Modern English Grammar

N. M. RAYEVSKA MODERN ENGLISH GRAMMAR For Senior Courses of the Foreign Language Faculties in Uni- versities and Teachers' Training Colleges FOREWORD The book is designed for the students of the senior courses of the Univer- sity faculties of foreign languages and Teachers' Training Colleges. The aim of the book is therefore to lead the students to a scientific understanding of new assumptions and views of language as system, keeping abreast of the latest findings set forth in the progressive development of grammatical theory by Soviet and foreign scholars in recent times. The central interest in functional semantic correlation of grammatical units has given shape to the whole book. In a description of language structure we have to account for the form, the substance and the relation- ship between the form and the situation. Linguistic activity partici p- ates in situations alongside with man's other activities. Grammatical categories are viewed as a complicated unity of form and grammatical content. Due attention has been drawn to contextual level of analysis, to denotative and connotative meanings of grammat - ical forms, their transpositions and functional re-evaluation in differ - ent contexts, linguistic or situational. Linguistic studies of recent years contain a vast amount of important ob- servations based on acute observations valid for further progressive devel- opment of different aspects of the science of language. The conception of the general form of grammars has steadily developed. What becomes in- creasingly useful for insight into the structure and functioning of language is orientation towards involving lexis in studying grammar. In a language description we generally deal with three essential parts known as phonology, vocabulary, and grammar. These various ranges, or levels, are the subject matter of the various branches of linguistics. We may think of vocabulary as the word-stock, and grammar as the set of devices for handling this word-stock. It is due precisely to these devices that language is able to give material linguistic form to human thought. Practically speaking, the facts of any language are too complex to be handled without arranging them into such divisions. We do not mean to say, however, that these three levels of study should be thought of as isolated from each other. The affinities between all levels of linguistic or- ganisation make themselves quite evident. Conceived in isolation, each of them will always become artificial and will hardly justify itself in practice. It is not always easy to draw precise boundaries between 6 grammar and vocabulary. Sometimes the subject matter becomes ambigu- ous just at the borderline. The study of this organic relationship in lan- guage reality seems to be primary in importance. For a complete description of language we have to account for the form, the substance and the relationship between the form and the situ- ation. The study of this relationship may be referred to as contextual level of analysis. Grammar, whose subject matter is the observable organisation of words into various combinations, takes that which is common and ba- sic in linguistic forms and gives in an orderly way accurate descriptions of the practice to which users of the language conform. And with this comes the realisation that this underlying structure of the language (as system) is highly organised. Whatever are the other interests of modern lin- guistic science, its centre is surely an interest in the grammatical system of language. To-day we have well-established techniques for the study of lan- guage from a number of different points of view. Each of these tech - niques supplements all the others in contributing to theoretical know - ledge and the practical problems of the day. Language is a functional whole and all its parts are fully describable only in terms of their relationship to the whole. This level of linguistic analysis is most obviously relevant to the problems of "overt" and "cov- ert" grammar and the problem of "field structure" in grammar that has long attracted the attention of linguists. There is a discussion of the problems that arise in the presentation of the material in this light but the scope of the material presented is dictated by its factual usefulness. Analysing the language from the viewpoint of the information it carries we cannot restrict the notion of information to the cognitive aspect of language. Connotative aspects and emotional overtones are also important semantic components of linguistic units. The components of grammatical meaning that do not belong to the denotation of the grammatical form are covered by the general term of connotation most obviously relevant to grammatical aspects of style. Grammatical forms play a vital role in our ability to lend variety to speech, to give "colour" to the subject or evaluate it and to convey the information more emotionally. The given quotations from different sources serve to show how the structural elements of English grammar have been variously treated by different writers and which of the linguistic approaches seems most con- vincing. Extracts for study and discussion have been selected from the works of the best writers which aid in the formation of the student's literary taste and help him to see how the best writers make the deepest re- sources of grammar serve their pen. Only some of the quotations used are the gatherings of the author's note-books through many years of