Grammatical category

TYPES OF GRAMMATICAL FORMS

The ways of building up grammatical forms depend on the structure of the language. Linguists usually draw a distinction between two main types of form-building: synthetic and analytical.

Synthetic forms are built up by a change in the body of the word. Analytical forms consist of at least two words, one rendering the grammatical meaning, the other – the lexical meaning of the analytical complex. Inflected languages, such as Russian, resort to (прибегают) synthetic forms, primarily. Analytical languages, e.g. English, give preference to analytical forms. It doesn’t mean that inflected languages never make use of analytical forms or that synthetic forma are alien to analytical languages. Synthetic and analytical forms go hand in hand.

Synthetic means of form-building are affixation, which includes prefixation, suffication, (sound-interchange by means of sound interchange nouns differentiate the category of number – foot – feet, goose – geese, ect), suppletivity (forms of one word may be derived from different roots: go – went, I – me, good – better – best).

Analytical forms are combinations of the auxiliary element (a word-morpheme) and the notional element:

e.g. is writing .

In the analytical form is writing the auxiliary verb be is lexically empty. It expresses the grammatical meaning. The notional element expresses both the lexical and the grammatical meaning. So the grammatical meaning is expressed by the two components of the analytical form: the auxiliary verb be and the affix –ing. The word-morpheme be and the inflexion –ing constitute a discontinuous morpheme.

Analytical forms have developed from phrases and there are structures which take an intermediary position between free phrases and analytical forms: will go, more beautiful, etc.

The abundant use of analytical forms, especially in the system of the verb, is the characteristic feature of Modern English.

The unity of the general meaning and its particular manifestations which is revealed through the opposition of forms is a grammatical category. There may be different definitions of the category laying stress either on its notional or formal aspect. But the category exists only if there is an opposition of at least two forms. If there is one form, there is no category.

The minimal (two-member) opposition is called binary. Oppositions may be of three main types:

1) Privative. One member has a certain distinctive feature. This member is called marked, or strong (+). The other member is characterized by the absence of this distinctive feature. This member is called unmarked, or weak (-):

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