ENGLISH LANGUAGE 2

EnLanII2020
Language is symbolic (arbitrary)
Every language is extremely complex
Despite its complexity, language Is systematic It is systematic on many levels
Language varies systematically  there is variation at every level of its structure
A language is systematic in terms of word sequences
A language is systematic in terms of sound sequencing
Speakers of the same language must know the same rules
Native speaker knowledge of rules is unconscious
Variation in language
Language changes over time diachronic variation
Language varies in geographic spacethere are many different Englishes spoken around the world
Language varies in social spacediastratic variation  in the society not everyone speaks English
in the same way
Language has a great creativity potential
There is nothing in principle which cannot be encoded (provided no limit is placed on the
complexity of utterances)
Language creativity also triggers a potential for ambiguity
Biuniqueness vs. polysemy  Biuniqueness  one word= one meaning  Polysemy one
word= many meanings
An example of polysemy or rather homonymy Bank  of a river, bank as an institution , a place
where something is held available (blood bank)
Symbolicity of Language -language is a semiotic system-Language involves signs, i.e. entities
standing for other entities-Signs are stable symbolic associations between a meaning and a form

Signs in language are represented by sequences of sounds, which can be transferred into visual
signs or the gestural language of the deaf
• A question arises concerning the relation between the sign (signifier) and the object it stands for
(signified): • Is it totally arbitrary or in some way motivated?
Peirce said the form a sign takes, it’s signifier, can be classified as one of three types an icon, an
index, or a symbol.
Icon has physical resemblance to the signifies, the thing being represented. A Photograph is a
good example as it certainly resembles whatever it depicts
Indexshows evidence of what’s being represented. A good example is using an image of smoke
to indicate fire
Symbol has no resemblance between the signifier and the signified. The connection between
them must be culturally learned. Numbers and alphabets are good examples. There’s nothing
inherent in the number 9 to indicate what it represents. It must be culturally learned.
What is language  is a system of communication which consists of a set of sounds and written
symbols used by the people of a particular country or region for communicating. Any act of verbal
communication, be it oral or written, involves, six basic elements
The six basic elements of verbal communication 

What is linguisticsLinguistics is the scientific study of languageIt involves analysing language

form, language meaning, and language in context
SyntaxSyntax, at its most basic level, can be defined as the branch of linguistics that studies how
the words of a language can be combined together to make larger units, such as phrases, clauses
and sentences
The Grammatical Hyerarchy 
•There is a hierarchical ranking of units in terms of their potential size
Highest units -Sentences which consist of one or more
-Clauses which consist of one or more -Phrases which consist of one or more -Words which
consist of one or more
-Lowest units Morpheme
The Grammatical Hyerarchy  Contrast with the Italian terminology
• Sentence: frase (periodo)
• Clause: frase (grammatical transl. proposizione)
• Phrase: sintagma NOT FRASE!
• Word: parola
• Morpheme: morfema
If my cousin John phones, (clause) / tell him (clause) / I’m going there (clause)
Syntax 2  • Most languages have a finite number of basic words, but those words can be put
together to form an infinite number of sentences
• One can buy a more or less complete dictionary of English, but it is unthinkable to buy a similar
reference book for all the sentences of English
• This is because there are rules and patterns that can be used in a dynamic way to create and
understand new English sentences.
• Syntax is the study of these rules and patterns
Word order in a sentence• A sentence is a string of words that begins in a capital letter and
ends in a full stop, and it is typically used to express a state of affairs in the world.
•The girl eats chocolate • *eats girl chocolate the • *chocolate the eats girl • #Chocolate eats the
girlSentences marked with * are ungrammatical because they diverge from the grammatical
rules of language. • Sentences marked with # presents a semantic role mismatch as they are
well formed but nonsensical from a semantic point of view
• What the new sentences formed with the patterns of syntax actually mean is the primary
concern of semantics. However, aspects of how words are put together can influence how the
sentence is interpreted
Word order in a sentence  • Another example:
• The cat devoured the rat • #The rat devoured the cat • The rat, the cat devoured  emphasis
The three sentences are made of three constituents, units that go together. [The cat]
[devoured] [the rat] • They can be combined and/or re-arrenged to create sentence with
different meanings.
The elements in a sentence• The classification of sentence constituents can be carried out in
different ways: 1) From the point of view of the role played by the various elements in a sentence
(FUNCTIONAL CLASSIFICATION), i.e. subject, predicate, direct object etc.
2) Looking at what part of speech they represent (FORMAL CLASSIFICATION), i.e. noun, verb,
adjective, etc.
Identifying sentence constituents • Sentences can be variously divided into smaller elements, or
constituents. Consider again: -The cat devoured the rat -The rat devoured the cat
• One possibility is to subdivide the sentence into words1) The – cat – devoured – the – rat
2) The- rat – devoured – the – cat
• The words ‘the’ and ‘cat’ and the words ‘the’ and ‘rat’, however, form a closer unit in both
sentences 3) [the cat] [devoured] [the rat] 4) [the rat] [devoured ] [the cat] SAME WORDS,
BUT DIFFER RADICALLY IN THEIR MEANING!  by rearranging them we have a very different
meaning
Identifying sentence constituents: subject and predicate(verb + object)
•Consider just the first sentence: - The cat devoured the rat
• The words ‘devoured’ and ‘rat’ have a close link too.So: - [The cat] [[devoured] [the rat]]: predi
Identifying sentence constituents: predicate •Referents of subjects need not always be doing
something: 1) My brother wears a green overcoat. 2) The committee disliked her proposal. 3) The
girl with the red hat stood on the platform. 4) This car stinks.
We cannot really talk about “performing an action” and predicates do not belong all in the same
way (dynamic vs. stative predicates)
Subject and predicate1. The girl eats chocolate 2. Charlie goes to school 3. The football player
kicked the ball 4. wrote Hamlet • These are all examples where the subject and the predicate
can be clearly identified
NB. Always remember that English is an SVO language, so the subject always comes first and
cannot be postponed or omitted!
Problems with these Definitions • Subjects can be elements that are meaningless:
• Non-referential it 1. It is raining 2. It is cold Cfr. Where did I put my hat? Ah I put it in the
car (referential it)
•Existential there 1. There were new books on the shelf 2. There used to be rumours that they
had started dating Cfr. I saw the cat a minute ago. There it is (locative there)
What can we say then?
Problems with this definition  • Subjects predominantly consist of group of words, whose most
important element denotes a person (the girl, a young soldier, Mary etc.), an animal (the cat, a
dog), an institution (the bank, this university), or a thing (a car, books) > these elements are called
NOUNS • Groups of words such as the girl etc. are classified as NOUN PHRASES (NPs)
• Subjects are obligatory in English -She is coming home -*is coming home
• They typically occur at the beginning of the sentence-That book is beautiful -*is beautiful that
book
Subject and predicate 2 • Consider the following sentences: 1. She never writes home. 2. James
always sulks. 3. This book saddens me. 4. Our neighbour takes his children to school in his car.
• Subjects/NPs determine the form of the verb/agree with the verb
• Any Subject other than the third personal singular subject takes what is called the base form of
the verb 5. I/You/We/They like tea.
Consider the following sentence. What is the Subject?
-Last night, the teachers were very drunk
i. The NP, the teachers is obligatory (last night is not!)
ii. It is the plural NP the teachers that determines the form of the verb
iii. In a yes/no interrogative, it is the NP the teachers that swap places with were
iv. The tagged version of the sentence would be: The teachers were very drunk, were they?
Predicator what the subject is performing or something about the state of the subject
1) [The cat] [devoured the rat]
Subject Predicate
2) [The rat] [devoured the cat]
Subject Predicate
Now let’s take a closer look inside the predicate: 1) [The cat] [devoured the rat] 2) [The rat]
[devoured the cat]  PREDICATOR
Direct Object (DO)  • Let us consider the following sentences: 1) The young boy bought a
computer 2) I broke a glass 3) Lucy is painting a wall
• The young boy – I – LucySUBJECT
• Bought a computer – broke a glass – is painting a wall  PREDICATE
• Bought – broke – is painting  PREDICATOR
• A computer – a glass – a wall DIRECT OBJECT
• In semantic terms, direct objects (DO) are those constituents referring to entities that undergo
the activity or process denoted by the verb  1) A computer undergoes a buying activity 2) A glass
is broken 3) A wall undergoes the process of being painted
• Typical role associated: PATIENT (vs AGENT, the person who performs a given action)
Direct Object (DO) 3 • In syntactic terms Direct Objects are usually NPs (a computer, a glass, a
wall), but we can also have: -That-clauses She admitted that she had lost a key; Sarah found out
that he had lied -Wh-clausesI know what you mean -To-infinitive clauses She believed the
rumours to be false; I hope to see you soon -Bare infinitiveI saw James leave -Ing participle
Clause I love shopping; I saw him running -ed participle clauses  I need my watch repaired
-Small Clauses  Mary considers her friend a very talented writer; I judge the solution wrong
Direct Object (DO) 4 • The usual position of DOs is after the main verb and they have a strong
relationship with the verb that precedes them.
- [Our vicar] [likes] [fast cars] The verb like requires a Direct Object Noun Phrase
1. *His girlfriend bought. 2. *This silly fool broke. 3. *Our linguistics lecturer took. 4. *My sister
found. Each of the verbs in these sentences require a DO TRANSITIVE VERBS
1. William blushed. 2. Sean cried. 3. Thomas slept. 4. Lee dreamt. 5. Garry jumped The verbs in
these sentences don’t need a DO to complete their meaning  INTRANSITIVE VERBS
• Some verbs are able to function both transitively and intransitively 1. A) Harold moved the
table. B) Harold moved. 2. A) Jake walked the dog. B) Jake walked. Change of meaning
If we turn an active sentence into a passive sentence, the Direct Object (DO) of the active
sentence becomes the Subject of the passive sentence.
1) A. His girlfriend bought this computer. B. This computer was bought by his girlfriend.
2) A. That silly fool broke the teapot. B. The teapot was broken by that silly fool.
3) A. Our linguistics lecturer took this photograph. B. This photograph was taken by our
linguistics lecturer.
Indirect Object (IO) 1. I sent you an e-mail 2. Mary lent Paul a cd 3. She always tells us stories
• You, Paul, us fulfil the roles of GOAL/ RECIPIENT/ BENEFICIARY
• Verbs in this structure are called DITRANSITIVE: • superficially 2 direct objects, but effectively
one dative (TO WHOM?) and one DIRECT OBJECT (WHAT?)
1. I sent you an e-mail (S V IO DO structure)
IO DATIVE DIRECT OBJECT
1. I sent you an e-mail 2. Mary lent Paul a cd 3. She always tells us stories
• Indirect Objects (IO) are usually NPs
• They cannot occur without a following Direct Object (DO)
• Indirect Objects (IO) always precede Direct Object (DO)
I. I sent an e-mail to you II. Mary lent a cd to Paul III. She always tells stories to us
• Indirect Objects (IO) become Subjects in the passive sentence 1) You were sent an e-mail
Adjuncts (A) 1. The telephone rang suddenly 2. I saw a very interesting play in London 3. I read
the book a lot of time ago
• These elements tell us something about the HOW, WHERE, WHEN, or WHY of the situation
expressed • They describe incidental circumstances, such as time, place or manner of an action,
event or state • They express optional information, i.e. the sentence could function without them
as well • They are peripheral • They can appear in groups
4. Last year I unexpectedly met Ann in London
• They can be normally represented by adverb phrases (ADVP) or prepositional phrases (PP), but
sometimes they can also be indicated by a noun phrase (NP)
Adjuncts (A) 2
• Adjuncts are mobile, as the following examples show:
1. Greedily Andrew ate all the biscuits.
2. Andrew greedily ate all the biscuits.
3. Andrew ate all the biscuits greedily
Notice, though, that the position between the main verb and Direct Object is excluded! 
4) *Andrew ate greedily all the biscuits.
The Building Blocks of Language: Syntax and Semantics
The smallest building blocks of syntax: WORDSDefining the notion WORD is problematic.
Consider 1-3 below: one word or two words?  1) dog, dogs 2) eat, eats 3) duty-free
1 and 2 belong to the same lexeme (or dictionary entry), BUT they are different word-forms or
orthographic words 3 is made up of two words, but these are so closely linked (through
hyphen) that they feel like one word
Which ones of these words belong to the same lexeme? See catches taller boy catching sees
Sleeps woman catch saw tallest sleeping Boys sleep seen tall jumped caught Seeing jump women
slept jumps jumping
•Words can be classified from a FORMAL PERSPECTIVE into parts of speech or WORD CLASSES 
grammatical categories: 1. Noun 2. Determiner 3. Adjective 4. Verb 5. Preposition 6. Adverb 7.
Conjunction 8. Interjection
Be careful! Multi-class elements«It is commonly assumed that each word in the English
vocabulary belongs inherently to some specifiable part of speech. Only a little inquiry will show
that the situation is far from that simple.» Gleason (1965: 120)
Example: round  • She had almost round eyes. •I shall pay for the next round. • The boat
rounded the Cape yesterday. • They lived round the corner. • Come round to my house tonight.
Word classes 2The grammatical characteristics of words need to be considered for the
purposes of scientific description • So, a noun is normally defined as a word that typically
inflects for plural number, is the HEAD of a noun phrase, and typically functions as a subject or
object of a clause

