SUMMARY
In the monograph a set of fundamental notions are considered underlying an integral presentation of the grammatical structure of language. The theoretical points under discussion are illustrated on the material of English.
The description is based on the systemic conception of language which emphasizes its functional-dynamic character. By way of elucidating the leading principles of the systemic conception, the communicative nature of language and its grammatical structure is demonstrated, and different aspects of the "antinomies" of language are discussed: "synchrony — diachrony", "syntagmatics — paradigmatics", "language — speech".
The notion of the unit of language is analysed and the hierarchy of segmental levels of language is described, each level being distinguished by a specific function of its constituent units.
In setting forth the essentials of the grammatical teaching of the word, the two classifications of words into parts of speech are compared: the traditional, morpho-syntactic, and the more modern, purely syntactic. As a result of the comparison, the three-layer structure of the word stock is exposed wherein are identified the layer of notional words ("names"), the layer of pronominal words ("substitutes of names") and the layer of functional words ("specifiers of names").
The notion of lexical paradigm of nomination is put forward, the paradigm being shown as one that unites, and gives an ordered arrangement to, all the notional words of language and is also reflected in the pronominal part of the lexicon.
Within the framework of expounding the theory of grammatical categories, elucidation is given to the notions of grammatical form, grammatical paradigm, grammatical opposition, and the functional substitution of oppositionally related forms.
Syntactic analysis of the sentence is carried out on the two complementary lines: situation-nominative and modal-predicative. Considered in this light, the word combination (phrase) is identified as a complex nominative constituent of the sentence.
New considerations are presented regarding the theory of communicative types of sentences. Apart from the cardinal communicative types, the intermediary communicative types are identified, which leads to the relevant expansion of the classification of sentences on the communicative purpose principle.
Special prominence is given to the theory of paradigmatic syntax. Expounded at length are the notions of the derivation sentence base, the deployed sentence, the primary sentence, and the two systems of sentential paradigmatics: the system of predicative functions and the system of constructional functions. Formal criteria are put forward for evaluating the paradigmatic complexity of the sentence.
Alongside of the problems of sentence structure, the problems of text structure are discussed. As a result of comparing the sentence with the supersentential constituents of the text, the notion of the elementary text unit called the "dicteme" is developed. In the dicteme the four main meaningful aspects of speech find an integral expression: nomination, predication, topicalization, and stylization. It is only by these aspects working in combination that the genuine text is realized as the product of speech-thinking activity of man.