Adjective Grammemes in Speech - раздел Иностранные языки, Some General Remarks § 110. An English Adjective Lexeme May Contain Three Words At Most (Strong...
§ 110. An English adjective lexeme may contain three words at most (strong — stronger — strongest) representing three grammemes. The fourth grammeme contains words with the oblique meaning of the 'positive degree' (deaf, vertical, wooden, etc.). There are no oblique meanings of the 'comparative' and the 'superlative' degrees in English, i. e. words like calmer, bravest have always 'positive degree' opposites.
Note. The Latin comparatives major, minor, junior, senior, superior, inferior, etc., though retaining some of their 'comparative' meaning, differ from the words of the 'comparative degree' grammeme in not being followed by than and in being often used without real comparison, e. g. a minor injury, goods of inferior workmanship (Hornby).
The 'comparative' connotation is part of the lexical meanings of these words.
§ 111. The table below shows the relative frequency of the occurrence of the four grammemes in some literary texts
1 A. I. Smirnitsky does not recognize partial substantivization and treats cases like the rich, the poor as the use of adjectives without nouns, op. cit., p. 153/
of the 20th century. We have counted separately the occurrences of the synthetic and the analytical forms.
Grammeme
Form
Sample
Frequency (per cent)
Positive, actual Positive, oblique Comparative
Superlative
synth. analyt. synth. analyt.
short, difficult vertical, blind shorter more difficult shortest most difficult
82.6 8.2 4.6 1.0 1.6 1.6
As usual, the unmarked member of the opposeme, the 'positive degree' grammeme, occurs in speech most frequently.
§ 112. The combinability of the words belonging to the above-mentioned four grammemes is primarily determined by their being adjectives. Yet, each grammeme and even each form of a grammeme has some combinative peculiarities.
Apart from the fact that different linking words, are used with different grammemes (as long as ..., longer than ... , the longest of . .), the latter show, as it were, some preference for certain combinative models. This is reflected in the table below, where A stands for adjective, N for noun, P for pronoun, VI for link-verb, Vn for notional verb.
^^ Grammemeb
'Positive'
'Comparative'
'Superlative'
^^^
(both actual
Patterns ^.
and oblique)
Synthet.
Analyt.
Synthet.
Analyt.
A + N
9.5
93.1
95.3
VI -f A
6.9
—
Vn + P N + A
3-
—
-------
—
Others
9.5
-------
4.7
100%
100%
100%
100%
100%
Note. The literary texts analysed contain 6.000
adjectives.
As seen from the table, the only pattern in which words of all grammemes have occurred in our texts in A + N. However, the analytical form of the 'comparative' gram-meme but seldom occurs in this model. Likewise, words of the 'superlative' grammeme (both synthetic and analytical) are found rarely, if at all, in another typica!4 adjectival pattern, VI + A.
§ 113. In certain speech environments adjectives can be used .to communicate meanings in some respect different from those of the grammemes they belong to.
In the combination as brave as the word brave loses the absolute nature of the meaning of the 'positive' grammeme. It is used to express relative bravery. Cf. as brave as a hare. In certain combinations brave can be used to express even the highest degree of the quality. Among them there was none so brave as John =- John was the bravest man among them. Similarly the 'comparative degree' grammeme may sometimes be synonymous to the 'superlative' grammeme.
E. g. There was no man in the village wiser and kinder that old Chou. She was brighter than the rest of their children.
A 'superlative degree' adjective sometimes occurs in speech with an absolute meaning, it shows a very high degree of some quality regardless of the amount of the same property in other objects. When so employed it is said to be used in its e 1 a t i v e meaning.
E.g. He painted her ingratitude in the b I acke st colours. (Maugham).
The room was furnished in the most refined style. (Ib.).
Elative 'superlatives' lend force and expressiveness to speech.
§ 114. Under ordinary conditions, the synthetic and analytical forms of comparison are, as we know, in complementary distribution. But when emphasis is intended, the analytical forms are sometimes used instead of the synthetic ones.
He looked more stern than his father. (Dickens). She looked more sad than ever before. (Black). This becomes clear if we take into consideration two circumstances:
a) The morphemes -er and -est cannot be stressed, while the word-morphemes more and most can.
b) Word-morphemes are regularly used in English as the locus for emphatic stress signals. Cf. He studies ... and He does study ... (see § 415).
§ 115. Following is a brief comparison of the basic features of English and Russian adjectives.
