When a noun or an adjective is attached to a finite link-verb it is called a 'predicative' (He is a, teacher), but when it is attached to a overbid link-verb (To be a teacher is my dream), it has no name. With objects it is different. The noun letter is an object both in He writes a letter and in He wants-to write a letter.
Many of these inconsistencies can be done away with if we discriminate between the syntactical and the morphological relations within the sentence.
As already noted, only the words containing the structural meanings of predicativity are regarded as the structural subject and predicate. The chief criterion for the division of all the other words of a sentence into parts of the sentence is their combinability. Thus combinability is the property that correlates parts of speech and parts of the sentence as well as the functions of notional and semi-notional words.
Those notional words in a sentence which are adjuncts of certain head-words will be divided in accordance with their head-words into attributes, complements and extensions.
Those semi-notional words which serve to connect two words or clauses (prepositions, conjunctions) will be regarded as a separate part of the sentence, connectives.
Those semi-notional words that are used to specify various words or word combinations (articles, particles) will be called specifies.
Finally, words in a sentence, with zero connections, referring to the sentence and known as parenthetical elements, are a distinct part of the sentence.
The Subject
The subject is the independent member of a two-member predication, containing the person component of predicativity. Both members of the predication he sleeps contain the meaning of 'person'. But in sleeps this meaning depends on that of he and is due to grammatical combinability. This accounts for the fact that sleeps cannot make a sentence alone, though it contains all the components of predicativity. Sleeps likewise depends on he as far as the meaning of 'number' is concerned. The meanings of 'person' and 'number' in h? are lexico-grammatical and independent.
The subject is generally defined as a word or a group of words denoting the thing we speak about. This traditional definition is logical rather than grammatical. In the sentence This pretty girl is my sister's friend the definition can be applied to the whole group This pretty girl, to say nothing of the fact that «the thing we speak about» is so vague that it practically covers any part of the sentence expressing substantives.
The subject of a simple sentence can be a word, a syntactical word-morpheme or a complex.
As a word it can belong to different parts of speech, but it is mostly a noun or a pro-noun.
E.g. Fame is the thirst of youth. (Byron).
Nothing endures but personal qualities. (Whitman). To see is to believe.
A word used as a subject combines the lexical meaning with the structural meaning of 'person'. So it is at the same time the structural and the notional subject.
The syntactical word-morphemes there and it are only structural subjects because as word-morphemes they have no lexical meaning. But they are usually correlated with some words or complexes in the sentence which are regarded as notional subjects. In such cases it and there are also called anticipatory or introductory subjects.
In There is somebody in the room the notional subject is somebody. In It requires no small talents to be a bore (Scott) the notional subject is to be a bore. In It is raining there is no notional subject and it is not anticipatory. In It is necessary for him to come the notional subject is the complex for him to come. But a complex may also be used as the only subject.
E.g. For him to come would be fatal.
We may speak of a secondary subject within a complex. In the following sentence it is the noun head.
Several thousand people went to see the headless statue ~ yesterday before it was removed for a new head to be cast from the original plaster moulds. (Daily Worker).
The syntactical word-morphemes there and it may also function as secondary subjects.
It being cold, we put on our coats. I knew of there being no one to help him.
The analysis of sentences like He was seen to enter the house is a point at issue. Traditionally the infinitive is said to form part of the 'complex subject' (He…to enter). B.A. Ilyish maintains that though satisfactory from the logical point of view, this interpretation seems to be artificial grammatically, this splitting of the subject being alien to English. Accordingly B.A. Ilyish suggests that only he should be treated as the subject of the sentence, whereas was seen to enter represents a peculiar type of compound predicate.
The traditional analysis, however, seems preferable, for it admits of treating the sentence as a passive transform of They saw him enter the house with the 'complex object' him enter becoming a 'complex subject' he… to enter. As to the splitting of the subject, it is another device to bring the structural parts of the subject and predicate together (he was), which is so typical of English.
Some authors as, for example, A. Smirnitsky, M. Ganshina, and N. Vasilevskaya speak of definite-personal, indefinite-personal and impersonal sentences in Modern English. We see no syntactical ground whatever for this classification since definite-personal, indefinite-personal, etc. sentences have no structural peculiarities typical of these classes. It is a semantical classification of subjects, not sentences.
If we compare the subject in English with that of Russian we shall find a considerable difference between them.
1. In Modern Russian the subject is as a rule characterized by a distinct morphological feature - the nominative case, whereas in English it is for the most part (unless it is expressed by a personal pronoun or the pronoun who in the nominative case) indicated by the position it occupies in the sentence.
2. In Modern Russian the subject is much less obligatory as a part of the sentence than in English. One-member sentences are numerous and of various types, among them sentences like nude flume. In English a finite verb (barring the 'imperative mood' finites) does not, as a rule, make a sentence without a subject.
