Adverbs

A part of speech (PS) is a lexical gram word class which is characterized by a general abstract gram meaning expressed in certain gram markers. This definition stresses the fact that within a part of speech similar gram features are common to all words belonging to this class. All PS fall into 2 classes: notional (noun, verb, adj, adv, pronoun, numeral – cover 93% of the English vocabulary, they fill all positions in the sentence, they possess an independent notional meaning of their own) and functional (prep, conj – express relations, they never indicate objects or notions, their use is obligatory). The meaning of the adv as a PS is hard to define. Some adv indicate time or place of an action (yesterday, here), others indicate its property (quickly), others - the degree of a property (very). Adv are invariable. Some of them have degrees of comparison (fast, faster, fastest). Adv combine with a verb (run quickly), with an adj (very long), with a noun (the then president), with a phrase (so out of things). Adv can follow a prep (from there). In a sentence they are almost always adv modifiers, or parts of it, but they may occasionally be attributes.

The adv. is a PS characterized by the following features:

1) the lex.-gram. mean. of “qualitative, quantative or circumstantial characteristics of actions, states or qualities:

2) the category of the degree of comparison

3) typical stem-build. affixes, as in quick-ly, side-ways, clock-wise, a-shore…

4) its unilateral (односторон.) combinability with verbs, adj., adv-s, less regularly with adlinks (asleep,alive) and nouns.

The function of adverbial complement (дополнение), sometimes other functions

Typical features of the Adjective as a part of speech:

1.The lexico-grammatical meaning of “attributes (of substantives)”. By attributes we mean different properties of substantives, such as their size, colour, position in space, material, psychic state of persons, etc. Each adjective used in text presupposes relation to some noun. Unlike nouns, adjectives do not possess a full nominative value.

2.The characteristic combinability with nouns (a beautiful girl), link verbs (…is clever), adverbs, mostly those of degree (a very clever boy), the so-called “prop word” one (the grey one).

3.The stem-building affixes –ful, -less, -ish, -ous, -ive, -ic, un-, pre-, in-, etc.

4.Its functions of an attribute and a predicative.

All the adjectives are divided into:

Relative adjectives denote qualities of objects in relation to other objects; such adjectives are usually derived from nouns (e.g. wood – a wooden hut, history – a historical event). The nature of this relationship in adjectives is best revealed by definitional correlations: e.g. a wooden hut – a hut made of wood; a historical event – an event referring to a certain period of history.

Qualitative adjectives denote various qualities of substances which admit of a quantitative estimation. The measure of a quality can be estimated as high or low, adequate or inadequate, sufficient or insufficient, optimal or excessive (e.g. a difficult task – a very difficult task).

The adjective functions may be grammatically divided into ‘evaluative’ and ‘specificative’. One and the same adjective, irrespective of its being relative or qualitative, can be used either in one or the other function.

e.g. good is basically qualitative, but used as a grading term in teaching it acquires the specificative value (bad, satisfactory, good, excellent).

The morphological category of the degrees of comparison

The category of comparison expresses the quantitative characteristics of the quality rendered by the adjective, in other words, it expresses the relative evaluation of the amount of the quality of some referent in comparison with other referents possessing the same quality. Three forms constitute this category: the positive degree, the comparative degree, and the superlative degree

· the positive degree, has no special formal mark, e.g.: tall, beautiful;

· the comparative degree is marked by two kinds of forms; synthetical forms with the suffix “-er” and analytical forms with the auxiliary word more, e.g.: taller, more beautiful

· the superlative degree is also formed either synthetically with the help of the grammatical suffix “-est”, or analytically with the help of the auxiliary word most, e.g.: tallest, most beautiful.

Degrees of comparison

On the upper level the positive degree, as the unmarked member, is opposed to the comparative and superlative degrees, as the marked forms of the opposition, denoting the superiority of a certain referent in the property named by the adjective.The weak member, the positive degree, has a wider range of meanings: it denotes either the absence of comparison, or equality/inequality in special constructions of comparison, e.g.: He is tall; He is as tall as my brother; He is not so tall as my brother.
On the lower level the comparative degree is opposed to the superlative degree. The comparative degree denotes relative, or restricted superiority, involving a restricted number of referents compared, normally two, e.g.: He is taller than my brother. The superlative degree denotes absolute, or unrestricted superiority, implying that all the members of a certain class of referents are compared and the referent of the word modified by the adjective possesses the property in question to the highest possible degree, e.g.: He is the tallest man I’ve ever seen. The superlative degree at this level of the opposition is the strong member, being more concrete in its semantics

“The elative superlative transposition”.

The superlative degree is used in two senses: the absolute superiority (unrestricted) and the elative superiority (a very high degree of a certain quality). The formal mark of the difference between the two cases is the possibility of indefinite article determination or the use of the zero article with the noun modified by the adjective in the superlative degree, e.g.: It was a most generous gesture; a sensation of deepest regret.

Some combinations can denote so called “negative comparison”, or “reverse comparison” and are formed with the help of the auxiliary words less and least; the regular synthetic and analytical forms denoting an increase in the amount of a quality may be specified as “direct comparison”, or “positive comparison” forms. Thus, the whole category of comparison is constituted not by three forms, but by five forms: one positive degree form (important), two comparative degree forms, direct and reverse (more important, less important), and two superlative degree forms: direct and reverse (most important, least important).

Поиск по сайту: