Summary
The present study is based on a MA thesis submitted to the council of College of Education, Ibn Rushd, University of Baghdad, Iraq in 1989 for the degree of master of Arts in English Language and Linguistics. It describes the syntactic and semantic aspects of adverbial clauses and phrases of reason through which the English language mainly expresses the idea of causality. Furthermore, it presents the general points of causality as a philosophical context. A short review of the traditional treatment of causality is given at first, followed by the transformational treatment. It derives some rules that transform kernel sentences into adverbial clauses and, if possible, phrases of reason having the same meaning and embed them within a matrix sentence.
Excerpt
Table Of Contents
clause may assume in a sentence.
Chapter Four deals with the English adverbial clauses and phrases of reason
within the framework of transformational grammar. Since the meanings indicated
by clauses and phrases of reason are almost identical, some tentative
transformational rules which link these clauses and phrases (surface structures) to
the same deep structure are suggested. In other words, these rules may transform a
kernel sentence into an adverbial clause and phrase of reason having the same
meaning and embed the clause or phrase within a matrix sentence. Before the
application of any transformational rule, certain preconditions or structural
analyses have to be observed because it may or may not be possible to apply
pending on the structural description of the kernel sentence. It has been found out
that the transformation is carried out on the adverbial clause. The subject noun
phrase of the embedded sentence is deleted if it is the same as that of the
subordinate sentence. Otherwise, it is retained with certain restrictions. Some
adjectives are nominalized throughout the transformation. Attributive adjectives
are reordered with the nouns they modify. The ending of the first word of the verb
phrase must be -ing.
A summary of the investigation carried out in the four chapters is
introduced in Chapter Five. Besides, some concluding points arrived at
throughout the study are outlined along with recommendations for further
research in related areas.
.
4
LIST OF CONTENTS
Dedication...1
Acknowledgments...2
Preface ...3
List of Abbreviations ...8
List of Diagrams...10
CHAPTER ONE
1. INTRODUCTION ...11
1.1 The Problem ...11
1.2 The Hypothesis...14
1.3 The Purpose...14
1.4 The Limitation...14
1.5 The Procedure...14
1.6 The Value...15
CHAPTER TWO
2. CAUSALITY IN PHILOSOPHY (SEMANTIC ANALYSIS)...16
2.1 Some Introductory Remarks...16
2.2 The Familiar Idea of a Cause ...16
2.2.1 The Universal Aspects of Causality...16
2.2.2 The Absolute Necessity of Causality...17
2.2.3 Definitions of Causality...18
2.2.4 The Different Expressions of Causality...18
2.3 Other Notions of Causality...20
5
2.3.1 Muslim and Aristotle Doctrines of Causality...20
2.3.2 Multiple Causality...20
2.3.3 Causes as Conditions...21
2.4 Universality and Uniformity of Causation...22
2.4.1 Universality...22
2.4.2 Uniformity...23
2.5 The Idea of Necessary Connection...24
2.6 The Distinction between Cause and Reason...28
2.7 The Distinction between Cause and Effect...29
2.7.1 Cause and Time...30
2.7.2 Contemporaneous Cause and Effect ...31
CHAPTER THREE
3. TRADITIONAL TREATMENTS OF CAUSALITY...32
3.1 Some Introductory Remarks...32
3.2 Causal Linking in English...32
3.3 Major Cause Subordinators...36
3.3.1 Because and For...39
3.4 Adjuncts and Disjuncts...41
3.5 Subordinators and Conjuncts...42
3.6 Contingency...44
3.6.1 Cause and Reason...44
3.6.2 Reason and Purpose...46
3.6.3 Reason and Result...47
3.6.4 Reason and Concession...48
6
3.7 Cause and Temporal...48
3.8 Words Compression by Shorter Constructions...52
3.9 Immediate Constituents Analysis...54
CHAPTER FOUR
4. TRANSFORMATIONAL TREATMENTS OF CAUSALITY...56
4.1 Some Introductory Remarks...56
4.2 Because and Since Clauses...56
4.3 Reason Adverbial Clause Transformations...58
4.4 Participial Phrase Transformations...63
4.5 Absolute Participial Phrase Transformations...70
4.6 Adverbial Infinitive Phrase Transformations...73
4.7 Some Other Transformations...76
4.8 Ambiguity...79
CHAPTER FIVE
5. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS...83
5.1 Summary and Conclusions...83
5. 2 Suggestions for Further Research...90
Bibliography...91
