Types of lexical information: grammar
(Parts of speech categories & subcategories)
Types of lexical information: Focus on SYNTAX
Types of lexical information are given in the microstructure of a dictionary!
Whereas Grammar is about the order of words in a sentence, syntax is about the structure of single words (word syntax: morphology), sentences (phrasal syntax which is generally analysed, texts (text syntax) and dialogues.
Syntactic categories can therefore be parts of speech (f.ex. lexical words [nouns, verbs, adjectives] vs. function words), subcategories and phrasal categories.
The structure of language
Language consists of constitutive relations which can be both structural or semiotic.
Structural relations are meant to be syntagmatic or paradigmatic.
Semiotic relations can be defined as interpretation relations and realisation relations.
SYNTAX
Start off with SENTENCE SYNTAX!
A sentence consists of words that are in relation to each other. Words therefore do not only have an internal structure, but also an external, context bound structure.
Words can occur in contexts like this:
Mr. Bush accepted Mr Rumsfeld’s resignation after November mid-elections in which the Republicans lost control of both the House of Representatives and the State.
Public discontent over the conduct of the Iraq war was seen as a major factor in the defeat.
The single words which occur in this context belong to very different parts of speech. Only a variety of words from different POS can provide a coherent text.
Examples of words that belong to different POS categories:
Mr. Bush: noun, subject of the main clause, proper noun: name
Accepted: verb in past tense form (the tense is marked by the suffix morpheme –ed)
Resignation: noun (in object position, being part of the to the predicate)
After: temporal adverb
In: Preposition
Which: Demonstrative pronoun: proximal
The: definite article (POS: determiners)
Lost: adjective
Of: (multifunctional) preposition
Both: dual (quantifier: pronoun category)
Over: preposition
Was seen: irregular pas form of the verbe "to be" which serves as an auxiliary and past participle form of the verbe "to see" which form together the aspect "passive past perfect".
A: indefinite article (POS: determiners)
PART OF SPEECH
The different word categories!
I) NOUNS CATEGORIES
1.) DETERMINERS
-Articles
definite article: the
indefinite article: a
● Possessives
- my, your, his, her, its, our, their
● Demonstratives
proximal (to the speaker): this
distal (to the speaker): that
● Quantifiers
cardinal numbers: one, two, etc.
existential: some, several, few, many, etc.
dual: both
universal: each, every, all, etc.
2.) NOUNS
● Proper nouns
names:
-personal
-place
-product, etc.
● Common nouns
countable nouns such as: knife, fork, spoon, etc.
● Mass nouns (uncountable nouns)
bread (a slice of bread)
butter (a piece of butter)
jam (a spoonful of jam)
3.) ADJECTIVES
● There are different types of adjectives:
-Scalar adjectives:
Can be arranged on a kind of scale: → small... big
→ cold... hot
→ hairless... hairy
→ Special feature of scalar adjectives:
They can emerge with different adverbs of degree, whereas polar adjectives don’t!
For instance: very, highly, extremely, incredibly
-Polar adjectives
Cannot emerge in combination with adverbs of degree. They describe whether one feature or the other!
→ alive vs. dead
→ married vs. unmarried
→ pregnant vs. not pregnant
Appraisive adjectives
→ good, great, wonderful, etc.
-Ordinal adjectives
→ first, second, etc.
3.) PRONOUNS
● Personal Pronouns
I/ me, you, he/him, she/her, we/us, they
● Possessive Pronouns
mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs
● Demonstrative pronouns
proximal: this
distal: that, yonder (an archaic form)
● Quantifier pronouns
cardinal numbers: one, two, etc.
existential: some, several, few, many, etc.
dual: both
universal: each, every, all, etc.
● Relative pronouns
→ are more like conjunctions!
II) VERB CATEGORIES
1.) VERBS
● Main verbs:
-finite forms:
person (1st, 2nd, 3rd)
number (singular, plural)
tense (The English language has two tenses: present, past)
-non- finite forms
infinitive
participle: present, perfect
● Periphrastic verbs (auxiliary verb + non- finite main verb):
-modal: can, may, will, shall, ought, etc.
-aspectual: be + present (continuous)
have + past participle (perfect)
-passive: be + past participle
Example: It might........ have...... been .......being ......repaired
...................modal .......perfect.. continuous ..passive ....main verb
Adverbs
● Deictic
here, there; now, then
● Time
soon
● Place
source
path
goal
● Direction
into, etc.
towards
● Manner
● Degree
→ better dealt in connection with adjectives
III) GLUE CATEGORIES/ FUNCTION WORDS
1.) PREPOSITIONS
● Glue categories basically make nominal expressions into adverbial expressions
→ they transform many categories into adverbs, except of the "all purpose preposition" of
The meaning of the preposition of is in fact very large and differenciated:
For example: - a bottle of water (relation)
.....................- because of... (of in relation with a certain conjunction)
.....................- to think of... (fixed expression: a verb is employed in combination with a
.......................certain preposition in order to express a certain idea)
.....................- in front of... (of is part of a fixed expression: preposition which indicates a
.......................certain direction)
2.) CONJUNCTIONS
● Co-ordinating conjunctions
and, but
● Subordinating conjunctions
conjunction- like relative pronouns: make sentences (clauses) into adjective- like noun modifiers
basically: make sentences (clauses) into adverb- like verb modifiers
3.) INTERJECTIONS
● Interjections link parts together
Examples: "Hi!", "er", "huh?"
● They may also be expressions of subjective reactions
"Ouch!", "Wow!"
Examples:
-"yeah"
-"mmmm" (delicious)
-"mhm?"
THE STRUCTURE OF LANGUAGE
The sign hierarchy: RANKS
Signs are structured in terms of their position in a size hierarchy; the positions in the hierarchy are sometimes referred to as RANKS.
The MAIN RANKS are:
-dialogue
-monologue/ text
-sentence
-word
-morpheme
-phoneme
Signs at each of these ranks have got an internal and an external structure and possess semiotic relations (functions and realisations).
RANKS
SIGN rank Internal Structure External Structure Interpretation Realisation
Dialogue: turns, texts social interaction communication prosody, gesture
↑
Text: sentences dialogue components speech acts prosody, gesture
↑
Sentence: phrases, words parts of narrative, propositions prosody, gesture
Argumentative texts
↑
Word: stems, affixes functional parts of complex states, Phonemes:
sentences properties, word prosody
events
↑
Morpheme: phonemes, syllables parts of words simple states
↑
Phoneme: distinctive features syllables encoding of Phonetic segments
morphemes allophones
into sounds
STRUCTURE AND CONSTITUTIVE RELATIONS
What is structure?
Language structure is determined by following kinds of constitutive relations:
● Structural relations:
syntactic relations
→ Function words are the "glue" between lexical words
→ Combinatory relations which create larger signs (and their realisations and
interpretations) from smaller signs (and their realisations and interpretations)
● Paradigmatic relations
there is a choice of words
classificatory relations of similarity and difference between signs.
● Semiotic relations
realisation: the visual appearance or acoustic representation of signs (other senses may also be involved)
interpretation: the assignment of meaning to a sign
SYNTAGMATIC RELATIONS
Syntagmatic relations can be defined as linguistic "glue":
-combinatory relations which create larger signs (and their realisations and interpretations) from smaller signs (and their realisations and interpretations)
Examples of relations on different ranks:
Phonology:
- Consonants and vowels are glued together as core and periphery of syllables.
Morphology:
- lexical morphemes and affixes are glued together into stems
- stems are glued together into compound stems
- stems and inflections are glued together into words
Syntax:
- nouns and verbs are glued together as the subjects and verbs of sentences
STRUCTURES AND SYNTAGMATIC RELATIONS
Phonological rank:
..............------..............SYLLABLE
_______________________________________
.............................................------------.........RHYME
..............................------------.....____________________
...............ONSET ...........--------NUCLEUS ......-----..CODA
_________________ -----_________ -----____________
/ s t r ...........................ε ŋ .............=0 s /
OTHER SYNTAGMATIC REALTIONS
Syntagmatic relations are very often hierarchical.
Therefore to some extent, structures in phonology, morphology and syntax can be similar, if they are hierarchical.
MORPHOLOGICAL SYNTAGMATIC RELATIONS
..........................................................stem
___________________________________________________________________________
.............................................--------------...........predicate
..........................-----......_______________________________________
c-stem .........................-----------..verbal ..............................object
______________ .-------.._____________ ........____________
day to day ...............bath.. room .......clean ..er
SYNTACTIC SYNTAGMATIC REALTIONS
.................................................................sentence
____________________________________________________________________
........................................................-..................predicate
........................................................________________________
............subject .......................----........verbal ..............................object
__________________ ...........________ ......---.........____________
The loud smoker .........is being ...........a nuiscance
PARADIGMATIC RELATIONS
Paradigmatic relations can be defined as classificatory relations of similarity and difference between signs.
The similarity and difference concerns the:
-internal structure
-external structure
-meaning
-appearance
posted by Melanie Zahn @ 7:18 AM
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