- •Теоретическая грамматика английского языка
- •§ 2. The phoneme, the morpheme, the word and the sentence are units of different levels of language structure. The phoneme is a unit of the lowest level, the sentence — of the highest.
- •§ 5. The structure, classification and combinability of phonemes is studied by a branch of linguistics called phonology.
- •Morphology
- •Introduction
- •§ 10. The morphemes book- and -s differ essentially:
- •§ 13. Besides lexical and grammatical morphemes there exist some intermediate types.
- •§ 18. In accordance with their structure the following four types of stems are usually distinguished:
- •§ 25. All the words of a lexeme, both synthetic and analytical, are, as defined (§ 19), united by the same lexical meanings.
- •§ 26. Analytical words are closely connected with synthetic ones.
- •§ 28. As shown by a. I. Smirnitsky, words derived from different roots may be recognized as suppletive only under the following conditions:
- •§ 29. The above-mentioned criteria serve to prove the identity of lexical morphemes in spite of their difference in form. The same criteria can be used to prove the identity of any morphemes.
- •§ 30. We have already spoken (§§ 14, 15, 18) about lexico-grammatical morphemes and their functions as stem-building elements. Now we are to see their role in building up classes of words.
- •§ 31. Let us compare the following columns of words:
- •Parts of speech
- •§ 39. Lexemes united by the genera! lexico-grammatical meaning of "substance" are called nouns. Those having the general lexico-grammatical meaning of "action" are called verbs, etc., etc.
- •§ 43. It must be borne in mind, however, that not all the lexemes of a part of speech have the same paradigms.
- •§ 44. The influence of the category of number is obliquely felt even in a case like milk. The word milk is closer to the "singular" member of a number opposeme than to the "plural" one.
- •§ 48. In accordance with the principles described above it is possible to distinguish the following parts of speech in English:
- •§49. Many linguists point out the difference between such parts of speech as, say, nouns or verbs, on the one hand and prepositions or conjunctions, on the other.
- •§ 51. A similar distinction can be drawn between notional and semi-notional lexemes within a part of speech (see § 194) and between notional and semi-notional parts of speech.
- •§ 57. A. I. Smirnitsky defines conversion as a type of word-building in which the paradigm is the only means of word-building.
- •§ 63. The relations between these variants remind us of conversion:
- •§ 64. As follows from our previous discussion of the parts of speech in English, the noun may be defined as a part of speech characterized by the following features:
- •§ 66. Many nouns are related by conversion1 with lexemes belonging to other parts of speech:
- •§ 70. A noun may be used in the function of almost any part of the sentence, though its most typical functions are those of the subject and the object. (See Syntax.)
- •§ 79. Nouns like police, militia, cattle, poultry are pluralia tantum, judging by their combinability, though not by form 3.
- •§ 80. Sometimes variants of a lexeme may belong to the same, lexico-grammatical subclass and yet have different forms of number opposemes.
- •§ 82. Case is one of those categories which show the close connection (a) between language and speech, (b) between mor-phology and syntax.
- •§91. Nouns representing 'plural' grammemes may denote:
- •§ 92. Nouns representing 'common case' grammemes express a wide range, of meanings, the exhaustive examination of which is hardly feasible. Here are some of them.
- •§ 93. As we have seen, 'possessive case' nouns occur a great deal less frequently than their opposites1.
- •§ 97. In the Russian language a noun in the genitive case may be adnominal and adverbial, I. E. It can be attached to a noun and to a verb.
- •§ 100. Let us compare the-English noun with its Russian counterpart. The five properties we use as criteria for distinguishing parts of speech will serve as the basis of comparison.
- •§ 101. Adjectives are a part of speech characterized by the following typical features:
- •§ 104. Suppletive opposemes are few in number but of very frequent occurrence.
- •§ 113. In certain speech environments adjectives can bе used to communicate meanings in some respect different from those of the grammemes they belong to.
- •§ 115. Following is a brief comparison of the basic features of English and Russian adjectives.
- •§ 116. The adverb is a part of speech characterized by the following features:
- •§ 123. Quantitative adverbs like very, rather, too, nearly, greatly, fully, hardly, quite, utterly, twofold, etc. Show the degree, measure, quantity of an action, quality, state, etc.
