Riassunto esame Linguistica Inglese, prof. Camaiora, libro consigliato The Frameworks of english, Ballard

THE FRAMEWORKS OF ENGLISH

PART 1

INTRODUCTION

A FRAMEWORK is a structure which holds something together. Knowing the frameworks of a language enables you to understand that language is structured and what rules operate to produce that structure.

We have four different aspects of language:

• LEXIS = the words of language
• GRAMMAR = the way words are combined into sentences
• DISCOURSE = the way sentences are combined into texts
• PHONOLOGY = the sound, and sound patterns of the language

Language can be SPOKEN or WRITTEN. Speech is the primary mode of communication. This is because all humans learn to speak: it's an instinctive process. By contrast, we have to make a conscious effort if we are to acquire the ability to write our language.

ENGLISH can take many different forms. There are many regional variations in the pronunciation, vocabulary or grammar of English.

Standard British English is the language of newspapers, of news broadcasting on television and radio, and the English which is used in public documents and in textbooks. SBE is a DIALECT.

PART II: LEXICAL FRAMEWORKS

2) WORD CLASSES

In writing we normally leave a space between them. There are some problems with word identification or word definition which cannot be solved simply by stating that WORD IS A LINGUISTIC ITEM WHICH IS WRITTEN WITH A SPACE ON EITHER SIDE.

Words are typically minimal free-standing units which cannot be interrupted.

We use the term VOCABULARY to talk about words collectively.

In linguistics, a term which is often used in preference to vocabulary is LEXIS. LEXIS is a collective term for words in general or for the vocabulary of a specific language.

When we examine language in relation to its lexis, we are examining it on a lexical level.

A lexical item is an alternative way of referring to a lexeme and a lexical set is a group of closely related words of the same word class.

You may also use the term LEXICON, which refers to the vocabulary of a language but is sometimes used to refer to a type of dictionary.

Verbs which refer to physical processes are called DYNAMIC VERBS in contrast to STATIVE VERBS which refer to states and conditions.

A way to check if a word is a verb is to look for a property that only verbs possess: a contrast between PRESENT TENSE and PAST TENSE.

Many word forms exist as members of more than one word class, and this is particularly true of nouns and verbs.

• I'll wait for you near the park.
• Kathy parks the car.

LEXICAL VERB is a term which is sometimes used to distinguish verbs like walk, relax, feel and park from AUXILIARY VERB (have…).

Lexical verbs are also known as FULL VERBS or MAIN VERBS but it's acceptable to refer to them as verbs provided there is no need to distinguish between them and auxiliaries.

ADJECTIVES

• They are traditionally defined as describing words.
• We can identify adjectives by reference to each of two features:
  1. the positions in which they appear in sentences
  2. the ability to be graded

CENTRAL ADJECTIVES are able to appear in two positions:

• before a noun - their function is ATTRIBUTIVE
• after certain verbs (appear, be) - their function is PREDICATIVE

Auxiliaries

...are auxiliary verbs are a very small group of verbs and they only occur in verb phrase. They occur before the lexical verb. There are two types of auxiliary verbs:

• Primary Auxiliaries - have, be, do
• Modal Auxiliaries - can, could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, must

The primary auxiliaries have and be are chiefly used to create different aspects. Aspects indicate whether the action or state of a verb is complete or on-going. They're also important in the construction of questions and for negation. In questions, if a primary auxiliary is present, it changes position. In negation, the negative particle (NOT) is positioned after the first auxiliary. DO is used if no auxiliary is present.

The primary auxiliary DO can also be used for emphasis.

The modal auxiliaries — providing shades of meaning relating to the lexical verb. Sometimes they do this by expressing the degree of certainty associated with the lexical verb (epistemic function) and sometimes by expressing the degree of obligation (deontic function). They also have the dynamic function when stating facts, often referring to past action.

COMPOUNDING

un + friend + ly

chief + friend + ly

Compounding, like affixation, is a very productive way of forming words in English, and this process is particularly productive in relation to nouns and adjectives.

MULTIWORD VERBS

Known as PHRASAL VERBS are very common in contemporary English. A phrasal verb is a combination of 2 or 3 elements:

• VERB + PREPOSITION
• VERB + ADVERB
• VERB + ADVERB + PREPOSITION

Phrasal verbs are IDIOMATIC. This means that the meaning cannot be fully deduced from the individual meaning of the elements which constitute the phrasal verb.

CONVERSION AND BACK-FORMATION

Conversion is another productive method for creating new word itself. It's a particularly productive way of creating verbs from nouns and nouns from verbs.

1. co-stared, rubbished, programmed ...
2. lunge, clump ...

All speakers of a language are subconsciously in possession of all grammatical rules they need to know in order to speak that language naturally.

Speakers of different dialects will have some variations, of course, but all dialects are governed by grammatical principles.

Inflections in Contemporary English

Every word has some kind of abstract existence which can be realised in either speech or writing. This abstract form is lexeme. When considering inflections, we use the notion stem. Stem is what remains of a word when any inflections are removed from it. So frogs is made up of the stem frog and the inflection -s.

Noun Inflections

A considerable number of words have no plural; they are known as non-count nouns. By contrast, nouns which have a plural form are count nouns. There are those which exist in the plural only (ex: trousers or scissors).

The aggregate nouns refer to entities made up of several parts. Some of these, like scissors, goods, trousers... have no singular form. There are also some aggregate nouns which look singular but take a plural form of the verb.

Aggregate nouns such as these should not be confused with collective nouns; nouns which refer to groups.

VERB PHRASES

noun phrases and verb phrases are the most central in the construction of clauses. Whereas a noun phrase can be extremely long, a verb phrase will not be that much long.

The modal auxiliaries are used to add shades of meaning, such as obligation (must) or possibility (might) to verb phrase.

The primary auxiliaries be and have are used to construct different aspects and voices.

The primary auxiliary do is used in question form, in negative construction, and for emphasis.

One of the features which verb phrase may possess is the tense.

ADJECTIVE and ADVERB PHRASES

They may consist merely of the head word or they may be expanded into a longer phrase with the pre- or post- modifying elements (a single adverb — adjective or with intensifier).

PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES

— differ from the other four types of phrases in that a prepositional cannot stand alone as the head word of a phrase; it has to be accompanied by another element or prepositional complement.