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The Structure of Language
An Introduction to Grammatical Analysis
Most of the time we communicate using language without considering
the complex activity we are undertaking, forming words and sentences in
a split second. This book introduces the analysis of language structure,
combining both description and theory within a single, practical text. It
begins by examining words and parts of words, and then looks at how words
work together to form sentences that communicate meaning. Sentence
patterns across languages are also studied, looking at the similarities and
the differences we find in how languages communicate meaning. The book
also discusses how context can affect how we structure our sentences: the
context of a particular language and its structures, the context of old and
new information for us and our addressee(s), and the context of our culture.
e m m a l . p a v e y is Assistant Professor of Linguistics at the Canada
Institute of Linguistics at Trinity Western University.


The Structure of
Language
An Introduction to
Grammatical Analysis

EMMA L. PAVEY
Trinity Western University, British Columbia


CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS


Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy
of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication,
and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain,
accurate or appropriate.


For goodness’ sake



Contents

List of figures
List of tables
Acknowledgements
Notes for instructors and readers
List of abbreviations
1 Introduction
1
2

Language for communication
The structure of language – a preview

2 The structure of words
1
2
3
4


5 Integrating language structure
1
2
3

How semantic roles are syntactically marked
Grammatical relations
Valence-changing constructions
Exercises

page ix
xii
xiii
xiv
xv
1
2
4
8
8
9
12
19
25
36
39
46
46
61

Exercises

7 Complex structures
1
2
3
4
5

Complex construction levels and types
Complex constructions
Serial verb constructions
Syntactic and semantic relations between clauses
Relative clauses
Exercises

8 The structure of information
1
2
3

Information structure terms and concepts
The morpho-syntactic marking of information structure
Questions and commands
Exercises

9 Language structure in context
1
2
3

271
277
289
299
310
310
311
319
320
329
334
337
350
370
383
398


Figures

3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
3.8
3.9
3.10

57
Constituent representations of non-verbal predicates
59
Constituent representation of specificational sentence 38 (b)
60
Syntactic core and periphery templates for English. Original
C Robert D. Van Valin, Jr 2005, reproduced with permission.
61
The scope of core and clausal negation
63
C
Syntactic representation. Original Robert D. Van Valin, Jr
76
2005, reproduced with permission.
Example syntactic representations for English sentences
76
Syntactic representation of 77 (a) and (b)
77
Constituent representation for head-marking sentence 82 (a)
81
Constituent representation of head-marking in Ch’orti’
81
Illustration of state predicate love
95
Illustration of activity predicate dance
96
Illustration of achievement predicate pop
97
Illustration of accomplishment predicates melt and recover
98

x

Figures

6.3 Constituent representation of the lid of the box
6.4 Constituent representation of deverbal noun. Original
C Cambridge University Press 1997, reproduced with
permission.
6.5 Constituent representation of NP with NPIP
6.6 Constituent representation of NPIP and NPFP. Original
C Robert D. Van Valin, Jr 2005, reproduced with permission.
6.7 Constituent representation of possessive constructions
6.8 Constituent representation of pronoun and proper noun
6.9 Overview of NP constituent and operator representation
6.10 Syntactic representation for noun phrases. Original C Robert
D. Van Valin, Jr 2005. Reproduced with permission.
6.11 Syntactic representation for English NP with nominal aspect
6.12 Syntactic representation of demonstratives in NPs
6.13 Position of adjunct adpositional phrase
6.14 Internal structure of predicative adpositional phrase. Original
C Robert D. Van Valin, Jr 2005. Reproduced with
permission.
6.15 Internal structure of non-predicative prepositional phrase.
Original C Robert D. Van Valin, Jr 2005. Reproduced with
permission.
6.16 Constituent representation of adjunct adpositional phrase
6.17 Constituent representation of argument-marking adpositional
phrase
6.18 Constituent representation of argument-adjunct adpositional
phrase