• In the following text, identify the NPs and then find out the HEAD (noun) 
A private jet offers luxury services to travelers who can afford it. A variety of comforts and special
features are on board. The well-designed interiors have comfortable seats, work tables, and
Internet access. The wide aisles leave enough space to walk around. Some private jet services
include a chef. Gourmet breakfasts, lunches and dinners are prepared in the galley of the aircraft.
Tired passengers can nap in their seats or they can sleep in one of the on-board bedrooms. A
relaxing shower in the spa will allow a passenger to arrive fresh and ready to greet people. Such
conveniences are the result of new technology and creative thinking. In so many ways, luxury jets
are like flying luxury hotels
Word classes 3 – Open and closed classes

Closed classes  are grammatical words with grammatical meaning  give the structure to the
massage
Word classes 4 – Open and closed classes• The class of nouns is potentially infinite, since it is
continually being expanded as new scientific discoveries are made, new products are developed
and new ideas are explored.
• In the late 20° century, developments in computer technology led to the creation of many new
nouns: • Internet, website, email, newsgroup, multimedia, modem, nerd etc.
• New verbs have also been introduced• Download, double-click, google, upload, twit, tag etc.
• Adjective and adverb classes are also expanded, but less prolifically • Scrumlicious  Used to
describe very good food ('dinner was scrumlicious') [blending: 'scrumptious' ADJ. + 'delicious' ADJ.
scrumlicious ADJ.] • Sketchy [English sketch + y ADJ] Adjective. Of dubious reputation. (‘'A
bunch of sketchy townie boys showed up at the party.’)
Nouns• Nouns are defined as words that denote people, animals, things or places  • Jim,
dog, airplane, school
Consider the following nouns. Do they pose any problems for our definition of a noun?  • Anger,
fame, cyclops, Zeus, Hamlet, lilliput, furniture
• Anger/fame: abstract feeling/quality • Cyclops/Zeus: mythical beings • Hamlet: fictional
character • Lilliput: fictitious place • Furniture: a class of things
SO? FORMAL and DISTRIBUTIONAL criteria

Nouns: sub-classesThe class of nouns is commonly divided into a series of subclasses. First of all
we have the division between
●PROPER nouns referring to unique entities, such as people, places or institutions and are
written with a capital letter. In English, names of months and days are also regarded as p.n.’s. 
• Mary • Barack Obama • Rome
●COMMON nouns referring to a class of objects or to single items belonging to that class 
• Book • Air • Ticket
Nouns: sub-classes• Common nouns can be also classified as
●CONCRETE NOUNS referring to perceivable objects in the world that can be observed and
measured (car, apple)
●ABSTRACT NOUNS referring to non-material things, such as ideas, feelings, conditions.
(freedom, darkness, time)
Nouns: sub-classes• We can also classify nouns according to their countability
-Countable nouns -Uncountable nouns/Mass nouns
●COUNTABLE nouns refer to individual, countable entities. They allow a plural interest
interests; share–shares.
●UNCOUNTABLE nouns refer to a category or notion. They can be only used as singular nouns,
do not allow a plural, occur in the singular with some/any money; language; music.
Some nouns can be both countable and uncountable, with a slight change of meaning
• Language is a human characteristic • I speak three languages;
-The lights were amazing; -Light travels fast.
Ex. Divide the nouns below into the following groups: nouns that can take a(n), nouns that can
take the, nouns that have a plural form, and nouns that refer to things that can be counted.
• alligatorcountable-yes article , wombat countable-yes both article, Pittsburguncountable ,
videocountable-article, lawnmowercountable-article, butteruncountable-the definite
article , Fred proper noun- uncountable no articles
• Divide the nouns below into the following groups: countable – uncountable – both. For those
with double belonging, make a sentence for each use. ArmyC, children C, businessB,
paper B, accommodationU, chickenB, adviceU, classC, coffeeB, behaviourC,
crowdC, gossipB, dataU, decisionC, hairB, equipmentU, familyC, helpB,
evidenceU, government, ironB, furnitureU, impressionC, healthU
Other examples of nouns that have both meaning  U and C Glass both material and a
container  Both countable and uncountable Time  both  many times and time

NounsA noun occurs as the headword of a noun phrase ( a phrase where a noun or a pronoun
is the most important word) “The highest stock in the market”STOCK is the headword,
pre-modified by the highest and postmodified by in the market.
1. Gradually, the room filled with smoke when the coals started burning.
2. A ball kicked by Wayne knocked Terry unconscious.
3. Nobody knows who had tampered with the alarm system.
4. Research has shown that stem cells could treat incurable diseases.
5. The witness for the prosecution appeared to hesitate when asked the crucial question
Find the nouns in the following poem The sick rose
Oh rose, thou art sick!
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night
In the howling storm,
Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy,
And his dark, secret love
Does thy life destroy. William Blake
Nouns: other sub-classes• Pronouns (they are in the category nouns) are words which stand
for a noun, a whole noun phrase, or several noun phrases: • I’ve got a red hat, and Jane’s got a
brown one; • My uncle Fred has just arrived. He’s very tired;
• Pronouns can also refer to a very general concept which includes the meaning of many possible
noun phrases: • I can see someone in the distance (men, boys, girls, soldiers…).
• They can also refer to some unspecified event of the situation (pointing): • Look at that! He’s
going to crash
Types of pronouns 

Nouns: other sub-classes• Numerals are not typical nouns, but we will put them in this sub-
class as they can take plural endings in certain (though restricted) circumstances
• The group is divided into twos and threes
• CARDINAL: one, two, three, etc.
• ORDINAL : first, second, third, etc.
The previous definition is controversial. How do the data below argue either for or against this
view? (i) Thousands came to see the exhibition. noun (ii) The second carriage is for first class
passengers.  adjectives (iii) The house was bought by the three of us. noun (iv) She was wrong
by a factor of five.  noun (v) The first of these options is not available.  noun
• Assign the following nouns to one of the categories given previously. Take care: some of these
nouns can be assigned to more than one category! taxi  common noun- concrete-countable,
nobodyindefinite pronoun , none indefinite pronoun, sugar common noun-concrete-
uncountable , page common noun- countable-concrete , everybody indefinite pronoun, New
York proper noun , hepersonal pronoun , mine possessive pronoun, each other 
reciprocal pronoun
Verbs• A word which signifies an action or a state. • A sentence may contain a single verb, or it
may use a cluster of verbs which work together as a verb phrase (VP)
•I saw an elephant, you didn’t see one. •They couldn’t have seen one. 
What is the head of the verb phrases? the word indicating the action is the head
• They can have various distinct forms (inflections): infinitive (to walk), third person singular
present tense (walks), past tense (walked), present participle (walking), past participle (walked).
• The past participle is usually the same as the past tense form, but for some irregular verbs it is
different (give, gave, given)
Verbs: sub-classes 1) Lexical verbs  verbs carrying meaning, (found in the dictionary) as a
vocabulary item. They act as main verbs (HEAD of a VP)
2) Auxiliary verbs  used in conjuction with lexical verbs. They have grammatical meaning. 
a) Aspectual auxiliaries have – be b) The Passive auxiliarybe c) Modal auxiliaries can,
could, may, might, will, would, shall, should, must (with ought to, used to , need and dare having a
similar function). d) The dummy auxiliary do it’s just an auxiliary verb that we use to form a
specific
Exercise 6Find the verbs in the following poem Nurse’s Song
When the voices of children are heard on the green passive auxiliary
And whisp’rings are in the dale  are lexical-stative verb
The days of my youth rise fresh in my mind, lexical-
My face turns green and pale.  lexical- inflection of the third person singular
Then come home my children, the sun is gone down,  come lexical is goneverb phrase
ispassive auxiliary gone head verb
And the dews of night arise,  lexical
Your spring & your day are wasted in play, inflection past participle  passive auxiliary
And your winter and night in disguise. William Blake
Verb finitness• We usually classify verbs into 2 broad types, based on the contrast in meaning
they express• FINITE FORMSdefine verb number, tense, person or mood. al these kind of
verb are well defined• In combinations of verbs, the finite one is always in first position
• I was being asked; He hadn’t done it; • They did not understand the problem.
Verb finitness 2 • NON FINITE FORMS do not limit the verb.
• When a nonfinite form is used (-ing; -ed; infinitive), the verb can refer to any number, tense,
person, mood. • A non finite form of the verb stays the same in a clause, regardless of the
grammatical variation taking place • I’m leaving / They’re leaving / He was leaving / He might
be leaving  stays the same throughout the examples
Verb finitness 3• Finite and non-finite verbal phrases are constructed using forms of the verbs
to be and to have as auxiliaries,
• TENSE CHANGE He is jumping He was jumping.
• NUMBER CHANGE  They are jumping They were jumping  Also: He has jumped and They
have jumped.
• Any of the above kinds of verbal phrases are finite and can be substituted for other finite verbal
phrases. • examples of verbal groups finite element "f” / non-finite elements “nf” verbal group :
• SHE WORKS (f) IN A BANK • SHE HAS (f) WORKED (nf) IN A BANK • SHE HAD (f) BEEN (nf)
WORKING (nf) IN A BANK • I AM (f) HAVING (nf) A HOLIDAY • I USED (f) TO WORK (nf) IN A BANK
Exercises  finite(f) or non-finite(nf)? 1) But in her new home, in a distant unknown country, it
would not be like that. Then she would be married--she, Eveline. People would treat her with
respect then. She would not be treated(head) as her mother had (auxiliary-finite-aspectual
auxiliary) been(head)-lexical verb-non-finite. Even now, though she was(lexical-stative verb) over
nineteen, she sometimes felt (lexical) herself in danger of her father's violence. She knew it was
that that had (aspectual auxiliary) given(non-finite-head) her the palpitations.
The Building Blocks of Language: Syntax and SemanticsAdjectives
• Adjectives typically expand the meaning of a noun. They express some quality of a noun.
• Most of them occur before a noun, in attributive position (the unknown soldier).
• In other cases they appear after a copular verb (be, look, seem, become, grow) in predicative
position (that soldier is brave)
• Some adjectives can only occur in a particular position The child is asleep – I saw a woman
alone *the asleep child - *I saw an alone woman
Consider the following list od adjectives. Which may appear only before a noun, which may appear
only after the verb to be, and which may appear in both positions? Make an example for each one.
• Older b , elderjust before noun, hungry b , ill be , redb , uglyb , afraidafter be ,
utterbefore noun , incredibleb , loath just after verb to be
Adjectives 2 • They can be immediately preceded by very and other INTENSIFYING words
(rather, incredibly…). They are GRADABLE
Exceptions! Adjectives denoting materials (wooden - *a very wooden floor) or nationality (Russian
- *a very Russian book) considered not gradable
Order of adjectives • DETERMINER/Possessive + Observation/Value + Physical description (size
age shape colour) + origin + material + qualifier + NOUN
• A Det
• Beautiful OBSERVATION/VALUE  more subjective
• Old AGE
• Italian ORIGIN
• Touring QUALIFIER (Function)
• Car NOUN
Ex. -An important ancient archeological ruin -A cheap new Vietnamese smartphone
Order of adjectives 2Describe the adjectives ib the following NP
• An expensive antique silver mirror
• Four gorgeous long-stemmed red silk roses
• Lucy’s rare huge old American book collection
• An expensive antique (age) silver mirror• Four gorgeous long-stemmed (physical des) red
(colour) silk roses• Lucy’s rare huge (size) old (age) American (origin) book collection
Order of adjectives 3 Order of adjectives 4

