Valeika Laimutis an Introductory Course in Theoretical Engli

8/9/2019 Valeika Laimutis an Introductory Course in Theoretical Engli

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Vilnius Pedagogical UniversityDepartment of English Philology

Laimutis Valeika Janina Buitkiene

An ntroductory !ourse in "heoreticalEnglish #rammar$etodine mokymo priemone auk%tu&umokyklu studentams'(()'* Vilnius Pedagogical University+ '(()Leidinys svarstytas ir rekomenduotas spaudai U,sienio kal-u fakultetoAnglu .lologi&os katedros posedy&e '(() () 1'+ protokolo /r0 Leidinys svarstytas ir rekomenduotas spaudai U,sienio kal-u fakulteto

"ary-os posedy&e '(() () 1)+ protokolo /r0 23ecen4entai5 doc0 dr0 #ra,ina 3osiniene+ doc0 dr0 Daiva Verikaite0)

!ontentsPrefacentroductory "raditional #rammar "raditional #rammar in Ancient #reece "raditional #rammar in Ancient 3omePrescriptive #rammar/on67tructural Descriptive #rammar7tructural Descriptive #rammar "ransformational 8 #enerative #rammar "he E9planatory Po:er of /on67tructural Descriptive+ 7tructural Descriptive and "ransformational6#enerative #rammar ;-y :ay of

summing up<7tructural =eatures of Present 8 Day English#rammatical !lasses of >ords

"he Principles of !lassi.cation as Used -y Prescriptive #rammarians "he Principles of !lassi.cation as Used -y /on67tructural Descriptive#rammarians

"he Principles of !lassi.cation as Used -y 7tructural Descriptive#rammarians

"he !lassi.cation of >ords in Post67tructural "raditional #rammar

"he /oun "he 7emantic !lassi.cation of /ouns "he #rammatical !ategory of /um-er "he #rammatical !ategory of !ase

"he !ategory of #ender "he !ategory of Determination

"he Ver-7emantic =eatures of the Ver-=inite =orms of the Ver- "he !ategory of Person "he !ategory of /um-er "he !ategory of "ense2ntroductoryPresent "ense


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Past "ense "he Pro-lem of =uture "enseA-solute and 3elative "enses "he !ategory of Aspect "he !ategory of $ood "he !ategory of Voice "he !ategory of ?rder ;the Perfect< "he =unction of the !ategory of ?rder "he Perfective =orm and the Pefective Aspect

/on6=inite =orms of the Ver-ntroductory "he n.nitive "he Ver-al =eatures of the n.nitive0 0 "he /ounal =eatures of the n.nitive 0 "he #erund 0 "he Participle 0

"he Ad&ective 0 "he Adver- 0 "he Pronoun 0 "he Preposition 03eferences 0

Preface "his -ook is intended for university6level students of English :ho havetaken a practical grammar course and are no: ready to take a course intheoretical grammar0?ur aim is to provide the students :ith a -rief survey of Englishmorphological pro-lems in the light of present6day linguistics0>e :ant to e9press our gratitude to Assoc0 Prof0 Algimantas $artinkenas+Dean of the =aculty of =oreign Languages+ for the congenial atmosphere andencouragement+ to the sta@ of the Department of English Philology+ to Assoc0Prof0 #ra,ina 3osiniene and Assoc0 Prof0 Daiva Verikaite for reading themanuscript and contri-uting valua-le suggestions0Laimutis Valeika

Janina Buitkiene

ntroductory=or a start+ let us try and ans:er the uestion C:hat is grammar "he termgrammar is derived from the #reek :ord grammatike+ :here gram meantsomething :ritten0 "he part tike derives from techne and meant art0 Fencegrammatike is the art of :riting0 7ince its appearance in ancient #reece theterm has undergone considera-le modi.cations0 n ancient #reece and ancient3ome the terms grammatike and grammatica respectively denoted the :holeapparatus of literary study0 n the middle ages+ grammar :as the study of Latin0n England+ this conception of grammar continued until the end of the 1Gthcentury0 Latin grammar :as the only grammar learned in schools0 Until thenthere :ere no grammars of English0 "he .rst grammar of English+ Bref #rammarfor English+ :ritten -y >illiam Bullokar+ :as pu-lished in 1H0 "he most

inIuential grammar of English ;pu-lished in 1G'< :as 30 Lo:ths 7hortntroduction to English #rammar0 t started the age of prescriptive grammar0

"o a prescriptive grammarian+ grammar is rules of correct usageK its aim :asto prescri-e :hat is &udged to -e correct rather than to descri-e actual usage0A ne:+ modern understanding of grammar appeared only -y the end of the1th century+ :hen the period of scienti.c ;descriptive< grammar -egan0 "odescriptivists+ grammar is a systematic description of the structure of a language0>ith the appearance of structural descriptive linguistics+ grammar came tomean the system of :ord structures and :ord arrangements of a given languageat a given time0 "o transformational6generative grammarians+ :ho are an o@shootof structural descriptive linguistics+ grammar is a mechanism for


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producing sentences0 "hus the actual de.nition of grammar is determined -ypragmatic factors0 f :e :ish to learn to speak and :rite+ :e :ill focus on thesystem of rules that underlie a given language+ and if :e :ish to descri-e thestructure of a language+ :e :ill focus on the units that make up the languageand their relations+ and if :e :ish to understand ho: speakers of a givenlanguage produce and understand sentences+ :e :ill focus on the nature of therules used0 Fence :e can speak of t:o types of grammar5 practical andtheoretical0 Practical grammar gives practical rules of the use of the linguistic

structures :hile theoretical grammar gives an analysis of the structures in thelight of general principles of linguistics and the e9isting schools and approaches0Fistorically+ English grammars+ according to their general aims ando-&ectives+ can -e divided into5 a< traditional ;prescriptive and non6structuraldescriptive


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"he parepNmena of the ver- included mood+ voice+ type+ form+ num-er+person+ tense+ and con&ugation0 "hree -asic time references are distinguished5present+ past+ and future0 Phra9s set of parts of speech has undergone onlyminor modi.cations and is still very much in use today0 "he main omission inthis grammar is the a-sence of any section on synta90 7ynta9 :as dealt :ith+rather e9tensively+ -y Appolonius Dyscolus0 Appolonius -ased his syntacticdescription on the relations of the noun and the ver- to each other and of theremaining :ord classes to these t:o0 "he achievements of the #reek scholars

lie in devising and systemati4ing a formal terminology for the description of the classical #reek language+ a terminology :hich+ through adaptation to Latinand later on adopted from Latin -y other languages+ has -ecome part andparcel of the grammatical euipment of the linguistics of our day0

"raditional #rammar in Ancient 3ome3oman linguistics :as largely the application of #reek thought to theLatin language0 "he relatively similar -asic structures of the t:o languagesfacilitated the process of this metalinguistic transfer0 "he .rst Latin grammar:as :ritten -y Varro ;11G8' B0!0estern Europe0?ne of the earliest and most popular Latin grammars :ritten in English :as>illiam Lilys grammar+ pu-lished in the .rst half of the 1Gth century0 t :asan aid to learning Latin+ and it rigorously follo:ed Latin models0

"he 3enaissance sa: the -irth of the modern :orld0 t :idened linguistichori4ons0 7cholars turned their attention to the living languages of Europe0

Although the study of #reek and Latin grammar continued+ they :ere not theonly languages scholars :ere interested in0 As can -e e9pected+ the .rstgrammars of English :ere closely related to Latin grammars0 Latin had -eenused in England for centuries+ scholars had treated it as an ideal language0

"hey :ere struck -y its rigor and order0 English+ :hich replaced Latin+ had toappear as perfect as Latin0 As a result+ some English scholars :ere greatlyconcerned :ith re.ning their language0 "hrough the use of logic they hoped toimprove English0

"he .rst grammars of English :ere prescriptive+ not descriptive0 "hemost inIuential grammar of this period :as 30 Lo:ths 7hort ntroduction to


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English #rammar ;1G'


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:hich is identi.ed :ith corruption5 the language of their ancestors had -eauty+-ut the Language of his contemporares is al:ays diminished ;3andal L0>hitman+ 15G


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description of the noun5 CAs regards their function in the sentence+ :ords fallunder certain classes called parts of speech+ all the mem-ers of each of theseclasses having certain formal characteristics in common :hich distinguishthem from the mem-ers of the other classes0 Each of these classes has a nameof its o:n 8 noun+ ad&ective+ ver-+ etc0 ;F0 7:eet5 1H1+ )e must learn to regardlanguage solely as consisting of groups of sounds+ independently of the :ritten sym-ols000;>ords+ Logic and $eaning+ p0 21


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and the task of a linguist :as to reveal it -y using scienti.c ;i0e0 formal< methodsof analysis0 $eaning as a criterion :as not relia-le since+ -eing uno-serva-le+it could -e interpreted di@erently -y di@erent linguists0 "herefore the linguist:as to devise formal methods of analysis and replace meaning -y formK thelinguist must -e interested in :hat he o-serves+ i0e0 o-&ective data0 "hestructuralists -ased their conclusions on the analysis of sentences that theyhad collected from native speakers of English+ giving priority to 7poken English0

"o structuralists+ language is a highly organi4ed a@air+ :here the smaller

units are -uilt into larger units+ :hich in turn are -uilt into larger ones+ untilthe largest unit is reached0 7uch -uilding6-locks are phonemes and morphemes0

"he structures that :e -uild out of the -ricks are le9emes0 Le9emes+ in theiro:n turn+ serve to -uild the largest unit+ the sentence+ i0e0 the predicative unit07tructural linguists ignored meaning not -ecause they :ere not interestedin it0 $eaning :as ignored on the grounds that it :as not o-serva-le and couldnot -e descri-ed o-&ectively -y using formal methods0 "he description of meaning had to :ait until appropriate methods :ere devised0 7uch -eing thecase+ they focused their attention on structural+ i0e0 grammatical+ meaning10Fo: are structural meanings conveyed in English 7tructural grammarianshave pointed out four devices used in English to indicate structural meaning51< :ord formK '< function :ordsK )< :ord orderK 2< intonation and accentpatterns ;prosodic patterns


