Limits of the Compound Verbal Predicate

Now we come to the second question, about the limits of the compound verbal predicate. It arises from the fact that a rather considerable number of verbs can be followed by an infinitive, some of them with, others without the particle to. Among such verbs are: shall, will, should, would, can, may, must (without to); ought, wish, want, desire, hate, fear, begin, start, continue, omit, forget, remember, etc. (with to).

The relation between these phrases and parts of the sentence is of course not the same in all cases. We can at once eliminate the phrases "shall, should, will, would + infinitive", which consti-

205 PARTS OP A SENTENCE. THE MAIN PARTS

tube tease or mood forms of the verb. Thus, the phrase shall write is a form of the verb write (as it does not differ from the forms write, writes, wrote in its lexical meaning) and, consequently, it is a simple verbal predicate. The phrases with the verbs can, may, must, ought (in the latter case with to) constitute a compound verbal predicate (this is almost universally recognised). But the phrases with the verbs wish, want, desire, hate, fear, begin, start, continue, etc. give rise to doubts and controversies. On the whole, there are two views expressed in this matter. According to one of them, all such phrases are also a compound predicate: the finite verb (wish, begin, etc.) does not denote any action of its own, it merely denotes the subject's attitude to the action expressed by the following infinitive (in the case of wish, fear, etc.), or a phase in the development of that action, namely, its beginning, continuation, etc. (in the case of begin, continue, etc.); consequently, it is argued, the phrase as a whole constitutes the predicate of the sentence: it is a compound verbal predicate, just as in the case of can, may, or ought. This argument, as will be easily seen, is based on purely semantic reasons: its decisive point is, that the finite verb does not denote any special action and only denotes the subject's attitude to it, or a phase of the action itself. But this is irrelevant from the grammatical viewpoint. What is more, this line of reasoning is dangerous: if we were to follow it to its logical consequences we should have to include into the predicate not only such phrases as stopped laughing, avoided meeting, and a number of other phrases including the gerund, but also such phrases as began his work, continued his speech, liked his job, and a number of other phrases containing a noun. Indeed, from the semantic viewpoint, on which the argument for began to work being the predicate is based, there is no difference between began to work and began his work.

Therefore, approaching phenomena from a grammatical viewpoint, which is the essential one here, we start from the assumption that in the phrase began his work the group his work is a separate (secondary) part of the sentence (an object). ¹ This shows that the verb begin can be followed by a noun functioning as an object (the same of course applies to a number of other verbs). Since the verb begin can take an object there appears to be no reason to deny that an infinitive following this verb is an object as well. We might give here a table based on what is called transformation:

began to work — began his work continued to work — continued his work liked to sing — liked songs

etc.

¹ We are not discussing here the syntactic position of the word his (the attribute). For this problem, see p. 229 ff.

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On the other hand, no table of this kind is possible with such verbs as can, may, must, ought: they cannot under any circumstances be followed by a noun, and this is an important difference on which syntactic analysis should be based.

Another question of a similar kind arises with reference to sentences containing idioms of the pattern "verb + noun", e.g. make a mistake, make one's appearance, have a look, have a smoke, take a glance, etc. Here two different approaches are possible, and the approach chosen will predetermine all conclusions to be arrived at in considering concrete examples.

One approach would be to say that if a phrase is a phraseological unit, that is, if its meaning is not equal to the sum of the meanings of its components, it cannot be divided into two parts of the sentence, and has to be taken as one part, namely, the predicate.

The other approach would be to say that such phraseological phenomena belong to the sphere of lexicology alone and are irrelevant for grammar, that is, for sentence analysis.

The choice between the two approaches entirely depends on the view one takes of grammar, its place in linguistics, and its relation to lexicology. It does not seem possible to prove that one of the approaches is right and the other wrong.

One of the arguments in favour of the view that phraseological units should be treated as one part of the sentence, is this. If the phrase "verb + noun" is not a phraseological unit, a separate question can be put to the noun, that is, a question to which the noun supplies an answer. For instance, if we take the sentence He makes toys the question would be, What does he make? and the answer would be supplied by the word toys, which, accordingly, is a separate part of the sentence, namely, an object. If, on the other hand, we take the sentence, He makes mistakes, it would not be possible to ask the question, What does he make? and to give mistakes as an answer to it. Consequently, according to this view, we cannot say that mistakes is a separate part of the sentence, and we must conclude that the phrase makes mistakes as a whole is the predicate.