1. The lexico-grammatical meanings are essentially the same.
2. The Russian adjective has a greater variety of stem- building affixes than its English counterpart. The so-called "suffixes of subjective appraisal" (as in длинненький, длин нющий, длинноватый, etc.) are alien to the English adjective (the only exception is -ish in whitish, red dish, etc.).
3. Russian adjectives have the categories of number (длинный — длинные), gender (длинный — длинная — длин ное), and case (длинный, длинного, длинному, etc.) which English adjectives no longer possess. The only category Russian and English adjectives have in common is the cate gory of the degrees of comparison.
Hence, adjectival grammemes in English are monoseman-tic (i. e. having but one grammatical meaning), while in Russian an adjective grammeme is usually polysemantic, e. g. the grammeme represented by умная carries the grammatical meanings of 'feminine gender' 'singular number', 'nominative case' and 'positive degree'. But the synthetic comparative (сильнее, красивее, etc.) is monosemantic in Russian as well.
4. In Russian as well as in English the category of the degrees of comparison is represented in three-member oppo- semes, but there are some distinctions.
a) The 'positive degree' is unmarked in English, whereas it is marked in Russian (Cf. red, красн-ый). Taking into consideration that more than 90% of all adjectives in speech belong to the 'positive degree' grammemes, we may say that in the overwhelming majority of cases the form of an English adjective does not signal to what part of speech the word
belongs. In the Russian language every full adjective is marked; it shows by its form that it is an adjective.
6) The formations более красивый, самыч красивый resemble the analytical forms more beiutiful, most beautiful, but they can hardly be regarded as analytical forms since they are not in complementary distribution with the corresponding synthetic forms. Длиннее and более длинный are rather stylistic synonyms.
5. In both languages there are qualitative and relative adjectives. In both languages the relative adjectives and some qualitative ones have no opposites of comparison, i. e. they form the subclass of non-comparables. But otherwise there is great dissimilarity between the two languages.
a) Most qualitative adjectives in the Russian language have corresponding "short" opposite? (умный — умен, крот кая— кротка, etc.). There is nothing similar in English.
b) The proportion of relative adjectives is much greater in Russian where, according to V. V. Vinogradov, they con stitute the bulk of adjectives. English 'common case' nouns often render the meanings of Russian relative adjectives, e. g. домашние расходы. — household expenses, настольная лампа — a table lamp, etc.
c) Among the relative adjectives of the Russian language there is a group of 'possessive' adjectives like Ольгин, мамин, отиов, лисий, having no English counterparts.
6) The combinability of adjectives is to some extent similar in the two languages. Yet there are some essential differences.
a) In English one can speak only of two levels of combi nability: lexical and lexico-grammatical. In Russian gram matical combinability is of great importance too. Cf. белый потолок, белая стена, белых стен, etc.
b) The so-called 'short' adjectives and the synthetic 'comparatives' of Russian adjectives have as a rule no right- hand connections with nouns. Cf. This is a better translation. Этот перевод лучше, but not * это лучше перевод.
c) A peculiar feature of the combinability of the English adjective is its right-hand connection with the prop-word one; a good one, a better one, the best one.
7. In both langaages the typical functions of adjectives in the sentence are those of attribute and predicative. But the Russian 'short' adjectives and the synthetic comparatives are seldom used as attributes. English does not contain such
grammemes or subclasses of adjectives, but certain individual adjectives are but rarely, used as attributes, e. g. it is impossible to say * a glad girl. On the other hand, the adjective little is used almost exclusively as an attribute.
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Adjective Grammemes in Speech
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SOME GENERAL REMARKS
§ 1. In this book the phoneme, the morpheme, the word,and the sentenceare regarded as the basic units of language and speech. The definitions of these units have n
INTRODUCTION
§ 6. There exist many definitions of the. term word and none of them is generally accepted. But in the majority of cases pedple actually experience no difficulty in separating one word from
THE STRUCTURE OF WORDS
§ 7. One of the main properties of a word is its double nature. It is material because it can he heard or seen, and it is immaterial or ideal as far as its meaning is concerned. We shall regard the
THE CLASSIFICATION OF WORDS
§ 19. A morpheme usually has more than one meaning. This is the case, for instance, with both the lexical and the grammatical morpheme in the word runs. The morpheme run- has the following m
THE NOUN
§ 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:
1. The lexico-grammati
The Category of Number
§ 71. The category of number of Engl ish nouns is the system of opposemes (such as girl — girls, foot — feet, etc.) showing whether the noun stands for оде object or more than
Noun Grammemes in Speech
§ 87. An English noun lexeme may contain four words at most (boy, boys, boy's, boys'). Each of these words, as we know (§ 19), represents not only the lexeme, but a certain grammeme as well.