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and ran a:ay+ they are constituents of a lo:er level5 they are su-constituents of the higher level 8 Poor John and ran a:ay0 Fence t:o levels of analysis5 higherand lo:er :here the lo:er level is su-ordinated to the higher level0According to D0 Bolinger ;1GH5 1


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synta9 of the sentence in its entirety01 "he shortcoming of the ! method liesin its e9treme formality5 the analyst+ using this method+ is not interested in thecontent of the interrelationships0 7uch syntactic notions as su-&ect+ predicate+o-&ect+ complement+ attri-ute+ adver-ial+ :hich constitute the -asis of traditionalanalysis+ practically :ere never used -y structuralists0 n this :ay+ content :asseparated from form0 And language is a dialectical unity of content and form0Besides+ the method of ! analysis is only capa-le of revealing :ordrelationships :ithin the sentence0 But+ to uote D0 Bolinger ;op0 cit0+ '(1


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f< Bill .9ed up a drink for John W Bill .9ed a drink up for John W Bill .9eda drink for John up W Bill .9ed up John a drink01 /o matter :hish aim is pursued+ transformations help to reveal the e9isting relations-et:een linguistic structures0

'(g< John resides in /e: Xork W TJohn resides0h< John is my -est friend W John is0i< John is :alking in the park W John is :alking0

&< $ary put the Io:ers in the vase WT $ary put the Io:ers0k< $ary is :riting a letter0 W $ary is :riting01< "he door :as closed W the door :as closed -y the &anitor0m< "he door closed W T"he door closed -y the &anitor0n< "he :oman looked angry W T"he :oman looked angrily0o< "he :oman appeared angry W T"he :oman appeared angrily0p< >e do not allo: smoking in the lecture hall W t is not allo:ed to smokein the lecture hall W 7moking is not allo:ed in the lecture hall0< "he student arrived late0 W "he students late arrival0

"hrough the transformational method :e can sho: the structural potentialof a linguistic unit as compared to units e9hi-iting super.cially similarstructure0 f linguistic units can -e su-&ected to the same transformation+ :ecan say that they are identically structured0 But if they cannot+ their structure

is di@erent0 "o sum up+ the merit of the transformational method can -e statedas follo:s5 1< it ena-les the analyst to diagnose linguistic structuresK '< itreveals the structural potential of linguistic structures0 "he emergence of thismethod practically marks the end of post6Bloom.eldian linguistics and the-eginning of a ne: stage of structural linguistics01

"ransformational 8 #enerative #rammar=rom the transformational method there :as only one step to the creationof a ne: type of grammar+ vi40 transformational6generative grammar0 "hismethod and the method of !s had paved the :ay for the emergence of agrammar that could account for the generation of the sentence0Unlike the structural grammarian+ the transformational6generativegrammarian is not content :ith descri-ing :hat he .nds in a corpus of sentencescollected from native speakers0 Fe is interested in possi-le sentences+ i0e0 the

speakers6hearers kno:ledge of a language ;competence


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H< " W the< / W -all

"his sentence is derived -y the use of G rules ;rules + H+ are recursive+ i0e0they have already -een used -eforehat theman did :as hit the -allK t :as the man :ho hit the -all+ etc0

"he principal transformational rules that can -e applied to kernel sentences

include51< e9pansion of the ver- phrase and the noun phrase+ e0g0

John is at home0 W John must -e at home0>e like him0 W >e came to like him0

John is :alking0 W John is :alking in the park0 "he ver- in the kernel sentence can -e e9panded -y using modal andaspective ver-sK the noun -y restrictors ;articles+ pronouns


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deep structure0 A deep structure is a structure generated only -y phrase6structurerules and le9ical rules+ e0g0 not John past can sing :ell0 A deep structure that has-een transformed into a grammatical English sentence is called a surfacestructure+ e0g0 John could not sing :ell0 All grammatical English sentences aresurface structuresK underlying each one is a deep structure0 "he deep structure of ')A01< Planes Y present Iy

=lying planes can -e dangerous0'< Planes Y present can Y -e Y dangerous0B01< R Y pres0 Iy Y planes=lying planes can -e dangerous0'< =lying Y pres0 can -e Y dangerousa sentence is a kind of spring-oard for other structures :hich are generated -ythe application of transformational rules0 As compared to the .rst type of "#+the !homskyan "# imposes one important restriction on the transformationsapplica-le to a deep structure+ vi40 the transformations must not change themeaning of the deep structure0 n the .rst type of "#+ Farris and !homsky:ould derive+ for instance+ yesno uestions from related declaratives5

"om is sick0 W s "om sick

Fe heard us0 W Did he hear usBut as the transformation :ould change the meaning of the sentences+uestions are not derived from declaratives0 "he idea of interrogation must -epresented in the deep structure of a uestion+ e0g0 [ ;uestion< Y "om Ypresent -e Y sick0 "his goes to say that declaratives and uestions are -ased ondi@erent deep underlying structures0>hat is especially ne: and useful in this type of "# is the o-servation thatgrammar is a device for generating grammatical sentences1 0 "he rulescomprising this grammar are limited in num-er+ -ut the sentences :e generate-y means of those rules are in.nite0 Although most of the sentences :eencounter every day are totally ne: to us+ :e have no diculty understandingthem -ecause the rules they are -ased on are very :ell kno:n to us0 A goodkno:ledge of the rules ena-les the speaker to create ne: sentences every

time he speaks a language07pecial mention should -e made of the importance of the concept deep structure0

"# grammarians :ould agree that this concept helps us to account for am-iguityand predict it+ e0g0 =lying planes can -e dangerous0 "he sentence =lying planes can-e dangerous is am-iguous -ecause it can -e related to di@erent deep structures51 "he term grammatical means t:o things5 1< generated -y the application of phrasestructureand transformational rulesK '< generated -y the application of le9ical+ or semanticrules0 "hus the sentence #reen ideas sleep furiously is not grammatical -ecause it violatesthe rule of semantic compati-ility ;Lith0 suderinamumo principas<

'2 "hat the sentence =lying planes can -e dangerous reali4es -oth types of deep structure ;A and B< can only -e accounted for -y the structural peculiaritiesof English0 !f0 Lith05 7kraidantys lektuvai yra pavo&ingi ;deep structure A< and7kristi lektuvu yra pavo&inga ;deep structure B


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-e treated as deriving from t:o types of kernel sentences ;A and B


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analysis0 According to the traditional method+ the sentence is analy4ed interms of the parts of the sentence5 7u-&ect+ Predicate ;principle parts


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la-eling structures


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out that it pays special attention to analysis+ to the distinction of structural units;phonemes+ morphemes+ le9emes+ sentences


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n the course of its development+ English+ as compared to Anglo67a9on+ itsparent language+ has changed -eyond recognition5 it has lost+ :ith the e9ceptionof a fe: remains+ most of its inIections0 >hat used to -e e9pressed -y inIectednoun forms is no: e9pressed either -y means of prepositions+ i0e0 le9ically+ or-y a special position in the sentence or the :ord6com-ination+ i0e0 syntactically0

"he greatest changes of all can -e seen in the ad&ective and the ver-0 "heela-orate declension system of the ad&ective has completely disintegrated+ andthe ad&ective is no: an invaria-le part of speech ;not mentioning degrees of

comparisone can still o-serve thestruggle -et:een the old and the ne:+ i0e0 -et:een synthetic and analytic forms0At this stage+ English is a predominantly analytic language0

"he struggle -et:een the old and the ne: can -e seen in many areas of English0 !onsider+ for instance+ the formation of feminine nouns0 7ince the-eginning of the 1)th century+ together :ith the decay of grammatical gender+English has gradually lost the unrestricted po:er of forming feminines -yinIections and has replaced the morphological process -y the syntactic+ oranalytic+ process+ i0e0 -y the addition of :ords denoting se9 to the noun5A visitor W a gentleman visitorA servant W a :oman servantAn employee W a female employeeA teacher W a male teacherA cat W a she ;lady< catK a "om6cat

"he process of the replacement of old synthetic forms is also seen in theuse of the forms :ho:hom0 "he inIected+ or old+ form :hom is disappearing

from the spoken language and -eing replaced -y :ho0 t is uite normal to say dont kno: :ho to invite+ though in the :ritten language :e still .nd :hom0>hom seems to -e unshaka-le in one position+ vi40 after a preposition0 !f0

"o :hom shall give it vs0T"o :ho shall give it dont kno: for :hom it is intended0 vs0T dont kno: for :ho it is intended0n the spoken language+ sentences :ith :hom are not usually usedK theyoccur :ith :ho and the prepositions to+ for+ :ith in sentence .nal position5>ho shall give it to dont kno: :ho it is intended for0Analytic processes are also seen in the formation of the comparative andthe superlative of ad&ectives+ :here forms :ith 6er and 6est are -eing replaced

-y forms :ith more and most+ e0g0 commoner W more common+ commonest W most common0 ?ther ad&ectives :ith more and most include cloudy+ fussy+cruel+ uiet+ su-tle+ clever+ profound+ simple+ and pleasant0 "he spread of moreand most can -e illustrated -y forms like more :ell6informed and most :ellinformedor more :ell6dressed and most :ell6dressed+ :here people used to say-etter6informed -est6informed and -etter6dressed -est6dressed0 $ore and most)'are spreading even to monosylla-ic ad&ectives5 crude W more crude+ mostcrudeK plain W more plain+ most plainK keener W more keen+ most keen0Analytic processes are also going on in the realm of the ver-0 =or e9ample+the distinction formerly made -et:een shall and :ill is -eing lost+ and :ill is


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coming to -e used instead of shall :hen the meaning intended is simply futurity;i0e0 predictione :ill do it0

"he same can -e said a-out should and :ould5 :ould like to kno:0>e :ould like to kno:0Fo:ever+ there are some co6te9ts :here should cannot -e replaced -y

