EBOOK ENGLISH SYNTAX (tài LIỆU ôn THI TUYỂN SINH SAU đại học CHUYÊN NGÀNH GIẢNG dạy TIẾNG ANH) PHẦN 2 tô MINH THANH

So beside is the head of the phrase.” [Burton-Roberts, 1997: 43] If the PREPOSITION P, for short beside is the HEAD H, for short of the prepositional phrase beside a stream then a stream

SECTION 3: GRAMMATICAL RELATIONS

strings of words that are well-formed expressions in the language and those that are not.” [Burton-Roberts, 1997: 8] To show how things can

be analyzed into their constituent parts in this text, we use TREE-DIAGRAMS— the trees that are upside-down:

These concepts are basic

This does not prevent us from having a quick look at some other common types of diagrams:

Stageberg [1965] and Barsova et al [1969]:

These concepts are basic

 Candelabra’s diagrams in Barsova et al [1969]:

these concepts are basic

jokes are said to be ENDOCENTRIC. “An endocentric construction may be

substituted for as a whole by one of its constituent units; e.g a noun may

stand for the whole noun phrase, c.f big African lions roaming in the

jungle — lions.” [Jackson, 1980: 26]

19.2 EXOCENTRIC STRUCTURE

stream are said to be EXOCENTRIC. There is a TWO-WAY DEPENDENCE (⇔⇔⇔,

for short) between beside and a stream as a whole: both of the two constituents must occur to form the PP beside a stream; “one of them cannot stand for the whole phrase” [Jackson, 1980: 26]

ENDOCENTRIC: “Although beside and a stream are both needed to express the spatial orientation in this case, it is the word beside that is giving the phrase as a whole its locational character So beside is the head of the phrase.” [Burton-Roberts, 1997: 43] If the PREPOSITION (P, for short)

beside is the HEAD (H, for short) of the prepositional phrase beside a stream then a stream is functioning as COMPLEMENT (C, for short) to that head: (H) beside ⇔ ⇔ a stream (C)

verb phrase has a verb as head, a prepositional phrase a preposition as

head, and an adjective phrase an adjective as head.” [Jacobs, 1995: 51]

CO-ORDINATION are all endocentric whereas THE STRUCTURE OF PREDICATION is exocentric As to a prepositional phrase, it may be regarded

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20.1 STRUCTURE OF MODIFICATION

MODIFICATION In the phrase their rather dubious jokes, rather is

is If we are to omit dubious, rather will be left without a function, and the

omission would result in an ill-formed string (*their rather jokes) Notice,

however, that dubious is in no way dependent on rather We can omit

rather and still be left with a perfectly good phrase (their dubious jokes)

And rather dubious as a whole is dependent on jokes but not

(giving their jokes), but jokes (the head of the phrase) could not (*their rather dubious)

(modifier) rather ⇒dubious (head) (modifier) rather dubious ⇒jokes (head)

(modifier) their ⇒rather dubious jokes (head)

Thus, ‘their rather dubious jokes’ is a typical example of the

STRUCTURE OF MODIFICATION

20.2 STRUCTURE OF COMPLEMENTATION

COMPLEMENTATION. Both the monotransitive verb saw and the noun phrase

many things must occur to form the verb phrase saw many things: saw is its head and many things is the complement of that head:

(head) saw ⇔⇔ many things (complement) Since one of the two constituents cannot stand for the whole verb

of COMPLEMENTATION

20.3 STRUCTURE OF COORDINATION

“Max and Adrian is a COORDINATE NOUN PHRASE (Co-NP, for short), with Max and Adrian coordinated by and Co-ordinate NPs have as many

heads as there are nouns coordinated in them Other COORDINATORS are

but and or.” [Burton-Roberts, 1997: 67]

In Stageberg’s opinion [1965: 273], the coordinator “is set off as a

separate element and does not belong to either IC”:

Co-NP Co-NP

NP1 Conj NP2 NP1 NP2 Conj NP 3

N1 N2 N1 N2 N3

(1)a Max and Adrian (1)b sandwiches, relish, and coffee

Stuffy and hot is a COORDINATE ADJECTIVE PHRASE (Co-AP, for short), with stuffy and hot coordinated by and This Co-AP can be pre-modified by too, which is a DEGREE ADVERB (DEG, for short) as in (2)a

Stuffy and too hot is another Co-AP, with stuffy and too hot

for short) hot as in (2)c Describe the internal structure of the phrase marked (2)b In what way(s) is it different from that of (2)a?

