I. Introductory to the theoretical study of the English Language Grammar
THEORETICAL GRAMMAR
I. Introductory to the theoretical study of the English Language Grammar
The Subject of Theoretical Grammar.
Kinds of Theoretical Grammar.
1.3. Main grammatical notions:
Syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations.
Grammatical categories.
Language levels.
General characteristics of the contemporary English language system.
The Subject of Theoretical Grammar
Theoretical Grammaris a section of linguistics that studies grammar system of language.
Grammar system of language refers to the whole complex of conformities to natural laws where the latter defines ways of words’ alterations and also ways of word combinations in phrases and sentences.
As any complex object Grammar is a complex system that is presented by elements and structure in their mutually dependent organization.
Grammar elements refer to morphemes, words, word-combinations and sentences.
Grammar structure implies relations and connections among grammar elements or inner organization of the language grammar system.
The subjectof English Theoretical Grammar refers to the study of the English Language grammar organization as a system parts of which are mutually connected with definite relations of different types of complexity (complication, complicacy).
The main taskof Theoretical Grammar is an adequate systematic (methodic) description of language facts and also their theoretical interpretation.
The difference between Practical and Theoretical Grammar refers to the following peculiarities:
1) Practical Grammar prescribes definite rules for the use of a language (gives instructions for the use of language data, teaches how to speak and write);
2) Theoretical Grammar analyzes language data, interprets that, expounds the data but does not give instructions as for the use of them.
Kinds of Theoretical Grammar
To explain and interpreter a phenomenon means to reveal and understand its nature. Kinds of Theoretical Grammar are defined by different approaches to the problem of How to interpret language data.
In accordance with an approach there is a kind of Theoretical Grammar (Drawing 1.1).
Drawing 1.1. Basis for approaches to the problem ‘How to interpreter language data’.
The drawing 1.1 shows relations of language signs with other different phenomena, which grounds the appearance of the approaches to the interpretation of their relations (table 1.1).
Table 1.1
Main grammatical notions
Grammatical categories.
To the main notions in the study of Theoretical Grammar the following ones are included: grammatical category; grammatical form and grammatical meaning.
Grammatical Meaning differs from Lexical Meaning. The latter implies an idea or a sense that a word represents. Grammar Meaning also implies an idea or a sense but they (idea\sense) are peculiar to a class of words but not to a single word; they are united by a general propriety of the class of words. Thus, Grammatical Meaning is a generalized or abstract propriety of a class of words and unites big groups of classes of words.
For instance:
| Class of words | Proprieties |
| The Noun | to present objects or things (abstract or concrete). |
| The Verb | to express action. |
| The Adjective | to show a sign or a quality of an object or a thing. |
So, the Grammatical Meaning of the Noun is the propriety to present objects or things, the one of the Verb is the propriety to express an action, the one of the Adjective is the propriety to present a sign or a quality of an object or a thing, etc.
Grammatical Meaning is expressed through the formal indices of a class of words or through their absence. Formal indices are specific for each language and express Grammatical Meaning only when they are joined to the stems of definite parts of speech.
For instance:
The index ‘s’ in the English Language can express:
a) the Plural form of the Noun (a language - languages);
b) the Present Simple for the 3rd Person Singular (We live. – He lives.);
c) the Possessive Case of the Noun (a friend’s advice).
Grammatical Form refers to a material expression of Grammatical Meaning (expression of a word’s form or inflexion).
For instance:
The Grammatical Form ‘has been speaking’ is a material (language) expression of the Grammatical Meaning of the Verb which is presented by the definite notional verb ‘speak’ in the Present Perfect Continuous which refers to the 3rd Person Singular.
Grammatical Category appears on the ground of Grammatical Forms (that in their turn express Grammatical Meaning); it cannot include less than two opposite or properly correlated Grammatical Forms.
For instance:
In English there are:
a) the Category of Tense (Past, Present and Future) that includes 3 Grammatical Forms (properly correlated);
b) the Category of Aspect (Simple, Continuous, Perfect Simple and Perfect Continuous) that includes 4 Grammatical Forms (properly correlated);
c) the Category of Voice (Active and Passive) that includes 2 Grammatical Forms (opposite);
d) the Category of Number (Singular and Plural) that includes 2 Grammatical Forms (opposite), etc.
