Morley, G. D. (2000).

Syntax in functional grammar: An introduction to

lexicogrammar in systemic linguistics. A&C Black.

3
Word class

Words are traditionally allocated to one of the following range of word classes: noun, pronoun,
article, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition, conjunction and interjection; and, anticipating
later discussion on the genitive phrase (see Chapter 4, Section 4.7), at the end we add the
'genitive'. Some grammars, e.g. Leech et al. 1982; Halliday 1985a/1994a; Greenbaum and
Quirk 1990; Greenbaum 1996; Quirk et al. 1985, include the determiner among the list of word
classes. However, we will argue that the determiner is not a separate word class but rather an
element of phrase structure which is most typically realized by pronominal subclasses.
The allocation of words to word classes is undertaken on the basis of grammatical behaviour.
By grammatical behaviour is meant, firstly, the wording environment in which the word
appears, its location in the word string and the other words with which it can co-occur; and,
secondly, the range of different forms which the word can display. Thus, for example, the word
orange can occur in a variety of word contexts and hence belongs to more than one word class.
When it denotes a colour, it occurs in contexts such as The (very) orange bulb has blown and
The bulb which has blown is (very) orange. With the meaning here orange can be assigned to the
word class to which white, pink and new belong. On the other hand, the word orange referring to
a fruit occurs in contexts such as This ripe orange is tasty, These ripe oranges are tasty, This fruit
is an orange, These fruits are oranges. Orange with this meaning is therefore assigned to a
different word class, to which apple, nectarine, pear and subsequently tree, bird, car, house, etc.
also belong. Let us take another example. With one of its meanings the word like can occur in
the contexts / like peaches, HeI she likes peaches, I I heI she liked peaches. We note that neither of
the occurrences of the word orange above has these contexts or variations of form. One does not
hear *Iorange ..., * He/she oranges ..., * I/he/she oranged The word like here consequently
requires to be assigned to yet another class, to which eat, enjoy, buy and wash belong.

3.1 Noun
With respect to the meanings which they convey, nouns denote what we will call 'entities'.
Nouns will thus be regarded as a form, indeed the main but not the only form, of nominal word.
They may be 'concrete' or 'abstract'. If concrete, the entities referred to are made of material/
physical substance and are thus 'animate' (human or animal), e.g. girl, gorilla, or 'inanimate'
(solid or liquid), e.g. chair, water. If abstract, they are intangible, e.g. beauty, depth.
Nouns are usually associated with the ability to inflect (i.e. change their form) for the
plural, involving either the addition of a syllable to the end of the word or the modification of
a word root in some way, e.g. grape - grapes; peach - peaches; mouse - mice; goose - geese; or
perhaps a combination of both, e.g. knife - knives; index - indices. In some instances, though,
the plural form shows no change from that of the singular, e.g. sheep - sheep; deer - deer.
However, the ability to have a plural form does not apply to all nouns. Indeed, as we shall see,
these examples above illustrate just one particular subclass of noun known as 'common,
count' nouns.
Nouns are also associated with the property of being able to follow the articles a and the as
well as quantifiers such as some, many, e.g. the car, some warmth. Whilst this property does not
apply to all nouns, and most nouns can only follow certain of these words, it is a distinguishing
feature of nouns inasmuch as articles and quantifiers do not co-occur in such a relationship with
other word classes, e.g. adjective - beautiful, preposition - before, verb - write.
32 Class

Nouns are traditionally divided into the classes proper and common. Proper nouns denote the
name of entities which have unique reference. They refer to instances where the entity is viewed
as having a single specific or generalized denotation and this includes the names of people,
places and geographical locations, days and months, festival occasions, newspapers, magazines
and journals, organizations, and institutions, e.g. Ruth, Scotland, Glasgow, Queen Street, the
Clyde, Skye, Ben Lomond, Monday, May, Christmas, the Radio Times, the Beano, The Guardian,
The Listener, the Scottish Office, the House of Commons, the Scout Association, the University of
Strathclyde, the Bank of Scotland.
Proper nouns may well be associated in people's minds with the absence of an article (a, the),
e.g. Ruth, Mr Bishop, Scotland, Edinburgh, Saturday, May, etc. But whilst this is frequently
true, it is not necessarily the case. We do, for example, refer to The Times, the Clyde, the
Cairngorms, the Scottish Office, the Hook of Holland. A more significant feature of proper
nouns is that they do not, whilst retaining their unique reference, display a variation of article
contrast or of plurality. Thus, the examples above at the beginning of the paragraph do not
appear as *a Ruth, *the Ruth, * Ruths or *a Scotland, *the Scotland, *Scotlands, e.g. */ saw a
Ruth today; * We visited the Scotland this summer. Apparent contradictions of this are to be
found in the sentences /'// have a Times, please and We're out of Guardians. However, in such
instances the focus has now shifted away from the uniqueness of reference towards the concept
of an entity with a multiplicity of possible specimens. Thus a Times denotes one sample from
the overall stock of newspapers and Guardians here refers to all immediate specimens - the
shop's whole stock - of the paper. The principle of selection from or generality across a
multiplicity of instances can similarly be seen in He came on a Thursday and in Mondays can be
miserable. These are, therefore, examples of where a proper noun is being treated rather as a
countable type of common noun.
Common nouns refer to entities which do not have unique reference. They are divided into
two classes: count/countable and mass nouns. Count nouns denote entities which can be
counted / are countable using ordinary numbers such as one, two, three, four, five, etc., e.g.
compass, map, torch, cagoule. Mass nouns are nouns which cannot be counted; here the entity
is seen as a mass which cannot be increased or decreased in terms of countable units, e.g.
warmth, happiness, furniture, rubbish, milk, enlightenment. So, for example, if milk is added to
milk, we merely have more milk, not two milks; similarly, if some milk is poured from a jug
into a cup, the quantity of liquid remaining in the jug is less milk rather than, say, three-
quarters of a milk.
The following table compares the behaviour of common count and mass nouns, showing
how they combine with the articles a and the and the quantifiers some and many:

common nouns
count mass

sing, minus art. *car warmth

sing, plus the the car the warmth
sing, plus a a car *a warmth
sing, plus some *some car some warmth
plural plus many many cars *many warmths

A number of common nouns, however, can occur as either count or mass nouns, as illustrated
in the (a) and (b) examples below:

(a) A dozen eggs, please.

(b) You've got egg on your tie.
(a) Two teas, please.
(b) Tea has gone up enormously.
 Word class 33

(a) Look at these fascinating rocks.

(b) It's made of solid rock.
(a) /'// take three of those cakes, please.
(b) Would you like some/ a piece of cake?

When nouns can operate in a mixed capacity like this, they are not subject to the constraints
which count and mass nouns experience separately. Thus, for example, in different contexts we
can refer to cake, the cake, a cake, some cake, many cakes.
As we shall see in Part HI, Structure, nouns typically act as the headword element of a
nominal phrase.

3.2 Verb

In meaning terms, verbs may be said to express processes which can be classified in one of three
broad ways. Firstly they can denote actions, e.g. walk, draw, watch, work, feel (pulse), sound
(horn), inasmuch as they involve someone doing something and may be identified by questions
of the type 'What is X doing / did X do?'. Secondly, they can record events, e.g. occur, collapse,
melt, become, see, which involve something happening or a change of state and are identified by
'What is happening / happened?'. Lastly, they can refer to states (a state of affairs, state of mind
...), e.g. be, seem, like, feel (ill), sound (noisy), which relate to any point in time - past, present or
future - and which are identified by 'What is / was / will be the state of the subject?'. Systemic
grammarians have also classified processes into material, e.g. walk, draw, occur, collapse, melt,
mental, e.g. watch, see, listen, hear, expect, like, and relational, e.g. be, seem, become. The
grammatical definition of verbs, however, relates to the fact that their form can potentially be
inflected/modified to mark tense, aspect, voice, mood and the person form of the subject with
which they agree. The variations of the verb work below show some of these inflections in
action:

tense
present: work, works
past: worked

The sequence will work, however, is nowadays generally interpreted not as a future tense - the
main verb work has not been inflected - but rather as a marking of future time with the help of
the auxiliary verb will.

aspect
progressive/continuous: is working, was working
perfect: has worked, had worked

In these terms is working is the present tense of the progressive/continuous aspect, had worked
is the past tense of the perfect aspect, and has been working is the present tense of the perfect
continuous aspect.

voice
active: worked, is working
passive: was worked, is being worked
34 Class

mood
indicative: She works/worked hard.
imperative: Work hardier!
subjunctive: They insist that she work harder.

subject agreement
I/you/we/they work; he/she/it works.

In practice, the verb in modern English offers little scope for marking agreement with a change
of subject. Thus, for example, in the past tense the verb work shows no variation to mark
agreement with the subject:

I Iyoul he I sheI it I we I they worked.

In English it is the present tense of the verb to be which displays the greatest range of subject
agreement forms: lam; you/we/they are; he/she/it is.
Verbs have been traditionally classified as main or auxiliary. A main verb is one which can
operate as the headword or pivotal element of the verbal phrase, e.g. works, worked, is working,
will have been worked. If the verbal phrase contains more than one verb word, then the main
verb is the rightmost element. There is only a limited range of auxiliary verbs, e.g. do, be, have,
will, shall, may, can, must (together with would, should, might, could). As seen above, auxiliary
verbs typically co-occur with the main verb, though in conversation it is very possible for
repeated mention of the main verb to be omitted, e.g.

(Mother) Are you working?

(Young daughter, indignantly) Yes, I am .

In a tensed verbal phrase, it is the leftmost verb word which carries the tense inflection. That
means that in a single word verbal phrase this is the main verb, e.g. works, whereas in a multiple
word verbal phrase it is the leftmost auxiliary, e.g. has been working.
There are also constraints on the sequence in which the auxiliary verbs can appear, thus will
have been being worked is normal, *been have being will worked is not. Unlike main verbs, the
first auxiliary verb can also frequently take a contracted and 'clitic' form of the negative n 't, e.g.
aren't, shan't, won't, mustn't, can't, mightn't, don't (but not, in standard British English,
*mayn't, *amn't). (A few auxiliaries can also take a clitic form with the preceding subject
noun, e.g. I'm, he'll, we'd, you've, but in the case of be and have this ability is not restricted to
their use as auxiliaries.) Again, auxiliary verbs can be inverted with the subject to form an
interrogative, e.g. Do you take sugar?, Will she paint the kitchen?, whereas main verbs typically
cannot, e.g. *Take you sugar?, *Paints she the kitchen?. (But in German, for example, such
subject-verb inversion is the norm for this type of question.)
A further distinction is usually made between primary auxiliaries do, be, have and modal
auxiliaries, e.g. can, will, shall, must, may. With the primary auxiliaries some variation is
possible in the present tense form of the verb to mark agreement with the subject person, e.g.

/ am I you are / she is writing.

I have I she has written.
I do I she does write.

