Unit 3.

- Categories and Functions

These are the levels of linguistic analysis:
+ Phonology.
+ Phonetics.
+ Morphology studies categories (the form of the word), also known as part of
the speech.
+ Categories are inherent to the word and convention has given the category to the
word: have (v), happy (adj)...
Lexical categories (one word considering the head)...
Ex. N, V,Adj, Adv, P...
Phrasal categories (set of words surrounding the head). The head gives the name
of the category to the phrase.
Ex. NP, VP, AdjP, AdvP, PP...
*Por qu es father un NP si se trata de un solo elemento? Porque el resto del NP est,
aunque se encuentre en ausencia: father
+ Syntax studies functions and depends on the syntactic context so the word does
not have a predetermined function already attached to it.
Examples: The table is red John smashed the table
NP-Subject NP-Direct Object
Functions:
- Subject
- Direct Object
- Indirect Object
Adjunct (gives extra information about the action: place, time...)
- Adverbial Conjunct (and, but...)
Disjunct (it modifies the whole sentence: perhaps, hopefully...)
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+ Semantics
The Noun Phrase
NP (det) (adj) N (adv) (pp)
(AdjP) (AdvP)
John
The king
Great Expectations
The angry King
People next door
The King of Denmark
The man [who came from the cold]
The man [who came yesterday]
- common noun (house).
The position of the head (N) can be occupied by - proper noun (John).
- pronoun (they).
- articles (the, a, an...).
- possessives (my, Johns).
- demonstratives (this, these,
that, those).
- quantifiers (one, two, some,
several...).
- Wh-items [according to some
linguists].
In Contemporary English (PDE), we have different inflections concerning:
Number : nouns, have singular and plural:
[s] cats
- <-s> [z] dogs
[Iz] horses
- Apophony, ie, change in the stem vowel. Eg. man-men, tooth-teeth.
- Irregular. Eg. child-children.
- Zero plural. Eg. sheep-sheep.
- Greek and Latin plurals. Eg. corpus-corpora, datum-data
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Non-sentential Complementation
Sentential Complementation
Within the determiner position (Det) we can have
Gender (only in some cases): lion-lioness, poet-poetess.
Case inflection the genitive:
Early Old English
STRONG WEAK
Sing. Plural Sing. Plural
Nom. Cyning Cyningas Hunta Huntan
Accus. Cyning Cyningas Hunta Huntan
Gen.
Cyninge
s
Cyninga Huntan Huntena
Dat. Cyninge
Cyningu
m
Huntan Huntum
Late Old English (LOE) followed the strong paradigm, so we have declensions like
this:
Singular Plural
Nom. Tun Tunes
Gen. Tunes Tunes
In Modern English (ModE) and PDE:
Singular Plural
Nom. Town Towns
Gen. Towns Towns
A Possessive Phrase or Genitive Phrase consists of a NP with:
- A determiner: the mans dog.
- A possessive: my friends dog.
- An adjective: my little girls father.
- An AdvP: people next rooms class.
- PP: the King of Denmarks son.
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NP Peters dog
possessor possessee semantics
modifier head syntax
<Peters> = Possessive Phrase or Genitive
Phrase
- A whole relative phrase (not accepted by everyone): the lady who came
yesterdays house.
Concerning the example above (Peters dog), we cannot use a determiner except for
quantifiers, as the second NP (the head) is a [+definite] noun:
- *The Peters dog.
- *Peters the dog.
- The Kings three daughters.
Exceptions where the determiner <a/an> is modifying the second NP as it doesnt agree
with the possessor/modifier but, moreover, it isnt a possession but a description:
- A womens collegue.
- An old peoples home.
- A nuns convent.
But, what happens when having ambiguity in the possessive phrase? (context always
helps).
- All the kings servants = no ambiguity as <all> pre-modifies <servants> due to
agreement.
- All the kings servants = ambiguity the servants helping all the kings.
all the servants helping the kings.
- Half Peters fortune = no ambiguity.
- Half the groups fortune = ambiguity half the fortune possessed by the
groups.
the fortune possessed by half the
groups.
