Cambridge Grammar of English Hardback with cd-rom a comprehensive Guide

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Defining relative clause

Rheme

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Comment

Rhetorical question An interrogative clause used for rhetorical effect, posing a

question to which the reader or listener is not expected to give an informative

verbal response (Who knows where I’ll be next year?).

Right dislocation

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Tail

Semantics Refers to the study of meaning, which includes the meanings of words

and the meanings of larger semantic units, e.g. sentences.

Semi-modal verb A kind of marginal modal verb (dare, need, ought to, used to)

which expresses modal meanings. They behave like core modal verbs which do

not take auxiliary do in the negative (I dare not tell her what’s happened.). But

they also behave like lexical verbs as they allow an auxiliary to precede them

(Marie didn’t dare say anything to them.). 

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Core modal verb; Modality

Sentence The largest independent unit of grammar. It consists of at least one

main clause. In writing, sentence boundaries are defined by an initial capital

letter and a full stop, an exclamation mark or a question mark at the end.

Sentences are composed of clauses. 

922 | Glossary

Cambridge Grammar of English

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Simple aspect Simple aspect is in contrast with progressive aspect. Simple aspect

involves base and inflected forms of verbs (she sings, they ran, we have eaten,

he’ll leave

); progressive aspect involves the use of be + -ing with a verb (she’s

singing, they were running, we have been eating, he’ll be leaving

).

Singular The most common form of nouns (table, computer), verbs (she cries),

pronouns (he, she, it), etc. It denotes only one in number. Singular contrasts

with plural.

Softening The effect of mitigating, or weakening, the force of what is written or

said to make a speech act more polite or less assertive. For example, the use of

tense and aspect (past tense, progressive or perfect aspect), lexical verbs

(reckon, wonder, hope, think) and modal verbs (may, should, can, could) can

help to achieve this effect:

I wondered if you’d help me out in the garden.

I 

was hoping they were not here.

I 

reckon that’s what you should do.

(compare: That is what you must do.)

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Hedging

Speech act Refers to the speaker’s intention rather than the propositional

meaning (content) of the utterance. The sentence I am hot. has the

propositional meaning of a sensation of increased temperature by the speaker,

but it may be heard as a complaint, or a request or order to someone to open a

window. Common speech acts in everyday situations include informing,

directing, complaining, exemplifying, offering, apologising, promising,

permitting. 

Speech reporting, speech representation A term for reporting one’s own or

another person’s speech by using a reporting clause (he said, I replied, they

asked

). The accompanying speech, thought or writing is called the reported

clause and can be either direct or indirect speech.

Speech representation

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Speech reporting

Split infinitive Refers to the use of an adverb or other item between to and the

infinitive form of the verb (I want you 

to

seriously

consider

his resignation

.).

Some people have objections to this usage on stylistic grounds.

Stance Refers to a speaker’s or writer’s attitude towards the proposition of an

utterance. Among the expressions which commonly signal stance are:

admittedly, basically, frankly, if you ask me, obviously, sadly, to be honest

.

Standard A term used to refer to the most prestigious variety of the language

based on the spoken and written norms adopted by educated native speakers in

domains such as the mass media, foreign language teaching, dictionary

compilation and similar institutionalised uses. Linguistic forms which deviate

from this norm are viewed as non-standard.