Курсовая с практикой на тему Особенности словообразования существительных в английском языке (на материале романа Оскара Уайльда «Портрет Дориана Грея») Features of Noun Word Formation in English (Based on the Material of the Novel «The Picture of Dorian Gray» by Oscar Wilde

Содержание:

INTRODUCTION 3

I. THEORETICAL OVERVIEW OF THE NOUN STUDY 5

1.1 The Notion of the Noun. Semantic and Structural Features of Noun in English 5

1.2 Fundamental Methods of Forming Nouns in the English Language 8

1.3 Summary of Results 13

II. ANALYSIS OF FORMING NOUNS BASED ON ENGLISH FICTION 14

2.1 Brief Characteristics of Source Text 14

2.2 Analysis of Compounding in Making Nouns 15

2.3 Analysis of Conversion in Making Nouns 19

2.4 Analysis of Affixation in Making Nouns 21

2.4.1 Analysis of Prefixation 21

2.4.2 Analysis of Suffixation 21

2.5 Summary of Results 29

CONCLUSION 31

REFERENCES 33

APPENDIX 35

Введение:

Nouns are the important category of language grammatical system, since they are the independent part of speech. Nouns are words that have the meaning of objectivity (in its broad sense), have morphological indicators of case and number, a certain set of derivational affixes and are able to perform all functions in a sentence except for the verbal predicate.

The analysis of word-formation in terms of studying grammar is of paramount importance for linguistic research since it allows for a better perception of the language morphological structure and the further potential of development. For instance, the accent on the existing word-formation models allows for the proper and well-based analysis of neologisms and the development of the lexical system as a whole. Nouns are productively created by using the existing models in the English grammar structure.

The relevance of the research implies that the paper considers the word-formation potential of the English language based on the Nouns. The fact that various ways in creating Nouns are applied in the English language specifies the features of English morphology. The analysis within the research is based on the key approaches of the theoretical grammar based on the semantical, formal criteria to the examination of the particular part of speech (in the present research this is Noun).

The object of the research is English Nouns.

The subject of the research is the ways to make Nouns in the English language.

The objective of the research is to analyze the models for making Nouns in the English language.

The set objective implies the solution of the following tasks:

1. To specify the features of the Noun;

2. To analyze the ways of making English Nouns;

3. To analyze the ways of making Nouns in English based on the material of O. Wilde’s “Picture of Dorian Gray”.

4. To determine the most widespread models in making Nouns in English based on the material of O. Wilde’s “Picture of Dorian Gray”.

The source of the research is O. Wilde’s novel “Picture of Dorian Gray”.

Research methods include the following: studying of the research papers concerning the problems of the research, classification method, descriptive method, statistical method.

The theoretical base of the research includes the material of the following scientists: I.V. Arnold, Yu. A. Levitsky, N.G. Nurgaleeva, L. Bauer, D. Gerland, J. Hewson, H. Jackson, G. Leech, D.G. Miller, H. Sweet.

The practical significance of the research implies the fact that its results may be widely applied when studying English grammar, the potential of English morphology in creating Nouns, as well as in the studying of the author’s style of O. Wilde.

The structure of the research: introduction, two chapters, conclusion, list of references and appendix.

In the first chapter, the theoretical issues of the research are analyzed: theoretical grammatical approaches to studying Nouns, the grammatical features of Nouns in English, the word-formation potential of English morphology and the productive ways of creating English Nouns.

The second chapter dwells on the practical analysis of English Nouns based on the source text (“The Picture of Dorian Gray” by O. Wilde). The research implies the systematization of the examples based on the theoretical approaches considered, and the statistical analysis allows for the determination of the most productive strategies.

The conclusion provides the summary of results obtained, specifying the conclusions made and proven by the research.

 

Заключение:

To sum up, the analysis of the research literature made it possible to determine the following grammatical features of nouns. They are independent part of speech that are made by the existing word-formation morphological models in the language.

The categories of number and case can be specified for English nouns. The category of number is strongly related to the group of nouns, that can be divided into countable and uncountable ones. There also exist various ways to classify nouns.

Apart from the classification based on countability, it is possible to divide English nouns into proper and common nouns, as well as concrete, abstract, collective and real nouns from the point of view of the designated phenomenon.

English nouns are commonly created by using the word-formation morphological models common for the language structure. The most effective models in English grammar for creating nouns are compounding, conversion, abbreviation and affixation. By compounding, new words with new semantics are created implying the new semantics is the combination of the meanings of the two lexemes taking part in such a compounding. Affixation implies the addition of affixes to the word. When a prefix is used, no transfer in the part of speech is made, while in suffixation the part of speech is changed. Conversion implies the transfer of a word from one part of speech to another without any changes in morphological structure. Abbreviation contributes to the linguistic economy, but no changes in the word semantics are made.

The analysis made it possible to come up with the following conclusions.

When compounding is applied, the author may create new images, based on their specific semantics. The nouns are of compound structure, and the summation of semantics allows to express the nuances of the meaning needed to verbalize the image fully.

Conversion (substantiation) implies the transfer of adjectives and verbs into nouns. The key semantical aspects of the source lexeme are kept in the newly-made noun, and this also allow the author to verbalize his intentions in creating literary images.

Affixation is common for the English morphology, since it makes it possible to provide newer semantical aspects to the made noun. The point is that morphemes in English can express the semantic nuances that are of paramount importance in creating new lexemes.

According the analysis, when adding only a prefix, the word does not change its part of speech: prefixed are added to nouns to create nouns. Prefixes allow to give a word some semantic nuances.

At the same time, suffixation, that is the addition of suffixes, makes it possible to change the part of speech in most cases. There are different groups of English suffixes in terms of semantics that are added to the root. So, their inner semantics allows to add the data on the actor, abstract nature of the phenomenon described, etc. Furthermore, there is a great variety of productive suffixes in English that make it possible to create nouns by the well-established, productive and widely-applied morphological models.

According to the data extracted in the analysis, the most productive model for the formation of nouns in the source text is suffixation, which proves the systemic features of English morphology in general. Suffixation in terms of the research paper implies the creation of nouns by adding suffixes to verbs and adjectives, specifying the author’s intentions for the literary text. The next relevant model is compounding. This implies the concretization of the images created in the text by the author, expressing the eagerness of O. Wilde to the specific details of the narration. Conversion and prefixation were not widely used in the formation of nouns in the novel considered.

In general, the analysis made reflects the features of the word-building of nouns in the English language. The research is relevant in terms of the analysis of the English lexical system. The point is the elaboration of the ways to create nouns can be relevant in terms of creating and analyzing occasional words and neologisms. Furthermore, the research allows to elaborate the structural and modeling features of the English grammar as a system.

Фрагмент текста работы:

I. THEORETICAL OVERVIEW OF THE NOUN STUDY

1.1 The Notion of the Noun. Semantic and Structural Features of Noun in English

Parts of speech are the main classes or categories into which the words of a language fall apart due to the fact that they have some common abstract meaning, common grammatical categories, features of form formation and functioning. Accordingly, the criteria used in classifying words into parts of speech are called semantic, formal and syntactic ones [34].

The semantic criterion is based on the general meaning of a given class of words: objectivity is inherent for Nouns, while action is relevant for Verbs, etc. [27].

The formal criterion is based on the presence of a certain set of derivational affixes in words of one part of speech, as well as morphological categories and forms expressing categorical meanings. For instance, Nouns are the words having categories of number and case (brother — brothers; brother — brother’s) and suffixes -er, -tion, -ist, -hood, -ness, etc. [16].

The syntactic criterion includes such aspects of using words in a sentence as compatibility with other words as well as the functioning of the word as a member of the sentence and the place a word occupies in relation to other words in a sentence as well [34].

Parts of speech are traditionally divided into independent ones (Noun, Verb, Adjective, etc.) and auxiliary ones (Prepositions, Conjunctions, Articles, Interjections, etc.). This division is based on the meaning, form and function of words:

1. Independent words name objects, phenomena of reality, while auxiliary ones denote the connections between significant words and have no conceptual content in the sentence.

2. Independent words are inflectional, while the auxiliary ones are invariable.

3. Independent words perform a certain syntactic function, while the auxiliary words are not the members of the sentence [28].

So, Noun is the independent part of speech.

