Three major families of wordsThree major families of words1.1. LEXICALLEXICAL words (4)words (4)
––
Nouns Nouns --main carriers of informationmain carriers of information––
Lexical verbsLexical verbs
--get stressed in speechget stressed in speech
––
AdjectivesAdjectives
--belong to belong to openopen word classesword classes––
Adverbs Adverbs --often a complex internal structureoften a complex internal structure
--heads of phrases heads of phrases --remain if a sentence is compressedremain if a sentence is compressed
2.2. FUNCTIONFUNCTION words (6)words (6)––
DeterminersDeterminers
--
shortshort
––
PronounsPronouns
--
unstressedunstressed––
Auxiliary verbsAuxiliary verbs
--indicate meaning relationshipsindicate meaning relationships
––
PrepositionsPrepositions
--help interpret units containing lexical wordshelp interpret units containing lexical words––
CoordinatorsCoordinators
--belong to belong to closedclosed word classesword classes
––
Subordinators Subordinators --
no internal structureno internal structure33..
INSERTSINSERTS
Three major families of words/Three major families of words/22
3.3. INSERTSINSERTS––
mainly spoken language mainly spoken language
––
marked by break in intonationmarked by break in intonation––
carry emotional and carry emotional and discoursaldiscoursal
meanings.meanings.
––
They are standThey are stand--alone wordsalone words–
Some
of
them
can be questioned
whether
they
are
words
at
all
(uh-huh, uh-oh).–
Their
frequency
differs
in AmE
and
BrE. (see
fig.
13.3)
–
Many
inserts
are strongly
preferred
within
particular social groups.
–
Biber
et al. distinguish
nine major
classes
according
to their
function.
Inserts: types1.
Interjections: Oh
2.
Greetings
and
farewells: Hello, Cheers3.
Discourse
markers: Well, Right, Now, Okay,
4.
Attention
signals: Hey5.
Response elicitors: eh? see? okay? right?
6.
Response forms: Yeah Yep Nope, Sure, Okay7.
Polite
formulas: please, thanks, sorry
8.
Expletives: shit damn bloody hell fuck geez9.
Hesitators:
Um er er erm uh
(see
table
13.1)
Lexical word classesLexical word classes••
FourFour main classes of lexical words: main classes of lexical words:
1.1.
nounsnouns2.2.
verbsverbs
3.3.
adjectives adjectives 4.4.
adverbs adverbs
••
These words are looked at from a These words are looked at from a threefoldthreefold (triple) (triple) perspective:perspective:
1.1. morphologicalmorphological: what is their : what is their word structureword structure
or form or form (stems & affixes)?(stems & affixes)?
2.2. syntacticsyntactic: what is their : what is their role role at phrase level or in higher at phrase level or in higher units?units?
3.3. semanticsemantic: what type of : what type of meaningmeaning
do they convey?do they convey?
NounsNouns (i)(i)1. Morphological characteristics1. Morphological characteristics••
A A nounnoun
can can changechange
itsits
formform
(i.e., can (i.e., can have have inflectionalinflectional suffixessuffixes) )
toto
expressexpress: :
a) a) A contrast in A contrast in singular and pluralsingular and plural
((--s):s):
dog/dogsdog/dogs* uncountable nouns (they refer to an undifferentiated mass or * uncountable nouns (they refer to an undifferentiated mass or
notion): notion): goldgold, , information, butter, advice, musicinformation, butter, advice, musictherethere
are are clearclear
grammaticalgrammatical
differencesdifferences. (. (chapterchapter
4)4)
b) b) to mark the to mark the genitive casegenitive case
((--’s) (’s) (the girl’s facethe girl’s face); with ); with regular plurals ending in regular plurals ending in ––ss the genitive is marked by an the genitive is marked by an apostrophe (apostrophe (his parents’ homehis parents’ home))
••
Often, they contain Often, they contain more than one morphememore than one morpheme::a) a) AffixationAffixation: : buildbuild--erer, , brightbright--ness, ness, friendfriend--ship ship b) b) CompoundingCompounding: : base+basebase+base
clothesline, bombshellclothesline, bombshell
NounsNouns (ii)(ii)2. 2. Syntactic characteristics Syntactic characteristics Normally the chief item (or HEAD) of noun phrases Normally the chief item (or HEAD) of noun phrases
(NPs):(NPs):e.g.e.g.
