General characteristics of the verb and the categories of the verb

The English verb is the most complex part of speech. It performs the central role in realizing predication (= connection between situation and utterance and reality)

The English possessed a lot of grammatical categories.

1. grammatical meaning of the verb = verbality (вербальность) – ability to denote a process developing in time

Denote: processes, states, forms of existence

2. verb possesses grammatical categories of tense, aspect, voice, mood, person, number, phase, finitude (завершенность)

The common categories: finite/ non-finite, voice, aspect, phase

Grammatical categories of the English verb find their expression, syntactical and analytical forms

Formative elements expressing these categories are affixes, inner inflexion, function words.

Some categories have only syntactical forms [person, number]

Other only analytical forms [voice]

Categories have both syntactical and analytical forms [mood, tense, aspect]

The processual categorial meaning of the notional verb determines its characteristic combination with a noun expressing both the doer of the action (its subject) and, in cases of the objective verb, the recipient of the action (its object); it also determines its combination with an adverb as the modifier of the action. In the sentence the finite verb invariably performs the function of the verb-predicate, expressing the processual categorial features of predication, i.e. time, aspect, voice, and mood.

The non-finite verb performs different functions according to its intermediary nature (those of the syntactic subject, object, adverbial modifier, attribute), but its non-processual functions are always actualised in close combination with its processual semantic features.

Syntactical features of the verb. The most universal:

1. ability to be modified by adverbs

2. ability to perform the syntactic function of the predicate

Criteria is not absolute. Only final forms of the verb can perform this function.

Non-finite – in any other function

Classification: morphological, lexical-morphological, syntactical, functional - см. ниже

1. Specific word building - stem types: all verbs

· simple [go]

· sound replacive [blood-bleed]

· stressed replacive [‘transport – trans’port]

· expanded– by means of prefixes, suffixes

The typical suffixes expanding the stem of the verb are: -ate (cultivate), -en (broaden), -ifу (clarify), -ise(-ize) (normalise). The verb-deriving prefixes of the inter-class type are: be- (belittle, befriend, bemoan) and en-/em- (engulf, embed). Some other characteristic verbal prefixes are: re- (remake), under- (undergo), over- (overestimate), sub- (submerge), mis-(misunderstand), un- (undo), etc.

2. composite/compound verbs [n. blackmail – v. blackmail]

3. phrasal verbs [give a smile, have a bath]? – always have equivalent in ordinary verb

The phrasal verb stems occupy an intermediary position between analytical forms of the verb and syntactic word combinations. Among such stems two specific constructions should be mentioned. The first is a combination of the head-verb have, give, take, and occasionally some others with a noun; the combination has as its equivalent an ordinary verb. Cf.: to have a smoke — to smoke; to give a smile — to smile; to take a stroll — to stroll.

The second is a combination of a head-verb with a verbal postposition that has a specificational value. Cf.: stand up, go on, give in, be off, get along, etc.

? Ways of forming past tense: regular, irregular

Syntactically: according to the nature of predication?: finite, non-finite

The grammatical categories which find formal expression in the outward structure of the verb and which will be analysed further are, first, the category of finitude dividing the verb into finite and non-finite forms; second, the categories of person, number, tense, aspect, voice, and mood, whose complete set is revealed in every word-form of the notional finite verb.

Валентность - syntagmatic(синтагматические) properties: obligatory(обязательные), optional

The combining power of words in relation to other words in syntactically subordinate positions is called their syntactic " valency ".

The obligatory valency is such as must necessarily be realised for the sake of the grammatical completion of the syntactic construction. For instance, the subject and the direct object are obligatory parts of the sentence, and, from the point of view of sentence structure, they are obligatory valency partners of the verb. Consequently, we say that the subjective and the direct objective valencies of the verb are obligatory. E.g.: We saw a house in the distance.

