The Reasons for frequent use of Passive Voice

Main - it makes possible to change word order in a sentence.

It's been discovered that the end position is connected w/new info, end position is the most strongly stressed in a Sentence: e/g The boy wrote a letter

A litter was written by the boy

1st Sent: the center of communication is a letter, the info is new

2nd Sent: centre is "by the boy"

These Ss are parallel, can be used in different communicative situation.

In majority of Eng passive Ss the doer of the action isn't mentioned.It happens b/c the doer isn't known or can't be easily stated.

e/g The house was broken into and a few things were stolen. Sometimes the doer isn't mentioned cuz it's self-evident e/g He was elected an MP

When the "by-phrase" is absent, the listener's attention is shifted to other parts of the Sentence. e.g Roger was invited to dinner.

Other reasons:

ð There are several passive constructions in Eng

ð Many Vs in Ene take a direct obj and the direct Constr is widely used.

 

 

The category of case

Case = the form of a N which shows the relations of this N to other Ws in a sentence. Case helps to define the syntactic function of a W in a sentence. In English case is a morphological category, for it is represented by 2 different forms of a noun: 2 cases.

1) the common case (the form is unmarked)

2) the possessive case (genitive) (marked by ‘s. In speech - phonologicaliy conditioned aliomorphs)

In plural nouns the case morpheme & the morpheme of number often coincide. The presence of the genitive case is shown by ‘only (boys').

Common case (CC): the meaning is broad, shows that this or that N is not genitive; can be used in any syntactic f-n in a sentence. Frequent use of Ns in CC (98% of ail Ns).

Genitive case (GC):

1. Mainly applied to Ns denoting animate objects. BUT: often used with Ns denoting measure/space {a year's absence)

2. Ns in GC are mainly used as attributes to other Ns. Can be used as subject {John's is a nice car).

NB Animate objects: can be called 'he/she' and referring to them we. can use 'who'. BUT: a car, a ship - can be replaced by 'he/she', but no 'who'.

Ns which can be substituted only by 'it', BUT can form GC {the committee's report). The meaning of GC is difficult to define. Several types (transformational method):

meaning Example Analysis
1. possessive genitive John's car My friend's room key-W - 'to have' (John has a car). Most frequent M
2. subjective genitive the doctor's advice Mary's beauty = the doctor advised Mary is beautiful
3. objective genitive John's surprise The man's release 1) John was surprised The man was released 2) sb surprised John sb released the man
4. adverbial genitive Two hours' work A month's absence Sb worked for 2 hours Sb was absent for a month
5. equation genitive A mile's distance An arm's length Distance is a mile Length is an arm
6. genitive of destination Children's books Ladies' dresses Books are for children Dresses are for ladies

Other meanings of GC are difficult to define and may be individual in each case {yesterday's paper, father's generation, Beethoven's symphony).

The number of cases in modern English:

2or3?

3-case system: in Old English - a universal 3-case system for Ns and proNs

(nominative: boy, he: genitive: boy's, his; objective: boy, him)

BUT: the gr sys of English has changed a lot, if proNs retained their 3-case sys, not

necessarily Ns have it. The form 'his' can hardly be considered to be a case form of a

personal proN.

Curm: case= a form of a N which shows its syntactic function in the S.Includes here certain relations which are shown by prepositions/context/position in the S. Various syntactic functions of a N. Uses old English: there syntactic functions were signalled by

inflections, now they’ve disappeared – not clear why the position of a N should be regarded as its case form. Confuses morphological and syntactic factors as well as facts of modern and old English .

Проф. Воронцова; non-traditional point of view on the number of cases of N - the

category of case doesn't exist; ‘s- "a formant s" (формант).

Reasons:

1.the use of `s is not obligatory/ can be substituted by an of-prase. In Russian inflections are obligatory,

2.the formant `s can be added to a limited number of Ns, mainly denoting living beings. In Russian all Ns have case inflections.