:ould5 insist that he should come :ith us0 asked the man :hether the -oy should :ait07hould is -eing replaced -y :ould in purpose clauses5 lent him the -ook so that he should:ould study the su-&ect0/e: au9iliaries are coming into e9istence+ for instance+ get and :ant0 #etis used in forming a passive5Fe got hurt0 vs0 Fe :as hurt07uppose someone gets killed0 vs0 7uppose someone is killed0Fe failed to get re6elected0 vs0 Fe failed to -e re6elected0>ant is used in the spoken language to mean ought to+ must+ or need5

Xou :ant to -e careful :hat youre doing0 Xou :ant to go to a doctor0

Xou :ant to take it easy0Another analytic process that is going on in English concerns the use of thever- have0 >hen have is a full ver- ;i0e0 :hen it means possession


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constructions as compared to the corresponding analytic ones0 "o uote Bar-er+C"his tendency for s to replace of is a movement from the analytic to thesynthetic5 a syntactic form is -eing replaced -y an inIe9ion ;op0 cit0 1))


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a horse Y sW horsesK a horse Y s W a horsesK he drink Y s W he drinksK adrink Y s W drinksK6ed5

John :ork Y ed W John :orkedK :ork Y ed W :orked ;past participle


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pronouns as a separate part of speech+ thus isolating them from Fenry 7:eetsnoun6:ords and ad&ective6:ords0 Both scholars treat the ver- alike5 to Fenry7:eet the ver- includes primarily .nite forms5 he dou-ts as to the inclusion of non6.nites in the ver-0 Although the scholar speaks of form+ function andmeaning+ in practice he gives preference to form0

"he Principles of !lassi.cation as Used -y 7tructuralDescriptive #rammarians

"he traditional classi.cation of :ords into parts of speech :as re&ected -ystructural grammarians :ho -itterly critici4ed it from t:o points0 =irst+ intheir opinion+ traditional grammar relies heavily on the most su-&ective elementin language+ meaning0 "he other is that it uses di@erent criteria of classi.cation5it distinguishes the noun+ the ver- and the inter&ection on the -asis of meaningKthe ad&ective+ the adver-+ the pronoun+ and the con&unction+ on the -asis of function+ and the preposition+ partly on function and partly on form0)?ne of the noted representatives of American structuralism+ !harles =ries;1Gords that e9hi-it the same distri-ution ;:hich is the set of cote9ts+i0e0 immediate linguistic environments+ in :hich a :ord can appear<-elong to the same class0 3oughly speaking+ the distri-ution of a :ord is theposition of a :ord in the sentence0 "o classify the :ords of English+ !harles=ries used three sentences called su-stitution frames0 Fe thought that thepositions+ or the slots+ in the sentences :ere sucient for the purpose of theclassi.cation of all the :ords of the English language0=rame A

"he concert :as good0=rame B

"he clerk remem-ered the ta90=rame !

"he team :ent there0 "he position discussed .rst is that of the :ord concert0 >ords that cansu-stitute for concert ;e0g0 food+ co@ee+ taste+ etc0< are !lass 1 :ords0 "he sameholds good for :ords that can su-stitute for clerk+ ta9 and team 8 these aretypical positions of !lass 1 :ords0 "he ne9t important position is that of :as+remem-ered and :entK :ords that can su-stitute for them are called !lass ':ords0 "he ne9t position is that of good0 >ords that can su-stitute for good are!lass ) :ords0 "he last position is that of thereK :ords that can .ll this positionare called !lass 2 :ords0 According to the scholar+ these four parts of speechcontain a-out G per cent of the total instances of the voca-ulary0 Fe alsodistinguishes 1 groups of function :ords set up -y the same process of su-stitution -ut on di@erent patterns0 "hese function :ords ;num-ering 12in all< make up a third of the recorded material0 !harles =ries does not use thetraditional terminology0 "o understand his function :ords -etter+ :e shall use+:here possi-le+ their traditional names5#roup A :ords ;determiners


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grammar0 Fo:ever+ traditional grammarians :ork :as greatly overshado:ed-y the :ork -eing done -y transformational6generative grammarians0 "hisis particularly true of linguists living in the U7A and other English6speakingcountries0 t :as only in Europe that traditional linguists calmly continuedto e9amine their pro-lems0n post6structural linguistics parts of speech are discriminated on the-asis of three criteria5 semantic+ formal and functional0 "he le9emes of apart of speech are united -y their meaning0 "his meaning is a categoryforming

one0 "herefore+ it is referred to as categorical meaning0 Le9emesthat have the meaning of su-stance or thingness are nouns+ those having themeaning of property are ad&ectivesK those having the meaning of process arever-sK those having the meaning of circumstantial property are adver-s0 Ascategorical meaning is derived from le9emes+ it is often called le9icogrammaticalmeaning0 n the surface+ le9ico6grammatical meaning .ndsout:ard e9pression0 =or instance+ the meaning of su-stance+ or thingness+ isreali4ed -y the follo:ing le9ico6grammatical morphemes56er+6ist+6ness+6ship+6ment0 t is also reali4ed -y speci.c grammatical forms constituting the2(grammatical categories of num-er and case0 "hese out:ard features are aformal criterion of classi.cation0 "he functional criterion concerns thesyntactic role of a :ord in the sentence0

n accordance :ith the said criteria+ :e can classify the :ords of the Englishlanguage into notional and functional0 "o the notional parts of speech -elongthe noun+ the ad&ective+ the numeral1 + the ver-+ and the adver-0 "o the functionalparts of speech -elong the article+ the pronoun+ the preposition+ the con&unction+the particle+ the modal :ords+ and the inter&ection0 "he notional parts of speechpresent open classes :hile the functional parts of speech present closed classes+i0e0 the num-er of items constituting the notional :ord6classes is not limited:hile the num-er of items constituting the functional :ord6classes is limitedand can -e given -y the list0 "he contrast notional :ord6classes vs0 functional:ord6classes do not suggest that functional :ord6classes are devoid of content0As suggested -y B0Qhaimovich and B03ogovskaya ;1G52(


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"he dog is mans -est friend ;the dog refers to the :hole classho -roke the :indo: Peter vs0 ;Xou< get out of hereZ "he ver- does not only shape the semantic and syntactic structures -ut alsoe9presses grammatical information+ :ithout :hich the sentence :ould onlyhave a propositional structure0!f0 Peter -roke the :indo: ;sentence< 6 Peter Y -reak Y the :indo:;proposition


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-uilding6-lock0 Although it is the ver- that is responsi-le for the form of thesentence+ the noun makes its o:n contri-ution5 it determines the person andthe num-er of the ver-5 "he student is in the lecture6room vs0 "he students arein the lecture room0

"he remaining notional parts of speech 8 the ad&ective+ the numeral andthe adver- 8are satellites of the noun ;ad&ective+ numeral< and the ver- ;adver-


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>e can distinguish t:o grammatically relevant classes of nouns5counta-le ;discrete< and uncounta-le+ or mass ;indiscrete


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taste onion in the salad0 vs0 "heres a large onion in the salad0Do you like roast vs0 ll -uy a roast for dinner0>ould you like pie or cake vs0 7he made a pie and a cake today0

"his ta-le is made of oak0 vs0 An oak is gro:ing in the .eld0Fo:ever+ some such nouns cannot -e related to corresponding counta-les5>ould you like tea smell gas0>ould you like cream in your co@ee

7uch nouns as tea+ co@ee+ cream+ :hiskey+ &uice+ etc0 are primaries+ i0e0underived0 But they can function as counta-les5>ould you like a green tea or a -lack tea>ould you rather have a !hinese tea?ur !hinese teas are especially good0

"his is a rich heavy tea0s it a gas or a liuid 1 "he inde.nite article can -e used :ith uncounta-les :hen :e mean ´a type of or ´certain+some0 !onsider5 1< Fe has a courage ;i0e0 a type of courage< eualed -y fe: of his contemporaries0'< A kno:ledge of English ;i0e0 a certain+ some kno:ledge< is needed for this &o-0' "he e9amples :ere dra:n from Danielson \ Fayden ;1)5 11'+ 112hen used so+ they denote a kind+ type+ or variety of the su-stance0 "hesenouns can -e turned into counta-les -y using a container :ord5

Fe ordered a cup of tea a glass of milk+ :hiskey+ -eer+ &uice+ etc0 "he container :ord may -e dropped and :e have a tea+ a milk+ a :hiskey+ a-eer+ a &uice0 Fo:ever+ such nouns are not counta-les proper since they functionas units only5 a tea means a cup of tea+ i0e0 tea remains uncounta-le despite theform0 !f0 a teat:o teas vs0 TFe drinks many teas instead of Fe drinks a lot of tea0As already mentioned+ the other type of uncounta-le is nouns derivedfrom ver-s and ad&ectives57he married him0 W Fer marriage to him0

John loves money0 WJohns love of money07he is kind0 W Fer kindness03ose :as mad0W 3oses madness07imilar to material uncounta-les+ a-stract uncounta-les can -e turnedinto either partially counta-les ;e0g0 Fe is sinking into a madness< or full

counta-les ;e0g0 7he moved :ith languor W Fer movementshat is commonto the t:o forms Both forms denote discrete+ or individuali4ed+ entities5 a -ookmeans one -ook :hile -ooks mean one -ook Y one -ook Y one -ook0000 >hat1 =or more information on the concreti4ation of a-stract nouns+ see Laimutis Valeika ;1HH


