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1、Chapter 4 From Word to TextnReview:nWe have already considered two levels of description used in the study of language.nFirst, we have described linguistic expressions as sequences of sounds which can be represented phonetically, eg.n lkibyznVoiced fricative voiceless stop diphthongnSecond, we can d
2、escribe the same linguistic expression as a sequence of morphemes, eg.n the luck y boy snfunctional lexical derivational n inflectionalnWith these descriptions, we could characterize all the words of a language in terms of their phonetic and morphological make-up.nthe lucky boys n*boys the luckyn*lu
3、cky boys thenThird, we need a way of describing the structure of phrases and sentences which will account for all of the grammatical sequences and rule out all the ungrammatical ones. Thus, we introducenSyntax syn- (together)n -tax (arrangement)Definition of SyntaxnSyntax is the study of the rules g
4、overning the ways different constituents are combined to form sentences in a language, or the study of the interrelationships between elements in sentence structures.nSyntax is the study of the formation of sentences.nSyntax is the analysis of sentence structure and the relationships between element
5、s in a sentence, then what is a sentence?nA sentence is a sequence of words arranged in a certain order in accordance with grammatical rules.nThe interrelationships between elements in a sentence can be analysed according to syntactic relations.4.1 Syntactic RelationsnSyntactic relations can be anal
6、ysed into three kinds, namely, positional relations (位置关系位置关系), relations of substitutability (可替换关系可替换关系), and the relations of co-occurrence (同现关系同现关系).n4.1.1 Positional RelationnFor language to fulfill its communicative function, it must have a way to mark the grammatical roles of the various phr
7、ases that can occur in a clause. E.g.,nThe boy kicked the ball.nTwo methods to convey the information in a language are through positional relation (or word order) and affixation.nPositional relation, or word order, refers to the sequential arrangement of words in a language. The sequential arrangem
8、ent of words can either be well-formed or ill-formed (ungrammatical or nonsensical).na) The boy kicked the ball.nb) Boy the ball kicked thenc) The ball kicked the boy.nSometimes two sentences which have the same words in number and form and are both grammatically well-formed have opposite meanings:n
9、a) The teacher saw the students.nb) The students saw the teacher.nThis positional relation is a manifestation of “Syntagmatic Relation” proposed by Ferdinand de Saussure.nF. de Saussure, “Father of Modern Linguistics”, proposed “syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations” which was later elaborated in C
10、ourse in General Linguistics (1916).nHe stressed the importance of language as a system, that is, linguistic units are interrelated with each other in a structure (or system), not as isolated bits.nSaussure proposed that a linguist must try to find the value of a sign from its relations to others, o
11、r rather, its position in the system. Thus, the two types of relations are:n1) Syntagmatic relations (structure) the relationship that linguistic units (eg. words, clauses) have with other units because they may occur together in a sequence.n2) Paradigmatic relations (system) the relationship holdin
12、g between elements replaceable with each other at a particular place in s structure, that is, a word may be said to have paradigmatic relations with words that could be substituted for it in the sentence.nFor example:n I gave Tracy the book. n syntagmaticn passed n handed paradigmaticn threwnThis po
13、sitional relation is also called horizontal relation or chain relation.nIt is among the three basic ways (word order, genetic and areal classifications) to classify languages in the world. According to this classification, there are six types of language, they are SVO, VSO, SOV, OVS, OSV, and VOS. E
14、nglish is SVO type. n补充：补充：nAreal linguistics the study of languages or dialects which are spoken in a particular area.An example is the study of two neighboring languages to see how they influence each other in terms of grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, etc. 区域区域/地区语言学：对某一地区使用地区语言学：对某一地区使用语言或方言进行
