APPLICATION OF ELLIPSIS IN OBAM1

nghiên cứu khoa học về điệp từ trong tiếng anh application of ellipsis on Obamas speeches luận văn của khoa ngôn ngữ học vè ứng dụng dùng biện pháp điệp từ trong các bài phát biểu của tổng thống Mỹ Obama

APPLICATION OF ELLIPSIS IN OBAMA’S SPEECHES Group 13: Nguyễn Hồng Anh

Phạm Hoàng Anh

Chu Thị Hồng

I. Background

1. Methodology:

1.1 Reference: 20 Obama’s speeches in universities

1 George Mason University speech

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barackobama/barackobamageorgemason.htm

2 Commencement Address at the University of Notre Dame

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barackobama/barackobamanotredamecommenceme nt.htm

3 A New Beginning: Speech at Cairo University

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barackobama/barackobamacairouniversity.htm

4 Address to the New Economic School Graduating Class

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barackobama/barackobamaneweconomicschool.htm

5 Back-to-School Speech at Wakefield High School

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barackobama/barackobamabacktoschoolspeech.htm

6 Commencement Address at the University of Michigan

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barackobama/barackobamauniversityofmichiganco mmencement.htm

7 Address to Students at the University of Indonesia

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barackobama/barackobamaindonesiauniversity.htm

8 Commencement Address at Miami Dade College

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barackobama/barackobamamiamidadecommenceme nt.htm

9 Address on the Economy at Osawatomie High School

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barackobama/barackobamaosawatomieeconomy.ht m

10 Address at Hankuk University

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barackobama/barackobamahankukuniversity.htm

11 Commencement Address at Barnard College

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barackobama/barackobamabarnardcollegecommenc ement.htm

12 Address at Yangon University

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barackobama/barackobamayangonuniversity.htm

13 Morehouse College Commencement Address

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barackobama/barackobamamorehousecollegecomm encement.htm

14 Naval Academy Commencement Address

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barackobama/barackobamanavalacademycommence ment.htm

15 University of Cape Town Address

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barackobama/barackobamacapetownuniversity.htm

16 United States Military Academy Commencement Address

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barackobama/barackobamawestpointcommencement 2014.htm

17 U.S Air Force Academy Commencement Address

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barackobama/barackobamaairforceacademycomme ncement.htm

18 Young leaders town hall in VN

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barackobama/barackobamaYSEALIVietnam.htm

19 Young Leaders of the United Kingdom Town Hall

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barackobama/barackobamalondontownhall.htm

20 Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative Town Hall Argentina

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barackobama/barackobamaYLAIArgentina.htm

1.2 Methodology:

This research was conducted by examining 20 speeches of Barack Obama The conclusions of these speeches were analyzed to figure out the tendency of ellipsis, the frequency of each type of ellipsis, and the ways can be used to avoid mistakes when use ellipsis

Speech Ellipsis (%) Nominal ellipsis

(%)

Verbal ellipsis (%)

Clausal ellipsis (%)

2. Barack Obama and his speeches

2.1.Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II is an American politician who served as the 44th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017 He is the first African American to have served as president Obama is remembered to be one of the greatest speakers of all time He knows exactly what to say to make his audience trust him He has the ability to use words that cut to the quick in a way that every person feels deeply His artful use of metaphors speaks for itself

2.2. Speech:

- Definition:

* a form of communication in spoken language, made by a speaker

before an audience for a given purpose => focus on this defin

* The expression of or the ability to express thoughts and feelings by articulate sounds.

* A formal address or discourse delivered to an audience.

(Oxford dictionary)

- Obama’s speeches:

During his eight-year career, Obama had made hundreds of speeches aiming at many kinds of audience such as politicians, parliamentarians, and citizens Among of those, he spent time visiting school, colleges, and universities all around the world and made eloquent speeches to these students Those speeches were not too formal, but they were like a talk, a confidence, an advice, and an encouragement It is considered that he spent great concern about the educational issues and about the new generation

3. Ellipsis:

- Definition:

Ellipsis happens when we leave out (in other words, when we don’t use) items which we would

normally expect to use in a sentence if we followed the grammatical rules

(Cambridge dictionary)

The items left out are in brackets [ ]:

Ex : - In difficult economic times, a lot of fathers are worried about whether they’re going to be

able to keep their job, or [whether they’re going to be able] find a job,….