Exercise 8Put the adjectives in the following NPs in the correct order:
• American enormous players several young basketball Several enormous young American
basketball players
• Wooden hat those boxes squareThose square wooden hat boxes
• Big sheepdog old our English Our big old English sheepdog
• winner latest race grand prix theThe latest grand prix race winner
• Exciting novels three first mystery his His first three exciting mystery novel
• big challenge technological the next The next big technological challenge
• young few talentless last teen idols American theThe last few talentless young American teen I
• climate Italian current political theThe current Italian political climate
Adjectives – Comparison
Read the following portion of text, underline adjectives. What would the description be without
the adjectives?
Wakefield (n) is (v) (a (det) quiet provincial capital (n) situated (v-non-finite) not very strategically
on the edge(n) of a fertile plain (n-concrete-countable). It (pronoun) has(v-lexical-finite) a port(n-
concrete-common-countable) for conveying(v-non-finite-lexical) agricultural products(n-concrete-
common-countable) out and agricultural implements (n-countable-common-concrete) in. On
(prep) Tuesdays (n-proper-abstract-countable) trucks(n-concrete-common-countable) carrying (v-
lexical-non-finite) livestock (n-common-concrete-uncountable) deposit dung(n-common-concrete-
uncountable) along certain major roads(-n-concrete-common-countable) into the centre(n-
common-concrete-countable) (5) of the city(n-common-concrete-countable). Wakefield has(v-
auxiliary- finite) not yet taken(v-head verb-lexical-non-finite) its stock(n-common-concrete-
uncountable) yards( n-concrete-common-countable) out to the city boundaries(n-common-
abstract-countable) because livestock are(v-lexical-copula-finite) still close to its centre.
Now read it again and find all the constituents we have discussed so far (Nouns, verbs, adjectives)
with their sub-classes
More on the order of adjectives: exercise 1
1. I bought a pair of ____shoes • Black leather V • Leather black
2. It was a ___car• Red fast • Fast red V
3. It’s a ___building• Big round V • Round big
4. I bought ___ knife• A Swiss army V• An army Swiss
5. It’s a ___film❑ A beautiful oldV ❑ An old beautiful
6. He’s got ___eyes❑ Big blueV ❑ Blue big
7. It’s a ___house❑ Nice newV ❑ New nice
8. It’s ___airline❑ A popular AmericanV ❑ An American popular
9. He’s___man❑ An unfriendly richV ❑ A rich unfriendly
10. It’s____ phone❑ A mobile expensive ❑ An expensive mobileV
11. It’s ____village❑ An old lovely ❑ A lovely oldV
Adverbs• The relationship between adverbs and verbs is similar to that between adjectives and
nouns. • They define the manner, place and time of an action • He spoke loudly. • We live
here. • She arrived recently.
Adverbs: characteristics• modify verbs, adjectives or adverbs • typical suffix -ly • gradability
• can take modifiers
1. Circumstantial: information about the action, event, or process, such as the time, place, or
manner of itYesterday – now – there – inside – carefully – beautifully
2. Intensifiers: they modify other adverbs or adjectives Very in very hard (AP) – terribly in
terribly quiet (AP) – extremely in extremely strange (AP)
3. Sentence adverbs: they have a linking function or they modify whole sentencesHowever –
probably – perhapsex. 1. I’m probably wrong 2. Perhaps they may take the last train 3. You
probably know how to do it 4. However, I still feel insecure about myself 5. However, you’re still
my friend 6. The movie was good however too long 7. The weather was good, however I decide
not to go  subordinate conjunction the comma is neededin case 6 not needed use also but
Adverbs 2 WHEN? • It rained yesterday. (PAST) • He’s coming soon. (FUTURE) • He never
came (FREQUENCY)
HOW? • It’s raining hard (MANNER) • She ran fast • She treated him with respect
WHERE? • In Chicago he used to work for a newspaper • I saw him in the street last week • Bob
is walking downstairs
Adverbs 3Adverbs also give us the attitude of a speaker
SPEAKER’S COMMENT ADVERBS  Comments on rightness/desirability • We lost
unfortunately • Fortunately I managed to catch the train
Comments on the motives of the subject• He’s very cleverly decided not to show up • She
foolishly rejected his proposal
Epistemic comments• She’ll probably be back tomorrow • Maybe she was wrong
Order of adverbs
Beth swims
EnthusiasticallyMANNER
In the poolPLACE
Every morningFREQUENCY
Before dawnTIME
To keep in shapePURPOSE
• Dad walks before supper into town to get a newspaper impatiently every afternoon
• Trish naps before lunch every morning in her room Trish naps every morning in her room
before lunch other examples 
- my cat walks fast on the pavement every afternoon before evening
Determiners
• They are used with nouns and have the function of defining the reference of a noun. (NP)
• They can be defined as identifiers and quantifiers. 
•Identifiers include articles (a, the), possessives (my, your, his etc.) and demonstratives (this, that
etc.). The last two groups are often called possessive adjectives and demonstrative adjectives to
distinguish them from the corresponding pronouns
•Quantifiersdefine an indefinite quantify (some of the members are in common with indefinite
pronouns): a lot of, many, few, several, little
Prepositions• Prepositions do not inflect in English.
• Prepositions indicate relationships. • primarily in time and space • They relate something to
something else, e.g. something is in, on, under etc something else. • e.g. by, with, for, behind,
below, between, of etc
• They are a closed class, meaning you canʼt make up new ones.
Exercise 4• Identify the prepositions in the following phrases• the statue by the rotunda • the
disappearance of the cash • the circuit for mountain bikes • skating on the lake
Conjunctions • They have a joining function, usually of connecting two clauses, but sometimes
also two nouns.  They are of two kinds:
• Coordinating conjunctions, such as and, or, but, which join elements on the same level
• Subordinating conjunctions, such as when, if, why, because, which subordinate one item to
another in some way. The subordination may be of time, reason, or some other kind
Exercise 5 • Identify the grammatical category of each underlined word in the following
sentence • Joanna's pink Ducati completed the journey from Malmö to Ravenna in just under
two days. Pink adjective-colour attributive -Ducati proper noun-concrete – Completed
lexical verb- finite – inpreposition – justadverb-time – dayscommon noun-countable-abstr
Exercise 6 Nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, pronouns, determiners (including
articles & numerals) and conjunctions. Can you identify the word classes in the following text?
Caddis (proper noun) flies (common noun-concrete-countable) are (lexical verb-copula- finite)
rather (adverb) nondescript (adjective-qualifier), drab (adjective) brown (adjective)
insects( common noun- concrete-countable), which (relative pronoun) most (determiner-
quantifier) of (preposition) us (personal pronoun) fail (lexical verb- finite) to (preposition) notice
(verb- non finite) as (conjunction) they (personal pronoun) fly (verb-finite-lexical verb)
rather(adverb- intensifier) clumsily (adverb-manner) over (preposition) rivers (common noun-
concrete- countable). That (pronoun demonstrative) is (verb-copula-finite) when (relative
pronoun) they (personal pronoun) are (lexical verb-copula-finite) adults( common noun-
countable-concrete). But before (prepositionno adverb perchè è all’inizio della frase ed ha più
forma di preposizione) they emerge as adults(noun-common-countable-concrete), they
have(verb-finite-lexical) a(article) rather longer(adjective-attributive-comparative) incarnation
(noun-common-abstract-uncountable) as(conjunction) larvae(noun-uncountable-common-
concrete) walking(verb-non-finite) about (adverb) the river (Noun-concrete-countable)
bottom(noun-abstract-common-). And caddis larvae are(copulaverb to be used in a lexical way)
anything(pronoun) but nondescript(Predicative adjective). They are among the most remarkable
creatures on earth. Using cement of their own manufacture, they skillfully build tubular houses for
themselves out of materials that they pick up from the bed of the stream. The house is a mobile
home, carried about as the caddis walks, like the shell of a snail or hermit crab except that the
animal builds it instead of growing it or finding it. Some species of caddis use sticks as building
materials, others fragments of dead leaves, others small snail shells. But perhaps the most
impressive caddis houses are the ones built in local stone. The caddis chooses its stones carefully,
rejecting those that are too large or too small for the current gap in the wall, even rotating each
stone until it achieves the snuggest fit.
Ex. 7In the passage from E. B. White's “The Ring of Time” given below, identify the words in
bold as belonging to one of the following categories
It has been ambitious and plucky of me to attempt to describe what is indescribable, and I have
failed, as I knew I would. But I have discharged my duty(noun-abstract-countable) to my society
(collective noun-abstract-mass noun-uncountablein this case); and besides, a writer, like an
acrobat, must occasionally try a stunt(countable noun-) that is too (determiner degree word)
much for him. At any rate, it is worth reporting that long (adverb) before the circus comes to
town, its most (determinerdegree wordstrengthen the adjective) notable performances
have already(adverb) been given. Under (preposition) the bright lights of the finished show, a
performer need( auxiliary) only reflect(transitive verb) the electric candle power that is directed
upon him; but in the dark and dirty old training rings and in the makeshift(attributive adjective)
cages, whatever light is(auxiliary)generated, whatever(determinerviene chiamatp determiner
perchè un aggettivo indefinito) excitement, whatever beauty(mass noun-uncountable), must
(auxiliary) come from original sources - from internal fires of professional hunger and delight, from
the exuberance(abstract noun-uncountable-mass noun) and gravity of youth. It is(copula-used as
lexical verb) the difference(abstract noun-countable) between(preposition) planetary(adjective-
attributive) light and the combustion of the stars. (White 1934: 145)
count noun - transitive verb-mass noun -copulative verb
abstract noun -intransitive verb
concrete noun-adverb
collective noun- determiner
attributive adjective -preposition
predicative adjective- determiner
auxiliary
Exercise 8 Examine the passage given below. The words in bold followed by a number are
examples of a particular kind of word, or a word with a particular property. Terms for the
properties exemplified by some of these words are given in a list below the passage. Match the
numbers in the passage with the letters in the list and put the correct number next to the letter
below. There are more examples than labels. You may be able to use a particular example more
than once. Heather McDonald was an Anglo-catholic. You wouldn't hold that against (1)
(preposition)her. No one in Wakefield who knew (2) (verb) her did. In Wakefield, Heather was
what most people would have said was a nice (3) (attributive adjective) person. This was a
compliment (4) (common noun-abstract ) in Wakefield (5)(proper noun) . Even (6) (adverb)
men might be called nice, by women in Wakefield, although (7)(adverb) Wakefield men mostly
(8) (adverb- intensifiercircumstantial ) didn't consider being nice a genuinely advantageous
quality though, privately, being thought nice flattered some.
A. preposition B. verb C. adjective D. adverb E. common noun F. proper noun
The functional constituents of phrases • Phrases have heads.
• Heads determine the grammatical properties of the phrase.
• Heads are normally obligatory.
• Heads are semantically central.
• Heads determine the inflectional properties (number and gender) of the phrase • The
witches’ discovery of the secrets of life • Swimming in a pool
• Non-heads are modifiers.
• In one-word phrases, only the head is present
Exercise 1Using the properties of phrases mentioned before, find the heads of the following
phrases. Note that in some cases there are phrases within these phrases. You should find the
word which is the head of the whole phrase, and not the heads of any of that phrase’s other
constituentsa) The great big elephant b) Several very old books c) All the women in the moon
d) Excellently presented material on Lady Havisham e) Rather thick in the head f) Most awfully
pleasant g) Delighted by their arrival adjectival phrase h) Sitting in the roomverbal phrase
i) Bored out of his skull j) Having delayed writing to you k) Syncopated rythms of Africanoun
phrase l) Very lovely m) In trouble with the law n) Almost out of the woods o) Right above his
neighbour’s house p) Singularly unimpressed with Jeffrey q) Is eating a big dinner  forget about
this exercise there won’t be exercises like this in the exam there will be the whole context
Noun Phrase (NP) Examples
a. the dog b. a moderately short programme c. some very old cars d. six bags of wholemeal flour
e. very dirty marks on the wallsembedding  the other constituents of these phrases are
modifiers Find clear cases of other phrases in the above examples
Embedded 