AP Co-AP Co-AP

DEG Co-AP AP1 Conj AP 2 AP1 Conj AP2

A1 Conj A 2 DEG A A A DEG A

(2)a too stuffy and hot (2)b.too stuffy and hot(2)c stuffyandtoo hot

CO-ORDINATION OF PREPOSITIONS (Co-P, for short), with up and down

is a COORDINATE PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE (Co-PP, for short), with in the foundation and under the rafters coordinated by and as in (3)b

PP Co-PP

Co-P NP PP1 Conj PP 2

P1 Conj P 2 the stairs P1 NP1 P2 NP2

(3)a up and down (3)b in the foundation and under the rafters

Two important points to notice about the co-ordinations marked (1)a-b,

coordinator (and in this case) all have the same category label” [Burton-Roberts, 1997: 71] and  that “the parts joined by Coordinate Conjunctions ought usually to be of exactly equal value” [Campbell, 1962: 5] All these co-ordinations are typical examples of the STRUCTURE of

d The mouth-watering duck on the table won’t be paddling away again.

f Those on the left have been paddling noisily.

While the noun phrase and the verb phrase of the sentences

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21 Constructions vs constituents

21.1 A construction is any significant group of words (or morphemes):

old man, lives there, the man who lives there, has gone, to his son’s

house, has gone to his son’s house, the old man who lives there has gone to his son’s house, etc

But there has is not, since the two words have no direct connection Neither is man since this word contains only one word (and also one morpheme) On a syntactic level lives is not a construction; but on a

morphological level it is a construction consisting of two morphemes, live

and −s

enters into some larger construction Thus, each of the words in the

lives there

However, there has or man who is not a constituent Neither is the sentence as a whole since there is no larger construction of which it is a part

Briefly, all but the smallest constituents are constructions and all

constituents are words, and the largest constructions are sentences

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22.1 An IMMEDIATE CONSTITUENT (an IC, for short) is one of the two constituents of which any given construction is directly formed In

lower level:

the old man who lives there | has gone to his son’s house

the old man | who lives there has gone | to his son’s house the | old man who | lives there has | gone to | his son’s house old | man lives | there his son’s | house

22.2 ULTIMATE CONSTITUENTS are the smallest constituents of

which a given construction is composed

of which it is composed” [Stageberg, 1965: 98] then the ultimate

morpheme in some cases) of which it is composed

there has gone to his son’s house: the, old, man, who, lives, there,

has, gone, to, his, son,’s and house

_

Using the diagram marked (1) as an illustration, one may say “yes” to

the question “Are words the immediate constituents of the sentence that

contains them?”

S

(1)Old Sam sunbathed beside a stream

Compare the diagram marked (1) with the diagrams marked (2) and (3):

S

S

The diagram marked (1) fails to give any explanation of why the words that occur in (1) form a well-formed English sentence, and why those that occur in (2) and (3) do not

“The arrangement of words in a sentence is largely determined by the

fact that the words are not immediate constituents of the sentences, but

belong with other words to form groups which have their own specifiable position in the structure of the sentence In short, while sentences CONTAIN

words, they don’t CONSIST (just of) words.” [Burton-Roberts, 1997: 11-12]

_

The fact that words do not pattern directly into sentences implies that there are some intervening levels of organization between

word and sentence They are usually called phrase, and clause [Jackson, 1980: 4]

The sentence marked (1) consists of two phrases: a noun phrase as the

The sentence marked (2) consists of two independent clauses that are coordinately linked by the conjunction ‘but’:

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structure It is a word or a word group that affects the meaning of a headword in that it describes, limits, intensifies and/or adds to the

word blue describes the shirt; it limits by excluding other colours; and it adds to the plain meaning of shirt

Modifiers may appear before or after the heads they modify, and sometimes they are separated from the head by intervening words” [Stageberg, 1965: 230-231]:

a butterfly in the garden which was fluttering among the flowers

25.2 The term complement may be used to refer to various linguistic notions Richards, Platt and Weber [1985] and Jacobs [1995] share something in common in reference to the term complement when the former [1985: 52]

states that a complement is “that part of the sentence which follows the verb

and which thus completes the sentence” and the latter [1995: 59] believes

closely to it; it is the constituent that ‘completes’ the predicate However, these authors differ in what they consider as complements

subject complement: the complement linked to a subject by be or

an intensive verb: She IS a doctor

 object complement, i.e the complement linked to an object:

