We use S to stand for sentence, and an arrow, →to mean consists of.
Thus S → word + word+....
There are rules governing the way in which words can be put together
to form syntactically well-formed or grammatical sentences.
Here we have changed the word order, but the sentence still works.
This suggests that the words dog and girl are interchangeable. Of
course changing the words over changes the meaning but the
sentence is still well-formed. Because dog and girl are
interchangeable, they belong to the same word category. This
category is called Noun.
girl dog
1
E.g. This girl likes the dog.
Again, this, that, the are interchangeable, they belong to the same
word category, Determiner. They act to limit or determine the noun
they refer to.
If we have This girl likes the dog, we may replace likes with: loves,
hates. They are verbs and they belong to the same category.
loves
hates
↙ ↘ ↓ ↙ ↘
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
2
Determiner, Noun, Pronoun→ Noun Phrase→ N.P
A dog=subject (NP)
Likes that dog =Predicate. The Predicate here consists of a verb and a
noun phrase.
S P
↙ ↘
NP VP
↙ ↘ ↙ ↘
↙ ↘
Det Noun
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
S→NP + VP
3
S
↙ ↘
NP VP
↓ ↙ ↘
N V Adv. P
↙ ↘
deg Adv.
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
Sally looked up
↙ ↘
NP VP
↓ ↙ ↘
N V PP
↓ ↓ ↓
Sally looked up
In this example the adjectives are said to modify the nouns. Just as an
adverb with a verb, an adjective works to narrowly define the sense of
the noun by ascribing certain attributes or characteristics to it.
4
Disgustingly fat AP
↙ ↘
Adv.P A
↓ ↓
Disgustingly fat
Transitive verbs:
↙ ↘
NP VP
↓ ↙ ↘
N V [trans] NP
↓ ↓ ↙ ↘
Det N
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
↙ ↓ ↘
NP V NP
↙ ↘ ↙ ↘
Det N Det N
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
5
↙ ↘
NP VP
↓ ↙ ↘
N V [trans] NP
↓ ↓ ↓
Intransitive verbs:
1) Ken snores.
↙ ↘
NP Vp
↓ ↓
N V [intrans]
↓ ↓
Ken snores
↙ ↘
NP VP
↙ ↘ ↓
Det N V [intrans]
↓ ↓ ↓
↙ ↘
6
NP VP
↓ ↙ ↓ ↘
N V [ditrans] NP NP
↙ ↘ ↙ ↘
Det N Det N
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
Intensive Verbs:
↙ ↘
NP VP
↓ ↙ ↘
N V [intens] NP
↙ ↘
Det N
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
↙ ↘
NP VP
↓ ↙ ↘
N V [intens] PP
↙ ↘
P NP
↙ ↘
7
Det N
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
↙ ↘
NP VP
↓ ↙ ↘
↓ ↓ ↓
Complex-transitive Verbs:
↙ ↘
NP VP
↓ ↙ ↓ ↘
N V (complex) NP NP
↓ ↙ ↘
N Det N
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
8
Kate thought John a fool
The Sentence
The sentence is the main object of linguistic description. This is due
to its being the unit or prime at the highest level of linguistic form - the
syntactic level. The sentence enjoys a status of independence at its
own level of occurrence- i.e. structural dependence, as well as at the
other levels such as the phonological level, the sentence being marked
off by a unique phonological contour and by boundary signals - the
junctures, or the semantic level, the sentence being assigned a global
semantic interpretation.
At the same level there also occur the phrasal units, also
representing syntactic categories. They share a number of properties
and relational properties. They both help to the realization of endo-
centric and exo-centric configurations. Attempts to define the
sentence in traditional grammars failed precisely because of the fact
that the sentence is a very complex linguistic object. Most
traditionalists were inclined to limit their definitions to the semantic
peculiarities of sentence. Curme, for instance, says that a sentence is
an expression of a thought or feeling by means of a word or words
used in such form and manner as to convey the meaning intended.
The definition is followed by a discussion of the form and functions of
sentence. It is only at the end of the discussion that Curme mentions
the structural aspect of sentence, its make-up (subject + predicate).
9
b) A superficial linearization of the lexical items corresponding to the
lexical categories making up the constituents of S.
c) An underlying semantic correlate, residing in the global meaning
interpretation of S and minimally representable as a logical predication
(a predicate and its associated arguments).
10
act the speaker performs when opting for the respective form. We can only
say that within the ranges of illocutionary force, some are more typical of a
certain S form.
Further sub-class obtain if we take into account the possibility each of the
type has, of saying according to:
1) polarity: positive and negative variants for each S type.
E.g. Didn’t he mail the letter yesterday evening? (Negative-interrogative S)
2) emphasis. Sentence types, such as declaratives and imperatives may
have emphatic variants resulting from the application of Emphasis (which
inserts the heavily stressed verb do).
3) Reduction. Each S type may undergo reduction processes by ellipsis.
↙ ↘
NP VP
↙ ↘
Aux MV
↙ ↘
V NP
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
11
b) Non-finite clauses: Whose V form is an infinitive, a Gerund or a
Participle.
Basic S configurations
12
Substitution: Bill repeated his lesson yesterday morning and by
Pro-VP his sister did to yesterday evening.
. Pro-VP
NP NP
13
Relational sequences: subject----V---- Direct Object.
The simplest sentences are those whose base contains just one S
mode. Such sentences are based on one predication relation. Among
these sentences we may distinguish a subset, characterized by the
highest degree of structural simplicity. Early generativists called these
S-s “kernels” or “simplexes”. They are declarative, assertive and
active.
↓ ↓ ↓
Subj V Predicative
Sentences of this type are one-term configurations, i.e. the verb takes as co-
occurent term the Subject NP. This NP may be simple or phrasally coordinated if
the Pred. Adj. is reciprocal:
e.g. The problem is interesting .
Men and women are equal.
In case the be Pred. Adj. renders properties pertaining to exterior circumstances
(temperature, weather, atmosphere, etc) the Subj. NP is unspecified in deep
structure and It Insertion applies so as to produce surface strings:
14
e. g It was frosty outside.
It will be cold tomorrow.
The Subject may be clausal in case the Pred. Adj. belongs to the
subcategory including: advisable, necessary, possible, recommendable. As a
result of extraposition of the Subject Clause and It insertion, the following
surface structure configurational type is produced:
e.g. [That Bill has been to Africa] is incredible -> It is incredible [that Bill has
been to Africa]
With Pred. Adj. of the subcategory including (un)likely, certain, some, besides
the above surface variant, there may be obtained a surface configuration of the
form:
e.g. John is likely to win the contest.
from [ John to win the contest ] is likely .