3. In English the subject may be a syntactical word-morpheme, a gerund or a complex, which is, naturally, alien to Russian.
The Predicate
The predicate is the member of a predication containing the mood and tense (or only mood) components of predicativity.
E. g. This dictionary employs a pronunciation that is easy to learn. (Thorndike).
I was thinking that Dinny has probably had no lunch. (Galsworthy).
I should hate to make you cry. (lb.).
The predicate can be a word or a syntactical word-morpheme. When it is a notional word, it is not only the structural but the notional predicate as well.
E. g. A picture often shows the meaning of a word more clearly than a description. (Witty).
When the predicate is a semi-notional verb or a syntactical word-morpheme, it is only a structural predicate and is usually connected with a notional word which makes the notional predicate.
E.g. He was strong enough for that. (Galsworthy). We can assist our oppressed brothers in South Africa in their struggle for freedom. (Daily Worker). Does anyone know of that but me? (Galsworthy).
Syntactically strong, assist and know are complements to the corresponding verbs.
Similarly, if we agree with A.I. Smirnitsky that have in I have friends is a semi-notional verb, we may consider friends as the notional predicate. But syntactically friends is a complement to the verb have.
As we have seen, predicates may be divided morphologically into words and word-morphemes, and semantically intonational, semi-notional and lexically empty (structural).
What is traditionally called a predicate is really the combination of the structural and the notional predicate. If we had a name for the combination, that would enable us to make the traditional analysis^ Let us then call the combination a communicative predicate. We may say then that communicative predicates are in accordance with their structure divided into 'simple' (consisting of one word) and 'compound' (of more than one word). According to their morphological composition they are divided into 'verbal' (must see', is to believe) and 'nominal' (is a student, became angry). As we see, the latter division depends on the complements as well as the division into process and qualifying predicates, which will be discussed in the corresponding chapter
When comparing the predicates in English and in Russian, we must first of all note the absence of syntactical word-morphemes used as predicates and the scarcity of morphological word-morphemes in Russian. So the division into structural and notional (parts of) predicates is not so essential in Russian as it is in English.
Secondly, there are many more sentences without finite verbs in Russian than in English. Он студент. Она больна. Ему холодно.
Thirdly, a Russian predication contains a predicate without a subject much more often than in English.
Complements
The verb in the sentence forms the greatest number of word-combinations. The adjuncts of all these combinations are united by the term complements. But the complements of a verb are so numerous and variegated that it is feasible to subdivide them into several groups correlated with the subclasses of verbs. As we know, verbs divide into notional, semi-notional and structural ones. We shall call the adjuncts of the latter two groups predicative complements (predicatives). Notional verbs are subdivided into objective and subjective. The common adjuncts of both groups will be termed adverbial complements (adverbials), those of objective verbs alone - objective complements (objects).
Conclusion
In the conclusion of my work, I would like to say some words according the done investigation. The main research was written in the main part of my course paper. So here I'll give content of it with the description of question discussed in each paragraph.
The main part of my work consists of following items:
· «The Sentence». Here I gave the definition to the term sentence.
· «Structure of English Sentence», in this paragraph I described the structure of English sentence.
· In the next paragraph «Parts of the Sentence» I described main parts of the sentence (subject and predicate), and secondary parts of the sentence.
Standing on such ground I will add that investigation in the questions dealt sentences in English and their types is not finished yet, so we will continue it while writing our qualification work.
I hope that my course paper will arise the sincere interest of students and teachers to the problem of adjectives in contemporary English.
Bibliography
1. B. Ilyish, The Structure of Modern English.
2. V.N. Zhigadlo, I.P. Ivanova, L.L. Iofik.» Modern English language» (Theoretical course grammar) Moscow, 1956 y.
3. Gordon E.M. The Use of adjectives in modern English.
4. М.М. Галииская. «Иностранные языки в высшей школе», вып. 3, М., 1964.
5. Г.Н. Воронцова. Очерки по грамматике английского языка. М., 1960
6. O. Jespersen. Essentials of English Grammar. N.Y., 1938
7. Иванова И.П., Бурлакова В.В., Почепцов Г.Г. Теоретическая грамматика современного английского языка. - М., 1981. - 285 c.
8. Ch. Barber. Linguistic change in Present-Day English. Edinburgh, 1964
9. The Structure of American English. New York, 1958.
10. World Book Encyclopedia Vol.1 NY. 1993 pp.298-299
11. Internet http://madrasati2010.bravehost.com/adj.htm
12. Internet http://www.vestnik.vsu.ru
13. Internet:http://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs/theory.htm
14. Inbternet:http://www.englishlanguage.ru/main/verbs_mood.htm
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