‘Existent’. The Prototype has ‘there’ plus a form of the Verb ‘be’ (nearly always Simple rather than Perfect or
Progressive) in the Present [563] or Past [564]. Less prototypical Verbs with Existential ‘there’ include ‘exist’
itself [565] and, particularly in stories, ‘live’ in the Past [566].
[563] there is only one species of brown trout in Northern Europe (Global Ecology)
[564] There were many good Germans but they were singularly ineffective in restraining the bad Germans.
(War and Social Change)
[565] it was suggested, by Leverrier in France and by Adams in England, that there existed a previously undetected planet in the vicinity of Uranus. (Thing Called Science)
[566] Once upon a time, in the heart of Russia, there lived an old peasant woman called Babushka. (Brownie Stories)
The Item ‘there’ is an anomaly in the Grammar of English Word-Classes. It is distinct from the Adverb ‘there’
meaning ‘at that place’, as in [567]. In casual style, it acts like a Singular Pronoun Subject in the Contraction
‘there’s’, whether the technical Subject is Singular [568] or Plural [569]. I found just a few Plurals when the Verb was clearly separated [570], or with a series of Singular Subjects [571].
[567] There was the stile before me — the very fields through which I had hurried. (Eyre) [568] I use a bath oil in my bath — there’s an American one I like. (Clothes Show) [569] There’s loads of shops with their lights on and traffic and people (Bayswater) [570] There isn’t many old parish’ners like her, I doubt. (Floss)
[571] There is hospitality, and cordiality and good fellowship, (Mountain Woman)
Perhaps ‘there’ is a unique ‘Existential Dummy’ supplied to occupy the position before Existential ‘be’.
57. In Circumstantial Processes, Circumstances are expressed in Clause Cores rather than in Adverbials where they usually go. One Prototype called the ‘Cleft’ is divided (‘cleft’) between two Clauses to put focus on the Circumstance (VI.22). In the Independent Clause, the Subject is the Circumstantial Dummy Pronoun ‘it’ and the Verb is ‘be’ in the Simple Present or Past, plus Subject Complements as Circumstances of Time or Place; the Dependent Clause tells what was or happened then or there.
[572] There are reported minor clashes with security forces on Saturday evening, but no notable casualties. It was on Sunday that the scenes turned ugly. (Guardian)
[573] It was at the door of this overgrown tavern that the London coach stopped (Pickwick) Commands like [574-75] are infrequent, except being ‘on time’, ‘not late’ [576-77].
[574] Be at the corral, with the buggy, at three. (Roaring Camp) [575] Don’t be at home or away without quick help! (Safety Kit)www [576] Just be on time, hit the lines and say the marks! (Hollywood Rogues)
[577] Now run along like a good girl and don’t be late tomorrow. (Where There’s Life) My data show minimal Denials of Intention [578-79] and Control [580-81].
[578] Martin sat perched on the edge of a gilt-framed armchair, looking as though he did not quite mean to be there. (Jerusalem)
[579] You didna mean to be late, […] but your aunt’s been worrited to-day. (Adam Bede) [580] Amy can’t help being there. She hasn’t anywhere else to go. (English Crime)
[581] I piled two disco-bleared daughters into the car and drove [to] Barkway — a village which can’t help being close to Royston (Fishkeeping)
58. A peculiar Lexicogrammar applies to Circumstances of Weather, whose Prototypes ‘being cold’ and ‘being hot’ also prefer Simple Verbs [582-83], whereas the Prototypes of ‘raining’ and ‘snowing’ prefer the Progressive [584-85]; the Simple indicates a common weather condition [586-87]. Even though the Subject cannot be an Agent, an apparent Direct Object can occur [588-89].
