The Sentence The sentence is the main object of linguistic description.

This is due to its being the unit or prime at the highest level of linguistic form - the syntactic level. The sentence enjoys a status of independence at its own level of occurrence- i.e. structural dependence, as well as at the other levels such as the phonological level, the sentence being marked off by a unique phonological contour and by boundary signals - the junctures, or the semantic level, the sentence being assigned a global semantic interpretation. At the same level there also occur the phrasal units, also representing syntactic categories. They share a number of properties and relational properties. They both help to the realization of endocentric and exo-centric configurations. Attempts to define the sentence in traditional grammars failed precisely because of the fact that the sentence is a very complex linguistic object. Most traditionalists were inclined to limit their definitions to the semantic peculiarities of sentence. Curme, for instance, says that a sentence is an expression of a thought or feeling by means of a word or words used in such form and manner as to convey the meaning intended. The definition is followed by a discussion of the form and functions of sentence. It is only at the end of the discussion that Curme mentions the structural aspect of sentence, its make-up (subject + predicate). Structuralists focused on the formal independence of the unit S. Bloomfield, for instance, defined S as a grammatical unit between the constituent parts of which there exist distributional limitations and dependences, but which can itself be put into no distributional class. He argues that a set of utterances including How are you?Its a fine day cannot be grouped on grammatical grounds into one larger form. Hence S is the maximum unit upon which the distributional properties can be best studied. The sentence is a string of lexical formatives (words) organized according to the following principles: a) An underlying hierarchy of syntactic relations holding between the categorial constituents of S, minimally actualized by the relation of predication between an NP functioning as Subject and a VP functioning as Predicate of the S. 9 b) A superficial linearization of the lexical items corresponding to the lexical categories making up the constituents of S. c) An underlying semantic correlate, residing in the global meaning interpretation of S and minimally representable as a logical predication (a predicate and its associated arguments). d) A phonetic shape, made up of a specialized intonational contour,

the pitch and the juncture, a graphic form which marks some of the phonological aspects by specialized graphic signals. e) Pragmatic properties regarding the functionality of S in concrete communicative contexts. The logico-semantic correlate of the grammatical unit S is its propositional context which reflects a certain state-of-affairs by means of: a) Predication, realized by a predicate which assigns a property or a relation to one or several arguments. b) Reference for each of the constituents of the predications part. The arguments are realized grammatically by NP-S, while reference is mainly realized by the system of Determiners in the respective language. The predicate is realizable in each language by a number of verb semantic subclasses. The syntactically relevant aspect consists in the word order possibilities for each language. Taking into account the form of sentences (including, on the one hand, the deep and surface configuration and, on the other hand, the phonological/graphic peculiarities) and the communicative function of each formal type, there are four types of sentences: 1) Declarative sentences specialized for giving information under the form of statements. 2 Interrogative sentences specialized for requesting missing information. 3) Imperative sentences (or commands) specialized for requesting action, under the form of orders. 4) Exclamatory sentences, specialized for expressing subjective reactions, feelings etc. The speech-act approach of S forms is not however as helpful as it might appear. If we judge in terms of illocutionary force corresponding to each S forms we shall find that a declarative like I would be grateful if you could pass me the salt may request for action, while by using interrogative forms, the speaker may request an action: Will you repeat the question?, it may convey a piece of information (Did you know theyve married this morning?)or express both a feeling of reproach and a request for action (How many times have I told you not to do that?) In conclusion, there is no one-to-one correspondence between a certain S form and the illocutionary 10 act the speaker performs when opting for the respective form. We can only say that within the ranges of illocutionary force, some are more typical of a certain S form. Further sub-class obtain if we take into account the possibility each of the type has, of saying according to: 1) polarity: positive and negative variants for each S type.

E.g. Didnt he mail the letter yesterday evening? (Negative-interrogative S) 2) emphasis. Sentence types, such as declaratives and imperatives may have emphatic variants resulting from the application of Emphasis (which inserts the heavily stressed verb do). 3) Reduction. Each S type may undergo reduction processes by ellipsis. Classification of sentences according to the degree of structural complexity: a) Simple sentences (simplexes) are based upon one predication relation, realized by a finite verb form. b) Compound sentences are based upon the coordination (conjoining) of two or more sentences. E.g. Dinner was over and the kids went to bed. c) Complex sentences based upon subordination (embedding) of at least one S. The tree structure of complex sentences contains at least one S mode (dominated by another S mode) besides the initial S. E.g. Sarah admitted she was wrong. S NP VP Aux MV V NP Sarah -ed admit S (she was wrong). The S modes on branches lower than the initial S signal embedded clauses. Clauses may be, in their turn, sub-classified according to the V form of their predication: a) Finite clauses, those whose V form carries the markers of Mood, Tense and Aspect. 11 b) Non-finite clauses: Whose V form is an infinitive, a Gerund or a Participle. E.g. Johns telling a lie shocked his friends Ger-cl It is a shame to tell a lie Inf-cl Basic S configurations An inventory of the main S configurations of English may be carried out along two levels: a) By supplying the relatively small set of deep structure configurations; b) by supplying a very long list of the surface configurational possibilities