7
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
Adj
Adjective
Adv (P)
Adverb (phrase)
Aux
Auxiliary
Comp
Complement
Conj
Conjunction
Det
Determiner
Inf
Infinitive
MV
Main verb
Neg
Negative
Nom. suf
Nominalizing suffix
NP
Noun phrase
Poss. pron
Possessive pronoun
Pred
Predicate
S
Sentence
Sub
Subordinator
T.adv.cl
Adverbial clause transformation
Tns
Tense
T.pcpl.ph
Participial phrase transformation
V
Verb
VP
#
*
Verb phrase
Sentence boundary
Unacceptable structure
may be rewritten as
8
is transformed into
( ) Optionally chosen constituents
Alternatively chosen constituents
[ ] Contingent alternative chosen constituents
9
LIST OF DIAGRAMS
Diagram (1) Adverbial Clauses
37
Diagram (2) Analysis of Adverbial Clauses and
Phrases of Reason...54
Diagram (3) An Embedded Sentence Derived by an Adverbial
Clause Transformational Rule
60
Diagram (4) An Embedded Sentence Infixed within Another...61
Diagram (5) Sentences Embedded as Adverbs of Reason and
Conditions, and of Time and Place...62
Diagram (6) Adverb Switch Rule...63
Diagram (7) Reason Phrases Ambiguity...80
Diagram (8) The Conjunctions used with Complex, Simple and
Compound Sentences...89
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CHAPTER ONE
1. Introduction
1.1 The Problem
Causality states that the event or state of affairs in the subordinate clause
describes or accounts for the event or state of affairs in the main clause. Adverbial
clauses of cause or reason explain the cause of or reason for the action expressed
by the verb in the main clause. They are most commonly introduced by the
subordinators because and since:
1.
I work hard because I want to live better.
2.
Since I was not invited, I did not go to the party.
Matrix and subordinate clauses of reason have certain relationships such
that the activity in the former follows temporally that in the latter. Some
philosophers believe that the connection between the cause and its result or effect
is so necessary that an effect must have happened if a cause has happened.
In spite of their similarities in meaning, some subordinate clauses are
ungrammatical when introduced by certain subordinators at certain positions. For
instance, each of the following sentence pairs has one grammatical member and
an ungrammatical one:
3.
a.
Because he did not get enough sleep, he was tired.
*b. For he did not got enough sleep, he was tired.
4. a. It was because he was nervous that he left.
* b. It was since he was nervous that he left.
The difference between a clause introduced by because and one beginning
with other subordinators like since and as is that in the former (which usually
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comes second) the emphasis is on the subordinate clause while in the latter (which
usually comes first) the emphasis is on the matrix clause. Moreover, this
positional difference reflects a syntactic difference; 'because clauses' are close to
adjuncts whereas 'since clauses' are more like disjuncts. This is obvious in the
ability of 'because clauses' but not of 'since clauses' to be the focus of cleft
sentences as in (4) above. Yet, a final 'because clause' sometimes functions as a
disjunct of reason:
5. She has lit a fire, because I can see the smoke.
Adverbials of reason may be related to adverbials of purpose which indicate
the purpose of the activity of the main verb. Purpose adverbials are introduced by
so that, in order that, lest, and others:
6. The mother worked all the time so that her daughter
should be free for study.
The question: (Why are you studying English?) can he answered in the
following different ways:
7. a . I am studying English because I like it. (reason)
b. I am studying English so that I can become
a teacher of English. (purpose)
Similarly, in:
8. He sold the watch to save money.
The adverbial above can be seen as indicating his purpose in selling the watch and
equally his reason for selling it.
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Other clauses which can be compared and contrasted with clauses of reason
include time, result, and concession. For illustration, the subordinator as indicates
reason in (9) and time in (10):
9.
As she had a headache, she went home early.
10. The policemen stopped the thief as he was about to enter.
In the same manner, as and since are conjunctions of time as well as of
reason. This dual function may imply ambiguity:
11.