The optional valency, as different from the obligatory valency, is such as is not necessarily realised in grammatically complete constructions: this type of valency may or may not be realised depending on the concrete information to be conveyed by the utterance

verbs of directive active (see, take, give)

non-directive

Grammatical meaning of transitivity (переходность): transitive, intransitive

Verbal transitivity, as one of the specific qualities of the general "completivity", is the ability of the verb to take a direct object, i.e. an object which is immediately affected by the denoted process. The direct object is joined to the verb "directly", without a preposition.

Functional classification:

· notional (full lexical meaning)

· semi-notional (modal, link, auxiliary) – ослабленная семантика

The class of verbs falls into a number of subclasses distinguished by different semantic and lexico-grammatical features.

On the upper level of division two unequal sets are identified: the set of verbs of full nominative value (notional verbs), and the set of verbs of partial nominative value (semi-notional and functional verbs). The first set is derivationally open, it includes the bulk of the verbal lexicon. The second set is derivationally closed, it includes limited subsets of verbs characterised by individual relational properties.

Notional verbs undergo the three main grammatically relevant categorisations.

The first is based on the relation of the subject of the verb to the process denoted by the verb. – actional, stative

The second is based on the aspective characteristics of the process denoted by the verb, i.e. on the inner properties of the process as reflected in the verbal meaning. – aspect - continuous

The third is based on the combining power of the verb in relation to other notional words in the utterance.

On the basis of the subject-process relation, all the notional verbs can be divided into actional and statal. Actional verbs express the action performed by the subject, i.e. they present the subject as an active doer (in the broadest sense of the word). To this subclass belong such verbs as do, act, perform, make, go, read, learn, discover, etc. Statal verbs, unlike their subclass counterparts, denote the state of their subject. That is, they either give the subject the characteristic of the inactive recipient of some outward activity, or else express the mode of its existence. To this subclass belong such verbs as be, live, survive, worry, suffer, rejoice, stand, see, know, etc

Category of tense

Reflects objective category of time.

Essential characteristic of this category is reflects the time of the action to the time of utterance. This category is realized through the opposition. The major opposition is the opposition of past and present. It is the best to be regarded as contrast of past and non-past. A lot of scholars did not recognize the existance of Future tenses. This category is realized by means of auxiliary verbs [will, shall – partly modal]. This verbs do not necessary occur rather in future time sentences.

Category of aspect

Linguistic representation of objective category of manner of action. It is realized through the opposition Continuous/ Progressive or not. Realization of this category is connected with lexical meaning of verbs. There are verbs do not occur with Progressive aspect [love, hate, see].

Category of voice

Form of the verb may show if the agent is the doer or the recipient of the action. Objective relations between action subject/object find the expression as grammatical category of voice in language. This category is realized through opposition Active/ Passive voice.

Realization of the voice category is restricted because of the grammatical meaning of transitivity.

Classification of verbs is very complex and comprises 6 groups

1. verbs which used only transitive [to mark, raise smth]?

2. verbs with main transitive meaning [to build, make, see]

3. verbs of intransitive meaning and secondary transitive meaning – непереходный используется как переходный

Ex: he laughed me into the agreement. – довел до смеха, что я согласился

He danced me out of the room. – затанцевал, что из комнаты

4. verbs of a double nature, used transitively and intrasitivey. Both meanings – equivalents

[drive home]

5. verbs that are never used in the passive voice [become]

6. verbs that realized the passive meaning only in special context [live, sleep, work, jump, sit]

Category of mood

Most controversial, expresses the relations between actions which denoted by the speaker and actual reality. From the point of view the speaker, he\she may treat action as real/ unreal.

Problematic or aspect or as imaginary phenomenon.

The most controversial question in the category of mood - problem of number and types of mood.

The most popular in grammar has become the system of Moods which was put forward by professor Смирницкий, Блох.

There are three moods in English

· the Indicative Mood

· the Imperative Mood

· the Oblique Mood

1. Subjunctive I

2. Suppositional

3. Subjunctive II

4. Conditional

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