Intransitive or Object Deleting? : Classifying English Verbs Used Without an Object  

Oleh:

Liu, Dilin

Jenis: Article from Journal - ilmiah internasional
Dalam koleksi: Journal of English Linguistics (Full Text) vol. 36 no. 4 (Dec. 2008), page 289-313.
Topik: grammar description; intransitivity; object deletion; pragmatics; semantics; syntax; verb classification
Fulltext: Vol 36, no 4, page 289-313.pdf (136.88KB)

Isi artikel

Many English transitive verbs, such as deliver, eat, know, read, and understand, can function without an object. The classification of these verbs has long been a challenge. An examination of both grammar reference books and textbooks finds both inconsistency and inaccuracy in the current treatment of these verbs, showing a need for a more accurate and consistent description of these verbs. Using an approach that combines syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic analysis, the author proposes a classification framework that provides a more accurate and systematic description of these verbs. It classifies English verbs used without an object into four categories: 1) pure intransitive verbs, such as arrive, rise, and sleep; 2) ergative intransitive verbs, such as break, increase, and open; 3) transitive-converted intransitive verbs of activity, such as eat, hunt, and read; 4)objectdeleting verbs, warranted by discourse or situational context, such as know, notice, and promise. The object-deleting verbs are in turn divided into five sub-types according to their semantic features. The article ends with a discussion of the implications of this framework for writers of grammar reference books and textbooks and for English language learners in dealing with these verbs.

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