Estrutura Básica - Class 7

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In the end of lesson, the student should be able to:
1. Discuss language as a complex system in which words and terms vary in function; 
2. learn that language is a complex system in which words and phrases can behave similarly; 
3. understand that noun phrases have different functions.
Aula 7: As Funções das Noun Phrases 
So far we have been studying the noun phrase and the range of issues it brings along. We have seen determiners, modifiers, transitivity and other aspects. However, there is still a bit more to be investigated and discussed.  
Ours focus, in determinate moments felt on the structure of noun phrases themselves, isolated from a wider content in which it appears in articulation with other phrases, words and elements that, articulated in a complex arrangement, form this rich, and complex as well, web that connects people around intentions and needs that can define communication.
To perfectly establish this communicative web each speaker has to be able to deal satisfactorily with a logical system that will support their ideas.  In other words, speakers must make use of an organizational system that will be built in a lifetime term and that will vary according time.
It means that using an internalized knowledge passed through generations each human being will risk their first communicative experiences and, later on, when grammar rules are somehow mastered, communication will reach different levels of sophistication.
When studying languages the commitment required in relation to dominate rules, variations and kinds of linguistic manifestations is a mandatory reality. To firmly feel that a determinate idiom is part of a constituted knowledge levels must have been achieved and exceeded in a constant search for sophistication.
Being so, it is quite important to understand the various dimension involving language and communication. That’s why, in this class, we will dedicate our attention to grammatical relations noun phrases are entitled to perform and establish within sentences.
To start with, let’s refresh our memory in relation to some aspects. We must be aware that when we discuss about language we face a totally interconnected system in which elements can vary in what relate to use, application and representation.
“Illusion is the first of all pleasures.”
Oscar Wilde - Irish dramatist, novelist, and poet (1854 - 1900) This is just a sampling of provocative statements from the brilliant British author. If we take the sentence and play around with it a little bit we will notice that things may change a little. Probably we agree that something is said about the noun illusion. It is valid to say that the referred noun is the subject of the sentence.
“Well succeeded individuals avoid illusion at any cost.”
The same noun – illusion – is now the object of the verb to avoid. There was a changing of roles played as the intended message changed.
The same thing can occur with noun phrases when inside complex linguistic structures. They can play different roles just as nouns do.
2. Grammar
When we think about words performing various functions along the communicative process, we tend to think that there should be a way to view the possibilities of action and organization, and those possibilities should follow a pattern that preserves the effectiveness of communication.
Otherwise understanding between the individuals would not be a reality. All were condemned to isolation, to loneliness, determined by an inability to relationships caused by the existence of private languages.
Every nation, due to historical, geographical and ethnic developed over time ways of speaking that it's a trait of his nationality. These idioms, even presenting variations of different kind and level here and there, obey an internal structural organization that poses as its own guarantee of existence. In other words, communication of thoughts and feelings is made effective through a system of arbitrary elements.
Such  system includes rules for combining its components, such as words. These systems are used by nations, people, or other distinct community. 
But… what are those rules? Where can we find them?
Common and traditionally language rules are found in grammars:
 Grammar is the structural foundation of our ability to express ourselves. The more we are aware of how it works, the more we can monitor the meaning and effectiveness of the way we and others use language. It can help foster precision, detect ambiguity, and exploit the richness of expression available in English. And it can help everyone – not only teachers of English, but teachers of anything, for all teaching is ultimately a matter of getting to grips with meaning.(David Crystal, "In Word and Deed," TES Teacher, April 30, 2004)
Without any tension in the term grammar can suggests, it is undeniable the need to have a good relationship with this compendium of rules and observations. Grammar is important because it is the language that makes it possible for us to talk and interact. Grammar names the types of words and word groups that make up sentences not only in English but in any language.
As human beings, we can put sentences together even as children. But to be able to talk about how sentences are built, about the types of words and word groups that make up sentences. And knowing about grammar offers a window into the human mind and into our amazingly complex mental capacity. 
But knowing about grammar also helps us understand what makes sentences and paragraphs clear and interesting and precise. Grammar can be part of literature discussions, when we and our students closely read the sentences in poetry and stories. Finally, knowing about grammar means finding out that all languages and all dialects follow grammatical patterns.
When discussing the previous example we talked about words developing different functions in sentences depending on contents and intentions – subject and object, for instance. Well, this terminology is extracted from a grammar section called Syntax. It is according to a syntactic view that our next discussions will happen.
3. Noun Phrases Functions.
The functions will be illustrated by examples, but it is always useful to remember that all examples will be built according to specific necessity and content may interfere in the way a phrase is constituted.
Nouns and noun phrases – and pronouns as well -  perform ten main grammatical functions within sentences in the English language. Both native speakers and ESL students must learn the ten functions to fully and correctly use nouns and noun phrases in spoken and written English.
The primary function of a singular noun phrase in a sentence is, roughly speaking, to draw the attention of the hearer to some object in the world that is relevant to the current conversational situation.
