THE UNIVERSITY OF DANANGUNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE
STUDIESDEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES
GROUP WORKENGLISH SYNTAXQuestion 4THE SEMANTIC CLASSIFICATION OF
ADJUNCTS IN ENGLISH SENTENCE
GROUP MEMBER:ng Nguyn Bo TrnTrn Th Thy NgnL Th Ngc TrangPhan Th
UynPhm c Trung CLASS: 14CNATM04
DANANG, 9/2015CONTENTPageI. Introduction Adjuncts .. 3II.
Adjuncts of Space ... .. 4II.1 DefinitionII.2 RealizationII.3
Classification II.3.1 Position adjuncts. 5 II.3.2 Direction
adjuncts II.3.3 Distance adjunctsII.4 Position of Space adjuncts in
sentence 6III. Adjuncts of Time 7 III.1 Definition III.2
Realization III.3 Classification ..8 III.3.1 Time-position
adjuncts...8 III.3.2 Adjuncts of Duration and Span..9 III.3.3
Time-frequency adjuncts...10 III.3.4 Time-relationship adjuncts12
III.4 Position of Time adjuncts in sentence.....12IV. Process
Adjuncts......13 IV.1 Definition IV.2 Classification IV.3 Manner
adjuncts ....13 IV.3.1 Realization IV.3.2 Position ....14 IV.4
Adjuncts of Means, Instrument and Agency .....14V. Adjuncts of
Respect .15 V.1 Definition V.2 Position in sentence V.3 ExamplesVI.
Adjuncts of Contingency . ..16 VI.1 Definition VI.2 Classification
VI.2.1 Reason adjuncts VI.2.2 Purpose adjuncts VI.2.3 Result
adjuncts VI.2.4 Conditional adjuncts 17 VI.2.5 Concession
adjunctsVII. Conclusion
.............................................................................................17REFERENCE
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I. INTRODUCTION ADJUNCTS
Adjuncts are one of the four main categories ofadverbial; the
others aresubjuncts, disjuncts, and conjuncts. Adjuncts are the
only adverbials which function similarly to the sentence
elements,Subject,Object, andComplement. (In the two basicclause
patterns which contain adverbials Subject + Verb + Adverbial (SVA)
and Subject + Verb + Object + Adverbial (SVOA) the adverbial will
always be an adjunct.) There are two main categories of
adjuncts:predication adjunctsandsentence adjuncts. Predication
refers to the part of a clause (orsentence) whichfollowstheverb
element.) The predication category is further divided into two
sub-categories:obligatory predication adjunctsandoptional
predication adjuncts. The second main category of adjuncts
issentence adjuncts.Whereas predication adjuncts modify the verb
element of a sentence or clause, sentence adjuncts apply to a whole
clause or sentence. Adjuncts can be realized by a wide range of
grammatical structures:adverbial phrases(including single-word
adverbs), noun phrases, byfinite and non-finite clauses. They can
be categorized semantically as adjuncts of space, time, process,
respect and contingency.
II. ADJUNCTS OF SPACE II.1 Definition Space adjuncts denote
spatial location, motion or distance. They typically answer the
questions where (position), or where to/from (direction). II.2
Realization Spatial adjuncts realize the roles by means of
prepositional phrases, noun phrases (prediction adjuncts of
distance), the determiners (this, that, which) and nominal clause
(begin with where). E.g: We live in a peaceful countryside.
(prepositional phrase ) He drove a long way to meet his girl
friend. (noun phrase ) They told me to come this way to enter the
car park. (the determiner ) Her mother always wants to know where
she is. (nominal clause ) Space adjuncts are elicited by the
question where (position, direction) and How far (distance). This
is an important point to identify adjuncts of space. E.g: Where
have you been? (position) Where is she going? (direction) How far
did you ride this morning? (distance) II.3 ClassificationThere are
three primary semantic roles that can be distingiushed within the
category of space:+ Position+ Distance+ Direction II.3.1 Position
adjuncts Space position adjuncts refer to a spatial setting or
location for the process (situation or event) and one or more of
the participants in the process. Position adjuncts can be used
freely with verbs (both in stative or dynamic use). e.g: Im
travelling in Hanoi at the moment. We must work outside the
building. Tom is on the top of the mountain. The position role with
respect to persons is often expressed by a with-phrase. e.g: Where
is Joan? She is staying with her mother. II.3.2 Direction adjuncts
Space direction adjuncts can normally be used only with verbs of
motion. They characteristically co-occur with verbs that indicate
movement in space, either to a location or from a location, such as
go, come, travel, or move. e.g: I tried to persude my family to
move to Da Nang to live. They can also express general direction
(path) without stating source or goal e.g: I threw the box through
the window. Direction adjuncts can be devided into goal, source and
path.