With modal auxiliaries, on the other hand, a change of subject does not prompt a change of
verb form, e.g.

/ must I you must / he must write.

I can I you can / he can write.
 Word class 35

Only one modal auxiliary occurs in a verbal phrase. If a modal is one of several auxiliaries in the
phrase, then it is always the first mentioned one, with the remainder being primary auxiliaries.
Thus one does not encounter sentences such as * / must can work or * You will may have finished,
nor *She be must working or *He have could finished.
In addition, there are some further modal auxiliary verbs - dare, need, ought to and used to -
which are regarded as marginal modals. Dare and need receive this label because whilst on the
one hand they can seem to behave exactly as ordinary modal auxiliaries, as in Dare I ask? / /
daren 't ask (but note also / didn 't dare ask) and Need we leave so early? / We needn 't leave so
early, on the other hand they can sometimes take the infinitive particle to, as in / didn't dare to
ask or Do we need to leave so early? / We don't need to leave so early, thus behaving like non-
auxiliary verbs. Ought to can take a contracted negative, e.g. You oughtn't to miss the opening,
and as part of an ellipted reply the word ought can stand without the infinitive particle, e.g.
(Ought I to bring some food?) Yes, you ought. However, in most (though not all) people's speech
the infinitive particle is normally required in non-ellipted sentences, e.g. You ought to bring some
food rather than * You ought bring some food. Used to expresses the idea that something was the
case formerly/ in the past but is no longer, e.g. She used to play very well. (She did play very well
can express the same meaning (given appropriate intonation) but, to do so explicitly, should
perhaps be followed up with but doesn 't any more.)
A number of verbs have a meaning and role akin to that of some auxiliaries above but consist
of more than one word and are variously classed as phrasal auxiliaries or semi-auxiliaries, e.g.

(must) have to, have got to, be to, be supposed to, had better, be bound to, be due to;
(will) be about to, be going to, be likely to;
(can) be able to.

In most instances they have the facility to be able to combine with other auxiliaries and with
other semi-auxiliaries, e.g.

She must be about to go.

He will be able to come.
She is supposed to be about to go.
He is going to be able to come.

The three verbs do, be, have can also operate as main verbs. Compare:

They are in France, (main verb)

They are living in France, (auxiliary accompanying main verb living)
I have an answer, (main verb)
I have suggested an answer, (auxiliary verb)
She did a good essay, (main verb)
She did write a good essay, (auxiliary verb)

When used as main verbs, have and be can still be inverted with the subject to form an
interrogative, thus:

Have you an answer?

Are you deaf?

But this does not apply to do as a main verb: * Did she a good essay?
(In view of this ability of do, be, have to operate as both main and auxiliary verbs together
with the fact that the labels auxiliary and main can be thought of as functional positions within
the verbal phrase, one current approach (see e.g. Quirk et al. 1985) is to classify verb types not
36 Class

as main verb, primary auxiliary and modal auxiliary but as full verb, primary verb and modal
verb. In such a schema, the concepts of main and auxiliary are then handled as structural
elements within the verbal phrase.)
Verbs display finite and non-finite forms. Finite forms are those which potentially show
marking for tense (present or past), mood (indicative, imperative, subjunctive), and agreement
with the subject person (first, second or third person):

I play, he plays, they play,

I played, we played;
I am playing, she is play ing, they are playing;
I was play ing, they were playing.
Play well. Write neatly.
It is essential that you be here on time. If I were you,...
Non-finite forms are not marked for tense; they occur either as a base infinitive (with or
without the particle to):

She helped him (to) learn Russian.

She watched him learn Russian.
She invited him to learn Russian.

or as a participle. Although participles are not subject to tense as such, they have two forms, a
present and a past participle. They are typically found when the verbal phrase is in a so-called
'compound tense', either where the main verb is non-finite and accompanied by one of the
auxiliary verbs be or have (one or more of which may also be non-finite), or when the verbal
phrase as a whole is non-finite:
Now he is studying Russian. (present)
He has studied Russian for two years. (past)
He has been studying Russian for two years. (past & present)
Having studied Russian, /found German easy. (present & past)
Russian has been studied here for 40 years. (past & past)
Where a participial form is seen as having a noun-like function, it is traditionally called a
gerund, e.g. Studying is not difficult; Smoking can damage your health.
The label phrasal verb is given to verbs which include after the headword verb element an
adverbial particle whose meaning is fused with that of the headword and which is therefore
analysed grammatically within the verbal phrase:

She switched on the cooker.

I looked up the word.
He turned off the fire.
We found out the cause.

There are several differences between phrasal verbs and verbs which are followed by a
prepositional phrase. Compare, for example:
(i) / looked up the word.
(ii) / looked up the chimney.
(iii) He turned off the fire.
(iv) He turned off the road.
 Word class 37

With a phrasal verb it is normally possible to switch the particle to the right of the object. This
particle switching is possible in (i) and (iii) above:

/ looked the word up.

He turned the fire off.

But in sentences (ii) and (iv), which contain prepositional phrases, this is not possible:

*/ looked the chimney up.

*He turned the road off.

Though with phrasal verbs it is perfectly in order to ask questions beginning with the verbal
object, of the type What did you look up?, What did he turn off?, and get the replies the word I the
fire, it is not possible to pose questions beginning with the adverbial particle, e.g. *Up what did
you look?, *Off what did he turn?. With the non-phrasal verbs in (ii) and (iv), however, both
forms of question can be posed, the first beginning with the prepositional object, i.e. What did
you look up? and What did he turn off?, and the second beginning with the prepositional phrase
as a whole, i.e. Up what did you look? and Off what did he turn?. Furthermore the replies can
either be confined to the prepositional object or can embrace the whole prepositional phrase,
viz. the chimney / up the chimney; the road / off the road. Related to this questioning test is the
fact that it is only with non-phrasal verbs that the normal word order can be inverted, thus:

Up the chimney I looked.

Off the road he turned.

but not

* Up the word I looked.

* Off the fire he turned.

In respect of verbs plus a prepositional phrase it is possible to use the preposition within the
relative construction, e.g.

The chimney up which I looked...

The road off which he turned...

The same, however, does not apply to particles within phrasal verbs, thus:

*The word up which I looked...

* The fire off which he turned...

A further point of difference is that in respect of (some) non-phrasal verbs taking a

prepositional phrase it is possible to begin the questions with an interrogative adverb in place
of a prepositional phrase, e.g. Where did he look?; Where did he turn?. But, related to the fact
that the particle in a phrasal verb does not carry its literal, locational meaning, this mode of
question is denied to phrasal verbs.
In respect of verbs taking a prepositional phrase, it is often possible to modify the
preposition, e.g.

/ looked straight up the chimney.

He turned right off the road.
38 Class

This is typically not possible with phrasal verbs with unswitched particles, e.g.

*/ looked straight up the word.

*He turned right off the fire.

Some phrasal verbs can in fact be replaced by simple verbs, e.g. switch on - ignite, turn off-
extinguish, find out - ascertain, hand in - submit, set up - establish. But this is not a requirement
nor a distinguishing feature, as may be seen from the fact that He turned off the road (non-
phrasal verb) can be replaced by He left the road.
Verbs acting as main verbs can be classified as lexical or copular according to whether they
have 'content' meaning or merely provide a relational link (denoting the actual/apparent state
or change of state) between the subject and the post-verbal completive element (the complement
in traditional grammar).

lexical verb:
Ruth does not sell/ grill/ enjoy/ make cheese.

copular verb:
Jill isj^seems I appear si lookedjfelt I becameI grew I remained tired.

Lexical verbs are traditionally divided into intransitive, transitive or ditransitive according to
the number of objects with which they can combine. (See later sections on Complement in
Chapters 9 and 10.) Intransitive verbs do not take an object, transitive verbs have one object,
and ditransitive verbs have two objects, e.g.

intransitive
The ship sank; Keith slept; The liquid cooled; Tom jell;
The cats returned home (home here is not an object, it is not 'what' the cats returned but rather
'where');
She wept all night.

transitive
They sank the ship; I watched the match; First we cooled the liquid;
The batsman hti_ the ball with tremendous power;
Jill sang an Austrian song.

ditransitive
They gave her a beautiful watch; We sent him the photos;
Pass Jane the butter, please; Mary asked Jill a favour.

However, in view of the fact that many verbs can operate in more than one category, cf.

Jill sang very well; Jill sang an Austrian song;

They gave £10; They gave her £10

it is perhaps more helpful to think in terms of a verb being used intransitively, transitively or
ditransitively rather than being assigned to a particular class.
Copular or relational verbs combine with a complement - an element which, in the examples
below, refers back to the subject:
 Word class 39

(a) Ian w the doctor / the best doctor in Glasgow.

(identity of the subject)
(b) Ian w a doctor / a good doctor.
(classification of the subject)
(c) Ian is_ clever / rather clever/ very clever indeed.
Ian w in good health / in high spirits / out of condition / of no importance.
(features/qualities/states of the subject.)

3.3 Adjective

Thought of in traditional grammar as a 'describing' word, the adjective has the role of ascribing
an attribute or feature to a noun. It may occur either attributively within the nominal phrase, in
which case it serves to modify the headword noun, or predicatively outside the nominal phrase
to which it relates. Where the adjective functions attributively, then in English it is mainly found
before the headword noun, in a pre-head position (prenominal), but in selected contexts it can
come after the headword noun, in a post-head position (postnominal).

attributive adjective (within the nominal phrase):

(a) prenominal:
a new car; a responsible child;
the principal problem; complete nonsense;
(b) postnominal:
anything different; somebody new; the child responsible;
the court martial; the secretary general; the president elect;
the Princess Royal; from time immemorial.

Where the adjective functions predicatively, it is mostly in relation to the subject, in which case
in English it is separated from the subject by the verb. If, however, the adjective relates to an
object nominal phrase, then it will typically be adjacent to the object but structurally distinct
from it.

predicative adjective (outside the nominal phrase):

(a) This car is new.
A child is responsible for this damage.
The problem is simple.
Jack is fond of Jill.
(b) We stood the bookcase upright.
She drinks her tea black.

Some adjectives can occur in just one of these roles. For example, main, principal, mere and
utter are found only attributively in the prenominal position, so one does not hear *The
problem is main. Equally, unwell, alone, afraid, asleep, alive and aware normally occur only
predicatively, so one does not normally hear *the asleep child. (However, this latter structure
may be found where a speaker is giving contrastive focus, e.g. The dead frog .... whereas the
alive one ..., or if the adjective is modified by very, e.g. a very aware child.)
In English, unlike many other languages, adjectives have a fixed form: their spelling does
not vary according to whether the headword noun is singular or plural, or whether it refers to
40 Class

a male or a female being. However, some are able to be modified for gradability by comparison
or degree. Comparison of the adjective implies (and often includes) reference to a second
entity or to a previous state of the first entity, e.g. My bike is cleaner than yours; My bike is
cleaner than it was. It is formed either by inflecting the base/absolute form of the adjective
(mainly by adding -er and -esi) or by the addition of the words more and most. The -er ending
and the word more are used to create the comparative form, and -est and the word most to
create the superlative:

new, newer, newest',

happy, happier, happiest;
good, better, best (note the change of adjective stem);
luxurious, more luxurious, most luxurious;
exciting, more exciting, most exciting.