The Subject of the Subject Clause has been ‘raised’ in the position of Subject
of the main clause.
Sub. Type 1.b. {[NP]^[be ^Pred NP]}
Subj v Predicative
a) Indefinite NP as Predicative:
Definitive NP as Predicative
15
e.g His disease is of a hidden nature.
The Subject may be sentential and it may undergo Extraposition and It-
insertion, if the NP is a relatively fixed phrase such as: a pleasure, a necessity,
no good, no use, fun. The clause may be finite (a that clause) or non-finite
(infinitival or gerundial).
e.g. [That he should learn a foreign language] is a necessity.
(It is a necessity that he should learn a foreign language)
[To visit people/ visiting people] is fun.
(It is fun to visit people/ visiting people.)
The NP functioning as Predicative may also be expressed by a Complement
clause (that Cl, Inf. Cl, Ger. Cl)
16
He was pleased with my answer.
They were panicked at the news.
We are all interested in science fiction.
The Prepositional Object may be sentential (That Cl., Inf. Cl., Ger Cl.). In this
case the preposition is deleted when the clause is introduced by that or is
expressed by an infinitival construction:
e.g.
I am aware that things must be changed.
Nobody was willing to give in.
The Ger.Cl retains the deep structure preposition:
e.g. That man was afraid of being bitten by dogs.
17
Gloria happened to be missing.
Some configurations are predicated by verbs that obligatory take [+set] Subject
(often expressed by a phrasally conjoined NP)
e.g. The car and the motor-bike collided.
With ‘weather’ verbs, the unspecified deep Subject is realized in surface by
inserted it:
e. g. It frosted (hard) (yesterday).
It had been snowing (for three days)
It is drizzling.
Most ‘prepositional’ verbs (except the ones that take to I.Os, as well as abound
in, consist of and a few others) allow passivization:
e.g . This fellow can be relied upon.
A subgroup of the same verbs may take a Complement Clause functioning as
Prepositional Object:
E.g. Jack insisted on our coming earlier. (Ger.Cl./Prep.Obj.)
Jack insisted that we should come earlier. ( that Cl./ Prep. Obj.)
Gerundial Cl. preserves the deep Prep., while in a that Cl. the Prep. is deleted.
18
Sub-type 3 {[NP] ^ [v ^ PNP ^ PNP]}
Subject ^ v ^ IO/PO1^PO2
19
e.g. Mother cut herself.
With some of the verbs entering such monotransitive strings there is the
possibility of deleting this object:
e.g. Sarah was reading (a/ some book)
He drinks too much (alchoolic stuff)
Adverbial Phrases co-occur freely with these constructions. Non-stative
transitives can be modified by Manner Adverbials, while stative ones usually
cannot allow this type of modification:
e.g. He was driving the car carefully.
*He knew the lesson carefully.
20
e.g The girl offered the bunch of flowers to the soloist.
The great majority of verbs predicating these constructions allow a
transformation called Dative, consisting of the reordering of the I.O (to/for NP)
and the D.O. and the deletion of the dative prepositional marker:
e.g. The girl offered the soloist a bunch of flowers.
With some categories there occur various types of embedded clauses as Direct
Obj. The Indirect Obj. is often deleted in such contexts:
e.g. She promised (me) that she would leave off smoking. (that Cl)
Steve told me what to do next. (Indep Rel Clause)
He could not explain (to us) why the experiment had failed. (Ind Obj)
Passivization of the basic strings results in two configurations: one with the deep
Direct Object, the other with the Indirect Obj. as Subject:
e.g. The bunch of flowers was handed to the soloist ( by the girl)
The soloist was handed the bunch of flowers. (by the girl)
The verbs answer, ask, teach, only occur in the following type of surface
configuration:
[ [NP] ^ [v ^ NP ^ NP]]
Subj ^ ^ O1 ^ O2
Both Objects are prepositionless.
e.g. She will teach the students modern grammar.
The kid asked Mother odd questions.
I answered Stephen all his questions.
The strings with ask may take embedded indirect questions (optionally
accompanied by I.O deletion):
e.g. We asked (the teacher) whether the paper should be handed in at 9.
Strings with answer may take that-compliment clauses as DO (optionally with IO
deletion)
e.g. She answered (me) that she hadn’t seen the man.
21
Sub-type 3 [[NP] ^ [[v] ^ [NP] ^ [PNP]]]
Subj ^ v ^ DO ^ PO
These sentences are predicated by verbs that take a Direct Obj. and a
Prepositional Obj. whose Preposition is not a dative marker:
e.g. The jury accused him of murder.
I shall remind George of his promise
The man took him for his brother.
Passivization results in just one surface configuration, with the former D.O as
Subject; the PO is retained:
e.g. He was reminded of his promise
He was accused of murder.
e.g. The volume was placed on the upper shelf. (by them)
No complementation is possible.
22
Syntactic Relations
Predication
The semantic and syntactic tasks of predication may be carried out by either a)
a single lexical item - typically one of the class v, or, b) by the joint contribution of
two items, one of which belongs to the class v. On the latter case the predicate is
labelled by traditionalists as nominal. The structure of such predicates is in
functional terms:
23
1) Adj. Phrase
2) Noun Phrase, which may be non-prepositional, prepositional (PNP) or
causal.
The copula is almost uniformly the verb BE (or one in some V subcategories
with a copula-like behaviour. Therefore, such structures are called copulative
predicates and further specify the type (adjectival/ nominal)
The role of the copula is confined to the syntactic and morphological tasks of
predication. The typical copula BE is totally empty semantically, as different from
the existential BE verb. What BE does as part of the predicate is:
1) To link or connect the subject NP to the Adj.P/NP functioning as
Predicative
2) To realize agreement with the Subject NP.
3) To carry Tense and Aspect, i. e. the morphological category markers.
In conclusion BE only performs the formal tasks of predication, ‘verbalizing’ the
meaning carried by the second constituent of the predicate.
We start from the formal criterion that a copula is a verb that realizes predication
according to the rule:
MV-> v ^ Pred. Adj. P
Pred. NP
24
b) Semantically poor, but having one or several specified features such as:
(+inchoative)- become, go, run; (+ aspectual)- remain, rest; (+existential)- lie,
stand
Copula-like Verbs:
MAKE: If you work hard, you will make a good engineer.