However, this sort of argument is riot binding. The method of asking questions, though widely used in school language teaching, is not a scientifically valid method of syntactic study. In a number of cases the choice of the question is arbitrary, and there are even cases when no question at all can be asked.

Thus, the decision between the two alternatives presented above rests with the scholar. This is, and most probably will always be, a matter of opinion rather than of proved knowledge.

Before we go further in this matter, let us consider another case also belonging here, namely phrases of the type come in, bring up, put down, etc., which we discussed in Chapter XVII, when studying

207 PARTS OP A SENTENCE. THE MAIN PARTS

parts of speech. Should these phrases be taken as the predicate, or should the predicate be limited to the verb alone (come, bring, put, etc.)? This again is a matter of opinion. The phrase come in, for instance, can equally well be analysed as the predicate of the sentence, and as a combination of the predicate and a secondary part. On the other hand, the phrase bring up (as in the sentence, They brought up three children) would be taken to be the predicate, rather than a combination of the predicate with a secondary part, and this of course is due to the meaning of the phrase, which certainly is not equal to the sum of meanings of the verb bring and the adverb up. This semantic consideration is in favour of taking the whole phrase to be one part of the sentence (its predicate). But again, this argument is not binding. Whether such semantic considerations should or should not be taken into account in syntactic analysis is a matter of opinion. It is possible to argue that considerations of this kind should not weigh when we are engaged in syntactic studies. On the whole, we will adhere to the view that such considerations should be taken into account, and accordingly we will consider the phrases bring up, set in, etc., as the predicate of the sentence.

The Compound Nominal Predicate

The compound nominal predicate always consists of a link verb (also called copula) and a predicative, which may be expressed by various parts of speech, usually a noun, an adjective, also a stative, or an adverb (as in the sentence The lesson is over). Often enough the predicative is represented by a phrase, most usually of the pattern "preposition + noun", which may or may not be a phraseological unit.

Now we must find the characteristic features of a link verb. It should first of all be noted that the term "link verb" (as well as the term "copula", after which it appears to have been coined) is not a very happy one. The idea of "link" suggests that its function is to connect the predicative with the subject. This, however, is hardly intelligible. Why should the predicative need some special word to connect it with the subject? It could stand side by side with the subject without the help of any "link". Indeed it does not require any link in sentences with the simple nominal predicate which we have discussed on p. 208 ff., and this is still more usual in Russian, where no link verb as a rule appears in the present tense. The true function of a link verb is not aconnecting function. It expresses the tense and the mood in the predicate. The link verb be, which expresses these categories, and also those of number and person, is rightly considered to be the most abstract of all link verbs, that is, the one

THE COMPOUND NOMINAL PREDICATE 208

most devoid of any meaning of its own. Other link verbs have each some lexical meaning.

Though the term "link verb" is purely conventional, we will retain it, as it is in common use and an attempt to substitute another term would stand little chance of success.

Besides the verb be there are a number of other link verbs with different meanings which we need not discuss here, for instance become, get, continue, grow, turn, e. g. Then he grew thirsty and went indoors (LINKLATER); But presently the sea turned rough (Idem), etc. It will be readily seen that some of them do not always perform this function but may also be a predicate in themselves, for instance the verb grow in the sentences The child has grown, or, We grow potatoes. Of course it is only the meaning of the noun following the verb that shows whether the noun is a predicative or an object: compare the two sentences They have grown fine young men and They grow potatoes. So if we say that a verb is a link verb this need not necessarily mean that it is always a link verb and cannot perform any other function.

