Common nouns types (2)
- Derived: -ness, -ity… NB: Zero derivation if nothing changes (x- a smile)
- Composed: 2 basis, not always 1 word. Result of the semantic relation having changed.
Determiners (3 info)
- Reduce reference potential of a noun
- Give info about the actualisation of the referent
- Give locations (how the referent is located vàv speaker)
Types of determiners (11)
- Articles THE, AN, ∅.
- Quantifiers
- Demonstratives
- Possessives
- Genitives
- SOME and ANY: referent is undetermined
- Relatives (x- He gave me what money he had)
- Interrogatives (x- Which one do you like?)
- Exclamatives
- Complex quantifiers (x- a lot of bread)
- Predeterminers (Both the students were there)
Types of pronouns (7)
They need an antecedent, otherwise not understandable.
- Personal pronouns
- Demonstratives (this, that)
- Relatives (who, which, that…)
- Quantifiers (each of them did)
- Interrogatives (What is it?)
- One (the one I asked you for)
- Composed with SOME, ANY and NO (something)
Auxiliaries
- DO
- HAVE and BE
- Modality: CAN, MAY, SHALL, WILL, MUST
NICE properties
- Negation: needs auxiliary for a clause to be negated
- Inversion: to construct interrogatives, inversion.
- Code: question tags. Message not said but can be understood.
- Emphasis: on polarity (= actualisation or non-actualisation of the process), not on the semantical content of the lexical verb.
Adjectives properties
- Says the property of a referent
- Cannot picture that property alone: necessarily linked to referent
- Syntactic pov: always predicative, meaning linked to a noun
Types of adjectives
- Evaluative
- Descriptive
- Determinative: speak of the actualisation of the referent, x- utter madness, my own car
- Classifying: category within the category, x- little finger, high chair, presidential election
Composition of adjectives (5)
- Simple
- Derived
- Composed
- Adjectival present participles: adjective no longer a dynamic process but a property (x- charming: not act, but property)
- Adjectival past participles: same logic.
Adverbs (they modify + types)
They can modify : > An adj: a most affectionate father > Another adv: She sang very beautifully > An NP: too long ago > A verb: She’s always complaining
Types:
> Interrogative: How did you do it?
> Exclamative: How beautiful it is!
> Degree: It’s very beautiful.
> Frequency: He always brings us a present.
> Also adverbial particles (x- give up : up does not have a literal semantic reference)
Prepositions
- Role: linking.
- Spatial or temporal relations, sometimes metaphors.
- Introduce a NP usually (or nominal clause)
- Can be complex: in front of
- Particles: no longer semantic weight and fused with another word to form a lexical unit (x- look after)
Coordinating conjunctions
They allow for worsd of the same category to be linked: AND, OR, BUT.
> BUT: adversative, includes negation. Allows to contradict the semantical content of a constituant.
> AND and OR are a subcategory:
- AND is actualization
- OR is potential
BOTH close lists. Role of focalizer, draw attention to the last element.
Subordinating conjunctions
Also allow for groups to be linked, but only introduce propositions.
- Imply a hierarchy: they sub-ordinate, 1 superior.
- Every word introducing a clause by subordinating it is a conjunction: before, after, if, whether…
- Some are complex, like x- so that.
Difference btw preposition and conjunction
Some are the same words:
x- He arrived after I did = after is a conjunction
x- He arrived after the meeting = after is a preposition
= The difference: conjunctions introduces a clause, and prepositions NPs.
AS: different uses
- Preposition: He works as a teacher in a primary school
- Subordinating conjunction: As it was hot, I had to leave
- Adverb: It’s just as bad
- Relative: They will be here tomorrow, as you know (can be replaced by WHICH)
NB: in comparative “I’m as strong as you are”, 1st AS is adverb (modifies adj) and 2nd is conjunction (introduces a clause). “I’m as strong as you”, 2nd AS is preposition introducing NP “you”.
AS: semantic pov
AS puts 2 entites on the same level, seen w/ 1 common characteristic. Expresses an identity.
> She works as a teacher : identity btw “she” and “teacher”
> They will be here tomorrow, as you know : can be replaced by “which” because we have the idea of identity, seeing that we already knew.
> John is as nice as Mary : 2 AS, different semantic idea. Fist: comparison necessitates a close-up (said by the 2nd AS). Close-up confirmed by 1st AS, which is actually second in the order of the construction since allows for John to be talked about.
= Notion of equality is therefore derived from 1st meaning of AS, close-up and identity.
SO: different uses
>
Adverb : I’m so cold, I think so, It happened so quickly. Conjunction : I was very cold, so we had to stay indoors.
NB: SO THAT. Problem: either SO… THAT is a conjunction, or SO is adverb and THAT conjunction. Explain the difficulty of categorization, interesting.
NB: Reason why SO is difficult to describe syntactically is because semantically it has 2 meanings: cause + high degree.
The 3 relative pronouns
> The green screens that surrounded the bed: no new information in THAT, only a reminder. Typical of THAT relatives: information is defocalized.
> The car crash which had killed his parents: WH- pronouns tend to introduce relatives which semantic content is not yet acquired. Information in the relative is put in the foreground.
> All she could think about was the fact she had allied herself with terrible people. Zero relative indicates maximum defocalization. BUT not possible when the noun is subject (*the book is on the table is mine).