Jack and Mary make a handsome couple.
He made friends with my daughter.
The meaning is: be, develop into, turn out to be. The predicative is a NP, usually
[-definite].
FALL: His best jokes all fell flat.
He fell a victim to his wife’s cruelty.
He fell into disgrace.
Meaning: be (unsuccessful), come to be/ become / reach a state. The
predicative is an Adj. Phrase, a nonprepositional NP or prepositional NP (into
NP)
LIE: The book lay open on the table.
The snow lay thick on the ground.
Meanings: remain in a certain state/position. LIE exclusively takes an Adjectival
Predicate, followed by a Place Adverbial.
HOLD: The argument still holds good/ true.
STAND: Tom stands alone among his colleagues.
(V ^ Pred. Adj. ) : We will stand firm.
V ^ NP: Who stands first on the list.
V ^PNP: We stand in need of help.
REST: You may rest assured that nothing else will interfere.
SIT: resembles LIE, its meaning being even stronger felt.
e.g. To sit tight is to remain firmly in one’s place.
Figuratively it means to stick firmly to one’s purpose, opinions, etc.
25
PASS: They pass for rich. PNP
She passes as an experienced doctor. PNP
The Predicative is a PNP required by the fixed prepositions for and as (the latter
a weakened conjunction). Its meaning is consider to be ^ Adjective.
To the above mentioned non-empty verbs, we have to add the subcategory of
intransitive inchoative verbs underivable from deep structures containing a
copula BE. Among them are: become, turn (as distinct from turn out {to be},
which, like to prove may take the be completion), run, go, wear.
All these verb patterns differ from structures resulting from reduction of two
clauses to one (‘double predicates’, ‘predicates of result’) in that they cannot be
paraphrased by coordinate (compound sentences) or by complex sentences :
*She will make and be a good wife.
The Predicative
The Predicative is the non-empty constituent of the copulative predicate.
Concerning the relation holding between the Subject and its Predicate, one might
notice that it is unmarked in English. The Predicative may be basic, if taken by
the verbs discussed as copulas, or derived from a compound / complex sentence
with a clausal Subject or Object. The derived Predicative goes by the name of
Predicative Adjunct to the Subject / Object or Subject (ive)/ Object (ive)
Complement in traditional grammars.
e.g. They appointed Professor Jones head of the department.
Pred. Adjunct to D.O
26
Attitudinal verbs are an important source of Pred. Adjs. Basically they are
transitive verbs which evince a derivation from the general subject selection rules
in that the [+human] NP is taken as D.O, rather than Subject:
e.g. The idea surprised everybody present.
Subj.[-animate] [+causative] D.O [+human]
Other attitudinal verbs: please, frighten, puzzle, astonish, amaze, scare, delight,
disappoint, disgust, etc.
Their –ing participles occur as Pred. Adjs. which take Prepositional Indirect
Objects expressing the Experiencer.
e.g. The idea was surprising to (cop. ^ Pred. Adj.) everybody present. (I.O
[+human])
Reversion of the two terms -> Passivization:
e.g. Everybody present was surprised by the idea.
DO-> Subj. BE+ -en ^v Subj.-> PO
Past participles gives rise to an interpretation as Cop ^ Pred. Adj.
e.g. The walls were painted.
The village was deserted.
A series of Pred. Adjs. are derived by suffixation of transitive verbs when D.O
becomes a Prepositional Obj. of the type of+NP:
e.g. to forget smth.-> (to be) forgetful of smth.
to hope smth.->(to be/ fell) hopeful of / about smth.
to envy smth.->(to be) envious of smth.
27
a) Exclusively predicative adjectives are made up of a series of ‘adverb-like’
adjectives prefixed by a and indicating states or conditions: ablaze, afraid, akin,
alike, alive, alone, asleep, awake, etc.
e.g. The whole building was ablaze.
He stood aghast at the terrible sight.
He was fast asleep.
Some of these Pred. Adjectives take Prepositional Objects (the Prep they
require is included into their lexical entries):
e.g. Pity is often akin to love.
The town was ablaze with lights.
You should be ashamed of yourself.
The rule feature [+/- Complementation] further subcategorizes these Pred. Adjs.
Thus, afraid, ashamed, awake may take complement clause :
e.g. I was afraid of hurting his feelings. (Ger. Cl)
She was afraid to wake her husband up. (Inf. Cl.)
I’m afraid that I might hurt her feelings. (That Cl)
28
I’m sorry that I couldn’t join you. (that Cl)
Exclusively modifying adjectives mainly consist of Adjectives hypothetically
derived from Adverbs or Avd Ps. in the source sentence: eventual, main,
principal, utter, actual, favourite, former, mere.
E.g. The main purpose of his enterprise has never been known.
Don’t overestimate the actual importance of the election.
c) Many adjectives may appear in both positions, but with distinct meanings:
slow, hard, heavy, frequent, occasional, possible, apparent, traditional.
e.g. The march was slow the slow march
His child acts slowly (His child is) a slow child.
29
It is frosty
It is very near.
It was too stuffy.
This it has a situational reference, which is never made definite.
2. Pred. Adjs. With clausal subject: necessary, possible, advisable, surprising,
unexpected, commonly appear in surface structure introduced by an anticipatory
It subject , while the Subject Clause is extraposed:
e.g [That he should act like a fool] is regrettable-> It is regrettable [that he
should act….](it= formal subj.)
The adjectives: likely, sure, certain, etc predicate strings which can be converted
into two surface structure forms:
a) It^ be^ Pred. Adj. ^ Cl.
b) A complex S whose matrix clause has as Subject the subject of the
subordinate Subject Clause:
[HE IS LIKELY TO ARRIVE BEFORE NOON]
Raised Subject Pred. Adj. Subject Cl.
Adjectives like difficult, easy which predicate strings with the surface forms:
a) It ^ be^ Pred. Adj. ^ Cl.
b) A complex S whose Subject is The D.O of the Subject Clause.
e.g. This French sound is difficult to pronounce.
30
A cross-classification of Copulative Predicates
The classification into the Adjectival and Nominal sub-types is cut across by one
based on a logico-semantic criterion – The Attributive Type and the Equative
Type (also called Identifying).
