Coordination and Its Implications for Roots and Stems of Sentence and Clause [Reprint 2020 ed.] 9783112327425, 9783112327418

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PdR Press Publications in

TAGMEMICS

EVELYN G. PIKE

Coordination and Its Implications for Roots and Stems of Sentence and Clause

THE PETER DE RIDDER PRESS

1

E V E L Y N G. P I K E

Coordination and Its Implications for Roots and Stems of Sentence and Clause

LISSE/NETHERLANDS

THE PETER DE RIDDER PRESS 1974

© Copyright reserved No part of this book may be translated or reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the author.

Printed in Belgium by N.I.C.I., Ghent

CONTENTS

0. INTRODUCTION

5

0.1 Topics 0.2 Tools

5 6

1. COORDINATION

9

1.1 Adverb-Phrase Coordinate Complex and Adverb Coordinate Complex 1.2 Adjective-Phrase Coordinate Complex and Adjective Coordinate Complex 1.3 Noun-Phrase Coordinate Complex, Noun Coordinate Complex, and the Basic Variant versus the Deletion Variant of a Coordinate 1.4 Main Verb Coordinate Complex 1.5 Clause Coordinate Complex and Sentence Coordinate Complex

9 10

12 12 13

2 . N O N - C O O R D I N A T E SENTENCE STEMS

14

2.1 Condition-Contingency Stem 2.2 Cause-Effect Stem 2.3 Point of Reference-Contrast Stem

15 16 18

3. C L A U S E R O O T S AND C L A U S E - R O O T C O O R D I N A T E COMPLEX

3.1 Clause Roots 3.2 Clause Root Coordinate Complex 4 . SUMMARY

20

20 25 26

0. I N T R O D U C T I O N

0.1 TOPICS

Section 1 of this paper presents a consistent treatment of coordination at various levels of the grammatical hierarchy. The coordination of two or more items manifests or fills the same function (slot-role) as does the basic variant of any one of the items. This is readily recognized for the coordination of words and phrases in English. For example, the coordination of two adverb phrases filling a modification slot in a noun phrase is seen in: (his) very casual and quite unassuming (manner). Either of the coordinates may totally fill the same slot-role as seen in (his) very casual (manner) and (his) quite unassuming (manner). In the latter two instances a simple filler (an adjective phrase) fills the slot whereas in the first, a complex fills it. We will call that complex an Adjective Phrase Coordinate Complex. The simple versus complex filler class is comparable to the difference between a root versus a stem filling the nucleus of a noun. In the following list of nouns, the nuclear element of the first four nouns is a root, whereas the nucleus of the last three is filled by a stem: cat(s), dog(s), patch(es), ox(en), eater(s), requirement(s), extension (s). (Note that the term stem is used to designa te a complex structure, only.) By analogy, a coordinate complex is a stem and any of its coordinates is a root. Either the stem or the root may be a constituent within the same embedding structure. Normally a clause fills a slot in a sentence; then by analogy a coordination of such clauses should fill the same slot. It is at this point that there has been an inconsistency of treatment of coordination, in that some analysts have treated the coordination of two clauses as filling two slots in the sentence rather than just one. A thesis of this paper is that the nucleus of the first of the two following sentences is filled by a clause (sentence root) and that in the second it is filled by a clause coordinate complex (sentence stem): (Probably, after dinner,) I will wash the dishes.

6

INTRODUCTION

(Probably, after dinner,) I will wash the dishes and she will put away the food. By this analysis, we have a consistent treatment of coordination at various levels of the grammatical hierarchy. Section 2 treats non-coordinate sentence stems. These include: (1) Condition-Contingency as in (After dinner,) if there is food left over, then I will put it away; (2) Cause-Effect as in (After dinner,) because there is food left over, I will put it away; (3) Point of Reference-Contrast as in (After dinner,) there was food left over but I didn't put it away. These are discussed also in contrast with sentence and clause margins. Section 3 discusses the nuclear elements of the clause. The simple filler is the clause root whereas the complex filler is the clause-root coordinate complex (i.e. clause stem). The clause root is seen in the next two illustrations and the clause stem is seen in the third one: He gave the cashier the money (for the tourists), I found some seats (for the tourists); He gave the cashier the money and I found some seats (for the tourists). He gave the cashier the money is a Bitransitive Clause Root and I found some seats is a Transitive Clause Root. The coordination of the two roots comprises the stem.

