PA phrase-every combination of 2 or more words which is a gram unit but not an analytical form f some word(Ильиш), or a phrase – such groups of words which contain at least 2 notional words forming a gram unit.
25 Subordinate phrases, their characteristics. Classification.
A phrase-every combination of 2 or more words which is a gram unit but not an analytical form f some word(Ильиш), or a phrase – such groups of words which contain at least 2 notional words forming a gram unit.
Hence there are 2 main structural types of phrases: coordinate and subordinate phrases. Coordinate phrases consist of two or more constituents which arc equal syntactically: men and women, write and read, span-new, fashionable... S ubordinate phrases include two components, both of which can be expanded or extended, which are unequal syntactically: one of them (the head, the kernel) is the leading or main component of the phrase and the other (its adjunct, expansion) is grammatically subordinated to the head: cold water, very pure, exceedingly interesting, hooks of the fifties, etc.
Subordinate phrases fall into different subtypes. Thus according to the structure simple including 2 main components (cold weather) are opposed to complex phrases the components of which are expanded or extended (extremely cold and nasty weather).
Morphologically, that is in accord with the way in which the head of the phrase is expressed, subordinate phrases are subdivided into noun (NP for short), verb (VP), adjective (AP) and adverbial phrases (AdvP). Phrases may be also subdivided into continuous and discontinuous (broken): in a sitting-room VS in what was called a sitting; room.
Types of SubordinationThere are three main types of subordination.
Agreement
Agreement (or concord) is a method of expressing a syntactical relationship, which consists in making the subordinate word (the adjunct) take a form similar to the form of the word to which it is subordinate (the kernel). In Modern English this can refer only to the category of number: a subordinate word agrees in number with its head word. This is practically found in two words only, the pronouns thisand that,(these, those houses) which agree in number with their head word. In some other languages. such as Russian, there is also agreement in case and gender.
There are some phenomena in Modern English which would seem to show that the verb does not always follow the noun in the category of number: My family are early risers, on the one hand, and The United Nations is an international organization, on the other, prove that the verb can be independent of the noun in this respect.
Government
By government understands the use of a certain form of the subordinate word required by its head word, but not coinciding with the form of the head word itself. That is the difference between agreement and government. The choice of one element causes the selection of a particular form of another element. My sister's friend, my brother's bicycle. Aim's behaviour, a two hours ' trip, a ten minutes ' walk.
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The only thing that may be termed government in Modern English is the rise of the objective case of personal pronouns and of the pronoun who when they are subordinate to a verb or follow a preposition. Thus, the forms me, him,her, us them, are required if the pronoun follows a verb few find or invite or any preposition whatever. Wait for me. look after them. The notion of government has become doubtful as applied to the form whom, which is rather often replaced by the form who in such sentences as, Who(m) did you see?
In Russian linguistic theory, there is a third way of expressing syntactical relations between components of a phrase, which is termed примыкание- adjoinment (очень хорошо). No exact definition of this notion is given: its characteristic feature is usually described in a negative way. as absence both of agreement and of government. The most usual example of this type of connection in Russian is the relation between an adverb and its head word, whether this is an adjective or a verb (or another adverb). An adverb is subordinate to its head word (kernel), without either agreeing with or being governed by it.
Adjoinment is recognized in all those cases where components of subordinate phrases are joined by means of juxtaposition(соположение). The elements of the phrase just adjoin or are joined with each other. Iron bar, fine weather, receive J a letter, stared strangely, at first thought answering smile. quite fully, very good... In cases of adjoinment subordinated elements of phrases are expressed by morphologically unchangeable words (adjectives, adverbs, particles, unchangeable noun forms). The sphere of adjoining in Modern english is extremely large. It prevails in comparison with agreement and government because present-day english is an analytical language with quite a few inflections left.An adverb can be connected with its head word in this manner, since it has no grammatical categories which would allow it to agree with another word or to be governed by it.
Syntactical relations between the subject and the predicate represent a debatable problem: they may be regarded as relations of subordination with the subject being the leading element or relations of interdependence ( V.V.Burlakova), in the latter case the subject and the predicate are treated as mutually dependent sentence parts (discussed by M.Y.Blokh).
