Sentence types and semantic roles of clause elements

Semantic role of the SUBJECT

Agentive - Mary is cooking a delicious meal for us. Affected - The book was published in 2010. Instrumental - The key opened the door. Experiencer - The children felt happy. Temporal/Locative - Tomorrow is my birthday. Paris is my birthplace. External causer -The tornado destroyed the village. Theme - Mary is happy.

Syntactic types of sentences

1. Indicative - S-V word order 2. Interrogative - V-S inversion 3. Imperative - no overt grammatical subject, basic form of the verb 4. Exclamative - initial phrase introduced by what or how

Communicative sentence types

1. Statements - convey information 2. Questions - seek information 3. Directives - instruct 4. Exclamations- express the extent to which the speaker is impressed by something

Semantic role of the OBJECT

DIRECT Affected - Mary wrote a letter. Resultant - Flemming discovered penicillin. INDIRECT Affected - John killed Mary. Recipient/Beneficiary - John bought Mary some flowers. A direct object answers the question of who(m) or what. In the sentence above, you could determine that 'baseball' is a direct object by asking the question: What did Alice catch? She caught the baseball. Baseball is the direct object. An indirect object answers the question of to whom, for whom, or for what. For example: Max pitched Alice the baseball.

Exclamations - exclamative structures

Declaratives - John is not dead! That's not true! You're lying! Imperatives - Imagine he knows her! Interrogatives - Haven't I told you! Wish clauses - Oh, to see them again! (I wish I could!) Wh-structures - What a man! Isn't it-structures - Isn't it wonderful! Formulae - Cheers! Congratulations! Damn you! Shame! Oh Lord! Exclamatory noun phrases - The clothes she wears! (A) Good idea! Subordinate clauses - If only he hadn't gone there! Subjunctive structures - God save the Queen! Heaven forbids! May the best man win!

Secondary communicative intention of questions- indirect speech acts

Exclamatory questions (exclamatory assertions) Isn't it a wonderful scenery! Rhetorical questions (strong assertions) Aren't they our friends?

Sematic role of the COMPLEMENT

Identification Mr Brown is a social worker. (current attribute) Mary became a doctor. (resultant attribute) Characterization John is a good student.

Primary communicative intention of directives - direct speech act

Impositive directives - commands, orders... "Get into the car." Non-impositive directives - advice, wish, instruction... "Serve with ice." Conditional imperatives - communicative intention - threat "Tell the police about us and your son is dead."

Which SYNTACTIC TYPES correspond to which COMMUNICATIVE SENTENCE TYPES?

Indicative - Staments Interrogative - Questions Imperative - Directives Exclamative - Exclamations

Secondary communicative intention of statements- indirect speech acts

Indirect command It is freezing here. (= Shut the window.) Indirect question You're not ready yet. (= Why aren't you ready?) Express a wish I've never seen the Coliseum. (= I wish I could see it.)

Primary communicative intention of statements - direct speech acts

Pure declaratives - the primary intention is to inform (John is a doctor) Performative declaratives - the intention is to inform and perform (I christen this child John.)

Semantic role of the ADVERBIAL

Space - They travelled a long way. Time - You never examine patients while standing on the left side of the bed. Process - They opened the parcel very carefully. Contingency - Though he studied hard, he didn't manage to pass the exam. Modality - She is certain to come to the party. Degree - They like playing football more than we do.

Identify the semantic roles of the clause elements :

The boy feels sad because he has lost his ball. S(experiencer)VC(A) Brno is in the South of Moravia S(locative)VA Give me something to eat. VO(indirect)O(direct) If the weather is bad, we will go to the cinema. SVA To be or not to be: that is the question. SVC(identification) The ball broke the window. S(instrument)VO(affected) Roger is writing a book about his trip to Amazonia. S(agentive)VO After waiting for an hour, Roger grew imatient A(time)S(experiencer)VC(character) The table is in the kitchen S(theme)VA

Semantic representation of utterances (proposition)

Typical examples of propositions expressing action actor - action - instrument Robert is playing the piano. actor - action - goal Robert is drawing a picture. actor - action - affected - manner Robert is making this film rather unwillingly.

Secondary communicative intention of directives - indirect speech act

Whimperatives - softened commands "Would you pass me the salt, please?"

Primary communicative intention of questions - direct speech acts

Yes-no questions - request affirmation or negation Wh-questions - request for specific information What did you base you conclusions on? Alternative questions - request a choice of one of the alternatives Will you be at home or at work? Echo questions - request for verification or explanation What did you say?