Syntax – the sentence

10.3.2021.
Revision
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-Syntax seeks to describe, investigate and explain universal characteristics of natural languages
as well as their specific features.
-> What’s universal? -Things found in many languages (every language has something subject-
like and something verb-like, all languages express possession in some way)
=syntax deals with how sentences are connected from smaller units into larger ones
-What’s a word?
-phonetic – a single produced entity consisting of more than one written word
-written – a meaningful sequence of letters separated from other words by blank spaces
-compound words – babysitter
-lexical categories:
-open and closed
-notional definition:
- “verbs denote state or action”
-this assumes that the semantics of a word predicts it’s category and hence function
-the meaning of a sentence:
-a combination of both the lexical and grammatical meaning (both lexical words and the
relations between them)
-the function of elements in the sentence is a grammatical/syntactic relation (subjects, objects,
verbs…)
-the organization of units into constituent structure (constituents – NP, VP…)
-general structure of clauses:
-the core (predicate + arguments) + periphery (adjuncts)

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 -valence:
-syntactic: the number of overt morphosyntactic coded arguments that a verb may take (eat –
1 or 2)
-semantic: the maximum number of semantic arguments a verb can take (eat -2)
*an exception – verba meteorologica – It snows, it rains… (synt. V. – 1; sem. V. – 0)
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Dependency relations
11.3.2021.
-What’s a sentence?
-a string of language with two pauses or blanks (meh)
-the highest-ranking unit of syntax

-organized into constituents

-made of phrases (a word or group of words that function as one single unit within a hierarchy)

-how to establish if something is a constituent?

-substitution (My friend Milo likes animals. – He likes them.)
-movement (Milo returned home wiser than ever. – Wiser than ever, Milo returned home.)
*stranded preposition
-questions and sentence fragments (My friend Milo likes fluffy animals? – What does Milo like?
Who does like animals?)
-cleft focus (My friend Milo likes fluffy animals - It is my friend Milo who likes animals.)

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 -Lucein Tesniere – Elements de syntaxe structurale
-dependency grammar (you should look at the notion of dependencies)
-the connection between elements is equally important as elements themselves (elements are
not independent things – the relationship of dependency)
-connections are hierarchic (rather than linear) – one is always the governing one, one is always
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the subordinate and the main element is the verb (verbs are heads of phrases and the central
governing elements of clauses)
-clause -> head (central word) + dependents
--modifiers:
-in a narrow sense – modifiers within a phrase
-in a broad sense – any linguistic unit dependent of another linguistic unit (adjuncts are
modifiers of the entire clause)
*The children are sleeping peacefully. – either narrow or broad sense
-obligatory (complements) and optional (adjuncts)
-dependency relations (the head and then all other elements dependent on the head)
-unilateral:
-the head can occur alone; the dependents cannot (article – nouns | adverb – adjective
| modifier – noun)

-The – women (unilateral relationship)

-tall – women (unilateral relationship)
-very – tall (unilateral relationship)
-bilateral:
-the head cannot appear without the dependent and vice versa (subject-verb/verb
phrase | preposition – prep. Complement)

-is swimming – in the pool (unilateral dependency)

-if there’s a radical change in meaning (Walter drinks beer. – Walter drinks.)
-coordination (both units will count as heads)

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-case marking in English:

-dependent-marking language:
-after them (*they), Milo’s cat (*Milo cat’s)
-head-marking language:
-in English – John cheats
-double-marking languages:
-show features of both types

17.3.2021.
Syntactic and semantic arguments
-the central element of a sentence is a clause, and the central element of a clause is the verb
(heads of the verbs but also the entire clause)
-a verb phrase = singular verb OR verb head and other obligatory elements
-the verb governs the entire sentence (whether or not you need a object or two, a complement
etc.)
-arguments:
-direct argument: not marked by a preposition – direct objects f.e. (John gave a bouquet to
Mary.)
-oblique argument: marked by a preposition (preceded by a preposition) (John gave a bouquet
to Mary.)
-required by the valency:
-f.e. put has a valency of 3 – needs to be accompanied by 3 arguments – argument structure
(the number and the type of arguments associated with a particular verb)
-adjuncts: contribute to the meaning of the entire sentence but are never necessary to
complete the meaning of the predicate

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-grammatical/syntactic roles/functions (object, subject, Cs)

-semantic roles (Agent – the doer, patient – suffer/undergo the action, recipient – receive an
action, …)
-grammatical relations are independent of semantic roles – we do not have a 1 to 1
correspondence of semantic roles to grammatical roles (we cannot say that all agents are
subjects in the sentence OR a subject is not immediately the agent)
-major semantic roles:
- Charles Filmore – first to claim that you have something that is not a morphological case but
something that is a deep case (the predecessor to semantic roles)

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 -agent: prototypically (the most typical, best example) animate and normally instigates the
actions that are preformed willfully and intentionally (Billy Bob painted the house.) (kill vs
murdered – you cannot accidentally murder someone – always intentional and willful)
-patient: undergo a drastic change of state or condition (kill, smash, break, crush, wash, smear,
Page eat…)
|6 (The squirrel crushed a walnut.)
-theme: entities which are located or undergo a change of location; which are possessed or
undergo a change of possession (put, place, give, send buy) (Larry placed the keys on the table.)
-recipient: can syntactically appear as Oi or S (Jane received a letter. / A letter was sent to Jane;
usually preceded by “to”)
*subjects are not always agents
-beneficiary: usually Oi (Homer peeled an orange for Marge. – Marge benefits from Homer;
usually preceded by “for”)
-instrument: (Seymour cut the salami with a knife. – usually preceded with “with”)
-experiencer: verbs of perception, emotion or cognition (Jeff knows the truth. Anna hates
bananas. The performers amused the children. – all of these are experiencing the semantics of
the verb)
-stimulus: the experiencers experience the stimuli (The audience enjoyed the play. People saw
the accident.)
-location:
-goal: Jack went to Philadelphia.
-path: He went through the woods.
-source: Jace came from Boston. The mugger took $50 from Sam.
-possessor: to own, have, posses (Paul owns a house.)

18.3.2021.
-How do we determine the role?
-intuition (we know roles intuitively)
-grammatical criteria
-division of verbs:
events (processes, activities…) vs. states (The baby is heavy. – undetermined,
unclassified – a neutral role)

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 -events:
-What happened? -The baby chewed/ate/threw the biscuit. (*The baby is heavy.
The baby is happy.)

