Glossary

The phonological system determines the material, or phonetic, appearance of language units. It is studied in phonology.

The lexical system includes the naming units of the language (words, word-combinations) and it is studied in lexicology.

The grammatical system deals with word-forms and rules for connecting them into phrases and sentences for the purpose of communication. It is studied in the science of grammar.

Grammar as a part of language macrosystem dynamically connects language as a system of signs with speech as the usage of signs and so it determines the lingual process of speech-making.

So the subject matter of the science of grammar as a linguistic discipline is to investigate and interpret language categories and functions which underlie the process of speech-making.

By grammatical category we understand a general meaning according to which some word-forms are opposed or correlated.

The grammatical meaning is understood as a general meaning of word-forms which are included into a grammatical category (the category of tense: present, past, future, future-in-the-past meanings).

By the grammatical form we understand morphological characteristics of the given type or class of words or the structural properties of a phrase or sentence.

Analytical forms look like free word combinations but they must be differentiated.

We should also differentiate analytical verb-forms from bound word combinations like give up, take part, etc. The difference is that in the bound word combination neither of the components can be treated as auxiliary.

By the grammatical function we mean syntactic properties of word-forms or communicative properties of sentences.

Morphology is the part of grammar which studies word-forms and their categories while syntax deals with phrases, sentences and operating them in the process of speech-making.

The plane of content comprises (includes) semantic elements of the language while the plane of expression is restricted (ограничен) to the material, formal elements of the language.

In cases of polysemy and homonymy 2 or more units of the plane of content correspond to 1 unit of the plane of expression.

In cases of synonymy 2 or more units of the plane of expression correspond to 1 basic unit of the plane of content.

Syntagmatic relations are immediate linear relations between language units in a segmental sequence.

Paradigmatic relations are intrasystemic relations. It means they are relations between the forms of the same word.

Segmental language units are units which can be singled out within a larger line. Segmental units comprise phonemes, syllables, morphemes, words, phrases and sentences.

Supra-segmental units are units which do not exist by themselves. They are actualized together with segmental units which they modify introducing some modifications into their meaning. Supra-segmental units include accent, intonation, pauses, word-order patterns.

The phonemic level is the level the basic unit of which is the phoneme.

The phoneme is the smallest distinguishing unit of the language.

The morphemic level is the level of segmental language units the basic unit of which is the morpheme.

The morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit of the language.

The lexemic level is the level of segmental language units the basic unit of which is the word.

The word is the smallest naming unit of the language.

The phrasemic level is the level of segmental language units the basic unit of which is the phrase.

The phrase is two or more syntactically connected words which name complicated phenomena of the world.

The proposemic level is the level of segmental language units the basic unit of which is the sentence.

The sentence is the smallest unit of communication, having predicativeness and naming a situation.

The supra-proposemic level is the level of segmental language units the basic unit of which is the a supra-phrasal unity

A supra-phrasal unity includes two or more syntactically and thematically connected sentences.

Naming power is the ability of the word to name objects of reality.

Isolability the ability of the word to be separated within a phrase or a sentence.

Uninterruptibility is the inability of the word to be interrupted by some other word or a parenthetical enclosure.

Looseness means relatively different positions which the word can take in the sentence.

The morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit and an elementary part of the word.

The opposition is a generalized correlation of language units, forms, by means of which a certain category or function is expressed.

Neutralization is that type of the reduction of the oppositions when the unmarked member of the opposition is used as the marked one.

Transposition is that type of reduction of oppositions when the marked member is used instead of the unmarked one. Transposition usually brings about a certain stylistic effect.

So the zero morpheme can be understood as meaningful absence of some morpheme.

The opposition is a generalized correlation of language units, forms, by means of which a certain category or function is expressed.

In a binary privative opposition one member is characterized by the presence of a certain differential feature, while the other member is characterized by the absence of this very feature.

A gradual opposition is formed by a contrastive group of members which are distinguished not by the presence or absence of some feature but by the degree of the same feature.

An equipollent opposition is formed by a contrastive pair or group of members which are differentiated by different positive features.

It’s well-recognized in linguistics that all words are classified into lexico-grammatical classes which are called parts of speech in traditional grammar.

Notional parts of speech have an independent lexical meaning and can function as self-dependent members of the sentence.

Functional parts of speech may have a dependent meaning. They mark various types of syntactic relations or modify notional parts of speech.

The theory of the morphological fields of parts of speech runs that each part of speech includes words, which possess all its characteristic features. These words make up the nucleus of the morphological field of the part of speech. Besides these words the part of speech may include words which possess not all but only some characteristic features of this part of speech. These words make up the periphery of the morphological field of this part of speech.

The article is a morphological sign of the noun.

The category of the degrees of comparison denotes different intensity of some property when comparing some objects possessing this property.

From the functional point of view verbs can be notional and functional (formal). Notional verbs name actions or processes and are used as predicates. Functional verbs do not name actions or processes; they only express different grammatical categories or meanings.

The morphological category of tense is aimed at reflecting the objective category of time.

The category of aspect is a verb category which denotes the character of the development of an action or event.

The category of retrospective coordination implies precedence, coordination of actions, based on the completion or coordination of an action and some moment of time to stress the resultative aspect of the action.

The category of mood expresses the relations between the action and reality from the speaker’s point of view.

The indicative mood presents an action or event as a real fact from the grammatical point of view.

The imperative mood expresses an inducement, addressed by the speaker to the addressee.

Oblique moods denote unreal or problematic actions.

The grammatical category of voice expresses the relations between the Subject and the Predicate showing whether the Subject is the doer or recipient of the action.

The simple sentence is monopredicative, as it contains one subject-predicate line, while the composite sentence is polypredicative, as it contains more than one subject-predicate lines. The simple sentence reflects one situation of reality, while the composite sentence reflects more than one situations related to each other.

The complex sentence is that one which consists of at least two clauses of unequal rank that is one clause dominates the other or others.

The complex sentence is that one which consists of at least two clauses of unequal rank that is one clause dominates the other or others.

Coordination is such a type of syntactic relations when the connected words are of equal syntactic status, independent of each other.

Subordination is such a type of syntactic relations which is based on syntactic inequity of connected constituents.

Interdependence is such a type of syntactic relations when both constituents of a phrase are equal and mutually dependent on each other.

Cumulative relations are those which appear between language units only because they are constituents of a larger syntagmatic line.

By agreement we understand that method of realizing syntactic relations when a formal correspondence between word forms is observed.

By governing we understand that method of realizing syntactic relations when there comes a change in the form of the governed word under the influence of the governing or head word.

By adjoining we understand that method of realizing syntactic relations when words getting into syntactic relations don’t change their form.

The sentence is a syntactic structure, which is used in communication acts to form and render complete thoughts about situations of reality. It is characterized by nominative, communicative and pragmatic aspects.

The theme expresses the starting point of the communication, i.e. it denotes an object or a phenomenon about which something is reported (informative part “already known” by the listener). The rheme expresses the basic informative part of the communication, its contextually relevant centre (the part “not yet known” by the listener).

The text is interpreted аs a lingual element (the supra-sentential construction) with its two distinguishing features: 1) semantic (topical) unity, and 2) semantico-syntactic cohesion.