THEORETICAL GRAMMAR

1. The noun. Its features and classification. The categories of number and case.
The noun can be defined as a part of speech that has the following features:
1) lexico-grammatical meaning of thingness or substance;
2) typical stem-building elements;
3) categories of number and case;
4) syntactic functions (subject, object, attribute, adverbial modifier, part of the predicate).
5) The combinability is variable. They form left-hand connection with articles, some pronouns, most adjectives, numerals, prepositions, other nouns but only left-hand connections make a feature of the noun as a part of speech since most parts of speech have only right-hand connections with prepositions.
Classification: proper/common, countable/uncountable, concrete/abstract, animate/inanimate, declinable/indeclinable.
The category of number of nouns is the system of opposemes such as table-tables showing whether the noun stands for one object or more than one. An English noun lexeme can contain 2 number opposemes at most (girl-girls-girl’s-girls’).
Uncountable nouns: singular invariable – plural invariable.
There are some cases: formation of plural that end in “o”, “y”, plural “penny”, irregular plurals:
- 7 words with vowel interchange;
- 2 nouns that form plural with “en”;
- identical singular and plural forms;
- identical singular and plural nationality names;
- 2 nouns from Latin and 1 from French (species, series, corps);
- indicate number like pair, couple, dozen, score, stone, head have the same form when they are preceded by a numeral (e. g. 2 dozen of);
- borrowed nouns;
- compound nouns.
Singular invariable nouns: uncountable (material), abstract nouns, proper nouns, nouns that ends in ‘s’ (news, means, measles, mumps, billiards, dominoes, the United Nations, the United States, linguistics, phonetics);
Plural invariable nouns: marked plurals (binoculars, scissors, spectacles, pants, shorts, pajamas, arms, customs, goods, outskirts, whereabouts, archives, minutes, the Netherlands, cattle, clergy, gentry, people, police, poultry, vermin, substantivized adjectives denoting people.
The category of case of nouns is the system of opposemes such as boy-boy’s showing the relations of the noun to other words in speech. Case relations reflect the relations of the substances the nouns name to other substances, actions, states, etc. in the world of reality. An English noun can have 2 case opposemes at most. Some nouns have only 1 case opposeme and a lot of nouns don’t have case opposemes at all. Those nouns that have the category of case are called declinable, those that don’t – indeclinable. The class of declinable nouns is very limited, it comprises several groups:
1) animate nouns denoting persons and animals
2) nouns denoting time and distance
3) the names of countries and towns
4) the names of newspapers and nouns denoting different organizations
5) with the nouns ‘world, nation, country, city, town’
6) the nouns ‘ship, boat, car’
7) the nouns denoting plants
8) nouns used in the Genitive in idioms.
There are a lot of theories; not all linguists believe that there is a Genitive case.
1) positional case theory – case depends of the position of a noun in a sentence (N, G, D, A);
2) prepositional case theory – case relations are expressed with the help of prepositions and word order
3) limited case theory – Nominative and Genitive
4) theory of possessive post-position – this theory denied the existence of the morphological case in Eng.

2. The adjective. Its features and classification. The categories of the degrees of comparison.
The adjective is a part of speech that can be characterized by the following features:
1) lexico-grammatical meaning of property of a substance;
2) typical adjectival lexico-grammatical morphemes (-ful, -al, -less, -able, -ous, -some, -ible);
3) category of degrees of comparison;
4) combinability (right-hand: capable of, large house; left-hand: time immemorial);
5) syntactic functions (attribute, part of predicative).
Classification:
- qualitative and relative;
Relative adjectives are derived adjectives showing the relation between the phenomenon which is denoted by the modifying noun and the phenomenon denoted by the stem of the adjective.
- comparable and non-comparable;
Comparables are qualitative adjectives that admit quantitative estimation.
There are some qualitative adjectives that don’t have the degrees of comparison (e. g. final, fixed, deaf, dead, pregnant). There are some relative adjectives that have degrees (e. g. a purely grammatical topic).
The category of degrees of comparison is the system of opposemes represented by a 3-member opposeme showing quantitative distinctions of qualities.
1) positive degree (is not marked morphologically);
2) comparative degree (built up either synthetically (by affixation or suppletivity)or analytically (by “more-most”);
3) superlative degree (built up either synthetically (by affixation or suppletivity)or analytically (by “more-most”)
Monosyllabic and disyllabic form their degrees of comparison synthetically; all other – analytically.
Suppletivity forms: good-better-best, bad-worse-worst, far-further-furthest, little-less-least.
Analytical way in ModE has no restrictions, 2 forms are possible, e. g. healthier/more healthy
Adjectives can be substantivized (converted into nouns) – no longer indicate attributes of substances.
Wholly-substantivized (a private, a criminal, a native) and partially-substantivized (the poor, the young).

