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ModernEnglishGrammar:ThePhrase

Wordsaretheconstituentelementsofthenextrank,phrases.Atthephraserank,we
discoverthatitispossibletoanalyzeeachstructureinmorethanoneway.Tostudythis
phenomenonmoreclosely,wewilllookatphrasestructureinEnglish.Englishisalanguage
withfiveclassesofphrases,nounphrases,verbphrases,adjectivephrases,adverb
phrases,andprepositionalphrases.

TheNounPhrase

Likeallphrases,theconstituentsoftheEnglishnounphrasecanbeanalyzedintoboth
functionalconstituentsandformalconstituents.Fromafunctionalpointofview,thenoun
phrasehasfourmajorcomponents,occurringinafixedorder:

thedeterminative,thatconstituentwhichdeterminesthereferenceofthenoun
phraseinitslinguisticorsituationalcontext
premodification,whichcomprisesallthemodifyingordescribingconstituentsbefore
thehead,otherthanthedeterminers
thehead,aroundwhichtheotherconstituentsclusterand
postmodification,thosewhichcompriseallthemodifyingconstituentsplacedafterthe
head.

Inthediagrambelow,noticethateachfunctionalcomponentofanounphrase(NP)canbe
furthersubclassifiedaswetracethediagramfromlefttorightuntilwefindthatwehave
formclasses(ofthekindwediscussedabove)fillingeachconstituentcategory.
Dependingonthecontextofsituation,wechoosedeterminersandmodifiersaccordingto
ourneedsinidentifyingandspecifyingthereferentoftheNP.Sometimesweneedseveral
determinersandmodifierstoclarifythereferent(allmybooksinthatbox)sometimeswe
neednoneatall(Liz).

Thatdiagramisonewaytorepresentthedualnatureofaphrase.Eachphrase,
remember,isamergerofbothformandfunction,and,ascomplexasitlooks,thediagram
illustratesonlysomeofthecomplexitiesofthenounphraseinEnglish.(Foramore
thoroughtreatment,seeHalliday1994andQuirketal.1985.)Anotherwaytoillustrate
someofthepossiblearrangementsofformandfunctioninthenounphraseispresentedin
thetablebelow.

SomeExamplesoftheNounPhraseinEnglish

FUNCTION Determiner Premodifier Head Postmodifier

(a) lions

E (b) the young

X (c) the information age

A (d) each ofthechildren

M (e) some badlyneeded time withthefamily

P (f) this conclusion tothestory

L (g) allmy children

E (h) several newmystery books whichwerecentlyenjoyed

S (i) sucha marvelous databank filledwithinformation

(j) a better person thanI

Pronoun Participle Noun PrepositionalPhrase

Article Noun Adjective RelativeClause


FORMS
Quantifier AdjectivePhrase Pronoun NonfiniteClause

Complementation

Noticethatseveralformclasses(i.e.,wordclasses)canbe"reused,"meaningthatthe
sameformclass(=wordclass)cantakemultiplefunctionalrolesinsidethesamenoun
phrase.Forexample,inthenounphrase,itispossibletousequantifierstofunctionaspre
determinersoraspostdeterminers.Similarly,itispossibletouseanoun(functioningas
premodifierinanounphrase)andanothernoun(functioningastheheadofthatsame
nounphrase),asininformationage.Thiskindof"recycling"isknownasrecursion.Notice
alsothatphrasesandevenwholeclausescanbe"recycled"intothenounphrase.This
processofplacingaphraseofclausewithinanotherphraseorclauseiscalledembedding.
Itisthroughtheprocessesofrecursionandembeddingthatweareabletotakeafinite
numberofforms(wordsandphrases)andconstructaninfinitenumberofexpressions.
Furthermore,embeddingalsoallowsustoconstructaninfinitelylongstructure,intheory
anyway.

