The English Matters for University Students. Practical and Theoretical Issues. Учебное пособие для студентов 2-3 курсов, обучающихся по направлению 45

The English Articles: Their Meanings and Peculiarities of Use

Peculiar Use of Articles (Part 3)

Articles With Words MAN/WOMAN

Note: In the Generic meaning (В типовом/родовом обобщающем значении), which is generally associated with the use of the Definite Article, the words man (мужчина/человек) and woman are often used with the zero article; the word “man” demonstrates the tendensy to take the zero article more frequently than “woman” (man – 90 %, woman – 50/50 %). In particular, the article is not required before these words if the utterance is stylistically neutral and doesn’t bear any additional emotional colouring.

Translate and explain the use of articles. Here the words “man” and “woman” are used either in generic or in other meanings. Mind the fact that the use of the definite article before the words “man” and “woman” contributes to strengthening the expressive effect of the utterance.

Some words and phrases to be used in the translation: to be superior to, to bring bad luck, creature, to be beyond smb, to get acquainted, decent, about the house, at smb’s expense.

1.В мировых религиях мужчина имеет превосходство над женщиной.

2.Человек – царь природы.

3.Женщина на корабле приносит несчастье.

4.Женщина – это существо, которое выше (за пределами) моего понимания.

5.Мужчина – защитник семьи.

6.Нас защитил мужчина, но мы не знаем его имени.

7.Ты знаешь имя мужчины?

8.Мужчина покупал в пекарне Мисс Марты только черствый хлеб.

9.Мисс Марта хотела познакомиться с каким-нибудь порядочным мужчиной и создать семью.

10.Нам нужна женщина для помощи по хозяйству.

11.Мужчина – глава семьи.

12.Женщина прекрасно пообедала за счет мужчины.

13.Герой рассказа был слишком молод, чтобы сказать «нет» женщине.

14.Мужчина физически сильнее, чем женщина.

15.Сдвинуть этот камень может только мужчина.

16.Женщина всегда была предметом восхищения для этого художника.

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PART 2. THE THEORETICAL ISSUES

T H E A L T E R N A T I V E L I N G U I S T I C M E A N S O F T H E E N G L I S H L A N G U A G E T O R E N D E R S I M I L A R

P H E N O M E N A A N D M E A N I N G S

DIFFERENT WAYS OF EXPRESSING FUTURE ACTIONS

1) Using Future Tenses

I will come – The Future Simple Tense.

Tomorrow at 5 o’clock he will be sleeping – The Future Continuous Tense.

We will have decorated the room by September – The Future Perfect Tense.

She will have been learning German for a year by May – The Future Perfect Continuous Tense.

2) Using Present Tenses

a) The Present Simple Tense to reveal the action which will take place in the future according to the schedule.

b) The Present Simple Tense and The Present Perfect Tense which replace the factual future in adverbial clauses of time and condition.

c) The Present Continuous Tense to show someone’s personal plans. 3) Using Phrases: to be going, to be about.

4) Using Modal Verbs

a)must/may/might – in the meaning of supposition: He may leave Oxford –

Очевидно, он уедет из Оксфорда.

b)can/could – in the meaning of surprise and disbelief: He can’t/couldn’t drop it – Не может быть, что он бросит все это. Can he divorce Sally?! – Неужели он разведется с Салли?!

c)shall – promise when the speaker wants to make it sound more confident and emphatic: My sweetheart, I shall do everything for you.

d)be – 1) to show that the action which is expected to happen in the future was arranged and discussed in the past: Our Grandson is to visit us on Monday. He called yesterday and told us about his plans; will you please prepare a room for him; 2) to reveal something which is going to happen to a person in the future presenting it as his fate: When a child no one can know what he is to face and experience in the adulthood.

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The Alternative Linguistic Means of the English Language to Render Similar Phenomena…

5) Using Infinitive Constructions

a)Complex Object: We all expect him to change his mind – Мы все ожидаем,

что он передумает.

b)Complex Subject: He is sure to come – Он непременно прийдет.

6)Using Lexical Means. With the semantic meaning of the future: to want, to hope, to anticipate, to foresee etc. They want to borrow a mortgage – (В перспективе) они хотят взять ипотеку.

7)Using the Subjunctive Construction to express unreal actions in the

future:

If he visited us in autumn we would take him to deer hunting.

Translate the sentences using different ways of expressing future actions.

1.Должно быть, он сам объяснит нам все. 2. Этот мальчик – гений,

унего на роду написано – прославиться. 3. Наш поезд прибывает в 5 часов, у нас есть еще два часа, чтобы осмотреть историческую часть города. 4. Он надеется получить президентский грант, чтобы продолжить исследование. 5. Мы внесем вас в список кандидатов только после того, как вы предоставите нам копии всех документов. 6. Вы, несомненно, получите удовольствие от концерта. 7. Завтра мы ужинаем у Браунов, я собираюсь сказать им, что хотел бы купить их коттедж. 8. Измерьте этому больному температуру, врач должен осмотреть его через полчаса. 9. Когда студенты должны переписывать тест? – Я назначил им на вторник. У них достаточно времени, чтобы подготовиться. 10. Неужели он продаст дом, где поколения его семьи живут почти век?! 11. Дети ожидают, что Санта Клаус выполнит все их желания. 12. Мы ждем, когда он прийдет. 13. В апреле будет два года, как мы живем в Лос Анджелесе. 14. Если он будет плохо себя вести, на прийдется наказать его. 15. Говори скорей, что ты хочешь, я уже у дверей, собираюсь выходить. 16. Похоже, скоро начнется дождь. 17. Мы хотим, чтобы он как можно скорее покинул наш дом. 18. Если бы наш дядя сопровождал нас в предстоящей поездке – было бы здорово.19. Не занимай линию, мне должен позвонить начальник. 20. Вероятно, он переведет деньги на ваш счет немного позже.

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PART 2. THE THEORETICAL ISSUES

DIFFERENT WAYS TO EXPRESS THE IDEA

OF GRAMMATICAL PASSIVITY

Apart from the habitual passive pattern “to be + Participle II” some other ways to express grammatical passivity can be used.

1)In colloquial speech and written texts in the informal style “to be” can be replaced by “to get”. Note: this model mostly works with real physical actions: His relatives called the police after learning that he had got beaten up (избили). I got my flat robbed (ограбили).

2)When we want to say that some actions are done with a thing for a person (especially in specialized establishments – a sewing shop/workshop/studio/atelier, a beauty salon/hair and nail salon/beauty parlor, a dry cleaning shop etc or with the help of specialists) the passive pattern “have + the object + Participle II”: He wants to have his car fixed (a car is a passive object, the person is not going to fix it with his own hands but in a garage/auto repair shop, though in Russian it sounds as if the perso n wanted to do it himself: Он хочет починить машину); The Sandfords had their livingroom decorated a month ago (сделали ремонт); How often do you have your hair dyed? (красишь).

3)The idea of passivity can be expressed by non -finite forms: Gerund and Infinitive: Don’t you think your pants need brushing?

(pants are a passive object); The problem must be solved as soon as possible (Passive Infinitive); Here is the text to translate for tomorrow (Вот текст, который нужно перевести/должен быть переведен на завтра – the infinitive expressing passivity is used in the function of the attribute).

4)An interesting way to express passivity available to real masters of English can be found in the infinitive construction which is briefly called

“Complex Subject”: Martin is thought to be a shy boy but in reality it is not so (Думают, что Мартин …); The post-man was seen to enter their house an hour ago (Видели, что почтальон … ).

