Modern English Grammar

N. M.
RAYEVSKA
MODERN
ENGLISH
GRAMMAR
For Senior Courses of the Foreign Language Faculties in
Universities and Teachers' Training Colleges
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3an. peaxnicm ? ? N8,$2
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Teopernuecxax rpammarnxa conpemennoro anrnncxoro xstxa
onymeno nnncrepcrnom ntcmero n cpenero cnennantnoro opasonannx
VCC n xauecrne yuennxa nx cryenron ]axyntreron pomano-repmancxo
]nnonornn ynnnepcnreron n nearornuecxnx nncrnryron nnocrpanntx
xstxon (na anrnncxom xstxe)
Hsarentcxoe oennenne nma mxona. Iononnoe nsarentcrno.
eaxrop O? B? P,6$, Oxnannxa xyoxnnxa Q? ? Q2%2,? Xyoxni
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nma mxona 252054, Knn-54, Ioroninctxa, 7.
apyxonano s marpnnt Iononnoro ninpncmcrna
pecnynixanctxoro nnponnuoro o' cnannx Honirpa]xnnra
epxxomnnany VC, m. Kn n, nyn. onxenxa, 3 n Kn nctxi
xnnxxoni pyxapni nayxono xnnrn, cnina, 4. 3am 6-281.
(C) nannnue o'cnannx nma mxona, 1976.
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Vuennx reopernuecxo rpammarnxn conpemennoro anrnncxoro
xstxa npenasnauaercx nx cryenron crapmnx xypcon ]axyntreron
pomano-repmancxo ]nnonornn ynnnepcnreron n nearornuecxnx
nncrnryron nnocrpanntx xstxon.
Kypc cocronr ns rpex pasenon: I. crynnenne. II. op]onornx
n III. Cnnraxcnc. arepnan xnnrn nsnoxen n nnane nporpammntx
rpeonann x reopernuecxnm xypcam, nanpannxx nnnmanne cryenron
na nayunoe nonnmanne nonemnx ocrnxenn n pasnnrnn conpemenno
rpammarnuecxo reopnn. nenrpe nnnmannx nexnr nonpoc cncremnoro
xapaxrepa xstxa, nanexrnuecxoro enncrna ]opmt n coepxannx ncex
rpammarnuecxnx xnnenn, ]ynxnnonantno-cemanrnuecxnx cnxse mexy
ennnnamn pasnoro yponnx.
Knnra snaxomnr unrarenx c pasnnrnem rpammarnuecxo reopnn
anrnncxoro xstxa n nayuntmn noncxamn nontx meroon
rpammarnuecxoro anannsa n nccneonannxx conercxnx n sapyexntx
nnnrnncron.
yuennxe ocnemamrcx raxxe raxne nonpoct, xax
cnnrarmarnuecxne n acconnarnnnte ornomennx nnnrnncrnuecxnx
ennnn, nponema rpammarnuecxax xareropnx n xonrexcr, nonxrne
onnosnnnn nx pacxptrnx cyrn rpammarnuecxnx xareropn n
mop]onornn n cnnraxcnce, npnnnnn nonx n nsyuennn crpyxrypt xstxa,
cemanrnuecxne acnexrt cnnraxcnca, nmnnnnnrnax npenxannx n
nponema cnnraxcnuecxo napanrmt. anenrnocrt rpammarnuecxnx
]opm nsyuaercx n pasntx ycnonnxx nx cnnrarmarnuecxo ncrpnynnn.
anexamee nnnmanne yeneno ]ynxnnonantntm rpancnosnnnxm
pasntx ]opm nx nonncemnn, cnnonnmnuecxo xoppenxnnn n
crnnncrnuecxnm ]ynxnnxm.
Vunrtnax ro, uro cnennannsannx cryenron ]axyntreron
nnocrpanntx xstxon ynnnepcnreron neercx n nacroxmee npemx c
nyx nnocrpanntx xstxon, orentnte nonpoct xypca reopernuecxo
rpammarnxn conpemennoro anrnncxoro xstxa ocnemamrcx n nnane
conocrannenn c pyrnmn xstxamn.
xonne xaxoro pasena npecrannent xonrpontnte nonpoct,
Hevision ,terialA xoropte ne rontxo coecrnymr ycnoennm
marepnana yuennxa, a n nanpannxmr cryenra na camocroxrentnym
nayunym paory no reopnn rpammarnxn.
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Hipyunnx reopernuno rpamarnxn cyuacno anrnictxo monn
npnsnauacrtcx nx cryenrin crapmnx xypcin ]axyntrerin pomano-
repmanctxo ]inonori yninepcnrerin i nearoriunnx incrnryrin
inosemnnx mon.
Kypc cxnaacrtcx s rptox posinin: I. cryn. II. op]onorix i
III. Cnnraxcnc. arepian xnnrn nnxnaeno n nnani nporpamnnx nnmor
o reopernunnx xypcin, cxeponymun ynary cryenrin na nayxone
posyminnx nanonimnx ocxrnent y posnnrxy cyuacno rpamarnuno
reopi. V nenrpi ynarn nnrannx cncremnoro xapaxrepy monn, ianexrnuno
cnocri ]opmn i smicry ncix rpamarnunnx xnnm, ]ynxnionantno-
cemanrnunnx sn'xsxin mix onnnnxmn pisnoro pinnx.
Knnra snaomnrt unraua s posnnrxom rpamarnuno reopi anrnictxo
monn ra nayxonnmn nomyxamn nonnx meroin rpamarnunoro ananisy n
ocnixennxx paxnctxnx i sapyixnnx ninrnicrin.
V nipyunnxy nncnirnmmrtcx raxox raxi nnrannx, xx cnnrarmarnuni
i aconiarnnni ninomennx ninrnicrnunnx onnnnt, nponema rpamarnuna
xareropix i xonrexcr, nonxrrx onosnni nx posxpnrrx cyri
rpamarnunnx xareropi n mop]onori i cnnraxcnci, npnnnnn nonx y
nnnuenni crpyxrypn monn, cemanrnuni acnexrn cnnraxcncy, imnninnrna
npenxanix i nponema cnnraxcnuno napanrmn. anenrnicrt
rpamarnunnx ]opm nnnuacrtcx n pisnnx ymonax x cnnrarmarnuno
ncrpnyni. anexny ynary npnineno ]ynxnionantnnm rpancnosnnixm
pisnnx ]opm x nonicemi, cnnonimiuni xopenxni i crnnicrnunnm
]ynxnixm.
3naxamun na re, mo cnenianisanix cryenrin ]axyntrerin
inosemnnx mon yninepcnrerin nponanrtcx n ne uac s nox inosemnnx
mon, oxpemi nnrannx xypcy reopernuno rpamarnxn cyuacno
anrnictxo monn nncnirnmmrtcx n nnani sicrannent s inmnmn monamn.
xinni xoxnoro posiny noano xonrpontni nnrannx, Hevision
,terialA xxi ne rintxn cnpnxmrt sacnocnnm marepiany nipyunnxa,
a cxeponymrt cryenra na camocriny nayxony poory s reopi
rpamarnxn.
5
FOREWORD
The book is designed Ior the students oI the senior courses oI the
University Iaculties oI Ioreign languages and Teachers' Training Colleges.
The ai oI the book is thereIore to lead the students to a scientiIic
understanding oI ne assutions and vies oI language as syste,
keeing abreast oI the latest Iindings set Iorth in the rogressive
develoent oI graatical theory by Soviet and Ioreign scholars in
recent ties.
The central interest in Iunctional seantic correlation oI graatical
units has given shae to the hole book. In a descrition oI language
structure e have to account Ior the Ior, the substance and the
relationshi beteen the Ior and the situation. Linguistic activity
articiates in situations alongside ith an's other activities.
raatical categories are vieed as a colicated unity oI Ior
and graatical content. ue attention has been dran to contetual
level oI analysis, to denotative and connotative eanings oI
graatical Iors, their transositions and Iunctional re-evaluation in
diIIerent contets, linguistic or situational.
Linguistic studies oI recent years contain a vast aount oI iortant
observations based on acute observations valid Ior Iurther rogressive
develoent oI diIIerent asects oI the science oI language. The concetion
oI the general Ior oI graars has steadily develoed. hat becoes
increasingly useIul Ior insight into the structure and Iunctioning oI language
is orientation toards involving leis in studying graar.
In a language descrition e generally deal ith three essential arts
knon as honology, vocabulary, and graar. These various ranges,
or levels, are the subect atter oI the various branches oI linguistics.
e ay think oI vocabulary as the ord-stock, and graar as the set
oI devices Ior handling this ord-stock. It is due recisely to these
devices that language is able to give aterial linguistic Ior to huan
thought.
Practically seaking, the Iacts oI any language are too cole to be
handled ithout arranging the into such divisions. e do not ean
to say, hoever, that these three levels oI study should be thought oI as
isolated Iro each other. The aIIinities beteen all levels oI linguistic
organisation ake theselves uite evident. Conceived in isolation,
each oI the ill alays becoe artiIicial and ill hardly ustiIy itselI
in ractice. It is not alays easy to dra recise boundaries beteen
6
graar and vocabulary. Soeties the subect atter becoes
abiguous ust at the borderline. The study oI this organic relationshi in
language reality sees to be riary in iortance.
or a colete descrition oI language e have to account Ior the
Ior, the substance and the relationshi beteen the Ior and the
situation. The study oI this relationshi ay be reIerred to as contetual
level oI analysis.
raar, hose subect atter is the observable organisation oI
ords into various cobinations, takes that hich is coon and
basic in linguistic Iors and gives in an orderly ay accurate
descritions oI the ractice to hich users oI the language conIor.
And ith this coes the realisation that this underlying structure oI the
language (as syste) is highly organised. hatever are the other interests
oI odern linguistic science, its centre is surely an interest in the
graatical syste oI language.
To-day e have ell-established techniues Ior the study oI
language Iro a nuber oI diIIerent oints oI vie. Each oI these
techniues suleents all the others in contributing to theoretical
knoledge and the ractical robles oI the day.
Language is a Iunctional hole and all its arts are Iully describable
only in ters oI their relationshi to the hole. This level oI linguistic
analysis is ost obviously relevant to the robles oI overt and
covert graar and the roble oI Iield structure in graar that has
long attracted the attention oI linguists.
There is a discussion oI the robles that arise in the resentation
oI the aterial in this light but the scoe oI the aterial resented is
dictated by its Iactual useIulness.
Analysing the language Iro the vieoint oI the inIoration it
carries e cannot restrict the notion oI inIoration to the cognitive
asect oI language. Connotative asects and eotional overtones are also
iortant seantic coonents oI linguistic units.
The coonents oI graatical eaning that do not belong to
the denotation oI the graatical Ior are covered by the general
ter oI connotation ost obviously relevant to graatical asects oI
style.
raatical Iors lay a vital role in our ability to lend variety
to seech, to give colour to the subect or evaluate it and to convey
the inIoration ore eotionally.
The given uotations Iro diIIerent sources serve to sho ho the
structural eleents oI English graar have been variously treated
by diIIerent riters and hich oI the linguistic aroaches sees ost
convincing.
Etracts Ior study and discussion have been selected Iro the orks
oI the best riters hich aid in the Ioration oI the student's literary
taste and hel hi to see ho the best riters ake the deeest
resources oI graar serve their en.
Only soe oI the uotations used are the gatherings oI the author's
note-books through any years oI teaching, and it has not seeed
ossible in every instance to trace the uotation to its original source.
Most
7
oI the, hoever, have been Ireshly selected as the direct result oI the
etensive reading reuired by the rearation oI the book.
The discussion oI the linguistic Iacts has been ade concrete by the
use oI illustrative eales and coarison ith Russian and
Ukrainian, rench and eran.
Suggested assignents Ior study and discussion have been selected
ith a vie to etend the ractical knoledge oI the language. Revision
Material aIter each chater has been arranged so that the student
should acuire as uch eerience in indeendent ork as ossible.
Methods oI scientiIic research used in linguistic studies have alays
been connected ith the general trends in the science oI language. e
thereIore Iind it necessary to begin our graatical descrition ith a
brieI survey oI linguistic schools in the theory oI English graar so
that the students could understand various theoretical aroaches to the
study oI language structure. This ill Iacilitate the study oI graar
here e Iind no divergent vies oI scholars on soe oI the ost
iortant or controversial robles oI the English graatical
theory, and on soe secial uestions oI orhology and synta.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
oreord ...................................................................................................................... 6
Introduction
Survey oI the eveloent oI English raatical Theory.................................... 11
raar in Its Relation to Other Levels oI Linguistic Structure............................ 37
Probles oI ield Structure..................................................................................... 42
unctional Re-evaluation oI raatical ors in Contet ................................... 45
raatical oublets ................................................................................................ 55
Hevision Iaterial ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 59
Part I. Morphology
ChaTter U? The Subect-Matter oI Morhology ....................................................... 60
ChaTter >>? Parts oI Seech ..................................................................................... 67
Proble oI ClassiIication ..................................................................... 67
ChaTter >>> The Noun ................................................................................................ 72
Nuber .................................................................................................. 72
Case ....................................................................................................... 78
The Article ........................................................................................... 84
Hevision Iaterial ???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 88
ChaTter >V? The Adective ........................................................................................ 89
The Category oI Intensity and Coarison......................................... 90
Substantivation oI Adectives............................................................... 96
Hevision Iaterial????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 98
ChaTter V? The Verb ................................................................................................. 99
The Structural unctions oI the English Verb.................................... 105
Mood ...................................................................................................... 107
Modal Verbs ............................................................................................................... 111
Voice ...................................................................................................... 118
Active :: Passive in the English Voice Syste.................................... 118
Asect .................................................................................................... 130
Leico-raatical Categories in the ield oI Asect...................... 130
Hevision Iaterial ??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 136
ChaTter V>? English Verb-ors and Their Pattern-Value ................................... 137
The Present Tense................................................................................ 137
The Present Continuous (Progressive) Tense...................................... 141
The Past Tense..................................................................................... 146
The Past Continuous (Progressive) Tense ......................................... 147
The PerIect Tenses ............................................................................... 149
The uture Tense.................................................................................. 154
ChaTter V>>? The Pronouns...................................................................................... 160
Personal Pronouns ................................................................................ 160
ChaTter V>>>? The Adverb ....................................................................................... 164
Category oI State ................................................................................. 166
9
Part II. Syntax
ChaTter >W? Sentence Structure ................................................................................ 169
ChaTter W? The Sile Sentence.............................................................................. 183
The Princial Parts oI the Sentence............................................................... 183
The Secondary Parts oI the Sentence............................................................... 189
ord-Order....................................................................................................... 195
One-Meber Sentences ................................................................................... 208
InIinitival Sentences ...................................................................................... 211
Ellisis ............................................................................................................. 212
Verbless To-Meber Sentences .................................................................. 215
Idioatic Sentences ........................................................................................ 225
Constructional Hoonyity ........................................................................... 228
ChaTter WL Phrase-Structure ................................................................................... 234
Subordinate Phrases ................................................................................................. 236
Noun-Phrases.................................................................................................... 236
Verb-Phrases ................................................................................................... 242
InIinitival, erundial and Particiial Phrases ........................................... 249
Coordinate Phrases .................................................................................................... 249
ChaTter W>>? The Coosite Sentence ................................................................... 252
Coordination ................................................................................................... 257
Subordination .................................................................................................. 261
Subect and Predicate Clauses ...................................................................... 262
Obect Clauses ................................................................................................. 264
Attributive Clauses........................................................................................... 265
Clauses oI Cause ............................................................................................. 267
Clauses oI Place .............................................................................................. 268
Teoral Clauses ............................................................................................ 269
Clauses oI Condition ....................................................................................... 270
Clauses oI Result ............................................................................................. 273
Clauses oI Purose .......................................................................................... 274
Clauses oI Concession ...................................................................................... 274
Clauses oI Manner and Coarison................................................................ 277
Overlaing Relationshis and Synseantics in Hyotais....................... . 278
Transositions and unctional Re-evaluation oI Syntactic Structures . . 280
inal Rearks on Subordination................................................................... 282
Asyndeton ........................................................................................................ 283
Reresented Seech........................................................................................... 285
Noinality in English Sentence-Structure.................................................... 286
raar and Style ....................................................................................... 291
Hevision Iaterial ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? 298
Inde oI raatical Points Treated..................................................................... 299
Recoended Literature 303
INTRODUCTION
SURVEY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF
ENGLISH GRAMMATICAL
THEORY
EARLY PRESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR
English graatical theory has a long tradition going back to the
earliest Latin graars oI the 17th century hen graar eant
only the study oI Latin. Until the end oI the 16th century there ere no
graars oI English. One oI the earliest Latin graars ritten in English
as . L i l y ' s ork ublished in the Iirst halI oI the 16th century.
Looking at English through the lattice oI categories set u in Latin
graar, . Lily resented standards Ior siilar arrangeent oI the
English graatical aterial roceeding Iro Latin aradigs and
using the sae terinology as in Latin graar.
Lily's ork ent through any editions until 1858. In other early
renorative graars the arrangeent oI the aterial as siilar
to that oI Lily's graar. It is to be noted that using Latin categories
the riters oI that tie did not altogether ignore distinctions that the
English language ade. Thus, Ior instance, in Lily's graar
translation oI Latin inIlectional Iors is given ith the iortant oints
oI reservation that soe oI their English euivalents are analytical Iors,
hich include auiliary ords as signs.
Attets to break ith Latin graatical tradition characterise
the treatent oI the structure oI English in B u l l o k a r ' s and
Ch. B u t l e r ' s graars but in any cases they still Iollo the
Latin attern.
The early renorative graars oI English reroduced the Latin
classiIication oI the ord-classes hich included eight arts oI seech.
Substantives and adectives ere groued together as to kinds oI
nouns, the articile as considered as a searate art oI seech.
In the earliest English graars the arts oI seech ere divided
dichotoically into declinable and indeclinable arts oI seech or ords
ith nuber and ords ithout nuber (Ben onson), or ords
ith nuber and case and ords ithout nuber and case (Ch. Butler).
eclinable ords, ith nuber and case, included nouns, ronouns,
verbs and articiles, the indeclinables adverbs, reositions,
conunctions and interections. Ben onson increased the nuber oI
arts oI seech. His classiIication includes the article as the ninth art
oI seech.
In . B r i g h t l a n d ' s graar (the beginning oI the 18th century)
the nuber oI arts oI seech as reduced to Iour. These ere: naes
(nouns), ualities (adectives), aIIirations (verbs) and articles.
l i
Brightland's syste as acceted only by a Ie English
graarians oI the eriod. But since that tie the adective cae
to be vieed as a searate art oI seech.
Brightland's graar as the Iirst to include the concet oI the
sentence in synta roer.
The logical deIinition oI the sentence eisted in old ties, but
graarians understood the subect atter oI synta only as a study oI
ord arrangeent.
In Lily's graar, Ior instance, e Iind three Latin concords: the
noinative and the verb, the substantive and the adective, the relative
ronoun and its antecedent.
The second halI oI the 18th century is generally reIerred to as the age
oI the so-called renorative graar. The ost inIluential graar oI
the eriod as R. L o t h ' s Short >ntroduction to Xnglish YraZZarA Ii rst
ubl ished i n 1762.
Lot h' s ar oach t o t he s t udy oI gr aar as uhel d by hi s
I ol loers.
The Iirst to be entioned here i s L i n d l e y M u r r a y 's Xnglish?
YraZZar [daTted to the \ifferent Classes of Learners? irst ublished in
1795, it as then idely used in its original Ior and in an abridged
version Ior any years to coe. Murray's graar as considered so
suerior to any then in use that soon aIter its aearance it becae the
tet-book in alost every school.
The rincial design oI a graar oI any language, according to
Loth, is to teach us to eress ourselves ith roriety, to enable us
to udge oI every hrase and Ior oI construction, hether it be right
or not. The lain ay oI doing this is to lay don rules and to illustrate
the by eales. But besides shoing hat is right, the atter ay
be Iurther elained hat is rong.
In the ords oI Loth, graar in general, or Universal graar
elains the rinciles hich are coon to all languages. The raar
oI any articular language, as the English graar, alies those coon
rinciles to that articular language.
O. esersen shoed good udgeent in observing at this oint that
in any cases hat gives itselI out as logic, is not logic at all, but Latin
graar disguised.
The early rescritive graars eerted an enorous inIluence
and oulded the aroach oI any generations to English graar.
Alying the rinciles oI Universal graar, Loth subected
to criticis any eressions established by long use in English, such
as, Ior instance, the use oI adverbs ithout the suIIi 5l]A the eressions it
is ZeA these înd ofA or, say, such atterns as had ratherA had _etter?
Loth and other graarians oI that tie condened as rong any
constructions and Iors hich occurred in the orks oI the best authors.
They used assages Iro the orks oI classical riters as eercises Ior
ui l s to correct bad English or Ialse English.
12
Classical Scientific YraZZar
The end oI the 19th century brought a graar oI a higher tye,
a descritive graar intended to give scientiIic elanation to the
graatical henoena.
This as H. S e e t ' s èa Xnglish YraZZarA Logical and
bistorical (1891).
Instead oI serving as a guide to hat should be said or ritten,
Seet's elanatory graar ais at Iinding out hat is actually said and
ritten by the seakers oI the language investigated. This leads to a
scientiIic understanding oI the rules Iolloed instinctively by seakers
and riters, giving in any cases the reasons hy this usage is such
and such.
The diIIerence beteen scientiIic and rescritive graar is
elained by H. Seet as Iollos: As y eosition clais to be
scientiIic, I conIine yselI to the stateent and elanation oI Iacts,
ithout atteting to settle the relative correctness oI divergent usages. II
an 'ungraatical' eression such as it is Ze is in general use aong
educated eole, I accet it as such, sily adding that it is avoided
in the literary language.
... hatever is in general use in language is Ior that reason
graatical l y correct
1
.
In the ords oI Seet, his ork is intended to suly the ant oI a
scientiIic English graar, Iounded on an indeendent critical survey
oI the latest results oI linguistic investigation as Iar as they bear,
directly or indirectly, on the English language.
ScientiIic graar as thus understood to be a cobination oI both
descritive and elanatory graar. Seet deIines the ethods oI
graatical analysis as Iollos: The Iirst business oI graar, as oI
every other science, is to observe the Iacts and henoena ith hich
it has to deal, and to classiIy and state the ethodically. A graar,
hich conIines itselI to this is called a descritive graar. ...hen
e have a clear stateent oI such graatical henoena, e naturally
ish to kno the reason oI the and ho they arose. In this ay
descritive graar lays the Ioundations oI elanatory graar.
Seet describes the three ain Ieatures characterising the arts oI
seech: eaning, Ior and Iunction, and this has logical Ioundations
but the results oI his classiIication are, hoever, not alays consistent.
It is to be noted, in assing, that H. Seet's ideas see to anticiate
soe vies characteristic oI odern linguistics.
Here are a Ie lines Iro H. Seet's ork hich bear relevantly
uon . de Saussure's ideas about synchronic and diachronic
linguistics: ...beIore history ust coe a knoledge oI hat no
eists. e ust learn to observe things as they are ithout regard to
their origin, ust as a oologist ust learn to describe accurately a
horse ...
2
.
1
H. S e e t . Ne English raar. Logical and Historical. OIord, 1955,
. 5.
3
H. Seet. ords, Logic and Meaning. Transactions oI the Philological Society.
London, 18751876, . 471.
13
The idea that language is riarily hat is said and only
secondarily hat is ritten, i. e. the riority oI oral is in accord ith
Seet's stateent that the Iirst reuisite is a knoledge oI honetics
or the Ior oI language. e ust learn to regard language solely as
consisting oI grous oI sounds, indeendently oI the ritten
sybols ...
1
.
The sae vieoints ere advocated by other linguists oI the Iirst
hal I oI t he resent cent ur y, such as C. Oni ons, E. Krui si nga,
H. Poutsa, . Cure, O. esersen, H. Stokoe, M. Bryant, R. andvoort
and others
2
.
According to O. esersen, Ior instance, oI greater value than
rescritive graar is a urely descritive graar, hich, instead oI
serving as a guide to hat should be said or ritten, ais at Iinding out
hat is actually said and ritten by the seakers oI the language
investigated, and thus ay lead to a scientiIic understanding oI the
rules Iolloed instinctively by seakers and riters. Such a graar
should also be elanatory, giving, as Iar as this is ossible, the reasons
hy the usage is such and such. These reasons ay, according to
circustances, be honetic or sychological, or in soe cases both
cobined. Not inIreuently the elanation ill be Iound in an
earlier stage oI the sae language: hat one eriod as a regular
henoenon ay later becoe isolated and aear as an irregularity, an
ecetion to hat has no becoe the revailing rule. raar ust
thereIore be historical to a certain etent. inally, graar ay be
areciative, eaining hether the rules obtained Iro the language in
uestion are in every ay clear (unabiguous, logical), eressive and
easy, or hether in any one oI these resects other Iors or rules ould
have been reIerable
3
.
Soe 19th-century graars continued to be rerinted in the
odern eriod, e. g. L e n n i e 's crinciTles of Xnglish YraZZar
underent uite a nuber oI editions and Mason's graars ere
rerinted by A. . Ashton (19071909).
Nuerous other graar books continue the sae tradition. Soe
oI the, in the ords oI H. A. leason
4
, are ost heavily indebted
to . C. NesIield, either directly or indirectly.
Published in 1898, NesIield's graar inIluenced rescritive and
to a certain etent scientiIic graars oI the 20th century, coarable
to the inIluence oI Murray's graar on the 19th-century
graarians. It underent a nuber oI variant editions, such as: Xnglish
YraZZar cast and cresentA Ianual of Xnglish YraZZar and
CoZTositionA and [ids
U
H. S e e t . ords, Logic and Meaning. Transactions oI the Philological
Societ y. London, 18751876, . 471.
- See= C. T. O n i o n s . An Advanced English Synta. London, 1932 E.
Kruisinga. A Handbook oI Pr esent - day Engl i sh. r oni ngen, 1932 H. P o u t s a .
A raar oI Late Modern English. roningen, 19141521 O. e s e r s e n . The
Philosohy oI raar. London-Ne York, 1935 Essentials oI English raar.
London, 1933 . C u r e , A r aar oI t he Engl i sh Language. London- Ne
York, 1931 M. B r y a n t . A unctional English raar. Boston, 1945 H. R.
S t o k o e . The Understanding oI Synta. London 1937 R. andvoort. A Handbook oI
English raar. roningen, 1948.
3
See= O. e s e r s e n . Essentials oI English raar. London, 1933.
4
See= H. A. l e a s o n . Li ngui st i cs and Engl i sh raar. Ne York, I95,
. 72.
14
to the Stud] and CoZTosition of Xnglish? The latter consists oI Iive arts:
Part I contains a series oI chaters on Accidence Parsing, and Analysis
oI Sentences, all oI hich are a rerint, ithout any change, oI the
corresonding chaters in his Ianual of Xnglish YraZZar and
CoZTosition? Part II Studies and Xdercises Su_sidiar] to CoZTosition
nearly coincides ith hat as already given in diIIerent arts oI the
Manual, but has only a ne and iortant chater on irect and
Indirect Seech. Part I I I CoZTosition in Five Stages is alost entirely
ne Part IV contains to chaters on >dioZ and ConstructionA hich are
Ior the ost art a rerint oI hat e Iind in his Xnglish YraZZar cast
and cresent? Part V [ids to the Stud] of Xnglish Literature is intended
to hel the student in the study oI English Literature, both Prose and
Verse. The last chater St]le in crose and Verse is entirely ne.
NesIield's graar as revised in 1924 in accordance ith the
reuireents oI the oint Coreceded. The revision continued the
tradition oI 19th-century graar: orhology as treated as it had
been in the Iirst halI oI the 19th century, synta, as in the second halI oI
that century. OI the various classiIications oI the arts oI the sentence
current in the graars oI the second halI oI the 19th century the
author chose a syste, according to hich the sentence has Iour distinct
arts: (1) the Subect (2) Aduncts to the Subect (Attributive Aduncts,
soeties called the Enlargeent oI the Subect) (3) the Predicate and
(4) Aduncts oI the Predicate (Adverbial Aduncts) the obect and the
coleent (i. e. the redicative) ith their ualiIying ords, hoever,
are not treated as distinct arts oI the sentence. They are classed
together ith the Iinite verb as art oI the redicate. Although
graars as a rule do not consider the obect to be the third rincial
art oI the sentence, indirectly this oint oI vie ersists since the
iddle oI the 19th century and underlies any ethods oI analysis.
In NesIield's schee, though the obect is not given the status oI
a art oI the sentence, it is considered to be oI eual iortance
ith the Iinite verb. In diagraing sentences, graarians lace
the subect, redicate, obects and coleents on the sae syntactic
level, on a horiontal line in the diagra, hile odiIiers oI all sorts are
laced belo the line
U
?
In Xssentials of Xnglish YraZZar O. esersen ais at giving a
descritive, to soe etent, elanatory and areciative account
oI the graatical syste oI Modern English, historical elanations
being only given here this can be done ithout resuosing any
detailed knoledge oI Old English or any cognate language.
One oI the ost iortant contributions to linguistic study in the
Iirst halI oI the 20th century as O. esersen's The chilosoTh] of
YraZZar Iirst ublished in 1924 here he resented his theory oI three
ranks intended to rovide a basis Ior understanding the hierarchy oI
syntactic relations hidden behind linear reresentation oI eleents in
language structures. In its originality, its erudition and its breadth this
as the best book on graar.
1
See= . . C r a i g , A. H u t s o n , . M o n t g o e r y . The Es s ent i al s oI English
raar. Ne York, 1941, . 213214.
15
The book is an attet at a connected resentation oI his vies oI the
general rinciles oI graar. The starting oint oI the theory oI three
ranks is the Iolloing:
In any coosite denoination oI a thing or erson e alays Iind
that there is one ord oI suree iortance to hich the others are
oined as subordinates. This chieI ord is deIined (ualiIied, odiIied) by
another ord, hich in its turn ay be deIined (ualiIied, odiIied) by a
third ord, etc.
1
. istinction is thus ade beteen diIIerent ranks oI
ords according to their utual relations as deIined or deIining. In the
cobination edtreZel] hot aeather the last ord aeatherA hich is
evidently the chieI idea, ay be called riary hotA hich deIines
aeatherA secondary, and edtreZel]A hich deIines hotA tertiary. Though a
tertiary ord ay be Iurther deIined by a (uarternary) ord, and this
again by a (uinary) ord, and so Iorth, it is needless to distinguish ore
than three ranks, as there are no Ioral or other traits that distinguish
ords oI these loer orders Iro tertiary ords. Thus, in the hrase a
certainl] not ver] cleverl] aorded reZarÂ no one oI the ords certainl]A
notA and ver]A though deIining the Iolloing ord, is in any ay
graatically diIIerent Iro hat it ould be as a tertiary ord, as it is in
a certainl] clever reZarÂ not a clever reZarÂ a ver] clever reZar^?
II no e coare the cobination a furiousl] _arîng dog ea dog
_arîng furiousl]fA in hich dog is riary, _arîng secondary, and
furiousl] tertiary, ith the dog _ar^s furiousl]A it is evident that the sae
subordination obtains in the latter as in the Iorer cobination. Yet there
is a Iundaental diIIerence beteen the, hich calls Ior searate ters
Ior the to kinds oI cobination: e shall call the Iorer kind unction,
and the latter neus. It should be noted that the dog is a riary not only
hen it is the subect, as in the dog _ar^sA but also hen it is the obect oI
a verb, as in > see the dogA or oI a reosition, as in he runs after the dog?
As regards terinology, the ords riary, secondary, and tertiary are
alicable to neus as ell as to unction, but it ill be useIul to have
secial naes adgunct Ior a secondary ord in a unction, and adned Ior a
secondary ord in a neus. or tertiary e ay use the ter su_gunctA and
uarternary ords, in the rare cases in hich a secial ' nae is needed,
ay be tered su_5su_guncts?
As ill have been seen already by these eales, the grou, hether
riary, secondary, or tertiary, ay itselI contain eleents standing to
one another in the relation oI subordination indicated by the three ranks.
The rank oI the grou is one thing, the rank ithin the grou another. In
this ay ore or less colicated relations ay coe into eistence,
hich, hoever, are alays easy to analyse Iro the oint oI vie given
above.
be lives on this side the river= here the hole grou consisting oI the
last Iive ords is tertiary to livesh on this sideA hich consists oI the
article (reosition) on ith its obect this (adunct) side (riary), Iors
itselI a grou reosition, hich here takes as an obect the grou the
1
O. esersen. The Philosohy oI raar. London, 1968, . 96. 16
(adunct) river (riary). But in the sentence the _uildings on this side
the river are ancientA the sae Iive-ord grou is an adunct to _uildings?
In this ay e ay arrive at a natural and consistent analysis even oI
the ost colicated cobinations Iound in actual language.
There is certainly soe degree oI corresondence beteen the three
arts oI seech and the three ranks here established. But this
corresondence is Iar Iro colete as ill be evident Iro the Iolloing
survey: the to things, ord-classes and ranks, really ove in to
diIIerent sheres. This ill be seen Iro the Iolloing survey given
by O. esersen.
I. Nouns as riaries are Iairly coon. Eales are hardly needed.
Nouns as aduncts, e. g.: Shelle]'s ToeZA the _utcher's shoTA etc.
The use oI nouns as aduncts ay be ell illustrated by
reodiIication oI nouns by nouns. Eales are nuerous: stone
aallA iron _ridgeA silver sToonA sTace flightA Zorning starA etc.
The use oI nouns as subuncts (subnexes) is rare, e. g.: the sea aent
Zountains high?
II. Adectives as primaries, e. g.: the richA the ToorA the nativesA etc.
Adectives as adjuncts: no eales are here necessary. Adectives as
subuncts, e. g.: a fast Zoving engineA a clean shaven faceA etc.
III. Pronouns as primaries: > aZ aell? This is Zine? ihat haTTened?
ò_od] ^noas?
Pronouns as adjuncts: this _ooÂ Z] sisterA our go]A etc. Pronouns as
subuncts: > aZ that sleeT]A > aon't sta] an] longerA soZeahat _etter than
usual?
IV. inite Iors oI verbs can only stand as secondary words
(adnexes), never either as riaries or as tertiaries. But articiles, like
adectives, can stand as riaries and as aduncts.
InIinitives in diIIerent contets oI their use ay belong to each oI
the three ranks.
InIinitives as primaries: to see is to _elieve ecf? seeing is _elievingfh
to understand is to forgiveh she aants to rest?
InIinitives as adjuncts: generations to coZeh tiZes to coZeh the correct
thing to doh the never to _e forgotten loo^?
InIinitives as subjuncts: to see her ]ou aould thin^ she is an
actressh > shudder to thin^ of ith he caZe here to see ]ou?
V. Adverbs as primaries. This use is rare. O. esersen gives such
eales as: he did not sta] for longh he's onl] gust _ac^ froZ a_road?
ith ronoinal adverbs it is ore Ireuent: froZ hereA till noaA etc.
Adverbs as adjuncts are not a Ireuent occurrence either: the off sideh in
after ]earsh the then Zethodsh the fea near_] trees?
Adverbs as subjuncts the ordinary use oI this ord-class.
Eales are hardly needed.
hen a substantive, O. esersen goes on to say, is Iored Iro an
adective or verb, a deIining ord is, as it ere, liIted u to a higher
17
lane, becoing secondary instead oI tertiary, and herever ossible, this
is shon by the use oI an adective instead oI an adverb Ior:
a_solutel] novel a_solute novelt]
utterl] dar^ utter dar^ness
Terfectl] strange Terfect stranger
descri_es accuratel] accurate descriTtion
> firZl] _elieve Z] firZ _eliefA a firZ
_eliever
gudges severel] severe gudges
reads carefull] careful reader
VI. ord grous consisting oI to or ore ords, the utual relation
oI hich ay be oI the ost diIIerent character, in any instances occuy
the sae rank as a single ord. A ord grou ay be either a riary or
an adunct or a subunct.
ord grous oI various kinds as riaries: Sunda] afternoon aas fine?
> sTent Sunda] afternoon at hoZe?
ord grous as adjuncts: a Sunda] afternoon concerth the Tart] in
Toaerh a Saturda] to Ionda] edcursionh the tiZe _etaeen tao and fourh
his after dinner TiTe?
ord grous as subjuncts: he sleTt all Sunda] afternoonh he sZoês
after dinnerh he aent to all the TrinciTal cities of XuroTeh he lives nedt
door to CaTtain Strongh the canal ran north and southh he used to laugh a
good dealA five feet highh he aants things his oan aa]h he ran uTstairs
three steTs at a tiZe?
In his Iinal rearks on neus O. esersen gives a tabulated survey oI
the rincial instances oI neus, using characteristic eales instead oI
descritive class-naes. In the Iirst colun he includes instances in hich
a verb (Iinite or inIinitive) or a verbal noun is Iound, in the second
instances ithout such a Ior:
U? The dog _ar^s baTT] the ZanA ahose ???
2. hen the dog _ar^s hoaever great the loss
3. Arthur, ahoZ they say
is îll'd
4. I hear the dog _ar^ he akes her haTT]
5. count on hiZ to coZe ith the aindoa oTen
j? for ]ou to call
7. he is believed to _e guil5 she aas Zade hay
t]
8. the ainner to sTend ever]thing considered
9. the doctor's arrival the doctor's cleverness
10? > dancek be a gentleZank
In 1 and 10 the neus Iors a colete sentence, in all the other
instances it Iors only art oI a sentence, either the subect, the obect or a
subunct
1
.
1
See= O. esersen. The Philosohy oI raar. London, 1958, . 97, 102, 131.
18
O. esersen's theory oI three ranks rovides logical Ioundations
Ior identiIying the hierarchy oI syntactic relations beteen eleents
oined together in a graatical unit.
The art oI seech classiIication and the rank classiIication
reresent, in Iact, diIIerent angles Iro hich the sae ord or Ior
ay be vieed, Iirst as it is in itselI and then as it is in cobination ith
other ords.
No one ould disute the value oI O. esersen's analysis and dee
inuiry into the structure oI language. In the theory oI three ranks he
oIIered uch that as ne in content and had ost notable erits.
The concets on hich this theory is based is the concet oI
deterination. The riary is an absolutely indeendent ord, the
secondary is the ord hich deterines or is subordinated to the
riary, the tertiary odiIies the secondary and so on. This sees
erIectly reasonable as Iully ustiIied by the relations beteen the ords
arranged in a string, according to the rincile oI successive
subordination.
ith all this, O. esersen's analysis contains soe disutable
oints and inconsistency.
The very deIinition oI the notion oI rank is not accurate hich in
soe cases leads to inadeuacy oI analysis.
Alying his rincile oI linguistic analysis to sentence structures,
such as the dog _ar^s furiousl] he ignores the diIIerence beteen unction
and neus and does not distinguish attributive and redicative relations
and thus sees to return to the rincile oI three rincial arts oI the
sentence.
In his [nal]tic S]ntadA ublished in 1937, O. esersen gives a
sybolic reresentation oI the structure oI English. raatical
constructions are transcribed in Iorulas, in hich the arts oI the
sentence and the arts oI seech are reresented by caital and sall
letters S Ior subect, V Ior verb, v Ior auiliary verb, O
Ior obect, I Ior inIinitive, etc. and the ranks by nuerals 1, 2, 3. As
Iar as the techniue oI linguistic descrition is concerned this book ay be
regarded as a Iorerunner oI structural graar hich akes use oI such
notations.
O. esersen's orhological syste diIIers essentially Iro the
traditional concets. He recognises only the Iolloing ord-classes
graatically distinct enough to recognise the as searate arts oI
seech, vi.:
(1) Substantive (including roer naes).
(2) Adectives.
In soe resects (1) and (2) ay be classed together as Nouns.
(3) Pronouns (including nuerals and ronoinal adverbs).
(4) Verbs (ith doubts as to the inclusion oI Verbids).
(5) Particles (corising hat are generally called adverbs,
reositions, conunctions coordinating and subordinating and
interections). This IiIth class ay be negatively characterised as ade
u oI all those ords that cannot Iind any lace in any oI the Iirst Iour
classes.
Methods oI scientiIic research used in linguistic studies have
alays been connected ith the general trends in the science oI
language.
The Iirst decade oI the 20th century is knon to have brought ne
theoretical aroaches to language and the study oI its nature. Thus,
2` 19
Ior instance, the rinciles oI coarative linguistics have been oI
araount iortance in the develoent oI scientiIic aroach to
historical ord study. In the beginning oI the resent century
linguistic studies ere still concentrated on historical robles. The
historical and coarative study oI the Indo-Euroean languages becae
the rincial line oI Euroean linguistics Ior any years to coe.
The ost idely acclaied vies oI language during the ast thirty
years have been directed toard the develoent oI ethodologies Ior
dealing ith the structure oI a language in a non-historical sense.
The historical coarative ethod as alied only to the
coarative study oI kindred languages. But to gain the deeer insight
into the nature oI language, all languages ust be studied in
coarison, not only kindred. Modern linguistics is develoing the
tyological study oI languages, both kindred and non-kindred.
Toards the end oI the 19th century attention as concentrated
on the history oI searate lingual eleents, ith no reIerence to their
interrelations in the syste oI language. This atoistic aroach as
criticised and abandoned. Modern linguistics is oriented toards
erIecting the analytical and descritive techniue in historical
studies. And this brings ne scientiIic data idening the scoe oI
coarative linguistics and contributing greatly to its rogressive
develoent.
The Iirst treatents oI language as a syste hose arts are
utually interconnected and interdeendent ere ade by Beaudouin
de Courtenay (18451929) and . . ortunatov (18481914) in
Russia and erdinand de Saussure, the Siss linguist (18571913).
. de Saussure detached hiselI Iro the tradition oI the historical
coarative ethod and recognised to riary dichotoies: beteen
language (langue) and seech (arole), and beteen synchronic and
diachronic linguistics. Language is a syste hose arts can and ust
all be considered in their synchronic solidarity
U
?
e Saussure's ain ideas taken in our science oI language ith soe
oints oI reservation and elanatory rearks are:
a) Language as a syste oI signals ay be coared to other systes
oI signals, such as riting, alhabets Ior the deaI-and-dub, ilitary
signals, sybolic rites, Iors oI courtesy, etc. Thus, language ay be
considered as being the obect oI a ore general science seasiology
a science oI the Iuture hich ould study diIIerent systes oI signals
used in huan society.
b) The syste oI language is a body oI linguistic units sounds,
aIIies, ords, graar rules and rules oI leical series. The syste
oI language enables us to seak and to be understood since it is knon
to all the ebers oI a seech counity. Seech is the total oI our
utterances and tets. It is based on the syste oI language, and it gives
the linguist the ossibility oI studying the syste. Seech is the linear
(syntagatic) asect oI languages, the syste oI language is its
aradigatic (associative) asect.
1
. de S a u s s u r e . Cours de linguistiue generale. Paris, 1949, . 9.
20
c) A language-state is a syste oI signs: a sign being a to-sided
entity hose coonents are signiIier (sound-iage) and the signiIied
(concet), the relationshi beteen these to coonents being
essentially correlative
U
?
e understand the eaning oI the linguistic sign as reIlecting the
eleents (obects, events, situations) oI the outside orld.
. de Saussure attributed to each linguistic sign a value: Language
is a syste oI interdeendent ters in hich the value oI each ter results
solely Iro the siultaneous resence oI the others
2
. The linguistic sign
is absolutely arbitrary and relatively otivated.
This is to say that iI e take a ord absolutely disregarding its
connections to other ords in the syste, e shall Iind nothing obligatory
in the relation oI its honological Ior to the obect it denotes (according
to the nature oI the obect). This Iact becoes evident hen e coare
the naes oI the sae obects in diIIerent languages, e. g.:
English horse hand sring
Russian nomat pyxa necna
Ukrainian xint pyxa necna
rench cheval ain rintes
The relative otivation eans that the linguistic sign taken in the
syste oI language reveals connections ith other linguistic signs oI the
syste both in Ior and eaning. These connections are diIIerent in
diIIerent languages and sho the diIIerence oI the segentation oI the
icture oI the orld the diIIerence in the division oI one and the sae
obective reality into arts reIlected in the inds oI diIIerent eoles, e. g.:
English arro shoot ale ale-tree Russian
crpena crpenxrt xnoxo xnonx Ukrainian
crpina crpinxrn xnyxo xnynx
d) Language is to be studied as a syste in the synchronic lane, i. e.
at a given oent oI its eistence, in the lane oI siultaneous
coeistence oI eleents.
e) The syste oI language is to be studied on the basis oI the
oositions oI its concrete units. The linguistic eleents (units) can be
Iound by eans oI segents, e. g. in the strength of the aind and in to
collect one's strength e recognise one and the sae unit strength in
accord ith its eaning and Ior but in on the strength of this decision
the eaning is not the sae, and e recognise a diIIerent linguistic unit.
. Cure's YraZZar of the Xnglish Language (1931) resents a
systeatic and rather Iull outline oI English synta based uon actual
usage. The attention is directed to the graatical categories the case
Iors (the noinative, genitive, dative, accusative), the reositional
1
See= . de Saussure. O. cit., . 6667.
2
Ibid., . 114.
21
hrase, the indicative, the subunctive, the active, the assive,
the ord-order, the clause Iorations, clauses ith Iinite verb, and the
neer, terser articiial, gerundial, and inIinitival clauses, etc.
Serious eIIorts have been ade everyhere throughout this book
to enetrate into the original concrete eaning oI these categories.
The eculiar vies on acci dence, e. g. the Iour-case syst e
in . Cure's graar, are reIlected in synta. Cure discusses
accusative obects, dative obects, etc.
Most graarians retain the threeIold classiIication oI sentences
into sile, coound and cole, as given in the rescritive
graars oI the id-19th century. H. Poutsa introduces the ter
coosite sentence as coon Ior coound and cole sentences.
Soe changes have taken lace in the concet oI the clause (as art oI a
larger sentence). It is robably under the inIluence oI NesIield's
graar, here this deIinition Iirst aeared, that graarians do not
insist any longer, as C. T. Onions did, that in a cole sentence
each clause has a subect and a redicate oI its on. They take into
consideration the structural eculiarity oI cole sentences ith subect
and redicate clauses, here the ain clause lacks one or both oI its
rincial arts.
As a atter oI Iact, scientiIic graar gave u the strictly
structural concet oI a clause as oI a syntactic unit containing a
subect and a redicate, recognised by rescritive graar.
Beginning ith Seet's graar, graarians have retained the
concets oI halI-clauses, abridged clauses, verbid clauses, etc. Thus, H.
Poutsa treats substantive clauses, adverbial clauses, inIinitive clauses,
gerund clauses and articile clauses as units oI the sae kind.
E. Kruisinga's graar is one oI the ost interesting oI those
scientiIic graars hich have retained the traditional graatical
syste. Kruisinga criticises the deIinition oI the sentence Ior its
indeterinacy but does not redeIine the ter. The concet oI the
hrase as not oular aong the riters oI scientiIic graars.
Kruisinga originated the theory oI close and loose syntactic grous,
distinguishing beteen subordination and coordination. Closely related
to this theory is the author's concet oI the cole sentence.
E. Kruisinga's band_oo^ of cresent5da] Xnglish (1932) resents
a ne vieoint on soe arts oI English structure suggesting
interesting aroaches to various disutable oints in the
treatent oI hrase-structure.
Setting u to aor tyes oI syntactic structures: close and loose
syntactic grous he deIines the as Iollos: in close grous one oI the
ebers is syntactically the leading eleent oI the grou in loose
grous each eleent is coaratively indeendent oI the other eber.
By ay oI illustration: a countr] doctor or Zild aeather are close
grous ord-cobinations like Zen and aoZen are loose grous. The
individual ords are thus leIt unaIIected by their ebershi oI the
grou.
escribing the close grous according to their leading eber,
E. Kruisinga classiIies the into: verb-grous, noun-grous, adective-
grous, adverb-grous and reosition-grous ronoun-grous are
22
included in the noun and adective-grous. Modal and auiliary verbs in
verb-grous are reIerred to as leading verbs.
The ne assutions ade by E. Kruisinga are oI undoubted
interest. There are hoever, disutable oints in the discussion oI the
close grous here the author does not conIine hiselI to one basis Ior the
establishent oI verb-hrases hich in this art oI analysis leads to
certain inadeuacy oI the classiIication. But on the hole the book-
has notable erits.
Aong the authors oI classical scientiIic English graars oI the
odern eriod ention ust be ade about C. T. Onion's [dvanced
Xnglish S]ntad (London, 1904). The ain Iacts oI current English
synta are resented here in a systeatic Ior in accordance ith the
rinciles oI arallel graar series. English synta is arranged in to
arts. Part I contains a treatent oI syntactical henoena based on the
analysis oI sentences. Part II classiIies the uses oI Iors.
hile dealing ainly ith the language oI the odern eriod,
C. T. Onion endeavoured to ake the book oI use to the student oI early
odern English by giving an account oI soe notable archaic and obsolete
constructions. Historical atter in soe arts oI his book adds interest
to the treatent oI articular constructions and iortant oints in
synta develoent.
To this eriod belong also L. . Kiball's Structure of the Xnglish
Sentence (Ne York, 1900) and H. R. Stokoe's Understanding of S]ntad
hich aeared in 1937.
All these scholars diIIer Iro rescritive graarians in their non-
legislative aroach to the descrition oI English structure trying to
gain a deeer insight into its nature.
A ealth oI linguistic aterial describing the structure oI English
is resented in such scientiIic graars oI the odern eriod as H.
Poutsa's YraZZar of Late Iodern Xnglish (1926), E. Kruisinga's
band_oo^ of cresent5da] (1931) and R. . andvoort's band_oo^ of Xnglish
YraZZar (1948).
Structural and Transformational Grammars
Structural graarians have abandoned any oI the coonly held
vies oI graar. ith regard to the ethodology eloyed their
linguistic aroach diIIers Iro Iorer treatents in language
learning. Structural graatical studies deal riarily ith the
graar oI structure, and oIIer an aroach to the robles oI
sentence analysis that diIIers in oint oI vie and in ehasis Iro the
usual treatent oI synta.
Treating the robles oI the structure oI English ith criticis oI
traditional conventional graars, Ch. ries considers, Ior instance,
that rescritive and scholarly graars belong to a rescientiIic
era
U
?
According to Ch. ries, the ne aroach the alication oI to
oI the ethods oI structural linguistics, distributional analysis and
substitution akes it ossible to disense ith the usual eight arts
1
See= Ch. r i e s . The Structure oI English. London, 1959, . 1.
23
oI seech. He classiIies ords into Iour Ior-classes, designated by
nubers, and IiIteen grous oI Iunction ords, designated by letters.
The Iour aor arts oI seech (Noun, Verb, Adective, Adverb) set u by
the rocess oI substitution in Ch. ries recorded aterial are thus given no
naes ecet nubers: class 1, class 2, class 3, class 4. The Iour classes
corresond roughly to hat ost graarians call nouns and ronouns,
verbs, adectives and adverbs, though Ch. ries esecially arns the reader
against the attet to translate the stateents hich the latter Iinds in the
book into the old graatical ters. The grou oI Iunction ords contains
not only reositions and conunctions, but also certain seciIic ords that
ore traditional graarians ould class as a articular kind oI ronouns,
adverbs and verbs.
Assutions have been ade by Ch. ries that all ords hich can
occuy the sae set oI ositions in the atterns oI English single Iree
utterances ust belong to the sae art oI seech. These Iour classes
ake u the bulk oI Iunctioning units in structural atterns oI English.
Then coe IiIteen grous oI so-called Iunction-ords hich have certain
characteristics in coon. In the ere atter oI nuber oI ites the
IiIteen grous diIIer sharly Iro the Iour classes. In the Iour large classes
the leical eanings oI the ords deend on the arrangeent in hich
these ords aear. In Iunction-ords it is usually diIIicult iI not
iossible to indicate a leical eaning aart Iro the structural eaning
hich these ords signal.
Ch. ries very rightly oints out that one cannot roduce a book
dealing ith language ithout being indebted to any ho have earlier
studied the robles and ade great advances. He acknoledged the
ieasurable stiulation and insight received Iro L. BlooIield. The
inIluence oI classical scientiIic and rescritive graars on soe oI his
vies oI language is also uite evident.
According to Ch. ries, this aterial covers the basic atters oI
English structure.
Ch. ries gives eales oI the various kinds oI Iunction-ords that
oerate in ositions other than those oI Iour classes given above, giving
identiIying letters to each oI the diIIerent grous included here.
The Iirst test Irae (rou A) includes all the ords Ior the osition in
hich the ord the occurs.
rou
A
eThef
rou
A
eThef
Class
1
Class
1
concert
Class
2
aas
Class 2
islaas
arelaere
Class 3 Class
3
good
Class
4
the alan ever]
no Z] our
]our her his
their each all
_oth soZe an]
fea Zore Zost
Zuch Zan] its
mohn's thislthese thatlthose
nne tao threeA etc.
$&
Soe oI these ords eoneA allA _othA taoA threeA fourA thatA thoseA
soZeA mohn'sA etc.) ay also aear in the ositions oI Class 1 ords all
and _oth ay occur beIore the? rou A consists oI all ords that can
occuy the osition oI the in this articular test Irae. The ords in this
osition all occur ith Class 1 ords. Structurally, hen they aear in
this osition, they serve as arkers oI Class 1 ords. Soeties they
are called deteriners.
The second test Irae includes, according to traditional terinology,
odal verbs:
rou Class rou Class Class Class
A 1 2 3 4
The concert eZa]f e_ef egoodf Zight can could aill
aould should Zust
has e_eenf has
to e_ef
ords oI grou all go ith Class 2 ords and only ith Class 2
ords. Structurally, hen they aear in this osition, they serve as
arkers oI Class 2 ords and also, in secial Iorulas, they signal soe
eanings hich, according to Ch. ries, should be included as structural.
or grou C ries has but one ord not? (This not diIIers Iro the not
included in grou E).
rou Class rou rou Class Class A 1
C 2 3
The concert Za] not _e good
rou includes ords that can occur in the osition oI ver]
iediately beIore a class 3 ord in the Iolloing test Irae:
Crou Class rou rou Class rou Class Class
A 1 C 2 3 4
The concert Za] not _e ver] good then
ouiteA aafull]
reall]A aaful
realA an] Trett]A
too fairl]A Zore
ratherA Zost
Although each oI the IiIteen grous set u here diIIers uite arkedly
Iro every other grou, they all have certain characteristics in coon
characteristics hich ake the diIIerent Iro the Iour classes oI ords
identiIied reviously.
1. In the ere atter oI nuber oI ites the IiIteen grous diIIer
sharly Iro the Iour classes. The Iour classes together contain thousands
oI searate ites. Ch. ries Iound no diIIiculty hatever in selecting Iro
his long lists a hundred oI diIIerent ites oI each oI the
25
Iour classes as eales. On the other hand, the total nuber oI the
searate ites Iro his aterials aking u the IiIteen grous aounted
to only 154.
2. In the Iour large classes, the leical eanings oI the searate ords
are rather clearly searable Iro the structural eanings oI the
arrangeents in hich these ords aear. According to ries, in the
ords oI these IiIteen grous it is usually diIIicult iI not iossible to
indicate a leical eaning aart Iro the structural eaning hich these
ords signal.
The Iraes used to test the ords ere taken Iro the iniu Iree
utterances etracted Iro the situation utterance units (not the
resonse utterance units) oI the recorded aterials. It is iortant to
observe, Ch. ries oints out, that the Iour arts oI seech indicated above
account Ior ractically all the ositions in these iniu Iree utterances.
In the sentence Iraes used Ior testing, only the one osition occuied by
the ord the has not been elored and, as shon in the odiIied Irae
structure, this osition is otional rather than essential in the iniu
Iree utterances. All the other kinds oI ords belong then in eanded
Iree utterances.
The aterial hich Iurnished the linguistic evidence Ior the analysis
and discussions oI the book ere riarily soe IiIty hours oI
echanically recorded conversations on a great range oI toics
conversations by soe three hundred diIIerent seakers in hich the
articiants ere entirely unaare that their seech as being recorded.
These echanical records ere transcribed Ior convenient study, and
roughly indeed so as to Iacilitate reIerence to the original discs recording
the actual seech. The treatent here is thus also liited by the Iact that it
is based uon this circuscribed body oI aterial. Altogether these
echanically recorded conversions aounted to soething over 250,000
running ords.
The book resents a aor linguistic interest as an eerient rather
than Ior its achieveents.
It is to be noted that the aterial recorded in the book is Iairly
hoogeneous in kind. Ch. ries conIines hiselI to one basis Ior the
establishent oI Ior-classes and this brings out the ractical liitations
oI his interesting ethod. Other debatable oints oI the aterial resented
are: arbitrary counting oI diIIerent ositions as identical and ignoring
orhology here it bears uon synta.
Structural linguistics is knon to have its varieties and schools. The
Prague School headed by N. Trubetkoy and R. akobson has contributed
to the develoent oI odern structural linguistics on a ord-ide scale.
Neutralisation as a linguistic concet by hich e ean susension oI
otherise Iunctioning oositions as Iirst introduced into odern
linguistics by N. Trubetkoy ho resented an iortant survey oI the
roble oI honology in his pYrundqrge der chonologiep edited in
Prague in 1939. This has been idely inIluential in any Euroean
linguistic circles, and any oI the basic ideas oI the school have diIIused
very idely, Iar beyond the grou that originally cae together around N.
Trubetkoy.
26
Trubetkoy's idea oI neutralisation in honology ay be brieIly
suarised as Iollos:
a) II in a language to sounds occur in the sae osition and can be
substituted Ior each other ithout changing the eaning oI the ord,
such sounds are otional variants oI one and the sae honee.
b) II to sounds occur in the sae osition and cannot be
substituted Ior each other ithout changing the eaning oI the ord or
distorting it beyond recognition, these to sounds are honetic
realisations oI to diIIerent honees.
c) II to siilar sounds never occur in the sae osition, they are
ositional variants oI the sae honee.
An oosition eisting beteen to honees ay under certain
conditions becoe irrelevant. This sees to be a universal Ieature in
language develoent.
Eales oI neutralisation oI oositions on the honeic level
ay be Iound in nubers. By ay oI illustration: the sounds r and
are diIIerent honees distinguishing such Russian ords, Ior
instance, as rox and ox, rom and om. But the diIIerence beteen the
to honees ill be neutralised iI they are at the end oI the ord,
e. g.: por eZouthf and po egenusfh r and in these ords sound alike
because a voiced does not occur at the end oI a ord in Russian.
In ters oI N. Trubetkoy's theory, oosition is deIined as a
Iunctionally relevant relationshi oI artial diIIerence beteen to
artially siilar eleents oI language. The coon Ieatures oI the
ebers oI the oosition ake u its basis, the Ieatures that serve to
diIIerentiate the are distinctive Ieatures.
Phonological neutralisation in English ay be ell illustrated
by the absence oI contrast beteen Iinal s and z aIter t.
Siilarly, though e distinguish the English honees p and b
in TinA _inA there is no such oosition aIter s, e. g.: sTlitA sTlintA sTra]?
here oositions do not occur, honees ay coalesce in their
realisations and be neutralised.
Etending the concet oI neutralisation to the other levels oI
structure sees Iully ustiIied as having a ractical value in the study oI
language both in general linguistics and ith regard to English
articularly.
The ost i del y knon i s t he bi nar y r i vat i ve
oosition in hich one eber oI the contrastive air is
characterised by the resence oI a certain Ieature hich does not eist in
the other eber (hence rivative). The eleent ossessing this
Ieature is reIerred to as the arked (strong) eber oI the oosition.
The unarked eber ay either signal absence oI the arked
eaning or else be noncoittal as to its absence or resence.
The ost-Iavoured rincile oI the Prague School, in the ords oI
A. Martinet, is the rincile oI binarity, according to hich the hole
oI language should be reducible to sets oI binary oositions. Perhas
the best knon advocate oI the theory oI binary oositions is R. akob-
son, ho has alied this kind oI analysis to the Russian syste oI
cases, to the Russian verb syste, and even as art oI a discussion
27
oI ran Boas vie oI graatical eaning to the English verb
syste. In these studies, R. akobson analyses graatical concets
in ters oI sets oI to utually oosite graatical categories, one oI
hich is arked hile the other is unarked or neutral.
Intensive develoent oI Aerican linguistics is generally
called BlooIieldian linguistics, though not all oI its rinciles can
be traced directly to L. BlooIield's concets.
L. B l o o I i e l d ' s book Language is a colete ethodology
oI language study. The ideas laid don in this book ere later
develoed by . S. Harris, Ch. ries, E. A. Nida and other scholars.
The ain concets oI L. BlooIield's book ay be brieIly
suarised as Iollos:
1. Language is a orkable syste oI signals, that is linguistic Iors
by eans oI hich eole counicate... every language consists oI
a nuber oI signals, linguistic Iors
1
.
2. Every utterance contains soe signiIicant Ieatures that are not
accounted Ior by the leicon
2
.
3. No atter ho sile a Ior e utter and ho e utter it...
the utterance conveys a graatical eaning in addition to the leical
content
3
.
4. A sentence has a graatical eaning hich does not
(entirely) deend on the choice (selection) oI the ites oI leicon.
L. BlooIield's stateent that the eaning oI a sentence is art
oI the orhee arrangeent, and does not entirely deend on the
ords used in the sentence has later been develoed by Ch. ries and
N. Chosky.
5. raar is a eaningIul arrangeent oI linguistic Iors Iro
orhees to sentences. The eaningIul arrangeent oI Iors in a
language constitutes its graar, and in general, there see to be
Iour ays oI arranging linguistic Iors: (1) order, (2) odulation: pmohnkp
(call), pmohnsp (uestion), pmohnp (stateent) (3) honetic odiIication
edo don'tfh (4) selection oI Iors hich contributes the Iactor oI
eaning
4
.
In the ords oI L. BlooIield, the ost Iavourite tye oI sentence
is the pactor actionp construction having to ositions. These
ositions are not interchangeable. All the Iors that can Iill in a given
osition thereby constitute a Ior-class. In this anner the to ain
Ior-classes are detected: the class oI noinal eressions and the class
oI Iinite verb eressions.
L. BlooIield has shon a ne aroach to the breaking u oI the
ord-stock into classes oI ords. The syntactic constructions oI a
language ark oII large classes oI Iree Iors, such as, in English, the
noinative eression or the Iinite verb eression. The great Ior-
classes oI a language are ost easily described in ters oI ord-
classes (such as
1
L. B l o o I i e l d . Language. London, 1969, . 158.
2
I b i d., . 162.
3
I b i d . , . 169.
4
I b i d . , . 163164.
28
the traditional arts oI seech), because the Ior-class oI a hrase is
usually deterined by one or ore oI the ords hich aear in it
1
.
These long Ior-classes are subdivided into saller ones.
In odern linguistic orks the noinal hrase oI a sentence is
arked as the sybol NP, and the Iinite verb-hrase as VP. The
sybols N and V stand Ior the traditional arts oI seech, nouns and
verbs, although the NP ay include not only nouns but their euivalents
and the noun deteriners (e. g.: the ZanA Z] handA this houseA >A the]A
soZethingA soZeA othersA etc.) and the VP ith a transitive verb ay
have a NP in etoo^ a _ooÂ sent a letterA etc.). The long Ior-class oI N is
no subdivided into: aniate and inaniate, aterial and abstract,
class nouns and roer nouns. The long Ior-class oI V is subdivided into
intransitive verbs (Vi), transitive verbs (Vt) and the latter are again
divided into the V oI the taê5t]TeA the give5t]TeA the Tut5t]Te and the
have5t]TeA etc.
The selection oI the subclasses oI N and V leads to diIIerent sentence-
structures.
The graatical schools oI traditional scholarly graar have
then assed to the graatical theories oI descritive, ost-
BlooIieldian linguistics, to the school oI graar knon as the
transIorational generative graar, initiated by . S. Harris ho
outlined a graatical rocedure hich as essentially a tice-ade
alication oI to aor stes: the setting u oI eleents, and the
stateent oI the distribution oI these eleents relative to each other.
The eleents are thus considered relatively to each other, and on the basis
oI the distributional relations aong the.
Aerican linguists K. L. Pike, R. ells, E. A. Nida, L. S. Harris
and others aid secial attention to Ioral oerations, the so-called
graar discovery rocedures. They endeavour to discover and describe
the Ieatures and arrangeent oI to Iundaental linguistic units
(the honee and the orhee as the inial unit oI graatical
structure) ithout recourse to eaning.
Sentence structure as reresented in ters oI iediate
constituent analysis, elicitly introduced, though not suIIiciently
Ioralised by L. BlooIield. The binary cutting oI sentences and their
hrasal constituents into IC's, the Iirst and the ost iortant cut
being beteen the grou oI the subect and the grou oI the redicate,
as ilicit in the arsing and analysis oI traditional graar, as
noted by any linguists coenting on the analysis. istributional
analysis as recognised as riary in iortance. Linguistic
rocedures ere directed at a tice-ade alication oI to aor
stes the setting u oI eleents and the stateent oI the distribution oI
these eleents relative to each other, distribution being deIined as the
su oI all the diIIerent environents or ositions oI an eleent relative to
the occurrence oI other eleents. The rincial oeration
recoended, e. g. Ior establishing euations: a orhee a
orhee seuence in
1
L. l o o I i el d. O. ci t . , . 190. See al s o= O. C. x m a n o n a n I. F.
nxanxn. Conpemennte cnnraxcnuecxne reopnn. ., 963, . 2223.
29
a given environent (such as an good boy) as substitution reeated
tie and again
1
. istributional analysis and substitution ere not
soething uite novel in English graatical theory. Occurrence oI
an eleent relative to other eleents, no generally reIerred to as
distribution, has been involved in alost every graatical
stateent since Antiuity
2
. But the diIIerence beteen the traditional
and structural aroaches consists in that the Iorer did not rely uon
this ethod as art oI an elicitly Iorulated theory, hereas odern
linguistics has given recognition, ithin the theory oI graar, to the
distributional rincile, by hich traditional graarians ere alays
guided in ractice. The sae is true oI substitution. This is an entirely-
Ioral ethod Ior discourse analysis arranged in the Ior oI the
successive rocedures.
Starting ith the utterances hich occur in a single language
counity at a single tie, these rocedures deterine hat ay be
regarded as identical in various arts oI various utterances. And this is
suosed to rovide a ethod Ior identiIying all the utterances as
relatively Ie stated arrangeents oI relatively Ie stated eleents.
. S. Harris, E. A. Nida and other Aerican linguists oI
BlooIieldian school concentrate their attention on Ioral oerations
to discover and describe the Ieatures and arrangeent oI to Iundaental
linguistic units: the honee and the orhee as the inial unit oI
graatical structure. Like BlooIield, they attach aor iortance
to soken language laying ehasis on the Iact that riting is a
secondary visual reresentation oI seech.
Language cae to be vieed not as an aggregate oI discrete eleents
but as an organised totality, a estalt hich has a attern oI its on and
hose coonents are interdeendent and derive their signiIicance Iro
the syste as a hole. In . Saussure's ords, language is like a gae oI
chess, you cannot add, reove or dislace any eleent ithout eIIecting
the entire Iield oI Iorce.
. Harris resents ethods oI research used in descritive, or, ore
eactly, structural, linguistics. It is, in Iact, a discussion oI the oerations
hich the linguist ay carry out in the course oI his investigations,
rather than a theory oI the structural analysis hich results Iro these
investigations.
P. Roberts and . N. rancis, Iolloing Ch. ries and H. A.
leason, are to a large degree concerned ith studying atterns oI
organisation, or structures. They hold the vie that linguistics, like
hysics and cheistry or, say, geology or astronoy, ust be reoccuied
ith structure.
Returning to the traditional naes oI arts oI seech P. Roberts
and . N. rancis establish Iour aor classes oI ords and several
grous oI Iunction-ords, roceeding Iro the criteria oI distribution
1
See= . S. H a r r i s . Methods in Structural Linguistics. Chicago, 1961, .
1516.
2
See= P. i d e r i c h s e n . The Iortance oI istribution Versus Other Criteria in
Linguistic Analysis. Coenhagen, 1966, . 270271 see also= L. L. IoIik, L. P. C h a
k h o y a n. Readings in the Theory oI English raar. L. 1972, . 37.
30
oI ords, the orhological characteristics oI ords and their correlation.
The analysis oI English structure ade by P. Roberts and . rancis
resents a aor linguistic interest as a signiIicant contribution to odern
linguistic thought.
It is to be noted, hoever, that soe oI their stateents are devoid oI
logical consistency.
The classiIication oI ords into arts oI seech given in these books is
oen to doubt and uestioning because in identiIying the linguistic status
oI ords P. Roberts and . N. rancis, like Ch. ries, roceed Iro
essentially diIIerent criteria: the aor classes oI ords are classiIied in
ters oI their Ioral Ieatures and Iunction ords in ters oI eaning.
hat sees also erroneous and devoid oI logical Ioundations is
ecluding eaning Iro this shere oI linguistic analysis.
According to . N. rancis, there are Iive devices hich English
seakers ake use oI to build ords into larger organised cobinations or
structures. ro the listener's oint oI vie, these Iive are the kinds oI
signals hich reveal the atterns oI structural eaning in hich ords are
arranged. As a suary oI his assutions, . N. rancis lists the
describing brieIly as Iollos:
1. ord Order as the linear or tie seuence in hich ords aear in
an utterance.
2. Prosody, i. e. the over-all usical attern oI stress, itch and
uncture in hich the ords oI an utterance are soken.
3. unction ords or ords largely devoid oI leical eaning hich
are used to indicate various Iunctional relationshis aong the leical
ords oI an utterance.
4. InIlections, i. e. orheic changes the addition oI suIIies and
concoitant orhohoneic adustents hich adat ords to
erIor certain structural Iunctions ithout changing their leical
eaning.
5. erivational contrast beteen ords hich have the sae base but
diIIer in the nuber and nature oI their derivational aIIies
U
?
The classes oI ords established by P. Roberts and . N. rancis do
not coincide.
In . N. rancis' classiIication there are Iour arts oI seech: Noun,
Verb, Adective and Adverb. Pronouns are treated as to subclasses oI
nouns, called ronouns and Iunction nouns. The grou oI ronouns
corises eight ords hose iortance Iar outeighs their nuber.
These are= >A aeA ]ouA heA sheA itA the] and aho?
The ain grous oI Iunction-nouns are eight in nuber (including
soe stereotyed hrases) lus soe unclassiIied ones (not all the
Iolloing lists are colete):
a) Noun-deteriners: theA alanA Z]A ]ourA herA theirA ourA thisl theseA
thatlthoseA itsA oneA tao ??? ninet]5nineA Zan] eafA ZoreA severalA _othA allA
soZeA noA ever]A eaf feaA other?
U
See= . N. rancis. The Structure Aerican English. Ne York, 1958, . 234.
31
b) Auxiliaries: canlcouldA Za]lZightA ailllaouldA shalllshouldA ZustA
dareA needA doA had _etterA _eA getA haveA êeT eonfA usedA _e going?
c) Qualifiers: ver]A ouiteA ratherA Trett]A Zight]A soZeahatA tooA a _itA a
littleA so ZoreA ZostA lessA leastA indeedA enough erealA aafulA thatA soZeA
rightA Tlent]fA noA stillA ZuchA lotsA a eaholef lotA a egoodA greatf dealA even?
d) Prepositions:
(1) Sile: afterA aZongA aroundA _eforeA concerningA etc.
(1) Coound: along aithA aaa] froZA _ac^ ofA due toA together aithA
etc.
(2) Phrasal: _] Zeans ofA in front ofA on account ofA etc.
(e) Coordinators: andA notA _utA norA ratherA thanA either ??? orA etc.
(f) Interrogators:
(1) Sile: ahenA ahereA hoaA ah] eahenceA ahitherfA aheneverA etc.
(2) Interrogative ronouns: ahoA ahichA ahatA ahoeverA ahicheverA
ahatever?
(g) lncluders:
(1) Sile: afterA althoughA hoaA lestA sinceA etc.
(2) Relative ronouns: ahoA ahichA thatA ahenA ahereA ahoeverA etc. (h)
Sentence-linkers:
(1) Sile: conseouentl]A furtherZoreA henceA hoaeverA ZoreoverA
neverthelessA therefore?
(2) Phrasal: at leastA in additionA in factA etc.
There are also Iunction verbs in rancis' classiIication hich stand in
lace oI a Iull verb-hrase, hen the Iull verb has been eressly stated or
strongly ilied in the iediate linguistic contet or the non-linguistic
contet.
e cannot Iail to see that alying Ioral structural ethods oI
analysis hich see to be ore obective than seantic criteria,
graarians coe to soehat diIIerent results.
In ters oI N. Chosky's theory oI synta, sentences have a surface
structure and a deep structure, the latter is ore colicated, being
based on one or ore underlying abstract sile structures.
In certain very sile sentences the diIIerence beteen the surIace
structure and the dee structure is inial. Sentences oI this kind (sile,
active, declarative, indicative) are designated as kernel sentences. They
can be adeuately described by hrase or constituent structure ethods, as
consisting oI noun and verb hrases (the so-called P-arkers, the NP's and
VP's). According to syntactic structures, kernel sentences are roduced by
alying only obligatory transIorations to the hrase-structure strings (e.
g. the transIoration oI aIIi verb into verb aIIi in the resent
tense, hit -s, etc.). Non-kernel or derived sentences involve otional
transIorations in addition, such as active to assive ethe _o] aas hit _]
the Zanf? But later interretations oI the transIorational theory have
ade less use oI this distinction, stressing rather the distinction beteen
the underlying dee structure oI a sentence and its surIace structure
that it ehibits aIter the transIorations have been alied.
TransIorational oerations consist in rearrangeent, addition, deletion
and cobination oI linguistic eleents.
32
Phrase structure rules Ior a counterart in the theory oI generative
graar to to techniues oI linguistic analysis (one old and one rather
ne).
In the ords oI E. Bach, the old ractice is the schoolroo drill oI
arsing, that is, oI assigning graatical labels to arts oI a sentence. In a
schoolroo drill the Iolloing analysis ight occur:
The Zan
article noun
gave
verb
Ze
ronoun
a
article
_oo^
noun
hole subect indirect
obect
direct
obect
hole redicate
The other techniue in reality only a ore sohisticated version oI
arsing is so-called iediate constituent (IC) analysis. It attets to
break don constructions into subarts that are in soe sense
graatically relevant.
The theory oI transIorational graar begins by aking
Iundaental distinction beteen to kinds oI sentences: kernel sentences
and their transIors. Kernel sentences are the basic eleentary sentences
oI the language Iro hich all else is ade. All constructions that are not
basic are transIors, i. e. they are derived Iro the basic ones by certain
graatical rules. TransIorations can change and eand the kernel in
any ays to Ior the great variety oI sentences ossible in a given
language.
The syste oI any language contains a rather sall nuber oI basic
sentences and other structural eleents (such as orhees and
honees). All the other linguistic Iors, sentences oI diIIerent structure,
are derived (generated) Iro these basic (kernel) eleents by certain
regular derivation rules involving diIIerent kind oI oerations. This
understanding oI the syste oI any language is, in Iact, the ain
assution oI the transIorational graar.
The to basic robles oI the T-graar are: a) the establishent oI
the set oI kernel or basic structures, and b) the establishent oI the set oI
transIoration rules Ior deriving all the other sentences as their
transIors
1
.
A transIorational rule is a rule hich reuires or allos us to erIor
certain changes in the kernel structure: rearrangeent oI linguistic
eleents, so-called erutation, substitution, deletion, the use oI
Iunction ords, etc.
The transIorational rules sho ho to derive soething Iro
soething else by sitching things about, utting things or leaving the
out and so on
t
?
It is to be ointed out that transIorational analysis alied in teaching
on diIIerent instruction levels can hardly be considered as altogether uite
novel. TransIorational relations involved in tense-Ioration and assive
Iors, Ior instance, ere, in Iact, alays resented as devices oI
obligatory transIorations on the orhological level. The
1
See= . S. Harris. Co-occurrence and TransIoration in Linguistic Structure.
Language, v. 33, No. 3, 1957.
2
See= P. Roberts. English Synta. Ne York, 1964, . 97. - 3
33
recognition oI _rought as the ast tense oI _ringA and siilarly _e _rought
as the assive oI _ringA deends riarily on relating large nubers oI
sentences and on the analysis oI collocations beteen nouns and verbs in
the sentences.
Such are also nuber and erson transIorations or, say, diIIerent kind
oI transIorations hich ere alied ilicitly in traditional graar
on the syntactic level deending on the urose oI counication:
constructing negative transIors, changing an aIIirative sentence into a
uestion, transIorations hich roduce eclaatory sentences, etc.
eIiciencies oI various kind have been discovered in the Iirst attets
to Iorulate a theory oI transIorational generative graar and in the
descritive analysis oI articular languages that otivated these
Iorulations. At the sae tie, it has becoe aarent that these
Iorulations can be etended and deeened in certain ays.
N. Chosky's [sTects of the Theor] of S]ntad
U
is a notable attet to
revie these develoents and to roose a reIorulation oI the theory oI
transIorational generative graar that takes the into account. The
ehasis in this study is synta seantic and honological asects oI
language structure are discussed only insoIar as they bear on syntactic
theory.
The author revies the general orientation oI all ork in generative
graar since the iddle IiIties. His seciIic intent is to deterine
eactly ho this ork is related in its divergencies as ell as its
connections to earlier develoents in linguistics and to see ho this
ork relates to traditional issues in sychology and hilosohy.
N. Chosky ilicitly relates his graar to language teaching and
learning by associating his results ith traditional graars. He entions
that these do not give elicit rules Ior utting ords together into
sentences, although they give enough rules oI ord concord, eales and
so on, to allo the student to do this intuitively. N. Chosky gives no
rules Ior utting sentences together to ake discourses, but leaves this to
the intuitions oI the learner. His ai is to ut Iorard the rules to generate
all ossible sentences oI a language in ters oI a given set oI orhees.
In his ords, any language has a Iinite set oI available orhees, but an
inIinite set oI sentences this shos deIinite hyostatisation oI the unit
sentence.
TransIorational graar involving a reorientation oI linguistic
theory has naturally given rise to vigorous controversy in linguistic
studies, and uch still reains to be done in language learning to evaluate
its otentialities adeuately. It is to be eected, hoever, that the theory
oI T-graar ill continue to develo and contribute to general linguistic
study by solving soe iortant reviously overlooked issues.
The structural rocedures oI odern descritive theory are used by
Soviet linguists to identiIy the nature oI soe linguistic Iacts. It ust,
hoever, be ehatically stressed that in soe uestions our standoint is
essentially diIIerent. Soe Aerican linguists are knon to
1
See= N. Chosky. Asects oI the Theory oI Synta. Cabridge, Massachusetts,
1965.
34
advocate rigorous searation oI levels and a study oI language as an
autonoous syste. Such abstraction sees altogether erroneous and
brings little scientiIic order to language learning dogatic assutions oI
this kind are alays resonsible Ior the distortion oI linguistic Iacts. This
aroach sees to have already been abandoned by ost structuralists (.
Harris, N. Chosky).
hat is also oen to criticis is setting absolutely aart synchronic
and diachronic asects oI linguistic units. In language reality the to
asects are organically related and as such cannot be alays absolutely
isolated. Regrettable istakes occur iI this is overlooked.
There are a nuber oI Euroean schools oI linguistics, and the
diIIerences beteen the are in soe instances rather signiIicant. The
linguistic theories hich they hold have, in Iact, been develoed in a
variety oI ays.
ith the diversity oI vie-oints ithin descritive linguistics, it is not
surrising that English descritive graar is not as a tye uniIor.
Soeties graarians diIIer in the vie oI language that underlies
the. Soe oI graars diIIer only in terinology, in stylistic
conventions oI stateent, or in other basically inconseuential atters. or
the ost art there is a variation in any directions, ith intergradations
in linguistic analysis. But desite a considerable divergency oI their ais
and linguistic aroaches there is a certain continuousness in diIIerent
English graars observed in their keeing u the graatical tradition.
The Ioundations oI the English graatical theory ere laid already in the
Iirst art oI the rescritive graar, though its orhological syste
as based on Latin and syntactic concets deended largely uon rhetoric
and logic.
The rescritive norative graar has the longest tradition and is
still revalent in class-roo instruction. Its ost iortant contribution to
graatical theory as the syntactic syste develoed in 19th century.
Though uch has been done, the three tyes oI scientiIic English
graars have not yet succeeded in creating any uite indeendent and
ne graatical systes.
R. . andvoort's band_oo^ of Xnglish YraZZar (19571965) is a
descritive graar oI conteorary English. It deals ith accidence and
synta, leaving aside hat belongs rather to idio and is not aenable to
general stateent. It likeise esches historical digressions synchronic
and diachronic graar are, in the author's oinion, best treated
searately. In this, as in other resects, R. andvoort conIesses hiselI a
uil oI Kruisinga, hose band_oo^ of cresent5da] XnglishA desite
certain etravagances in its IiIth and Iinal edition, he considers to be the
ost original and stiulating treatent oI English synta.
* * *
A aor contribution to the develoent oI odern linguistics has
been ade by Soviet scholars.
The accolishents oI Soviet linguists in the theory oI English
structure are resented by the great ealth and variety oI individual
35
studies oI nuerous robles treated in various onograhs, graar
books and ork-aers hich aeared during this eriod and have been
noted in our bibliograhy.
Linguistic studies oI Modern English structure ade by Soviet
scholars contain ost valuable inIoration about the language as syste
and have notable erits in the graatical theory aking its study ore
illuinating and contributing to a scientiIic understanding oI language
develoent. Such are, Ior instance, the onograhs and books edited in
this country in 50-60-ies by V. N. Yartseva, A. I. Sirnitsky, O. S.
Akhanova, Y. N. Vorontsova, B. A. Ilyish, N. N. Aosova, I. P.
Ivanova, I. V. Arnold and others.
Most ercetive and useIul treatents coordinating and deeening the
gras oI the language ill be Iound in V. N. Yartseva's onograhs and
scholarly accounts ade at a secial acadeic level, ith uch ne
insight on the subect in the light oI odern linguistics.
A valuable source oI signiIicant inIoration revealing iortant
asects oI language in discussion oI synta and orhology ill be Iound
in ell knon A. I. Sirnitsky's graar books.
A aor stiulus to intensive studies oI the theory oI English structure
in Soviet linguistics as the research oI our scholars in recent ties. This
has brought ne accolishents in odern graatical theory hich
are original, signiIicant and ractical. Investigations oI recent years gain
an iortant insight into the structural ethods oI linguistic analysis,
syntactic descrition, in articular. Such are the graar books edited by
O. S. Akhanova, V. N. Yartseva, L. Barkhudarov, L. L. IoIik, Y. O.
hluktenko, . . Pochetsov and others.
Current ork in graar attets to rovide the insight into seantic
asects oI synta, the rocesses oI sentence Ioration and their
interretation, the rocesses that underlie the actual use oI language.
Investigations oI Soviet scholars thro uch additional light on
nuerous asects oI language encouraging Iresh attets not only in the
theory oI English structure but also coarative studies oI graar (V. N.
Yartseva, Y. O. hluktenko).
The structural rocedures oI odern descritive theory are idely used
by Soviet linguists to identiIy the nature oI soe linguistic Iacts oI
diIIerent levels oI the language.
Iortant observations are resented in A. Korsakov's book here e
Iind the descrition oI the syste oI the English verb, revealing to the
student the ay in hich the language actually orks. The book is not
only intended to sho the student ho the English tenses are actually
used. It is also helIul as an introduction oI soe ethods and ays oI
linguistic analysis.
Various asects oI graar have been described in a considerable
nuber oI dissertations deIended in this country on secialised toics,
such as seantic asects oI synta, the graar oI English
noinalisations, synonyic correlation oI linguistic units, coarative
study oI languages, etc. to hich e turn the attention oI the student ith
suggestions Ior Iurther reading.
36
Grammar in Its Relation to Other Levels
of Linguistic Structure
Interactions beteen graar and other levels oI linguistic structure
are oI the essence oI language and robably the ost signiIicant oint to
notice in studying the structure oI a language in general.
Language as syste consists oI several subsystes all based on
oositions, diIIerences, saenesses and ositional values.
The graatical syste breaks u into its subsystes oing to its
relations ith vocabulary and the unity oI leical eaning oI the ords oI
each grou. raar and vocabulary are organically related and
interdeendent but they do not lie on one lane. As a bilateral unity oI
Ior and content the graar oI any language alays retains the
categories underlying its syste.
Nuberless eales in diIIerent languages sho that graar is not
indiIIerent to the concrete leical eaning oI ords and their caacity to
cobine ith one another in certain atterns. The use oI soe
graatical rules is ell knon to be leically restricted.
The stateent about abstraction and generalisation in graar should
not thus be understood as Ioral echanical searation oI the general
Iacts Iro the secial ones.
It is not alays easy to dra recise boundaries beteen the to
branches oI learning.
Soeties the subect atter becoes abiguous ust at the
borderline.
Internal relations oI eleents are oI the essence oI language as systes
at all levels. The Iunctions oI every linguistic eleent and abstraction
deend on its relative lace therein. This is, in Iact, one oI the Iundaental
Ieatures oI language. And this is the starting oint oI the treatent oI
graar in the resent book. raatical henoena can and should be
considered Iro various (oIten suleentary) oints oI vie. ith this
aroach to linguistic Iacts robles oI graar in our day have taken on
ne vitality and interest.
The linguistic Ieatures oI graar and vocabulary ake it abundantly
clear that the to branches oI learning are organically related to each
other. No art oI graar can be adeuately described ithout reIerence
to vocabulary. ith all this, linguistic students should understand hat
searates graar Iro vocabulary, herein lie the eculiarities oI each
oI the to levels and their relationshi in general. To ignore this is to
ignore the dialectical nature oI language.
That graar and vocabulary are organically related to each other
ay be ell illustrated by the develoent oI analytical Iors hich are
knon to have originated Iro Iree syntactic grous. These consist oI at
least to ords but actually constitute one sense-unit. Only one oI the
eleents has leical eaning, the second has none, and being an auiliary
ord ossesses only graatical eaning.
Not less characteristic are erihrastic graatical Iors oI the verb,
such as, Ior instance, the going to-Iuture or, say, atterns ith the verb to
get u articile II established by long use in the language
37
to indicate voice distinctions. Verb-hrases oI analytical structure denoting
the asective character oI the action, such as: used to V
inI
, aould V
inI
,
coZe to u V
inI
A taê to V
ing
, fall u r V
ing
, have noen acti, etc.
The constant recirocal action beteen vocabulary and graar
akes itselI uite evident in contetual restrictions oI ord-eanings.
Eales are not Iar to seek.
The verb to Zean V
inI
eans to intend, to Zean u V
ing
eans to
signiIy, to have as a conseuence, to result in soething. Coare
the Iolloing:
eUf be had never reall] Zeant to arite that letter v be had never
intended to arite that letter?
(2) This Zeant changing all Z] Tlans This resulted in changing all
Z] Tlans?
To reZeZ_er V
ing
reIers to the ast and eans not to need to be
reinded, to reZeZ_er V
inI
reIers to the Iuture and eans not to oit
to do soething. Cf?= > reZeZ_er doing so? HeZeZ_er to go to the Tost5
office?
To tr] takes a gerund hen it eans to ake an eerient hen
Iolloed by an inIinitive it eans to ake an attet to do soething,
e. g.: She tried for a tiZe helTing us in Zusic _ut found it aas not a
success? Tr] to êeT Terfectl] still for a ZoZent?
The construction verb V
ing
can also be coared ith one consisting
oI a verb adverbial inIinitive, e. g.: The horse stoTTed to drin^? The
horse stoTTed drinîng?
urther eales oI the so-called graatical contet hich
oerates to convey the necessary eaning ill be Iound in cases hen, Ior
instance, the assive Ior oI the verb gives a clue concerning its articular
leical eaning. To give eales. The verb to succeedA as registered in
dictionaries, can ean: 1) cniynarn sa unmct ao xnmct, yrn
nacrynnnxom, sminmnarn moct 2) marn ycnix, ocxrarn mern, ncrnrarn.
As is knon, the assive Ior oI this verb ecludes the second range oI
its eanings.
Not less characteristic is the use oI the verb to Zaêh its assive Iors,
Ior instance, are incoatible ith such leical eanings as given belo:
The ZoZent > greeted her she Zade to turn _ac^?
She rose a_ruTtl] and Zade to ouit the rooZA _ut [ndrea stoTTed her
_efore she reached the door? (Cronin)
The use oI the assive Ior ould signal the causative eaning
sacrannrn, npnmycnrn, e. g.: She aas Zade to ouit the rooZ?
Coare also the eaning oI the verb to treat in the Iolloing
sentences:
be treated Z] aords as a goê?
The _oo^ treats of Toetr]? The]
treated us to saeet aine? be is
treating Z] son cruell]?
38
In hoonyic atterns the eaning oI the verb is generally deIined by
the iediate leical contet, hich is alays elicit enough to ake the
eaning clear. Coare the Iolloing:
eUf She Zade a good
reTort? She Zade a
good aife?
etf be called his sister a
heroine? be called his sister
a tadi?
Variation in leical environent ay change the eaning oI a
graatical Ior, and the use oI a graatical Ior ay, in its turn,
change the leical eaning oI the ord involved. Eales are not Iar to
seek. The organic interrelation beteen graar and vocabulary erits at
this oint secial consideration.
In the activo-assive use oI verbs, Ior instance, the edial eaning
is generally signalled by the leical eaning oI the subect. Eales are
nuerous:
(a) wut it occurred to herA as her dance5list was filling up, that there
aas not Zuch left for Ir? CoaTeraoodA if he should care to dance aith
her? (reiser)
eaas filling uT aas _eing filled uTf
(b) ihen the storZ stoTTed the fields aere ahite overA the s^] a Zil^
_lueA loa and still threatening? wut the snoacovered fieldsA in sTite his
shiveringA felt good to _e in? (Sillitoe)
efelt goodxaere feltf
(c) This Tla] reads _etter than it acts ex This Tla] should _e read
rather than acted).
raatical Iors ust be studied in all the variety oI their
distribution in actual seech. Contets have a ay oI aking a
graatical Ior convey diIIerent structural eanings including
soeties the eact oosite oI hat is ordinarily intended.
The organic interrelation beteen graar and vocabulary becoes
ost evident hen e carry our attention to transositions oI graatical
Iors, their Iunctional re-evaluation in diIIerent contets and to seantic
asects oI synta.
The constant recirocal action oI vocabulary and graar ill be ell
eeliIied by various rocesses oI ord-Ioration, such as
coounding, conversion, derivation and others.
Evidence to rove the interrelation beteen graar and vocabulary
ill readily be seen in the history oI so-called Iunction ords, e. g.:
reositions and conunctions hich have coe Iro the notional arts oI
seech:
Trovided a) ast articile Iro the verb to Trovide b)
conunction
regarding a) resent articile Iro the verb to regard b)
reosition
oaing a) resent articile Iro to oae b)
reosition
failing a) resent articile Iro to fail b)
reosition
33
The sae is true oI such Iorations in other languages.
Cf? Russian and Ukrainian:
#"'#-* a) npenor %!)" a) npnmennnx
) napeune ) npncninnnx
"&#$1 1 a) eenpnuacrne 8%,G,F3' y a) icnpncninnnx
e"&#$1fz ) npenor e8%,G,F3'ff ) npnmennnx
rench: vua) articie asse
b) reosition Tendant f
durant y a) articie resent
touchant l b) reosition
eran:
a) Partii II ausgenoZZen
b) osition {eit eqeitf
1 a) Substantiv |raft e^raftf l
b) Prosition
That graar should be vieed in relation to other arts oI linguistic
learning, such as honetics and style, is also obvious.
The honetic interretation oI the linguistic aterial is oI undoubted
interest in odern graar learning. Modulation Ieatures, intonation and
stress are ell knon to eIIect both orhology and synta. Patterns oI
graatical arrangeent ay be structurally abiguous or at least
otentially so. In seech hoever, there are rosodic atterns hich
clearly distinguish the various tyes oI construction. This is an area oI
English graar here uch reains to be done beIore a colete
descrition is available.
Changes in the intonation attern, Ior instance, can change the
Iunctional sentence ersective, the interretation oI the hole utterance,
say, Iro a stateent to a uestion, Iro a ositive to a negative sense,
Iro interrogative to eclaatory, etc., e. g.:
Fleur darted after hiZ?
pbe gives Ze uTs }ou Zean thats Fatherkp (alsorthy)
>nstinctivel] the] _oth too^ cigarettesA and lighted each others? Then
Iichael said= leur, knos (alsorthy)
id you hear it That _o] of hers is aaa] to London againp?
