Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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
(a) lions
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
(a) do believe
E (b) can go
A (d) is going
TheAdjectivePhrase
TheadjectivephraseinEnglishhasfourfunctionalconstituents,
premodification,thosemodifying,describing,orqualifyingconstituentswhichprecede
thehead
thehead,whichisanadjectiveorparticipleservingasthefocusofthephrase
postmodification,thatmodifyingconstituentwhichfollowstheheadand
complementation,(themajorsubcategoryofpostmodificationhere)thatconstituent
whichfollowsanypostmodificationandcompletesthespecificationofameaning
impliedbythehead.
Toseesomeexamplesofadjectivephrases,examinethetablebelow.
SomeExamplesoftheAdjectivePhraseinEnglish
(a) happy
Adverb
AdverbPhrase InfinitiveClause
Noticethattheorderofconstituentsintheadjectivephrase,likeallotherphrase
structuresinEnglish,isrelativelyfixed,helpingusdeterminetheconstituentelements.
TheAdverbPhrase
TheadverbphraseinEnglishisnearlyidenticaltotheadjectivephrase,withonlythe
expectedchangesinform.Intheadverbphrase,anadverbfunctionsashead.
Toseesomeexamplesofadverbphrases,examinethetable.
SomeExamplesoftheAdverbPhraseinEnglish
(a) quietly
A (d) however
Adverb
AdverbPhrase InfinitiveClause
ThePrepositionalPhrase
Thelaststructureforustostudyatthephraserankistheprepositionalphrase.This
phraseisa'nonheaded'constructioninEnglishsincenooneconstituentfunctionsasthe
centerofthephrase,thecenteronwhichtheotherelementsdepend.Instead,thestructure
isdividedintotwofunctionalcomponentstheprepositionfollowedbyitscomplement.In
general,aprepositionalphraseexpressesarelationshipbetweenthecomplementofthe
prepositionandsomeotherconstituentofthesentence.Diagrammatically,thestructureof
theprepositionalphraselookslikethis:
ThetablebelowillustratessomeofthepossiblestructuresfoundintheEnglish
prepositionalphrase.
SomeExamplesofthePrepositionalPhraseinEnglish
X (c) in time
P (f) by thetimethatyoureadthis
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