A noun is characterized by the presence of the following features in terms of grammar:

1. objectivity (in the abstract sense);

2. morphological indicators – inflexions of the plural form (-s, -en) and possessive case (‘s), plural forms with internal inflection (man-men) [22];

3. a number of typical derivational affixes: -er, ist, -ess, -ee (personal suffixes); -ness, -ion,

-ity, -ism, -ance, -ment (abstract nouns). Furthermore, in English the apparatus of word formation is much superior to the apparatus of inflection [22]. Derivational models of verbal and adjective nouns create the opportunity for naming states, properties, qualities (along with the names of objects) [25].

4. In terms of syntax, the ability of a Noun to perform all functions in a sentence, except for the predicate is relevant [34].

Within the framework of grammar, Nouns are divided into proper and common ones.

Proper nouns are used directly for naming, and not for designation. A proper name does not have a significative function and, for this reason, is not capable of an abstract designation of any objects of the reality [26]. In fact, proper nouns are the names of individual single objects, separated from homogeneous ones.

If a common noun is a set of homogeneous objects, then a proper noun is the only one of its kind [27]. For example: Moscow (one capital city in the range of capital cities), Peter (the particular man), June (the particular month), Zeus (the particular god), Jupiter (the particular planet), etc.

In turn, common nouns describe classes of objects or phenomena in general. Common nouns are generalized names of homogeneous objects and phenomena: street names, names of persons, animals, plants, substances, things, events, concepts. These items themselves may differ from each other by any characteristics, but they are all called by one word [21]. For instance: a god, a dog, a city, a book, etc.

Proper nouns and common nouns also have differences from a grammatical point of view: most common nouns have both singular and plural forms. And proper names, as a rule, have only the singular form [1]. For example: a book – books, a man – men, but Peter, Mike, Asia, Baikal, Lomonosov.

In addition, nouns are divided into countable and uncountable. This division itself reflects the category of number, which is key for noun morphology.

Countable nouns have singular and plural forms, unlike uncountable ones.

The particular meanings of the category are singularity and plurality, expressed in the opposition of the singular and plural forms (for countable nouns). The marked form is the plural form, as follows:

1. inflexion -s (open class plurals),

2. Noun groups in which nouns are pluralized by non-productive means:

• morphemes from Old English, Latin, Greek: oxen, antennae;

• internal flexion: man – men;

• nouns with homonymous number forms: sheep, deer, trout [6].

At the same time, uncountable nouns of the English language are divided into several subclasses.

Singularia Tantum are the words that have only the singular form:

1. Abstract nouns – happiness, joy;

2. Material nouns – juice, silver;

3. Collective nouns: hair, machinery, foliage;

4. Proper names: the Volga, Europe [6].

Pluralia Tantum are the nouns that are only plural:

1. Words with the meaning of «pair»: trousers, scissors;

2. Words with the meaning of aggregation: clothes, goods, riches, belongings [6].

Nouns with Numerical Biplanarity:

1. Family, team, group, crowd, etc.: have singular and plural forms, can express a divided and undivided totality, i.e. appear both in the singular and in the plural form [10]. This category is expressed in the syntactic structure of the sentence.

2. Clergy, gentry, audience, youth, etc. They do not have a plural form, but can be used both with a verb in the singular and in the plural, depending on what they mean: a dismembered totality or a group of persons as a whole [10].

When analyzing nouns, their lexical and grammatical categories are also distinguished, which is also important for understanding their structural and grammatical properties, as well as the features of their morphological structure.

1. Concrete nouns name separate countable objects, they correlate with common nouns. For example: a cat, a road, a man.

2. Abstract nouns express concepts that cannot be countable; they correspond with philosophical concepts and concepts, emotions, feelings, sensations. For example: love, kindness, democracy.

3. Material nouns, they describe the substances from which objects are made, or real objects and materials. For example: cream, silver, gold, metal.

4. Collective nouns designate a set of objects or persons as a whole. For example: police, team, government [3].

Analyzing the morphological properties of a noun, one should also note the features of the implementation of the category of case. Traditionally, case is defined as the form of a name expressing its relation to other words in speech. In Old English, nouns had an extensive case system. In modern English, only the forms of two cases, the general and the possessive, have been preserved: boy – boy’s.

Despite the fact that the category of gender is not fully expressed in grammar, it can be defined by morphological means, in particular, by suffixes that express the concept’s belonging to the feminine gender. However, here extra-linguistic factors come to the fore to a greater extent, rather than their own linguistic ones. It’s about morphemes -ess, -ette, -ine [24].