Forexample,thenurseryrhyme"TheHouseThatJackBuilt"playsontheprocessof
embeddinginEnglishnounphrases.Thenurseryrhymeisonesentencethatcontinuously
growsbyembeddingmoreandmorerelativeclausesaspostmodifiersinthenounphrase
thatendsthesentence:

ThisisthehousethatJackbuilt.

ThisisthemaltthatlayinthehousethatJackbuilt.

ThisisthemousethatatethemaltthatlayinthehousethatJackbuilt.

ThisisthecatthatscaredthemousethatatethemalthatlayinthehousethatJack
built.

Thisisthedogthatchasedthecatthatscaredthemousethatatethemaltthatlayin
thehousethatJackbuilt.

Thisistheboywholovesthedogthatchasedthecatthatscaredthemousethatate
themaltthatlayinthehousethatJackbuilt.

Andsoon.Intheory,wecouldgoonforeverbecauselanguagereliessoheavilyon
embedding.

TheVerbPhrase

Theverbphrase(VP)inEnglishhasanoticeablydifferentstructure,sincetheinformation
itcarriesaboutmood,tense,modality,aspect,andvoiceisquitedifferentfromthe
informationcarriedbyanounphrase.Theverbphrasehastwofunctionalparts,

theauxiliary,agrammaticalmorphemecarryinginformationaboutmood,tense,
modality,andvoiceand
themainverb,alexicalmorphemecarryingitslexicalinformationand,usually,an
inflection.

ThemoodsysteminEnglishisdividedintofoursubcategories.
Theindicativemood'indicates'thatis,itconveystothelistener/readerthatthe
speaker/writerismakingastatement,referringtotherealworldinanhonest,direct,
relevantway.Themajorityofourexpressionsareindicativeinmood.Speakerssignalthe
indicativemoodbyusingwordorder:whentheauxiliariestaketheir"usual"position
followingthe'subject,'weinterprettheclauseasbeingintheindicativemood.

Philosophersoflanguage,likeH.P.Grice,havedonesomeofthemostinteresting
linguisticsofrecentyears,explicatingthemeaningsoftheindicativemoodinEnglishby
examininghowpeopleuselanguageinconversation.Afterstudyingaseriesof
conversationsindifferentcontexts,hedevelopedthefollowinggeneralizationsor"rulesof
conversation"thathelpexplainmuchabouthowweinterpretourlanguageintheindicative
mood.Grice(1975)pointedouttheparticipantsinaconversationexpecteachothertobe
cooperative,tosaysomethingtrueandtothepoint,andnottobewithholdinganyrelevant
information.

Specifically,Grice'smaxims,or"rules,"arethefollowing:
MAXIMOFQUANTITY

a.Makeyourcontributionasinformativeasisrequired.

b.Donotmakeyourcontributionmoreinformativethanisrequired.

MAXIMOFQUALITY

c.Donotsaywhatyoubelievetobefalse.

d.Donotsaythatforwhichyoulackadequateevidence.

MAXIMOFRELATION

e.Berelevant.

MAXIMOFMANNER

f.Avoidobscurityofexpression.

g.Avoidambiguity.

h.Bebrief.
i.Beorderly.

LookattheconversationbetweenAandBbelow.Themaximsofquantityandrelationare
atworkinB'sresponse,likeprinciplesguidingourindicativeinterpretationofthefragment.

A:Whenwillyoustopby?

B:Sometimeafterdinner.

WhatmaximsareatworkinthefollowingconversationsbetweenCandD?
C:I'mhungry.

D:I'vegotfivedollars.

ThereplyDmakesisonlysensibleifweassumethatDisfollowingthemaximofrelation
(thatDisbeingrelevanttoC'sstatementofhunger)andthemaximofmanner(thatD
beingbrief).

Theinterrogativemoodsignalsthespeakers'desireforinformation,thattheyareaskinga
question,thattheyare'interrogating'thelisteners.Theinterrogativeismarkedbystartinga
clausewithanauxiliaryverboraninterrogativepronoun.