Elliptic(al) genitive, ie, omitting the head/the possessee. Why? To avoid repetition (3
cases):
Anaphoric relationship: I hate Johns book but I love Susans [book].
Cataphoric relationship: I hate Johns [book] but I love Susans book.
Reference to places: familiar places (my sisters), a business (the butchers, the
doctors), public monuments (St. Pauls).
Having to do with inflected genitive, we will deal with double genitive.
A property shared by adjectives and genitives is recursion (repetition), ie, both
adjectives and possessive phrases are recursive. In theory, we have an infinitive number
of adjectives/possessive items in front of the head of the phrase.
Ex. Innovative Contemporary British drama (adj1 + adj2 + adj3 + N).
Peters brothers friends dog (poss1 + poss2 + poss3 + N).
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Referents to the Genitive phrase
Referents of the possessor
1. Personal names : Roses (=proper nouns) [+human]
2. Personal nouns : my sisters, our friends (=common noun) [+human] although not a
proper noun.
3. Collective nouns : committees members.
4. Animals : the cats tail, the ducks neck [+animate].
5. Place/Location : Londons museum [-human].
6. Time : a two hours walk.
7. Fixed expressions : at a stones throw, to my hearts delight.
8. Nouns of special interest for human beings :
a) Parts of the body: the minds development.
b) Cultural activities: the novels last chapter, the plays last act, the expositions
leaflet.
c) Means of transport: the cars seat, the buss wheel.
Periphrastic genitive (= of genitive)
It consists of a phrase (prepositional phrase: of + NP).
Similarities :
Semantically speaking, it is the same as the inflected genitive. The main meaning
is the same as the one described by the inflected meaning.
Values of:
- Possession (most important meaning).
- Partition.
- Description (giving a property).
Syntactically speaking, the head is the possessee and the modifier is the
possessor (as we can see in the inflected genitive construction).
- Johns daughter = The daughter of John.
Differences :
1. Morphology . In the inflected genitive, the possessor is a genitive phrase (NP +
inflection) whereas in the periphrastic genitive, the possessor is a PP (Prep of
+ NP).
2. Position of the possessee in relation to the possessor . In the inflected
genitive construction, the possessee goes after the possessor and, in the
periphrastic construction, the possessee goes in pre-modifying position.
3. Restriction of the determiner . In the inflected genitive construction, we cant
have a determiner (except for quantifiers) in front of the possessee. In
contrast, we can find the use of determiners.
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Ex. *The committees members (inflected genitive).
The members of the committee (periphrastic genitive).
When can we use the periphrastic genitive?
1. We can use this genitive with collective nouns, animals, place/location, time, nouns
of special interest for human beings (parts of the body, cultural activities, means
of transport).
Ex. The members of the committee.
The tail of the cat.
The museums of London.
A walk of two hours.
The development of the mind/The last chapter of the novel/The wheel
of the bus.
2. We can have the periphrastic genitive when the possessee is a relational noun
(member of the family, the doctor...).
Ex. The son of Mary.
3. When the possessee is an abstract noun.
Ex. The kindness of her father.
4. When the possessor is a heavy constituent (relative clause, for example).
Ex. The house of the lady who came yesterday.
Double Genitive
In this construction, we can find both genitives at the same time (inflected genitive
+ periphrastic genitive).
Ex. A friend of mine (mine is considered an inflected genitive in disguise).
A friend of Celias ( the inflected genitive conveys meaning of possession)
of Celias = partitive meaning (Uno de los amigos de Celia).
In theory, the deep structure would be A friend of Celias [friend]. But we also
find A friend of Celias friends [friend].
Adjectives and Adjective Phrase
PDE Adjectives. An AdjP is a set of words in which the head is an adjective. In
PDE, adjectives are uninflected (that is, they do no change for number, gender or
case). This situation is not what we found at the beginnings of English language.
Considering the history of English, we have to say that adjectives were inflected.
OE Adjectives = inflected (changed for number, gender and case). We can also
find two different paradigms of adjectives: the weak and the strong paradigm. The
use of one or another paradigm depends on the syntactic context of the word.