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:hile -ooks refers to more than one 8 oneness vs0 non6oneness0 "he category of num-er is+ then+ the opposition of the plural of the noun to the singular form of the noun0 "he plural form is the marked mem-er of the opposition :hile thesingular form is the unmarked mem-er1 0 "he marked mem-er of an oppositionmust have a marker in the surface structure0 "he markers of plurality are theinIection 6;ehen used so+ they mean either di@erentsorts of materials or a separate aspect+ or a manifestation of the propertiesdenoted -y the uncounta-le noun0 !onsider57he shouted :ith &oy0 vs0 t :as a &oy to see her again0 >ho can resist the &oys

of spring#eorgian tea is of high uality0 vs0 "his is a #eorgian tea0 am fond of #eorgian tea0?ur #eorgian teas are especially good0>e can actuali4e+ or restrict+ uncounta-le nouns -y com-ining them :ith:ords that e9press discreteness5 a -it+ a piece+ an item+ a sort of+ etc1 0Fe took some paper and a fe: -its of :ood and soon made a .re0Are there any interesting items of ne:s in the paper this morning

"hey served a sort of co@ee07he o@ered me another -eer ;i0e0 another serving of -eer


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t :ill -e noted that the a-solute singular can also -e used :ith counta-lenouns+ i0e0 counta-les can -e turned into uncounta-les5

"he refugees needed shelter0 "he -a-y does not like apple0$an is mortal0 >e had chicken for lunch0As for the a-solute plural+ it is characteristic of uncounta-le nouns :hichdenote o-&ects consisting of t:o halves ;trousers+ &eans+ scissors+ tongs+ spectacles+etc0


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(descriptive grammars0 Prescriptivists spoke of the nominative+ the dative+ thegenitive+ the accusative+ and the a-lative01 F0 7:eets vie:s ;1'< rest on thesyntactic conception of case5 case to him is a syntactic relation that can -ereali4ed syntactically or morphologically0 Fe speaks of inIected and noninIectedcases ;the genitive vs0 the common case


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or the common0 "he marked mem-er of the opposition is the genitiveand the unmarked the common5 -oth mem-ers e9press a relation 6 the genitivee9presses a speci.c relation ;the relation of possession in the :ide meaning of the :ord< :hile the common case e9presses a :ide range of relations includingthe relation of possession+ e0g0 Qennedys house vs0 the Qennedy house0 >hilerecogni4ing the e9istence of the genitive case+ :e :ish to say that the Englishgenitive is not a classical case0 ts peculiarities are51< the inIection 6s is -ut loosely connected :ith the noun ;e0g0 the [ueen

of Englands daughterK the man met yesterdays son


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1 People :ill -e conceived as referring to speci.c individuals rather than to non6speci.c+ orgeneric+ individuals0 !h0 Lith0 TSmoniski namai vs0 ,moniu namai0

)serves as a modi.er of the other noun0 Bet:een the Ad&unct and the Feadnounthere o-tain the follo:ing semantic relations+ the actual content of :hich-eing determined -y the semantic properties of the sentence the constructionderives from51< Possessor Y Possessed+ e0g0 Janes dollK Peters handK Johns sister0 "he

three constructions illustrate t:o types of possession5 aliena-le ;Janesdoll< and inaliena-le ;Peters handsK Johns sisterK<'< !arrier Y Attri-ute+ e0g0 $arys vanityK)< Agent Y Process+ e0g0 the Presidents arrivalK2< Patient YProcess+ e0g0 Johns trialK< Agent Y E@ected ;3esult


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"his usage of the pronouns he and they demonstrates the linguistic process of gender neutrali4ation+ and the said pronouns can -e called gender neutrali4ers0

"he sentence f any-ody calls+ tell him m out is representative of formalEnglish0 n informal English+ him :ill -e generally replaced either -y they or-y the he or she construction5f any-ody calls+ tell them m out0f any-ody calls+ tell him or her m out0Fe has traditionally -een regarded as characteristic of relatively formal

style0 "o uote John Payne and 3odney Fuddleston ;'(('5 2'ell+ :hat do you think of it C

CLooks as if it :ont stand any rot ;Andre Joly+ 15'G(


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Li-erty+ mercy+ peace0 According to Andre Joly+ the choice of gender :ith nonliving-eings is mostly determined -y the capacity of an entity to e9ert force5entities of ma&or po:er are masculine and entities of minor po:er are feminine0G

"he !ategory of Determination "he term determination+ as used here+ means the actuali4ation of thefunctions ;semantic+ grammatical+ informational+ and pragmatic< of the noun010 7emantic determination of the noun10 10 !ounta-le nouns7emantically+ the noun presents a dialectical unity of genus ;class< andindividual0 n the te9t+ it may -e actuali4ed as a representative of the class or asu-class as a :hole or as an individual mem-er of the class or a su-class0!onsider the follo:ing sentences510 "he dog is an animal0'0 A dog is an animal0)0 Any dog is an animal020 Dogs are animals00 All dogs are animals0G0 see a dog00 "he dog is under the ta-le0

"hese sentences illustrate di@erent types of semantic determination ;or

restriction


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argues that C:e cannot for the time -eing at least prove that it is the onlycorrect vie: of the English article0 $0Blokh ;op0 cit0+ H< regards the articleas a special type of grammatical au9iliary0 Linguists are only agreed on thefunction of the article5 the article is a determiner+ or a restricter0 "he linguisticstatus of the article reminds us of the status of shall:ill in shall:ill go0 Bothof the structures are still felt to -e semantically related to their parentstructures5 the numeral one and the demonstrative that ;?0E0 se< and themodals shall and :ill+ respectively0

"he articles+ according to some linguists+ do not form a grammaticalcategory0 As is pointed out -y B0Qhaimovich and 3ogovskaya ;1G5'12e think that they do not5 the horse is a su-classof the animal classK a horse is also restricted 6 it denotes an individual mem-erof the horse su-class0 !f0 "he horse is an animal0 vs0 A horse is an animal0Unlike the nouns in the a-ove e9amples+ the nouns here e9hi-itdetermination at the same level5 -oth the horse and a horse e9press a su-classof the animal class0G0 ?ther :ays of determining the nounBesides the article+ the noun can -e determined -y pronouns ;all+ any+some+ another+ each+ every+ either+ neither+ noK thisthat+ thesethoseK my+ your+his+ her+ itsK our+ theirK much manyK little a littleK fe: a fe:K several


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referencehich house6 "his house+ not T"he house0Possessive pronouns also individuali4e entities0 Fo:ever+ apart from thefunction of individuation+ they e9press possession0 !f0 the -ook vs0 my -ook0Demonstrative and possessive pronouns are particulari4ing determiners0 "heother pronouns are non6particulari4ing determiners0 "hey fall into threegroups5 1< determiners :hich are not e9plicit in regard to the e9act num-er of entities or their e9act uantity ;some+ several+ a fe:+ etc0


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$ost of the volunteers are :omen0f :e omit the prepositions and the de.nite determiner+ the resultingconstruction :ill -e inde.nite5A fe: students came to the party0Any -oy should -e a-le to ride a -icycle0/o small child :ill sit still for more than a fe: minutes0Every -oy has a locker0All dogs are nasty+ smelly -rutes0

$ost volunteers are :omen0An apparent e9ception is the case of either+ neither+ -oth5 the omission of the preposition and the de.nite determiner does not render the constructioninde.nite5Either -oy can do it0/either -oy is here0 :ant -oth -ooks0Apart from the pronouns+ the noun can also function as a determiner5 a-oys -ook vs0 the -oys -ookJohns -ook0 f the ad&unct is inde.nite+ the headnounis also inde.nite+ and if the ad&unct is de.nite+ the head6noun is alsode.nite0

"he Ver-

7emantic =eatures of the Ver- "he ver- is a part of speech that denotes a process in the :ide meaning of the :ord0 "he processual meaning is em-edded in all the ver-s0 >e candistinguish the follo:ing types of process5 1< processes of doing+ or materialG2processes+ e0g0 $ary is :riting a letterK '< processes of happening+ e0g0 "he oldman is dyingK )< ver-al+ e0g0 7he told me the truthK 2< mental+ e0g0 "he studentdid not kno: the ans:erK "he :oman did not see the lorry driving at full speedK7he did not feel the painK < relational+ e0g0 John is cleverK $ary is at homeK Johnhas a ne: carK G< e9istential+ e0g0 "here is a dog under the ta-le07emantically+ the said process6types are e9pressed -y t:o types of ver-5 1<-ounded and '< un-ounded0 Un-ounded ver-s are ver-s that have no endpoint-uilt in0 7uch ver-s denote processes that go on :ithout reaching a limit+

i0e0+ there is nothing in them that can stop themK they can only -e stopped fromthe outside0 7o+ for instance+ :hen :e say "he earth turns round the sun+ :e donot mean that turns has a programmed limit -eyond :hich the process comesto an end0 "he ver- turns+ ho:ever+ can -e used as -ounded0 !onsider5

"he :heel is turning0 t :ill .nish turning in half an hour0As can -e seen+ turning in this sentence does have an end6point programmed0>hen processes function as -ounded+ they can -e paraphrased using the ver-.nish5 John lived to -e old+ i0e0 John .nished living :hen he reached an advancedage+ i0e0 :hen his programmed life span e9hausted itself0>hen processes are un-ounded+ they can -e paraphrased using the ver-stop5 John loves $ary0 vs0 John stopped loving $ary0 Un-ounded processes canonly -e interrupted+ -ut not .nished0 "he :ord .nish implies a programmedend6point and+ conseuently+ cannot -e used :ith an un-ounded process0Fo:ever+ theoretically and practically traditional un-ounded ver-s can all -eused as -ounded5 the actual meaning of such ver-s is determined -y the cote9t0!onsider5A0 s the -a-y still sleeping ;i0e0 Fasnt the -a-y had enough sleep<B0 Xes0 7he generally sleeps ;for< t:o hours during the day07leep is potentially a -ounded process5 one sleeps until one has had his .llof sleep0 !an :e say+ then+ that the traditional un-ounded ver-s are a category:hich has no foundation+ i0e0 linguistic facts do not support it /o+ :e cannot0

"he category of un-ounded ver-s include ver-s that typically function asun-oundedK it is only in an appropriate co6te9t that they change their status0

