Appunti English language 2

Lezione 1: The building blocks of language: syntax and semantics

→ Written exam: 1 hour. Open and closed questions + practical exercises of the topics of the course. Multiple choice questions/open-ended questions.

→ Language is symbolic; it repeats itself on many levels. There is a variation at every level of structure that moves from person to person and area to area. Language varies systematically.

Example

Make a sentence out of each of the following sets of words. What does this tell you about the order of words in English sentences?

• Sleeps, a, baby, new-born: a new-born baby sleeps.
• In, house, live, green, the, a, people: the people live in a green house.
• The, kicked, boy, ball, a: the boy kicked a ball.

This tells us that the word order in English is fix article + verb + noun. We can add an adjective. This is a property of the English language. A language is systematic in terms of sequence.

→ BLICK is an English word. This tells us that a language is systematic in terms of sound sequencing.

➔ Speakers of the same language must know the same rules.

APPEALED TO = ask something.

Example

What is the question formed from each of the following statements?

• John is eating his porridge.
• John won’t eat his porridge.

➔ Rules are descriptive, not prescriptive.

➔ Native speakers' knowledge of rules is unconscious.

Variation of the language

Different kinds of variation:

• Language changes over time: diachronic variation.
• ➔ Those who spoke English were a group of tribes from the European continent.
• Language varies in geographic space: diatopic variation.
• ➔ There are many Englishes spoken around the world.
• Language varies in social space: diastratic variation.
• ➔ Social stratification of a country; young and old people using a language; formal and informal language.

→ Language has a creative potential; every concept cannot be encoded. Language creativity also triggers a potential for ambiguity.

→ Biuniqueness = one word, one meaning.

→ Polysemy: one word, many meanings.

Example: Polysemy or homonymy

• BANK: institution where we put money / the rising ground bordering a lake, river or sea forming the edge of a cut or hollow.

Symbolicity of language

Language is a semiotic system. It involves signs that are stable symbolic associations between a meaning and a form.

• SIGN: the object.
• SIGNIFIED: the mental concept.
• SIGNIFIER: the physical existence (sound, words, image).

Signs in a language are represented by sequences of sounds, which can be transferred into visual signs or the gestural language of the deaf. /tri:/ tree.

A question arises concerning the relation between the sign (signifier) and the object it stands for (signified).

• Icon can be index and symbol. The icon of a cat, for example, can be the image of a cat.
• A symbol has no resemblance. It has total abstraction. The connection between symbols must be culturally learned.

A language is a system of communication which consists of a set of sounds and written symbols used by the people of a particular country or region for communication.

→ The six elements of verbal communication: speaker, context, message, hearer, contact (oral or written medium), shared code (English, Italian).

Linguistics

Scientific study of language and involves language form, language meaning, and language in context.

• Sounds: phonetics.
• Words: morphology.
• Sentences: syntax.
• Meaning: pragmatics.

Syntax

Is the branch of linguistics that studies how the words of a language can be combined together to make larger units, such as phrases, clauses, and sentences. There is a hierarchical ranking of units in terms of their potential size.

• Highest units:
• Sentences which consist of one or more clauses.
• Clauses which consist of one or more phrases.
• Phrases which consist of one or more words.
• Words which consist of one or more morphemes.

Most languages have a finite number of basic words, but those words can be put together to form an infinite number of sentences. One can buy a more or less complete dictionary of English, but it is unthinkable to buy a similar reference book for all these sentences of English. Syntax is the study of these rules and patterns.

→ A sentence is a string of words that begins with a capital letter and ends with a full stop, and it is typically used to express a state of affairs in the world.

Lezione 2: Elements in a sentence

The classification of sentence constituents can be carried out in different ways:

• From the point of view of the role played by the various elements in a sentence (functional classification): subject, predicate, direct object.
• Looking at what part of speech they represent (formal classification): noun, verb, adjective.

Identifying sentence constituents

Sentences can be variously divided into smaller elements, or constituents.

Example

The cat devoured the rat / the rat devoured the cat.

We have two possibilities to consider this example: the first one is to subdivide the sentence into words and to analyze words in a formal classification. On the other hand, we can divide the sentence into functions, so we have the cat (subject), devoured (predicator of the sentence), and the rat (the direct object).

This is a sentence that doesn’t have semantic meaning, but for formal or functional classification, it can work. We have a radically different meaning even if we have the same functional units.

→ If we consider the sentence "the cat devoured the rat," we can see that there is a close link between devoured and the rat. We have to signal this link by putting two square brackets, including DEVOURED and THE RAT together. The predicate plus the direct object is the so-called PREDICATE. The predicate always includes a predicator and may include a direct object and other complements.