As she was sitting in the garden, she could watch the
play on the T V.
(Since she was sitting in the garden ... or
While she was sitting in the garden...)
Causality in English can be expressed, with a number of structures as the
following examples illustrate:
12. The student did not come because he was ill.
13. The student did not come because ofhis illness.
14. The student did not come on accountof his illness.
15. The student being ill, did not come.
These sentences, obviously, have the same deep structure but different surface
structures. Each sentence is derived from two sentences conjoined by a
subordinator.
Since English has such complexities in the structures and uses of adverbial
of reason and since English adverbials manifest this wide variety of forms,
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functions, and distributions, there is reasonable justification to carry out the
present study.
1.2 The Hypothesis
It is hypothesized that although the expression of reason is a universal
feature of language, each individual language makes use of certain structures and
conjunctions to express it. English expresses causality mainly through clauses and
phrases which, though different on the surface level, are transformationally
related to the same deep structure.
1.3
The Purpose
This study aims at presenting the adverbials of reason in English in such a
way that it makes, as possible as we could, a full account of them. It is hoped also
to arrive at certain suggestions and recommendations that may be of use in the
teaching and learning of English reason adverbials.
1.4 The Limitation
English adverbials of reason will be syntactically and semantically viewed.
The investigation will touch upon the use of adverbials in positive, negative, and
interrogative constructions in English. The distribution of adverbials of reason
and the way they fit into patterns will be investigated as, far as their occurrences
and relations with other adverbials are concerned. The distribution of these
adverbials in forming different types of sentences will be investigated too.
1.5 The Procedure
The procedures to be followed in this study may be summed up as
follows:
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1. Presenting an adequate description of reason adverbials in English and
identifying their semantic and syntactic functions and distributions relying on
the literature available. Data will be gathered mainly from grammar books but
attempt a will be made to subject the data to more recent methods of language
analysis, particularly that of generative transformational grammar.
2. Showing the difference?! between clauses of reason and others, especially
those of purpose and time.
3. Introducing tentative rules to show the deep structure underlying clauses
and phrases of reason.
1.6 The Value
The investigation will be valuable in Its theoretical respect mainly. It will
present an up-to-date picture of adverbial clauses and phrases of reason in
English. It is also hoped to give a better insight to teachers, curriculum designers
and text book writers about the nature of problems involved in the learning and
teaching of such clauses.
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CHAPTER TWO
2. Causality in Philosophy (Semantic Analysis)
2.1Some Introductory Remarks
It is held that "science without philosophy is blind while philosophy
without science is empty." The present chapter is devoted to a study, however
brief, of the general points of causality as a philosophical concept. The need for
such a study arises from the fact that it will provide a general background for the
subsequent chapters. The account of the subject will not be so detailed to the
extent that it will result in complexity.
2.2The Familiar Idea of a Cause
The topic of causality is the field of a fierce struggle among philosophers
all over the world. Here are some of the familiar opinion of causality.
2.2.1 The Universal Aspects of Causality
The notion of causality, as seen by Stace (1962 : 6), is the foundation of all
sciences except the purely mathematic ones. Every science assumes the truth of
the
law of causation, which will shortly be discussed. Each is concerned with
discovering the causes or reasons or principles underlying the activity of its
special subject matter. For example, in ethics, one asks what causes the good life:
in politics what causes the good slate; in medicine what onuses disease; in
language what causes acceptable or grammatical sentences and so on. Thus, the
notion of causality is not only absolutely essential In common affaire of life but
also in all applied sciences.
Thus, as Russell (1970 : 120) demonstrates, causality is deeply embedded
in language and common sense. We say that governments build schools and make
roads: to build and to make are both notions requiring causality.
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Similarly, we ask :
'Why does the baker make bread ?' and
'Why are railways built ?'
The answers might be:
'Because people will be hungry.' and
'Because people wish to travel' respectively.
Logically speaking, the subordinate clause in such causal statements or
propositions assigns the cause of or reason for what is asserted in the main clause.
The usual signs are because, for, and since. For example:
1. Because they fail to see the purpose of human existence, their
lives are meaningless.