II.3.3 Distance adjuncts Space distance adjuncts refer to
spatial extent and answer the question how far. Like position,
distance adjuncts can be used freely with verbs: e.g: Athletes have
to run about 50 kilometres. He is travelling a long way. Distance
adjuncts can be expressed by noun phrases or prepositional phrases:
e.g: We hurried a few miles and then rested. (noun phrase) We
hurried for a few miles and then rested. (prepositional phrase)
II.4 Position of Space Adjuncts in sentence With an appropriate
verb, a sentence can have more than one space adjunct and even have
two adjuncts of the same semantic role: e.g: They ran several miles
on the mountain road. (distance + position) The plan felt into the
sea near the island. (direction + position) Birds fly hundreds of
miles to the South. (distance + direction) Most people do exercise
at the gym in the city. (position + position) II.4.1 Order If a
sentence has two or more adjuncts, they are ordered as follows:
Distance Direction (goal, source) Position e.g: I walked a mile
down the street on a darkened road. II.4.2 Position Irrespective of
semantic role, space adjuncts are normally at the end of the
sentence. Adjuncts of position can be easily moved to the initial
position: e.g: Students must wear uniform at school. => At the
school, students must wear uniform. Some short adjuncts can also be
at the medial position: e.g: Im here waiting for the bus to come
home. Predication adjuncts of position and direction can occur at
the initial position: e.g: Behind the man stood a little boy. In
negative sentence, predication adjuncts must be at the end: e.g: A
little boy did not stand behind the man. But sentence adjuncts can
be at the initial position: e.g: In the desert, it often did not
rain for months.
III. ADJUNCTS OF TIME III.1 DefinitionTime adjuncts locate
events and states in time (sometimes in relation to other events)
or specify their duration or frequency. They are typically elicited
by the question when (time position and time relationship), (for)
how long (time duration) and how often (time frequency).Time
adjuncts interact with verb categories in situating events
temporally: time position adjuncts may share features of tense,
while some relationship adjuncts share features of aspect, and
frequency adjuncts of modality. III.2 Realization Adjuncts of time
are primarily realized by prepositional phrases and adverb: e.g: I
learnt to paint in two years. They always come home at Christmas.
On the following day, she decided to meet him. I often get up at 6
oclock. He usually stays up late to prepare for the exam. In
addition, a wide range of structures is also used to express
adjuncts of time:+ Noun phrases e.g: I visit my family every
weekend. + Finite verb clauses e.g: Swallows fly to the South when
winter comes. + Nonfinite clauses e.g: After having spent an hour
watching TV, I went to bed.+ Verbless clauses e.g: Phone me when
possible. + Closed-class adverb phrases e.g: She never does
exercise. + Open-class adverb phrases e.g: They told me about the
news quite lately.
III.3 Classification III.3.1 Time-position Adjuncts Time
position adjuncts establish a temporal location for a situation or
an event, refer to a point or a period in time, to an interval in
the course of which an event takes place, or to a time span. Can be
eicited by the question word when and the time specified may be
narrowly stated or left rather vague. E.g: When did she leave? At
6.00 pm The time postion it self may be narrow E.g: John was born
in 1992. It may be broad E.g: John lived in the 20th century. The
general anaphoric pro-form for time position reference is then It
is associated with the past, in constrast E.g: I worked in
publishing then, but now I work for an advertising film. Then can
refer to a time in the future E.g: She will telephone you tomorrow
morning and hopes that youll be able to speak to her then. Now
confined to present-time reference (=By the time ,=then) E.g: He
had been a teacher for 2 year and he now felt that he was
interested in it. Can be in a hierarchical relation, usually with
the one denoting the longer or superordinate period coming second
E.g: Ill see you at nine [A1] on Friday [A2]. The doctor wants to
see you again [A1] afterwards [A2].