Exercise

1. The police arrested the bank robber:
   → SUBJECT: the police.
   → PREDICATE: arrested the bank robber. Here we have “arrested” that is the predicator and “the bank robber” that is the direct object.
2. This factory produces a revolutionary new type of fax machine:
   → SUBJECT: this factory. “this” is called determiner.
   → PREDICATE: produces a revolutionary new type of fax machine. The predicate is composed of: “produces” that is the predicator; “a revolutionary new type of fax machine” is the direct object in which we have also a specification that is a prepositional phrase “of fax machine”.
3. That stupid waiter gleefully spilt soup all over my trousers:
   → SUBJECT: that stupid waiter. Adjective is an attributive position.
   → PREDICATE: gleefully spilt soup all over my trousers. “spilt” that is the predicator; “gleefully” is an adverb that modified the predicator; “soup all over my trousers” is an adjunct (tell us something about place).
4. The stuntman smashed sixteen cars in five minutes:
   → SUBJECT: the stuntman.
   → PREDICATE: smashed sixteen cars in five minutes. “smashed” that is the predicator; “sixteen cars” that is the direct object; “in five minutes” that is an adjunct (tell us something about time).
5. She probably painted the President’s portrait at the palace:
   → SUBJECT: she.
   → PREDICATE: probably painted the President’s portrait at the palace. “probably” is an adverb; “painted” is the predicator; “the President’s portrait” is the direct object; “at the palace” is an adjunct.

To identify the subject, we have to consider that a subject often does something, so the predicator often implies action, but there are some predicators that are not actions. They are what we call “stay”.

Example

• My brother wears a green overcoat.
• The committee disliked her proposal.

The subjects are not performing an action. We have a distinction between dynamic and stative predicate and predicator.

→ Subjects can be elements that are meaningless: it is raining / it is cold. Non-referential it doesn’t have any reference in the sentence.

→ Where did I put my hat? Ah, I put it in the car. In this case, “it” is a referential because it is a pronoun that stands for something that has already come in the sentence (my hat).

→ We also have existential there: There were new books on the shelf. It wants to signal the existence of the book on the shelf.

Subjects predominantly consist of groups of words, whose most important element denotes a person, an animal, an institution, or a thing. These elements are called NOUNS. Group of words such as the girl, etc., are classified as NOUN PHRASES (NPs). Subjects are obligatory in English, and they typically occur at the beginning of the sentence. Subjects determine the form of the verb / agree with the verb.

The direct objects are those constituents referring to entities that undergo the activity or process denoted by the verb. Typical role associated: patient (vs agent), the person who performs a given action. The direct object is the receiver of the action.

In syntactic terms, direct objects are usually NPs (a computer, a glass, a wall) but we can also have:

• That-clauses: she admitted that she had lost a key.
• Wh-clauses: I know what you mean.
• To-infinitive clauses: she believed the rumors to be false.
• Bare infinitive: I saw James leave.
• -ing participle clause: I love shopping.
• -ed participle clauses: I need my watch repaired.
• Small clauses: Mary considers her friend a very talented writer.

Adjuncts

These elements tell us something about the HOW, WHERE, WHEN OR WHY of the situation expressed. They describe incidental circumstances, such as time, place, or manner of an action, event, or state. They express optional information. They are peripheral, and they can appear in groups. They can be normally represented by adverb phrases or prepositional phrases, but sometimes they can also be indicated by a noun phrase. Adjuncts are mobile; they can move around the sentence. The position between the main verb and direct object is excluded!

Exercise

1. Greg opened a can of Coke:
   → FUNCTION SUBJECT: Greg.
   → PREDICATE: opened.
   → DIRECT OBJECT: a can of Coke.
2. She arrived last week: time adjunct.
3. You will need a comprehensive travel insurance: direct object.
4. Who said that? : predicator.
5. Benny worked in a shoe factory when he was a student: “worked” is a predicator; “when he was a student” is a time adjunct.
6. Who will do the cleaning? : subject.
7. The lecturer from France who talked about Wittgenstein yesterday left: subject.

Construct sentences containing:

1. A subject, predicator, an indirect object, and a direct object: I give you a pen.
2. A subject, a predicator, a direct object, and an adjunct: yesterday I read a newspaper.
3. A subject, a predicator, and an adjunct: I slept in a hotel.
4. A subject and a predicator: I cry.

Lezione 3: Homework identify the elements

1. Gradually, the room filled with smoke when the coals started burning:
   → Gradually: a manner adjunct.
   → The room: subject.
   → Filled with: prepositional verb.
   → Smoke: direct object.
   → When the coals started burning: a time adjunct.
2. A ball kicked by Wayne knocked Terry unconscious:
   → A ball kicked by Wayne: subject.
   → Knocked: predicator.
   → Terry unconscious: direct object.
3. Nobody knows who had tampered with the alarm system:
   → Nobody: subject.
   → Knows: predicator.
   → Who had tampered: direct object.
   → With the alarm system: adjunct.
4. Research has shown that stem cells could treat incurable diseases.
   → Research: subject.
   → Has shown: predicator.
   → That stem cells could treat incurable diseases: direct object.
5. The witness for the prosecution appeared to hesitate when asked the crucial question.
   → The witness for the prosecution: subject.
   → Appeared to hesitate: predicator.
   → When asked the crucial question: adjunct.
6. After we cleaned the room, I’ll buy us something to eat.
   → After we cleaned the room: time adjunct.
   → I: subject.
   → Will buy: predicator.
   → Us: indirect object.
   → Something to eat: direct object.

