Grammatical Metalanguage

Grammatical Metalanguage

1. Subsentential

   • Parts of Speech
     • Three Criteria to describe words: Semantic- Structural- Functional. Sometimes the criteria overlap (specially with Minor Parts of Speech)
     • Major Parts of Speech
       • Also called Content Words They are OPEN
       • NOUNS
         • Semantic
           • name of a thing, place, person , idea
           • 3 types of nouns
             • common
               • They can be Countable or Uncountable
             • proper
             • collective
         • Structural
           • 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.
           • 2 Grammatical morphemes
             • 's ( possessive)
             • -s plural
               • Only for countable nouns
           • Derivational Mophemes
             • These morphemes change other words into nouns e.g.: happy (adj) to happiness (noun)
             • -ness
             • -dom
             • -ment
         • Functional
           • Subjects of verbs
           • Direct objects of v.
           • Object noun predicates
           • Indirect Obj. of V.
           • Appositives
           • Vocatives
           • Objects of prepostitions
       • VERBS
         • Semantic
           • Verbs denote action or state of being
         • Structural
           • 4 inflections
             • -s
               • 3rd person singular only in the present
             • -ed
               • Past form of verbs
             • -en
               • Past Participle
             • -ing
               • Present participle
           • Tense
           • Aspect
           • Number
             • Only in the present tense.
         • Functional
           • V. follow nouns
             • And they may be followed by adjectives, adverbs and other nouns.
           • 6 types
             • Syntacticlally (depending on what follows the verb)
             • Intransitive
               • No following objects
             • Transitive
               • Followed by direct object
             • Ditransitive
               • These take 2 objects io & do
             • Linking Verbs
               • What follows the verb links to the subj.
             • Complex Transitive Verbs
               • What follows the obj. relates to the obj.
             • Prepositional Verbs
               • They require a prepositional phrase to complete meaning.
       • ADJECTIVES
         • Semantic
           • Word that describes a quality of sth.
         • Structural
           • No gender/ No number
           • Occur betweena determiner and noun/ after "be" or other linking verbs
           • Certain derivational morphemes are associated to adjs.: -able; -ish; -ful; -y.
           • Some adjectives have inflectional morphemes for comparative and superlative forms: -er/-est
         • Functional
           • Adjs. modify or complement nouns.
           • Adjs can be attributive ( before a noun) or predicative (after a linking verb)
             • 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)
       • ADVERBS
         • Semantic
           • Words that modify verbs
             • And contribute  meaning to sentences
           • Common Types
             • 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.
             • Direction
             • Location
             • Manner
             • Time
             • Frequency
         • Structural
           • Manner adverbs are the only ones with distinctive inflections: -ly
         • Functional
           • Primary function
             • Modify verbs
               • But they can also modify a whole sentence.
           • Flexible
             • In terms of location
             • Initial
             • Mid
             • Final
     • Minor Parts of Speech
       • Structural words Closed
       • PRONOUNS
         • Semantic/Functional
           • Pronouns occupy the same position as nouns in a sentence.
           • refer to or replace nouns
             • Or they are used as a direct reference to an outside situation
           • Different kinds
             • These are some
             • Subject
             • Object
             • Possessive
             • Reflexive
             • Demonstrative
         • Structural
           • distinguished by
             • In the case of demonstratives  they are distinguished by number and proximity
             • person
             • number
             • gender
       • DETERMINERS
         • Semantic/Functional
           • Determiners limit the nouns that follow them
           • Various types
             • articles
             • demonstratives
             • possessive determiners
           • If there is an adjective, they precede it, otherwise they directly precede the noun or noun phrase.
         • Structural
           • Some (possessive determiners) are distinguished by: person( 1st,2nd, 3rd), number (sing./plural), gender( feminine/masculine).
       • PREPOSITIONS
         • Semantic/Functional/ Structural Criteria
           • Prepositions connect words to other parts of a sentence and have a close relationship with the word that follows, usually a noun.
           • Prepositions are usually one word( in, on, from); but they can be two or thee (out of, on top of)
       • CONJUNCTIONS
         • Semantic/Structural/Functional Criteria
           • words that join
           • two types
             • Coordinating
               • Coordinating conjunctions (and, but, or) join elements that are grammatically equal.
             • Subordinating
               • Subordinating conjunctions (also called adverbial subordinators) such as because, however, when, join a subordinate clause to a main clause.