1. the subject of theoretical grammar. its relations to other branches of linguistics
Grammar may be practical and theoretical. The aim of practical grammar is the description of
grammar rules that are necessary to understand and formulate sentences. The aim of theoretical
grammar is to offer explanation for these rules. Generally speaking, theoretical grammar deals
with the language as a functional system. As for theoretical linguistic descriptions, they pursue
analytical aims and therefore present the studied parts of language in relative isolation, so as to
gain insights into their inner structure and expose the intrinsic mechanisms of their functioning.
Hence, the aim of theoretical grammar of a language is to present a theoretical description of its
grammatical system, i.e. to scientifically analyse and define its grammatical categories and study
the mechanisms of grammatical formation of utterances out of words in the process of speech
making.
2. The notion of ‘grammatical meaning’.
The word combines in its semantic structure two meanings – lexical and grammatical.
Lexical meaning is the individual meaning of the word (e.g. table). Grammatical meaning is the
meaning of the whole class or a subclass. For example, the class of nouns has the grammatical
meaning of thingness. If we take a noun (table) we may say that it possesses its individual lexical
meaning (it corresponds to a definite piece of furniture) and the grammatical meaning of
thingness (this is the meaning of the whole class). Besides, the noun ‘table’ has the grammatical
meaning of a subclass – countableness. Any verb combines its individual lexical meaning with
the grammatical meaning of verbiality – the ability to denote actions or states. An adjective
combines its individual lexical meaning with the grammatical meaning of the whole class of
adjectives – qualitativeness – the ability to denote qualities. Adverbs possess the grammatical
meaning of adverbiality – the ability to denote quality of qualities.
There are some classes of words that are devoid of any lexical meaning and possess the
grammatical meaning only. This can be explained by the fact that they have no referents in the
objective reality. All function words belong to this group – articles, particles, prepositions, etc.
Types of grammatical meaning.
The grammatical meaning may be explicit and implicit. The implicit grammatical meaning is
not expressed formally (e.g. the word table does not contain any hints in its form as to it being
inanimate). The explicit grammatical meaning is always marked morphologically – it has its
marker. In the word cats the grammatical meaning of plurality is shown in the form of the noun;
cat’s – here the grammatical meaning of possessiveness is shown by the form ‘s; is asked –
shows the explicit grammatical meaning of passiveness.
The implicit grammatical meaning may be of two types – general and dependent. The
general grammatical meaning is the meaning of the whole word-class, of a part of speech (e.g.
nouns – the general grammatical meaning of thingness). The dependent grammatical meaning is
the meaning of a subclass within the same part of speech. For instance, any verb possesses the
dependent grammatical meaning of transitivity/intransitivity, terminativeness/nonterminativeness, stativeness/non-stativeness; nouns have the dependent grammatical meaning of
contableness/uncountableness and animateness/inanimateness. The most important thing about
the dependent grammatical meaning is that it influences the realization of grammatical categories
restricting them to a subclass. Thus the dependent grammatical meaning of
countableness/uncountableness influences the realization of the grammatical category of number
as the number category is realized only within the subclass of countable nouns, the grammatical
meaning of animateness/inanimateness influences the realization of the grammatical category of
case, teminativeness/non-terminativeness - the category of tense, transitivity/intransitivity – the
category of voice.
3. the notion of grammatical forms, category and opposition.
There are 3 fundamental notions: grammatical form, grammatical meaning, and grammatical
category. Notional words possess some morphemic features expressing grammatical meanings.
They determine the grammatical form of the word.
Grammatical form is not confined to an individual meaning of the word because grammatical
meaning is very abstract & general ex: oats-wheat: The grammatical form of oats is clearly plural
and grammatical form of wheat is singular, but we can’t say that oats are more than one& wheat
is one. So here we say that oats is grammatical. Plural & wheat is grammatical singular. There is
no clear one-to-one correspondence between grammatical category of singular & plural and
counting them in reality in terms of “one” and “more than one”.
A very vivid example confirming the rightness of this statement is connected with the category
of gender with biological sex ex: bull-cow, so the grammatical form presents a division of a
word of the principle of expressing a certain grammatical. meaning.
Grammatical meaning is very abstractive generalized meaning, which is linguistically expressed.
ex: Peter’s head -the grammatical meaning of the category of case showing the relations between
part and a whole.
Grammatical meaning is always expressed either explicitly or implicitly. For instance: The book
reads well here the grammatical. meaning of passivity is expressed implicitly.
Grammatical meaning is a system of expressing the grammatical meaning through the
paradigmatic correlation of grammatical forms-expressed by grammatical opposition, which can
be of different types:
Private
Gradual-large-larger-largest
Equipollent-am is are
Any grammatical category must be represented by at least two grammatical forms (e.g. the
grammatical category of number – singular and plural forms). The relation between two
grammatical forms differing in meaning and external signs is called opposition – book::books
(unmarked member/marked member). All grammatical categories find their realization through
oppositions, e.g. the grammatical category of number is realized through the opposition
singular::plural.
Taking all the above mentioned into consideration, we may define the grammatical category as
the opposition between two mutually exclusive form-classes (a form-class is a set of words with
the same explicit grammatical meaning).
4, 8. Grammatical homonymy in morphology and syntax.
Morphological synonymy reflects a variety of representations by different parts of speech for the
same meaning, e.g. due to (adjective), thanks to (noun), because of (preposition), etc.
Morphological homonymy may be described as phonetic equivalents with different grammatical
functions, e.g. He looks – her looks; they wanted – the job wanted; smoking is harmful – a
smoking man; you read – we saw you, etc.
Two or more morphemes may sound the same but be basically different, that is, they may be
homonyms. Thus the -er morpheme indicating the doer of an action as in writer has a
homonym — the morpheme -er denoting the comparative degree of adjectives and
adverbs, as in longer. Which of the two homonymous morphemes is actually there in a
given case can of course only be determined by examining the other morphemes in the
word. Thus, the morpheme -er in our first example, writer, cannot possibly be the morpheme
of the comparative degree, as the morpheme writ- to which it is joined on is not the stem
of an adjective or adverb, and so no comparative degree is to be thought of here.
In cases of polysemy and homonymy, two or more units of the plane of content correspond to
one unit of the plane of expression. For instance, the verbal form of the present indefinite (one
unit in the plane of expression) polysemantically renders the grammatical meanings of habitual
action, action at the present moment, action taken as a general truth (several units in the plane of
content). The morphemic material element -s/-es (in pronunciation [-s, -z, -iz]), i.e. one unit in
the plane of expression (in so far as the functional semantics of the elements is common to all of
them indiscriminately), homonymically renders the grammatical meanings of the third person
singular of the verbal present tense, the plural of the noun, the possessive form of the noun, i.e.
several units of the plane of content.
In cases of synonymy, conversely, two or more units of the plane of expression correspond to
one unit of the plane
of content. For instance, the forms of the verbal future indefinite, future continuous, and present
continuous (several units in the plane of expression) can in certain contexts synonymically
render the meaning of a future action (one unit in the plane of content).
5 The notion of morph and allomorphs.
A morph is a phonological string (of phonemes) that cannot be broken down into smaller
constituents that have a lexico-grammatical function. In some sense it corresponds to a wordform. An allomorph is a morph that has a unique set of grammatical or lexical features. All
allomorphs with the same set of features forms a morpheme. A morpheme, then, is a set of
allomorphs that have the same set of features. The morph 's' is linked to three distinct
allomorphs, each containing a different set of features as indicated in the morpheme class: if it is
adjoined to a noun, then it marks the plural; if it is adjoined to a verb, then it marks the third
person singular of the verb; if it is adjoined to a noun phrase, then it it marks possession.
One way to represent a morpheme is by listing its features ([+Past]). Many linguists try to
represent it by listing its chief allomorph if there are more than one allomorph ('s'). This is
somewhat ambiguous in that "s" could stand for three morphemes, and is not a desirable way list
a morpheme.
Each morpheme may have a different set of allomorphs. For example, "-en" is a second
allomorph that marks plural in nouns (irregular, in only three known nouns: ox/ox+en,
child/childr+en, brother/brether+en). The morph "-en" is linked to the allomorph "-en", which
occurs in complementary distribution with "-s". When the possessive is adjoined to a noun
phrase, there is only one phonological form, /s/, but it is written either as " 's " or " s'". The
inflectional pattern of English pronouns is too complex to go into here. "-en" is a distinct morph
from "s".
Morph is the phonetic realization of a morpheme which study the unit of form, sounds and
phonetic symbol. The morphs can be devided into two important classes, lexical and
grammatical.
Lexical morph is the morph that denote directly objects actions, qualities and other pieces of real
word (ex : table, dog, walk, etc.)
Grammatical morph is the morph that has been modifiying the meaning of the lexical morphs by
adding a certain element to them. (ex : un-, -able, re-, -d, in-, -ent, -ly, -al, -ize, -a-, -tion, anti-,
dis-, -ment, -ari-, -an, -ism)
Allomorph is variant form of morpheme about the sounds and phonetic symbols but it doesn’t
change the meaning. There are three types of allomorph, phonologically, morphologically and
lexically conditioned allomorph.
So, allomorph is variant form of a morpheme about the sounds and phonetic symbol but it
doesn’t change the meaning. Allomorph has different in pronounciation and spelling according
to their condition. It means that allomorph will have different sound, pronounciation or spelling
in different condition.
6 The morpheme. Types of morpheme
In linguistics, a morpheme is the smallest component of word, or other linguistic unit, that has
semantic meaning. The term is used as part of the branch of linguistics known as morphemebased morphology. A morpheme is composed by phoneme(s) (the smallest linguistically
distinctive units of sound) in spoken language, and by grapheme(s) (the smallest units of written
language) in written language.
The concept of word and morpheme are different, a morpheme may or may not stand alone. One
or several morphemes compose a word. A morpheme is free if it can stand alone (ex: "one",
"possible"), or bound if it is used exclusively alongside a free morpheme (ex: "im" in
impossible). Its actual phonetic representation is the morph, with the different morphs ("in-",
"im-") representing the same morpheme being grouped as its allomorphs.
The word "unbreakable" has three morphemes: "un-", a bound morpheme; "break", a free
morpheme; and "-able", a bound morpheme. "un-" is also a prefix, "-able" is a suffix. Both "un-"
and "-able" are affixes.
The morpheme plural-s has the morph "-s", /s/, in cats (/kæts/), but "-es", /ɨz/, in dishes (/dɪʃɨz/),
and even the voiced "-s", /z/, in dogs (/dɒɡz/). "-s". These are allomorphs.
Types of morphemes
Free morphemes, like town and dog, can appear with other lexemes (as in town hall or dog
house) or they can stand alone, i.e., "free".
Bound morphemes like "un-" appear only together with other morphemes to form a lexeme.
Bound morphemes in general tend to be prefixes and suffixes. Unproductive, non-affix
morphemes that exist only in bound form are known as "cranberry" morphemes, from the "cran"
in that very word.
Derivational morphemes can be added to a word to create (derive) another word: the addition of
"-ness" to "happy," for example, to give "happiness." They carry semantic information.
Inflectional morphemes modify a word's tense, number, aspect, and so on, without deriving a
new word or a word in a new grammatical category (as in the "dog" morpheme if written with
the plural marker morpheme "-s" becomes "dogs"). They carry grammatical information.
Allomorphs are variants of a morpheme, e.g., the plural marker in English is sometimes realized
as /-z/, /-s/ or /-ɨz/.
7. The syntactico-distributional classification of words is based on the study of their
combinability by means of substitution testing. The testing results in developing the standard
model of four main "positions" of notional words in the English sentence: those of the noun (N),
verb (V), adjective (A), adverb (D).
Fries chooses tape-recorded spontaneous conversations comprising about 250,000 word entries
(50 hours of talk). The words isolated from this corpus are tested on the three typical sentences
(that are isolated from the records, too), and used as substitution test-frames:
Frame A. The concert was good (always).
Frame B. The clerk remembered the tax (suddenly).
Frame C. The team went there.
As a result of successive substitution tests on the cited "frames" the following lists of positional
words ("form-words", or "parts of speech") are established:
Class 1. (A) concert, coffee, taste, container, difference, etc. (B) clerk, husband, supervisor, etc.;
tax, food, coffee, etc. (C) team, husband, woman, etc.
Class 2. (A) was, seemed, became, etc. (B) remembered, wanted, saw, suggested, etc. (C) went,
came, ran,... lived, worked, etc.
Class 3. (A) good, large, necessary, foreign, new, empty, etc.
Class 4. (A) there, here, always, then, sometimes, etc. (B) clearly, sufficiently, especially,
repeatedly, soon, etc. (C) there, back, out, etc.; rapidly, eagerly, confidently, etc.
All these words can fill in the positions of the frames without affecting their general structural
meaning:
- the first frame; "actor - action - thing acted upon - characteristic of the action"
- the second frame; "actor - action - direction of the action"
- the third frame.
