This glossary contains the brief definition of all the specialized terms used in the text of this book.

 

 

Entry	Definition	Equivalent terms
absolute generali­zation	the highest degree of generalization working on the level of notions Cf.: relative generalization	absolute abstraction
adjective	a type of word identifying an attribute of a noun(a red chair),expressing contrasts of degree (redder, reddish)
adjunct	1. a less important or omissible element in a grammatical construction; 2. a secondary word in a junction (0. Jespersen) Cf.: subjunct	a dependent unit
adverb	a word whose main function is to specify the kind of action expressed by a verb (Ex. He spoke angrily); other functions include acting as intensifier(very big) and as a sentence connector (Moreover, they laughed)
adnex	a secondary word in a nexus (0. Jespersen)
agent(as a semantic role)	the person or other being that instigates the happening denoted by the verb, e.g.: Jenny has written me a letter.
allomorph	a concrete manifestation of a morpheme, a variant, an alternative of a morpheme
allo-term	a variant language unit actualized in a concrete speech string Cf.: erne-term
aspect	a duration or type of temporal activity,denoted by a verb, such as completion or non-completion of an action Cf.:perfect
aspective seman­tics	semantics describing the inner character­istics of the verbal process; it can be expressed lexically or grammatically
auxiliary verb	a verb used along a lexical verb to make grammatical distinctions (She is going/ might go) Cf.: operator
base	the minimal form of a word to which affixes can be added e.g. Sad, car
binding	syntactical relationship of clauses of different ranks (of an independent and a dependent clause) Cf.: Unking
bound form	a minimal grammatical unit that can’t occur on it’s own as a word, also known as a bound morpheme
case	a nounal category showing the relation of the referent to some other referent
clause	a structural unit smaller than a sentence but larger than phrases or words

 

 

cleft sentence	a sentence in which a single clause has been split into two sections, each with its own verb e.g.: It was Mary who arrived.
collective noun	a noun that denotes a group of entities(army, government)
collocation	a habitual association between particular words, such as "to" with "fro", the uses of "to" after "answer" and before "me" in "You'll answer to me!"
common gender nouns	Nouns able to actualize either masculine or feminine gender properties of the referent depending on the context
complement	an obligatory dependent language unit Cf.: supplement
complementary distribution	relation of formally different morphs having the same function in different environments, e.g.: cows - oxen Cf.: contrastive distribution, non-contrastive distribution
complementive verb	a verb taking an obligatory adjunct, a verb having an obligatory valency Cf.: uncomplementive verbs
complex sentence	a sentence consisting of more than one clause(especially if including a dependent clause)
componential analysis	an approach which makes use of semantic components. Lexical items are analyzed in terms of semantic features or sense compo­nents, treated as binary opposites distin­guished by pluses and minuses: [+ male]/ [-male]. It has been argued that projection rules can combine the semantic features of individual words to generate the meaning of an entire sentence and to account for ambiguity and anomaly (e.g.: He painted the wall with silent paint).	compositional analysis
common noun	a noun that refers to a class of objects or concepts(chair, beauty)

 

 