"he same cannot -e said a-out -oil+ for instance+ :hich is -ounded irrespective


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of the co6te9t in :hich it may occur0 Ver-s like -oil can -e called -oundedver-s proper0 Unlike un-ounded ver-s+ -ounded ver-s proper do not have to-e programmed :ith respect to an end6pointK an end6point is inherent intheir semantics07o+ for instance+ the process of -oiling ;e0g0 John is -oiling :ater< necessarilycomes to an endK its end6point is the start of -oiling0 "he same analysis can -ee9tended to the process of :riting ;e0g0 John is :riting a novel< :hich comes toG

an end :hen the program+ a novel+ comes into e9istence0 Unlike un-oundedprocesses+ -ounded processes can -e paraphrased using the ver- .nish5 John:rote a novel0 vs0 John .nished :riting a novel0Un-ounded ver-s can -e of t:o types5 stative and dynamic0 7tativeun-ounded ver-s e9press a static situation+ i0e0 a situation in :hich the entity isat rest :hile dynamic ver-s e9press a situation in :hich the entity is engaged insome or other activity0 "o stative ver-s -elong5 1< cognitive ver-s ;e0g0 kno:+think+ i0e0 -e of an opinionK understand+ -elieve+ remem-er


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only0 >e :ill call ver-s of the .rst type dual aspect ver-s and ver-s of the secondtype single aspect ver-s0 "o dual aspect ver-s -elong5 :rite+ read+ paint+ ring+ lead+clim-+ -uild+ teach+ sho:+ spend+ learn+ etc0K to single aspect ver-s -elong5 -reak+put+ leave+ die+ open+ take+ make+ produce+ pay+ sell+ -end+ etc0Un-ounded ver-s are imperfective in meaning+ e0g0 "he -a-y slept :ell;-adly< or >e lived very simply0 Fo:ever+ in an appropriate environment+un-ounded ver-s can turn into -ounded5 "he girl slept through everything orFe lived out the remaining years of his life in London0 Un-ounded ver-s are

generally perfectivi4ed -y using an adver-ial particle5 up+ do:n+ o@+ through+out+ over+ across+ a:ay+ etc0 "hese elements can also -e used :ith -oundedver-s of dual aspect+ e0g0 eat+ :rite0 !onsider5 7he ate up the cream in silence or :rote do:n :hat the -oy said0An understanding of the aspective features of the ver- helps -oth thespeaker and the translator0 "he speaker+ using un-ounded ver-s+ has todi@erentiate -et:een statives and non6statives5 statives are not generally usedin the progressive aspect+ :hile non6statives are0 !f0T$a9 is kno:ing the ans:er0 vs0$a9 is running in the yard0Un-ounded ver-s as :ell as dual aspect -ounded ver-s may -e used in-oth progressive and non6progressive perfect forms :ithout a marked di@erencein meaning5

John has -een living in London for ten years0 vs0 John has lived in London for ten years0Peter has -een smoking for ten years0Peter has smoked for ten years0n Lithuanian or 3ussian+ in languages :hich are sensitive to aspect+ thea-ove sentences may -e translated using t:o opposite aspects51 "he aspect of a ver- can only -e identi.ed :hen the ver- is used in the past and the futuretense0 !f0 "he -oy -reaks his toys0 vs0 "he -oy -roke his toysK "he -oy :ill -reak his toys0

GD4onas gyvena Londone desimt metu0 vs0D4onas isgyveno Londone desimt metu0Peteris ruko de%imt metu0Peteris i%ruke de%imt metu0

Fo:ever+ if a dual aspect ver- .nds itself in a di@erent co6te9t+ itsprogressive perfect form :ill have a non6perfective meaning :hile its nonprogressiveform :ill have a perfective meaning5

John has -een painting the garage door0 vs0 John has painted the garage door0!f0 Lith0D4onas da,e gara,o duris0 vs0D4onas nuda,e gara,o duris0f the -ounded ver- is perfective only ;i0e0 if it is a single6aspect ver-ecan distinguish t:o classes5 1< ver-s of complete predication ;i0e0 notional ver-s


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:ill+ :ould+ can+ could+ may+ mighte can distinguish t:o types of valency5 o-ligatoryand optional0 An o-ligatory constituent is a constituent :ithout :hich thesentence is incomplete semantically+ e0g0 TJohn is making0 "o complete thesentence+ :e need one more constituent5 John is making a toy0 "he valency of a ver-+ or the num-er of syntactic elements it is associated :ith+ is determined-y the type of process+ or situation+ it represents0 Let us consider each type of ver- and its valents0

"ransitive doing+ or material+ ver-s represent a situation in :hich :e .ndthe follo:ing participants5 Agent+ Patient ;A@ected


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also -elong to optional elements in doing processes0 !onsider the follo:ingdoing sentences51< Fe moved the ta-le0'< "hey -uilt a -ridge0)< 7he gave the cat some milk02< John -ought her a car0< Peter opened the door :ith a key0G< $a9 read the -ook in the li-rary0

n the sentences+ he+ they+ she+ John+ Peter+ $a9 are Agents+ or performers of the process5 the ta-le is a Patient+ or a participant a@ected -y the processK a-ridge is an E@ected participant+ i0e0 a participant that represents an entity-rought into e9istenceK the cat is a 3ecipient+ i0e0 a participant receiving milkKsome milk is a PatientK her is a Bene.ciary+ i0e0 a participant for :hom someservice is doneK a key is an nstrumental+ i0e0 an entity serving as an instrument:ith :hich the process :as carried outK the li-rary is a Place !ircumstance+ i0e0a semantic element indicating the place of the process0 "he Bene.ciary+ thenstrumental and the !ircumstance+ as used in the said sentences+ aresemantically optional0 f :e suppress them+ the sentences :ill still -e conceivedto -e semantically complete5 they :ill contain the necessary minimum of information0A distinction should -e made -et:een semantic and grammatical+ or

syntactic completion0 !f0 John is making a toy0 vs0 TJohn is making0 "he sentence John is making+ :hich consist of 7u-&ect and Predicate+ is only complete froma grammatical point of vie:0 t :ill -e o-vious that such a sentence is uselesscommunicatively5 it does not convey /e: information+ information :hich isthe -ack-one of any sentence0 As for intransitive doing ver-s+ they areassociated :ith one participant+ the Agent+ e0g0 John is :alking0Fappening ver-s represent a situation in :hich the participant is a@ected-y the process5

"he Qing is dying0 "he old lady collapsed0 "hese ver-s are o-ligatorily associated :ith one participant+ vi40 the Patient0n other :ords+ they are one6valent ver-s0(

Ver-al processes+ i0e0 processes of saying or communicating+ o-ligatorilyinclude the 7ayer+ the 3ecipient and the Ver-iage ;or the 3eport


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t should -e o-served that o-ligatory participants may not -e reali4ed inthe surface structure0 "ake+ for instance+ the material ver-s read+ paint+ :rite5

"he -oy is reading ;painting+ :riting


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reduplicate the person information contained in the ver- form0 Even le9icallythey may -e redundant5 + ++ x can -e dispensed :ith+ for they denotethe person;s< speaking and the person;s< -eing addressed and+ therefore+ theydo not need additional speci.cation0 ?nly + + o+ :hich denote neither+reuire such speci.cation+ for the forms + N are neutral as concernsperson gender5 0 !f0 N+ j+ :here the addressee and thespeaker kno: :ho is :ho0n Lithuanian+ only .rst and second persons can -e discriminated

grammaticallyK third person has the same form in the singular and the plural07uch -eing the case+ the use of third person pronouns is o-ligatory in Lithuanian5the omission of the pronouns :ould render the situation indeterminate :ithrespect to gender and num-er0 !onsider5A0 ziurek+ einaZB0 Qas eina!0 Jonas eina0 Jie eina0n English+ only the third person present tense singular form e9presses persongrammaticallyK therefore+ the ver- forms are o-ligatorily associated :ithpersonal pronouns017pecial mention should -e made of the modal ver-s and the ver- -e0 $odalver-s+ :ith the e9ception of shallshould and :ill:ould+ do not sho: persongrammatically0 !f0

can speak English shall speak English Xou can speak English Xou :ill speak EnglishFe+ she can speak English Fe+ she :ill speak English

"he ver- -e is more grammaticali4ed in this respect5 it takes an e9ceptionto the other ver-s0 !onsider5 am:as >e are:ere

Xou are :ere Xou are:ereFe+ she+ it is:as "hey are:ereAs can -e seen+ it has t:o grammaticali4ed persons in the singular 6 .rstand third person 8 and no grammaticali4ed persons in the plural0 n the past1 As for anaphoric third personal pronouns+ they can -e omitted in compound sentences5Dove :ent to the carnival and ;he< rode the =erris :heel0

)

tense+ the ver- -e does not distinguish person 8 :ithout a personal pronoun :ecannot say :hich person the form e9presses0 "o sum up+ the category of person is represented in English -y t:o mem-eroppositions5 third person singular vs0 non6third person singular0 "he markedmem-er of the opposition is third personK the unmarked mem-er is non6thirdperson ;it includes the remaining forms 8 .rst person+ second person forms 8singular and plural


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past tense5 :as at home0

John :as at college0 "he form :as+ unlike is+ is not -lended :ith person5 it marks only singularKthe form :ere is not -lended :ith person either0 Fo:ever+ it can -e used in-oth singular and plural5

Xou :ere at home0 "hey :ere at home0

7ome ver-s 8 modals 8 do not distinguish num-er at all0 7till others areonly used in the plural -ecause the meaning of oneness is hardly compati-le:ith their le9ical meaning ;B0 70 Qhaimovich+ B0 0 3ogovskaya+ op0 cit0+ 1(


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compared to grammaticali4ed time0 !an+ then+ grammaticali4ed time ;i0e0tense< dispense :ith le9icali4ed time "o ans:er the uestion+ let us delete thetemporal ad&uncts from the a-ove sentences51< Fe read0'< Fe :as reading01< Fe :ill read0'< Fe :ill -e reading07entences stripped of their temporal ad&uncts sound inde.nite5 they e9press

the time distinctions in a rather general :ay+ i0e0 the processes are conceived to-e tied to some speci.c time :hich+ unfortunately+ is not made e9plicit0 ?uranalysis sho:s that English needs -oth :ays of e9pressing time 8 le9ical andgrammatical0 Fo:ever+ as has -een pointed out -y John Lyons ;1G5)1' 8)