0.2 TOOLS

A brief explanation of the model of the grammatical tagmeme which is used in this paper is now presented. The current model identifies the form-meaning and function-filler correlatives more specific now than formerly. Contrastive Features of the Grammatical Tagmeme Function

Filler

Form (organizational)

Cell A

Cell C

Meaning (situational)

Cell B

SLOT

ROLE

CLASS Cell D CATEGORY

Figure 1.

We illustrate tagmemic formulas and morpheme classes for Adverb Phrase which include the data presented between the parallel lines:

INTRODUCTION

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)

He He He He He He He He

spoke spoke spoke spoke spoke spoke spoke spoke

7

distinctly. slowly. very distinctly. very slowly. quite distinctly. quite slowly. very fast. quite well.

Figure 2.

That we are able to recognize proportion in grammatical relations is an important axiom in tagmemics. From that axiom we judge all eight of the items between the parallel lines to have the same relation to the total sequence, hence have the same function (slot and role, which are Cells A and B). That function is Margin-as-Manner (Cell A-as-Cell B). Also within the data each of the eight fillers is a member of just one class (Cell C), Adverb Phrase. We consider distinctly in example (1) and slowly in example (2) each as an adverb phrase (an adverb filling the nucleus of an adverb phrase) because each may be expanded, as seen in examples (3-6). That is analogous to considering the word boys as in boys eat a lot of food as a noun phrase (a noun filling the nucleus of a noun phrase) because it may optionally occur with modifiers as in three little boys. Because there is no subcategorization relevant to our interest here, Adverb Phrase is sufficient to represent the filler. The tagmeme is, then, Margin-as-Manner: Adverb Phrase which is to be read as: Margin-asManner is filled (manifested or expounded) by Adverb Phrase. (The grammatical difference between distinctly as a construction and fast as a single morpheme is treated on a lower level. See the next paragraph.) The tagmeme may be referred to as clause Margin-as-Manner; clause revers to the level in which the tagmeme is a constituent and is not required as part of the label if the level has already been identified. In tagmemics every grammatical filler class is either one or more constructions and, or one or more classes of morphemes. A construction requires a lower level formula whereas a morpheme class doesn't require one and therefore is listed by its contrastive label together with each member of that class including the lexical value of each member. The latter feature will usually be omitted in this paper, since the contrastive place of each morpheme in the semantic hierarchy is beyond the scope of this paper, but it is in this area that lexical constraints are indicated. The construction formulas for Adverb Phrase are:

8

INTRODUCTION

Adverb Phrase = ± Margin-as-Intensity: Intensifier + Manner: Adverb 1 Adverb 2

Nucleus-as-

This is to be read as Adverb Phrase equals (comprises or is made up of) an optional Margin-as-Intensity filled by Intensifier followed by an obligatory Nucleus-as-Manner filled by either Adverb 1 or Adverb 2 (thus reflecting the distinction between fast (Adverb 1) and distinctly (Adverb 2). Adverb 2 = + Nucleus-as-Manner: Adjective 1 + Margin-as-Adverb 2 Marker: This is to be read as Adverb 2 equals an obligatory Nucleus-as-Manner filled by Adjective 1 (distinct, slow) followed by an obligatory Margin-asAdverb 2 Marker filled by (a class whose unique member is enclosed in diamond brackets). None of the other classes is a construction hence no further formula is needed; each is a morpheme class, so is listed below as such: Intensifier very quite

Adverb 1 fast well

Adjective distinct slow

ly> -ly 'Adverb 2 Marker'

Each class contrasts with each other class. The Intensifier class contrasts with Adverb 1 class by the difference in function (slot and role) correlated with class membership. Adverb 1 contrasts with Adverb 2, not by function, but by internal structure: Adverb 1 is a morpheme class whereas Adverb 2 is a construction class. Intensifier contrasts with Adverb 2 by both function and internal structure. Adjective contrasts with Adverb 2 in these data by slot (but not by role), and by internal structure. This, then, is a very brief summary of the tools we bring to bear on the problems of some clause, phrase and word sequences.