A) The Attributive Type is based upon the formula A is B, where A is not equal
to B, in which A is The Attributed , i.e. the entity to which the predicate assigns a
property , and B is the Attributant, i.e. the one designating the respective
property. A and B are irreversible , this being a one-term Subject; A is
grammatically realized by a definite or indefinite NP, while B may be: 1. Adj. P-
Freddy is smart
2 . Indefinite NP- Freddy is a fresher.
3. A PNP: The district is in a state of change.
4. A clause: Seeing is believing.
31
3. A Superlative Adj. P or a comparative Adj. P with a superlative force: This
girl is the most attractive of all. This girl is the more attractive of the two.
4. A clause: Her attitude was what puzzled everybody in our form.
32
The Predicative NPs above are all determined by definite articles and Post
determiners. Indefinite NPs may also occur in this position. (more seldom)
e.g. The leaves were (of) a dark shade.
The deletion process may extend over the article as well and the result is a zero
article NP:
e.g. Her family was of the poor class
Her family was poor class.
33
Intransitive predicates minimally contain one NP –the Subject of the sentence.
These will be considered to be simple intransitives.
If a second NP co-occurs with an intransitive verb, it can possibly be a
Prepositional NP, which functions as a Prepositional Object. A second possibility
is for an intransitive verb to take as an adjunct an Adverbial Modifier. Such
intransitive configurations including adjuncts of the kinds mentioned above as
well as Predicative Adjuncts are called complex intransitives.
1. Simple Intransitives
Simple intransitive verbs are what traditional grammars used to call ‘verbs of
complete predication’. Semantically they express events of all types: activities,
processes or states with reference to a wide range of possible subjects. Because
of the fact that they occur as one-place or one-term verbs, predicating an act
pure and simple of some particular person or thing, they are also called
‘subjective verbs’.
Syntactically, these predicates can take as optional adjuncts semantically
independent Prepositional Objects, as well as Adverbial Modifiers of various
kinds:
e.g. The lilies have (splendidly) bloomed.(in my garden)- Manner Adv. / Place
Adv.
The little boy has slept (two hours) – Q. Adv. (this afternoon) - Time Adverb
34
Particles like along, away, back, by, down, forward, in, off, on, out, past,
round, through, under, up, etc. evince a whole scale of meaning values, from
very concrete ones, when they combine with verbs of motion, to very abstract
ones, in combination with most of the basic verbs in English.
Besides locative and directional particles, mention should be made of the
aspectual particles, which refer to the temporal dimension of the event.
e.g. They set out to win support for their scheme.
A hostile reaction has set in. / The cold weather had set in.
The cars set off in a cloud of dust.
The durative aspect is rendered by on and away which are specialized for
indicating the continuation of the event.
e.g. He was laughing /grumbling away.
He passed away quietly at midnight.
Simple intransitives may derive from basically transitive verbs with particle, by
means of Object Deletion:
e.g. Moore throws in the ball near the half-line.
Moore throws near the half-line.
Another class of simple intransitives which evinces lexical complexity includes
intransitive verbs, which are inherently reflexive: absent oneself, perjure oneself.
Some of these verbs belong to the larger syntactic class of complex intransitives,
in that they take Prepositional Object: avail oneself of smth., pride oneself on
smth.
2. Complex Intransitives
Complex intransitives are two-place verbs, i.e. they take two obligatory co-
occurent phrases- the Subject NP as a left neighbour of verb and the Predicative
Adjunct / Prepositional Object /Adverbial Modifier as a right neighbour.
e.g. A gang of thieves broke into Smith’s house last night.
The company has fallen into dispute in recent years.
Intransitives with Particle and Preposition: the class includes phrasal Verbs
which take a fixed Preposition followed by its object:
e.g. They had done away with this piece of legislation.
35
I cannot put up with his interruption.
In between the Particle and the Prepositional Object there may be inserted
Adverbs of Manner:
e.g. They had done away reluctantly with this piece of legislation.
We put up cheerfully with these interruptions.
The experience type verbs are seem, appear, occur, sound, taste.
36
Intransitivization
One can speak of a ‘floating’ phenomenon which goes both ways, from
transitives to intransitives and vice versa.
In order to derive an intransitive configuration, a verb which is basically transitive
has to ‘lose’ its D.O by the deletion of the D.O if their object NP is more or less
specialized semantically.
e.g. Whenever I see her, she is smoking (cigarettes->none)
Another process by which transitives are made intransitive is that in which the
D.O is promoted rather than demoted. This occurs in ‘active-passives’ and in
genuine passive constructions. What happens is that the deep Object is pre-
posed in Subject position. The former Object comes to acquire some of the
Subject properties (position, case-marking, agreement trigger).
Eg. This material washes well.
Intransitivization can be characterized more generally as a process of term
reduction. Deep structure configurations with the primary terms - Subject and
Direct Object - turn into one-term sentences.
Transitive Predications
1. Simple transitive verbs are transitive verbs with one object -Direct Object.
The greatest majority of transitive verbs in English express human activities,
events in which humans play an agentive part being initiators and controllers of
actions or processes which affect or effect concrete entities - physical objects or
substances.
37
The first subclass includes monotransitives which indicate activities associated
with affected objects: accumulate (goods, a library), adapt, adjust, decorate, air
(the room).
A subcategory apart includes verbs which take as direct objects parts of the
human body: bite (one’s tongue), bump (one’s head), clap (hands), clean, cock,
snap, fix, nod, drag.
A special type are verbs with effected/ resultative object which are so called
Cognate Object, taken by inherently intransitive verbs, that re-categorize, in this
way, as transitives: to dream a melancholy dream, to smile an amiable smile, to
sleep the sleep of the just.
Some transitive verbs, like MAKE are characterized by a wide range of co-
occurrence possibilities, materialized syntactically in the non-clausal or clausal
object and semantically in the selection of [+concrete] or [+abstract] NPs.
Make with [+concrete] effected object: to make bread/coffee/a fire/clothes/tea/a
toy, a.s.o. This make often enters ditransitive configurations, in which the
resultative object is followed by a for Indirect Object indicating the beneficiary:
e.g. She was very fond of making toys for her little boy.
Make with [+ abstract] effected object: to make amends/arrangements/a
change/a decision/a demand/a difference/an effort/ a request.
In many of the instances included here make occurs as a quasi-dummy verb,
the meaning being mainly carried by the resultative object.