3. The article. Functions of articles.
The only features that unite the article into a part of speech are:
- the left-hand combinability
- their function as noun specifiers.

The indefinite article has 3 main functions:
1) classifying – refers a noun to a group of similar nouns of the same count;
2) generic – implies that the object denoted by the noun is spoken of as a representative of the class and therefore what is said about one, refers to any;
3) numerical – retains its original meaning of the cardinal numeral “one”.
A noun can be classified by pre- and post-positive attributes, e. g. this is an interesting book.
Set expressions: at a time, at a glance, as a result, as a whole, at a distance of, at a depth of, in a hurry, in a low voice, be at a loss.

The definite article has 2 main functions:
1) specifying – singles out an object from a group of similar;
Article singles out an object or a group of objects from all the other objects of the same kind. The specification is carried out by means of:
- a restrictive attribute - a clause, a prepositional phrase, a participial phrase can function as post-positive restrictive modifiers or attributes, e. g. very, right, left, wrong, only, last, next, same + ordinal numerals;
- a preceding context – an object or a group of objects can be specified by the reference to preceding context;
- the situation of communication – specifies the meaning of a noun, e. g. to open the window;
- the meaning of the noun – is used with unique objects or notions, e. g. the Sun, the moon, the horizon, the universe. Figurative use – e. g. the holiday did me a world of good.
2) generic – refers the noun to the whole class of objects of the same kind.
Set expressions: the other day, the day after tomorrow, to count by the score, paid by the hour, in the morning…, in the singular/plural, in the past/present/future, out of the question.

Theme-rheme indication.
A man came into the room. (Rheme – the new information)
The man came into the room. (Theme – already known information)

4. The adverb. Its features and classification. The categories of the degrees of comparison.
The adverb is a part of speech that can be characterized by the following features:
1) lexico-grammatical meaning of qualitative, quantitative or circumstantial characteristics of actions, states or qualities;
2) typical stem-building elements (-ly, -wards, -ways, -wise);
3) category of degrees of comparison;
4) combinability (right-hand: adjectives, adverbs, verbs);
5) syntactic functions (adverbial modifier).

Classification: adverbs fall into comparable and non-comparable.
Three lexico-grammatical subclasses:
1) Qualitative adverbs usually modify verbs and show the quality of an action or state. A lot of them are formed with the help of –ly. They usually have the degrees of comparison. They are inwardly bound to the verb they modify.
2) Quantitative adverbs show the degree, measure, quantity of an action, quality, state, etc. They are: very, rather, too, nearly, greatly, hardly, utterly, twofold.
Besides verbs they can modify adjectives, other adverbs, numerals, modals.
3) Circumstantial adverbs serve to denote various circumstances attending an action.
Adverbs of time and frequency: yesterday, tomorrow, often…
Adverbs of place and direction: inside, outside, behind…
They are not inwardly bound with the verb and can occupy any position in the sentence.
Function: adverbial modifiers of time and place.

The category of degrees of comparison is similar to that of adjectives; it’s a system of 3-member opposeme showing whether the characteristic the adverb contains is absolute or relative.

