Chapter 3 Simple Verbal Clauses

Syntax (II): Functional SyntaxPresenters:彥甫、姿儀、筑婷、若梅

Date: March 12, 2008

Question 1: What are the major distinction in propositional types?

ScopeSemantic Types of VerbsSemantic RolesGrammatical 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 clauseParticipants occupy the grammatical roles: subject, object (direct & indirect), adverb, predicate, etc.

States, Events and Actions(1)

A. State: involves no change over time1. 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

time1. 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

Follows No No Secondary

Indirect Object

Follows Marked No Non-topical

Nominal Predicate

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:AgentivityAffectednessPerfectivity

Syntactic definition of the transitive clause:

Transitive verbs: verbs (and clauses) that have a direct objectIntransitive 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:AgentivityAffectednessPerfectivity

Semantic definition of the prototype transitive clause:Agentivitythe subject deliberately acting agent (volitional)ex. He built a house.Affectednessthe direct object concrete, visibly

affected patient ex. She cut her hair.PerfectivityVt. 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 beforeex. He drew a sketch of his girlfriend.Involve the physical destruction of an existing objectex. They demolished the house. Involve a change in the object’s physical stateex. He twisted his ankle.Involve a change in the object’s physical locationex. They moved the barn.

Involve changes in the surface condition of the objectex. He washed his shirt.Involve changes in some less visible internal properties of the objectsex. 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)

Examples of prototypical Vt.

Non-Prototypical transitive verbs

Syntactically prototypical but semantically less prototypicalDue 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 structureSemantically 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 agentTheir object may not be a prototypical patientThe 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 subjectsDative 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 herShe felt no remorseThey heard the musicShe understood the problemThey know the answerHe wanted two oranges

Dative objectsDative 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)

PatientPatient--subjectsubject as causeas causen 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 patientInstrument as patient--subjectsubject

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 directLocative direct--objectobject

The extension of the patient- object 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 objectsCognate 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 patientsIncorporated 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 objectsAssociative 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 possessionTransitive verbs of possessionn 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: predicatefollowing 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 apatient 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, butneither inherent quality nor identityThe 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 apatient or dative, but not an agent The event coded by it can not be an actionThe 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 PatientDativePatientDative

PatientDative

Inherent quality ○ 〤 ○

Temporary state ○ ○ ○

Nominal Predicates ○ 〤 ○

Chapter 3�Simple Verbal ClausesQuestion 1:�What are the major distinction �in propositional types?Scope (1)Scope (2)Scope (3)States, Events and Actions(1)States, Events and Actions (2)Major Semantic Roles (1)Major Semantic Roles (2)Major Semantic Roles (3)Grammatical Roles (1)Grammatical Roles (2)Grammatical Roles (3)Grammatical Roles (4)Grammatical Roles (5)Grammatical Roles (6)Grammatical Roles (7)Grammatical Roles (8)Question 2: �What are the semantic properties �coded in prototypical transitive verbs?Syntactic definition �of the transitive clause:Question 2: �What are the semantic properties �coded in prototypical transitive verbs?Semantic definition �of the prototype transitive clause: Examples of prototypical Vt.Examples of prototypical Vt.Non-Prototypical transitive verbsQuestion 3: �Why are non-prototypical transitive verbs coded as TRANSITIVE?�Non-prototypical transitive verbs are:�Please bear the following definitions in mind. Either of them will make the transitive verbs less prototypical:投影片編號 29Dative subjects投影片編號 31Dative objects投影片編號 33Patient-subject as causeInstrument as patient-subject投影片編號 36Locative direct-object投影片編號 38Cognate objects投影片編號 40Incorporated patients投影片編號 42Associative direct objects投影片編號 44Transitive verbs of possessionQuestion 4: �What are the differences �between ‘get’ and ‘become’?The prototype copular verb �(or copula) in English ---‘be’ :�The predicate following �the copula may be :The predicate following �the copula may be :The process copula ‘get’ :Checking list :The process copula ‘become’ :Checking list :Summary :