Exercise 2: Do the same for the following sentences

1. Some very old cars some  determiner  very adverb old  adjective ( very old 
adjectival phrase)  cars noun- head 2. Six plants in the shopNP Six determiner 
plants noun-head in  preposition  the article  shop  noun We have a double
embedding In the shop prepositional phrasemade up of preposition and noun phrase 
The shop noun phrase
Constituents of the Noun Phrase a Noun Phrase is made up of a lot of constituents 
• From a functional point of view, it has 4 major components in a fixed order
1. A determiner, which determines the reference of the NP in its linguistic and situational context
2. Pre-modification, which includes all the modifying or describing constituents before the head,
other than determiners
3. Head, the central part, which is obligatory, and which is made by a noun
4. Post-modification, including all the modifying constituents placed after the head
• That old car in the drive
. ^ ^ ^ ^
• Det Pre-mod Head Post-mod
Constituents of the Noun Phrase 2• The head is usually represented by a noun, but it can also
be a pronoun• The girl went to school • She went to school (PERSONAL PRONOUN) • Someone
is coming (INDEFINITE PRONOUN) • That is true (DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUN)
• When a pronoun is the head, it usually occurs without pre-modification
Constituents of the Noun Phrase 3• Adjectives have the main function of widening the scope
of the head noun. When adjectives are more than one, they follow a specific order (see lecture 6)
• It is also possible to find nouns as head modifiers (with an adjectival function), i.e. country as in
a country house
• Noun modifier + head is usually the first step towards compounding creation (armchair,
dishwasher)
• Possessives + headexample of pre-modification • the bishop's residences • a singer's vocal
cords • the new committee's duties
Tree diagramThe bishop’s residences  NP the det  bishop’s pre-
modadjectival phrase  residences head-noun
Post modification in Noun Phrases • Post-modification is usually occupied by phrases or clauses
and not by specific word-classes.
• Four main types of post-modification can be outlined
1. Adjectives or adverbs 2. Relative clauses 3. Non-finite clauses 4. Prepositional phrases
Post modification in Noun Phrases 2• Adjectives as post-modifiers occur with indefinite
pronouns as heads, because these cannot be pre-modified, e.g. something odd, somebody
attractive
• Adverbs are frequently used, e.g. the day before, the room downstairs. (These examples can be
seen as reduction of more complex prepositional phrases, such as the day before this one)
Post modification in Noun Phrases 3 • Relative clauses are subordinate clauses, introduced by
a relative pronoun (which, that, who, whom, whose), pointing back to the head noun of the noun
phrase in which it occurs as post-modifier• I know a man who has travelled around the world by
bike. • The woman who lives nextdoor has three cats.
• Two main types• Restrictive (relative clauses) • Non restrictive (relative clauses)
1. Restrictive relative clauses establish reference to an antecedent, providing the necessary
information to identify it• I like the paintings that are on display at The National Gallery.
• The guy who travels with me everyday is an architect. • The book that I’m reading is too long
• When the relative pronoun is in the case of an object, it can be omitted • The boy who I told
you about is a pianist > the boy (who) I told you about is a pianist
• The results that I obtained are promising > The results (that) I obtained are promising
• The book that I ordered did not arrive > The book (that) I ordered did not arrive
2. Non-restrictive relative clauses provide additional information. It is usually a proper noun or
a common noun that refers to a unique person, thing, or event. It is found between commas, to
show that the info is optional and extra. • My mother, who is an excellent cook, is thinking
about opening a restaurant • I had to fix my printer, which I bought only 6 months ago.
Post modification in Noun Phrases 4• Non-finite clauses are usually without subject and are
introduced by non-finite forms of a verb (infinite, -ing form) and they are either infinitive clauses
(to perform his duty) or participle clauses (arriving home)
• They can be used in post-modification as in • the man to answer this question • the vehicle
driving down the road
• Prepositional phrases, e.g. the woman in the corner, the dog on the boat
• They may be reformulated as fuller relative clauses, very often with the verb be, e.g. the woman
who is in the corner.
Exercise 3Identify the Postmodifiers in the following texts Example
• Embryology proper really began a century later with Aristotle ... (adverb)
• ... an extreme example of this kind of distortion  prepositional phrase
• ... for flights going on as part of the fifth freedom. participle clausenon-finite clause
• ... in a ward with less emphasis on the differences between night and dayprep. phrase
• Another major problem that we must consider is ... relative clause  restrictive clause
• ... the President's speech yesterday. adverb
• ... the solution to the problem of inflation.  prepositional phrase
• ... of actions required by authority ... non-finite clause
• ... continually facing a problem which is very familiar to anthropologists….relative clau-restric
• ... figure including a space between three lines ...  non-finite clause -participal clause
• ... its rooms and gardens full of refuseadjective clause
Exercise 4 Heads and Types of Modification in NPs
[Giorgio Armani (head), who has a passion for cinema( post-mod relative clause),] realised
that [the silver(pre-mod) screen(head)] and [the red (pre-mod) carpet(head)] can be as important
[to fashion(NP)prepositional phrase] as [the catwalk(head)], if not more so. In 1980 (pre-
modificationprepositional phrase) [the film (head) American Gigolo(post-modifier)] brought
[Armani’s(pre-modificationpossessive) vision(head)] vividly [to life(NP) prepositional phrase] –
[Richard Gere’s(pre-modificationpossessive) wardrobe(head), sharp and louche(adjectives
implicit relative clause)], was to catch [the popular(pre-mod) imagination(head)]. Since then, [no
other(pre-modification-)designer(head)]has rivalled Armani for dressing[Hollywood(pm) men(hd).]
Exercise 5Provide tree diagrams for the following NPs

1. A white dress with a dropped waistline 

2. the east gate of the park

3. those large paintings by Renoir

4. a tall, bald man with a bushy moustache

Verb phrases• lexical verbs as head
• Examples• a. gave Jill a book • b. has given Jill a book • c. will be giving Jill a book  central
activity is giving  central part of our phrase is the lexical verb have and be are auxiliaries 
has is what we call aspectual auxiliary and be is a passive auxiliary
Auxiliary verbs• are constituents of the verb phrase which precede the lexical verb.
• Modalscan, could, shall, should, will, would, may, might, must
• Aspect auxiliaries• perfective (auxiliary) has Jill has given John the book • progressive
(auxiliary) be  Jill is giving John the book
• Passive auxiliary be
• Dummy auxiliary do
• Adverb phrases can also precede the head.
Representing the structure of the left hand side of the verb phrase

Exercise 1Find the Head of the following VP and draw their tree diagrams
1. Has been -delivered

2. Mustn’t be disturbed 3. Might have learned

4. Will have been delivered

Adjective phrase• Examples

a. quite old
b. moderately expensive
c. quite moderately long in the arms the head-adjective here has post and pre-modification
 Draw the tree diagrams

Constituents of adjective phrases

• Modifiers• adverb phrases (including degree adverbs)• e.g. moderately expensive
• prepositional phrases• e.g. long in the arm
Adjectives in attributive and predicate position
• attributive position, e.g. the red sky• sequencing restrictions
• predicate position, e.g. The sky is red.
Exercise 2 Identify the adjective phrases in the following passage and underline their heads then
draw the tree diagram
In other ways he was a(det) very(adverb phrase) hard (head-adjective) man. He was big(head)
and rather clumsy-looking(adjective-head), with big heavy(head)(adjective phrase) bones and
long flat (adj. phrase flat head) muscles, and he had a big(adj. phrase), expressionless (adj.
phrase), broken-nosed (adj. phrase) face. Yet he moved with surprising ease and silence as well as
having a gift for stillness. from A Soldier's Tale by M.K. Joseph
Adverb phrases• adverb as head
We call both adjective phrases and adverb phrases both with AP
• very similar to adjective phrasesAP• Very quickly • Quite slowly • Quite moderately slowly
• Usually together with adjectives and are embedded in Adjective Phrases
Prepositional phrases• prepositions as head
• modifiers• noun phrases, e.g. in a room • prepositional phrases, e.g. up on the plateau •
degree adverbs, e.g. just inside the door

PP
Exercise 3Find the prepositional phrases in the following extract and draw their tree diagrams
At (preposition) first (pronoun) it seemed there was no one about(PPpreposition). Then he saw
a single figure, a girl, far down (preposition) the beach(np)(pp), close to(prep) where the surf
was breaking(PP), sitting under a beach umbrella. He went towards her. When he was close
enough to see her clearly he sat down on the white sand.

Exercise 3• Provide the box, bracketing and tree diagram of the following sentences
1) The dogs played in the park
2) Some elephants were chewing the acacia trees

3) The film crew left the location for lunch

4) Sandra didn’t like the neighbours

5) A journey up the Nile might take three months

Complex sentencesembedding phrases in phrases, phrases in clauses, clauses in clauses
Phrases within phrases • Phrases can contain other phrases as constituents.
• This process is potentially infinite.
Embedding within phrases• Data • the person on the seat inside the theatre • the person
[PPon [NPthe seat [PPinside [NPthe theatre]]]]
• recursion

Recursivity in possessives 

Clauses within clauses• Examples• a. Sally hoped that Paul would meet her today. • b. Gerry
understood why the jury found him guilty. • c. Horace cried after his dog died.
• Note that the underlined constituents are clauses, i.e. they have subjects and predicates this is
what make clauses different from phrases they have their own subject and predicates
Functions of embedded clauses• Examples• a. Joanna knew [that Henry would come].
• b. the expectation [that Henry would come]
• The identical embedded clause can perform different functions. • In a. it is a direct object.
• In b. it is a modifier of a noun in a noun phrase
Representing the structure of embedded Clauses we may use a different graphical symbol
we use a triangle  we don’t want to analyse deeply

The internal structure of embedded clauses• The complementizer, or subordinating

conjunction.  • This constituent introduces the subordinate (or embedded) clause.• e.g. that,
for, whether, whenever, while. + • The actual clause follows.
Representing the internal structure of embedded clauses

John was improving because the doctor had seen him

Functions of embedded clauses

• subject• That weeds had invaded the garden lowered the price.
• object• The agent knew that weeds had invaded the garden.
• intensive complement• It seemed that weeds had invaded the garden.
• modifier of noun (relative clause)• the garden which was invaded by weeds
*Intensive complements appear only after few verb as be when used as lexical verb, seem , appear
and become
Coordinationtwo phrases that are both on the same level • Syntactic constituents may be
coordinated with constituents of the same category. (NP-NP or PP-PP)
• Three main coordinating conjunctions• and, or, (neither) ... nor
• Sometimes the same functions may be coordinated. • They seemed honest and in trouble. 
the function of the two (coordinates) is the same
Representing the structure of coordination• Add a node with the same label above the two
coordinated structures.

Pragmatics and coordination • Coordinating conjunctions have simple meanings.