5. The pronoun. Its features and classification.
The feature of pronouns as a class of words is that they are not united by any of the features used for part-of-speech classification. What united them is the way they denote reality. Pronouns are words that serve to denote substances, qualities, quantities etc. not by naming or describing them but by indicating them. As words of the vocabulary, pronouns have extremely general meanings. Pronouns can be defined as words whose meanings are very general and stable but whose meanings in speech are particular, variable and relative with regard to the speaker and the situation of speech. Pronouns correlate with different parts of speech which account for their not being united by any morphological categories or syntactic functions. Classification:
1) personal – form the nucleus of the class, they indicate all persons and things from the POV of the speaker. The idea of substitution shouldn’t be applied literary. Personal pronouns are believed to have nominative and objective case (e. g. I – me, we – us). Some linguists suggest there are 3 cases: subjective, objective and genitive.
Blokh is convinced that personal pronouns don’t have a category of case, instead he distinguishes 4 individual groups of pronouns, names them “nominative”, “objective”, “possessive” – “conjoined” (my) and “absolute” (mine).
2) possessive – are usually treated as adjective-pronouns whereas in reality they are noun-pronouns in the possessive case, e. g. her book – Mary’s book.
2 forms: conjoined and absolute.
One of the tendencies in ModE is the extensive use of conjoined possessive pronouns as noun specifiers or noun determiners. Very often their possessive meaning is so weak that they could easily interchange with the definite article. The meaning of the definite article is much more genitive.
3) reflexive – compound pronouns; the 2^nd element “self” expresses anaphorical relations of the first element; it shows that the 1^st element refers to the person mentioned previously in the sentence.
4) demonstrative – include “this”, “these”, “that”, “those”, “such”, “(the) same”
“this”, “these” – the space and time close to the speaker;
“that”, “those” – time and space farther away from the speaker and the moment of speech;
“such”, “same” have no correlatives, they indicate objects and qualities by comparison with those pointed by the speaker.
5) interrogative – the meaning that unites these pronouns is an enquiry about some object (“what”, “who”), its properties (“whose”, “which”, “what”), place of some event (“where”), its time (“when”), cause (“why”) and manner of existence (“how”).
“who”, “what” are used to distinguish persons and non-persons.
“who” – the only interrogative pronoun that has a case opposite “whom”.
6) connective – the pronouns “who”, “what”, “which”, “where”, “how”, “when”, “why” serve to connect clauses in complex sentences. At the same time, they retain their meanings and functions of pro-nouns, pro-adjectives and pro-adverbs and this combination of function is their feature.
Conjunctive pronouns introduce subject and predicative clauses. They present a combination of a demonstrative meaning with that of a conjunction, e. g. What he knows is no longer a secret.
Relative pronouns are also used to introduce subordinate clauses. What makes them different from conjunctive pronouns is that they serve to introduce attributive clauses and they are always correlated with some antecedent in the principal clause. Both conjunctive and relative pronouns fulfil a double syntactical function – used as a some part of subordinate clause and as a connective structural element at the same time.
7) reciprocal – the group pronouns, include “each other” (2 persons) and “one another” (more than 2). They serve to express mutuality. Share the noun case system. Are used anaphorically, usually with the reference to the subject of the sentence which is always plural. Functions of objects and attributes.
8) indefinite – “some”, “any” and their components.
Can be pronouns like “somebody”, “something”, pro-adjectives, pro-numerals, pro-adverbs.
Compound indefinite pronouns ending in “one”, “body” and “thing” distinguish person and non-person, share the noun case system.
9) negative – compound pronouns “nobody”, “nowhere”, “nothing”, “none”.
10) generalizing – include “every”, “each”, “all”, “everybody”, “everywhere”.
Uniting meaning (e. g. all) and discrete meaning (e. g. each, every).
11) quantitative – include “few”, “a few”, “little”, “a little”.
12) contrasting – make contrasting pairs with demonstrative pronouns, “other”, “another”, “the other”.

