The English Language english language

(Michael S) #1

Delahunty and Garvey


(101a), exemplified by (101b):


(101)a. Basic clause pattern 4
Subject Verb Head Direct Object Object Complement

(101)b. I consider Elvira weird

The two formal patterns corresponding to (101a) are (102a,b) which we
can abbreviate as (102c):


(102)a. NP AUX [VPV NP NP]
b. NP AUX [VPV NP AP]
c. NP AUX [VPV NP {NP/AP}]


The trees corresponding to the two VPs involved are:


(103)a. VP (103)b. VP

V NP NP V NP AP


Object complements are similar to subject complements in four respects.
First, an object complement may be formally expressed as either an NP or
as an AP, italicized in:


(104)a. I consider Elvira a weirdo.
b. We proclaimed her our champion.
c. She painted the room a ghastly color.
(105)a. I consider Elvira weird.
b. We found her guilty.
c. She painted the room mauve.

The second feature common to subject and object complements is that
in both, an NP complement must agree with its antecedent (the subject or
the object):


(106) I consider Elvira and Elvis weirdos/*a weirdo.

Here again, because English APs cannot be marked for plural, there can be
no agreement between an AP object complement and the direct object of
its clause.

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