- •§ 124. Circumstantial adverbs serve to denote various circumstances (mostly local and temporal) attending an action. Accordingly they fall under two heads:
- •§127; Circumstantial adverbs are mostly used in the function of adverbial modifiers of time and placer
- •§ 130. The numeral as a part of speech is characterized by
- •§ 131. The lexico-grammatical meaning of 'number' is not to be confused with the grammatical meaning of 'number'.
- •§ 133. In our opinion, the pair ten — tenth forms an oppo-seme of the grammatical category of numerical qualification.
- •§ 135. As to their stem structure English numerals fall into
- •§ 136. Numerals are easily substantivized, acquiring noun features. •
- •§ 144. The personal pronouns are the nucleus of the class. They are: I (me), thou (thee)1, he (him), she (her), it, we (us), you, they (them).
- •§ 157. Self-pronouns are often used in apposition for emphasis. Dickson's view on the Middle Ages themselves would have to wait until another time. (Amis).
- •§ 159. Demonstrative pronouns can be:
- •§ 162. The pronoun who is the only interrogative pronoun which has a case opposite, whom, as in Whom did you meet?
- •§ 180. Most quantitative pronouns form opposemes of comparison:
- •§ 181. Here belong other (others, other's, others'), another (another's) and otherwise.
- •§ 182. The pronoun one stands somewhat apart, outside the classification discussed above.
- •§ 183. As an indefinite pronoun it is usually a pro-adjective with the meaning "a certain" and refers to both living beings and inanimate things.
- •§ 184. As an indefinite or generalizing personal pronoun one indicates only a person. It is a pro-noun. It has a case opposite one's and is correlated with the reflexive pronoun oneself.
- •§ 186. Summing up, we may say that the pronouns are hot united by any morphological categories, or syntactical functions. So they cannot be regarded as a part of speech.
- •§ 188. As a part of speech the verb is characterized by the following properties:
- •§ 194. Semantically verbs divide into notional and semi-notional (see § 50).
- •§ 196. Modal verbs are characterized:
- •§ 198. Verbs are divided into subjective and objective, depending upon their combinability with words denoting the subjects and the objects of the actions they name (see § 191).
- •§ 200. As usual, variants of a verb lexeme may belong to different subclasses (see § 62).
- •§ 201. Verbs can be classified in accordance with the aspective nature of their lexical meanings into terminative and non-terminative.
- •§ 202. As usual, variants of the same lexeme may belong to different subclasses. When meaning '(to) engage in physical or mental activity', the verb (to)work is non-terminative.
- •§ 208. Participle II may have left-hand connections with link-verbs.
- •The Category of Order (Time Correlation)
- •§ 213. Linguists disagree as to the category the 'perfect' belongs to.
- •§ 216. Let us take an extract from j. Galsworthy's novel To Let:
- •§ 219. The problem of aspect is controversial in English grammar. There is but little consensus of opinion about this category in Modern English.
- •§ 222. Besides those properties that characterize the verb as a whole, the finites possess certain features not shared by the verbids.
- •§ 224. Mood is the grammatical category of the verb reflecting the relation of the action denoted by the verb to reality from the speaker's point of view.
- •§ 229. The indicative mood is the basic mood of the verb. Morphologically it is the most developed system including all the categories of the verb.
- •§ 233. The correlation of time and tense is connected with the problem of the absolute and relative use of tense grammemes.
- •§ 236. In Modern English the category of person has certain peculiarities.
- •§ 240. The development of the modal verbs and that of the subjunctive mood — the lexical and morphological ways of expressing modality1 — have much in common.
- •§ 243. The 'passive voice' and 'continuous aspect' meanings are expressed much in the same way as in the indicative mood system.
- •§ 245. The difference between the two sets of opposemes
- •Verb Grammemes in Speech
- •§ 252. The systems of different moods, as we know, contain different grammemes. We shall therefore discuss the grammemes of the indicative, subjunctive and imperative moods separately.
- •Indicative Mood Grammemes
- •§ 254. The action it denotes may either coincide with the moment of speech or cover a more or less lengthy period of time including the moment of speech.
- •§ 255. In a context showing that reference is made to the past, the present non-continuous non-perfect may be used to denote past events, mostly presented as the speaker's reminiscences.
- •§ 274. The present non-continuous perfect is regularly found in adverbial clauses of time and condition when the connotation of priority is implied.
