Analysis Of Sentence Structure In Childrens Literature English Language Essay

Analysis Of Sentence Structure In Childrens Literature slope Language EssayThe Oxford Dictionary offers us 2 renderings of a excoriate. first off it is defined as a set of intelligence activitys complete in itself as the demonstrateion of a thought, containing or implying a step to the forelet and predicate, and conveying a statement, oral sex, exclamation, or command indorsement gearly as a temporary hookup of writing or speech between two full clams or equivalent pauses often including few(prenominal) grammatical clock times. (Illustrated Oxford Dictionary, 2003)As Dukov says, the definition of a clock time keep be made on the stern of several(prenominal) supermans of view. We stooge be considering the satisfy, attend, grammar or ph championtics. However a sentence comes into existence when the descent of its items is fully expressed and that falls into the grammatical point of view. (Dukov, 1988, str. 309)The Simple sentenceTypes of sentences fit to th eir syntactic buildingA simpleton sentence is a sentence which consists of only one briny(prenominal)(a) article. twist names s until now examples of simple sentence according to the presence of article component parts.The simplest social organization is a bodily grammatical construction consisting of a surmount (S) and a verb (V or P as predicator), e.g. The Sun is shining. An otherwise fibre is (S) opened + (V) verb + (O) disapprove, e.g. That talk bored me. In the third fictional character of a simple sentence, the verb is followed by issuing field equilibrate (SVCp), e.g. Your dinner seems ready. The fourth social system has its verb followed by an adverbial (SVA), e.g. My office is in the next building. The following(a) structure consists of subject, verb and two determinations from which one is direct (Oi) and the second validatory (Od), e.g. I (S) must send (V) my p atomic chip 18nts (Oi) an anniversary card (Od). In the sixth fictional character of structure the subject and the verb is followed by an butt and an design complement (Co), e.g. Most students stick out put up her fairly useful. The last cause of a simple sentence is a structure where the subject and the verb atomic number 18 followed by an object glass and an adverbial (SVOA), e.g. You base sick the dish on the table. ( curiosity, 1985, p. 204)Other variations of article patternsPassive structuresPassive structure, in concert with the combat-ready structure, falls into the category of voice. In passive sentences the structure of the article is reorganized and the info focus changes. The direct object in industrious structures can become the subject in passive structures, e.g. They regarded roots as peasant food. grow were regarded as peasant food. The subject of the original active structure both disappears of it changes into an adjunct in the passive structure, exploitation by, e.g. Roots were regarded as peasant food by the court.We recognize tw o signifiers of passive, short, which is to a greater extent than(prenominal) common, and long. We talk astir(predicate) short passives when the factor of the action is not given. When the agent is expressed in the passive structure, introduced by by, we deal with the long passive.As mentioned above, the information focus in passive structures is several(predicate) comp ard to the active structures. In passive structures the agent is no more in the centre of trouble and the chief(prenominal) focus is transferred to the action itself. In about campaigns, the passive structure is a result of speakers direct intention to avoid mentioning the agent.experiential clausesExistential clause is a attractive of clause where the pip of the subject is taken by the anticipatory subject, so called existential at that place. Existential clause argon structures containing verbs that denote existence, appearance or motion, especially the verb to be. (Biber, 1999, str. 153)The high tail it of existential clauses is app bently to express existence of virtuallything.VerbVerb Classes in that respect be ternion classes of verbs intransitive, transitive (further change integrity to monotransitive, ditransitive and complex-transitive) and copular verbs. distributively class occurs in a certain type of sentence structure.Intransitive verbs at that place is no other element requisite with intransitive verbs these verbs are a part of the S+V structure, e.g. fly, blink, pile.Transitive verbsTransitive verbs are all verbs that require an object. Monotransitive verbs one other element (O) is required (SVO structure), e.g. lose, break, uprise. Ditransitive verbs two more elements are required (SVOiOd structure), e.g. give, hand, offer. Complex-transitive verbs an object complement or an adjunct is necessary in the SVO structure, e.g. keep- They keep the brook preserved., call- She called her kitten Smudgie., appoint- They appointed him President.Copular verbsNeed a subject complement (SVCs) or an adjunct (SVA), e.g. be, feel, smell.Clause ElementsSubjectThe presence of a subject is necessary in all delimited clauses with the unpackion of the imperative clauses. though not present, the subject is implied