The Structure of Modern English A linguistic introduction Laurel J. Brinton University of British Columbia John Benjamins Publishing Company Amsterdam/Philadelphia TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of 8 American National Standard for Information Sciences – Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ansi z39. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Brinton, Laurel J. The structure of modern English : a linguistic introduction / Laurel J.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes. English language--Grammar. English language--Phonology. English language-- Syntax.B75 2000 425--dc21 00-023618 ISBN 90 272 2567 2 (Eur.
paper) © 2000 – John Benjamins B. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publisher. John Benjamins Publishing Co.Box 36224 · 1020 ME Amsterdam · The Netherlands John Benjamins North America · P.Box 27519 · Philadelphia PA 19118-0519 · USA Table of Contents List of Tables. xiii List of Figures.
xix A note to the student on punctuation. xx Unit 1 The Study of English Chapter 1 The Nature of Language and Linguistics The Nature of Human Language. 3 Fundamental Beliefs about Language. 4 The Rule-Governed Nature of Language.
6 Language Universals, Innateness, and Creativity. 6 Animal Communication Codes. 7 The Nature of Grammar. 7 Definition of Grammar.
8 Fallacies concerning Grammar. 8 Linguistics and the Components of Language. 10 Organization of the Book. 11 Unit 2 The Speech Sounds of English Chapter 2 English Consonants and Vowels The Spoken versus the Written Form of Language.
18 The Advantages of Speech and Writing. 19 The Production of Speech Sounds. 20 viii Table of Contents Consonant Sounds. 23 Classification of Consonants.
23 Consonants of English and their Phonetic Notation. 34 Classification of Vowels. 34 Vowels of English and their Phonetic Notation. 36 Consonant versus Vowel.
42 Chapter 3 English Phonology, Phonotactics, and Suprasegmentals Phonemes. 65 Unit 3 The Structure and Meaning of English Words Chapter 4 The Internal Structure of Words and Processes of Word Formation in English Defining the Word. 75 Morpheme versus Morph. 75 Morphemic Analysis versus Morphological Analysis.
79 Allomorphs and Morphemic Rules. 82 Processes of Word Formation. 91 Conversion or Functional Shift. 100 Table of Contents ix Chapter 5 Grammatical Categories and Word Classes Grammatical Categories.
117 Determining Word Classes. 118 Inflectional and Distributional Tests. 119 Tests Applied to Various Word Classes. 124 Chapter 6 Lexical Semantics Traditional Semantics.
129 Basic Semantic Relationships. 138 Feature Analysis of Nouns. 139 Feature Analysis of Verbal Predicates. 143 Feature Analysis of Modals.
147 Strengths and Weaknesses of Semantic Features. 153 Unit 4 The Structure of English Sentences Chapter 7 Phrasal Structure and Verb Complementation Introduction to Phrase Structure Grammar. 163 The Form of Phrase Structure Rules. 167 x Table of Contents A Phrase Structure Grammar of English.
168 Subject and Predicate. 181 Review of Phrase Structure Rules. 186 Chapter 8 Adverbials, Auxiliaries, and Sentence Types Adverbials. 194 Functions of Postverbal Prepositional Phrases.
201 Verb Subcategorization and the Passive. 202 Yes/No Questions and Negative Sentences. 203 Yes/No Questions. 204 Negative Statements and Questions.
208 Review of Phrase Structure Rules. 211 Chapter 9 Finite and Nonfinite Clauses Finite Clauses. 238 Forms of Nonfinite Clauses. 239 Omissions from Nonfinite Clauses.
241 Complementizers in Nonfinite Clauses. 241 Functions of Nonfinite Clauses. 244 Nonfinite Clauses as Complements of V. 251 Review of Complex Sentences.
256 Table of Contents xi Unit 5 The Meaning of English Sentences and their Communicative Functions Chapter 10 Sentence Semantics Propositions. 266 The Expression of Thematic Roles in English. 268 Dual Thematic Roles. 282 Locative and Possessive Predicates.
