Grammatical emphasis means in english with reference to their vietnamese equivalents

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

M.A. THESIS

GRAMMATICAL EMPHASIS MEANS IN ENGLISH
WITH REFERENCE TO THEIR VIETNAMESE
EQUIVALENTS
(CÁC PHƯƠNG TIỆN NHẤN MẠNH NGỮ PHÁP TRONG TIẾNG
ANH VỚI LIÊN HỆ TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT)

PHAM THI KIM DUNG

Hanoi, 2016


MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING
HANOI OPEN UNIVERSITY

M.A. THESIS

GRAMMATICAL EMPHASIS MEANS IN ENGLISH
WITH REFERENCE TO THEIR VIETNAMESE
EQUIVALENTS
(CÁC PHƯƠNG TIỆN NHẤN MẠNH NGỮ PHÁP TRONG TIẾNG
ANH VỚI LIÊN HỆ TƯƠNG ĐƯƠNG TRONG TIẾNG VIỆT)

PHAM THI KIM DUNG

Field: English Language
Code: 60220201

Supervisor: Assoc.Prof.Dr Hoang Tuyet Minh

Hanoi, 2016
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Front hard cover
Back hard cover

PHAM THI KIM DUNG

ENGLISH LANGUAGE

2014 - 2016

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CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY
I, the undersigned, hereby certify my authority of the study project report
entitled “Grammatical emphasis means in English with reference to
their Vietnamese equivalents” submitted in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Master in English Language. Except where
the reference is indicated, no other person’s work has been used without due
acknowledgement in the text of the thesis.
Hanoi, 2016

Pham Thi Kim Dung
Approved by
SUPERVISOR

Hoang Tuyet Minh
Date:……………………

1


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This thesis could not have been completed without the help and
support from a number of people.
First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to
Assoc. Prof. Dr Hoang Tuyet Minh, my supervisor, who has patiently and
constantly supported me through the stages of the study, and whose
stimulating ideas, expertise, and suggestions have inspired me greatly
through my growth as an academic researcher.
A special word of thanks goes to my colleagues and many others,
without whose support and encouragement it would never have been
possible for me to have this thesis accomplished.
Last but not least, I am greatly indebted to my family for the sacrifice
they have devoted to the fulfillment of this academic work.

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ABTRACT
The study is aimed at grammatical emphasis means in English with
reference to Vietnamese equivalents by using descriptive method and
contrastive analysis as the major method. The research is done to investigate
the features of grammatical emphasis means in English, finding out the
similarities and the differences between grammatical emphasis means in

English and in Vietnamese in order to help learners of English to learn
English effectively. In doing the research, descriptive method and
comparative analysis are done either to describe the meanings conveyed by
the grammatical emphasis structures/ means to determine the similarities
between grammatical emphasis means in English and in Vietnamese. Data
for this study were collected from two foreign novels, namely, Wuthering
Heights by Emily Brontë, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K.
Rowling and some Vietnamese novels such as, Dế mèn phiêu lưu ký,
written by Tô Hoài, Hà Nội trong mắt tôi by Nguyễn Khải and Truyện
ngắn tuyển chọn, written by Nam Cao. This study has been primarily
carried out to answer two questions, one is to investigate the possible
meanings of grammatical emphasis means in English and the other is to
investigate their Vietnamese equivalents. The results provide some
supports for learners to have a deep understanding in learning English
grammar.

iii


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
A = Adverbial
Aloc = Adverbial of location
Adir = Averbial of direction
Adj = Ạdjective
AP = Adjective phrase
C = Complement
Cs = Subject Complement
Co = Object Complement
Foc = Focus
FocPol = Polar Focus

NP = Noun Phrase
O = Object
Od = Direct Object
Oi = Indirect Object
Op = Operator
OrgS = Original Sentence
P = Proposition
Pass = Passive
Pol = Polarity
PP = Preposition phrase
S = Subject
V = Verb phrase

iv


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Certificate of originality

i

Acknowledgements

ii

Abstract

iii

List of abbreviations

iv

Table of contents

v

Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION

1

1.1.

