LI 2013 Nathalie F. Martin

Lexical Categories

Categories of words

Distinguishing categories:•Inflection•Distribution•Replacement

Syntactic/Lexical Categories

Contemporary Linguistics Analysis, O’Grady & al., 2009:

p. 146-150.

A Concise Introduction to

Linguistics, Rowe & al. 2012:

p. 107-114.

Making Sense of It All!

Lewis Carroll in his 1872 novel Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, a poem entitled Jabberwocky.

Syntactic/lexical Categories

= Word/Grammatical Classes = Parts of Speech

All languages have syntactic categories. The syntactic category of a word

determines the role it can play in a sentence.

Only a noun can complete the sentence “Give a __________ to me.”

Syntactic Categories (1)

Noun (N)Pronoun (Pro)Verb (V)Adjective (A)Preposition (P)Adverb (Adv)

Examplesmoisture, thoughtMe, I, they, thesemelt, remaingood, intelligentto, nearslowly, now

Syntactic Categories (2)

Determiner (Det)Auxiliary (Aux)Conjunction (Con)Degree word (Deg)

(formerly part of Adv)

Examples:the, thiswill, canand, or, becausevery, too

The function of an adjective is to modify a noun

Adjectives

Adjectives

http://www.momswhothink.com/reading/list-of-adjectives.html

Adjectives

http://www.momswhothink.com/reading/list-of-adjectives.html

Adjectives

http://www.momswhothink.com/reading/list-of-adjectives.html

THE FUNCTION OF THE DEGREE WORD IS TO MODIFY THE ADJECTIVE

DEGREE WORDS

Degree words

Qualifies an adjective

THE FUNCTION OF THE DETERMINER IS TO introduce the noun.

It also, in a sense, NARROWs THE MEANING OF THE NOUN

DETERMINERS

Determiners

A word or a group of words that introduces a noun.Determiners include :

Articles (the, a, an) Demonstratives (these, those, this, that … but only when

introducing a noun!) Quantifiers (Many, one, two, Few, etc.) Possessive determiners (my, your, his, her … but only when

introducing a noun!)

The function of a pronoun is to replace a noun (phrase)

PRONOUNS

Pronouns

The function of a pronoun is to replace a noun (phrase)

I, you, he, she, theyMine, ours, yours …It, these*, those*Myself, yourself, itself …All, another, everybody, anythingWho, whom

Pronouns

Let’s take the example of the noun phrase “The boy” Third person singular masculine …

As the subject of the sentence = He (ex: He danced) As the object of the sentence = Him (I like him) Answers the questions “who?”, “whom?” or “what?”

Not to be confused with “his” (which is 3rd person sing. Masc, but does not necessarily replace a noun phrase)

Pronouns + Possessive

Let’s take the example of the noun phrase “The boy’s” Third person singular masculine + possessive …

As object + possessive = I like his. Less ambiguity with feminine = I like hers.

Not to be confused with the determiner “his” (which is 3rd person sing. Masc. + possessive, but does not replace a noun phrase)

• Ex: I like his shoes

DETERMINER or PRONOUN?

Determiner or Pronoun?

The essential question to be asked is “what is the function of this word within the sentence?” Determiner = introduces a noun Pronoun = replaces a noun

Examples: I like his. His shoes are gross. I think I will get these. I will buy these 4 inch metallic pumps.

The function of a PREPOSITION is to INTRODUCE a noun PHRASE (NP) IN A PREPOSITIONAL PHRASE (PP)

PREPOSITIONS

Prepositions

Prepositions are the words that indicate location. Usually, prepositions show this location in the physical world. Check out the three examples below:

The puppy is on the floor. The puppy is beside the phone.

The puppy is in the trash can.

http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/preposition.htm©1997 - 2012 by Robin L. Simmons

Prepositions

Prepositions generally introduce prepositional phrase (PP). Prepositional Phrases (PP) usually look like this:

Preposition + NP (noun or pronoun)

At school: At = preposition; school = noun (NP).According to us: According to = preposition; us =

pronoun (also a NP).Under the stove: Under = preposition; the stove =

noun phrase.

http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/preposition.htm©1997 - 2012 by Robin L. Simmons

Prepositions

http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/preposition.htm©1997 - 2012 by Robin L. Simmons

Prepositions

http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/preposition.htm©1997 - 2012 by Robin L. Simmons

The function of an adverb is to modify the verb.

ADVERB

Adverb

Adverbs of manner describe how something happens. Ex: carefully, patiently, well …

Adverbs of place describe where something happens. Ex: abroad, anywhere, in, out, upstairs.

Adverbs of purpose describe why something happens. Ex: so that, to, because, since

Adverbs of frequency describe how often something happens. Ex: always, often, seldom …

Adverbs of time describe when something happens. Ex: after, already, later, now, soon, recentlyyesterday.

http://www.momswhothink.com/reading/list-of-adverbs.html

Adverb

http://www.momswhothink.com/reading/list-of-adverbs.html

The function of an adverb is to modify the verb.

ADVERB or PREPOSITION?

Adverb or Preposition?

Words that are sometimes prepositions can act as adverbs. A preposition requires an object. An adverb does not.

A single word acting as an adverb answers where, when, how or to what degree about the verb.

When the same word is a preposition, the entire prepositional phrase acts as an adverb modifying the verb.