Page -agent
|7 role:
-What did X do? (What did the baby do?)
wh-cleft (What the baby is doing is chewing the biscuit.)
-putting the imperative-verb: Chew the biscuit! (the supposed subject is the
addressee)
*but: The client is suffering a lot of pain. (experiencer)
The client is annoying the staff. (agent) (experiencers)

-prototypical agents are human beings acting of their own volition, instigating an
action and producing an effect on something (Jim was chopping logs.)
-less typical agents –may be inanimate, do not have volition nor do they initiate
an action (This arch supports the tower.)
-prototypical objects are usually direct objects and undergo a drastic change (The
car was crushed by bob – a patient, but a subject)

-What happened to X? – patient role (What happened to the biscuit?)

-states:
-the vase stood on the table; Annie is tall – neutral (neither agent nor patient)
-Sue knows the answer. (Experiencer)
-know, like, see, believe, hate, dislike, love, adore…
The window was broken by a hammer (Agent) / with a hammer (instrument).
24.3.2021.
Sentences
-in a simple sentence, each element is realized by a phrase (You can drive my car
tomorrow. – Np, V, Np, AdvP)
-if we have a relative clause as a postmodifier, we still consider it a simple
sentence (This is the guy who I work with.)

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 -compound sentences – two or more independent clauses connected with
coordinators and on the same syntactic level
-complex sentence – one or more dependent clauses (subordinate, embedded)
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| 8 one independent (main) clause; asymmetrical relation (subordination)

-complex compound (M + sub coord. M | M + sub coord. M + sub)

25.3.2021.
Coordination
-coordination – the units are on the same syntactic level (I like Jim and he likes
pancakes.)
-subordination - main clause and the subordinate clause(s) (Though he is poor, he
is happy.)
-coordinators, subordinators, and conjuncts
-constituents joined in coordination are called coordinates (Jim is black and Pete
is white.)
-differences between coordinators and conjuncts:
-coordinators are restricted to clause-initial position and conjuncts are
sequentially fixed
-coordinators are not preceded by other conjunctions, but conjuncts are
-coordinators can link clause constituents (The weather will be cold and cloudy.)
-coordinators can link subordinate clauses and can link multiple clauses (multiple
coordination)
*anaphoric – This place has great ice cream, you should try it. – anaphoric (the
referent is in the first clause)
- cataphoric – Although she felt ill, my momma said nothing. (can but need not be
the same person)
-correlatives: neither no, either or, both and, not only but also, the the (the more,
the merrier), so… that (He carried so much that…)
-combinatory and segregatory coordination:
-John and Marry are students – segregatory (John’s a student and Marry’s a

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 student.)
-John and Marry are a couple – combinatory (cannot be split - *John is a couple.)
-John and Marry won a prize. – Who won it, both or each? – ambiguous

Page -markers
|9 for segregatory coordination: neither… nor, both…and, each,
respectively
31.3.2021.
-different types of coordination:
-clauses
-phrases
-heads (old men and women… are the men old and not the women or are all old?
– coordination only if old refers to both men and women)
-modifiers
-coordinated modifiers:
-only segregatory meaning
-old and new furniture (two noun phrases)
-exception: colour adjectives (red, blue and white flag)
-only combinatory meaning:
-a dishonest and lazy worker (one worker, but a lazy and a dishonest worker –
two workers)

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-simple and complex coordination:

-simple coordination: a single clause or clause const is linked to others parallel in
meaning, function and form (of the same rank)
*What can you coordinate? -Any unit that is parallel in meaning, function and
form
-form/structure:
-Peter is a good friend and everyone likes him. – clauses
-They offered us red wine or beer. – NPs
-I’ve asked him to come this evening or be gone forever. – two NF cl

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 -function:
-He was a man and white. – two Cs
-The enemy attacked quickly and with great force. – two A of manner
-He won’t reveal the nature of the threat or where it came from. – two Od
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*We’re leaving Rome and next week. (big no-no, different As – place and time)
-meaning:
-Thank you very much for your invitation. *I’ll come with pleasure and my wife.
(not the same meaning – manner and companament)
-complex subordination:
-coordination of combinations of units rather than single units
1. contiguous (units closely follow each other) + in final position
-We gave Bob a book on fishing and Mary a book on architecture. (Od, Oi)
-Del painted the kitchen yellow and the bathroom blue. (Od, Co)
-You should serve coffee in a mug and lemonade in a glass. (Od, A)
2. not contiguous and + non-final
-Jake admires, but Helen despises, people who always look their best.
-Clint Eastwood always was and will be the bomb.
-gapping:

-Barbara gave Sue a rose and Ada a carnation (Barbara gave Sue a rose and Ada
gave Sue a carnation OR Barbara gave Sue a rose and Barbara gave Ada a carnat.)

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 -Pseudo-coordination:
-informal speech
-I’ll try and come tomorrow. (I’ll try to come tomorrow.)
-Jane talked and talked and talked. (She talked long.)
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-There are doctors and doctors. (There are good and bad doctors.)
-Quasi-coordination:
-comparatives: as well as, much as, rather than, more than
-resemble coordinators because they link a variety of constituents, but are not
fully coordinatic
-He is to be pitied rather than despised
-John, as much as his brothers, was responsible for the accident. (verb is singular)
Subjects
7.4.2021.
-in English – all sentences have to have a subject (even if overt; in imperatives the
subject is implied)
-in Croatian – pro-drop language (we can drop the pronouns because the verbs
can imply the subject – Pjeva.)
-grammatical Subject:
-in English:
-shows agreement in number and person (sg, pl + first, second, third person)
-never preceded by prepositions in active sentences (but they are in passives – by)
-the unmarked case (always in the nominative ??)
-logical subject:
-semantics (This prey is haunted by the tigers at night.)
*dative subjects (Hladno mi je. – though not a real subject, “mi” is the
experiencer)
-psychological subject:
-refers to the “subject matter” (This prey the tigers hunt at night.)
-most prominent position

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-other forms may also be in the subject position (nominalized):

-Slowly is how he speaks. (AdvP)
-By the fire will be warmer. (PP)
-And is a conjunction. (conjunction)
-That Sharon’s car broke down is unfortunate. (nominal Cl)
-To finish the book is Jack’s intention (infin. Cl.)
-No means no. (negative particle)
-The rich are spiritually poor. (Adjective)
-It was unfortunate. (Pronoun)
8.3.2021.
-properties of grammatical relations:
-grammatical relations have coding and behavioral properties
-modern theories:
-descriptive (describe everything)
-coding properties – refer to morphosyntactic coding (marking) of relations in the
sentence (case marking, verb agreement, word order [position of arguments in
the sentence])

-case marking:
-the subject, in English, typically precedes the verb (SVO) and is in the nominative

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 case (personal pronouns – only remnants of case marking)
-“Kolače je ispekla moja sestra” (Kolaće – akuzativ)
?Hladno mi je. Stalo mi je.

Page -case
| 14 may be instantized morphologically in a number of ways within a NP:
-as a bound affixal elements (usually suffix)
-as an adposition or on articles
*adposition is an umbrella term for prepositions and postpositions (equivalent of
the preposition but it comes AFTER the complement)
-Hanakoga Taroo ni han o yotta. (Hanako gave a book to Taroo.) – ga
(nominative), ni (dative) o (accusative)
-by prosodic features (the tone)
-Masai language (Cile pantet, depending on the intonation, means different
things)

-verb agreement:
-the finite verb shows agreement with the subject
-English (number and person), Croatian (number, person and gender)

-position of arguments:
-basic position of subjects in front of verbs or after the operator in interrogative
clauses
-exceptions:
-in clauses without any conjunction (Even had she been alive, we couldn’t have
heard her.)
-when the sentence is introduced negatively (Never gonna give you up, never
gonna let you down. – Yes, you just got rickrolled.)
-in set phrases (Long live the king!)

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14.4.2021.
-behavioral properties
-how grammatical processes behave when they are involved in specific
constructions
-constructions observed:
-imperative constructions:
-the addressee is usually the subject (The dishes need washing*)
-reflexive constructions (reflexivization):
-which argument can be the antecedent of the reflexive pronoun?
-James saw himself, Sam told Miriam about herself, Sam told James about
himself?
-in English, the antecedent may be either the Subject or the Object
-wh-question formation:
-the referent may target a number of grammatical relations

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 -cleft formation:

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-relative clauses:
-the antecedents of relative pronouns and the complementizers may have various
grammatical roles
-if the head of the NP modigied by the relative cl. Functions as the subject of the
verb in the relative caluse, then the relative pronoun or that are obligatory (I
talked to the person that bought the house.)

*seem, appear, control – control verbs (It seems that she no longer likes you.)
15.4.2021.
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 -subject-verb agreement:
-sing./pl. noun requires sing./pl. verb
-clauses take singular verbs
-nominal wh-clauses can take both singular and plural (they resemble NPs)
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-pseudo subject (here and there) takes a singular verb
-singular nouns in plural form (mathematics) take a singular verb
-plural nouns in singular form (cattle) take a plural verb
-plural names and titles (Crime and Punishment) take a singular verb
-coordinated subjects (nouns, sentences, pronouns) take the pčural verb
-asyndetic coordination takes the plural verb
-quasi-coordination takes the singular
-coordinated premodifiers take a plural verb (American and Dutch beer are..)
-coordinated postmodifiers require a singular verb (beer from America and the
Netherlands is…)
-coordination of nouns equal in number take the verb whatever the number is
-coordination of nouns different in number take either depending on proximity
-phrases with neither… nor take the plural
-indefinite expressions:
-noncountable – singular (some [milk] is in the fridge)
-plural countable – plural (some [books] are coming today)
-indefinite pronouns and quantifiers – singular (Nobody was…)
-quantity a large number of people have applied/The majority agree
-pronouns and determiner reference – everyone thinks they have…
-concord of:
-notion – the idea of number rather than the gramm. Marker – collective nouns
(government, family, audience, band…)
-proximity – the verb agrees with the noun and pronoun that closely precedes it
(one in ten take… - fractions and correlatives)

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 Objects
-direct and indirect – arguments of the verb and they are found in the core of the
clause and not in the periphery
Page -only
| 18 transitive verbs take objects

-direct objects:
-have few unique syntactic properties but share some properties across languages
-coding property: typically, in the accusative (but not always)
-behavioral properties: they can become the subject of passive sentences
-semantic roles: most often the theme or patient
-English: typically, the first direct argument after the verb (esp. in mono-transitive
verbs)
*passives avoided in constructions with stative verbs - *A puppet was contained
by the box.
21.4.2021.
-verb alternations:
-not a universal property of languages (not in every language)
-constructions in which certain arguments don’t appear in the Od position, but
can, nevertheless, occur
-4 alternations of this kind in English:
-dative alternation
-transfer alternation
-locative alternation
-instrumental alternation
-the dative alternation (shift):
-the most debated one, because it involves two direct arguments
-Dan sent the package to Alan.
-Dan sent Alan the package.
*topicalization – making an element more prominent (sent 1. – the package, sent.
2. – Alan.) (the other element, the less important one, is the motive)
-English has around 30 verbs which allow dative shift

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!!!!!

22.4.2021.
-primary object: the indirect object of ditransitive constructions and direct object
of monotransitive constructions

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 -secondary is the direct object of ditransitive constructions

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-topicalization – making an argument prominent

4 types of alternation
-both constructions have to be possible to have alternations
-all are limited to a small number of words
-dative alternation – 2 remaining arguments
-other constructions that target Od:
-reflexivization
-control structures
-relativization
-indirect objects:
-less consistently identified in syntax
-they are not obligatory

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-what can you do with Oi?

-extraposition: to pluck it out of its usual position and place it somewhere where
it is not its usual position
-in -ing clauses (Julia must find working here quite exciting. -Julia must find it
exciting working here.)
-if the object is long and complex, it is possible to postpone without the usage of
it (The jury pronounced guilty every one of the accused.)

28.4.2021.
Transitivity
-the selection of a given verb determines what kind of complements will occur in
a sentence
-Adjuncts are generally not grammatically determined
-valency:
-the verb is the top-most element in the hierarchy
-syntactic: the number of syntactic arguments a verb may take
-semantic: the maximum number of semantic arguments a verb takes

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 -transitivity/complementation types:
-functional relations between the verb and the other constituents of the verb
phrase – how many and what kind of arguments a verb takes
-verbs are subcategorized according to what other elements must appear with
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them in the VP
-adjuncts do not subcategorize the VP
-subjects are usually not part of subcategorization – they are outside of the VP
-eat
-synt: 1 or 2 (Sam is eating. Sam is eating a pizza.)
-semantic: 2
-subcategorization: eat [(NP)] – without taking the subject into account; eat [NP
__ (NP)]
-put
-synt: 3 (Sam put his jacket on the chair.)
-sem: 3
-subcategorization: put [NP PP], put [NP __ NP, PP]
*if within the subcategorization frame we use round brackets it means they are
non-obligatory elements
-rain
-synt: 1 (It is raining.)
-sem: 0
-subcategorization: rain [NP __]
-main subcategorization frames:
-intransitive:
-cannot take any complements in the VP, a single-word verb counts as a VP
-Harrold disappeared.
-some can take Ca
-My cousin lives in Paris. (It isn’t an object so it is still intransitive)
-monotransitive:
-require a direct object
-Barbara wrote a book.
29.4.2021.
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 -copular verbs:
-require a single complement (AdjP, NP, PP, AdvP)
-Ca – always literal expressions of place (Paul is in the bathroom.)
Cs – particular properties attributed to the Subject (Gareth was a doctor.)
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-many monotransitive verbs can also be used as copulas
-Max felt a tap on his shoulder.
-Max felt real idiot.
-difference between Od and Cs
-Cs doesn’t express a relation between two individuals, instead they
attribute properties to the subject
-two individuals
-difference between Ca and Cs:
-Ca (Tom is in the house/beside the stove.) – literal place
-Cs (Tom is beside himself) – non-literal “place” expression

-complex-transitive verbs:
-Od and Co (form: AdjP or NP)
-Ray found her jokes hilarious.
-Max found Bob an amusing companion. – ambiguous (Max found an
amusing companion for Bob)
-Od and Ca
-Sheila put the keys on the table.

-verbs that show multiple valency pattern:

a) intransitive – monotransitive
-Money certainly helped. – Money helped his father.
b) monotransitive – complex-transitive
-The police might find a body. – You might find these slides useful.
-selectional restrictions: restrictions which lexical verbs impose on its arguments
-lexical entries contain info about the semantic roles (if you have a verb like
“build” you know that you need an agent (S) and a patient (Od))

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 -lexical verbs impose restrictions on the type of argument that can occur with
them in a sentence if you have a verb like “blame” you know that the subject has
to be animate [human])

Page -some
| 24 verbs have small restrictions and some have very specific (if you use the
verb “flow” you know you need a liquid as the subject [in its literal meaning])
*metaphorical meaning abolishes these restrictions!
-language systems:

-morphosyntactic alignment
-transitive have 2 core arguments (subjects (Si/A*) and object (O))
-intransitive have 1 core argument (subject (Si/S*)
*A – the marking for the subject in transitive constructions to separate them from
subjects in intransitive constructions
-nominative-accusative alignment:
-the subject argument of transitive verbs is treated like the A/S of intransitive
(Objects stand apart) (English, Croatian, Japanese)
-no ergative-absolutive functions/elements ever
-ergative-absolutive alignment:
-the ergative and absolutive case
-the subject of transitive verbs are marked by the ergative case and the subject of
intransitive and the Objects are unmarked (absolutive case) (Basque)
-some do show some elements of the Nominative-accusative alignment
*the only thing to know for the exam is the fact that these two alignments exist
and their differences (how they treat the S/A and how ergative languages treat
the S/O arguments of transitives)

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5.5.2021.
Adverbials
-being an Adverbial is neither a function, nor structural type nor lexical categories
(Adverbials can be obligatory (Ca) and non-obligatory (A))
*NEVER write just Adverbial (mention both the function and form)
-characteristics:
-generally mobile (can occur in initial, medial and final position and can generally
be moved around – there are limitations)
-generally optional – may be added or omitted from the sentence without
affecting the acceptability (except the obligatory adverbials – Ca)
-obligatory or optional?
-if they are crucial and cannot be omitted – obligatory and they are adverbial
complements
-if they don’t give crucial information – additional and they are Adjunct (of time,
place etc.)
-ambiguous cases:
-if you leave it out will it be grammatical and if it is left out will the verb have the

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 same or roughly the same meaning or will it change radically? -if the answer to
any of these is “yes” then it is an obligatory element
6.5.2021.
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Tense and Aspect

-stative verbs (denote a state) – to be, hear, possess etc. EVE

NTS
-action verbs (denote an action) – go, kill, swim, construct etc.
-tense and aspect convey information about the nature of situations and their
position in time – tense (grammatical, linguistic category) and time (extra-
linguistic category; past, future and present)
-tense:
-expresses the relation of what we are talking about to the time of the action
-there is no future tense; there are grammatical devices to explain future time
-only finite Verb Phrases can express time – present and past
-a finite verb can either be marked for tense or have a modal, but never both at a
time (Jane reads. Jane can read. *Jane can reads.)
-simple present tense:
-present time (action, state or habit)
-past time (narration: So I come up to him and slap him on the back.)
-future time (The train leaves tomorrow.)
-simple past tense:
-past time
-present time (stance – imaginary distance between the person and what they are
saying [politeness]) – think, wonder, want (I just wanted to thank you.)
-the subjunctive (hypothetical) – (It’s high time you got married.)

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 -aspect:
-views the events with regard to their internal temporal structure (internal
constituency) – events seen as a whole or having layers, completed, ongoing, as
having taken place once, being repeated, a habit
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-lexical and grammatical aspect:
-lexical (situation) aspect: expressing aspect by using different lexical items
-Aktionsart
-grammatical (viewpoint) aspect: expressing aspect by using special grammatical
means
-lexical aspect:
-two major lexical verb classes: stative and dynamic
-stative verbs involve no change, are continuous and are unbounded (there is
nothing in the verb to signal that it will end at a certain point)
-dynamic verbs involve a change and require energy to maintain the event
*if a clause can answer the question “What happened” it contains a non-stative
verb
-Aktionsart-division:

-stative verbs:
-can rarely be used in the progressive form and are not used in the imperative
-Romeo knows Julia. *Romeo is knowing Julia. *Know Julia!
-but: I’m seeing my shrink tomorrow. Yondu is being difficult again.
-exclude adverbs such as quickly (*John quickly likes Mary.)
-do not occur in wh-cleft sentences (What Romeo did was know Julia’s parents.)

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 -dynamic verbs:
-non-static/stative situations or events that may further be subdivided with
regards to:
1. Situations that last over a period of time and have no built-in boundaries
Page | 28
(does it have a build in end-point) – durative or atelic (no inherent end-point) –
thus, activities, verbs, achievements
-activities: a situation or event which lasts for over a period of time and has no
inherent end-point – durative and atelic. (Jack and Paul talked for hours.)
-allow phrases such as for hours/years/months and do not allow phrases
such as in twenty minutes
2. those verbs that have a built-in boundary – telic
-achievements: (wink, knock, stab…) He winked at her.
-an event that has a beginning and an end and no duration – punctual and telic
-accomplishments: (bake, melt…) Tom baked a cake.
-refer to situations with an activity phase that has lasted for some time and then a
closing phase – durative and telic
-activities and accomplishments allow the use of continuous and progressive
aspects, achievements and states usually do not
-Jack and Paul are talking. – durative, atelic
-Jack has baked a cake – durative, telic
-*Mike is crushing his car. – punctual, telic
-*He is knowing her parents. – durative, atelic but stative

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 -shifts in aspectual classes – using aspectual particles or various adverbials
(English) or affixes (Croatian)
-aspectual particles:
Page -change
| 29 or stress the telicity of the verb (drink; atelic – drink up; telic | sit; atelic –
sit down, telic | work; telic – work on - atelic)
-imply different meanings:
-completion – off, up, down (fire off, drink up, hunt down)
-duration – on (work on, keep on, carry on)
-endurance – out (last out)
-persistence – away (slog away, work away)
-aimless behavior – around (sleep around, fool around)

12.05.2021.
-classification according to Vendler:
-states: desire, want, love, hate, believe, have
-dynamic:
-activities – durative and atelic
-accomplishments – durative and telic (result)
-achievements – punctual and telic (result) - reach

-classifications according to Smith:

-same as Vendler with the addition of semelfactives – dynamic, atelic and
punctual – knock, hiccup (verbs that can be considered as that the end point is so

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 brief that it is considered that it does not exist – wink)

-grammatical aspect:
-in English – the perfect and progressive aspect
Page | 30
-shows a particular situation is:

-non-progressive forms:
-refer to an event as a whole and completed
-in the past typically a single event (Romeo stared at Julia.)
-in the present typically a habitual event (He stands under the balcony.)
-progressive form:
-a single ongoing event (Jane was playing the piano.)
-with telic verbs in progressive we abolish the end-point (She was baking a cake. –
activity; …for hours)

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 -telic verbs which denote a change of state, the progressive form focuses on the
process (Martha was growing old.)
-with semelfactives, the interpretation is seen as a repetition (Thor was blinking in
the sun.)
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-secondary meaning connected with the progressive form:
-temporariness (We are having lunch an hour earlier this week.)
-simultaneity (He was listening to Iron Maiden while she was listening to Taylor
Swift.)
-emotional coloring (politeness) (I was wondering if you could help me.)
-different aspectual meanings:
-inchoative (beginning): begin, start
-cessative (ending): stop, finish
-change-of-state: become, come, get, grow, go, run
-duration: continue, go on, keep
-frequentative: will, would, used to

13.5.2021.
- ‘twas a Kahoot quiz, but good exercise:
1. Oz - it’s no place like home. STATE
2. O’Reilly is constantly plotting against someone. ACTIVITY
3. Keller hid a knife under his mattress. ACHIEVEMENT
4. Beecher didn’t push Keller over the fence. ACHIEVMENT
5. Everybody was watching Miss Sally’s Schoolyard. ACTIVITY

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 6. Dino Ortolani was set on fire. ACHIEVMENT

Page | 32 Modality
-derived from the Latin word modus which means mode
-mood – grammatical expression of various modalities
-modality – the meanings expressed through these grammatical device
-modality:
-intertwined with tense, aspect, evidentiality, conditionals etc.
-modality is an assessment of potentiality – the judgment of a speaker about how
possible or real it is for a situation to happen or not happen – epistemic modality
(subjective assessment how likely or unlikely something is to happen – subjective
modality) and deontic modality (the speaker’s attitude towards the realization of
a desired or expected event – objective modality)
-epistemic modality: (Greek episteme – knowledge)
-expresses doubts, certainties, guesses
-certain – probable – possible – unlikely – impossible
-Jane must be right about this. – Jane should be right about this. – Jane may be
right about this. – Jane might be right about this. – Jane can’t be right about this.
*may – stronger possible event than might
-meanings expressed in epistemic modality and which devices are used:
-modal verbs:
-grammatical devices:
-auxiliaries (may, might, can, could, etc.)
-epistemic moods (subjunctive)
-affixes or particles – not used in English in Croatian
-lexical devices:
-adverbs (perhaps, possibly, maybe, surely, certainly, etc.)
-through a certain intonation pattern (sarcasm – He must be a genius. – I highly
doubt he is)

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 -deontic modality: (Greek deon – duty)
-expresses how the world ought to be according to the moral norms etc.
-obligatory – acceptable – permissible – unacceptable – forbidden
-You must go now. – You may go now. – You shouldn’t go now. – You mustn’t go
Page | 33
now.
-expressed trough different devices:
-grammatical means:
-modal verbs
-verbal moods (indicative, subjunctive, imperative)
-non-grammatical (lexical)
-other verbs (I hope to come soon.)
-adverbs (hopefully)
19.5.2021.
-subtypes of deontic modality:
-comissive – commitment to something, threats and promises (I shall help you, he
promised…) – hsall, will
-imperatives – commands, requests said or stated to someone (Close the window,
can you close the window; must, ought, shall, should)
-necessity – must, need
-permission – can/could, may/might
-volitive – wishes, desires, etc. – will/would
-if only I were rich.
-dynamic modality: (not necessary for the exam)
-physical necessity or possibility
-not subjective (unlike epistemic and deontic modality) – can and will
-prediction, ability, habitual activity…

