SENTENCES AS ARGUMENTS

CHAPTER VII SENTENCES AS ARGUMENTS

In semantic analysis, every proposition contains one predicate and a varying number of referring expressions (noun phrases) called arguments. In this chapter, an argument can also be a predication, a real or potential fact, and such an argument is expressed as a clause — that is, a sentence that is embedded in another sentence. Predicates that have embedded sentences as

a theme include the following, those that express:

a) Knowledge or ignorance of a possible fact For examples: Ivan KNOWS (that) we are here.

I DOUBT if the game will start on time.

b) An attitude or orientation toward a fact or possible fact For examples: Jean is DISAPPOINTED (that) you can’t join us.(1) It SURPRISED everybody that Sanders appeared at the party. (2a)

Sanders’ appearance at the party SURPRISED everybody. (2b) The children PRETENDED (that) they were asleep. (3a) The children PRETENDED to be asleep. (3b)

c) Causing, allowing, or preventing the occurrence of a fact For examples: Jerry HAD the barber trim his mustache. Mama LET Miriam hold the baby. Mama KEPT Miriam from holding the baby.

d) Perception of a fact For examples:

I SAW Mr Hall come out of the garage. Ruth HEARD a baby crying.

e) Saying something about a fact or possible fact For examples: Lily SAYS (that) she’ll be a little late. Please TELL us if you feel ill. Edward DENIED opening the letter.

f) The beginning, continuing, or termination of a possible event For examples: Marilyn QUIT smoking. Suddenly it STARTED to rain.

There are 6 types of clause in the sentences as argument:

A. Full Statement Clause There are some sentences below:

1a Ivan knows the answer. 1b Ivan knows (that) we are here. 2a Sally forgot her appointment. 2b Sally forgot (that) Sara was waiting for her. 3a The judges announced their decision to the eager

contestants. 3b The judges announced to the eager contestants that they had reached

a decision. Explanation:

In 1a, 2a and 3a a noun phrase is object of the verb. In 1b, 2b and 3ba clause (underlined words) occurs in the same place and In 1a, 2a and 3a a noun phrase is object of the verb. In 1b, 2b and 3ba clause (underlined words) occurs in the same place and

B. Question Clauses Questions, as well as statements, are embedded in other sentences. There are two types of question:

1. Information Question (WH Questions), as in the following examples:  I wonder when the concert was. (When was the concert?)  Robert doesn’t know what time it is. (What time is it?)  Do you remember where you put the tickets? (Where did you

put thetickets?)

2. Yes-No Question  I doubt if George knows the answer (Does George know the

answer?)  Please tell us if you feel ill. (Do you feel ill?)

A yes-no question may present two or more alternatives. When such an alternative question is embedded, it is introduced with the word whether.

e.g. 1a. Will your friends stay or leave? 1b. I wonder whether your friends will stay or leave.

C. Infinitive Clause Read these sentences below:

 I know (that) Sara waits for Sally.  I expect Sara to wait for Sally.

The sentence with the word “expect” contains one kind of reduced clause, an infinitive clause. The personal pronoun that replaces Sara is her,not she; and the verb “wait” can be expanded only a little; it can beperfect (I expect Sara to have waited) or progressive (I expect Sarato be waiting), or both (I

expect Sara to have been waiting); but towait does not distinguish present and past, and it cannot be precededby a modal verb like can, should, must or will.

There are overt subject and tacit subject as these following examples:

 The Eagles expect the Hawks to win the game. (a)  The Eagles expect to win the game. (b)

The infinitive clause in (a) reflects a sentence or proposition {the Hawks win the game}. What is the embedded proposition of (b)? Obviously, {the Eagles win the game}. We do not say “The Eagles expect the Eagles to win the game” nor “The Eagles expect the mselves to win the game”, though the latter is possible. Instead, a rule of English grammar requires an overt subject in an infinitive clause when the subject of the infinitive (here, the Hawks) is different from the subject of the main verb (here, the Eagles), but if the subject of the infinitive is the same as the subject of the main verb, there is a tacit subject. In the first sentence above, the infinitive clause The infinitive clause in (a) reflects a sentence or proposition {the Hawks win the game}. What is the embedded proposition of (b)? Obviously, {the Eagles win the game}. We do not say “The Eagles expect the Eagles to win the game” nor “The Eagles expect the mselves to win the game”, though the latter is possible. Instead, a rule of English grammar requires an overt subject in an infinitive clause when the subject of the infinitive (here, the Hawks) is different from the subject of the main verb (here, the Eagles), but if the subject of the infinitive is the same as the subject of the main verb, there is a tacit subject. In the first sentence above, the infinitive clause

 I intend to get a haircut.  Martin decided to ask for help.  Joyce likes to sing.  The children pretended to be asleep.

Certain adjectives also occur with an infinitive clause as complement. One of them is “anxious”, e.g. “David’s parents are anxious for him to succeed, and David, too, is anxious to succeed.” If the clause has an overt subject, it is introduced with the preposition “for”, as illustrated. Other adjectives that take infinitive clauses are these, all of which have human subjects: afraid, content, eager, glad, happy, impatient, and sorry.

When an infinitive clause is the object of a certain small group of verbs, the preposition to does not appear. For examples:

 Jerry had the barber trim his hair.  Mummy let Miriam hold the baby.  I helped Ted and Tom (to) change a tire.

The constructions following “had”, “let” and “helped” are infinitive clauses, but infinitive clauses after have and let do not have the

word to and infinitive clauses after help need not have to. (Note that the barber, Miriam and Ted and Tom are replaced by him, her and them, respectively.)

