Строй современного английского языка
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| Grammar and Style 859
T he first of these sets of cases can hardly be frequent, since it would imply that there is no neutral syntactical means available to express the idea in question. As a rare example of the first kind we can point to the variants It is I and It is me. The difference between them is certainly one of style, and it seems that neither of them is really neutral stylistically. It is me has a very clear colloquial colouring, while It is I is stiff and formal. This of course is a state of affairs due to a historical development in the course of which It is me has been steadily gaming ground, and most probably it will in a near future lose that specific colouring of colloquial style, and become the normal, that is, the stylistically neutral variant, while It is I will be relegated to a distinctly archaic sphere. Far more numerous are the cases when one of a pair of syntactical synonyms has a specific stylistic colouring while the other is stylistically neutral. This is the case, for example, with the absolute construction and its synonyms — subordinate adverbial clauses of time or cause. The absolute construction has practically always — with very few exceptions, phraseological units like all things considered, or weather permitting — a distinctly literary or even bookish character. A distinctly literary or bookish colouring also attaches to non-defining attributive clauses. For instance, the following sentence would not be possible in colloquial style: Cathleen Calvert, who came out of the house at the sound of voices, met Scarlett's eyes above her brother's head and in them Scarlett read knowledge and bitter despair. (M. MITCHELL) These notes on the stylistic values of some grammatical facts are no more than hints. They are meant to suggest that alongside of grammatical phenomena that are indifferent to style there are some which have a distinct stylistic colouring and are decidedly inappropriate outside a certain stylistic sphere. This is most essential both from a purely theoretical viewpoint and from the viewpoint of teaching the language to foreigners. A bookish grammatical construction appearing in a colloquial context, though "grammatically correct", is as serious an error against English usage as a mistake in grammatical construction. This should especially be remembered in giving exercises of the kind providing for changing one construction into another (such as replacing a subordinate clause by an absolute construction, and the like). In this book we have considered a number of problems presented by the grammatical structure of Modern English. In doing so we have applied certain methods developed by modern linguistics, which allow of a more exact analysis and evaluation of lan- 360 Conclusion g uage facts and reduce the sphere of subjective opinions incompatible with one another and admitting of no proof. In this connection it has proved essential to distinguish as carefully as possible between two kinds of problems. On the one hand there are those which admit of a definite solution, so that an answer to the problem can be found and the problem need not be reconsidered unless and until some new facts emerge which may necessitate a change in the solution. On the other hand, there are the problems which, as far as we can see, do not admit of such a solution, but must remain a field of differing opinions, with the solution depending on a student's basic views of language phenomena in general, or of some narrower language sphere in particular. Some of the latter problems had better be abandoned altogether, since they offer no ground for any truly scientific analysis and only give rise to useless and unpromising dispute. Some of the problems connected with parts of a sentence clearly belong here: a typical example is the so-called problem as to whether a word or phrase accompanying a noun can be an object or must always be an attribute. It is no use whatever to discuss such problems: the right way to deal with them is to adopt a certain definition (for example, a word or phrase accompanying a noun is termed an attribute) and then act according to the definition accepted. But there are other problems belonging to this category of doubtful cases, which cannot and should not be discarded. Among these is, for example, the problem of the category of voice, which has been causing lively discussion for a considerable length of time. We can by no means say that it has been solved, but in fact it deserves close attention, and its solution may be brought nearer by careful application of more exact and objective methods. It is essential for a student of English to bear in mind these various aspects of linguistic study, if a right perspective of this study is not to be lost sight of. Another essential point to emerge from a careful scientific study of English grammatical structure is, the necessity of a very concrete approach to the individual structure of this one language, whose structure, such as it is, is probably not to be found in any other language on the globe. This fact tends sometimes to be obscured by a somewhat superficial application of the notions of "synthetic structure", "analytical structure", and the like. It is of course quite right to say that Modern English is a language mainly analytical in its structure but this general statement, true as it is, does not give us any clue to particular questions of grammatical structure, and it cannot replace careful study of these particular questions. We may as well illustrate this point by an example or two. Both Modern English and Modern French are analytical languages, and that statement is certainly true. But it does not include some essential points of difference between the two languages. Thus, in Grammar and Style 881 Modern English, adjectives have neither distinctions of gender nor any of number: for instance, the form fine, as it is, will do for all cases. Now, in Modern French, though also an analytical language, adjectives do have those categories, so that here we distinguish between four separate forms: masculine singular fin, masculine plural fins, feminine singular fine, feminine plural fines. Another point of difference between the two languages: English has only analytical forms for the future tenses (shall write, shall have written, shall be writing, shall have been writing in the active voice), while French, analytical as it is, has one synthetic future tense (écrirai) and one analytical (aurai écrit). The same may be said about forms expressing unreal action (whatever terms we may prefer to denote them): English has only analytical forms here (should write, should have written, should be writing, should have been writing in the active voice), whereas French has one synthetic form (écrirais) and one analytical (aurais écrit). Similar caution is required when comparing English', a language basically analytical, with Russian, a language basically synthetic. These characteristics, though essentially true, should not be pressed too close. In concluding our survey of English grammatical structure, we shall do well to emphasise that there remains much to be investigated in the future. To say nothing of the theory of phrases, which is still in its infancy, even those parts of grammar which have been studied for a hundred years or more present a number of unsolved problems where much energy and patient effort will have to be applied. The new methods aiming at a more exact and objective study of language facts should enable scholars to overcome outdated ideas and prejudices, which often constitute a formidable obstacle in the way of fundamental scientific research work, and further a complete and unbiassed view of Modern English grammatical structure as it presents itself to-day and as it tends to develop in the foreseeable future, |