The Classification of Words in Post-Structural Traditional Grammar

In modern linguistics, parts of speech are discriminated according to three

criteria: semantic, formal and functional. This approach may be defined as

complex. The semantic criterion presupposes the grammatical meaning of the

whole class of words (general grammatical meaning). The formal criterion reveals

paradigmatic properties: relevant grammatical categories, the form of the words,

their specific inflectional and derivational features. The functional criterion

concerns the syntactic function of words in the sentence and their combinability.

Thus, when characterizing any part of speech we are to describe: a) its semantics;

b) its morphological features; c) its syntactic peculiarities.

The lexemes of a part of speech are united by their meaning. This meaning

is a category-forming one. Therefore, it is referred to as categorical meaning.

Lexemes that have the meaning of substance or thingness are nouns, those having

the meaning of property are adjectives; those having the meaning of process are

verbs; those having the meaning of circumstantial property are adverbs. As

categorical meaning is derived from lexemes, it is often called lexico-grammatical

meaning. In the surface, lexico-grammatical meaning finds outward expression.

For instance, the meaning of substance, or thingness, is realized by the following

lexico-grammatical morphemes:-er,-ist,-ness,-ship,- ment. It is also realized by

specific grammatical forms constituting the grammatical categories of number and

case. These outward features are a formal criterion of classification. The functional

criterion concerns the syntactic role of a word in the sentence.

In accordance with the said criteria, we can classify the words of the English

language into notional and functional. To the notional parts of speech belong the

noun, the adjective, the numeral, the verb, and the adverb. To the functional parts

of speech belong the article, the pronoun, the preposition, the conjunction, the

particle, the modal words, and the interjection. The notional parts of speech present

open classes while the functional parts of speech present closed classes, i.e. the 19

number of items constituting the notional word-classes is not limited while the

number of items constituting the functional word-classes is limited and can be

given by the list.

The division of language units into notion and function words reveals the

interrelation of lexical and grammatical types of meaning. In notional words the

lexical meaning is predominant. In function words the grammatical meaning

dominates over the lexical one. However, in actual speech the border line between

notional and function words is not always clear cut. Some notional words develop

the meanings peculiar to function words - e.g. semi-notional words – to turn, to

get, etc.

Notional words constitute the bulk of the existing word stock while function

words constitute a smaller group of words. Although the number of function words

is limited (there are only about 50 of them in Modern English), they are the most

frequently used units.

It will be obvious that the system of English parts of speech as presented

here is not the only one possible. All depends on which feature we want to base

our classification. So, for instance, if the classifying criterion is the variability of a

form, we shall have to unite prepositions, conjunctions, interjections and particles

into one class (cf. H. Sweet’s and O. Jespersen’s classifications). If we classify

words in accordance with the criterion of meaning, we shall distinguish only four

word-classes: nouns, adjectives, verbs and adverbs. Besides, linguists do not agree

on the number of features needed to distinguish a part of speech. So, for instance,

besides the traditional parts of speech, some linguists distinguish the stative and

response words.

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