Structure of Predication

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Structure of Predication

• Meeting 5

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Some administrative matters

• Have U visited the blog and contributed
  something?
• If no, youd better start soon.

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• The basic structure of structure of predication
  is
• Subject Predicate
• But is it always like this?
• What do you think?

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• The subject and predicate can be either of the
  following
• - a single word
• - a word with accompanying function words
• - a phrase, or
• - one of the syntactic structures modification,
  complementation, or coordination

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• Specifically the subject can be a structure of
  predication also which is defined as included
  clause
• The predicate consists of a verb and a verb
  phrase in key position
• Examples
• - Money talks
• - Courtesy always pays
• - The sun sets in the west

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• A predicate can be filled by a structure of
  complementation, such as
• - the snow was cold
• - The clerk sold me the shirt
• - My neighbour painted his house green
• A predicate can also consist of a structure of
  coordination, such as
• - We walked and talked
• - People either like this place or hate it

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• So we can temporarily conclude that predicate
  has verb component in it either as a single verb
  though seldom or a more or less complex structure
  with the verb at its core or the heart of the
  matter.

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• Thus it needs to be clearly known that VERB is
  classified into seven heads
• - person
• - tense
• - phase
• - aspect
• - mode
• - voice, and
• - status

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• In terms of person, verb can be classified in
  common and third singular. Examples the man
  walks, he feels, this looks good, the tall man in
  the car drives, eating candy causes tooth decay,
  what I want costs money, either his mistakes or
  his bad luck keeps him poor.

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• In terms of Tense, there are two tenses common
  (present) and past (preterit). They are shown by
  the inflexion attached to the verbs Common base
  / base (-s), while Past (base (-ed).
• The be has its exceptional forms (is, am, are
  present and was, were past)

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• In terms of Phase, there are two phases simple
  and perfect (have past participle verb).
  Examples
• - I speak vs I have spoken
• - We work vs We have worked

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• In terms of Aspect, there are three
• - simple the verb is unmarked
• - durative be baseing
• - inchoative get present participle

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• In terms of Mode, it can be seen from
• - the modal auxiliaries base form must go,
  may come, should see,etc., and
• - certain other auxiliaries infinitive
  (tobase form) used to study, ought to come,
  have to go, etc.

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• In terms of Voice, there are two voices Active
  and passive voices. Passive is formed by the aux.
  be past participle verb or get past participle
  verb.
• Examples
• - He kills he is killed/He gets killed
• - They built a house A house was built
• - We have done the work The work has been
  done

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• Can you analyze these two?
• - The man was informed by his wife
• - The man was informed about politics

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• In terms of status, verbs has four statues
  affirmative, interrogative, negative, and
  negative interrogative. Examples
• - He is working He works
• - He is not working He does not work
• - Is he working? Does he work?
• - Isnt he working? Doesnt he work?

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• Whats the difference between
• Doesnt he work? And
• Does he not work?

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(No Transcript)
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Functions in the Verb Phrase (VP)

• Head V
• Dependents
• Pre-head modifier AdvP
• Post-head modifier AdvP/PP
• (Post-head) complement NP/PP/AdvP/clause

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S
SubjectNP TenseAUX PredicateVP
headV PtHdModAdvP
The boy has run
very quickly
S
SubjectNP TenseAUX PredicateVP
PrHdModAdvP V
The boy has very quickly
run
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• Types of Complement in the VP
• Direct Object NP
• Indirect Object NP
• Prepositional Phrase Complement (PPC) PP
• Subject Predicative Complement (PCS) NP/AdjP
• Object Predicative Complement (PCO) NP/AdjP

Post-head modifiers in VP are often referred to
as adjuncts
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Direct Object (DO) Function in VP

• The direct object function is filled by NP
• The dogs chased the cats.
• If the direct object is a pronoun, the pronoun is
  in Accusative case form.
• The dogs chased them. (they)
• In basic sentences, the direct object NP comes
  immediately after the verb
• The dogs chased quickly them.
• Exception if there is also an indirect object NP
• The boy bought the girl an icecream.