a new a new bookbook about the cold warabout the cold warthe ugliest the ugliest personperson you’ve ever seenyou’ve ever seen
A noun functions as the subject, object, or complement A noun functions as the subject, object, or complement of a clause,of a clause,
e.ge.g. . ApplesApples are popular I are popular I likelike applesapples
3. 3. Semantic characteristicsSemantic characteristicsRefer to concrete, physical entities (people, objects, Refer to concrete, physical entities (people, objects,
substances)substances)e.g.e.g.
book, friend, ironbook, friend, iron
Or to abstract entities such as qualities or statesOr to abstract entities such as qualities or statese.ge.g. . freedom, wish, friendshipfreedom, wish, friendship
Morphology of nouns: derivationDerived
nouns
are formed
from
other
words
by affixation, conversion
and
compounding.1 Affixation 4.11.1
•
Derivational prefixes do not alter the
word class of
the
base word: patient>outpatient; group>subgroup. They
change
the
meaning.
On
pages
88-89 there
is
a list
of
‘the more frequent prefixes’. It might be an idea to look through them quickly and pay attention esp. to the non-Latin/Greek ones, ie. fore-, out-, under-
(forecast, foresight,
forefront/ outskirts, outsourcing, output/ underclothes, …)
•
Derivational suffixes do often change the word class of the base
word: dark>darkness; agree>agreement.
On
pages
89-90 there
is
a list
of
common
noun
suffixes. Pay
attention
to the
more alien
ones: -ee, -dom, -hood, -ing, -ness, -ship. Those
that
are derived
from
verbs
& adjs. are nominalizations.
Morphology of nouns: conversion2 Conversion 4.11.2Or
‘zero derivation’ (no affix added).The base itself is
converted into a different word class.•
verb>noun: (deverbal nouns)
(state
of
mind, state
of
sensation): desire, doubt, love(event, activity): attempt, hit, laugh, swim(‘object of verb’): answer, bet, catch, find(‘subject of verb’): cheat, coach, show-off, bore(‘instrument of verb’): cover, paper, wrap(‘manner of -ing’): walk, throw
•
adjective>noun: (deadjectival
nouns)a pint of bitter; he’s a natural; the final; newly marrieds;
the dailies; a red
Morphology of nouns: compounding3 Compounding 4.11.3
The creation of a new word by combining two existing words.
•
Points
to
make
about
English
compounds:
NB1: the
head of
the
comp. is
generally
the
last element.Q: What
is
a race horse? Answ: Well, basically
a horse.
Q: What
is
a horse race? Answ: Well, basically
a race.
NB2 Thus, the
compound
may be ‘unfolded’ as a phrase or clause beginning with the head.(A race
horse
is
a horse
that
races. A horse
race
is
a race
that
involves
horses.)(vid. CGE 265b)
Types of nouns1. Proper nouns2. Common nouns
a) Abstract
and
Concreteb) Countable
and
Uncountable
3. Package nouns1.
Collective
nouns
2.
Unit
nouns3.
Quantifying
nouns
4.
Species
nouns
1. Proper nouns•
Most proper nouns take capital letters:
1.
names of people: John Brown2.
names of places: Spain
3.
names of organizations, institutions, religions: the Town Hall; the University of Zaragoza; Catholicism …
4.
names of periods of time: Saturday, July, Christmas …5. address terms for family members: Hey, Mum! Uncle
Fred! …6.
people or bodies with unique public function: the Pope, the President, the King …
7. languages, nationalities & ethnic groups: English, Aragonese, the Irish …
8.
nouns (and adjectives) derived from proper nouns: Marxism, a Londoner, Victorian …
1. Proper nouns•
Proper nouns do not usually have contrasts of singular/plural
or
definite/indefinite. But note the difference bet. Spanish & English:Los Pérez (unmarked plural); the Smiths (plural marked with -s).
