Inner structure:

components,

arrangement,

functions

Paradigmatic relations: classes they belong to

Language

The structure of units and the classes thev form are the domain of language.

Syntagmatic relations: combinations they form

Speech

Combinations the units

form in. the process of

communication are

the sphere of speech.

Structure,

Classification,

Combinability

Linguistic Sciences

Phoneme - Phonology

Morpheme _Morphologv and Word

Sentence - Syntax

Grammar or Morphemics

Morphology and Syntax

Every language contains thousands upon thousands of words. Different linguistic sciences study language from three different points of view.

Lexicology deals with the vocabulary of a language, with the origin and development of words, with their meaning and with wordbuilding. Phonetics is a science of speech sounds and other sound elements of language, such as intonation. Grammar is a branch of linguistic science which deals with the structure of language. This means that grammar deals with the forms of words and with the ways according to which words are connected into word-groups, word-combinations and sentences. So grammar defines the rules governing the modification of words and the combination of words into sentences. Thus, grammar is divided into two parts: morphology and syntax.

Morphology is the part of grammar which deals with the forms of words, while syntax is the part of grammar which studies the ways according to which words are grouped into word-combinations and sentences, i.e. it deals with phrases and sentences.

I Morphology The English Parts of Speech Classification

\ r>3.**t Oi S^SCCH Iе 2. ]f*~v\rtf^-rrrf:*mmr*1-i r*a! r>locc r\f лт'огЛс nrV»ir»Vi V(QC itc

generalized lexical meaning, its typical syntactical functions, syntactical connection with words of certain other classes, and morphological characteristics. Thus in English the noun is a part of speech which has its lexical meaning of a thing. Its syntactical functions are those of subject, object, predicative, and some others. The noun is always connected with the article, the adjective, prepositions. The noun has two morphological categories, those of case and number in Enslish, while in Russian nouns

14

have the category of gender as an extremely developed case system.

According to the lexical meaning, syntactical functions and morphological categories all the words in English may be divided into the following five classes.

1. Notional Words

a) Most of the words in English as well as in other languages belong to the notional words which denote phenomena existing in reality. These words denote things, qualities, actions and so on. All the other words play a secondary part. They may connect the notional words, underline the shades of meaning, etc. The main idea is always expressed by notional words.

b) Their syntactical functions are very closely connected with their meaning. Since the notional words express the main idea in the language, they form the parts of the sentence. So the parts of the sentence are expressed only by notional words. The subject, the object, the predicate, etc. are always expressed by notional words.

c) Morphologically the notional words form the class of words having morphological categories. All the changeable words in English belong to notional words.

2. Modal Words

Modal words express modality in the sentence, that is the relation of what is said to reality. We have such modal words in English as of course, certainly, surely, no doubt, naturally, perhaps, maybe, and others. Modal words do not denote any phenomena existing in reality. Syntactically modal words cannot form any part of a sentence. They are not connected syntactically with any other words. They may be used in the function of a parenthesis or may form sentences themselves, e.g. Will you speak to him? - Certainly.

Morphologically modal words are invariable.

3. Form-Words

Form-words do not denote any phenomena existing in reality. They are used to determine notional words or to connect them. They have no independent syntactical functions. Morphologically form-words are invariable. According to the role they play in the sentence form-words are divided into two classes: connective form-words (prepositions, conjunctions, etc.) and determinatives such as articles, particles (only, merely, even, also, simply, just, too).

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4. The Interjection

Interjections are words used to express different emotions such as joy, sadness, anger, etc., e.g. oh, bosh, hallo, ha, alas, well, now, ah, etc. Interjections cannot be parts of the sentence. They are not connected with any words of the sentence. They are always used as separate sentences in themselves. Morphologically they are invariable.

5. The Words of Affirmation and Negation

Practically this class consists of two words "Yes" and its equivalents and "No" and its equivalents. They are used to express affirmation or negation. They are not connected with other words in a sentence. Morphologically they are invariable. They may form sentences themselves.

Thus we see that modal words, form-words, interjections and words of affirmation and negation have several points in common: they do not denote any phenomena existing in reality, they are not used as parts of a sentence and morphologically they are invariable.

The Problem of Parts of Speech

The problem of parts of speech is extremely complicated. Almost every grammar book has its own classification of words in the parts of speech. Many grammar books especially foreign do not mention such parts of speech as the article, the particle, the category of state, adverbial post-positions, and others. Some authors divide all English words into two large groups: variable or changeable and invariable or unchangeable. There are some other divisions. But what makes this problem so complicated?