1. C O O R D I N A T I O N

The structure of a coordinate complex is represented in the following formula: X Coordinate Complex = + Nucleus-as-Coordinate : X + ( + / — / ± Link-as-Promise of Coordination: Coordinate Conjunction + Nucleus-as-Coordinate: X) n l + / — / ± indicates that the link is (1) present before each noninitial nucleus or (2) it is absent before each of them or (3) it is present before only the last one. Any link occurring otherwise indicates an embedded coordinate complex. n_1 indicates that the part within parenthesis may be repeated an unspecified but considerably less than an infinite number of times.

1.1 ADVERB-PHRASE COORDINATE COMPLEX AND ADVERB COORDINATE COMPLEX

We have presented the Adverb Phrase filling the function of clause Margin-as-Manner; now we present additional data filling that same function: Margin-as-Manner (9) (10) (11) (12) (13) (14) (15)

He He He He He He He

spoke spoke spoke spoke spoke spoke spoke

very slowly very fast slowly very slowly very slowly distinctly very slowly and distinctly. Figure 3.

and and and and and and

quite distinctly. quite well. very distinctly. very distinctly. distinctly. very slowly.

10

COORDINATION

Examples (9-14) illustrate the coordination of two adverb phrases filling the function of clause Margin-as-Manner, whereas in example (15) that function is filled by simply an adverb phrase, but one whose nucleus is filled by the Adverb Coordinate Complex. This contrast in function and hence immediate constituent analysis is particularly evident in the identical sequence of morphemes in examples (13) and (15) in which very in example (13) modifies only slowly, not also distinctly, hence example (14) is an appropriate paraphrase; but in example (15) very modifies both slowly and distinctly hence example (12) and not (14) is its paraphrase. For any given string, only the appropriate paraphrase can indicate which construction is intended by the speaker. It is to be pointed out that slowly in example (11) is at the same time an adverb and an adverb phrase whereas slowly in example (15) is only an adverb and not also an adverb phrase. With the addition of the coordinate complex data (Fig. 3) we must add classes to the fillers in the formulas of Section 0.2. Adverb-Phrase Coordinate Complex is a class with Adverb Phrase as a filler of the clause Margin-as-Manner; Adverb 1 or 2 Coordinate Complex is a class along with Adverb 1 and Adverb 2 as a filler of the adverb-phrase Nucleus-as-Manner. The formulas for these two new classes follow: Adverb-Phrase Coordinate Complex = + Nucleus-as-Coordinate: Adverb Phrase +(+/—/±Link-as-Coordination: Coordinate Conjunction + Nucleus-as-Coordinate: Adverb Phrase)111 Adverb 1 or 2 Coordinate Complex = + Nucleus-as-Coordinate: Adverb 1 + ( + / — / ± Link-as-Coordinate: Coordinate Conjunction Adverb 2 + Nucleus-as-Coordinate: (Adverb l)11"1 Adverb 2

1.2 ADJECTIVE-PHRASE COORDINATE COMPLEX A N D ADJECTIVE COORDINATE COMPLEX.

Coordination comparable to that seen with adverb phrases and adverbs 1

For additional tagmemes in the noun phrase see Peter Fries, Tagmeme Sequences in the English Noun Phrase (Norman, Okla., S.I.L. Publications in Linguistics and Related Fields, No. 36,1970). A summary of some of this material in chart form with labels for slot, role, and class is found in Kenneth L. Pike and Evelyn G. Pike, Grammatical Analysis (to appear).

COORDINATION

11

is seen with adjective phrases and adjectives. Note the data below for the noun-phrase 1 tagmeme Margin-as-Quality: Adjective Phrase Adjective-Phrase Coordinate Complex Margin-as-Quality (16) I saw the

pink

carnation.

(17) I saw the

very pink

carnation.

(18) I saw the

very white

carnation.

(19) I saw the

pink

and

white

carnation.

(20) I saw the

very pink

and

very white

carnation.

(21) I saw the

very red

and

very round

ball of yarn.

(22) I saw the

red

and

very round

ball of yarn.

(23) I saw the

round

and

very red

ball

(24) I saw the

very red

and

(25) I saw the

very red and round

round

yarn.

ball of yarn.

ball of yarn.

Figure 4.

