In foreign linguistics

THE PARTS OF SPEECH SYSTEM

1. Introduction to the problem.

2. Classification of parts of speech suggested by H. Sweet.

3. O. Jespersen’s classification of parts of speech.

4. The principles of classification of words introduced by Ch. Fries.

· The notion of substitution.

· The concept of distributional analysis.

5. Classifications developed within structuralist linguistics.

6. R. Quirk’s grammar of contemporary English: open and closed classes.

7. Modern grammars of contemporary English and the problem of parts of speech classification.

1. Introduction to the problem

The part of speech assignment is “an integral part of the word, and tightly attached to it”[45]. That’s why the problem of part of speech classification has been in the center of linguists’ attention since linguistics came into existence. The first attempts at identifying the main principles of part of speech classification were made by classical philologists. Thus, in VI AD Priscian singled out 8 parts of speech. The definitions he gave are worth considering as they are typical for that time.

1. The noun is a part of speech that assigns to each of its subjects, bodies or things a common or proper quality.

2. The verb is a part of speech with tenses and moods, but without case [the noun is inflected for case], that signifies acting or being acted upon …

3. The participles are not explicitly defined, but it is stated that they should come in third place rightfully since they share case with the noun and voice and tense with the verbs.

4. The pronoun is a part of speech that can substitute for the proper name of anyone and that indicates a definite person …

5. A preposition is an indeclinable part of speech that is put before others, either next to them or forming a composite with them (This would include what we would distinguish as “prepositions” and “prefixes”).

6. The adverb is an indeclinable part of speech whose meaning is added to the verb.

7. The interjection is not explicitly defined, but is distinguished from an adverb by reason of syntactic independence it shows and because of its emotional meaning.

8. The conjunction is an indeclinable part of speech that links other parts of speech …

It is easy to see that a variety of bases for classification are in operation here: e.g., the noun is defined on the basis of what it refers to, a semantic type of classification, and also on formal grounds – it is conjugated for case; similarly, the verb is formally defined as that class of items which is conjugated for tense and mood, but also in terms of what it signifies.

It is in fact an insufficient and incorrect description even of Latin, largely because Priscian underemphasizes formal features while overemphasizing meaning in the process of classification.

Linguists tend to criticize traditional grammar

· for being based largely on intuitions about grammatical meaning;

· for being atomistic and not backed up by overall theory;

· for overemphasizing detail at the expense of attention to larger patterns;

· for being internally inconsistent.

However, while much of this criticism is well grounded, it should not be forgotten that a great deal of grammatical terminology and many of the concepts used in the linguistic theory derive from traditional grammar, which was in its turn derived from the adaptation of Greek grammar to Latin by Priscian.

Thus, according to most traditional grammars, there are eight parts of speech:

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