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Работа содержит ответы на вопросы для экзамена (зачета) по "Теоретической грамматике"
Text as a unit of the highest level manifests itself as discourse in verbal communication. Therefore actual text in use may be defined as discourse. Discourses are formed by sequence of utterances. It is obvious that many utterances taken by themselves are ambiguous. They can become clear only within a discourse. Utterances interpretation, or discourse
analysis, involves a variety of processes, grammatical and pragmatic. By pragmatic processes we mean the processes used to bridge up the gap between the semantic representations of sentences and the interpretation of utterances in context. Quite often, the sentence may be ambiguous:
His soup is not hot enough
The hearer must not only recover the semantic representation of the sentence uttered, but decide who the referential expression he refers to, whether the ambiguous word hot means very warm or spicy, whether the vague expression his food refers to the food he cooked, the food he brought, the food he served, the food he is eating, etc.
Besides, utterances have not only propositional content but illocutionary force, and ambiguities may arise at this level:
You’re not leaving
The hearer must not only recover its explicit propositional content, but also decide whether it is a statement, a question or an order. Furthermore, utterances have not only explicit content but also implicit import:
A: Would you like some coffee?
B: Coffee would keep me awake.
The hearer (A) must recover the implication that B does not want any coffee (or, in some circumstances, that he does).
Understanding the meaning of a discourse requires knowing a lot of things. There are times when people say (or write) exactly what they mean, but generally they are not totally explicit. They manage to convey far more than their words mean, or even something quite different from the meaning of their words. It was Paul Grice who attempted to explain how, by means of shared rules or conventions, language users manage to understand one another. He introduced guidelines necessary for the efficient and effective conversation. He defined these guidelines as Cooperative Principle. Cooperative Principle presupposes that conversation is governed by four basic rules, Maxims of Conversation. There are four of them:
1. The Maxim of Quality
Do not say what you believe to be false
Do not say for what you lack adequate evidence
2. The Maxim of Quantity
Do not make your contribution more informative than is required
3. The Maxim of Relevance
4. The Maxim of Manner
Be clear
Communicative maxims make it possible to generate inferences which are defined as conversational implicatures and conventional implicatures. Conversational implicatures are such components of an utterance that are not expressed semantically but are understood by communicants in the process of communication: Was it you who broke the cup? This question presupposes: Someone has broken the cup. If you did not do that your normal reaction would be: What cup?, while the answer I didn’t do that shows that you know about the fact. Conversational implicatures are universal, they do not depend on the language used. The second type of implicatures, conventional implicatures, are derived from a definite lexical or grammatical structure of an utterance: I saw only John (conventional implicature – I didn’t see anyone else), Even Bill is smarter than you (Everybody is smarter than John, John is stupid).
Both kinds of implicatures are of great interest for discourse analysis. When there is a mismatch between the expressed meaning and the implied meaning we deal with indirectness. Indirectness is a universal phenomenon: it occurs in all natural languages. Let us see how conversational implicatures arise from Maxims of Conversation and thus create indirectness.
A). In the following example Polonius is talking to Hamlet:
Polonius: What do you read, My Lord?
Hamlet: Words, words, words.
B). In the utterance You’re being too smart! the Maxim of Quality is flouted and the hearer is made to look for a covert sense. Similarly, the same maxim is flouted with metaphors. If I say: He is made of iron, I am either non-cooperative or I want to convey something different.
C). The Maxim of Relevance can also be responsible for producing a wide range of standard implicatures:
A: Can you tell me the time?
B: The bell has gone.
D). A number of different kinds of inference arise if we assume that the Maxim of Manner is being observed. The utterance The lone ranger rode into the sunset and jumped on his horse violates our expectation that events are recounted in the order in which they happen because the Maxim of Manner is flouted.
One more explanation of the fact why people are so often indirect in conveying what they mean was put forward by Geoffrey Leech in his book “Principles of Pragmatics”. He introduces the Politeness Principle which runs as follows: Minimize the expression of impolite beliefs; Maximize the expression of polite beliefs. According to G.Leech, the Politeness Principle is as valid as Cooperative Principle because it helps to explain why people do not always observe Maxims of Conversation. Quite often we are indirect in what we say because we want to minimize the expression of impoliteness:
A: Would you like to go to the theatre?
B: I have an exam tomorrow.
B is saying ‘no’, but indirectly, in order to be polite.
Theoretical Grammar
Kolomiytseva O.A.
