GrammarSoft ApS

3. Clause level functions

3.1.

Clause level arguments (valency governed)

The functional pivot of most clauses is a verbal constituent (V), also called predicator (P). Complex verb chains can consist of both main verbs (MV) and auxiliaries (AUX), linked by a dependency relation, and possibly by an auxiliary subordinator (SUBaux). For the sake of simplicity, we will here stick to single verbs, and treat complex predicators in another chapter.

In Portuguese, there are four main types of clause level arguments, the subject (S), objects (O), argument adverbials (A) and complements (C). Objects are subclassified according to pronominal case, argument adverbials and complements as to whether they relate to the subject or - if present - to the direct object. In the examples, complex constituents are "united" by underlines.

The different types of arguments in the examples can be distinguished by pronominal substitution:

S (subject) demands nominative case when pronominalized (eu, tu). The subject has person and number agreement with its clause's finite verb (or, possibly, leading infinitive).

Oacc (direct or accusative object) demands accusative case when pronominalized (o, a, os, as): "Trouxe-o". Both S and Oacc can be pronominalized with "o_que".

Opiv (prepositional object) is always a pp [prepositional phrase] and demands prepositional case (also called oblique or prepositive: mim, ti) when the argument of its preposition is substituted by a pronoun: "Gosta de ti." Adverbials can be pp's, too, but prepositional objects can be distinguished from argument adverbials (or adverbial objects, A) by the fact that they can't be replaced by adverbs, and from adjunct adverbials by the fact that they are valency bound (cp chapter 3.2).

Odat (pronominal dative object) is the function assigned to the pronominal form 'lhe'. Dative objects typically occur as optional number 2 object in the presence of a number 1 direct object (Oacc): "Lhe (Odat) dá um presente (Oacc)." Lhe alternates with pp-objects introduced by the prepositions 'a' or 'para', which is why such pp's could be regarded as dative objects, too: "Dá um presente a ela (Odat)." The corresponding non-pronominalized construction is, however, (form wise!) indistinguishable from a prepositional object, and will here, for the sake of formal consistency, be tagged as such: "Lhe ajuda" (Odat) - "Ajuda a ele" (Opiv).

C (complements or predicatives) can be substituted by either "tal" or "isto", but normally not by personal pronouns: "Parece tal" (Cs) , "O elegeram isto" (Co) . Complements differ from objects in complementing both the clause's main verb and its subject (Cs) or direct object (Co). That's why they are called predicatives - like adnominal modifiers, they predicate something of a noun, while the clause's main verb is reduced to a kind of connecting device (called copula for the Cs-predicative) without much semantic content of its own. For focusing, Cs can be fronted, while Co can't (rico [Cs] não é - *engraçado [Co] não o acho). Adjectives and participles with predicative function have number and gender agreement with their nominal referent, Cs with the subject, Co with the object.

A (argument adverbials or adverbial objects) can be substituted by an adverbial pronoun: "Viajará lá." (As), "Pôs a metralhadora lá." (Ao). Like complements (C), some argument adverbials (A) can be distinguished with regard to subject or object connection (As and Ao). Place and direction adverbials, in particular, "feel" very "predicative": "Mora lá" (As or Cs?), "Colocou-o lá" (Ao or Co?), and the same is true of "Está bem" (As or Cs?). Still, in all three cases we will folow the adverb substitution test and settle for the adverbial function tag (A). A very special case are the measuring verbs durar [7 horas], custar [7 coroas] and pesar [7 gramas]. Superficially, the arguments of these verbs seem to ask for direct object function (Oacc), but both the accusative pronoun substitution test and the "o_que"-substitution test fail. Only substitution with "quanto"/"tanto" works, and in the framework of this grammar, we will opt for an A analysis (argument adverbial), adding "quanto" - at least where it doesn't alternate with "o_que" - to the short test list of adverbial interrogative pronouns ("onde", "quando", "como").

