CHAPTERS. THE PARTS OF THE SENTENCE

1. The general characteristic of the parts of the sentence

2. The relations between parts of the sentence and parts of speech, parts of the sentence and semantic actants

3. The system of parts of the sentence in English

4. Borderline cases in the system of parts of the sentence

1. Analyzing the sentence from the point of view of its constituents we come down to the minimal units of syntactic analysis. These minimal syntactic units distinguished on the basis of their formal features (morphological forms and position in the sentence) are called parts of the sentence. A part of the sentence, in fact, is the realization of a notional word in the sentence, a syntactic form of a notional word. The theory of parts of speech has a long history, its basic positions were worked out by the traditional syntax and it was further elaborated by the semantic syntax with its focus on the relations between the syntactic (surface) and the semantic (deep) structures of the sentence. The theory of parts of the sentence was subjected to criticism by structural syntax and attempts were made to replace the traditional parts of the sentence by such notions as immediate constituents, tagmemes, strings etc., but the theory of parts of the sentence survived and no syntactic analysis is possible without addressing the notions of the subject, predicate and the other parts of the sentence. The vital necessity in this theory lies in the fact that, on the one hand, parts of the sentence reveal the peculiarities of the sentence structure, and, on the other, they are related to the elements of objective reality conceptualized by the human mind and reflected in the semantic structure of the sentence.

2. Thus, parts of the sentence establish the correlation between the two planes of the language: the formal and the semantic planes. From the point of view of their semantic aspect parts of the sentence denote certain elements of the situation which carry out their typical functions in the events described in the sentence and, consequently, certain typical functions in the semantic structure of the sentence which serves as a generalized representation of the event (such functions as the action, the agent, the object, the instrument). From the point of view of their formal properties parts of the sentence are characterized by certain formal features, such as their position in the sentence and also the fact that these positions are designed for words as representatives of certain parts of speech. (When we discussed parts of speech we characterized them as cognitive-discursive formations which, on the one hand, are designed for naming certain concepts, and on the other, for certain positions in the utterance).

Thus, in the study of the parts, of the sentence we have to consider the relations between: 1) the parts of the sentence and the parts of speech; 2) the parts of the sentence as components of the syntactic, or formal structure of the sentence and the semantic actants (semantic functions) as elements of the semantic, or deep structure of the sentence. The relations between these levels may be of two types: symmetrical and asymmetrical. Let us analyze these relations. There exists a fundamental symmetry between parts of speech and parts of the sentence: each part of speech is designed for carrying out its typical function in the sentence structure (for this reason parts of speech were described by I.I.Meschaninov as secondary formations, based on the parts of the sentence, as "crystallized parts of the sentence" ("BbiKpHCTajiJiH3OBaBiiiHecfl HJieHBi npefljioaceHHfl"). Each part of speech has its prototypical, or primary functions: the subject and the object for the noun, the predicate for the verb, the predicative and the attribute for the adjective and the adverbial modifier for the adverb. But this parallelism is not absolute. In the process of the language functioning it is regularly broken as words of different parts of speech reveal a tendency for a "syntactic disguise", i.e. they may be used in the syntactic positions of other parts of speech and thus reveal their secondary syntactic functions. This process is known as syntactic, or functional transpositionand it was discussed in the chapter devoted to parts of speech. Let's just have a few examples of this process.

1) There was something classically precise, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say old-world in her diction (G.Greene).

2) From my secretary, -Eugenia Martinez, 1 receive the usual: mail, telephone message slips, and a dark look (S. Turow).

3) Let's walk out of the town and find somewhere to sleep (J. Steinbeck).

4) Well, did it comfort you any? (J. Steinbeck).

Analyzing the relations between the relations between the parts of the sentence and their semantic functions we also observe a fundamental parallelism between them: each part of the sentence is designed for a certain semantic function: the agent for the subject, the action for the predicate, the object or the addressee for the object, a qualitative or circumstantial modification of the action for the adverbial modifier and qualitative modification of the agent or an object for the attribute. Besides these primary functions parts of the sentence can be used in their secondary semantic functions. The process in which a part of the sentence is used in its secondary semantic function can be defined as metasemiotic transposition[Tep-MHHacoBa 1970, TBHinHaHH 1979, Kosjiosa 1997, 46-47]. Let us turn to the following sentences:

1) Tony shrugged casual shoulders (Ch. Lamb)

2) The lamps were still burning redly in the murky air... (J.Fowles) In the first sentence the word casual is used in the syntactic position of an attribute but semantically it is related to the action rather than to the agent which can be verified by paraphrasing the sentence: Tony shrugged his shoulders casually. In the second sentence the adverbial modifier redly is semantically related to the subject (the lamps were red) rather than the action. Such parts of the sentence which reveal asymmetry between their syntactic and semantic functions are known as transferred parts of the sentence[ HopMan 1994, 183; OcoKHna 2003]. Cases of metasemiotic transposition are rather rare because they present deviation from the conventional syntactic use of words in the sentence and they reveal the expressive potential of syntax, the ability of a speaker (writer) to use the language creatively. They refer to the use of the language in its aesthetic, or expressive function and are often an important component of a writer's individual style.