NOTEOut of context, a when-clause may be ambiguous: Tell me when
youre ready. This may be a noun clause as oject (Let me know the
time at which youll be ready.) or a time - position adjunct (When
youre ready, let me know.) III.3.2 Adjuncts of Duration and Span
Adjuncts may express duration of specific or indefinite length, the
durations in question being in the past, the present or the future.
E.g: She worked in Viet Nam for several years. Adjuncts of forward
and backward span specifically relate duration to such a now
Forward span is particularly associated with till and until E.g: I
shall be in my company until 6oclock. The beginning of the time
span is fixed in relation to the speakers orientation point, but
its terminus is as indicated by the adjunct only if the clause is
positive. E.g: He waited until she returned. By contrast: He didnt
wait until she returned. The span indicated by the adjunct marks
the extent of the nonoccurrence of the momentary action E.g: She
didnt do his homework until his mother came back home. Backward
span is associated with since and the perfect aspect E.g: I have
been at home since 7oclock. For can be used or a noun phrase
without for E.g: I have been at home for an hour. Backward span
isnt be related to the speakers orientation point .We deal with
duration (definite or indefinite). E.g: She was playing badminton
for 2 hours. Since-clauses: do or dont have verbs in the perfect
E.g: Hes been getting stomachache since he ate hot red
pepper.NOTEa/ Span may be specified also by from, up to, over, by,
before and by noun phrases like this past (month), these last (few
days), this next yearE.g: She has arrived only this last week.The
beginning and end of a span can be indicated by the correlatives
from...to, from...through, between...andE.g: The shop is opened
between 7 and 9 oclock.b/ Especially informally, the main clause
refers to the present, backward span can be expressed without the
perfectE.g: She never met him here before.c/ Adjuncts of duration
and span answer question of the form How long...?, Till when ..?
Since when...? III.3.3 Time-frequency Adjuncts Time frequency
adjuncts indicate the frequency with which the action denoted by
the verbs occurs. Definite frequency Frequency occasion (How many
time?) and frequency of period ( How often ?). The former are
normally predication adjuncts, the latter sentence adjuncts and
when in a hierarchical relation these are placed in the more
peripheral position. Frequency of occasion: once, twice, Frequency
of period: daily, nightly, weekly, every week/month, each year,
E.g: - Peter went to the library three times. (occasion) - Peter
went to the library daily. (period) - Peter went to the library
three times (occasion) every week. (period).
Indefinite frequency
All kinds of Indefinite frequencya) Usual occurrence: normally,
generally, ordinarily, commonly, usually, E.g: Christine usually
has pizza for dinner. But: Since one speak of something normally
not occurring, it is a characteristic of these adjuncts to be
sentential and to be capable of preceding a clausal negative. E.g:
Usually, Christine doesnt have pizza for dinner.b) Universal
frequency: always, continually, permanently, constantl,
incessantly, E.g: I always go to school on foot.c) High frequency:
often, time and again, repeatedly, frequently, regularly,... E.g:
He often does housework.d) Low frequency: occasionally, rarely,
seldom, never, infrequently, E.g: He rarely goes to school on
time.
How to use thema. If placed at I, some items in d) can oblige us
to invert subject and operator. E.g: Never have I experienced such
rudeness.b. Unlike the adjuncts in a) and b), some of those in c)
and d) can be used in antithetic sentence sequences. E.g: Often he
takes his medicine, but often he doesnt. She occasionally greets me
but occasionally she doesnt.c. Items from a) and other subsets as
sentence adjuncts can readily co-occur with predication adjuncts
from b), c) or d). E.g: Ordinarily (a), they are continually (b)
complaining. She never (d) goes out at night, normally (a).
Sometimes (d), the dog barks repeatedly (c).
III.3.4 Time-relationship adjuncts Time-relationship adjuncts
express a relationship between two time positions.1. Typically
denoting a temporal sequence. E.g: When did Peter previously visit
his mother?2. Typically implying a concessive relation. E.g: I
cannot get it now.3. Typically contrasting one time with another.
