英语本科-语法简答及名词解释.doc

1、 Modal auxiliaries: meaning of modal auxiliaries can be divided into two categories: predictive and non-predictive. The predictive meaning is concerned with the speakers assumption or assessment of probility and, in most cases, indicates the speakers confidence or lack of confidence in the truth of his statement. Eg: it must be Juhn.2、 Anaphoric reference: with regard to the direction that the reference points to in the text. The anaphoric reference suggests retrieving information from the foregoing context. Eg: wow, youve got a huge house, I didnt expect it to be so big. The cataphoric reference suggests the information from the forthcoming context.3、 Two tenses and two aspects: two tenses- the present tense and the past tense; two aspects-the progressive aspect and the perfective aspect.4、 Non-finite verbs: the non-finitive verbs are so called because they are not marked for tense or for subject-verb concord. In form it has the features of aspect and tense, while in its function, it can be object, complement, adverbial, etc. we recognize three types of non-finite verbs: infinitive ( further divided into to-infinitive and bare infinitive,) ing participle and ed participle.5、 Extraposition: is defined as “the replacement of the postponed item by a substitute form”. The extraposed item is almost always a nominal clause, which satisfies the desire for end-weight. In function, the extraposed item can be subject or object; in form, it can be finite or non-finite. When we remove a clausal subject or object to the final position, we use the anticipatory it to fill in the slot. (Remove a clausal subject or object to the final focal position.)6、 Tex: refers to a unified passage, is one that is not only structurally well-integrated but also semantically coherent.7、 Modal auxiliaries features: are a special group of words that have unique features both in syntax and in semantics. They are often described as inflectionally defective verbs, because in syntactic terms they lack a full set of forms- not having non-finite forms or being marked for concord with the subject in semantics, modal auxiliaries are all the more complicated because nearly all of them are polysemous and, as a consequence, their interpretation is such that we forever feel the need to resort to context for clues.8、 Participles: they are divided into two groups, one is “-ing participle” the other is “-ed participle.” The former used to be called “the present participle ” or “the gerund.” now they are so termed because we attach our concern to form, not to meaning. Eg: she looked depressed. I regret telling you the truth.9、 Fronting: refers to the removal of an item from its unmarked postsubject position to the marked presubject position. Eg: into a large crowd of people the plane dived.10、 Ellipsis: refers to leaving out sth. understood. Strictly speaking, we refer to incomplete sentences with such a structure as to presuppose a preceding item. In this sense, ellipsis sets up cohesion on the basis of structural recoverability with reference to the linguistic context. Eg: why give me two cups of coffee? I only asked for one. 11、 The antecedent: is that preceding item which the relative clause modifies. A typical antecedent is nominal. i.e: a noun or a noun phrase. 12、 Relative clauses: restrictive relative and non-restrictive relative clause. Restrictive relative clause is an integral part of the noun phrase and gives essential information for the identification of what its antecedents refer to. Eg: the girl who lives next door is now traveling in SH. Non-restrictive clauses which are separated by commas in that the latter only offers additional information which is not needed to indentify the person or thing we are talking about.13、 The double relative clause: is a type of multiple postmodification which is realized by more than one relative modifying the same head word. Eg: this is the only book I bought which challenges this common belief. Mr. lee is the only person I know who offers an reasonable price.14、 Gradable adjectives: refer to most adjectives that can take comparative forms, inflectional, or they can be modified by intensifiers like “very” “so” and graded on a scale of intensity.15、 Postponement: is a means to make an emphatic statement by putting the important information at the end of the sentence. It is usually realized by active to passive transformation, by extraposition of a clause element, by discontinuity of adjacent elements or by various other means, eg: the flowers were destroyed by the rain.(passive.) it is not fun at all to make fun of a disabled man.(extraposition) she is the only girl in my class who can play the guitar.(discontinuity)16、 Simple present: is used to refer to the past in such as: 1 newspaper headlines,2 photographic captions. 3 stage directions.17、 The non-finite verbs: are so called because they are not marked for tense or for subject-verb concord. ( to infinitive, bare infinitive, -ing participle, -ed participle)18、 Subject complements: denote what the subject is or what the subject becomes.19、 Aspect: reflects the way in which verb action is regarded or experienced with respect to time. Two aspects-the progressive aspect and the perfective aspect.20、 Given information: is assumed to be familiar to the receiver of the message because it was explicity provided in the preceding linguistic context or implicity provided in view of the situational context or the shared cultural background. 