Functions Within Sentences Flashcards
What is a complement
The elements required by the verb
Complements cannot be omitted without the grammaticality of the sentence being affected
What is an adjunct
Optional element that can appear in the predicate
Adjuncts can occur in sentence structure regardless of the verbs transititivity pattern
What additional meaning do adjuncts provide
Additional meaning connected to when, where, how or why but not what or who
What are verbs that do not require complements in order to express a complete meaning called
Intransitive
Do transitive verbs need a complement to complete their meaning
Yes
Transitive verbs and direct objects
-direct objects are obligatory and so if omitted they are ungrammatical
-tend to occur near the verb
What happens when direct object is realised by a pronoun
The pronoun carries accusative
The dog chased him
Distransitive verbs
Refers to those verbs which require not one but two verb complements or objects in addition to the subject
Indirect objects and distransitive verbs
-indirect objects usually describes a recipient or beneficiary of the action denoted by the verb
-indirect objects are/ have largely NP’s, carrying object case if pronominal, potential for becoming the subject of a passive voice sentence.
Indirect objects can also be expressed as NP’s embedded in a pp headed by ‘to’ or ‘for’
What do copulative verbs require
Complement
What are copulative verbs
Closed set
Be, become, seem, appear
What does the Subject complement do
The subject complement predicates somthing about the subject, often attributing a property to the referent of the subject NP
Complex transitive verbs require two elements …
An object followed by a complement which predicates somthing of the referent of the direct object
What does predicate mean
the part of a sentence or clause containing a verb and stating something about the subject (e.g. went home in John went home ).
What does the object complement do
Describes an attribut of the direct object
They called him an expert.
Complex transitive verbs and object complements
-they called him an expert
NP[him] and NP [an expert] refer to one and the same person
-DO can be passivised
They made him president
He was made president
What are the two main basic word orders used in the world
SVO
SOV
Semantic roles
Refers to the semantic relationship between a predicate especially a verb and its argument in a sentence
Can be called semantic or thematic roles
Agent
Doer of an action
Theme
Undergoes action/change or is moved
The donkey pushed the pig
Identify the agent and the theme
Agent- donkey
Theme- the pig
Goal
Entity towards which motion takes place or change is orientated
He returned a book to the library
Identify the goal in this sentence
To the library
Recipient
A special kind of goal associad with verbs expressing a change in ownership, possession
The teacher sent his parents a letter
Identify the recipient in this sentence
His parents
Source
Entity from which a motion takes place or the beginning point of change (opposite of goal)
Location
Place where action occurs
The dog was running in the park
Identify the location
In the park
Instrument
Object with which an action is performed
The man opened the door with the key
Identify the instrument
With the key
Stimulus
Specifies the content or the trigger of the state
Experiencer
Perceptual, mental or emotional state
Identify the stimulus and Experiencer of this sentence
John enjoyed the novel
Experience- john
Stimulus- the novel
Reversible
Either entity could be associated with either semantic role
Example of reversible activity
The cow kicked the donkey
Example of reversible passives
The donkey was kicked by the cow
Non reversible
Only one entity can plausibly be agent
Non reversible activités
The mouse at the cheese
Non reversible passives
The cheese was eaten by the mouse
A new drug has been debated by GP’s
Is this sentence non-/reversible active/passive
Non reversible passive
Reversible active