283 Chapter 11 Information Structuring and Speech Acts Pragmatics and Syntax. 290 Syntactic Options and Pragmatic Considerations. 293 Information Structuring in a Passage. 300 Speech Act Theory.
301 Components of Speech Acts. 302 Taxonomy of Speech Acts. 303 Appropriateness Conditions on Speech Acts. 305 Indirect Speech Acts.
307 The Cooperative Principle and Conversational Implicature. 327 List of Tables Table 2.1: The Consonants of English 27 Table 2.2: The Vowels of English 37 Table 2.3: The Tense and Lax Vowels of English 42 Table 2.4: Consonant versus Vowel 43 Table 3.1: Initial Consonant Clusters in English 57 Table 3.2: Strong and Weak Forms 60 Table 4.1: The Productive Inflections of Modern English 79 Table 4.2: Enclitics in English 80 Table 4.3: Regular Plural Formation in Nouns 83 Table 4.4: Root Allomorphy 86 Table 4.5: Semantic Classes of Prefixes in English 87 Table 4.6: Derivational SuYxes in English 88 Table 4.7: Syntactic Patterns in English Compounds 95 Table 5.1: The Nineteen Parts of Speech of English (C.1: Componential Analysis of a Livestock Paradigm 140 Table 6.2: Componential Analysis of (a) Types of Garments and (b) Bodies of Water 141 Table 6.3: Feature Analyses of Sample Nouns 142 Table 6.4: Typology of Situation Types 144 Table 6.5: Epistemic and Deontic Meanings of the Modal Auxiliaries 149 Table 6.6: Core and Peripheral Members of the Category “Vehicle” 152 Table 6.7: Examples of Selectional Restrictions 154 Table 7.1: Expansions of NP 170 Table 7.2: Expansions of AP 172 Table 7.3: Expansion of (a) AdvP and (b) PP 176 Table 7.5: Expansions of VP 186 Table 8.1: Specifiers of the Verb (Active) 199 Table 8.2: Specifiers of the Verb (Passive) 201 Table 9.1: That-Clauses 216 Table 9.2: Adjunct Adverbial Clauses 222 Table 9.3: Forms of the Interrogative Wh-Complementizer 226 Table 9.4: Relative Clauses 230 Table 9.5: Indirect Questions 236 xiv List of Tables Table 9.6: Controlled and Indefinite PRO in Nonfinite Clauses 242 Table 9.7: Persuade-, expect-, and want-type Verbs in English 255 Table 10.1: Ø-, 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-Place Predicates 265 Table 10.2: The Syntactic Expression of Thematic Roles in English 269 Table 10.3: Thematic Grids for English Verbs 275 Table 10.4: Stative, Inchoative, and Causative/Agentive Forms 281 Table 11.1: Focusing Operations in English 299 Table 11.2: Types of Speech Acts and their Appropriateness Conditions 308 Table 11.3: Sentences Conventionally Used in the Performance of Indirect Directives 311 List of Figures Figure 1.1: Organization of the Text 12 Figure 2.1: The Vocal Tract with (a) Velum Raised and (b) Velum Lowered 21 Figure 2.2: Configurations of the Larynx: (a) Voiceless (Exhalation), (b) Voiced, and (c) Whispered 22 Figure 2.3: Some Places of Articulation 25 Figure 2.4: The Diphthongs of English (Approximate Starting and Ending Points) 40 Figure 4.1: Types of Morphemes 76 Figure 4.2: Types of Morphs 77 Figure 6.1: A Hierarchy of Fish Hyponyms 135 Acknowledgments I would like to acknowledge Distance Education and Technology of the University of British Columbia for permission to use materials which I originally prepared for a distance education course as the basis of this text and accompanying workbook. I am grateful to my colleagues, Lilita Rodman and Leslie Arnovick of the University of British Columbia, and to Barbara Dancygier and Lynne McGivern, who tested parts of the text and workbook in their classrooms, to my research assistant, Patte Rockett, who assisted me at various stages in the production of the manuscript, and to my students, who oVered critiques and corrections of the material. Alan Doree of the University of British Columbia did the painstaking work of preparing the numerous tree diagrams; I am appreciative of the diligence and care he took with them.