As a rule of thumb, adjectives of just one or two syllables, such as new or happy above, will add
the -er and -est inflections, whereas adjectives with three or more syllables, such as luxurious or
exciting, make use of the separate words more and most. The norm, however, is not universally
adhered to, as can be observed in weather forecasters' references to both cloudier and more
cloudy.
Gradability of the adjective by degree requires the use of modifying adverbs to mark the
relative state or intensity of the adjectival feature in question, e.g. This book is very/most/fairly/
quite interesting. It does not imply or require reference to any second entity and to do so would
involve the addition of words such as 'by comparison with the one I read yesterday'.
The difference between comparison and degree is illustrated in the following examples:

Keith was the most interesting speaker. (comparison)

Keith was a most interesting speaker. (degree)

Only in relation to the first of these sentences could one add of them all, and only in respect of
the second would one replace most by very and retain the same meaning.

3.4 Adverb

Although many adverbs can also be modified for comparison or degree, e.g. (i) tunefully, more
tunefully, most tunefully; (ii) very/most/fairly/quite tunefully, like adjectives they too have an
invariable base form.
Traditionally in grammar, adverbs have been seen as performing a so-called modifying role
in relation to verbs. This role is associated with circumstantial adverbs, which are single words
marking the circumstances - how, why, when, where - of the verbal process.

verbs, e.g. She sings beautifully/tunefully/clearly;

He came yesterday I annually I herej upstairs.

Circumstantial adverbs can in fact also take on what might be thought of as the 'adjectival role'
of modifying nouns within the nominal phrase.

nouns, e.g. the match tomorrow; an away fixture; our holiday abroad.

Secondly, however, adverbs operate in relation to adjectives or to other adverbs, where they
indicate the degree of the adjectival attribute or adverbial circumstance.

adjectives, e.g. She is quite tuneful / very clever / extremely kind / particularly keen / really
grateful.
 Word class 41

other adverbs, e.g. He sings very well / quite tunefully / so^ expressively / amazingly clearly /
rather delightfully.

Thirdly, adverbs can modify whole nominal and prepositional phrases or the active or
passive verb by focusing in on and heightening or tempering the entity/relator/process
concerned. They thus indicate the extent or intensity of the phrase and are known as
intensifying adverbs or intensifiers.

nominal phrases, e.g. He is rather a nuisance j almost a teenager / only a lad / quite a character;

prepositional phrases, e.g. He ran almost into the house I fairly near the river/ right at the back /
just behind you.

verb, e.g. She almost fell; I quite forgot;

The house has just been painted;
The potatoes have only been peeled (not cooked).

Lastly, adverbs can 'modify' the whole (of the rest) of a clause, though the concept of
modification here needs to be interpreted in an increasingly liberal way. Indeed, the relationship
is no longer one of modification at all but rather one of interrelationship with the rest of the
clause or sentence. Three subgroups of adverb can be listed here. In the first group, known in
traditional grammar as 'sentence adverbs', are those which have the function of providing a
connective link between the preceding clause and the present one. A more contemporary term is
conjunctive adverb.

clauses, e.g. Therefore the performance should now be better.

However, it doesn't make sense.

In the second group of adverbs relating to the rest of the clause are those which express
different facets of the speaker's perspective on the sentence and which have been labelled modal
or disjunctive adverbs, e.g.

(i) the speaker's assessment of the degree of certainty or doubt surrounding the factual
content of the clause:
Jill has probably I possibly gone by bus.
Apparently I clearly there was some confusion.
(ii) the speaker's comment on / reaction towards the clause content:
Amazingly I luckily, no-one was hurt.
Unfortunately/regrettably, the car failed its MOT.
(iii) the speaker's terms of reference for the clause:
Briefly/basically, it doesn 't meet our demands.

The third group of sentential/interclausal adverbs embraces expressions regularly used in

social discourse and can thus be labelled interpersonal adverbs, though strictly speaking some of
the examples below involve more than one word.

politeness/courtesy adverbs, e.g.

Would you pass me the jam, please.
Kindly leave the room.
42 Class

continuity markers, e.g. well, well now, now then, right then.
greetings and farewells, e.g. hello, hi, goodbye, cheerio.
polarity and agreement responses, e.g. yes, no, okay, all right, certainly, sure.
approval formulae, e.g. hurrah, cheers.

This range of expressions represents, rather, speaker activity in relation to other participants.
(In several instances, they could in fact possibly constitute an utterance entirely on their own,
without reference to any other words.) The continuity markers act as attention getters,
preparing the way for imminent new discourse. The greetings, politeness expressions,
responses and approval words are used by a speaker actually to engage in discourse
interaction.
Under the heading of adverb are also included several types of particle: the adverbial particle
in a phrasal verb, the infinitive marker to, and the negative marker not:

(i) A phrasal verb particle has its meaning, which is typically no longer circumstantial, fused
with that of the main verb, as illustrated by off in She turned off the fire.
(ii) An infinitive particle to frequently, but not always, accompanies the infinitive form of the
verb. Indeed, in a sentence like / helped John (to) mend his bike the inclusion of the
infinitive particle is optional.
(iii) The negative particle not is often associated with verbs / verbal phrases, e.g. did not arrive,
and in this context can take the contracted form n'/. But the negative can also modify other
classes of word and phrase, e.g. Not a single person withheld their support; I would describe
her as not very helpful. However, the contrast might be less obvious between examples such
as He isn 't very bright, He's not very bright, and He is not very bright. Across these instances
different interpretations are possible, depending on the assignment of word stress and the
intonation pattern. There could be a denial or negation of the assertion that he is very
bright, i.e. where not is seen as linked to is, or a positive assertion that he is rather dim, i.e.
where not is linked to (very) bright, or even an assessment of how bright he is, i.e. where
not is linked to very.

By contrast with phrasal verb particles, the infinitive and the negative particles have basically
only a single form available (to and not /n't) and consequently there is a direct relationship
between form and function.
Adverbs often used to be thought of as words ending in -ly. A large number of them do, e.g.
beautifully, tunefully, clearly, amazingly, fairly, basically, but many do not, e.g. yesterday, here,
rather, well, quite, almost, just, very, etc. Equally, of course, some words which do end in -ly are
not in fact adverbs, e.g. friendly, likely, lively, lovely, manly.

3.5 Preposition

Prepositions have the feature of being accompanied, indeed normally followed, by a completive
element in the form of a (single or multiple word) phrase or a clause.

phrase: - in bed, from Mary, a/ home, for sure, on time, between us, without delay;
- into the lounge, near the river, oj£the record, inside the house, over the edge, to
the hills;
clause: -from what I heard, near where the bus stops,
Ay working all morning, after visiting the museum.

Sometimes the preposition itself is separated from the completive element and placed at the far
end of the clause:
 Word class 43

Which garage do you go to?

Which port are we travelling from?

As indicated above, most prepositions in English are positioned before the completive
element, that is to say they are 'pre-positioned' (hence their name), but in just a few instances
they occur after the completive element, e.g. three weeks ago, that fact apart. For such cases the
term postposition has been used. Indeed, in order to account for both possibilities under a single
heading Huddleston (1984: 337) uses the term adposition.
Although all the examples of prepositions given above are single words, i.e. simple
prepositions, there are several complex prepositions, which comprise more than one word, e.g.
apart from, out of, owing to, together with, except for, because of, instead of, in view of, in addition
to, in spite of, on behalf of, etc.
In the context of contrasts such as:

She went inj outside/past/through the house',

She went inf outside jpast j through

some grammarians (see, e.g. Radford1) propose the concept of an intransitive preposition. In the
same way that verbs have transitive and intransitive uses, e.g. / don't know the answer; I don't
know, it is suggested that contrasts such as She went in the house / She went in; We got off the
train / We got off; They climbed up the mountain / They climbed up can be interpreted as
reflecting a similar transitive-intransitive alternation for prepositions. However, arguing that
prepositions require a completive whereas adverbs do not, we here opt for the traditional
analysis in which the 'intransitive' form is handled not as an intransitive preposition but as a
prepositional adverb.

3.6 Conjunction

Traditionally, conjunctions have been seen as grammatical connectors and are classified into
two subtypes: coordinating and subordinating conjunctions. Coordinating conjunctions, also
called coordinators or linkers, link units of equal grammatical status, primarily clause with
clause (main with main, or subordinate with subordinate) and phrase with phrase. Subordinat-
ing conjunctions, also called subordinators or binders, introduce subordinate clauses and join
or bind clauses of unequal grammatical status, for example a subordinate clause with a main
clause, or one subordinate clause with another subordinate clause which is immediately
superordinate.
Coordinating conjunctions / coordinators have a purely logical connective function and the
principal ones are (both ...) and, but, (either ...) or, (neither ...) nor, as illustrated below:

clause: Ruth plays the flute and Jill sings.

Will you go by train or_ will you drive down?
The daffodils are out but the tulips are only in bud.
He thinks that John is ill and that Audrey is away.
phrase: Jill and David sang a duet.
Stephen has washed and dried the dishes.
Will you go by train or by car?
She writes both quickly and neatly.
He is either very clever or_ very lucky.
Neither Jim nor Ken can come.

Thus, andean be equated with the mathematical 'plus' concept, or with 'alternatively', and but
44 Class

with the idea of 'plus, at a tangent'. It should be said that some grammarians use the label
'conjunction' to refer only to coordinating conjunctions.
Subordinating conjunctions / subordinators are much more numerous and include, for
example, after, although, as, because, before, if, since, until, unless, whether, while, when, where,
that, so that, in order that, etc. But in addition to their binding function, they introduce one of
two further dimensions of meaning.
On the one hand, they incorporate a circumstantial element in terms of which they then
introduce a particular type of adverbial clause (see Chapter 5, Clause class), as illustrated by the
following examples:

He declined because he has no money.

She left after the vote had been taken.
They will be relegated i£ they lose this match.
The trains run although our local station is closed.
They went when the rain eased off.
He raced down the hill in order to catch the bus.

(Further subordinators in this subgroup include as, before, since, until, unless, while and so
that.) These subordinators thus both introduce the adverbial subordinate clause and mark the
content nature of its circumstantial relationship. In the examples above, this relationship
includes reason (because), time (after/when), condition (//), concession (although), purpose (in
order). Thus, though not labelled as such in the literature, they may thought of as 'adverbializ-
ing subordinators' or 'adverbializers'.
On the other hand, subordinating conjunctions may introduce a nominal clause (in
transformational generative literature also called a complement clause), as illustrated in:

The captain confirmed that Ruth would play.

