CiNii Books - English grammar : a function-based introduction

The 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 college level, 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 sub systems 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.

1. Foreword
2. 1. Introduction
3. 2. Vocabulary: Words and morphemes
4. 3. Simple verbal clauses
5. 4. Verbal inflections: Tense, aspect, modality and negation
6. 5. Reference and definiteness
7. 6. Noun phrases
8. Bibliography
9. Index

The 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 college level, 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 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.

1. 7. Verbal complements
2. 8. Voice and de-transitivization
3. 9. Relative clauses
4. 10. Contrastive focus constructions
5. 11. Topicalizing constructions
6. 12. Non-declarative speech acts
7. 13. Inter-clausal connections and discourse coherence
8. Bibliography
9. Index

The 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 college level, 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 sub systems 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.

1. Foreword
2. 1. Introduction
3. 2. Vocabulary: Words and morphemes
4. 3. Simple verbal clauses
5. 4. Verbal inflections: Tense, aspect, modality and negation
6. 5. Reference and definiteness
7. 6. Noun phrases
8. Bibliography
9. Index

The 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 college level, 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 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.

1. 7. Verbal complements
2. 8. Voice and de-transitivization
3. 9. Relative clauses
4. 10. Contrastive focus constructions
5. 11. Topicalizing constructions
6. 12. Non-declarative speech acts
7. 13. Inter-clausal connections and discourse coherence
8. Bibliography
9. Index

The 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 college level, 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 sub systems 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.

1. Foreword
2. 1. Introduction
3. 2. Vocabulary: Words and morphemes
4. 3. Simple verbal clauses
5. 4. Verbal inflections: Tense, aspect, modality and negation
6. 5. Reference and definiteness
7. 6. Noun phrases
8. Bibliography
9. Index

The 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 college level, 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 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.

1. 7. Verbal complements
2. 8. Voice and de-transitivization
3. 9. Relative clauses
4. 10. Contrastive focus constructions
5. 11. Topicalizing constructions
6. 12. Non-declarative speech acts
7. 13. Inter-clausal connections and discourse coherence
8. Bibliography
9. Index

The 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 college level, 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 sub systems 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.

1. Foreword
2. 1. Introduction
3. 2. Vocabulary: Words and morphemes
4. 3. Simple verbal clauses
5. 4. Verbal inflections: Tense, aspect, modality and negation
6. 5. Reference and definiteness
7. 6. Noun phrases
8. Bibliography
9. Index

The 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 college level, 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 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.

1. 7. Verbal complements
2. 8. Voice and de-transitivization
3. 9. Relative clauses
4. 10. Contrastive focus constructions
5. 11. Topicalizing constructions
6. 12. Non-declarative speech acts
7. 13. Inter-clausal connections and discourse coherence
8. Bibliography
9. Index

The 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. Givon is a leading exponent of the functional approach to grammar. He teaches linguistics and cognitive science at the University of Oregon.

Part 1 Introduction: grammar and communication
whose grammar?
grammar for communication
theme and variation in syntactic description
parsing - tree diagrams
deep structure, surface structure and meaning. Part 2 Vocabulary - words and morphemes: preliminaries
lexical vs. grammatical vocabulary
the morphemic status of English vocabulary
lexical word-classes
minor word classes. Part 3 Simple verbal clauses: preliminaries
parsing and tree diagrams - recapitulation
classification of verbs and simple clauses
multiple membership in verb classes
verbs that incorporate prepositions
summary of the structure of simple clauses. Part 4 Verbal inflections - tense, aspect, modality and negation: tense
aspect
modality
communicative and cognitive aspects of tense-aspect-modality
the syntax of tense-aspect-modality
negation. Part 5 Reference and definiteness: reference
definiteness
generic subjects, definiteness and reference
definiteness, reference and text processing - a cognitive overview. Part 6 Noun phrases: nouns and modifiers
ordering of elements within the noun phrase
restrictive vs. non-restrictive modifiers
modifiers used as anaphoric pronouns
scattered noun phrases
complex noun phrases. Part 7 Verbal complements: the semantics of event integration
the syntax of clause integration
modality verbs
for-to complements
"if" complements
WH-complements
post-posed P-C-U verbs
non-verbal predicates with verbal complements. Part 8 Voice and de-transitivization: functional dimensions of voice
the frequency-distribution of voice in text
the syntax of de-transitive clauses
other de-transitive constructions
the antipassive voice
reciprocal constructions
reflective clauses. Part 9 Relative clauses: functional aspects of relativization
the syntax or relativization
the syntax of non-restrictive REL-clauses
headless relative clauses
subject REL-clauses with the main verb "be"
extraposed relative clauses
relativization and syntactic complexity
non-finite relative clauses. Part 10 Contrastive focus constructions: functional aspects of contrastive focus
contrastive grammatical devices
the discourse-pragmatics of contrast
focus attraction, assertion scope and contrastive focus
other focus-attracting grammatical devices
strong contrastive focus and relativization
restrictions on clefting
some cognitive considerations. Part 11 Topicalizing constructions: functional aspects of topicality
the variety of topicalizing constructions.

English grammar : a function-based introduction

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