2. Pope is genuinely happy for he is truely virtuous.
3. Since she is interested in music, she takes the course.
2.2.2 The Absolute Necessity of Causality
Explanation is a very deep-rooted human tendency. Hutchins (1952:
155-156) states that even philosophers who think that we cannot arrive at
knowledge of causes get involved in interpreting why this is so. Nor will their
arguments and discussions about theory of causes ever remove the word because
from their vocabularies of common speech. Tolostoy says: "the impulse to seek
causes...is innate in the soul of man."
All the questions are answered except the question "Why ?" Dante is of the
opinion that man sometimes must be content with the knowledge of something
without knowing why. Virgil writes "Happy the man who has been able to know
the causes of things."
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2.2.3 Definitions of Causality
Most writers on the subject of causation agree in some way or another in
their explanations of causality. For a better understanding of it, it is useful to refer
to some of the more common definitions to see how they are alike. Taylor (1967 :
56) states that "a cause has traditionally been thought of as that which produces
something and in terms of which that which is produced, its effect, can be
explained." Rosenthal and Yudin (1967 : 68) regard causation as a main
philosophical category referring "to the necessary connection between two
events, one of which, called the cause, determines the other, called the effect or
consequence. Likewise, Flew (1979 : 54) considers causation to be the
relationship between two events; the first brings about the second:
4. Because the switch is turned on, the light shines.
All these definitions have in common a cause and an effect. In sentences of
adverbial clauses of cause, there are main and subordinate clauses. The former is
the effect while the latter(s) is (are) the cause(s).
2.2.4 The Different Expressions of Causality
The idea of causality can be expressed with a number of ways. To see how
causality, in this sense, operate in language, we cite the following instances from
Frank. He (1972 : 248-249) illustrates different structures based on the adverbial
clause of cause in the following sentence :
5. Because Mr. Black was an extremely timid person,
he did not try to advance himself professionally.
a. Mr. Black did not try to advance himself professionally for he
was an extremely timid person. (coordinate clause)
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b. On account of his extreme timidity, Mr. Black did
not try to advance himself professionally.
(prepositional phrase with abstract noun)
c. On account of his being extremely timid, Mr. Black
did not try to advance himself professionally.
(prepositional phrase with gerund)
d. Being extremely timid, Mr. Black did not try to
advance himself professionally. (participial phrase)
e. Mr. Black, being an extremely timid person not try to
advance himself professionally. (absolute construction)
f. Mr. Black, who was an extremely timid person, did
not try to advance himself professionally. (adjective clause)
g. An extremely timid person, Mr. Black did not try
to advance himself professionally. (appositive noun phrase)
h. Extremely timid, Mr. Black did not try to advance
himself professionally. (appositive adjective phrase)
In addition to this, a gerund phrase (as in a) or an abstract noun phrase (as in
b) functioning as subject may express cause:
6. Because he selflessly devoted himself to his students, he won
the respect of all.
a. His devoting himself selflessly to his students won
him the respect of all.
b. His selfless devotion to his students won him the respect of all.
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2.3 Other Notions of Causality
Philosophers have realized many kinds of causes. Here are some of these
causes.
2.3.1 Muslim and Aristotle Doctrines of Causality
Muslim philosophers such as al-Kindi, al-Farabi, Ibn-Sina, Ibn-Rushid,
al-Gazali and others have provided us with a highly developed concept of
causation and contributed a great deal to the revival of a new field on which
philosophy, science and theology stand. In general, the analysis of causality,
particularly the Islamic analysis, is based on the existence of God which is the
cause of everything. Thus, there is no entry for the word cause in the
Encyclopedia of Islam (1966: 1130); instead, it is embedded under the word
Allah.
On the other hand, Aristotle, as Stumpf (1983 : 90) remarks, distinguishes
four fundamental different sorts of causes to represent a broad framework or
pattern for the explanation of everything. These causes are formal, material,
efficient and final. Having an object of art, for example, the four causes night be :
''a statue", "of bronze", "by a sculptor", and "for a decoration". Unlike most
muslim philosophers, Ibn-Uina (d. 1037), Nasar (1964 : 229-231) claims, does
not adopt the doctrine that God is the cause of all things. Rather, he follows the
theory of Aristotle of the four causes.