(Barack Obama, Father’s Day Address, 21 June 2010)

Nominal ellipsis

Deictic as Head

Numeral as Head

Epithets as Head

Verbal ellipsis

Lexical ellipsis

Operator ellipsis

Clausal ellipsis

Modal & propositional

No ellipsis of single elements

Ellipsis in Q&A

Feature:

- Ellipsis, a cohesive device, is a universal linguistic phenomenon which is generally employed

without any real awareness of how it is structured by the language users A relation of cohesion is

established where the interpretation of some element presupposes, and is dependent on another,

so creating a tie and integrating the two elements into a text

(Halliday, M A K An introduction to functional grammar London: Edward Arnold, 1994)

- "Ellipsis is most commonly used to avoid repetition, and in this respect it is like substitution."

(Quirk and Greenbaum, A concise grammar of contemporary English, Harcourt, Brace,

Javanovich, Pubs 1973: 261)

1.Types (syntactic function):

1.1 Nominal Ellipsis

• Definition: Nominal ellipsis means the ellipsis within the nominal group or the

common noun that may be omitted and the function of head taken on by one of other elements (deictic, nominative, epithet or classifier)

• Structure of nominal group:

(Pre-modifiers) + Head + (Post-modifiers)

Ex: Those two fast electric trains with pantographs Pre-modifier Head Post-modifier The modifier can be deictic, nominative, epithet or classifier

- The deictic is normally a determiner

- The nominative is a numeral or other quantifier

- The epithet is an adjective

- the classifier is a noun

• Types

1. Deictic as Head:

1.1. Specific deictic:

The specific deictic are demonstrative, possessive and the.

- The demonstratives are this, that, these, those, and which.

- Possessives include both noun (Smith’s, my father’s, etc.), attributes (my,

your, etc.), and nominal (mine, yours, etc.).

For example: (a) Take these pills three times daily And you’d better have some more

of those too.

Pills, functioning as head, is omitted and is replaced by demonstrative modifier those.

The full form of the sentence is “Take these pills three times daily And you’d better have some more of those pills too”

1.2. Non-specific deictic:

The non-specific deictic are each, every, any, either, no, neither, a and some as well

as both.

For example:

(a) Smith and Jones are on Holiday I wonder if either has left an address.

(the word Smith and Jones are omitted and replaced by either)

The full form: Smith and Jones are on holiday I wonder if either Smith or Jones has

left an address

(b) These apples are delicious Let’s by some

(the phrase these apples is omitted and replaced by the word some)

The full form: These apples are delicious Let’s buy some apples

1.3. Post-deictic:

The word functioning as post-deictic elements in the nominal group are adjectives

The frequent adjectives used in deictic function include other, same, different,

identical, usual, regular, certain, odd, famous, well-known, typical, obvious.

They combine with the, a or other determiner; and they may be followed by a

numeral, unlike adjectives in their normal function as epithet

Deictic Epithet The identical three questions three identical questions The usual two comments two usual comments

For example:

- I’ve used up these three yellow folders you gave me Can I use the other?

The elliptical nominal group is signed by combination post-deictic other and specific deictic the The full form of the sentence is “I’ve used up these three yellow folder

you gave me Can I use the other three yellow folders?”

- I’ll have the same

(Same function as Head)

2. Numeral as Head

2.1. Ordinal numeral

The ordinal numerals are first, next, last, second, third, fourth, etc

They are often used elliptically, generally with the or a possessive as deictic

For example:

Have another chocolate

– No, thanks; that was my third

The nominal elliptical group my third is specific deictic of possessive pronoun my and ordinal third.

The full form of the sentence becomes

Have another chocolate

– No, thanks That was my third chocolate

2.2. Cardinal Numeral

Cardinal numerals are also frequent in ellipsis, and may be preceded by any deictic and also by post deictic adjectives such as the usual three, the same three

For example

Have another chocolate

– No, thanks; I’ve had my three

The nominal elliptical group my three is specific deictic possessive my and cardinal numeral three.

The full form of the sentence is

Have another chocolate

– No, thanks I’ve had my three chocolate

2.3. Indefinite Quantifiers

The indefinite quantifiers are items such as much, many, most, few, several, a little,

lots, a bit, hundreds, etc.

For example:

Can all cats climb trees? – they all can; and most do

the indefinite quantifier, most, presupposes cats.

3. Epithet as Head

The function of epithet is typically fulfilled by an adjective

3.1. Color adjectives:

Ex: Green suits you very well.

3.2. Opposites

Ex: I like strong tea I suppose weak is better for you.

3.3. Superlative

The superlative adjective precedes other Epithets and is usually accompanied by the

or a possessive Deictic

For example: Apples are the cheapest in autumn.

The cheapest is an elliptical nominal group presupposing some item such as fruit.

3.4. Comparative

Ex: (a) Mary is the cleverer (b) Mary is cleverer

(a) is comparative ellipsis since it is presupposing by reference whereas (b) is not elliptical comparative

1.2 Verbal ellipsis

1 Definition (VE refers to E within the verbal group)

VE defines as a verbal group whose structure does not fully express it systemic features.

Ex:

Have you been to London?

- Yes, I have (been to London)

2 Types of VE

2 types: - Lexical E

- Operation E

a Lexical E

Definition: LE is type of E in which the lexical verb is missing from the verbal group Ex: She can sing and her sister can (sing) too

Do you like milk-tea? - Yes, I do (like milk-tea)

* E of Lexical V only

Ex: She can sing and her sister can (sing) too

lexical V

* E of Lexical V/ V phrase + subject complement

Ex: Mary is the best student at Maths, and Linda (is the best student) at Physics

lexical V S complement

* Lexical V/ V phrase + direct object

Ex: Nam is reading books in the living-room, and Nga (is reading books) in her room

V-phrase direct Object

Note: Primary auxiliaries (be, have, do) can be elliptical and substitutes

Ex:

• Did Jane know? - No, but Mary did

knew (substitution)

• Did Jane know? - Yes, she did

auxiliary

b Operator E

- Involves only the omission of operators

- Lexical V remains intact

Ex: - Some were laughing but some (were) crying

- What are they doing? - (They are) Reading

* E of subject and auxiliaries:

Ex: He is reading books and (he is) eating at the same time

* E of auxiliary only

Ex: Some were laughing but some (were) crying

Peter should study Math and Peter (should) study Physics

1.3 Clausal ellipsis

1 Definition

Clausal ellipsis represents the obmission of a part of the clause or all of it Such ellipsis is often associated with questions and responses in dialogues It is similar to verbal ellipsis except that clausal ellipsis is external to verb itself, effecting other elements in the structure of the clause

2 Types:

1.1 Modal and propositional:

The clause has two part structure including MODAL and PROPOSITION:

a)

Modal ellipsis

-The modal element consists of the subject plus the finite element in the verbal group

-Response to a WH_question (What did/dose/do)

Ex: What was the Duke going to do? – (The Duke was going to ) plant a row of poplars in the

park.

b) Propositional ellipsis

-The propositional element consist of: the remainder of the verbal group, and any complements

or adjuncts that may be present

-Response to statements or YES/NO questions

Ex: The plane has landed -> Has it (landed)?

Has the plane landed? -> It has (landed)?

1.2No elipsis of single elements

Ex: Has she taken her medicine?

In this case, we must reply with a full clause: “She has taken her medicine”

Or we must omit both “her medicine” and “taken” “ She has”

Or use substitution “do”: She has done

1.3Elipsis in Q&A

a) Yes/No question ellipsis

Answer to yes/ no questions or polar questions are very simply dealt with the instruction to answer yes or no

Ex: Are you coming -> Yes (I am)

b) WH questions ellipsis

Ex: When did John arrive? -> Yesterday

2 Analyze:

1 George Mason University speech

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/barackobama/barackobamageorgemason.htm

We start 2009 in the midst of a crisis unlike any (crisis) we have seen in our lifetime, a crisis that has only deepened over the last few weeks Nearly two million jobs have been now lost And on Friday, we're likely to learn that we lost more jobs last year than (we lost jobs) at any time since World War II Just in the past year, another 2.8 million Americans who want and (who) need full-time work have had to settle for part-full-time jobs Manufacturing has hit a 28-year low Many businesses cannot borrow or (many businesses cannot) make payroll Many families cannot pay their bills or (many cannot pay) their mortgage Many workers are watching their life savings disappear And many, many Americans are both anxious and uncertain of what the future will hold

Now, I don't believe it's too late to change course, but it will be (too late) if we don't take

dramatic action as soon as possible If nothing is done, this recession could linger for years The unemployment rate could reach double digits Our economy could fall 1 trillion dollars short of its full capacity, which translates into more than 12,000 dollars in lost income for a family of four (people) We could lose a generation of potential and promise as more young Americans are forced to forego dreams of college or the chance to train for the jobs of the future And our nation could lose the competitive edge that has served as a foundation for our strength and (the

competitive edge foundation for) our standing in the world In short, a bad situation could become dramatically worse

This crisis did not happen solely by some accident of history or normal turn of the business cycle And we won't get out of it by simply waiting for a better day to come or relying on the worn-out dogmas of the past We arrived at this point due to an era of profound irresponsibility that stretched from corporate board rooms to the halls of power in Washington, D.C

Nominal ellipsis = 10,5% Verbal ellipsis = 5,3% Clausal ellipsis = 26,3%

2 Commencement Address at the University of Notre Dame