Rationale for the research

1

1.2.

Aims of the research

2

1.3.

Objectives of the research

2

1.4.

Scope of the research

3

1.5.

Significance of the research

3

1.6.

Structural organization of the thesis

3

Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

5

2.1.

Previous studies

5

2.2.

Concept of emphasis

6

2.2.1 Importance of using emphasis

7

2.2.2 Classification of emphasis

8

2.2.2.1 Phonetic emphasis

8

2.2.2.2 Lexical emphasis

10

2.2.2.3 Grammatical emphasis

15

2.3.

Theoretical background

17

2.4

Summary

22

Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY

23

3.1.

Research questions

23

3.2.

Research setting

23

3.3.

Research approaches

24

3.4.

Principles / criteria for intended collection and data analysis

24
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3.5.

3.6.

Research method

24

3.5.1 Major methods vs. supporting methods

24

3.5.2 Data collection techniques

25

3.5.3 Data analysis techniques

25

Summary

26

Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

4.1.

27

Grammatical emphasis means in English

27

4.1.1 Inversion

29

4.1.2 Fronting

38

4.1.3 Cleft Sentences

41

4.1.4 Wh- Cleft ( Pseudo- cleft sentence)

48

4.1.5 Existential sentence

54

4.1.6 The passive voice

61

4.1.7 Emphasized Operator

62

4.1.8 Present progressive tense with adverbials “always,

63

constantly, continually and forever”
4.2.

Similarities and differences between grammatical emphasis

64

means in English and theirs Vietnamese equivalents

4.3.

4.2.1 Similarities

64

4.2.2 Differences

74

Summary

77

Chapter 5: CONCLUSION

78

5.1.

Recapitulation

78

5.2.

Concluding remarks

78

5.3.

Limitation of the current research

79

5.4.

Implications for teaching grammar in English

79

5.5.

Suggestions for a further research

80

REFERENCES

81

vi


CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Rationale
Every day, we communicate with people around. At first, we talk with
our family members and then to a larger scope of the society. Later, the
whole world is in the need of communication. This lead to the fact that there
should be a common language for people all over the world. And, in effect,
English, has to some extent, been chosen to be the international language
nowadays. Grammatical emphasis is one of important factors help us
success in communicate with each other.
In English, there are many writers in the world wrote about this field
such as Alexander, L.G (1992), Huddleston, R (1985); Quirk, R.
Greenbaum, S (1987); Thomson, A.T. Martinet, A.( 1985), etc. In their
works, they are mainly focus on the general information about English
grammar.
According to Chomsky (1965), “A grammar of language purports to be
a description of the ideal speaker-hearer’s intrinsic competence.”; “A fully

adequate grammar must assign to each of an infinite range of sentences a
strutural description indicating how this sentence understood by the ideal
speaker-hearer.”
According to Quirk, R., “many variations of grammatical structure
relate to the speaker’s or writer’s need to present the message in a form
readily adapted to addressee’s requirements as interpreter.”
According to Halliday, M.A.K (2004), “Grammatically, however, the
constituent of a clause is not, in fact, a word; it is either a phrase or a word
group.”
In Vietnamese, grammar was concerned by some famous writers and
publishers and their establishments were indicated in their works such as:
Nguyễn Tài Cẩn (1975), Trần Ngọc Thêm (1985), Lý Toàn Thắng (1981),
Diệp Quang Ban (1981), (2001), Hoàng Trọng Phiến (1980) and especially
1


the author Cao Xuân Hạo (1988), (1991),(1998). So far, many relevant
studies on grammar field in English and in Vietnamese have been carried
out. However, grammatical emphasis means in English and in Vietnamese
have not been done before.
As a matter of fact, every Vietnamese, like any second language users,
often finds it difficult to communicate effectively. They may have to face
the difficulties of grammar, vocabulary or stress. Among these difficulties
that caused by the differences between the two languages and the two
cultures, we find it hard to put our emphasis on the important information
when communicating.
For the Vietnamese who learn English, they have some difficulties in
using grammatical emphasis. Not only for students how to learn and use
grammar correctly but also for teachers how to teach students effectively.
Therefore, this thesis: “grammatical emphasis means in English with