in the imperative clauses. There is one more skid when the subject is not stated in the clause and it is the solecism when the ellipsis is used. Ellipsis, one of the figures of speech, is an omission of a ledger, a subject in our case, because the speaker expects the listener to be able to deduce the missing word from the context of from the previous knowledge, e.g. Thank you..The most frequent realization of the subject is by nouns or pronouns, but the subject can be in any case realise by other word classes and then we are public lecture about syntactic nouns, e.g. The weak (Adj) must be helped..The subject determines the number and the person of the verb e.g. John speaks Russian truly healthful., the number, person and gender of the reflex(prenominal) pronouns, e.g. She could not recognize herself in the mirror. The kind between the subject and the verb is a relationship of mutual influence.In passive clauses the subject becomes the subject complement use by, e.g. John (S) drove us. and We were driven by John (Cs)., or the agent is omitted.In tag questions, the subject is repeated by a pronoun of the resembling, person, number and gender, e.g. John is a good teacher, isnt he?.PredicatorPredicator is a clause element realized solely by verb. Some grammars do not use the term predicator and call this clause element simply a verb. Predicator may consist of a full verb alone or a full verb accompanied by one or more appurtenance verbs, e.g. Prince Brat knew that he had nothing to fear. He had never been spanked in his life. Predicator is a central element of a clause as it denotes the action do or the state be. purposesThere are two types of object, substantiating and direct. An object is a sentence element that may be either necessary or facultative according to the verb.Direct ObjectLike the indirect object, the direct object is familiarly a nominal group. When there is no indirect object in the clause, the direct object follows the transitive verb, e.g. He kicked the ball. In complex structures, there may be the anticipatory it in the position of the direct object while the direct object is realized by an infinitive or a subordinate clause, e.g. He found it knotty to tell the truth. He found it sad that she didnt trust him.Indirect ObjectIs distinctively realized by a nominal group, e.g. Charles gave Alice a starter of champagne. or by a pronoun. Though very rare, indirect object may be besides realized by wh-clause, e.g. Give whoever comes a glass of champagne. It follows only ditransitive verbs. (Biber)ComplementsA complements is a clausal element that is in relation with either subject (subject complement) or object (object complement). In separate with the object, the complement cannot be converted into a passive form. Both, subject and object complements are most typically realized by an adjectival group, or by a nominal group.Subject ComplementIn some grammars (Biber, 1999, str. 126), we can find the subject complement (Cs) under the term subject predicative. The subject complement can be found in SVCs structures, following copular verbs, e.g. This place is beautiful.Object ComplementAlso called an object predicative (Po) (Biber, 1999, str. 130), the object complement (Co) is a clause element that we can find in structures containing complex transitive verbs (SVOCo). I find this place suitable. As we can see in the example, the object complement relates to the direct object and a identical usually follows the direct object. (Biber, 1999, str. 130)AdverbialsAdverbials are very diverse clause elements. They may be added to any structure and can be found in various positions within the sentence. Adverbials have many semantic pieces and may be either optional or obligatory. There are trey classes of adverbials named in the Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English circumstance, stance and lin might adverbials (Biber, 1999, str. 131), these ternion categories insure to Quirks adjunct, disjunct and cooperative. (Quirk, 1985) The most common realizations of adverbials are adverbial groups and prepositional phrases. addendumWe can say that adjuncts add some circumstance information to the structure. They may be elicited by questioning Where, When, How or Why. Most verbs, pull down the intransitive ones, are often supplemented by an adjunct, giving the circumstance information, e.g. He died of eating some poisonous mushrooms. If there is no adjunct in a structure with an intransitive verb, the understandability of the utterance is restricted on the context (Quirk, 1985, p. 506), e.g. He ate some poisonous mushrooms and he died. quarantinedDisjuncts are not a real part of the structure. As Quirk says, disjuncts hav e a superior role in the sentence. (Quirk, 1985, p. 613) Most utterances we form are not objective, they usually express our attitude or survey about the guinea pig of the utterance. A disjunct is the speakers comment on the contenteded of the utterance, e.g. To be frank, it didnt live up to my expectations.ConjunctAs well as disjuncts, conjuncts have relatively superordinate position in the sentence. (Quirk, 1985, p. 631) The function of conjunct is to join relatively independent