33. Main parts of the sentence

It’s common grammatical theory to distinguish the main & the secondary parts of a sentence. There are 2 generally recognized main parts of the sentence: the subject & the predicate. They form the foundation of the sentence: all other parts may be optional. If they are, they serve to define or modify the subject or the predicate or each other.

The subject:

1. denotes the thing whose action or characteristic is expressed by the predicate.

2. does not depend on any other part of the sentence.

3. may be expressed by different parts of speech, most frequently by nouns in the common case, personal pronouns in the nominative case, demonstrative pronouns, substantivised adjectives, numerals, infinitives, gerunds, even by a phrase.

The predicate:

1. It denotes the action or property of the thing expressed by the subject

2. It is not dependent on any other part of the sentence.

3. Ways of expressing the predicate are varied

Predicate may be classified in 2 ways.

1. structural classification: simple (verbal & nominal), compound (verbal & nominal).

2. morphological classification: a verbal predicate (simple & compound), a nominal predicate (simple & compound).

The predicative connection of words unites the s. & the p. & forms the basis of the sentence. The subject dominates the predicate determining the person of predication, while the predicate dominates the sгиоусе determining the event of predication.

34. Paradigmatic structure of a sentence

The paradigmatic approach to a sentence marked a new stage in the development of the science of language. Paradigmatic approach has provided a comprehensive theoretical ground for treating the sentence not only as a ready unit of speech, but also as a meaningful lingual unit existing in a pattern form. Paradigmatics finds its essential expression in a system of oppositions making the corresponding meaningful categories. Syntactic oppositions are realized by correlative sentence patterns, relations between which can be described as “transformations” (from one pattern of certain nominal p-ts to another pattern of the same nominal p-ts). Some of the patterns are to be approached as base patterns, while others – as their transformations. E.g. a guestion can be described as transformationally produced from a statement (You are fond of music. – Are you fond of music?) A negation can be presented as transformationally produced from an affirmation (You are fond of music. - You are not fond of music.). We transform interrogative & negative sentences from affirmative only because the ordinary affirmative statement present a positive expression of a fact in its purest form, free from connotation. Modern theory has interpreted these transitional relations as regular derivation stages comparable to categorical form making processes in morphology & word-building.

35. Composite sentences

The composite sentence is formed by 2 or more predicative lines. It reflects 2 or more elementary situational events viewed as a unity. Each predicative line in a composite sentence forms a clause, which corresponds to a separate sentence. The use of composite sentences is typical to written speech more than colloquial.

The 2 main types of connection of clauses in a composite sentence are subordination & coordination. By coordination the clauses are arranged as units of syntactically equal rank, by subordination - as units of unequal rank (one of the clauses (subordinate) is subordinated to the other (principal)). The means of combining clauses are syndectic & asyndectic.

Besides the 2 classical types of connection of clauses, we find another case of construction of a composite sentence. When the connection between the clauses is extremely loose & the sequential clause is in a syntactically detached position this kind of connection is called cumulation. In this loosely connected composite sentence the information in the sequential clause is presented as an afterthought. Its formal sign is the tone of completion. In writing it is separated with a semifinal mark, such as a semicolon, a dash, sometimes a series of periods. Continuative cumulation: He did his job in the office without any fuss; he answered questions in the House: he made a couple of speeches. Parenthetical cumulation: Your story, you know, showed such breadth and depth of thought.

36. Semi-compound sentences

Semi-composite sentences are the sentences, containing 2 or more predicative lines, which are presented in fusion with one another. It is a special construction that stands between the composite sentence & the simple sentence. Its surface structure is similar to that of an expanded simple sentence as it displays only 1 completely expressed predicative line. Its deep structure is similar to that of a composite sentence since it is derived from several sentences, e.g.: She saw him dancing. – is derived from 2 base sentences: “She saw him. He was dancing”;

According to their structure, semi-composite sentences are divided into: 1.) semi-complex 2.) semi-compound.

The semi-compound sentence is based on the principle of coordination. It is derived from 2 or more base sentences having an identical element. These are sentences with homogeneous subjects or predicates, e.g.: I composed my thoughts and gave a proper answer. The semi-compound sentence of subject coordination is derived from base sentences having identical predicates, e.g.: First Simon entered the room and then his friend. The semi-compound sentence of predicate coordination is derived from base sentences having identical subjects, e.g.: She sat down and looked up at him.

In a semi-compound sentence the identical element can be expressed: 1. syndetically –with the help of conjunctions and conjunctive adverbials (- copulative: and; both…and, not only …but, neither … nor;- disjunction: either …or;- consequence: so;- adversative or contrast: but, yet, still, however;- limitation: just, only). E.g.They can neither read nor write, nor comprehend such concepts.

2. asyndetically - enumeration of events, either parallel or consecutive, e.g.: The crowd shouted, pushed, elbowed at the doors (parallel);

In conclusion it should be stressed that alongside with the complete composite sentences there exist semi-composite sentences in which polypredication is expressed in a fused implicit way.