[582] it was bitterly cold as I covered my bagpipes and rubbed my frozen fingers (Invasion) [583] The air was full of mosquitoes. It was very hot and sticky (Pacific)
[584] It is raining in Tromsø. The sky is the colour of lead shot, with the Arctic Ocean dark and morose below it. (Artic Odyssey)
[585] it was snowing, it was like a fairy tale, clean and soft (Gate-Crashing) [586] The region’s intense greenness is the giveaway that it often rains. (Best)
[587] I will come in after breakfast every day […] even when it snows (Legacy of Love) [588] The problem was, it was raining sleet outside. (Rain)
[589] It was snowing a blizzard, and we got lost (End of the Morning) With no Agent, Commands like [590-91] sound odd; the handful for ‘not
raining’ or ‘snowing’ are facetious [592-93]. I find no Denials of Intention or Control like [594].
[590] *Oh, don’t be midnight already!
[591] *Don’t be Monday morning yet, don’t!
[592] Don’t Rain on My Parade (Funny Girl)
[593] Let it Sun, Let it Rain, Just Don’t Snow (Bad Samaritan)www
[594] *It didn’t mean to rain on your birthday, but the humidity was so high it couldn’t help but rain.
59. Identification is a Process that assigns an Identity, frequently a familial, social, or institutional role. The Prototype Clause has the ‘Identified’ as Subject Entity, ‘be’ as Verb, and ‘Identity’ as Subject Complement.
[595] May I present to you a member of my wife’s family. He is my wife’s brother. (Saigon) [596] Mischa is my father’s oldest friend (Relic)
[597] Evelyn Matlock, whom you have met, is the housekeeper. (Taste for Death) [598] Winston Churchill was the President of the Board of Trade (Ideas in Action)
Dispositive or Ergative Identification is for ‘naming’ or ‘electing’ somebody into a role, which is expressed by just a few Verbs. The Active has Identifier as Subject. Identified as Object, and Identity as Object Complement [599-600]; the Passive has the Identified as Subject [601-02].
[599] If I’d been a ranch, they would have named me the Bar-Nothing. (Rita Hayworth in Gilda) [600] Phi Kappa Phi elected her President in 1921. (Helen Bishop Thompson)www
[601] Gary Drake was named the Grand Finals Player-of-the-Tournament (Tennis World) [602] Maynard Jackson Jr. was elected the first black mayor of Atlanta in 1973. (USA Today)www
60. Commands are highly selective, and would be plausible only for an Identity which can be deliberately assumed or assigned, as in [603-604] but not, say, in [595a-596a].
[603] Please be my wife, be one with me (Dru Hill)www
[604] Oh Rose, please, please be my friend. Please take the ring, please! (Twist of Fate) [605] I have bigger, tiara-holding hair and red lipliner always at the ready. Please elect me your 1999-2000 Homecoming Queen. (Courtney Beebe in the Montana Kaimin)www [595a] *Kindly be my wife’s brother.
[596a] *Please, Misha, be my father’s oldest friend
I can find no Denials of Intention like [603a] or of Control like [596b].
[603a] *She didn’t mean to be my wife, but she married me by mistake in a dimly lighted chapel.
[596b] *Misha couldn’t help being my father’s oldest friend because he was his only friend.
61. Attribution is for Representing some inherent trait or property. The Prototype Clause has ‘Attributed’ as Subject, ‘be’ as Verb, and ‘Attribute’ as Subject Complement [606-09].
[606] Aldebrand is very tall and thin, but immensely strong and fit (Warhammer Armies)BNC [607] She was middle-aged, thin as a bean-pole, with a mouth puckered up with spite. (Topaz) [608] Mrs Binks was very fat and a filthy dress hung shapelessly on her. (Vets Might Fly) [609] His face was white, his skin scrofulous, his teeth decaying. (Suburbia)
Attributes make odd Commands, either Affirmative [610] or Negative [611]. I find no Denials of Intention like [606a]. Denial of Control seems a bit more plausible [612], but somewhat trivial.
[610] Seattle photographer seeks models 18-35. Please be slender (Models)www [611] First off don’t be fat or short. I sadly am both. (Tidus)www
[606b] *Aldebrand didn’t mean to be very tall and thin, but his DNA was unrelenting.
[612] If we had such a custom in Japan, we couldn’t help being fat. (New Zealand)www
62. Evaluation is for Representing a Value according to the Attitude of the speaker. The Prototype Clause has the ‘Evaluated’ as Subject, ‘be’ as Verb, and the ‘Value’ as Subject Complement for Ameliorative [613-14] or Pejorative [615-16]. Children are doubtless well sensitised to the difference by their elders [617].