Comparing the syntactico-distributional classification of words with the traditional part of speech
division of words, one cannot but see the similarity of the general schemes of the two: the
opposition of notional and functional words, the four absolutely cardinal classes of notional
words (since numerals and pronouns have no positional functions of their own and serve as pronounal and pro-adjectival elements), the interpretation of functional words as syntactic mediators
and their formal representation by the fist.
However, under these unquestionable traits of similarity are distinctly revealed essential features
of difference, the proper evaluation of which allows us to make some important generalizations
about the structure of the lexemic system of language.
10, 11. Syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations in language
Syntagmatic relations are immediate linear relations between units in a segmental sequence. The
combination of two words or word-groups one of which is modified by the other forms a unit
which is reffered to as a syntactic ” syntagma”.
There are four main types of notional syntagmas: predicative (the combination of a subject and a
predicate), objective (-/- a verb and its object), attributive (a noun and attribute), adverbial (a
modified notional word, such as a verb, adjective, or adverb, with its adverbial modifier). The
other type of relations, opposed to syntagmatic and called “paradigmatic”, are such as exist
between elements of the system outside the strings where they co-occur. Unlike syntagmatic
relations, paradigmatic relations cannot be directly observed in utterances, that is why they are
reffered to as relations “in absentia”.
Paradigmatic relations coexist with syntagmatic relations in such a way that some sort of
syntagmatic connection is necessary for the realization of any paradigmatic series. This is
especially evident in a classical grammatical paradigm which presents a productive series of
forms each consisting of a syntagmatic connection of two elements: one common for the whole
of the series, the other specific for every individual form in the series.
A linguistic unit can enter into relations of two different kinds. It enters into paradigmatic
relations with all the units that can also occur in the same environment. PR are relations based on
the principles of similarity. They exist between the units that can substitute one another. For
instance, in the word-group A PINT OF MILK the word PINT is in paradigmatic relations with
the words bottle, cup, etc. The article A can enter into PR with the units the, this, one, same, etc.
According to different principles of similarity PR can be of three types: semantic, formal and
functional.
Semantic PR are based on the similarity of meaning: a book to read = a book for reading. He
used to practice English every day – He would practice English every day.
Formal PR are based on the similarity of forms. Such relations exist between the members of a
paradigm: man – men; play – played – will play – is playing.
Functional PR are based on the similarity of function. They are established between the elements
that can occur in the same position. For instance, noun determiners: a, the, this, his, Ann’s, some,
each, etc.
PR are associated with the sphere of ‘language’.
A linguistic unit enters into syntagmatic relations with other units of the same level it occurs
with. SR exist at every language level. E.g. in the word-group A PINT OF MILK the word PINT
contrasts SR with A, OF, MILK; within the word PINT – P, I, N and T are in syntagmatic
relations. SR are linear relations, that is why they are manifested in speech. They can be of three
different types: coordinate, subordinate and predicative.
Coordinate SR exist between the homogeneous linguistic units that are equal in rank, that is, they
are the relations of independence: you and me; They were tired but happy.
Subordinate SR are the relations of dependence when one linguistic unit depends on the other:
teach + er – morphological level; a smart student – word-group level; predicative and
subordinate clauses – sentence level.
Predicative SR are the relations of interdependence: primary and secondary predication.
As mentioned above, SR may be observed in utterances, which is impossible when we deal with
PR. Therefore, PR are identified with ‘language’ while SR are identified with ‘speech’.
12 Language as a system and structure
Language is the system, phonological, lexical, and grammatical, which lies at the base of all
speaking. It is the source which every speaker and writer has to draw upon if he is to be
understood by other speakers of the language.
Language is regarded as a system of elements (or: signs, units) such as sounds, words, etc.
System implies the characterization of a complex object as made up of separate parts (e.g. the
system of sounds). Language is a structural system. Structure means hierarchical layering of
parts in `constituting the whole. In the structure of language there are four main structural levels:
phonological, morphological, syntactical and supersyntatical. The levels are represented by the
corresponding level units:
The phonological level is the lowest level. The phonological level unit is the`phoneme. It is a
distinctive unit (bag – back).
The morphological level has two level units:
the `morpheme – the lowest meaningful unit (teach – teacher);
the word - the main naming (`nominative) unit of language.
The syntactical level has two level units as well:
the word-group – the dependent syntactic unit;the sentence – the main communicative unit.
The supersyntactical level has the text as its level unit.
As a system, language is subdivided into three basic subsystems, each of which is a system in its
own turn. They are the phonetical (phonological), lexical and grammatical systems. The
phonetical system includes the material units of which language is made up: sounds, phonemes,
different intonation models, and accent models. The phonetical system of language is studied by
a separate branch of linguistics called phonology. The lexical system includes all the nominative
(naming) means of language – words and stable word-combinations. The lexical system is
studied by lexicology. The grammatical system includes the rules and regularities of using
lingual units in the construction of utterances in the process of human communication. The
grammatical system is described by grammar as a branch of linguistics
13 The dichotomy of language and speech
A dichotomy is any splitting of a whole into exactly two non-overlapping parts. In other words,
it is a mutually exclusive bipartition of elements. i.e. nothing can belong simultaneously to both
parts, and everything must belong to one part or the other. They are often contrasting and spoken
of as "opposites." The term comes from dichotomos (divided): dich- ([in] two) temnein (to cut).
The above applies directly when the term is used in mathematics, linguistics. For example, if
there is a concept A, and it is split into parts B and not-B, then the parts form a dichotomy: they
are mutually exclusive, since no part of B is contained in not-B and vice-versa, and they are
jointly exhaustive, since they cover all of A, and together again give A.
One of the fundamental concepts of linguistics is the dichotomy of «language and speech»
(langue—parole) introduced by F. de Saussure. According to it language is a system of
elementary and complex signs-phonemes, morphemes, words, word combinations, utterances
and combinations of utterances. Language as such a system exists m human minds only and
linguistic forms or units can be systematise" into paradigms. language is a mentally organised
system of linguistic units. An ъ0 .. aj speaker never uses it. When we use these units we mix m in
acts of speech. As distinct from language speech is not relv mental phenomenon, not a system
but a process of combining these linguistic elements into linear linguistic units that are called
syntagmatic. The result of this process is the linear or syntagmatic combination of vowels and
consonants into words, words into word-combinations and sentences and combination of
sentences into texts.
14. The phrase. The problem of predicative phrases.
In everyday speech, a phrase may refer to any group of words. In linguistics, a phrase is a group
of words (or sometimes a single word) that form a constituent and so function as a single unit in
the syntax of sentence. A phrase is lower on the grammatical hierarchy than a clause.
We will term "phrase" every combination of two or more words which is a grammatical unit
but is not an analytical form of some word (as, for instance, the perfect forms of verbs). The
constituent elements of a phrase may belong to any part of speech. The difference between a
phrase and a sentence is a fundamental one. A phrase is a means of naming some phenomena
or processes, just as a word is. Each component of a phrase can undergo grammatical
changes in accordance with grammatical categories represented in it, without destroying
the identity of the phrase. For instance, in the phrase write letters the first component can
change according to the verbal categories of tense, mood, etc., and the second component
according to the category of number.
Predicative word combinations are distinguished on the basis of secondary predication. Like
sentences, predicative word-groups are binary in their structure but actually differ essentially in
their organization. The sentence is an independent communicative unit based on primary
predication while the predicative word-group is a dependent syntactic unit that makes up a part
of the sentence. The predicative word-group consists of a nominal element (noun, pronoun) and
a non-finite form of the verb: N + Vnon-fin. There are Gerundial, Infinitive and Participial wordgroups (complexes) in the English language: his reading, for me to know, the boy running, etc.)
15. The phrase. Different approaches to the definition of phrase.
There are a lot of definitions concerning the word-group. The most adequate one seems to be the
following: the word-group is a combination of at least two notional words which do not
constitute the sentence but are syntactically connected. According to some other scholars (the
majority of Western scholars and professors B.Ilyish and V.Burlakova – in Russia), a
combination of a notional word with a function word (on the table) may be treated as a wordgroup as well. The problem is disputable as the role of function words is to show some abstract
relations and they are devoid of nominative power. On the other hand, such combinations are
syntactically bound and they should belong somewhere.
Despite the fact that the phrase, along with the sentence, is a basic unit of syntax, there is no
universally accepted definition of the phrase. Some scholars define the phrase as a combination
of at least two notional words which do not constitute the sentence but are syntactically
connected. However, the majority of Western linguists and Russian researchers Prof. B. Ilyish
and V. Burlakova believe that a combination of a notional word with a functional word can be
treated as a phrase as well, that is they term “phrase” every combination of two or more words,
which is a grammatical unit but is not an analytical form of some word. The problem is
disputable since the role of functional words is to denote some abstract relations and they are
devoid of nominative power. On the other hand, such combinations are syntactically bound and
they should belong somewhere. We shall adhere to the view supported by B. Ilyish and V.
Burlakova.
Despite all the controversies regarding the essence and nature of the phrase, the most adequate
interpretation seems to be as follows: the phrase is any syntactically organized group including
either notional words (happy life, very nice, to ignore the comment), or both notional and
functional words (on the table, in the bag, under the tree) connected with any of the existent
types of syntactic connection. The phrase is a linear language unit that can be either a part of the
sentence, or a separate sentence thus acquiring not only intonation coloring and corresponding
phrase stress, but also communicative orientation. Thus, the phrase can be defined as a
syntactically organized group of words of any morphological composition based on any type of
syntactic connection.
16. classification of phrases according to different criteria.
Linguists discuss different classifications of phrases, all of them having their own advantages.
The traditional classification of phrases is based on the part of speech status of the phrase
constituents, therefore nounal, verbal, adjectival, adverbial, etc. phrases are singled out.
Phrases can also be classified according to the nominative value of their constituents. According
to Prof. Blokh, syntagmatic groupings of notional words alone, syntagmatic groupings of
notional words with functional words, and syntagmatic groupings of functional words alone
should be differentiated, therefore three major types are identified: notional, formative and
functional.
According to the theory worked out by the American linguist L. Bloomfield, phrases can be
classified into two groups: endocentric and exocentric. The former include phrases one or any
constituent part of which can function in a broader structure as the whole group.
Eg. Red flower - He gave me a red flower. He gave me a flower.
Flowers and chocolate. - He gave me flowers. He gave me chocolate.
As for exocentric structures, according to Bloomfield, none
of their constituent parts can replace the whole group in a broader structure.
Eg. He gave, to the girl.
Endocentric structures are further divided into subordinate (red flower) and coordinate (flowers
and chocolate). Exocentric structures are divided into predicative (He gave) and prepositional
(to the girl). Bloomfield’s classification was further developed by his followers. It was made
more detailed. Some new types of phrases were singled out. A significant drawback of this
scheme is that it is not based on a single principle applied at every stage of the classification to
all discriminated types of structures.
According to the classification based on the internal structure of phrases, two groups can be
singled out: kernel phrases and kernel-free phrases.
Kernel phrases are grammatically organized structures in which one element dominates the
others. This element is not subordinated to any other element within the group, therefore it is the
leading element, that is, the kernel of the given phrase (for example, a nice place, well-known
artists, absolutely positive, to run fast, to see a movie, to taste good).
According to the direction of dependencies, that is, the position of the dominating and
subordinated elements relative of each other, all kernel phrases are divided into regressive and
progressive (with the left and right position of dependent elements respectively).
Further types of regressive and progressive kernel phrases can be singled out according to what
part of speech the head word belongs. The following types are differentiated:
Regressive: substantive (a good girl),
adjectival (absolutely clear), verbal (to fully
understand), adverbial (very quickly). verbal (to read a book), prepositional (on the wall).
Progressive: - substantive (a feeling of comfort), - adjectival (independent of your decision
17. Coordinate and subordinate phrases.
Coordination and Subordination are ways of combining words, phrases, and clauses into more
complex forms.
Two elements are "coordinated" when they are at the same level, providing information that is
somehow equal.
In linguistics, subordination (abbreviated variously SUBORD, SBRD, SUBR or SR) is a principle of
the hierarchical organization of linguistic units. The syntactic units are often either subordinate or
coordinate to each other.
Coordination: coordinate phrases consist of two or more syntactically equivalent units
joined in a cluster which functions as a single unit. The member units can be potentially joined
together by means of a coordinate conjunction.
Subordination: subordinate phrases are structures in which one of the members is
syntactically the leading element of the phrase. This dominating element is called the headword, or the kernel, and can be expressed by different parts of speech.