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+ The adjective follows the weak paradigm in these contexts :
a) 1
st
context After the article or the demonstrative (se, seo, t / es,
eos, is). Ex. Se wisa cyning.
b) After the possessives. Ex. Min leofa sunu.
c) Vocative expressions. Ex. Leofe cwen.
d) Fixed expressions in poetry (poetic epithet).
e) In comparatives and superlatives and numbers. Ex. Se ilca (the same).
In other contexts, adjectives will follow the strong declensions.
ME Adjectives. There was a simplification of adjectives which began in the North.
Due to this, adjectives lost their inflections of gender, number and case, and began
to adopt a fixed position within the NP. We will find them in front of the noun (pre-
modifying position).
+ Contexts in which adjectives appear after the noun in ME :
- When the adjective has a French origin.
- Metrical reasons (alliteration, rhyme...).
PDE Adjectives:
+ Semantically quality or attribute.
+ Syntactically 2 main functions/positions in the sentence.
- Attributive function : the adjective appears within the NP.
Example: NP [A delicious cake]
(Det) (Adj) (N)
The adjective must be placed in front of the noun (pre-modifying
position).
= The cake is delicious. Because it is outside the NP.
- Predicative function : the adjective appears outside the NP.
= Object complement: I found the cake delicious. <Cake> is the
object complement of <found>
Contexts for the adjective in attributive function
Appearing in post-modifying/post-positive position.
a) Idiomatic expressions (religious or legal).
Secretary General.
Attorney General.
Vicar General.
Bishop Designate.
Lord Spiritual.
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b) When the adjective is modified by something else.
NP [A man [happy [about the decision] ] ]
NP [Tourists [ready [to come] ] ]
c) When the adjective is in the comparative.
NP [A car [faster than yours] ]
NP [He prefers [a chair [more comfortable than this] ] ]
Exceptions:
d) When the adjective modifies as indefinite pronoun (<-body>, <-one>, <-
thing>, <-where>).
Ex. I need [something useful]
She phoned [someone kind]
e) When the adjective ends with the suffixes <ible> and <able>.
Here we have two possibilities:
Ex. The best possible solution (pre-modifying).
The best solution possible (post-positive).
Chains of adjectives
Connected with the property of recursion (in theory, you can place an infinite
number of adjectives in front of a noun).
Ex. Innovative contemporary British drama.
Long curly yellow hair.
The property of recursion is shared by adjectives and Genitive Phrases.
Ex. Johns mothers neighbours garden.
In the case of adjectives, the position of the adjective has to do with the opposition
between:
- Scalar properties these that can be graded (interesting, nice...).
- Non-scalar properties there is no gradation (Spanish, wooden...).
* The adverb <very> tells us to be used with scalar adjectives.
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Post-positive position
Order: from scalar to non-scalar.
1. Subjective opinion: innovative, original...
2. Physical description:
a) Size.
b) Shape.
c) Age.
d) Colour.
3. Origin or nationality.
4. Material.
Ex. An original Swedish wooden chair.
Nominalisation of adjectives
Conversion of adjectives into nouns and adjective phrases into noun phrases
respectively. In this process, the category of the word doesnt change but the
function of it.
Ex. She preferred [the absurd option] absurd: Adj N
It stays morphologically as an adjective but functioning as the head of the NP.
2 cases in which adjectives can be nominalised :
1. When the referent of the adjective is abstract (absurd, useful, funny, grotesque,
picturesque...)
Ex. The painter likes the picturesque.
The grotesque always appeals to him.
2. When the referent of the adjective is concrete [+human].
Ex. The catholic people.
The aged population.
2 situations:
a) When we refer to religious or ethical groups: Catholic, Protestant, white,
Indian... Full conversion takes place:
- Both indefinite and definite articles can be used: The protestant, an
Indian...
- Both singular and plural agreement: Catholic, Indians...
b) When we refer to socially-motivated groups: the rich, poor employed, aged,
single...
- Only the definite article <the> is used: the poor, the single...
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- Only plural agreement: the rich are happy...
Adjectives referring to nationalities, converted into nouns:
a) When the adjective ends in a non-sibilant sound [sibilant: z, z (and t)]. It works
as adjective fully converted into:
Nouns any determiner: the Russian, an Italian.
