A Complete Glossary of Grammar Terms

Anda mencari glossary of grammar terms yang lengkap? tak usah jauh-jauh ke negeri seberang, di sini tersedia glossary (daftar istilah) grammar bahasa Inggris secara lengkap. Glossary ini diambil langsung dari pakar ahli grammar bahasa Inggris Greenbaum (1996: 615-635). Mari kita lihat bersama istilah grammar ini dalam satu halaman..


accent An accent is the set of features of pronunciation that is used by a speaker of the language. A regional accent is an accent that is characteristic of a particular location (e.g. country, city, rural area). A social accent is an accent that is characteristic of a particular social group, which may be defined by educational level or social class. There are also ethnic accents, which are associated with ethnic groups. accusative case See case.

acronym An acronym is a word formed from the initial letters of parts of a word or phrase. It may be pronounced as a word (AIDS, from Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). If it is pronounced as separate letters (PC, from personal computer), it is sometimes called an initialism or an alphabetism.

active See passive.

adjective An adjective is a word such as wise that typically can premodify a noun such as decision (a wise decision) and function as subject predicative after a copular verb such as be or seem (The decision is/seems wise). When used as the premodifier of a noun, the adjective is attributive; when used as subject predicative, it is predicative. Adjectives that can be used both attributively and predicatively are central adjectives. Most adjectives can be intensified by adverbs such as very (very wise/informative) and permit comparison either inflectionally (wiser, wisest) or periphrastically (more informative, most informative). The inflectional forms are comparative (wiser) or superlative (wisest). Adjectives that accept intensification and comparison are gradable adjectives. See also gradability, nominal adjective.

adjective phrase An adjective phrase has an adjective such as heavy or informative as its head. Within the adjective phrase the adjective may be premodified (too heavy) or postmodified (afraid of spiders) or both premodified and postmodified (too heavy to carry, extremely afraid of spiders).

adjunct An adjunct is an adverbial (an optional element) that is integrated to some extent in sentence or clause structure. The major semantic subclasses of adjuncts are space, mainly referring to location (in my city) or direction (to New York); time, mainly referring to time location (on Monday), duration (permanently), or frequency (every week); process, mainly conveying the manner in which the action denoted by the verb is performed (smoothly); focus, adverbials that focus on a particular unit (only, mainly, utterly). Adverbials that are not adjuncts are sentence adverbials, either conjuncts or disjuncts.

adverb An adverb is a word that typically functions as a premodifier of an adjective or another adverb or as an adverbial. Very is an adverb that can be a premodifier of an adjective (very sharp) or another adverb (very carelessly). Often is an adverb that functions as an adverbial (They often complained about the noise). Many adverbs can be either premodifiers (too loud, too loudly) or adverbials (I too have complained), though not necessarily with the same meaning. Adverbs that have the same form as adjectives can take comparison inflections: comparative ('work harder), superlative ('work hardest').

adverbial An adverbial is an optional element in sentence or clause structure. There may be more than one adverbial in a sentence or clause. Adverbials are either sentence adverbials or adjuncts. Sentence adverbials are loosely attached to the sentence or clause. They are either conjuncts or disjuncts.

adverbial clause An adverbial clause is a clause that functions as an adverbial in sentence or clause structure.

adverb phrase An adverb phrase has an adverb such as badly or luckily us its head. The adverb may be premodified (so quickly, very luckily), or postmodified (quickly enough, luckily for me), or both premodified and postmodified (very luckily for me).

affix An affix is a segment that is not itself a word but is attached to a word. If it is attached to the beginning of a word it is a prefix (un- in undecided), and if it is attached to the end of a word it is a suffix (-ize in polarize). Suffixes that represent grammatical categories, such as plural for nouns and past for verbs, are inflections (-s in computers and -ed in revealed). The process of adding affixes to form new words is affixation or derivation.

allomorph An allomorph is a variant form of the same morpheme. For example, there is a negative prefix whose usual allomorph is in- (incompetent), but it also has allomorphs in il- (illegal), im- (impatient), and ir- (irregular). In phonetic conditioning, the choice of allomorph is determined by a neighbouring sound (as in the allomorphs of the negative prefix in-). In lexical conditioning, the choice depends on the particular word (the -en inflection in taken). In grammatical conditioning, the variation depends on the grammatical class of the word (the different stress pattern—and consequent pronunciation differences—of the verb rebel and the noun rebel). In stylistic conditioning, the choice of allomorph depends on the style (the informal
contraction n't in isn't).

allophone An allophone is a pronunciation variant of the same phoneme (abstract sound unit). Allophonic variation may depend on the sound that precedes or follows an allophone (the different way that /I/ is usually pronounced in lick and milk). Very often allophones are in free variation, varying with the same speaker on different occasions. Differences in pronunciation are also affected by physical differences between speakers as well as by general differences in sex and age.

alphabetism See acronym.

alternative condition An alternative condition presents two or more conditions ('Whether you buy the house or rent it, you'll find the monthly payments too expensive').

alternative question An alternative question offers two or more choices for the response (Do you want to stay a little longer or go home straightaway? Which would you prefer, coffee or tea?).

anaphoric Anaphoric reference is a reference to a preceding expression (it referring to a draft in I'll write a draft and show it to you for your comments). Cataphoric reference is a reference to a following expression (she referring to the doctor in As soon as she had finished questioning the patient, the doctor phoned for an ambulance). See also deixls, ellipsis.

antecedent The antecedent of an expression is the expression that it refers to. The antecedent of who in the official who spoke to us so rudely is the official, and the antecedent of she is the doctor in The doctor will see you as soon as she is ready.

anticipatory it Anticipatory it takes the position (usually a subject) that might have been occupied by a clause. Instead of the clausal subject in That they refused to sign our petition is surprising, anticipatory it is introduced as subject and the clause is extraposed (postponed to the end) in It is surprising that they refused to sign our petition.

apposition Apposition is a relationship between two units that refer to the same entity or overlap in their reference. Typically the units are noun phrases and are juxtaposed (George Washington, the first president of the United States). Sometimes an apposition marker introduces the second unit (namely, that is to say, for example). In coordinative apposition the two units are linked by or or (less usually) and (eeg, or brain
wave trace).

aspect Aspect is a grammatical category referring primarily to the way that the time denoted by the verb is regarded. English has two aspects: the perfect aspect and the progressive (or continuous) aspect. The perfect aspect is expressed by a combination of the auxiliary have and the -ed participle (has mentioned, have called, had seen); it is used to locate the time of a situation as preceding that of another situation (She has mentioned it several times since she arrived). The progressive aspect is expressed by a combination of the auxiliary fee and the -mgparticiple (is mentioning, was calling, were seeing); it is chiefly used to focus on the duration of a situation (He was calling for help). The two aspects may be combined, the perfect followed by the progressive (He had been calling for help). See also participle.

asyndetic co-ordination See co-ordination.

auxiliary An auxiliary (or auxiliary verb or helping verb) is one of a small set of verbs that combine with a main verb to form the perfect or progressive aspect or the passive, or to convey distinctions of modality (such as possibility and permission), and to function as operator for forming negative sentences and questions. The three primary auxiliaries are be, have, and do. Be is used to form the progressive (was making) and the passive (was made), and have to form the perfect (has made). Do is used to perform the functions of an operator when no auxiliary is otherwise present (Did they make it?, They didn't make it). The modals (or modal auxiliaries) are can, could, may, might, shall, should, will, would, must. In addition, there are a number of marginal auxiliaries (dare, need, ought to, used to) that share some of the characteristics of the auxiliaries and a larger group of semi-auxiliaries (auxiliary-like verbs) that convey similar notions of time, aspect, and modality (e.g.: be going to, have to, had better).