199

200

201
204
205
205
207
207
208
220
220
223
223
223
225
226

226
226
228
230
231
232


Figures

7.14 Syntactic representation of core coordination and core

9.5 Representation of the Yimas view of time
9.6 Relative and absolute reference points

234
235
236
246
248
250
253
258
272

277
280
281
282
283
283
285
287
291
294
312
314
317
320
324
325


6.1
6.2
6.3
7.1
8.1
8.2

xii

Kham data, version 1
Kham data, version 2
Kham data, version 3
Kham data, version 4
Kham data, version 5
Kham data, final version
Hungarian position class chart, version 1
Hungarian position class chart, final version
Yatˆe personal prefix paradigm
Halkomelem person particles with intransitive predicates
Derivational affix examples
Summary of differences between inflection and derivation
Summary of differences between affixes and clitics
Relationship between syntactic and semantic units
Properties of the five main predicate classes
Activities and active achievements
Properties of active achievements
Causative predicate classes
Morphological marking of states,
accomplishments/achievements and causatives
Semantic roles of state predicate arguments

102
107
110
112
116
118
120
169
187
202
205
258
274
298


Acknowledgements

I would like to thank all those who gave input and feedback during the process of
writing this book, and those who assisted with language data: in particular I would
like to thank Robert Van Valin, Jr, and also Bonnie Henson, Howard Jackson,
Madeleine van den Bovenkamp, Jamin Pelkey, Toshio Ohori and David Crozier.
I would also like to thank Tom Stobbe for his assistance in the compilation
process.
For keeping me sane during the book-writing process, I credit the time spent
with my friends at the A Rocha Centre in Surrey, BC.
Finally, my broad but sincere thanks also go to my ‘guinea pigs’, the students
at the Canada Institute of Linguistics at Trinity Western University (Langley, BC)
who helped me refine and improve this book, and who showed a keen aptitude
for finding typos. Remaining mistakes are of course mine.

xiv


Abbreviations

1
2
3
i
ii
iii
a
aaj
abil
abl
abs
absol
acc
adj
adn
adv
advr
aff
afx
agr
agt
all
an
ant
antip

agreement
agentive case
allative
animate
anterior
antipassive
aorist
applicative
article
aspect
assertive/assertative
associative
assumed evidential
attributive
active voice
augmented number
xv


xvi

Abbreviations

aux
av
bel
ben
bv
caus
cl

dirc
disj
dist
dlmt
dm
d-s
dstr

auxiliary
agentive voice
belonging or association
benefactive
borrowed verb
causative
clitic
classifier / class marker
clause linkage marker
causee marker
common noun
collective
comitative
complementizer
completive
conjunct
consecutive marker
continuative aspect
contrastive focus particle
copula
contrast
converb

ep
erg
evid
excl
exist
ext
f
fin
foc
frust
fut
fv
gen
giv
h
hab
hort
hsy
id
if
imp
inan
incl
ind
indf
inf
infl
infr
ingr
ins

habitual
hortative
hearsay evidential
identifiable
illocutionary force
imperative
inanimate
inclusive
indicative
indefinite
infinitive
inflectional affix
inferred evidential
ingressive
instrumental
interrogative
intransitive
imperfective
irrealis
iterative
use of the index finger to point
lative
left-detached position
limitative
linker

xvii


xviii

obj
objv
obl
oblig
obs
onom
ov
p
pass
pat
pau
pbl
pc
pfv
pl
pn
pocs

locative
masculine
minimal number
marker
male
modality
neuter
nominal aspect
non-dual
negation
neutral
non-final marker

proper noun
post-core slot


Abbreviations

pol
poss
post
pot
pp
prcs
prdr
pred
prep
pret
prf
pro
prob
proc
prog
prop
pros
prox
prp
prs
psa
pst
ptcl
ptcp

preterite tense
perfect aspect
pronoun
probability
process
progressive
proper name
prospective aspect
proximal
present active participle
present tense
privileged syntactic argument
past tense
particle
participle
purposive
question marker/particle
quantification
qualitative
relative clause
right-detached position
recent past
reciprocal
reduplication
referential
reflexive
reflexive possessive
relative marker
remote past
remote future