- •§ 275. What makes the present non-continuous perfect fundamentally different from the past non-continuous non-perfect can be briefly summarized as follows:
- •§ 276. As a unit of the language system it presents an act in the past (past tense) unspecified as to its character (non-continuous aspect) and preceding some situation (perfect order).
- •§ 277. When used with terminative verbs it may acquire a distinct connotation of resultativity, as in
- •§ 278. The past non-continuous perfect may be inclusive in meaning if supported by the context.
- •§ 280. As a part of the verb system it presents a future action (future tense), unspecified as to its character (non-continuous aspect) and prior to some situation in the future (perfect order).
- •§ 285. The past continuous perfect has much in common with the present continuous perfect, the main difference between them being that of tense.
- •§ 286. Like the present continuous perfect it may be inclusive if supported by the context or else exclusive as in
- •§ 287. The future perfect continuous is actually nonexistent.
- •Voice Grammemes
- •§ 292. It has often, been claimed that passive structures can be regarded as transforms of certain active structures 1.
- •§295. Representatives of subjunctive I grammemes can be distinguished from their indicative and imperative mood homonyms as follows.
- •§ 296. Following are some types of clauses in which should grammemes and their synonyms are regularly used.
- •Imperative Mood Grammemes in Speech
- •§ 303. Besides the features common to the English verb as a whole (see § 188) the verbids have certain features of their own distinguishing them from the finite verb.
- •§ 306. The verbids do not possess many of the categories of the finite verb, such as number, person, tense and mood.
- •§ 307. Here is a table presenting the paradigms of the verbids.
- •§ 308. The combinability of the verbids is of mixed nature. Partly, as we have seen, it resembles that of a finite verb. But some models of combinability are akin to those of other parts of speech.
- •§ 311. The infinitive is a verbid characterized by the following features:
- •§ 317. The participle is a verbid characterized by the following properties:
- •§ 319. As we have already mentioned, the adjectival and the adverbial features of the participle are connected with its combinability.
- •§ 321. The gerund is a verbid characterized by the following features:
- •§ 324. The gerund, which is a peculiarity of the English language, is very extensively used as the centre of complexes (nexuses) synonymous with subordinate clauses. Compare:
- •§ 326. In compliance with the system adopted we shall now work out the comparison of the basic features of the English verb with those of the Russian verb.
- •The adlink (the category of state)
- •§ 327. In Modern English there exists a certain class of words such as asleep, alive, afloat, which is characterized by:
- •The modal words (modals)
- •§ 329. As a part of speech the modals are characterized by the following features:
- •§ 331. The relatively negative combinability of modal words manifests itself in various ways.
- •§ 332. Functioning as a parenthetical element of a sentence, a modal word is usually connected with the sentence as a whole.
- •§ 333. The usage of modals depends upon the type of sentence. They are found almost exclusively in declarative sentences, very rarely in interrogative and almost never in imperative sentences.
- •§ 334. The response-words yes and no are characterized as a separate class by
- •§ 335. Practically every notional word can alone make a sentence in a certain situation of speech.
- •§ 336. Their lexical meanings are those of 'affirmation' and 'negation'. Their lexico-grammatical meaning is that of 'response statement'. They confirm or deny a previous statement.
- •§351. The combinability of at in the last example resembles, to some extent, that of an adverb. Cf. To be laughed away (off).
- •§ 359. The combinability of subordinating conjunctions is somewhat different from that of coordinating ones.
- •§ 360. The division of conjunctions into coordinating and subordinating ones is chiefly based on their lexical meanings and the types of units they connect.
- •§ 361. According to their meanings coordinating conjunctions are divided into
- •§ 362. Though for and so are considered coordinating conjunctions, they are in fact intermediate between coordinating and subordinating conjunctions.
- •§ 363. The conjunctions are not numerous, but of very frequent occurrence in speech.
- •§ 364. The two words a(n), the form a separate group or class characterized by
- •§ 367. Some grammarians speak of the 'zero article' 1 or the 'zero form of the indefinite article' 2. We are definitely against these terms.
- •§ 369. In accordance with its meaning 'one of many' the indefinite article is used to denote one thing of a class and is therefore a classifying article.
§ 162. The pronoun who is the only interrogative pronoun which has a case opposite, whom, as in Whom did you meet?
However we observe here a distinct tendency to substitute the nominative case (who) for thе objective (whom), which may eventually bring about the obliteration of case distinctions in the interrogative pronouns.