15、的研究。例如，研究两语言或方言进行的研究。例如，研究两种邻近的语言，弄清它们在语法、词汇、种邻近的语言，弄清它们在语法、词汇、发音等方面的相互影响。发音等方面的相互影响。n4.1.2 Relation of SubstitutabilitynFirstly, it refers to classes or sets of words substitutable for each other grammatically in sentences with the same structure. (cf. p. 85)nSecondly, it refers to groups of more t
16、han one word which may be jointly substitutable grammatically for a single word of a particular set. (cf. p. 85)nThis is what Saussure called “associative relation”, or in Hjemslevs term, “paradigmatic relation”. It is also called vertical relation or choice relation.nFrom the above analysis we can
17、see that positional relation indicates the structure of the sentence while relation of substitutability indicated the system of the sentence.n4.1.3 Relation of Co-occurrencenThis relation means that words of different sets of clauses may permit, or require, the occurrence of a word of another set or
18、 class to form a sentence or a particular part of a sentence. (p. 86)4.2 Grammatical Constructionn4.2.1 Grammatical ConstructionnGrammatical construction/construct can be used to mean any syntactic construct which is assigned one or more conventional functions in a language, together with whatever i
19、s linguistically conventionalized about its contribution to the meaning or use the construct contains.nGenerally speaking, construction refers to the sentence, or the phrase, or even the word itself.nOn the syntactic level, the external and internal properties of any construction are distinguished.n
20、The external syntax of a construction refers to the properties of the construction as a whole, that is to say, anything speakers know about the construction that is relevant to the larger syntactic contexts in which it is welcome. (pp. 86-7)nThe internal syntax of a construction is really a descript
21、ion of the constructions “make-up”, with the terms such as “subject, predicate, object, determiner, noun” etc. (p. 87)nIn the discoursal or textual level, construction refers to a token of a constructional type.nMore about “token”:nIn linguistics, a distinction is sometimes made between classes of l
22、inguistic items (eg Phonemes, Words, Utterances) and actual occurrences in speech or writing of examples of such classes.nThe class of linguistic units is called a type and examples or individual members of the class are called tokens.n在语言学中，有时把语言项目的种类，在语言学中，有时把语言项目的种类，如音位、词、话语和这些种类出现在口如音位、词、话语和这些种类
23、出现在口语和文字中的实例加以区分。语言单位语和文字中的实例加以区分。语言单位的种类叫类型的种类叫类型(type)，种类的实例或个种类的实例或个别成分叫标记别成分叫标记(tokens)。nFor example, “hello, hi, good morning” are three different tokens of the type “Greeting”.nExample:nType: Subject + PredicatenType: Noun Phrase + Verb PhrasenTokens: The + girl + is + giggling.n4.2.2 Immediat
24、e ConstituentsnConstituents the components within one sentence (a term used for every linguistic unit, which is a part of a larger unit)nImmediate constituents are constituents immediately, or directly, below the level of a construction, which may be a sentence, a word group or even a word (which ca
25、n be further analyzed into morphemes). (Bloomfield) (p. 87)n Poor John ran away.n Sn The boy ate the apple.nNode (节点节点) each position in a tree diagram where lines (“branches”) meet. At each node is a symbol for a grammatical category.nIC analysis the analysis of a sentence in terms of its immediate
26、 constituents word groups (or phrases), which are in turn analyzed into the immediate constituents of their own, and the process goes on until the ultimate constituents are reached (morphemes).nWhen a tree diagram is used to represent the constituent structure of a grammatical unit, syntactic catego
27、ries are used to label the nodes. (p. 88)n(a) tree diagram (p. 88)n(b) bracketing (p. 89)nHow do we know where to make the cuts?nThe criterion is substitutability: whether a sequence of words can be substituted for a single word and the structure remains the same.nFor example, Poor John can be repla
28、ced by John, and ran away can be replaced by ran. They are of paradigmatic relations.nThe importance of IC analysis is that it stresses the function of the intermediate level the word group in the analysis of a sentence, seeing a hierarchical structure of the sentence. nThis is different from the tr
29、aditional parsing which only emphasizes subject, predicate, object, etc., seeing only a linear structure of the sentences.nThe advantage of IC analysis:n1) The internal structure of a sentence is demonstrated clearly and ambiguity can be revealed. For example,nMy small childs cotn my small childs co