However, there is another means of expressing syntactical connection which plays a significant part in Modern english. It may be called enclosure (замыканиe) and its essence is that some element of a phrase is enclosed between two parts of another element. The most widely known case enclosure is putting of a word between an article and the noun to which the article belongs. Any word or phrase thus enclosed is shown to be an attribute to the noun: an on-the-spot investigation. A phrase may also be modified by a pronoun: Every now and again she would slop and move her mouth) It is clear that a phrase every now would not be possible. A similar case is the following: Every three or four months he wrote her a letter.
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22. Types of syntactic relation between phrase components.
A phrase-every combination of 2 or more words which is a gram unit but not an analytical form f some word(Ильиш), or a phrase – such groups of words which contain at least 2 notional words forming a gram unit.The terms that are firmly established in syntax to indicate syntactic relations between phrase components are coordination and subordination(equipotent and dominational connection). Hence there are 2 main structural types of phrases: coordinate and subordinate phrases.
Coordinate phrases consist of two or more constituents which arc equal syntactically: men and women, write and read, span-new, fashionable... S ubordinate phrases include two components, both of which can be expanded or extended, which are unequal syntactically: one of them (the head, the kernel) is the leading or main component of the phrase and the other (its adjunct, expansion) is grammatically subordinated to the head: cold water, very pure, exceedingly interesting, hooks of the fifties, etc.
It is usual to distinguish syndetic (or linked) coordination and asyndetic (or unlinked) coordination. In syndetic coordination, the more usual form, the phrase components are linked by coordinating conjunctions (or coodinators) - and or but: John and Mary went home. In asyndetic coordination, coordinators are not present, but could be inserted. Slowly, stealthily, he crept towards his victim
Although syntactically equal phrase components of coordinate phrases are usually not Interchangeable, which is conditioned by a number of reasons: semantically, phonologically, by etiquette, e.g. in red and yellow- the word red is used first because phonologically it is shorter in comparison with yellow (although this principle does not always work); my friend and me (etiquette), a nice old woman (meaning of adjectives). Components of finite verb phrases are usually interchangeable because they indicate sequence of actions in time: lie heard an explosion and phoned the police.
Subordinate phrases fall into different subtypes. Thus according to the structure simple including 2 main components (cold weather) are opposed to complex phrases the components of which are expanded or extended {extremely cold and nasty weather).
Morphologically, that is in accord with the way in which the head of the phrase is expressed, subordinate phrases are subdivided into noun (NP for short), verb (VP), adjective (AP) and adverbial phrases (AdvP). Phrases may he also subdivided into continuous and discontinuous (broken): in a sitting-room VS in what was called a sitting; room. Agreement, government…
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The predicative connection of words, uniting the subject and the predicate, builds up the basis of the sentence. The reciprocal nature of this connection consists in the fact that the subject dominates the predicate determining the person of predication, while the predicate dominates the subject. Subject domination-agreement: he goes. But predicative domination we can observe in infinitival, gerundial and participial constructions (not the pupil understands his mistake, but foe pupil to understand his mistake). The completive (monolateral domination) is considered as subordinative on the ground that the outer syntactic status of the whole combination is determined by the kernel element (head-word). All the completive connections fall into two main divisions: objective connections and qualifying connections. This connection is subdivided into non-prepositional (word-order, the objective form of the adjunct substantive) and prepositional, and from the semantic-syntactic point of view they are classed as direct (the immediate transition of the action to the object) and indirect or oblique (the indirect relation of the object to the process), Direct objective connections are non-prepositional, Indirect objective connections may be both prepositional and non-prepositional. Qualifying completive connections are divided into attributive and adverbial. Both are expressed in English by word-order and prepositions. Attributive connection unites a substance with its attribute expressed by an adjective or a noun. E. g.: an enormous appetite; a woman of strong character.
