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General Information about this Course
- The Clause in English
- Download the entire file discussing the clause in English, or use the
indexed sections below to explore parts of the file.
| The Clause: An
Introduction
An introduction to the study of grammar and, more
specifically to the study of the clause in English.
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The Clause: Form and
Function
Some exploration into the dual nature of grammatical
structure — how language can be studied from the viewpoint of both form and function.
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| Subjects
A discussion of the subject function in the
clause.
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Verbs
A discussion of the verb function in the
clause.
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| Direct
Objects
A review of the function of direct objects in the
clause.
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Indirect
Object
A review of the indirect object function in the
clause.
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| Object
Complement
An exploration into one of the lesser known
constituents of the clause — object complements.
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Subject
Complements
A study of the function of subject complement, also
known as the predicate nominal or predicate adjective.
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| Adverbials and
Adverbial Complements
A look at two functions that are commonly
overlooked.
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Grammatical
Ambiguity
Learn how grammatical structures are often open to
multiple interpretations.
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| References
A list of references for the clause pages.
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- The Phrase in English
- Download the entire file discussing the phrase in English, or use the
indexed sections below to explore parts of the file.
- The Structure of Words and Word Classes in English
- Download the entire file discussing the structure of words in English,
or use the indexed sections below to explore parts of the file.
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The Word Rank:
An Introduction
A discussion of the structures within and
constituents of the word.
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Word
Classes
A discussion of the two primary properties of
language that allow us to recognize word classes — word endings and word context.
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- Coordination and Subordination
- Download the entire file on compound and complex structures in
English, or use the index below to explore parts of the file.
- The Grammatical Foundation of Style
- Download the entire file on the grammatical structures that contribute
to a clear, coherent, concise writing style in English, or use the index below to explore parts of the file.
| The Foundations of
Style
Introducing the concept of metafunction, the
central idea in understanding style in language.
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Coherence
A discussion of the grammatical properties that
create coherent writing.
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| Final
Matters
Metaphor, Indeterminacy, and Gradience
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References
A list of references for the style pages.
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- Linguistic Stylistics
- Download a few of my papers applying linguistics and grammatical
analyses to literary art. Some of these are published; some are forthcoming.
Miscellanea
- The Major Principles of Syntax
- Exploring the functions of the lexicon, morphology, and word order in
helping humans recognize constituency and grammatical structure.
- Usage Issues in Modern English Grammar (in development)
- Describing and explaining some of the common grammar and usage
"problems," including punctuation, agreement, case errors, sentence structure errors, and more, with advice
for finding, editing, and preventing "errors."
- Evaluating Grammar Checkers
- Comparing the grammar checking abilities of two popular word
processors — Corel's WordPerfect and Microsoft's Word. Can those programs find
twenty common usage errors?
- Indeterminacy in Sentence Structure
- A study of the discourse functions served by thematic organization and
information focus in the prose of college writers, originally published in Linguistics and Education 2, 231-258
(1990)
- Adverbial but
- A study of the syntactic and semantic changes in the usage of the
word. A study in gradience, originally published in The Twentieth LACUS Forum 1993, Lake Bluff, IL: Jupiter
Press, 1994, pp. 315-332.
- Hearing Voices: On the Mismatch between Perception and
Reality in U.S. Attitudes Toward English as a Global Language
- A paper originally presented as a plenary lecture for the
International TESOL-ELT Conference at Moscow City Pedagogical University, Samara, Russia, 6 May 2002.
- The Ebonics Debate
- Read what professional linguists and educators are saying about this
latest version of an old debate.
- What Should English Teachers Teach and Why?
- Several professors of English discuss, quite specifically, the issues
surrounding the teaching of English grammar: what should be taught, why and how. An interesting informal discussion
from the Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar email list.
- Language Development in Children
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- Originally published in 1991 in an introductory linguistics textbook,
my chapter on child language acquisition presents an overview of language development from the cradle to adulthood. I
present this here since many students of modern English grammar are also interested in questions about the development
of grammatical structures. Although now out of date, this chapter may still provide some background to this area of
study.
Tools for Text Analysis
- Find and Replace Text
- This tool will allow you to search for and replace any letter,
word, or phrase in a sample of text that you supply. Such a tool can help you discover how changes in the lexicon or
even punctuation can influence style. Suggestions for use are presented.
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- Concordancer
- A concordance program can be a handy tool for you to learn about
the patterns of vocabulary, grammar, and style in your work or the work of others. This concordancer allows you to
search a text file for a "key word in context." You must upload your file to the Papyr.com server first. An
easy file upload utility is ready for you with the Concordancer. Sample texts and suggested exercises are presented as
well.
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Some Examples of Student Work
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