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Phrases Flashcards

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1
Q

What does marked mean?

A

irregular form

Markedness is the state of standing out as non-typical or divergent in comparison to a regular or more common form.

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2
Q

What does unmarked mean?

A

dominant default/minimum-effort form, “normal”

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3
Q

What are phrases in syntax?

A

like boxes for words of
specific word classes

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4
Q

What’s the head of a phrase?

A
  • the phrases’ most important element
  • cannot be omitted
  • determines membership of the phrase

“The dog” -> NP, dog = noun -> head of NP

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5
Q

What are head-only phrases?

A

phrases that only contain the head

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6
Q

What are expanded phrases?

A

phrases that contain additional words

“The little dog in the garden is very happy.”

The, little, in the garden are dependents of the head

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7
Q

How can phrases be described?

A

the boxed building blocks of a language

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8
Q

Which types of phrases are there?

A
  • Noun Phrase (NP)
  • Verb Phrase (VP)
  • Adjective Phrase (AdjP)
  • Adverb Phrase (AdvP)
  • Prepositional Phrase (PP)
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9
Q

What is the structure of Noun Phrases?

A
  1. Pre-head dependents (Determiner, modifier)
  2. Head
  3. Post-head dependents (complement, modifier, peripheral dependent)
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10
Q

What is a complement in NPs?

A
  • complements the meaning of the head
  • semantically close link to the head
  • can refer to only a limited number of heads

The students of French, His interest in sports, I like the notion that everything in life will be fine

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11
Q

What is a modifier in a NP as a post-head dependent?

A
  • restricts the meaning of the head
  • can be left out without major change of meaning
  • can refer to a lot of heads

The students in the classroom, The girl with the yellow dress, Is the car in front of the garage

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12
Q

What is a peripheral dependent?

A
  • provides extra meaning that is not necessary
  • usually with a comma
  • appositon & non-restrictive clause

My sister, who works at a supermarket, is going

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13
Q

What is a restrictive clause?

A

it restricts the head -> modifier

My neighbor’s dog which has been following me for days is barking loudly.

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14
Q

What is a non-restrictive clause?

A

provides optional meaning -> peripheral dependent

My neighbor’s dog, which has been following me for days, is barking loudly.

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15
Q

What is a nested phrase?

A

a phrase that is part of another phrase

the sloth (on the tree) -> PP which has a NP in it

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16
Q

Why are prepositional phrases exocentric?

A

the head cannot stand alone

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17
Q

What is the ordering principle for pre-head modifiers?

A
  1. ‘general’
  2. size
  3. age
  4. colour
  5. class 1 (-ed, -ing)
  6. provenance
  7. class 2
  8. Head
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18
Q

What is the structure of an Adverb Phrase?

A
  1. Pre-head dependents (Adv, AdvP)
  2. Head
  3. Post-head dependents (PP, Adv, clause)

very happily, so extremely beautifully, quickly enough, loudly for a small kid, faster than we had expected

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19
Q

What is the structure of an Adjective Phrase?

A
  1. Pre-head dependents (Adv, AdvP)
  2. Head
  3. Post-head dependents (Adv, PP, clause)

very happy, so extremely beautiful, good enough, pleased by her success, glad that he was on time

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20
Q

What is an extended verb phrase?

A

a verb phrase that includes the finite verb of a sentence plus its arguments

I am baking a cake.

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21
Q

What is the structure of an Extended Verb Phrase (EVP)?

A
  1. Pre-head dependents (primary or modal auxiliaries)
  2. Head (main verb)
  3. Post-head dependents (complements)
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22
Q

What is the fixed order of auxiliaries in a VP?

A
  1. Modal aux.
  2. Perfect
  3. Progressive
  4. Passive
  5. Main verb
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23
Q

What do modal auxiliary like “may/might” as pre-head dependent do?

A

reduces the strength of the claim

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24
Q

What is Hedging?

A

a strategy that speakers of English use to reduce “the strength of claims to avoid overstating a case”

We have a problem. vs. We might have a problem. -> reduces the claim’s directness & implies politeness