[613] he was always so charming to me — so nice. (Over the Edge)
[614] people are extremely kind and extremely generous. (Save the Children)BNC
[615] Lawson was rude and arrogant — exactly what a chancellor should be. (Economist) [616] She was mean and horrible, snide, self-righteous and unkind. (Three Times Table)
[617] Mum had told him that whenever he was good she liked him but that when he was bad, she didn’t. (Mr Tom)
Commands are mostly Affirmative for Ameliorative and Negative for Pejorative:
[618] Always be polite — even if the customer isn’t. (Retailing)
[619] ‘Don’t be rude, dear’, said his mother placidly. (Room with a View) [620] ‘Be reasonable!’ pleaded Geoffrey. ‘Men aren’t saints!’ (Damsel)
[621] Don’t be unreasonable about the service and rant and rave (Canoe Travel)www [622] Be wise, for wisdom availed Daniel in the den of lions (Ivanhoe)
[623] Don’t Be Stupid, You Know I Love You (Shania Twain)
Intention is naturally denied for the Pejorative Values [624-25]. I found just a few Denials of Control [626-27].
[624] I didn’t mean to be rude, but it’s so comfortable to say all I think (Little Women) [625] I’m sorry master, I didn’t mean to be stupid. (Feathered Circle)www
[626] Chloe couldn’t help being rude. She wanted to hit him! (Vicious Circle)www [627] Stupidity is not a sin, the victim can’t help being stupid. (Adventurers)www
63. Possession is a fuzzy Process, vacillating among Identity or Attribute (what is said to be yours), Disposition (what you can do with it), Cognition (what you believe is yours), and Aspiration (what you want to have). The Prototype Clause with ‘Possessor’ as Subject, ‘have’ as Verb Phrase and ‘Possessed’ as Object, is for a straightforward relation of ‘having tangible property’ [628-629]. Verbs like ‘own’ and ‘possess’ are less common, though more consistent for this relation [630-631].
[628] I have a Knitmaster machine. (Machine Knitting Monthly)
[629] When three hundred of the richest people on Earth have wealth equal to the bottom three billion people on Earth, extreme affluence is built on the back of extreme poverty. (Ralph Nader, Crashing the Party)
[630] Republican gubernatorial candidate William E. Simon Jr. owns stock in a natural gas company accused of taking advantage of California. (LA Times)
[631] Hades possessed a magic helmet which made him invisible. (Myths, Gods and Fantasy)
64. By form at least, the Transitivity of Possession appears Active, though rarely counting as an Action; and some Verbs have corresponding Passives, such as ‘own’ (common) [632] and ‘possess’ (rare) [633], but apparently not ‘have’ [634]. However, a Medial version is common with Possessed as Subject, ‘be’ as Verb, and a Possessive as Subject Complement [635].
[632] the vacant land was owned by Liverpool City Council (Town and Country)
[633] in the seventeenth century, the church was possessed by Daniel Disney (East Lindsey) [634] *A Knitmaster machine is had by me.
[635] The pictures were Douglas’s and the furniture was mine (Art Newspaper)
65. Dispositive Possession has the important Prototypes ‘giving’, ‘getting’, and ‘taking’. ‘Giving’ is widespread in the Active with Giver as Subject, Giving as Verb, Receiver as Indirect Object, and Given as Direct Object [636]. The Passive may have the Given as Subject with the Giver formatted in an Agentive Adverbial [637]; or else or the Receiver as Subject, which leaves the Given as a Noun Phrase whose role in the Clause Core is ambiguous [638] — perhaps a relic of an older Subject when the present-day Subject was a Fronted Indirect Object, as in Biblical style [639]. ‘Getting’ principally occurs with the Getter as Subject and the Gotten as Object [640-41]. Yet the Verb ‘get’ also serves for Giving with the Giver as Subject and the Getter as Indirect Object, implying that the Given as Direct Object first had to be secured by the Giver [642-643]. ‘Taking’ has as Prototype the Taker and Subject, Taking as Verb, and the Taken as Direct Object, possibly with the Giver in an Adverbial with ‘from’ [644].
