Теоретическая грамматика английского языка. Учебно-методическое пособие

1.She stared at me in an accusing manner.

2.He looked every inch a conqueror.

3.She held the fork in her right hand, American fashion.

4.The resort is frequented by the rich during the winter.

5.She protested in her machine-gun style.

III. Give the plural of the following nouns: phenomenon, cow, information, oasis, millennium.

IV. State the syntagmatic meaning of the Possessive Case:

1.The two years of his love moved back around him like years in

Einstein’s physics.

2.She went into a girls’ school in London.

3. His eyes were the same blue shade as the china dog’s in the corner of Aunt Ellen’s mantelpiece.

4. It was a coward’s way out.

5. The policeman’s mind refused to accept it as a clue.

Some linguists believe that the noun and the verb are the only two really universal parts of speech. Whereas the noun plays the main role in naming the objects of the world, the verb fulfils a no less important function in language. It occupies a very special place in the system of parts of speech which is predetermined by the syntactic nature of the verb. The verb is the only part of speech which has a unique feature called valency. Valency is the ability of the verb to determine the number and the character of other parts of the sentence. So the sentence is actually built around the verb on the basis of its valency.

In general verbs carry a great deal of information: they describe actions, events and states and place them in time, they tell us whether these actions are real or unreal, whether they have been completed or are still going on. Thus the verb plays the most important role in

constituting the structure of the sentence, it presents the semanticosyntactic centre of the sentence. And as the sentence is the main unit of communication, we may conclude that through the verb, in the process of its combining with other parts of speech to make a sentence the language fulfils its communicative function. Basically the verb is a must for any sentence and verbless utterances are usually the results of the verb’s deletion

The verb is a complicated part of speech. Its complicated character is manifested in the fact that it has the largest number of grammatical categories. To produce an utterance the speaker has to make a number of grammatical choices: to choose the appropriate form of the tense, aspect, time correlation, number, person, voice and mood. The verb is presented in two subsystems: finite and non-finite form. Its finite forms make up the centre of this part of speech and they participate in the processes of making sentences. The non-finite forms – the Infinitive, the Gerund and the Participle make up the periphery in the class of verbs. They are characterized by a contamination of some verbal (morphological) and some syntactic (positions in the sentence) features of other parts of speech: the noun, the adjective and the adverb.

The class of verbs gets enriched by means of affixation, conversion and compounding. The most productuve verb-building suffixes are: -ate (e.g. cultivate, activate), -ize (e.g. realize, monopolize), -ify ( e.g. verify, ratify), -en (e.g. soften, widen). Prefixes like over- , under-, re-, dis/mis, en-, be-, un- are also very productive (e.g. to overestimate, to undermine, to reread, to misquote, to enlarge).

Conversion is also very productive in the sphere of verb-building. Verbs may be derived from words of any part of speech and also from phrases. E.g. He machine-guns questions.

In the sphere of compounding the most productuve type is adding to the verb a postpositive adverb, e.g. to give in, to take up, to bring up, to make up etc. For some of such compound verbs there exist synonymical simple or suffixational verbs (e.g. set up – organize, make up for – compensate etc.) and such pairs of synonyms differ in their sphere of usage.

Verbs are classified in grammar according to three main aspects: form, function and grammatical semantics. According to their formal

properties English verbs are divided into two classes: regular and irregular. The differentiation of verbs into these two classes is a relic of the old English systems or strong and weak verbs which became confused in the course of the language development and makes systematization of irregular verbs very difficult.

The class of irregular verbs in English is not very large. There are about 180 irregular verbs, but they are the verbs most frequently used because they name everyday routines and activities.

According to their function (which is basically determined by the character of their meanings) verbs are subdivided into notional and functional. In between these two subclasses there are the so-called seminotional verbs. Here belong modal, modalized and aspective verbs. Unlike notional verbs which have a full nominative value, semi-notional verbs possess a partial nominative value. They do not name actions as notional verbs do but just add either modal or aspective characteristics to the notional verbs they accompany.

