Lecture 1

Theoretical grammar. A preliminary outline. Introduction to morphology.

1. Theoretical grammar. Its goals and major components.
2. Types of grammar: descriptive verses; prescriptive approach.
3. The history of English grammar.
4. Basic concepts of morphological morphemes. Their classification.
5. Paradigmatic and syntagmatic technology.
1. Theoretical grammar as a linguistic science deals with the grammatical structure of the language. Its aim is to
present a theoretical description of a grammatical system that is to scientifically analyse and define grammatical
category and study the mechanism of grammatical formation of utterances out of words in the process of speech
making.
Theoretical grammar consists of two parts or systems: morphology and syntax.
Morphology (Greek morph.-form; logos-knowledge) deal with the word classes, their grammatical categories and
systems or form (paradism) in which this category actually exist.
Syntax (Greek syn.-with; taso-arrange) eximine the way of words combining to form sentences and phrases.
The grammatical structure can be studied : diachronically and synchronically.
When we describe a language from the prescriptive of change we are given diachronic description which is also
known as historical grammar.
A synchronic description offers a representation of a language at a particular moment of time.

2. Types of grammar: descriptive and prescriptive grammar.

In a descriptive grammar a linguist describes what the speaker’s language actually do and say in all their varieties. A
prescriptive linguist will detailed what they should say and write according to the linguistic norms relevant.
A descriptive grammar may report whether a certain form is a part of the standard language,whether it’s more
common in spoken English or whether it occurs in certain regions.
1. He knew more about it than I (sent. is formal)
2. He knew about it more than me. (sent. is informal,contex.)
3. He knew about it more than I did. ( sent. is more neutral)
Prescriptive grammar doesn’t describe but prescribes which forms of a language are good and which are not.
Examples of prescriptive rules are:
1. do not finish a sentence with a preposition;
2. do not split an Infinitive;(I expect to welcome him here shortly -right variant)
3. say “YES” not “YEAH”;
4. say “I don’t want ANY” not “I don’t want NONE”
5. a pronouns must agree in gender and with nouns to which it refers.

3. History of English grammar

English grammar theory has a long tradition. Until the 17-th century the term “grammar” in English meant the study
of Latin. Only of the most earliest and popular Latin grammar in Eglish was published in the 1-st half in the 16-th
century by William Lyly. English grammar which appeared in the 17-th century is Ben Johnson’s grammar and
Charles Buttles’s grammar.
These prenomative described different language phenomena such as classification of parts of speech, the problem of
the number of cases in English and syntactic system.
The age of prescriptive grammar begins in the 2-nd half of the 18-th century. Robert Leuth’s “Short introduction to
English grammar, 1-st publication 1762. The aim of prescriptive grammar was to reduce English to rules and set up
strict rules of language usage. By the end of the 19-th century when the prescriptive grammar have reached it’s level
development the appearance of the scientific grammar became possible.
Henry Sweet - new English grammarian gave a scientific explanation to grammar phenomena and some other new
grammar appeared.
Structural grammarians: Charles Fries, Leo Bullfield, Henry Whitehol began treating the problems of the structure of
English.
Transformational grammar appeared in 1950 in which transformational rules are capable of producing on infinite
number of grammar sentences. This theory was introduce by American linguist Non Chomsky and this theory has
been developed by Zanyk Faleps. The theory of transformational grammar begins by making a distinction between
carnal sentences and their transforms. Carnal sentences are the basic elementary sentences of the language from
which all else are made. Transformational sentences are derived.
Generative-semantics it’s a theory of grammar development as an altern to the transformational generative model. In
this model semantic structure has a generative role. The term was introduce by John Loins.
Textual linguistics. It is the study of a communicative text rather than grammatical sentences. It’s aim is to observe
such devices as coherence and cohesion over a unit larger than a sentence needed theoretical description of the text.
4.The basic unit of morphology
The morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit into which word may be divided.
e.g. readers can be divided into 3 units: read-basical lexical meaning of word; er- expressing the idea of agend
performing an action; s- indicating number that is showing that more than one person is doing this work.
Classification of morphemes. Professors differentiate between a morpheme and a morph.
A morph – the smallest meaningful succassion of phonemes which cannot be divided into any other meaningful units
and which regularly occur in different utterances characterized by the state of complementary distribution.
A morpheme – is a set of morphs and being in the state of complementary distribution. The separate morphs can be
called allomorphs.
Complimentary distribution concerns different environment of formally different morphs which are united by the
same meaning. It means that each morpheme never occurs in the state of the other morpheme. E.g. impatient, illegal,
irregular. –im, -il, -ir, - their meaning is the same which depends on initial sound of a word. These prefixes are morphs
with the same negative meaning.
Please-pleasure-pleasant-same meaning of root.
Two groups of nouns: boy-boys; book-books; box-boxes; ox-oxen; foot-feet; man-men; sheep-sheep. The second
column plural forms are represented by the morpheme of plurality.
4 tree elements, these are: conditional element –the element is the morphological condition one. In the last two
examples the morpheme of plurality is represented by the changing of root vowels (replacive morphs). The ideal
plurality can also be represented by a zero element.
Classification of morpheme. Morpheme can be divided into derivational and inflectional.
Derivational serve to built words and the long side of the change the lexical meaning. They often indicate the change
of the part of speech e.g. beauty-beautiful; to act-actor.
Inflectional morpheme changes the grammatical meaning of the word and they are not used to indicate the part of
speech. E.g. I write- he writes. Sometime the inflectional morpheme acquires a new lexical meaning: force-forces;
spectical-specticals (glasses).
In modern English there is a case when a boundary line between derivational and inflectional morphemes is hard to
find: e.g. -ing write-writing.
Professor Bloch differentiates between two Main types of inflexion: uninterrupted; interrupted.
Affixation and morphemic alteration are called synthetic types or uninterrupted ones. Synthetic inflexion can be alter,
inner, supplitive. Alter: e.g. room-s; child-children. Inner: e.g. drive-drove-driven. Supplitive: I-me; good-better; go-
went.
Interruptive morphemes are analytical ones because they consist of a word which is davoid of any lexical meaning that
is an auxiliary word and a gram. suffix: e.g. has invited; is + ed; is + ing.
According to traditional classification morphemes are divided into root morpheme and affixes. The roots express the
concrete of material part of the meaning of the word. They are lexical morphs. E.g. through out- the root. Affixes
include prefixes : e.g. outlook, outline, outrage, outtalk; and suffixes: e.g. look-out, knock-out, time-out.

5. Paradigmatic and syntagmatic morphology. In present day linguistics the term morphology refers to the study of
the international structure of words and of the systematic form-meaning correspondences between words. Set of
words: A) buy, eat, sell, send, paint; B) buyer, eater, seller, sender, painter. In these sets we observe a systematic
form-meaning correspondence. The words in colon B have an additional part –er and corresponding meaning
difference. The 2-nd sets of words form paradigm. The term paradigm is used to denote a set of linguistic elements
with a common property. All words in A are verbs and form paradigm. So when we speak about morphology of the
systematic form-making correspondence we take a paradigmatic perspective. When morphology is defined as the
study of constituent structure of words we take syntagmatic perspective.
Since the grammar of any natural language is a unity or form-meaning it appears to be generalized in it’s categorical
expression. A grammatical category is a group of self exclusive form classes e.g. boy-boys, datum-data. We have a
singular or plural forms that all together form a grammatical categories of number. The number of grammatical
categories are represented by the grammatical oppositions. The main types are: privative, gradual, equipollent. A
privative opposition is formed by a pair of members one of which is marked and the other is unmarked: e.g. work-
worked (inflexion render the meaning of the past time that’s why the word is marked). A gradual opposition is formed
by a group of members which are distinguished not by the presents or absents but by the degree of it. The category of
degree of comparison of adjective is represented by gradual opposition: e.g. beautiful-more- the most. Equipollent
opposition is formed by a contrastive pair or group in which the members are distinguished by different positive
features: e.g. the verb to be has it’s equivalents am/is/are.
Lecture 2
Grammatical classes of words
1. The parts of speech problem. Morphological classifications in the modern period.
2. Field structure of parts of speech as discourse cognitive class.
3. Lexical and functional parts of speech.
1.The parts of speech problem. The parts of speech problem has a long time history. It goes back to
ancient time, to Aristotalian logic. Parts of speech problem in grace such issues as classification of
vocabulary, criteria of this classification, possibilities of a word to pass from one class to another (e.g. down
– noun, adjective, verb, preposition), development of homonymy and correlation between grammatical and
lexical meanings.
Parts of speech are lexical-grammatical classes of words which are singled out on the bases of form or
semantic features in each language. The criteria of parts of speech division were stayed by Lev Щерба, John
Lions, Henry Sweet, Charles Hocket.
One of the 1-st scientific English grammar ( published in 1891) was composed by Henry Sweet who
suggested the division based on the 3 criteria: 1) morphological; 2)syntactic; 3) semantic.