Entry	Definition	Equivalent terms\
conditional	said of a clause that express hypothesis or condition(If it rains you’ll get wet);said of a verb form that expresses hypothetical meaning(I would walk)
conceptual domain	information centred around some concept
concord	the relationship between units in which the form of one element requires the corresponding form of the other She eat s Cf.: government	agreement
conjunct	an adverb with a chiefly connecting function, e.g. however
consecutive phrase	a phrase based on logical domination of one member over another Cf.: cumulative phrase
contextualization	establishing the context in which language units are typically used, i.e. finding out who, when, where, why and what for one can be expected to use this or that language unit with a certain meaning (J.R. Firth)
connective/connector	An item whose function is to link linguistic units, such as conjunctions and certain adverbs (moreover)
continuum	a set of language units interpolated between any two polar units made up by units having intermediary features; a space of transition between poles
contrastive distribution	relations of different morphs in the identical environment Cf.: non-contrastive distribution, comple­mentary distribution
сoordination coordinator	the linking of linguistic units a conjunction used in coordination, such as and or now
copula	a verb whose role is to link other elements of the clause(it is ready)(D. Crystal)
corteme	a unit of language having no semantic content, e.g. phoneme (M. Blokh)
covert morpheme	a morpheme having no explicit representation in the actual expression	zero mor­pheme
countable	said of nouns denoting separable entities, as shown by their use with such forms as forms as a(dog,chair)
dative case	in inflecting languages, a form that typically expresses an indirect object relationship equivalent to English. I gave the letter to the girl
degree	a contrast of comparison in adverbs or adjectives; usually identified as positive(big), comparative(bigger), superlative (biggest)
deep structure	the formal syntactical construction represented by dummy symbols replaced by lexical entities in ways determined by their feature content Cf.: surface structure
deixis	features of language that refer directly to the personal, temporal or locative characteristics of a situation(deictic forms)
derivational	referring to the formation of language units
derivational suffix	a suffix which may be followed by other suffixes (W.N. Francis)
"descriptive" plural	the plural form of the noun having a pronounced stylistic colouring due to the usage of the uncountable noun in the function of the countable noun, e.g.: sands, snows
diachronic	relating to, or dealing with phenomena (as of language or culture) as they occur or change over a period of time Cf.: synchronic	historical
dichotomy	division into two parts or categories
dicteme	an elementary topical unit fulfilling the functions of nomination, predication, topicalization, stylization (M. Blokh)	~ supra-sentential construction
distribution	a total set of linguistic environments in which an element of language(a sound or word) can occur Cf.: conlrastive, non-conirastive, comple­mentary distribution
dominational phrase	a phrase based on the relationship of the modifier and the modified Cf.: equipotent phrase	subordinative phrase
elementary unit	a unit indivisible into minor constituents	smallest unit
eme-term	a generalized invariant language unit Cf.: allo-term
equative	A clause which relates two elements that are identical on their reference (Mr.Jones is a butcher)
equipollent opposition	an opposition whose members have different positive categorial features Cf.: privative opposition, gradual opposition
equipotent phrase	a phrase based on logical succession of elements having an equal rank Cf.: dominational phrase
etymon	the earliest traceable form from which a later word is derived
finite	a form of a verb that can occur on it’s own in a main clause and permits variations in tense, number and mood contrasts with non finite
focus	an element in a sentence to which the speaker wishes to draw special attention (It wasJohn who wrote to me)
formative phrase	a phrase consisting both of notional and functional verbs Cf.: notional phrase, functional phrase
form class(word class)	A set of items that display similar or identical grammatical features
function	special purpose of a unit, its ability to serve a certain aim; sometimes equivalent to some abstract syntactic meaning
functional part of speech	a part of speech having a partial nomina­tive value Cf.: notional part of speech	form word
gender	the grammatical category which is closely tied to the sex of the referent and is reflected in co-occurrence patterns with respect to singular personal pronouns masculine, feminine,neuter
generative grammar	a precisely formulated set of rules whose output is all (and only) the sentences of a language— i.e., of the language that it generates. There are many different kinds of generative grammar, including transformational grammar as developed by Noam Chomsky from the mid-1950s
genitive case	expresses such meanings as possession and origin which is marked by an apostrophe and addition of a suffix s(girl’s bag, man’s story)	possessive case
gerund	a noun derived from a verb(“a verbal noun”),especially as found in Latin grammar
gerundive	an adjective derived from a verb(“a verbal adjective”),especially as found in Latin grammar
government	a kind of concord in which one term controls or selects the form of the partner Cf.: concord
gradual opposi­tion	an opposition whose members are characterized by the expression of a certain degree of one and the same categorial feature Cf.: privative opposition, equipollent opposition
half-gerund	a form having mixed, participial and gerundial, features	participial gerund
heterogeneous	consisting of dissimilar or diverse ingredients or constituents:mixed	differing in kind
hierarchy	organization of elements based on a graded or ranked series,especially an analysis of sentences into clauses, phrases, words and morphemes
homogeneous	of the same or a similar kind or nature having each term of the same degree if all variables are considered ‹a ~ equation› Cf.: heterogeneous	similar
hypotaxis	the linking of a dependent(hypotactic) clause to another part of the sentence using conjunctions(D.Crystal) The boy left when the bell rang
icon	a highly motivated sign (as a word or graphic symbol) whose form suggests its meaning Cf: symbol, index, sign
identification	the act of singling out a referent Cf: classification	individualiza-tion
immanent category	a category expressing the inherent features of a part of speech (M. Blokh) Cf.: reflective category	inherent category
immediate constituents	constituent elements immediately entering into any meaningful combination
immediate constituent analysis	also called Ic Analysis, in linguistics, a system of grammatical analysis that divides sentences into successive layers, or constituents, until, in the final layer, each constituent consists of only a word or meaningful part of a word.
indicative	relating to, or constituting a verb form or set of verb forms that represents the denoted act or state as an objective fact ‹the ~ mood› 2:serving to indicate ‹actions ~ of fear›
implication implicit, implied (deriv.)	information which is not given explicit verbal expression to, but which is eniailed by some other elements of the context Cf.: explication, verbalization a
index	a partially motivated sign (to the extent that there is a connection, usually of causality, between sign and referent, e.g.: smoke is indexical of tire) (Ch.S, Peirce) Cf.: symbol, icon, sign
indicative verbal forms	verbal forms expressing the categorial meanings of the indicative mood and describing the denoted action in terms of absolutive time Cf.: subjunctive forms, oblique verbforms	mood forms of reality
infix	a derivational or inflectional affix appearing in the body of a word Cf.: prefix, suffix, root
inflectional suffix	an affix that signals a grammatical relationship, e.g. case,tense (girl ’s, walk ed) Cf.; suffix	grammatical suffix
intensional semantics	a branch of semantic studies concerned with the analysis of the content (i.e. meaning) of a given expression, but not the relations of signs to the objects of the real world Cf.: exten.fionai semantics
intransitive	said of a verb or a sentence that can not take a direct object(She is going)
intralinguistic	concerning relations of units within a particular language system Cf.:extralinguistic	internal
junction	relationship of two elements which is so c!ose that they may be considered to be one composite name for what might in many cases just as well have been called by a single name (0. Jespersen) Cf.: nexus