[636] Frederick then gave her a palace of her own. (Stonehenge to Stonewall)www [637] This bell was given to the Dean of St. Paul’s by William III. (Big Ben)www
[638] she was given a crystal vase and luggage as a leaving present. (Glenpatrick News)
[639] there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power (Revelation 9:3) [640] he gets some unemployment money (conversation)BNC
[641] my friend got a house at Westerhailes Park eleven months ago (Radio Forth)BNC [642] We got her a flat in the same block as ours (Woman)
[643] Geoff’s mum got me a piece of cheese last week from Superkeys. (conversation)BNC [644] She took the glass from Sarah. ‘It’s cognac.’ ‘The kind Napoleon liked’. (Freely Sing)
66. ‘Selling’ has the Prototype of Seller as Subject, Selling as Verb, and Sold as Direct Object; if specified, the Buyer is Indirect Object [645], and the Price appears in an Adverbial of Means with ‘for’ [646]. ‘Buying’ has the Prototype of Buyer as Subject, Buying as Verb, and Bought as Direct Object, and optionally a Receiver as Indirect Object [647] and a Price again in a ‘for’ Adverbial [648-49]. Like Giving, both ‘selling’ and ‘buying’
have various options in the Passive for the Subject: the Sold [649], the Bought [650], or, rarely, the Receiver [651-52], this last Pattern again leaving an ambiguous Noun Phrase for the Sold or the Bought.
[645] Kenelm had then sold my father a pair of eighteenth-century cupboards. (Authors) [646] He had sold a Rolls-Royce for about £28,000 (Daily Telegraph)
[647] A niece of Miss Vine’s bought her a new budgerigar. (Dynmouth)
[648] Vicki bought a birthday card for nanny (conversation)BNC
[649] A converted broom cupboard opposite Harrods was sold for £36,500. (Best) [650] A new tractor was bought in 1957, the first for 30 years (Henley Golf Club)BNC [651] The story behind Michelle’s tank was that she was sold a four footer (Fishkeeping)
[652] He was bought a few drinks by workmates and took off on his own, round various bars, to finish the job properly. (Misfortunes of Nigel)
67. The Possessive of ‘having’ is rare in Commands like [653-54]; for Medial Possessive, I only find the quaint
‘be mine!’ [655]. The Active Imperative ‘have’ usually occurs for other Processes, such as Dispositive [656], Enactive [657], and Perceptive [658]. But Dispositive Possessives are naturally popular in Commands, such as [659-62].
[653] Imagine. . .Have all the money you need! (MATCU)www [654] If you don’t want the seat, don’t have it (Bummel)
[655] I never felt love’s holy thrill till I saw thee! Be mine! (Artemus Ward) [656] ‘Come in and have some tea’, a cut-glass voice invited. (Dandelion Days)
[657] Go to the rose gardens, have a walk along the sea front (Trade Union Congress)www [658] Have a look under the arch: a sculpted scene of the Good Pastor (Normandy)www [659] I heard the captain say, ‘Give the men an extra glass of grog’. (Coral Island)
[660] Get legal verifiable accredited degrees. No study, no exams. (Belford ‘University’)www [661] Dai Huang followed her. ‘Sell me your daughter’, Li Lu’. (New Internationalist) [662] ‘Buy me a dram and I will tell you all about it.’ I did and he did. (Tales of the Loch)
I found only one occurrence each of Possession in a Denial of Intention [663] and a Denial of Control [664].
Dispositive Possession was more frequent [665-66].
[663] I’m just happy to be rid of a stock that I didn’t mean to own in the first place. (It was a result of a spinoff.) (Joe Williams)www
[664] I was put in possession of a gentleman’s house in this parish here, that everybody would suppose couldn’t help having money if he tried. (Sketches by Boz)
[665] When the French put shares up for sale the English couldn’t help buying them and soon had the majority share in the Suez Canal (Imperialism in Africa)www
[666] parents in rural areas couldn’t help selling their cattle to afford the tuition fee (Argus)www
68. In general, the Representative Processes are hardly used in Dispositives like ‘making be’. All I found was one facetious Circumstance of Weather [667], plus a handful of Values [668-69].