Adverb or Preposition?

If you want to see the eclipse, you will need to go outside. OUTSIDE tells you

where YOU WILL NEED TO GO. NOTE: Without an

object OUTSIDE is an ____________

Dorothy colors outside the lines. OUTSIDE THE

LINES is an adverbial phrase and OUTSIDE is a preposition. NOTE: LINES is

the object of the ______________.

http://www.grammaruntied.com/prepositions/adv_prep.html

Adverb or Preposition?

To determine whether a word is an adverb or a preposition, look at what follows the word. Is there a noun acting as an object of the word? In other words, is there a word that answers the question WHAT? about the word.

It will be some time before his schedule settles down. DOWN tells the reader WHERE the schedule

settles. There is no object following it.

Adverb or Preposition?

Please sit down and listen. DOWN tells the listener WHERE to SIT. There is no object

telling him or her WHAT to SIT DOWN.

One need only look down the roster to see the impact of so much travel. ROSTER answers the

question WHAT? about the word DOWN.

ROSTER is the object of the preposition DOWN.

http://www.dukeofdefinition.com/prepositions_adverbs.htm

The function of the auxiliary is to help the main verb

AUXILIARY

AUXILIARY VERBS

A verb (such as have, do, or will) that determines the mood, tense, or aspect of another verb in a verb phrase.

Auxiliary verbs always precede main verbs within a verb phrase. Auxiliaries are also known as helping verbs.

http://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/auxverbterm.htm

AUXILIARY VERBS

"The auxiliary verbs of English are the following:

can, may, will, shall, must, ought, need, dare

be, have, do, use

http://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/auxverbterm.htm

AUXILIARIES VERBS (examples)

be2 He is sleeping.

be3 They were seen.

can1 I can swim.

can2 Such things can help.

could1 I could swim.

could2 That could help.

do You did not understand.

have They have understood.

may1 May I stay?

may2 That may take place.

might We might give it a try.

must1 You must not mock me.

must2 It must have rained.

shall You shall not pass.

should1 You should listen.

should2 That should help.

will We will eat pie.

wouldNothing would accomplish that

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auxiliary_verb

ADVERB or AUXILIARY?

Adverb or Auxiliary?

An adverb describes a verb; e.g. He ran quickly (quickly describing ran).

An auxiliary verb (or helping verb) is a verb, just not the main one;

is a verb functioning to give further semantic or syntactic information about the main or full verb following it. (Grammar and Composition by Prentice Hall)

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_an_adverb_and_an_auxiliary_or_helping_verb

Adverb or Auxiliary?

Adverb:He ran quickly

(quickly describing ran).

Auxiliary verb:He had run (had is a

verb, but he didn't "have", he ran) or She is going (she isn't "being" (in the sense of it being the verb), she is going).

"We are all worms, but I do believe I am a glowworm.“ (Winston Churchill)

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_difference_between_an_adverb_and_an_auxiliary_or_helping_verb

Dictionary of Choice for Lexical Categories

http://www.merriam-webster.com/

m-w.com

-Be careful of: -Det (not adj)-Degree

1. According to meaning

2. Inflection

3. Distribution

4. Replacement

TRICKS To Distinguish Categories

According to the Meaning

Nouns = entities (people, things), including individuals (Harry, Sue), objects (book, desk)

Verbs = actions (run, jump), sensations (feel, hurt), and states (be, remain)

Adjectives: Properties and attributes of a noun. Adverbs:

Properties and attributes of the actions, sensations, and states (verbs)

Manner and time What about words like: likelihood, give a push, near

Distinguishing Categories

Native speakers may have a good intuition about the syntactic category of a word.

But linguists require more objective ways of determining syntactic categories.

There are three tests one can use:1. Inflection

2. Distribution

3. Verification through replacement

Test 1: Inflection

Certain inflectional paradigms apply only to one syntactic category.

For example, if a word can take the inflectional suffix -ed in English, it must belong to the verb category.

English Inflectional Morphemes

Nouns–s plural–’s possessive

Verbs –s third person singular present–ed past tense–en past participle–ing progressive

Adjectives–er comparative–est superlative

Rowe & Levine, p. 93-94

Test 1: Inflection

Lets try in out: The cute cat dances.You think the end is near.

What about these words: sing (-ed*), intelligent (-er*), knowledge(-s*), etc.

Test 2: Distribution

The words with which a word may co-occur can be used to determine its syntactic category.

Example: only nouns can come after a or the in English.

All languages have such distributional restrictions on syntactic categories.

Test 2: Distribution

Lets try in out: Great joy is to come in the morning.Joy comes later today.Holidays are the best!

Distribution tests – Rules of other languages

Distribution tests for syntactic categories are different in all languages.

Chinese has no articles like a, the. So you can’t test for nouns with them.

But in Chinese, only nouns co-occur with “classifiers”. If a word can come after a classifier, it must be a noun.

Verification Test 3: Replacement

To test to see if you have assigned the right lexical category, it is possible to replace the word with another word of that same category – even if the sentence becomes nonsensical.

Verification Test 3: Replacement

Lets try in out: Great joy is to come in the morning.Joy comes later today.Holidays are the best!

What Got LostIn Translation?

Written on my heater:

Translation and Lexical Categories