Semantic Properties of the Subject
The subject is typically the theme (or topic) of the sentence. It usually refers to information that is regarded by the speaker as given. Hence, when it is expressed by a common noun, it generally combines with the definite article, e.g.:
The white hat is Mother !s (V. Evans).
The subject performs a number of semantic roles in the sentence. With transitive action verbs, the subject often denotes an agent, i.e. the wilful initiator of the action, e.g.:
He closed the door... (H. Fielding).
The subject may also express the inanimate external causer of an event, e.g.:
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A sudden gust of wind blew the door shut (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English).
In other cases, the subject identifies the instrument or means used by an agent to perform an action, e.g.:
The key opened the door (ChJ. Filtmore).
Although the subject is often associated with agency, it may express a number of non-agentive roles. With very many stative verbs (denoting relationship and mental states of perception, cognition, and emotion), we find a recipient subject, e.g.:
/ could just hear the music in the distance (Oxford Collocations Dictionary).
Verbs denoting position in space combine with a positioner subject. The positioner role is particularly common with intransitive stance verbs, such as sit, stand, lie, live, stay, remain, etc. Cf:
/ have lived in London most of my life (R. Quirk et ah).
They are staying at a motel (R. Quirk et al.).
My friend is sitting in a chair near the door (R. Quirk et ah).
Transitive verbs related to stance verbs, such as carry, hold, keep, wear, etc. can also combine with a positioner subject. Cf:
The hijacker was holding a revolver (R. Quirk et al.).
He kept himself upright (R. Quirk et ah).
Many English intransitive verbs combine with an affected subject, i.e. a role typically found with direct objects, e.g.:
She drowned in the river (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English).
Affected subjects are normal in passive constructions, e.g.:
TV was invented by Baird (V. Evans).
An important role of the subject is eventive. Cf:
The match is tomorrow (R. Quirk et al.).
The Norman invasion took place in 1066 (R. Quirk et al.).
The explosion caused many casualties (R. Quirk et ah).
Other, less common semantic roles of the subject, are local and temporal. Cf:
Chicago is too windy (R. Quirk et ah).
Yesterday was sunny (R. Quirk et al.).
Local and temporal roles are generally expressed by adverbials and situational modifiers rather than the subject. Cf:
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It is too windy in Chicago (R. Quirk et ah).
// was sunny yesterday (R. Quirk et ah).
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The pronoun it is often used as a semantically empty subject, particularly in speaking about time, atmospheric conditions, and distance. Cf.:
It's 9 o'clock (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary
English).
It's bitterly cold outside (Oxford Collocations Dictionary).
It is not far to York (R. Quirk et al.).
The predicates here do not suggest any participant involved semantically, but it is obligatorily inserted simply to complete the structure of the sentence grammatically.
Special types of dummy subjects are found in existential sentences, sentences with extraposition, and sentences with clefting. Existential sentences are sentences, in which the existence of something is asserted or denied. In English, they usually begin with the dummy subject there. Cf.:
There's a wasp in your hair (P.H. Matthews).
There are no children in this house (M. Swan).
A sentence with extraposition is a sentence where dummy // fills the subject slot, and the subject clause is placed after the predicate, e.g.:
It is clear that it will not be simple (D. Biber, S. Conrad, G. Leech).
A sentence with clefting is a sentence, in which the information is broken into two clauses, to provide extra focus to one piece of information. Sentences with clefting often begin with the dummy subject it, e.g.:
// was his voice that held me (D. Biber, S. Conrad, G. Leech).
Structural Types of Subjects
Structurally, subjects fall into four types: simple, complex, discrete, and clausal. A simple subject is expressed by a single notional word or a non-clausal combination of words. Cf:
The police are close to solving the mystery of the missing murder weapon (Oxford Collocations Dictionary).
Air travel has lost much of its mystery (Oxford Collocations Dictionary).
A complex subject consists of two components linked by secondary predication, e.g.: They were seen taking the train to
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Paris (S. Sheldon), where the components they and taking are linked by secondary predication.
True, some linguists [for instance, V.L. Kaushanskaya and her co-authors; B.A. Ilyish] regard the participle taking as part of a compound predicate, were seen taking the train. B.S. Khaimovich and B.I. Rogovskaya question the validity of such an approach on transformational grounds. The passive construction They were seen taking the train to Paris is generated from the active construction People saw them taking the train to Paris, in which the combination them taking the train is undoubtedly a complex object. And the object of an active construction corresponds to the subject of a parallel passive construction. Since them taking the train is a complex object in the active construction, in the passive construction it corresponds to the complex subject they ... taking the train.
