READING MATERIAL

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 574.

II. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION

1. The category of number.

2. The problem of the category of gender. The oppositonal structure of the category.

3. The theory denying the existence of the category of case in modern English.

4. The problem of analytical cases.

5. The traditional view on the system of cases in English. The specifying and classifying possessive. The group possessive, the independent possessive.

6. The system of cases in pronouns.

7. The problem of the article.

1. Blokh M.Y. A Course in Theoretical English Grammar. – M., 2000. – P. 48 – 72; 72 – 83.

2. Ilyish B. The Structure of Modern English. – L., 1971. – P. 36 – 48; 49 – 57.

3. Khaimovich B.S., Rogovskaya B.I. A Course in English Grammar. – М., 1967. – P. 51 – 75; 214 – 217.

4. Прокопчук Г.С. Курс лекций по теоретической грамматике английского языка: Учеб. пособие для 4 курса. – Мн., 1997. – С. 14 – 18.

5. Теоретическая грамматика английского языка. Задания и упражнения / Г.С. Прокопчук, Н.П. Петрашкевич, Н.Ф. Смирнова, Т.С. Харитонова: Методическое пособие для студентов 4 курса факультета английского языка. – Мн., 1993. – С. 10 – 15.

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

1. Contemporary Linguistic Analysis / Ed. by O'Grady W., Dobrovolsky M. Toronto, 1987. – P. 145 – 149; 204 – 206; 267 – 268; 358 – 362.

2. Lakoff R. You Are What You Say / Lynn Z. Bloom. The Lexington reader. – Virginia Commonwealth University, 1987. – P. 83 – 88.

III. CHECK YOURSELF

1. Comment on the terms: noun, proper, common, animate, inanimate, human, non-human, countable, uncountable, concrete, abstract, gender, number, case, article, the definite article, the indefinite article.

2. In what way do you understand the assertion that the noun "effects nomination of the fullest value" [2, 48]?

3. Which function characterizes the substantive quality of the noun?

4. Give the semantic classification of the English noun. State the basis for each subdivision.

5. Can one and the same noun enter several semantic groups at a time? Give your examples. Does it influence the combinability of the noun? Prove it.

6. What is the role of personal pronouns in identification of the category of gender in English?

7. Present the oppositional structure (the upper opposition, the lower opposition) of the category of gender in English (see [2, 53]).

8. What is "common gender"? What are other ways of the neutralization of gender distinctions?

9. Does the Russian gender differ from the English gender? Will you agree with the "non-grammatical" status of the category?

10. Comment on the following: "… in the morphological and syntactical system of the English language a noun cannot stand outside the category of number [11, 38]".

11. Can you work out a decent explanation of the fact that names of sciences and some diseases resemble nouns belonging to the group called Pluralia tantum? Compare your theory with that put forward by B.A. Ilyish:

"Close to this group of pluralia tantum nouns are also some names of sciences, e.g. mathematics, physics, phonetics, also politics, and some names of diseases, e.g. measles, mumps, rickets. The reason for this seems to be that, for example, mathematics embrace a whole series of various scientific disciplines, and measles are accompanied by the appearance of a number of separate inflamed spots on the skin (rash). However, the reasons are less obvious in the case of phonetics, for instance. Now, it is typical of English that some of these pluralia tantum may, as it were, cease to be plural. They may occasionally, or even regularly, be accompanied by the indefinite article, and if they are the subject of a sentence the predicate verb may stand in the singular.

This way of treating pluralia tantum, which would be unthinkable in Russian, is of course connected with the structure of English as a whole.

The possibility of treating a plural form as if it were singular is also seen in the use of the phrase the United Nations, which may, when it is the subject of a sentence, have the predicate verb in the singular, e.g. the United Nations is a world organization [11, 38].

12. Give examples of absolute, oblique singular, common and absolute plural. What are the ways of showing discreteness / non-discreteness of things denoted by nouns?

13. Make up sentences of your own which contain singularia or pluralia tantum nouns. Does the context help to identify them?

14. What are the grounds for different approaches to the category of case in English?

15. What is the essence of the "theory of positional cases" in English?

16. What is the core of the "theory of analytical (prepositional) cases" in English?

17. What does the "theory of limited cases" consisit in?

18. What is your view: is -'s a case inflexion?

19. Can you find examples illustrating that the use of genitive is restricted to living beings?

20. What is the procedure of the diagnostic test for the genitive of possession?

21. The genitive case has a wide range of meanings. State some of them. Write them down. Give examples to illustrate each.

22. The of-phrase is used to evaluate a person positively: e. g. He is a man of character. Find some more examples. What other meanings can be expressed by means of an of-phrase?

23. What is the essence of the theory denying the existence of cases in English?

24. Can you trace the syntactical significance of the morphological category of case?

25. Do pronouns have the system of cases of their own?

26. What are determiners?

27. What are the functions of the indefinite article, the definite article and the absence of the article?

28. What is the grammatical status of the article: a word or a morpheme? Prove your point of view.