Grammatical Category presents a peculiar reflection of reality as the Category of Tense, for example, reflects a relation of an action to a moment of time; the Category of Voice reflects a relation of an agent to an action, etc.
Grammatical Category refers to the unity of two or more Grammatical Forms that are opposite or brought into proper correlation in accordance with Grammatical Meaning (example given above).
1.3.3. Language levels(table 1.2)
Table 1.2
Kinds of Morphemes
| Kinds of Morphemes | |||
| Root | Affix (prefix, suffix) | ||
| Inflective | Word-formative (derivational) | ||
| E S S E N C E | Is a part of a word which does not change and is always presented in any form of the word. For example: Black, blackish, blacken. Black is a root morpheme. | Serves to change the form of the same very word. For example: 1) I always invite him. He invites me. I invited him yesterday. 2) A boy – boys. | Serves to form new words. For example: Resist (action), resistance (phenomenon), resistant (characteristics), resister (person), resistor (thing), resistible(quality), irresistible (quality). |
NOTE! In English the Root coincided with the Stem. Stem is also regarded to be a root morpheme. Stem is a significant unity of Morphology, a part of the Word till the Ending.
In a language Morpheme is presented by its versions, allomorphemes (алломорфы, from the Greek allo = other/another).
Characteristics of allomorphemes:
1) they have language (they mean sth, they form words’ forms) and phonetic (they sound) power;
2) the allomorphemes of a definite morpheme can absolutely coincide in pronunciation
For example:
Fresh, freshment, freshen. The letters s,h in the root morpheme fresh create the same sound [ ].
3) the allomorphemes of a definite morpheme can be not identical in pronunciation
For example:
1)
Dreamed [d] the morpheme-suffix ed means the same – it is the index of Past Simple or
Loaded [id] Past Participle for regular verbs
Worked [t] but is pronounced differently
2)
Physics [k]
Physicist [s] in the root morpheme physic the letter c is pronounced differently
Physician […]
III The Noun
The category of Number.
The category of the Case.
The category of the Number.
1. The category of the Number is based on the opposition of singularity and plurality.
For example:
parent – parents, tree –trees, man –men, life – lives, etc.
Singular form of the Noun is multiciphered (многозначное; can stay singular or change into plural) and Plural – simple (однозначное; cannot change for has already been changed).
The opposition of singularity and plurality can, for example:
1) express differences in size (ex., wood (like material to be used to make a fire; logs) and woods (like an area of trees, smaller than a forest));
2) distinguish a class and a subclass (ex., fish (as a creature that lives in water) and fishes (refers to different kinds of fish)).
2. The category of the Number as for the formal indices is presented in two general models – open and closed.
1). As for the open model or productive (it goes on working) it is displayed by the formal index – the suffix -s/-es (in the Plural form of the Noun) or by its absence (in the Singular one).
For example:
Star – stars, floor –floors, knife – knives, etc.
*To the allomorphemes of the suffix -s/-es the following three are included:
1) [s]; after voiceless (unvoiced, surd, breathed) consonants (ex., cats);
2) [z] after vowels (ex., indices) and voiced consonants (ex., dogs);
3) [iz] sibilant (ex., kisses) and hushing sounds (ex., bushes).
2). As for the closed model (it is a certain historical heritage and does not develop) it is grammatically displayed only morphologically or in the sequence with a verb:
1) morphologically: Ox – oxen, child – children, woman –women, man – men, phenomenon – phenomena, antenna – antennae, data – datum, etc.
2) in the sequence with a verb: the noun sheep does not change its grammatical form at all: The sheep is here (Singular Number). The sheep are here (Plural Number).
3). There are also nouns which are unchangeable and have only singular or only plural form:
a) only singular: advice, information, knowledge, furniture, etc.;
b) only plural: trousers, pants, pyjamas, spectacles, etc.
The category of Case.
The Case
refers to the relations of an object/thing/phenomenon (which is denoted by a noun) to other objects, actions and signs, on the one hand, and
presents the means of material or linguistic expression of these relations, on the other.
The are two opposite points of scientific view as for the existence of the category of Case in English:
1) there is the category of Case in English (there are a few approaches to the problem of the English Case);
2) there is not the category of Case in English (a new point of linguistic view).