THE ADJECTIVE
§ 101. Adjectives are a part of speech characterized by the following typical features:
1. The lexico-grammatical meaning of 'attributes (of substances)'. It should be understood that
THE ADVERB
§ 116. The adverb is a part of speech characterized by the following features: *
1. The lexico-grammatical meaning of "qualitative, quan titative or circumstantial characteri
THE NUMERAL
§ 130. The numeral as a part of speech is characterized by
1) its lexico-grammatical meaning of 'number',
2) the category of numerical qualification represented in opposemes l
PRONOUNS
, § 139. It has been shown above that words fall into classes known as parts of speech in accordance with their lexico-grammatical meanings, morphological categories, typical stem-building element
Хаймович и др
But what is more important, pronouns can be substituted «not only for nouns, but for othe
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, th
THE VERB
§ 187. Analysing the verb in Modern Russian, V. V. Vi-nogradov characterizes it as "the most complex and capacious part of speech" J. Likewise, A. I. Smirnitsky 2 st
The Category of Voice
§ 203. The category of voice is the system of two-member opposemes (loves — is loved, loving — being loved, to love — to be loved, has loved — has, been loved, et
The Category of Aspect
§ 218. The category of aspect is a system of two-member opposemes such as works — is working, has worked — has been working, to work — to be working showing the characte
The Indicative Mood
§ 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.
Semantically it is a fact mood. It serve
The Subjunctive Mood
§ 239. Probably the only thing linguists are unanimous about with regard to the subjunctive mood is that it represents an action as a 'non-fact', as something imaginary,
1
The Imperative Mood
§ 247. The imperative mood represents an action as a command, urging, request, exhortation addressed to one's interlocutor^). It is a direct expression of one's will. Therefore it is much more 's
Verb Grammemes in Speech
§ 251. When used in speech a word has but one of its lexical meanings and all of its grammatical meanings (see § 21). Thus in the sentence He writes to me every week, the verb writes
Indicative Mood Grammemes
The Present, Non-Continuous, Non-Perfect
§ 253. As a part of the verb system it may be said to present an action in the present (present tense) unspecified as to its character (non-contin
Voice Grammemes
§ 288. In the' system of the English language the active (non-marked) and the passive (marked) members of the voice opposeme are equal in rank, mutually complementing each other. This is not the ca
Subjunctive Mood Grammemes in Speech
§ 293. As we know, there is not a single subjunctive mood grammeme which has no homonyms in the indicative or in the imperative mood (or both). The discrimination of homo-nymous grammemes rests on
Imperative Mood Grammemes in Speech
§ 302. In most cases they serve to present an order, command, exhortation, request, etc. as a direct expression of the speaker's will.
In certain surroundings, however, mostly in
The Gerund
§ 321. The gerund is a verbid characterized by the following features:
1. Its dual lexico-grammatical meaning of an action partially viewed as a substance.
2. The categories
THE RESPONSE WORDS
§ 334. The response-words yes and no are characterized as a separate class by
a) their meaning of 'response statement',
b) their negative combinability,
c)
THE INTERJECTION
§ 337. The interjection is a part of speech characterized by the following features.
1. It expresses "emotions or will without naming them.
2. It has no grammatical categorie
THE PREPOSITION
§ 342. The preposition is a part of speech characterized by the following features:
Kits lexico-grammatical meaning of 'relations (of substances)'.
2. Its bilateral combinability
THE CONJUNCTION
§ 353. The conjunction is a part of speech characterized by the following features.
1. Its lexico-grammatical meaning of 'relations between substances, actions, properties, situations,
THE ARTICLE
§ 364. The two words a(n), the form a separate group or class characterized by
a) the lexico-grammatical meaning of '(in)definiteness', •b) the right-hand combinability with nouns,
THE PARTICLE
§ 372. The particle as a part of speech is characterized by the following features:
1. Its lexico-grammatical meaning of 'emphatic specifi cation'.
2. Its unilateral combina,
INTRODUCTION
§ 378. The basic unit of syntax is the sentence.There exist many definitions of the sentence, but none of them is generally accepted 1. But in the majority of cas
L/j8 Хаймсшич и
tences when the predicate verb contains no morphological word-morphemes.