•
Proper nouns can act as common nouns:
•
He believes he is a Shakespeare (an author like Shakespeare)•
I used to know a Juan Pérez
•
A Mr White was trying to contact you•
That Mr White has phoned you again
•
A: “I used to know John Lennon quite well.” B: “Surely you can mean the John Lennon?”
•
In the England of Shakespeare•
Poor old Charles
•
The beautiful Princess Diana (but
Princess Diana)•
The Dr Brown I know comes from Australia
•
The Zaragoza I grew up in has changed a lot.
2. Common nouns: abstract and concrete
•
Concrete nouns
refer
to
entities
which
can be observed and
measured, such
as horse, butter, car.
•
Abstract nouns
refer
to
unobservable
notions, such
as difficulty, idea, certainty, remark.
The
distinction
seems
straighforward, but
in fact
it
can be quite difficult
deciding
whether
a word
is
being
used
in a purely
abstract
or
concrete way.Nouns
such
as football, permit
both
abstract
and
concrete
interpretations:
Thomas can kick a football 50 yards (1 yard = 0.9144 metres)Thomas often plays football on Saturdays
2. Common nouns count and non-count
a) Countable: nouns that are viewed as countathey
have a sing. & a plural form;
they can be counted. They refer to persons, objects, places … specific quantities of substances, materials, liquids, gases; specific realizations of abstract realities.
They can be accompanied by determiners
that refer to distinctions in number:a /one/every studentten/many/those students
2. Common nouns: count and non-count
b) Uncountable: they cannot (usually)be
counted. They refer to substances (steel), materials (paper) , liquids (water), gases (air), abstract realities (love, poverty, expectation) …but also to things like luggage, or furniture.
This category includes singular invariable nouns:•
notably news:That’s the best piece of news I’ve heard in a long time!No news is good news
•
nouns ending in -ics (linguistics, athletics …),•
diseases ending in -s (measles, mumps, shingles)
•
Nouns
that
are ordinarily
non-count
can be converted
into count
nouns
with
two
types
of
special
use:
a)
Different
kinds
of
varieties: selection of cheesesb)
Particular instances: two coffees, please
“Two loves
I have of comfort and despair” by William Shakespeare
Sonnet 144Two loves I have of comfort and despair, Which like two spirits do suggest me still: The better angel is a man right fair, The worser spirit a woman colour'd ill. To win me soon to hell, my female evil, Tempteth my better angel from my side, And would corrupt my saint to be a devil, Wooing his purity with her foul pride. And whether that my angel be turn'd fiend, Suspect I may, yet not directly tell; But being both from me, both to each friend, I guess one angel in another's hell: Yet this shall I ne'er know, but live in doubt, Till my bad angel fire my good one out.
“I saw…” The test for noun classes (Quirk et al.5.2) * not valid
Peter, book, furniture, brick
1Proper noun
2Count noun
3Uncount
2+3Either count or uncount
Zero article No article
Peter book furniture brick
the the Peter the book the furniture the brick
a A Peter a book a furniture a brick
some some Peter some book some furniture
some brick
plural Peters books furnitures bricks
Count and Non-count nouns•
The
clear
grammatical
differences
are:
1. Count
nouns
cannot
stand alone
in the
singular (*I saw book), but
noncounts
can (chess is fun, music is my life).
2. Count
nouns
allow
a plural (I like books), noncount
nouns do not. (*furnitures, *musics).
3. Count
nouns
occur
in the
singular with
‘a’ (a book); noncount nouns with ‘some’ (we need some furniture). Both types can occur with ‘the’ (the book, the furniture)
4. Some
nouns
can be either
count
or
noncount, depending
on their
meaning
and
the
situation:
I’ve had many odd experiences (something that happens to you)I’ve not had much experience (knowledge or skill obtained)
Exercise. Test these words in order to see whether they are countable or uncountable. Translate the Spanish sentence using the English word given.