The latter is often a nominal derived from the verb that corresponds to the whole
combination:
-to make arrangements=to arrange
- to make a promise=to promise
-to make a request=to request
-to make a sacrifice= to sacrifice oneself
The nominals derived from the respective meaningful verbs express the result of
the activity or process; despite the synonymy with the corresponding verb, there
appear several differences between the two ways of rendering the same
meaning:
a) The dummy vb+Obj. of result sometimes differs aspectually from the purely
verbal one:
e.g. Promise to come back!
Make a promise to come back!
38
By nominalisation, the resulting NP acquires most of the specific N features and
adjuncts. Thus, countability is very obviously realised by the specialized
determiners:
e.g. He made a profit of shilling on every article sold.
MAKE can also occur with a more abstract meaning than the `manufacturing`
meaning. It is one of the important general causative verbs in English and
syntactically, it becomes (+complementation) in this case. Causative make takes
a [+abstract] Direct Object, expressed by an Infinitival Clause.
39
A relatively small number of monotransitives with [+concrete] Direct Object
denote the use of an instrument for the performance of a certain activity.
e.g. Tom refused to show Peter how to handle the gun.
Another limited group of monotransitives with [+concrete] Direct Object express
position or movement in space. The directional or locative meaning is
incorporated into the meaning of the respective verb: to enter a place, to
approach a place (get near), to inhabit a flat, to join a club (get in), to leave a
town (depart from), to reach a destination (arrive at).
The next subcategory includes other classes of verbs which take an inanimate
Direct Object. The group includes: to accept (a gift/idea), to acknowledge (a
parcel/ truth), to approach (a place or a topic), to claim (a lost object/ a right), to
analyse (a substance or a cause), to collect (stamps or one’s thoughts), to deny
(a signature or a proposal), to examine (a paper). Some of them are marked by
[+complementation].
Transitives verbs which occur only with [+abstract] objects will be themselves
subdivided into those which are [-complementation] and those which may appear
as [+complementation]:
a) [-complementation] Vt with abstract D.O: abrogate (a law), accomplish (a
task) achieve (a purpose), adopt (a method), control (prices), contract (a
marriage, friendship)
b) [+/- complementation] Vt with abstract D.O: mental process verbs and
verbs of linguistic communication: admit, advise, announce, believe, consider,
declare, dream, fancy, learn, prove, propose, realize, suppose, suggest, think
etc
The verbs in the class below take [+animate] Subjects, but evince no selectional
restrictions for the NP- Direct Object.
a) Verbs of liking or disliking: to admire (a person, object, a plan), to love (a
person, a country, comfort), appreciate (someone, a gesture), like or dislike (a
person, a thing or an idea) etc.
b) Mental process verbs: know, remember, forget
c) Sense perception verbs: to hear someone/ some noise, some news.
d) Relational verbs (to have, lose, miss, abandon, adopt)
e) Causative: to change oneself, one’s baby, one’s clothes, the furniture)
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Causative verbs
Causative verbs (periphrastic, lexical, morphological) are transitive verbs
inherently marked by [+causative] or intransitive ones recategorized as
transitives and occurring contextually as causatives. They express either mere
causation of an event (cause, determine, have, make, set) or an event in which
causation is implied, e.g. kill (cause smb. to die), teach (cause smb. to learn),
show (cause smb. to see).
Causative meaning has a number of overt grammatical realizations. Thus all
causative constructions are transitive, owing to the fact that causation always
implies two participants:
a) A causer and
b) An affected or effected entity.
They are expressed by two NPs, of which one is selected as Subject and the
other one as Object:
e.g. The war caused great human losses.
NP1=causer Vt [+caus] NP2= effected
By passivization the effected entity may become Subject and the causer
Prepositional Object:
e.g. Great human losses were caused by the war.
While it is true that only transitive verb constructions may render causative
meaning, it is also true that not all causative verbs are inherently transitive.
There are intransitive verbs that behave contextually like transitive causatives.
In point of selectional restrictions, causative may take a Subject NP
characterized by one of the three kinds of semantic-syntactic features:
a) A [+animate] NP, expressing the agent or animate causer of the action,
process or state:
e.g. Tristam ^ caused ^ the cheese ^ to become ^ a paste.
[+causer] [+causative] [+ affected] [+inchoative] [+ affected]
[+animate] [+controlled] [-animate/+abstract] [-animate/-abstract]
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b) A [-animate], [-abstract] NP, expressing physical Object that operates as an
instrumental causer:
e.g. The mixer ^ caused ^ the cheese to become a paste
[+causer] [+causative]
[-animate]
[-abstract]
c) A [-animate], [+/- abstract] NP, expressing an exterior cause which is
neither directly nor indirectly controlled.
e.g. The heat ^ in the room ^ caused ^ the cheese to become a paste.
The Direct Object NP may have the following features:
a)[+animate] and [+/- human]
e.g. She fed her dog macaronis.(=caused her dog to eat macaronis)
The [+human] D.O. may be followed by a Prepositional Object introduced by the
preposition into:
e.g. The war turned Bob into a coward.
(Paraphrase: The war caused Bob to become a coward)
a) The D.O may be a [-animate], [-abstract] NP.
e.g. He felled ^ some trees in the forest.
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The verb CAUSE is the most general causative; it may select any types of
causer and any kind of affected entity as Subject of the D.O:
e.g. Sarah caused her fiancé a car accident.
A dynamite explosive caused his car accident.
His own carelessness caused his car accident.
The verbs MAKE, HAVE and GET, often called in traditional grammars
‘causative auxiliaries’ are specialized for rendering the idea of a person’s
instigation to action by another person. Grammatically, they only take a clausal
D.O, having as Subject in the active form the person expected to execute the
commanded action:
e.g. John’s parents caused /got [him to marry a rich girl]
John’s parents made/had [him marry a rich girl]
Lexical Causatives
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Lexical Causatives form pairs with intransitive verbs, denoting the resultative
aspect of the respective activity, process or state by means of a lexically distinct
item.
a) Caesar died.
b) Brutus killed Caesar.
The verb die occurs as one-term verb, taking the Patient as Subject. The
same Patient occurs as Object of its causative counterpart kill, which is a two-
term verb, with an Agent as Subject. The relation between the transitive and
intransitive verb configurations is localized, in that the possibility of using the
same V lexeme: Brutus died Caesar.
