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Summary Language Optimization
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Summary of Language Optimization course based on literature provided by RUG (English Sentence Construction by Verspoor et al.). Touches upon every topic the exam will be on.
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1 Sentences - communicative functions and typical patternsFormal, standard, written English:
→ most carefully thought about before being put on paper
→ does not show the kinds of gaps and unfinished sentences that occur in spoken language
→ contains sentences that are longer and thus more complex than spoken sentences
Four main reasons to communicate:
1. to inform smn of sth / declarative
→ subject – S / P ( ‘John is leaving’ )
2. to get information from smn / interrogative
→ ‘why’ / ‘what’ / ‘why’ 1st/1/2 P – S – 2nd / 2/2 P ( ‘Is John leaving?’ )
3. to get smn to do sth / imperative
→ P ( ‘Leave’ )
4. to express one’s attitude about sth / exclamatory
→ ‘how’ / ‘what’ – remainder of sentence ( ‘How sad that John’s leaving’ )
Exercise 1. Try to come up with one sentence that can be declarative, interrogative, imperative and
exclamatory all at the same time. To get you started, say the words “John is leaving” in such a way that it
expresses the following communicative functions:
1 informing → ‘Clara is baking an apple pie.’
2 asking for information → ‘Is Clara baking an apple pie?’
3 getting someone to do sth → ‘Bake me an apple pie!’
4 expressing feeling/attitude → ‘Clara loves baking apple pies.’
Sentences have patterns ( construction ) and intentions ( meaning )
Consider the following cartoon and quickly jot down about three simple sentences you might use to
describe what is happening.
1. A small child is running with a balloon, during which the
balloon pops
2. A small child is playing with a balloon, when the balloon
touches a cactus, pops, and makes him stop playing
3. A little boy is happily running around the room with a
balloon, during which he goes by a cupboard on which a
cactus stands; the balloon touches the cactus and the small
child gets startled by the sound of the balloon popping
1
,A speaker can name the following aspects about an event / situation:
→ one or more participants ( who/what is involved? )
- the one that stands out the most: first participant
→ attributes of these participants ( what can be said about these participants? )
- process / attributes ( act, deed, state of being/becoming of first participant )
→ information about the setting of the event or situation
- setting ( how, where, when, why, or under what conditions )
Exercise 2. Go back to the sentences you jotted down about the cartoon and identify the elements you
named (e.g. can you now identify first participant, second participant, process, attribute, and so on?).
→ first participant, second participant, process, attribute, setting
1. A small child is running with a balloon, during which the balloon pops
2. A small child is playing with a balloon, when the balloon touches a cactus, pops,
and makes him stop playing
3. A little boy is happily running around the room with a balloon, during which he
goes by a cupboard on which a cactus stands; the balloon touches the cactus and
the small child gets startled by the sound of the balloon popping
A group of words ( constituent ) used to name a particular role that has a technical function
→ first participant ( S ) subject
→ process ( P ) predicator
→ sth about S ( SA ) subject attribute
→ second participant ( DO ) direct object
→ sth about DO ( OA ) object attribute
→ third participant ( IO / BO )indirect / benefactive object ( cannot exist without DO )
→ setting ( A ) adverbial ( where / when / how )
Difference between IO and BO is that IO has the thing given in hand after the
transfer, whereas BO does not
→ ‘John gave Peter the ball’ → implies that Peter ( IO ) now has the ball
but
→ ‘John bought Peter the ball’ → doesn’t imply that Peter now has the ball
Change the word order and then see which preposition must be used
→ ‘to’ indicates IO, ‘for’ indicates BO
→ ‘I give you the ball’ → ‘I give the ball to you’ → ‘you’ is IO
→ ‘I bought you the ball’ → ‘I bought the ball for you’ → ‘you’ is BO
Find out if constituent is S: make sentence into question; S will appear after first verb
Only A can be placed around in sentence; in order to see if constituent is A, see if it
is possible to move it to a different place in the sentence, if so, it’s A
2
,Main participants: S, DO, IO / BO
Process: P, SA, OA
When, why, how etc.: A
Exercise 3. In the following passage adapted from True Trash by Margaret Atwood, some sentence
constituents have been set off with square brackets. Try to identify the functions of those constituents.
