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In a predicative construction we can distinguish a secondary subject and a secondary predicate. A secondary subject can be expressed by a noun in the common case, or a personal pronoun in the objective case (before an infinitive, a participle II, a gerund, a participle I, an adjective, a noun or a stative), a noun in the genitive case or a possessive pronoun ( before a gerund). A predicative construction functions usually as a complex subject, a complex predicative, a complex object, a complex attribute, a complex adverbial modifier, A simple sentence with any of these complex parts can be transformed into a complex sentence with a subordinate clause.
Predicative constructions with an infinitive are:
1.The Accusative (Objective) with the Infinitive construction (I saw him cross the street. I heard him sing. I want you to do it) which functions as a complex object.
2. The Nominative (Subjective) with the Infinitive construction (He was seen to cross the street). Some linguists believe it to function as a complex subject. There is an opinion, according to which “was seen to cross” is a predicate of double orientation.
3. The For-To-Infinitive construction (It is a book for you to read), which functions as a complex attribute, or a complex adverbial modifier.
4. The Nominative Absolute Infinitival construction (He was happy, with the whole universe to improve), which functions as a complex adverbial modifier of cause.
Predicative constructions with a participle are:
1. The Accusative (Objective) with the Participle construction (I saw him running), which functions as a complex object.
2. The Nominative (Subjective) with the Participle construction (He was seen to be crossing the street). ). Some linguists believe it to function as a complex subject. There is an opinion, according to which “was seen to be crossing” is a predicate of double orientation.
3. The Nominative Absolute Participial construction (with the preposition with or without it (The dishes done, children to bed, her book read, she watches news on TV (a complex adverbial modifier of attendant circumstances).He entered the room, (with) his dog following him).
4. The Absolute Participial construction (Riding side by side, the night was beautiful). The subject of the action expressed by the participle is beyond the borders of this sentence. The construction functions as a complex adverbial modifier of attendant circumstances.
Predicative constructions with a gerund:
1.The wholly gerundial construction with a noun in the genitive case or a possessive pronoun (John’s having come late has amazed me). It functions here as a complex subject.2. The half-gerundial construction (I am amazed at John having come late). It functions as a complex prepositional object.
There are predicative constructions with nouns, adjectives and statives. They function as a complex object. They can be transformed into sub-clauses (I find him a genius (a secondary subject and a secondary predicate )=> I find that he is a genius ; I found the house aflame(( a predicative construction with a stative) => I found that the house was aflame; I find him clever (a predicative construction with an adjective)=> I find that he is clever).
By introducing various dependent elements into the subject-predicate skeleton of a sentence we can derive expanded structures. The ways of introduction of these dependent elements are called syntactic processes. They are:extension, modification, completion, enlargement (expansion), contamination (fusion), replacement, ellipsis, inversion, parcellation, etc. They are comparable to transformational procedures, distinguished by transformational grammar: addition, substitution, permutation, deletion.
Completion consists in adding subjective and objective complements to complete the meanings of transitive verbs of incomplete predication and copulative (связочные) verbs. In the sentence He seemed tired. The element tired is added to the copulative verb seem, otherwise a sentence would not be complete. In the sentence I consider him clever. The adjective clever is indispensable as the verb consider is that of incomplete predication. Extension means adding adverbial modifiers. Expansion (enlargement) is the amplification of a sentence structure. Modification is adding an attribute to the subject or the object. Contamination (стяжение) is fusing elements into a whole which results in a double predicate (The moon rose red) or a predicate of double orientation(He is said to have done it). Syncretism consists in combining two functions within one and the same form ( She is not a girl to marry => She is not a girl who would marry somebody. She is not the girl somebody would marry).
Ellipsis consists in omitting a principal or a subordinate element or both which can be restored from the context (He capitulated. Without the honours of war. Wanted a governess. Must possess knowledge of French, Italian, Russian, Romanian, music and mining engineering. (= A governess is wanted). This phenomenon frequently occurs in conversation, ads, newspaper headings where expanded structures are customarily ellipticized. There are structures which produce the impression of being elliptical (She beautiful! He a general!). These are logically and grammatically complete sentences, they are to be analysed the way they are. Their expansion would destroy their spontaneous scream style.
O.
Jespersen was against the ellipsomania of those grammarians which speak
of ellipsis in season and out of season as a sort of panacea to explain
all the structures which deviate from the pattern subject-predicate-object-
Inversion, when understood broadly, consists in placing a part of a sentence into an uncustomary position for it to be rhematized, to become a new communicative centre (Economics Mary just doesn’t know. Jealous I have never been). Narrow inversion consists in placing the predicate before the subject (There comes a mournful procession).
Parcellation is a new syntactic process, characteristic of the XX-th century syntax. It is a break of the chain of elements on the syntagmatic level (He was interrupted at that point. By me. There is a cloud in the sky. Grey (Joyce. Ulysses). Any element can be extracted from the maternal structure and turned into an independent structure (Shame of death. They hide. My handkerchief. They threw it). Parcellated elements in any function can be in pre- or post position or distanced from the maternal structure.
