Types of Syntax

SYNTAX

The Functions of Non-Finites

Debated Problems within The Verbals

1. The existing terms Present Participle and Past Participle are not satisfactory as the finites do not denote time absolutely. On the analogy with the German Partizip I and Partizip II the terms Participle I and Participle II were proposed. The term “half-gerund” is unscientific (I insist upon John doing it in time. I insist upon them doing it in time).

2. Sometimes a gerund and a participle I are hard to distinguish {(I saw mother reading a book(a participle). I remember mother reading a book (a gerund)}. It is reasonable to consider them as an ing-form, the difference between the gerund and the participle being neutralized. The difference between a gerund and a verbal noun can also be neutralized (People told me about your smoking).

The finites perform the function of a simple verbal predicate. The non-finites can perform different functions in the sentence (predicative, subject, object, attribute, adverbial modifier). They can occur isolatedly, in phrases { There are things to marvel at (an infinitive phrase functions as an attribute), in predicative constructions which function as complex subjects, predicatives, objects, attributes, adverbial modifiers (I made him do it. He was seen to be crossing the street.). Some functions of non-finites can be syncretical and ambiguous { I got places to go and things to do ( an attribute and an adverbial modifier of purpose).

So, all the forms of the verb are divided oppositionally into Finites and Non-finites, which differ structurally, semantically and functionally.

The domain of morphology is the paradigmatics of words; the domain of syntax is the syntagmatics of words, phrases and sentences, their arrangement, combinability and functioning.

Syntax studies how words are combined into phrases and simple sentences, how simple sentences are combined into compound and complex sentences and how supraphrasal units and texts are organized and generated.

There are several varieties of syntax, several syntactic theories in modern linguistics. Traditionalsentential syntax, the primary concern of which is a sentence and its grammatical organization. Hypersyntax goes beyond the border of the sentence into discourse (or text). It studies the structure, generation, cohesion of discourse (its structural, semantic and communicative completeness). Presuppositional syntax describes semantic implication which consists in a sentence presupposing another sentence (Bill is tall but he cannot play basketball. The implication is that all tall guys can play basketball). I rang him but he was out. The implication is that I came up to the phone, picked up the receiver, dialled the number…). Logico-semantic syntax studies the semantic structure of a sentence. The semantic structure of a sentence is described in terms of propositions, predicates, arguments, deep cases (See Semantic Syntax). Functional-communicative syntax is concerned with the functional sentence perspective (or communicative dynamism), the distribution of information among the elements of a sentence and means of distinguishing the given and the new. Paradigmatic syntax studies the paradigm of a sentence, constituted by all possible transformations of a sentence (He has a car -> She has a car. He had a car. They are having a car, etc.). Structural syntax (the 50-s and the 60-s of the XX th century) studied a bare structure of phrases and sentences, utterly disregarding their content, ambiguity, implicit relations and discourse complexity. It mostly operated with the IC method and the distributional method. Transformational generative syntax studies the relations between surface and deep structures. It operates with the transformational analysis and the method of surface and deep structures (The invitation of the writer surprises me => the writer invited somebody or somebody invited the writer).

Syntactic theories ignore individual and stylistic differences; they ignore variations of discourse, syntactical variations at any historical period. They ignore that the stilted style of scientific discourse differs greatly from complicated syntax of artistic discourse, written syntax differs from loosely organised oral syntax with greater redundancy, artistic authorial syntax (Hemingway’s parataxis; Joyce’s parcellation and headless clauses without connectives (God becomes man becomes fish becomes barnacle goose becomes featherbed mountain); Galsworthy’s one-member nominal and infinitival sentences, Lawrence’s detachment and double predicates).

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