Coordinative phrases
- The elements are equal in their status
- Are used to expand sentence components but not to build the structure of the sentence
- Are built either (1) with the help of conjunctions expressing coordination (^ the relation is formally marked)
or (2) without conjunctions
Subordinative phrases
the main type of phrase in any language
- The elements are not equal in their status: a head word + one or more adjuncts
- Are used to build the structure of the sentence
- Are built either (1) with the help of prepositions expressing subordination (the dependence is
formally marked)or (2) without prepositions
Synthetical relations between the components of a phrase
agreement – method of expressing a synthectical relationship which consist in making the
subordinate word take a similar form of the head word // this book, those books as to the problem
of agreement of the verb with the noun and pronoun denoting the subject of the action // a child
plays, children play – usually treated on the sentence level
government – the use of certain form of subordinate word required by its head word but not
coinciding with the form of the head word. Only case in ENG – personal pronouns // invite him
adjoinment – the connection between these words is preserved owning to the grammatical and
semantic compatibility of the adv. Only verb + adv
enclosure – some element of a phrase is enclosed between 2 parts of another element
18. THE PARTS OF SPEECH PROBLEM. WORD CLASSES
The parts of speech are classes of words, all the members of these classes having certain
characteristics in common which distinguish them from the members of other classes. The
attitude of grammarians with regard to parts of speech and the basis of their classification varied
a good deal at different times. Only in English grammarians have been vacillating between 3 and
13 parts of speech. There are four approaches to the problem:
1. Classical (logical-inflectional)
2. Functional
3. Distributional
4. Complex
The classical parts of speech theory goes back to ancient times. It is based on Latin grammar.
According to the Latin classification of the parts of speech all words were divided
dichotomically into declinable and indeclinable parts of speech. The first of these groups,
declinable words, included nouns, pronouns, verbs and participles, the second – indeclinable
words – adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections. The logical-inflectional
classification is quite successful for Latin or other languages with developed morphology and
synthetic paradigms but it cannot be applied to the English language because the principle of
declinability/indeclinability is not relevant for analytical languages.
A new approach to the problem was introduced in the XIX century by Henry Sweet. He took
into account the peculiarities of the English language. This approach may be defined as
functional. He resorted to the functional features of words and singled out nominative units and
particles. To nominative parts of speech belonged noun-words (noun, noun-pronoun, noun-
numeral, infinitive, gerund), adjective-words (adjective, adjective-pronoun, adjective-numeral,
participles), verb (finite verb, verbals – gerund, infinitive, participles), while adverb, preposition,
conjunction and interjection belonged to the group of particles. However, though the criterion
for classification was functional, Henry Sweet failed to break the tradition and classified words
into those having morphological forms and lacking morphological forms, in other words,
declinable and indeclinable.
A distributional approach to the parts to the parts of speech classification can be illustrated
by the classification introduced by Charles Fries. He wanted to avoid the traditional terminology
and establish a classification of words based on distributive analysis, that is, the ability of words
to combine with other words of different types. At the same time, the lexical meaning of words
was not taken into account. According to Charles Fries, the words in such sentences as 1.
Woggles ugged diggles; 2. Uggs woggled diggs; and 3. Woggs diggled uggles are quite evident
structural signals, their position and combinability are enough to classify them into three wordclasses. In this way, he introduced four major classes of words and 15 form-classes. Let us see
how it worked. Three test frames formed the basis for his analysis:
Frame A - The concert was good (always);
Frame B - The clerk remembered the tax (suddenly);
Frame C – The team went there.
It turned out that his four classes of words were practically the same as traditional nouns, verbs,
adjectives and adverbs. What is really valuable in Charles Fries’ classification is his
investigation of 15 groups of function words (form-classes) because he was the first linguist to
pay attention to some of their peculiarities.
All the classifications mentioned above appear to be one-sided because parts of speech are
discriminated on the basis of only one aspect of the word: either its meaning or its form, or its
function.
In modern linguistics, parts of speech are discriminated according to three criteria: semantic,
formal and functional. This approach may be defined as complex. The semantic criterion
presupposes the grammatical meaning of the whole class of words (general grammatical
meaning). The formal criterion reveals paradigmatic properties: relevant grammatical categories,
the form of the words, their specific inflectional and derivational features. The functional
criterion concerns the syntactic function of words in the sentence and their combinability. Thus,
when characterizing any part of speech we are to describe: a) its semantics; b) its morphological
features; c) its syntactic peculiarities.
The linguistic evidence drawn from our grammatical study makes it possible to divide all the
words of the language into:
a) those denoting things, objects, notions, qualities, etc. – words with the corresponding
references in the objective reality – notional words;
b) those having no references of their own in the objective reality; most of them are used only
as grammatical means to form up and frame utterances – function words, or grammatical
words.
It is commonly recognized that the notional parts of speech are nouns, pronouns, numerals,
verbs, adjectives, adverbs; the functional parts of speech are articles, particles, prepositions,
conjunctions and modal words.
The division of language units into notion and function words reveals the interrelation of
lexical and grammatical types of meaning. In notional words the lexical meaning is predominant.
In function words the grammatical meaning dominates over the lexical one. However, in actual
speech the border line between notional and function words is not always clear cut. Some
notional words develop the meanings peculiar to function words - e.g. seminotional words – to
turn, to get, etc.
Notional words constitute the bulk of the existing word stock while function words constitute
a smaller group of words. Although the number of function words is limited (there are only about
50 of them in Modern English), they are the most frequently used units.
Russian academician V.V.Vinogradov defined the class of adverbs in the Russian language as
мусорная куча. It can be explained by the fact that to the class of adverbs belong those words
that cannot find their place anywhere else. At the same time, there are no grounds for grouping
them together either. Compare: perfectly (She speaks English perfectly) and again (He is here
again). Examples are numerous (all temporals). There are some words that do not belong
anywhere - e.g. after all. Speaking about after all it should be mentioned that this unit is quite
often used by native speakers, and practically never by our students. Some more striking
examples: anyway, actually, in fact
19,20. . Notional words and function words in Modern English.
Parts of speech are traditionally subdivided into notional & functional ones. Notional parts of
speech have both lexical & grammatical meanings (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, numerals,
statives, pronouns, modal words). Functional parts of speech are characterized mainly by the
grammatical meaning while their lexical meaning is either lost completely or has survived in a
very weakened form.
Functional parts of speech—the article, the preposition, the conjunction. Notional parts of speech
are characterized by word-building & word-changing properties; functional words have no
formal features & they should be memorized as ready-made units (but, since, till, until). Another
most important difference between functional & notional parts of speech is revealed on the level
of sentence. Where every notional word performs a certain synthetic function while functional
words have no synthetic function at all. They serve as indicators of a certain part of speech (to +
verb; a, the + noun). Prepositions are used to connect 2 words & conjunctions to connect 2
clauses or sentences.
Ilyish => Some grammarians think that words should be divided into two categories on the
following principle:
notional words denote things, actions and other extra-linguistic phenomena
functional words denote relations and connections between the notional words
This view is shaky, because functional words can also express smth extra-linguistic:
e.g. The letter is on the table.
The letter is in the table. (diff. prepositions express different relations between objects)
The match was called off because it was raining. (the conjunction because denotes the
causal connection between two processes).
Some words belonging to a particular part of speech may perform a function differing from that
which characterizes the p/of/sp as a whole.
e.g.
I have some money left. (have – a notional word)
I have found a dog. (have – an auxiliary verb used to form a certain analytical form of the
verb to find, i.e. it is a functional verb)
21. Noun
The noun is the central lexical unit of language. It is the main nominative unit of speech. As any
other part of speech, the noun can be characterised by three criteria: semantic (the meaning),
morphological (the form and grammatical categories) and syntactical (functions, distribution).
Semantic features of the noun. The noun possesses the grammatical meaning of thingness,
substantiality. According to different principles of classification, nouns fall into several
subclasses:
1. According to the type of nomination they may be proper and common;
2. According to the form of existence they may be animate and inanimate. Animate nouns in
their turn fall into human and non-human.
3.
According to their quantitative structure nouns can be countable and uncountable.
This set of subclasses cannot be put together into one table because of the different principles of
classification.
Morphological features of the noun. In accordance with the morphological structure of the stems
all nouns can be classified into: simple, derived (stem + affix, affix + stem — thingness);
compound (stem+ stem — armchair ) and composite (the Hague). The noun has morphological
categories of number and case. Some scholars admit the existence of the category of gender.
Syntactic features of the noun. The noun can be used in the sentence in all syntactic functions
but predicate. Speaking about noun combinability, we can say that it can go into right-hand and
left-hand connections with practically all parts of speech. That is why practically all parts of
speech but the verb can act as noun determiners. However, the most common noun determiners
are considered to be articles, pronouns, numerals, adjectives and nouns themselves in the
common and genitive case.
22. The category of number
The grammatical category of number is the linguistic representation of the objective
category of quantity. The number category is realized through the opposition of two formclasses: the plural form :: the singular form.
There are different approaches to defining the category of number. Thus, some scholars
believe that the category of number in English is restricted in its realization because of the
dependent implicit grammatical meaning of countableness/uncountableness. The category of
number is realized only within subclass of countable nouns, i.e. nouns having numeric (discrete)
structure. Uncountable nouns have no category of number, for they have quantitative
(indiscrete) structure. Two classes of uncountables can be distinguished: singularia tantum (only
singular) and pluralia tantum (only plural). M. Blokh, however, does not exclude the singularia
tantum subclass from the category of number. He calls such forms absolute singular forms
comparable to the ‘common’ singular of countable nouns.
In Indo-European languages there are lots of nouns that don’t fit into the traditional
definition of the category based on the notion of quantity. A word can denote one object, but it
has the plural form. Or a noun can denote more than one thing, but its form is singular. There is
a definition of the category of number that overcomes this inconsistency. It was worked out by
prof. Isachenko. According to him, the category of number denotes marked and unmarked
discreteness (not quantity). A word in a singular form denotes unmarked discreteness whether it
is a book, or a sheep, or sheep. If an object is perceived as a discrete thing, it has the form of the
plural number. Thus, trousers and books are perceived as discrete object whereas a flock of
sheep is seen as a whole. This definition is powerful because it covers nearly all nouns while the
traditional definition excludes many words.
The grammatical meaning of number may not coincide with the notional quantity: the
noun in the singular does not necessarily denote one object while the plural form may be used to
denote one object consisting of several parts. The singular form may denote:
a)
oneness (individual separate object — a cat);
b)
generalization (the meaning of the whole class — The cat is a domestic animal);
c)
indiscreteness (HepacnneHeHHOCTb or uncountableness - money, milk).
The plural form may denote:
a)
the existence of several objects (cats);
b)
the inner discreteness (BHyipeHHaa pacnneHeHHOCTb, pluralia tantum,
jeans).
To sum it up, all nouns may be subdivided into three groups:
The nouns in which the opposition of explicit discreteness/indiscreteness is expressed: cat::cats;
The nouns in which this opposition isnot expressed
explicitly but is
revealed by syntactical and lexical correlation
in the context.
There are two
groups here:
A.
Singularia tantum. It covers different groups of nouns: proper names, abstract
nouns, material nouns, collective nouns;
B.
Pluralia tantum. It covers the names of objects consisting of several parts (jeans), names of
sciences (mathematics), names of diseases, games, etc.
The nouns with homogenous number forms. The number opposition here is not expressed
formally but is revealed only lexically and syntactically in the context: e.g. Look! A sheep is
eating grass. Look! The sheep are eating grass
23, syntagmatic properties of noun
Combining with words to form phrases. A noun combines with a preceding adjective (big
house), or occasionally with a following adjective (secrets unrevealed), with a preceding noun in
either the common case (chocolate bar) or the genitive case (mother’sface), with a verb
following it (childrenplay) or preceding it (play games). Occasionally a noun may combine with
a following or a preceding adverb (the guy outside; the then president). It also combines with
prepositions (in a house; house of rest). It is typical of a noun to be preceded by the definite or
indefinite article (the room, a room). (b) Function in the sentence. A noun may be the subject or
the predicative of a sentence, or an object, an attribute, and an adverbial modifier. It can also
make part of each of these when preceded by a preposition.
24. Criteria of noun classification
According to different principles of classification, nouns fall into several subclasses:
1.
According to the type of nomination they may be proper and common;
2.
According to the form of existence they may be animate and inanimate. Animate nouns
in their turn fall into human and non-human.
3.
According to their quantitative structure nouns can be countable and uncountable.
This set of subclasses cannot be put together into one table because of the different principles of
classification.
25. The category of case.
Case expresses the relation of a word to another word in the word-group or sentence (my sister’s
coat). The category of case correlates with the objective category of possession. The case
category in English is realized through the opposition: The Common Case :: The Possessive
Case (sister :: sister’s). However, in modern linguistics the term “genitive case” is used instead
of the “possessive case” because the meanings rendered by the “`s” sign are not only those of
possession. The scope of meanings rendered by the Genitive Case is the following :
a)
Possessive Genitive : Mary’s father – Mary has a father,
b)
Subjective Genitive: The doctor’s arrival – The doctor has arrived,
c)
Objective Genitive : The man’s release – The man was released,
d)
Adverbial Genitive : Two hour’s work – X worked for two hours,
e)
Equation Genitive : a mile’s distance – the distance is a mile,
f)
Genitive of destination: children’s books – books for children,
g)
Mixed Group: yesterday’s paper
Nick’s school
cannot be reduced to one nucleus
John’s word
To avoid confusion with the plural, the marker of the genitive case is represented in written form
with an apostrophe. This fact makes possible disengagement of –`s form from the noun to which
it properly belongs. E.g.: The man I saw yesterday’s son, where -`s is appended to the whole
group (the so-called group genitive). It may even follow a word which normally does not possess
such a formant, as in somebody else’s book.
