- •Lecture-Notes in English Theoretical Grammar
- •Point 1. The subject of theoretical grammar and its difference from practical grammar.
- •The ic method, introduced by American descriptivists, presents the sentence not as a linear succession of words but as a hierarchy of its iCs, as a ’structure of structures’.
- •Point 5. The grammatical meaning. Categorial and non-categorial meanings in grammar.
- •Voice is the category of the verb which indicates the relation of the predicate to the subject and the object.
- •The conjunction is a part of speech which denotes connections between objects and phenomena. It connects parts of the sentence, clauses, and sentences.
- •If the main part of a one-member sentence is expressed by a noun, the sentence is called nominal. The noun may be modified by attributes.
- •Implicit nominalization refers to the structures where nominalization is implied but is not evident. It is disclosed only after respective transformations, e.G.
Implicit nominalization refers to the structures where nominalization is implied but is not evident. It is disclosed only after respective transformations, e.G.
What he intends to do is very reasonable. – His intention is very reasonable.
Their fault was that they failed to report it. – Their fault was their failure to report it.
Theme 10. THE SUPRAPHRASAL UNITY AND THE TEXT
Point 1. The notion of the text
The general idea of a sequence of sentences forming a text includes two different notions. On the one hand, it presupposes a succession of spoken or written utterances irrespective of their forming or not forming a coherent semantic complex. On the other hand, it implies a strictly topical stretch of talk, i.e. a continual succession of sentences centering on a common informative purpose. It is this latter understanding of the text that is syntactically relevant. It is in this latter sense that the text can be interpreted as a lingual element with its two distinguishing features: first, semantic (topical) unity; second, semantico-syntactic cohesion.
A text may have the form of a dialogue, or a monologue, or both, but the two forms have a common feature: a communicative direction.
Point 2. The main categories of the text.
As a result of comparing the sentence with the supersentential constituents (or supraphrasal unities) of the text, the notion of the elementary text unit called the ‘dicteme’ is developed.
The supraphrasal unity, sometimes also called the ‘cumuleme’ is an immediate accumulation of sentences of the coordinating type.
The dicteme is an elementary unit of text topicalization, which is formed by sentences. It may coincide in volume with a sentence, a supraphrasal unity, or a paragraph.
Point 3. The problem of text grammar and stylistics
The text has been recently included in the sphere of grammatical description of the most generalized aspects of its form and semantics. Grammar studies the text from the point of view of its formation by lingual means.
Text stylistics should be differentiated from the literary term in the sense that the text stylization is a combination of stylistic features which are natural and vital for any kind of speech.