The first three examples and the last example of Figure 4 illustrate the Adjective Phrase class, whereas the rest of the examples illustrate the class of Adjective-Phrase Coordinate Complex. Notice that pink in example (16) and both pink and white in example (19) are each variants of Adjective Phrase (i.e. minus optional modifiers). Also notice the different immediate constituent analysis of the identical sequences of morphemes in examples (24) and (25). In (24) very modifies only red, not round-, whereas in (25) very modifies both red and round; thus example (21) is a paraphrase for (25) but not for (24). This contrastive

12

COORDINATION

treatment of identical sequences of morphemes is comparable to the analysis of adverb phrases in Section 1.1. Because all the formulas for the coordinate complexes are analogous, we shall not include any more of them in this paper.

1.3 NOUN-PHRASE COORDINATE COMPLEX, N O U N COORDINATE COMPLEX, A N D THE BASIC VARIANT VERSUS THE DELETION VARIANT OF A COORDINATE

Noun-Phrase Coordinate Complex is illustrated by: The kitten, the dog, and the frisky squirrel (followed me) as well as by its paraphrase, The kitten, dog, and frisky squirrel (followed me) in which the is intended to be a modifier in all three noun phrases. The Noun Coordinate Complex is illustrated by (the) kitten, dog, and squirrel ... in which the modifies all three nouns which fill the Nucleusas-Item of the noun phrase; this analysis is analogous to that given for adverb and adjective coordinate complexes. It is to be noted that the word dog in this last illustration is a noun but not also a noun phrase whereas dog in the preceding illustration (the kitten, dog, and frisky squirrel...) is not only a noun but is also a deletion variant of a noun phrase whose basic variant is the dog. This is necessary because squirrel has not only the modifier common to the other two nouns, but also has an additional modifier frisky, and the sequence frisky squirrel fills more than the nucleus of the noun phrase yet is not of itself a construction, hence must be a deletion variant of the phrase, the frisky squirrel; all coordinates must be raised to the same grammatical level. The basic variant of any such coordinate is the one which can totally fill the same function as is filled by the coordinate complex of which it is a part. A deletion variant is less than the basic variant such that if it occurs in a sequence, repeated lexical items are assumed to be semantically obligatory but deleted from the actualized string.

1.4 M A I N VERB COORDINATE COMPLEX

In the following examples the data between the parallel lines show the coordination of main verbs filling the Nucleus-as-Predication of a verb phrase. 2 2

For a treatment of grammatical slot and class in the English verb phrase see Pike and Pike, "Rules as Components of Tagmemes in the English Verb Phrase" in Advances in Tagmemics, ed. by R. Brend (Amsterdam: North Holland, 1974), 175-204.

13

COORDINATION

Nucleus-as-Predication (26) (27) (28)

The man may have sneezed and coughed The children were eating and eating The children were making and eating

frequently, popcorn yesterday, popcorn yesterday.

Figure 5. 1.5 CLAUSE COORDINATE COMPLEX AND SENTENCE COORDINATE COMPLEX

Now we come to the part of the analysis of coordination which hasn't always been too explicit as to whether a given example is the coordination of two clauses filling either one or more than one sentence slot, or indeed if the two clauses are actually two sentences. We give as an example of the Clause Coordinate Complex the following sentence in which the complex fills the sentence Nucleus-as-statement preceded by a dependent time clause filling the sentence Margin-as-Time which is intended to modify both clauses of the complex: (When the weather cleared,) Bob played ball very well and Mary sat in the stands with her sister. Either of the independent clauses may wholly fill the sentence nucleus slot: (When the weather cleared,) Bob played ball very well and (When the weather cleared,) Mary sat in the stands with her sister. This is comparable to our analysis of (the) kitten, dog, and squirrel in which the is modifier to all three nouns and none of the nouns has an additional modifier, which if one did, would raise each of the three coordinates to a noun phrase as in the kitten, dog, and frisky squirrel. It follows then by analogy, that if at least one of the clause coordinates had its own additional sentence modifier, then each coordinate would be a sentence. This is what we propose as in: When the weather cleared, Bob played ball very well and, as for Mary, she sat in the stands with her sister. As for Mary is a sentence Margin-as-Topic, hence the coordinate of which it is a part is not just a clause, but is a sentence, so the coordination is of two sentences rather than of two clauses. Thus, either a clause coordinate complex or a sentence coordinate complex or simply a clause may fill the sentence nucleus slot: Sentence = ± Margin-as-Time: Time Clause + Nucleus-as-Statement: Independent Clause Clause Coordinate Complex Sentence Coordinate Complex

