Table Of Contentv
Contents
Listofcontributors vi
Notationalconventions x
Treediagrams xiii
Preface xv 1 Preliminaries 1
GeoffreyK.Pullumand RodneyHuddleston
2 Syntacticoverview 43
RodneyHuddleston
3 Theverb 71
RodneyHuddleston
4 Theclause:complements 213
RodneyHuddleston
5 Nounsandnounphrases 323
JohnPayneand RodneyHuddleston
6 Adjectivesandadverbs 525
GeoffreyK.Pullumand RodneyHuddleston
7 Prepositionsandprepositionphrases 597
GeoffreyK.Pullumand RodneyHuddleston
8 Theclause:adjuncts 663
AnitaMittwoch,RodneyHuddleston,and PeterCollins
9 Negation 785
GeoffreyK.Pullumand RodneyHuddleston
10 Clausetypeandillocutionaryforce 851
RodneyHuddleston
11 Contentclausesandreportedspeech 947
RodneyHuddleston
12 Relativeconstructionsandunboundeddependencies 1031
RodneyHuddleston,GeoffreyK.Pullum,and PeterPeterson
13 Comparativeconstructions 1097
RodneyHuddleston
14 Non-finiteandverblessclauses 1171
RodneyHuddleston
15 Coordinationandsupplementation 1273
RodneyHuddleston,JohnPayne,and PeterPeterson
16 Informationpackaging 1363
GregoryWard,BettyBirner,and RodneyHuddleston
17 Deixisandanaphora 1449
LesleyStirlingand RodneyHuddleston
18 Inflectionalmorphologyandrelatedmatters 1565
FrankPalmer,RodneyHuddleston,and GeoffreyK.Pullum
19 Lexicalword-formation 1621
LaurieBauerand RodneyHuddleston
20 Punctuation 1723
GeoffreyNunberg,TedBriscoe,and RodneyHuddleston
Furtherreading 1765
Index 1779
Lexicalindex 1780
Conceptualindex 1813
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Notational conventions
Abbreviationsofgrammaticaltermsandspecialsymbols
Whereappropriate,pagereferencesaregiventotheinitialexplanation.Forthesymbols
usedinphonologicalrepresentations,seep.13.
A adjunct
Adj adjective
AdjP adjectivephrase
Adv adverb
AdvP adverbphrase
AmE AmericanEnglish
AusE AustralianEnglish
BrE BritishEnglish
C,Comp complement
Coord coordinate
d dependent
D determinative
declar declarative
Det determiner
DP determinativephrase
exclam exclamative
FCF finalcombiningform(p.1661)
gen genitive
h head
IC immediateconstituent
ICF initialcombiningform(p.1661)
impve imperative
interrog interrogative
loc locative
Mkr marker
Mod modifier
N noun
N/A notapplicable
N/D non-distinctive
Nec necessity(p.176)
Nom nominal
NP nounphrase
NPI negatively-orientedpolarity-sensitiveitem(p.822)
NZE NewZealandEnglish
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Notationalconventions xi
o oblique
O object
Od directobject
Oi indirectobject
O objectofditransitive(pp.296–7)
ditrans
O objectofmonotransitive(pp.296–7)
mono
O objectoftransitive(pp.296–7)
trans
P predicator
PC,PredComp predicativecomplement
pl plural
Poss possibility(p.176)
PP prepositionphrase
Prep preposition
PPI positively-orientedpolarity-sensitiveitem(p.822)
Q–A question–answer(p.897)
rel relative
S subject
S subjectofintransitive(pp.296–7)
intr
S subjectoftransitive(pp.296–7)
trans
sg singular
Subj-det subject-determiner
T deictictime(p.125)
d
T matrixtime(p.160)
m
T timeoforientation(p.125)
o
T timereferredto(p.125)
r
T timeofsituation(p.125)
sit
univ universal
V verb
VGp verbgroup(p.1213)
VP verbphrase
& conjunction(logical)(p.1294)
∨ inclusivedisjunction(p.1294)
∨ exclusivedisjunction(p.1294)
< isanteriorto(p.125)
> (i)isgreater/strongerthan;
(ii)isposteriorto(p.125);
(iii)precedes(labileorderingconstraint)(p.452)
>> precedes(rigidorderingconstraint)(p.452)
(cid:2) (i)grammaticalcorrespondence;
(ii)themeaningofthemorphologicalbase(p.1631)
X →Y;Y ← X XismorphologicalsourceofY (p.1633)
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xii Notationalconventions
Presentationofexamples
Italicsareusedforallexpressionscitedinorthography.
