1. Explain the difference between phrases and sentences.
At present there are two approaches to the definition of a phrase. According to a narrower definition a phrase is a unity of two or more notional words. According to a wider definition any syntactic group of words can be treated as a phrase. Consequently, phrases may be built by combining notional words (an old man), notional and functional words (in the corner); functional words (out of). Notional phrases are more independent structurally and semantically, other types function as part of notional phrases.
Like a word, a phrase is a naming unit. Phrases name different phenomena of the outside world: a round table, yesterday morning, to speak fluently.
2. Predicativity. Means of expressing predicativity.
The communicative function of the sentence distinguishes it from phrases and words, which have one function — naming. Compare the following structures:
(1) The doctor's arrival.
(2) The doctor arrived.
These two structures name the same event, but (1) is not correlated with the situation of speech and does not convey information about the reality or the time of the event; (2) is correlated with the situation of speech and shows that the event took place in the past.
The correlation of the thought expressed in the sentence with the situation of speech is called predicativity. Predicativity has three main components: modality, time and person, expressed by the categories of mood, tense and person. So the predicate verb is the main means of expressing predicativity.
3. Types of sentences according to their structure; according to their communicative function.
As is well-known, sentences may be classified on the basis of two main principles: communicative (declarative are traditionally defined as those expressing statements, either affirmative or negative; interrogative express questions, or requests for information; imperative express inducements of various kinds (orders or requests); exclamatory) and structural (simple and composite, one-member and two-member, complete and elliptical).
From the point of view of their structure sentences can be divided into: two-membered (double-nucleus); one-membered (single-nucleus); complete; incomplete; simple; composite (compound, complex).
Simple sentences. Two-membered sentence contains two principle parts – the subject and the predicate. (Fleur had established immediate contact with an architect).
A two-membered sentence can be complete and incomplete. It is complete when it has a subject and a predicate (Young John could not help smiling). It is incomplete when one of the principal parts or both of them are missing, but can be easily understood from the context. Such sentences are called elliptical and they are mostly used in colloquial speech and especially in dialogue (Where were you yesterday? At the cinema).
One-membered sentence have only one principal part (Dusk – of a summer night).
Simple sentences, both two-membered and one-membered can be unextended and extended. A sentence consisting only of the primary or principle parts is called an unextended sentence. She is a student. Birds fly. Winter!
An extended sentence is a sentence consisting of the subject, predicate and one or more secondary parts (objects, attributes, adverbial modifiers). The two native woman stole furtive glances at Sarie.
Composite sentence is formed by two or more predicative groups. Being a polypredicative construction, it expresses a complicated thought reflecting two or more elementary situational events.
Each predicative unit in a composite sentence makes up a clause in it that corresponds to a separate sentence as a part of a contextual sequence.
Composite sentence displays two principal types of the connection of clauses – subordination and coordination.
According to the traditional view, all composite sentences are to be classed into: compound sentences (coordinating their clauses), complex (subordinating their clauses).
A compound sentence is a sentence which consists of two or more clauses coordinated with each other. In a compound sentence the clauses may be connected:
1) syndetically, i.e. by means of coordinating conjunctions (and, or, else, but, etc.) or conjunctive adverbs (otherwise, however, nevertheless, yet, still, therefore, etc.)
E.g. The darkness was thinning, but the street was still dimly lighted.
2) asyndetically, i.e. without a conjunction or conjunctive adverb.
4. Principal parts of the sentence, their general characteristics.
The subject and the predicate constitute the backbone of the sentence: without them the sentence would not exist at all, whereas all other parts may or may not be there, and if they are there, they serve to define or modify either the subject or the predicate, or each other.
The subject is one of the 2 main parts of the sentence:
1. It denotes the thing whose action or characteristic is expressed by the predicate.
2. It is not dependent on any other part of the sentence.
It may be expressed by different parts of speech, the most frequent ones being: a noun in the common case, a personal pronoun in the nominative case, a demonstrative pronoun occasionally, a substantivized adjective, a numeral, an infinitive, and a gerund. It may also be expressed by a phrase.