3. Traditionally the parts of the sentence are divided into principal (Subject and Predicate) and secondary (Object, Attribute and Adverbial Modifier), but this division is rather conventional and depends on which aspect of the sentence is taken into consideration. If we consider the role of the parts of the sentence in establishing the predicative nucleus of the sentence, the subject and the predicate are really the principal parts. But if we take into consideration the problem of valency and the structural minimum of the sentence we will see that with some verbs objects and adverbial modifiers can be as obligatory and important as the subject and the predicate, because without them a sentence becomes ungrammatical ( e.g. *She bought...; *He behaved... etc). As from the point of view of the actual division very often . it is the so-called secondary parts (objects, adverbial modifiers and attributes) that function as the rhemes of the sentence and carry the most important information. E.g. She lives with an invalid mother near Westbourne Grove (G.Greene). I met Somerset Maugham once (I. Shaw). Today you are sad and you tell a sad story (S. Maugham).

Thus we may conclude that the differentiation of the parts of the sentence into principal and secondary is conventional and depends on the aspect of the sentence which is taken into consideration. As for the relations between the subject and the predicate there is no unanimous opinion about the question which of them is the governing part and which is subordinated to it. There are at least three opinions about it:

1) The governing and therefore the most principal part is the subject and the predicate is subordinated to it because it agrees with the subject in number and person;

2) The main part is the predicate because it is the structural and semantic center of the sentence and, in accordance with its valency, it determines the number and the character of the rest of the sentence, including the subject.

3) The subject and the predicate are equal in their status. This point of view is supported by the fact that the structure of the sentence corresponds to the structure of the logical proposition which has two parts - the logical subject and the logical predicate and they are equal in their status and both are indispensable for the structure of the proposition. This view on the relations between the syntactic subject and predicate presupposes that neither of them is subordinated to the other. We share this opinion and yet we must point out that the subject and the predicate have their own specific "missions" in the sentence: the predicate serves as the structural and semantic nucleus of the sentence. It actually assigns to the subject (as well as to the other parts of the sentence their semantic functions in accordance with its valency , or its cognitive scheme. As for the subject, it "orders" the morphological form (number and person) of the predicate just because it occupies the first position in the sentence. As it was metaphorically put by N.D. Arutyunova, the subject is the master of the sentence and the predicate is its boss. The predicate organizes the semantic and the syntactic structure of the sentence, yet formally (morphologically) it agrees with the subject.

Now .we shall proceed to the analysis of all parts of the sentence.

The Subject. The subject in the English sentence carries out a triple function: structural, semantic and communicative. Its structural function is manifested in the fact that in English it is the obligatory part of the sentence, the English sentence must have a subject even if it is semantically empty (carries no semantic function in the sentence). For this reason English is referred to as a subject dominant language. According to some scholars there are only seven languages in the world in which the subject is obligatory in the sentence and English is one of these languages [Gillagan 1987]. In other languages, such as Russian or Spanish sentences may have no subject (compare: "Ceemaem" in Russian and No hablo Ingles ( / do not speak English ) in Spanish where the meaning of the subject / is encoded in the form of the verb 'hablo'. If the subject is semantically empty, or redundant, its position is taken up by the so called "dummy subjects", such as it, one Qtc._E.g. It never rains but pours. It's never too late to learn. One can never be too sure.

According to the semantics of the subject sentences can be classified into personal (At supper he was silent and ill at ease), general-personal ( We are foolish and sentimental and melodramatic at twenty-five}, indefinite-personal ( No one can tell what it may lead to) and impersonal (It rained heavily at night).