A simple sentence has a grammatical structure which is analysed in terms of principal and secondary parts. It has a semantic structure which is analysed in terms of the predicate, arguments and deep cases. It has a communicative structure which is analysed in terms of communicative dynamism, that is in terms of the rheme and the theme. The theme is the starting point while the rheme is the goal of discourse. We can analyse the sentence I opened the door in grammatical, semantic and communicative terms. Its grammatical structure is subject+ predicate+ object, its semantic structure is agent + action + object, its communicative structure is theme + rheme.
There is a hierarchy of dependencies in a simple sentence which expresses itself in the principal and secondary parts of a simple sentence.
The Principal Parts of a Simple Sentence
The principal parts of a simple sentence are the subject and the predicate. They are indispensable.
The subject denotes something that is spoken about. It is subdivided into a group subject (expanded), a complex subject (expressed by a predicative construction)( For me to do it is dangerous; His having done that surprised me), a formal subject which introduces the genuine subject ( It is strange his doing that ), an impersonal subject ( It rains), a rrhematic subject( A woman entered the room), a thematic subject( The woman came up to the window).
The predicate denotes an action, state or property of the thing expressed by the subject. It agrees with the subject logically. A single subject denoting multitude agrees with a plural predicate ( The great majority are satisfied with the outcomes of the elections).
Predicates are classified into simple and compound ones.
A simple predicate can be simple verbal, simple nominal, infinitival and reflexive. A simple verbal predicate is expressed by a verb in any form representing any category (person, number, tense, aspect, correlation, voice and mood). A simple nominal predicate is expressed by a noun or an adjective ( He clever?! He a general?!). The nature of the nominal predicate can be interpreted transformationally or by means of the method of deep and surface structures( He is clever. I do not believe. He is a general. I do not believe). An infinitival predicate is usually found in exclamatory-interrogative sentences ( Mr Domby to divorce his wife?! => Mr. Domby divorces his wife. I do not believe). In a reflexive predicate the element self cannot be omitted ( I enjoyed myself in the park). To the simple verbal predicates some scholars refer a phraseological predicate ( He was probably losing his marbles) (going crazy).
Compound predicates are subdivided into compound nominal predicates, compound modal predicates, compound aspect predicates; double predicates and predicates of double orientation. A compound nominal predicate is built up on the model a link- verb + a predicative. The number of link- verbs is great and it is still growing larger( He is a poet. He turned pale. He was going mad). Predicatives are most frequently expressed by nouns and adjectives. A verbal aspect predicate consists of a verb denoting the beginning, development or the end of an action and a non-finite form of a verv (He came running. He got going. He began reading. He continued speaking). A compound verbal modal predicate consists of a modal verb (or a modal equivalent) and an infinive (indefinite, continuous or perfect (She could have danced all night). Among compound predicates we find mixed types (a compound modal nominal predicate, a compound modal aspectual predicate ( He must be a poet. He may begin to attend classes).
A double predicate consists of two parts, verbal and nominal, the former being an explicit predicate, the latter being an implicit predicate. It can be described transformationally (He married young=>He married. He was young). The predicate of double orientation consists of two parts, the latter oriented upon the subject of this sentence, the former oriented upon a subject beyond the limits of this sentence which can be proved transformationally ( He is said to have done it => They say that he has done it).
The secondary parts of a simple sentence can be indispensable or facultative for the structural and semantic completeness of the sentence. Secondary parts are divided into objects, attributes and adverbial modifiers.
An Object
An object is a secondary part which depends upon the predicate. It is verb -oriented. Logical relations between a predicate- verb and its object are various. An object is indispensable (obligatory) when it is used after verbs of incomplete predication (to be, seem, appear, smell, take). Such verbs are insufficient by themselves, structurally, communicatively and semantically incomplete and need an object or an adverbial modifier (They took the boy to the theatre). By means of the transformational procedure of deletion we can deprive the verb of its object and see whether it is complete or incomplete (They broke the thing gently => *they broke gently, where the sign * means “ungrammatical”). Traditionally objects are classified into direct, indirect, prepositional and cognate (родственный) ( He smiled a winner’s smile. He lived a happy life). In the cognate object the verb and the noun, functioning as the object, are of the same root). We can distinguish a complex object which is expressed by a predicative construction with an infinitive, a participle or a Gerund ( I remember my mother singing a song to me. I saw him cross the street. I heard her singing. I found the house ruined). We can also distiguish a formal object which introduces a genuine object ( I find it strange to go there).
According to their semantic roles objects are divided by professors Burlakova, Ivanova and Pocheptsov into the object of the object ( I read the book), the object of the addressee (He gives it to me), the object of the subject( I was blackmailed by him).