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Intonation Patterns and Phenomena in the English Language

I N T O N A T I O N P A T T E R N S A N D P H E N O M E N A I N

T H E E N G L I S H L A N G U A G E

THE TYPES OF SENTENCE STRESS

The English speech sounds peculiar due to the specific alternation of stressed and unstressed elements (words or syllables). The stressed elements become prominent in comparison with the neighboring elements, they sound louder and/or more distinctly. Traditionally the greater prominence falls on notional parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, numerals, adverbs. The form words (articles, prepositions, personal and possessive pronouns etc) are pronounced without any special prominence (if there is no need to emphasize them contextually). Taking in consideration the above-mentioned information, sentence stress may assume the following definition: “the greater prominence given to one or more words within a sentence compared to other words of the same sentence” (2, c. 22).

There are two main types of sentence stress in the English language: the Syntagmatic Stress and the Syntactic Stress. The Syntagmatic Stress can be also called “the Tonic Stress” because it coincides with the nuclear tone. Other notional words in a sentence take a Syntactic stress which is graphically marked by one small vertical line before a stressed syllable.

These two main types of sentence stress can be considered from different points of view, that is why in phonetic literature the terms “Syntagmatic Stress” and “Syntactic Stress” are sometimes replaced by some other notions though exactly these types of sentence stress are meant.

Thus the Syntagmatic Stress is sometimes defined as “the Logical Stress” when the nuclear tone changes its standard place on the last notional word and moves to one of the previous or the following words. Mostly the shift of the tone is directed “to the left”, in the direction of the be ginning of the sentence, but sometimes the tone can “move” to the right: I would like to try on the purple dress (not yellow). I will think it over a bit later (the adverbial at the end takes a logical stress). I wanted to see you (not somebody else) – the logical stress falls on the personal pronoun which is usually unstressed. As we can see in the examples, a logical accent can fall either on notional or on form words.

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In some cases the syntagmatic stress is called “a contrast stress”, it can take place when the contrastive juxtaposition of objects is observed: Maybe this variant seems suitable for you, but it doesn’t seem suitable for me (the opinions of two persons are contrastively different). I’ve chosen not orange but yellow gloves (the juxtaposition of colours is revealed. The word “yellow” takes two sub-types of the syntagmatic stress: the contrast stress and the logical stress).

When the speaker uses the tones with a big emotional potential (High - Fall, Fall-Rise, Rise-Fall) the syntagmatic stress gets the additional meaning – the Intensity Stress. These tones are mostly used in informal situations, they can express the following attitudes: High Fall – lively, brisk, surprised, energetic, warm, friendly, concerned; Fall-Rise – concerned, reproachful, hurt, pleading, warm, sympathetic; Rise-Fall – impressed, awed, challenging, aggressive, antagonistic, with a shade of accusation.

The linguistic theory about new and old information found its original interpretation in phonetics. Thus if the speaker presents the contextually new information he is likely to use one of the falling tones (Low-Fall, High-Fall, Rise-Fall). In this case the syntagmatic stress coincides with the Novelty Stress. The rising tones are usually associated in the English language with old information. Especially clearly this tendency is observed when High-Rise is used which deals with the repetition of previously said words; this tone sounds echoing, it is used to specify some fragment of previously uttered information, to call for repetition of some information. This tone may sound communicatively neutral, but in some cases it can have the critical or skeptical shade: – I have invited Jane. – Jane? You know, I can’t stand her, don’t you?; – I met Thomasthe carpenter. – Thomas what?

As for the Syntactic stress, the notion “intensity stress” can be applied to it too in the cases when there is a communicative need to emphasize a word which doesn’t take a nuclear tone. The means to intensify the syntactic stress are:

1) The Accidental Rise. This emphatic device is a part of the Upbroken Descending Head. It uplifts one of the gradually falling elements of the head to the upper level. Its graphical symbol is a vertical upward pointing arrow. As for the Accidental Rise, in most cases they directly or indirectly deal with the categories of degree, measure and quantity: cardinal and ordinal numerals, adverbs (too, very), adjectives (the best – the highest degree of the quality; terrible = very bad). The use of the Accidental Rise gives the additional

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emotional colouring to the utterance: the speaker shows that he is positively or negatively impressed by some fact, expresses his admiration, or on the contrary – indignation: Can you imagine, she has payed ↑all her money on clothes and now she wants to borrow money from me! (disapproval); The young family borrowed a mortgage from a bank and they will have to pay it back for ↑twenty years – the young family will become an old one if survives at all (disappointment, sarcastic comment); In the train I got acquainted with a ↑very pleasant elderly lady (delight, positive emotion). The proper location of the Accidental Rise is between the first stressed syllable and the nuclear tone.