LECTURE 13: THE USE OF ARTICLES IN ENGLISH
The article is a function word, which means it has no lexical meaning and is devoid of denotative function. Semantically the article can be viewed as a significator, i.e. a linguistic unit representing some conceptual content without naming it. If analyzed in its relation to the conceptual reality, the article proves to be an operator, i.e. a marker of some cognitive operation, like identification, classification, and the like.
It is not a secret that articles often turn into stumbling blocks for students of English, especially for those whose first language is synthetic. Different language types represent different mentalities. Therefore, one of the ways to learn to use articles correctly is developing the necessary communicative skills through countless repetition, which can only be achieved in a corresponding language environment. Another way is trying to develop a system of rules governing the use of articles in the language by understanding the basic principles of their functioning. This is what we are going to do, though of course, both methods complement one another. A language student needs both theory and practice.
As you know, there are two articles in English: the definite article “the” and the indefinite one “a”. It has become a tradition to also single out the so-called “zero” article, which is found in the contexts where neither the definite nor the indefinite article is used. It is better to speak of the zero article rather than of the absence of the article for the same reason that we ascribe the zero marker to the “unmarked” member of the opposition. We speak of zero units in situations where the grammatical meaning needs to be made explicit.
The answer to the question “what do we need articles for?” can’t be too simple. We might have to enumerate quite a few functions articles can be used in. Some of them are common for all the three articles, others are only characteristic of individual function words. This is what we are going to speak of.
1. The Use of Articles as Determiners
The invariant function of all the articles (i.e. the function all of them are used in) is that of determination. Any human language has a system of devices used to determine words as parts of speech. In analytical languages the article is the basic noun determiner. In synthetic languages, like Ukrainian and Russian the same function is performed by inflexions.
e.g. Read the poem and comment on determiners:
Twas brilling, and the slithy toves Варкалось, хливкие шорьки
Did gyre and gimble in the wabe. Пырялись по наве.
All mimsy were the borogoves, И хрюкотали зелюки,
And the mome raths outgrabe. Как мюмзики в мове.
2. The Use of Articles as the Theme-and-Rheme Markers
The second function the articles can be used in is that of the theme-and rheme markers. As you know, the theme is the information already known, and the rheme is the semantic focus of the utterance, the new idea that is being introduced. An utterance where there is only the rheme can’t be understood. For example, if I entered the room and said something like that to you, “What about a wedding dress for Jane?” you would not understand anything, for there are three rhematic pieces of information in this utterance:
Utterances that only contain the theme sound ridiculous. Can you imagine me saying something like that, «Let me share something important with you. This is a table.» You would probably think, something is wrong with me.
Traditionally the grammatical subject coincides with the theme, and the grammatical predicate is the rheme of the utterance. Still there are situations where there are disagreements between grammatical and communicative subjects and predicates.
In languages like Ukrainian or Russian the final position of the word in the sentence is rhematic, and the initial position is thematic. In English the same function is performed by the indefinite and the definite articles correspondingly. It is important to remember this principle when you translate something into English, for example:
До кімнати увійшов чоловік. A man entered the room.
Чоловік увійшов до кімнати. The man entered the room.
3.The Use of Articles as Generalizers
The object denoted by the word is called the “referent”. Referents can be concrete, if something is said about a concrete object or phenomenon, and general, if what we say is true for the whole class of objects.
e.g. I have a dog at home (a concrete dog).
The dog is man’s friend (any dog).
In the second sentence the definite article is used as a generalizer. The generalizing function can be performed by both the definite, the indefinite and the zero article. The zero article is used in the plural or with uncountable nouns, for example:
Conscience and cowardice are really the same things.
Iron is metal.
When concrete nouns are used in generic sense, they are usually preceded by the definite article. The indefinite article may be used when two classes of objects are compared, for example:
A dog is stronger than a cat.
If asked for an explanation, I would say that the general conclusion about the strength of cats and dogs is first made on the level of individuals, i.e. to determine who is stronger we would probably have to get a dog and a cat to fight. Then we would pick up another dog and another cat, until some general conclusion could be drawn. This is the reason the indefinite article appears in this sentence.
It is also important to remember that different parts of the utterance have to agree with one another semantically. So the articles are mostly used in their generalizing function in utterances characterized by generic reference, for example:
The noun is a part of speech which denotes substance.
The tragedy of life is indifference.
The generalizing function of articles is opposed to that of concretization. The latter is realized through some specific functions which are different for definite, indefinite and zero articles.