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Sentences beginning with it and there present a debatable problem. Cf.:
It's delightful to watch them (O. Wilde).
There were only two children in front of him now (F. O'Connor).
Some linguists think that we deal with complex subjects here:
it......... to watch (them),
there ......... (only two) children.
A complex member of the sentence consists of two parts linked by means of secondary predication. Even a cursory glance at the two examples will suffice to convince anybody that secondary predication is alien to them in spite of the fact that their subjects also comprise two components, because the relations between these components have nothing to do with the relations between the subject and the predicate. The second element here does not characterize the first. As a matter of fact, both elements indicate one and the same phenomenon: the first (if, there) points to it, the second (to watch, children) names it. English grammarians call the initial it and there in the above given sentences 'introductory subjects' [M. Swan], 'grammatical subjects' [R. Quirk et al.], 'anticipatory subjects' [P.H. Matthews], 'dummy subjects' [D. Biber et al.], etc. That's why we exclude sentences beginning with it and there from constructions with complex subjects. Their subjects are discrete, but by no means complex. Discrete subjects
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are generally resorted to for the sake of emphasizing the subject in analytical languages where the place of the subject is grammatically fixed in the thematic initial position. The use of a discrete subject allows one to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak: by putting the dummy subject (it or there) before the predicate, one generates a grammatical sentence; by introducing a notional subject (to watch, children) and removing it closer to the rhematic final position, one gets an opportunity to increase the communicative value of the subject without violating grammar rules.
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A clausal subject is a finite clause possessing primary predication, e.g.:
How the disease started is one of medicine's greatest mysteries (Oxford Collocations Dictionary).
13. THE PREDICATE Definition of the Predicate
The traditional definition of the predicate is logical. Thus, G. Curme writes, 'The predicate is that which is said of the subject.'
However, the predicate, just like the subject, is a unit of structural sentence analysis. Viewed from this angle, the predicate represents the verbal component of predication. In inflected languages, the predicate renders all the predicative categories: modality, tense, and person. In analytical languages, the predication building power of the predicate is more restricted: here it generally serves as an indication of modality and tense, person characteristics being comprised in the nominal component of predication.
Boundaries of the Predicate
As opposed to the subject, that has definite morphological and syntactic means of expression and hence causes almost no difficulties in the process of singling it out, the predicate presents one with a lot of controversial points,
Of course, word order in analytical languages is of great help. In declarative sentences, the predicate follows the subject; in interrogative sentences, the auxiliary part of the predicate precedes the subject, the notional part of the predicate comes after it.
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However, the syntactic criterion of word order fails to define the boundaries of the predicate. No wonder that one and the same sentence admits of different interpretations as far as the predicate is concerned. Three approaches stand out especially clearly.
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Some linguists [for example, A.A. Potebnya; J.C. Fernald] identify the predicate with the verb. There is no gainsaying the fact that the verb plays an important role in realizing predication because it possesses morphological mood and tense forms indispensable for expressing predication.
Others [the vast majority] are of opinion that the presence of the verb constitutes a necessary, but not a sufficient property of the predicate as a means of realizing the verbal component of predication, for the essence of predication is not restricted to the set of the verbal categories of modality, tense, and person. Predication always actualizes a certain situation, i.e. communicates something, On the syntagmatic axis, an isolated verb often displays communicative deficiency. As a result, the boundaries of the predicate are widened to embrace also those elements that impart communicative independence to a structurally autonomous unit.
The third group of linguists [W.N. Francis; A.A. Hill; P. Roberts; G. Scheurweghs; J. Sledd; R.W. Zandvoort] gives the widest possible definition of the predicate, including into it all the verbal complements and modifiers.
The latter, according to O.B. Sirotinina, constitutes the so-called speech predicate. The notion of the language predicate, in her opinion, is much narrower. For the English language, the predicate can be tentatively defined as the verbal component of predication realizing the grammatical categories of modality, tense, sometimes - person, and communicatively sufficient for the characterization of the nominal component of predication. When one component meets these requirements, the predicate is considered to be simple: when two or more components are necessary, we speak of compound predicates.
Classification of Simple and Compound Predicates
The majority of linguists think that the simple predicate can be only verbal, expressed by a finite verb in a synthetic or analytical form. Cf.:
But he never found him (S. Barstow).
You haven'/ told me your name (H.E, Bates).
