Syntactic Ties

Within a simple sentence we distinguish primary and secondary (independent/ dependent) elements, the structural nucleus and its adjuncts.

General Properties of a Simple (Two-Member Expanded) Sentence

There exist several syntactic ties within a sentence. The primary predicative tie makes a sentence as it realizes itself in the changes of the verb for person, number, tense, voice, mood, aspect, time relation. The secondary predicative tie can be revealed transformationally, it does not make a sentence, it is concealed in infinitival, gerundial, participial constructions, predicative constructions with nouns, adjectives, statives { I saw him running (a complex object expressed by an objective participial construction); I find him a genius => I find that he is a genius (a secondary subject and a secondary predicate); I found the houseaflame => I found that the house was aflame (a predicative construction with a stative); The dishes done, children to bed, herbook read, she watches news on TV (a complex adverbial modifier of attendant circumstances).

Within a simple sentence we also distinguish the subordinating tie which is an expression of dependence of an adjunct on the head{ I was proud of him (proud is the head and him is an adjunct). The c oordinating tie establishes syntactically homogeneous elements (The sky was pale and soft. He was rude and nasty). The appositive tie can be illustrated by “ King Alfred was a remarkable figure (King is an apposition). The attributive tie, existing between a modifier and a modified word, can be transformed into a predicative tie (a beautiful girl). The completive tie exists between an indispensable object and a verb(He broke his promise), the object completing the meaning of the verb. The attributive completive tie exists between a verb and an adverbial modifier of manner which is indispensable(He treated me kindly. He broke the thing gently). The introductive tie (very loose) can be illustrated by the example Frankly speaking, I don’t know anything about it.

These are immediate explicit syntactic ties. Along with them there exist implicit semantic ties which can be revealed transformationally and interpreted componentially in terms of semantic agreement/disagreement of subclasses of words (Abstract/concrete, inanimate/animate, human/non-human, young/old, male/female): The flowers stood white and desolate (the adjectives white and desolate are connected with the noun flowers as they semantically agree. The sentence can be transformed into 3 kernels: Flowers stood. Flowers were white. Flowers were desolate.

Predicative Constructions

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