Language Structures — Index


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A B C D E F G H I J
K L M N O P Q R S T
U V W X Y Z    
 | A | 
     Active construction
    Add-ons to core language — see Complements
     Adjectives (also called Qualifiers)
     Adverbs
     Adverbials
     Adverbial phrase
     Alexander, L.G. (grammar of reference)
     Apostrophe
     Apposition
     Articles
       Definite
       Indefinite
       Specific
     Auxiliary verbs

     | B | top | 

    Bare infinitive — see Verbal modes, then Infinitive (bare)

     | C | 

    Capitals — see Nouns (proper)
     Cardinal
     Cases
     Causative construction
     Clause
       Infinitive
       Main
       Subordinate
     Comparatives
     Complements, as defined by other authors
     Complements
       Agent
       Belonging
       Causal
       Concession
       Condition
       Decoration
       Destination (Target)
       Instrumental
      Complements of manner — see Complements (modal)
       Modal
       Place
         Dynamic
         Stationary
       Purpose
       Relation
       Time
      Complements (Target) — see Complements of destination
       Topic
       | top | 
    Composite, see Compound verbal form
     Compound verbal form
     Compound word
     Conclusion
     Condition
     Conjugation
     Conjunctions
     Consecutio temporum
     Consequence
     Consonant
     Continuous form
     Contractions
     Core language
     Copula 
     Correlations
    Countable / Uncountable — see Partitive

     | D | top | 

     Declension
     Definite
    Demonstratives — see Locators
    Dependent clause — same as Subordinate clause
     Derivative
     Determinate
     Determiners
     Diphthong
     Direct construction (Double accusative)
     Double accusative
     Double negation
     Dynamic verbs

     | E | top | 

     Emphatic "self"
     Etymon
     Exclamations
     Expletives
     Explicit

     | F | top | 

    Feminine — see Noun gender

     | G | top | 

    Gender — see Noun gender
    Genitive — see Saxon Genitive
    Gerund — see Verbal modes (Gerund)
     Grammar vs. Logic

     | H | top | 

     historical present tense

     | I | top | 

      — ing form (of verbs)
     Impersonal construction
     Implicit
     Indefinite
     Indeterminate
     Indirect object
     Infinitive clause (see "Verbal modes" for infinitive mode)
     Inflexion
     Intensifiers
     Interjections
     Intransitive
     Inversion (Subject inversion)
     Irregular verbs

     | J | top | 

     | K | top | 

     | L | top | 

     Latin expressions
     Locators (also called Demonstratives)
     Logic vs. Grammar

     | M | top | 

    Main — see clause (main)
    Masculine — see Noun gender
     Messrs.
     Mmes.
     Modal verbs
    Modes: see  Verbal Modes
     Morphology

     | N | top | 

    Neuter — see Noun gender
     Noun
       Noun Bundle
       Abstract
       Common
       Concrete
       Gender
       Proper
       Number
     Numbers
     Numerals

     | O | top | 

     Object
     Ordinal

     | P | top | 
     Paradigm
     Paragraph
     Particle
     Partitive
     Passive construction
    Period — see Punctuation / Full stop
     Persons (subjects of verbs)
     Phoneme 
     Phrase
       Phrasal verb
       Prepositional
    Pivotal clause — same as Main clause
     Plural
     Possessives (determiners)
     Possessives (pronouns)
     Predicate
       1st pattern
       2nd pattern
       Formal and substantial adjustment of predicate to subject
     Prefix
     Premise
     Premiss
     Prepositional phrase
     Prepositions
    Principal — see Clause (main)
     Progressive form
     Pronouns
       Indefinite (or indeteminate)
       Locator (demonstrative)
       one / ones
       Personal
       Possessive
       Relative
     Punctuation
       Brackets
       Colon
       Comma
       Dash
       Exclamation mark
       Full stop
       Inverted commas
       Parentheses
       Question mark
       Quotation marks
       Semicolon
       Suspension marks
     | Q | top | 

     Quantifiers

     | R | top | 

     Reflexive construction
     Root

     | S | top | 

    Saxon Genitive — see Complement of belonging
    Self — see Pronouns (personal)
     Semantics
     Sentence
       Complex
         Nested
         Star-like
       Compound
       Simple
     Simple verbal forms
     Singular
     Stative verbs
     Subject
     Subject-verb inversion
    Subordinate — see clause (subordinate)
     Suffix
     Superlatives
     Syllable 
     Syntax

     | T | top | 

     Tag questions
    Tenses: see  Verbal Tenses
     TO BE + QUALIFIER
     There is / there are
     Transitive

     | U | top | 

     | V | top | 

     Verbal modes
       Definition
       Conditional
       Gerund
       Imperative
       Indicative
       Infinitive
       Infinitive (bare)
       Participle
       Subjunctive
     Verbal tenses
       Definition
       Future forms
       Past infinitive
       Perfect infinitive
       Past forms
       Past gerund
       Present forms in general
        See also  historical present tense
       Present gerund
       Present participle
       Present forms
     Verbs
       Auxiliary
       Continuous form
       Irregular
       Modal
       Progressive form
       Simple form
     Vowel
       Long vowel
       Short vowel
     | W | top | 

     Who / whose / whom

     | X | top | 

     | Y | top | 

     | Z | top | 

     Zero article

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Alexander, p. 42, introduces the notion of "Partitives".