reference to Vietnamese equivalents” has been decided to be chosen
because of the above reasons.
1.2. Aims of the research
The study is conducted to aim at investigating the features of
grammatical emphasis means in English and making comparison with their
Vietnamese equivalents in order to help learners of English to learn English
effectively.
1.3. Objectives of the research
To achieve the mentioned above aims, some following objectives are
put forward:
− Pointing out the features of grammatical emphasis means in English.
− Finding out the similarities and differences between grammatical
emphasis means in English and their Vietnamese equivalents.
− Suggesting some implications for learning and teaching grammatical
emphasis means in English to Vietnamese learners.
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1.4. Scope of the research
(i) Academic scope
The study is an attempt to listing out the grammatical emphasis means in
English with reference to their Vietnamese equivalents within grammatical
theoretical framework. Grammatical emphasis structures in English and in
Vietnamese will be taken into account. Some implications for learning and
teaching grammatical emphasis will be suggested to Vietnamese learners.
(ii) Social scope
The data were collected from English and Vietnamese grammar books,
magazines and some Vietnamese versions.
1.5. Significance of the research
In terms of theoretical significance, the thesis is expected to

contribute a small part that helps the linguistics of English provide
comprehensive features of emphasis means in English. For practical
significance, hopefully, the thesis is conducted to help Vietnamese learners
acknowledge the similarities and differences about grammatical emphasis
means between the two languages and help know how to use grammatical
emphasis effectively in order to improve their communicative skill.
1.6. Structural organization of the thesis
This study is divided into five chapters as follows:
Chapter 1, Introduction, presents an overview of the study in which
the reason for the researcher, the aims, the objectives, the scope, the
significance as well as the organization of the study is briefly presented.
Chapter 2, Literature review, includes the theoretical issues relevant
to the study including the theory of emphasis, grammatical emphasis in
English.

3


Chapter 3, Methodology, discusses some issues of research questions,
research setting, research approaches, research method, data collection and
data analysis.
Chapter 4,Findings and discussion, presents an overview of findings
and discussion of using grammatical emphasis in English, the similarities
and differences between using grammatical emphasis in English and the
equivalents in Vietnamese.
Chapter 5, Conclusion, summarizes the whole study and the whole
process of the research, shows the significance of the research for
knowledge in the discipline, gives concluding remarks on each objective,
shows limitations of the current research, suggests some implications for
learning and teaching grammatical emphasis in English to learners and

suggests research in future.

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CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW
This section presents the thorough and in-depth studies which are done by
previous researchers. This will also present the synthesis of the theoretical
and conceptual framework to fully understand the research. A new research
based on previous studies and theoretical background will be studied.
2.1. Previous studies
Emphasis means in English were paid attention by many previous
linguistics researchers.
According to Webster’s New Dictionary of Synonyms (1986, p.285),
emphasis is stress, accent, accentuation denoting exerted force by which
one thing stands out conspicuously among others.
Quirk and Greenbaum (1998) argue that using grammatical ways of
expressing emphasis correctly is very important so that the participants of
communication understand the message and its implications properly
(p.406).
Biber, Conrad and Leech (2002) state that to be able to comprehend
all the properties of grammatical ways of expressing emphasis it is essential
to be familiar with “four major discourse factors that are important in
understanding the grammatical choices that influence word-order”, and
these are “information flow: given v. new information; focus and emphasis,
including end-focus and double focus; contrast and weight, including endweight and balance of weight” (p.398).
In Vietnamese, Cao Xuân Hạo (1988),(1991),(1998), he mentioned to
Vietnamese grammar problems; Diệp Quang Ban (2000), he mentioned to
Vietnamese grammar: part of speech, phrase, construction of sentence;
Hoàng Trọng Phiến (1980); Nguyễn Kim Thản (1997), he mentioned to