We MADE her the chairperson

 adjective complement, i.e the complement linked to an adjective:

I’M glad that you can come

 complement of a preposition, i.e the complement linked to a preposition:

They ARGUED about what to do.”

adjective and prepositional complements [1995: 99], Jacobs also presents

noun complements [1995: 99-101]: “Many nouns … takes complement

clauses or complement prepositional phrases:

the story that Eleanor had met with the senatorthat

the newsof her marriage.”

Unlike Jacobs [1995] and Richards, Platt and Weber [1985],

objects: “The complements is the generic term for the completers of the

verb, which we shall later learn to know as direct object, indirect object, object complement, and subject complement (with its subclasses of predicative noun, predicative pronoun, and predicative adjective.”

complement of the adjectival” but says nothing concerning either noun complements or complements of a preposition

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26 Types of adjective complements

An adjectival complement completes the meaning of the adjective head in a predicative adjective phrase There are various kinds of

A prepositional phrase: averse, free and tantamount must take as its

(1)a I’M NOT averseaverse to a cup of tea

b.ARE you free from all responsibilities?

c Her remarks WERE tantamount to slander

 A non-finite to-infinitive clause: Loath Loath must take as its complement a

non-finite to-infinitive clause:

(2) They WERE loath [E E]TO LEAVE this district

dependent clause1:

(3)a He IS aware that very few jobs that ARE available

b I don’t think you ’RE aware how much this MEANS to me

_

An attributive adjective can only take an optional pre-modifier

optionally or obligatorily post-modified

27 1 The pre-modifier in an adjective phrase, either attributive or

predicative, may only be an adverb:

b This film IS very exciting

27.2 Predicative adjectives, not attributive adjectives, may take

post-modifiers:

(2)a *She IS a somewhat anxious about his son’s health mother

b She IS somewhat anxious about his son’s health

1

Aware can also take as its complement a prepositional phrase :

He WAS aware of a creaking noise

27.3 There are various kinds of post-modifiers in a predicative

adjective phrase:

A prepositional phrase:

b The dean WAS NOT angryangry with me

 A non-finite to-infinitive clause:

(4)a Jack APPEARED eager [E E] TO SEE her

b We WEREreluctant reluctant[E E ] TO LEAVE

c Jane WAS delightedelightedddd [E E] TO RECEIVE the gift

 A finite dependent clause:

(5)a I’M glad that that it IS over

b She IS indifferent whether whether you COME or not

_

In other words, an adjective phrase functioning predicatively does not always

obligatorily contain a certain kind of post-modifier Anxious Anxious and devoted, for example, can occur with or without post-modification:

(1)a Mrs Green IS devoted

b Mrs Green ISreally devoted

c Mrs Green ISreally devoted to her daughter

(2)a He IS anxious

b He IS (very) anxious

c He IS(very) anxious about his wife’s health

d He IS (very) anxious [E E ] TO PLEASE everybody

e He IS (very) anxious that that no one SHOULD ACCUSEhim of laziness

28.2 For other predicative adjectives, however, post-modification is obligatory

Averse, free and tantamount are always followed by a prepositional phrase:

(3)a I’ M NOT averse to a cup of tea

b ARE you free from all responsibilities?

c Her remarks WERE tantamount to slander

 Loath is always followed by a non-finite to-infinitive clause: (4) They WERE loath [E E ] TO LEAVE this district

 Aware must take as its complement either a prepositional phrase or

a finite dependent clause:

(5)a He WAS aware aware of a creaking noise

b He IS aware aware that that that very few jobsARE available

 Afraid must take as its complement either a prepositional phrase or a finite dependent clause beginning with the subordinator “that”: (6)a She WAS afraid of what MIGHT HAPPEN

if Edward turned round and saw her

c She WAS afraid thathatttt he MIGHT LOSE customers

COMPLEMENT of the head adjective in a predicative adjective phrase to be

head adjective

An adjective may be both pre-modified and post-modified adjectival modifiers are always optional whereas post-adjectival

adjective and its optional post-modifier is an example of THE STRUCTURE

OF MODIFICATION whereas the combination of an adjective and its obligatory complement displays THE STRUCTURE OF COMPLEMENTATION