This is the main difference between the verbs in this class and those
belonging to the ergative class, which evince no lexical differences when used
transitively or intransitively:
e.g. Our foreign trade is developing.(Vi) Vi=Vt
We are developing our foreign trade. (Vt)
Here are some more members of this class, with the paraphrase including the
corresponding intransitive verb (the paraphrase is a discontinuous expression
based on the periphrastic CAUSE:
-convince=cause smb. to believe
-persuade= cause smb. to believe or act
-remind= cause smb. to remember
-teach= cause smb. to learn
-give= cause smb. to have smth.
The same type of semantic-syntactic relation between a V t and a Vi
characterizes a number of pairs of verbs, which are closely similar
phonologically. The transitive V in each has developed historically out of
intransitive one as a causative counterpart:
Vi Vt
Fall - fell (cause smth. to fall)
Lie - lay (cause smth. to lie)
Sit - set (cause smth. to sit)
Bite - bait ( cause smth to bite)
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Drink - drench (cause smth. to be wet)
Morphological causatives
A great number of causative transitives are converted from adjectives which
denote an attribute acquired as a result of a cause. Most of these verbs can also
be used intransitively with an inchoative meaning. The word-formation process
may be:
1) Conversion: She cooled the soup.(Adj->V; paraphrase: She caused the
soup to be cool)
Other derivatives: to bare, black, blind, calm, clean, clear, dry, empty, free.
2) Affixation subdivided into: a) prefixation: BE-: becalm, belittle; DIS-:
discontent, disjoint, disanimate; EN: enlarge, enrich, ennoble. b) Suffixation:
-ate: activate, differentiate; -ify: amplify, happify, solidify; -ize: civilize,
americanize, legalize, fertilize; -en: blacken, darken, deeper, fasten, harder,
shorten, soften, widen.
Dative Causatives
This subcategory includes causatives that take two objects, one of which is
indirect:
-give=cause smb. to have
-sell= cause smb. to buy
-send= cause smb. to receive
From among the transitive non-causative verbs that have developed a causative
meaning we shall mention: earn, lose, lead, win.
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e.g. She led him a dog’s life.
The poem has earned him a great rename
The trick won him the game.
Complementation is possible with some of them: convince, inform, remind, warn (the
complement Cl function as Prepositional Object).
Reflexivization is possible with some of them, if the subject NP is co- referent with the
Object NP.
Transitives with Adverbial Part subcategorize as the rule feature for the local
transformation of Particle Movement .
1. Verbs with Optional Particle Movement:
The Particle basically precedes the Object NP; it is moved optionally in post – Object
position if the NP is non-pronominal and obligativity, if the NP is a personal pro - form.
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The man filled the application in incorrectly.
There are some other strings in the domain of Particle Movement: to break down, to
clean out (a room), to play back (a programme); to wake up (a story), to bring up (the
children).
The subcategory includes verbs which never take the Prt. as immediate neighbour
surface structure: the Object NP always precedes the Part as a result of Part Movement.
Other contexts include, for instance, to knock (a blow) off; to throw (the ball) in.
Except in cases when the Object is a pro-form, the verb Prt. combination does not
allow Prt. Mov.
The last category is that of transitive V Prt. combinations that are followed by a
PNP functioning as Prepositional Object. In most cases Prt Mov is obligatory.
There are some other verb contexts of the same type: to bring subject up against
something; to put subject up to something; to put subject down to something.
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Recategorization of Intransitives as Transitives or Transitivizations
Syntactic Relations.
NP Functions
The place held by syntactic relations and functions is syntax consisting of the
treatment of the main functions of sentence constituents: subject, predicate, objects,
modifiers, determiners. Traditional grammars define syntactic functions by recourse to
criteria other than the formal ones. Thus, the intuition – based definitions they supply are
given in terms of the contribution to sentence meaning of each and every function (Subj.
= doer of the action; Obj. = recipient of the action). Besides, in the case of Subject and
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Predicate, traditional syntax resorts to Discourse criteria. Subject is defined as what the S
is about, Predicate as the comment upon the Subject.
Structural grammars, which only approach Surface structures, define syntactic
functions in terms of their distribution in linear order.
The distinction basic – derived function is impossible within such a frame (in traditional
grammar it still existed, being couched in the terms “logical” versus “grammatical”.
In G.T. grammars, the essential defining element is the disposition of nodes in the
constituent structure of the sentence.
THE SUBJECT
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The entity “this telephone model” results from the very act of building up, which has
been performed by the entity grammatically exposed by the NP Subject a very ingenious
designer.
The independence is apparent only in the case of some V subcategories, whose
semantics is based on a certain orientation as in the case of causative verbs (oriented
from causer – the Subject – to affected or effected entity – the Direct Object).
Indispensability. The property refers to the fact that a non-subject term may, under
certain conditions, be deflected from the surface string, while a Subject cannot remain
unexpressed.
Beatrix quarreled with Helen for almost an hour and then she decided to leave the
room.
Beatrix quarreled with Helen for almost an hour and then [symbol] decided to leave the
room.
f) Absolute Reference is connected with the truth value of the basic S versus the
reference property of the Subject NP. This means, more especially, a concrete or abstract
entity which is referred to or has the property expressed by the basic Subject.
There is a requirement for the NP. Subject to refer to some entity, in this case to refer
uniquely to the person called John. The same is not true for the other NP in the respective
sentences – there is no requirement that there exist the prime minister , the perfect
woman.
In strings such as It is snowing/ drizzling which are generally considered as basic, the
subject NP is “dummy”, i.e. non – referential.
g) Topic. In basic sentences, the Subject functions as Topic, i.e. it identifies what the
speaker is talking about. It normally carries the given information, thus functioning as
Comment. Consequently, the nominal phrase in subject position more often than not
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contains anaphoric items specialized for signaling given information – definite articles or
demonstratives.
A bowl was on the shelf => There was a bowl on the shelf.
[- def] [def]
The main syntactic function discharged by NP constituents at the level of the Verb
Phrase is that of Object. The government relation holding between the predicating verbs
and its right-hand neighbor – the Object – may be of two distinct kinds:
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The Thematic Structure Perspective
Somewhat related to the case-frame is the theory of Thematic Relations. Theme is
defined (by Gruber, Anderson) as the logical topic of the S, what the S is about. Thus,
identifying the theme is considered as part of the process of semantic interpretation.
According to the Theme Rule formulated by Anderson, the theme is in Subject position
if the verb is intransitive and in Direct Object position if the verb is transitive.