To approach the subject of link verb and predicative from another angle, we may say that if a verb is followed by a predicative it is, to some extent at least, a link verb. The restriction "to some extent at least" is necessary because there are sentences in which the finite verb is a predicate in itself, that is, it contains some information about the subject which may be taken separately, but at the same time the verb is followed by a predicative (a noun or an adjective) and is in so far a link verb. This is found in sentences like the following: He came home tired, She married young, He died a bachelor, etc. The finite verb in such sentences conveys a meaning of its own (he came, she married, he died), but the main point of the sentence lies in the information conveyed by the predicative noun or adjective. We might retell the meaning of these sentences in another way, namely: He was tired when he came home, She was young when she married, He was a bachelor when he died, etc. The finite verb, besides being a predicate in itself, also performs the function of a link verb.

Since such sentences have both a simple verbal predicate and a compound nominal predicate, they form a special or mixed type: predicates of this kind may be termed double predicates. ¹ Here are some examples:

¹ Corresponding phenomena in Russian have been treated by Academician A. Shakhmatov, who named such sentences "double-predicate sentences" (двусказуемые предложения). See А. А. Шахматов, Синтаксис русского языка, стр. 221 сл.

For a treatment of this type of predicate in English see M. M. Галинская, О двусказуемых предложениях в современном английском языке. Иностранные языки в школе, 1948, № 2.

209 PARTS OP A SENTENCE. THE MAIN PARTS

Sunlight seeped thick and golden through the high, oblong windows above the cages and fell in broad shafts to the linoleum floor where he dropped his bucket. (BUECHNER) Compare also the following sentence: Catherine's blood ran cold with the horrid suggestions which naturally sprang from these words. (J. AUSTEN) The lexical meaning of the verb run is here almost wholly obliterated, as will also be seen by translating the sentence into Russian, or, indeed, any other language. The essence of the predication is of course contained in the predicative adjective cold.

Let us now look at a few more examples of sentences with a predicative coming after a full predicate with secondary parts attached to it. She had set her feet upon that road a spoiled, selfish and untried girl, full of youth, warm of emotion, easily bewildered by life. (DREISER) A spoiled, selfish, and untried girl is a predicative, coming after a fully developed predicate group consisting of the predicate itself, an object and an adverbial modifier. That the group a spoiled, selfish and untried girl is a predicative, is clear, because no other syntactical tie between this group and the preceding words in the sentence can be imagined. It is a peculiarity of this sentence that the predicative has three loose attributes belonging to it: full of youth, warm of emotion, and easily bewildered by life. They make this predicative group very weighty indeed. It may also be noted that the predicative group a spoiled, selfish and untried girl, full of youth, warm of emotion, easily bewildered by life represents the rheme of the sentence, while the preceding words in the sentence represent its theme. Indeed, the contents, or the purpose of the sentence, is not to inform the reader that she had set her feet on that road, but what kind of person she was at the time she did so. If the predicative (with its secondary parts) were to be dropped, the communication value of the sentence would be basically changed, and in the context in which it stands its value would be reduced to nought.

The same is found in the following examples: You've come home such a beautiful lady. (TAYLOR ) I sat down hungry, I was hungry while I ate, and I got up from the table hungry. (SAROYAN)

It should also be noted that the verb preceding the predicative and therefore performing (at least partly) the function of a link verb, may be in the passive voice. This is especially true of the verbs find, think, report, as in the sentences, He was found guilty, He was reported dead, etc.

From such sentences there is an easy transition to sentences in which the finite verb is followed by an infinitive, as in He was known to have arrived, etc.

It may be the infinitive of the verb be, which is then in its turn followed by a predicative (a noun or an adjective), for instance, He was said to be a great actor, He was reported to be dead, etc.

THE DOUBLE PREDICATE 210

As far as meaning is concerned, there seems to be no difference between the sentences He was reported dead, and He was reported to be dead, or between the sentences He seemed clever and He seemed to be clever. As far as structure is concerned, the second variant in each case is somewhat more complicated, in that the finite verb is first followed by an infinitive, which apparently is bound to be a predicative (since it comes after the link verb), but which is itself the infinitive of a link verb and therefore followed by another predicative.

Besides the combinations of different predicates, already mentioned various other combinations are possible and actually occur in texts. However, finding out all these possibilities is of no particular scientific interest. ¹

¹ We shall have to touch on another question connected with the predicate after examining the secondary parts of the sentence (see p. 237 ff,).

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