English Grammar 2018-19

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 English Grammar 2018-19

 The lexicon [from later Greek lexicón ‘book of or for words]

 It contains all the words that a speaker knows.
 The unit of analysis is the word.
 Knowing a word implies (cat):
a) pronunciation:
/kæt/
b) morphology:
Its plural is CATS.
c) meaning:
a small animal with fur, four legs, a tail and claws, usually kept
as a pet or for catching mice; or any member of the group of similar
animals such as the lion.
d) syntax:
It’s a noun.

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 Phonology [from Greek phone ‘sound’]

 It’s the study of the speech sound of a particular
language.
 The basic unit of analysis is the phoneme.
 Examples:
 /X/ does not exist in English.
 [th] does exist in English, but it is not distinctive.
 /pl/ is possible in English, play, please at the beginning of a
word, whereas */lp/ is not.

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 Morphology [from Greek morphe ‘form’]

 It is the study of the structure or form of words in
a particular language.
 The unit of analysis is the morpheme.
 Examples:
 cats is possible, but *caten is not
 inevitable is possible, but *unevitable is not

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 Syntax [ from Greek suntassein ‘to put in order’]

 It is the study of the order and arrangement of words
into larger units.
 The basic unit of analysis is the sentence.
 Examples:
 Paul Newman was an excellent actor.
 *Actor excellent Newman was Paul.
 Paul Newman, who is my favourite actor, died in 2008.
 *Paul Newman, which is my favourite actor, died in 2008.
 Paul Newman acted in over 40 films.
 * Paul Newman has acted in over 40 films.

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 Semantics [from Greek semainein ‘to signify’]

 It is the study of how meaning is conveyed.
 In lexical semantics the unit of analysis is the word,
and in sentence semantics the unit of analysis is
the sentence.
 Examples:
 My hands are terribly cold.
 The hospital was a cold, big building.
 I have always looked down on low cut dresses.
 Could you bring your bat tomorrow?

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 Someone told Gareth the truth.

 Gareth was told the truth.
 Perhaps Mary will call later.
 Mary may call later.

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 Pragmatics [from Greek parma ‘affair’,

passein ‘to do’]
 It is the study of the functions of language and its
use in context.
 The unit of analysis is the utterance.
 Examples:
 The use of vós and vostè in Catalan.
 It’s cold in here.

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 The form of a linguistic item is its structure.

 The function is the role the linguistic item
plays in the environment where it appears.

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 English Grammar 2018-19

 Sentence level

Form Function

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 There is not a one-to-one correspondence between

form and function, i.e., one form may fulfil more
than one function, and one function may be filled by
more than one form.
 However, there are prototypical forms.

Subject
DO
IO
SC
Adjunct

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 A NP can fulfil the following functions:

Function Example sentences

1) The train has just arrived.
2) I eat cereal for breakfast every morning.
3) You should tell your best friend the truth.
4) Her nephew is a high school teacher.
5) Do you really consider her your best friend?
6) They painted the house a nice colour.
7) Shall we meet next week?

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 The function adjunct can be filled by the

following forms:
Form Example sentences
1) Last month I didn’t get paid.
2) Call me when you get there.
3) I ran into Mary at the cinema.
4) She sings beautifully.

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 Morphology
 {- ity} suffix
 form:
/ɪtɪ /
 function:
Nominalizer; it creates nouns from adjectives.
 examples:
odd-oddity, crude-crudity

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 Pragmatics
 imperatives
 form:
No subject + base form of verb + rest of predicate.
 function:
The most typical function of an imperative is to give
commands, but it can also be used for suggestions.
 examples:
▪ Be quiet.
▪ Get well soon.

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