Noun Phrase | Verb Phrase | Phrase | Phrase

She | was |very excited | at the news

The first NP = subject, and agrees in number with the verb.

Noun Phrase | Verb Phrase | Noun Phrase | Phrase

My sister | has kicked | the ball | into the drain.

Normal order: subject + verb phrase [+ other things]

S-V order in the clause

1 I climbed the mountain.

2 She was extraordinarily agile.

3 The party was over before six o’ clock.

4 Happy is the man is who never angry.

5 (a) Incy-wincy spider climbed up the spout,

(b) Down came the rain

(c) and [ellipsis] washed the spider out.

(d) Out came the sun

(e) and [ellipsis] dried up all the rain,

(f) And the incy-wincy spider climbed up the spout again.

Other clause patterns?

X-V-S

Happy is the man who is never angry.

Down came the rain.

Out came the sun.

inversion — ‘mannered’ or ‘dramatic’ — cf. split of VP:

More clause patterns

X S V X

Foolishness I call it.

John my name is —
 

Other languages? Cf. German

Er hat den Brief gescrieben. [literally: He has the letter written.]

Clauses in the title page?

BELFAST
Streetfinder
Atlas

• all important buildings and places of interest
• classified roads, car parks and railway stations
• administrative boundaries, postcode districts and full index to street names

Compare this with:

This is the Belfast Streetfinder Atlas. The street plans include all important buildings and places of interest, …

We rely on context to ‘flesh out’ message.

Headline language?

 

$1m judgement against US tobacco firm

Verdict for misleading consumers on dangers of smoking jolts industry

Unpacking the sub-headline? Reliance on supporting or accompanying text (co-text):

‘The jury’s verdict that found the tobacco firm guilty of misleading consumers on the dangers of smoking jolts the tobacco industry’

Adverts?

Going East.

Staying Westin.

Breathtaking by day,

electrifying by night. The view from

The Westin Stamford, Singapore,

the world’s tallest hotel.

‘When you go east, you have to stay at the Westin’

Supplying elided elements: ‘It is breathtaking by day, electrifying by night. This is the
view from the Westin …’

Reliance on accompanying graphics.

Notices and informal speech

DANGER

Hard-hat area

No unauthorised persons

we bought Braddell Heights that’s why we have to sell ^ -- we bought a bungalow house, ^ been here eleven years lor ten years plus already -- ^ three chi:ldren - ^ two factories - one ^ Singapore - one ^ Malaysia ha, this is a good house

(Caret ^ = ellipsis)

SVX in Old English?

S-V-X pattern did not always prevail

(a) The man killed the bear

(b) The bear killed the man

(c) Killed the man the bear

(d) Killed the bear the man

(e) The man the bear killed

(f) The bear the man killed

Cf. personal pronoun forms:

(a) I killed him

(b) Him killed I

(c) Killed I him

(d) Killed him I

(e) I him killed

(f) Him I killed

Flexible word order in Old English

In OE, all NPs were marked as Subject or otherwise, and the word order was not as fixed as our English.

They did this by marking nouns and determiners with endings, called inflexions or inflections. The determiner the would also be appropriately marked.

This is like the way we distinguish between I and me; he and him; she and her in today’s English. In OE you had to distinguish between Subject and non-subject in ordinary NPs too.

Old English 2

se mann means ‘the man’ or ‘that man’ (Subject);

ofsloh means ‘killed’ (cf. ‘slew’); and

þone beran means ‘the bear’ or ‘that bear’ (non-Subject).

se mann, not þone mann

þone beran, not se bera

Cf. Japanese, or Tamil: ‘boy’ is payyan (Subject), payyane (Object), etc.

(a) Se mann ofsloh þone beran

(b) Þone beran ofsloh se mann

(c) Ofsloh se mann þone beran

(d) Ofsloh þone beran se mann

(e) Se mann þone beran ofsloh

(f) Þone beran se mann ofsloh

Sentence structure: parataxis

We are here 6,000 feet above the sea, || and the equatorial sunshine is immensely hot and bright.