1. First of all any word or any part of speech is looked upon from three points of view: lexical, syntactical, and morphological. And it is difficult sometimes to settle the problem because some of the characteristics of words may coincide while others may not. For instance, in English there are many invariable words. Can we say then that these words belong to one part of speech or not? Taking the positive point of view we must then acknowledge that modal words, interjections, conjunctions, prepositions, words of affirmation and negation must be included into the class of adverbs. But this point of view is inconsistent: being morphologically invariable their meaning, functions, and their connection with words of other classes are quite different.

2. The second difficulty is that the traditional classification of parts of speech was created for languages with a developed morphological system and the authors who stick to the traditional classification do not usually

16

mention such parts of speech as the article, the post-position, the category of state.

3. The next difficulty lies in the fact that every language has its own system of parts of speech. And while comparing the native language with a foreign one we must not insist on finding the same parts of speech we have in our mother tongue. And yet some grammarians do.

4. Almost in every language there are intermediate cases when some words have a tendency to join the other parts of speech sharing their characteristics. For example, the words young and old are adjectives but used with the definite article they tend to join the class of nouns.

Academician V.V. Vinogradov thinks that only the noun, the adjective, the pronoun, the numeral, the verb, the adverb, and the category of state in the Russian language may be regarded as parts of speech. Besides these seven parts of speech he distinguishes four particles of speech:

1. Particles proper;

2. Linking particles;

3. Prepositions;

4. Conjunctions.

Henry Sweet distinguishes full words (table, boy) and empty words (is. was. are, were) in his book "A New English Grammar".

Krutikov, Khaimovich and Rogovskaya divide the whole system of parts of speech into notional and seminotional.

Zhigadlo, Ivan ova and loffic suggest that all parts of speech should be classified into 4 groups:

1. Independent parts of speech having their own grammatical categories and syntactical functions in the sentence. These are nouns, verbs, pronouns, numerals, adjectives, words of the category of state.

2. Formal parts of speech which serve only to express the relations between words or connection, or they may specify or emphasize notional words. Here belong conjunctions, prepositions, articles and particles.

3. Modal words and interjections which do not enter the structure of the sentence and which neither name anything nor express the relation between other words in the sentence.

4. The words of general affirmation and negation Yes and No which either affirm or negate the idea of a given sentence.

Professor Ilyish strongly objects to the given classification because he considers that the principle on which this classification is based is not well-grounded. He thinks that such parts of speech as prepositions, conjunctions, particles may also express something extra-linguistic, that means that these parts of speech may express not only the relations between words in a

17

sentence but they also express extra-linguistic notions, i.e. notions which exist in reality; e.g.:

The book is on the table. The book is in the table. The book is under the table.

As to the structure of these sentences it is the same but the meaning is quite different due to the difference in the meaning of the prepositions on, in and under expressing different space relations or different places in which the given substance may be found.

And some words which Zhigadlo, Ivanova and loffic refer to the class of notional words do not express any notions existing in reality. Take, for example, auxiliary verbs, they are completely devoid of their lexical meaning and therefore they serve to express only grammatical meaning. Yet the classification of parts of speech into notional and formal is very convenient from the practical point of view because it shows the grammatical difference between such parts of speech as the noun and the verb on the one hand and the preposition, the conjunction and the particle on the other.

The american grammarian Nida in the book ''Morphology" makes no distinction between such types of words as nouns and prepositions.

Otto Jespersen names substantives, adjectives, verbs, pronouns and panicles.

Some modern linguists establish a classification of types of words based entirely on their morphological characteristics and on their ability to enter different phrases together with other types of words. These classes are not denoted by special terms. Instead they are given numbers. In the classification proposed by the American linguist Charles Fries in his book ''The Structure of English" we find 19 classes of words out of which 4 classes correspond to our traditional nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs and 15 classes of the so-called function words.

This system achieves more exact results than traditional classification of parts of speech but some of its criteria are doubtful and it proves to be unfit for practical language study and cannot be applied to synthetic languages.

In the present course we shall stick to the classification of parts of speech suggested by Professor B.A. Ilyish in his book "The Structure of Modern English". Here we find 12 classes of words which are classified on the basis of three principles: 1) meaning, 2) form and 3) function.

1. By meaning we understand not an individual meaning of each separate word which is its lexical meaning but the meaning common to all the words of the given class and constituting the essence of this meaning.

In the noun, for example, taken as a class of words its generalized meaning is that of substantivity, in the verb as a part of speech its meaning is that of process or action whatever the individual meaning of a separate word may happen to be. The adjective as a part of speech expresses names of qualities or properties and so on.

