English Grammar Unit 1

What type of concept is ”state of affairs” (=the speaker’s conceptualisation of reality)? Could you reason your answer?

• Situational

• Extralinguistic

• Strictictly linguistic

• Semantic

Answer explanation

Any happening or state in real life or in an imaginary world of the mind

can be expressed through language as a SITUTATION or STATE OF

AFFAIRS. A state of afairs represents the speaker’s conceptualization of

any happening or state in real life or in an imaginary world of the mind

(semantic meaning). The components of this conceptualization are the

semantic roles or functions.

(In other words, the speaker encodes his idea of “what’s going on”

(semantic meaning) through language (=linguistic) as a SITUATION or

STATE OF AFFAIRS.)

(+ Info > Module 1> page 4)

Which of the following is NOT a semantic role (=a component

of a state of afairs)? Do you know why?

• attribute

• circumstance

• participant

• explanation

Answer explanation

The elements of the semantic structure are the following:

PROCESSES, PARTICIPANTS (AGENT, RECIPIENT and AFFECTED),

ATTRIBUTES and CIRCUMSTANCES. Obviously, “explanation” is not in

this list.

(+ Info > Module 1> page 4)

Which of the following statements about meanings

(=interpretations of clause structure) is NOT true?

• Representational meaning has to do with the content of the

  message.

• The representational meaning of the clause is encoded through

  the transitivity structures.

• The roles adopted as speakers to exchange information, get

  things done, etc. are those of “questioner” and “informant”.

• The rheme is the point of departure for the message,

  which in English coincides with the initial element(s) of

  the clause.

Answer explanation

The textual meaning is the meaning derived from the consideration

of the clause as an organized message or text. The speaker organizes

the informational content of the clause so as to establish whatever

point of departure is desired for the message. The THEME (not the

Rheme) coincides with the initial element or elements of the clause.

The rest of the clause is the RHEME.

(+ Info > Module 1> page 6)

Which of the following statements about meanings

(=interpretations of clause structure) is NOT true?

• Representational meaning derives from the consideration of

  the clause as the linguistic representation of our experience of

  the world.

• Interpersonal meaning derives from the consideration of the

  clause as a communicative exchange between persons.

• Textual meaning derives from the consideration of the clause

  as an organized message or text.

• Semantic meaning derives from the consideration of the

  clause as a structure net of lexical items and function

  words.

Answer explanation

The representational meaning of the clauses (= semantic

meaning) is encoded through the transitivity structures, whose

elements of structure or functions include the Participants (Agent,

Recipient and/or Afected), the Processes, the Attributes and the

Circumstances.

(+ Info > Module 1> page 5)

Why are there three types of clause structure?

• To show the tripartite nature and analysis of clauses

  from a functional perspective.

• Each type of clause structure corresponds to a diferent mood,

  i.e., declarative, interrogative and negative.

• Each type of clause structure corresponds to the following

  distinction: simple, complex (subordination) and compound

  (coordination).

• To refect the diferent conceptualizations of reality by the

  speakers.

Answer explanation

There are 3 strands of meaning that form the basis of a FUNCTIONAL

INTERPRETATION OF GRAMMAR (the representational meaning, the

interpersonal meaning and the textual meaning). Each of them derives

from a diferent approach to the subject, and each type of meaning is encoded by its own structures. The three types of structure combine to

produce one single realization in words: the clause or simple sentence.

(+ Info > Module 1> pages 1-5)

Which of the following is a defnition of a non-fnite clause?

Which terms do the other three defnitions correspond to?

• A clause where the form of the verb chosen refects the

  speaker’s wish to express tense or modality.

• A clause which is complete in itself, i.e., it does not form part of

  a larger structure.

• A clause where the form of the verb chosen refects the

  speaker’s wish not to express tense or modality.

• A clause which is not integrated into the main clause and adds

  supplementary information

Answer explanation

A) A clause where the form of the verb chosen refects the

speaker’s wish to express tense or modality. > A FINITE

CLAUSE, page 12.

B) A clause which is complete in itself, i.e., it does not form part of

a larger structure. > AN INDEPENDENT CLAUSE, page 13.

C) A clause where the form of the verb chosen refects the

speaker’s wish not to express tense or modality. > A

NON-FINITE CLAUSE, page 12.

D) A clause which is not integrated into the main clause and adds

supplementary information. > A SUPPLEMENTIVE UNIT, page

14.

What does a verbless clause lack? Think of a couple of

examples.

• A verb and often a subject also.

• A verb.

• A subject.

• Supplementary information, like subject and verbal tense.

Answer explanation

Verbless clauses are a subsidiary type of clause. They lack a verb and

often a subject too. Thee omitted verb is typically a form of be and is

recoverable from the situational or linguistic context.

Examples: Let us do so, if possible, with our mobile phones

switched of. (=if it is possible)

So, you’re coming! Great! (=it is great)

(+ Info > Module 2> page 15)

Which of the following is NOT a syntactic element of a clause?

Do you understand why?

• Circumstantial adjunct

• Stance adjunct

• Connective adjunct

• Subjunctive adjunct

Answer explanation

When dealing with syntactic elements or functions, we have three types

of adjuncts (Circumstantial Adjuncts, Stance Adjuncts and Connective

Adjuncts), and the subjunctive adjunct is not one of them.

(+ Info > Module 2> page 17)

Identify which of the following is NOT a primary element or

function of a group.

• Agent

• Head

• Complement

• Qualifier

Answer explanation

Nominal groups, adjectival groups and adverbial groups are

composed of three primary elements: a head (h) preceded by a

pre-modifer (m) and followed by a post-modifer (m) This last

element is sometimes called a “qualifer”.

A complement (c) is a special type of post-head element.

Complements of nouns and adjectives are introduced by a preposition

(good at chess) or by a that-clause which is controlled by the head-word

of the group (the belief that he is right).

On the other hand, as we saw in Module 1 the “Agent” is one of the

“participants” of the “semantic structure”. It is the participant that

carries out the action described.

(+ Info about syntactic elements of groups> Module 2> page 18)

(+ Info about the clause as representation> Module 1> page 5)

Which of the following elements are obligatory in a

prepositional phrase?

• Head

• Head and complement

• Head, complement and modifer

• Head, complement, modifer and qualifer

Answer explanation

Prepositional Phrases (PP) have two obligatory elements: A

prepositional head (h) and a complement (c). They also can have an

optional modifer (m), which is typically realized by an adverb degree

(e.g. right, quite):

mch right | across | the road

quite | out of | practice

(See “qualifer” in the explanation for test number 9.)

(+ Info > Module 2> page 19)