dictated by the word order. There are two essential aspects of S structure that help us differentiate the basic S configurations: A. Constituent structure of S. B. Relational sequence in S. A. The Constituent structure of S: Sentences have an internal organization, based upon a part-whole relation between larger units and the smaller units they contain. Syntactic processes at the level of S mainly operate with constituent sequences. 1) Constituents of same type enjoy the same distributional properties and may be substituted for one another. Nominal phrases, for instance, represent a large class of constituents of the same type, which includes inter-substitutable sub-types: -NP.s of various degrees of complexity: Tony, my dog, three blind mice, an old Romanian folk custom, etc. Pronouns: he, all of them, mine, everybody -Nominalization: the building of new libraries -clauses: that Susan will marry next month, Jamess sitting up late. 2) It is only constituent sequences that may be substituted, deleted, moved or inserted in sentences, in other words transformations affect only constituents: 12 Substitution: Bill repeated his lesson yesterday morning and by Pro-VP his sister did to yesterday evening. . Pro-VP Movement: Mother bought a necklace for Janet. . NP NP Mother bought Janet a necklace. NP NP 3) Location of certain morphemes (the possessive s morpheme in English) is conditioned by constituency, s being placed at the end of an NP constituent. E.g. The Queen of Englands Speech * the Queens of England Speech 4) Explanatory analysis of ambiguities is also made possible by constituency demarcations. Two seemingly identical sequences are interpreted differently, on the basis of the differences between constituent types: a) They were rolling over the carpet. Adv P b) They were rolling over the carpet. Direct Obj.

5) Sequences of modal verbs are ungrammatical in English. * Student must can solve the whole test in 2 hours. Nevertheless, such modal sequences are allowed to occur if the modals belong to two different constituents: E.g. People who must can learn English in month. 6) Idioms in English have a constituent status. Thus a dog in the manager is an NP idiom, go to the dogs-a VP idiom, Time and tide wait for no man an S idiom. B.The relational sequence in S The constituents making up a S enter a number of well defined grammatical relations, mainly materialized as relations between the predicating verb and each of the NPs positions on its left and right. e.g. The boys were flying a big kite. . NP Main Verb NP 13 Relational sequences: subject----V---- Direct Object. The simplest sentences are those whose base contains just one S mode. Such sentences are based on one predication relation. Among these sentences we may distinguish a subset, characterized by the highest degree of structural simplicity. Early generativists called these S-s kernels or simplexes. They are declarative, assertive and active. The main configurational differences are dictated by the various semantic-syntactic properties of verbs. Verb sub-categorization into copulative and non-copulative, transitive and intransitive, monotransitive and ditransitive will turn out to determine a variety of types and sub-types. The fact that there exists a strong relationship between the inner organization of sentential configurations and the semantic-syntactic nature of verbs has led a number of linguists to the conclusion that properties such as transitive and intransitive apply to the whole sentence configurations, rather than to isolated verbs. There is a close correlation between the syntax of the verb and the syntax of the sentence it predicates. Type 1 (copulative Predicate configurations) The general characteristic of Type 1 is the fact that predication is realized by a copula (BE) or a copula-like V (become, taste, etc.) in conjunction with a Predicative Adj. P or NP. E.g. This boy is clever. This table is square. Sub-type 1.a (NP) (be Pred. Adj P) Subj V Predicative

Sentences of this type are one-term configurations, i.e. the verb takes as cooccurent term the Subject NP. This NP may be simple or phrasally coordinated if the Pred. Adj. is reciprocal: e.g. The problem is interesting . Men and women are equal. In case the be Pred. Ad j . renders properties pertaining to exterior circumstances (temperature, weather, atmosphere, etc) the Subj. NP is unspecified in deep structure and It Insertion applies so as to produce surface strings: 14 e. g It was frosty outside. It will be cold tomorrow. The Subject may be clausal in case the Pred. Adj. belongs to the subcategory including: advisable, necessary, possible, recommendable. As a result of extraposition of the Subject Clause and It insertion, the following surface structure configurational type is produced: e.g. [That Bill has been to Africa] is incredible -> It is incredible [that Bill has been to Africa] With Pred. Adj. of the subcategory including (un)likely, certain, some, besides the above surface variant, there may be obtained a surface configuration of the form: e.g. John is likely to win the contest. from [ John to win the contest ] is likely . The Subject of the Subject Clause has been raised in the position of Subject of the main clause. Sub. Type 1.b. {[NP]^[be ^Pred NP]} Subj v Predicative a) Indefinite NP as Predicative: Marian is a beauty/ His aim is freedom. Definitive NP as Predicative We are the owners. She will be the president. The copulative verb may also take a Prepositional NP as Predicative: 15 e.g His disease is of a hidden nature. The Subject may be sentential and it may undergo Extraposition and Itinsertion, if the NP is a relatively fixed phrase such as: a pleasure, a necessity, no good, no use, fun. The clause may be finite (a that clause) or non-finite (infinitival or gerundial). e.g. [That he should learn a foreign language] is a necessity. (It is a necessity that he should learn a foreign language) [To visit people/ visiting people] is fun. (It is fun to visit people/ visiting people.)