2. Form is considered to be the morphological characteristics of a type of words, i.e. grammatical categories which are typical of this or that part of speech. A grammatical category is a dialectical unity of generalized grammatical meaning and certain grammatical forms serving to express this meaning. By grammatical meaning we understand the meaning of grammatical relations.

The noun, for instance, possesses grammatical categories of case and number, plurality being expressed by the inflexion -es, e.g. box - boxes, map - maps. etc.

By a grammatical form we understand the formal linguistic means with the help of which this or that generalized grammatical meaning is expressed. Each grammatical category must be represented at least by two grammatical forms, otherwise it cannot exist. There are no languages in which there is only one grammatical person or a grammatical case. One person or one case would mean just the absence of the category of person or case at all. Therefore in any grammatical category we deal with opposition. It's necessary to take into consideration the fact that one and the same grammatical form of the word may express different grammatical categories, for example, the form takes expresses tense, mood, voice, aspect, number, and person.

At the same time it is impossible to have one and the same form for the expression of two cases or two numbers or two persons. In this case we always deal with the opposition of forms. Thus, in the category7 of number we observe the opposition of zero inflection and-s inflection. In the category of case we observe the opposition of zero inflection and -'s inflection. In any opposition all the forms are divided into marked forms and non-marked forms. The so-called non-marked forms are represented as a rule by zero

inflections

is cxprcssc\a и у u cci t-tUii positive

Any part of speech is characterized either by a whole system of different grammatical categories (nouns, verbs, adjectives) or by absence of grammatical categories (prepositions, conjunctions, articles).

3. By function we mean the syntactical characteristics of this or that part of speech. These characteristics may be subdivided into two items:

1) the ability of a word to combine with other words of different types or of the same type and this ability is termed as a combinability of a word.

18

19

2) the function in which this or that part of speech may be found in a

sentence.

The noun, for example, combines with other nouns (a girl's book), with verbs (the sun shines), with adjectives (a handsome boy), with prepositions and articles. As to the syntactical functions of a noun in a sentence it is those of a subject, a predicative, an object, an attribute, and some adverbial

modifiers.

The theory of parts of speech may be regarded as essentially a part of

morphology involving some syntactical points.

20

Lecture II The Verb

Definition of the verb and its grammatical meaning. Morphological classification of verbs. Finite and non-finite forms of the English verb. Semantic classification of the verb. Lexico-syntactical classification of the verb.

6. Syntactical classification of the verb.

The Verb

The verb as a part of speech is characterized by the following features (as any part of speech): 1) meaning, 2) form. 3) function.

From the lexical point of view (meaning) the verb serves to express actions or states and processes.

As to its form the verb is characterized by the following grammatical categories: the category of person, number, tense, aspect, correlation (relativity), voice and mood. Thus it has the most developed morphological system in modern English grammar.

The verb as a part of speech is characterized by some specific stem-building elements such as the suffixes -ize, -en. -ifi- and some prefixes such as under-, out-, super-, un-.

As to its function the verb may combine with nouns preceding or following it, e.g. birds fly. play chess. The verb may combine with adverbs, e.g. run fast, walk quickly. Sometimes it may be connected with an adjective, for example, in a double predicate - The moon rose red.

In a sentence the verb may be used in the function of a simple verbal predicate or it may be a part of a compound predicate.

The verb is characterized by its connection with an object and with an adverbial modifier.

1. Morphological classification of verbs

Morphologically all the verbs may be divided into several classes according to their forms. The basic forms of the verb in modern English are the Infinitive, the Past Indefinite. Participle II.

According to the way in which the Past Indefinite and Participle II arc formed verbs are divided into several classes:

1. the so-called weak verbs which build their Past Indefinite and Past Participle by means of the dental suffix -ed. These are subdivided into regular

weak verbs and irregular weak verbs. The regular weak verbs form their Past tense and Participle II with the help of the suffix -ed. The irregular weak verbs have some phonetical changes in their forms, some of them have a change in the root vowel, e.g. to sell - sold - sold to feel - felt - felt

2. The strong verbs in Past Indefinite and Participle II change the root vowel. Some of them have the suffix -n in the Participle II, e.g. to write - wrote - written

3. The mixed verbs form Past tense like weak verbs and Participle II like strong ones,

e.g. to show - showed - shown

4. The unchangeable verbs having the same main forms, e.g. to put - put - put to let - let - let

5. Verbs changing the last consonant in Past Indefinite and Participle II, e.g. to spend - spent - spent

6. The defective verbs which have no non-finite and analytical forms, no ending -s in the 3rd person singular, e.g. may, must, can, etc.

