7. Noun and its grammatical categories

1. Introduction. The categories of gender and number.

2. The category of case.

• The 2-case system (Henry Sweet, Otto Jespersen).

• The 4-case system (G. Curme).

• The 3-case system (H. Whitehall).

• The theory denying the existence of the category of case in English (G.N. Vorontsova, B.A. Ilyish, A.M. Mukhin).

3. The syntactic function of the noun.

1. Introduction. The categories of gender and number

The categorial meaning of the noun is identified as substantiality or thingness. It follows from this that the noun is the main nominative part of speech because any property of substances as well as of actions and states can be isolated and presented as self-dependent substances: e.g. beauty, necessity, bitterness. Thus nouns refer to things, substances, beings, phenomena, and abstract concepts. On the whole nouns comprise concrete objects and abstract concepts taking these two groups together.

According to their specific uses nouns can be characterized further. They are subdivided into proper, i.e. nouns used for particular persons, places, things, or ideas which are, or imagined to be, unique, and common which are not names of particular persons, places, things or ideas. Common nouns are further divided into countable (sometimes called unit or count nouns) and uncountable (sometimes known as mass or non-count nouns). Grammarians cannot help mentioning that common sense is not always the best guide to decide whether the noun is countable or not. That is why their suggestion is to think in terms of countable or uncountable uses of nouns [Alexander 1995: 39]. Both groups have further subdivisions into concrete and abstract nouns. And again diverse language manifestations defy straightforward analysis and strict classifications.

Chart 1. The classification of nouns

according to L. Alexander (1995):

NOUNS

PROPER COMMON

COUNT NON-COUNT

CONCRETE ABSTRACT

(observed idea CONCRETE ABSTRACT

& measured) situation light excitement

book, car, elephant remar bread luck

certainty grass happiness

difficulty

? music

? version

Though this classification seems quite logical, sometimes there are no clear-cut boundaries between different subgroups.

Now we take the second criterion, that of form. The number of grammatical categories of the noun varies as the status of different categories poses some problems for grammatical description. On the whole the number of grammatical categories differs from three to one.

The category recognized by all the grammarians is that of number. Modern English like most other languages distinguishes two numbers: singular and plural, i.e. the category of number is expressed by the opposition of the plural form to the singular form of the noun. The plural number shows that more than one object are meant. Thus the opposition is one ÷ more than one. The strong member of the binary opposition is the plural, its productive formal mark is the suffix –(e)s, e.g.: dogs, clocks, boxes. The productive formal mark correlates with the absence of the number suffix in the singular form of the noun. The other non-productive ways of expressing the number opposition are

1. Vowel interchange in several old forms (man - men, woman – women, tooth – teeth);

2. The archaic suffix –(e)n supported by the phonemic interchange in a couple of other relic forms (ox – oxen, child – children, brother – brethren).

Plural and singular nouns stand in contrast as diametrically opposite. Instances are not few, however, when their opposition comes to be neutralized. This is to say that there are cases when the numeric differentiation appears to be of no importance at all. Here belong many collective, abstract, and material nouns. If we analyze the meaning of collective nouns, it is evident that they denote at the same time the concepts of plurality and a unity. They may be said to be doubly countable and thus from a logical point of view form the exact contrast to mass nouns: they are, in fact, at the same time singular and plural, while mass words are logically neither. The double-sidedness of collective nouns weakens the opposition and leads to the development of either Pluralia tantum as in: weeds, ashes, embers, etc., or Singularia tantum: wildfowl, clergy, foliage, etc. In some cases usage fluctuates, and the two forms are interchangeable: brain & brains, wage & wages.

The dual nature of collective nouns is shown linguistically in various ways: by the number of the verb or by the pronoun referring to it (My family are early risers, they are already here).

There are also two types of nouns differing from others in the way of number - they do not have the usual two number forms, but only one form: singularia tantum and pluralia tantum. The former have only the singular but no plural. The latter have only the plural and no singular.