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25
What can a VP express?
1. Modality 2. Aspect (lexical/grammatical) 3. Voice (active/passive) 4. Tense (present/past)
26
What is Modality about?
enriching the VP's meaning with expressions of.. - personal belief -> epistemic modality - obligation/permission -> deontic/root modality (Semantic concept btw)
27
What is epistemic modality?
about personal beliefs, possibilities, deductions -> possibility, necessity, probability, prediction
28
What is deontic/root modality?
about obligation and permission -> permission, (weak) obligation, volition/willingness | scale of attitude with different auxiliaries
29
What are the core modals?
- can/could - may/might - must - shall/should - will/would
30
What are the marginal modals?
- be able to, be allowed to - be permitted to - have (got) to - be supposed to - be going to - **need/dare - ought to/used to**
31
What does the grammatical aspect consist of?
- Progressive (event viewed from inside, in progress) - Perfect (event viewed from outside, in retrospect) | be + present participle form of verb & have + past participle verb ## Footnote Both aspects can occur simultaneously!
32
What does the lexical aspect consist of?
- Stative -> state verbs, imply duration - Stance - Dynamic -> event verbs, imply little duration
33
What is tense?
A grammatical concept, there is only non-past & past
34
What is time?
A semantic concept
35
Stative verbs have 3 types, name them
- Quality (be young, have long hair, ..) - State (love, be excited, think) - Stance (sit, live, work) | Progressive aspect makes the event/action shorter. ## Footnote "The cat sits on the sofa." "The cat is sitting on the sofa."
36
Dynamic verbs have 4 types, name them
- Durative -> Process, Activity - Punctual -> Transitional act, Momentary act | page 41, Progressive aspect makes the event/action longer ## Footnote "They run." "They are running."
37
Explain the difference between the durative dynamic verbs
- Process is conclusive (change, learn) -> sense of finality or certainty about the event or action - Activity is non-conclusive (walk, write)-> action might still be unfolding
38
Explain the difference between punctual dynamic verbs
- Transitional act is conclusive (stop, die) -> only do that once - Momentary act is non-conclusive (kick, nod) -> might still be ongoing
39
The progressive has three possible effects, name them
- duration (+iteration =repetition of a momentary event) - limited duration - not necessarily complete | effect is dependent on the lexical aspect of the verb!
40
There are four classes that are incompatible with the progressive, name them + examples
- State verbs of "having" and "being" (be, belong to, contain, depend on) - Verbs of inert cognition (believe, forget, hope, imagine) - Verbs of inert perception (feel, hear, sense, smell) - Verbs of attitude/volition/emotion (hate, hope, intend, like, love, prefer, want)
41
The 3,5 distancing effects of past tense are?
- Temporal - Hypothetical - Social - (Historic present) ## Footnote I bought a car. ; If I were you.. ; Could you help me, please? ; Then I enter the room and guess who I see? My ex!
42
The three basic uses of the present perfect are?
- State/habit that lasts up to the present (with state verbs or event verbs) - Indefinite past - Resultative past | event isn't over yet ## Footnote No matter its specific meaning, the present perfect form always implies a retrospective perspective.
43
What are signal words that demonstrate the uses of the past simple?
- A month ago - In 2005 - Last week - Yesterday | AE speakers tend to use the past simple
44
What are signal words that demonstrate the uses of the present perfect?
- For, since - Recently - So far - Never | BE speakers tend to use the present perfect
45
What does the Past Perfect refer to?
an event/action/etc. that was completed before another event/action/etc. took place in the past
46
What does the present perfect progressive emphasize?
duration, not necessarily complete E.g I have been studying for three hours.
47
What does the present perfect simple emphasize?
present relevance, possibly complete e.g. I have finished my homework.
48
What is the Present Perfect Progressive referring to?
an event/action/etc. that began in the past and is still in progress ## Footnote I have been studying for three hours.
49
What does the Past Perfect Progressive refer to?
an event/action/etc. that was in progress before another event/action/etc. took place in the past
50
What does Backshifting mean?
changing the tense/verb form to the one you had before (present to past, present perfect to past perfect) | occurs in indirect speech, needs a reporting verb in the past
51
When do you not backshift?
- General truths - Still relevant/valid/true info - Internal truths
52
How do you recognize direct speech?
Quoting verb + quotation marks
53
How do you recognize indirect speech?
Reporting verb + backshifting ## Footnote He [says]: “I met Maria last week.” He said that he had met Maria the week before.
54
What is free indirect speech?
type of reported speech that does not use a reporting verb. Only backshifting.
55
What is the time Will + infinitive (future simple) used for?
- Internal factors to the speaker: spontaneous decision, promises, willingness - External factors to the speaker: prediction ## Footnote “I think I’ll leave the office earlier today.” “I will help you with the cooking! “Can you proofread my essay? – Sure, I’ll do it.” “The sun will set at 17:00 tomorrow.”
56
What is the time Will + progressive (future progressive) used for?
- Ongoing activity/state - Matter of course -> inevitable - Politeness ## Footnote In a month, I will be studying for this semester’s final exams. We will be discussing ‘Unit 7’ next week. If we fail, will you be helping us out financially?
57
What is the time going to + infinitive used for?
- Internal factors to the speaker (Intention) - External factors to the speaker (Prediction based on evidence) ## Footnote “I am going to take my dog to the vet.” (I have the intention to do so, but haven’t booked an appointment yet.) “It is going to rain” (there are clouds in the sky)
58
There are seven other kinds of future reference, what are they?
- Present progressive (for fixed future arrangements) - Present simple (timetables) - Be to + infinitive (formal) - Be about to + infinitive (informal) - Past in the future (future perfect) - Future in the past - Future reference in subordinate clauses | page 50
59
The progressive aspect of dynamic verbs make an event .. ?
longer | He runs. He is running.
60
The progressive aspect of state verbs makes verbs ...?
shorter | He sits. He is sitting.

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