7. The suppletive verbs whose forms come from different roots. There are only two suppletive verbs in English - lo be and to go.

According to their morphological structure verbs may be simple, derived (undo), compound (having more than one root) and composite (consisting of a verb and post-position), as to give up.

Henry Sweet was the first to suggest the classification of verbs into regular and irregular. This question was further investigated by our grammarian, Professor A.I. Smirnitsky, who singled out one class of regular verbs and 21 classes of irregular verbs.

V. Zhigadlo, I. Ivanova and I. loffic suggested that for practical convenience all the irregular verbs should be divided into 5 groups.

The Finite and Non-finite Forms of the English Verbs

л Virv l

m г\ т-тл irv orn rra

ii±i y

be found in finite forms and non-finite forms or verbals of which there are three - the Infinitive, the Gerund, and the Participle. The finite and non-finite forms of the English verb have a number of features in common, but at the same time they have a number of differences.

Let us compare their lexical meaning, syntactical functions and morphological characteristics. The finite forms express actions in themselves while the non-finite forms denote an action which is presented as a thing or

as a characteristic of a thing. So the Infinitive and the Gerund denote an action as a thing while the Participle denotes an action as a characteristic of a thing.

Their syntactical characteristics have some differences. The main syntactical function of the finite form is that of a predicate while the non-finite forms never perform such a function. They may be used in such functions as a subject, an object, an attribute, an adverbial modifier or as parts of compound predicates, e.g.

Your answer is promising. (Participle I in the function of a predicative) What I hate is promising things. (Gerund in the function of a predicative) What I mean you to do is to read the text. (Infinitive in the function of a predicative)

He is to go. (Part of a modal compound verbal predicate) We started working. (Gerund, part of an aspective compound verbal predicate)

The differences are also found in their morphological characteristics. The finite forms possess such morphological categories as the category of person, number, tense, relativity or correlation, aspect, voice, and mood. Incidentally for this reason that these verbs are called finite, i.e. limited by person, number, etc. Non-finite forms possess only such categories as relativity, aspect, and voice. Still these categories of non-finite forms are nowhere to be found but in the verb. As a result of this, different opinions exist about the place of the Infinitive, the Gerund, and the Participle in the system of parts of speech. Many authors consider the function of a predicate to be the main property of a verb and therefore they insist that the non-finite forms of the verb cannot belong to the verb as a part of speech because they never perform such a function. Thus, Henry Sweet in his classification mentions the Infinitive and the Gerund as belonging to the noun and the Participle to the adjective. However we should regard the non-finite forms as belonging to the verb because the morphological categories which are found in their forms do not exist in any part of speech but the verb.

2. The Lexical (Semantic) Classification of the Verb

In accordance with aspective character of their meaning verbs may be divided into terminative and non-terminative. Terminative verbs denote actions which cannot develop beyond a certain limit of time: finish, bring, stand up. etc. Non-terminative verbs express the action which has no limit in time. e.g. continue, stand, work, and some others. But sometimes there may be intermediate cases and the verbs may be both terminative and non-terminative under different circumstances and in different context, e.g.

He stood at the fence and looked at the garden, (looked here is a non-terminative verb)

He came up to the fence and looked at the garden, (looked in this sentence is a terminative verb)

Sometimes the verbs which are non-terminative if taken separately are terminative if taken in certain context, e.g.

He read many books last year, (terminative)

But in all these cases we deal with the lexical meaning of the verb and not with the grammatical category of aspect.

The question about terminative and non-terminative verbs was discussed by G.N. Vorontsova.

3. Lexico-Syntactical Classification of the Verb

This classification is based upon the lexical meaning of the verb and its syntactical function in a sentence.

1. Notional verbs possess full lexical meaning of their own and may be used in the function of a simple verbal predicate as they have such morphological characteristics as person, number, tense, aspect, correlation, voice, mood. Therefore these verbs are called verbs of full predication.

2. Semi-notional verbs are the verbs that preserve their lexical meaning but this meaning is very general and abstract. Therefore these verbs are used only to connect words in a sentence without naming actions or processes. They are subdivided into two groups:

a) Link verbs which to a smaller or greater degree have lost their lexical meaning. Usually they are used as the first part of the compound nominal predicate. Their function is to connect the subject with the predicative and to express grammatical categories of number, person, mood, aspect, and voice. Link verbs occupy the intermediate position between auxiliary and notional verbs. That is why sometimes they are called semi-auxiliary or semi-notional verbs.

