Фондові лекції викладачів факультету іноземної філології - Частина ІІІ - 2015

РОЗДІЛ 1. Фондові лекції з дисциплін циклу професійної та практичної підготовки для студентів ОКР «Бакалавр»

Г.А. Кришталюк, кандидат філологічних наук, доцент

English Verb: Main Features and Classifications

Дисципліна: теоретична граматика англійської мови

Вид лекції: тематична

Дидактичні цілі:

Навчальні: спонукати студентів до отримання знань з теорії англійської мови, зацікавити їх вивченням граматичної категорії дієслова, розкрити широту та глибину цього явища, палітру його проблем, які потребують вирішення; висвітлити семантичні, морфологічні та синтаксичні властивості англійського дієслова та можливі підходи до його класифікації.

Розвиваючі: виробляти у студентів вміння сприймати теоретичний англомовний матеріал у значному обсязі; формувати навички аналізу почутої на лекції інформації, а також трансформації набутого раніше практичного досвіду з граматики англійської мови у теоретичні знання; тренувати сприйняття, пам'ять, увагу, мислення.

Виховні: прищепити студентам повагу до лінгвістики як науки взагалі та до теоретичної граматики англійської мови зокрема; допомогти відчути необхідність вивчення предмету, який є обов'яковим для фахово-професійної підготовки випускника-англіста.

Міжпредметні та міждисциплінарні зв'язки: історія англійської мови, лексикологія, стилістика та фонетика англійської мови, практична граматика англійської мови, практика усного та писемного мовлення англійської мови, мовознавство.

Основні поняття: category, grammatical category, verb, grammatical meaning, phrasal verb, transitive verb, intransitive verb, finite verb, non-finite verb, notional verb, semi-notional verb, modal verb, link-verb, auxiliary verb, actional verb, statal verb, syntactic valency of verbs.

Навчально-методичне забезпечення: мультимедійна презентація, роздатковий матеріал з тезами лекції; тест; евристичні запитання.

План

1. The category of the English verb

2. The definition and general grammatical meaning of the verb.

3. The main features and classifications of the verb

3.1. Structural

3.2. Morphological

3.3. Semantic

3.4. Functional

3.5. Syntactic

Рекомендована література

1. Бархударов Л.С. Очерки по морфологии современного английского языка. - М. : Высшая школа, 1975.

2. Блох М. Я. Теоретическая грамматика английского языка / М.Я. Блох. - М. Высшая школа, 1983. - C. 85-102.

3. Иванова И.П. Теоретическая грамматика современного английского языка : [учебник] / И.П. Иванова, В.В. Бурлакова, Г.Г. Почепцов. - Москва : Высшая школа, 1981. - 285 с.

4. Прибыток И.И. Лекции по теоретической грамматике английского языка / И.И. Прибыток. - Саратов : Научная книга, 2006. - C. 86-96.

5. Biber D. Longman Student Grammar of Spoken and Written English / D. Biber, S. Conrad, G. Leech. - Harlow : Pearson Education Limited, 2002. - P. 102-141.

6. Brinton Laurel J. The Structure of Modern English. A linguistic introduction / J. Laurel Brinton. - Amsterdam / Philadelphia : John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2000 - P. 8-10; 181-189.

7. Crystal D. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language / D. Crystal. L.; N.Y. : The Cambridge University Press, 1995. - P. 204, 212, 224.

8. Laimutis Valeika An Introductory Course in Theoretical English Grammar / Laimutis Valeika, Janina Buitkiene. - Vilnius Pedagogical University, 2003. - P. 63-71.

9. Langacker R. W. Cognitive Grammar. A Basic Introduction / R. W. Langacker. - N.Y. : Oxford Univ Press, 2008. - 562 p.

10. Morokhovskaya EJ. Fundamentals of Theoretical English Grammar / E. J. Morokhovskaya. — K. : Vysca Skola, 1984. - P. 106-112; 129-142.

11. Quirk R. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language / Quirk R., Greenbaum S., Leech G., Svartvik J. - Longman Group Limited, 1985. - 897 p.

12. The Routledge Dictionary of Language and Linguistics / based on Hadumod Bussmann, translated and edited by Gregory Trauth and Kerstin Kazzazi. - L. ; N.Y. : Routledge, 2006. - 1304 p.

Pre-lecture revision Test

1. The term “grammar” goes back to a

a) Latin word;

b) French word;

c) Greek word.

2. The definition of the term “grammar” depends on

a) the methods and frameworks used to describe a language;

b) usage of a certain language;

c) the structure of this or that language.

3. From the traditional narrow perspective grammar includes

a) such obligatory systemic components as morphology and syntax;

b) phonology and semantics;

c) language on the whole.