Each Portuguese verb has a fixed set of valency patterns. The examples given concern "maximal valency", including both obligatory and optional complements:

<vd> monotransitive	S V Oacc	comer ac., amar alg.
<vd> monotransitive	S V Odat	obedecer, agradar, convir (with dative pronouns: lhe, me ..)
<vp> monotransitive	S V Opiv	contar com, gostar de
<va> monotransitive	S V As	durar TEMP, custar QUANT, morar LOC, ir DIR
<vK> copula	S V Cs	estar, ser, parecer, chamar-se
<vi> intransitive inergative	S V	trabalhar, nadar, dançar, correr
<ve> intransitive ergative	V S	desaparecer, chegar, desmaiar, cair, crescer, desmaiar, nascer
<vdt> ditransitive	S V Odat Oacc	dar-lhe ac., mostrar, vender
<vtp> ditransitive	S V Oacc Opiv	confundir ac. com, trocar por, transformar em, afastar de
<vta> ditransitive	S V Oacc Ao	pôr ac. LOC, collocar ac. LOC, mandar alg./ac. DIR
<vtK> transobjective	S V Oacc Co	achar alg./ac. OC, considerar
<vU> impersonal intransitive	V	chover
<vUt> impersonal transitive	V Oacc	haver ac./alg.

Valency also concerns an argument's form, i.e. the word or group material that is allowed to fill the argument slot. Prototypically, subjects (S), direct objects (Oacc) and the argument of a prepositional object's preposition (Opiv) would ask for a noun, an np [noun phrase], or an independent pronoun, while prototypical adverbials (A) are adverbs. However, an adverbial argument can just as well take the form of a pp [prepositional phrase] (a) or even an np (b), if only it can be substituted by a regular adverb. Subjects can be infinitive-clauses (c), and direct objects of cognitive verbs can be finite subclauses (d-e). Predicatives (C) usually consist of adjectives, adjp's [adjective phrase] or np's, but in some cases, pp's do occur (f-g).

Note that there is a problem in using the predicate isolation test for fCo or fAo constituents (j-k) , since their link to the direct object may be enough to ensure test failure, - with or without verbal valency. fAs and fCs pass the test since they are linked to the subject which is outside the predicate for non-ergative verbs. fAo and fCo don't pass, simply because they lack their Oacc link. Therefore, the adverbial subject adjunct [fAs] in (l) may be detected and distinguished from the two argument adverbials in the same sentence, but not the adverbial object adjunct [fAo] in (m).

Still, the fAo reading for no barco do rei can be defended on the (less formal) grounds that this constituent is a circumstantial manner adverbial and as such is more loosely linked to the verb than the direction pp's de Portugal and para Brasil, which match the semantics of the "transitive movement" verb mandar.

For valency bound object complements, the semantic link between verb and argument is usually causativity: What the Co predicates about the Oacc, is only true by force of the verb, not in any independent way, as becomes clear from the translations of (n-p):

Sometimes both adjunct and argument readings are possible after the same verb, suggesting two different readings:

This sentence integrates the two statements she surprised him and he [object] was with another woman. In (s2), the pp is an adjunct - a free predicative -, and the meaning is he surprised her and he [subject] had a present.

Adjunct function is not restricted to adverbials (A) and predicatives (C). Free (i.e. adjunct) objects (fO) are not entirely unthinkable. For instance, the concept offers itself where free dative objects (fOdat) occur with the semantic role of beneficiary with verbs that otherwise do not have a dative object in their valency pattern. Comprar, for instance, is an ordinary monotransitive verb, governing an (obligatory) direct object (Oacc) - still, an optional free dative object can be added:

As a formal test for distinguishing between Odat and fOdat, substitution with an Opiv (or fOpiv) can be used. Ordinary valency bound dative objects prefer the preposition a, free dative objects prefer para:

An argument for avoiding the concept of free objects altogether is the fact that the isolation test for adjuncts does not work as convincingly for fO as it does for fA:

Since bound and free objects of the same type (i.e. Odat and fOdat or Opiv and fOpiv) are not allowed to co-occur in the same clause (uniqueness principle), while adjunct and argument adverbials do co-occur (viajará para Londres [A] para comprar livros [fA]), we shall usually mark the adjunct-argument distinction for adverbials, but not for objects.

Even whole statements can be adjuncted. Consider the following sentence:

Here, the subclause complementizer (the pronoun o que) is relative not to a noun or np, but to a whole statement, yielding a kind of anaphor effect. In fact, one could split the sentence in two and rewrite it in the following way:

Tristemente para ela, morreu o cachorro da velha.

Finally, we will describe also vocatives as clause level predicative adjuncts, called vocative adjuncts (fCvoc):

A very special form of constituent is the agent of passive constituent in a passive clause, which in the corresponding active sentence is considered subject. Agents of passive pp's, then, appear to be a kind of "ex-subject"-argument. At first sight, they do not appear to pass the isolation test (for adjuncts):

Foi convidado pelos sogros (1) pela primeira vez (2).

(1) - O que aconteceu pela primeira vez? - Foi convidado pelos sogros. (fA)

(2) *- O que aconteceu pelos sogros? - Foi convidado. (ARGpass?)

The question is, however, whether we have applied the isolation test correctly. From a CG or dependency grammar point of view, the clause to test is not the whole sentence, but the participle clause convidado pelos sogros pela primeira vez, which functions as complement of auxiliary (AUX<, cp. chapter 5). Therefore, we should replace only the predicate of the AUX< subclause with a dummy (feito), and not try to include a higher level predicator (foi). The adapted test does, as it should, distinguish between fA (3) on the one hand, and arguments like Co (4) and Ao (5) on the other.

3. O outro dia, foi chamado um comunista. - O que foi o outro dia?
4. O outro dia, foi chamado um comunista. - *O que foi um comunista?
5. Os presentes foram postos na mesa. - *O que os presentes foram na mesa?

(2') - O que foi pelos sogros? - Foi convidado. (fApass)

symbol	category	examples
fA ADVL	adjunct adverbial adjunto adverbial adverbialadjunkt	Sempre comiam cedo. As crianças jogavam no parque. Feito o trabalho temos tempo para mais uma cerveja. Entraram na vila quando amanheceu. O outro dia (fA) fugiu do zôo (As) um hipopótamo.
fApass PASS	passive adjunct agent of passive adjunto do passivo passivadjunkt	Era o herói do dia e foi elogiado pelo chefe do jardim zoológico.
fC PRED	adjunct predicative (subject adjunct) adjunto predicativo prædikativadjunkt	Sempre nada nua. Cansado, se retirou.
fCsta S<	statement predicative (sentence apposition) aposto da oração sætningsprædikativ	Morreu o cachorro da velha, o que muito a entristece.
fCvoc VOK	vocative adjunct constituinte vocativo vokativadjunkt	Me ajuda, Pedro!

Exercise: Identify clause level constituents!

Syntactic function vs. semantic function

In a more semantically oriented analysis, clause constituents can be assignet so-called case roles, as first proposed by Fillmore. The most common are:

AG	agent	sb who acts	As crianças (S) brincavam. Foi morto por um assassino (ARGpass).
PAT (TH)	patient (theme)	sb or sth affected by an action	A princesa (S) caiu da torre. A princesa beijou a pequenca rã (Oacc).
EXP	experiencer	sb experiencing a psychological state	O guarda (S) ouviu um grito.
BEN	benefactive	sb or sth benefiting from an action	Lhe (Odat) deu um presente de Natal.
INSTR	instrument	sth that functions as a means	A bala (S) rompeu o vidro. Foi ferido por sete balas (fApass).
LOC	locative	place for action or event	Finalmente, encontrou a carta na mala (Ao).
DIR	direction (goal)	goal of movement	Viajaram para Londres (Ao).
SRC	source	source or point of departure of movement	Vem de família rica (As).

As can be seen from the examples, a certain semantic role does not necessarily match the same syntactic function in different sentences. Subjects can be both agents, patients, experiencers and instruments, and arguments of passive can be both agents, experiencers and instruments (but not patients), depending on the semantic function of the subject in the active sister-clause.

In some cases, interferences between morpho-syntactic (form, inflection) and semantico-syntactic (case role) criteria have lead grammarians to disagree on which function to assign certain constituents:

Opiv's tagged as Odat