Vietnamese grammar : Sentence; Đái Xuân Ninh (1975); Nguyễn Tài Cẩn
5


(1999), he focus his attention on the study of the language, compound word,
phrase; Trần Ngọc Thêm (1985), he wrote about Hệ thống liên kết văn bản
tiếng Việt. There are some researchers did thesis about grammar, emphasis
means, however, there has not been so far a study on grammatical emphasis
means in English with reference to their Vietnamese equivalents. Therefore,
it is necessary to do a research on this matter to hit the target.
2.2 Concept of emphasis
According to Websters’s New Dictionary of Synonyms (1986, p.285),
emphasis is stress, accent, accentuation denoting exerted force by which
one thing stands out conspicuously among others. This is also the most
preferred definition used by Longman and Oxford dictionaries. But the
definition covers all the fields and aspects in which emphasis is used in
daily life while the only field I am working on is the use of emphasis in
English. When we say He put emphasis on studying English, we mention
emphasis in the broadest way. It means he, in his speech or essay, said that
studying English was very important. But from the sentence, we draw out a
question By what means, in his speech and essay, does he put emphasis on
studying English? Answering the question, we find out that in order to
highlight the importance of studying English so that the information stands
out more importantly. The way that he used to achieve the effect on the
readers and listeners is called emphasis in the narrower way, emphasis in the
language of English. He may use stress, repetition of words or grammatical
structures to highlight the matter. They are what we call emphasis means.
And the way to use these means is called emphasis in English.
In short, emphasis in English is all the ways such as stress, word
repetition, grammatical structures that we use to give additional force or

focus on part of the sentence so that it stands out more importantly,

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conspicuously among others. The definition raises another issue: why
emphasis is used and how it is used.
2.2.1 Importance of using emphasis
In spoken as well as in written English, when a sentence is produced,
it is not always simple that a state or an action is introduced. Far more than
that, the speaker or the writer usually wants to focus on some special
information in the sentence. In one sentence, the author of the sentence may
want to focus on the actor while in another sentence, he wants to focus on
the action or the way the action is carried out, etc. Let us consider the
following examples:
John sent Mary a letter.
It was John who sent Mary the letter.
What John did was (to) send Mary a letter.
(Edward L.Keenan -Universal Grammar)
In “John sent Mary a letter”, the speaker only want to give out the
introduction of the action. However, when uttered, if the sentence has the
main stress on JOHN, the thematic meaning changes. In this case, he
focuses on the doer of the action. Similarly, when Mary is stressed, the
speaker wants to focus on the recipient of the action. In “It was John who
sent Mary the letter” the grammatical structure of cleft sentence is used to
focus on the doer. In “What John did was (to) send Mary a letter”, the
grammatical structure of pseudo-cleft sentence does the work of giving
additional emphasis on the recipient of the action. The two last sentences
can be used both in spoken and written English. In spoken English, with the
combination of grammatical structures and intonation and stress, “It was

John who sent Mary the letter”.
“What John did was (to) send Mary a letter” seem to be more effective in
information emphasis.
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In short, in any languages, when a person uses his own language, he
always has his own intention. The intention here is to make people around
him understand what he means. In order to do so, he has to focus on
important information in his speech, essay or sentence. With the help of
emphasis, communication can be more colorful and is easily understood in
the way that the speaker of the writer wants. That is the reason why
emphasis is often used in communication in any languages. In fact,
emphasis gives us another dimension of the nuance of the sentence.
2.2.2. Classification of emphasis
There are many ways and means to emphasize in English. However,
according to the nature and characteristics of emphasis, linguistics
subdivided emphasis into three groups: phonetic emphasis, lexical emphasis
and grammatical emphasis.
2.2.2.1 Phonetic emphasis
It is known that phonetic emphasis is the way in which additional
emphasis is given in spoken English by phonetic means. When a word is
stressed, it stands out more importantly among the others. Therefore,
intonation and stress are an effective way to give emphasis while we speak.
By using stress and intonation, speaker can focus on the important
information that he wants to put emphasis on. Let us consider how the
English language organizes a spoken message into units of information.
Intonation is normally realized in tone units consisting of a sequence of
stressed and unstressed syllables. Among them, the greatest prominent is
called the nucleus of the tone unit. Each tone unit represents a unit of