The NP functioning as Predicative may also be expressed by a Complement clause (that Cl, Inf. Cl, Ger. Cl) e.g. The probability is that the experiment has failed. His pastime is to collect stamps/ collecting stamps. The embedded sentences may be indirect questions, relative clauses without expressed antecedent , other complement clauses. e.g. [What puzzled her] was [that he should have said such a thing] Subject Clause Predicative Clause Sub-type 2 { [NP]^ {[be^ Adj P]^ [PNP]}} Subj ^ v ^ Predic ^ Prep Obj The VP has one more constituent, a Prepositional NP functioning as Indirect Object (marked by the Prep: to/for/of) or as Prepositional Object: a) With I.O The document was quite surprising to me. Subj Pred. Adj IO/PNP Ski-running is difficult for Sarah. b) With P.O I am aware of the difficulties. 16 He was pleased with my answer. They were panicked at the news. We are all interested in science fiction. The Prepositional Object may be sentential (That Cl., Inf. Cl., Ger Cl.). In this case the preposition is deleted when the clause is introduced by that or is expressed by an infinitival construction: e.g. I am aware that things must be changed. Nobody was willing to give in. The Ger.Cl retains the deep structure preposition: e.g. That man was afraid of being bitten by dogs. Type II (Non-Copulative) Intransitive Predicate Configurations As different from Type 1, these configurations are predicated by meaningful intransitives (including the existential BE) Sub-type 1: { [NP]^ [v] } The kids are sleeping. Subj v Spring has set in. These are one-term configurations which may optionally include Adverbial Phrases of various kinds : Manner, Place, Time, Purpose, Cause. e.g. The man was crying (with pain) - Adv P- Cause The woman was crying. (bitterly) Adv. P- Manner The pupils were working. (hard) (in the school-yard) (at 5) Adv.P Manner Adv. P Place Adv P.Time Some intransitive verbs such as seem or happen take a Complement Clause as sentential Subject. The Subject Clause undergoes transformational operations which finally result in surface configuration: E. g. It seems that prices will go down.

Prices seem to have gone down. It happened that Gloria was missing. 17 Gloria happened to be missing. Some configurations are predicated by verbs that obligatory take [+set] Subject (often expressed by a phrasally conjoined NP) e.g. The car and the motor-bike collided. With weather verbs, the unspecified deep Subject is realized in surface by inserted it: e. g. It frosted (hard) (yesterday). It had been snowing (for three days) It is drizzling. Sub. Type 2 [NP] ^ [ v ^ {PNP, Adv. P}] Subject ^ v {Indirect Obj., Prep. Obj., Adv. Modifier} This sub-type is predicated by the so-called complex intransitive verbs. They take as obligatory co-occurent adjunct a PNP or an Adv. P. The PNP may be an Indirect Object marked by to or a Prepositional Object: e.g. He finally submitted to their pressure. (PNP/ I.O.) The river abounds in fish. (PNP/ Prep O) The book consists of five sections. (PNP/ Prep O) He was looking for his old shoes. You can rely on this fellow. Most prepositional verbs (except the ones that take to I.Os, as well as abound in, consist of and a few others) allow passivization: e.g . This fellow can be relied upon. A subgroup of the same verbs may take a Complement Clause functioning as Prepositional Object: E.g. Jack insisted on our coming earlier. (Ger.Cl./Prep.Obj.) Jack insisted that we should come earlier. ( that Cl./ Prep. Obj.) Gerundial Cl. preserves the deep Prep., while in a that Cl. the Prep. is deleted. 18 Sub-type 3 {[NP] ^ [v ^ PNP ^ PNP]} Subject ^ v ^ IO/PO1^PO2 Intransitives with two Prepositional Objects predicate configurations such as: 1. Mr. Shandy will lecture to us on the West Indies. I.O 2. I have quarrelled with my sister about our project trip. PO1 PO2 One of the two Objects may undergo Deletion: e.g. Mary disagreed with her father. PO1 (Deletion of PO2) Type 3 Transitive Predication Configurations