D. Gerund Clauses

There is a group of verbs that can have as object an infinitive clause without to or a gerund clause. A gerund clause has a verb with the suffix -ing. Note the following paired sentences in which the same verb is followed by infinitive clause and gerund clause. Examples: (verbs below are perceptual verbs)

 I saw Mr Hall come out of the garage.  I saw Mr Hall coming out of the garage.  Ruth heard a baby cry.  She heard a baby crying.  Did you notice a pretty girl walk by?  Did you notice a

pretty girl walking by? Gerund clauses with tacit subjects are seen in the next group of sentences:  I enjoy attending the theater.  Edward denied opening the letter.  Marilyn has quit smoking. The subject of the gerund is the same as the subject of the

main verb: the sentences are about ‘my’ attending the concert, Edward’s opening the letter, and Marilyn’s smoking as well as my enjoying, Edward’s denying and Marilyn’s quitting.

A small group of adjectives (responsible-for, grateful-for, aware-of, thankful-for) takes gerund clause complements, with a preposition between adjective and gerund. Examples:

 Who is responsible for doing this?  I’m grateful for your taking time off.

E. Non-factual Clauses The next kind of clause resembles the full statement but is different.

a. I insist that Ronald works very hard.

b. I insist that Ronald work very hard.

c. I insist that Ronald should work very hard. (a) is different from (b) and (c), but (b) and (c) are quite alike in

what they say. In (a) the subject (“I”) insists that a certain fact istrue. In the other two sentences the embedded clause tells what thesubject

be a fact. In (

a) the embedded clausecontains information that is presented as true at the time of utterance;in the other two sentences the embedded clause states what someone(someone in authority, it seems) wants to be true at a later time, whether true at the time or not. Some speakers of English prefer theconstruction with should; some prefer the construction without shouldbut perhaps use it only in formal communication. The full clause in (a) is a factual clause, and we give the name non-factual clause to the embedded clause of (b) and (c), with or without should. There is a clear distinction for any subject if the verb is be, whether should occurs or not. For examples:

a. We insist that your friends are early

b. We insist that your friends (should) be early.

F. Verbal Nouns Compare:

 We watched Mark winning the race.  We applauded Mark’s winning of the race.

The second sentence contains a verbal noun, formed like the gerundby adding -ing. The difference between gerund and verbal noun isin the kind of constructions they appear in: the subject The second sentence contains a verbal noun, formed like the gerundby adding -ing. The difference between gerund and verbal noun isin the kind of constructions they appear in: the subject

Here is a summary of the clause structures discussed in this chapter:  Full statement clause (with overt subject): They know (that) I opened the letter. It’s strange (that) they aren’t developing a new product.  Full question clause (with overt subject):

I can’t imagine what Marilyn wanted. Hector didn’t tell us if they are developing a new product.  Non-factual clause (with overt subject):

I demand that your bill (should) be paid.  Infinitive clause: Over subject:  They expect me to open the letter.  They made me open the letter.  It would be impossible for them to develop a new product.

Tacit subject:  I intended to open the letter.  They hope to develop a new product.

 Gerund clause: Overt subject:  They watched me opening the letter. Tacit subject:  I denied opening the letter.  I suggested opening the letter.  Developing a new product takes a long time.

 Verbal noun:

Overt subject:  They excused my opening of the letter.  Their development of the product took a long time.

Tacit subject:  I defended the opening of the letter.  The development of a new product is not easy.

SYNTACTIC AMBIGUITY Sentences may also contain ambiguities. Syntactic ambiguity may be in the surface structure of a sentence: words can cluster together in different possible constructions. Syntactic ambiguity may also be in the deep structure: one sequence of words may have more than one interpretation, generally because the rules of sentence construction allow ellipsis, the deletion of what is ‘understood.’ Examples of surface ambiguity:

a. Constructions containing the coordinators and andor.  John and Mary or Pat will go.  We will have bacon or sausage and eggs.

([John] and [Mary or Pat], [John and Mary] or [Pat]; [bacon] or [sausage and eggs], [bacon or sausage] and [eggs])

b. A coordinate head with one modifier:  The only people left were old men and women.  The postman left a letter and a package for Ellen.

([old men] and [women], old [men and women]; [a letter] and [a package for Ellen], [a letter and a package] for Ellen)

c. A head with a coordinate modifier:  Your essay should contain four or five hundred words. ([4] or [500], [400] or [500]) c. A head with a coordinate modifier:  Your essay should contain four or five hundred words. ([4] or [500], [400] or [500])

([small] [animal hospital], [small animal] [hospital])

e. Certain function words, including not, have possible differences in scope:  The The tennis courts are open to members only on Thursdays  .I’d like to find ten more interesting articles.  They didn’t leave because they were angry.

([members only] or [only on Thursdays]; [ten more] [interestingarticles] or [ten] [more interesting articles]; [didn’t leave] [because…]or [didn’t] [leave because…])

Examples of deep structure ambiguity:

a. Gerund + object or participle modifying a noun.  Overtaking cars on the main road can be dangerous.

(‘Overtaking cars is dangerous’ or ‘Cars overtaking are dangerous’)

b. Adjective+infinitive, tied to subject or to complement:  The chicken is too hot to eat.

(‘Too hot to eat anything’ or ‘too hot for anybody to eat it’)

c. Ellipsis in comparative constructions:  I like Mary better than Joan.