information, and the place where the nucleus falls on is the focus of
information.
The year before last,/ we spent our holiday in Huế.
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The sentence when spoken out may be subdivided into two-tone units as
shown by “/”. There are two nuclei in the sentence. They are last and Huế,
and they are the focuses of information in each tone unit. However, not
every focus of information in an utterance is equally important. Their
importance depends on the stress given by speakers. Within the tone unit,
the nucleus is the most prominent and is of course stressed. Nevertheless,
among nuclei of the sentence, the most prominent is the one that is put
emphasis on. Turning back to the example above, we recognize that there
are two tone units and consequently there are two nuclei. Which of the two
nuclei stands out more importantly depends on the stress that falls on one of
them. So, whether the first or the second nucleus is prominent to the other
depends on the way the speaker utters the sentence. If he puts stress on last,
it means he makes the first unit prominent to the other, and therefore, the
information in the first tone unit is the one that the speaker puts emphasis
on. Meanwhile, if he puts stress on Huế, it means the important point here is
the place his family went to, not the time. So, the implication of the sentence
changes according to the use of intonation and stress. This property of
spoken English not only makes it possible for speakers to focus on the part
he wants but also enables him to make his texts, dialogues more colorful
and impressive; and the last but not least is that listeners can understand
what lies beyond the words.
Focus can be divided into two types: end-focus and contractive focus. Endfocus seems to be the neutral position of focus. That is the chief prominence
on the last open class item or proper noun in a sentence.
He went to HÀnội.

This type of focus is not very effective in giving additional emphasis for it
does not show the state of contrast, and it is only placed at the last element
of the sentence. Meanwhile, contrastive focus can be placed at any point in
the sentence so it may fall on any element. It may fall on:
9


S: John was the one to play truant yesterday. (contrast: not Bill).
V: John is playing football. (not studying)
Prep: He put it on the bed. (not under the bed)
Determiner: He lives in this house. (not that house)
The use of contrastive focus, obviously, makes listeners act, feel or think
according to the implication that lies beyond the words. That is the reason
why in spoken English, contrastive focus in particular and phonetic
emphasis in general are often used.
However, within the frame work of the thesis Phonetic emphasis is not
analyzed and more discussed.
2.2.2.2 Lexical emphasis
People said that vocabulary is of great importance to a language. It is
one of the main and the most essential factors to determine the existence of
a language. People can understand us when we use wrong stress, intonation
or grammatical structures but they can never know what we mean if we do
not have any words about it. It also allows language users to decide how
their speeches or essays will be. English with a great variety of words and
phrases is not out of the way. Its vocabulary promises writers and speakers
with colorful and meaningful dialogues and texts. The property leads to the
fact that lexical means are very effective in giving additional emphasis. In
spoken English, it is even more effective because there is a combination
between lexical means and the use of intonation and stress.
It is really, really good.

It is absolutely John who sent Mary a letter.
The two examples above show the ability of combination. In “It is really,
really good”, the word really is both stressed and repeated. Therefore, what
is emphasized is the adjective good with the modification of the adverb of
degree really. In “It is absolutely John who sent Mary a letter” although the
10


adverb of degree absolutely stands in front the highlighted element, it does
put extra emphasis on the highlighted element John. Therefore, the
emphasis given by cleft sentence is reinforced.
Let us now consider the basis clause pattern in English proposed by the
Hyper Text Book of the English faculty of the University of Dupage (1998,
p.101).
Grammar S