The sentence-Iinal contours are used in seech to signal the sentence
divisions ithin an utterance coosed oI ore than one sentence. In
neus oI derecation, Ior instance, the connection beteen to ebers
oI an ordinary aIIirative sentence ay be brushed aside as iossible by
intonation hich is the sae as in uestions, oIten in an eaggerated Ior
or not inIreuently given to the to ebers searately, e. g.:
ie surrenders èverk
> catch coldk ò fear?
The interrogative Ior oI eclaatory sentences in such atterns ake
the ost colourIul and eressive.
p}ouA~ > saidA~ a favourite aith Ir? Hochersters }ou gifted aith
40
the Toaer of Tleasing hiZs }ou of iZTortance to hiZ in an] aa]s Yoh
}our foll] sicêns Zep (Bront).
urther eales to sho the relation oI honetics to graar are not
Iar to seek. e ay take, Ior instance, ord-aking through the so-called
orhological or seantic stress. A Iair nuber oI nouns (Roanic in
origin) are distinguished Iro the corresonding verbs only by the osition
oI the accent, the noun being accented on the Iirst syllable and the verb on
the second, e. g. 'Tresentto Tre'sentA 'edTort5to ed'TortA 'conduct to
con'ductA etc.
Structural abiguity in hoonyic atterns on the syntactic level is
very oIten resolved by the intonation atterns.
In ritten English, Ior instance, because oI the lack oI stress the use oI
soe ords results in abiguity. By ay oI illustration:
be talêd aith a Trett] French accent ith the stress on rench the
ord Trett] is used adverbially and eans in or to soZe degreeh hen
Trett] is stressed it is used attributively and eans goodA fine?
Eaine also the diIIerence in graar beteen:
ihat did ]ou _ring the Tarcel ins ih]
did ]ou _ring the Tarcel ins [re ]ou
going to _e doing its boa long are ]ou
going to _e doing its
eatures oI stress and uncture are ell knon to eIIect various kind oI
odiIication structures, e. g. the hrase old Zen and aoZenA Ior instance,
could be divided into iediate constituents in either oI to ays,
deending on hether old is reIerred to both the Zen and the aoZen or
ust the Zen? In seech the diIIerence ould norally be conveyed by the
corresonding stress and uncture.
It ill robably be helIul iI at this oint e take the eale given by
A. Hill in his >ntroduction to Linguistic Structures to sho the iortance
oI odulation Ieatures in dongraded sentences ith iled u verb-Iors:
ihat the house mohn had had had hadA had had its iZTortance?
Since the riting syste does not indicate the suerIies accurately
and they are thereIore ules Ior the reader ho has to sort the out,
sentences oI this sort are usually avoided in ritten coosition. It is
ossible, Ior instance, to construct a sentence hich is a real roble
hen read, but is lain enough hen ronounced. The sentence is a Ireak
in riting, hich no riter in his senses ould use. Soken, it is only
ildly ueer, and is at least intelligible. Even though these sentences are
understandably rare in riting, the reader should not suose that they are
either uncoon or unnatural in seech
1
.
Patterns oI stress soeties sho the structural eaning
unabiguously in the soken language here ithout the hel oI contet
it ould be abiguous in the ritten. Eales Iollo.
hen > have instructions to leave is euivalent in eaning to > have
instructions that > aZ to leave this TlaceA doinant stress is ordinarily on
leave? hen the sae seuence is euivalent in eaning to > have
instructions ahich > aZ to leaveA doinant stress is ordinarily on
instructions?
1
See= A. H i I 1. Introduction to Linguistic Structures. Ne York, 1958.
41
PROBLEMS OF FIELD STRUCTURE
The roble oI the interrelation beteen graar and vocabulary is
ost cole.
II the uestion arises about the relationshi beteen graar and
vocabulary e generally think oI graar as a closed syste, i. e.
consisting oI a liited nuber oI eleents aking u this syste. The
graatical syste oI a language Ialls into subsystes, such as Ior
instance, arts oI seech, conugated verb-Iors, reositions, aIIies,
etc., in other ords, the classes oI linguistic units hose ehaustive
inventory can be ade u as a hole.
Vocabulary on the contrary is not so closed in its character.
hen e say that graar is a closed syste, e do not certainly
ean that graar is searated Iro vocabulary. On the contrary, the
graatical syste breaks u into subsystes ust oing to its relations
ith vocabulary, and the unity oI leico-seantic grous is suorted by
the unity oI graatical Iors and eaning oI the ords oI each grou.
raar and vocabulary are organically related and interdeendent but
they do not lie on one lane. As a bilateral unity oI Ior and content
graar alays retains the categories underlying its syste.
In actual seech linguistic units oI diIIerent levels coe to correlate as
siilar in Iunction.
The study oI the ays in hich languages anage to rovide diIIerent
devices to eress a given counicative eaning is one oI the ost
IruitIul directions oI research receiving increasing attention in odern
linguistics. It is on this level oI linguistic analysis that e coordinate and
deeen our gras oI the language as syste. hat is eressed by
orhological Iors ay Iind its eression in leical devices, or, say, in
syntactic structures.
Such is the graatical treatent oI the category oI odality in the
Russian language ade by V. V. Vinogradov ho identiIies odality as a
linguistic category eressed by syntactic, orhological and leical
eans
U
?
Correlation in occurrence oI diIIerent linguistic units in one seantic
Iield akes it ossible to suggest that there are certain regularities oI their
Iunctioning in language activity.
It ill be ehasised, in assing, that diIIerent linguistic units
eressing a coon eaning are not uite identical in their seantic
value and do not go absolutely arallel in language activity. They rather
colete each other.
1
See= . . n n o r p a o n . O xareropnn moantnocrn n moantntx cnonax n
pyccxom xstxe. Tpyt nncrnryra pyccxoro xstxa CCC, r. 2. .H., 1950, . 42
60.
42
The concet oI Iield structure in graar is not soething uite novel
in linguistic studies.
The einent historian oI the rench language . Brunot roosed in
his tie to teach rench graar by starting Iro ithin, Iro the
thoughts to be eressed, instead oI Iro the Iors
1
.
Related to this is Ch. ally's concet ith ehasis laid on the logical
categories and etra-linguistic relations involved in his observations
2
.
L.V. erba shoed a better udgeent aking distinction beteen the
to asects oI studying synta: assive and active. The starting oint oI
the Iorer is the Ior oI the ord and its eaning. Language is thus
studied Iro ithin as syste. The concet oI the active asect is
essentially diIIerent.
IdentiIying notional categories I.I. Meshchaninov lays secial
ehasis on their linguistic nature hich should never be lost sight oI
3
.
In his hilosohical discussion oI notional categories O. esersen Iirst
recognises that beside the syntactic categories hich deend on the
structure oI each language as it is actually Iound, there are soe
etralingual categories hich are indeendent oI the ore or less
accidental Iacts oI eisting languages they are universal in so Iar as they
are alicable to all languages, though rarely eressed in the in a clear
and unistakable ay. But then he goes on to say, that soe oI the
relate to such Iacts oI the orld ithout as se, others to ental states or
to logic, but Ior ant oI a better coon nae Ior these etralingual
categories he uses the adective notional and the substantive notion?
In other deartents it is iossible to Iorulate to sets oI ters,
one Ior the orld oI reality or universal logic, and one Ior the orld oI
graar, and O. esersen is thus led to recognise that the to orlds
should alays be ket aart
4
.
In Iinding out hat categories to recognise as notional, O. esersen
oints out that these are to have a linguistic signiIicance.
O. esersen develos this idea Iurther. The seciens oI his treatent
given in the chilosoTh] of YraZZar resent a reliinary sketch oI a
notional coarative graar, starting Iro C (notion or inner eaning)
and eaining ho each oI the Iundaental ideas coon to all ankind
is eressed in various languages, thus roceeding through (Iunction) to
A (Ior).
Linguistic observations in ters oI Iield structure are oI undoubted
theoretical interest and have a ractical value as relevant to coarative
studies oI various languages.
Iortant treatents oI the Iield-theory have been ade by A. V.
ondarko in his studies oI the Russian language
5
.
1
See: . runot. La ense et la langue. 3e d. Paris, 1953.
2
See= Ch. Bally. La langue et la vie. Paris, 1926.
3
See= H. H. e m a n n n o n . Honxrnnte xareropnn n xstxe. Tpyt noennoro
nncrnryra nnocrp. xs. ., 1945, N 1.
4
See= O. esersen. The Philosohy oI raar. London, 1968, . 5556.
5
See: .
. Fonapxo. Ipammarnuecxax xareropnx n xonrexcr. H., 1971,
p. 115.
43
The starting oint oI his analysis is the rincile Iro eaning to Ior.
ue attention is dran to Iunctional transositions oI verb-Iors and
susension oI oositions in diIIerent syntactic environents.
Probles oI Iield-structure in eran are discussed in E. V. uliga, E.
I. Shendels'
1
ork here e also Iind acute observations valid Ior Iurther
develoent oI the theory oI language.
All the linguistic units Iunctioning in a language to eress a given
categorial eaning ake u the Iunctional seantic Iield oI this category.
The orhological devices are naturally riary in iortance and ake
u its highly organised nucleus. All the other constituents are eriheral
eleents hich ay be used Ior diIIerent notional uroses, such as:
intensity or ehasis oI a given eaning, eressive connotation,
eakening oI eaning, aking a given eaning ore concrete and ore
recise, or eressing a ne eaning.
The Iunctional-seantic Iield Ialls at least into to categories hich
stand in contrast. Thus, Ior instance, the tie-Iield in English Ialls into
three icroIields: Present, Past and uture.
The voice-Iield in Modern English Ialls into Active and Passive (a
binary oosition).
The Iield oI nuber Ialls into to icroIields: Singular Plural
(oneness lurality).
In Modern English lurality ay be eressed, Ior instance, by:
1) lural Iors oI nouns
2) singular Iors oI nouns in transosition (ilied lurality)
3) inIlectional Iors oI verbs (very Ie in nuber)
4) ersonal and deonstrative ronouns
5) ronouns oI unseciIied uantity
6) nuerals
1) collective nouns and nouns oI ultitude, e. g.: ZanîndA Teasantr]A
]eoZanr]A gentr]A croadA hostA etc. or, say, such ords as develoed a
collective signiIication by etonyy, e. g.: all the aorld all the ZenA
the sed aoZenA the _ench the officialsh
2) standardised aired noun-hrases, e. g.: da] after da]A ]ear after
]earA ouestion on ouestionA countr] on countr]A etc.
It is to be noted at this oint that in atterns ith ilied (covert)
lurality distinction ust be ade beteen:
1) the use oI soe coon nouns in the singular ith the ilication
oI lurality, as in to have a êen e]eA to êeT in handh trees in leafA etc.
2) the use oI the ronoun one ith reIerence to:
a) several unknon individuals or eole in general, e. g.:
nne should alaa]s do one's dut]?
b) several knon individuals including the seaker, e. g.:
be asêd Ze to reviea his nea novel? nf course one did not liê to
refuseA _ut???
Syntactic devices are generally ost eressive, they intensiIy the
1
See= E. . Iyntra, E. H. Benentc. Ipammarnxo-nexcnuecxne nonx n
conpemennom nemenxom xstxe. ., 1969.
44
eaning oI lurality and as such are oIten used Ior stylistic uroses. A
Ie tyical eales are:
Iile on ZileA aithout an endA the loa gre] streets stretched toaards
the ultiZate deserted grass? (alsorthy)
Sea on seaA countr] on countr]A Zillions on Zillions of TeoTleA all aith
their oan livesA energiesA go]sA griefsA and suffering all aith things the]
had to give uTA and seTarate struggles for edistence? (alsorthy)
The invariant eaning oI any given category Iinds its ost
secialised eression in the orhological category.
A study oI linguistic signs in their interrelationshi and
interdeendence leads to signiIicantly increased knoledge oI language. A
secial interest attaches to the correlation beteen eanings eressed by
graatical Iors and those eressed by leico-graatical devices to
hich in our descrition e shall reeatedly dra the attention oI the
student.
All these eans denoting lurality are essentially diIIerent in their
linguistic status. ithout any Ireuency counts e ay say that soe oI
the are Iairly coon in every day use, others are used occasionally,
according to circustances. Morhological eans to eress lurality
stand at the centre oI this Iield and are riary in iortance, all the rest
are its eriheral eleents used Ior diIIerent notional uroses.
Pronouns and nuerals, Ior instance, as noun deteriners or its
substitutes, ake the uantitative eaning ore concrete.
Collective nouns denote at the sae tie singular and lural, i. e. a
collection oI individuals hich are vieed as a unit.
Many ords hich do not theselves denote a lurality oI individuals
acuire the eaning oI a collective in certain contets, as hen, Ior
instance, the _ench is used oI a _od] of gudgesA a toan or village in the
eaning oI its inhabitants.
FUNCTIONAL RE-EVALUATION OF GRAMMATICAL
FORMS IN CONTEXT
POTENTIAL POLYSEMY IN GRAMMAR
The roble oI otential olysey in graar is one oI the ost
iortant, the one hich is very cole and sees to be relevant to a
nuber oI asects.
All languages see to have olysey on several levels. Like ords
hich are oIten signs not oI one but oI several things, a single graatical
Ior can also be ade to eress a hole variety oI structural eanings.
This aears to be natural and is a Iairly coon develoent in the
structure oI any language. The linguistic echanis orks naturally in
any ays to revent abiguity in atterns oI graatical structure.
Orientation toards the contet ill generally sho hich oI all the
ossible eanings is to be attached to a olyseantic graatical Ior.
It is soeties aintained that in case oI graatical olysey e
observe various structural eanings inherent in the given Ior, one oI
the being alays invariable, i. e. Iound in any ossible contet oI
45
the use oI the Ior. And then, iI this invariable structural eaning cannot
be traced in diIIerent uses oI the given Ior, e have hoonyy. In oint
oI Iact, this angle oI vie does not see erroneous.
unctional re-evaluation oI graatical Iors is a source oI constant
linguistic interest. e ay say ith little Iear oI eaggeration that
hatever ay be the other robles oI graar learning the olyseantic
character oI graatical Iors is alays riary in iortance.
Most graatical Iors are olyseantic. On this level oI linguistic
analysis distinction should be ade beteen synchronic and otential
olysey. Thus, Ior instance, the riary denotative eaning oI the
Present Continuous is characterised by three seantic eleents (sees): a)
resent tie, b) soething rogressive, c) contact ith the oent oI
seech. The three sees ake u its synchronic olysey.
By otential olysey e ean the ability oI a graatical Ior to
have diIIerent connotative eanings in various contets oI its uses.
Eaine Ior illustration the connotative (syntagatic) eanings oI the
Present Continuous signalled by the contet in the Iolloing sentences:
wrian said to his cousin= "I'm signing on as well in a way, onl] for
life? I'm getting married." woth stoTTed aalîng? wert too^ his arZ and
stared= "You're not."
pI am. To cauline (Sillitoe) Iuture tie reIerence. p>t aas a
aedding in the countr]? The _est Zan Zaês a sTeech? He is beaming all
oer !is face, and he calls for attention??? (ordon) ast tie reIerence
... p>'Z sorr]pA he saidA his teeth togetherA "You're not going in t!ere"?
(ordon) the Present Continuous ith the ilication oI ierative
odality
p> aZ alaa]s thinîng of hiZpA said she? (Maugha) recurrent
actions S!e is always gruZ_ling about trifles " the ualitative Present,
the eranent characteristic oI the subect.
The asyetric dualis oI the linguistic sign
U
aears to be natural
and is a Iairly coon develoent in the structure oI any language. One
sign can have several seantic eleents, and one seantic eleent ay
Iind its eression in diIIerent linguistic signs.
Susension oI oositions on the orhological level resuoses
establishing oints oI siilarity beteen the contrasted ebers oI a
given oosition.
Transosition oI graatical Iors ill thus lead to their synonyic
encounter.
The aradigatic eaning oI one graatical Ior can coincide ith
the syntagatic eaning oI another, e. g.:
the Past Tense and the historic Present
the uture Tense and the Present Tense used ith Iuture tie
relevance
verb-Iors oI the Ierative and the Present Tense used ith the
ilication oI coand, order or reuest.
1
See= S? Karcevsxy. u dualise asytriue du signe linguistiue. TCLP. Prague,
1929.
46
Syntagatic eanings oI diIIerent graatical Iors can also
coincide.
Consider, Ior illustration, the Iunctional siilarity oI the sile Present
and Present Continuous in:
The bouse sits on Ionda]? (alsorthy) >'Z
not coZing _ac^ to Xngland? (alsorthy)
Iuture tie relevance
Siilarly:
}ou're coZing aith Ze noak
}ou aill coZe aith Ze noak
}ou aill _e coZing aith Ze
noak
ierative odality ilied in the
syntagatic eanings oI diIIerent
graatical Iors.
Oositions are knon to take diIIerent seciIic character on diIIerent
linguistic levels: in honology, orhology and vocabulary.
The linguistic structure is a highly organised syste here e
generally distinguish syntagatic and aradigatic relationshis beteen
ords.
Syntagatic relationshis are conditioned by the contet and as such
are generally said to be based on the linear character oI seech.
Paradigatic relations reveal theselves in the sets oI Iors
constituting aradigs. ors aking u the aradig are analysed in
orheic ters.
Morhological neutralisation is a develoent oI syntagatic order.
Observations in this area oI graar have roved the eIIiciency oI
contetual, distributional and transIorational ethods oI linguistic
analysis. e distinguish here the interdeendence oI ord-Iors ithin
the syntactic structure, the interdeendence oI eleents ithin the ord-
Iors and the inIluence oI other levels oI the sae language.
The roble oI neutralisation on the graatical level is relevant to a
nuber oI other iortant uestions. These are: Iunctional transositions
in graar, contetual restrictions oI graatical eanings, the
linguistic nature oI the contet hich resolves abiguity roviding the
Ioral clue to distinguish the necessary eaning in a osition oI
neutralisation and contetual synonyy in graar.
S. Karcevsky rightly oints out that transositions on the graatical
level are ore regular and less Iree than leical ones.
Transositions oI graatical Iors resulting in the neutralisation oI
eaning cannot be studied ithout a considerable relevance to a syste oI
oositions oI hich the given Ior is a art. It has been custoary to say
that graatical Iors ake u an oosition iI they have one
graatical Ieature in coon and are contrasted by one or several
oints oI their denotative content. The coon eleent is the graatical
category itselI revealed in the linguistic Iors oI its eression.
Transosition is generally based on soe oints oI the graatical
eaning hich is retained though soehat transIored thus roducing
the necessary eIIect in counication. This transIoration ay be oI
diIIerent kind. II, Ior instance, transosition results in yielding synonys
the latter are not interchangeable. As e shall Iurther see, transositions
are alays attended by the neutralisation oI the contrasted graatical
eaning in secial syntactic, leical or situational environent here the
given ord-Ior occurs.
47
e Iind it necessary to distinguish to tyes oI transosition on the
orhological level:
a) regular transositions established by long use in ordinary
denotative graar and
b) stylistic transositions oI secial connotative value in eressive
language.
Regular ordinary transositions ay be ell illustrated by indirect
seech ith the concord oI tenses hich usually occurs beteen the Iinite
verb in the ain clause and that in the obect clause oI a cole sentence
reorting a stateent or uestion.
be sa]s he ^noas all a_out it?
be said he ^nea all a_out it?
Regular transositions also occur in subordinate clauses oI condition
and tie Ior the logical reasons oI econoising seech eIIorts
1
e. g?= >
shall recognise the Tlace directl] > see it?
e> see it x > shall see itf
>f > receive her letterA > shall ring ]ou uT?
e> receive x > shall receivef
The necessary eaning is generally signalled by the verb-Ior oI the
rincial clause.
It is iortant to observe that the content oI a graatical Ior ay
be signalled by:
1. The leical eaning oI the ords cobined ith a given
graatical Ior. These are oIten, Ior instance, adverbs oI Iuture tie:
toZorroaA nedt aeeÂ nedt ZonthA nedt ]earA soonA etc. hich ill signal
Iuturity in the use oI the Present IndeIinite and Present Continuous, e. g.:
She coZes uT toZorroa night? She is coZing uT toZorroa night? Cf?=
Excnennix npnynac nacrynnoro rnxnx.
Adverbs oI ast tie ill generally give the Ioral clue to distinguish
the use oI the Present tense ith ast tie reIerence, e. g.: Fanc]A > coZe
hoZe ]esterda] and find her letter on Z] ta_le? Cf?= Vxnnxcm coi,
npnxoxy x nuopa oomy...
The Present Continuous in atterns ith adverbs oI Ireuency and
1
Conveying the necessary inIoration by the use oI the resent tense in
such atterns oI graatical structure is ost reasonably econoic. This
is one oI the nuerous eales illustrating the riary oint oI the
theory oI inIoration hich can be holly alied to the Iunctional asect
oI language. Eales to illustrate econoy oI seech in huan
counication ay be Iound in nubers. So-called sentence Iragents,
or, say, verbless redicatives and shortened Iors in collouial seech
eaTocoTeA s]ncoTe and aThaeresisfA the use oI auiliaries as verb-
substitutes, clied ords and etree abbreviations oI diIIerent kind ill
give suIIicient evidence to recognise this regular universal Ieature in
language develoent. In English it ay be ell illustrated by various
other eales, such as:
e>'Zf afraid not? e> shallf see
]ou again to5Zorroa? That dos
eiill that dosf iellA > never?
48
reetition ill ily the Ireuentative character oI the action, e. g.: be is
for ever finding faults wit! w!ateer you do. I'm always t!in#ing of !im.
2. The hole syntactical structure, e. g?= > shall recognise the Tlace
directl] > see it?
nhA to have this haTTen ahen Hhett aas gust on the Toint of
declaration? (Mitchell)
3. Consituation or ilied contet. Instances are not Ie hen the
eaning oI a graatical Ior is signalled by the contet uch larger
than a given sentence or by a hole situation oI the utterance. Eales
are not Iar to seek.
ber thin arZs slid aaa] froZ his nec^= p}ou'll soon get _ac^ to the
Xnglish aa]p? be aas used to the rh]thZ of her voiceA so that ahile
coZTlete sentences registered Zore ouic^l] he lost the facilit] for reading
hidden Zeanings in theZA accents and stresses _eing reZoved as the need
for reTetition aanted? bis dedterit] at reading Zorse rh]thZs had Troved
a loss in that it ena_led hiZ to Zaster IiZi's too soonA and _ecause her
oan language aas ChineseA she aas a_le to hide so Zuch in her flat
deliverance of Xnglish? "I'm not going bac# to $ngland"A he said?
(Sillitoe)
Iichael aal^s and tal^s? (alsorthy) the ilication oI the ast is
ade clear by the contents oI the hole chater.
boa Z]sterious aoZen aerek nne lived alongside and ^nea nothing of
theZ? %!at could s!e !ae seen in t!at fellow &osinney to send !er
mad' For there aas Zadness after all in ahat she had done craq]
Zoonstruc^ ZadnessA in ahich all sense of values had _een lostA and her
life and his life ruinedk (alsorthy)
>t's a înd of oueer TeaceA and > often aonder hoa I could have been
so torn and tortured? (alsorthy)
It is iortant to reeber that could InIinitive II ay ily to
diaetrically oosite eanings: a) a real action in the ast and b) a non-
Iact ith reIerence to the ast. And here the ilied contet is all that can
be considered relevant.
It is indeed true that languages see to oIIer Iairly naturally a large
easure oI olarisation, but it is usual to Iind the antonyous olarity
restricted to certain contets. Observations in this doain ill serve to
reind us that the history oI graar dislays a eculiar unity oI
oosites aniIestation oI the dialectic nature oI language.
The eaning oI each necessary graatical abstraction akes itselI
clear only in the course oI its usage.
Coare also the Iolloing atterns ith the verb should=
bad > ^noan a_out itA I s!ould !ae come ]esterda]? eshould
InIinitive II used ith reIerence to a non-Iact).
That science in the USSH s!ould !ae attained so high a level of
develoTZent is _ut natural eshould InIinitive II eressing a real action
in the ast ith secial ehasis laid uon its realisation).
e ay say ith little Iear oI eaggeration that hatever ay be the
other robles oI graar learning the otential olysey oI
graatical Iors is alays riary in iortance. The variety oI
eaning as otentially ilicit in a graatical Ior, hich e naturally
associate ith the develoent oI synonyy in graar, ay be
illustrated by nuerous eales.
49
Take, Ior instance, the ultiIarious use oI the inIlected genitive hich
in Modern English ay be oI ossession, origin, source, consisting oI,
etent oI, association ith or direction toards. There is no Ioral
diIIerentiation beteen diIIerent atterns and this ay lead to abiguity
but generally the contet or leical robability akes clear hich is eant.
Coare the Iolloing:
his _rother's rooZ (ossession)
his _rother's inforZation (source)
his _rother's invention (authorshi)
his _rother's arrival (subective
dut]'s call genitive)
go]'s recollection (obective
the criZinal's arrest genitive)
aife's dut] (ualitative
laa]er's life eaning)
It is interesting to note that the ualitative genitive ay be
synonyous ith adectives oI kindred eaning, but they are not alays
interchangeable: aife's aifel]A aifeliêh Zother's x Zotherl]A father's
fatherl]A etc.
Coare the Iolloing: SoaZes aas silent for soZe Zinutesh at last he
said= p> don't ^noa ahat ]our idea of a aife's dut] is? > never have
^noankp (alsorthy)
eaife's dut] the dut] of a aifef
>reneA ahose oTinion he secretl] resTected and TerhaTs for that reason
never solicitatedA had onl] _een into the rooZ on rare occasionsA in
discharge of soZe wifely duty. (alsorthy)
eaifel] x beIitting, like, or ertaining to a iIe)
SYNONYMY IN RAMMAR
e net turn our attention to synonyy in graar as iediately
relevant to the study oI otential olysey oI graatical Iors
discussed above.
There is a syste behind the develoent oI graatical synonys in
any language. This is a universal linguistic Ieature and ay be traced in
language aIter language. English shares these Ieature ith a nuber oI
tongues, but its structural develoent has led to such distinctive traits as
erit attention. Observations in this area are ost useIul Ior insight into
the nature and Iunctioning oI the language.
The very concet oI synonyy ilies variation. It does not ean
hoever that e ust include under graatical synonys absolute
aralleliss hich are resented by diIIerent kind oI graatical doublets
such as, Ior instance, variant Iors oI degrees oI coarison oI adectives:
clever cleverer the cleverest and clever Zore clever the Zost
cleverh caTa_le caTa_ler the caTa_lest and caTa_le Zore
caTa_le the Zost caTa_leA etc., or, say, variation in Iors observed in
the lural oI nouns e. g.: hoofs hoovesh aharfs aharvesA etc.
50
There are no absolute synonys in graar. And this is to illustrate
the Iact that a language does not Ior any length oI tie retain side by side
to eans oI eressing eactly the sae thing. This ould burden the
language.
Synonyic Iors in graar are not eactly alike, they coonly
have Iine shares oI diIIerence in style and urose, and students need to be
alive to these diIIerences. There is alays selection in the distribution oI
graatical Iors in actual seech. They ust haronise ith the contet
as aroriate to a given situation.
The change in synonyous graatical Iors is oIten a change in
style, and the eIIect on the reader is uite diIIerent. Even a slight alteration
in the graatical device can subtly shiIt the eaning oI the utterance.
Eaine the Iolloing sentence:
... bave ]ou _een aounding hiZsp
p>t is Z] Zisfortune to _e o_liged to aound hiZpA said Clara?
puite needlessl]A Z] childA for marry !im you must". (reiser)
Xllen had arung her hands and counseled dela]A in order that Scarlett
Zight thin^ the Zatter over at greater length? wut to her TleadingsA
Scarlett turned a sullen face and a deaf ear? (arry s!e would) [nd
ouic^l]A too? iithin tao aee^s? (Mitchell)
Cf?= Iarr] she aouldk and She aould Zarr]?
e cannot Iail to see that there is a arked diIIerence in style beteen
the to verb Iors: the Iorer is neutral, the latter is highly eressive.
Siilarly:
pwutA no Zatter ahen her foot healed she aould aal^ to mones_oro?
>t aould _e the longest aal^ she had ever taên in her lifeA _ut wal# it she
aouldp? (Mitchell)
Cf?= aal^ it she aould she aould aal^ it
As synonys in graar eress diIIerent shades oI the graatical
eaning, one should be careIul in the choice oI the right Iors, the best to
convey the subtler nuances oI that eaning.
Knoledge oI synonyic diIIerentiation beteen the graatical
Iors erits a systeatic, obective investigation and descrition oI style.
Many oI the ost characteristic stylistic traits oI diverse riters are,
indeed, in the Iield oI graar. A study oI graatical synonys can also
suly a descritive Ioundation Ior the aesthetic interretation and
coarison oI diverse styles. Synonys lend variety to language. There
are diIIerent anners oI riting, and these diIIer aong theselves not
only by virtue oI the content or the subect atter treated but also by virtue
oI a host oI stylistic eleents hich are resent in varying degree in
sales oI counication.
It is ost iortant to observe that graatical Iors ay diIIer in
connotative oer they gro in connotation in accordance ith the nature
oI the eanings connected ith the. In the oer oI their connotation
lies the reserve Iorce oI eressive language. To acuire a sense oI their
right use students oI English should study the in contet in the light oI
their relations ith other graatical devices. ith this aroach to the
study oI the distributional value oI ord-Iors graar takes on ne liIe.
51
The roble oI synonyy in graar has received due attention in
linguistic investigations oI recent years.
There is uch truth in hat V. N. Yartseva says about the necessity oI
a consistent linguistic aroach to the roble oI synonyy in graar,
in general. The Iirst to be entioned here is a conscious understanding oI
the organic relation beteen diIIerent asects oI language. The erging
oI orhology, synta and vocabulary into one brings little scientiIic
order to language learning and is alays resonsible Ior the distortion oI
linguistic Iacts.
ith regard to the ethodology eloyed in our descrition oI
synonyy in graar there are certain observations hich are ertinent
to a suary stateent. It ill be helIul to distinguish beteen a)
aradigatic synonys and b) contetual synonys or synonys by
Iunction in seech.
In English orhology synonys oI the Iirst grou are very Ie in
nuber. Such are, Ior instance, synthetical and analytical Iors in the
Subunctive and Suositional Mood, e. g.:
...'> noa ZoveA that the reTort and accounts for the ]ear Uj _e
received and adoTtedp? (alsorthy)
e_e received and adoTted x should _e received and adoTtedf
Paradigatic synonys ith siilarity in Iunction and structural
Ieatures ay also be eeliIied by the Iolloing:
Non-ehatic Ehatic
Present Indefinite
> ^noa > do ^noa
be ^noas be does ^noa
Past indefinite
> ^nea > did ^noa
Imperative Mood
CoZe \o coZe
Analytical verbal Iors ith the intensive do can eress a hole
variety oI subective odal eanings: leasure, adiration, aIIection,
surrise, anger, ild reroach, encourageent, adonition, etc.,
e. g.
nhk darlingA don't achek > do so hate it for ]ou? (alsorthy) There aas
so Zuch coZing and going round the doors that the] did not liê to enter?
ihere does he lives > did see hiZ coZing out of the hotel? (alsorthy)
Xagerl] her e]es searched the dar^ness? The roof seeZed to _e intact?
Could it _e could it _e s òA it aasn't Tossi_le? iar stoTTed for no5
thingA not even TaraA _uilt to last five hundred ]ears? >t could not have
Tassed over Tara? Then the shadoa] outline did taê forZ? The ahite
aalls did shoa there through the dar^ness? Tara had escaTed? boZek
(Mitchell)
52
wut SaithinA hearing the naZe >reneA looêd severel] at XuTheZiaA
ahoA it is trueA never did loo^ aell in a dressA ahatever she Za] have done
on other occasions? (alsorthy)
or the sake oI stronger ehasis the rincial verb ay be given Iirst
and the ehatic do laced at the end. This is oIten the case in clauses oI
contrast or concession, e. g.:
ihen he looêd uTA her face aore again that strange edTression?
> can't tellA he thought as he aent outA _ut > Zustn't thin^ ~ > Zustn't
aorr]? wut aorr] he didA aalîng toaard call Iall? (alsorthy)
[nd folloa her he didA though _othered _] unfaZiliar aords that fell
gli_l] froZ her liTs? (London)
Strong ehasis is also roduced by using leonastic atterns ith
segentations, e. g.: be never did care for the riverA did IontZorenc]?
(eroe)
As e have already said, there are no absolute synonys in graar.
Synonyic Iors ill generally diIIer either in various shades oI the
coon graatical eaning, eressive connotation or in stylistic
value. The Iorer ay be reIerred to as relative synonys, the latter as
stylistic ones.
urther eales oI aradigatic synonys ill be Iound aong the
so-called erihrastic Iors oI the English verb.
Relatively synonyous are, Ior instance, the uture IndeIinite tense-
Iors and the erihrastic pto _e going top Iuture. A sile aIIirative
stateent oI intention ith no eternal circustances entioned (tie,
condition, reason, etc.) is generally eressed by the erihrastic Ior.
hen a Iuture action deends on the eternal circustances the pto _e
going top is rare. Cf?=
1. a) be aill sell his houseA (rare)
b) be's going to sell his house? (noral)
2. a) be'll sell it if ]ou as^ hiZ? (noral)
b) be is going to sell it if ]ou as^ hiZ? (rare)
1
To _e going to ith a ersonal subect ilies a uch stronger intention
than the uture Tense ith shalllaill does. Here is an ecellent eale oI
its eotional use in eressive language:
... pI'm going to !ae Zone] soZe da]A lots of itA so > can have
an]thing > aant to eat? [nd then there'll never _e an] hoZin] or dried Teas
on Z] ta_le? [nd >'Z going to have Trett] clothes and all of theZ are going
to _e sil^???p >'Z going to have Zone] enough so the }anêes can never
taê R,r, aaa] froZ Ze? [nd >'Z going to !ae a nea roof for R,r, and a
nea _arn and fine Zules for Tloaing and Zore cotton that ]ou ever saa?
[nd iade isn't ever going to ^noa ahat it Zeans to do aithout the thing
he needs? èverk be's going to have ever]thing in the aorld? [nd all Z]
faZil]A the] aren't ever going to _e !ungry again? > Zean it? (Mitchell)
urther eales are:
p> never thought a_out ahat it Zeant to iadepA said Hhett sloal]? p>
never thought hoa he's suffered? [nd it's not going to _e that aa] for
wonnie?p (Mitchell)
1
See= R. . andvoort. A Handbook oI English raar. London, 1965, . 7778.
53
be ought to understandk pbe Tiles uT his Zone] for ZepA she thoughth
_ut ahat's the useA if I'm not going to be !appy' Ione]A and all it
'oughtA did not _ring haTTinessp? (alsorthy)
\arlingA said \inn]A > do hoTe things are going to be all rig!t. (als-
orthy)
\inn] Tut her hand on his sleeve? p}ou are not going to lose ]our go_?
>'ve seen mac^ Ius^haZp? (alsorthy)
uivering at the thought of this long dar^ night aith herA he ]et ^nea
it was going to be torture. (alsorthy)
Patterns ith the assive auiliaries _e and get ill also illustrate
graatical synonys oI the Iirst tye.
The assive Iors in Modern English are reresented by analytic
cobinations oI the auiliary verb to _e ith the ast articile oI the
conugated verb. The verb to get can also Iunction as an auiliary oI the
assive, e. g.: (1) I] dress got caught on a nail? (2) be got struc^ _] a
stone? these are not ne usages, but ones hich are sreading.
To get sees closer to the true assive auiliary _e in atterns like the
Iolloing: She got _laZed for ever]thing? She gets teased _] the other
children?
The stabilisation oI leico-graatical devices to indicate the
asective character oI the action has also contributed to the develoent
oI synonyy in Modern English.
A secial interest attaches to contetual synonys on the graatica1
level created through transosition oI related graatical Iors,
Neutralisation oI the distinctive Ieatures oI the oosed graatical
Iors leads to situational synonyy.
Here are a Ie eales to illustrate the stateent:
(1) *re ]ou coming to the ccHS woard on Tuesda]s (alsorthy)
(The Suosition Present uture is neutralised [re ]ou coZings is
synonyus ith iill ]ou coZesf
Siilarly:
(2) ihoZ do ]ou thin^ > travelled aiths Fleur Iont? ie ran uT
against each other at Victoria? She's ta#ing her _o] to _oring nedt aee^
to convalesce hiZ? (alsorthy) eShe's taîng she aill taêf
Present Continuous and Present IndeIinite ay Iunction as situational
synonys in cases like the Iolloing:
(3) \ic^]k said maZes? }ou are alaa]s aasting Zone] on soZething?
(alsorthy) e}ou are alaa]s aasting is synonyous ith }ou alaa]s
aastef?
(4) She is continuall] imagining dangers ahen the] do not edist? eShe
is iZagining x she iZaginesf?
(5) mune read= Laê nânagen? writish ColuZ_iaA I'm not coming
_ac^ to Xngland? wless ]ou alaa]s? mohn? (alsorthy) e>'Z not
coZing > shall not coZef?
(6) Fleur huddled her chin in her fur? >t aas easterl] and cold? [ voice
_ehind her said= iellA FleurA am I going Xasts (alsorthy) Cf? [Z >
going Xasts Shall > go Xasts
And here is a good eale to illustrate ho the situational contet
can neutralise the oosition Indicative Ierative:
pLet Ze get in therep? be tried to _rush [nthon] aside? wut [nthon]
firZl] stood his ground?
p>'Z sorr]pA he saidA his teeth togetherA p}ou're not going in therep?
(ordon) eCf? syn. }ou are not going there \on't go }ou shall not go
theref?
GRAMMATICAL DOUBLETS
Observations on the structural eculiarities oI English Iurnish
nuerous eales oI variations in soe language Iors eressing one
and the sae linguistic notion. Such arallel Iors or doublets ay be
traced at diIIerent levels oI the language.
There are diIIerent doublets Iunctioning in the vocabulary oI resent-
day English such as, Ior instance, infantile infantineh lorr] lurr]h
felloe fell]h idiograZ ideograThA Zediator] ZediatorialA or
grahic variants: draught draftA gra] gre]h nose] nos]A foge]
fog]A endue indueA ôuZiss ûZiss?
Variation in Ior ay be traced in such honetic variants as:
oublets ill also be observed in graar. The aradig oI the
Modern English verb ill Iurnish such Iailiar eales as: croa crea
ecroaedf croaedh clothe clothed clothed clothe clad
cladh get got egotten [Zer?fh ^nit ^nit ^nit ^nit ^nitted
^nittedh lean leaned leaned x lean leant leanth ouit ouit
ouit ouit ouitted ouittedh sTit sTit (or sTatf sTith slide slid
slidden (or slidfh aed aed aed x aed aedded aeddedh
aor^ aorêd aorêd aor^ arought arought?
Soe variant Iors have Iallen out oI the conugation and are no
chieIly used as verbal adectives, not as arts oI tense-Iors, e. g.,
_oundenA clovenA drunênA gravenA ^nittenA ZoltenA TrovenA rottenA
shrunênA shornA stricênA sunênA aashenA e. g. a cloven hoofA a Troven
factA sunên chee^sA a saollen liTA the stricên field?
Instances are not Ie hen archaic variant Iors are used Ior stylistic
uroses to create the atoshere oI elevated seech in ictorial language,
in oetry, or in roverbial sayings, e. g.: the Iors in 5th Ior the third
erson singular, resent tense indicative, like dothA hathA endethA saithA
^noaethA etc., or, say, such Iors as sTaê Ior sToê (ast (tense oI the
verb sTea^fh throve Ior thrived (ast tense oI the verb thrivefh _are Ior
_ore (ast tense oI the verb _earfA ^noaed Ior ^nea (ast tense oI the verb
to ^noafA as in: Ieasure the cloth ten tiZesh thou canst cut it _ut taice
eTrov?f ecanst canf?
urther eales are: The silence in Z] rooZA ahen > got uT here at
lastA aas stunning and the Zoonlight alZost ]elloa? The Zoon's hidingA
noa _ehind one of the elZsA and the evening star shining a_ove a dead
_ranch? [ fea other stars are outA _ut ver] diZ? >t's a night far our tiZeA
far even froZ our aorld? òt an oal hooting _ut the hone]suc^le still
saeet? [nd so Z] Zost dearA here endet! the tale? Yood night? }our ever
loving [drian?p (alsorthy) eendeth endsf?
55
?? ?the CaTtain feltA as sensi_l] as the Zost eloouent of Zen could have
doneA that there aas soZething in the tranouil tiZe and in its softened
_eaut] that aould Zaê the aounded heart of Florence overfloah and that
it aas _etter that such tears should have their aa]? So not a aord spa#e
CaTtain Cuttle? be #nowed ToodleA he saidA aell? welonged to the
HailroadA didn't hes (ickens) esTaê sToêh ^noaed ^neaf
The use oI archaic variants Ior stylistic uroses ay be traced in other
languages. Take the aradig oI the verb yrn in Ukrainian Ior
illustration.
x c ( ccmt) mn c ( cctmo) rn c (
ccn) nn c ( ecre) nin c ( ccrt) nonn c
( cyrt)
"#* ram nnnn-npennnn xpa. (Hecx Vxpanxa) "#*
nnon uepnonomoxi, mo x snmi ocroxrt. (Tnunna)
0 ninpe, ninpe, mi Cnanyro, mnpox i cnanen rn ccn.
(annmxo)
Not less characteristic is the stylistic use oI other archaic Iors in
Ukrainian:
Cnana roi, Ba]apnxy. Bo nixn i nixn, mo snin ccn n ono mope
cnon'xnctxi pixn. (Benuenxo). Coare also such variant Iors as:
nnrac nnra snac sna cnyxac cnyxa nnrnxac nnrnxa, etc.
V xyoxni nposi ra noesi, oconnno n rnopax xnacnxin
xyoxnto nireparypn, uacro nnxopncronymrtcx: a) iccnona 3-o
ocon onnnn nenonnoro o]opmnennx e8,A 6-1A 7)A $"f i )
in]inirnnn na -rt. 3 nornxy nopm cyuacno nireparypno monn ne
xnnxc coom nocrynxy nepe ianexrnunnmn ]opmamn s merom
crnopennx xonopnry posmonnocri ao nx perynmnannx pnrmiunocri n
yoni nipmonano monn
1
.
Ianx coi sacnoxomcrtcx, me uacom i nicentxy sacnina npo
xypannx. (onuox)
Vxnnxnn nonn coi xasxxy nonn snann, mo xasxxa monoentxa
yce cnnrt inx nixonnx ra nnmnna coi ouinxn monxamn ra sonorom.
(onuox)
oro niepne nepme nponna ni y xpnnnni, mo ynoui samepsana,
i racxan nin cnonneni nipa ni ropy. (onuox)
Hmnna oeprac n ca nycrnni
I n croxonoccx xonoc oep1a...
Hmnna e, xcna mera
Xnana x semni, nixopeni nmnni (nntctxn)
ailiar eales oI graatical archaiss still in use Ior stylistic
uroses ill be Iound aong ronoinal Iors, such as, Ior instance,
1
I. I. u e p e n n u e n x o . apncn s sarantno crnnicrnxn cyuacno
yxpanctxo monn. K... 1962, p. 328.
56
thee or the oetical ossessives th] and thine hich do not occur in
everyday seech, e. g.:
Tell Ze thenA starA ahose aings of light
STeed thee in t!y fier] flightA
>n ahat cavern of the night
iill t!y Tinious close noas (Shelley)
raatical doublets ill be Iound in the Ioration oI the lural, e. g.:
coas îne (arch.)
fies fone (arch.)
shoes shoen (arch.)
scarfs scarves
aharfs aharves
There is also orhological variation in the lural oI nouns Ioreign in
origin. Through natural rocess oI assiilation soe borroed nouns have
develoed arallel Iors, e. g.: forZulae forZulash antennae
antennash foci focusesh terZini terZinusesh strata stratuZs?
oreign lural Iors are decidedly ore Ioral than their native doublets.
e also Iind such graatical Iors as ain't or ain oI the verb to _e
corresonding to the Iors aZ notA is not and are not? The cobination oI
a verb-Ior ith the negative article not diIIers Iro the sae Ior
ithout the article. There is no distinction here beteen aZ notA is notA
and are not? These variant Iors are lo collouial, iI not vulgar, and are
incoatible ith serious literary style. A Ie eales oI their use are
given belo:
p}ou're right againpA returned the CaTtainA giving his hand another
soueeqe? pòthing it is? Sok Stead]k There's a son gone= Trett] little
creetur? *in't theres
???Than^'? I] _erth a'nt ver] rooZ]A said the CaTtain? (ickens)
[n't ]ou a thiefsp said Ir? CarêrA aith his hands _ehind hiZ in
Tocêts?
pòA SirpA Tleaded Ho_?
p}ou arekp said Ir? Carêr?
p> an't indeedA SirpA ahiZTered Ho_? (ickens)
Observations on current linguistic change in resent-day English
Iurnish eales oI graatical variants develoed in recent ties.
The Iirst to be entioned here are linguistic changes in the
aradigatic sets oI adectives, resulting Iro the continued loss oI
inIlections and their active relaceent by syntactic devices in the
coarative and suerlative here Iors ith 5er and 5est are being
relaced by Iors ith Zore and Zost? In oint oI Iact, this is the
continuation oI a trend oI long standing. Adectives ith three or ore
syllables are norally coared ith Zore and Zosth onosyllabic
adectives, on the other hand, are norally coared ith 5er and 5est
elargeA largerA largestf? Adectives ith to syllables are divided, soe
usually being coared one ay, the others the other and it is in this
dissyllabic grou oI adectives
57
that the change is ost noticeable. Adectives Iorerly taking 5er and 5est
tend to go over to Zore and ZostA e. g. coZZon coZZoner the
coZZonest and coZZon Zore coZZon Zost coZZon? To-day
eather Iorecasts Ireuently say that it ill be Zore cloud] instead oI
cloudier? The sae is true oI such adectives as cruelA cleverA fuss]A
TrofoundA TleasantA siZTleA su_tle? Recently there have been any cases oI
Zore and Zost sreading even to onosyllabic adectives, e. g. Zore
crudeA Zore êenA Zore TlainA etc. ors like Zore aell5inforZed and
Zore aell5dressed Iunctioning arallel ith the Iorer _etter5inforZed and
_est5dressed are also Ireuent.
That the rocess oI loss oI inIlections is still going on in resent-day
English is esecially clear in the arallel use oI such ronouns aho and
ahoZA > and Ze? The inIlected Ior ahoZ sees to be disaearing only
Iro the soken language and being relaced by ahoA though it still
ersists strongly in the ritten language. It is uite natural, Ior instance, to
say > don't ^noa aho to suggestA and > don't ^noa ahoZ to suggest? There
is one osition here ahoZ is alays used still, and that is iediately
aIter a reosition hich governs it: e cannot relace ahoZ by aho in
the sentences: To ahoZ shall > give its and > don't ^noa for ahoZ it is
intendeds But these sentences really belong to the ritten language, and
sound etreely stilted in seech in oint oI Iact, ost eole ould say
iho shall > give it tos and > don't ^noa aho it's intended for
U
?
It is also to be noted that Ze is no Iorally acceted as the Ior to
use aIter the verb to _e eCf? rench Zoif? Noadays it sounds rather
edantic to say >t is > instead oI the noral attern >t's Ze? And in resent-
day use there is a good deal oI conIusion about the case to be used aIter
_utA as and liêA e. g., no_od] _ut ZeA or no_od] _ut >h there ay be the
Iirst signs oI an ultiate erosion oI the noinative-accusative contrast in
the ersonal ronouns, like that no taking lace ith aho?
A ord should also be said about the negative and interrogative Iors
oI the verb to have? hen have is a Iull verb (eaning ossess, hold,
eerience, etc.), not an auiliary, it has to ays oI Ioring its
negative and interrogative: (1) ith arts oI the auiliary do edo ]ou
havesA he didn't haveA etc.) and (2) ithout using do ehave ]ousA he
hadn'tA or in British usage very oIten have ]ou gotsA he hadn't gotf? The
distribution oI these doublets in English is rather colicated, and deends
artly on the eaning oI haveA e. g., be hadn't got an] Zone]A but be
didn't have an] difficult]? In soe cases, hoever, it also deends on
hether or not the verb denotes habitual action: thus e say \o ]ou have
dances in ]our village halls (habitual), but bave ]ou got a dance on
tonights (not habitual). This habitual/non-habitual criterion is not tyical
oI Aerican usage, hich oIten eloys do-Iors Ior non-habitual haveA
here in England they eloy got-Iors thus Aericans oIten say o
]ou have the tiZesA here Englishen say bave ]ou got the tiZes Patterns
oI the tye \o ]ou have the tiZes are coing (though sloly) into general
use.
1
See= Ch. Barber. Linguistic Change in Present-day English. Edinburgh-London, 1964,
. 141.
58
Revision Material
1. 1. Be ready to discuss the linguistic schools in the theory oI English
graar.
(a) ive coents on the early rescritive graars oI English.
(b) Characterise the rincial design oI classical scientiIic graars
uheld by 20th century scholars.
(c) ive brieI coents on various tyes oI graar in ters oI their
linguistic aroach and ethods oI analysis (traditional graar,
hilosohical graar, coarative graar, historical graar,
structural graar, transIorational graar, generative graar).
2. ive the general characteristics oI the graatical structure oI
English as an analytic language.
3. ive coents on the distinctions beteen synchronic and
diachronic asects in graatical studies. Be ready to illustrate the
stateent that the to asects are organically related and as such cannot be
alays absolutely isolated.
4. Coent on the structural ethods that have no idely
develoed in language learning.
5. Be ready to discuss the contribution to the develoent oI the
graatical theory ade by Soviet scholars.
II. 1. Make coents on the constant recirocal action beteen
vocabulary and graar.
2. Coent on the ethods oI odern structural analysis that have in
recent ties idely develoed in graatical studies.
3. ive coents on the Iolloing linguistic terinology:
aradigatics, syntagatics denotation connotation graee
orhee tagees alloorh accidence leical valency syntactic
valency oosee binary oosition trinoic oosition olynoic
oosition otential olysey susension oI oositions.
4. Be ready to discuss the theory oI oositions as being alied in
linguistic studies at diIIerent levels.
5. Coent on transosition oI graatical Iors and their
Iunctional re-evaluation.
6. ive coents on hoonyie Iors in English graar.
istinguish beteen inIlectional and constructional hoonyy. ive
eales oI graatical abiguity.
7. hat do e ean by leical incongruity ( irobability)
8. ive coents on variant aradigatic Iors (doublets) in
graar.
9. et ready to discuss the sources oI synonys in graar and the
roble oI their classiIication.
10. iscuss the stateent that the asyetric dualis oI the linguistic
sign is a Iairly coon develoent in the structure oI language.
11. The aradigatic eaning oI one graatical Ior can coincide
ith the syntagatic eaning oI another. Can you give eales to
illustrate it
12. hat does neutralisation oI oosition resuose
13. Coent on neutralisation (susension) oI oositions signalled
by: a) leical incongruity oI sentence eleents, b) secial syntactic
structures and c) etra linguistic situation.
39
PART I. MORPHOLOGY
Chapter I
THE SUB1ECT MATTER OF MORPHOLOGY
In books devoted to teaching graar it is usual to establish to ain
divisions, these being variously tered:
1. Morphology (reek: tnorTh Ior, logos learning).
2. Syntax The raar oI Sentences (reek: s]n ith, tasso
arrange).
The subect atter oI orhology is the graatical classes and
grous oI ords, their graatical categories and systes oI Iors
(aradigs) in hich these categories actually eist.
The ord as a graatical unit has its eaning and Ior.
Synta eaines the ays in hich ords ay be cobined and the
relationshis that eist beteen the ords in cobination.
Keeing this traditional classiIication oI linguistic studies, e ust
naturally recognise the aIIinities beteen the to arts oI graar. Synta
bears an intiate relation to orhology because orhological devices
are greatly conditioned by syntactical arrangeents. It is oI great
iortance to our subect to understand the constant recirocal action oI
Ior and Iunction. These to should be studied in their relationshis but
none should be brought to the Iront at the eense oI the other.
Morhology is inadeuate alone, because relatively Ie kinds oI
English ords are subect to orhological variation. Synta alone ill
not do either artly because there are borderline ord-Iors and hrases
not indisutably assigned to any class.
It sees ractical to distinguish beteen paradigmatic and
syntagmatic study oI orhology. Thus, Ior instance, iI e consider the
ord-Ior itselI as art oI a given aradig e reain in the shere oI
orhology. [nal]sing the ord in its surrounding in the sentence, e
discuss the syntagatic connections oI a given ord. The stateent that an
adective is used to odiIy a noun, or that an adverb is used to odiIy a
verb, is a stateent oI syntagatic or Iunctional orhology.
In iortance orhology is Iar inIerior to synta in Modern English. OI
ords in Modern English not over one Iourth ossess any distinctive
orhological Ior, the others being oI a coon neutral orhological
character, and their synta or contet alone can deterine their nuber,
case or tense: sheeTA deerA setA costA Tut? The structure oI a language is to a
large etent conditioned by its syste oI Ioral oositions roceeding
Iro hich e generally identiIy the orhological classes oI ords.
60
In English the Ioral oositions ay be ell illustrated by such airs as
girl= = girlsA girl = = girl'sh >= : aeA and >= = ZeA and the set oI three he = = she
= = it? It is around such oositions (also called oosees) that the
graatical syste oI the language is to a large etent built u.
Siilar Ioral oositions aong the verbs are: Tla] = = Tla]s and Tla]
= = Tla]edh Cf? also the set oI three aZ = = is = = are?
The air Tla] : : Tla]s ill reresent the oosition beteen the third
erson singular resent tense, on the one hand, and the other ersons oI the
singular lus those oI the lural, on the other. In literary English, hoever,
it also reresents an oosition on a diIIerent lane: the third erson
singular oI a verb ay occur either ith or ithout -s the Ior ithout 5s
is knon as the Subunctive, the one ith 5s as the Indicative, and the
diIIerence is said to be one oI Mood. The eaning oI each necessary
graatical abstraction akes itselI clear in the course oI actual usage.
The graar oI any natural language is a bilateral unity oI Ior and
content. The content oI graar aears to be generalised in its categorial
eression. Organically related to vocabulary, graar alays retains its
underlying categories.
A orhological category is an organised set oI graatical Iors
graees.
The general notions oI graar hich deterine the structure oI
language and Iind their eression in inIlection and other devices are
generally called graatical categories. As is knon, a graatical
category is generally reresented by at least to graatical Iors,
otherise it cannot eist. A sile case oI oositions in airs oI
graatical Iors ill be Iound, Ior instance, beteen the Singular and
the Plural in nouns, or, say, beteen Active and Passive in verbs.
In dealing ith graar it is oIten useIul to observe such contrasts in
ters oI arked and unarked ebers.
In binary oositions beteen airs oI categories one eber (the
arked eber) signals the resence oI a general or overall eaning,
hile the unarked eber ay either signal absence oI the arked
eaning or else be noncoittal as to its absence or resence. Thus love
and loved are in contrast as resent and ast but only the latter is
actually arked as such love is unarked and as such ay be uch
ore idely used than erely as a resent in contrast ith loved? It is
Iairly coZZon that oI tao ebers oI an oosition one has a deIinite
eaning, hereas the eaning oI the other is less deIinite, or vague. In
cenguins live in the [ntarcticA live? is, so to say, tenseless. Since the
stateent is true not only Ior the resent but Ior the ast and (resuably)
the Iuture.
A olynoic oosition Ialls into binary ones and each oI its ebers
enters several binary oositions. Thus, Ior instance, in the trinoic
oositions oI Moods each eber is contrasted to the to others taken
together and to each oI the to others taken aart, e. g., the Indicative
Mood stands in contrast ith the Subunctive and the Ierative siilarly
the Ierative Mood is contrasted ith the Subunctive and the Indicative,
the Subunctive Mood is contrasted ith the Ierative and the Indicative.
61
The roble oI oositions on the orhological level has not been
coletely solved as yet and reains a source oI constant interest in
ode language learning
1
.
ords ay eress a seantic concetion and one or ore concetions oI
a graatical order. nne and the sae Ior oI the ord ay eress
diIIerent graatical eanings (e. g. erson, nuber, etc.) The Iolloing
analysis ill be very helIul to illustrate the stateent. In the sentence The
horses ran faster the ord horses not only evokes in our ind the idea oI a
certain anial but the idea oI the doer oI the action it also evokes the
concetion oI lurality. The ord ran corresonds to the idea oI otion,
but it also evokes the idea oI the character oI that otion and the idea oI
astness (ast tie). The ord faster suggests not only the anner oI
action, its seed, but a relative seed (relative uality). In the sentence be
taês French lessonsA Ior instance, taê conveys the idea oI an action the
ending -s eresses the relation oI this action to the subect as ell as the
idea oI tie, erson, nuber, ood, voice, asect.
It ust be ehasised that the diIIerence beteen notional ords and
graatical or Iunction-ords is oIten not so uch a atter oI Ior
as oI content
2
. In ters oI eaning, Iunction ords are knon to be
seantically deleted and very general. As such they ay be reIerred to as
sei-notional. Considered in Ior, they soeties coincide ith notional
arts oI seech. Coare, Ior instance, the verbs getA go and groa in the
Iolloing atterns: to get dr] and to get a letterA to go hoZe and to go _adA
to groa Totatoes and to groa dar^?
Take the sentence The _o] sa]s that the guests did arrive? raar has
done iortant things here: it has arranged the ords in a articular order,
aking clear subect-redicate relations it has contributed tense by the
change oI sa] into sa]sA and nuber by the addition oI -s graar has
added the intensiIier did to ehasise the verbal idea and has given such
additional ords as the and that?
raatical ords hich lay so large a art in English graar are
Ior the ost art sharly and _vi'sl diIIerent Iro the leical ords,
as one can see by coaring the given units in our eale: theA thatA did
and _o]A sa]sA guestsA arrive? A ready diIIerence hich ay see ost
obvious is that graatical ords have less eaning and ay be
oosed to Iully leical ords.
1
See= O. C. x m a n o n a . K nonpocy o ocnonntx nonxrnxx meraxstxa
nnnrnncrnxn. onpoct xstxosnannx, 1961, N 5 . O. x o c o n .
op]onornuecxne nanmennx na cnanxncxnm cxnonennem. ., 1958 H. F.
X n e n n x o n a . O nerpannsannn onnosnnn n mop]onornn. c.: Hnocrpannte
xstxn n ntcme mxone, ntn. 3, 1964 E. H. Benentc. Tpancnosnnnx
mop]onornuecxnx ]opm (na marepnane conpemennoro nemenxoro xstxa). c.:
Hnocrpannte xstxn n ntcme mxone, ntn. 3, 1964.
2
The traditional distinction beteen pfullp and peZTt]p or pforZ5aordsp is Iailiar in
graar, but students oI language should be reared to Zeet it under various naes:
pfull aordsp are no oIten reIerred to as pforZ5classespA peZTt] aordspA as pgraZZatical
aordspA pfunction5aordsp or pstructure aordsp?
62
But this should be taken ith soe oint oI reservation. Although a
ord like the is not the nae oI soething as _o] isA it is Iar Iro being
altogether eaningless, Ior there is, oI course, a diIIerence in eaning
beteen a _og and the _o]? Moreover, graatical ords diIIer
considerably aong theselves as to the aount oI eaning they have,
even in the leical sense. Thus, Ior instance, the deIinite article our
eale diIIers considerably Iro the article used ith deonstrative
Iorce in atterns like the Iolloing:
This is the _oo^ > shoaed hiZ ]esterda] ethe thatf?
be is the Zan aho _rought the letter ethe thatf?
In Modern English graatical Iors can be ade s]ntheticall]
and anal]ticall]?
Synthetical syste ill include: 1) inIlection, e. g?=be aor^sA he aorêdh
2) suletivity ego aent gonef? SuTTletive forZs are ade by
cobining diIIerent roots such is the aradig oI the verb to _e= a) aZh b)
ish c) areh d) aasA aereh e) _eA _eenA _eing? orations oI this tye ill be
Iound in adectives: good _etter the _esth _ad aorse the aorsth
in ronounsh > ~ ZeA Z]A Zineh ae usA ourA ours?
>nflection is one oI distinguishing characteristics oI the Iaily oI Indo-
Euroean languages. The etent to hich these various languages ake
use oI inIlection diIIers greatly, and there is oIten considerable variation,
as in English, even in the eriods oI one and the sae language.
Broadly deIined, inflection as a structural device oI language is the
change or variation in the Iors oI a ord Ior the urose oI indicating
corresonding variations in its eaning and use.
In oint oI Iact, inIlections are orheic changes the addition oI
suIIies and concoitant orhohoneic adustents hich adat
ords to erIor certain structural Iunctions ithout changing their leical
eaning.
The deIinition ilies that there is a certain root eleZent hich
reains constant, but hich is given seciIic alication and eaning by
additions to this eleent. As coonly alied, the ter reIers to such
distinctions as those oI gender, nuber, case, ood, tense, voice and so
Iorth.
So Ie are the inIlections oI Modern English as coared ith
synthetic languages that it is soeties characterised as a graarless
tongue. This oint oI vie is altogether erroneous and ay see correct
only to those ho think oI graar as eaning the sae thing as
inIlection.
In synthetical languages here the graatical Iunction oI a ord is
ilicit in the Ior oI the ord, inIlection or accidence, as it is soeties
called, does lay a large art. But still e can hardly say that through the
loss oI inIlection English has becoe a graarless tongue in the true
sense oI the ord graa.
63
English inIlection has been gradually siliIied in the course oI tie
but the language has develoed other devices to erIor the sae Iunction
and its structure and its rules oI right and rong, and it is as necessary to
observe the, as other languages observe their inIlectional syste and
rules oI concord.
Modern English is not uniue in develoing analytical tendencies. Other
Euroean languages have done the sae, but the idiosyncratic asect oI
analytical Iors in any language should not escae our notice. The
distinctive Ieatures characterising English as a ainly analytical language
are knon to be the Iolloing:
a) coaratively Ie graatical inIlections
b) scarcity oI graatical Iors ith sound alternations
c) a ide use oI reositions to denote relations beteen obects and
connect ords in the sentence
d) a ore or less Iied or graatical ord order to denote
graatical relations.
An analytical Ior consists oI at least to ords but actually
constitutes one sense-unit. Only one oI the to eleents has leical
eaning, the second has none, and being an auiliary ord ossesses only
graatical eaning, e. g?= > have coZeA > had coZeh > aZ aritingA > have
_een aritingA > should ariteA > should have arittenA it is arittenA it aas
arittenA etc. egrees oI coarison Iored by Zore and Zost are also
analytic in structure: interesting Zore interesting the Zost
interestingh difficult Zore difficult the Zost difficult?
All the analytical verbal Iors go back to Iree syntactical grous.
As is knon, odern PerIect Tenses are Iored by eans oI the
auiliary verb to have Iolloed by the ast articile oI the notional verb.
In Old English the ast articile as not an intrinsic art oI the tense but
as regarded as an adective in aosition to the obect governed by the
verb haveh the articile agreed in case (accusative) ith the obect= > have
aritten Z] letter eant > have Z] letter aritten? It as uite natural that
these Iors ere at Iirst used ith transitive verbs the corresonding
Iors oI intransitive verbs ere generally Iored ith the verb _e? In such
constructions the articile alays agreed ith the subect. be is coZe
eant be is in the state of _eing coZe?
But hen the origin oI the have5forZs had been Iorgotten, they ere
gradually etended to intransitive verbs as ell: be has goneh be has
coZeh be had goneh be had coZe?
In Modern English to _e is still used in soe cases to ily a state
rather than an action, e. g.: Yood5_]eA Ir? I? I?k she called and was gone
aZong the rose5treesk (alsorthy)
The assive Iors, analytic in their structure, have likeise originated
Iro Iree syntactical grous. In Modern English they are resented by the
association oI the auiliary verb to _e ith a ast articile to _e arittenA
to _e doneA etc. There is also a ore eressive Ior oI the assive ade
u ith the auiliary verb to getA ost Ireuent in collouial English, e.g.:
The aniZal got struc^ _] a stone? The to assive Iorations ill oIten
diIIerentiate in their asective character. Cf? be aas tired :: be got tired?
64
hen ne devices had becoe ell established, they cae to eress
graatical categories hich had not been eressed in this ay, or at all,
in Old English eriod.
Modern English graatical relations eressed by the devices that
did not eist at earlier stages oI language develoent are:
1) Iuture, erIect and continuous tenses eressed ith auiliaries
2) case-relationshis eressed by eans oI reositions
3) assive voice (in ebryo in Old English)
4) case-relationshis, odiIication, agreeent indicated by ord-
order.
Analytical verbal Iors are ost seciIic analytical Iorations. To
understand their nature e should eaine both their structure and their
Iunction. Considered in their outer asect, they are Iree cobinations oI at
least to ords, hich stand to each other in the sae syntactical relation
as ords in a hrase. Considered in Iunction, they go arallel ith
synthetical Iors as belonging to a certain graatical category and doing
the duty oI the Ior oI the ord.
The general criteria oI deIining the linguistic nature oI analytical Iors
see to be eually alicable to all languages but in certain concrete
henoena oI every language e ay easily trace their seciIic
eculiarities associated in each case ith concrete conditions oI language
develoent. Their very nature in any odern language gives every
reason to eclude the Iro the real oI synta as belonging to
orhology. They no reresent a secial tye oI Ior-aking, diIIerent
Iro that oI ordinary ord-changing, and, as already rearked,
historically connected ith synta. In Iact, there sees no sall
ustiIication Ior adoting V. V. Vinogradov's ter cnnraxcnuecxoe
]opmoopasonanne hich he atly uses to characterise all the double-
sidedness oI these seciIic indivisible unities: their articiation in
orhology and their structural reseblance to ord-cobination.
On the hole, analytical Iors are characterised by:
1) seantic indivisibility,
2) idioatic character,
3) generalisation and abstraction Iro the concrete,
4) belonging in the aradig oI the ord as one oI its structural eleents.
It coes uite natural that there are no graatical categories in
language reresented only by analytical Iors, Ior the very distinction oI
the latter Iro other ord-cobinations is based uon their arallelis and
relationshi ith synthetical Iors.
As e have already said, analytical Iors in diIIerent languages ay
have their seciIic eculiarities associated ith concrete conditions oI
language develoent. A Ie eales Ior illustration: English analytical
Iors in the PerIect Tenses are, no doubt, ore Iree and obile than,
say, in Modern eran: bave ]ou ever _een to cariss }esA > have? òA U
haven't? Short ansers oI the given tye are uite iossible in eran.
A noticeable Ieature oI English analytical Iors is the use oI the
auiliary verb to do= \o ]ou sTea^ Frenchs }esA > do? òA > don't? \id ]ou
see hiZ ]esterda]s }esA > did? òA > didn't?
65
ee-rooted in English idio is the use oI the ehatic auiliaries
do and did Iunctioning as eedients to roduce intensity and ehasis
in such ehatic Iors oI the Present IndeIinite, Past IndeIinite and the
Ierative Mood, as: (1) > do so aonder ahat mol]on's _o] is liê?
(alsorthy) (2) >rene's visit to the house _ut there aas nothing
in that edceTt that she Zight have told hiZh _ut thenA againA she never
did tell hiZ an]thing? (alsorthy) (3) nhk \o _e seriousA Iichaelk
]ou never give Ze an] helT in arranging? (alsorthy)
The idiosyncratic asect oI analytical Ior in any language should
not escae our notice. e Iind here those additional structural
otentialities oI graatical Iors hich contribute signiIicantly
to the seciIic develoent oI the graatical syste oI a given
language.
Chapter II
PARTS OF SPEECH
PROBLEM OF CLASSIFICATION
Parts oI seech are the great taonoic classes into hich all the
ords oI a language Iall.
An adeuate deIinition oI arts oI seech ust naturally roceed Iro
a set oI criteria that can be consistently alied to all leical units oI a
given language. e cannot, Ior instance, use only leical eaning as the
basis Ior the deIinition oI soe ord-classes, Iunction in the sentence
Ior others, and Ioral characteristics Ior still others.
As the basis Ior the deIinition oI ord-classes e naturally ust use
not only their orhological and ord-aking characteristics but
seantic and syntactical Ieatures as ell. The latter are articularly
iortant Ior such arts oI seech as have no orhological distinctions ai
all
1
It ill be ore in accord ith the nature oI language to say that arts
oI seech ust be identiIied roceeding Iro:
1) a coon categorial eaning oI a given class oI ords abstracted
Iro the leical eaning oI all the ords belonging to this class
2) a coon aradig and
3) identity oI syntactic Iunctions.
To Iind out hat articular class a given English ord belongs to e
cannot look at one isolated ord. Nor is there any inIleional ending that
is the eclusive roerty oI any single art oI seech. The ending 5ed e5dfA
Ior instance, is generally Iound in verbs eoTenedA sZoêdA etc.), but it ay
be also added to nouns to Ior adectives eînd5heartedA talentedA _lue5
e]edA etc.) the inIleion -s changes the noun into a lural and -s is also
used to indicate the third erson singular in verbs, etc.
The attitude oI graarians ith regard to arts oI seech and the
basis oI their classiIication has varied a good deal at diIIerent ties. Soe
odern graarians aintain that the only criterion oI their classiIication
should be the Ior oI ords.
Taking Ior in rather a ide sense, they characterise nouns, Ior
instance, as ossessing certain Ioral characteristics hich attach to no
other class oI ords. These are the reIiing oI an article or
deonstrative, the use oI an inIleional sign to denote ossession and
lurality,
L
See= H. . Bea. O uacrxx peun n pyccxom xstxe. c.: yccxax peut, 1928,
p. 6 Ipammarnxa pyccxoro xstxa, r. 1. Hs. CCC, 1953, p. 20 . . nr a n o ,
H. H. H n a n o n a , H. H. H o ] n x . Conpemennt anrnncxn xstx. ., 1956,
1119.
67
and union ith reositions to ark relations originally indicated by
inIleional endings. This does not see ustiIied hoever because the
absence oI all the Ieatures enuerated should not eclude a ord Iro
being a noun, and this should be described as a ord hich has, or
in any given usage ay have those Ioral signs.
raatical categories identiIying the arts oI seech are
knon to be eressed in aradigs. e generally distinguish
inIlectional and analytical tyes oI the aradig. In the Iorer the
invariable art is the ste, in the latter the leical eleent oI the
aradig. The so-called interaradigatic hoonyy resulting Iro
the Iact that the root, the ste and the graatical Ior oI the ord
ay be identical in sound, is ost Ireuent.
Soe tye oI structural abiguity alays results in English
henever the Ior-classes oI the ords are not clearly arked.
Vivid eales oI such kind oI abiguity are given by Ch. ries
1
ith reIerence to the use oI the article in Modern English:
The utterance shiT sails toda] (hich ight aear in a
telegra) is abiguous as it stands because oI the absence oI clear art-
oI-seech arkers. II a clear art-oI-seech arker the is ut beIore
the Iirst ord as in 'The shiT sails toda]'A there is no abiguity e
have a stateent. II, hoever, the sae arker is ut beIore the
second ord as in 'ShiT the sails toda]'A there is also no abiguity, but
the utterance is diIIerent e have a reuest. Other clear art-oI-seech
arkers ould also resolve the abiguity, as ith the addition oI such a
arker as the ending 5ed= 'ShiTTed sail toda]'h 'ShiT sailed toda]' ?p
Nesaer headlines very Ireuently are structurally abiguous
because oI the lack oI deIinite art-oI-seech or Ior-class arkers.
Soe tyical eales out oI any are the Iolloing:
(1) pVanden_erg HeTorts nTen ForuZp? The abiguity oI this
heading could be cleared by the use oI such arkers as the or anA as:
'Vanden_erg HeTorts nTen the ForuZ'A 'Vanden_erg HeTorts an nTen
ForuZ'?
(2) pUnfavoura_le Surve]or HeTorts dela]ed Iichigan SettleZentp?
The abiguity oI this heading ould be cleared by the use oI such
arkers as have or a 'Unfavoura_le Surve]or HeTorts bave dela]ed
Iichigan SettleZent'h 'Unfavoura_le Surve]or HeTorts a \ela]ed
Iichigan SettleZent' ?
e cannot Iail to see that in such cases the article as a clear art-oI-
seech arker serves to contrast the aradigatic Iors. This is closely
related to the develoent oI conversion hich is one oI the ost
eculiar Ieatures oI English and resents a secial oint oI interest in its
structure. By conversion e ean a non-aIIi ord-aking device
here the aradig oI the ord and its syntactical Iunction signal the
leico-graatical nature oI the ord. The nely Iored ord diIIers
both leically and graatically Iro the source ord and the latter
becoes its hoony
2
.
1
See= Ch. r i e s . The Structure oI English. An Introduction to the
Construction oI English Sentences. London, 1963, . 62-63.
3
See: . H. C m n p n n n x n . Hexcnxonornx anrnncxoro xstxa. ., 1956
. . p n e n a . Hponema napanrmt n xstxe anannrnuecxoro crpox. c.: o-
68
It is to be noted that soe odern linguists have abandoned any oI
the coonly held vies oI graar. ith regard to the ethodology
eloyed their linguistic aroach diIIers Iro Iorer treatents in
language learning. Structural graatical studies deal riarily ith the
graar oI structure, and oIIer an aroach to the robles oI
sentence analysis that diIIers in oint oI vie and in ehasis Iro the
usual treatent oI synta
l
?
Soe linguists reIer to avoid the traditional terinology and establish
a classiIication oI ords based only on the distributive analysis, i. e., their
ability to cobine ith other ords oI diIIerent tyes. Thus, Ior instance,
the ords and and _ut ill Iall under one grou, hile _ecause and
ahether are reIerred to as belonging to another grou.
The Iour aor arts oI seech enounA ver_A adgectiveA adver_f set u
by the rocess oI substitution in C h. ries' recorded aterial are given no
naes ecet nubers: class UA class tA class A class ? Assutions have
been ade by Ch. ries that all ords hich can occuy the sae set oI
ositions in the atterns oI English single Iree utterances ust belong to
the sae art oI seech
2
. These Iour classes ake u the bulkoI
Iunctioning units in structural atterns oI English. Then coe IiIteen
grous oI so-called Iunction ords, hich have certain characteristic in
coon. In the ere atter oI nuber oI ites the IiIteen grous diIIer
sharly Iro the Iour classes. In the Iour large classes, Ch. ries oints
out, the leical eanings oI the ords deend on the arrangeent in
hich these ords aear. In Iunction-ords it is usually diIIicult iI not
iossible to indicate a leical eaning aart Iro the structural eaning
hich these ords signal.
Ch. ries ade an attet to establish the Ior-classes oI English
urely syntactically. His ork resents a ethodical analysis oI a corus
oI recorded IiIty hours oI diverse conversation by soe three hundred
diIIerent seakers. This aterial, in his ords, covers the basic atters oI
English structure. The book resents a aor linguistic interest as an
eerient rather than Ior its achieveents.
The ne aroach the alication oI to oI the ethods oI
structural linguistics, distributional analysis and substitution akes it
ossible Ior Ch. ries to disense ith the usual eight arts oI seech. He
classiIies ords, as ay be seen Iro the etracts into Iour Ior-classes,
designated by nubers, and IiIteen grous oI Iunction ords, designated
by letters. The Ior-classes corresond roughly to hat ost graarians
call nouns and ronouns, verbs, adective and adverbs, though Ch. ries
esecially arns the reader against the attet to translate the stateents
hich the latter Iinds in the book into the old graatical ters. The
grou oI Iunction ords contains not only reositions and conunctions,
but also certain seciIic ords that ost
npoct repmancxoro xstxosnannx. M. H., 1961, . 229 . . n y x r e n x o .
Konnepcnx n conpemennom anrnncxom xstxe xax mop]onoro-cnnraxcnuecxn cnoco
cnonoopasonannx. onpoct xstxosnannx, 1958, N 5.
1
See: Ch. ries. The Structure oI English. London, 1963.
- Ibid., . 94100, grou E and .
69
traditional graarians ould class as a articular kind oI ronouns,
adverbs and verbs.
Other odern graarians retain the traditional naes oI arts oI
seech, though the ethods they use to identiIy the various arts oI
seech, the nuber oI the and the distribution oI ords aong the are
all diIIerent Iro hat is Iound in traditional graar. They also eclude
Iunction ords Iro the classiIication oI arts oI seech and give the
entirely searate treatent
1
.
Setting aside Iunction ords and observing the reaining ords as
they are cobined into utterances ith clear and unabiguous structural
eaning, . rancis Iinds it necessary to identiIy Iour diIIerent arts oI
seech: nounA ver_A adgective and adver_? In his analysis nouns are
identiIied, Ior instance, by Iive Ioral criteria, soe ore iortant than
others. The ost coon noun-arking signal is a grou oI Iunction
ords called noun5deterZiners? These recede the nouns they ark, either
iediately or ith certain tyes oI ords beteen nouns have
inIlections any nouns ay be identiIied as such by various noun-
arking derivational suIIies nouns Iill certain characteristic ositions in
relation to other identiIied arts oI seech in hrases and utterances, etc.
Verb-arking criteria as given by .rancis are the Iolloing: inIlections,
Iunction ords, derivational aIIies, ositions and suerIies, i. e.
orhological stress in cases like iZTort to iZTorth contract to
contracth Terfect to TerfectA etc.
It ust be recognised that recent studies and ractical suggestions
ade by structural linguists in this Iield, though not yet uite successIul at
all oints, still ne and eeriental, are becoing increasingly
interesting and iortant Ior language learning and ractical training in
linguistic skills. The subect atter oI structural graar has already
sulied uch aterial in the Iield oI descritive techniues. Soe ne
ethods oI linguistic analysis roise to be rather eIIicient and are no
being tried out.
English school graars deal etensively ith the arts oI seech,
usually given as eight in nuber and elained in deIinitions that have
becoe traditional. It had long been considered that these eight arts oI
seech nounA TronounA adgectiveA ver_A adver_A TreTositionA
congunctionA intergection are basic classiIications that can be alied to
the ords oI any language and that the traditional deIinition Iurnishes an
adeuate set oI criteria by hich the classiIication can be ade.
e cannot hoever adit ithout uestion that the eight arts oI
seech inherited Iro the ast ill be the ost satisIactory Ior resent-day
English.
The linguistic evidence dran Iro our graatical study gives every
reason to subdivide the hole oI the English vocabulary into eleven arts oI
seech in oint oI Iact, eight oI the are notional ords hich ake u
the largest art oI the vocabulary and Iive are Iunction ords,
coaratively Ie in actual nuber oI ites, but used very Ireuently.
1
See= . N. rancis. The Structure oI Aerican English. Ne York, 1958, . 234 see
also= R. uirk. The Use oI English. London, 1964, . 74.
70
Notional or Iully-leical arts oI seech are: nounsA adgectivesA ver_s?A
adver_sA TronounsA nuZeralsA Zodal aords and intergections?
Preositions, conunctions and articles are arts oI seech largely devoid
oI leical eaning and used to indicate various Iunctional relationshi
aong the notional ords oI an utterance.
enerally seaking e can say that all nouns, adectives, verbs and
adverbs are caable oI aking direct reIerence and are the ain units
hich carry the burden oI reIerential inIoration, and that all other ords
rovide Iunctional inIoration.
Oositional relations beteen diIIerent arts oI seech ay be thus
shon as Iollos:
Autosemantic Synsemantic
noun, verb, adective,
adverb, ronoun, nueral
reosition, conunction,
article, auiliary verb, coula
Fu n c t i o n Wo r d s
Syntactic Functions Morphological Functions
reosition,
conunction, article,
coula
article, auiliary verb
Chapter HI
THE NOUN
The leico-graatical eaning oI the noun is denoting substance
In Modern English the arked Ioral characteristics oI nouns are as
Iollos: nouns have inIlections Ior nuber and case, they ay be
associated ith the deIinite or indeIinite article.
There is no graatical gender in Modern English
1
. The noun does
not ossess any secial gender Iors, neither does the accoanying
adective, ronoun or article indicate any gender agreeent ith the head
noun. Unlike any languages that have gender, English has very Ie clear
Ioral arkers that indicate the gender oI nouns the situation in English
is uch less rigid and clear-cut since any ords edogA Ior instance) ay
have heA she or it as substitutes. It thus sees ustiIied to restrict the ter
gender to those languages that have recise and utually eclusive
noun-classes arked by clear Ioral arkers.
Not every noun ossesses such graatical categories as nuber and
case.
NUMBER
Modern English like ost other languages distinguishes to nubers:
singular and Tlural? The eaning oI singular and lural sees to be selI-
elanatory, that is the oosition: one ore than one. ith all this,
eression oI nuber in diIIerent classes oI English nouns resents certain
diIIiculties Ior a Ioreigner to aster.
As already entioned, lural and singular nouns stand in contrast as
diaetrically oosite. Instances are not Ie, hoever, hen their
oosition coes to be neutralised. And this is to say that there are cases
hen the nueric diIIerentiation aears to be oI no iortance at all. Here
belong any collective abstract and aterial nouns. II, Ior instance, e
look at the eaning oI collective nouns, e cannot Iail to see that they
denote at the sae tie a lurality and a unit. They ay be said to be
doubly countables and thus Iro a logical oint oI vie Ior the eact
contrast to ass nouns: they are, in Iact, at the sae tie singular and
lural, hile ass ords are logically neither. The double-sidedness oI
collective nouns eakens the oosition and leads to the develoent oI
either Pluralia tantu, as in: aeeds (in a garden), ashesA eZ_ersA etc., or
Singularia tantu, as in: aildfoalA clerg]A foliageA etc.
1
In such airs as actor actressA lion lionessA tiger tigressA etc. the diIIerence
beteen the nouns is urely leical.
72
Coare the Ukrainian: xyuepi, rpomi, pixxi, cxon, senent,
nncrx, nunna. Siilarly in Russian: poxxn, entrn, xypn, ncxot,
nncrna, nut, senent. eran: Eltern, eschister, illinge Pluralia
tantu das eIlgel, das ild, das Obst Singularia tantu. Siilar
develoents ay be traced in rench: les ois, les inards, les aserges.
In soe cases usage Iluctuates, and the to Iors are interchangeable,
e. g. _rain or _rains= he has no _rains or little _rainsh victuals is ore
coon than victualh oats than oath siilarly: bis aages aere high? boa
Zuch aages does he gets That is a fair aage? The] could not taê too
Zuch Tains?
The dual nature oI collective nouns is shon linguistically in various
ays: by the nuber oI the verb or by the ronoun reIerring to it, as Ior
instance, I] faZil] are earl] risersA the] are alread] here? Cf? I] faZil]
is not large?
It is iortant to observe that the choice beteen singular and lural
deends on the eaning attached to the noun. Coare also: ie have
Zuch fruit this ]ear and The rich fruits of the heroic la_our of Soviet
TeoTle are visi_le froZ all the corners of the earth?
Siilarly: The foot_all teaZ is Tla]ing ver] aell? Cf? The foot_all teaZ
are having _ath and are coZing _ac^ here for tea?
A ord should be said about stylistic transositions oI singular nouns
in cases like the Iolloing: trees in leafA to have a êen e]eA _lue of e]eA
strong of Zuscle? Patterns oI this kind ill eeliIy synecdoche the
silest case oI etonyy in graar (ars ro toto).
The YerZans aon the victories? w] Yod the] aere soldiers? T!e +ld
Hun was a soldier. wut the] aere cooêd too? The] aere all cooêd??? T!e
Hun would come down through the TrentinoA and cut the railaa] at the
Vicenqa and then ahere aould the >talians _es (Heingay)
The chaT aas so _ig noa that he aas there nearl] all his tiZeA liê
soZe immoable, sardonic, !umorous eye nothing to decline of Zen and
things? (alsorthy)
Cf? epxn nyxo nocrpo. epxn yxo ocrpo. V nero namerannt rnas.
H cntmno tno o paccnera, xax nnxonan 4$,+8? (Hepmonron)
Other universals in eressing lurality ill be Iound in hat ay be
called augentative lurals, i. e. hen the lural Iors oI aterial nouns
are used to denote large aounts oI substance, or a high degree oI
soething. This is oIten the case hen e see the atter as it eists in
nature. Such lural Iors are oIten used Ior stylistic uroses in literary
rose and oetry, e. g.: the _lue aaters of the IediterraneanA the sands of
the Sahara \esertA the snoas of |iliZangaro?
Siilarly in Russian: cnnne not Cpensemnoro mopx, necxn
Caxapt, cnera pxrnxn.
Eme n nonxx eneer cner,
not yx necno mymxr. (Tmruen)
Hmnm ee crene anmasnte cnera. (uer)
Ukrainian: Cnni non Cepesemnoro mopx, nicxn Caxapn, cnirn
pxrnxn.
Cf? rench: les eaudA les sa_lesh
eran: die SndeA die isser?
73
Attention ust also be dran to the eotive use oI lural Iors oI
abstract verbal nouns in ictorial language:
???it aas a t!ousand pities he had run off aith that foreign girl a
governess took (alsorthy)
The loo^ on her faceA such as he had never seen there _eforeA such as
she had alaa]s hidden froZ hiZ aas full of secret resentments, and
longings, and fears? (Mitchell)
The Teculiar loo^ caZe into wosinne]'s face ahich Zarêd all his
ent!usiasms. (alsorthy)
ber face aas ahite and strained _ut her e]es aere stead] and saeet
and full of Tit] and un_elief? There aas a luZinous serenit] in theZ and
the innocence in the soft _roan dept!s struc^ hiZ liê a _loa in the faceA
clearing soZe of the alcohol out of his _rainA halting his ZadA careering
aords in Zod5flight? (Mitchell)
be stood for a ZoZent looîng doan at the TlainA heart5shaTed face
aith its long aindoa's Tea^ and serious dar^ e]es? Such an unaordl] faceA
a face aith no defenses against life? (Mitchell)
nhk iilfrid has emotions, !ates, pities, wants, at leastA soZetiZesh
ahen he doesA his stuff is goll] good? ntheraiseA he gust Zaês a song
a_out nothing liê the rest? (alsorthy)
Plural Iors oI abstract nouns used Ior stylistic uroses ay be traced
in language aIter language:
Ukrainian: Iy x rnxom xoom,
nnnmct ax on nepeo mnom,
enaue nna nnpnnamrt,
Is xmapn rnxo nncrynamrt
Opnn nncoxn, ra, apax. (Benuenxo)
Russian: Honcmy crpacrn poxonte
H or cye samnrt ner. (Hymxnn)
Orpat. 3nam x cnaxnx uertpe orpat. (Fpmcon)
rench: m'avais rencontre Tlusieurs fois l'aZ_assadeurA dont la figure
fine Torte l'eZTreinte de fatigues -ui ne sont Toint toutes dues aud travaud
de la diTloZatie? (rance)
It should be noted, in assing, that the lural Ior is soeties used
not only Ior ehasis in ictorial language but to intensiIy the asective
eaning oI the verb, the iterative character oI the action, in articular, e.
g.:
nhA this aas gust the înd of trou_le she had feared aould coZe uTon
theZ? [ll the aor^ of this last ]ear aould go for nothing? [ll her struggles
and fears and labours in rain and cold had _een aasted? (Mitchell)
Helentless and stealth]A the _utler Tursued his labours taîng things
froZ the various coZTartZents of the side_oard? (alsorthy)
The sZall Zoon had soon droTTed doanA and May night had Iailed
soIt and ar, enraing ith its grae-bloo colour and its scents the
billion carices, intrigues, assions, longings, and regrets oI en and
oen. (alsorthy)
The eotive use oI roer nouns in lural is also an eIIective eans oI
eressive connotation, e. g.:
74
FleurA leaning out of her aindoaA heard the hall cloc^'s Zuffled
chiZe of taelveA the tin] sTlash of a fishA the sudden shaîng of an
asTen's leaves in the Tuffs of _reeqe that rose along the riverA the distant
ruZ_le of a night trainA and tiZe and again the sounds ahich none can
Tut a naZe to in the dar^nessA soft o_scure edTressions of uncatalogued
eZotions froZ Zan and _eastA _ird and ZachineA orA Za] _eA froZ
departed .orsytes, /arties, 0ardigans, taîng night strolls _ac^ into a
aorld ahich had once suited their eZ_odied sTirits? (alsorthy)
i Eressive connotation is articularly strong in the etahoric use oI
the lural oI nouns denoting things to be considered uniue, e. g.: [head of
theZ aas a tunnel of fire ahere _uildings aere _laqing on either side of the
shortA narroa street that led doan to the railroad trac^s? The] Tlunged into
it? [ glare _righter than a do1en suns daqqled their e]esA scroching heat
seared their sîns and the roaringA crac^ling and crashing _eat uTon ears
in Tainful aaves? (Mitchell)
Coare the Iolloing eale in rench:
Leon= ??? uelouefois??? g'] reste??? a regarder le soleil couchant?
XZZa= me ne trouve rien d'adZira_le coZZeles soleils
couc!ants... Zais ,' _ord de la ZerA surtout?
U
Very oIten the lural Ior, besides its seciIic eaning ay also
retain the eact eaning oI the singular, hich results in hoonyy.
1) custoZ ha_itA custoZs 1) lural oI ha_it
2) duties
2) colour x tintA colours 1) lural oI tint
2) Ilag
3) effect resultA effects 1) results
2) goods and chattels
4) Zanner ode or ay, Zanners 1) odes, ays
2) behaviour
5) nuZ_er x a total aount oI units, nuZ_ers 1) in counting
2) oetry
6) Tain x suIIering, Tains 1) lural oI suIIering
2) eIIort
7) TreZise a stateent or roosition, TreZises x
1) roositions
2) surrounding to a house
8) ouarter a Iourth art, ouarters 1) Iourth arts
2) lodgings There are also
double lurals used ith soe diIIerence oI eanings:
1) _rother 1) _rothers (sons oI one other)
2) _rethren (ebers oI one counity)
2) genius 1) geniuses (en oI genius)
2) genii (sirits)
3) cloth 1) cloths (kinds oI cloth)
2) clothes (articles oI dress)
4) inded 1) indedes (tables oI contents)
2) indices (in atheatics)
1
See= P. I. H n o r p o n c x n . Ouepxn no rpammarnuecxo crnnncrnxe
]pannyscxoro xstxa. ., 1956, p. 52.
ouble lurals ith the diIIerentiation oI eaning
ill be Iound in other languages.
Cf? Russian:
sy
1) syt
e% $#f
2) sytx
e'-;f
nncr
1)
nncrtx
e)$%,f
2) nncrt
e9&,6'A G-8,f
myx 1) myxtx
2) myxn
e3; &G'f
ron 1) rona
e##2'f
2) ront e8%2'f There are soe lurals
hich have been borroed Iro Ioreign nouns:
Singular Plural
Latin
agenduZ agenda
datuZ data
dictuZ dicta
erratuZ errata
ZeZoranduZ ZeZoranda
ZediuZ Zedia
stratuZ strata
focus foci
forZula forZulae
fungus fungi
genus genera
adis ades
aTTendid aTTendices
series series
sTecies sTecies
Singular Plural
Yree^
anal]sis anal]ses
_asis _ases
crisis crises
h]Tothesis h]Totheses
Tarenthesis Tarentheses
thesis theses
ThenoZenon ThenoZena
criterion criteria
Singular Plural
French
Ukrainian:
sy
1) syn
2) sy'x
nncr
1) nncrx
2) nncrn
_eau _eaud (or _eausf
_ureau _ureaud
Zonsieur Zessieurs
ZadaZe ZesdaZes
76
Mention should be ade in this connection oI nouns hich have to
arallel variants in the lural eactly alike in Iunction but diIIerent in their
stylistic shere oI alication, e. g.:
coa coas and îne earch?A no chieIly oetic)
foe foes and fone earch?f
shoe shoes and shoen earch?f
Unroductive archaic eleents are soeties used to create the
atoshere oI elevated seech. This ay also be traced in other
languages. Coare the Russian:
ctn 1) ctnontx, ctnone
2) ctnt, ctnon (e. g.: ";; #3"#%,f?
Morhological variation ill be Iound in nouns Ioreign in origin.
Through the natural rocess oI assiilation soe borroed nouns have
develoed arallel native Iors, as in:
forZula forZulaeA forZulas
terZinus terZiniA terZinuses
focus fociA focuses stratuZ
strataA stratuZs
oreign lurals are decidedly ore bookish than the native ones.
or all the details concerning the graatical organisation oI nouns
and their atterning in diIIerent kind oI structures students are reIerred to
the tet-books on English graar. To things should be noted here.