• In context these meanings may be augmented. • a. I crashed the car and drank too much.
• b. I drank too much and crashed the car.
• The meaning of an utterance is not just the meaning of the code.
Exercise 5• In the following sentences, bracket the structures that have been joined and say
what kind of structure each pair is
1) [The man] [andcoordinating conjunction][ the boy] walks to town [] noun phrases
2) The singer sang [at the concert] [and] [in the shower] [Prepositional Phrases]
3) Gertrude [whistled at the boys] [and] [patted dogs][Verb phrases]
4) [Melissa ate chicken] [and] [Angela talked turkey] [simple clauses]
5) [Henry] [and] [Alfres] walked, (talk) [and] (fought) in teh park[Noun phrases] (Verb phrases)
6) [Neither] [Angela] [nor] [Melissa] liked Brahms [Noun phrases]

La funzione principale di una Noun Phrase è quella di rispondere a What è come un direct object
 Exer
cise 1Identify the type of subordinate clauses in the following sentences 1.
They serve God well [who serve His children.] adjectival clause
2. Quarrels won’t last long [if the fault is only on one side.] Adv clause
3. [That you should say so] surprises me. Noun clause  What?  direct object
4. Your statement [that you found the money in the closet] cannot be believed.  Noun clause 
because your statement what?  that you found the moneyfrase border lineanche adj clause
5. I asked the boy [how old he was.]  Noun clause
6. Uneasy lies the head [that wears the crown.] Adjectival clause is modifying the noun head
7. Youth is the time [when the seeds of character are sown.] adjective clause this when is
related to the noun time
8. Servants [who are honest] are trusted.  adjective clauserefers to servant
9. [Because I like you], I will help you. adverbial clause  it gives us reason
10. The dog followed the boy [wherever he went]. adverbial clause it tells us place
11. [If I like it], I will buy it. adverbial clausebecause it gives us the condition for the action buy
12. They spoke in a low voice [so that the child would not wake up.]adverbial clause it tells us
the purpose
Sentence TypesSimple, Compound, Complex, and Compound-Complex
  it
is important to understand who the subject is

So we have 4 scenarios simple, compound, complex, compound-complex

Exercise 2Identify whether the sentences are simple, complex, compound or compound-
complex. Please underline dependent clauses where it applies.
1. Vampires Dairies is my favorite television show, but I also love True Blood.  compound s.
2. The student wiped the white board that was filthy with last week’s notes. complex s.
3. The trendy fashion designer released her new line on Wednesday.  simple sentence
4. Trina and Hareem went to a bar in Hollywood to celebrate their anniversary. simple sentence
5. Wicked Regina cast a spell on the entire city, so the citizens decided to rebel. compound s.
6. While waiting for the paint to dry, Angela went to Home Depot, and Martin organized the
kitchen appliances.  compound-complex one dependent clause and two independent cl
7. After listening to the Kanye West CD, I have new respect for his music. complex
8. After the teacher chose groups, John and Sara were selected as partners for a project, yet Sarah
did most of the work. compound-complex
INTRODUCTION TO SEMANTICS
Semantic is The Study of Meaning• The study of the meaning of words within linguistics is
called lexical semantics
• How meaning is studied and represented depends on the theoretical background assumption we
have of meaning
• Holistic approaches tend to see meaning as relational, i.e. a matter of relation of words with
other words  we analyse the meaning of words in their relationship with other word
• Localist approaches tend to see it a selfcontained, i.e. independent of the meaning of other
words
Three levels of meaning
1) Word Meaningthe meaning of a simple or expression taken in isolation
• Referential meaning (denotations)
• Cognitive Meaning (concepts)
• Social Meaning (style, register): it indicates the social relationship, or the performance of social
actions, greetings, apologies, congratulations)
• Affective Meaning (connotations): conventional association related to word meanings
• Linguistic meaning (sense relations)
2) Sentence Meaningthe meaning an utterance possesses inherently, by virtue of the words it
contains and their grammatical arrangements. It is a stable meaning expected to occur in any
context
3) Utterance Meaning the meaning which is either picked up from the context, or which arises
as a result of the interaction of inherent meaning and context (=PRAGMATICS)
MEANING •Meaning is a complex phenomenon involving a relationship between:
•A language and the mind of its speakers
•A language and the world
•A language and the practical uses to which it is put related to the wider context
Meaning and sense relations•But meaning also involves relationships among words themselves
• Sense relations situate themselves on three axes• Syntagmatic • Paradigmatic • Derivational
Syntagmatic relations• These kinds of relations are better understood in terms of constraints,
and hold among items which occur in the same sentence with specific syntactic relations
• A word cannot combine freely with just any other word in the language
• There are constraints on the combinability of words• Syntactic constraints • Collocational
constraints
Syntagmatic relations-syntactic constraints• The word class label of a word shown in its
dictionary entry (noun, verb, adj, adv, prep etc) is a designation of the syntactic operations that a
word can engage in
• Combination of nouns and determiners• mass nouns vs. countable nouns -Some sugar will
do -*a sugar -* many sugar -Sugar is a basic ingredient
Syntagmatic relations-syntactic constraints 2• Nouns that are compatible with particular post-
modifiers-His determination to succeed - His affection for Lucy/ *to Lucy -Her regret that he had
failed • Position of adjectives – attribute vs. predicate-A mere boy vs. *that boy is mere -The
boy is asleep vs. *an asleep boy(it can’t be in attributive position)
Syntagmatic relations-syntactic constraints 3• Verbs and type of structure in which they can
occur (the kind of object, complements and obligatory adjuncts) -Do you remember Jim?
remember is a verb that reminds of present it represents an action taking place in present
times -He remembered that he had phoned (PREVIOUS EVENT) -He remembered to phone her
(FUTURE EVENT) -Do you remember who came? -I remember him bald
Syntagmatic relations-collocational constraints
• We refer to the term collocations to talk about two types of combinability
• The regular expectations that a word has for some other words-Describe a circle -Construct a
triangle -Draw a perpendicular -Powerful motorcar -Strong coffee -Raise cattle -Bring up children
-Good/strong likelihood; strong/high probability
Syntagmatic relations-collocational constraints 2 •The other sense of collocation refers to
semantic compatibilities between words engaged in a particular syntactic function  connected
by their meaning and by their syntactic function
• It may be illustrated by Chomsky’s famous sentence-Colourless green ideas sleep furiously 
• An example of a sentence that is grammatically correct, but semantically nonsensical. Although
the sentence is grammatically correct, no obvious understandable meaning can be derived from it,
and thus it demonstrates the distinction between syntax and semantics.
Syntagmatic relations-collocational constraints 3•John R. Firth: “the company that words
keep” •Collocation is a feature of all languages. At its simplest form, it is “what goes together with
what”. It is used in lexicology to refer to the habitual co-occurrence of individual lexical items.
• Weak collocations good +….. strong probability-high probability… because they may also
be substituted by other words and the meaning can be considered the same
• Strong Collocationsgreen jealousy; blue flu words that are always togetherex. You can’t
change the colour of jealousylike blue is the colour related to flue: together create meaning
Weak and strong collocations
• Collocations may be strong or weak. Strong collocations are where the link between the two
words is quite fixed and restricted. few items that can be associated to a word
Weak collocations are where a word can collocate with many other words.  you have many
items that can be associated to a word
Syntagmatic relations-collocational constraints 4
A collocation can be made up of two or more words
• Verb + Noun -make a mistake; take a shower
• Adjective + Noun-Strong tea; powerful engine (*powerful tea; *strong engine) - Heavy traffic;
heavy drinker
• Adverb + VerbTotally misunderstand
• Adverb + Adjective-Extremely grateful/generous; completely wrong
• Adjective + Preposition- Guilty of …-ing; crazy for; fond of; interested in
Collocations •Typical criteria for collocations •non-compositionality •non-substitutability
•non-modifiability. These three criteria are what make a collocation
• Collocations usually cannot be translated into other languages word by word
NON-compositionality in collocations • A phrase is compositional if its meaning can be
predicted from the meaning of its parts -new companies
• A phrase is non-compositional if its meaning cannot be predicted from the meaning of its parts
- hot dog
• Collocations are not necessarily fully compositional, in that there is usually an element of
meaning added to the combination.  Eg. strong tea.
• Idioms are the most extreme examples of non-compositionality. Eg. to hear it through the
grapevine (voci di corridoio cannot be translated exactly from a language to another)
Non-Substitutability in Collocations • We cannot substitute near-synonyms for the
components of a collocation.For example  We can’t say yellow wine instead of white wine
even though yellow is as good a description of the colour of white wine as white is (it is kind of a
yellowish white).
• Many collocations cannot be freely modified with additional lexical material or through
grammatical transformations (NON-MODIFIABILITY). - white wine, but not whiter wine
- mother in law, but not mother in laws
Syntagmatic relations-collocational constraints 5 • Collocations can undergo a fossilization
process until they become fixed expressions (or idioms)
• BLUE- Blue film film a luci rosse -Blue Funk fifa blu/paura nera -Blue jeans blue jeans
- Blue blood sangue blu - To feel bluesentirsi giù - Out of the blueinaspettatamente
Syntagmatic relations-collocational constraints 5
•RED -Red wine vino rosso -To see rednon vederci più dalla rabbia -To catch sb red-handed
 cogliere qualcuno in flagrante -To be in the redessere al verde (o avere il conto in banca in
rosso) -Red-light district quartiere a luci rosse
Collocations and Semantic Integrity • The semantic integrity (or cohesion) of a collocation is
more marked, if the meaning of one of its constituent is restricted contextually

Exe
rcise 2: choose the right collocation
1 He said he would throw us out, but it was just a(n) vain / idle / lazy threat.
2 They rushed the victim to hospital, in the idle / simple / vain hope of saving her life.
3 The government is encountering mounting / climbing / rising criticism of its policies.
4 There is raising / mounting / vain concern across the world about climate change.
5 The horse was fuming / foaming / fainting at the mouth, so we called the vet.
6 Suddenly, without warning, Marta busted / bustled / burst into song.
7 The right / straight / plain truth is that I hate my job.
8 I tried to persuade her but I’m afraid I failed desperately / miserably / wholeheartedly
Exercise 3Think of as many collocations as you can for each word. Then look in a dictionary
such as the Cambridge Online Dictionary for other suitable words. Write W (weak) or S (strong)
next to each group depending on how many words you found.
 Make/ put /require/be/place/in
Plans/an appointment/a class
A baby/ a massage/a letter/a good/ a parcel/ a warning
Make/scrape/scratch/earn

Meaning and sense relations•But meaning also involves relationships among words themselves
• Sense relations situate themselves on three axes• Syntagmatic • Paradigmatic • Derivational
DERIVATIONAL relations- there is always a root and then affixes• These kind of relations are
those found between words forming part of a set of paradigmatic choices
• They have a role in structuring the vocabulary of a language, since they manifest in the so-called
word-families, or words derived from a single root. 
1. Cook (v. tr) I am cooking supper
2. Cook (v. intr.) Can you cook?
3. Cook (v. intr.) The chicken is cooking.
4. Cook (n) Jane is a good cook.
5. Cooker (n) We’ve bought a new cooker. (suffix -er)
6. Cooking (n) John is in love with Mary’s cooking.
7. Cookery (n) John is taking cookery lessons
DERIVATIONAL relations 2
• The semantic relations between these words are partly systematic and partly arbitrary.
• If we think of the relationship between cook in 3 and cooker, the suffix -er of cooker seems to
have an instrumental meaning (a cooker is something used for cooking), but if we cook chicken
over a fire, the fire does not become a cooker for that reason
• So there is some specialization in the derivation (is arbitrary and is decided from a community)
of the word cooker from cook, since a barbecue is not a cooker, nor is a microwave oven
• Considering the relation between cook in 1, 2, 3: in 3 the verb refers to the fact that the chicken
is undergoing heating treatment, so as to be more tasty as a food. 2 is not just asking whether
John can cause food to undergo heat treatment, but asks if he has certain abilities
PARADIGMATIC relations• They reflect the semantic choices available at a particular point in a
sentence, and are typically related to words belonging to the same category
• They are called relations in absentia, as opposed to syntagmatic relations, which are in
praesentia (Sahlgren 2006)