1. Five general approaches to the problem of the English Case are based on the principle of the number of the cases.
1). There are two cases. The principle of Form.
Henry Sweet
(19th century; an English linguist; Classical Grammar; principles of morphological form and syntactic function)
On the ground of the principle of Form he distinguished two grammatical forms of the English Case:
a) the Common Case (shows the relations of an object in the linguistic form of a noun with actions (verbs) and signs (adjectives)).
The notion of the Common Case was introduced to the English Grammar by H.Sweet;
b) the Possessive Case (shows the object’s possession of another object, thing, phenomenon).
In the second half of the 18th c. Robert Laud (an English linguist) attracted the attention of the scientists to a diachronical change in the structure of the language. The change concerned with the old English Genitive Case (родительный падеж) which lost its original grammatical meaning and kept only the meaning of possession.
For example:
Mother (the Common Case) did not know where the son’s (the Possessive Case) hat (the Common Case) was left.
2). There are five cases. The principle of Lexical Meaning.
In the field of Semantic Grammar five cases were distinguished on the principle of Lexical Meaning. They were said to be Nominative (именительный), Genitive (родительный), Dative (дательный), Accusative (винительный)and Vocative (звательный) cases.
The approach was criticized by
Jence Otto Harry Jespersen
(1860-1943; a Danish linguist; Philosophy of Grammar; principles of morphological form and syntactic function)
The critics was based on the peculiarity of the approach as it was grounded on Latin which left some traits in English structure but was different: the Latin Noun changed its Grammatical Form whereas the English Noun could change it only in Number and when a possession was emphasized. Latin cases were Nominativus, Genitivus, Dativus, Accusativus, Vocativus and Ablativus (отделительный).
For example:
Table 3.3
V The Verb
Classification of verbs
Morphological
Semantic
Syntactic
Classification of verbs
There are three main classifications of verbs based on the different principles.
Semantic Classification
There are three main subclassifications that are based on the Principle of Meaning, both Lexical and Grammatical (tab. 5.2).
Table 5.2
Scheme of the 1st Semantic Classification of Verbs
| Verbs | |||
| Categorematic | Auxiliary | Modal | |
| Characteristics | 1. Have Lexical Mean ings 2. Can change their forms synthetically or analytically | 1. Do not have Lexical Meaning. 2. Have Grammatical Meaning to express peculiarities of the elapsed time | 1. Have a propriety to express people’s cognitive-emotive attitude to reality. 2. Have pure morphological characteristics: a) are marked with the defective paradigm (hardly change their forms); b) can correlate only with the Infinitive (a verbal) |
| Examples | Last time we quickly completed the project. We have already done the work. | Where are you going? Do not be too nervous! I have just come. | He must be going home now. She might have done the work. You should be more attentive. |
*There is a problem, a certain confusion:
1) auxiliary verbs can also be Categorematic in accordance with the function they serve in a sentence, for example:
I have a dog (Categorematic). I have bought a dog (auxiliary).
She does a lot to help him (Categorematic). She does not know how to help him (auxiliary).
To be or not to be? (Categorematic). We are the champions (auxiliary, linking verb). They are studying now (auxiliary);
2) there are also some linking verbs Lexical Meanings of which have completely disappeared, for example:
He grew thin (Он похудел). She turned pail (Она побледнела). They grew red (Они покраснели). We felt cold (мы замерзли).
There are also some linking verbs that has kept their Lexical Meanings, for example:
He felt a cold touch (Он почувствовал холодное прикосновение).
A characteristic feature of Linking Verb is that it can correlate with an adjective (which is treated as the main word).
Table 5.3
Scheme of the 2nd Semantic Classification of Verbs
| Verbs | |||
| Limited | Unlimited | Dual | |
| Characteristics | Characterized with the intention to express a completed action | Express an action as constant duration, subsequent state is unknown | In accordance with contextual circumstances express either one or another meaning (of a completed action or of constant duration) |
| Examples | To catch, to fall, to find, to die | To sit, to be, to know, to exist | To laugh, to look, to live To move: He moved away quickly (limited). Nothing moved along the road (unlimited). |
The 3rd version of Semantic Classification includes the following types:
1) the verbs of feelings and perception which are not used in Continuous (e.g., to feel, to love, to hear, etc.);
2) the verbs of mental, intellectual, activity (e.g., to think, to cognize, etc.);
3) the verbs of psychic states which are not used in the Passive Voice (e.g., to understand, to know, to comprehend, etc.);
4) the verbs of speech (e.g., to speak, to talk, to say, to tell, to proclaim, to declare, etc.);
5) the verbs of movement and location in the space (e.g., to move, to run, to settle, etc.);
6) other verbs that can not be classified in this version. They are usually classified in the 1st and 2nd versions (e.g., to find, to have, to complete, etc.).