3.is not added to plural Ns ending in -s

4. `s can be added to Ns and some adverbs (yesterday's paper), but adverbs in English are indeclinable

5.`s can be used with 'group possessives' (Peter and Paul's father)

All this makes `s different from real case inflections, reminds rather of a function W, very similar to preposition (expresses a certain type of gram relations) but placed after the W and not before = postposition (послелог). Смирницкий не согласен с этой умной женщиной:

1. `s is mainly added to nouns => a case inflection

2. in group genitives words are so closely connected that they can be treated as compound Ns

3. `s can hardly be called a word at all, because it consists of 1 consonant. It can be assimilated in speech. Assimilation is typical of morphemes.

Analytical cases

Regular use of certain prepositions to express case relations:

To go to London

To arrive in London

To leave for London

BUT there are no analytical cases:

1) case is a morphological category and prepositional phrases belong to the sphere of syntax

2) the amount of meanings expressed by prepositions and the meanings of cases do not coincide completely

3) combinations of nouns and various prepositions are too numerous to be interpreted as case forms, so the number of cases becomes practically unlimited.

Adjective

In grammar, an adjective is a 'describing' word; the main syntactic role of which is to qualify a noun or noun phrase, giving more information about the object signified.[1]

Adjectives are one of the traditional eight English parts of speech, although linguists today distinguish adjectives from words such as determiners that formerly were considered to be adjectives. In this paragraph, "traditional" is an adjective, and in the preceding paragraph, "main" is.

Many languages, including English, distinguish between adjectives, which qualify nouns and pronouns, and adverbs, which modify verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs. Not all languages have exactly this distinction and many languages, including English, have words that can function as both. For example, in English fast is an adjective in "a fast car" (where it qualifies the noun car), but an adverb in "he drove fast" (where it modifies the verb drove). In Dutch and German, almost all adjectives are implicitly also adverbs, without any difference in form.

Linguists today distinguish determiners from adjectives, considering them to be two separate parts of speech (or lexical categories), but formerly determiners were considered to be adjectives in some of their uses. In English dictionaries, which typically still do not treat determiners as their own part of speech, determiners are often recognizable by being listed both as adjectives and as pronouns. Determiners are words that are neither nouns nor pronouns, yet reference a thing already in context. Determiners generally do this by indicating definiteness (as in a vs. the), quantity (as in one vs. some vs. many), or another such property.

A given occurrence of an adjective can generally be classified into one of four kinds of uses:

Attributive adjectives are part of the noun phrase headed by the noun they modify; for example, happy is an attributive adjective in "happy people". In some languages, attributive adjectives precede their nouns; in others, they follow their nouns; and in yet others, it depends on the adjective, or on the exact relationship of the adjective to the noun. In English, attributive adjectives usually precede their nouns in simple phrases, but often follow their nouns when the adjective is modified or qualified by a phrase acting as an adverb. For example: "I saw three happy kids", and "I saw three kids happy enough to jump up and down with glee." See also Postpositive adjective.

Predicative adjectives are linked via a copula or other linking mechanism to the noun or pronoun they modify; for example, happy is a predicate adjective in "they are happy" and in "that made me happy." (See also: Predicative expression, Subject complement.)

Absolute adjectives do not belong to a larger construction (aside from a larger adjective phrase), and typically modify either the subject of a sentence or whatever noun or pronoun they are closest to; for example, happy is an absolute adjective in "The boy, happy with his lollipop, did not look where he was going."

Nominal adjectives act almost as nouns. One way this can happen is if a noun is elided and an attributive adjective is left behind. In the sentence, "I read two books to them; he preferred the sad book, but she preferred the happy", happy is a nominal adjective, short for "happy one" or "happy book". Another way this can happen is in phrases like "out with the old, in with the new", where "the old" means, "that which is old" or "all that is old", and similarly with "the new". In such cases, the adjective functions either as a mass noun (as in the preceding example) or as a plural count noun, as in "The meek shall inherit the Earth", where "the meek" means "those who are meek" or "all who are meek".