back-formation Back-formation is the process (or the result of the process) of deriving new words from existing words by dropping what is thought to be a suffix. Thus, edit is a back-formation from editor and diagnose is a back-formation from diagnosis. Most back-formations are verbs coined from nouns.

backshifting Backshifting is a shifting in the tense of the verb of a reported clause in indirect speech. She said Pam was looking well reports an utterance such as Pam is looking well, where the verb (is) is in the present tense. Similarly, the simple past and the present perfect may be backshifted to the past perfect: Pam played well and Pam has played well may both be reported as She said Pam had played well. The present tense may be retained if the situation (including an expressed opinion) holds at the time of reporting: She said Pam writes well. Backshifting also takes place in conditional clauses.

base The base of a word is the segment to which a prefix or suffix is attached: the suffix -able is attached to the base enjoy, and the prefix un- is attached to the base enjoyable. Compounds have more than one base: dry-clean. The root of a word is what remains when all affixes are stripped from a word. Thus, agree is the root of both agrees and disagreeable.

base form The base form of the verb is the uninflected form (remain, take, write), the form to which inflections are added (remained, takes, writing), except that for the highly irregular verb be the base form is be. The base form is used for: (1) the present tense except for the third person singular (They remain in good spirits), but be has the equivalents am and are, (2) the imperative (Remain here); (3) present subjunctive (I recommended that he remain here); (4) infinitive, which may be the bare infinitive (You must remain here) or the fo-infinitive (I want you to remain here).

blend A blend is a word formed from segments of two or more words that have been fused: brunch from breakfast and lunch, smog from smoke and fog. bound morph See morpheme.

case Case is a grammatical category in which distinctions in the forms of words indicate grammatical relationships between words. In present-day English, case distinctions apply only to nouns and certain pronouns. For nouns, the only case form is the genitive (or possessive) case (as in man's and men's), all other forms having no inflection (common case). Certain pronouns, chiefly personal pronouns, distinguish between subjective case (7, we), objective case (me, us), and genitive case (my, our), though the genitives of personal pronouns are often separately designated as possessive pronouns. Old English had additional cases and they extended to adjectives and determiners. The cases in Old English (with their characteristic uses) were nominative (for the subject of a sentence or clause), accusative (for the direct object), the genitive, the dative (for the indirect object), and the instrumental (usually not distinct from the dative, to express the means employed in an action or the manner of the action).

cataphoric See anaphoric.

Clause A clause is a construction that typically consists minimally of a subject and a verb (I laughed), though in an imperative clause the subject is generally absent but implied, so that minimally only the verb needs to be present (Sir). A clause may be within a larger construction: co-ordinated with another clause (the two clauses coordinated by and in I paid this time and you can pay next time), or subordinated within another clause (the subordinate whether-dause in They asked whether I would pay), or within a phrase (the f/taf-clause in the noun phrase the company that employed me). In all the examples given so far, the clauses are finite in that their verb phrase is finite. But clauses may be non-finite (the infinitive clause in / wanted to pay, the -ing participle clause in / enjoy paying, and the -ed participle clause in They wanted the house sold before the end of the year) or verbless (the when-chx&e in When in Rome, do as the Romans do). A set of clauses interrelated by co-ordination or subordination (or minimally one clause that is independent of any such links) constitutes a sentence (or—a less misleading term for the spoken language—a clause cluster).

clause cluster See clause.

cleft sentence A cleft sentence is a sentence that is cleft (split) so as to put the focus on one part of it. The cleft sentence is introduced by it, which is followed by a verb phrase whose main verb is generally be. The focused part comes next, and then the rest of the sentence is introduced by a relative pronoun, relative determiner, or relative adverb. If we take the sentence Tom felt a sharp pain after lunch, two possible cleft sentences formed from it are It was Tom who felt a sharp pain after lunch and It was after lunch that Tom felt a sharp pain.

clipping Clipping is a shortening of a word by the omission of one or more syllables. What is left may be the beginning of the word (lab from laboratory), less frequently the end (bus from omnibus), and rarely the middle (flu from influenza).

clitic A clitic is a word that cannot occur independently but must be attached to another word. Clitics in English are contracted forms of words (n't for not, '//for will). Generally they are attached at the end as enclitics (wasn't, we're), but they may also be attached at the beginning as proclitics (d'you, 'tis). A combination of proclitic and enclitic appears in 'tisn't.

closed class Closed classes are in contrast with open classes, and both denote classes of words (or parts of speech) that are required for grammatical description. A closed class is a set of words that is small enough to be listed fully and that does not readily admit new members. The closed classes that are generally recognized for English include auxiliaries, conjunctions, prepositions, determiners, and pronouns. The four open classes, which readily admit new members, are nouns, adjectives, verbs, and adverbs. Closed-class words are termed grammatical words or function words because of their importance in grammatical relations, whereas open-class words have been called lexical or content words.

coherence Coherence refers to the continuity of meaning that enables others to make sense of a written text or of a stretch of speech.

cohesion Cohesion refers to lexical and grammatical devices for linking parts of a written text or spoken discourse. Lexical devices include repetition of words or substitution of synonymous expressions. Grammatical devices include use of pronouns and ellipsis.

co-hyponym See hyponymy.

collective noun A collective noun denotes a group of people, animals, or institutions. A singular collective noun may be treated as plural (more commonly in British English than in American English) and therefore take a plural verb and (particularly) plural pronouns when the focus is on the group as individuals: The enemy have brought in more of their paratroops.

collocation Collocation refers to the tendency for certain words to co-occur: wine with white, red, dry, and sweet; agree with entirely; vicious with attack and circle.

combinatory co-ordination See co-ordination. 

combining form A combining form is a segment that does not occur as a separate word but is attached before or after another word or segment to form a new word. Combining forms generally originate from Latin or Greek. Initial combining forms mostly end in -o (psycho- in psychopath, socio- in sociology, bio- in biochemistry) but other vowels are also found (tele- in television, agri- in agriculture).

common noun See proper noun,

comparative See adjective, adverb.

comparative clause Comparative clauses are introduced by the subordinators as or than. They correlate with a preceding comparative element: more or the -er comparative inflection, less, or as (more tolerant than I thought, cleverer than his brothers are, less important than the other items on the agenda were, as tall as she is).

comparison Comparison applies to adjectives or adverbs that are gradable. There are three directions of comparison: higher (taller than Sue), same (as tall as Sue), lower (less tall than Sue). There are three degrees of comparison: absolute (tall), comparative (taller), superlative (tallest). The superlative least is used to express the lowest direction, least tall contrasting with tallest.

complement A complement is a phrase or clause whose form is determined by the word it complements. For example, the verb asked in She asked me three questions admits two complements: me (indirect object) and three questions (direct object), whereas the verb answered in I answered her questions admits just one complement: her questions (direct object). Apart from direct and indirect objects, complements of verbs may be subject predicative (responsible in Jeremy is responsible) or object predicative (responsible in I consider Jeremy responsible). Prepositions generally require complements (my parents in from my parents). Complements also occur with adjectives (of tomato juice in fond of tomato juice) and nouns (whether it is hers in the question whether it is hers). See also preposition.

complex sentence A complex sentence consists of a main clause that has one or more subordinate clauses. The that-dause is a subordinate clause in the complex sentence 'Everybody thought that he had won.