I wonder whether the camera still works.
He asked if they could go.

Here, in addition, they mark the modal type of the nominal subordinate clause. Thus, in these
examples the word that marks the start of a declarative subordinate clause, associated with
statements, whereas the words whether and // denote an interrogative subordinate clause,
associated with questions. They may thus be seen as 'nominalizing subordinators' or
'nominalizers' (or perhaps 'modalizing subordinators' / 'modalizers'). Indeed, in a transforma-
tional framework they are known as 'complementizers'.
Although both subordinating conjunctions and prepositions may be followed by a subordinate
clause, there is traditionally a difference recognized between them in terms of the nature of the
clause patterning. The clause following a subordinating conjunction is tensed and, when
separated from the conjunction, is patterned like a declarative clause (subject, which is not a
wh-word, followed by verb), as typically found in a statement. Frequently, though not always,
if taken out of its context, it could stand on its own grammatically as a main clause, e.g.
(because) he has no money -» He has no money; (after) the vote had been taken -» The vote had
been taken. The clause following a preposition, on the other hand, if separated from the
preposition, does not have this patterning and may be non-finite. For example, in the
prepositional sequences from what I heard and after writing the cheque, the clauses what I
heard and writing the cheque are not structured as declaratives, the second is also non-finite, and
neither of them could stand on their own grammatically as a main clause. One might therefore
argue that, though formally analysed as clauses, the post-prepositional sequences what I heard
and writing the cheque actually function rather more like phrases than as 'full clauses'.
Adding a further potential dimension to the issue, some grammarians, on the basis of data
such as
 Word class 45

She left after she had drunk her coffee.

She left after drinking her coffee.
The match was cancelled because the weather was bad.
The match was cancelled because of the bad weather.

have drawn a parallel between prepositions and subordinating conjunctions which introduce
adverbial clauses and have proposed that adverbializing subordinators should be reclassified as
prepositions. The argument is that the tensed declarative clauses following the subordinating
conjunction can be interpreted equally well as a complement element following a preposition.
Though the data may appear compelling and the proposal is very appealing, we do not
pursue it here on the grounds that whilst in English some subordinators and prepositions,
e.g. after, because, before and until (and even a few prepositional adverbs), do indeed have
identical forms, if one turns to some other European languages, one finds that their
equivalents do not, cf.
English French German
conjunction after apres que nachdem
preposition after apres nach
adverb after / afterwards apres nachher

As in the case regarding the identical form of subject and object nouns in English, therefore, we
hold to the view that similarity of appearance between conjunction and preposition conceals a
more meaningful difference.

3.7 Interjection

Interjections are typically described as those words which are used to express the speaker's
exclamation or emotional reaction but which have no further lexical content. They include
words like oh, wow, aha, ouch, alas, hey, together with expletives such as damn, golly, hell, etc.
The actual scope of interjections is not, however, well-defined, but in any case they are generally
regarded as a minor class.

3.8 Article
The words the and a/an are classed as the definite and indefinite articles respectively, e.g. the
title, a video. Articles are used to mark specificity, generalization or universality of reference to
the entity denoted by the following noun. For example, the in the sentences The title has been
agreed and The strawberries are ripe makes specific reference to a particular noun entity.
Normally the entity concerned has been already mentioned or it is assumed that its identity can
be determined from the situation. In Did you hear John on the radio? and /'// take the bus,
however, the article is making more generalized reference in that the concern is not with a
particular radio or bus - any that 'fit the bill' would do. The indefinite article a in the sentences /
know a good restaurant and We've got a ticket makes reference to an entity which is presented as
a sample, a member of a type or class but whose specific identity is not an issue, and it may be
that the entity is being mentioned for the first time. On the other hand, the articles in The pen is
mightier than the sword and A flat can be bigger than a house denote universal or generic
reference of the noun entity.

3.9 Pronoun
The pronoun used to be thought of as a class of word which may be substituted in place of a
46 Class

noun. However, this normally applies only where a noun is the sole element in a nominal
phrase, e.g. Cars are very expensive. If, however, the nominal phrase consists of more than one
word, e.g. These new cars are very expensive, then typically the pronoun replaces the whole
nominal phrase, e.g. They are very expensive. One says that this is typically what happens
because there is the exception which proves the rule: so, for example, whilst one would not say
* These new they are very expensive, the sentence These new ones are very expensive is perfectly
acceptable. A pronoun, further, can sometimes replace the whole of a clause, e.g. // is a new car
instead of What you need is a new car. We therefore revise the characterization of the pronoun
to say that the pronoun may be substituted for a nominal clause, a nominal phrase or, in just
some cases, a nominal word, i.e. a noun. Several subclasses of pronoun may be identified within
this category: personal, possessive, demonstrative, relative, typic, interrogative, exclamative,
reflexive, reciprocal, emphatic, indefinite, substitute, numeral and quantifier.
In addition to functioning in an independent headword role within the phrase (see Chapter
11 on Phrase structure), a number of these pronoun subclasses will be seen to have identical or
similar word forms - and with identical meanings - which function in an adnominal, pre-
headword determiner role (see Section 3.10 on Determiner - a functional element), denoting a
subset of the noun entities referred to. In this capacity they are dependent on the rest of the
phrase containing the headword noun.
Personal pronouns specify the first person (speaker and pro-speaker - /, we), second person
(addressee - you), or third person (other referent - he, she, it, they) in the singular and plural.
They have only the headword role.

I/you/he/she/it/we/they laughed.
(also meI himlherI usI them)
(Generic) One shouldn 't laugh.

Note that the first person plural form we, except in such instances as the Gilbert and Sullivan
opera line Three little maids from school are we, typically does not refer to several speakers but
rather involves one person speaking also on behalf of others, as in We normally finish at 9 p.m.
There is, of course, also 'the royal we' exemplified in We are not amused, where on the basis of
assumed personal status the speaker adopts the plural form to refer solely to himself or herself.
Possessive pronouns mark possession by/ belonging to a person or other entity and fulfil
determiner and headword roles. As determiners they form part of a phrase with a noun,
whereas as headwords they constitute a phrase on their own and are separated by a verb from
the noun or adjective to which they relate, e.g.

(determiner) my jyour I his I her jour I their house;

(headword) That set is mine/yours/his/hers/ours/theirs.
Mine are very comfortable.

Note also the historical form of the determiner preserved in lines from some hymns: Mine eyes
have seen the glory and God be in mine eyes. (As will be outlined in Section 4.7, Genitive phrase,
these possessive examples can be replaced by whole genitive nominal phrases, thus:

David's house
That set is David's.
David's are very comfortable.)

Demonstrative pronouns have the deictic function of pointing out a thing/entity. They are
divided on the basis of proximity, that is to say, whether the entity referred to is presented by
the speaker as being 'near' or 'remote', and they too can operate in either a determiner or
headword role. Though nowadays they are typically seen as a class of pronoun, with respect to
their determiner role they have also been handled as adjectives.
 Word class 47

(determiner) This model is new.

That soup was delicious.
(headword) This is a new model.
That was a delicious soup.

In addition to marking the proximity of an entity, demonstratives can also refer to 'What I
am talking about / referring to', e.g.

This is what you should do. You ...

That doesn 't make sense.

Relative pronouns have the job of binding a relative subordinate clause either to a particular
nominal phrase in the main/superordinate clause or to the whole of the main/superordinate
clause. In the latter case the relative clause is known as a sentential relative. Relatives perform a
dual role in that, on the one hand, they form an integral part of the content of the subordinate
clause and, on the other, they refer back to an antecedent element in the main clause (or to the
whole of it) and now within the subordinate clause they act as a substitute for it.

(determiner) The man whose leg is in plaster ...

I shall be off at 8 a.m., by which time the newsagent will be open.
(headword) The thing that pleased us...
The car which we hired...
The person who bought it...
The girl with whom I sang ...
The girl who I sang with ...
He now trains every evening, which will improve his fitness.

(Although people generally think of relative words as being pronouns, they can in fact also be
adverbs, as seen below:
The time when/that you fell in the stream was hilarious.
The reason why/that she does it is to earn some money.
The place where we stopped for lunch was ideal.)

The words who, what, which, whose (and the related adverbs), which also occur in interrogative
and exclamative sentences, are also known as wh-words.
Typic pronouns are used to refer to the type/ the sort of entity. They can also be found in an
exclamative context, as above.

(determiner) Such things aren 't real.

(headword) Do such exist?

Interrogative pronouns are typically used to form questions about an entity, its possession and
determination. Separate from their headword and determiner roles, they can be seen as
combining, in an interrogative context, with the roles of personal, possessive, demonstrative
and typic pronouns.

(personal: headword) Who did that?

(personal: headword) What did she do?
(possessive: determiner) Whose mug is this?
(possessive: headword) Whose is the green mug?
48 Class

(demonstrative: determiner) Which mug is Jill's?

(demonstrative: headword) Which is Jill's mug?
(typic: determiner) What subject are you studying?

(Like relatives, interrogative words also extend to adverbs, but these have only a headword
role: How/why/when/where is it destroyed?.)
Exclamative pronouns occur in contexts where a speaker is giving vent to personal feelings
about / reactions to an entity or situation.

(determiner) What a nuisance! What nonsense!

(headword) What! Another essay!

Reflexive pronouns are used where the object refers to the same entity as the subject. They
have only a headword role. (For a consideration of 'subject' and 'object', see Chapter 9 on
Clause structure.) This may be

(a) a 'direct' object - the entity affected or encompassed by the verbal activity, e.g.
I've cut myself.
(b) an 'indirect' object - the recipient or beneficiary of the verbal activity, e.g.
She's bought herself a new skirt.
or
(c) a prepositional object, e.g.
She's bought a new skirt for herself.
He doesn 't know what to do with himself.
(also yourself I itself I ourselves/yourselvesl themselves).

Reciprocal pronouns mark the fact that the verbal activity is not just monodirectional but
rather interactive, bidirectional or even multidirectional, between/among the participants
denoted by the subject. Again they have only a headword role and are found in similar
positions to reflexive pronouns. Different from reflexives, however, reciprocals are compound
structures.

They greeted each other / one another like old friends.

They brought a present for each other.

Emphatic pronouns serve to emphasize/reinforce the role in the message of a participant who
has already been mentioned. They thus modify the main headword of the nominal phrase, most
typically occurring immediately after the noun/pronoun that is being emphasized.

I myself would write to the manufacturer.

(also yourself, etc.)

Note, however, the possibility of alternative reflexive or emphatic interpretations in the

following:

She could have played herself.

They should have washed themselves.

The reason for the potential ambiguity here is that verbs like play and wash can express an
object but do not necessarily have to. To draw attention to an emphatic pronoun interpreta-
tion, a comma could be placed before the emphatic pronoun.
 Word class 49

Indefinite pronouns denote an entity whose identity is not specific and whose determination is
not important to the issue. They too have only a headword role.

Somebody/anyone might notice it.