An adjective acts as the head of an adjectival phrase. In the simplest case, an adjectival phrase consists solely of the adjective; more complex adjectival phrases may contain one or more adverbs modifying the adjective ("very strong"), or one or more complements (such as "worth several dollars", "full of toys", or "eager to please"). In English, attributive adjectival phrases that include complements typically follow their subject ("an evildoer devoid of redeeming qualities").

In many languages, including English, it is possible for nouns to modify other nouns. Unlike adjectives, nouns acting as modifiers (called attributive nouns or noun adjuncts) are not predicative; a beautiful park is beautiful, but a car park is not "car". In plain English, the modifier often indicates origin ("Virginia reel"), purpose ("work clothes"), or semantic patient ("man eater"), however, it may generally indicate almost any semantic relationship. It is also common for adjectives to be derived from nouns, as in boyish, birdlike, behavioral, famous, manly, angelic, and so on.

Many languages have special verbal forms called participles that can act as noun modifiers. In many languages, including English, participles are historically adjectives, and have retained most of their original function as such. English examples of this include relieved (the past participle of the verb relieve, used as an adjective in sentences such as "I am so relieved to see you"), spoken (as in "the spoken word"), and going (the present participle of the verb go, used as an adjective in sentences such as "Ten dollars per hour is the going rate").

Other constructs that often modify nouns include prepositional phrases (as in "a rebel without a cause"), relative clauses (as in "the man who wasn't there"), other adjective clauses (as in "the bookstore where he worked"), and infinitive phrases (as in "a cake to die for").

In relation, many nouns take complements such as content clauses (as in "the idea that I would do that"); these are not commonly considered modifiers, however.

In many languages, attributive adjectives usually occur in a specific order. In general, the adjective order in English is:[3][4]

Determiners — articles, adverbs, and other limiters.

Observation — postdeterminers and limiter adjectives (e.g., a real hero, a perfect idiot) and adjectives subject to subjective measure (e.g., beautiful, interesting), or objects with a value (e.g., best, cheapest, costly)

Size and Shape — adjectives subject to objective measure (e.g., wealthy, large, round), and physical properties such as speed.

Age — adjectives denoting age (e.g., young, old, new, ancient, six-year-old).

Color — adjectives denoting color (e.g., red, black, pale).

Origin — denominal adjectives denoting source of noun (e.g., French, American, Canadian).

Material — denominal adjectives denoting what something is made of (e.g., woolen, metallic, wooden).

Qualifier — final limiter, often regarded as part of the noun (e.g., rocking chair, hunting cabin, passenger car, book cover).

So, in English, adjectives pertaining to size precede adjectives pertaining to age ("little old", not "old little"), which in turn generally precede adjectives pertaining to color ("old white", not "white old"). So, we would say "One (quantity) nice (opinion) little (size) round (shape) old (age) white (color) brick (material) house."

This order may be more rigid in some languages than others; in some, like Spanish, it may only be a default (unmarked) word order, with other orders being permissible.

Due partially to borrowings from French, English has some adjectives that follow the noun as postmodifiers, called postpositive adjectives, such as time immemorial and attorney general. Adjectives may even change meaning depending on whether they precede or follow, as in proper: They live in a proper town (a real town, not a village) vs. They live in the town proper (in the town itself, not in the suburbs). All adjectives can follow nouns in certain constructions, such as tell me something new.

In many languages, some adjectives are comparable. For example, a person may be "polite", but another person may be "more polite", and a third person may be the "most polite" of the three. The word "more" here modifies the adjective "polite" to indicate a comparison is being made, and "most" modifies the adjective to indicate an absolute comparison (a superlative).

Many adjectives do not lend themselves to comparison, however. For example, it does not make sense to speak of something that is "more here" than another, or of something "most here". Such adjectives are called non-comparable.

