Finite Verbs

9 Key excerpts on "Finite Verbs"

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  American English Grammar

  An Introduction

  • Seth R. Katz(Author)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  Verbs (V)

  Verbs are a category of content words that, in traditional grammar, are defined as words that name actions. There are also several subcategories of verb forms, the largest two being finite and non-Finite Verbs. In this chapter, we will deal primarily with Finite Verbs: verbs that can function as the head of a verb phrase (VP) that, in turn, functions as the predicate of a sentence or dependent clause (VP:PRED ). We will discuss non-Finite Verbs at length in Chapter 12 . Finite Verbs have a number of features, including tense (present, past), modality (e.g. indicative, modal, imperative, subjunctive), aspect (progressive, perfect, imperfect), and voice (active, passive). Verbs also take different kinds of complements: words or phrases that complete the meaning of the verb (e.g. direct object, indirect object, subject complement). We will examine verb complements in Chapter 7 .

  6.1 Verb Forms

  In discussing Finite Verbs, we must talk about further sub-categories: lexical verbs, auxiliary verbs (AUX ; also called “helping verbs”), and semi-auxiliaries (semi-modal and imperfect aspectual verbs).

  Lexical verbs are any verb that can function alone (or with auxiliary and/or semi-auxiliary verbs) as the main verb (MV) in a clause. Lexical verbs are also inflected: they change form

  • To mark tense (present, past; we will discuss tense below).
  • In the present tense forms, to mark the person referred to (think back to the discussion of personal pronouns in 5.2). All verbs in English (except be ) have one form for all persons and numbers except third-person singular, where all add - s .
  • To mark the present participle by adding - ing (this is true for all verbs in English).
  • To mark the past participle.

  Kick, sing, run, drive , and be are examples of familiar lexical verbs: all name “actions” (though be may not seem very “active”), and all add suffixes or change spelling for tense, person, and participle forms. We will also talk about one other form: the infinitive, which is the base or “dictionary” form of the verb, commonly preceded by the particle to

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  Introduction to English Syntax

  • Rolf Kreyer, Joybrato Mukherjee(Authors)
  • 2012(Publication Date)
  • Peter Lang GmbH, Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften

    (Publisher)

  In this chapter we will take a closer look at the formal side of finite verb phrases. Very simplified, we can define a verb phrase as a phrase which consists of verbal elements only, such as goes, has lived, will be going, must have been sleeping, etc. If the first element in the verb phrase is a finite verb, we speak of a finite verb phrase. Recall from section 2.2.3 that Finite Verbs are those that carry tense distinction and number concord. The finite verb phrase provides informa- tion on five important aspects of the event described in the sentence, which in first approximation, are shown in Table 3.1: 52 Chapter 3 Table 3.1: Grammatical categories expressed in the finite verb phrase Grammatical category Aspect of the event described tense event occurred in the past vs. event occurs in the present modality likelihood / obligation of the event perfect aspect completion vs. lack of completion of the event progressive aspect continuation of the event voice active vs. passive; the subject as actor or under- goer of the event The grammatical category 'tense' might be confusing since in Table 3.1 it only relates to past and present. The point is that 'tense' is regarded "strictly as a cate- gory realized by verb inflection" (Quirk et al. 1985: 176). As a consequence, the English language only has two tenses, namely past and present (or non-past). The first is most clearly marked, namely through the -ed ending attached to the base (e.g. reached, helped, hated). The second is only marked in the 3 rd personal singular through the -s suffix (e.g. reaches, helps, hates). Still, we all know that we can refer to events that occur in the future as well as events that occur before a given point in the past, and so on. This contradiction can be resolved if we fol- low Quirk et al.'s (1985: 175-177) distinction between three levels at which the notion of 'time' can be looked at.

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  Nonfinite Inquiries

  Materials for a Comparative Study of Nonfinite Predicative Domains

  • Alain Rouveret(Author)
  • 2023(Publication Date)
  • De Gruyter Mouton

    (Publisher)

  Nikolaeva 2007b ).

  An alternative approach relies on the claim that, since the morphological criterion is insufficient and subject to variation, the empirical basis for claiming that the finite/nonfinite distinction exists in a language L necessarily involves other, plausibly semantic and syntactic factors. The fact that the subject being assigned nominative is instrumental in the identification of the corresponding clause as finite indicates that syntax, not just morphology, is involved. A defining characteristic of finite clauses is precisely that their subject is licensed clause-internally and establishes no relation with an external case assigner. The latter dimension is plausibly linked to the general status of finite clauses as opaque closed domains, that is, as domains that cannot be penetrated from the outside and that allow extraction only through the edge.

