|
-- by Dr. Ed Vavra Sliding constructions can be viewed with alternative explanations, but I separate them because they show how grammatical categories do not have rigid walls. Whereas alternative explanations imply differences in the way people may perceive grammatical constructions, "sliding" implies slippage from one grammatical category to another within the language itself. The simplest example of this is the relationship between some adverbs and prepositional phrases. Adverbs / Ellipsed Prepositional Phrases / Ellipsed Clauses? In a sentence such as "She did this before," some grammarians consider "before" an adverb, but if we ask the perfectly reasonable question, "Before what?" we see that there is, if the sentence has meaning, an implied answer, an answer that would function as the object of "before" as a preposition, or, depending on context, as a subordinate clause: She did this {before today}.Traditional grammar focussed on categorizing words, not sentences. Even less did it consider how the structure within one sentence may depend on the context established by preceding sentences. Note how, in the following passage from a student's paper, "underneath," in the second sentence, gets its object, and thus its meaning, from the preceding sentence: But the most vivid impression left on me this summer by this theater came not from the stage; instead, it came from the rooms underneath the theatre. In this world underneath existed an atmosphere of mystery which made me feel as if I was exploring an old dungeon in a decaying castle. Passive Verb, Gerundive, or Simple Adjective? Consider the following sentences: 1.) The eggs were scrambled.Different grammatical theories have different ways of explaining "scrambled," and the discussions can become very complex. KISS follows traditional grammmar in (1), considering "were scrambled" as a passive finite verb. In (2), however, "scrambled" is usually considered a gerundive (the traditional "participle"). But what is "scrambled" in (3)? Although many grammarians would consider it to be a gerundive, I suggest that it might be considered as a simple adjective. The question, I suggest, depends on how one learns the word. Paul, like many other people, may never have seen eggs scrambled, or, even if he did, the meaning of the word may be more tied, in his head, to the texture etc. of the resulting eggs. In his head, the word may primarily be registered as a simple adjective, comparable to "cold," "warm," or "fresh" eggs. Depending on the context, the speaker, etc., the verbal meaning of a participle (the action) slides into the adjectival (the qualitative). A "well-done steak" is not a steak that has been done well; it is a steak, at least for many of us, that has been cooked such that the middle is not pink. When we speak of a "dilapidated house," we are not usually interested in the process that led to its dilapidation. The origin of the word may be in the verb, but most of us who might use "dilapidated" have probably never used "dilapidate" as a verb. A similar "problem" occurs with present active participles. Paul Roberts, in one of his books, devotes half a page to the problem of whether "moving" in "moving van" is a particple or a regular adjective. His problem, in this case, is that he was working in the context of a structural grammar which attempts to describe English syntax without references to what words mean. In the KISS Approach, which depends on meaning, the distinction is simpler. In "The moving van hit the pedestrian." "moving" would be a gerundive if the speaker/writer meant that the van was in motion; if, on the other hand, the speaker used "moving" to define the type of van, "moving" would be a regular adjective. Some students prefer to analyze "The eggs were scrambled." as an S / V / PA pattern. When they do so, I state that it is an interesting, logical interpretation, and that some grammarians do consider it this way. However I push students toward recognizing it as a passive finite verb phrase so that they will be able to discuss passive verbs. Gerundive
( or Gerund)
You may have already read the
basic KISS explanation of noun absolutes.
But traditional grammar books give little attention to the noun absolute
used as a noun, so I would like to explore the construction more here.
[Please remember that the noun absolute is a Level Five KISS construction.
Please don't confuse students by explaining noun absolutes when they are
working on gerundives (Level Four). For students working at Level Four,
each of the following examples should simply be considered as a gerundive.]
1. A fox was strolling through an orchard till he came to a bunch of grapes just ripening on a vine.In (1), the fox came to a bunch of grapes. That the grapes were ripening is important, but non-essential information. In (2), however, the hares did not run off as soon as they saw a single animal. It had to be an animal that was approaching them. Thus, by considering "animal approaching" as a noun absolute, and that absolute as the direct object of "saw," we can align the grammatical explanation with the meaning of the sentence. One day [the Hares] saw a troop of wild Horses stampeding about, and in quite a panic all the Hares scuttled off . . . (Aesop, "The Hares and the Frogs") 1. This difference is close to the traditional distinction between restrictive and non-restrictive clauses. |
|
This border presents Woman with a Water Jug c.1664-1665. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA. Click here for the directory of my backgrounds based on art. |