complex-transitive verb A complex-transitive verb has two complements: a direct object and an object predicative: They named us (direct object) the winners (object predicative). See also subject predicative.

compound A compound is a word formed from a combination of two or more words (strictly speaking, two or more bases). Compounds may be written solid (turncoat, mouthpiece), hyphenated (mother-in-law, cook-chill), or as separate orthographic. words (smart card, junk food). Noun compounds generally have their main stress on the first word.

compound sentence A compound sentence is a sentence that consists of two or more main clauses (each of which could be an independent sentence) that are linked by coordination, the co-ordinator generally being and, but, or or ('It has only been a week and I feel lonesome without you').

conditional clause Most conditional clauses are introduced by the subordinator if. Conditions may be open (or real), leaving completely open whether the condition will be fulfilled (You're going to be in trouble if you've infected me). Or they may be hypothetical (or unreal or closed), expressing that the condition has not been fulfilled (for past conditions), is not fulfilled, or will not be fulfilled. Hypothetical conditions take backshifted tenses: for present and future conditions, the past is used in the conditional clause and a past modal (generally would) in the host clause ('If I had my dictionary, I would look up the word'); for past conditions, the past perfect is used in the conditional clause and a past perfect modal (generally would have) in the host clause ('If I had seen them, I would have invited them to eat with us'). Subjunctive were is sometimes used instead of indicative was in the conditional clause, particularly in formal style ('If she were here, you would not need me'). Conditional clauses may also have subject-operator inversion without a subordinator, generally when the operator is had, were, or should ('Had I known, I would have told you'). See also backshifting, alternative condition, wfr-conditional clause.

conjunct Conjuncts are sentence adverblals that indicate logical relationships between sentences or between clauses. They are mainly adverbs (e.g. therefore, however, nevertheless) or prepositional phrases (e.g. on the other hand, in consequence, in conclusion). See also disjunct.

conjunction Conjunctions are either co-ordinators (or co-ordinating conjunctions) or subordinators (or subordinating conjunctions). The central co-ordinators are and, or, and but. Co-ordinators link units of equal status, which may be clauses or phrases (including single words): I recognized them, but they didn't remember me, out of work and in trouble; soft or hard. Often considered as marginal co-ordinators are nor and for. The co-ordination may be emphasized by a correlative expression: both . . . and; either. . . or; not (only) . . . but (also); neither. . . nor. Subordinators link subordinate clauses to their host clauses. Among the many subordinators are if, since, because, although: I can lend you some money if you have none on you. Subordinators are sometimes emphasized by a correlative expression in the following clause: ; / . . . then; because.. . therefore; although ... nevertheless; whether.. . or; as ... so.

connotation The connotation of a word is the emotive associations that a word evokes, as opposed to its denotation (the meaning relationship that a word has in its reference to entities outside language).
content word See closed class, continuous See aspect.

converse The converse of a term is its opposite in a reciprocal relationship: buy/sell, husband/wife, above/below.

conversion Conversion is the term in word-formation for creating a new word by shifting an existing word to a different word class without adding a prefix: the noun drink from the verb drink, the verb butter from the noun butter, the verb clean from the adjective clean.

CO-ordination Co-ordination is the linking of two or more units that would have the same function if they were not linked. When co-ordinators such as and are present, the co-ordination is syndetic: I enjoy classical music, jazz, and pop music. When coordinators are not present but are implied, the co-ordination is asyndetic:

'Distinguished guests, colleagues, friends, I welcome you all.' If three or more units are co-ordinated and the co-ordinator is repeated between each unit, the co-ordination is polysyndetic: 'The cake contains eggs and flour and cheese and honey and spices' Co-ordination of noun phrases may be segregatory or combinatory. In segregatory co-ordination each noun phrase could function separately in a paraphrase involving the co-ordination of the clauses: 'Bomb warnings and drugs courier baggage were mentioned' —> 'Bomb warnings were mentioned and drugs courier baggage was mentioned.' This is not possible in combinatory co-ordination: 'Peter and Laura first met at a dance'. Combinatory co-ordination is also found with adjectives: 'a red, white, and blue flag.' See also conjunction.

co-ordinative apposition In co-ordinative apposition the two noun phrases that are in apposition are linked by the co-ordinator and ox or. eeg or electroencephalogram; She is the book's author and Mr. Deng's youngest daughter.

co-ordinator See conjunction.

copular verb A copular (or linking) verb is complemented by a subject predicative in sentence or clause structure. The most common copular verb is be, others include become (my friend), feel (tired), get (ready), seem (happy). A copular prepositional verb is a prepositional verb (combination of verb plus preposition) that is complemented by a subject predicative: sound like (you), turn into (a monster), serve as (mitigating circumstances).

correlative See conjunction.

count noun A count (or countable) noun is a noun that has both singular and plural forms (book/books) and can take determiners (as appropriate) that accompany distinctions in number (a /this book, many /these books).

Creole A Creole develops from a pidgin when the pidgin becomes the mother tongue or a first language of the community. A pidgin is a link language between speakers of mutually unintelligible languages that is formed from a mixture of languages and it has a limited vocabulary and a simplified grammar. When a pidgin is creolized, the vocabulary is expanded and the grammar is elaborated.

dative case See case.

declarative A declarative (or declarative sentence) is the most common type of sentence type, typically used in the expression of statements and generally requiring subject—verb order: It was raining last night; Nobody saw us; Cindy is the best candidate. The other sentence types, with which it is contrasted, are interrogative, imperative, and exclamative. A declarative question is a declarative that has the force of a question. In speech it ends with rising intonation, and in writing it ends with a question mark: You accept their word?

definite A definite noun phrase conveys the assumption that the hearer or reader can identify what it refers to. Identification may be assumed when (for example) the phrase refers to something previously mentioned or uniquely identifiable from general knowledge or from the particular context. Definite reference is associated with the use of the definite article the, the personal pronouns, the demonstratives, and proper names. Definite reference contrasts with indefinite reference, commonly signalled by the indefinite article a /an ('I bought a used car last week for the family, but the car (or it) is giving me a lot of trouble').

definite article The definite article is the. With singular noun phrases it contrasts with the indefinite article a /an (a house, the house). With plural noun phrases it contrasts with the zero article, i.e. the absence of an article or other determiner (the houses, houses), or with the indefinite determiner some (the houses, some houses).

deixis Deixis may be situational or textual. Situational deixis denotes the use of expressions to point to some feature of the situation, typically persons or objects in the situation and temporal or locational features. For example, the pronoun / is necessarily deictic, referring to the speaker and writer and shifting its reference according to who is speaking or writing. Similarly, here and now may be situationally bound as is the use of tenses that take as their point of reference the time of speaking or writing. Textual deixis denotes the use of expressions to point to other expressions in the linguistic context. References to what comes earlier are anaphoric, whereas references to what comes later are cataphoric. See also anaphoric.

demonstrative The demonstrative pronouns and determiners are singular this and that and their respective plurals these and those.

denotation See connotation.

deontic Deontic (or root or intrinsic) meanings of the modals refer to some kind of human control over the situation, such as permission or obligation (may in You may sit down now or must in / must tell you about it). Deontic meanings contrast with epistemic meanings, which refer to some kind of evaluation of the truth-value of the proposition such as possibility or necessity (may in It may rain later or must in That must be your sister). Each of the modals has both kinds of meaning. See also auxiliary.

dependent genitive See genitive,

derivation See affix.