 

 

Entry	Definition	Equivalent terms
level	one of a series of structural layers within a sentence(a clause, phrase, word etc.)	rank
lexeme	a meaningful linguistic unit that is an item in the vocabulary of a language	lexical item
lexical verb	a verb expressing an action, event or state, also called a full verb	main verb
limitive verb	a verb expressing a potential limit in the development of the denoted action Cf.: non-limitive verb	termmative verb
linking	syntactic relationship of clauses of the same rank (either both independent or both dependent) Cf.: binding
main clause	a clause that doesn’t depend on any other part of a sentence(The man arrived after the bus left)	independent clause
major sentence	a type of sentence which is highly productive, such as those with a subject plus predicate structure
minor sentence	a type of sentence with a limited productivity, where the structure lacks some of the constituents found in the major type
mass	said of nouns that typically express general concepts and lack an indefinite article or plural(information) (D.Crystal)
modality	the classification of logical propositions according to their asserting or denying the possibility, impossibility, contingency, or necessity of their content It shows the relation of the nominative content to reality Cf.: predication
mood	distinction of form or a particular set of inflectional forms of a verb to express whether the action or state it denotes is conceived as fact or in some other manner (as command, possibility, or wish)
morph	a distinctive collocation of phones (as a portmanteau form) that serves as the realization of more than one morpheme in a context
morpheme	the smallest meaningful part of a word expressing a generalized, significative meaning.
neutralization	a type ofoppositional reduction by which a neutralized language unit becomes fully functionally identified with its counter-member Cf.: transposition
nexus	a predicative (and semi-predicative) relation between words (0. Jespersen) Cf.: junction
nomination	naming a referent Cf.: predication
non-contrastive distribution	relations of different morphs having the same function in the identical environ­ments, e.g.: learned - learnt Cf.: contraslive distribution, complementa­ry distribution
non-limitive verb	verb not expressing a potential limit in the development of the denoted action Cf.: limitive verbs	non-terminative verb, durative,
non-personal verb	a verb which doesn't agree with a subject, the doer of the denoted action Cf.: personal verbs
notional part of speech	a part of speech of full nominative value Сf.: functional part of speech
noun /noun phrase	a word class with the naming function, typically showing contrasts of countability and number, capable acting as a subject or object of a clause a phrase with a noun as head(the tall man in a hat)
nucleus (of a morphological construction)	a root or a combination of roots includ­ing possible non-roots, attributive to respective roots Cf.: root. stem, affix	impersonal verb
number	the grammatical category that expresses such contrasts as singular/plural/dual/ (cat/cats; he is/they are)
object	a clause element that expresses the result of an action
objective verb	a verb taking an object of any kind (direct, indirect, prepositional) Cf.: transitive verbs
oblique verbal form	the form of a verb which expresses the categorial meanings ofirreality Cf.: indicative verbal form	non-real mood form of a verb, Subjunctive
opposition	correlation ofcategorial forms having a certain function
oppositional reduction	the process of curtailing an opposition of categorial forms Cf.: neutralization, transposition	oppositional substitution
paradigm	the set of inflectional forms of a word
parataxis	constructions joint without the use of conjunctions I had tea, eggs
parsing	analyzing and labeling the grammatical elements of a sentence	diagramming
participle	a word derived from a verb and used as an adjective(smiling face,parked car); also applied to such non finite forms of the verb as He’ssmiling, He has smiled
past tense	a verb tense which refers to a time of action prior to the moment of utterance
perfect	relates to considerations such as the completion or lack of completion of events or states described by a verb
person	a grammatical form (especially pronoun or verb) referring directly to the speaker(first person),addressee(second person),or others involved into interaction (especially third person)
phoneme	the smallest constituent of a word having no meaning but fulfilling the function of differentiating morphemes
phraseme	a combination of two or more words as a representative of the corresponding language level	phrase, word-group,
Pluralia Tantum nouns	nouns having only the plural form Cf.: Singularia Tanlum nouns	absolute plural nouns
polarity	The system of contrast between affirmative and negative in a language
pragmatic factor	a factor relevant for the actualization of a message in a concrete communicative situation
predication	the act of referring the nominative content of the sentence to reality (M. Blokh) Cf.: nomination
prefix	an affix added initially to a root or base to form a new word, e.g.: re-write Cf.: suffix, root
primary predica­tion	predication expressed in a sentence which has as its predicate a finite form of the verb Cf.: secondary predication, potential predication	complete pre­dication, ex­plicit predica­tion, actual predication
privative opposi­tion	an opposition based on the principle of presence/absence in its counter-members of one and the same feature Cf.: gradual opposition, equipollent opposition
pronoun	any of a small set of words in a language that are used as substitutes for nouns or noun phrases and whose referents are named or understood in the context
proposeme	a language unit expressing a thought	~ sentence
reduction	the lack of one or more of the normal constituents in a construction
reference	1. mentioning someone or something, either directly or indirectly; 2. (logic, ling.) the activity or condition through which one tenn or concept is related to another or to objects in the world Cf.: sense (2)
referent	the denoted object of the world Cf.: sign
reflective category	a category expressing categorial meanings which are not inherent in the referent in question, e.g.: person and number in the verb system (M. Blokh) Cf.: immanent category	secondary category, non-inherent category
