Descriptive Grammar

Lecture 5
SWSPiZ, 1/02/09

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Pro-forms and ellipsis

Syntactic devices for abbreviating constructions to
avoid redundancy, repetition.

She might sing tonight, but I don’t think she will sing tonight.

She might sing tonight, but I don’t think she will do so
She might sing tonight, but I don’t think she will __ .

In order to interpret the sentences correctly, the
constructions with pro-forms and ellipsis should be
recoverable.

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Recoverability

1.

Textual – recovering the full form from the linguistic
context of the sentence, e.g.:

The poor girl

didn’t complain, although

she

was badly hurt.

antecedent

anaphoric use

Although

she

was badly hurt,

the poor girl

didn’t complain.

cataphoric use

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Recoverability

2. Situational – recovering the full form from the

extralinguistic context, e.g.

(at the scene of an accident in which

a girl

was hit by a car)

Is

she

badly hurt?

3. Structural – recovering the full form from the

knowledge of grammatical structure, e.g.

He admits

(that)

he prefers his mother’s cooking.

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Types of pro-forms

1.

Pro-forms for noun phrases and their constituents:

3rd person pronouns and determiners, e.g.

The poor girl

didn’t complain, although

she

was badly hurt.

The Browns

wasted all

their

money.

Indefinite pronouns – any, all, both, each, either, neither, some, none,
e.g.

When

the children

entered,

each

was given a small present.

Some equipment

has been damaged, but

none

has been lost.

Demonstratives, e.g. I read

his first novel

, and

that

was boring too.

The same, e.g. Can I have

a cup of tea

, please?

Give me

the same

, please.

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Pro-forms

One as a pro-form – substitutes for phrases with count nouns as
heads, e.g.
-

one

(plural: some) – substitutes for an indefinite noun phrase,

e.g. Can you give me

a few nails

? I need

one

.

I’ll give you

some

.

-

one

(plural: ones) – substitutes for a noun phrase head (not the

whole noun phrase), e.g.

Have you

any knives

? I need a sharp

one

.

I’d like to buy a

few jars of honey

. Did you notice the

ones

over there?

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Pro-forms

2. Pro-forms for clauses and clause constituents: do, e.g.

Martin

drives a car

, and his sister

does

, too.

They

planned to reach the top of the mountain

, but nobody knows

if they

did (so).

Does he still trying

to start the car

? He should have

done it

by

now.

3. Pro-form for adverbials: here, there, then, e.g.

If you look

in the top drawer

, you,ll find it

there

.

4. Pro-form for complement: so, e.g.

If he’s

a criminal

, it’s his parents who made him

so

.

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Ellipsis

Ellipsis = grammatical omission.
If he works hard, I won’t have to __.

Initial ellipsis, e.g. __ Hope to see you soon.

Medial ellipsis, e.g. Jill owns a Volvo and Fred __ a BMW.

Final ellipsis, e.g. I know that we haven’t negotiated the contract
yet, but we will __.

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Types of ellipsis

1. Situational, e.g.

Get it?

Looks like rain.

Want a drink?

See you later.

Anybody in?

Told you so. 9

2. Structural, e.g.

I believe __ you are wrong.

3. Textual, e.g.

I’m happy if you are __. (anaphoric)
Those who prefer, can __stay outdoors. (cataphoric)

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Coordination

In coordination, the linked units are on the same syntactic level, e.g.

They are my neighbours

, but

I don’t know them very well

.

In subordination, one of the linked units is a constituent of a

superordinate unit, e.g.

I don’t know

where they’re staying.

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He tried hard,

but

he failed. (coordinator)

He tried hard,

yet

he failed. (conjunct)

Although

he tried hard, he failed. (subordinator)

coordinators, conjuncts, subordinators = LINKERS

and, or, but – typical coordinators =
coordinating conjunctions

not only, … but also, either…or, neither…nor =

correlating conjunctions

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Syntactic features of coordinators

Coordinators are restricted to clause initial position, e.g.
*John plays the guitar; his sister

and

plays the piano.

This is not true of most conjuncts, e.g.

John plays the guitar; his sister,

moreover

, plays the piano.

Coordinators are sequentially fixed, e.g.
They are living in England,

or

they are spending a vacation there.

*

Or

they are spending a vacation there, they are living in England.

Coordinators can link clause constituents, for example,
predicates, e.g.
I may see you tomorrow

or

may phone late in the day.

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Syntactic features of coordinators

Coordinators can link subordinated clauses, e.g.
I wonder whether you should go to see her

or

whether it is better

to write to her.

Coordinators can link more than one clause (MULTIPLE
COORDINATION), e.g.
The battery may be disconnected,

(or)

the connections may be

loose,

or

the bulb may be faulty.

Coordinators can link elements that are parts of clauses, e.g.
The weather is cold

and

cloudy.

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And

Indicates that there is some relation between the contents of the
linked clauses, e.g.

I washed the dishes

and

I dried them.

He heard an explosion

and

phone the police.

Peter is secretive

and

David is open.

She tried hard

and

she failed.

Give me some money

and

I’ll do the shopping.

He has long hair

and

he often wears jeans.

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Or

Exclusive – expressing the idea that only one of the possibilities can
be realized, e.g.
You can sleep on the couch

or

you can make some sandwiches.

Inclusive – allowing the realization of a combination of the
alternatives, e.g.
You can boil an egg, (

or)

you can make some sandwiches,

or

you

can do both.

May be a restatement or a correction, e.g.
They are enjoying themselves,

or

they appear to be enjoying

themselves.

May imply a negative condition, e.g.
Switch on the radio

or

we’ll miss the news.

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But

Expresses a contrast, e.g.
John is poor,

but

he’s happy.

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Correlating conjunctions (correlatives)

Either…or emphasises the exclusive meaning, e.g.

Either

the room is to small

or

the piano is too large.

Both…and emphasises the additive meaning, e.g.
David

both

loves Joan

and

wants to marry her.

Neither…nor emphasises that the nagation applies to both units,
e.g.
David

neither

loves Joan,

nor

wants to marry her.

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Simple coordination

1.

Coordination of clauses, e.g.

The winter had come at last,

and

snow lay thick on the ground.

If you pass the examination

and

(if) no one else applies, you’ll get the job.

I don’t know who she was

or

what she wanted.

I’ve asked him to come this evening

or

(to) phone us tomorrow.

Samantha is fond of working at night

and

getting up late in the morning.

2. Coordination of predicates, e.g.

Peter ate the fruit

and

drank the juice.

Margaret is ill,

but

will soon recover.

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Simple coordination

3. Noun-phrase coordination, e.g.

Some of the teachers

and

all of the students have voted for the

changes.
John

and

Mary know the answer.

John

and

Mary make a nice couple.

4. Coordinated modifiers, e.g.

old

and

new furniture

workers from France

and

Italy

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Simple coordination

5. Coordination of other constituents, e.g.

Many people might have been killed

or

injured by the explosion.

The country can

and

must recover from the crisis.

The journey was long

and

monotonous.

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Complex coordination

We gave William a book

and

Mary a doll.

Jack painted the kitchen white

and

the bathroom blue.

You should serve the coffee in a mug

and

the lemonade in the

glass.

Gregory Peck always was

and

always will be her favourite film star.

Richard admires,

but

Sally hates, Quentin Tarantino.

Gapping:
One girl has written a poem,

and

the other __ a short story.

John looked healthy,

and

Monica __ relaxed yesterday.