The first division of English vocabulary was drawn along the line of declinable and indeclinable words.
Declinable were further divided into noun words that include nouns proper, nouns number(cardinal), nouns
pronouns(personal), infinitives and gerund.
The second group is composed of adjectives words: adjectives proper, pronouns, adjectives numerals and
participles.
The third group is made up out finite forms and non-finite forms(infinitive, gerund, participle 1,2).As to
indeclinable they are represented by conjunctions, prepositions, modal words.
Representatives of structuralism put forward new class of parts of speech, they made attempts to study
language ignoring semantic properties of language units. Charles Fries tried to work out a classification of
lexical-grammatical word classes on the bases of syntactic positions of words. He believes that only certain
syntactic functions performed by words may be used to refer words to a certain part of speech, in order to
clarify position classes of English words. Charles Fries chooses a limited number of sentences so called test
frames, in order to define the main positions, characteristics of English words. The following sentences are
taken as test frame:
1. The good concert was (maybe) good (always).
2. The clerk remembered the tax (suddenly).
3. The team went there
All the words that can be placed in the 1-st test frame instead of the word “concert” without causing a
change of the structure of the meaning were called class one words. In the 2-nd the word “remembered” can
be substituted that is words which are studied for their ability to function as a predicate. These words
acquired the name of class two words. Class three words occupied the position of an adjective that is one of
an attribute in preposition and a predicative in the 1-st test frame. Class four words was coincided with
traditional adverbs capable of modifying verbs that is the position of “always” and “suddenly”.
Besides these 4 classes Fries distinguished 15 groups of function words for which he suggested latter
symbols: A, B, C, D… A-group- comprises all determines, all words that can perform the function of the
definite article in the 1-st test frame. B-group- contains all the words that can substitute MAY in the test
frame 1.Here belong modal words, auxiliary verbs. C-group-is made up by one word only negative particle
NOT. D-group- comprises words functioning in the position of VERY which signals a certain degree of
quality and are placed before class-3 words. Quark, Greenbound, Leech attempted to synthesize
achievements of the traditional and structural approaches. They refer nouns, adverbs, verbs to group 1 and
articles, demonstrative pronouns, other pronouns(prepositions, conjunction, interjections) to group 2.
The main principle of ancient, as well as modern word-stock classification were formulated by Russian
academicians Lew Scherba, there are –semantic criteria,--morphological criteria, --syntactic criteria.
Traditionally parts of speech are called lexical-grammatical classes. Lexical – possessing some general,
lexical meaning: e.g. that if it is a verb, it posses a lexical meaning of action, process. Grammatical
presupposes common morphological treats (case, tense, number, word formation, patterns, person, mood,
voice, aspect): e.g. the noun is characterized be derivational morphemes, inflections, grammatical categories.
2. The Field theory. Was 1-st introduce by Gost Frier, Leo Weisgarber and other western linguists. The
concept of grammatical (morphological) field was later put forward by Влад Адмані in his research of the
“German language” and further elaborated by Russian linguist Георгій Щур in his research “Field theory in
linguistics”. Proponents of the field theory state that every part of speech may be represented by items
endowed with typical qualities (semantic, syntactic, morphological).
Those words are thought to make up a nuclease/core on this part of speech whereas the words that have
some specific qualities common for some other parts of speech, form the periphery. Thus such nouns as
“table” belong to the periphery that overlaps with the field of the word, while noun “blackness” may be
placed on the periphery of the field without adding of the adjective. Within the field of adjectives qualitative
adjectives are central elements as they have the category of degree of comparison while relative adjective
are peripheral as they usually do not have the degree of comparison.
Combinatorial classification Combinatorial classification takes into account combin. prop.????? that is the
way items combines to form larger units ultimately sentences. Professor Rodney Huddleston distinguished 8
parts of speech:
1. verb: e.g. [She] will [perhaps] say it is [hers].
2. noun: e.g. Tom [bought] [a] bottle [of] wine.
3. adjective: e.g. The new [captain] [was] very good.
4. adverb: e.g. [She] usually [says] [they] [are] very [useful].
5. preposition: e.g. [A] [sick] [carpet] of [snow] [ lay] on [the] [ground].
6. determinative: e.g. [The boss] had a chance [ to get] he [ revanche ].
7. coordinator: e.g. You can have [fish] or [cheaps] or [stew].
8. subordinators: e.g. [He says] that [he asked] whether [it was free].

The modern state of cognitive science has resulted in the hypothesis, put forward by Elena Kybriakova; she
suggested considering parts of speech as discourse –cognitive classes of words, rather than lexical-
grammatical ones. Such approaches presuppose that a language and lang. unit is a phenomenon, determined
not by reality itself but by its reflection in the human mind. Language units are representations of reality and
are reflected in the human brain. The discourse cognitive model makes the idea of the language as a field
structure somewhat more accurate. Discourse cognitive classes aren’t constituted by typical and periphery
elements. The theory considers each element within a certain class to be a variant of its ideal representative.
At the same time the ideal representative doesn’t exist in reality.
This organization of a class is called a prototypical, the idea of representative-prototype. This approach can
explain the phenomenon of class migration-when a word may be used in the functions peculiar to some
other parts of speech. E.g. a stone wall, a flower garden, a wolf hunger, a cotton shirt. Difficult to say
whether “stone” or “flower” are adjectives formed by conversion or nouns used in the attributive function of
an adjective. Class migration may take a long time. A word starts being used in a function of an other part of
speech and develops a new meaning, later there appear two independent words.

Classification of Емілія Мороховська suggests dividing parts of speech into lexical and functional or
lexical words or functional words. Lexical words are linguistic items that posses denotative ability. They
are names of extralinguistic objects and phenomena. They perform various syntactic functions in the
sentence. Functional words don’t denote any abject, quality or action. They are used to mark certain types
of relation between lexical words, word phrases and sentences. Functional words posses significative ability.
They are significators of some conceptual categories: they are prepositions, conjunctions, interjections,
articles, particles. Articles are indicators of the category of definiteness or indefinitness. Prepositions can
signify spatial and temporal relations.
Lecture 3
Noun. Adjective.
1. General characteristic of nouns. The classification of nouns.
2. The category of number.
3. The category of case.
4. The problem of gender.
5. The problem of article.
6. Lexical-grammatical characteristic of adjectives.
7.Classifications of adjectives.
8. The category of state (statives).
1. Noun- is a lexical part of speech which has the meaning thinness or substance, which is characterized by
such inflectional morphemes as the morph, plurality and possessive case and derivational morpheme (-ness,
- ment, -er, -es, ful, hood, -r.) which has 2 grammatical categories (number and case), which can be
combined with adjectives, verbs, pronounce, numerals nouns; and which can perform the function of the
subject; the object; the adverbial modifier; the predicative, the attribute.
Nouns can be divided into the following groups: 1) proper and common; 2) abstract and concrete: 3)
countable and uncountable; 4) animate and inanimate. Abstract nouns have much in common with
uncountable nouns. Some nouns can be both countable and uncountable; and have the difference in their
meaning: e.g. buy an evening paper here; Grab the parcel into paper. Time-s; custom-s; trunk-s; people-s. In
many cases the distinction between countable and uncountable nouns can be achieved by separate lexical
items:
E.g. ship-баран-mutton-баранина; calf-теля-veal-телятина; pig-свиня-pork-свинина; louf-буханка-bread-
хліб; table-стіл-furniture-меблі; log-wood; man-people; picture-drawing.
2. The category of number is revealed through the opposition of singular and plural; which shows whether
the noun stands for one object or for more then one. And the marked member is –the plural form marked by
inflexions. –s; -es (having 3 allomorph s, z, is), non-productive inflection –en, vowel interchange (foot-feet;
brother-brethren; ox-oxen), interchange of suffixes( criteria-criterion; crisis-crises) and by zero morpheme:
duck- a duck; fish- a fish; deer; sheep- zero. In the group of uncountable nouns two subclasses are singled
out: 1) singularia tantum; 2) pluraria tantum.
Those only in singular: 1) substance: (meat, tea, chalk); milk, sand, coffee. 2) collective notion (mankind,
furniture); fruit, machinery. 3) abstract notion (love, hatred, health, courage); peace, joy. 4)
misceleniouns( news, phonetics, linguistics, mumps, chemistry, architecture).
The only in plural : 1) material objects of 2 halves ( glasses, trousers). 2) objects characterized by more or
less indefinite plural ( wages, earnings, clothes, cattle, goods, contence, police, poultry, supplies.); 3)
materials and remnants (preserves, pickles).
3. Case is the form of the noun indicating the relation of the noun to other words in a sentence or phrase.
The traditional point of view is that the category of case is expressed by the opposition of common and
possessive. The marked member of opposition is a possessives case, marked by “, realized through 3
allomorphs.
There are other theories conceiving the No of cases.
