grammatical function

last changed in 2002 Notation: a letter above or below the dependency arrow. A grammatical function is a particular kind of dependency; e.g. a verb's subject and object both depend on it, but in different ways so 'subject' and 'object' are distinct grammatical functions. The term `grammatical function' presents these differences as differences in the `work' the dependent word does - the subject performs one job, while the object performs a different one. This is a helpful way of thinking of the differences, because different dependents generally make different contributions to the sentence's meaning - e.g. in Pat likes beans, the subject Pat contributes the `like-er' and the object beans contributes the `like-ee'. Dependents don't just hang passively from their parent word, but earn the parent's support (see dependency) by making some kind of positive contribution to the work that the parent is doing. However, the differences among grammatical functions go beyond simple semantic differences of this kind. They also include straightforwardly syntactic matters such as word order, valency and agreement. Subjects and objects differ in all these respects:

In a language like English, a verb's subject normally precedes it while its object follows it. The presence or absence of a subject varies with the verb's inflectional features (finiteness and mood), whereas the presence or absence of an object depends on the needs of the specific lexeme concerned. The verb `agrees' with its subject (see subject-verb agreement), but not with its object.

In English most dependents have a `normal' position on one side or the other of their parent, so grammatical function is the main determinant of word order. (Other languages fix word order in very different ways.) This fact provides the basis for a very general division of dependencies into two types: `pre-dependent' and `post-dependent', according to whether the dependent normally stands before (pre) or after (post) its parent. This classification indicates only the normal position of the dependents concerned, and there are exceptions - pre-dependents that follow their parent, and post-dependents that precede them. (See subject-auxiliary inversion, pre-dependent delay, extraction.) Please notice that this distinction suits languages like English whose word-order is 'mixed' (i.e. dependents divide roughly equally between those that precede the head and those that follow it). It would make no sense at all in languages where order is more consistent, with almost all dependents on the same side of the head word. Cutting across this division is another major division into valents and adjuncts, made on the basis of whether or not the dependent fills a `slot' provided by the parent. Unlike the division into preand post-dependents, this is presumably found at least in a great many languages, and maybe in

every language. According to the discussion under 'adjunct', adjunct is in fact the default dependent relation, so 'valent' isa adjunct. We also divide valents into subjects and complements. Complements in turn subdivide in different ways according to the word-class of the parent word - see complement. Thus the basic system of grammatical functions for English is as shown in this figure, with further subdivisions of `complement' for different word-classes.

This diagram shows an inheritance hierarchy which allows multiple inheritance - i.e. characteristics are inherited from two categories at the same time. For example, a subject inherits simultaneously from `pre-dependent' and from `valent'. Inheritance, whether multiple or single, allows a grammatical function to combine with those higher in the hierarchy; so `subject' combines with `pre-dependent' and `valent'. Strictly speaking all these grammatical functions could be shown in a dependency diagram, but the higher ones are predictable from the lower ones so we can omit them, just as with the wordclass hierarchy. Just as `pronoun' implies `noun' and `word', so `subject' implies `pre-dependent', `valent' and `dependent'. The only labels needed in a dependency structure are those shown in this diagram, except that verb complements must be further specified rather than shown simply as 'c'. Typically a word has only one low-level grammatical function in relation to the word on which it depends, but in some cases it has more. For example, a word which is extracted may be both `extractee' and `object' of the same word (e.g. Beans is both extractee and object of like in Beans I like). In such cases we write the two function labels on opposite sides of the same dependency line, with the surface one (here, extractee) on top. The figure below illustrates this notation.

http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/dick/enc2010/articles/grammatical-function.htm

Inside the Predicate

FORM AND FUNCTION PAGE 5/9

Now we will look inside the Predicate, and assign functions to its constituents. Recall that the Predicate is everything apart from the Subject. So in David plays the piano, the Predicate is plays the piano. This Predicate consists of a verb phrase, and we can divide this into two further elements:
[plays] [the piano]

In formal terms, we refer to the verb as the PREDICATOR, because its function is to predicate or state something about the subject. Notice that Predicator is a functional term, while verb is a formal term:

FORM
Verb

FUNCTION
Predicator

However, since the Predicator is always realised by a verb, we will continue to use the more familiar term verb, even when we are discussing functions.

The Direct Object

In the sentence David plays the piano, the NP the piano is the constituent which undergoes the "action" of being played (by David, the Subject). We refer to this constituent as the DIRECT OBJECT. Here are some more examples of Direct Objects:
We bought a new computer I used to ride a motorbike The police interviewed all the witnesses

We can usually identify the Direct Object by asking who or what was

affected by the Subject. For example:

We bought a new computer Q. What did we buy? A. A new computer ( = the Direct Object)

The Direct Object generally comes after the verb, just as the Subject generally comes before it. So in a declarative sentence, the usual pattern is: Subject -- Verb -- Direct Object The following table shows more examples of this pattern:

Subject
The tourists She

Verb
visited sent

Direct Object
the old cathedral a postcard

The detectives examined the scene of the crime

Realisations of the Direct Object

The Direct Object is most often realised by an NP, as in the examples above. However, this function can also be realised by a clause. The following table shows examples of clauses functioning as Direct Objects:

CLAUSES functioning as DIRECT

EXAMPLES

OBJECTS
Finite

That-clause Nominal relative clause

Nonfinite

[1] He thought that he had a perfect alibi

[2] The officer described what he saw through the keyhole

To-infinitive clause [3] The dog wants to play in the garden Bare infinitive clause -ing clause -ed clause [4] She made the lecturer laugh [5] Paul loves playing football [6] I'm having my house painted

Subjects and Objects, Active and Passive

A useful way to compare Subjects and Direct Objects is to observe how they behave in active and passive sentences. Consider the following active sentence:
Active: Fire destroyed the palace

Here we have a Subject fire and a Direct Object the palace. Now let's convert this into a passive sentence:
Passive: The palace was destroyed by fire

The change from active to passive has the following results: 1. The active Direct Object the palace becomes the passive Subject 2. The active Subject fire becomes part of the PP by fire (the byagent phrase).
http://www.ucl.ac.uk/internet-grammar/function/active.htm

We can usually identify a Direct Object by asking what or who was affected by the Subject. For example, in 1, we can ask:
Q. What is our programmer testing? A. His new software (= the Direct Object)

Similarly:
2. Q. What did he suddenly realise? A. That someone was listening (= the Direct Object) 3. Q. What has Amy decided? A. To go to university (= the Direct Object) 4. Q. What can't they read? A. What you've written (= the Direct Object) 5. Q. What does this exercise involve? A. Clicking on the screen (= the Direct Object)

http://web.khu.ac.kr/~jongbok/teaching/eng-syn-class/chap3-slide.pdf

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