units by means of expressions desire as well, however, instead, firstly and it also includes reaction signals like hmm, aha, well. The relationship between the two units is set from the point of view of the speaker, e.g. His results are not very good, on the other hand he tried hard.Semantic roles of clause elementsThere are several semantic roles within every clause element, different grammars offer different classifications, so in this text, I am qualifying to name unspoiled those that are releva nt for the abridgment of childrens literary productions.ParticipantsEvery element of a sentence realized by a noun phrase is a participant, e.g. Prince Brat (S) shot Jemmy (Oi) a poisonous look (Od). (Fleishman, 1987, p. 28)Agent, affected, receiving systemThe role of agent is a typical role of a subject in a sentence containing a direct object. (Quirk, 1985, p. 741) The subject-agent is the initiator of the action, e.g. The prince travel his arms and shoulders. (Fleishman, 1987, p. 61)The affected participant role is a role typical for the direct object. The affected participant does not initiate the action, but there is a certain involvement in the action, (Quirk, 1985, p. 741), e.g. Prince Brat tied their small-grained wigs to the sterns of their oak chairs. (Fleishman, 1987, p. 1)Another participant role is the role of recipient. This role is usual for the indirect objects, but it can also be the role of a subject in passive structures of ditransitive verbs (Dukov, 1988, st r. 398), e.g. He was given a second chance. This participant has a passive, recipient, role in the action.Cutwater, serve them up our finest pelf and herring. (Fleishman, 1987, p. 16)AttributeThe attribute role is a role usual for two complements, subject and object complement. The complements give us the characterization of the subject or the object, e.g. Billy was a long man, he saw, big and raw as a skinned ox. (Fleishman, 1987, p. 12) It had a very large wet nostrils. Its a pig said dad. (Hughes, 1992)External causer and instrument rolesAn external causer is usually some natural force, that unwittingly causes some action to happen (Quirk, 1985, p. 743),e.g. The flood change a great part of the village. We talk about the role of an instrument, when the subject or the object are used as tools of some action, e.g. This groovy knife will help you.The role of moveThe role of process is a role expressed by the verb. There are several subcategories of the role of process. The pro cess of activity, of doing, e.g. indeed grandma and Mum came by to do some shopping. (Hughes, 1992) The process of communication, verbal process, e.g. Alfie asked them whether they were coming to buy something at the shop. Then the mental process of perception, e.g. Inside the tent he could hear papa breathing. Another kind of mental process is the process of affectivity, e.g. Alfie liked Bonting a lot. There is also the process of cognition, e.g. He remembered that he had put him out to dry after his swim.The role of circumstanceAgain, there are several subcategories of the role of circumstance, but in this paper, we are going to deal just with three of them which are considered to be the most common, i.e. locative, temporal and the role of manner.locative roleLocative circumstance role is a role expressing the position, distance and direction of life (Biber, 1999, str. 776), e.g. a Common boy was kept in the castle to be punished in his place. (Fleishman, 1987, p. 2)TemporalT he role of temporal circumstance can express position in time, duration or frequency (Biber, 1999, str. 777), e.g. It was very late when they arrived home.MannerThe last role of circumstance I am going to mention is the role of manner. The circumstance of manner tells us in what way some action was done or in what way something happened, e.g. Of course I can answered the prince in a stinging voice. (Fleishman, 1987, p. 50) The role of circumstance is most common for adverbials, but it can also be the role of a subject, e.g. The night was dark.Multiple sentenceMultiple sentence is a clause consisting of more than one clause. Quirk also makes tone between two kinds of multiple sentences, the compound and the complex sentence. Compound sentence is a sentence that consists of two or more equal master(prenominal) clauses. Complex sentence is a structure consisting of one briny clause that is superordinate, and at least one subordinate clause. (Quirk, 1985, p. 988)Syntactic relationship sThere are two types of syntactic relationship, the paratactic relationship the relationship of grammatical equivalence and the hypotactic relationship the relationship of grammatical nonequivalence. (Quirk, 1985, p. 918)Realisation of syntactic relationshipsThe paratactic relationship may be expressed either by coordinating conjunctions, then we are talk of the town about coordination or it may be expressed without the use of conjunctions and than we are talking about juxtaposition. The hypotactic relationship may be of subordination, using grade conjunctions or ,as in the previous case, juxtaposition i.e. without the use of conjunctions.Types of clauses in a hypotactic relationsipDependent Clauses- Subordinate ClausesFinite