4. Theoretical grammar aims to discover

a) specific features of every language;

b) what is universal to all languages; the use of this or that language

5. Predicate

a) represents an actor of an action;

b) represents the situation on the whole being an organizing center of the structure;

c) represents the conditions under which an event is realized.

6. An article marks syntactically

a) a verb phrase;

b) a nominative phrase;

c) a sentence on the whole.

7. In English of-phrase substitutes

a) Dative Case;

b) Genitive Case;

c) Accusative Case.

8. Valency is

a) combinability of elements;

b) distribution of elements;

c) neutralization of elements.

9. Grammatical category is

a) language-particular;

b) world dependent;

c) fully independent, autonomous.

10. The verb represents mainly

a) actions;

b) objects;

c) qualities.

Текст лекції

1. The category of the English verb.

Language, viewed as the object of study, is conceptualized and categorized. Consequently, all language phenomena can be distributed in categories. According to E. J. Morokhovskaya language category is considered to be a general lingual representation of some conceptual category. Grammatical category is in its turn a unity of semblable grammatical meanings signified by appropriate grammatical formants. In such cases both the meanings and their markers are identified as categorical in status.

One of the most consistent theories of the grammatical categories is suggested by L. Barkhudarov. In his opinion in order to call a linguistic phenomenon a grammatical category there must be the following features:

- general grammatical meaning;

- this meaning must consist of at least two particular meanings;

- the particular meanings must be opposed to each other;

- the particular meanings must have constant grammatical means to express them.

The point of the present discussion is the grammatical category of the verb. Different approaches can be taken to its study. But it is unanimously treated as one of the most complex and fundamental grammatical categories representing an event on the whole and being its meaningful focus as it combines the meaning of the predicate and a number of features determined by the semantics of a subject and an object. It has the primary role in establishing the connection between an event named in the utterance and the reality. The question is whether we can establish direct or indirect link between an event and reality by means of the verb. Different linguistic theories give different answers. Much dispute and controversy may be found.

2. The definition and general grammatical meaning of the verb.

Let's go back to the origin of the term “verb”. It is of Latin origin [verbum ‘word'; translation of Greek ‘that which is said; predicate']. The verb can be narrowly and widely defined. According to the narrow view the general categorical meaning of the verb is process (it is also called ‘verbiality'), i.e. dynamic developing in time. The wide approach goes further and states that verbs represent not only processes but all activities in their processual, resultative and stative aspects as well as existence, possession, belonging to a class of objects or things and attitude of the speaker to the world around.

Thus, verbs represent phenomena that indicate development during time: activities, processes, results and states. Let's see the examples.

• Process, e.g. “The changes we're seeing are really drastic,” Tarasova said. “We are seeing the growth rate rising exponentially.”

• Result, e.g. In valedictory speech, Blair declines to name departure date.

• Process + result, e.g. Scientists say that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has been rising since the start of the Industrial Revolution and that the increase has accelerated since the 1990 s.

• State, e.g. They stared at each other in dismay.

From the Cognitive Grammar perspective developed by R. Langacker verb can be characterized at the schema level. The schema for verbs presupposes two fundamental cognitive abilities: the capacity for apprehending relationships and for tracking relationships through time. The verb prototype is the interaction between two objects, motion, dynamic force relations and continuity. Actions are prototypical for the verb category.

3. The main features and classifications of the verb.

The category of the verb is characterized by certain structural, morphological, semantic, functional and syntactic features.

3.1. Structural

Structurally verbs fall into one or single word units and multi-word units. The multi-word verbs usually have idiomatic meanings that cannot be derived from the meaning of each individual words. They are classified into four classes: 1) phrasal verbs; 2) prepositional verbs; 3) phrasal- prepositional verbs; 4) other multi-word verb constructions (e.g., bear in mind, come as a surprise, etc). Phrasal verbs consist of a verb followed by an adverbial particle (e.g., carry out » undertake, find out » discover, pick up, etc). Prepositional verbs consist of a verb followed by a preposition (e.g. look at, listen to, etc). Phrasal-prepositional verbs contain both an adverbial particle and a preposition, (e.g. to get away with).

What are the forms of word-building for verbs?

3.2. Morphological classifications of the verb are based on its structural ability: 1) to enrich the language and 2) to express grammatical meanings of person, number, tense, etc.

New verbs are produced by means of derivational affixes and conversion. Derivational affixes are incomplete units of language that form a new word when they are added to an existing word. Verb prefixes change the meaning but not the word class, e.g. like -dislike, lead - mislead, do - outdo. The most common derivational prefixes are re-, dis-, over-, un-, mis-, out-. Verb suffixes are added to a noun or adjective to create a new verb, e.g. active - activate, simple - simplify. There are a few derivational suffixes used for verb formation: -ize/-ise, -en, -ate, (-i) fy. All four of the most frequent derivational suffixes have a basic meaning of ‘become' or ‘cause to be'.

