Syntax analysis according to SPOCA model.

[Kay1697]

Hello everyone,

I'm quite desperate at the moment. I have to analyse sentences according to the SPOCA model for my upcoming linguistics exam. Unfortunately, I don't understand it all.

Analysing simple sentences according to the SPOCA model is a piece of cake. Now it is all about sublcauses functioning as sentence elements and sublcauses functioning as phrase elements and analysing complex sentences according to the SPOCA model.

Can you please help me with the following sentence?

While waiting for the bus, it occured to me that the station's park is a thief's paradise.

We don't use syntax trees. We just parse the sentences and place S P DO below.

So while waiting for the bus is a sublclause (non-finite), then IT is subject: NP: H: Personal pronoun, occured is a P:VP:lexical verb and then I'm stuck and I don't know what to do.

'to me that the station's park is a thief's paradise'. I think to me is the direct object, and that the station's park is a thief's paradise is then probably a postmodifier realised by another clause. I don't know what kind of clause.

Can anyone please help me? I'm just completely lost, I don't understand it at all..

[Daniel]

I had to look SPOCA up, and this was the result (not sure if it will help you): http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fass/projects/stylistics/topic4a/6answers1.htm
SPOCA is not a widespread approach to syntax, at least not one I've used in the US. However, it does share many ideas with other theories like subject, object, adjunct, etc., and of course the general parts of structure.

The best advice, as always, is to talk with your instructor, or others in your class (a study group?), because the way you're approaching this, even with SPOCA, may not be the same as how other instructors or researchers would. The specific details of the analyses expected may vary.

If you're interested in discussing more abstractly something like what subjects are cross-linguistically, we could do that here. But for your exam it will be best for you to work on that in the context of your class.