Eg. Tengo un mueble que quiero vender. (furniture)*I have a furniture that I want to sell.I have a piece of furniture I want to sell.√Conclusion: mueble is c.; furniture is unc.Do the same with these pairs of words:1 Tengo una noticia
que te va a sorprender. (news)
2 No me des más consejos. (advice)3 Prefiero el arroz al pan. (rice)4 No puedes salir con esos pelos. (hair)5 Sus conocimientos
de África … (knowledge)
6 Se distinguen varios comportamientos
según la edad. (behaviour)
7 Había un tráfico
denso. (traffic)8 Deja las compras
en la mesa por favor. (shopping)
9 Ha hecho varios trabajos
para el Ayuntamiento. (work)10 Algunas informaciones
no eran correctas. (information)
1 Tengo una noticia
que te va a sorprender. (news)I have got a piece of / an item of news which is going to surprise you. 2 No me des más consejos. (advice)Do not give me any more pieces of advice. (a piece of advice)3 Prefiero el arroz al pan. (rice)I prefer rice to bread.4 No puedes salir con esos pelos. (hair)You can’t go out with that hair.5 Sus conocimientos
de África … (knowledge)
His knowledge of / about Africa6 Se distinguen varios comportamientos
según la edad. (behaviour)
Several types / kinds of behaviour are distinguished according to /depending on the age.
7 Había un tráfico
denso. (traffic)The traffic was (horrendous) / dense / heavy. There was / heavy traffic.8 Deja las compras
en la mesa por favor. (shopping)
Leave the shopping on the table.9 Ha hecho varios trabajos
para el Ayuntamiento. (work)
He has done a lot / some work for the City Hall / Council10 Algunas informaciones
no eran correctas. (information)
Some of the information was not correct.Some of the items of information were not correct.
3. Package nounsThey include the 4 categories of countable
common nouns: 1. Collective nouns2. Unit (or
Partitive) nouns
3. Quantifying nouns4. Species nouns
All package nouns are followed by of-phrases.
3. Package nouns: collective3.1. Collective nounsNouns that refer to groups of people, animals or things; They behave like countable nouns (2+3).•
some are general or neutral (group, crowd …)
•
others have specific connotations (bunch, flock, gang …).
•
Set of is used for abstract nouns: a set of assumptions, conditions, but also for group of things.
•
Some collective nouns have rigid collocations* (cf. a pack of lies/ una sarta de mentiras)
*collocations (Glossary) a combination of lexical words which frequently co-occur in texts
Herd of cows, host of stars, series of accidents, shoal of fish, swarm of bees, troop of inspectors.
3.
Package
nouns/1.collective
nouns
•
Exercise. Decide whether the collective noun is ‘neutral’, whether it colours the noun that it goes with or whether it is a hard-and-fast collocation.
•
a group of children•
a gang of boys
•
a set of spoons•
a herd of tourists
•
a swarm of bees •
a flight of stairs
3.
Package
nouns/1.collective
nouns•
Ex 4.2 Decide whether the collective noun is ‘neutral’, whether it colours the noun that it goes with or whether it is a hard-and-fast collocation.
•
a group of children (neutral)•
a gang of boys (colours: boys=criminals)
•
a set of spoons (neutral? colloc?)•
a herd of tourists (colours: tourists=characterless animals)
•
a swarm of bees (rigid colloc.)•
a flight of stairs (rigid colloc., a set of stairs, usu. between two floors of a building) we live up three flights of stairs
3. Package nouns: partitive3. 2. Unit (or Partitive) nounsThese nouns are usually used to refer to a
unit of something designated by an uncountable
noun: a bit of wood/ a piece
of cheese / an item of information. Unit noun (Count)+ of + Uncountable.Singular partitives Plural PartitivesA piece of cake two pieces of cakeA bit of chalk some bits of chalkAn item of news several items of news
a lump of sugar but also two sugars
3. Package
nouns
/Unit (or Partitive) nouns
•
Exercise. Provide suitable ‘unit nouns’ that collocate with the following nouns:
1. a _ of paper2. a _ of advice3. a _ of coal4. a _ of bread5. a _ of string6. a_ of water7. a_ of bacon8. a_ of dust9. a _ of chocolate10. a_ of applause
3.Package
nouns
/Unit (or Partitive) nouns
•
Exercise. Provide suitable ‘unit nouns’ that collocate with the following nouns:
1. a sheet of paper2. a piece/word of advice3. a lump of coal4. a loaf /slice of bread5. a ball/piece/foot of string6. a drop of water7. a rasher/ slice of bacon8. a speck of dust9. a chunk/bar of chocolate10. a round of applause
3. Package nouns: quantifying/13.3. Quantifying Nouns•
These nouns refer to quantities: a kilo of pears.
