THEME 2

THE SENTENCE

Outline
1. Definition of the sentence; its distinctive
features
2. Aspects of the sentence: formal, semantic,
functional
3. Structural classification of sentences
 Key Terms
O ambiguous, ambiguity O distinctive feature
O covert O functional sentence
O to explicate perspective
O extralinguistic O mood, modality
O instance, instantiation O referent situation
O pattern O situation of speech
O token communicative
O construction
situation
O sentence onion
O denotatum
O theme/rheme
 1. THE DEFINITION OF THE SENTENCE.
ITS DISTINCTIVE FEATURES

Sentence (Lat. sententia -‘feeling’, ‘opinion’,

‘way of thinking’). Thus, a sentence is ‘an
utterance that expresses a feeling or opinion’.
A more technical definition: “A sentence is a
grammatically complete unit of speech that
consists of a word or a syntactically related
group of words conveying an assertion,
question, command, wish, or exclamation. In
writing it typically begins with a capital letter
and concludes with a period, question mark, or
exclamation mark”.
 The term “sentence” is
ambiguous since it refers to:
O a specific type of O a pattern filled with
syntactic words
construction,
a generalized pattern,
an abstraction

e.g., "Mr SVOMPT" – e.g. Harry (S) reviews

the formula of the (V) spelling rules (O)
English declarative carefully (M) at home
sentence (P) every day (T).
 To eliminate the ambiguity of the term
‘sentence’, a distinction is made between
sentence type and sentence token.
O The sentence O A sentence token is
type is a a structural pattern
structural pattern filled with words; it
represents a spoken
that is part of the instance of a specific
language system. sentence type.

* When a sentence
token appears in context, it
is referred to as an
utterance.
 Distinctive features of sentence tokens

O form: O content:
linguistic form: both the categories of
spoken and written predicativity,
sentences have it modality, etc.
paralinguistic form
(from Gr. pará – near,
besides, past
something): only
spoken sentences
have it
In their formal linguistic aspect, English
sentences are defined by a fixed word order,
which distinguishes them from a random
sequence of lexical items.

Gentlemen, I shall be brief.

vs. be shall gentlemen I brief;
In Ukrainian, the order of words in a sentence
is not fixed.
Панове, я висловлюсь коротко vs.
Я коротко висловлюсь, панове.
 Formal paralinguistic features of sentences

Extralinguistic means of communication include:

• gestures
• facial expression
• body language
• eye contact
• intonation (tone, pauses, sentence stress, etc.)
While all these elements help distinguish sentence
meanings (e.g., interrogative, declarative, imperative), only
intonation is regarded a distinctive paralinguistic feature of
a sentence.
 The main grammatical category that
defines the content plane of the sentence
is predicativity.
O Predicativity is the relation of the
content of the sentence to the situation
of speech as viewed by the speaker.
The syntactic meaning of predicativity is conveyed:

- paralinguistically (by intonation, which signals

completeness);
- through morphological meanings of the verb:
- objective modality (expressed through mood);
- temporality (indicated by tense);
- personality (shown by grammatical person), etc.
- through lexical meanings of the verb:
- subjective modality (conveyed by modal verbs)
The sentence onion

A helpful visual representation of how verbal

categories contribute to predicativity is the
‘sentence onion’, which consists of a ‘hard core’
surrounded by multiple ‘layers’.

The further a layer is from the core, the greater

is its role in expressing predicativity.
7

1
The outermost layer (1) represents the speaker’s
subjective attitude to the event described
(……………………………).
The next layer (2) represents the speaker’s
objective evaluation of the event described
(……………………………).
The next one (3) pertains to the speaker's
perspective of viewing the situation described in the
sentence (………………………….).
Layer (4) relates to the moment the event occurs
(……………………..).
Layer (5) represents the time at which the event
described is situated in relation to the speech
act time or other events (………………….).
The innermost layer (6) concerns the internal
progression of the event
(………………………………………………..).
The core of the sentence onion (7) is formed by the
subject-relational categories of the verb
Attendance Quiz 2
According to the relation of its constituents, the phrase next Sunday is ___.
O kernel progressive
O kernel regressive
O non-kernel independent
O non-kernel dependent

A sentence token is ____

O An abstract structural pattern
O a structural pattern filled with words
O a sentence in context
O a written sentence

Predicativity is a characteristic feature of ___.

O sentences proper
O quasi-sentences
O phrases
O words

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSecZhJpb-MFFLQuqJEu7k0z1Op-VqJjcQxlsuE2tXvuEeX1fA/viewform?usp=sf_link

https://forms.gle/6V2YQqPtM9RujXTy6
 2. ASPECTS OF THE SENTENCE:
FORMAL, SEMANTIC, and FUNCTIONAL
The sentence is set in a multiple
system of coordinates.
Being a nominative unit, it possesses a
form and a content. Hence, it can be
characterized in its formal and
semantic aspects.
Being a communicative unit, the
sentence performs certain functions.
Hence, it can be considered in its
functional aspect.
 1. The formal study of sentences
addresses the following issues:

O ways in which the sentence differs

from a linear succession of words;
O the principles of its structural
organization;
O the formal markers of its semantic
distinctions.
 2. The semantic study of sentences
focuses on the following issues:
O semantic categories of the sentence
(predicativity, modality, etc.);
O semantic features of its components
– clauses, members of the sentence;
O semantic characteristics of
combinations of clauses;
O the deep semantic structure of a
sentence
 3. The functional aspects of sentences
relate to:

O the communicative (functional)

perspective of the sentence;

O the pragmatic aspects of the

sentence (its speech-act
characteristics)
The communicative (functional) perspective
of a sentence (V. Mathesius):
O the theme (the starting point of the
message which does not reflect the aim
with which the sentence is uttered;
contains the information on what the
sentence is about)
O the rheme (communicatively the main
part of the sentence which relates to the
aim with which the sentence is uttered;
presents additional, new information)
Cf.:The best day to start is tomorrow –
Tomorrow is the best day to start.
The sentence shall be further considered as a
trichotomy of form, meaning and function.