Both agreements (singular and plural): the Russian/s is/are coming
tomorrow.
b) When the adjective ends in a sibilant sound (English, French, Spanish, Chinese,
Scottish, Irish, Australian, Austrian).
It works as the socially-motivated group: the Spanish, the French, a
Spaniard...
One agreement: plural the Spanish like paella and dance flamenco.
Nominalisation of adjectives
Conversion (syntactic) on nouns into adjectives. It is very productive in English,
however it does not exist in Spanish.
Example: Orange juice (NP: orange = modifier; juice = head).
Also: chocolate bar; syntax class; grammar lesson.
From the perspective of distribution, they behave like adjectives (pre-modifying
position).
There is no recursion in compounds.
There are two kinds of compounds:
Morphological : one word. Eg. lapdog (perrito faldero) and tearoom/tea-room.
Syntactic : two words. Eg. orange juice, strawberry picnic, cheese burger, salmon
sandwich.
Ambiguity:
An American literature student NP
Head: student
Determiner: an
Modifier: American and literature
A Chinese painting museum 2 possibilities:
The museum can be placed in China
The Chinese museum does not need to have Chinese works
Also: the museum can be Chinese but placed in another country
An old French history professor 3 possibilities:
Old, history and French modifies professor
Old and French modifies history
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Old modifies professor and French modifies history
The verb the Verb phrase / Inflection phrase
In origin, English was an inflected language, that is, the morphological features and
syntactic functions are indicated by means of inflections/affixes.
Ex. Se cyning (nominative-subject/attribute).
As a result of simplification, English became an uninflected/isolating language
(morphological features of the syntactic functions are indicated by means of word
order and prepositions) and thats why in PDE, we always have to create the
sentence using an SVO order.
Despite this, there are still some traces of OE in PDE:
In nouns: number (plural), genitive case (s) and, in some cases, gender.
In adjectives: no inflections for number/gender/case BUT we have inflections for
comparatives (-er) and superlatives (-est).
In verbs: agreement inflection (person, number...) and tense (present, past)
inflection.
+ Verbal inflection is a very important category in Generative Grammar.
We have the lexical category (Inflection and Inflectional Phrase).
+ In X-bar syntax, it is the origin of the tree:
S IP
NP VP NP I
I
+ Inflection is an independent category but a very special one, as inflection cant exist
alone but attached to the verb. Ie, it is an affix.
+ We can prove the existence of the inflection by using emphatic constructions.
Ex. He works hard He DOES work hard.
+ Verbal inflection is the criterion to classify clauses depending on them being finite
or non-finite clauses.
Ex. She let [FINITE VERB] me go [NON-FINITE VERB] // We saw [FINITE VERB] him painting
[NON-FINITE VERB]
+ The affix-hoping rule can be found in this type of constructions: in a tree, the
inflectional affix (suffix) hops/jumps to the first verbal form we encounter to the
right.
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IP
NP I
N I VP
-pres
N V
Peter
V DP
buy
D
D NP
the
N
N
house
IP
DP I
D I ModP
+pres
D NP Mod
my
N Mod VP
can,
N V
friend
V DP
play
D
D NP
the
N
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PF Peter bought the house
PF My friend can play the piano
N
piano
IP
NP I
N I PerfP
+pres
N Perf
John
Perf VP
have
V
V DP
won
D
D NP
the
N
N
prize
IP
NP I
The question
I PassP
-pres
Pass
Pass VP
be
V
V
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PF John has won the prize
has
-en
PF The question was answered
-en
answered
# Chains of auxiliaries: combinations of 2 or more auxiliaries.
We must keep the auxiliary order:
Modal + have,-en + be,-ing + be,-en + V
2 auxiliaries:
Modal + Perfective Have.
IP
NP I
Mary
I ModP
+pres
Mod
Mod PerfP
may
Perf
Perf VP
have
V
V NP
written the essay
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PF Mary may have written the essay.
3 auxiliaries:
Modal + Perfective Have + Progressive Be.
IP
NP I
The dog
I ModP
-pres
Mod
Mod PerfP
could
Perf
Perf ProgP
have
Prog
Prog VP
been walking
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PF The dog could have been walking.
IP
DP I
The car
I ModP
+pres
Mod
Mod PerfP
may
Perf
Perf ProgP
have
Prog
Prog AuxP
been
Aux
Aux VP
being
V
V PP
V P
sold
P
for months
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PF The car may have been being sold for months
bear infinitive
-en
-ing
-en
Declarative affirmative sentences: impersonal constructions
Impersonal sentence with no syntactic subject.
Spanish impersonality:
1. Impersonal con se: Se vende piso.
2. Impersonal propia (atmospheric phenomena)
3. Impersonal gramatical: Hay leche en la nevera (mainly with haber).
- Impersonality in English:
It existed in OE 2 main types of impersonal constructions:
a) With the impersonal particle <man> (uninflected).
We translate it as se or alguien.
b) Impersonal verb (the same than in Spanish).
Verbs referring to atmospheric phenomena.
Ex. Regnan (rain), snawan (snow) // (ge)limpan (happen).
(*) + Special class of verbs taking an experiencer in the accusative/dative: lician
(like), listan (feel like), incan (seem), hungrian (to be hungry), yrstan (to be
thirsty) = like in contemporary English.
Ex. Me [INDIRECT OBJECT] gusta [VERB] el abrigo [SUBJECT].
Me [INDIRECT OBJECT] thinks [VERB] I scent the morning air [DIRECT OBJECT].
I like the book.
In PDE, we cannot have the subject position empty. There are no impersonal
constructions.
Ex. Llueve It [DUMMY/EXPLETIVE IT] rains (semantically empty).
Haba leche en la nevera There [DUMMY/EXPLETIVE THERE] was
milk in the fridge.
Existential there: Semantically empty.
Morphology: pronoun
Grammatically
Syntax: subject.
1. SVO order: There is milk
2. Inversion in interrogatives: Is there
milk?
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Two important characteristics:
1. Derivation : the change that takes place from the deep structure to the
surface structure. In the deep structure, we only have the elements that give
meaning to the sentence.
2 main analysis for the derivation of existential there:
1) S-st: There is a book on the table
D-st: A book [SEMANTIC SUBJECT AND SYNTACTIC SUBJECT] is on the table
D-st: [e] is a book [SEMANTIC SUBJECT] on the table (the subject has
been postponed).
Some linguists say that the sentence A book on the table is not the DS
of There is a book on the table.
a) 2 meanings :
- Visual impact in A book is on the table (hay un libro y est en la
mesa).
- A book is on the table presupposes the existence of the book (el
libro suponiendo que ya sabemos que hay un libro est en la
mesa).
b) Equivalents in different languages : some people say that both
sentences are different because they are translated in a different
way in some languages:
- There is a book on the table (Hay un libro en la mesa).
- A book is on the table (El libro est en la mesa).
2) S-st: There is a book on the table
D-st: [e] is a book [COMPLEMENT] on the table (no semantic subject =
existential be).
The bomb didnt explode [ERGATIVE VERB] / La baera se vaci.
2. Restriction : Definiteness constraint/Restriction effect. The NP after the
existential there constructions cannot be definite. We cant have proper
nouns, definite articles, possessives and demonstratives. Ex:
(*) There is John in the street [ADJUNCT OF PLACE] (with existential
there/not with the adverb of place All est John ).
(*) There is the postman/my brother/this friend.
(*) Haba los nios en el saln (podramos decir Haba nios en la
biblioteca).
(*) Hay tu madre en la biblioteca (podramos decir Hay una madre en la
biblioteca).
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The NP after be in existential there constructions has to be indefinite. Ex.
There is a man in the library / There are four cats in the garden.
There are a series of exceptions in which we can have a definite NP after existential
there:
1) With a to-infinitive relative clause : There is Mary/her mother/the situation to
consider (Hay que tener en cuenta a Mary/a su madre/a la situacin).
2) With appositive or noun complement clauses : There is the problem/idea that...
There is the problem that the museum was closed. What was the problem? That the
museum is closed.
There is the idea that John could solve the problem. What was the idea? That John
could solve the problem.
3) When we provide a list of items : There was Peter, his supervisor, and some other
students in the lecture.
Declarative Negatives in English
- Negation in the history of English:
a) In OE, negative was expressed by means of 3 main procedures :
1. Negative particle en in front of the verb.
Hie en common (They didnt come).
En con ic singan (I cant sing).
2. The use of enclitic forms (negative particle attached to the verb).
Se cyning naes wis (The king wasnt wise).
Ne + is = nis
Ne + waes = naes
Ne + haefde = naefde
Ne + wolde = nolde
Ne + woldon = noldon
Hie noldon cuman (They didnt want to come).
3. Double negation.
Hie en druncon nan waeter (They didnt drink water).
b) Middle English : 2 periods:
- Early Middle English :
1. en, na, no + verb.
2. Enclitic forms.
3. Double negation.
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- Late Middle English : one main strategy (negative particle not after the
verb).
We still had double negation although it was seen as colloquial and
then considered ungrammatical by grammarians.
Dummy do was introduced in Early Modern English (16
th
c).
Standardisation in the 17
th
c.
c) PDE : 2 main types of negative sentences.
1. Semantically negative sentences : negative in meaning but declarative
affirmative in syntax = the verb is not negated.
I found nothing.
2. Semantically and syntactically negative : negative in meaning + declarative
negative in syntax.
I didnt/did not find anything (use of dummy do to negate the verb).
The negative adverb NOT
2 forms - Strong NOT.
- Weak NT (attached to the verb).
Examples in which the addition of nt produces phonetic change in the form of the
verb.
- Must - mustnt
/mst/ - /mstnt/
- Do - dont
/du:/ - /dunt/,/dDnt/
Verbs with several possibilities for the weak form of negation (nt )
Can not I can not go (the not affects the VP, not the AuxP).
- Can
Cant/Cannot I cant/cannot go (the nt affects the AuxP and
negates the whole sentence).
Subject + verb contracted: Im not, Youre not, Hes not...
- Be
Verb + not contracted: *I amnt, You arent, He isnt... Aint
colloquial form
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The structure of negation
Rule: To transform a declarative affirmative into a declarative negative, we place
the negative not after the first auxiliary. Ex. He could NOT sing // Mary has NOT won
a prize // Peter could NOT have written the essay // The car may NOT have been being
sold for months.
In case we have no auxiliary, we make us of dummy do because it is expletive, ie, it
has no meaning. Ex.
Sarah cooks every Sunday (+)
Sarah does cook every Sunday (+++)
Sarah does not cook every Sunday (-)
----
They arrived early (+)
They did arrive early (+++)
They did not arrive early (-)
# Exception: Be is syntactically exceptional. Even when it is a main verb, it cannot take
dummy do [it can only take dummy do in imperatives].
Attributive: John is NOT Marys friend.
Be as a main verb can be
Locative: The milk is NOT in the fridge.
Exceptions to the general rule of placing not after the first auxiliary
a) Short questions and answers :
- Why not?
- A: Will John come back tomorrow?
B: I think/hope/expect not ~ traces of ME.
- A: Who accompanied Sarah?
B: Not me ~ accusative case.
b) Negated constituent preposing :
Fronting/Topicalisation of a negated constituent.
It triggers inversion.
+ NOT + Direct Object Not one single book could he buy in the bookshop.
+ NOT + Indirect Object Not to Mary did Peter write the email.
+ NOT + Adjunct Not for all the money would John sell his house.
+ NOT + Clause [the clause has to precede by only or even] Not only did the
thief break the window but also stole the jewels // Not even have they tried to
be polite.
+ It also applies in semantically negated sentences Never has my sister been like
this // Hardly a soul could we see in the street.
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Partial inversin because it is
auxiliary + subject (full inversin
when main verb + subject)
+ NOT + Subject, there is no inversion. This occurs when the subject fulfils one of
the following conditions:
1. The subject is an indefinite pronoun or contains an indefinite quantifier:
Not everybody attended the lecture.
Not many students attended the lecture.
2. The subject is preceded by only or even:
Not only Mary arrived early only the subject (vs. Not only did
Mary arrived early but she chose the best place the whole
prepose)
c) Not in medial position :
- In front of an NP, when we are contrasting 2 objects [=semantically,
syntactically]:
George married an architect not a doctor (affirmative, NOT + NP).
