C. Treatment of aspect in Modern linguistics

1. The category of voice.
2. Language means of expressing modality. The category of mood.

QUESTIONS TO BE DISCUSSED:

1. What is specific to the categories of person and number in English?
2. What enables scholars to identify six number-person forms of the verb in English?
3. What does the immanent character of the category of tense imply?
4. What is the main weak point of the traditional “linear” interpretation of tenses?
5. What are the theoretical advantages of identifying in English two separate tense categories?
6. What categorial meanings do continuous forms and non-continuous forms express?
7. What categories do the perfect forms express?
8. What accounts for the peculiar place of the category of voice among the verbal categories?
9. What makes the expression of voice distinctions in English specific?
10. What complicates the analysis of English mood forms?
11. What does the category of mood express?
12. What features of mood forms should be taken into account to give a full picture of English moods?
13. What is the status of the so-called “imperative mood” in English?

EXERCISES

I. Dwell upon the categorial features of the verbs in the following sentences:

a)

1. “Well, I am an honest man, though not a very rich one. I only gave 15 shillings for the bust, and I think you ought to know that before I take 18 pounds from you.” (Doyle)

2. I thought you might be interested to meet Mr. Anstruther. He knows something of Belgium. He has lately been hearing news of your convent (Christie).

3. “Oh She, as thou art great be merciful, for I am now as ever thy servant to obey.” (Haggard)

4. “What is it?” she said confusedly. “What have I been saying?” “It is nothing,” said Rose. “You are tired. You want to rest. We will leave you.” (Christie)

5. In one of my previously published narratives I mentioned that Sherlock Holmes had acquired his violin from a pawnbroker in the Tottenham Court Road, for the sum of 55 shillings. To those who know the value of a Stradivarius, it will be obvious that I was being less than candid about the matter (Hardwick).

6. Perhaps she wasn’t an actress at all. Perhaps the police were looking for her (Christie).

b)

1. “I think, Mr. Holmes, it is time that we were leaving for Euston.” “I will order a four-wheeler. In a quarter of an hour we shall be at your service.” (Doyle)

2. “What he will divulge I cannot tell, but I have no doubt that your Grace could make him understand that it is to his interest to be silent. From the police point of view he will have kidnapped the boy for the purpose of ransom.” (Doyle)

3. “Hast thou aught to ask me before thou goest, oh Holly?” she asked, after a few moments’ reflection (Haggard).

4. “Mr. Holmes!” cried Mrs. Hudson indignantly. “How many times have I said that I won’t tolerate your indoor shooting?” (Hardwick)

5. By the way, I shall be grateful if you will replace this needle. It is getting rather blunt (Hardwick).

6. She wondered if any Warrenders kived here still. They’d left off being buried here apparently (Christie).

c)

1. My future is settled. I am seeing my lawyer tomorrow as it is necessary that I should make some provision for Mervyn if I should pre-decease him which is, of course, the natural course of events (Christie).

2. “Yes, it was old Mrs. Carraway. She’s always swallowing things.” (Christie)

3. “Wouldn’t you like something? Some tea or some coffee perhaps?...” “No, no, not even that. We shan’t be stopping very much longer.” (Christie)

4. “Oh, it’s lovely. It’s too good for me, though. You’ll be wanting it yourself– ” (Christie)

5. “Somebody was being poisoned last time we were here, I remember,” said Tuppence (Christie).

6. A lot of signposts are broken, you know, and the council don’t repair them as they should (Christie)

d)

1. “A year and a half–” She paused. “But I’m leaving next month.” (Christie)

2. “Well, you see, Mrs. Beresford, one needs a change–” “But you’ll be doing the same kind of work?” (Christie)

3. She picked up the fur stole. “I’m thanking you again very much – and I’m glad, too, to have something to remember Miss Fanshawe by.” (Christie)

4. I wish you were coming with me (Christie)

5. Will you be wanting some sandwiches? (Christie)

6. It was a funny way to partition it (the house), I should have thought. I’d have thought it would have been easier to do it the other way (Christie).

_____

Seminar 6

ACTUAL DIVISION OF THE SENTENCE.

COMMUNICATIVE TYPES OF SENTENCES.

_______________________

1. The basic principles of sentence division. Actual division of the sentence. The correlation of the “1” syntactic (“nominative”) division and actual division of the sentence.
2. Language means of expressing the theme.
3. Language means of expressing the rheme.
4. Classification of sentences according to the purpose of communication. Modern classification of communicative sentence types. The problem of exclamatory sentences. Actual division and communicative sentence types.
5. Constructions with mixed communicative features.

QUESTIONS TO BE DISCUSSED:

1. What are the main principles of the actual division of the sentence?
2. What sentence elements can be called “thematic”?
3. What language means mark the theme of the sentence?
4. What is understood by the rheme of the sentence?
5. What language means are used to express the rheme of the sentence?
6. In what do you see the connection of the actual division and the communicative sentence types?
7. What actual division pattern is typical of the declarative sentence?
8. What actual division pattern characterizes the imperative sentence?
9. What kind of rheme is peculiar to the interrogative sentence?
10. In what way does the actual division help reveal the differential features of intermediary communicative sentence types?

EXERCISES