An Adverbial Modifier
It a secondary or a tertiary of the sentence, it is verb- and adverb- oriented. It is not determined by the semantic meaning of the verb. Types of adverbial modifiers are determined by semantic varieties or semantic types of adverbs.We distinguish adverbial modifiers of manner, measure, cause, attendant circumstances, time, exception, direction, place, comparison (real/unreal), concession (real/unreal/problematic). It can be facultative and indispensable( He broke the thing gently. They took the boy to the theatre.) Complex adverbial modifiers are expressed by predicative constructions{ He entered the room, the dog following him (a nominative absolute participial construction). He entered the room, with his dog following him (a prepositional participial construction)
An Attribute
An attribute is a noun- oriented secondary or tertiary part of a sentence. It doesn’t enter the structural scheme of the sentence. Very often it facultative and can be easily omitted (A beautiful girl entered a spacious room). It can be used in pre-position and post-position. Its position is determined by its semantics. Attributes giving more concrete character to a noun are placed nearer to it than those giving general assessment (An attractive small girl). It can be complex, when it is expressed by a predicative construction (This is a book for you to read). An attribute very often merely decorates a sentence, but there are instances when without it a noun is communicatively empty (She has blue eyes), which makes it obligatory.
Debated Problems within a Simple Sentence
1. Debated is the status of a simple sentence with expansion. 1.1. Expanded are the simple sentences with homogeneous parts. Any member of the sentence can be homogeneous (The beauty of the lakes, the forests, and the stretches of the tranquil blue skies gently took the army out of Alessandro. M.Helprin. He came awake with a jerk, turned towards the window and almost screamed. St. King). 1.2. Expanded are the simple sentences with infinitival, gerundial and participial phrases( There are other businesses to attend to => There are other businesses which can be attended to). 1.3. Expanded are the simple sentences with infinitival, gerundial and participial predicative constructions which function as complex parts of a sentence {(I want it to be spring (an objective with an infinitive construction). Riding side by side, the night was beautiful ( an absolute participial construction). Judging by his appearance, he is a second-rate actor(an absolute participial construction)}. A sentence with homogeneous parts is analysed as a simple sentence with one explicit predicative tie and two or more implicit predicative ties. Some scholars find it to be a compound sentence. A sentence carrying phrases and constructions with non-finites is considered to be a complex sentence with an abridged clause. B.A.Ilyish finds the structures with homogeneous elements, apposition, detachment and predicative constructions with non-finites, nouns, adjectives, statives to be transitional sentences between mono- and polypredicative structures.
2. Debated is the status of a sentence with syncretical elements( Her life was gone and done with. His hands are cut and bleeding (are is an auxiliary for perfect and continuous tenses).
3. There are no rigid criteria of distinguishing between secondary parts of the simple sentence: between an attribute and a prepositional object ( The sound of the door opening made him start). In traditional linguistics nounal constructions with the preposition of after a noun are considered to be prepositional objects; between a prepositional object and an adverbial modifier ( After many snows I was home again); between an attribute and an adverbial modifier( She is not a girl to marry).
O.Jespersen distinguished secondary parts into secondaries and tertiaries. A. Peshkovsky divided members of the sentence into those which are governed and those which are not governed. The theory of secondary parts has many weaknesses, hence structuralists discard traditional parsing into primaries and secondaries and resort to the IC method, distributional and transformational methods when analyzing non-included utterances (simple sentences).
4. Debated is the nature of the formations of the type His attachments may be said to have ended. It is not clear whether it is a complex subject expressed by the nominanative with the infinitive construction or a modal predicate of double orientation.
5. Debated are the character and the functional status of infinitival structures in such sentences as Common people to talk about him! B.A. Ilyish treated it as a two-member sentence with an infinitive functioning as a simple infinitival predicate. But it contradicts the generally established belief that a predicate should be expressed by a finite form of the verb.
6. Debated is the status of the sentence opening with conjunctions or
conjunctive phrases (Silly little fool trying to flatter me. As if
I don’t know that). The nature of the opening element and of the
whole sentence is debated. B.A.Ilyish holds that it is an emancipated
clause turning into an independent simple sentence. The opening element
is no longer a conjunction. Acquiring some additional semantic meaning,
it becomes an interjection.
A COMPOSITE SENTENCE
There are dichotomic and trichotomic classifications of sentences. In a dichotomic classification we see a simple ( one –axis) sentence and a composite sentence.
The trichotomic classification remains the prevalent scheme of the structural classifications of sentences in all linguistic schools (the simple sentence, the compound sentence, the complex sentence with structural variations). Descriptivists introduced the terms a single free utterance (minimal and expanded)( I want a cat), a duplication (or a multiplication) of the pattern (He was young, the weather was beautiful, and Europe was at war) M. Helprin. A Soldier of the Great War. P.178), a sequence with included utterances ( We don’t know where we’ ll be tomorrow).
A composite sentence is a polypredicative structure based on coordination (parataxis), subordination (hypertaxis) or specification (explication).
Composite sentences based on coordination are called compound sentences, while sentences based on subordination are called complex sentences..
Composite sentences based on specification (explication) carry two parts which are separated by a colon, the second part specifying the first (Печален я: со мною друга нет. Real grief is ugly: the business of an actor is to represent it not only with truth but with beauty. Women in their nature are giantesses: they will break through everything and go on with their own lives).