regular	said of a linguistic form that conforms to the rules of a language
relative generali­zation	relative degree of abstraction, working on the level of broad or general concepts Cf.: absolute generalization	abstraction
replacive mor­pheme	a morpheme built up on the basis of root (or vowel) interchange; usually a root vowel that replaces another in a categori" a! form, e.g.: sing - sang Cf.: additive morpheme
restrictive	said of a modifier that is an essential part of the identity of another element(my brother who’s abroad)	defining
retrospective coordination	establishing relation between the given action and some prior action or moment
root	the element left after all affixes have been removed from a complex word, carrying the basic lexical meaning of the word Cf.: nucleus, stem, affix
segment	a unit whose boundaries can be clearly identified in the streem of speech
semantic feature	(in componential analysis) an elementary component of meaning.
semes	meanings differentiated by the opposition of signemic units	semantic feature
sememe	a generalized element of meaning	lexico-semantic variant
semi-notional words	words which have a complete nominative meaning but fulfil syntactic functions typical of functional words. Cf.: notional words, functional words
semi-predicative construction	a construction made up by a non-finite form of the verb and a substantive element denoting the subject or object of the action expressed by the non-finite form of the verb Cf.: fully predicative construction	potentially predicative construction, prepositional construction
semi-proper nouns	proper nouns with mixed, identifying and typifying, meanings	semi-names
sense sign	1. = meaning; 2. paradigmatic (intensional) meaning. Cf.: reference; 3. actual meaning of a language unit; 4. a submeaning, e.g: various senses of the word "mark" a material designator of a meaning, a con­crete token element used in the concrete process of communication and reference.
sineme	a unit of language having a semantic con­tent, e.g.: morpheme, word (M. Blokh) Cf.: corteme
Singularia Tantum nouns	nouns having only the singular form Cf.: Pluralia Tantum nouns	absolute sin­gular nouns
stem	a term in grammar and word-formation for a root plus the element that fits it into the flow of speech Cf.: root, nucleus, affix
stratificational analysis	based upon the notion that every language comprises a restricted number of structural layers or strata, hierarchically related in such a way that units or combinations of units on one stratum realize units or combinations of units of the next higher stratum
structure	1. the set of relations between the elements of a system; 2.construction
stylization	the function of a dicteme which consists in referring it to a particular style (M. Blokh)
subjunct	a tertiary word in a junction (0. Jespersen) Cf.: adjunct (2)
substance	1. the essence or material part; 2. the essence which underlies all phenom­ena; 3. that which is real; 4. that which has qualities and character­istics
substantive	a noun o noun like item
suffix	an affix that follows a base, or root to form a new word or form of the word Cf.: prefix, infix, root
suppletion	the use of unrelated form to complete a paradigm(go/goes/went/gone)
suprasegmental	of or relating to significant features (as stress, pitch, or juncture) that occur simultaneously with vowels and consonants in an utterance Cf.: segment
surface structure	the resultant syntactic construction derived through transformations of the deep structure Cf.: deep structure
symbol	1. smth. that represents smth. else, smth. concrete or material used to represent smth., abstract or non-material; 2. the most arbitrary kind of sign: the word in language, the rose representing love in literature, etc. (Ch.S. Peirce) Cf.: icon. index, sign
synchronic	concerned with events existing in a limited time period and ignoring historical antecedents Cf.: diachronic
syntagma (syntactic)	a word-group consisting of two or more notional elements	word combi­nation, phrase
syntagmatic	connected on a linear basis Cj.: paradigmatic
system	a structured set of elements connected by a common function
tagmeme	an element of a construction
topic	something about which something is said (predicated) Cj.: comment
topicalization	moving an element to the front of a sentence, to act as a theme (Smith his name is)	thematization
transformation	an operation that converts (as by insertion, deletion, or permutation) one grammatical string (as a sentence) into another
Transformational-Generative Grammar	A generative grammar, in the sense in which Noam Chomsky uses the term, is a rules system formalized with mathematical precision that generates, without need of any information that is not represented explicitly in the system, the grammatical sentences of the language that it describes, or characterizes, and assigns to each sentence a structural description, or grammatical analysis.
transitivity	the ability of a verb to take a direct object Cf.: objectivity
unit	a constituent of a system	element
valency	the ability of a language unit to take an adjunct, potential combinability of a language unit
Verb/verb phrase	a word class displaying such contrasts as tense, aspect, voice and mood and typically used to express an action, event or state in generative grammar the whole of the sentence apart from the first noun phrase
voice	distinction of form or a system of inflections of a verb to indicate the relation of the subject of the verb to the action which the verb expresses(active and passive)
word	1.the smallest unit of grammar that can stand alone as a complete utterance 2.any segment of written or printed discourse ordinarily appearing between spaces or between a space and a punctuation mark
word class	a set of words that display the same formal properties, especially their inflections and distribution	Part of speech
word formation	a process of creating words out of sequences of morphemes(un-happi-ness)
word order	the sequential arrangement of words in a language
yes-no question	a question formed by an inversion, typically answered by yes or no (Were they there?)
zero article	the non use of definite or indefinite article before a noun, where one would normally be found(in school vs. in the school)