•Meaning involves on the one hand the relation of reference to extralinguistic reality, and on the
other, relations of sense to other vocabulary items (lexemes) in the lexicon
PARADIGMATIC relations 2• They reflect the particular semantic choices available at a
particular structure point in a sentence.
• I’ll have a glass of beer-wine-water-lemonade these three are in a paradigmatic relation
(they may be substituted by each other)while*potatoes/rock are not
PARADIGMATIC relations 3• Paradigmatic sense relations, or relations in absentia, typically
involve words belonging to the same syntactic category.
• I bought some_______ knives-forks-spoons-cutlery → this is a mass noun
• John _____ across the fieldran-walked-crawled
• Lucy bought a/an_______dressred-long-expensive
Typologies of paradigmatic relations • Three main categories of paradigmatic sense relations
can be identified• Identity
• Synonymy• Inclusion• Hyponymy • Meronymy
• Opposition
Relations of identity synonymy• It involves sameness in meaning. Two words can be defined
as synonym or synonymous, when they are alike in meaning
• Liberty – Freedom• But *Liberty of speech
• Range – Selection• What a nice range of/selection of furnishing But • They reached the
mountain range/*selection
Typologies of synonymy• It can be further subdivided in
• Absolute Synonymy
• Propositional Synonymy
• Near-Synonymy
Absolute synonymy• It refers to complete identity in meaning
• Two lexical items X and Y can be defined as absolute synonyms, if and only if their contextual
relations are identical, that is if in any context in which X is fully normal, Y is too
• Some possible candidates
• Nearly – Almost• She looks almost Chinese. (+) • She looks nearly Chinese. (-)
• Big – Large• You’re making a big mistake. (+) • You’re making a large mistake. (-)  we don’t
have an absolute synonymy  we have a near synonymy
• She acts like a sort of big sister (BIG has a sense of “being older, grown up” that LARGE does not
have) •*She acts like a sort of large sister
Gli assoluti veri e propri si trovano soltanto nel cambio di lingua questi esempi non rispecchiano
completamente questa absolute synonymy se sostituiti tra loro  il significato rimane
esattamente uguale abbiamo dei papabili candidati ma non sono Absolute
Absolute synonymy 2• Begin – Commence• Are you sitting comfortably, children? Then I’ll
begin. (+) • Are you sitting comfortably, children? Then, I’ll commence. (-)
• Calm – Placid• She was quite calm just a few minutes ago. (+) • She was quite placid just a
few minutes ago. (-)
• Brave – Courageous (moral attitude) • Little Billy was so brave at the dentist’s this morning.
(+) • Little Billy was so courageous at the dentist’s this morning. (-)
• Die – Kick the bucket• Apparently he died in considerable pain. (+) • Apparently he kicked the
bucket in considerable pain. (-)
Absolute synonymy 3• Absolute synonyms are extremely rare, and one could easily generalize
that it is impossible to find plausible candidates for absolute synonymy(in a language)
• There is no obvious motivation for the existence of two absolute synonyms in a language, but a
difference in semantic function is always expected to develop.
• The fact that the ones in the previous slides can be marked with + or – reflect the fact that some
degree of difference can be outlined in their acceptability, and as a consequence, they cannot be
viewed as absolutely synonymous in a strict sense
Absolute synonymy 4 • Identity of meaning could be identified between different forms
belonging to different varieties of the same language
We can find absolute synonymy When we go from a variety of a language to another (like
American and British)  • Autumn and Fall in British English and American English respectively.
They are not different to translational equivalents in different languages. (In It. both are translated
as autunno)•Can you think of any other example?  cookies/biscuits , elevator/lift, sidewalk/
footpath/ pavement , eggplant/aubergine, zucchini/ courgettes , tap/ faucet (rubinetto)  these
are all absolute synonyms  the variety is different
• Fall would be less normal than autumn in a sentential context marked as British English
Propositional synonymy • It can be defined in logical terms. Propositional synonyms can be
substituted in any declarative sentence salva veritate, that is without changing its truth-value
• By this criterion begin and commence are propositional synonyms, because if «The lecture
began at nine o’clock», then so «The lecture commenced at nine o’clock»
Propositional synonymy 2 • Differences in meaning in propositional synonyms involve one or
more aspects of non-propositional meaning, namely
• Differences in expressive meaning  convey the same message, their content is put across in
different ways(1a) I just felt a sudden sharp pain. (1b) Ouch!
• Differences of stylistic level (the colloquial/formal dimension)  buy/purchase
• Differences of presuppositional contexts  the king of France is bald
Propositional synonymy – Examples
• Resolute – Stubborn – Determined• She's utterly resolute in her refusal to apologise.
(FORMAL) • He is as stubborn as a mule (NEGATIVE CONNOTATION) • She‘s sure to get the job she
wants. She is a very determined person.
• Solitude – Loneliness• He began to like those moments in solitude (POSITIVELY EVALUATED)
• They suffer from isolation, poverty and loneliness (NEGATIVELY EVALUATED)
• Resign – Quit – Throw in the Towel • She resigned as director. • I’m going to quit psychiatry.
I’ve had enough. • After losing the election, he threw in the towel on his political career. (IT
SUGGESTS DEFEAT)
NEAR-SYNONYMY
• It can be assessed on the basis of speakers’ intuitions
• Near Synonyms involve minor differences and are usually interchangeably used in dictionary
definitions
• Minor differences might include the following:
• Adjacent position on a scale of degree: big – huge; disaster – catastrophe; laugh – chuckle
• Certain adverbial specializations of verbs: amble-stroll; chuckle – giggle; drink – quaff
• Aspectual distinctions: calm – placid (state vs. disposition)
• Differences of prototype centre: brave (prototypically physical) – courageous (usually involves
intellectual and moral factors)
NEAR-SYNONYMY 2• Kill – murder – execute – assassinate
• Laugh – chuckle – giggle – snigger
• Walk – stroll – stride – amble
• Anxious – nervous – worried – apprehensive – fearful
• Brave – courageous – bold – plucky – heroic
• Calm – placid – tranquil – peaceful – serene
• These words are not necessarily propositionally identical, so for some of them it is possible to
say• He wasn’t murdered. He was executed • He was plucky, but not heroic
NEAR-SYNONYMY 3• Near-synonyms often occur in the test frame X, or rather Y which signals
that Y conveys information that is not totally present in X, and that the difference is relatively
minor• So, it is possible to say• He was murdered, or rather he was executed but not
• *He was murdered, or rather beaten up.  the meaning of beating up is not a synonym of
murdered
• Near-synonyms are words which share a common core of meaning, but differ in minor aspects.
NEAR-SYNONYMY 4• Synonyms often come in clusters and are grouped around a more central
instance, which subsumes all the characteristics of a given group. While other exemplars of a set
represent elaborations on some aspects.
Exercise 
1. The word can be a synonym for the words "light" and "just". blond fair honest
2. The word can be a synonym for the words "new" and "story". film book novel
3. The word can be a synonym for the words "exhausted" and "hit". beat knock tired
4. The word can be a synonym for the words "flame" and "shoot". burn fire hot
5. The word can be a synonym for the words "floor" and "tale". basis end story
6. The word can be a synonym for the words "faucet" and "strike". blow drop tap
7. The word can be a synonym for the words "nice" and "penalty". fine pleasant punishment
8. The word can be an antonym for the words "wrong" and "left". correct right true
9. The word can be an antonym for the words "easy" and "soft". difficult hard mild
10. The word can be an antonym for the words "heavy" and "dark". light night weight
Typologies of paradigmatic relations• Three main categories of paradigmatic sense relations
can be identified• Identity• Synonymy
• Inclusion• Hyponymy • Meronymy
• Opposition
Relations of Inclusion: Hyponymy
• Hyponymy represents a specific type of inclusion, namely the inclusion of one class in another,
as in the case of car and vehicle, where cars constitute a subclass of the larger class of vehicles
• The more specific item is called a hyponym (dog, apple), and the more general term is called a
superordinate (or hyperonym) (animal, fruit)
Hyponimy 2• Hyponymy can be thought of as an “X is a Y” relation, which guarantees the truth
of general statements such as “A dog is an animal” or “An apple is a fruit”, while the opposite is
obviously not true•*”A fruit is an apple” •*”An animal is a dog”

Hyponimy 3• Two sense relations are necessary in this configuration: daughter-nodes must be
hyponyms of their respective mother-nodes (dog → animal; insect → creature), while sister-
nodes (cohyponyms) are mutually incompatible (dog ¹ cat; robin ¹ eagle)
• Apple in the previous example is a hyponym of fruit, but at the same time a hyperonym of
Golden Delicious and Granny Smith. In addition, it is in a mutual exclusion relation with pear and
banana
Hyponimy 4• The implication of hyponymy is that the vocabulary of a language has a
hierarchical organization with degrees of generality and inclusion. So dog is hyponym of animal,
which in turn is a hyponym of mammal and so on. But not all the words in the language are so
ordered
Relations of Inclusion: meronymy• Meronymy is a part-whole relation. Examples of meronyms
are hand(holonym)-finger(meronym), carengine; tree-branch.
• In the case of finger-hand, finger is said to be the meronym and hand the holonym
• It shows an interesting parallel with hyponymy, but the two do not have to be confused. A dog is
not a part of an animal, and a finger is not a kind of hand
• Prototypical meronymous pairs, where X is a meronym of Y are normal in frames such, as X is a
part of Y; a Y has an X; the parts of Y are X, A and B