Sub-type 1: {[NP] ^ [[v] ^ [NP]] } Subject ^ v ^ D.O. e.g The kid broke the window. They have (got) a new car. I love all my pupils. The accident horrified her. We drank tea and milk. All these are two-term configurations; the second term is a Direct Object. Reversion of these terms is made possible by the Passive Transformation, which applies to most transitive configurations (with a few exceptions such as the sentence above predicated by have (got)). In case the subject NP is co-referential with the Direct Object NP the latter is obligatory replaced by the reflexive pro-form: 19 e.g. Mother cut herself. With some of the verbs entering such monotransitive strings there is the possibility of deleting this object: e.g. Sarah was reading (a/ some book) He drinks too much (alchoolic stuff) Adverbial Phrases co-occur freely with these constructions. Non-stative transitives can be modified by Manner Adverbials, while stative ones usually cannot allow this type of modification: e.g. He was driving the car carefully. *He knew the lesson carefully. Transitive verb subcategories that may take a [+abstract] Object NP are generally [+ Complementation]. The complement clause functioning as Direct Object may be a that Cl., Inf. Cl., Ger, Cl.: e.g. She knows that you are lying. They wanted to see the movie again. She likes being praised. Indirect questions may also occur as direct objects: e.g. She did not know where to go. Relative Clauses (without expressed antecedent) freely appear in direct object position: e.g. She always understands what she is told. / Whatever you tell her. The Direct Object Clause may be anticipated by the formal it Object. In between the latter and the former there occurs a Predicative Adjunct to the Direct Object, expressed by an Adjective. It is only a limited number of transitive verbs that enter this construction: e.g. John considered it necessary [to warn his friends about the thief] Predicative adjunct to the DO Sub-type 2 [ [NP] ^ V^ [NP] ^ [PNP] ]

Subj. ^ ^ DO ^ IO where Prep= to/for (+dative) 20 e.g The girl offered the bunch of flowers to the soloist. The great majority of verbs predicating these constructions allow a transformation called Dative, consisting of the reordering of the I.O (to/for NP) and the D.O. and the deletion of the dative prepositional marker: e.g. The girl offered the soloist a bunch of flowers. With some categories there occur various types of embedded clauses as Direct Obj. The Indirect Obj. is often deleted in such contexts: e.g. She promised (me) that she would leave off smoking. (that Cl) Steve told me what to do next. (Indep Rel Clause) He could not explain (to us) why the experiment had failed. (Ind Obj) Passivization of the basic strings results in two configurations: one with the deep Direct Object, the other with the Indirect Obj. as Subject: e.g. The bunch of flowers was handed to the soloist ( by the girl) The soloist was handed the bunch of flowers. (by the girl) The verbs answer, ask, teach, only occur in the following type of surface configuration: [ [NP] ^ [v ^ NP ^ NP]] Subj ^ ^ O1 ^ O2 Both Objects are prepositionless. e.g. She will teach the students modern grammar. The kid asked Mother odd questions. I answered Stephen all his questions. The strings with ask may take embedded indirect questions (optionally accompanied by I.O deletion): e.g. We asked (the teacher) whether the paper should be handed in at 9. Strings with answer may take that-compliment clauses as DO (optionally with IO deletion) e.g. She answered (me) that she hadnt seen the man. 21 Sub-type 3 [[NP] ^ [[v] ^ [NP] ^ [PNP]]] Subj ^ v ^ DO ^ PO These sentences are predicated by verbs that take a Direct Obj. and a Prepositional Obj. whose Preposition is not a dative marker: e.g. The jury accused him of murder. I shall remind George of his promise The man took him for his brother. Passivization results in just one surface configuration, with the former D.O as Subject; the PO is retained: e.g. He was reminded of his promise He was accused of murder.

Complement Clauses may be embedded as prepositional Object (with Prep. Del for that and Inf. Cl.): e.g. I reminded him (D.O) that he should leave earlier( that Cl/ Prep. Obj) I reminded him (DO) to leave earlier. (Inf Cl/ Prep. Obj) Sub-type 4 [[NP] ^ [ [v] ^ [NP] ^ [ Adv P]]] Subj. ^ v ^ DO ^ Adv Place/ Direction e.g. Andrew laid the map on his desk. He thrust the knife in (to) the trunk. The Direct Obj. is obligatorily followed by an Adv.P (Place/Direction).The strings may be passivized, in which case the Place adv is retained: e.g. The volume was placed on the upper shelf. (by them) No complementation is possible.