teaching, and it has not seemed pos - sible in every instance to trace the quotation to its original source. Most 7 of them, however, have been freshly selected as the direct result of the ex- tensive reading required by the preparation of the book. The discussion of the linguistic facts has been made concrete by the use of illustrative examples and comparison with Russian and Ukrain - ian, French and German. Suggested assignments for study and discussion have been selected with a view to extend the practical knowledge of the language. "Revision Material" after each chapter has been arranged so that the student should acquire as much experience in independent work as possible. Methods of scientific research used in linguistic studies have always been connected with the general trends in the science of language. We therefore find it necessary to begin our grammatical description with a brief survey of linguistic schools in the theory of English grammar so that the students could understand various theoretical approaches to the study of language structure. This will facilitate the study of grammar where we find now divergent views of scholars on some of the most im- portant or controversial problems of the English grammatical theory, and on some special questions of morphology and syntax. TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword . 6 Introduction Survey of the Development of English Grammatical Theory . 11 Grammar in Its Relation to Other Levels of Linguistic Structure . 37 Problems of Field Structure 42 Functional Re-evaluation of Grammatical Forms in Context 45 Grammatical Doublets . 55 Revision Material . 59 Part I. Morphology Chapter 1. The Subject-Matter of Morphology 60 Chapter II. Parts of Speech 67 Problem of Classification . 67 Chapter III The Noun . 72 Number 72 Case 78 The Article . 84 Revision Material . 88 Chapter IV. The Adjective . 89 The Category of Intensity and Comparison 90 Substantivation of Adjectives 96 Revision Material . 98 Chapter V. The Verb 99 The Structural Functions of the English Verb . 105 Mood . 107 Modal Verbs . 111 Voice . 118 Active :: Passive in the English Voice System . 118 Aspect . 130 Lexico-Grammatical Categories in the Field of Aspect 130 Revision Material 136 Chapter VI. English Verb-Forms and Their Pattern-Value 137 The Present Tense . 137 The Present Continuous (Progressive) Tense . 141 The Past Tense 146 The Past Continuous (Progressive) Tense 147 The Perfect Tenses . 149 The Future Tense 154 Revision Material 159 Chapter VII. The Pronouns . 160 Personal Pronouns 160 Chapter VIII. The Adverb 164 Category of State . 166 Revision Material 168 9 Part II. Syntax Chapter IX. Sentence Structure . 169 Chapter X. The Simple Sentence 183 The Principal Parts of the Sentence . 183 The Secondary Parts of the Sentence . 189 Word-Order 195 One-Member Sentences 208 Infinitival Sentences . 211 Ellipsis 212 Verbless Two-Member Sentences 215 Idiomatic Sentences . 225 Constructional Homonymity . 228 Revision Material 233 Chapter XL Phrase-Structure 234 Subordinate Phrases 236 Noun-Phrases . 236 Verb-Phrases 242 Infinitival, Gerundial and Participial Phrases 249 Coordinate Phrases . 249 Revision Material 251 Chapter XII. The Composite Sentence . 252 Coordination 257 Subordination . 261 Subject and Predicate Clauses 262 Object Clauses 264 Attributive Clauses 265 Clauses of Cause 267 Clauses of Place . 268 Temporal Clauses . 269 Clauses of Condition . 270 Clauses of Result 273 Clauses of Purpose 274 Clauses of Concession . 274 Clauses of Manner and Comparison 277 Overlapping Relationships and Synsemantics in Hypotaxis . 278 Transpositions and Functional Re-evaluation of Syntactic Structures . . 280 Final Remarks on Subordination . 282 Asyndeton . 283 Represented Speech 285 Nominality in English Sentence-Structure 286 Grammar and Style . 291 Revision Material 298 Index of Grammatical Points Treated . 299 Recommended Literature 303 INTRODUCTION SURVEY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENG- LISH GRAMMATICAL THEORY EARLY PRESCRIPTIVE GRAMMAR English grammatical theory has a long tradition going back to the earliest Latin grammars of the 17th century when "grammar" meant only the study of Latin. Until the end of the 16th century there were no grammars of English. One of the earliest Latin grammars written in English was W. L i l y ' s work published in the first half of the 16th century. Looking at English through the lattice of categories set up in Latin grammar, W. Lily presented standards for similar arrangement of the English grammatical material proceeding from Latin paradigms and using the same terminology as in Latin grammar. Lily's work went through many editions until 1858. In other early "prenormative" grammars the arrangement of the material was similar to that of "Lily's grammar. It is to be noted that using Latin categories the writers of that time did not altogether ignore distinctions that the English language made. Thus, for instance, in Lily's grammar transla- tion of Latin inflectional forms is given with the important points of re- servation that some of their English equivalents are analytical forms, which include auxiliary words as "signs". Attempts to break with Latin grammatical tradition characterise the treatment of the structure of English in B u l l o k a r ' s and Ch. B u t l e r ' s grammars but in many cases they still follow the Latin pattern. The early prenormative grammars of English reproduced the Latin classification of the word-classes which included