(1)CanLizdothat?

(2)WhatwillLizdo?

Theimperativemoodexpressthespeakers'senseofacommand,request,orexhortation
animperative.Speakerssignaltheimperativemoodbyusingabaseformoftheverbin
clauseinitialposition.

(3)Dothat!

(4)Behereby8:00pm.

Thesubjunctivemoodexpressthespeakers'senseoftheunlikely,awish,aprayer,a
hope.Thesubjunctivedescribesthestateofaffairsasspeakerswishorhopethemtobe.It
describeshypotheticalsituations,"someotherworld,"theirreal.Speakerssignalthe
subjunctivebybeginningsubordinateclauseswithanauxiliaryorbyusingsubordinators
thatovertlymarkhypotheticalconditions.

(5)HadIknownyouwerecoming,I'dhavebakedacake.

(6)IfIwereamillionaire,I'dendowanawardinyourhonor.

Thesubjunctiveisalsomarkedintheverbphrasebytheuseofsubjectverbconcord,as
in(6),wherethesingularsubjectIismatchedwiththepluralverbwere.Baseformsof
verbscanalsosignalthesubjunctive.

(7)IsuggestthatMs.Jonesreconsiderherdecision.

(8)Theadministrationinsiststhatnoonebeexemptedfromtheplacementexams.

Finally,thebaseformisalsousedinseveralolder,formulaicsubjunctiveexpressionsthat
havesurvivedinthemodernlanguage.

(9)GodsavetheKing.

(10)Heavenforbiditshouldsnowagain.

Tensesystemsmarktime.Tenseisaninflectionontheverbthatindicatesthetime
referenceoftheexpression.InEnglish,tenseismarkedonthefirstverboftheverb
phrase.Allverbsmarkedfortensearecalled'finite'verbs,whileverbformsthatdonot
carryatenseinflection(suchasparticiples)arecalled'nonfinite'verbs.

Englishhastwotenses,really.OnmostEnglishverbs,thesinflectionmarksthepresent
tense,andtheedinflectionmarksthepasttense.Verbsusingboththesandedforms
areknownas'regular'verbsinthatthoseverbsemploythemostcommon,most
'productive'inflectiontomarktime,asinhelps/helped,hopes/hoped,loves/loved.'Irregular
verbs,'ontheotherhand,fallintosevensubcategories,employinganumberofinflections
(suchasenfortheparticipleinflectionasinwritten,taken,stolen)orinsomeclasses
employingnoparticipleinflectionsatall(suchasputorcutasinLizcutsthecake/Lizcut
thecake/Lizhascutthecake).

ItisreallybettertorefertothepresenttenseinEnglishasthe'nonpast,'sinceEnglishuses
thepresenttensetorefertomanydifferenttimeframes.Considerthesentencesbelow,for
example,wherealltheverbsaremarkedforthepresenttense,butthetimereference
variesconsiderablyfromexampletoexample:

(11)Emilyistiredtoday.

(12)Emilyisleavingsoon.

(13)Emilyisclever.

Sentence(11)indeeddoesrefertothepresenttimeframe,butsentence(12)seemsto
refertothenearfuture,althoughitismarkedfor"present"tense.Sentence(13)is
altogetherdifferent:itstimeframeisexpansive,referringtothepast,present,andfuture
simultaneously.

Whatpeoplecommonlycallthe'future'inEnglishisreallypartofthemodalitysystemof
thelanguage.Englishspeakersusemodalauxiliaryverbs(likewill)orphrasalverbs(likeis
goingtooftenphonologicallyreducedtogonna)torefertothefuture.

Themodalitysystemexpressesthespeakers'senseofobligation,volition,probability,
permission,andability.Modalityissignaledbytheuseofamodalauxiliaryverbandthe
useofabaseverb,modal+base.