There is no universal point of view as to the case system in English. Different scholars stick to a
different number of cases.
1. There are two cases. The Common one and The Genitive;
2. There are no cases at all, the form `s is optional because the same relations may be expressed
by the ‘of-phrase’: the doctor’s arrival – the arrival of the doctor;
3. There are three cases: the Nominative, the Genitive, the Objective due to the existence of
objective pronouns me, him, whom;
4. Case Grammar. Ch.Fillmore introduced syntactic-semantic classification of cases. They
show relations in the so-called deep structure of the sentence. According to him, verbs may stand
to different relations to nouns. There are 6 cases:
1)
Agentive Case (A) John opened the door;
2)
Instrumental case (I) The key opened the door; John used the key to open the
door;
3)
Dative Case (D) John believed that he would win (the case of the animate being
affected by the state of action identified by the verb);
4)
Factitive Case (F) The key was damaged ( the result of the action or state
identified by the verb);
5)
Locative Case (L) Chicago is windy;
6)
Objective case (O) John stole the book.
26. The Problem of Gender in English
In Indo-European languages the category of gender is presented with flexions. It is not based on
sex distinction, but it is purely grammatical.
According to some language analysts (B.Ilyish, F.Palmer, and E.Morokhovskaya), nouns have
no category of gender in Modern English. Prof. Ilyish states that not a single word in Modern
English shows any peculiarities in its morphology due to its denoting male or female being.
Thus, the words husband and wife do not show any difference in their forms due to peculiarities
of their lexical meaning. The difference between such nouns as actor and actress is a purely
lexical one. In other words, the category of sex should not be confused with the category of
gender, because sex is an objective biological category. It correlates with gender only when sex
differences of living beings are manifested in the language grammatically (e.g. tiger - tigress).
Gender distinctions in English are marked for a limited number of nouns. In present-day English
there are some morphemes which present differences between masculine and feminine (waiter
— waitress, widow — widower). This distinction is not grammatically universal. It is not
characterized by a wide range of occurrences and by a grammatical level of abstraction. Only a
limited number of words are marked as belonging to masculine, feminine or neuter. The
morpheme on which the distinction between masculine and feminine is based in English is a
word- building morpheme, not form-building.
Still, other scholars (M.Blokh, John Lyons) admit the existence of the category of gender. Prof.
Blokh states that the existence of the category of gender in Modern English can be proved by the
correlation of nouns with personal pronouns of the third person (he, she, it). Accordingly, there
are three genders in English: the neuter (non-person) gender, the masculine gender, the feminine
gender.
27. 28 A General Outline of the Verb as a Part of Speech The verb is the most complex part
of speech. This is due to the central role it performs in realizing predication - connection
between the situation given in the utterance and reality. That is why the verb is of primary
informative significance in the utterance. Besides, the verb possesses a lot of grammatical
categories. Furthermore, within the class of verbs various subclass divisions based on different
principles of classification can be found.
Semantic features of the verb. The verb possesses the grammatical meaning of verbiality - the
ability to denote a process developing in time. This meaning is inherent not only in the verbs
denoting processes, but also in those denoting states, forms of existence, evaluations, etc.
Morphological features of the verb. The verb possesses the following grammatical categories:
tense, aspect, voice, mood, person, number, finitude and temporal correlation. The common
categories for finite and non-finite forms are voice, aspect, temporal correlation and finitude.
The grammatical categories of the English verb find their expression in both synthetical and
analytical forms.
Syntactic features. The most universal syntactic feature of verbs is their ability to be modified
by adverbs. The second important syntactic criterion is the ability of the verb to perform the
syntactic function of the predicate. However, this criterion is not absolute because only finite
forms can perform this function while non-finite forms can be used in any function but
predicate.
29 Classification of Verbs
Morphological classifications
1.
According to their stem-types all verbs fall into: simple (to play), sound- replacive
(food - to feed, blood - to bleed), stress-replacive (‘insult - to in’sult, ‘record - to re’cord),
expanded - built with the help of suffixes and prefixes (oversleep, undergo), composite correspond to composite nouns (to blackmail), phrasal (to have a smoke, to take a look).
2.
According to the way of forming past tenses and Participle II verbs can be regular
and irregular.
Lexical-morphological classification is based on the implicit grammatical meanings of the verb.
According to the implicit grammatical meaning of transitivity/intransitivity verbs fall into
transitive and intransitive.
According to the implicit grammatical meaning of stativeness/non- stativeness verbs fall into
stative and dynamic.
Dynamic verbs include:
1) activity verbs: beg, call, drink;
2) process verbs: grow, widen, narrow;
3) verbs of bodily sensations: hurt, itch;
4) transitional event verbs: die, fall;
5) momentary: hit, kick, nod.
Stative verbs include:
1) verbs of inert perception and cognition: adore, hate, love;
2) relational verbs: consist, cost, have, owe.
According to the implicit grammatical meaning of terminativeness/non- terminativeness verbs
fall into terminative and durative. This classification is closely connected with the categories of
aspect and temporal correlation.
Syntactic classifications
According to the nature of predication (primary and secondary) all verbs fall into finite and nonfinite.
Functional classification
According to their functional significance verbs can be notional (with the full lexical meaning),
semi-notional (modal verbs, link-verbs), auxiliaries. Auxiliaries are used in the strict order:
modal, perfective, progressive, passive.
30. The category of tense
Time is an unlimited duration in which things are considered as happening in the past, present or
future. Time stands for a concept with which all mankind is familiar. Time is independent of
language. Tense stands for a verb form used to express a time relation. Time is the same to all
mankind while tenses vary in different languages. Time can be expressed in language in two
basic ways: 1) lexically; 2) grammatically.
The category of tense is considered to be an immanent grammatical category which means that
the finite verb form always expresses time distinctions. The category of tense finds different
interpretations with different scholars.
According to one view, there are only two tenses in English: past and present. Most British
scholars do not recognize the existence of future. It is considered to be a combination of the
modal verb and an infinitive used to refer to future actions. The modal verbs “shall” and “will”
preserve their lexical meaning of “wish, volition”. In that case combinations of the modal verbs
with notional verbs should be regarded as free syntactical constructions, not as analytical
structures. However, there are some examples in which the notion of volition cannot be implied:
eg. He will die in a week.
I shall be twenty next Friday.
Provided that the situation is realistic, in these contexts lexical meanings of “shall” and “will”
are not present. These elements render only grammatical meanings, therefore they serve as
auxiliaries and such combinations must be regarded as analytical structures. So we have to
recognize the existence of pure futurity in English.
In traditional linguistics grammatical time is often represented as a three- form category
consisting of the “linear” past, present and future forms. The meaning of the category of tense is
the relation of the action expressed by a finite verb to the moment of speaking. Present denotes
coincidence, past denotes a prior action, future denotes a posterior action which follows the
moment of speaking.
The future-in-the-past does not find its place in the scheme based on the linear principle since it
does not show any relation to the moment of speaking, hence this system is considered to be
deficient, not covering all lingual data. Those who deny the existence of simple future in English
consider future-in-the-past one of the mood forms. Those who recognize the existence of simple
future argue that it is used in the same situation when simple future is used, in subordinate
clauses when the principal clause contains a past form. So, this form is different only in one
respect - it is dependent on the syntactic structure.
According to the concept worked out by Prof. Blokh, there exist two tense categories in English.
The first one - the category of primary time - expresses a direct retrospective evaluation of the
time of the process denoted. It is based upon the opposition of past vs. present, the past tense
being its strong member. The second one - the category of “prospective time” - is based on the
opposition of “after-action” and “non-after-action”, the marked member being the future tense.
31. The category of voice
The form of the verb may show whether the agent expressed by the subject is the doer of the
action or the recipient of the action (John broke the vase - the vase was broken). The objective
relations between the action and the subject or object of the action find their expression in
language as the grammatical category of voice. Therefore, the category of voice reflects the
objective relations between the action itself and the subject or object of the action:
The category of voice is realized through the opposition Active voice::Passive voice. The
passive is marked both in meaning and in form and the active as unmarked both in meaning and
in form.
The realization of the voice category is restricted because of the implicit grammatical meaning
of transitivity/intransitivity. In accordance with this meaning, all English verbs should fall into
transitive and intransitive. However, the classification turns out to be more complex and
comprises 6 groups:
1. Verbs used only transitively: to mark, to raise;
2. Verbs with the main transitive meaning: to see, to make, to build;
3. Verbs of intransitive meaning and secondary transitive meaning. A lot of intransitive verbs
may develop a secondary transitive meaning: They laughed me into agreement; He danced the
girl out of the room;
4. Verbs of a double nature, neither of the meanings are the leading one, the verbs can be used
both transitively and intransitively: to drive home - to drive a car;
5. Verbs that are never used in the Passive Voice: to seem, to become;
6. Verbs that realize their passive meaning only in special contexts: to live, to sleep, to sit, to
walk, to jump.
Three types of passive constructions can be differentiated: 1) direct primary passive; 2) indirect
secondary passive; 3) prepositional tertiary passive.
Some English verbs can admit only one object - the direct one: e.g. Mary saw him.
When such an object becomes the subject of a passive construction, the latter is called direct
primary passive: e.g. He was seen by Mary.
There are many verbs in English that take two objects in the active construction (direct and
indirect): e.g. I gave him a book. She told the story to her sister.
These verbs admit of two passive constructions:
a)
A book was given to him. The story was told to her sister. (the direct primary
passive)
b)
He was given a book. Her sister was told the story. (the indirect secondary
passive)
The indirect (secondary) passive is not infrequent in verb-phrases with the verb to give, such as:
to give credit, to give command, to give a chance, to give a choice, to give an explanation, to
give an opportunity, to give orders, to give shelter, and the like.
e.g. He was given a good to chance to argue.
She is given an opportunity to go to the south in summer.
Suppose, you are given a choice. What would you prefer?
However, many verbs in English may take a direct and an indirect object in the active
construction but admit only one passive construction — the direct passive, e.g.: to bring, to do,
to play, to telegraph and many others. The list could be extended.
Next come constructions with the so-called prepositional or tertiary passive. The subject of the
passive construction corresponds to the prepositional object of the active construction. This
“detached” preposition retains its place after the verb.
e.g. Everything was taken care of.
She could not bear being read to any longer.
He was constantly being laughed at.
It should be noted that some scholars admit the existence of Middle, Reflexive and Reciprocal
voices.
"Middle Voice" - the verbs primarily transitive may develop an intransitive middle meaning:
That adds a lot; The door opened; The book sells easily; The dress washes well.
"Reflexive Voice": He dressed; He washed - the subject is both the agent and the recipient of
the action at the same time. It is always possible to use a reflexive pronoun in this case: He
washed himself.
"Reciprocal voice”: They met; They kissed - it is always possible to use a reciprocal pronoun
here: They kissed each other.
We cannot, however, speak of different voices, because all these meanings are not expressed
morphologically.
32.Types of predication
Predication the part of a sentence in which something is asserted ordenied of the subject of a sent
ence; one of the two majorcomponents of a sentence, the other being the subjet
Predicative word combinations are distinguished on the basis of secondary predication. Like
sentences, predicative word-groups are binary in their structure but actually differ essentially in
their organization. The sentence is an independent communicative unit based on primary
predication while the predicative word-group is a dependent syntactic unit that makes up a part
of the sentence. The predicative word-group consists of a nominal element and a non-finite form
of the verb: N + Vnon-fin.
Predication– syntagmatic relations of interdependence. Predication may be of two kinds –
primary (sentence level) and secondary (phrase level). Primary predication is observed between
the subject and the predicate of the sentence while secondary predication is observed between
non-finite forms of the verb and nominal elements within the sentence. Secondary predication
serves the basis for gerundial, infinitive and participial word-groups (predicative complexes).
33. The category of finitude of verbs.
All verbal forms fall into two major sets: finite and non-finite. The term “finite” is derived from
the Latin term “verbum finitum”, which shows that these words denote actions developing in
time. Non-finite forms of the verb, the infinitive, the gerund, participle I (present participle) and
participle II (past participle), are otherwise called “verbals”, or “verbids”. The term, introduced
by O. Jespersen, implies that they are not verbs in the proper sense of the word, because they
combine features of the verb with features of other notional parts of speech. Their mixed, hybrid
nature is revealed in all the spheres of the parts-of-speech characterization: meaning, formal
features, and functions. The non-verbal features of verbids are as follows: they do not denote
pure processes, but present them as specific kinds of substances and properties; they are not
conjugated according to the categories of person and number, have no tense or mood forms; in
some contexts they are combined with the verbs like non-verbal parts of speech; they never
function as independent predicates; their functions are those characteristic for other notional
parts of speech. The verbal features of verbids are as follows: their grammatical meaning is
basically processual; like finites, they do have (at least, most of them have) aspect and voice
forms and verbal combinability with direct objects and adverbial modifiers; they can express
predication in specific semi-predicative constructions. Thus, verbids can be characterized
as intermediary phenomena between verbs and other non-verbal parts of speech. The opposition
between finite and non-finite forms of verbs expresses the category of “finitude”. The
grammatical meaning, the content of this category is the expression of verbal predication: the
finite forms of the verb render full (primary, complete, genuine) predication, the non-finite forms
render semi-predication, or secondary (potential) predication. The formal differential feature is
constituted by the expression of verbal time and mood, which underlie the predicative function:
having no immediate means of expressing time-mood categorial semantics, the verbids are the
weak member of the opposition. It is interesting to note that historically verbids in English were
at first separate non-verbal nominative forms, but later they were drawn into the class of verbs by
acquiring aspect and voice forms, verbal combinability, etc.
