English Grammar: A Function-based Introduction, Volume 1The approach to language and grammar that motivates this book is unabashedly functional: Grammar is not just a system of empty rules, it is a means to an end, an instrument for constructing concise coherent communication. In grammar as in music, good expression rides on good form. Figuratively and literally, grammar like musical form must make sense. But for the instrument to serve its purpose, it must first exist; the rules must be real, they can be explicitly described and taught. This book is intended for both students and teachers, at both the highschool and college levels, for both native and nonnative speakers. With the guidance of a teacher this book will serve as a thorough introduction to the grammar of English. Volume I begins with words and their meanings, then on to propositions and simple state or event clauses -- participant roles, verb types, transitivity, subjects and objects. It then covers the grammatical subsystems commonly found in simple clauses: Verbal inflections, auxiliaries and the grammar of tense-aspect modality and negation; articles, determiners, pronouns and the grammar of referential coherence; the variety of noun phrases and noun modifiers. Volume II continues with syntactic and communicative complexity: embedded clauses -- verb complements, relative clauses; detransitive voice -- passive, anti-passive, impersonal and middle voice, reflexive and reciprocal constructions; focus and topic constructions; nondeclarative speech acts. It closes with interclausal connectivity: conjoined and subordinate clauses, the grammar of discourse coherence, clause chains and thematic paragraphs. Prof. Givón is a leading exponent of the functional approach to grammar. He teaches linguistics and cognitive science at the University of Oregon. |
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adjectives adverbs agent anaphoric antonym aspect auxiliary bi-transitive bound morphemes chapter coherence communication complement clause complex clauses consider context contrast copular copular verb culturally-shared dative derivational morphemes direct discourse discussion English entities epistemic event examples function grammatical role habitual head noun illustrations indefinite indirect object interpretation intransitive involve irrealis John language less prototypical lexical words locative manipulative verbs manner adverbs marked markedness Mary meaning metaphoric modality verbs modifiers morphology NEG-assertion negative nominal predicate non-referring noun phrase optional participant past patient pattern PCU verbs perfect perspective phemes plural pragmatic presupposition progressive pronouns proposition prototype transitive verb quantifiers referential relative clauses scope semantic features semantic fields semantic roles sense simple clauses speaker speech stress SUBJ NP suffix syntactic structure tall temporal tend tense tense-aspect-modality tion transitive clause tree diagram typically unstressed verb phrase verbal verbs code vocabulary VP negation woman