determiner Determiners introduce noun phrases. They convey various pragmatic and semantic contrasts relating to the type of reference of the noun phrase and to notions such as number and quantity. In their positional potentialities they fall into three sets: predeterminers (e.g. all, both), central determiners (e.g. a/an, the, my, this), and postdeterminers (e.g. two, many, several). Most of the words that function as determiners also function as pronouns (e.g. this, some, all).

direct object A direct object is a complement of a transitive verb. It generally follows the verb in a declarative sentence (my car in Norman has borrowed my car). It can be made the subject of a corresponding passive sentence (My car has been borrowed by Norman) and can be elicited by a question with who(m) or what in company with the subject and verb (What did Norman borrow? My car). The direct object is typically the entity affected by the action.

direct speech Direct speech quotes the actual words used by somebody, and in writing it is enclosed in quotation marks: (Charles asked me,) 'What shall I do next?'. Indirect speech reports the substance of what was said or written: (Charles asked me) what he should do next.

disjunct Disjuncts are sentence adverbials, either style disjuncts or content disjuncts. Style disjuncts comment on the act of speaking or writing, and may be adverbs (bluntly, honestly, personally), prepositional phrases (in all fairness, in short, between you and me), non-finite clauses (frankly speaking, putting it bluntly, to be truthful), and finite clauses (if I may say so, sinceyou ask me): 'Honestly, I didn't do it'; 'Sinceyou ask me, I wouldn't mind a drink'. Content disjuncts comment on the truth-value of what is said (possibly, undoubtedly, in all probability) or evaluate it (unfortunately, to my delight, what is more disappointing): 'Our side will undoubtedly win'; 'Unfortunately, the deadline has passed'.

ditransltive See transitive verb.

double genitive See genitive.

doubly transitive phrasal-prepositional verb See phrasal-prepositional verb.

doubly transitive prepositional verb See prepositional verb.

dummy operator Auxiliary do is a dummy operator, since it functions as an operator in the absence of any other auxiliary when an operator is required to form questions (My sister likes them —> Does my sister like them?), to make the sentence negative (My sister doesn't like them), or to form an abbreviated clause (My sister likes them, and I do too).

ellipsis Ellipsis is the omission of a part of a normal structure. The ellipted part can be understood from the situational context (ellipsis of have you in Got any suggestions7.) or the textual context, where it maybe anaphoric (dependent on what precedes: May I drive? Yes, you may) or cataphoric (dependent on what follows: If you don't want to, I'll drive). See also anaphoric.

emphatic reflexive See reflexive pronoun,

empty morph See morpheme,

enclitic See clitic.

end focus The principle of end focus requires that the most important information comes at the end of the sentence or clause.

end weight The principle of end weight requires that a longer unit follow a shorter unit if the choice is available. See also extraposed postmodifier.

epistemic See deontic.

exclamative An exclamative (or exclamative sentence) is a sentence type in which the exclamative element is fronted, introduced by what (followed by the rest of the noun phrase) or by how (otherwise): What a good time we had; How kind you are.

existential there Existential there is used in a rearrangement of the sentence in which the subject is postponed, the effect being to present the postponed (notional) subject as new information: Too many cars are ahead of us —> There are too many cars ahead of us. If the sentence consists only of the subject and the verb be, then only the existential sentence is normally possible: There's still time.

extraposed postmodifier An extraposed postmodifier is a postmodifier in a noun phrase (generally a noun phrase functioning as subject) that is postponed to a later position in the sentence, in accordance with the principle of end weight: A tape recording in which a huge ransom was demanded was received —> A tape recording was received in which a huge ransom was demanded.

extrinsic See deontic.

finite A verb is finite if it displays tense, the distinction between present and past tense: cares/ cared, take/took. A verb phrase is finite if the first (or only) verb in the phrase is finite, all other verbs being non-finite: is caring/was caring, has taken/had taken. A clause is finite if its verb is finite: I cared about what they thought of me, I generally take a nap after lunch. The non-finite verb forms are the infinitive, the -ing participle, and
the -edparticiple. See also aspect, clause, infinitive, participle. 

free morph See morpheme, 

function word See word class.

GA GA (General American) is an abstraction from what is typical of the pronunciation of English in America.

gender Gender is a grammatical category in which contrasts are made within a wordclass (in present-day English restricted to certain pronouns and determiners) such as personal/non-personal, masculine/feminine/neuter. The most conspicuous gender contrasts in present-day English are found in the third person singular personal pronouns he/she/it.

General American See GA.

generic In generic reference, noun phrases are used in generalizations to refer to all members of the class denoted by the phrases that are relevant in the context: 'Coffee contains caffeine'; 'The poor are always with us'; 'Apples are good for you'; 'An apples. day keeps the doctor away'.

genitive The genitive (or possessive) case applies to nouns and some pronouns. The genitives for child are singular child's and plural children's, and for girl they are singular girl's and plural girls'. Genitives may be dependent or independent. A phrase with a dependent genitive is dependent on a following noun phrase: 'the child's parents', parallel with 'her parents'. The independent genitive is not dependent in this way, though a following noun may be implied: 'I'm going to my cousin's.' The double genitive is a combination of a genitive and an o/-phrase: 'that article of Estelle's.' The group genitive applies not just to the noun to which it is attached: 'an hour and a half's sleep'; 'the president of the company's resignation'. See also case.

gerund The gerund is an -ing participle that shares characteristics of a noun and a verb. Finding is a gerund in 'It depends on Algeria's finding more efficient ways to run its factories'. Like a noun it is preceded by a genitive (Algeria's) that is dependent on it, but like a verb it takes a direct object (finding more efficient ways to run its factories). The genitive is often replaced by a noun in the common case (Algeria). In the same context, possessive pronouns (their in their finding) are often replaced by pronouns in the objective case (them finding).

gradability Gradable words allow intensification and comparison. Clever is gradable because we can intensify it up or down on a scale of cleverness (very clever, quite clever, somewhat clever) and it can be compared (cleverer, cleverest, as clever, more clever). On the other hand, animate is not gradable.

group genitive See genitive.

homograph Homographs are two (or more) distinct words that happen to be spelled the same. Tear represents two words that are pronounced differently, one being a noun ('drop from the eye') and the other a verb ('pull apart') or a noun derived from a verb.

homomorph Homomorphs are words that are related in meaning and are pronounced and spelled the same but are distinct grammatically. For example, the verb laugh and the noun laugh are homomorphs.

homonym Homonyms are distinct words that have the same form. Bank (where money is deposited) and bank (of a river) are homonyms. In this instance, they are spelled and pronounced the same and belong to the same word class (nouns). See also homograph, homomorph, homophone.

homophone Homophones are distinct words that are spelled differently but happen to be pronounced the same. One and won are homophones.

host clause See subordinate clause,

host phrase See subordinate clause,

hypernym See hyponymy.

hyponymy Hyponymy is a relationship of inclusion in the hierarchy of a set of words. A general term (a superordinate or hypernym) includes within its reference terms that are more specific (hyponyms). Food is a superordinate of fruit, and fruit in turn is a hyponym of food. There are other hyponyms of food, and these (e.g. vegetable, fish, meat) constitute a set of co-hyponyms of food.

hypotaxis Hypotaxis is in contrast with parataxis. Parataxis is a relationship between two or more units that are of equal grammatical status, as in co-ordination (books and magazines), whereas hypotaxis is a relationship between two units, one of which is dependent on the other, as in modification (the relationship between the relative thatclause and its noun head books in books that I have read).

hypothetical condition See conditional clause,

hypothetical subjunctive See subjunctive.