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the ver- is present time and the -asic meaning of the past form of the ver- ispast time0 "he meanings e9pressed -y the a-ove sentences are derived fromthe -asic meanings+ i0e0 they are secondary meanings0)0 "ense as a deictic category0Any process must -e located in time0 ?ther:ise it is useless communicatively0

"o locate it in time+ it is necessary to esta-lish some ar-itrary referencepoint ;Lith0 atskaitos taskasecan distinguish three types of relationship -et:een the process and the presentmoment51< the duration of the process is the same as the duration of the report of the processK'< the duration of the process is longer than the duration of the report of the process)< the duration of the process is shorter than the duration of the report of the process!onsider the follo:ing sentences5

10 name this ship the "itanic'0 "he Ei@el "o:er stands in Paris01 "he term present tense as :ell as the terms past tense+ future tense are used to refer to therespective traditional inde.nite tenses 8 tenses not mi9ed :ith aspect and order0

H)0 Fe shoots an arro: and runs a:ay0n the .rst sentence+ the process of naming occupies as much time as thereport of the processK in the second sentence+ the process of standing occupiesa much longer period of time than the report of the process+ i0e0 "he Ei@el

"o:er :ill continue to stand long after the report of the processK in the thirdsentence+ the process of shooting is shorter than the report of the process+ i0e0


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it takes us a longer time to utter the sentence than to shoot an arro:0Fo:ever+ :hat has -een said has nothing in common :ith the presenttense from a grammatical point of vie:5 :hat is important is that the ver- usedin the present tense e9presses a situation located at the present moment0 "heform itself does not say ho: long the process lasted+ or :hether the samesituation continues or does not continue -eyond the present moment+ nor thatit held or did not hold in the past0 >hether or not this situation is part of alarger situation is an implicature ;Bernard !omrie+ 1H


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for instance+ :hen :e say that $ary :ill get married tomorro:+ :e do notpresent the situation as a factK :e only make a prediction or say :hat :e think:ill happen0 "he second o-&ection concerns the meaning peculiarities of :ill5the au9iliary :ill+ apart from the meaning of prediction+ has modal uses :hichdo not necessarily have future time reference+ e0g0 Fe :ill go s:imming indangerous :aters or Fe :ill -e s:imming no:0 "he third o-&ection concernsthe e9pression of a future meaning -y the present tense+ e0g0 Peter leaves forLondon tomorro: or f it rains tomorro:+ :e :ill get :et0 "hese e9amples sho:

that :e can refer to future time -y using the present tense0 3eference to futuretime can also -e made -y using the construction to -e a-out to do somethingvs0 to -e going to do something0 >ill then is not the only means of referring to1 "he citation form of the ver- is the form of the in.nitive :ithout the marker to0

H(future events0 f :e choose to say that :ill is the future tense marker in English+:hat is then the status of other means But perhaps :ill ;or shall< can -etreated as grammatical :ord6morphemes f they are grammatical :ordmorphemes+then they must have lost their former le9ical meaning0 But havethey "here are co6te9ts in :hich :ill or shall e9press a mere prediction0 nother :ords+ :ill is demodali4ed in the co6te9ts0 !onsider51< $ary :ill get married tomorro:0'< $ary :ill -e t:enty tomorro:0

)< f John does not change his mind+ $ary :ill get married tomorro:0 "he di@erence -et:een the past tense and the present tense on the onehand+ and the future tense on the other+ can -e treated as a di@erence of mood;a speculative one< rather than that of tense5 :ill or shall Yin.nitive does notdescri-e a real situation+ a feature not peculiar to tense0 >e cannot refer tofuture events as facts+ as :e can to past and present events0 Events in the futurehave not yet happenedK :e can predict them :ith more or less success0f :e do agree that it is a tense+ then :ill and shall+ as already pointed out+:ill have to -e assigned to grammatical :ord6morphemes0 ?tto Jespersendefended the vie: that :ill and shall have preserved their modal meanings inall their uses0 A similar treatment can -e found in :orks -y structuralgrammarians0 7o+ for instance+ 3andal L0 >hitman ;15< says that C"hesynta9 of the modal :ill is identical to the synta9 of the other modals+ must+

can+ etc ;:ell almost


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the e9pression of the future in other languages is not disconnected from modalsemantics either ;op0 cit0+12e can add -y saying that in other languages+for e9ample+ Lithuanian+ the modal meaning of prediction is e9pressedmorphologically :hile in English it is still e9pressed syntactically0 "erms donot matter here 8 :e can use the term the category of futurity or the categoryof future tense0 >hat matters is the :ay :e e9press the category+ i0e0 :hetherit is grammaticali4ed or not0 "he creation of such terms as the category of posteriority ;B0 Qhaimovich and B0 3ogovskaya+ op0 cit0+ 12G612H< or the

category of prospect ;$0 Blokh+ op0 cit0+ 122< only leads us a:ay from thepro-lem0 "o attri-ute the forms shallshould and :ill:ould to grammatical:ord6morphemes+ :e must prove that the said :ords have lost their modalmeanings0 As :e cannot do this+ all attempts to prove the e9istence of agrammaticali4ed future tense+ or the grammatical category of posteriority orprospect+ are futile0 At present :e could speak of a semi6grammaticali4edfuture tense despite the e9istence of the so6called predictive future formse9pressed -y shall or :ill :hich are only demodali4ed ;i0e0 lose the meaning of o-ligation and volition< in speci.c co6te9ts0>hat is the future of the so6called future tense in English "here are signsthat shall and :ill are turning into a kind of inIection ;similar to the genitiveinIection shether the clitic ll :ill completely replace shall and :ill is a uestion thatcannot -e ans:ered no:0 But if it does+ :e shall then have the right to speak of a grammatical future in English0

"o sum up+ English has no grammatical category that can -e analy4ed as afuture tense0 7hall and :ill are au9iliaries of mood+ not tense0 Although Englishhas no grammatical future tense+ it has numerous constructions :hich permita future time interpretation5

H']#ive^ her my regards ;imperative


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"he !ategory of Aspect "he category of aspect is concerned :ith the internal character of theprocess denoted -y the ver-5 the process can -e durative ;i0e0 considered ascontinuing or as -eing in progress< or non6durative ;i0e0 considered as noncontinuing+or completed


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duration is not restricted in this :ay5 they are typically restricted -ycircumstances denoting the freuency of the process+ e0g0 John :orks in theli-rary every day+ :here every day indicates that :e are dealing :ith a multiplesituation rather than a singularly situation0 7uch circumstantial elements as this:eek+ this month may -e said to e9press a multiple situation as :ell5 this:eek { seven :eekdays0 "his is true+ -ut such circumstances+ :hen theycom-ine :ith the progressive+ are interpreted as singularly points of time0

"he category of aspect+ then+ consists of t:o mem-ers5 progressive and

non6progressive0 "he progressive form is marked and the non6progressive isunmarked0 ?utside the co6te9t+ the unmarked form denotes non6speci.cduration or non6duration+ or completion0 !onsider5$other :as reading old letters yesterday ;speci.c duration


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Johns temporary state ;i0e0 he is acting foolishly at a speci.c moment


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=acts are e9pressed -y the indicative mood and non6facts -y the su-&unctivemood0 !f0 go to university0 vs0 Fe suggests ;should< go to university0 am a student again0 vs0 :ish :ere a student again0>hat a-out the imperative mood s it a fact or a non6fact mood

"raditionally+ this mood is referred to as a separate mood0 "he scholar $0Blokh thinks that the imperative is a variety of the mood of attitudes+ i0e0 thesu-&unctive0 "o prove this+ he says that Cthe imperative form displays every

property of a form of attitudes+ :hich can easily -e sho:n -y means of euivalenttransformations ;op0 cit0+ 1H


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(:ere there and if :e :ere there+ things :ould -e di@erent are consideredhomonyms -ecause they e9press+ in a certain environment+ incompati-legrammatical features of reality 8 unreality0 Fo:ever+ past forms can also -evie:ed as polysemous+ i0e0 related semantically5 the meaning that underlies-oth past forms is the meaning of distance0 7omething that occurred in thepast can -e treated as distant from the speakers current situation0 n the caseof the su-&unctive+ the past form marks a process presented -y the speaker as

not -eing close to present reality0 "he past form+ then+ could -e called theremote or distal form :hich can -e used to communicate not only distancefrom the moment of speaking+ -ut also distance from current reality ;#eorge

Xule+ 1G51


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our analysis+ it is an Agentive Ad&unct since structurally it is optional0' "he terms Agent and A@ected can only -e applica-le to the sentences under discussion0 "heprocess of passivi4ation may involve other participants as :ell+ for instance+ the 3ecipientE9periencer ;e0g0 John ;3ecipient E9periencer< loves $ary


