Seminar 8

Theoretical questions to be discussed:

1. Predication. Clauses.

Predication refers to the part of a sentence or clause that expresses what is being said about the subject. In traditional grammar, predication involves the verb and its complements, objects, or other modifiers. It essentially conveys the action or state of being in a sentence.

Clauses, on the other hand, are groups of words that contain a subject and a predicate (or verb). There are two main types of clauses: independent (main) clauses, which can stand alone as complete sentences, and dependent (subordinate) clauses, which rely on an independent clause to form a complete sentence.

2. Predicative and non-predicative syntactic units.

1. Predicative Syntactic Units:

- Predicative syntactic units are elements in a sentence that contribute to the predicate, which conveys information about the subject.

- In English, the main predicative unit is the verb, which expresses the action or state of being of the subject.

- Predicative elements can include verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and other modifiers that provide information about the action or state of the subject.

2. Non-Predicative Syntactic Units:

- Non-predicative syntactic units are elements in a sentence that do not directly contribute to the predicate but serve other grammatical functions.

- Non-predicative elements include subjects, objects, complements, determiners, conjunctions, prepositions, and other parts of speech that fulfill specific roles within the sentence structure.

- These units provide additional information about the subject, object, or other parts of the sentence but do not express the action or state of being directly.

3. Structural Properties of Predicative Syntactic Units.

1. Verb-Centric Structure: Predicative units often revolve around the verb, which is the core element expressing the action or state of being. In many languages, the verb is the central element of the predicate, and other elements within the predicative unit modify or complement the verb.

2. Adjectival and Adverbial Modification: Predicative units can include adjectives and adverbs that modify the verb, providing additional information about the action or state being expressed. For example, in the sentence "She sings beautifully," "beautifully" is an adverb modifying the verb "sings."

3. Tense and Aspect Marking: In languages that express tense and aspect morphologically, these markers are often integrated into the verb within predicative units to indicate when an action takes place and its duration or completion.

4. Subject-Verb Agreement: In languages with subject-verb agreement, the verb within the predicative unit may inflect to match the person, number, or gender of the subject.

5. Negation and Modality: Elements expressing negation or modality (such as modal verbs or particles) may be part of the predicative unit, indicating the speaker's attitude toward the action or state being described.

4. Parts of the sentence. The subject.

In the structure of a sentence, the subject is a fundamental component. It is the noun, pronoun, or noun phrase that performs the action described by the verb or is the entity about which something is stated. In simpler terms, the subject is typically the "doer" of the action in a sentence.

In more complex sentences, the subject can be a noun phrase consisting of multiple words, such as "The big, fluffy cat with green eyes is sleeping."

5. Parts of the sentence. The predicate.

The predicate is another essential part of a sentence, alongside the subject. While the subject tells us what the sentence is about, the predicate conveys what the subject is doing or what is being said about the subject.

In simple terms, the predicate typically includes the verb and all the words that modify or complete its meaning. It can also include objects, complements, and adverbs. Essentially, the predicate provides information about the subject.

In a more complex sentence like "The cat with the fluffy tail is peacefully sleeping on the windowsill," "is peacefully sleeping on the windowsill" is the predicate, as it provides additional details about what the cat is doing.

6. Parts of the sentence. The Object.

The object is another essential part of a sentence, particularly in sentences with transitive verbs. The object typically receives the action of the verb or shows the result of the action. There are two main types of objects: direct objects and indirect objects.

1. Direct Object: This is the noun or pronoun that receives the action of the verb directly. It answers the question "what" or "whom" after the verb. For example, in the sentence "She is eating an apple," "an apple" is the direct object because it receives the action of the verb "eating."

2. Indirect Object: This is the noun or pronoun that indicates to whom or for whom the action of the verb is done. It answers the questions "to whom" or "for whom" after the verb. For example, in the sentence "He gave Mary a gift," "Mary" is the indirect object because she is the recipient of the gift.

7. Parts of the sentence. The Attribute.

In traditional grammar, the term "attribute" is often used to refer to an adjective or adjectival phrase that modifies or describes a noun. It provides more information about the noun it is attached to. In modern linguistic analysis, the term "attribute" is less commonly used, and the function of an adjective or adjectival phrase is often described simply as modifying the noun.

8. Parts of the sentence. The Adverbial.

In traditional grammar, the term "adverbial" refers to a word, phrase, or clause that modifies a verb, an adjective, another adverb, or even the entire sentence. Adverbials provide information about time, place, manner, frequency, degree, or other circumstances related to the action described in the sentence.

Adverbials can take various forms:

1. Single-word adverbs: These are words that typically end in "-ly" and modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs. For example, in the sentence "She sings beautifully," "beautifully" is an adverb that modifies the verb "sings."

2. Adverbial phrases: These are groups of words that function as adverbs. For example, in the sentence "He ran as fast as he could," "as fast as he could" is an adverbial phrase modifying the verb "ran."

3. Adverbial clauses: These are dependent clauses that function as adverbs in a sentence. For example, in the sentence "She left after the concert ended," "after the concert ended" is an adverbial clause indicating when she left.