V

Oi

Od

Meaning

Actor

Action

Beneficiary Goal

Example

John

Sent

Mary

a letter

The clause expresses the common order as well as the common use of the
words. In everyday English, people not only use this simple type of clause
but also add other words as modifiers to it and convert it into other various
types. The addition of the words makes the contextual meaning and message
clearer. Moreover, the words themselves can bring language users with
colorful texts and dialogues. With special words, we can also put our focus
on the information that we want and highlight it, make it understandable to
people so that they can know what lies beyond the words. Normally, words
used in this purpose are called intensifiers. Most of the intensifiers are
adverbs though some of them are NPs and PPs. Back to the matter of
lexical emphasis, let us consider adverbs as intensifiers. Adverbs as
intensifiers are divided into three groups: emphasizers, amplifiers and
downtoners.
Emphasizers have a general heightening effect, according to Quirk, R.
(1977, p.121); Amplifiers scale upwards from an assumed norm;
Downtoners have a lowering effect on the verb, usually scaling downwards
from an assumed norm. They are shown below:

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Emphasizers: actually, certainly, clearly, definitely, indeed, obviously,
plainly, really, surely, for certain, for sure, of course, etc.
He was obviously wrong.
(Golden Heart/Deep Soul (Grovehill Giants Book 2) by Stephanie Perry
Moore, Derrick Morre)
Most of the emphasizers precede the item they emphasized (except for for
sure, for certain).
I certainly know him
(The Wolves of Craywood: A Novel of Lycanthropy written by V. J. Banis)
I know him for sure.
(The Yoshinobu Mysteries written by John A.Broussaard)
Amplifiers : are subdivided into maximizers and boosters.
Maximizers denote the upper extreme of the scale. They are absolutely,
altogether, completely, entirely, fully, thoroughly, utterly, in all respects,
etc.
I absolutely agree with you.
(Secrets of Power Negotiating: 15th Anniversary Edition, by Rogeer
Dawson)
Booster denotes a high point on the scale. They are badly, deeply, heartily,
much, so, well, a great deal, a lot, by far, violent, etc.
Oh, I love you badly.
Downtoners: have a lowering effect on the verb. They can be subdivided
into

four

groups:

compromisers,

diminishers,

minimizers

and

approximators.
Compromisers have only slight lowering effect. They are quite, rather, more
or less, etc.
I quite enjoyed the party.

(Quirk et al.1997: 598)

Diminishers usually scale downwards considerably. They are words like
partly, somewhat, in part, a little, etc.
12


The accident partly put influence on him.
Minimizers, like Diminishers, usually scale downwards. They are words
like barely, hardly, scarcely, in the least, at all, in the slightest, etc.
I don’t know him at all.
(Waking Dream: Dream Series, book 5 written by J.J. DiBenedetto)
Approximators serve to express an approximation to the force of the verb.
They are almost, nearly, all but, etc.
The car nearly hit the tree.
Beside adverbs as intensifiers, reflexive pronouns are also freely used after
nouns and pronouns for emphasis to mean “that person (thing) and only that
person (thing)”. When used in this way reflexive pronouns are stressed on

speech, especially when there is ambiguity: He talked to the PREsident
himself. Normally, the reflexive pronoun is placed immediately after the
noun that it emphasizes:
I like you yourself, not him.
But there is difference between the common use and the emphasis use of
reflexive pronouns. If reflexive pronouns are used for the purpose of
emphasis, they can be omitted without any changes, occurring to the
meaning of the sentences. But for common use, they cannot be omitted for it
will lead to the loss of meaning or cause a sentence to be ambiguous.
I cut myself. (common use)
I cut it myself. (emphasis use)
The use of reflexive pronouns is indeed the repetition of the words (nouns)
in the form of reflexive pronouns. In fact repetition can occur to any parts of
speech, not only nouns.
Adjective: He is an old, old man. (a very old man).
Adverb: It is very, very good. (extremely good)
Adverb: Over and over I kiss you again. (kiss repeatedly)
Verb: Study, study more, study forever. (study without rest)
13