34. The category of aspect
The category of aspect. Aspect opposition
The category of aspect is a linguistic representation of the objective category of Manner of
Action. It is realized through the opposition Continuous: Non-Continuous (Progressive::NonProgressive). The realization of the category of aspect is closely connected with the lexical
meaning of verbs.
There are some verbs in English that do not normally occur with progressive aspect, even in
those contexts in which the majority of verbs necessarily take the progressive form. Among the
so-called ‘non-progressive’ verbs are think, understand, know, hate, love, see, taste, feel,
possess, own, etc. The most striking characteristic that they have in common is the fact that they
are ‘stative’ - they refer to a state of affairs, rather than to an action, event or process. It should
be observed, however, that all the ‘non-progressive' verbs take the progressive aspect under
particular circumstances. As the result of internal transposition verbs of non-progressive nature
can be found in the Continuous form: Now I'm knowing you. Generally speaking the Continuous
form has at least two semantic features - duration (the action is always in progress) and
definiteness (the action is always limited to a definite point or period of time).
The general meaning of the category of aspect is the inherent mode of realization of the process.
Aspect is closely connected with time semantics, showing, as A. M. Peshkovsky puts it, “the
distribution of the action in time”, or the “temporal structure” of the action.
Like time, aspect can be expressed both by lexical and grammatical means. This is one more
grammatical domain in which English differs dramatically from Russian: in Russian, aspect is
rendered by lexical means only, through the subdivision of verbs into perfective and
imperfective, делать –сделать; видеть – увидеть; etc. In Russian the aspective classification of
verbs is constant and very strict; it presents one of the most typical characteristics of the
grammatical system of the verb and governs its tense system formally and semantically. In
English, as shown in Unit 10, the aspective meaning is manifested in the lexical subdivision of
verbs into limitive and unlimitive, e.g.: to go – to come, to sit – sit down, etc. But most verbs in
English migrate easily from one subclass to the other and their aspective meaning is primarily
rendered by grammatical means through special variable verbal forms.
The expression of aspective semantics in English verbal forms is interconnected with the
expression of temporal semantics; that is why in practical grammar they are treated not as
separate tense and aspect forms but as specifictense-aspect forms, cf.: the present continuous – I
am working; the past continuous – I was working; the past perfect and the past indefinite – I had
done my work before he came, etc. This fusion of temporal and aspectual semantics and the
blend in their formal expression have generated a lot of controversies in dealing with the
category of aspect and the tense-aspect forms of the verb. The analysis of aspect has proven to
be one of the most complex areas of English linguistics: the four correlated forms, the indefinite,
the continuous, the perfect, and the perfect continuous, have been treated by different scholars as
tense forms, as aspect forms, as forms of mixed tense-aspect status, and as neither tense nor
aspect forms, but as forms of a separate grammatical category.
35. the category of time correlation.
There is no unity of opinions concerning the essence of the perfect forms. there exist 4 different
lines of approach to perfect forms: 1) Some linguists (Sweet, Jesperson, Gantshina) regard
perfect forms as tense forms. some other scholars consider them to be aspect forms. Professor
Ilyish calls perfect forms ‘forms of the resultative aspect’. Deutschbein, West and Vorontsova
call perfect forms transmissive aspect. professor Ivanova refers perfect forms to tense-aspect
system. The 3 named points of view seemed to be erroneous. The 4th line of approach is
represented by Professor Smirnitsky who arrived at the conclusion that this category is neither
one of tense nor that of aspect. He proves his point of view into following way: He takes the
form ‘has spoken’ and says if the perfect forms were a tense category, than the present perfect
would be a union of 2 different tenses – the present and perfect. This is clearly impossible,
because if a form already belongs to a tense category (Present for example), it cannot
simultaneously belong to another tense category. Otherwise, 2 particular tense categories in 1
form would collide. Thus, it follows that the category of perfect forms can’t be a tense category.
Grammatical category of time correlation – GC which marks the anteriority of the action to the
temporal axis of orientation (present, past, etc.), as opposed to simultaneity of the action with the
temporal
axis.
Time Correlation interprets the concept of time from the asp of temporal asp of actions. The gr
cat-ry of Time is constituted by the oppos-ion of Perf/Nonperf forms. There are diffr opinions on
the oppos-ion. We share the view of Smirnitskij who treats the oppos as a separate gr cat-ry "The
c-ry
of
Time
correlation".
The marked member is built with the help of the discontinious form "Have+ed". The meaning of
the Perf form includes 2 interrelated components: priority, correlation to another act or point of
time
in
the
Pres,
Past,
Futur.
This cat-ry is Antropological: it reflects the speaker's interpretation of the relations b/w the
actions. In certain context the General meaning of priority can be modefied & presented by
several
syntagmatic
meanings:
1) Result it is found with terminative verbs & appears to be the result of the gr meaning of
priority
&
the
aspective
char-re
of
the
verb.
2) Experience is the most evident manifestation of the anthropological char-re of the cat-ry. Pr
Perf denotes a past act which has a pres time relevance for the speaker.
3) Continuation of the past act in the pres is found with durative V. Ex: I've been here for
months.
4) An unfulfield act is found after the modal verbs: be might, ought, should & after the verbs of
hope, intention, expectation used in the past tense.the Perf form showes that the expected act
wasn't
realized.
5) Intensity- absolute complition of the act. This use of Perf forms is very expressive. The Past
Perf interrupts the line of a sucsession of past actions. Ex: He walked & whistled & suddenly he
had
stopped.
In the text the Perf form forms a retrospective to understand the causitive-consequitive relations
b/w
the
act-s.
The weak memberof the oppos has a very wide & general meaning. The oppos Perf/Nonperf
may be neutralized when the meaning of priority is expressed by other elements of context (on,
upon,
after+Ger).
The cat-ry needs spec attention in teaching because priority & correlation don't have gr
expression
in
R.
Many scholars (Smirnitsky) are of the opinion that the English perfect – non-perfect forms
represent a special grammatical category – the category of correlation which is expressed in the
system of two-member opposemes: writes – has written; wrote – had written; writing – having
written; to be written – to have been written, etc. showing whether the action is viewed as prior
to (perfect forms) or irrespective of other actions or situations (non-perfect forms) (Smirnitsky,
Barkhudarov).
The category of correlation is closely connected with those of tense and aspect. All the views on
the essence of the perfect forms in English may be classified into:
1) Otto Gespersen and others treat the perfect forms as a tense category.
2) Vorontsova Ilyish and others treat the perfect forms as an aspect category together with such
forms
as
the
continuous
aspect
and
common
aspect.
The category of correlation is characteristic of finites and non-finites of the indicative and the
subjunctive mood (with the exception of the imperative mood, participle II and subjunctive I).
E.g. The plane is reported to have left (to leave). She speaks as if she had been there herself. His
having
taken
the
book
is
out
of
the
question.
Many scholars find two perfect meanings: inclusive and exclusive. E.g. How long have u been
here?
(inclusive).
Where
have
u
been
(exclusive).
Gordon
and
Krylova
distinguish
3
uses
of
the
present
perfect.
1) Present Perfect I shows that the action took part in the past without mentioning any definite
circumstances under which it occurred: He is very sensitive. I have discovered that…
It is used to open up conversations, to introduce a new topic, to sum up a situation:
E.g.
What
is
it
they
have
done?
So
you
have
done
nothing?
The
attention
is
concentrated
on
the
action
itself.
2) Present Perfect II expresses an action, which began before the moment of speaking and
continues
into
it
or
up
to
it.
E.g.
I
have
known
him
since
childhood.
3)
Present
Perfect
III
is
used
to
express
a
future
action.
E.g. When you have had your tea we’ll see about it. The main sphere of Present Perfect is direct
speech.
The Past Perfect has the same meanings but is used mainly in narration, referring to the past: E.g.
She
was
no
fool.
She
had
read
much
and
with
good
sense.
The Future Perfect is used in two cases 1) to express a completed action before a given future
moment and 2) an action which begins before a given moment in the future and continues into it
or up to it; the later is rather seldom. E.g. I suppose we shall have made up our minds whom we
going to elect.
36. Analytical and synthetic forms of the verb.
morphemic composition of the word, while analytical grammatical forms are built up by a
combination of at least two words, one of which is a grammatical auxiliary (word-morpheme),
and the other, a word of "substantial" meaning. Synthetical grammatical forms are based on
inner inflexion, outer inflexion, and suppletivity; hence, the forms are referred to as innerinflexional, outer-inflexional, and suppletive.
Inner inflexion, or phonemic (vowel) interchange, is not productive in modern Indo-European
languages, but it is peculiarly employed in some of their basic, most ancient lexemic elements.
By this feature, the whole family of Indo-European languages is identified in linguistics as
typologically "inflexional".
Inner inflexion (grammatical "infixation", see above) is used in English in irregular verbs (the
bulk of them belong to the Germanic strong verbs) for the formation of the past indefinite and
past participle; besides, it is used in a few nouns for the formation of the plural. Since the
corresponding oppositions of forms are based on phonemic interchange, the initial paradigmatic
form of each lexeme should also be considered as inflexional. Cf.: take — took — taken,
drive — drove — driven, keep — kept — kept, etc.; man — men, brother — brethren, etc.
The traditional view of the analytical morphological form recognises two lexemic parts in it,
stating that it presents a combination of an auxiliary word with a basic word. However, there is a
tendency with some linguists to recognise as analytical not all such grammatically significant
combinations, but only those of them that are "grammatically idiomatic", i.e. whose relevant
grammatical meaning is not immediately dependent on the meanings of their component
elements taken apart. Considered in this light, the form of the verbal perfect where the auxiliary
"have" has utterly lost its original meaning of possession, is interpreted as the most standard and
indisputable analytical form 'in English morphology. Its opposite is seen in the analytical
degrees of comparison which, according to the cited interpretation, come very near to free
combinations of words by their lack of "idiomatism" in the above sense [Смирницкий, (2), 68 и
сл.; Бархударов, (2), 67 и сл.].*
37. Syntagmatic classification of verbs.External syntagmatic properties are often defined in
terms of frames, and various kinds of frame will be found in the linguistic literature:
subcategorisation frames, selectional frames, case frames, role frames, ...A frame is essentially a
template or pattern which is filled in by specific characteristics of the word concerned; the
different kinds of frame relate to different kinds of specific characteristics of the word, especially
syntactic and semantic properties. There are two ways of expressing frame
information: structural and functional.The main kinds of structural frame are, in order of
decreasing generality:Subcategorisation frame:The syntactic part of speech (POS)configuration
of the phrase in which a verb occurs. For example:All English verbs require a subject, and in
simple sentences with no special word order conditions the frame would specify [ NP ], where
the specifies the position of the verb, so that the whole structure would be [ NP
V
].However, this only specifies intransitive verbs, i.e. verbs with no object. The specification of a
transitive verb is [ NP NP ].Selectional frame:There are semantic restrictions (which may not
be as apparent in joking or metaphorical contexts) between verbs and the nouns with which they
typically occur. For example:Some verbs, like `eat', typically occur with `animatesubjects'. This
verb also typically occurs with `organic objects'. One traditional way (though not
uncontroversial) was of expressing the selectional frame for `eat' is [ +animate +organic
].Collocational frame:Sometimes the semantic restrictions are much stricter, requiring a
specific word or a small set of words in the frame. An example of a collocational frame for `moo'
would include `cow' as the typical subject, e.g. [ [ NP cow ] ... ].Idiom frame:Even more
strict are idiom frames, in which several words figure in the frame. For example: [ [(NP ) can't
make head or tail of (NP ) ] ].
Logically, verbs are generally treated as predicates which take a certain number of arguments.
We will return to this topic in a later session.The main traditional kinds of functional frame,
which will not be commented on further here, come from different theoretical
directions:Argument structure,S V O (etc.),case frame,theta role frame. Although the concept
of frame is usually applied to verbs, it can - perhaps surprisingly - be applied to all other parts of
speech, too.