Thus, it is crucial to observe what follows the head adjective in a predicative adjective phrase and to determine whether it is A COMPLEMENT or A MODIFIER

29 Classification of English adjectives according to their post-modifiers

We may give a affirmative answer to the above question because

English adjectives vary in the kinds of post-modifiers that are possible after them:

take a pre-modifier): big, blue, astute, sudden, tall, criminal, etc.:

(1)a This IS another really big problem

b This problem IS really big

b Her eyes ARE blue

(3)a It’S a criminalcriminal waste of public money

b Their actions ARE criminal

29.2 Some adjectives allow one or more kinds of optional post-modifiers:

Interesting may take only an infinitive (phrase):

(4) His book ISinterestingggginterestin to read

Attentive allows only a prepositional phrase:

(6)a This toy IS safe for children

b This tree IS safe to climb up

 AnxiAnxiousous, however, take all three kinds of post-modifiers:

(7)a He IS very anxious about his wife’s health,

c He IS very anxious that no one should accuse him of lazinessthat

post-modifiers, which are also known as adjectives complements:

 Fond and tantamounttantamount must take as its complement a prepositional phrase:

(8)a I’M fond of swimming

 Loath must take as its complement a non-finite to-infinitive clause:

(9) They WERE loath [E E ] TO LEAVE this district

 Aware must take as its complement either a prepositional phrase or a

finite dependent clause:

(10)a He WAS awareaware of a creaking noise

b.He IS aware that that very few jobs ARE available

c [I don’t think] you’RE aware how much this MEANS to me

 Afraid must take as its complement either a prepositional phrase or a

finite dependent clause beginning with the subordinator “that”:

(11)a She WAS afraid of losing customers

b She WAS afraid thatthat he MIGHT LOSE customers

c She WAS afraid of what MIGHT HAPPEN

if Edward turned round and saw her

_

which “provide circumstantial information about the action, process or event talked about in the clause in which they occur Circumstantial information includes information about the place, time, manner, etc of the action, process

or event” [Jackson, 1980: 25] Being adverbials, adjuncts are frequently in form of adverbs or adverb phrases, prepositional phrases, infinitive phrases,

participial phrases and subordinate finite clauses

they express Note that
the adverbial adjunct in question is underlined and the Vgrp IS CAPITALISED for better identification and that only

INTRANSITIVE VERBS are employed to simplify the following analysis a bit:

30.2.1 Adverbial adjuncts of Time have four subcategories within them:

answering the question ‘When?’ or ‘At what time?’:

(1)a My father WORKS at night

long an event lasts , answering the question ‘How long?’:

(2)a I’D LIKE TO GO for a week in silence

d The bell RANG all day long

e It LASTED years

f I’VE BEEN WORKING here since 1981/since I graduated from my university

occurs , answering the question ‘How often?’ or ‘How many times?’:

c The roof LEAKS whenever it rains

d The electrician always/usually/often/sometimes/rarely/never

WORKS overtime

relationship between two events or states, answering the question ‘When?

(4)a After this the conversation SANK for a while into mere sociability

30.2.2 Adverbial adjuncts of Place (also called Space) have six subcategories within them:

in, on or at which an action occurs , answering the question ‘Where?’:

(5)a They STOMPED upstairs

b My sister and her boyfriend MET at a dance

c I CAN hardly STUDY at home

general description of distance and specific measurements of an action, answering the question ‘How far?’:

c I’LL JOG as far as I can

 Adverbial adjuncts of Direction give a general orientation or the

direction of an action, answering the question ‘In what direction?’:

(7)a A visitor CAME in

b A tiger HAS GOTout

c We ARE FLYING due north

 Adverbial adjuncts of Terminus describe the direction of an action

towards a destination , answering the question ‘Where?’:

b She GOES to the church to take a few pictures

c He JUMPED onto the ground/into the air

 Adverbial adjuncts of Source describe the direction of an action

from a point of origin , answering the question ‘From which?’ ‘From where?’

or ‘From whom?’:

c He JUMPED off the roof

 Adverbial adjuncts of Path describe the pathway of an action, answering the question ‘By/Through/Along/Via/By way of which?’:

c He JUMPED out of the window/over the wall

d A lot of vehicles TRAVEL along the street

e The train WHISTLED past (the village)

back door

something is done , answering the question ‘How?’ or ‘By what way?’:

b She CAME in gently/in a gentle way

c He JUMPED this way

d I LINGERED on purpose

going to be attacked

‘Who for?’, ‘Instead of whom?’, ‘On behalf of whom?’, ‘What as?’ or ‘What

into?’:

(12)a I COME here as a friend

c He SET outpoor/as a pauper

d He CAME back rich/a rich man/as a millionaire

state or action relative to another , answering the question ‘How?’

