Friday, December 29, 2017

Sunday, January 31, 2016

Account for the verb phrase in English language.



Definition of verb
Are the words which stand to express action, state or an occurance.
Verb phrase
Is the portion of the sentence that contains both verb and either a direct or indirect object (the verbs dependence). A verb phrase contain a main verb (the head word) and any of accompanying auxiliary verbs (is, was, have etc). (Leach 2001)
  1. I may see him
  2. I will see him
  3. I should have seen him.


Aspects of verb phrase
Aspect refers to how time of action of the verb is regarded whether it is complete, progressive or showing duration. (Leach 2001).
There are two aspects of verb phrase
  1. Perfective aspect
  2. Progressive aspect.


  1. Perfective aspect
Perfective aspect is usually formed using forms of auxiliary verbs (have, has) followed by the past participle. For example He has typed several letters.


In past tense
  1. We had seen
  2. I had cleaned
In present tense
  1. I have seen
  2. She has taken
In the future tense
  1. You will have finished
  2. They will have eaten


  1. Progressive aspect
Is form of be followed by a verb in the –ing form
For example: he has been singing
In present progressive aspect
  1. I am going to school
  2. They are working.
In past progressive aspect
  1. Everybody had been singing
  2. He has been working hard.
In future progressive aspect
  1. In that case I will have to change my plan.




Inherent Verb Properties
i)Voice
Refers to the verb form that shows whether the subject performs the actions or the actions are performed by subject. The passive forms are made up of the verb “be” with past participle.
Example: Sakume has cleaned the windows ii(active)
The windows have been cleaned by Sakume.
ii)Modal
Are modal auxiliary followed by a verb in the infinitive (can, could, may, might, must, shall, should, will, would) followed by main verbs.
Examples
  • They will come
  • He might come
  • He can type quite well.
iii)Tense
Tense is the system of making on the first verb of a finite verb. It is used to indicate whether the event or state held in the past or it holds in present or future. English has two types of tenses which are present tense and past tense.
Example of present tense
  • The sun sets in the west
  • Today Bill is in his office.(Huddlestone 2004)
Past tense
  • Yesterday Bill was at the conference
  • I was writing poetry with a special pen.






iv)Mood
Are verbs expressing a particular attitudes or actions. The mood of a phrase can be grouped into three types based on the kind of general meaning they convey.
a)Factual or indicative mood
They are used for stating and indicating matters of a factual kind.
Example: It is raining. (Huddleston, 2004)
b)Subjunctive mood
It is used to express wishes, conditions and other non-factual situation.
For example
  • I insisted that Hamisi will pay on time
  • We recommended that he will continue with school.
c)Imperative mood
It is used to express directive utterances (commands)
Example:
  • put it down
  • Sit in the corner
Interrogative mood
This normally asks questions. They are two types of question, Yes/No and wh-questions.
Example: Can you help me? (Yes no)
What is your name? (wh-)




v)Polarity
Is the state of being positive or negative or is the situation where by two sentences are opposing each other. It indicates whether the verb phrase is affirmative that is positive or negative. (Huddleston, 2004)
Example: I am writing (positive)
I am not writing (negative).


Types of Verb Phrase
There are two types of verb phrase;
  1. Finite verb phrases
  2. Non-finite verb phrases.
i)Finite Verb Phrases
These are distinguished by containing a finite verb as their first (or only) word. The finite verb is the element of the verb phrases which has present or past tense. For example;
  • He cleaned the class
  • He cleans the class.
Finite verb phrase occurs as the verb element of the main clauses, therefore there is usually person and number concord between the subject and finite verb. Modal auxiliary verb act as finite verb although they have no concord with the subject. . (Leach, 2001)
Example; They can run quickly
He will sing slowly

ii)Non-finite Verb Phrases
Are the infinitive which consists of the “ing” participle and the “ed” participle “en”, “to”. (Brown & Gim, 1991) Also this verb does not show time or verb which is not limited by number, person tense of the subject.
Example: -To study is my hobby.
-I found him cooking.
-After having left the office he went home by car.


Other Types of Verb Phrases in English Language
1.Transitive Verb
Is a verb which is normally has direct object to be complete.
Example: Kate hugged the baby.
Jenny hit him.
However none of which can be used in a verb phrase without an object NP. (Thomas, 1993).
2. Intransitive Verb
Is a class of verb which does not take an object. It requires nothing else to complete the verb phrase. They are used in construction of SV as compulsory elements. (Thomas, 1993)
For example; The baby cried.
She moved.
Ken snores.
S V
However what has been said so far does not mean that nothing else can appear in a sentence with an intransitive verb. There other constituents which can occur with this class of verb. These are optional rather than obligatory. In other word can appear, but unlike the NP in a verb phrase using a transitive verb. (Thomas, 1993).
3. Monotransitive Verbs
These are verbs which carry only one object. They are used for construction of SVO as a compulsory element.
For example: They played football.
S V O
4. Ditransitive Verb
This type of verb requires two objects (“di” means “two”) one of this familiar is direct object and other is indirect object “iO”. (Thomas, 1993)
For example; Ray told the children a story.
S V iO dO
5. Intensive Verbs
They are also called linking or copular verbs. Intensive verb is the one which does not express an action but expresses a state or attribute of a thing or a person. Intensive verbs uses the verb to be and its forms (is, are, was, were) to indicate a state or attributes of a thing. (Huddleston, 2004)
For example; James is a teacher
S V Cs
Sally becomes a doctor.
It is important to note that verbs in the intensive verb class, like transitive and ditransitive verbs are incomplete on their own. In other words, some sort of Cs is obligatory, as can be seen in the following sentences. (Thomas, 1993)


