Учебник Кобрина. Грамматика. Синтаксис.1999. Учебное пособие для студентов педагогических институтов и университетов по специальности 2103 "Иностранные языки". Спб., Союз, 1999. 496 с
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MODAL WORDS§ 244. Modal words express the speaker’'s attitude to what his utterance denotes. The speaker’s judgement may be of different kinds, that is, the speaker may express various modal meanings. Modal words are an invariable part of speech. They may refer to a word, a phrase, a clause, or a sentence. Their syntactical function is that of a parenthesis, they may also be a sentence in themselves, in which case they are used to answer a general question: Will you help me? Certainly. Precisely this. Except this man, of course. Semantically modal words fall into three groups, denoting: 1. Certainty/doubt (certainly, of course, indeed, surely, decidedly, really, definitely, naturally, no doubt, etc.). Certainly, it was astonishing that she should be preoccupied with her schemes for the welfare of Constance. Of course, it would have been different if they had married. In answers the meaning of these words is weakened. 2. Supposition (perhaps, maybe, probably, obviously, possibly, evidently, apparently, etc.). Manson’s nature was extraordinarily intense. Probably he derived this from his mother. You have come quickly to a resolution. But perhaps you have been considering this question for a long time? Obviously you didn’t read it. 3. Estimate proper (good/bad) – (luckily, fortunately, happily, unfortunately, unluckily, etc.). Fortunately there were few people at the morning surgery. Unhappily a terrible storm broke out before the travellers had reached their destination. THE PREPOSITION§ 245. A preposition is a function word indicating a relation between two notional words. Its semantic significance becomes evident when different prepositions are used with one and the same word, as in: to go to the park, to go across the park, to go round the park, to go out of the park, to go through the park, etc. A preposition may altogether change the meaning of the verb: he shot the officer (he aimed at him and hit him), he shot at the officer (he aimed at him but probably missed). Although the tradition of differentiating prepositions from other word classes (conjunctions, and in some cases adverbs) is well established, it is not always easy to draw the border-line; nearly all one-word prepositions can also function as adverbs or as conjunctions, their status being determined only syntactically. A few words - after, before, since, for (with the change of meaning), behind - may function not only as adverbs, adverbial postpositions, or conjunctions, but also as prepositions. Compare the following groups of sentences: They sailed up (postposition). They sailed up the river (preposition). Everybody was up at the sound of the bell (adverb). The milk boiled over (postposition). He presided over the meeting (preposition). I can’t tolerate such men as him (preposition). As he was passing the door he turned back (conjunction). No one saw him but me (preposition). But no one saw him (conjunction). He is stronger than me (preposition). He is stronger than I am (conjunction). Morphological composition§ 246. Most of the common English prepositions are simple in structure: out, in, for, on, about, but (в значении кроме, исключая), against. Derived prepositions are formed from other words, mainly participles: excepting, concerning, considering, following, including, during, depending, granted, past, except. There are also many compound prepositions: within, outside, upon, onto, throughout, alongside, wherewith, whereof, whereupon, herein, hereafter, withall. Composite or phrasal prepositions include a word of another class and one or two prepositions, as in by virtue of, but for, because of, by means of, instead of, in lieu of, prior to, on account of, abreast of, thanks to, with reference to, opposite to, in front of, for the sake of, in view of, in spite of, in preference to, in unison with, for the sake of, except for, due to, in addition to, with regard to, on behalf of, in line with, at variance with. A composite preposition is indivisible both syntactically and semantically, that is, no element of it can be varied, abbreviated, or extended according to the normal rules of syntax. Thus in the composite preposition for the sake of neither the definite article nor the preposition can be replaced by words of similar meaning. Semantic characteristics§ 247. Semantically prepositions form a varied group of words. Most of them are polysemantic (in, to, for, at, from), their original meaning having become vague, others have retained their full meaning and are accordingly monosemantic (down, over, across, off, till, until, save, near, along, among, despite, during, etc.). This also applies to prepositions borrowed from Latin: versus, via, plus, minus. Relations expressed by prepositions may be of various types: 1) agentive - the letter was sent by a friend of mine; 2) attributive - a drawing in crayon, the people in question (люди, о которых идет речь); 3) possessive and partial relations - one of my friends, the roof of the house, a glass of brandy, a decline in waste, a rise in production; 4) relation indicating origin, material, or source - a girl from Brighton, made of gold: 5) objective relation – don’t be angry with me, I'II look into the matter, to work at a book, to speak on the matter (about the matter, of the matter); 6) relation indicating to whom the action is directed - to show it to him, to give lessons to the children; 7) instrumental relation - to write with a pencil, to cut with a knife; 8) relation of subordination - to be secretary to a Minister; 9) relation defining the sphere or field of activity - the country depends on exports for its food; Tom is good at football; 10) relation of involvement or association - to cooperate with somebody; coffee with cream, to compare this with that, to get involved in a discussion; 11) respective relation - he is big for a youngster, I did not know I had a blackguard for a son; 12) relation of resemblance - he is like his father; 13) relation of dissociation and differentiation - to disburden oneself of one’s past; to be devoid of something, to disentangle oneself from something; to know something from something, to deduce from something; 14) various adverbial relations: a) of manner, means, style and language - with diligence, by telegram, in slang, in bad print, in a neat hand. in good style, in brief; b) of purpose or aim - to send for the doctor, he did it for fun, the police were after the criminal; c) temporal relations. These may be subdivided into those denoting precedence, sequence, duration, etc. - in good time, at 5 o’clock, before the dawn; d) of cause or reason - I did it out of fear, through his negligence, I despise you for this; e) spacial relation, including directional relation - past the gate, by the window, across the river, at the gate; f) concessive relation - in spite of the bad weather, despite our protests, for all his attempts, with all her diligence. The relations enumerated above to a great degree depend on the meaning of the words connected by prepositions. Sometimes the relation indicated by a preposition is too abstract to be defined in words, as its use is often figurative or metaphorical, as in: He broke away from them on some vague pretext. The role of the preposition is difficult to define when it introduces predicatives, when its meaning is ‘in the capasity of’, ‘in the role of’, ‘having the quality of’. As a friend he was admirable, but one cannot praise him as a husband. His career as a lawyer was short. We regard him as a fool. She went to the ball with her aunt as chaperone. When a preposition is used figuratively, the concept expressed by the preposition may be so blurred or weak that one preposition may be replaced by another without any essential alteration to the relation between the words. Thus the following words may be used with different prepositions without change of meaning: aversion from, to disgust against, at, towards repugnance against, for, to along, down, over the centuries Words of the same root can be used with different prepositions: to pride oneself on, to be proud of, pride in; to confide in, confidence in, to be confident of. Combinability of prepositions§ 248. As a rule a preposition governs a noun. However it may also be followed by a pronoun, a gerundial phrase or a clause with nominal function, as in: for advantage, at five o’clock, at taking measures, he was surprised at what he saw. As prepositions indicate only the relationship between two words their position is clearly defined. Many prepositions tend to form a phrase called a prepositional phrase, often combining either with the preceding verb or adjective, or with the following noun. Such prepositions cannot be replaced by others. Phrases comprising verbs with prepositions to laugh at, to call for, to refer to, to look for (at, after) very often function as idioms, making one whole, so that the verb retains the preposition even if its complement is transferred, as in the passive construction: quick action was called for, the book is often referred to. With some polysemantic verbs the preposition often indicates its meaning, as in:
Some verbs are used with or without a preposition, with but slight difference as to content. Thus no preposition is used in the boy climbed the tree, but it is found in he climbed up the tree. Similarly a preposition is often so closely connected with the adjective or stative it follows, that it has practically no separate meaning, and may be said to be nothing but a formal means of connecting the word with its complement: She was afraid of the dog; The country is rich in minerals. Prepositions with nouns or clauses may modify a preceding noun, as in: men at work, method of teaching, the novel about which we've been speaking. Positional characteristics§ 249. Normally a preposition stands between two words to express the relation between them. However, there are cases when one of the two words with which the preposition combines either takes the initial position or is not used at all. In these cases the preposition is attached to the remaining word. It occurs in: 1) special questions, both direct and indirect: What are you driving at? Who shall I send it to? What train shall I go by? I asked him who the flowers were for. However, the preposition may precede the interrogative or relative words. In this case the sentence sounds more formal. To whom shall I send this? By what train shall I go? He did not know to whom he should turn for help. The preposition precedes the interrogative when the preposition forms a stock phrase with a noun. In what respect was he suspicious? To what extent is this true? In abbreviated sentences and clauses consisting only of a preposition and an interrogative word the preposition normally precedes it. - But to whom? In colloquial style the preposition is at the end. Who by? “Apologize?” she said. “What about?” 2) some clauses beginning with conjunctive and relative pronouns and in subordinate contact clauses: What I am thinking of is how he got there. The man I told you about is my relative. The girl he is in love with studies at the University. It is his talents he relies on. In formal style however, the preposition precedes the connective: The man about whom I told you is a relative of mine. 3) exclamatory sentences: What a nice place to live in! 4) passive constructions: The doctor was immediately sent for. How strange it is to be talked to in this way. 5) some syntactical patterns with the infinitive or gerund: He is difficult to deal with. It is not worth worrying abont. This is not a suitable house to live in. Note: If two or more prepositions refer to one word, the second (third) preposition may be used absolutely: Holly thought of the lashes above and below Val’s eyes, especially below. His wife was attached to, and dependent on, him. |