Adverbial connection is subdivided into primary and secondary. The primary adverbial connection is established between the verb and its adverbial modifiers. E.g.: to talk glibly, to come nowhere; to receive (a letter) with surprise; The secondary adverbial connection is established between the non-verbal kernel expressing a quality and its adverbial modifiers of various standings. E.g.: marvellously becoming; very much at ease; strikingly alike!!
24. Coordinate phrases!
A phrase-every combination of 2 or more words which is a gram unit but not an analytical form f some word(Ильиш), or a phrase – such groups of words which contain at least 2 notional words forming a gram unit.
The terms that are firmly established in syntax to indicate syntactic relations between phrase components are coordination and subordination(equipotent and dominational connection). Hence there are 2 main structural types of phrases: coordinate and subordinate phrases.
Coordinate phrases consist of two or more constituents which arc equal syntactically: men and women, write and read, span-new, fashionable... S ubordinate phrases include two components, both of which can be expanded or extended, which are unequal syntactically: one of them (the head, the kernel) is the leading or main component of the phrase and the other (its adjunct, expansion) is grammatically subordinated to the head: cold water, very pure, exceedingly interesting, hooks of the fifties, etc.
It is usual to distinguish syndetic (or linked) coordination and asyndetic (or unlinked) coordination. In syndetic coordination, the more usual form, the phrase components are linked by coordinating conjunctions (or coodinators) - and or but: John and Mary went home. In asyndetic coordination, coordinators are not present, but could be inserted. Slowly, stealthily, he crept towards his victim
Although syntactically equal phrase components of coordinate phrases are usually not Interchangeable, which is conditioned by a number of reasons: semantically, phonologically, by etiquette, e.g. in red and yellow- the word red is used first because phonologically it is shorter in comparison with yellow (although this principle does not always work); my friend and me (etiquette), a nice old woman (meaning of adjectives). Components of finite verb phrases are usually interchangeable because they indicate sequence of actions in time: lie heard an explosion and phoned the police.
Due to Blokh: Groupings of notional words fall into two mutually opposite types by their grammatical and semantic properties. Groupings of the first type are constituted by words related to one another on an equal rank-"equipotent". Groupings of the second type are formed by words which are syntactically unequal, so one of them plays the role of a modifier of the other-"dominational connection".
Equipotent connection can be syndetical, or asyndetical. Constituents of such combinations form logically consecutive connections that are classed as coordinative. The connection can also be cumulative. The term "cumulation" is commonly used to mean connections between separate sentences. By way of restrictive indications, but "inner cumulation" is a cumulation within the sentence.
Cumulative connection in writing is usually signalled by some intermediary punctuation stop, such as a comma or a hyphen. Cf: Eng. agreed, but reluctantly; quick — and careless; satisfied, or nearly so. Russ. сыт, но не очень; согласен, или почти согласен; дал — да неохотно.
Syndetic connection in a word-combination can alternate with asyndetic connection, as a result of which the whole combination can undergo a semantically motivated sub-grouping. Cf.: He is a little man with irregular features, soft dark eyes and a soft voice, very shy, with a gift of mimicry and a love of music
In enumerative combinations the last element, in distinction to the foregoing elements, can be introduced by a conjunction, which underlines the close of the syntagmatic series. Cf.: All about them happy persons were enjoying the good things of life, talking, laughing, and making merry.
The same is true about combinations formed by repetition. E. g.: There were rows of books, books and books everywhere.
26. Noun phrases.
The type "noun + noun" is a most usual type of phrase in Modern English. It must be divided into two subtypes, depending on the form of the first component, which may be in the common or in the genitive case. 1The type "noun in the common case + noun" may be used to denote one idea as modified by another, in the widest sense. We find here a most varied choice of semantic spheres, such as speech sound, silver watch, army unit, which of course deserve detailed study from the lexicological viewpoint. We may only note that the first component may be a proper name as well, as in the phrases a Beethoven symphony or London Bridge. The type "noun in the genitive case + noun" Another very common type is "adjective + noun", which is used to express all possible kinds of things with their properties. Phrases consisting of two components may be enlarged by addition of a third component, and so forth, for instance the phrase pattern "adjective + noun" (high houses) may be enlarged by the addition of an adjective in front, so that the type "adjective + adjective + noun" arises (new high houses). This, in its turn, may bo further enlarged by more additions. The limit of the possible growth of a phrase is hard to define, and we will not inquire into this subject any further.