 

 

EXERCISES:

 

Ex.1 Which of the strings are synchronic and which are diachronic.

a) Gospel, the holy, as, say

b) The, þæt, says, seζð

c) Gospel, godspel, holy, hāliζ

d) Swæswā þæt hāliζe godspel seζð

 

 

Ex 2. Do the morphemic analysis of the words on the lines of traditional and distributional classification.

a) Unmistakably, underspecified, unprecedented

b) Sing-sang-singing-singer, proficient-deficient-efficient.

c) Kingdom, brotherhood, gooseberry.

 

 

Ex 3. Define the type of morphemic distribution according to which the given words are grouped.

 

a) Impeccable, indelicate, illiterate, irrelevant

b) Undisputable, indisputable.

c) Published, rimmed

d) Seams, seamless, seamy.

 

Ex 4. Define part of speech characteristics of the underlined words. Analyze them according to O.Jespersen’s theory of three ranks.

1. I don’t know why it should be, I am sure; but the sight of another man asleep in bed when I am up, maddens me. (Jerome.)

2. Poor dears, they are always worrying about examinations… (Christie.)

3. Although it was dim, there was a faded but beautiful carpet on the floor, a deep sage-green in color. (Christie.)

4. The little work-table dispossessed the whatnot – which was relegated to a dark corner of the hall.(Christie.)

5. Tommy came back to say a breathless goodbye. (Christie.)

 

Ex5. Dwell upon the categorial features of the verbs in the following sentences:

1. “A year and a half”-she paused. “ But I’m leaving next month.” (Christie.)

2. She wondered if any Warrenders lived here still. They’d left off being buried here apparently.(Christie.)

3. Perharps she wasn’t an actress at all. Perhaps the police were looking for her.(Christie.)

4. I wish you were coming with me.(Christie.)

5. Will you be wanting some sandwiches?(Christie.)

 

Exercises on the noun

Ex. 1. State morphological composition of the following nouns:

snow sandstone

impossibility widower

opinion exclamation

passer-by misunderstanding

inactivity snowball

kingdom mother-in-law

immobility might

warmth succession

nurse misdeed

blackbird policeman

merry-go-round usefulness

fortune friend

friendship statesman

population fellow-worker

smelling-salt German

Ex2. Open the brackets and account for the choice of the case- form of the noun.