It is iortant to observe that in certain contets nouns can eaken
their eaning oI substance and aroach adectives thus aking the idea
oI ualities oI the given substance redoinant in the seaker's ind.
Nouns Iunctioning in this osition are generally odiIied by adverbials oI
degree, e. g.:
p}ou aere alaa]s more of a realist than monh and never so innocentp?
(alsorthy)
pie're all fond of ]oupA he saidA p>f ]ou'd onl]p he aas going to sa]A
p_ehave ]ourselfpA _ut changed it to if ]ou'd onl] _e more of a wife to
hiZp? (alsorthy)
pih] had he ever _een fool enoug! to see her againp? (alsorthy)
"2ot muc! of an animal, is itsp groaned Hhett? pLoo^s liê he'll die?
wut he is the _est > could find in the shaftsp? (Mitchell)
The use oI a noun rather than an adective is very oIten reIerred as a
ore Iorcible eressive eans to intensiIy the given uality. Coare
the Iolloing synonyic Iors oI eression:
be aas ouite a success? be aas ouite successful?
>t aas good fun? >t aas funn]?
And here are illustrative eales oI nouns eakening their eaning
oI substance and aroaching adverbs.
Such adverbial use shos great diversity. ee-rooted in English
graar, this use is ost idiosyncratic in its nature. e Iind here atterns
oI diIIerent structural eaning:
a) adverbial relations oI tie, as in: life longA aee^ longA age longA etc.
77
b) adverbial relations oI coarison: straa ]elloaA silver gre]A ash
_londA ice coldA snoa ahiteA iron hardA s^] _lueA dog tiredA TaTer ahiteA
Tencil thinA ruler straightA TriZrose ]elloaA _ric^ redA _lade sharTh
c) diIIerent degree oI uality: Zountains highA a _it longerA a trifle
easierA a shade darêrA an^le deeT?
Patterns oI this kind are generally used etahorically and Iunction as
eedients to eress intensity and ehasis, e. g.: p>'ll send cor^ to
Iacon to5Zorroa to _u] Zore seed? òa the }anîes aon't _urn it and
our trooTs aon't need it? Yood LordA cotton ought to go s#y !ig! this fallp?
(Mitchell)
urther eales are:
be is aorld too Zodest? That aas lots better? This aas !eaps better. be
aas stone deaf to our reouest? iaves aent Zountains high? The Zud aas
an^le deeT?
Adverbial use oI nouns ill also be Iound in such reodiIication
structures as: _one tiredA dog tiredA Zustard colouredA horror strucÂ etc.
In the graar oI nouns there have also develoed interectional uses
hich see to convert nouns into secial kind oI intensiIiers, e. g.:
ihat the dicêns do ]ou aants ihat the Zischief do ]ou aants
urther eales are:
The !ell ]ou sa] ]ou don't sa] so?
Liê !ell > aish y
> aill liê !ell l > aill not
ihere in the hell ]ou are goings
boa the devil should > ^noas
Adverbs oI aIIiration and negation ]es and no are intensiIied in
ehasis by the roiity oI a bald baling hellA e. g.: bellA ]esk bellA
nok
CASE
raarians see to be divided in their oinion as to the case-syste
oI English nouns. Oen to thought and uestioning, this roble has
alays been uch debated. The ost coon vie on the subect is that
nouns have only to cases: a coon case and a genitive or ossessive
case
U
? The coon case is characterised by a ero suIIi echildA _o]A girlA
studentfA the ossessive case by the inIlection - and its honetic variants
-s, -i, in selling 5's? The uses oI the genitive are knon to be seciIic,
those oI the coon case general. In ters oI odern linguistics, e can
thereIore say that both Iorally and Iunctionally, (he coon case is
unarked and the genitive arked.
1
See= B. H. p n e n a . Hcropnuecxax mop]onornx anrnncxoro xstxa. M. H.,
1960 . H. p n e n a . Hcropnuecxn cnnraxcnc anrnncxoro xstxa. . H., 1961
. Ilyish. The Structure oI Modern English. M.-L., 1965 . . n r a n o , H. H.
H n a n o n a, H. H. Ho]nx. Conpemennt anrnncxn xstx. . H., 1956 O.
esersen. A Modern English raar on Historical Princiles. London-Coenhagen,
1965 O. esersen. Essentials oI English raar. London, 1933. nther advanced _oo^s
and detailed studies on this sTecialised toTic are= . . n p m y n c x n . O
anannrnuecxnx xoncrpyxnnxx. c.: nannrnuecxne xoncrpyxnnn n xstxax
pasnnuntx rnnon. . H.. 1965 . . Iyxman. Inarontnte anannrnuecxne
xoncrpyxnnn xax ocot nn couerann uacrnunoro n non-
78
There are graarians, O. C u r e and M.
e u t s c h b e i n
1
, Ior instance, ho recognise I o u r cases
aking reIerence to noinative, genitive, dative and accusative: the
genitive can be eressed by the -' s-inIlection and by the oI-
hrase, the dative by the reosition to and by ord-order, and
the accusative by ord order alone. E. S o n n e n s c h e i n
insists that English has a vocative case since e ay reose an
interection oh beIore a nae.
It is to be noted that the choice beteen the to oosite
vieoints as to the category oI case in English reains a atter
oI linguistic aroach. ro the vieoint oI inIlectional
orhology the inadeuacy oI reositional declension is
obvious. Using Latin categories hich have no relevance Ior
English involves inventing distinctions Ior English and ignoring the
distinctions that English akes.
The eaning oI accusative in a to-ter syste noZinative
accusativeA Ior instance, is diIIerent Iro the eaning oI
accusative in a Iour- or Iive-ter syste. The ter coon case
sees thereIore ore ustiIied than the accusative. II e call hiZ
an accusative in eressions like > o_e] hiZA > aZ liê hiZA >t aas on
hiZA the ter accusative ay actually hinder hen e translate into
another language hich has an accusative along ith several other
cases and in hich the ord Ior o_e] takes the dative, the ord Ior liê
the genitive and the ord on ablative, as they do in Latin.
OI course, the orhological oosition noinative accusative
ust be eressed by soething in English. But this soething is not
a orhological oosition, Ior there is no orhological diIIerentiation
beteen the noinative and the accusative oI nouns.
2
e ust not, oI course, look at English through the lattice oI
categories set u in Latin graar. The etent to hich one can reain
unconvinced that English has a graar like Latin is robably the
basis oI the Iaulty vieoint that English has no graar at all .
Latin distinguishes subect, direct obect, indirect obect by case-
diIIerences (diIIerences in the inIleion oI the ord) and arrangeent
is not very iortant. English also distinguishes subect, direct obect,
and indirect obect, but it does so largely by arrangeent, e. g.:
The TuTil handed the teacher his edercise?
be _ought his little girl Zan] nice to]s?
ith all this, it can hardly be denied that there eist in Modern English
reositional structures denoting eactly the sae graatical relation
as, say, the ossessive case inIlection or ord order distinguishing the
accusative Iro the dative. These are the so-called pof5Thrasep and pto5
ThrasepA in hich the reositions of and to Iunction as graatical
indicators oI urely abstract syntactic relations identical ith those
noro cnona. c.: onpoct rpammarnuecxoro crpox. ., 1955 . . pnena.
Hponema napanrmt n xstxe anannrnuecxoro crpox. c.: onpoct repmancxoro
xstxosnannx. . H., 1961.
1
See= M. eutschbein. Syste der neuenglischen Synta, 1928 . Cure. A
raar oI the English Language. London-Ne York, 1931.
2
See= Trnka B. On the Synta oI the English Verb Iro Coton to ryden Prague,
1930
79
eressed by cases. The graatical analysis oI such hrases Ior their
Ireuency, variety and adatation ust, surely, go arallel ith the study
oI the orhological category oI case hich in resent-day English is
knon to have develoed uite a seciIic character.
The analytical character oI soe reositional hrases in Russian is
described by V. V. Vinogradov:
pyccxom nnreparypnom xstxe c VIIVIII nn. nporexaer
menennt, no rnyoxn nponecc cnnraxcnuecxnx nsmenenn n cncreme
naexntx ornomenn. uynxnnn mnornx naexe ocnoxnxmrcx n
n]]epennnpymrcx couerannxmn c npenoramn. ce xpue
onapyxnnaercx nnyrpennee paccnoenne n cemanrnuecxo cncreme
npenoron. ro npemx xax onn npocrte npenorn: )-1A )A $)A $'A
)A 2$&A "2%8*A 3$8A &G)A a rem onee npenorn napeunoro rnna:
9-'8A "$)'A &'& n r. n. nourn nennxom coxpanxmr cnon peantnte
nexcnuecxne snauennx, pyrne npenorn: ,A 8,A '8A %A ,A #3,"#'A ,)A
#A A $A "A n orentntx c]epax cnoero ynorpenennx, nnte n
mentme crenenn, nnte nnnort o nonnoro npenpamennx n naexnte
npe]nxct, ocnanxmr cnon nexcnuecxne snauennx, a nnora nourn
concem repxmr nx
U
?
It is iortant to reeber that the graatical content oI the
ossessive case is rather cole. Besides ilying ossession in the
strict sense oI the ter, it is idely current in other Iunctions. Coare
such atterns, as:
a) Z] sister's rooZ (genitive oI the rooZ of Z] sister
ossession)
b) Z] sister's arrival (subective the arrival of Z] sister
genitive)
c) the criZinal's arrest (obective the arrest of the criZinal
genitive)
d) a child's language (ualitative the childish language a
aoZan's college genitive) a college for aoZen
e) a Zonth's rent y (genitive oI a Zonthl] rent
I) three hours' dela] l easure) a dela] for three hours
There is no Ioral diIIerence beteen subective and obective
genitiveA beteen genitives denoting ossession and ualitative genitivesA
but this kind oI abiguity is usually ell clariIied by linguistic or
situational contet. Thus, Zother's care ay ean nmon marepi
ith reIerence to soe individual, and marepnnctxa nmon in its
general ualitative sense. The eaning oI the hrase ay vary ith the
contet.
The sae is true oI such uses as aife's dut]A child's Ts]cholog]A
laa]er's lifeA Zan's dut]A etc.
The genitive oI easure or etent is easily recognised as Iairly
coon in eressions oI a certain attern, e. g.: a ZoZent's silenceA a
da]'s aorÂ a Zinute's reflectionA to a hair's _readthA etc.
1
. . n n o r p a o n . yccxn xstx. ., 1947, . 695700. 80
The genitive inIlection is also used ith certain ords hich otherise
do not conIor to noun atterning, as in ]esterda]'s rainA to5da]'s ZatchA
to5Zorroa's engageZent? These are not idios, ith their total leical
eaning Iied, but only Iied atterns or usage.
Liits oI sace do not erit to take notice oI all idioatic atterns
established in this art oI English graar. A Ie Iurther eales ill
suIIice Ior illustration. These are, Ior instance: >'Z friends aith ]ouA here
friends is robably art oI the indivisible idio p_e friends aithp u
nounlTronounA used redicatively.
Patterns ith pof u genitivep usually have a artitive sense denoting
pone ofpA e. g?= >t is a novel of m? London'sexone of his novelsf? Cf? >t is a
novel _] m? London? exa novel aritten _] m? Londonf?
Siilarly: Fleur's a cousin of oursA mon? (alsorthy)
In eressive language this Ior ay becoe urely descritive.
Endoed ith eotive Iunctions in secial linguistic or situational
contet it ay eaken its graatical eaning and acuire subective
odal Iorce denoting adiration, anger, raise, disleasure, etc., e. g.:
Iargaret ??? aas taên _] surTrise _] certain Zoods of !er hus_and's?
(askell)
The -'s inIlection oIIers soe eculiar diIIiculties oI graatical
analysis in idioatic atterns ith the so-called grou-genitives, e. g.: Ir?
ahat's5his5naZe's reZarÂ or be said it in Tlent] of TeoTle's hearing?
There are also atterns like pthe Zan > saa ]esterda]'s sonp uoted by
H. Seet
1
. One ore eale.
The _londe > had _een dancing aith's naZe aas wernice soZething
Cra_s or |re_s? (Salinger)
e cannot Iail to see that the 's belongs here to the hole structure
noun u attri_utive clause?
iIIerent kind oI such grou-genitives are not inIreuent and see to
be on the increase in resent-day collouial English.
Mention should also be ade oI the arallel use oI the 's Ior and the
reosition of Iound in atterns like the Iolloing:
>n the light of this it aas 3yman's _elief and it is Zine that it is a
man's dut] and the dut] of his friend to see to it that his edit froZ this
aorldA at leastA shall _e Zade aith all Tossi_le dignit]? (Taylor)
2
And here are a Ie eales oI secial use oI the ossessive case in
Iossilised eressions oI the Iorula character, such as: to one's heart's
contentA for Tit]'s saêA out of harZ's aa]A at one's fingers' endsA for old
acouaintance's saêA for aTTearance's saê? These eressions ere
graatically regular and elicable in their day, but they Iollo
graatical or seantic rinciles hich have no Iallen into disuse.
There are also leonastic atterns ith the ost-ositional genitive
intensiIier oan used ith the 's-Ior, e. g.: Iar]'s oan dressing5ta_le?
A ord should be said about the urely idioatic absolute use oI the
genitive case ith locative Iorce in atterns like the Iolloing:
> _ought this at the grocer's?
1
See: H. Seet. A Ne English raar. OIord, 1955.
2
uoted _] B. Ilyish. The Structure oI Modern English. M., 1965, . 49.
81
The _aêr's is round the corner?
The faZous St? caul's is one of the TrinciTal sights of London?
orations oI this kind are on the borderline beteen graar and vocabulary the
-'s-inIlection sees to have develoed into a derivative suIIi used to Ior a noun Iro
another noun.
The relative distribution oI the of-hrase and the 's-inIlection, as a recurrent Ieature oI
the language, ust be given due attention in learning style and usage in English.
It is interesting to note, in conclusion, that there is a change going on in resent-day
English hich runs counter to the general trend toards loss oI inIlections, that is the
sreading oI 's-genitive at the eense oI the of-genitive. Until a Ie years ago, the
genitive ith 's as used in odern ties ainly ith nouns hich could be relaced (in
the singular) by the ronouns he and sheA but not ith nouns hich could be relaced by
the ronoun it= so that eole norally said the Zan's face and the aoZan's faceA but the
face of the cloc^ and the surface of the aater? The 's-genitive as used in certain
eressions oI tie and distance ean hour's tiZefA and could be used ith any nouns
relaceable in the singular by it or the] ethe YovernZent's decisionfh as is ell knon,
there as also a nuber oI coonly used hrases here the 's-genitive as used even
though the noun as one hich could be relaced in the singular only by it eèa }ear's
\a]A the aater's edgef? In recent years, hoever, the 's-genitive has coe into coon
use ith nouns hich are relaceable in the singular only by it? Here are a Ie eales
taken Iro reutable sources: resorts' aeather the aeather of seaside toansh huZan
nature's diversit] the diversit] of huZan natureh the gaZe's laas v the laas of the
gaZe? Many ore eales ill be Iound in books and in nesaers. e cannot Iail to
see that this tendency Ior 's to relace of is a develoent Iro the analytic to the
synthetic: the of-hrase is relaced by the 's-inIlection.
The relative distribution oI the of-hrase and the 's-genitive as a recurrent Ieature oI
the language, ust be given due attention as relevant to synonyy in graar.
It ill be iortant to reeber that the distinction beteen living and liIeless things is
not closely observed, and the 's-genitive is oIten used in designations oI things to iart
descritive Iorce and at the sae tie stress the governing noun.
A Ie tyical eales given by . Cure are:
ihen > thin^ of all the sorroa and the _arrenness that has _een arought in Z] life _]
aant of a fea Zore Tounds Ter annuZA > stand aghast at money's significance?
???for the saê of the mind's TeaceA one ought not to inouire into such things too
closel]?
[ boo#'s chances deTend Zore on its selling oualities than its aorth
U
?
Here is a very good eale Iro alsorthy to illustrate the stateent:
1
See= . Cure. A raar oI the English Language. London-Ne York, 1931.
82
be had chosen the furniture hiZselfA and so coZTletel] that no
su_seouent Turchase had ever _een a_le to change the rooZ's
atZosThere? (alsorthy)
Associations ith liIe are certainly strong in ersoniIication, e. g.: the
ocean's roar or Truth's greatest victoriesA etc. urther illustrations taken
Iro reutable sources are:
resorts' aeather the aeather of seaside toans
huZan nature's diversit] the diversit] of huZan nature
the gaZe's laas the laas of the gaZe
The sreading oI the 's-genitive in resent-day English at the eense
oI the of-hrase is, in Iact, a develoent Iro the analytic to the
synthetic hich sees to run counter to the general trends toards the loss
oI inIlections.
The synonyic encounter oI the 's-genitive and the of-hrase ay be
illustrated by eales ith genitive oI ossession, subective and
obective genitive, but the use oI the 's-genitive in Modern English is
coaratively restricted here and the of-hrase is very etensively used in
virtually the sae sense:
SoaZes' daughter - the daughter of SoaZes
his sister's arrival - the arrival of his sister
dut]'s call the call of the dut]
the children's education the education of the children
It is to be noted that in any cases the secial eaning oI the genitive
deends on the intrinsic eaning oI each oI the to ords connected, and
is thereIore in each case readily understood by the hearer. The of-hrase
denoting ossession is generally reIerred hen the noun is odiIied by a
lengthy attributive adunct attached to it.
The 's-Ior is rarely used as the obective genitive. The of-hrase in
this Iunction is Iairly coon, e. g.: the sense of _eaut]A the sense of
sZellA love of lifeA the reading of _oo^sA the feeling of safet]A a lover of
Toetr]A etc.
The, of-hrase in Modern English is idely current in various tyes oI
structures, denoting:
a) the idea oI uantity or art (artitive genitive), e. g.: a Tiece of
_readA a luZT of sugarA a caê of soaTA etc.
b) aterial oI hich a thing is done, e. g.: a dress of sil^h
c) osition in sace or direction, e. g.: south of IoscoaA aithin U
Ziles of Londonh
d) relations oI tie, e. g.: of an eveningA of lateA all of a suddenh
e) attributive relations, e. g.: the language of a child xa child's
languageA the voice of a aoZan xa aoZan's voiceA etc.
I) coosition or easure, e. g.: a grouT of childrenA a herd of cattleA
a floc^ of _irdsA a saarZ of _eesA etc.
There are also atterns ith the oI-hrase Iunctioning as the aositive
genitive, e. g.: the cit] of HoZeA the HeTu_lic of FranceA etc.
Alongside ith this aositive construction there is another. The
aositive ay be laced aIter the governing noun, e. g.: Laê IichiganA
the Hiver ThaZesA etc.
83
THE ARTICLE
raarians are not alays agreed as to the graatical status oI the
article in Modern English.
In structural graars the article is oIten disensed ith as a searate
art oI seech and absorbed into the adective class.
The nae deteriners is then given to closed syste ites, hich,
Iunctioning as aduncts, sho their head-ords to be nouns. The ost
central tye oI deteriner is that to hich e traditionally give the
nae article.
Soe graarians consider the article to be a kind oI orhee. The
absence oI the article is accordingly reIerred to as ero-orhee
alied in inIlected languages to certain Iors having no graatical
endings and thus diIIering Iro such Iors oI the sae ord as have their
on endings. This stateent is oen to uestion and not in every sense
valid. It sees ore in accordance ith the nature oI the language to
identiIy the English article as a tyical orhological category, a secial
Iunction-ord used as an overt arker oI the noun and contributing to its
eaning.
The ractice revalent in English graars is to describe the
ultiIarious use oI the article ith diIIerent classes oI nouns. ReIerence is
generally ade to its articularising, generalising, deIining, descritive
and other Iunctions as ell as traditional idioatic use. Iortant
treatents oI the subect, ith absence oI article also included as a ter in
the article syste, ill be Iound in the graar books and ork-aers
given in our reIerence list. Students oI English ill alays Iind it helIul
to consult such sources Ior the study oI the articles in English as ndford
Xnglish \ictionar] and Christohersen's onograh The [rticles= a Stud]
of Their Theor] and Use?
The deIinite and the indeIinite article as utually eclusive stand in
obvious contrast. Their use is built around contrasting definiteness and
indefinitenessA generalisation and concretisation?
ith absence oI article Iunctioning as a ter in the article syste
(soeties reIerred to as the ero-Ior) distinction ust also be ade
beteen such contrastive uses based on the category oI nuber as:
Singular (the indeIinite article) :: clural (absence oI article) Counta_le
(the indeIinite article) :: Uncounta_le (absence oI article)
ith regard to the criteria eloyed in our analysis e have certain
observations hich are ertinent to a suary stateent. In the Iirst
lace, it is iortant to be clear about the graatical eaning oI each
article, Iinding out hether it has one or several eanings, each oI the
signalled by the contet. e cannot describe, Ior instance, the eanings oI
one article only in ters oI ho it contrasts ith the other, but ust take
account oI contetual indications e have to look at contrasting atterns
rather than contrasting Iors. And here the uestion naturally arises about
the invariable eaning oI the article, by hich e ean, taking the vie
ut Iorard by A. Isachenko
1
, a stable eleent in its
1
See= . . H c a u e n x o . O rpammarnuecxom snauennn. onpoct
xstxosnannx, 1964.
84
graatical eaning that is alays reserved irresective oI the contet
in hich it occurs.
It sees erIectly reasonable to say, Ior instance, that the invariable
graatical eaning oI the indeIinite article is that oI generalisation. As
a atter oI Iact, this eleent oI eaning, i. e. reIerring an obect to a
hole class oI siilar ones ithout its individual eculiarities, is
reserved in all the variety oI its uses. Eales are:
a) [ stitch in tiZe saves nine? b) [ little _ird Terched on the tree? c) [
_ird Za] _e ^noan _] its song? d) wirds of a feather floc^ together? e)
The] aere talîng to a _o] > ^noa aell? I) > consider this Ticture a
ZasterTiece of art?
As can be seen Iro the above eales, the invariable eleent oI
indeIiniteness is reserved in all the atterns. The diIIerence in eaning
ill be sought in the articular tye oI redication in hich the article
aears.
(Observe the diIIerence in eaning iI e relace a by the in the above
sentences consider that it is not alays the sae diIIerence).
The indeIinite article in its Iull range stands in contrast to the deIinite
article. The invariable eaning oI the latter is that oI restriction and
concretisation.
The deIinite article the is an unstressed variant oI the deonstrative
that? ro the oint oI vie oI eaning it Iunctions as a less IorceIul
euivalent oI this as ell as that?
Cf? boa do ]ou liê the aeathers
boa do ]ou liê this aeathers
The distinctive Ieature oI the deIinite article in such arallel uses is that
the eleent oI ointing is norally eaker ith the than ith the
deonstrative ronoun. There is siilar direction oI the attention but
there is ore deendence on obviousness and less on selection by eans
oI ointing oI one kind or another. Vieed Iro this angle, the deIinite
article is a great deal like he and it? Characteristically the indicates that
identiIication sees colete on the basis oI consicuousness in the
articular situation or contet.
pboa did ]ou do itA this rotten thingsp he asêd? pLet Ze see the
Tlates? }es? }es? That's it? }ou loo^ health] as a goat? iho's the Trett]
girlsp (Heingay)
iIIiculties oIten arise hen the resence or absence oI the article
signals contrasted structural relationshis. Such kind oI contrast is seen,
Ior instance in:
a _oal or vessel == a _oal or a vessel? The Iirst ill ean that _oal
and vessel are synonys and no contrast beteen the to is intended. In
the second, the intention is to contrast the to and ily that iI the obect
is _oalA it is not a vessel? This contrast is not inherent in the a as such, but
in the diIIerent structural relationshi hich the resence or absence oI the
indeIinite article signals.
Such relations ay be arked by radically diIIerent eans in various
other languages.
Variations in the use oI the articles and their signiIicant absence ust
be eained in the graatical environent in hich nouns
85
occur. The structural and leical eanings oI nouns aear inetricably
involved and are insearable. The eaning oI the article reveals itselI in
actual seech, i. e. in relation to a noun used in a given contet.
A Ie tyical eales to illustrate the stateent are given belo.
Others ill readily occur to the student.
[nd in SoaZesA looîng on his father so aorn and ahite and aastedA
listening to his strangled _reathingA there rose a Tassionate veheZence of
anger against àtureA cruelA inedora_le àtureA ^neeling on the chest of
that aisT of a _od]A sloal] Tressing out the _reathA Tressing out the life of
the _eing aho aas dearest to hiZ in the aorld? bis fatherA of all ZenA had
lived a careful life, ZoderateA a_steZiousA and this aas his reaard to
have life sloal]A Tainfull] soueeqed out of hiZ? (alsorthy)
???>t had _een t!e old $nglandA ahen the] lived doan ]et here t!e
$ngland of pac#!orses and ver] little sZoêA of Teat and aood fires, and
aives aho never left ]ouA _ecause the] couldn'tA Tro_a_l]? [ static
$ngland, that dug and aoveh ahere ]our Tarish aas ]our aorldA and ]ou
aere a churchaarden if ]ou didn't taê care? (alsorthy)
It is to be noted that the use oI the article ith abstract noun has its
on idiosyncratic traits in English and resents secial diIIiculties Ior a
Ioreign student to aster.
Contrasting use oI the article, deending on the contet, the eaning
oI noun aduncts in articular, is oIten an eIIective eans to roduce
ehasis in ictorial language, e. g.:
The river aas ahiteningh the dus^ seeZed held in the treesA aaiting to
sTread and fl] into a s^] gust drained of sunset? Ver] TeacefulA and a little
rie the hour _etaeenk Those starlings Zade a racêt disagreea_le
_eggarsh there could _e no real self5resTect aith such short tailsk The
saalloas aent _]A taîng 'night5caTs' on guats and earl] Zothsh and the
ToTlars stood so still gust as if listening that SoaZes Tut his hand to
feel for _reeqe? òt a _reaths [nd thenA all at once no saalloas fl]ingA
no starlingsh a chal^] hue over riverA over s^]k The lights sTrang uT in the
house? [ night5fl]ing _eetle Tassed hiZA _ooZing? The dea aas failing
he felt itA Zust go in? [nd as he turnedA ouic^l]A dus^ softened the treesA the
s^]A the river? (alsorthy)
Here is a good eale to sho ho eIIective is the reetitive use oI
nouns ith the deIinite article Ior stylistic uroses in narration:
>t aas hot that night? woth she and her Zother had Tut on thinA Tale
loa froc^s? The dinner floaers aere Tale? Fleur aas struc^ aith the Tale
loo^ of ever]thingh her father's faceA her Zother's shouldersh the Tale
Tanelled aallsA the Tale gre] velvet] carTetA the laZT5shadeA even the
souT aas Tale? There aas not one sTot of colour in the rooZA not even
aine in the Tale glassesA for no one dran^ it? ihat aas not Tale aas _lac^
her father's clothesA the _utler's clothesA her retriever stretched out
edhausted in the aindoaA the curtains _lac^ aith a creaZ Tattern? [ Zoth
caZe inA and that aas Tale? [nd silent aas that half5Zourning dinner in
the heat???
ber father called her _ac^ as she aas folloaing her Zother out? She
sat doan _eside hiZ at Ze ta_leA anaA unTinning the Tale hone]suc^leA Tut
it to her nose? (alsorthy)
The reetitive use oI the deIinite article ith abstract nouns is an
86
eIIective eans to intensiIy their eotive Ilavour in a given contet.
Eales are nuerous:
Thin^ of the need] Zan aho has sTent his allA _eggared hiZself and
Tinched his friendsA to enter the TrofessionA ahich aill never ]ield hiZ a
Zorsel of _read? T!e waiting -t!e !ope -t!e disappointment -t!e
fear - t!e misery - t!e poerty - the _light on his hoTesA and end to
his career the suicide TerhaTsA or the sha__]A sliT5shod drunârd?
(ickens)
Observe also the use oI the deIinite article ith roer nouns Ior
stylistic uroses in the Iolloing sentences:
ih] should not the a_le and aonderful CoaTeraood _e alloaed to
Zaê the tao of theZ richs (reiser)
[unt besterA the silentA the TatientA that _acâater of the faZil]
energ]A sat in the draaing5rooZA ahere the _linds aere draanh and she
tooA had aeTt at firstA _ut ouietl]A aithout visi_le effect??? She satA sliZA
ZotionlessA stud]ing the grateA her hands idle in the laT of her _lac^ sil^
dress? (alsorthy)
>f Liq aas Z] girl and > aas to snea^ out to a dance couTled uT aith
an [nnieA >'d aant a suit of chain arZour on under Z] gladsoZe rags?
(Henry)
The use oI the article ith coon and roer nouns is oIten an
eIIective eans oI eressive connotation, e. g.:
???|noa Z] Tartners nld Ho_insonp? p}esA the Ho_inson? \on't ]ou
^noas The notorious Ho_insonp? (Conrad)
???boa goes itsp
p[ll aellp said Ir? Yills Tushing the _ottle toaards hiZ?
be too^ it uT and having surve]ed and sZelt it said aith edtraordinar]
edTression=
pThesp
pThepA returned the instruZent Zaêr? UTon that he ahistled as he
filled his glass and seeZed to thin^ the] aere Zaîng holida]A indeed?
(ickens)
Instances are not Ie hen the oission oI the article is also a atter
oI stylistic considerations in narration, in Iree and easy collouial style or,
say, reresented seech in literary rose.
See ho the use oI the nouns ithout the article is in harony ith
the structure oI the Iolloing sentences:
>t had a siZTle scheZe ahite Ton] in sta_leA Tigeon Ticîng uT
soZe grainsA sZall_o] on uTturned _asêt eating aTTle? (alsorthy)
There aas a droas] huZ of ver] distant traffich the creeTered trellis round
the garden shut out ever]thing _ut s^]A and houseA and Tear5treeA aith its
toT _ranches still gilded _] the sun? (alsorthy)
XngineA aheels and carriages caZe aithin a fea ]ardsA riTTing the
viea into tatters of _lue s^] and fieldA each in a deciZated second dancing
_etaeen the carriage5gaTs?
A ord ust be said about a distinct trend in odern English synta is
the oission oI the deIinite and indeIinite articles in various ays Iailiar
to students oI English and other Euroean languages.
The loss oI the deIinite article has aIIected certain seciIic hrases, e.
g.:
go to universit] Ior go to the universit]
all Zorning Ior all the Zorning
87
all ainter Ior all the ainter
all aee^ Ior all the aeeÂ etc.
a Zagorit] of ??? sees to relace the Zagorit] of ???
It is diIIicult to see anything to be gained by the change so Iar as
distinction oI eaning is concerned, since the old and ne uses aear to
be synonyous
1
.
Revision Material
1. Be ready to discuss the basic assutions Ior the deIinition oI arts
oI seech as the taonoic classes oI ords.
2. Coent on oositional relations beteen diIIerent arts oI seech.
3. ive coents on the interaradigatic hoonyy as being
relevant to structural abiguity in Modern English.
4. et ready to discuss the oosition oneness lurality as being
eressed in Modern English.
5. Coent on Iunctional transositions oI singular Iors in the
category oI nuber.
6. Be ready to discuss the roble oI case in Modern English.
7. Coent on the olysey oI the ossessive case.
8. ive coents on the synonyic encounter oI the 's-genitive
and the of-hrase.
9. escribe the distributional value oI the oI-hrase in Modern English.
10. ive illustrative eales oI stylistic transositions in the
graar oI nouns. Coare siilar develoents in other languages.
11. Coent on the use oI the grou-genitive in Modern English.
12. Be ready to give coents on the linguistic change going on in
resent-day English in the use oI the 's-genitive at the eense oI the oI-hrase.
13. Be ready to discuss the roble oI the article in Modern English.
14. ive coents on the absence oI the article Iunctioning as a ter
in the article syste.
15. Variations in the use oI the articles and their signiIicant absence
ust be eained in the graatical environent in hich nouns occur.
The eaning oI the article reveals itselI in actual seech. Can you give a
Ie eales to illustrate the stateent
16. iIIiculties oIten arise hen the resence and absence oI the
article signals contrasted structural relationshis. ive eales to
illustrate the stateent.
17. Revie your knoledge oI the stylistic Iunctions oI the articles in
Modern English.
1
See= B. oster. The Changing English Language. reat Britain, 1971.
Chapter IV THE
AD1ECTIVE
An adjective is a ord hich eresses the attributes oI substances
egoodA ]oungA eas]A softA loudA hardA aoodenA fladenf? As a class oI leical
ords adectives are identiIied by their ability to Iill the osition beteen
noun-deteriner and noun and the osition aIter a coula-verb and a
ualiIier.
Considered in eaning, adectives Iall into to large grous:
a) ualitative adectives,
b) relative adectives.
Qualitative adjectives denote ualities oI sie, shae, colour, etc.
hich an obect ay ossess in various degrees. ualitative adectives
have degrees oI coarison.
Relative adjectives eress ualities hich characterise an obect
through its relation to another obect aooden ta_les ta_les Zade of
aoodA aoollen gloves gloves Zade of aoolA Si_erian aheat v aheat
froZ Si_eria? urther eales oI relative adectives are: ruralA industrialA
ur_anA etc.
Linguistically it is utterly iossible to dra a rigid line oI
dearcation beteen the to classes, Ior in the course oI language
develoent the so-called relative adectives gradually develo ualitative
eanings. Thus, Ior instance, through etahoric etension adectives
denoting aterial have coe to be used in the Iigurative sense, e. g.:
golden age sonorn nix, golden hours macnnnn uac, golden Zean
sonora cepenna, golden oTTortunit] uyona naroa, golden hair
sonorane nonoccx, etc. Coare also: aooden chair and aooden faceA
aooden Zannersh fladen threads and fladen hair?
The adective leaden ~ Zade of lead is oIten used ith secial
allusion to its ualities. Cf? a leaden Tlate and a leaden sleeTA leaden
atZosThereA leaden s^]? Through etahoric etension leaden has also
coe to ean lo in uality, chea, heavy or dull inaction, in
Ieeling, understanding, etc. synonyous ith sluggish mnxnn.
Analogous develoents ay easily be Iound in other languages.
It sees ractical to distinguish beteen base adectives and derived
adectives
1
.
Base adjectives ehibit the Iolloing Ioral ualities: they ay take
inIlections 5er and 5est or have soe orhohoneic changes in
1
See= . N. rancis. The Structure oI Aerican English. Ne York, 1958, . 270.
89
cases oI the suletion, such as, Ior instance, in good _etter the _esth
_ad aorse the aorst? Base adectives are also distinguished Iorally
by the Iact that they serve as stes Iro hich nouns and adverbs are
Iored by the derivational suIIies 5ness and 5l]?
Base adectives are ostly oI one syllable, and none have ore than
to syllables ecet a Ie that begin ith a derivational reIi un5or in5A
e. g.: uncoZZonA inhuZanA etc. They have no derivational suIIies and
usually Ior their coarative and suerlative degrees by eans oI the
inIlectional suIIies 5er and 5est? uite a nuber oI based adectives Ior
verbs by adding the derivational suIIi 5enA the reIi en5 or both:
_lacênA _rightenA cheaTenA saeetenA aidenA enrichA enlargeA eZ_itterA
enlightenA enlivenA etc.
Derived adjectives are Iored by the addition oI derivational suIIies
to Iree or bound stes. They usually Ior analytical coaratives and
suerlatives by eans oI the ualiIiers Zore and Zost? Soe oI the ore
iortant suIIies hich Ior derived adectives are:
-able added to verbs and bound stes, denoting uality ith
ilication oI caacity, Iitness or orthness to be acted uon 5a_le is
oIten used in the sense oI tending to, given to, Iavouring, causing,
able to or liable to. This very coon suIIi is a live one hich can
be added to virtually any verb thus giving rise to any ne coinages. As it
is the descendant oI an active derivational suIIi in Latin, it also aears
as a art oI any ords borroed Iro Latin and rench. Eales
Iored Iro verbs: reZarâ_leA adaTta_leA conceiva_leA drinâ_leA
eata_leA regretta_leA understanda_leA etc. eales Iored Iro bound
stes: caTa_leA Torta_leA via_le? The unroductive variant oI the suIIi
5a_le is the suIIi 5i_le (Latin 5i_ilisA 5_ilisfA hich e Iind in adectives
Latin in origin: visi_leA forci_leA coZTrehensi_leA etc. 5i_le is no longer
used in the Ioration oI ne ords.
-al, -ial (Lat. 5allsA rench 5alA 5elf denoting uality belonging to,
ertaining to, having the character oI, aroriate to, e. g.:
eleZentalA _acterialA autoZnalA fundaZentalA etc.
The suIIi 5al added to nouns and bound stes efatalA localA naturalA
nationalA traditionalA etc.) is oIten Iound in cobination ith 5icA e. g.:
_iologicalA _otanicalA guridicalA t]TicalA etc.
-ish eranic in origin, denoting nationality, uality ith the
eaning oI the nature oI, belonging to, resebling also ith the
sense soehat like, oIten ilying contet, derogatory in Iorce, e.
g.: TurîshA _ogishA outlandishA ahitishA aolfish?
-y eranic in origin, denoting uality ertaining to, abounding
in, tending or inclined to, e.g.: roc^]A aater]A _ush]A Zil^]A sunn]A etc.
THE CATEGORY OF INTENSITY AND COMPARISON
raarians see to be divided in their oinion as to the linguistic
status oI degrees oI coarison oI adectives Iored by eans oI Zore
and ethef Zost? In books devoted to teaching graar the latter are
traditionally reIerred to as analytical Iors. But there is also another vie
90
based only on Ior and distribution according to hich Zore and ethef
Zost are reIerred to as ordinary ualiIiers and Iorations like Zore
interesting and the Zost interesting hich go arallel ith such Iree ord-
grous as less interesting and the least interesting are called hrasal
coaratives and suerlatives. Attention is then dran to the Iact that
Zore and Zost ay also easily cobine ith nouns, e. g.: Zore attentionA
Zore TeoTleA Zost TeoTleA etc.
U
This is, in Iact, an old discussion, dating back at least as Iar as H.
Seet as to hether the orhees oI coarison 5erA 5est are inIlections
or suIIies. H. Seet soke oI the as inIlectional but considered such
Iorations alost as uch a rocess derivation as oI inIlection
2
.
More iortant that this diIIiculty in terinology are soe other
oints about adectives.
istinction ill be ade beteen ualitative adectives hich have
gradable eanings and those hich have absolute eanings.
A thing can, Ior instance, be Zore oI less narroaA and narroa is a
gradable adective Ior hich corresonding gradations ill be eressed
either by analytical or, hen style deands, by inIlected Iors: narroa
narroaer the narroaest narroa Zore narroa the Zost narroa
Contrasted to adectives ith such gradable eanings are ualitative
adectives ith absolute eaning, e. g.: realA eoualA TerfectA rightA etc.
These are, in their reIerents, incaable oI such gradations. UnodiIied,
they ean the absolute oI hat they say. ith Zore and Zost or hen
inIlected they ean pZore nearl] realpA pnearest of all to _eing realpA
pZore nearl] eoualp or pnearest of all to _eing eoualpA etc.
Analytical and inIlected Iors oI coarison cannot be reIerred to as
alays absolutely identical in Iunction. The structure oI the analytical
Ior erits contrastive stress-shiIts and is thereIore reIerable hen
occasion deands. Stress on Zore and Zost ill Iocus attention on the
notion oI degree, and stress on the adective ill ake the leical content
oI the adective ore roinent. Coare the Iolloing: (1) be is
!ealt!ier than his _rother? (2) be is Zore health] than his _rother? (3) be
is Zore health]A _ut less caTa_le?
A universal Ieature in the graar oI adectives is the absolute use oI
coaratives and suerlatives. These Iors are soeties used here
there is no direct coarison at all, as in: The _etter Tart of valour is
discretion (Shakeseare) a _etter5class cafA sooner or later (The Short
OIord ictionary), etc. Cf.: nnma ocnira, npoyxrn xpamo xxocri, etc.
Siilarly in eran:
ein alterer Iann nirnx nmnna ein alter Iann crapa nmnna.
eine grossere Stadi nenennxe micro eine grosse Stadt nennxe micro.
The graatical content oI the suerlative degree is that oI degree oI a
roerty surassing all other obects entioned or ilied by the contet
or situation. There are cases, hoever, hen the eaning oI
1
See= . rancis. The Structure oI Aerican English. Ne York, 1958, . 27 A. Hill.
Introduction to Linguistic Structures. Ne York-Biringha, 1958, . 168.
2
See: H. Seet. A Ne English raar. OIord, 1955.
91
the suerlative coes to be essentially diIIerent, and only a very high
degree oI uality or roerty is eant, ith no coarison at all. This is
the so-called elative (Lat. gradus elativusfA e. g?= > should do it aith the
greatest Tleasure?
urther eales are:
be's got the Zost _eautiful ZotherA aith lovel] silver] hair and a
]oung face aith dar^ e]es? (alsorthy)
p>t's Zost distasteful to ZepA he said suddenl]? òthing could _e
Zore sop? (alsorthy)
pI] health is _etter for itpA he added hastil]? p[nd > aZ ver] haTT]A
Zost haTT]p? (London)
Absolute suerlatives ill be Iound in such atterns in Ukrainian as: n
naxopormn repmin, n naxpamomy nacrpo, namnnima nmnna. Cf?
Russian: nennuamn yuent, mnnemn uenonex, n nannyumem
nacrpoennn, n xparuamn cpox, etc. Siilarly in eran: in _ester
StiZZungA in ^rrqester {eitA lie_ster Freund? rench: Cette chre enfantk
souTira la Zatresse de Tension de sa void la Tlus tendre? (rance).
It is oI interest to note that in certain contets the coarative degree
oI adectives ay Iunction as a stylistic alternative oI absolute
suerlative. The highest degree oI uality coes to be eressed here by
coarative contrast. The use oI such coarative elatives'' is highly
eIIective and colourIul, e. g.:
Could a Zan oan an]thing Trettier than this dining ta_le aith its deeT
tintsA the starr]A soft5Tetalled rosesA the ru_] coloured glassA and ouaint
silver furnishingh could a Zan oan an]thing Trettier than the aoZan aho
sat at its (alsorthy)
Loo^ at her sitting there? \oesn't she Zaê a Tictures ChardinA ehs
>'ve seen all t!e most beautiful aoZen in the aorldh >'ve never seen
an]one more beautiful than IadaZe \ir^ Stroeve? (Maugha)
???>nto a denser glooZ than ever wosinne] held on at a furious Taceh
_ut his Tursuer Terceived Zore Zethod in his Zadness he aas clearl]
Zaîng his aa] aestaards? (alsorthy)
???>n his leisure hours he Tla]ed the Ticcolo? ò one in Xngland aas
Zore relia_le?
???pbe's iZaginativeA }ol]on?p
p}esA in a sanguinar] aa]? \oes he love an]one gust noasp
pòh onl] ever]one? There never aas an]one _orn Zore loving or
Zore lova_le than mon?p
pweing ]our _o]A >rene?p (alsorthy)
IntensiIication oI a ualitative eaning eressed by adectives ay
be roduced by:
1) adverbial intensiIiers: ZuchA a great dealA farA _] farA far and aaa]A
]etA still and allA e. g.: Zuch _etterA still furtherA all hot and _otheredA all
_locd]h
be is far the Zost distinguished student in the grouT?
This aee^ aas _] far the _usiest ae have ever had?
be aas far and aaa] the _est edaZTle to folloa?
Siilar in Iunction are such intensiIiers in Russian as: namnoro, xya,
nce, eme, etc.
92
Siilarly in Ukrainian: naararo, me, anexo, xyn.
Be mepime yno conne. Kyn xpame ynn ycnixn namo excnenni.
2) graatical leonass: a) deafer than deafA ahiter than ahiteh b)
the ahitest of the ahiteA the greenest of the green?
Xver] little colon] of houses has its church and school5house TeeTing
froZ aZong the ahite roofs and shad] treesh ever] house is t!e w!itest of
t!e w!ite, ever] Venetian _lind t!e greenest of the greenh ever] fine da]'s
s^] the _luest of t!e blue. (ickens)
Coare the Ukrainian: uncrime uncroro, nerme nerxoro, xcnime
xcnoro, etc. siilarly in Russian: unme uncroro, cname cnaxoro, xcnee
xcnoro, etc.
3) the cobination oI a Suerlative ith an of-hrase hich renders
the eaning oI a artitive genitive, e. g.: Che^hov is the greatest of all
ariters of short stories? Patterns oI this kind are Iairly coon in
eressive language.
pnf all things in the aorld don't ]ou thin^ caution's the Zost aafuls
SZell the Zoonlightkp She thrust the _lossoZ against his faceh mon agreed
giddil] that of all things in the aorld caution aas the aorstA and _ending
over îssed the hand ahich held his? (alsorthy)
4) the idioatic variety oI the artitive genitive, e. g.:
weaut] is t!e wonder of all aonders? (ilde)
Scarlet gerêd her hands aaa] froZ his grasT and sTrang to her feetpA
p> ]ou are the Zost ill5_red Zan in the aorldA coZing here at this time
of all tiZes aith ]our filth] > should have ^noan ]ou'd never change?
(Mitchell)
urther eales are: a Tatriot of TatriotsA a aord of aordsA a hero of
heroes? Analogous eales in Ukrainian: nno s nn, repo s repon,
xopopn s xopopnx, etc. Cf? Russian: uyo ns uyec, repo ns repoen,
xpapen ns xpapenon, xpacannna ns xpacannn, etc. rench: le Ziracle
des Ziraclesh eran: der beld der belden?
5) the variant Ior oI the artitive genitive, e. g.: laa]ers' laa]ers (
the _est of all laa]ersfA an actor's actor ex the _est of all actorsfA
siilarly, a _allTla]er's _allTla]er?
6) the of-hrase in the Iunction oI the so-called genitivus ualitatis,
a universal develoent in ost languages.
Synonyous ith adectives roer, odiIication structures oI this
tye abound in literary use. The linguistic essence oI the structure is to
render the idea oI uality through the relationshi oI one obect to the
other.
norne pasnnunte nemn cocroxr n cymecrnennom nsanmoecrnnn
uepes cnon cnocrna cnocrno ecrt camoe nsanmoecrnne
1
.
Eales are: a loo^ of go] a go]ful looÂ a Zan of energ] an
energetic ZanA a thing of great iZTortance a ver] iZTortant thingA
ariters of great reTute ~ ver] reTuta_le aritersA a glance of conteZTt ~
a conteZTtuous glanceA a thing of great value x a valua_le thingA a Zan
of genius eCf? arch? genial), etc.
1
Hennncxn copnnx I, . 144145.
93
Coare analogous structures in other languages. Russian: nonpoc
ontmo naxnocrn ouent naxnt nonpoc uenonex ontmo
pynnnn ouent pynponannt uenonex. Ukrainian: cnpana
nennxoro snauennx yxe naxnnna cnpana nmnna nennxoro posymy
yxe posymna nmnna (the so-called) poonn osnauantnn.
rench: affaire d'iZTortance affaire iZTortanteA _igoud de Tris _igou
Trcieudh une affaire d'urgence x une affaire urgenteh un gardin de _eaut
un _eau gardin? eran: die Sache von grosser iichtigêit eine sehr
aichtige Sache?
enitivus ualitatis is used to eress ore cole and ore subtle
shades oI eaning than ordinary adectives do. The diversity oI their use
Ior stylistic uroses in various languages should not escae our notice.
She conceived of delights ahich aere notA saa lights of go] that never
aere on land or sea? (reiser).
>t aas the _est of tiZesA it aas the aorst of tiZesA it aas t!e age of
wisdomA it aas t!e age of foolis!ness, it aas t!e epoc! of beliefA it aas
t!e epoc! of incredulity, it aas the season of lig!t, it aas t!e season of
dar#ness, it aas t!e spring of !ope, it was t!e winter of despairA ae had
ever]thing _efore usA ae had nothing _efore us??? (ickens)
7) noun-hrases N I
selI
a stylistic alternative oI the absolute
suerlative degree (so-called elative), e. g.:
Ir? cicâic^ is îndness itself? }ou are
Tatience itself }ou are Zost Tatient? She aas
Trudence itself She aas Zost Trudent?
Phrases oI this sort are ore IorceIul and eressive that the resective
adective in the suerlative degree. Such structures oI redication are good
evidence oI the Iact that uality in soe cases can be eressed ore
eIIectively by a noun than an adective.
8) noun-hrases all u N:
She is all TatienceA ]ou're all activit]?
She is all goodness eCf? She is ver] goodf? be is all nerves? eCf? be is
ver] nervousf?
be aas all the îndest consideration eCf? be aas Zost consideratef?
The use oI nouns instead oI adectives gives added ehasis to the
given uality. Consider also the Iolloing eale:
mune stood in frontA fending off his idle curiosit] a little _it of a
thing as soZe_od] once said all hair and sTiritA aith fear less _lue
e]esA a firZ gaaA and a _right colourA ahose face and _od] seeZed to
slenderA for her croan of her red5gold hair? (alsorthy)
9) the use oI abstract nouns ade Iro adectives. Coare:
her soft hair the softness of her hair
red roses the red enessf of the roses
dar^ desTair the dar^ness of desTair
the dar^ night the dar^ of night
10) the use oI nouns in the Iunction oI ehatic odiIiers.
In such uses nouns eaken their eaning oI substance and aroach
94
adverbs. This adverbial use oI nouns shos great diversity. It ill be
helIul to distinguish the Iolloing:
a) relations oI tie, as in: life longA aee^ longA age longA etc. b)
coarison: (diIIerent degrees oI uality) cold _lacÂ straa ]elloaA silver
gre]A lil] ahiteA ash _londA ice coldA snoa ahiteA iron hardA s^] _lueA dog
tiredA TaTer ahiteA Tencil thinA ruler straightA TriZrose ]elloaA _ric^ redA
_lade sharTA dirt cheaTh Zountains highA a _it longerA a trifle easierA a
shade darêrA an^le deeT?
Patterns oI this kind are generally used etahorically and Iunction as
eedients oI eress intensity and ehasis, e. g.:
>'ll send cor^ to Iacon to5Zorroa to _u] Zore seed? òa the }an^les
aon't _urn it and our trooTs aon't need it? Yood LordA cotton ought to go
s^] high this fall? (Mitchell)
urther eales are:
be is aorld too Zodest? That aas lots _etter? This aas heaTs _etter?
be aas stone deaf to our reouest? The Zud aas an^le deeT?
Siilar use oI nouns ill also be Iound in such atterns as: _one tiredA
dog tiredA Zustard colouredA horror strucÂ etc.
11) the use oI intensiIying adverbs, e. g.: coZTletel]A entirel]A
thoroughl]A utterl]A aafull]A terri_l]A fearfull]A frightfull]A dreadfull]A
franticall]A _eastl]A terrificall]A etc.
The use oI a noun rather than an adective is very oIten reIerred as a
ore Iorcible eressive eans to intensiIy the given uality. Coare
the Iolloing synonyic Iors oI eression:
be aas ouite a success? be aas ouite successful?
>t aas good fun? >t aas funn]?
Nouns Iunctioning in this osition can be odiIied by adverbials oI
degree, e. g.:
}ou aere alaa]s Zore of a realist than monh and never so innocent?
(alsorthy)
p ie're all fond of ]oupA he saidA p>f ]ou'd onl]p he aas going to
sa]A p_ehave ]ourselfpA _ut changed it to ~p>f ]ou'd onl] _e Zore of a
aife to hiZp? (alsorthy)
pòt Zuch of an aniZalA is itsp groaned Hhett? pLoo^s liê he'll die?
wut he is the _est > could find in the shafts'? (Mitchell)
12) the use oI idioatic coarisons, e. g.: as good as goldA as _old
as _rassA as fit as a fiddleA as ahite a sheetA as _us] as a _eeA etc.
13) intensity oI eaning is ost eIIective in atterns here the
deterining and the deterined eleents oI the denotation utually
echange their resective arts, e. g.: a geael of a natureA a devil of a
gourne]A etc.
There is alays selection in such stylistic devices skillIully astered
by creative riters. Here is a classical eale to see ho the eIIective
use oI graatical synonys oI adectives lends variety to seech in
ictorial language:
pYo]aA aith his satiric and surTassing TrecisionA his original plinep'A
and the daring of his light and shadeA could have reTroduced to
adZiration the grouT asseZ_led round [nnette's tea5tra] in the ingle5noo^
_eloa? be aloneA TerhaTsA of Tainters aould have done gustice to the
sunlight
95
filtering through a screen of creeTer to t!e loely pallor of brass, the old
cut glasses, the thin slices of leZon in Tale amber tea, gustice to [nnette
in her _lac^ lac] dressh t!ere aas somet!ing of t!e fair Spaniard in !er
beauty, though it lacêd the sTiritualit] of that rare t]Teh to iinifred' s
gre]5hairedA corseted solidit]h to SoaZesA of a certain gre] and flat4
c!ee#ed distinction, to the vivacious Iichael IontA pointed in ear and
e]eh to >ZogenA darÂ luscious of glanceA groaing a little stouth to crosTer
crofondA wit! !is e5pression as w!o s!ould say, "%ell, (r. Goya,
w!at's t!e use of paintin' t!is small party'" Finall]A to mac^ CardiganA
wit! !is s!ining stare and tanned sanguinity betraying t!e moing
principle6 p>'Z XnglishA and > live to _e fitp? (alsorthy)
It is to be noted that diIIerent shades oI intensity oI a ualitative
eaning ay be eressed by derivational reIies, such as: archi5A
edtra5A h]Ter5A ultra5A etc., e. g.: edtraordinar] h]TercriticalA
h]TersensitiveA suTerhuZanA suTerfineA ultrafashiona_leA ultra5raTid?
Eressive negation oI a ualitative eaning is soeties ilied in
adectives ith negative reIies. eending on the leical eaning oI the
ste and the contet adectives ith the reIies in5 and un5 ay have a
ositive eaning or indicate a high degree oI a given uality, e. g.:
invalua_leA incoZTara_leA incredi_leA unthinâ_leA etc.
SUBSTANTIVATION OF AD1ECTIVES
erivation ithout a derivative orhee has been variously treated
by graarians. It has been custoary to seak oI the conversion oI
nouns, adectives and verbs. The ter conversion has been used Ior
various things. A. Kruisinga, Ior instance, akes reIerence to conversion
henever a ord takes on a Iunction hich is not its basic one, as the use
oI an adective as a riary ethe ToorA the writishA shreds of TinÂ at his
_estf? He includes here uotation ords ehisp > don't ^noa'sp and nouns
used as re-aduncts like stone aall and this does not see ustiIied.
istinction ust naturally be ade beteen holly and artly
substantivised adectives.
Modern English adectives ay be either holly or artly
substantivised. By holly substantivised adectives e ean adectives
holly converted into nouns. Such adectives ay be receded by the
article, take the lural inIlection and ay be used in the ossessive case, e.
g.: a nativeA the nativeA tao nativesA a native's characterA etc.
Adectives only artly converted into nouns take the deIinite article (as
regular nouns do) but are neither inIlected Ior the lural nor can be used in
the ossessive case. The deIinite article has also a diIIerent Iunction Iro
that it ould have hen used ith a noun: the haTT] eans hay
eole in general. Such substantivised adectives kee uch oI their
adectival nature, hich e see in the ossibility oI ualiIying the by
eans oI adverbs: e. g. the reall] haTT]?
Substantivation oI abstract adectives intensiIies the ord eaning and
oIten serves stylistic uroses as a colourIul eans oI ehasis in literary
style. Converted nouns oI this kind are generally used in singular
constructions, as in:
96
Steel5_lue of the fallen eveningA _are Tlane5treesA aide riverA frost]
]eark be turned toaard hoZe?
???The fineA the largeA the florid all offk (alsorthy)
[nother shift of the _odA and soZe other had _ecoZe the _eautifulA the
Terfect? (reiser).
be drove sloal]A engo]ing the ouiet of the evening? (Cronin).
>n that ZoZent of eZotion he _etra]ed the Fors]te in hiZ forgot
hiZselfA his interestsA his TroTert] aas caTa_le of alZost an]thingh aas
lifted into the Ture ether of the selfless and unTractical? (alsorthy)
The iZTossi_le aas not on her side and she ^nea itA sensed rightl] that
it never aould _e? (Sillitoe)
Cf?= Russian: ce %;"2A nce $2$,"A anca Hannonna ...
(uexon)
J$2$," onxno trt nennuano.
Ukrainian: J$2$," nonnnne yrn nennunnm.
Substantivation oI adectives oI colour Ior stylistic uroses is also
rather a Ireuent occurrence.
A Ie tyical eales are:
ihat ]ou have on that flad5_lue is adZira_le for colourh
_ac^ground of s^] through that aindoa ]esA not too _lue an
Xnglish ahite in it? (alsorthy)
iithout the edTedition there aould _e no futureA onl] a TresentA an
ocean of dar^ness _ehind the thin _lue of the da]A a circle of _lea^
horiqons dotted _] fires _urning out their derelict flaZes? (Sillitoe)
ihen the storZ stoTTed the fields aere ahite overA the s^] a mil#
_lueA loa and still threatening? (Sillitoe)
So ]oungA the little leaves of brownis! goldh so oldA t!e w!ite4grey4
green of its thic^ rough trun^? (alsorthy)
[nd alZost unconsciousl] he rose and Zoved nearerh he aanted to see
the edTression on her face? ber e]es Zet his unflinching? beavensk boa
clear the] aereA and ahat a dar# brown against that ahite sînA and that
_urnt5aZ_er hairk (alsorthy)
There aas a scent of hone] froZ the liZe trees in floaerA and in the s^]
t!e blue aas _eautifulA aith a fea ahite clouds ahich looêd and TerhaTs
tasted liê leZon ice? (alsorthy)
Transosition oI adectives into the class oI aellative nouns has its
on eressive value. In collouial English this is rather a Ireuent
occurrence. Eales are:
ihat have ]ou doneA my little sill]? CoZe onA my sweet? iait a couTle
of ZinutesA loely)p ListenA Z] dear?
It ill be oI interest to note that the eaning oI substance can Iind its
eression in occasional substantivation oI other arts oI seech such as,
Ior instance, inIinitives, articiles, ronouns. Such uses are naturally
essentially diIIerent and illustrate nothing but syntactic atterns.
bere's a Trett] gok Let's have a go at itk That aas a great find, a -uiet
read after suTTerk
The desire for a Zore inaard light had found edTression at lastA t!e
unseen had insTected on t!e seen? (orster)
Let Ze tell ]ou a little somet!ing a_out Z] lifeA aill ]ous >t aon't taê
long? (reiser)
97
be aondered hoa she could sa] these things aith such an edTression
of suret]A see tao ]ears as _eing _ut a fZinit sZall aisdoZ5tooth of
tiZeA a not!ing that to hiZ looêd liê avast ocean aith no oTTosite shore
visi_le? (Sillitoe)
Xver] hour the âleidoscoTe of huZan affairs threa a nea lustre uTon
soZethingA and thereaith it _ecaZe for her the desired the all?
(reiser)
???be's rather liê Ze? ie've got a lot in coZZon? > had heard other
'we's' froZ herA taunting Z] gealous]A _ut not in such a tone as this? She
daelt on it aith a soft and girlish Tleasure? > aas chained there? > fell
again into silence? Then > asêd TereZTtoril] aho he aas? (Sno)
[n]one else aould have gone to a doctor Zonths agoA she said? That
aould have sTared ]ou a lot of aorr] and soZe of ]our friendsA tooA >
Za] sa]? >'Z ver] glad > Zade ]ou go? > could hear t!ose I'sA a little
stressedA assertive in the Ziddle of her ]earning of heal and soothe and
cherish? (Sno)
Occasional substantivation oI sentence-Iragents is also a syntactic
atter, an eIIective linguistic device used Ior stylistic uroses.
Substantivised Iragents are generally odiIied by the article as an overt
art-oI-seech arker or other noun-deteriners. Eales are:
[ cuT 'cocoaA a coT] of the wi_le and a five5_o_ aatch to tiZe out the
da]s of idleness left to theZ? òt ever that though= >'Z Zaîng it uT?
The]'re luc^] to get a t!an# you and _ecoZe hot and _othered aith
gratitude if the] doA or onl] sTit the sZell of t!an# you out ahen it's too
late to do Zuch else a_out itA such as droT a nu_5end on a heaT of Taraffin
ragsA or triT one of the gaffern into a Zanhole? (Sillitoe)
pnhA aeren't the] thoughAp laughed Cl]de aho had not failed to catch
t!e "Y78r set" also the pahere ]ou have money and position". (reiser)
be's ZadA right enough? So ahat shall > sa]s His "w!eer yer bin'"
turned the first sToê of the saZe old aheel aith ever] ouestion and
ansaer foreordained toaards soZe violent erratic _loa? (Sillitoe)
To his surTriseA Ir? Ford leaTed into the air aith a "You don't say
so)p and the nedt ZoZentA aith _oth handsA aas shaîng Iartin's head
effusivel]? (London)
Revision Material
1. Coent on analytical and inIlected Ior oI coarison.
2. ive coents on the classiIication oI adectives in ters oI
eaning.
3. Coent on the distinction beteen base adectives and derived
adectives.
4. Illustrate the stateent that relative adectives can develo
ualitative eanings. ive eales oI such etahoric etension.
5. Coent on the noticeable change going on in resent-day in the
Ioration oI the coarative and suerlative oI dissyllabic adectives here
Iors ith 5er and 5est are being relaced by Iors ith Zore and Zost?
6. Be ready to discuss substantivation oI adectives in odern English.
7. ive eales oI stylistic transosition oI adectives into the class
oI aellative nouns.
98
Chapter V
THE
VERB
The syste oI the English verb is rightly considered to be the ost
cole graatical structure oI the language. The ost troublesoe
robles are, indeed, concentrated in the area oI the Iinite verb, and
include, in articular, uestions tense, asect and odal auiliary usage.
This sees to be an area oI graar hich has alays gained the greatest
interest in language learning. e can say ith little Iear oI eaggeration
that learning a language is to a very large degree learning ho to oerate
the verbal Iors oI that language.
In Modern English, as ell as in any other languages, verbal Iors
ily not only subtle shades oI tie distinction but serve Ior other
uroses, too they are also oIten arked Ior erson and nuber, Ior
ood, voice and asect.
The graatical categories oI the English verb Iind their eression
in synthetical and analytical Iors. The Iorative eleents eressing
these categories are: graZZatical affidesA inner inflection and function
aords? Soe categories have only synthetical Iors eTersonA nuZ_erfA
others only analytical evoice distinctionf? There are also categories
eressed by both synthetical and analytical Iors eZoodA tiZeA asTectf?
e generally distinguish finite and non5finite Iors oI the verb.
The graatical nature oI the Iinite Iors ay be characterised by
the Iolloing si oositions ith reIerence to:
a) erson > read = = be reads
b) nuber She reads = The]
read She aas = = The]
aere
c) tie relations > arite = = > arote >
arite h = > shall arite
d) ood >f he ^noas it noa = = >f he ^nea
it noa
e) The asective
character oI the
verb
She aas dancing for half an hour
(durative asect) : : She danced
gracefull] (coon asect)
I) voice
distinctions:
active
ie invited hiZ = = be aas
invited U asêd = = > aas asêd
The non-Iinites (verbids) are: the InIinitives, the erunds and the
Particiles. The Iolloing, Ior instance, are the non-Iinites oI the regular
verb to Taint=
Non-rogressive
InIinitive
active assive
active erIect
assive
erIect
to Taint to _e
Tainted to have
Tainted to have
_een Tainted
Progressive InIinitive active active
erIect
to _e Tainting to
have _een
Tainting
erund active
assive
active erIect
assive
erIect
Tainting _eing
Tainted having
Tainted having
_een Tainted
Particile:
Present PerIect
Past
active
assive
active
assive
Tainting _eing
Tainted having
Tainted having
_een Tainted
Tainted
Verbal Iors denoting tie relations are called tenses. The to
concets tie and tense should be ket clearly aart. The Iorer is
coon to all languages, the latter varies Iro language to language and
is the linguistic eression oI tie relations so Iar as these are indicated in
any given Ior.
Tie is universally conceived as having one diension only, thus
caable oI being reresented by one straight line. The ain divisions ay
be arranged in the Iolloing ay:
ast present_______________________-future
Or, in other ords, tie is divided into to arts, the ast and the Iuture, the oint oI
division being the resent oent, hich, like a atheatical oint, has no diension, but
is continually oving to the right in our Iigure. These are the riary divisions oI tie.
Under each oI the to divisions oI inIinite tie e ay reIer to soe oint as lying either
beIore or aIter the ain oint oI hich e are actually seaking. These ay be reIerred to
as the secondary divisions.
It sees ractical to reresent the to divisions as Iollos:
The Present Tense: She aor^s and studies aith enthusiasZ? She is
reading?
The Past Tense: The] continued their aa]? The] aere
sTeaîng ahen > caZe in?
The Future Tense: > shall coZe to see ]ou to5Zorroa? ihat
aill ]ou _e doing at fives
100
The secondary divisions oI tie are eressed by the Present PerIect,
Past PerIect and uture PerIect Tenses.
The Present PerIect: She has aritten a letter to her friend?
> have _een aorîng for tao hours?
The Past PerIect: be had _een _ac^ soZe tao Zonths _efore >
saa hiZ? > asêd hiZ ahat he had _een doing
since > saa hiZ last?
The uture PerIect: be aill have finished his aor^ _] that tiZe? w]
the first of Ia] > shall have _een aorîng
here for ]earsA (alost out oI use).
Each tense has naturally its characteristic tie range, though every
tense eets coetition Iro other tenses ithin its characteristic range.
These colicated distinctions, hich in seech are ade autoatically
ithout thinking, ay be ell resented in ters oI binary oositions.
These oositions have a characteristic structure oI the Zarêd
unZarêd ter tye alays in their Iunctions, and soeties in their
Iors. And this ill ustiIy labelling the in ters oI a ositive
characteristic contrasted ith its absence (the unarked ter). Such are
the contrasts hich oerate throughout the range oI the conugation and
Iree indeendent variables:
(a) non5Trogressive Trogressive econtinuousfh
(b) non5Terfective 5Terfectiveh
(c) 5Tassive eactivef Tassive?
The rogressive (continuous), as a ositive ter in a contrast,
indicates, here necessary, to the Iact that an action is thought oI as
having (having had or to have) duration or rogression. The erIective
adds a ositive ilication oI p_eing in a state resulting froZ having?..
indicates that the action is thought oI as having conseuences in or being
teorarily continuous ith a noa or pthenp (ast or Iuture).
There are to tyes oI inIlection in the conugation oI the English verb
the aea^ and the strong? The eak class corises all the verbs in the
language ecet about one hundred. This is the only living tye elove
lovedlovedh aorâorêdaorêdf? All ne verbs are knon to be
inIlected eak. Many verbs, once strong, have becoe holly or artially
eak. The eak tye oI inIlection is uch siler no than it once as,
but older regularities have leIt traces behind, so that there are still a
nuber oI non-standard verb Iors in Modern English.
In older English, the voel oI the tense and articiial suIIi as
soeties suressed, hich led to the shortening oI a long root voel:
saeeTA saeTth leaveA lefth etc.
In a nuber oI verbs ending in 5d the 5ded oI the ast tense and
articile is contracted to 5t= _endA _enth _uildA _uilth etc.
In soe verbs ending in 5d and 5t the suIIi is droed, leaving the
resent and the ast tense and ast articile alike: cut (resent), cut
(ast), cut (ast articile). There are a large nuber oI such verbs:
101
_id (ake an oIIer), _urstA castA costA cutA hitA hurtA letA TutA ridA setA shedA
shutA slitA sTlitA sTreadA thrust? Soe oI these verbs: _idA _urstA letA slitA are
strong verbs hich have been dran into this class under the inIluence oI
their Iinal 5d or 5t? Alongside oI the literary Iors _urstA _urstA _urst are
the collouial and oular Iors _ustA _ustedA _ustedA hich have becoe
esecially coon in the eaning to _rea^? In a Ie cases e use either
the Iull or the contracted Ior: _etA _et or _ettedA _et or _ettedh ^nitA
^nitted or ^nith ouitA ouit or ouittedA ouit or ouittedh shredA shredded or
shredA shredded or shredh saeatA saeat or saeatedA saeat or saeatedh
aedA aedded or aedA aedded or aedh aetA aet or aettedA aet or aetted?
The coound _roadcast is soeties regular: _roadcastA _roadcastedA
_roadcasted? In Aerican English e say sTitA sTitA sTitA but in England
the arts are sTitA sTatA sTat? In the literary language the British Iors are
no oIten used also in Aerica. In older English, the list oI the short eak
Iors as longer, as attested by their survival in certain adective
articiles: pa dread foeAp but pThe goe aas dreadedpA proast ZeatAp _ut
pThe Zeat aas roasted?p The etensive use oI these short Iors is in art
elained by the Iact that in the third erson singular the 5s oI the resent
tense distinguishes the to tenses: he hits (resent) hardh he hit (ast)
hard? Elsehere e gather the eaning Iro the situation. As the ast
tense is the tense oI descrition, there is here usually soething in the
situation that akes the thought clear. As this sile tye oI inIlection is
usually not unclear, it is sreading to the strong ast, hich in loose
collouial or oular seech no oIten has the sae voel as the resent
tense: be give (instead oI gavef it to Ze ]esterda]?
In a nuber oI ords ending in 5l or 5n the ending is either 5ed or 5t,
the latter esecially in England: sTellA sTelled or sTelth learnA learned or
learnth etc.
bad and Zade are contracted Iro haved and Zaêd?
In a large nuber oI ords the diIIerence oI voel beteen the
resent and the ast gives the the aearance oI strong verbs, but the
ast tense ending 5t or 5d arks the as eak: _ringA _roughth tellA toldh
etc.
The rocess oI regularising strong verbs, hich has likeise been
going on Ior centuries, continues to relace irregular Iors by ore
noral ones.
Thus, Ior instance, on consulting the Concise ndford \ictionar] in its
1964 edition e Iind the ast tense oI the verb thrive given as:
pthrove rarel] thrivedp and the ast articile as pthrivenA rarel]
thrived?p This is in Iact outdated, and the oosite is already the case
hether in the soken or ritten language.
The verb to _et is also oIten regularised aithp _ettedp ore and ore
used Ior the ast tense and ast articile, hereas in earlier decades the
noral Ior as p_etp in each case.
It ill be interesting to consult three diIIerent dictionaries Ior the
Iors oI this verb:
(1) The Concise ndford \ictionar] (1950 edition) gives only p_etp as
ast tense and ast articile.
(2) The Shorter ndford Xnglish \ictionar] (1958) gives p_etpA also
p_ettedp?
102
(3) The Concise ndford Xnglish \ictionar] (1964 edition) gives only
p_etA _ettedp Ior the to Iors resectively
1
.
The coon devices Ior verb-aking in Modern English are: 1)
aIIiation, 2) conversion, 3) verb-adverb cobination, 4) backIoration,
5) coosition.
A secial interest attaches to such single linguistic units as: _ring uTA
_rea^ uTA coZe inA go doanA get overA get uTA get outA Zaê outA Zaê uTA
etc. In actual seech they ay aear ith their to arts Iolloing each
other or searated by one or ore other eleents oI the structure oI hich
they are a art.
orations oI this kind are not recognised as single graatical units
by all graarians soe call the verb-adverb cobinations
2
. They
have also been called searable verbs
3
, erged verbs
4
, searable
coounds
5
, coound verbs
6
and oly-ord verbs
7
.
There sees no sall ustiIication Ior adoting . N. rancis' ter
searable verbs hich is eant to bring out both graatical ualities
oI these verbs: a) that they Iunction as single arts oI seech, and b) that
their to arts ay be searated Iro each other by intervening eleents.
Such verbs, though oIten collouial, add an idioatic oer to the
language and enable it to eress various subtle distinctions oI thought
and eaning.
A great any odern verbs have been coined aIter this attern: to _oil
doanA to go underA to hang onA to _ac^ doanA to oan uTA to taê overA to
run acrossA to taê uTA etc. It is to be noted that Iigurative cobinations oI
this tye eress a verbal idea ore Iorcibly and ore icturesuely than
the literal ord-cobination.
Cf? drive aaa] x _anish
coZe a_out xhaTTen
coZe _] x acouire
fall out x disagree
give in ]ield
êeT on continue
loo^ after x tend
Tass out faint
Tull out ~ deTart
Tut uT tolerate
ouiet doan x diZinish
taê off x reZove
1
See= B. o s t e r. The Changing English Language. reat Britain, 1971.
2
See: R. . andvoort. A Handbook oI English raar. London, 1963, . 275
3
. N. rancis. The Structure oI Aerican English. Ne York, 1958, 265
4
. R. i k e n. A Ne Plan oI English raar, 1933, cited in M. Bryant. A
unctional English raar. Boston, 1947, . 208
5
. O. Cure. Princiles and Practice oI English raar. Ne York, 1947, . 24
6
.rattan and P. urrey. Our Living Language. London-Ne York, 1953, . 80
7
E. . Stevick. The iIIerent Preosition. Aerican Seech, 1950, . 214.
103
taê in deceive
turn in x go to _ed
turn u
T
xhaTTen
The unity oI the to arts oI searable verbs ay be ell illustrated by
nuerous eales. Let us take the Iolloing sentence: be dran^ uT the
Zil^? In a conventional sense, uT ight be an adverb signiIying direction,
or it ight be a reosition introducing the hrase uT the ZilÂ but this
akes no sense at all. The only anser is that to drin^ uT is a single
linguistic unit. UT in this construction serves to intensiIy the action, and
coes to be synonyous ith the adverb coletely. In usage, these
verbs Iunction as noral single-ones ecet that they are searable.
Eales like this ay easily be ultilied.
To distinguish beteen the reositional eleent and the ordinary
adverbial adunct coare also the Iolloing:
eaf be ran uT a hill?
e_f be ran uT a _ill?
e cannot Iail to see that uT in (a) and (b) has uite distinct Iunctions.
The diIIerence ill be observed in the seuence oI the eleents. e
can say be ran a _ill uTA but e can hardly say be ran a hill uT? II e
substitute a hill and a _ill by a ronoun, the seuence oI the ronoun and
the ostositional eleent is Iied and contrastive. e ay say only:
eaf be ran uT it? ea hillf
e_f be ran it uT? ea _illf
. The contrasting atterns that aear hen it is substituted can be best
illustrated as ansers to uestions:
eaf ihere did the _ill coZe froZs be ran it uT?
e_f boa did he cliZ_ that hills be ran uT it?
Abiguity ay arise, at least in ritten language, hen the osition oI
uT is Iinal but this abiguity is generally resolved by intonation. There is
usually a diIIerence oI stress as, Ior instance, in a relative clause, here
deending on the contet e ay contrast:
eaf The hill he 'ran uT?
e_f The _ill he ran 'uT?
In the Iirst there is nuclear stress on runA in the second on uT?
Siilar contrasts ill be seen in such eales as:
eaf The Tassenger flea in the Tlane?
e_f The Tilot flea in the Tlane?
or: The Tilot flea the Tlane inA but not: The Tassenger flea the Tlane in?
Cf? (a) The Tassenger flea in it?
(b) The Tilot flea it in?
Observations oI the idioatic character oI searable verbs and their
stylistic value give every reason to say that they ossess, as A. . K e n -
0%&
n e d y has it
1
, a certain aount oI arth and colour and Iire hich the
colder, ore iersonal, ore highly secialised sile verb lacks. As
such they are cooner in collouial than in other varieties oI English.
The student ay learn graar and, ith tie, acuire an adeuate
vocabulary, but ithout a orking knoledge oI such idios as to get uTA
to loo^ uTA to loo^ throughA to loo^ overA to call onA to call forA to get onA to
get alongA to Zaê uTA to Zaê forA etc., his seech reains akard and
stilted
2
.
In English graars oI conventional tye the adverbial Iorative
eleent in such coound verbs is oIten called a reosition-like
adverb. But there sees no sall ustiIication Ior adoting the ter
ostosition to suersede the Iorer
3
. Aong ostositions the
Iolloing are ost roductive: a_outA aaa]A doanA forthA inA offA overA out
and uT?
There are iortant treatents oI the uestion ade by Y. hluktenko
4
here these searable eleents are reIerred to as ostositional
orhees:
a) verbs ith ostositional orhees retaining their riary local
eaning: coZe inA go outA go doanA fl] offA saeeT aaa]A etc.
b) verbs ith ostositional orhees having a Iigurative eaning:
_oil doan (ymonnxrn), taê off (sannxrn niny), taê uT (sanonnmnarn
coom), get along (ocxrarn ycnixy), sTea^ aaa] (saronopnrnct), etc.
c) verbs ith ostositional orhees intensiIying the verb or
iarting the erIective sense to its eaning, e. g.: eat uTA rise uTA saalloa
uTA etc.
d) verbs hose eaning can hardly be derived Iro their searable
coonent arts, e. g.: _ear out (nirnepxynarnct), give in (ycrynarn),
give uT (noxnarn), "# a_out (rpannxrnct), turn uT (rpannxrnct).
It is interesting to note that English verbs ith hoonyic reIies
and ostositions ill alays diIIer in their eaning.
Coare the Iolloing: uTset nepenepnyrn, nepexnnyrn set uT
opranisynarn, ncranonnrn uThold nirpnmarn hold uT rpnmarn
oropn, sarpnmynarn.
THE STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONS OF THE ENGLISH VERB
In the ultilicity oI ays in hich verbs can be cobined in actual
usage distinction ust reasonably be ade beteen notional or Iully
leical verbs and Iunction-verbs.
òtional verbs are used indeendently as Iull ords oI the
vocabulary. Such are all English verbs besides odal verbs and a Ie
others.
Used as function5aords verbs are vital signals indicating the
connection that is to be understood beteen leical ords. It is not that
they
1
. K e n n e d y. The Modern English Verb-Adverb Cobination. StanIord Univ.
Press, CaliIornia. 1920.
2
R. ion. Essential Idio in English. Ne York, 1951.
3
See= . . n r a n o , H. H. H n a n o n a, H. H. Ho]nx. Conpemennt
anrnncxn xstx. ., 1956, 68.
1
. . n y x r e n x o . O rax nastnaemtx cnoxntx rnaronax rnna stand uT
n conpemennom anrnncxom xstxe. onpoct xstxosnannx, 1954, No 5, p. 105.
105
have 'no eaning, but that they have a secial kind oI eaning, soeties
called structural eaning. They serve riarily to sho graatical
Iunctions rather than to bear leical eanings and ay be used as:
a) auiliaries and halI-auiliaries
b) coulas, or link-verbs
c) substitute verbs
d) reresenting verbs
e) verb-intensiIiers.
The verbs _eA haveA doA letA shalllshould ay Iunction as auiliary
verbs aking u analytical Iors in the conugation oI the English verb.
Lin^5ver_s are verbs oI incolete redication in so-called noinal
redicates, denoting a certain state or uality oI the subect. The link-verb
has no indeendent eaning, its Iunction is to connect the subect ith the
redicative and to eress all the graatical categories oI the Iinite verb:
erson, nuber, ood, asect, tense and voice.
Besides the verb to do Iunctioning as an ehatic auiliary, there are
graatical idios ith the verb-intensiIier to go Iolloed by the Iinite
verb-Iors, e. g.:
Present Tense
Non-ehatic Ehatic
ih] do ]ou sa] such
thingss
ih] do ]ou go and sa] such
thingss
Past Indefinite
be did it? be aent and did it?
Present Perfect
be has caught it? be has gone and caught it?
Past Perfect
be had caught it? be had gone and caught it?
In various contets oI their use such graatical idios can ily
irrelevance or uneectedness oI the action associated ith surrise,
erleity, disleasure or indignation, deending on the consituation.
bis gre] e]es aould _rood over the gre] aater under the gre] s^]h and in
his Zind the Zar^ aould fall? >t fell aith a _uZT on the eleventh of
manuar] ahen the French went and occupied t!e 9u!r. (alsorthy)
eaent and occuTied x occuTied???f
p>f ]ou're Iaster IurdstonepA said the lad]A hy do you go and give
another naZeA firstsp (ickens)
eah] do ]ou go and give??? xah] do ]ou give???f
be Zustn't catch cold the doctor had declaredA and he !ad gone
and caught it? (alsorthy)
eshe had gone and caught it he had caught itf
Coare the graatical idios ith the verbs cmorpert and
nsxrt in Russian, nnnrnct and nsxrn in Ukrainian:
Russian: 0&#$'A ne nporonopnct
106
0&#$'A ne pase
1
on %8*&# n paccxaxer.
@8*&' n paccxaxn.
Ukrainian: @81% i sponn %81% i posxasan.
A secial kind oI aIIective graatical idio ill be Iound in atterns
ith the ing5forZ Iolloing the verb to go hen the latter does not signiIy
otion either but is used idioatically to intensiIy the eaning oI the
notional verb, e. g.:
be goes frightening TeoTle aith his stories?
p> shall see ]ou again _efore longA Z] _o]kp he said? /on't you go
paying an] attention to ahat >'ve _een sa]ing a_out ]oung wosinne] ~ >
don't _elieve a aord of itkp (alsorthy)
maZes aas alarZed? pnh' ', he saidA don't go saying > said it aas to
coZe doank > ^noa nothing a_out it? (alsorthy)
You'll go burning ]our fingers investing ]our Zone] in liZeA and
things ]ou ^noa nothing a_out? (alsorthy)
/on't go putting on an] airs aith Ze? (Mitchell)
There is a natural tendency in any language to develo its eotional
and aIIective eans oI eression.
There are not only oints oI coincidence here but seciIic Ieatures
characteristic oI any given language ith its on atterns oI Iorations
and its on tye oI structural units.
MOO
It is a ell-knon Iact that the roble oI the category oI ood, i. e.
the distinction beteen the real and the unreal eressed by the
corresonding Iors oI the verb, is one oI the ost controversial robles
oI English theoretical graar. The ain theoretical diIIiculty is due (1)
to the coeistence in Modern English oI both synthetical and analytical
Iors oI the verb ith the sae graatical eaning oI irreality and (2)
to the Iact that there are verbal Iors hoonyous ith the Past
IndeIinite and Past PerIect oI the Indicative Mood hich are eloyed to
eress irreality. Another diIIiculty consists in distinguishing the
analytical Iors oI the Subunctive ith the auiliaries shouldA aouldA
Za] eZightfA hich are devoid oI any leical eaning, Iro the
hoonyous verb grous in hich these verbs have reserved their
leical eaning.
The nuber oI oods in English is also one oI the still unsettled
robles. Older rescritive graar, besides the three coonly
knon oods, recognised a Iourth the InIinitive Mood. Many authors
oI English scientiIic graars divide the Subunctive Mood into several
oods, such as the Subunctive roer (eressed by the synthetic Iors),
the Conditional Mood (eressed by the cobinations oI should and
aould lus inIinitive in the rincial clause), the Perissive and
Coulsive Moods (eressed by the cobinations oI the inIinitive ith
other odal verbs: see the selections Iro Seet's graar). The notion
oI the
1
See= . . B a x m a r o n . Cnnraxcnc pyccxoro xstxa. H., 1941, . 233234.
0%@
Conditional Mood has becoe uite oular ith soe Soviet
graarians ho soeties add to ore Obliue Moods, the
Suositional and Subunctive II, the rincile oI division being based on
the tendency to ascribe to each oI the Iors oI the subunctive a seciIic
graatical eaning.
Mood, closely related to the roble oI odality, is generally deIined
as a graatical category eressing the relation oI the action to reality as
stated by the seaker. The distinction beteen the real and the unreal,
eressed by the corresonding Iors oI the verb, is one oI the disutable
robles oI English graar.
The analysis oI the category ade by soe graarians is based
largely on the historical and coarative considerations and oIten orked
out along notional lines.
Thus, Ior instance, M. eutschbein in his S]steZ der neuenglischen
S]ntad distinguishes 4 ain oods: der Rogitativus, der Otativus, der
Voluntativus, der Eectativus. As suboods he entions: der
Indikativus, der Irrealis, der Potentialis, der Konessivus, der Neessarius,
der Perissivus, der ubitativus, etc.
e could robably tabulate even a ore detailed, iI not ehaustive,
schee oI all the varieties oI subective odality in English. Such a
schee ould be based on the attitudes oI the seaker's ind, i. e. on the
Iact that the contents oI the counication can be related odally to the
subect as, Ior instance, asserted (Indicative Mood) as intensiIying the
assertion (Ehatic Mood) as coelled (Coulsive Mood) as
eritted (Perissive Mood) as desired (Otative Mood), as ability
(Potential Mood), etc., etc. But such a tabulated survey ould, indeed,
becoe too colicated.
raarians are not agreed as to the Iors oI the Subunctive Mood.
Soe oI the recognise only synthetic Iors (O. esersen, Ior instance),
others include here also verb-hrases oI analytical structure ith all odal
verbs.
O. esersen criticises M. eutschbein ointing out that it ould be
ossible to subdivide the given schee Iurther into to grous: the Iirst
ith 11 oods, containing an eleent oI aillA the second ith 9 oods,
containing no eleent oI aill? There are indeed any oods iI one
leaves the saIe ground oI verbal Iors actually Iound in a language.
The ost coon vie is that in Modern English there are three
oods, Indicative, Subunctive and Ierative hich kee distinct in
English in the sae clear ay as in any other languages.
The Iors corised in the Indicative Mood are used to resent
redication as reality, as a Iact. The redication need not necessarily be
true but the seaker resents it as being so. It is not relevant Ior the
urose oI our graatical analysis to account Ior the ultiate truth or
untruth oI a stateent ith its redicate eressed by a verb. This cannot
aIIect the eaning oI the graatical Ior as such. In ters oI graar,
it is iortant to identiIy the Iunction oI the category in the given
utterance.
0%>
The Ierative, like the Indicative, has the sae Ior as the base oI
the verb the sae is true oI the Present Indicative (ecet the third erson
singular) and oI the hole oI the Present Subunctive. These Iors ill
eeliIy aradigatic hoonyy in English orhology.
The Ierative Mood serves to eress reuests hich in diIIerent
contets ay range Iro categorical order or coand to entreaties. The
necessary eaning is generally signalled by the contet and intonation.
The Ierative Mood roer is used only in the second ersons singular
and lural. This Ior is used in address to one or ore ersons, ordering
or instructing the to carry out the action oI the verb.
The graatical subect oI the Ierative Mood is not Iorally
indicated but, hen occasion deands, this is generally done by using the
ronoun beIore or aIter the verb. Verb-atterns ith ronouns have secial
aIIective connotation ith Iine shades oI eotional distinctions, such as:
intensity or ehasis, anger, annoyance, iatience or scorn, etc.: (1) She
has _een ouite a successA and don't ]ou forget itk (2) }ou sit still over
therek (3) CoZe along ever]_od]? (4) \on't ]ou go telling Iother a_out itk
(5) [nd don't ]ou _e forgetting a_out it?
Patterns ith the aended aill ]ou eress a less categorical
coand, soeties a reuest. A reuest or invitation ay be Iorulated
ith aon't ]ou?
Ehasis ay be roduced by utting the intensiIying do? It is a
colourIul ehatic Ior, encouraging iI the intonation attern is a dro
beteen level tones, easerated iI there is tone oveent on the last
syllable. The Iors ith let diIIer in their Iunctions according to erson,
beteen alost urely hortatory in the Iirst erson lural eLet's _egin noaf
and various shades oI the erissive and otative in other ersons, as in:
Let her helT ]ouk Let hiZ stud] regularl]k Let theZ reTeat the edTeriZentk
In atterning the verb let sees to be rather on the borders oI graar
and leis arginal as an oerator, it can be Iolloed by the inIinitive, but
negates by the use oI don't and is Iolloed by an obect laced beteen it
and the leical verb, e. g.:
nhA don't let's have it againk (alsorthy)
The use oI the auiliary do in negative Iors ith the auiliary verb
let in collouial English is not inIreuent.
Considered in Iunction, ood ay cover various seantic sheres.
or and Iunction, hoever, are not alays clearly distinct. As e shall
Iurther see, the Indicative Mood ay be transosed into the shere oI the
Ierative, as in: }ou aill leave this house at once??? }ou aill aait hereA
and ]ou'll _e carefulk
The Ierative Mood ay take over the Iunction oI the Subunctive
Mood, e. g.:
Sa] ahat ]ou aillA > shall have Z] oan aa]? Sa]
ahat ]ou aouldA > should have Z] oan aa]? Cf?
S,G' 73CA 1 #9! %!$F?
109
The Ioral ark oI the Subunctive is the absence oI inIlection Ior the
third erson singular ecet in the verb to _eA here it has Iull
conugation. In oint oI Iact, in Modern English the Subunctive is alost
out oI use. The only regular survival oI the non-ast Subunctive ill be
Iound in elevated rose, in slogans, in a nuber oI standardised hrases,
ostly oI a Iorula character hich Iunction as sense-units and
ractically do not serve as substitution Iraes in the ordinary ay oI
graatical Iors, e. g.: So _e it? Long live Teace and friendshiT aZong
nationsk CoZe ahat Za]k we ahat Za]k Suffice it to sa]? In other
sentence-atterns the non-ast Subunctive is otional and can alternate
ith the Indicative. This alternation hoever is not indiIIerent to style, the
Subunctive being decidedly ore reIerential and ore Ioral than the
Indicative verb.
In the non-ast Subunctive is very seldo used, the Past Subunctive
is so uch ore restricted that in resent-day English belongs only to the
verb to _e? The only Past Subunctive Ior is aere and even this is
distinctive only in the Iirst and third ersons singular. e generally Iind it
in atterns ith subordinate clauses denoting either reected hyothesis or
unIulIilled ishes, e. g?= > aish > aere a child? >f > aere ]ou??? [s if he aere
aith us?
iere can alternate ith the Indicative verb-Ior. There is a groing
tendency in Modern English to relace it by aasA esecially in non-Ioral
style and in conversation. Coare:
ForZal st]le òn5forZal st]le
I] father suggested that I] father suggested that
Z] cousin sta] aith us? Z] cousin Zight sta] aith
>f > aere healthierA > us?
aould travel Zore fre5 >f > aas healthierA >
ouentl]? aould???
It is interesting to note that ith the use oI inversion Ior hyothesis the
Subunctive is obligatory. This is Iairly coon in Ioral reIerential
English, e. g., iere he to coZe to5Zorroa ae should invite hiZ to the
conference?
Mention should be ade about a surrising reversion hich has taken
lace during the last tenty years in the artial revival oI seciIically
subunctive Iors oI verbs. The Subunctive Mood as used etensively
in Old English, as in classical Latin and Modern eran. As is knon,
since the Middle English eriod, hoever, it has been sloly dying out, its
lace being taken by coound verb-Iors ith auiliaries eshouldA
ZightA etc.). The only really Iirly established subunctive Ior surviving
in English in the nineteen-thirties as aereh it as (and still is noral Ior
standard English to use aere and not aas in a closed conditional clause,
as in >f he aere hereA ae should certainl] _e a_le to see hiZ ehe is not
heref? There ere other subunctive survivals in soradic use (as in if it _e
sofA but these all sounded a triIle literary and aIIected. uring and aIter the
ar, hoever, as Ch. Barber
1
oints out, subunctive Iors increased in
Ireuency, esecially in the ritten language this sees to have begun in
the language oI adinistration, and sread
1
See= Ch. Barber. Linguistic Change in Present-ay English. 1964, . 133.
110
Iro there to the literary language. The Iors used are third-erson
singular ones ithout inIleion, as in > insist that he do ith it aas essential
that he Zaê a choice (here do is used instead oI does or shall doA and
Zaê instead oI should Zaêf? Sentences oI this tye (esecially the Iirst)
are also soeties heard in seech. It is etreely unlikely, hoever, that
there is going to be any serious long-ter revival oI the subunctive
Iors the resent develoent is robably only a assing tendency. II it
has any long-ter signiIicance, this is likely to be not a revival oI the
subunctive, but an eroding aay oI the third-singular inIleion by
accustoing eole to Iors like he do and he Zaê these usages ay
reare the ay Ior the ultiate disaearance oI he does and he
Zaês? This, aIter al l, ould be the natural continuation oI the historical
rocess in the resent sile all inIleions, ecet the third singular 5sA
have been lost and it ould be uite natural to eect the rocess to
continue, to have only one Ior all through the tense (7 aalÂ ]ou aalÂ
he aalÂ ae aalÂ the] aal^f?
MODAL VERBS
There are nine odal verbs in Modern English: ZustA canlcouldA
Za]lZightA shalllshouldA ailllaouldA dareA needA ought and let? A large
variety oI their use is one oI the ost striking asects oI the resent-day
English graar.
