1. Morphemic structure of a word

The word is the largest unit of M. The morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit into which a word may be divided.

Notional words (verbs, nouns) posses some morphemic features expressing grammatical meanings. These features determine the grammatical form of the word. The grammatical form is not only confined to an individual word but unites a whole class of words.

Each word of the class expresses the corresponding grammatical meaning together with its individual lexical meaning (meaning of plurality, singularity, common and possessive case of past simple of the verb).

Grammar appears to be generalized in its categorical expression. The group of grammatical forms expressing a definite categorical function constitutes a paradigm (e.g. boys, cats, pens, sea-seas).

As for the grammatical category – it is the group of self- exclusive form classes of items with the same function (e.g. the set of form classes including: gr. forms of singularity and plurality constitutes a grammatical category of number of the noun. Goose-geese, man-men, girl-girls).

The members of the gr. Category are represented by the gr. opposition. The main types of opposition are:

1) A private opposition – is formed by a pair of members one of which is marked the other unmarked.(e.g. the expression of the verbal present and past tenses is based on a privative opposition. The suffix –ed renders the meaning of the past tense, it marks the past form of the verb positively (we worked) and the present form negatively (we work).

2) A gradual – is formed by a group of members, which are distinguished not by the presence or absence of a feature, but by the degree of it.(The category of degrees of comparison of adjectives as represented by gradual opposition, e.g. great-greater-the greatest).

3) A equipollent – is formed by a contrastive pair or group in which the members are distinguished by different positive features e.g. to be – am, is , are.

2. The verb: voice and mood

The verb is a part of speech which has the lexical meaning of action or process which has such derivational morphemes as suffixes –ize(critisize) – ify(simplify) – en(strengthen); prefixes –miss(mislead) – under(underline), lexical gr. inflexions like up, in, down, out; grammatical inflexions –ed, -es, -ing . Verb has such grammatical categories as person, tense, aspect, voice which can be combined with nouns, adverbs, and pronouns. In the sentence finite form of the verb performs the function of predicate and verbals (non finite verbs) – gerund infinitive can perform different functions in the sentence.

The category of voice. There are 2 main definitions of category of voice:

1. V. expresses the relation between the subject and the action(Ivanova)

2. Voice expresses the relation between the subject to the object on the one hand and the process of the other hand (Bloch).

Traditionally 2 voices are singled out active and passive.

The passive form as the strong member of the opposition, shows that the person or thing denoted by the subject is active performed upon i.e. the subject is the recipient of the action.

The active voice shows that the person or thing, denoted by the subject is the doer of the action expressed by the predicate i.e. the action is performed by the subject.

The category of voice is connected with the category of transitivity, intransitivity. In English not only transitive but also intransitive can be used in the passive. E.g. to give characterized by transitivity (to give sth.), can be used as intransitive as well: the window gives on the street (faces the street).*The passive voice sometimes is considered to be derived from active voice.

e.g. Tom bits John. John was bitten by Tom. – are not synonymous. In the 1st sentence Tom is centre of the interest and in the 2 John is under the stress. So the subject is the person or thing which is needed to be emphasized.

Passive voice constitutes a single perfect predicate. That’s why it is necessary to distinguish between passive voice and a compound nominal predicate, which consists of to be + participle. The difference between them is made on the basis of the fact that passive voice renders action, and the compound nominal predicate renders state.*

The category of mood.

Mood expresses the relation of the action to reality stated by the speaker. One mood can represent action while another represents it as nearly conditional (desire)(Vynogradov).

Mood expresses different relations between the subject and the predicative (H.Sweet).

Mood expresses certain attitudes of the mind of the speaker towards the content of the sentence(Jasperson).

Mood expresses the character of connection between the process denoted by verb and the actual reality , either presenting the process as a fact that really happened or will happen, happens.(Bloch). *As Bloch states the category of mood is represented by the opposition of the forms of oblique moods and the forms of direct moods. The former making up the strong member the later the weak member of opposition. *

Traditional gr. distinguishes between the indicative mood, which represents an action as real. The imperative and the conditional, which represents the action as not real. Indicative or direct mood expresses an action as real but it may not correspond to reality but it is used in the indicative mood. Imperative mood expresses the volition addressed to the listener. It has no subject as a rule, however when the n. or pronoun is used in emotional speech that the subject is possible. (e.g. Sit here but you sit here)

The most considered problem is the problem of oblique and conditional moods. Pr. Barkutarov points out the forms of should and would are not analytical because their 2nd component(infinitive) can be used in free combination. What concerns the form if I knew, if I have known he consider them to be the forms of past ind. And past perf.

Henry Sweet uses the term “Though forms” instead of oblique mood. He distinguishes:

1. The conditional mood(the combination of should and would + inf.)

2. The permissive mood(the combination of may + inf.)

3. The compulsive mood (the combination of finite form of to be + inf. – is to see, was to see.)

But H. Sweet couldn’t solve the problem of homonymous forms of subject mood on the one hand and past ind. And past perfect – on the other. He called them tense-moods.

Professor Sernytskij gives the following classification of moods:

1. Subjunctive1 (if he be, I suggest he go which doesn’t contradict reality – he demands that we be attentive )

2. Subjunctive2 which contradicts reality (if you had been there I should have seen you)

3. Suppositional mood denoting something necessary order, suggestion (I insist that he should consult a doctor)

4. Conditional mood functioning in the main clause of conditional sentences (what would you answer if you were asked)

Professor Illish combines 2 approaches to the category of mood :

1. based on meaning:

-expressing possibility(become, should come, may come – sub.1)

-unreal condition( came,had come, sub 2)

-consequences of unreal condition(should come – 1 pers, would come – 2, pers)

2. based on form

According to the means of expressing moods (both synthectical and analytical) he gets 5 moods:

1. come (with no adding in any person the auxiliary)

2. came, had come

3. should come

4. should come for the 1 person

5. would come for the 2,3 persons