Grammatical structure of English. Parts of speech and grammatical categories




1) Grammar is divided into 2 parts morphology and syntax. M-deals with parts of speech and forms of words and S-with phrases and sent. The word may be described as the basic unit of language. Uniting meaning and form, it is composed of one or more morphemes, each consisting of one or more spoken sounds or their written representation. It has been universally acknowledged that a great many words have a composite nature and are made up of morphemes, which are defined as the smallest indivisible two-facet language units.

The morphological analysis of word- structure on the morphemic level aims at splitting the word into its constituent morphemes – the basic units at this level of analysis – and at determining their number and types. The four types (root words, derived words, compound, shortenings) represent the main structural types of words, and conversion, derivation and composition the most productive ways of word building.

According to the number of morphemes words can be

classified into monomorphic and polymorphic. Monomorphic or root-words consist of only one root-morpheme, e.g. small, dog, make, etc. All polymorphic word fall into two subgroups: derived words and compound words – according to the number of root-morphemes they have. Derived words are composed of one root-morpheme and one or more derivational morphemes, e.g. acceptable, disagreeable, etc. Compound words are those which contain at least two root-morphemes, the number of derivational morphemes being insignificant. There can be both root- and derivational morphemes in compounds as in pen-holder, light-mindedness, or only root-morphemes as in lamp-shade, eye-ball, etc.

Morpheme – is the 2d main unit of the language structure. The shortest structural unit which carried a definite gr. meaning. Morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit of the language.

In traditional grammar the study of the morphemic structure of the word was conducted in the light of the two basic criteria: positional (the location of the marginal morphemes in relation to the central ones) and semantic or functional (the correlative contribution of the morphemes to the general meaning of the word). In accord with the traditional classification, morphemes on the upper level are divided into root-morphemes (roots) and affixal morphemes (affixes). The roots express the concrete, "material" part of the meaning of the word, while the affixes express the specificational part of the meaning of the word, the specifications being of lexico-semantic and grammatico-semantic character.

The roots of notional words are classical lexical morphemes.

The affixal morphemes include prefixes, suffixes, and inflexions (in the tradition of the English school grammatical inflexions are commonly referred to as "suffixes"). Of these, prefixes and lexical suffixes have word-building functions, together with the root they form the stem of the word; inflexions (grammatical suffixes) express different morphological categories. out — a root-word (preposition, adverb, verbal postposition, adjective, noun, verb); throughout — a composite word, in which -out serves as one of the roots (the categorial status of the meaning of both morphemes is the same); Further insights into the correlation between the formal and functional aspects of morphemes within the composition of the word may be gained in the light of the so-called "allo-emic" theory put forward by Descriptive Linguistics and broadly used in the current linguistic research.In accord with this theory, lingual units are described by means of two types of terms: allo- termsand eme- terms. Eme-terms denote the generalised invariant units of language characterised by a certain functional status: phonemes, morphemes. Allo-terms denote the concrete manifestations, or variants of the generalised units dependent on the regular co-location with other elements of language: allophones, allomorphs. A set of iso-functional allo-units identified in the text on the basis of their co-occurrence with other lingual units (distribution) is considered as the corresponding eme-unit with its fixed systemic status.

Three main types of distribution are discriminated in the distributional analysis, namely, contrastive distribution, non-contrastive distribution, and complementary distribution.

We shall survey the distributional morpheme types arranging them in pairs of immediate correlation.

On the basis of the degree of self-dependence, "free" morphemes and "bound" morphemes are distinguished. Bound morphemes cannot form words by themselves, they are identified only as component segmental parts of words. As different from this, free morphemes can build up words by themselves, i.e. can be used "freely".

For instance, in the word handful the root hand is a free morpheme, while the suffix -ful is a bound morpheme.

There are very few productive bound morphemes in the morphological system of English. Being extremely narrow, the list of them is complicated by the relations of homonymy. These morphemes are the following:

1) the segments -(e)s [-z, -s, -iz]: the plural of nouns, the possessive case of nouns, the third person singular present of verbs;

2) the segments -(e)d [-d, -t, -id]: the past and past participle of verbs;

3) the segments -ing: the gerund and present participle;

4) the segments -er, -est: the comparative and superlative degrees of adjectives and adverbs.