E. g. I went to the pictures. Who with? 1 Who are you trying to deceive? (Buck)
Note. The unmarked member of the case opposeme who — whom occurs, as Usual, more often than the marked member (whom). The ratio is approximately 9:1.
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1 See M. West and P. F. Kimber. Deskbook of Correct English, Lnd., 1957, p. 168: "To whom did you give if?" is correct, but stilted; it should be used only in formal writing, or in speeches, sermons, etc. Elsewhere "Who did you give it to?" is the accepted form. "Whom did you give it to?" is a hybrid and has no justification.
§ 163. The interrogative pronouns are used to form a definite type of sentence — special questions.
Who told you that? What is the charge? (Hanley), Charles Fries writes: "The expression Who came? signals a question not because of a different arrangement, but solely because the signal of question is in the word who as a word".
Connective Pronouns
§ 164. The pronouns who, what, which, whose, thai, where, when, why, how are called 'connective' when they serve to connect clauses in complex sentences. At the same time they retain their meanings and functions of pro-nouns, pro-adjectives or pro-adverbs. This combination of functions is a typi-cal feature of the connective pronouns.
In accordance with their meaning and the types of clauses they introduce they fall into two groups: conjunctive pronouns and relative pronouns.
§ 165. Conjunctive pronouns serving to introduce subject, predicative object and appositive clauses (sometimes united under the general name of "noun clauses" ') present a curious combination of a demonstrative meaning with that of a conjunction. In W h a t he knows is no longer a secret (Christie) what is equivalent to the Russian то, что... . Hence the term condensed pronouns used by some authors. The essence of the matter is that the antecedent of such a pronoun is not expressed either by a noun or a noun equivalent, the pronoun itself doing duty for the antecedent as well.
Compound conjunctive pronouns in -ever (whoever, whatever, wherever, etc.) have an emphatic nature owing to which they may be used to introduce adverbial clauses of concession as well.
Don't change your plans, whatever happens. (Hornby).
Whatever he says is of no importance.
§ 166. Relative pronouns are likewise used to introduce subordinate clauses. What makes them different from conjlmc-tive pronouns is a) that they serve to introduce but one type of subordinate clauses — the so-called 'relative' clauses — a variety of attributive clauses, -and b) that they are always correlated with some antecedent in the principal clause.
E. g. All the while these two solitary strollers did not for a moment think on coincidence, which lingers at man's elbow with every crowd in every town. (Bradbury).
Antonio walked from the lumberyard to a window where stood fine new beds. (Ib.).
One. of those few e v e n i n g s w h e n he worked late she visited with any one of several neighbours. (Bradbury).
Relative pronouns, like interrogative and conjunctive ones, distinguish 'person' and 'non-person' in opposing who used in reference to persons to which used in reference to non-persons.
Whose and that are applied both to persons and things.
§ 167. As mentioned above, both conjunctive and relative pronouns fulfil a double syntactical function in the sentence: they are used as some part of the subordinate clause and as a connective structural element at the same time.
E. g. They all smiled upon that genius who now circled them with his arms. (Bradbury).
The relative pronoun who introducing the attribute clause is the subject of the subordinate clause.
Reciprocal Pronouns
§ 168. These are the group-pronouns — each other and one another. They serve to express mutuality, as in They helped each other (one another).
It is traditionally maintained that each other implies only two and one another more than two, but this rule is often ignored, one another and each other becoming interchangeable.
We (two persons) ran across one another one morning near the Menin Gate — the place they called Hell Fire Corner. (Oxenham).
§ 169. The reciprocal pronouns share the noun case system.
Common case Possessive case
each other — each other's
one another — one another's
§ 170. Reciprocal pronouns are used anaphorically, usually with reference to the subject of the sentence (always plural). This accounts for the fact that they do not function as subjects. They mostly occur as objects (both prepositionless and prepositional) and attributes.
Resident hospital staff can get on each о t h e r's nerves. (Randall).
She was the offspring of two people who really lived (or each other. (Randall).
Indefinite Pronouns
§ 171. In grammatical tradition the class of indefinite pronouns is the most variegated of all. It is said to include some, any, every, no (and their compounds), all, each, either, much, many, few, little, etc., words of different lexical and grammatical nature.