The subject fulfils several semantic functions in the sentence. The primary, or prototypical semantic function of the subject is to introduce the agent of the action or the bearer of the state or quality named by the predicate. The prototypicality of this function is also revealed in the fact that if we are asked to illustrate the use of the subject in the sentence we always give a sentence where the subject fulfils the semantic role of the agent, e.g. He gave me an apple. This is why the most typical words which are used in the subject position are nouns denoting human and living beings and personal pronouns. In our age of high technologies the subject is often the name of a device or a machine which are treated as agents. E.g. The telephone went dead. The computer got a virus. The A TN machine would not return my card..

In English there exists a phenomenon known as animacy. Its essence lies in the fact that the position of the subject is taken up by words denoting limbs, parts of a human face, location, time, emotions etc. which are presented as agents, e.g. His look traveled over the room. The end of September began to witness their several returns (J.Galsworthy). Outrage greeted the Employment Secretary in the Commons as he announced a drastic shake-up in adult job training (MS) In translating such sentences into Russian the structure of the sentence usually undergoes transformation and the position of the subject is taken up by a noun denoting a person. E.g. oh o6een esznndoM KOMnamy.

Besides the primary semantic, function the English subject can express several secondary, or less prototypical semantic functions, such as:

1) The causer of the action or a state. E.g. He annoys me. She amused everyone. The difference between the agent and the causer lies in the fact that causers do not act or do something deliberately but inadvertently affect other people's psychological state (this is why it is impossible to put a question "What does X do*?" to sentences with a causer subject or transform such sentences into imperative, cf. * Don't amuse me [Berk 1999, 16]. The causer subject may be both an animate and an inanimate entity, as in: Curiosity killed the cat. What keeps you awake? Sentences with a causer subject can be paraphrased with the help of such structures as He is the cause of my annoyance or I feel annoyed because of him. However, as it is pointed by L.Berk, sometimes the difference between the agent and the causer is very vague and can be explicated only in the context, e.g. His look intimidated me (causer) and Mr Brocklehurst constantly intimidated the girls (agent/

2) The object, or the recipient of the action. This function is usual for the sentences with the predicate in the Passive voice, e.g. / was taught French by a French lady (Ch. Bronte}. However, with such verbs as undergo, suffer etc. used in the Active Voice, the subject also expresses the meaning of the recipient and not the agent of the action, e.g. He underwent several operations. The army suffered a defeat. Such sentences can be paraphrased with the help of Passive constructions, e.g. He was operated on several times; The army was defeated.

3) The addressee of the action. This function is also expressed in sentences with the Passive voice when the indirect object becomes the subject of a passive construction, e.g. I was given a week's leave.

4) The instrument of the action, Q.g.The detergent washes clean.

5) The time of the action. E.g. Morning found him in bed. The 1940s and 1950s saw several desperate attempts to answer these and similar questions (P.Matthew).

6) The place of the action. E.g. Paris was sunny and London was foggy. Alaska is cold.

Subjects that express time and place have a marked adverbial quality and can be paraphrased with the help of adverbial constructions, e.g. It is cold in Alaska

7) Action. Forgetting serves a very important function and is a by-product of learning. All seeing is interpretation. Touching him made me feel itchy, but they were marvelous imitations (A. Miller).

The choice of the subject for carrying out this or that semantic function is determined ^%by various structural, semantic, and pragmatic factors. Thus, a desire or a necessity to conceal the agent of the action results in the use of a Passive construction with the subject expressing the object or the addressee of the action (Mistakes were made) or such depersonalized structures as 'It came to my knowledge that you have changed your plan'

It is also determined by the type of discourse. In English weather forecasts locative subjects are very frequent, e.g. Eastern parts of Britain will start the day dry and fairly bright with a touch of ground frost in some sheltered areas (MS). Locative subjects are also common in guide books and travel brochures, e.g. Cyprus is sunny most of the year. Temporal subjects are frequent in business English when people are trying to plan ahead, e.g. Wednesday is fine (We can meet on Wednesday).

From the point of view of its communicative function, i.e. its function in the utterance, or discourse the subject of the sentence is usually (though not always!) is associated with the theme, or the topic of discourse. As it is aptly put by Lynn Berk, "a topic does not become the topic until it is introduced into discourse"[Lynn 1999, 24], and it is usually introduced into the discourse as the predicate, predicative or an object. After it has been introduced, it becomes thematic (topicalized) and usually goes to the subject position. E.g. He introduced me to his -wife. She -was a tall beautiful woman in her thirties. After a person or a thing have been introduced into the narration (discourse) the subsequent reference to them is usually made by means of personal pronouns and therefore personal pronouns are most frequently used in the subject (i.e. thematic) position. When the subject carries out the rhematic function in the sentence it.is often shifted to the end position in the sentence by means of the 'there is' construction or by means of inverted word order. E.g. There was a low stone wall that overlooked the gardens twenty feet below (S. Sheldon). In the centre of the room, under the chandelier, as became a host, stood the head of the family, oldJolyon himself (J. Galsworthy).

