MA English Syntax BBK Spring 2013
Topics/terminology #3
Huddleston, R. (ms.) A Short Overview of English Syntax Sections 1--10, 13, 15
PLUS:
word order, inversion (Subject-Auxiliary Inversion - SAI, Subject-Verb Inversion, negative inversion,
conditional inversion, inversion with ellipsis), SVO language, configurational/non-configurational
language, constituent analysis, tree diagrams (phrase structure trees), (labelled) bracketing, (syntactic)
categories vs. (grammatical) functions (= sentence elements), word-level categories (word classes),
phrasal/phrase-level categories, NP/VP/AP/AdvP/PP, clause, sentence, simple sentence, complex
sentence, subordination, coordination, main/matrix clause, subordinate clause (subclause),
complement vs. adjunct, operator, lexical content (open-class) words, grammatical function (closedclass) words, nouns (common vs. proper, count vs. non-count), VP-adverbs vs. S-adverbs, modal vs.
non-modal (aspectual) auxiliaries (PERF have, PROG be, PASS be – aspects and voice), do: dummy
operator, main verbs (=full/lexical) (transitive (mono-, di-, complex-), intransitive, copular; stative vs.
dynamic), multi-word verbs (phrasal vs. prepositional vs. phrasal-prepositional), finite vs. non-finite
forms, types of pronoun: personal/reflexive/possessive (central pronouns); reciprocal; relative;
interrogative; demonstrative; indefinite (positive (universal, assertive, nonassertive), negative), case
(nominative, accusative), gender (masculine, feminine, neuter (nonpersonal)), determiners (pre-,
central, post-)
tense, aspect, voice, main/matrix clause, subordinate(d) clause (subclause), verb forms: finite vs. nonfinite (finite = inflected/tensed), subordinating conj. (= complementizer): finite/non-finite;
interrogative/non-interrog. (that, whether, if, for), empty subject (PRO), formal (finite/non-finite;
interrogative/non-interrog.) and functional (content (nominal, adverbial), relative, comparative)
divisions of clauses, relative clauses (restrictive/defining, supplementary (non-restrictive/non-defining,
sentential), headed/proper vs. headless/fused, wh-/that-/zero relative), preposing, postposing, subjectverb inversion, subject-operator inversion, (short) passive, existential, extraposition, cleft, pseudocleft, (left) dislocation, raising, long wh-movement, active causative, passive causative, dummy
subjects (it and there)
Sample questions
1. Give an example for each of the following terms/notions:
i. compound sentence:
ii. subordinator:
iii. sentence with a subjective predicative complement (underline the Pred Comp!):
iv. sentence with an objective predicative complement (underline the Pred Comp!):
v. noun followed by a PP complement:
vi. reciprocal pronoun:
vii. reflexive pronoun:
viii. indefinite positive universal pronoun:
ix. third person singular masculine accusative personal pronoun:
x. never-attributive (= predicative-only) adjective:
xi. preposition stranding:
xii. NP with a central and a post-determiner:
xiii. sentence with an S-adverb (underline the S-adverb!):
xiv. transitive phrasal verb with a pronominal direct object:
2. Explain why sentences like There are two books on the shelf are problematic wrt the identification
of the subject.
3. Compare She laughed at the clown and She laughed at 10 o’clock. How is the status of the PP
different in the two cases? How is this related to what Huddleston calls the licensing condition?
4. Compare the perfect and passive constructions. What do they have in common?
5. Compare the imperative, infinitival and subjunctive constructions. What do they have in common?
6. Compare the meaning and the grammar of the word hair in He pulled out a white hair and He has
white hair.
7. Discuss the grammatical status/behaviour of jury in The jury haven’t yet reached a decision.
8. English is a configurational, SVO language. Explain both terms.
9. What does SAI stand for? Give an example. List at least three grammatical constructions when SAI
is used.
10. What do nonsense texts like Jabberwocky illustrate about syntactic structure and morphosyntactic
categories?
11. Compare the syntactic behaviour of have ’possess’ in typically BrE and typically AmE structures
like the following.
(i)Typically BrE
ia. I have (got) a car
ib. I haven’t (got) a car
ic. Have you (got) a car?