  • They appeared smart.
  • It seems seasonable.
6. Prepositional Verb
Is the one which requires a prepositional phrase in order to be complete. Verbs like glance, lean, refer, fall into this class. In fact they are so closely linked with a preposition that it is ease to think as verbs consisting of two parts, as in glance at, lean on, refer to. They are certainly incomplete without a prepositional phrase as can be seen below.
  • Sally leant on the table
Sally leant
  • The children glanced at the pictures
The children glanced.
In prepositional phrase we cannot transfer the particle to the end of the noun phrase.
For example; Maganga commented on the paper but not Maganga commented the paper on.
7. Complex-Transitive Verbs
These are verbs which carry an object and a complement or adverbial as compulsory elements. They are used to construct SVOCO and SVOCA as obligatory elements in this type of verb the complement relates to the object, not the subject. The complement is therefore an object complement and the shorthand version is oC. (Thomas 1993)
For example
  • The voters elected Mary president
S V O oC
  • Kate thought John a fool
S V O oC
The class elected him chairperson yesterday.
S V O oC A


Function of Verb Phrases in English Language
Verb phrases have various functions in English as follows:-
1.Function as an object complement
An object complement is a word, phrase or phrase that directly follows and describes the direct object.
Example: The teacher has pronounced the extra credit writing an additional report.
My grandmother considered her favourite past time observing nature.
Only verbs in the form of present participle can perform the nominal function of object complement.
2. Function as indirect object
Verb phrases function as indirect objects. An indirect objects are words, phrases or clause that follows a ditranstive verb and answers questions. (Thomas 1993)
For example: Juma bought him a car.
iO dO
3. As adjective phrase complement
An adjective phrase complements are words, phrase or clause that completes the meaning of an adjective.
For example; His wife is afraid to fly
My puppy is eager to learn new tricks.
Other grammatical forms that can function as adjective phrase complement includes prepositional phrase and noun phrase.
4. As verb phrase complement
It functions as verb phrase complement. It is the word or phrase that completes the meaning of the verb phrases.
For example: We can afford to buy a new car.
5. Function as subject
A subject is a word, phrase or clauses that performs the action of or acts upon the verb.
For example
  • Reading stimulates the mind
  • Drinking milk is healthy.















References
Brown, K. & Miller, J. E. (1991). Syntax: A linguistic Introduction to Sentence Structure 2nd Ed. London UK: Harper Collins Academic.
Thomas, L. (1993). Beginning Syntax: A Grammar, Comperative and General-syntax. UK: Blackwell Publishers.
Huddleston, R. (2004). Introduction to the Grammer of English. Newyork: Cambridge University Press USA.
Leach, G. (2001). A Communicative of English. Oxford University Press.

Sunday, June 28, 2015

Tanzania is a stage 2 country


Tanzania is a stage 2 country. Tanzania has a very high crude birth rate (41 births per people) and a fairly high crude death rate (11 deaths per 1,000 people). The national increase rate of Tanzania is very high at 30 people per 1,000. The population growth rate is high at 2.8%. Tanzania is also a farming country. Tanzanian families also depend a lot on children. A lot of children work in the fields growing food, raising livestock, killing livestock, hunting, and fishing for their family
These are characteristics of stage 2 countries as it is shown in illustration below:

The Demographic Transition:


The concept of demographic transition (population dynamics) got its origin from the essay paper of Malthus on the Principle of Population. Thomas Malthus, the English clergyman, believed that human population is growing geometrically; whereas, the production (food production) is increasing arithmetically. Thus the population growth will always surpass the food production. And when the population surpasses production, the checks (intervening forces) will operate to bring the population balance with the production (food).

Demographic transition is governed by two natural factors – fertility and mortality; however, if the advancement of technology (technology revolution) is put in consideration, than the real wage (income level) is also play an important role. Smith added another factor of division of labor as the factor operating together with the real wage at an equilibrium state, when the population increases with the increase of wage. The fertility and mortality factors of demographic transition are the results of positive and preventive checks respectively. The checks which work to maintain the equilibrium state between population and production.

Monday, June 22, 2015

Environmental disasters are threats to development and environmental sustainability

MEANING OF ENVIRONMENT
The word environment is derived from the French word “environ”, which its meaning relates to the words “encompass” or “encircle” or “surround”. There are a lot of definitions for the word environment in the literal and scientific contexts, but one of the most acceptable definitions is given below;

Environment; are all the conditions, circumstances and influences surrounding and affecting the development of an organism or group of organism.
 It also means that the complex of physical, chemical and biotic factors that act upon an organism or ecological community and ultimately determine its form and survival (Pavithran 2008)
Biotic such as flora (plants/ natural vegetation), fauna (animals) and microbes (or micro organisms).

A biotic components, Non – living things  include
 The atmosphere (air),
 Hydrosphere or water bodies,
 weather and climate,
soils, rocks and landforms like mountain, hills, valleys, ridges, escarpments and plains

 is the ability to meet the current human need for natural resources without compromising the ability of future generation to meet their needs (Peter R 2007:10)
Disaster; Is a calamity which have adverse impact within our environment. It is called a disaster if it has negative impact in various  aspect such as political, social , economic and environmentally.


Environmental disaster; is the serious disruption of the function of a community or a society causing widespread human, material, economic or environmental looses which exceed the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources.