Syntactic Notions of the First Level in Linguistics
In this lecture, the syntactic notions of the first level in linguistics are discussed, focusing on word groups, simple sentences, and the essential features of actual division. The different types of syntagmatic groupings of words, such as notional words, functional words, and their combinations, are highlighted. The division of notional words into equipotent and dominational groups based on grammatical and semantic properties is explained. Additionally, the concepts of syndetical and asyndetical connections in notional word combinations are explored, along with dominational connections and the roles of head-words and adjuncts. Various forms of dominational connections, including agreement, government, connective words, and word order, are also examined.
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Lecture 15 Syntactic notions of the first level
1. Word groups. 2. The Simple sentence. 3. Actual division as the essential feature of the simple sentence.
In the utterance words, performing their semantic functions, have different syntagmatic connections with each other. There are three types of syntagmatic groupings of words: grouping of notional words grouping of notional and functional words grouping of functional words.
Various combinations of notional words are characterized as an independent nominative phenomenon. E.G., to drink tea, a nice girl, a cumulative effect. The combinations of notional and functional words are similar to separate words in their nominative function. Functional words have more general and abstract meaning, not self-dependent. They cannot be isolated from the context. E.G., too dark, so fast, but new. The syntagmatic combinations of functional words alone are quite similar to separate functional words and are used as special connectors of notional words. E.G., so on, so that, must be, do not.
Syntagmatic groupings of notional words are divided into two types according to their ability to perform grammatical and semantic properties. The first group constitutes the words of the equal status. Consequently, neither of these words is treated as the head or modifier of the other. This type of combination is called equipotent . The second group is comprised by words of syntactically unequal status. Here one of the words performs the function of a modifier of the other. The combination of this type is called dominational .
In the combination of notional words, having the equal status, the words can be connected syndetically or asyndetically. E.G., parents and children, easy but slow syndetical connection; came, looked, signed, went away asyndetical connection. In dominational connection one of the elements is principal (dominating) and the other is subordinate (dominated). The dominating element is also called the head- word , while the dominated word is named adjunct .
Dominational connection can be achieved with the help of various forms of the word (agreement, government), the connective words (prepositional government), word- order. The dominational connection can be two-way (reciprocal) and one-way. Two-way domination is performed in predicative connection of words, whereas one-way domination is realized in completive word connections. The predicative combination of words, connecting the subject and the predicate, constitutes the core of the sentence: the subject dominates the predicate determining the person of predication, while the predicate dominates the subject, determining the event of predication, i. e. ascribing to the predicative person some action, or state, or quality.
The one-way connections, with its head-word and adjunct, can be divided into two groups: Objective connections Qualifying connections. Objective connection characterizes the object in reference to the process and is described as very close. This type of connection can be subdivided into: non-prepositional (the objective form of the adjunct substantive, word-order) and prepositional. As for qualifying connections, they are divided into: attributive adverbial. Both types are expressed in English by prepositions and word-order.
Attributive connection combines a substance with its attribute formally expressed by an adjective or a noun, e.g., the head of the city, a beautiful girl; etc. Adverbial connection is subdivided into: primary secondary. The primary adverbial connection is realised in relations of the verb to its adverbial modifiers of various kinds, e.g., to look attentively, to receive (a parcel) with surprise, etc. The secondary adverbial connection is realised in the relations of the non-verbal head-word expressing a quality and its adverbial modifiers of various kinds. For example: marvellously walking, strikingly different, unpleasantly timid, etc.
The sentence is the immediate integral unit of speech built up of words according to a definite syntactic pattern and distinguished by a contextually relevant communicative purpose. WORD vs ONE-WORD SENTENCE a word is an element of the lexicon, performing the nominative function, whereas the sentence is a predicative utterance. The sentence not only names some referents with the help of its word-constituents, but also, 1) presents these referents as making up a certain situation and 2) reflects the connection between the nominal denotation of the event on the one hand, and objective reality on the other, showing the time of the event, its being real or unreal, desirable or undesirable, necessary or unnecessary. The Simple Sentence
The sentence does not exist in the language as a ready-made unit, since it is formed in the process of communication. The sentence is intonationally detached. The intonation helps separate one sentence from another one in the flow of utterances. The centre of predication in any sentence is a finite verb. It expresses the main predicative meanings with the help of its categorial form, that is of tense and mood.
The main predicative meaning is expressed by the finite verb which it tightly connected to the subject of the sentence. This connection between the subject and the predicate is called the predicative line of the sentence. Sentence can include more than one predicative lines: monopredicative and polypredicative sentences. A monopredicative simple sentence with only one predicative line, e.g., She knows five languages. A polypredicative sentence with some predicative lines (not treated as simple), e.g., I found this telephone number and called him (I found this telephone number + I called him).
Sentences with more than one subjects cannot be identified as simple as well, e.g., Everybody came and so my father. two subjects everybody and father referring to the same predicate (came). The simple sentence is organized as a structure of some functional positions, which perform the function of reflecting the situational event. The notional positions of the sentence are taken by the nominative parts, such as subject, predicate, object, adverbial, attribute, addressing and parenthetical enclosures.
Elementary sentence is a sentence with only obligatory elements. The unexpanded simple sentence is a monopredicative sentence formed solely by obligatory notional parts. The expanded simple sentence is a monopredicative sentence with notional parts and some optional ones. The subject-group and the predicate-group of the sentence constitute the core, or the axes of the sentence: two-member possessing both axes sentence; one-member possessing only one axis.
1) one-member sentences which have contextual omission of one of the principle elements are considered to be two-member as the second element can be contextually restored. 2) One-member sentence has a different inner structure that does not imply the inclusion and presence of the second member at all. This missing member of the sentence cannot be restored to the sentence structure. The purposeful preference of one-axis sentence should be saved as it reflects the author s, speaker s idea, thought and should not be changed.
Semantic classification of the simple sentence is on the basis of 1) the subject categorial meaning; 2) the predicate categorial meaning; 3) the subject-object relation. The distinctions in subject categorial meanings are supported by the difference in subject-predicate combining power. Indicating the categories of the predicate, simple sentences can be divided into process-featuring (actional and statal )and substance-featuring( factual and perceptional) sentences. The simple sentence is divided into personal and impersonal. The personal sentences human and non- human. Sentences including subjects denoting human can further definite and indefinite, while non-human into animate and inanimate. Impersonal sentences into perceptional (denoting some feeling, perception) and factual (denoting a fact).
The purpose of the actual division of the sentence is to disclose the correlative meaning of the sentence parts in the aspect of their actual informative basis and role that they play in the utterance. The basic elements of the actual division of the sentence are the theme and the rheme. The theme performs the function of the starting point of the communicative act, it indicates something about which some information is reported. The rheme conveys the part of the communicative act. main informative Mainly, the theme can coincide with the subject, whereas the rheme can correspond to the predicate. The Actual Division of the Sentence
The informative value of communications lies in their disclosing various new relations between the elements of reflected events, though the elements themselves may be quite familiar to the listener. The expression of a certain aspect of these relations, namely, the correlation of the said elements from the point of view of their immediate significance in a given utterance produced as a predicative item of a continual speech, does enter the structural plane of language Formal means of expressing the difference between the theme and the rheme are structural components of the language, such as intonation, word-order, constructions with introducers (there, it), constructions with intensifying particles, articles, determiners.
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