The ultilicity oI ays in hich odal verbs ay be cobined in
actual usage erits a very large nuber oI atterns to be built in
resent-day English. ro a historical oint oI vie it is interesting to
note that any oI the are oI uite recent develoent.
Modality and tense are so intervened that in English it is hardly
ossible to cobine the as a single variable. Soe verbs Iunction
both as tense-auiliaries and as odals. It is thereIore oI riary
iortance to see the in contrast ith each other as used in diIIerent
graatical Iraes.
On diIIerent linguistic occasions a odal verb ay erIor three
diIIerent Iunctions: a) it ay be used in its original sense, b) it ay
do the duty oI a urely auiliary in analytical verbal Iors correlated
ith the corresonding sile ones ithin the liits oI the given
graatical category (the uture Tense and the Subunctive Mood), c) it
ay eaken its leical eaning hen used in odal hrases eressing
suosition, certainty or uncertainty as to the action eressed by the
notional verb.
The analysis oI odal verbs is ade rather diIIicult by other Iactors.
The oint is that their ast tense-Iors do not oIten reIer to ast tie
at al l. Such are the verbs can and Za]A shall and aillA Ior instance, hich
are not easily deIined in Ioral ters oI graar learning.
Morhologically they have the resent and the ast tense-Iors, but in
odal hrases they are not regularly used to ark tie relations.
Moreover, to indicate ast tie does not see to be their ain Iunction.
e naturally distinguish diIIerent tie relations in: eUf be can sTea^
Xnglish fluentl]
111
:: (2) be could sTea^ Xnglish fluentl] ahen he aas a _o]? But there is no
time diIIerence in any cases like the Iolloing:
eUf He may go v He mig!t go?
(2) \ar^ as the night s!all _e??? \ar^ as the night s!ould _e???
It sees reasonable to characterise the dual nature oI the odals used
in cole verbal redicates as Iollos.
Modal verbs ay Iunction as a) Iully leical verbs eressing ability,
ossibility, erission, oer, adonition, duty, obligation, need, ill or
readiness to do soething associated ith the activity oI the subect, e. g.:
nne must do one's dut]? 0an she sTea^ Xnglishs (ay > coZe ins b) odal
auiliaries oI eakened redication: ailllaouldA canlcouldA Za]lZightA
Zust and ought In this latter case they eaken their original eaning and
coe to eress suosition, logical inIerence, certainty or uncertainty
ith regard to the action eressed by the notional verb.
Coare the Iolloing:
eaf :) If I do
the thingA I aill do it
thoroughl]A _ut U must have a
free hand? (alsorthy)
e_f 1) The] tell Ze mol]on's
_ought another house??? he
must have a lot of Zone]
he must have Zore Zone]
than he ^noas ahat to do
aithk (alsorthy)
2fp> can't tell", he aould
sa]= p>t aorries Ze out of Z]
lifep? (alsorthy)
2) >t Zust _e a Zistaê? She
can't _e there alone? f pLand
oug!t to _e ver]
3) I oug!t to go there? dear a_out therepA he said?
(alsorthy)
4) (ay I coZe ins 4f > shall _e guarded? be may
throa soZe light?
(alsorthy)
e cannot Iail to see that atterns oI (a)-tye denote odal relations
beteen the doer oI the action and the action eressed by the inIinitive
atterns oI (_)-tye eress odal eanings as reIerred to the hole
utterance.
The ultiIarious use oI odal verbs in their secondary Iunction has
becoe an eIIective eans to eress subtle shades oI suositional
odality. Constructional hoonyy and synonyity in this art oI
English graar deserve our articular attention.
Zust u >nfinitive
In its riary Iunction Zust is used to eress duty or obligation in
various degrees. In this eaning it ay reIer to the Iuture. The idea oI ast
tie is knon to be eressed erihrastically by had to or aas toA and
negation by needn't?
112
In its secondary Iunction Zust is never used to eress suosition
ith reIerence to an action in the Iuture, it is not used in negative
sentences either. hen used to denote suosition Zust ay be Iolloed
by both InIinitive I and InIinitive II. In atterns ith the InIinitive I the
given action and the suosition eressed about it coincide in tie, e. g. :
be must be soZeahere here?
Iust Iolloed by the InIinitive II ill denote:
a) suosition at resent ith regard to an action erIored in the
ast, e g.:
[ rough estiZate of the rate of cooling and groath of the solid crust of
our glo_e indicates that the cooling Trocess must !ae be gun several
_illion ]ears ago?
b) suosition in the ast ith reIerence to a rior ast action, e. g.:
be _est grasTedA on that first readingA the Tain his father must have
had in ariting such a letter? (alsorthy)
nne night he had _een thinîng of his ZotherA and her Ticture in the
draaing5rooZ doanstairsA and thought she must have loed saeet
Florence _etter than his father didA to have held her in her arZs ahen she
felt that she aas d]ing for even heA her _rotherA aho had such dear love
for herA could have no greater aish than that? (ickens)
It is to be observed that Zust used in its secondary Iunction ith
InIinitive II oIten denotes such a strong certainty ith regard to the action
erIored in the ast that sees to aroach the corresonding verbal
Ior oI the Indicative Mood as its stylistic synony denoting a real action
in the ast ith secial ehasis laid uon its realisation. The contet ill
alays be elicit enough to ake the eaning clear.
A corresonding negative eaning is generally eressed by can't
InIinitive II. Cf?= (1) There must !ae been a hundred TeoTle in the hall?
(2) There can't !ae been a hundred TeoTle in the hall?
Za]lZight u >nfinitive
In its riary Iunction Za] is knon to eress erission or
ossibility ith reIerence to both resent and Iuture tie. hen it reIers to
the resent, it is oIten relaced by can? A secial idioatic use ill be
Iound in ihat Za] that Zeans This is used to ask (oIten sarcastically)
about the intended eaning oI the revious seaker and is synonyous
ith ihat do ]ou Zean _] thats
In its secondary Iunction Za] >nfinitive > ill denote suosition at
resent ith regard to a resent or Iuture action, e. g.: be Za] _e ouite at
a loss noa? }ou should helT hiZ?
Iight >nfinitive > used according to the seuence oI tenses ay
ily the sae eaning, as, Ior instance, in atterns ith Iree reorted
seech: [nd noa that Cicel] had ZarriedA she mig!t be !aing children
too? (alsorthy)
113
Ia] 4- >nfinitive >> ilies suosition at resent about the ossibility
oI an action in the ast, e. g.: Several ver] striîng love ToeZs may !ae
been written _] \ante in the earl] da]s of his edile?
Iight >nfinitive >> in its secondary Iunction ill generally denote a
suosition hich is contrary to a real state oI things. ReIerence to the
resent ill be ade by atterns ith InIinitive I, reIerence to the ast
by InIinitive II.
An interesting develoent oI recent years is the occasional use oI
Za] have (as ell as Zight havef as euivalent oI could have hen it is
knon that the envisaged outcoe did not occur, e. g.: bad a claiZ _een
Zade ahen the accident occurredA ]ou may aell !ae recoered
su_stantial daZages
1
.
canlcould u >nfinitive
Can >nfinitive > is not so liited in its use as the verb Za]? Used in
its riary Iunction can ay denote:
a) ability: be can sTea^ French? Siilarly ith reIerence to the ast:
She could sTea^ French? She could _e ver] înd at tiZes? In this sense
Iuturity is generally indicated by aill _e a_le to?
b) characteristic soradic Ieatures or behaviour, oIten in a disaraging
or derogatory sense. In ters oI synonyy, this use oI can ay be
coared ith aill >nfinitive indicating regular characteristic behaviour.
Here also belong atterns ith inaniate subects, e. g.: >nattention
can result in regretta_le Zistaês? cractice can do a lot of good?
c) erission to do soething. In this sense it is relaceable by its
stylistic synony Za] hich is ore reIerential, ore Ioral, e. g.:
}ou can do as ]ou choose?
}ou can leave noa?
Cf? }ou may leave noa?
Care should be taken to distinguish beteen such negative Iors as can't
ecannotf and can not? }ou can't coZe diIIers Iro }ou can not coZe? The
Iirst says that it is not ossible Ior you to coe, the second that it is
ossible Ior you not to coe.
d) sensation, e. g?= 0an ]ou see an]thing in the dar^s raar books
oIten characterise the use oI the verb can ith verbs oI ercetion as
eressing the ability to have eerience. This, hoever, ust be taken
ith soe reservation. hen, Ior instance, e say > can see or > could see
e are generally not reIerring to our ability to see but to the actual Iact that
e have at this oent the sensation. Eales like these ill be Iound in
nubers. Here is one oI the: ber TerforZanceA she feltA aas interesting
to the gudgeA the gur]A and all those TeoTle thereA ahoZ she could diZl]
see? (alsorthy)
The use oI the verb can in its secondary Iunction is ost Ireuent
1
See= B. Strang. Modern English Structure. London, 1964, . 150.
114
in interrogative and negative sentences denoting incredibility ith regard
to the action eressed by the inIinitive.
Can u >nfinitive > denotes incredibility ith reIerence to the resent or
Iuture, e. g.: There's soZething aZiss here? The] can't be waiting there?
Can >nfinitive >> ill ily incredibility at resent ith regard to
soe action erIored in the ast, e. g?= piellA aill ]ou tell Ze then that's
the state of Zind in ]our circleh and ]ou saidA ]ou ^noaA that ]our circle is
less free and eas] than the Tlaintiffs hoa it is Tossi_le that such aords
as 'she hasn't a Zoral a_out her' can !ae done the Tlaintiff an] harZsp'
(alsorthy)
The use oI the verb could in its secondary Iunction ill resent to
hoonyie atterns:
a) could >nfinitive > or >> eloyed instead oI can >nfinitive > or >>
because oI the seuence oI the tenses and b) could >nfinitive > eressing
suosition ith reIerence to a Iuture action, e. g.: nhA noA she could not
_etra] hiZ? That aould _e aaful? Cf? syn.: nhA noA she cannot _etra] hiZ?
That aould _e aaful? ecannot >nfinitive intensiIies suosition and is
decidedly ore ehatic).
Could >nfinitive >> is a coon device to eress suosition or
doubt ith regard to soe occurrence in the ast, e. g.: She could not !ae
been Zore than taent] at that tiZe? (anpx un yno intme nanxrn
poxin). There aas dust ever]ahereA the rooZ could not have _een cleaned
for aee^s? (alsorthy) (Cxpist yn nnn, n ximnari, moxnnno, ne
npnnpann xintxa rnxnin). Coare the use oI hoonyic atterns ith
could >nfinitive >> in its riary Iunction.
In secial contets oI their use such odal hrases ay have secial
aIIective connotation. This is shon by intonation atterns in seech and
grahic arks oI unctuation in riting, e. g.:
ihat could she !ae seen in that felloa wosinne] to send her Zads
(Bo nona snamna n ntomy Focnni, mo nin snin s posymy)
(alsorthy)
pnhkp cried FleurA pihat did ]ou ahat could ]ou !ae done in
those old da]ssp (Bo x rn sponn, mo mir rn sponrn n ri anexi ni)
(alsorthy)
Fleur tore herself froZ his grasT?
p}ou didn't ]ou couldn't !ae tried?
}ou ]ou _etra]ed ZeA Fatherp? (alsorthy)
CoZeA darlingA _etter go to _ed? >'ll Zaê it uT to ]ouA soZehoa? boa
fatuousk wui ahat could he have saids (...icenirni cnona. ne mo nin mir
cxasarn) (alsorthy)
Constructional hoonyy in atterns ith odal verbs ust not
escae the notice oI the student.
Coare also the Iolloing:
a) bad he ^noan a_out b) I] Zother once Zar5
it he could !ae !elped ]ou ried aithout love? boa could
]esterda] ecould have she havek (alsorthy)
helTed a non-Iact). ecould have Zarried a real
action in the ast)
115
should u >nfinitive
Should in its riary eaning, esecially hen stressed, denotes
obligation, duty or roriety, e. g?= > thin^ ]ou should helT hiZ? }ou
should _e Zore attentive?
Besides its use as a odal auiliary in the Subunctive Mood, should is
idely current in its secondary Iunctions here its distributional eaning
resents secial diIIiculties oI graatical analysis.
The Iirst to be entioned here are such atterns ilying logical
inIerence as: be should _e a good Tilot as he has had Tlent] of fl]ing
edTerience? The tao should have so Zuch in coZZon? In both the
sentences the ilication is that soething should or ought to be the case
according to aearances or logic.
The range oI should is ider in that5clauses than in indeendent
sentences. ith a governing eression resolving the abiguity, its use
has naturally etended to that5clauses ilying deterination, desire,
coand, etc. hether in the aIIirative or in the negative, hether Iro
the oint oI vie oI the seaker or riter or Iro that oI soe erson
soken about.
The use oI should of dut] and TroTriet] stands in shar contrast to the
use oI should in that5clauses ith eressions oI eotion, e. g.: p> aZ
surTrised ~ > Zight sa]A shocêd - that ]ou should have Zentioned
thisp here should sees to suggest soething that is the very oosite to
duty or roriety.
There is a siilar contrast beteen should oI logical inIerence and
should ith eressions oI eotion, hich aears Iro the Iact that a
sentence ith should takes on an altogether diIIerent eaning iI it is
connected ith an eression oI eotion, as, Ior eale, }ou tao should
have so Zuch in coZZonA coared ith > aZ surTrised that ]ou tao
should have so Zuch in coZZon? In a contet in hich the Iorer sentence
is valid, the latter ould ake no sense. The sae considerations aly,
the ain, to eressions oI disbelieI, as, Ior eale, ???it is iZTossi_le
that he should fail here should suggests logical inIerence but in a
negative ay.
It is iortant to observe the diIIerentiation oI eaning in atterns like
the Iolloing: }ou should aor^ harder v }ou shall aor^ harder? The
Iorer is not a straightIorard coand. It is ore iersonal than ''}ou
shall aor^ harderp in so Iar as it reIers to a coon standard oI roriety
and not to the ill oI the seaker, but it is ore ersonal than this hrase
because it suggests a thoughtIul, not to say syathetic, state oI ind. In
oint oI Iact, }ou s!ouldp is eaker and generally ore courteous than
the brusue and dictatorial p}ou s!allp? It does not Iorce the seaker's ill
uon the hearer in the sae ay as p}ou shallp does. II e say p}ou
should aor^ harderpA e robably ish you to ut soe ore energy into
your ork, but e do not Iind it necessary to tell you so straight out. e
are suggesting, considerately, the resence oI necessity, duty, or
obligation, but e are concerned not to give you the iression that e are
iosing it uon you. II the thing is to be done, it is not because e ish it
but because it is reuired by a general standard oI roriety or obligation, a
standard that ay aly to everybody.
116
The verb should in all ersons has its ost characteristic use in
atterns here the odal hrase eresses a real action ith ehasis
laid on the Iact that it does or did take lace. Variant subtle shades oI
subective odal Iorce in giving one's oinion oI an actual Iact are
generally signalled by the contet.
The ouestion of the Tresent state and further TrosTects of
international trade is one of great ZoZents to all countries and it aas
therefore onl] logical that it s!ould !ae receied suc! close attention at
the Council Zeeting?
eshould have received x has receivedf
That science in the USSH s!ould !ae attained so !ig! a leel of
deelopment is _ut natural?
eshould have attained has attainedf
The use oI should V
inI
is Iairly coon in assing a udgeent oI an
ehatic eotional character (subective evaluation, aroval or
disaroval, surrise or indignation) on soe occurrence.
Thus, it is strange that he edercised (or has edercisedf so great
influence erely states the Iact, hereas: >t is strange that he should
edercise (or s!ould !ae e5ercised) so great influence lays ore stress on
the strangeness oI the action. Siilarly: p>t is strange that !e s!ould
be!ae li#e t!at" is synonyous ith p>t is strange that he _ehaves liê
that?p
It sees ractical to distinguish the Iolloing uses:
a)should V
inI
in cole sentences, e. g.:
ndd that one ahose life aas sTent in _ringing to the Tu_lic e]e all the
Trivate coils of TroTert]A the doZestic disagreeZents of othersA s!ould
dread so utterl] the Tu_lic e]e turned on his oanh and ]et not oddA for
aho should ^noa so aell as he the ahole unfeeling Trocess of legal
regulation? (alsorthy)
eodd that one should dread odd that one dreadsf >t aas a
ZonstrousA scandalous thingA that the Tolice s!ould ta#e such idleA
Zalicious gossiT seriousl]? (oyce)
eshould taê ~ too^f
>t did Zatter that soZe Terson or soZe TrinciTle outside oneself
s!ould be more precious than oneself? (alsorthy)
eshould _e Zore Trecious is Zore Treciousf
???The idea that Yeorge s!ould have taste alZost aTTalled hiZ?
(alsorthy)
eshould have taste has tastef
>t is _ut right that she s!ould see the doctor once in a ahile? (Cronin)
eshould see seesf
b)should V
inI
in sentences ith ah] and hoaA e. g.:
pnhA daZn itkp he edclaiZedA half angril]A half selfcoZZiseratingl]A in
coZ_ined rage and shaZe? "%!y s!ould I cry' ihat the devil's the
Zatter aith ZeA an]hoasp (reiser)
wut if nothing ZatteredA w!y s!ould !e feel li#e thats (alsorthy)
117
c) should V
inI
in inIinitival sentences, e. g.:
???To thin^ that !er fine, wonderful .ran# s!ould be compelled to
come to t!is to cr]k
aill u >nfinitive
Patterns ith the verb aill in its secondary Iunction ay be coared
ith the analogous use oI the verb Zust? In its odal content aill sees to
be ore subective and ilies a suosition based not uon soe Iacts
but rather uon the seaker's on considerations, e. g.: p>t's not liê mol]on
to _e latekp he said to >reneA aith uncontrolla_le vedation? p> suTTose it'll
_e mune êeTing hiZkp (alsorthy)
The verb aill in such cases ust naturally Iollo the rule oI the
seuence oI tenses, hich is the case, Ior instance, in contets ith the
Iree reorted seech, e. g.: mon would _e in London _] noa in carÂ
TerhaTsA crossing the SerTentine? (alsorthy)
Patterns ith aill >nfinitive >>A rather coon in collouial use,
ily suosition ith reIerence to a ast action logically connected ith
the resent. In its graatical content aill >nfinitive >> goes arallel ith
the analogous eaning eressed by Za] >nfinitive >>A e. g.: The] have
_een here soZe tiZe? Iar] will !ae ta#en the children to the cineZa?
eCf? s]n? iill have taên Za] have taên has Tro_a_l] taênf?
Net coe atterns ith aould u >nfinitive > or >> hich ily
suosition ade at resent ith regard to soe action in the ast, e. g.:
There aere \ornifords ahen > aas a girl? ihere aas thats nhk [lgecirask
be aas a colonel at Yi_raltar? pThat would be his fatherA > edTectp?
(alsorthy) In ters oI eaning, such atterns go arallel ith the use
oI the Past Tense eaould _e his father x aas his fatherA > suTTosef?
Collouial use has coaratively recently adoted the use oI I
wouldn't #now Ior I don't #now, he would #now for heA certainl]A #nows,
e.g.: "If Yeorge is therepA said iinifredA phe would #now"? (alsorthy)
VOICE
*ctie = = ;assie
in t!e $nglis! <oice System
Languages diIIer greatly in their idiosyncrasies, i. e. in the Iors hich
they have adoted, in the eculiarities oI their usages in the cobinative
oer oI ords and idioatic Iors oI graar eculiar to that language
and not generally Iound in other languages.
ro this oint oI vie the category oI voice resents a secial
linguistic interest. Passive constructions lay an iortant art in the
English verb-syste. Modern English, esecially in its later eriods, has
develoed the use oI assive Iorations to a very great etent.
As a graatical category voice is the Ior oI the verb hich shos
the relation beteen the action and its subect indicating hether the
action is erIored by the subect or asses on to it. Accordingly there are
to voices in English: the active and the assive. The active voice shos
that the action is erIored by its subect, that the subect is the
118
doer oI the action. The Tassive voice shos that the subect is acted uon,
that it is the reciient oI the action, e.g.:
> arote a letter? [ letter aas aritten _] Ze?
TransIorational relations Ior voice ay be sybolised as Iollos: N
1

V
act
N
2
N
2
V
ass
by N
1
The choice oI the assive construction is oIten due to the Iact that the
agent is unknon or the seaker reIers not to seak oI hi.
Soeties the agent is droed altogether hen it is unknon, ell
knos or uniortant. Only the assive akes this econoy ossible.
The assive voice is knon to be eressed by analytic cobinations
oI the auiliary verb _e ith the ast articile oI the notional verb.
Another assive, Iored ith get as auiliary and the ast articile,
sees to be increasing in Ireuency, though graarians are at resent
not agreed as to its status.
The verb get can Iunction in a anner very siilar ith _eA e. g.: I]
dress got caught on a nail? be got struc^ _] a stone?
To get sees closer to the true assive auiliary to _e in atterns like
the Iolloing: She got _laZed for ever]thing? She gets teased _] the other
children? be gets Tunished regularl]? But ith all the siilarity oI the to
verbs used in such atterns get is unlike _e in the riary aradig. e
can say, Ior instance, be gets Tunished regularl]A but e shall hardly attest
Yets he Tunished regularl]s
It should be noted that to get is oIten used in reIerence to the verb to
_e because the true assive ould not be clearly distinguishable Iro
cobinations oI the Iull redicator _e and articiial adective
coleents.
Coare to be Zarried and to get Zarried? As is knon, to _e Zarried
can have to eanings: opyxnrncx and yrn opyxennm hile to
get Zarried is unabiguous: it can ean only pto arrive at the Zarried
statep?
The grou to _ecoZe ast articile eresses riarily state, e. g.:
1) The uZ_rella is not a Tossession lightl] to _e lost? }et lost it _ecoZes
although it should not? 2f > have _ecoZe ver] sun_urnt?
escribing the voice syste in English structural graarians oIten
lay ehasis on the Iact that voice, hich theoretically indicates hether
the subect acts (active voice), is acted on (assive voice), erIors the
action Ior itselI (dynaic voice), or acts on itselI (reIleive voice), is
relatively uniortant in English. The assive voice is accordingly
regarded as a ord-order device Ior giving ehasis to hat ould
norally be inner or outer coleents. H. hitehall, Ior instance, akes
reIerence to ords Ioring the inner and outer coleents oI the
standard sentence by the use oI assive constructions.
The ords to be ehasised are oved to osition 1, the verb is
transIored into a ord-grou e_eA _ecoZe or get V
en
) and the original
subect (osition 1) is hooked onto the end oI the sentence by eans oI the
reosition _] (occasionally throughf=
U
U
See= H. hitehall. Structural Essentials oI English. Ne York, 1956.
119
1 2 3 4
T!e reTorter gave hiZ _oo^s
1 2 3
be aas given _oo^s _] the reTorter
1 2 3
woo^s were gien hiZ _] the reTorter
As a atter oI Iact, the counication is eactly the sae in the to
sentences given above. They reresent erely to vies oI the Iacts, one
Iro the side oI the doer, the other Iro the side oI the thing done. Ecet
Ior the ord order, the Ior oI the verb, and the reosition _] they are
the sae.
It sees ractical to ake distinction beteen a) direct or TriZar]
TassiveA b) indirect or secondar] Tassive and c) tertiar] or TreTositional
Tassive
1
.
The direct eTriZar]f Tassive is Iored in ost cases Iro transitive
verbs. The subect oI the assive construction generally corresonds to the
direct obect oI the verb.
> arote a letter? [ letter aas aritten _] Ze?
urther eales oI such Iorations ill be Iound in atterns knon
in traditional graar as the Noinative ith the InIinitive, e. g.:
The] aere not alloaed to sta] here?
be is said to _e Zost diligent?
The direct assive is Iairly coon in sentence-atterns ith the
anticiatory itA e. g.:
>t aas agreed that ae should Zaê such edTeriZents in the oTen air?
>t aas arranged that the edTedition should start aithout dela]?
Syntactic structures ith the direct assive have a high Ireuency
value but there are certain restrictions in their use conditioned by the
graatical organisation oI the sentence:
a) the assive construction is iossible, Ior instance, hen the direct
obect is eressed, a reIleive ronoun or a noun ith a ossessive
ronoun reIerring to the sae erson as the subect oI the sentence, as in:
be hurt hiZself? ceter hurt his arZ?
b) there are no assive Iors in such hrasal verbs as, Ior instance, to
taê TartA to taê courageA to taê flightA to taê alarZA to lose heartA to
taê heart and still others.
Certain hrases oI this sort, hoever, adit oI a assive construction,
e. g.: to lose sight ofA to taê careA to taê resTonsi_ilit]A to Ta] attention
and soe others, e. g:
ò resTonsi_ilit] is taên for the loss of Tersonal TroTert] (hotel
notice).
[ttention Zust _e Taid to the results of the first edTeriZent?
Such things should not _e lost sight of?
On account oI the inIinite variety oI leical eanings inherent in verbs
the structural relations beteen verbs and their obects are so Ileible that
to dra a rigid line oI dearcation beteen the diIIerent tyes oI obects
is, indeed, not an easy thing to d.
1
See= E. Kruisinga. A Handbook oI Present-ay English. V. 2, . 2, . 1 Martin oos.
The English Verb. The University oI isconsin Press, 1964, . 9495.
120
Relations beteen verbs and their obects vary according to the variant
eanings oI the verbs theselves as seen in the Iolloing instances given
by H. Seet: îll the calfA îll the tiZeA run a risÂ run a _usinessA ansaer
a letterA a ouestionA a TersonA Ta] the _illA Ta] sid shillingsA Ta] the
ca_ZanA fill a TiTeA fill an officeA etc., etc.
A eculiarity oI constitution hardly to be aralleled in other Euroean
languages ill be Iound in sentence atterns ith diIIerent kind oI the
indirect or secondary assive.
There are a nuber oI verbs hich take to obects a direct and an
indirect obect. The Iolloing are ost Ireuent aong the: to alloaA to
asÂ to aaardA to giveA to grantA to leaveA to offerA to TroZiseA to sendA to
shoaA to teachA to tell?
These verbs adit oI to assive constructions:
a) [ _oo^ aas given to hiZ (the direct riary assive)
b) be aas given a _oo^ (the indirect secondary assive)
The indirect (secondary) assive is not inIreuent in verb-hrases ith
the verb to giveA such as: to give creditA to give coZZandA to give a
chanceA to give a choiceA to give an edTlanationA to give an oTTortunit]A to
give ordersA to give shelterA and the like.
be aas given a good to chance to argue?
She is given an oTTortunit] to go to the south in suZZer?
SuTToseA ]ou are given a choice? ihat aould ]ou Trefers
There are any verbs in English hich take a direct and an indirect
obect in the active construction, but they adit only one assive
construction the direct assive, e. g.: to _ringA to doA to Tla]A to
telegraTh and any others. The list could be etended. Other verbs are not
reversed in articular turns oI eaning. Thus, have has no assive hen it
is statal, as in: She has gold hair?
Net coe constructions ith the so-called reositional or tertiary-
assive. hat in the active is the obect oI a reosition connected ith a
verb or ith a verb and its obect ay be ade the subect oI a assive
construction. The subect oI the assive construction corresonds to the
reositional obect. This detached reosition retains its lace aIter the
verb. ailiar eales are:
be aas sent for and taên care of?
She could not _ear _eing read to an] longer?
be is not to _e relied uTon?
The reositional assive is not used ith verbs hich take to
obects, direct and reositional: to edTlain soZething to soZe_od]A to
Toint outA to announceA to dedicateA to devoteA to sa]A to suggestA to
TroToseA etc. They can have only a direct construction, e. g.: The difficult]
aas edTlained to theZ? The Zistaê to the rule aas Tointed out to the Zan?
[ nea5Tlan aas suggested to us?
The reositional assive is not very Ireuent in occurrence. Its use is
coon ith rather a liited nuber oI verbs, such as:
1) verbs oI saying: to sTea^ a_out eofA tofA to tal^ a_out eoffA to
coZZent onA etc., e. g.:
The nea Tla] aas Zuch sToên of?
121
2) verbs eressing scorn or contet: to froan atA to laugh atA to
Zoc^ atA to geer atA to sneer atA etc., e. g.:
This idea aas first geered at?
be could not understand ah] his aords aere laughed at?
3) a iscellaneous grou oI verbs, such as: to loo^ atA to loo^ uTon
eonfA to loo^ afterA to loo^ forA to aTTrove edisaTTrovef ofA to account forA
to send forA to rel] onA to thin^ ofA e. g.:
be aas sent for and taên care of?
bere is >rene to _e thought of?
Observe, hoever, that the assive construction ith the retained
obect (or reaining accusative) has liits and is iossible ith
articular verbs or articular obects, e. g.: e can say psoZething aas
fetched ZepA but scarcely > aas fetched soZethingp? On the other hand,
pThe trou_le aas sTared Zep is not so natural as p > aas sTared the
trou_lep? Possibilities are soeties ever ore liited e. g.: e cannot
say either I aas cost nothingp or pòthing aas cost Ze?p
Certain verbs oI reoval and eclusion (such as: _anishA edTelA
dischangeA egectA edcludeA edileA for_idf governing to obects are used
chieIly in the assive, e. g.:
be aas _anished the realZ? be aas disZissed the service?
The] have _een edTelled froZ the school?
The inIinitive as a second obect is Iound ith a nuber oI verbs, such
as: alloaA asÂ _egA _eseechA _idA coZZandA coZTelA declareA entreatA feelA
forceA encourageA inclineA induceA ^noaA leadA ZaêA orderA o_serveA
TersuadeA Tra]A TreferA TerceiveA TresuZeA TronounceA seeA teachA
understandA aishA etc.
In ters oI graatical asects oI style, the useIulness oI the assive
erits secial consideration.
The ore Ioral reIerential character oI assive verbal Iors as
coared to the active voice akes it ossible to use the Ior stylistic
uroses, as, Ior instance, . alsorthy asterly does in transIerring to
his ages the atoshere oI stiIIness and cold restraint Ielt at une's treat
dinner:
\inner _egan in silenceh the aoZen facing one anotherA and the Zen?
>n silence the souT aas finished edcellentA if a little thic^h and fish aas
_rought? >n silence it aas handed???
wosinne] ventured= p>t's the first sTring da]p?
>rene echoed softl]= p}es the first sTring da]p?
pSTringkp said mune= pthere isn't a _reath of airkp ò one reTlied?
The fish aas taên aaa]A a fine fresh sole froZ \over? [nd wilson
_rought chaZTagneA a _ottle saathed around the nec^ aith ahite?
SoaZes said= p}ou'll find it dr]p?
Cutlets aere handedA each Tin^ frilled a_out the legs? The] aere
refused _u muneA and silence fell?
SoaZes said= p}ou'd _etter taê a cutletA muneh there's nothing
coZingp?
wut mune again refusedA so the] aere _orne aaa]? [nd then >rene
asêd= pchilA have ]ou heard Z] _lac^_irdsp?
wosinne] ansaered= pHather he's got a hunting5song? [s > caZe
round > heard hiZ in the souarep?
122
pbe's such a darlingkp
pSaladA sirsp STring chicên aas reZoved? wut SoaZes aas sTeaîng=
pThe asTaragus is ver] Toor? wosinne]A glass of Sherr] aith ]our saeets
muneA ]ou're drinîng nothingkp
Passive-voice Iors are bulkier than coon-voice Iors and here
there is no real reason to use assives active verb-Iors are generally
reIerable. But assive Iors are oIten uite eIIective. Soeties hat
ould be the subect oI an active Ior sees uniortant or is only
vaguely identiIiable.
The old house has _een torn doan?
ie've _een locêd out again?
Soeties hat ould be the subect oI an active Ior is iortant,
and is included in the clause, but Ior valid rhetorical reasons sees better
as coleent oI agency than as subect.
The college aas founded _] the local coZZittee?
be'll alaa]s _e doZinated _] his aife?
hen the assive is an inIinitive or gerund its use soeties eliinates
akard subect constructions.
Xver]one liês to _e liêd?
ie resented _eing treated liê that?
In iersonal ritten styles, the assive oIten serves as a ay oI
keeing the riter out oI sight. Eales are nuerous. Here are soe oI
the.
eaf The naZes of such Zusicians have _een Zentioned elseahere?
e_f The iZTortance of o_servations in this field has alaa]s _een
eZThasised?
Passive constructions are oIten reIerred to as stilted, indirect and cold,
iersonal and evasive. To give its critics their due, the assive, hen in
large doses, can indeed be onderous stuIIy and bulkier than the active.
ith all this it is used over and over by best stylists in rose oen to none
oI the receding obections. This is because it can be ost iortant and
useIul to shiIt the centre oI counication creating, according to
circustances, varied and eIIective sentences.
Students ill Iind it helIul to reeber that Iro the oint oI vie oI
adeuate translation into Ukrainian the English assive Iors ay be
subdivided into three grous:
a) those translated by eans oI active verbal Iors ith indeIinite
ersonal or iersonal sentences, e. g.:
1. }ou are aanted on the
Thone?
1. ac npocxrt o rene]ony.
t? iere ]ou told to aait for
hiZs
2. am cxasann nouexarn na
ntoro
? She is regarded as the
_est student?
3. nnaxamrt
naxpamom cryenrxom.
? ie are not alloaed to use a
dictionar]?
4. am ne osnonxmrt
xopncrynarncx cnonnnxom.
123
5. P is not to _e distur_ed on
an] account?
5. He rpea oro xoxnn
pas rypynarn.
6? > aas sure the students
aould _e called in?
6. yn nennn, mo
cryenrin sanpocxrt.
7. ihose fault that aas aill
never _e ^noan?
7. ixonn ne ye niomo,
unx ne yna nomnnxa.
8. be is said to have helTed
]ou ver] Zuch?
8. Kaxyrt, mo nin nam yxe
onomir.
1. }ou are aanted on the
Thone?
t? iere ]ou told to aait for
hiZs
1. nn vous deZande au
tlThone?
2. Vous a5t5on dit de
l'attendres
3. ie are not alloaed to use
a dictionar]?
3. nn ne nous TerZet Tas de
nous servir d'un dictionaire?
4. be is not to _e distur_ed
on an] account?
? >l ne faut le dranger sous
aucun Trtedte?
5? > aas sure the students
aould _e called in?
5 m'tais sr ou'on ferait venir
les tudiants?
6. boa far he aas
resTonsi_le aill never _e
^noan?
6. nn ne saura gaZais ouelle
fut la Tart de sa
resTonsa_ilit?
b) those translated by using the verb-Iors oI the iddle voice, e. g.:
1. This letter can _e Tronounced
in tao aa]s?
1. Hx yxna nnmonnxcrtcx
noxxo.
Cf? rench: Cette lettre se Trononce de deud faons?
t? This oualit] is not often Zet
aith?
2. Taxe ne uacro sycrpiuacrtcx.
Cf? rench: Cette oualit se rencontre rareZent?
c) those translated by the corresonding assive Ior oI the verb, e.
g.:
òthing aas said? iuoro ne yno cxasano.
d) atterns ith the assive verb-Iors hich can be translated only
by the corresonding active ones because oI the leical character oI the
verb and restrictions in the use oI the ast articile oI soe verbs in our
other tongue, e. g.:
}oung mol]on saa that he had
_een recognisedA even _]
iinifredA aho could not have
_een Zore than fifteen
onon xonion
sposymin, mo oro
nnisnana nanirt Vini]pe
a yno ne intme
n'xrnanxrn po-
124
ahen he had forfeited the xin, xonn nin nrparnn npano right to
_e considered a For5 nasnnarnct uopcarom. s]te?
(alsorthy)
To su u in brieI, the Ireuency value oI assive constructions in
English is due to a nuber oI reasons. Ehasis ill be laid on the
Iolloing:
a) There are, in Iact, no eans in English to avoid the indication oI the
doer oI the action in active constructions.
In other languages there are secial uses oI the active ithout
indicating the agent. Such are, Ior instance, indeIinite-ersonal sentences
in Russian and Ukrainian ith the redicate-verb in the 3rd erson lural
but ithout eact relevance to the doer oI the action.
The indeIinite ronoun one and occasionally the ersonal ronouns aeA
]ou and the]A as ell as the noun TeoTleA ay be used in this eaning. But
Ior soe reason or other the use oI such sentence-atterns sees to be
restricted, and English instead oIten shos here a arked reIerence oI
assive constructions.
b) Variation in the use oI diIIerent tyes oI assive turns eisting in
English lends variety to seech. Although soe oI the are soehat
restricted in use, they still contribute to the Ireuency value oI the assive
in general.
Substitutes for ;assie
As in other languages assive eaning can Iind its eression not only
in the aradigatic Iors oI the verb. There are other techniues in
English hich can serve this urose. There is alays a selective ay in
the distribution oI various eans adated to this urose in each case. The
eriheral eleents oI the assive Iield in Modern English are:
1) get-assive.
1) verb-hrases ith the sei-coulative verbs _ecoZeA standA restA and
goA e. g.:
> have _ecoZe sun_urnt?
be stands TreTared to disTute it?
ie rest assured?
The] go arZed?
3) active verb-Iors ith reIleive ronouns, e. g.:
it sees itselfh it Zanifests itselfA it disTla]s itselfA etc.
1
4)
syntactic atterns oI causative eaning, e. g.: be had his
Thoto taên? > aent it done? See the letters delivered?
5) inIinitival hrases: a thing to do x a thing to _e doneh
the house to letA a _oo^ to readA etc.
6) gerundial hrases:
The house needs reTairing?
1
Pronoinal atterns oI this tye are soeties reIerred to as seantic or syntactic
assive. Cf? rench: Cela se voith cet air se chante Tartouth cette toffe se lave _ien?
125
I] shoes aant Zending?
7) hrasal verbs oI analytical structure.
8) reositional noun-hrases.
Phrasal-verbs oI analytical structure tye VN Iunction ith rather a
high Ireuency value as stylistic alternatives oI _-assive and get5
Tassive? A Ie tyical eales are given belo. Others ill readily occur
to the student.
to find edTression to _e edTressed
to find favour to _e favoured
to find reflection to _e reflected
to find suTTort to _e suTTorted
to find solution to _e solved
to ain recognition to _e recognised
to gain resTect to _e resTected
to get Tu_licit] to _e Tu_lished
to receive a stud] to _e studied
to receive criticisZ to _e criticised
to receive recognition to _e recognised
to receive TunishZent to get Tunished
In inIinite cases such Iorations verge on the uasi-graatical and
serve, in Iact, rather graatical than leical uroses. They carry
graatical inIoration oI voice distinction, oreover, this is oIten the
doinant Ieature oI their linguistic status revealed ith suIIicient evidence
in regular Oositional relations beteen sile and hrasal verbs and
beteen hrasal verbs theselves. The relevance oI any hrasal verbs to
the voice-Iield is ost obvious. Coare:
[ctive cassive
to attend to Ta] attention to receive attention
to helT to give helT to find helT
to suTTort to lend suTTort to find suTTort
to offend to give offence to suffer offence
to credit to give credence to find credence
to defeat to inflict a defeat to suffer a defeat
to Tu_lish to give Tu_licit] to get Tu_licit]
Phrasal verbs aroach analytical Iors: one oI the coonents has
leical eaning, the second, a Iunction verb, is seantically deleted and
coes to Iunction as a sei-coulative verb. In their linguistic status
hrasal verbs reain, in Iact, on the borderline beteen synta and
orhology. The rocess oI converting notional ords into leico-
graatical orhees is ost active in this area.
Verbs hich are art oI such analytical structures diIIer seantically.
Soe oI the are synonyically related in the English vocabulary
irresective oI the contet. Others are synonyous only in cobination
ith certain nounal coonents.
to gain attention to get attention to receive attentionh to ain
recognition to get recognition to receive recognition
to gain recognition?
126
Most Ireuent are such verbs as: getA o_tainA receiveA findA gainA ainA
undergo?
e also Iind here such verbs as: achieveA attainA earnA escaTeA
deZandA claiZA reouireA sufferA endureA deserveA Zerit?
Overlaing oI Oositional relations oI voice and asect is not
inIreuent. Consider the Iolloing Ior illustration:
[ctive cassive
Coon Asect Inchoative Asect
to susTect to fall under susTicion
to desTise to fall into conteZTt
to o_serve to fall under o_servation
Actions oI Single Occurrence
[ctive [ctive cassive
to laugh to give a laugh to receive a laugh to e]e to
give the e]e to get the e]e
to hug to give a hug to receive a hug
In such leico-graatical oositions one eber (the arked
eber) signals the resence oI the asectual eaning, hile the
unarked eber ay either signal absence oI arked eaning or
else be noncoittal as to its absence or resence.
These tao voluZes coZTrised all the short stories he had arittenA and
ahich had received or aere receiving serial Tu_lication? (London)
òt _eing as attractive as \o]leA it aas not so eas] for hiZ to ain the
attention of girls? (reiser)
She aas a coldA self5centred aoZanA aith Zan] a thought of her oan
ahich never found edTressionA not even _] so Zuch as the glint of an e]e?
(reiser)
There is a close arallel to this develoent in other languages. Such
structural eleents in the English verbal syste erit consideration not
only in ters oI their synonyic correlation ith a sile verb oI siilar
eaning. orations oI this kind are ost evidently relevant to the
roble oI covert graar, ilicit redication, in articular.
Synonyic correlation oI sile and hrasal verbs oI kindred eaning
erits attention in diIIerent sheres oI usage. Such linguistic units are
organically related and constantly aiding to and suorting each other in
counication. And this is Iairly universal. The choice beteen sile
and hrasal verbs redeterines to a great etent the structural attern oI
the sentence
U
? Consituation and considerations oI style in the noinal-
verbal contrast ill generally deterine the selection oI graatical
Iors in the organisation oI the essage.
Eaine the graatical organisation oI the tet in the Iolloing
sentences ith noinality adated to its urose in each case:
1
See= . . n p e c x n . 3xcnepnmenrantnoe nccneonanne cemanrnxn
pyccxoro rnarona. ., 1967.
127
Xver]one aas out in their Sla_ SouareA TeraZ_ulating to eit!er get or
gie t!e eye, TerhaTs in an odd ZoZent stoTTing to hear a fea aords of
adZonition froZ Sall]'s [rZ]??? (Sillitoe)
Haing gien and receied anot!er !ug, he Zounted the aindoa
seatA and tucîng his legs under hiZ aatched her unTac^? (alsorthy)
This last aas t!e s!oc# =on receied coZing thus on his Zother?
(alsorthy)
The sTeed aith ahich moe aorêd won (artin's admiration. (London)
The assive Iield includes also atterns ith reositional noun-
hrases Iunctioning as substitutes Ior ordinary assive Iors oI the verb.
orations oI this kind contribute signiIicantly to the develoent oI
graatical synonyy in sentence structure. In such syntactic atterns e
Iind, Ior instance, noinal hrases ith the reositions a_oveA atA
_e]ondA inA onA out ofA TastA underA aithinA aithout? A Ie tyical eales
are:
beyond _eliefA _e]ond TardonA _e]ond eor Tastf cureA _e]ond dou_tA
_e]ond disTuteA _e]ond edTressionA _e]ond edTectationA _e]ond grasTA
_e]ond helTA _e]ond all ZeasureA _e]ond TraiseA _e]ond TriceA _e]ond
ouestionA _e]ond reTairA _e]ond recognitionA _e]ond reachA _e]ond
ea_ovef susTicionA _e]ond aordsA in useA in TrintA out of useA in ouestionA
on saleA under considerationA under controlA under discussionA under
reTairA under suTervisionA etc.
???mune had taice _een to tea there under t!e c!aperonage of aunt.
(alsorthy)
nutside the riverA and out of sig!t he slacêned his Tace still Zore?
(alsorthy)
???She reZained under t!e care of /octor T!oroug!good until [ugust
the fifteenth? (Cronin)
???he ran his _eaZing e]es over Iartin's second5_est suitA ahich aas
also his aorst suitA and ahich was ragged and past repair. (London)
Unconsciousl] he a_sor_ed her ThilosoTh]? >nder !er guidance !e
was learning to cultivate the suTerficialniceties and let the deeTer things
go hang? (Cronin)
The assive eaning oI the hrase is generally signalled by the
contet, the leical eaning oI the subect in articular. Coare the
Iolloing:
(a) children in charge of a nurse children are taên care ofh
(b) a nurse in charge of children v a nurse taês care of children?
unctional siilarity oI structures ith noinal hrases and those
ith assive Iors oI the verb is uite obvious.
a_ove criticisZ too great to _e criticised
_e]ond reTair too old to _e reTaired
aithout hearing near enough to _e heard
_e]ond all Zeasure too large to _e Zeasured
out of use no longer used
under his guidance guided _] hiZ the
house is under construe5 the house is _eing _uilt
tion
128
Chapter VI
ENGLISH VERB-FORMS AND THEIR PATTERN-VALUE
Tie-distinctions Iind their eression in verb-Iors. English
graatical terinology has a secial ord tense to indicate tie at
hich an action or state is vieed as haening or eisting. The seaker's
subective use oI distinctions oI Tie dran in accordance ith the
conventions oI the language is naturally riary in iortance.
The syste oI the English verb oIIers its on diIIiculties Ior a Ioreign
student to aster. The ost troublesoe robles are concentrated in the
area oI the Iinite verb, and include, in articular, tense, asect, and odal
auiliary usage.
The coonents oI graatical eanings in actual verb-Iors are
oIten not so searable as it ight be suggested. TenseA Zood and asTect
aear to be closely entined. The ters tense5asTect or, say, tense5Zood
see thereIore Iully ustiIied. e can hardly say that there are ure tenses,
ure oods or ure asects to or three oI these kinds oI eaning are
alays insearably resent in any given verb Ior. This ill be ade clear
iI e identiIy the tense-Iors by seciIying their characteristic sentence-
Iunctions and look at the contrasting atterns rather than contrasting Iors.
A aor uestion in learning the graar oI the English verb is
thereIore to look Ior the diIIerence oI distribution in various contets,
linguistic or situational, here each verb-Ior occurs.
istinction ust be ade beteen aradigatic (riary) and
syntagatical (secondary) eanings oI graatical Iors, in other
ords, beteen its denotative and connotative eanings.
In the oer oI connotation oI graatical Iors lies the reserve Iorce
oI language. raatical iagery lays such a considerable role in the
Ioral arrangeent oI units oI seech as to deserve our articular
attention.
The study oI verb-Iors ust reasonably include their Iunctional
transositions here e distinguish: a) Ioral conventional transositions
in Iied atterns oI graatical usage and b) eressive transositions Ior
stylistic uroses. The Iorer are stylistically unarked and eotionally
neutral the latter are arked and have a stylistic value.
THE PRESENT TENSE
In the ractice oI erhas all languages the idea oI pnoap eans a tie
ith areciable duration the length oI hich varies greatly ith the
contet. It is iortant only that the theoretical ero-oint should Iall
ithin
137
the eriod alluded to. The verb-Ior itselI does not ily the length oI
duration beIore or aIter the resent oent covering a very ide range oI
eaning as ell as eression oI interittent occurrences. The ilied
contet, linguistic or situational, is all that can be considered relevant.
The ultile olyseantic essence oI the resent tense erits close
attention as ost directly relevant to the roble oI synonyy in
graar.
In these ters, the resent tense ay be characterised by distinguishing
the inclusive and eclusive resent. The Iirst ill include:
1) the actual resent denoting an action occurring at the oent oI
seaking or riting. I see an aeroTlane? The teacher aants to sTea^ to ]ou?
> love ]ou?
Here belong also author's ords, stage rearks, coents in
nesaers, etc., e. g.: Yoes _ehind the screen? nTens the door? well rings?
2) the neutral resent used hen no articular tie is thought oI
deending on the contet it ay indicate:
a) soething that is alays true, e. g.: The sun rises in the east
(generalising resent)
b) actions eranently characterising the subect, e. g.: Fleur does
ahat she liês (ualitative resent)
c) ability to do soething, e. g.: She sTea^s three languages? eShe can
sTea^ three languagesf?
The neutral resent is also used in giving a deIinition or stating a rule.
This ay be called resent oI deIinition, e. g.: iater freeqes _eloa qero?
As a atter oI Iact, in such cases an action or state denoted by the
resent tense can be reIerred to any shere oI tie: resent, ast or Iuture.
Herein lies robably the reason oI the Iact that the Ireuency value oI this
verbal Ior is considerably higher in scientiIic English than in ordinary
use.
3) the iterative resent reIers to an action reeated at intervals, the
reetition being usually indicated by an adunct like ever] da]A taice
aee^l]A alaa]sA etc., e. g.: I get uT at eight ever] da]? This TaTer aTTears
taice aee^l]? ie alaa]s go to the seaside in suZZer?
In ters oI odern linguistics, the resent tense is oIten characterised
negatively, i. e. as the Ior used hen there is no ositive reason Ior the
use oI the ast, Iuture, or the subunctive or any other cole conugation
Ior. As the unarked ite in the conugation oI the English verb, it is
then called the neutral or non5Tast of the ver_
1
. And this angle oI vie is
not devoid oI soe logical Ioundations.
The syntagatic eanings oI the eclusive resent ay be illustrated
by its use: a) aith future tiZe referenceA b) aith the iZTlication of a Tast
actionA c) aith iZTerative Zodal force?
This ay be shon diagraatically:
See= B. S t r a n g. Modern English Structure. London, 1964, . 127.
138
The Present Tense
The TriZar] denotative Zeaning
(Inclusive Present)
af > see an airTlane
_f > love ]ou?
I. Indicative Modality
c) eneralising Present
The sun rises in the east?
d) Iterative Present >
alaa]s go to the
South in suZZer?
e) ualitative Present
She Tla]s tennis aith
innate grace?
Secondar] s]ntagZatic Zeanings
(Eclusive Present)
a) ast tie reIerence
[nd then in the night of the _anouet she aTTears
in her eZeralds??? (Mitchell)
b) Iuture tie reIerence
ie start toZorroa?
II. Ierative Modality
}ou go and see hiZ?
The resent tense recounts oI a Iuture action as vividly as iI it ere
resent.
istinction ust be ade here beteen diIIerent shades oI odal
eaning and adherent eressivity iarted to the verb-Ior by diIIerent
kind oI contets, linguistic or situational:
1) strong deterination oI the seaker to do soething or get soething
done. This is oIten the case in Iailiar seech, in eressive or otherise
ehatic style, e. g.:
II ]ou Zention herpA cried iinifredA "I go straig!t out to car^ Lane
and > don't come bac#p? (alsorthy)
p}ou Za] tr]A and tr]A and tr] againA Iessrs? \odson and FoggpA said
Ir? cicâic^ veheZentl]A p_ut not one far5thing of costs or daZages do
you eer get froZ ZeA if > sTend the rest of Z] edistence in a de_tor's
Trisonp? (ickens)
pXdaardA said Ziss IurdstonepA pLet there _e an end of this? > go
toZorroap? (ickens)
2) strong certainty oI Iuture action vieed as a logical result or
conseuence oI another given action, e. g.:
\on't go aorr]ing about hat ay never haen, or ]ou're lost?
(Lindsay)
p\raa a forZ of settleZent that Tasses all Z] TroTert] to Iiss Fleur's
children???p YradZan grated= pHather edtreZel] at ]our ageA sirh ]ou lose
controlp? (alsorthy)
Yoshk bere's a ring aith a _ig _lue diaZond? iorth four thousand
Tounds? %e're on the velvet for the rest of our lives? (Sha)
The use oI the resent tense ith the ilication oI Iuturity iarts
vivacity to seech and oIten serves stylistic uroses. And this is not
139
seciIically English. There is a close arallel to this develoent in other
Euroean languages.
A. M. Peshkovsky
1
says ith truth that in such cases the category oI the
resent tense in Russian does not lose or odiIy its eaning, but ust
actualises it in vivid and clear relieI, e. g.:
...To x noopaxam cex yxe na cnooe, nne namero oma.
nocrynam n rycapt n ny na nony. Co ncex cropon na menx necyrcx
nparn, x pasmaxnnamct cane n ynnam onoro, pyro nsmax
ynnam pyroro, rpertero... (H. Toncro)
pThat dogpA said merr]A Tointing out the old leader of the trooTA and
sTeaîng in a terri_le voice plost a halfTenn] toda]? be goes aithout
suTTerp? (ickens)
She rose to the full edtent of her Zore than ZediuZ heightA and said=
p>t has _een on Z] Zind a long tiZe dearA and if no_od] else aill tell ]ouA
> have Zade uT Z] Zind thatp p[unt bester interruTted her= pIindA
muliaA you do it pshe gasTed pon ]our oan resTonsi_ilit]kp
(alsorthy)
The resent tense ith Iuture tie reIerence is knon to be idely
current in certain tyes oI subordination. istinction ust be ade
beteen its diIIerent uses in obect subclauses here it ay be used:
a) ithout any secial eressive connotation, e. g.:
SuTTose the] coZe a fea Zinutes later?
b) ith eressive connotation or such odal shades oI eaning as:
strong deterination, certainty or assurance, e. g.:
???wut understand that if I decorate, I decorate alone, aithout
interference of an] sort? (alsorthy)
we sure that I come bac# aith good neasA and I am not long gone.
(ickens)
p???[nd do I #eep t!e c!ange'" asêd Stanle]A aho had _een given a
shilling? p> should thin^ ]ou don'tA Z] ladkp cried Turgis? (Priestly).
piellpA he saidA p> shall have to see SoaZes ???[t all events >'ll let ]ou
^noa w!at !appens ahen > sTea^ to SoaZesp? (alsorthy)
pnf courseA there's legal seTaration ae can get that? wut seTarationk
UZp pihat does it Zeansp asêd iinifred desolatel]? pThat !e can't
touc! you or you !im, you're bot! of you married and unmarried."
(alsorthy)
The use oI the resent tense ith the ilication oI Iuturity in obect
subclauses is rather a Ireuent occurrence aIter such verbs in the rincial
clause as: to _eA to careA to hoTeA to looÂ to ZindA to Tra]A to seeA etc.
pLet's hoTe t!ey stay t!ere," Iullinder said? pThe] aant to finish off
that lot once and for all this tiZe?p (Sillitoe)
The resent tense ay be Iunctionally synonyous ith the Present
PerIect. This is oIten the case in atterns ith verbs oI saying, seeing and
hearing. The resent tense is eloyed here erIectively to ily being in
a state resulting Iro having... Eales are:
Fl] over Z] cit]A little SaalloaA and tell Ze w!at you see t!ere.
(ilde)
1
See= A. M. Hemxoncxn. yccxn cnnraxcnc n nayunom ocnemennn. ., 1938.
140
I !earA ]ou couldn't aait tao aee^s for Ze? (Mitchell)
}ou've _een to SaitqerlandA t!ey tell me? (alsorthy)
ReIerence is ade here to a ast action and the seaker uses the resent
tense as though the ords had ust been soken, since he Ieels the atter
as one oI his resent interest.
See also the Iolloing eale:
p???The _o]A ahere is hesp
pbe is Tla]ing aith soZe friendsp?
piith soZe friendss iill he _e longsp
p[_out an hourp?
p[ fine little _o]? I come to sTea^ aith ]ou a_out hiZp? (ordon) (>
coZe x > have coZef?
The oosition resent-ast coes to be neutralised. The contet is
elicit enough to ake the necessary eaning clear. In such cases the
resent tense is eloyed erIectively, to ily being in a state
resulting Iro having....
This use belongs chieIly to conversation and letter riting, and is
coon only in the Iirst erson, though, ith the verb see the second
erson sees also to be erIective in such atterns as: }ou see > have
done Z] _est to helT ]ou?
The eressive eleent is ell seen in stylistic transosition oI the
resent tense ith such ast tie reIerence as given belo:
pnld Ta]lor told rather a good one at the Tu_ ]esterda]p'A he _egan? p>t
aas a? aedding in the countr]? Hather a rough croad of aedding guestsA
all aaiting for the _ride to get changed _efore the] could get stuc^ into the
_ooqe and dancing? iellA one of the guests Zanages to get into the _ride's
rooZ and he raTes her? ò arguZentsp?
àturall]A ever]_od] is ver] uTset and the _est Zan Zaês a sTeech?
be tells theZ that not a droT of _ooqe is to _e served until the arong is
righted? Xver]_od] loo^s longingl] at the _rand]A _ut not a droT can the]
get? TiZe TassesA ahen suddenl] the _est Zan coZes running in again? be
is _eaZing all over his faceA and he calls for silence? '>t' s all rightA ladies
and gents'A he sa]s? 'bonour is satisfied? The _loê aTologisedp? (ordon)
The change oI the tense-Iors ith one and the sae tie reIerence s
a ost eIIective stylistic device in eressive language. The resent tense
recounts the ast vieed by the seaker as vividly as iI it ere resent.
> hand the first _oo^ to Z] Zother? cerhaTs it is a graZZarA TerhaTs a
histor] or geograTh]? > taê a last droaning loo^ at the Tage as > give it
into her handA and start off aloud at a racing Tace ahile > have got it fresh?
> triT over a aord? Ir? Iurdstone loo^s uT? > triT over another aord? Iiss
Iurdstone loo^s uT? (ickens)
THE PRESENT CONTINUOUS (PROGRESSIVE) TENSE
. The rogressive Iors are coonly deIined as denoting concrete
rocesses oI the action hose rogression is taking lace at a deIinite
oent oI tie eressed or ilied in the contet or seech situation,
141
i. e. rocesses liited in tie as contrasted to those oI general validity.
The ost iortant Iunction oI the rogressive asect is to reIer to
teorary activities situations or goings-on.
The rogressive Iors are noral here redication tells oI actionsA
events, or states oI aIIairs that are in rocess at the oent oI seech or
riting and are thought as begun, but not ended, ith beginnings and/or
ends Ielt as relatively close to the tie oI riting or seaking.
The denotative value oI the Present Progressive ay accordingly be
characterised as indicating: a) resent tie relevance, b) soething
rogressive, c) contact ith the oent oI seech. These three seantic
eleents (sees) ake u its synchronic coonental olysey.
She looêd at hiZ scornfull] and ansaered= p> don't ^noa ahat ]ou are
talîng a_outkp (alsorthy). pSorr]kp said \esertA a_ruTtl]= p>'Z _oring
]ou? bave a saeets' (alsorthy). p}ou are talîng liê a childp?
(alsorthy)
raar books ake reIerence to the Iact that the continuous tenses
cannot norally be used ith verbs that do not denote duration in a liited
tie, such as: _elieveA _elongA desireA detestA feelA forgetA hearA hoTeA liêA
loveA recollectA reZeZ_erA iZagineA refuseA seeA sZellA thinÂ aishA aantA
^noaA etc.
But in resent-day English, esecially in soken English, these verbs
are Iound ore and ore Ireuently in continuous Iors either because the
verb is taken in a slightly diIIerent eaning or because oI their articular
alication to this very oent and secial ehasis oI duration, e. g.:
p*re ]ou feeling strongA darlings [unt XZ is hereA and Z] uncle bilar]
and his aifep? (alsorthy) pbe'll never give Ze a sign of ahat he's
t!in#ing or going to do? Liê aaskp (alsorthy) Then it's little enough
]ou are #nowing of an] Zan livingA let alone [shle]? (Mitchell)
It ill be relevant to observe that the graatical content oI the
rogressive Iors varies its eIIect according to the tye oI eaning
conveyed by the verb.
Most diIIiculties over the use oI the rogressive Iors arise, in Iact,
ith the classes oI verbs hich are norally incoatible ith the
rogressive.
eaf ceter is _eing Zost inattentive?
e_f >'Z thinîng a_out ahat ]ou said?
ecf >'Z listening to ]ou?
ceter is _eing inattentive ilies a rather eranent uality. >'Z
thinîng a_out ahat ]ou said diIIers Iro > thin^ soA as there is an eleent
oI deliberateness about the thinking here the continuous Iors are used:
thought is vieed here as a kind oI ork, ith Iairly ell deIined
beginning and end, not erely uick darting oI oinion rising
instantaneously.
>'Z listening to ]ou diIIers Iro > hear ]ou= listening is conscious and
deliberate, but hearingA in this sense, is a reIle.
Verbs oI hysical and ental ercetions and verbs oI saying are
coaratively seldo used in rogressive Iors. hen this is the case, the
verb-Ior arks intensity oI an action in rocess ith ehasis laid on it,
e. g.:
142
ber e]es aere not ouite close _ut surel] aere not seeing? (alsorthy)
be glanced at Fleur? There she satA arid ahat she aas feeling he
couldn't tell? (alsorthy)
She gaqed and gaqedA aonderingA delightingA longingA and all the ahile
the siren voice of the unrestful aas ahisTering in her ear? (reiser)
Coare also the Iolloing:
1. a) }ou iZagine he'll coZe? }ou thin^ he'll coZe?
b) }ou are iZagining things? }ou are having hallucinations?
2. a) > Tlan to leave toZorroa? > intend to leave toZorroa?
b) > aZ Tlanning Z] holida]s? > aZ Zaîng arrangeZents for the
holida]s?
It ould be rong to say that certain verbs are never used in
Continuous Iors, rather, soe kinds oI redication eressed by certain
verb-hrases resist eansion oI their Iors.
Thus, Ior instance, in òa >'Z reZeZ_ering the Present Continuous
ay be reIerred to as used to ehasise the liited duration, but this is
arbitrary, Ior e ay say that in this case reZeZ_er has the eaning oI
ake a conscious eIIort to reeber, in hich sense the Continuous
Ior is Iairly coon.
urther eales are: The]'re living in London and The] live in
London? The Continuous Ior suggests either that they have oved there
recently or that they intend to ove soon, or both. The sile Present
indicates that London is their eranent hoe.
ith verbs such as read or aorÂ hich reIer to non-oentary
activity, the Present Continuous ill usually suggest duration oI the
activity, itselI, esecially iI a oint oI tie is indicated, e. g.:
\on't call on ZeA >'Z aorîng at taelve
U
?
In contrast, the activity has no duration in: >'Z leaving at taelve? II this
diIIers at all Iro > leave at taelveA it is in ters oI intention as coared
to a Iied lan or decision.
Note. The Iact that the Continuous Iors ay be used to suggest a
general intention can also be illustrated by the use oI the Past and Present
PerIect Continuous in atterns like the Iolloing: >'ve _een coZing to see
]ou for a long tiZe? The intention has lasted over a long tie and, as the
PerIect Tense shos, began in the ast and etended right u to the resent
oent. >'Z ver] glad to see ]ou? >t aas nice of mon to thin^ of _ringing
]ou doan to us? pie aeren't coZing to the housepA mon _lurted outA p> gust
aanted Fleur to see ahere > livedkp (alsorthy) eae aeren't coZing v
ae did not intend to coZef?
It is interesting to coare also the Iolloing:
> long for ]ou ever] ZoZent v I a longing for ]ou ever] ZoZent?
1
uoted _] . R. Paler. A Linguistic Study oI the English Verb. London, 1965, . 11.
143
The to Iors diIIer only in eotional saturation and ehasis, their
graatical content being absolutely identical.
H. Poutsa in his Late Iodern Xnglish oints out that in this
eressive use the Continuous Iors ay be coared ith the ehatic
analytical Iors oI the Present Tense (Coon Asect). I do long v >
aZ? longing? Siilarly: > did long v > aas longing? Cf? nhA hoa the stars
aere shiningk boa the diaZond did tain^le and glitter?
Syntagatic connotative eanings oI the Present Continuous signalled
by diIIerent contets, linguistic or situational, ill be illustrated by its use
in transosition here it ay denote:
(1) roerties or other traits (ualitative resent), e. g.:
She is alaa]s gruZ_ling a_out trifles? She
is Tla]ing tennis aith innate grace?
(2) reeated rocesses oI increasing duration or activities characteristic
oI the subect at the given eriod.
This eaning is generally signalled by the iediate leical contet,
adverbs oI Ireuency and reetition, in articular, or consituation, e. g.:
pbe is fond of herA > ^noapA thought maZes? pLooÂ at the aa] he's
alaa]s giving her things?p (alsorthy) >'ll ca_le at oneA otheraise ae
Za] have a lot of edTense? The sooner the things are done the _etter? >'Z
alaa]s regretting that > didn'tp? (alsorthy) p> had Ius^haZ doan
]esterda] and he aas goll] decent? >'Z tr]ing to taê uT _irdsp?
(alsorthy) ... }esA don't Zaê it an auto_iograTh]? Let it go forth as
fiction? [nd no one Zust ^noa that >'Z aorîng at itpk (ordon)
That the Present Tense and the Present Continuous ay both serve this
Iunction ill be seen Iro the Iolloing eale hen the to Iors go
arallel ith identical eaning: pThe rest of us have our oan Tarticular
catling? >'Z teaching noa at one of the church schools? > also do soZe
coaching at nightA and noa and then articles > arite on the Tro_leZs of the
coloured TeoTle are acceTted _] the XuroTean Tress TrovidedA that isA >
don't Zaê theZ too criticalp? (ordon)
(3) an action anticiated or lanned in the Iuture. This use is oIten an
eIIective eans to eress a strong deterination on the art oI the
seaker. hen e contelate an action unIolding beIore our eyes, it
naturally arouses certain Ieelings (raise, leasure, blae, iatience,
reroach, etc.), e. g.:
wrain said to his cousin= p>'Z signing on as aell in a aa]A onl] for life?
I'm getting Zarried?p
woth stoTTed aalîng? wert too^ his arZ and stared= p}ou're not?p
I'm. To cauline? (Sillitoe)
???be could afford to control hiZself noa?
p\ais]'s leaing ]ou?p
pònsense?p
"I am, t!oug!," she said aith a visi_le effort?
pShe's not leaing Zekp ToZ's aords suddenl] leaned doan over
Yats_]? (itgerald)
144
The ilication oI a Iuture action is endoed ith odal Iorce and
secial eotive Iunctions in cases like the Iolloing:
Eaine also the connotative value oI the Present Continuous in the
Iolloing eale:
Fleur huddled her chin in her fur? >t aas easterl] and cold? [ voice
_ehind her saidA piellA FleurA aZ > going Xastsp
iilfridk bis collar uT to his earsA a cigarette _etaeen his liTsA hands
in TocêtsA e]es devouring?
p}ou are ver] sill]A iilfridkp
p[n]thing ]ou liêh aZ > going Xastsp (alsorthy)
[Z > going Xasts coes to ean: Shall > go Xasts v \o ]ou aant Ze
to go Xasts
4) actions anticiated or lanned in the Iuture ith the ilication that
soething ust necessarily take lace:
a) ihen is the action coZing ons èdt Zonths (alsorthy)
b) II ]ou thin^ > Zight ris^ itA IissA >'d liê to sliT round to Z]
dentistp? nhk ihat race is _eing run this afternoonA thenA toTTingsp
(alsorthy)
It is iortant to observe the diIIerence beteen > start aor^ to5
Zorroa and >'Z starting aor^ to5Zorroa? The Iirst suggests that to5
Zorroa is the day Iied Ior starting, the second that the seaker no
intends to start. Verbs hich reIer to activities that are coonly Iied by
Iir decisions are ore likely to be used in the Present IndeIinite ith the
Iuture sense, e. g.: to _eginA to startA to endA to finish?
5) a Iuture action oI irregular occurrence, as in:
be is Tla]ing Shu_erfs to5Zorroa?
The use oI the Present Continuous ay ily, in contrast to the sile
Present, that the action is soradic, unsettled, inelicable. In atterns oI
this kind a articular content oI the Continuous Ior as contrasted to the
sile Present shos ore clearly the ilication is that even though
there ay be a recurrent activity, no elanation Ior it ill be Iound.
U
6) ierative odality. The eressive eleent oI transosition into
the Ierative is articularly strong:
be tried to _rush [nthon] aside? wut [nthon] firZl] stood his ground?
p>'Z sorr]pA he saidA his teeth togetherA p}ou're not going in therep?
(ordon) }ou are not going is synonyous ith \on't gok \on't ]ou
gok
Eaine also the variant eanings oI the Present Continuous in the
Iolloing dialogue:
pie're going after _uff in the ZorningpA he told her?
"I'm coming"? she said?
pòA ]ou're notp?
pnhA ]esA > am. Ia]n't >A Francissp
pie'll Tut on another shoa for ]ou toZorroap Francis IacoZ_er
said?
p}ou are not coming"A iilson said? (Heingay)
The attern-value oI the Present Continuous ay be shon
diagraatically as Iollos:
1
See: . R. Paler. A Linguistic Study oI the English Verb. London, 1965.
145
Present Continuous
The TriZar] denotative Zeaning
She is reading?
Secondar] s]ntagZatic Zeanings
I. Indicative Modality
(a) eneralising Present
Language is alaa]s
c!anging.
(b) Iterative Present
p>'Z always t!in#ing
of hiZpA she said?
(Maugha)
(c) ualitative Present
ihat's uT wrians
}ou're never cr]ingA
are ]ous (Sillitoe)
(d) ast tie reIerence
TiZe TassesA ahen suddenl] he is
coming uT again?
(e) Iuture tie reIerence
Tell hiZ >'m coming uT toZorroa
Zorning?
II. Ierative Modality
You are not coming ith us
THE PAST TENSE
The graatical content oI the Past IndeIinite ay be brieIly
characterised as Iollos: the Past IndeIinite reresents an action or state as
relatively static in the ast. The duration oI the rocess indicated by the
Past IndeIinite can vary according to the iediate leical contet or
secial situation ith no tie indicators at all.
The Past IndeIinite Tense reIers an action to the ast ithout telling
anything about the connection ith the resent oent. It is riarily the
tense oI narration. It ay denote:
1) a succession oI actions in the ast, e. g.:
> went up and !ad a bat!, and dressed, and stood at Z] aindoaA
listening to the drone of a tractor still cutting cornA and getting a little
drun^ of ahiffs froZ the hone]suc^le? (alsorthy)
2) siultaneity in action, e. g.:
ihen it gae ]ou the sTiritA distilled the essenceA it didn't see real,
and ahen it gae ]ou the grossA cross5currentedA contradictor] surfaceA it
didn't seem wort! w!ile (Galsworthy). He paid no attention ahen the
]oung Zan raised his hat? (alsorthy)
3) a secial use oI the Past Tense is resented by atterns like the
Iolloing:
[fter he left the houseA he recollected that he !ad not loc#ed the door?
That !appened _efore > met ]ou?
The oosition beteen erIect verb Iors and the ast tense Iors
occurring in such clauses is neutralised. The Iunction oI signalling earlier
tie is taken over by the ords after and _efore?
4) reeated actions in the ast. (Here belong also atterns ith the Past
IndeIinite used to denote a eranent characteristic oI a erson or thing
soken about).
146
5) the Past Tense is Iairly coon in denoting abilities, roerties or
habitual actions reresented in seech situation as relatively static, e. g.:
She Tla]ed tennis aith innate grace?
6) ast actions logically connected ith the resent in atterns ith
adverbs oI Ireuency and reetition: neverA everA alaa]sA seldoZ and
_efore? The graatical content oI the Past Tense in such cases goes
arallel ith the Present PerIect as its stylistic synony ith a subective
eleent in it, e. g.: I aZ a doctorA ]ou ^noa? Heall]s }ou never told
Zep? "> don't aant to argue? French and Xnglish never did get on, and
never aillp? (alsorthy)
It is iortant to reeber that the adverb never in atterns ith the
Past Tense is oIten used rather to intensiIy negation than in the eaning
oI pnot everp at pno tiZepA e. g.:
be answered never a aord in rax ne ninonin niuoro.
will never turned his head (London) Fin rax i ne oepnyncx.
pSo ]ou've coZe _ac^pA he reTeated? She never loo#ed up, and never
sToêA the firelight Tla]ing over her Zotionless figure? (alsorthy) ...
Ipen ne rnxnyna na ntoro, ne cxasana ni cnona...
The use oI the Past Tense in atterns like p\id ]ou eversp or p\id ]ou
ever hear of such a thingsp is virtually synonyous ith pbave ]ou ever
heard of such a thingsp The to structures diIIer only in style, the Iorer
as highly eressive is generally used erely as eotional eclaation in
eressive language.
7) the Past Tense is coon in narration to indicate anteriority, e. g.:
He t!oug!t he had lost herA then alZost ran into her standing ouite stilt?
(alsorthy)
8) there are also cases hen the Past Tense is used Ior stylistic
uroses to denote that hat has hitherto been true is so still and ill
alays reain so. ailiar eales uoted by O. esersen are:
Ien were deceiers ever? (Shakeseare)
Faint heart never won fair lad]?
THE PAST CONTINUOUS (PROGRESSIVE) TENSE
The riary eaning oI the Past Continuous is that oI a ast action
shon in its rogress at a given ast oent, e. g.:
The door was sloal] opening, and [nthon] found hiZself gaqing into
a Tair of Tale5gra] hooded e]es? (ordon) She folloaed his gaqe through
the falling rain and saa a Zan and a girl coZing froZ the large _loc^ of
flats oTTosite her hoZe? òa the] were getting into a little Zotor car?
(ordon)
Verbal rocesses in narration ay also be denoted by the Past
Continuous, e. g.:
The fog was raTidl] disappearing, alread] the Zoon shone ouite clear
on the high ground on either side? >t seeZed to hiZ ver] far off a great
throng aas forming. It was menacing, s!outing. >t stirredA it ZovedA it
was adancing.
0&@
Progression in tie as denoted by the Past Continuous is ost
Iluctuating and variable: Iro several short stretches oI tie to long
duration, reeated actions or siultaneity or, say, increasing duration.
Eales are:
Suddenl] SoaZes said= p> can't go on liê this? > tell ]ou > can't go on
liê this? bis e]es were s!ifting froZ side to sideA liê an aniZal's ahen it
loo^s for aa] of escaTep? (alsorthy) mol]on gaqed into his hatA his
eZ_arrassZent was increasing fasth so aas his adZirationA his aonderA
and his Tit]? (alsorthy) ???wut IaZZ] aas shoaing her age and
rheuZatisZ was slowing her luZ_ering tread? (Mitchell) Here the ilied
contet is all that eists or can be considered relevant.
Tao other ]outhsA o_lioue5e]edA dar^5hairedA rather sl]5facedA liê the
tao little _o]s, were tal#ing together and lolling against the aallh and a
shortA elderl]A clean5shaven Zan in corduro]sA seated in the aindoaA was
conning a _attered gournal? (alsorthy) Coare also:
a) She was playing the Tiano froZ eleven to taelve this Zorning? b)
She played the Tiano froZ eleven to taelve this Zorning?
hat atters in the choice oI the verb-Ior, as alays in language, is
the seaker's vie oI atters.
To su u, continuous Iors ay either indicate that an activity is
incolete or not as yet coleted, or else ay be noncoittal
regarding the coletion oI the seciIied activity.
A secial interest attaches to its stylistic transosition here it coes
to reresent:
a) Iuture action hen that Iuture oent is vieed Iro the ast. This
is oIten the case in atterns ith the Iree reorted seech. The riary
eaning oI the verb-Ior coes to be neutralised by the situational
contet, e. g.: [t lastA Z] dearA > thought ]ou aere never coZing?
b) ith adverbs oI Ireuency and reetition the Past Continuous ill
generally denote habitual actions, abilities, roerties and other
characteristic traits, e. g.: [nnette aas alaa]s running uT to toan for one
thing or anotherA so that he had Fleur to hiZself alZost as Zuch as he
could aish? (alsorthy) '
Instances are not Ie hen atterning ith such adverbs becoes an
eIIective stylistic device to eress various eotions: annoyance,
irritation, disleasure, anger, auseent, raise, etc. The eressive
eleent is oIten intensiIied by soe other indicators oI the given contet,
e. g.:
bis car _uZTed soZething slightl]A and caZe to a stand? That felloa
Higgs aas alaa]s _uZTing soZething? (alsorthy)
The eotive Iactors deterine and odiIy atterns oI graatical
structure in unnuerable ays. Attention has been reeatedly dran to the
Iact that they ay aIIect not only the choice oI vocabulary but the
character oI such etahors as occur in the use oI graatical Iors. The
Continuous Tenses oI the resent-day English are ost dynaic in this
resect. More and ore they are used ith secial Iunctions oI diIIerent
odal Iorce. The stylistic range oI their alication in eressive language
has becoe surrisingly ide.
c) e also kno such transositions hen the Past Continuous is
endoed ith secial eotive Iunctions and coes to eress rather the
0&>
intention oI doing soething than the action itselI. In such atterns oI
ilied negation the connection beteen the subect and redicate is not
to be taken in a direct or ositive sense. The eaning is thus negative, that
oI an unrealised intention to do soething (suositional odality), e. g.:
> suTTose ]ou aere too _us] to coZe to the stationp?
be coloured criZson? p> was comingA of coursepA he saidA p_ut
soZething stoTTed Zep
U
?
'> aas coZing' eans: p> intended to coZep e_ut > did notf
2
.
Like in other cases, the oosition real unreal coes to be
neutralised here by contetual indication.
bere he aas not surTrised to Zeet Stener gust coZing outA looîng ver]
Tale and distraught? [t the sight of CoaTeraood he actuall] _lanched?
pih]A helloA Fran^pA he edclaiZedA sheeTishl]A pahere do ]ou coZe
froZsp.
pihat's uTA Yeorgesp asêd CoaTeraood? p> thought ]ou aere
coZing into wroad Streetp?
pSo > aaspA returned StenerA foolishl]A p_ut > thought > aould get off at
iest chiladelThia and change Z] clothes? >'ve a tot of things to tend to ]et
this afternoon? I was coming in to see youp? [fter CoaTeraood's urgent
telegraZ this aas sill] _ut the ]oung _anêr let it Tass? (reiser).
Cf? Russian: orxptnan, a ne orxptn, ntnpan, a ne ntpan.
Ukrainian: posxpnnan, ra ne posxpnn nnnpan, ra ne nnpan.
Closely related to this is the analogous odal use oI the Present PerIect
Continuous, e. g.: Ir? S? lands at SouthaZTton tonight? be has alaa]s
_een coZing? This tiZe he has coZe?
THE PERECT TENSES
The category oI tie relevance in English is based on the binary
oosition non-erIective :: erIective the Iorer is knon to be
unarked, the latter ossesses a secial graatical eaning. This is to
suggest that the action denoted by the unarked Ior is not correlated
ith soe other oent oI tie or soe other action hereas the erIect
Ior is characterised by a secial current relevance.
raarians diIIer greatly in deIining the linguistic nature oI the
PerIect Tenses in English. That the category oI PerIect is a tense category
is soeties denied. ReIerence is oIten ade to the seciIic asective
essence oI these verbal Iors deIined as resultative, retrosective,
successive, etc.
A. I. Sirnitsky's
3
vieoint resents a secial oint oI interest. His
basic assution is that the PerIect Tenses eress the category oI tie
relation resented by the regular oosition oI all
1
uoted froZ H. . K a n a u e n c x a x . Ipammarnuecxax xareropnx nna n
anrnncxom xstxe. uinonoriunn sipnnx, KV, 1957, N 10.
t
See= Latin ierIectu de conatu used ith analogous eaning, e. g.: Venie_atis
igitur in [fricaZ??? Trohi_iti estis in Trovincia vestra TedeZ Tonere?
3
. H. C m n p n n n x n . Hep]exr n xareropnx npemenno ornocnrentnocrn.
Hnocrpannte xstxn n mxone, 1955, No. 1 op]onornx anrnncxoro xstxa. .,
1959, p. 311.
149
PerIect Iors to all non-PerIect Iors, such as aor^s== has aorêdh
aorêd == had aorêdh aill aor^ == aill have aorêdA etc. The
corresonding relative ters adoted by A. Sirnitsky Ior these
graatical contrasts are non-erIect and erIect.
The unarked non-PerIect Iors do not reIer to a secial current
relevance hereas the arked PerIect Iors eress riority.
A. I. Sirnitsky resents a logical syste oI the correlation beteen
the IndeIinite, the Continuous, the PerIect and the PerIect Continuous
Iors grahically as a aralleleied on hose three diensions he
laced: 1) the category oI tense (the Present, the Past and the uture), 2)
the category oI asect (the Coon and the Continuous) and 3) category
oI tie relation (the non-PerIect and the PerIect Iors).
Soehat siilar vies on the categories oI the English verb are held
by the Aerican scholar M. oos
1
.
In treating the IndeIinite, the Continuous, the PerIect and the PerIect
Continuous Iors M. oos, like ProI. Sirnitsky, arks out three diIIerent
verb categories hich he calls tense, asect and hrase.
Other graarians advocate the vie according to hich the category
oI PerIect is a eculiar tense category, i. e. a category included in the verb
aradig along ith the categories resent and ast
2
. According to .
Vorontsova
3
the category oI PerIect is a eculiar asect category and as
such ust be included in the regular graatical contrasts oI coon
and continuous asects.
The divergency oI the linguistic aroaches to the identiIication oI the
PerIect Tenses in English is indeed striking.
The uestion uch debated noadays is ho deIine the invariable
eaning oI these graatical Iors.
hat should not escae our notice is that the shiIt Iro tense to asect
hich is so seciIic in the Iunctional relationshis oI English verb-Iors
cannot be studied in isolation Iro the distributional eaning oI the
PerIect Tenses.
One ore uestion riary in iortance is that the graatical
content oI the PerIect Tenses cannot be studied ithout a considerable
reIerence to the leical character oI the verb and variations oI denotative
and connotative eaning resulting Iro the use oI PerIect Iors in
diIIerent syntactical environent, large atterns, in articular.
The occurrence oI the PerIect Tenses in diIIerent syntactic
environents ill sho variations oI their basic graatical content.
Instances are not Ie hen the contet coes to be elicit enough to
neutralise the oosition beteen the PerIect Tenses and the reterit verb-
Iors.
The current relevance as arked by the PerIect Tenses ust
reasonably be reIerred to as their basic eaning.
1
See= M. oos. The English Verb. The University oI isconsin Press Madison and
Milaukee, 1964.
2
See= O. esersen. The Philosohy oI raar. London, 1968, . 254.
3
See= I. H. oponnona. Ouepxn no rpammarnxe anrnncxoro xstxa. M., 1960, . 191.
150
Observations on the diIIerence oI distribution, in the kind oI contet,
linguistic or situational, here each erIect Ior occurs, give every
reason to say that the resultative eaning and the eaning oI
coleteness do not ehaust the asective content oI the PerIect Tenses
ith all their ultile olyseantic essence in resent-day English.
hat needs Iurther investigations as graar learning advances
is the study oI the deendence oI the eaning oI PerIect Iors on the
tense category (resent, ast and Iuture) and its distributional eaning in
cases hen the alication oI the verb-Ior sees to go Iar beyond the
strict liits oI the syste. The Iact is, that e occasionally Iind such
varied uses oI the PerIect Tenses that they ay bring to considerable
linguistic changes oI the eaning oI the Ior itselI. It is also interesting
to note that considerable variations in their atterning soeties
aear a atter oI stylistic reIerence. There are iortant treatents oI
their distributional value resented by . Korsakov in one oI his
ork-aers Hep]exrno-nomnpeni ]opmn ra nnpaxennx uaconnx
ninoment n anrnictxi moni.
It ill not be suerIluous to oint out that there is a good deal oI
diIIerence beteen the use oI the Past and PerIect Tenses in English
and soe other languages. The PerIect Tense is oIten used in other
languages here the Past Tense is reuired in English. This is the case
hen attention is dran to the tie at hich an action or event took
lace in the ast hence esecially in uestions beginning ith ahens
(Soeties ith aheresfA and in sentences ith adverbial aduncts
ansering such uestions, e. g.:
ihen eaheref did ]ou see hiZ lasts
eCf? ihere have ]ou _een all the
tiZesf? Tao aeroTlanes aere shot doan
]esterda]? > received his letter a aee^
ago? bis father aas _orn in >reland?
\id ]ou coZe _] traZ or _] _uss
The Present PerIect Tense usually denotes an action that Ialls ithin
the tie-shere oI the resent. Its uses are ainly three: (a) the
Continuative PerIect (b) the Resultative PerIect (c) the PerIect oI
Eerience.
The Continuative PerIect oIten corresonds to a Present Tense in
other languages English shares ith soe other languages the use oI
the Resultative PerIect, hich denotes a ast action connected, through
its result, ith the resent oent, e. g.:
ie have _ought a nea car? ... eCf? ie
_ought a nea car last aee^f? Loo^ ahat
]ou've done? Ten ]ears have Tassed since
ae first Zet?
e have a use interediate beteen the Continuative and the
Resultative PerIect hen the reIerence is to a eriod oI tie that is not yet
over, e. g.: >'ve _een to the Tictures taice this aee^?
(But: > aent to the Tictures taice last aee^f?
151
To indicate coleted activities in the iediate ast the PerIect
Tense ith the adverb gust ay be used, e. g.: Yeorge has gust gone out? >t
has gust struc^ taelve?
In soken English >'ve got is oIten euivalent to > have= Yuess ahat
>'ve got in Z] Tocêt?
In a sentence like be's got ex o_tainedf ahat he aantsA hoever, e
have to do ith a Resultative PerIect.
The PerIect oI Eerience eresses hat has haened, once or ore
than once, ithin the seaker's or riter's eerience. It is not unknon in
other languages, at least in head-clauses, though an adunct eressing
reetition is usually added. Siilar aduncts ay be added in English, e.
g.: (1f > have sat for hours on the river _an^ on a? fine suZZer' s da]A
aaiting for a fish to _ite? (2) ihen > have asêd hiZ the aa]A > have
invaria_l] received a Tolite ansaer?
Like the Present Tense, the Present PerIect ay neutralise its riary
eaning in subordinate clauses deendent on the ain clause eressing
or ilying Iuture tie, e. g.: iait till >'ve finished Z] aor^? [s soon as >
have coTied the tedtA > shall give it to ]ou? The Past PerIect (PluerIect)
ansers artly to the Past Tense, artly to the PerIect. It sees to
reresent a shiIting back oI these tenses into the (ore distant) ast
U
?
One ore iortant oint ust not be leIt unentioned here. e
ean the use oI the verbal Iors hich in resent-day English go arallel
ith the Present PerIect and Past PerIect as to their structure but diIIer
essentially in their graatical content and stylistic value. These are
atterns ith the articile II searated Iro the auiliary have as in= >
have all Z] aor^ done? ie have it all thought outA don't aorr]? Patterns oI
this kind are oIten reIerred to as intensiIied Iors oI the PerIect Tenses
(Present or Past), the so-called Conclusive PerIect. According to O. e s
e r s e n, Ior instance, they hardly diIIer Iro the erIect Iors and serve
only to ehasise the resent state uch stronger than the PerIect does.
There is, indeed, a suggestion oI eIIort ilied in such Iors hich
akes the Iorcible and highly eressive. But searation Iro the
auiliary verb iarts such a clear cut adectival character to the articile
that such atterns denote not so uch an action as a. state. A verbal Ior
coes to Iunction as an intensive statal assive.
Collouial English abounds in atterns like the Iolloing: }ou had it
ZeZorised all through in the ZorningA _ut > feel ]ou're forgetting it again?
ihen ]ou caZeA > had Z] Tlans alread] Zade? Attention ill be dran
here to the graatical abiguity hich ay result Iro the use oI such
Iors in diIIerent contets. This abiguity is generally resolved by the
iediate leical contet.
The descritive character oI the articile isolated Iro the auiliary
have has ade ossible the Iolloing uses oI the verb-hrase:
a) atterns graatically synonyous ith the PerIect Tenses
(Present or Past), e. g.:
1
See= R. . andvoort. A Handbook oI English raar, London, 1965, . 62. 152
152
> have it ZeZorised to Terfection? Cf?= > have ZeZorised it???
> had it ZeZorised to Terfection? Cf?= > had ZeZorised it???
b) atterns graatically synonyous ith statal assive. These ay
be reIerred to as statal assive oI intensity, e. g.:
The] have all their oTTonents _eaten?
c) atterns ith the Iull Iorce oI the resent or ast tense, causative in
their eaning, e. g.:
> have Z] suits Zade to order? > had Z] suits Zade to order?
Instances are not Ie hen the Present PerIect is used ith reIerence
to siultaneous actions. Here e Iind atterns like the Iolloing: baven't
]ou had the aindoa oTen since > have _een outs
It is interesting to note that in contets ith reIerence to habitual use
there is a otential abiguity. Take the Iolloing sentence Ior illustration:
Xver] tiZe > have seen her she has _een reading? This ay have to
ossible eanings: either that on each occasion she as actually reading
or that on each occasion she had reviously been reading. The abiguity
arises Iro the Iact that the PerIect ay ily either the overall eriod oI
tie that e are seaking about or, in addition, each reeated eriod. The
overall eriod oI tie is clearly shon by Xver] tiZe > have seen her to be
one that began in the ast and continues u to the resent oent. But the
successive eriods oI tie that are to be related to these oints oI tie
ay either be eriods that sily overla these oints oI tie or they ay
be eriods that began beIore and continue u to the given oints oI tie.
In ost cases a sentence-attern ith ahenever or ever] tiZe Iolloed
by PerIect tense-Iors in both clauses is obviously interreted in the Iirst
oI the to senses, the PerIect being taken ith reIerence only to the
overall eriod oI tie, activity on each occasion overlaing the oints oI
tie. The other sense ill generally be indicated by soe secial
situational contet.
Net e coe to the use oI the Past PerIect Tense. It ill as ell be
seen here that the synta oI the verb bears an intiate relation to its
orhology because the graatical content oI this verb-Ior is also
greatly conditioned by the syntactical arrangeents in hich it occurs.
Observed in diIIerent atterns oI syntactic environent the Past
PerIect ill sho a considerable variation in its graatical eaning.
It is iortant to ehasise the Iolloing:
a) in a great any cases the Past PerIect Tense serves to connect
graatically to ast actions, one oI hich is rior in tie. Eales
are not Iar to seek:
\inn] sTun round to the aindoa? \ar^ !ad fallen and if it hadn't she
couldn't have seen? (alsorthy)
Soeties it is ossible to use the sile Past Tense Ior both actions
in analogous arrangeents the diIIerence ill be one oI ehasis. The
Past PerIect ehasises the riority oI tie. In its stylistic value it is
slightly ore Ioral.
Thus, Ior instance, the Iolloing to sentences aear to be
interchangeable: > had studied French _efore > started Xnglish? > studied
French _efore > started Yree^? Tetbooks oIten say that 'had studied'
ilies that
153
Coare the Ukrainian: x ryxnem, rax i niryxnertcx. Bo nocicm,
re noxnem.
Siilarly in Russian: Kax ayxnercx, rax n orxnnxnercx. uro
noceemt, ro n noxnemt.
Closely related to this is the use oI the uture Tense alied to liIeless
things to denote oer or caacity, e. g.: (1) The hall aill seat tao
hundred? (2) That will do. (3) That won't do.
b) the activity essentially characteristic oI the subect, very oIten ith
soe aroval, disaroval or reroach. The necessary eaning is usually
signalled by the contet, e. g.:
pVer] trueA childh _ut ahat's to _e dones ceoTle will tal#, there's no
Treventing it?p (Sheridan)
p\octorskp said maZesA coZing doan sharT on his aordsh p>'ve had all
the doctors in London for one or another of us? There's no satisfaction to
_e got out of theZh the]'ll tell ]ou an]thing? There's SaithinA noa? ihat
good have the] done hiZs There he isA he's _igger than everh he's
enorZoush the] can't get his aeight doan? Loo^ at hiZkp (alsorthy)
urther eales are: \on't listen to hiZk be will tell ]ou incredi_le
things? The] will sit here for hours Tla]ing chess?
This kind oI Iunctional contrast in the use oI the tense-Iors ay be
illustrated by nuerous eales in Ukrainian.
Cf? Cnnrt i oxom ne moprne. onunrt i cnona ne cxaxe.
Siilarly in Russian: Cnnr n rnasom ne moprner. onunr n cnona
ne cxaxer.
Coare also: uyen nenp npn rnxo noroe, xora nontno n
nnanno munr cxnost neca n ropt nonnte not cnon. n samenoxner, nn
nporpemnr.
Here is a good eale to illustrate the use oI the uture Tense here
it does not convey the ure idea oI tense but is associated ith odal
concetions oI a very strong resution (Hyothetical uture):
p???Fatherk > have said > do not??? > have said > cannot???p
pw] the Zost Zerciful ahats ihats The naZe for itk iords for itkp
p\o not froan on Ze father? > aish hiZ haTTiness? > cannot Zarr] hiZ?
> do not love hiZ?p
p}ou will remember that ]ou inforZed Ze aforetiZe that ]ou did love
hiZ?p
p> aas ignorant? > did not ^noa Z]self? > aish hiZ to _e haTT]?p
(reiser)
e Iind here various shades oI hyothetical eaning ranging Iro a
ere suosition and conecture to a strong resution. The necessary
eaning is generally sensed Iro the graatical or situational contet
and intonation in actual seech. Other eales are:
(1) be will alread] be asleep, don't distur_ hiZ? (2) That will be ]our
luggageA > thin^? (3) Iother will be wondering ahere ae are?