The authors of practical grammars [V.L. Kaushanskaya et al., L.S. Barkhudarov, D.A. Shteling and some others] refer to the simple verbal predicate phraseological units of the type:
They had dinner (St. Leacock).
Their way of reasoning is clear enough: the components of a phraseological predicate form an indivisible unit expressing one idea, which, in a number of cases, can as well be conveyed by a
single verb. Cf.:
They had dinner (St. Leacock). -> They dined (W. Deeping).
It goes without saying that the components of a phraseological unit comprising a verb should be regarded as one member of the sentence, namely the predicate, for the verb, as a rule, undergoes a considerable change of meaning in the phraseological unit. Cf.:
He took the box from his pocket (St Benet).
He loved his books and took great care of them (Oxford
Collocations Dictionary).
As a matter of fact, the verb, making part of a phraseological unit, becomes meaningful only within the phraseological unit.
However, what kind of predicate do phraseological units constitute? The semantic equivalence to the verb, in our view, can hardly be regarded as sufficient grounds for referring phraseological units to simple verbal predicates. Simple predicates make use of one component that turns out structurally and communicatively sufficient for the characterization of the nominal component of predication. In the case of a phraseological unit, we deal with two components: the first characterizes the nominal component of predication structurally, from the point of view of the grammatical categories of modality, tense, occasionally - person; the second helps actualize the situation. Such discreteness is typical of compound, not simple predicates. That's why we side with those who regard the so-called phraseological predicate as a subtype of
the compound predicate.
B.A. Ilyish thinks that the simple predicate can be also nominal. We do not share this conception on the ground that the nominal component cannot, by itself, realize the predicative categories of modality and tense.
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The compound predicate falls under verbal and nominal. The compound verbal predicate is further subdivided into several types.
1. The compound verbal modal predicate. It comprises a
modal verb or its equivalent and an infinitive, e.g.:
A moment may ruin a life (D. Cusack).
Nobody was able to answer this question (M. Spark).
In the opinion of O. Jespersen, the infinitive after modal verbs and their equivalents should be regarded as a specific member of the sentence, clearly distinct from the predicate, namely an object.
O. Jespersen's point of view does not stand criticism because modal verbs and their equivalents, being semanticafly deficient, can characterize the nominal component of predication only structurally.
2. The compound verbal aspective predicate. It consists of a
finite verb indicating the beginning, duration, end, or repetition of
an action followed by an infinitive or gerund. Cf.:
He began to laugh (D. du Maurier).
Piggy went on speaking (W. Golding).
His heart stopped beating (J. Galsworthy).
She kept walking about the kitchen (J. Hanley).
B.A. Ilyish and L.S. Barkhudarov deny the existence of the compound verbal aspective predicate. They consider that his work in the sentence He began his work (B.A. Ilyish) and to work in the sentence He began to work (B.A. Ilyish) are identical in function: both can be qualified as objects to the verb began.
Really, aspective verbs generally require a complement, substantival or verbal. But in spite of the seeming identity of substantival and verbal complements, there is a certain point of difference between the two. Infinitives and gerunds, as non-finite forms of the verb, are naturally more closely connected with the finite verb than nouns. In view of this, infinitives and gerunds after aspective verbs are regarded by us as parts of compound verbal aspective predicates, nouns - as objects.
In addition to the compound verbal modal predicate and the compound verbal aspective predicate, G.G. Potcheptsov singles out:
a) compound verbal predicates, expressing the attitude of the subject to the action, e.g.:
/ want to write (E. Hemingway);
b) compound verbal predicates, expressing the reality or non-reality of the action, e.g.:
I feigned to read (H.G. Wells).
All these predicates, in our opinion, comprise a modal shade of meaning and can be included as a subclass into the group of compound verbal modal predicates.
The compound nominal predicate is also heterogeneous. The compound nominal predicate proper comprises a copular verb devoid of lexical meaning (in English there is only one empty copular verb - the verb be) and a predicative. The term 'copular verb' is not a happy one because the true function of a copular verb is not a connecting one. It expresses the predicative categories of tense, mood, sometimes - person. The predicative is the semantic centre of the compound nominal predicate: it either characterizes the referent of the subject or identifies the subject referent. Cf:
/ was angry at the delay (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English).
Who's that? - It's John (M. Swan).
The predicative can be expressed by a noun, an adjective, a pronoun, an adverb, a participle, a word combination, etc. Cf.:
He is a waiter (V. Evans).
Kitty was silent (W.S. Maugham).
Who's that? ~ It's me (M. Swan),
Their secret is out (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English).
He seemed puzzled (E. Queen).
