English 430
Parts of Speech - Form and Function Relationships
The study of grammar is essentially the study of the way that human beings combine meaningful
elements into meaningful discourse: putting words together in a way that makes sense to other speakers of
the same language. In English, the relationships among words and other elements, such as phrases and
clauses, are the primary method for conveying meaning. Therefore, understanding these relationships is
essential to understanding English grammar. There are two basic ways of categorizing grammatical elements,
and they both have to do with the way that words relate to each other.
Paradigmatic (Form) categories are categories that can be established by looking at sets of
characteristics to see if a particular word fits that category. The set of characteristics is called a paradigm;
thus, we have sets of words (or phrases) which are related to each other paradigmatically; they all have some
or all of the required characteristics. Categorizing words according to paradigms results in grammatical
categories which can be called parts of speech, although they are arrived at slightly differently than in
traditional grammar.
Syntagmatic (function) categories are categories that can be established by looking at the way the
word, phrase or clause functions in the sentence. Some parts of speech are easier to identify syntactically
than paradigmatically, although all parts of speech fit some sort of paradigm.
Parts of Speech
Open (Form) Classes
Noun Paradigm
Traditional definition: a noun is the name of a person place or thing. The problem with this definition is
that it doesn’t describe all the words which are nouns. For example, the word ‘courage’ is not the name of a
person, place, or thing, but it is a noun.
Paradigmatic criteria:
1. Nouns in general can take the plural ‘-s’ Example: one dog two dogs. There is a subset of count nouns
which take the zero form (ø). Example: one sheep two sheep There is a set of nouns called non-count
nouns which typically do not take the plural, but even they can sometimes be made plural. Example: sugar.
We don’t usually say ‘two sugars’. However, most nouns will take the plural ‘-s’.
2. Nouns can take the possessive ‘-s’. Examples: The boy’s hat The dog’s collar
3. Most nouns can be preceded by ‘a’, ‘an’ or ‘the’. Examples: a dog the sheep an umbrella
Syntagmatic criteria:
1. Nouns occur as the head words of noun phrase. Examples: A tall man The man with the umbrella What
are these phrases about? The man: that is the head word. Noun phrases typically occur in this pattern:
Determiner + (modifiers) + noun + (postmodifiers)
noun phrase
Example: The very tall man in the tuxedo
det. mod. mod. noun
postmodifier
2. Nouns tend to function as subjects, objects and predicate nouns, but not always.
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Verb Paradigm
Traditional definition: A verb is word that expresses action or state of being. Again, this definition doesn’t
allow us to adequately identify all the words which are verbs.
Paradigmatic criteria:
1. Finite verbs take an inflection for tense. Examples: Today, I walk. Yesterday, I walked. The regular
past tense inflection is -d, -ed, or (less commonly) -t. Some verbs (currently called irregular verbs) are
inflected for tense through a vowel change. Examples: sing sang run ran
2. Finite verbs take an inflection for person, ‘-s’, but it is only visible in the 3rd person singular.
3. Verbs also take participle inflections. There are two participle inflections: present, ‘-ing’ and past, ‘-ed’
or ‘-en’. Examples: I was walking. I had walked. I was bitten by a dog. Although these are commonly
called present and past participles, they really carry no meaning related to tense. Some textbooks refer to
them as –ing and –ed participles.
Syntagmatic criteria:
1. Verb phrases typically occur in this pattern: ([optional] auxiliaries) + full verb + tense inflection
Verb phrase
Example: He runs
.
quickly,
Third person present tense inflection
Verb phrase
They had
been
walking.
past tense inflection -ed inflection -ing participle inflection
Every verb phrase which is functioning as the predicate of a clause will be inflected for tense. These are
called finite verbs. Verb phrases without auxiliaries carry the inflection on the main verb, but verb phrases
with auxiliaries carry the inflection on the first auxiliary. In the first example above, the tense inflection is on
runs, but in the second example above, the tense inflection is on had.
2. Verbs function as the head words of verb phrases. As such they may or may not have helping verbs, or
auxiliaries. Examples: He will have been gone for two hours by then. ‘Gone’ is the head word of the verb
phrase ‘will have been gone’. ‘will’, ‘have’, and ‘been’ are all auxiliaries in this phrase.
Adjective Paradigm
Traditional definition: An adjective is a word that modifies a noun.
Paradigmatic criteria:
1. Adjectives may be inflected for comparison. Examples: red, redder, reddest big bigger, biggest Some
adjectives require more and most rather than -er and -est. Examples: beautiful, more beautiful, most
beautiful.
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Syntagmatic criteria:
2. Adjectives typically occur in this pattern: Determiner + ( optional adjective[s]) + noun
Example: The short, red-haired girl. They also may occur in this pattern: The girl is
tall.
det. adj. adj.
noun
det. noun linking verb adj.
Adverb Paradigm
Traditional definition: An adverb is a word that modifies a verb, adjective or another adverb. One reason
this definition is inadequate is that adverbs have a strong tendency to modify clauses and sentences.