(14)Liz{must/should}go.("obligation")

(15)Lizwillstopthatimmediately!("volition")

(16)Liz{may/might}go.("probability")

(17)Liz{can/may}go.("permission")

(18)Liz{can/could}doit("ability")

Themodalwillalsoexpressesa'future'sense.
(19)Lizwilldoittomorrow.("future")

Themodalitysystemalsoincludesaclassofauxiliaryverbscalledsemiauxiliaries(or
semimodalsorquasimodals).Theseidiomaticverbsandphrasalverbsexpressmodal
(andsometimesaspectual)meaning.Theyoften(butnotalways)taketheformof
BE+PARTICIPLE+to.Thesesemiauxiliariesresembleauxiliariesinthattheyhavesome
equivalenceofmeaning.Syntactically,thesemiauxiliariesareamixedgroup.Thesemi
auxiliariesstartingwithbedonotneeddosupportinnegationorquestionformation,but
mostoftheothersdoemploydosupportforthosesyntacticprocesses.(Seethe
discussionofdosupportbelow.)
Aspectsignalseitherthecompletionorthecontinuationoftheprocessindicatedbythe
verbinEnglish.Theperfectaspectexpressesthespeakers'senseofcompletion,the
speakers'sensethattheprocessexpressedbytheverbhasbeen"perfected,"tousethe
oldersenseoftheword.Theperfectaspectissignaledbytheuseofaformoftheauxiliary
haveandtheedparticiple,have+Ved.(Rememberthatsomeverbsareirregular,with
irregularparticipleforms.)

(20)Lizhasgonealready.

Theprogressiveaspectexpressesthespeakers'sensethattheprocessexpressedbythe
verbcontinues,coversaperiodoftime,andisinsomewayrelevanttothepresent
moment.Theprogressiveaspectissignaledbytheuseofaformoftheauxiliarybeandthe
ingparticiple,be+Ving.

(21)Lizisdoingthebestworkever.

Voicesystemsallowsspeakerstoviewtheactionofthesentenceindifferentwayswithout
changingthefactsinvolved.Englishhastwovoices,activeandpassive.Intheexamples
below,itispossibletoseetheeventfromtheperspectiveofthe'agent'(theconscious
"doer"oftheactionthatisactivevoice),asin(22),orfromtheperspectiveofthe'goal'
(the"receiver"oftheactionthatispassivevoice),asin(23).

(22)LizencouragesEmily.(active)

(23)EmilyisencouragedbyLiz.(passive)

Thepassivevoiceissignaledbytheuseofaformofbeandtheedparticiple,be+Ved.

Lastly,Englishalsoemploystheverbdotofunctionasasupportingauxiliaryinverb
phrasesthatrequireanauxiliaryforcertaingrammaticalprocessesbutwhichlacksome
otherauxiliaryalreadydiscussed.Consider(24)forexamplewhereitwouldbeimpossible
tosignaltheinterrogativemoodwithoutthesupportofthedoauxiliary,asin(25).

(24)Emilysleepswellatnight.

(25)DoesEmilysleepwellatnight?

Tosignaltheinterrogativemood,remember,theauxiliaryverboccursinclauseinitial
position.However,iftheclausehasnoauxiliaryverb,as(24)doesnot,thendosupport
providesthenecessaryauxiliary,asin(25).Noticetoothatdohasallthehallmarksofan
auxiliary:notonlydoesitoccurinclauseinitialpositionasotherauxiliariesdointhe
interrogativemood,butitalsoismarkedfortenselikeallfirstverbsinthefiniteEnglishverb
phrase.
Anotherwaytoillustratesomeoftherelationshipsbetweenformandfunctionintheverb
phraseispresentedinthetablebelow.