Summing up the typological characteristics of the English subject we should point out its obligatory character in the sentence structure and its ability to be frequently used in its secondary semantic functions. These characteristics should be taken into consideration in learning English and teaching it to Russian learners.

The Predicate. It is the part of the sentence which expresses a predicative feature attributed to the subject of the sentence. Like the subject, the predicate also carries out a triple function in the sentence: structural, semantic and communicative. Its structural function consists in establishing the syntactic relations with the subject and other parts of the sentence. The semantic function of the predicate finds its expression in attributing certain features to the subject. Its communicative function is manifested in the fact that through the predicate and the expression of predication the sentence becomes a minimal unit of communication. As we have already mentioned the predicate is 'the structural and semantic centre of the sentence. Sentences without a predicate (one member, nominative sentences refer to the periphery of English syntax). In the structure of a simple, two-member sentence the predicate usually carries out the function of the rheme, e.g. He disappeared. They arrived.

According to the form of expression predicates are divided into verbal and nominal, e.g. The moon rose. The moon was pale. There exists one type of predicate which is very frequent in English and which presents a combination of such verbs as have, get, give, take and a verbal noun (give a look, take a bath, have a smoke etc.). E.g. He gave them all a little wave ( R.Waller). Traditionally such cases were referred to a third formal type of predicate, a phraseological predicate. However from the grammatical point of view the most important characteristic of this type of predicate is not so much its phraseological but its analytical character (and all analytical structures are characterized by a certain idiomaticity of their components). The distribution of functions between the components of this predicate is similar to those within an analytical form - the verb expresses the grammatical meaning and the verbal noun serves to name the action, i.e. to express a lexical meaning. It is noteworthy that the verbal nouns which participate in these constructions can be derived from durative verbs only. The semantic difference between the have a look (bite, say) construction and the corresponding verb lies in the fact that it denotes a single episode, an instance of the process whereas the corresponding verb denotes the whole ongoing process. Due to this semantic property the constructions of the have a look type specialize in expressing aspective (iterative) characteristics of the action. It becomes evident if we compare, e.g. / smoked and / had a smoke; He looked at her and He had a look or two at her. The verb just names an action whereas the combination of the verb and a verbal noun points out either a single occurrence (Have a look\) or at a number of occurrences (He took several glances in her direction). In spite of the distribution of functions between the verb and the verbal noun similar to analytical forms these structures cannot be treated as analytical forms proper because they do not have the same regularity as analytical forms (e.g. we can have a look, but cannot have a stare; we can have a bite, but not an eat, one can take a nap, but cannot take a slumber etc). Besides the regular verbs such as have, give, get and take some other verbs can occur in these constructions, e.g. She flipped a curt nod at Havers (E. George); She flashed a look at me (J.Fowles). For these reasons such constructions must be treated as half-analytical forms, intermediate between analytical forms of the verb and syntactic combinations of a verb and the so-called 'light' object which corresponds to the general analytical tendency of the English language [see: llIanaMOB 1967; Berk 1999, 31]. Another type of a half-analytical predicate in English is presented by the structure do+ Ving, e.g. / gravely doubt that the boss did any sleeping for two weeks (R.P. Warren). The lady in question did some lamppost leaning round Earl's Court a few years back (E. George). Such constructions denote actions that either lasted for some time or were regularly repeated. When Agatha Christie was asked about how she invented plots for her thrillers she is known to have said "I always do my thinking in the bath ".

The two formal types of the predicate correspond to the two main semantic types: process predicate which expresses the action, the state or the existence of the subject and qualification predicate which expresses the quality (property) of the subject. The process predicate can be further subdivided into several types in accordance with the semantic types of verbs: existential ( There was a tavern in the town), statal (He slept), locative (The elephant lives in India), relational (He had a small ranch) and actional (The car broke down). The qualification predicate has three subtypes: identifying (So you are the man we have been looking for) , classifying ( My friend is a student) and characterizing ( My wife is a bit of an actress. He was too German).