2. N O N - C O O R D I N A T E SENTENCE STEMS

We have presented the Independent Clause as a sentence root filling the sentence nucleus and also the clause and sentence coordinate complexes as sentence stems filling that same slot. Now we present additional clause sequences as candidates for sentence stems, non-coordinate sentence stems. Before considering the specific clause sequences, we describe briefly some sentence margins, as well as clause margins, in order that the reader may have clearly in mind what we consider to be in contrast to the sentence nucleus. A unit is more clearly identifiable when seen in contrast with structures at its own grammatical level as well as those on other levels. In the sentence, As for Bill, probably, after the weather cleared, in order to get some exercise, he played ball, the sentence Nucleus-asStatement is filled by he played ball. It is preceded by four sentence margins: Margin-as-Purpose, filled by in order to get some exercise, Margin-as-Time filled by after the weather cleared, Margin-as-Speaker Attitude filled by probably, and Margin-as-Topic filled by as for Bill. All margins except for Margin-as-Topic may occur following the nucleus, but just as for tagmemes, which may occur either before or after the nucleus, the one occurring before has the higher focus. If the Marginas-Time occurs following he played ball and without a marked phonological juncture, we consider it as a clause margin rather than as a sentence margin, but if it is sharply set apart phonologically from he played ball, then we would consider it as a sentence margin. The sentence margins we have presented have the roles of purpose, time, speaker attitude, and of topic. The clause margins (in addition to the clause Margin-as-Time mentioned above) are illustrated in the following: Bill played ball very well in the park yesterday for his school. The clause nucleus is filled by Bill played ball; very well fills the clause Margin-as-Manner: in the park fills clause Margin-as-Location; yesterday

NON-COORDINATE SENTENCE STEMS

15

fills clause Margin-as-Time; and for his school fills clause Margin-asBenefactee. Clause Margin-as-Accompaniment is seen in (He went home) with his family. The roles of clause margins which we have presented are: manner, location, time, benefactee, and accompaniment. Now we present three non-coordinate sentence stems, listing them with the sentence root and two other stem fillers of the sentence nucleus. Sentence Nucleus-as-Statement: Independent Clause (sentence root) Clause Coordinate (sentence coordinate stem) Sentence Coordinate Complex (sentence coordinate stem) Condition-Contingency Stem (sentence non-coordinate stem) Cause-Effect Stem (sentence non-coordinate stem) Point of Reference-Contrast Stem (sentence non-coordinate stem) This tagmeme may be accompanied by any or all of the sentence margins which we have listed above. 2.1 CONDITION-CONTINGENCY STEM

The following example illustrates the Condition-Contingency Stem, (Probably) if it is hot outside, then the children will come inside. This sequence of two clauses which as a total makes the assertion that given a specific condition something will happen. This is a condition-contingency relationship. The contingency meaning of the second clause is lost if it occurs without the condition clause; and the condition clause makes no assertion at all if it is not accompanied by the second clause. This is a mutual semantic dependency which together with the fact that the sequence can be accompanied by the same margin tagmemes, as can a sentence root and at the same time may fill the same role as a sentence root, provides strong support for the unity of the sequence as a sentence stem. The same mutual semantic dependency is retained if the two clauses are reversed in order: (Probably,) the children will come inside, if it is hot outside; hence the stem has two variants. The contingency marker then is optionally present if the Contingency

16

NON-COORDINATE SENTENCE STEMS

Clause is second in the stem, but is omitted if that clause is first in the stem. Condition-Contingency Stem = + Margin-as-Condition: Condition Clause + Nucleus-as-Contingency: Contingency Clause Nucleusas-Contingency + Margin-as-Condition The symbol ~ indicates a variant of a unit; usually the basic variant is listed first and then enough of the formula for each other variant is used to indicate how it varies from the basic variant. It is to be noted that dependency or independency of a filler is not to be equated with nucleus versus margin of a construction.

