Question 1 Language and Speech, Levels of Language

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Question 1 Language and speech, levels of language…

Language incorporates 3 constituent parts: phonological system (determining sounds), lexical


system (system of words and stable word groups), and grammatical system which is a set of
regularities between the two plans of the language: the plane of the content and the plane of
expression.

Language is a system of signs(meaningful units) which are interconnected and interdependent,


it is defined as synchronic system of meaningful elements at any stage of L development. L
varies from Speech. L is a system of means of expression whereas speech is manifestation of
the system of L. speech included the act of producing utterances and the utterances
themselves.

Lingual units stand to one another in two types of relations: syntagmatic and paradigmatic.
Syntagmatic relations are linear relations between units in a string. Syntagma is a combination
of 2 words, one word is modified by another. They can be predicative, objective, attributive,
adverbial.

Paradigmatic relation exists between the elements outside the string where they co-occur, it is
not directly observed in the utterances.

Units of L are of 2 types. Segmental units consist of phonemes and they form phonetic strings.
They have 6 levels: phonemic, morphemic, level of words, level of phrases, level of sentences
and level of text. Supra-segmental units express intonation, accent, pauses and word-order
patterns.

Question 2 morphemic structure of the word, free and bound morphemes

The word is minimal free linguistic form and the elementary component of the sentence. The
word consists of morphemes which are the minimal meaningful segments. Morpheme is a
minimal unit of meaning or grammatical function. Eg the word tour+ist+s consists of 3
morphemes. Morphemes can be free and bound.

Free morphemes stand themselves as a single word (open, tour). They can be nouns,
adjectives, verbs…. When free morphemes are used with bound ones they are called stems
undress

They can be lexical morphemes which are nouns, adjectives… they belong to open class of
words as they can add new lexical morphemes. And functional morphemes which are
conjunctions, articles, pronouns. They are called close class of words as they can’t add
functional morphemes.

Bound morphemes can’t stand alone, they are attached to another word (re use). Bound
morphemes can be derivational which are used to make new words careful. Suffixes and
prefixes are derivational. Inflectional morphemes indicate aspects of grammatical function of
the word (if the word is singular or plural , if it is a past tense). There are 8 inflectional
morphemes (plural –s, possessive –s, ing, ed, en …)
3) Question 3 Types of Word-Form derivation

Question 4 Noun. Category of case


The noun in modern English has two grammatical categories: number and case. The modern
English noun has not got the category of grammatical gender.
Case.
Case is the category of a noun expressing relations between the thing denoted by the noun
and other things or properties or actions and manifested by some formal sign in the noun itself.
The minimum number of cases in the language system is two. English noun have two cases: a
common case (father) and genitive/possessive case (father’s). though, there are a number of
other views, according to which English has more than two cases or there are no cases in
English at all. CASE is part of morphological system of a language. The possibility of forming
genitive is limited to a certain class of English nouns, those which denote living beings (my
father’s room, John’s house), those denoting units of time (a week’s absence), some
substantivized adverbs (today’s news).
However there are certain uses of possessive case that give rise to doubts of existence of
category of case. (1) John and Smith’s room - ‘s belongs to both Smith and Brown (2) somebody
else’s child – ‘s belongs to a group somebody else , it is a part of a whole phrase so it is a
syntactical not a morphological element.
All these proves that -‘s can no longer be describes as case inflection in nouns. The following
view are put forward. 1) when ‘s belongs to a noun it is a genitive ending, when it belongs to a
phrase it becomes a syntactical element; 2) as ‘s can belong to a phrase it is no longer a case
inflection even if it belongs to a single noun ; 3) –‘ when belonging to noun no longer expresses
a case but a NEW GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY - THE CATEGORY OF POSSESSION.