(ii) Typically AmE
iia. I have a car
iib. I don’t have a car
iic. Do you have a car?
12. Describe the auxiliary verb system of English (types, major characteristics, examples).
13. What is the operator? Which element is it in the clause? What functions does it have?
14. What kind of dummy (= expletive/pleonastic) elements are there in English? Under what
circumstances do they appear in sentence structure?
15. Compare the syntactic category and behaviour of be in the following examples. What are the
differences? What is constant?
(a)
He’s hungry
He isn’t hungry
Is he hungry?
He’s always hungry
(b)
He’s sleeping
He isn’t sleeping
Is he sleeping?
He’s always sleeping
(c)
He’s criticized
He isn’t criticized
Is he criticized?
He’s always criticized
16. Specify the syntactic category of the italicised nonsense word in the following sentences. Explain
your choice.
a. John likes to glonk in the afternoons
b. He never glonks on Sunday
c. He started glonking when he was fourteen
d. He once glonked an out-of-work actress
e. He’s never glonked any of his classmates
17. Identify the different subcategories of lexical verbs and the grammatical functions of the phrases in
the following examples.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
John carefully searched the room.
The girl is now a student at a large university.
His brother grew happier gradually.
It rained steadily all day.
He gave the girl an apple.
They make him the chairman every year.
18. Use the following words to make a well-formed sentence. Explain the order of the determiners.
19. Account for the contrasts in the following pairs of sentences.
(1)
a. Up a huge hill John ran
b. *Up a huge bill John ran
(2)
a. Pandas live entirely off bamboo shoots
b. *Poor weather kills entirely off bamboo shoots
20. Assuming that the following sentences are ill-formed (and hence can be used only for humorous
effect, for example), say why they are ill-formed.
a. *Could you turn off the fire and on the light?
b. *Your mother won’t put (and your wife is fed) up with your disgusting behaviour
c. *A nuclear explosion would wipe out plant life and out animal life
d. *He ran down the road and down the President
21. Consider the multi-word verb look after. Is it a phrasal verb or a prepositional verb? Support your
choice with arguments from its syntactic behaviour.
22. Form a future perfect progressive passive construction with the verb do. Specify the subcategories
of the verbal elements in it. What tense is it in? Which elements are aspectual? Which element
determines the voice of the construction?
23. Which type(s) of relative clauses does Huddleston refer to as supplementary? Why?
24. Specify the subcategory of the underlined words on the basis of the following sentences.
a. *I’ve got two news for you: a good one and a bad one
b. The police are blocking off the street where the accident occurred
c. *He told that he was hungry
d. *Doctors treat ill people with medication
e. *He asked that could we meet on Friday
(* = ill-formed/ungrammatical)
25. Form as many cleft and pseudo-cleft sentences as you can from I read the daily paper in the toilet
every morning.
26. Identify the constructions in the following examples. In some cases several constructions are
combined.
a. The weather is unlikely to change in the next 24 hours
b. Sometimes I find it difficult to resist temptation
c. What am I supposed to do?
d. Who did she say she was introduced to her first husband by?
e. In our committee there appears to be no agreement on what we should do
f. To our surprise we met in the cinema the handsome young man who lives next door
27. Find the subclauses in the following sentences and determine their formal and functional
characteristics.
a. I’m not sure what I want.
b. This is what I want.
c. Süsü likes chasing butterflies.
d. Paul found Mary very attractive.
e. All he did was remove the wrapping.
f. Walking home last night, I bumped into John.
28. Find the subclauses in the following sentences and indicate whether they are interrogative (INT),
finite (FIN), have a non-overt subject (PRO). Then, specify their function. The first one has been
done for you.
(0) I think that John will win the race
INT?
FIN?
PRO?
function?
no
yes
no
direct object
(1) To visit Paris was a wonderful
experience
(2) I wonder whether John will build a house
(3) We are anxious for her to win the award
(4) Her mother, who is a retired teacher,
lives in Boston
(5) All products made in China are very
cheap
29. Give an example for a NP which contains a headed non-finite relative clause. Discuss the status of
the subject in the relative clause.
30. Compare what the interrogative pronoun and what the relative pronoun. How is the use of the
latter restricted?