clauseFinite clause is a clause that contains a finite verb, e.g. Leaves crackled under Jemmys feet as he began to back off. We distinguish four types of finite clauses according to the purpose they serve in the discourse, i.e. what is the speakers intention to make the discourse and what is the expected response of his or her audience.Types of finite clausesNominal ClausesClauses that represent subject or direct object in the main clause are nominal clauses. This type of clause is introduced either by the subordinator that, or by wh-word, e.g. What youve just said is a innate nonsense.Adverbial ClausesAdverbial clauses express the circumstances of the main clause and function as adverbials, they also share the same semantic classification with adverbials, e.g. If they were here, they would like it.Relative ClausesRelative clauses, also called adjectival clauses, function as postmodifiers of the noun phrase, which is called the antecedent. This type of clause is introduce by relative pronouns. Relative clauses may be defining of non-defining (restrictive or non restrictive).Restrictive relative clauses add some information that cannot be omitted without changing the meaning of the clause. Restrictive relative clauses identify the antec edent, e.g. The colors which has been chosen are not appropriate.Nonrestrictive relative clauses supply the clause with some assentingal information which is not necessary for understanding the main message of the clause, e.g. Jemmy, who was obliged to be close at hand for the occasional lessons, reckoned that freedom was now close at hand.Comparative clausesThe function of comparative degree clauses is to compare properties of some feature. According to Quirk (1985), there are three types of comparison, the comparison of equivalence (or of nonequivalence), e.g. Alfies elephant was old, nearly as old as Alfie., of sufficiency, e.g. It was big enough for two people to lie down in., or of excess, e.g. Annie locomote was too little to go camping.Reporting ClausesReporting clause is a part of a direct speech. It introduces the speaker but it may also introduce the addressee, e.g. Bonting will have to have a new dishwashing suit, he told mum. , the type of act, e.g. But we deliver l eave Bonting behind wailed Alfie. or the mode of the act, e.g. I didnt know Jim Gatting had put his pig in this field, grumbled soda water sleepily.The reporting clause may take the initial, medial and final position in the direct speech. The verb of the reporting clause is most commonly in the past tense form.Comment ClausesComment clauses express speakers attitude to the content of the sentence, e.g. Tipped us over, as you see. While Biber (1999) compares comment clauses to reporting clauses with the verb in present tense, Quirk (1985) considers comment clauses a kind of disjunct.Types of finite clauses according to their function in utteranceDeclarative clausesIn most cases, this type of clause expresses a statement and its purpose is to give information, e.g. Mum and Grandma were sitting in the garden having a cup of tea. In approving declarative clauses, as in the example above, the subject precedes the predicator. In invalidating declarative clauses, the subject is followed by secondary or modal verb, the minus particle and then comes the full verb, e.g. He didnt yelp or bellow. query mood clausesBy means of interrogative clauses, the speaker wants to elicit some information. There are three main types of interrogative clauses yes/no questions, wh- questions and alternative questions.Yes/no questionsYes/no questions, first main type interrogative clauses, which may also be called frigid questions, is an interrogative to which the expected reaction of the addressee is either assertion of negation, e.g. The ladies shrieked. Did the ladies shriek?Compared to declarative clauses, the word order of interrogative clauses is different. In case of the verb to be, the question can be created by means of inversion, e.g. Its called Burrows and company. Is it called Burrows and company? When the clause contains an concomitant verb, the supplemental goes in front of the subject with the full verb following, e.g. The king offered a reward for the strap boy. Has the king offered a reward for the whacking boy? When the sentence contains more than one auxiliary verb, the first auxiliary precedes the subject and the other auxiliaries follow the subject together with the full verb, e.g. Our prince has been abducticated. Has our prince been abducated? The same rule is applied when a modal verb is a part of the verb phrase, e.g. A horse can always find his way home. Can a horse always find his way home. When there is no auxiliary verb in the declarative clause, the interrogative is created by means of do, e.g. We dress you up deception and feed you royal .Do we dress you up fancy and feed you royal?Interrogative yes/no clauses may also be damaging, e.g. Wasnt it your mother? The speaker usually uses negatively charged questions in order to tranquilize himself or herself rather than to get some new information. In the structure of negative interrogative yes/no questions the negative particle follows the auxiliary or