LECTURE 2
VERB PHRASE – VERB AS VALENCY FOCUS
Quirk et al. (1996) 204 -207, 343 – 344,
349
Additonal study:
Dušková (1988) 349 -359, 401 – 423
Quirk et al. (1985)
The verb/Verb
- is used to indicate two different statuses :
1. verb as word-class member (Slk translation: sloveso)
2. Verb as clause element
Slk translation: slovesný prísudok with autosemantic verbs,
e.g. I live in Košice.
or
spona slovesno-menného prísudku with auxiliary verbs,
e.g.: John is an expert.
Verb as head of VERB PHRASE
The first of the above senses applies to the
structural analysis of the verb phrase.
- two functions of the verb in the verb phrase:
• Head
• Auxiliary (Operator – first or only auxiliary in a
verb phrase carrying the grammatical
categories of the verb)
Division of verb-phrases based on the
morphological form
1. FINITE Verb Phrases
• in which the first or only verb is finite verb
and the rest are non-finite forms
2. NON-FINITE Verb Phrases
• in which first or only verb is nonfinite
FINITE VP
The ship sank.
was sinking.
has been sinking.
must have been sinking.
Operator Auxiliaries Main verb/Head
must, has, was
VALENCY
The central position of the VERB in a clause
Tesnière (1959) – parallel to the position of the
sun as the centre of the solar system
Allerton (1982:57) – parallel to the position of
the nucleus in an atom - “...the different
potentials that individual verbs have for
occurring in a variety of sentence structures“
(Allerton, 1982: 57)
Van Valin (2001: 92)
– divides the verb´s dependents into direct
participants of the verbal action, i.e.
ARGUMENTS, and indirect participants, i.e.
ADJUNCTS (locative/temporal references)
(similar to Tesnière´s distinction between
actants and circonstants (1959), or Miller´s
complements and adjuncts (2002), respectively).
Valence of a verb “refers to the number of
arguments that it takes.“ (Van Valin, 2001:92)
Valency – a surface or cognitive phenomenon?
• Semasiological approach - indicating surface
arrangement: SVO Chain
• Onomasiological phenomenon – indicating deep
arrangement:
Agent + Action +Patient Frame
Verb elaborators/dependents
(according to Van Valin, 2001)
A S V O O
/In the morning/ /Jane/ /bought/ /him/ /a present/.
Arguments/direct dependents: S, O, O
Adjuncts/indirect dependents: A
Semasiologically derived valency
Verb as Clause element
1) INTRANSITIVE VERBS SV
- followed by no obligatory clause element
2) COPULAR VERBS SVCs, SVA
- followed by the Subject Complement or Adverbial
3) TRANSITIVE VERBS
followed by the Object
subdivided into
a) monotransitive b) ditransitive c) complex transitive
SVO SVOO SVOCo, SVOA
Lexical vs. Syntactic Meaning
S V O
/He/ /dropped/ /a pen/.
Cognitive reading/cognitive roles:
1. Doer+Willed Action+Theme
2. Unintentional Performer+Unwilled Action+Specifier
Cognitive concept of valency
Valency - projection of humans´ conceptualization of
relations existing between various entities, actions, states or
processes observed in the extra-linguistic environment into
sets of arrangements/chains of cognitive roles (e.g.
Agent/Action/Patient) effected through surface syntactic
units (functioning e.g. as Subject/Verb/Object)
- It is based on the human´s ability to employ such patterns
on a recurrent and analogical basis
e.g. inanimate cognitive patterns seem to be modelled
according to animate cognitive patterns:
John damaged the car.> Lightning damaged the car.
COGNITIVE ROLES
• ENTITIES
• STATES/ACTIONS
INTENTIONAL/UNINTENTIONAL
• CIRCUMSTANCES may be viewed as
SPACIAL/TEMPORAL/MANNERIAL
Examples
• /John/ /is running/.
Doer+Action
• /John/ /is digging/ /the ground/.
Doer+Action+Affected Entity
• /John/ /is going/ /to school/.
Doer + Action +Directional Circumstance
COGNITIVE ROLES OF ENTITIES
• AGENT – cause-active entity
• PATIENT – cause-inactive entity
• EXPERIENCER – experiencing entity
• QUALIFIED ENTITY – being attributed various
characteristics
• LOCALIZED ENTITY – being allocated with
various circumstances
AGENT
• Intentional Performer/Doer
He is digging the garden.
• External Causer
The flood destroyed several villages.
• Permitter
John grows his beard in winter.
• Initiator
He jumped the horse over the fence.
• Instrumental
The key opened the door.
EXPERIENCER
• MENTAL/BODILY EXPERIENCES
• Cognizer
John remembered his name.
• Emoter
John loved her.
• Perceiver
John saw a girl. (cf John looked at her)
John - Doer
John sneezed.
• Bearer
John is aging. The sun is shining.
PATIENT
• Unintentional Performer/Undergoer
John slipped on a banana peel.
John broke his leg.
• Affected participant
John painted the wall.
• Resultant
John painted a land scape.
• Possessor/Donee
John gave her a present . John got a present. John owns a house.
• Focus
John loves Jane.
• Theme
John gave her a present. John put the book on the table.
• Specifier
John broke his leg.
Unintentional Performer /Action / Specifier - part/whole relation – part of Unintentional Performer
QUALIFIED ENTITY
• John is tall.
• John resembles his father.
EXPONENT/LOCALIZED ENTITY
• John lives in Košice.
• The flight takes 2 hours.
• John is in the garden.
