Universidade Eduardo Mondlane

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

ELT-Day Shift: 4th Year-EDL III
Name: Samuel Matsinhe

A clause can be said to express a proposition by having a verb its centre and some
accompanying referential expressions. Lucas sends me a letter the verb interrelates the entities
the noun phrases.

This approach towards verbs is not applicable to all types of this category: James is sick/
James is a stupid person. In this case, the noun phrase is not a referring expression (stupid
person is a category of John).
There are verbs who demand one, two, three noun phrases:

i. John lies (Np) ii. She told the truth (two Nps) ii). I send her a latter (3 Nps)

In place of Np, we can find prep phrases or that-clause (called embedded clause).
I send the letter to her / she said that the teacher is on her way / that the teacher
is on her way said to her

Arguments are all types of obligatory possibly-referential constituent required

by the verb, which can be Np (subject or object), embedded clauses, prep phrases.
I showed her the picture. (I, her, the picture)

2. Causative verbs

They indicate a situation caused; they may be with or without embedded clause.
The proposition carried by embedded clause is entailed by the whole sentence.
She sprays them to sleep entails they(them) slept

causatives sentences entailments

She forced us to give up We gave up

The joke made them laugh They laughed

Marry had her boyfriend apologise Her boyfriend apologised

We have causative verbs (made, forced, had), extra arguments: subject of both
the causative verb and the ones shown in entailments. The subject of causative
verbs refers to whatever cause the situation shown by entailments. The causative
is carrying the same proposition as the entailed sentence.

Therefore, the meaning of causative sentences is: a situation caused by

whatever the subject noun refers to. The caused situation is described by
embedded clause.

The causes (causative verbs) can be regarded as superordinate terms for the
causative verb, where the meaning of hyponymy is the meaning of
superordinate with modifier. Therefore, we can get this entailment

X cause (‘clause’) entail ‘clause’

The joke made ‘them laugh’ ⟹ ‘they(them) laughed’

3. Adverbial’s diagnosis

Causative construction with or without embedded clause modified by adverbials

3. a) The mother fed Lana only pasta throughout the night

b) The mother caused Lana to eat only pasta throughout the night

c) Lana eats only pasta throughout the night

indirect causation- a situation in which an unintentional or long-rage interval act

causes another situation which stem from who or what acted upon the first. The
sentence a) describes an indirect causation.

This pattern of entailments (3a⟹ 3b) (3b⟹3c) shows that fed is a hyponym of
cause…to eat and it is not the only way of expressing this. The adverbial
throughout the night modifies the caused situation clearly described in entailed
clause b) particularly with eat other than having its modifying effect on the act of
giving. The direct causation is be yield from this example: The mother gave
Lana pasta.

Transitive sentences- are those clauses that have the following argument:
subject, direct object.

Intransitive clause- they are divided into two categories on the basis of types of
arguments they require. Unergative verbs - the subject require is consciously
responsible for all the event. This kind of verbs may be used with adverbs such
as carefully, triggering no problem of the sentence’s interpretation.

i. The goat went over the hill ii. The goat carefully went over the hill

Unacusative verbs- unlike the other type, this verb will not take adverbs such as
carefully. The goat died carefully. The volcano carefully erupted.

4. Situation types

Achievement-there is no stopping of the outcome, they are seen as instantaneous,

has no duration therefore impossible to use progressive aspect. We can use for
the first time a restitutive again.

i. A 50-year-old man John got a 17-year-old girl pregnant. ii. *A 50-year-old man
John is getting a 17-year-old girl pregnant. iii. A 50-year-old man John got a 17-
year-old girl pregnant again.

State-type cannot use progressive aspect nor the first time restitutive again.

i. A 17-year-old girl pregnant had pregnancy ii. *A 17-year-old girl pregnant was
having pregnancy iii. *A 17-year-old girl pregnant was having pregnancy again

Activity – the progressive is applicable; the actions is uninterrupted but first time
restitutive is not possible. i. She goes sick all the time. Ii. She is going sick all the
time. Iii. *She goes sick all the time again
Accomplishment- the progressive is possible; the action is spread out in time and
the first time use of restitutive again is possible. i. She had a baby. ii. She was
having a baby. iii. She had a baby again.

Agents and goals

Agent is the referent of an argument which is encoded as consciously being

responsible for what happens. Goals are end-point after which the event is over.

states (−goal) achievements ( +goal)

− Agent you owned a house you received a house

activities (−goal) accomplishment ( +goal)

she was looking at me the river flooded the meadow

+−Agent
she slept the court heard all the witnesses

States and activities go comfortably with for-phrases, which specify the duration
of the state or activity, because the goal is not part of the meaning.

She slept for two three hours

Locative goals phrases have roles in accomplishment clause when used with
verbs such as walk, crawl, fly, etc. they specify the goal that ends the activity
phase of accomplishment.

We walked back home