Paradigmatic criteria:
1. Like adjectives, adverbs may be inflected for comparison, but less frequently than adjectives. Example:
early, earlier, earliest
2. Adverbs are somewhat more likely to end in -ly than other words, but adjectives can also end in -ly.
Syntagmatic criteria:
1. Adverbs are characteristically movable; they can be moved from one place to another within the clause.
In this way, they differ from the other parts of speech, which tend to be attached to particular locations in the
sentence by their syntactic functions.
2. Adverbs are a part of speech which are probably more easily identified syntagmatically. They typically
occur in this type of pattern: verb phrase + adverb
adverb
adverb
Examples: He said, definitely, that he would not go. Definitely, he said that he would not go.
See how the adverb moves around? This is very characteristic.
Parts of Speech
Closed (Structure) Classes
The closed classes tend to consist of words which don’t have obvious paradigmatic characteristics in
common. Usually, people have to memorize (or at least familiarize themselves with) lists of that part of
speech.
Pronoun Paradigm
Traditional definition: A pronoun is a word which takes the place of a noun.
Later this semester we will learn that pronouns don’t actually replace nouns; rather nouns and pronouns can
co-refer to the same reality.
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Paradigmatic criteria:
Personal pronouns may be inflected for person and possession, just as nouns may be, but they may also be
inflected for gender and case. The personal pronouns are the most highly inflected part of speech in English;
they are remnants of the Old English system in which everything was inflected. You pretty much have to
memorize the personal pronouns and the others also. I’ll give you a list.
Syntagmatic criteria:
Pronouns typically occur wherever a noun could occur, but not always. Example: Joe went to the store. He
went to the store. ‘He’ is a pronoun.
Preposition Paradigm
Traditional definition: A preposition is a word that shows the relationship between two nouns in space or
time.
Paradigmatic criteria:
Prepositions do show relationships in time or space.
Syntagmatic criteria:
Propositions always occur in prepositional phrases. There are no exceptions to his rule. Prepositions occur
in this pattern: preposition + (adjective[s]) + noun phrase
prepositional phrase
Examples: around the block,
preposition object
prepositional phrase
up the street,
preposition object
prepositional phrase
beside the car,
preposition object
prepositional phrase
under the house.
preposition object
Words which appear to be prepositions but have no object are generally adverbs. In order to identify
prepositional phrases, you need to be able to recognize prepositions and the pattern of prepositional phrases.
I will give you a list of prepositions.
Conjunction Paradigm
Traditional definition: A conjunction is a word that joins words or groups of words
It is almost impossible to identify conjunctions without looking at the syntax of the sentence. There are
basically three types of conjunctions: coordinators, adverbial conjunctions, and subordinators.
Paradigmatic criteria:
Coordinators include and, but, either...or, neither...nor, both...and., The last three are called correlative
subordinators. (In traditional grammar, yet, for, and so are considered to be coordinators.)
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Adverbial conjunctions are words such as also, however and then which show the relationships among
ideas. While they function as conjunction, they also act a bit like adverbs in that they are moveable within
the clause.
Subordinators include although, because, as, when, etc. ( I’ll give you a more complete list.) Subordinators
also include the relatives: which, whichever, who, whom, whose, that, what, whatever, whatsoever,
whoever, whomever. whosoever.
Syntagmatic criteria:
1. Coordinators typically occur in the following pattern: Independent clause + Independent clause
I went to the store, and I bought milk.
2.
Subordinators typically occur in the following pattern:
a. Adverbial subordinators Dependent clause + Independent clause or Independent clause +
Dependent clause Many dependent clauses have adverbial functions and are therefore movable.
b. Relative subordinators Noun + relative clause This pattern creates a long noun phrase, because
since the relative clause modifies the noun head, it is part of the noun phrase, just as adjectives
which occur before the noun head are part of the noun phrase.
noun phrase
relative clause
Examples: The man that is in my class is also president of the student body.
Determiner Paradigm
Traditional definition: There is no traditional definition of determiners. They were only fairly recently
identified as a distinctive part of speech, although we used to call a, an and the articles. With the exception
of a, an and the , it is almost impossible to identify determiners without looking at the syntax of the sentence.
Paradigmatic criteria:
1. Determiners provide information about the noun, such as quantity, number and specificity.
2. They consist of the words a, an or the, plus words that can substitute for a, an or the . A, an and the.
are always determiners; there are no exceptions that I know of.
Syntagmatic criteria:
1. Determiners co-occur with nouns; they mark nouns.
2. Determiners (predeterminers, central determiners and post-determiners) always occur first in a noun
phrase; they always occur before any adjectives or other modification. Because of this, they are
important clues in identifying noun phrases. Determiners typically occur in the following pattern:
Determiner + (postdeterminer) + (adjective [s]) + noun
noun phrase
Example: The
two
tall
boys are basketball players.
Determiner postdeterminer adjective noun
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