(every-/any-/some-/ no- + -body/-one/-thing)

Substitute pronouns are used to refer to an entity whose identity has been previously
mentioned, or is determinable from the context, and where selection is involved. They typically
form the headword of a multiple word nominal phrase, as they substitute for the headword
noun alone.

Which would you like? I'll have this one.

Which one? The green one.

Numerals can be thought of as exact numeratives. They embrace two types which are known,
firstly, as cardinals or plain numbers, e.g. one, five, forty-nine, and secondly, as ordinals, which
list the order of the entities specified, e.g. second, fourth, sixty-fifth. Each of these functions
equally in a determiner or headword capacity, e.g.

(a) cardinal: The four climbers unpacked their rucksacks.

Four passed.
(b) ordinal: Her second attempt was successful.
The second was better.
Jill came second.

Quantifiers. By contrast with numerals, quantifiers may be thought of as inexact numera-

tives. They specify in non-numerical terms how much of an entity or how many entities is/are
being referred to. Most, though not all, quantifiers again function equally in a determiner or
headword capacity:

AIII bo thj many I some I few I no girls finished.

All I both the players arrived.
All/both/many/some/few/none finished.
All/both/many/some/few/none of the players arrived.
(also several / each / every / any j much / either / neither / any / a few/a lot / a
great deal).

Numerative words are sometimes divided into quantitatives and ordinatives. Under such a
schema, quantitatives specify the quantity being referred to either as a precise number - using
cardinal numerals (exact quantitatives) - or in general terms - quantifiers (inexact quantita-
tives). Ordinatives mark the position of the entity under consideration in the overall order,
either in precise terms using ordinal numerals (exact ordinatives) or in relative, non-numerical
terms, employing adjectives, e.g. the next, my last (inexact ordinatives).

Pronominal groupings

In terms of the roles that pronouns perform, the various subclasses above may perhaps be
grouped under three headings:
50 Class

(1) substantive, referring to / denoting an entity:

personal, interrogative, relative, reflexive, reciprocal, indefinite, emphatic, substitute.
These pronouns answer the question 'Who?' or 'What?'.

(2) determinative, pointing out/to an entity:

possessive, demonstrative, interrogative, relative, typic, exclamative.
With a headword function they answer the questions 'Whose?', 'Which?', 'What kind?' and
with a determiner function they specify 'Whose X?', 'Which X?', 'What kind of X?'.
(Note that interrogative and relative pronouns straddle both the substantive and determinative
subgroupings.)

(3) numerative:
(i) quantitatives, indicating a number or quantity:
cardinal numeral, quantifier.
As headwords they answer the questions 'How many?' or 'How much?' and as determiners,
'How many X?' or 'How much X?'.
(ii) ordinatives, marking the numerical or relative position in the order:
ordinals.
They answer the questions 'Which?' or 'Which X?' in sequential positional terms.

3.10 Determiner: a functional element

At this point it should be mentioned that the area of language spanned by these independent
headword and determinative forms is a fairly 'difficult' area for grammarians, with respect to
the terminology used. In essence the situation arises because the words fulfilling a determiner
function are nowadays generally not regarded as adjectives any more, even as limiting
adjectives. (See, however, the references by Simpson2 and Lyons3 to demonstrative adjectives,
indefinite adjectives, interrogative adjectives.) The reasons given for this are that, unlike
adjectives, the determinative forms are not gradable for comparison, cf. The dark/er/est room',
The more/most attractive room (but not My/*myer/*myest room), or for degree, cf. A fairly/
very dark room (but not * Fairly/very these problems), and several can not occur predicatively
after the verb, cf. The room is dark (but not The idea is *my). On the other hand, Burton-
Roberts4 argues that, like adjectives, numerals and quantifiers do co-occur with and follow
determiners, e.g. those many books, the one mistake, and quantifiers are gradable, e.g. very
many books.
Equally, many linguists prefer not to call these words pronouns in their determiner role. This
view is not universally adopted, however, as evidenced in for example Freeborn (1987: 61), who
remarks that 'Some linguists put determiners in a word-class of their own, but except for the
and a/an, all the determiners are pronouns' which constitute 'a special group of modifiers of
nouns in NPs'. Hudson5 states that determiners are just pronouns that can combine with a
common noun as a dependent and he thus dispenses with the determiner as a word class. (Using
this argument, he also includes a and the as pronouns, the difference being that in their case the
common noun dependent is obligatory.)
Against this background it is therefore interesting how many foreign language reference
grammars (of French, Italian, Russian and Spanish, in particular) published in Britain in the
last ten years still make no mention of determiners at all and continue to handle this area in
terms either of limiting adjectives or of pronouns alone.
Finally, note Greenbaum's proposal (1996: 163-4) for a single word class 'determiner-
pronoun'. His argument is that this grouping of words, including articles, can fulfil an
independent (headword) pronominal role or a dependent determinative role, using either the
same or similar forms. Some exponents can be pronominal only, some can be determinative
only, some can function as both.
 Word class 51

The situation is further complicated terminologically by the fact that some grammarians
(e.g. Quirk et al. 1985) use the term 'determiner' to denote the umbrella word class together
with its several subclasses and the term 'determinative' to mark the function which
determiner words (as well as certain phrases, such as Mary's in Mary's lamb) fulfil. The
determiner word class is thus almost a mirror image of the functional element of structure
'determinative'. Then just to confuse matters, other grammarians (see, for example,
Huddleston 1988a; Downing and Locke 1992) opt for the term 'determinative' as the
formal word class and 'determiner' as the functional label, which is the complete reverse of
the orientation above.
The approach here will be to regard 'determiner' as a functional, specifier element of
structure in the nominal phrase, which may be expressed by a range of word subclasses
(and by some phrases) which occur in an adnominal position. 'Determinative' then is seen
not as a formal word class but rather as a loose term referring to the grouping of some
pronominal subclasses which in functional structure can fulfil a determiner role. Indeed,
after Greenbaum (1996), it is perhaps more appropriate to think of the word class
'pronoun' as an umbrella grouping of 'determinative-pronominal' subclasses. Following
this interpretation, we will enter the pronoun label only where the word is in headword
position. Conversely, where the word has a determiner role, at this stage the subclass label
alone will be entered.

3.11 Labelling the word classes

In syntactic analysis the various word classes will be labelled as follows:

noun = noun; pron = pronoun; art = article;
verb = verb; adj = adjective; adv = adverb;
prep = preposition; sub = subordinating conjunction / subordinator;
conj = coordinating conjunction / coordinator;
inter] = interjection; gen = genitive (see Section 4.7, Genitive phrase).

Pronominal subclasses
pers = personal; int = interrogative; rel = relative;
poss = possessive; dem = demonstrative;
refl = reflexive; rec = reciprocal;
indef = indefinite; emph = emphatic; subst = substitute;
typ = typic; excl = exclamative;
num = numeral; quant = quantifier; ord = ordinative.

Note that for the purposes of formal analysis (see Chapter 7 on Formal syntactic analysis),
two sets of changes will be made with regard to the labelling of verbs and adverbs.

verb -» aux = auxiliary verb; verb = main verb;

adverb ->• adv = adverb / adverbial particle,
except that inf = infinitive and neg = negative.

These modifications will not apply within the later functional syntactic analysis, where 'aux',
'inf and 'neg' will be handled not as word subclasses but as functional elements of phrase
structure.
52 Class

Notes
1 A. Radford (1988) Transformational Grammar, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 134-7.
2 J.M.Y. Simpson (1982) A Reference Book of Terms in Traditional Grammar for Language Students,
University of Glasgow, p. 12.
3 J. Lyons (1977) Semantics, 2 vols, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 452-5.
4 N. Burton-Roberts (1997) Analysing Sentences: An Introduction to English Syntax, 2nd edn, London:
Longman, p. 161.
5 R. Hudson (1998) English Grammar, London: Routledge, pp. 36-7.
4
Phrase class

Though in traditional grammar a phrase involved a grouping of two or more words, nowadays
the phrase is regarded as a grouping of one or more words which focus around a headword
element and which together perform the grammatical role which in other circumstances could
be expressed by a single word. A phrase thus inherently involves the expansion around a head
element. (Certain phrases will be seen also to incorporate a completive element.) If, therefore, a
phrase consists of only a single word, that word is the phrasal headword. Where a phrase
consists of more than one word, then the phrasal headword is the one which operates as the
pivotal word within the word grouping. In meaning terms, what essentially a phrase does is to
express a component element of an idea or 'proposition'.
Phrases are formally classified according to the class of word which functions as the
headword. So, for example, a nominal phrase has a nominal headword, a verbal phrase has a
verbal headword, and so on. (By contrast with elements of clause structure, therefore, the
formal classification of phrases is not undertaken in terms of their syntactic function.)
Traditionally five main classes of phrase are recognized: the nominal, verbal, adjectival,
adverbial and prepositional, and together with these we here also include the genitive and
subordinator.
We have already mentioned that many systemicists prefer the term 'group' to 'phrase'.
Halliday (1994a: 180) actually distinguishes between 'group' and 'phrase': 'A phrase is different
from a group in that, whereas a group is an expansion of a word, a phrase is a contraction of a
clause.' Against this background he recognizes just one class of phrase, the prepositional
phrase, which he describes as consisting of 'a preposition plus a nominal group, for example on
the burning deck\ in which the preposition is seen as a minor verb, a minor predicator, having
the nominal group as its complement (Halliday 1994a: 212).
He goes on to say that the internal structure of across the lake is like that of crossing the
lake. But whilst Halliday presents the prepositional phrase as an overarching term for a minor
(prepositional) predicator and its complement, he employs no similar overarching term (such
as, for example, predicate or predicate phrase) for a major (verbal) predicator and its
complement, as for example in We found the map. Equally, if he is to recognize special,
phrasal (rather than just group) status for the prepositional phrase because the prepositional
headword takes a complement as its norm, then would he not similarly need to do so for
adjectival word groupings, in which the adjectival headwords can also take a complement,
such as / am keen on/fond of choral music (cf. I enjoy /like choral music)! And what about / am
an enthusiast/ a lover of choral musicl (Note that, by contrast with Halliday, Fawcett (1974/81;
1997; forthcoming) is happy to retain the same label 'group' for complete prepositional phrase
structures.)
In the presentation of the different phrase classes which follows, the focal headword of the
phrase is underlined.

4.1 Nominal phrase

The nominal phrase has a noun or pronoun as its headword. I prefer the term 'nominal' phrase
to 'noun' phrase for several reasons. Firstly, the headword may be a pronoun as well as a noun,
that is to say it may be a nominal word, e.g.
54 Class

They are on holiday.

This is the way.
Hers is the blue cagoule.
Six have accepted.
Many haven't proper footwear.