Syntactic Classification
The classification is based on the Principle of Syntactic Behaviour (tab. 5.3)
Table 5.4
VII Word-combination
VIII Sentence
PRACTICE I
Task 1: join the given language elements thus to form sуntagmatic and paradigmatic relations between or among them.
Has been cleaning, meaning, an, has been peeled, beauty, they, girl, potato, he, meaningful, slowly, cleaned, she, the, is peeling, oranges, flat, quickly, we, definitely, to clean, orange, teenager, a, fresh, boy, adult, means, beautiful, have been peeled
For example:
The words ‘boy’, ‘girl’, ‘teenager’, ‘adult’ form a paradigmatic class of nouns that name people of different age and sex.
The words ‘means’, ‘meaning’, ‘meaningful’, ‘meant’ create a paradigm of forms of the word ‘mean’.
The combination ‘an adult meant potato’ form syntagmatic relations of the mentioned words.
Task 2:characterize the given in the task №1 language elements as for their Grammar Meanings, Forms and Categories.
For example:
Has been peeled: can be characterized with:
a) the Grammar Meaning of the Verb (it expresses an action);
b) the Grammar Form of the Present Perfect Simple (have+been+V3), 3rd Person Singular (has), Active Voice (be+V3);
c) the Grammar Categories of the Tense (Present from the choice of Past, Present and Future), Aspect (Perfect Simple from the choice of Simple, Continuous, Perfect Simple and Perfect Continuous) and Voice (Passive from the choice of Active and Passive).
TEST I (teacher’s copy)
The task:match an item from the left column with its explanation given in the right one.
| The Subject of Theoretical Grammar | |||
| Grammar elements | refer to morphemes, words, word-combinations and sentences | ||
| Grammar structure | implies relations and connections among grammar elements or inner organization of the language grammar system | ||
| The subject of English Theoretical Grammar | refers to the study of the English Language grammar organization as a system parts of which are mutually connected with definite relations of different types of complexity (complication, complicacy) | ||
| The main task of Theoretical Grammar | is an adequate systematic (methodic) description of language facts and also their theoretical interpretation | ||
| Practical Grammar | prescribes definite rules for the use of a language (gives instruction for the use of language data, teaches how to speak and write) | ||
| Theoretical Grammar | analyzes language data, interprets them, expound the data but does not give instructions as for the use of them | ||
| Kinds of Theoretical Grammar | |||
| Distributive Grammar | studies relations among syntagmatic elements | ||
| Transformative Grammar | concentrates its attention at the relations among grammar forms | ||
| Logical Grammar | emphasizes connections between grammar categories and categories of thinking | ||
| Situated Grammar | researches relations of signs and non-language objects that are marked with language categories and grammar forms | ||
| Psychological Grammar | brings its attention to the influence of psychology on the use of grammar forms | ||
| Structural (Formal) Theoretical grammar | includes Distributive and Transforming Grammar | ||
| Semantic Theoretical grammar | includes Logical, Psychological and Situated Grammar | ||
| Static method | gives a way to makelanguage facts be brought to light and classified | ||
| Dynamic method | searches how one language facts transfer into other and one grammar forms appear from others | ||
| Main grammar notions. Sintagmatic and paradigmatic relations | |||
| Syntagmatic relations | refer to the ones of contiguity | ||
| Paradigmatic relations | refer to the ones of similarity | ||
| Adjacent language elements | can not replace each other for they belong to the different grammar categories | ||
| Paradigmatic language elements | unite language elements that can replace each other for they belong to a class of elements that has a general similarity. | ||
| Grammar categories | |||
| Grammar Meaning | is a generalized or abstract propriety of a class of words and unites big groups of classes of words | ||
| Grammar Form | refers to a material expression of Grammar Meaning (expression of inflexion) | ||
| Grammar Category | presents a peculiar reflection of reality and cannot include less than two opposite or properly correlated Grammar Forms | ||
| General characteristics of the contemporary English language system | |||
| Synthetic Language | Grammar relations of words are expressed by the forms of these very words. A meaningful word alters and presents its new forms to express grammar relations. | ||
| Analytical Language | A meaningful word is not able to alter. For that other words are used – auxiliaries. They help to express grammar relations or combine words in phrases or sentences. Peculiarity: auxiliary element (auxiliary verb) does not have a lexical meaning; notional verb does have that. | ||
| Eight general characteristics of English | 1) Auxiliaries; 2) Scarcity of flexible forms; 3) Homonymy; 4) Absence of Grammatical Agreement of a noun and an adjective that attributes the noun; 5) Use of the Noun in the Common Case as a prepositional attribute; 6) Formal double complete predicative center; 7) Wide use of the assistant words; 8) Wide development of secondary predicative combinations; 9) Direct word order. | ||
TEST I (S)
The task:match an item from the left column with its explanation given in the right one.
