Difference between revisions of "Word Order"

Revision as of 10:05, 16 September 2012

to see a definition of the term syntax see Syntax (definition)

Basic Word Order

Neutral Indicative Clauses

Transitive Verbs

In information structure-neutral indicative clauses with a transitive verb, the word order is Verb+Subject+Object (VSO). Due to restrictions on the inflection of verbs, such as the use of the auxiliary construction in the present tense, VSO order is primarily true only in past tense and future tense clauses.

(1)

Phòg	Muirgheal	Pòl
kiss.past	Muriel	Paul
verb	subject	object
'Muriel kissed Paul'

Intransitive Verbs

When the verb is intransitive, then the order is still verb initial:

(2)

Dh'fhag	Muirgheal
leave.past	Muriel
verb	subject
Muriel left.

Ditransitive Verbs

When the verb is ditransitive, then the order is VSO followed by a prepositional phrase (PP) indicating the indirect object (i.e. the equivalent to John put the book on the table). In Gaelic, there are no double object constructions (like the English John gave Mary the book) instead prepositional constructions must be used (John gave the book to Mary)

Thug	Iain	leabhar	do	Anna
give.past	John	book	to	Anna
Verb	Subject	Object	Preposition	Indirect Object
'John gave a book to Anna.'

MacAulay 1992

bheir	Brighde	an	t-airgead	do	Chailean
give.INDEF1	Bridget	the	money	to	Colin
Verb	Subject		Object	Preposition	Indirect Object
'Bridget will give the money to Colin.'

The position and ordering of Adverbs and Adverbials

In Scottish Gaelic, a common way to create an adverb is to prefix the adverbial particle, gu-, to an adjective. These adverbs demonstrate a good deal of flexibility in term of word order in the clause.

Manner Adverbs:

Thuirt	i	ris	gu	coibhneil
said	she	to him	ADV	kind
Verb	Subject	Indirect Object	Adverb	kind
'She said to him kindly.'

Gu	coibhneil	thuirt	i	ris
ADV	kind	said	she	to him
Adverb	kind	Verb	Subject	Indirect Object
'She said to him kindly.'

Thuirt	i	gu	coibhneil	ris
said	she	ADV	kind	to him
Verb	Subject	Adverb	kind	Indirect Object
'She said to him kindly.'

Examples from Lamb (42)

Time Adverbs:

Tha	Domhnall	an gobha	ag	obair	sa cheardaich	an-drasda
is.pres	Donald	the smith	PROG	work.vn	in.the forge.dat	right now
Verb	Subject	Relative Clause	Aspect	Verbal Noun	Location	Adverb
'Donald the smith is working in the forge right now.'

Lamb (30)

Chunnaic	mi	an duine sin	'san eaglais	an-diugh
see.past	I	that man	in church	today
Verb	Subject	Object	Location	Adverb
'I saw that man in church today.'

Lamb (70)

Word order in Neutral Negative Sentences, Yes/No Questions, and Negative Yes/No Questions

Word order in Neutral Negative Sentences

Scottish Gaelic can have both single and double negatives in the main clause. Clausal negation is marked by the particles cha(n) and nach.

Single Negation:

Chan	eil	iad	gu	math
NEG	be.PRES.DEP	they	ADV	well
NEG	Verb	Subject	Adverb
'They are not well.'

Double Negation:

Cha	chreid	mi	nach	eil	iad	gu	math
NEG	believe.INDEF1	I	NEG-COMP	be.PRES	they	ADV	well
NEG	Verb	Subject	NEG	Verb	Subject	Adverb
'I don't believe that they are not well.'

Adding the negative particle na before an imperative yeilds the Negative Imperative:

Na	ithibh	sin
NEG	eat	that
NEG	Verb	Object
'Don't eat that.'

Examples from Lamb (61)

Yes/No Questions

Yes/No Questions in Scottish Gaelic are formed with the interrogative particle (an) and the dependent form of the verb.

An	teid	thu	leam	a	Mary
QP	go.INDEF1.DEP	you	with.1s	Vocative	Mary
QP	Verb	Subject	Indirect Object	Vocative	Mary
'Will you go with me, Mary?.'

Example from Lamb (59)

Tag Questions

Tag questions consist of a main declarative clause followed by (1) a question particle and (2) a copy of the matrix verb. In Scottish Gaelic, unlike English, we can attest to four types of tag questions in relation to negation of the verbs. Since there are two verbs in each question (the matrix verb and its tagged copy) and each one of these verbs can be either positive or negative, we have the possible combinations: POS-POS; POS-NEG; NEG-NEG; NEG-POS.

In English, we have to have conflicting polarity in our tagged questions, such as 'You're not going there, are you?' or 'You're going there, aren't you?', but we can never have an agreement in polarity such as, '*You're not going there, aren't you?'