Question 5. Noun. The category of number


The noun in modern English has two grammatical categories: number and case. The modern
English noun has not got the category of grammatical gender.
Number
Modern English distinguishes between two numbers – singular and plural. Singular number
shows that one object is meant and the plural shows that more than one object is meant (a
table-tables).we must also consider two types of nouns differing from others in the way of
number they have only one number: either singular of plural. The nouns which have only plural
and no singular are termed pluralia tantum . to this group belong nouns which denote objects
consisting of two halves (scissors, trousers..), objects showing more or less indefinite plurality
(dregs). Close to this group of PT are some names of sciences (physics, phontics) some names of
disease (measles, mumps). Those nouns which only have singular and no plural are termed
singularia tantum. Among these are the objects denoting material objects (milk, butter), names
of abstract notions (peace). Some nouns denoting substance can take a plural forms eg. Wine
and wines denoting special kinds of wines, chees-cheeses, fruit – fruits.
Collective nouns and nouns of multitude
Certain nouns denoting human beings (family, party) or animals (cattle) can be used in two
ways. When they denote a groups as a whole they are treated as singulars and termed
“collective nouns”. When they denote a group consisting of several number of individuals are
treated as plurals and termed “nouns of multitude”. My family is small – small applies to a
family as a whole. My family are good speakers - Good speakers applies to family members.

Question 6 Adjectives
The adjective expresses the categorical semantics of property of a substance and it shows
material, color, dimensions, position, state and other characteristics. Adjectives don’t have a
full nominative value, they are not self-dependent nominations but when they are placed in a
nominatively self-dependent position, substantivization takes place (the poor) which can fall
into two grammatical groups: pluralia tantum (the rich) and singularia tantum (the invisible).
Adjectives are combined with nouns, link verbs and modifying adverbs, in the sentence
adjectives perform functions of attribute (he is a great author) and predicative (it was great).
Derived adjectives have a number of prefixes and suffixes: - ful (careful), -less (careless), -ish
(childish), -ous (dangerous), un- (unhappy), in- (inaccurate etc.). All adjectives fall into 2
subclasses: quantitative and qualitative. Relative adjectives express direct relation of the
substance to some other substance – wooden hut. Qualitative adjectives denote various
qualities of substance – a hard task, very hard task. The measure of quality can be estimated as
high or low, sufficient –insufficient. Only qualitative adjectives have degrees of comparison.
All adjectives functions can be grammatical divided into evaluative (wooden face) and
specificative (wooed table). No matter whether adjectives are relative or qualitative, they can
be used either in evaluative or in specificative functions.
Adjectives have three degrees of comparison which shows the quantitative characteristics of
quality. 1) The basic form is positive degree having no features of comparison, 2) comparative
degree, having a feature of restricted superiority, the formation of comparative degree by
means of suffixes -er or auxiliary more, 3) the superlative degree, having the feature of
unrestricted superiority (which is formed by suffix –est and auxiliary most) + we have
exceptions (good better, the best)

Question 7 Adverb
Adverbs is a notional word expressing a non-substantive property that is a property of a non-
substantive referent. They are characterized by the combinability with verbs (run quickly),
adjectives (very funny), sometimes nouns (the then president). Adverbs may be simple and
derived. Simple adverbs are few (here, there). Typical adverbial affixies are –ly(slowly), -ways
(crossways), -wise (clockwise), - word(s) (afterword), a- (away). There are adverbs wigh have
peculiar composition formation (sometimes, nowhere). Adverbs can be qualitative,
quantitative and circumstantial.
Qualitative adverbs express immediate, non-graded qualities of action . he cried bitterly
Quantitative adverbs express quality, measure or gradational evaluation of qualities. They are
subdivided into 9 groups: 1) adverbs of high degree – very, highly, 2) adverbs of excessive
degree (too, awfully), 3) adverbs of unexpected degree (surprisingly) 4) adverbs of moderate
degree (fairly), 5) adverbs of low degree (bit, slightly), 6) adverbs of approximate degree
(almost), 7) adverbs of optimal degree (enough), 8) adverbs of inadequate degree
(insufficiently), 9) adverbs of under-degree (hardly).
Circumstantial adverbs are divided into notional and functional. Functional circumstantial
adverbs are words of pronominal nature, they are adverb of time, manner, cause, consequence
(here, now, when). There are orientative adverbs which are more self-dependent (today,
already never adv.of time)
Notional adverbs- chka

