M. Iriskulov, A. Kuldashev a course in Theoretical English Grammar Tashkent 2008

EVENT INTEGRATION IN SYNTAX 
 
T h e n o t i o n s “e v e n t i n t e g r a t i o n” a n d “m a c r o - e v e n t”. 
L i n g u i s t i c p a t t e r n s f o r t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f 
m a c r o – e v e n t s 
In the conceptual organization of language there is a certain type of event 
complex. On the one hand, the event complex can be conceptualized as composed 
of two simple events and relation between them and expressed by a complex 
sentence. On the other hand, the event complex can be conceptualized as a single 
event and expressed by a simple sentence. L. Talmy proposed the term “event 
integration” to identify the process of conceptual fusion of distinct events into a 
unitary one. 
The different ways of conceptualization of the same content is viewed in the 
alternative linguistic patterns: 
a complex sentence consisting of a main clause (representing a main event) and a 
subordinate clause that has a subordinating conjunction (representing a subordinate 
event, which bears a particular kind of semantic relation to the main event); 
a simple sentence. Compare: 
a) The aerial toppled because I did smth. to it (e.g. because I threw a rock at
it). 
b) I toppled the aerial.
Sentence (a) manifests a causal sequence of separate events, sentence (b) manifests 
the same content as a unitary event.
There is a generic category of complex events that is prone to conceptual 
integration and representation by a single clause. L. Talmy calls this type of 
complex events a macro-event and distinguishes the following event- types: 
Motion, Change of State, Temporal Contouring, Action Correlation, Realization.
Within the macro-event there should be distinguished: a framing event (can be 
compared to the main event, expressed by the main clause within a complex 
sentence) and a co-event (can be compared to the subordinate event, expressed by 
the subordinate clause within a complex sentence). 
The framing event constitutes an event schema, which schematizes the macro-
event as Motion, Change of State, etc. The co-event constitutes an event of 
circumstance within the macro-event and bears the support relation to the framing 
event. The support relations include those of Cause, Manner, Precursion, 
Enablement, Concomitance, Purpose and Constitutiveness. The most frequent 
among these are Cause and Manner. 
The conceptual structure of the macro-event is mapped onto syntactic structure. In 
English the framing event (or rather the event schema) is expressed by the 
satellite, while the co-event – by the main verb. The satellite is the grammatical 
category of any constituent other than a nominal or prepositional- phrase 
complement that is in a sister relation to the verb root. In English they are verb 
particles, prefixes, resultatives (formally adjectives). Although, the event schema is 
largely expressed by the satellite alone, it can be also expressed by a combination 
of a prepositional phrase containing a “locative noun”, e.g.: 

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1. The coin melted free (from the ice).- satellite (resultative); 
2. He waved us into the hall. – prepositional phrase, containing a “locative 
noun”; 
3. He came back. – satellite; 
4. He drove her home. – satellite.