Secondly, the use of'nominal' then marks a commonality of terminology across units of word,
phrase and clause rank, and it will be seen further that a nominal phrase shares a commonality
of function with a nominal unit of clause rank. Thirdly, the label nominal phrase gives it a
commonality with the other core phrase labels, e.g. adjectival, verbal, adverbial, prepositional.
Nominal phrases with noun headwords may typically be preceded and modified (pre-
headword modification or premodification) or determined by an article, a genitive phrase, a
pronoun, an adjective (adjectival phrase) or another noun (nominal phrase), and they may be
followed and qualified (post-headword modification or postmodification) by a prepositional
phrase or subordinate clause, or in certain cases an adjective or nominal phrase, e.g.

this Russian course;

my most enjoyable climb;
her sister's new bicycle;
all our recent holidays;
a voice from the past;
the song that Jill sang;
the secretary general;
Jones the butcher.

Nominal phrases with pronoun headwords are often assumed to be single word phrases and not
to include other words, e.g.

She is on holiday.
This is the way.
Hers is the blue cagoule.
Jane has hurt herself.

But this is not inevitably so, particularly where the headword is one or an indefinite pronoun,
e.g. anybody, someone, or where a numeral or quantifier is involved:

The one in the green jacket. The wild one.

Anyone could have seen it. Something strange.
Six have accepted. The Secret Seven.
Several hadn 't got proper footwear. The first few^. Too many.

Indeed, even the pronoun forms cited earlier can occur with determinative and adverbial limiter
words, e.g.

We three are keen.

You could win all this.
Just hers has been torn.
She can blame only herself.
 Phrase class 55

4.2 Verbal phrase

Verbal phrases have a verb headword, which is a main verb. It may be preceded by an infinitive
particle to and/or one or more auxiliary verbs. In the case of phrasal verbs, the main verb is
followed by an adverbial particle.

starts; started;
to start; to have started; to have been started;
is starting; was starting; will be starting; has been starting;
was started; is being started; might have been being started;
switch on; put off; turn down; give in; find out.

As can be seen from these phrases, the main verb (underlined above) in all verbal phrases
appears as the rightmost verb word. (Note, therefore, that the adverbial particle in a phrasal
verb, though within the verbal phrase, is itself an adverb.) Where the phrase is finite, it is the
leftmost verb word (main or auxiliary) which carries the tense.
(It is perhaps important that the term 'verbal phrase' here should not be confused with 'verb
phrase1 as found in transformationally orientated grammars. In that tradition the verb phrase is
seen as spanning both the verbal grouping and the following complement phrase(s). Here,
however, the scope of the verbal phrase is strictly limited to the verbal group.)

4.3 Adjectival phrase

Adjectival phrases have an adjective headword. They may be modified (premodified) by a

preceding adverb and qualified (postmodified) by a following adverb, prepositional phrase or
subordinate clause, e.g.

quick;
fairly quick;
very quick indeed;
quicker than me;
much quicker than I was.

Typically also adjectival complements / completive elements are handled within the adjectival
phrase, e.g.

fond of animals;
keen on music;
interested in history.

4.4 Adverbial phrase

Adverbial phrases have as their headword an adverb. This headword adverb may also be
premodified by an adverb and qualified by a following adverb, prepositional phrase or
subordinate clause, e.g.

quickly;
fairly quickly;
quite quickly enough;
more quickly than me;
more quickly than I did.
56 Class

(It should be noted that the label 'adverbial' is also used to denote an element of structure of the
clause: see, for example, Quirk et al. 1985. This usage is taken up further in the chapters relating
to clause structure.)

4.5 Prepositional phrase

The prepositional phrase comprises a preposition as the headword plus a second, complement
or completive element which is integral to the structure of the phrase. This complement element
is most typically realized by a nominal phrase. Indeed, Halliday (1994a: 212) states that 'A
prepositional phrase consists of a preposition plus a nominal group'. In practice, however, the
completive element can also be an adjectival or adverbial phrase, a further prepositional phrase,
or even a subordinate clause. In the examples below we label the class of complement which
follows the preposition:

in the morning; at_ the beginning (nominal phrase)

in briej\for_ sure (adjectival phrase)
after tomorrow; untilfairly recently (adverbial phrase)
from off the shelf; to by the tree (prepositional phrase)
from what Jill said (nominal subordinate clause)
after listening to the news (nominal subordinate clause)

There are, however, one or more instances in which the preposition follows rather than
precedes the completive element, e.g. two weeks ago, these problems apart, for which cases the
term postposition has been coined. (Ago and apart are not regarded as adverbs here as they
cannot appear on their own without the preceding completive element. In this respect two weeks
ago thus contrasts with two weeks earlier, where earlier can stand on its own and is an adverb.
Similarly, note that these problems apart can be used as a variant form of apart from these
problems, containing the complex preposition apart from, and that both expressions can be
paraphrased as except for these problems. The meaning of apart above, therefore, differs from
that in They now live apart, where apart operates as an adverb.)

4.6 Subordinator phrase

Subordinating conjunctions serve to introduce subordinate clauses. Halliday himself (1985a/

1994a) briefly outlines the 'conjunction group', but generally the concept of a unit (group/
phrase) above word has not been recognized for conjunction/subordinator.
In Chapter 3 on word class, a distinction was made between subordinators which introduce
adverbial subordinate clauses, which we referred to as 'adverbializers', and those which
introduce nominal subordinate clauses - 'nominalizers'. Adverbializers, e.g. because, when,
after, etc. mark the particular circumstantial nature of the adverbial subordinate clause.
Nominalizers - that, if, whether - have no lexical content meaning but serve to mark the
modal type of the nominal subordinate clause.
Adverbializing subordinators can readily be expanded by modification, e.g.

only i f . . . ; even though ...; ever since .. .;just when;

merely because ...; immediately after ...; almost until

So although many adverbializing subordinators do consist of just a single word, the fact that
they are typically able to be modified by limiting adverbs (or nominal phrases) means that they
do thereby enter into phrase relationships and, consequently, need to be handled as phrasal
constituents, e.g.
 Phrase class 57

Frank will come only i[he can be back by 6 p.m.

Even though Jill will be there,...
Just because you 've lost your ticket, there's no need...
I realized the mistake immediately after they had gone.
I realized the mis take five minutes after they had gone.
Shortly before she left, she gave Tom a letter.

There are instances also where a modifier can be placed in front of a nominalizing
subordinates (The point is highlighted when the modifier and subordinator are uttered
together and emphasis is placed on the subordinator.)

John asked only if he could come.

Jill queried just whether the team was fit.
Merely that the event had been postponed was sufficient.

4.7 Genitive phrase

Genitive phrases are perhaps most readily associated with marking possession, e.g. Jim's car,
and are also variously known in the literature as possessive phrases or genitive noun phrases.
They can, however, convey other meanings, e.g. The workers'strike (by), The students'entrance
(for). These phrases may fill the determiner slot in a larger nominal phrase or form their own
independent element, and they can typically be substituted by a possessive pronoun, cf.

Genitive phrase: Possessive pronoun:

David's sister is here. His sister is here.
This book is Ruth's. This book is hers.

(In contrast to the analysis in Leech et al. (1982: 60, 63, 65), however, we would not see a
possessive pronoun also as the head of a genitive phrase but rather, where it does occur as a
phrasal headword, as the head of a nominal phrase. The pronoun hers in the example This book
is hers above is a fixed form, single word. Unlike Ruth's in This book is Ruth's, it is not
composed of separable constituents between which expansion may take place. Compare the
rather stilted but nevertheless possible This book is Ruth from Glasgow's.)
Genitive phrases are formed by adding an apostrophe and -s at the end of the nominal phrase
which specifies the possessor, viz. -'s. They thus comprise a nominal phrase together with a
genitive morpheme. This genitive ending is a clitic form which cannot stand on its own but must
be attached to an adjacent word. Contrary to some people's understanding, however, it is not a
case inflection of the noun, as it is attached to the rightmost word of the nominal phrase. That
end word may indeed be the actual headword noun of the phrase but, equally possibly, it may
be the last word of a qualifying element within the nominal phrase, as shown below:
Mary's / my friend's / the college's car;
That car is Mary's / my friend's / the college's;
The Principal of the University's appointment;
The children's department.

Quirk et al. (1985: 328) comment that 'The -s ending is not a case ending in the sense which
applies to languages such as Latin, Russian and German. It can be more appropriately
described as a "postposed enclitic": i.e., its function is parallel to that of a preposition, except
that it is placed after the noun phrase.'
58 Class

If the noun in the particular nominal phrase to which the genitive marker is attached is in the
plural and ends in -s, the genitive marker comprises the apostrophe only.
the cars' engines; the tadpoles' tails;
The director of finances' account.

(Some Greek names which end in -s are handled the same way as plurals in -s in that they too
add just an apostrophe, e.g. Pythagoras' theorem.)
Fawcett (1974-76/1981: 36) labels possessive genitive phrases as 'clusters' rather than phrases
(groups) because they cannot, he states, fill elements of structure directly. However, in clauses
such as These boots are Ruth's, is that not precisely what the possessive genitive phrase Ruth's in
fact is doing?

4.8 Labelling the phrase classes

NP = nominal phrase; VP = verbal phrase;

AdjP = adjectival phrase; AdvP = adverbial phrase;
PrepP = prepositional phrase; SubP = subordinator phrase;
GenP = genitive phrase.

Line marking
I = phrase boundary which is not also a clause boundary.
5
Clause class

With respect to their formal grammatical composition, clauses consist of one or more phrases:

What a mess! Enter! Out! (one phrase each)

She | left. (two phrases)
The best time \ is | before sunrise. (three phrases)
Professor Plum \ murdered \ Miss Scarlet \ with a rope \ in the bedroom.
(five phrases)

In meaning terms what a clause does is to express a single idea or proposition. This may
involve giving or seeking information, e.g. / have a flask of coffee back in the car; Have you
finished with the dictionary?; it may be concerned with requesting or offering services, e.g. Could
you lend me a screwdriver, please?; Would you like some of this cake?, or it may express an
emotional reaction, e.g. What a fantastic goal!
Clauses which include a verbal phrase are called major clauses and those without a verbal
phrase are called minor clauses.

major clause:
Rita has come.
The technician explained
that he would need a video camera
in order to edit the film.
Whether you have a map
is not important.

minor clause:
What a mess!
Yes please.
No dogs!
Fresh strawberries for sale.

5.1 Main and subordinate clauses

In terms of their relationships of grammatical dependency, clauses are traditionally classed as

main or subordinate.

Main clause

A main clause is one which, whether or not it can stand on its own without the assistance of a
subordinate clause, is not dependent grammatically on a higher node (a node is a position in a
60 Class

diagram of the syntactic structure) or superordinate clause. The main clause is itself a top node
clause, as illustrated in the underlined sections of the examples below.

I'm going to town.

I'm going to town when I've finished this job.
When I've finished this job I'm going to town.

A main clause which is grammatically well-formed is typically able to stand on its own as a
simple sentence in its own right. This applies to I'm going to town above, as it does to the various
major and/or minor main clauses below.

