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Summary
Summary
This book shows how grammar helps people communicate and looks at the ways grammar and meaning interrelate. The author starts from the notion that a speaker codes a meaning into grammatical forms which the listener is then able to recover: each word, he shows, has its own meaning and each bit of grammar its own function, their combinations creating and limiting the possibilities for different words. He uncovers a rationale for the varying grammatical properties of different words and in the process explains many facts about English - such as why we can say I wish to go, I wish that he would go, and I want to go but not I want that he would go.
The first part of the book reviews the main points of English syntax and discusses English verbs in terms of their semantic types including those of Motion, Giving, Speaking, Liking, and Trying. In the second part Professor Dixon looks at eight grammatical topics, including complement clauses, transitivity and causatives, passives, and the promotion of a non-subject to subject, as in Dictionaries sell well.
This is the updated and revised edition of A New Approach to English Grammar on Semantic Principles. It includes new chapters on tense and aspect, nominalizations and possession, and adverbs and negation, and contains a new discussion of comparative forms of adjectives. It also explains recent changes in English grammar, including how they has replaced the tabooed he as a pronoun referring to either gender, as in When a student reads this book, they will learn a lot about English grammar in a most enjoyable manner.
Author Notes
R.M.W. Dixon is Professor and Director of the Research Centre for Linguistic Typology at La Trobe University
Table of Contents
List of tables | p. xii |
How to read this book | p. xiii |
Preface | p. xiv |
List of abbreviations | p. xvii |
Part A Introduction | p. 1 |
1 Orientation | p. 3 |
1.1 Grammar and semantics | p. 5 |
1.2 Semantic types and grammatical word classes | p. 7 |
1.3 Semantic roles and syntactic relations | p. 9 |
1.4 The approach followed | p. 12 |
1.5 Words and clitics | p. 16 |
Notes to Chapter 1 | p. 18 |
2 Grammatical sketch | p. 19 |
2.1 Pronouns | p. 19 |
2.2 Verb and verb phrase | p. 22 |
2.2.1 Forms of the verb | p. 22 |
2.2.2 Verb phrase | p. 24 |
2.2.3 Verbal systems | p. 25 |
2.3 Noun phrase | p. 26 |
2.4 Main clauses | p. 11 |
2.4.1 Imperative clauses | p. 29 |
2.5 Adverbial elements | p. 30 |
2.6 Relative clauses | p. 32 |
2.7 Complement clauses | p. 36 |
2.8 Omission of be | p. 53 |
2.9 Types of -ing clause | p. 54 |
2.10 Word derivations | p. 56 |
2.11 Clause derivations | p. 58 |
2.11.1 Questions | p. 58 |
2.11.2 Causatives | p. 59 |
2.11.3 Passives | p. 61 |
2.11.4 Promotion to subject | p. 61 |
2.11.5 Reflexives | p. 62 |
2.11.6 Reciprocals | p. 65 |
2.11.7 Have a Verb, Give a Verb and Take a Verb | p. 66 |
2.12 Clause linking | p. 67 |
2.13 Syntactic preferences and constraints | p. 71 |
2.14 Summary of omission conventions | p. 74 |
Notes to Chapter 2 | p. 17 |
Part B The Semantic Types | p. 79 |