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Page | 34

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 -if a modal verb is followed by a progressive/perfective verb phrase, the modal is
usually interpreted as epistemic
-The students must read the grammar book. D
-The students must be reading the grammar book. E
Page | 35
-The students must have read the grammar book. E
-modal verbs:
-proper: can, could, may, might, must, ought to, shall, should, will, would
-marginal: need, dare, have to, used to
-some lexical verbs and adjectives
-be able to, obliged to, be likely to, be willing to, be supposed to, etc.
Features of modal verbs:
-act as auxiliaries (resemble primary auxiliaries) – followed by infinitives (Bob can
swim.)
-do not need the verb “do” for negatives and interrogatives (Bob can not swim.)
-no inflections for agreement or tense
-no non-finite forms *to can/must swim
-no proper past tense, past form (but that does not automatically refer to the past
time)
-you can only use one modal verbs in one verb phrase (except southern AmE – I
might should drive.)
-marginal modal verbs behave in different ways:
-like modals: no s-form, no do-support, followed by bare infinitives - You need
not tell Susan about this
-like lexical verbs: s-form, possibility of non-finite forms, followed by to-infinitives
Bob needs to tell her about this.
-evidentiality:
-often considered a sub-type of epistemic modality
-indication of the source of the information upon which a proposition is based
-I see that Bob is coming. -evidential; he is coming, obviously
-I guess Bob is coming tonight. -epistemic, I guess he’s coming
-European languages often indicate evidential-type information through modal
verbs or other lexical words or phrases /reportedly, allegedly)

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 -some languages have a distinct grammatical category of evidentiality that is
required to be expressed at all times

Page | 36

20.5.2021.
Voice
-active and passive voice
-why use differnet voices – to highlight different things and to make other things
less important – differnet organisation of information
-short passive and long passive (with the agent in the form of a PP)
-be passive and get passive:
-get passive:
-dynamic
-be passive:
-static
-participial adjectives: look like a passive but are actually adjectives; to
differentiate
-we are delighted to see, you should be excited – participial adjectives
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 -break:
-The silence was broken by the victim’s screams. – we have an agent (by…) – The
victim’s screams broke the silence
-This wooden fence is always broken. – Cs
Page | 37
-shave: different form for the participial adjective (shaved, shaven)
-common uses of the passive voice:
-academic prose: to make it as neutral as possible, to eliminate yourself as the
person who writes and make it about the actual fact (When insulin is
administered…)
-news: the fact that something happened (Smith was accused and prosecuted.)
-the middle voice:
-The book osld 50 000 copies. – somebody sold 50k copies, the book didn’t do
that itself
-This room seats 60 people.
-The potatoes are cooking.
-Soup that eats like a meal.
-syntactically active and lexically passive
-the subject cannot wholy be categorized as agent or patient cause it has
elements of both (The casserole cooked in the oven.)
-passival:
-until the 19th century (The house is building – The house is being built.)
-The clothes are soaking – they are actually being soaked.
*other voices in different languages:
-the circumstantial voice – promotes an oblique argument to the role of the
subject: the former subject becomes an oblique argument
-the applicative voice – promotes an oblique argument to the core object
argument

-the causative voice – promotes the oblique argument of a transitive verb to an

actor argument

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 -some languages do not have voice contrast – the “common person” (fourth
person, or zero-person conjugation)

Page | 38
Pro-forms and ellipsis
26.5.2021.
-pro-forms:
-refer back to an expression without repeating (language economy)
-pronouns, auxiliary verbs, the pronoun “one”
-pronouns:
-instead of noun phrases
-referential meaning: determined by grammar and linguistical/situational context
– deixis – words whose meaning you distinguish based on the context (wihtout
the context we cannot determine what the pronoun refers to)
-without proper reference they are ambiguous in emaning:
-Annie told her friend that she had to leave. (Annie, her friend or someone third
has to leave?)
-anaphoric or cataphoric reference:
-anaphoric: refers back to an antecedent (This restaurant has excellent wines, you
should try them.)
-cataphoric: refers forward to an antecedent (When he caught the thief, he read
him his rights.)
-cataphoric reference:
-Before he joined the Navy, Garry made peace with his family.
-She admitted that the reporters had interviewed Janet. – not cataphoric
-you can only have cataphoric reference if the pronoun is in the class of a lower
rank – subordinate/dependent clause for example
-pronominals do not have to refer to NPs:
-if they do they cannot have the antecedent within the same NP or clause –
antecedent are always in a different clause

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 -only with a reflexive pronoun can they be in the same clause
-Rachel was looking at her in the mirror. Vs. Rachel was looking at herself in the
mirror.

Page -reflexive
| 39 pronouns cannot be used to refer directly to someone outside of the
sentence – they always take their antecedents form the same clause
-Jason can feel proud of him. Vs. Jason can feel proud of himself.
-auxiliary verbs:
-replacement of the entire VP – do, so, other auxiliaries, be and modal verbs
-Who took the picture? I did.
-She might cry but I don’t think she will.
-the pronoun one:
-replaces entire constituents, but also only parts of constituents (intermediate
constituents)
-I liked the green scarf but she liked the red one.
-I liked the red scarf, but Lisa liked that one.

-ellipsis:
-the omission of elements which are recoverable from the linguistic context of the
situation
-used to avoid repetition
-She was exhausted and ___ went to sleep.
-the precondition is verbatim recoverability: the omitted words must be precisely
recoverable
-positions of ellipsis:
-clause initial: He squeezed her hand and ___ saw no reaction.
-clause medial. Bob and Bill both jumped out. Bob ___ to help the injured, Bill
____ to stop the traffic.
-clause final: Elise appears to be fond of ice cream but I don’t think she is ____.
-types of ellipsis:
-textual ellipsis: the missing word can be found in the near text – textual

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 recoverability
-I am happy if you are. John is not likely to come, but he might.
-situational ellipsis: the missing words are not found in the near text but are clear
Page from
| 40 the context of the utterance
-Would you care for a drink? Care for a drink?
-Beg your Pardon? Serves you right! Got any change? – these have become fixed
-structural ellipsis:
-an element in the structure has been deleted . the interpretation depends on the
knowledge of the grammatical structure – structural recoverability
-relative pronoun, that
-I believe (that) you are mistaken.
-gapping:
-a type of ellipsis in complex coordination that has the effect of leaving a gap in
the middle of a sentence
-Kim joined the company in 1988, and Pal ____ the following year.

