Riassunto esame linguistica inglese, prof. Sturiale, libro consigliato The Framework of English, Ballard

CONJUNCTIONS

Are used to join linguistic elements. They can be divided into coordinating

conjunctions and subordinating conjunctions. There are only three coordinating

and, but or because)

conjunctions: and . Subordinating conjunctions can be simple ( or

(as far as).

complex Normally they are at the beginning of clauses.

3. WORD FORMATION

Morphology is divided into two branches – lexical morphology (strategies used in

English to form words and to identify how new words are formed) and inflectional

morphology (the way words are adapted in different grammar contests, it consist of

book-books).

adding a morpheme to produce a new word:

We can divide words in simple and complex words. Simple words cannot be

(cat)

analysed into smaller units and complex words can be subdivided into smaller

(print-er)

units of meaning

Is important the position of particular units of construction because some units only

un) (-ly).

occur at the beginning of a word (- and others at the end The elements at the

beginning of the word is a word-initial, at the end of the word in word-final.

Occasionally we can talk about word-medial if the element is within the word.

Morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning of a word. Morphemes can be divided in

(print)

two types: free morphemes which can stand alone and bound morphemes

(-un, -er, -ly).

that can’t stand alone

A word can be divided in compound word that is constructed from two free

(sketch + pad)

mophemes and complex word that is constructed from a root

morpheme plus one bound morphemes.

A root morpheme is the part of complex word which is at the heart of the word

(original, originality, originally.. all share the root origin). A base is a unit to which

other morphemes may be added to create a new word. When morphemes realize

different forms but the same meaning are allomorphs.

Word formation strategies

There are three word-formation strategies: affixation, compounding and conversion.

Affixation is the process by which bound morphemes are added to bases to form new

words. A bound morphemes which is added in this way is an affix. An affix that occurs

word-initial is a prefix, while one which is added word-final is a suffix. A prefix preserve

(agree-disagree,

the word class it is still a verb). Suffix can preserve or change the

(king-kingdom sad sadly

word class (noun); (adj.) – (adv.))

Compounding is a word formation process based on the combination of existing

lipstick child-

words which might be written as one element as or with an hyphen as

friendly. Compound verbs are rare and they result from the process of back

formation or conversation.

Than we have multi-word verbs which are combination of a verb and a preposition

(rely on),

or adverb. They are also known as phrasal verbs. Verb + preposition verb +

(to give away), (take up with).

adverb verb + adverb + preposition There are also

collocation that is a pair or group of words which often occurs together.

Conversion is another process to create words by change of word class without any

(to drink – a drink).

alteration to the form of the word itself This process is useful for

creating verbs from nouns and nouns from verbs. Back formation, instead, is a process

which involves the modification of a word, tipically used to create new verbs from

(emoticon – to emote).

nouns

Other word-formation strategies are: LOL).

Acronym is the way to express a phrase through the first letters (

(Combo combination).

Clipping is the reduction of a longer word from Brunch

Blend is a kind of compound but the base are not joined in their entirety ( from

breakfast and lunch)

Eponymy is the use of a proper name to refer to an object or action.

miaow).

Onomatopoeia is when a noun or a verb refers to a sound (

Reduplication is the doubling of the first element of the word. The repetition can be

(no-no) (flip-flop).

identical or not sushi).

Loanwords or borrowing are words adopted from another language (

Various invasions and other social and historical change have had an impact on

English. There are many English words which have very similar meanings but come

from different sources: German, French and Latin. scared =

Synonym is when a word have the same meaning as the another word (

afraid) mouse)

Polysemous when a word have more than one meaning ( bear

Homophone when words have the same pronunciation but not the meaning ( –

bare)

Hypernym is a name that indicates a word belonging to a major category. Vehicle is a

(members of the category).

hypernym of car that is hyponyms (dead alive).

Antonyms are words whose meaning is opposite –

Denotative meaning is the person, object, action or state to which a word refers.

This is known ad referent. However many words have also a connotative meaning

and refers to the emotions or attitudes which a particular word evoke.

4.INFLECTIONS

Grammar is the set of rules of any languages that let us construct any sentence in

that language. Grammar is formed by syntax and inflections. Syntax deals with the

word order necessary to form phrases and sentences; inflections are changes in basic

form of a word and show info about its number or tense.