On the basis of formal presentation, "overt" morphemes and "covert" morphemes are distinguished. Overt morphemes are genuine, explicit morphemes building up words; the covert morpheme is identified as a contrastive absence of morpheme expressing a certain function. The notion of covert morpheme coincides with the notion of zero morpheme in the oppositional description of grammatical categories (see further).On the basis of segmental relation, "segmental" morphemes and "supra-segmental" morphemes are distinguished. Interpreted as supra-segmental morphemes in distributional terms are intonation contours, accents, pauses.On the basis of grammatical alternation, "additive" morphemes and "replacive" morphemes are distinguished.

It should be remembered that the phonemic interchange is utterly unproductive in English as in all the Indo-European languages. If it were productive, it might rationally be interpreted as a sort of replacive "infixation" (correlated with "exfixation" of the additive type). As it stands, however, this type of grammatical means can be understood as a kind of suppletivity (i.e. partial suppletivity).

On the basis of linear characteristic, "continuous" (or "linear") morphemes and "discontinuous" morphemes are distinguished.

By the discontinuous morpheme, opposed to the common, i.e. uninterruptedly expressed, continuous morpheme, a two-element grammatical unit is meant which is identified in the analytical grammatical form comprising an auxiliary word and a grammatical suffix.

It is easy to see that the notion of morpheme applied to the analytical form of the word violates the principle of the identification of morpheme as an elementary meaningful segment: the analytical "framing" consists of two meaningful segments, i.e. of two different morphemes. On the other hand, the general notion "discontinuous constituent", "discontinuous unit" is quite rational and can be helpfully used in linguistic description in its proper place.

The words of language, depending on various formal and semantic features, are divided into grammatically relevant sets or classes. The tra­ditional grammatical classes of words are called "parts of speech". Since the word is distinguished not only by grammatical, but also by semanti-co-lexemic properties, some scholars refer to parts of speech as "lexico-grammatical" series of words, or as "lexico-grammatical categories".

It should be noted that the term "part of speech" is purely traditional and conventional, it cannot be taken as in any way defining or explana­tory. This name was introduced in the grammatical teaching of Ancient Greece, where the concept of the sentence was not yet explicitly identi­fied in distinction to the general idea of speech, and where, consequently, no strict differentiation was drawn between the word as a vocabulary unit and the word as a functional element of the sentence.

In modern linguistics, parts of speech are discriminated on the basis of the three criteria: " semantic ", " formal ", and " functional ".

The se­mantic criterion presupposes the evaluation of the generalized meaning, which is characteristic of all the subsets of words constituting a given part of speech. This meaning is understood as the "categorial meaning of the part of speech".

The formal criterion provides for the exposition of the specific inflexional and derivational (word-building) features of all

the lexemic subsets of a part of speech.

The functional criterion concerns the syntactic role of words in the sentence typical of a part of speech. The said three factors of categorial characterization of words are conven­tionally referred to as, respectively, "meaning", "form", and "function".

In accord with the described criteria, words on the upper level of classification are divided into notional and functional, which reflects their division in the earlier grammatical tradition into changeable and un­changeable.

To the notional parts of speech of the English language belong the noun, the adjective, the numeral, the pronoun, the verb, the adverb.

The features of the noun within the identificational triad "meaning -form - function" are, correspondingly, the following:

1) the categorial meaning of substance ("thingness");

2) the changeable forms of number and case; the specific suffixal forms of derivation (prefixes in English do not discriminate parts of speech as such);

3) the substantive functions in the sentence (subject, object, substantival predicative); prepositional con­nections; modification by an adjective.

The features of the adjective:

1) the categorial meaning of property (qualitative and relative);

2) the forms of the degrees of comparison (for qualitative adjectives); the specific suffixal forms of derivation;

3) adjec­tival functions in the sentence (attribute to a noun, adjectival predica­tive).