2) The full emphatic stress. It is the “intensified” version of the usua l syntactic stress. Its graphical symbol is presented by two small vertical lines before the stressed syllable. The sound effect produced by this emphatic device can be characterized by more distinct and emphatic pronouncing of the word. The motives for the speaker to emphasize words by using this emphatic device can be quite different: This you will certainly do – Уж это ты, конечно же, сделаешь (sounds probably unfriendly, bitter or spiteful and acrid); Your opinion is always right, of course – Твое мнение, конечно же, всегда правильное

(в отличие от мнений других людей) (a person is criticized for being too selfconfident). In neutral utterances the possessive pronoun “your” is unstressed, but in this example it contextually takes the intensity stress and the contrast stress. In literary works the words, which are emphasized by personages according to the author’s intention, are italicized. The full emphatic stress can fall either on notional words or on formal parts of speech.

As we can see, the Intensity stress often occurs in oral speech, being the generalizing term for the following sub-types: the Logical stress (a Syntagmatic stress), the Contrast stress (a Syntagmatic or a Syntactic stress), the Full emphatic stress (a Syntactic stress) and the Accidental Rise (a Syntactic stress).

Consider the following “chains” of different types of stresses:

The Syntagmatic stress: the ordinary Tonic stress/the Logical stress/the Intensity stress/the Contrast stress/the Novelty stress.

The Syntactic stress: the full unemphatic Syntactic stress (one vertical line)/the full emphatic stress (two vertical lines)/the Intensity stress/the Contrast stress.

The Intensity stress (makes speech different from neutral): the Syntagmatic Tonic stress (with highly emotional tones)/the Logical stress/ the Contrast stress/ the Full emphatic stress/the Accidental Rise.

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Note: As it has been said before, the general tendency of the English intonation is that in the flow of speech notional words are stressed while form words don’t get any emphasis (they are unstressed). But there is a number of exceptions to the general rule of stressing in English for students to mind:

1) The cases when notional words are unstressed:

a)The word “street” in combination with the name of the street is unstressed

(I’m looking for Shakespeare street);

b)the words doctor, professor, Mister (Mr), Missis (Mrs), colonel (and other military ranks) are unstressed when they are followed by personal names, in this case they have the status of close oppositions;

c)modal verbs are unstressed;

d)In situations when a notional word has been used in the previous context, it is likely to remain unstressed in the following context: You have invited a class-mate, haven’t you? – Actually, I have invited three class-mates.

2) The cases when formal words are stressed:

a)Auxiliary verbs are stressed at the beginning of questions: Do you really want to see what is in the envelope?

b)Conjunctions are stressed at the beginning of intonation groups if there is an unstressed element after them: When the waiter comes with our order he will find us dead of hunger.

c)It the word combination “My brother and I” the personal pronoun is stressed.

d)The intensifier “do” is stressed: Do take me to the shop.

THE INTONATION OF COMPOUND AND COMPLEX SENTENCES

Compound sentences consist of two or more parts which are equally important and do not depend on each other. From the point of view of syntax there is the coordinative connection (coordination) between the parts. From the point of view of phonetics the intonation of the non-final part depends on the presence/absence of its logical connection with the following part. If such connection can be observed, the non-final part takes a Rising Tone. Here are some examples of the logical connection between the parts of a compound sentence: 1) the causal relationship (It was cold in the house│ and I asked Clarense to bring some dry woods to make fire in the big marble fire -place); 2) the juxtaposition of objects (I adore Japanese dramas│ but my younger

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sister is not much fond of them; she finds them too soppy); 3) two parts present one and the same object or theme (We met Robert in the park yesterday│and Hannah keeps asking me about him).

