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SEMINAR 1
FUNDAMENTALS OF THEORETICAL GRAMMAR

1. Theoretical Comment.

Definition of language. Distinction between language and speech.

Language as a semiotic system: its functions, elements and structure.
Hierarchical relations between units of different levels. Morphology and syntax -
the two main branches of grammar. Grammar as a branch of linguistics.
Theoretical and practical grammar. Syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations
between lingual units; syntagmatic and paradigmatic relations in grammar. The
definition of morpheme. The word and the morpheme, their correlation.
Intermediary phenomena between the word and the morpheme. Traditional
classification of morphemes: positional criterion; semantic criterion. Other types
of morphemes. The "allo-emic" theory in morphology: morphs, allomorphs and
morphemes. Distributional analysis in morphology; three types of distribution.
Grammatical meaning and the means of its expression. Grammatical category
and the principles of its organization.

2. Practice.

1. Match the following terms to their Ukrainian equivalents. Explain their

meaning.
language - мова morpheme - морфема
speech - мовлення morph - морф
sign – знак allomorph - аломорф
semiotic system - семіотична distribution - дистрибуція
(знакова) система
lingual unit - мовна одиниця segmental - сегментний
hierarchical relations - ієрархічні supra-segmental -
відношення супра-/(над-)сегментний
the plane of content - план змісту suppletivity - суплетивізм
the plane of expression - план analytical word-form - аналітична
вираження словоформа

2. Match the terms for basic grammar notions to their definitions:

1. grammar F a. …a structured set of elements related to each other by a
common function of giving expression to human thoughts.
2. grammatical b. … a system of opposed grammatical forms with
system B homogeneous grammatical meaning.
3. grammatical c. …the meaning recurrent in identical sets of individual
structure A forms of different words.
4. linguistic level D d. …a hierarchy of grammatical levels.
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5. grammatical e. …a class of homogeneous units with the same functional

meaning C and structural features, which have constituent relations
with units of the higher level.
6. grammatical f. …a part of linguistics which studies the grammatical
form system and structure of the language, excluding phonemics
G and lexis.
7. grammatical g. …a word form, which expresses grammatical meaning
category E

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3. Explain the phenomena of polysemy, homonymy, and synonymy in
terms of correspondence of the two planes: content and expression. Which of
these phenomena are illustrated by the following examples? Give comments.

1) likes – Tom’s – dogs;
He’s justэнэлитикал left.
– It was a just reward.
Fenomy of omonimy
2) I often visit them. 3) oxen – cacti – feet –
(habitual action) - The wolves – sheep_;аламорф
train leaves at 5. Are you going somewhere
(timetable) - I see what tonight? - Will you go
you mean. (present somewhere tonight? -
moment); Will you be going
I must leave immediately. somewhere tonight?
– She must be at home by Synonymy, proposimic
now.comlain of diferent
plain content

4. The table shows the hierarchy of the basic lingual units. Fill in the gaps in it
with the appropriate terms and speak about the organisation of the language
system.

Language levels In language system In speech

and sublevels
Textual (supra- Textual pattern Textual unity
sentential) level
b) proposemic Proposeme (sentence __utterance________
(sentential sublevel pattern) _____
a) phrasemic
(phrase) sublevel Phrase pattern Syntagma
(phraseme)
Syntactic level
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b) lexemic _________________ Word-form

sublevel _ll lexem
_wordform
a) morphemic Morpheme alaform
sublevel

Lexical level
Phonemic level phonems Allophone

4. a) Identify the types of relations the underlined elements stand in:

a) a girl – girls– a girl’s – girls’ paradigmatic
b) a traveler’s guide – a guide for travelers paradigmatic; cleverer – more
clever; paradigmatic
c) some milk – a glass of milk – little milk – a lot of milk; paradigmatic
d) a nice dress; dent||ist; syntagmatic
e) you and me; syntagmatic
f) Time flies. syntagmatic

b) Give your own examples of various paradigmatic and syntagmatic

relations between phonetic, lexical, and grammatical lingual units.

5. Complete the statements with the words from the word-bank below.
According to the positional criterion morphemes can be root and affixal.
Affixes are derivational (or word- building) if they form new words and
inflectional (or word-changing)if they express different grammatical meanings.
As to their contribution to the general meaning of the word morphemes can
be grammatical, lexical, and lexico-grammatical .
They are free if they can exist alone and bound if otherwise.

6. a) Divide each word into morphemes. Identify and characterize the

morphemes (root / derivational affix / inflectional affix; lexical / lexico-
grammatical / grammatical; bound / free; discontinuous / zero / inner inflection):

Example:
dis - qual - ifi - ed
Derivatio Root Derivatio Inflectio
nal affix , nal affix nal affix
(prefix), lexic (suffix), (inflectio
lexico- al, lexico- n),
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grammat boun grammat grammat

ical, d ical, ical,
bound bound bound

Appear(lexical,free)ance(bound,derivation, lexical),
play(lexical,free)ful(derivation, Bound, lexical),
geese (lexical, free)
mice (lexical, free) ,
dis(Derivational affix (prefix), lexico-grammatical, bound)
organize(lexical,free)d (Inflectional affix (inflection), grammatical, bound),
has(grammatical morpheme) mention(lexical,free)ed(Inflectional affix
(inflection), grammatical, bound),
boy (lexical, free),
dog(lexical, free)’s,
more(grammatical word morpheme) beauti(lexical,bound)ful(derivation,
Bound, lexical),
over(Derivational affix (prefix), lexico-grammatical, bound)
react(lexical,free)s(Inflectional affix (inflection), grammatical, bound),,
Less(grammatical word morpheme) desira(lexical,bound)able(derivation,
Bound, lexical),,
will be(free, morphem) visit(lexical,bound)ing(Inflectional affix (inflection),
grammatical, bound),
sit(lexical, free) down(lexical, free),
build(lexical, free)ing(Inflectional affix (inflection), grammatical,
bound)s(Inflectional affix (inflection), grammatical, bound),
necessit (lexical,bound) ate(derivation, Bound, lexical)s(Inflectional affix
(inflection), grammatical, bound),,
flatten(lexical,free)ed (Inflectional affix (inflection), grammatical,
bound),
help(lexical,free) less (bound,derivation, lexical), ly(bound,derivation,
lexical)

7. Analyze the distribution of the indefinite article. Are forms ‘a’ and ‘an’
free variants or is their use determined by the environment? Justify your answer.

8. What type of distribution are the following morphs in? Do they

represent…
a) different morphemes,
b) variants of the same morpheme (allo-morphs), or
c) free variants of the same morpheme?

1) started – stopped – opened;

2) stops – stopped – stopping;
3) learned – learnt;
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Literature:
1. Блох М. Я. Теоретическая грамматика английского языка. — М.:
Высш. школа, 1983. – C. 6-37.
2. Rayevska N.M. Modern English Grammar. – Kyiv: Vysca Skola
Publishers, 1976. – P. 21-30, 37-45, 60-66.
3. Иванова И.П., Бурлакова В.В.. Почепцов Г.Г. Теоретическая
грамматика английского языка. – М.: Высш. шк., 1981. – С. 4-20.