1. “I am afraid I won’t be able to,” he said, after a (moment + hesitation).

(Fitzgerald.)

2. “Hello, Mitty,” he said. “We are having the (devil + own time) with McMillan, the millionaire banker and close personal friend of Roosevelt.” (Thurber.)

3. “ You know? Clayton, that (boy+ hers), doesn’t seem to get a job…” (Cheever.)

 

4. He noticed that the (face+ the+ taxi+ driver) in the photograph inside the cab resembled, in many ways the (painter + face) (Saroyan).

5. His face was a sickly white, covered almost to the eyes with a stubble the

(shade + a red Irish + coat). (O.Henry)

 

Ex. 3. Dwell on the numerical features of the nouns:

1. Sonata is not played by an orchestra.

2. The measles is infectious.

3. The tropics are not pleasant to live in.

4. She dropped tear after tear but he didn’t raise his head.

5. They produced number of steels.

Ex 4. Define the language means used to mark the gender distinctions of the nouns:

1. A he-goat is more difficult to tame than a she- goat.

2. Australia and her people invoke everyone’s interest.

3. Something is wrong with my car. I can’t start her.

4. I saw a car left on the beach; it’s doors were broken.

 

Ex. 5. State to what class the nouns belong:

 

1. The hotel specialized in homely English food, and we had pieces of excellent lamb with green peas and new potatoes and a deep-dish pie with Devonshire cream to follow.

2. His face was sick with pain and rage.

3. They would see the river and fruit trees in blossom.

4. He was reading in the library. I was very much impressed by his power of concentration.

5. He was professor of physics.

6. Snow lay thick in the valley.

7. Isabel poured out the coffee and Larry lit his pipe.

8. I found them sitting over a cup of tea.

9. The hills ran up clear above the vegetation in spires of naked rock.

10. You had better have a slice of ham or an egg, or something else with your tea. You can't travel on a mouthful of bread and butter.

11. The plane trees (платан, чинар) were just bursting into leaf.

 

Ex.6. State whether the underlined nouns denote countable or uncountable objects.

1. The box is made of iron and has a tricky lock.

2. The fever within her was like a red-hot iron pressing upon her breast.

3. Montanelli took the hand and examined it closely. “Have they put irons on a fresh wound?”

4. There was a moon but it was still low in the sky. It gave sufficient light for Victoria.

5. He saw a light in one window on the ground floor.

6. The book gives much food for thought.

7. Health is a priceless possession.

8. Of all prosperity their respective healths naturally concerned the Forsytes most.

9. The boys stood on the bank throwing stones into the river.

10. When I think of this, my heart turns to stone.

11. He (James) stretched out his hand to meet that man with hardly a hair on his hand.

12. Her hair has gone quite grey.

13. When the dynamite explodes in the water, the fish are killed. It is forbidden.

14. I prefer fish for supper.

15. All the water rushed out and the reeds were full of fishes flopping around in them.

 

Ex.7. State whether the underlined nouns are collective nouns or nouns of multitude.

1. My family is now in the country.

2. It was eleven o'clock before the family were all in bed.

3. Then one by one the worn out crew were helped on board.

4. The crew of the ship consists of twenty seven including the captain and his mate.

Ex8. In the following exercises – (1) pick out all the nouns; (2) say whether each noun is Singular or Plural as it stands; (3) change every Plural into a Singular, and every Singular into a Plural:

1. There are many cities in England, many smaller towns, and an immense number of villages.

2. A cat and a dog are seldom good friends.

3. The earth turns round once in one day and one night.

4. When the cat is away, the mice play.

5. The branch of that tree has leaves of a bright green colour.

6. The cries of animals are many and various: a horse neighs; a dog barks; a cat mews; a swine or pig grunts; an elephant trumpets; an ass brays; an ox lows; a monkey chatters; a goose cackles; a boy laughs or weeps; a fish is silent.

7. If we stop in this wood, we shall be lost. So let us get back into the public road, before night comes on.

8. The wolf living in that forest killed many calves.

9. Some thieves broke into the house of my friend.

10. The stars are seen through the leaves and branches of that oak-tree. He went out fishing for salmon, and caught two dozen and more in his net, besides some trout to the number of two or three score.

11. Sheep cannot run as fast as deer; and so the sheep were caught first by the wolves.

12. The cat has caught two mice and one rat today.

13. Oxen are of more value than deer to a farmer.

14. The feet of men are larger than those of women; but the teeth are about the same in size.

15. The sun’s light is brighter than the moon’s; but the moon’s rays are not so hot as those of the sun.

16. Joseph had eleven brethren who sold him as a slave to some merchants on their way to Egypt.

17. A valley is usually hotter than the top of a hill.

18. He is a big man, and weighs fourteen stone.

 

Ex. 9. Open the brackets

a) Pay attention to the number of the nouns in - ics.

