Miftahul Rezki

9th and 10th Meetings.

Predicator, Predicate, and Degree of Predicate

In clauses and sentences, the predictor is the head of a verb phrase. The predicator is
sometimes called the main verb. Some linguists use the term predicator to refer to the whole
verb group in a clause.

The remainder of predicator makes the most speech contribution to the meaning of the
sentence.

"[I]n addition to its function to specify the kind of process of the clause, the
Predicator has three other functions in the clause:

1. it adds time meanings through expressing a secondary tense: for example, in have been
going to read the primary tense (have, present) is specified in the Finite, but the secondary
tense (been going to) is specified in the Predicator.
2. it specifies aspect and phases: meanings such as seeming, trying, helping, which colour the
verbal process without changing its ideational meaning. . . .
3. it specifies the voice of the clause: the distinction between active voice (Henry James
wrote 'The Bostonians') and passive voice ('The Bostonians' was written by Henry James)
will be expressed through the Predicator." (Suzanne Eggins, Introduction to Systemic
Functional Linguistics, 2nd ed. Continuum, 2004) (https://www.thoughtco.com/predicator-
grammar-1691525)

Examples of predicator:
-Asleep is the predicator in Mummy is asleep
-Love is the predicator in The white man
loved the Indian maiden
-Wait for is the predicator in Jimmy was
waiting for the downtown bus

NOTE :
-To be is not included in predicator
-The predicator in sentences can be of various parts of speech : adjective (red, asleep, hungry,
whimsical), verbs (write, read), proposition (in, between, behind) and nouns (crook, genius).
-Conjunctions (and, but, or) and Article (the, a) cannot serve as predicator in sentences.

Predicate.

In semantics, a predicate is concept (property or n-ary relation) that is attributed to a given

(set of) argument(s) in a predication. Constituents with the function of a predicate are called
predicate terms. However, the distinction between 'predicates' and 'predicate
terms' is often not made, especially in syntactic research.

In predicate logic, a predicate is often represented in (small) capitals followed by its

argument(s) in parentheses. For example, the predicate denoted by the word man can be
represented as man, and if the property of being a man is attributed to Fred, this is
represented as man(Fred). Alternatively, inverted commas are often used to mark (semantic)
Miftahul Rezki

predicates as such and to distinguish them from natural language , e.g. man'(Fred). When a
predicate takes two arguments (denotes a relation rather than a property), the arguments are
usually separated by commas (e.g. like(Fred,Mary) for Fred likes Mary). Put differently, the
predicate like takes a pair of entities (rather than a single entity) which functions as an
argument of that predicate.

Example : (https://www.slideshare.net/dwiernapienterd/predicates-35461488)
A tall handsome stranger entered the saloon
Predicator: enter
Predicates: tall, handsome, stranger, saloon.
(However, they can function as predicators in the other sentences.
Example: John is handsome, He is handsome, He is stranger, and That ramshackle building
is a saloon. )

Degree of Predicate.

Is a number indicating the number of arguments. it is normally understood to have in simple

sentences.

Example :

1. Mummy is asleep

Asleep is predicate of degree one (often called a one-placepredicate)

2. The white man loved the Indian maiden

Love (verb) is a predicate of degree two ( a two-placepredicate)