illocutionary force See speech act.

imperative An imperative is a sentence (or clause) type. The verb is in the base form, and typically the subject is absent, though you is implied as subject: Look over there. The term 'imperative' is also used for the verb functioning in the imperative sentence (look in Look over there, be in Be quiet).

indefinite article The indefinite article is a before consonant sounds (a house) and an before vowel sounds (an hour). See also definite article.

indefinite determiner/pronoun Indefinite determiners and indefinite pronouns have indefinite reference. Some indefinite determiners and pronouns have the same form (some, any, either, neither, all, both), but no is only a determiner and others (e.g. none, someone) are only pronouns. See also definite.

indefinite reference See definite.

independent genitive See genitive.

indicative See mood.

indirect object An indirect object is a complement of a transitive verb. It normally comes between the verb and the direct object (Jean in I gave Jean the old computer). It can be elicited by a question introduced by who(m) (Who do you give the old computer (to)7. — Jean), and can be made subject of a corresponding passive sentence (Jean was given the old computer). The indirect object typically has the role of recipient or beneficiary of the action.

indirect speech See direct speech,

indirect speech act See speech act.

infinitive The infinitive has the base form of the verb. It may be preceded by infinitival to (to be, to say), but the bare infinitive (without to) is used after modals (can say), the dummy operator do (did say, doesn't know), and the imperative auxiliary do (Do tell us).

infinitive clause An infinitive clause is a clause whose verb is an infinitive ('I want to learn Chinese').

inflection An inflection is an affix that expresses a grammatical relationship, such as the plural -s in candidates and the -ed ending in wanted. In English, inflections are always suffixes.

initialism See acronym,

instrumental case See case.

interjection An interjection is an exclamatory emotive word that is loosely attached to the sentence or used as an utterance by itself, such as oh and boo.

interrogative An interrogative (or interrogative sentence) is a sentence type in which there is subject-operator inversion (the operator coming before the subject), as in Do you know them? (in contrast to the declarative word order in You know them). The exception is if the subject is a wh-item in wfo-questions, in which case the subject retains its position, as in Who knows them? (in contrast to Who do they know?).

Interrogatives are typically used to ask questions.

interrogative adverb The interrogative adverbs are how, when, where, and why. They are used to form wTi-questions: How did you find it? When did you last see her?

interrogative determiner/pronoun The interrogative pronouns are who, whom, whose, which, and what. The interrogative determiners are which, what, and whose. Like the interrogative adverbs, they are used to form Wi-questions: Who wants to play? Whose desk is this?

intertextuality Intertextuality is the relationship between a text and other past or coexisting texts. That relationship accounts for the conventions of genres and intentional deviations from conventions and for allusions.

intransitive phrasal verb See phrasal verb.

intransitive verb An intransitive verb is a verb that does not have a complement.

intrinsic See deontic.

left dislocation In left dislocation, an anticipatory noun phrase ('a phrase dislocated to the left') is followed by a pronoun that occupies the normal position for the phrase: 'Your mother, she was just misunderstood'. In right dislocation, an anticipatory pronoun is in the normal position and an explanatory phrase appears later:' They're
not great social animals, computer scientists.'

lexical cohesion See cohesion,

lexical word See closed class.

main clause A main clause is a clause that is not subordinate to another clause. It may be coextensive with the sentence or it may be co-ordinated with one or more other main clauses.

main verb The main (or lexical) verb is the head of the verb phrase (smoking in may have been smoking) and is sometimes preceded by one or more auxiliaries [may have been in may have been smoking).

mandative subjunctive See subjunctive.

marginal auxiliary See auxiliary.

marker of apposition See apposition.

mass noun See count noun.

modal auxiliary See auxiliary.

monotransitive See transitive.

monotransitive phrasal-prepositional verb See phrasal-prepositional verb.

monotransitive prepositional verb See prepositional verb.

mood Engish has three moods of verbs: indicative, imperative, and subjunctive. The indicative applies to most verbs in declarative sentences and to verbs in interrogatives and exclamatives. The imperative and the present subjunctive have the base form of the verb, and the past subjunctive is confined to were. See also subjunctive.

morph See morpheme.

morpheme A morpheme is an abstract unit established for the analysis of word structure. It is a basic unit in the vocabulary. A word can be analysed as consisting of one morpheme (sad) or two or more morphemes (unluckily, compare luck, lucky, unlucky), each morpheme usually expressing a distinct meaning. When a morpheme is represented by a segment, that segment is a morph. If a morpheme can be represented by more than one morph, the morphs are allomorphs of the same morpheme: the prefixes in- (insane), il- (illegible), im- (impossible), ir- (irregular) are allomorphs of the same negative morpheme. A portmanteau morph represents more than one morph: men is a combination of the morpheme for man plus the plural morpheme. An empty morph is a morph that lacks meaning; for example, the -o- in combining forms such as psychology. A suppletive morph is a morph from a different root that is used in a grammatical set; for example, went is the suppletive past of the verb go. A zero morph is postulated where a morpheme is expected in the grammatical
system but is not represented; for example, the zero relative pronoun in a letter I wrote (compare a letter that I wrote). A free morph is one that occurs independently as a word, whereas a bound morph is always combined with one or more other morphs to form a word: inflections such as the plural -5 are bound morphs, as are the suffix -ness in goodness and the bound root morph cran- in cranberry.

morphology Morphology is the study of the structure of words.

multi-word verb A multi-word verb is a combination of a verb with one or more other words to form an idiomatic unit. The most common multi-word verbs are phrasal verbs (e.g. give in) and prepositional verbs (e.g. rely on).

nominal adjective A nominal adjective is an adjective that functions as the head of a noun phrase. Like adjectives in general, nominal adjectives may be modified by an adverb (very sick in They looked after the very sick) and take comparative and superlative forms (poorer in She employed the poorer among them, best in The best is yet to come).

nominal Clause Nominal clauses have a range of functions similar to those of noun phrases. For example, they can be the subject of a sentence: the that-dause in That they believe him is doubtful, and the whether-clzuse in Whether or not I am invited is irrelevant.

nominal relative clause A nominal relative clause (or independent relative clause or free relative clause) is a clause whose introductory wfo-word is a fusion of a relative pronoun or relative determiner with an implied antecedent: Whoever said that ('Any person who ...') needs his head examining; What you want ('The thing that you want') is too expensive; They don't know how to behave ('the way that they should behave'). See
also relative clause.

nominal relative determiner/pronoun Nominal relative pronouns and determiners introduce nominal relative clauses. There are twelve nominal relative pronouns: who, whom, whoever, whomever, whosoever, whomsoever, which, whichever, whichsoever, what, whatever, whatsoever. Which and what and their compounds can also be determiners.

nominative case See case.

non-count noun A non-count (or uncountable or mass) noun does not have a plural form; for example: furniture, happiness, information. Many nouns that are generally non-count can be treated as count when they are used to refer to different kinds [French wines) or to quantities (two coffees, 'two cups of coffee'). See also count noun.

non-finite See finite,

non-generic See generic,

non-restrictive See restrictive,

non-rhotic accent See rhotic accent,

non-specific See specific,

non-standard See standard English.

noun A noun is a word that (alone or with modifiers) is capable of functioning as subject (rice in 'Rice is grown in this country'), or direct obiect ('I like rice'), or complement of a preposition ('This is made from rice',.

noun phrase A noun phrase is a phrase whose head (possibly its only word) is a noun (coffee in 'I prefer black coffee'), a pronoun (that in 'I prefer that'), or a nominal adjective (elderly in 'I prefer catering for the elderly'). See also nominal adjective.

nuclear tone A nuclear tone is the most prominent movement of pitch within a tone unit, a segment in an utterance that contains a distinct sequence of tones. The most common nuclear tones are falls (or falling tones) and rises (or rising tones).

