My favorite analogy for form vs. function is draught animals. You have a 
function: pulling a wagon or plow. You have various 'forms': species of 
animals. Several animal species are suited to pulling things thanks to 
their strength and their willingness to take direction: mules, horses, 
oxen, water buffalo ... You harness one of these animals into the traces 
of a wagon or plow, and it performs the function.

If you usually use a mule and it dies, and you buy an ox, the ox does 
not turn into a mule when it is put into the traces. It stays an ox, but 
performs the same function that the mule did.

With respect to grammar: In phrase structure, you have roles such as 
modifier and head. If the head is a noun, a number of forms can modify 
it in pre-noun position:

ADJ:                    a clever child
Present participle:     a sleeping child
Past participle:        a disappointed child
Noun:                   a ghost child  (or ghost ship)

The function of noun modification is just that, a function. The kind of 
word that carries out that function varies. In spite of the many 
teachers who will fight to the death over it, a noun that modifies a 
noun does not become an adjective. It remains a noun, but carries out an 
adjectival function: modifying a noun. (One might see this as a merely 
terminological dispute -- how "adjective" is defined -- but there are 
principled reasons for keeping form and function distinct.)

The same goes for clause roles. A clause (by my definition) has a 
subject. Various 'species' can fill the subject slot:

Noun phrase:                    Her lies were obvious.
Gerund phrase:                  Janet's lying to her children was                                               stupid.
Clause:                         That she was lying was obvious.
For-to infinitive:              For her to lie was stupid.
To-infinitive:                  To lie is stupid.
Nonfinite clause:               Janet lying is something I wouldn't want
                                to see happen.
Prepositional phrase:           Under the bed is a good place to store                                          this 
box.

(This is not the same as "Under the bed there is a good place to store 
this box". The place for storing the box is "under the bed" in general, 
not a specfic part of the space under the bed, which is the "there is" 
reading.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Johanna Rubba   Associate Professor, Linguistics
English Department, California Polytechnic State University
One Grand Avenue  • San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
Tel. (805)-756-2184  •  Fax: (805)-756-6374 • Dept. Phone.  756-2596
• E-mail: [log in to unmask] •      Home page: 
http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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