CONTENTS // Preface v // Symbols and technical conventions xi One // The English language 1 // Two // The sentence: a preliminary view 33 // Three // The verb phrase 61 // Four // Nouns, pronouns, and the basic noun phrase 123 // Five // Adjectives and adverbs 229 // Six // Prepositions and prepositional phrases 297 // Seven // The simple sentence 339 // Eight // Adjuncts, disjuncts, conjuncts 417 // Nine // Coordination and apposition 533 // Ten // Sentence connection 649 // Eleven // The complex sentence 717 // Twelve // The verb and its complementation 799 // Thirteen // The complex noun phrase 855 // Fourteen // Focus, theme, and emphasis 935 // Appendix I // Word-formation 973 // Appendix II // Stress, rhythm, and intonation 1033 // Appendix III // Punctuation 1053