SomeExamplesoftheVerbPhraseinEnglish

FUNCTION Auxiliaries MainVerb

(a) do believe

E (b) can go

X (c) may have gone

A (d) is going

M (e) has been waiting

P (f) might have been waiting

L (g) were hired

E (h) are being hired

S (i) should be trying

(j) might have been being interviewed

FORM Modal Perfect Progressive Passive AuxiliarySupport MainVerb

TheAdjectivePhrase

TheadjectivephraseinEnglishhasfourfunctionalconstituents,
premodification,thosemodifying,describing,orqualifyingconstituentswhichprecede
thehead
thehead,whichisanadjectiveorparticipleservingasthefocusofthephrase
postmodification,thatmodifyingconstituentwhichfollowstheheadand
complementation,(themajorsubcategoryofpostmodificationhere)thatconstituent
whichfollowsanypostmodificationandcompletesthespecificationofameaning
impliedbythehead.
Toseesomeexamplesofadjectivephrases,examinethetablebelow.

SomeExamplesoftheAdjectivePhraseinEnglish

FUNCTION Premodifier Head Postmodifier

(a) happy

E (b) excited indeed

X (c) partly cloudy

A (d) young inspirit

M (e) very energetic forhisage

P (f) soextremely sweet

L (g) too good tobetrue

E (h) hot enoughforme

S (i) quite worried abouttheresultsofthetest

(j) unusually sunny forthistimeofyear

Adverb

FORM Adverb Adjective PrepositionalPhrase

AdverbPhrase InfinitiveClause

Noticethattheorderofconstituentsintheadjectivephrase,likeallotherphrase
structuresinEnglish,isrelativelyfixed,helpingusdeterminetheconstituentelements.
TheAdverbPhrase

TheadverbphraseinEnglishisnearlyidenticaltotheadjectivephrase,withonlythe
expectedchangesinform.Intheadverbphrase,anadverbfunctionsashead.

Toseesomeexamplesofadverbphrases,examinethetable.

SomeExamplesoftheAdverbPhraseinEnglish

FUNCTION Premodifier Head Postmodifier

(a) quietly

E (b) quite honestly

X (c) very hard indeed

A (d) however

M (e) really early

P (f) sovery well indeed

L (g) too quickly toseewell

E (h) likely enoughforus

S (i) formerly ofCincinnati

(j) more easily thanever

Adverb

FORM Adverb Adverb PrepositionalPhrase

AdverbPhrase InfinitiveClause
ThePrepositionalPhrase

Thelaststructureforustostudyatthephraserankistheprepositionalphrase.This
phraseisa'nonheaded'constructioninEnglishsincenooneconstituentfunctionsasthe
centerofthephrase,thecenteronwhichtheotherelementsdepend.Instead,thestructure
isdividedintotwofunctionalcomponentstheprepositionfollowedbyitscomplement.In
general,aprepositionalphraseexpressesarelationshipbetweenthecomplementofthe
prepositionandsomeotherconstituentofthesentence.Diagrammatically,thestructureof
theprepositionalphraselookslikethis:

ThetablebelowillustratessomeofthepossiblestructuresfoundintheEnglish
prepositionalphrase.

SomeExamplesofthePrepositionalPhraseinEnglish

FUNCTION Preposition Complement

(a) for now

E (b) with her

X (c) in time

A (d) nextto thetable

M (e) into thethickofthings

P (f) by thetimethatyoureadthis

L (g) before slippingofftosleep

E (h) after runningmorethan500milesinoneweek

S (i) to whomeveritmayconcern
(j) from whatIcansee

Adverb

Pronoun

Noun
FORM Preposition
NounPhrase

ingClause

RelativeClause

REFERENCES
Halliday,MichaelA.K.

1994IntroductiontoFunctionalGrammar2ndedition,London:EdwardArnold.

Quirk,R.,S.Greenbaum,G.Leech,andJ.Svartvik.

1985AComprehensiveGrammaroftheEnglishLanguage,London:Longman.

1995,2016DanielKies.Allrightsreserved.

DocumentURL:http://papyr.com/hypertextbooks/grammar/phrase.htm

Lastrevision:09/24/201504:10:04

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