Link verbs may be divided into four groups:

1) of being (to be, to feel, to look, to smell, to taste, etc.);

2) of becoming (to become, t

r\ rrtwtir

to

3) of remaining (to remain, to continue, to keep, to stay);

4) of seeming or appearing (to seem, to appear), b) Modal verbs are characterized by their modal meaning and by their use as the first part of the modal compound verbal predicate. They do not denote any action, but express modality of an action, i.e. ability, assurance, obligation, possibility, etc. To this class belong such verbs such as: can, must, ought, shall, will, should, would, may, to have to, to be to, and, partly,

need and dare. These verbs combined with the Infinitive of a notional verb show that the action or state expressed by the Infinitive is considered as possible, desirable, necessary, etc. The Infinitive which follows a modal verb is used without the particle to (except the verb ought, have to, and be to) which stresses the close connection of the modal verb with the Infinitive.

The class of modal verbs is a lexico-syntactical class and modal verbs should not be mixed with the class of defective verbs which is a morphological one. The two classes do not always coincide. Modal verbs are not always defective, e.g. the verb to be and to have are not defective. On the other hand some defective verbs are not always used as modal. They may be used as auxiliary verbs as well. That is why the terms defective and modal characterize the verb from different points of view. Defective verbs lack some morphological forms: they have no verbals, accordingly they have no analytical forms (no future tense, nor perfect forms, nor Past Subjunctive II). They form negative and interrogative constructions without the auxiliary verb to do.

Owing to their meaning and function in the sentence, modal verbs cannot have voice or aspect. Neither are they used in the imperative mood. They have no inflexion -s [ s, z ] in the third person singular. The absence of the inflexion is due to the fact that the Present, tense of these verbs was originally a past and the past tense had no inflexion in the third person singular. That is why these verbs are called preteritive presents. The absence of the -s inflexion in the verbs will and ought has another explanation: these forms have originated from the old subjunctive where the verb had no inflexion in the third person singular.

3. Auxiliary verbs as distinct from semi-notional verbs are completely devoid of any lexical meaning and serve only to build up analytical forms of notional verbs, i.e. morphological categories of aspect, mood, tense, voice. Cf. / have to go there (modal meaning) and He has come (an analytical form). To this group belong such verbs as: to do, to be, to have, shall, will.

4. The verbs-substitutes do not name any action or state but point to an action already named. They are used to replace a notional verb to avoid

»-r*»"\£it-i t ч f\t-t Т*1л c\tv o^ 'f»f о «^ti^ol •fTiiT-ii-'firsMO' o»-o fit о С оч-у-ч ^» ос +!•» r\rt~t ^>-f* f l-\ rt т rc*«-V»r« i V.p^ 11 Ll^li. 1 1J4.11 3J J.lllll'liV'lii 1 U.11V \.i\JHJ til V LliV belliIV О.Й lllWbv Wl V114- V 4^1 L/O

they replace.

e.g. I saw him yesterday, so did he.

If we compare morphological and lexico-syntactical classification of English verbs we shall see that these classifications divide all the English verbs into a number of classes according to different principles. One and the same verb may belong to different classes, e.g.

24

25

I have a book.

I have got a book.

I have to buy a book.

In all the three cases the verb to have belongs to the same morphological class and at the same time it belongs to three different lexico-syntactical classes: In the first sentence it is a notional verb, in the second sentence it is an auxiliary verb, in the third sentence it is a modal verb.

4. Syntactical Classification of the Verb

Depending on their combinability with nouns or noun-equivalents serving to express the subject or the object of an action verbs may be classified into subjective and objective. Objective verbs are associated both with the subject and the object, e.g.

He kissed the child.

subject — object

Subjective verbs are associated only with the subject, e.g.

She smiled, subject

Objective verbs may be connected with their objects either directly or with the help of prepositions. Cf. 1. He reads many books.

2. She depends on him.

Objective verbs which are connected with their object directly are called transitive. All other verbs both subjective and objective are intransitive, hence there are verbs intransitive (subjective) and intransitive (objective).

Some transitive verbs may have two direct objects: to answer, to ask, to forgive, to excuse, to emy, to strike, e.g.

They answered him nothing.

They asked her some questions.

They struck him a heavy blow.

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Grammatical Category of the Verb

I. Person

II. Number

III. Tense

IV. Aspect

V. Correlation (relativity)

VI. Voice

VII. Mood

Morphological Properties

Morphological Properties

I Finite

II Non-finite«

• Infinitive

• Gerund

•Participle

Syntactic Classification

Combinability with subject or object

1. Subjective associated with subject. She smiled.

42. Objective

uirectiy — transitive

all other subjective and objective are intransitive.