30、tn my small cot for a childn my small childs cotn my cot for a small childn my small childs cotn the cot of my small childnThe son of Pharaohs daughter is the daughter of Pharaohs son.n the son of Pharaohs daughtern the daughter of Pharaohs sonn4.2.3 Endocentric and Exocentric Constructions (向心结构和离心
31、结构向心结构和离心结构)n1. Endocentric construction is one whose distribution is functionally equivalent to that of one or more of its constituents, i.e., a word or a group of words, which serves as a definable center or head. nIn other words, the whole construction has the same grammatical function with one o
32、f its constituents (the head).nUsually noun phrases, verb phrases and adjective phrases belong to this type. (p. 89)nThis construction can further be analyzed into two types: nA. CoordinationnCoordination is formed by grouping together two or more categories of the same type with the help of a conju
33、nction such as and, or, but.nIn other words, coordination constructions refer to those in which there are more than one head which are of equal syntactic status, and no one is dependent on the other (both are capable of serving as the head). Examples are boys and girls, coffee or tea, the city Romen
34、Each of the constituents can stand for the original construction functionally. (p. 90)nSince there is no limit on the number of coordinated categories that can appear prior to the conjunction, this construction has one property which is important in the creativity of language: recursiveness.nB. Subo
35、rdinationnIt refers to the process or result of linking linguistic units so that they have different syntactic status, one being dependent upon the other, and usually a constituent of the other. (p. 91)nThis construction also has the property of recursiveness. Cf. example 4-40 on p. 101.n2. Exocentr
36、ic construction refers to a group of syntactically related words where none of the words is functionally equivalent to the group as a whole, that is, there is no definable center or head. It usually includes basic sentence, prepositional phrase, predicate construction (verb + object), and connective
37、 (be + complement) construction.4.3 Transformational Generative GrammarnAmerican linguist Noam Chomsky nSyntactic Structures (1957)n4.3.1 Five stages of developmentn1) The Classical Theory aims to make linguistics a science (1957)nThe three features:nA. It emphasizes on generative ability of languag
38、e.nGenerative The rules must automatically generate sentences.nPhrase Structure (PS) Rules (Rewriting Rules)nS NP + VPnNP N (John)n N (men)n Det N (a/the man)n Det Adj N (a/the tall man)n Adj N (tall men)n Det N S (the man that wears glasses)n Det Adj N PP (a tall man with glasses)n Det Adj N PP S (
39、the tall man with glasses that I met)nNP (Det) (Adj) N (PP) (S) nVP V (NP) (PP) (S)n advise him in a writing class that henAP A (PP) (S)ncurious of the results n curious that no one was there.nPP P NPn after the English classnPS rules are recursive.nRecursiveness:n I met a man who had a son whose wi
40、fe sold cookies that she had baked in her kitchen that was fully equipped with electrical appliances that were new.nCf. pp. 101-2nB. It introduces transformational rules.n PS rules provide explanations on how syntactic categories are formed and sentences generated. However, there are other syntactic
41、 phenomena that PS rules are unable to describe, such as sentences involving syntactic movement (Syntactic movement occurs when a constituent in a sentence moves out of its original place to a new position. It is caused by Transformational rules.).nNP movement It occurs when a sentence changes from
42、the active voice to the passive voice. E.g.,ni) The man beat the child.nii) The child was beaten by the man.nWH-movement obligatory in English which changes a sentence from affirmative to interrogativenAux-movement the movement of an auxiliary verb to the sentence-initial position, such as be, have,
43、 do, will, can, should etc.nD-structures and S-structuresnWhat syntactic movement suggests for the study of grammar is that a sentence structure may have two levels of syntactic representation, one that exists before movement takes place, and the other that occurs after movement takes place.nDeep st