Functional verbs are further subdivided into auxiliaries, links, substitutes and intensifiers. Each of these classes of functional verbs presents a limited number of units. Yet they are open classes and each of them may be joined by other members. Thus, alongside with “pure” auxiliaries like have or be there are semiauxiliary verbs like to be going which is regularly used to denote future actions

According to their grammatical semantics verbs are divided into dynamic and static, transitive and intransitive, durative and terminative. As many verbs in English are polysemantic these features refer not to the whole of the verbal lexeme, but to its concrete meanings. A verb may be transitive in one of its meaning and intransitive in the other. E.g.

He ran for his life. This is how a good society must be run.

Similarly a verb may be terminative in one meaning and durative in another. E.g. He worked in the local bakery. I made a remark but it did not work.

A verb may also be static in one of its meanings and dynamic in another. This is best observed in the class of verbs denoting mental activity. Thus, if the verb think realizes the meaning of mental activity it has a dynamic character and may be used in the Continuous aspect. But

when the same verb exposes the meaning have an opinion, it has a static character and its usual form is non-continuous.

The verbs denote actions and they are related both to the concept of space (where?) and to the concept of time (when?). In fact the concepts of time and space are very closely connected. The close interrelation of these two concepts – time and space is also reflected in the interpretation of the category of tense.

Time plays a very important role in human life and the concept of time occupies a very important place in the conceptual picture of reality. In most European language the expression of time is primarily associated with the grammatical category of tense with the three grammatical tenses: present, past and future which correspond to the three planes of ontological time.

In English, as well as in most European languages, the concept of time finds a very elaborate expression. It is presented by units of various linguistic levels: grammatical forms, nouns, adjectives and adverbs of time, prepositions and conjunctions of general temporal semantics, prefixes and word combinations. Taken together they form the functional-semantic category of temporality. The centre of this category is taken by the grammatical category of tense in which this concept finds the most specified and regular expression. Besides the grammatical category of tense the concept of time is also represented in two other verbal categories of English: aspect and time correlation.

The grammatical category of tense is usually defined as a category which expresses the relation between the time of the action and the moment of speech or any other point of reference. It locates situation in time with reference to the time of communication, the speaker’s time.

This fact differentiates the category of tense from the other two verbal categories in which the concept of time also finds its representation – the categories of aspect and time correlation. Aspect involves different ways of viewing the internal temporal constituency of a situation, whereas time-correlation places the action on the time axis with reference to its correlatioin with another action or another indication of time on the time axis.

Due to its complexity the problem of the grammatical category of tense has always been in the focus of linguistic discussions. Linguists

differ greatly in the questions related to the scope of this category and, consequently, to the number of categorial forms. This number varies from two to twelve in various intepretations. The controversy of opinions is related to two main factors: 1) the relations between tense and the other two verbal categories in which the concept of time is represented (aspect and time correlation) and 2) the status of shall/will + Infinitive, i.e. the problem of Future tense.

The close interrealation of these grammatical categories of tense, aspect and time correlation finds its expression in the form of the verb where they are presented simulataneously (syncretically). The fact of their close interrelation gives grounds to interpret such forms as various

‘tenses’ and in this case the number of tenses in English invariably grows. However, according to one of the main postulates a categorial form cannot express simultaneously several meanings of the same grammatical category though it can express several meanings of different grammatical categories. Applied to the grammatical form it has been raining this postulate invariably brings us to a conclusion that the meanings of present, perfect and continuous, expressed by this form must be referred to three different categories.

Another disputable question concerns the fate of the future tense in English. Many scholars deny the combination shall/will + Infinitive the status of a grammatical form of future. Their main argument is that the verbs shall and will in these combinations have not lost their modal meanings completely and cannot be treated as pure auxiliaries. The proponents of this view conclude that morphologically English has no future form of the verb and the meaning of futurity is expressed by a variety of means including the present tense, the semi-auxiliary to be going - to Inf. and the combinations of modal verbs with infinitives.

The arguments for defense of the future form in the tense paradigm of English are the following. First, there is a marked tendency in Modern English to unify the formation of the future and to use will with all persons. The modal verbs shall and will however differ considerably in their modal meanings Second, there are a lot of cases when the combination shall/will with the Infinitive express mere futurity and are devoid of any modal meanings. Third, since the grammatical category of tense is related to objective time and its conceptualization by the human

mind and this conceptual category (at least in the European mentality) has three planes: present, past and future.