The fares have been reduced.

What have you done?
Kindly leave the room!
What a fascinating toy!
How interesting!

Where main clauses include a verb and operate as statements, they generally answer questions
of the type 'What did X do?', 'What happened?' or 'What is the situation?'.
Although not dependent grammatically on a superordinate clause, a main clause may be
dependent in terms of contextual sequence on another main clause in the same sentence.

7 2 3
Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill followed.
Ruth got out of bed, had a shower, and got dressed.
In these examples, clauses 1, 2 and 3 are all main clauses; they are all top node clauses and
formally of equal grammatical status with each other. But, in terms of contextual sequence, 1
takes place before 2, and both 1 and 2 occur prior to 3. To reverse the sequence of clauses would
misrepresent the order of events and depict an entirely illogical situation into the bargain.
(These clauses also display grammatical sequencing in relying on the fact that the subjects Jack
and Ruth are specified in their particular clause 1 and therefore do not require to be, and on
grounds of grammatical cohesion are not, repeated in clause 2 or - in the second example -
clause 3.)
It is, of course, also possible for one main clause to be linked to another main clause in just a
list sequencing relationship, without there being any contextual sequencing relationship
between them, e.g.

The fares have been increased and the service is now less frequent.
We can hire a machine or we can call in a contractor.
Jill has been given a woolly lamb but she still likes the brown bear.

Thus, in these instances, we could happily reverse their order and not lose any logicality of
meaning:

The service is now less frequent and the fares have been increased.
We can call in a contractor or we can hire a machine.
Jill still likes the brown bear but she has been given a woolly lamb.

However, irrespective of whether main clauses are linked through a relationship of contextual
or list sequencing, with respect to grammatical dependency they are joined or cooordinated on
the basis of equal status.
 Clause class 61

Subordinate clause

Where a main clause is connected to another clause which is not a main clause, the other clause
is a subordinate clause dependent upon the main clause, which is then the superordinate clause.
In many people's minds, subordinate clauses are typically associated with major clauses
containing a verbal phrase, though as we shall see below they can occur also as minor clauses,
without a verb.
Functionally, the subordinate clause plays an integral or a supplementary role in relation to
the main clause. Where the role is an integral one, the subordinate clause provides a constituent
element within the meaning structure of the main clause and may readily be interpreted as
operating within the structure of the main clause, in the same manner as a phrasal constituent:

main
subordinate
I've discovered why this light doesn 't work.
(cf. I've discovered the problem.)

main
subordinate
The captain announced that his team would score 300 runs.
(cf. The captain announced his prediction.)

main
subordinate
How we get there is not important.
(cf. This issue is not important.)

main
subordinate
The captain declared when his team had scored 300 runs.
(cf. The captain declared with a score of 300 runs.)

main
subordinate
If the weather is good tomorrow, we 'II go to Bridlington.
(cf. In those circumstances we'II go to Bridlington.)

The principle extends equally to non-finite subordinate clauses:

main
subordinate
/ consider Jim to be an excellent leader.

main
subordinate
/ want you to come home by 5 p.m.

main
subordinate
I'd like the radio to be put in the kitchen.
62 Class

In the context of these integral examples and with them the recognition that a main clause
may require a subordinate clause in order to stand on its own, a distinction can be made
between the overall span of the main clause and the (possibly more limited) domain of its
unsubordinated constituents. This unsubordinated part of a main clause is frequently called the
matrix clause, and the first three examples above illustrate well the reason for the difference
between a matrix and a main clause. For instance, in the third sentence, How we get there is not
important, there is no way that the matrix clause is not important could operate as an
independent main clause without the involvement of the subordinate clause How we get there.
(For How we get there one could substitute a variety of possible subordinate clauses, such as
Whether you go by car, What you did, Who you met, Where you go, When you set off. They would
all have the same relationship to is not important.) In such cases and indeed generally where an
integral subordinate clause is present, a test can be applied to determine which of the clauses is
the matrix part of the superordinate, main clause and which of them is the subordinate clause.
If, here, we take the part suspected of being the matrix clause and use it as the basis of a
question, we can seek to target a question beginning What? at the suspected integral
subordinate clause. Thus, for example, in respect of How we get there is not important, we can
ask What is not important? and get the sensible reply How we get there. If, however, we tried to
frame the question in reverse, in other words if we tried to use How we get there as the basis of a
question which we then begin with What?, we could not even form the question *What how we
get there?, let alone expect a sensible reply. On this basis we can confirm that is not important is
the matrix part of the main clause and that How we get there is an integral, indeed
indispensable, subordinate clause.
The question principle illustrated here is one which can be applied to determine both matrix
clauses and all types of integral subordinate clause. It is a matter of whether the suspected
superordinate clause can be used as the basis for a question such that, if an interrogative word
of the type What?, Who?, Which?, How?, Why?, When? or Where? is added to that base, it will
form a sensible question which can be targeted at the suspected subordinate clause and can
receive a sensible reply using the wording of the subordinate clause. For example, in respect of
the sentence The captain declared when his team had scored 300 runs above, we can take the
captain declared as the basis for our question, add the question word When and pose the
question When did the captain declare? (Note that did declare is merely another way of saying
declared.) The reply is provided in the wording of the subordinate clause when his team had
scored 300 runs.
In other instances the subordinate clause plays a supplementary role and its presence merely
provides optional extra information or comment on (the whole or part of) the superordinate
clause:

main
subordinate
As you probably know, I shall be in Moscow in May.

main
subordinate
/ could eat chocolate every day, which would be very bad for me.

main
subordinate
The president, who works very hard, will be re-elected.

(Here the subordinate clause who works very hard provides supplementary information within
the structure of the nominal phrase beginning The president.)
In these instances, as in all supplementary examples, the subordinate clause could be
removed without affecting the grammaticality or altering the meaning content of the remaining
main clause, e.g. I shall be in Moscow in May; I could eat chocolate every day; The president will
be re-elected.
 Clause class 63

Subordinate clauses can also occur as minor clauses without a verbal phrase, e.g.

/ consider Jim an excellent leader.

I find this music very difficult.
I expect everything in order for this evening.
I want you home by 5 p.m.
I'd like the radio in the kitchen.

In each case here it can be shown that the NP following the verb has no direct relationship by
itself with that verb. The relationship which it does have is firstly and directly only with the
following phrase(s), e.g. Jim an excellent leader, this music very difficult, etc. It is only
secondarily and indirectly, when taken together with the following phrase(s), that the NP
referred to has a relationship with the preceding verb. Thus, the meaning of I expect everything
in order for this evening does not include the meaning of I expect everything. In support of this
analysis, we can paraphrase the meaning and structure of the whole sentence as / expect that
everything will be in order for this evening or I expect everything to be in order for this evening,
and in these expanded sentences the added finite or non-finite copular verb now provides an
explicit pivot for the relationship between the other phrases in the subordinate clause. Then
also, the question What do you expect? can elicit for its reply all the words following / expect
from each of the three sentence variants, viz. everything in order for this evening / that everything
will be in order ... I everything to be in order — Indeed, the ability to parallel sentences
containing a contracted minor subordinate clause with ones containing a major clause is quite
normal, as shown by the following contrasts:

/ consider Jim an excellent leader.

I consider Jim to be an excellent leader.
I consider that Jim is an excellent leader.
I find this music very difficult.
I find that this music is very difficult.
I want you home by 5 p.m.
I want you to be home by 5 p.m.
I'd like the radio in the kitchen.
I'd like the radio to be in the kitchen.

In terms of their role in structure, subordinate clauses are classed as nominal, adjectival/
relative or adverbial.

5.2 Nominal clause

Nominal clauses (in traditional grammar known as noun clauses) are subordinate clauses which
usually play an integral role in relation to the superordinate clause. They are called nominal
clauses because they specify a concrete or abstract entity and typically could be interrogated by
the word What? (sometimes also Who?) or replaced in the sentence structure by the pronoun it
or that (or he/she). In this way they are seen as performing a 'nominal' function. As indicated
under Nominal phrase in Section 4.1, the label 'nominal clause' is chosen in preference to 'noun
clause' as a term which is more generalized and which captures the fact that the nominal
function is fulfilled both by a subordinate clause or a phrase, which may itself be a single word
(a noun or pronoun).
64 Class

How you do it is your business. (cf. // is your business.)

What you need is a computer.
When you go is not important.
Whoever wrote this must be crazy.
I know what the answer is. (cf. / know it.)
We guessed where you went.
David said that the tomatoes were nearly ripe.
We wondered whether the tomatoes were ripe yet.
This is what you should do. (cf. This is it.)

5.3 Adjectival clause

Adjectival clauses are also known as relative clauses, though there is one type of relative clause
which is better regarded as an adverbial. They are typically (but not necessarily) introduced by a
relative word in the form of a pronoun or adverb. These clauses serve to qualify a foregoing
(antecedent) noun headword, and in this way they fulfil a role which potentially might be
performed by a simple word. Indeed, the relative clause can provide the answer to a question of
the type ' Which + antecedent headword?'. The term 'relative' denotes the fact that the clause
relates back to the antecedent noun headword in the superordinate clause and is bound to it by
the relative word (with or without a preposition), though this relative word can sometimes be
omitted. In analysis the relative word is marked according to the class to which it belongs in the
subordinate, relative clause, and this is not necessarily the same as the class of the antecedent in
the superordinate clause.

relative pronoun:
The people who led the march carried huge banners.
(Which people?)
The problems which we encountered were soon solved.
(Which problems?)
The law to which you refer has now been changed.
The law which you refer to has now been changed.
(Which law?)
The problems we encountered were soon solved.
The law you refer to has now been changed.
(In the last two examples the relative word is omitted.)
They didn 't arrive till late evening, by which time the shops had closed.
(This is a supplementary not an integral relative and as such is not susceptible to the
Which? test.)
The lady whose son is in China is over there.
(Which lady?)
(In these last two examples the relative pronoun has a determiner function.)

relative adverb:
The building where I used to work has been knocked down.
(The antecedent The building is nominal.)
(Which building?)
 Clause class 65

The time when she cooked spaghetti was the funniest.

(The antecedent The time is nominal.)
(Which time?)
The time she cooked spaghetti was the funniest.
(Relative word again omitted.)

It should also be noted that most of these relative clauses could be introduced by the relative
word that in place of who or which. This facility does not, however, apply where the relative
word is either part of a normal order prepositional phrase, e.g. to which (though with the
'fronted' order which ... to it is fine), or a determiner element within a nominal phrase, e.g.
whose son.

The people that led the march carried huge banners.

The problems that we encountered were soon solved.
*The law to that you refer has now been changed.
The law that you refer to has now been changed.
*The lady that son is in China is over there.
The time that she cooked spaghetti was the funniest.

Replacement for the adverbial relative where requires the use of a prepositional phrase with that
as a fronted completive element:

The building that I used to work in has been knocked down.