The words that join the clauses (and, but, or, so) are called linking conjunctions. (In traditional grammar, they are known as co-ordinating conjunctions.) Sometimes, there is only some form of punctuation (like a comma, or sometimes a semicolon or a colon).

parataxis: clauses linked in this way are said to have a paratactic relation to each other

Parataxis. The term comes from two Greek words — para means ‘by the side of’, and taxis means ‘arrangement’. Think of terms like paramedic (someone who works alongside a doctor); syntax (meaning literally ‘arrangement with’).

Sentence structure: hypotaxis

Although we are here 6,000 feet above the sea, the equatorial sunshine is immensely hot and bright.

This is more explicit (clearer, more precise) because the relationship between the two clauses is spelt out. The initial although signals that there is something that is unexpected.

Of the two clauses, only the second one can stand alone grammatically. We say that the first clause depends on the second clause. The first clause is the dependent clause, and the second one is the dominant clause.

Hypotaxis 2

Hypotaxis. The term comes from two Greek words — hypo means ‘below’, and taxis means ‘arrangement’. Think of terms like hypodermic which means below (hypo) the skin (derma).

binding conjunctions. (In traditional grammar, they are known as subordinating conjunctions.) These include items like when, while, until, before, after, if, unless, since, because, where, whereas, so that. These spell out the relationship between the clauses in more explicit terms, and this relationship can be logical (because), conditional (unless), temporal (while), and so on.

Hypotaxis 3

Word order in hypotaxis and parataxis:

1 (a) I was exhausted and I left the office early.

   (b) I left the office early and I was exhausted.

2 (a) Because I was exhausted, I left the office early.

   (b) I left the office early because I was exhausted.

In any text, therefore, you have a choice of relying on hypotaxis or parataxis or not joining your clauses

Sentence structure: conversation

C: now I only did it I’ve been putting it off for years the other day Dave put erm he must have been going to wash up or something and he put down - a wet frying pan and it absolutely gouged that thick - and totally round a huge and I said that’s it -- and I just scraped it down with bleach and I didn’t use paint stripper or anything I put two coats of varnish - and it’s quite pretty isn’t it

D: yes

C: nice colour now

D: yes it’s sort of *blonded it up*

C: *goldy colour*

D: yes it’s nice

    now I only did it

    I’ve been putting it off for years

    the other day Dave must have been going to wash up or something

    and he put down a wet frying pan

    and it absolutely gouged out a huge [circle of paint?]

    and I said that’s it

    and I just scraped it down with bleach

    and I didn’t use paint stripper or anything

    I put two coats of varnish

    and it’s quite pretty, isn’t it?

Sentence structure: children’s story

The neighbours were all very respectful to Father Bear and people raised their hats when he went by. Father Bear liked that and he always politely replied to their greetings. Mother Bear had lots of friends. She visited them in the afternoons to exchange good advice and recipes for jam and bottled fruit. Baby Bear, however, had hardly any friends. This was partly because he was rather a bully and liked to win games and arguments. He was a pest too and always getting into mischief. Not far away, lived a fair-haired little girl who had a similar nature to Baby Bear, only she was haughty and stuck-up as well, and though Baby Bear often asked her to come and play at his house, she always said no.

• simple unconnected clauses (eg ‘Mother Bear had lots of friends’),
• paratactic sentences (eg ‘The neighbours were all very respectful … and people raised their hats’), and
• hypotactic sentences (eg ‘people raised their hats when he went by’)

Sentence structure: legal document

IF UPON THE DEATH OF THE LIFE INSURED there shall be no duly constituted personal representative or nominee or assignee of the Life Insured able and willing to give a valid receipt for the sum payable such sum may in the discretion of the Committee of Management be paid to one or more of the next-of-kin of the Life Insured whose receipt shall effectually discharge the Society from all liability under this policy.

bare skeleton: ‘If … there shall be no … representative, such sum may … be paid to… the next-of-kin’

Legal documents are meant to be watertight

Sentence structure: Old English

Not many people in the Old English period (450–1100) could read, and English was largely an oral medium. Written English at that time therefore had a structure that was similar to that in spoken English.

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© Peter Tan 2001 (click to email me with questions or comments)