Exercise 2: Identify the elements

1. Some cultures value specific and detailed written contacts; others prefer to conduct business through verbal agreements:
   → Some cultures: subject.
   → Value: predicator.
   → Specific and detailed written contacts: direct object.
   → Others: subject.
   → Prefer: predicator.
   → To conduct business: direct object.
   → Through verbal agreement: manner adjunct.
2. As the American workplace and American workers become increasingly multicultural, we face complex challenges in cross-cultural communication.
   → As the American workplace and American workers become increasingly multicultural: manner adjunct.
   → We: subject.
   → Face: predicator.
   → Complex challenges in cross-cultural communication: direct object.

The smallest building blocks of syntax: words

→ Defining the notion of a word is problematic. “S” is a derivational suffix dog/dogs. It belongs to the same LEXEME, but they are different word forms.

Example

Duty-free is composed of two words, but these are so closely linked that they feel like one word.

→ Words can be classified from a functional perspective into parts of speech or word classes grammatical categories:

• Noun.
• Determiner.
• Adjective.
• Verb.
• Preposition.
• Adverb.
• Conjunction.
• Interjection.

We can find some elements that can have different form meaning changing place in the sentence. We have to be careful when we classify and consider the context in which we are.

The grammatical characteristics of words need to be considered for the purposes of scientific description. A noun is usually a word that typically inflects for plural number, is the HEAD of a noun phrase, and functions as a subject or object of a clause.

Example

The red-haired boy fell from the stairs.

• The red-haired boy: NOUN PHRASE.
• The: determiner.
• Red-haired: adjective.
• Boy: noun (head).
• Fell: lexical verb.
• From: preposition.
• The: determiner.
• Stairs: head noun.

➔ In the following text, identify the NPs and then find out the HEAD (noun).

A private jet offers luxury services to travelers who can afford it. A variety of comforts and special features are on board. The well-designed interiors have comfortable seats, work tables, and Internet access. The wide aisles leave enough space to walk around. Some private jet services include a chef. Gourmet breakfasts, lunches, and dinners are prepared in the galley of the aircraft. Tired passengers can nap in their seats or they can sleep in one of the on-board bedrooms. A relaxing shower in the spa will allow a passenger to arrive fresh and ready to greet people. Such conveniences are the result of new technology and creative thinking. In so many ways, luxury jets are like flying luxury hotels.

In terms of grammatical analysis, we have open and closed classes.

• Open classes: classes in which new members can constantly be added, such as nouns. The same is for verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Open classes have a definable meaning, and they are called LEXICAL WORDS because they carry the meaning to a sentence.
• Closed classes: elements in those classes are fixed, we can’t add new members. They are STRUCTURAL/FUNCTIONAL WORDS such as pronouns, determiners, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. They only have a grammatical meaning.

The class of nouns is potentially infinite. We can expand the class by adding nouns from scientific discoveries, new products, and new ideas. We can also add new verbs.

Lezione 4: Functional analysis of the sentences

1. Heather took the ferry across Istanbul yesterday.
   SUBJECT: Heather.
   PREDICATOR: took.
   DIRECT OBJECT: the ferry.
   PLACE ADJUNCT: across Istanbul.
   TIME ADJUNCT: yesterday.
   PREDICATE: took the ferry across Istanbul yesterday.
2. Isabel trimmed the lamp lightly.
   SUBJECT: Isabel.
   PREDICATOR: trimmed.
   DIRECT OBJECT: the lamp.
   MANNER ADJUNCT: lightly.
   PREDICATE: trimmed the lamp lightly.
3. Bricks are best because they are heavy.
   SUBJECT: bricks.
   PREDICATE: are best because they are heavy.
   PREDICATOR: are.
   DIRECT OBJECT: best.
   ADJUNCT OF REASON: because they are heavy.
4. This season everyone is sending expensive presents to their friends for Christmas.
   SUBJECT: everyone.
   TIME ADJUNCT: this season.
   PREDICATE: is sending expensive presents to their friends for Christmas.
   PREDICATOR: is sending.
   DIRECT OBJECT: expensive presents.
   INDIRECT OBJECT: to their friends.
   TIME ADJUNCT: for Christmas.

Nouns

• Nouns are defined as words that denote people, animals, things, or places (formal criteria).
• We have to take into consideration another criterion that is distribution criteria.