2.2 CAUSE-EFFECT STEM

Another two clause sequence which also has a mutual semantic dependency, and occurs with the same marginal tagmeme as does a sentence root, and also may fill the same role as a sentence root, is the Cause-Effect Stem. We present three variants of this stem (Fig. 6, p. 17). The formula for the first variant (Figure 6, examples 29-32) is, CauseEffect Stem = + Margin-as-Cause: Cause Clause + Nucleus-as-Effect: Independent Clause. The formula for the second variant, examples (33-35), is, ~ + Nucleus-as-Effect + Margin-as-Cause: Cause Clause. The two variants differ not only in the order of the two constituents, but also in the fact that the Independent Clause may not fill the role of cause unless it occurs first in the sequence. The difference in the use of the ball and it in the two variants is a lexical rather than a grammatical constraint. The formula for Cause Clause is of interest to us: Cause Clause = + Margin-as-Relater: Cause Marker + Nucleus-as-Cause: Independent Clause. The members of the class Clause Marker are: because, since, and as. Since and as give a lexically weaker cause signal partially because they also belong to the class Time Marker as in: Since he has been standing there, three busses have gone by, or As he was standing there, three busses went by. The formula for the third variant of the Cause-Effect Stem (examples 36-39) is, ~ + Nucleus-as-Cause: Independent Clause + Nucleus-asEffect: Effect Clause.

NON-COORDINATE SENTENCE STEMS

17

Nucleus-as-Statement (29) (30) (31) (32)

Yesterday, Yesterday, Yesterday, Yesterday,

(33)

Yesterday,

Mary caught the ball,

(34) (35)

Yesterday, Yesterday,

Mary caught the ball, Mary caught the ball,

(36)

Yesterday,

(37)

Yesterday,

Bob threw the ball it was hot outside

(38)

Yesterday,

(39)

Yesterday,

because Bob threw the since Bob threw the as Bob threw the Bob threw the

ball, ball, ball, ball,

dinner was ready dinner was ready

Mary caught Mary caught Mary caught Mary caught (paraphrased 29-31; 33-36)

it. it. it. it. by

because Bob threw it. since Bob threw it. as Bob threw it.

so Mary caught it so the children came in. so we ate right away. and we ate right away, (paraphrased by 38)

Figure 6.

In this variation the marked form is in Nucleus-as-Effect whereas in the first and second variants, if there was a marked form, it was in the Nucleus-as-Cause. Notice that example (39) is not an example of the coordinate complex, hence and here is not a coordinate conjunction, but is a member with so of the class Effect Marker as indicated in: Effect Clause = + Margin-as-Relater: Effect Marker + Effect: Independent Clause

Nucleus-as-

18

NON-COORDINATE SENTENCE STEMS

2.3 POINT OF REFERENCE-CONTRAST STEM

As the first two non-coordinate sentence stems, so the Point of ReferenceContrast Stem may fill the same function as a sentence root, also may occur with the same margin tagmemes, and has a mutual semantic dependency. We present three variants of it. Nucleus-as-Statement

(40) As for John, (41) As for John,

he is ill, he is ill,

(42) As for John,

he is ill,

(43) As for John, (44) As for John,

he is ill, he is ill,

but he continues to work. however he continues to work. nevertheless he continues to work. still he continues to work. yet he continues to work.

(45) (46) (47) (48)

As As As As

for for for for

John, John, John, John,

even though he is ill, although he is ill, though he is ill, despite his illness,

he he he he

(49) (50) (51) (52)

As As As As

for for for for

John, John, John, John,

he he he he

even though he is ill. although he is ill. though he is ill. despite his illness.

continues continues continues continues

to to to to

work work work work

continues continues continues continues

to work. to work. to work. to work.

Figure 7.

The formula for the first variant (Figure 7, examples 40-44) is, Point of Reference-Contrast Stem = + Nucleus-as-Point of Reference: Independent Clause + Margin-as-Contrast: Contrast Clause. The formula for the second variant (examples 45-48) is, ~ + Marginas-Point of Reference: Point of Reference Clause + Nucleus-as-Contrast: Point of Reference Phrase Independent Clause.

NON-COORDINATE SENTENCE STEMS

19

The Point of Reference Phrase is illustrated by despite his illness in example (48). The third variant is the same as the second variant, except that the order of the two constituents (examples 49-52) is reversed. The lower level formulas and classes are comparable to those already discussed, hence will not be included here.