 different parts composing a hole

Typologies of paradigmatic relations• Three main categories of paradigmatic sense relations
can be identified• Identity• Synonymy
• Inclusion• Hyponymy • Meronymy
• Opposition
Relations of Opposition and Exclusion• They can be further subdivided in• Relations of
incompatibility and co-meronymy • Opposites
Relations of incompatibility • This relation concerns mutual exclusion of classes: if something is
a cat, then it follows that it cannot be a dog.
• Incompatibles are terms which denote classes which share no members (e.g. animal: cat, dog,
mouse)
• Co-hyponyms are not necessarily incompatible in the above sense queen and mother are
both hyponyms of woman, but there is nothing which prevents someone who is a queen from
being also a mother
• Similarly, it might seem that novel and paperback can be considered as compatible co-
hyponyms of book. But in fact they are in a relation of incompatibility, since they are hyponyms
of different senses of book. • Superordinate: Book TOME • Hyponyms: paperback, hardback
• Superordinate: Book TEXT • Hyponyms: novel, biography, textbook
Relations of incompatibility• A relation of exclusion parallel to that between cohyponyms is the
one which holds between comeronyms
• If X and Z are parts of the same individual Y, then A is a part of X unilaterally entails A is not a
part of Z, that is sister parts do not overlap.
• Nose, cheek, chin of face, or wheel, engine and wheels of a car do not overlap. The exclusion in
these cases is at least prototypically spatial: the sister parts of an individual do not have any
material substance in common we can say that comeronyms are incompatible
Opposites• Opposites are incompatible terms of a special type, i.e. they are contrasting terms,
which differ along a specific dimensions. They are usually mentioned in pairs.
• Some properties of opposites are• Binarity opposites are incompatibles by definition, but
there can only be two members of a set of opposites.
• Inherentnessit concerns a type of binarity which is pragmatic or accidental, as opposed to
something that is logical.
• 2 main sources of heat for cooking, i.e. gas and electricity, but they do not represent opposite
terms, because their binarity is the result of contextual factors (other sources might be discovered
in the future).
• Movement along a vertical axis: the possibilities of movement in this case are logically limited to
two: the binarity of the pair updown is thus ineluctable, and the adjectives form a satisfactory pair
of opposites
Typologies of opposites• Opposites fall into a number of relatively clearly-defined types, the
most important of which are• Complementaries • Antonyms • Directional Opposites
• Converses
Complementaries
• They constitute a very basic form of oppositeness and show inherent binarity in its purest form.
• Negating either terms in a complementary relation logically implies the other term. So, if
something falls within a class, it cannot fall in the other.
• Complementaries can be characterised by the following logical relation• F(X) entails and is
entailed by not-F(Y)• The door is open > The door is not closed • Mary passed the exam > Mary
did not fail the exam • The answer is not true > The answer is false
Complementaries 2
• They do not allow any intermediate term in between and exhaustively divide a domain into
two mutually exclusive compartments.  Cfr. *He is neither dead nor alive. / * The answer is
true, but also false.
• They are not gradable. • *He is more alive than you. • *He is moderately alive/very dead
• Some statements with complementaries can be used with degree modification, but only in a
figurative sense. • What you say is very true > I agree with what you say • He’s more dead than
alive > He’s (probably) very ill
Some examples of complementaries• True-False • Open-Shut • Dead-Alive • Stationary-Moving
• Male-Female
Antonymssometimes is also general term used to indicate the opposites category
• Antonyms(this term is also sometimes used for the entire category of opposites) are gradable
adjectives i.e. they can be modified without oddness by intensifiers such as very, rather,
extremely, and so on.
• Unlike complementaries, they do not exhaustively divide a domain in two. There is a neutral
area between them, which can be described as neither belonging to any of them
SHORT Neither long nor shortLONG
Antonyms 2• Antonyms fall into several relatively welldefined groups
• Polar Antonyms, ex. long-short
• Overlapping Antonyms, ex. good-bad
• Equipollent Antonyms, ex. hot-cold
Polar antonyms• They can occur in the comparative and superlative degreeslong-longer-
longest; light-lighter, lightest, but need to be interpreted in relation to some reference value
• They can indicate degrees of objective, usually measurable properties.
• They are fully gradable and occur with a variety of intensifiers, very, slightly, rather, quite, a bit,
too, long
• They are incompatibles, but not complementaries. It’s neither long nor short is not a
contradiction so they can live together
• Comparative forms stand in a converse relationship. If X and Y are two polar antonyms, and A
and B two nouns to which these adjectives can be applied, saying A is X-er than B entails B is
Y-er than A.• A is heavier than B > B is lighter than A • Mary is younger than Tom > Tom is older
than Mary
Examples of polar antonyms• Long-short; • Young/old • Fast-slow; • Wide-narrow; • Heavy-
light; • Strong-weak; • Large-small; • Thick-thin; • High-low; • Deep-shallow Some objectively
measurable property They need reference to an intermediate standard: “Long compared to
what?”
Equipollent antonyms• Equipollent antonyms typically denote sensations, sensory perceptions
or emotions, or evaluations based on subjective reactions rather than on objective standards 
• happy-sad; • proud of-ashamed of; • hot-cold; • bitter-sweet; • painful-pleasurable • nice-nasty
• pleasant-unpleasant
Overlapping antonyms• The members of the class of Overlapping antonyms have an
evaluative character, one member being positive, the other derogatory. (also in this case with
subjective evaluation)  • good-bad; • kind-cruel; • clever-dull; • pretty-plain; • polite-rude •
dirty-clean • honest/dishonest • dangerous/safe
Directional opposites • They are of two main types• Static direction, which include
straightforward directions and extremes along an axis• up-down; • backwards-forwards;
• north-south; • into-out; • east-west • top-bottom
Directional opposites 2• Dynamic directional opposites, usually called reversives, are
represented by verbs denoting change or motion in opposite directions• rise-fall; • advance-
retreat; • increase-decrease; • lengthen-shorten; • dress-undress; • tie-untie; • mount-dismount;
• enter-leave; • damage-repair • appear-disappear
Converses • They are usually defined as a sub-type of directional opposites. They can also be
called relational opposites
• Some of them have a salient directional character, such as precede/follow; lend/borrow (the
thing lent/borrowed moves from/towards the person denoted by the subject), bequeath/inherit;
buy/sell (double movements of money and of goods)
• Others have a less clear relation with movements • Above-below; • In front of-behind 
• The tree is in front of the house • The house is behind the tree • Before-after • Buy-sell; 
• John sold the car to Bill for £.5000• Bill bought the car from John for £.5000
Converses 2• Parent-offspring • Husband-wife• John is Sarah’s husband. • Sarah is John’s
wife. • Lend-borrow• Jim borrowed a bike from Tom • Tom lent a bike to Jim
• Both terms can be used to describe the same state of affairs, A is above B means the same as B
is below A, except with respect to which element serves as a reference point. Similarly A is B’s
parent means the same as B is A’s offspring
Exercise 2  Examine the passage and find the following instancesA. a synonym of small b. an
antonym of dull c. a hyponym of game D. a word which is the superordinate of pine e. a
synonym for chubby
Rose Brightwater had, even then, the flawless, pale skin that was to be the envy of all the girls at
St Hilda's as her form (2) came to match it as she moved from (E) plump (A)little body to filling
designer swimsuits on the patio next to the family pool under the shade of the giant conifers with
casually studied grace and elegance of proportion. At Kingswood Primary, however, and in primer
one in the classrooms which opened with large doors out onto the playground, these changes
were still to be. Rose was the last of three. Her brothers did what was required of them. They
played football for their prep school. They sang in the cathedral choir. They were tall for their age,
bright for their age, enjoyed reading, and music, but that was not held against them in the circles
in which the Brightwaters moved.
PRAGMATICSAn Introduction
Origins of Pragmatics past forty years > an increasing interest in Pragmatics and pragmatic
issues. Why has pragmatics become so popular in the last decades?
Late 1960s – early 1970scollapse of earlier linguistic theories and certainties.
Previous theories developed by illustrious linguists, such as Chomsky’s, were put under discussion
SYNTAX before only syntax was considered and used (a syntax-only approach)
Why were these theories partially rejected? Linguists and philosophers recognised the fact that
there were several linguistic issues that remained totally unexplained (syntax wasn’t enough)
Colorless green ideas sleep furiously (Chomsky 1957)
They started questioning• fixed concepts of Syntax and Semantics • the relationship between
logic and language • extralinguistic >< linguistic factors • relation between speakers and contexts
Developing an increasing interest in pragmaticsshift from the fixed assumptions of a
theoretical grammar (syntax) to an increasing interest in language users
We have two different approaches when we are analysing language  and we have to use both to
have a complete understanding
Traditional Approach Analysis of the language often focuses on words, phrases, the structure of
sentences and the way in which users build sentences. Interest in the end-product
Pragmatic Approach Analysis concentres on language used by human beings and the way in
which they use it. Interest in the process of producing language and in its producers
First Definitions of Pragmatics
•Charles Morris (1938): “the study of the relation of signs and interpreters”.
•Jerrold Katz (1977): “Grammars are theories about structure of sentence type […] Pragmatic
theories, in contrast, […] explicate the reasoning of speakers and hearers”.
•Stephen Levingson (1983): “the study of those relations between language and context that are
grammaticalized or encoded in the structure of a language”
N. Chomskywould have called this new science“the study of performance” The way in
which humans use language, the way in which they choose to use language and the way in
which they interact which each other.
•David Crystal (1997) Pragmatics is the study of language from the point of view of users,
especially of the choices they make, the constraints they encounter in using language in social
interaction and the effects their use of language has on other participants in the act of
communication.
•Verschueren (1999) Pragmatics is a general cognitive, social, and cultural perspective on
linguistic phenomena in relation to their usage in forms or behavior.
•Jacob Mey (2001) Pragmatic wastebasket is more like a can of worms: the problem is that the
basket contains tend to spill over into all the domains of linguistic thinking. Instead of making
linguistics neat and clean, in the best logical or mathematical style, the wastebasket imposes its
unruly order on our explanations.
So, what is the aim of pragmatics? 
•Pragmatics is needed if we want a fuller, deeper and generally more reasonable account of
human language behaviuor.
•Through a pragmatic analysis we avoid «ambiguity»
A: «I just met an old Irishman and his son, coming out of the toilet»
B: «I wouldn’t have thought there was room for the two men»
A: «No silly, I mean, I was coming out of the toilet. They were wating»
How can we avoid ambiguity? •Among real speakers, i.e. in authentic communicative
situations, ambiguity does not exist real speakers are not ambiguous (sentences can be)
•Ambiguity appears when sentences uttered by the speaker are not within the context;
•Sentences can be ambiguous, real speakers are not;
•Implicatures  •Deixis two key topics in pragmatics
PresuppositionIn the branch of linguistics known as pragmatics, a presupposition is an implicit
assumption about the world or background belief relating to an utterance whose truth is taken
for granted in discourse
Ex- Jane no longer sings Elton John’s song. Presupposition: Jane once sang that song.
- Have you stopped drinking milk? Presupposition: you had at least once drunk milk.
- Have you talked to Catherine? Presupposition: Catherine exists.
According to pragmaticians, presuppositions are always linked to the context
- John doesn’t regret having failed the exam, because in fact he passed.
Context •CONCEPT OF CONTEXT it can be considered “what happened before”.
•DYNAMIC CONTEXT the environment created by the speakers while they are talking. 
-It is not a static concept - It allows speakers to be intelligible - Taking context into accont means
not to analyse words in its isolation.
ex: You have a green light
It could mean that the space that belongs to you has green ambient lighting.
It could mean that you are driving through a green traffic signal.
It could mean that you no longer have to wait to continue driving.
It could mean that you are permitted to proceed in a non-driving context.
It could mean that your body has a green glow.
It could mean that you possess a light bulb that is tinted green.
Meaning is something contextual with respect to language and the world
Context can be
- Linguistic conventional meaning of words
- Situational the meaning of the words depends on the specific situation in which the
communicative exchange is happening
- Socio-cultural words and utterances can have different interpretations according to the socio-
cultural context in which they are used.
“Since language is developed in a social context, its use is governed by society rather than by the
speakers” (Mey, 2001)
On the phone… A: Can you please come over again right now?
B: Well, I have to go to the headquarter today, Sir.
A: Hmmm, can you come over tomorrow?
Situational context-Presuppositions-Implicatures-References
Implications and ImplicaturesThe notion of implicature is that to provide some explicit account
of how it is possible to mean more than what is actually said. (that means more than what is
literally expressed by the conventional sense of the linguistic expressions uttered)
The term IMPLICATURE derives from the verb “to imply”.
This verb comes from the Latin verb “plico” that means “TO FOLD SOMETHING INTO SOMETHING
ELSE”. This term means the ACTION OF INCORPORETING SOMETHING INTO SOMETHING ELSE.
Therefore, an implicature is something which is implied in the communicative exchange, that is,
something which is left implicit in actual language use. Implicatures are part of our everyday
language because we often convey meanings that are not explicit in our utterances but are implied
by them.
Herbert Paul Grice• He worked in 40s and 50s • He talked about his new theory in a lecture in
1967. • In 1975 he pubblished “Logical Coversation” in which he theorized the “Theory of
Implicatures” • Unfortunatly he never fully developed his theory but it is considered a very
influential approach • Basically, it explains how and what the hearer gets from what is said and
what is implied.
E.g.: A: Can you tell me the time? B: Well, the milkman has come. - Analyse this communicative
exchange and share your observations with the class Pragmatic explanationA: Do you have
the ability to tell me the time? B: the milkman came at some time prior to the time of speaking -
SO A: Do you have the ability to tell me the time of the present moment, as standarly indicated
on a watch? and if so please do so tell me B: No, I don’t know the exact time of the present
moment, but I can provide some information from which you may be able to deduce the
approximate time, namely the milkman has already come.
What is clear is the fact that there is a GAP between the question and the answer A:Can you tell
me the time? B: Well, the milkman has come. In real communication participants work in order
to fill the gap and avoid misunderstandings. Focus on first, presuppositions – situational
context then (together) focus on implicatures
IMPLICATURESTHEY CAN BE DIVIDED IN TWO
1. CONVERSATIONAL IMPLICATURES
2. CONVENTIONAL IMPLICATURES
Conversational implicaturesimply the ability of participants in understanding meanings that are
implicit in conversation and hidden behind the literally meanings of words. Hearer is supposed to
listen to the speaker understanding and codifying utterances according to: context in which they
are, flow of speech event and logic information
Conventional implicaturesare not included in the actual process of communication, therefore…
They are non-truth-conditional inferences that are not derived form superordinate pragmatic
principles. THEY ARE SIMPLY ATTACHED BY CONVENTION TO PARTICULAR ITEMS OR EXPRESSIONS
Conventional Implicatures differ from Conversational Implicaturesbecause they can be
considered more tied with a traditional linguistic analysisthey are codified using a grammatical
approach. Grice (1957) studies the process of communication recognizing:
- Natural meaning of a sentence (what words together really mean)SENTENCE-MEANING
LITERAL MEANING
- Non-natural meaning of a sentence (intentional communication)SPEAKER-MEANING
CONVEYED MEANING
IT’S HOT IN HEREPossible explanations1. Please open the window 2. Is it all right if I open the
window? 3. You’re wasting electricity 4. I’d rather go outside (to have a walk) 5. Could I take off my
jacket? 6. Is it ok if I take off my jacket? 7. Could I have a glass of water?
Levinson states•TRADITIONAL APPROACH IS THE STUDY OF SENTENCE-MEANING (a sentence
is ruled by grammar, syntax and morphology)
•PRAGMATICS IS THE STUDY OF UTTERANCE-MEANING (an utterance is the issuance of a
sentence in a given context)
The most obvious way in which the relationship between the language and the context is
reflected in the structures of languages themselves is through DEIXIS
DEIXISinclude the use of•Demonstratives •First and second personal pronouns,• Tense
•Specific time and place adverbs •A variety of other grammatical features tied directly to the
circumstances of utterance.
DEIXIS- deals with the ways in which languages encode or grammaticalize features of the
context of utterance or speech act.
- deals with ways in which the interpretation of utterances depends on the analysis of the context
•ex: this: does not name to any particular entity on all occasions in use, but it refers to a specific
entity given by the context. (speaker’s pointing an object.)
•Carry this bag to house: - which bag is being referred to - to which house it is to be carried
>I’ll be back in an hour. (where?)
> Listen, I’m not disagreeing with you but with you, and not about this but about this. (who?,
what?)
>Meet me here a week from now. (where?, when?)
Deictic terms include the encoding of many different aspects of the circumstances surrounding an
utterance.
NATURAL LANGUAGES ARE “ANCHORED” DIRECTLY TO ASPECTS OF THE CONTEXT
DEIXIS tells us about the context from a linguistic point of view
Deixis can be approached in two different ways-Philosophical approach -Descriptive approach
Philosophical ApproachIt considers how truth-conditional semantics deals with certain natural
language expressions: Ex. THERE WAS A MAN ON MARS -context-dependent property
-existential relation between the sign and the referent
Descriptive approachDeixis can be divided in•PERSONAL DEIXIS •SPATIAL DEIXIS •TEMPORAL
DEIXIS
Personal deixis•I, II, III personal pronounsThey classify the role of the participants in the
speech event in which the utterance in question is delivered.
• First person: the speaker refers to himself;
•Second person: the speaker refers to the addressee;
• Third person: reference to someone or something that is neither the speaker nor the hearer of
the utterance in question.
Spatial deixis• They concern the encoding of spatial locations in relation to the location of the
participants in the speech event: distinction bw. Distance and Proximity
(There/Here – Go/Come – That/This)
Adverds Verbs Adjectives
• Physical / Psychological (deixis)I come later: (projection of myself into a location)
Temporal deixis• They concern the encoding of temporal points and spans in relations to the
time at which an utterance is spoken. Adverbs: now, then, today, yesterday, this year
Two views theorized by Fillmoreby identifying two different
ENCODING TIME (Time adverbs can be relative to the time when an utterance is made)  the
same time of the speech event
DECONDING TIME (Time adverbs can be relative to the time when the utterance is heard)

