Chapter 4 From word to text

4. Agreement or Concord（一致） It is the requirement that the forms of two or more words in a syntactic relationship should agree with each other in terms of some categories. e.g. the agreement of person and number.

3. Sentence is the minimum part of

language that express a complete thought. How do you classify English sentences?


Classifications of sentences (1) 4 types (functions of sentences)



1) The teacher, along with seven students, form/forms a research group. 2) Four hundred dollars are/is a large sum of money. 3) I go/went shopping yesterday.”



2. Clause is a constituent with its own subject and predicate, if it is included in a larger sentence. According to M. A. K. Halliday, a clause falls into two classes: finite（限定小句） and non-finite clauses（非限定小句） (infinitive, participle, gerund phrase). (p99-100)
Sentence
word classes and word functions
1.1 Functions of word (P92-95)

Subject Predicate Object
1.2 Category (范畴）

A class or group of items which fulfill the same or similar functions in a language. Categories refer to parts of speech and functions, such as the classification of words in terms of parts of speech, the identification of functions of words in terms of subject, predicate, etc. But the term ―category‖ is also more specifically used for the defining properties of units like noun and verb, e.g. the noun is usually said to have the categories of number, gender, case; the verb has the categories of tense, aspect, voice.

Question： How do you learn English sentences? How did your former teacher teach English senences?
I.

The Traditional Approach
as a sequence of words
Finite clause:
The fact that they are with us in this time of crisis is evidence of their friendship.
Non-finite clause: For them to be with us in this time of crisis is evidence of their friendship.
3. Case: 3 cases of Noun in English--nominative, accusative, genitive (1) John kicked Peter. (word order) (2) He writes with a pen. (following a Prep.) (3) This is my father’s office. (inflection)

Syntax （﹤Greek）refers to the study of the rules governing the ways words are combined to form sentences in a language, or simply, the study of the formation of sentences.
Lecture 4 From Word to Text
Presented by: Zhang Mingfang Dept. of Foreign Languages, HEBUST
Contents

I. Traditional approach II. Structural approach III. Generative approach IV. Functional approach V. Discourse analysis/Text linguistics



On the other hand, nonfinite verb phrases do not carry tense. Their main verb is either a to-infinitive [3], a bare infinitive [4], an -ed form [5], or an -ing form [6]. Noun, Adj. Adv.: [3] David loves [to play the piano] [4] We made [David play the piano] [5] [Written in 1864], it soon became a classic. [6] [Leaving home] can be very traumatic These are NONFINITE CLAUSES. (P99-100)
Declarative, interrogative, exclamatory, imperative

(2) Quirk et al. (1972) 7 types (P101)
(functions of words or constituents)

(3) Bolinger (1969) 5 types (P100)


Finite verb phrases carry tense, and the clauses containing them are FINITE CLAUSES: [1] She writes home every day (finite clause -- present tense verb) [2] She wrote home yesterday (finite clause -- past tense verb)


Number, gender, case, agreement
1. Number--- noun, pronoun, verb adjectives and articles in French singular and plural dual in classical Greek and Arabic trial in Fijian Chinese 们---我/你/他们,学生们,工人们; ＊桌子们,计算机们; ＊五个学ห้องสมุดไป่ตู้们,很多老师们
Phrase vs. idiom
Types
Verbal Adj. Prep. Adv.
Phrase
has been doing extremely difficult to the door adverbial phrase
Idiom
do away with all square with sb. at the eleventh hour straight form the shoulder
2. Gender---Noun, Pron. in English; Adj. Art. in French male, female: actor/tress, hero/ine, prince/ss, lion/ess in English by the biological distinctions; in Chinese,女、男、公、母、雄、雌、阴、阳； French are grammatical, nouns (animate or not) have gender distinctions, e.g. chanteur (chanteuse), chanson (f.), canon (m.), capitalism (m.) Le cadeau est beau. La maison est belle.

1.3 Phrase, Clause and Sentence P99-101
1. Phrase is a single element of structure containing more than one word, and lacking the subject-predicate structure typical of clauses.
(word classes) (4) 3 types (complexity of sentences)


Traditionally, three types of sentences are distinguished. (1) simple sentence (2) coordinate/compound sentence (3) complex sentence
In Geoff Thompson‘s opinion, a clause is (potentially) any stretch of language centered around a verbal group. A finite verbal group is traditionally defined as one which shows tense, whereas a non-finite group does not (p.15-16 in Introducing Functional Grammar).
Different languages display different types of agreement or concord.
French articles and adjectives agree with each other in number and in gender with the noun they modify. E.g. le cheval royal, les chevaux royaux, la femme joyeuse
Nominal the three tallest girls the final straw
phrase vs. word group


A word group is an extension of word of a particular class by way of modification with its main features of the class unchanged. E.g. right behind, all along to the door