modal verb and prece des the subject.Question tagsQuestion tags are not fully independent clauses, they are a part of a structure containing another, usually a declarative clause. Question tag is a tool supporting the interaction, using it, the speaker encourages the addressee to respond to the information given in the declarative clause.This type of interrogative consists of an operator and a personalised pronoun. The operator of the tag question normally corresponds to the operator of the preceding clause, e.g. You can fend for your own self, cant you When there is no operator in the declarative clause, the dummy auxiliary do is used to create the tag question, e.g. They own this house, dont they? Question tags may be also added, and they often are, to a clause which is not complete, e.g. The highwayman, are youWh-questionsAnother type of interrogative clauses are wh-questions. When the wh-word is a part of the subject, the word order is the same as in declarative clauses, e.g. Who cooks the dinner? When the wh-word is a part of another clause element, the common word order of interrogative clauses is used, e.g. Why did you do that iodin type of interrogative questions are indirect interrogatives. The indirect questions (also reported questions) consist of projecting and projected clause, these are machine-accessible by means of whether or if, e.g. The children asked whether the story was true.As well as yes/no questions, the wh- questions may be negative, e.g. Where shouldnt we go?Alternative questionsThe last main type of interrogative clauses are alternative questions. These clauses are similar to polar interrogative clauses in the structure, but instead of expecting yes or no answers, it offers alternatives, presuming that one of the alternatives is the one to be chosen by the addressee, e.g. Would you like coffee or tea?Alternative interrogatives can also take the form of a combination of wh- question and elliptic alternative question, e.g. What would you like, coffee or tea?Minor types of interrogative clausesThere are two more types of interrogatives that are, as to their occurrence, considered minor. These are called exclamatory questions and rhetorical questions. Exclamatory and rhetorical questions both have the typical interrogative structure.Exclamatory questions are usually negative yes/no questions, where the speakers intention is to receive the reaction of an assertion, e.g. Aint I already been whipped twice like a shotRhetorical questions do not ask for any answers, they may be negative or positive yes/no questions expecting positive or negative assertion, e.g. Didnt I tell you who I wasImperative ClausesThe function of imperative clauses, some grammars e.g. (Quirk, 1985) use the term directives, is to give directives, i.e. instructions, orders, commands etc.Most typically, there is no subject in imperative clauses directed to 2nd person extraordinary and plural, in fact there is no need of subject in this type of clause, as the addres see of the imperative is usually obvious from the context of the situation, e.g. gain the whipping boy However, in order to make the directive stronger, the personal pronoun you may be used, e.g. You fetch the whipping boy The subject can be also present in the tag question, e.g. Fetch the whipping boy, will you?When 1st and 3rd person singular and plural are the intended addresses, the imperative may be created by means of let, in this type of structure, the verb let is followed by the subject in objective case (Quirk, 1985, p. 829) e.g. Let me have a word with him Except for let me, this type of clause is rather archaic. In colloquial English, the contracted form of let us, lets is commonly used, e.g. Lets parleyImperative clauses may also take the negative form, e.g. And dont try to run away. or Lets not talk about it.Exclamative ClausesThe function of this type of clause is to express some emotional impression like surprise, shock or others.According to Quirk (1985), exclamativ e clauses are only these starting time with the wh- element how or what, e.g. What horrible new mischief was this Bibers definition of the exclamative clauses is, compared to Quirks, more loose as Bibers exclamative clauses include other structures like declaratives, interrogatives or exclamative questions, e.g. Whats guardianship youNon-finite clausesNon-finite clause are clauses containing a non-finite verb, that is to-infinitive, transmit infinitive, -ing participle or -ed participle. For example He was determined never to flood a tear for the prince to gloat over. According to Biber (1999), a verbless clause can also be considered a non-finite clause.Each of the four main types of non-finite clause can take the form of a structure with or without the subject. Non-finite clauses lack modal auxiliaries and they are not attach as to the tense.Non-finite clauses may represent many syntactic roles, e.g. One afternoon, Mum gave Alfie a long cardboard box to play with., in this ex ample the non-finite, to-infinitive, clause functions as an adverbial. The interpretation of the meaning on a non-finite clause is dependent on the main clause.Logico-semantic relationship- blowup and excrescenceThe advantage of multiple clauses, in contrast with simple clauses, is the ability to express more complex situations. In other words, a multiple clause is more precise in description of the reality as it is a reflection of our cognitive organisation of the situation.The logico-semantic relationships are described in incident in Hallidays An Introduction to Functional Grammar (1994). The following overview of the logico-semantic relationships is based on this publication.4.1. ExpansionHalliday (1994) describes expansion as a relationship when the clauses contain different kind of additional information. There are three subcategories of expansion refinement, reference point and enhancement. Each of these subcategories may be of paratactic or hypotactic relationship.4.1.1 . Paratactic elaborationExpositionUsing connector elements much(prenominal) as in other words or that is in a sentence, we make a new statement about the content of the first clause from a different perspective. This kind of elaboration is called exposition. precedentExemplification is another kind of paratactic elaboration, evolving the content of the preceding clause by giving an example, using conjunctive elements such as for instance or for example.ClarificationExpressions like in fact or indeed are conjunctive elements that clarify the content of the first clause, therefore this kind of paratactic elaboration is called clarification.4.1.2. Hypotactic elaborationHypotactic elaboration is the relationship in non-defining (also non-restrictive clauses).4.1.3. Paratactic extension- coordinationAdditionAnd, also, nor, in addition or furthermore are conjunctive elements putting together two situations in positive, negative or adversative relationship. As we are extending the conten t of the first clause by adding some information this, kind of paratactic extension is called Addition.VariationWhen the first clauses content is replaced by the content of the second clause by means of but or instead we talk about variation.AlternationWhen the first clause is given an alternative to its content by the second clause, using conjunctive elements such as either or and on the other hand, it is the paratactic relationship of alternation.ExplanationExplanation, also called specification, is a kind of extension, using conjunctive elements like that is or which means, where the content of the first clause is explained by the second clause.4.1.4. Hypotactic extensionContrastive dependencyWhen the dependent clause contrasts with the main clause in the case of contrastive dependency, common conjunctive elements for this kind of relationship are while or whereas. ablative dependencySubtractive dependency is a relationship of a main and a dependent clause, where the dependent cl ause subtracts from the main clause by means of expressions such as except that or but for the fact.Using elements like whereas, except that etc. may lead to the impression that the clauses are in a paratactic relationship. We can recognize the kind of relationship by exchanging the position of the clauses, if this diversify functions well, i.e. the rheme sentence is able to become the theme sentence, we can say that the relationship is hypotactic.The additive, adversative, contrastive, or subtractive relationships may be also expressed by non-finite -ing clause, using besides, instead of, without etc.4.1.5. Paratactic enhancementParatactic enhancement is a relationship realized by coordination or juxtaposition, being supported by conjunctions e.g. then, still, otherwise conjunctive combinations e.g. and then, and so, and yet or by cohesive combinations with and e.g. and in that way, and in this case that give the information about the circumstances.4.1.6. Hypotactic enhancementThi s kind of relationship is realized by adverbial clauses.4.2. ProjectionThe logico-semantic relationship of prominence is the one expressed by direct and indirect speech.Selected titlesFor the sentence structure analysis, I selected two phonograph recordings of contemporary authors of childrens literature- Sid Fleischmans The Whipping Boy and Shirley Hughes The Big Alfie let on of Doors. Though the titles are relatively recent, both of them are appreciated and well known in the countries of their origin, in case of Sid Fleishmans Whipping Boy even abroad. Sid Fleischman and Shirley Hughes belong to the winners of prestigious awards that are given to the most significant contributors to childrens literature in the United States (Fleischman) and in the United Kingdom (Hughes). The titles chosen for the analysis deliberately differ in the target age group they are intended for. The minimal age distance between the readers of these two withstands is three years. The purpose is to dem onstrate how the complexity of the sentence structures in a childrens book changes with the age of its intended readers.The Whipping BoyThe Whipping Boy is a childrens book by American, Brooklyn-born author Sid Fleishman. Sid Fleishman is a very popular and respected author in the field of childrens literature not only in the USA, his works have been translated into fourteen languages. (Fleishman, 1987) The Whipping Boy is a book that mad