The features of the numeral:

1) the categorial meaning of number (cardinal and ordinal);

2) the narrow set of simple numerals; the specific forms of composition for compound numerals; the specific suffixal forms of derivation for ordinal numerals;

3) the functions of numerical attribute and numerical substantive.

The features of the pronoun:

1) the categorial meaning of indication (deixis);

2) the narrow sets of various status with the corresponding formal properties of categorial changeability and word-building;

3) the substan­tival and adjectival functions for different sets.

The features of the verb:

1) the categorial meaning of process (pre­sented in the two upper series of forms, respectively, as finite process and non-finite process);

2) the forms of the verbal categories of person, number, tense, aspect, voice, mood; the opposition of the finite and non-finite forms;

3) the function of the finite predicate for the finite verb; the mixed verbal - other than verbal functions for the non-finite verb.

The features of the adverb:

1) the categorial meaning of the second­ary property, i.e. the property of process or another property;

2) the forms of the degrees of comparison for qualitative adverbs; the specific suffixal forms of derivation;

3) the functions of various adverbial modi­fiers.

We have surveyed the identifying properties of the notional parts of speech that unite the words of complete nominative

meaning character­ized by self-dependent functions in the sentence.

Contrasted against the notional parts of speech are words of incom­plete nominative meaning and non-self-dependent, mediatory functions in the sentence. These are functional parts of speech.

On the principle of "generalized form" only unchangeable words are traditionally treated under the heading of functional parts of speech. As for their individual forms as such, they are simply presented by the list, since the number of these words is limited, so that they needn't be iden­tified on any general, operational scheme.

To the basic functional series of words in English belong the article, the preposition, the conjunction, the particle, the modal word, the inter­jection.

The article expresses the specific limitation of the substantive func­tions.

The preposition expresses the dependencies and interdependencies of substantive referents.

The conjunction expresses connections of phenomena.

The particle unites the functional words of specifying and limiting meaning. To this series, alongside other specifying words, should be re­ferred verbal postpositions as functional modifiers of verbs, etc.

The modal word, occupying in the sentence a more pronounced or less pronounced detached position, expresses the attitude of the speaker to the reflected situation and its parts. Here belong the functional words of probability {probably; perhaps, etc.), of qualitative evaluation {fortu­nately, unfortunately, luckily, etc.), and also of affirmation and negation.

The interjection, occupying a detached position in the sentence, is a signal of emotions.

 

Parts of Speech. Prenormative - like in Latin 8 PSp-N, prn, participle, V, adv, prep, conj. +Ben Jonson article, + Brightland qualities (adj). His system- names (N), affirmatives (V), qualities (adj), particles (other). Class Scientif G- Sweet - gr meaning, form, function. Declinable\ indeclinable. Decl: 1)N-wrds- N proper, n-prn, n-numeral (cardinal), inf, gerund. 2)Adj-wrds- adj proper, adj-prn, adj-numeral (ordinal), prt 1 &2. 3)V-wrds- finite V, inf, gerund, prt 1& 2, Indecl: adv, prep, conj, interj. System-not consisten. Jespersen -the same principles 5 PSp- N, Adj, Prn (+numerals, pronominal adv-where, why), V(+ verbals=inf, ger,part), Partic (proper-just,too.., prep-s, conj). Structural G r- formal analysis of formal ling unit. Meaning exluded, but form- leading/ (root- white, whiten, whiteness).. Method of nonsense wrds (take into consid the distrib-n of wrds in a sent. Method of substitution (put wrds into the positionof certain wrds). Fries- 4 wrd-classes (67%), 15 gr of function wrds(33%). Substitution diagnostic frames. Fries criticized previous but didn’t give defin of of this gram category. Transformat Gr didn’t classify PSp,preoccupied with Syntax. Rus theory of PSp on the grounds of ideas of Scherba & Vinogradov. Notional wrds have Lex meaning & Gram meaning. LM names concrete individual features of obj, GM describes concepts & notions.  Dif LM but one GM (a tree, a house..- ‘thingness’). Adj- GM of quality. Function wrds (prep, conj)- denote relations b\w wrds, statements. Adv express quality of a quality. Formal properties - 2 kinds- word-changing, word-building. WC affixes- not helpful in the process of class-n  lang is analytical, WC inflections r polyfunctional & few of them. –S (Nplur, V3pSing, \posses case\), -ed (Past Ind, Pt2, WB in comp adj ‘blue-eyed’), -er (WB in adj, WB in N). WB affixes- rich in them, original (-dom, -hood, -ship), loan (Scand –by, Fr –ess, let, ee). OK 4 distrib wrds into PSp (N- tion, ness, hood, don. Adj- ous, ful, y. V- ate, ise, fy. Ly- N+ly=adj, Adj+ly=adv). Synt Functions r presupposed by the valency & combinatoric abilities of wrds. Complex interrelations b\w wrds in 1 class.  Field Approach by Zernov. Each PSp a field= a center & periphery. (Class N, Proper N, Abstr N, Material N. Pronoun cross (can perform its function), adj cross (are substan-zed, the rich). FA shows interrelations in 1 class & b\w classes.