Question 8 verb time and perfect


The category of tense is a verbal category which reflects the objective category of time and
expresses the relations between the time of the action and the time of the utterance. There are
3 tenses. Past present and future. Each of them may appear in common and continuous aspect.
So here we have 6 tense-aspect forms. Besides these 6 there 2 more namely the future in the
past and the future continuous in the past.
The category of perfect
The present perfect contains the present of the aux.verb “have” and denotes an actions which
no longer takes place. The position of perfect forms is a problems and is viewed in different
ways. The 3 main views should be mentioned.
1.the category of perfect is a special tense category and should be used in the same list as
categories present and past.
2.the category of perfect is a peculiar aspect category as common aspect and continuous aspect
(is writing – has been writing both belong to the continuous aspect)
3 the category of perfect is a specific category different from the categories of tense and
aspect. It is a category of time relation or correlation. In case of writes and had been writing
three oppositions occur together – tense (present past), aspect (continuous) and correlation
(perfect).

Question 9 verb , voice


The category of voice expressed the relation between the subject and the action or between
the subject and the object of the action. The opposition within the category of voice is that
between active and passive (write-is written). The passive voice is marked one (be-participle 2),
whereas the active voice is unmarked (absence of that pattern). Future continuous, present
perfect continuous, past perfect continuous, future perfect continuous don’t have parallel in
the passive. Three other voices have been suggested in addition to the 2 already mentioned.
1.Reflexive. He dressed himself 2. Reciprocal voice they greeted each other.3. middle voice –
the door opened. The separation is based on transitive and intransitive verbs.
(3)In the example I opened the door – open is transitive and the passive will be –be opened.
But in the example the door opened open is intransitive. Another interpretation of these 2
sentences is : the verb in both sentences is the same and the voice is the same, there is no
morphological difference between the, and the difference in meaning and syntactical
construction is not enough for establishing a difference of voice.
(1) reflexive voice is formed by verb+ self-pronoun but self-pronouns are not auxiliary verbs to
derive passive voice and they don’t always perform the function of a direct object. He hurt
himself (direct obj) and he found himself (part of a predicate) in the forest.
(2)formations like love each other fall under reciprocal voice. But in the words each other, one
another is the auxiliary element used for forming a special verb voice. The problem is similar to
that of reflexive voice. If we reject the reflexive voice, we reject the reciprocal voice as well.
So, there is no reciprocal, reflexive and middle voices, there is only passive voice which is
marked in the form and the meaning and active voice which is unmarked in the form and the
meaning.

Question 10
Syntax is the part of grammar with the structure , classification and combinability of phrases
and sentences. There are two types of syntax: the level of phrase and the level of sentence.
Syntax is a part of grammar which deals with syntagmatic relations. Words in utterance form
various syntagmatic connections with one another. There are the following syntagmatic groups:
1.Notional phrases (Notional word+notional word). They have self-dependent nominative
functions: strongly familiar. Notional phrases can be of 2 types: a) words are related to one
another on an equal rank, neither of them is a modifier , b) words are syntactically unequal.
2.Formative phrases (notional word+ functional word). They are not self-dependent, they are
dependent on the context. As a rule
3.Functional phrases (Functional word+ functional word). They are used as connectors of
notional elements - up to.
There are three types of syntactical connection: subordination, coordination, predication. In
subordination the head member of the phrase is the IC with which coincides the syntactical
function of the whole group (A tall boy). In coordination the syntactical function of the whole
group is identical with the syntactical function of all IC (Mary and Jack). In predication the
syntactical function of the whole group is different from the functions of each of the IC. The
syntactical relationship between ICs is domination.
The direct syntactical connection due to which words or phrases are included in a sentence is
syntactical function of a word or phrase. The subordinate element is a part of a sentences due
to its syntactical connection with the headword. The subject becomes a part of a sentence with
its connection with the predicate. One word may be used in different functions. The work is
easey. To work with him is difficult.