3 Noun, adjective and verb types | p. 81 |
3.1 Types associated with the Noun class | p. 82 |
3.2 Types associated with the Adjective class | p. 84 |
3.2.1 Comparison of adjectives | p. 91 |
3.3 Introduction to verb types | p. 93 |
3.3.1 Subject and object | p. 93 |
3.3.2 Grammar versus lexicon | p. 95 |
3.4 Primary and Secondary verbs | p. 96 |
4 Primary-A verb types | p. 102 |
4.1 Motion and Rest | p. 102 |
4.2 Affect | p. 110 |
4.3 Giving | p. 119 |
4.4 Corporeal | p. 124 |
4.5 Weather | p. 127 |
4.6 Others | p. 128 |
Notes to Chapter 4 | p. 130 |
5 Primary-B verb types | p. 131 |
5.1 Attention | p. 131 |
5.2 Thinking | p. 139 |
5.3 Deciding | p. 143 |
5.4 Speaking | p. 146 |
5.5 Liking | p. 160 |
5.6 Annoying | p. 164 |
5.7 Others | p. 169 |
6 Secondary verb types | p. 172 |
6.1 Secondary-A types | p. 172 |
6.1.1 Modals and Semi-Modals | p. 172 |
6.1.2 Beginning | p. 177 |
6.1.3 Trying | p. 183 |
6.1.4 Hurrying | p. 186 |
6.1.5 Daring | p. 187 |
6.2 Secondary-B types | p. 188 |
6.2.1 Wanting | p. 188 |
6.2.2 Postponing | p. 195 |
6.3 Secondary-C types | p. 196 |
6.3.1 Making | p. 196 |
6.3.2 Helping | p. 201 |
6.4 Secondary-D types | p. 202 |
6.4.1 Seem | p. 203 |
6.4.2 Matter | p. 205 |
Notes to Chapter 6 | p. 206 |
Part C Some Grammatical Topics | p. 207 |
7 Tense and aspect | p. 209 |
7.1 Basic distinctions | p. 210 |
7.2 Generic | p. 211 |
7.3 Future | p. 212 |
7.4 Present and past systems | p. 215 |
7.4.1 Perfective verus imperfective | p. 215 |
7.4.2 Actual versus previous | p. 217 |
7.4.3 Present versus past | p. 219 |
7.5 Irrealis and aspect | p. 222 |
7.6 Back-shifting | p. 223 |
7.7 Occurrence | p. 225 |
Notes to Chapter 7 | p. 229 |
8 Completeness clauses | p. 230 |
8.1 Parentheticals | p. 233 |
8.2 Meanings of complement clauses | p. 238 |
8.2.1 that and wh- | p. 238 |
8.2.2 that and ing | p. 240 |
8.2.3 Modal (for) to, Judgement to, and that | p. 242 |
8.2.4 The role of for in Modal (for) to complements | p. 247 |
8.2.5 Omitting to from Modal (for) to complements | p. 251 |
8.2.6 Omitting to be from to complements | p. 253 |
8.2.7 ing and Modal (for) to | p. 255 |
8.2.8 wh-to | p. 255 |
8.2.9 (from) ing | p. 257 |
8.2.10 Summary | p. 258 |
8.3 Complement clauses with Secondary verbs | p. 260 |
8.3.1 Modals and Semi-Modals | p. 260 |
8.3.2 Beginning, Trying, Hurrying and Daring | p. 261 |
8.3.3 Wanting and Postponing | p. 264 |
8.3.4 Making and Helping | p. 268 |
8.3.5 Seem and Matter | p. 269 |
8.4 Complement clauses with Primary-B verbs, and with adjectives | p. 270 |
8.4.1 Attention | p. 270 |
8.4.2 Thinking | p. 272 |
8.4.3 Deciding | p. 274 |
8.4.4 Speaking | p. 275 |
8.4.5 Liking, Annoying and Adjectives | p. 279 |
8.4.6 Other Primary-B types | p. 283 |
Notes to Chapter 8 | p. 285 |
9 Transitivity and causatives | p. 286 |
9.1 The semantic basis of syntactic relations | p. 287 |
9.2 Prepositions and transitivity | p. 289 |
9.2.1 Verbs with an inherent preposition | p. 290 |
9.2.2 Phrasal verbs | p. 293 |
9.2.3 Inserting a preposition | p. 297 |
9.2.4 Omitting a preposition before non-measure phrases | p. 299 |
9.2.5 Omitting a preposition before measure phrases | p. 303 |