Accordingly, distinction is drawn between

such areas of syntactic theory as:
- construction syntax,
- semantic syntax,
- functional syntax (communicative and
pragmatic).

In sentence tokens, these aspects are

inextricably linked, so the distinction is
essentially a research convention.
 3. THE STRUCTURAL CLASSIFICATION
OF SENTENCES

O Is Hey, you! a sentence or not?

The answer depends on whether we start from its
meaning, function, or form.
In this framework, we will first classify sentences on a
structural basis in alignment with their semantic
characteristics. Since predicativity is the constitutive
feature of a sentence, it would be logical to use it as
the foundation for categorizing English sentences into:
- sentences proper (referred to simply as
‘sentences’), which are predicative structures,
- quasi-sentences, which lack this categorial feature.
 Types and subtypes of sentences :

Sentences

Sentences proper Quasi-sentences

declarative vocative
interrogati
interjective
ve
imperativ Meta-
e communicati
optative ve
 Characteristic features
of the types of sentences proper
Sentence Syntactic Communicativ
token characteristics e function
Declar John is subject + whole giving
a-tive leaving. predicate information
about
something
Interro Is John part of predicate + asking for
-gative leaving? subject + rest of information
predicate about
something
Optativ If John only if + subject + expressing
e left! whole predicate one’s desire that
somebody
should do
something
Impera Leave! predicate by itself getting
-tive somebody do
 Characteristic features
of the types of quasi-sentences
Sentenc Syntactic Communic
e characteristics ative
pattern function

Vocative John! denotation of to address

the person someone
addressed

Interjective Ouch! interjection to express

emotion
Meta- See you! greeting / parting to establish
communica words or
tive terminate
contact
Declarative and interrogative sentences
differ in their informational aspect: the former
provide information, and the latter call for
information.

The amount of information carried by

declarative sentences varies.

e.g. I am asking that because I want to know

as an answer to the question Why are you
asking that? repeats the predicative part of
the preceding sentence thus giving redundant
information.
Declarative sentences can be positive or
negative, i.e., they assert or negate the
predicative link between the subject and the
predicate.

We call a sentence negative only if negation

concerns the predicate (the so-called
"general negation"), e.g., You don't
understand him at all.

Special negation can refer to any member

of the sentence except the predicate, e.g.
Not a person could be seen around.
Interrogative sentences are not
"pure questions": they carry some
information, which is called the
presupposition of the question.

e.g. Why are you asking that? has a

presupposition <You are asking that>;
Why have you murdered your wife?
presupposes that the addressee has
murdered his wife.
Interrogative sentences demonstrate
a great variety of meanings, forms,
and pragmatic functions. Due to that,
only their most general features can
serve as a basis for setting them
apart:

- a specific intonation contour;

- the inverted order of words;
- interrogative pronouns;
- the information gap in the
knowledge of the subject about the
denotatum, etc.
Alternative questions do not form a
special type. Alternativity can be
brought both into general and special
questions

e.g., Is it Peter or John? Who(m) do you

like better, Peter or John?

Disjunctive (tag) questions are a

variety of general questions.
 General Questions Special Questions
Formal Features
- no interrogative pronouns - wh-pronouns
- a rising intonation contour - a falling intonation contour

Semantic Features
- a request for information about - a request for some specific
the existence of a link between information
the entity expressed by the
subject and its characteristics
(static or dynamic)

Functional Features
- call for an answer "Yes / No", - are to be answered with a
"Certainly", "Perhaps", "Never", declarative sentence
etc.
Quasi-sentences are called
"sentences" due to their:

- ability to substitute a sentence (take

its position in a speech chain);

- discreteness;

- intonation properties.
Yet quasi-sentences cannot be said to have a
full sentential status (hence the prefix quasi-
from Lat. quasi – as if, like, almost): they can be
embedded into a sentence as syntactically
dependent elements which:
- do not have a nominative meaning (just
evaluative);
- are context dependent, e.g. John!
(amazement, indignation, approval, reproof);
- are easily substituted by non-verbal signals,
e.g. John! Attracting attention: punch in the
ribs, tap on the shoulder, clearing one's throat);
Well done! Phhh (Yak!) Good bye! Hi!
- can be combined, e.g. Oh, John! Hello Cliff!
- can be emotionally coloured (become
exclamatory).
Exclamation is not a structural
element of a sentence, i.e., it is
optional.

Yet certain types of quasi-sentences

demonstrate a tendency to being
exclamatory (the conventionality of the
exclamation mark), e.g. Dear sir! (Cf.
Добрий день, Ганно!).