Object See direct object, indirect object.

objective case See case.

object predicative See subject predicative.

operator The operator is a verb that is being used for negation, interrogation, emphasis, and abbreviation. When the main verb be is the only verb in the verb phrase, it can function as operator (is in He isn't in and Is he in7.). In British English in particular, the main verb have can similarly function as operator (has in Has he any children?). Otherwise, the operator is the first (or only) auxiliary in the verb phrase (may in May I come in? and 15 in Is it raining?). In the absence of another potential operator, the dummy operator do is introduced (did in Did you see them?).

optative subjunctive See subjunctive
.
orthographic An orthographic word is the written form of a word as conventionally spelled and separated from other words. An orthographic sentence is a sentence in writing, usually signalled by an initial capital letter and a final stop (period, question mark, or exclamation mark).

paradigm A paradigm is a set of grammatically related forms, such as the five forms of the irregular verb drive, drive, drives, driving, drove, driven.

parataxis See hypotaxis.

part of speech See word class.

participle There are two participles: the -ingparticiple (or present participle) and the -ed participle (or past participle). Both are non-finite forms of verbs. The -ing participle always ends in -ing (shouting, singing, writing). The -ed participle ends in -ed in regular verbs (shouted), where it is identical with the simple past (They shouted at him, He was shouted at), but it need not have an -ed ending in irregular verbs (sung, written). The -ingparticiple is used to form the progressive aspect (He was shouting), and the -ed participle is used to form the perfect aspect (She has written) and the passive (It was sung beautifully). Both participles function as the verb in non-finite clauses: -ing participle clauses ('Writing letters is a chore') and -ed participle clauses ('Written in an unknown script, the inscription posed a challenge to scholars'). See also aspect, passive.

particle A particle is a word that does not take inflections and does not fit into the traditional word classes; for example, the negative particle not and infinitival to. Particles also include the words that are used to form multi-word verbs (in in give in, at in look at, up and with in put up with), though further analysis may differentiate them as adverbs and prepositions.

passive Passive voice is contrasted with active voice. Voice applies only to transitive verbs (those taking an object). The active is the norm. An active sentence will generally take the order subject-verb-object (or possibly two objects, the indirect followed by the direct): Most students take the examination; Sandra took all the money. The corresponding passive sentence will have the active object (the examination; all the money) as subject, the active subject (Most students; Sandra) will optionally appear after the verb in a fey-phrase, and the active verb phrase will be turned into a passive phrase by the introduction of the auxiliary be followed by the - ed participle of the main verb: The examination is taken (by most students); All the money was taken (by Sandra). For all regular verbs and for many irregular verbs the -ed participle is identical with the simple past: Paul invited all the teachers —> All the teachers were invited (by Paul). See also direct object, indirect object.

past See tense.

past perfect The past perfect is a combination of the past of the perfect auxiliary have followed by the -ed participle: had revealed, had made, had seen, had been (crying). See also aspect.

past progressive The past progressive is a combination of the past of the progressive auxiliary fee with the -ing participle of the following verb: was phoning, were having, were being examined. See also aspect.

past subjunctive See subjunctive.

perfect See aspect.

performative verb A performative verb is a verb used to perform the speech act it denotes. For example: I apologize constitutes an apology.


person Three persons are distinguished. The first person indicates the speaker(s) or writer(s); the second person indicates the hearer(s) or reader(s); the third person indicates any others. The distinctions apply to noun phrases and verbs. For example: /is the first person singular of the personal pronoun, and am is the corresponding first person singular of the present tense of be. In the plural, the first person we may be inclusive (including hearer(s)/reader(s)) or exclusive (including others). Similarly, the second person you may include others, though not speakers or writers.

personal pronoun The personal pronouns are I/me, you, he/him, she/her, it, we/us, they/them.

phoneme The English phonemes are the abstract contrastive sound units that are postulated for a description of the sound system of English.

phonetics English phonetics is the study of the sounds used for communications in English.

phonology English phonology is the study of the English sound system.

phrasal-prepositional verb A phrasal-prepositional verb is a multi-word verb in which a verb combines with an adverb and a preposition to form an idiomatic unit. Monotransitive phrasal-prepositional verbs have just one object, a prepositional object ('look down on somebody', meaning 'despise'). Doubly transitive phrasalprepositional verbs take two objects ('let somebody in on something').

phrasal verb A phrasal verb is a multi-word verb in which a verb is combined with an adverb to form an idiomatic unit. The phrasal verb may be intransitive, without an object (shut up 'keep quiet', give in 'surrender'), or transitive ('point out something', 'make up something'). With transitive phrasal verbs the adverb may precede or follow the object ('find out the truth', 'find the truth out'), though if the object is a pronoun the adverb generally follows the object ('find it out).

phrase The phrase comes between the word and the clause in the hierarchy of grammatical units. Five phrase types are distinguished: noun phrase, verb phrase, adjective phrase, adverb phrase, prepositional phrase.
pidgin See Creole.

polysemy Polysemy refers to the range of meanings denoted by a word. Hand is polysemous, denoting (for example) the hand of a human being and the hand of a watch, meanings that are perceived as related. Polysemy contrasts with homonymy, where words having the same form are perceived as distinct and unrelated in meaning. See also homonym.

polysyndetic See co-ordination,

portmanteau morph See morpheme.

possessive pronoun The possessive pronouns are the possessives of the personal pronouns. They may be dependent (my, your, his, her, its, our, their) or independent (mine, yours, his, hers, its, ours, theirs).

postdeterminer See determiner.

pragmatics Pragmatics is the study of the use of the language and its interpretation in situational contexts.

predeterminer See determiner.

predicate Sentences and clauses are often divided into the subject and the predicate. The predicate consists of the verb and its complements and adverbials that are functioning as adjuncts. In the sentence / met a girl on the train today, I is the subject and the rest of the sentence is the predicate. Excluded from the predicate are sentence adverbials: conjuncts such as therefore and however, and dlsjuncts such as perhaps and on the other hand.


prefix See affix.

preposition A preposition is a word that introduces a prepositional phrase, which consists of a preposition and the prepositional complement. In for your sake, for is a preposition and the noun phrase your sake is its complement. Prepositional complements may also be - ing participle clauses (trying harder in by trying harder) and wh-clauses {whether I will be available in about whether I will be available).

prepositional complement See preposition.

prepositional object A prepositional object is the object of a prepositional verb (the painting in / looked closely at the painting) or the object of a phrasal-prepositional verb (your insults in I've put up with your insults for too long). In both instances, the object is introduced by a preposition.
prepositional phrase See preposition.

prepositional verb A prepositional verb is a multi-word verb in which a verb combines with a preposition to form an idiomatic unit. Monotransitive prepositional verbs take one object, a prepositional object (a grant in I applied for a grant). Doubly transitive verbs take two objects: a direct object and a prepositional object. In Nobody will blame you for the mistake, you is the direct object and the mistake is the prepositional object (introduced by the preposition for). A copular prepositional verb takes a subject predicative as its complement, a waste of time in It looks like a waste of time (compare It looks wasteful, where looks is a copular verb).

present See tense.

present perfect The present perfect is a combination of the present tense of the perfect auxiliary have with the -ed participle of the following verb: has seen, have owned. See also aspect.

