Prepositions and preposition phrases (based on Chapter 7 of Huddleston and Pullum 2005)

Transcription

1 Challenging Grammar Spring 2015 Handout #4 Institute of English and American Studies University of Debrecen Instructor: Éva Kardos 1. The traditional class of prepositions Common properties: Prepositions and preposition phrases (based on Chapter 7 of Huddleston and Pullum 2005) (i) Words are traditionally analysed as prepositions only if they have complements with the form of NPs. Illustrative examples are given in (1). (1) a. The sun sank below the horizon. b. I haven t seen her since Easter. c. He jumped out the window. (AmE) (ii) Prepositions do not inflect. There are no forms like *atter or *ats. (iii) Most traditional prepositions have meanings to do with relations in space or time: at the post office identifies a spatial location, into the garden fixes a direction of travel, after lunch locates a time period as following lunchtime, etc. (iv) Prepositions head phrases that generally occur in a range of functions. (2) a. house at the beach (dependent of noun) b. He saw her at school. (dependent of verb) c. He is at lunch. (complement of be) 2. Extending the membership of the class The case of before: Traditional grammar treats before as a preposition in (3a), a subordinating conjunction in (3b), and an adverb in (3c). (3) a. We left before the last act. b. That was before he died. c. I had seen her once before. We propose here that before be given a uniform analysis in a way that it is treated as a preposition. Q: Can you think of arguments for this view? 1

2 Prepositions vs. subordinators The traditional class of subordinating conjunctions contains the words in (4). (4) i. after before since till until ii. a. although because if (conditional) lest provided though unless b. if (interrogative) that whether The words in (i) are traditionally taken to be prepositions, whereas those in (ii) are not. Here we argue that the words in (iia) are also prepositions. The major argument for this is that that, whether, and if (interrogative) function as markers of subordination, whereas the other words in (4) function as heads of the constituents they introduce. This contrast is illustrated in (5). (5) a. I think that she s probably right. b. She stayed behind for a few minutes after the others had left. Prepositions vs. adverbs It has often been suggested that the traditional adverb category has something of the character of a classificatory wastebasket for words that don t belong in any of the other more clearly defined categories. For example, aboard and outside, as in (6), are often categorized as adverbs as they don t require NP complements. (6) a. She went aboard (the liner). b. He sat outside (her bedroom). These and other similar words typically occur in the three functions given in (7). (7) a. the conditions aboard (dependent of noun) b. She went aboard. (dependent of verb) c. She is still aboard. (complement of be) The first and third of these functions are characteristic of prepositions, but not adverbs. (i) Adverbs do not normally occur as dependents of nouns. (8) *A manager tactfully is needed. (ii) Adverbs cannot normally function as complement to be (in its ascriptive sense). (9) *Lucy was enthusiastically today. The classification of words like aboard as adverbs is thus inconsistent with the traditional definition of that category. The best way to remove this inconsistency is to amend the definition of prepositions so that they are no longer required to have an NP complement. 2

3 Q: What do we gain from this revision? 3. Further category contrasts Prepositions vs. adjectives (i) Prototypical members of the preposition class license NP complements. Adjectives do not. (ii) Prototypical adjectives inflect for grade. More generally, they are gradable. Prepositions are normally non-gradable. (iii) In their predicative use adjectives are related to a predicand. All prepositions, on the other hand, can head adjuncts that are unassociated with any predicand. Consider (10) and (11). (10) a. Anxious to make amends, the dean threw a party for the students. b. *Anxious to make amends, there was a party for the students. (11) a. After the end of the semester, the dean threw a party for the students. b. After the end of the semester, there was a party for the students. (iv) Adjectives can normally head complements to become, whereas prepositions without modifiers cannot. (12) a. We became grateful to you. b. *We became in your debt. Prepositions vs. verbs There are a number of prepositions which have the same shape as the gerund-participle or past participle forms of verbs. Compare (13a) and (13b). (13) a. Following the meeting, there will be a reception. b. Following the manual, we tried to figure out how to assemble the unit. Predicative adjectives have to be related to a predicand, and verbs in predicator function have to be related to a subject, either overt or understood. Q: Can you comment on (13) in light the above sentence? 4. Grammaticised uses of prepositions An important property that applies to about a dozen of the most frequent prepositions is that they have what we call grammaticised uses, as shown in (14). (14) a. The article was written by a first-year student. b. The sudden death of the president stunned the nation. c. I transferred several hundred dollars to them. 3