And in the case of word repetition, certainly, the highlighted element is the
word repeated. So, in the examples above, the adjective, adverb and verb
stand out more conspicuously among the others. Besides, the questions
beginning with the words why and where can be made more emphatic by
repetition with the help of the emphatic word oh:
Why, oh why did you leave me?
(The Grace of Kings written by Ken Liu)
In English, as well as in Vietnamese, there are often some words and
phrases that can be used in questions and turn these questions into emphatic

ones. Emphatic questions are used to express admiration, anger, concern,
etc. In everyday English, emphatic questions often begin with wh-elements.
In fact, all of the wh-words, except for which and where, can be used with
some set words and phrases to form emphatic questions. They are words
like ever, on earth, etc. The word ever can be used after any question-words,
except for which, where. When used with this purpose, ever is often written
as a separate word from the question-word and is often heavily stressed.
What ever did you tell him?
How ever could you open the door?
Ever can also be used in short responses to express surprised reactions:
A: I didn’t go to the party last night.
B: Why ever not?
In everyday English, stronger emphatic questions can also be conveyed by
using the expressions on earth and even by using taboo words like the
blazer, the devil, the dickens, the hell, etc.
What The dickens is it?
(Deering of Deal: The Spirit of the School- by Latta Griswold)
The effect on the listeners in spoken English, when emphatic questions are
used, is conspicuously higher.

14


In short, in any language, vocabulary plays a great important role for it
directly transfers what we think to other people. It is not out of the way in
emphasis. In fact, often with the combination with intonation, lexical
emphasis is the most effective way in adding extra emphasis on the item
concerned. Therefore, it is widely used in daily communication.

2.2.2.3 Grammatical emphasis

The last in the classification of emphasis is emphasis by grammatical
means. Before going into details, the thesis researcher intends to present
some strokes about grammar.
The word grammar has many meanings. For some people, grammar
specifies the correct way to speak or write. For others, the word refers to the
reflection (the word endings) common in many languages. For still others,
the word grammar is about how human organizes ideas into words. The
word grammar means all of those things. But, according to the Hyper Text
Book, the word means something quite specific. It describes how we choose
and arrange our words.
Grammar is one of the three main factors to determine the existence of a
language. We have vocabulary and then there should be ways to arrange
those words into intelligible units. All of those ways are what we call
grammar. So, in fact, grammar consists of rules to put words in certain
reflections and particular orders so that they form understandable units like
phrases, clauses and sentences. The target of these formation is to help
readers and listeners understand more easily what is expressed in written as
well as in spoken language. Some people say that grammar is what makes
the language confused. But, as for me, grammar holds an essential role in
English as well as any other languages. It is because it decides the ways
people understand a phrase, a clause or a sentence. For example, normal
orders help people understand exactly, or nearly exactly in some cases, what
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is spoken or written. But misuse in grammar structures will lead to
misunderstanding.
A long brown hair girl.
A long hair brown girl.
In the first phrase, the two adjective long and brown are modifiers to the

noun hair. And the noun hair, in its turn, modifies the head noun girl. The
phrase means A girl who has long and brown hair. Meanwhile, in the
second phrase, the head noun is still the word girl. The adjective long is a
modifier to the noun hair. Then the phrase long hair plays an equal role to
the adjective brown in modifying the head noun. The phrase means A brown
girl (her skin is brown) has long hair. So, the two examples above show that
grammar plays an essential part in helping people decide how to understand
the grammar units.
Yet grammar is more than the idea about the organization of words in a
language. It is also an activity.
“The Gothic style of building could produce nothing better than Mr
Allworthy’s house. There was an air of grandeur in it, that struck you
with awe, and rival’d the beauties of the best Grecian architecture; and
it was commodious within, as venerable without.”
(Chapter 4 – Book 1 of Henry Fielding’s Tom John- the Foundling)
As we read the paragraph above, our thinking went through several stages:
First, we notice the unusual words (grandeur, awe, etc.) and find it difficult
to understand the language. Then we probably notice that several of the
unusual words have endings that are surrounded by familiar words
(grandeur is surrounded by two prepositions so we know that it is a noun).
Finally, having guessed the meaning of those unusual words from context
clues in paragraph, we could reread and understand the paragraph more
easily.
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