Lingua inglese 2

What is grammar?

The set of rules of any given language that enable us to construct any sentence in that language which we recognise to be well-formed. We have different opinions about grammar, depending on our personal skills and the ways we studied it. The suggestion is to be able to be exposed to the language in many ways. The more you are exposed to the language, the more you will achieve competences.

What is syntax?

Rules of grammar deal with two aspects of language construction:

• Deal with the principles of stringing words together to form larger units of construction such as phrases, clauses, sentences. This aspect of grammar is called syntax.
• There is another set of rules which tell us how to adapt words according to the grammatical context in which they occur: plural forms of nouns, past forms of verbs, etc. These variations are called inflections.

Inflections in contemporary English

Inflections are a branch of grammar. By inflections, we mean endings which we add to a word to indicate aspects such as past tense or plural. A stem is what remains of a word when any inflections are removed from it. For example, frogs, turned, developed: stem = frog -s; turn -ed; develop -ped. Inflections are not used to create a new lexeme (lexeme is the technical word that appears in the dictionary) ≠ suffixes. Stem is not the same thing as a root: STEM ≠ LEXEME ≠ ROOT (a root can be less than a stem).

In contemporary English, there are just a handful of regular inflections in addition to quite a number of irregular ones. Regular inflections -s and irregular ones -es in the plural form. The aspect of an adjective is if it is comparative or superlative — the degree of an adjective is marked by an inflection.

Types of inflections

• Noun inflections

CAKE → CAKES
BOY → BOYS
GAS → GASES
CHILD → CHILDREN
Nouns can be inflected to indicate plurality and possession. Not all nouns have a plural form (both abstract and concrete: UNCOUNTABLES, non-count nouns). Examples include:

• Hockey takes place in the autumn term
• Music is a universal language
• His office has recently been refurbished with antique furniture

A few exceptions

There are a few nouns which look plural because they end in (-s) but are in fact non-count nouns:

• Billiards
• Physics
• Politics
• Linguistics

There are nouns which exist only in the plural form:

• Trousers
• Glasses
• Scissors

Aggregate nouns are neither clearly count nor clearly non-count nouns:

• Goods (la merce)
• Dregs (fondi, residui)

Some aggregate nouns look singular but take a plural form of the verb:

• The police have surrounded the building
• The cattle are lowing

Aggregate nouns are different from collective nouns, which refer to groups (usually animals or people) but grammatically they are count nouns since they have both a singular and a plural form:

• The family is (are) spending Christmas at home
• Three families are spending Christmas at home
• The herd is (are) grazing in the field by the river
• The herds are doing very well this year

Some nouns have both a count and a non-count form depending on their meanings:

• Wine is an alcoholic drink made from grapes (non-count noun)
• Australian wines are as enjoyable as French ones (varieties of wine count noun)

More examples are available at: Cambridge Dictionary

Writing in plural form

In writing, some nouns do not take an (-s) ending but an (-es) ending. This is driven by the fact that when they are pronounced in the plural, they actually add an extra syllable to make it pronounceable and distinct from the singular form:

• Gas → gases
• Box → boxes
• Dish → dishes
• Fez → fezes

Whether we pronounce /s/ or /z/ depends on the consonant which precedes the inflectional ending, a process known as assimilation.

Irregular forms

• Zero inflection: sheep / sheep
• Vowel mutation: tooth / teeth, mouse / mice, man / men
• Voicing of final consonant: life / lives, hoof / hooves
• Irregular plural inflection: child / children, ox / oxen
• Foreign plurals: stimulus / stimuli, matrix / matrices, phenomenon / phenomena

Verb inflections

WALK → WALKED → WALKING
TAKE → TOOK → TAKEN

Adjective and adverb inflections

TALL → TALLER → THE TALLEST
QUICKLY → MORE QUICKLY → MOST QUICKLY

Pronoun inflections

HE → HIM
THIS → THESE

Possessive forms (noun inflections)

In English, possession can be denoted by a possessive inflectional ending (’s), known as the Genitivo sassone (the word before the possessive can be a noun or an adverb).