Lcxico-syntecticai Classification of Verbs (lexical meaning n^cl syntactics! function)

I. Notion:1,! - full lexic:,! meaning, simple verb.

/ ~>. Semi-notional (meaning is general and abstracts

Lexical meaning '/ and syntactical / function, in a sentence

b. ivtoi'al verbs (no voice, aspect. imperative, no -.v) (preterite presents)

3. Auxiliary verbs (devoid of lexical meaning,

build up analytical forms: aspect, mood, tense,

voice.

Pie has come, --do, be, !:avc, shall, will

4. Verbs-Substitutes (point to an action already named) I saw him yesterday, so did he.

Morphological Classification of Verbs Basic forms: Infinitive, Past Indefinite, Participle II.

I According to the formation of Past and Participle II: I Weak /regular -ed (sell - sold -sold)

irregular - phonetic changes in forms.

Past and 'Participle II

dental suffix -ed

c? " '

root-vowel (feel - felt - felt)

, II. Strong - change root-vowel, suffix -n in Participle II (write - wrote -written)

• III. Mixed - past like weak. Participle like strong (show - showed - shown)

' IV. Unchangeable - same main forms (put - put -put. let - let - let)

1 V. Changing last consonant in Past and Participle II (spend - spent - spent)

^ VI. Defective - no verbals and analytical forms, no ending -s in the 3rd person singular (may, must, can)

VII. Suppletive - forms come from different roots (to be, to go)

II According to Morphological Structure

1. Simple - go, write, speak

Morphological Structure

2. Derived (suffixes and prefixes) -undo, discover

13. Compound (having more than one root) - to daydream

4. Composite (a verb +• post-position) -to give up, give in. put up

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Ill Lexical (Semantic) Classification of Verbs

1. Terminative (cannot be developed beyond a certain limit of time) - finish, bring, stand up

2. Non-terminative (have no limit in time) - continue, stand, work

Preterite-Present Verbs (Past used for Present)

Infinitive Old Past > Present New Past

Participle II

1.a3an -

2.cunnan -

3. durran -

* > owe - ahte > ought - aj en

cann - сиЭэ (could - "1" like "should"

and "would'')

dear > dare - dorste (past without to do)

glared (past with to do), e.g. Why durst you do it? Why dared you to do it? Why did you dare to do it?

4. ma3an - таез > may - meahte > might

5. motan - mot (no new form) - moste (new past used as present.

so must is double past)

6. sculan - sceal > shall - sceolde > should

7. witan - wat - wiste (wisse) ne wat=nat:

ne wisle=nysse. wit. witty

* NB. c, 3 at the end of the verbs of the weak conjugation in Past became -hie, -hi.

Such verbs existed not only in Germanic languages but also in Latin and Greek. Their Present tense went out of use and Past tense started to be used instead of the Present while for the Past a new form with the dental suffix was created. Hence the name Preterite-Present.

Lecture III The Categories of the Finite Forms of the Verb

1. The Category of Person and Number. The joint expression of person and number. Ways of expressing these categories in English verbs.

2. The Category of Tense. The system of tenses in English. Non-recognition of a future tense in English by 0. Jespersen and his arguments. Assessment of these arguments.

3. The Category of Aspect. The continuous and the common aspect. Non-recognition of the category of aspect by some scholars.

4. The Category of Correlation or Relativity (Perfect Forms). The perfect as a tense category (0.Jespersen), the Perfect as a way of expressing the category of «time relation» (A.I. Smirnitsky), the Perfect as an aspect category (G.N. Vorontsova). Assessment of these views. An estimate of perfect, continuous, and perfect-continuous forms from the viewpoint of different interpretations of the Perfect.

5. The Category of Voice. Definition. Different views on this problem. Relationship of voice and the transitivity and intransitivity of the verb. Pe­culiarities of the passive voice in English. The problem of other voices, viz. the reflective the reciprocal and the middle voice. Different interpretations of the voice category in sentences of the door opened type. Assessment of each interpretation.

The Categories of the Finite Forms of the Verb

1. The Category of Person. This category has very few forms of expres­sion in the modem English verb. These forms arc: the -s ending in the 3rd person singular of the Present Indefinite tense. The ending differentiates the 3rd person from the 1st and the 2nd. Besides there are different forms of the verb to be (is, am). The third way of expressing the category of person is the use of auxiliary verbs for different persons (shall, will, should, would- Fu­ture, Future in the Past, conditional mood). Though the category of person has very few forms of expression it is not disappearing and is widely used.

2. The Category of» Number. This category has the following forms of expression:

a) The verb to be in the present indefinite tense has for the plural the form are, and for the past indefinite tense plural were.

b) The verb to have for the plural in the present indefinite tense has the form have.