44、ructure the abstract representation of the syntactic properties of a construction, i.e. the underlying level of structural relations between its different constituents.nSurface structure the final stage in the syntactic derivation of a construction, which closely corresponds to the structural organi
45、zation of a construction people actually produce and receive.n PS rules + the lexiconn D-structuren Movement rules (Transformations)n S-structurenC. It makes grammatical description regardless of meaning.nSummary:n1. Writing a TG grammar means working out two sets of rules Phrase Structure rules and
46、 transformational rules which are followed by speakers of the language.n2. TG grammar must account for all and only grammatical sentences.n2) The Standard TheorynThis phase deals with how semantics should be studied in a linguistic theory.nAspects of the Theory of Syntax (1965)句法理句法理论问题论问题nThe Stand
47、ard Theory is introduced to solve some problems in the classical theory:ni) The T-rules are too powerful. A sentence can be transformed at will and without restrictions.nii) The rules may generate ill-formed sentences as well as well-formed ones. E.g.,n Sn NP VPn V NPn John drink wine.n Wine drink J
48、ohn.nThere must be certain selectional rules between the verb and the noun.niii) The T-rules for the passive voice can not be used at will for some English verbs do not have passive structures. E.g.,nJohn married Mary.nMary was married by John. nThe two sentences mean differently. In the second sent
49、ence, John is the priest who presided over Marys wedding.nChomsky noted that application of T-rules should not change the meaning of the original sentence, and that the noun must be restricted by the verb.nSo Chomsky says that a generative grammar should consist of three components syntactic, phonol
50、ogical, and semantic. n Base Deep Trans. SurfaceCategories Lexicon Structure Structuren Semantic PhonologicalnThe syntactic component is composed of Base component and Transformational component.nCategories contain rewriting rules more or less the same as the PS rules. The only difference is that at
51、 the end of a derivation there are no longer rule inserting words directly but rules with feature specifications, e.g., +count., +animate.nWords of the same feature specifications are in a paradigmatic relation with each other. That is, only when a word satisfies the feature specifications in a PS r
52、ule will it have the possibility of being inserted.nThe features of the Standard Theory:ni) Transformations can only change the forms of sentences and are not allowed to alter the meaning.nii) There is a selectional restriction to rule out the generation of ill-formed sentences like Wine drinks John
53、. nOne of the problems:nIt holds that transformation will not change meaning. However, it was impossible. Any kind of transformation will certainly change the sentence meaning. For example,nA. I have been taught physics by Einstein.nA. Einstein has taught me physics.nB. Everyone loves someone.nB. So
54、meone is loved by everyone.n Base Deep Trans. SurfaceCategories Lexicon Structure Structuren Semantic PhonologicalnEven this extended version is not adequate.4.4 Systemic-functional GrammarnSystemicJohn Rupert FirthnLanguage elements form into systems. The use of language involves a network of syste
55、ms of choices. The items in a system are in a choice relation with each other. (paradigmatic relation)FunctionnHalliday: language is a social phenomenon, and emphasizes the study of language in relation to the functions it performs.(Malinowski)nKarl Buhler: representative, expressive, appelative (vo
56、cative)nJakobson: referential, emotive, conative, metalinguistic, poetic, phaticnHalliday is new in that he has related the functions of language to its structures.nMetafunctions grammatical systemsnIdeational transitivitynInterpersonal moodnTextual themenIdeational Language serves for the expressio
57、n of “content”; that is, of the speakers experience of the real world, including the inner world of his own consciousness.nInterpersonal Language serves to establish and maintain social relations.nTextual Language serves to provide for making links with itself and with features of the situation in w