There exists a fundamental parallelism between the formal and semantic types of the predicate which is manifested in the primary semantic functions of the predicate: the primary semantic function of the verbal predicate is to express process, and the primary semantic function of the nominal predicate is to express qualification. Yet this fundamental parallelism is regularly broken and both the types of the predicate can be used in their secondary semantic functions. A verbal predicate may be used to express qualification (She is constantly chattering is synonymous to She is a chatter box) and the nominal predicate can express an action (He was the only speaker at the meeting is synonymous to Only he spoke at the meeting). As a result of asymmetrical relations between the formal and semantic types of predicate we have numerous cases of syntactic, or functional synonymy in the sphere of the predicate. - Predicates become synonymous when they carry out identical semantic functions, e.g. He was a seldom reader - He seldom read. The water is undrinkable - The water cannot be drunk.

Structurally the predicate may be divided into simple and compound. Each of the formal types of the predicate may be presented by a simple and a compound structure. E.g. We said good- bye - a simple verbal predicate; It was a lovely place -simple nominal predicate. The predicate is compounded by the introduction of modal or aspective components. E.g. We started saying good-bye - a compound verbal predicate; It must be a lovely place - a compound nominal predicate. The two types of predicate can be contaminated which results in the formation of the so-called double predicate, e.g. He stared at me bewildered (S.Maugham).

Summing up the characteristics of the English predicate we must mention the following features:

1) its analytical tendency, which is manifested in the existence of analytical and half- analytical forms;

2) its tendency towards synonymization;

3) its transitive character, a direct object is often obligatory in the English sentence (Compare: Iloemopume, noDKOJiyucma\ and Repeatjt, pleasel). If an object is semantically empty the English sentence has a dummy object, e.g. How do you likejt here? - KaK earn sdecb npaeumcRl The transitive character of the English predicate is also manifested in the existence of a great number of verbs with an incorporated direct object, e.g. to honeymoon, to kidnap etc. In translating such sentences into Russian we have to introduce a direct object, e.g. They honeymooned in Scotland - ohu npoeenu ceou Medoebiu mecnu e UJomnanduu.

3. The Object. The object is a very important part of the sentence if only because the English verb is characterized by a high degree of transitivity. Quite often the object is an obligatory part of the sentence and a sentence without an object is ungrammatical ( * / saw; *He gave etc.) On the other hand, the object is correlated with the subject of the sentence and takes up the subject position in Passive transformations. The object is also important for the actual division of the sentence as it often carries out the rhematic function.

Object can be classified according to three criteria: form, meaning and structure. According to the form objects are divided into prepositional and non-prepositional. With some verbs prepositions are inherent and they are never used without a preposition, e.g. rely on,, depend on, adhere to. With others one and the same object can be used with or without a preposition depending on its position in the sentence. E.g. She gave me a book and She gave the book to me. The position of the object in the two sentences depends on which of them becomes the focus of information. In the sentence She gave me a book the rheme is a book whereas in the sentence She gave the book to me the rheme is to me therefore it is placed at the end of the sentence.

According to their semantics objects are classified into direct, indirect, agentive (instrumental), cognate and adverbial. The most frequent types, mentioned in all grammar books, are direct and indirect objects. Most practical grammar books, however, classify objects into direct, indirect and prepositional, thus mixing the formal and semantic characteristics. Like the subject, the direct object has primary and secondary semantic functions. The primary, or prototypical semantic function of a direct object is to denote the patient of the action (here and below we use terms introduced in the works of Ch. Fillmore and V.Bogdanov), i.e. a thing or a person affected by the action, or acted upon. This meaning of the direct object is found after the verbs denoting various physical actions. E.g. His friend, the policeman, removed the glass and thus destroyed the evidence against him.

The direct object after the verbs of physical and mental perception denotes the experiencer of the action, a person or a thing which is the object of a physical, mental or emotional perception. E.g. She liked his dignity (E.Hemingway). But I still meet his eyes across the now too silent room (P. Taylor).

The direct object can also denote a thing created as a result of activity denoted by the verb, it is called a created object, or a resultative ( L. Berk ; Ch. Fillmore). E.g. He wrote limericks. She made a huge breakfast. One and the same verb can combine with both a recipient object and a created object in different contexts . E.g. He took a piece of paper and oils and painted a beautiful house (created object); He took a brush and a pail and began to paint the house (recipient object). Sometimes a sentence may be ambiguous and we need a larger context to disambiguate it, e.g. She paints houses (Does she paint pictures of houses or does she give houses new coats of paint?)

Sentences with patient and created objects passivize easily whereas sentences with experiencer object passivize less easily (I saw the flowers - The flowers were seen; but I smelt the flowers -*The flowers were smelt).

