| The area of English infinitive construction constitutes one of the greatest challenges to a theory of syntax based on semantic foundations. An enormous amount of work has already been done in that area, much of it by some of the leading scholars in modern linguistics. But the intensive research which has been done to date cannot really be said to have been satisfactorily accounted for. This being so, we seem to have reached a stage when anybody who wishes seriously to advance the view that syntax has semantic foundations simply must meet the challenge of English complementation. The goal of this paper is to find the deep semantic meaning of the infinitive as complement clause.In this paper, first, I analyze the semantic meaning of infinitive marker TO. I think the marker TO can't be perceived as the mere marker, on the contrary, it has its own meaning in infinitive construction. Then I analyze the semantic meaning of TO infinitive or Full infinitive. I argue that TO infinitive as complement clause has the meaning of "wanting". Besides, it indicates the speaker's opinion and emotion. Then I make systematic comparison and contrast between the bare infinitive TO and full infinitive TO in their full range of uses in English. In my paper I also analyze the bare infinitive in passive voice. At last, I try to give semantic analysis of FOR TO structure. I think the meanings of TO structure and FOR TO structure are different. The difference exists in that FOR TO complements are "habitual", and less confident. Another obvious difference between TO and FOR TO is the coreferential and noncoreferential subjects of each complement clause. In order to make the analysis clear, I also mention another coreferential structure related to TO, that is OF TO structure. OF TO is a little different from FOR TO in that OF TO pattern is used in evaluating a person and an act at the same time; while FOR TO pattern is used for evaluating an act, rather than an act and a person.
|
PDF Full Text Request