Exclamative sentences - a basic sentence type?

Table of contents

1 Introduction

2 Exclamative sentences in German
2.1 Exclamative sentences in German grammars
2.1.1 DUDEN Grammatik
2.1.2 Deutsche Grammatik
2.1.3 Grammatik der deutschen Sprache
2.2 Exclamative sentences in German papers
2.2.1 Fries: Ist Pragmatik schwer! – über sogenannte ’Exklamativsätze’
im Deutschen
2.2.2 Näf: Gibt es Exklamativsätze?
2.2.3 Summary

3 Exclamative sentences in English
3.1 Exclamative sentences in English grammars
3.1.1 A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language (CoGEL)
3.1.2 The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (CGEL)
3.1.3 The Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English (LG)
3.2 Exclamative sentences in English papers
3.2.1 Elliott: Toward a Grammar of Exclamations
3.2.2 McCawley: Boy! Is syntax easy!
3.2.3 Portner and Zanuttini: Exclamative Clauses at the Syntax-
Semantics Interface
3.2.4 Summary

4 Exclamative sentences in English and German

5 References

1. Introduction

The grammatical concepts for the basic sentence types in German and English are established and confirmed in various grammars. Each grammar differentiates between declarative, interrogative and imperative sentence. But when it comes to the classification of exclamative sentences different and partly excluding concepts can be found. Some grammarians regard exclamative sentences as an individual sentence type whereas others define exclamative sentences as a special case of one of the other three basic sentence types.

The purpose of this paper is to try to find an answer to the controversial question whether exclamative sentences are a basic sentence type. For this reason an analysis of German and English grammars and research papers dealing with the classification of exclamative sentences is necessary. The analysis will focus on the following questions and problems:

- Is there a sentence type “exclamative sentence”, which can be unambiguously characterised and identified?
- If so, can exclamative sentences be regarded as a basic sentence type alongside declarative, interrogative and imperative sentences?
- If not, what are exclamative sentences? Do they belong to the basic sentence types or are they a minor sentence type?

The analysis will proceed in the following fashion. First, I will analyse German grammars and papers regarding exclamative sentences, including their use and meaning. Second, I will continue the analysis with English grammars and papers. A summary after each part will restate the results of the analysis. Third, in a concluding section the results will be restated shortly. The gained information from the other sections will be used to answer the initial question whether there is an individual exclamative sentence type.

2. Exclamative sentences in German

The three basic sentence types declarative, interrogative and imperative sentences can be found in every German grammar. Most grammars differ considerably about the actual number of sentence types, because they either regard exclamative sentences as an own sentence type or as a subcategory of other sentences. Näf^[1] has analysed the main grammars in German with the result that only three grammars include the exclamative sentence as a basic sentence type. All other grammars he has considered either count exclamative sentences as a subtype of other sentence types or as an exclamation function of several sentence types. Problematic about German exclamative sentences is that they do not have a common structure and can occur in many different varieties, which are similar or even identical with structures of the basic sentence types. In order to be able to decide whether exclamative sentences in German can be seen as an independent sentence type or not it is necessary to consult different grammars and papers dealing with exclamative sentences.

2.1 Exclamative sentences in German grammars

For the analysis of the exclamative sentences in German grammars the following grammars were chosen: the DUDEN Grammatik^[2], the Grammatik der deutschen Sprache^[3] and the Deutsche Grammatik^[4] . For a better comparison of the different types of exclamative sentences a table was produced. It contains all the types of exclamative sentences which were found in the different grammars. This table will be presented after the analysis of the German grammars and also after the analysis of the German papers. Both tables contain the same types of exclamative sentences. A blank position indicates that there is no example given. A plus (+) implies that even though there is no example given the structure would be possible according to the linguist. The size of the columns varies according to the number of different exclamative sentence types which were subdivided by each grammar or linguist.

2.1.1 DUDEN Grammatik

The DUDEN Grammatik gives an ambiguous explanation for the number of sentence types in German. It distinguishes five different sentence types: Aussagesatz, Fragesatz, Aufforderungssatz, Wunschsatz and Ausrufesatz. In a footnote^[5][6] the DUDEN Grammatik states that there is also the possibility to have only three sentence types: declarative, interrogative and a combination of imperative and wish sentence. In this case exclamative sentences would be a special case of the declarative sentences. Despite this vague explanation the DUDEN Grammatik analyses exclamative sentences as expressions which imply statements like „Ich wundere mich, dass...“ or „Ich bewundere...“. Exclamative sentences have the following characteristics:

