ia901 2012 session seven clauses and sentences

IA901 2012 Session Seven

Clauses and sentences

Increasingly complex language via the medium of cake

The four main communicative roles of clauses:

ImperativeEat!Eat cake!

ExclamatoryCake!

InterrogativeCake?

DeclarativeIt’s a piece of cake. The girl eats cake.The girl does not eat cake.

cake

We can build up the noun phrases with adjectives:

The girl eats cake.

In 60 seconds, how many adjectives can you add to this clause?

We can build up the noun phrases with adjectives:

The girl eats cake.The Japanese girl eats chocolate cake.The lovely intelligent friendly hungry 24-year-old Japanese girl eats delicious gooey hazelnut-encrusted chocolate cake.

or with prepositions:

The girl eats cakes of all varieties.

And note the issue of countability that pervades all NOUN PHRASES in English:

What’s the difference between cake and a cake?

I’m going to enter a cake-eating competition. Do humans need competition?

TENSE allows us to express ideas of remoteness (not just in terms of time)

Did you eat the cake?

I ate the cake.

If I were you, I’d eat it quickly.

ASPECT allows us to give a perspective on the verb in relation to whether it is completed or in progress:

She is eating the cake.

She has eaten the cake.

She has been eating the cake.

Awareness of LEXICAL ASPECT involves considering whether the meaning of a particular verb affects whether or not it can be used in PASSIVE, PERFECT, or PROGRESSIVE STRUCTURES:

*The best cakes are containing lots of sugar!

MOOD allows the speaker or writer to add a personal “filter” to express a judgement of:

ABILITY

I can eat three cakes in two minutes.I can’t eat any more cake. PERMISSION

May I eat the cake?You can eat the cake.She can’t have any more cake. 

OBLIGATION

You should eat more cake.I must eat that cake!You must not eat my cake! VOLITION

I will eat the cake.I won’t eat your cake.

LIKELIKHOODI might eat the cake.She must have eaten my cake!

THE PASSIVE VOICE allows us to place emphasis on a non-agentive subject:

The cake has been eaten.

MAIN CLAUSES

She eats cake.The Japanese girl is eating chocolate cake in class again.The Japanese girl has eaten all the chocolate cake. She ate the cake and then she asked for more.She ate the cake but she didn’t enjoy it.

More problematically, perhaps, we also have EMBEDDED CLAUSES

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

• She ate the cake yesterday.• She ate the cake in three minutes.• She ate the cake hungrily.• She ate the cake quickly because she thought someone might

steal it.• She was eating cake when the police arrived.• She ate the cake while I was washing the dishes.• If you make a cake, I’ll eat it.• If you made a cake, I would eat it.• When you make cakes, I eat them.• If you had made a cake I would have eaten it.• If you hadn’t eaten the cake last night I could be eating it now.• If I knew you were coming I’d have baked a cake.

ADVERBIAL CLAUSES

• Yesterday she ate the cake. • I n three minutes, she ate the cake.• Hungrily, she ate the cake.• Because she thought someone might steal it, she ate the cake

quickly.• When the police arrived, she was eating cake.• While I was washing the dishes, she ate the cake.• I’ll eat a cake if you make one.• I would eat a cake if you made one. • I eat cakes when you make them.• I would have eaten a cake if you had made one. • I could be eating the cake now If you hadn’t eaten it last night.• I’d have baked a cake if you I knew you were coming.

A break from cake:Types of adverbial

OK. Back to the cakes…

COMPLEMENT CLAUSES

A cake is what I really want.A cake is what I really need.The cake is why I go to weddings.How she makes those cakes is a mystery.

RELATIVE CLAUSES

She ate the cake that I made.She ate the cake I bought.She ate the cake that was bought for my birthday.She at the cake bought for my birthday.Several cakes were eaten by the girl who recently had her hair cut. Until now, every clause we’ve seen has been a FINITE CLAUSE with a FINITE VERB

NON-FINITE CLAUSES

INFINTIVE CLAUSES

I eat cake to cheer myself up.I eat cake to take away the pain.

PARTICIPLE CLAUSES-ING FORMS (ADVERBIAL)

I eat cake lying in the bath.I eat cake driving to work.Driving to work this morning I ate three cakes.

-EN/-ED FORMS (ADJECTIVAL)

Confused by all of these sentences, I am going to eat a nice big cake to cheer myself up.

Review of preparatory task

GRAMMATICAL HIERARCHY

SENTENCES contain one or more

CLAUSES, which contain one or more

PHRASES, which contain one or more

WORDS, which contain one or more

MORPHEMES

If only life was so simple…

Compare your answers to the PREPARATORY TASK with at least one other person.

1. I know an old lady who swallowed a fly S V O

RELATIVE CLAUSE

Embedded in the NP, which is the OBJECT of the CLAUSE

Post-modification of the HEAD

Issues for learners:Defining – as opposed to non-defining I know an old lady, who swallowed a fly.I know an old lady, which is interesting.

Relative pronoun *I know an old lady which swallowed a fly*I know an old lady swallowed a fly

I know an old lady that swallowed a fly

English doesn’t employ resumptive pronouns:*I know an old lady who she swallowed a fly.

2. I don't know why she swallowed the fly S V O 3. I don't know how she swallowed the cow S V O

NOMINAL/ WH-NOUN CLAUSEOBJECT of the CLAUSEEmbeds a CLAUSE within a CLAUSEADVERBIAL function

Issues for learners:

Distinction between NOMINAL and RELATIVE CLAUSES Distinction between NOMINAL CLAUSES and QUESTIONS

S V O4. I know an old lady who swallowed a spider that wriggled and jiggled and tickled inside her

RELATIVE CLAUSE

Embedded in the NP, which is the OBJECT of a RELATIVE CLAUSE

Post-modification of the HEAD

Includes COORDINATION

Includes the PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE “inside her” (with an ADJUNCT /

ADVERBIAL function)

5. She swallowed the spider to catch the fly S V O A

NON-FINITE CLAUSE

TO- INFINITIVE CLAUSE / INFINITIVE CLAUSE / INFINITIVE OF PURPOSE

ADJUNCT function

Issues for learners:

NON-FINITE means that “to catch” does not show tense

Position in sentence:

To catch the fly she swallowed the spider.

6.How absurd

exclamatory

Issues for learners:

No subject or verb! Although we could produce How absurd it is.

HOW can be used with an ADJECTIVE / CLAUSE

WHAT can be used with a NOUN PHRASE

Distinction between exclamatory and INTERROGATIVE ROLE OF CLAUSE:

INTERROGATIVE: How tall are you? (C V S)

EXCLAMATORY: How tall you are! (C S V) 

7. Imagine that

Has the form of an IMPERATIVE CLAUSE……but has an exclamatory FUNCTION

Issues for learners:

Appropriacy of use : imperatives can be considered impolite

Exclamations are usually informal, but imperatives could be found in formal contexts

Range of functions : can give orders, make requests, and invitations

8. She's dead of course! S V C A

ADVERB PHRASE

ADJUNCT / ADVERBIAL function

Issues for learners:Position in sentence and effect on meaning:

Of course she’s dead.She of course is dead.She is of course dead.

9.This is the farmer sowing his corn S V C A

NON-FINITE –ING CLAUSE / PARTICIPLE CLAUSE ADJUCT / ADVERBIAL function

10.That waked the priest all shaven and shorn

NON-FINITE –EN / -ED CLAUSE / PARTICIPLE CLAUSEADJECTIVAL function

Issues for learners:

Difference between NON-FINITE CLAUSES and REDUCED RELATIVE CLAUSESThis is the farmer sowing his corn v This is the farmer who is sowing his corn.the priest all shaven and shorn v the priest who is all shaven and shorn

This is the farmer sowing his cornthat kept the cock that crowed in the mornthat waked the priest all shaven and shornthat married the man all tattered and tornthat kissed the maiden all forlornthat milked the cow with the crumpled hornthat tossed the dog that worried the catthat killed the rat that ate the maltthat lay in the house that Jack built!

Fabb (2005) presents the final verse of “The House That Jack Built” as an example of RECURISON, where a clause is embedded within a noun phrase, which is itself part of a clause inside a noun phrase and so on. RECURSION opens up the possibility of never-ending sentences, however unwelcome they may be to a reader!

GRAMMATICAL HIERARCHY

SENTENCES contain one or more

CLAUSES, which contain one or more

PHRASES, which contain one or more

WORDS, which contain one or more

MORPHEMES

BUT this isn’t true in the house that Jack built!

DISCUSSION

Which of the features of “sentence structure” we have discussed are covered by the teaching materials you are familiar with?

Is the term CLAUSE used in teaching materials you are familiar with? Do you think it is a helpful term for the learner?

Clauses

Clauses in English : True or false?

1. Subjects always precede the verb in English clauses2. Subjects are always NOUN PHRASES3. Subjects agree with the VERB PHRASE4. Subjects refer to the “doer” of the action 5. Objects are always NOUN PHRASES

What about:

1. Here comes the bus; Leave me alone!2.Gently does it! 3.The Japanese women’s football team is / are the best in the world; The judge recommended that the defendant be imprisoned for a minimum of 10 years.4.I was arrested for handling stolen goods.5.I don’t know why she swallowed a fly.

What is a clause?

FUNCTIONS :

Can be sentences “in their own right” Can be components in sentences as subjects, objects, adjuncts / adverbials.

FORMS:

MAIN CLAUSE: Declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamatory

SUBORDINATE / EMBEDDED: Adverbial, Complement, Relative, Non-finite

Sentences

Sentences

Traditional classification of sentences:

a) Simpleb) Compoundc) Complexd) Compound-complex sentence

What do you understand by such classification?

What are the limits of classifying sentences in this way?

Are these sentences?

