Conditions of Singling Out Grammatical Categories
Grammatical categories are singled out on the following conditions,
1. When the generalized grammatical meaning is to be found in this or that modification in all the constituents. Thus, the opposition of the singular and the plural numbers (a pen -pens) lies at the basis of the grammatical category of number because both forms comprise numerical characteristics: oneness - in the singular, more than oneness - in the plural.
In the case of to see (infinitive) - seeing (Participle I) - seen (Participle II), we also deal with forms of one word. Nevertheless, they cannot be regarded as constituting a specific grammatical category since they do not possess any grammatical meaning characteristic of all the three members.
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2. When the generalized grammatical meaning has constant
grammatical forms of its expression. For instance, we speak about
the grammatical category of aspect in verbs because its generalized
grammatical meaning of showing the way in which the action
develops is usually expressed in two ways: continuous and non-
continuous forms, e.g.:
Where are the children? - They are playing football. Tfjey always play football after school (V. Evans).
3. When there are at least two constant grammatical forms of
expressing the grammatical meaning in question. Isolated
grammatical forms do not constitute grammatical categories
because the grammatical category is the genera! in the particular.
A.I. Smirnitsky writes apropos of this, 'No language can be found
with one grammatical person or one case. One person or one case is
nothing but the absence of the grammatical category of person and
case in the language. Every grammatical category must be
represented by at least two forms.'
In other words, grammatical categories represent systems of grammemes with homogeneous generalized grammatical meaning.
A.V. Bondarko regards the grammatical category not only as a system but also as a property, a property of a certain part of speech. For instance, the grammatical category of number is a property of the noun; the grammatical category of tense is a property of the verb, etc.
PARTS OF SPEECH
There are different approaches to classifying words into parts of speech.
Parts of Speech as Morphological Categories
In the epoch of universal grammars constructed on the basis of the inflected Latin language, parts of speech were regarded as morphological categories, i.e, while classifying words into parts of speech, linguists took into consideration only their morphological characteristics.
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The morphological principle would have been invulnerable if all the languages had been inflected and if all the words belonging
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to this or that part of speech had shared its typical morphological categories. But alongside of inflected languages, there are analytical languages, such as English, with poorly developed morphologies. On the other hand, there are a lot of words in every part of speech that lack all or at least some of its paradigms. Thus, most abstract nouns and relative adjectives are morphologically invariable, while verbs of sense perception stand outside the category of aspect (they are generally not used in the continuous aspect).
Parts of Speech as Syntactic Categories
The syntactic principle, taking function as a starting point, is far more universal than the morphological principle. In Russian, it was first applied to the classification of words by A.M. Peshkovsky. In English, elements of the syntactic principle are used by the founder of English grammar, H. Sweet. Having divided parts of speech into declinable, i.e. capable of inflection (nouns, adjectives, verbs), and indeclinable, i.e. incapable of inflection (adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, interjections), he could not help noticing that not all words are functionally homogeneous. Thus, some pronouns function as nouns, e.g. I, they, etc., while others function as adjectives, e.g. my in my book, that in that man. The same is true of numerals. Three in three of us is a noun-numeral, in three men -an adjective-numeral. As for verbals, they represent a class of words intermediate between verbs, on the one hand, and nouns and adjectives, on the other. They do not express predication but keep all the other meanings and grammatical functions of the verb from which they are formed. Noun-verbals comprise infinitives and gerunds. Cf.:
/ wanted to go, but she wanted to stay (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English).
We're thinking of going to France for our holidays, but we haven't decided for certain yet (Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English).
Adjective-verbals comprise participles, e.g.:
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in a melting voice (A.S. Hornby, A.P. Cowie, A.C. Gimson).
The syntactic (or functional) principle is consistently applied to the classification of words by American structural linguists. The representatives of the American linguistic school have made the
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notion of syntactic function more precise by identifying it with a fixed position in the sentence. Analyzing the sentence The concert •was good there, Ch. Fries singles out four main positions in the English sentence. The words that might substitute the word concert, in his opinion, should be regarded as words of Class I (traditionally called nouns); those that might substitute the word was - as words of Class IT (traditionally called verbs); those that might substitute the word good - as words of Class III (traditionally called adjectives); those that might substitute the word there - as words of Class IV (traditionally called adverbs). True, the coincidence is not complete.
Ch. Fries's four classes comprise the bulk of the vocabulary. At the same time, Ch. Fries finds it possible to single out 15 Groups of function words.
Group A - the words that can occupy the position of the definite article in the sentence The concert was good there (Ch. Fries): no, their, John's, each, this, etc. They serve as markers of Class I words.
Group B - the words that can occur in the position of may in the sentence The concert may be good there (Ch. Fries): might, can, could, will, would, must, etc. They serve as markers of Class II words.
Group C - the word not, e.g.
The concert was not good (Ch. Fries).
Group D - the words that can occur in the position of very immediately before a Class III word: quite, fairly, rather, too, etc., e.g.:
The concert was very good (Ch. Fries).
Group E - the words that can stand in the position of and in the sentence The concert and the lectures are and were interesting and profitable now and earlier (Ch. Fries). All the words of this group stand only between words of the same class:
the concerts and the lectures (Class I),
are and were (Class II),
interesting and profitable (Class HI),
now and earlier (Class IV).
Only a very few words make up this group: and, or, nor, but, rather than, etc. Traditionally they are called coordinators.
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Group F - the words that can stand in the position of at in the sentence The concerts at the school are at the top (Ch. Fries). The words of Group F are generally followed by Class I words but may be preceded by words of Class I, Class II, or Class III. Traditionally, they are called prepositions.
Group G - the word do that appears in various forms: do, does, did:
Do/Did the boys do their work promptly1? (Ch. Fries).
The boys do/did not do their -workpromptly (Ch. Fries).
Group H - the word there:
There is a man at the door (Ch. Fries).
Group I - the words used in the position of when in the sentence When was the concert good? (Ch. Fries). They operate as signals of question sentences.
Group J - the words that stand in the position of after in the sentence The orchestra was good after the new director came (Ch. Fries). The words of Group J introduce dependent clauses.
Group K — the words well, oh, now, and why that occur very frequently at the beginning of response utterance units, e.g.:
Well, do it your own way (Ch. Fries).
Oh, I have another suit (Ch. Fries).
Now, I just wish you both could see it (Ch. Fries).
Why, it would be nice if you would (Ch. Fries).
Group L - the words yes and no, e.g.:
Yes, I know (Ch. Fries).
No, he's not here now (Ch. Fries).
Group M - the words look, say, listen, etc. used as attention-getting signals, e.g.:
Listen, did you get any shoes? (Ch. Fries).
Look, I want to ask you two questions (Ch. Fries).
Group N - the word please in request sentences, e.g.:
Please take these two letters (Ch. Fries).
Group O - the form let's that turns a request sentence into a request or proposal that includes the speaker, e.g.: Let's do the invitations right away (Ch. Fries).
As is seen from the composition of the four classes and fifteen groups of words, Ch. Fries's classification of pans of speech often unites into one class heterogeneous phenomena (e.g. Group A includes pronouns, numerals, adjectives, and even nouns in the
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genitive case). It is not surprising for, on the one hand, one and the same function can be fulfilled by different parts of speech (for example, almost all parts of speech are registered in the function of the subject); on the other hand, one and the same part of speech can perform different functions (e.g. nouns occur in the functions of all parts of the sentence).
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