Bolditalicsareusedtoemphasisethatwearecitingalexemeinabstractionfromanyof
itsinflectionalforms,asin‘theverbgo’(p.27).
“Doublequotationmarks”enclosemeanings,orpropositions.
Underlining(singleordouble)andsquarebracketsservetohighlightpartofanexample.
smallcapitalsareused,whereappropriate,toindicatefocalstress: I DIDtellyou.
Arrowsmarkintonation,with(cid:6)representingarisingpitch,(cid:7)afallingpitch,asinIsita
boy(cid:6)oragirl(cid:7)?
Thesymbol‘—’,asin‘whatKimbought—’,representsagap(p.49).
Thesymbol‘·’marksamorphologicaldivisionwithinawordoracomponentpartofa
word,asin‘work·er·s’or‘thesuffix·s’.
Subscriptindices,suchas‘i’or‘j’,markpairsofitemsrelatedasantecedentandanaphor
(p. 49); thus in ‘Jill said she would help’, the pronoun she is to be interpreted as
i i
anaphorictotheantecedentJill.
The following symbols indicate the status of examples (in the interpretation under
consideration):
∗ ∗
ungrammatical Thisbooksismine.
# semanticallyorpragmaticallyanomalous #Wefrightenedthecheese.
%grammaticalinsomedialect(s)only %Hehadn’tmanyfriends.
? ofquestionablegrammaticality ?Suehegavethekey.
! non-standard !Ican’thardlyhear.
Theslashsymbol‘/’separatesalternatives:Thepictureseemedexcellent/distortedrepresents
anabbreviationofthetwoexamplesThepictureseemedexcellentandThepictureseemed
∗
distorted.Similarly,Iaskedyounottoleave/ todon’tleaveuntiltomorrowisanabbre-
∗
viation of I asked you not to leave until tomorrow and I asked you to don’t leave until
tomorrow.Theslashisflankedbyspacesunlessbothalternativesconsistofasingleword.
Parenthesesencloseoptionalelements:Theerrorwasoverlooked(byPat)isanabbreviation
ofTheerrorwasoverlookedbyPatandTheerrorwasoverlooked.
Theletters‘A’and‘B’representdifferentspeakersinaninterchange,asinA:Where’sthe
key? B:It’sinthetopdrawer.
Specialistpassages
Certainpassagesaresetofffromthemaintextbybeingprintedinsmallertypeagainstashaded
background, as illustrated here. They are designed mainly for the specialist grammarian
ratherthanthemoregeneralreader,beingmostlyconcernedwithlinguisticargumentation
infavouroftheanalysispresentedinthemaintext.Suchpassagescanbeomittedwithout
lossofcontinuity.
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xiii
Tree diagrams
Treediagramsfortheexpressionslistedin[1–40]belowaregivenonthepagesindicated.
Theconventionsusedinthediagramsareexplainedinthecommentarieson[1](themajor
concepts),[3](forthe‘gap’notation),and[8](fortheabbreviatorytriangle).
[1] abirdhitthecar 20,23,26
[2] somechildren;children 26
[3] Lizboughtawatch;whatLizbought 48
[4] whatMaxsaidLizbought 49
[5] heisill;isheill? 50
[6] theoldman;thoseMinistryofDefenceofficials 329
[7] boththosecopies;thecaralone 331
[8] evenallthepreposteroussalaryfromLloydsthatBillgets 332
[9] anumberofprotesters 351
[10] fewofherfriends;someoneIknow;thesecond 412
[11] Kim’sfather;Kim’s 468
[12] Mary’scarefulanalysisoftheissues;Marycarefullyanalysedtheissues 473
[13] occasionallyveryoffensive;quiteunbelievablyoffensive 548
[14] infrontofthecar 620
[15] spoonfulbyspoonful 632
[16] incrediblethoughitseems 633
[17] whatsizeshoes;howbigahole 911
[18] thatyoursecretarymightbeleaving 954
[19] whichmyneighbourgaveme 1038
[20] nocandidatewhoscored40%ormorewaseverfailed 1061
[21] theyinterviewedJill,whohadlentmoneytothevictim 1062
[22] whatshewrote 1073
[23] theothersIknowaregenuine 1085
[24] whatyouinsistedthatweneed 1089
[25] asLiz 1113
[26] tolendhimthemoney 1185
[27] foryoutolendhimthemoney 1187
[28] his/himconstantlyquestioningmymotives 1190
[29] hewaswritingaletter 1218
[30] KimandPat 1277
[31] theguestsandindeedhisfamilytoo 1278
[32] KimandeitherPatorAlex 1278
[33] eggandbaconorstew;cakesandteaorcoffee;pork,beef,orlamb 1279
[34] longpoemsandessays 1285
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xiv Treediagrams
[35] fishandchipsandice-cream;worksofartofvalue;soupandfishandchips;threatsofloss
offace;beans(and)peasandcarrots 1290
[36] bothtothemenandtheiremployers 1308
[37] gave$100toKimand$5 toPat 1342
[38] eithertelephonedorwrittenalettertohisson’sboss 1345
[39] JillsoldherinternetsharesinJanuary,averyastutemove;thenecklace,whichhermother
gaveher,wasinthesafe 1354
[40] ungentlemanly;disinterestedness 1626
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xv
Preface
This book aims to bridge the large gap that exists between traditional grammar and
thepartialdescriptionsofEnglishgrammarproposedbythoseworkinginthefieldof
linguistics.Wedonotassumeanyfamiliaritywiththeoreticallinguisticsonthepartof
thereaderandaimforascomprehensiveacoverageasspaceallows,butwehavemade
significant changes to the traditional analysis to take account of the progress that has
beenmadebylinguistsinourunderstandingofEnglishgrammar.
