Adjective Grammemes in Speech

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 649.

§ 110. An English adjective lexeme may contain three words at most (strong — stronger —-strongest) representing three grammemes. The fourth grammeme contains words with the oblique meaning of the 'positive degree' (deaf, ver­tical, wooden, etc.). There are no oblique meanings of the 'comparative' and the 'superlative' degrees in English, i. e. words like calmer, bravest have always 'positive degree' opposites.

Note. The Latin comparatives major, minor, junior, senior, superior, inferior, etc., though retaining some of their 'compara­tive' meaning, differ from the words of the 'comparative degree' grammeme in not being followed by than and in being often used without real comparison, e. g. a minor injury, goods of inferior work­manship (Hornby).

The 'comparative' connotation is part of the lexical meanings of these words.

§ 111. The table below shows the relative frequency of the occurrence of the four grammemes in some literary texts of the 20th century. We have counted separately the occur­rences of the synthetic and the analytical forms.

As usual, the unmarked member of the opposeme, the 'positive degree' grammeme, occurs in speech most frequently.

§ 112. The combinability of the words belonging to the above-mentioned four grammemes is primarily determined by their being adjectives. Yet, each grammeme and even each form of a grammeme has some combinative peculiarities. Apart from the fact that different linking words are used with different grammemes (as long as ..., longer than ... , the longest of ...), the latter show, as it were, some prefer­ence for certain combinative models. This is reflected in the table below, where A stands for adjective, N for noun, P for pronoun, Vl for link-verb, Vn for notional verb.

Note. The literary texts analysed contain adjectives.

As seen from the table, the only pattern in which words of all grammemes have occurred in our texts in A +N. However, the analytical form of the 'comparative' gram­meme but seldom occurs in this model. Likewise, words of the 'superlative' grammeme (both synthetic and analytical) are found rarely, if at all, in another typical adjectival pat­tern, Vl + A.

§ 113. In certain speech environments adjectives can bе used to communicate meanings in some respect different from those of the grammemes they belong to.

In the combination as brave as the word brave loses the absolute nature of the meaning of the 'positive' grammeme. It is used to express relative bravery. Cf. as brave as a hare. In certain combinations brave can be used to express even the highest degree of the quality. Among them there was none so brave as John = John was the bravest man among them. Similarly the 'comparative degree' grammeme may sometimes be synonymous to the 'superlative' grammeme.

E. g. There was no man in the village wiser and kinder 'that old Chou. She was b r ig h t e r than the rest of their children.

A 'superlative degree' adjective sometimes occurs in speech with an absolute meaning, it shows a very high degree of some quality regardless of the amount of the same prop­erty in other objects. When so employed it is said to be used in its e 1 a t i v e meaning.

E. g. He painted her ingratitude in the blackest col­ours. (Maugham).

The room was furnished in the most refined style. (Ib.).

Elative 'superlatives' lend force and expressiveness to speech.

§ 114. Under ordinary conditions, the synthetic and analytical forms of comparison are, as we know, in complementary distribution. But when emphasis is intended, the analytical forms are sometimes used instead of the synthetic ones.

Не looked more stern than his lather. (Dickens). She looked m o r e sad than ever before. (Black). This becomes clear if we take into consideration two cir­cumstances:

a) The morphemes -er and -est cannot be stressed, while the word-morphemes more and most can.

b) Word-morphemes are regularly used in English as the locus for emphatic stress signals. Cf. He studies... and He does study ... (see § 415).

§ 115. Following is a brief comparison of the basic fea­tures of English and Russian adjectives.

1. The lexico-grammatical meanings are essentially the same.

2. The Russian adjective has a greater variety of stem-building affixes than its English counterpart. The so-called "suffixes of subjective appraisal" (as т длинненький, длин­нющий, длинноватый, etc.) are alien to the English adjective (the only exception is -ish in whitish, red­dish, etc.).

3. Russian adjectives have the categories of number (длинный — длинные), gender (длинный — длинная — длин­ное), and case (длинный, длинного, длинному, etc.) which English adjectives no longer possess. The only category Russian and English adjectives have in common is the cate­gory of the degrees of comparison.

Hence, adjectival grammemes in English are monosemantic (i. e. having but one grammatical meaning), while in Russian an adjective grammeme is usually polysemantic, e. g. the grammeme represented by умная carries the gram­matical meanings of 'feminine gender' 'singular number', 'nominative case' and 'positive degree'. But the synthetic comparative (сильнее, красивее, etc.) is monosemantic in Russian as well.

4. In Russian as well as in English the category of the degrees of comparison is represented in three-member oppo-semes, but there are some distinctions.

a) The 'positive degree' is unmarked in English, whereas it is marked in Russian (Cf. red, красн-ый). Taking into consideration that more than 90% of all adjectives in speech belong to the 'positive degree' grammemes, we may say that in the overwhelming majority of cases the form of an English adjective does not signal to what part of speech the word belongs. In the Russian language every full adjective is marked; it shows by its form that it is an adjective.

б) The formations более красивый, самый красивый re­semble the analytical forms more beautiful, most beautiful, but they can hardly be regarded as analytical forms since they are not in complementary distribution with the corre­sponding synthetic forms. Длиннее and более длинный are rather stylistic synonyms.

5. In both languages there are qualitative and relative adjectives. In both languages the relative adjectives and some qualitative ones have no opposites of comparison, i. e. they form the subclass of non-comparables. But otherwise there is great dissimilarity between the two languages.

a) Most qualitative adjectives in the Russian language have corresponding "short" opposites (умный — умен, крот­кая—кротка, etc.). There is nothing similar in English.

b) The proportion of relative adjectives is much greater in Russian where, according to V. V. Vinogradov, they con­stitute the bulk of adjectives. English 'common case' nouns often render the meanings of Russian relative adjectives, e. g. домашние расходы — household expenses, настольная лампа — a table lamp, etc.

c) Among the relative adjectives of the Russian language there is a group of 'possessive' adjectives like Олъгин, мамин, отцов, лисий, having no English counterparts.

6) The combinability of adjectives is to some extent similar in the two languages. Yet there are some essential differences.

a) In English one can speak only of two levels of combi-nability: lexical and lexico-grammatical. In Russian gram­matical combinability is of great importance too. Cf. белый потолок, белая стена, белых стен, etc.

b) The so-called 'short' adjectives and the synthetic 'comparatives' of Russian adjectives have as a rule no right-hand connections with nouns. Cf. This is a better translation. Этот перевод лучше, but not * это лучше перевод.

c) A peculiar feature of the combinability of the English adjective is its right-hand connection with the prop-word one; a good one, a better one, the best one.

7. In both languages the typical functions of adjectives in the sentence are those of attribute and predicative. But the Russian 'short' adjectives and the synthetic comparatives are seldom used as attributes. English does not contain such grammemes or subclasses of adjectives, but certain individual adjectives are but rarely, used as attributes, e. g. it is im­possible to say * a glad girl. On the other hand, the adjective tittle is used almost exclusively as an attribute.