BSEE 23: Structure of English
BSEE 23: Structure of English
Module 1
Traditional Grammar: Categories and
Functions
Introduction:
In
traditional
grammar,
words
are
assigned
to
grammatical categories (called parts of speech) on the basis of
their
semantic
properties
(i.e.
meaning),
morphological
properties (i.e. the range of different forms they have) and
syntactic properties (i.e. word-order properties relating to the
positions they can occupy within sentences): a set of words
which belong to the same category thus have a number of
semantic, morphological and syntactic properties in common.
The most tangible elements of a language are its words.
You’ve heard people say “There’s no such word” or “What does
the word lollapalooza mean?” Someone doing a crossword
puzzle may have asked you, “What’s a three-letter word for
excessively?”
We say one person likes to use “two-bit” words and
another has a preference for “four-letter” words. In these
BSEE 23: Structure of English
instances, people have clear notions of what a word is.
The ability to use any word in a sentence requires knowledge of its lexical category. Even young children
must know the category of every word they use—which ones are verbs, nouns, or adjectives. Of course
the child’s knowledge is unconscious, and even a grammarian’s child wouldn’t ordinarily know the names
of the categories.
Pre-Assessment:
I want you to read the article written in the box. Then, identify the nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs and
prepositions. Write your answer in the table below.
We found this place accidentally and have been returning almost weekly. We just love it. It is so simple
and yet so wonderful and the staff is great. They are always smiling and just so nice. There is almost
always a line. A must!
(Review of the Fry Bread House in Phoenix, slightly adapted)
Nouns
Pronouns
Verbs
Adjectives
Adverbs
Conjunctions
Prepositions
Learning Points:
Categories can be divided into two main classes: lexical and functional.
1. Lexical/substantive categories (=categories whose members are content words) are the nouns,
verbs, adjectives, adverbs and prepositions.
The differences between the first and second category, nouns and verbs in terms of
morphological, syntactical and semantical characteristics are summarized in Table 1 below.
BSEE 23: Structure of English
Table 1. Differences Between N(oun) and V(erb)
Noun (N)
Verb (V)
Morphology
(/mɔːrˈfɒlədʒi/)
a. have grammatical morphemes or
inflections (plural – s or possessive ‘s)
* the study of
words, how they are
formed, and their
relationship to other
words in the same
language
e.g. girl – girls, girl vs girl’s
with a few exceptions
e.g child – children, mouse – mice
a. –s of third person singular present
tense verbs
e.g. Jelyn jogs every morning.
* analyzes the
structure of words
and parts of words
such as stems, root
words, prefixes,
suffixes
b. – ed of the past tense of the verbs
e.g. Jelyn jogged yesterday morning.
b. have derivational morphemes- c. –en of the past participle
mark nouns derived from other part of e.g. He has written a novel.
speech like –ity, -ness, -ation, -er, -ion,
-ment
d. – ing of the present participle
e.g. He is reviewing his lesson right
e.g. teach-teacher, sad- sadness
now.
involve-involvement
e. end in –ize, -ate
Marked noun or verb is one which is Marked verb or form is one which is
not typical, common, or regular.
not typical, common, or regular.
Children, mice, bacteria
Unmarked form is one that is typical, Unmarked or regular form of the
common or regular.
simple past ends in –ed.
Which of the following plural nouns is Which of the following simple past
an unmarked form?
verb forms is a marked form?
A. bacteria
C. students
A. dreams
C. weighted
B. sheep
D. woman
B. kept
D. wrote
Syntax
* the arrangement
of words and
phrases to create
well-formed
sentences in a
language
a. may follow the/a/an and this/that/
these/those
a. may follow an auxiliary
e.g. have gone, will submit
e.g. a laptop, the article, this video
that bag/ these book reviews/ those
ladies
b. may be modified by an adverb
e.g. She spoke softly.
b. may be modified by adjective
e.g. courageous woman
c. may be followed by a noun or
preposition and noun
e.g. The cat jumped off the counter.
c. may be followed by preposition
e.g on time, with that guy
Semantics
* the study
meaning
language
a. name of person, place, event,
0f Some linguists include “idea” to
in account for abstract nouns
denotes an action, event, state of
being
BSEE 23: Structure of English
Let’s also take a look at the difference between the third and fourth lexical category, Adjectives and
Adverbs in Table 2.