A arallel develoent ay be traced in other languages.
Cf? rench= >l dorZira dg ebe Zust alread] _e asleeTf?
eran: Xr aird schon schlafen? \as aird schon aahr sein? \er wrief
aird aohl fertig sein?
The uture PerIect Tense ay take over analogous Iunctions. e
ean such contetual situations hen it does not ily Iuturity at all but
156
is used to indicate a ere suosition ith reIerence to a coleted action,
e.g.: The] will !ae !eard the neas ay be synonyous ith > suTTose
the] have heard the neas or The] Za] have heard the neas? urther
eales are: a) The] aon't have seen ]ou coZe? eS]n? The] can't have
seen ]ou coZef b) >t will !ae been alread] gat!ered froZ the
conversation of these aorthies that the] aere eZ_arêd in an enterTrise of
soZe Zagnitude??? (ickens)
In resent-day English shall and aill are not the only ays oI reIerring
to Iuture tie. uturity ay also be eressed by transositions oI other
verb-Iors, ell knon in any, iI not all, languages. Ilying Iuturity,
e can say, Ior instance: >'ll read Z] essa] on Tuesda]s v > read Z] essa]
on Tuesda] v >'m reading Z] essa] on Tuesda]? The diIIerence ill lie
here in the ilied attitude to, ground oI eectation oI the Iuture action,
or deterination to do so.
p???[_out leaving ]our hus_andA Lad] Corvenh an] reason ]ou'd care to
give Zesp Clare shoo^ her head?
p>'Z not going into Z] life aith hiZA either here or an]ahere? [nd >'Z
not going _ac^ to hiZp? (alsorthy)
The uture Tense ay be used ith ierative Iorce. This is the case,
Ior instance, hen e desire to seak courteously and at the sae tie
indicate that e are conIidently eecting that our ish ill be IulIilled.
[s ]ou are going to the Tost officeA ]ou will TerhaTs mail these letters
for Ze?
hen soken in earnest tone the Iuture becoes alost a coand.
She egrandZother to grandchildf saidA p}ou will do nothing of the îndkp
pòne of thatk none of thatkp he saidA gloaering under his strangeA sadA
gra] _roas? p> can't stand itk \on't teZTt Zek ie're not out of this Tlace
]et? be's notk }ou'll come hoZe aith Ze noap? (reiser)
}ou'll go or >'ll sell ]ou doan the river? }ou'll never see ]our Zother
again or an]_od] ]ou ^noa??? burr]k (Mitchell)
The ierative Iorce is ost eressive in siilar uses oI the uture
Continuous:
p> ^noa aho ]ou're here aithpA he continuedA shaîng his head sadl]?
pThe dogk >'ll get hiZ ]et? >'ve had Zen aatchin' ]ou all the tiZe? nhA the
shaZe of this da]k The shaZe of this da]k }ou'll be comin' hoZe aith Ze
noap? (reiser)
Transosition oI the uture Tense into the Ierative is coon in
other languages.
rench: Vous fereq signer ce tedte et vous Ze le raTTortereq deZain?
Siilarly in eran: (1) Iach die òtiqen? \u airst _ei Zir _lei_en?
(Bredel) (2) \u airst den [Tfel schieen von deZ |oTf des |na_en?
(Schiller)
Cf? n sponre nce, mo x npocnn, i ne rpea intme posmonnxrn. n
nannmere meni npo cno npaxennx. yy am yxe nxunn.
The groing use oI the pgoing to-Iuture is one ore oint oI interest.
e ust naturally distinguish:
a) _e going to used as a stateent oI intention, synonyous ith
intend toA e. g.: The] are going to leave to5Zorroa?
157
b) _e going to a erihrastic verb-Ior denoting a Iuture action a
relative stylistic synony oI the ordinary Iuture tense.
This graatical idio has sread considerably during the last 50
60 years in Modern English, articularly in its Aerican variant, and this
rocess continues. Various diensions along hich such essages ay
diIIer are ost directly relevant to the subective odality oI redication.
The eressive pgoing to-Iuture oIten assues eotional value ilying
various subtle shades oI eaning, such as, Ior instance, caution or
arning, rohecy or encourageent, rohibition or categorical
coand. Contetual nuances oI such use are very elusive.
In obective reIerential use the pgoing to-Iuture ay eress Iuturity
ithout any ilication oI intention in the strict sense, e. g.:
Soon she is going to _e Uj Soon she aill _e Uj?
Synseantic in its character, it is idely used in resent-day English as an
alternative oI the ordinary Iuture tense.
The relative distribution oI the pgoing to-Iuture resents a aor oint
oI interest in studying the stylistic asect oI verb-Iors, their subective
use ith diIIerent shades oI eotional colouring.
Coare the subtle shades oI odal Iorce and eressivity oI the
contet-sensitive pgoing to-Iuture in the Iolloing eales:
I] Zother ran aaa] ahen > aas threeA and > have no sisters? >t's going
to _e hard for ]ouA aith a noZadicA unsatisfactor] _rute liê Ze?
(alsorthy) arning, redication.
Intensity and ehasis are articularly strong in negative
constructions, hich are oIten used as stylistic alternatives oI the
Ierative Mood, e. g.:
}ou're not going to deceive Ze alaa]sk (reiser)
It is to be noted that the seantic eleent oI redeterination oI or
certainty about an action can soehat eaken the eaning oI Iuture tie
relevance.
pbe ought to understandk be Tiles uT his Zone] for ZepA she thoughth
p_ut ahat's the useA if I'm not going to _e haTT]s Ione]A and all it
_rought did not _ring haTTinessp? (alsorthy)
pnhA ahat is going to haTTen noasp she cried? (MansIield)
suosition, arehension
pThis is going to _e Z] ZasterTiecep (ilde) rediction, certainty.
pThere's no use cr]ing Z] dear? Cr]ing isn't going to helT thingsp
(ordon) redeterination, conviction
p}ou ]ou Zustn't thin^ an] Zore of ahat haTTened gust noaA little
ZanpA he said husîl]? pSees That's all over noa? That's forgotten? That's
neer going to haTTen again? Seesp (MansIield) certainty, roise.
The analysis oI the distributional eaning oI the tense-Iors in
resent-day English, brieI as it is, ill reind us oI the constitutional
value oI syntactic orhology hose subect atter is graar in
contet. Variations in the use oI the verb-Iors, their otential olysey
and transositions conditioned by the ode oI the seaker's reresentation
oI the verbal idea are a source oI constant linguistic interest. iIIerent
verb-Iors ay be used ith one and the sae tie-reIerence.
Observations in this Iield ake it aarent that the various Iunctions oI the
tenses
158
are not yet Iinally and absolutely Iied. Making Ior greater subtleties and
Iiner shades in eressing the seaker's subective attitude to the utterance
Iunctional shiIts are still taking lace. This can be best illustrated, Ior
instance, by the etension oI the subective use oI the continuous Iors in
eressive language here they are endoed ith secial eotive
Iunctions. Not less characteristic are the linguistic changes observed in the
use oI odal verbs. An interesting develoent oI recent years is, Ior
instance, the use oI Za] inIinitive II as euivalent to could inIinitive II
ith the ilication that the envisaged outcoe did not occur. The
relationshi beteen the is certainly not, as OE ilies, anything to do
ith tense in resent-day English.
Revision Material
1. Be ready to discuss the distinction beteen aradigatic and
syntagatic eanings oI verb-Iors.
2. Coent on eressive transositions oI the English tense-Iors,
neutralisation oI graatical eaning and situational synonyy in
graar. Coare analogous develoents in other languages.
3. ive eales to illustrate the use oI verb-Iors in transosition
ith Iuture tie reIerence.
4. Coent on the use oI pgoing to-Iuture in Modern English.
5. Be ready to discuss the stylistic range oI Continuous Iors in
Modern English.
6. Coent on the denotative and connotative value oI the Present
Continuous (Progressive) Tense.
7. escribe the linguistic essence oI the PerIect Tenses in Modern
English.
8. ive eales to illustrate odal re-interretation oI verb-Iors as
connected ith the roble oI Mood. Coare siilar develoents in
other languages.
9. iscuss the stateent that in Modern English the Continuous tense-
Iors are ore and ore assuing the Iunction to intensiIy the verbal
idea and in any cases have eotional value.
10. Coent on the linguistic changes in the use oI English verb-
Iors in their resent develoent.
11. iscuss the oosition Iinitude non-Iinitude in Modern English.
Chapter VII
THE
PRONOUN
PERSONAL PRONOUNS
In the category oI erson English akes distinction beteen three
classes oI ersonal ronouns denoting resectively the erson (s) seaking
(Iirst erson) the erson (s) soken to (second erson) another erson(s)
or thing(s) third erson.
Person distinctions are naturally closely related to the category oI
nuber.
There is no Ioral distinction oI ersons in lural, e. g.: ae sTeaÂ ]ou
sTeaÂ the] sTea^? There is no distinction oI nuber in the 1st and 2nd
ersons either.
In oint oI Iact, the binary oosition sTea^ == sTea^s in all English
verbs, ecet the odal auiliaries eresses the relation: 3rd erson
singular or any other erson oI both nubers. The ecetion to the
atterns oI conugational variants is also the verb to _eA hose aradig is
uniue and includes Iive distinct Iinite Iors: aZA isA areA aasA aere?
Archaic verb-Iors in 5t or 5st are generally associated ith the old
ronoun thou? These are unroductive in Modern English and used only in
religious tets and occasionally Ior stylistic uroses in elevated seech or
oetry. Thou and ]e ere Iorerly oIten shiIted to eress the seaker's
ood and tone. The pthou of conteZTtp as so very Iailiar that a verbal
Ior as coined to nae this eressive use. Shakeseare gives it, Ior
instance, to Sir Toby Belch eTaelfth ìghtf in the lines urging Andre
Aguecheek to send a challenge to the disguised Viola: Taunt hi ith
the license oI ink, iI thou thous't hi soe thrice, it shal not be aiss
1

Proteus and Valentine in Tao YentleZen of Verona initially echange
thouA but hen they touch on the subect oI love, on hich they disagree,
their address changes to the p]ou of estrangeZentp?
Like in other rovinces oI graar, attention ust be dran to the use
oI ronoinal Iors in transosition. The aIIective value oI such
etahors ay be traced in any, iI not all, odern languages. The
Iirst to be entioned in English is the use oI the ronouns aeA ]ou and
the] in atterns here they are synonyous ith the Ioral generic one?
The so-called editorial ae (Lat. luralis odestial) is ell knon,
Ior instance, as used in any odern languages by authors oI scientiIic
aers, onograhs or articles in a nesaer, etc. Eales are hardly
needed.
U
uoted in= Style in Language ed. by T h. A. S e b e o k. Ne York-London, 1860.
0<%
The ronoun ae is coon in roverbial sayings:
ie shall see ahat ae shall see? ie soon _elieve
ahat ae desire? ie never ^noa the value of aater till
the aell is dr]?
Cf? 3ro cnyunrcx npn onom enncrnennom ycnonnn, ecnn mt nce
or mana o nennxa ynonm n yrponm remnt name ooponno
paort, ecnn xaxt ns nac or mana o nennxa nomer, uro
xaxt uac, roo norepxnnt nx ooponnoro rpya, yer cronrt
xnsnn rnoero para na ]ponre. (. Toncro)
Eressive eIIects oI great subtlety ill be Iound in the use oI the
ronoun ae in such eales as:
p> sa]pA said burstaoodA as the] caZe uT the theatre lo__]A pae are
edceedingl] charZing this eveningp?
Carrie fluttered under his aTTroving glance? (reiser)
Cf? Ukrainian: y, xx mn cee nouynacmo ctoroni
Russian: y, xax mt cex uyncrnyem ceronx
rench: Se Torte5on Zieud augourd'huis
The ronoun ae is oIten used hen seaking, Ior instance, to ones-et
child or to a sick erson ith layIully otiistic eotional colour-ing.
The shiIt oI the ronoinal Ior eresses a shiIt in the seaker attitude
and tone. Here again e ust say that this recurrent Ieature 's not
seciIically English and ay easily be traced in other odern languages,
e. g.: boa are ae feeling noas eae ~ ]ouf?
iscussing soe tendencies oI the resent ties, E. Partridge
1
gives
eales oI adding to one's rely a declaration in the third erson, e. g., in
resonse to,, \o ]ou liê thatspae hear the erson addressed say pòA said
he froaningkp
urther eales are:
pIr? Yrund]'s going to o_lige the coZTan] aith a songpA said the
ChairZan?
pò he ain'tpA said Ir? Yrund]?
pih] notspA said the chairZan?
pwecause he can'tpA said Ir? Yrund]?
p}ou had _etter sa] ]ou aon'tpA reTlied the chairZan?
piellA thenA he aon'tpA retorted Ir? Yrund]? (ickens)
Nursery talk is knon to have its traditional characteristics others
and Iathers, aunts and grannies are liable to address children using the
third erson instead oI the second, as ill he (or shef do it. Eales oI
this kind ay be Iound in nubers.
The generic use oI the ronoun ]ou ill be Iound in any shere oI
alication. It is coon in collouial English, in literary rose, in
roverbial sayings:
}ou never can tell? }ou can't eat ]our caê and have it?
}ou cannot gudge a tree _] its _arÂ etc?
1
See= E. Partridge. Slang Today and Yesterday. London, 1960, . 123.
161
Eotional colouring is articularly strong in ]ou ith its ore or less
aarent aeal to the erson soken to, as in:
pòa and thens Ir? CrooZA didn't ]ou alaa]s shoa ]our feelingssp >f
]ou Zean did > alaa]s shoa that > aas in love aith her of course > didA
]ou can't hide a thing liê thatp? (alsorthy)
p>'Z ancientA _ut > don't feel it? That's one thing a_out TaintingA it êeTs
]ou ]oungp? (alsorthy)
And here is a good eale Iro . London to illustrate that the
generic ]ou and one are not interchangeable hen used in this Iunction:
pw] the aa]A Ir? XdenpA she called _acÂ as she aas leaving the rooZA
pahat is _ooqes }ou used it several tiZesA ]ou ^noap?
pnhA _ooqepA he laughed? p>t's slang? >t Zeans ahisê] and _eer
an]thing that aill Zaê ]ou drun^p?
p[nd another thingpA she laughed _ac^? p\on't use ']ou' ahen ]ou are
iZTersonal? }ou' is ver] TersonalA and ]our use of it gust noa aas not
Trecisel] ahat ]ou Zeantp?
p> don't gust see thatp?
p ih]A ]ou said gust noa to ZeA 'ahisê] and _eer an]thing that aill
Zaê ]ou drun^' Zaê Ze drunÂ don't ]ou seesp
piellA it aouldA aouldn't itsp
p}esA of coursepA she sZiled? pwut it aould _e nicer not to _ring Ze
into it? Su_stitute 'one' for ']ou'A and see hoa Zuch _etter it soundsp?
(London)
ith reIerence either to an unseciIied erson or to eole in general
e ay also use the ronoun the]? It is iortant to observe that in soken
English ]ou ilies reIerence to the seaker or those ith ho he
identiIies hiselI, the] reIerence to eole ith ho the seaker does
not identiIy hiselI, e. g.: ò treeA no shru_A not a _lade of grassA not a
_ird or _eastA not even a fish that aas not oaned? [nd once on a tiZe all
this aas gungle and Zarsh and aaterA and aeird creatures roaZed and
sTorted aithout huZan cognisance to give theZ naZes??? iellk The] had
got it underA ênnelled it all uTA la_elled itA and stoaed it in laa]ers'
offices? (alsorthy)
The] used as a generic ronoun usually reIers to soe ersons
unknon and is oIten highly eotional denoting that the seaker
dissociates hiselI and the erson addressed Iro the situation, e. g.:
I] Toor little girlA ahat have the] _een doing to ]ous
Analogous is the use oI the rench ronoun ilsA e. g.:
Iais cied5d'[louette Tarla et dit=
>ls Z'ont Tris Zon couteau?
ui celas
U
The generic the] ay alternate ith the ord TeoTle atterning
siilarly ith generic Iorce, e. g.:
Irs? Candour? Ver] true child= _ut ahat's to _e dones ceoTle aill tal^
there is no Treventing it? (Sheridan)
Coare the use oI the eran ronoun sie in analogous
transosition:
1
See= P. I. H n o r p o n c x n . Ouepxn no rpammarnuecxo crnnncrnxe
]pannyscxoro xstxa. ., 1956, p. 136.
162
>hZ ha_en sie das [uto gestohlen? >hZ hat Zan das [uto gestohlen
U
?
The ronoun the] ith reIerence to indeIinite ersons is soeties
used ith deonstrative Iorce, e. g.:
The] Zust hunger in ainter that aill not aor^ in suZZer? (roverb)
The shiIt oI the ronoinal Ior eresses a shiIt in the seaker's
attitude and tone. Here again e ust say that this recurrent Ieature is not
seciIically English. Other languages resent siilar henoena.
In Russian and Ukrainian the generic use oI verb-Iors in the 2nd
erson singular and lural ithout a ronoinal indicator is a ell knon
stylistic device, e. g.:
Komynicrom crarn moxna rintxn roi, xonn sararnm cnom nam'xrt
snannxm ncix rnx ararcrn, xxi nnponno nmcrno. (. I. Henin)
Hecnm pyxt sanenaer monoext,
monoext, monoext.
3ry necnm ne saymnmt, ne ytemt,
ne ytemt, ne ytemt.
e'& )&2$,#'3"2: &-)G' &'$,f
Cf? Conne Conne He ree, oniunn cnire, crpinamun, nirac
semnx... Hpoxnnynact cnirona marn, noxasana nam nnuentxo xpacne... n
nouynacre, mo nn uacrnna roro cniry, nenennuxa nxrouxa oro xnnoro
rina, nenpnmirnn xyrouox oro esmipno ymi. (H. npnn)
1
E. Agricola, H. rner, R. KlIner. rter und endungen.
rterbuch u deutschen Srachgebrauch. Leiig, 1963, . 546.
163
Chapter VIII
THE
ADVERB
Adverbs ake u a rather colicated grou oI ords varying idely
in Ior and distribution.
Considered in their orheic structure, adverbs ay be classiIied in
eight grous.
12. The to largest grous are those Iored Iro derived and base
adectives by adding the suIIi 5l]A e. g.: hoTefull]A Th]sicall]A strangel]A
falsel]A etc.
3. The third grou consists oI those that are Iored by eans oI the
derivational reIi 5a (honeically ) to nouns, adectives or verbs. OI
about sity oI the in ore or less coon use nearly halI are Iored
Iro nouns: a_oardA asideA aaa]A etc.
The rest are about eually divided aong those Iored Iro verbs, e.
g.: aZissA astirh Iro adectives aneaA a_road?
In traditional graars such ords are generally classed as both
adectives and adverbs and they are so listed in ost dictionaries, hich
sees hardly ustiIied since Iro the structural oint oI vie none oI the
can Iit the basic adective osition beteen deteriner and noun. (e
cannot say the aloud voice or the adrift _oatf
1
.
4. The Iourth grou oI adverbs originally very sall, but in resent-
day English ehibiting signs oI raid groth includes those Iored by
adding the derivational suIIi 5aise to nouns.
A Ie adverbs oI this tye are ell-established ords like clocâiseA
otheraiseA liêaiseh others are recent coinages or nonce-ords like
cra_aise and actor5aise? In Aerican English the suIIi 5aise is ost
active and can be ore Ireely attached to any nouns to create adverbs
like Tersonnel5aise? Such Iors are recognised in riting by the use oI the
hyhen.
5. Then coes a saller grou oI adverbs Iored by the addition oI
the derivational suIIi 5aardesf to a liited grou oI nouns hoZe5
aardesfA foraardesfA _acâardesf? Most adverbs oI this grou have to
Iors, one ith the Iinal s and one ithout, variously distributed. The
Iors ithout s are hoonyous ith adectives: the _acâard childA he
looêd _acâard?
6. Net e coe to a grou oI adverbs Iored by cobining the
ronouns soZeA an]A ever] and no ith a liited nuber oI nouns or
ronoinal adverbs, such as: soZeTlaceA an]aa]A ever]ahereA noahereA
etc. There are Ieer than tenty oI these in coon use.
1
See: . N. rancis. The Structure oI Aerican English. Ne York, 1958, . 284.
164
7. Another relatively sall grou oI adverbs includes those that are
Iorally identical ith reositions: a_outA aroundA _eforeA doanA inA
insideA overA onA etc.
8. The last grou oI adverbs is the iscellaneous class oI those that
have no Ioral signals at all to distinguish the in isolation e kno
the as adverbs because oI their ositions in utterances, in hich the other
arts oI seech are clearly identiIiable. Many adverbs in this grou are
Iairly Ireuent in occurrence: alaa]sA noaA thenA hereA thereA oftenA seldoZA
stillA even? Others in this grou are ords hich ay also aear as other
arts oI seech, such as: doanstairsA hoZeA lateA littleA fastA stoaA earl]A farA
near?
A ord should be said about adver_5oualifiers?
Aong adverbs there are soe hich have degrees oI coarison and
others hich have not.
Adverbs in the coarative degree, hether Iored by adding the
suIIi 5er or analytically by adding Zore and Zost ay take the sae
ualiIiers that coarative adectives do, e. g.: still Zore difficultA a little
louder?
The adverbial eaning can be intensiIied by adding rightA farA _] farA
e. g. : far aheadA right aheadA far _etterA _etter _] farA far doanA far _eloaA
etc.
Intensity oI adverbial eaning ay also be roduced by the use oI full
and aell as intensiIiers. The latter are survivals oI Old English and less
Ireuent in resent-day use, e. g.: be aas aell out of sighth aell aheadA etc.
A secial oint oI linguistic interest is resented by the develoent oI
erged or searable adverbs. The ter erged is eant here to
bring out the Iact that such searable coounds are leically and
graatically indivisible and Ior a single idea.
Considered in their structure, such searable coounds ay be
classiIied as Iollos:
a) preposition + noun: at handA at hoZeA _] heartA on horse_acÂ on
foot ( _] foot arch?fA in turnA to dateh
b) noun + preposition + noun: arZ in arZA da] _] da]A da] after da]A
da] to da]A face to faceA aord for aordA ]ear _] ]earh
c) preposition + substantivised adjective: at lastA at firstA at largeA in
largeA in fullA in ouietA in shortA in vainA of lateA of oldh
d) preposition + verbal noun ade through conversion: at a guessA at
a runA in a rushA on the ZoveA on the runh
e) preposition + numeral: at firstA at onceA at oneA _] taosh
I) coordinate adverbs: _] and _]A on and off ex off and onfA on and
onh
g) pronoun + adjective (or participle): all rightA all toldA n? |? (all
correct)
h) preposition + pronoun: after allA in allA at all?
In oint oI Iact ost adverbs oI that kind ay be reasonably reIerred
to as graatical idios. This can be seen, Ior instance, in the unusual
absence oI the article beIore their noun coonents and secialised use
165
oI the noun in its singular Ior only: on foot (but not on the footA or on feet
hich ay occur in Iree reositional ord-grous), in fact (but not in the
factfA at first (but not at the firstfA etc.
enoting subtle shades oI adverbial eaning, adverbs oI this tye are
uite lentiIul not only in Modern English but in other Euroean
languages.
Cf? Russian: na ery, na nery, n cepnax.
Ukrainian: na ntory, n rocri, n rocrxx.
rench: en _asA en vainA Tar cur?
eran: nach bauseA qu bauseA von bandA etc.
iscussing the nature oI such adverbs in Russian V. V. Vinogradov
oints out:
V pxa cnon cmemannoe ynorpenenne ]opmt, conmemamme
snauennx nmenn cymecrnnrentnoro n napeunx, neer x ronxnm n
nsmenunntm cmtcnontm nmancam. Hponcxonr cnoeopasnoe xoneanne
]opmt mexy ]ynxnnxmn nmenn cymecrnnrentnoro n napeunx.
anpnmep, , 7)= a cxopom xoy mt cpocnnn renery n ne
cntxann ronuxa (H. Toncro) On na xoy marancx or nsnemoxennx
(Typrenen), no Fpocnn necxontxo cnon na xoy (r. e. mentxom,
roponnnno) n r. n. , 96= H cnncr cane na ncem ery (.
Toncro) nemxa, menxax na ery noconnyxn, cxptncx sa noporamn
(uexon) 0$? Vcnen naery nepexycnrt n ymen na neuepnmm paory,
nepexnnyrtcx cnonamn naery n r. n. 0$? , -# ' ,-#
U
?
The Ireuency value oI erged adverbs is on a arked increase in
resent-day English contributing very uch to the develoent oI
structural synonys, such as, Ior instance:
chiefl] in chief
finall] in fine full]
in full Tartl] in Tart
ouietl] in ouiet
suddenl] of a sudden
vainl] ~ in vain îndl]
in înd
be sToê so aarZl] that > had to ansaer in înd? (Sno) These are not
alays interchangeable and ay diIIer not only in shades oI adverbial
eaning but in their stylistic value. Thus, Ior instance, such coounds as
in fineA in vainA in chief are decidedly ore bookish, ore Ioral than the
sile adverbs oI siilar eaning. Soe oI the are interchangeable ith
sile adverbs only in soe contets oI their use.
CATEGORY OF STATE
Oen to thought and discussion is the linguistic nature oI such ords in
the English vocabulary as are generally registered in dictionaries either as
redicative adectives or adverbs, e. g.: a_lase n orni, a_looZ
1
See= . . n n o r p a o n . Ipammarnuecxoe yuenne o cnone. M., 1947,
166
n nniry, a_oil n xnninni, adrift na nnany, aghast oxonnenn xaxom, afire
n orni, aflaZe n orni, afloat na noi, na nnany, afraid snxxann, agog n
cnoinanni, n syxenni, agar rpoxn nixpnrn, ahead cnepey,
nonepey, aîn cnopinenn, alight sacniuenn, n orni, aliê noinn,
alive xnnn, alone onn, aloof n croponi, aZiss neopeunn, ne o ina,
ne o nay, asleeT cnnxun, astir n pyci, athirst cnparni nn, xaamun,
aaaê necnnxun, nnntnn, nacropoxenn, aaare oisnann, etc.
ro a historical oint oI vie it is interesting to note that ost
redicative adectives oI this kind have originated Iro reositional
hrases, e. g. : a_looZ in _looZA a_oil on the _oilA afire on fireA
aflaZe in flaZeA agar on the garA asleeT in sleeTA etc. Soe others go
back to articiial Iors, e. g. : aghast eagastA agasted ast articile oI
agasten to terriIy), afraid old ast articile oI affra]A etc.
The Iunctioning units oI the given tye ake u a secial class oI
ords hich L. V. Serba atly called category oI state. And there
sees no sall ustiIication to introduce this ter
1
.
A bit oI study ill lead us to the conclusion that according to the
ositions they can Iill and the Iunction they can erIor in various
structures they do not need to be classed as adectives or adverbs.
hen e coe to eaine the atterns in hich ords oI this
orhological class are involved, e Iind that their oeration in the
structure oI seech ehibits secial Ioral ualities distinguishing the
Iro adectives and adverbs ith hich they contrast. The Iirst to be
entioned here is that they are arked by graatical indication oI tie
and ood in hich the coula-verb or its eaningIul absence is alays
a necessary coonent.
ords oI the category oI state ay denote: a) hysical state oI ersons
and things, e. g. : aliveA asleeTA athirstA aaaêh afireA aflaZeA alightA
agloaA a_laqeA etc. b) sychological state: afraidA agaTeA agogA aghastA
ashaZedA ashudderA atreZ_leA aaareA etc. c) state in otion, e. g.: afootA
astirA afloatA etc. Soe ords oI this class denote osition in sace, e. g.:
aloofA astra]A astrideA asêaA etc.
The Ioral arrangeents in hich these ords occur ay be brieIly
characterised as Iollos:
a) Iolloing a coula-verb, they generally Iunction as subective or
obective redicatives. In this Iunction they easily cobine ith coulative
verbs cf various kind, e. g.: ber little resolute face under its coTTer croan
aas susTiciousl] eager and aglow? (alsorthy). The laZTs aere still
alig!t all TaleA _ut not a soul stirred no living thing in sight?
(alsorthy) The butler cae to la] the ta_le for dinnerA and seeing his
Zaster aTTarentl] asleepA edercised edtreZe caution in his ZoveZent?
(alsorthy) Then he _ecaZe aware of soZething else? [ true artist never
stands aloof froZ the TeoTle?
b) ords oI the category oI state are also used as ordinary attributes in
ost-osition or ehatic attributes. In the latter case they ay take
1
H. . Bepa. O uacrxx peun n pyccxom xstxe. c.: yccxax peut, ntn. 1928.
167
is also based on a certain graatical attern but it is intended Ior
noination (naing an action directed at the obect and the obect itselI).
It is to be noted, hoever, that in certain contets and seech situation
the latter ay also Iunction as a unit carrying inIoration.
Consider the Iolloing: I (1) The student is aritingh (2) There is a _oo^
on the ta_leh (3) >t is
cold? II. >'ll not go an]ahereh (4) nnl] aith ]ouh ihen are ]ou going to
leaves
(5) ToZorroa Zorning? ihich aa] are ]ou goings (6) To the left?
boa is hes (7) UT to the Zar^? (8) To ^noa ahat aas on her Zindk
The above given syntactic structures arked by (1), (2), (3), (4), (5),
(6), (7), (8) carry the necessary inIoration and all have a counicative
value. It should be clear, hoever, that the to tyes oI syntactic
structures diIIer essentially in their urely graatical status.
The structural atterns underlying sentences (1), (2) and (3) eist in the
language as syste and are alays intended Ior counication those in
(4), (5), (6), (7) and (8) are not secially intended Ior inIoration and ay
Iunction as such only in certain contets, linguistic or situational (4, 5), in
a deendent art oI a dialogue (5, 6, 7) or say, in a coosite sentence (8),
etc.
ord-cobinations are constructed according to the rules oI a given
language and Iunction very uch in the sae ay as the ultiate unit
the ord.
The concet oI the ord cobination as Iirst suggested by V. V.
Vinogradov
1
ho deIined it as a Iree euivalent oI a hraseological unit,
the latter, in its turn as vieed as a Iree euivalent oI a ord. The
ord-cobination and the ord are thus assued to be Iunctionally
identical. This can be shon by coaring, Ior instance, the verb to
decide and the ord-cobination to taê a decisionh to glance and to cast
a glanceA etc.
Maor Synta studies linguistic units oI counicative value. In Maor
Synta e are concerned ith the rules according to hich ords and
ord-cobinations are actualised in seech, i. e. used as arts oI
redicative units units oI counication integrated into a given
situation and eressing the uroseIul intention oI the seaker in the Ior
oI sentences. This division akes distinction cobining ords to Ior
non-redicative (noinative) cole units, on the one hand, and
cobining ords to eress redication, on the other.
In ters oI eaning, the sentence is traditionally deIined as the
eression oI a colete thought. But this sees to be oen to thought and
discussion because coleteness is, in Iact, very relative and deends
largely on the urose oI the seaker or riter as ell as on the contet,
linguistic or situational.
Logical deIinitions oI the sentence redoinated in the receding
eriods oI the develoent oI the syntactic theory. The concets oI
structural graar are based on graatical and honetic criteria. Its
authors develo the rinciles suggested by L. BlooIield
1
See= . . n n o r p a o n . Ipammarnuecxoe yuenne o cnone. M., 1947. 170
the concet oI endocentric and eocentric hrases as sentence eleents
and the iediate constituents analysis.
The rincile oI transIorational graar is that the hole graar
oI a language constitutes a deIinition oI the sentence.
The traditional deIinition is that a sentence is a grou oI ords
eressing a colete thought is to-day oIten criticised on the ground that
a sentence is soeties one ord and that the thought is not alays
colete but largely deends on the eaning oI receding sentences.
Soe recent riters have atteted to ake utterance do the ork oI
the classical ter sentence. But this does not see Iully ustiIied
because the to ters belong to diIIerent lanes, one historical and the
other linguistic.
The dissatisIaction ith the ter sees to result Iro the Iact that
accurate studies oI synta distinguishing hat is graatically selI-
contained in riting, and hat are the corresonding structures in actual
seech, have not yet been ade. This deserves secial systeatic
descrition.
Sentence-atterning in English has been described roceeding Iro
diIIerent angles oI vie. Thus, Ior instance, the concet oI the relational
Iraeork oI language has led to the study oI the inner syntactic
relationshis in the sentence hich sees ost roising in the
investigation oI the deth oI syntactic ersective.
Structural (descritive) linguistics endeavours to resent the syntactic
asect oI language in ters oI a tabulated survey oI sentence atterns and
the rules oI develoing and etending these atterns. The notion oI the
structural attern is orked out ith relevance to a sile
onoredicative sentence.
Most graarians hold the vie that language is a syste oI
interdeendent units in hich the value oI each unit results solely Iro the
siultaneous resence oI the others. istinction is reasonably ade
beteen syntagatic and aradigatic or associative relations.
In actual seech syntagatic relations ill be observed beteen
linguistic units oI diIIerent levels, e. g. honees and orhees ithin a
ord, beteen ords in hrase structure and sentence, beteen hrases in
sentences, or, say, beteen the arts oI coosite sentences, etc.
The uestion naturally arises about the relation oI redicativity to the
graatical organisation oI the sentence. raarians are not agreed at
this oint. The sentence is soeties vieed only as a seech event ith
no relevance to its graatical organisation and distribution at all. On the
counicative level any art oI the utterance ay Iunction as redicate.
This vie is ost ehatically stated by E. Benveniste
U
?
A sentence ay consist oI one or ore ords.
Eales oI one-ord sentences are such eclaations as Than^sk
YoodkA FirekA HainkA Loo^kA uic^kA Stead]kA Iotherk?
Other, not necessarily eclaatory eales are: }es? ò? cerhaTs?
~ Certainl]?~ >ncredi_le?~ TiredsA HainsA ihats ex ihat did ]ou sa]sf
1
See= E. Benveniste. Problees de linguistiue gnrale. Les niveau de l'analyse
linguistiue. Paris, 1966, . 128-129.
171
One-ord sentences are, as a rule, synseantic. The necessary idea is
ade clear by a articular situation, a stateent ade or a uestion asked
in other sentence.
Cf? ih] don't ]ou dances \ances > never do?
A sile sentence has its on syste oI Ioral eans to eress
obective odal eanings and tie relations concerning the reality or
irreality oI hat is eressed in redication. The reIlection oI obective
reality in a sentence is alays clear oI urose.
Modality and syntactic tie relevance cannot be thought oI in isolation.
The to categories are insearable and resent, in Iact, a regular structural
Ieature oI any sentence.
istinction ust naturally be ade beteen the orhological
categories oI tie and syntactic tie relevance. The Iorer are
eressed by eans oI graatical orhees, the latter as a category oI
the sentence-level has its on Ioral eans: secial structural sentence-
atterns and verb-Iors ade to serve syntactic uroses.
In diIIerent contets oI their use verb-Iors can be Iunctionally re-
evaluated, e. g. resent tense-Iors can be used ith ast or Iuture tie
relevance, as in: >'Z not coZing _ac^ to Xngland? wless ]ou alaa]s mon?
(alsorthy) She is Tla]ing ChoTin toZorroa?
The category oI syntactic ood can be eressed by: a) the structural
sentence-attern itselI b) the notional verb in a given structure oI
redication c) verbless sentence-atterns d) Iunctional re-evaluation oI
the verb-Iors oI the Indicative and Ierative Mood e) Iunctional re-
evaluation oI soe tyes oI sub-clauses.
The theory oI the Iunctional sentence ersective orked out by the
Prague School oI linguistics has led in recent ties to the concet oI three
stages oI syntactic abstraction here the sentence is vieed as: 1) a single
seech event 2) a syntactic structure ade u oI the syntactic eleents
ith no relevance to situational contets and belonging only to graar
3) an utterance in its Iunctional sentence ersective.
On the third level oI analysis e eaine the counicative sentence
dynaics. The utterance is divided here into to sections, one oI the, the
thee contains hat is the starting oint oI the stateent, and the other,
the rhee carries the ne inIoration Ior hose sake the sentence has
been uttered or ritten.
In orhology e identiIy the graatical eanings and Iors
roceeding Iro its syste oI Ioral oositions around hich the
graatical syste oI the language is to a large etent built u. And so it
is ith syntactic categories here the graatical abstraction akes it
ossible to distinguish oositional relations on diIIerent levels oI
linguistic analysis.
To begin ith, the sentence itselI as a graatical category is
riarily involved in the oosition:
the Priary Unit oI Language
Noinative Unit
ord
the Priary Unit oI Seech
Counicative Unit
Sentence
172
Oositional relations on the sentence level are ost obvious in the
Iolloing:
U? ceter Tla]s \oes ceter Tla]s ceterA Tla]k
t? ceter Tla]s ceter does not Tla]?
? ceter Tla]s ceter aill eZustA Za]f Tla]?
Correlation beteen ceter Tla]s and ceter does not Tla] gives the
oosition affirmation :: negation.
The correlative grou ceter Tla]s ceter Zust eZa]f Tla] or ceter
seeZs to Tla] gives the oosition indicative :: potential.
As a atter oI Iact, each sentence is the crossing oint oI the given
oositions:
ceter Tla]s narrative (neither interrogative sentence nor ierative)
aIIirative (not negative) sentence indicative (not
suositional)
In these ters, e distinguish the Iolloing tyes oI sentences:
declarative, interrogative, imperative.
1) eclarative sentences assert or deny soething.
[ aind had cleared the ZistA the autuZn leaves aere rustling and the
stars aere shining?
2) Interrogative sentences ask a uestion. They ay be subdivided
into:
a) sentences reuiring to eress a certain thought, to conIir or negate
hat has been asked by the seaker.
p\o ]ou liê thatsp pòp?
p>sn't it goll]sp she criedA and mohn ansaered= pHatherp? (alsorthy)
b) sentences reuiring additional inIoration about the thing asked.
Such sentences sho hat inIoration is reuired, and ay reIer to any
art oI the sentence, e. g.:
pih] did ]ou go togethersp Tursued SoaZes? (alsorthy)
pLoo^ herep he saidA pahat's the Zeaning of itsp (alsorthy)
3) Ierative sentences eress reuests hich in diIIerent contets
range Iro categorical order to coand and entreaties. The necessary
eaning is generally signalled by the contet and intonation:
CoZe uT toZorroa Zorningk
Ierative Modality ay also be eressed by:
1) Subunctive Iors in ish-sentences, calls, toasts, etc. Success
attend ]ouk Ia] our countr] flourish and TrosTerk
2) Verb-Iors oI the Indicative Mood in transosition: pie
U
re going after _uff in the ZorningpA he told her? p>'Z coZingpA
she said?
pIoA ]ou're not?p
pnhA ]esA > aZ? Ia]n't >A Francissp
pie'll Tut on another shoa for ]ou toZorroap?Francis IacoZ_er said?
p}ou are not coZingpA iilson said? (Heingay) e}ou are not coZing
\on't coZe \on't ]ou coZef ???nhA the shaZe of this da]k The shaZe of
this da]k }ou'll _e coZin' hoZe aith Ze noa?
... ie're not out of this Tlace ]et? be's not? }ou'll coZe hoZe aith Ze noa?
(reiser)
173
3) Nouns and noun-hrases, e. g. : Silencek
[ttentionk Firek ex nTen firekf
4) Modal hrases, e. g.:
be shall coZe aith no dela]?
5) Adverbs and adverbial hrases, as in:
Foraardk Foraardk
It sees beyond uestion that a study oI syntagatic relations ust be
based on the valency analysis aied at giving corehensive rules Ior
cobining ords into sentences. The identiIication oI the necessary
leical or structural eaning oI the ord is oIten based on its
corresonding distribution. Language atterns ust be observed in their
internal coosition inasuch as it correlates ith diIIerent kinds oI
usage. In other ords, a distinction should be ade, beteen hat ight
be called leical collocation and hat soe linguists call, or used to call,
graatical collocation, Ior hich another nae is 'colligation'.
In graatical collocation or colligation, hich is alays a atter oI
structure, only certain tyes oI orhees habitually Iind theselves in
soe environents and are deIinitely ecluded Iro others as, Ior
instance, aZ is Iound in close association ith > or heA sheA it ith
resent tense ending ith 5s or 5es (in the ritten ediu) or the
ronoinal deteriner that ith singular nouns, those ith lural
nouns, and so on.
raatical collocation oI this sort restricts the choice oI ords very
rigorously. Leical collocation restricts the choice in ore or less the sae
ay but not so rigidly, since it does allo transgression oI the rule Ior
various stylistic uroses. Contets have a ay oI aking a graatical
Ior convey diIIerent structural eanings including soeties the eact
oosite oI hat is ordinary intended.
In linguistic studies e generally distinguish: graatical or ord-
changing, leical, or derivational, and honeic aradigs.
Thus, Ior instance, the aradig in the declension oI the noun pyr in
Russian ill give a set oI such ord-Iors as: pyr, pyra, pyry, pyra,
pyrom, o pyre.
The aradig oI the English noun girl is girl v girlsA girl'sA girls'?
A orhological aradig is a set oI ord-Iors oI one leee: case
nuber in nouns, tense asect in verbs. The aradig oI the
verb aor^ is resented by the Iolloing ord-Iors: aor^ aor^sA
aorêdA aill aorÂ is aorîngA aas aorîngA aill _e aorîngA has aorêdA
had aorêdA aill have aorêdA has _een aorîngA had _een aorîngA aill
have _een aorîng?
ro the kernel ord love a nuber oI derivative ords can be
generated by eans oI certain ell knon rules telling us hat
orhees ust be added and to hat kernel they ust be added (V or
N):
love (N) love (V)
lovel] (A) lover (N)
loveliness (N) loving (A) lovingl] ()
174
loveless (A) lova_le (A)
_eloved (A)
Siilarly:
live (V) live laiv (A)
livea_le (A) lively (A)
liveliness (N)
liven (V)
The ultilicity oI ays in hich ords ay be cobined in actual
usage can reasonably be interreted in ters oI syntactic aradigs. One
ord-Ior can erIor the Iunction oI diIIerent sentence-eleents, and
one sentence-eleent can be orhologically and leically eressed by
diIIerent linguistic signs.
Linguistically the eaning oI a sentence-eleent is naturally to be
understood through relations ith the content oI the other sentence-
eleents. As such it is alays relative in its character and is not actualised
in isolation.
Syntactic relations ake u a cluster oI oositions in various ites oI
syntactic hierarchy. And there sees to be a regular syste behind the.
The study oI synta in these ters is ost helIul and can cast uch
light on the nature and Iunctioning oI language.
As a atter oI Iact, the aradigatic and syntagatic concets oI
language go as Iar back as N. V. Krushevsky's stateents about the
relational Iraeork oI language built u on siilarity and diIIerentiation
oI sentence eleents.
This aroach to the study oI synta becoes increasingly useIul Ior
insight into the structure and Iunctioning oI any language.
PROBLEMS O SENTENCE-PARAIM
Probles oI syntactic aradigatics Iigure uite roinently in
linguistic studies oI recent years. Accurate studies oI sentence aradigs
in the theory oI English structure have not yet been ade and uch
reains to be done beIore colete data in this art oI English synta are
available.
A aor linguistic interest is resented by the treatent oI the
roble in odern Russian Synta
2
.
By sentence-aradig e ean the syste oI its Iors.
Thus, Ior instance, the aradig oI a sile kernel sentence ay be
identiIied in ters oI odal and tie relations as eressed by its aor
atterns.
. orth akes distinction beteen inIlectional and derivational
syntactic aradigs, hich is not devoid oI logical Ioundations.
The silest case oI an inIlectional aradig ay be illustrated by
variations oI one category in a given attern, e. g. the category oI nuber
and erson in the subect and in the obect the category oI ood, tense,
nuber, erson in the redicate, and soeties in both subect and
redicate. By ay oI illustration:
The distribution oI these Iors is knon to be governed by a tye oI
correlation ith the subect called concord? Concord ay be deIined as
the coleentary distribution oI linguistic Iors having the sae
syntactic Iunction in systeatic correlation ith other Iorally distinct
Iors ith hich they are syntactically linked.
Concord is certainly not so roinent in the structure oI English as it is
in soe other languages, but it occasionally becoes iortant in dealing
ith ersons oI verbs. Thus, Ior instance, the third-singular erson is used
henever a sile verb in the head-verb is a redicate hose subect is
one oI the Iolloing:
(1) a noun Ior hich heA sheA or it ay be substituted
(2) one oI the ronouns heA she or ith
(3) the deonstrative ronouns: this or thath
(4) a structure oI odiIication oI hich one oI the above is head
(1) any other art oI seech beside a noun, or a structure oI
odiIication or coleentation ith such art oI seech as head or
verbal eleent, e. g.: Too Zuch ^noaledge Zaês the head _old? cla]ing
aith fire is dangeroush
(2) one oI certain secial redication structures: the included clause and
the inIinitival clause, e. g.: ihat ]ou sa] is true? To see is to _elieveh
(3) a structure oI coordination in hich the coordinator is orA norA
enfeither??? enforA or not eonl]f??? _ut ealsof and in hich the last coordinate
eleent belongs to (1) (6) above also one oI certain other secial
structures oI coordination
1
.
On this level oI analysis the starting oint ust naturally be the
silest to-eber declarative sentence ith the subect in the sin-
1
See= . N. rancis. The Structure oI Aerican English. Ne York, 1958. 176
gular and the redicate eressed by the verb-Ior oI the Present Tense
(Coon Asect), Indicative Mood, Active Voice.
TransIorations oI this kernel sile to-eber declarative
sentence ay be aradigatically reresented as Iollos:
The child Tla]s
The child does The child \oes the iho iho does boa the Tla] does not
child lays not Tla]s child Tla] Tla]s
Tla]sk
The given attern ay be transIored into: a) an attributive adunct
and b) a structure oI secondary redication.
(a) the Tla]ing of the child the
child's Tla]
the Tla] of the child The
child Tla]s the Tla]ing child
the child's Tla]ing
(b) for the child to Tla] the
child Tla]ing aith the child
Tla]ing
The sentence is a cole syntactic unit and as such it can enter a
nuber oI syntactic aradigs build u on siilarity and diIIerentiation oI
the sentences. All the syntactic aradigs oI the sentence ake u its
hyeraradig.
1
Probles oI sentence-atterning have received increasing attention in
syntactic studies oI recent years.
Iortant treatents have been ade ith a vie to describe the
syntactic syste oI a language as a closed inventory oI the basic structural
sentence-atterns and give a survey oI the regularities in their ossible
eansion and reduction.
ith the diversity oI vie-oints ithin descritive linguistics it is not
surrising that graarians diIIer in their assutions and ethods oI
such analysis. or the ost art there is a considerable variation in
deIining the rincial tyes oI sentences as Iinite in nuber.
In the ords oI H. Stageberg, Ior instance, there are basically 9 aor
tyes oI sentences . Hook, E. Mathes in Iodern [Zerican YraZZar
and Usage give basically only Iive aor atterns hich over ninety er
cent oI resent-day sentences Iollo. The Iive atterns described in this
graar are deterined only by the osition oI the aor coonents oI a
sentence. II the osition oI one oI aor coonents is altered, the
sentence Iollos a minor, rather than a aor attern.
The Iive aor atterns are:
Major Pattern I: Subect and Verb
ioZen aTTlauded?
Major Pattern II: Subect Verb Obect
ie ate haZ_urgers?
1
See6 . orth. The Role oI TransIorations in the eIinition oI Syntagas in
Russian and Other Slavic Languages. The Hague, 1963.
077
Major Pattern III: Subect Verb Predicate Noinative
bus_ands are nice?
Major Pattern IV: Subect Verb Predicate Adective
belen is _eautiful?
Major Pattern V: Eletive Verb Predicate Adective
Subect There aere traitors in their Zidst? >t is eas] to saiZ? >t
reZained for Ze to concur? >t's eor there'sf no use cr]ing over
sTilled Zil^?
All the above given structural atterns ay naturally be eanded by
adding to either the subect or the verb other ords called 'odiIiers':
Addition oI one-ord odiIiers:
Several aoZen aTTlauded Tolitel]?
Addition oI hrase odiIiers:
The aoZen standing in the aisles aTTlauded aith vigour?
Addition oI deendent clauses in the cole sentence:
The aoZen aho aere standing in the aisles aTTlauded ahen the
Tresiding officer asêd for Zore chairs?
ulication oI the attern the coound sentence:
ioZen aTTlauded and Zen grinned?
ulication lus deendent clause the coound-cole
sentence:
ihen the Tresiding officer asêd for Zore chairs Zan] aoZen in the
aisles aTTlauded and several Zen grinned sleeTishl]?
In hitehall's Structural Xssentials of Xnglish
U
the rincial tyes oI
sentences are shon as based on a ore liited nuber oI tyes oI ord-
grous reIerred to as sentence situations.
The silest Ior oI the sentence that hich consists sily oI
subect and oI verb or verb-grou redicate goes here by the nae
Sentence Situation I:
be cried?
wo]s ]ell?
ihat he had atteZTted had failed?
[ll the good Zen aere fighting?
To sing such song as this could helT?
Sentence Situation II (V Coleent):
The Zatter sliTTed his ZeZor]? >t
aas raining cats and dogs?
Sentence Situation III a sentence ith to coleents:
The reTorter gave the lad] a Tresent?
ToZ Saa]er Tainted the fence ahite?
ie found the house _roên doan?
The caTtain had aanted his aide to edaZine the Zatter?
1
See= H. hitehall. Structural Essentials oI English. Ne York, 1956.
178
In transIorational graar kernel sentences are also given ith a diIIerent degree oI
generalisation: 7 tyes oI kernel sentences in L. S. Harris' Co5occurrence and
TransforZation in Linguistic Structure and 3 tyes in B. Hathaay's TransforZational
S]ntad?
There are basically si aor structural atterns ell identiIied in ters oI
sentence eleents, their Iunction and osition, in Crpyxrypnt
cnnraxcnc anrnncxoro xstxa edited by L. L. IoIik:
1. SP: The _ird sings?
2. SPc Co
s
: be is a _o]l]oung?
3. SPO
1
: The hunter îlled the _ear?
4. SPO
2
O
1
[l_ert gave hiZ a _oo^?
5. SPO
1
Co
0
: be Tainted the door ahite?
6. There PS: There is a _oo^ on the ta_le?
More etensive and accurate is the tabulated survey oI diIIerent tyes
oI kernel sentences given by . . Pochetsov
1
.
Based on certain assutions about the kinds oI rocesses that eist in
language and the anner in hich they correlate this survey resents a
aor linguistic interest.
It should be clear, hoever that the descrition oI English structures
that has been and is being develoed by diIIerent scholars in accordance
ith the ne aroaches and diensions oI language cannot be
regarded as a closed Iied syste. There is an enorous aount to be
learned concerning the nature oI language in general and the structure oI
English in articular.
That the basic atterns oI English sentences Iall into a liited nuber
oI tyes and can be classiIied according to the Ior oI the redicate sees
to have been Iirst ointed out by C. T. O n i o n s
2
at the beginning oI this
century. In his tabulated survey he gives Iive basic atterns, each taking its
characteristic Ior Iro the structure oI the redicate:
First Form of the Predicate
Subect Predicate
\a] daans?
The
shades
of night aere falling?
Second Form of the Predicate
Subect Predicate
(verb redicative adective or redicative
noun or redicative ronoun)
Croesus aas rich or a îng?
Thought is free?
Seeing is _elieving?
The Zeeting stands adgourned?
ie are getting read]?
1
See= I. I. H o u e n n o n . Koncrpyxrnnnt ananns crpyxrypt npenoxennx.
2
See= C.T. Onions. An Advanced English Synta. London, 1932.
179
Third Form of the Predicate
Subect Predicate Obect Ian] hands
Zaê light aor^? ò_od] aishes to
^noa?
Fourth Form of the Predicate
Subect Predicate
(verb to obects)
ie taught the dog tric^s?
U as^ ]ou this ouestion?
Fifth Form of the Predicate
Subect Predicate
(verb obect redicative adective or
redicative noun)
The] elected hiZ consul?
be thought hiZself a haTT] Zan?
The thought drove hiZ Zad?
Linguistic research in syntactic aradigatics is still in its beginning.
There is no lack oI roising directions Ior Iurther study along these
lines.
It sees beyond uestion that language atterns ust be observed in
their internal coosition inasuch as it correlates ith diIIerent kinds oI
usage. The relational Iraeork oI language is built u on siilarity and
contrasts oI its structural eleents.
The asyetric dualis oI the linguistic sign, hich is ost obvious
in Iunctional orhology, erits consideration in syntactic structures.
An adeuate descrition oI sentence atterns ust account Ior various
iortant relations beteen sentences and tyes :oI their construction.
Soe overtly arallel sentences are identical at their Iace value but
diIIer in their sense-structure.
Thus, Ior instance, the basic attern S V
inf
can soeties be
understood in a certain ay arallel to other sentences oI a diIIerent structure,
e. g.:
be Taints a) act oI ainting
b) uality, occuation. S]n? be is a Tainterh
She seas a) act oI seing
b) uality, occuation. S]n? She is a seaerh
be drin^s a) act oI drinking
b) uality. S]n? be is a drinêrh
be liZTs a) S]n? be aal^s laZel]h
b) be is laZe?
Soe sentences diIIer in their Ioral structure but are siilar in
eaning.
180
The ossibility to eress one and the sae eaning by overtly
diIIerent sentence-atterns ay be illustrated by nuerous eales. Cf?=
(a)The laê teeZs aith fish? (a) The laê is alive aith fish?
(b)be could not sleeT? (b) be felt aaêful?
(c)The Tla] did not taê? (c) The Tla] aas not a success?
(d)> have Tlent] of tiZe? (d) >'Z in Tlent] of tiZe?
(e)[ heav] rain aas falling? (e) >t aas Telting doan?
(I) be is running a teZTerature? (I) be has a teZTerature?
It is relevant to observe that the sources oI synonyy in sentence-
structure are syntactic rocesses oI diIIerent linguistic status. Synonys
are knon to be generated by syntactic transIorations based riarily or
signiIicant changes in the graatical structure oI the sentence, such as,
Ior instance, noinality oI various tyes, coression oI subclauses, in
articular.
Another source oI synonyity ust be sought in various transositions
oI syntactic structures leading to their Iunctional re-evaluation, as, Ior
instance, neus oI derecation, rhetorical uestions or the use oI
seudo-subclauses oI condition as indeendent units oI counication, e.
g.:
>f onl] > ^nea a_outk S]n? >'d liê to ^noa a_out it? CarrieA if
]ou're not a aonderk S]n? CarrieA ]ou are a aonderk
or, say, transositions oI coarative subclauses here they are also used
as indeendent units oI counicative value, e. g.:
[s if > ever told hiZ a_out itk
S]n? > never told hiZ a_out it?
Not less characteristic are transositions oI declarative sentences into
the shere oI ierative odality, hich is oIten accoanied by
orhological transositions oI tense-Iors.
Cf? CoZe hoZe aith Ze noak
S]n? }ou'll coZe aith Ze noak
}ou'll _e coZing hoZe aith Ze noak
There are also any other Iacts about sentence-atterning that need
research in synta.
A aor oint oI interest is resented by erihrasis involving
riarily the change oI the leical status oI the sentence.
Leico-graatical erihrasis lies, in Iact, beyond the central
concern oI aradigatics in synta.
In erihrastic synta e Iind it reasonable to ake distinction
beteen:
1) leical convertibility intended to convey the necessary logical stress
in a given utterance:
eaf }ou have given Ze ]our cold?
e_f > have caught ]our cold?
181
eaf be lost his courage?
e_f Courage deserted hiZ?
eaf be lent theZ Zone]?
e_f The] _orroaed Zone] froZ hiZ?
eaf be su_sided into sleeT?
e_f SleeT too^ hiZ in its eZ_race?
2) leico-graatical erihrasis based on seantic and Iunctional
siilarity beteen adectives and verbs in atterns like the Iolloing:
> liê Zusic? >'Z fond of Zusic?
> regret it? >'Z sorr] a_out it?
be ^noas it? be is aaare of it?
3) leico-graatical erihrasis by noinalisation:
be lost his nerves?
be aas all nerves?
4) the use oI hrasal verbs adated to style and urose in each case
(asect or voice odiIications, in articular):
be aas asleeT x be gave hiZself uT to steeT?
ie suTTorted hiZ be found our suTTort?
5) leical erihrasis based on leical synonyy oI verbs in the
structure oI redication, e. g.:
be shared his secret aith
Ze? be let Ze into his
secret?
Leico-graatical erihrasis by hrasal verbs oI various tyes is a
Iloodgate oI synonys in sentence-atterning. This noinal tendency is
decidedly on the increase in resent-day English.
Variations in the structure oI the redicate roducing subtle shades oI
obective and subective distinctions ake u a regular syste and resent
a rather colicated subect hich linguists have by no eans Iully
investigated. This insight into sentence-atterning hels to coordinate and
deeen the student's gras oI the language.
Chapter X
THE SIMPLE SENTENCE
THE PRINCIPAL PARTS OF THE SENTENCE
Parts oI the sentence are a syntactic category constituted by the organic
interaction oI diIIerent linguistic units in seech.
It is iortant to observe that the division into arts oI seech and the
division into arts oI the sentence are organically related. This does not
call Ior uch to elain. The art oI seech classiIication is knon to be
based not only on the orhological and ord-aking characteristics oI
ords but their seantic and syntactic Ieatures as ell. The latter are
articularly iortant Ior such arts oI seech as have no orhological
distinctions at all. A ord (or a hrase) as a art oI sentence ay enter into
various relations ith the other arts oI a given sentence. These utual
relationshis are soeties very colicated as being conditioned by
diIIerent Iactors: leical, orhological and syntactic roer.
Iortant observations in the theory oI the arts oI the sentence based
on the interrelation oI tyes oI syntactic bond and tyes oI syntactic
content ere ade by A. I. Sirnitsky
1
. A art oI the sentence is deIined
as a tyical cobination oI the given tye oI syntactic content and the
given tye oI syntactic bond as regularly reroduced in seech. iIIerent
tyes oI syntactic bond Ior a hierarchy here distinction should be ade
beteen redicative bond and non-redicative bond. On the level oI the
sentence eleents this results in the oosition oI rincial arts and
secondary arts.
The redicative bond constitutes the sentence itselI.
The arts oI the sentence hich are connected by eans oI the
redicative bond are principal parts. These are the core oI the
counicative unit. The non-redicative bond corises attributive,
coletive and coulative relations.
Subect-redicate structure gives the sentence its relative indeendence
and the ossibility to Iunction as a colete iece oI counication.
This, hoever, ust be taken ith soe oints oI reservation because a
sentence ay be included in soe larger syntactic unit and ay thus
eaken or loose its indeendence Iunctioning as art oI a larger utterance.
Using the ters psu_gectp and pTredicatep e ust naturally ake
distinction beteen the content oI the arts oI the sentence and their
1
See= . H. C m n p n n n x n . Cnnraxcnc anrnncxoro xstxa. M., 1957.
183
linguistic eression, i. e.: a) the ords as used in a given sentence and b)
the thing eant, hich are art oI the etralinguistic reality.
The distinction ade at this oint in Russian terinology beteen
nonexamee cxasyemoe and cyexr npenxar sees
erIectly reasonable. The to concets ust be ket aart to ean a) the
ords involved and b) the content eressed, resectively.
The subect is thus the thing eant ith hich the redicate is
connected.
All the basic sentences consist, Iirst oI all, oI to iediate
constituents: subject and predicate.
In the basic sentence atterns subects are rather sile, consisting oI
either a single noun, a noun ith its deteriner or a ronoun. They can
naturally gro uch ore colicated: nouns can be odiIied in uite a
variety oI ays and other syntactic structures can be ade subects in
lace oI nouns or its euivalents.
Meaning relationshis are naturally varied. Subects can reIer to
soething that is identiIied, described and classiIied or located they ay
ily soething that erIors an action, or is aIIected by action or, say,
soething involved in an occurrence oI soe sort.
The seantic content oI the ter psu_gectp can be ade clear only iI
e eaine the signiIicant contrastive Ieatures oI sentence atterning as
oerating to Ior a colete utterance.
In Modern English there are to ain tyes oI subect that stand in
contrast as oosed to each other in ters oI content: the definite subject
and the indefinite subject.
Definite subjects denote a thing-eant that can be clearly deIined: a
concrete obect, rocess, uality, etc., e. g.:
(a) Fleur sZiled? (b) To defend our Fatherland is our sacred dut]? (c)
cla]ing tennis is a Tleasure? (d) ber Trudence surTrised Ze?
Indefinite subjects denote soe indeIinite erson, a state oI things or
a certain situation, e. g.:
(a) The] sa]? (b) }ou never can tell? (c) nne cannot _e too careful? (d)
>t is rather cold? (e) >t aas eas] to do so?
Languages diIIer in the Iors hich they have adoted to eress this
eaning. In English indeIinite subects have alays their Ioral
eression.
Sentences oI this tye ill be Iound in rench: (a) nn dit? (b) >l fait
froid?
Siilarly in eran: (a) Ian sagt? (b) Xs ist âlt?
In Russian and Ukrainian the indeIinite subect is eressed by one-
eber sentences:
Ionopxr, uro noroa nsmennrcx. oxno npenonoxnrt, uro
xcnennnx yxe saxonunna cnom paory.
In soe tyes oI sentence atterns Modern English relies on the ord-
order arrangeent alone. In The hunter îlled the _ear variation in the
order oI sentence eleents ill give us a diIIerent subect. English synta
is ell knon as riarily characterised by subect verb
coleent order.
0>&
It ill be noted, hoever, that in a good any sentences oI this tye
the subect and the doer oI the action are by no eans in Iull
corresondence, e. g.: This rooZ sleeTs three ZenA or Such _oo^s sell
readil]?
It coes uite natural that a subect cobines the leical eaning ith
the structural eaning oI erson.
Things are seciIically diIIerent in cases hen it and there are used in-
subect ositions as reresentatives oI ords or longer units hich ebody
the real content oI the subect but are ostoned.
It is Zost Tleasant that she has alread] coZe?
It aas eas] to do so? T!ere are a fea Zistaês
in ]our TaTer? T!ere aere no seats at all?
>t and there in such syntactic structures are generally called
anticiatory or introductory subects.
There in such atterns is oIten reIerred to as a Iunction ord, and this
is not devoid oI soe logical Ioundation. It is ronounced ith eak or
tertiary stress, hich distinguishes it Iro the adverb there ronounced
eehrA ehf and having riary or secondary stress. There is soeties
called a teorary subect Iilling the subect osition in lace oI the true
subect, hich Iollos the verb. This interretation sees to have been
borne out by the Iact that the verb Ireuently shos concord ith the
Iolloing noun, as in:
there is a botanical gardens in our toan
there were onl] t!ree of us there comes !is ?oy
The graatical organisation oI redicates is uch ore colicated.
The redicate can be coosed oI several diIIerent structures. It is ust
this variety oI the redicate that akes us recognise not one basic English
sentence attern but several.
In ters oI odern linguistics, the redicate is reasonably deIined as
the IC oI the sentence resented by a Iinite-Ior oI the verb, iI even in its
ero-alternant.
Predicates ith ero-alternants oIIer secial diIIiculties on the oint oI
their analysis as relevant to the roble oI ellisis hich has alays been
a disutable uestion in graar learning.
Various criteria oI classiIying diIIerent kind oI redicate have been set
u by graarians. The coon deIinition oI the predicate in ters oI
odern linguistics is that it is a more or less complex structure with the
verb or verb-phrase at its core. This is erIectly reasonable and in oint
oI Iact agrees ith the advice oI traditional graars to identiIy a
redicate by looking Ior the verb. The sentence, indeed, alost alays
eists Ior the sake oI eressing by eans oI a verb, an action, state or
being. The verb hich is alays in key osition is the heart oI the atter
and certain ualities oI the verb in any language deterine iortant
eleents in the structural eaning oI the redicate. These Ieatures ill
engage our attention net. To begin ith, the redicate ay be coosed
oI a ord, a hrase or an entire clause. hen it is a notional ord, it is
naturally not only structural but the notional redicate as ell.
185
The redicate can be a ord, a ord-orhee or a hrase. II it consists
oI one ord or ord-orhee it is simple; iI it is ade u oI ore than
one ord it is called compound. In ters oI coleentation, redicates
are reasonably classiIied into verbal etiZe TressesA _irds fl]A the Zoon
roseA etc.) and nominal eis haTT]A felt strongA got coolA grea oldf?
The to tyes oI redicates in active synta ay be diagraed as
Iollos:
A. Verbal Predicate Sile Tastes differ?
Coound nne Zust do one's dut]?
B. Noinal Predicate
Sile uite serious all thisk
Coound The Ticture aas _eautiful?
The ultilicity oI ays in hich redication can be eressed in
active synta erits a very large nuber oI sentence-atterns to be built
in resent-day English. e Iind here both oints oI coincidence ith other
languages and secial eculiarities oI sentence-atterning conditioned by
the hole course oI language develoent.
Predication, ith its iediate relevance to the syntactic categories oI
erson, tie and odality, is knon to be eressed not only
orhologically. Syntactic arrangeent and intonation ay do this duty as
ell.
Tie relations, Ior instance, ay Iind their eression in syntactic
structures ithout any orhological devices indicating tie.
The one-eber sentence Firek, deending on the contet, linguistic
or situational, ay be used as:
1) a stylistic alternative oI the ierative sentence eaning: a)
crpinx b) sanann noront c) npnnecn nornm
2) a stylistic alternative oI a declarative sentence stating a Iact: nnno
noront.
Siilarly in Russian: oront a) crpenx b) saxrn oront or npnnecn
ornx c) nnen oront.
The ultilicity oI syntactic ays in hich odality and tie relations
as ell as the category oI erson ay be eressed in inIinitival clauses is
also ell knon. Eales are coonlace.
Hun aaa]k Yo to the eastk (alsorthy)
To thin^ that he should _e tortured so ~ her Fran^k (reiser)
Cf? Ony mnnyry, eme ony mnnyry, nnert ee, npocrnrtcx, noxart
e pyxy (Hepmonron)
osmoxno nn enx npoart enx sa noneny rnynna...
(Hepmonron)
In the theory oI English structure the ter psentence anal]sisp is oen
to ore than one interretation.
Structural graatical studies oI soe odern linguists have
abandoned any oI the coonly held vies oI synta. ith regard to
the ethodology eloyed their linguistic aroach diIIers Iro Iorer
0><
treatents in language learning. To begin ith, distinction ust be
ade beteen the Zentalisticp and the Zechanisticp aroach to sentence
analysis.
By pZentalisticp aroach e ean thearts oI the sentence
analysis based on consideration oI seantic relationshis beteen the
sentence eleents.
The pZechanisticp aroach is knon to have originated in USA in
nineteen Iorties. It is associated riarily ith the naes oI BlooIield,
ries, Harris and leason. Claied to be entirely Ioral, the
pZechanisticp aroach is based only on the structural relations oI
sentence eleents, i. e. their osition in the seech chain. To ake the
distinction beteen the to aroaches clear consider the Iolloing
eales: pZentalisticall]p (i. e. analysing sentences by utting uestions)
pto invite studentsp and pinvitation of studentsp are arsed as syntactic
structures ith obects denoting the erson toards ho the action is
directed.
In ters oI pZechanisticp analysis, students and of students ould be
diIIerent sentence eleents because they diIIer in ters oI structure
(eression lane).
The ne ethod oI sentence analysis is knon as the ethod oI
iediate constituents (IC's). As e have already ointed out, the
concet oI IC as Iirst introduced by L. BlooIield and later on
develoed by other linguists.
The structural grouing oI sentence eleents into IC's has naturally
its on syste in each language. It has been recognised that English
has a dichotoous structure.
The concet oI iediate constituents (IC's) is iortant both in
orhology and synta. An iediate constituent is a grou oI
linguistic eleents hich Iunctions as a unit in soe larger hole.
The study oI synta is greatly Iacilitated by studying the tyes oI
iediate constituents hich occur. e have learned to call the direct
coonents oI the sentence grous. In ters oI odern linguistics
they are iediate constituents.
A basic sentence attern consists Iirst oI all oI a subect and a
redicate. These are called the iediate constituents oI the sentence.
They are constituents in the sense that they constitute, or ake u, the
sentence. They are iediate in the sense that they act
iediately on one another: the hole eaning oI the one alies to
the hole eaning oI the other.
The subect oI a basic sentence is a noun cluster and the redicate
is a verb cluster, e can thereIore say that the iediate constituents
(IC's) oI a sentence are a noun cluster and a verb cluster. Each oI the
IC's oI the sentence can in turn be divided to get IC's at the net loer
level. or eale, the noun cluster oI a sentence ay consist oI a
deteriner lus a noun. In this case, the construction ay be cut
beteen the deteriner and the noun, e. g. the girl? The IC's oI this
noun cluster are the and girl? The verb cluster oI the sentence ay be a
verb lus a noun cluster eTla]ed the Tianof? This cluster can be cut
into IC's as Iollos:
Tla]edlthe Tiano?
187
The IC analysis is, in Iact, nothing very startling to traditional
graar. It ill alays reind us oI hat e learned as the direct
coonents oI the sentence: subect grou and redicate grou. But it
roceeds Iurther don and includes the division oI the sentence into its
ultiate constituents.
In ters oI Ch. ries' distributional odel oI syntactic descrition, the
sentence I] _rother Zet his friend there is reresented by the Iolloing
schee:
The basic assution oI this aroach to the graatical analysis oI
sentences is that all the structural signals in English are strictly Ioral
atters that can be described in hysical ters oI Iors, and arrangeents
oI order. The Ioral signals oI structural eanings oerate in a syste and
this is to say that the ites oI Iors and arrangeent have signalling
signiIicance only as they are arts oI atterns in a structural hole.
In ters oI the IC's odel revalent in structural linguistics, the
sentence is reresented not as a linear succession oI ords, but as a
hierarchy oI its iediate constituents. The division is thus ade ith a
vie to set oII such coonents as adit, in their turn, a aiu
nuber oI Iurther division and this is alays done roceeding Iro the
binary rincile hich eans that in each case e set oII to IC's.
Thus, Ior instance, the sentence I] ]ounger _rother left all his things
there ill be analysed as Iollos:
I] ]ounger _rother left all his things there
I] yy ]ounger _rother left all his things yy there
and so on until e receive the iniu constituents hich do not adit
Iurther division on the syntactic level
left , all his things ,, there
My ,, younger ,,, brother left all his things there
left all his things there
The transIorational odel oI the sentence is, in Iact, the etension oI
the linguistic notion oI derivation to the syntactic level, hich
188
resuoses setting oII the so-called basic or kernel structures and their
transIors, i. e. sentence-structures derived Iro the basic ones according
to the transIorational rules.
THE SECONDARY PARTS OF THE SENTENCE
The secondary arts oI the sentence are classiIied according to the
syntactic relations beteen sentence eleents. These relations diIIer in
character.
Oositional relations beteen the rincial and secondary arts oI the
sentence are uite evident. The Iorer are the core oI the counicative
unit, the latter develo the core as being a) iediately related to soe oI
the sentence-eleents or b) related to the redicative core as a hole.
The closest bond is coonly observed in attributive relationshis.
Attributive aduncts eand sentence-eleents rather than the sentence
itselI.
bis Tossessive instinctA su_tlerA less forZalA Zore elastic since the
iarA êTt all Zisgivings underground? (alsorthy)
The second tye oI non-redicative bond, the coletive one, is ore
loose. It develos the sentence in another ay. In this tye oI bond the
secondary arts relate, to the redicative core as a hole.
The saZe nuZ_er of the uneZTlo]edA ainter and suZZerA in storZ or
calZ A in good tiZes or _adA held this Zelanchol] Zidnight rendeqvous at
FleishZann's _read _od? (reiser)
The coletive bond can eand the sentence indeIinitely.
The coulative bond connects syntactically euivalent sentence
eleents.
iith the Zone] he earned he _ought novelsA dictionaries and ZaTs
_roased through the threeTenn] _odes in the _aseZent of a secondhand
_oo^shoT doantoan? (Sillitoe)
In actual seech various tyes oI syntactic bond can actualise various
tyes oI syntactic eaning. Thus, Ior instance, both rocess and ualitative
relationshi can Iind their eression in:
(a) the attributive bond an eas] tas^h
Tla]ing _o]sh
(b) the coletive bond > found the tas^h
> found the _o]s Tla]ingh
(c) the redicative bond The tas^ aas eas]h
The _o]s aere Tla]ing?
The Attribute
The ualiIicative relationshi can be actualised by the attributive bond.
The aradig oI these linguistic eans is rather aniIold. e Iind here:
1) adectives: the nea househ a valua_le thingh
2) nouns in the Possessive Case: Z] _rother's _oo^h
3) noun-adunct grous (N N): aorld TeaceA sTring tiZeh
4) reositional noun-grous: the daughter of Z] friendh
189
5) ronouns (ossessive, deonstrative, indeIinite): Z] go]A such
floaersA ever] ZorningA a friend of hisA little tiZeh
6) inIinitives and inIinitival grous: an edaZTle to folloaA a thing to
doh
7) gerunds and articiles: (a) aalîng distanceA saiZZing suith
(b) a sZiling faceA a singing _irdh
8) nuerals: tao friendsA the first tas^h
9) ords oI the category oI state: faces alight aith haTTinessh
10)idioatic hrases: a love of a childA a geael of a natureA etc.
II an adective is odiIied by several adverbs the latter are generally
laced as Iollos: adverbs oI degree and ualitative adverbs stand Iirst and
net coe odal adverbs, adverbs denoting urose, tie and lace, e. g.:
usuall] intentionall] ver] active
3 2 1 A
Toliticall] and sociall] 4
It coes uite natural that the collocability oI adverbs ith adectives
is conditioned by the seantic eculiarities oI both. Soe adverbs oI
degree, Ior instance, are Ireely eloyed ith all ualitative adectives
ea_solutel]A alZostA edtreZel]A ouiteA etc.), others are contetually
restricted in their use. Thus, Ior instance, the adverb seriousl] ill
generally odiIy adectives denoting hysical or ental state, the adverb
vaguel] e~not clearl] edTressedf goes atterning ith adectives
associated ith hysical or ental ercetion.
The Object
The obect is a linguistic unit serving to ake the verb ore colete,
ore secial, or liit its shere oI distribution.
The divergency oI relations beteen verbs and their obects is
aniIold. The coletive bond in any, iI not in all, languages covers a
ide and varied range oI structural eaning. This sees to be a universal
linguistic Ieature and ay be traced in language aIter language. But
though English shares this Ieature ith a nuber oI tongues its structural
develoent has led to such distinctive idiosyncratic traits as deserve a
good deal oI attention.
A verb-hrase has Ireuently a dual nature oI an obect and an
adverbial odiIier. Structures oI this sort are otentially abiguous and
are generally distinguished by rather subtle Ioral indications aided by
leical robability.
The syntactic value oI linguistic eleents in a osition oI obect is
naturally conditioned by the leical eaning oI the verb, its related noun
and their correlation. Regrettable istakes occur iI this is overlooked.
The dichotoic classiIication into reositional and reositionless
obects sees ractical and useIul. It is to be noted, hoever, that the
division based on the absence or resence oI the reosition ust be taken
ith an iortant oint oI reservation concerning the obects hich
09%
have to Iors: TreTositional and TreTositionless deending on the ord-
order in a given hrase, e. g.: to shoa hiZ the _oo^ to shoa the _oo^ to
hiZh to give her the letter to give the letter to her?
The trichotoic division oI obects into directA indirect and
TreTositional has its on deerits. It is based on diIIerent criteria hich
in any cases naturally leads to the overla oI indirect and reositional
classes.
Obect relations cannot be studied ithout a considerable reIerence to
the leical eaning oI the verb.
Instances are not Ie hen utting an obect aIter the verb changes the
leical eaning oI the verb. And there is a syste behind such
develoents in the structure oI English diIIerent Iro ractice in other
languages.
Coare the use oI the verbs to run and to fl] in the Iolloing
eales:
af to run fastA to run hoZeh
_f to run a factor]A to run the houseA to run a car into a garageh
af to fl] in the airh
_f to fl] TassengersA to fl] a TlaneA to fl] a flag?
In atteting to identiIy the linguistic status oI diIIerent kind oI
obects in Modern English . . Pochetsov advocates other criteria Ior
their classiIication based on the relation beteen the verb and its obect in
the syntactic structure oI the sentence. ue attention is given to the Ioral
indications hich, hoever, are considered secondary in iortance to
content. The classiIication is based on the dichotoy oI the to basic
tyes:obect-obect and addressee-obect. The Iorer ebraces the
traditional direct obect and the reositional obect as its to sub-tyes.
The addressee-obect has to variants diIIerent in Ior: reositionless
and reositional. The obect oI result, cognate obect, etc., are considered
to have no status as obect tyes and are but articular grouings ithin the
boundaries oI the to basic tyes oI obect outlined above
1
. This ay be
diagraed as Iollos:
Tyes oI Obect Obect-obect Addressee-obect
Sub-tyes oI
Obect
direct reosi
tional
Tyes oI Bond reos
itionle
ss
reos
itional
reositionles
s
reositional
Eales:
be
^nea
this?
be ^nea
of this?
be gave
Ze a
letter?
be gave a
letter to Ze?
1
See: I. I. Houennon. O npnnnnnax cnnrarmarnuecxo xnaccn]nxannn rnarona (na
marepnane rnarontno cncremt conpemennoro anrnncxoro xstxa). unnonornuecxne
nayxn, 1969, No. 3.
191
The identiIication oI obect relations Iro the above given angle oI
vie is not devoid oI logical Ioundation and sees ractical and useIul.
Ver_5Thrases aith creTositionless n_gect
To identiIy the seantic and structural traits oI diIIerent variants oI
verb-hrases e shall coare the Iolloing:
(A) dig groundA Zeet our friendsA _uild a houseA o_serve the starsA etc.
(B) aal^ the streetsA sit a horseA sZile a sunn] sZileA _oa one's than^sA
nod aTTrovalA etc.
ith all their siilarity, the to tyes oI verb-hrases diIIer essentially
in their syntactic content. The Iorer ily that the erson or thing is
directly aIIected by the action, i. e. the action is directed to the obect
hich coletes the verbal idea and liits it at the sae tie. The duty oI
the obect in eales (B) is to characterise the action the hrase
thereIore is descritive oI soething that is Ielt as characteristic oI the
action itselI.
Phrases oI grou (A) are Iairly coon. A liiting obect ay be
eressed by nouns oI diIIerent classes, concrete and abstract, living
beings and inaniate things, naes oI aterial, sace and tie. The range
oI verbs taking such kind oI obects is knon to be very ide.
Phrases oI grou (B) are soehat liited in their use. The range oI
verbs taking such descritive obects is rather sall. Many atterns oI this
kind are idiosyncratic in their character. Soe verbs hich are generally
intransitive acuire a transitive eaning only in such collocation.
Obects oI grou (A) are Iunctionally identical in their liiting
character but are contrasted to each other in the Iolloing ters:
1) the outer character oI the action: the obect is acted uon ithout
any inner change in the obect itselI, as in: dig the groundA clean the
_lac^_oardA aTTl] the ruleA dress the childA taê a _ooÂ send a letterA etc.
2) the inner character oI the action: the obect is acted uon, hich
results in soe inner changes in the obect itselI: iZTroving the ZethodA
ingured the treeA aeaêned the ZeaningA intensified the ideaA etc.
3) the resultative character oI the action. This kind oI obects resents
no diIIiculty and no articular interest, e. g.: Tainted a TictureA Zade the
dressA arote a ZonograThA _uilt a houseA etc
The sae kind oI obect is obvious aIter verbs like _egetA createA
develoTA draaA constructA inventA ZanufactureA etc.
In ters oI transIorational analysis, hrases oI grou (A) are
characterised by the Iolloing:
1) ronoinal transIoration noun-obects ay be relaced by
corresonding ronoinal Iors, e. g.: dug itA dressed itA too^ itA aashed it
ethe linenfA violated it ethe rulefA etc.
2) transIoration through noinalisation:
dig the ground digging the groundh
violating the rule ~ the violation of the ruleh
he aTTroved our choice his aTTroval of our choice?
192
3) adectivisation:
she aashed her linen her aashed linenh he
deserted his friend his deserted friendh
forgot his TroZise forgetful of his TroZise?
Verb-hrases oI grou (B) have soe characteristic Ieatures oI their
on.
Coare the Iolloing:
eaf be arites a good letterh
e_f be arites a good hand?
be striês Ze as caTa_leA orderl]A and civilh > don't see ahat Zore
]ou aant in a cler^? be arites a good handA and so far > can see he tells the
truth? (alsorthy)
Phrases oI grou (B) can have overlaing relations oI anner and
conseuence:
Such are hrases ith the so-called cognate obect
1
, e. g.: to live a
lifeA to fight a fightA to laugh a laughA to sZile a sunn] sZileA to fight a
_attleA etc.
The syntactic content oI such verb-hrases can be adeuately
elained by transIorational analysis, e. g.:
be has fought the good fight ???has fought so as to Troduce the good
fight?
be lived the life of an edile ... his Zanner of living aas that of an
edile?
Cobinations oI this kind are Iound ith verbs that are otherise
intransitive eliveA sZilef?
Phrases ith the cognate obect are stylistic alternatives oI
corresonding sile verbs: to live a life x to liveh to sZile a sZile x to
sZileA etc. Iunctioning as an easy eans oI adding soe descritive
trait to the redicate hich it ould be diIIicult to add to the verb in soe
other Ior. To fight the good fightA Ior instance, is seantically diIIerent
Iro to fight aellh he laughed his usual careless laugh is not absolutely
synonyous ith he laughed carelessl] as usual?
Cognate obects coonly have attributive aduncts attached to
the.
baving said that mol]on aas ashaZed? bis cousin had flushed a dus^]
]elloaish red? ihat had Zade hiZ tease the Toor _rutes (alsorthy)
be laughed suddenl] a ringing free laugh that startled the echoes
in the dar^ aoods? (Mitchell)
She froaned at his facetiousness a Trett]A adora_le froan that
Zade hiZ Tut his arZ around her and îss it aaa]? (London)
iinter snoaed its snoaA created a ZasterTiece of arctic Zist and rain
until a vanguard convo] of aarZ da]s turned into XasterA aith suTTlies
of sun run surreTtitiousl] through froZ aarZer lands? (Sillitoe)
The chieI oint oI linguistic interest is resented by V N hrases
ith intransitive verbs here the relations beteen verb and noun lead
to the Ioration oI secial leical eanings. The use oI verbs hich are
otherise seantically intransitive in V N atterns is Iairly co-
1
Other ters oI cognate obect are: inner obect, obect oI content, Iactitive
obect (an older ter is Iigura etyologica).
193
on. Verbs involved in such syntactic relations undergo considerable
seantic changes. Soe oI the acuire a causative eaning, e. g. to run
a horseA to run a _usinessA aal^ the horsesA etc.
Verbs oI seeingA such as to looÂ gaqeA stareA glareA hich are generally
used ith a reositional obect, hen eloyed in V N atterns
develo the eaning to eress by looking, as in: She looêd her
surTriseh be said nothing _ut glanced a ouestionh She stared her
discontent?
Siilarly: to _reathe reliefA to so_ reTentanceA to roar aTTlauseA to
sZile aTTreciationA to _ra] a laugh and still others?
As e see, atterns oI this sort are Ireuent ith verbs hich are
otherise intransitive, as in:
pwecause???p wrissenden siTTed his todd] and smiled appreciation of
it? (London)
urther eales are:
She nodded aTTroval?
be _oaed his than^s?
She _eaZed satisfaction?
She laughed her than^s?
be _reathed his astonishZent?
be could onl] stare his surTrise?
Soehat related to these Iorations are such graatical idios
here soe secial addition to a secondary ord cannot conveniently be
eressed by eans oI a subect: a redicative-ord is conseuently
loosely attached to the sentence as the bearer oI the secialisation in the
Ior oI odiIier, as in: her face aas ver] TaleA a gre]ish Tallor?
Not inIreuently odiIying ords are introduced by the reosition
aith? Consider the Iolloing eales:
òt Zuch give and taê a_out \esert restlessA disharZonicA and a
Toetk [nd proud - wit! t!at inner self4depreciation pride ahich never
let uT on a Zan? (alsorthy)
Siilarly:
She aas Trett]A wit! t!e prettiness of twenty.
He aas sic^ aith a sic^ness more t!an of a body, a sic#ness of mind.
Adverbial Adjuncts
The classiIication oI adverbial sentence-eleents has its on
diIIiculties, because adverbials diIIerent in their syntactic content can be
identical in ters oI the Ioral syntactic bond.
By ps]ntactic contentp e ean the content oI the relationshis
beteen ords in sentence-structure. These are:
a) rocess relationshi, i. e. the relation beteen the rocess and the
agent oI the rocess
b) obect relationshi the relation beteen the obect and the
rocess or beteen to obects
c) ualiIication relationshi the relation beteen the uality and the
obect or the rocess
d) adverbial (or circustantial) relationshi.
194
Syntactic content is naturally understood as abstracted Iro the
ertainance oI ords to the arts oI seech and concrete leical eaning.
In ters oI syntactic content, adverbials ay reasonably be subdivied
into:
a) ualiIicative and b) circustantial. The Iorer are closely akin to
adectives.
Cf? [n eas] thing to do? be
did it easil]? [ înd
ansaer? be ansaered
îndl]?
Circustantial adverbials are odiIiers oI lace, urose, tie,
concession, attending circustances, etc.
This is not to say hoever that the above division covers all instances
oI the Iunctional use oI ords in the osition oI adverbial aduncts.
Language is a syste oI interdeendent units in hich the value oI each
unit results only Iro the resence oI the others. There are naturally
borderline cases oI dual or overlaing relationshis. Preositional
hrases are oIten abiguous. They are not indiIIerent to the concrete
leical eaning oI ords and their ability to cobine ith one other in
certain atterns. Various iortant relations beteen tyes oI such
contet-sensitive hrases can be adeuately elained by transIorational
analysis.
Coare the Iolloing Ior illustration:
eaf She touched the aniZal aith her careful hand eShe touched the
aniZal carefull]f?
e_f She touched the aniZal aith her hand?
e cannot Iail to see that obect relations in (a) are soehat
eakened. The hrase is suggestive oI adverbial eaning signalled by the
adective careIul, hich cannot be said about the second eale (b).
OR-ORER
The osition oI ords and syntactic structures relative to one another
is ell knon to be a ost iortant art oI English synta. On this level
oI linguistic analysis distinction ust naturally be ade beteen to
ites: the order oI ords in hrase-structure and the order oI ords in
sentence structure.
ue to the scarcity oI orhological devices English has develoed a
tolerably Iied ord-order hich in ost cases shos ithout Iail hat is
the subect oI the sentence.
But this is not to say that the graatical rules oI the noral ord-
order are strictly observed in absolutely all cases. The Ior oI eression
ay deart Iro the coon ord-order Ior certain logical reasons
195
or under the stress oI eotion, considerations oI style, euhonic reasons,
etc. The seaker or riter generally has soe secial ehasis to ut on
soe art oI the sentence (rhetorical order).
The Iolloing coarison ill sho the dearture Iro the noral
ord-order in eressing subect-redicate relations (S P PS)
(a) CaZe frightful da]s of snoa and frost? (London)
Cf? Frightful da]s of snoa and frost caZe?
(b) nhk ver] aell? [nd suddenl] she _urst into tears of disaTTointZentA
shaZe and overstrain? Folloaed five Zinutes of acute Ziser]?
(alsorthy)
Cf? Five Zinutes of acute Ziser] folloaed?
urther eales are:
(c) be reZeZ_ered >rene sa]ing to hiZ once= pèver aas an] one
_orn Zore loving and lova_le than monp? (alsorthy)
(d) Then arrived in a grouT a nuZ_er of ìcholasesA alaa]s Tunctual
the fashion uT Lad_roê Yrove aa]h and close _ehind theZ Xustace
and his ZenA glooZ] and sZelling rather of sZoê? (alsorthy)
Variations in ord-order characterising a ord or a hrase as to its
theatic and rheatic uality have secial counicative Iunctions.
Eaine also the ord-order arrangeent in the Iolloing sentences ith
the Iront-osition oI obects and adverbial aduncts:
nn the hearth stood an enorZous _oalA aith _ottles _eside itA glinting
in the firelight? (Ch. Sno)
???[t last > turned aaa]? nn the TaveZentA aalîng toaards ZeA aas
Sheila? (Ch. Sno)
ThusA dreadfull]A aas revealed to hiZ the lac^ of iZagination in the
huZan _eing? (alsorthy)
Soeties ehatic Iront-osition oI sentence-eleent is Iound
ithout inversion oI subect and redicate. This is the case, Ior instance,
ith obects reIerring to hat iediately recedes in the contet.
To the little > told hiZA he aas forZall] s]ZTathetich _ut in his heart
he thought it all inedTlica_le and soZeahat effeZinate? (Ch. Sno)
, nf these she read to little monA till he aas alloaed to read to hiZselfh
ahereuTon she ahisêd _ac^ to London and left theZ aith hiZ in a heaT?
(alsorthy)
To her nea fangled dressA frill] a_out the hiTs and tight _eloa the
^neesA mune too^ a sudden liîng a charZing colourA flad5_lue?
(alsorthy)
ber heart he onl] ^nea the value of ahen she said softl]=
u
Yo on outA
and don't ever coZe in here again?p (Sillitoe)
ith regard to the relative ositions oI subect and verbal redicate
there are three ossibilities hich ay be denoted resectively:
(a) the noral order S P
(b) the inverted order P S
(c) the inverted order ith P slit u into to arts and S coing
beteen the.
It is interesting to observe that in sentences oI the third tye (c) the
subect oIten has a lengthy attribute attached to it, hich adds to its
rheatic uality and seantic revalence in the hole stateent.
196
~PARCELLING AND "SEGMENTATION"
IN ENGLISH SENTENCE-STRUCTURE
leibility in sentence-structure erits consideration in sentence-
atterning ith the so-called pTarcellingp by hich e ean lacing a
syntactically deendent sentence-eleent out oI its usual sentence Irae
and setting it oII by a Iull sto like an indeendent unit.
Parcelling is not inIreuent in soken English and literary rose. In
such isolated osition e ay Iind adverbial aduncts, obective
coleents, attributes and eithet aduncts. The eressive value oI such
sentence-atterns, arked by secial intonation contours in actual seech,
akes the ost eIIective.
1. Adverbial aduncts in isolated osition:
Suddenl] Z] Zind leaTt clear? p> should liê to tal^ a_out thatpA > said?
pòt tonight? ToZorroa or the nedt da]p. (Ch. Sno)
The] ran close into aind? Slowly. .antastically slowly. (Aldridge)
òaA on this courseA the] aere running aith the _reaâater? 3eel
wit! it. &ut out to sea and away from it. *nd fast. (Aldridge)
p> have _een glancing into soZe of the rooZs? Let's go to Cone]
>slandA old sTort? In my car. p>t's too latep? (itgerald)
2. Isolated redicatives:
be aas edhausted? 0ompletely finis!ed, and sic# wit! t!e balt aater
in hiZ? (Aldridge)
3. Isolated subect-grous in atterns ith the introductory it:
It !ad been t!e most ironical t!ing of all. To arrive froZ Yadvos after
releasing those froZ the Ietadists? To coZe _ac^ here and Zeet Ietadists
froZ Xg]Tt aho aant cooTeration? (Aldridge)
4. Isolated arts oI cole odal redicate:
>f ]ou have trou_les let Ze share theZ? }ou are so Zuch to Ze Z]
onl] trou_le > can fid ]our life? =oin it wit! mine. (reiser)
5. Isolated attributive aduncts:
be had reached the centre of carliaZent SouareA ahen a figure
coZing toaards hiZ saerved suddenl] to its left and Zade in the direction
of Victoria? Tall, wit! a swing in its wal#. (alsorthy)
6. Preositional and reositionless obects in isolated osition: wrian
said to his cousin= p>'Z signing on as aell in a aa]A only for
life. I'm getting Zarriedp? woth stoTTed aalîng? wert too^ his arZ and
stared= p}ou're notp?
paZ? To ;auline. \on't ]ou thin^ ae've _een courting long enoughsp
(Sillitoe)
The] have snaês in Xnglandh gungle and wild animals and
Zountains? Cities and saaZTs and big rivers? }ou loo^ as if ]ou don't
_elieve Ze? (Sillitoe)
She aas interruTted at that Toint? w] Ze? (Salinger). - In such syntactic
arrangeents the hierarchy oI the soken chain breaks into segents.
The Iinal intonation oI the segents sees to convert the into
indeendent syntactic units. The syntagatic subordination oI the sea-
197
rated eleent coes to be neutralised by its intonation indeendence.
And here are a Ie tyical eales oI sub-clauses laced Ior
ehasis out oI their usual sentence Irae and set oI by a Iull sto like
indeendent units:
I could _e contentpA aent on burstaoodA pif > had ]ou to love Ze? If I
!ad you to go, for a companion". (Salinger)
> thought of the futureA and sToê of the Tast? &ecause Holly wanted to
#now about my c!ild!ood. (Caote)
>t sounds li#e it? *s t!oug! tigers were loose in Holly's apartment.
(Caote)
Sentence disintegration oI this tye is not seciIically English and ill
be Iound in other languages.
A Ie tyical eales Iro rench are:
>l coZZena attendre? La noZination oui allait arriverA Tour une
ville inconnue? Les ressources de la Trovince? La vie tranouille et l'htel?
(Conchon)
Xlle a t dTorte? [vec sa Zre? (LangIus)
>l continue ici vivre coZZe un lion? >l se _utA cour les autres?
(LaIIitte)
Violette riait? [troceZent faut? (Conchon)
1
Cf= Xorenoct xpxoro cnera, ronnt, myma ynnn. Vcntmart
nstcxannym peut. (Ce]ynnna)
Kaxne crnont y ocnn Hnera xomautnx rnas. (. Kasaxon)
2
txonr nennxn ronmnx. Fes manxn. H eme xaxne-ro nmn c nnm.
Toxe ptxne. (Onema)
er, emy nyxen tn nmenno ror uyxo. eurannt.
enosmoxnt. (Hneraena)
Closely related to arcelling is psegZentationp?
Parcelling and segentation are both intended to give ehatic
roinence to the searated sentence-eleents and as such have uch in
coon. But the to syntactic devices are not absolutely identical.
Parcelling can slit a sentence into to or ore arts, hereas
segentation is, in Iact, a toIold designation, a secial kind oI
redulication here the sentence is slit into to interdeendent sentence-
eleents related as the thee and the rhee resectively, the Iorer
being set oII in a osition oI an indeendent unit.
Segentation is also one oI the universal Ieatures oI syntactic
arrangeent. Structures oI this kind are not seciIically English and are
knon to be Iairly coon in other languages. A Ie tyical eales
Ior illustration:
[nd those geese t!ey don't seeZA to Zind ]our counting their
featuresA do the]s (alsorthy)
1
See= . . npnencxax. nnennx cenaparnsannn n crnnncrnuecxom cnnraxcnce
conpemenno xyoxecrnenno npost. ., unnonornuecxne nayxn, 1969.
2
Hapnennxnnx, ee xommynnxarnnno-xcnpeccnnnte n cnnraxcnuecxne ]ynxnnn.
xn.: op]onornx n cnnraxcnc conpemennoro pyccxoro nnreparypnoro xstxa. ., 1968.
198
pThis is fantasticpA ZurZured mol]on? iellA the felloa couldn't force
his aife to live aith hiZ? Those da]s aere Tast aaa]k [nd he looêd round
at SoaZes aith the thought= p>s he realA t!is man'" (alsorthy)
[nd ahat a_out tailight sleeTs ih] hadn't he _een theres be Zight
have nature? \aZn itk àture as if it couldn't leave even her alonek
(alsorthy)
There are iortant treatents oI the subect in Ch. Bally's
Linguistioue gnrale et Linguistioue franaiseA here segented
sentences are reIerred to as consisting oI to arts: thee and roos.
The thee is generally reresented in roos by ronouns. II the
thee (noun) recedes the roos (ronoun), the structure is called a
rerise, iI the roos (ronoun) recedes the thee, the structure is
reIerred to as anticiation. Segented sentences have alays a iddle
ause and secial intonation.
Segented structures ake the long established order oI ords in
rench less rigid, the leical unit Iunctioning in a sentence becoing ever
ore indeendent. This ne trend in the develoent oI rench synta is
gaining attention oI any scholars as one oI the ost striking Ieatures oI
its rogressive develoent.
The subect has been discussed in A. A. Andrievskaya's ork-aer
Xapaxrepnte ueprt conpemennoro ]pannyscxoro cnnraxcnca
1
, here
e Iind the Iolloing tabulated survey:
1) the necessary reetition oI the direct obect eressed by a ronoun
(the only case oI the re-osition oI the direct obect in traditional ord-
order in rench), e. g.:
me la reTrendraiA Za Tlace? me la _usA Za _outeille?
2) the necessary reetition oI any obect laced at the head oI the
sentence, e. g. :
Ces TarolesA elle les Tronona d'un ton tranouille?
3) the necessary reetition oI the obect eressed by a hole clause
(Proosition cononctionnelle), e. g.:
ue la Tosition fut entireZent changeA ge ne le Tensais Tas?
4) the reetition oI the subect, ith adverbs at the head oI the
sentence, e. g.:
[insi la vie sociale les reTrenait5elle?
5) the necessary reetition oI the noun-subect in the inverted structure
oI a uestion, e. g.:
Ion frreA est5il venus
PROBLEMS O THE ACTUAL IVISION O THE SENTENCE
eFunctional Sentence cersTectivef
Syntactic descrition ay begin ith discourse analysis as its
starting oint.
In these ters, synta is described as tetlinguistics concerned
riarily ith the graatical organisation and seantic asects oI
sura-hrasal unities.
ayxoni sanncxn, r. 16. nn. 5. K., 1957, . 73-104.
199
A sura-hrasal unity usually Iunctioning as a counicative hole
consists oI a nuber oI seantically related sentences. In riting it
corresonds to aragrah, in soken language this seantic unity is
signalled by ausation.
A aragrah is a traditional ter used in anuscrits and rinting to
indicate a distinct subdivision oI a discourse, chater, or riting. It is
arked oII by indentation at the beginning and a break in the line at the
end.
As a logical category the aragrah is characterised by coherence and
relative unity oI the ideas eressed, as a linguistic category it is a
counicative unit arked oII by such Ioral linguistic eans as
intonation and auses oI various lengths.
A sura-hrasal unit is analysed into sentences and hrases as
interdeendent units, the value oI hich results Iro the siultaneous
resence oI the others.
Paragrahs in ictorial and eotive rose break u the narrative not
only to Iacilitate understanding but also Ior ehasis.
Take the Iolloing Ior illustration:
be la] flat on the _roanA Tine5needled floor of the forestA his chin on
his folded arZsA and high overhead the aind _lea in the toTs of the Tine
trees? The Zountainside sloTed gentl] ahere he la]h _ut _eloa it aas steeT
and he could see the dar^ of the oiled road ainding through the Tass?
There aas a streaZ alongside the road and far doan the Tass he saa a
Zill _eside the streaZ and the falling aater of the daZA ahite in the
suZZer sunlight? (Heingay)
Ho_ert mordan stood uT to folloa hiZA then reconsidered andA lifting
the canvas off the tao Tac^sA Ticêd theZ uTA one in each handA and
started aith theZA gust a_le to carr] theZA for the Zouth of the cave? be
laid one Tac^ doan and lifted the _lanêt asideA then aith his head stooTed
and aith a Tac^ in each handA carr]ing _] the leather shoulder straTsA he
aent into the cave? (Heingay)
>t aas hot that night? woth she and her Zother had Tut on thinA TaleA
loa froc^s? The dinner floaers aere Tale? Fleur aas struc^ aith the Tale
loo^ of ever]thingh her father's faceA her Zother's shouldersh the Tale
Tanelled aallsA the Tale gre] velvet] carTetA the laZT5shadeA even the souT
aas Tale? There aas not one sTot of colour in the rooZA not even aine in
the Tale glassesA for no one dran^ it? ihat aas not Tale aas _lac^ her
father's clothesA the _utler's clothesA her retriever stretched out edhausted
in the aindoaA the curtains _lac^ aith a creaZ Tattern? [ Zoth caZe inA
and that aas Tale? [nd silent aas that half5Zourning dinner in the heat?
(alsorthy)
iscourse analysis then carries our attention to the actual division oI
the sentences aking u a sura-hrasal unity, i.e. their counicative
Iunction in a given situation, in other ords, the Iunctional sentence
ersective, hich is, in Iact, the ain category on this level oI linguistic
analysis.
$%%
By actual division e ean dividing a sentence into to sections, one
oI hich contains that hich is the starting oint oI the essage the
thee, and the other the ne inIoration Ior hich the sentence has
been soken or ritten the rhee.
The to ters are reek in origin: ptheZep coes Iro the reek root
the- to setpA pto esta_lishp and eans pthat ahich is set or esta_lishedp?
The ter prheZep is derived Iro the root rhe- pto sa]p or ptellp and
eans pthat ahich is said or told a_outp?
There have been several airs oI ters roosed Ior this urose, such
as sychological subect and sychological redicate
1
, leical subect
and leical redicate
2
, seantic subect and seantic redicate. The
ters sychological subect and sychological redicate, introduced
by the eran scholar H. Paul
3
, include a notion oI individual sychology,
hich is beyond the shere oI linguistics itselI. Other ters see to be
inadeuate as incoatible ith our general aroach to analysing
language henoena.
Variation in actualising a ord or a hrase in a sentence is organically
cobined ith changes in the order oI ords.
The graatical arrangeent oI ords in such atterns ay ell
illustrate the Iact that the Ioral and the logical subect oI the utterance are
to indeendent eleents.
The hierarchy oI the coonents oI the utterance is generally ade
elicit by their syntagatic relations in the graatical organisation oI
the sentence.
e naturally cannot say that every sentence ust necessarily consist oI
to such sections. Soe sentences, one-eber sentences, in articular,
cannot be divided u in this ay, and things are not clear ith soe other
tyes.
Hoever, ost sentences do consist oI these to sections and the
relation beteen the syntactic structure oI the sentence and its division into
those to sections erit consideration.
In ost Indo-Euroean languages the logical structure oI the thought
eressed by a sentence is indicated by ord-order but the Iunctional
value oI the order oI ords is naturally not alays the sae in languages
oI diIIerent tyes, here e alays Iind their on idiosyncratic traits and
conventional ractices oI diIIerent character.
In a language ith a highly develoed orhological syste and Iree
ord order arrangeent the order oI ords is idely used as a eans to
ake the Iunctional sentence ersective elicit.
In languages like English or rench, Ior instance, the graatical
Iunction oI the Iied ord-order does not alays erit the rearrangeent
oI sentence-eleents.
Recourse is oIten ade to other linguistic devices doing this duty, e. g.:
seciIic syntactic atterns, articles, articles and adverbs oI e-
1
See: H. Paul. Priniien der Srachgeschichte. 5th Ed., Halle, 1937, . 124.
2
See: . H. C m n p n n n x n . Cnnraxcnc anrnncxoro xstxa. M., 1957.
3
See: . irbas. Soe Thoughts on the unction oI ord-Order in Old English and
Modern English. 1959.
201
hatic recision eevenA onl]A Zerel]A solel]A tooA gustA nota_l]A Tarticularl]A
esTeciall]A Tositivel]A etc.), rosodic (surasegental) eans, such as
variation in itch, ehatic stress, ausation, etc.
The classiIying indeIinite article is very oIten used to introduce
soething that akes art oI the ne inIoration. Eales are
nuerous.
Eaine the Iolloing Ior illustration:
1. (a) enymxa ntrnxnyna ns oxna.
R
(b) s oxna ntrnxnyna enymxa. T
R
(a) T!e girl looêd out of t!e window.
T R
(b) * girl looêd out of t!e window.
R T
2. ecnnuec1no tno neanexo o1 epennn.
T R
eanexo o1 epennn tno necnnuec1no. T
R
(a) T!e forestry aas near t!e illage?
T R
(b) T!ere was a forestry near t!e illage?
R T
The Iunctional sentence ersective (SP) in Russian is signalled by
the ord-order arrangeent: the ords enymxa and necnnuecrno are the
thee hen they stand at the beginning oI the sentence and the rhee
hen they are in the end-osition. In English this diIIerence is ade clear
by the use oI the articles in (1) and the structure ith pthere isp in (2).
urther eales are:
ihen she left Xrnest's a huge _asêt of groceries rested at the foot of
the TraZA and the sZall fortune of a Tound note la] in her coat Tocêt?
(Sillitoe)
\oan the long avenue of his Zan5a_out5toan edTerienceA _urstingA as
it aereA through a sZirch of dou_tful aZoursA there stalêd to hiZ a
ZeZor] of his ]outh? (alsorthy)
>n ansaer to the ringA aTTeared a Tage _o] aith a silver souT tureen?
(alsorthy)
Coare also the thee rhee arrangeent in the Iolloing
sentences:
be could shoa ]ou this letter ]esterda]? nnl] he
could shoa ]ou this letter ]esterda]? be could
onl] shoa ]ou this letter ]esterda]? be could
shoa ]ou this letter onl] ]esterda]? be could
shoa this letter onl] to ]ou ]esterda]?
$%$
Siilar in Iunction is the use oI articles and adverbs oI ehatic
recision in other languages:
Russian: rontxo, nmenno, ncxnmunrentno, etc.
Ukrainian: rintxn, nnme, came, nnacne, etc.
rench seuleZentA unioueZentA notaZZentA gusteA etc.
eran: 'rA gerade and others.
The role oI the order oI ords used to signal the TR arrangeent is
ost evident in eales like the Iolloing:
[nd fast into this Terilous gulf of night aalêd wosinne]A and fast after
hiZ aalêd Yeorge? (alsorthy)
Cf? H. Focnnn men tcrpo npxmo n nonnt noun, rposnnme eo,
n rax xe tcrpo men sa nnm xopx.
>n the centre of the rooZA under the chandelierA as _ecaZe a hostA
stood the head of the faZil]A old mol]on hiZself? (alsorthy)
Cf? Hocepenni ximnarn, ni nmcrpom, xx i niunrt xasxny, croxn
rnana cim', cam crapn xonion.
The actual division oI the sentence stands in vivid and clear relieI in
syntactic structures ith double inversion by hich e ean not only
utting the subect beIore the redicate but searating the verbal redicate.
A Ie tyical eales are given belo, others ill readily occur to the
student.
be stooTed over the draaer ahere she êTt her geaelsh it aas not
locêdA and caZe oTen as he Tulledh the geael _od had the ê] in it? This
surTrised hiZ until he reZeZ_ered that it aas sure to _e eZTt]? be
oTened it?
>t aas not eZTt]? \ivided in the little green velvet coZTartZentA aere
all the things he had given herA even her aatchA and stuc^ into the recess
that contained the aatch aas a three5cornered note addressed pSoaZes
Fors]tepA in >rene's handariting? (alsorthy)
The idea about the eel bo is given in the revious sentence the
adverbial adunct and the redicate p\ivided in the little green velvet
coZTartZent aerep are the starting oint oI the stateent (the thee) and
the ne inIoration is carried by the subect oI the sentence pall the things
he had given herA even her aatchp the rhee.
Siilarly: pstuc^ into the recess that contained the aatch aas is the
thee, and the ne inIoration is carried by the subect a three5cornered
note addressed pSoaZes Fors]tepA in >rene's handaritingp the rhee.
It is interesting to observe that in sentence atterns oI the given tye
the subect oIten has a lengthy attribute attached to it, hich adds to its
rheatic uality and seantic revalence in the hole stateent.
In diIIerent seech events the coonents oI the Iunctional sentence
ersective ay corresond to diIIerent sentence-eleents. In each case
variation in the TR arrangeent as otivated by the consituation ill be
ade clear by variation in rosody.
(a) ohn is going to Sain net eek.
A B
an anser to the uestion: pihen is mohn going to STainsp
(b) ohn is going to Sain net eek.
T B T
$%;
an anser to the uestion: pihere is mohn going nedt aee^sp
(c) ohn is going to Sain net eek.
R
:
T
an anser to the uestion: piho is going to STain nedt aee^sp
(d) ohn is going to Sain net eek.
an anser to the uestion: pihat is mohn going to dosp
Syntactic eans to eress the rheatic uality oI the subect include
also structures oI redication ith the assive verb-Iors and converted
subect introduced by the reosition _]?
ied hrases oI ehatic recision it is??? eit aasf also can, by
situation, lay ehasis on any art oI the sentence and intensiIy its
rheatic uality.
Sentences that are introduced by it is eit aas???f have secial traits oI
their atterning and are logically interesting. e ay reasonably say that
they hoonyically cobine a graatical and a stylistic eaning
alays signalled by the seech contet or situation.
The use oI such structures is alays a logical result oI the revious
linguistic situations, and it is but natural that only the syntactical contet
can deIine their Iunctional and stylistic value, ith all the subtle shades oI
subective odal Iorce otentially ilicit in the.
Variation in actualising a ord or a hrase in a sentence is organically
cobined ith changes in the order oI ords. The to devices in such
structures aear inetricably involved and are insearable.
The graatical arrangeent oI ords in these atterns ay ell
illustrate the Iact that the Ioral and the logical subect in a sentence are
to indeendent eleents.
The it-inversion is useIul in all tyes oI rose as Iilling the osition oI
the sentence oener ith a structural ord that enables ostoneent oI
the thee.
The Ioreost notion in the seaker's thoughts, i. e. the logical subect
oI the utterance is the eleent introduced by it is??? eit aas ???f?
hen e say >t is the teacher that decides or >t aas the student > aas
looîng forA e ean: the teacher is the deciding erson and the student
as the young an I as looking Ior. The relative clause thus does not
restrict the teacher or the student but obviously belongs to it. >t is coffee >
liê _est of all ay be easily transIored into Coffee is ahat > liê _est of
all? This sees to elain hy in such sentences e can have a that5clause
or a contact-clause aIter a ord hich is in itselI so deIinite that it cannot
be Iurther restricted:
>t is he that Zust decide?
>t was our victor] that saved the ahole aorld froZ fascist slaver]?
e cannot Iail to see this logical connection in soe roverbial
sentences, hich, analysed diIIerently, ill give no sense:
>t is an ill _ird that fouls its oan nest?
>t is not t!e ga] coat that Zaês the gentleZan?
It is t!e early bird that catches the aorZ?
$%&
The linguistic essence oI structures ith it isA it aas has been variously
treated by graarians. Patterns oI this sort are soeties reIerred to as
secial ehatic Iors oI a sile sentence (H. Poutsa, O. esersen),
cole sentences ith ehatic attributive clauses (E. Kruisinga),
cole sentences ith subordinate subect clauses (. Cure)
1
.
Any art oI the sentence can thus be ade roinent and intensiIied in
its ehatic uality. Eales Iollo:
a) t h e s u b e c t oI the sentence:
>t aas not s!e aho aas after theZA _ut the] after her? (alsorthy)
The Tro_leZ in the _ac^ground of her consciousness aas hoa to helT
hiZA
and she turned the conversation in that directionA but it was (artin aho
caZe to the Toint first? (London)
b) t h e o b e c t oI the sentence:
be it was ahoZ the] cheered? (Bates)
Cf ? The] cheered hiZ?
urther eales are:
It is not only companions!ip he aill ZissA _ut also his _est friends?
It is not t!is picture I disliê?
c) the reositional obect:
>t was not t!e results of their edTeriZents that ae disaTTroved ofA _ut
soZe diagraZs ethe results of their edTeriZent the rhee oI the
sentence).
>t aas not to Yeorge Fors]te that the Zind Zust turn for light on the
events of that fog5engulfed afternoon? (alsorthy)
... _ut it aas !is daughter that SoaZes aanted to gaqe froZ _ehind
iinifred's shoulder? (alsorthy)
d)the attributive adunct: >t's an ill aind that _loas
no_od] good (proverb).
e) a d verb i a 1 s oI tie:
It aas at t!is time that he arote letters of enouir] to the general???
(London)
>t aas then that she saa aith ahoZ she had to dealA the lad] aas
undou_tedl] Irs? SoaZesA the ]oung Zan Ir? wosinne]? (alsorthy)
It aas not until t!ey found t!emseles a second time before t!e $e,
that he said= p> don't ^noa ah] ]ou asêd Ze to coZeA Fleur? >t's Tla]ing
the goat for no earthl] reason? (alsorthy) I) adverbials oI anner:
>t aas t!us that Fran^ [lgernon CoaTeraood's Chicago financial
career aas definitel] launched? (reiser)
%as it t!at wit! t!e eyes of fait!, he saa wosinne] looîng doan froZ
that high aindoa in Sloane StreetA straining his e]es for ]et another
gliZTse of >rene's vanished figure ??? (alsorthy)
1
See= H. Poutsa. A raar oI Late Modern English. P. 2. roningen, 1926 E. Kruisinga. A
Handbook oI Present-ay English. roningen, 1931 . O. Cure. A raar oI the English
Language, v. 3. Ne York, 1935 see also= H. C. Fapxyapon, . . Brennnr. Ipammarnxa
anrnncxoro xstxa. ., 1960 . Ilyish. The Structure oI Modern English. M.-L., 1965.
205
It was t!us simply, that she recorded a scene ahich had reall] Zade a
deeT and coZTlicated iZTression on her? (alsorthy)
ith reIerence to ersons, sentence-atterns ith the ronoun he or
she are also coon.
He would indeed be a cleer Zan aho could deciTher this old
ZanuscriTt?
be is a good friend aho sTea^s aell of us _ehind our _ac^s (roverb).
The Iolloing coarison ith Russian ill not be out oI lace, in
assing.
ror, xoropomy nnnmana
Tt n nonynomno rnmnne,
utx mtcnt yme rnoe menrana,
utm rpycrt rt cmyrno orraana,
ue opas nnena no cne.
ror, ue nsop naexy rynr,
ror, xoro nnxro ne nmnr... (Hepmonron)
It is also interesting at this oint to coare the use oI Russian and
Ukrainian articles ro, ro, ne, in atterns like the Iolloing:
O ueu +1o nt saymannct %!at is it ]ou are thinîng
a_outs
3 xnu 1o nin npo ne posmonnxn iho aas it that he has sToên
a_out it tos
Bo ne nn ryr omipxonycre ihat is it ]ou are discussing
heres
urther eales are:
Cnouarxy omy sanocx, mo ne xxact irpamxa sannyranacx n
raxenaxi.
31o ummn xora xoponxr.
CI. It is t!e mice that are hurr]ing the cat?
It was for our dear sa#e that he did it? x He rintxn nx nac nin ne
sponn.
It was of !is #indness that > aas thinîng? He came npo oro
opory x ymana.
a rpannne cemanrnxn n cnnraxcnca naxonrcx ynorpenenne rax
nastnaemoro crnnncrnuecxoro (nnnnnyannsnpymmero) +1o1..., 1o1...
ecronmenne n rom cnyuae coomaer ne yxasarentnoe snauenne, a
snauenne xaxo-ro monnonantno nouepxnyro nsnecrnocrn npemera, c
nasnannem xoroporo cornacyercx:
Hmnm nonncrnennym xnnocrt noremntx mapcontx none...
Hocxyrtx cnx snamen noentx. Cnxnne manox rnx mentx, acxnost
npocrpenenntx n om (Hymxnn)
Hrax rn crpamnte nnctma, rn nnamennte rpeonannx, ro epsxoe
ynopnoe npecneonanne, nce ro tno ne nmont. (Hymxnn)
1
Note. Instances are not Ie hen this kind oI ehasis is rendered in
Russian and Ukrainian by using such intensiIying adverbs as: '&A ",&??
1
H. . Fynaxoncxn. Kypc pyccxoro nnreparypnoro xstxa, r. 1. K., 1952, p. 325.
206
As a atter oI Iact structures ith it is eit aasf cobine to Iunctions:
eressing syntactic relations oI subordination and laying logical ehasis
on hat is roinent in the seaker's ind by lacing the ords
eressing the given idea in an unusual osition.
Siilar develoents ill be Iound in rench. Structures ith "'estA c'tait
???ouiA oue are also knon to cobine their graatical value ith siilar
stylistic traits. Patterns oI this kind in rench are Iairly coon, e. g.:
C'est le TreZier Tas oui cote?
Cf? eran:
ceter aar es der Zir alles erqhlt hat?

It is to be noted that atterns oI this kind are oIten a logical conseuence
oI a lengthy narration develoing in certain seuence. The stylistic asect
oI the structure is deIined by the contet hich is alays elicit enough
to ake the eaning clear.
XuTheZia Fors]teA aho haTTened to _e in the rooZ she had coZe
round to _orroa the Hev? Ir? Scoles' last novel pcassion and caregoricpA
ahich aas having such a vogue chiZed in?
p> saa >rene ]esterda] at the Storeshp she saidp and Ir? wosinne] aere
having a nice little chat in the Yroceries?p
>t aas thusA siZTl]A that she recorded a scene ahich had reall] Zade a
deeT and coZTlicated iZTression on her? (alsorthy)
nne nice old generalA going toaards CigarsA aas o_liged to steT ouite
out of the aa]A and chancing to loo^ uT and see Irs? SoaZes' faceA he
actuall] too^ off his hatA the old foolk So liê a Zank
&ut it was (rs. Soames' eyes that aorried XuTheZia? pShe never once
looêd at Ir? wosinne] until he Zoved onA and then she looêd after hiZ?
[ndA nhA that loo^k (alsorthy)
As B. Ilyish very rightly oints out, there are soe other oints to be
ade concerning the theatic and rheatic analysis.
The thee need not necessarily be soething knon in advance. In
any sentences it is, in Iact, soething already Iailiar, as in soe oI our
eales, esecially ith the deIinite article. Hoever, that need not
alays be the case. There are sentences in hich the thee, too, is
soething entioned Ior the Iirst tie and yet it is not the centre oI the
redication. It is soething about hich a stateent is to be ade. The
thee is here the starting oint oI the sentence, not its conclusion. This
ill be Iound to be the case, Ior eale, in the Iolloing sentence:
mennie leaned foraard and touched hiZ on the ^nee? (ilson) hich is the
oening sentence oI a short story. Nothing in this sentence can be already
Iailiar, as nothing has receded and the reader does not kno either ho
ennie is or ho ,,he is. hat are e, then to say about the thee and the
rhee in this sentence Aarently, there are to ays oI dealing ith
this uestion. Either e ill say that mennie reresents the thee and the
rest oI the sentence, leaned foraard and touched hiZ on the ^neeA its
rhee.
Or else e ill say that there is no thee at all here, that the hole oI
the sentence reresents the rhee, or erhas that the hole division
$%@
into thee and rhee cannot be alied here. Though both vies are
lausible the Iirst sees reIerable. e ill reIer to say that mennie
reresents the thee, and ehasise that the thee in this case is not
soething already Iailiar but the starting oint oI the sentence.
ONE-MEMBER SENTENCES
The graatical organisation oI one-eber sentences has its on
traits. Such atterns should naturally be distinguished Iro to-eber
sentences ith either the subect or the redicate oitted as the case is
ith ellisis in sentence-structure.
Synseantic in character, one-eber sentences cover a ide and
ost varied range oI eanings. The contet, linguistic or situational, is
generally elicit enough to ake the graatical content oI the sentence
clear.
One-eber sentences have no searate subect and redicate but one
ain only instead.
It sees reasonable to ake distinction beteen a) noinal or
naing sentences and b) inIinitival sentences.
òZinal sentences nae a erson or thing. They are Iairly coon in
direct address, so-called ord-reresentations used to call u the
iage oI the obect in the ind oI the readers or the erson soken to.
Eales, easily ultilied, are the Iolloing:
pbave ]ou noticed wod > the lad] in ahite satin aith the green lace
shaalsp
p}esp? werenice raised her glasses?
pIrsA Fran^ [lgernon CoaTeraoodA the aife of the Chicago
Zillionaire? (reiser)
The odal eaning oI araisal in one-eber sentences is to a
considerable etent connected ith the use oI noun deteriners, the
deIinite article, in articular. Both the article and the deonstrative
ronoun have here secial connotation. Consider the Iolloing eales:
T!e restlessA inhuZanA and ]et so huZanA angr] sadness of the
creature's e]esk (alsorthy)
T!at felloa iagner had ruined ever]thingh no Zelod] leftA not an]
voices to sing it? [hk the aonderful singersk (alsorthy)
"T!at aoZankp said SoaZes? (alsorthy)
Here again, like in any other cases, the subtle shares oI odal Iorce
and eotional colouring are ade clear by the contet, linguistic or
situational.
The attribute is oIten eressed by the of-hrase, e. g.:
iould Ir? Iont convince hiZs Ton] aas sharTk ber head drooTed?
T!e unfairness of it all) SoZe had ever]thing to their handA liê that
Trett] aife of Ir? Iont's? (alsorthy)
\on't tal^ to Ze a_out the countr]? The doctor said > aas to go there
for sid aee^s last suZZer? >t nearl] îlled ZeA > give ]ou Z] aord? T!e
noise of itk (Maugha)
She could thin^ of hiZ noa aith indifference? She loved hiZ no longer?
+!, t!e relief and t!e sense of !umiliation) (Maugha)
208
+!, t!e s!ame of t!is day) }ou'll _e coZin' hoZe aith Ze noa?
(reiser)
II the head-ord is a concrete noun the latter is very oIten used
ithout attributive aduncts. Sentences oI this tye are Iairly coon.
pihat a TicturepA cried the ladiesp? "+!, t!e duc#s) +!, t!e lambs)
+!, t!e sweets) +!, t!e pets)" (MansIield)
Such eotionally coloured sentences are oIten used ith interections
or soe other ords introducing or concluding the direct seech.
Useless for ]oung Hoger to sa]A pnld catkp for XuTheZia to hold uT
her hands and cr]= pnhk those threekp and _rea^ into her silent laugh aith
the souea^ at the end? (alsorthy)
Noinal sentences ay Iollo one another in iediate succession,
thus aking u a string oI co-ordinated noinal sentences, as Ior instance:
... [ _lue suitA a velour hatA soZe _roan shoesA three Tairs of soc^s
aith tao holes in theZA four shirts onl] a little gra]ed at the cuffsA tao
_lac^5and5ahite tiesA sid collarsA not tao neaA soZe handêrchiefsA tao
vests _eautifull] thicÂ tao Tairs of TantsA and _roan overcoat aith a _elt
and gust tao or three nice little stains? (alsorthy)
Analogous syntactic structures ay be traced in Russian and
Ukrainian. Coare the Iolloing:
ocxna... Kax mnoro n rom snyxe nx cepna pyccxoro cnnnoct...
(Hymxnn)
euepnne cymepxn. Kpynnt moxpt cner nennno xpyxnrcx oxono
rontxo uro saxxenntx ]onape. (uexon)
sxn pyr pyra sa pyxn, mt c mnnyry croxnn monua. Xopomax
mnnyra. (Ioptxn)
Hepe oxnom paoun ueprexnt cron. ano. 3xpan. Tpn, uertpe
xnnrn. (axxoncxn)
Iocrpn crpymint moposnoro nonirpx ... ocxxni n omax nixna...
unct ronocn... sninxn snomnxa... crepexnct I nin onnnnncx y rnyxi,
esnmni nynnni. (Konmnnctxn)
Crenn i crenn... Fesnicnn, rpariuno essaxncnn xpa,
nepenonnenn namipom connx i cnirna. (Ionuap)
In raar books one-eber sentences are oIten reIerred to as
ellitical, ith soe ites understood or Ielt as issing. This,
hoever, ust be taken ith uch reservation, since it is not alays
ossible to suly the issing art Iro the iediate syntactic
environent, and there is insuIIicient ustiIication Ior taking ellisis into
account.
Noinal sentences ay be coordinated and ake u a coosite
structure ith the ilication oI various adverbial relations, causal or
resultative, in articular, signalled by the contet, situational oI linguistic,
the leical eaning oI ords, in articular, e. g.:
[hk iellk [nother long heartache in the aorld coor \inn]k
(alsorthy)
Modal eanings are knon to be eressed by structural eleents oI
diIIerent linguistic levels. Indicating soe kind oI attitude oI the seaker
concerning the reality oI hat is eressed in redication, odality is, in
Iact, a regular structural Ieature oI any sentence.
209
The sae is true oI one-eber sentences. In these ters e
distinguish:
(a) Classical noinal sentences naing an obect oI reality, asserting
or denying its being. This is the sae kind oI odality as e Iind in to
eber verbal sentences hen redication is eressed by the verb-Ior
oI the Indicative Mood. Coare the Iolloing Ior illustration:
p[ _lac^ nightpA Zaster?
Cf? >t is a _lac^ night?
The to sentence-atterns given above are graatically synonyous:
the Iorer is a verbless one-eber sentence, the latter a to-eber
one. e cannot Iail to see that both assert a real Iact.
urther eales Iollo:
[nd SoaZes held out his hand? [ distracted soueeqeA a heav] sighA and
soon after sounds froZ the ]oung Zan's Zotor c]cle called uT vision of
fl]ing dust and _roên _ones? (alsorthy)
[ distant flashA a loa ruZ_leA and large droTs of rain sTattered on the
thatch a_ove hiZ? (alsorthy)
ihat a lifek ihat a lifek aas her one thought? (reiser)
pI] aifeA crofessorp? (alsorthy)
She reZeZ_ered Sir Laarence's aords= piere there notA Z] dears
Iost valua_le felloaskp (alsorthy)
(b) One-eber sentences eressing coand stylistic
alternatives oI the Ierative Mood:
pSilence aoZankp said Ir? |enaigsA fiercel]???p> aon't _e silentpA
returned the nurse? pwe silent ]ourselfA ]ou aretchp? (reiser)
The to sentences eSilencek we silentkf are identical in their graatical
content but diIIer in style and ehatic value. Consider also the Iolloing
eale: pSilence thereA aill ]oukp says the beadle. (ickens) The addition
oI aill ]ou in the last eale intensiIies the eaning oI a categorical
coand as ilied by the noinal sentence.
(c) One-eber ish-sentences.
The eotional colouring oI such ish sentences can be intensiIied by
interections, e. g.:
nhA the fine clothesA the handsoZe hoZesA the aatchesA ringsA Tins that
soZe _o]s sTortedh the dandies Zan] ]ouths of ]ears aere? (reiser)
(d) One-eber sentences oI hyothetical odality:
The anoZalous and unTrotected nature of a rooZ ahere one aas nut
^noan? The loo^ of it? Su_seouent edTlanation to her Zother and sister
Za]_e? (reiser)
\iqqil]A > lauded Z] ^nuc^less once Zore again on Yavin's _uttons?
\aqqlingA lightsA shoutsA rocêtsA in the s^]??? bele]'s coZetA TerhaTsk
(Cronin)
[ scandalk [ Tossi_le scandalk (alsorthy)
mohn??? heard a car drive uT? The laa]ers again a_out soZe nonsense?
(alsorthy)
(e) One-eber conditional sentences. Condition and conseuence are
contracted to each other, the Iorer is eressed by a noinal one-
eber sentence and the latter by a to-eber one. Reality or irreality
ill be indicated by the ood in hich the verb oI the to-eber
sentence is used in the given contet.
210
INFINITIVAL SENTENCES
In ters oI graatical organisation inIinitival sentences should
reasonably be subdivided into one-eber and to-eber sentences.
The to grous ay ell be illustrated by the Iolloing eales:
(a) To be unwordly and -uite good) boa neak boa edcitingk??? To be
one aho lived to Zaê TeoTle haTT]? (alsorthy)
(b) That felloa to tal# of in?uries) (alsorthy)
In to-eber sentences the inIinitive is receded by a noun or a
nounal hrase.
InIinitival sentences are Iairly coon in soken English and literary
rose.
Like other units oI redicative value, they can counicate not only
their denotative eaning but also the connotative suggestions oI various
circustances oI their use.
The contet, linguistic or situational, and intonation in actual seech
ill alays be elicit enough to ake the necessary odal eaning
clear.
[u_re] Yreen threa uT his hands? p[hk That ahite Zonê] to !ae
painted t!at) (alsorthy)
There are interrogative inIinitival sentences, e. g.:
ih] aaste tiZes
ih] not sta]
heres
A suggestion ade in such inIinitival sentences ay be reected as
iossible (neus oI derecation).
ie surrenders èverk
In ters oI style and urose, inIinitival sentences erit attention as
synonyically related to sentences ith Iinite verb-Iors. Identical in
their graatical content, such synonys diIIer in stylistic value, and
odal Iorce. Coare the Iolloing:
>nfinitival sentences Sentences aith finite ver_5forZs
To have _rought Fleur doan
oTenl] ]esk wut to snea^ her liê
thisk (alsorthy)
> could have _rought Fleur
doan oTenl] ]esk wut hoa can >
snea^ her liê thisk
coor felloak ihat a thing to
have !ad hanging over his head all
the tiZe? (reiser)
coor felloak ihat a thing had
_een hanging over his head all the
tiZe?
... iould he have hesitated
thens òt a ZoZentk nTerateA
oTeratek Iaê certain of her lifek
(alsorthy)
???The] Zust oTerateA Zaê
certain of her life?
[ host to snatch food froZ a
guestk [ host to striê a guestk [
gentleZan to striê a lad]k
(Bennett)
boa can a host snatch food
froZ a guests boa can a host
striê a guests boa can a
gentleZan striê a lad]s
$00
Suc! midgets to !ae made t!is
monstrous pile, lighted it so that it shone in
an enorZous glittering heaTA ahose gloa
_lurred the colour of the s^]k (alsorthy)
boa could 'such Zidgets have Zade this
Zonstrous Tile lighted it so that??? Cf? S]n?
That such Zidgets should have Zade this
Zonstrous Tile and lighted it so that???k
>t seeZed to hiZ unfair? To !ae ta#en
t!at ris# - to !ae been t!roug! t!is
agony - and w!at agony) - for a
daug!ter) (alsorthy)
>t seeZed to hiZ unfair? boa could he have
taên that ris^???
ELLIPSIS
Ellisis in sentence-structure is a natural syntactic rocess in linguistic
develoent resented as noral ractices in any, iI not all, languages.
uite a nuber oI ellitical atterns are shortcuts in syntactic usage
Iied as a Ior oI linguistic econoy by right oI long usage.
In ters oI traditional graar, ellitical sentences are generally
identiIied as sentences ith the subect or redicate issing. Soe
graarians hold another oint oI vie recognising ellisis also in
sentences here the secondary arts oI the sentence are Ielt as issing.
Such as A. M. Peshkovsky' s treatent oI ellitical sentences in Russian
1
.
Siilar stateents ill be Iound in L. S. Barkhudarov's and . A.
Shtelling's graar book (1973).
hat is Ielt as ilicit in ellitical sentences ay be sulied Iro:
a) the iediate contet, e. g.: pboa
aas the Tla]sp she inouired?
pVer] goodAp returned burstaood? (reiser)
pCold?A isn't itsp said the earl] guest? pHatherp?
(reiser)
b) relevance to a colete graatical construction oI a given attern, e.
g.:
p\oing aellA > suTTosesp
pXdcellent?p
pYlad to hear it?p (reiser)
Ellisis oI a leee or constructions (or even arts oI constructions)
ust surely be recognised in the analysis oI sentences.
In ters oI structure, distinction ill be ade beteen the Iolloing
tyes oI ellitical sentences:
a) oission oI the subect:
Loo^s to Ze for all the aorld liê an alf5taZe leoTard? (alsorthy)
b) oission oI the redicate in atterns ith there isA there areA e. g.:
1
A. M. H e m x o n c x n . yccxn cnnraxcnc n nayunom ocnemennn. ., 1956.
See also= H. C. F a p x y a p o n . Crpyxrypa npocroro npenoxennx conpemennoro
anrnncxoro xstxa. ., 1966.
212
be shoo^ a thic^ finger at the rooZ= pToo Zan] aoZen noaada]sA and
the] don't ^noa ahat the] aant? (alsorthy)
SoaZes stole a glance? ò ZoveZent in his aife's face? (alsorthy)
pòthing liê dissecting to give one an aTTetitepA said Ir? wo_
Saae]er?
(ickens)
c) oission oI auiliary, coulative and other Iunction verbs, e. g.:
}ou going to taê >renes ('alsorthy)
d) oission oI the subect and auiliary verb, e. g.: Iean to tell Ze ]ou
didn't ^noas
HeZeZ_er that _o]s Sta]ing aith Z] fathers Yoing to Zarr] hiZs pballoA
Iichaelk >'Z rather late? ween to the Clu_ and aalêd hoZep?
(alsorthy)
e) oission oI the subect and the coula-verb, e. g.: I don't arite? òt
such a fool? (alsorthy)
> don't _elieve > should have done it at ]our age too Zuch of a
Fors]teA >'Z afraid? (alsorthy)
pboa's ]our aifesp pThan^spA said SoaZes coldl]A paell enoughp?
(alsorthy)
Soe oI the above given tyes oI ellitical sentences have becoe
regular idioatic eressions, e. g.: collouial Sees Ior \o ]ou sees
That dos ex aill that dosf
See ]ou again toZorroa ex > shall see ]ou again toZorroaf?
p> tried itA _ut it nearl] Zade Ze leave?p
pòt Ze? >'Z nearl] tenA seesp be drea a half5Tound _ar of chocolate
froZ his _ac^ Tocêt= pTaê a _it? [nd _rea^ Ze a Tiece off as aellp?
(Sillitoe)
But certain restrictions are reasonably to be laced on the recognition
oI ellisis, in general, since there is oIten the danger that e ay base
soe art oI our analysis on understood ites in a contet here there is
little reason Ior taking ellisis into account.
Ierative sentences, Ior instance, are generally eressed ith no
subect and even hen a subect is eressed in such sentences, the
subect ay be soZe_od] or an]_od] rather than ]ouA e. g.:
SoZe_od] fetch a Tiece of chal^?
To treat coands, thereIore, as sentences Iro hich the subect ]ou
has been oitted ould be erroneous. Coands and reuests see to be
ore reasonably described by stating that they are subectless sentences in
hich one oI a very restricted nuber oI ossible subects ay on
occasion be inserted.
It ould be robably erroneous to say that hen a seaker indulges in
hat graatically ay be reIerred to as ellisis, he has alays a clear
idea oI hat he oits or neglects to eress. It is ore likely that the
seaker very oIten has no deIinite idea oI hat he is oitting indeed,
that he ould rather not be Iorced to render the idea or thought too
careIully and eactly.
II, then, in such cases ellisis should be assued, it is because in each
instance the colete graatical construction ould reuire ore it
cannot be assued that the seaker ould necessarily Iill out his
construction, even in his on ind.
213
The Iirst to be entioned here are sentences resented by redicatives
ithout a verb, e. g.: STlendidk CharZingk weautifulk
It is oIten said that in all these sentences the link-verb is eareA aasA
aeref is understood, but this oint oI vie gives no real elanation oI the
henoenon. e ust, in all robability, adit such atterns as a deIinite
graatical tye, Iairly coon not only in English but in other
languages.
There are ellitical sentences containing a subect and a redicative,
hich ay be either a noun or an adective e. g.:
Iichael not cheerfuls (alsorthy)
Such structures are coon in languages hich have not develoed a
coula, i. e. a verb eaning to _eA as ell as in languages hich have a
coula but do not use it as etensively as, Ior instance, English. In Russian
and Ukrainian this is the ordinary sentence-attern, e. g.: On sanxr. On
sopon. ona macnnna. in soponn, etc.
By leaving out hat ay see suerIluous one creates the iression
oI hurry or stress oI business hich does not allo tie enough to round
oII one's sentence in the usual ay. It is also oI iortance that roverbs
and roverbial sayings should be easy to reeber and thereIore not too
long, e. g.: ihen angr]A count a hundred? ihen at HoZeA do as HoZans
do?
Observe also the Iolloing coon sentence atterning:
be aill have his oan aa]A no Zatter ahat the conseouences?
boaever great the dangerA he is alaa]s fearless?
èverA no Zatter ahat the circuZstancesA Zust he dare to do such
things?
Here e have really a double occurrence oI the henoenon in
uestion. ò Zatter is a reosed redicative ithout is, and in the clause
hich Iors its subect, hat is also a redicative to the conseuences,
etc., hich Iors the subect oI the clause.
Peculiar is the use oI isolated redicatives ith andA e. g.:
be aas such a success ]esterda]A and no aonder?
be Za] go and aelcoZe? [nd a good riddance took
}ou aere angr]A and sZall _laZe to ]ou?
Not less characteristic are reduced clauses oI coarison:
The greater the lossA the Zore Tersistent the] aere?
The Zore hasteA the less sTeed?
In all such cases the Iact that soething is leIt out should not revent
us Iro recognising the utterance as suIIiciently colete to be called a
sentence.
be had gone uT and doan the stairs TerhaTs a hundred tiZes in those
tao da]sA and often froZ the da] nurser]A ahere he sleTt noaA had stolen
into his Zother's rooZA looêd at ever]thingA aithout touchingA and on into
the dressing5rooZ???
Then raTidl] to the doorA doan the steTsA out into the street and
aithout looîng to right or left into the autoZo_ile? (alsorthy)
A Ieeling oI terseness and oI vigour is also roduced by the oission
oI verbs in such Iied atterns oI usage as:
èedless to sa]A facts are stu__orn things?
boa naught] of hiZ to sa] sok
214
In the sae ay the subect ay be eressed by a gerund, e. g.:
ò use cr]ing over sTilt Zil^?
ò good doing such things?
Very oIten the subect that Iollos the redicative is a hole clause, e.
g.:
SZall aonder that ae all liêd it iZZensel]?
ihat a Tit] ae have Zissed the traink
Patterns like the Iolloing: òA he didn't? ih]A hasn't hes are reIerred
by R. L. Allen sei-sentences.
Such sentence-atterns seldo occur as the Iirst utterance in
conversation. They are Iairly coon in tag-uestions e}ou don't ^noa
Ir? W?A do ]ousf and in short ansers eòA > don'tf?
istinction ill be ade here beteen Iinite and non-Iinite sentences:
òA > don't? ih]A
didn't shes nhA caught
in the acts nn ]our
aa] hoZes [_out to
go theres
Perhas the ost iortant diIIerence beteen Iinite sei-sentences
and non-Iinite ones is that the Iorer sho tie-orientation, hereas the
latter do not.
VERBLESS TWO-MEMBER SENTENCES
Verbless to-eber sentences are Iairly coon in any languages.
e do not Iind here only oints oI coincidence but also seciIic Ieatures
characteristic oI any given language ith its on atterns oI Ioration and
its on tyes oI structural units.
The linguistic essence oI such sentence-atterns has been diIIerently
treated by graarians. In books devoted to teaching graar they are
oIten reIerred to as non-sentences, inor sentences or hrases
Iunctioning as counicative units in site oI the absence oI the Iinite
Ior oI the verb.
According to O. esersen and R. Long, here belong also atterns ith
neus oI derecation.
The Ireuency value oI such syntactic units in Modern English is
rather high. In ters oI IC's analysis, they ay be divided into to tyes:
SP and PS, each oI the characterised by various structural eleents.
T]Te Sc? The redicate (P) ay be eressed by nouns, nounal grous,
inIinitives or articiles, e. g.:
[n]thing the ZatterA Iichaels (alsorthy)
èdt stoT the writish IuseuZs
ieather to sta] colds
}our turn to sTea^?
woth engageds
Yonek The scent of geraniuZ fadingh the little dog snuffling?
(alsorthy)
215
[ treZor of insecurit] aent through her? The FutureA hoaA hoa
unchartedk (alsorthy)
CoaTeraoodA the liark CoaTeraoodA the snea^k (reiser)
Yuard's van noa the tail light alt sTread a criZson _lue
setting Xast going going gonek (alsorthy)
ia] of the aorld one Zan's ZeatA another's Toisonk (Ibid.)
T]Te cS? In atterns oI this tye redicate (P) ay be eressed by
nouns, nounal grous, and all other non-conugated eleents oI the
redicate: 1) ronouns, 2) ronoinal adverbs, 3) articiial hrases. 4)
inIinitives, inIinitival hrases, etc.
Fl]ing a îteA ]ouA a groan Zans
Fair gone on each otherA those tao?
must to sta] hereA the tao of us?
wad to sticÂ sir? Sorr]k (alsorthy)
be hurried alongA alZost runningA his e]es searching for a ca_? òne
to _e hadk (alsorthy)
boa ridiculous to run and feel haTT]k
boa long until dinners
ihat a_out ]our oan aordss
[ rather charZing garden herek
ih] not gos
ih] nots
All atterns oI this tye are to-eber sentences. The absence oI
attributive relations beteen their adnoinal and noinal ebers ay
easily be roved by their structural and seantic traits as ell as
odulation Ieatures. The seantic value oI the structure is oIten roved by
theatic and rheatic analysis.
In ters oI structure, e distinguish the Iolloing eculiarities oI
verbless sentences:
1) the ronoinal eber is not a ossessive ronoun. Indicating
ersons or things in actual seech, ronouns are ost coonly used as
substitutes Ior naes and as such generally do not need attributive
aduncts.
ords characterising ronouns are thereIore redicative (not
attributive) in their Iunction, e. g.:
SP: }ou looîng a _a_] of a thing this Zorningk PS:
ionderful civilit] thisk uite serious all thisk
2) the resence oI eleents irrelevant to attributive relations, such as,
Ior instance, the adverbial adunct hoaA e. g.:
boa anno]ing having to stand all the aa] hoZe in the _usk
3) the resence or interositional adverbial eleents, odal ords or
negative articles, as in:
CoZTlete Loa5Cost boZe Training Course noa [vaila_le?
}our cousinA Tro_a_l]A engo]ing herselfk
4) the use oI the article: Hot the stuffk
ih] the terrific hurr]k
216
The attributive or non-attributive character oI the adnoinal eber ay
deend on its osition as to the noinal one. Thus, Ior instance, in atterns
like ò rooZ read] the relations beteen rooZ and read] are not
attributive, because read] does not go atterning as a ost-ositional
attribute.
Patterns like ìce furs here are also to-eber sentences because the
adverb here ay be relaced by the deonstrative ronoun.
Verbless to-eber sentences abound not only in literature but in
soken English as ell. As could be seen, they are not necessarily ellitical
sentences, Ior very oIten no uneressed art is ilied. e oIten Iind
the in a laconic, eclaatory or otherise ehatic style.
riters use the as a eans to ake ideas stand out in vivid, clear
relieI.
SUBSTITUTION AND REPRESENTATION
A recurrent Ieature oI any languages is the so-called substitution and
representation. The regularities oI these syntactic rocesses as
iediately relevant to the roble oI sentence-atterning erit secial
consideration in the theory oI English structure ith its on traits diIIerent
Iro ractice in other languages.
Observations on the Iunctional use oI the verbs _eA doA haveA shall
eshouldfA aill eaouldfA can ecouldfA Za] eZightfA ZustA oughtA need and
dareA used toA ronoinal ords such as oneA itA thatA suchA soA and the
articles not and to give suIIicient graatical evidence to distinguish
beteen substitution and reresentation as graatical idioaticity in this
art oI Modern English structure.
Syntactic structures ith substitution are, in Iact, Iied atterns oI
colete sentences, alays anahoric in character, as distinguished Iro
reresentation resulting Iro non-anahoric oission or ellisis.
To avoid the reetition oI a ord that has already been used in the
sentence e oIten use another ord hich readily suggests the eaning oI
the given one. This is substitution, hich ay be ell illustrated, Ior
instance, by the use oI the ro-ord one relacing a receding noun in
atterns like the Iolloing: coor little ra__itk >t aas such a little one?
Closely related to substitution is reresentation, but the to rocesses
oI relacing syntactic structures are not uite identical.
Reresentation sees to be interediate beteen ellisis and
substitution. In ellisis a hole syntactic unit is leIt oII and ade ilicit,
in reresentation only a art oI the syntactic unit is leIt oII, the other
reains and stands Ior the hole. Reresentation is systeatic in character
and as such is liited by rather a sall nuber oI syntactic atterns.
Substitution and reresentation are closely akin but not absolutely
identical.
In actual seech a sentence ay be reduced to a single ord-Ior
hich ill suIIice Ior counication eressing the necessary eaning in
a given consituation. This ay be a noun, an adective, a nueral or
ronoun, a verb or odal ords, an adverb or an interection and ords oI
aIIiration and negation.
217
Here is an interesting eale oI a non-ahoristic ellisis here the
necessary eaning is ade clear by consituation:
pihere tosp
pClass?p
pIathsp
pòA STanish?p
p>n a hurr]sp
pHather?p
pihat forsp
p[lZost tenp
piellA as long? Call Ze uTp
U
?
The true substitute verb is the verb to do?
As a ord oI a ost generalised sense, do can stand Ior any verb,
ecet _e and odal verbs. Used in this Iunction, do ill readily substitute:
a) the aIIirative Iors oI the Present and Past (Coon Asect), b) the
analytical verb-Iors (Present PerIect and Past PerIect), c) the Ierative
Mood.
Most idiosyncratic in its character, do can also Iunction as an auiliary-
reresenting verb. In this structural variety its use is restricted to the
negative Iors oI the Present and Past (Coon Asect) and the negative
Ior oI the Ierative Mood.
The to uses oI the verb doA as Iunctionally diIIerent, ay be ell
illustrated by the Iolloing eales: Substitution:
p\o ]ou Zean that ]ou are going to Zaê hiZ Ta] that toaards this
hateful houses' p> dop? (alsorthy)
piellA he taês good care of hiZselfA > can't afford to taê the care of
Z]self that he doesp? (alsorthy)
pThen > shall taê steTs to Zaê ]oup? p\o?p? (alsorthy) p\id ]ou
thin^ > droTTed Z] handêrchief on TurTosesp pòpA cried monA
intensel] shocêd?
piellA > didA of coursep? (alsorthy)
p}ou sa] so not _ecause ]ou care a_out Ze or have done since > caZe
herep? (Mitchell)
Reresentation:
> aish > could travel Zore freouentl]A _ut > don't? ???p}ou never saa woris
StruZolovs^]sp ~ pòp?~piellA don'tp? (alsorthy)
???p[nd ]ou did not Zeet her Tla]ing golf or tennis or out ridingps I
did notp? (alsorthy)
Verb-reresentation is Iairly coon in atterns ith the verbs to
have and to _e in any Iunction, e. g.:
pbave ]ou _een through Z] flatsp he asêdA Tointing to the curtain that
divided his sleeTing ouarters froZ the section ahere the] aere? pòA >
haven'tp? (ordon)
1
See= A. H. Marekardt. Introduction to the English Language. Ne York, 1950, . 146.
218
ailiar eales oI reresentation ill be Iound, Ior instance, in the use
oI an auiliary or odal verb instead oI an analytical verb-Ior or a odal
hrase oI hich it is art, e. g.:
Iont caught a little cra_A and ansaered= pThat aas a nast] onekp
pclease roakp
p> aZp? (alsorthy)
... pwut ah] not tell theZs The] can't reall] stoT usA Fleurkp pThe]
cank > tell ]ouA the] canp? (alsorthy)
unction verbs becoe thus seuence-signals by reIerring back to
seciIic Iull verbs or verb-headed structures in the receding sentence.
SoaZes too^ soZe deeT _reathsA savouring itA as one Zight an old
aine? (alsorthy)
pias iilfrid here to5nightsp
p}es~ no? That is 5555555555
bis hands clutched each otherh he saa her e]esA fid on theZA and êTt
theZ still?
pFleurA don'tp?
p>'Z not? be caZe to the aindoa there???p (alsorthy)
The inIinitive article to and the negator not ay Iunction siilarly:
She aas all vitalit]? ihat a fine catch for soZe ]oung felloa soZe
da]A and her father aould Zaê hiZ richA no dou_tA or helT to? (reiser)
II ]ou send Ze aaa] noaA > shall go?p
pThat's ahat > aant to?p
pnnce > shouldn't have? > should have coZe _ac^ and aTologised? >
shan't do that noaA if ]ou get rid of Ze?p p> don't edTect ]ou topA > said?
(Ch. Sno)
???p}ou need at least sid Zonths doing a_solutel] nothingA and feeding
as aell as ]ou can ]ou're definitel] undernourished and aithout a
aorr] in ]our head?p
p>nstead of ahichAp > saidA pin a Zonth's tiZe > taê the Zost iZTortant
edaZination of Z] career?p
p> should advise ]ou not to?p (Ch. Sno)
And here is an eale to illustrate the use oI the anahoric ord-
substitute so=
So Iartin thoughtA and so he sToê ahen wrissenden urged hiZ to give
theZ hell? (London)
.. ?iith her chee^ to his she said ouietl]=
p\o ]ou aant Ze to _e ever]thing to ]ou _efore ]ou Zarr] Zes >f soA >
canp? (alsorthy)
ith reIerence to the noinal art oI a redicate, so is used ith verbs
like to _e (esecially in its non-Iinite Iors), to reZainA to seeZh it ay
also occur as a redicative adunct to an obect, and iediately aIter an
adverb.
be had _een aea^ _ut he aill _e so no longer?
\rouet's incoZe aas insufficientA and liêl] to reZain so?
So is siilarly used aIter verbs like to sa]A to tellA to thinÂ to hoTeA to
suTToseA to _elieveA etc. In this case it reIers to the hole oI a receding
sentence.
pThe nea Zanager is not as good as ae edTectedp? piellA > told ]ou
so _ut ]ou aould not _elieve Zep?
219
piill ]our sister _e coZing to5nightsp I thin^ sop?
p>t aould _e nice if the doctor aould let Ze go out nedt Sunda]? Let's
hoTe sop?
p>s the last train gonesp p}esA >'Z afraid sop?
Coare the Iolloing eales ith it and that=
The child is nine ]ears oldA though ]ou'd hardl] thin^ it?
be thin^s the aar aill _e over _efore ChristZas? The] all thin^ that?
So occasionally recedes the subect oI one oI these verbs.
ie never got on ver] aell together? So she told Ze?
In conclusion, attention ay be called to the use oI so aIter if?
As in the revious construction, so here reIers to a receding sentence.
In the negative its lace is taken by not?
be Za] _e innocentA if soA ah] did he give hiZself uTs >f notA ah]
didn't he try to escaTes
Siilarly hoa sos ah] sos
It ill be iortant to observe that syntactic structures ith
substitution are, in Iact, Iied atterns oI colete sentences, alays
anahoric in character, as distinguished Iro reresentation resulting Iro
non-anahoric oission and ellisis.
INTENSITY AND EMPHASIS
IN ENGLISH SENTENCE-STRUCTURE
Eressive nuances and intensity oI eaning can be obtained in any
language by linguistic devices oI diIIerent levels: honetic, orhological,
syntactic and hraseological, by ord-building and secial intensive
ords. All these can Iunction as eedients to roduce eotive and logical
intensity oI the utterance. Soe oI such intensiIying Iors, established by
long use in the language and recognised by their seantic value and
urose, are registered in good dictionaries as intensiIiers or intensives. In
ost cases they have their neutral synonyic alternatives.
Phonetic eans are ost oerIul in eressive connotation. The
huan voice can alays give the necessary roinence to the utterance,
indicating such subtle shades oI eaning that erhas no other eans can
actualise. Modulation Ieatures, intonation and stress, ausation, draling,
hisering and other ays oI using the voice are knon to be ost
eIIective in intensiIying the utterance logically or eotionally.
A aor obect in style is to call the attention oI the reader in a Iorcible
ay to the ost iortant art oI the subect in other ords, to give
ehasis to hat is ehatic, and to ake hat is striking and iortant
strike the eye and ind oI the reader.
The osition oI ords and syntactic structures relative to one another
resents uite a secial interest. But intensity and ehasis can also be
roduced in other ays. The selection oI such linguistic devices is a Iactor
oI great signiIicance in the act oI counication. This art oI synta in
any language is a source oI constant linguistic interest. Syntactic structures
are subtle and delicate in their diIIerent shades oI eaning, and it is not
alays easy to Iind the ones that eress recisely hat e ant to say. It
is only a atter oI having a good coand oI language and a Iairly ide
vocabulary it is also necessary to think hard and to observe accurately.
$$%
There is natural tendency in any language to develo its eotional and
aIIective eans oI eression. e cannot Iail to see that there are not only
oints oI coincidence here but seciIic Ieatures characteristic oI any given
language ith its on atterns oI Iorations and its on tyes oI
structural units. Iortant treatents oI the subect have been ade by
any scholars.
Intensity and ehasis can be eressed, Ior instance, by Iunctional
re-evaluation and transosition oI various syntactic structures, by secial
graatical idios Iied atterns oI usage, by idioatic sentence-
atterns.
Observations on the contetual use oI various atterns Iurnish
nuerous eales oI re-interretation oI syntactic structures by hich
e ean stylistic transositions resulting in neutralisation oI the riary
graatical eaning oI the given linguistic unit. The asyetric
dualis oI the linguistic sign
1
aears to be natural and is Iairly coon
at diIIerent levels oI any language.
The linguistic echanis, rosodic Ieatures, in articular, ork
naturally in any ays to revent abiguity in such atterns oI
graatical structure.
A aor interest is resented, Ior instance, by neus oI derecation
ith the ilicit eression oI negation in sentences ithout negative
ords, or the use oI negative structures ith the ilication oI aIIirative
ehatic assertion.
Rhetorical uestions are not liited by conversational dialogues. They
are Iairly coon in onologues oI various genres ublicist, literary
rose, scientiIic English and oratory here they are not intended to elicit
an anser but are inserted Ior rhetorical eIIect to dra the attention oI the
hearer toards the contents oI the utterance.
Scholars are not agreed at this oint oI analysis. Soe graarians
hold the vie that rhetorical uestions ily a disguised assertion
2
, others
ehasise that a rhetorical uestion resuoses a negative anser and is
in Iact a secial Ior oI negation. Rhetorical uestions are soeties
reIerred to as structures ilying both assertion and negation.
Aellation to the hearer ilied in interrogative sentences, in
general, akes the rhetorical uestion a ost eIIective eans to eress
intensity oI Ieeling in colourIul lively seech:
I never see hiZ doing an] aor^ therepA continued barrisA pahenever >
go in? be sits _ehind a _it of glass all da]A tr]ing to loo^ as if he aas
doing soZething? ihat's the good of a Zan _ehind a _it of glasss > have
to aor^ for Z] living? ih] can't he aor^s ihat use is he thereA and ahat
the good of their _an^ss?? ihat is the good of thats (eroe K. eroe)
Could a Zan oan an]thing Trettier than this dining5ta_le aith its deeT
lintsA the starr]A soft5Tatelled rosesA the ru_]5coloured glassA and ouaint
U
See= S. Karcevsxy. u dualise asytriue du signe linguistiue. TCLP, 1, 1929.
2
See= H. . Iantnepnn. Ouepxn no crnnncrnxe anrnncxoro xstxa. ., 1958.
221
silver furnishingh could a Zan oan an]thing Trettier than the aoZan
sitting at its (alsorthy)
In atterns ith ilied or non-graatical negation the connection
beteen the to sentence eleents is brushed aside as iossible the
eaning is thus negative hich is the sae as uestions, oIten in an
eaggerated Ior or not inIreuently given to the to sentence eleents
searately, e. g.:
p\arlingA it aas ver] harZlessp?
pbarZlessk Iuch ]ou ^noa ahat's harZless and ahat isn'tp?
Fleur droTTed her arZs? (alsorthy)
pIr? CoTTerfield aas teaching her? Iuch he ^nea of it hiZselfp
(ickens)
w] the front door the Zaid aas asîng=
pShall ]ou _e _ac^ to dinnerA sirsp
p\innerkp Zuttered SoaZesA and aas gone? (alsorthy)
Cf? t menx ntnue concem nsmyunnn, 3amonun pan ora.
(Honnna) Kax xe oxnacx, yy x monuart (. Ocrponcxn)
a uero rt paccepnncx rax ropxuo... Ecrt ns-sa uero
cepnrtcx (Ioront)
in nimonnncx ni cnox cnin e moxy nonipnrn
The ilication oI aIIirative ehatic assertion ill be Iound in
eales like the Iolloing:
wicêt saalloaed violentl] again? p>t's all ver] aellAp he said sullenl]h
pit asn't aTTened to ]oukp
Iichael aas afflicted at once? òk >t hadn't haTTened to hiZk [nd all
his dou_ts of Fleur in the da]s of iilfred caZe hitting hiZ? (alsorthy)
Cf? pcrouds [nd hoa's she earned itk croudk I] Yaad?p (alsorthy)
nhs Saine that he aasA to have thought liê that of Vick be turned
his _ac^ to her and tried to sleeT? wut once ]ou got a thought liê that
sleeTs ò? (alsorthy)
In collouial English there are nuerous standardised tyes oI
rhetorical uestions eressing a categorial disagreeent ith the oinion
oI the collocutor, e. g.:
ihat _usiness is it of ]ourss }ou Zind ]our oan affairs?
\oolittle ereZostratingf? òaA noaA loo^ hereA Yovernor? >s this
reasona_les >s it fair to taê advantage of a Zan liê thiss This girl
_elongs to Ze? > got her? (Sha)
Cf? y nx uero rt nramxy ynn nauan on, rnxx mne npxmo n
nnno. Kax nx uero ... Kopocrent ro nut: ero ecrt moxno.
e nx roro rt ynn ero, apnn: cranemt rt ero ecrt (Typrenen)
uro x onn n masyr nect ynesnn neonepunno cnpocnn xpnno
uymaxon. rt yman, e, ree ocrannnn Ouent rt nm nyxen, xax
n nect rpyxmncx napo (Bonoxon).
rench: Ioi faire as
eran: Xrf So aas sagenk
Intensity oI eaning can be roduced by such secial syntactic
atterns as:
a) atterns ith so-called aended stateent, e. g.:
be liês a loa death5rate and a gravel soil for hiZselfA he does? (Sha)
}ou're the sort that Zaês dut] a TleasureA ]ou are? (Sha)
$$$
be used to aolf doan a lot in those da]sA did \ad? (Sha)
b) leonastic atterns like the Iolloing:
wicêt had a thought? This aas Toetr] this aas? (alsorthy)
c) the use oI the verb go Iunctioning as an ehatic auiliary in
idioatic attern go and V
Iin
here there is no idea oI real otion attached
to the verb go?
Present Tense
òn5eZThatic XZThatic
ih] do ]ou sa] such thingss ih] do ]ou go and sa] such
thingss
Past IndeIinite
be did it? be aent and did it?
Present PerIect
be has caught it? be has gone and caught it? Past
PerIect
be had caught it? be had gone and caught it?
bis gre] e]es aould _rood over the gre] aater under the gre] s^]h and
in his Zind the Zar^ aould fall? >t fell aith a _uZT on the eleventh of
manuar] ahen the French aent and occuTied the Huhr? (alsorthy)
eient and occuTied occuTiedf
p>f ]ou're Iaster IurdstonepA said the lad]A pah] do ]ou go and gie
another naZeA firstsp (alsorthy)
eih] do ]ou go and give??? ih] do ]ou give???f
pbe Zustn't catch cold the doctor had declaredA and he !ad gone
and caught it? (alsorthy)
eShe had gone and caught it he had caught itf
Verb-hrases oI this tye ily disaroval oI the action, its
irrelevance or uneectedness ith diIIerent shades oI subective odal
Iorce deending on the contet, linguistic or situational.
???bis grandZother turned froZ the fire= pihat !ae you gone and
done noaA ]ou sill] ladsp
p> fell into a _ushAp he told her? (Sillitoe)
Intensity oI eaning ay be roduced by atterns ith the ing5Ior
Iolloing the verb go hen the latter is also seantically deleted and is
used idioatically to intensiIy the eaning oI the notional verb, e. g.:
be goes frig!tening TeoTle aith his stories?
p> shall see ]ou again _efore longA Z] _o]kp he said? \on't ]ou go
paying an] attention to ahat >'ve _een sa]ing a_out ]oung wosinne] ~ >
don't _elieve a aord of itkp (alsorthy)
maZes aas alarZed? pnhpA he saidA don't go sa]ing > said it aas to
coZe doank > ^noa nothing a_out it? (alsorthy)
}ou'll go _urning ]ou fingers investing ]our Zone] in liZeA and
things ]ou ^noa nothing a_out? (alsorthy)
/on't go putting on an] airs aith Ze? (Mitchell)
Coare the use oI the Russian verb nsxrt Iunctioning as an ehatic
auiliary in idioatic atterns ith articles oI ehatic recision:
$$;
nostmn n paccxaxn (nostmn a paccxaxn) nsxn n paccxasan (nsxn a
paccxasan) nostmer n paccxaxer (nostmer a paccxaxer) nsxn t n
paccxasan (nsxn t a paccxasan), etc.
e snam, uem x sacnyxnn onepennocrt moero nonoro npnxrenx,
rontxo on, nn c roro, nn c cero, xax ronopnrcx, nsxn a n paccxasan
mne onontno sameuarentnt cnyua... (Typrenen)
Most IorceIul and eressive are idioatic atterns here the
deterining and the deterined eleents oI the denotation utually
echange their resective arts, e. g.: a geael of a natureA a devil of a
gourne]A etc.
In coon use the bearer oI a uality is regularly denoted by the basic
noun, hile the uality attributed to this bearer is eressed by an eleent
develoing that basic noun. In atterns like a geael of a Ticture the uality
is eressed by the basic noun, hile its bearer is denoted by the of -hrase
develoing that noun. This construction is not knon in Old English. It has
coe into the language Iro rench.
urther eales are: a sliT of a _o]A a sliT of a girlA a love of a childA
a Teach of a girlA a devil of a felloaA a geael of a cuTA a doll of a _a_]A a
_rute of horseA a screa of a horseA the deuce of a noiseA a deuce of a
gourne]A a devil of a toothacheA a devil of a hurr]A her Tet of a _a_]A a
_east of a coldA the ghost of a voiceA the ghost of a sZileA a rascal of a
landlordA etc. Such graatical idios are generally used to eress either
delight or adiration, scorn, irony or anger.
The idioatic character oI these Iorcible and eressive hrases oIIers
certain diIIiculties in translation. The absence oI analogous Iorations in a
reciient language suggests the choice oI other eans to render a given
idea in each case, such as, Ior instance, aositive use oI nouns, eithet
aduncts or descritive translation. Coare the Iolloing in Russian and
Ukrainian:
a) giant of a Zan ( uenonex-nennxan
nmnna-nenerent
b) a hell of a noise y acxn mym
crpamennn mym
c) a love of a child npenecrnoe nrx
uyona nrnna
d) a devil of a felloa oruaxnnt mant
manenn xnonent
e) the deuce of a Trice emente entrn
maneni rpomi
I) a devil of a hurr] yxacnax cnemxa
manenn nocnix
g) a geael of a nature pexocrnax narypa
pixicna narypa
h) a doll of a girl e enouxa, a xyxna
e inunna, a nxntxa
Hxntxa, ne inunna
i) a geael of a girl e enouxa, a sonoro
3onoro, ne inunna
$$&
Consider also the Iolloing:
pcerhaTs ]ou ^noa that lad]pA Yats_] indicated a gorgeousA scarcel]
huZan orchid of a aoZan aho sat in state under a ahite5TluZ tree? (.
itgerald)
ihat a goll] little duc^ of a housek (alsorthy)
bis oan life as ]et such a _a_] of a thingA hoTelessl] ignorant and
innocent? (alsorthy)
IDIOMATIC SENTENCES
Syntactic idioaticity is a universal Ieature oI language develoent
observed in ost iI not in all languages.
By idioatic sentences e ean sentences ith a urely idioatic
graatical arrangeent. The eaning oI such sentences cannot be
readily analysed into the several distinct coonents hich ould be
eressed by the ords aking u an ordinary sentence.
Syntactic idios erit secial linguistic consideration as relevant to
graatical asects oI style and synonyy in graar.
Accurate studies oI syntactic idios have not yet been ade. Many
uestions about their graatical status go unansered and, indeed,
unasked. Iortant treatents oI the subect in the Russian language have
been ade by N. U. S h v e d o v a and . H. Shelyov
1
.
Interesting observations in this art oI eran synta have been ade
by O. I. Moskalskaya
2
. Sentence-atterns ith a urely idioatic
graatical arrangeent in resent-day English have naturally their on
traits oI Ioration and conventional ractices. But soeties e Iind here
close arallels to certain Iied tyes oI syntactic idioaticity observed in
other languages hich should not escae the notice oI the student.
Syntactic idios transcend the ordinary syntactic constructions and are,
in Iact, shaed and arranged according to secial atterns. The ords that
ake the u are variable, but their tyes see to be Iied.
Syntactic idioaticity is Iar too big a subect to be treated adeuately
in our short course, here reasons oI sace ake it ossible to ention
only its essential Ieatures.
Syntactic idios have rather a high Ireuency value in soken and
ritten English. They are stylistically arked units ith subective odal
Iorce and as such add uch to the eotive value oI the utterance. Most oI
the Iunction as eedients to roduce intensity or ehasis oI eaning
in eressive language. In idioatic sentences e generally Iind secial
Iorative eleents oI their tyiIication. In these ters, at least to a
orkable degree, e shall distinguish the Iolloing atterns:
1. ied stereotyed idioatic sentences ilying conIiration or
negation. The necessary eaning is alays signalled by the consituation,
e. g.:
1
H. . Bn e o n a . Ouepxn no cnnraxcncy pyccxo pasronopno peun. .,
1966 . . B m e n e n . O cnxsanntx cnnraxcnuecxnx xoncrpyxnnxx n pyccxom
xstxe, onpoct xstxosnannx, 1960, N 5.
2
O. I. Moskalskaya. raatik der deutschen egenartssrache. M., 1971.
225
>t aas a saell Tart]A andA hoak
Cf? Eme t
Siilarly in Ukrainian: Be nax xxxe
In eran: Und aiek Und o_k
Und aas frr einerk
iellA > neverk
iellA to _e surek iellA of all thingsk ' iellA of all thingsAp reTlied her
friendA pionders never ceaseA do the] [ileensp (reiser) Cf? or rax rax
or ree na Ukrainian: Or rax pas
Related to these are eressive interectional atterns ilying
conIiration or negation, such as:
\ear Zek
nhA deark
w]
heavenk
2. Idioatic sentence-atterns ith ilicit negation, e. g.:
a) N() N() be a coaardk
b) N() and N() She and a failurek
c) N() and V
inI
[n actor and refuse to helT
usk
d) N() and A Iichael and go]lessk
e) N and N She and in trou_lek
I) N A be arrogant and cruelk
g) NV
inI
Ie dancek
3. Idioatic seudo-subclauses:
a) atterns ith the tyiIying not thatA e. g.:
SoaZes shoo^ his head? p>ZTrove his health ver] liêl]? bas he ever
_een in Trisonps pòt that > ^noa ofp? (alsorthy)
eòt that > ^noa of nacxintxn meni niomo).
p}our father in toansp p> _elieve soA sirp? pYoodkp òt that he felt
relief? (alsorthy)
eòt that he felt relief nin ne niuyn oconnnoro nonermennx).
wut thereA thinîng's no good to an]one is it ZadaZs Thinîng aon't
helT? òt that > do it often? (MansIield)
eòt that > do it often x ponm ne ne uacro).
òt that he ever Zentioned it one did not use such a aordk
(alsorthy)
eòt that he ever Zentioned it nin nixonn ne nncnonnmnan ntoro
nronoc, npo ne ne ronopxrt).
Cf? eran: ìcht dass er ausstek
rench: C'est ne Tas ou'il soit content?
Idioatic sentence-atterns oI the given tye seen to have their
transIorational origin in idioatic structures ith it is??? thatA it aas???
thatA to hich they are, no doubt, related as stylistic variants
$$<
b) eclaatory seudo-subclauses, e. g.:
That he should have Zade such a Zistaêk
Cf? H nao xe tno emy cenart raxym omnxy
Ukrainian: H rpea x omy yno sponrn raxy nomnnxy
Cf? eran: \ass ihZ das Tassieren Zusstek
rench: Fallait5il ou'il soit venuk
c) atterns ith seudo-subclauses oI condition intensiIying the
eaning oI soe uality as eressed in a given essage, e. g.:
Freddie gashed= p}ou're a luc^] devilA if ever > Zet' one? Such a nice
thingp? be grinned enviousl]? (Cronin)
> ^noa ]our Zotives are alaa]s a_ove reTroach? boaever mohnnie
Yallegher is a cold little _ull]A if ever > saa one? (Mitchell)
Cf? >f ever there aas dressinessA it aas here? >t aas Tersonification of
the old terZ sTic^ and sTan? (reiser)
>f ever the girl looêd liê a leoTardessA it aas noah her strangeA deeT
set e]es êTt sliding froZ her 'cu_' to hiZ aho threatened to deTrive her of
it? (alsorthy)
Patterns oI this tye are syntactic idios obviously distinct Iro units
oI the Iorula character like boa do ]ou dosh the latter is Ior all ractical
uroses one unchanged and unchangeable Iorula the eaning oI hich
is really indeendent oI that oI the searate ords into hich it ay be
analysed. But atterns like >f ever > Zet one are oI a totally diIIerent order.
The tye is Iied but alterations can be ade here, soe ords are
variable, e. g.: if ever there aas oneh if ever there can _e oneh if ever there
could _e oneA etc.
Siilarly: Sit stillA all ]ou can? e[ll ]ou can as still as ]ou canf?
> hurried all > couldA ZuZA soon as > seen that cloudA the girl Tuffed
aith the air of one aho is so seriousl] than^ful to have escaTed a great
disaster? (Bennett)
>t aas hard to thin^ a_outA _ut onl] Zade her Zore than ever
deterZined to cling to hiZA ahatever haTTenedA and to helT all she could?
(reiser)
d) stereotyed interectional hrase: there is a good felloa e_o]A etc.).
Cf? or ro xopomo, sa ro cnacno.
Or ope, sa ne xxym.
IntensiIication oI the graatical eaning is oIten eressed by such
idioatic atterns here ehasis is roduced by the use oI the so-called
ehatic aouldpA e. g.:
There it goes? That aould _e? That aould haTTen to Ze? > haven't got
enough trou_le? bere for the evening at the foul Tart] ahere > don't ^noa
a soul? [nd noa Z] garter has to go and _rea^? (Parker)
XhA >'d right Ziss ]ou if ]ou ventA > aould and all?
be aould coZe gust ahen > aanted to go outk 5boa anno]ing that
he has coZekf
}ou aould and ]ou aouldn't can _e used to edTress indignation in
situations liê the folloaing=
>'Z afraid > don't ^noa ahen the train leaves?
nhA ]ou aouldn't e~ }ou never ^noa an]thingkf
The relevance oI contet to the signiIicance oI such units ust never
be overlooked. Like in all other cases oI syntactic abivalence, the
eaning oI the sentence is ade clear by contetual indicators.
227
Variants in their use roducing subtle shades oI subective odal
eaning and eotional value resent rather a colicated subect hich
linguists have by no eans Iully orked out. The eressive eleents
cannot be studied outside oI their relation to the distinctive obective
eleents oI language hich are eotionally neutral. And this leads us to
synonyy in graar hich is the rincial concern in discussing the
stylistic asects oI synta.
CONSTRUCTIONAL HOMONYMITY
The theory oI sentence-structure ust do ore than only describe the
ell-Iored sentences oI a natural language. There are any other Iacts
about the sentences oI a language that ust be elained by a linguistic
theory.
Soe sentences are seantically arallel to other sentences oI a
diIIerent structure. Soe sentences are related in a deIinite ay to certain
sentences. Soe sentences are abiguous and so on.
raar ust rovide an elicit basis Ior elaining the native
seaker's understanding oI the relationshis beteen the sentences. It ust
also sho the diIIerence beteen overtly arallel sentences, the sentences
hich have the sae structure at an aroriate level oI abstraction.
Sentences ust alays be udged in their contets.
Various iortant relations beteen sentences and tyes oI
constructions can be adeuately elained by transIorational analysis.
Abiguity is an iortant Ieature oI a natural language.
There are naturally diIIerent kinds oI abiguity. The sentence pThe
ta_le aas herep is abiguous because ta_le has several leical eanings,
e. g. pa ta_le of contentspA pZatheZatical ta_le?p
Siilarly, the sentence pThe train aas longp is abiguous because oI
the leical eaning oI the noun train= that hich runs on the railroad,
and that hich is attached to a bridal gon. This kind oI abiguity is
leical, not graatical.
The sentence Iar] told her sister that she had acted foolishl] is an
eale oI graatical abiguity. The reIerence oI the ronoun is not
clear. e do not kno hether she reIers to Iar] or her sister? Siilarly,
the sentence The _o] looêd fast? e don't kno hether Iast is an
adective esTeed]f or an adverb esTeedil]f? The hrase the Zen aith the
_o]s aho aere laughing is a graatical abiguity oI a diIIerent sort e
can identiIy the ord classes, but e do not kno hat goes ith hat
i. e., hat the iediate constituents are.
urther eales are given belo.
Consider the hrase (1) hich can be understood abiguously ith the
hunters as the subect, analogously to (2), or as the obect, analogously to
(3):
eUf the shooting of the huntersh
etf the singing of _irdsh
ef the raising of the cattle?
On the level oI hrase structure there is no good to elain this
abiguity: all oI these atterns are reresented as the V
ing
oI-hrase.
$$>
In transIorational ters, hoever, there is a clear and autoatic
elanation: the shooting of the hunters has to distinct transIorational
origins: the hunters shoot and the] shoot the huntersA hich are both
kernel sentences. The abiguity oI the graatical relation results Iro
the Iact that the relation oI shoot to hunters diIIers in the to underlying
sentences. Leical irobability ecludes the ossibility oI pthe] sing
_irdsp or pcattle raisep, hich are not graatical kernel sentences.
Covert (dee structure) relations do not aniIest theselves in the
surIace structure. Coare the Iolloing:
eaf She Zade hiZ a good aife?
e_f She Zade hiZ a good hus_and?
The surIace structures oI the to sentences (a) and (b) are identical but
their syntactic eanings diIIer essentially. Through transIoration the
covert syntactic relations are ade elicit:
eaf She _ecaZe a good aife to hiZ?
e_f be _ecaZe a good hus_and _ecause she Zade hiZ good?
The validity oI the theory oI surIace and dee structure as alied to
the elanation oI syntactic hoonyity in any language can hardly be
doubted.
All languages have hoonyy at several levels. Observations on
syntactic structures oI various tyes Iurnish nuerous eales oI
hoonyic atterns, i. e. such syntactic units as are identical in their
graatical arrangeent but diIIer in eaning. Nuerous situations ay
be ointed out in hich structural abiguities coonly occur. In such
instances e ay easily observe that abiguity is resolved by soe other
eleent, linguistic or situational, or intonation.
A descritive analysis oI the structural signals oI English ill alays
be helIul to ake clear the laces here such abiguities are likely to
occur and the recise nature oI the distinctive Ieatures involved. Students
oI English, ust be aare oI the coon sources oI structural abiguity,
as ell as the recise devices Ior resolving the.
The Iolloing eales ill Iurnish good illustration oI the stateent.
The English verb is usually Iolloed by a noun, ith or ithout
deteriner. Hoever, iI both the noun deteriner and the initial Iunction
ord are issing, such structures ay becoe abiguous, like the
Iolloing:
love _lossoZs in sTring here abiguity is avoided by
intonational diIIerences. Coare:
eUf Love _lossoZs in sTring?
etf Love _lossoZs in sTringk
love is a noun in (1) and a verb in (2).
Abiguity is uite ossible at bast in ritten English and raid seech
hen, Ior instance, the to arts oI a searable verb are not searated:
eUf She looêd' over ]our TaTers?
etf She 'looêd over ]our 'TaTers?
$$9
II these to sentences are read aloud it ill becoe aarent that in (1) the
subect as insecting the aer itselI, hile in (2) he is looking at
soething on the other side. ThereIore only (1) can be relaced by he
looêd?
Illustrative eales oI abiguity ill be Iound in atterns ith the
so-called dangling articiles. In atterns oI this tye the articile is, in
Iact, a sentence-odiIier, though it ay occuy the osition at the
beginning oI the sentence hich can also be occuied by a articiial
odiIier or the subect. This gives a structure that is alays structurally
abiguous. Leical incongruity beteen the articile and the Iolloing
subect resolves abiguity. Abiguous eales are oIten unintentionally
coic or ridiculous.
croceeding doan the road a sZall village caZe in sight?
Many abiguities are never noticed because the various ossible
meanings are narroed don by contet.
In the] have _us] lives aithout visiting relatives only contet can
indicate hether visiting relatives is euivalent in eaning to Ta]ing visits
to relatives or to relatives aho are visiting theZA and in > looêd uT the
nuZ_er and > looêd uT the chiZne] only the eanings oI nuZ_er and
chiZne] ake it clear that uT is syntactically a second coleent in the
Iirst sentence and a reosition Iolloed by its obect in the second.
Structural abiguity oIten occurs ith reositional hrases hich are
Iairly coon odiIiers oI various tyes oI heads. This is oIten the case
hen the reositional hrase aears edially or Iinally. Hoever the
characteristic intonation contour oI the sentence-odiIier, Ireuently
suorted by leical indicators, serves to recognise reositional hrases
as such, e. g.:
bis faith in her aords aas unshaâ_le?
As ritten above, the sentence is surely abiguous. The distinction
beteen the to ossible eanings ould be reserved by setting oII in
her aords ith coas.
Abiguity occurs ore Ireuently in connection ith constructions
aearing in coleent, redicate-odiIier, or end-adverbial ositions
than ith constructions aearing in Iront-adverbial subect, or verbal
ositions. This is riarily due to the Iact that there are ore ositions in
the last halI oI a sentence hich ay be Iilled by siilar constructions
than there are in the Iirst halI. The reciient oI a essage usually has little
diIIiculty in recognising the boundary line beteen a subect and a
Iolloing verb-cluster because oI the change Iro noinal aterial to
verbal aterial. In the coleent and the Iolloing sectors, hoever,
there are no such clear-cut lines oI dearcation beteen one kind oI
aterial and another: a hrase, Ior eale, ay occur as a ost-nuclear
odiIier in a noun-cluster in C
o
osition, or as an adunctional in C
2
osition, or as a redicate-odiIier in H osition, or as an adverbial in any
one oI the three end ositions.
Most, iI not all, oI the cases oI structural abiguity discussed by Ch.
ries in the Structure of XnglishA as ell as oI those discussed by N.
Chosky in S]ntactic StructuresA can robably be elained in ters oI
$;%
uncertainties about ositions. Thus, to borro an eale Iro Ch.
ries, the sentence The nea train aTTeared faster ay be assigned to sectors
in either oI these to ays:
eUf The nea train aTTeared faster?
etf The nea train aTTeared??? faster?
In (1) faster is analysed as an adunctal ord occurring i n C
1
osition in (2) it is analysed as a redicate-odiIier.
But the Iact still reains that our ability to analyse the sentence
in to diIIerent ays does not resolve the abiguity. The sentence as
it stands ithout any larger contet that ight indicate hich oI
the to analyses is the correct one reains abiguous.
II a sentence such as pfl]ing Tlanes can _e dangerousp
1
is resented
in an aroriately constructed contet, the listener ill interret it
iediately in a uniue ay, and ill Iail to detect the abiguity.
In Iact, e ay reect the second interretation, hen this is ointed
out to hi, as Iorced or unnatural (indeendently oI hich
interretation e originally selected under contetual ressure).
Nevertheless the intuitive knoledge oI the language is clearly such that
both oI the interretations (corresonding to pfl]ing Tlanes are dangerousp
and pfl]ing Tlanes is dangerouspf are assigned to the sentence by the
graar internalised in soe Ior. In the case ust entioned, the
abiguity ay be Iairly transarent. But in such a sentence, Ior
instance, as be had a _oo^ stolen graar rovides at least three
structural descritions:
a) be had a _oo^ stolen froZ his car ahen he left the aindoa oTenA that
is SoZeone stole a _oo^ froZ his carh
b) be had a _oo^ stolen froZ the li_rar] _] a Trofessional thief ahoZ
he hired to do the go_A that is be had soZeone steal a _oo^h
c) be alZost had a _oo^ stolenA _ut the] caught hiZ leaving the li_rar]
aith itA that is be had alZost succeeded in stealing a _oo^?
Resolving this trile abiguity in this ay e arrange atters in
such a ay that the linguistic intuition, reviously obscured, becoes
evident.
To borro an eale Iro N. Chosky, e shall consider the
Iolloing sentences:
(1) / Tersuaded mohn to leave?
(2) / edTected mohn to leave?
The Iirst iression oI the hearer ay be that these sentences receive
the sae structural analysis. Even Iairly careIul thought ay Iail
to sho hi that graar assigns very diIIerent syntactic descritions
to these sentences. Hoever, it is clear that the sentences (1) and (2) are
not arallel in structure. The diIIerence can be brought out by
consideration oI the sentences:
(3) / Tersuaded a sTecialist to edaZine mohn?
(4) / Tersuaded mohn to _e edaZined _] a sTecialist?
(5) / edTected a sTecialist to edaZine mohn?
(6) > edTected mohn to _e edaZined _] a sTecialist?
1
See= N. C h o s k y . Asects oI the Theory oI Synta. Cabridge,
Massachusetts, 1965, . 21-24
231
The sentences (5) and (6) are cognitively synonyous: one is true iI,
and only iI, the other is true.
But no variety oI even eak arahrase holds beteen (3) and (4).
Thus (3) can be true or Ialse uite indeendently oI the truth or Ialsity oI
(4). hatever diIIerence oI connotation or toic or ehasis one ay
Iind beteen (5) and (6) is ust the diIIerence that eists beteen the active
sentence a sTecialist aill edaZine mohn and its assive counterart mohn
aill _e edaZined _] a sTecialist? This is not at all the case ith resect to
(3) hoever. In Iact, the underlying dee structure Ior (1) and (4) ust
sho that mohn is the direct obect oI the verb-hrase as ell as the
graatical subect oI the ebedded sentence.
Not less characteristic are atterns ith adverbs as sentence-odiIiers
hich are rare in Iinal osition, and hen they do occur there, abiguity
ill be resolved by intonation.
Consider the Iolloing eales hich ill reind you that a change
in intonation ay change the structural eaning oI adverbs:
The student is clearl] sTeaîng of his oan iZTression?
be is aTTarentl] ailling to goin us?
The above eales ill suIIice to sho that intonation ay indicate
rather iortant diIIerences in structural eaning oI the hrases.
Co-ordinators are not alays used beteen ebers oI structures oI
co-ordination and such sentences ay Ireuently be structurally
abiguous, or at least otentially so. In seech, hoever, there are
rosodic atterns hich clearly distinguish the various tyes oI
construction. Consider the Iolloing sentence:
Let Ze introduce Z] friend a doctor and a scientist?
II e disregard rosody (and unctuation) this has at least three
ossible eanings.
An utterance does not necessarily becoe understandable even hen
all its voels, consonants, and stress atterns have been recognised. It is
still necessary to recognise here the boundaries Iall. A tyical air oI
sentences is pbe aill actA roughl] in the saZe ZannerpA and be aill act
roughl]A in the saZe Zanner? In resenting these to sentences in riting,
roughl] is assigned to hat Iollos or hat recedes by the osition oI the
coa. In seech, the to are eually distinct and in no danger oI
conIusion. The osition oI the boundary is signalled by eleents in the
sound syste, hich are ierIectly reresented in riting by unctuation
arks. These boundary signals are generally called unctures.
1
There is a close arallel to such develoents in other languages.
Here are a Ie tyical eales oI structural abiguity in noun-
hrases ith the ossessive case in Russian and Ukrainian: ]ororpa]nx
Herpona, Ior instance, has three ossible contetual eanings:
(a) the hoto belongs to Petrov
(b) Petrov has taken the hoto(grah) oI sb.
(c) Petrov is ortrayed on the hoto.
1
See= . N. rancis. The Structure oI Aerican English. Ne York, 1958. 232
Structural hoonyy oI reositional noun-hrases is also a coon
occurrence.
On cenaer ro n na uaca ay ean either (1) at 2 o'clock or (2) in
to hours
1
.
Phrases ith the reosition npo ay eress obect and adverbial
relations, e. g. He npo nac nncano ay ean:
(1) He o nac nncano.
(2) He nx nac nncano.
Ukrainian:
(1) unrare rintxn npo cee (ne nronoc).
(2) unrare rintxn npo cee (a ne npo xoroct inmoro).
Kynmnn c nneramn ay ean: (a) xynmnn n nnert (b) xynmnn, na
xoropom napnconant nnert (c) n xynmnne naxoxrcx nnert.
Coare Ior illustration the eran sentence \as ist natrrlich genug
hich ay be an instance oI to diIIerent structures:
(a) that's natural enough
(b) that's naturally enough.
Revision Material
1. The syntactic structure oI any language is a syste constituted by
organically related levels. Coent on the hierarchical intra-level
relationshi oI syntactic units.
2. Be ready to discuss diIIerent aroaches to the study oI synta:
a) traditional syntactic theory
b) structural syntactic theories
c) transIorational synta.
3. Coent on oositional relationshi oI syntactic units.
4. ive coents on aradigatic and syntagatic relations in
synta.
5. On hat assutions can syntactic aradigs be built
6. Be ready to discuss the stateent that the division into arts oI
seech and the division into arts oI the sentence are organically related.
7. Coent on to ain tyes oI subect that are oosed to each
other in ters oI content.
8. Coent on redication as a structure ith the verb or verb- hrase
at its core.
9. ive coents on oositional relations beteen the rincial and
secondary arts oI the sentence.
10. hat do e ean by tetlinguistics
11. ive coents on discourse analysis oI sura-hrasal unities.
10. istinguish beteen entalistic and echanistic aroaches to
syntactic analysis.
12. hat do e ean by dee graar analysis
11. Be ready to discuss graatical abiguity. ive a Ie eales
oI constructional hoonyity. Make coarison ith other languages.
12. Illustrate the stateent that any abiguities are never noticed
because the various ossible eanings are narroed don by contet.
1
See= A. M. H e m x o n c x n . yccxn cnnraxcnc n nayunom ocnemennn. .,
1956, p. 306.
$;;
Chapter XI
PHRASE-STRUCTURE
The ays in hich ord-cobinations (hrases) as non-
counicative units are constituted ay be described as Minor Synta
in contrast to Maor Synta dealing ith linguistic units oI
counicative value.
The syntactical descrition oI any language is Iacilitated by isolating
certain recurrent units oI eression and eaining their distribution in
contets.
English synta is a any-layered organisation oI relatively Ie tyes
oI its basic units. A toIold or binary structure is one oI the ost striking
things about its graatical organisation.
According to the ays in hich hrases are used and constituted, to
ain tyes oI English hrases can be distinguished: headed (endocentric)
and non-headed (eocentric).
The ters endocentric and eocentric Ior syntactic constructions
ere introduced by L. BlooIield.
Every syntactic construction shos us to (or soeties ore) Iree
Iors cobined in a hrase, hich e ay call the resultant hrase. The
resultant hrase ay belong to a Ior-class other than that oI any
constituent. or instance, mohn ran is neither a noinative eression (like
mohnf nor a Iinite verb eression (like ranf? ThereIore e say that
English actor-action construction is eocentric: the resultant hrase
belongs to the Ior-class oI no iediate constituent. On the other hand,
the resultant hrase ay belong to the sae Ior-class as one (or ore) oI
the constituents. or instance, Toor mohn is a roer-noun eression, and
so is the constituent mohnh the Iors mohn and Toor have, on the hole,
the sae Iunctions. Accordingly e say that the English character-
substance construction (as in Toor mohnA fresh Zil^ and the like) is an
endocentric construction
1
.
Headed hrases have this eculiarity: all the graatical Iunctions
oen to the as hrases can also be eercised by one eression ithin
the. They ay be regarded as eansions oI this eression, called the
head oI the grou and it is ossible to substitute the head Ior the grou or
the grou Ior the head ithin the sae graatical hrase (i. e. in the
sae contet) ithout causing any Ioral dislocation oI the overall
graatical structure. or instance, in fresh fruit is good the headed
1
L. BlooIield. Language. Ne York, 1969, . 194.
234
ord-grou fresh fruit serves as subect in > liê fresh fruitA it serves as
obective coleent. II e substitute the head eression fruit Ior fresh
fruit in either case, the graatical Irae subect, verb, coleent ill
reain Iorally undisturbed.
Fresh fruit is good? Fruit is good?
> liê fresh fruit? Siilarly= > liê
fruit?
[ll this nice fresh fruit is good?
Fruit is good? Singing songs is
fun? Singing is fun? > liê singing
songs? > liê singing?
In these sets oI eales, the head eression fruit and singing are
Ireely substitutable graatically Ior the ord-grous oI hich they are
constituents. In both cases, then, the italicised ord-grous are headed
grous.
Syntactic relations ay be signalled by the Iolloing devices:
a) ord-order, i. e. the osition oI ords relative to each other in the
utterance.
b) Prosody-cobinations oI atterns oI itch, stress and uncture.
Patterns oI itches and terinal unctures are called intonation atterns
atterns oI stresses and internal unctures are oIten reIerred to as suer-
Iies.
c) unction ords ords ith little or no leical eaning hich are
used in cobining ords into larger structures (reositions, con-
unctions,relative ronouns).
d) InIlections hich adat ords to Iit varying structural ositions
ithout changing their leical eaning or art oI seech.
e) Punctuation in riting.
It sees ractical to classiIy hrases according to the character oI their
syntactical arrangeent. e shall thus distinguish: 1) subordinate
hrases, 2) co-ordinate hrases and 3) redicative (or neus) hrases.
Every structure ay be divided into its iediate constituents:
1) In ters oI graatical organisation, subordinate phrases are
binary structures in hich one oI the ebers is syntactically the leading
eleent oI the hrase. No atter ho colicated this toIold or binary
structure ay be, it can alays be divided into to iediate
constituents, one Iunctioning as head and the other as odiIier.
Aduncts serve to describe, to ualiIy, to select, to colete, to etend
or in soe other ay to aIIect the eaning oI the head, e. g.: fresh airA
stone aallA ariting a letterA Terfectl] rightA aafull] tiredA etc.
2) Co-ordinate phrases consist oI to or ore syntactically
euivalent units oined in a cluster hich Iunctions as a single unit. The
units so oined ay be any oI the arts oI seech or ore cole
structures taking art in graatical organisation. The oining ay be
accolished
$;=
by ord order and rosody alone, or ith the hel oI conunctions, e. g.:
girls and _o]sA Tins and needlesA sooner or laterA noa and thenA etc. 3)
Predicative (or neus) hrases are such structures in hich the syntactic
Iunctions oI the coonent' arts diIIer Iro the Iunction oI the hrase, as
a hole , e. g.: the lesson overA circuZstances TerZittingA this doneA for
theZ to coZeA on hiZ to doA etc.
SUBORDINATE PHRASES
Subordinate hrases ay be best enuerated hen e arrange the
according to their leading eber: noun hrases, adectival hrases, verb
hrases, adverbial hrases, ronoinal hrases (ronoinal hrases are
ost suitably included in the noun or adective grous to hich they are
evident arallels). As has been ointed out, their iediate constituents
are head ord and odiIier (adunct). The ter head ord (head) eans
the ord that is odiIied.
òun5chrases
In ters oI osition oI the attributive adunct, noun-hrases ay be
classiIied into 1) hrases ith reosed odiIier 2) hrases ith
ostosed odiIier.
chrases aith creTosed Iodifier
In noun-hrases ith reosed odiIiers e generally Iind adectives,
ronouns, nuerals, articiles, gerunds and nouns in the ossessive case.
Here belongs also reodiIication oI nouns by nouns (so-called noun-
adunct-grous).
iith his oan hands he Tut floaers a_out his little house5_oat and
eouiTTed the Tunt in ahichA after lunchA he TroTosed to taê theZ on the
river? (alsorthy)
Ian] a tiZe had he tried to thin^ that in old da]s of thaarted Zerrier
lifeh and he alaa]s failed? (alsorthy)
Val had gust changed out of riding clothes and aas on his aa] to the
fire a _oo^Zaêr's in CornZarêt? (alsorthy)
moll] Fors]te aas strolling doan bigh StreetA ndfordA on a òveZ_er
afternoon? (alsorthy)
[fter a fea Zorning consultationsA aith the Tleasant TrosTect of no
surger] in the evening [ndrea aent on his round? (Cronin)
[nd _eneath it la] the faZil]'s ChristZas treat three sZall orangesA
(Cronin)
A reosed deterinant ay be etended only by an adverb, e. g.:
That aas a t]Ticall] French aa] to furnish a rooZ? '
In reodiIication oI nouns by nouns the noun-adunct ay be
etended by ords oI diIIerent arts oI seech, e. g.: long Tla]ing Zicro5
groove full freouenc] range recording?
The 5s is aended to a grou oI ords iI it Iors a sense-unit, e. g.:
the Zan of TroTert]'s daughterA weauZont and Fletcher's Tla]sA the |ing
of \enZar^'s court?
$;<
The division into iediate constituents in cases like the Zan of
TroTert]'s daughter is not the Zan ,, of TroTert]'sA but the Zan of
TroTert]'s?
Postosition oI adectives occurs in soe Iied hrases, e. g.:
Zother dear the universit] TroTer
the Tresident elect a _attle ro]al
tiZe iZZeZorial the first Terson singular
Postositive osition is oIten natural Ior adectival units hich
theselves contain ostositive odiIiers oI their on and even Ior soe
hich contain only ostositive odiIiers
aTTlicants desirous of Tersonal intervieas
a aall sid feet high rooZs large enough
2oun4*d?unct Groups
English noinals resented by ` ` structures are one oI the ost
striking Ieatures about the graatical organisation oI English.
Noun-adunct grous consisting oI nounal odiIier lus noinal
head result Iro diIIerent kind oI transIorational shiIts.
PreodiIication oI nouns by nouns can signal a striking variety oI
eanings. The graar oI English noinalisations resents here a aor
oint oI linguistic interest.
In order to areciate ho very ide the variety oI graatical
eaning in noinal coounds ay be, consider the Iolloing
iscellaneous eales:
aorld Teace ( Teace all over the aorldf
ta_le laZT ( a laZT for ta_lesf
sheeT dog ex a dog ahich herds sheeTf
Trairie dog ex a dog ahich inha_its the
Trairief
silver _od ex a _od Zade of silverf
field aorêr ( a aorêr aor^s in the fieldf
chair legs ex the legs of the chairf
night oal ex an oal ahich flies at nightf
river sand ( sand froZ the riverf
soaT salesZan ex the salesZan sells soaTf
school child ex the child goes to schoolf
Noun-grous oI this tye are Iairly coon and ne seciens are
constantly being Iored.
Since noinal coounds usually consist oI only to constituents and
incororate the ost general graatical relations in the language, there
are unusually great oortunities Ior graatical abiguity in this kind
oI binary structures.
To ake our oint clear, e shall give a nuber oI interesting
abiguities and variations in interreting the.
Thus, Ior instance, in its ordinary use the noun-hrase snaê Toison
is interreted to have the sae structure as that oI snaê oilA snaê tracÂ
237
etc., i. e. it is derived Iro soe eression like Toison Iro a snaêA or
ultiately erhas Iro soe kernel-sentence such as: The snaê gives
Toison? Hoever it could also be interreted to be the sae in structure as
snaê venoZA snaêheadA snaê_loodA etc., i. e. to be ore like snaê's
Toison or Toison of a snaêA say Iro soe sentence as: The snaê has the
Toison?
1
But these do not ehaust the ossibilities, though the latter to are
robably the ay the eression is coonly used, the Iirst hen
eaning pToisonous su_stance Zade froZ snaê venoZp?
Notice also the ossible contrast aong snaê fleshA snaê ZeatA and
snaê food= pflesh of a snaêpApZeat froZ a snaêpA and pfood for a
snaêp? The Ioral characteristics ithin the structure oI various noun-
adunct grous rovide signiIicant contrast to distinguish certain oI the
eaning that attach to odiIier relation.
Noun-adunct grous are oIten derived Iro already generated ost-
noinal articiial or gerundive odiIiers, e. g,:
The aell ]ields oil
???aell ahich ]ields oil???
???aell ]ielding oil???
???oil5]ielding aell???
???oil aell???
Observe the signiIicant contrast in the Iolloing airs oI noun-adunct
grous:
a _a_] sister a Zother countr]
a _a_] sitter a Zother coZTled
a aoZan laa]er a to] cuT_oard
a aoZan hater a to] cuT_oard a
cand] cane a cand] store
Each oI these units contains a odiIying noun and a head noun, and
the odiIying noun recedes its head. hen the odiIying noun has the
essentially descritive Iorce oI an adective, the head noun norally has
hrase stress. In a _a_] sister the sister is a _a_]A in a cand] cane the cane
is cand]? hen the odiIying noun has relationshi to its head, the
odiIying noun rather than the head norally has hrase stress. Thus in a
_a_] sitter the sitter is not a _a_] but a sitter aith _a_iesA and in a cand]
store the store is not cand] but sells cand]? hen it is used oI a cuT_oard
that is itselI a toy, a to] cuT_oard has hrase stress on cuT_oardh hen it
is used oI a cuT_oard hich is not itselI a to] but is used as a lace Ior
toys, the sae seuence has hrase stress on to]?
The attern oI stress norally indicates the nature oI the odiIier
relationshi. Coare also the Iolloing:
groaing children groaing Tains
a living soul living conditions
the aaiting Zother the aaiting rooZ
1
See= R. B. Lees. The raar oI English Noinalisations. 5th Ed. the Hague, 1968, .
122.
$;>
Yroaing children are children that are groaingA but groaing Tains are
the Tains of groaing?
Instances are not Ie hen the noinalised verb aears as head oI the
structure the transIor ay be generated directly Iro the genitive case or
the of-hrase erihrasis, e. g.:
The ToTulation groas ???
ToTulation's groath ???
groath of the ToTulation ???
ToTulation groath
The deletion oI a ost-noinal odiIier along ith the reosition
gives such derivations as, Ior instance:
The oal flies at night ??? oal
ahich flies at night ??? oal
fl]ing at night ??? night oal
An attet to tabulate the underlying graatical relations observed
in noun-adunct grous ill hel to distinguish signiIicant contrasts in
their eaning:
1) Subect-redicate relations: graduate5studentA class struggleA
student failureA teZTerature changeA aeather changeA _lood TressureA etc.
Closely related to such noinals are Iorations like oueen _eeA Zother
earthA girl draftsZanA lad] gournalistA Zan friendA aoZan authorA aoZan
scientistA aoZan ariterA etc. here the relation beteen the to nouns is
essentially diIIerent. Vieed in their cobination, the to eleents in
such atterns are syntactically eual, each oI the to nouns can Iunction to
nae a erson or thing denoted by a hole attern. This is ade
abundantly clear by the silest transIorational analysis: the girl
draftsZan the girl is a draftsZanh the aoZan scientist v v the aoZan
is a scientist?
2) Obect relations:
a) _od] nourishZentA coal TroductionA cheZistr] studentA carTet
saeeTerA health serviceA in^ transferA Zone] econoZ]A Tacâge deliver]A
Troduct controlA Totato TeelerA rug saleA safet] feelingA truc^ driverA aar
talÂ aoZan haterA etc.
b) paithp-noinals (the odiIying noun denotes instruental
relations), e. g.: acid treatZentA e]e vieaA oil TaintingA etc.
c) the ualitative genitive or the oI-hrase erihrasis, e. g.: child
Ts]cholog]A felloa feelingA Zother aitA Zother heartA science degreeA etc.
eCf? S]n?= child Ts]cholog] child's Ts]cholog] the Ts]cholog] of a
child childish Ts]cholog]fh
d) the oI-hrase erihrasis (the odiIying noun denotes the aterial
oI hich a thing is ade), e. g.:
_ric^ houseA gold aatchA iron _ridgeA oa^ ta_leA TaTer _agA ru__er
coatA silver _odA stone aallA etc.
3) Adverbial relations oI tie: da] shiftA night shiftA Zorning starA
Zorning edercisesA sTring tiZeA sTring terZA suZZer vacationA suZZer
sunshineA SeTteZ_er sunA ainter vacationA ainter afternoonA etc.
$;9
4) Adverbial relations oI lace: aorld TeaceA countr] airA chiZne]
saalloasA Xngland tourA nurser] doorA river houseA stud] aindoaA ground
aaterA etc.
5) Adverbial relations oI coarison: _utton e]esA eagle e]eA haa^
noseA iron nervesA lost dog looÂ saalloa diveA etc.
6) Adverbial relations oI urose: _ath ro_eA edTort TroductsA Teace
ZoveZentA resistance fightersA tooth _rushA ariting ta_leA aalîng sticÂ
etc.
It is iortant to reeber that the odiIying noun is usually arked
by a stronger stress than the head.
The seantic relations hich underlie such noinals resent certain
diIIiculties oI analysis.
The eaning oI the odiIying noun is oIten signalled by the leical
eaning oI the head ord. Coare the Iolloing: river houseA river
ZarginA river sandh cotton dressA cotton TroductionA cotton Tricesh aar
TroductionA aar talÂ aar ]earsh oa^ leavesA oa^ ta_lesh Zedicine sZellA
Zedicine _ottle?
A clue concerning the eaning oI the odiIier ay also be Iound in the
graatical nature oI the noun odiIied. Thus, Ior instance, hen the
second eleent is a verbal noun ade Iro an intransitive verb, the Iirst
eleent ill oIten denote the doer oI the action, e. g.: class struggleA
student failureA etc. II the second eleent is a verbal noun ade Iro a
transitive verb (hich is Iairly coon), the Iirst eleent ill generally
denote the obect oI the action, e. g.: Troduct controlA Troduction increaseA
safet] feelingA rug saleA coal TroductionA etc.
II the second eleent denotes a erson or an anial, the Iirst eleent
ay denote gender, e. g.: aoZan ariterA Zan servantA _ull eleThantA coa
eleThant?
In cases hen the leical eaning oI the ords adits either
interretation ithout leico-graatical incongruity, abiguity is
revented in actual seech by contrast in intonation atterns. Thus, Ior
instance, a dancing girl ith rise oI itch and riary stress both on the
headord girl arks dancing as a resent articile: a girl erIoring the
act oI dancing. But a dancing girlA ith riary stress and rise in itch
both on the odiIier dancingA identiIies dancing as a verbal noun and
signals the eaning a dancer ranninnnnx.
The contrast oI eaning as tied to a articular intonation attern is
Iairly coon and is a good eale oI the role that rosody lays in
graar. Other eales are:
a 'dust 'ZoT (a o coosed a'dust ZoT (a o used Ior dust-
oI dust) ing)
a 'Zad 'doctor (a doctor ho a 'Zad doctor (a sychiatrist) is
ad)
a 'French 'teacher (a teacher a 'French teacher (a teacher oI
rench by nationality) the rench language).
In soe instances it is ossible to carry the variation in stress atterns
through a series oI three, all correlated ith diIIerences in eaning:
$&%
a '_lac^_ird's nest ( nest oI a blackbird)
a _lac^ '_ird's nest ex bird's nest hich is black)
a _lac^ _ird's 'nest ( nest oI a black-coloured bird)
PreodiIication is idely current in resent-day scientiIic usage
here, e can say ith little Iear oI eaggeration, such atterns have not
got their euals.
The ultiIarious use oI noinals in scientiIic English resents secial
diIIiculties. It is in this area oI English graar that the student's
linguistic knoledge is oIten severely ut to the test.
iIIerent correlations oI nouns and arrangeents oI their order resent
secial interest in cases here such noinals consist not oI to but three,
Iour and even Iive eleents.
Eaine the Iolloing:
h]draulic aor^ carriage traverse sTeed regulating valve xnanan,
mo perynmc mnnxicrt ripanniunoro nepemimennx poouo xaperxn
a high grade Taraffin _ase straight Zineral lu_ricating oil
nncoxocoprne npxmo xonxn minepantne macrnno na napa]inoni
ocnoni
rooZ teZTerature neutron _oZ_ardZent effects xnnma, nnxnnxani
omapynannxm nerponamn npn ximnarni remneparypi
long5Tla]ing Zicrogroove full freouenc] range recording
mixposannc onrorpamunx nnacrnnox s nonnnm ianasonom uacror
ca_in5Tressure regulator air valve lever naxint nnenmarnunoro
xnanana perynxropa rncxy (nonirpx) n xaini.
The high Ireuency value oI such noinals in the language oI science
is clear ithout secial Ireuency counts.
hen a head noun includes several odiIiers oI diIIerent sorts, the
result is oIten rather a cole thing. But in oint oI Iact, it is alays
organised along strict and recise lines. The ost iortant thing about
such an adunct-grou is that unless it contains structures oI coordination,
it consists not oI a series oI arallel odiIiers but oI a series oI structures
oI odiIication one ithin the other, e. g.:
h]draulic aor^ carriage traverse sTeed regulating valve xnanan mo
perynmc mnnxicrt ripanniunoro nepemimennx poouo xaperxn.
English noinalisation has given large nubers oI such Iorations as
aroach coounding hen the to nouns eress a single idea, aking
u a secial ter in terinology or a stock-hrase in roIessional
vocabulary: The United àtions nrganisationA Securit] CouncilA La_our
Tart]A la_our ZoveZentA face valueA horse ToaerA coal ZineA Zother oilA
Trade UnionA trade _alanceA etc.
In hraseology: Zother earthA saan songA Vanit] FairA vanit] _agA
_rain storZA _rain aaveA chair da]s epold agepfA traged] îng epan actor
Tla]ing the Tart of the îng in a traged]p fA to] doge'
l
a little dogpA
ononxa).
Soe noinals Iluctuate in selling and ay be ritten solid,
hyhened or searate, e. g.:
aTTle tree aTTle5tree aTTletree _rain
storZ _rain5storZ _rainstorZ _rain
aave _rain5aave
241
The direction oI odiIication structures can have a secial stylistic
value. Involving diIIerent classes oI nouns into odiIication structures oI
that tye has long becoe eIIective Ior stylistic uroses. It is Iairly
coon in Shakesearean language here nuerous ord-grous oI this
kind Iurnish vivid eales oI the etahoric use oI the reodiIying
noun, as in: FroZ Fortune aith her muor] hand to her (Tion oI Athen)
... tao siluer currents ahen the] go]ne (King ohn)
1
.
In Modern English unusual reodiIication structures are oIten created
by the author ane to achieve huorous eIIect, e. g.: The uZ_rella oaner
sloaed his steTs? SoaT] did liêaiseA aith a TresentiZent that luc^ aould
again run against hiZ? The ToliceZan looêd at the tao curiousl]? pnf
coursepA said the uZ_rella Zan pthat is aellA ]ou ^noa hoa these
Zistaês occur ~ > ~ if it's ]our uZ_rella > hoTe ]ou'll edcuse Ze ~ >
Ticêd it uT this Zorning in a restaurant if ]ou recognise it as ]oursA
ah] ~ > hoTe ]ou'll p?pnf courseA it's ZinepA said SoaT]A viciousl]? The
ed5uZ_rella Zan retreated? (Henry)
Noinal grous incororate, in Iact, the ost general graatical
relations in the language, such as subect-redicate, verb-obect and verb-
reositional obect, etc. This akes great oortunities Ior graatical
abiguities in this kind oI hrase-structure.
TransIoration as a eans to Ioralise the ilicit structural
eanings oI the hrase is alays helIul.
To ake our oint clear let us take a Ie eales oI interesting
abiguities and variant interretations oI noinals in cases like the
Iolloing:
Tontoon _ridgeA udged by the contet can ean:
(a) bridge suorted by ontoons
(b) bridge Iloating on ontoons
(c) bridge ade oI ontoons
(d) ontoons in the Ior oI a bridge
2
.
<erb4;!rases
iIIerent ays in hich verbs go atterning in structures oI
redication ill engage our attention net.
Verb-hrases are oI greater coleity than other sentence eleents.
They can contain ultile verb-Iors, like ie aant to get started
toZorroa Zorningh they can contain ultile non-verbal eleents like
She did not thin^ she aould _e invited to the conferenceh verb-hrases can
be discontinuous, interruted by noinal eleents, e. g.: be aanted to
have his Thoto taên? Yet, in site oI this great coleity, e Iind verb-
hrases in a Ie relatively sile atterns, hich are then cobined to
build u colicated series oI various tyes.
The ultilicity oI ays in hich verbs ay be cobined in actual
usage erits a striking variety oI atterns to be built in resent-day
English. It is iortant to see the in contrast ith each other as used in
diIIerent graatical Iraes, larger units, in articular.
1
uoted _ B.. p n e n a . Bexcnnp n ncropnuecxax crnnncrnxa.
unnonornuecxne nayxn, 1963, No.1, . 45.
2
For further reading see= R. . Lees. The raar oI English Noinalisations. 5th
Ed., the Hague, 1968.
249
Verbs eress eanings oI occurrence action, event, or state oI
aIIairs. Coatibility oI leical eaning naturally sets bounds on the
develoent oI all their syntactic relationshis.
The atterning oI articular verbs ith resect to coleents reuires
notice because oI its iortance to other arts oI seech. Meaning
relationshis are very cole, as has been said. Many verbs are used
ith varied turns oI eaning hich ith varied coleent atterns are
noral. Soe verbs are used in atterns oI etreely restricted tye.
A verbal idea ay be etended by:
a) adverbs or adverbial hrases
b) adectives or adectival hrases
c) reositional grous
d) inIinitives
e) articiles I and II
I) conunctional grous
g) subclauses.
a) V sTeaîng fluentl]h
VP ansaer at once?
SoaZes regarded hiZ fidedl]? (alsorthy)
wut ]ou ^noa ahat the Fors]tes areA he said alZost viciousl]?
(alsorthy)
... the] _oth felt that the] had gone ouite far enough in the edTression
of feeling? (alsorthy)
Adverbs generally Iollo the verb. But instances are not Ie hen Ior
the sake oI ehasis they take re-osition:
èver has the Soviet Union deviated froZ its Tolic] of Teace and
friendshiT aZong nations?
[aa] ran the children?
In coound tense-Iors adverbial aduncts are laced aIter the
auiliary verb:
wut ]ou're never going to _ring out that a_out the Tearlsk
(alsorthy)
b) VA caZe in haTT]h
VAP caZe inA Tale aith fear?
Val regarded hiZ round e]edA never having ^noan his uncle edTress
an] sort of feeling? (alsorthy)
Hec^less of the coldA he threa his aindoa uT and gased out across the
car^? (alsorthy)
be had coZe _ac^ uneas]A sa]ing caris aas overrated? (alsorthy)
c) The use oI reositional grous to etend the verbal idea is Iairly
coon: .
VNT sta] in Londonh
VP do in half an hourh
VI go to theZh
V coZe froZ thereh
VVing enter aithout looîng _ac^?
d) InIinitival odiIiers in verb-hrases can be structurally abiguous.
istinction ill be ade beteen a) adverbial relations eressed by
inIinitival hrases and b) succession oI actions. The Iorer
243
can be transIored into atterns ith in order toA so as V
inI
, and clauses
oI urose or tie, the latter into co-ordinated Iinite verb-Iors.
Eales are:
1) [nd he Taused to see ahether the _o] understood his Zeaning (
in order to see???f (alsorthy)
be turned at the gate to loo^ _ac^ at that russet ZoundA then aent
sloal] toaards the houseA ver] cho^] in the throat ev in order to
loo^ _ac^???f (alsorthy)
wrian laughed to thin^ of it ( wrian laughed ahen he thought of it
a subclause oI tie) (Sillitoe)
2) Saeat _ecaZe Zud on his faceA ran to his Zouth to _e _loan aaa]
ahen it chafedA or aiTed if he had a free hand? (Sillitoe)
and aas _loan aaa] ahen it chafed??? succession oI actions, a
coordinated inIinitival hrase.
She aaoê to find that she aas atone ill alays ean: She aaoê and
found that she aas alone (the leical eaning oI the sentence-eleents
does not erit any other ilication the so-called leical incongruity
or irobability.
e) VV
ing
aent aaa]A sZilingh VV
ing
N
sat ariting a letterh VV
en

caZe in enchantedh VV
en

returned surTrised greatl]?
be aalêd over to the TianoA and stood looîng at his ZaT ahile the]
all gathered round? (alsorthy)
p\on't read itp? nn his aa] to the door he îssed herA sZiling? Thin^
a_out Ze?p (Cronin)
I) Patterns ith the conunctions: asA as ifA as thoughA so asA etc.:
V AP got uT as usualh
V VP stoTTed so as to see allh
V V
ing
P stood as though hesitatingh
V
ing
V
en
P looîng as if edcitedh
V
ing
P running as if in alarZ?
COPULATIVE VERBS
The coula-verb in so-called noinal redicate has no indeendent
eaning and Iunctions to connect the subect ith the redicative cole-
ent eressing the categories oI the Iinite verb: erson, nuber, ood,
asect, tense and voice.
raarians estiate that there are about sity coulative verbs in
English. The oldest and ost coon coula is the verb to _eA hich in
this use is ractically devoid oI seantic signiIicance and serves to
connect the redicative ith the subect.
A large nuber oI other verbs used in noinal redicates do not suIIer
such seantic decline as the true coula _e? These ay reasonably be
called sei-coulative verbs. In odern English they are in various stages
oI develoent toards coula-state, all containing ore or less oI their
original concrete eaning and as such diIIerentiated one Iro another and
Iro the coula _e?
244
hen a verb is used as a link-verb, it eakens its riary leical
eaning and acuires the abstract eaning oI _eing in a certain state (He
is hay), oI assing into a ne state (He _ecaZe a teacher) or oI
reaining in a certain state (The eather continued Iine). There are in the
ain three kinds oI coound noinal redicates: coound noinal
redicates oI _eingA _ecoZing and reZaining?
Entrance into a state ay call attention to the Iirst oint or the Iinal
oint in a develoent.
Cf? be _ecaZe eor gotf sic^? be
_ecaZe a great Zaster?
All the verbs doing duty as coulas are naturally intransitive. Several oI
the ere originally transitive and are still Ireuently used as transitives in
soe oI their alications. Their assuing the character oI coulas oIten
originated in throing oII the reIleive ronoun and thus becoing
intransitive, e. g.: be felt Zuch deTressedA originally be felt hiZself Zuch
deTressed?
On the other hand the transitive verb Zaê oIten retains its obect but
loses so uch oI its concrete Iorce that it is Ielt as a coula ith the
eaning _ecoZeA turn outA to _eA e. g.:
She aill Zaê hiZ a good aife?
It is to be observed that the classiIication oI soe oI the cobinations
ay aear ore or less arbitrary or even oen to ecetion. Besides the
verbs hich ay be regarded as genuine coulas, there are not a Ie
hich serve this Iunction only in soe secial sense. Such are, Ior
instance, verbs oI seeing and aearing uite diIIerent Iro the real
coulas and the verbs hich ay be considered to do duty as such. The
Iact is that as regards their Iunction they aroach odal verbs and such
adverbial aduncts as seeZingl] and aTTarentl]A eressing as they do
soe attitude on the art oI the seaker toards the IulIilent oI the action
or state reIerred to the subect. They have this odal Iorce irresective oI
the nature oI the redicate, e. g.: be seeZs to ^noa ]ouh he seeZs to _e
haTT]h he seeZs haTT]?
But in hatever connection the verbs to seeZ and to aTTear are used,
they naturally reserve their Iull eaning. This distinguishes the Iro
coulas and the verbs doing duty as such hose outstanding Ieature, as has
already been observed, is that their eaning is a ore or less eakened
reIle oI that hich they have in other Iunctions.
Not less characteristic is the use oI the so-called pZove and changep
class oI verbs hose attern value in Modern English is ost
idiosyncratic.
olloed by ualitative adectives verbs oI this class give such atterns
as, Ior instance, to go dr]A to go arongA to go aetA to coZe rightA to go
sourA to coZe eas]A to coZe trueA to groa _aldA to groa oldA to get oldA to
groa darÂ to get darÂ to groa TaleA to groa shortA to groa calZA to fall
asleeTA to fall darÂ to fall illA to fall silentA to fall shortA to run dr]A to run
shortA to turn coldA to aear thinA to taste saeetA etc.
The Iirst eleent in such verb-hrases is virtually drained oI its
riary seantic value and ade to erIor the Iunction oI a
graatical
245
order, assuing the character oI the link-verb to _e or, uch ore oIten,
to _ecoZeA e. g.: to go hungr] to _e hungr]h to go Tale ~ to _ecoZe
TaleA to groa dar^ x to _ecoZe darÂ etc.
Coulative verbs diIIer signiIicantly in the range oI their collocation,
hich is naturally conditioned by the degree oI their seantic decline and
graaticalisation.
The redicative coleent can be eressed by such orhological
classes oI ords as:
1) nouns in coon case: She is an actressh
2) adectives: She is so ]oungh
3) ossessive ronouns (absolute use): This is ]oursh
4) inIinitives: be seeZed to _e surTrisedh
5) articiles I: This aas rather anno]ingh
6) articiles II: She looêd surTrisedh
7) gerund: Seeing is _elievingh
1) reositional noun hrases: >t is of interest? ie are of the saZe age?
This Zatter is of considera_le iZTortance?
8) ordinal nuerals: be aas the first to helT Ze?
10)ords oI the category oI state: She aas not alone?
The verb to _e in its coulative Iunction ay be used ith all kinds oI
coleents tabulated above.
The verb to _ecoZe ay be used ith any kind oI coleent ecet
the inIinitive and gerund, e. g.: to _ecoZe faZousA _ecoZe interestedA
_ecoZe aorth] of soZethingA etc.
The coulative use oI such verbs as to aTTearA to soundA to sZellA to
taste and others is ore liited.
The coulative verbs to coZeA to goA to fallA to êeTA to turn are Iairly
coon in atterns ith adectives and occasional ith nouns as in: >'Z
menn] wlanchard and > aZ going to êeT menn] wlanchard? (Poutsa).
The verb to rest is used in such standardised hrases as rest assuredA
rest satisfied?
To get and to groa Iunctioning as coula-verbs are ost coon ith
adectives and articiles II: to get surTrisedA to get ]oungerA to groa oldA
to groa ]oungA to groa coZfortedA to get edcitedA etc.
The verb to get resents a striking variety oI its uses in Modern English
and deserves secial consideration. Its distributional value ay be brieIly
characterised as Iollos:
get V
en
to get Zarried (the so-called assive-auiliary
1
)
get u A
to get angr]
to get ill eCf? to fall illf (a coula-tye verb)
to get cool
U
The assive Iored ith get as auiliary and the ast articile sees to be
increasing in Ireuency, though graarians are at resent not all agreed as to its status. It
ill be reebered that the activo-assive use oI get Ven ay resent soe diIIiculty in
graatical analysis. Coare the Iolloing: (a) I liê the gaZe to get started _efore >
_ust into it? (b) I can get started on a ZonograTh if there is a des^ > can hoTe uT ath or:
}ou don't ^noa hoa êen > aZ to get started?
246
to get dar^
have got V
inI
>'ve got to go to the li_rar] (a odal verb, ilying obli-
(graatical leonas s]n?= gation, a stylistic alternative
> have to gof to Zustf
get u sb (sth) V
inI
>'ll get her to reTeat the tas^ (causative eaning)
get u sb (sth) V
ing
Can ]ou get the cloc^ goings (causative eaning)
get u sb (sth) V
en
Yet the car startedk (causative eaning)
Note. Patterns ith get are ore lively and suggestive and ay also
ily soe diIIiculty overcoe or eIIort ade. Coare such synonyic
hrases as= > have Z] shoes Zade to order and > get Z] shoes Zade to
order?
get u V
ing
be got thinîng?
get V
ing
(a sei-auiliary verb oI
be got to thinîng? the inchoative asect)
be got to shivering?
get u V
inI
be got to thin^?
The distributional eaning oI the verbs to coZe and to go used as
Iunction-verbs ay be brieIly characterised as Iollos:
coZe A
Things aill coZe right? (a coula-tye verb)
coZe V
ing
She caZe running? (a hrasal verb)
coZe u V
en
The ^not caZe untied?
The string has coZe undone? (a coula-tye verb)
The door caZe unhinged?
The seaZ caZe unstitched eunseanf
U
?
go u A
go red
go aet (a coula-tye verb)
go Tale
go arong
go u V
inI
So Wur] and > aent to aor^
aith hiZ? (a sei-auiliary verb oI
go u V
ing
asect denoting the inchoa-
The] aent to dancing? tive character oI the action
1
The verb to coZe as a coulative verb ay be associated ith the change Ior the
orse, in cobination ith adectivised articiles ith the negative reIi un5? In other
cases the change Ior the orse ill be denoted by atterns ith the verb to goA e. g.: The
Zeat has gone _ad? [ll has gone arong? The Zil^ aent sourA etc. Cf?= Things have coZe all
right?
$&@
go V
ing
oIten associated ith the
go hunting iterative character oI the
go roaing action)
ee-rooted in English idio is the use oI the versatile verb to do
hich ay aear in si diIIerent Iunctions:
a) a notional verb, e. g.: be does a great deal for other TeoTleh ihat is
done cannot _e undone?
b) an auiliary verb, e. g.: \o ]ou often go to the Zoviess be didn't
aant to argue?
c) a halI-auiliary oI asect, as in: to do lecturingA to do shoTTingA to
do talîngA e. g.: iill ]ou do lecturing this ]ears
d) a verb-substitute in this Iunction do ay be used in lace oI any
notional verb that has already aeared in the iediate linguistic contet,
e. g.: (1) be aor^s harder than > do? (2) The Zusic sounds _etter than it
did ]esterda]? (3) be has accoZTlished Zore in a aee^ than she has done
in a ]ear? (4) clease Zend Z] shirt at once? >'Z alread] doing it?
In cases like the last to, involving analytical verb Iors, the English
language in Aerica is inclined to use an auiliary rather than a substitute
verb doA and these to ould ore coonly aear as: be has
accoZTlished Zore in a aee^ than she has in a ]ear? clease Zend Z] shirt
at once? > alread] aZ?
e) an ehatic auiliary, e. g.: \o _e carefulk FleurA ]ou do loo^
sTlendidk iell did > reZeZ_er that da]?
Patterns ith the ehatic do ay be used to eress various
eotions, such as: insistence, assurance, aIIiration oI a rely to a
uestion in the aIIirative or agreeent ith hat has been said,
syathy, surrise, indignation, irony, ild reroach, adonition, etc.
These subtle shades oI subective odal eaning are alays signalled by
the seech contet or situation.
Rendering the recise eIIect oI the ehatic auiliary do in all the
variety oI its idiosyncratic use is not alays easy Ior a Ioreign student to
aster. Instances are not Ie hen in the rocess oI translation our
linguistic knoledge is severely ut to the test. eending on the situation,
the euivalents oI this English idio ill vary. iIIerent kind oI odal
ords or hrases ill generally serve this urose in other languages.
Consider the eales uoted in St]listioue CoZTare du Franais et
de l'[nglais by . P. V i n a y and . arbelnet:
English rench
\o _e carefulk Surtout faites _ien attentionk
\o coZek Veneq donck
be did ansaer Z] letter _ut
he evaded the Toint?
>l a _ien reTondu a Za lettreA
Zais il a lud la ouestion?
> did chec^ the oil? Iais siA g'ai vrifi l'huile?
be did do it eas he said he
aouldf? be had decided not
to goin us _ut he did coZe?
Iais il a fait cela? >l avait
dcid de ne Tas se goindre
nousA Zais il est tout de ZZe
venu?
$&>
Infinitial, Gerundial and ;articipial ;!rases
Net e coe to redicative hrases ith verbids hich can
reasonably be aralleled ith redication eressed by Iinite Iors oI
the verb. These are:
a) inIinitival neus hrases
b) gerundial neus hrases
c) articiial neus hrases.
Like sentences, redicative hrases are binary in their structure,
but diIIer essentially Iro the latter as to their graatical
organisation and atterning.
A sentence is an indeendent neus hich Iors a colete iece
oI counication.
A redicative hrase is a deendent neus hich Iors a art oI a
sentence.
The iediate constituents oI a sentence are subect and redicate,
those oI a redicative hrase are linguistically diIIerent: the reIerent oI
the subective eleent oI the hrase does not coincide ith the reIerent
oI the subect oI the sentence.
;articipial ;redicatie ;!rases
Particiial redicative hrases diIIer in their structure.
The] filed inA Ir? well_] going first, and SoaZes escorting %inifred
after an interval of one Zinute _] his aatch? (alsorthy)
bis ^noaledge of their language being deried from !is public sc!ool,
he did not understand theZ ahen the] sToê? (alsorthy)
[ndrea la] aith half5closed e]es !is !ead resting near !er. (Cronin)
Particiial hrases are soeties included by eans oI the
reosition aith or aithoutA the latter Iunction on analogy ith the
reositions including inIinitival redicative hrases.
SoZeone else aas aaaêA sitting wit! !ands clasped around !is
#nees nearby. (Sillitoe)
%it! fenders spread li#e wings ae scattered light through all [storia???
(itgerald)
0f. %it! no doors to !old it bac#, he nearl] curled uT and died at the
shoc^? (Sillitoe)
And here are a Ie eales oI absolute redicative hrases ith
the non-verbal leading eleent:
CaTtain ìchols dragged Stric^landA _leeding froZ a aound in !is arZA
!is clot!es in rags, into the street? (Maugha)
COORDINATE PHRASES
In a coordinate hrase all the coonent arts are identical in their
syntactic value. The nuber oI its iediate constituents is naturally
not liited. In ters oI their graatical organisation, hrases oI this
tye ay be subdivided into to grous: syndetic and asyndetic.
249
Syndetic 0oordinate ;!rases
In syndetic coordinate hrases the coonents are oined by Iunction
ords, so called, conunctive ords or coordinators.
It sees ractical to distinguish the Iolloing aong the:
I and II as aell as HI _oth ??? and _ut
rather than either ? ? ? or
nor together aith neither ... nor
not along aith not eonl]f ... _ut ealsof
or
Those in the Iirst colun are generally laced beteen the eleents
they oin, those in the iddle colun ay aear in that osition and
ay also be Iound in slit structures. Those in the third colun are in
to arts and as such are generally called correlatives the Iirst art
aears at the beginning oI the structure and the second beteen its
last to coonents.
Eales oI syndetic coordinate hrases are not Iar to seek.
>n the w!ite and blac# atZosThere stood IacgregorA a rather
shaZefaced looîng IacgregorA aithout !at or coatA a daZT and soleZn
Iacgregor? (Aldridge)
* dull commiseration, toget!er wit! a ague sense of in?ury
creTt a_out SoaZes' heart? (alsorthy)
It is to be noted that in ost cases the IC's oI a coordinate hrase
belong to one and the sae orhological class oI ords. But instances
are not Ie hen the coordinate hrase is ade u oI ords belonging
to diIIerent arts oI seech, as in:
+utraged and on edgeA SoaZes recoiled? (alsorthy)
The reetition oI the conunction in coordinate syndetic hrases
is oIten accolished Ior stylistic uroses. Consider the Iolloing
eale:
}our uncle SoaZes is a Zatch for ever]_od]? be's a ery cleer man,
and good4loo#ing, and wealt!y, and most considerate and careful,
and not at all oldA considering ever]thing? (alsorthy)
*syndetic 0oordinate ;!rases
Asyndetic coordinate hrases consist oI to or ore syntactically
euivalent units.
The units so oined ay be any oI the arts oI seech, Iunction ords,
or ore cole structures taking art in graatical organisation.
The oining ay be accolished by ord order and rosody alone,
indicated in riting by a coa or dash.
Aong asyndetic coordinate hrases e oIten Iind structures ith
ore than to constituents. Eales are:
[nd SoaZes aas alone again? The spidery, dirtyA ridiculous _usinessk
(alsorthy)
She aas un^noan in carisA and he _ut little ^noanA so that discretion
seeZed unnecessar] in those wal#s, tal#s, isits to concerts, picture4
250
galleries, t!eatres, little dinners, e5peditions to <ersailles, St.
0loud, een .ountainebleau? (Ibid.)
The] aere peeis!, crusty, silent, eyeing not!ing in particular
and moing t!eir feet (reiser)
Instances are not Ie hen the oining oI the units in a hrase is
accolished by both syndeton and asyndeton.
Yaqing at hiZA so old, t!in, w!ite, and spotlessA [nnette ZurZured
soZething in French ahich maZes did not understand (alsorthy)
She also noticed that he aas smoot!4s!aen, good4loo#ing and
youngA _ut nothing Zore? (reiser)
bis ZasterA big, surly and forbidding and aith a Toaerful ZoustacheA
glared Zercilessl]? (ordon)
The coZ_ination of her treac!ery, defiance, and impudence aas too
Zuch for hiZ? (Ibid.)
Closely related to coordinate hrases are the so-called aositives.
In ost cases aositive hrases are ade u oI to eleents hich ay
be: nouns, noun-ronouns and substantivised grous.
Terinal uncture in such hrases is otional. II there is a uncture
it is indicated in riting by a coa or a dash. Eales are:
N
co
N
co
the _ird heron
the ZaZZal ahale
Nco Nro crofessor @roan
The river ThaZes
N
ro
N wradle]A the ledicograTher N NP
SoaZesA the Zan of TroTert] The HeTu_lic of
France
The of-hrase is added to a noun, not to deIine its eaning ore
accurately, but to indicate a class to hich a thing or erson that has
ust been characterised as an individual by the governing noun belongs.
This attern is not knon in Old English. It has coe into the language
Iro Latin through rench.
In Modern English all Ieeling Ior its origin has been lost Ior the
coon class noun aIter of can no be relaced by a roer nae.
Re v i s i o n Ma t e r i a l
1. Be ready to discuss the binary structure oI English described as
Minor and Maor Synta.
2. Coent on diIIerent ays oI eressing syntactic relations in
Modern English.
3. Revie your knoledge oI the graatical organisation oI noun-
hrases, verb-hrases and adectival hrases.
4. Coent on obect-redicate relations as eressed in structures
oI redication.
5. Account Ior structural abiguity in verb-hrases.
6. Be ready to discuss structural abiguity in reodiIication oI
nouns by nouns.
251i
Chapter XII
THE COMPOSITE SENTENCE
In cobination oI sentences into larger units e ay observe to
diIIerent tyes oI graatical relationshi based uon relative osition
and interaction oI sentences. These are co-ordination and subordination.
This classiIication reains the revalent schee oI the structural
classiIication oI sentences in the graars oI all tyes in various
languages. A very iortant syntactic concet develoed along ith this
classiIication is the concet oI syndeton and asyndeton.
Sentences oined together by eans oI secial Iunction ords designed
Ior this urose are syndetic, those oined ithout Iunction ords are
asyndetic (or contact-clauses).
In ters oI odern linguistics, the roble oI the coound sentence
has been treated in diIIerent ays. Soe graarians retain the traditional
trichotoy, though the ters eloyed are soeties non-traditional. Ch.
ries reects the traditional classiIication and ters. Such attets ere
already ade by O. esersen in his theory oI the three ranks. olloing
BlooIield's ideas oI the included osition oI a graatical Ior, Ch.
ries substitutes Ior the traditional doctrine his theory oI included
sentences and seuences oI sentences the latter concet sees to coincide
ith hat e Iind in Seet's graar
1
.
Ch. ries' treatent oI the coound sentence does not see Iully
convincing. According to ries, the so-called coound sentence
aears to be riarily a atter oI the unctuation oI ritten tets, as in
his echanical recordings oI seech only very Ie instances occurred ith
a clear 323 intonation beIore the ords listed as seuence signals, i. e.
signals oI an indeendent sentence. This does not see to agree ith his
classiIication oI all so-called seuence signals and co-ordinating
conunctions together ith subordination conunctions as Iunction ords
oI the grou , i. e. as signals oI inclusion, though ith a reark that it has
been done tentatively.
The attets oI the authors oI the older scientiIic graars to reect
the concet oI the clause as it as identiIied by soe graarians and
introduce such notions as halI-clauses, abridged-clauses, inIinitive,
gerund, articile clauses ay be observed in Bryant's
2
graar,
treating verbid clauses. This trend has been suorted by soe structural
linguists, ho do not recognise the structural distinction beteen sile
and cole sentences.
1
See= H. Seet. A Ne English raar. OIord, 1955, . 160-170.
2
See= M. M. Bryant. A unctional English raar. Boston, 1945, . 117- 125.
$=$
Compound sentences are structures oI co-ordination ith to or ore
iediate constituents hich are syntactically euivalent, i. e. none oI
the is belo the other in rank.
Complex sentences are structures oI subordination ith to or ore
iediate constituents hich are not syntactically euivalent. In the
silest case, that oI binary structure, one oI the is the rincial clause
to hich the other is oined as a subordinate. The latter stands in the
relation oI adunct to the rincial clause and is beneath the rincial
clause in rank. The deendent clause ay be either coordinate or
subordinate.
The constituents oI a coosite sentence are organically interrelated
and as such are not indeendent eleents oI a single syntactic unit
1
.
Our starting oint in describing the ultilicity oI ays in hich
English sentences ay logically be cobined in actual usage ill be to
distinguish one-member and two-member coosite sentences.
This distinction is a reality in both, seech and riting, but it oIten has
no Ioral arkings other than intonation in the one case and unctuation
in the other.
The linguistic essence oI these to tyes oI coosite syntactic units is
best understood hen vieed in ters oI their eaning and structural
eculiarities.
As e shall Iurther see, a aor oint oI linguistic interest is resented
also by the correlation oI the verb-Iors in the coonent arts oI a
coosite sentence and its Iunctioning in diIIerent contets oI
counication.
It is noteorthy that hen to sentences occur together as constituents
oI an utterance, their relationshi is indicated by at least one and
soeties ail oI the Iolloing Ieatures:
1) the Iact that one iediately Iollos the other in tie suggests their
natural relationshi in both leical and graatical eaning
2) the use oI certain linguistic devices in the Iirst sentence ay also
suggest that another sentence shall Iollo
3) the use oI soe ords in the second sentence ay recall certain
eleents oI the Iirst and set u retrosective structural links ith the latter.
Let us compare the Iolloing coound sentences hich diIIer only
in the order oI their constituents:
eaf òa she is Z] colleagueA tao ]ears ago she aas Z] student?
e_f Tao ]ears ago she was Z] studentA noa she is Z] colleague?
The total eaning oI (a) is not absolutely the sae as that oI (b).
e cannot Iail to see that to sentences (a) and (b) diIIer in ehasis,
hich is due to relative osition oI the given utterances.
The sae is true oI all other tyes oI coosite sentences in
coordination and subordination.
1
See6 H. C. H o c n e n o n . O rpammarnuecxo npnpoe cnoxnoro npenoxennx.
onpoct cnnraxcnca conpeuennoro xstxa. . H., 1960.
$=;
e have seen throughout our revious discussion that the osition oI
ords in syntactic structures relative to one another is a ost iortant
art oI English synta. Relative osition sees to bear relation to the
eaning oI sentences as ell. That graar ust take account oI
sentence-order as ell as ord-order can hardly leave any doubt.
The silest cases oI to-eber coosite sentences are those oI
co-ordination aratais (reek: Tara tasseinxpto lace beside).
A single idea eressed in to-eber sentences oI co-ordination
akes itselI ost evident in the logical oining oI redications ith
diIIerent subects. Siilarity or contrast oI teoral relations is generally
consolidated by conunctions. Eales are not Iar to seek.
>t aas full late for the riverA _ut the aeather aas lovel]A and suZZer
lingered _eloa the ]elloaing leaves? (alsorthy)
[nd she _ent foraardA and her fine light hair fell over her chee^?
(MansIield)
[ aind had cleared the ZistA the autuZn leaves aere rustlingA and the
stars aere shining? (MansIield).
The train gave a gentle lurchA the] aere off? (MansIield)
Cf? Ukrainian: Hpomna rposa, i niu npomuana, i snony ent mymnrt
xpyrom. (Cocmpa)
Russian: 3emnx ocnexnnact, n ypx npomuanact. (Hymxnn)
C uyecno tcrporo, nesamerno crent noxptnact mxno noutm,
na noremnenmem nee ncntxnyn rycro nocen snes. (Ioptxn)
Coosite sentences oI subordinationhyotais eh]To ~ under u
tassein to ut in order) are diIIerent in their logical and graatical
organisation, characterised by subordinative eression oI the syntactic
relation beteen ain and ualiIying eleents.
Instead oI serving as colete sentences, ualiIying eleents are
included in larger structures ithin the liits oI sentences. Although they
ay be structurally rather colicated ithin theselves, they act as units
on a higher level oI structure.
By Iar the greater nuber oI sub-clauses begin ith a Iunction ord
hich signals the Iact the structure to Iollo is an included eleent. There
are to kinds oI such Iunction ords (soeties called includers):
1) sile conunctive ords, hose sole Iunction is to ark a structure
as a certain tye oI sub-clause
2) relative ronouns, hich, in addition to this Iunction, have a Iurther
Iunction ithin the structural attern oI the sub-clause.
It sees erIectly reasonable to distinguish here to lines oI linguistic
develoent: 1) one-eber cole sentences and 2) to-eber
cole sentences ith subordinate clauses
1
(Iurther abbreviated as sub-
clauses) oI cause or result, urose and tie, conditional and concessive
sub-clauses. Logically interrelated, ith one idea or subordinated to
another, the constituents oI such sentences ake u a single cole
syntactic unit.
1
The traditional ters used in oosition to ain clause and indeendent clause are
subordinate clause and deendent clause, but students oI language should be reared to
eet the under such naes as included sentence (ries) or included clause (rancis)
adoted to ehasise the structural osition oI clauses oI this sort.
254
Eales are:
wut she'd had heard his naZe until s!e saw it on t!e t!eatres?
(MansIield)
[s soon as he had _ecoZe a directorA iinifred and others of his faZil]
had _egun to acouire shares to neutralise their incoZe5tad? (alsorthy)
ihat can ]ou do if you are t!irty and, turning t!e corner of your own
street, you are oercome, suddenly by a feeling of bliss absolute bliss)
(MansIield)
If 3aurie agreed wit! t!e ot!ers, then it aas _ound to _e all right?
(MansIield)
>t aas so _ig t!at t!e carter and ;at carried it into t!e courtyard?
(MansIield)
*lt!oug! &ert!a Young was t!irty she still had ZoZents liê this
ahen she aanted to run instead of aal^? (MansIield)
Cf? Ukrainian:
intxn n s xa1n, rax xinxa inx nnx (npoexrin can
xonrocnnnxin), xx inx sepxana, neprnrtcx i cno ononnennx
nnymyc. (Crentmax)
exan ime snua, ane x uym, uym n cnirax xnirox conoxn apomar.
(Cocmpa)
euopn n pori, nxmo cona1n ne nmnn pn1n 1panme i 1nr1n
mnann, npoxonnn n onrnx, inrnmnnx posmonax. (Ionuap)
ci no-oonomy nacrpocni, o cnpana onona. (nntctxn)
Russian: ax 1ontxo n npo +1o ycnmman, x roruac xe
pacnopxnncx oo ncem.
cnn e yxonn ns oua, aymxa ycrpannana n xyxne
nnrepecnemne copannx. (Ioptxn)
Hycxan n cna, mo meu cnnen. (yxoncxn)
Here belong sentences ith such descritive relative subordination that
give only soe additional inIoration about hat has already been
suIIiciently deIined. Eales are:
The sunA w!ic! !ad been !idden all day, noa caZe out in all its
sTlendour?
[ll _ecause her heritage aas that tragic oTtiZisZA w!ic! is all too
often t!e only in!eritance of yout!, still !alf asleep, she sZiled aith a
little nervous treZor round her Zouth? (MansIield)
Cf? Onauxo oparnnoct n enym ryuy, xo1opan nonnuanact,
pocna n onerana neo. (Hymxnn)
e also include here such borderline cases ith sub-clauses here a
cole sentence aroaches co-ordination:
She is Zost attentive at the lessonA w!ic! you seldom are.
She did it liê the clever girl, w!ic! s!e undoubtedly is.
be said no aordA w!ic! surprised me.
Cf? in ne cxasan ni cnona, mo mene snnynano.
Xver] Zorning _efore going to _usiness he caZe into the nurser] and
gave her a Terfunctor] îssA to w!ic! s!e responded wit! "Goodbye,
fatherp? (MansIield)
Cf? Oe ennnt naenn xenrte mnxnxn n xpacnte ammaxn, u1o
mnano y nnx 1ontxo n ropxecrnennte cnyuan. (Hymxnn)
255
Al the above given tyes oI to-eber sentences in subordination
stand in contrast to their oosites one-eber cole sentences
here a subordinate clause goes atterning only as a develoed art oI the
ain clause.
The Iirst to be entioned here are cole sentences ith relative sub-
clauses, attributive in their eaning. In such sentences ronoinal-
deonstrative eleents are organically indisensable and are readily
reinstated in the rincial clause. Eales are:
>t aas the saZe shiT as that in w!ic! my wife and t!e correspondent
came to $ngland? (alsorthy)
The felloaA aith his _eard and his cursed aZused aa] of sTeaîng
son of the old Zan w!o !ad gien !im t!e nic#name @(an of ;ropertyp?
(alsorthy)
wut at night in his leisure ZoZents he aas ravaged _] the thought that
time was always flying and money flowing in, and !is own future as
muc! @in irons" as eer? (alsorthy)
[ndrea too^ advantage of the ZoZent to launch one of those lecturesA
rare ]et odiousA w!ic! made !im sound li#e a deacon of a
nonconformist c!apel? (Cronin)
So she sleTt and dreaZedA and sZiled in her sleeTA and once threa out
her arZ to feel soZething ahich aas not thereA dreaZing still? (MansIield)
CI. 3ro tn nonx, n xoropt nonan Cepexxa. (uaeen)
Knnrn, n xoroptx tnn xpxo onncant myxecrnennte, cnntnte
yxom n none penonmnnonept, ocrannxnn no mne nensrnanmoe
nneuarnenne. (. Ocrponcxn)
ncoxn, xcnn neuip yn cnonnenn rnx uap npocropy, roro
sanaxy esmexnocri, xxn nnacrnnn rintxn neuopam nic nixmapno
xpann. (Ionuap)
He yn manentxn onorxnn nramox, xxi n nami niripctxi
oxonnni noxasynanncx yxe pixo. (upanxo)
urther eales oI one-eber cole sentences are those in
hich a sub-clause eresses the obect or the subect Ielt as issing in
the rincial clause, e. g.:
[unt mule] aas sure that dear Val aas ver] clever? (alsorthy)
\id not iinifred thin^ t!at it was muc! better for t!e young people to
be secure and not run any ris# at t!eir age' (alsorthy)
%!at's done cannot _e undone (Proverb)
Cf? Ukrainian:
ci snamrt, mo Hna1oma nerxi i cepeni onepai pon1t
esoranno. (Kopniuyx)
intonn paxnctxnx nme ni na cexyny ne saynann, mo x
n11n nanen1t 1intxn pinouy xpani 1a uany1ntouy nc1na.
(annmxo)
Russian:
Crany ymart, u1o cxyuaemt 1m n ponou xpa.
Contact clauses consisting oI a Iinite redication ithout connectives
are ore coon in soken than in ritten English, robably
256
because the otential structural abiguities ay be resolved ore easily
by intonation than by unctuation. There is every reason to say, in general,
that the ore Ioral the contet, linguistic or non-linguistic, the ore
likely it is that a conunction or a relative ronoun ill be resent.
Coare the Iolloing:
The trou_le is he can't helT The trou_le is that he cannot
]ou? helT ]ou?
bere is the Zan he told his bere is the Zan to ahoZ
stor] to? he told his stor]?
Here belong also sub-clauses hich etend soe art oI the rincial
clause: subect, redicative, attribute, obect or adverbials ith
deonstrative ronouns, resent or readily understood, e. g.:
[ll is aell that ends aell? be is the one ]ou aanted to see?
COORDINATION
The rocess oI coordination, sily stated, involves the linking oI
structures oI eual graatical rank single ords and hrases in
eleentary coound grous or indeendent clauses in coound
sentences. The coordinative conunctions and the correlatives serve to
roduce this coordination by oining the graatically euivalent
eleents in uestion. To or ore clauses eual in rank can together be
given the status oI a single sentence. Such co-ordinated units ake u a
coound sentence.
It is overtly sile to describe the conunctions as coordinators
ithout certain ualiIications. Even and is not urely a coordinator.
hatever the units it cobines, and usually indicates an additive
relationshi, and soeties it intensiIies, or indicates continuous and
reeated action, as in: She aaited and aaited? She talêd and talêd and
talêd? The] aent around and around? The ords _ut and ]et indicate
contrast, oosition, or negation so and for sho several relationshis,
aong the urose, cause, result, or inIerence or and nor indicate hat
ight be described as alternation, choice or oosition. Obviously
conunctions cannot be considered as ety connecting ords, and there
is alays selection in their use in ters oI style and urose.
There is usually a sense oI graatical balance that characterises
coordination, even iI there is a logical ineuality beteen the coordinated
eleents.
As a atter oI Iact, the only situations in hich the rocess oI
coordination sees to cobine eleents oI both graatically and
logically eual rank ith signiIicant Ireuency is at the level oI single
ords and short hrases.
The traditional trichotoy the classiIication oI sentences into
sile, coound and cole arose in English rescritive graar
in the iddle oI the nineteenth century on the basis oI a sile-coound
dichotoy, hich can be traced to at least to non-graatical sources.
The Iirst as the concet oI the eriod (as a rhetorical unit eressing
257
colete sense) and its arts, colons and coas, evolved by classical
and edieval rhetoric. This concet as the guiding rincile oI English
unctuation not only in the siteenth century, beIore the aearance oI the
earliest English graars, but also later, hen the notion oI the sentence
cae to be included into synta roer (since the beginning oI the
eighteenth century).
The second non-graatical source oI this classiIication as the
logical concet oI sile and coound aios or roositions, hich
Iurnished the basis Ior classiIying unctuation units (eriods) into sile
and coound sentences, according to the nuber oI nouns and verbs,
that is, subects and redicates, contained ithin these unctuation units
(in the graars oI the eighteenth and the Iirst halI oI the nineteenth
century).
Soe English graarians have abandoned the trichotoic
classiIication introducing ne descritive ters such as double and
ultile sentences (beginning ith N e s I i e 1 d' s graar in 1924),
or later the dulication and cobination oI the atterns (by . Hook
and Mathes and P. Roberts).
The concet oI the trichotoic classiIication as also reected in C. O
n i o n' s and E. Kruisinga's scientiIic graars. In O. esersen's orks
such syntactic structures are treated in ters oI his theory oI three ranks.
olloing Ch. ries, soe structural graarians introduce the ters
included sentences and seuence sentences.
Interesting observations in this art oI synta have been ade by
Soviet linguists. In L. I o I i x' s onograh
1
e Iind a strictly Ioral
analysis ith a ne dichotoic structural classiIication based on urely
graatical criteria oI the syntactic relations beteen the redicative
constituents oI Early Modern English tets oI the re-Shakesearian
eriod (coared ith the corresonding constructions in resent-day
English). Our investigation, in hich e have not Iolloed traditional
concets and unctuation too closely, has led to the Iolloing results: oI
the Iour syntactic odes oI connecting subect-redicate units (or clauses)
in English Icoordination, II relative anneation ecf? the eran ter
relativische AnknuIung), III subordination and IV insertion
(arenthesis), to are redoinant in Ioring ulti-clause sentences
(hich are oosed to single-clause sentences, according to the ne
dichotoic classiIication oI sentences advanced by the author). These are
subordination and insertion. These syntactic devices are articularly
iortant because they serve to introduce clauses Iunctioning only as arts
oI other sentences (unable to standalone), hich is a relevant Iactor Ior a
ulti-clause sentence.
Coordination ithin a ulti-clause sentence is a eans oI oining a
series oI arallel subordinate clauses in oint deendence uon a
subordination centre in the leading clause, or a eans oI connecting to
or ore indeendent ain clauses, hich ointly subordinate, a coon
1
See= H. H. H o ] n x. Cnoxnoe npenoxenne n nono-anrnncxom xstxe. H., 1968.
258
eber, ostly eressed by a deendent clause. In other ords,
coordination in this onograh is recognised as a syntactic eans oI
connecting the constituent arts oI ulti-clause sentences only hen it is
ade use oI in the sae ay as in single-clause sentences, hich contain a
eber in coon subordinating or subordinated by coordinated
syntactic eleents. In all other cases indeendent coordinated subect
redicate units are vieed as syntactically indeendent though
contetually related sentences, regardless oI the arks oI unctuation
hich divide the.
Relative anneation is described by L. IoIik as a ode oI connection
hich has no arallel in the single-clause sentence. Such connectives
introduce sentences hich are not subordinated to any art oI the
receding sentence and are thereIore vieed as sei-deendent
contetually related sentences.
The atterns oI ulti-clause sentences containing ore than to
clauses (Iro three to telve or thirteen) are based uon to Iundaental
rinciles oI connection. The Iirst is the rincile oI consecutive (ste-
ise) subordination, according to hich in each clause (ecet the last
one) there is a single subordination centre, noinal or verbal. It
subordinates only one deendent clause. According to L. IoIik the
resulting sentence-attern ay be described as a chain oI clauses, in hich
there is one absolute rincial clause, one absolute deendent clause (the
last in the chain) and one or ore clauses both subordinating and
subordinated. The nuber oI clauses corresonds to the nuber oI
syntactic levels in the ulti-clause sentence.
The second rincile is that oI arallel (or hoogeneous) and non-
arallel con-subordination (i. e. deendence oI to or ore arallel or
non-arallel clauses uon one, to or ore subordination centres ithin
the ain clause). In the second sentence-attern (reresented by several
variant atterns) there are only to syntactic levels as all deendent
clauses are oI the sae level oI subordination.
hen both these rinciles are cobined ithin one and the sae
sentence, the ost colicated structures oI ulti-clause sentences arise.
These structures reresent cobined or ied atterns dislaying
Ieatures characteristic oI both basic atterns they contain ore than to
syntactic levels, ith to or ore subordinate clauses on diIIerent levels
oI subordination.
There is a certain interdeendence beteen the nuber oI clauses in a
ult-clause sentence and the atterns eloyed to arrange these clauses
ithin the sentence. These to basic atterns described arise on the level
oI three-clause sentences. On the level oI Iour-clause sentences, the
silest cobination, oI to basic atterns, becoes ossible. hen the
atterns are cobined, there is alays a coon link beteen the a
clause belonging to both atterns.
The ne assutions and acute observations ade in L. IoIik's
investigation are oI considerable linguistic interest as a distinctively
rogressive ste in the develoent oI syntactic theory. Soe oints oI
her signiIicant and original arguentation are hoever oen to thought
and uestioning. This concerns riarily the vie advocated by the
259
author in discussing the linguistic status oI coound sentences, the
eistence oI hich in English can hardly be denied.
It sees ore in accord ith the nature oI language to recognise
coordination as a graatical category organised as a cole syste
ith any variant and borderline cases, here the role oI conunctions
serving to unite certain syntactic units into a larger hole is etreely
iortant and ust never be lost sight oI.
There is also little ustiIication to disense ith the ters rincial
and subordinate clause introducing the ter redicative unit instead.
The latter sees to be abiguous as coonly used ith reIerence to the
so-called secondary redication as ell. Little is gained by this.
The Iorative ords linking the arts oI a coound sentence Iall into
clearly distinct tyes: 1) coordinative conjunctions, 2) conjunctive
adverbs, 3) fixed prepositional phrases.
It is iortant to reeber that soeties there is no Ioral link
binding the ebers together since the logical connection Iors a
suIIicient tie and akes it abundantly clear. Uon close investigation,
hoever, it ill becoe clear that such aarently indeendent sentences
are not absolutely indeendent and one oI the ilicitly stands in soe
graatical relation to the other.
It ill be helIul to identiIy linking ords in co-ordination as Iollos:
a) Coulative, connecting to ebers and their eanings, the
second eber indicating an addition oI eual iortance, or, on the other
hand, an advance in tie and sace, or an intensiIication, oIten coing in
airs, then called correlatives: and, _oth??? andh eouall]??? andh aliê???
andh at once??? andh not??? nor Ior neitherA or and neitherfh not eor neverf???
not (or norf??? eitherh neither??? nor, etc.
b) isunctive, connecting to ebers but disconnecting their
eaning, the eaning in the second eber ecluding that in the Iirst: orA
in older English also eit!er or out!erA4or) and in uestions ahether??? or
ith the Iorce oI sile or, or... eit!er, eit!er... or, etc., the disunctive
adverbs else, ot!erwise, or... or, or... elseA in older English ot!er else.
c) Adversative, connecting to ebers, but contrasting their
eaning: _utA _ut thenA onl]A stillA ]etA and ]etA hoaeverA on the other handA
againA on the contrar]A etc.
d) Causal, adding an indeendent roosition elaining the receding
stateent, reresented only by the single conunction for6 The _roo^ aas
ver] highA for a great deal of rain had fallen over night?
e) Illative, introducing an inIerence, conclusion, conseuence, result:
naZel]A thereforeA on that accountA conseouentl]A accordingl]A for that
reasonA soA thenA henceA etc.
I) Elanatory, connecting ords, hrases or sentences and
introducing an elanation or a articularisation: namely, to witA t!at is,
t!at is to say, or, suc! as, as, li#e, for e5ample, for instance, say, let us
say, etc.
$<%
Coordinative conunctions are rather Ie in nuber: and, but, orA yetA
for.
Sentence-linking ords, called conunctive advebs are: conse-uentlyA
furt!ermore, !ence, !oweer, moreoerA neert!eless, t!erefore.
Soe tyical Iied reositional hrases Iunctioning as sentence
linkers are: at least, as a result, after a w!ile, in addition, in contrast, in
t!e ne5t place, on t!e ot!er !and, for e5ample, for instance?
It coes uite natural that the seantic relations beteen the
coordinate clauses deend to a considerable degree on the leical eaning
oI the linking ords.
The Iunctional eaning oI soe oI the is uite deIinite and
unabiguous. Such is, Ior instance, the conunction but ilying contrast
or dissociation beteen the related ites its eaning is so distinct that
there can hardly be any ite in the sentence to change the adversative
signiIication as ade elicit by this linking ord.
Things are diIIerent hoever ith coulative conunctions, hich are
knon to be synseantic in character and ay lead to structural abiguity
iI the necessary eaning is not signalled by the eaning oI other ords in
the sentence. This ay be ell illustrated by the Iunctional use oI the
conunction and hich ay ily various shades oI eaning, such as
result or conseuence, cause or contrast.
Coare the Iolloing:
(a) The] reall] fitted hiZA it aas his first Zade5to5order suitA~ and
he seeZed sliZZer and _etter Zodelled? (London)
(b) wut heA aho for the first tiZe aas _ecoZing conscious of hiZselfA
aas in no condition to gudgeA and he _urned aith shaZe as he stared at the
vision of his infaZ]? (London)
(c) The act aas done ouietl]A and the aaâard ]oung Zan aTTreciated
it? (London)
(d) She thought she aas Zerel] interested in hiZ as an unusual t]Te
Tossessing various Totential edcellences and she even felt ThilanthroTic
a_out it? (London)
In eales (a), (b), (c), (d) the co-ordinated sentences are suggestive
oI causal or resultative eaning.
A roinent suggestion oI contrast or adversative eaning ay be
observed in cases like the Iolloing:
be frightened herA and at the saZe tiZe it aas strangel] Tleasant to _e
looêd uTon? (London)
As a atter oI Iact ost sentences are deendent on the contet oI
receding sentences or oI situation Ior soe oI their eaning.
SUBORDINATION
The classiIication oI subordinate clauses oIIers secial diIIiculties and
reains the area oI synta here e Iind diIIerent linguistic aroaches
ith soe iortant disutable oints oen to thought and discussion.
Much still reains to be done in this Iield oI graar learning. This is
one oI any ranges oI linguistic structure in hich e Iind borderline
cases here the leico-graatical organisation oI cole syntactic
units resents secial diIIiculties.
261
Contets are oI etree iortance in understanding synta.
Various kinds oI contetual indication, linguistic or situational, and
intonation in actual seech resolve structural abiguity in hoonyic
atterns on the syntactic level.
As e shall Iurther see, the signiIicant order oI sentence eleents, as
an iortant Iactor oI synta, ill also erit due consideration in
describing the distributional value oI various kind oI subordinate clauses.
It is to be noted that disagreeent over the classiIication oI sub-clauses
is based not on conIlicting observations in language learning but rather on
diIIerent linguistic aroaches to the study oI synta.
There are obvious reasons Ior describing sub-clauses roceeding Iro
the siilarity oI their Iunctions ith those oI arts oI the sentence.
Analysis oI clause atterns Iro this angle oI vie sees ost helIul and
instructive.
The traditional distinction beteen the ain and the subordinate clause
is Iailiar in graar learning, but students oI language should be
reared to eet it under other naes. Ehasising the structural osition
oI sub-clauses, Ch. ries, Ior instance, adoted the ter included sentence
as a coroise beteen Ch. ries's included sentence and the ter oI
traditional graar, . N. rancis oIIered the nae included clause.
Logically, the ter clause itselI ould be a suIIiciently distinct ter,
because it is not used here Ior any larger class oI Iors oI hich included
clauses are a subclass.
To eress subordination oI one syntactic unit to another in a cole
sentence English uses the Iolloing eans: a) conjunctions; b)
conjunctive words; c) asyndeton; d) sentence-order, i. e. the osition oI
syntactic structures relative to one another e) correlative words.
Sub?ect and ;redicate 0lauses
There are to tyes oI sub-clauses that Iunction as one oI the essential
eleents oI a to-eber sentence: subject clauses and predicate
clauses.
A subect clause ay contain either a stateent or a uestion. In the
Iorer case it is receded by that= in the latter it is introduced by the sae
ords as interrogative obect clauses.
(a) T!at !e will !elp us leaves no dou_t?
T!at !e !ad not receied your letter aas true?
(b) %!at you say is true?
%!et!er !e will stay !ere is another ouestion?
Cooner that the atterns ith the initial that are sentences
introduced by itA ith the that5clause in end-osition. This tye also
occurs in interrogative coosite sentences.
>t seeZed utterl] grotesoue to hiZ t!at !e s!ould be standing t!ere
facing a c!arge of murder in a court ahere the registerA the shorthand
ariter and other officials aere all ^noan Tersonall] to hiZ? (ordon)
>t aas true t!at !e !ad assisted /r. (unro at t!e operation. (ordon)
262
[nd it suddenl] sTrang into maZes' Zind t!at !e oug!t to go and
see for !imself. (alsorthy)
>t is Zanifest to Ze t!at in !is letter of (ay BC !e assented to a
ery clear proposition. (alsorthy)
Subect sub-clauses at the given tye are, in Iact, used as delayed
aositives to the initial it? Sentence atterning oI this kind erits
ostoneent oI the subordinate clause hile it reresents the in the
ositions hich ould otherise be noral Ior the.
Soe graarians reIer another angle oI vie, according to hich
the ronoun it at the beginning oI the ain clause is reIerred to as a
Ioral subect (soeties called a sha subect), and the sub-clause
Iolloing the ain clause the real subect.
The choice oI either alternative reains, in Iact, a atter oI subective
angle oI vie.
Note. It is to be noted, in assing, that it can reresent not only this tye oI sub-
clauses, but is siilarly used ith great Ireuency in other tyes oI coosite sentences.
ailiar eales are:
>' ll leave it to ]ou ahich route ae taê?
In ain interrogatives this it is soeties inserted directly in Iront oI
clausal aositives, as in ih] is it that ae can't get togethers
Soeties even in declaratives it recedes declarative-clause
aositives directly, and acts as a kind oI buIIer Ior the aIter
redicators and reositions that do not accet the as coleters.
> resent it that such a thing is done?
>'ll see to it that a good t]Teariter is availa_le?
}ou can rel] on it that he aill do this aor^ aithout dela]?
It oIten reresents subordinate clauses, or nucleuses oI subordinate
clauses, hich are hardly in aosition ith it?
be sa]s he's _een ZistreatedA _ut he shouldn't taê it out on ]ou?
>t Zight helT if ae did it?
be can't helT it if he liês coZTan]?
>t Zaês hiZ unhaTT] ahen TeoTle thin^ he's unfriendl]?
It is to be noted that the graatical organisation oI subect-
clauses soeties oIIers certain diIIiculties oI analysis.
II, Ior instance, the order oI the to ebers oI a coosite sentence
is inverted they do not only change laces but Iunctions as ell. Coare
the Iolloing:
(a) T!at !e did not come to spea# wit! you aas ahat surTrised
Ze Zost? (a subect sub-clause)
(b) ihat surTrised Ze Zost aas t!at !e did not come to spea#
aith ]ou? (a redicate sub-clause)
In other cases subect sub-clauses ill hardly oIIer any diIIiculties oI
syntactic analysis, e. g.:
òt her fault t!at s!e !ad loed t!is boy, t!at s!e couldn't get
!im out of !er !ead no Zore her fault t!at it !ad been !is
own for loing t!at boy's mot!er. (alsorthy)
ò satisfaction to Fleur noaA t!at t!e young man and !is wife,
tooA ver] li#ely, were suffering as well. (alsorthy)
Predicate sub-clauses Iunction as the noinal redicate oI a
coosite sentence. They are introduced by the sae ords as
subect
$<;
clauses they ay also be introduced by as? Variation in their
graatical organisation ay be illustrated by the Iolloing
eales:
This aas w!at !ad !appened to !imself) (alsorthy)
The chief hoTe aas t!at t!e defence would not find it necessary to
subpoena =ean. That aould _e too Zuch? (alsorthy).
The ouestion for Ze to decide is w!et!er or not t!e defendant
is liable to refund to t!e plaintiff t!is sum. (alsorthy).
The TrinciTle of this housepA said the architectA aas that you s!ould
!ae room to breat!e - li#e a gentleman"? (alsorthy)
Soe graarians are inclined to include here atterns ith it
is??? that oI the Iolloing tye:
>t's _ecause that he's _us] that he can't helT ]ou?
There are such atterns oI cole sentences as consist oI a subect
clause and a redicative, the only eleent outside these clauses being
the link verb, e. g.:
ihat > Trefer noa is that ]ou should not leave at all?
Predicative sub-clauses have soeties a ied or overlaing
eaning. In soe cases there is a clear suggestion oI teoral relations,
in others the eaning oI coarison.
Relations oI tie, Ior instance, are generally observed in clauses
introduced by ahen? This is oIten the case hen the subect oI the
rincial clause is eressed by nouns denoting tie, e. g.:
TiZe had _een w!en !e !ad seen !er wearing not!ing. (Galsworthy)
Predicative sub-clauses introduced by as if and as are suggestive oI ,
the secondary eaning oI coarison, e. g.:
I] horses are ]oungA and ahen the] get on the grass the] are as if t!ey
aere Zad? (Thackeray)
+b?ect 0lauses
Obect clauses resent a great variety oI atterns but less diIIiculty on
the oint oI their graatical analysis.
The silest case oI such clauses are atterns in hich a sub-clause
can be relaced by a noun hich could be then an obect in a sile
sentence. ailiar eales are:
ie could _u] w!at s!e li#ed.
}ou Za] do w!ateer you c!oose.
\id the accused Zention w!o t!is girl friend of !is was... (Gordon)
be suggested t!at &osnian seemed unduly 1ealous in calling for
paper for t!e statement to be ta#en down. (ordon)
be aas andious t!at t!ey s!ould realise !e was an
$nglis!man. (ordon)
[nton] aondered w!et!er t!ey would eer meet again? (ordon)
be reZeZ_ered t!at t!e walt1 was in t!ree4time, reZeZ_ered the aaltq
of olden da]s too aell That dance at Hodger'sA and >reneA his oan aifeA
aaltqing in the arZs of ]oung wosinne]? (alsorthy)
[nd laterA on a sleeTless TilloaA she TuqqledA as she had Tuqqled of lateA
as to !ow it aas that she loved so strange a ZanA and loved hiZ desTite
t!e disaTTroval of her TeoTle? (London)
264
Synonyic alternatives oI obect clauses are:
a) erundive noinals:
The] all approed of !is not being beaten by t!at cousin of hisA
(alsorthy)
SoaZes had ever resented !aing !ad to sell t!e !ouse at 9obin
Hill, never forgiven !is uncle for !aing boug!t it, or !is cousin
for liing in it. (alsorthy)
be's going to _egin farZingA ]ou ^noaA he' ll Zaê an edcuse? (en !ate
being painted. (alsorthy)
???he could not see Irene s!iering, as though soZe garZent had _een
torn froZ herA nor her e]esA _lac^ and Zournful liê the e]es of a _eaten child?
be could not hear &osinney entreating, entreating, always entreating,
could not hear her suddenA soft aeeTingA nor see that ToorA hungr] looîng
devilA aaed and treZ_lingA huZ_l] touching her hand? (alsorthy)
> looêd in the door of the _ig rooZ and saa t!e ma?or sitting at t!e
des#, and t!e window open and t!e sunlig!t coming into t!e rooZ?
(Heingay)
b) InIinitival noinals:
be saa the souirrel's e]esA sZall and _right and watc!ed !is tail ger^
in e5citement. (Hemingway)
The \arties saa &osinney spring out, and Irene follow, and
!asten up t!e steps wit! bent !ead. (alsorthy)
Instances are not Ie hen inIinitival and gerundive noinals go in
one sentence in close roiity, e. g.:
nnl] vaguel] did he see t!e ?udge s!a#e !is !ead in
disagreement and !ear Turner mumbling somet!ing. (Gordon)
*ttributie 0lauses
Like attributive aduncts in a sile sentence, attributive clauses
ualiIy the thing denoted by its head ord through soe actions, state or
situation in hich the thing is involved.
It has been custoary to ake distinction beteen to tyes oI
attributive sub-clauses: restrictive and continuative or aliIying
clauses
1
. This division is hoever too absolute to cover all atterns.
Hestrictive clauses are subordinate in eaning to the clause
containing the antecedent continuative clauses are ore indeendent:
their contents ight oIten be eressed by an indeendent stateent
giving soe additional inIoration about the antecedent that is already
suIIiciently deIined. Continuative clauses ay be oitted ithout
aIIecting the recise understanding oI the sentence as a hole. This is
arked by a diIIerent intonation, and by a clear break receding the
continuative clause, no such break searating a restrictive clause Iro its
antecedent. The resence or absence oI such a ause is indicated in
riting and in rint by the resence or absence oI a coa beIore as ell
as aIter the sub-clause.
It ay also be ointed out that a sentence ith a restrictive clause
contains a single stateent, and a sentence ith a continuative clause
contains to stateents.
1
The to tyes oI clauses are also knon as deIining and non-deIining.
265
Coare the Iolloing:
I. a) There aas a Zachine in the îtchen w!ic! could e5tract t!e ?uice
of two !undred oranges in !alf an !our. (itgerald)
b) The rooZ aas long aith aindoas on the right5hand side and a door
at the far end t!at went into t!e dressing4room. (Heingay)
c) be Zade freouent references to the Tlan t!at !ad already been
Tut in? (ordon)
d) [nd to thin^ of itA > dreaZed in Z] innocence that the Tersons w!o
sat in t!e !ig! places, w!o lied in fine !ouses and !ad
educations and ban# accounts, were wort! w!ile) (London)
II. a) [ sensation of coZfort aould Tass through iintonA w!ic! would last
-uite twenty minutes after t!e crunc!ing of t!e w!eels and the
Zingled TerfuZes had died aaa]? (alsorthy)
b) SoaZesA w!o !ad neer studied t!e -uestion and was
!ampered by not #nowing w!et!er !e wanted an
$nglis!man to do it, aas hesitating? (alsorthy)
c) [nd he onl] stared at IichaelA w!o was ga1ing out of t!e
aindoa? (alsorthy)
d) UT on the laan a_ove the ferner] he could see his old dog walthaqar?
The aniZalA w!ose dim eyes too# !is master for a stranger,
aas aarning the aorld against hiZ? (alsorthy)
Continuative clauses ay ell illustrate the stateent that it is
iossible to dra a rigid line oI dearcation beteen subordination
and coordination. The relative ahich ay reIer to a receding sentence
or art oI a sentence.
The conference aas TostTonedA w!ic! was e5actly w!at we wanted.
A ord should be said about attributive clauses introduced by
relative adverbs Iunctioning as conunctions: ahenA ahereA ah]? This is
the case hen the antecedent eaning tie, lace, reason.
%e Zet w!ere t!e roads crossed.
> reZeZ_er the da] w!en t!e war bro#e out.
ie understand the reason w!y you did not want to come.
These clauses are coonly reIerred to as attributive ualiIying a
noun in the ain clause.
e cannot Iail to see, hoever, that the above sentences are suggestive
oI adverbial relations. This is esecially roinent hen the clause is
-continuative:
>n those da]sA w!en s!e lied wit! us...
Overlaing relations ill be observed in clauses introduced by asA
aIter an antecedent ualiIied by saZe or such=
ie found such things as you neer saw.
In literary English a noun in a negative sentence ay be deIined
by a clause introduced by _ut= hen a _ut5clause has a subect oI its
on, adverbial relations are uite roinent, e. g.:
òt a da] aent _] but some news came from our correspondent.
Synonyic alternatives oI attributive clauses are Iolloing.
266
a) InIinitival noinals:
CoaTeraood aas not the Zan to loose a c!ance of t!is #ind.
(reiser)
There is nothing to preent you from ma#ing as great a
success as (r. &utler !as made. (London)
wut I had no thought? > didn't even have the aords wit! w!ic! to t!in#.
(London)
wrian aished the] could eat _rea^fast thereA _ut saa nothing on the
ta_le edceTt aA Zug of tea to be drun# by his fat!er. (Sillitoe)
b) erundive noinals:
The idea of its being barbarous to confine aild aniZals had Tro_a_l]
never ever occurred to his fatherA for instance? (alsorthy)
be doesn't ^noa ver] Zuch a_out ToZA though he sa]s he's read a
Chicago TaTer for ]ears ?ust on t!e c!ance of catc!ing a glimpse of
\ais]'s naZe? (itgerald)
c) Particiial noinals:
[ loo^ of effort Zarêd ever]one= the] caZe doan wit! #u#ris no longer
used, and loads bearing no resemblance to t!e neat s!ape of a
Tac^? (Sillitoe)
It aas aarZA and frightening if he thought too ZuchA _ut he aent on a
fea feet until reaching drifts of !ot dust piled almost to t!e top
bric#s. (Sillitoe)
0lauses of 0ause
Introduced by the conunction _ecause sub-clauses oI cause indicate
urely causal relations.
[nd because t!ey were all laug!ing it seeZed to Leila that the]
aere all lovel]? (MansIield)
... }ou reZeZ_er the other tiZe > aas here > said > couldn't tal^ a_out
_oo^s and things because I didn't #now !ow' (London)
Clauses introduced by as and since have soeties overlaing
relationshis oI cause and tie. The necessary eaning is signalled by the
contet.
couring out a Tot he dran^ it neat andA as its warm glow spread
t!roug! !im, he felt he could face the evening Zore easil]? (ordon)
Later ahen the] had Zanaged to coZTose theZselves the] aent to the
theatre? Since !e gae !er free c!oice she selected Saint oan.
(Cronin)
> could not sta] as it was late.
Causal relations ay Iind their eression in clauses introduced by the
conunction for? Patterns oI this kind are on the borderline beteen co-
ordination and subordination. Only in soe contets oI their use for5
clauses coe to be synonyous and go uite arallel ith causal clauses
included by because.
be had to _e cautiousA for !e was so rapidly coming to be
influential and a distinguis!ed man. (reiser)
SoaZes aas alone again? boa longA aloneA he didn't ^noa for !e was
tired, and in sTite of his concernA he doqed? (alsorthy)
$<@
In ost cases clause-atterns ith for diIIer essentially Iro clauses
introduced by _ecause? They generally give an additional thought to the
coleted art oI sentence to etend the eaning oI the utterance they
oIten coe aIter a Iull sto and see to Iunction as searate sentences
having uch in coon ith clauses introduced by the conunctions _ut
and and?
Subordinate clauses oI cause have their synonyic alternatives:
a) InIinitival noinals:
She aas angr] noa to t!in# !er fat!er would ma#e a public spectacle
of !er. CoaTeraood started to folloa? (reiser)
be aas Troud to have been priileged to publis! a poem ahich in
Ts]chological contentA oualit] of aor^ZanshiTA and direct huZan interestA
aas _] far the Zost striîng of this generation? (alsorthy)
b) erundive noinals:
Cursed aas the da] he had Zet herA and his e]es for seeing in !er
anyt!ing but t!e cruel <enus s!e aas? (alsorthy)
c) Particiial noinals:
T!e afternoon being grey and cold, ae did not go an]ahere? T!is
being t!e case, the] had to change their Tlan?
d) reduced sub-clauses oI cause (verbless redicatives):
... The lines at the sides of the e]es aere deeTened? 2aturally dar# of
s#in, glooZ Zade hiZ loo^ slightl] sinister? (reiser)
iould the] liê hiZs The] aould not too uns!ac#led, too fitful,
and too bitter, all that aas _est in hiZ he hid aaa]A as if ashaZed of ith
and his ]earning for _eaut] the] aould not understandk (alsorthy)
òt Zuch give and taê a_out \esert restless, dis!armonic, and a
poet) *nd proud - wit! t!at inner self4depreciatie pride w!ic! neer
let upon a man) (alsorthy)
0lauses of ;lace
Clauses oI lace do not oIIer any diIIiculties oI graatical analysis
they are generally introduced by the relative adverb ahere or by the
phrase froZ ahereA to ahereA e. g.:
The] Tassed alongside the Ho]al Xnclosure w!ere boo#4ma#ers did
not seem to be admitted. (alsorthy)
The sun5_linds aere doanA for the sun aas streaZing on its frontA Tast
the old oaÂ w!ere was now no swing. (alsorthy)
%!ere t!ere's a will, there's a aa]? (Proverb)
... Shoa ZepA he saidA and Zoved in the tail5light of the car to w!ere
t!e c!auffeur stood pointing. (alsorthy)
Like in other tyes oI cole sentences, clauses introduced by the
adverb ahere are soeties on the borderline beteen subordination and
co-ordination, eant to continue the narrative associated ith the revious
stateent rather than indicate the lace here action took lace, e. g.:
... [nd a so_ that shoo^ hiZ froZ head to foot _urst froZ SoaZes'
chest? Then all aas still in the darÂ w!ere t!e !ouses seemed to stare at
!im, eac! to eac! wit! a master and mistress of its own, and a secret
story of !appiness or sorrow. (alsorthy)
268
Temporal 0lauses
Teoral clauses cover a ide and varied range oI eanings.
Relations oI tie beteen the action oI the ain clause and that oI the
subordinate ay diIIer: the to actions or states ay be siultaneous, one
ay recede or Iollo the other, or, say, one ay last until the other
begins, etc.
%!en s!e moed to put a c!air for !im, she saa]ed in a curiousA
su_tle aa]A as if she had _eenA Tut together _] soZe one aith a sTecial
secret sîll? (alsorthy)
[s !e passed t!roug! t!e stray groups of couples, he aas conscious of
a Tair of Tale gre] e]es Teering at hiZ through a cloud of _lue to_acco
sZoê? (ordon)
Sit doanA w!en I'e ta#en off my t!ings ae shall go into the nedt
rooZ and have tea and _e cos]? (MansIield)
%!en !e !ad finis!ed !is tea [ndrea aithdrea? (Cronin)
Reduced sub-clauses oI tie ill be illustrated by such atterns as:
%!en at 9ome, do as the HoZans do? (Proverb)
%!en angry count a hundred? (Proverb)
&ac# in !is stud]A he sat in thought? (alsorthy)
&ac# wit! !er accounts, she could not settle to theZA and Tushing
theZ into a draaerA aent to find her hus_and? (alsorthy)
Synseantic in their character, teoral clauses have oIten a ied
eaning. In soe atterns there is only a suggestion oI the secondary
eaning, in others it is Iairly roinent.
In diIIerent contets oI their use sub-clauses oI tie ay change their
riary eaning. In soe atterns there is a suggestion oI conditional
relations, as in:
ioZen did strange things w!en t!ey were drien into corners.
(alsorthy)
%!en t!e pinc! coZesA ]ou reZeZ_er the old shoe? (Proverb)
Instances are not Ie hen teoral clauses are suggestive oI causal
relations, e. g.:
She Zade a little curts] as !e bowed. (Mitchell)
It is to be noted that secondary eanings are generally signalled not so
uch by the graatical organisation oI the sentence as by the leical
contet hich is the Iirst to be considered relevant.
Studying synta in relation to vocabulary resents here its on oint oI
interest.
Not less characteristic are the secondary eanings ilied in a sub-
clause oI tie in such contets hen it coes to indicate an action or state
as contrasted to that oI the ain clause.
Eales oI such sentences ay be Iound in nubers.
She neared her father's houseA driven this aa] and thatA w!ile all t!e
time t!e .orsyte undertow was drawing !er to deep conclusion t!at after
all !e was !er property. (alsorthy)
pSo ]ou caZeA didn't ]ousp he aent onA looîng at her steadil]A w!ile
s!e fronted !is ga1e boldly for a moment, onl] to loo^ evasivel] doan?