We agree with V. N. Zhigadlo, and I. P. Ivanova that only the pronouns some, any and their compounds really indicate things, properties, etc. in an indefinite way. Therefore only these pronouns will be regarded here as indefinite.
§ 172. Indefinite pronouns can be pro-nouns (some, any, somebody, somebody's, anybody, anybody's, someone, someone's, something, anything); pro-adjectives (some, any); pro-numerals (some, any); pro-adverbs (somewhere, somehow, anywhere, anyhow).
E.g. Some are wise and some are otherwise (pronouns).
I read it in some book (pro-adjective). It was some years ago (pro-numeral).
§ 173. Like some other groups of pronouns the indefinite pronouns regularly occur in certain types of sentences. Some and its compounds usually indicating an indefinite quantity or quality as available are mostly used in affirmative sentences (in about 75—77 per cent of all cases), whereas any and its compounds, without the connotation of 'availability', are generally used (in about 68—72 per cent of all cases) in interrogative and negative sentences4, or in conditional clauses.
E. g. There were a couple of periodicals and some letters
that had come by the second post. (Amis).
If she hasn't any sense of humour, it won't work. (Black) There mustrn't be a n у American casualties, must there?
(Greene)
We must bear in mind, however, that some (and its compounds) occurs in interrogative sentences (very rarely in negative ones) to which an affirmative answer is expected or invited1 (that is, when the speaker proceeds from the availability of some object, property, etc.). May I have s о т е paper?
Any (and its compounds) may be used in affirmative sentences in the meaning of "every", "no matter which": You can buy stamps at a n у post-office. (Hornby).
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4 It also occurs with negative words such as without or hardly. He has hardly any time. I had it without any difficulty.
§ 174. The compound indefinite pronouns in -body, -one, and -thing denote 'person' and 'non-person', the former being indicated by the words in -one and -body, the latter — by those in -thing.
E. g. A vague acceptance of this kind isn't any use to anyone. (Amis).
You'll never do anything as good as that. (Maugham).
The compound indefinite pronouns in -body and -one have the noun system of cases represented in opposemes like somebody — somebody's, anyone — anyone's.
I can't see that it is a n у о n e's business but mine. (Heyer)
Negative-Pronouns
§ 175. The negative pronouns are no, nobody, nobody's, none, nothing, neither, nowhere.
They can be used as pro-nouns (nobody, nobody's, none, neither, nothing), pro-adjectives (no, neither), as a pro-adverb (nowhere) and a pro-numeral (none).
E. g. How many have you caught? — None as yet.
§ 176. Since Modern English admits of but one negation in a verbal construction 2 the negative pronouns serve to build up negative sentences. Her fiance is n о w h e r e to be seen. (Randall). N о girl has died in there to-day. (Priestley).
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2 See "Syntax", § 413.
§ 177. Like the other pronouns in -body, -one, and -thing the negative pronouns distinguish 'person' and 'non-person'.
Neither refers both to animate and inanimate objects (two of them). In neither case can I agree. Both smiled but neither spoke (Heyer).
Nobody — nobody's is a case opposeme of the noun type.
Generalizing Pronouns
§ 178. Here belong such pronouns as all, both, each, either, every and its compounds (everyone, everybody, everything, everywhere) which give a generalizing indication of persons, things, properties and circumstances.
This group includes pro-nouns (all, both, each, either, everybody, everyone, everything); pro-adjectives and pro-numerals (every, each, all, both, either); pro-adverb (everywhere).
All, everybody, everything, everywhere, both may be said to have an inclusive, uniting meaning as opposed to every, each, either conveying a separating meaning.
Unlike the indefinite and negative pronouns, the generalizing pronouns are not attached to any definite type of sentence.
Quantitative Pronouns
§ 179. Here belong much, many, (a) few, (a) little, several, enough, which may function as pro-nouns (much, many, (a) few, several, (a) little, enough); pro-adjectives (much, (a) little, enough); pro-numerals (many, several, (a) few); and pro-adverbs (much, (a) little, enough).
E. g. pro-nouns: M a n у preferred the pianist with his wonderful eyelashes. (Locke).
Enough is as good as a feast.(Proverb).
pro-adjective: I don't see much nonsense when a girl goes and kills herself. (Priestley).
pro-numeral: Many women think so. (Daily Worker).
pro-adverb: He cared but little for being conspicuous.