I am also very grateful to my husband, Ralph Brands, who produced some of the figures in the text and whose computer expertise saved me hours of frustration. Finally, I would like to thank Kees Vaes of John Benjamins, who was the type of editor that every author hopes to have. Preface The following text gives a full introduction to English sounds, grammar, and vocabulary. It begins with a study of the distinctive sounds of English (phonology).
It turns next to an analysis of the structure of English words and their classification (morphology) as well as the classification of English words and their grammatical modification. This is followed by an exploration of the meaning of English words (lexical semantics). The next section is taken up with a detailed analysis of English sentence structure (syntax) from a generative perspective. The text then looks at the interaction of syntax and semantics (sentence semantics) and considers the functions and contexts of language use (pragmatics).
A chapter outlining the importance of a knowledge of the structure of English for teaching and learning (pedagogy) is also included on the accompanying CD-ROM. This textbook is addressed to advanced undergraduate (and graduate) students interested in contemporary English, including those whose primary area of interest is English as a second language, primary or secondary-school English education, English literature, theoretical and applied linguistics, or speech pathology. For this reason, this textbook, unlike many other introductory linguistics textbooks, emphasizes the empirical facts of English rather than any particular theory of linguistics. Furthermore, the text does not assume any background in language or linguistics.
Students are required to learn the International Phonetic Alphabet as well as the technical vocabulary of grammar and linguistics, but all necessary terms and concepts are presented in the text. Upon completion of this textbook and accompanying workbook, students will have acquired the following: 1. a knowledge of the sound system of contemporary English; 2. an understanding of the formation of English words and of their grammatical modification; 3.
a comprehension of the structure of both simple and complex sentences in English; 4. a recognition of complexities in the expression of meaning, on both the word and sentence level; and 5. an understanding of the eVects of context and function of use upon the structure of the language. The textbook is divided into eleven chapters.
Chapter 1 briefly examines the discipline of linguistics and the nature of human language and grammar. After a consideration of the means of production of human speech sounds, Chapter 2 studies the consonant and vowel xx Preface sounds of English and methods of their phonetic transcription. Chapter 3 continues discussion of the English sound system, considering sound combinations, stress, intonation, and syllable structure; it also examines phonological rules in English and the concept of the phoneme (distinctive sound of a language). Chapter 4 explores the internal structure of words, the concept of the morpheme (meaningful unit of a language), and the varied processes of word formation in English.
Chapter 5 begins by defining the grammatical categories and looking at the grammatical modification of English words and ends with a study of the means of word classification in the language. Chapter 6 surveys a number of traditional and structural approaches to word meaning and includes a discussion of figurative language. Chapter 7 treats the syntax of the simple sentence, looking at the internal structure of the noun, adjective, adverb, and prepositional phrase, complement structures in the verb phrase, verb types, and grammatical functions. Chapter 8 continues to treat the syntax of the simple sentence, including adverbial modifiers and verb premodifiers, and then examines the structure of passive, interrogative, negative, and imperative sentences.
The syntax of the complex sentence is dealt with in Chapter 9, including that-clauses, wh-clauses (wh-questions, relative clauses, and indirect clauses), and nonfinite clauses (infinitival and participial clauses). Chapter 10 turns to the question of sentence meaning, understood in terms of thematic roles and predication analysis. Chapter 11 looks at two quite diVerent approaches to the question of the function of language in context: information structuring and speech act theory. A CD-ROM accompanies this textbook.
a complete workbook with self-testing exercises; and 2. a chapter on pedagogical applications of the material presented in the textbook. Answers for all of the self-testing exercises are provided.