present progressive The present progressive is a combination of the progressive auxiliary be with the -ing participle of the following verb: am saying, is taking, are eating. See also aspect.

present subjunctive See subjunctive.

principal parts of verbs The principal parts of a main verb are the three forms of verbs that are sufficient for deriving a list of all forms of the verb. The principal parts are the base form (sail, see, drink, put), the past (sailed, saw, drank, put), and the -ed participle (sailed, seen, drunk, put). From the base form we can derive the -s form (sails, sees, drinks, puts) and the -mgparticiple (sailing, seeing, drinking, putting).

proclitic See clitic,

progressive See aspect.

pronoun Pronouns are a closed class of words that have a range of functions similar to those of nouns; for example they can serve as subject (/ in I know Paula) or direct object (me in Paula knows me). Typically they point to entities in the situation or to linguistic units in the previous or following context. Many pronouns have the same form as corresponding determiners: some is a pronoun in / have some with me, whereas it is a determiner in I have some money with me. See also demonstrative, indefinite determiner/pronoun, interrogative determiner/pronoun, nominal relative determiner/pronoun, personal pronoun, possessive pronoun, quantifier, reciprocal pronoun, reflexive pronoun, relative pronoun, wh pronoun proper noun Proper nouns contrast with common nouns. Proper nouns have unique reference. They name specific people, places, etc. (Esther, New York).

quantifier The primary quantifiers can function either as pronouns or as determiners: many, more, most, a few, fewer, fewest, several, enough, much, more, most, a little, less, least, enough, few, little. There are also compound quantifiers that function only as pronouns; for example: a bit, a lot, a couple.

Received Pronunciation See RP.

reciprocal pronoun The reciprocal pronouns are each other and one another.

reduced relative clause See relative clause.

reduplicative Reduplicatives are compounds formed by the combination of identical words (hush-hush) or near-identical words (flip-flop). The second segment is sometimes not an existing word but one invented for the purpose (chairmanschmairman).

reflexive pronoun In standard English the reflexive pronouns are myself, ourselves, yourself, yourselves, himself, herself, itself, themselves. Singular ourself and themself also used sometimes.

register A register is a variety of the language that relates to the type of activity for which the language is used. Major registers at the highest level of abstraction include exposition, narration, instruction, argumentation. More specific registers include news reports, personal letters, legal language, advertising.

relative adverb Relative adverbs are used to introduce relative clauses. The relative adverbs are when, where, and why. 'the hotel where I stayed', 'the occasion when we first met', 'the reason why he did it'.

relative clause Relative clauses postmodify nouns ('the house that I own'), pronouns ('those who trust me'), and nominal adjectives ('the elderly who are sick'). Sentential relative clauses relate not to any of those items but to a sentence, a clause, or a part of a clause: 'I missed them, which is a pity.' Relative clauses may be restrictive or nonrestrictive, but sentential relative clauses are only non-restrictive. Relative clauses are introduced by a relative item—a relative adverb, a relative determiner, or a relative pronoun. Reduced relative clauses are non-finite clauses that correspond to the full (finite) relative clauses: 'the person to see' ('the person that you should see'), 'the patient waiting in the next room', 'the work set for tomorrow'.

relative determiner Relative determiners are used to introduce relative clauses. The relative determiners are whose and which: 'the patient whose records were misplaced', 'The complaint has been formally lodged, in which case I'd like a copy'.

relative pronoun Relative pronouns are used to introduce relative clauses. The relative pronouns are who, whom, which, that, and zero: 'the candidate who was rejected', 'the meal which I prepared', 'a book that I've just read'. When that is omitted, the relative is the zero relative: 'a book I've just read'.

restrictive Modification may be either restrictive or non-restrictive. Modification is restrictive when the modifier is intended to restrict the reference of the noun phrase. In hair that grows slowly, the postmodifying relative clause that grows slowly distinguishes that type of hair from other types. In 'This is Peter West, who edits a men's magazine', the relative clause who edits a men's magazine is non-restrictive, since it does not restrict the reference of Peter West but instead contributes information about Peter West.

rhotic accent Non-rhotic accents drop the /r/ when it is followed by a consonant sound, as in part. They also drop the /r/ at the end of a word when it comes before a pause. Rhotic accents retain the /r/.
right dislocation See left dislocation, root See base.

RP RP (an abbreviation for Received Pronunciation) is an accent that is typical of educated speakers of British English, though by no means all educated speakers use it. It is not associated with any particular region of the country, but it is associated with speakers from upper and upper-middle social classes.

segregatory co-ordination See co-ordination.

semi-auxiliary See auxiliary.

sentence See clause, orthographic.


sentential relative clause See relative clause.

sequence Of tenses Sequence of tenses applies to indirect speech. It is the relationship between the tenses of the verbs in the reporting clause and the reported clause as a result of backshift of the verb in the reported clause. See direct speech, backshlfting, tense.

simple past See tense,

simple present See tense,

simple sentence A simple sentence consists of one main clause, without any subordinate clauses: No fingerprints were found anywhere in the house.

situational deixis See deixis.

situational ellipsis See ellipsis.

specific A noun phrase has specific reference when it refers to a specific person, thing, place, etc. The reference in a novel is non-specific in 'I have always wanted to write a novel', since it does not refer to a particular novel.

speech act The performance of an utterance (spoken or written) in a particular context with a particular intention is a speech act. The intention is the illocutionary force of the speech act. The illocutionary force of You may smoke in here is (for one plausible interpretation) permission and for You mustn't smoke in here it is
prohibition. See performative verb.

spelling pronunciation A spelling pronunciation is a pronunciation that is influenced by the spelling; for example, the pronunciation of the second syllable of Sunday as in day rather than as in the second syllable of ready.

split infinitive A split infinitive is the separation between infinitival to and the infinitive verb by the insertion of one or more words. For example, really splits the infinitive in 'to really understand'. See infinitive.

Standard English Standard English is the national variety of English in countries such as the United States and England and is not restricted to any region within the country. It is to be distinguished from accents with which it may be pronounced. Standard English is pre-eminently the language of printed matter, and is the dialect of English that is taught in the education system. Other dialects of English used in the country are non-standard.

stranded preposition A preposition is stranded when it is left by itself, without a following prepositional complement. With is a stranded preposition in 'It will be dealt with at once'. It is followed by the prepositional complement if in 'I will deal with it at once'. See preposition.

subject The subject of a sentence (or clause) is the constituent that normally comes before the verb in a declarative sentence (They in 'They have told you about it') and changes positions with the operator (subject-operator inversion) in an interrogative sentence ('Have they told you about it?). Where applicable, the verb agrees in number and person with the subject: 'lam ready' (the subject /is first person singular and so is am), 'He cares about you' (the subject he is third person singular and so is cares).

subjective case See case.

subject-operator inversion In subject—operator inversion, the subject and the operator change places. For example, the declarative sentence ' You have spent all of it' has the normal word order, whereas the corresponding interrogative sentence 'Have you spent all of it?' exhibits subject-operator inversion: the operator have comes before the subject you.

subject predicative A subject predicative is the complement of a copular verb such as he or seem. It may be an adjective phrase, an adverb phrase, or a prepositional phrase as well as a noun phrase or a nominal clause: 'Paula feels very self-conscious' (adjective phrase), 'Norman is outside' (adverb), 'I am out of breath' (prepositional phrase), 'Amanda is my best friend" (noun phrase), 'My advice is to say nothing (nominal clause). A complex-transitive verb has two complements: a direct object and an object predicative. In 'I made my position clear', my position is the direct object and clear is the object complement. The predicative relationship between the object and its complement is analogous to that between the subject and the subject predicative in 'My position is clear'.

