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PS Grammar, 2007-01-24
Contents (1)
Semantic roles of clause elements
Introduction
Semantic roles
Interaction between semantic roles and
syntax
Transitivity in Systemic Functional Grammar
Case grammar
Frame grammar / FrameNet
2
Contents (2)
Subject-verb concord
Introduction
General rule (grammatical concord)
Notional concord
Proximity
Coordination
Summary
3
Semantic Roles of
Clause Elements
Identifying the subject
The duke gave my aunt this teapot.
5
What is the subject
Grammatical subject: is related to the predicate
via the verb
This teapot my aunt was given by the duke.
Logical subject: the actor that brings the
happening about
This teapot my aunt was given by the duke.
Psychological subject: The subject that the
speaker puts emphasis on
This teapot my aunt was given by the duke.
6
Semantic roles
The semantic role a noun phrase plays in a clause
(as opposed to syntactical function)
(also called thematic role or theta-role)
There is no agreement over the set of semantic
roles.
Fillmore (1968) lists 6
Quirk et. al. (1985) list 13
Theta-criterion: Each NP covers exactly one role
and each role is present at most once in a clause.
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Semantic roles as deep cases (1)
Grammatical cases indicate the relations
between words on the level of syntax.
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Semantic roles as deep cases (2)
Semantic roles remain the same in
paraphrases while the NPs change
grammatical function and case.
The duke gave her this teapot.
This teapot she was given by the duke.
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AGENTIVE
(also AGENT)
The animate being instigating or causing
the happening.
Margaret is mowing the grass.
The game is played by more than 8 million
players.
Usual role of subject
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AFFECTED (1)
(also PATIENT or OBJECTIVE)
A participant (animate or inanimate) which does
not cause the happening, but is directly involved
in some other way
Usual choice for the direct object
James sold his digital watch yesterday.
The researchers discovered a fascinating thing.
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AFFECTED (2)
Also possible for the subject
The pencil was lying on the table.
IDENTIFIED:
Kevin is my brother.
CHARACTERIZED:
The fish is frying.
12
RECIPIENT
(also DATIVE)
The animate being that is passively implicated
by the happening or state
Typical choice for the indirect object
The duke gave my aunt this teapot.
Also possible for the subject:
John saw the bright morning sky.
(With verbs of cognition/feeling/sensing also called
EXPERIENCER or SENSER)
13
ATTRIBUTE
Typical for subject (SC) and object (OC) complement
IDENTIFICATION
Kevin is my brother. (SC)
They called their daughter Edna. (OC)
CHARACTERIZATION
Animals are a major group of organisms. (SC)
The teacher called their daughter a good student. (OC)
CURRENT ATTRIBUTE: He's my brother.
RESULTING ATTRIBUTE: He turned traitor.
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Further roles (1)
EXTERNAL CAUSER: The unwitting (generally
inanimate) cause of an event.
The avalanche destroyed several houses.
15
Further roles (2)
POSITIONER: With verbs related to stance (e.g. sit,
stand, remain, keep, hold). The subject is in control but
there is no change in the situation
He kept himself upright.
My friend is sitting in a chair near the door.
Prop it subject (Used when no subject is required)
Time: It's ten o'clock precisely.
Atmospheric conditions: It's raining.
Distance: It's a long way to Denver.
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Further roles (3)
LOCATIVE: Designating the place of the action
As subject: Los Angeles is foggy.
As object: We walked the streets.
TEMPORAL: Designating the time of the action
Yesterday was a holiday.
EVENTIVE (as subject):
The match is tomorrow.
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Further roles (4)
RESULTANT: The object exists only by virtue of the
happening
I'm writing a letter.
COGNATE: Object is semantically and often
morphologically related to the verb; It has the role of
repeating the content
Chris will sing a song for us.
EVENTIVE (as object): verb of general meaning (have,
do, give) + deverbal noun; extension of the verb
They are having an argument.
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Effects on syntax (1)
We usually cannot coordinate subjects with
different roles:
The gamekeeper wounded him. (AGENTIVE)
A gun wounded him. (INSTRUMENTAL)
* The gamekeeper and a gun wounded him.
Possible with EXTERNAL CAUSER +
AGENTIVE
Hurricanes and marauding bands devastated the
region (at different times).
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Effects on syntax (2)
When a subject plays the RECIPIENT (or
EXPERIENCER) role, the relation
between subject and verb is not one of
“doing” something, therefore it is not
possible to probe or substitute using the
verb “do”.
Mary liked the gift.
* What did Mary do to the gift? She liked it.
* What Mary did to the gift was like it.
20
Interactions of verbs and roles
Verbs may have restrictions on the roles in
the sentence.
Example: taste, smell, feel
Have a sense that requires AGENTIVE
and one that requires RECIPIENT
Foolishly, he tasted the soup.
* Foolishly, he tasted the pepper in the soup.