E.g: You should try again. III.3.5 Position of Time adjuncts in
sentence Time adjuncts are most frequently at the end or at the
initial position of the sentence. The medial position is also
common for time adjuncts, especially those realized by adverbs.
Where more than one type of time adjuncts co-occur in the same
sentence, they are ordered as following: duration frequency
position Examples: I was born in 1993. Normally, I dont get up
early in the morning. He has recently finished his final exam. I
used to stand there for an hour [duration] every day [frequency] in
the past [position].
IV. PROCESS ADJUNCTS IV.1 DefinitionProcess adjuncts are used to
express how the action happened or the state existed; establish the
instrument used to accomplish an action or the measure of the
action, state, quality that they modify. IV.2 Classification
Adjunts define in some way the process denoted by the verb. They
can be divided into several semantic subclasses:+ Manner adjuncts+
Means adjuncts+ Instrument adjuncts+ Agency adjuncts IV.3 Manner
adjuncts IV.3.1 RealizationAdjuncts of manner can be realized by:+
Adverb phrases E.g: Present your case carefully.+ Like - phrases
E.g: Simon drinks his pints like a demon.+ As - clauses E.g: She is
as smart as he is brilliant.+ Prepositional or noun phrases E.g:
She replied to questions with great courtesy.
IV.3.2 PositionManner adjuncts are almost always at the end of
the sentence, but although thus associated with the greatest
rehtorical weight in clause ,there is no simple interrogative
device for eliciting them. IV.4 Adjuncts of Means, Instrument and
Agency Three kinds are close semantic similarities .There is
considerable overlap in realization. Both the Means and Agent are
often expressed with by-phrases, but the latter is grammatically
distinct in correlating with the passive (and hence corresponding
to a transitive clause). Example of Agent: Her windows were broken
by Jack. (Jack broke her windows) => Correlating with the
passive. Example of Means: - I go to school by car. - He decided to
treat the patient surgically. - I try to persuade me by a lot of
money. => Means adjuncts can occur in a transitive clause.
Instrument adjuncts differ from both Means and Agent adjuncts in
generally being realized by with phrases. E.g: You can cut the
bread with that knife. Means and Instrument adjuncts can share
realization with adverbs. E.g: - They decided to treat the patient
surgically. (= by means of surgery).
- She examined the specimen microscopically. (where the adverb
is here intended to mean with a microscope) NOTE Means and
Instrument adjuncts can be elicited by How questions. e.g: How can
you read an ebook? (by computer /by smart phone/by notepad....).
All Process adjuncts are normally placed at the end, though manner
adjuncts can be at the medial position. Cooccurrence of Process
adjuncts is by no means unusual . e.g: Her hair is usually [manner]
cut with a pair of scissors [instrument] by her haidresser.
[agent]. Position+ Process adjuncts are usually placed at the end,
since they usually receive the information forcus: E.g: They
treated his friend badlly.+ When the verb is in the passive,
process adjuncts are commonly placed iE: E.g: Discussions have been
tentatively begun .
V. ADJUNCTS OF RESPECT V.1 DefinitionAdjuncts of respect are
adjuncts that express the respect in which the truth value of a
sentence is being claimed. V.2 Position in a sentenceRespect
adjuncts were found to occur in end position in over 80% of the
cases. A small handful occur in medial position, mainly as a
consequence of the syntactic weight of a following obligatory
constituent.
V.3 Examplesa) The finding of Rothwell (1985, p.375) are not
encouraging in this regard, showing decisions on technology to be
usually top-down in character, to the extent that supervisors and
end-users are often the last to know about the nature of the
changes proposes.b) We thanked them for a lovely evening.c) He is
working in a (nearby) factory.