Singular only nouns:

1. Proper names.

2. Names of subjects, diseases, and games (physics, mumps, billiards). These nouns are misleading because they look plural.

3. Nouns in a non-count use: e.g. music, homework, snow. Though some nouns can be used in a countable way: They had two beers.

Plural only nouns include:

1. Names of two-part items: scissors, binoculars, jeans.

2. A few dozen names ending in –s: amends, annals, auspices, congratulations, dregs, outskirts, remains, thanks, tropics. In such cases either there is no singular or the singular gives a different sense, e.g.: dregs of beer VS He’s a dreg! (Br E: worthless person).

3. A few nouns that look singular but are always plural, e.g.; vermin, livestock, cattle, poultry, people, folk, police.

Besides, there is a group of double-plural nouns.

1. Mention should be made in this connection of nouns which have two parallel variants in the plural exactly alike in function but different in their stylistic sphere of application: cows & kine (archaic, now chiefly poetic); foes & fone (arch.), shoes & shoon (arch.) Unproductive archaic elements are sometimes used to create the atmosphere of elevated speech. This may be also traced in other languages (сыны – сыновья).

2. There are also double plurals used with some difference of meaning: brothers (sons of one mother) ÷ brethren (members of one community); geniuses (men of genius) ÷ genii (spirits), clothes (articles of dress) ÷ cloths (kinds of cloth), indexes (tables of contents) ÷ indices (in maths). Double plurals with the differentiation of meaning will be found in other languages as well (зубы – зубья; листья – листы; мужья – мужи; тона – тоны).

3. Very often the plural form, besides its specific meaning may also retain the exact meaning of the singular, which results in homonymy.

   • Custom = habit, customs (=1. pl of habit; 2. duties)

   • Colour = tint, colours (= 1. pl of tint; 2. flag)

   • Effect = result, effects (= 1. results; 2. goods and chattels)

   • Manner = mode or way, manners (= 1. modes, ways; 2. behaviour).

4. Morphological variation will be found in nouns foreign in origin. Through the natural process of assimilation some borrowed nouns have developed parallel native forms, as in: formula – formulae, formulas; focus – foci, focuses; stratum – strata, stratums). Foreign plurals are decidedly more bookish than the native ones.

Mention should also be made of the stylistic use of both plural and singular. Patterns like: trees in leaf, to have a keen eye, blue of eye, strong of muscle, will exemplify synecdoche – the simplest case of metonymy in grammar (“pars pro toto”). Compare in Russian: держать ухо востро; наметанный глаз; И слышно было до рассвета, как ликовал француз (М.Ю. Лермонтов).

Expressing plurality will be found in the so called “augmentative” plural, i.e. when the plural forms of material nouns are used to denote large amounts of substance, or a high degree of something: the blue waters of the Mediterranean, the sands of the Sahara desert, the snows of Kilimanjaro (similarly in Russian). Plural forms of abstract nouns will also be used for stylistic purposes: Wilfred has emotions, hates, pities, wants; at least, sometimes (Galsworthy); The look on her face … was full of secret resentments, and longings, and fears (Mitchell, Gone with the wind). In Russian: Повсюду страсти роковые И от судеб защиты нет (Пушкин). Отрады. Знаю я сладких четыре отрады (Брюсов). The same can be observed in French and other languages.

The metaphoric use of the plural of nouns denoting things to be considered unique is also an effective stylistic device: A glare brighter than a dozen suns … (Mitchell, Gone with the wind)⁵⁶.