ThetaskofproducinganewgrammarofEnglishthatincorporatesasmanyaspossible
of the insights achieved in modern linguistics is too great for two people, and we are
fortunate to have been able to enlist the help of a team of distinguished linguists. A
grammar, however, requires a very high degree of integration between the parts, so
that it would not have been possible simply to put together a collection of papers by
differentscholarswritingwithintheirareaofspecialisation.Instead,oneorbothofus
haveworkedcloselywiththeothercontributorsinco-authoringthechaptersconcerned:
wearegratefultothemfortheirwillingnesstoengageinthissomewhatunusualkind
ofcollaboration.Theyarenotofcoursetobeheldresponsibleforanyshortcomingsin
thedescriptionrelatingtotopicswhoseprimarycoverageisinotherchaptersthanthose
thatbeartheirnames.
Thelengthybusinessofproducingthisgrammarhasoccupiedoneofus(RDH)for
over a decade, most of it full-time, and the other (GKP) part-time for over six years.
Naturally,manyintellectualandpersonaldebtshavepiledupduringthelengthyprocess
ofresearch,consultation,collaboration,writing,revising,andediting.Wecannothope
toconveythefullextentofthesedebts,butwewillattempttosketchtheoutlinesofthose
thatarethemostcentral.
Theprojecthasbenefitedfromthesupportandadviceprovidedbyagroupofeminent
linguistswhoservedasaBoardofConsultants:BarryBlake,BernardComrie,Greville
Corbett, Edward Finegan, John Lyons, Peter Matthews, Keith Mitchell, Frank Palmer,
JohnPayne,NeilSmith,RolandSussex,andthelateJamesD.McCawley.
Duringthefirstsixyearsoftheproject,workshopswereheldregularlyinBrisbane
and Sydney to develop ideas for the framework and content of the grammar: we are
gratefulforthecontributionstotheseworkshopsprovidedbyRayCattell,PeterCollins,
PeterFries,DavidLee,PamPeters,andPeterPeterson.PamPetersandstaffatMacquarie
UniversityhelpeduswithgatheringdatabyprovidingonlineaccesstotheBrown,ACE,
andLOBcorpora.
Anumberofscholarsweregoodenoughtoletushavecommentsononeormore
wholedraftchapters:BarryBlake(astalwart,whostudiedeightchapterswithcare),Bas
Aarts,FrancisBond,JillBowie,BernardComrie,GrevilleCorbett,AnnabelCormack,
David Denison, Edward Finegan, David Lee, James D. McCawley, Peter Matthews,
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xvi Preface
KeithMitchell,FrankPalmer,Ma´rioPerini,PeterPeterson,AimoSeppa¨nen,NeilSmith,
and Mariangela Spinillo. Others commented on specific topics: Vic Dudman (tense,
modality,conditionals),PeterFries(verbinflectionandauxiliaries);JanetHolmesand
Anne Pauwels (gender); Henk Kylstra (numerals); John Lyons (clause type); Gregory
WardandArnoldZwicky(unboundeddependencies).EdmundWeinerofOxfordUni-
versity Press made available to us lexicographical data on themself. Aimo Seppa¨nen
provided us with comments, draft material, and corpus examples on a wide range of
topics,includingextraposition,relativeclausesandverbcomplementation.JohnPayne
alsocontributedideasonaconsiderablenumberofissuesthatlieoutsidethetwochapters
bearinghisname.FrankPalmerandRolandSussexgaveinvaluableadviceonmattersof
presentation.
