1

Descriptive grammar year 2

Lecture 15: The tough-

construction. The NP

Descriptive grammar 15, year 2

2

Tough-type adjectives

• An alternation pattern:

• (1)

The computer is

tough

(for us) to put

____ in this box

.

– (1): the Tough Construction (TC)

• (2)

It is

tough

(for us) to put the computer

in this box

.

– A paraphrase of the TC in (1)

Descriptive grammar 15, year 2

3

The Tough Construction

• In (2) the NP

the computer

in the

embedded object

position is thematically

related to the

main clause subject

position (or the matrix subject position =
in (1).

– Embedded

= within the subordinate clause.

– The matrix clause

= the clause higher in the

tree diagram.

Descriptive grammar 15, year 2

4

The Tough Construction

• In (2)

the computer

= the

object

of the V put,

• In (1)

the computer

= the logical object of put but

overtly –

the matrix subject

of the whole

expression,

• the overt object position in the subordinate

clause in (1) is empty.

• (3)

The computer

is tough (for us) to put

the

computer

in this box

. [deep structure]

[deletion of the embedded object: is

Ø

co-referential with the matrix subject]

Descriptive grammar 15, year 2

5

The Tough Construction

• (4)

*John is impossible to go. (*It is

impossible to go John).

– Go

is intransitive

• (5)

John is impossible to leave. (It is

impossible to leave John)

.

– Leave

is transitive

Descriptive grammar 15, year 2

6

The Tough Construction

• Paraphrase (2) (It is tough (for us) to put

the computer in this box) is derived from:

• (6)

(For us) to put the computer in this box

is tough

.

– Polish:

Umieszczenie komputera w tym

pudełku jest trudne

. – with a deverbal N.

• Some tough-type adjectives:

tough,

difficult, hard, easy, impossible

2

Descriptive grammar 15, year 2

7

The NP: properties

• NP function:

subject (

The dog barked

), object (

I

want a dog

) or subject complement (

Sam is a

dog

).

• NP structure:

N (head), alone or with one or

more dependents.

• Non-prototypical heads: dummy subjects, e.g.

existential

there

,

– as subject: (7)

There are several options open to us

.

– as object in the related raised object construction: (8)

I believe there to be several options open to us

Descriptive grammar 15, year 2

8

The NP: properties

• A special type of NPs: with no determiner,

(

president, deputy leader of the party

, etc.)

– function as a complement of verbs like

be, become,

appoint, elect

.

– if used as subjects or objects, a determiner is

required.

• (9a)

I’d like to be president

. [subject compl.]

• (9b)

I’d like to meet *president / the president

[object]

Descriptive grammar 15, year 2

9

The N: properties

• Inflection:

inflected for number (singular

vs. plural) and for case (common vs.
genitive).

• Dependents:

certain determiners (

a dog,

every day

), pre-head AdjPs (

a good dog

)

and relative clauses (

dogs which are

barking

).

Descriptive grammar 15, year 2

10

Elements of meaning

• Denotation:

the explicit, literal meaning of

a word.

– cf. connotation – meanings associated with a

word or suggested by it.

• Reference:

the relationship between the

word and the actual entity in the real world

Descriptive grammar 15, year 2

11

Elements of meaning

• Ns similar in meaning because their

reference is the same but their denotation
is different:

• (10a)

Kate lives in the largest city on the

Vistula

• (10b)

Kate lives in the Polish capital

• (10c)

Kate lives in Warsaw

Descriptive grammar 15, year 2

12

Classes of Ns

• (11a)

The dog is barking

. [common]

• (11b)

Tom was at home

.

[proper]

• (11c)

He was at home

.

[pronoun]

• Proper Ns:

have only reference (places or

people).

– (12)

She’s not a Napoleon!

– PN with characteristics

of a common N.

– Usu. subject complements and rarely subjects.

• Common Ns:

have both reference and

denotation.

3

Descriptive grammar 15, year 2

13

Count Ns vs. non-count Ns

• (13)

one plate, two plates; *one crockery, *two

crockery

.

– Count Ns combine with the cardinal numerals.