1) Theory of positional cases. According to it, the case depends upon the position of the noun in the
sentence. There are – nominative case; - vocative case(in address) : Are you coming, friend; - dative case( an
indirect object to a verb: I gave John a penny; - accusative case (a direct object): The man killed a rat. 2)
Theory of prepositional cases. According to it, the case may be expressed by the phrase +
preposition( preposition +noun). The “of + noun” phrase corresponds to the Ukrainian noun in genitive case.
“To + nouns phrase corresponds to the Ukrainian dative case, “with + noun” corresponds to instrumental
case. 3) Theory of the possessive postpositional. It turns that the English noun has lost its category of case
in the course of its historical development. Arguments are as follows: a) –‘s is used not only with single
nouns but with the whole noun-groups and groups without noun: Smith and Brown’s office; Somebody
else’s car. b) only animate nouns are used in the possessive case, inanimate nouns in the possessive case
occur quite rarely, though there is a tendency to use inanimate nouns :e.g. the houses roof; tomorrow’s
morning. c) possessive case tends to occur in fixed collocations with inanimate nouns: a death’s door; life’s
work; nature’s way; for God’s sake; for all time’s sake.
4. The category of gender has completely been lost in English by the end of the middle English period. But
the category of female and male exist in modern English. So the biological category of sex determines
English gender distinctions. The ways of indicating gender for nouns: 1) an entirely different word can be
used to differentiate masculine from feminine: e.g. bachelor-spinster; boy-girl; horse-mere; hen-cock; bull-
cow; king-queen. 2) gender can be sometimes indicated by means of suffixation ( but all the suffixes are
non-productive, archaic); -ess, -a, - trix, - ine ( sultana, poetess, Josephine). 3) gender can be indicated by
compounding ( word composition): e.g. bullcalf- cowcalf; landlord- landlady; male elephant- female
elephant; he bear- she bear; goat- she goat.
Charles Hockett defines the category of gender on the bases of correlation between nouns and pronouns and
singles out 7 genders in English:
1) John, boy, man- HE.
2) Mary, girl, woman- SHE.
3) road, street, paper- IT.
4) citizen, president, dean, doctor- HE/SHE.
5) billygoat, drake- HE/IT.
6) manygoat, boat, car, ship- SHE/IT.
7) baby, child, cat, dog- HE/SHE/IT.
5. Some linguists consider to be an auxiliary of the noun and article+ noun can be regarded as an analytical
form. And other linguists treat articles to be a separate part of speech because they have the meaning and
they can be substituted by: this, that, some, any. And between the article and the noun there is a relation of
determination. Definite and indefinite articles represent the category of definiteness and indefiniteness.
Definite identifies the known objects, indefinite introduces smth new. Though the definite article can be
used when the object wasn’t mentioned beforehand but its situationally conditioned.
The problem of zero article appears, there is a tendency to extending of the zero article usage in modern
English. Its used not only in colloquial style, headlines, but as well in announcements: dial number, lift
handset, insert money, press blue button. In idioms: to do something upsecle-down- to clean house; to jump
ship- to run away.
6. Adjective – is a part of speech which has the lexical meaning of property or quality, which’s
characterized by inflexional morphemes –er, -est, and derivational morphemes –y, -ai, -ial, -less, -ish, -ful,
-en, which has a grammatical category of degrees of comparison which can be combined with nouns, link
words ( to be, to seem, to look), adverbs; has the functions of attribute and predicative.
7. Adjectives are divided into 2 groups:
- qualitative adjectives denote various qualities of the nouns, they can be: high, low, adequate, inadequate,
sufficient, insufficient, optimal, excessive: e.g. hearty, difficult.
- relative adjectives express such properties of a noun which are determined by the relation of the noun to
the other noun: e.g. a wooden house, a historical event.
In connection with qualitative adjectives the category of degrees of comparison is singled out. This category
is - a gradual opposition, which is expressed by positive, comparative degree, superlative degree of
comparison. Comparative formed by: -er or more + adjective. Superlative formed by: -est or most +
adjective.
Professor Bloch considers “ more +adjective” and “most + adjective” to be analytical forms, so “more” and
“most” are regarded as auxiliaries because they’ve the same meaning as suffixes – er, -est. Ivanova
considers “more + adjectives” and “most + adjectives” to be word combinations because “more, most” have
separate meaning and auxiliaries are devoid of meaning.
8. Statives. Such words as awake, afraid, asleep, about, alike, alone, aware are singled out by some linguists
(Щерба, Виноградов, Ільїш) into a separate part of speech but many linguists ( Блох, Іванова) don’t
share the point of view of A words as a separate part of speech. In traditional classification statives are
regarded as adjectives because they have the same lexical meaning of property some of them can be
preceded by the word more and can perform the function of predicative: e.g. more ashamed.
Lecture 4
The Verb – is lexical or notional part of speech which has the meaning of action and process and has such
derivational morphemes as (ize, en, re, ate, fy, under, over, out,etc. suff.pref – ir, fy ,en, ei, ice) Lexico-
grammatical prepositions inflections post positive ( in , out, down, off, stand up, come in ),grammatical
inflections (ed, es , ing) which has such grammatical categories as person , number ,tense , aspect, voice and
mood , which can combine with nouns , pronouns and adverbs, and can perform the function of predicate.
Non finite verbs(inf, , particip. gerun.sbj.obj)have some more functions.
Verbs can be classified according to different criteria:
1. According to stem structure they are divided into:
-simple (life ,read)
-derived (root+ suf. :reread, undergo)
-compound (whitewash)
-complex (notional part + post positive: give up, take in, sit down)
2. According to the way of forming past tenses and participle 2 verbs divided into:
-regular
-irregular
3. According to the meaning
-notional
-semi notional
Notional verb can perform the function as a separate tense or notion, they posses full lexical meaning (full
notional)(do,take,go).
Semi notional – divided into:
link verbs( appear, look ,seem, to be) that participate into link verbs ( it’s getting dark,)
and auxiliary verbs which form a simple verbal predicate (be, have, might, may ,shall, will, should, would)
According to their ability to function as main verbs or auxiliary verbs grouped into:
-lexical(full) verbs: run, eat ,drink(function only as main verbs)
-primary: be , have, do( function both as aux. and main)
-modal: function only as auxiliary verbs (ability, obligation etc)
4. Depending upon the relations with the subject and object of the action verbs are divided into:
-subjective
-objective
Objective verbs are usually associated with the subject and the object ,while subjective verb are only
associated with nouns denoting the subject .(noun).
e.g. She sat up(sbj)and kissed(obj)him fairly.
The term subjective and objective correlate with the terms transitive and intransitive . Thus objective
connected with their objects – transitive words, all other words are called intransitive.
5. According to the aspective nature of their lexical meaning verbs are divided into
-terminative
- non terminative.
Terminative verbs denote the action which cannot develop beyond a certain limit .
Non terminative verbs denote the action which have no limit of this kind.
Bring- to carry - non terminative ; to listen- to hear; come- go –non term ;to watch- to see; sit down-sit(n
2) the category of person and number are purely expressed in present tense, the category of person is
expressed by the singular form of the verb in the 3-rd person by means of inflections- s- es- which have 3
allomorphs /s,z,iz/ In Past tense of all the verbs except the verb to be that is devoid of person and number – I
was –you were – in Present tense of the verb to be as 3 different suppletive personal forms –am –is- are- .
Vodal words have no personal inflections (can, may, must,; except be to, have to ; In future tense the
category of person and number is expressed by shall and will.
3) The category of Tense ( tense – gram category, time –universal notion)
Tense – is the reference of the verb to the certain moment of speech . There are different views as to the
number of tenses in the Modern English.
Iliish singles out 3 tenses : present , past and future ;
Prof Ivanova distinguished between 3 tenses : present, past, future and 4 aspect forms : indefinite ,
continuous, perfect and perfect continuous.
Greenbaum,Quirk, Swartweek ,Lech singled out 2 tenses present and past and 2 aspects progressive and
perfective .
The Danish linguist Otto Jespersen denies the existence of future tense in Modern English because shall
and will are modal verbs and shall+ inf and wil+inf , should ,would are verbs denoting modality ( forms of
expressing ) obligation and volition.
Pof Barchudarov objected against the inclusion of future tense. In the system of tenses in the modern
English as well his argument lies in the fact that shall/will/should/would +infinitive can express future and
past and there is so called Future-in-the-past, but the meaning of grammatical categories must be mutually
exclusive that’s why it is excluded . There is opposition between present and past .
Traditional grammar gives the view that shall + infin. – 1-st person ; will + inf. – 2-nd,3-rd- they express
pure future and they were used vice versa they are the forms of modality thus I Will- expresses desire,
intention ,or relation and YOU Shall- can express command or promise or obligation.