5. State the structural type of the sentences:
a) “A woman like me is ageless.” (Maugham) – simple two-member unextended complete sentence.
b) “Glaser, play the accompaniment.” (Maugham) – simple one-member unexpended complete sentence.
6. Define the type of the subject and the predicate of the following sentences:
a) “We’ve been married for 35 years, my dear. It’s too long.” (Maugham), we-simple notional personal subject, it – simple formal impersonal subject; have been married – simple verbal analytical predicate, is long – compound nominal proper predicate.
b) Mrs, Albert Forrester began to be discouraged. (Maugham), Albert Forrester – phrasal notional personal subject; began to be discouraged – compound verbal phrasal predicate.
7. Analyze the actual division of the following sentences and the means used to mark it:
a) “Albert (theme, detached part of the sentence), there’s Mrs. Forrester (rheme, the use of ‘there is’ construction) to see you.” (Maugham)
b) “Both in prose and verse you (theme, subject) are absolutely first class (rheme, end position).” (Maugham)
c) She (theme, subject) must leave no stones unturned (rheme, end position). (Maugham)
8. Build up the IC-model of the sentence:
Mike’s own room was simply furnished.
9. Define the types of the clauses in the following sentences:
a) As her invitation was so pressing – adverbial clause of purpose, and observing that Carrie wished to go, we promised we would visit her the next Saturday week – subordinate object clause. (Grossmith, Grossmith)
b) Lupin, whose back was towards me – attributive clause, did not hear me come in. (Grossmith, Grossmith)
10. Give the definition of the text.
We do not usually encounter sentences in isolation, out of context. The analysis of units larger than a sentence is an area of growing interest and importance, which attracts the attention of many disciplines. The structure of texts is studied by text linguistics, or discourse grammars. The term discourse refers to a continuous stretch of (especially spoken) utterance larger than a sentence. Within this broad notion several different applications may be found. Some linguists do not distinguish between the notions text and discourse, but usage varies greatly.
Thus discourse may be understood as a dynamic process and text as the physical product, a similar distinction sees text as a notion applied to suface structure, and discourse — to deep structure. From the opposite viewpoint text is an abstract notion, discourse being its realization.
Apart from this there is a tendency for texts to be thought of as monologues, usually written, whereas discourses are often thought of as dialogues, usually spoken.
In general, the terms text and discourse may be used to identify a piece of spoken or written language. Text as the largest speech unit may be divided into smaller units, consisting of two or more connected sentences. These units, characterized by the topical unity and semantico-syntactic cohesion, are called supraphrasal unities, or supfasentential constructions.
11. Cohesion as the main text property.
Textual basic integrative properties can be described with the help of the notions of
- coherence,
- cohesion and
- deixis.
Coherence is a semantic or topical unity of the spoken or written text – that is, the sentences within the text are usually connected by the same general topic.
12. Means of cohesion in English.
Cohesion is the grammatical and lexical linking within a text or sentence that holds a text together and gives it meaning. It is related to the broader concept of coherence.
There are two main types of cohesion: grammatical cohesion, which is based on structural content—and lexical cohesion, which is based on lexical content and background knowledge. A cohesive text is created in many different ways. In Cohesion in English, M.A.K. Halliday and Ruqaiya Hasan identify five general categories of cohesive devices that create coherence in texts: reference, ellipsis, substitution, lexical cohesion and conjunction.
A conjunction sets up a relationship between two clauses. The most basic but least cohesive is the conjunction and. Transitions are conjunctions that add cohesion to text and include then, however, in fact, and consequently. Conjunctions can also be implicit and deduced from correctly interpreting the text.
There are two referential devices that can create cohesion:
Anaphoric reference occurs when the writer refers back to someone or something that has been previously identified, to avoid repetition. Some examples: replacing "the taxi driver" with the pronoun "he" or "two girls" with "they".
Cataphoric reference is the opposite of anaphora: a reference forward as opposed to backward in the discourse. Something is introduced in the abstract before it is identified. For example: "Here he comes, our award-winning host... it's John Doe!" Cataphoric references can also be found in written text.
13. Account for the recipient’s reaction and say why some sentence may seem ambiguous:
Sergeant: “Who likes moving pictures?”
(Most of the men eagerly step forward.)
