Grammatical Metalanguage

Nota:

• Three Criteria to describe words: Semantic- Structural- Functional. Sometimes the criteria overlap (specially with Minor Parts of Speech)

1. Major Parts of Speech

   Nota:

   • Also called Content Words They are OPEN
   1. NOUNS
      1. Semantic
         1. name of a thing, place, person , idea
         2. 3 types of nouns
            1. common

               Nota:

               • They can be Countable or Uncountable
            2. proper
            3. collective
      2. Structural

         Nota:

         • GENDER is not a relevant feature in English grammar.  Some nouns can be marked with -ess/ -er to show gender e.g.: waiter/ waitress- widow/ widower.
         1. 2 Grammatical morphemes
            1. 's ( possessive)
            2. -s plural

               Nota:

               • Only for countable nouns
         2. Derivational Mophemes

            Nota:

            • These morphemes change other words into nouns e.g.: happy (adj) to happiness (noun)
            1. -ness
            2. -dom
            3. -ment
      3. Functional
         1. Subjects of verbs
         2. Direct objects of v.
         3. Object noun predicates
         4. Indirect Obj. of V.
         5. Appositives
         6. Vocatives
         7. Objects of prepostitions
   2. VERBS
      1. Semantic
         1. Verbs denote action or state of being
      2. Structural
         1. 4 inflections
            1. -s

               Nota:

               • 3rd person singular only in the present
            2. -ed

               Nota:

               • Past form of verbs
            3. -en

               Nota:

               • Past Participle
            4. -ing

               Nota:

               • Present participle
         2. Tense
         3. Aspect
         4. Number

            Nota:

            • Only in the present tense.
      3. Functional
         1. V. follow nouns

            Nota:

            • And they may be followed by adjectives, adverbs and other nouns.
         2. 6 types

            Nota:

            • Syntacticlally (depending on what follows the verb)
            1. Intransitive

               Nota:

               • No following objects
            2. Transitive

               Nota:

               • Followed by direct object
            3. Ditransitive

               Nota:

               • These take 2 objects io & do
            4. Linking Verbs

               Nota:

               • What follows the verb links to the subj.
            5. Complex Transitive Verbs

               Nota:

               • What follows the obj. relates to the obj.
            6. Prepositional Verbs

               Nota:

               • They require a prepositional phrase to complete meaning.
   3. ADJECTIVES
      1. Semantic
         1. Word that describes a quality of sth.
      2. Structural
         1. No gender/ No number
         2. Occur betweena determiner and noun/ after "be" or other linking verbs
         3. Certain derivational morphemes are associated to adjs.: -able; -ish; -ful; -y.
         4. Some adjectives have inflectional morphemes for comparative and superlative forms: -er/-est
      3. Functional
         1. Adjs. modify or complement nouns.
         2. Adjs can be attributive ( before a noun) or predicative (after a linking verb)

            Nota:

            • Examples: attributive: The old tree broke with the wind. predicative: She became angry at the party.. ( the underlined words are a noun & a  linking verb)
   4. ADVERBS
      1. Semantic
         1. Words that modify verbs

            Nota:

            • And contribute  meaning to sentences
         2. Common Types

            Nota:

            • Traditional Grammars also distinguish adverbs of degree. In this Grammar the authors call them intensifiers because they signal the degree of intensity of the following word.
            1. Direction
            2. Location
            3. Manner
            4. Time
            5. Frequency
      2. Structural
         1. Manner adverbs are the only ones with distinctive inflections: -ly
      3. Functional
         1. Primary function
            1. Modify verbs

               Nota:

               • But they can also modify a whole sentence.
         2. Flexible

            Nota:

            • In terms of location
            1. Initial
            2. Mid
            3. Final
2. Minor Parts of Speech

   Nota:

   • Structural words Closed
   1. PRONOUNS
      1. Semantic/Functional

         Nota:

         • Pronouns occupy the same position as nouns in a sentence.
         1. refer to or replace nouns

            Nota:

            • Or they are used as a direct reference to an outside situation
         2. Different kinds

            Nota:

            • These are some
            1. Subject
            2. Object
            3. Possessive
            4. Reflexive
            5. Demonstrative
      2. Structural
         1. distinguished by

            Nota:

            • In the case of demonstratives  they are distinguished by number and proximity
            1. person
            2. number
            3. gender
   2. DETERMINERS
      1. Semantic/Functional
         1. Determiners limit the nouns that follow them
         2. Various types
            1. articles
            2. demonstratives
            3. possessive determiners
         3. If there is an adjective, they precede it, otherwise they directly precede the noun or noun phrase.
      2. Structural
         1. Some (possessive determiners) are distinguished by: person( 1st,2nd, 3rd), number (sing./plural), gender( feminine/masculine).
   3. PREPOSITIONS
      1. Semantic/Functional/ Structural Criteria
         1. Prepositions connect words to other parts of a sentence and have a close relationship with the word that follows, usually a noun.
         2. Prepositions are usually one word( in, on, from); but they can be two or thee (out of, on top of)
   4. CONJUNCTIONS
      1. Semantic/Structural/Functional Criteria
         1. words that join
         2. two types
            1. Coordinating

               Nota:

               • Coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or) join elements that are grammatically equal.
            2. Subordinating

               Nota:

               • Subordinating conjunctions (also called adverbial subordinators) such as because, however, when, join a subordinate clause to a main clause.