Download Syntactic notions of the first level

Lecture 15
1. Word groups.
2. The Simple sentence.
3. Actual division as the essential feature
of the simple sentence.
In the utterance
words, performing their semantic functions,
have different syntagmatic connections with
each other. There are three types of syntagmatic
groupings of words:
» grouping of notional words
» grouping of notional and functional words
» grouping of functional words.
» Various combinations of notional words are
characterized as an independent nominative
phenomenon.
E.G., to drink tea, a nice girl, a cumulative effect.
The combinations of notional and functional words are
similar to separate words in their nominative function.
» Functional words have more general and abstract
meaning, → not self-dependent. They cannot be
isolated from the context. E.G., too dark, so fast, but
new.
» The syntagmatic combinations of functional words
alone are quite similar to separate functional words and
are used as special connectors of notional words.
E.G., so on, so that, must be, do not.
Syntagmatic groupings of notional words are divided
into two types according to their ability to perform
grammatical and semantic properties.
» The first group constitutes the words of the equal
status. Consequently, neither of these words is
treated as the head or modifier of the other. This
type of combination is called “equipotent”.
» The second group is comprised by words of
syntactically unequal status. Here one of the words
performs the function of a modifier of the other.
The combination of this type is called
“dominational”.
» In the combination of notional words, having
the equal status, the words can be connected
syndetically or asyndetically.
E.G., parents and children, easy but slow –
syndetical connection; came, looked, signed,
went away – asyndetical connection.
» In dominational connection one of the
elements is principal (dominating) and the
other is subordinate (dominated). The
dominating element is also called the ‘headword’, while the dominated word is named
‘adjunct’.
» Dominational connection can be achieved with the help
of various forms of the word (agreement, government),
the connective words (prepositional government), wordorder.
» The dominational connection can be two-way
(reciprocal) and one-way.
» Two-way domination is performed in predicative
connection of words, whereas one-way domination is
realized in completive word connections.
» The predicative combination of words, connecting the
subject and the predicate, constitutes the core of the
sentence: the subject dominates the predicate
determining the person of predication, while the
predicate dominates the subject, determining the event
of predication, i. e. ascribing to the predicative person
some action, or state, or quality.
The one-way connections, with its head-word and adjunct,
can be divided into two groups:
» Objective connections
» Qualifying connections.
Objective connection characterizes the object in reference
to the process and is described as very close. This type of
connection can be subdivided into: non-prepositional (the
objective form of the adjunct substantive, word-order) and
prepositional.
As for qualifying connections, they are divided into:
» attributive
» adverbial.
Both types are expressed in English by prepositions and
word-order.
Attributive connection combines a substance with its
attribute formally expressed by an adjective or a noun,
e.g., the head of the city, a beautiful girl; etc.
Adverbial connection is subdivided into:
» primary
» secondary.
The primary adverbial connection is realised in relations of
the verb to its adverbial modifiers of various kinds, e.g., to
look attentively, to receive (a parcel) with surprise, etc.
The secondary adverbial connection is realised in the
relations of the non-verbal head-word expressing a quality
and its adverbial modifiers of various kinds. For example:
marvellously walking, strikingly different, unpleasantly
timid, etc.
» The sentence is “the immediate integral unit of speech
built up of words according to a definite syntactic
pattern and distinguished by a contextually relevant
communicative purpose.
WORD vs ONE-WORD SENTENCE
» a word is an element of the lexicon, performing the
nominative function, whereas the sentence is a
predicative utterance. The sentence not only names
some referents with the help of its word-constituents,
but also, 1) presents these referents as making up a
certain situation and 2) reflects the connection
between the nominal denotation of the event on the
one hand, and objective reality on the other, showing
the time of the event, its being real or unreal, desirable
or undesirable, necessary or unnecessary.
» The sentence does not exist in the language
as a ready-made unit, since it is formed in the
process of communication.
» The sentence is intonationally detached. The
intonation helps separate one sentence from
another one in the flow of utterances.
» The centre of predication in any sentence is a
finite verb. It expresses the main predicative
meanings with the help of its categorial form,
that is of tense and mood.
The main predicative meaning is expressed by the finite
verb which it tightly connected to the subject of the
sentence.
This connection between the subject and the predicate
is called the “predicative line” of the sentence.
Sentence can include more than one predicative lines:
“monopredicative” and “polypredicative” sentences.
A “monopredicative” simple sentence – with only one
predicative line, e.g., She knows five languages.
A “polypredicative” sentence – with some predicative
lines (not treated as simple), e.g., I found this telephone
number and called him (I found this telephone number
+ I called him).
Sentences with more than one subjects cannot be
identified as simple as well, e.g.,
Everybody came and so my father. two subjects –
everybody and father – referring to the same
predicate (came).
» The simple sentence is organized as a structure of
some functional positions, which perform the
function of reflecting the situational event. The
notional positions of the sentence are taken by the
nominative parts, such as subject, predicate, object,
adverbial, attribute, addressing and parenthetical
enclosures.
» Elementary sentence is a sentence with only
obligatory elements.
» The unexpanded simple sentence is a
monopredicative sentence formed solely by
obligatory notional parts.
» The expanded simple sentence is a
monopredicative sentence with notional parts and
some optional ones.
» The subject-group and the predicate-group of the
sentence constitute the core, or the “axes” of the
sentence: “two-member” – possessing both axes
sentence; “one-member” – possessing only one
axis.
1) “one-member” sentences which have contextual
omission of one of the principle elements are
considered to be “two-member” as the second
element can be contextually restored.
2) “One-member” sentence has a different inner
structure that does not imply the inclusion and
presence of the second member at all. This
missing member of the sentence cannot be
restored to the sentence structure. The purposeful
preference of one-axis sentence should be saved
as it reflects the author’s, speaker’s idea, thought
and should not be changed.
Semantic classification of the simple sentence is on the
basis of 1) the subject categorial meaning; 2) the predicate
categorial meaning; 3) the subject-object relation.
» The distinctions in subject categorial meanings are
supported by the difference in subject-predicate
combining power.
» Indicating the categories of the predicate, simple
sentences can be divided into process-featuring (actional
and statal )and substance-featuring( factual and
perceptional) sentences.
» The simple sentence is divided into personal and
impersonal. The personal sentences → human and nonhuman. Sentences including subjects denoting human
can further → definite and indefinite, while non-human
→ into animate and inanimate. Impersonal sentences →
into perceptional (denoting some feeling, perception)
and factual (denoting a fact).
» The purpose of the actual division of the sentence is to
disclose the correlative meaning of the sentence parts
in the aspect of their actual informative basis and role
that they play in the utterance.
» The basic elements of the actual division of the
sentence are the theme and the rheme.
» The theme performs the function of the starting point
of the communicative act, it indicates something about
which some information is reported.
» The rheme conveys the part of the communicative act.
main informative
Mainly, the theme can coincide with the subject, whereas
the rheme can correspond to the predicate.
» The informative value of communications lies in their
disclosing various new relations between the elements of
reflected events, though the elements themselves may
be quite familiar to the listener. The expression of a
certain aspect of these relations, namely, the correlation
of the said elements from the point of view of their
immediate significance in a given utterance produced as
a predicative item of a continual speech, does enter the
structural plane of language”
» Formal means of expressing the difference between the
theme and the rheme are structural components of the
language, such as intonation, word-order, constructions
with introducers (there, it), constructions with
intensifying particles, articles, determiners.
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