6. The verb. Its features and classification.
The verb is a part of speech that can be characterized by the following features:
1) lexico-grammatical meaning of action, state, process;
2) typical stem-building suffixes (-ize, -en, -ify);
3) categories of aspect, tense, voice, correlation/order, mood, person, number;
4) combinability (both types with nouns and pronouns, predominantly right-hand combinability with adverbs);
5) syntactic function (predicate).
Classification:
1) finite-non-finite
2) transitive-intransitive
3) regular-irregular
Formal criteria (-ed or suppletivity).
4) notional-semi-notional
The majority is notional – they have full lexical meaning.
Can form a sentence alone, e. g. Answer.
Semi-notional verbs have very general “faded” lexical meaning.
Include link verbs (denote states or transitions, combine with adjectives) and modal verbs (denote attitude to actions).
5) subjective-objective (divided upon their combinability with words denoting subjects and objects).
Objective verbs are associated with 2 nouns or noun equivalents denoting subject and object.
Subjective verbs are associated only with nouns denoting subject.
Objective verbs that are connected with their object verbs directly are called transitive, all other subjective and objective verbs are intransitive.
e. g. He opened the door – objective transitive.
e. g. The door opened – subjective intransitive.
6) terminative-non-terminative (aspective nature of their lexical meanings)
Terminative verbs denote actions which cannot develop beyond a certain inherent limit, e. g. stop. Verbs that do not have this limit are non-terminative, e. g. work, live, love, continue.
e. g. I’ve been working hard – non-terminative; The storm worked – terminative.

7. The verb. The category of voice.
The category of voice is confined to objective verbs and is represented by 2-member opposeme like read-is read, and shows the direction of the action. The active form presents an action as an issue from the agent while the passive one is experienced by its object. The agent and the object of the action are both subjects in sentences with active and passive forms respectively (active object = passive subject).
Verbs that have no voice opposites – subjective, objective (belong, cost, fail, last, resemble etc).
The category of voice in English is still in the stage of development. Passive continuous forms became standard only in the 19^th century and there are no perfect continuous forms in the passive. The non-perfect non-continuous passive forms are difficult to distinguish from the combination of the link verb “to be” and participle II, e. g. His duty is fulfilled. Some are convinced that passive forms in combination with participle II should be viewed separately while other linguists insist that the combination “to be” + participle II should be treated as a passive voice form.
The group “is fulfilled” cannot be treated as a passive voice form because:
1) it doesn’t convey the idea of action but that of a state, the result of an action;
2) the sentences correspond rather to “he has fulfilled his duty” than to “he fulfils his duty” since the perfective meaning of participle II is quite prominent.
Some linguists speak about the emergence of a new passive with “to get” (get-passive).
In these structures the verb “to get” contradicts its lexical meaning of attainment, yet very often the sense (meaning) of some activity or achievement on the part of the subject in sentences with “to get” is fake. These structures should be treated as synonymous.
Some grammarians speak of other voices in English.
Reflexive voice, e. g. He cut himself.
Reciprocal voice, e. g. They helped one other.
Middle voice, e. g. The book is selling well.

8. The verb. The category of aspect.
The category of aspect in ModE is a system of 2-member opposeme like works-is working that shows the character of the action that is whether the action is viewed in its development, progress (continuous aspect) or it is simply stated and its nature is not specified (non-continuous aspect). The marked member denotes a particular action in progress while the unmarked leaves the action unspecified.
Views:
1) aspect is interpreted as a category of semantics rather than a grammatical category;
2) aspect is not recognized at all;
3) aspect is blended with the category of tense and regarded as a part of the tense aspect system; 4) aspect and tense are recognized as 2 distinct grammatical categories.
- terminate aspect is found in e. g. He went to town – completed action;
- ingressive aspect points to the beginning of the action, e. g. He began to speak;
- durative aspect is found in e. g. He still works here;
- iterative aspect would express a habit of characteristic behave, e. g. He would wait for her.
Some linguists treat continuous forms as the so-called progressive tense forms presenting actions as simultaneous with some other actions or situations but it is quite obvious that the forms like “worked” and “was working” are not opposed as tense forms (both refer to the past). On the other hand, the principle of mutual exclusiveness of categorial meanings does not allow for one forms carrying more than one meaning of the same category. The terms like “present progressive tense” would be contradictory suggesting that one form carries two tense meanings. Tense and aspect should be treated as two different grammatical categories. Verbs that don’t have the category of aspect:
1) link verbs;
2) physical and meaning perception;
3) point action verbs
Practically any verb can be used in the aspect, e. g. She was not hating him anymore.