However, in Gaelic we find all four logical combinations:

1) POS-POS

Tha	thu	a'	falbh	a	bheil
be.PRES	you	PROG	depart.VN	QP	be.PRES.DEP
Verb	Subject	Aspect	Verbal Noun	QP	Verb
'You are leaving, are you?'

2) POS-NEG

Tha	thu	a'	falbh	nach	eil
be.PRES	you	PROG	depart.VN	QP-NEG	be.PRES.DEP
Verb	Subject	Aspect	Verbal Noun	QP_NEG	Verb
'You are leaving, aren't you?'

3) NEG-NEG

Chan	eil	thu	a'	falbh	nach	eil
NEG	be.PRES.DEP	you	PROG	depart.VN	QP-NEG	be.PRES.DEP
NEG	Verb	Subject	Aspect	Verbal Noun	QP-NEG	Verb
'You aren't leaving, aren't you?'

4) NEG-POS

Chan	eil	thu	a'	falbh	a	bheil
NEG	be.PRES.DEP	you	PROG	depart.VN	QP	be.PRES.DEP
NEG	Verb	Subject	Aspect	Verbal Noun	QP	Verb
'You aren't leaving, are you?'

Negative Yes/No Questions

Nach	eil	iad	gu	math
NEG	be.PRES.DEP	they	ADV	well
NEG	Verb	Subject	Adverb
'Are they not well?.'

Example from Lamb (61)

Word order with Neutral Grade Pronouns

Main article Pronoun Postposing

Word order with non-verbal predicates

Non-verbal predicates are predicates that aren't verbs (John is a fool, John is big, John is in the living room).

Using the verb Bi

When an adjective or a prepositional phrase (PP) is serving as the predicate (e.g. John is big. John is in the room. The order of elements uses some form of the verb bi, followed by the subject followed by the nonverbal predicate:

Thà	Iain	mòr
Be.pres	John	big
John is big

Bhà	Iain	anns	an	seòmar
be.past	John	in.def	the	room
John was in the room

Using the verb Is

Is	mise	Raibeart
Copula.pres	I	Robert
Copula	Subject NP	Predicate NP
'I am Robert.'

Is	ise	mo mhathair
Copula.pres	She	My Mother
Copula	Subject NP	Predicate NP
'She is my mother.'

With no verb (small clauses)

Word order in Auxiliary Constructions

In Imperfect (Progressive) clauses

In Gaelic the normal present tense of all verbs except bi is absent. Instead a periphrastic construction using the auxiliary bi is used along with a verbal noun and an aspect particle (typically A. This has both imperfect and progressive meanings. The structure of these sentences is:

(Particles)+Auxiliary+Subject+Imperfect marker+Verbal+Object

In prescriptive grammars the object is supposed to be in the genitive case although in the spoken language (and in the written forms of most speakers), the object is in the common case

Tha	Iain	ag	ithe	an	t-aran
Be.pres	John	progressive	eat.vn	the	bread
Verb	Subject	Prog Aspect	Verbal Noun	object
John is eating the bread

Bha	mi	a'	dol	dhan	bhuth(aidh)
Be.past	I	PROG	go.vn	to-the	shop(DAT)
Verb	Subject	Prog Aspect	Verbal Noun	Prepositional Phrase
'I was going to the shop'

In Causative Constructions

In SG, there is no morphological marker for causativizing utterances, but causatives may be formed using the verb thoir and the adposition air. Thoir is translated as the English verb 'make', and air indicates the theme of the action (the argument which is made to do something).

Thug	Mairi	air	Seumas	ithe
give.past	Mary	on	Seumas	eat.vn
Verb	Subject	Adposition	Object	Verbal Noun
'Mary made Seumas eat'

Lamb (62)

The exact same clausal construction may also take an entire non-finite clausal complement:

Thug	Iain	air	Anna	(i)	an	leabhar	a	thoirt	do	Mhairi
give.past	John	on	Anna.dat	3fs	the	book	tran	give.vn	to	Mary
Verb	Subject	Adposition	Subject/Object	Agreement	Article	Direct Object	Tran	Verbal Noun	Adposition	Mary.dat
'John made Anna give the book to Mary'

The exact same sentence may be used in an agentless variety:

Thainig	air	Anna	an	leabhar	a	thoirt	do	Mhairi
come.past	on	Anna.dat	the	book	tran	give.vn	to	Mary
Verb	Adposition	Subject/Object	Article	Direct Object	Tran	Verbal Noun	Adposition	Mary.dat
'Anna had to give the book to Mary'

MacAulay 1992

In Perfect, Recent Perfect, Prospective clauses

Chaidh	mi	dhan	bhuth(aidh)
go.past	I	to.the	shop(DAT)
Verb	Subject	Article	object
'I went to the shop'

Chan	eil	Ealasaid	air	Dughall	fhaicinn
NEG	be.pres.dep	Elizabeth	PERF	Dugald	seeing.vn
NEG	Verb	Subject	Aspect	Object	Verbal Noun
'Elizabeth has not seen Dugald'

In Statives

Cross-linguistically, there is a distinction between verbs that describe states of being and other verbs which entail some dynamic motion or action.