1. The new quantum mechanics (to be) introduced by Heisenberg and Shrodinger in the early 1920s.

2. Major tactics (to be) concerned with the movement of large units into battle.

3. The fact that a word has several meanings is the principal way in which semantics (to contribute) to a better understanding of humour.

4. The statistics of trade (to show) remarkable progress.

5. Electronics (to treat) of electrons.

6. The ethics of the proletariat (to be) quite different from the ethics of the bourgeoisie.

7. All that is necessary for a complicated series of operations is to feed into the machine a card, carrying the directions in code. Electronics (to do) the rest.

8. Acoustics (to be) the science of sound and hearing.

9. The acoustics of this hall (to be) good.

10. Semantics (to be) the branch of the study of language concerned with meanings.

11. The growth of trade and industry led to extensions in the fields in which statistics (to be) collected.

12. Statistics (to be) the science of collecting, arranging and using numbers which express facts.

b) Pay attention to the number of the geographical names, names of books, newspapers, magazines, organizations, parks, etc. (underlined words).

1. Geologically the Balkans (to be) composed chiefly of sedimentary strata.
2. Every land has its own peculiar mining customs and the United States (to be) no exception.
3. Athens (to be) the capital of Greece.
4. The Canterbury Tales (to be) unfinished.
5. The Times (not to publish) the strip cartoons that are so common in many other papers.
6. The Heroical Epistles (to be) supposed to be written by illustrious and unfortunate personages in English history to the objects of their love.
7. He thinks that of all the art magazines he has read the ARTS (to be) the most comprehensive.
8. The Seychelles Islands (to produce) no oil.

9. The Boy Scouts supposed to be a broad organization of British youth (to be) compared to a disciplined political organization.

10. The Brecon Beacons covering 515 square miles of some of the finest scenery in Britain (to have) been declared a national park.

11. Two years latter he wrote “The Rivals” which (to be) quickly followed by a series of comic stories.

12. Of Coleridge’s prose works, the Lectures on Shakespeare (to be) deservedly the most famous.

 

c) The subject which is a noun preceded by a cardinal numeral and denoting time requires a singular verb of the sentence as it implies the period of time. Sometimes the context will require the plural only.

1. The forty-eight hours that followed his searching (to be) among the darkest in Dartie’s life.

2. Six weeks (to be) not really long.

3. We were badly in need of a little tidying-up, so fifteen minutes before our appointment with Gordon (to be) a welcome interval.

4. They were not prepared to say what area the whole plant covers. But even by using a car to travel between the main sections our three hours (to be) too short to see everything.

1. “The three years between 1909 and 1912 (to be) among our blackest” Jane said.
2. There (to be) twenty-four hours in each day.
3. There were complaints that thirty days (to be) a long time.
4. You’re about twenty-one. I am twenty-six, and five years period (to make) a lot of difference for some people.
5. Three weeks (to be) twenty-one days.

 

Ex.10. Replace the of-phrase:

а) 1. The knife of ours.

2. The order of the commander-in-chief.

3. The house of mister Fox.

4. The novels of Dickens.

5. The ball of the boys.

6. The life of a bachelor.

7. The works of Marx.

8. The dress of a lady.

9. A meeting of students.

10. The flat of my mother-in-law.

11. The right of women.

 

b) 1. A distance of two miles.

2. The crew of the ship.

3. The theatres of Hanoi.

4. An interval of three hours.

5. The oil déposits of the world.

6. The rays of the sun.

7. The population of England.

8. The joys of life.

9. For the sake of convenience.

 

c) 1. The mother of Mary and Ann.

2. The fathers of Peter and John.

3. The poems of Byron and Shelley.

4. The children of my sister Irene.

5. The speech of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

6. The times of Peter the Great.

 

Ex.11. Comment on the use of the Possessive Case in the following sentences:

1. Agnes was at her wit’s end.
2. Since his illness, however, he had abandoned this attempt to get twenty-four hours’ work out of each day.
3. The Radicals’ real supporters were the urban classes.
4. For his honour’s sake Tom was ready to commit suicide.
5. They were to leave the house without an instant's delay and go at once to the river’s edge.
6. And he lifted his strange lowering eyes to Derek’s.
7. “Where are the children?” “I sent them to mother’s.”
8. Presently Rex was on his two miles’ walk to Oxford.
9. Bowen sat on the veranda of Buckmaster’s house.

