Grammatical Relations - week 7, lec 1 Flashcards
What are Grammatical Relations?
Who is doing what to whom e.gs include relations between the verb and its complements or subjects and between nouns and their dependants
What are subjects configurally?
specifier of IP
Not always do-er of the verb e.g “She underwent surgery”
What are objects configurally?
NP complement to V
not always patient of the verb e.g “I miss her”
What are Grammatical Functions?
Arguments that include the complement and its subject
What are the main types of arguments?
external and internal arguments
What are external arguments?
The subject (external) to the VP
What are internal arguments?
complements. These are sub categorized by the verb and are in a dependency relation with it.
Define Subject.
That functional element in the structure of the clause that typically expresses:
(i) the semantic role of agent
(ii) the presentational status of topic
Define Direct Object.
A grammatically distinct element of clause structure which in canonical agent-patient clauses expresses the patient role.
Define Indirect Object.
A distinct element of clause structure characteristically associated with
the semantic role of recipient.
(In case marking languages, prototypically marked by Dative case.)
e,g - “She gave him (IDO) the flower (DO) “
Define Predicative Complement
A grammatically distinct complement of the verb characteristically expressing a semantic predicate (which applies to the subject or direct object).
property or entity linked to another property or entity e.g “Sara (entity) is smart(property)”.
Define Oblique.
Carry some argument defined by the verb but doesn’t affect the Noun Phrase.
e.g “I (subject) bought this table (direct object) from the Brotherhood (oblique) for $5.(oblique)”
What are objects of prepositions configurally?
NP complement of P, daughter of P’
What are obliques configurally?
PP complement of V, daughter of V’
What are adjuncts configurally?
Phrasal sister of V’ daughter of V’
What is case/case marking?
The form of a nominal varies according to its grammatical relation. Such morphological variation is called case or case marking.
What is nominative case?
when subject is marked.
What is accusative case?
When direct object (of verb) is marked.
What is dative case?
When the indirect object, or object of certain prepositions is marked.
What is ablative case?
When a word is marked to indicate a location in space or time.
What is genitive case?
When a word is marked to indicate it is the possessor.
What is agreement?
When the form of the verb varies with the grammatical or semantic features of one or more of its arguments.
Verb agreement normally reflects the features of person, number, and/or gender.
What are the main ways in which Grammatical Relations may be encoded?
● by word order / configurationally
● and/or by case marking
● and/or by verb agreement.