Verbs produced by means of conversion from nouns are like to head, to face, to nose, to back, to finger, to elbow, etc. Their production is metaphor- based representing a man as a many-sided actor. As a result one verb lexeme can express several categorical meanings, i.e. momentary, e.g. I shouldered the guide aside; processual, e.g. Some men will shoulder it over the mountains; and statal, e.g. We shouldered to the front.

Production of phrasal verbs by means of postpositions and fixed prepositions lead to change of categorical meanings. For instance, the verb see can change its meaning from statal to dynamic, e.g. See to it. See after the child.

Morphologically grammatical meanings are expressed by means of inflections or morphemes. Depending on the usage of the same or different inflections to express the grammatical meaning, verbs are divided into regular and irregular. Regular verbs use the same inflections to mark person, tense, aspect and voice. For example, all regular verbs mark third person singular with an -s suffix and past tense with an -ed suffix. Regular verbs have only four morphological forms, involving only three suffixes, i.e. -(e)s, -ed, -ing.

form use

base infinitive, e.g. to move

present tense except 3^rd person singular, e.g. I walk subjunctive, e.g. he move

base + suffix -(e)s 3^rd person singular present tense, e.g. he walks

base + suffix -ing Present Participle, e.g. sitting

base + suffix -ed Simple Past Tense e.g. he walked

Past Participle, e.g. a written announcement

Irregular verbs have special past tense and past participle forms. There are seven main patterns of irregular verb forms.

3.3. Semantic

Traditional formal and structural grammars as well as generative grammar pay little attention to the semantic aspect of grammatical categories. On the contrary functional and cognitive grammarians consider that all grammatical units are meaningful and their semantic features are of paramount importance.

The category of the verb is characterised by the following semantic features to name but a few:

1) the general meaning of action;

2) verbiality which implies the ability to denote activity, being in some state and process;

3) more or less dependency on the context revealed in the verb division into notional and functional;

4) the general meaning of transitivity/intransitivity of action, i.e. representation of presence or absence of directionality of an action to a certain object;

5) the general meaning of temporality signifying the time distinctions of the action, indicating its time and space limits (terminative - non- terminative verbs; limitive - unlimitive verbs).

Semantic categories of lexical verbs are the following activity verbs, communication verbs, mental verbs, causative verbs, verbs of occurrence, verbs of existence or relationship, verbs of aspect.

Activity verbs refer to an action performed intentionally by an agent or ‘doer' or without his/her will, e.g. He bought biscuits and condensed milk.

Communication verbs describe speech and writing, e.g. He shouted but without any effect.

Mental verbs refer to mental states and activities, e.g. And then I studied Russian at Berkeley.

Causative verbs (allow, cause, urge, force, enable, help) show that some person or things helps to bring a new state of affairs, e.g. This information enables the formulation of precise questions.

Verbs of occurrence report events that occur without an actor, e.g. The lights changed.

Verbs of existence or relationship between entities. The most common of them are copular verbs such as seem and appear, e.g. All these uses seem natural and serviceable. To this group of verbs also belong stay, exist, include, involve, contain.

Verbs of aspect characterize the stage of progress of an event or activity (begin, continue, keep, start, stop etc). These verbs usually occur with a complement clause following the verb, e.g. She kept running out of the room.

Verbs with multiple meanings have more than one meaning, i.e. referring to both physical and mental activity, depending on the context, e.g. raise your hand vs. raise the subject.

Depending on the view taken of an action as changing, unchanging or reaching its final point verbs can be processual, statal and resultative. Processual verbs represent dynamic aspect of an action that goes on in

time, durate and continue, e.g. do, go, develop, move, run etc. Processual or dynamic verbs can be further divided into:

- involuntary excluding will or effort of a subject, e.g. age, bloom, mature, ripen;

- impersonal being used with formal subject it, e.g. rain, snow, blow, drizzle, flow, frost;

Resultative verbs represent achievements, completion of the action and reaching its final point, e.g. receive, get, come, complete, finalize, decline, refuse etc.

Statal verbs denote unchanging situations such as emotional (love, hate, etc), cognitive (understand, review, realize, etc), physical (stand, sit, move, etc) and perceptual states (feel, perceive, hear, etc), bodily sensations (ache, hurt, itch, etc), conditions (be, exist, happen, etc). Among statal verbs there are many with changing lexical and categorical meanings that can represent successive stages in the continuum of conceptualization. For instance, the verb see can represent a chain of successive mental actions aimed at visual processing of the outer signal: 1) sense perception (I see a star.); 2) understanding (Let me see.); 3) knowledge (I see that everybody is in the know of things.); 4) evaluation (You will see how beautiful these mountains are!); 5) judgement (I see great things for that child.).

