Language Acquisition 3 Exam
GRAMMAR
Competence = native speakers' knowledge of language (grammar books)
Performance = what people actually do / understand.
Semantic meaning = the literal meaning of the sentence.
Pragmatic meaning = the speaker / writer’s meaning.
Verbs
Verbs are transitory and conceptually dependent. They express actions and states, and
relate concepts.
State verbs = refer to a permanent and unchanging situation (ex: to love, to live).
Achievement verbs = refer to a change from one state to another (ex: to find, to see).
Accomplishment verbs = refer to a process that leads to an endpoint (ex: to draw, to boil).
Activity verbs = refer to a process that may or may not lead to an endpoint (ex: to walk, to
sing).
Punctual verbs = refer to an event that has no duration but can be repeated (ex: to hit, to
explode, to jump).
Intransitive verb = a verb that does not require a direct object to make sense (ex: The
illusion of sexiness [ evaporates V ]).
Transitive verb = a verb that requires a direct object to complete its meaning, as the action
is directed toward a person / thing (ex: My Mum [ loved V those shoes OBJECT ]).
Finite verbs = encoding of situations in time by means of tense (present & past).
Non-finite verbs = don’t change to match the subject or indicate tense on their own. 1.
Imperative: to give a command (ex: Do not...). 2. Participle: to express how two situations
happen at the same time or after each other (ex: Climbing up on the hill, I could see the city
lights). 3. Infinitive: for a variety of purposes, ex: the dictionary form of verbs (to be).
Modal verb = an auxiliary verb that expresses uncertainty. They include must, shall, will,
should, would, can, could, may, might. Modal expressions should be of the same strength /
not contradict each other.
Modal adverbials: certainly, maybe
Modal adjectivals: uncertain, unlikely
Modal noun phrases: no way, possibility, obligation
Subject raising: is said to be
Lexical verbs: alleges, claims
Epistemic modality = signals how true a speaker believes his preposition to be (might,
may, must). Either very certain, very uncertain, or something in the middle.
Deontic modality = express obligation, recommendation, permission, and necessity (must,
will, shall are formal, should, ought to are moral, need is necessity).
Dynamic modality = someone’s ability to do something (can, could are theoretical, to be
able to is practical).
Adverbials
Adverbials are words or phrases that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbials (ex: chew
slowly, quite big, painfully slowly). They are versatile in position, but it’s usually as close as
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, possible to the thing it modifies. Types:
- Adverbs (single words): “Crocodiles chew slowly”.
- Prepositional phrases: “On Wednesday morning, Foster teaches in Lipsius”.
- Subordinate clauses: “All the students were scared because Tony brought his dog”.
Conjuncts = adverbials indicating a connection between a clause and what precedes it
(position 1).
Disjunct = adverbials in the periphery of the clause, qualifying, commenting on or giving
authority to the remainder. They express the speaker’s attitude towards what follows or
precedes in the clause (position 1).
Adjuncts = adverbials that give additional, not grammatically essential information (like
manner, place, or time) (position 2 or 3).
Viewpoint adverbials = officially, to tell you the truth (position 1)
Frequency adverbials = often, never, seldom (position 2)
Exact frequency adverbials = twice a day (position 3)
Focus adverbials = also, only (position 2)
Manner adverbials = clumsily, in a crocodile-like fashion (position 3)
Place adverbials = in Queensland, here (position 3)
Time adverbials = yesterday, in the Renaissance (position 3)
These types of adverbials all have different favourite positions in a sentence. Other positions
are fine, but it may seem strange. Sometimes they do change positions because of adverbial
clutter, or to emphasize information:
- Position 1: before the subject.
- Position 2: before the main verb, after the first auxiliary verb, or before the main verb to be.
- Position 3: at the end of the clause.
Adjectivals
Adjectivals are phrases that modify nouns. They are often relative clauses, prepositional
phrases, and main clauses/sentences.
Attributive adjectivals = when the adjectival is attached to the noun and helps identify it /
describe it. Preceding the noun: “a well-known author”. Following the noun: “the house on
the corner”.
Predicative adjectivals = separated by copula, like “the author is well-known”.
Apposition = the relationship between two or more NPs that are grammatically parallel and
refer to the same thing. They come in 2 types: 1. Appositive clauses: clauses with a factive,
abstract noun (ex: The fact that this is true doesn’t make it right). 2. Appositive NP’s: ex:
Liebregts, the Professor of English literature, is an expert on Coetzee. These aren’t
adjectivals, because it isn’t clear which NP gives information about the other. To find an
appositive clause, they can be preceded by a form of copula be.
Adjectives
Adjectives are simple or compound lexical items (ex: big houses, a no-go topic) which
modify nouns. Gradable adjectives are adjectives that can be ranked on a scale
(comparative – superlative). When the adjective has 1 syllable, the synthetic comparative is
“–(e)r” and the superlative is “–(e)st”. When the adjective has more than 1 syllable, the
periphrastic comparative is “more” and the superlative is “most”.
Adjective phrases / clauses:
- Relative clause = a clause that uses a relative pronoun (that, who(m), whose, which) to
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GRAMMAR
Competence = native speakers' knowledge of language (grammar books)
Performance = what people actually do / understand.