(13)a Our coach LEFT earlier than it should have done

b This M.C SPEAKS more fluently than accurately

c He DID as much as he could

d The students CAN’T TRANSLATEas well as their professor does

f The lip CURLED like a snail’s foot

continuum from clearly conveying manner to encompassing more ambiguous

meanings They usually answer the question ‘With/Without whom?’,

‘With/Without what?’ or ‘And who/what else?’:

b I LEFT with someone else

his head

The adverbial adjuncts in (14)a-b show physical accompaniment Though they are not always obviously answers to a ‘How?’ question, they can

be replaced by the opposite adverbial adjuncts of Manner such as

independently or by myself and thus fit the manner category most clearly In some sense, the adverbial adjunct in (14)c conveys information about the

Manner of ‘coming downstairs’, but the precise semantic relationship between this adverbial adjunct and the rest of the clause is difficult to define Below

some more adverbial adjuncts of Accompaniment:

(14)d I CAN’T LIVEwithout you

f Tom CAME as well as Paul

30.2.7 Adverbial adjuncts of Means tell the means by which an

activity or state was accomplished , answering the question ‘How?’ or ‘By what

means?’:

b They GOT over to that deserted village on foot/on horseback

c I GO to work by bus

undertake a task, answering the question ‘With/Without what?’:

(16)a The prisoner ESCAPED with only a razor blade

b I CAN hardly STUDY without an up-to-date dictionary

c She frequently WRITES in pencil

e They usually PAY in cash, not by check

f She often SEWS with cotton thread

question ‘Why?’ Traditionally, cause has been associate with a relatively

objective statement, as in (17)a-c, while reason has implied a more subjective assessment, as in (17)d-e:

(17)a He [was buried under bricks, and] DIED of head injures

because his legs are bad

d I WENT there because I was told

me up

In the majority of cases, however, it is difficult to judge the level of objectivity and thus to discern between cause and reason, as with the following examples:

g He THRIVES on positive criticism

of Cause, also answer the question ‘Why’ However, it is necessary to note

happening, has happened, or will happen” while adverbial adjuncts of

Contingency “give as a reason of something which might have happened, or which may happen” [Campbell, 1962: 59] The first is certain, the second is only possible or probable, as shown in (18)a-d:

(18)a They DECIDED to retreat at once

c You HAD BETTER NOT SKIin case the weather is really bad

for ?’ or ‘For what purpose?’:

d I JOG for the sake of my health

e The ground crew even CRAWLED into the un-pressurised luggage compartments so as not to be left behind

f They always WALK

so that/in order that they may/might get plenty of exercise

Purpose is also closely related to reason, it is possible, for example, to paraphrase (19)a as ‘The reason I’ve got to write IS to report what I’ve been doing so far.’

30.2.12 Adverbial adjuncts of Result:

“In Purpose Sentences something is done deliberately in order to bring

about a certain result The Subordinate Clause often has MAY or MIGHT In

Result Sentences something happens by chance and brings about a certain

result The Subordinate Clause never has MAY or MIGHT.” [Campbell,1962: 58]

d The third couple DANCED so beautifully that all the examiners awarded them the maximal point

runs counter to the proposition of the rest of the clause or, in the case of

adverbial adjuncts realized as clauses, counter to the proposition in the

main clause:

c They KEPTon swimming

(even) though/in spite of the fact that the weather was bad

despite/in spite of the bad weather

d [1700 miners have been out for seven months and,]

which hold on the proposition of the main clause, including both positive and

negative conditions They usually answer the question ‘Under what

condition (s)?’:

provided that you work overtime tomorrow

which a proposition holds, answering the question ‘How much?’, ‘How many?’