 


 

NOUN: GENERAL

§ 1. The noun as a part of speech has the categorial meaning of "substance" or "thingness". It follows from this that the noun is the main nominative part of speech, effecting nomination of the fullest value within the framework of the notional division of the lexicon.This natural and practically unlimited substantivisation force establishes the noun as the central nominative lexemic unit of language.

§ 2. The categorial functional properties of the noun are determined by its semantic properties.The most characteristic substantive function of the noun is that of the subject in the sentence, since the referent of the subject is the person or thing immediately named. The function of the object in the sentence is also typical of the noun as the substance word. Other syntactic functions, i.e. attributive, adverbial, and even predicative, although performed by the noun with equal ease, are not immediately characteristic of its substantive quality as such.

§ 3. As a part of speech, the noun is also characterised by a set of formal features determining its specific status in the lexical paradigm of nomination. It has its word-building distinctions, including typical suffixes, compound stem models, conversion patterns. It discriminates the grammatical categories of gender, number, case, article determination. The first nounal subclass opposition differentiates proper and common nouns. The foundation of this division is "type of nomination". The second subclass opposition differentiates animate and inanimate nouns on the basis of "form of existence". The third subclass opposition differentiates human and non-human nouns on the basis of "personal quality". The fourth subclass opposition differentiates countable and uncountable nouns on the basis of "quantitative structure". Somewhat less explicitly and rigorously realised is the division of English nouns into concrete and abstract.

NOUN: GENDER

The category of gender is expressed in English by the obligatory correlation of nouns with the personal pronouns of the third person. One opposition functions in the whole set of nouns, dividing them into person (human) nouns and non-person (non-human) nouns. The other opposition functions in the subset of person nouns only, dividing them into masculine nouns and feminine nouns. Thus, the first, general opposition can be referred to as the upper opposition in the category of gender, while the second, partial opposition can be referred to as the lower opposition in this category.

As a result of the double oppositional correlation, a specific system of three genders arises, which is somewhat misleadingly represented by the traditional terminology: the neuter (i.e. non-person) gender, the masculine (i.e. masculine person) gender, the feminine (i.e. feminine person) gender.

The strong member of the lower opposition is the feminine subclass of person nouns, its sememic mark being "female sex". Here belong such nouns as woman, girl, mother, bride, etc. The masculine subclass of person nouns comprising such words as man, boy, father, bridegroom, etc. makes up the weak member of the opposition A great many person nouns in English are capable of expressing both feminine and masculine person genders by way of the pronominal correlation in question. These are referred to as nouns of the "common gender". Here belong such words as person, parent, friend, cousin, doctor, president, etc.