eight parts of speech. Substantives and adjectives were grouped together as two kinds of nouns, the participle was considered as a separate part of speech. In the earliest English grammars the parts of speech were divided di- chotomically into declinable and indeclinable parts of speech or words with number and words without number (Ben Jonson), or words with number and case and words without number and case (Ch. Butler). Declinable words, with number and case, included nouns, pronouns, verbs and participles, the indeclinables — adverbs, prepositions, conjunc- tions and interjections. Ben Jonson increased the number of parts of speech. His classification includes the article as the ninth part of speech. In J. B r i g h t l a n d ' s grammar (the beginning of the 18th century) the number of parts of speech was reduced to four. These were: names (nouns), qualities (adjectives), affirmations (verbs) and particles. li Brightland's system was accepted only by a few English gra m- marians of the period. But since that time the adjective came to be viewed as a separate part of speech. Brightland's grammar was the first to include the concept of the sen- tence in syntax proper. The logical definition of the sentence existed in old times, but gram- marians understood the subject matter of syntax only as a study of word ar- rangement. In Lily's grammar, for instance, we find three Latin concords: the nom- inative and the verb, the substantive and the adjective, the relative pro- noun and its antecedent. The second half of the 18th century is generally referred to as the age of the so-called prenormative grammar. The most influential grammar of the period was R. L o w t h ' s Short Introduction to English Grammar, first published in 1762. Low th' s appr oach to the study of gr ammar was upheld by his fol low- ers. The first to be mentioned here i s L i n d l e y M u r r a y 's Eng lish. Grammar Adapted to the Different Classes of Learners. First published in 1795, it was then widely used in its original form and in an abridged ver- sion for many years to come. Murray's grammar was considered so super- ior to any then in use that soon after its appearance it became the text- book in almost every school. The principal design of a grammar of any language, according to Lowth, is to teach us to express ourselves with propriety, to enable us to judge of every phrase and form of construction, whether it be right or not. The plain way of doing this is to lay down rules and to illustrate them by examples. But besides showing what is right, the matter may be further explained what is wrong. In the words of Lowth, grammar in general, or Universal grammar ex- plains the principles which are common to all languages. The Grammar of any particular language, as the English grammar, applies those common principles to that particular language. O. Jespersen showed good judgement in observing at this point that in many cases what gives itself out as logic, is not logic at all, but Latin grammar disguised. The early prescriptive grammars exerted an enormous influence and moulded the approach of many generations to English grammar. Applying the principles of Universal grammar, Lowth subjected to criticism many expressions established by long use in English, such as, for instance, the use of adverbs without the suffix -ly, the expressions it is me, these kind of, or, say, such patterns as had rather, had better. Lowth and other grammarians of that time condemned as wrong many constructions and forms which occurred in the works of the best authors. They used passages from the works of classical writers as exercises for pu- pils to correct bad English or "false" English. 12 Classical Scientific Grammar The end of the 19th century brought a grammar of a higher type, a descriptive grammar intended to give scientific explanation to the grammatical phenomena. This was H. S w e e t ' s New English Grammar, Logical and Historical (1891). Instead of serving as a guide to what should be said or written, Sweet's explanatory grammar aims at finding out what is actually said and written by the speakers of the language investigated. This leads to a sci- entific understanding of the rules followed instinctively by speakers and writers, giving in many cases the reasons why this usage is such and such. The difference between scientific and prescriptive grammar is ex- plained by H. Sweet as follows: "As my exposition claims to be scientific, I confine myself to the statement and explanation of facts, without at- tempting to settle the relative correctness of divergent usages. If an 'un- grammatical' expression such as it is me is in general use among educated people, I accept it as such, simply adding that it is avoided in the lit- erary language. . Whatever is in general use in language is for that reason grammatic - ally correct" 1 . In the words of Sweet, his work is intended to supply the want of a sci- entific English grammar, founded on an independent critical survey of the latest results of linguistic investigation as far as they bear, directly or indirectly, on the English language. Scientific grammar was thus understood to be a combination of both de- scriptive and explanatory grammar. Sweet defines the methods of gram- matical analysis as follows: "The first business of grammar, as of every other science, is to observe the facts and phenomena with which it has to deal, and to classify and state them methodically. A grammar, which confines itself to this is called a descriptive