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All English verbs with the exception of defective ones have the-.s ending in the 3rd person singular of the present indefinite tense and have no ending in the 3rd person plural of the same tense.

The ending -s- in the 3rd person singular expresses two grammatics categories: The category of person and number and as they are used with the verbs to he and to have which are widely used as notional, semi-notion-0' auxiliaries, etc. these categories are found in modern English nearly in a: sentence.

3. The Category of Tense - is a grammatical category which in the sj tern of grammatical forms expresses the relation of an action to real tin i.e. tense is grammatical expression of time. In other words tense as a gra. matical category serves to express the time of an action in reference to ,. moment of speech. The moment of speech in every given case is but a ct tain point objectively existing in time. Therefore the grammatical categqr of tense is also of objective character. Thus the grammatical category o! tense reflects time relation and an action expressed by a verb may erine-coincide with the moment of speech or it may precede it, or it may follow;,.

Accordingly there are three grammatical tenses: Present, Past, and Futur

The difference between the lexical and grammatical expression of tire lies in the following facts:

1) Lexically it is possible to name any definite moment of the period time. The grammatical meaning of tense is an abstraction from all the tr particular tenses: Present, Past, and Future.

2) Lexically any period of time is named directly (today, tomorrow, ye: terday) whereas the grammatical indication of time is of an indirect characte; That means that it is not time which is indicated by a verb, but an action thr may either coincide with the moment of speech or precede it or follow it.

Some doubts have been expressed about the existence of the Future In definite tense in English. Otto Jespersen denies the existence of the Future tense in English on account of the fact that the verbs shall and will, which are said to be used to build up an analytical form of the Future tense, pre­serve in his opinion their lexical meaning: the verb shall expresses obliga­tion and the verb will expresses volition.

Professor B. Ilyish managed to prove that the reasons which were put forward by 0. Jespersen were not quite convincing. Thus Professor Ilyish shows that very often the context serves to stress the fact that the verbs shall and will may express only grammatical futurity and no modal meaning may be carried, e.g. I am afraid he will have to go there.

The very existence of the combination have to go excludes any possibility

of expression of volition because this combination serves to express obligation and therefore the verb will may express only the grammatical meaning of the Future Tense. So the three main divisions of time are represented in the English verbal system by the three tenses and each of them may appear either in the common aspect or in the continuous aspect. Accordingly we have six tense-aspect forms.

Tenses of the Indicative Mood

While dealing with tenses it is important to know the period of time to .vhich the action or state expressed by the verb is referred.

sf I. Present, Past, and Future Tenses of the Common Aspect

'',!(' The Common aspect represents an action as simply occurring without 'concretising it. actions of a more general, more abstract character referring

to the present, past or future time (hence the term indefinite is not quite

happy in connection with past indefinite and future indefinite).

M.A.Ganshina and N.M.Vasilevskaya luckily call these tenses present (or

past or future) tense of the common aspect.

A. Present tense of the common aspect refers an action to the present

•and expresses actions permanently characterizing the subject, habitual or

'recurrent actions, statements of a general character or universal truths,

concrete actions taking place at a given moment not considered in their

progress but simply stated as merely occurring, with verbs not used in the

• continuous aspect (to see, hear, understand), with reference to an action in

the future in adverbial clauses of time and condition introduced by after, as,

'before, as soon as, directly, while, till, until, if. in case, suppose, on condition.

.: etc.. to express vividness in narration, instead of present tense of perfect

:f; correlation with the verbs to learn, to tell, to hear, to forget.

B. Past tense of the common aspect refers an action to the past so it is the tense of narration often associated with adverbs of past time asyesterday,

• a week ago. last night, this morning (when the morning is over). //; 1923. after when, to express recurrent actions in the past (also used to or would

mqv Кг> м^гчН^ in qrK'prKial iMctii^^c n~F timp* qnH r*r\nHitir\n intrnHnp^rl Hv

conjunctions after, when, before, till. if. etc. (in sequence of tenses), as Thev told us that they would come on the following dav if they were not too bitsv. С Future tense of the common aspect refers an action to the future time and is often associated with adverbial modifiers of. time tomorrow, next rear, in a week. etc.. recurrent actions in the future and occasionally «eneral statements and universal truths as in Water will boil at 100°C.

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D. Future-in-the-Past is a special form of the future expressing a future action, viewed from a past moment (sequence of tenses), as ml said I should be delighted to see her.

To express immediate future the expression to be going to... is used.