The noun-phrase (NP)
Noun word-groups are widely spread in English. This may be explained
by a potential ability of the noun to go into combinations with practically all parts of speech. Components of a NP: -the head- N, pron, gerund, infinitive, substantives adj, replaces: this, that, one, none, somebody, mine, hers!!!! -pre-modifier(the word, placed before the head): adj, N as an adj, ordinal numerals. –post-modifier: prepositional constructions, absolute clauses. determiner: article, pronouns(some, either, this, that, any, no, each, every, neither, her, his…). –pre-determiner: all, both, half, such. – post-determiner: cardinal numerals, next, last.
Another classification: The NP consists of a noun-head and an adjunct or adjuncts with relations of modification between them. Three types of modification are distinguished here:
a)Premodification that comprises all the units placed before the head: two smart hard-working students. Adjuncts used in pre-head position are called pre-posed adjuncts.
b)Postmodification that comprises all the units all the units placed after the head: students from Boston. Adjuncts used in post-head position are called post-posed adjuncts.
c)Mixed modification that comprises all the units in both pre-head and post-head position: two smart hard-working students from Boston.
Verb phrases
An important question arises concerning the pattern "noun + verb". In our linguistic theory different opinions have been put forward on this issue. One view is that the phrase type "noun + verb" (which is sometimes called "predicative phrase") exists and ought to be studied just like any other phrase type such as we have enumerated above. 1 The other view is that no such type as "noun + verb" exists, as the combination "noun + verb" constitutes a sentence rather than a phrase.2 If we take the combination "noun + verb" as a sentence, we are analysing it on a sentence level,. Besides, there is another point to be noted here. If we take, for instance, the group a man writes on the phrase level, this means that each of the components can be changed in accordance with its paradigm in any way so long as the connection with the other component does not prevent this. In the given case, the first component, man, can be changed according to number, it can appear in the plural form, and the second component, writes, can be changed according to the verbal categories of aspect, tense, correlation, and mood.Thus, the groups, a man writes, men write, a man wrote, men are writing, men have written, a man would have been writing, etc., are all variants of the same phrase, just as man and men are forms of the same noun, while writes, wrote, has written, etc. are forms of the same verb. It is also important to note that a phrase as such has no intonation of its own, no more than a word as such has one. On the sentence level things are different. A man writes, even if we could take it as a sentence at all, which is not certain, is not the same sentence as Men have been writing, but a different sentence.
This example is sufficient to show the difference between a phrase of the pattern "noun + verb" and a sentence. The existence of phrases of this type is therefore certain. The phrase pattern "noun + verb" has very ample possibilities of expressing actions as performed by any kind of subject, whether living, material, or abstract.
The verb-phrase.
The VP is a definite kind of the subordinate phrase with the verb as the head. The verb is considered to be the semantic and structural centre not only of the VP but of the whole sentence as the verb plays an important role in making up primary predication that serves the basis for the sentence. VPs are more complex than NPs as there are a lot of ways in which verbs may be combined in actual usage. Valent properties of different verbs and their semantics make it possible to divide all the verbs into several groups depending on the nature of their complements
Classification of verb-phrases.
VPs can be classified according to the nature of their complements – verb complements may be nominal (to see a house) and adverbial (to behave well). Consequently, we distinguish nominal, adverbial and mixed complementation.
Nominal complementation takes place when one or more nominal complements (nouns or pronouns) are obligatory for the realization of potential valency of the verb: to give smth. to smb., to phone smb., to hear smth.(smb.), etc.
Adverbial complementation occurs when the verb takes one or more adverbial elements obligatory for the realization of its potential valency: He behaved well, I live …in Kyiv (here).Mixed complementation – both nominal and adverbial elements are obligatory: He put his hat on he table (nominal-adverbial). According to the structure VPs may be basic or simple (to take a book) – all elements are obligatory; expanded (to read and translate the text, to read books and newspapers) and extended (to read an English book).