Lecture 1.

Introduction

to Contrastive Grammar Studies

Contents:

1.Linguistic status of Typology.

2.Practical aims of Contrastive Typology.

3.Fundamental terms and notions.

4.Contrastive Grammar as a part of contrastive linguistics.

5.Methods of research used in contrastive studies.

Literature:

1.Korunets, I.V. Contrastive Typology of the English and Ukrainian Languages. – Вінниця, 2003.

2.Karamysheva, I. Contrastive Grammar of the English and Ukrainian Languages. – Вінниця, 2012.

Comparison vs. Contrast

Contrastive Grammar is a part of Contrastive Typology.

The final aims

of Contrastive Typology research:

•1) to identify and classify accordingly the main isomorphic and allomorphic features characteristic of languages under investigation;

•2) to draw from these common or divergent features respectively the isomorphic regularities (закономірності) and the allomorphic singularities (відмінності) in the languages contrasted;

•3) to establish on the basis of the obtained isomorphic features the typical language structures and the types of languages;

•4) to perform on the basis of the obtained practical data a scientific classification of the existing languages of the world;

•5) to establish on this basis the universal features/phenomena, pertaining to each single language of the world.

Terms and notions of Contrastive Typology:

•Absolute universals

•Near universals

•Metalanguage

•Typologically dominant features

•Typologically recessive features/phenomena

•Isomorphic features/phenomena

•Allomorphic features/phenomena

•The etalon language

CG of English and Ukrainian

Object: the grammar structure of English and Ukrainian.

Subject matter: the peculiarities of expression of the main grammatical categories and syntactic structures in both contrasted languages.

Grammatical phenomena of different languages can be contrasted according to:

•the content (gr. meanings, categories);

•the expression means (synthetic and analytical);

•the type of functioning.

Grammatical category is the system of opposed to each other rows of grammatical forms with homogeneous meanings. The number of gr. categories can vary from language to language and depends on the language type.