38. The adjective as part of speech.An adjective is often defined as a word which describes or
gives more information about a noun or pronoun. Adjectives describe nouns in terms of such
qualities as size, color, number, and kind. In the sentence The lazy dog sat on the rug, the
word lazy is an adjective which gives more information about the noun dog. Usually
an adjective comes before the noun that it describes, as in tall man. It can also come after a form
of the word beas in The man is tall. More than one adjective can be used in this position in the
sentence The man is tall, dark and handsome. In later lessons, you will learn how to make
comparisons with adjectives.Most adjectivesdo not change form whether the noun it describes
is singular or plural.
For
example
we
say big tree and big trees, old house and old houses, good time and good times.
There
are,
however, some adjectives that do have different singular andplural forms. The common
words this and that have the plural forms these and those. These words are called demonstrative
adjectivesbecause demonstrate or point out what is being referred to.Another common type
of adjective is the possessive adjective which shows possession or ownership. The
words my dog or my dogs indicate that the dog or dogs belong to me. I would use
the plural form our if the dog or dogs belonged to me and other people. These modify a noun
and tell us what it is like, but not necessarily how it appears to the senses. Here 'descriptive' is
used in the widest sense of the word. The following descriptive adjectives describe the
noun:The flowery dress. The long train. The hairy pig. The smelly dog. They tell us what the
noun, or thing, looks like, sounds like, tastes like, feels like or smells like.
These adjectives might look a bit like adverbs!The moor is lonely. It feels tacky. The bush
is prickly.Proper AdjectivesThese are derived from proper names. For instance:John's car
Australian
EnglishFord
car.Possessive
Adjectives
Theseshowownership:my car, your cat, our house, their ideas In traditional grammar, these are
considered adjectives; nowadays, they are usually considered pronouns or determiners. They
define the nouns, but do not describe them (Or describe them in the widest sense of describe,
whatever that means). Because they do this, we can think of them as adjectives. Also they stand
for a noun. The word my stands for mine (of me). So my is also a pronoun. Numerical
adjectiveThe ordinal numbers: first, second, third, etc., are usually adjectives:The first one.
The second train. The third man.Also, the adjectives of quality: few, many, several are
adjectives.
Demonstrative
adjectiveThese
point
something
out:this book that pencil, these boxes, those cats,Like possessive adjectives, nowadays, these
are considered pronouns. In traditional grammar, they are demonstrative adjectives. But when
used like this:He gave me this. That is the pencil he gave me. These are her cats. current
grammar, like traditional grammar, calls them pronouns. Relative Adjective.Having faith
is what matters most. This is the dog whose collar we found. Interrogative and Exclamatory
AdjectivesThe following are examples of interrogative adjectives:Which bottle contains the
medicine? What shape is the new building? And these are exclamatory adjectives:
39. An adjective is often defined as a word which describes or gives more information about a
noun or pronoun. Adjectives describe nouns in terms of such qualities as size, color, number,
and kind. In the sentence Most descriptive adjectives can show degree of quality or quantity by
forming two degrees of comparison: the comparative degree and the superlative degree. These
degrees are formed from the positive degree, which is the usual form of adjectives. The
comparative and superlative forms can be simple (bigger, biggest) or compound (more attentive,
most attentive). The comparative degree and the superlative degree are formed by adding the
suffixes ER and EST to the positive form of the adjective or by using MORE and MOST before
the positive form of the adjective. The choice of ER, EST or MORE, MOST depends mostly on
the number of syllables in the adjective. Positive degree: bright; important. Comparative degree:
brighter; more important. Superlative degree: brightest; most important. n adjective in the
comparative or superlative form can stand before the noun that it defines or after the verb BE in
the predicative. For example: Try an easier exercise. This exercise is easier. As a rule, the
definite article is required before the superlative form of the adjective: the nearest hospital; the
largest room. One-syllable adjectives form the comparative and superlative degrees by adding
the suffixes ER, EST: black, blacker, blackest; cheap, cheaper, cheapest; clear, clearer, clearest;
cold, colder, coldest; Anna is tall. Ella is taller than her sister. Maria is the tallest girl in her class.
Most two-syllable adjectives, including adjectives ending in the suffixes "al, ant, ent, ish, ive, ic,
ous, ful, less", form the comparative and superlative degrees with the help of MORE, MOST:
active, more active, most active; careless, more careless, most careless; distant, more distant,
most distant; eager, more eager, most eager; famous, more famous, most famous; A more distant
object seems to be smaller than a closer object. Adjectives are words that describe nouns, like
colors, shapes, sizes, and appearances.In English, there is a single form for each adjective.
Unlike in some languages, English adjectives do not have different forms according to gender,
number, or location in the sentence.English adjectives always come in front of the nouns they
modify.In the following examples, the adjectives are in italics.
I bought a red car.
I need three new books.
The young girl saw a cute puppy.
What a good idea!
40. Analytical and syntactical forms of adjectives
Three forms constitute this category: the positive degree, the comparative degree, and the
superlative degree forms of the adjective. The basic form, known as the positive degree, has no
special formal mark, e.g.: tall, beautiful; the comparative degree is marked by two kinds of
forms; synthetical forms with the suffix “-er” and analytical forms with the auxiliary
wordmore, e.g.: taller, more beautiful; the superlative degree is also formed either synthetically
with the help of the grammatical suffix “-est”, or analytically with the help of the auxiliary
word most, e.g.: tallest, most beautiful. The synthetic and analytical degrees stand in
complementary distribution to each other, their choice is determined by syllabo-phonetic forms
of adjectives and is covered in detail in practical grammar textbooks. Also, there are suppletive
forms of the degrees of comparison, e.g.: bad – worse – worst.
41 - The sentence. General survey.
]A sentence is a grammatical unit consisting of one or more words that are grammatically
linked. A sentence can include words grouped meaningfully to express a statement, question,
exclamation, request, command or suggestion.
Components of a sentence:
Clauses
A clause typically contains at least a subject noun phrase and a finite verb. While the subject is
usually a noun phrase, other kinds of phrases (such as gerund phrases) work as well, and some
languages
allow
subjects
to
be
omitted.
There
are
two
types
of
clauses: independent and subordinate (dependent). An independent clause demonstrates a
complete thought; it is a complete sentence: for example, I am sad. A subordinate clause is not a
complete sentence: for example, because I have no friends. See also copula for the consequences
of the verb to be on the theory of sentence structure.
Classification:
By structure
One traditional scheme for classifying English sentences is by the number and types
of finite clauses:

A simple sentence consists of a single independent clause with no dependent clauses.
A compound sentence consists of multiple independent clauses with no dependent clauses.
These clauses are joined together using conjunctions, punctuation, or both.
 A complex sentence consists of one independent clause and at least one dependent clause.
 A complex-compound
sentence (or compound-complex sentence) consists of multiple
independent clauses, at least one of which has at least one dependent clause.
By purpose
Sentences can also be classified based on their purpose:

A declarative sentence or declaration, the most common type, commonly makes a statement:
"I have to go to work."
 An interrogative sentence or question is commonly used to request information — "Do I have
to go to work?" — but sometimes not; see rhetorical question.
 An exclamatory sentence or exclamation is generally a more emphatic form of statement
expressing emotion: "I have to go to work!"
 An imperative sentence or command tells someone to do something (and if done strongly may
be considered both imperative and exclamatory): "Go to work." or "Go to work!"
Major and minor sentences
A major sentence is a regular sentence; it has a subject and a predicate. For example: "I have a
ball." In this sentence one can change the persons: "We have a ball." However, a minor sentence
is an irregular type of sentence. It does not contain a finite verb. For example, "Mary!" "Yes."
"Coffee." etc. Other examples of minor sentences are headings (e.g. the heading of this entry),
stereotyped expressions ("Hello!"), emotional expressions ("Wow!"), proverbs, etc. This can also
include nominal sentences like "The more, the merrier". These do not contain verbs in order to
intensify the meaning around the nouns and are normally found in poetry and catchphrases.

Sentences that comprise a single word are called word sentences, and the words
themselves sentence words.
42 - The main characteristics of the sentence
An important structural feature of the sentence is its entirety, that is, no word of the given
sentence can be the head or a dependent element relative to words that stand outside this
sentence.
So, the sentence can be defined as an immediate integral unit used in speech communication,
built up of words according to a definite syntactic pattern and characterized by predication. It
possesses the following properties:
The sentence as a linguistic expression of extralinguistic reality must be actualized. Actualization
of the sentence content makes predicativity an inseparable property of every sentence.
The sentence, just like any other meaningful language unit, has a form. Every sentence has an
intonation pattern.
The sentence occupies the highest hierarchical position relative to other structural language units
since the final purpose of all structural language units is to build sentences. Unlike the sentence,
the text does not have accurate and unambiguous structural characteristics. There are no
universal structural schemes of the text. None of semantico-structural means used to join
sentences is specific to the text. Therefore, the text cannot be considered a structural language
unit.
43. The structural classification of sentences.
One traditional scheme for classifying English sentences is by the number and types of finite
clauses: sentences are divided into simple and composite, the latter consisting of two more
clauses. Composite sentences will be the subject of the next lecture, and here we will focus on
classifications of simple sentences.
Simple sentences are usually classified into one-member and two-member. This distinction is
based on a difference in the main parts of a sentence. One- member sentences do not contain two
such separate parts; in these sentences there is only one main part (e.g. Silence!)Such sentences
contain neither the subject nor the predicate. Instead there is only one main part. It is a disputed
point whether the main part of such a sentence should, or should not, be termed subject in some
cases, and predicate, in others.
One-member sentences should be kept apart from two-member sentences with either the subject
or the predicate omitted, i. e. from elliptical sentences.
Ellipsis in sentence-structure is a natural syntactic process in linguistic development presented as
normal practices in many, if not all, languages. In terms of traditional grammar, elliptical
sentences are generally identified as sentences with the subject or predicate missing. Some
grammarians hold another point of view recognising ellipsis also in sentences where the
secondary parts of the sentence are felt as missing. Such was A. M. Peshkovsky' s treatment of
elliptical sentences in Russian. This view was also shared by B. Ilyish, L. S. Barkhudarov and D.
A. Shtelling in regards to English. And this is the view we shall adhere to in our course. So an
elliptical sentence is a sentence with one or more of its parts left out, which can be
unambiguously inferred from the context. The main sphere of elliptical sentences is dialogue.
e.g. Where are you going? - To the movies.
In terms of structure the following types of elliptical sentences are singled
out:
omission of the subject: e.g. Hope to see you soon.
omission of the predicate in patterns with there is, there are, e. g. Too many mistakes, I am
afraid.
omission of auxiliary, copulative and other function verbs, e. g. You like it
here?
omission of the subject and auxiliary verb, e. g. Hear me?
omission of the subject and the copula-verb, e. g. Glad to see you again.
44. Communicative types of sentences.
In accord with the purpose of communication three cardinal sentence-types have long been
recognized in linguistic tradition: first, the declarative sentence; second, the imperative
(inductive) sentence; third, the interrogative sentence.
The declarative sentence expresses a statement, either affirmative or negative, and as such stands
in systemic syntagmatic correlation with listener’s responding signals of attention, of appraisal
(including agreement or disagreement), or of fellow-feeling.
The imperative sentence expresses inducement, either affirmative or negative. That is, it urges
the listener, in the form of request or command, to perform or not to perform a certain action. As
such, the imperative sentence is situationally connected with the corresponding ‘action
response’, and lingually is systemically correlated with a verbal response showing that the
inducement is either complied with, or else rejected.
The interrogative sentence expresses a question, i.e. a request for information wanted by the
speaker from the listener. It is naturally connected with the answer, forming together with it a
question-answer dialogue unity.
45. Actual division of the sentence. Methods of identification of the theme and the rheme.
Alongside of the traditional nominative division of the sentence, the idea of the so-called ‘actual
division’ of the sentence has been put forward in theoretical linguistics. The purpose of the
actual division of the sentence, called also the ‘functional sentence perspective’ (FSP), is to
reveal the correlative significance of the sentence parts from the point of view of their actual
informative role in an utterance, i.e. from the point of view of the immediate semantic
contribution they make to the total information conveyed by the sentence in the context of
connected speech. In other words, the actual division of the sentence in fact exposes its
informative perspective.
The main components of the actual division of the sentence are the theme (T) and the rheme (R).
The theme (from the Greek ‘the’ – ‘to set’, ‘to establish’) expresses the starting point of the
communication, i.e. it denotes an object or a phenomenon about which something is reported.
The rheme (from the Greek ‘rhe’ – ‘to say’, ‘to tell’) expresses the basic informative part of the
communication, its contextually relevant center. Between the theme and the rheme are
positioned intermediary, transitional parts of the actual division of various degrees of informative
value (these parts are sometimes called ‘transition’). The theme and the rheme of the actual
division of the sentence may or may not coincide with the subject and the predicate, respectively.
E.g. They obeyed. Here is your book.
46. When the difference between homonyms is not only confined to the lexical
meaning but the grammatical types are also different, they are called grammatical
homonyms. They are given separate entries in the dictionary. In these cases, the
words have similar canonical form but different paradigms and structural
patterns. Verbs occurring as transitive and intransitive or lexical units that occur
as nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. (e.g. cut (v.), cut (n.), cut (adj.)) are examples of
such homonyms (ibid.).
