 Hello, this e-lecture is introductory in character. It informs you about the definition and the use of syntactic functions and thus constitutes a basis for further discussions in more specific e-lectures. In this overview we will first talk about the traditional subject predicate analysis and will then proceed with a more fine-tuned analysis of the central elements of clause structure. Our main goal is to define colossal constituents on the basis of their syntactic function. That is, on the basis of the role they play in the clauses and the sentences of which they are a part. Let's start with the most general traditional functional distinction and that of course was made between the subject and the predicate. The subject is often defined as a constituent specifying the topic of the sentence whereas the predicate is that which is asserted about the subject. The predicate itself can be subdivided into an operator and a predication where the operator is in present day English at least normally an auxiliary verb. By reversing the sequence of subject and operator declarative sentences can be turned into interrogative sentences. Let's look at some examples. Here they are. The cat has never sat on the mat. So clearly the cat is the subject, has is the operator and never sat on the mat is the predication. I'll take the next one. John will give Mary the book. Again the subject is easy to find. John and then we have Will as the operator and give Mary the book is the predication. And finally here we have an interrogative sentence. Has is of course here an operator. So here you see the sequence of subject and operator has been reversed. Well and then done his homework is of course the predication. Now this analysis is relatively superficial. For this reason a more detailed functional analysis distinguishes the following functional elements of claw structure. Subject, verb, object, adverbial and complement. This analysis is described in detail in the comprehensive grammar of the English language published by Sir Randolph Quirk and his colleagues Sydney Greenbaum, Jan Swartwick and Jeffrey Leach. Let us exemplify these elements. Subject, verb, object, adverbial and complement on the basis of a very simple sentence. Yesterday John made Mary happy. Here we have five elements and each of these elements realises one syntactic function. Clearly John is the subject. Made is the verb. Mary is an object. Happy is a complement and last but not least yesterday is an adverbial. So here you see on the basis of a simple sentence the realisation of the five functional elements of claw structure. Let us now look at these five functional elements of claw structure or in short syntactic functions in more detail. Let us start with the verb. Now here you have six sentences and on the basis of these sentences we will identify the central elements of claw structure. The verb which we will underline in red is the most central element of a clause. Let us underline the verbs first. In sentence number one it clearly searches. The verb in number two is here. Made is the verb in number three. Number four has a more complex verb, has been reigning. In number five it is also complex, has spent. And the verb in number six is will stay. Now how can we identify the verb? It is relatively easy. In present day English it occurs usually in the middle rather than at the beginning or the end of a clause. Exceptional are of course imperative sentences. In major sentences like these here the verb is obligatory. We cannot drop the verb in any of these sentences unless we want the sentence to become ungrammatical. The verb can also normally not be moved into a different position in the clause. And then the verb determines what other functional elements of claw structure must occur. For example if we take number one the verb search determines that the subject must be an agent and that there must be an object. Well and last but not least the verb is marked morphologically. That is the word classes that realize the syntactic function verb are auxiliaries and verbs themselves. Let us now identify the subjects in our sentences. You see the verb are now, the verbs are now marked red. So let us underline the subject with a blue color. In number one it is clearly John. Number two the girl. In number three it is they. The subject in number four is simply it. Launa realizes the subject in number five and John is the subject in sentence number six. How can we identify the subjects? Well the subject first of all is normally a noun phrase as in our cases we always have noun phrases or it can be a nominal clause. The subject normally occurs before the verb in declarative clauses and after the operator in interrogatives. It is obligatory in finite clauses. In imperative clauses it is normally implied. Well and then if it is a pronoun it requires the subject or subjective form as in they. Well and if you passivize a sentence an active sentence that also has an object that is it must have a transitive verb. Then the subject becomes the by phrase in the corresponding passive. Let us do it with number one. John very carefully searches the room. The room is very carefully searched by John. And since by John becomes the by phrase of the corresponding passive it must be the subject of the active clause. Having identified the subjects and the verbs let us now look at the objects in our sentences. You see subjects are marked blue and the verbs are marked with a red color. So let's select green for our objects. We have an object in number one, the room. We have an object in number three, him. And we have an object in number five, the day. Like the subject the object is typically a noun phrase or a nominal clause. Let us look at some criteria that help us to identify the object. In standard simple declarative sentences the object normally follows the subject and the verb. This is true for all three cases. The object of an active clause usually becomes the subject of the corresponding passive. So this is a nice discovery procedure for objects. So if you passivize sentence number one, the room is searched very carefully by John and the room becomes the subject of the corresponding passive. Or take number three, he was made the chairman. Or number five, the day has been spent by Launa. So in each case, the object becomes the subject of the corresponding passive. Let's now look at the adverbials in our example sentences. And let's underline the adverbials using a brown color. Well in number one we have very carefully an adverbial in number two is now and there's a second one at Oxford. Last year is an adverbial in sentence number three. All day is an adverbial in number four. In the garden in number five and in bed is an adverbial in number six. Adverbials are the most diverse of the functional clause elements. They can be realized by a variety of syntactic categories. For example, they can occur as simple adverbs like in number two now or as adverb phrases as in number one very carefully. They can also be realized by means of prepositional phrases as in number two at Oxford. Number five in the garden and number six in bed. Or they can be noun phrases as in number three and four last year all day. A further possibility is using adverbial clauses but we don't have an example in our simple sentences. The most important criteria for identifying adverbials is that they're generally mobile. For example, we can move very carefully around. We could say John searches the room very carefully or very carefully. John searches the room. So let's put it back into the original position. On the other hand adverbials can be dropped altogether. So the sentence is fully grammatically even without the adverbial. John searches the room and you can perform the same test for all the other adverbials. Finally, we have two complements in our sentences. Let's mark them using a discolor. So where are the complements? One complement is clearly a student and the other one is they made him the chairman. Now these complements are different. Compliments are normally in a copular relationship with another functional element. For example, in number two, we have a so-called subject complement where we have a copular relationship between a student and the subject girl. So both share the same set of features. They're both singular. So this is how to identify a subject complement. Now in the case of number three, we have an object complement. So here we have a copular relationship between the chairman and him. The complement is formally realized normally by a noun phrase or by an adjectival phrase. So in our cases, we have noun phrases. To identify complements, two ways are generally suggested. For subject complements, as I already said, subject complements normally share the grammatical properties. That is number, for example, with the subject and object complements. Well, here's a nice test again. They cannot become the subjects of corresponding passives. So he was made, the chairman by them is possible, but the chairman was made by them for him or something like it is impossible. So as a result, him is an object and the chairman is clearly an object complement. Well, that's it. Here is the result of our analysis. And now you see all the elements represented in their appropriate colors. Subject, verb, object, adverbial and complement. Well, and if we make the functional elements visible by means of their names, well, then you see that in each case, the subject precedes the object. So in present day English, we clearly have an SV structure in declarative sentences. And whenever there's an object, like in number one, for example, the object follows the verb. And sometimes we may have an adverbial in between, like in number one, where the adverbial very carefully occurs between the subject and the verb. That's it for now. It's simple, isn't it? So this e-lecture was just an overview. In a series of follow-up e-lectures, we will look at the syntactic functions in detail. And we will discuss the underlying discovery principles and procedures using a variety of exercise material. So, see you there.