It's a wonderful story (J. Irving).
In the second type of compound nominal predicates, the grammatical centre of the predicate possesses a certain lexical meaning so that one can draw a distinction between:
1) copular verbs of being: feel, look, seem, smell, taste, etc.,
e-g.:
You look happy (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English);
2) copular verbs of becoming: become, grow, get, turn, etc.,
e.g.:
The sound of footsteps grew louder (Longman Language Activator);
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3) copular verbs of remaining: remain, continue, keep, stay, etc., e.g.:
For a moment he remained silent (A. Christie).
However, just like the empty copular verb be, semi-notional copular verbs are communicatively and, consequently, syntactically deficient in the sense that they cannot form the predicate in the absence of a predicative. Cf:
You look happy (E. Queen). —» *You look.,.
The sound of footsteps grew louder (Longman Language Activator). —»• * The sound of footsteps grew...
For a moment he remained silent (A. Christie). —> *For a moment he remained...
The second type of compound nominal predicates, in our opinion, exists in two varieties: free compound nominal predicates in which the meaning of the predicate is the sum total of the meanings of its components (see the above given examples), and phraseologically bound compound nominal predicates in which the meaning of the predicate is not directly deduced from the meanings of its components (for detailed treatment see the problem of the phraseological predicate).
Then there exist sentences of the type:
In a bed in the corner of the room her little boy is lying ill (O. Wilde).
A.A. Shakhmatov was the first to draw the attention of linguists to a specific character of their structure. They consist of a subject (in our case - her little boy), a simple verbal predicate (in our case - is lying), and a third member (in our case - ill) whose syntactic nature admits of several interpretations. O. Jespersen calls it a quasi predicative. But this is a purely negative characteristic. It only states that the third component is not a predicative. But what is it? According to H. Paul, the third component should be called a predicative attribute. The term is not a happy one either since predicative and attributive relations are not identical notions. G. Curme calls the third component a predicative appositive, which again leads to the confusion of two basically different syntactic relations: apposition and predication.
The word ill in the sentence Her little boy is lying ill refers to the subject boy, just like a predicative proper in sentences with compound nominal predicates. Cf.:
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Her little boy is lying ill.
-4-----------------------------
Her little boy is ill,
It is obvious that the word ill in the sentence Her little boy is lying ill characterizes the subject predicatively, not attributively. Nevertheless, A.A. Shakhmatov and M.N. Galinskaya think that we cannot call it a predicative. A predicative always presupposes the presence of a copular verb, hi such cases as Her little boy is lying ill, there is no copular verb, for the element lie fully preserves its lexical meaning and is communicatively and, consequently, syntactically independent, forming a simple verbal predicate.
At the same time, ill makes part of predication. That's why A.A. Shakhmatov suggests that it should be called a second predicate. But the predicate is an independent member of the sentence. As for the element ill, it fails to form a grammatical sentence with the subject boy in the absence of the verbal component is lying. Hence, it is not a predicate proper.
Besides, the predicate characterizes only the nominal component of predication. The element ill in the sentence Her little boy is lying ill fulfils two functions. On the one hand, it describes the state of the nominal component when it undergoes the action in question. On the other hand, it introduces an adverbial characteristic of the action. In view of this, L.D. Tchesnokova calls the element ill in the sentence 'Her little boy is lying ill' dynneKcue. In inflected languages, dyweKcue agrees with the nominal component of predication and is governed by the verbal component of predication. In analytical English, where agreement has almost completely disappeared, dyruteKCue does not formally agree with the nominal component of predication; dynneKcue in English is connected with the nominal component of predication only through semantic correlation. The relationship between dynjiexcue and the verbal component of predication in English is similar to that in inflected languages. JfynneKCue is governed by the verbal component: its form is strictly predetermined: a noun, an adjective, or an adjectivized participle.
Since the component /// in the sentence Her little boy is lying ill not only characterizes the subject boy predicatively but also has a form typical of a predicative, we shall regard it as a predicative.
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At the same time, there is no gainsaying the fact that the verb lie is both semanticaily and communicatively independent and forms a simple verbal predicate. In other words, we have a fusion of two predicates here: simple verbal and compound nominal. Mixed types of predicates are rather many.
1. The compound modal nominal predicate, e.g.:
He ought to be here now (K.A. Porter).
2. The compound aspective nominal predicate, e.g.:
/ began to feel hungry (D. du Maurier).
3. The compound modal aspective predicate, e.g.:
He ought to stop doing nothing and criticizing everybody (J. Lindsay).
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