Comparable adjectives are also known as gradable adjectives, because they tend to allow grading adverbs such as "very", "rather", and so on.

Among languages that allow adjectives to be compared, different means are used to indicate the comparison. Many languages do not distinguish comparative from superlative forms.

In English, there are three different means to indicate comparison: most simple adjectives take the suffixes "-er" and "-est", as

"big", "bigger", "biggest";

a very few adjectives are irregular:

"good", "better", "best",

"bad", "worse", "worst",

"old", "elder", "eldest" (in certain contexts only; the adjective is usually regular)

"far", "farther/further", "farthest/furthest"

"many", "more", "most" (usually regarded as an adverb or determiner)

"little", "less", "least";

all others are compared by means of the words "more" and "most". There is no simple rule to decide which means is correct for any given adjective, however. The general tendency is for simpler adjectives, and those from Anglo-Saxon to take the suffixes, while longer adjectives and those from French, Latin, Greek do not—but sometimes sound of the word is the deciding factor.

Even most non-comparable English adjectives may however sometimes be compared; for example, one might say that a language about which nothing is known is "more extinct" than a well-documented language with surviving literature but no speakers, or say that in an egalitarian society, some people are "more equal" than others. These cases may be viewed as statements about the degree to which the subject fits the adjective's definition, rather than the degree of intensity of the adjective.

 

British Accent

Side by side with the literary pronunciation there aresomelocal variants which differ from the non.The English pronunciation differs in the North and in the South, in the West and in the East of Britain; most of the deviations from the average spoken English are observed in the Northern part.In the North of England the following peculiaritiesof pronun­ciation in the vowels are noted;

1) The diphthongs are less distinct with the finalelementbeing still weaker, as in “cloak” [klɜυk], “take” [teɪk].

2) In unstressed positions [ə] is pronounced insteadof [ɪ]: “holiday” [ˈhɒlədɪ], “remember” [rəˈmembə].

3) [æ] is replaced by an advanced [a], as in “travel” [ˈtravəl].

4) [ɛ] is substituted for [e], as in “attempt” [əˈtɛmt].

5) The long [ɔ:] is diphthongized and pronounced as [ɒə]: “more” [mɒə], “door” [dɒə].

In the consonants the main differences are in the pronunciat­ion of [w] and [r] the sonorous consonant [w] is pronounced by many Englishmen as a voiceless fricative [M]; the rolled (or flapped) [r] is pronounced after the vowels and at the end of words.Scottish English. Peculiarities in the pronunciation of vowels:

1) Monophthongs are pronounced instead of many diphthongs:[əυ], [eɪ], [ɪə], [ɛə] and [υə] as in “road” [rod], “take” [tek], “here” [hɪr], “there” [ðer], [ðe:r], “poor” [pu:r], “pure” [pjυr].

2) [æ], [ɑ:] and [ɒ] are replaced by [a]: “bad” [bad], “glass” [glas], “water” ['watər].

3) Such pairs of vowels as [ɔ:], [ɒ] and [u:], [υ] are not discerned, [ɒ] being pronounced instead of [ɔ:] and [υ] instead of [u:].

4) [e] is articulated more openly – [ɛ] “strength” [strɛŋƟ].

5) [ɜ:] may be replaced by [ɛ], [ɪ], [ə] and [υ] as in “tern” [tərn], [tɛrn], [tυrn]; dirty [ˈdɪrtɪ].The pronunciation of consonants differs in such cases

1) The dark [ł] pronounced in all positions

2) A rolled [r] is pronounced in all positions, for example: “there” [ðɛ:r] and “morning” ['mornɪŋ].

3) A backlingual fricative [χ] is peculiar of Scottish Eng­lish, as in “thought” [Ɵɒχt] and “loch” [lɒχ

4) In such words as “light” and “night” a palatal fricative [ς]is pronounced: [nɪςt]

5) [Μ] is pronounced instead of [w]: “which” [Μɪtʃ] or “when” [Μen].

6) The range of the Scottish intonation is narrower and the word stress is weaker, which makes the intonation rather mono­tonous.

Irish English. InIreland the pronunciations of vowels differ in the following manner

1) Substitution of [e] for [ɪ], [ɪ], as in “tea” [te]

2) Pronunciation of [ɑ:] instead of [æ] “bad” [bɑ:d]

3) The diphthong [aɪ] is replaced by [ɔɪ] at the beginning and in the middle of the words: “ice” [ɔɪs], “night” [nɔɪt]

4) [ɒ] is used instead of [ɔ:] as in “soft” [sɒft].

As to the consonants, the following differences should be­ noted

1) [d] and [t] are pronounced instead of [θ] and [ð] as in “this” [dɪs] and “bathe” [bed]

2) [ʃ] is substituted for [s] before consonants, for example “sleep” [ʃlɪ:p]

3) The final [d] may be omitted: “land” [lɑ:n]

4) [Μ] is beard instead of [w], as in “when” [Μen].

The intonation of an Irishman has a wider range, with the fall and the rise of the melody being more abrupt.

The Irish vowels, especially “o”,”e” and sonorants “n” and “l” sound longer, which lends a special shade to the speech. This is called “the Irish lilt”.

Southern dialects are spoken in Backinshire, Essex, Surrey, London area, Hertfordshire.

RP SD

[ʌ] blood [æɪ];

[æ] bag [ε, εɪ];

[ɪ] very [ɪ:];

[ɔ:] pause [ɒ];

[eɪ] lady [æɪ, aɪ];

[3ʋ] soak [æʋ];

[aʋ] now [æə];

[θ, ð] thing [f, v];

[ð] that [d] [dɪs] [dæd];

[l] may be vocalized;

table [teɪbu:];

[ŋ] is omitted in [ɪŋ];

[t] top, tea [ts] [tsɒp] [tsɪ:].

Estuary English. Spoken in the South of England, EE is almost certainly the result of the growth of comprehensive state schools, which were firmly established by the 1970s. From that decade onwards an overwhelming majority of teenage pupils, from all but the upper classes, found themselves studying together. RP-speaking pupils felt uncomfortably posh, while those with broad localizable accents felt rather unsophisticated. The accent accommodation or leveling process which ensued led to the creation of EE. This new metropolitan speech has spread northwards as far as East Anglia and westwards to Cornwall. The most significant aspect of EE is its pronunciation, with its diphthongs, vocalizing of [l] and glottaling of [t] being the most distinctive sounds. Compare:

RP EE
Vowels
ɪ i: in word final position
i: i: or əi:
æ æe/æɪ
eɪ ɑɪ
ɑυ eɑυ
ɪə ɜɪə
ɑυ υ
ɔɪ ɑɪ
u: əu:
əl ʌw

Consonants

j Frequent yod dropping: RP /tj/ to EE [ʧ], giving ‘tune’ as [ʧəu:n]
l dark [l] realized as [þ]
r Generally has a different quality with slight retroflexion
t [?] Glottal stop is in frequent use in non-initial positions.

 

19. The Great Vowel Shift was a major change in the pronunciation of the English language that took place in England between 1350 and 1700. The Great Vowel Shift was first studied by Otto Jespersen (1860–1943), a Danish linguist and Anglicist, who coined the term.

Because English spelling was becoming standardized in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Great Vowel Shift is responsible for many of the peculiarities of English spelling.

The main difference between the pronunciation of Middle English and Modern English is in the value of the long vowels, described as the Great Vowel Shift. Vowels of Middle English had "continental" values much like those remaining in Spanish and liturgical Latin. However, during the Great Vowel Shift, the two highest long vowels became diphthongs, and the other five underwent an increase in tongue height with one of them coming to the front ([uː]).

The principal changes (with the vowels shown in IPA) are roughly as follows.[5] However, exceptions occur, the transitions were not always complete, and there were sometimes accompanying changes in orthography:

Middle English [aː] (ā) fronted to [æː] and then raised to [ɛː], [eː] and in many dialects diphthongized in Modern English to [eɪ] (as in make; the [aː] in the Middle English words in question had arisen earlier from lengthening of short a in open syllables and from French loan words, rather than from original Old English ā, because the latter had in the meantime been raised to Middle English [ɔː].)

Middle English [ɛː] raised to [eː] and then to modern English [iː] (as in beak).

Middle English [eː] raised to Modern English [iː] (as in feet).

Middle English [iː] diphthongized to [ɪi], which was most likely followed by [əɪ] and finally Modern English [aɪ] (as in mice).

Middle English [ɔː] raised to [oː], and in the 18th century this became Modern English [oʊ] or [əʊ] (as in boat).

Middle English [oː] raised to Modern English [uː] (as in boot).

Middle English [uː] was diphthongized in most environments to [ʊu], and this was followed by [əʊ], and then Modern English [aʊ] (as in mouse) in the 18th century. Before labial consonants, this shift did not occur, and [uː] remains as in soup and room (its Middle English spelling was roum).

This means that the vowel in the English word same was in Middle English pronounced [aː] (similar to modern psalm); the vowel in feet was [eː] (similar to modern fate); the vowel in wipe was [iː] (similar to modern weep); the vowel in boot was [oː] (similar to modern boat); and the vowel in mouse was [uː] (similar to modern moose).

The effects of the shift were not entirely uniform, and differences in degree of vowel shifting can sometimes be detected in regional dialects both in written and in spoken English. In Northern English, the long back vowels remained unaffected, the long front vowels having undergone an earlier shift.[6] In Scotland, Scots differed in its input to the Great Vowel Shift, the long vowels [iː], [eː] and [aː] shifted to [ei], [iː] and [eː] by the Middle Scots period, [oː] had shifted to [øː] in Early Scots and [uː] remained unaffected.[7]

The effect of the Great Vowel Shift may be seen very clearly in the English names of many of the letters of the alphabet. A, B, C and D are pronounced /eɪ, biː, siː, diː/ in today's English, but in contemporary French they are /a, be, se, de/. The French names (from which the English names are derived) preserve the qualities of the English vowels from before the Great Vowel Shift. By contrast, the names of F, L, M, N and S (/ɛf, ɛl, ɛm, ɛn, ɛs/) remain the same in both languages, because "short" vowels were largely unaffected by the Shift.

Not all words underwent certain phases of the Great Vowel Shift. ea in particular did not take the step to [iː] in several words, such as great, break, steak, swear, and bear. The vowels mentioned in words like break or steak underwent shortening, possibly due to the plosives following the vowels, and then diphthongization. The presence of [r] in swear and bear caused the vowel quality to be retained, though not in all cases. Other examples are father, which failed to become [ɛː], and broad, which failed to become [oʊ]. The word room, which was spelled as roum in Middle English, retains its Middle English pronunciation, so it is an exception to the shifting of [uː] to [aʊ]. This is because it is followed by m, a labial consonant.

Shortening of long vowels at various stages produced further complications. ea is again a good example, shortening commonly before coronal consonants such as d and th, thus: dead, head, threat, wealth etc. (This is known as the bred–bread merger.) oo was shortened from [uː] to [ʊ] in many cases before k, d and less commonly t, thus book, foot, good etc. Some cases occurred before the change of [ʊ] to [ʌ]: blood, flood. Similar, yet older shortening occurred for some instances of ou: could.

Note that some loanwords, such as soufflé and Umlaut, have retained a spelling from their origin language that may seem similar to the previous examples; but, since they were not a part of English at the time of the Great Vowel Shift, they are not actually exceptions to the shift.