They are expressions conveying an idea of quantity for nouns which are not countable, that is which are thought of as a lump or a heap of something.
Examples of "uncountable" nouns are: "bread", "butter", "sugar", "water", "paper" etc.
Examples of partitive expressions for focusing on a particular quantity of them are:

  • a bit of (chalk)
  • a bar of (chocolate)
  • a pot of (tea)
  • a slice of (bread)
and many others.

Due to the straightforwardness of their own partitive, English speakers don't easily master partitive constructions found in French or Italian (where the clause "May I have some bread?" becomes "Peux-je avoir du pain?" / "Posso avere del pane?")

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DERIVATIVE

    In linguistics, it is a word that is derived from another word.

    "Electricity" derives from "electric", it is one of its derivatives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INFINITIVE CLAUSE    return

    It is a clause featuring the verb in infinitive mode.

Examples:

  1. To be able to accept my limits has always been my goal,
  2. She always hated to share her room with other mates.

  "To be able to accept my limits" is an infinitive clause in a complex sentence after the pattern "Something is my goal".

In the complex sentence the subject ("something") is blown up into an infinitive clause ("To be able to accept one's limits").

In the second example, "to share her room with other mates" is the object clause in a complex sentence based on pattern "She hates something".

In English, infinitive clauses seldom show as such, as usually present participle or gerund are used rather than infinitive:

    Being able to accept my limits has always been my goal,
    She always hated sharing her room with other mates.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SYLLABLE    return

    It is a unit of spoken language larger than a phoneme.

The word 'nickel' has two syllables": "nick" + "el".

Some of the rules for breaking a word up into syllables are:

  • Every syllable has one vowel sound.
  • When a word has a "ck" or an "x" in it, the word is usually divided after the "ck" or "x" (example: "taxi" >> "tax" - "i").
  • When two or more consonants come between two vowels, the word is usually divided between the first two consonants (example: "ungry" >> "hun" - "gry").
  • When two vowels come together in a word and are sounded separately, divide the word between the two vowels (example: "diet" >> "di" - "et").
  • When a wowel is sounded alone in a word, it forms a syllable itself (example: "graduate" >> "grad" - "u" - "ate").

    ... There are more rules, please check them at:
    http://www.createdbyteachers.com/syllablerulescharts.html
    or, if that page is vanished, check a copy of it here.

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PHONEME    return

    It is one of a small set of speech sounds that are distinguished by the speakers.

Represented between slashes by convention (/b/, /j/, /o/ ...), a phoneme is the minimal unit that serves to distinguish between meanings of words.

The phonemes identified in the English languages are listed in a phonetic alphabets.
From one such alphabet (of the the computer-readable kind) we reproduce below the phonemes of some vowels:

Phoneme A word
containing
it		 Transcription
of that word
using phonetic
symbols
I pit pIt
e pet pet
{ pat p{t
Q pot pQt
V cut kVt
U put pUt
@ another @"nVD@

Only the symbols "I", "e", "{", "Q", "V", "U" and "@" are explained here.
The symbols ", "D" etc. are not explained because this is a small part of the computer-readable phonetic alphabet.
For knowing more, please go to:
http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/sampa/english.htm where all the symbols of the computer readable set are displayed.

To view the symbols of the international phonetic alphabet (which are different in shape and not computer-readable), go to:
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/ipa.htm.     return

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COPULA    return

The verb 'to be' (or 'become' and similar ones) that links the subject with the qualifier in the "TO BE + QUALIFIER" type of predicate.

For example, in "Ronald is Pippette's brother" the copula is the underlined "is".

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Read the excerpt which follows, where the meaning of historical present tense is given.

Als Novalis stirbt, ist er 28 Jahre alt.
    When Novalis* dies, he is 28 years old.

    *Novalis: a German poet

    When something which happened long ago is reported in present tense, we have a stylistic figure known as historical present.

    This is often done in books on personalities of the past, to make the story-telling fast-paced or to bring the reader/listener - as it were - back to the time when particular events took place.

    return