Теоретическая грамматика английского языка

1. Grammar in the systemic conception of the language. The basic units of the morphological system of language (morpheme, allomorph, word) Language is a means of forming and storing ideas as reflections of reality and exchanging them in the process of human intercourse. Language is social by nature. It is inseparably connected with the people who are its creators and users. It grows and develops together with the development of society. Language incorporates 3 constituent parts: the phonological system, the lexical system, the grammatical system. Only the unity of these three elements forms a language. Each of the three constituent parts is studied by a particular linguistic discipline. The aim of the theoretical grammar of language is to present a theoretical description of its grammatical system, i.e. to analyse and define its grammatical categories and study the mechanisms of grammatical fijrmation of the utterances out of words in the process of speech making. In earlier periods of the development of linguistic knowledge scholars believed that the only purpose of grammar was to give strict rules of writing and speaking correctly. Modern linguistics lays a special stress on the systemic character of language and all its constituent parts. It emphasizes the idea that the language is a system of signs (meaningful units) which are closely interconnected and interdependent. The system of language includes on the one hand the body of material units: sounds, morphemes, words, word-groups, on the other hand the rules of the use of these units. Language and speech are inseparable; they form together an organic unity. As for grammar, it dynamically connects language with speech. Lingual units stand to one another in two ftindamental types of relations: syntagmatic and paradigmatic. Syntagmatic relations are linear relations of different elements making up some units or linear combinations of these units. Syntagmatic relations are actually observed in utterances. e.g. I saw an advertisement about English classes in a magazine. In this sentence syntagmatically connected are the words and word groups; 'Г, 'saw', 'I saw", 'advertisement', 'I saw an advertisement', 'advertisement about classes', 'English classes', 'about classes in a magazine'. Morphemes within the words are also connected syntagmatically: advertise / ment, class / es. Phonemes are connected syntagmatically within morphemes and words. The combination of two words or phrases one of which is modified by the other forms a unit called 'syntagma'. There are four main types of notional syntagmas, e.g. "I saw", "Mary writes" (combination of subject and predicate) "heard him", "didn't fmd anyone" (combination of verb and its object) "large cat", "beautiful garden" (combination of noun and its attribute) "has music lessons twice a week" (combination of notional word and its adverbial modifier) The other type of relations opposed to syntagmatic is called paradigmatic. Unlike syntagmatic relations paradigmatic caimot be directly observed in utterances. They are realized in a paradigm. Grammatical paradigms express various grammatical 5