When considering inflections we use the notion stem. A stem is what remains of a

Frogs frog

word when any inflections are removed from it. is made up of the stem and

–s

the inflection

Noun inflections

Many words have no plural, they are known as non-count nouns. By contrast, nouns

which have plural form are count noun. Some of them exist only in the plural form

(scissors) (politics).

and some end in –s

The aggregate nouns aren’t clearly count or non-count. Some of them exist only in the

plural form, like trousers while others look singular but take a plural form of the verb.

Some nouns have both a count and a non-count form: wine is an example. When we

talk about wine in the generic sense is a non-count noun, instead, if we talk about

different varieties of wine it is a count noun.

Count nouns take the plural form –s, which can be pronounced /s/ or /z/ depending on

the consonant which precedes the inflectional ending, this process is known as

assimilation. Some nouns add –es to make plural form.

There are irregular plural form:

Zero inflection: singular form is the same as the plural form.

(man – men)

Vowel mutation: the vowel within the word change

Voicing of final consonant: the last consonant become a voiced sound and add regular

(sheaf-sheaves).

–s plural (child – children)

Irregular plural inflection: –s of-construction.

Possessive inflection: possessive can be expressed by or with

Verb Inflections

there are regular and irregular inflectional forms for verbs. The uninflected stem of the

verbs is known as the base form of the verb or the infinitive. There are four regular

inflections which can be added to verbs. walks).

rd

1. The –s which marks the 3 person singular of the present tense (she

walking).

2. The –ing used to form the continuous form (she is walked;

3-4. The –ed is used to construct the past tense and the participle (she she

has walked). swim – swam - swum)

There are irregular verbs: some change their vowel ( other

(to be = am

change its form to denote a different grammatical function (suppletion)

– are – was).

Adjective and adverbs inflections

We can grade adjectives and adverbs using:

(Rosie is taller).

-er for the comparative form (Rosie is the tallest).

-est for the superlative form

The form of adjectives and adverbs which have no inflectional ending are known as

absolute forms.

5.PHRASES

It is possible to identify three larger units of construction of words: phrases, clauses

and sentences. Phrases are the building blocks of clauses. In order to identify a

phrase it is necessary to identify the head word. If the head word is a noun the phrase

is a noun phrase, if it’s a verb the phrase is a verb phrase. There are five types of

phrase: noun phrase, verb phrase, adjective phrase, adverb phrase and

prepositional phrase. The head word may stand alone or it may be premodified or

postmodified by other elements.

Noun phrase

A noun phrase have the capacity to be long and complex and can be expanded with

additional elements:

Determiners only occurs at the beginning of the noun phrase.

Premodifications: elements can occur in a premodifying position, typically adjectives.

Postmodifications: head noun can be postmodified phrases and clauses.

If we want to identify the head noun we have to decide which word is most central to

the meaning and then if it is controlling the verb phrase in terms of it being singular or

plural.

Verb phrase

A verb phrase is much shorter than a noun phrase. It consist of just a lexical verb and

one or more auxiliaries up to a maximum of four. The modal auxiliaries are used to add

shades of meaning like obligation (must) or possibility (might) to the verb phrase. The

be have

primary auxiliaries and are used to construct different aspect which can be

progressive (action in progress) or perfect (actions completed). There are two

be –

progressive combinations which are constructed using the auxiliary followed by

ing (I am studying) (I was

participle: present continuous and past continuous

studying); and two perfect combinations which are constructed using the auxiliary

have –ed (she has studied)

followed by participle: present perfect and past perfect

(she had studied). It is possible to have another combination: present perfect

(I have been studying) (I had been studying).

continuous and past perfect continuous

The verb phrase can be active when the subject is doing the action, or passive when

the subject suffers the action. To form the future we use the structure will or going to.

Adjective and adverb phrase

They may consist of the head word or it may be expanded into a longer phrase with

pre or post modifying elements. Head words are most tipically premodified by a single

adverb (my shoes are incredibly uncomfortable) and postmodified by a prepositional

phrase or a range of clauses.

Prepositional phrase

A preposition cannot stand alone as the head word of a phrase, it has to be

accompanied by other elements – or prepositional complement which is typically a

noun phrase (in the cupboard) or an adverb (by tomorrow).

6. CLAUSES

A clause is a unit of syntactic construction formed from phrases and it has a specific

structure.

Clauses are made up of combination of five clause elements: subject, verb, object,

The black Labrador has bitten my friend:

complement, adverbial. Ex. in terms of

phrase structure it consist of NP+VP+NP; in terms of clause, the structure is SVO. So

the black Labrador

when we identify ad a noun phrase we are analyzing its form.

When we identify it as the subject of the clause we are an