10. Crime is the product of a country’s social order.

11. I spotted the bride’s father’s uncle’s silk hat on the seat of a straight chair across the room.

12. I spent Christmas at my aunt Emily’s.

13. He was still thinking of the next morning’s papers.

14. A man stepped out from a tobacconist’s and waved to them.

15. The wooden slopes came down to the water’s edge.

16. And the wind’s rustle was so gentle.

17. The Browns’ little house was dark.

18. Constance had put on a dress of black silk with a brooch of her mother’s for the tea hour.

19. He was determined to solve the meaning of Joe and Peg’s visit.

20. The pudding was of aunt Julia’s making.

21. He had anticipated much pleasure in this afternoon’s reading, under the quiet roof of his greataunt’s house.

22. And so she came to James’s.

23. The men finished their day’s work and went away.

24. Everybody drank to everybody else’s happiness.

25. After an hour or so’s break the committee resumed their work.

26. Bert Templeton leaned on the ship’s rail.

27. She dreamed of Italy’s museums and the world’s great art-centres.

 

 

Ex.12. Put the noun in brackets in the Possessive Case:

1. The breakfast table at – was usually a very pleasant one, and was always presided over by Bella (Mr.Boffin).
2. I think – friendships are much deeper than – Mrs. Thompson said (men,women).
3. That night he had chosen a basement bar a – throw from Scotland yard (stone).
4. As he passed through the – room he saw an evening paper spread out conspicuously on the desk of the – nephew (clerk, director).
5. He stayed for dinner that evening and much to – satisfaction made a favourable impression on her father (Ruth).
6. He said to her: “Look at my brother – property” (James).
7. Benson was listening among the – representation cocking his head on the side (workers).
8. He had never thought that a – hand could be sweetly soft (woman).
9. But by that time the bride was near the end of the first – journey towards Florence (day).

10. He too wished she had remained at home, as did most of the – families (congressmen).

11. You need a good – sleep (night).

12. Haven’t you noticed that other – bread-and-butter is always much nicer than your own? Robert is like that. He always prefers – fireside (people, somebody else).

13. The – wives were more expensively dressed than the civil – and in general more spectacular (politicians, servants).

14. One evening on the way to the – I saw Irving sitting on the steps of his house (grocer).

15. I cannot be blamed for all my – doings (kin).

 

Ex.13. Replace the Possessive Case by a prepositional group where possible:

1. The only thing that stood out clearly was his parents’ house.
2. Nobody could explain the young girl’s behaviour at yesterday’s dinner.
3. The boy got his first week’s salary and looked very proud.
4. You don’t object to the speaker’s proposal, do you?
5. We found the boy looking through a children’s magazine
6. After an hour or so’s break the committee resumed their work.
7. In those days for economy’s sake he lived, in a little town.
8. There was a moment’s silence between them.
9. It was a typical student’s mistake.

10. The morning’s mail brought me a surprise in the shape of a letter.

11. They are the same author’s books.

 

Ex.14. Replace the prepositional groups by the Possessive Case where possible:

1. The teacher drew the attention of the students to the peculiarity of the style of the author.

1. Before I could say a word, the sound of carriage wheels was heard.
2. The girl was nicely dressed for the ceremony of the evening.
3. He did not want to hurt the feelings of the girl.
4. There was a spot of ink on the table cloth.
5. I spent a fortnight in the house of my friend.
6. The pursuit of the enemy stopped only at nightfall.
7. There was a great variety of books for children on display.
8. I could not agree with the interpretation of the piece by the conductor.

10. We visited the village of Mikhailovskoye where Pushkin, the great poet of Russia, lived in exile.

11. Never shall I forget those words of my father.

12. We could not tear our eyes off the hands of the pianist.

13. We could not tear our eyes off his long-fingered hands, the hands of a pianist.

14. The river was at a distance of a mile and a half from the camp.

15. She contributes to a magazine for women.

 

Ex15. Insert ’; s; ’s or s’ instead of the hyphens where necessary:

1. This is a new edition of Dickens – novels.

2. That man was Tom - and Nelly – old teacher – of music.

3. Those were Nick – and Kate – parents.

4. We spent a week – holiday at the Barton –.

5. The book is neither John – nor Mary –.

6. It was neither John – nor Mary –.

7. I haven’t touched a single book of John –.

8. Father took some money out of his pocket and put it into my younger brother –.

9. Father took some money out of his pocket and gave it to my younger brother –.

10. His eyes narrowed like a cat –.

11. He moved around softly like a cat –.

12. The wall – in the hunter – club were decorated with mountain goat – and deer – horn –.

13. A great many scientist – took part in the First International Geophysical Year.

14. Many a time did he rewrite some of his novel – chapter – before submitting it to the reader – judgement.