1. Sort of.

2. And then?

3. Thank you very much.

4. That sort of thing, yes.

5. Oh I reckon they're lovely. I really do whippets. (from

Carter & McCarthy, cited in Leech, 1998)

Utility of describing sentences

Are these sentences?

1. Sort of.

2. And then?

3. Thank you very much.

4. That sort of thing, yes.

5. Oh I reckon they're lovely. I really do whippets. (from

Carter & McCarthy, cited in Leech, 1998)

Leech (in Culpepper et al, 2009):

- the sentence is not a particularly useful unit to focus on. - Spoken English can make sense without “grammatical” sentence

structures- much language cannot be classified in terms of sentence types

(fancy that!).

Leech proposes instead that CLAUSES and PHRASES are more worthy of analysis

Alternative approaches

Computers

Willis (2003)

enable scientists to carry out

complex calculations at high speed.

He asked me to tell Jean that he wantedto know if she was free on Monday

.

“The basic structure of the clause is N + V + ?”

What follows the verb depends on the verb and its meaning, not “abstract grammatical considerations”

• All clauses have a subject• The first noun is the subject

Circumstances / circumstantial elements can be added, but their position depends on intended meaning.

Willis (2003: 73)

Police were searching for an eight-year-old boy.

Where does “last night?” fit into this sentence?

• Last night police were searching for an eight-year-old boy.

• Police were last night searching for an eight-year-old boy.

• Police were searching last night for an eight-year-old boy.

• Police were searching for an eight-year-old boy last night.

Tape-recorded squawks of a seagull in distress have enabled water authorities in Strathclyde to cleanse two reservoirs at Milngavie, near Glasgow, by frightening away an estimated 5000 seagulls.

To Willis, complexity lies in the complexity of the noun phrases (and the fact that it is common to find structures embedded within other structures)

Tape-recorded squawks of a seagull in distress have enabled

water authorities in Strathclyde to cleanse two reservoirs at Milngavie, near Glasgow,

by frightening away an estimated 5000 seagulls.

Hoey (2005) takes the opening sentence from a Bill Bryson travel book:

In winter Hammerfest is a thirty-hour ride by bus from Oslo, though why anyone would want to go there in winter is a question worth considering.

and compares it to:

Through winter, rides between Oslo and Hammerfest use thirty hours up in a bus, though why travellers would select to ride there then might be pondered.

The explanation is provided by attention to COLLOCATION and COLLIGATION.

For example, Hoey’s corpus tells him that:

• 59% of uses of IN WINTER relate to a clause whose verb is PRESENT SIMPLE

• 54% of uses of IN THE WINTER relate to a clause whose verb is PAST SIMPLE

• IN WINTER is more likely to occur with “relational process verbs” than “material process verbs”

What do you already know about the University of Essex? Make notes on your answers to the following questions:

Where is Essex university? How many campuses are there?

How old is it?How many students are there? (who are they?)

Is the university famous for anything?

Is it a good university?

Do you know any interesting 'facts' about the university?

GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Students from families with incomes

of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a

more generous student maintenance

grant of up to £3,250, which is non-

repayable.

GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Students from families with incomes

of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a

more generous student maintenance

grant of up to £3,250, which is non-

repayable.

GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Students from families with incomes

of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a

more generous student maintenance

grant of up to £3,250, which is non-

repayable.

GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Students from families with incomes

of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a

more generous student maintenance

grant of up to £3,250, which is non-

repayable.

GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Students from families with incomes

of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a

more generous student maintenance

grant of up to £3,250, which is non-

repayable.

GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Students from families with incomes

of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a

more generous student maintenance

grant of up to £3,250, which is non-

repayable.

GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Students from families with incomes

of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a

more generous student maintenance

grant of up to £3,250, which is non-

repayable.

GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Students from families with incomes

of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a

more generous student maintenance

grant of up to £3,250, which is non-

repayable.

GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Students from families with incomes

of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a

more generous student maintenance

grant of up to £3,250, which is non-

repayable.

GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Students from families with incomes

of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a

more generous student maintenance

grant of up to £3,250, which is non-

repayable.

GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Students from families with incomes

of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a

more generous student maintenance

grant of up to £3,250, which is non-

repayable.

GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Students from families with incomes

of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a

more generous student maintenance

grant of up to £3,250, which is non-

repayable.

GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Students from families with incomes

of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a

more generous student maintenance

grant of up to £3,250, which is non-

repayable.

GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Students from families with incomes

of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a

more generous student maintenance

grant of up to £3,250, which is non-

repayable.

GRAMMAR AND VOCABULARY : PATTERNS AND SENTENCE STRUCTURE

Students from families with incomes

of up to £25,000 will be entitled to a

more generous student maintenance

grant of up to £3,250, which is non-

repayable.

Email me examples of two or three complex sentences – the more difficult the better!

It’s a good idea to choose any sentences that have caused you difficulty in your reading for this course. They can be from your own writing if you like.

Task