Consequently, if an NP occupying the DO position in a basic S is shifted into some other
position, such as that of an Oblique Object or Adverbial, it ceases to be a Theme.
The poet read his poem => The poet read from his poem
The farmer plowed the field => The former plowed in the field.
THERE INSERTION
1. There Insertion reorders the deep Subject as to some verbal part of the VP (the
Aux, the head of MV).
2. The Dative Transformation reorders the two Objects taken by alternative verbs:
Indirect Object is promoted in the position specific to DO in deep structure. Besides, an
operation of Preposition Deletion makes the deep I.O. lose its to/for marker.
3. The Passive Transformation reorders the deep Subject and Object (Direct, Indirect,
Prepositional).
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5) There was a concerto being played by a famous cellist. => combination of the
Continuous Passive
The common feature of those examples, besides the presence of a BE verb, is the
indefiniteness of their Subject NP-s.
The definite article may appear as a constituent of the NP-Subject in a limited number of
contexts. Thus, it may be part of the Determiner Phrase (Determiner + Postdeterminer) as
in:
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There was the same man in front of the gate.
There is the other delegate taking the floor.
There are some more contexts in which the definite Subject can be encountered:
There has arisen the new problem of the status of the worker in his own trade-
union.
Determiners occur because of the modifier phrase which further specifies the meaning of
the indefinite NP. That is why examples of this kind are considered apparent exceptions.
The deep Subject is indefinite in deep structure and undergoes a transformation of
definitization as a result of its being modified by a clausal or non-clausal Noun Modifier.
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that “it” may be assigned to a class of words (the pro-forms), while “there” is hard to
class morphologically. As different from the adverb “there”, it is unstressed and way co-
occur with place adverbials, “there” included:
We shall supply below the main arguments supporting the Subject status of the dummy
“there” at the level of the surface structure:
1) The behaviour of “there” in questions (question – tags included)
a) Are there three cats on the roof? (derived from the affirmation sentence)
There are three cats on the roof.
b) There are three cats on the roof, aren’t there?
In both a) and b) “there” behaves like a subject, i.e. it undergoes inversion with the verb
(in this case, existential be)
2) The occurrence of “there” as Subject in finite clauses (relative clauses in which the
realized constituent is not subject of the clause) and non-finite ones (infinitive, participial
or gerundial):
I eventually read the article about which there had been so many divergent
commentaries.
For there to be so much time left/bothers me.
There being so much time left bothers me.
3) Raising applies on sentences with seem and happen:
There seemed/ happen to be no one in the hall.
4) The behaviour of “there” is non-inverted “so” patterns:
John said there would be a commotion and so there was.
5) The behaviour of “there” is negative or restrictive emphatic sentences:
Never has there been such an opposition.
Hardly was there any time left.
It an There often share the feature of forward reference to the real subject they
anticipate. The difference here lies in the tendency of “it” to anticipate [+def] Subjects,
while “there” usually anticipates indefinite ones
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“Impersonal Subject” constructions have alternative forms with “it” or “there” as
Subject:
It frosted heavily last night =><=There was a heavy frost last night.
If we compare the two patterns, we notice the [-stative] feature of the “it” construction
which makes use of the respective “weather” verb; as different from it the “there” pattern
in stative, it being predicated by the existential verb BE and its real subject being the
nominalized “weather” verb/ a heavy frost.
It sentences with complement clauses may also have two variants:
It is possible for them not to know the whole truth =><= It is no use doing this
=><= There is no use doing this.
“There” sentences may also contain gerundial clauses introduced by prepositions, such
as:
THERE in Complex S
There occurs as a Subject not only in simple sentences, but also in Complex ones. Thus,
starting from the deep structure:
We can obtain, after There-Insertion in the embedded Subject Clause, and Raising of the
formal Subject there:
A similar surface structure results if we start from deep string predicated by transitive V-
s than allow S/O Raising:
Someone believed [an accident to have been in the street]
We shall obtain the following surface string after There Insertion in the DO Clause,
Raising and Passivization:
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THE DATIVE TRANSFORMATION
In the second case, the directional meaning is associated with the change of
possession meaning: the animate Object our old aunt designates the person who will
come into possession of the parcel, while Paris simply represents a destination point.
We should also notice the coexistence in O.E. of verbs with a single accusative object
and verbs with a single dative object which resulted in a competition of the two.
The old dative used as a single object expressed “a person as involved in an activity
directed toward him. The accusative object used to denote a person or thing affected by
a certain activity. The formal differences between the two cases were gradually leveled
down, so that verbs that used to govern the dative, among which advise, believe, help,
injure, oppose, please, serve came to be used with an accusative object.
The dative object survived with verbs that select a personal object like apologize,
complain, occur/ come to smb’s mind, belong, pertain to smb, remain, fall to smb. The
dative NP used with these verbs is considered to function as a special kind of Indirect
Object.
Considering the Indirect Object function, three distinctions are commonly made,
namely:
1).The Dative of Reference The Object denotes in this case a personal point of
view with respect to the prepositional content of the sentence. The dative case is used
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with the noun which takes in its scope the whole sentence, and which designates the
referent for which the statement holds true.
GT Approaches
Most GT models argue in favor of a transformational relation holding between
strings with a to/for I.O. and synonymous strings with a prepositionless I.O. The
transformational approach of dative constructions vary as in the input – output strings in
the following way:
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1. The strings with a prepositional I.O. are taken as basic; the Dative derives surface
strings by means of Reordering and Prep. Deletion. One of the arguments in favor of this
solution is the fact that the preposition to or for is part of the lexical character of the V or
V Object complex.
2. The strings with a prepositionless I.O. form the underlying structure out of which
their synonymous counterparts are derived by a Dative which consists of Reordering and
Pre. Insertion. In this case it is the respective transformation that should specify which
verbs govern to and which for.
Strings predicated by verbs such as announce, communicate, deliver, demonstrate,
describe, return, transfer never occur without a to Object.
Dative is also ordered as to the Passive rule. The I.O. is promoted as subject of sentence.
The preposition does not appear in the passive string.
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This optional transformation can only move the Prt. after the Object NP immediately
following the V.
b) D.O. deletion occurs by far less frequently, but it is quite possible with a number
of verbs:
She hasn’t written (to) us for ages (D.O. = a letter)
Has he paid you? (D.O. = the money)
Will he sell to whoever wants to buy (D.O. = goods)
D.O. deletion is blacked with some verbs, after Dative has applied (in other words, the
prepositionless construction is only possible when a D.O. is present)
I offered it to John.