Besides the given above groups of verbs, other semantic classes of verbs have been singled out as, for example, relative verbs that represent relations of equality/inequality, similarity/difference, equivalence, superiority etc, e.g. equal, match, correlate, apply to, resemble, include.

3.4. Functional

Functional classification of verbs is based on their role in the meaning construction. According to the meaning construction verbs are classified into main and auxiliary. Main verbs occur in the middle of the clause and represent relations between other elements in the sentence, i.e. subject and object. Main verbs have more or less independent meaning that specifies the event. Auxiliary verbs are dependent, occur before the main verb and qualify its meaning, e.g. He could be staying there. In the given example, the auxiliary verb could adds the modal meaning of possibility to the meaning of the main verb staying and the auxiliary verb be signals an ongoing process. Alongside main (also called lexical verbs) and auxiliary verbs primary and modal verbs have been differentiated. Primary verbs (be, have, do) can function both as main and auxiliary verbs depending on the context, e.g. (1) He does my washing. (2) He doesn't look at the numbers. In the example (1) does performs main verb function and in the example (2) doesn't performs auxiliary verb function. The verb be when used as a main verb is termed as copula due to its linking or ‘coupling' function, e.g. He was an art professor. If to look across registers, the verb be is more common in academic prose than in the other registers. On the other hand, lexical verbs prevail in conversation and fiction. But, on the whole, lexical verbs are more common than primary verbs or modal verbs. Modal verbs (can, may, must etc) are used only as auxiliary verbs.

3.5. Syntactic

Main verbs can take different clause elements determining the valency pattern. For example, a clause with verbs go/went can't take a direct object, e.g. * I went the house. But such clause can take an adverbial, e.g. I went into the empty house. In contrast, a clause with a main verb give can take both the direct object and the indirect object, e.g. I could give him a message. In the given example, him is the indirect object and a message is the direct object.

What do they call the syntactic valency of verbs?

The valency patterns are differentiated by the required clause elements that follow the verb within the clause (e.g. direct object, indirect object, subject predicative). All valency patterns include a subject and optional adverbials can also be added. There are five major valency patterns:

1. Intransitive pattern is characterized by the absence of obligatory elements following the verb: Subject + Verb (S + V), e.g. Winter came.

2. Monotransitive pattern is made up of a verb and a single direct object: Subject + Verb + Direct Object (S + V + DO), e.g. She carried a suitcase.

3. Ditransitive pattern is made up of two object phrases: Subject + Verb + Indirect Object + Direct Object (S + V + IO + DO), e.g. He gave us his word.

4. Complex transitive pattern represents a verb that occurs with a direct object (a noun phrase) followed by either 1) an object predicative (a noun phrase or adjective) or 2) an obligatory adverbial:

(1) People called him buddy.

(2) He put his hand on the child's shoulder.

5. Copular pattern represents a copular verb followed by either 1) a subject predicative (noun, adjective, adverb, prepositional phrase) or 2) an obligatory adverbial:

(1) Carrie felt a little less bold.

(2) I'll keep in touch with you.

Ij^· What verb can be referred to as a “pure link-verb”?

Most common verbs allow multiple valency patterns, i.e. more than one valency pattern. For example, speak and help can occur with intransitive and monotransitive valency patterns, e.g. Simon spoke first. The stewards all spoke French. Similarly, find and make can occur in monotransitive or complex transitive valency patterns, e.g. We might find a body. We might find these notes useful. As a rule, the valency pattern of the verb depends on its meaning. And verbs use different valency patterns with different frequencies, e.g. the verb stand is more frequently used as intransitive and the verbs change and meet as monotransitive.

According to the nature of predication (constituting primary and secondary predicative center) all verbs fall into finite and non-finite. Full, notional, lexical verbs are finite as they perform the primary syntactic function of the predicate in the sentence and possess all verbal categories such as person, number, tense, aspect, voice and mood, e.g. I exercise regularly and eat healthily. In the given above sentence verbs exercise and eat are notional, perform the primary syntactic function of the homogeneous predicates and show the explicit representation of present tense, non-continuous aspect, active voice and indicative mood. On the contrary, verb forms that combine features of the verb with other mainly nominal parts of speech are non-finite as they perform the secondary syntactic functions in the sentence and share with finites the grammatical categories of voice and aspect, e.g. She was standing smiling at him.

Thus, the verb is considered be one of the first and foremost language units endowed with a complex system of forms, functions and pervasive communicative power. The point of our further discussion is the categories of the verb proper, i.e. person, number, tense, aspect, voice and mood.