4) The ways of expressing future in Modern English are as follows :
a). By present simple in adverbial clauses of time and condition ;
e.g. I’ ring you up when I’m free.
b). By present simple denoting fixed action with adverbial modifier of time;
e.g. . The delegation arrived at 8: 30 tonight .
c). By present continuous denoting a future action anticipated in the present ;.
e.g. He is moving to London . He is going to call the police .
d). Constructions : be going to + inf, be on the point of doing something , be about doing something+ inf.
Defining future of present intention .
The category of tense :
Present tense can gave the following meaning:
a) timeless, denoting habitual action or universal statements Present Simple ;
e.g. I always write with a special pen .
b) limited action Present Continuous;
e.g. I’m writing with the special pen now.
c) Instinctual action expressed by Present Continuous or Present Simple ;
e.g. As you see I’m dropping the stone in the water.
Past tense can denote
a) the action which took place at a particular point of time Past Simple, Past Continuous.
e.g. I was writing the letter from 5 to 7 yesterday evening.
b) habitual activity Past Simple
e.g. He always wrote in the special pen .
used to or would + inf. Can be rendered by :
c) limited duration of the action ;
e.g. I was ready with the special pen for an hour last night .
d) Past tense can express the action which took place before the present moment in the past.
e.g. When I met him, John had lived in Paris for 10 years.
5) the category of aspect in the Modern English differs from the category of aspect in Ukrainian, we have
perfective and imperfective aspects.
The view of linguists differs as to the number of aspects in English and their their terminology .
Thus professor Ilish singles out common aspect( write- writes) and continuous ( is writing).
Professor Blox singles out continuous and non continuous indefinite forms of aspective category .
Professor Quirk an others distinguish progressive and perfective aspects . The marked member of opposition
is the continuous form which is build up by the auxiliary be + present participle of the verb .
Alongside with the category of aspect problem of perfect arrives and there are the following views on
Perfect in Modern English:
1. Perfect is a tense category but in Modern English there are the forms of (Present Perfect, Past Perfect ,
Future Perfect) Present, Past and Future are tenses, now if the Perfect form is also a tense category the
Present Perfect would be a union of different tenses – the Present and the Perfect ( it is impossible
,supporters: H. Sweet, Otto Jespersen)
2. Perfect is an aspective category. But we have such forms as Perfect Continuous in Modern English and
continuous is an aspective category . Perfect can’t be aspective because the members of the category must
be mutually exclusive.
3 –rd theory Perfect is a tense -aspect blend this view is expressed by Ivanova clearly reveals the double
nature of Perfect but it remains unsolved : the correlation of Perfect with the Indefinite and Continuous
forms.
4. Perfect is neither tense nor aspect , but a specific category different from both.
Professor Smirnytsky ha s conception “time relation category”
Professor Ilish used the term correlation instead of relation .A new category appears .The category of
correlation is expressed by opposition of non perfective and perfective forms. Strong member of opposition
is a perfective form marked by the auxiliary Have+ the form of the Past Participle .
6) The category of voice
According to Professor Ivanova the category of voice expresses the relation between subject and action.
According to Professor Blox ‘s view voice expresses the relation between the subject and the object on the
one hand, and the process on the other hand .Two voices are singled out traditionally :
-Active
-passive
Marked member of opposition is -passive form which consists of the auxiliary be+ Past Participle.
The active voice shows that the person or thing denoted by the subject is the doer of the action expressed by
the predicate .That is the action is performed by its subject.
The passive voice shows that the person or the thing detected by the subject is acted upon i.e. The Subject is
the recipient of the action.
The category of voice is connected with the category of transitivity and intransitivity .In English not only
transitive but intransitive verbs can be used in passive.(to give- transitive, to give on –intransitive)
e.g. Why can you rely on.
The passive voice is sometimes considered to be derived from active but it’s altogether wrong .Thus the
utterances:
e.g. Tom bit John. and - John was beaten by Tom are not synonymous. In the 1-st sentence Tom is the
center of interest of the speaker in the 2-nd one John is under the stress , so the subject of the sentence is the
person or thing which is needed to be emphasized.
Passive voice constitutes a simple verbal predicate .That’s why it’s necessary to distinguish between the
passive voice and the compound nominal predicate – consisting of the link verb –to be +Past Participle.
e.g. He looked exhausted.
The difference between them lies in fact that passive voice renders action, and the compound nominal
predicate –renders state.
e.g. I was upset by his news.
Was upset – renders state of the action as a result. thought it has strict passive meaning at the same time .
The problem of English voice
Professor Ivanova considers all combinations of the verb –to be – to be the form of passive voice, but in the
same sentence participle 2 can combine the functions of an adjective. Professor Ivanova proposes to regard
them as parts of complex nominative predicate if they are interchangeable.
e.g. He was excited and happy .
but in the sentence : He was wounded and very weak .-It is hardly possible to interchange wounded and
weak.
So we have passive voice was wounded and a predicative- weak . ( a part of complex nominative predicate
with a link verb to be omitted.
Some linguists single out reflexive and reciprocal voice and middle voice .
Reflexive voice - denotes an action which is performed by subject itself .
e.g. She heard herself ; washed herself . Reflexive voice corresponds to active voice.
Reciprocal voice – denotes the action which is performed by the subject constituencies reciprocal.
e.g. The friends will be meeting one another. They kissed each other and the child.
Middle voice – denotes the process which is going in the subject itself.
e.g.Двері ся відкрили)
7) Mood
Vinogradow – mood expresses the relation of the action to reality as stated by the speaker.
This definition is not quite clear because one mood represents the reaction of actually taken pl. while
another represent it as merely conditional or derived.
Henry Sweet defines mood as expressing different relations between subject and predicate.
Otto Jespersen wrote “ Mood expresses certain attitude of the mind of the speaker towards the content of
the sentence.
Professor Blox – the category of mood expresses the character of connection between the process
denoted by the verb and actual reality , either presenting the process as the fact that really happened ,
happens or will happen .
As professor Blox states the category of mood is represented by the opposition of oblique or indirect moods
and the forms of direct moods .The former making the stronger member of opposition the latter – the weal
member of opposition.
Among the disputable question concerning the category of mood are those of the number of moods .Their
terminology and the relation to the category of tense.
The traditional grammar distinguishes between the indicative – as a real mood and the imperative , and
conditional representing the action as not real .
Indicative or direct mood – represent the action as a real but may not correspond to reality.
Imperative- expresses the volition to interlocutor ,it has no subject as a rule but when the noun or pronoun
emphasize the subject of the action .
e.g. Seat here ,or you seat here.
Conditional mood- which represents the action as non real.Prof . Barchudarov -the form should and would
are not analytical, because their 2nd component (inf) is possible to be used in free functions.
The most controversial problem is the problem of the oblique moods.
Henry Sweet used the term “Thought forms”- instead if oblique moods and he distinguished among them :
a)the conditional mood ( the combinations of should and would with the infinitive).
B) the permissive mood ( the combination of may and might with the infinitive).
c) the compulsive mood (combination of the verb to be with the infinitive .e.g. Is to see, train is to arrive.
But Henry Sweet couldn’t solve the problem of homonymous moods on the one hand subj. moods and past
simple and past perfect on the other.(tense moods)
Professor Smirnytsky singles out 4 moods:
1.Subjunctive 1 –which does not contradict the reality
e.g. He be. He go.( subj one has no inflections)It’s necessary that he go at once. We be attentive.
2. Subjunctive 2 which contradicts the reality.
e.g If I were you I should go there .If I had been there. if he had known
3. Conditional mood functioning the principle part of conditional sentence corresponds to conditional mood.
In the subordinate subj. in the main mood condition
e.g. What would you answer if you were asked.
4. Suppositional mood denoting something necessary important ordered or suggested.
e.g. I insist that he should consult the doctor .(Should for all persons)
Professor ILish combines 2 approaches to the category of mood
-.According to the meaning moods are divided into such groups as:
a) expressing possibility :He come, He should come, may come.
b)unreal condition –forms of come and had come.
c)consequence of unreal condition
I should come -1st person ,would come 2nd and 3rd .
-According to the means of expressing moods both Synthetical and analytical he gets 5 moods
a)Come – no ending and auxiliary ,corresponds to subjunctive 1 ;
b)come had come – corresponds to subjunctive 2
c)should come – for all; supp. mood
d)Should come for the 1st person;
e)Would come for 2nd and 3rd .
e.g. I demand he try and go there .
I wish he tried and apologize.
They insist that he should try to work .
I should come and see it myself.
She should try to listen once more.
Lecture 5 Non-finite forms of the verb
1. The infinitive
2. The gerund
3. Participle I
4. Participle II
The distinctive features of the non-finite verbs.
Verbal – the non-finite form of the verb, which in many lexico-grammatical features stands between the verb
and non-actioner parts of the speech.
Their mixed character is revealed in their meaning, morphological form, combinability, and syntactic functions. They
render processes as peculiar kinds of substances and properties; they’re formed by special morphemic elements which
don’t express either gramm tense or mood.
They can be combined with:
1. Verbs like non-verbal words
2. Non-actional words like verbs
Finite – express predication in their full and complete form.