Semantic meaning = the literal meaning of the sentence.
Pragmatic meaning = the speaker / writer’s meaning.
Verbs
Verbs are transitory and conceptually dependent. They express actions and states, and
relate concepts.
State verbs = refer to a permanent and unchanging situation (ex: to love, to live).
Achievement verbs = refer to a change from one state to another (ex: to find, to see).
Accomplishment verbs = refer to a process that leads to an endpoint (ex: to draw, to boil).
Activity verbs = refer to a process that may or may not lead to an endpoint (ex: to walk, to
sing).
Punctual verbs = refer to an event that has no duration but can be repeated (ex: to hit, to
explode, to jump).
Intransitive verb = a verb that does not require a direct object to make sense (ex: The
illusion of sexiness [ evaporates V ]).
Transitive verb = a verb that requires a direct object to complete its meaning, as the action
is directed toward a person / thing (ex: My Mum [ loved V those shoes OBJECT ]).
Finite verbs = encoding of situations in time by means of tense (present & past).
Non-finite verbs = don’t change to match the subject or indicate tense on their own. 1.
Imperative: to give a command (ex: Do not...). 2. Participle: to express how two situations
happen at the same time or after each other (ex: Climbing up on the hill, I could see the city
lights). 3. Infinitive: for a variety of purposes, ex: the dictionary form of verbs (to be).
Modal verb = an auxiliary verb that expresses uncertainty. They include must, shall, will,
should, would, can, could, may, might. Modal expressions should be of the same strength /
not contradict each other.
Modal adverbials: certainly, maybe
Modal adjectivals: uncertain, unlikely
Modal noun phrases: no way, possibility, obligation
Subject raising: is said to be
Lexical verbs: alleges, claims
Epistemic modality = signals how true a speaker believes his preposition to be (might,
may, must). Either very certain, very uncertain, or something in the middle.
Deontic modality = express obligation, recommendation, permission, and necessity (must,
will, shall are formal, should, ought to are moral, need is necessity).
Dynamic modality = someone’s ability to do something (can, could are theoretical, to be
able to is practical).
Adverbials
Adverbials are words or phrases that modify verbs, adjectives, or other adverbials (ex: chew
slowly, quite big, painfully slowly). They are versatile in position, but it’s usually as close as
1
, possible to the thing it modifies. Types:
- Adverbs (single words): “Crocodiles chew slowly”.
- Prepositional phrases: “On Wednesday morning, Foster teaches in Lipsius”.
- Subordinate clauses: “All the students were scared because Tony brought his dog”.
Conjuncts = adverbials indicating a connection between a clause and what precedes it
(position 1).
Disjunct = adverbials in the periphery of the clause, qualifying, commenting on or giving
authority to the remainder. They express the speaker’s attitude towards what follows or
precedes in the clause (position 1).
Adjuncts = adverbials that give additional, not grammatically essential information (like
manner, place, or time) (position 2 or 3).
Viewpoint adverbials = officially, to tell you the truth (position 1)
Frequency adverbials = often, never, seldom (position 2)
Exact frequency adverbials = twice a day (position 3)
Focus adverbials = also, only (position 2)
Manner adverbials = clumsily, in a crocodile-like fashion (position 3)
Place adverbials = in Queensland, here (position 3)
Time adverbials = yesterday, in the Renaissance (position 3)
These types of adverbials all have different favourite positions in a sentence. Other positions
are fine, but it may seem strange. Sometimes they do change positions because of adverbial
clutter, or to emphasize information:
- Position 1: before the subject.
- Position 2: before the main verb, after the first auxiliary verb, or before the main verb to be.
- Position 3: at the end of the clause.
Adjectivals
Adjectivals are phrases that modify nouns. They are often relative clauses, prepositional
phrases, and main clauses/sentences.
Attributive adjectivals = when the adjectival is attached to the noun and helps identify it /
describe it. Preceding the noun: “a well-known author”. Following the noun: “the house on
the corner”.
Predicative adjectivals = separated by copula, like “the author is well-known”.
Apposition = the relationship between two or more NPs that are grammatically parallel and
refer to the same thing. They come in 2 types: 1. Appositive clauses: clauses with a factive,
abstract noun (ex: The fact that this is true doesn’t make it right). 2. Appositive NP’s: ex:
Liebregts, the Professor of English literature, is an expert on Coetzee. These aren’t
adjectivals, because it isn’t clear which NP gives information about the other. To find an
appositive clause, they can be preceded by a form of copula be.
Adjectives
Adjectives are simple or compound lexical items (ex: big houses, a no-go topic) which
modify nouns. Gradable adjectives are adjectives that can be ranked on a scale
(comparative – superlative). When the adjective has 1 syllable, the synthetic comparative is
“–(e)r” and the superlative is “–(e)st”. When the adjective has more than 1 syllable, the
periphrastic comparative is “more” and the superlative is “most”.
Adjective phrases / clauses:
- Relative clause = a clause that uses a relative pronoun (that, who(m), whose, which) to
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