English nouns can show the sex of their referents lexically, either by means of being combined with certain notional words used as sex indicators, or else by suffixal derivation. Cf.: boy-friend, girl-friend; man-producer, woman-producer; washer-man, washer-woman; landlord, landlady; bull-calf, cow-calf; cock-sparrow, hen-sparrow; he-bear, she-bear; master, mistress; actor, actress; executor, executrix; lion, lioness;

On the other hand, when the pronominal relation of the non-person animate nouns is turned, respectively, into he and she, we can speak of a grammatical personifying transposition, very typical of English. This kind of transposition affects not only animate nouns, but also a wide range of inanimate nouns, being regulated in every-day language by cultural-historical traditions.

Moreover, alongside of the "formal" gender, there exists in Russian, German and other "formal gender" languages meaningful gender, featuring, within the respective idiomatic systems, the natural sex distinctions of the noun referents.

NOUN: NUMBER

The category of number is expressed by the opposition of the plural form of the noun to the singular form of the noun. The strong member of this binary opposition is the plural, its productive formal mark being the suffix -(e)s [-z, -s, -iz ] as presented in the forms dogdogs, clockclocks, boxboxes. The productive formal mark correlates with the absence of the number suffix in the singular form of the noun. The semantic content of the unmarked form, as has been shown above, enables the grammarians to speak of the zero-suffix of the singular in English.The other, non-productive ways of expressing the number opposition are vowel interchange in several relict forms (manmen, womanwomen, toothteeth, etc.), the archaic suffix -(e)n supported by phonemic interchange in a couple of other relict forms (oxoxen, childchildren, cowkine, brotherbrethren), the correlation of individual singular and plural suffixes in a limited number of borrowed nouns (formulaformulae, phenomenonphenomena, alumnusalumni, etc.). In some cases the plural form of the noun is homonymous with the singular form (sheep, deer, fish, etc.).

On the surface of semantic relations, the meaning of the singular will be understood as simply "one", as opposed to the meaning of the plural as "many" in the sense of "more than one". This is apparently obvious for such correlations as bookbooks, lakelakes and the like. However, alongside of these semantically unequivocal correlations, there exist plurals and singulars that cannot be fully accounted for by the above ready-made approach.

potato (one item of the vegetables) and potatoes (food), paper (material) and papers (notes or documents), sky (the vault of heaven) and skies (the same sky taken as a direct or figurative background), etc.

The extreme point of this semantic scale is marked by the lexicalisation of the plural form, i.e. by its serving as a means of rendering not specificational, but purely notional difference in meaning. Cf. colours as a "flag", attentions as "wooing", pains as "effort", quarters as "abode", etc.

The two subclasses of uncountable nouns are usually referred to, respectively, as singularia tantum (only singular) and pluralia tantum (only plural).

The absolute singular is characteristic of the names of abstract notions {peace, love, joy, courage, friendship, etc.), the names of the branches of professional activity {chemistry, architecture, mathematics, linguistics, etc.), the names of mass-materials {water, snow, steel, hair, etc.), the names of collective inanimate objects {foliage, fruit, furniture, machinery, etc.).

The absolute plural is characteristic of the uncountable

nouns which denote objects consisting of two halves (trousers, scissors, tongs, spectacles, etc.), the nouns expressing some sort of collective meaning, i.e. rendering the idea of indefinite plurality, both concrete and abstract (supplies, outskirts, clothes, parings; tidings, earnings, contents, politics; police, cattle, poultry, etc.), the nouns denoting some diseases as well as some abnormal states of the body and mind (measles, rickets, mumps, creeps, hysterics, etc.). As is seen from the examples, from the point of view of number as such, the absolute plural forms can be divided into set absolute plural (objects of two halves) and non-set absolute plural (the rest).

The set plural can also be distinguished among the common plural forms, namely, with nouns denoting fixed sets of objects, such as eyes of the face, legs of the body, legs of the table, wheels of the vehicle, funnels of the steamboat, windows of the room, etc.

The type of reduction, consisting in the use of the absolute plural with countable nouns in the singular form, concerns collective nouns, which are thereby changed into "nouns of multitude". Cf.:

The family were gathered round the table. The government are unanimous in disapproving the move of the opposition.

This form of the absolute plural may be called "multitude plural".