58、hich it is used.System and FunctionnThe systemic network describes the three metafunctions, among which we make choices simultaneously.n ideationalnmetafunctions interpersonaln textualn processesn transitivity participantsn circumstancesnIdeational voice语态语态 polarity归一度归一度n declarativen indicativenI
59、nterpersonal interrogativen (mood) imperativen themenTextual informationn transitionnSince the fundamental problem in systemic grammar is the relation between syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations, or the relation between structure and choice, Halliday first describes the grammatical units, particu
60、larly the description of clause. nHalliday thinks that a complete clause should include the three systems of transitivity, mood and theme. n transitivity (experiential function)nJohn was throwing the balln(actor) (process) (goal)n Predication (logical function)nJohn was throwing the ball.nSubject Pr
61、edicaten Mood (interpersonal function)nJohn was throwing the ball.nMood element residuen Theme (textual function)nJohn was throwing the ball.nTheme Rhemen Information (textual function)nJohn was throwing the ball.nGiven NewnThe subject is a complex of four distinct functions:n1. Actor (logical subje
62、ct): ideationaln2. Modal subject (grammatical): interpersonaln3. Theme (psychological 1): textualn4. Given (psychological 2): textualnThe first three functions are in the structure of clause, and the last one is in the structure of the “information unit”.nThe three functions of subject should be thr
63、ee distinct functions and there is no such thing as a general concept of “subject” to indicate all of them.nHalliday replaced them by Theme, Subject, and Actor.nTheme - textualnSubject - interpersonalnActor - ideationalnTransitivity system includes six processes: material (物质物质), mental(心理心理), relat
64、ional(关系关系), behavioral(行为行为), verbal(言语言语), and existential(存在存在) processes.nMaterial a process of doing (the participants outer experience)nMental sensing: perception, reaction, cognitionnRelational being: attributive(归属归属) and identifying(识别识别). 归属指某个实体具有归属指某个实体具有哪些属性，其公式是哪些属性，其公式是“a是是x的一个属性的一个属性
65、”；识别类指一个实体与另一个实体是；识别类指一个实体与另一个实体是统一的，其公式是统一的，其公式是“a是是x的认同的认同”。nBehavioral physiological process 如如呼呼吸、咳嗽、叹息、做梦、哭、笑等生理吸、咳嗽、叹息、做梦、哭、笑等生理活动过程。活动过程。nVerbal sayingn Existential a process of existence Traditional Grammarn4.6 Syntactic FunctionnSyntactic function shows the relationship between a linguistic
66、 form and other parts of the linguistic pattern in which it is used.n4.6.1 Subjectn1. In some languages, subject refers to the nouns in the nominative case. For example, in Latin,n1) Pater filium amat. (the father loves the son)n2) Patrem filius amat. (the son loves the father)n2. In English, the su
67、bject of a sentence is often said to be the doer of the action (the agent), while the object is the person or thing acted upon by the doer (the patient). n1) Mary slapped John.n2) A dog bit John.n3) John was bitten by a dog. (grammatical & logical subject)n4) John underwent major heart surgery.n3. T
68、he subject is “what the sentence is about” (i.e. topic).n1) Bill is a very crafty fellow.n2) (Jack is pretty reliable, but) Bill I dont trust.n3) As for Bill, I wouldnt take his promises very seriously.nThen what characteristics do subjects have?nA. Word order: Subject ordinarily precedes the verb i
69、n statement:na) Sally collects stamps.nb) * Collects Sally stamps.nB. Pro-forms: The first and third person pronouns in English appear in a special form when the pronoun is a subject.na) He loves me.nb) I love him.nc) We threw stones at them.nd) They threw stones at us.nC. Agreement with verb: In th
70、e simple present tense, an s is added to the verb when a third person subject is singular.na) She angers him.nb) He angers them.nD. Content questions: Content questions are questions that contain an interrogative phrase, like the elements underlined in the English examples in (1).n(1) a. Who did you
71、 see?n b. Which book do you want to buy?n c. When are you going to leave?nBecause most interrogative words in English begin with wh-, content questions in English are often called wh-questions.nIf the subject is replaced by a question word (who or what), the rest of the sentence remains unchanged. B
72、ut when any other element of the sentence is replaced by a question word, an auxiliary verb must appear before the subject.na) John/Who stole Mrs. Thatchers picture from the British Council.nb) What would John steal?nc) What did John steal from the British Council?nd) Where did John steal Mrs. Thatc