Direct objects generally find an explicit expression in the sentence. When they are occasionally omitted they are easily understood on the basis of our language competence (on the basis of the frame of the verb (cognitive structure of the verb) in which the knowledge of the object is kept). E.g. The house wanted doing up unless he decided to move into the country and build (J. Galsworthy). If we hear that someone drinks we understand that he/she drinks alcohol but not lemonade, if we hear that somebody builds we know he builds a house but not castles in the air. Sometimes the omission of a direct object affects the general semantics of the sentence. E.g. The sentence 'He drank two beers' is an actional sentence and ' He could not understand what she found wrong with him. It was not as if he drank¹. (J. Galsworthy) is a sentence of characterization. It is also of interest that if a sentence with an implicit object is passivized, it is the verb (in its V-ing form) that becomes the subject in the Passive construction . E.g. Drinking is prohibited.

The indirect object denotes the addressee of the action, i.e. a living being which is the recipient of the action,- or in whose favour (or disfavour) the action is done. E.g. I sent him a telegram. Many English verbs are ditransitive, i.e. they require a direct and an indirect object for the realization of their lexical meanings ( give, bring', tell, sell, ask etc.) Most of indirect objects denote animate human beings, which is quite natural because they describe situations dealing with a transfer of possessions and therefore constructions with intransitive objects usually form conversive pairs (/ gave him a present - He got a present from me). An inanimate recipient is also possible, e.g. She gave the bottom of my legs the smallest glance(J.Fowles). But in this case we deal with a half-analytical construction, in which a formally indirect object semantically functions as direct object whereas the noun glance denotes an action rather than an object. (Compare the translation: Qua edea essjinnyna na mou Ho^u). Many ditransitive verbs in English have two passive transforms: I gave him a present - He was given a present and A present was given to him.

The agentive object is found in sentences with the Passive Voice and it denotes the agent of the action. E.g. The team was captained by Ivo Bligh (E. George}. The instrumental object denotes the instrument of the action and it occurs both with Active and Passive predicates. E.g. He was hit on the head with a heavy object. She could silence us with her look.

The cognate object is an object which has the same root or the same meaning as the predicate (it is reflected in its name), e.g. to smile a smile, to live a life, to win a victory. As it duplicates the semantics of the predicate it is semantically very light (empty) and is usually preceded by an attribute. E.g. She smiled a happy smile. They lived a miserable life. He began talking a baby talk. In fact it is an object only in name, semantically it is closer to an adverbial modifier, because the cognate object construction gives a qualitative characteristic to the action. Therefore cognate object constructions are easily replaced by adverbs, e.g. to live a happy life - to live happily. They can also be used in a sentence side by side with adverbial modifiers to give a detailed characteristic of an action. E.g. He smiled brightly, neatly, efficiently, a military abbreviation of a smile (G. Greene).

Adverbial objects constitute the peripheral zone in the class of objects which is close to the adverbial modifier. They usually occur after verbs which are basically intransitive. There are several types of adverbial objects. First of all they are found with verbs of motion. These are the meanings of location (to climb a mountain, to swim a river, to tour Europe, to hike the Altai mountains) and of measure (to walk a mile). The meaning of location after the verbs of motion is generally rendered by prepositional phrases: to climb up a mountain, to swim across a river, to tour about Europe. However, there is a marked semantic difference between the prepositional adverbial phrases and the non-prepositional adverbial objects - the objects impart the meaning of completeness to an action, they imply a kind of achievement on the part of the agent which is lacking in prepositional phrases. When someone says "/ climbed the mountain'¹'' it means that he/she reached the top of it (sort of conquered it!) whereas the phrase "The tourists were climbing up the hill" does not imply that they finally reached the top! The well-known Australian writer Alan Marshall entitled his autobiographical book "/ Can Jump Puddles'". The choice of the non-prepositional variant appears to be very suggestive. He had been an invalid since his childhood and jumping puddles.for the boy was quite an achievement, a victory overhis disease.

A different semantic type of adverbial objects is observed in case when they are expressed by abstract quality nouns like disbelief, embarrassment, disapproval that name emotional states. These objects give a qualitative characteristic of the action and in these meanings they are very close to adverbial modifiers of manner expressed by qualitative adverbs and are easily replaced by such adverbs. E.g. He nodded approval (A.Christie). - He nodded approvingly. Sigmund translated and the girl smiled her disbelief (E. Williams). - the girl smiled disbelievingly. However, these sentences also allow one more interpretation: to express a certain emotion through action: He expressed his approval by nodding. The girl expressed her disbelief by smiling.

