predicate (n.) (pred)

A term in the analysis of GRAMMATICAL FUNCTIONS, to refer to a major CONSTITUENT of SENTENCE structure, traditionally associated with a two-part analysis in which all obligatory constituents other than the SUBJECT are considered together. For example, Sue walked/Sue kicked the ball/ Sue went on holiday . . . would all be seen as Subject (Sue) + Predicate constructions. These sentences would also be labelled predicative in a classification of EXOCENTRIC constructions. There are several points of contact here with the philosophical analysis of propositions in terms of predication (i.e. properties being predicated of entities), and linguistic discussion has focused on the extent to which there are parallels between the SYNTACTIC and the SEMANTIC dimensions of analysis (using such distinctions as GIVEN/NEW and TOPIC/COMMENT). Parallels between the syntactic and semantic dimensions of the analysis have been one of the central areas of interest in GOVERNMENT-BINDING THEORY. The focus has been on VERBLESS subject–predicate constructions, as in Martha considers Mary intelligent. The mainstream analysis involves the assumption that Mary intelligent is a constituent, the so-called SMALL CLAUSE. (The category label of this constituent is a subject of controversy.) A rival analysis (the so-called PREDICATION THEORY) holds that Mary and intelligent are two separate constituents.

In FUNCTIONAL GRAMMAR, the term has a central status: here, a predicate is taken to be the basic element of a predication; it is listed in the LEXICON in the form of a predicate frame, from which nuclear predications are formed by inserting appropriate terms into the ARGUMENT positions. Full predications are then formed from NUCLEAR predications through the use of SATELLITES (e.g. MANNER, LOCATIVE).

At a more detailed level, in syntax, distinctions are sometimes made between predicative and non-predicative functions of words; e.g. the ADJECTIVE in the house is big is predicative, whereas in the big house it is ATTRIBUTIVE. However, terminology varies a great deal here, depending on the model of description used. The term predicator (P) has also been suggested by some theorists to refer to the verbal element in Subject–Verb–Object constructions, viz. Subject– Predicator–Object, on the grounds that this avoids using ‘verb’ in both a functional and a FORMAL sense (cf. ‘a subject may have a noun as its exponent’ with the undesirability of ‘a verb may have a verb as its exponent’).

The term is also used in linguistics in a sense derived from logic, particularly when notions from the system of predicate calculus are used in GRAMMATICAL or SEMANTIC analysis. The predicate calculus, also called predicate logic, is a system for representing PROPOSITIONS (or SENTENCES, or STATEMENTS) in formal NOTATION, with a set of SEMANTIC or deductive rules used for proving examples of LOGICAL CONSEQUENCE, LOGICAL TRUTH, etc. More powerful than the weaker system of PROPOSITIONAL CALCULUS, predicate calculus addresses certain aspects of logic which require an analysis of the internal structure of ATOMIC PROPOSITIONS, and standardly includes an analysis of UNIVERSAL and EXISTENTIAL QUANTIFICATION. A predicate is an EXPRESSION which can combine with a fixed number of names or other terms to form an atomic proposition, generally providing information about the REFERENTS of those terms, as in The car is stolen/ big/beautiful . . . The predicate may be classed as ‘one-place’, ‘two-place’, etc., depending on the number of terms with which it must combine; for example, in the sentence Jules saw Jim, the verb saw functions as a two-place predicate, the names Jules and Jim serving as its two ARGUMENTS. MODELS based on this system are used in several linguistic theories, especially in FORMAL SEMANTICS and in SYNTACTIC theories such as CASE GRAMMAR and DEPENDENCY GRAMMAR.