Table 2. Differences Between A(djectives) and A(dverb)
Morphology
Syntax
Adjectives (Adj)
a. end in –ous,-ary, -al, -y,-ic
e.g. gorgeous, ordinary,
multifunctional, naughty, static
Adverbs (Adv)
a. end in –ly in many cases, -wise,ways
e.g sad-sadly
b. can be participles
e.g. boring
It is such a long, boring flight.
I was really bored during the flight.
b. have no ending like fast, now
a. modify noun
e.g. voracious reader
a. the only kind of word that which
could be used to end sentences like
the word badly
e.g. He worded the statement badly.
b. occur after verb be to complete
the sentence
e.g. They may be tired/ill/unhappy
etc.
Semantics
c. denote a gradable property which
can be exist in varying degrees like
very/ rather/ somewhat
e.g. She is very happy.
b. modify V, Adj, or Adv
e.g. I will eat later.
V Adv
The place was strangely quiet.
Adv
Adj
He is almost always busy.
Adv Adv
a. denote states or attributes
e.g. unkempt, zealous, clumsy, petite
a. denote the manner in which an
action is performed
Preposition(P) is the fifth and final lexical/substantive category.
Many prepositions have the semantic property of marking location (cf. in, on, off, inside, outside, under,
above, below). They have the syntactic property that a preposition (with the appropriate kind of
meaning) can be modified by right in the sense of ‘completely’, or by straight in the sense of ‘directly’ (as
with the preposition down in He fell right down the stairs and the preposition to in He went straight to
bed). Prepositions have the morphological property that they are invariable/uninflected forms (e.g. the
preposition off has no past tense form *offed, no superlative form *offest, and so on).
2. Functional categories (= categories whose members are function words)
1. Determiner (D)
2. Quantifier (Q)
Definite article
the
Demonstrative determiners
This/that/these/those
Denoting expressions of quantity
some, all, no, any, each, every,
BSEE 23: Structure of English
most, much, many.
3. Pronoun (PRN)
Antecedent
Indefinite article a which quantifies over
a single identity
‘stand in place of’ (the meaning of the
prefix pro) or ‘refer back to’ noun
expressions
Refers back to noun
Personal
Pronoun
4. Auxiliary Verb
Article “a”
I, me, we, us, you, he, him, she,
her, it, they, them
Marking grammatical properties like Alex has/had (done) the activity.
tense, aspect, voice or mood
He is/was (doing) the assignment.
(perfect /progressive aspect)
The letters are/were delivered
(passive) voice auxiliary
He really does/did (say a lot)
(an expletive or dummy) auxiliary
5. Coordinator (C)
Relatively simple and
categories or phrases
can/could/may/might/will/would/
shall/should
join similar You can eat your cake with a spoon
or fork. (both nouns)
Coordinators such as and, but, or for, My dog enjoys being bathed but
nor join two elements of the same kind hates getting his nails trimmed.
(both verb phrases)
Anne is an actress. Normally, she
acts and sings.
(both verbs)
Complementizer
A conjunction which
complement clause
marks
a I know that he is there.
I am doubtful that he is there.
Learning Tasks:
1. Directions: Read the short article. Then, identify the lexical Categories (nouns, verbs, adjectives,
adverbs, prepositions) in the given text. Write your answer in Table 1. 1 point for each word
The most common symptoms of COVID-19 are fever, dry cough, and tiredness. Other symptoms that are
less common and may affect some patients include aches and pains, nasal congestion, headache,
conjunctivitis, sore throat, sore throat, loss of taste or smell or a rash or discoloration of fingers or toes.
These symptoms are usually mild and begin gradually. Some people become infected but only have very
mild symptoms.
BSEE 23: Structure of English
Noun
symptoms
Verb
are
Adjective
Adverb
Preposition
2. Functional Categories
Using the same text, identify the functional categories( determiners, quantifiers, pronoun and
coordinators). Use the table for your answer. 1 point for each word.
Determiners
The
Quantifiers
Pronouns
Coordinator
BSEE 23: Structure of English
References:
Gelderen, Elly Van (2010). An Introduction to the Grammar of English. John Benjamin Publishing Co.
Amsterdam. The Netherlands
Celce-Murcia, Marianne & Larsen-Freeman. The Grammar Book: An ESL/EFL Teacher’s Course. 2nd
Edition. Heinle, Heinle Publishers
https://www.slideshare.net/midnightphantom26/chapter-2-grammatical-metalanguage
Prepared by:
DIOSALYN T. GALANG, MAEd
Asst. Professor 3
Reviewed by:
LEAH C. NAVARRO, EdD
Chairperson, TED
Approved by:
MAT M. NUESTRO, MEM
Director, Curriculum and Instruction