21、 New information: is assumed to be unfamiliar to the receiver and hence is the most important part of the utterance.22、 Predictive meaning of modal auxiliaries: is concerned with the speakers assumption or assessment of probability. And in most cases, indicates the speakers confidence or lack of confidence. In the truth of his statement.23、 The cataphoric reference: with regard to the direction that the reference points to in the text, the cataphoric reference suggests the information from the forthcoming context. (Anaphoric reference retrieving information from the foregoing context.24、 Double genitive: also refereed as the “post genitive.” Is so called because it is a combination the genitive and the of-phrase. eg: a friend of my fathers.25、 Double relative clause: is a type of multiple postmodification which is realized by more than on relative clause modifying the same head word. Falls into two types: one that consists of parallel clauses, it is usually coordinated by and, or or but. And the other of hierarchical clauses.26、 WH-question: is a question that normally begins with a WH-series of word.27、 Prepositions: are mainly used to relate people or things in place or in time.28、 Inherent adjectives: denoting adjectives inherent qualities characterize the referent of the noun. Non-inherent adjectives identify qualities in and indirect way, they are to be interpreted in terms of extended meaning. eg: A big house. A big eater.29、 Stative adjectives: the majority of adjectives are stative in nature. Describing permanent inherent qualities which is particularly when they are used attributively. Eg: big red tall pretty30、 Dynamic adjectives: many adjectives can be used in the dynamic sense, especially when they occur in the predictive position to denote subjective measurement or suggest a temporary state. Eg: foolish rude ambition 31、 Gradable adjectives: most adjective can take comparative forms, inflectional or can be modified by intensifiers like very and so and graded on a scale of intensity.32、 Non-gradable adjectives: adjectives which only act as attribute, denoting provenance, with an absolute meaning are non-gradable. Eg: mere latter excellent perfect French Chinese33、 Restrictive adjective: helps identity the referent of the noun by describing its distinctive qualities. Non-restrictive adjective merely provides some additional information which is usually not essential for the identification of the referent.34、 Be-passive: is the normal passive auxiliary, which may occur in different tense and aspect forms and with different modal auxiliaries and semi-auxiliaries.35、 Get passive: is far less popular than be-passive. 1. get-passive is generally avoided in formal style, and even in informal English it is far less frequent than be-passive. 2.And semantically, get-passive is typically used to refer to an event, rather than a state; 3.to denote the consequence, rather than the process of a event, and to lay emphasis on what happens usually unfavorably to the subject as a result of the event, rather than who actually causes the event.36、 Unit nouns: also refereed to as “partities” are very special class of words that are used to specify the quantities of the modified noun.37、 Predictive (shall/ will): also called “epistemic.” It expresses the speakers assumption or assessment of probability of a future situation.38、 Non-predictive (shall/ will): also called non-epistemic, interpretation of will or shall is subject-oriented .it typically expresses the willingness or intention of person as represented by the subject of the sentence.39、 Subordination: link of two units, usually two clauses at different syntactic level.40、 Unit nouns: also referred to as partitives. Are a very special class of word that are used to specify the quantities of the modified noun。1 what is text and what is a unified text? Text: the tem text refers to a unified passage. Whether spoken or written, al grammatical sentences are internally unified.Unified text: is one that is structurally well-integrated, semantically coherent.2 how do we know whether or not there is a cohesion across sentences?Cohesion: is a semantic concept referring to the relation of meaning within the text, this relation does not come into being until we have to interpret a certain element by recourse to another.3 what are the three major cohesive devices?Reference substitution ellipsis4 explain exophoric reference, endophoric reference, anaphoric reference and cataphoric reference.Exophorice reference: reference to the nonlinguistic or situational context.Endophoric reference: reference to the linguistic or textural context.Anaphorice reference: reference the retrieve information from the foregoing context.Cataphoric referenceL refer to the forthcoming context.5 provide examples to illustrate reference as realized by pronouns, demonstrative and comparison.Look at the man, I think HEs the person wanted by police.They finally arrived at an agreement to stop fire. THAT agreement saved the country from war.John is both stupid and lazy, his brother is NO BETTER.6 what is the difference between reference and substitution?Reference is a relation between meanings. The reference and its referent ate the same thing. Substitution is a relation between linguistic items, such as words, phrases or clauses, is a relation in wording rather than in meaning.( nominal : one, verbal: do, so, do that, do it. Clause: so, not)7 Provide examples to illustrate the nominal, verbal and clause substitutions. I want a car, but I cant afford ONE. You dont like dishonesty, do you? Of course, actually, nobody DOES. Is he the right person for the job? I suppose SO/NOT.8 how is ellipsis related to substitution?Ellipsis is like substitution in that it sets up cohesion on the basis of structural recoverability with reference to the linguistic context.9 provide example to illustrate nominal, verbal and clausal ellipsis.Why give me two cups of coffee? I only asked for ONE. Have you see him before? Yes, I have. He promised to e here on time. Yes, I know.10 name some other devices to achieve cohesion.Transition repletion parallelism1 what are the given information and the new information?The given information is assumed to be familiar to the receiver. The new information is assumed to be unfamiliar to the receiver, is the most important part of the information unit.2 why does an average English sentence contain the given information and the new information? Where is each normally located in the sentence?The new information constructs an informative message and is thus closely linked the information focus. The given information provides an unambiguous starting point of the message for the sake of receiver.3 what is the information focus?That part of information unit which is taken to be particularly important.4 explain the coincidence between the en-focus and the end-weight.The new information is placed towards the end is referred to as principle of end-focus. The tendency to place a weighty element in the final position which is associated with that of end-focus is end-weight.5 provide examples to illustrate the major type of postponent.Passive voice: my dog sent the mail _ the mail was sent by MY DOG.Extraposition: to