Exercises

1. Define the type of the clause in the following cases:

1. I know coffee grows in Brazil.

2. Your child is unique, but what all children have in common is natural curiosity and an innate ability to learn.

3. Our brains are dynamic and constantly active, and a baby’s brain is the busiest of all.

4. I thought that the world is flat.

5. It is regrettable that the picnic had to be canceled.

6. John came home at 12.30 yesterday.

7. The teacher made me do it.

8. We can discriminate the sounds of our own language, but not those of foreign languages.

9. Learning another language early allows your child to fully enjoy the way it sounds.

10. He stopped working there a year ago.

1. I know coffee grows in Brazil.

- Main clause: "I know"

- Subordinate clause: "coffee grows in Brazil"

- Type: Independent clause and dependent (adverbial) clause

2. Your child is unique, but what all children have in common is natural curiosity and an innate ability to learn.

- Main clause: "Your child is unique"

- Subordinate clause: "what all children have in common is natural curiosity and an innate ability to learn"

- Type: Independent clause and dependent (noun) clause

3. Our brains are dynamic and constantly active, and a baby’s brain is the busiest of all.

- Main clauses: "Our brains are dynamic and constantly active" and "a baby’s brain is the busiest of all"

- Type: Two independent clauses

4. I thought that the world is flat.

- Main clause: "I thought"

- Subordinate clause: "that the world is flat"

- Type: Independent clause and dependent (noun) clause

5. It is regrettable that the picnic had to be canceled.

- Main clause: "It is regrettable"

- Subordinate clause: "that the picnic had to be canceled"

- Type: Independent clause and dependent (adjective) clause

6. John came home at 12.30 yesterday.

- Main clause: "John came home at 12.30 yesterday"

- Type: Independent clause

7. The teacher made me do it.

- Main clause: "The teacher made me do it"

- Type: Independent clause

8. We can discriminate the sounds of our own language, but not those of foreign languages.

- Main clauses: "We can discriminate the sounds of our own language" and "but not those of foreign languages"

- Type: Two independent clauses connected by a coordinating conjunction

9. Learning another language early allows your child to fully enjoy the way it sounds.

- Main clause: "Learning another language early allows your child to fully enjoy the way it sounds"

- Type: Independent clause

10. He stopped working there a year ago.

- Main clause: "He stopped working there a year ago"

- Type: Independent clause

2. Identify predicative and non-predicative units, sentence, sentencoid, clause and sentence representatives in the following cases:

1. Why don’t you run away then? – I did.

2. Help me. – I can’t.

3. I have no desire to disappoint you. – Why should you disappoint me? – Because I’m not twenty-five.

4. The weather forecast is OK for this week. – Great.

5. Have you seen him today? – No.

6. What school do you go to? – Boarding school.

7. Help me. –I can’t help you.

8. Why can’t they see behind them? – Because they can’t, that’s why.

1. Why don’t you run away then? – I did.

- Predicative units: "run away", "did"

- Non-predicative units: "Why", "you", "then", "I"

- Sentence: "Why don’t you run away then?"

- Sentencoid: "I did."

- Clauses: "Why don’t you run away then?", "I did."

- Sentence representatives: "Why don’t you run away then?" and "I did."

2. Help me. – I can’t.

- Predicative units: "Help", "can’t"

- Non-predicative units: "me", "I"

- Sentence: "Help me."

- Sentencoid: "I can’t."

- Clauses: "Help me.", "I can’t."

- Sentence representatives: "Help me." and "I can’t."

3. I have no desire to disappoint you. – Why should you disappoint me? – Because I’m not twenty-five.

- Predicative units: "disappoint", "disappoint", "twenty-five"

- Non-predicative units: "I", "have", "no", "desire", "to", "you", "Why", "should", "me", "Because", "I’m", "not"

- Sentences:

1. "I have no desire to disappoint you."

2. "Why should you disappoint me?"

3. "Because I’m not twenty-five."

- Clauses: Three clauses

- Sentence representatives: Three sentences

4. The weather forecast is OK for this week. – Great.

- Predicative units: "forecast", "OK", "Great"

- Non-predicative units: "The", "weather", "is", "for", "this", "week"

- Sentences:

1. "The weather forecast is OK for this week."

2. "Great."

- Clauses: Two clauses

- Sentence representatives: Two sentences

5. Have you seen him today? – No.

- Predicative units: "seen", "No"

- Non-predicative units: "Have", "you", "him", "today"

- Sentences:

1. "Have you seen him today?"

2. "No."

- Clauses: Two clauses

- Sentence representatives: Two sentences

6. What school do you go to? – Boarding school.

- Predicative units: "school", "go"

- Non-predicative units: "What", "do", "you", "to", "Boarding"

- Sentences:

1. "What school do you go to?"

2. "Boarding school."

- Clauses: Two clauses

- Sentence representatives: Two sentences

7. Help me. – I can’t help you.

- Predicative units: "Help", "can’t help"

- Non-predicative units: "me", "I", "you"

- Sentences:

1. "Help me."

2. "I can’t help you."

- Clauses: Two clauses

- Sentence representatives: Two sentences

8. Why can’t they see behind them? – Because they can’t, that’s why.

- Predicative units: "see", "can’t"

- Non-predicative units: "Why", "can’t", "they", "behind", "them", "Because", "that’s"

- Sentences:

1. "Why can’t they see behind them?"

2. "Because they can’t, that’s why."

- Clauses: Two clauses

- Sentence representatives: Two sentences