The category of voice

The category of aspect.

English verb have special forms for expressing actions in progress, going on at a definite moment or period of time, i.e. for expressing limited duration - continuous forms.

Continuous forms have been traditionally treated as tense forms (definite, expanded, progressive) or as tense-aspect forms.

Members of the opposition are not opposed as tenses (tense is the same). They show different character of an action, the way in which the action is experienced or regarded: as a mere fact or as taken in progress. The opposition common-continuous reveals the category of aspect.

Tense and aspect are ciosely connected, but they are different categories, revealed through different oppositions: comes — came; comes — is coming.

The fact that the Infinitive has the category of aspect (to come — to be coming) and has no category of tense also shows, that these are different categories.

The category of _asgect is closely connected with the lexical meaning. R.Quirk divides the verbs into dynamic (having the category of aspect) and stative (disallowing the continuous form). Stative verbs denote perception, cognition and certain relations: see, know, like, belong. Dynamic verbs may be terminative (limitive), denoting actions of limited duration: close, break, come, and durative (unlimitive), denoting actions of unlimited duration: walk, read, write, shine. With durative verbs the aspect opposition may be neutralized.

So temporal relations in Modem English are expressed by three categories:

1) tense (present - past),

2) prospect (future - non-future),

3) order (perfect - non-perfect)/

The central category, tense, is proper to finite forms only. Categories denoting time relatively, embrace both unites and verbals.

The character of an action is expressed by two categories: aspect (common - continuous) and order.

The category of voice is revealed through the binary opposition “active - passive” (love - is loved). Voice denotes the direction of an action as viewed by the speaker.

Voice is a morphological category but it has a distinct syntactic, significance. Active voice has obligatory connections with the doer of the action. Passive voice has - with the object of the action.

In the active construction the semantic and the grammatical subject coincide. In the passive construction the grammatical subject is the object of the action.

The direction of the action may be also expressed lexically, and the lexical and the grammatical meaning may or may not coincide.

The category of voice characterizes both finite forms and verbals: to love - to be loved; loving - being loved.

Participle I may be also opposed to participle II: loving - loved (active - passive). But participle II may also have perfect meaning: writing - written (non-perfect - perfect). Meanings rendered by participle II depend on transitivity/intransilivity and teminativity/durativity.

The category of voice is closelv connected with lexico-syntectic properties of verbs. According to the number and character of valencies verbs fall into subjective and objective, the latter being transitive and intransitive. In English all objective verbs havejhe category of voice. Transitivity in English it is a property of the lexico-semantic variant of the verb.

The main difficulty in defining the number of voices in modern English is the absence of direct correspondence between meaning and form. Three more voices have been suggested in addition to active and passive:

1. Reflexive: He hurt himself.

2. Reciprocal: They greeted each other.

3. Middle: The door opened.

Passive constructions in English are used more frequently than in Russian. In English not only transitive but also intransitive objective verbs have the category of voice. Here belong:

1. Ditransitive verbs with 2 direct objects.

2. Ditransitive verbs with the direct and the indirect object.

3. Verbs taking a prepositional object.

4. Phraseological units of the type to take care of, to set fire to, to lose sight of.

4. Some intransitive subjective verbs followed by prepositional phrases.

5. The combination be + participle II may denote a state as a result of the previous action.

A.I.Smirnitsky: passive constructions have corresponding active constructions: Tables are usually made of wood. - People, usually make tables of wood. But the sentence “The table is made of wood” has no parallel active construction. The combination be+participle II, denoting state, is a compound nominal predicate. Likewise the combination get (become) + participle II is a compound nominal predicate and not the form of the passive voice: got married, became influenced.

Дата добавления: 2014-12-29