Somescholarswhodidnotendupbeingfullcollaboratorsinthedraftingofanypar-
ticularchapternonethelessprovidedcrucialdraftmaterialforparticularsectionsorfor
notesatvariouspointsinthebook:RayCattell(onlightverbs),DavidDenison(onissues
inthehistoryofEnglish),andDavidLee(onthemeaningsofprepositions).JillBowie
andTomMylneworkedfortheprojectinaresearchsupportrole,anddidenormously
useful work; we thank them warmly. Tom also played a major part in compiling the
index,whileJamesHuddlestonprovidedvaluableadditionalhelpwiththismassivetask.
Ourmoregeneralintellectualdebtswill,wehope,beobvious,thoughnotasobvious
astheywouldhavebeenifwehadbeenwritingalinguisticsmonographwithliterature
citationsratherthanadescriptivegrammarwithnone.Itshouldbekeptinmindthatwe
havemaintainedstrictlyapolicyofnotinterruptingourexpositionatallwithreferences
to the grammatical literature or source citations for examples, even in the footnotes.
Thosewhowishtoseeabriefsummarylistingofsomeoftheliteraturethatinfluenced
usmostandafewworksthatwewouldrecommendforadditionalinformationshould
turntoour‘FurtherReading’sectionattheendofthebook.
Specialmentionshouldbemadehere,however,oftheworkofRandolphQuirkand
hiscolleagues,whoseSurveyofEnglishUsageandtheseriesofgrammarsresultingfrom
itculminatedinthepublicationofAComprehensiveGrammaroftheEnglishLanguage
in1985.Althoughthepresentworkoftenpursuesaverydifferenttheoreticalapproach
andanalysisfromthatofQuirk etal.,theirgrammarprovedanindispensablesource
ofdataandideas.WemightneverhaveattemptedthisgrammarifQuirk,Greenbaum,
LeechandSvartvikhadnotpointedtheway.
TheUniversityofQueenslandprovidedaspecialprojectsgranttolaunchourwork
in 1989, while the Australian Research Council provided the major financial support
intheformoftwoLargeGrantscoveringtheperiod1990–1996andaSeniorResearch
Fellowship funding RDH’s full-time involvement from 1994 to 1998. GKP’s work in-
volvedfivevisitstotheproject’sAustralianheadquarterstotallingoverayear,together
with two sabbatical quarters in California. These were made financially possible by
theGladysKriebleDelmasFoundation(NewYork),variousgrantsprogrammesatthe
UniversityofQueensland,CambridgeUniversityPress,andtheDivisionofHumanities
andDepartmentofLinguisticsattheUniversityofCalifornia,SantaCruz.
WearealsogratefultostaffatCambridgeUniversityPress,notablytoJudithAylingin
theearlypartoftheprojectandthentoKateBrett,whohasprovidedinvaluablesupport
overthelastfewyears.ThanksareduetootoLeighMuellerforherverythoroughwork
ascopy-editor.
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Preface xvii
Last of all, though only to ensure the pragmatic prominence associated with final
constituents,wenotethateachofusisinthepositionofhavingmarriedjustacouple
ofyearsbeforestartingworkonthisenormoustask,andwithsomesurprisewenote
thatbothourmarriageshavesurvivedit.Thisismainlybecauseofgreatforbearance,
resilience,unselfishness,supportiveness,andlovesuppliedbyourspouses.
Barbara Scholz faced five consecutive years of summertime choices between dislo-
cationanddesertionasherpartner(GKP)decampedtoAustraliatoworkfull-timeon
thegrammarthroughtheAustralianwinter.Butthroughtheyears,whethershestayed
behindormovedtoAustralia,shewasunfailinglysupportiveandevenenthusiasticabout
theproject.Hergenerosityandfortitudeisdeeplyappreciated.
VivienneHuddlestonprovidedanimmenseamountofwarmhospitalitytomembers
oftheproject–inearlyyearsattheannualBrisbaneworkshops,andlatertooverseas
contributorsstayinginherhomeforlengthyperiodsofcollaborationwithRDH.Andshe
acceptedwithextraordinarypatienceandgoodhumourprolongedandever-increasing
neglectduringawritingprocessthatwentonthreeorfouryearslongerthanitwasever
supposedto.Andinthefinalstagesoftheworksheprovidedmoredirecthelpwiththe
proof-readingandindexing.
BothVivienneandBarbaratookapositiveinterestinthegrammaritself,andweoften
derivedbenefitfromexamplestheyspottedorobservationstheymade.Weowethem
morethancouldbeexpressedbythewordsofanacknowledgementnote.
rdh · gkp
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