Historically the tense paradigm included only two forms: present and past (the remnants of the two-tense system are still observable in the use of the Present tense to denote a future action in clauses of time, concession and condition. The pragmatic needs of the people to make predictions, suppositions and plans resulted in the development of the grammatical forms of the future.

The present-day paradigm of tense comprises three categorial forms: present, past and future. The present tense expresses an action simultaneous to the time of communication, the past tense – an action prior to the time of communication and the future – an action subsequent to the time of communication.

Each tense form has a rich semantic potential which is realized in the process of language functioning. The forms of the present denote actions simultaneous to the time of communication. Yet in must be admitted that the time of communication, the ‘now’ is rather a relative notion: it may be a point on the time axis (Now I understand), it may be a stretch of time (What does your friend do?) and it may occupy the whole of the time axis – the case of panchronic present which occurs in universal statements (Humans follow great illusions and suffer), proverbs ( Still waters run deep), scientific rules (Water boils at 1000)..

Besides this primary meaning, the forms of the present tense are regularly transposed into the sphere of the future. The future action expressed by the present tense forms usually becomes less hypothetical and more predictable.

The present forms may also be transposed into the past-time context when the actions referring to the past are described in the present tense. This is the case of the so-called “dramatic present”. Such uses of the present tense are usually described as stylistically marked.

The past tense denotes an action prior to the time of communication. It is the main tense of narration about the past events. Besides this primary, paradigmatic meaning the past tense may occasionally be used to express universal truths. E.g. Men were deceivers ever (W.Shakespeare). This use occurs less frequently that the use of the present tense. Far more frequent is the use of past tenses in

dialogue where the Past Indefinite and more frequently the Past Continuous actually refer to the present but are deliberately chosen by the speaker for the sake of politeness. This use is known as the Preterite of modesty:

The future tense denotes an action subsequent to the time of communication. Besides this primary meaning the forms of the future may also be used to express universal truths or habitual characteristics. E.g. Boys will always be boys.

The English system of tenses actually consists of two subsystems: absolute and relative tenses. Absolute tenses are correlated to the moment of speech whereas the relative tenses are correlated to some moment in the past taken for the reference. The form of the Future-in- the Past is not an isolated form, as it is sometimes presented, but a member of set of relative tense forms. They are used to correlate actions to a certain past moment. The existence of relative tenses in English is another manifestation of the fact that the concept of time finds a very elaborate representation in the grammar of the English verb.

The existence of relative tenses finds its manifestation in the grammatical rule known as sequence of tenses. The grammatical system of the Russian verb does not have a similar system of relative tenses and mistakes in the use of relative tenses are quite predictable for Russian learners of English.

Seminar Class

1.Characterize the verb from the point of view of its semantic, formal and syntactic properties. Disclose the syntactic nature of the verb and its role in the sentence. Enumerate the productive types of verb building in English and illustrate them with examples.

2.Give the classification of verbs based on their formal, functional and semantic properties.

3.Speak about the grammatical category of tense:

a) give the definition of the category; point out the specific character of this category in the English language; enumerate the main problems that arise in the analysis of this category in English and suggest their possible solutions;

b) analyze the opposition constituting the category of tense in English; describe the paradigmatic and syntagmatic meanings of each

member of the opposition; point out the most typical mistakes that occur on the use of tense forms in the speech of Russian learners of English and the causes of these mistakes.

Exercises

I. State the function of the underlined verbs.

1.It had all sounded so romantic (E. Bombeck).

2.He looked white and beaten and ready to faint (S. Leacock).

3.She’s jealous, Craig thought wonderingly. Go figure women out (I. Shaw).

4. I never told a woman I admired her when I didn’t (J. Galsworthy).

5.“Henry’s asking if you paint abstracts.” “Well yes. I’m ... afraid I do.” (J. Fowles)

6.After my grandfather’s death she began to deteriorate. That’s

how my mother would put it when she would come to visit (M. Atwood).

