32) Сложные предложения. Их типы. Способы связи их частей. Особенности английского сложного предложения.

Composite sentences

Earlier grammarians in their prescriptive grammars didn’t pay much attention to a sentence in their syntactic parts, they mostly described word-groups and didn’t consider a sentence as a unit. The first to introduce the idea of the sentence as a unit was Brightland (18^th century). He was the first to introduce the concept of the sentence. He defined the sentence as an expression od sentiment or thought. He distinguished 2 kinds of sentences: a simple sent (contains one affirmation and one name) and a compound sent (consists of two or more simple sentences).

Later the prescriptive and scientific grammars (the middle of the 19^th century) introduced a very important innovation: the subdivision of the compound sentence into compound proper and a complex sentence the term “composite” was introduced by Poutsma, thus we got the so-called the threechotomatic division of sentences into simple, compound and complex (together – the composite).

Further classification was based on the logical connection between the parts of the sentences: copulative (and, both and, as well as), adversative (but, however, still), disjunctive (or, either or), causative-consecutive (that’s why, for).

As far as the complex sentence is concerned it is a sentence consisting of at least two parts: the main clause, which is more independent, and a subordinate clause, which depends on the main clause. But in some cases it’s difficult to see which of the two is more dependent on the other.

What you say, must be true. – mutually dependent.

I say, you’re absolutely right – the subordinate is more independent of the two.

Бартусдаров: (the definition he uses): a complex sentence is a sentence in which one or more members of the sentence are expressed by subject-predicate groups/ clusters, the parts of the complex sentence are interdependent both semantically and grammatically.

Complex sentences are usually studied with the view of classifying subordinate classes. The main aspect is the kind of the subordinate clause. SC can be introduced by means of conjunctions and connecting words. Here we distinguish between conjunctive pronouns and adverbs (they introduce subject, object and predicative clauses) and relative pronouns and adverbs (introduce attributive clauses).

Both in coordinate and subordinate relations in compound and complex sentences the connection can be syndetic and asyndetic.

The peculiarities of complex sentences:

• one of the markers of subordinate construction is sequence of tenses.

• Another marker of subordination is the choice of the Moods.

• The structure of the sub. Clause in E should be complete.

• Asyndetic connection in an E complex sentence is much more extensively used that in Russian. (in some att. clauses, in clauses of unreal condition).

33) Модальность. Основные группы модальных значений. Средства выражения модальности.

Modality is one of the two ingredient parts of predication, the other being temporality. M. and T. are the two ingredient parts of predication.

The usual approach is that M. is the speaker’s attitude towards what he is speaking about.

Vinogradov: M is a universal which embraces the whole system of speech.

2 main approaches:

• In a wide sense modality is often used in the name of the atmosphere of the text and discourse.

• in a narrower approach: m. as the speaker’s attitude from the point of view of the reality of the action – the degree of reality of the action. Here M falls into two spheres:

• modality of reality/ unreality proper which is usually marked by the category of mood – the morphological way of expressing modality (more objective)

• modality of necessity, probability, assurance and belief which is usually expressed by means of modal verbs, words and expressions (more subjective).

Modality always carries some elements of subjectivity which is clear from the very definition, but considering the two spheres we see, that the 1^st sphere is more objective and the 2^nd sphere is more subjective.

Modality can be expressed at all the lingual levels:

• phonetically (by means of intonation, emphatic stresses)

• lexically (by means of modal verbs, modal expressions)

• grammatically (morphologically modality is marked by the Moods)

• syntactically it can be expressed by certain syntactic structures which are not special ways of expressing modality but which may acquire some special modal change: ritorical questions (why and how, Why cry?), disjunctive questions (You know him, don’t you?) pseudo questions (As if you didn’t know him – Как будто ты его не знаешь) Do you know him? – Do I know him! (Мне ли его не знать!). As if you have never heard of it! – Как будто ты не знаешь об этом!

All these structures are expressively charged and they all carry the subjective modality of assurance and the objective modality of reality…