II. Present, Past, and Future Tenses of the Continuous Aspect

The continuous aspect shows a concrete action in its development at a given moment, i.e. it expresses an action going on (continuing) at a given moment present, past, or future or regularly repeated within a given period of time present, past or future.

A. Present Continuous

Pr.m

_____ ______ I am readme a book now.

She is taking German lessons. He is constantiv crumbling.

Some verbs have no continuous form mostly expressinc feelinc. mental or physical perception (see. hear. feel. love. like, prefer, hate. fear, believe, know, understand, recognize, contain, possess, belong, deserve).

B. Past Continuous expresses an action begun before and finished after:

1) A given past moment

2) A past period of time

_____^-_______,.___ From 6 til! 71 was working (I may

-"' have started earlier and finished later but at that period of time 1 was workine).

An action providing a background for another action which ma\ 11 ) or ma\ not (2) be momentary: not an action taking up the whole past period of time.

3) Two or more past continuous tenses (3) express two or more concurrent actions coextensive in time.

Pr.m —О—

actions coextensive in time

While he was doing this I was doing that (sometimes the repetition of the same form is avoided).

Not: I was working. But: I worked.

for 2 hours.

from 6 till 1 (only).

all day yesterday.

C. Future Continuous expresses an action going on at a given future moment denoted by adverb or adverbial expressions of definite time (then, at " о 'clock, at this time), or by another action which fixes the future moment but which has the form of the present tense (I shall be sleeping if you come so late or / shall be preparing my lessons while he is typing his report).

Pr.m ~ (>'ciock

"~~. I'll be reading at 7 o'clock.

D. Future-in-the-past Continuous expresses a concrete action going on at a definite future moment when that future moment is viewed from the past. e.g.

1 told him not to come at 6 o'clock because I should be having my lesson at that time.

III. Present, Past, and Future Tenses of the Common Aspect, Perfect Correlation

Present, Past, and Future Tenses of the Common Aspect and of the Perfect Correlation express an action already completed before a given moment present, past or future.

Present Perfect

Past Perfect

I have done it.

I had done it.

time oi aciion

Future Perfect

Pr.m

a given moment in the past

I shall done it.

time o! action

A. Present Tense Common Aspect Perfect Correlation expresses a completed past action referring to a period of time including the present moment (such as today, now, this month, this year, in my life, already, not yet. just, recently, lately, of late, etc.) mentioned or implied.

Period of time to which the action i is referred (nou. todav this week. etc.i.

I have seen the film (generally, in my life).

Present Perfect is also used to denote an action begun in the past and continued into the present (so-called inclusive present perfect). In such a case either the starting point of the action is indicated or the whole period of duration.

,mcc Frm ^Ve have known each other since Present Prefect _______Q__ we were children. He has been Inclusive - -' here since I have moved in. I have

Ior known her for two vears.

Present Perfect ma}- also express an action which comes very close up to the present but is no longer going on at the present moment (exclusive present perfect).

Present Prefect Exclusive

At last you have come' I have waited for you for about an hour.

Past Indefinite and Present Perfect Compared

Both the tenses are rendered into Russian as past hence we must clear up the question of how and when to use Past Indefinite and Present Perfect.

Past Indefinite expresses an action in the past referred to a period of time not including the present moment.

time nt action Pr.m

Past Indefinite

I saw him last year.

las: time, on the second of March, ago. in 1940. yesterday. ;us! now. in my childhood, in ad", erbial clauses of time beginning with when, m narration, t

Present Perfect expresses a past action referring to a period of time including the present moment.

Present Perfect

I have read Robinson Crusoe.

B. Past Tense Common Aspect Perfect Correlation expresses a past action already completed before a given past moment or begun before a given past moment and continued into that past moment (exclusive and inclusive Past Perfect).

Past Prefect Exclusive

I had written the letter by

7 o'clock. The rain had stopped

when she awoke.

time 01 .ictir.n

Past Prefect Inclusive

She had been ill since she came back from the seaside last month. They were smiling for a moment with the kind of understanding thev hadn't shared for a Ions time.

С Future Tense Common Aspect Perfect Correlation expresses an action already completed at a given future moment and viewed back from that future moment.

Bv 6 o'clock'-I shall have finished

Prra Km.

Future Prefect ___^_^__ my letter. If you come at 7,1 shall

have done my work. By the 1st of June we shall have been at the seaside for a fortnight (inclusive).

D. Future-Perfect-in-the-Past expresses an action already concluded before a given future moment viewed from the past or continued into that future moment (exclusive and inclusive Future-Perfect-in-the-Past).

They assured me that they would have finished their work by 6 o'clock. She informed me that by the 1st of June she would have been at the seaside for a fortnight.