1367260110.5528Understanding Syntax

294Understanding syntaxobject. Typically, languages are either predominantly head-initial, meaning that the headprecedes the complement in all major phrase types, or else predominantly head-final.head-marking (see also dependent-marking): A language or construction which showsthe relationship between a head and its dependents by marking the head, rather thanby marking the dependents. Classic head-marking gives rise to extensive verbal crossreferencing:the verb is morphologically marked to reflect the grammatical categoriesof its dependents.infinitive: A non-finite verb form. In English, the bare (uninflected) form of the verbwhich is used in the frames Kim must __ (that) and He needs to __ (that). May have aspecial marker in some languages, such as French -er, -ir, -re.intransitive verb: A verb taking just one argument, namely its subject. Examples inEnglish are expire, disappear. May have optional modifiers, e.g. The permit expires intwo days.inversion, subject/auxiliary: The construction used in English to ask yes/no questions, e.g.Will Kim be there later?, in which an auxiliary moves to the left of the subject. Alsooccurs in wh-questions in English, e.g. Where will Kim be then?matrix: see clause, matrix or main.nominalization: A grammatical process which turns a word of a different word class into anoun. Typically, refers to the process by which verbs are turned into nouns, e.g. approve/approval; announce/announcement.nominative/accusative language: A language which indicates via case-marking and/orverb agreement the pairing of the S and A arguments (i.e. all subjects) as opposedto the O argument (the object) of the verb. Also refers to languages with little or noovert marking (e.g. English, Chinese) which organize aspects of their syntax along thesame alignment, i.e. SA vs. O.nominative case: The case of the core arguments S and A (‘subjects’) in nominative/accusative languages. Is not necessarily shown overtly by any morphological casemarking.non-finite verb: Centrally, one which is not marked either for tense or person/number/gender contrasts. A non-finite clause contains only non-finite verbs or non-finiteauxiliaries.object see direct object.participle: A term used for certain non-finite verb forms, but excluding the infinitive. InEnglish, refers to the -ing form of the verb in Kim is sleeping and the -ed/-en form of theverb (the past participle) in Kim has taken/finished the cheese.passive: A construction which changes the grammatical relations of core argumentsin the following way: the original subject of an active sentence is demoted or deleted,and the object of the verb is promoted to the grammatical relation of subject. Thevalency of a transitive verb is reduced, since it now contains a subject but no object. Thechange in grammatical relations is marked by changes to the verbal morphology. Anexample in English would be Kim stole the cheese (active) and The cheese was stolen byKim (passive).postposition see preposition.predicate: Used in two different senses. May refer just to the verbal element in a clause, orto the verb and all its modifiers (a VP). There are also non-verbal predicates, for instancethose headed by a noun or adjective.preposition and postposition: Typically, small words indicating location in time andspace, such as in English on, in, at, under, over, through, beside etc. May be transitive orintransitive, i.e. may or may not have an object.