regardless of which language(s) we speak. Linguists working in what is known
as the generative tradition seek to understand universal grammar, the
structures that human languages have in common and that we may be born with the
capacity to use. The generative approach focuses on the formal characteristics
of language structure, seeking to uncover the rules that ‘generate’ well-formed
sentences. Other linguists take a more functional approach, studying language
use in context; in other words, what actually comes out of our mouths rather than
what may be stored in our heads. Functional approaches seek to incorporate the
meaning and broader context of language in order to fully understand language
structure.
In this book I present a practical, functional approach to describing and explaining language structure. In chapter 2, I present a step-by-step approach to analysing
the structure of words: the study of morphology. Chapters 3 to 8 draw specifically on Role and Reference Grammar theory (RRG) to help us understand the
structure of sentences by looking at form (syntax), meaning (semantics) and
function (pragmatics) (Van Valin and LaPolla 1997, Van Valin 2005). As well as
being a functional theory interested in language as a means of communication,
RRG theory seeks to be typologically adequate, to present a level playing field
for the analysis of all languages. This book does not cover every aspect of RRG
theory; for that, the reader is directed to the references. Rather, this book is an
1


2

introduction

introduction to the analysis of language structure, and I will make use of aspects
of RRG theory as a useful tool for that purpose.
In order to study language you need to look both at the big picture and the
small component parts of language. To take an analogy, consider psychologists and neurosurgeons. Both are ‘head doctors’, examining the way the brain
works. However, while a neurosurgeon might cut you open and look at different

respectively).
Our ability to deal with arbitrary symbols means we can use language as
an abstract system; we can talk about things that are not physically present
because we can associate the word with the referent even though there is only an
arbitrary connection between the form and the meaning. When we manipulate
such arbitrary symbols, it is more than a Pavlovian response (Deacon 1997: 68).
As an abstract system, we can also use language to talk about events in the past,
events within events (e.g. the man I saw last week is waving at me) or even events
in the imagination.
In terms of language structure, we also find some arbitrariness: some languages
put the verb last in a sentence, while others put it at the beginning. At the same


1. Language for communication

time, as we will see in chapters 7 to 9 in particular, we do find some iconicity
in the connection between certain sentence structures and the meanings they
express.
1.2

Do you know what I mean? ⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢ

If you hear someone speak, or watch someone sign, in a language that
you do not know, what thoughts cross your mind? Can you tell where the words
begin and end? Do you consider it borderline miraculous that another person
could take any kind of meaning from that stream of sound or signs? The reality
is that practically every human being gleans a great deal of meaning from such
streams of communication in at least one language, and without a great deal of
conscious thought about the structure of the words and sentences they are using.
One of the most central factors that governs all language structures and communication is the tension between understandability and economy. Essentially,


In (1a), the sequence of words a tall student has the function of picking out a
particular referent; in other words, it is used to tell us something about the

3


4

introduction

identity of the one who stole the stapler. In (1b), on the other hand, a tall student
does not pick out a particular referent; instead, it gives us more descriptive
information about the referent picked out by Norman. Do not worry if this
distinction is not totally clear at this point; we will be returning to this difference
in chapter 3.
In the sentences in (2), on the other hand, we see different forms performing
the same function.
(2) (a)
(b)
(c)

That Norman stole my stapler saddens me.
Stealing saddens me.
Norman saddens me.

In every case, the function of the underlined element is to pick out the thing that
saddens me, even though the form of the underlined element is different: we have
a clause in (a), a verb in (b) and a noun in (c). We need to make sure we look not
only at the shape or form of an element but also at the function(s) it can have in

in most of the exercises in this book. In fact, it is advisable, in seeking to elicit
‘natural’ data, to record various types of texts rather than isolated sentences. In
learning about language structures, it is best to begin by practising with neat sets
of data, but I have also included text-based exercises so that you can practise both
types of analysis.


2 The structure of language – a preview

2.1

The chapters ⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢⅢ

In this book I begin with the smallest meaningful units of language
structure and move all the way through to examining complex sentences. In
terms of the study of linguistics as a whole, we begin our linguistic journey on
the outskirts of phonology (the study of sound patterns) and march right up to the
borders of discourse (the study of how whole texts are structured). In this section,
I will briefly introduce the topics of each chapter.
2.1.1
Chapter 2: the structure of words
In the next chapter, we will examine morphology, which is the study of parts
of words. Many words can be divided into pieces (morphemes), each of which
conveys a different part of the meaning of the whole. For example, if you were to
chop up the word underfunded you would probably end up with under-fund-ed,
and you would no doubt also be able to describe the meaning of each part of the
word as it contributes to the whole.
In this chapter we will learn how to ‘find’ various types of morphemes and
how to describe the ways in which they fit together to form words in different
languages.