However, such a generalization masks the fact that there are many ways in which this function can be performed. A number of important distinctions concerning the use of noun phrases can be made when investigating it. This section, gives some idea of the range of functions that a noun phrase may assume.
The ten functions of nouns and noun phrases are:
3.1 Subject:
The subject of a sentence or clause is the part of the sentence or clause about which something is being said. It is usually. It is the doer of the action: “The subject is a noun phrase.” (BIBER, CONRAD and Leech, 2011, p.48)
For instance, read the examples below:
“Poetry is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words.”
Edgar Alan Poe – American writer and poet 
What “is the rhythmical creation of beauty in words?  It is certainly poetry. That was said in the example. In the example we saw that something was said about poetry. Doesn’t it match the rather simple definition disposed in the very beginning of this section – 3.2? If it does, we can say that Poetry, that is a noun, morphologically speaking, function as the subject – according to a syntactic perspective -  here.
Let’s check the otherexample:
“Ruthless and heavy rain destroyed crops and roads in Brazilian southeast region.”
Again: what destroyed crops and roads? What destroyed crops and roads? Wouldn’t it be Ruthless and heavy rain?  How can we classify it? It is a noun phrase, isn’t it? It also function as the subject doesn’t it?  Well, case closed!
3.2 Predicate nominative
The predicate nominative is the noun following a linking verb that restates or stands for the subject. It can be an adjective phrase, a noun phrase or a prepositional phrase. It follows the verb and the direct object. There are two major types of predicative:
Subject Predicative – They characterize or specify the subject noun phrase. It can also be called subject complement.
Examples:
“Baton Rouge is the capital of Louisiana.”
“We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving.”
(Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, "We Are the World," 1985)
It is easy to recognize this kind of predicative. It immediately follows the verb phrase.
The main verb has to be a copular verb – be, seem, become, for example
3.3 Direct object
A direct object is a noun or pronoun that receives the action of a verb or shows the result of the action. It answers the question "What?" or "Whom?" after an action verb. An action verb with a direct object is called a transitive verb. Nouns have traditionally been defined as words for people, places, things, and ideas.
A noun phrase consists of a noun plus any modifiers, complements, and determiners that provide more information about the noun. In grammar, direct object is a word, phrase, or clause that follows and receives the action of a mono-transitive verb. Nouns, pronouns, and noun phrases most frequently function as direct objects in English grammar. The first grammatical form that can perform the grammatical function of direct object is the noun phrase.
Mary burnt the toast.
What did Mary burn? - She burnt the toast and it is the direct object in this case.
Read the following example:
King Arthur grabbed his shiny, magical and powerful sword.
What did the King grab? Arthur grabbed his shiny, magical and powerful sword. 
Toast and his shiny, magical and powerful sword are the direct object in the examples.
3.4 Object complement
One of the grammatical forms that can perform the grammatical function of object complement is the noun clause. Noun clauses are defined as subordinate clauses formed by a clause preceded by a subordinating conjunction.
For example:
I consider Mark Twain my favorite American author.
I declare the problem that you do not want to learn about grammar.
Note that in all the examples, the noun phrases are complementing the meaning of the objects.
Look:
John read books written by Mark Twain when he was a child.
What did John read in his childhood? John read books! What kind of books did he read? He read books written by Mark Twain.
3.5: Indirect object
An indirect object precedes the direct object and tells to whom or for whom the action of the verb is done and who is receiving the direct object. There must be a direct object to have an indirect object.
Indirect objects are usually found with verbs of giving or communicating like give, bring, tell, show, take, or offer. An indirect object is always a noun or pronoun which is not part of a prepositional phrase.
See the examples.
That woman gives puppies baths.
My uncle loves to read children stories.
3.6 Prepositional complement
Take a look at the examples:
 That little boy gave his toy to his baby brother.
The mother warned her children not to go into the woods.
During his vacation, the man decided to move to the Tropics
The students are thinking about what they have just learned in class.
His wife listened to him singing in the shower.
My puppy begged for me to give him a treat.
Nouns clauses function as prepositional complements. Prepositional complements are words, phrases, and clauses that directly follow a preposition and complete the meaning of a prepositional phrase. The underlined noun clauses are examples of prepositional complements:
Both finite and nonfinite noun clauses can function as prepositional complements.
OBS: Just a reminder!
FINITE: The first grammatical form of noun clauses in English grammar is the finite noun clause. Finite noun clauses contain conjugated verb phrases. Conjugated verb phrases in English show person (first, second, third), number (singular, plural), and tense (present, past). The following italicized clauses are examples of finite noun clauses:
My favorite musician is whoever sings this song.
Whatever you decide is fine with me.
His parents are fuming about how he crashed their new car.
The finite, or conjugated, verbs in the noun clauses are sings (first person singular present), decide (second person singular/plural present), and crashed (third person singular past).
NONFINITE: The second grammatical form of noun clauses in English grammar is the nonfinite noun clause. Nonfinite noun clauses lack conjugated verbs. Nonfinite verbs in English include base forms (verb), infinitives (to + verb), and present participles (verb-ing). The following italicized clauses are examples of nonfinite noun clauses:
The teacher wants you to finish your homework.
