7. Words. Grammatical Forms of English and Ukrainian Words.

8. Parts of Speech in English and Ukrainian.

There are two main trends in distinguishing parts of speech: traditional and structuralist. Structuralists proceed from the function and distribution (position of the word in relation to other words in speech) of the language unit. For example, in C. Fries’ classification which distinguishes between four classes of notionals and fifteen of functionals,

Class 1 includes words performing the function of the subject;

Class 2 – predicates;

Class 3 – attributes;

Class 4 – adverbials.

Thus, for example, Class 3 embraces words of the type this (pronoun), beautiful (adjective), the (article), first (numeral), home (noun as in home task) since all of them can be used as attributes.

Naturally, such approach is strongly criticized by traditional linguists who insist on considering not only structural, but also semantic criteria in classifying words into parts of speech. The list of criteria includes: (1) lexico-grammatical meaning;

(2) typical stem-building elements;

(3) combinability with other words in speech;

(4) typical function in the sentence;

(5) grammatical categories or paradigm.

Both structuralists and traditionalists distinguish between notional and functional parts of speech. Notional parts of speech include words which have full lexical meaning, specific stem-building elements, various functions in the sentence, specific for the particular morphological class. Semi-notional parts of speech include words which have weak lexico-grammatical meaning, no specific stem-building elements, functions of linking or specifying elements.

The number of notional parts of speech in English and Ukrainian is the same. They are seven: noun, adjective, pronoun, numeral, verb, adverb, stative – іменник, прикметник, займенник, числівник, дієслово, прислівник, слова категорії стану. As for the semi-notional or functional parts of speech, their number in 11 contrasted languages is not identical because of the English article missing in Ukrainian. The rest of semi-notional words are all common: conjunctions, prepositions, modal words, particles – сполучник, прийменник, модальні слова, частки.

9. The Problem of “Word Classes” as the Parts of Speech in English and Ukrainian.

All words belong to categories called word classes (or parts of speech) according to the part they play in a sentence. The main word classes in English are listed below.

Noun, Verb Adjective, Adverb, Pronoun, Preposition, Conjunction, Determiner, Exclamation

The verb

A group of words cannot be described as a sentence or a clause unless at least one of the words is a verb. In some ways, we can describe it as the most important part of speech because it is the ‘action’ word that tells the listener or reader what is happening in the sentence. Verbs can be ‘action’ words like run, initiate, judge, throw, but they can also denote less active notions and have more to do with mental processes and perceptions, like see, know, think and so on.