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Unlike PP complements in NPs and AdjPs the direct
object (DO) NP is usually obligatory in
English The boy discovered the treasure. The
boy discovered it. The boy discovered.
The discovery of the treasure The discovery
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Indirect Object (IO) function in VP

• Indirect object (IO) function is only filled by
  NP
• IO follows V and precedes DO
• I gave my brother a new bicycle.
• The IO pronoun is Accusative (or Reflexive)
• Accusative IO I baked him a cake
• Reflexive IO I baked myself a cake

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Preposition Phrase Complement in VP (PPC)

• a PP may fill a complement function in a VP
• It may be the only complement
• John relies on his friend.
• It may follow an NP (DO) complement
• John put the book on the table.
• As with PP complements in an NP or AdjP, the
  choice of preposition is restricted by the verb.
• relies on/in/from believes in/on/about

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Subjective Predicative Complement (PCS)

• PCS is filled by NP or by AdjP
• PCS comes directly after the verb
• The PCS describes an attribute or property of the
  referent of the subject NP
• Compare
• The man saw a doctor. (DO)
• The man became a doctor. (PCS)
• The man saw very clever. (DO)
• The man became very clever. (PCS)

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Another property of PCS

• If the PCS is a NP, it normally agrees with the
  subject NP
• The gentleman is a lawyer.
• The gentlemen are lawyers.
• The gentleman is lawyers.
• The gentlemen are a lawyer.
• Only a limited set of verbs take an NP as PCS
• be, become, seem, look, resemble...

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Tests to distinguish PCS from DO

• Test 1 - Substitution
• Marjorie looked a fright.
• PCS can be NP or AdjP.
• DO can only be NP.
• Can you replace the NP with an AdjP?
• Marjorie looked frightful /angry /very sad.
• Therefore - PCS.

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Tests to distinguish PCS from DO

• Test 2 - Agreement
• The doctor seems a nice man.
• PCS must agree with the subject.
• DO does not agree with the subject
• The doctor saw a nice man/nice men.
• Can you make the NP plural?
• The doctor seems nice men.
• Therefore - PCS.

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Objective Predicative Complement (PCO)

• Similar to PCS in many respects, but a PCO
  describes an attribute of the DO of a sentence.
• We consider him our leader.
• Subj Verb DO PCO
• The PCO function is filled by NP or AdjP.
• We consider him very trustworthy.
• An NP in the PCO function agrees in number with
  the DO phrase.
• We consider them our leaders.

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Distinguish PCO construction from IO construction

• VP ? V NP NP
• We consider him our leader. (DO PCO)
• We gave him our leader. (IO DO)
• Substitute AdjP for NP if PCO
• We consider him very stong.
• Cannot substitute AdjP for NP if DO
• We gave him very strong.

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Distinguish PCO construction from IO construction

• VP ? V NP NP
• We consider him our leader. (DO PCO)
• We gave him our leader. (IO DO)
• DO NP and PCO NP agree in number
• We consider him our leader. (singular)
• We consider them our leaders. (plural)
• No number agreement between IO and DO
• We gave him our leader/leaders.
• We gave them our leader/leaders.

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Adjuncts

• Post-head dependents which are not complements in
  a VP are adjuncts
• Adjuncts are never obligatory
• Adjuncts modify some aspect of the possible
  reference of the VP
• Different types of phrases can act as an adjunct
  in a VP (XP is an abbreviation for an unspecified
  type of phrase)
• Adjuncts can be fronted to pre-Subject

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• I left very quickly. (AdvP)
• I left.
• Very quickly I left.
• I saw John on Tuesday. (PP)
• I saw John.
• On Tuesday I saw John.
• Mary left the following day. (NP)
• Mary left.
• The following day Mary left.

Multiple adjuncts Sue slept very badly in the
plane on Tuesday after the meeting
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Complements cannot be omitted (except in special
cases)

• I behave very badly. (COMPAdvP)
• I behave ___. (incomplete - opposite meaning)
• I put John on the ground. (COMPPP)
• I put John ___.
• Mary left her bag. (COMPNP)
• Mary left ____.
• Santa depends on Rudolph. (COMPPP)
• Santa depends ___.

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Complements precede adjuncts John read the
book carefully/in the lounge John read
carefully/in the lounge the book.
Exception 'Heavy' DO NP may follow an adjunct
phrase John examined (very) carefully every
single document in the safe.
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Summary
Every phrase has a head A phrase may have
dependents Dependents may precede or follow the
head Dependents with a close semantic and
syntactic relationship with the head are
complements In some phrases (e.g., VP)
complements may be obligatory Dependents which
are freely added to a phrase to modify the head
are adjuncts
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End of slides