THE COMBINATION OF VERB PREDICATES: SIMPLE OR COMPLEX SENTENCE?

The article is concerned with the problem of correlation of the homogeneity and the co-ordination in French that is essential to differentiate a simple sentence with the similar verb predicates of a complex sentence. The urgency of such problems is based on the similarity of these syntactic constructions due to the co-ordination link existing in both constructions. This fact doesn’t allow the grammarians to arrive at a common view on the nature of the two constructions. The author proves the influence of the verb predicate syntactic links with the other parts of the sentence on classifying the structure as a simple or a complex sentence. In the paper there have been studied the similar verb predicates in the extended and unextended sentences. In the extended sentences the author focuses on the form and place of a complement, on the presence or absence of the adverbial modifier. The verb predicate grammar form itself influences the differentiating the two structures. Thus, it has been concluded that the main distinctive feature of predicate homogeneity is the grammatical marker. There have been detected the supplementary distinctive feature of predicate homogeneity is the semantic aspect, the lexical meaning in particular. The treated analysis of the empiric material shows the dependence of determining the two syntactic units on the stylistic norms and the rhetorical mode. The most important finding of the research is that, contrary some scientists’ opinion, there is no reason to abandon the term of the similar verb predicates in French.

Imperfect Role in Speech Tactics of Will Expression Effect

This paper presents the results of studies of the imperfect in the speech tactics of will expression effect (request, persuasion, advice and suggestion). The pragmatic peculiarities of this grammar form were determined. The influence of the speech tactics on imperfect semantics, the influence of the imperfect on the speech tactics and the interaction of the general speech strategy with the speech tactics containing imperfect, used in it, were examined. It is established that in the speech tactics of will expression effect, the imperfect has a different quantity of meanings in various tactics and marginal significations (the irreal imperfect, the imperfect of curtesy, the imperfect of intention) are used more often than prototypical ones. It means the Expositive (colloquial speech) tends to deal with later acquired meanings. Due to the imperfect, the speech tactics of the will expression strategy gets a special flexibility, softness and even carefulness in communication with other people. The socializing becomes more formal and trustful. Thus, the imperfect can be used for recognizing the speaker’s speech goals and even determining his strategy line.

Bio-Cognitive aspects of simple and progressive verb forms usage

The article offers a cognitive subject-oriented perspective on language and its acquisition with a focus on grammar. By sketching out the cognitive mechanisms of languaging ‘conceptual complexes’ or mental categories through grammar means, the authors endeavour to define and formulate their semantic representations which are supposed to meet three prime objectives, namely to 1) reflect the orientation effect of grammar forms and constructions used in the process of speech production as coordination of his/her own interactions; 2) interpret the meaningful content and mental imaging associated in the subject's mind with this or that grammar form; 3) serve as an auxiliary technique in understanding and explaining English grammar for various teaching and learning purposes. The proposed approach and delineated technique are showcased by the verbs forms of present simple and present progressive whose cognitive essence and interpretative models are described and analysed in minute detail. Keywords: Cognitive grammar; cognition, English tense forms, simple and progressive tenses

Form, its meaning, and dictionary entries

Form, its meaning, and dictionary entriesAs we know, a language form is a unit which plays a specific form in the language, e.g. a semantic or syntactical one. We establish the function of a form based on its use (occurrence), i.e. its relation with the meanings of other forms in speech or in a text. The meaning of a form is the value of its function. In the traditional grammar, form is opposed to its meaning. However, various grammar schools have big problems with distinguishingbetween a form and its function. For example, the present tense form has a number of basic temporal meanings in Bulgarian as well as in Polish and Russian, and in none of those languages this is only the present time, (see past, future and habituality expressed using the present tense form). It is a big mistake not to distinguish between the meanings of article in article languages. For example, in Bulgarian the same form of article canexpress both uniqueness and universality (or, respectively: definiteness and indefiniteness). In the quoted book (Koseska-Toszewa 1982), I put forward a hypothesis on the development of the meaning of Bulgarian article. In my opinion, initially the article expressed uniqueness of an element (object), and then started to express also uniqueness of a set, which later, due to equalling two completely different semantically-logical structures, i.e. structures with universal and unique quantification, lead to a homonymy and to the article expressing also universality, i.e. indefiniteness. Similarly in English, French, Rumanian or Albanian, where the same form of article can express either uniqueness or universality. This proves that the above homonymy is of a general rather than typological (e.g. Balkan) character. Naturally, in the above languages the definite article form can also express uniqueness of an object or a set, so it also expresses definiteness. Ambiguity of the definite article form is a phenomenon exceeding the area of Balkan languages, and the only Balkanism is the position of the article — speaking more precisely,its postpositiveness (postpositive position). However, that position gives us no right to treat it differently than the English or French article. In Bulgarian, Rumanian and Albanian the postpositive article is written together with the name its concerns, but it is neither a unit belonging to the root of the word nor the ending of the word.The above observations, based first of all on the semantically-logical aspects of the definiteness category, have been confirmed by the language material from the Suprasl Code, where Bulgarian article does not occur in universally quantified nominal structures, but in uniquely quantified nominal expressions, denoting satisfaction of the predicate either by one element of the sentence or by the whole set treated as the only one.It is worth stressing that distinguishing between the form and its meaning in comparing the material 6 languages belonging to three different groups of Slavic languages (as is the case in the MONDILEX Project) will allow us to avoid numeorus substantiva mistakes and erroneous conclusions. Hence dictionary entries should be verified and made uniform in that respect before they are “digitalized”... Distinction between the form and its meaning in a dictionary entry is fully possible, as shown by works of Z. Saloni (2002) and A.Przepiórkowski (2008).