Exam 2 Flashcards
Major Sentences
Formed according to rules: generative (rule based)
Sentences that can be broken down into a specific pattern of elements (i.e. clauses and phrases)
Minor Sentences
Irregularly formed sentences, learned by rote. Fall into certain common functional categories, i.e.: *Vocatives ("hey look it") *Responses ("yes," "no," "thank you") *Interjections *Exclamations *Greeting other social formulas *Sayings, proverbs, etc.
Simple Sentence
One clause
Multiple (Complex) Sentence
More than one clause
Clause + linking word + clause
Compound Sentence
A type of multiple/complex sentence
The clauses are linked by coordination (and, or, but).
Each clause could stand on its own (as an independent or main clause)
Complex sentence
Clauses are linked by subordination (because, when, although). One clause (the subordinate clause) is subordinated to the other (the main clause)
Clause
A sequence of elements each expression a particular kind of meaning. There are 5 types of clause elements:
Subject, Verb, Object, Complement, Adverbial
A clause element may be a single word or several words
Subject (S)
The subject usually identifies the theme, agent, or topic of the clause.
It usually appears before the verb in statements and after the verb in questions.
It determines the verbs number and tense.
Verb (V)
The verb expresses a wide range of meanings such as actions, sensations, or states of being.
It is the most obligatory of all the clause elements (cannot be omitted in a clause)
Object (O)
Objects identify who or what has been directly affected by the action of the verb. There are 2 types of objects: Direct Object (DO): typically refers to some person or thing directly affected by the action expressed by the verb. Indirect Object (IO): typically refers to an animate being that is the recipient of the action. In these cases, a direct object is usually present in the clause as well. (The IO precedes the DO in these constructions)
Complement (C)
Complements give further information about another clause element
There are 2 types of complements:
Subject complement: usually follows the subject and verb. The verb must be copular.
Object complement: usually follows a direct object and its meaning relates to that element
Sentence
It is constructed according to a system of rules, known by all that adult mother-tongue speakers of the language (grammatical).
It is a construction which can be used on its own, without people feeling that it is incomplete.
It is the largest construction to which the rules of grammar apply.
There are major (regular) sentences and minor (irregular) sentences.
There are different types of sentences: Statements (declaratives), Questions, Commands, Exclamatives, Echoes
Statements
A statement (declarative) is a sentence whose purpose is primarily to convey information.
Two criteria apply:
The clause contains a subject
The subject precedes the verb
Questions
Questions are sentences which seek information.
There are 3 main types (depending on the kind of reply they expect/how they are constructed):
*Yes/No questions
*Wh-questions
*Alternative questions
Questions may also be declarative in structure but become a question due to tone of voice.
Yes-No Questions
Allow an affirmative or negative reply (yes or no).
The subject follows a verb (auxiliary)
WH-Questions
Allow a reply from a wide range of possibilities.
They begin with a question word, such as what, why, where, or how.
They are open ended.
Alternative Questions
Require a reply which relates to the options given in the sentence.
They always contain the connecting word “or”
(will you travel by train or boat?)
Tag Questions
The interrogative structure is left to the end of the sentence.
(She’s no in, is she?)
Exclamatives
Sentences whose main role is to express the extent to which speakers are impressed or aroused by something.
They often take the form of a single word or short phrase - a minor sentence (gosh!) But exclamations can also have major sentence structure.
Their first element begins with “what” or “how” and is followed by a subject and verb (in that order)
(What a lovely day it is!)
Echo
Echo utterance structure reflects that of the preceding sentence, which it repeats in whole or in part. All types of sentences can be echoed. Echoes are used only in dialogue, and their function is to confirm, question, or clarify what the previous speaker has just said.
Intransitive Verb
A verb that does not require another element. It can be used without an object.
Transitive Verb
A verb that requires a direct object. (It requires another element in order for the clause to make sense)
(ex: That farmer’s enjoying….needs an O)
Ditransitive Verb
A verb that requires a direct object and an indirect object or adverbial (put, give)
Adverbial (A)
Adverbials perform several roles in sentence construction. Some add information about an event, some link clauses together, and some add a comment about what is being expressed.
Consists of: noun/noun phrase, adverb/adverb phrase, prepositional phrase, or subordinate clause.
Can be more than one Adverbial in a clause.
Can vary its position within a clause.
Expresses information about: time (when?), location (where?), manner (how?), cause (why?)
Vocative
Refers to a person or persons to whom a sentence is addressed.
Vocatives have two main functions:
They may be used as a call, to gain someone’s attention
(Mike, telephone for you.)
They can be used to address someone, expressing a particular social relationship or personal attitude
(We mustn’t be late, dearest.)
Vocatives are optional elements - they can be added or removed from a sentence without affecting the rest of the construction.
Head Word
Can be used to describe the main verb of a verb phrase, or the main noun of a noun phrase.
Head Noun: Noun, Pronoun (replaces the entire NP), some adjectives (preceded by a determiner)
Lexical (Main) Verb (V)
Verbs with a clearly stateable meaning. These act as main verbs.
(run, jump, look, go, want, think, find…)
Modal Auxiliary Verb (m-aux)
Verbs which express a range of judgments about the likelihood of events. These function only as auxiliary verbs.
These are functor words - don’t have as full of meanings as lexical verbs (contextually derived)
Central modals: will, would, shall, should, may, might, can, could, must
Modal idioms: had better, would rather, gotta, etc.
Marginal modals: dare, need, ought to, used to
Semi-auxilliaries: be about to, be going to, be supposed to
Primary Auxiliary Verb (p-aux)
Primary verbs can function either as main verbs or as auxiliary verbs. There are 3: be, have, do
(ex: They are going, She has seen it, Do they go?)
Regular Past Participle
(-ed)
Regular Present Progressive Participle
(-ing)
Regular Third-Person
(-s) 3s
Auxiliary Verb
Helping verbs assist the main verb in a clause to express several basic grammatical contrasts, such as in person, number, and tense
They may be contracted (-n’t)
Copular Verb
When a form of be is the main verb, it is functioning as a copula
Root (Base) Form
A form with no endings, as listed in a dictionary. (Sometimes called the “infinitive” or “uninflected” form)
Catenative
Chaining verbs (appear to, come to, fail to, get to, happen to, etc)
Negative
“Not” can appear in its full or contracted (-n’t) form.
Its location in the VP depends on the main verb and which auxiliaries are present.
*follows the copula
*precedes other main verbs
*when there is more than one auxiliary verb, it follows the first auxiliary in the sequence
Noun Phrase
The noun phrase is the main construction which can appear as the subject, object, or complement, of a clause. It consists essentially of a noun or noun-like word which acts as the centre, or head, of the phrase.
Determiner
Appears before the noun. This constituent decides what kind of noun is in the phrase - such as definite, indefinite, proper or common. Words such as a, all, and many are determiners.
Predeterminer
Words which can be used before the central determiners in the noun phrase. These can be grouped into a very few types, nearly all of which express notions of quantity.
A small set of words that express quantity more precisely and precede determiners.
*all, both, half
*multipliers: double, three times, etc
*fractions: a quarter, one-third, etc
*such, what (used in exclamations)
Postdeterminers
Words in the noun phrase which follow central determiners, but precede adjectives. There are four main types:
- cardinal numbers: one, two, three…
- Ordinals: first, second, last, next…
- Quantifiers (general non-specific qualities): much, many, (a) few, (a) little, several…
- a set of informal quantifiers consisting of a noun plus ‘of’: lot of, number of, bags of…
Premodifiers
Any words appearing between the post determiner and the head of the noun phrase are said to pre modify the noun. Premodifiers mainly consist of adjectives, but two other categories also commonly occur.
Adjectives: in base, comparative, or superlative form (big, bigger, biggest)
Participles: between determiner and noun = adjectival). Present, past
Nouns: compound nouns (country road vs railroad)
Bound Morpheme
Can only appear only together with other morphemes to form a lexeme (word)
Almost exclusively prefixes and suffixes
Noun: plural, possessive (genitive)
Verb: -ing (present participle), -ed (simple past), -en (past participle), 3s (third person singular present tense)
Adverb: -ly
Adjective: -er, -est
Contractions: n’t (negative), ‘cop (contracted copular), ‘aux (contracted auxiliary)
Free Morpheme
Meaning unit that can occur alone
Morpheme
Smallest unit of meaning: indivisible (dog) without violating the meaning or producing meaningless units (do, g). There are two types of morphemes, free and bound.
MLU
Mean Length Utterance: Average number of morphemes per utterance
Preposition
A preposition expresses a relationship of meaning between two parts of a sentence, most often showing how the two parts are related in space or time.
Complex preposition
Contain more than one word: ahead of, apart from, as far as, by means of, in accordance with, on behalf of…
Compound Nouns
Combine two or more words into a single unit. They usually form the plural by adding s to the last element, as in babysitters or gin-and-tonics. In a few cases, it is the first element which takes the ending: this happens especially when a particle is included, as in passers-by and men-of-war. And sometimes there is a choice
Singular Noun
one
Plural Noun
More than one
Personal Pronoun
Personal Pronouns are the main means of identifying speakers, addressees, and others. They refer to the people involved in the act of communication
First person - includes the speaker(s) or writer(s) of the message: I, me, my, mine, myself, we, us, our(s), ourselves
Second person - includes the addressee(s), but excludes the speaker(s) or writer(s): you, your(s), yourself, yourselves
Third Person - refers to ‘third parties’ excluding the speaker(s), writer(s), or addressee(s): he, him, his, one…
Reflexive Pronouns
Always ending in -self or -selves, reflect the meaning of a noun or pronoun elsewhere in the clause: myself, yourself, etc.
Possessive Pronouns
Express ownership and appear in two forms. My, your, his, etc. are used as determiners in the noun phrase
Coordination
Can occur at either phrase or clause level
Coordinated nouns: Mary and I, peanut butter and jelly
Coordinated clauses: Gina is pretty and Rosalie is pretty, too
Common coordinators: and, but, so, or
Subordination Conjunction
Subordination conjunctions
One word: that, because, if, where, when etc
More than one word: as soon as, so that
Subordination Clause
Subordination clause can replace a clause element, postmodify an NP, complement a preposition or adjective, serve as comment on the main clause, express a comparison, report someone else’s speech
Existential Sentences
Sentences that express the general existence of some state of affairs. (There as in “there are”)
Dummy/Empty Form
Child producing speech (not meaningful) that adds phonological structures but adds no meaning. It provides the child with practice adding syllables without having to do work of deciding which word goes first
ex: /wide/ kitty
Apparent Regression
Apparent Regression occurs in inflected forms. (accurate, inaccurate, accurate) First the child uses the correct tense without any awareness of it, then figures out how to apply the past tense rule to all vocal (over regularization), then the child makes the correction once he knows the irregular past tense (using the blocking rule)
Blocking Rule
A child has a list of irregular words in his head and use that to figure out the ending instead of adding an overgeneralized ending.
Suffix
A bound morpheme/word ending
Prefix
A bound morpheme at the beginning of the word