George didnt Marry a doctor but an architect (negative, BUT + NP).
- NOT in front of an AP. In this case, the case of the AP must be modified by
something else.
*The not popular man The not unpopular man was welcomed by everybody
The not so rich attended the party.
- NOT in front of a to-infinitive clause.
They wanted [NOT to go]
They didnt want [to go]
John seemed [NOT to be tired]
John didnt seem [to be tired]
---------------
- The neighbours obliged Mary [NOT to sell the flat]
- The neighbours didnt oblige Mary [to sell the flat]
The children promised [NOT to arrive late]
The children didnt promise [to arrive late]
Double negation
In OE, it was possible and very usual. Ex. He ne druncon nn water.
In ME, usual until LME. Later, it was seen as colloquial, and then, as ungrammatical.
In PDE, it is ungrammatical. Ex. *They didnt drink no water.
Contexts in which we can have 2 NOTs in the same sentence:
1) Complex sentences (2 clauses).
2) One clause, but with a modal verb that is special in relation to negation: <must>
and <can>.
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Negative raising verbs: those verbs
that do not change the meaning of the
sentence when we move NOT from the
to-infinitive to the main clause
Not negative
raising verbs
3) One clause, but with an adverb of volition (intention, wish, desire...): intentionally,
willingly, deliberately...
-----------
1) Complex sentences (2 clauses).
- Sarah wants [to go] = Sarah wants not to go
= = Sarah doesnt want to go.
Sarah doesnt want [not to go] = Sarah doesnt want [to stay] = Sarah wants
[to go] ~ not usual as speakers prefer to speak in the affirmative.
- George seems to be tired = George seems not to be tired.
= = George doesnt seem to be tired.
George doesnt seem [not to be tired] = George doesnt seem [to be fresh]
= George seems [to be tired].
- The librarian promised to lend the book The librarian didnt promise
to lend the book
The librarian promised not to
lend the book
The librarian didnt promise [not to lend the book].
* <Promise> like <oblige> are not negative raising verbs, as the meaning
changes.
Negative raising verbs fulfilling 2 characteristics:
a. If we raise the NOT from the subordinate clause to the main clause, there is
no change in meaning. Ex. He doesnt seem to be tired = He seems not to be
tired.
b. When we have double negation, double negation means the same as the
affirmative.
2) One clause, but with a modal verb that is special in relation to negation: <must>
and <can>.
Must is exception because, from the semantic point of view, it is never
negated.
Charlie must go
Charlie mustnt/must not go Charlie must stay (we are not negating
<must> but <go>).
Must [not go] must not/mustnt [not go] = must go
Charlie mustnt [not go] = Charlie mustnt [stay] = Charlie must go.
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Can Not Jim can not go He has the possibility of not going.
Nt Jim cannot/cant go no possibility to go.
Jim cant [not go] = Jim cant [stay] = Jim must go.
Example Jane Eyre:
Jane can not marry.
Jane cant/mustnt marry.
Jane cant/mustnt not marry = Jane must marry.
3) One clause, but with an adverb of volition (intention, wish, desire...): intentionally,
willingly, deliberately...
The gardener has killed the plant:
- Intentionally, the gardener has killed the plant.
- The gardener has killed the plant, intentionally.
- The gardener intentionally has killed the plant.
- The gardener has intentionally killed the plant.
The gardener hasnt killed the plant:
- The gardener hasnt killed the plant, intentionally.
- The gardener hasnt intentionally killed the plant.
# Adverb of volition after negation, we are negating the adverb and
not the verb.
- The gardener intentionally hasnt killed the plant.
- Intentionally, the gardener hasnt killed the plant.
# We are negating the action the plant is alive.
The gardener hasnt intentionally not killed the plant He has the intention
to kill the plant but he wasnt able to.
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- Can not verb = can reverse verb or not
Sarah can not go = Sarah can stay or not.
- Cant verb / Mustnt verb = must reverse verb.
Rose cant/mustnt leave = Rose must stay.
- Mustnt not / Cant not verb = Must verb.
Charlie cant/mustnt stay/not go = Charlie must go.
No change in
meaning.