3. CLAUSE ROOTS A N D CLAUSE-ROOT COORDINATE COMPLEX

3.1 CLAUSE ROOTS

We have listed in Section 2 some of the most frequently occurring clause margins. Now we present the most frequent fillers of the clause Nucleusas-Statement, the clause roots. The basic types of clause root are determined by the role of the predicate (statement, question, command, etc.), and the number and kinds of roles of the participant tagmemes, which are semantically required to accompany them. The roles are actor (A), undergoer (U), scope (Sc), and item (It), and the participant tagmemes are subject (S), object (O), indirect object (IO), and adjunct (Ad). The Complement-as-Characteristic of Subject (Co-COS) is a tagmeme of some clause roots, but since it isn't a participant tagmeme, it makes for sub-classes (indicated by a subscript such as i) rather than for major classes. Other subclasses are determined by the differences of specific participant slot with which a role occurs and whether or not that participant tagmeme is optional in its surface actualization. It is important to note that these subclasses are indeed contrastive constructions (or syntagmemes), not just variants of a construction; the label of subclass means that such a construction is more similar to others of its major class than it is to a subclass of another major type. The terms actor, undergoer, and scope, even as predicate subject, object, etc. are language specific; (hence) for any one language each of these may embrace a variety of etic features. For example in the two clause roots: the boy bought a car and the boy owned a car, the boy is Subject-as-Actor and a car is Object-as-Undergoer; the two are examples of the same transitive clause root. However, although there is a meaning difference in the role of the boy in the two examples {the boy is more obviously an actor in the first), that meaning difference is treated here as being only etic because it is not correlated with a difference of grammatical form; the one is only a meaning variant of the other, and does not

21

CLAUSE ROOTS

signal contrastive grammatical differences. Since an emic unit is a formmeaning composite the lack of a formal difference here lets this pair be treated as emically the same. Scope refers to a semantically obligatory role in the clause root. Scope is neither actor nor undergoer, but is one of several other meaning features. In the first following example it is a person; in the second it is a place to which an action or state is directed, (she gave a cookie) to me, (she put the cookies) on the plate. But it is time in the example (the play lasted) two hours. This catch-all feature is a normal characteristic of language and human experience in that only a few items in any given system or subsystem can be specifically marked, then all others of that system are lumped together as something other than the marked items. The following diagram 3 shows the diagnostic characteristic of the major clause roots of English. There are the transitivity and equative sets, designated here as those with an actor and those without (with an item), respectively. Within the transitivity set are bitransitive (BT), transitive (T), semitransitive (ST), and intransitive (I). Within the equative set are semiequative (SEq) and equative (Eq). Clause Root

Scope 1BT

no Scope

Scope

no Scope

Scope

no Scope

2T

3ST

41

5 SEq

6 Eq

Figure 8.

We see in Figure 8 that a bitransitive clause root has three participant roles. On the other hand, the intransitive root has only the actor role and the equative root has only the item role. 3

This diagram is adapted from extensive work done by Austin Hale. See Clause, Paragraph, and Discourse on Languages of Nepal, Parts I and II, Austin Hale, editor (S.I.L. Publications in Linguistics and Related Fields, N o . 40, 1973).

22

CLAUSE ROOTS

Now we give one or more examples of each major type of clause root, showing the function of each tagmeme and whether the tagmeme is obligatory or optional in its surface occurrence; all are semantically obligatory, hence are part of the nucleus rather than being a clause margin. This set of criteria not only determines the variety of clause root, but also the category of its predicate and of the nucleus of the verb phrase. Up to this point Cell D of the contrastive features of the grammatical tagmeme presented in Figure 1 has been empty, but now it becomes very relevant. In the example (He) has been painting (the house), the predicate is has been painting and can be represented by Predicate-as-Statement: Verb Phrase-as-Transitivei. The nucleus of the verb phrase is painting and it is represented by verb-phrase Nucleus-as-Statement: Main Verb as-Transitivei. We continue with illustrations for the six major root types indicated in Figure 8, showing the function of each tagmeme and whether the tagmeme is obligatory or optional in its surface occurrence. 1. BITRANSITIVE

(53)

He

handed

the tools to me.

+ S - A +P—Sta + O - U (54)

1

was handed the tools by John.

+ S - S c +P—Sta (55)

+0-U

The tools were handed to me +S-U

(56)

+10—Sc

He

+P—Sta passed

±Ad-A by John.

+10—Sc ±Ad-A

the cookies

to me.

+ S — A +P—Sta + 0 - U (57)

John

received

the prize

±IO-Sc from the committee.