•
Structure: QN + of + Count or Uncount
Noun. a pile of bricks / a pile of rubbish•
Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish them from unit nouns: a roll of cloth could very well refer to a ‘unit’ or to a ‘quantity’. Biber
distinguishes 7 kinds:
i) nouns that quantify by referring to a container: a basket of fruit/ a box of matches /a cup of tea …
ii) nouns that quantify by referring to shape: a heap of leaves/ a mountain of work /a pile of money…
iii) nouns that quantify in officially recognized measures: a gallon of petrol/ three miles of motorway …
3. Package nouns: quantifying/2iv) nouns that are plural numerals: dozens/ hundreds/
thousands/ millions of starsv) nouns that refer to large quantities: loads/ masses/
heaps/ tons of fans (mogollón) (unga bunga things to do)
vi) nouns ending in -ful: two teaspoonfuls of olive oil.
-ful can be added to virtually any container: glass, cup, bottle, fist, hand, mouth, room, house, classroom, church
(handful= puñado)vii) the nouns pair &
couple are used differently. Pair
often implies that the items are joined (a pair of scissors/ glasses);
couple usually means a few (wait
a couple of minutes)
in conversation.
3. Package nouns: species•These refer to the species or type rather than the quantity of the following noun: two types of novel, this sort of character, that kind of film•Species nouns can be followed by uncountable nouns (an excellent class of beer) or by countable nouns, in which case there is a choice of singular or plural for both nouns:I don’t like this kind of question (sg
+ sg)
I don’t like this (or these) kind of questions (sg
+ pl)I don’t like these kinds of question (pl + sg)I don’t like these kinds of questions (pl + pl)
•Sort of and
kind of are the
most
common, but
do not confuse with
the
stance
adverbs, used
to
convey
imprecision, very
common
in conversation
(they
are called
‘hedges’)It was kind of strangeI just sort of managed to do what the teacher wanted
Noncounts and their Count equivalents•
Apart
from
a tendency
for
concrete nouns
to
be count and
for
abstract to
be noncount, there
is
no necessary
connection between
the
classes
of
nouns
and
the
entities
to
which
they
refer. Many
noncount
have
an
equivalent
countable
expression. Examples:
NONCOUNT NOUN COUNT EQUIVALENT
This is important information a piece / bit / word of informationHave you any news? a piece /a bit / an item of good newsSome good advice a piece / word of good adviceWarm applause a round of applauseHow’s business? a piece/ bit of businessExpensive furniture a piece / an article/a suite of furnitureWhat (bad/good) luck! a piece of (bad/good) luckThe interest is only 5 per cent a (low) rate of interestThere is evidence that… a piece of evidence
Practice: recognizing types of nounse.g. I like philosophy (a common, abstract, uncountable
noun)1.
Your
books
have
sold
millions
of
copies! [fict.]
2.
According
to
Kant, the
original mass
of
gas cooled and
began
to
contract.[acad.]
3.
The
minibar was
filled
with
candy, mineral water, decaffeinated
soft
drinks
and
dairy
products. “These
are the kind of munchies which our research found helps sleep,” said Jeremy Baka, Hilton’s spokesman. [news]
(from
Conrad
et al.’s Workbook, 4.1)