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John for an hour0 "he learner :ould -e -etter advised if he :ere told to avoid using thepassive under circumstances0 >hat he is no: told to use does not correspondto the meaning of the corresponding active6voice sentences0 "he advice not touse the passive contradicts language facts0 7uch constructions as "he letter :ill-e -eing :ritten -y John and "he letter has -een -eing :ritten -y John for anhour+ clumsy as they may look+ are to -e found in spoken and :ritten English0According to $0 A0 Q0 Falliday ;1G5 12hen the construction e9presses a state resulting from aprocess+ the ver- -e is a link6ver- and the participle is a predicative0 Fence

t:o types of passives5 ver-al and ad&ectival0 !onsider5 "he door :as closed -y the &anitor0 vs0 "he door :as closed0 "he t:o constructions have -een the su-&ect of many discussions in thelinguistic literature0 7ome linguists are against this interpretation0 7o+ for2instance+ L0 70 Barkhudarov and L0 A0 7hteling ;1)51G< argue that in suchcases :e have a passive voiceK the idea of state is not inherent to theconstruction as a :hole -ut to the past participle :hose actual meaning isdetermined -y the meaning of the ver- it derives from0 t is only in the cote9tthat :e can say :hich is :hich0 "he scholars think that it is only :henthe past participle has -een su-&ected to ad&ectivi4ation that :e can speak of a nominal predicate construction+ e0g0 am very interested0 B0 Qhaimovichand B0 3ogovskaya ;op0cit0+ 1'H< are inclined to -elieve that such

constructions as0 "he door :as closed cannot -e treated as passive0 "hese arepassive constructions :hich have no active counterparts0 !onsider anothere9ample5 Fis duty is ful.lled0 "he sentence corresponds rather to Fe hasful.lled his duty rather than to Fe ful.lls his duty0 $0 Blokh ;op0 cit0+ 1H2<thinks that the grammatical status of a construction is determined not -y themeaning in isolationK it is determined -y the semantic properties of itsconstituents+ its participial part in particular0 f the participle e9presses aprocess+ then the :hole construction is passive and if the participle e9pressesa result+ the :hole construction is a nominal predicate0 !f0 Xou are mistaken0vs0 :as often mistaken for my friend0 As for the sentence "he door :asclosed+ the participle is :holly neutrali4ed and only a living conte9t may


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deneutrali4e it -oth :ays0 !f0A0

"he door :as closed -y the &anitor0 "he door is often closed0B0

"he door on the left :as closed+ and the door on the right :as open0 "o voice stimulating means -elong the forms of the future+ the progressiveand the perfect0 According to $0 Blokh ;op0 cit0+ 1H2


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the child suggest that the pronouns cannot -e treated as grammatical :ordmorphemes0G

"he so6called middle voice1 can -e illustrated -y such sentences as "hedoor opened0 7emantically+ this sentence reminds us of the passive sentenceproperK yet it cannot -e completed :ith the -y6construction5 T"he door opened-y the :ind+ only "he door :as opened -y the :ind0 E9amples of that kind have-een treated in the linguistic literature as the notional passive or activo6passiveconstructions0 n semantic synta9+ they are related to the corresponding

causative sentences5 "he :ind opened the door0W "he door opened0 "ransformationally+ "he door opened is o-tained -y the deletion of theAgent :ind and the rearrangement of the remaining parts0 t :ill -e noted thatthe semantic relation -et:een the ver- opened and the noun the door is thesame in -oth sentences0 "he ver- that is in a position to construct such sentencesis referred to as ergative+ and such sentences are referred to as ergative pairs0

"here is one more middle voice construction in English :hich is alsomentioned in the literature in connection :ith the category of voice0 !onsider5

"he play acts :ell0 "he -ook is selling e9cellently0 "he fa-ric :ashes easily0 "he door :ont open0

#lass -reaks easily07uch sentences e9press a characteristic property of the entity reali4ed -ythe ad&uncts :ell+ e9cellently+ easily0 7emantically+ such sentences are similar tothe type of sentence discussed a-ove0 Fo:ever+ there is a di@erence5 sentencesof the type "he door opened can -e easily re:ritten as passive sentences proper8 "he door opened vs0 "he door :as opened0 As for the type "he play acts :ell+the passive transformation is not al:ays possi-le0 !f0 #lass -reaks easily0 vs0#lass can -e -roken easily0 But5 "his novel reads very :ell vs0 T"his novel can -eread very :ell0 /either the sentence6type "he door opened nor "he door :ontopen can -e regarded as passive sentences proper+ despite similarity in meaning+for the simple reason that they cannot -e completed :ith the -y6agentconstruction0 "he suppression of the Agent imparts a ne: meaning to thesentence5 the meaning of a characteristic property0 According to Falliday

;1G


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speci.c category6vie:0Fenry 7:eet ;1H'5 61(hy do :e use the perfect "he simple ans:er to this uestionis5 :e use it to actuali4e a process that is anterior to another process+ or anothermoment of time0 n other :ords+ to sho: its relevance to the reference point5if the anterior process is relevant to the moment of speaking+ :e use the presentperfectK if the anterior process :as relevant to the reference point located inthe past+ :e use the past perfectK and if the anterior process :ill -e relevant tothe reference point located in the future+ :e use the future perfect0 !onsider a

fe: e9amples5A0 have :orked in London for three years0 have .nished already0

"he present forms have :orked and have .nished refer to :orking and.nishing up to or -efore the moment of speaking ;i0e0 the deictic center


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!0 :ill have :orked in London for three years0 :ill have .nished0n the sentences the future forms :ill have :orked and :ill have .nished the:orking or .nishing is prior to the moment :hich is itself in the future0

"he semantic structure of the perfect can -e represented as follo:s5As can -e seen+ the deictic center is either the present ;the a-solute perfect< or

the past+ or the future ;the a-solute6relative perfect


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:ishes to sho: the relevance of a past or a future event to the moment servingas the deictic center+ or the reference point5 the present perfect e9presses therelevance of a past event to a moment of speakingK the past perfect e9pressesthe relevance of a past event to the moment in the past+ and the future perfecte9presses the relevance of a future event to a moment in the future0 "his is thegeneral meaning of the perfect0 n a speci.c conte9t+ ho:ever+ the perfectacuires a pragmatic meaning0 !onsider5 Xou kno:+ John has married $ary0

"he perfect form has married is used to sho: the relevance of a past event to

the moment of speaking 8 Johns marrying $ary is the ne:s0 f the addresseekno:s John and $ary :ell+ the implied meaning may -e5 Fo: happy John isZFo: happy $ary isZ or Poor JohnZ or some other meaning0>hen :e use the perfect :ith un-ounded ;durative< ver-s+ :e are oftenunder the impression that the situation -eing descri-ed still holds at the timeindicated -y the reference point5Fe has lived in London for many years no:0Does it mean that he still lives in London t may or it may not+ -ut theform itself has nothing to do :ith it5 the role of the perfect is to relate theanterior situation to the deictic ;the reference< point -y sho:ing that thesituation has occurred+ had occurred+ or :ill have occurred -efore the deicticpoint0 f the person in uestion is still in London+ this is not part of the meaningof the perfectK this is only an implicature0 "o sho: that the person is still in

1(1London+ :e can use the so6called ualifying structureK if he is no longer inLondon+ :e can use a cancelling structure0 !onsider5Fe has lived in London for many years+ and he still does0;or5 As far as kno:+ he still doeshe doesnt live there any longer0<

"he same indeterminacy+ or vagueness+ is characteristic of progressiveperfect forms5Fe has -een living in London for many years0

"he progressive perfect form has -een living descri-es a situation that isusually interpreted as including the deictic center+ or the reference point0 npoint of fact+ the form itself does not say this0 !onsider another e9ample5A0 >hy are you shiveringB0 have -een s:imming0

"he conte9t clearly sho:s that speaker B is not s:imming no:0 /o suchindeterminacy arises :hen :e use simple perfect forms -ased on -oundedver-s5=ather has painted the house0t :ill -e o-vious that the process is already over and no such implicaturescan -e derived from the sentence0 But if :e use progressive perfect forms+ :eshall -e a-le to derive the same implicatures+ e0g0 =ather has -een painting thehouse0 "he process of painting may -e interpreted as -eing over or as still inprogress0 Fo:ever+ the form itself only means that the process of painting hasoccurred -efore the reference point0 !onsider5=ather has -een painting the house+ and he still is-ut he no longer is0

"here is another uestion relating to the perfect+ vi40 the temporal distance-et:een the anterior process and the deictic center0 =or instance+ :hen :e say

John has :ritten another novel+ :e of course kno: :hen John :rote his novel+i0e0 :e kno: the temporal distance0 Fo:ever+ the addressee may not kno: itsince there is nothing in the perfect form that can tell him :hether the anteriorprocess occurred recently ;a short time ago< or a long time ago0 t :ill -eo-vious that the speaker often uses the perfect form to convey the most recentinformation+ the ne:s ;!f0 radio ne:s


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recency5 a ne: king is generally appointed immediately after the death of theformer king+ :hich suggests that the interval -et:een the death of the king andthe appointment of the ne: king is rather short 6 the death occurred a short1(':hile ago0 "he second sentence is rather inde.nite in this respect5 it has noconte9t or a proper co6te9t :hich could help us to tell :hether the process isrecent or not recent1 0 Besides the conte9t+ the recency of a process can -econveyed -y such adver-ial structures as &ust+ recently+ lately+ of late+ .nally+

already+ since ;YnounK Ypredication


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7he often :ent to the -each0 vs0 7he has often gone to the -each0B0Fe saved some money0 vs0 Fe has saved some money0Fe :rote t:o letters0 vs0 Fe has :ritten t:o letters07he made a movie0 vs0 7he has made a movie07he danced a -it0 vs0 7he has danced a -it0 ;i0e0 has done some dancing<All these e9amples demonstrate the role of the co6te9t in actuali4ing theaspect of the ver-5 1< ver-s used a-solutely or follo:ed -y o-&ective

complements used in the plural or process circumstances ;e0g0 adver-ials of duration or freuency


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The Verbal Features of the Innitive.=irst+ let us e9amine the morphological features of the in.nitive0 Like the .nite form of ver-+ thein.nitive distinguishes the categories of aspect+ voice+ and order0to write (non-progressive, non-passive, non-perfect)to be writing (progressive, non-passive, non-perfect)

to have written (non-progressive, non-passive, perfect)

to have been writing (progressive, non-passive, perfect)

vs. to be written (non-progressive, non-perfect, passive)

vs. to be being written (progressive, passive, non-perfect)vs. to have been written (non-progressive, passive, perfect)

vs. to have been being written (progressive, passive, perfect)t :ill -e o-vious that the paradigm of the in.nitive is determined -y the semantico6syntacticproperties of the process0 f the process is intransitive+ :e shall not -e a-le to derive voiceforms+ e0g0 to :alk 8 to -e :alking vs0 Tto -e -eing :alked to have :alked 8 to have -een:alking vs0 Tto have -een -eing :alked !onsider a fe: e9amples510 John hopes to learn !hinese0'0 "he courses to -e taught are listed in the catalogue0)0 "he term discourse is seen to -e -eing used e9tremely diversely020 Fes lucky to have found such a :onderful :ife00 ts -etter to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all0G0 Fe looked too young to have -een pu-lishing for .ve years0