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Choice of subject
The first role from this list that is present is
usually chosen as subject:
AGENT, EXTERNAL CAUSER, POSITIONER
AFFECTED
TEMPORAL, LOCATIVE, EVENTIVE
Prop word “it”
(e.g. if there is no AGENT, EXTERNAL
CAUSER or POSITIONER but an AFFECTED, it
will be chosen as subject.)
22
Transitivity system of Systemic
Functional Grammar
Identifies 6 different process types (material,
mental, relational, behavioural, verbal,
existential) with corresponding participant roles
Example: mental clauses
Senser
Phenomenon
Mary liked the gift.
The gift pleased Mary.
23
Case grammar
Introduced by Charles J. Fillmore in 1968
Construes sentences as the combination
of a verb and a set of deep cases
(semantic roles)
Each verb has a case frame, indicating
which deep cases can be used in a clause
using this verb.
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Frame grammar
Further development from case grammar
Assumes that...
lexicalitems are related in the context of
frames.
choosing different items from one frame
foregrounds varying aspects of the
background frame.
25
FrameNet (1)
Online database featuring more than 625
semantic frames
http://framenet.icsi.berkeley.edu/
135.000 sentences annotated using the
frames
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FrameNet (2)
The Education_teaching frame
“This frame contains words referring to
teaching and the participants in teaching.
A Student comes to learn either about a
Subject; a Skill; a Precept; or a Fact as a
result of instruction by a Teacher.”
27
FrameNet (3)
My friend studies psychology.
Psychology is being taught to my friend.
My friend receives training in psychology.
My friend is a student of psychology.
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Subject-Verb Concord
Introduction
Concord / “agreement”: relationship
between two grammatical units where a
feature (e.g. plurality) in one unit accords
to a feature in the other.
The concord of 3rd person number
between subject and verb (“grammatical
concord”) is the most common and
important type of concord in English.
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General rule
Subject is singular Æ verb must also be singular
The mouse eats the cheese.
The cat chases the mouse.
31
Noun phrases, (non)finite clauses
32
PPs, nominal relative clauses
PPs and adverbs that function as subject are
also considered singular.
Inthe evenings is best for me.
Slowly does it!
33
Special cases (1)
“to be” is the only verb that shows concord
of number in the 3rd person past.
My daughter was watching TV.
My daughters were watching TV.
All other verbs only display concord in the
3rd person present.
My daughter watched TV.
My daughters watched TV.
34
Special cases (2)
There is no number concord in nonfinite
verbs / imperatives, only in the indicative.
35
Notional concord (1)
Agreement not based on the grammatical
number, but on the notion.
The has/have?
government have broken
broken all
all their
its/their? promises.
promises. <BrE> <BrE>
Plural NPs of quantity or measure:
singular is used.
Tendollars is all I have left.
Two miles is as far as they can walk.
36
Notional concord (2)
With “more than” grammatical concord is
more frequently used than notional
concord.
More than a thousand inhabitants have
signed the petition.
More than one member has protested against
the proposal.
37
Notional concord (3)
Collective nouns: in BrE the number of the
verb usually depends on whether the
group is notionally a collection of
individuals or a single unit.
The audience were enjoying every minute of
it. (Each individual enjoys it!)
The audience was enormous. (Not every
person is enormously large!)
38
Notional concord (4)
In AmE, singular collective nouns normally
require a singular verb.
But plural pronouns are frequent:
The committee has not yet decided how they should
react to the Governor’s letter.
39
Proximity / “attraction”
Agreement of the verb with a closely preceding
NP instead of the head of the subject NP.
? No one except his own supporters agree with him.
?* A good knowledge of English, Russian and French
are required for this position.
40
Coordinated subject (and)
Subject consists of NPs coordinated by and:
plural is required (exception: next slide).
Alice and Bob are encrypting their mails.
(Alice is encrypting her mails and Bob is encrypting
his mails.)
Also true for premodified singular non-countable
noun heads:
American and Dutch beer are much lighter than
British Beer.
41
Coordinative apposition
If the coordinated units have the same
reference, a singular verb is required (if
each NP is singular).
This temple of ugliness and memorial to
Victorian bad taste was erected in the main
street of the city.
“temple” and “memorial” both refer to the
same statue!
42
Coordinated subject (or) (1)
Subject consists of NPs coordinated by or.
43
Coordinated subject (or) (2)
One NP is plural and one is singular:
principle of proximity is used!
is/are?
Either your brakes or your eyesight is at fault.
at fault.
is/are?
Either your eyesight or your brakes are at fault.
at fault.
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Summary
grammatical concord
grammatical number of the subject defines number of the verb
followed in writing and formal usage
notional concord
semantic number of the subject defines number of the verb
only used in colloquial English
principle of proximity
number of the nearest noun phrase defines number of the verb
only tips the scales when the other two principles provide no
guidance or are in conflict (which is only occasionally)
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References
Quirk, Randolph, Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffrey
Leech, Jan Svartvik. 1985. A Comprehensive
Grammar of the English Language. London,
New York: Longman.
Halliday, M.A.K., Matthiessen, Christian. 2004.
An Introduction to Functional Grammar.
Fillmore, Charles J. 1968. The Case for Case.
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