[667] If she didn't know better she’d have said he’d sabotaged her jeep and made it rain this way, just so he could enjoy some amusement at her expense! (Garden of Desire)
[668] Besides, I can maybe make Colley be good to my father. (Little Lower)
[669] Kuke is the cutest guy ever, please don’t make him be bad. (Shadows of the EU)www
69. Expressive Processes serve to ‘express’ your ‘inner’ States and Events, guided by the cognitive and social norms of culture and language. The Prototype Clause Core in the Active has ‘Expresser’ as Subject,
‘Expression’ as Verb Phrase, and ‘Expressed’ as Direct Object [670-71]. The Passive has ‘Expression’ as Subject and ‘Expresser’ in an Agentive Adverbial [672-73].
[670] World War II field commanders expressed a wish for horse-troopers. (US Cavalry)www [671] The Israeli Prime Minister expressed his shock at the incident. (Independent)
[672] the view was expressed by some that the training of recruits was premature. (Nelson Mandela)
[673] no sympathy was expressed by male members of the group as to the comparative hardness of the women’s lives (Psychic and Political Dimensions)
70. In Emotive Processes, the Expression consists of a movement (an ‘ex-motion’, so to speak) from an inner State or Event of the body or mind toward an outer display of face, gesture, or tone of voice (V.5), which may entail Intention or Control, or may not. Several Clause Cores might qualify as Prototypes. One has the ‘Emoter’
as Medium for the Subject, the Medial ‘be’ as Verb, and the ‘Emotion’ as an Adjective Subject Complement [674-76]; another has the Medial ‘feel’ for the Verb [676-77]. Or again, a Past Participle with a form like the Passive links up to ‘be’ [678-79]. As these data indicate, Emotives contrast quite clearly between Ameliorative (like ‘happy’) and Pejorative (like ‘sad’), the latter being more com-mon in my data, especially among the Participles.
[674] I was happy in London, free, mistress of my self and my pocket. (So Very English) [675] I am sad for the suffering of the Iraqi people. (Economist)
[678] Then she said she felt happy enough to skip the Ecstasy experiment (Independent) [677] I felt sad, depressed, utterly miserable. My aunt had about a month to live. (Gorbals) [678] Aloysia had even more potential talent. Mozart was enraptured. (Mozart)
[679] I was saddened and grieved and distressed by the fact that everybody turned against him at the end. (Peter Grimes)
Less common in my data is the Active option of an Emotion as a Noun Object of ‘feel’ [680-81]; and still less the corresponding Passive [682-83]. Sometimes the Object is a Bodily Event suggesting but not specifying an Emotion [684-85].
[680] We feel happiness when we pray to Allah (Adel Sadeq)www
[681] Russians feel sadness and pride as Mir splashes down (Associated Press)www [682] A general air of happiness was felt throughout the entire ship (Small Step)www
[683] The sadness was felt by all people in the village. Their beloved Chief has passed in the night. (Native American Story)www
[684] His gaze swept boldly over her and she felt a rush of warmth right through her veins. (Lover’s Charade) [685] she felt an explosion of fire sweep through her entire body (Castle of Desire)
71. Dispositive Emotions of ‘making feel’ are readily found, sometimes with a Human Agent [686, 688] but more often a Cause [687, 689]. Where the Modifier clearly indicates the Emotion, the Verb ‘feel’ can be omitted [688-89].