Cognate and adverbial objects being close to adverbial modifiers by their semantic functions hardly ever passivize which is the direct consequence of their adverbial semantics.

According to their structure objects can be classified into simple and complex, e.g. / saw him - a simple object; / saw him look at her and smile - a complex object. As we have already mentioned sentences with complex object constructions present not simple but semicomplex structures.

The Adverbial modifier is a part of the sentence which is syntactically related to the predicate and which modifies the action or state expressed by the predicate. Depending on the valency of the predicate the adverbial modifier may be either an obligatory or an optional part of the sentence. Adverbial modifiers play an important role in the actual division of the sentence and often express the new, or most important information. E.g. "You' ve made no attempt to locate your daughter throughout the years? " "We parted badly. I had no intention of locating her. " (E. George). The adverbial modifier badly in this fragment of conversation presents the most important information as it explains the reason of the character's actions, or rather lack of intention to try and find her daughter.

The modifying function of the adverbial modifier makes it possible to compare in'with an attribute whose semantic function is to modify the substance expressed by nouns. Therefore the adverbial modifier and the attribute are often correlated: to walk slowly - a slow walk; to smile happily - a happy smile. In the functionally oriented studies adverbial modifiers of manner and attributes are treated as components of the functional-semantic field of quality (Teopiw (J)yHKo;HOHajii>HOH rpaMMaxHKH, 1996).

Action can be modified from various aspects and the cognitive structure of the verb includes many components: time, place, manner etc. Accordingly, there are several types of adverbial modifiers and they may be divided into two main groups according to their semantic distance from the verb:

1) The first group of adverbial modifiers express the inner characteristic of the action, such as manner and degree. These meanings are so close to the semantics of action and state that they may be expressed inherently, by a semantic component incorporated into the verbal-lexeme , e.g. to stalk - to walk with a stiff or haughty gait; to underpay - to pay insufficiently. "I don't like oyster loaves, " said Mary and stalked to our bedroom and slammed the door (J. Steinbeck). When such verbs are translated into Russian, this incorporated semantic component becomes adherent, e.g. He Jifodjifo h smu Kapaeau, - CKosana Mdpu u zopdo yuuia e nauty cnajibHfo, xjionnye deepbfo.

The _% adverbial modifiers of manner and degree are most frequently expressed by the corresponding adverbs, e.g. She appeared noiselessly (G. Greene). In a few minutes he was deeply asleep (Ibid.). There are numerous other means of expressing manner of action, such as: constructions with adverbial nouns way, manner, style, prepositional phrases in/with a Adj. - N (in a sad voice), by the half-analytical structures of the 'have - a look' type, prepositional nominal phrases with abstract nouns (with admiration), participial and gerundial phrases ( for more detail see: [Ko3JioBa, IIIjiaxoBa 2000]). E.g. She spoke to him in a slightly more Edinburgh way than usual ( M. Spark). He stiffened his hand curate fashion (J. Fowles). "Well, I'll tell you, " he said in his loud and cheerful voice (P. Taylor). He gave the lieutenant a quick stare round (J. Fowles). He looked at me with fury, depression and despair (G. Greene).

2) The second group of adverbial modifiers express the outward characteristic of the action in its relation to other objects or processes. Here belong such types of adverbial modifiers as of time, place, attending circumstances, comparison, cause, consequence, result, purpose, condition and concession. They are expressed by adverbs, prepositional adverbial phrases, infinitival, gerundial and participial constructions. They are always expressed adherently. E.g. Day by day and almost minute by minute the past was brought up to date (G. Orwell). I've been in some pretty tight places in my time (S. Maugham). In spite of its being May the weather outside was quite wintry and nasty (P Taylor). I am not prepared to discuss my wife with a man like you (S. Maugham).

Sometimes the adverbial modifiers of time and place may loosen the direct connection with the predicate and determine the sentence on the whole. Such adverbial modifiers are called the determinants of the sentence. Very often such determinants refer not just to one sentence but to a whole paragraph and in such cases they fulfil a text-forming function, they serve as a means of text cohesion. E.g. On Saturday morning, Jimmy managed to get into conversation with a fat woman who was sitting on the beach by herself. He could see that she had a bathing costume and towel with her and he asked her if she liked swimming. The fat woman said she liked swimming but could not swim. .. This was Jimmy's opportunity and he at once offered to teach her to swim (J. Wain). The determinant on Saturday morning refers to the whole paragraph and serves as a setting to the events described.

