
11.3 Morphosyntactic properties of auxiliaries......Page 281
Negation......Page 282
Inversion......Page 283
Code......Page 284
Emphasis......Page 285
The myth of "lexical verb" BE......Page 286
11.4 Lexical be as an active, regular verb......Page 288
The habitual test......Page 289
The progressive test......Page 290
Stative be vs. Active be......Page 292
11.5 Consequences for pedagogy......Page 294
11.6 Conclusion......Page 295
12 Time and reality......Page 299
12.1 Tense......Page 300
12.2 Aspect......Page 305
Perfective......Page 307
Perfect......Page 308
Inchoative......Page 309
Progressive......Page 311
Iterative......Page 312
Habitual......Page 313
12.3 Modality......Page 316
Deontic Modality......Page 317
13 Voice and valence......Page 322
13.1 Valence theory......Page 323
13.2 A functional typology of valence-adjusting constructions......Page 326
Reflexives......Page 327
Middle constructions......Page 331
Passives......Page 333
Object incorporation......Page 335
Causatives......Page 337
Lexical causatives......Page 338
Dative shift......Page 339
14 Clause combining......Page 348
Verb-verb compounds......Page 349
Serial verbs......Page 350
Non-finite clauses......Page 351
Semi-finite clauses......Page 352
Fully finite clauses......Page 353
Clausal Subjects......Page 354
Clausal Objects and other Complement clauses......Page 356
Adverbial clauses......Page 364
CONCESSIVE clauses......Page 365
CONCESSIVE CONDITIONAL clauses......Page 366
Relative clauses......Page 367
14.4 Coordination......Page 373
14.5 Forms and functions of dependent clauses summarized......Page 375
15 Pragmatic grounding and pragmatically marked constructions......Page 378
15.1 Pragmatic statuses......Page 379
Identifiability......Page 380
Proper names......Page 381
Unique referents......Page 382
Situationally identifiable items......Page 383
Referentiality......Page 384
Focus......Page 387
15.2 The morphosyntax of focus, contrast, and "topicalization"
......Page 389
Constituent order variation......Page 390
15.3 Negation......Page 392
Negative quantifiers......Page 393
15.4 Non-declarative speech acts......Page 395
YES/NO QUESTIONS......Page 397
WH-QUESTIONS......Page 398
Imperatives......Page 399
Glossary......Page 403
Endnotes......Page 423
Notes on chapter 3......Page 425
Notes on chapter 5......Page 426
Notes on chapter 7......Page 427
Notes on chapter 10......Page 428
Notes on chapter 11......Page 429
Notes on chapter 14......Page 430
Notes on chapter 15......Page 431
References......Page 432
Index......Page 441