SEMINAR 2       WORDS AND WORD CLASSES


word classes ( closed v. open; conversion)   -   generic v.
specific reference  -   marked v. unmarked   -      stative v.
dynamic    -    pro-forms   -   ellipsis   -   operator   -
assertive v. non-assertive


Word classes (= parts of speech)

-  we distinguish two main categories -- open v. closed

   closed, i.e. they are finite         v.
open, i.e. can be extended

e.g.  pronouns:
e.g.   nouns:
       determiners:
adjectives:
       primary verbs:                   full verbs:
       modal verbs:                     adverbs:
       prepositions:
       conjunctions:

-often referred to as:
- often referred to as: `lexical words'
 `grammatical words'
 `function words'
 `structure words'


!some words can belong to more than one class, i.e. one word
can function as more word classes = conversion  (see the
example below)

                  The bank is round the corner.
                  She has a round face.
round        The car rounded the bend.
                  Spring will soon come round again.
                 The match only lasted five rounds.

Generic v. specific

  -    generic -- Children learn from their parents.
-    specific -- The children are playing in the garden.

Consider the following examples, are the noun phrases
generic or specific?
    1.   Tigers are dangerous.
2.   The tiger lives in China, India and Malaysia.
    3.   These tigers are living in a very cramped cage.
    4.   A keeper is coming to feed the tiger.
Marked v. unmarked

- this distinction may concern the form (words are marked or
unmarked inflectionally) or meaning (words are marked or
unmarked semantically)

                marked
v.                  unmarked

e.g.           tigers (1 above)
the tiger (2 above)

                 heroine                              hero

                  How young is he?
How old is he?

       These tigers are living in     The tiger lives in
India.
       a very cramped cage.


Stative v. dynamic

                     stative
v.                    dynamic
usu: nouns, adjectives, stative verbs
usu: verbs (see below)


!Some verbs can be used both statively and dynamically:

e.g.    The tiger lives in India.            v.
These tigers are living in a

cramped cage.

          They are married.                           They
got married.

Pro-forms

- st that can be used instead of other words -- we refer to
an expression without repeating it, i.e. by using pro-forms
we avoid repetition

e.g.   1. Carol wanted to buy the blue sweater, but finally
she bought the green one.
         2. They liked the house, so they decided to buy it.
         3.  My parents live in the north of the country and
my sister lives there too.
         4. She hoped they would play a Mozart quartet and
they will do so.

Ellipsis

  -    we can also avoid repetition by ellipsis = grammatical
     omission
     e.g.   1. Her daughter is studying physics and her son
     history.
                     2. He promised he would come and I'm
sure he will.

     
Operator

  -    two basic sentence constituents are the subject + the
     predicate
  -    the predicate sometimes involves an operator -- the
     first or only auxiliary in the verb phrase,  the predicate =
     operator + predication

             e.g.   1. You should phone your mother and ask
her for help.
                      2. This time tomorrow I will be
working.
                      3. I have been invited to the party.
                      4. I go to discos almost every Friday.

Operator:
  a)   can be used alone
  b)   can be followed by n't, not
c)   questions are formed by inversion

!When the verb is "be", this functions as itself an
operator!

       e.g.  The car is expensive.     -   The car isn't
expensive.   -   Is the car expensive?



Assertive v. non-assertive

           Assertive                                      v.
non-assertive

She has finished her thesis already.        v.
She hasn't finished her thesis yet.
He gave some money to the beggar.       v.
Did he give any money to the beggar?

= predication in positive sent. is assertive
= predication in negatives +         questions is non-
assertive


!Some determiners, pronouns, etc.  have specifically
assertive or non-assertive use!