9.3 Dual transitivity | p. 305 |
9.3.1 S = A: transitive verbs that can omit an object | p. 305 |
9.3.2 S = O pairs: which is basic? | p. 309 |
9.3.3 Causatives | p. 311 |
Notes to Chapter 9 | p. 315 |
10 Nominalisations and possession | p. 317 |
10.1 Possession | p. 317 |
10.2 Varieties of deverbal nominalisation | p. 322 |
10.2.1 Nominalisations denoting unit of activity and activity itself | p. 323 |
10.2.2 Nominalisations denoting a state or a property | p. 327 |
10.2.3 Nominalisations describing a result | p. 328 |
10.2.4 Object nominalisations | p. 329 |
10.2.5 Locus nominalisations | p. 332 |
10.2.6 Agentive nominalisations | p. 333 |
10.2.7 Instrumental nominalisations | p. 336 |
10.2.8 Possession of a nominalisation: summary | p. 337 |
10.3 Derivational processes | p. 338 |
10.4 Nominalisation of phrasal verbs | p. 343 |
10.4.1 Agentive nominalisations | p. 344 |
10.4.2 Unit and activity nominalisations | p. 346 |
10.5 Nominalisation by semantic type | p. 348 |
10.5.1 Primary-A types | p. 348 |
10.5.2 Primary-B types | p. 349 |
10.5.3 Secondary verbs | p. 351 |
Notes to Chapter 10 | p. 352 |
11 Passives | p. 353 |
11.1 The nature of passive | p. 354 |
11.2 Which verbs from Primary types may passivise | p. 360 |
11.3 How verbs from Secondary types passivise | p. 364 |
11.4 Complement clauses as passive subjects | p. 367 |
11.5 Prepositional NPs becoming passive subjects | p. 369 |
Notes to Chapter 11 | p. 374 |
12 Adverbs and negation | p. 375 |
12.1 Adverbs | p. 376 |
12.2 Forms and types | p. 379 |
12.2.1 Adjective types and derived adverbs | p. 381 |
12.3 Positioning | p. 385 |
12.3.1 Position 'A' and other medial positions | p. 389 |
12.3.2 Positions 'F' and 'O' | p. 392 |
12.4 Adverbs modifying NPs | p. 394 |
12.5 Adverbs with sentential but not manner function | p. 402 |
12.5.1 Time adverbs | p. 405 |
12.5.2 Spatial adverbs | p. 410 |
12.6 Adverbs with manner but not sentential function | p. 413 |
12.7 Adverbs with both sentential and manner function | p. 418 |
12.8 Adverbs modifying adjectives and adverbs | p. 422 |
12.9 Other properties | p. 423 |
12.9.1 Comparatives | p. 423 |
12.9.2 An adverb as a complete utterance | p. 426 |
12.10 Combinations of adverbs | p. 427 |
12.11 Negation | p. 432 |
12.11.1 Sentential and manner-type negation | p. 432 |
12.11.2 Negative attraction | p. 435 |
12.11.3 Constituent negation | p. 436 |
12.11.4 Inherently negative verbs | p. 441 |
12.11.5 Negation and sentential adverbs | p. 441 |
12.11.6 Complex negators | p. 443 |
12.11.7 Negative modifier to a noun | p. 444 |
Notes to Chapter 12 | p. 445 |
13 Promotion to subject | p. 446 |
13.1 General characteristics | p. 446 |
13.2 The circumstances in which promotion is possible | p. 449 |
13.3 Which roles may be promoted | p. 451 |
Notes to Chapter 13 | p. 458 |
14 Give a Verb, have a Verb and take a Verb constructions | p. 459 |
14.1 Criteria adopted | p. 462 |
14.2 Syntax | p. 467 |
14.3 Meaning | p. 469 |
14.4 Occurrence | p. 476 |
Notes to Chapter 14 | p. 483 |
Appendix List of adjective and verb types, with sample members | p. 484 |
References | p. 492 |
Books | p. 501 |
Index | p. 503 |