Stative Sentence:

Tha	mi	nam	shuidhe
be.pres	I	in my	sitting
Verb	Subject	Adposition	Verbal Noun
'I am sitting.'

Dynamic Sentence:

Tha	mi	a'	suidhe
be.pres	I	at	sitting
Verb	Subject	Adposition	Verbal Noun
'I am sitting down.'

This basic analysis does not completely explain Gaelic's own distinction. It is better to say that, in terms of thematic relations, Gaelic treats Agent arguments differently from non-Agents.

Tha	mi	a'	sileadh	fala(dh)
be.pres	I	at	dripping.vn	blood.gen
Verb	Subject	Adposition	Verbal Noun	Object
'I am bleeding.'

Lamb (51)

In passives

Modals

Modals are used in SG either with a (a) separate word (English's equivalent to must) or (b) with a copula + adjective/noun. A rough equivalent to the latter would be 'John is able to eat' for 'I can eat'.

(a)

Feumaidh	mi	ithe
must	I	eat.vn
Modal	Subject	Verbal Noun
'I must eat.'

Dh'fhaodinn	ithe
might.I	eat.vn
Modal.Subject	Verbal Noun
'I might eat.'

Dh'fhaodadh	tu	ithe
might	you	eat.vn
Modal	Subject	Verbal Noun
'You might eat.'

(b)

'S	urrainn	dhomh	ithe
Copula.pres	ability	for.I	eat.vn
Copula	Noun	Subject	Verbal Noun
'I can eat.'

'S	urrainn	do	Bhob	ithe
Copula.pres	ability	for	Bob	eat.vn
Copula	Noun	Adposition	Subject	Verbal Noun
'Bob can eat.'

'S	urrainn	dhan	a'	chaora	ithe
Copula.pres	ability	for	the	sheep	eat.vn
Copula	Noun	Adposition	Article	Subject	Verbal Noun
'The sheep can eat.'

Bu	choir	do	Bhob	ithe
Copula.past	right	for	Bob	eat.vn
Copula	Adjective	Adposition	Subject	Verbal Noun
'Bob should eat.'

Word order in Embedded Clauses

Word order in finite Embedded Clauses

Word order in non-finite Embedded Clauses

Thuirt	mi	gun	na	h-uighean	ithe
said	I	NEG	the	eggs	eat.INF
Verb	Subject	NEG	Article	Object	Verb
'I said not to eat the eggs.'

Word order in Relative Clauses

Word order in Clefts

Word order in Wh-Questions

Wh-phrase + question particle + Verb + rest of sentence

The question particle is often omitted if it follows a question ending in a vowel. The form of the question particle and the verb is dependent upon which wh-word is being used.

Ciamar	a	tha	thu?
how	wh-direct	be.pres	you
wh-phrase	particle	Verb	rest of sentence
How are you

Dè	an	aois	a	tha	thu?
what	the	age	wh-direct	be.pres	you
wh-phrase			particle	Verb	rest of sentence
How old are you

When a question word is in some adpositional phrase, the adposition can be fronted with the WH word (pied-piping) or it can be left in the original gap.

Co	ris	a	bha	thu	a'	bruidhinn
Who	to	QP	be.PAST	you	PROG	speaking.VN
WH	P	QP	Verb	Subject	Aspect	Verbal Noun
'To whom were you speaking?'

Co	a	bha	thu	a'	bruidhinn	ris
Who	QP	be.PAST	you	PROG	speaking.VN	to
WH	QP	Verb	Subject	Aspect	Verbal Noun	P
'Who were you speaking to?'

Examples from Lamb (60)

Word Order in Noun Phrases

Article + Noun + Adjectives + Prepositional phrases

boat: bàta
the boat: am bàta
the big boat am bàta mòr
The big boat in the sea am bàta mòr anns a' mhuir

Possessors in the genitive follow the possessed NP:

Possessed + Article + Possessor(gen)

leabhar an duine

Specific Articles On The Word Order within Phrases

@@ Line 559: / Line 559: @@
 |-
 |colspan="2"| 'I am Robert.'
+|}
+:{|
+|Is
+|ise
+|mo mhathair
+|-
+|Copula.pres
+|She
+|My Mother
+|-
+|Copula
+|Subject NP
+|Predicate NP
+|-
+|colspan="2"| 'She is my mother.'
 |}