Homonyms are words which are identical in sound and spelling, or, at least, in one of these
aspects, but different in their meaning.
bank, n.-a shore bank, n.-an institution for receiving, lending, exchanging, and safeguarding
money
ball, n. – a sphere; any spherical body ball, n.-a large dancing party
In the process of communication they are more of an encumbrance, leading sometimes to
confusion and misunderstanding. Yet it is this very characteristic which makes them one of the
most important sources of popular humour. The pun is a joke based upon the play upon words of
similar form but different meaning
Sources of Homonyms:
Phonetic changes which words- undergo in the course of their historical
development. Night andknight,
Borrowing. A borrowed word may, in the final stage of its phonetic adaptation, duplicate in form
either a native word or another borrowing. rite, n. – to write, v.- right, adj. the second and third
words are of native origin whereas rite is a Latin borrowing (< Lat. ritus).
Conversion – comb, n.- to comb, v., pale, adj.- to pale, v., to make, v,- make, n. Homonyms of
this type, which are the same in sound and spelling but refer to different categories of parts of
speech, are called lexico-grammatical homonyms.
Shortening. E.g. fan, n. in the sense of “an enthusiastic admirer of some kind of sport or of
an actor, singer, etc.” is a shortening produced from fanatic.
Words made by sound-imitation) can also form pairs of homonyms with other words: e,
g. bang, n. (“a loud, sudden, explosive noise”) – bang, n. (“a fringe of hair combed over . the
forehead”).
(Two or more homonyms can “originate from different meanings of the same word when, for
some reason, the semantic structure of the word breaks into several parts. This type of formation
of homonyms is called split polysemy.
Board – a long and thin piece of timber
Board – daily meals especially provided for pay.
Board – an official group of persons who direct or supervise some activity. A board of directors
All the meanings developed from the meaning ” a table”.
Classification of Homonyms
The subdivision of homonyms into:
homonyms proper – words same in sound and in spelling. 1.fit – perfectly fitting clothes. 2. fit –
nervous spasm.
homophones -the same in sound, different in spelling.1. been 2.bean
homographs -the sane in spelling, different in sound 1.to lead – go before, show the way 2. lead
– a heavy rather soft metal.
47. Kernel sentences.
Structurally the kernel sentences coincides with the elementary sentence. The difference is, that
the iattern of the kernel sentence is interpreted as forming the base of a oaradigmatic derivation
in the corresponding sentence-pattern series.
Thus, syntactic derivation should not be understood as an immediate change of one sentence into
another one; a pronounced or written sdntence is a finished utterance that thereby cannot
undergo any changes. Syntactic derivation is to be understood as paradigmatic production of
more complex pattern-constructions out of kernel pattern-constructoins as their structural bases.
The description of this production («generation») may be more detailed and less detailed, i.e. it
can be effected in more generalized and less generalized terms,depending on the aim of the
scholar.The most concrete presentation concerns a given speech-utterance analysed into its
derivation history on the level of the word-forms.
E.g. -«I saw him come».
This sentence is described in school grammar as a sentence with a complex object, which is
syntagmatically adequate, though incomplete from the systemic point of view. The syntagmatic
description is supplemented and re-interpreted within the framework of the paradigmatic
description pre-senting the sentence in question as produced from the two kernel sentences: I
saw him.+ He came.+I saw him come.
48. the Composite Sentence
Unlike a simple sentence that consists of a single independent clause with no dependent clauses,
a composite sentence is built up by two or more predicative lines. It can be defined as a structural
and semantic unity of two or more syntactic constructions each having a predicative center of its
own, built on the basis of a syntactic connection and used in speech communication as a unit of
the same rank as the simple sentence.
The following characteristics should be kept in mind when discussing composite sentences:
the type of syntactic connection (coordination or subordination);
the rank of predicative constructions, that is, the place occupied by the predicative construction
in the hierarchy of clauses;
presence or absence of connectors and their character.
A general classification of composite sentences can be based on the first two criteria - the type of
syntactic connection and the rank of predicative constructions. Here compound and complex
sentences are singled out. In the compound sentence predicative constructions of the high rank
are connected by means of coordination while in the complex sentence - by means of
subordination.
According to the way in which parts of the composite sentence are joined together, two types can
be singled out:
syndetic (by means of connectors);
asyndetic (without any connectors).
The connector can either be a conjunction, a pronoun or an adverb. If it is a conjunction, its
function in the sentence is to join the clauses together. If it is a pronoun or an adverb (i. e. a
relative pronoun or a relative adverb), then it serves as a part of one of the two clauses which are
joined (a subject, object, adverbial modifier, etc.), and also joins the two clauses together.
There can be disputable cases when it is not quite clear a composite sentence is syndetic or
asyndetic. It depends on the way we view a particular word.
e.g. The one thing she seems to aim at is Individuality; yet she cares nothing for individuals.
The second clause of the composite sentence opens with the word yet, so we may say that it is an
adverb and the connection is asyndetic, or else, that it is a conjunction and the connection is
syndetic.
49. Compound Sentences
Compound sentences are structures of co-ordination with two or more immediate constituents
which are syntactically equivalent, i. e. none of them is below the other in rank.
The process of coordination involves the linking of structures of equal grammatical rank —
single words and phrases in elementary compound groups or independent clauses in compound
sentences. The coordinative conjunctions and the correlatives serve to produce coordination by
joining the grammatically equivalent elements. Two or more clauses equal in rank can together
be given the status of a single sentence. Such co-ordinated units make up a compound sentence.
The formative words linking the parts of a compound sentence fall into the following types: 1)
coordinative conjunctions, 2) conjunctive adverbs, 3) fixed prepositional phrases.
Coordinative conjunctions are rather few in number: and, but, or, yet, for.
Sentence-linking words, called conjunctive advebs are: consequently, furthermore, hence,
however, moreover, nevertheless, therefore.
Some typical fixed prepositional phrases functioning as sentence linkers are:
at least, as a result, after a while, in addition, in contrast, in the next place, on the other hand, for
example, for instance.
Coordinate connectors can established different semantic relations between clauses. Coordinate
sentence linkers can be grouped in the following way:
Copulative, connecting two members and their meanings, the second member indicating an
addition of equal importance, or, on the other hand, an advance in time and space, or an
intensification, often coming in pairs, then called correlatives: and; both... and; equally... and;
alike... and; at once... and; not... nor for neither, or and neither); not (or never)... not (or nor)...
either; neither... nor, etc.
Disjunctive, connecting two members but disconnecting their meaning, the meaning in the
second member excluding that in the first: or, and in questions whether... or with the force of
simple or; or... either; either... or, etc., the disjunctive adverbs else, otherwise, or... or, or... else,
in older English other else.
Adversative, connecting two members, but contrasting their meaning: but, but then, only, still,
yet, and yet, however, on the other hand, again, on the contrary, etc.
Causal, adding an independent proposition explaining the preceding statement, represented only
by the single conjunction for: The brook was very high, for a great deal of rain had fallen over
night.
Illative, introducing an inference, conclusion, consequence, result:
namely, therefore, on that account, consequently, accordingly, for that reason, so, then, hence,
etc.
Explanatory, connecting words, phrases or sentences and introducing an explanation or a
particularisation: namely, to wit, that is, that is to say, or, such as, as, like, for example, for
instance, say, let us say, etc.
50. SYNTAX AS A BRANCH OF LINGUISTICS
o Syntax as part of grammar.
o The subject matter of Syntax. Syntax deals with combinability of words, i.e. how words are
combined to make meaningful utterances, what patterns they combine on, and what abstract
grammatical meaning they express.
o The main objectives of Syntax are:
to study relations between words within word combinations;
to study the sentence as a structural unit which communicates a message in a definite situation.
o The units of syntactic analysis are the sentence and the phrase. They represent different levels
of a hierarchy.
o From the constructive point of view both the sentence and the phrase are groups of elements
related with each other and organised in a definite way.
Syntax, originating from the Greek words συν (syn, meaning "co-" or "together") and τάξις
(táxis, meaning "sequence, order, arrangement"), can in linguistics be described as the study of
the rules, or "patterned relations" that govern the way the words in a sentence come together. It
concerns how different words (which, going back to Dionysios Thrax, are categorized as nouns,
adjectives, verbs, etc.) are combined into clauses, which, in turn, are combined into sentences.
Syntax attempts to systematize descriptive grammar, and is unconcerned with prescriptive
grammar (see Prescription and description).
There exist innumerable theories of formal syntax — theories that have in time risen or fallen in
influence. Most theories of syntax at least share two commonalities: First, they hierarchically
group subunits into constituent units (phrases). Second, they provide some system of rules to
explain patterns of acceptability/grammaticality and unacceptability/ungrammaticality. Most
formal theories of syntax offer explanations of the systematic relationships between syntactic
form and semantic meaning.
There are various theories as to how best to make grammars such that by systematic application
of the rules, one can arrive at every phrase marker in a language (and hence every sentence in the
language).
A modern approach to combining accurate descriptions of the grammatical patterns of language
with their function in context is that of systemic functional grammar, an approach originally
developed by Michael A.K. Halliday in the 1960s and now pursued actively in all continents.
Systemic-functional grammar is related both to feature-based approaches such as Head-driven
phrase structure grammar and to the older functional traditions of European schools of linguistics
such as British Contextualism and the Prague School.
A syntactic category is either a phrasal category, such as noun phrase or verb phrase, which can
be decomposed into smaller syntactic categories, or a lexical category, such as noun or verb,
which cannot be further decomposed.
In terms of phrase structure rules, phrasal categories can occur to the left side of the arrow while
lexical categories cannot.
The lexical categories are traditionally called the parts of speech. They include nouns, verbs,
adjectives, and so on.
51. A complex sentence consists of a principal clause and one or more subordinate clauses. This
definition is true, however, only in a general sense. In an exact sense there is often no principal
clause; this is the case with complex sentences containing a subject clause or a predicative
clause.
Clauses in a complex sentence may be linked in two ways:
1. Syndetically, i.e. by means of subordinating conjunctions or connectives. There is a difference
between a conjunction and a connective. A conjunction only serves as a formal element
connecting separate clauses, whereas a connective serves as a connecting link and has at the
same time a syntactic function in the subordinate clause it introduces.
2. Asyndetically, i.e. without a conjunction or connective.
A subordinate clause may follow, precede, or interrupt the principal clause.
A complex sentence may contain two or more homogeneous clauses coordinated with each
other.
A subordinate clause may be subordinated to the principal clause or to another subordinate
clause. Accordingly we distinguish subordinate clauses of the first, second, third, etc. degree of
subordination.
According to their grammatical function subordinate clauses are divided into subject,
predicative, attributive, object, and adverbial clauses.
Subject clauses perform the function of subject to the predicate of the sentence.
Predicative clauses perform the function of a predicative.
Object clauses perform the function of an object to the predicate-verb of the principal clause. An
object clause may also refer to a non-finite form of the verb, to an adjective, or to a word
belonging to the part of speech expressing state.
Attributive clauses serve as an attribute to a noun (pronoun) in the principal clause. This noun or
pronoun is called the antecedent of the clause. According to their meaning and the way they are
connected with the principal clause attributive clauses are divided into relative and appositive
ones.
Attributive relative clauses qualify the antecedent, whereas attributive appositive clauses disclose
its meaning.
Attributive relative clauses can be restrictive and non-restrictive or descriptive.
1. An attributive relative restrictive clause restricts the meaning of the antecedent. It cannot be
removed without destroying the meaning of the sentence.
2. An attributive relative non-restrictive clause does not restrict the meaning of the antecedent; it
gives some additional information about it.
A variant of the attributive non-restrictive clause is the continuative clause, whose antecedent is
not one word but a whole clause.
E.g. He hasn’t helped her, which is a shame.
Attributive appositive clauses disclose the meaning of the antecedent, which is expressed by an
abstract noun.
An adverbial clause performs the function of an adverbial modifier. It can modify a verb, an
adjective or an adverb in the principal clause.
According to their meaning we distinguish the following kinds of adverbial clauses: adverbial
clauses of time, place, cause (reason), purpose, condition, concession, result, manner, and
comparison.
(b) Subordinate clauses may be substituted by various syntactic structures, both complex and
simple, while retaining the semantic and modal features of the kernel structures. The transforms,
therefore, may be represented by word combinations, participial, gerundial, and infinitival
constructions.
52. . ESSENTIAL FEATURES OF THE SENTANCE
A sentence is a unit of speech whose grammatical structure conforms to the laws of the language
and which serves as the chief means of conveying a thought. A sentence is not only a means of
communicating something about reality but a means of showing the speaker’s attitude to it.
It is rather difficult to define the sentence as it is connected with many lingual and extra lingual
aspects – logical, psychological and philosophical. We will just stick to one of them - according
to academician G.Pocheptsov, the sentence is the central syntactic construction used as the
minimal communicative unit that has its primary predication, actualises a definite structural
scheme
and
possesses
definite
intonation
characteristics.