7.In less than two years, as always in America, a lot would change. McCarthyism was on the wane (A. Miller).

8.How much do you think I make a week? – I don’t know. – Take a guess. (P. Roth)

9.Mrs. Thatcher continued her election-date guessing game (MS).

10.The weather continued dry and cold.

10. She was seventeen and singing with a local band in Texas (J. Susan).

II. Comment on the use of tense forms, point out cases of neutralization and transposition.

1.Experience fades. Memory stills (Ch. Romney-Brown).

2.“There is no news of Jesse Craig this season, Miss” (I. Shaw).

3.And then, on the night of the banquet, she appears in her emeralds (M. Mitchell).

4.“She wants you back and she’ll do anything she can to get you back”. “She is not going to get me back” (I. Shaw).

5.I’m here in Cologne. ... I was hoping I could offer you dinner (F. Forsyth).

6.“We can’t take our things, and we were just wondering whether there are any articles in your home you and Mrs. Henry would care to buy. You could have anything you wished, and I could make you a very reasonable price

7.The night was cool as nights will be in an essential desert (Ch. Armstrong)

8.But accidents, he said, will happen (D. Lessing).

Aspect is a general name given to verb forms and it is used to denote certain ways in which an event placed in time is viewed or experienced. An event placed in time can be seen as a completed whole, as developing in progress, or as being repeated intermittently. Aspect expresses the speaker’s interpretation of the internal character of the action in its relation to such features as internal limit, result, duration, iteration etc. These features may find both a grammatical and a lexical expression in languages. The grammatical category of aspect, universal in its nature, also displays an idioethnic character as different languages may choose different features of action for the basis of the grammatical category of aspect. In the Russian language the grammatical category of aspect is based on the internal limit of action and is constituted by the opposition of perfective and imperfective forms of the verb, e.g.

делать – сделать. шагать – шагнуть, видеть – увидеть etc.

In English perfective and imperfective meanings also find expression in the sphere of verbs: they may be expressed by opposing different verbal lexemes: to goto come, by adding a postpositive adverb: to eat - to eat up, to drink - to drink up; by combining infinitives of durative verbs with terminative verbs which impart a perfective meaning to them: to love - to come to love; to know - to get to know etc. But these oppositions are not regular and they do not embrace the whole

class of verbs and for this reason they cannot be treated as grammatical. The grammatical category of aspect in English has at its basis a different feature of action, that of duration and is constituted on the basis of the opposition of Indefinite and Continuous forms of the verb. This opposition embraces the whole class of English verbs (with very few exceptions like the verbs to contain, to consist whose semantics is incompatible with the idea of limited duration), both the finite forms and the forms of the Infinitive.

The formal marker of the Continuous form is the discontinuous morpheme be – ing (one of the few morphemes which has no allomorphs). The semantic marker, i.e. the meaning of the Continuous form is limited duration, or process.

In some rare cases one and the same verb used in different forms of aspect realizes different meanings, e.g. She has a baby. She is having a baby (She is giving birth to a baby).

The forms of the Continuous aspect often denote actions which are directly perceived by the speaker, whereas the Indefinite forms are used to denote actions/events/states which may not be directly perceived but rather known to the speaker. However this difference is not absolute and it does not cover all the numerous cases of the use of Continuous forms. Very often the speaker chooses the Continuous form to denote an action which is happening outside his/her perceptive space and the information about the action happening at the moment may be deduced not from the direct observation, but from knowledge, e.g. It’s 10 o’clock. My brother is having a French lesson now. Another factor is also very important here, the factor of the speaker and the speaker’s interpretation of the action. In fact aspect does not depict the internal structure of the real world situation but rather expresses the speaker’s view of the situation.

Therefore one and the same action may be presented as developing in time and as a fact, and the choice of the speaker is determined by the speaker, e.g. The family wants to go to the seaside for summer and The family is wanting to go to the seaside for summer – the reality of the situation is the same but the viewpoint of the speaker is different.

The meaning of duration, under the influence of various contextual and pragmatic factors may be modified and presented by a number of