2 The Five Grammatical Units 2015.doc

7/26/2019 2 The Five Grammatical Units 2015.doc

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Grammar I Graciela Palacio

LV/ JVG 2012 (revised 2015)

LESSON 2:

THE FIVE GRAMMATICAL UNITS

When we deal with sy!"#, we have to focus on $r"%%"!i&"' i!s. Which are the

rammatical units! "nd how man# rammatical units are there!

"ccordin to $allida# %1&'1(, a )ritish linuist, in *nlish rammar there are five

rammatical units+

1. the sentence

2. the clause

. the -hrase

. the word and

. the mor-heme

he sentence is the larest or hihest unit. Its einnin is mar3ed # the use of ca-ital

letters and its end # a full sto-. he mor-heme is the smallest or lowest unit. $allida#

arranes all five units on " s&"'e * r"+ , sa#in that units of hiher ran3 are com-osed of or

made u- of units of lower ran3. he relation etween the five units is, therefore, one of

&%,si!i or &s!i!e&y.

he se!e&e is com-osed of one or more clauses, for e4am-le+

5% Mr. Funny lived in a teapot (.6

is e se!e&e made u- of e %"i- *ree r ide,ede! &'"se. In this case sentence and

clause coincide. " sentence ma# consist of a sinle clause. We will use s7uare rac3ets to

mar3 the einnin and end of sentences, and round rac3ets to mar3 clauses within

sentences ut this is 8ust a convention.

$owever, if we consider the second sentence of the te4t+

5% It had two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen and a living room) and (it suited Mr.

Funny very nicely(.6

what we find is e se!e&e made u- of !. %"i- *ree r ide,ede! &'"ses. If we

dro--ed the word and, and wrote a full sto- instead, each of the main clauses could stand on

its own, e..+

5 It had two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen and a living room.6 5 It suited Mr. Funny

very nicely.6

If we consider the sentences+

5“Delicious, he murmured to himsel! "as he !inished his !unny lunch9.6

5 #ave you ever seen a car "that looks like a shoe9!6

Pae 1 of / Lesson 2



We will see that the units as he !inished his !unny lunch and that looks like a shoe cannot

stand on their own. We will also call them &'"ses ut the# are not main, free or inde-endent

clauses. We will call them s/rdi"!e r de,ede! &'"ses. :uordinate clauses are not

free or inde-endent as main clauses are.

TO SUM U+

C'"ses can e classified into a. M"i, free or inde-endent and , S/rdi"!e or de-endent.

M"i, free or inde-endent

C'"ses

S/rdi"!e or de-endent

;ow let<s o ac3 to the five rammatical units. We have said so far that accordin to

$allida# the sentence is made u- of clauses. What is the clause made u- of!

he clause is com-osed, or made u-, of one or more ,r"ses =or e4am-le the sentence+

5 Mr. Funny lived in a teapot .6

is made u- of two -hrases, " ,r"se1 Mr. Funny and a ver/ ,r"se lived in a teapot.

What is the -hrase made u- of! he -hrase is com-osed of e r %re .rds.

What is the word made u- of! he word is com-osed of e r %re %r,e%es. )#

mor-heme we understand a minimum unit of form and meanin.

>or-hemes ma# e *ree or /d. A *ree %r,e%e is one that can stand on its own. here

ma# e cases where word and mor-heme coincide. In the case of live we have one word and

one free mor-heme. In the case of teapot we have one word made u- of two free mor-hemes

tea and pot . A /d %r,e%e is one that cannot stand on its own. It ma# e " i*'e&!i

such as ? ed in suited , or " .rd *r%"!i "**i# %-refi4 or suffi4( such as @ly in nicely. If

the# are i*'e&!i"', the# hel- us define the t#-e of word we have, i.e. the# hel- us define

the cateor#. If the# are word formation affi4es, the# are called deriv"!i"' and their

function is to create or derive new words.

TO SUM U+Mr,e%es can e classified into a. Free and . 3d:

Free

Mr,e%es

3d

3d mor-hemes in turn can e a. I*'e&!i"' or . deriv"!i"':

Free

1 raditional Grammar calls this a noun phrase. We will later refer to these -hrases as de!er%ier ,r"ses. hisother lael comes from the framewor3 of Generative Grammar.

Pae 2 of / Lesson 2



Mr,e%es I*'e&!i"'

3d

4eriv"!i"'

What is the mor-heme made u- of! ;othin. he mor-heme has no rammatical structure -recisel# ecause it is the smallest unit. "nd the sentence, which is the larest, does not enter

into the structure of an# unit. here is nothin aove the sentence at the level of $r"%%"r. It

is the larest unit of sy!"&!i& descri-tion.

What we have done so far is called a to- to ottom anal#sis. $owever, instead of sa#in

that a sentence can e ro3en down into smaller and smaller units we miht also loo3 at the

sentence the other wa# around, that is from ottom to to-, and sa# that the units can

comine to form increasinl# larer units. Ane or more than one mor-heme ma# constitute a

word, one or more than one word ma# form a -hrase, one or more than one -hrase ma# form

a clause, one or more than one clause ma# form a sentence.

Less 2 A&!ivi!y 1:

)e read# to answer the followin 7uestions in class+

1. Which are the five rammatical units accordin to $allida#!

2. What is the relation etween them!

. What is a mor-heme!

. $ow can mor-hemes e classified!

Less 2 A&!ivi!y 2: %o e handed in as Assi$%e! 2(

he words and, or and but are called &rdi"!i$ &&!is and the# lin3 %"i clauses.

Loo3 at the followin sentences and state how man# %"i &'"ses the# are made u- of. Bse

s7uare rac3ets to mar3 the einnin and end of each sentence, and round rac3ets to mar3

main clauses. Bse anle rac3ets, if there should e an# s/rdi"!e &'"ses. Consider the

followin e4am-le+

5%John -la#s as3etall( ut %>ar# sa#s Dthat he -la#s tennis9(.6 Oe se!e&e %"de , *

!. %"i &'"ses "d e s/rdi"!e &'"se .i!i !e se&d %"i &'"se

1. I ot u- at seven this mornin.

2. I ot u- at seven and I had rea3fast.

. I ot u- at seven and had rea3fast.

. Jane is at home ut her husand isn<t.. Eon<t ma3e a move or I<ll shoot.

'. "nn was tired so she decided that she would have an earl# niht.

R EFERENCES+

$allida#, >. %1&'1( Cateories of the theor# of rammar. $ord 1F, 22@&2. e-rinted as

Cha-ter 2 in >. ". H. $allida# %2002(, %n grammar, &olume ' o! he collected works o! M

*. +. #alliday edited # Jonathan J. Wester. London ;ew or3+ Continuum.

Pae of / Lesson 2

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2 The Five Grammatical Units 2015.doc