The most essential features of the sentence as a linguistic unit are a) its structural characteristics
– subject-predicate relations (primary predication), and b) its semanticcharacteristics – it refers to
some
fact
in
the
objective
reality.
According to the purpose of the utterance we distinguish 4 kinds of sentences:
1- The declarative sentence states a fact in the affirmative or negative form. In DS the subject
precedes the predicate (pronounced with falling intonation) (!: English predicate can have only
one
negation).
He
does
not
go
anywhere.
2- An Imperative sentence serves to induce a person to do smth, so it expresses a command
(falling tone: Come to the blackboard!), a request or invitation (rising tone: Open the door,
please!).
3- The interrogative sentence asks a question. It is formed by means of inversion (unless subject
is
an
interrogative
word: Who is
in
the
room?
–
no
inversion).
There
are
several
kinds
of
questions:
General questions requiring the answer yes or no and spoken with a rising intonation. They are
formed by placing part of the predicative (auxiliary or modal verb) before the subject.
Do
you
like
art?
Can
you
speak
English?
Astonishment: Haven’t
you
seen
him
yet?
Rhetoric questions: Can you commit a whole country to their own prisons?
Special
q.
beginning
with
an
interrogative
word (falling
intonation)
Where
do
you
live?
(order
of
words
is
as
in
Gen.
question)
Who lives in this room? (Who – is a subject, order of words is as that of a statement)
Alternative
questions,
indicating
choice
Do
you
live
in
town
or
in
the
country?
Disjunctive questions requiring the answer yes or no and consisting of an affirmative statement
followed by a negative question, or a negative statement followed by an affirmative question
You
speak
English,
don’t
you?
4- An exclamatory sentence expresses some kind of emotion or feeling. It often begins with the
words what and how, it is always in the declarative form (no inversion) (falling intonation: What
a lovely day it is! How wonderful!)
53. Basic syntactic notions. Syntactic units, syntactic relations, syntactic connections.
The relation between a unit and other units (inner relations between units). No unit can be used
independently; it serves as an element in the system of other units. This kind of meaning is called
syntactic. Formal relation of units to one another is studied by syntactics (or syntax). Only inner
(syntactic) relations between linguistic units served the basis for linguistic analysis while the
reference of words to the objective reality and language users were actually not considered
Syntactic
units
can
go
into
3
types
of
syntactic
relations.
Coordination (SR1) – syntagmatic relations of independence. SR1 can be observed on the
phrase, sentence and text levels. Coordination may be symmetric and asymmetric. Symmetric
coordination is characterized by complete interchangeability of its elements – pens and pencils.
Asymmetric coordination occurs when the position of elements is fixed: ladies and gentlemen.
Forms of connection within SR1 may be copulative (you and me), disjunctive (you or
me), adversative (strict but just) and causative-consecutive (sentence and text level only).
Subordination (SR2) – syntagmatic relations of dependence. SR2 are established between the
constituents of different linguistic rank. They are observed on the phrase and sentence level.
Subordination may be of three different kinds – adverbial (to speak slowly), objective (to see a
house) and attributive (a beautiful flower). Forms of subordination may also be different –
agreement (this book – these books), government (help us), adjournment (the use of modifying
particles just, only, even, etc.) and enclosure (the use of modal words and their equivalents
really, after all, etc.).
Predication (SR3) – syntagmatic relations of interdependence. Predication may be of two kinds –
primary (sentence level) and secondary (phrase level). Primary predication is observed between
the subject and the predicate of the sentence while secondary predication is observed between
non-finite forms of the verb and nominal elements within the sentence. Secondary predication
serves the basis for gerundial, infinitive and participial word-groups (predicative complexes).
54. Pragmatic aspects of the sentence. The correlation of semantics and pragmatics of the
sentence.
(a) Pragmatic syntax studies the social designation of language, i.e. the usage of sentences in
speech activity. The sentence is a concentration of functional peculiarities of language and
speech. Studying sentence pragmatics comprises an important sphere of language knowledge,
since language literacy presupposes not only an ability to construct sentences (language
competence) but also an ability to use them correctly in acts of speech to achieve the desired
communicative-functional result (communicative competence).
Pragmatic aspects of the sentence include the following notions:
- communicative intention, which is, inherent in the sentence, directiveness to solving a definite
lingual problem of communication;
- locution, which is the use of cognitive contents of the sentence, without any communicative
purpose;
- illocution, which is an intonational framing of a communicative intention;
- perlocution, which is the effect of an act of speech.
(b) Since the contents of sentences, actualized in acts of speech, is not limited to lexicogrammatical in formation only, but always includes communicative-intentional, or pragmatic,
contents, this semantic peculiarity is of great importance. Semantically identical sentences may
have various illocutionary points, e.g. the sentence ‘I’ll watch you’ may be used as a statement, a
promise, a menace, an inquiry, etc. However, there are cases when the semantics of the sentence
predetermines its pragmatics, e.g. the sentence ‘The train will arrive in time’ cannot mean a
promise, for the reality of the action does not depend on the speaker.
55.
Syntactical Language level
unite
Formation
structure
Functional
states
phrasilic
2 or more words
PolyNonnomination communicative
Predicative phrasilic
wordgrouping
with nonfinite
Nominal+verbal
element
Semipredicative
Noncommunicative
clause
Sentence(/proposimic) Subject+predicate predicative
Noncommunicative
sentence
sentence
Word related to predicative
one
another
syntagmatic
communicative
Composite
sentence
sentence
A
group
clauses
of Polypredicative
communicative
text
Superproposimic/(sentence)
A
group
sentence
of Textual
unity
communicative
Wordgroup
Communicative
value
56. In a sentence we distinguish the principal parts, secondary parts and independent elements.
The principal parts of a sentence are the subject and the predicate. The independent elements are
interjections,
direct
address
and
parenthesis.
The subject is the principal part of the sentence which is grammatically independent of the other
parts of the sentence. The subject can denote a living being, a lifeless thing or an idea. It can be
expressed
by:
1.
A
noun
in
the
common
(nominative)
case.
2. A pronoun – personal, demonstrative, defining, indefinite, negative, possessive, interrogative.
3.
A
substantivized
adjective
or
participle.
4.
A
numeral.
5.
An
infinitive,
an
infinitive
phrase
or
construction.
6.
A
gerund,
a
gerundial
phrase
or
construction.
7. Any part of speech used as a quotation, or a quotation group.
8. A group of words which is one part of the sentence, i.e. a syntactically indivisible group. The
predicate is the principal part of the sentence which expresses an action, state, or quality of the
person, thing, or idea denoted by the subject. It is grammatically dependent upon the subject.
As a rule the predicate contains a finite verb which may express tense, mood, voice, aspect, and
sometimes person and number. According to the structure and the meaning of the predicate we
distinguish two main types: the simple predicate and the compound predicate.
The simple predicate is expressed by a finite verb in a simple or a compound tense form. It
generally denotes an action; sometimes, however, it denotes a state which is represented as an
action. There is a special kind of predicate expressed by a phraseological unit, the so-called
phraseological
predicate.
The compound predicate consists of two parts: (a) a finite verb and (b) some other part of
speech: a noun, a pronoun, an adjective, a verbal, etc. The second component is the significant
part of the predicate. The first part expresses the verbal categories of person, number, tense,
aspect, mood and voice; besides it has a certain lexical meaning of its own. The compound
predicate may be nominal or verbal. The compound nominal predicate consists of a link verb and
a predicative (the latter is also called the nominal part of the predicate).
The compound verbal predicate consists of a modal verb (modal expression) or a verb expressing
the beginning, repetition, duration or cessation of the action, and an infinitive or a gerund.
There
are
also
mixed
types
of
predicates.
The object is a secondary part of the sentence which completes or restricts the meaning of a verb
or sometimes an adjective, a word denoting state, or a noun. There are three kinds of object in
English: the direct object, the indirect object, and the cognate object (e.g. to live a happy life).
The attribute is a secondary part of the sentence which qualifies a noun, a pronoun, or any other
part of speech that has a nominal character. There is a special kind of attribute called apposition
which
may
be
close
or
loose
(detached).
The adverbial modifier is a secondary part of the sentence which modifies a verb, an adjective or
an adverb. There exist adverbial modifiers of time, frequency, place and direction, attendant
circumstances, degree and measure, cause, result (consequence), comparison, concession and
purpose.
(h) The complicating elements of the sentence are homogeneous members (two or more subjects,
predicates, etc.), specifying parts of the sentence (objects, attributes, adverbial modifiers) and
detached, or loose, parts of the sentence, i.e. those which assume a certain grammatical and
semantic independence. In spoken language they are marked by intonation, pauses, and special
stress; in written language they are generally separated by commas or dashes.
57. The Object
The complexity of the object as a sentence member makes difficult to work out an adequate
approach to describing this phenomenon. Different classifications of objects have been proposed
both by Russian and foreign scholars. The most common ones are as follows:
Objects are divided into direct, indirect and prepositional.
This classification is far from perfect since the principle it is based on is not consistent. Direct
and indirect objects are singled out on the basis of the contents while prepositional objects are
differentiated based on the formal feature (presence of preposition). Besides, indirect and
prepositional objects can overlap.
Objects are grouped into prepositional and non-prepositional.
The drawback of this classification is that the underlying principle is not specific uniquely to
objects.
Prof. Pocheptsov singles out the following types of objects:
Object object (gononHeHHe oSteKTa) is a sentence member dependent on the verb, adjective
or a word of the category of state that denotes an object of action or of quality. It can be
prepositional or non-prepositional.
Addressee object (gononHeHHe agpecaTa) denotes a person or an object to which some action
performed by the subject (if the verb is in the Active Voice) is directed.
e.g. I called her.
prepositional: I sent a letter to her.
non-prepositional: I sent her a letter.
Subject object (gononHeHHe cySteKTa) is used with a verb in Passive and denotes the doer of
the action expressed by the verb. It is always prepositional - by/with N
58. The Attribute
Attribute is a dependent element of a nominative phrase that denotes an attributive quality of an
object expressed by a noun. It is a secondary part of the sentence modifying a part of the
sentence expressed by a noun, a substantival pronoun, a cardinal numeral, and any substantivised
word, and characterizing the thing named by these words as to its quality or property.
According to the position relative to the head word, attributes can be prepositive and
postpositive. The position of an attribute with respect to its head word depends partly on the
morphological peculiarities of the attribute itself, and partly on stylistic factors.
Apposition has been often regarded as a special kind of attribute, and sometimes as a secondary
part of a sentence distinct from an attribute. Apposition is a word or phrase referring to a part of
the sentence expressed by a noun, and explaining and specifying its meaning by giving it another
name. Appositions are usually expressed by nouns.
The major problem concerning the secondary sentence parts is caused by the fact that
characteristic features of each of the three types are not clearly defined, therefore describing a
given word or phrase as an object or an attribute in some cases, or describing it as an object or an
adverbial modifier, in others, often proves to be a matter of personal opinion or predilection.
There are some elements of the sentence which are neither its main parts, nor any of the usual
secondary ones. They are the direct address and the parenthesis. (Refer to the book by Ilyish for
more information).
59. The Subject
The subject is one of the two main parts of the sentence. It denotes the thing whose action or
characteristic is expressed by the predicate. It may be expressed by different parts of speech, the
most frequent ones being: a noun in the common case, a personal pronoun in the nominative
case, a demonstrative pronoun, a substantivised adjective, a numeral, an infinitive, and a gerund.
It may also be expressed by a phrase.
The subject performs two main functions: categorial and relative. The categorial function of the
subject consists in naming the possessor of the predicative feature expressed by the predicate.
The relative function of the subject consists in its being the original element in the syntagmatic
development of the sentence, thus constituting the predicate’s left environment as opposed to its
right environment.
As it has already been mentioned, the subject always goes with the predicate, therefore, onemember nominal sentences do not have a subject.
60. The Predicate
The predicate denotes the action or property of the thing expressed by the subject. It can be
expressed by numerous ways. The predicate expresses the predicative feature which
characterized the object expressed by the subject, thus it realizes the categorial function. Being a
link between the subject and the right environment of the verb, it performs the relative function.
According to morphological characteristics, four types of predicates can be singled out:
verbal;
nominal;
phraseological;
contaminated.
The predicate can be subject to the syntactic process of complication, thus, according to their
structural characteristics, predicates can be simple and complicated. Therefore, eight types of
predicates can be identified.
Simple verbal I took an apple.
Simple nominal
The coincidence was extraordinary.
Simple He gave me a smile.
phraseological
Simple contaminated He sat motionless.
Complicated verbal The girl began to cry.
Complicated He turned out to be a thief.
nominal
Complicated You should have taken a look at the map.
phraseological
Complicated He seemed to be lying asleep.
contaminated
(Mind that Prof. Ilyish’s idea of simple and compound nominal predicate is different from the
traditional view. NB what he calls double predicate - Catherine's blood ran cold with the horrid
suggestions which naturally sprang from these words. (J. AUSTEN))