And the opposition of non-finite and finite verbs is based on the expression of the functions of full-predication and
semi-predication (like a part of a predicate)
Non-finite – can’t express the predicative meaning of time & mood
He said it in the way for the others not to hear it.
He said it so that the others couldn’t hear it
Infinitive– non-finite form of the verb which has some properties of the verb and some properties of the noun serving
as the verbal name of the process.
It is used in 3 positions:
- As the notional part of the sentence (performs aa the functions the subject, object, attribute, adv modifier)
- As the semi notional constituent of the compound verbal predicate ( modal verb + infinitive)
- As the constituent of the analytical form of the verb( shall+inf, will+inf)
The dual nature of the infinitive is expressed in its combinability. Like verbs it can be combined with
- Noun , express the object of the action (to read books)
- With nous or pronouns, express the doer of the action ( we expected you to bring the book)
- With adverbs ( to read quickly)
- With verbs, forming a compound verbal predicate ( happen to meet, have to live)
- With auxiliary words ( will read)
Like nouns it can combine with:
- Notional words in the function of the object of the action ( like to read)
- With verbs, when the infinitive is the subject of the sentence (to see is believe)
The infinitive may form 3 predicative constructions:
- objective with the infinitive construction
- subjective with the infinitive construction
- for-complex (for wit the inf construction)
Complex object consists of the noun in common case or personal pronounin the objective case + inf ( I heard Charly
play the piano, I like her to sing)
Complex subject consists of the noun in common case or personal pronoun in the nominative case + inf. Main verb is
mostly used in passive voice. ( Charles was heard to play the piano)
For-complex noun in common case or personal pronoun in the objective case proceeded by ‘for’ + infinitive (it is
important for him to do it).
Infinitive can be used in 2 presentational form :
- marked infinitive (with ‘to’)
- unmarked infinitive (without “to”)
the cases of usage a bare infinitive:
- after modal verbs except ought to, have to, be to, be able to.
- After some modal phrase ( had better , would sooner, would rathe)
- After the verbs used only in the coml object denoting sense perception ( to see, to watch)
- After the verbs make(force) and (let) (he made me do it)
- After the adv ‘why’ in the interrogatives (why not go there?
Like verbs the infin has 3 gramm categories:
- Aspect
- Voice
- Correlation
The category of aspect is expressed by the opposition of common and continuous aspect : to write – to have written –
to be writing.
The category of voice is the opposition of active and passive
Active : to have written, to be writing
Passive: to be written, to have been written.
The category of correlation is the oppositopn of perfective and imperfective forms
Perfective: to have written, to have been written, to have been writing
Imperfective: to write, to be written, to be writing
The gerund – specific non finite form of the verb which combines the properties of the verb wit those of the noun.
Like the infinitive nit is the verbal name od a process, but unlike the infin and similar to the noun the gerund can be
modified by a noun in the possessive case or possessive pronouns and it can also be used with prepositions ( for
digging, without digging). Like attribute it is also categorical changeable
- Category of voice(act & pass) taken – having taken. Being taken – having been taken
- Category of correlation (perfective & imperfective) taking – being taken. Having taken – having been taken.
Like verbs gerund can combine with:
- Nouns, expressing the object of the action (reading books)
- Modifying adverbs (reading loudly)
- With certain semi-functional verbs (seeing is believing)
Like nouns it can be combined with:
- Notional verbs when the gerund is the object of the action (enjoy reading)
- Notional verbs when the gerund is the function of the subject ( their expecting her come back surprised all the
family )
- With nouns – prepositions ( text for reading)
The gerund performs the functions of all the types of notional parts:
- Subject
- Object
- Predicative (she likes swimming in the pool)
- Attribute (I love such troubling mornings)
- Adv modifier (everything started after their visiting that castle)
When used as an attribute or advmodifier gerund is almost always proceeded by a preposition. For ex. She had the
feeling of being deceived. In spite of being tired he continued working.
In the function of prepositional attribute(the one that is followed by the word it modofires) the gerung can be mixed
with participle I
A swimming pool – gerund denotes substantivized action
A swimming boy - P I denotes property as the result of the action
The gerund can form gerundial construction.
a gerundial complex consists of a noun in the possessive case or a possessive pronoun with the gerund. For ex. He
minds Mary’s going there.
The 1st part can also be expressed by a noun in the common case or a personal pronoun in the objective case (I
remember his sister taking part in it).
Participle I - is a non finite form of the verb which has some properties of the verb some properties of the adjectives
and adverbs.
Its tuple nature is revealed in its combinability. Like verbs it can combine with nouns (opening visiting the door) and
adverbs (trying hard). Like adj P I can combine with nouns ( a washing machine). Like adv it can combine with verbs
(she went laughing)
The gramm categories of P I are the same with those of gerund. And the forms of P I and gerunf are identical.
It can perform 2 main syntactic functions : attributes, adv modifier
There are cases when P I and gerund are practically indistinguishable . Do you mind her smoking here? (if ‘her’ is
considered to be a possessive pronoun smoking – gerund, if ‘her’ is personal in objective case – P I)
P I can form
- Complex obj - I saw him walking
- Cimplexsubj – he was seen walking
- Absolute participial construction – the man waiting in the hall , we has a couple oh minutes to have some
coffee
The Past participle - non-finite form of the verb which combines the properties of the verbs with those of the
adjectives
It doesn’t have any grammcategories .the main functions : attribute, predicative, adv modifier ( he looked well
dressed)
Participle II is capable of making up predicative constructions :
- Complex obj – I want to have hair cut
- Complex subj – the work was considered finished
- Obsolete participial construction (the preliminary talk finished; it became possible to concentrate)
Part II of intransitive verbs is rarely used in independent position. It is used either in the analytical forms or in a
phraseological combinations. (fallen leaves, retired officers) these participles either become adjectives or are in the
process of adjectivization, because the idea of the action is suppressed whereas the notion of quality is made
prominent.
It’s common knowledge that P II of transitive verbs belongs to passive though there some examples when P II has no
meaning in the usual sense: a well-read man, he was drunked.
Lecture 6
Main elements of syntax.Word structure.
1. Word combination and sentence.
2. The problem of word combination in foreign and home linguistics. The definition of word groups.
3. Word combination as a nominative unit.
4. Classification of word groups.
Word combination is a nominative unit of l-ge, while sentence is a communicative unit.
Traditionally: word combination a combination of 2 or more notional words.
Prof. Ilish defines word phrase as every combination of 2 or more words which is a grammatical unit but it
is not an analytical form of some words. ( perfect form of verb cannot be considered a word
combination)Even preposition + noun or conjunction + noun are considered to be word combination.
According to academician Vynogradov word combinations are only subordinate sentences characterized by
a single complex nominative meaning. The theory of word combination appeared abroad only in the 30 th of
XX cent. Leo Bloomfield treats word combinations widely as any synthetically organized group. He
divided them into 2 groups:
Endocentric or headed
Exocentric or non headed
Endocentric structures are such ones in which the constituencies can function in the same way as the whole
structure ( Poor John – endocentric W C because ‘John’ can substitute the whole combination in the
sentence ‘Poor John run away’
In exocentric structure neither of the constituencies can substitute the whole phrase ( John ran)
2.
The most extended term abroad is phrase. But Henry Sweet considered this term to be too polysemantic and
proposed instead such terms as word group and word claster.
3.
Word combinations are one of the nominative means of the l-ge and together with words denoting objects,
person, action, process, events, qualities and relations form the system of nominative means of the l-ge.
It’s common knowledge that nouns are dominant among other parts of speech from the point of view of their
nominativnes. But as far as nouns nominate objects and phenomena through one feature it often insufficient
to use a single noun for rendering the notion than in becomes necessary to nominate by means of word
combination. Thus is we say ‘ to speak fluently’ we emphasize the manner of speech.
So the nominative function of the word combination lies in the fact that it limits the notion. Supporters of the
nominative character ofword combinations (smirnytskyi, scherba.) consider that the word combination
expresses a single complex notion which correlates with the head of word combination. So the main member
of the head expresses the generic notion, and the dependent member expresses the specific difference.
It is necessary to mention another view. Prof. Suhotyn and Petruhyn considers word combinationto be
deprived and nominative function. They can be singled out only in the sentence and can not be regarded
separately in the l-ge. They say that cord combinations don’t express single notion and are used in order to
show the relation between elements of reality.
4.