- the verb is either indicative or conjunctive
- the finite verb can be in the first, second or last position
- the finite verb is in the last position when the sentence starts with dass or a w-question word
- the intonation is falling towards the end of the sentence
- one word is particularly stressed which expresses emotionality, admiration or amazement
- the punctuation mark is usually an exclamation mark^[7]

2.1.2 Deutsche Grammatik

The grammar by Helbig/Buscha is one of the only grammars which distinguishes five independent sentence types and regards exclamative sentences as an own sentence type. According to them an exclamative sentence is used when the speaker does not only want to inform the hearer about an issue, but also about his emotions towards this issue. The emotion, which is mostly admiration or amazement, of the speaker is conveyed with an adjective or adverb. The syntactic structure is equal to either a declarative sentence with the particles aber or vielleicht or to an interrogative sentence with the question word wie or the particles aber and doch nur.^[8]

2.1.3 Grammatik der deutschen Sprache

Zifonun differentiates seven forms of exclamative sentences, which are characterized by a great range of possible structures. The purpose of exclamative sentences is to express an immediate and subjective emotion about something unusual. They are normally not part of a discourse. Characteristic about exclamative sentences is:^[9]

- the occurrence of one and only one exclamative stress (which is not always stipulated and can vary according to the speaker)
- the falling intonation towards the end of the sentence
- the exclusion of verbs in the imperative mood

Zifonun makes a distinction between Fakt-Exklamative und Grad-Exklamative^[10] . She says that the speaker is either surprised that something is taken to be fact at all or that the speaker is surprised about an extreme manner in which something is happening. The result of this distinction is that some particles occur with Fakt-Exklamativ (ja, doch) and others with Grad-Exklamative (vielleicht, aber auch).

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

2.2 Exclamative sentences in German papers

Since the grammars only give information on the possible structures of exclamative sentences and do not discuss their results it is necessary to analyse some more detailed papers written on exclamative sentences. The papers by Fries^[11] and Näf^[12] serve as an example for the different opinions concerning exclamative sentences in German.

2.2.1 Fries: Ist Pragmatik schwer! – über sogenannte ’Exklamativsätze’ im Deutschen

In this paper Fries discusses the use of exclamative sentences and their meaning. In his opinion exclamative sentences are not a sentences type but rather the result of different interpretation functions, which are partly influenced grammatically but mainly the outcome of pragmatic interpretations. He argues that sentences, which are called exclamative sentences, do not have a common grammatical structure. The only characteristic they have in common is the manner in which they can be interpreted. Fries says that exclamative sentences show the speaker’s affective-emotional attitude which implies that the facts are considered as unexpected and different from the norm. Nevertheless this emotional attitude is not created by a grammatical structure but the result of pragmatic interpretations^[13][14]. Furthermore Fries mentions that exclamative sentences do not always express the speaker’s amazement. In sentence (1) for example no amazement can be found.

(1) Wie schade das ist!

Fries argues that a sentence type must be identified unambiguously as only one definite sentence type. But many sentences can be interpreted with different meanings. Sentence (2) for example can either be interpreted with an imperative or an exclamative meaning.

(2) Seid ihr mutig!

Additionally the affective-emotional attitude of the speaker can also be found in sentences with a wish or imperative meaning; therefore the interpretation is ambiguous and not appropriate for identifying exclamative sentences^[15].

[...]

^[1] Näf, Anton. “Gibt es Exklamativsätze?“ In: Jörg Meibauer (Hrsg.). Satzmodus zwischen Grammatik und Pragmatik. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 1987. 141.

^[2] Duden. Grammatik der deutschen Gegenwartssprache. 6. Auflage. Mannheim: Dudenverlag, 1998.

^[3] Zifonun, Gisela. Grammatik der deutschen Sprache. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 1997.

^[4] Helbig, Gerhard und Joachim Buscha. Deutsche Grammatik: Ein Handbuch für den Ausländerunterricht. Leipzig: Verlag Enzyklopädie Langenscheidt, 1991.

^[5] Duden Grammatik 1998: 609-616.

^[6] Duden Grammatik 1998: 610.

^[7] Duden Grammatik 1998: 616.

^[8] Helbig / Buscha 1991: 616-617.

^[9] Zifonun 1997:153-157, 671-675.

^[10] Zifonun 1997: 672-673.

^[11] Fries, Norbert. “Ist Pragmatik schwer! – über sogenannte ’Exklamativsätze’ im Deutschen.“Sprache und Pragmatik, 3 (1988),1-17.

^[12] Näf 1987:140-160.

^[13] Fries 1988: 1-17.

^[14] Fries 1988: 3-4.

^[15] Fries 1988: 6-7.