‘To what degree?’ or ‘To which extent?’:

(23)a [The government had predicted that] rateable values WOULD RISE

by about seven times

b The land tenure system VARIES slightly from place to place

c He POINTED very obviously at the woman in the fur coat

e The girl SLIPPED and almost FELL

f She’S GETTING on a bit now

i I CAN’T AGREEmore

Adverbial adjuncts of Addition (also called additive adjuncts) show

that a current proposition is being added to a previous one:

(24)a She also PLAYS well.

b I DID, too

c I DIDN’T, either

It is important to note that unlike conjuncts, adverbial adjuncts of

Addition “do not serve primarily to link units of discourse Rather, their

primary purpose is to show that one bit of propositional content is being added

to a previously mentioned idea or entity” [Biber et all, 1999: 779]

 Adverbial adjuncts of Restriction (also called restrictive adjuncts)

emphasize that the proposition is true in a way which expressly excludes some

other possibilities:

(24)d I’M only JOKING

e Well, they just FELL behind, you know

A feature shared by adjuncts of Additive and those of Restrictive

is that, unlike many other adverbials, they often cannot be moved without affecting their meaning in the clause The position of the adverbial is important in determining what element of the clause is the focus of the addition or restriction Thus, the following pairs of sentences are not

equivalent Only the adverbs in (25)a-b are adjuncts; the adverb in (25)a’ is

a disjunct while that in (25)b’ is a conjunct:

(25)a A heart born especially for me, Jackie USED TO TEASE

a’ Especially a heart born for me, Jackie USED TO TEASE

b Mr Arce Gomez also HAS a human rights reputation

b’ Also Mr Arce Gomez HAS a human rights reputation

30.4 Also note that two or more adverbial adjuncts of different types may occur together, following a variety of orders:

(27)a He TRAVELS a lot (Degree)

from and to Hanoi (Source and Terminus)

c The cat CREPT silently (Manner) towards the bird (Direction)

for a change (Purpose)

e He WILL certainly (Degree) DIE

if you don’t call a doctor (Condition)

Vgrp [intrans] PP

(27)f She hardly ever GOES to bed before midnight

that there is enough contextual support The missing adverbial adjunct is supplied in < > in the examples below:

afternoon.] One REMAINED <in hospital> for an exploratory operation

on a shoulder injury

b “Why HAVE I BEEN here?” he wanted to say “How long DO I HAVE TO STAY<here>?”

adverbial adjunct In (29)a-f there exists an adverbial obligatory adjunct

of Place (i.e either of Location, Terminus, Path, Direction or of Source):

(29) a We HAVE LIVEDhere (Location) for ten years (Extent in Time)

c A van carrying farm workers RAN off a foggy rural road (Source)

and PLUNGED into a murky canal (Terminus) today (Point of Time)

d He’S COMINGdownstairs (Direction)

e She SLIDover the questions (Path)

without answering them (Manner)

earlier than usual (Manner)

30.7 Quite often, only one obligatory adverbial adjunct is enough to make the meaning conveyed by the VP of a given sentence complete In some cases, however, both adverbial adjuncts in the VP are obligatory:

(31)a The jumbo jet FLEW up (Direction) into the open air (Terminus)

b The jumbo jet FLEW up (Direction)

c’ The jumbo jet FLEW into the open air (Terminus)

It is not always easy to tell whether an adverbial adjunct is obligatory

or optional However, this distinction is crucial as far as the meaning expressed by the whole VP in which the adjunct occur is concerned

30.8 The above illustrations indicate that a number of nouns or noun

phrases can, and sometimes must, appear without prepositions when they are the adverbial adjuncts of Time, of Place or even of Manner in VPs

Among these nouns/noun phrases are Tuesday; the next day; last night; next

week ; the day before yesterday; yesterday afternoon; all the time; every Friday

evening ; some time; home; there; here; then; this way; a bit; a lot; a pauper; a

rich man ; a smiling, confident woman; etc Jacobs [1995: 26] believes that

“this characteristic is a relic marked by special case suffixes rather than

prepositions” In addition, adjectives like rich or poor can also be the

adverbial adjunct of Manner or of Guise

A

(32)a I ’LL COME some time

b I ’LL COME next week (33)a He SET out poor

c He JUMPED this way b He CAME back rich

_

Using a tree-diagram to give a complete analysis for each of the following NPs means not using any triangle notation

(5) [That was] much the best meal I’ve ever tasted

ANSWER:

1 In much evening enjoyment, much 2 is a quantifying adjective

meaning ‘a large amount or quantity (of sth)’, pre-modifying the N’ 2 evening enjoyment, which is in fact a compound noun In this case, the determiner position is unfilled

(2) a much harder job

(1) φφφφ much evening enjoyment

2 much /m∧t∫/ ( quantifying adj., used with uncountable nouns; esp with negative an

interrogative verbs or after very, as, how, so, too) = a large amount or quantity (of sth): I

haven’t got much money There’s never very much news on Sundays Take as much time

as you like How much petrol do you need?

2 In a much harder job, much3 is a degree adverb meaning ‘to a

great extent or degree’, pre-modifying THE COMPARATIVE ADJECTIVE

(ComparA, for short) harder Much harder, in its turn, is an adjective phrase, pre-modifying the N’ 2job, which is in fact the head of the whole noun phrase

3 In a much more expensive trip, more is a comparative degree adverb, pre-modifying the positive adjective expensive Since “degree

adverbs cannot themselves be modified” [Burton-Roberts, 1997: 65], much

cannot be another degree adverb, pre-modifying the very comparative degree

expensive, in its turn, is another adjective phrase, pre-modifying the N’ 2

trip, which is in fact the head of the whole noun phrase

(4)φφφφ much more white sand

(3)a much more expensive trip

N’ 2 white sand, the head noun of which is uncountable

3 much/m∧t∫/ (adv., used with comparatives and superlatives) = to a great extent or degree:

much louder; much more confidently; She’s much better today; My favourite is usually much the most expensive; I would never willingly go anywhere by boat, much less go on

a cruise

adjective clause I’ve ever tasted post-modifies the NP2 much the best meal

(1)a a few men (1)b a little butter

ANSWER:

“The indefinite article a can only determine constituents that have a singular count noun as head; it cannot determine plural count nouns (*a men)

or mass nouns (*a butter) This is why a few and a little must be treated as

constituents, as phrasal determiners.” [Burton-Roberts, 1997: 180]

33. Structural ambiguity in English noun phrases

structure permits more than one interpretation

33.1.1 Some Japanese print collectors is structurally ambiguous It

collectors of Japanese prints in (1)b:

AP2 N’ 4

(1)a some Japanese print collectors A headN2

(Japanese modifies (1)b some φφφφ Japanese print collectors

the compound noun print collectors.) (Japanese modifies the noun print.)

33.1.2 The old Rumanian history teacher can be interpreted in three different ways:

(2)a ‘the old teacher of history who comes from Rumania’

ModN headN

the old Rumanian history teacher

(2)b ‘the teacher of old Rumanian history’

NP

DET N’ 1

ART AP1 N’ 2

ModNP

the φφφφ old Rumanian history teacher

(2)c ‘the teacher of Rumanian history who is old’

33.1.3 More exciting ideas can be interpreted in two different ways:

(3)a ‘more ideas that are exciting’(3)b ‘ideas that are more exciting’

QA DEG headA headN

[ComparA] A headN [ComparAdv]

φφφφ more exciting ideas φφφφ MORE exciting ideas

More is the comparative form of

the quantifying adjective many which

modifies the N’ 2 exciting ideas

adverb which modifies the adjective exciting _

33.2.1 A small arms factory is STRUCTURALLY AMBIGUOUS because this noun phrase can be interpreted in two different ways:

(1)a ‘an arms factory that is small’: The adjective small

‘factory in which weapons like guns, rifles, explosives, etc are manufactured’

This compound noun is composed of the modifying noun (ModN, for short)

arms and the head noun (headN, for short) factory

(1)b ‘a factory for small arms’: Small arms, which is a

compound noun meaning ‘weapons light enough to be carried in the hands’,

pre-modifies the head noun factory This compound noun is composed of the adjective (A, for short) small and the head noun (headN, for short) arms:

(1)a a small arms factory (1)b a φφφφ small arms factory

33 2.2 An old girl’s bicycle is STRUCTURALLY AMBIGUOUS because this noun phrase can be interpreted in two different ways:

(2)a ‘a girl’s bicycle that is old’

The adjective old pre-modifies the head noun bicycle So does the

(2)b ‘a bicycle for an old girl’

Thus, old is an adjective pre-modifying girl, which is the head nounof the possessive noun phrase (PossNP, for short) an old girl’s

NP NP1

DET N’ 1 DET1 N’ 1

ART AP1 N’ 2 PossNP headN1

A AP2 N’ 3 NP2 PossMarker

PossCommN headN DET2 N’ 2

(2)a an old girl’s bicycle ART AP N’ 3

A headN

(2)b an old girl ’s bicycle

33 2.3 ‘The world women’s congress’ can be interpreted as ‘the women’s congress of the world’ as in (3)a or ‘the congress of world women’ as in (3)b.