subject-verb agreement See subject.

subjunctive There are two subjunctives: the present subjunctive and the past subjunctive. The present subjunctive has the base form of the verb, and the past subjunctive is restricted to were. The present subjunctive has three uses. The optative subjunctive expresses a wish: 'God help the Republic'; contrast the indicative helps in 'God helps the Republic'. The suppositional subjunctive expresses a supposition, and is used chiefly with conditional and concessive clauses: 'I can teach him, even though it be inconvenient for me.' The mandative subjunctive is used in tfjaf-clauses that convey an order, request, or intention: 'They demanded that he appear before them for interrogation.' The past subjunctive were is the hypothetical subjunctive, used in hypothetical conditional clauses and some other hypothetical constructions: If I were you, I wouldn't go.'

subordinate clause Subordinate clauses are grammatically dependent on a host (or superordinate) clause or host phrase and generally function as a constituent of their host. In the sentence (coterminous with a main clause) 'I wonder whether they are at home', the whether-cteuse is a subordinate clause. In the noun phrase 'the lunch that I've just finished', the relative clause that I've just finished is a subordinate clause.

subordinator See conjunction,

suffix See affix,

superlative See comparison.

suppletion Suppletion is the use of a word from a different root to complete a paradigm, a grammatically related set of forms. Suppletive went (from the verb wend) is the past of the verb go. See also morpheme.
syndetic co-ordination See co-ordination.

tag question Tag questions are attached to sentences that are not interrogatives. Typically, they are abbreviated yes—no questions: 'You can do it, can't you?', 'It hasn't reached you yet, has it?

tense Tense is a grammatical category referring to the time of a situation. English has two tenses that are signalled by the form of the verb: present and past. The tense distinction is made on the first or only verb in the verb phrase: sings/sang, is/was crying, has/had made. The simple present is the present tense when there is only one verb (the main verb): sings, shows, writes, catches. Analogously, the simple past is the past tense when there is only one verb: sang, showed, wrote, caught.

textual deixis See deixis.

textual ellipsis See ellipsis.

for-infinitive See infinitive.

to-infinitive clause See infinitive.

tone unit A tone unit is a segment of speech that contains a nuclear tone.

transitive phrasal verb See phrasal verb.

transitive verb A transitive verb is a verb that has a direct object or an indirect object or both as its complement(s). Heard is a transitive verb in 'I've heard the news', since heard is followed by the direct object the news. Lend is a transitive verb in 'Lend me your pen', since it is followed by the indirect object me and the direct object your penA monotransitive verb has just one object. A ditransitive verb has two objects: an indirect object and a direct object. A complex-transitive verb has a direct object and an object predicative. See also subject predicative.

verb The term is used in two ways: (1) A verb is a word that displays contrasts such as tense, aspect, mood, voice, number (singular/plural), and person. It is generally inflected to offer non-finite forms: infinitive (write), -ing participle (writing), -ed participle (written). A non-finite main verb (or lexical verb) may combine with one or more auxiliaries (or auxiliary verbs) in a verb phrase: may write, has been writing, could have written, was being written. (2) A verb (consisting of a verb phrase) combines with the subject of the sentence to constitute a minimum sentence: I (subject) won (verb); Dinner (subject) is served (verb); No complaints (subject) have been received (verb); All the guests (subject) have been complaining (verb). If a sentence contains more than one clause, it is usual for each clause to have its own verb: 'The sun is shining, but I predict that it will rain before we leave.' See also participle, verbless clause.

verbless clause A verbless clause is a clause-like structure except that it does not have a verb: 'Let me have your comments today, if possible';' When in doubt, ask me'. See also clause.

verb phrase A verb phrase is a phrase whose head is a main verb (or lexical verb). The main verb may be preceded within the verb phrase by one or more auxiliaries or semi auxiliaries: speaks, is speaking, is going to speak.

vocative A vocative is an optional addition to the basic sentence (or clause) structure, and is used to address directly the person or persons spoken to: 'You have a smudge on your nose, Robin.'

voice Voice is a grammatical category which distinguishes between active and passive. The distinction applies to both clauses and verb phrases. See passive.

wh-adverb The wh-adverbs are used (1) for questions and interrogative clauses: how, when, where, why, (2) for exclamative sentences and clauses: how, (3) for relative clauses: when, where, why, whereby, whereupon, and the two archaic adverbs whence, wherein; (4) for nominal relative clauses: how, when, why, where, (5) for wh-conditional clauses: however, whenever, wherever.

wh-conditional clause A w/i-conditional clause leaves open the number of possible conditions: "Whateveryou've been doing, you've been doing the right thing' ('if you've been doing X, if you've been doing Y , . . . ' ) .

wh-determiner The wh-determiners are (1) for questions and interrogative clauses: which, what, whose; (2) for exclamative sentences and clauses: what, (3) for relative clauses: whose, which; (4) for nominal relative clauses: which, what, (5) for wh-conditional clauses: whatever, whichever. See determiner.

wh-pronoun The wh-pronouns are used (1) for questions and interrogative clauses: who, whom, whose, which, what. (2) for relative clauses: who, whom, which; (3) for nominal relative clauses: who, whom, whoever, whomever, whosoever, whomsoever, which, whichever, whichsoever, what, whatever, whatsoever, for wh-conditional clauses: whoever, whomever, whosoever, whomsoever, whatever, whichever.

wh-question Wh-questions and wh-interrogative clauses are introduced by a wh-word, which may be alone or within a phrase: 'Who is next?'; 'To what do I owe this visit?'; 'They asked me which way they should go'.

wh-word Wh-words are words beginning with wh-, but they also include how and its compounds (such as however).

word class A word class (or part of speech) is a class of words, such as noun and verb, that share characteristics. Word classes may be open classes (open to new words) or closed classes (which generally do not admit new words). Classes may be divided into subclasses; for example, within nouns the distinction between common nouns and proper nouns.

word-formation Word-formation refers to the processes of forming new words from existing words or segments of words.

word order Word order is the order of constituents within a phrase, clause, or sentence. For example, in a declarative sentence the normal word order is subject, verb, direct object: All the workers (subject) have signed (verb) the petition (direct object).

yes-no question A yes-no question is a question that typically may be appropriately answered by yes or no. Yes—no questions have subject-operator inversion, in which the operator comes before the subject: 'Are (operator) you (subject) ready?'; 'Have (operator) they (subject) finished their breakfast?'; 'Do (operator) we (subject) pay for ourselves?'

zero article A zero article (or zero determiner) is postulated for noun phrases where no article (or other determiner) is present. It is a device for simplifying the grammar by assuming a contrast that is elsewhere present in the singular: the contrast between the definite article the and the indefinite article ajan is extended to the plural, as in a student, the student, (zero article) students, the students. See also definite article, morpheme.

zero relative The zero relative (or zero relative pronoun) is postulated at the beginning of a relative clause when no relative pronoun is overtly present. For example, the relative pronouns which and that introduce the relative clauses in 'computer games which I enjoy'; 'the car that they have just bought'. The same clauses are said to be introduced by a zero relative when these pronouns are omitted.: 'computer games I enjoy'; 'the car they have just bought'. See also morpheme.

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Referensi :

Greenbaum, Sidney. 1996. The Oxford English Grammar. Oxford University Press.