According to their syntactic structure word combinations are:
- Simple ( consist of 2 words)
- Complex (consists of 3 and more words):
 Simple W C + agent (youth festival +paris = paris youth festival)
 The head + dependent word combination (passenger transport drivers)
 The head + 2 dependent words, which aren’t connected between themselves. (to put the book into the bag)
According the part of speech of the head word:
- Substantival (John’s house)
- Adjectival (extremely nervous)
- Adverbial (very friendly)
- Verbal(to read quickly)
- Pronominal (something new)
- W C with numerals ( nearly five)
According to their grammatical and semantic properties:
- Subordinate- are formed by words which are synthetically unequal in the sense that one word plays the role
of the modifier of the other word. The head is the principle element. It is realized by means of (agreement,
government, word order)
 - Coordinate – components of coordinate phrases relates to one another in an equal way so that in a simple or
2-word combination neither of the components serves as modifier of the other. In can be realized with the help
of ( conjunctions, syntactically, without conjunctions)
 Agreement consists in making the subordinate word take a form similar to that of the head word (refers to
the category of number, where a subordinate word agrees in number with its head word : there apples)
 Government is the use of a certain form of the subordinate word requires by its head word but not
considering with the form of the head word. The role of government is almost insignificant. (tell him, invite
them)
 The most usual examples of parataxis is the relation between the adverb and its head word aradj and the verb
( very happy, right quickly)
 Enclosure – when some element of the phrase is enclosed between two parts of another element. The most
widely known is putting a verb between the article and a noun to which the article belongs. (the matter of fact)
in split infinitive the adverb can be enclosed (to scientifically analyze)
 Among coordinate phrases the group of cumulative phrases is distinguished, the constituencies of which are
equal by their formal representation but unequal by their character of nomination ( satisfied or nearly so,;
agreed but reluctantly)
Predicative phrases - such combinations are to be studied just like any other phrase( prof. Suchomlynskyy)
. the other view is that these combinations constitute a sentnence rather than a phrase (prof. vynogradov).
And the pattern noun+ verb can be regarded both as a phrase and a sentence (profIlish)
Is we take ‘a mam writes’ on the phrasal level it means that each of the components may be changed in
accordance with its paradigm:: man wrote, man have been writing. And on the sentence level things are
quite different ‘a man writes’ isn’t the same as ‘ a man have been writing’
Lecture 7
Simple sentence
1. The problem of the definition of the sentence
2. Predicativity as the main feature of the sentence
3. Classification of the sentence
4. The notional elementary sentence
5. Ways of elementary sentences expressions
1.Henry sweet sentence – a word or group of words capable of expressing a complete thought or meaning
Charles fries – aren’t matters of content but matters of form
Otto Jespersen - a relatively complete and independent human utttrence
Leo Bloomfield – each sentence is an independent linguistic form not included by virtue of any grammatical
construction into any larger linguistic form
Pochepcov – the minimal syntactical construction used in the act of speech communication, characterized by
predicativity and realizing a definite structural pattern.
Bloch – the integral unit of speech built up of words according to definite syntactic pattern and distinguished
by contextually relevant communicative purpose.
But there are one words sentence: Calm! John! Why?. But a word-sentence is different from a word-
lexeme. while the word is a component element of word-stock and is a nominative unit of l-ge. The sentence
is a predicative utterance unit which express the definite semantic content through its concrete contextual
connections.
Bloch compares diff. connection of one-word sentences ‘night’:
- Night. Night and the boundless sea. Was it a dream or freedom coming true? (it refers the event to the sphere
of reminiscence)
- Night? Oh no! no night for me! Until I work the case. ( presents a question and surprise)
- Night. It pays all the day’s debts. No cause for warring now, I tell you ( in the form of proposition, something
real)
Hence, unlike the word the sentence doesn’t exists in the system of l-ge. As a ready made unit. Being a unit
of speech the sentence is internationally delimited. So intonation separates one sentence from another in the
flow speech.
2.The relation to the act of speech to the speaker ant to reality can be summarized as the relations to the
situation of speech. So predicativity- is the relation of the thought expressed in the sentence to the situation
of speech.
Smirnytskyi ,predicativity – referring the utterance to reality. Predicativity can be positive (it rains) and
negative (it doesn’t rain). Negative is marked by particle ‘not’ but it is necessary to distinguish between
negative predication and particle ‘not’. Particle not always has right-hand connection with the infinitive
word-groups and clauses. ( you may come any time but not when I’m busy). Negative predication always
have left hand predication with auxiliary verb and its regularly contracted to n’t and is fused with the
auxiliary verb. Isn’t hasn’t doesn’t.
Modality is one more specific feature. Modality – the connection between named object and reality. It isn’t
confined to the sentence as predicativity is; it’s a broader category; can be expressed by modal verbs and
phrases. As for predication it represents only syntactic modality.
Objective: modality of reality, modality of duty, ability, modality of irriality.
Subjective: express the attitude of the speaker to the fact, unfortunately, hopefully, evidently.
3.Sentences can be classified upon diff. principles. Prof. Ilish distinguishes 2 principles:
1.according to the aim of communication
- declaratice(Mary is ill)
Interrogative (Who is ill?)
Imperative (go and help her!)
Exclamatory ( poor me)
2. according to structure
- simple
- composit ( compound, complex)
Simple sentence can be one-member or 2-member. In 2-member sentences there are words denoting the
doers of the action and the action itself. They have 2 main parts: subj., predicate. They can be extended
&unextended. (john run. John runs quickly to me)
A 2-member sentence may be either complete or incomplete(elliptical). The former is a sentence with full
predication containing both subject and predicate. An elliptical sentence contains either the subject or a
predicate, but it can be easily implied. – who called? – a lawyer.
In 1-member sentences there is only one main part either subject or a predicate. Fire! Come on!
There exists diff. points of view upon the main part of a 1-member sentence. Academician Shahmatov
considers that this main part should be called either subj. or a predicate. Accad.Vynogradov considers that
the main part is neither the subj. nor the pred., but combines the features of both and should be termed as the
main part.
1-member sentences can be of 2 types:
Nominal – those Inwnich the principle part is expressed by a noun. They’re typical of descriptions and can
be un/extended.(silence. Summer) (The grass, this good, soft grass)
Verbal – are those in which the principle part is expressed by the infinitive of the verb in the imperative
mood. (go on! Open the door)
There exists so called one-word sentence which represents the special type: are words of affirmation and
negation and conversational formulas ( of greeting, thanking, congratulation)
Semantically sentences can be divided into: personal, impersonal. English is an analytical sentence with a
regular word order and the obligatory usage of both subject and predicate, and even impersonal sentences
can be put in the shape of personal. It is achieved with the help of structural subject: it, one, we, they, you.
(one can rely on him). The classification of predicates (smirnytskyi) can be the bases of semantic
classification of sentences. He gives the following types of predicates: processive ( the doctor arrived),
objective(he has many friends) ,attributive (he’s a doctor), circumstantial (he is here).
4.Elementary sentence
Each sentence is a definite syntactical structure and like other structures it has a structural frame and
elements which can be omitted without destroying the structural frame of the sentence. Those elements
which form the frame obligatory.Those elements which can be omitted – optional.The tall trees were
shaking.
Unexpended sentences can be expended with the help of optional elements and syntactical process which
lead to the expension of elementary sentences were investigated by pocheptsov in his thesis for doctor’s
degree under the title ‘ constructive analysis of the sentence structure.
Expension – the use of additional elements of the same syntactical rank ( I waited and waited)
Complication – the process of turning the simple structure into composite one. The complicative element
can be the verb in the active or passive voice. Here we can single out.
- Verbs with modal meaning ( he can swim like a fish)
- Verbs with aspective meaning ( his heart stopped beating)
- Verbs with the meaning of scemness of the action ( he seemed to have lost all the power.)
- The meaning of expectation of the action (it turns out to be Ben)
- Verbs denoting mental activity ( to be supposed, to be believed)
- Verbs denoting communicative process ( to be said, to be reported)
- Verbs denoting physical perception (to be heard, to be seen)
Contamination - by it the process of forming disable or contaminated predicate is meant ( she lays awake
for a long time)
Extending – the process of modification of one of the elements by the other is meant ( Irish trade unions
conference will take place at 8)
Addition – modification of words with the help of particles ( just one thing)
Inclusion – means the introduction of modal words into the sentence structure ( she had evidently returned)
Isolation – syntactical process of isolation of the part of the sentence by prosodic means .( the scene was ,
foe Andrew, very familiar . a particular variety of isolation is parcelation - isolation of the part of the
sentence into a separate sentence. Allow me to congratulate you; and to wish you all the best.
Substitution – use of words with abstract meaning such as (one, do, it) instead of words in concrete meaning.
( you may be offended but I hope not)
Representation – is the use of the part of some syntactical element instead of the whole construction. ( I hope
you aren’t going to object Barbara… I? why should I?
Ellipsis – is the omission of some element of the construction, thougn not expressed, this element is implied.
( where did you see the car? – in the street)
Lecture 8
Constituent analysis of the simple sentence
1. The problem of the part of the sentence
2. The main parts of the sentence
3. Secondary parts of the sentence
1.Parts of the sentence are divided into main and secondary depended upon their participation in the formation of the
predicative nucleus in the sentence. There are 3 theories of hierarchy of the main parts of the sentence:
- (Jespersen) subject is the only predominant part of the sentence.