Negation
27.5.2021.
-negative clauses are marked as such by the presence if a very specific negative
element on the verb in some form
-it is expressed either through using the negative particle not on a finite verb or
by using negative infinite verbs
-it has to always be expressed explicitly by using specific markers
-Jules did not go to Amsterdam.
-Jules saw nobody there.
-the scope of negation:
-what are the things negation covers, the part of the sentence negation applies to
semantically (July has no job. – no job is the scope of negation)
-regarding to the scope, negation can be either sentence/clause negation or
constituent negation

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 -sentence negation:
-always negates the entire sentence or clause
-using the particle not or n’t
-Butch is not/isn’t home right now.
Page | 41
-constituent negation:
-negates a constituent in an otherwise affirmative sentence
-using not and no
-Jimmy decided not to come to the event.
-There was no job she was happy with.
-negative prefixes:
-Arnold is pretty unattractive.
-The game was irregular.
-This new play of his is rather immoral.
-inherently negative words:
-considered to carry negative force and therefore do not require another
negation.
-doubt, suspect, forbid…
-I doubt he will come back.
-I doubt that he won’t come back. – he will come back.
-the scope of negation usually extends from the negative item itself to the end of
the sentence/clause
-ambiguous scope:
-Kowalski doesn’t beat his wife because he loves her. (1. Scope - he loves her so
he doesn’t beat her | 2. Scope – he beats her, but not because he loves her, but
because of something else)
-negation of modals:
-the scope of negation may or may not unclude the meaning od some modal
auxiliaries.
-Jane may not got. (Jane may not go. Jane may not go.)

-multiple negation:
-DN languages – two or more negations cancel each other out and resolve in

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 positive meaning – logical double negation
-NC languages – several negative elements result in a single logical negation –
negative concord

Page | 42 4.6.2021.
-negative polarity items – use of the pronoun any
-do support introduced in negatives and interrogatives
-Jespersen’s Cycle or negative cycle:

-two negations in different clauses make a positive (I can’t say she’s not pretty.)
-sentence negation and constituent negation makes an affirmative meaning
(Paula is not unattractive.)
-an even number of clausal negation make an affirmative meaning (I don’t think
he isn’t trying.)
-an odd number of clausal negations make an negative meaning (Jack doesn’t
believe that Mo didn’t say that Jane wasn’t pretty.)
-other types of negation:
-transferred negation: a feature of informal style with verbs of opinion or
perception (believe, imagine, seem…)
-I believe we haven’t met. I don’t believe we’ve met.
-pleonastic (expletive) negation
-negative elements in the scope of inherently negative verbs (before, unless
clauses, verbs of fearing)
-English uses it rarely!
-I miss not seeing your around (I miss seeing…)ž

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 -Don’t be surprised if it doesn’t rain.
-Hillary’s been failing for 30 years in not getting the job done – it will never
change. – Trump, 2016

Page | 43 Subordination
.one of the two major verbs to link clauses, sentences or elements
-hierarchy
-complex sentences – one main clause and one or more subordinate clauses
-may function not only on a clause element but also as a constituent of a phrase
(Liz served the food that they had ordered. – still a simple sentences)
-marked by: subordinating conjunctions, wh-items, the complementizer that,
subject-auxiliary inversion in declaratives or the absence of a finite verb
-may come in the form of a finite clause, nonfinite clause or verbless clause
-4 major categories:
-nominal, relative, adverbial and comparative
-nominal: resemble NPs
-relative – modifiers of NPs except for nominal relative and sentential relative
clauses
-adverbial – function mainly as adjuncts
-comparative – resemble adjectives and adverbs in modifying functions
-nominal clauses:
-that-clauses
-wh-interrogative
-yes-no interrogative
-nominal relative
-nominal -ing
-nominal to infinitive
-nominal bare infinitive
-nominal that clauses:
-similar to relative clauses but they function as NP’s instead of postomodifiers
.I knew that he was wrong.
-The assumption is that things will improve
-cannot be Co and prep. Compl-
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 -nominal wh-interrogative clauses:
-often called indirect questions: do not have the subject-auxiliary inversion
-How the book will sell depends on the author.
-Bob was asking what happened.
Page | 44
-nominal yes-no interrogative clauses:
-indirect questions, with no subject-auxiliary inversion: introduced by whether or
if
-I wonder whether he took out the trash or not.
4.6.2021.
-nominal relative clauses:
-are NOMINAL clauses
-normally can be paraphrased by a simple NP that contains a postmodifying
relative clause
-Macy’s is where I buy my clothes. – Macy’s is the place where I buy my clothes.
-nominal ing clause:
-Watching TV keeps them out of trouble.
-verbal nouns vs. -ing clauses
-verbal noun – add a modifier or determiner in front of the noun (I warned him
against careless driving.)
-ing clause – adding adverbs (I warned him against driving carelessly.)
-nominal to-infinitive clause:
-To be neutral is out of the question.
-The best thing is to say what you mean.
-nominal bare infinitive clause:
-rare
-Maw the lawn was what I did today.
-The best thing to do now is write her a letter.
-They made her pay for the damage.

-nominal verbless clauses:

-they suggest clausal analysis – they suggest ellipsis

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 -in manuals, instructions, phrases, etc.
-A friend need is a friend indeed.
-When in doubt, circle the answer c.

Page | 45

Relative clauses
9.6.2021.
-generally modifiers to nouns
-introduced by relative pronouns and the complementizer that
-show inanimate and inanimate distinction (who, which – that)
-refer back to an antecedent
-restrictive and non-restrictive relative clauses:
-difference in intonation and punctuation (non-restrictive have slight pauses in
intonation, restrictive don’t – spoken as one unit) (non-restrictive relative-clauses
will be divided with commas, restrictive won’t)
-meaning: restrictive clauses restrict or rather specify the meaning (the guy who
stood by the pool was drunk – as opposed to other guys) and non-restrictive
clauses add more information (the guys, who stood by the pool, was drunk – the
guy was drunk and btw he was at the pool)
-restrictive clauses can take both that and which, non-restrictive clauses can only
be introduced by wh-pronouns

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 -restrictive clauses have nps as antecedents, non-restrictive have clauses and
proper nouns (Max arrived late, which caused some surprise – sentential relative
clause)
-proper nouns have unique reference – Max, who I saw by the pool, drank beer.
Page | 46
(*Max who I saw…) but He’s not the Max I was referring to
-BUT: The Max I saw by the pool drank beer.
-adverbs as relativizers – words that introduce relative clauses
-where, when, why – the day when I saw him was the worst
-sentential relative clauses:
-introduced by which
-antecedent is a clause
-always non-restrictive
-I never met Brando again, which is a pity

-omitting the relativizer:

-relative vs appositive:
-only a small number of nouns can take an appositive clause
-relative clauses are forms, appositives are functions
-how to distingusih appostiives from relatives?
-appositives can always be paraphrased into a copula with the verb “be”
-The news that she gave John a good kick shocked them all. – The news is that she gave John a good
kick.

