Pre-posed adjuncts Post-posed adjuncts
Pronoun Adj.
Adj. Ven
N2 Ving
N’s prep.N2
Ven prepVing
Ving D
Num Num
D wh-clause, that-clause
In noun-phrases with pre-posed modifiers we generally find adjectives, pronouns, numerals, participles, gerunds, nouns, nouns in the genitive case (see the table). According to their position all pre-posed adjuncts may be divided into pre-adjectivals and adjectiavals. The position of adjectivals is usually right before the noun-head. Pre-adjectivals occupy the position before adjectivals. They fall into two groups: a) limiters(tothis group belong mostly particles): just, only, even, etc. and b) determiners (articles, possessive pronouns, quantifiers – the first, the last).
Premodification of nouns by nouns (N+N) is one of the most striking features about the grammatical organization of English. It is one of devices to make our speech both laconic and expressive at the same time. Noun-adjunct groups result from different kinds of transformational shifts. NPs with pre-posed adjuncts can signal a striking variety of meanings:
world peace – peace all over the world
silver box – a box made of silver
table lamp – lamp for tables
table legs – the legs of the table
river sand – sand from the river
school child – a child who goes to school
The grammatical relations observed in NPs with pre-posed adjuncts may convey the following meanings:
1) subject-predicate relations: weather change;
2) object relations: health service, women hater;
3) adverbial relations: a) of time: morning star,
b) place: world peace, country house,
c) comparison: button eyes,
d) purpose: tooth brush.
It is important to remember that the noun-adjunct is usually marked by a stronger stress than the head.
Of special interest is a kind of ‘grammatical idiom’ where the modifier is reinterpreted into the head: a devil of a man, an angel of a girl.
NPs with post-posed may be classified according to the way of connection into prepositionless and prepositional. The basic prepositionless NPs with post-posed adjuncts are: Nadj. – tea strong, NVen – the shape unknown, NVing – the girl smiling, ND – the man downstairs, NVinf – a book to read, NNum – room ten.
The pattern of basic prepositional NPs is N1 prep. N2. The most common preposition here is ‘of’ – a cup of tea, a man of courage. It may have quite different meanings: qualitative- a woman of sense, predicative – the pleasure of the company, objective – the reading of the newspaper, partitive– the roof of the house.
The VP is a definite kind of the subordinate phrase with the verb as the head. The verb is considered to be the semantic and structural centre not only of the VP but of the whole sentence as the verb plays an important role in making up primary predication that serves the basis for the sentence. VPs are more complex than NPs as there are a lot of ways in which verbs may be combined in actual usage. Valent properties of different verbs and their semantics make it possible to divide all the verbs into several groups depending on the nature of their complements (see the table ‘Syntagmatic properties of verbs’, Lecture 6).
VPs can be classified according to the nature of their complements – verb complements may be nominal (to see a house) and adverbial (to behave well). Consequently, we distinguish nominal, adverbial and mixedcomplementation.
Nominal complementation takes place when one or more nominal complements (nouns or pronouns) are obligatory for the realization of potential valency of the verb: to give smth. to smb., to phone smb., to hear smth.(smb.), etc.
Adverbial complementation occurs when the verb takes one or more adverbial elements obligatory for the realization of its potential valency: He behaved well, I live …in Kyiv (here).
Mixed complementation – both nominal and adverbial elements are obligatory: He put his hat on he table (nominal-adverbial).
According to the structure VPs may be basic or simple (to take a book) – all elements are obligatory; expanded (to read and translate the text, to read books and newspapers) and extended(to read an English book).
Predicative word combinations are distinguished on the basis of secondary predication. Like sentences, predicative word-groups are binary in their structure but actually differ essentially in their organization. The sentence is an independent communicative unit based on primary predication while the predicative word-group is a dependent syntactic unit that makes up a part of the sentence. The predicative word-group consists of a nominal element (noun, pronoun) and a non-finite form of the verb: N + Vnon-fin. There are Gerundial, Infinitive and Participial word-groups (complexes) in the English language: his reading, for me to know, the boy running, etc.)
Лекция № 26
Прилагательное. Наречие
The Adjective. The Adverb
The generalizing function of articles is opposed to that of concretization.The latter is realized through some specific functions which are different for definite, indefinite and zero articles.
The indefinite article can be used in four functions:
1. The classifying function
2. The indefinitizing function
3. The introductory function
4. The quantifying function
Each of them is realized under specific contextual conditions.
1. The classifying function of the indefinite article is realized in
the so-called classifying utterances. Their invariant sentence pattern is: N + Vbe + N1. Those are:
a) structures with the verb “to be”, for example:
This is a computer.
b)exclamatory sentences beginning with “what” or such.
e.g. What a long story! He is such a nuisance!
c) sentences including an adverbial modifier of manner or comparison, for example:
e.g. You look like a rose! She works as a teacher.
2. The indefinitizing function is realized when the referent of the
noun is not a real thing, but it exists in the speaker’s imagination only. Those are sentences containing modal verbs or verbs with modal meaning, forms of the Subjunctive Mood, Future Tense forms, negative and interrogative sentences.
e.g. I wish I had a home like you do.
Have you ever seen a living tiger?
The introductory function
Before sharing some information about the object, we need to introduce it to the hearer. Fairy tales can be used as ideal illustrations of the use of the indefinite article in its introductory function.
e.g. Once upon a time there lived an old man. He had a wife and a daughter. He lived in a small house.
The quantifying function
The indefinite article developed from the numeral “one”. The meaning of “oneness” is still preserved when the article is used with nouns denoting measure, like “a minute”, “a year” or “a pound”.
The definite article may be used in the following functions:
The identifying function
When we speak, we may want to point out to something that both us and the hearer perceive with our organs of feeling. There are five different ways of getting the information about something existing in the objective reality. We can see it (Do you like the picture?), hear it (I believe, the music is too loud), feel it (The pillow is so soft!), smell it (What is the name of the perfume?) or taste it (The soup tastes bitter).
The definitizing function
The object or thing denoted by the noun is presented as a part of some complex. In modern science the term “frame” is often used. The frame is a structurally organized system of images. For example, the frame “classroom” includes a window, a blackboard and a door. So if both the speaker and the hearer know what classroom they are speaking of, the constituents of the classroom don’t need any special concretization, and the indefinite article will be used.
e.g. I want to talk to the rector (even if you have never met the man).