grammar. .When we have a clear statement of such grammatical phenomena, we naturally wish to know the reason of them and how they arose. In this way descriptive grammar lays the foundations of explanatory grammar." Sweet describes the three main features characterising the parts of speech: meaning, form and function, and this has logical foundations but the results of his classification are, however, not always consistent. It is to be noted, in passing, that H. Sweet's ideas seem to anticipate some views characteristic of modern linguistics. Here are a few lines from H. Sweet's work which bear relevantly upon F. de Saussure's ideas about synchronic and diachronic lingui st- ics: " .before history must come a knowledge of what now exists. We must learn to observe things as they are without regard to their origin, just as a zoologist must learn to describe accurately a horse ." 2 . 1 H. S w e e t . New English Grammar. Logical and Historical. Oxford, 1955, p. 5. 3 H. Sweet. Words, Logic and Meaning. Transactions of the Philological Society. London, 1875—1876, p. 471. 13 [...]... a A Grammar of Late Modern English Groningen, 1914—1521; O J e s p e r s e n The Philosophy of Grammar London-New York, 1935; Essentials of English Grammar London, 1933; G C u r m e , A Grammar of the English Langua ge L ondon-New York, 1931; M B r y a n t A Functional English Grammar Boston, 1945; H R S t o k o e The Understanding of Syntax London 1937; R Zandvoort A Handbook of English Grammar. .. prescriptive grammarians in their non-legislative approach to the description of English structure trying to gain a deeper insight into its nature A wealth of linguistic material describing the structure of English is presented in such scientific grammars of the modern period as H Poutsma's Grammar of Late Modern English (1926), E Kruisinga's Handbook of Present-day (1931) and R W Zandvoort's Handbook of English. .. Essentials of English Grammar London, 1933 4 See: H A G l e a s o n Linguistics and English Grammar New York, I9G5, p 72 14 to the Study and Composition of English The latter consists of five parts: Part I contains a series of chapters on Accidence; Parsing, and Analysis of Sentences, all of which are a reprint, without any change, of the corresponding chapters in his Manual of English Grammar and Composition... the book- has notable merits Among the authors of classical scientific English grammars of the modern period mention must be made about C T Onion's Advanced English Syntax (London, 1904) The main facts of current English syntax are presented here in a systematic form in accordance with the principles of parallel grammar series English syntax is arranged in two parts Part I contains a treatment of syntactical... comparable to the influence of Murray's grammar on the 19th-century grammari ans It underwent a number of variant editions, such as: English Grammar Past and Present, Manual of English Grammar and Composition, and Aids 1 H S w e e t Words, Logic and Meaning Transactions of the Philological Society London, 1875—1876, p 471 - See: C T O n i o n s An Advanced English Syntax London, 1932; E Kruisinga... scientific English grammars have not yet succeeded in creating any quite independent and new grammatical systems R W Zandvoort's Handbook of English Grammar (1957—1965) is a descriptive grammar of contemporary English It deals with accidence and syntax, leaving aside what belongs rather to idiom and is not amenable to general statement It likewise eschews historical digressions; synchronic and diachronic grammar. .. find in his English Grammar Past and Present Part V Aids to the Study of English Literature is intended to help the student in the study of English Literature, both Prose and Verse The last chapter Style in Prose and Verse is entirely new Nesfield's grammar was revised in 1924 in accordance with the requirements of the Joint Compreceded The revision continued the tradition of 19th-century grammar: morphology... Principles of English Grammar underwent quite a number of editions and Mason's grammars were reprinted by A J Ashton (1907—1909) Numerous other grammar books continue the same tradition Some of them, in the words of H A Gleason 4 , are most heavily indebted to J C Nesfield, either directly or indirectly Published in 1898, Nesfield's grammar influenced prescriptive and to a certain extent scientific grammars... recognised by prescriptive grammar Beginning with Sweet's grammar, grammarians have retained the concepts of half-clauses, abridged clauses, verbid clauses, etc Thus, H Poutsma treats substan tive clauses, adverbial clauses, infinitive clauses, gerund clauses and participle clauses as units of the same kind E Kruisinga's grammar is one of the most interesting of those scientific grammars which have retained... certain continuousness in different English grammars observed in their keeping up the grammatical tradition The foundations of the English grammatical theory were laid already in the first part of the prescriptive grammar, though its morphological system was based on Latin and syntactic concepts depended largely upon rhetoric and logic The prescriptive normative grammar has the longest tradition and . bad English or "false" English. 12 Classical Scientific Grammar The end of the 19th century brought a grammar of a higher type, a descriptive grammar. the 19th-century grammari- ans. It underwent a number of variant editions, such as: English Grammar Past and Present, Manual of English Grammar and Composition,