Adverbial clauses

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 -they occupy the positions which are typically occupied by AdvPs or PPs
-He saw her there/in London.
-He saw here where the wild roses grow.

-function mainly as Adjuncts

Page -complements
| 47 vs adjuncts:
-adjuncts can occur with any verb
-they are peripheral – non-obligatory
-The doctor put the girl on a diet because she was overweight.

-semantic classification of adverbial clauses:

-different subordinating conjunctions introduce clauses of different meanings:
-as – manner, reason, time
-since – reason, time
-while – concession/contrast, time

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Page | 48

-adverbial clauses of time:

-after, before, since, till, until, when
-finite, non-finite, verbless
-Be careful when you cross/crossing the street.
-When in trouble, call your friend.

-adverbial clauses of place:

-where, wherever, when
-Take the right fork when/where the road splits in two.

-adverbial clauses of manner:

-as, like, as if, as though
-She’s acting as if she doesn’t love him.

-conditional clauses:
-if clauses – adjuncts
-open condition, hypothetical condition and third condition (was in the past and was possible, but didn’t
happen)

-adverbial clauses of concession and contrast:

-concession: although, though, while, whereas, whilst, even if

-adverbial clauses of reason and purpose:

-reason: because and since
-purpose – in order to, so as to, so (that) – to what purpose?

-adverbial clauses of result:

-so that and so
-the result is already achieved and is known
-RERASON – we paid him immediately so that he left contented.
-PURPOSE – We paid him immediately so that he would leave contented.

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 -+:
-convey the speaker’s comment
-evaluate the certainty of something
-separated by the comma
-Strictly speaking, they weren’t married.
Page -Put
| 49 bluntly, these guys are idiots.
-Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn.

Information processing
10.6.2021.
-information structure – obavijesna struktura

-the communicative organization of the text (or sentences combined to produce a text) – how to
present what you want to say (psychologically determined)
-we can highlight an aspect of our utterance that is communicatively effective – dynamism – variation in
communicative value between different parts of the utterance
-information unit – the unit highlighted, the one item being highlighted )but other units carry info too)
-the principle of end-focus – linear presentation from low to high information values
-we always start with the known info and then get to the new one
-given information – theme or topic; something that the receiver of the message has knowledge about
-usually in initial position in the sentence and unstressed – the subject and the theme often coincide
-new information – rheme or comment; the essential piece of new info that is carried by the sentence,
it is the focus of the message
-new info can be the entire clause or the last element of the clause (end-focus):
-We’re going to the races.
A: What’s on today?
B: We’re going to the races – everything here is new info

A: What are we doing today?

B: We are going to the races. – only the bold part is new info

A: Where are we going today?

B: We are going to the races. – only the bold part is new info

-every clause usually has one point of focus – marked by intonation (dynamic prominence)
-end-focus is unmarked – the chief prominence is on the last phrase
-theme and focus can also be marked – move the element carrying the focus from its usual position at
the end to somewhere else (different intonation

Oi are in English either only recipients or beneficiaries

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Page | 50

-English manipulates the word order to a degree (though it is quite fixed)_

-various grammatical devices to achieve marked theme or focus
-why?
1. Information flow
2. Focus
3. Contrast
4. Weight
-unmarked word order in English has the following features:
-the S normally precedes the V and the V precedes its complements
-interrogative clauses have subject-auxilliray inversion
-phrases are normally continuous

-Fronting:
-placing in initial position a clause element which is usually found after the verb
-An unusual way of speaking Yoda has.

-Subject-operator inversion:
-fronting with so, neither or nor – Luke didn’t see C-3PO and neither did Leia.
-negatives (neither, never, not only, hardly, no sooner, seldom) – Hardly hat the engine started when all
hell broke out.
-expressions with so, only and such – Such was the battle that they lost all of the sips.
-subordinate clauses of condition and concession (formal) – Should you change your mind, please let me
know.

-subject verb inversion:

-triggered by the fronting of complements or adverbials
-Down in a hole were found his remains. Especially remarkable were his lightsaber skills.

-cleft sentences:
-the one that is cleft is made most prominent
-it + be … that/who
-It is silk worms that most of the silk in Britain comes from.

Oi are in English either only recipients or beneficiaries

Middle voice – Active in form and passive in meaning (This document won't scan.)
 -it is possible to derive multiple things from one sentence:
-It is Darth who put his lightsaber on the dashboard. It is his lightsaber that Dart put on the dashboard.

-pseudo-cleft sentences:
-What you need most is a good rest.
Page -What
| 51 I’m doing is teaching them to dance.
-begin with “W” words and have the SVCs valency

-postponement:
-putting the element at or near the end of the clause rather than its default place (the major factor is
weight)
-They brought an extraordinarily lavish lunch with them. – They brought with them an extraordinarily
lavish lunch.
-sometimes you postpone only one part of the constituent – discontinuous NP – A droid walked in
whom I never saw before.

-extraposition:
-taking something out of its usual position. it can be either fronted or postponed – always ends in
fronting or postponement
-the extraposition of a clausal subject or a clausal object
-dummy it
-either postponing subjects or fronting objects
-It is a pleasure to have you here for dinner.
-It was on the news that prices went up.

-Luke made it his objective to become a Jedi.

-Something put it into his head that Darth was his father.
-The Jedi are a pleasure to teach.
-Custom lightsabers they made.
-They pronounced guilty every one of the accused.

-raising: (not exam material)

Oi are in English either only recipients or beneficiaries

Middle voice – Active in form and passive in meaning (This document won't scan.)
 -existential sentences:
-introduced by the existential there
-There was a cat in the backyard. (A cat was in the backyard.)

-bare existentials - have no corresponding non-existential version

Page -There
| 52 was a serious accident on highway 23.

Oi are in English either only recipients or beneficiaries

Middle voice – Active in form and passive in meaning (This document won't scan.)