73、hers picture? nE. Tag question: A tag question is used to seek confirmation of a statement. It always contains a pronoun which refers back to the subject, and never to any other elements in the sentence.na) John loves Mary, doesnt he?nb) Mary loves John, doesnt she?n4.6.2 PredicatenPredicate refers
74、to a major constituent of sentence structure in a binary analysis in which all obligatory constituents other than the subject were considered together. nThe word “predicator” is used for verb or verbs included in a predicate.n4.6.3 Objectn1. Traditionally, subject can be defined as the doer of an ac
75、tion (the agent), then object may refer to the “receiver” or “goal” of the action (the patient), and it is further classified into Direct Object and Indirect Object.na) Mother bought a doll.nB) Mother gave my sister a doll.n2. In some inflecting languages, object is marked by case labels: the accusa
76、tive case (宾格宾格) for direct object, and the dative case (与格与格) for indirect object.nThen what characteristics do objects have?n1. Word order: Object usually follows the verb or the preposition in statement.na) Mother bought a doll.nb) Mother gave a doll to my sister.n2. Pro-forms: The first and thir
77、d person pronouns in English appear in a special form when the pronoun is an object.na) John kicked me.nb) She angers him.nc) John loves her.n3. Modern linguists (e.g. Chomsky, Halliday) suggest that object refers to such an item that it can become subject in a passive transformation.na) John broke
78、the glass. (The glass was broken by John.)nb) Peter saw Jane. (Jane was seen by Peter.)nThe nominal phrases in the following sentences are not objects:nc) He died last week.nd) The match lasted three hours.n4.6.4 The relation between classes and functionsnThey determine each other, but not in any on
79、e-to-one relation.nA class item can perform several functions. Similarly, a function can be fulfilled by several classes. (cf. P.96)4.4 Beyond the SentencenText linguistics: a branch of linguistics which studies spoken or written texts, e.g., a descriptive passage, a scene in a play, a conversation.
80、 It is concerned, for instance, with the way the parts of a text are organized and related to one another in order to form a meaningful whole.nSome linguists prefer to include the study of all spoken texts, particularly if they are longer than one sentence, under discourse analysis. nText: a piece o
81、f spoken or written language. A text may be considered fro the point of view of its structure and/or its functions, e.g., warning, instructing, carrying out a transaction.nA full understanding of a text is often impossible without reference to the context in which it occurs.nA text may consist of ju
82、st one word, e.g. DANGER on a warning sign, or it may be of considerable length, e.g. a sermon, a novel, or a debate.n4.4.1 Sentential ConnectionnHypotactic relation (subordinate clause):nWe live near the sea. So we enjoy a healthy climate.nParatactic relation (coordinate clause):nHe dictated the le
83、tter. She wrote it.nThe door was open. He walked in.n4.4.2 Cohesion衔接衔接nCohesion is the grammatical and/or lexical relationships between the different elements of a text. This may be the relationship between different sentences or between different parts of a sentence. For example:n(a) A: Is Jenny c
84、oming to the party?n B: Yes, she is.nThere is a link between Jenny and she and also between is coming and is.n(b) In the sentence:n If you are going to London, I can give you the address of a good hotel there.nThe link is between London and there (anaphora).nAnaphora: the use of a word or phrase whi
85、ch refers back to another word or phrase which was used earlier in a text or conversation. For example, in the sentence:n Tom likes ice cream but Bill cant eat it.nThe word it refers back to ice cream: it is a substitute for ice cream, and ice cream is the antecedent of it.nSome verbs may be anaphor
86、ic, especially the English verb do. In the sentence:n Mary works hard and so does Doris.ndoes is anaphoric and is a substitute for works.nCohesion can be realized by employing various cohesive devices: conjunction, ellipsis, lexical collocation, lexical repetition, reference, substitution, etc. nCf. p. 103.