[686] my mum made me feel happy about having large breasts (How Do I Look?) [687] The sun made Endill feel sad but excited at the journey ahead. (Endill)
[688] I have been in to see my mother. You have made her happy, Jenna (Healing Fire) [689] Puppy love isn’t such a silly thing. Its made her sad and lonely (Donna Grayson)www
In the woolly Mills and Boon world of women irresistibly attracted to muscular males, Emotions lend the vital organs an astounding mobility:
[690] His voice held a caressing note which flipped her heart over in her chest. (Calypso’s Island) [691] As he strode towards her, she felt her heartbeat do a funny little dance. (Battle for Love) [692] The kiss […] was a sensual onslaught that made her brain whirl. (Healing Fire)
[693] her stomach leapt inside her, remembering that dance (Conspiracy of Love)
[694] she could feel her nipples tingling, tightening to aching points thrusting proud and carmine under the caressing gaze (Calypso’s Island)
Unlike characters in Victorian novels (II.156), these women could hardly be ‘overcome by emotion’ if they are unimpaired by such anatomical convulsions.
72. Predictably, Commands are Affirmative for Ameliorative Emotions [695] and Negative for Pejorative ones [696].
[695] Here are twenty thousand pounds. Be happy! (Copperfield)
[696] Rosa, please, please, don’t be unhappy. I’ll help you, I will. (Lost Father) I found few examples of Denials for Intention [697], but many for Control [698-99].
[697] I didn’t mean to sound sad. I didn’t mean to be sad. (Sweet Misery)www
[698] people could not help feeling happy as a large victory had been won that day (Jynx)www [699] I could not help feeling sad in the face of relentlessly fleeting time. (Li Wei-Huang)www
73. Communicative Processes deploy Texts to display and impart significance. One Prototype Clause Core has Communicator as Subject, Communication as the Verb of ‘saying’ and a Noun Phrase for the Communicated Text as the Direct Object [700]. But the preferred Prototype has the Communicated Text as a Framed Clause, i.e., a Dependent Clause telling what was communicated, whilst the Independent Framing Clause of ‘saying’
may come before [701] but commonly after [702-05]. A Noun for the Communicator goes after the ‘saying’
[703] more than before [703]; a Pronoun goes before [704] more than after [705].9
[700] John Major said a lot of silly things. (New Statesman)
[701] Then the butler said, ‘Everything is at your disposal’. (Father Brown) [702] ‘You’d better get on with that index’, said the high official (Mayfair)
[703] ‘Appearances are against me, Mr, Sheridan’, the beautiful intruder said. (Certain Hour) [704] ‘Thy own hand has slain thee, and for my sake’, she said. (Golden Age of Myth) [705] ‘Oh well, you never know’, said she. (Under the Sea)
The Prototype of ‘telling’ is more likely to have a Noun Object [706], and, when used as a Frame, prefers that the Receiver be specified [707].
[706] she told a vivid tale implicating several people in the murders. (New Scientist) [707] Bristoll told the King that he will impeach the Chancellor of High Treason (Pepys)
74. A Direct Text has the actual wording set off from the Frame by Quotation Marks [701-05]. An Indirect Text, with no Marks, fits the wording (such as Tense and Person) to the Frame. [701a, 707a] Converting between Direct and Indirect Text has limits, as in [708-08a], and excludes Direct Texts that follow the ongoing interaction among speakers, as in [709-10] versus [709a-10a].
[701a] Then the butler said that everything was at their disposal.
[707a] Bristoll told the King, ‘I shall impeach the Chancellor of High Treason’.
[708] ‘You’re a pretty creature, anyhow’, said Dick. ‘You think so, do you?’ said Clarissa (Voyage Out) [708a] Dick said Clarissa was a pretty creature, anyhow. ?She said he thought so, did he?
[709] ‘My God’, he told her, ‘you look awful’. (Kenneth Williams) [709a] *He told her that his God, she looked awful.
[710] ‘Ah!’ snarled the Russian. ‘You see, I was right!’ (Adversary) [710a] *The Russian snarled ah, she saw, he was right.
Also blocked from conversion to Indirect are Texts where the Framing Verb is a bodily Enactment involving the mouth [711-12] versus [711a-12a].
[711] ‘It was kind of you to walk me home’, she smiled. (Maggie) [711a] *She smiled that it was kind of him to walk her home.
[712] He tried, and couldn’t open it either. ‘That’s odd’, he frowned. (Maggie) [712a] *He frowned that it was odd he couldn’t open the door.