5 The definition of a word. Notional words.

A word is a unit of language that carries meaning and consists of one or more morphemes which are linked more or less tightly together, and has a phonetic value. Words can be combined to create phrases, clauses, and sentences.

It can be defined as the minimal free linguistic form, the elementary component of the sentence, the articulate sound symbol, the grammatically arranged combination of sound with meaning, the immediately identifiable lingual unit, the uninterrupted string of morphemes. Together with other nominative units the word is used for the formation of the sentence – a unit of information in the communication process. According to meanings, forms & their functions in sentences, English words can be divided into 2 big categories: Notional Words: nouns, pronouns, adjectives, numerals, verbs, adverbs Form Words: articles, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections As the terms imply, notional words have certain terminal meanings and serve as members of sentences, e.g. subjects, attributes, adverbials; whereas form words play structural roles and show the relationship between words or between other parts of the sentences, or help to build various tenses, voices and moods, etc.

The following table shows the meanings of notional words and their functions: писать как таблицу

Noun: meaning – thingness; form: have the category of number, case; functions: combines with words to form phrases, in the sentence serves as subjects, objects, predicatives, etc. Adjective: meaning – indicates the quality and characteristics of people or things; form: degrees of comparison; function: combines with nouns, precedes adverbs. In the sentence it can be attributes, predicative complements. Pronoun: points out objects & qualities without naming them, form: some have category of number; function: combine with verbs, in the sentence can be subject, object, predicatives, etc. Numerals: meaning – indicate quantity or order; form: invariable; function: combine with following noun, in the sentence – serves as subjects, objects, predicatives, attributes, adverbials. Verb: meaning – process, actions or situations, form: have category of tense, aspect, mood, voice, person & number; function: connected with noun, adjective and adverb; in the sentence – predicate or part of it. Adverb: meaning – explains verbs, adjectives or other adverbs; form: invariable, has degrees of comparison; function: combines with verb, adjective, noun; in the sentence – adverbial modifier.

6. The Stative. The Particle. The Modal words.

The stative: the essence of the words asleep, afloat, astir, ablaze, etc. and their position in the system of parts of speech is still under discussion. They constitute a special part of speech, which may be called "stative" and is characterised by the prefix a-. Meaning. The meaning of the words of this type is that of a passing state a person or thing happens to be in. Form. Statives are invariable. Function. (a) Statives most usually follow a link verb (be,fall, keep, feel). Occasionally they can follow a noun (man alive )or an adverb (fast asleep). (b) In the sentence, a stative is most usually a predicative (he fell asleep). They can also be objective predicatives (I found him asleep) and attributes, almost always following the noun they modify (a man asleep in his chair). The phrase "be + stative" may sometimes be synonymous with the continuous form of the corresponding verb. E. g. He is asleep & He is sleeping. The question whether these 2 ways of expression are always interchangeable has not been finally answered so far.

The Particle. Meaning:The Particle is a part of speech, which gives moral or emotional emphasis to other words or a phrase, or a clause in the sentence. Forms: Particles are invariable. Function: Particles may combine with practically every part of speech, more usually preceding it (only three), but occasionally following it (for advanced students only). (b) have no independent function in the sentence & enter the part of the sentence formed by the word (or phrase) to which they refer.

According to their meaning they can be divided into the following groups: 1. limiting particles: only, but, alone, merely, solely, barely, etc. Sorry, I only wanted to use your telephone. 2. intensifying: just, even, simply, quite, still, уet. I just want to live & work here. 3. connecting: too, also. He signed letters & also made some cals.4. negative: not, no. Not a word was told to me about it.

Modal Words: Modal words have only recently been separated from adverbs, with which they were traditionally taken together. By modal words we mean such words as perhaps, possibly, certainly. Meaning. Modal words express the speaker's evaluation of the relation between an action and reality. Form. Modal words are invariable. Function. (a) Modal words usually do not enter any phrases but stand outside them. In a few cases, however, they may enter into a phrase with a noun, adjective, etc. (he will arrive soon, possibly to-night). (b) In sentences modal words perform the function of a parenthesis. A modal word can also make up a sentence by itself. This happens when it is used to answer a general question. In these cases, then, modal words are the main part of the sentence. Modal words are classified into groups according to their meaning: 1. “ertainty”: certainly, surely, undoubtedly; 2. “doubt”: perhaps, maybe, possibly, etc. The use of modal words depends to a great extent on the type of the sentence.