INTRODUCTION

The pronoun is known to be one of the parts of speech that exists in most
languages. The problem of isolating and describing parts of speech is one of the
most controversial in linguistics, causing different, sometimes even polar
interpretations and opinions. Despite the rather detailed study of the parts of
speech in all Indo-European languages, including English, there are still disputes
among scientists about the essence of one or another part of speech, as well as
about approaches to the classification of parts of speech. There is no single,
recognized by most scientists, approach to the consideration of the problem of
classification of parts of speech in English. In linguistics, there are a number of
attempts to construct a classification of parts of speech that would meet the basic
requirement of logical classification and would be based on one single principle.
Many works of such famous linguists as A.I.Smirnitsky, B.A.Ilyish,
L.S.Barkhudarov, M.Suon and etc. However, the classification of parts of speech
continues to be a controversial issue. Until now, there are discrepancies between
linguists regarding the number and nomenclature of parts of speech in various
languages, as well as the assignment of individual words to one or another part of
speech.
The relevance of this study is due to insufficient research into the features of
reflexive pronouns in modern English, the ambiguity of approaches to their
description. The relevance of the research is also determined by the specific
material that formed the basis of the course work.
The aim of the research is to analyze the functional features of reflexive
pronouns in modern English.
In accordance with the goal, this work sets the following tasks:
1) On the basis of scientific works on the problem under study, consider the
general characteristics of the pronoun as a part of speech;
2) Consider the features of reflexive pronouns in modern English;
3) Using specific examples from English-language fiction identify the
features of reflexive pronouns in modern English.
4) Analyze the functions performed by reflexive pronouns in the texts of
fiction.
The object of research in our course work is reflexive pronouns in modern
English.
The subject of the research is the functional features of reflexive pronouns in
modern English.
The main research methods used in our work are the method of continuous
sampling, the comparison method, the method of analyzing sources devoted to the
problem under consideration, generalization of data, description of the features of
reflexive pronouns and their classification.
The practical significance of the research results is determined by the
contribution to the solution of such linguistic problems as the analysis and
description of parts of speech in English, the identification of the peculiarities of
the use of reflexive pronouns. The research results can be used in further scientific
research, in the analysis and translation of English-language literary and
journalistic texts into Russian, in the training of linguists and translators, as well as
in teaching English as a foreign language.
Volume and structure of work. Course work consists of an introduction, two
chapters, a conclusion, a list of used scientific literature, a list of sources of factual
material.
The introduction substantiates the relevance of the research, formulates its
goals and objectives, and describes the subject, object, research material, its
practical significance, as well as the methods used in the work.
In the first chapter, based on the analysis of scientific literature, the features
of reflexive pronouns in the English language are considered.
The second chapter of the course work analyzes the features of the
functioning of reflexive pronouns in modern English.
In the conclusion, the results of the study are described and summarized,
conclusions are drawn.
 1 Theoretical aspect of studying pronouns

1.1 The problem of highlighting parts of speech

As you know, the entire vocabulary of English, like all Indo-European

languages, is subdivided into certain lexical and grammatical classes, traditionally
called parts of speech. The existence of such classes does not raise doubts among
any of the linguists, although their interpretation is not the same for different
scientists. The basic principles of this division into categories, which have existed
since ancient times, were formulated by L.V. Shcherba: these are lexical meaning,
morphological form and syntactic functioning [1].
Today, speaking about parts of speech, as a rule, they mean the grammatical
grouping of lexical units of the language, that is, the allocation of certain groups or
categories in the vocabulary of the language, characterized by certain grammatical
features. Y.S. Maslov notes that the grammatical categories characterizing the
words of one or another part of speech do not coincide or do not completely
coincide in different languages, but in any case, they are due to the general
grammatical meaning of this class of words, that is, they are due to the "general
category", under which the lexical meaning is brought. Parts of speech form in
each language an interconnected dismembered system, where the connections of
different parts of speech are different, therefore, according to A.A. Reformatsky, it
is wrong to arrange all parts of speech in one indifferent row. Words as a building
material, being at the disposal of grammar, receive, first of all, the meaning of one
or another part of speech, which affects not only their syntactic use and the ability
or inability to certain combinations, but also their morphological properties, as
word-formation, and inflectional. The general attribution to a particular part of
speech is determined by the grammatical meaning of this category, that is, the part
of speech [2].
When qualifying a word as a part of speech, first of all, one should pay
attention to its morphological properties both in relation to inflection and in
relation to word formation, because different parts of speech not only have
different inflectional paradigms, but also different "direction" of word formation,
which also forms a paradigm.
As for the syntactic criterion, the usual position about which member of a
sentence is a given word does little, due to the fact that there is no strictly fixed
parallelism between parts of speech and members of the sentence; much more
important is the criterion of "compatibility", on the basis of which we can say that
in the examples "He is used to laughing cheerfully" and "Today I have so much
fun laughing" the word "fun" is two different parts of speech, since the first "fun"
is the defining term for the infinitive, and the second "fun" is the term being
defined with the same infinitive [3].
Summing up the results of a brief examination of the characteristics of parts
of speech, one can, following A.A. Reformatsky, conclude that parts of speech are
grammatical categories, the composition and location of which in each language
are special, and they are determined by a set of morphological and syntactic
differences and capabilities, and not by their own lexical properties.
The traditional system of parts of speech is based on the principle of
common grammatical meaning. However, according to Y.S. Maslov, this principle
is not consistently carried out in it, different types of common grammatical
meanings are not differentiated, as a result of which some headings that actually
intersect turn out to be located in this system in one line.
When classifying parts of speech, one begins by identifying larger classes of
words than individual parts of speech. These are, first of all, the classes of
significant and service words, each covering several parts of speech of the
traditional scheme. Significant parts of speech include those units that have lexical
meaning, i.e., concepts are called: table, dog, joy, strength; to bring, to cry, to
enumerate; big, difficult; soon, well. In other words, they denote permanent
denotations. Possessing a lexical meaning, words of significant parts of speech are
able to occupy certain syntactic positions in a sentence, i.e., function as members
of a sentence, and also be the nucleus of a phrase. Thus, in the delimitation of the
significant parts of speech from the service ones, the lexical and syntactic criteria
coincide. Morphological properties are also to a certain extent attached to them:
only significant parts of speech have inflection. However, among the significant
parts of speech, not all have the inflection paradigm; therefore, the morphological
feature is not restrictive in all cases [4].
Within the class of significant words, words-names and indicative-
substitutive words are distinguished. In the English language, the forms of word
formation and inflection are very often not signs that distinguish one part of speech
from another, since a huge number of English words do not have characteristic
suffixes indicating their belonging to one or another part of speech, and the number
of grammatical endings is extremely limited.
According to the traditional classification, the following parts of speech are
distinguished in modern English:
1) The Noun
2) The Adjective
3) The Numeral
4) The Pronoun
5) The Verb
6) The Adverb
7) The Preposition
8) The Conjunction
9) The Interjection
Noun, adjective, numeral, pronoun, verb and adverb are independent words.
They designate objects, their properties, their actions, etc. and have syntactic
functions in a sentence.