Practical Grammar 6

Governable grammatical functions

There are different types of grammatical functions. One type we have already seen, those grammatical functions which are listed in the PRED values of meaningful words. The textbook (p. 21) gives a complete list:

Governable grammatical functions: SUBJ, OBJ, OBJ-θ, OBL-θ, POSS, COMP, and XCOMP.

The Greek letter θ in the functions OBJ-θ and OBL-θ stands for the name of a thematic role (the thematic roles are listed on p. 13 in the textbook). Thus, OBL-LOC is the GF of a locative PP (under the table), OBL-BEN the GF of a benefactive PP (bake a cake for Mary). The only thematic role that appears in OBJ-θ is THEME, the second object of verbs of giving and showing.

Here are some comments on the functions other than SUBJ and OBJ:

• OBJ-THEME: the GF of the second object of a ditransitive verb like give or show
• OBL-θ, for instance OBL-LOC: the GF of a PP which is a locative complement of a verb like sit or put
• POSS: the GF of the possessor within an NP (e.g. my in my book)
• COMP: the GF of a finite complement clause complement of a verb like say that or certain that
• XCOMP: the GF of non-finite phrases with understood subjects (e.g. to leave in Lilly tried to leave)