+ S - A -f P—Sta + 0 - U (58)

John

gave

the prize

±IO-Sc to the winner.

+ S - A +P—Sta ± 0 - U (59)

The

book costs

+S-A (60)

He

me

±IO-Sc five

+P—Sta ± I O - S c had

both hands

dollars. +0-U on the

rudder.

+ S - A +P—Sta + O - U +IO—Sc These illustrate four of the dozen or so subclasses of the class of bitransitive roots. Note that examples (53-55) differ by the role of their respective

23

CLAUSE ROOTS

subject tagmemes. Example (56) differs from the first three in that the indirect object is optional in its surface occurrence rather than obligatory. In example (57) John is the actor of receive, but the fact that he is the recipient of the prize in contrast to the giver of the prize as in example (58) is the lexemic contrast of receive and give, not a contrast in the grammatical structure.

2 . TRANSITIVE

(63)

He graded the class. + S - A +P—Sta + O - U He understood the speaker. + S - A +P—Sta ±0-U The class was graded by the teacher.

(64)

He

(61) (62)

+S-U

+P—Sta owns

+ S - A +P—Sta (65)

He

owns

The trees

+O-U the bank.

+ S - A +P—Sta (66)

±Ad—A

the company.

+O-U

shaded

the path.

+S-A +P—Sta + O - U Note that the verb understand is transitive whether or not the object is expressed. 3.

SEMITRANSITIVE

(67) (68) (69) (70) (71)

His family

settled

in Corfu.

+S-A

+P—Sta +IO—Sc

The train

passed

through

+S-A

+P—Sta ± I O - S c

The lava

erupted

+S-A

+P—Sta ± I O - S c

the town.

from the volcano.

I am at the office. +S—A+P—Sta +IO-Sc He remained at home. + S - A +P—Sta ±10—Sc

24

CLAUSE ROOTS

(72) (73) (74)

4.

INTRANSITIVE

(75) (76) (77) (78) (79) (80) 5.

He paused. + S - A +P—Sta John died. +S—A +P—Sta Evening fell. (metaphor) + S - A +P—Sta ' The chicken cooked. +S-A +P—Sta The path forked. +S-A ±P—Sta The meat stank. +S-A +P—Sta

SEMIEQUATIVE

(81) (82) (83) (84) (85) 6.

Wildlife abounds in this area. + S - A + P - S t a ±10—Sc The path led to the boy. +S-A +P—Sta + I O - S c The twins belong to the woman. +S—A +P—Sta ±IO—Sc

The food tasted good to me. +S-It +P—Sta + Co—COS ± I O - S c He looked surprised to the crowd. + S - I t +P—Sta + C o - C O S ± 0 - S c He seemed happy to us. + S - l t +P—Sta + C 0 - C O S ±10—Sc The body lay sprawled on the floor. ±S-It +P—Sta + C 0 - C O S + 1 0 - S c Marshwiggles exist in my imagination. +S-It +P—Sta ± I O - S c

EQUATIVE

(86)

The milk ±S—It

turned sour. ±P—Sta ±Co—COS

CLAUSE ROOTS

(87)

The liquid

became

(88)

The milk

is

sour.

+S-It

+P—Sta

+Co-COS

+S—It

gas.

+P—Sta + C o - C O S

(89)

John

(90)

That thing

is

chairman. resembles an owl.

+S-It

+P—Sta

+S—It +P—Sta

(91)

A dozen means +S-It

25

+P—Sta

+C0-COS +C0-COS

twelve. +C0-COS

3.2 CLAUSE ROOT COORDINATE COMPLEX

The Clause Root Coordinate Complex need be mentioned only very briefly because it is analogous in structure and in formulaic treatment to the ones already discussed in some detail. The following are a few examples: (92) John ran home and he found his skates (yesterday). (93) Mary skiped and Sarah hopped across the school yard (yesterday). Note that in this last example the first coordinate of the complex is a deletion variant of the clause-root: (94) Mary skipped across the school yard (yesterday). (95) He handed the tools to me and I used them (yesterday). (96) John ran home and he found his skates (yesterday). (97) I washed the dishes and she put the food away (yesterday). It is to be noted that the grammatical meaning of and (as in example 95) is coordination, but that its lexical value may be either sequence or simultaneity of action. Only the appropriate paraphrase can determine which. This difference may be designated as andx and and