CRITERIA FOR THE CLASSIFICATION OF CLAUSE ELEMENTS
The formal criteria adopted for the classification of clausal elements are four: determination by the verb, position, ability to become the subject and the structural realizations of these functions.
Determination by the verb
The number and type of objects and complements that can occur in a clause are determined by the verb according to its potential – described as its ‘valency’. We say that a certain verb allows an object or a complement. One sense of carry allows an Object that refers to the thing carried (They carried backpacks). By contrast, send allows two Objects, the thing sent and the recipient (Send me an email) . Disappear, however, does not admit an object (*He disappeared the money). Determination is related to verb class.
Transitive verbs usually require one or more objects. They occur in type SPO (carry), type S-P-Oi-Od (send), and type S-P-O-C (consider) in one of its uses.
Intransitive verbs such as disappear occur in type S-P. They do not admit an object, but certain intransitive verbs predict a complement of space or time, as will be explained shortly, Land is transitive in The pilot landed the plane safely, but intransitive in The plane landed. Carry is transitive in They carried backpacks, but it has an intransitive use in His voice carries well (= ‘projects’).
A locative element is required by a few transitive verbs such as put and place (Put the scarf in the drawer; Place the casserole in the microwave). Without this locative element, the clause is syntactically and semantically incomplete (*Put the scarf). It therefore has the status of a central clause element. A locative element is also predicted by many intransitive verbs of motion such as come, go, fly, drive, which can predict such meanings as Direction (flying south) and Goal, which marks an end-point (go to Rome). Both types will be represented here as Locative/Goal Complements subsumed under the abbreviation (Cloc). However, it is also possible to use these verbs without a locative, as in for example Are you coming? Don’t go! I’ll drive. (Drive in fact predicts an object or a locative or both, as in I’ll drive you to the station.)
From these we can see that prediction is less strong than requirement. An expression of manner is required with one sense of treat (they treated the prisoners badly) and with the intransitive verb behave (she has been behaving strangely lately). The verb last predicts an expression of extent in time (the concert lasted three hours); however, sometimes the lack of duration can be inferred as in Their love didn’t last. When predicted or required by the verb, elements such as place or time are analyzed as circumstantial Complements, the equivalent of obligatory adverbials in some grammars.
Copular verbs, a type of intransitive, require a Subject Complement. Only verbs capable of being used as copulas can be used in this way. So, for instance, be and feel as in I am cold, I feel cold can be used as copulas in English but touch cannot (*I touch cold).
Besides predicting an attribute, verbs of being such as be, remain, stay predict being in a location. Their Complements are then analyzed as locative (Cloc).
The following examples illustrate the parallel between attributes as Subject and Object Complements and the Locative/Goal types. Evidently there are many other verbs which function in only one of these patterns:
Attributive Locative/Goal
He stayed calm He stayed in bed
She went pale She went to work
He drives me mad He drives me to the airport
A bicycle will get you fit A bicycle will get you to work
By contrast, adjuncts are not determined by any particular type of verb. Suddenly, for instance, can be used with intransitive verbs like disappear and transitive verbs like carry. Moreover, adjuncts differ from subjects and objects in that there is no limit to the number of adjuncts that can be included in a clause.