2.3.2 Multiple Causality
An effect may be produced by a number of causes. Hutchins (1952 : 159)
holds such notion. One cause may be the essential cause of another which is, in
turn, the essential cause of the effect, i.e., which brings the effect into existence by
its operation. When two causes are simultaneously related to the same effect, one
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is called the "principal", the other is the "instrumental" cause. The action of a
workman sawing wood is a good illustration. The action of the saw causes a
certain shape or form of the wood, but it is instrumental to the action of the
principal cause, that is, the operation of the workman using the saw.
In sentences consisting of adverbial clauses or phrases of cause, we can
find series of causes particularly in coordinate sentences or compound-complex
sentences.
Clauses and phrases of reason are coordinated to give a number of causes
for a certain effect such as:
7. I did not understand what you said because either I
was not concentrating or you did not make yourself
clear or because of Mio noise.
8. The car stopped running either because of a bad
fuel pump or because of a defect in the ignition
or because it ran out of gas.
2.3.3 Causes as Conditions
Another notion of cause that Foster (1935 : 244) notes is that some
contemporary philosophers like Ayer and Collingwood tend to speak of the causal
condition of any change as necessary or sufficient or both for its occurrence. In
other words, if any of these conditions had not occurred, the change would not
have occurred either.
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2.4 Universality and Uniformity of Causation
The universality and uniformity of causation are two completely different
principles. One of them could be true without the other's, being true.
2.4.1 Universality
By the universality of causation is meant that no change happens without
some cause; in short, every event has a cause. Websters Dictionary (1961 : 350)
affirms this point in stating that causation means that nothing happens arbitrarily
but always as the result of definite series of causes. Similarly, al-Farabi (d. 950),
as cited by Hammond (1947: 16-17), formulates the principle of causality on the
basis that every event must have a cause. Such proposition expresses the
indispensable dependence of every effect on some cause.
Taylor (1967 : 57) maintains that throughout the history of philosophy and
until very recent time, the universality of causation has been considered very
obvious and sometime seven self-evident. Today, what was considered quite
obvious turns out to be controversial. There are many thinkers and philosophers
who claim that some change may result with no cause at all. Flew (1979 : 54), for
example, shows that some events at the atomic level do not have causes; they
occur at random. Russell confesses that an advanced scientific understanding of
the world needs no such notion, i.e., universality of causation. Therefore, Taylor
(1967 : 57-58) concludes that there is no philosophical way of proving the
universality of causation.
What is more, there is no scientific or empirical way to prove the
universality or non-universality of causation since occurrences which seem to
constitute exceptions are perfectly common. If some change takes place and no
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cause of that change is recognized, as often happens, one can say that no such
cause exists.
2.4.2 Uniformity
Uniformity of causation means that the relations between changes can be
expressed in the form of general laws; in brief, similar causes always produce
similar effects. Taylor (1967 : 57-53) states that some philosophers like Hume and
Mill express this principle in the statement "the future will resemble the past."
That means, the fact that something has happened a number of times makes us
expect it to happen again.
This principle, in contrast with that of universality, is relatively recent in
philosophy. It emerges with the development of science and its emphasis on the
laws of nature. Obviously, there is a close relation between statements expressing
causal connection and those expressing laws of nature in the sense that the former
eight be explained in terms of the latter.
Barrett (1959: 215-217) points out that uniformity in nature gives the
probability that under the same conditions the same results will follow in the
future as in the past. We have learned from experience in the past that thunder
follows lightning, that the sun rises every morning and the like. Prom such
experience, we learn only that general regularity has existed in the past; we do not
learn with certainty whether it must be so or it will continue to be so in the future.
We cannot know that we hear thunder after seeing lightning nor that the sun will
rise tomorrow. Hence, this is a process of assuming rather than proving the
uniformity of nature.
As a result, this principle is criticized in that it is always possible to find
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Details
- Pages
- Type of Edition
- Erstausgabe
- Year
- 2017
- ISBN (PDF)
- 9783960676577
- ISBN (Softcover)
- 9783960671572
- File size
- 870 KB
- Language
- English
- Publication date
- 2017 (June)
- Keywords
- Adverbial clause English language English linguistics Linguistics Causality in Philosophics Semantic Analysis Transformational treatment Causal linking