FUNCTIONS OF THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE
The indefinite article can be used in four functions:
Each of them is realized under specific contextual conditions.
the so-called classifying utterances. Their invariant sentence pattern is: N + Vbe + N1. Those are:
a) structures with the verb “to be”, for example:
This is a computer.
b)exclamatory sentences beginning with “what” or such.
e.g. What a long story! He is such a nuisance!
c) sentences including an adverbial modifier of manner or comparison, for example:
e.g. You look like a rose! She works as a teacher.
2. The indefinitizing function is realized when the referent of the
noun is not a real thing, but it exists in the speaker’s imagination only. Those are sentences containing modal verbs or verbs with modal meaning, forms of the Subjunctive Mood, Future Tense forms, negative and interrogative sentences.
e.g. I wish I had a home like you do.
Have you ever seen a living tiger?
3. The introductory function
Before sharing some information about the object, we need to introduce it to the hearer. Fairy tales can be used as ideal illustrations of the use of the indefinite article in its introductory function.
e.g. Once upon a time there lived an old man. He had a wife and a daughter. He lived in a small house.
The indefinite article developed from the numeral “one”. The meaning of “oneness” is still preserved when the article is used with nouns denoting measure, like “a minute”, “a year” or “a pound”.
FUNCTIONS OF THE DEFINITE ARTICLE
The definite article may be used in the following functions:
When we speak, we may want to point out to something that both us and the hearer perceive with our organs of feeling. There are five different ways of getting the information about something existing in the objective reality. We can see it (Do you like the picture?), hear it (I believe, the music is too loud), feel it (The pillow is so soft!), smell it (What is the name of the perfume?) or taste it (The soup tastes bitter).
The object or thing denoted by the noun is presented as a part of some complex. In modern science the term “frame” is often used. The frame is a structurally organized system of images. For example, the frame “classroom” includes a window, a blackboard and a door. So if both the speaker and the hearer know what classroom they are speaking of, the constituents of the classroom don’t need any special concretization, and the indefinite article will be used.
e.g. I want to talk to the rector (even if you have never met the man).
The object in question may be presented as a unique thing with the hearer’s attention focused on its distinguishing features, which are represented with the help of a particularizing attribute. The object is singled out from the class it belongs to. The particularizing attribute can be expressed by:
a) adjectives in the superlative degree
e.g. This is the easiest way out.
b) ordinal numerals
e.g. I have forgotten the first word.
c) attributive relative restrictive clauses
e.g. I need the book I bought yesterday.
FUNCTIONS OF THE ZERO ARTICLE
In most cases the zero article performs the same functions as the indefinite one. The difference is that the combinability of the latter is restricted to the group of countable nouns used in the singular form, whereas the zero article combines with uncountable nouns and countable nouns in the plural.
e.g. It was a large room with many windows.
The toasts were in champagne.
Still there are situations where the zero article is used in its specific functions which are different from those of the indefinite article. When used with the zero article, the noun loses its general grammatical meaning of thingness to a certain degree and acquires the meaning of qualitativeness. For example, the nouns “day” and “night” used with the zero article stand for “light” and “darkness” rather than time units.
Theoretical Grammar
Kolomiytseva O.A.
Psycholinguistics is one of several linguistic disciplines which focus on the relationship between language structures and the one who uses them It stands on the borderline between Psychology and Linguistics. The subject matter of Psychology is the nature and function of the human soul. The term itself is derived from the two Greek words “psyche” which means “soul” and “logos” which stands for “science”. There are three aspects in the human soul: “mind”, “will” and “emotions”, and all of them are studied by Psychology. The subject matter of Psycholinguistics is, of course, narrower. It is not concerned with human soul as it is. Its scope of interest is human ability to use language.
On the other hand, Psycholinguistics is not a completely independent discipline, it is a branch of General Linguistics.
Psycholinguistics can be briefly defined as a branch of language science studying speech behavior of man. B.Skinner, a famous American psychologist, suggests that language is a part of a more encompassing human behavior.
Psycholinguistics was officially recognized as a discipline, as a branch of linguistics in 1953, in the city of Bloomington, USA. It was based on the principles of the “theory of information”. The key terms that were used were “sender”, “channel” and “recipient”. The importance of using the channel effectively was underlined. The channel is described in terms of “effectiveness” and “reliability”. The effectiveness of the channel is related to the number of the bites of information that can be conveyed for a certain time unit. It means that the more information is conveyed for, let us say, an hour or a minute the more effective the channel is.