Introduction to English Syntax Level 1 Course Ron

Introduction to English Syntax Level 1 Course Ron Kuzar Department of English Language and Literature University of Haifa Chapter 5 Copular Sentences: Linking Verbs and Word Order

Linking Verbs • Certain verbs may replace the copula be in Cop sentences: • These are called linking or copular verbs. • For example: – John was / became an engineer. – Mary is / looks sick. – The book was / remained on the shelf. (N Cop) (A Cop) (P Cop) • Linking verbs join the group of grammatical verbs (modals and Aux. ). • They have no valency.

Replacing Be in the N Cop Sentence • The following linking verbs are used in N Cop sentences: seem, remain, and become, and to a lesser extent stay and turn. – Fred was a successful reporter seemed remained became (stayed) (turned)

Replacing Be in the A Cop Sentence • Many more linking verbs are used in A Cop sentences: feel, sound, smell, look, appear, seem, prove, become, get, grow, turn, taste. – The cheese is seems looks smells appears feels tastes spoiled.

More Examples – Barbara has been has become has turned – The project has been much happier extremely successful has proved has grown – Bandwidth has been has gotten has remained very slow

Replacing Be in the P Cop Sentence • Very few linking verbs operate in the P Cop sentence, among them: seem, appear, remain. – The book was appeared seemed remained in place

Terminological Note • Some of the linking verbs are dynamic; they are resultative linking verbs (e. g. turn, become). • They indicate a change of state. • This brings into question our distinction between events and states, and our assignment of the function of expressing states to copular sentences. • A possible solution: – A three-way division of situations: • Actions (agentive / intentional events) • Events (non-agentive events, including change of state) • States (non-events)

The Double Function of Some Verbs • The verb appear has two meanings, and may appear in identical contexts in both meanings: – to be (in the speaker’s view) Linking verb – to show up Lexical verb • The following sentence is ambiguous between a linking and a lexical verb: – The book appeared in place.

More on the Double Function of Verbs • Some verbs have a double function, but not in the same context: – They sounded the horn. – She felt the material. – He looked at her. Horn Material Her =Obj. =Obl. • As opposed to: – They sounded sick. – Her head felt hot. – He looked exhausted. Sick =Pred. Hot =Pred. Exhausted =Pred.

Idiomatic Linking Verbs • Some linking verbs have a very restricted distribution. They only co-occur with a single or a handful of nouns: – You can be / rest assured that all is well. – The children became / ran wild. – The speaker turned / fell silent. – They were / kept warm. – The door got / flew open. – They became / made friends.

Marked Word Order • Marked word order in Cop sentences involves the fronting of the predicate phrase (NP, AP, or PP). • This kind of sentence alternation is very rare. • When it happens, it leaves the verb be (or another linking verb) in final position. • This may happen if there is a need to emphasize the actual link between the subject and the predicate.

Examples of Predicate Fronting • The negation of the link may be stressed: – Einstein he is not. (N Cop sentence: He is not Einstein. ) • The link may be highlighted: – Interesting she certainly is. (A Cop sentence: She certainly is interesting). • Similarly: – Out of their minds they surely are (not). (P Cop sentence: They surely are (not) out of their minds. )

Another Word Order Alternation? • Should we consider the following sentences another order alternation? – on the tree were some strange circles of color. – And then, from around the corner appeared a big yellow fire truck. • Note that besides the fronting of the PP, we also see here the inversion of Subj. and V.

More Oddities • Note further that this alternation cannot be carried out with just any P Cop sentence: – *At home sat a man. • This is due to some semantic constraints (to be discussed in a future chapter). • However, syntactic alternations are mostly blind to semantic factors. • So this cannot be a word order alternation.

A Different Construction • On the other hand, constructions ARE sensitive to semantic considerations. • In one of the following chapters we will consider this form as a separate construction, a sentence pattern in its own right. • It is called the Locative Inversion sentence Pattern.

A Puzzle • The following verbs are not usually included in the group of linking verbs. – cost, mean, constitute. • Would you include them? • Consider them in the following sentences: – This toy costs three dollars. – Apnea means a suspension of breath during sleep. – You actions constitute a breach of our code of conduct. • Answer: ? ? ?

Sample Question • Classify the verbs in the following sentences as lexical or linking verbs: – They smelled the odorless flowers. – I kept awake for too long. – Suddenly the principal appeared in the courtyard. • Answers: – Smelled = lexical. – Kept = linking. – Appeared = lexical.

Homework • Classify the verbs in the following sentences as lexical or linking verbs: – Your plan may sound silly to someone else. – He might be sounding the horn. – The chattering audience fell silent. – The picture fell out of sync with the sound. – Mmm, this feels great! – She felt butterflies in her stomach. – I should have felt your pain. [Continued on the next slide]

– Suddenly a ship appeared on the horizon. – Some of the tiles appear in good shape. – The forum grew so big! – The forum grew so fast! – These guys ran the Boston Marathon last week. – The Boxer ran wild at Singapore Airport. – The window flew open. – The bird flew out. – She looks twice his age. – She looks twice at his photo.