• Ns used with either count or non-count

interpretation:

• (14a)

Would you like [another chocolate]?

[count]

• (14b)

Would you like [some more chocolate]?

[non-count]

– Polysemy:

two words are semantically related, i.e.

different senses (literal meanings) of a single lexical
item (lexeme).

Descriptive grammar 15, year 2

14

Abstract concepts vs. instances of

the abstract concept

• (15a)

We must react within reason

. –

There are

two reasons to do it

.

• (15b)

We’re involved in the study of English

. –

Two important studies have been published
recently

.

• (15c)

There are sins of commission and sins of

omission

. –

They found two major omissions in

the report

.

• (15d)

She spoke with conviction / assurance

. –

I

don’t share your convictions and I don’t trust
your assurances

Descriptive grammar 15, year 2

15

Count Ns treated as substances

• (16a)

Many people don’t like herring

.

• (16b)

We had chicken for lunch

.

• (16c)

The answers must be written in

pencil

.

– Names of foods (16a-b): fish, poultry (

chicken,

turkey

, etc.) and

lamb

.

– (16c): the trace of the substance.

Descriptive grammar 15, year 2

16

Count Ns vs. non-count Ns

• Non-count Ns cannot be modified by the

indefinite article or be made plural.

– Exception: the idiom

in all weathers

, (BUT *in three

weathers).

• Minority of Ns:

– Some count Ns have no non-count interpretation

(

piece

).

– Some non-count Ns have no count interpretation

(

crockery

).

• Ns like crockery –

aggregate

Ns (denote a

heterogeneous aggregate of parts ).

Descriptive grammar 15, year 2

17

The structure of NPs

• Two immediate constituents of NP:

DET

(determiner) and

N’

(or nominal / NOM).

• (17a) [NP

the

[N’

old man

]],

• (17b) [NP

those

[N’

Ministry of Defense

officials

]]

Descriptive grammar 15, year 2

18

4

Descriptive grammar 15, year 2

19

The structure of NPs

• DET:

just one constituent, or empty.

– always has N’ as its sister

• N’:

a level of NP structure intermediate between

the phrasal (NP) level and the lexical (N) level.

• N’ – the (intermediate) head of NP.

• N is the head of N’, so N – the ultimate head of

NP.

• All modifiers of the head N belong to the N’ node

Descriptive grammar 15, year 2

20

Determiners (DET)

• Articles:

definite (the), indefinite (a/an).

• Any expression that occupies the same

position in NP structure as an article
counts as a determiner.

• Testing whether a word is a determiner:

– If a word can co-occur with an article, it

occupies a different position and so it cannot
be the determiner – the DET position is
already taken by the article.

Descriptive grammar 15, year 2

21

Determiners (DET)

• Other words which perform the same

function as the articles and which cannot
appear in sequence with them within a NP:

• DEMONSTRATIVES (DEM):

this, that,

these, those

• QUANTIFIERS (Q):

some, any, no each,

every, either, neither

• POSSESSIVES (POSS):

my, your, its,

her, his, our, their, John’s

Descriptive grammar 15, year 2

22

Empty DET position

• (18)

[Smoke] got in my

eyes

.

• N

DET + N’

• DET

e (=empty)

• The empty DET could be

refilled, e.g. by the.

• Indefinite and more

general interpretation of
the NP.

• Plural count Ns and non-

count Ns.

Descriptive grammar 15, year 2

23

Non-branching NPs

• NP

proper noun

– cannot have an empty DET because

are inherently definite, and so do not
accept determiners.

• NP

pronoun

– are inherently definite (e.g.

we, she,

they, them

) or indefinite (e.g.

some,

any, several

).

– Pronouns replace NPs as a whole,

including DET, so do not accept a
further determiner (e.g.

*the they,

*some he

).

Descriptive grammar 15, year 2

24

The possessive DET

• Poss. Det – either a poss.

pron (

my, your

, etc.) or a

full NP: the possessive
(genitive) –s:

• (19)

The book’s cover

– not a sequence of two DETs

(article + poss.) – the article
is inside the poss. DET that
consists of a NP (the book) +
genitive –s.