Herb, It seems to me "hit" has a complex transitive pattern as well. "He hit the vase off the table." "He hit the ball into the stands." I don't think traditional grammar recognizes those adverbials as complements, but it seems clear to me.>It's not where the hitting happened, but what happened to the vase or the table as a result of the action. I am continually humbled by how much I don't know. I'll check out Levin's book. Craig Craig, > > The specialized ESL dictionaries, like the Oxford Advanced Learner's > Dictionary or the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English include > grammatical patterns in their definitions, and for a word like "hit" there > will be two entries, one as a transitive and one as a ditransitive. The > distinction is important because in different patterns verbs may have > slightly different meanings. Those dictionaries do a very careful and > rigorous analysis of verb patterns, far beyond the five to eight most of > us teach. They both have around fifty. Of course, if you look at Beth > Levin's book on English verb patterns, you'll find about 330. > > Herb > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar on behalf of Craig > Hancock > Sent: Tue 11/28/2006 3:15 PM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: Prepositional phrase as an indirect object > > Herb, > I'm right with you with the whole analysis (both posts), but can't help > feeling that "hit" may not be intentional in some contexts. If it's > outfield practice, then "the coach hit the ball to me" would imply it's > my turn. If I'm in the field, then "to me" is probably not something > the batter intended. It may mean something closer to "the batter hit > the ball to right field", much more adverbial in nuance. > I do want to vote, though, for the semantic label to remain in both > positions if the meaning includes intention. I like the functional > analysis. The new information shifts to the end. "What did he hit to > me?" "He hit me the ball." "Who did he hit the ball to?" "He hit the > ball to me." > > Craig > > > > "hit" as a ditransitive verb licenses an indirect object. Whether that >> IO shows up post-verbally or after the DO is a matter, in part, of >> whether it's new or old information. But part of the confusion is that >> we use IO both functionally and structurally. Functionally "to me" is >> the patient, not an adverb. Structurally whether it's an adverb depends >> on whether it behaves like an adverb. >> >> We can say "(intentionally) Jack (intentionally) hit the ball >> (intentionally) to me (intentionally)," that is, the manner adverb can >> occur in any of those four positions. "To me" doesn't have the same >> mobility because it's a complement of "hit" rather than a modifier. >> This suggests that it's not adverbial, at least not in the same sense >> that "intentionally" is. >> >> Herb >> >> >> I'd go with an adverbial prepositional phrase. 'To me' certainly >> modifies 'hit', does it not? Is it different than "Jack hit the ball >> quickly?" >> >> Edward Vavra wrote: >>> I was recently asked about "to me" in the sentence "Jack hit the >>> ball to me." Is "to me" an adverbial prepositional phrase, or can it >>> be considered a prepositional phrase that functions as an indirect >>> object, i.e., as a noun? My question is--Do members of this list agree >> >>> on one or the other explanation, or is their disagreement? >>> Thanks, >>> Ed >>> >>> -- >>> This message has been scanned for viruses and >>> dangerous content by EduTech's *MailScanner* >>> <http://www.mailscanner.info/> Vaccine1, and is >>> believed to be clean. To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please >>> visit the list's web interface at: >>> http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or >>> leave the list" >>> >>> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ >>> >> >> -- >> >> James Sebastian Bear >> Montpelier Public School >> www.montpelier.k12.nd.us/classroom.html >> >> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web >> interface at: >> http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html >> and select "Join or leave the list" >> >> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ >> >> To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web >> interface >> at: >> http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html >> and select "Join or leave the list" >> >> Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ >> > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface > at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > and select "Join or leave the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface > at: > http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html > and select "Join or leave the list" > > Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ > To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select "Join or leave the list" Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/