The attribute is a part of the sentence which modifies nouns in the sentence. Its position'in the system of parts of the sentence is very specific. Unlike objects and adverbial modifiers that are predicate-oriented, the attribute is noun-oriented, i.e. it modifies a noun that can be used in any position in the sentence: subject, object, predicative or adverbial modifier. For this reason O.S.Akhmanova defined the attribute as ' a part of a part of the sentence' (hjich HJiena npefljiOKeHHa') thus stressing its subordinated character in the syntactic structure of the sentence. This position of attributes, in its turn, may be explained by the fact of their secondary derivational nature: most of the attributive relations can be traced back to predicative relations, e.g. a cold day - the day is cold; a flying bird - the bird is flying. The German scholar H. Paul characterized the attribute as 'degraded predicate' thus pointing out its derivational nature.

Attributes are usually optional parts of the sentence which is quite logical because, being noun-oriented, they are not necessitated by the valency of the verb. But they may become necessary for the semantic completeness of the sentence. E.g. My parents were working people (J.Reed). He was a fat boy with red cheeks (Sh. Andersen). The deletion of attributes from these sentences would make the sentences semantically empty as the attributes carry the most important information.

The primary semantic function of the attributes is to express either a qualitative or a relative property of the substance named by the noun, and like adjective the attributes can be classified into qualitative and relative. A qualitative attribute expresses a quality of the substance (a large room, a yellow pencil), or the speaker's personal evaluation of the substance (a great man, a wonderful present). A relative attribute expresses the relation of the substance to other substances or actions (a silver case, the President's statement). There are also quantitative attributes mostly expressed by numerals and adjectives like last, previous etc.They give a quantitative modification to the substance named by the noun or show the order of things or phenomena (three musketeers, the first president, the last inch). According to their position in the noun phrase attributes may be prepositional and postpositional. Their position to the head noun is determined by the form of their expression. Attributes expressed by adjectives (a blue beard) , cardinal numerals, expressing number of objects (two babies), ordinal numerals (the second son), nouns in the Possessive Case ( the old man's speech}, nouns in the Common Case (a milk bottle), single participles ( a flowering desert, a pre-paid reply) and single gerunds ( a.shopping area). Attributes are placed in postposition to the head noun if they are expressed by extended participial phrases (the sail showing -white in the distance), by infinitives (three more chapters to read), by nouns joined to the head noun by means of prepositions (a bottle of milk, a day before Christmas), by cardinal numerals expressing order (chapter 4), by adverbs (the night before), by gerundial phrases joined to the head nouns with a preposition (the idea of going there). There are a few nominal phrases in English where adjectives are placed in postposition to the head noun, such as the court martial, from the time immemorial etc. But these phrases are borrowed from French and preserve the French word order where the attribute follows the head noun.

The list of the ways of expressing attribute is not exhausted because due to the specific syntactic means known as enclosure any part of speech, a phrase or even a sentence which is enclosed in between the determiner and the head noun becomes an attribute to the head noun. This makes a class of attributes very open and increases the expressive potential of the language. Really creative writers exploit this potential very skillfully. E.g.

He teetered his hand back and forth in an 1-truly-doubt-it gesture (E.George). There is a sort of Oh-what-a wicked-world-this-is- and-how-I-wish-I-could-do-something-to~make~it-better-and-nobler- expression about Montmorency that has been known to bring the tears into the eyes of pious old ladies and gentlemen (Jerome. K.Jerome). He quickly lost his cat-\vith-cream look (D.Lessing).

Of special interest is the problem of the order of attributes before a head noun. E.g. This problem, though it has been discussed by some scholars still awaits its researches.

4. Like everywhere in the language system, there are no hard and fast lines in the system of parts of the sentence. Due to the asymmetry between the syntactic position and the semantic function the borderline between parts of the sentence is not rigid and there are peripheral, or marginal cases. We have analyzed some of such cases, such as adverbial objects (the term itself shows its peripheral position in the class of objects) which are objects only in form but are closer to adverbial modifiers in their semantic functions. E.g. 'He nodded his approval' is semantically very close to 'He nodded approvingly'. Another example of a borderline, or marginal case is found in such structures as 'the night before the departure' or 'the arrival in Moscow'. What is the syntactic function of the words 'departure' and 'Moscow'? According to their position they must be considered to be attributes but semantically they are closer to adverbial modifiers of time and place. The existence of borderline, or peripheral cases manifests the general principle of the language system - the absence of rigid borderline between its various subsystems and the existence of marginal cases.

Date: 2015-01-12; view: 3721