VI. ADJUNCTS OF CONTIGENCY VI.1 DefinitionWith contingency
relations, adjuncts are often used for reason and its correlate
purpose, both of which can be elicited by the same question forms,
Why? What.for?. VI.2 Classification VI.2.1 Reason adjuncts- As well
as by finite clauses, reason adjuncts are realized by prepositional
phrases and nonfinite clauses- Examples: She died of cancer He
bought the book because of his interest in Maths With him being so
nice to me, I cant help falling in love with him. VI.2.2 Purpose
adjuncts Purpose adjuncts are realized by nonfinite clauses. For
example: He goes to the gym every day to keep fit. Shes having a
low cab diet in order to lose weight. Purpose adjuncts can also be
realized by finite clauses. For example: We should bring an
umbrella in case it rains Im taking an English course, so that I
will improve my English faster. VI.2.3 Result adjunctsUsed to show
a result of effect.Examples: It rained so heavily that we couldnt
go out. We felt hungry, so we stopped to have some sandwiches.
VI.2.4 Conditional adjunctsExamples: If you lend me some money, Ill
pay it back to you soon. You can be absent from school provided
that you do all the home work. I dont care who you are or where
youre from as long as you love me. VI.2.5 Concession adjunctsWhen
the concessive relation is expressed by an adjunct, this takes the
form of a prepositional phrase.Examples: He went to class although
he was sick. He bought the ring for her despite his lack of money.
Are you somewhere feeling lonely even though hes right beside
you?
NOTERelative position of adjuncts in sentenceThe whole range of
adjuncts types are ordered as following in a sentence: Respect
Process Space Time Contingency
VII. CONCLUSION
Adjuncts are one of the four main types of adverbials and there
are two main categories: predication adjuncts and sentence
adjuncts. In term of semantic classification, there are many ways
to sort adjuncts. Actually, in lots of different documents, we are
often confused to see some new types of adjuncts. Thus, it is
relevant to compare the dissimilar categories of adjuncts: do they
differ from each other with respect to frequency, placement or
other semantic conditions for use? And further: how diverse is the
group of adjuncts? How much do the adjunct categories really have
in common?Ofcourse, it is very hard to solve those questions. But
in this paper, we have tried our best to present some basic aspects
about adjuncts that we did find out, based on some books and
material. The primary semantic roles of adjuncts are: space, time,
process (manner, means, instrument, agency), contingency,
respect.(*) As we stated above, each type has its own features. So
here we summarize about sub-classification and identification of
adjuncts.ADJUNCT TYPESSUBTYPESIDENTIFICATION
SPACE Position Direction Goal Source Path Distance
Where - question
Where to - question Wherefrom - question
How far - question
TIME Position Duration and Span Frequency Relationship When -
question (for) How long - question How often - question When -
question
PROCESS Manner Means, Instrument and Agency How/In what way
question
RESPECT How - question
CONTINGENCY Reason Purpose Result Conditional Concession
Why question What for question
Though/Although/Inspite of/Despite - clause
Although adjuncts are optional, we use them a lot to make our
sentences clear and easy to understand. The problem is that: How
can we distinguish one type from the others? How can we realize
them in a sentence? How can we put them in the proper order in a
sentence?And how can we use them correctly in our texts? We believe
that there is no way, unless we study hard and keep practising
every day. And to finish our study about adjuncts, we quote an
opinion from the Internet:Just like we add spice to our meals to
make them taste better, adjuncts are used in sentences to amp up
their meaning and make them more luculent. Adjunctions are fun to
play with and can be a single word, a phrase or a clause. Adjuncts
have adverbial functions and are used to describe time, place or
location - modicative, casual, instrumental or conditional.
Adjunctions are extra nuclear - they are added or joined to a
well-phrased sentence to enhance its meaning. But then, it would
not make much of a difference to a sentence, if removed.
Adjunctions are more or less like the saucing on the food, which is
used for extra flavor and adds to the look of the food. However,
you cannot add adjunct as you wish; it has to be positioned rightly
to make the statement look unambiguous. In simple terms, adjuncts
can be best described as the use of grammar that gives you the
answers to - why, where, how and when (**)
*************(*) This way of categorization is according to the
book A Students Grammar of The English Language _ Sidney Greenbaum
and Randolph Quirk(**)
http://fos.iloveindia.com/adjunction-examples.html
REFERENCE1. A Students Grammar of The English Language _ Sidney
Greenbaum and Randolph Quirk_Longman2. Adjunct Adverbials in
English _ Hilde Hasselgrd_Cambridge3.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjunct_(grammar)4. Other Internet
source
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