Subject and Predicate: Peripheral Zones
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Journal of Critical Reviews ISSN- 2394-5125 Vol 7, Issue 3, 2020 Review Article SUBJECT AND PREDICATE: PERIPHERAL ZONES OLGA G. SHEVCHENKO1 1Associate Professor, Candidate of Philological Sciences, the Head of Foreign Languages and Translation Studies Department, Philology and Inter-Cultural Communication Faculty, Vitus Bering Kamchatka State University, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, Russia. Received: 07.11.2019 Revised: 17.12.2019 Accepted: 25.01.2020 Abstract The prototypical method is one of the most important achievements of cognitive grammar. It can be efficiently employed in describing grammatical categories, both morphological and syntactic. The system of parts of the sentence reveals the existence of the prototype, periphery, and intermediary phenomena. The given paper deals with peripheral and intermediary phenomena in the sphere of the principal parts of the sentence. The nominative-with-the-infinitive construction presents an intermediary phenomenon as one of its elements bears the features of both the subject and the predicate. Peripheral and intermediary phenomena in the field of the predicate are often to be found in sentences with poly functional verbs, among them the verb to be. The grammatical status of the element following this verb is hard to define. Keywords: Prototype, Periphery, Intermediary Zone, Subject, Predicate, Object, Apposition, Adverbial Modifier. © 2019 by Advance Scientific Research. This is an open-access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.31838/jcr.07.03.30 INTRODUCTION Nowadays cognitive linguistics has become popular in studying a So the main principles of the prototypical method of lot of branches of language science. It has gained the upper hand investigation can be formulated like this: diversity of the over other approaches to language study as it takes into account categorial elements, diffusiveness at category borders, the the relationship between human language, the mind and socio- existence of both the prototype and the periphery, the existence physical experience. The very notion of cognitive linguistics is of intermediary zones which contain elements combining treated differently: some linguists believe it to be not an features of two or more adjacent fields. independent theory but an approach that “has adopted a common set of core commitments and guiding principles, which The prototypical approach is often resorted to while has led to a diverse range of complementary, overlapping (and investigating categories of different language levels, including the sometimes competing) theories” [1]. At present time the grammatical one [5]. It is due to the fact that the prototypical principles of cognitive grammar are broadly employed in nature is most inherent in grammatical categories which are investigating different spheres of language. actually the categories of natural entities reflecting the language ontology. One of the central notions of cognitive linguistics is the prototype; it was first described in the 1970s by E. Rosch and her The notion of prototype is rather an effective means of studying co-authors. The linguists put forward the new theory of grammatical categories because they are characterized by a wide categorization according to which people categorize with variety of properties that differ both in their essence, and in the reference to a prototype. The latter is characterized by some degree of their display. This makes it possible to describe its typical features such as a family-resemblance structure; different elements as either prototypical or peripheral and to locate some degrees of category membership (as not every member is equally of them as belonging to intermediary zones. representative for a category); blurriness at the edges [2]. The This method has proved to be a helpful means of describing prototype is considered to concentrate in itself the key syntactic units, such as parts of the sentence. The aim of this properties of a given category which makes it possible to think paper is to describe some peripheral and intermediary zones in them the best instances of the category in [3]. The use of this the sphere of the main parts of the sentence – subject and notion gives a bright opportunity of explaining the existence of predicate. numerous phenomena that do not confine themselves to the category they should represent. SUBJECT AND PREDICATE AS PRINCIPAL PARTS OF THE The existence of prototypes has been explained by some factors SENTENCE [4]. In accordance with the referential theory advanced by E. The parts-of-the-sentence theory is the most traditional basis of Rosch and supported by other linguists, the cause of representing the sentence structure; it has been severely prototypicality can be traced to the fact that some instances of a criticized more than once, but still it remains a most reliable and category share more characteristics with other instances of this vital method as it reflects the interdependence of language form category than other members of the category belonging to the and contents. periphery. They have more in common with more other Traditionally, parts of the sentence are divided into principal and instances than peripheral ones. The peripheral phenomena of a secondary. The basic difference between them is the predicative category display categorial features to a less extent, they have relation which is created between the subject and the predicate less in common with the other members of the category that can so the latter make the backbone of the sentence. In the hierarchy be discovered close to the prototype. of parts of the sentence they undoubtedly occupy the highest level; however, it remains doubtful whether the subject and the predicate are elements of equal rank. This problem is closely Journal of critical reviews 159 SUBJECT AND PREDICATE: PERIPHERAL ZONES connected with the peculiarities of the language under study: in (apposition), thus taking up a place within the intermediary Russian, for instance, the form of the predicate is determined by zone. the form of the subject, so it seems that the subject is more important, at least grammatically. On the other hand, in English PERIPHERAL PHENOMENA IN THE SPHERE OF THE the forms of the main parts of the sentence mostly coincide as PREDICATE well; however, the examples of discrepancy in this sphere are In the sphere of the predicate examples of the kind are especially also numerous: The entire school were by this time assembled in numerous. More often than not it is hardly possible to draw a the hall (E. Waugh). The next ten minutes was purely surgical (A. borderline between the predicate and an object, or an adverbial Christie). It looks as if the agreement between the subject and the modifier. It concerns sentences containing a verb denoting some predicate in English are rather semantic, and it is especially phase of an action followed by an infinitive (or gerund): And now evident in examples where the form of the predicate seems to be her heart began to beat (C. Ahern). The infinitive in such determined by the choice of the author alone: The public is so sentences is considered to be a part of the compound verbal kind, so very kind (W. S. Maugham). She thought that the theatre predicate. However, if we compare such sentences as She begins was unlucky and that the public were getting sick of her (W. S. to work and She begins her work we realize that they express the Maugham). same idea while in the second sentence the simple predicate is followed by the object her work. That is why it would be logical According to another opinion, the number and essence of parts of to treat the infinitive of the first sentence as an object too. The the sentence is stipulated by the valency of the verb used as same ambiguity concerns sentences including verbs with modal predicate. From this point of view the verb becomes the central meaning. The example below is rather convincing as the verb to element of the sentence. This approach agrees with the ideas want is followed by both the infinitive and nouns: I wanted expressed by representatives of semantic syntax and cognitive answers, I wanted solutions and I wanted to find them all myself grammar. (C. Ahern). Basing on such and similar examples it seems more Sometimes it is hard to distinguish between the subject and reasonable to treat the infinitive as an object; however, in their predicate The parts-of-the-sentence status of some structures in lexical meaning verbs like to want are close to modal ones which English is interpreted differently; one of them is the so-called are always followed by the infinitive and undoubtedly make the Nominative-with-the-Infinitive Construction: He had been known compound verbal predicate. to say that a miracle had crossed his way and made him believe The problem of identifying the type of predicate and its borders in miracles (I. Dinesen). If the money is missed, Parker is sure to is closely connected with the nature of the verb used in this remember having seen her come down those stairs (A. Christie). function. It often concerns verbs capable of being used as The syntactic function of the construction in question is treated notional, modal, link, and auxiliary in different contexts. The in two ways: 1) the elements of the construction perform most illustrative example is the verb to be which can be found in functions of different parts of the sentence, the nominal element any syntactic function mentioned above: He was always there to being the subject and the verbal one making a part of predicate; change the records (W. S. Maugham) – notional; It was an 2) the construction is the complex subject; the predicate is understood thing that she was to go on the stage (W. S. represented by a verb in the passive form (in the first example) Maugham) – link, modal; They were playing that night (W.