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One of the first things that people noticed when they started thinking about language as language was that words tend to fall into categories and that the members of these categories behave in similar ways.What allows us to say that shove in sentence (1) functions as a noun, but shoved in sentence (2) functions as a verb?The meaning of both sentences, after all, is essentially the same.And how do we account for verbs like hear or undergo?In a sentence like (3) Jessica underwent a surgery to remove the tonsils as a child.Consider sentences such as (1) John gave him a shove.(2) John shoved him.

One of the first things that people noticed when they started thinking about
language as language was that words tend to fall into categories and that the
members of these categories behave in similar ways. The traditional name
for those categories is the “parts of speech.” In this chapter, we will look at
these word categories and see how the traditional account is somewhat
misleading, as well as inaccurate. With a more accurate idea of word
categories, we will be equipped with the basics that we need to begin
studying sentence structure.
Parts of Speech
Noun: A noun is a person, place or thing.
Verb: A verb describes an action or state of being.
These definitions cover what we might call prototypical cases. Nouns often
do label objects in the real world (
car, tree, apple, etc.) and verbs most
commonly express action (run, play, eat, etc.). But what do we do with
abstract nouns like love or destruction. One easy way out is to add “idea” to
the definition, but this change comes at a severe cost, for “idea” can be taken to
encompass just about everything. Consider sentences such as
(1) John gave him a shove.
(2) John shoved him.
What allows us to say that shove in sentence (1) functions as a noun, but shoved in
sentence (2) functions as a verb? The meaning of both sentences, after all, is
essentially the same. And how do we account for verbs like hear or undergo? In a
sentence like
(3) Jessica underwent a surgery to remove the tonsils as a child.