- (pocheptsov) subject and predicate are equal parts of the sentence.
- (Turnier) predicate is the only predominant part of the sentence (verb centered theory).
Prof Pocheptsov divided all parts of the sentence into 3 groups:
- Subj. and predicate. They are interdental and interdependent members in relation to any other parts of the
sentence.
- Object and adv modifier usually depend upon the verb and are often necessary for the structural and semantic
complement of the sentence i.e may participate in the formation of predicative nucleus.(he closed his eyes. He
was there)
- Attribute usually depend upon the noun may be omitted without destroying structural and semantic
components of the sentence.( he was extremely crazy)
Two other men pass across the window. Men – two, other. Passed – across the window.
2.Subject – is the main part of the sentence which denotes the things of person whose action or characteristic is
expressed by the predicate. Which isn’t dependent by any other part of the sentence but predicate. It can de expressed
by:
- A noun – mary have a book.
- Pronoun – everyone agrees.
- Numeral – the first was my friend.
- Infinitive – to see is to believe.
- Gerund – smoking is bad.
- Word phrase – the trees of the park were in snow
- By a subject clause – who can do it isn’t none.
- Antisipatory pronoun it – it is necessary to go there. Acc. To the first view ‘it’ – formal subj, ‘to go’ – real
subj. acc. To 2nd view it – real subj, to go - apposition.
- By an infinitive or gerundial complex – it was no good his coming back.
Predicate – main part of the sentence which denote the action or property of a thing or a person expressed by a subject
which isn’t dependent by any other part of the sentence but subject.
Traditional gramm. Divided predicate:
- Simple verbal predicate
- Compound verbal predicate
- Compound nominal predicate
Simple verbal – consists of a notional verb in any tense aspect, or voice, mood form. It can also be expressed by
phraseological units of phrases. (we are having breakfast now) (when the pie is been baked I am sitting and writing).
Simple v predicate expressed by the verb bake, regular, transitive, used in present time, in passive voice, in continuous
aspect, imperf correlation, indicative mood.
The compound verbal predicate can be of 2 types:
- Modal predicate - Aspect predicate
Modal predicate consists of the verb in modal meaning+infinitive as the second compound carrying lexical meaning.
Can also be expressed: to be likely, to be unlikely. He cant even apologize.
Aspect predicate consists of a notional verb ( expressing beginning duration and the end of the action: deign, go on,
start. Phrases would+inf, verbs of chansing and seeming: chanse, happen, turn out)He would call on us every other
day. I used to dance when I was young. He seemed to understand ererything I said.
Compound nominal predicate consists of link verb( be, become, grow) that partly lost their lexical meaning + a
predicative. A nominal part of a predicative commonly expressed by a noun, adj, numeral, inf, gerung, participle,
prepositional phrase, the clause. You are students. He is on our side.
One shouls distinguish the so called double predicate or verbal nominal predicate which combines the features of the
simple V P and Compound N P. it cosists of:
- Finite or notional verb of full lexical meaning commonly represented by the verb of motion and postion.
(come, go, stand)
- Nominal word qualifying the subject expressed by a noun or adj. – she sat motionless.

3.Object as the secondary part of the sentence denoted a thing to which an action passed on, which is
the result of the action, in reference to which the action is completed or the property is manifested.
Purely structural class of obj into:
 - Prepositional
- Non prepositional
Was proposed by smirnytskyi.
Traditionally obj are divided into
- Direct
- Indirect
- Prepositional.
He gave me(indirect) the book (direct)
He told me about(prepositiona) his work.
This classification lacks homogeneous basis as direct and indirect object are singled ont on the basis of
meaning and prepositional of the basis of form.
PrPocheptsov divided object into
- Object complement
- Subject complement
- Adresse complement
Obj complement denotes the obj of the action which can be prepositional and non prepositional( he saw me.
He look at me)
Subjcomplement - the doer of the action. The main verb in the sentence is used in passive voice and obj is
always prepositional. (the article was written by me)’
Addressee complementdentotes the person or thing to which the action is addressed. It can be prepositional
and non prepositional. (he offered in to me, he offered me a bbok)
Attribute - secondary part of the sentence characterizing the thing as to its proper of quality. Attributes can
be - Prepositional–when the preceded the part of the sentence it modifies (a beautiful girl)
- Non prepositional – when they follow the word they modify ( from time immemorial)
Adverbial modifier - secondary part of the sentence serving to characterize an action or a property as to its
quality or intensity, indicating the way of the action is done, the time, place, cause, purpose, condition with
which the action or the manifestation of quality is connected.
Adv modifier serves 3 main functiuns:
- They tell the circumstances relating to the clause such as when or where the activity took place and the
adverbials are called circumstances (how long have you been walking on your two foot he greened widely)
- They express a speaker feelings evaluation or comments on what the clause is about, it can be called stands
( in all honesty 3 hundred million dolars is not going to make a fundamental change.
- They link the clause of some parts of it to another clause. They are called link.
Prof Pocheptsov’s classification of predicate
- Simle
- Complicated
Both simple and complicated can be subdivided:
verbal nominal phraseol Verbal-nominal
ogical
simple spoke Is asleep Gave a Was sitting
glance unnoticed
complic Stopped Find out Can give Would like awake
ated being to be john you a call
The problem is connected with such predicate as rose red.( the moon rose red). The question is: can rode red be
considered a link verb along side other link verbs. The answer is: the sentence ;’the moon rose red’ can be transformed
‘the moon was red when it rose. Such transformation is impossible with true link verbs. (he grow old). So link verbs
completely lost their lexical meanin and verbs like rose don’t fully lost their lexical meaning that’s why they are called
verbal-nominal.
Pr Ilish divided predicates into simple and compound aon the one hand and verbal and nominal on the other hand.
By simple nominal predicate he implies a predicate consisting of a noun or an adjective without a link verb. This cases
are rather in English. ( my ideas obsulut – simple nom predicate)
Splendid game cricket – predicate, subj and no link verb.
PrIlish considered the phrases shall/shouls, will/would + inf to be a simple verbal predicate. If shall will/ should,
would are considered to be modal vrbs than we’ll have compound verbal predicate. And the compound nominal
predicate consists of a link verb+inf.(the class is over)
If we compare prIlish classification with the classification done by prPocheptsov we can se that the type of the
predicate called by Ilish - the compound nominal predicate is refered by pocheptsov’s simple nominal predicate.
Lecture 9
1. The composite sentence as a pole predicative structure.
2.intermediate types of composite sentence
3.compound sentence
4.complex sentence
The composite sentence- expresses a complicated act of thought in contrast to a simple sentence it is
pole predicative ( it has more than one predicative line) it reflects two or more elementary situations
making up a unity , each predicative in a composite sentence makes up a clause corresponds to a
separate sentence .
As prof. Potchepzov points out pole predicativity of the composite sentence means that there are several
predicative centers in it consisting of the subject and the predicate
Clauses of such sentences can be joint syndetically ( by means of conjunctions ) or conjunctive words
(adverbs or pronouns) or asyndetically – without any connectors .
As to asyndeticall connectors of clauses it can be found both in compound and in complex sentences.
Eg. They had a little quarrel he soon forgot .
Asyndeton (that, which ,and..he soon forgot)
Within a composite sentence clauses can be joint by means of coordination or subordination , thus forming
a compound or a complex sentence irrespectively.
Coordination- is a way of linking grammatical elements to make them equal in rank.
Eg. The door of Harries room open and two man came in.
Subordination – is a way of linking grammatical elements , that makes one of them dependent upon the
other. Eg. He always know what was the right thing.
Sometimes coordination and subordination are complied within one sentence : compound-complex or
complex-compound sentences . Eg. I know that she hates me , but I’ll make her love me .
Compound –complex because the sentence consists of two coordinate clauses in which one of them is
complex in structure).
A complex-compound sentence has 2 or more subordinate clauses connected by coordination.
Eg. He realized that he had a terrific responsibility , and the best thing to do was to keep his mouth shut.
2. Intermediate type of composite sentence.
There are sentences that occupy an intermediate position between the simple and the composite sentence .
Prof. Blox calls them semi composite sentences .Among such transitional sentences prof. Eliish singles out :
1. sentences with homogeneous parts they can’t be called compound sentences because they can’t be
separated into 2 clauses and they have one separate subject.
Eg. Scarlet stood in her apple green second day dress and saw plain little face of Melanie Hamilton.( only
one sbj. But not a simple sentence).
2.Sentences with dependant appendix among them prof. ILiich distinguishes sentences
a) with conjunction Than+ noun or pronoun
eg. I’ve known many who were prettier than you.(appendix)
b) sentences containing an adjective or adverb which may be presented by the adverb – as …as.
Eg. The conduct of a widow must be twice as careful as that of matron.
