THEORY OF ENGLISH GRAMMAR. Seminars SPRING 2012

1. Phrases

1. The Simple Sentence. The Subject and the Predicate. Revision: the Noun

2. The Actual Division of the Sentence. Case Grammar. Revision: the Numeral, the Pronoun.

3. The Simple Sentence in Structural Grammar. Revision: Formal Parts of Speech.

4. The Composite Sentence. Revision: the Verb

5. Types of Adverbial Clauses. Revision: the Verbids.

6. Transformational and Generative Grammars.

7. Transformational and Generative Grammars.

8. The Test: Tree-Diagramming, Tagmemic Models.

9. Text Grammar. The Discourse (terms and problems)

SEMINAR ONE.

1. Phrases. Types of connection within a Phrase. Blokh: Ch. XX.

2. Try to remember the following types and kinds of phrases (different criteria employed):

• subordinative – coordinative;

• subordinative: agreement, government, accumulation, enclosure (framing, embedding);

• subordinative: attributive, objective, adverbial;

• endocentric – exocentric;

• elementary – expanded;

• predicative – non-predicative;

• binary – multiple;

• free – grammatically fixed;

• syndetic – asyndetic;

• NP, VP, Adj P; Prep P.

3. Name the elements of phrases (H. Sweet, H. Whitehall).

4. Comment upon the relations between the components of phrases in Kruisinga”s and Jespersen’s works.

5. Mark the difference between the Sentence and the Phrase.

SOME PRACTICE ON PHRASES.

1. Define the following phrases applying different terms and classifications:

• Tom and Mary ran away sweet, polite persons

• the arrival of the train some old

• disregard the remark she was upset and in diamonds

• this book - these books my husband and she

• round tables black and white

• around the table a James Cameron film

2. Single out the phrases and comment on their structure and types of relations between the components:

1) The simple sentence, as any sentence in general, is organized as a system of function-expressing positions, the content of the functions being the reflection of a situational event.

2) The parts are arranged in a hierarchy, wherein all of them perform some modifying role.

3) The subject is a person-modifier of the predicate.

4) The predicate is a process-modifier of the subject-person.

5) The object is a substance-modifier of a processual part (actional or statal).

6) The adverbial is a quality-modifier of a processual part of the whole of the sentence.

7) The attribute is a quality-modifier of a substantive part.

8) The parenthetical enclosure is a detached speaker-bound modifier of any sentence-part or the whole of the sentence. (M. Blokh)

Revision: Parts of Speech.

SEMINAR 2. The Simple Sentence. The Subject and the Predicate. Revision: the Noun

1. The definition of the Sentence. Blokh. Ch. XXI; XXIV; XXV.

2. The main parts of the Sentence

3. The secondary parts of the Sentence and their functions.

4. Revision: the Noun, its Categories and Functions. Sweet’s treatment of Case. Cases of Pronouns. Give YOUR OWN examples of Nouns in the sentence, define their functions.

Some Practice:

1. Define the types of the Subjects:

1) This pretty girl is my sister’s friend

2) Nothing endures/injures but personal qualities

3) To see is to believe

4) It’s necessary for him to die

5) I knew of there being no one to help him

6) He was seen to enter the hut.

2. Define the types of the Predicates:

1. He was strong enough for that

2. We can assist our oppressed brothers in South Africa

3. Does anyone know of that but me?

4. He became angry.

5. Mike is a great thinker

6. The boy was difficult to understand

7. It’s nothing

8. The lunch was over

9. The important thing is to see.

10. He does not dare to speak.

11. I want to jump it over

12. To die for her, he felt, was to have lived and loved well

13. The test was not difficult but funny

14. He’ll make a pause.

15. She feels well.

16. She feels the melody of the evening.

SEMINAR 3. The Actual Division of the Sentence. Case Grammar. Revision: the Numeral, the Pronoun.

1. Speak on the theme-rheme model of the sentence (functional sentence perspective, actual division of the sentence). Name the main means of marking the thematic and rhematic elements. Blokh: Ch.XXII (1/be ready to comment on Blokh’s point of view; 2/ make 10 INTRESTING questions on Block’s test (written form);

2. Comment upon Case Grammar principles (name the cases, give examples paying special attention to animateness\inanimateness.).

3. Revision: types of Numerals and their functions in the Sentence. Which of them are Noun-words? Give YOUR own examples. Which of them are Adj.-words? Give YOUR own examples.

4. Classes of Pronouns (terms and examples - by heart)