Reduced relative clauses

Sometimes the form of the relative clause is reduced in that not only is the relative word omitted
but also the verb is in a non-finite participle or infinitive form and therefore without an
auxiliary.
If the reduced relative clause is participial, the participle can be in the present (ending in -ing)
or past (ending in -en/-ed). (Note that a participial form which may happen to end in -ed should
not to be confused with the past tense ending -ed). The antecedent noun headword also has to
act as the subject of the relative clause, as the omission of the relative word means that there is
no separate specification of the subject in the relative clause.

The people leading the march carried huge banners.

The man beaten into second place had a broken finger.

It is therefore not possible in a relative clause both to omit the relative word and to have a solely
participial verb if the subject of that clause is different from the antecedent noun. This can be
seen if we try to alter some of the examples above. Compare:

The problems which we were encountering were soon solved.

* The problems we encountering were soon solved.
The law (which/that) you refer to has now been changed.
* The law you referring to has now been changed.
The time (when) she cooked spaghetti was the funniest.
*The time she cooking spaghetti was the funniest.
66 Class

Reduced relative clauses in which the verb is expressed in the infinitive can be illustrated as
follows, e.g.

The person to leave last was Jane.

The thing (for you) to remember is...
The man (for you) to talk to is Eric.
The time (for you) to cut the cake is —

Here the relative word that has been omitted is not limited to the subject of the infinitive clause,
as may be seen from the following paraphrases in which the relative clauses include the relative
words but have finite verbs:

The person who left last was Jane.

The thing which you should remember is ...
The man who you should talk to is Eric.
The time at which / when you should cut the cake is —

Restrictive and non-restrictive relatives

Except for They didn 't arrive till late evening, by which time the shops had closed, all the examples
of relative clauses so far are restrictive or defining in that the relative subordinate clause specifies
the nature of the foregoing noun headword. The relative clause in such instances thus integrates
with the antecedent headword to form a single unit of functional meaning in which it - the
relative clause - serves to define the reference of the nominal phrase.
Some relative clauses, however, are optional, extra clauses. In other words they are
supplementary clauses, which do not define the antecedent noun headword but provide
additional information to it or a comment on it. They are thus non-restrictive or non-defining.

John Brown, who is also a lawyer, would make a good candidate.

The Lake District mountains, which are quite close to Manchester, are becoming very popular
for day trips.

(Contrast this with the restrictive/defining relative clause The mountains which are quite close to
Manchester are becoming very popular for day trips.)
In 1965, when there was no VA T, petrol cost just 25p per gallon.
In Austria, where mountain huts are very plentiful, you can do some excellent walking tours.

With non-restrictive relative clauses it is normally possible to insert words such as in fact,
incidentally, by the way or / might add, thereby emphasizing their supplementary, optional
nature. It is also the case that non-restrictive relative clauses neither omit the relative word nor
begin with the relative word that.

5.4 Adverbial clause

Subordinate clauses which fulfil an integral adverbial function mark the circumstances
surrounding the main or superordinate clause. They can specify time (when?), place (where?),
reason (why?), purpose (why / what for / to what end?), result (what was the consequence/
outcome?), condition (in what circumstances?), concession (in spite of what?), manner (how?),
degree (to what extent?) or preference (instead of what?).
 Clause class 67

We 'II set off when Ruth arrives home.

They put the jars where no-one could find them.
The match was cancelled because it had snowed all morning.
She quickly mended her coat in order that / so that she could wear it.
He ran so well that he was selected for the county team.
If you are going away next week, would you let me know?
Although the quality is better, there is still room for improvement.
You behave as if/ as though it wasn't your fault.
He is doing as well as can be expected.
Rather than spend the day indoors, I would sooner work in the garden.

Questions to determine integral adverbial clauses are thus formed by adding one of the
circumstantial interrogative words/phrases above to the superordinate clauses and targeting it
at the suspected subordinate clause, e.g. When will we set off?
Adverbial clauses can also fulfil an optional, supplementary role in relation to the main
clause, in that they express a connective link to, add a comment on or provide an information
sequel to it.

What is worse, we didn 't even know.

As you all know, we haven't had the official reply yet.
We still haven't had an official reply, which doesn 't help matters.
There may be a rail strike, in which case I'll go by car.
The speaker rose, whereupon the hall immediately went silent.

The adverbial clauses in the last three examples represent in fact a type of relative clause which
traditionally has been known as a sentential relative. The relative words which and whereupon
here do not just link to an antecedent noun but refer back to the whole of the antecedent main
clause. Again, similarly to the situation with non-restrictive adjectival clauses, with supplemen-
tary adverbial clauses it is normally possible to insert words such as in fact, incidentally, by the
way or / might add.
It has been argued that sentential relative clauses are not subordinate clauses at all but rather
main clauses. The reasons offered for this claim are twofold. Firstly, in some texts sentential
relative clauses can be found as separate sentences, in which the relative wh- word begins with a
capital letter, e.g.

We still haven't had an official reply. Which doesn't help matters.

Secondly, it is explained that the relative wh- word can be replaced by and this, thus:

We still haven't had an official reply, which doesn't help matters.

We still haven't had an official reply, and this doesn't help matters.
There may be a rail strike, in which case I'll go by car.
There may be a rail strike, and in this case I'll go by car.
The speaker rose, whereupon the hall immediately went silent.
The speaker rose, and upon this the hall immediately went silent.

Against these points, however, I would counter, firstly, that any occurrence of a sentential
relative clause as a textual sentence is purely an orthographical feature of the writer's style,
designed to highlight the relative clause. But that does not alter the subordinate status of the
clause. It rather points to the possibilities of interplay between textual form and grammatical
status for effect. Secondly, I would point out that, whilst the wh- word can indeed be replaced
68 Class

by and this, the sentential relative clause in fact fails the ordinary, standard coordination test.
One cannot successfully add just the conjunction and to link the main clause with the unaltered
sentential relative:

We still haven't had an official reply, which doesn 't help matters.
* We still haven't had an official reply, and which doesn't help matters.
There may be a rail strike, in which case I'll go by car.
* There may be a rail strike, and in which case I'll go by car.
The speaker rose, whereupon the hall immediately went silent.
*The speaker rose, and upon which the hall immediately went silent.

5.5 Labelling the clause classes

main clause = main clause;

sub.clause = subordinate clause.

Line marking
11 = clause boundary which is not also a sentence boundary.
6
Sentence class

6.1 Formal types of sentence

The formal classification of sentences is traditionally in grammatical studies undertaken

according to the number and class (main or subordinate) of clauses they contain. Where a
sentence consists of a main clause only, it is known as a simple sentence.

simple sentence:
I'm off to town now.
Did you get a newspaper?
Do tell me the story of the red monk.
What a price these cagoules are!

Where the sentence contains two or more main clauses, it is known as a compound sentence.

compound sentence:
She'splaying hockey \\ and then she's going to the theatre.
I've tried all day \ \ but I still can't get through.
Would you like chicken \\ or do you prefer beef?

A sentence which comprises a main clause and at least one subordinate clause is called a
complex sentence.

complex sentence:
When we've washed up \\ we'll have a game of dominoes.
If you don't like the heat \\ get out of the kitchen.
She bought three bars \ \ because she adores the taste.
We went via Birmingham \ \ in order to save time.
What he thinks \\ is not important.
That is 11 what was announced.
Has Jill said \ \ whether she 'II be available?
This is the draft \ \ which I wrote yesterday.
The line is to be closed \ \ which doesn 't surprise me.

Lastly, where a sentence consists of at least two main clauses and at least one subordinate
clause, it may be termed a compound-complex sentence.
70 Class

compound-complex sentence:
If you need a hand \ \ give me a call \ \ and I'll pop round.
Our plans are now complete \ \ and an order will be placed \ \ as soon as we have received the
quotations.

It has to be said, however, that this formal classification of sentences is rather arbitrary and
as such not particularly helpful. Thus, for example, the compound class includes sentences
with any number of main clauses, provided it is more than one. The complex label does not
place any constraint on the number of subordinate clauses which may be present, nor does it
provide a way of recording dependency relationships which may exist between two or more
subordinate clauses in a sentence. Analysis of a text based solely on a classification of this sort
would therefore give only a partial indication of the degree of the complexity of its sentence
structure.

6.2 The sentence as clause complex

Grammatically, as indicated above, a sentence consists of one or more clauses which are
interrelated on a coordinate or subordinate basis. Given that, in terms of meaning, each clause
expresses an idea or proposition, then what the sentence does is to express one or more ideas or
propositions, interwoven to present a coherent whole. (Arguments used to abound regarding
the notion of completeness of the ideas. But irrespective of how this concept might best be
defined, we take the view that it is not a productive line to pursue and that it is not necessary to
think either of each idea or of the totality of ideas as being 'complete'. There is surely always
another relevant detail which could have been added.)
In these terms the sentence can be seen as a unit of textual structure which combines and
interacts with other sentences to form larger coherent units of text, such as paragraph and
chapter. By 'coherent' is meant the logical sequencing and interrelatedness of ideas. Of course,
in order to help ensure that the coherence of the message content reads smoothly, a writer
would normally employ the various grammatical devices of cohesion, as mentioned under
'textual function' in Chapter 1, Section 1.3, Language functions and the semantic stratum.
Some linguists indeed choose to reserve the label 'sentence' for the unit of textual study. In such
circumstances, the preferred term when discussing units of grammatical form would be clause
complex. As outlined in Chapter 2 (Grammatical framework), this relates to the logical
grouping of clause units around at least one main clause and in any configuration. The scope
of the textual sentence (bounded by an initial capital letter and a final full stop) and the
grammatical clause complex might normally be expected to be the same. For example, the
strings This semester there will be a course on formal syntax. Then next semester there will be a
module on functional syntax, are presented as two sentences and two (simple) clause complexes.
They could easily be coordinated into the single sentence and a single (now compound) clause
complex This semester there will be a course on formal syntax and then next semester there will be
a module on functional syntax. However, it is quite possible for the scope of sentence and clause
complex to diverge. Thus, whilst the sequence Ruth has passed her violin exam, which should
please her parents is one sentence containing one clause complex, it could for effect be written as
two sentences Ruth has passed her violin exam. Which should please her parents. But the two
sentences would still involve only the one clause complex, because the second sentence - a
sentential relative - remains a subordinate clause.
I adopt a middle way. Although I accept that the sentence is primarily a textual unit, I also
see it as one which by tradition in linguistic description serves as a unit of grammatical form for
the purpose of analysing grammatical structure. In this capacity and within the standard
orthographical boundaries, the sentence is a cohesive grouping of one or more clauses, i.e. a
clause complex.
 Sentence class 71

6.3 Labelling the sentence

#S# = Sentence

Line marking
III = sentence boundary.
Syntax in Functional Grammar
An introduction to lexicogrammar in systemic linguistics

G. DAVID MORLEY

CONTINUUM
London and New York 2000