4 d. Their request for assistance was ignored. e. They all seem quite keen on the idea. The role of the prepositions in boldface is not to express spatial relations, but just to mark certain grammatical functions. Q: What functions are these? 5. Preposition stranding In certain non-canonical clause constructions the complement of a preposition may be fronted so that it precedes the preposition. This is shown in (15). (15) Who did you vote for? The preposition is here said to be stranded, i.e. located before a site from which its understood complement is missing. Q: Some manuals still state that examples like (15) are incorrect or at least inelegant. What is your take on that? An alternative to the stranding construction is given in (16), which illustrates the fronting construction. (16) For whom did you vote? Now the question is what factors determine the choice between stranding and fronting. (i) Style The fronted construction is more formal that the stranded one. (ii) Syntactic factors that disfavor or exclude the stranded version Some syntactic circumstances can make preposition stranding almost or completely impossible. (17) a. *I have a lecture ending at two which I ll be free all day after. b. *What way am I annoying you in? Q: Why do you think the examples in (17) are out? (iii) Syntactic factors that disfavor or exclude the non-stranded version Some syntactic circumstances make the non-stranded version almost or completely impossible. (18) a. *That depends on to whom I give it. 4

5 b. *For what did you hit me? Q: Can you explain what s wrong with these examples? 6. The structure of PPs Prepositions function as heads of phrases, and as such can take various dependents, both complements and modifiers. Complements Prepositions take a range of complement types: (19) a. I was talking to a friend. (object NP) b. I regard her as a friend. (predicative) c. I stayed until after lunch. (PP) d. It won t last for long. (AdvP) e. I left because I was tired. (clause) There are also prepositions that take no complement: (20) a. She went aboard. b. The spare chairs are downstairs. There is also a preposition, ago, which is exceptional in that it invariably follows its complement. (21) I met him two weeks ago. The order here reflects the historical origin of ago: it derives from the form agone. Originally two weeks ago meant something like 'two weeks gone'. Modifiers The main types of modification in PPs are given in (22). (22) a. We had to leave a few minutes before the end. b. It landed way behind us. c. We went straight home. d. It all seemed completely out of this world. Q: Can you identify the modifiers in (22)? 5

6 7. PP complements in clause structure Goal, source and location PPs are the most usual form for complements indicating goal, source and location. (23) a. Peter walked from the bank to the station. b. She shook the books off the table. Goals and sources qualify as complements as they are licensed by the verb. The complements of prepositional verbs Many prepositions have grammaticised uses, and prominent among them are those where a particular preposition is specified by the head of the larger construction, by a verb, noun, or adjective. Examples are given in (24). (24) a. We came across some errors. b. I served as secretary. c. I regard this as unfair. Some verb + preposition combinations are fossilized, in the sense that they don t permit any variation in their relative positions. (25) *the letter across which I came Particles Particles are the only complements which can freely come between the verb and its direct object. Compare (26) and (27), where down is a particle, but downstairs is not. (26) a. She took the suitcase down. b. She took down the suitcase. (27) a. She took the suitcase downstairs. b. *She took downstairs the suitcase. One general constraint on the order 'particle + object' is that it is inadmissible if the object has the form of an unstressed personal pronoun. (28) a. She took it off. b. *She took off it. Homework: Exercises 1, 2, 4 on pages of Huddleston and Pullum (2005) 6