My mom listened to me singing the song.
I demand that the child eat his vegetables.
The nonfinite verbs in the noun clauses are to finish (infinitive), singing (present participle), and eat (base). Notice also that the object pronouns function as the subject of the nonfinite noun clause when the verb is an infinitive or present participle.
2. Noun frase
Noun phrase modifier
We all know that a noun can have its meaning changed if some words are attached to it.
Example:
Interesting/boring/expensive/silent movie
The example above shows us words functioning as modifiers. Noun modifiers can be premodifiers (a beautiful girl) or postmodifiers (the girl in the red dress). The same can occur with a noun phrase. It can be modified by other noun phrases.
The grammatical forms that can function as the noun phrase modifier in English grammar are noun phrase, adjective phrase, prepositional phrase, verb phrase, and adjective clause.
Noun phrase modifiers are constituents of the noun phrase.
Noun phrase modifiers in English grammar are words, phrases, and clauses that modify or describe a noun including a pronoun or a noun phrase. It is a grammatical function. Noun phrase modifiers are constituents of the noun phrase.
See the examples:
He applied for a producer-director job.
The California Nevada border is close.
We can see examples of what was said above in the underlined passages.
3.8 Possessive modifier
A possessive modifier is a noun or a pronoun added to a noun to denote possession. Occasionally a noun that has the form of a possessive modifier is added to another noun to express some other idea than possession.
For example, in the expression Longfellow's poems, the noun Longfellow's shows the author instead of the possessor of the poem. The expression a fool's cap means a cap like those once worn by fools, and not a cap possessed by a fool. Such words are called possessive modifiers because of their form, although they do not show possession.
Take a look!
The town's water supply is in jeopardy.
Mark Twain’s novels are an accurate portrait of rural America.
 In the case above it is more then correct to say that all the possessive cases are specifying, modifying the meaning of novels, and water supply.
3.9 Appositive
Appositive means near. In English grammar an appositive is a noun or pronoun placed near another noun or pronoun. The appositive enhances our understanding of the original noun or pronoun. In other words, a single noun, a noun phrase or a series of nouns placed next to another word or phrase to identify or rename it. Appositives are usually set off by punctuation marks such as commas parentheses, or dashes. It is a handy way of addingdetails to a sentence. The term comes from the Latin word for "placing close by," and an appositive usually appears right after the word or phrase that it renames.
Read the examples:
My favorite teacher, a fine chess player in her own right, has won several state-level tournaments.
The insect, a large cockroach with hairy legs, is crawling across the kitchen table.
Snoopy, Diane's eleven-year-old beagle, chews holes in the living room carpeting as if he were still a puppy.
Notice that in the sentences above each one of the appositives, consisting of noun phrases, expands the meaning of the terms to which they bind. Thus enrich the meaning of those while add some details to the given information.
OBS: Pay attention to punctuation when using appositives in your compositions!! There are some important aspects that must be kept in mind in order to elaborate a correct text:
Nonessential appositive – the ones that can be taken off the sentence without any damage to its logics - is always separated from the rest of the sentence with comma(s).
When the appositive begins the sentence, it looks like this:
A hot-tempered tennis player, Robbie charged the umpire and tried to crack the poor man's skull with a racket.
When the appositive interrupts the sentence, it looks like this:
Robbie, a hot-tempered tennis player, charged the umpire and tried to crack the poor man's skull with a racket.
And when the appositive ends the sentence, it looks like this:
Upset by the bad call, the crowd cheered Robbie, a hot-tempered tennis player who charged the umpire and tried to crack the poor man's skull with a racket.
3.10 Adverbial
The part of the speech that is primarily used to modify a verb, adjective, or other adverb are the adverbs. An adverb that modifies an adjective ("quite sad") or another adverb ("very carelessly") appears immediately in front of the word it modifies. An adverb that modifies a verb is generally more flexible: it may appear before or after the verb it modifies ("softly sang" or "sang softly"), or it may appear at the beginning of the sentence ("Softly she sang to the baby").
The position of the adverb may have an effect on the meaning of the sentence. Many adverbs -especially adverbs of manner - are formed from adjectives by the addition of the ending -ly (easily, dependably). But many common adverbs (just, still, almost, not) do not end in -ly, and not all words that end in -ly (friendly, neighborly) are adverbs. See "Observations" below.
See the examples:
- Mary sings loudly! – the adverb adds to the verb the idea of manner;
- Mary sings in the shower. - the adverb adds to the verb the idea of place.
- There are many other ideas that an adverb can bring to the term it modifies such as time, purpose, frequency among others.
Take a look at the examples below and ask yourself the following question: what is the function of the noun phrases?
My sister works in a big fancy department store.
Lightning flashed brightly in the night sky.
She bought some spinach when she went to the corner store.
Don’t you agree that the terms in bold add ideas of place just as adverbs do? That happens because noun phrases can function as adverbs too!
That’s all for now!