*I offered John it.
In case I.O. is a Pro - form, Dative Movement seems to be facilitated by the shortness of
the item:
I sold my old bicycle to him =>Dat. Mov.=> I sold him my old bicycle.
c) Reflexivization If we only consider strings with Subject and I.O. coreferential NP -s,
Dative and Reflexive may apply in any order:
60
Mary bought herself some flowers.
1) Classes
The verbs in these classes take a to I.O. that denotes the actual or potential Recipient
of a transfer.
a) the 'bring' class includes verbs denoting the direct and accompanied physical
transfer of an object from an Agent to a Recipient expressed by the I.O.: bring, carry,
hand, pass, pull, push.
b) the 'give' class includes verbs denoting the direct and unaccompanied transfer
of an object to a recipient expressed by a I.O.: advance, award, feed, give, lend, loan,
pay, rent, sell, serve.
c) the 'send' class includes verbs denoting an unaccompanied physical transfer of
an Agent to a Recipient: fling, float, forward, mail, push, relay, roll, ship, throw, slide.
d) the 'communication' verb class is further subdivided into:
> the 'radio' class: radio, wire, cable, telephone.
> verbs denoting the verbal expression of a message: tell, quote, read, write.
e) the 'promise' class: assign, grant, guarantee, offer, owe, permit, promise.
'owe' 1 expresses (moral) indebtedness and never undergoes Dative:
I owe my success to my parent/ to good luck.
'owe' 2 - denotes a material debt and it undergoes Dative:
He owes me a great sum of money/ 5000 lei.
2). For-Classes The verbs that take a for NP as I.O. and may undergo Dative display a
very wide range of meanings; they denote all sorts of actions undertaken by the Agent for
the benefit of the I.O. referent. The semantic role corresponding to I.O. is the
Beneficiary.
a). the 'make' class: boil, cook, draw, knit, make, paint.
b). the 'buy' class: verbs denoting activities involving selection: buy, choose, get, find,
gather, leave, pick out, save.
c). artistic performance verbs: verbs indicating an object performed upon, but they do
not undergo Dative: chant, dance, play, recite, sing.
She danced us a few bars of 'The Blue Danube'.
She played us the trombone.
She hummed us 'Let it be'
d). the 'earn' class: gain, earn, win
Selling books will earn Bob a lot of money.
The publication of his translation will earn him a world wide reputation.
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Passive and Passivization
The Passive is a complex linguistic phenomenon, which manifests itself at several levels
of linguistics analysis:
a). the morphological level, by specialized Passive Voice markers attached to the verb:
the auxiliaries be and get and the -en affix for the main verb.
b). the syntactic level, by a change in the position and status of the active Subject and
Object NP-s. Passivization thus appears as a syntactic process resulting in a
disturbance of the basic order of sentence constituents: it fronts the deep (active) Object
NP, concomitantly converting the deep (active) Subject NP into a Prepositional by
Object, which is placed in post-verbal position and becomes deletable under certain
circumstances.
c). the semantic level by a change in the relation between the underlying role-structure
of the sentence and its functional organization.
The agent role ceases to be 'central hero' of the sentence, its topic and, syntactically, its
Subject, while the patient (sufferer of the action and process) acquires precisely the
syntactic functions and becomes the protagonist of the sentence.
The Passive evinces some relevant aspects at the super sentence level, that of
Discourse or Text. By the changes it induces in the information structure of the sentence,
Passivization plays a special role in the thematic progress of the text. Besides, recourse to
passive rather than active sentences in a Text sequence frequently turns out to have some
peculiar rhetorical and stylistic effects.
In early GTG, the transition from active to passive sentences was an essential cue
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and proof to the theory itself. Passivization was described as a transformation that moves
about the NP constituents in a sentence and inserts the Preposition by and the passive
markers on the active V (be -en), all this without altering the semantic reading of the
sentence.
Passive sentences have two surface realizations that differ by the presence/ absence
of the agentive by Phrase. The deep structure of these sentences is described as including
an (un)specified by NP which must or may be left out under certain conditions. In GT
models Passivization possibly includes a deletion nule which derives agentless passive
sentences.
1. In the BBC version, Hamlet was played by Derek Jacob.
2. The room has been cleaned (by the maid).
3. All my bills are paid (by me).
In the first sentence the agentive by Object is obligatory; the focus is on the very author
of the action. The second sentence is focused on a resultative activity without necessarily
requiring the expossion of its author in surface structure. In the third sentence, the
presence of the agentive by Phrase is redundant, making the whole string hardly
acceptable.
Agentive Passives
The marker of agency in present-day English is the preposition by, which also
surfaces in nominalized phrases of the form: the delivery of the message by an unknown
person. Other agentive prepositions used to compete with by in older English, among
which of, through, with and in.
The preposition of was the ordinary agency marker, while through and by were
used with an instrumental meaning. In present-day English, we still find some survivals
of the use of the above Prepositions Object. They are mostly characteristic of highly
literary style.
'OF' is used infrequently (and only in the above mentioned style) with some classes of
stative experience verbs (to be admired/ loved/ hated/ honoured/ understood of smb; to
be seen/ observed of smb). It is used in current English after born, when it indicates the
source of origin:
There was a boy born of our marriage eight months after I left you.
'WITH' occurs with a type of instrumental meaning in passive sentences:
The Minister was met with opposition.
'IN' has a quasi - agentive meaning
We were caught in the rain.
The chair was covered in black leather.
'FROM' may occur as a close alternative to by, indicating the source or origin.
We listened to a speech by/ from the Prime Minister.
'TO' is used with the verb to know:
She is known to me.
Agentless Passives
Language resorts to agentless sentences in the following main circumstances:
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1. In case the identity of the Agent is unknown to the speaker:
John was killed in the war (by an enemy/ in an ambuscade)
2. In case the Agent is indefinite; it may be generic or specific:
Pets are rarely ill-treated. (by people who keep them)
The lost pet was eventually found. (by a certain person)
3. When the Agent is not relevant for the topic which is being discussed.
Has the doctor been sent for?
4. When the speaker feels no need to name the Agent because it is very well known (it
being implicitly or explicitly present in the discourse).
Eventually, the thieves were caught and severely punished.
5. In case the speaker does not wish to name the Agent.
A confidential plan has been recently entrusted to me.
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