Question 12 definition of a sentence. The sentence and the phrase

The phrase and the Sent. are 2 units of Syntax. The difference between them is the following

1)A PHRASE IS A MEAS OF NAMING SOME PHENOMENA OR PROCESS each IC can undergo
grammatical changes without destroying the identity of a phrase (write a letter, is writing a
letter, to write letters). All these are grammatical variations of the same phrase.

2) predication is the most important feature that makes a sentence. The doctor arrives is taken
as a real fact that took place in the past. The reference to reality makes the phrase a sentence.
Predication can be expressed by intonation and the use of finite forms of the verb which have
the categories of number, person, tense, mood aspect and voice and time correlation. The main
element of predication is modality which is expressed by mood, modal verbs, modal words etc.

Sentence is build according to one of the patterns, here are some of them 1) S+P, S+P+O,
S+P+Determiner (he lives here). As a linguistic unit sentence performs 2 functions: nominative
and predicative. The identification of traditional parts od the sentence is the nominative
division (S, P, O< adv. Modifier). Thus, the sentence is a unit of language ad the smallest unit
of communication that expresses more or less complete thought, shows the relation of the
situation of reality, has a definite grammatical form and intonation and performs 2 functions:
nominative and predicative

Question 13 Actual division of the sentence


Alongside with the nominative division of the sentence (sentence division into notional parts)
the idea of actual division of the sentences was put forward. The main components of actual
division of the sentences are the theme and rheme. The theme expresses the starting point of
communication, it denotes an object or phenomenon about which something was reported.
The rheme expresses the basic informative part of the communication. The theme may or may
not coincide with the subject of the sentences, the rheme may or may not coincide with the
predicate of the sentences, e.g in the sentence Alen bounded forward, the theme is expressed
by the subject, whereas the rheme is expressed by the predicate. This kind of division is termed
direct. When the theme is expressed by the predicate and the rheme is expressed by the
subject this division is termed reversed as in the following example: Isn’t it surprising that Tim is
fond of poetry? Mary is fond of poetry, not Tim.
It should be noted that determiners, among them being articles, can be used as a means of
forming certain patterns of actual division, and divide their function so that the definite
determiners identify the theme, while the indefinite determiners identify the rheme. The man
walked up the stairs. A man walked up the stairs.
Actual division of the sentences finds its full expression only in full contexts, so it is sometimes
called contextual division of the sentence.

Question 14 sentence models model of IC, Pike’s model and Transformational model

Syntax is concerned with the study of patterns which is structure of a S minus its lexical units.
To represent S patterns different models have been worked out. There are 5 of them among
them being the model of Immediate constituents, Pike’s model and Transformational model

1) model of Immediate constituents is aimed at showing how words are grouped together
within a sentence, it can be done by bracketing= taking the closely related words in brackets

(the (handsome boy)) (broke(a big vase). But this model doesn’t show some different structures
Mary is eager to please Mary is easy to please> THE Model fails to show the ambiguity of the
sentences

2) Pike’s model represents the sentences structure as a strings of tagmemes – a bilateral unit –
a functional slot with its class filler. John (S;n) saw (P;v)
3) Transformational model is represented into 2 varieties. The first variety id based on the
distinction between kernel sentences, those which cannot be derived from any other sentences
. there are 7 patterns, some of them are N+V John laughed , N+V+O John likes Mary, N+is+N
John is a student etc. all other sentences are transforms of these kernel types. The second
variety of TM suggests that a sentence has a deep structure which determines the meaning and
surface structure which determines the actual form of the sentences used in speech.

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