9. Types of phrases and their classification.
A phrase is any syntactically organized group of words. It is characterized by the following features:
1) the semantics of a phrase is not a mere sum of the meanings of its components, it is a complex combination of the lexical meanings of the elements combined and is determined by the following factors:
- the semantics of components and their order, e. g. beer keg – keg beer;
- the interrelations between the meanings of the components (semantic dependence) – the components can be the same but the relations between them can be different, e. g. a fruit salad – a fruit knife;
2) according to the ways in which phrases are used and organized 2 types are distinguished (L. Bloomfield): exocentric and endocentric.
Phrases that belong to the same form-class as one or both of its components are endocentric. All the grammatical functions of the endocentric phrase can be fulfilled by 1 or both of its components which can be substituted for a whole phrase. The phrase that doesn’t belong to any of the form-classes is exocentric. The classification is based on the function of the phrase in a larger structure and does not take into account its inner arrangement.
e. g. Poor John ran away – endocentric. John and Mary ran away – endocentric. Poor John ran away – exocentric.
3) as to the character of the syntactic arrangement between the immediate constituent components - 3 groups:
- subordinate
In terms of grammatical organization subordinate phrases are binary structures in which one of the components is a syntactically leading element of the phrase. No matter how complicated the structure may be, it can always be divided into 2 constituents: one functioning as center (nucleus) and another functioning as modifier (adjunct). Modifiers serve to describe, qualify, complete, specify, extend or affect the meaning, e. g. summer holiday. Subordinate phrases can be either regressive or progressive. In regressive subordinate phrases the modifiers are to the left of the head, and in progressive the modifiers are to the right of the head. There are also subordinate phrases in which the head is framed from the both sides, e. g. a folded sheet of paper.
- coordinate
Coordinate phrases consist of 2 or more syntactically equivalent components joined in a cluster which functions as a single unit. The units so joined can be any of the parts of speech or more complex structures taking part in grammatical organizations. The joining can be accomplished either with the help of conjunctions or with the help of word-order and intonation, e. g. John and Mary.
- predicative (nexus phrase)
Predicative or nexus phrases comprise 2 interdependent constituents both participating in expressing predicativity, that is the relation of the content of the utterance to the situation of speech. They can be of various kinds, e. g. predicative phrases with a finite verb, infinitival, objective predicative, etc.

10. The sentence, its features. Classification of sentences.
The sentence as a language sign is characterized by 3 aspects: structure, semantics, pragmatics.
Pragmatically, the sentence is the smallest unit of speech communication.
Semantically, the sentence denotes a certain situation which is actualized (referred to reality). As a syntactic phenomenon, it is called predicativity and is formed by the categories of tense and mood.
Structurally, sentences are based on certain patterns, the number of which in each language is definite and specific.
The sentence can be defined as the basic syntactical unit used in the acts of speech communication, characterized by predicativity and realizing a certain structural pattern. The three aspects of the sentence determine three bases for sentence classification according to their structure, semantic and pragmatic properties.
The structural classification depends on the character of a sentence’s predicativity. In as much as sentences differ as to the way of their reference to their content or reality, they have definite structural features. Types:
1. Declarative sentences assert or deny something, e. g. I don’t know this. I agree with you.
2. Interrogative sentences ask a question. They can be divided into:
a) sentences requiring to express a certain thought, to confirm or negate what has been asked by the speaker, e. g. Isn’t it funny? – Rather.
Formal characteristics – the absence of interrogative pronouns and specific rising intonation;
b) sentences requiring additional information about the thing asked. Such sentences show what info is required and may refer to any part of the sentence, e. g. What did you mean?
Formal characteristics – the use of interrogative pronouns and falling tone.
3. Imperative sentences express requests which in different contexts rage from categorical orders to commands and entreaties. The necessary meaning is signaled by the context and intonation.
From the POV of their grammatical structure, sentences can be:
1) simple and composite. The difference between the simple sentence and the composite sentence is in the fact that the former contains only 1 subject-predicate unit and the latter – more than 1. Composites are divided into compound and complex. The difference between the compound and the complex sentence is in the relations between the clauses that constitute them;
2) complete and incomplete (elliptical). Complete and incomplete sentences are distinguished by the presence or absence of word-forms in the principal positions of two-member sentence. In a complete sentence, both the principal positions are filled with word-forms. In an incomplete sentence, one or both of the main positions are not filled but they can be easily restored.
There are several types of elliptical sentences in English:
- without the word-forms in the subject position;
- the position of the subject and part of the predicate is not filled;
- part of the predicate position is not filled;
- in the predicate and subject positions;
- without word-forms in the predicate position;
3) two-member (double nucleus) and one-member (single nucleus).