(reiser)
269
%!ile (ac#enty meditated as to !ow in two years !e s!ould be able
to undo t!is temporary ictory, and 0owperwood was deciding t!at
conciliation was t!e best policy for !im, Schr]hartA band and [rneelA
goining hands aith ]oung IacdonaldA aere aondering hoa the] could
Zaê sure that this Tart] victor] aould criTTle CoaTeraood and
TerZanentl] Trevent hiZ froZ returning to Toaer? (reiser)
ih] should he _e Tut to the shifts and the sordid disgraces and the
lurîng defeats of the \ivorce CourtA w!en t!ere was s!e li#e an empty
!ouse only waiting to be reta#en into use and possession by !im w!o
legally owned her? (alsorthy)
be turned a_out againA and there stood aith his _ac^ against the doorA
as !ers was against t!e wall opposite, -uite unconscious of anyt!ing
ridiculous in t!is separation by t!e w!ole widt! of t!e room.
The ilication oI contrast is oIten clear in reduced clauses oI tie, e.
g.:
bis ZannerA w!ile warmly generous at times, aas also easil] distant
edceTt ahen he aished it to _e otheraise? (reiser)
Synonyic alternatives oI sub-clauses oI tie:
a) erundive Noinals:
\artieA on being told, aas Tleased enough? (alsorthy)
The criZe seeZs to have _een coZZitted late in the eveningA and the
_od] aas found _] a gaZeêeTer a_out eleven o'clocÂ ahen it aas
edaZined
_] the Tolice and _] a doctor before being carried up to t!e !ouse.
(oyle)
Then after !aing Dat!leen tig!ten !er corsets a little more,
she gathered the train over her arZ _] its train5_and and looêd again?
(reiser)
b) InIinitival Noinals:
The door aas not fastened aithinA and ]ielded sZoothl] to her
hesitating hand? She aas surTrised to find a brig!t lig!t burning, still
Zore surTrisedA on looîng inA to see that her IaZaA _ut Tartiall]
undressed aas sitting near??? (ickens)
bis headA noa gre]A aas encircled _] her arZA and he froaned to thin^
that neverA never had it rested so _efore? (ickens)
c) Particiial Noinals:
[rrivedA hoaeverA at t!is other ahite !ouse, also desira_leA situated on
the sloTe a_ove the riverA he alZost had a fit ahile aaiting for theZ in the
car? (alsorthy)
&eing releasedA his face discovered to _e ver] hotA and redA and daZTh
and Iiss Tod too^ hiZ on her laTA Zuch edhausted? (alsorthy)
0lauses of 0ondition
Conditional sentences can eress either a real condition (oen
condition) or an unreal condition:
>f ]ou as^ hiZ he aill sta] hereA (real condition)
>f ]ou asêd hiZA he aould sta] hereA (unreal condition)
$@%
In real condition, both the ain clause and the deendent clause are
truth-neutral in >f ]ou as^ hiZA he aill sta] hereA e cannot udge hether
either the reuest or his staying here ill take lace.
Although the ost coon tye oI real condition reIers to the Iuture,
there are no secial restrictions on the tie reIerence oI conditions or on
the tense Iors used to eress the. The Iolloing eales ay
illustrate the variety oI tie relations and tense Iors eressing the:
>f ]ou re haTT]A ]ou Zaê others haTT]?
(Sile Present Sile Present)
>f he told ]ou that ]esterda]A he aas l]ing?
(Sile Past Sile Past)
>f she left so earl]A she aill certainl] _e here tonight?
(Sile Past aill Iuture).
The truth-neutrality oI an if-clause is reIlected in the ossibility oI
using such constructions as:
>f ]ou should hear neas of theZA Tlease let Ze ^noa?
eShould InIinitive in lace oI the Sile Present)
The eIIect oI redication ith pshouldp is to ake the condition
slightly ore tentative and acadeic than it ould be ith the ordinary
Present Tense.
A ore Ioral eression oI a tentative real condition is achieved by
oitting if and inverting the subect and the auiliary pshouldp=
Should ]ou reZain >'ll helT ]ou aith Tleasure?
Unreal conditions are norally Iored by the use oI the Past Tense
(Indicative or Subunctive) in the conditional clause, and aould V
inI
in
the rincial clause, e. g.:
>f ]ou left in the ZorningA ]ou aould _e at hoZe at night?
>f ]ou had coZeA he aould have changed his Zind?
The recise graatical and seantic nature oI the sitch Iro real to
unreal conditions is obviously relevant to overlaing relations in such
tyes oI sentence-atterning
Clauses oI this tye are generally introduced by such connectives as: if,
unless, proided, on condition t!at, in case, suppose Asupposing), but
t!at, once.
hat has iediate relevance here is the graatical organisation oI
the conditional sentence, the verb-Iors oI its redicate, in articular.
If it !adn't been for !is blunders, he aould have finished the article in
three da]s? (London)
If !e doesn't comply ae can't _ring Troceedings for sid Zonths? > aant
to get on aith the ZatterA well_]? (alsorthy)
[nd if boll] had not insisted on folloaing her edaZTleA and _eing
trained tooA she Zust inevita_l] have cried off?
SuTTose he talêd to Iichaels òk iorse than useless? wesidesA he
couldn't tal^ a_out Fleur and that _o] to an]one there_] hung too long
a tale? (alsorthy)
Ir? cinch stood rooted to the sTot on hearing thisA and Zight have
stood there until darÂ _ut that the old cathedral _ell _egan to ring for
vesTer serviceA on ahich he tore hiZself aaa]? (ickens)
271
Synonyic alternatives oI conditional clauses:
a) InIinitival Noinals:
To !ae followed t!eir meal in detail aould have given hiZ soZe
indication of their states of Zind? (alsorthy)
eS]n? If s!e !ad followed t!eir meal... it aould have given hiZ???f?
To record of (r. /ombey t!at !e was not in !is way affect ed
by t!is intelligence, aould _e to do hiZ an ingustice? (ickens) eS]n? If
we record of (r. /ombey that??? f
ò one aould _elieveA to loo# at !er, that she aas over thirt]? (Huley)
eS]n? if one loo#ed at !er...)
b) erundial Noinals:
&ut for !is !aing !elped us ae should not have _een successful
in this aor^?
c) Particiial Noinals:
3iing in 3ondon ]ou ^noa ahat fogs Zean?
ieather TerZittingA ae shall start toZorroa?
Consider also reduced sub-clauses oI condition. Eales are
coonlace.
ihat aould one of her oan TeoTle do if called a coward and a cad
her fatherA her _rotherA uncle [drians ihat could the] dos (alsorthy)
>t aas clear to hiZ that she could not taê her \artie seriousl]A and aould
go _ac^ on the ahole thing if gien !alf a c!ance. (alsorthy)
[ndA if trueA ahat aas the director's resTonsi_ilit]s (alsorthy)
She aas seldoZ or never at a lossh or if at a loss, aas alaa]s a_le to
convert it into again? (alsorthy)
+nce in, ]ou couldn't get out? (alsorthy)
A ord ust be said about stylistic transosition oI ieratives co-
ordinated ith Iolloing declaratives to hich they have the eaning
relationshi that clauses oI condition or cause ould have.
Scarcity oI linguistic units ith inherent eressivity is oIten
counterbalanced by eIIective stylistic transositions oI the Ierative
Mood.
In ters oI stylistic value and urose, it is ost essential to
observe ho diIIerent atterns oI graatical organisation coe to
correlate as identical in denotative value but diIIerent in eressive
connotation. Contetual nuances are soeties very elusive.
Here are a Ie eales oI the Ierative Mood in
transosition:
a) Tell !im of a -uality innate in some women a seductive Toaer
_e]ond their oan controlk be aould _ut ansaer= buZ_ugk
She aas dangerousA and there aas an end of it? (alsorthy) eS]n?
If you told !im of a -uality innate in some women...)
b) be aould have fought for this Zan as deterZinedl] as for hiZselfA
and ]et onl] so far as coZZanded? Strip !im of !is uniform, and he aould
have soon Ticêd his side? (reiser)
eS]n? If you stripped !im of !is uniform...)
(c) (a#e me do suc! t!ings, ma#e me li#e t!ose ot!er men, doing
t!e wor# t!ey do, breat!ing t!e air t!ey breat!e, deeloping t!e
point of iew t!ey !ae deeloped, and ]ou have destro]ed the differenceA
destro]ed ZeA destro]ed the thing ]ou love? (London)
$@$
ASyn. If you ma#e me do suc! t!ings...)
(d) %al# among t!e magnificent residences, the sTlendid eouiTagesA
the gilded shoTsA restaurantsA resorts of all îndsh scent the floaersA the
sil^sA the ainesh drin# of t!e laug!ter springing from t!e soul of
lu5urious content, of the glances ahich gleaZ liê light froZ defiant
sTears= feel t!e -uality of t!e smiles ahich cut liê glistening saords and
of strides _orn of TlaceA and ]ou shall ^noa of ahat is the atZosThere of
the high and Zight]? (reiser) eS]n? If you wal#..., if you drin# of t!e
laug!ter...,
if you feel t!e -uality of t!e smiles... ]ou shall ^noa???f
ee graar analysis ill alays sho the diIIerence beteen the
atterns given above.
In (a) and (b) the verb-Iors oI the Ierative Mood Iunction as
stylistic alternatives oI the Obliue Mood
in (c) and (d) the verb-Iors oI the Ierative Mood are used as
stylistic alternatives oI the Indicative Mood.
As can be seen Iro the above eales, the use oI the Ierative
Mood in such transositions can ily conditional, causal or resultative
eaning. Siilarly in Russian and Ukrainian:
a yt x n nerpom npexnonntx roon, n ro es yntntx n nenn x
pyccxn t ntyunn rontxo sa ro, uro nm pasronapnnan Hennn.
(axxoncxn)
Cxnnt s ntoro oxynxpn, xnnt ni posinnntxi icxpn n oui ra
marnmem roronn opas xxa-nnnopisa. (Crentmax)
0lauses of 9esult
Clauses oI result or conseuence ill also eeliIy the synseantic
character oI syntactic structures. Their Ioral arrangeent is characterised
by to atterns:
1) clauses included by the conunction that correlated ith the ronoun
such or the ronoun so in the ain clause
2) clauses included by hrasal connective so that?
ber Ziser] aas so terri_le t!at s!e pinned on !er !at, put on !er
?ac#et and wal#ed out of t!e flat li#e a person in a dream. (MansIield)
be did not hoaever neglect to leave certain Zatters to future
considerationsA ahich had necessitated further visitsA so t!at t!e little
bac# room !ad become -uite accustomed to !is spare not unsolid but
unobtrusie figure??? (alsorthy)
Variation in the leico-graatical organisation oI such clauses is
generally associated ith variation in their eaning.
Instances are not Ie, Ior instance, hen a clause oI result is
suggestive oI the degree or the state oI things indicated by the ain clause.
The oaning oI such clauses is alays ade clear by contetual
indication.
Eales oI such clauses oI result are:
The Zoon had Tassed _ehind the oa^5tree noaA endoaing it aith
uncann] lifeA so t!at it seemed watc!ing !im - t!e oa#4tree !is boy !ad
been so fond of climbing, out of w!ic! !e !ad once fallen and !urt
!imself, and !adn't cried) (alsorthy)
273
ihen he told her that he aould taê care of her so that nothing evil
should _efallA she _elieved hiZ full]? (reiser)
Structural synonys oI sub-clauses oI result resented by inIinitival
hrases ay be illustrated by such atterns as:
>t aas too aonderful to _e an]thing _ut a deliriuZ? (London)
S]n? >t aas so aonderful that it could _e an]thing _ut a deliriuZf?
[ aoodTecêr's constant taT aas the onl] soundA for the rain aas not
heav] enough for leaf5driTTing to have started? (alsorthy)
eS]n? ... the rain aas not so heav] that ???f?
ThenA gust ahen the] aere old enough to go to schoolA her hus_and's
sister caZe to stoT aith theZ to helT things along??? (MansIield)
eS]n? ThenA gust ahen the] aere so old t!at t!ey could go to sc!oolA??f?
Clauses of curTose
The graatical organisation oI sub-clauses oI urose does not take
long to elain.
hat erits consideration here is the syntactic organisation oI the
constituents oI the cole sentence and the verb-Iors in the structure oI
redication.
Clauses eressing urose are knon to be introduced by the
conunction that or lest and by the hrase in order that?
That has, erhas, no rivals aong connectives. It is ell knon to
have a articularly ide range oI structural eanings, but no abiguity
arises in actual usage. As alays in language, the contet ill reove in
each case all the other signiIications, as otentially ilicit in that hich
in subordination ay do the duty oI a relative ronoun and a conunction.
Purose clauses introduced by that ay be illustrated by the Iolloing
eales:
... she had softl] Zoved her chair into its Tresent Tlace= Tartl] as it
seeZed froZ an instinctive consciousness that he desired to avoid
o_servation= and Tartl] that she ZightA unseen _] hiZA give soZe vent to
the natural feelings she had hitherto suTTressed? (ickens)
[nd lest the sun should _rea^ this charZ too eagerl]A there Zoved
_etaeen hiZ and the ground a Zist liê that ahich aaits uTon the Zoon on
suZZer nights??? (ickens)
InIinitival hrases ilying urose relations are coonlace.
ailiar eales are:
This action has _een _rought _] the Tlaintiff to recover froZ the
defendant the suZ of three hundred and fift] ToundsA alleged _] the
Tlaintiff to have _een fided _] this corresTondence??? (alsorthy)
She Zade a ZoveZent to cross into the traffic?
Clauses of Concession
Sub-clauses oI concession ith all their graatical coleity and
variety oI syntactic atterning as ell as their synseantic character ill
engage our attention net. The coonent graatical eanings in
sentence-atterns oI this kind are oIten not so clear-cut as it ight be
suggested.
$@&
It is very iortant to distinguish beteen the Iolloing tyes oI
concessive sub-clauses:
a) clauses giving the inIoration about the circustances desite or
against hich hat is said in the rincial clause is carried out:
T!oug! s!e did not #now it, she had a feeling in hiZ of TroTrietar]
right? (London)
> alaa]s understood ]ou did so as a forZ of edTiationA een t!oug!
you !ad as#ed /inny to marry you. (alsorthy)
b) clauses hich give soe additional inIoration associated ith the
content oI the rincial clause, the idea oI concession in such atterns is
soehat eakened.
be ZoTTed his forehead dr] and glanced a_out hiZ aith a controlled
faceA t!oug! in t!e eyes t!ere was an e5pression suc! as wild animals
betray w!en t!ey fear t!e trap. (London)
c) clauses ith overlaing relationshi. In atterns oI this tye there
is a suggestion oI the secondary adversative eaning:
be edtracted great haTTiness froZ souelching herA and she souelched
easil] these da]sA t!oug! it !ad been different in t!e first years of t!eir
married life. (London)
Cole sentences oI this kind are on the borderline beteen
subordination and coordination though ight be easily relaced by the
adversative conunction _ut?
d) inserted and arenthetical concessive clauses are ore or less
indeendent syntactic units and are generally set oII by a coa, colon or
sei-colon, e. g.:
Shannon aas not a financierA neither aas Steger? The] had to _elieve
in aaa]A t!oug! t!ey dou_ted it, Tartl] Tarticularl] Shannon? (reiser)
... _ut _eing a Fors]teA t!oug! not yet -uite eig!t years old, he Zade
no Zention of the thing at the ZoZent dearest to his heart??. (alsorthy)
The conunction though ay introduce indeendent sentences.
>'ve got a fatherh > êTt hiZ _] alive during the aarA so he's _ound to
êeT Ze noa? T!oug!, of course, t!ere's t!e -uestion w!et!er !e oug!t
to be allowed to !ang on to !is property. (alsorthy)
It ill be observed, in assing, that concessive relations are, in oint oI
Iact, logically associated ith causal and resultative eaning, the latter
being to soe etent insearably resent in any sub-clause oI this tye.
The ilication oI ure concession is Iairly roinent in reositive
sub-clauses included by althoughA though (oIten intensiIied by
nevertheless in the rincial clause).
*lt!oug! !e was dealing priately for $dward &utler as an agent,
and wit! t!e same plan in mind, and alt!oug! !e !ad neer met eit!er
(ollem!auer or Simpson, he nevertheless felt that in so far as the
ZaniTulation of the cit] loan aas concerned he aas acting for theZ?
(reiser)
Clauses oI concession introduced by though and even though have
uch in coon ith sub-clauses introduced by if and even if?
The more cautious ZeZ_ers of Chicago societ]A een if t!ey did not
275
attend, thenA aould hearA and then aould coZe ultiZate coZZent and
decision? (reiser)
If all t!e world !ated you, and belieed you wic#ed, ahile ]our oan
conscience aTTroved ]ouA and a_solved ]ou froZ guiltA ]ou aould not _e
aithout friends? (Bront)
Intensity oI concessive eaning is generally roduced by utting the
noinal arts or the adverbial adunct at the head oI the sentence.
Young t!oug! s!e will always seem to me, she is...
Siilarly, in sentence-atterns ith the conunction as=
Taîng his glass froZ the ta_leA he held it aaa] froZ hiZ to scrutinise
the colourh t!irsty as !e was, it aas not liêl] that he aas going to drin^
thrush? (alsorthy)
0rafty and cruel as !is face was at t!e best of times, though it aas a
sufficientl] fair face as to forZ and regularit] of featureA it aas at its
aorst ahen he set forth on this errand? (ickens)
Harmless as t!is speec! appeared to be, it acted on the traveller's
distrustA liê oil on fire? (ickens)
(uc! as I admire t!e film, >'ll not go to see it again?
Note. The conunction though ay stand at the end oI a sile
sentence, Iolloing another sile sentence, closely connected in sense.
In such end-osition though ill be synonyous ith neverthelessA
nonethelessA all the saZeA e. g.:
be did not tell Ze ahere he had _eenA _ut > ^nea t!oug! ex _ut >
^nea all t!e same).
In sentences introduced by the conunction as there is soeties a
Iairly roinent suggestion oI causal relations.
>ncommunicatie as !e was, soZe tiZe elaTsed _efore > had an
oTTortunit] of changing his Zind? (Bront)
Concessive clauses ay be introduced by the hrasal conunction for
all that=
[nd mon could not helT ^noaing tooA that she aas still deeTl] in love
aith hiZ for all t!at t!ey !ad been married two years. (alsorthy)
A secial tye oI cole sentences is resented by atterns ith
concessive sub-clauses suggestive oI the secondary alternative eaning.
Here belong clauses introduced by hoaeverA ahoeverA ahateverA
aheneverA aherever and such hrasal conunctions as no Zatter ahatA no
Zatter hoa?
Eales are:
I dou_t if iilfred aill go _efore the CoZZitteepA said IichaelA
glooZil]? pFleur confirZed hiZp?
pnf course he aon'tA Iichaelp?
pThen ahat aill haTTensp
p[lZost certainl] he'll _e edTelled under rule w!ateer it is.
(alsorthy)
The Tu_lic aould never hear his naZeA no matter !ow big t!e case
aas? (Carter)
2o matter w!at t!e ot!ers Za] say, I shall have Z] oan aa]?
The secondary alternative eaning in clauses oI this kind is so
roinent that soe graarians are inclined to identiIy the as a
secial tye oI subordination. Such is, Ior instance, esersen's oint oI
vie
$@<
in Xssentials of Xnglish YraZZar here these clauses are classiIied as
clauses oI indiIIerence
1
.
Mention ust also be ade oI reduced sub-clauses oI concession that
'are not inIreuent both in inIoral soken English and literary rose.
Their a_odeA t!oug! poor and miserable, aas not so utterl] aretched
as in the da]s ahen onl] good Irs? wroan inha_ited it? (ickens)
bis aifeA w!ateer !er conduct, had clear e]es and an alZost
deTressing aZount of coZZon sense? (alsorthy)
???bis case aas different froZ that of the ordinar] XnglishZan as chal^
froZ cheese? &ut w!ateer !is case, he aas not a Zan to live aith?
(alsorthy)
Concessive relations overlaing ith alternative eaning Iind their
linguistic eression in syntactic atterns ith Iunctional transositions oI
the Ierative Mood Iors, e. g.:
Say w!at you may Amig!t) > shall have Z] oan aa]?
Try w!at you will Awould) there is no helTing here?
Say w!at one will, to taê the love of a Zan liê CoaTeraood aaa]
froZ a aoZan liê [ileen aas to leave her high and dr] on landA as a fish
out of its native eleZent??? (reiser)
$conomise as !e would, the earnings froZ hac^5aor^ did not _alance
edTenses? (London)
Attention ust also be dran to the use oI verb-Iors in concessive
sub-clauses, hich naturally vary deending on the contet. The
Indicative Mood is Iairly coon in all tyes oI clauses ilying
concession, Present and Past tense-Iors, in articular. The Subunctive
Mood is coon in cole sentences ith hyothetical concession.
Concessive clauses ay be included by the conunction ahile hich in
such atterns coes to Iunction arallel ith though ealthoughf?
%!ile !e was yet in unspea#able agonies, the daarf reneaed t!eir
conversation? (ickens)
Concessive relations ay also be eressed by such atterns ith
verbless redicatives as:
boa could ]ou _ehave liê thatA and your mot!er present t!ere' ev
though ]our Zother aas Tresent theref?
(oist as was !is brow, tremble as did !is !and once after t!e
nameless frig!t, he aas still flushed aith fuZes of liouor? (reiser)
Intensity and ehasis can also be roduced by inversion in such
atterns as:
%ait as !e did, hoaeverA Carrie did not coZe? (Dreiser)
0lauses of (anner and 0omparison
Sub-clauses oI anner and coarison characterise the action oI the
rincial clause by coaring it to soe other action. Patterns oI this sort
are synseantic in their value. Soeties the ilication oI
1
See= O. esersen. Essentials oI English raar. London, 1933, . 372.
277
coarison sees uite roinent, in other cases the clause is clearly one
oI anner.
The eaning oI coarison akes itselI uite evident in cases like the
Iolloing:
}ou can lead ZenA > aZ sureA and there is no reason ah] ]ou should
not succeed at an]thing ]ou set ]our hand toA gust as ]ou have succeeded
in graZZar? (London)
>t folloaed inevita_l] uTon the aorÂ as the night folloas uTon the da]?
(London)
She aas not edactl] as daring as she seeZedA _ut she loved to give that
iZTression? (reiser)
In atterns like She did it as _est as she could the ilication oI
coarison is hardly Ielt at all.
The conunction as has a ide and varied range oI structural eanings.
It is oIten used to introduce sub-clauses oI tie and cause, and it is only
the contet that akes the necessary eaning clear.
urther eales oI sub-clauses oI coarison are:
bis father's faceA dus^] redA taitching as if he aere going to cr]A and
aords _aîng out that seeZed rent froZ hiZ _] soZe sTasZ in his soul?
(alsorthy)
[nd all that Tassed seeZed to Tass as though his oan Toaer of
thinîng or doing had gone to sleeT? (alsorthy)
OVERLAPPING RELATIONSHIPS
AND SYNSEMANTICS IN HYPOTAXIS
A ord ust be said about the synseantic character oI various tyes
oI hyotais hich in any cases have ied or overlaing eaning. In
soe oI these instances there is only a suggestion oI the secondary
eaning, in others it is Iairly roinent.
The coleity oI sub-clauses, their synseantic character and
overlaing relations observed in various atterns oI subordination bear
iediate relevance to such uestions as the leico-graatical
organisation oI the sentence, ilicit redication and the otential valency
oI connectives introducing sub-clauses.
Overlaing relationshi in adverbial clauses erits secial
consideration. Instances are not Ie hen clauses introduced by
subordinative connectives and clauses to hich they are oined see to be
eual in their Iunctional level.
It is alays iortant to reeber that not all the general otential
eaning oI a given category ill be relevant in each occurrence. A
distinction that is relevant to one occurrence oI the attern can soeties
have no bearing at all on another use. Eales to illustrate the stateent
are nuerous. Thus, Ior instance, a conditional eleent can be suggestive
oI the secondary causal eaning e. g.:
>f that's ahat the cresident aantsAp said YarlocÂ paellA of courseA >
have no o_gectionp? (Baily)
???p[nd real reasonA Ir? cresidentsp
$@>
p}esA daZn it > need to Tlan soZe strateg] and if >'Z going to do itA >
need to thin^ for a changep? (Baily)
pihat shall > Zaê Z] chec^ forsp Tursued Ionsieur crofond? pFive
hundredp said SoaZes shortl]h p_ut > don't aant ]ou to taê it if ]ou don't
care for it Zore than thatp? (alsorthy)
A good eale to illustrate overlaing relations oI condition and
cause ill be Iound in Bain's bigher Xnglish YraZZarA Iro the Iable,
here the ant says to the grasshoer, p>t ]ou sang in suZZerA dance in
ainterp? The conunction if has here the Iorce oI a reason, the condition
being a realised Iact. >f ]ou sang x since ]ou sang or as ]ou sang?
Causal relations are Iairly roinent hen the condition under hich
the action is erIored recedes the action hich results Iro it.
eaf >f ]ou have alread] Zade such arrangeZents > cannot interfere?
(b) >f he'd had the _rass to sta] in Xngland after coZZitting such a
_are5faced forger]A he aould have the _rass to coZe here again and see
ahat Zore he could get? (alsorthy)
(c) The thing > did not liê aas not _eing a_le to see her tao ahole
aee^sA _ut if it aas for her good > aas TreTared to Tut uT aith that?
(Cure)
(d) >t aas a Zistaê she aas ZaîngA??? _ut if she aas deterZined on itA
ahat could he do a_out its (Cure)
(e) >f ]ou are not in loveA of course there's no Zore to _e said?
(alsorthy)
It is oI interest to note that coosite sentences ith overlaing
relations cI condition and cause are generally characterised by the
indicative odality oI the sub-clause. Predication in the rincial clause
can be oI diIIerent odal Iorce (indicative, obliue or ierative).
>f SoaZes had faithA it aas in ahat he calledp Xnglish coZZon
sensep or the Toaer to have thingsA if not one aa] then another?
(alsorthy)
And here are a Ie tyical eales oI sentence atterns ith sub-
clauses oI condition used to intensiIy the relations oI cause:
[nd if wrian even felt distrust for that s]ZTathetic organisation it aas
onl] _ecause all _ig naZes seeZed liê devil's threats to hold his soul in
thrall? (Sillitoe)
In other cases if-clauses have a roinent suggestion oI the eaning oI
concession, e. g.:
She aould hold TaraA if she had to _rea^ the _ac^ of ever] Terson of it?
(Mitchell)
>f nld mol]on saaA he too^ no notice? (alsorthy)
The] had coZe at a good _at uT the sloTe and aere a little out of
_reath= if the] had an]thing to sa] the] did not sa] itA _ut Zarched in the
earl] aaâardness of _rea^fasted Zorning under the songs of the lar^s?
(alsorthy)
>f wosinne] aas conscious of her trou_leA he Zade no sign? (alsorthy)
A conditional sub-clause introduced by the conunction if is soeties
suggestive oI adversative relations, e. g.:
The senior senator froZ California aas not a Tarticularl] striîng
figureA _ut he successfull] conve]ed the iZTression of _eing a Zan aho
edTected to doZinate a gathering and usuall] did? >f he aas a _it heav]
across the ZidriffA that gave hiZ a certain advantage over Zen of less
aZTle _ul^? >f his
279
gestures aere a trifle _roadA his voice a shade too strong for ordinar]
conversationA these characteristics seeZed aTTroTriate enough in a Zan
Zore used to _eing listened to than listening? (Baily)
TRANSPOSITIONS AND FUNCTIONAL
RE-EVALUATION OF SYNTACTIC STRUCTURES
Observations on the contetual use oI various sentence-atterns Iurnish
nuerous eales oI re-interretation oI syntactic structures by hich
e ean stylistic transositions resulting in neutralisation oI riary
graatical eaning. The asyetric dualis oI the linguistic sign
1
aears to be natural and is Iairly coon at diIIerent levels oI language.
The linguistic echanis, rosodic Ieatures in articular, ork
naturally in any ays to revent abiguity in such atterns oI
graatical structure.
Eressive re-evaluation oI sentences can be connected ith shiIts oI
their syntactic content.
Such is the use oI the so-called seudo-subclauses oI coarison, tie
and condition hich in transosition Iunction as indeendent units oI
counication. A Ie tyical eales are:
[s if > ever told hiZ a_out itk
S]n? > never told hiZ a_out it?
biggins= [s if > ever stoT thinîng a_out the girl and her confounded
voaels and consonants? (Sha)
Cf? s]n? > never stoT thinîng???
Cf? ne nncan am nncem... y-a, xoxorana ennna. Kax-y-
ro x ne snam amero nouepxa. (uexon)
p[s if it aasn't trou_le enough hatching the eggspA said the cigeonA
p_ut > Zust _e on the looôut for serTents night and da]?p (arroll)
pIeA indeedkpcried the Iouse aho aas treZ_ling doan to the end of
his tail?
p[s if > aould tal^ on such a su_gectkp (Carroll)
Eales oI seudo-subclauses oI condition Iunctioning as
indeendent units are:
piellA if ]ou aren't a aonderAp \rouet aas sa]ingA coZTlacentl]A
soueeqing Carrie's arZ? p}ou are the dandiest little girl on earth?p
(reiser)
>f there isn't CaTtain \onnithorne a5coZing into the ]ardk (Eliot)
here the direct and the indirect negations cancel each other, the result
being ositive ehe is coZingf?
A secial case oI Iunctional re-evaluation oI sub-clauses oI condition
ill be Iound in ish-sentences:
That aasn't ahat he had Zeant to sa]? >f onl] he ^nea ZoreA if onl] he
could Zaê others feel that visionA Zaê theZ understand hoa the] aere
duTed into hatred under the guise of lo]alt] and dut]? (Aldington)
>f onl] Fleur and he had Zet on soZe desert island aithout a Tast
and àture for their housek (alsorthy)
1
See= S. Karcevsky. ualise asytriue du signe linguistiue. TCLP. Prague, 1929.
$>%
In sentence-atterns oI this tye the idea oI the rincial clause sees
to be suressed, but they occur so oIten that at last e hardly think oI
hat is leIt out, the reaining art becoes a regular idioatic eression
hich e ust recognise as a colete sentence, an indeendent unit oI
counication.
Even ithout any continuation the if-clause is taken at ore than its
Iace-value and becoes to seaker or hearer alike, a colete eression
oI ish.
Like in soe other tyes oI sentence-atterning such contetual
variations are not seciIically English and ay be traced in any
languages.
Coare analogous develoents in Russian and Ukrainian:
A, xat snmom nnert pacnnerann
Kax t mt nmnnn, a ne pasnmnxnn. (. Toncro)
O, xxn snmom xnirn posxnirann
Sub-clauses oI tie are syntactically re-evaluated in atterns like the
Iolloing:
nhA ahen she Tla]sk
;roblems of Implicit ;redication
oral subordinative relations in coosite sentences are soeties
eakened and the second art oI the sentence coes to Iunction as an
otional eleent, not necessarily needed to colete the eaning oI the
Iirst.
Such borderline cases beteen subordination and coordination ill be
Iound, Ior instance, in syntactic structures ith if5clauses hich give
rather soe additional inIoration about the event involved than the
condition under hich the action is erIored. A Ie tyical eales
are:
She aas Trett]A tooA if Z] recollection of her face and Terson are
correct?
>n uTTer and Ziddle classes ae're doing it all the tiZe and _linîng the
Zoral sideA if there is one? (alsorthy)
That's still the [Zerican aho countsA esTeciall] if ]ou luZT in the
\utch and Scandinavians stoc^ [Zericans liê this felloa ballorsen?
(alsorthy)
>f she Zade a Zistaê she has Taid for itA if ever a aoZan did? (oyle)
Related to this are syntactic structures ith ilicit redication.
The absence oI the direct logical relationshi beteen the elicit arts
oI the coosite sentence can suggest the oission oI a certain
redicative unit in its surIace structure. The Ioral organisation oI such a
sentence does not reIlect the actual syntactic relations oI its arts.
In soken English and literary rose such coression in sentence-
structure is Iairly coon.
A Ie tyical eales are:
???p>t's gust a craq] old thingAp she said? ' > gust sliT it on soZetiZes
ahen > don't care ahat > loo^ liê?p
pwut it loo^s aonderful on ]ouA if ]ou ^noa ahat > ZeanAp Tursued
Irs? Ic|ee?
p>f Chaster could onl] get ]ou in that Tose > thin^ he could Zaê
soZething of itp? (itgerald)
281
???maZes and the other eight children of pSuTerior \ossetpA of ahoZ
there are still five aliveA Za] _e said to have reTresented Victorian
XnglandA aith its TrinciTles of trade and individualisZ at five Ter cent and
]our Zone] _ac^ if ]ou ^noa ahat that Zeans? (alsorthy)
???[nd if it is an] satisfaction to ]ouA ae are not forZall] engaged?
(alsorthy)
The redicative unit to hich the if5clause ould be logically attached
is not Iorally eressed and reains in dee-sense structure:
p???[nd if it is an] satisfaction to ]ouA > can tell ]ou that ae are not
forZall] engaged?p
Linguistic studies oI recent ties have ade it obvious that the
interdeendence oI the clauses in aratais is not absolute.
The logical connection oI the co-ordinated clauses akes it clear that
aarently indeendent clauses are oIten not absolutely indeendent, and
one oI the ilicitly stands in soe graatical relation to the other.
Take, Ior instance, clauses co-ordinated by the disunctive or in such
coosite sentences as:
???[re those ]oursA Iar]s
> don't aear such things??? StoT or >'ll tell the Zissis on ]ou? nut
half the night? (oyce) eStoTA if ]ou don'tA >'ll tell???f
???pYo out? Leave this houseA or >'ll do ]ou an ingur]p? That felloa to
tal^ of inguriesk (alsorthy) Leave this housek >f ]ou don't >'ll???f
FINAL REMARS ON SUBORDINATION
The synseantic character and overlaing relations observed in va
rious tyes oI coosite sentences bear iediate relevance to their
leico-graatical organisation, the otential valency oI connectives
introducing sub-clauses, in articular. Conunctions, adverbs and
conunctive hrases erIor contained syntactic Iunctions oI a rearkable
variety oI tyes.
That is ell knon, Ior instance, as a clause-arker introducing
subect, obect, redicative, attributive clauses and adverbial sub-clauses oI
urose in adverbial clauses oI result, tie, condition and concession that
is Iairly coon as correlated ith other ronoinal or adverbial ords:
so ??? thatA for all thatA noa thatA _ut that?
The use oI that is coon in ehatic atterns ith it is ??? that?
It is to be noted that the traditional classiIication oI conunctions into
coordinative and subordinative ust be taken ith soe oints oI
reservation. Instances are not Ie hen clauses introduced by
subordinative connectives and clauses to hich they are oined are eual in
their Iunctional level. This is the case, Ior instance, ith descritive
attributive clauses or, say, clauses introduced by the coordinative
conunction Ior that very oIten Iunctions as absolutely synonyous ith
the subordinative _ecause?
$>$
In soe atterns ith the subordinative conunction though the oosition
beteen hyotais and aratais coes to be neutralised. The conunction
though can introduce indeendent sentences. Terinal unctuation and
initial caital letters ill ake it clear in the ritten language.
The otential eaning oI a given category is, in Iact, the su oI the
coon arts oI its actual eanings in various contets oI use. An
attet to identiIy soe otential eaning ithout considering all the
actual occurrences oI the category ill be Iutile.
Certain secialised arts oI actual eanings are not covered by a
otential eaning stateent, although in characterising the distributional
value oI a given category these arts are ust as signiIicant as the ore
general coonents.
It is also iortant to reeber that not all the general otential
eaning oI a category ill be relevant in each occurrence.
This, hoever, ust be taken ith uch reservation, Ior indeed it is
hardly ossible to ake otential eaning stateents that ould aly to
each occurrence oI a certain category. The eaningIul segentations ay
vary Iro sentence to sentence.
A distinction that is relevant to one occurrence oI the attern ay
soeties have no bearing at all on another use.
Borderline cases ill be Iound in clauses introduced by the conunctive
ord ahile used in soe contets ith the ilication oI contrast rather
than teoral relations.
iIIiculties oI graatical analysis soeties arise in sentences ith
the coordinative conunctions ]et and so?
Variation in the Iunctional level oI clauses introduced by such
connectives is alays signalled by the leico-graatical organisation oI
the hole sentence, the eaning oI the connective ord itselI, in
articular. hat ay soeties be abiguous in the ritten language is
ade clear in soken language by the terinal auses oI intonation hich
ill alays sho ho the coonents oI the utterance grou theselves
in each contet.
ASYNDETON
There is another tye oI syntactic addition hich gets along ithout
any connection at all. Clauses utaosed in this ay are not attached to
one another in any graatical ay, they sily abut against each other,
they ake contact but are not connected. raar books diIIer in
identiIying the linguistic essence oI such syntactic structures. According to
the traditional angle oI vie, they are classiIied in ost languages into
coound and cole sentences.
A diIIerent aroach is Iound in N. S. Poselov's
U
treatents oI
asyndeton in Russian synta here asyndetic sentences are vieed as a
secial syntactic category ith no iediate relevance to subordination or
coordination.
1
H. C. H o c n e n o n . O rpammarnuecxo npnpoe n npnnnnnax xnaccn]nxannn
eccomsntx cnoxntx npenoxenn. onpoct cnnraxcnca conpemennoro pyccxoro
xstxa. 1956, . 338345.
$>;
This angle oI vie has been taken also in other books and ork-aers
on this secialised toic.
1
The ultilicity oI ays in hich asyndetic sentences are Iored in
any iI not all languages gives, hoever, every reason to say that
sentence-atterns oI this tye in all the variety oI their leico-graatical
organisation can hardly be adeuately described on the hole as irrelevant
to subordination and coordination.
Our survey oI asyndeton in Modern English ith its on seantic
traits and Ieatures oI syntactic arrangeent gives suIIicient evidence to
oint out that in soe tyes oI asyndetic coosite sentences subordinate
relations are uite roinent.
The Iirst to be entioned here are atterns ith the attributive clauses,
soeties reIerred to as contact-clauses, because hat characterises
the is the close contact beteen the antecedent and the clause, e. g.:
}ou don't care a_out theZk The]'re not the giZcrac^ things you and
your friends li#e, _ut the] cost Ze sevent] Toundskp (alsorthy)
>t's a Trett] large thing I'm going on to and I'll need a lot of clever
Zedical advice? (Cronin)
That the criterion oI subordination is relevant to asyndetic sentences
ay ell be illustrated by obect and conditional clauses. Eales are:
be ^nea t!ere were important ideas wor#ing in t!e ot!er man's
Zind? (Cronin)
nld mol]on said !e would wait ??? (alsorthy)
>'Z afraid t!ere's no doubt about it. (alsorthy)
Had I been a mere clod, neither aould > have desired to arite nor
aould ]ou have desired Ze for a hus_and? (London)
Observe also the Iolloing eales oI asyndeton here the close
contact beteen to clauses is suggestive oI causal relations:
TiZoth] aas ver] Toorl]A !e !ad !ad a lot of trouble wit! t!e
c!imney sweep in !is bedroom, t!e stupid man !ad let t!e soot down t!e
c!imney. (alsorthy)
ih]A ]espA she ansaeredA as the Zusic stoTTedA tr]ing to êeT an
even tone to her voice? She aas glad t!ey were wal#ing toward a c!air.
(reiser)
In other tyes oI asyndetic coosite sentences the eaning oI result
or conseuence is uite roinent, e. g.:
iarZthA softnessA lightA a saeet scentA all those things so faZiliar to
her s!e neer een t!oug!t about t!em, she aatched that other receive?
(MansIield)
She had Tut on so Zuch aeight !e would scarcely recognise !er.
(Cronin)
Asyndetic sentences are Iairly coon aIter the introductory it isA e.
g.:
1
See= Ipammarnxa pyccxoro xstxa, r. 2, u. 2, 1954, . 382384. H. H.
3 a n e n a . Tnnt eccomsntx cnoxntx npenoxenn n conpemennom anrnncxom
xstxe. nrope]epar xan. ncc, H., 1955.
$>&
>t is an aTTle she aantsA not a Tear?
A siilar case is Iound in atterns like: ihat is this > hears
As can be seen Iro the above eales the seantic relations
beteen clauses are signalled only by the leical eaning oI the ords
aking u the sentence. And this is one ore eale to illustrate the
interaction beteen vocabulary and synta hich ust never be
overlooked in graatical analysis.
A ord ill be said about asyndetic sentences in hich the relative
ronoun as a subect can be disensed ith (the so-called paToôinoup
rincile).
pThere's a gentleZan doanstairs aishes to see the lad]pA said
[lderson? p>t's her fatherA > thin^pA he added ouietl]? (reiser)
REPRESENTED SPEECH
Reresented seech is a coon device in narrative riting. Syntactic
structures ith reresented seech diIIer in their graatical organisation
and stylistic value.
Intended to eress the character's Ieelings and thoughts,
sychological traits or ental state oI ind through the riter's narration,
they are ost eressive and aIIective.
Reresented seech (Iree reorted seech) does not give the seaker's
eact ords as they ere uttered. In uotation arks, it does not reort the
seakers ords Iro the author's oint oI vie either as the case is in
indirect seech. Reorting an utterance indirectly by back-shiIting the verb
it oits the reorting clauses hich are conventional signals oI indirect
seech.
There are to oints to reeber about the graatical organisation
oI such syntactic structures:
1) the use oI the tenses, the Iuture-in-the-ast in indeendent
sentences, in articular, hich is distinct Iro the direct seech, and the
use oI ersonal ronouns
2) the use oI eclaatory noinal sentences as distinct Iro indirect
seech.
Reresented seech is Iairly coon in 20th century literary rose.
ith soe riters it has develoed into a secial anner oI style.
Structures oI this tye are skilIully used by creative riters. The use oI
Iree indirect seech Ior describing interior onologue has becoe a
very idesread, iI not standard ractice in the Iiction oI the 20th century.
In alsorthy's novels, Ior instance, they are so eIIective and add so uch
to the artistic value oI his ritings that erit secial consideration. They
are alays in character, ell beIitting the ersonality and social standing
oI the character. e Iind here interrogative, vocative sentences, rhetoric
uestions structures oI this kind are not inIreuently introduced into
various dialogues, here the direct and indirect seech are used alongside
ith reresented seech. Translation Iro one Ior to another lends
variety to narration.
285
Eaine the Iolloing etracts Iro . alsorthy to see ho skilIully
these stylistic resources oI synta serve his en:
pwonsoirA Zonsieurkp boa softl] she had said it? To ^noa ahat aas in
her Zindk The French the] aere liê cats one could tell nothingk wut
hoa Trett]k ihat a Terfect ]oung thing to hold in one's arZsk ihat a
Zother for his heirk [nd he thoughtA aith a sZileA of his faZil] and their
surTrise at a French aifeA ana their curiosit]A and of the aa] he aould
Tla] aith it and _uffet it confound theZk The ToTlars sighed in the
dar^nessh an oal hooted? Shadoas deeTened in the aater? p> aill and Zust
_e freepA he thought? p> aon't hang a_out an] longer? >'ll go and see >rene?
>f ]ou aant things doneA do theZ ]ourself? > Zust live again live and
Zove and have Z] _eing?p [nd in echo to that oueer _i_licalit] church5
_ells chiZed the call to evening Tra]er?
e things are so subective as the use oI reresented seech. By a
skilIul use oI its various atterns the riter is able to ily ith eotive
shades oI eaning his on attitude concerning the erson soken to or oI.
NOMINALITY IN ENGLISH SENTENCE-STRUCTURE
Nounal-verbal contrast, vieed in ters oI Iunctional interaction oI
these to aor classes oI ords, is an interesting obect oI linguistic
investigation in any language.
Noun and verbs are organically related and constantly aiding to and
suorting each other in counication. Noinality ust naturally be
distinguished diIIerently in diIIerent languages. English shares this Ieature
ith a nuber oI tongues, but its develoent has led to such signiIicant
idiosyncratic traits as erit secial attention.
In resent-day English the tendency to coactness through
noinality is brought into articular roinence.
The variety oI graatical Iors in noinalisation ay be ell
illustrated by the Iolloing:
a) the etensive use oI one-eber sentences
b) the use oI inIinitival sentences as indeendent units oI
counicative value
c) the Ireuency value oI noun-adunct grous (reodiIication oI
nouns by nouns)
d) coression oI diIIerent tyes oI subclauses by noinalisation
(gerundive, inIinitival, articiial noinals and absolute noinal hrases).
This akes it ossible to do ithout a subclause hich ould be otherise
necessary.
e) diIIerent tyes oI sentence atterning in syntactic structures
introducing the direct seech.
Noinality oI this latter tye resents a secial linguistic interest as
relevant to soe obvious eriheral changes in resent-day English
synta and its stylistic asects.
Syntactic coression is obviously relevant to such robles oI
odern linguistics as seantic asects oI synta, the roble oI ilicit
redication and Ileibility in syntactic hierarchy. The trend to activising
coression leads to laconis and lends variety to seech.
$><
Seantic interretation oI syntactic structures, robles oI ilicit
redication, surIace and dee sense structure are still in a rudientary
stage oI investigation. The to asects oI syntactic descrition
seantic synta and synta oI surIace structures are organically
related to each other but none should be brought to the Iront at the eense
oI the other.
In ters oI content there are hoonyous structural atterns oI
sentences, i. e. atterns identical in their graatical organisation and
diIIerent in ters oI content. And on the other hand, one seantic
sentence attern ay be eressed by diIIerent Ioral sentence atterns.
Involving vocabulary in studying synta hels to distinguish the
seantic arkers hich signal the necessary eaning in each case.
Abiguity is coonly narroed don by the contet, linguistic or
situational. There are also cases hen it is resolved on a san larger than a
sentence.
Ilicit redication in coosite sentences is oIten suggested by the
violation oI direct logical relationshis beteen the elicit arts oI the
sentence. This is the case, Ior instance, in syntactic structures ith
anneation, sentences ith overlaing adverbial relations, syntactic
structures introducing direct seech.
In coression by noinalisation a sentence disenses ith a sub-
clause hich results in closer cohesion oI its eleents and greater con-
density oI the hole sentence structure.
This relative coactness oI the English sentence and the use oI
various condensers as its synonyic alternatives is one oI any syntactic
Ieatures that shos the analytical character oI Modern English.
Synonyic correlation oI sub-clauses and their noinal condensers
erits attention in ters oI graatical asects oI style.
Noinals Iunctioning as synonyic alternatives oI verbal sub-clauses
are in ost cases ell adated to their urose in diIIerent sheres oI
alication.
It ill be helIul to distinguish beteen one-eber and to-eber
structures oI the secondary redication:
Particile I She caZe in and sat doan
at her TlaceA feeling
edceedingl] aatched?
(reiser)
be stood in the roadA wit!
the sun s!ining on hiZ?
(Heingay)
Particile II iholl] deTressed he
started for Thirteenth
Street? (reiser)
bis rifle fell _] hiZ and la]
there aith one of the Zan's
fingers taisted through the
trigger guard
(Heingay)
InIinitive wrian laughed to thin^ of it?
(Sillitoe)
\rouet aas aaiting for
Carrie to come bac#.
(reiser)
erund be aound uT _] sa]ing he
aould thin^ it overA and
caZe aaa]? (reiser)
$>@
Absolute wac^ in the hutA he
Phrase saitched the tuning dial
froZ its allotted
aavelength to find soZe
ZusicA hoTing no Tlane
aould choose to send
and SnS ahile he aasn't
listening? (Sillitoe)
The noinal tendency erits consideration in the use oI reositional
hrases.
The ultilicity oI ays in hich such hrases ay be cobined in
actual usage erits a very large nubers oI atterns to be built in
resent-day English. On diIIerent linguistic occasions a reositional
noinal hrase can erIor diIIerent Iunctions, secondary redication, in
articular.
A rearkable range oI uses ill be observed in noinal hrases ith
the reosition aith?
iith (AS. aithA againstA toaardsA oTTositef?
In general, aith renotes a relation oI roiity, contiguity, or
association. In various alications aith-hrases ay indicate: 1)
oosition, being euivalent to againstA as to fight aith the eneZ]h 2)
association oI a recirocal kind or by ay oI articiation in an action or
transaction, as to tal^ aith friendsh 3) association in the ay oI
coarison, euality or saeness, as in on eoual terZs aith anotherh 4)
association as obect oI attention or concern, as in Tatient aith childrenh 5)
association by ay oI alliance, assistance or harony, as on friendl] terZs
aith all nationsh 6) association in resect oI shere hence in the
estiation, sight or oinion oI, e. g.: their arguZents had aeight aith hiZh
7) causal connection, as in to Terish aith hungerh e]es diZ aith tearsh 8)
attendance by ay oI anner, urose, result, condition, etc. 9)
association by ay oI ossession, care, or attribute, e. g.: to arrive aith
good neash 10) association by ay oI addition, as in he caZe aith his
studentsh 11) association in the ay oI siultaneity, as in change aith
]earsh 12) searation.
Eaine the Iolloing sentences hen the noinal hrase is used
ith the ilication oI various adverbial eanings in secondary
redication:
The countr] aas still living on its caTital? iith the collaTse of the
carr]ing trade and XuroTean ZarêtsA the] aere iZTorting food the]
couldn't afford to Ta] for???
iith shiTTing idleA concerns Zaîng a loss all over the TlaceA and the
uneZTlo]ed in saarZsA it aas a Trett] Tair of shoesk Xven insurance Zust
suffer _efore long??? (alsorthy)
Unconsciousl] she had assuZed a Zodern attitudeA aith one leg
taisted in and out of the otherA aith her chin on one _ent aristA her other
arZ across her chestA and its hand hugging her el_oa? (alsorthy)
bis rifle fell _] hiZ and la] thereaith one of the Zan's fingers taisted
through the trigger guardA his arist _ent foraard? (Heingay)
$>>
Soe graarians ehasise that noinality: a) hels iersonality
and oIIers advantage to scientiIic English b) that it is easier to rite
and c) that it is thus natural Ior those ho are ore concerned ith
hat they say than ith ho they say it
U
? The latter stateent is
hoever oen to doubt and uestioning.
It ould be rong to say that noinality is a sile substitution. It is
also not a variable hich can itselI vary ithout causing variation in the
other signiIicant Iactors oI style.
Nuerous eales can sho that noinal structures are oIten ost
aIIective, colourIul and ell adated to their urose in ictorial or
otherise ehatic style. They are less vivid and dynaic than verbal
sentences, yet still graceIul and strong.
Coare the Iolloing:
wirds aere singing? wirds aere in varied song?
[TTle5trees aere _looZing? [TTle5trees aere in fullest _looZ?
be thought deeTl]? be aas in deeT thought?
She aas all treZ_ling? She aas all in a treZ_leA
She aas all fluttering? She aas all in a flutter?
The ToolA forZed _] the daZZing of a rocÂ had a sand] _ottoZh and
the _ig aTTle treeA loaest in the orchardA grea so close that its _oughs
alZost overhung the aaterh it aas in leaf, and all but in flower its
criZson _uds gust _ursting? (alsorthy)
bis cousin mune and coZing straight to his recessk She sat doan
_eside hiZA deep in t!oug!t, too^ out a ta_let and Zade a Tencil note?
(alsorthy)
She aas all in a tremble of edciteZent and oTTosition as she sToê?
(reiser)
???Hoses on the veranda aere still in bloom, and the hedges
evergreen??? (alsorthy)
be crossed the floor and looêd through the farther aindoa at the
aater sloa5floaing Tast the lilies? &irds were in aried song???
(alsorthy)
A ord ill be said, in assing, about transositions oI English nouns
into adectives here they are ready to do another duty. e ean
rendering the idea oI uality through the relationshi oI one obect to the
other:
a) the so-called genitivus ualitatis, synonyous ith adectives
roer and oIten used to obtain eressive nuances Ior secial stylistic
uroses in ictorial languages, e. g.:
Fleur sat doanh she felt aea^ in the legs? The ice seeZed suddenl] of
an aTTalling thinness the aater aTTallingl] cold? (alsorthy)
b) noinal hrases N I
selI
a stylistic alternative oI the absolute
suerlative degree (so-called elative), e. g.:
Ir? cicâic^ is îndness itself?
}ou are Tatience itself }ou are Zost Tatient? She
aas Trudence itself x She aas Zost Trudent?
Phrases oI this sort are ore IorceIul and eressive than the
resecitive adective in the suerlative degree. Such structures oI
redication
1
See= T h. Sebeok. Style in Language, 1960. . 210211. 19

289
are good evidence oI the Iact that uality in soe cases can be eressed
ore eIIectively by a noun than an adective. c) noun-hrases all u N:
She is all TatienceA ]ou're all activit]? She
is all goodness eCf? She is ver] goodf? be is
all nerves? eCf? be is ver] nervousf?
irect seech is oIten introduced by noinal hrases oI diIIerent
tyes. The reIerence Ior such coactness is no coonlace.
A Ie tyical eales oI such coactness here redication ith
verbs oI saying is ilicit are:
pCoZe onA Z] ladA let's have ]ou doanp? [nd again= p[re ]ou goin' to
get doan or aren't ]ousp
p>'ll fallp his arZs _are and the nec^ sliTT] aith saeat?
pò ]ou aon'tp? (Sillitoe)
e???he saidA his arZs _are and the nec^ sliTT] aith saeatf
???pihat's ]our naZeA lovesp [ straight ansaerA as if she didn't Zind
telling hiZ= pXdnap? (Sillitoe)
pbe] uTA îdAp onl] a glance? (Sillitoe)
ehe too^ a glance and saidf
???pShall ae go along herep Tointing to ahere the footTath forêdA
through a Zeadoa and uT the hill? (Sillitoe)
e???she said Tointing to???f
And here are a Ie eales oI noinal sentences ith the absolute
use oI verbal nouns (nornina actionis or noina acti) transIored into
indeendent sentences oI counicative value, in atterns like the
Iolloing:
nne sZileA and she stoTTed arguing?
[ cr]A or had she dreaZed its (alsorthy)
nne TushA and he aas standing insideA _reathlessA aiTing his feet?
(Sillitoe)
The tendency to ord redication noinally rather than verbally is
decidedly on the increase in resent-day English. This outstanding Ieature
characterises the odern English sentence as a hole.
A sentence disenses ith a sub-clause hich undoubtedly results in
closer cohesion oI its eleents such cohesion is euivalent to a greater
condensity oI the hole sentence structure groued around one single
neus oI subect and redicate. The relations oI at least soe sentence
eleents to this central neus are oIten oI rather cole character.
The student oI English as a Ioreign language Iinds any diIIiculties in
astering the eculiarities oI various tyes oI coression in sentence
structure diIIerent Iro ractice in other languages.
The diIIerence beteen the synthetic and analytical graatical
structure is ell knon to be reIlected in synta. The osition oI the ords
in the sentence is graaticalised to a uch higher degree in analytical
than in synthetic languages. But the highly Iied ord-order is not the only
syntactic Ieature that shos the analytical character oI Modern English.
This is also reIlected in the relative coactness oI the Modern
290
English sentence and the use oI various condensers as its synonyic
alternatives.
The idioatic character oI coactness in the graatical
organisation oI the English sentence is diIIerent Iro ractice in other
languages.
GRAMMAR AND STYLE
ith the eansion oI linguistic interest into style robles
graatical studies in our day have taken on ne vitality.
Analysing the language Iro the vieoint oI the inIoration it
carries e cannot restrict the notion oI inIoration to the cognitive asect
oI language. Connotative asects and eotional overtones are also
iortant seantic coonents oI linguistic units at diIIerent levels.
raatical Iors lay a vital role in our ability to lend variety to
seech, to give colour to the subect or evaluate it, to convey the
inIoration ore eotionally, to give it aIIective overtones.
Style in language is a syste oI organically related linguistic eans
hich serve a deIinite urose oI counication.
In highly develoed languages one and the sae idea ay be
diIIerently eressed in diIIerent consituations. On various occasions a
seaker akes an intentional use oI soe linguistic Iors to give
ehasis to hat is ehatic, to ake hat is striking and iortant
strike the eye and ind oI the reader. This urose ay be attained in
any diIIerent ays.
The stylistic range oI Russian and Ukrainian is ide and ultiately the
gradations are inIinite. And so it is ith English. hen e are utting
ords together, e have to see that they are congruous ith the
eectations at soe oint on this scale and that they are arranged
according to the conventions oI collocation ith reIerence to the sae
oint on the scale.
Intensity and ehasis ay be obtained in diIIerent ays.
There are eressive eans in any language established by right oI
long use at diIIerent levels: honetic, orhological, leical,
hraseological and syntactic.
Eressive nuances ay be obtained, Ior instance, by rosody alone,
by interections and articles oI ehatic recision or, say, by ord-
aking, etc.
The selection oI such linguistic devices is a Iactor oI great signiIicance
in the act oI counication. Phonetic eans are ost eIIective. By
rosody e eress subtle nuances oI eaning that erhas no other
eans can attain. Pitch, elody and stress, ausation, draling out certain
syllables, hisering and any other ays oI using the voice are uch
stronger than any other eans oI intensiIying the utterance, to convey
eotions or to kindle eotions in others.
On the orhological level eressivity is oIten attained by eIIective
transositions oI graatical Iors the stylistic value oI hich can
hardly be overestiated.
291
The robles oI style in graar are still in a rudientary stage oI
investigation. Recent linguistic studies have contributed signiIicantly to
the eloration oI graatical asects oI style but uch still reains to
be done to give the inventory oI graatical Iors ith relevance to their
connotation and eressive value.
In any seech event the structure oI the utterance naturally deends on
the revalent denotative Iunction, but the articiation oI the other Iactors
ust be taken into consideration as ell.
The coonents oI graatical eaning that do not belong to the
denotation oI the graatical Ior can reasonably be covered by the
general ter oI connotation. As a atter oI Iact, stylistic diIIerentiation in
the hole variety oI any language belongs in its leical and graatical
results to the category connotation.
1
The variety oI eressive Ieatures
that ay be incororated in language, hether ritten or soken, is
aniIestly enorous.
On the connotative level, e ay distinguish, at least to a orkable
degree, the coonents oI the graatical eaning that add soe
contrastive value to the riary denotative value oI the ord-Ior. e
ean intensity oI eaning, eressivity, subective odal Iorce or
eotional colouring.
The validity oI the connotative analysis akes itselI uite evident. And
this is based not only on theoretical considerations, but also on ractical
ones.
It ould be thereIore a istake to deny the constitutive value oI
stylistic graar as art oI Iunctional stylistics, hose iortant goal is
to deely inuire into the graatical asects oI style and describe those
characteristic stylistic traits oI language that lie in the Iield oI graar.
These are ost skillIully astered by creative riters but oIten
disregarded, iI not absolutely ignored, by graarians.
Eaining the organisation oI the tet along the syntagatic ais e
cannot avoid consideration oI the selection in the distribution oI its
linguistic eleents.
reat riters ossess an intuitive astery oI the rules that are
obligatory ithin the tradition oI language but they have alays selective
ay and can aniulate these rules in accordance ith their on artistic
intentions and surass the liits rescribed by tradition. . alsorthy, Ior
instance, uses graatical iagery in his orsyte Saga so asterly that
soe oI its ages are, indeed, diIIicult to lace in rose oetry
dichotoy.
In ters oI graatical asects oI style, e Iind it reasonable to
distinguish beteen inherent and adherent eressivity oI graatical
Iors.
raatical Iors ith inherent eressive value are stylistically
arked units oI graar. In English orhology they are Ie in nuber.
The Iirst to be entioned here are the ehatic Iors oI the Present
1
See= H. E n t m c n e n. Hponeroment x reopnn xstxa. c.: onoe n
nnnrnncrnxe. tn. 1, ., 1960.
292
and Past IndeIinite ith do and did and the ehatic Iors oI the
Ierative Mood ith the auiliary do?
There are also variant Iors oI the Past tense ith ehasis laid on
negation hich are also stylistically arked: he saa not he did not seeh
he ^nea not x he did not ^noa? Eales are:
The] Tassed froZ his viea into the nedt rooZA and SoaZes continued
to regard the pFuture ToanpA _ut saa it not? [ little sZile snarled uT his
tiTs?
?.. The tune died and aas reneaedA and died againA and still SoaZes
sat in the shadoaA aaiting for he ^nea not ahat? (alsorthy)
???and on the gleaZing river ever] fallen leaf that drifted doan carried
a Zoon_eaZh ahileA a_oveA the trees sta]edA ouiet Zeasured and
illuZinedA ouiet as the ver] s^]A for the aind stirred not? (alsorthy)
The sae is true negative Iors oI the Ierative Mood ithout the
auiliary do?
ò use to ravek iorse than no use farh aould onl] Zaê hiZ illA
and he aould aant all his strength? For ahats For sitting stillh for doing
nothingh for aaiting to seek Venusk Touch not the goddess the hotA the
gealous one aith the lost dar^ e]esk be had touched her in the TastA and
she had ansaered aith a _loa? Touc! !er not) (alsorthy)
Cf? Touch her not ~ \o not touch herk x \on't touch herkf?
There are also archaic Iors in the conugation oI the English verb
belonging to the high style only, e. g. 5th Ior the third erson singular,
Present Indicative: endethA livethA ^noaethA saithA dothA hathA etc.
???The Zoon's hidingA noaA _ehind on of the elZsA and the evening star
shining??? >t's a night far froZ our tiZeA far even froZ our aorld? òt an
oal hootingA _ut the hone]suc^le still saeet? [nd soA Z] Zost dearA here
endet! the talek (alsorthy)
The sae is true oI the Iors in 5st Ior the second erson singular oI
both the Present and the Past Indicative, e. g,: livestA ^noaestA sa]stA dostA
livedstA ^neaestA saidstA didstA hadstA etc. and the Iors shaltA ailtA art aert
(or aastf oI the verbs shallA aillA be used ith the ersonal ronoun thou?
A certain nuber oI verbs have alternative archaic Iors diIIering
Iro the ordinary ones by a distinct solen colouring oI elevated style, e.
g.: sTaêA Ior sToê (Past tense oI the verb sTea^fh throve Ior thrived (Past
tense oI the verb thrivef?
The selection oI linguistic eans is a Iactor oI great signiIicance in the
act oI counication.
ro the stylistic oint oI vie, soe graatical Iors are neutral,
others are not. There are Iors hich have a noticeable stylistic colouring
and ill roduce an inaroriate eIIect hen used outside their shere oI
stylistic usage. There are also a Ie nouns hich have alternative archaic
lural Iors, e. g. _rethren (diIIering Iro _rother not in stylistic
colouring alone) or, say, coaA ith its alternative archaic lural Ior îne
used ith a oetic tinge.
A Iar greater interest attaches to graatical Iors ith adherent
eressivity i. e. Iors hich are endoed ith eressive Iunctions only
in secial contets oI their use.
293
This uestion naturally involves any others, such as, Ior instance,
Iunctional transositions oI graatical Iors leading to their Iunctional
re-evaluation, susension oI oositions and contetual synonyy in
graar.
It is interesting to note, in assing, that not all graatical Iors are
eually endoed ith eressive Iunctions to be erIored in diIIerent
contets. Soe oI the are less dynaic in their use, others ossess uite
a eculiar obility and are articularly suitable Ior use in eotional
contets ith various subtle shades oI eressive eaning.
Transositions in graar like those in the vocabulary lead the ay to
ever ore dynaic and ictorial eans oI eression, they are rather
regular in the structure oI any language. Closely related to the oositions
in airs oI graatical Iors they have their on syste and eculiarities
in the graar oI diIIerent arts oI seech.
It can be said ith little Iear oI eaggeration that due to Iunctional
transositions the stylistic range oI graar in ost develoed odern
languages is surrisingly ide. e kno ell the Iull richness and the
eotive dynaic Iorce oI Russian and Ukrainian graatical Iors
concerned ith the subective eotional use oI diIIerent arts oI seech.
And so it is ith English. It has a very deIinite and cole graar
ith its on set oI devices Ior handling the ord-stock, ith its on
stylistic traits and idiosyncrasies idely current to serve diIIerent uroses
in the act oI counication. In transositions on its orhological level
e ay Iind not only its on structural eculiarities but a Iair nuber oI
universal Ieatures traced in other languages.
ro this oint oI vie the connotative value oI graatical Iors as
develoed in diIIerent contets oI their subective use is a source oI
constant interest.
Here are a Ie grahic eales to illustrate the Iact that on the
connotative level a graatical Ior ay take on secial subective
shades oI eaning, stylistically diIIerent Iro its riary denotative
content:
pie [Zericans agree? wut Za] _e not our Senate?p ' 'That Senate of
]ourspA Zuttered bu_ertA pseeZs to _e a Trett] hard TroTosition?p
(alsorthy)
pThat dog of ]ours is sToiling the garden? > shouldn't êeT the dogA if >
aere ]ou?p (alsorthy)
- That face of hersA ahose e]es for a ZoZent aere off guardA aas dar^
aith soZe deeT he couldn't tell? (alsorthy)
The contet is alays suIIiciently elicit to reveal the eotive use oI
the artitive genitive hich in atterns ith the deonstratives this or that
ay develo connotative eanings denoting diIIerent eotions: scorn,
contet, indignation, adiration, delight, aroval, etc.
Vivid eales oI connotative eanings deIined by the contet or
situation ill also be Iound in the eressive use oI deonstrative
ronouns:
???he Terfectl] reZeZ_ered hoa [unt [nnA _orn in UA used to tal^
a_out pthat dreadful wonaTarte ae used to call hiZ wone]A Z] dear?p
(alsorthy)
I had a _rain aave aent to that Ir? Iont aho gave us the clothesA
and he's advanced it?p (alsorthy)
$9&
p[n]thing unTleasantA duc^]sp SoaZes looêd uT as if startled?
pUnTleasants ih] should it _e unTleasantsp
p> onl] thought froZ ]our face?p
SoaZes grunted? pThis Huhrkp he said? (alsorthy)
>t aas that sister \oris She got hold of hiZ? (MansIield)
The coon Iunction oI the deonstrative ronouns this theseh
thai those is to oint out eactly one or ore ersons or things and to
distinguish the Iro others oI the sae class.
Language varies as its Iunction varies it diIIers in diIIerent
situations. The nae no oIten given to a variety oI language
distinguished according to its use is register.
The category oI register is needed hen e observe language
activity in the various contets in hich it takes lace and Iind
diIIerences in the tye oI language selected as aroriate to diIIerent
tyes oI oIIicial letters and docuents or, say, sorts coentaries,
oular ournalis or scientiIic English ill alays be linguistically uite
distinct. Reading a Iragent Iro any oI these and any ore
situation tyes ill alays hel to identiIy the register correctly.
The choice oI ites Iro the rong register, and the iing oI ites
Iro diIIerent registers, are aong the ost Ireuent istakes ade by
non-native seakers oI a language.
The criteria oI any given register are to be Iound in its graar and
in its vocabulary. Leical Ieatures see to be the ost obvious. The
clearest signals oI a artial register, say, biology, cheistry,
engineering or edicine, are scientiIic technical ters ecet those
that belong to ore than one science, like atheatics and odern
linguistics.
Purely graatical distinctions beteen the diIIerent registers are
less striking, yet there can be noticeable variation in graar also.
Many oI the ost characteristic stylistic traits oI the language are
in the Iield oI graar.
Standard usage oI English includes Ioral, inIoral and soeties
collouial English. Each oI these, in turn, oIIers its on set oI criteria.
Thus, Ioral scientiIic English, here recision and clarity are vital,
is generally identiIied by secial atterns oI graatical structure,
by its use oI cole sentences and by its aIIinity Ior recision. Most
oI its graatical eleents are denotative, not connotative.
ScientiIic technical literature, Ior instance, abounds in the use oI
lengthy articiial, gerundial and inIinitival hrases. Another noticeable
Ieature oI scientiIic English, Ior eale, is the reIerable use oI the
iersonal oneA the generalising ]ouA so called luralis odestial aeA or,
say, the use oI aould Ior all ersons in Singular and Plural to denote
habitual reeated actions ith reIerence to resent, ast and Iuture.
Not less characteristic is the Ireuency value oI assive verbal Iors,
generally due to the Iact that the agent is unknon or the riter reIers
not to seak oI hi. Thus the author ay also avoid shoing that he
hiselI is the agent. In its ritten Ior, Ioral English allos no
reetition, no rehrasing to elain an abstruse oint. The choice oI
atterns in scient i Ii c rose is thereIore likely to be ost Iactual and
reIerential ith coaratively Ie subective eotional eleents in it.
oral English
295
is very seldo used in seaking ainly hen, Ior instance, reading
Iro a reared seech, addressing a eeting, a grou or an association
oI scholars. It is also coon in legal docuents and announceents,
in ork-aers, in roceedings, essays, etc.
Collouial English is generally recognised by its loose synta, its
relatively short and uncolicated sentence structure, by its Ireuent
use oI so-called sentence Iragents and readily understood graatical
idios. It is lively, Iree in Ior, oIten eclaatory, abounding in
ellisis.
Many oI its idioatic atterns oI graatical structure are
unaccetable as standard Ior inIoral literary usage.
Here is a short assage that illustrates the degree to hich .
alsorthy, alert oI ind and uick oI ear, succeeded in asterly
transIerring to his age the very essence and attern oI staccato seech in
collouial English:
pballok??? That ]ouA iilfrids??? Iichael sTeaîng??? nne of our
Tacêrs has _een snooTing coTies of pCoTTer Coinp? be's got the _ird ~
Toor devilk > aondered if ]ou'd Zind Tutting in a aord for hiZ old \an
aon't listen to Ze??? }esA got a aife Fleur's ageh TneuZoniaA so he sa]s?
ion't do it again aith ]ours an]aa]A insurance _] coZZon gratitude
ahatk Than^sA old ZanA aafull] good of ]ou aill ]ou _o_ inA thensp
(alsorthy)
Consider also the Iolloing eales:
pwurt Zust _e uT aith IichaelA talîng a_out his nea _oo^?p
p iriting at his agesp said SoaZes?
p iellA duc^]A he's a ]ear ]ounger than ]ou?p
p> don't arite? òt such a fool? Yot an] Zore nea5fangled friendssp
pmust one Yurdon IinhoA the novelist?p
p[nother of the nea schoolsp
pnhA noA deark Surel] ]ou've heard of Yurdon Iinhoh he is older than the
hills??? (alsorthy)
p???}ou aere in the aarA Ir? \esertsp
pnhA ]es?p
p[ir servicesp
p[nd line? wit of _oth?p
pbard of a Toet?p
pòt at all???p (alsorthy)
Consider also the Iolloing eale:
...here to
Class.
Math
No, Sanish.
In a hurry
Rather.
hat Ior
Alost ten.
ell, so long. Call e u
l
.
1
A. H. Marckardt. Introduction to the English Language. Ne York, 1950, . 146.
$9<
The style oI the language oI everyday liIe, or collouial language,
ansers the needs oI everyday counion in everyday atters. It is
essentially a dialogue in hich all the articiants echange their
thoughts Ireely. Situation, gesture, intonation hel the unabiguous
understanding, thereIore there is no great need Ior the seech to be very
eact, very clear. e oIten liit ourselves ith ere hinting, and the Iull
eressions oI thought ay see edantic. The vocabulary is neither
very rich nor reIined, e oIten recur to non-standard layers oI language.
The structure oI sentence is sile, oIten ellitical to the utost. The
enunciation is negligent and contracted Iors revail.
Bernard Sha has very ittily soken on Soken English and
Broken English:
...no to native seakers oI English seak it alike but erhas you
are clever enough to ask e hether I yselI seak it in the sae ay.
I ust conIess at once that I do not. Nobody does, I a at resent
seaking to an audience oI any thousands oI graohonists, any
oI ho are trying hard to Iollo y ords syllable by syllable. II I
ere to seak to you as carelessly as I seak to y iIe at hoe, this
record ould be useless and iI I ere to seak to y iIe at hoe as
careIully as I a seaking to you, she ould think that I as going
ad.
As a ublic seaker, I have to take care that every ord I say is heard
distinctly at the Iar and oI the large halls containing thousands oI
eole. But at hoe, hen I have to consider only y iIe ithin si
Ieet oI e at breakIast, I take so little ains ith y seech that very
oIten instead oI giving e the eected anser, she says on't uble
and don't turn your head aay hen you seak. I can't hear a ord you are
saying. And she also is a little careless. Soeties I have tosayhat
to or three ties during our eal and she susects e oI groing deaIer
and deaIer and deaIer, though she does not say so, because, as I a no
over seventy, it ight be true.
No doubt I ought to seak to y iIe as careIully as I should seak
to a ueen, and she to e as careIully as she ould seak to a king. e
ought to but e don't. (on't by the ay is short Ior do not).
e all have coany anners and hoe anners. II you ere to
call on a strange Iaily and listen through the keyhole not that I
ould suggest Ior a oent that you are caable oI doing such very
unladylike or ungentleanlike thing but still iI, in your
enthusias Ior studying languages you could bring yourselI to do it ust
Ior a Ie seconds to hear ho a Iaily seak to one another hen
there is nobody else listening to the, and then alk into the roo
and hear ho very diIIerently they seak in your resence, the change
ould surrise you...
Suose I Iorget to ind y atch, and it stos. I have to ask
soebody to tell e the tie. II I ask a stranger, I say hat o'clock is
it The stranger hears every syllable distinctly. But iI I ask y iIe,
all she hears is clokst. This is good enough Ior her but it ould not
be good enough Ior you. So I a seaking to you no uch ore
careIully than I seak to her but lease don't tell her
297
The aesthetic and eotional iact roduced by a ork oI literature
is largely conditioned by the alternative choices oI graatical Iors.
The connotative analysis ust essentially involve the identiIication oI
the various diensions along hich essages ay diIIer.
Re v i s i o n Ma t e r i a l
Revie your knoledge oI coordination and subordination in
coosite sentences in Modern English and be ready to discuss:
a) the roble oI classiIication oI these to tyes oI sentence
structure
b) the synseantic value oI coordinated clauses overlaing
relations in diIIerent tyes oI such atterns
c) sub-clauses oI diIIerent tyes eculiarities oI their graatical
organisation in Modern English the synseantic value oI diIIerent
tyes oI sub-clauses
d) transosition and Iunctional re-evaluation oI syntactic structures
e) robles oI ilicit redication
I) neutralisation oI oositions in atterns oI subordination
g) transIorations in sentence seuences
h) coression oI sub-clauses by noinalisation.
INDEX OF GRAMMATICAL POINTS TREATED
Absolute coarative, 91, 92
Absolute suerlative, 91, 92
Absolute synonys, 53
Abstract nouns, 4, 74, 94
Active voice, 118, 119
Actual division oI the sentence, 199
208
Adective:
base, 89, 90
derived, 89, 90
lace oI adectives, 190, 237
ualitative, 89
relative, 89 Adverb, orheic
structure, 164, 165
searable adverbs, 165
Adverbial use oI nouns, 77, 78
Adverbial aduncts, 194, 195
Adverbial clauses:
oI cause, 267,
oI concession, 274277
oI condition, 270273
oI anner and coarison, 277,
278
oI lace, 268
oI urose, 214
oI result, 273, 274
oI tie, 269, 270 Abiguity, 40,
41, 45, 47, 50, 68, 152,
153, 190, 195, 228233, 237, 287
Alloorh, 60 Analytical Iors, 64
Anahoric to, 219 Archaic Iors, 55,
160, 293 Article, 8488
contrasting use oI the article, 86
deIiniteness indeIiniteness, 84,
85
generalisation concretisation, 84,
85
stylistic Iunctions oI the article,
86, 87
the use oI the article in
substantivation, 9698 Asect:
actions oI single occurrence, 134
136,
coon ~ rogressive, 130
ingression (inchoative asect), 130,
132
reeated actions, 132134
Asyetry, 46, 180, 221
Asyndeton, 252, 283285
Attribute, 189190
Attributive bond, 189
Attributive clauses
continuative, 265, 266 restrictive,
265, 266 synonyic alternatives oI
attributive clauses, 266277
Back-Ioration, 103
Be:
auiliary, 106
coulative, 106
reresentative, 106, 217220
Can and could, 114, 115
Case, 7883
Category oI state, 166
Causative, 131, 153
Cognate obect, 193, 194
Cohesion, 287, 290
Collouial English, 87, 296
Counicative unit, 169, 170
Coarative 'elatives', 92
Coarison, 9095
Coletive bond, 189
Cole sentence, 253
Coosite sentence, 252257
Coound redicate, 186
Coound sentence, 253
Coression by noinalisation, 289
291, 265, 267, 270, 272, 274
Concord, 176 Conunctive adverbs, 260
Connotation, 47, 51, 53, 115, 292, 295
Consituation, 49, 127, 160163, 172
Contact clauses, 252 Contet,
signiIicance in udging, 37
42, 91, 184, 287
Contet-sensitive, 32, 195, 272, 273, 287
Conversion, 68, 69 Covert graar, 80
Current relevance, 150
299
ee sense-structure, 32, 273
enotation, 3742, 45, 47
irect obect, 190194
iscourse analysis, see Tet-linguistics
istribution, 29, 69
o:
auiliary verb, 248
ehatic auiliary, 106, 107, 248
halI-auiliary verb, 105106
notional verb, 248
sei-auiliary, 247
substitute, 217220
oublets, 55, 58 urative
asect, see Asect
Ellisis, 212
Ehasis, 4952, 9698, 117, 220
225
Ehatic verb-Iors, 106, 107
Eressivity:
adherent, 291298
inherent, 291298
actitive obect, see Cognate obect
ield structure, 4245
initude non-Iinitude, 99, 100
or-ord, see unction-ord
oral English, 87
ree orhee, 61
oreign lural, 76, 77
ree indirect seech, see Reresented
seech
unction-ord, 31, 62, 69, 71, 105
uturity, 154159
unctional re-evaluation oI
graatical Iors, 45
unctional sentence ersective,
see Actual division oI the sentence
enerative graar, 34 et-
assive, 119, 125 o, verb-
intensiIier, 106, 107, 223 oing to-
Iuture, 157, 158 radable eaning,
91 raee, 61 raatical
category, 61 raatical
colligation (collocation), 234249
Habitual action, 138 HalI-
auiliary verbs, 130134
Head-ord, 234236 Historic
resent, 141 Hoonyy,
constructional, 228233
;%%
inIlectional, 68
interaradigatic, j
Hyotais, 252280
Idio, graatical, 81, 118, 121, 132,
158
Idioatic sentences, 225228
Idiosyncrasy, 286, 294, 201 Iediate
constituent (IC's analysis),
29, 187, 188, 189 Ierative
ood, 108, 109 Ierative
odality, 108, 109 Ierative
sentences, 270273 Ilicit
redication, 281, 282 Ilied
lurality, 72, 78 Included clause,
254 Included sentence, 254
Incongruity, 228233 IndeIinite
subect, 184 InIlection, 31, 63, 101,
102 InIoral English, 291298
Inner obect, see Cognate obect
Intensity, 90, 92, 220, 291298
Intonation, 31, 291 Intransitive
verbs, 190, 193 Introductory
subect, see Subect Inversion, 110,
195, 198 It:
anticiatory, 185
it is..., it as..., see actual division
oI the sentence Iterative
asect, see Asect
Kernel sentence, 33
Leical collocation, 174 Leico-
graatical erihrasis, 181, 182
Maor synta, 170
Minor synta, 170
Modal verbs:
riary Iunctions, 111 118
secondary Iunctions, 111118
Modality, 11114, 172, 173, 186, 291
298 Mood, 107
111
echanistic analysis, 187
entalistic analysis, 187
ModiIication, 65 Morhology:
aradigatics, 60
subect-atter oI orhology, 60
syntagatics, 60
Must, 112, 113
riary Iunctions, 112, 113
secondary Iunctions, 112, 113
Neus oI derecation, 18, 40, 181
Notional verbs, 105
Non-ehatic ehatic, 106
Non-graatical, 220
Non-ast tense, 138
Non-rogressive, 101
Non-erIective, 149, 150
Noinal redicate, 186
Noinality:
inIinitival noinal, 262274
gerundive noinal, 262274
articiial noinal, 265274
Noun:
noun-deteriner, 70 noun-hrase,
236 noun-adunct grous, 237
adverbial use oI nouns, 77, 78
Not, 48, 217
Nuber, 44, 72
Obect, 190
obect coleents, 190
obective case, see Case
obect relationshi, 194
oI-hrase, 82, 83
One:
general, 44, 184
substitute, 217
One-eber sentences, 208211
One-ord sentences, 171
Oositional relations, 61
binary oosition, 27, 61, 172, 173
trinoic oosition, 61
olynoic oosition, 61
Overt graar, 80
Paradigatics, 60, 175
derivational aradig, 174
orhological aradig, 174
sentence-aradig, 175182
Paratais, 253
Parcelling in sentence-structure, 197, 198
Parts oI seech, 70
Passive, see Active Passive, 118, 119
Passive auiliary, 246
PerIective, 101
Perihrastic Ior, 53
Phase, 155
Phrase, 234249
deIinition, 234236
endocentric, 234
eocentric, 234
Phrasal verbs, 108, 125128, 130136
Plurality, see ield structure
Polysey:
otential olysey, 45, 46
synchronic olysey, 46
Possessive case, 78, 83
Predicate,
tyes oI redicate, 186
Predication, Predicative bond,
189 Predicative clauses, 262
Preosed odiIiers, 236
Prescritive (re-norative)
graar, 11, 12
Present tense:
eclusive resent, 138, 139
ierative odality, 139
inclusive resent, 137
neutral resent, 138, 139
erIective use, 141 Priority,
150 Privative oosition, see
Binary
oosition Progressive
(continuous) tenses:
denotative eaning, 142
ierative odality, 145
ilication oI Iuturity, 145
ualitative eaning, 144
reetitive eaning, 144
Pronouns:
ersonal ronouns, 160
stylistic transosition oI
ersonal ronouns, 160163
Prosody, 31, 222, 240, 291
ualitative genitive, 80 ualitative
eaning, 189, 190, 224, 225
Reresentation, 217220
Reresented seech, 285286
Rhee, 172 Rhetorical
uestions, 221, 222
ScientiIic graar, 13 Secondary arts
oI the sentence, 189 Segentation, 198,
199 Sei-auiliary verbs, 248
Sentence-order, 254 Sentence-substitute,
219220 Searable verbs, 103105
Sentence-structure, 169 Shall and
should, 116118
So, anahoric, 219220
Secialisation, 84
Structural Abiguity, see Abiguity
Structural graar, 2334
Stress, 40, 41, 85
Style, 87
robles oI style in graar, 87,
94, 95, 97, 98 Sub-clause, See
Subordination
301
Subect, deIinition:
the deIinite subect the indeIinite
subect, 184
introductory subect, 185
Subunctive, 107, 108, 110
Subordination, 261282 Substitution,
217220 Substantivation oI adectives,
9698 Substitutes Ior assive, 125
130 Suerlative, 90 Suletive Ior, 63
Sura-hrasal unity, 199, 200 SurIace
structure, 32, 283, 287 Syndetic, 252
Synonyy:
aradigatic synonys, 47, 5255
relative synonys, 53, 54
synonys by Iunction in seech,
47, 5255, 154
stylistic synonys, 53, 54
Synseantics, 71
Syntagatics, 60, 175 Synta:
syntactic categories, 193, 194
syntactic content, 193, 194
syntactic Iors, 193, 194, 195
syntactic Iunctions, 175
syntactic hierarchy, 175
Syntactic ood, 172 Synthetic
Iors, 63, 64
Taonoic classes oI ords, j
Thee, 172
Tetlinguistics, 199
Tense, 137159
TransIorational graar. 33
TransIor, 33, 34, 192, 193
Transitivity, 190194
Transosition oI graatical Iors, 45
49, 280, 281 regular, 48, 49
stylistic, 48, 49
To-eber (to-nucleus) sentences,
184
Used to, 133
Utterance, 171
Verbal redicate, 186
Verb Iors, 99101
Verb hrases, 130136, 242244
Verbless sentences, 185, 186, 214217
Variant Iors, see oublets
Voice, see Active assive
ord-order, 195, 196
ill/ould, 118, 227
ish-sentences, 280, 281
ith-hrase, 287
ero article, 84
ero (graatical) inIlection, 31
ero-derivative nouns, 135
HXCnIIX`\X\ L>TXH[TUHX
Suggestions ill be ade here Ior Iurther learning, so that the student can Iollo u
various lines oI thought suggested in the book. The reIerence list given belo ill include
not only soe advanced books devoted to teaching English graar, but also, detailed
onograhs and ork-aers on secialised toics hich ill interest the student.
monn . I. 3anepmennocrt xoncrpyxnnn xax xnnenne cnnraxcnuecxo ]opmt.
onpoct xstxosnannx, 1958, N 1.
nannrnuecxne xoncrpyxnnn n xstxax pasnnuntx rnnon. ., 1965.
n p e c x n . . Hen n merot conpemenno nnnrnncrnxn. ., 1966.
p n o n t H. . Crnnncrnxa conpemennoro anrnncxoro xstxa. ., 1973.
xmanona O. C, e n t u y x H. ., Hayuena E. ., u p y m x n- n a . .
O rountx meroax nccneonannx xstxa. ., 1961.
x m a n o n a O. C. K nonpocy o cnonocouerannn n conpemennom anrnncxom
xstxe. Hsnecrnx xaemnn nayx CCC. Orenenne nnreparypt n xstxa, r. 9, ntn. 6,
1950.
x m a n o n a O. C. O ponn cnyxentx cnon n cnonocouerannn. xn.:
oxnat n coomennx (Hncrnryr xstxosnannx xaemnn nayx CCC). tn. 2. .,
1952.
x m a n o n a O. C, n x a n x n I. F. Conpemennte cnnraxcnuecxne
reopnn. ., 1963.
F a p x y a p o n H. C. Crpyxrypa npocroro npenoxennx conpemennoro
anrnncxoro xstxa. ., 1966.
F a p x y a p o n H. C, B r e n n n r . . Ipammarnxa anrnncxoro xstxa.
., 1973.
n n o r p a o n . . Ocnonnte npnnnnnt cnnraxcnca. xn.: Ipammarnxa
pyccxoro xstxa. Hsnecrnx CCC, OH, r. 13, ntn. 6, 1954.
o p o n n o n a I. H. Ouepxn no rpammarnxe anrnncxoro xstxa. ., i960.
Ipammarnxa conpemennoro pyccxoro nnreparypnoro xstxa. ., 1970.
nrano . ., H n a n o n a H.H., Ho]nx H. H. Conpemennt anrnncxn xstx.
., 1956.
1
n y x r e n x o . O. Hopinnxntna rpamarnxa yxpanctxo ra anrnictxo mon.
K., 1960.
n y x r e n x o . . O rax nastnaemtx cnoxntx rnaronax rnna stand uT n
conpemennom anrnncxom xstxe. onpoct xstxosnannx, 1954, N 5.
H n a n o n a H.H. n n npemx n conpemennom anrnncxom xstxe. H., 1961.
H o ] n x H. H. Cnoxnoe npenoxenne n nono-anrnncxom xstxe. H., 1968.
Hprentena . u., F a p c o n a O. ., Bnnxnn . H., F n o x . . Theoretical
English raar. M., 1968.
K o n a n e n x o . E. Hmennte cpecrna ntpaxennx npenxannn. Htnon, 1969.
Konnexrnnnax monorpa]nx op]onornx n cnnraxcnc pyccxoro nnreparypnoro
xstxa. ., 1968.
Konnexrnnnax monorpa]nx Hncrnryra xstxosnannx CCC. ., 1973.
K o p c a x o n . K. The Use oI Tenses. Lvov., 1968.
K o p c a x o n . K. Hep]exrno-nomnpeni ]opmn ra nnpaxennx uaconnx
ninoment n anrnictxi moni. Inosemna ]inonorix, 1965, nnn. 5.
K y p n n o n n u E. Ocnonnte crpyxrypt xstxa: cnonocoueranne n
npenoxenne. xn.: Ouepxn no nnnrnncrnxe. ., 1962.
eroonoriuni nnrannx monosnancrna. 3ipnnx xaemi nayx VC i Knnctxoro
epxyninepcnrery, 1966.
o p o x o n c x a x 3. . Theoretical raar through Practice. L., 1972.
y x n n . . oenn nnyrpennnx cnnraxcnuecxnx cnxse npenoxennx.
onpoct xstxosnannx, 1970, N 4.
y x n n . . Crpyxrypa npenoxenn n nx moenn. ., 1968.
tcnn o conpemennom pyccxom xstxe. Copnnx crare no peaxnne nnorpaona
. . ., 1969. v H o u e n n o n I. I. Koncrpyxrnnnt ananns crpyxrypt
npenoxennx. K., 1971.
C m n p n n n x n . H. op]onornx anrnncxoro xstxa. ., 1955.
C m n p n n n x n . H. Cnnraxcnc anrnncxoro xstxa. ., 1955.
C r e n a n o n K). C. Ocnont xstxosnannx. ., 1966.
;%;
Crpyxrypnt cnnraxcnc anrnncxoro xstxa (nocone no reopernuecxo
rpammarnxe). H., 1972.
Bn e o n a . . Tnnonornx onococranntx npenoxenn na ocnone
xapaxrepa nx napanrm. xn.: Hponemt conpemenno ]nnonornn. Copnnx crare
x 70-nernm . . nnorpaona. ., 1965.
p n e n a . . Hcropnuecxax mop]onornx anrnncxoro xstxa. ., 1959.
p n e n a . . Hcropnuecxn cnnraxcnc anrnncxoro xstxa. ., 1961.
p n e n a . . Ocnonno xapaxrep cnonocouerannx n anrnncxom xstxe.
Hsnecrnx xaemnn nayx CCC, r. 6, ntn. 4, 1947.
p n e n a . . Hpenoxenne n cnonocoueranne. xn.: onpoct
rpammarnuecxoro crpox. ., 1955.
p n e n a . . sanmoornomenne rpammarnxn n nexcnxn n cncreme xstxa.
xn.: Hccneonannx no ome reopnn rpammarnxn. ., 1968.
a c h E. An Introduction to TransIorational raars. Ne York Chicago
San rancisco, 1964.
BlooIield. Language. London, 1969.
Chosky N. Syntactic Structures. The Hague, 1965.
Chosky N. Asects oI the Theory oI Synta. Cabridge, 1965.
Christohersen P. The Articles: a Study oI Their Theory and Use in English.
Coenhagen, 1939.
Cure . O. raar oI the English Language. Ne York, 1935.
eutschbein M. Syste der neuenglischen Synta. Leiig, 1935.
ries Ch. The Structure oI English. London, 1959.
rancis . N. The Structure oI Aerican English. Ne York, 1958.
anshina M. A., Vasilevskaya N. M. English raar. M., 1964.
1 e a s o n H. A. An Introduction to escritive Linguistics. Ne York, 1965.
1 e a s o n H. A. Linguistics and English raar. Ne York, 1965.
Harris . S. Methods in Structural Linguistics. Chicago, 1961.
Harris . S. String Analysis oI Sentence Structure. The Hague, 1962.
Hathaay B. A TransIorational Synta. Ne York, 1967.
Hill A. Introduction to Linguistic Structures. Ne York, 1958.
Hockett C . A Course in Modern Linguistics. Ne York, 1958.
Hook .M., Mathes E. . Modern Aerican raar and Usage. Ne York, 1956.
Ilysh B.A. The Structure oI Modern English. M., 1964.
esersen O. Essentials oI English raar. London, 1933.
esersen O. The Philosohy oI raar. London, 1968. Khaiovich B. S., Rogovskaya
B.I. A Course oI English raar. M., 1967.
Kobrina N. A., Korneyeva. An Outline oI Modern English Synta. M., 1965.
Kruisinga E. A Handbook oI Present-ay English. roningen, 1931.
Lees R. B. The raar oI English Noinalisations. The Hague, 1964.
Long R. The Sentence and Its Parts. Chicago, 1962.
Lukas E. L. Style. London, 1955.
Murrey ., Middleton . The Proble oI Style. OIord, 1955.
Nida E. A. A Synosis oI English Synta. 2nd Ed. The Hague, 1966.
Poutsa H. A. A raar oI Late Modern English. P. II. roningen, 1926.
R o b e r t s P. English Synta. Ne York, 1964.
R o b e r t s P. Patterns oI English. Ne York, 1956.
S a u s s u r e . d e. Cours de linguistiue generale. Paris, 1949.
Scheureghs . Present-ay English Synta. London, 1959.
Sledd . A. Short Introduction to English raar. lenvie, 1956.
Stageberg H. An Introductory English raar. Ne York, 1966.
Stove N. R. The Understanding oI Synta. London, 1937. Strang B.
Modern English Structure. London, 1964. Seet H. A Ne English
raar. OIord, 1955.
Tesniere . Eleents de Syntae structural. Paris, 1959.
arner A. English Style. London, 1961.
hitehall H. Structural Essentials oI English. Ne York, 1956. andvoort R. . A
Handbook oI English raar. 2nd Ed. London, 1963
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