| The Subject of Theoretical Grammar | |||
| Grammar elements | A analyzes language data, interprets them, expound the data but does not give instructions as for the use of them | ||
| Grammar structure | B scribes definite rules for the use of a language (gives instruction for the use of language data, teaches how to speak and write) | ||
| The subject of English Theoretical Grammar | C is an adequate systematic (methodic) description of language facts and also their theoretical interpretation | ||
| The main task of Theoretical Grammar | D implies relations and connections among grammar elements or inner organization of the language grammar system | ||
| Practical Grammar | E refers to the study of the English Language grammar organization as a system parts of which are mutually connected with definite relations of different types of complexity (complication, complicacy) | ||
| Theoretical Grammar | F refer to morphemes, words, word-combinations and sentences | ||
| Kinds of Theoretical Grammar | |||
| Distributive Grammar | G researches relations of signs and non-language objects that are marked with language categories and grammar forms | ||
| Transformative Grammar | H brings its attention to the influence of psychology on the use of grammar forms | ||
| Logical Grammar | I concentrates its attention at the relations among grammar forms | ||
| Situated Grammar | J gives a way to makelanguage facts be brought to light and classified | ||
| Psychological Grammar | K searches how one language facts transfer into other and one grammar forms appear from others | ||
| Structural (Formal) Theoretical grammar | L emphasizes connections between grammar categories and categories of thinking | ||
| Semantic Theoretical grammar | M studies relations among syntagmatic elements | ||
| Static method | N includes Logical, Psychological and Situated Grammar | ||
| Dynamic method | O includes Distributive and Transforming Grammar | ||
| Main grammar notions. Syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations | |||
| Syntagmatic relations | P unite language elements that can replace each other for they belong to a class of elements that has a general similarity. | ||
| Paradigmatic relations | Q can not replace each other for they belong to the different grammar categories | ||
| Adjacent language elements | S refer to the ones of similarity | ||
| Paradigmatic language elements | T refer to the ones of contiguity | ||
| Grammar categories | |||
| Grammar Meaning | U presents a peculiar reflection of reality and cannot include less than two opposite or properly correlated Grammar Forms | ||
| Grammar Form | V is a generalized or abstract propriety of a class of words and unites big groups of classes of words | ||
| Grammar Category | W refrers to a material expression of Grammar Meaning (expression of inflexion) | ||
| General characteristics of the contemporary English language system | |||
| Synthetic Language | X Grammar relations of words are expressed by the forms of these very words. A meaningful word alters and presents its new forms to express grammar relations. | ||
| Analytical Language | Y A meaningful word is not able to alter. For that other words are used – auxiliaries. They help to express grammar relations or combine words in phrases or sentences. Peculiarity: auxiliary element (auxiliary verb) does not have a lexical meaning; notional verb does have that. | ||
| Eight general characteristics of English | Z 1) ________________________________________________; 2) ________________________________________________; 3) ________________________________________________; 4) ________________________________________________; 5) ________________________________________________; 6) ________________________________________________; 7) ________________________________________________; 8) ________________________________________________; 9) ________________________________________________. | ||
PRACTICE I
Main grammar notions
THEORETICAL GRAMMAR
I. Introductory to the theoretical study of the English Language Grammar