→ S, P, SA, DO, OA, IO, BO, A
[The waitresses] [are basking] [in the sun] like a herd of skinned seals, their pinky-brown bodies
shining with oil. [They] [are wearing] [their bathing suits] [because it’s the afternoon]. [In the early
dawn and the dusk] [they] [sometimes] go skinny-dipping, which makes this itchy crouching in the
mosquito-infested bushes across from their small private dock a great deal more worthwhile.
[Donny] [has] [the binoculars, which are not his own but Monty’s]. [Monty’s dad] [gave] [them]
[to him] [for bird-watching] but [Monty] isn’t interested in birds. [He] [has found] [a better use
for the binoculars]: [he] rents [them] out to the other boys, *ve minutes maximum, a nickel a look
or else a chocolate bar from the tuck shop, though he prefers the money.
Most common schema: S – predicate ( rest of sentence ); P and complement
→ P denotes a process
→ complement entails the objects / attributes ( completes meaning of P )
→ English doesn’t have a rich morphology ( variety in words depending on case, number
etc. ) and thus relies on word order to show who did what to whom
Five prototypical sentence patterns
1. The running pattern ( intransitive verbs ) [‘clause’; Ch 2]
→ S and P, often followed by A
→ you need a verb that expresses an action involving only S
- verbs like ‘run’ that express a pure action ( intransitive )
→ may have one or more A’s, but no DO nor SA
→ John ( S ) is running ( P ) [fast] [A]
2. The being pattern ( copula verbs )
→ S and P followed by SA
- SA only gives info about S, not about P
→ you need a verb that doesn’t have much meaning, but expresses the sense of ‘=’
- ‘=’-verb points out a link between S and attribute / category
→ John ( S ) is ( P ) fast ( SA ) [in the game] [A]
John ( S ) is ( P ) the runner ( SA ) [as usual] [A]
- ‘fast’ expresses an attribute, and ‘the runner’ to what category he belongs
→ most common verb for this pattern is the lexical verb ‘be’
- called copula verb when used in this sentence pattern
→ copula verbs: appear be become feel
3
, grow look make prove
remain seem smell
sound taste turn
Words may have different senses in different contexts
→ ‘He appeared suddenly’ → verb ‘appear’ expresses action → running pattern
→ ‘He appeared sad’ → verb ‘appear’ is similar to ‘be’ → being pattern
Verb ‘be’ when followed by A expressing a place (‘He is in the room’) is not used in
the being pattern but the running pattern
3. The doing / seeing pattern ( monotransitive verbs )
→ S and P followed by DO
→ you need a verb that expresses an action or experience
- one who does the acting / experiencing, one who is acted upon / perceived
→ John ( S ) kicked ( P ) the ball ( DO ) [when it was thrown by Peter] [A]
John ( S ) saw ( P ) the ball ( DO )
→ verbs that express experiences ( monotransitive verbs )
4. The giving / buying pattern ( ditransitive verbs )
→ S, P, IO / BO, and DO
→ you need an event involving at least three participants
- person who gives sth to / does sth for smn ( S ), the thing
that is given / done ( DO ), and the receiver ( IO / BO )
→ John ( S ) gave ( P ) Peter ( IO ) the ball ( DO ) [for his birthday] [A]
John ( S ) bought ( P ) Peter ( IO ) the ball ( DO ) [for his birthday] [A]
→ very few verbs; most common are give pass send tell
make buy offer ask
Many times the distinction between IO and BO isn’t made; both are called IO
5. The making / considering pattern ( complex-transitive verbs )
→ S and P followed by DO, followed by an OA describing only the DO
→ They ( S ) made ( P ) John ( DO ) the umpire ( OA )
John ( S ) considered ( P ) the ball ( DO ) out ( OA ) [as it went past the line] [A]
→ verb like ‘make’ has sense of ‘doing sth → causes DO to belong to new category
- ‘We made him king’ : ‘We did sth to him which caused him to be king’
- make call crown name elect
→ verb like ‘consider’ expresses that in S’ mind, DO belongs to a certain category
- ‘We consider him king’ : in S’ mind ‘he is king’
- consider assume prove declare
certify regard deem
Exercise 4. In the following sentences, name the function of the sentence constituents (S, P, SA, DO,
OA, IO, BO, A) which have been separated with slashes. Then indicate which pattern the sentence as a
whole has.
2 He / told / us / to buy over ripe and bruised fruit on sale. giving/buying
4
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