  If one adopts a semantic perspective, finiteness can be defined as the ability for a subset of verbal forms to license independent predications, that is, to serve as the verbal elements in independent sentences. Positive declarative root clauses are taken to be the prototypical finite domains. But other constructions, whose finite status is controversial or quite uncertain, fulfill the independence criterion. Romance imperative forms, for example, which exhibit an admittedly reduced inflectional paradigm, can stand on their own in independent sentences.3 The same conclusion holds for the optative conjugation in Ancient Greek and for the subjunctive one in Latin and Greek: They display full inflectional paradigms, whose forms can lexically head domains that can stand by themselves. An alternative option would consist in identifying finiteness with the semantic property possessed by the domains that qualify as propositions making an assertion that can be true or false, that is, are endowed with a truth-value. If this view is adopted, not all the constructions fulfilling the morphological criterion and containing a form able to stand as the main predicate in root clauses should be considered as finite. Imperative forms do not make an assertion and correspond to non-declarative speech acts. The optative and the subjunctive forms in Greek and Latin simple clauses denote an order, an exhortation or a wish, that is, an irrealis modality or intention. But interrogative clauses, which don’t bear a truth-value, are plausible candidates for inclusion in the finiteness class. Conversely, infinitives, which morphologically qualify as nonfinite, have assertive force when they function as substitutes for finite tensed forms in independent sentences, where they convey a past interpretation in narrative discourse.4

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  Language Typology and Language Universals 2.Teilband

  • Martin Haspelmath, Ekkehard König, Wulf Oesterreicher, Wolfgang Raible, Martin Haspelmath, Ekkehard König, Wulf Oesterreicher, Wolfgang Raible(Authors)
  • 2008(Publication Date)
  • De Gruyter Mouton

    (Publisher)

  1400 XIII. Salient typological parameters 100. Finite vs. non finite languages 1. Introduction 2. Finiteness as a scalar phenomenon 3. The concept of obligatoriness and the creation of the finite/non finite distinction 4. Finite vs. non finite in Formal linguistics 5. Conclusion 6. References 1. Introduction The finite vs. non finite distinction goes back to the Greek and Latin tradition which is based on verb morphology. From the de-scription of the Classical languages this dis-tinction was transferred to traditional gram-matical descriptions of other languages. Ac-cording to this tradition, there are finite ver-bal forms which are 'limited' (from the Latin past participle of the perfect finitus 'limited') e. g. by person, number, and tense and non finite verbal forms such as infinitives and participles which do not have these limiting features. From the point of view of language typology, such a definition is too language-specific to provide a particularly useful basis for cross-linguistic comparison. In modern linguistics there is a general agreement in functionalism as well as in for-malism that the opposition of finite vs. non finite is a property of the clause. Moreover, finiteness belongs to the grammar of inter-clausal connectivity. In the context of func-tional grammar, finiteness has been described from the point of view of scalarity and from the point of view of obligatoriness. The scalar approach will be described in § 2. The con-cept of obligatoriness will be presented in § 3. The obligatoriness of some particular opera-tors forms the basis for finite/non finite asymmetries which can be used for establish-ing different types of finiteness. It is thus in § 3. where the distinction between finite and non finite languages and their areal distribu-tion in Eurasia will be discussed. In his article on complementation, Noo-nan (1985: 57) defines infinitives as verb-like entities that do not bear syntactic relations to their notional subjects; i.

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  Murrinhpatha Morphology and Phonology

  • John Mansfield(Author)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • De Gruyter Mouton

    (Publisher)

  These grammatical suffixes are attached outside of semi-regular inflectional formatives. Finite verb stems will thus continue to feature in the next chapter, as their inflected forms in turn host grammatical suffixes. Finite verb stems will also feature in a later chapter on compound verbs (§8), where their semantic characteristics and their rather ambiguous identity as ‘lexical’ elements will come to the fore.

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  A Grammar of Pite Saami (Volume 5.0)

  • Joshua Wilbur(Author)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Language Science Press

    (Publisher)

  8 Verbs Verbs in Pite Saami form an open class of words which are defined syntactically by their ability to head a verb complex, as well as morphologically by inflecting for person, number, tense and mood. Verbs consist of a stem which is followed by a class marker and an inflectional suffix or suffixes, as illustrated in (1). (1) ∑ + class-marker + mood/tense/person/number Verb stems can have up to five allomorphic forms throughout the verbal para-digm due to a complex combination of morphophonological alternations. Verbs form at least five inflectional classes. Te inflectional suffixes are exponents for person, number, tense and/or mood. Pite Saami distinguishes three number cat-egories (singular, dual and plural), two tense categories (present and past) and the three modal categories (indicative, imperative and potential). Te first sections of this chapter (§8.1 on the inflectional categories number, tense and mood; §8.2 on non-finite forms and periphrastically marked categories of future, aspect and negation; §8.3 on passive voice) provide a description of relevant morphological categories as a background for the discussion of mor-phological marking strategies for verbs in §8.4. Finally, §8.5 draws on the initial sections to posit inflectional classes for verbs. 8.1 Finite Verbs and inflectional categories 8.1.1 Person and number All finite verbs agree in number with the subject of the clause and inflect for singular, dual or plural. Finite Verbs in the indicative and the potential mood also agree in person. Inflectional morphology is present even if the subject of the clause is not overt. For instance, in (2), the finite verbs minne and gillge both agree with da , the 3pl subject; in (3), the finite verb lijmen agrees with the 1du subject månnå ja Jåssjå .