• Susan’s brother was preparing the dog’s dinner

Possessive inflections can be used to express a possessive meaning, but also to express a relation of a different nature as in the following examples:

• A hard day’s work → una dura giornata di lavoro
• Children’s playground → parco giochi per bambini

Instead of a possessive inflectional ending, we can use an -of construction or a noun phrase:

• The journey’s end or the end of the journey
• The window of the kitchen or the kitchen window (never kitchen’s window)

Possessive inflections can be added to both singular and plural nouns. In the case of regular plural inflections, the possessive inflection appears as a simple apostrophe:

• The dogs’ dinner

In the case of irregular plural inflections, they can take over possessive inflections as in:

• The teeth’s whiteness

It is also possible for the possessive inflection to apply to a word group rather than a single noun:

• Mother → the mother of both Chris and Jonathan
• The teacher spoke to Chris and Jonathan’s

Verb inflections

Verbs are subject to a wider range of inflections, although it is limited in comparison to French, German, and Italian verb inflections. There are regular and irregular forms of inflections. The uninflected stem of a verb is known as the base form of the verb. We make a distinction between the to-infinitive and the bare infinitive. The base form of the verb may be varied by the addition of four regular inflections which are found only with lexical verbs (auxiliary verbs have irregular inflectional forms, and modal auxiliary verbs have no inflectional forms):

• -s (third person singular of the present tense) in standard English, the base form of the verb is used in the present tense for every person except the third person in the singular: I walk; you walk, he/she/it walks, we walk, you walk, they walk
• -ing participle (it occurs in various grammatical contexts): I like listening to music, I am listening to music, she was walking to the shops. Listening to music was important to him (non-finite clause); he was sorry for keeping them waiting
• -ed (used to construct the past tense): they walked all day long, Jane painted a portrait
• -ed participle (it takes the same form as the regular past tense inflection, but we make a distinction because it has a different function): They have walked three miles today (present perfect), Jane’s painting was admired by her friends (passive voice), considered carefully, it wasn’t a very good idea. (non-finite secondary clause)

Irregular verb inflections

Patterns of irregular verbs

Irregular primary verbs

Identify verb inflections

Shakespeare's sonnets are poems written by William Shakespeare on a variety of themes. When discussing or referring to Shakespeare's sonnets, it is almost always a reference to the 154 sonnets that were first published all together in a quarto in 1609. However, there are six additional sonnets that Shakespeare wrote and included in the plays Romeo and Juliet, Henry V, and Love's Labour's Lost. There is also a partial sonnet found in the play Edward III. Shakespeare’s sonnets are considered a continuation of the sonnet tradition that swept through the Renaissance from Petrarch in 14th-century Italy and was finally introduced in 16th-century England by Thomas Wyatt and was given its rhyming meter and division into quatrains by Henry Howard. With few exceptions, Shakespeare’s sonnets observe the stylistic form of the English sonnet—the rhyme scheme, the 14 lines, and the meter. But Shakespeare’s sonnets introduce such significant departures of content that they seem to be rebelling against well-worn 200-year-old traditions.

Instead of expressing worshipful love for an almost goddess-like yet unobtainable female love-object, as Petrarch, Dante, and Philip Sidney had done, Shakespeare introduces a young man. He also introduces the Dark Lady, who is no goddess. Shakespeare explores themes such as lust, homoeroticism, misogyny, infidelity, and acrimony in ways that may challenge, but which also open new terrain for the sonnet form.

Verb inflections which have disappeared

(In the past, English was richer in inflections)

Take all my loves, my love, yea, take them all; What hast thou then more than thou hadst before? No love, my love, that thou mayst true love call; All mine was thine before thou hadst this more. Then if for my love thou my love receivest, I cannot blame thee for my love thou usest; But yet be blamed, if thou thyself deceivest By willful taste of what thyself refusest. I do forgive thy robbery, gentle thief, Although thou steal thee all my poverty; And yet, love knows, it is a greater grief To bear love's wrong than hate's known injury. Lascivious grace, in whom all ill well shows, Kill me with spites; yet we must not be foes.

Adjective, adverb and pronoun inflections

Adjective and adverb inflections

• TALL → TALLER → THE TALLEST
• QUICKLY → MORE QUICKLY → MOST QUICKLY

Pronoun inflections

HE → HIM
THIS → THESE

Adjective and adverb inflections

• Both adjectives and adverbs share the ability to be graded. We can indicate to what extent a particular quality exists. We might say that a person is tall, or extremely tall, someone ran quickly or incredibly quickly.
• Gradability is a typical feature of adjectives and adverbs, particularly those of manner, and we can also use adjectives and adverbs to compare two items:
• The forms of adjectives and adverbs which do not have an inflectional ending are called absolute forms. Inflectional endings for both adjectives and adverbs are:
• -er inflection gives the comparative form; Rosie is taller than me (adj); John runs faster than Esther (adv)
• -est inflection gives the superlative form; Rosie is the tallest in her class (adj); John runs fastest (adv)
• If the adjective consists of three syllables or more, then it will construct the comparative by using the premodifying adverb more and the superlative by using the premodifying adverb most.
• beautiful (adj) → more beautiful (comp.) → the most beautiful (superl.)
• quickly (adv.) → more quickly (comp.) → most quickly (superl.)