The second type of the described oppositional reduction, consisting in the use of the absolute plural with uncountable nouns in the plural form, concerns cases of stylistic marking of nouns. Thus, the oppositional reduction results in expressive transposition. Cf.: the sands of the desert; the snows of the Arctic; the waters of the ocean; the fruits of the toil; etc,This variety of the absolute plural may be called "descriptive uncountable plural".

NOUN: CASE

Thus, the case form of the noun, or contractedly its "case" (in the narrow sense of the word), is a morphological-declensional form.This category is expressed in English by the opposition of the form in -'s [-z, -s, -iz], usually called the "possessive" case, or more traditionally, the "genitive" case (to which term we will stick in the following presentation*), to the unfeatured form of the noun, usually called the "common" case. The apostrophised -s serves to distinguish in writing the singular noun in the genitive case from the plural noun in the common case. E.g.: the man's duty, the President's decision, Max's letter; the boy's ball, the clerk's promotion, the Empress's jewels.Four special views advanced at various times by different scholars should be considered as successive stages in the analysis of this problem. In accord with the theory of positional cases, the English noun, would distinguish, besides the inflexional genitive case, also the non-inflexional, i.e. purely positional cases: nominative, vocative, dative, and accusative. The nominative case (subject to a verb): Rain falls. The vocative case (address): Are you coming, my friend? The dative case (indirect object to a verb): I gave John a penny. The accusative case (direct object, and also object to a preposition): The man killed a rat. The earth is moistened by rain.

 

The second view may be called the "theory of prepositional cases".

In accord with the prepositional theory, combinations of nouns with prepositions in certain object and attributive collocations should be understood as morphological case forms. To these belong first of all the "dative" case (to+Noun, for +Noun) and the "genitive" case (of +Noun).

The third view of the English noun case recognises a limited inflexional system of two cases in English, one of them featured and the other one unfeatured. This view may be called the "limited case theory".the two case forms: the possessive or genitive form as the strong member of the categorial opposition and the common, or "non-genitive" form as the weak member of the categorial opposition.

English genitive expresses a wide range of relational meanings

"genitive of possessor" Its constructional meaning will be defined as "inorganic" possession, i.e. possessional relation (in the broad sense) of the genitive referent to the object denoted by the head-noun. E.g.: Christine's living-room; the assistant manager's desk; Dad's earnings; Kate and Jerry's grandparents; the Steel Corporation's hired slaves.

"genitive of integer" Its constructional meaning will be defined as "organic possession", i.e. a broad possessional relation of a whole to its part. E.g.: Jane's busy hands; Patrick's voice; the patient's health; the hotel's lobby.

"genitive of agent" The more traditional name of this genitive is "subjective" this form renders an activity or some broader processual relation with the referent of the genitive as its subject. E.g.: the great man's arrival; Peter's insistence; the councillor's attitude; Campbell Clark's gaze; the hotel's competitive position.

"genitive of author" (Lat. "genetivus auctori"). E.g.: Beethoven's sonatas; John Galsworthy's "A Man of Property"; the committee's progress report.

"genitive of patient" expresses the recipient of the action or process denoted by the head-noun. E.g.: the champion's sensational defeat;

"genitive of destination" This form denotes the destination, or function of the referent of the head-noun. E.g.: women's footwear; children's verses; a fishers' tent.

"genitive of dispensed qualification". E.g.: a girl's voice; a book-keeper's statistics; Curtis O'Keefe's kind (of hotels — M.B.).

the "genitive of adverbial" (Lat. "genetivus adverbii").

E.g.: the evening's newspaper; yesterday's encounter; Moscow's talks.

Eighth, the "genitive of quantity" (Lat. "genetivus quantitatis"). This type of genitive denotes the measure or quantity relating to the referent of the head-noun. three miles' distance; an hour's delay; two months' time; a hundred tons' load.

The personal pronouns are commonly interpreted as having a case system of their own, differing in principle from the case system of the noun. The two cases traditionally recognised here are the nominative case (I, you, he, etc.) and the objective case (me, you, him, etc.).



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