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  Looking at Language

  • Wolfgang Klein(Author)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • De Gruyter Mouton

    (Publisher)

  finitum . The original distinction is not particularly clear, and 1500 years of research has not really changed this, except that the term is no longer used for nouns. Finiteness is one of those notions that is used by everybody and understood by nobody. David Crystal (in Bright 1992, IV, 299), for example, characterizes it as follows:

  finite Characteristic of a verb or construction that can occur on its own in an independent clause, permitting formal contrasts of tense and mood; contrasts with a non-finite verb or construction, which occurs in its own only in a dependent clause, and which lacks tense and mood contrasts; examples are infinitives and participles

  This definition mirrors the common understanding that finiteness is an inflectional category of the verb. Typically, it is not defined but introduced by means of some characteristic examples: amor, amabis, amavisti are finite, whereas amare, amata, amavisse are non-finite; and then, the intelligent student is supposed to generalize. And the intelligent student concludes that finiteness is an inflectional category of the verb.

  This idea faces at least two substantial problems. First, the distinction between finite and non-finite is also made for languages in which it is hardly ever marked on the verb. English, the drosophila of linguistics, is a good example. With very few exceptions, such as has or swam , all finite forms can also be non-finite; and similarly, with the exception of the present participle and some irregular forms, such as swum , all non-finite forms can also be finite. Nevertheless, everybody considers left in He left as finite, and as non-finite in He has left . Some modal verb forms, such as ought or can

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  Language Acquisition and the Functional Category System

  • Peter Jordens(Author)
  • 2012(Publication Date)
  • De Gruyter Mouton

    (Publisher)

  Finite and non-Finite Verbs in negated utterances (3Sg- con-texts, lexical verbs only) 236 Finiteness in language acquisition research de man niet pakt . the man not takes-3Sg. rode man niet loopt . red man not walks-3Sg niet komt . not comes-3Sg daarom niet komt in de doek. therefore not comes-3Sg in the cloth niet valt . not falls-3Sg It does not seem to be a coincidence that ‘finite’ verb forms such as hoort (hear-3Sg), komt (come-3Sg) and valt (fall-3Sg) are either state or change-of-state verbs. As I argued in Chapter 5, initially, that is, when the functional category system is not yet available, the learner system is a lexical system. At the lexical stage, state and change-of-state verbs occur in initial head position. In the input model, verb forms in this position are used with finite morphology. L2 learners use these forms as unanalysed elements, not only in initial but also in final position. This seems to be the case as long as the language system has no position for the expression of the functional properties of finiteness. The same conclusion appears from the early L2 learner data in Meisel (1997). The fact that finite morphology is limited to state and change-of-state verbs is evidence against Eubank (1993/94), who argues that functional categories are initially present but locally impaired. With respect to her data in Tables 3 and 4, Verhagen, furthermore, notes that “[m]ore advanced Moroccan and Turkish learners of Dutch who could use auxil-iary verbs and produced agreement marking in a more consistent manner showed a different pattern: clear contingency patterns were found” (2009a: 142f). That is, these learners “produced verb-raising [V-Neg] relatively often” (2009a: 133), both with finite and non-Finite Verbs, and, “unlike the beginners, they did not place Finite Verbs in non-raised position” (2009a: 143).

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  The meaning of the Finite Verb Forms in the Old Church Slavonic Codex Suprasliensis

  A Synchronic Study

  • Tine H. Amse-De Jong(Author)
  • 2018(Publication Date)
  • De Gruyter Mouton

    (Publisher)

  1 ELEMENTS OF MEANING IN THE FINITE VERB FORM 1.1 It is assumed that the formal elements in the OCS finite verb form corre-spond to elements of meaning. These elements of meaning may, in two different languages, be partially or wholly different, so that speakers of the two languages will analyse objective reality, the semantic continuum, in partially or wholly different manners. Moreover, as C. L. Ebeling 1 remarks: The semantic continuum cannot be anything else but the real world, accessible to our senses. Parts of it, when referred to by means of a linguistic form, are usually called 'things meant'. The meaning of a linguistic form (morpheme or word) is its ability to point to (denote) a number of things in reality. It is not to be identified with the 'things meant', but it certainly can be defined in terms of them. It is clear that we cannot begin our description with the things meant without, on the one hand, overlooking the dividing lines present in the language to be studied and, on the other hand, projecting the dividing lines of our own language onto the language to be studied. Our examina-tion is therefore bound to begin with the formal elements as constants. On morphological grounds we may differentiate between verb forms and non-verbal forms as two distinct types of word form in OCS. A verb form indicates an event, i.e. a complex of properties possessed by things in objective reality during a given period; a non-verbal form may or may not do this. By indicate we mean: to evoke the thought of X, provided that there is a listener present who is familiar with the language. The English term event enables us to include the concepts of action and situation in one term. The difference between the two is not relevant in OCS because the language does not display any difference in form here. 1 C. L. Ebeling, Linguistic Units (The Hague 1960) ( =Janua linguarum, 12). Cf. p. 88.

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