Irregular forms of adjectives

Irregular forms of adverbs

Pronoun inflections

Demonstrative pronouns

Phrases

What is a phrase?

Syntax operates on a level which is higher than the word level since it is concerned with the rules by which words are combined together. There are three basic units of discourse construction which are: phrases, clauses, sentences. The structure of a sentence is the point at which grammar (and syntax in particular) traditionally stops. Beyond sentence level, you have the discourse, which is any sequence of sentences which makes up a complete communication unit. Discourse comprises both oral conversations or written texts.

Different types of phrases

• Noun phrases (NP)
• Verb phrases (VP)
• Adjective phrases (AdjP)
• Adverb phrases (AdvP)
• Prepositional phrases (PP)

Noun phrase

• Noun phrases are groups of words that function like a noun. Typically, they act as subjects, objects, or prepositional objects in a sentence.
• The best way to understand these useful phrases is to see them in action. Let's explore the different ways noun phrases can be used:
• The spotted puppy is up for adoption. (Noun phrase as a subject)
• The bohemian house was brightly decorated for the holidays. (Noun phrase as a subject)
• At the zoo, I saw a striped zebra. (Noun phrase as an object to the verb saw)
• I want a cute puppy for Christmas. (Noun phrase as an object to the verb want)
• Our complimentary Youth Program is packed with excellent activities for babies, teens, and kids. (Noun phrase as a subject)

Noun phrases in translation: *can help to identify translations problems* In English, noun strings – often long and complex - are obtained by means of pre-modification: bone tissue, hay fever, steam engine. The relationship between the elements composing the noun group are not specified in English but must be specified in Italian: tessuto osseo, raffreddore da fieno, macchina a vapore.

Examples:

• ‛Air quality forecasting’ = “previsioni sulla qualità dell’aria’
• ‛Picture-word interference paradigm’ = ‛paradigma di interferenza figura-parola’
• ‛Abdominal pain functional gastrointestinal disorders’ = ‛disturbi gastrointestinali funzionali correlati al dolore addominale’

Importance of parallel texts

Head words or heads of a phrase are their key words. They are lexical items which are central to the phrase in the sense that they convey crucial information. Without them, the phrase would be structurally incomplete.

Example: The black Labrador was chewing a juicy bone very noisily.

In the following phrases, head words have been underlined:

• The black Labrador (NP)
• Was chewing (VP)
• A juicy bone (NP)
• Very noisily (advP)

Additional elements

• Additional elements can occur both before and after the head noun. Noun phrases have an internal structure which dictates where additional elements can occur in relation to the head noun.
• There are 3 possible positions for these additional elements: Positions > determiner premodification head noun postmodification
• These large sugary doughnuts filled with jam and cream

Determiners

• Determiners always occur at the beginning of a noun phrase;
• They can only occur in noun phrases;
• There are three types of determiners: predeterminers, central determiners, and post determiners

Pre-modifiers

Most typically premodifiers will be adjectives, (including deverbal adjectives), and it is possible to premodify a head noun with more than one adjective as in large sugary doughnut. There is no limitation as to the number of premodifying adjectives that can be used, provided that they do not contradict each other.

• The beautiful intelligent woman
• The tall young man

Whenever we use more than one adjective, there is an order coming into play.

Word order and premodifying adjectives

• Opinion adjectives go before fact adjectives: a nice sunny day, a delicious hot soup, an intelligent young man
• Physical characteristics tend to precede mental characteristics: a beautiful, intelligent girl
• When there are more fact adjectives, they tend to follow this order: size > age/temperature > shape > colour > verb participle form > material > origin > nationality > noun used as adjective

Postmodification

Head nouns can be postmodified by phrases and clauses:

• Prepositional phrases
• Adverb phrases
• Relative clauses
• Non-finite clauses

Examples:

• The proposal which the committee put forward last week
• The belief that God exists
• A place to stay

Verb phrases

Together with noun phrases, verb phrases are the most central units in the construction of clauses. While a noun phrase has the potential to be extremely long, especially when it contains pre- and postmodification, there is a more limited number of elements which can occur in a verb phrase. A verb phrase will be no longer than this: might have been being told off.