C) with conjunctions thought as thought + a phrase
Eg. John thought a little disappointed had too much good nature to make any opposition.
d) sentences with secondary predication which is not between the sbj and the predicate ( the complex object
+ infinitive + participle 1)
eg. We expect you to visit us . I saw him running . Absol. Particip .constr. – eg. The preliminary greetings
spoken , Denis found an empty chair and sat down.
3. Compound sentences – are such pole predicative units the clauses of which are joined by coordination.
Prof. Potchepzov considers that in compound sentences clauses are not equal one of them is leading and the other is
sequential . Conjunctions always preceded the sequential clause while connectors of adverbial character may occupy
any position in this sequential clause .
Eg. John plays the violin and( moreover) his sister plays the piano.
The semantic relations between the clauses of compound sentence depend partly on the lexical meaning of the
conjunction uniting them and partly on the meaning of the words making up the clauses themselves
There are the following types of coordination between the clauses of the compound sentence
1. Copulative coordination . It implies that 2 events or ideas conveyed by coordinate clauses are nearly joined in time
and place.
The copulative connectors are – the conjunctions- and , neither nor, not only , but also, as well as, conj.
Adverbs- than , moreover.
Eg. I didn’t recognize the girl nor did I remember her name.
2 Adversative- joins clauses containing opposition , contradiction or contrast. Adversative connectors are :
conjunct. –but , while ,where as . Conj adv.-yet, still , nevertheless.
3. Asyndetically – without any pronouns or conj.
Semantic relations between the clauses of the complex sentence are match more numerous and more varies both
between the clauses of a compound sentence .
The subordinate clauses may be joined by :
a) conjunctions: after , before , while , till, until ,though , that, because , since.
b) by relative pronouns : who, whose ,which, what, how many, how much, that ,whoever ,what ever.
Eg . Who can do it is unknown .
C) relative adverbs : where ,how, when, why, whenever.
d) phrases: as soon as , so long as, in order that, as ..as.
The complex sentence consists of the principal main clause and the subordinate clause but there are complex
sentences in which the main clause is not represented even by a part of a sentence but only by its component.
Eg. What he learn was that they had never arrived .
Subordinate clauses can be classified according to 2 principles :
1. according to their correlations with parts of the sentence subordinate clauses are divided into : sbj.obj. predict.
attributive , adverbial clauses;
2.On the basis of correlation with the parts of speech among them we can single out : substantival, adjectival ,
adverbial;
The subject subordinate clause is a clause which performs within a complex sentence the same function
that the sbj. Performs within a simple sentence .
Eg. What had happened was that I had spend too much time in the library .
Eg. It had seemed certain that their meeting was fortunate.
It – is a formal sbj. And a subordinate clause that heir meeting was …- a real sbj.
According to 2-nd view it – is a real sbj. And a subordinate clause is appositional clause referring to the
sbj. Of the main clause .
2-nd clause is Predicative Clause
Eg. This was exactly what he had expected him to say .
The structural and semantic completeness will be destroyed without it’s part.
Eg. It’s because he is weak that he needs me.
Predicative clause performs the functions of predicative.
The object subordinate clause – is the clause which performs within a complex sentence the same
function as the object performs within a single sentence .
Eg. He bought what he wanted.
Object clauses introduced by prepositions are termed prepositional object clauses.
Eg. It depends on what you will say.
Attribute subordinate clauses – Attribute clause is the clause the function of which in the complex
sentence( is identical to that of an attribute in a simple sentence).
Eh. He sat down behind the tray which the servant has just brought in.
Adverbial clauses- are the most numerous among subordinate clauses. They correspond to different types of
adverbial modifier .That’s why there are adverbial clauses of time, condition, concession, cause, aim, manner,
comparison, result .
Adverbial clause of time is produced by such subordinators as : when , after, before, till, until etc.
Eg. I called him before Monday.
Adv. Clauses of place are introduced by : where of whenever.
Eg. The party is going to take place here.
Adv. Clause of condition can be introduced by : If..if –positive condition, Unless..if – negative condition.
Conjunctions: providing that, as long as that.
Concessive clause implied a contrast between two circumstances. They can be introduced by such conj: as, though,
although, even if.
Clauses of cause are most commonly introduced by : because, as ,since..
Clauses of purpose are introduced by : in order to , so that to.
Result clauses are introduced by : so that , or so..
Adv. clauses of manner are introduced by : as, exactly as, just as.
Besides there are so called parenthetical which express the speaker’s attitude or they show the relation of the statement
to the one previously mentioned or to the source of information( conj: as … as I see it. They may be in the middle of
the sentence, in the end or at the beginning.
Eg. He is as I told you the only sun.
Lecture 10
Semantic and communicative analysis of the sentence .
1. The theory of semantic roles.
2. Actual division of the sentence.
3.means of expressing actual division.
1) As each sentence is a sign of situation we can speak about situational semantics of the sentence.
Lucien Turnier compared the sentence with a small drama which has its participants and circumstances.
When we analyze the sentence as it is represented in speech we can speak about surface structure
represented by in terms of the sbj., The obj., the attribute, the adv. Modif.
On the other hand we analyze the sentence as a sum of situations we speak about , it’s deep structure .
Turnier: e.g. . The role of Fedra was played by beautiful French actress Megan Benson
This sentence may correspond to several situations : Vegan Benson is an actress. She is from France . she
played the role of Fedra. She played it beautifully .
Semantic functions of words in deep structure of the sentence are called semantic roles , the main:
Agent, Nominative, Patient, Instrument, Locative ,Temperative.
Agent- denotes an animate thing which fulfils the action rendered by the verb . Conveyed by the sbj. Surface
structure or by the sbj. Complem.
E.g. I read the note, the note was read by me .
Nominative- is the semantic role which correlates with the agent but unlike the agent it is expressed by
inanimate noun.
E.g. His eyes winked . Mountains frightened him.
Patient- denotes the object of the action, it is rendered by the object , or object complement in the surface
structure .
E.g. John bit me by his hand.
Factitive – denotes the complete action.
E.g. The boy dug the ground, The boy dug the hole – factitive.
Instrument- implies the intentional action that is always used in the structures that contain the agent.
E.g. Dan opened the door with the key.
Locative- is the semantic role the subtypes of which are expressed by prepositions –on, in, over, above,
under.
(There are locatives of starting points)
E.g. He jumped of the rock.
Locatives usually correspond to the adv. modif. in the surface structure of the sentence
But sometimes they can be conveyed by the sbj.
E.g. The buss holds 40 people. 40 people can seat on the buss- --locative.
Temperative- usually corresponds to adv. Modif. Of time in the surface structure of the sentence. But
sometimes it may correspond to the sbj.
E.g. Tomorrow is his birthday.
2)So linguists distinguish 3 levels of functions specified by functional grammar. They examine the way in
which the language functions grammatically rather than functionally . Levels are as follows:
Level A- Semantic level(agent, nominative, patient, factitive, instrument ,locative, temperative)
Level B-structural grammar or formal grammar: sbj. Pred. obj. adv. Modif. Attrib.
Level C- pragmatical level realized by : theme , rheme or topic comment .
Le later level is also known as FSP level – functional sentence perspective or actual sentence patrician or
theme/rheme structure.
Actual division is such communicative organization of the sentence which is predetermined by the speaker’s
will who singles out the introductory information which as a rule is connected with the previous sentence or
new information.
Theme from Greek – establish , set and Rheme - to say , tell.
Theme- as an item of discourse denotes something that is spoken about , something that is known or at least
obvious in the given situation,
Rheme- is what one says about the theme ,it conveys the most important information already established
and whose expression is the purpose of communication .
E.g. John gave a book to Mary – rheme(new information)
But who gave a book to Mary – John – is rheme.
Thus the theme denotes the starting point of the communication in object or phenomenon about which
something is reported .
The rheme expresses the main information in the sentence .
3) Means of expressing actual division .
We can mention :
Intonation – can help us to guess the main information .
John is going to Spain next week . That corresponds to the question when John is going to Spain, Where is
John going next week - to Spain – rheme . But who is going…- logical stress is on John . What is John
going to do ? Is going to Spain next week – rheme.
Word order depend on grammatical structure . In English structural order sbj. Pred
Rheme usually occupies the final position . But the inversion is possible . Emphatic .
E.g. Only to me did John send a post card.
Never before had he send me a post card.
In the middle of the room stood a big table.
Subjective in final position – but it is the rheme of the sentence.
Other means of expressing division
The indefinite article A is used to introduce something makes part of new information.
E.g.. A girl( rheme) looked out of the window .- theme.
Synthetical constructions – the constructions : it is , it is who, it s which
Which the word of purpose representing the rheme enclosed between the words IT IS and the word s: that,
who, or which.
Such sentences are called cleft sentences
e.g. It was sister Jennies House that he considered his home.
e.g. John wore his best suit for the dance last night .
With the help of cleft sentences it is possible to stress any part of the sentence.
e.g. It was John – rheme.
it was best suit which John wore .
It was for the dance that John wore his best suit .
It was last night that John wore …