11. The predicate. Its classification.
The predicate denotes an action or property of the person or thing expressed by a subject.

Predicates are classified according to their structure into:
- simple (expressed by one notional verb, e. g. I study German)
- compound (expressed more than 1 verb, e. g. you must study well)

According to their morphological composition (according to what part of speech the predicate is expressed by):
- verbal (expressed by a verb)
- nominal (expressed by a noun, an adjective, a pronoun or a numeral).
Thus, 4 types are distinguished:
1) simple verbal predicate, e. g. I study Spanish;
2) simple nominal predicate, e. g. She, jealous, he, a gentleman; → the meaning of incompatibility of what is expressed by the subject and the predicate);
3) compound verbal predicate;
- compound verbal phasal predicate – consists of a phasal verb (denotes a certain phase of an action) + infinitive/gerund.
e. g. She started crying with joy. The orchestra ceased playing;
- compound verbal modal predicate – consists of a modal verb + infinitive;
e. g. You could have done it. You can’t speak Spanish;
- compound verbal predicate of double orientation;
e. g. The plane is reported (state) to have landed (action);
4) compound nominal predicate – consists of a link verb (denotes states or transitions to states, combines with adjectives) and a predicative.
e. g. It’s getting dark.
According to Khaimovich & Rogovskaya, there are some other types of predicates:
- Phraseological predicate – comprises a noun with the meaning of an action and a transitive verb.
e. g. He gave a laugh. They had a smoke. They paid a visit. – momentary action of a short duration;
- Contaminative predicate (verbal-nominal) – has the features of a simple verbal predicate and those of a compound nominal predicate.
e. g. The Moon rose red (=when the Moon rose, it was red). She married young (=when she got married, she was young).

12. The composite sentence. Types of composite sentences.
Unlike a simple sentence which is monopredicative, a composite sentence is polypredicative, that is the simple sentence has only 1 predicative center and the composite sentence has several. A compositesentence is a structural and semantic unity of 2 or more syntactic constructions, each with its own predicative center, based on a certain syntactic bond and used as a unit of speech communication. There are some factors that determine the organization:
1) the type of syntactic relationship;
- coordination
- subordination
2) the rank of predicative constructions;
- equivalent
- not equivalent
3) their optional or obligatory character;
4) the presence or absence of linking elements and their character;
5) the order of predicative constructions.
Preceding from the type of syntactic relations and the rank of predicative constructions, composite sentences can be either compound or complex.
Compound sentences are structures of coordination with 2 or more clauses which are syntactically equivalent.
e. g. The autumn leaves were rustling and the stars were shining.
Complex sentences are structures of subordination with 2 or more clauses which are not syntactically equivalent. One of them is the principal clause to which the others are joined as subordinates. Subordinate clauses are correlative with parts of the sentence but unlike the latter they express the idea of an object, quality or circumstances by way of a certain situation which finds its expression in a subject-predicate structure.         Types:
1) a subject subordinate clause, e. g. That he will help us leaves no doubt;
2) a predicative subordinate clause, e. g. The principle of this house is that you should have rule to breathe;
3) an object(ive) subordinate clause, e. g. I don’t know if he will be here;
4) an attributive subordinate clause, e. g. He only stared at Mary who was looking out of the window;
5) an adverbial clause
- of cause, e. g. I couldn’t stay as it was late;
- of place;
- of time, e. g. He did not say a word till he was asked;
- of condition, e. g. If you ask him, he will tell you everything;
- of concession, e. g. Although the weather was bad, he went for a walk;
- of result, e. g. He was so tired that he couldn’t move;
- of manner, e. g. She cooks the turkey exactly as my mother does.

⇐ Предыдущая 1 2 3 45