A few nouns have the same form for both singular and plural, even though they are semantically variable, allowing a difference between “one” and “more than one”. They are termed “words without end”. Here belong nouns denoting:

1. Certain animals: sheep, salmon, deer.

2. Nationalities: Portuguese, Swiss, etc.

3. Several nouns expressing quantity: quid (in Br E for pound), pence, etc.

4. A few others: aircraft, hovercraft, offspring, series, species.

Quite naturally there exists a view that not every noun possesses the category of number [Rayevska 1967: 68-73]. Nouns denoting material substances (milk, chocolate, butter, etc.) and names of abstract notions are strictly speaking outside the sphere of number. But in the morphological and syntactic system of the English language a noun cannot stand outside the category of number. If the noun is the subject of the sentence, the predicate verb (if it is in the Present Tense) will have to be either singular or plural. The sign of this kind shows that the noun is in the singular.

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As for the category of gender, most grammarians consider that in Modern English there is no category of grammatical gender or there is no such grammatical category. Among them there are such linguists as B.A. Ilyish, I.P. Ivanova, B.S. Khaimovich, B.J. Rogovskaya, A.I. Smirnitsky and some others. English nouns can show the sex of their referents lexically: boy – girl, cock – hen, bull – cow, husband – wife, bachelor – spinster, duck – drake etc., or with the help of word-building suffixes: actor – actresses, lion – lioness, tiger – tigress, woman-teacher, tom-cat, he-wolf. The noun does not possess any special gender forms; neither does the accompanying adjective, pronoun or article indicate any gender agreement with the head noun. Gender seems justified to be restricted to those languages that have the precise and mutually exclusive noun-classes marked clearly and formally.

Still some grammarians emphasize the fact that the semantic nature of this category does not in the least make it into non-grammatical. This idea was put forward by M.Y. Blokh. He considers that the category of gender is formed by two oppositions. One opposition functions in the whole set of nouns, dividing them into person (human) nouns and non-person (non human) nouns. The other opposition functions in the subset of person nouns only, dividing them into masculine and feminine nouns. As a result of these oppositions a system of three genders gets its outline: the neuter (non-person) gender, the masculine (masculine person) gender and the feminine (feminine person) gender.

To the group of neuter gender, according to M. Y. Blokh, belong such nouns as: tree, love, cat, society, crowd, etc. (they are non-person nouns). The feminine subclass of person nouns is represented by such nouns as woman, girl, mother, bride, etc. The masculine subclass of person nouns comprises such nouns as man, boy, father, bridegroom, etc.

M.Y. Blokh is not alone in this approach to the category of gender in Modern English. For example, Barbara Strang tries to prove the existence of the grammatical category of gender in Modern English by the possibility of the substitution by pronouns he, she, it indicating different genders (B. Strang. Modern English Structure. London, 1965). Thus the problem of gender remains debatable as long as there is some proof to it.

It should be admitted that there is a certain correlation between certain nouns and pronouns substituting for them. In particular, traditional names of countries correlate with the feminine pronoun (England / Australia and her people). Whereas official, geographic and political names go with the neuter gender (The United Kingdom and its people; The continent of Australia: its climate and natural resources). When different objects are personified in fables, folklore, poetics, the masculine gender is used in case the active, strong side is emphasized, and the feminine gender is used for something resembling a woman in fragility. Thus, in English poetics, Sun = he, Moon = she, Wind, Ocean, River = he; Nature = she; Fear, Love = he; Hope, Mercy = she. Any animal in fairy tales is represented as of masculine gender (Dog, Fish, Horse, Cat, Mouse = he) with an exception of those cases when there are special words for the feminine gender (Lioness = she) or a typical feminine behaviour is underlined, like in Aesop’s fable: Ant = he, grass-hopper = she.

Traditionally names of boats (boat, ship, etc.) and other vehicles especially when they are described emotionally are associated with the feminine gender (Something is wrong with my car, I can’t start her). Nevertheless in neutral contexts the neuter gender is admissible (I saw a car at the curb; its window was broken). Any inanimate object can be perceived as belonging to the feminine gender if it is thought of caressingly and it is acted upon (I am trying to move this cupboard over to the other wall. Just give me a hand with her / with it)⁵⁷.