ModN AP2 N’ 3 DET2 N’ 2

PossCommN headN ART headComN

(3)a the world women’s congress ModN headN2

33.2.4 A nice man’s fur coat can be interpreted as ‘a man’s fur coat

that is nice’ as in (4)a or ‘a fur coat of a nice man’ as in (4)b

DET N’ 1 DET1 N’ 1

ART AP1 N’ 2 PossNP headComN

A AP2 N’ 3 NP2 PossMarker ModN headN1

PossCommN headComN DET2 N’ 2

ModN headN ART AP N’3

A headN2

(4)a a nice man’s fur coat

33.2.5 ‘A large woman’s garment’ can be interpreted as ‘a woman’s garment that is large’ as in (5)a or ‘a garment for a large woman’ as in (5)b

PossCommN headN ART AP N’3

(5)a a large woman’s garment A headN2

(5)b a large woman ’s garment

33.2.6 An advanced learner’s dictionary can be interpreted as ‘an advanced dictionary for learners’ as in (6)a or ‘a dictionary for an

(6)a an advanced learner’s dictionary A headN2

(6)b an advanced learner ’s dictionary

33 2.7 ‘A camel’s hair brush4’ can be interpreted as ‘an implement with bristles used to brush, scrub, clean or tidy a camel’s hair’ as in

ModN headN PossCommN headN2

(7)a a camel’s hair brush (7)b a φφφφ camel’s hair brush

33 2.8 ‘That greasy kid stuff’ can be interpreted as ‘that kid

stuff which is greasy’ as in (8)a or ‘that stuff for greasy kids’ as in

brush1 [C]implement with bristles of hair, wire, nylon, etc in a block of wood, etc

and used for scrubbing, sweeping, cleaning, painting, tidying the hair, etc.:

a clothes- brush, a tooth-brush, a paint-brush, a hair-brush

2 [singular] act of brushing: giveone’s clothes, hair, shoes, teeth, wool coat, etc. a good brush

33 2.9 ‘The basic book service’ can be interpreted as ‘the book service that is basic’ as in (9)a or ‘the service for basic books’ as in (9)b

32.2.10 ‘A foreign language teacher’ can be interpreted as ‘a language teacher who is foreign’ as in (10)a or ‘a teacher of a foreign language’

(10)a a foreign language teacher A headN

(10)b a φφφφ foreign language teacher

33 2.11 ‘An old car enthusiast’ can be interpreted as ‘a car enthusiast who is old’ as in (11)a or ‘an enthusiast about old cars’ as in

(11)a an old car enthusiast A headN

(11)b an φφφφ old car enthusiast

33 2.12 ‘More ferocious curries’ can be interpreted as ‘more curries that are ferocious’ as in (12)a or ‘curries that are more

QA DEG headA headN

(12)a φφφφ more ferocious curries (12)b φφφφ MORE ferocious curries

the quantifying adjective many which

modifies the N’ 2 ferocious curries

adverb which modifies

When two or more modifying word groups occur after a head noun,

there is danger of structural ambiguity

“Our English grammatical system provides us with at least five common means of avoiding such ambiguities:

1 Gender signals: The dog on the porch with ( its, his) battered look

2 Person-thing signals: The young calf of the boy

3 Number signals: The rooms of the house which ( were, was) dirty

4 Position: A dispute at the courthouse on drinking

5 Co-ordination: A second-hand car that he later traded for a motorcycle

and that he loved to tinker with.”

(4)a a dispute at the courthouse on drinking

SubACl2 Conj SubACl3

(5)a a second-hand car

that he later traded for a motorcycle and that he loved to tinker with

which he later traded for a motorcycle and which he loved to tinker with

(5)b a second-hand car that he later traded

for a motorcycle which he loved to tinker with

(6) [that he later traded] for a motorcycle which he loved to tinker with

If not, how do you account for this?