If there is no evident logical connection between the two parts the non-final one takes a Falling Tone: She laid the table│Mrs Bowly brought beautiful flowers.

As for the final part of a compound sentence, it generally takes a Falling Tone to render the logical completeness of the utterance. It maybe Low-Fall (in neutral speech) or High-Fall (in emotional speech).

Complex sentences consist of clauses, the subordinate clause grammatically depends on the principal clause, there is the subordinative connection (subordination) between them.

Considering the choice of tones in Complex sentences we should take into account the relative position (взаиморасположение) of the principal clause and the subordinate clause, and the type of clause.

The position of the Adverbial clause is movable – it can either precede or follow the principal clause. If the Adverbial clause occurs before the principal clause it takes a Rising tone to reveal the semantic incompleteness of the Adverbial clause (the intonation scheme: [ │ ]). If an Adverbial clause stands after the main clause both principal and adverbial clauses take the Falling tone (the intonation scheme: [ │ ]). For example: I’m afraid, when he learns about it│he will get furious; I feel uneasy│when he is looking at me likethat.

The position of the Object clause is unchangeable: its constant location is before the principal one. The principal clause typically takes the Rising tone to show its logical and semantic incompleteness. In serious, dramatic, emphatic speech (especially – in the Declamatory type of speech) the principal clause before the object clause may take a Falling tone (I didn’t know│ your father has died; Arthur suddenly realized with horror │ that it was Dorian who had killed Basil). Note: Sometimes the Principal clause and the Object clause form a single unit (there is no pause between them). Such intonation pattern takes place in fast colloquial speech when the Complex sentence is rather short and doesn’t contain too many stressed words. It should be mentioned that in

Declamatory speech even short Complex sentences tend to be divided to make speech more emphatic. If the total number of stressed words in a Complex

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sentence is too big there is a natural pause between the principal and the Object clause, because due to the physiological qualities of human lungs we can’t utter long fragments of speech without making a pause to breathe in air. Compare: He said you’re up there (the fast colloquial speech, no division into separate intonation groups); My demand is to tell me immediately│ why this man comes here every evening (there are many stressed words, the speech is emphatic, the principal clause is separated from the Object clause by a pause).

THE REVIEW OF ENGLISH TONE GROUPS

A Tone group is a complex notion which includes a set of intonation patterns with the similar intonation structures and the potential to express particular attitudes and emotions.

The basic element of any tone group is a nuclear tone. The optional elements are the pre-head, the head and the tail.

The most frequently used English tones, Low Fall and Low Rise, form tonegroups of two types: 1) patterns with all the elements on the low level of the voice range; 2) patterns with elements on the high and low level of the voice range. So we can distinguish 4 tone groups (Tone group 1 and Tone group 2 are based on Low Fall, Tone group 6 and Tone group 7 are based on Low Rise). The common feature of all these four tone groups is that the way they express feelings and attitudes can not be characterized as very bright and emotional.

Tone Group 1 and Tone Group 6 have a low structure and due to this peculiarity these tone groups are used to express negative emotions in the reserved manner (without raising voice). Thus Tone Group 1 often sounds sad, depressed, gloomy, grim, hostile, cold, unfriendly, indifferent; Tone Group 6 – displeased, criticizing, reproachful, mordant, sarcastic, spiteful, resentful, touchy etc. Tone Group 1 sounds rather inadequate in a friendly warm conversation because this intonation reflects the speaker’s disinclination to continue the communication or his cold attitude to the interlocutor and to the topic discussed.

Sometimes Tone Group 1 doesn’t have any negative shade and sounds rather neutral: calm, phlegmatic, flat. The communicatively helpful attitudes of Tone Group 6 are stimulating the further conversation (is used to encourage the communicative partner to extend on a certain topic, often used to start a phone conversation), also – polite but casual gratitude “ Thank you” used in formal contexts.

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