(^14) Chapter 2 A rapid overview
In interrogative clauses it typically occupies a distinctive position just after the
verb.
The last two of these points are illustrated by contrasts of the following kind:
[4] BASIC
a. The clock has stopped.
Jl a. Kim is downstairs.
1Il a. Some customers complained.
INTERROGATIVE
b. Has the clock stopped?
b. Is Kim downstairs?
b. Did some customers complain?
Here the [a] version represents the basic form while the [b] version is interrogative
(a type of clause characteristically used to ask questions). The constructions differ
with respect to the position of the subject: it precedes the verb in [a], but follows it
in [b]. In [iii] the interrogative differs also in that it contains the verb do, which is
absent from [a]. This do is often added to form interrogatives, but the general point
is nonetheless clear: the subject precedes the verb in the basic version and follows it
in the interrogative. One useful test for finding the subject of a clause, therefore, is
to turn the clause into an interrogative and see which expression ends up after the
(first or only) verb.
4 Two theoretical distinctions
Before we continue with our survey we pause to introduce two theoreti
cal distinctions frequently needed in the rest of the book. One (§4.1) is the distinc
tion between functions and categories, which is implicit in the elementary descrip
tion of the clause that has already been given. The second (§4.2) is a clarification of
two senses of the term 'word'.
4.1 Functions and categories
In our example Some people complained about it we have said that some
people is subject and that it is an NP. These are two quite different kinds of concept.
Subject is a function, while NP is a category. Function is a relational concept: when
we say that some people is subject we are describing the relation between it and com
plained, or between it and the whole clause. It is THE SUBJECT OF THE CLAUSE,
not simply a subject. A category, by contrast, is a class of expressions which are
grammatically alike. An NP is (setting aside a narrow range of exceptions) simply a
phrase with a noun as head (it's not the NP of anything, it's just an NP). The class of
NPs thus includes an indefinitely large set of expressions like the following (where
underlining marks the head noun): some people, all things, Kim, people (as used in
People complained), the people next door, the way home, and so on.
The reason we need to distinguish so carefully between functions and categories
is that the correspondence between them is often subtle and complex. Even though
there are clear tendencies (like that the subject of a clause is very often an NP), a