0 "his -ridge seems to have -een -eing -uilt for t:o years0?f all the forms of the in.nitive+ the most common are non6perfect nonpassive forms0 7uchforms as used in sentence ;)< and sentence ;< are less common0 "he principle is5 the moresimple the form is+ the more common it is0 7yntactically+ the in.nitive is similar to the .niteform of ver- in several respects5 .rst+ it is part of the predicateK second+ it can -e follo:ed -yan o-&ective complement ;e0g0 John hopes to learn !hinese+ :here hopes to learn is thepredicate and the in.nitive is its notional partK !hinese is an o-&ective complement of thepredicate and+ of course+ of the in.nitiveK third+ it can function as an ad&unct+ e0g0 $an eats tolive0 !f0 $an eats so that he can liveK last -ut not least+ it can replace the .nite form of the ver-+e0g0 All need is the money0 Ah+ -ut ho: to get it "ransformationally+ sentences like John hopesto learn !hinese have an em-edded sentence of the form Fe learns !hinese0 n other :ords+the said sentence is -ased on t:o predications5 John hopes Y John learns !hinese0 "histreatment is in keeping :ith the history of such sentences0 According to #0 ?0 !urme ;1)15

2


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7he did nothing to encourage his going a-road07he did nothing to encourage him going a-road0

"he standard form is the form :ith the noun in the genitive case or :ith the possessivepronoun0 "he other form is more common in spoken English0 "he gerund in the latterconstruction is traditionally called the half6 gerund0 "he semantic di@erence -et:een the t:otypes of construction is inconsidera-le5 the gerund modi.ed -y a noun in the genitive or apossessive pronoun is generally thought to -e more nounal in meaning and the gerundmodi.ed -y a noun in the common case or the o-&ective form of the pronoun is thought to -e

more ver-al0 According to B0 Qhaimovich and B0 J0 3ogovskaya ;op0 cit0+ 1


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?n second thoughts+ ho:ever+ the second sentence is neutral -et:een factivity and non6factivity0 "o resolve its neutrality+ :e can ualify it ;i0e0 deneutrali4e it< -y adding appropriateinformation5 tried to close the :indo: and in fact closed it in the end ;i0e0 not only tried+ -ut succeeded in closing italking along the street+ met a friend :hom had not seen for a long time0>hat are its ad&ectival properties Like the ad&ective+ the present participle can -e used as anattri-ute 8 generally as a postposed attri-ute+ e0g0 "he man talking to John is my -oss0 $orepro-lematic is the use of the present participle in preposition to the noun5 the point is that suchattri-utes must denote permanent+ or characteristic properties0 !f0 "he girl is clever W theclever girl vs0 "he girl is smiling W Tthe smiling girl1 0 But if the process of smiling is conceivedas ha-itual+ the :ord com-ination the smiling girl is accepta-le+ e0g0>here is that smiling girl !f0 also5 :as a:akened -y a -arking dog0 or "he -eginning studentshould -e given every encouragement01 >hen used out of conte9t+ such constructions may sound ungrammatical0 But in the conte9t they may look uitenormal although they denote a particular situation0 "his generally happens :hen the preposed6participle constructionpresents a transformed version of the respective postposed6participle construction0 "hat is+ to use the participlepreposedly+ :e must .rst use it postposedly+ e0g0 A0 "he girl smiling at you is my daughter0 B0 >ho+ did you say+ is the

smiling girl "he past participle0 "he forms of the past participle are derivationally related either to transitiveor intransitive ver-s+ e0g0 :rite W :ritten go W goneUnlike the present participle+ it has no paradigm of its o:n0 ts ver-al features are participationin the structure of the ver-al predicate ;e0g0 "he house :as destroyed -y a -om-< and the useas secondary predicate ;e0g0 Fer spirit+ though crushed+ :as not -roken


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perfective and imperfective+ the meaning of such a participle is determined -y the co6te9t5 itmay denote priority or simultaneity ;e0g0 Fis :as a victory gained against all rules0 vs0 "heuestions discussed at the meeting are of great importance+ :here discussed+ -ecause of thedou-le nature of the ver- it derives from+ can -e interpreted in this co6te9t as e9pressing eithersimultaneity or priority ;!f0 Lith0 Qlausimai+ aptartiaptariami susirinkime+ yra la-ai svar-us


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already sho:n else:here+ the prepositions are used :hen the speaker :ishes to e9plicate thesu-&ect of the in.nitive clause0 f the su-&ect is not e9plicated+ the sentence e9presses ageneric situation0 !f0 Fe is a good man to kno:0 vs0 Fe is a good man for meyou to kno:07yntactically+ the construction is polyfunctional5 it may function as a comple9 su-&ect ;e0g0 =oryou to do such a thing :ill only cause trou-le


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careful today ;emphatic


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1 "he classi.cation and the e9amples have -een taken from 3andolph [uirk et al0+ 1'5 '0

11there :ould -e three degrees of comparison0 f :e de.ne degrees of comparisonas forms e9pressing comparison of some su-stance :ith another in respect of a certain property+ there :ould -e only t:o degrees of comparison0 n this-ook :e shall adhere to the .rst vie: on the pro-lem0

"here are three :ays of forming degrees of comparison5 synthetic+ analytic+and suppletive0 "he synthetic :ay of forming degrees of comparison is -y the

inIections 8er+ 6estK the analytic :ay+ -y placing more and most -efore thead&ective0 "he synthetic :ay is generally used :ith monosylla-ic ad&ectivesand dissyla-ic ad&ectives ending in 8y+ 6o:+ 6er+ 6le and those :hich have thestress on the last sylla-le+ e0g0 tall W taller+ tallestK pretty W prettier+ prettiestKnarro: W narro:er+ narro:estK clever W cleverer+ cleverestK simple W simpler+simplestK polite W politer+ politest0 An apparent e9ception to this rule are thefollo:ing ad&ectives :hich are stressed on the .rst sylla-le5 pleasant W pleasanterK cruel W crueler+ cruelestK uiet W uieter+ uietestK stupid W stupider+stupidestK common W commoner+ commonest0 Fo:ever+ in the dissyla-icgroup :e can o-serve radical changes5 ad&ectives formerly taking 8er and 8estare tending to go over to more and most + e0g0 more common+ most commonKmore cloudy+ most cloudyK more fussy+ most fussyK more cruel+ most cruelK moreuiet+ most uietK more clever+ most cleverK more profound+ most profoundK

more simple+ most simpleK more pleasant+ most pleasant 8 all these :erenormally compared :ith 8er and 8est -efore the :ar ;!harles Bar-er+ 1G251)161)'


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the :ay+ the forms less+ least are generally used as an argument against thetreatment of more and most as grammatical :ord6morphemes0 7o+ for instance+B0 lyish ;op0 cit0+ G(< argues that if less and least are not grammatical :ordmorphemes+ more and most are not grammatical :ord6morphemes either0>hile :e can speak of direct and indirect :ay of comparison+ the :ay $0Blokh does+ the pro-lem of the linguistic status of more and most or less andleast remains unsolved0 n our opinion+ attempts to prove that more and mosthave turned into grammatical :ord6morphemes are as futile as attempts to

prove that shall and :ill have turned into grammatical :ord6morphemes in shall:ill go there0 =orms :ith more and most can only -e referred to as analyticif the notion analytic form is given a -road interpretation+ i0e0 if :e :aive thereuirement that an analytic form proper should consist of a le9ically emptied:ord and a notional :ord01As already pointed out+ the third :ay of forming degrees of comparison is-y the use of suppletive forms5 good W -etter+ -estK -ad W :orse+ :orstK far W fartherfurther+ farthestfurthestK little W less+ leastK muchmany W more+ most0n discussing the category of comparison+ linguists generally mention suchconstructions as a most -eautiful girl0 "he use of the inde.nite article :iththem is sometimes e9ploited as an argument against the treatment of more andmost as grammatical :ord6morphemes0 Fo:ever+ the inde.nite article has1 According to V0 J0 Plotkin ;op0 cit0+ G1


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the category of comparison0 "emporary ad&ectives+ unsimilar to normalad&ectives+ are said to lack forms of comparison0 "his is true+ -ut to somee9tent+ only5 temporary ad&ectives do not take the synthetic forms of the degreesof comparison+ -ut they are capa-le of e9pressing comparison analytically1 "he e9amples have -een dra:n from B0 Bolinger ;1G5 1H61e decided to go slo: ;i0e0 to :ork slo:lye arrived &ust -efore t:o oclock0 vs0Fave you -een to London -efore7he ran after him into the courtyard0 vs07oon after+ =araday -egan his research into electricity0


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"here :as a :all all the :ay round0 vs0Fe no: has .ve shops scattered ;a


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adver-s ;e0g0 Fe arrived last nightK Fe :ashes his car every 7unday


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pronouns0 Xet+ the term su-stitute should not -e re&ected+ for there are manypronouns ;e0g0 he+ she+ itK thisthese+ thatthoseK here+ thereK the same+ such<:hich can -e used as su-stitutes proper0 !onsider5

John is a student0 Fe is studying at ?9ford0$ary :ent to ?9ford0 John did the same0 dont -elieve in magicK there is no such thing0

John has got married0 "his is fantasticZFe su-stitutes for JohnK the same su-stitutes for :ent to ?9ford+ and this

su-stitutes for the :hole sentence0 "he term su-stitute+ unlike the term pronoun+makes it possi-le to account for the use of the )rd person personal pronouns inthe follo:ing sentences510 $ary thinks she may -e a-le to help0'0 "he :oman ne9t door thinks she may -e a-le to help0n sentence ;1

Documents

Valeika Laimutis an Introductory Course in Theoretical Engli