§ 392. A unit of a higher level, as we know, contains units of the next lower level. A sentence contai
THE STRUCTURE OF A SENTENCE
§ 396. As defined (§ 3), when studying the structure of a unit, we find out its components, mostly units of the next lower level, their arrangement and their functions as parts of the unit.
A. As to Their Structure
§ 403. Sentences with only one predication are called simple sentences. Those with more than one predication have usually no general name 3. We shall call them
Combinations of Sentences
§ 416. The sentence is usually the limit of grammatical analysis. Conrbinations of sentences have never got adequate attention on the part of linguists. Yet the necessity of extending linguistic an
THE SIMPLE SENTENCE PARTS OF THE SENTENCE
§ 420. Traditionally the subject and the predicate are regarded as the primary or principal parts of the sentence and the attribute, the object and the adverbial modifier — as the secondary parts
The Predicate
§ 430. The predicate is the member of a predication con taining the mood and tense (or only mood) components of predicativity. "
E. g. This dictionary employs a pronunciat
G) Adverbials of attending circumstances
He sank down in his chair, resting his chin in his hand. (Dreiser). -
§456. Qualitative and quantitative adverbial complements are more closely connected with their headword
Attributes
§ 459. Attributes are secondary parts of the sentence serving to modify nouns or noun-equivalents in whatever functions they are used in the sentence.
In simple sentences attributes can
Extensions
§ 467. Extensions are adjuncts of adjectives, adverbs and adlinks in a sentence. They differ from complements and attributes in being usually modifiers of modifiers, or ter-tiaries,
Connectives
§ 469. Connectives are linking-words considered as a secondary part of the sentence. They are mostly prepositions and conjunctions.
She played and sang to him. (London).
C
Го-Specifiers
§ 471. The peculiar combinability and functions of particles distinguish them from all other words in the sentence. They .-are not adjuncts of definite parts of speech like complements, .attributes
Parenthetical Elements
§ 473. Parenthetical elements are peculiar parts of the sentence.
a) They are characterized by negative combinability with the other words of the sentence.
b) They are, as it
II. The Position of the Object
a) The Place of the Direct Object
§ 479. The direct object is usually placed after the verb unless the indirect object precedes it.
He offered me his help.
However
THE COMPOSITE SENTENCE
§ 492. Composite sentences, as we know (§ 403), divide into compound and complex sentences. The difference between them is not only in the relations of coordination or subordination, as usually st
THE COMPOUND SENTENCE
§ 496. The clauses of compound sentences are of equal rank, but usually the clause preceding the conjunction is regarded as the initial clause to which the other clause is related. These relations
THE COMPLEX SENTENCE
§ 498. The principal clauses of complex sentences are usually not classified, though their meanings are not neutral with regard to the meanings of the subordinate clauses.
Cf. He will c
Complement Clauses
a) Predicative Clauses
§ 509. The sentence The question is where he can be found consists of the principal clause the question is and the predicative clause where he can
Attribute Clauses
§ 518. Attributive clauses are postpositive adjuncts of nouns. They are commonly divided into relative and a'pposi-tiveclauses. Relative clauses are introduced by pronouns (or asyn
Extension Clauses
§ 520. Extension clauses are postpositive adjuncts of adjectives, adverbs and adlinks.
E. g. It is indeed doubtful how he had become aware that
Ro
Parenthetical Clauses
§ 521. Most authors who do not regard parenthetical elements as parts of the sentence treat It is past ten, I think as a simple sentence 1. We do not find this view convin
COMPOUND-COMPLEX AND COMPLEX-COMPOUND SENTENCES
§ 523. Sometimes subordination and coordination may be combined within one sentence, in which case we may have compound-complex and complex-compound sentences.
1 See M. Ganshma,
DIRECT AND INDIRECT SPEECH
§ 524. Among the composite sentences of English and other languages we find a peculiar type differing from the rest.
Cf. He said, "/ love you". (Greene). ,
CONCLUSION
§ 530. We have made a survey of the morphological and syntactical systems of Modern English, resorting, where appropriate, to comparison with Modern Russian. Now, by way of summing up, we shall ma
Теоретическая грамматика английского языка
(на английском языке)
Редактор Л. И, Кравцова Издательский редактор Л. А. Долгопятова
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