Fillmore (1971b)Two kinds of deictic usage

Gesture usage(deictic connected to gesture)terms used in a gestural deictic way can only be
interpreted with reference to an audio-visual monitoring of the speech event;
it requires a moment by moment physical monitoring of the speech event for interpreting
utterances ex: This one is genuine, this one is a fake. ex: She’s not the lady, she is. She’s the
nurse personal deictic that needs space to be understood
Symbolic usage in order to interpret the utterance it requires only knowledge of the spatio-
temporal parameters of the speech event.
it makes reference only to contextual co-ordinates available to participants antecedent to the
utteranceex. This city is beautiful. ex: we cannot go on holidays this year
Exercise: gesture usage, symbolic usage or ND?
-You, you, but not you, are dismissed gesture usage
-What did you say? mainly symbolic usage
-You can never tell what sex they are nowadaysSU/NDbecause it is a general use of you it is
not so important to say whether this phrase is symbolic or personal, the meaning does not change
-This finger hurtsgesture usage
-This city stinks  SU/ND
-Here you aresymbolic usage
-Push now, not nowgesture usage
-That’s a wonderful view  Symbolic usage
-Now, this is not what I said symbolic usage
Grice’s cooperative principle and maxims of conversation
In order to start considering the pragmatic analysis, it is necessary to take into account other two
principles that can be considered at the basis of every communicative process
1. COMMUNICATIVE PRINCIPLE (Mey 2001, 68)
2. COOPERATIVE PRINCIPLE (Grice 1975, 1989)
Communicative Principle• It represents speakers’ and hearers’ will to interact with each other.
•People want to talk with the intention to communicate something to somebody.
• THIS IS THE FONDATION OF LINGUISTIC BEHAVIOR (no matter how one may try, one cannot
communicate) communicative more objective and more related to the content
Cooperative Principle• It represents speakers’ and hearers’ intention to cooperate in order to
build a speech event.
•Communication requires people to cooperate.
•Conversations can develop only if both speakers and hearers want to take actively part in the
process.
•Cooperation is an essential factor in communication, in other words, it is the expectation that
the listener has toward the speaker.
Cooperative PrincipleAccording to Grice“make your contribution such as required, at the
stage at which it occurs, by the accepted purpose or direction of the talk exchange in which are
engaged”.
Grice identifies as guidelines of the Cooperative Principle FOUR BASIC MAXIMS OF
CONVERSATION These maxims specify what participants have to do in order to converse in a
maximally efficient, rational and cooperative way Grice's Maxims are minimal agreements
needed to interact
Participants of a communicative process should 1. Speak Clearly 2. Speak Relevantly 3. Be
Sincere 4. Provide Sufficient Information.
Maxims of Conversation1. The Maxim of Quantity 2. The Maxim of Quality 3. The Maxim of
Relation 4. The Maxim of Manner
The Maxim of Quantity The Maxim of Quantity relates to the amount of information provided
in conversations.
Grice proposes this maxim as an explanation for a certain kind of regularity in conversational
behavior with respect to the amount of information provided in each turn of a conversation
•Make your contribution as informative as required
•Do not make your contribution more informative that is required
= make your contribution as informative as required for the purpose of exchange
Ex. A. Do you have the time? B. Yes, It’s 10 o’clock A person that is listening to this
conversation finds it normal because the maxim is observed.
Given the purpose of the conversation, the boy contributes only as much information as is
required. – neither excessive like “it’s 9:30 at night, Greenwich Mean Time, 20 May 2009, …”
- nor inadequate like, “it’s night time”.
Ex. A. Tim, can I have Ben’s telephone number? B. Yes A person that is listening to this
conversation finds Tim’s behaviour weird because the maxim is violated.
Given the purpose of the conversation, less information is provided than is required.
Answers expected- Yes, Ben’s number is XXXX -Yes, I’ll check on my phone and I’ll text you
The Maxim of QualityThe Maxim of Quality requires information provided in conversations to
be genuine and justified.
Grice proposes this maxim as an explanation for a certain kind of regularity in conversational
behavior with respect to the authenticity of information provided at each turn of a conversation.
• Do not say what you believe to be false
• Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence
= try to make your contribution one that is true
Ex. A. Tim, do you know where the Empire State Building is ? B. Yes, it’s in New York. A person
that is listening to this conversation finds it normal because the maxim is observed.
Given the purpose of the conversation, Jim does not contribute what he believes to be false and
to be unsubstantiated. - Untrue: It’s in Paris
Ex. A. Tim, how do you like this novel? B. Oh, I like the red cover. A person that is listening to
this conversation finds Tim’s behaviour weird because the maxim is violated.
Given the purpose of the conversation, Tim says something that evidently she does not believe in
(i.e. she told a lie).
Answers expected- I do not like this novel -I only appreciated the mail character
The Maxim of Relation/RelevanceGrice proposes this maxim as an explanation for a certain
kind of regularity in conversational behavior with respect to the relevance of information
provided at each turn of a conversation
•Make your contribution relevant
Relation: (pertinent to context)
Abrupt changes in topics, for example, We're gossiping about a mutual friend and I say, after a
moment of silence, "Nice weather."
Ex. A. Tim, how do you like your steak cooked? B. Mmm, medium rare, please. A person that is
listening to this conversation finds it normal because the maxim is observed.
Given the purpose of the conversation, the boy contributes what is relevant for the purpose of
the conversation. – not irrelevant like “I like steak very much” or “What nice weather!”
Ex. A. Tim, would you like to go to the cinema tonight? B. Oh, I like rock music. A person that is
listening to this conversation finds Tim’s behaviour weirdbecause the maxim is violated.
Given the purpose of the conversation, Tim’s contribution is irrelevant for the purpose of the
conversation.
Answers expected-It’s a good idea! Let’s go! -Sorry, but I have to study tonight
The Maxim of Manner The Maxim of Manner is related to how something is being said in the
conversation.
Grice proposes this maxim as an explanation for a certain kind of regularity in conversational
behavior with respect to the way information is provided at each turn of a conversation
•Avoid obscurity • Avoid ambiguity •Be brief • Be orderly = be perspicuous
Ex. A. What did John do when he saw King’s new book? B. He bought it and read it. A person
that is listening to this conversation finds it normal because the maxim is observed.
Given the purpose of the conversation, information are given following a specific logic order.
Ex. A. What did John do when he saw King’s new book? B. He read it and bought it. A person
that is listening to this conversation finds Tim’s behaviour weirdbecause the maxim is violated.
Given the purpose of the conversation, information give are not logically presented.
Additional maxims theorized by others (not by Grice)
• Politeness maxim (Bach & Harnish) speaker must not be offensive, vulgar, rude, etc.

•Morality maxim (Bach & Harnish) speaker doesn't repeat, ask for privileged information, do
thing "ought not to", etc.
= behave and develop communicative exchanges following moral parameters of the socio-cultural
background in which speakers are acting
Reasons for Violation
• If someone wants to deceive the listener
• If someone does not want to answer/ give information requested
•To produce sarcasm and irony
•Intercultural differences
If maxims are violated implicatures: to fill the conversational gap
Grundy (2000) states that whenever a maxim is flouted there must be an implicature to save the
utterance from simply appearing to be a faulty contribution to a conversation.
Violation of MaximsWhen a maxim is violated, meanings are affected  IMPLICATURE
Listeners search for an explanation to account for the violationViolation illustrates
• that we take maxims seriously
• that we can mean more than we actually say
• It’s how we can say things without really saying them
• syntactic and semantic rules are not enough to explain how sentences convey meaning
• When violated we assume the person could have fulfilled maxim but choose not to, hence look
for a reason
Ex. A. Tim, what time is it? B. It's two o'clock, in fact Sue has just rung the bell, and now it's Sunday
A person that is listening to this conversation finds Tim’s behaviour weirdbecause the maxim
of quantity is flouted.
Given the purpose of the conversation, more information is provided than is required.
Implicature- Sue is a kind of ‘on time’ person -Sue always comes at two o’clock
Ex. A. Tim, what is the capital of Spain? B. Oh, I believe it’s Moskow, or maybe Berlin; I’m not good
in Geography. A person that is listening to this conversation finds Tim’s behaviour weird
because the maxim of quality is flouted.
Tim flouts the maxim since he gives insincere answer for the girl's question.
Implicature: Tim doesn't know exactly about Capital City of Spain
Ex. A. Tim, have you done your homework? B. My bicycle is broken, mum. A person that is
listening to this conversation finds Tim’s behaviour weirdbecause the maxim of relation is
flouted. Given the purpose of the conversation, its implicature arises when the speaker
deviates from the particular topic being asked and discussed.
Implicature: The son tries to direct his mother’s concern away from the question which he does
not like
Ex. A. What did John do when he saw King’s new book? B. He read it and bought it. A person
that is listening to this conversation finds Tim’s behaviour weird because the maxim of manner
is flouted.
Given the purpose of the conversation, information given are not logically presented.
Violations of the Maxim of Manner can take many forms
• Order of presentation of information
• Vagueness and ambiguity
• Volume and pace
• Choice of words
• Attitude
• Even facial/gestural expressions