PDF Comparative Linguistics: Types of Syntactic Contrast

EQUIVALENCE AND CONGRUENCE Equivalent constructions are those constructions which are mutually translatable. Do you like apples? Czy lubisz jabłka? EQUIVALENCE AND CONGRUENCE Congruent constructions are not only equivalent but also consist of the same number of words arranged in the same order....

EQUIVALENCE AND CONGRUENCE Equivalent constructions are those constructions which are mutually translatable. Do you like apples? Czy lubisz jabłka? EQUIVALENCE AND CONGRUENCE Congruent constructions are not only equivalent but also consist of the same number of words arranged in the same order. TYPES OF SYNTACTIC CONTRAST structural categorial functional structural contrast Polish has subjectless finite clauses while English does not. It is early/ * Is early. To jest wcześnie/ jest wcześnie categorial contrast when corresponding elements in counterpart sentences in two languages belong to different syntactic categories (NP, VP, AdjP, PP) You look beautiful / *beautifully Wyglądasz piękna*/ pięknie functional contrast When counterpart elements of syntactic structures have different syntactic functions in two languages Mary has lost her purse. Marii zaginęła portmonetka. the subject of the English sentence corresponds to the object in the Polish sentence and vice versa WORD-FORMATION affixation and compounding the most common processes of making new words In both languages, suffixation is used more frequently than prefixation in creating new words. COMPOUNDING It usually involves putting together two lexical items. English spelling is not decisive in classifying a lexical item as a compound boyfriend, boy friend In Polish a compound is always spelt as one word. the compound Białystok the noun phrase biały stok/a white slope In both languages it is possible to deduce the meaning of some compounds from the meanings of their parts schoolboy/ uczeń and siedmiolatek/seven-year-old Occasionally, however, it is not possible to determine the meaning of the compound from the meanings of the constituent elements, as is the case in the English honeymoon/miesiąc miodowy the Polish białogłowa/lady BLENDING The term 'blending' is used to designate the method of coining new words by merging parts of words into one, unanalysable word. In English, blends include smog from smoke and fog motel from motor and hotel żelbeton reinforced concrete from żelazo - iron and beton - concrete domofon door-phone from dom(owy) - home and telefon - telephone ACRONYMS Acronymization is a way of coining new words from the initial letters or larger parts of names or combinations of words. 1/ letter-words, which are coined from the first letters AIDS 2/ syllable-words Benelux from Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg 3/ infrequently, combinations of both methods, as in radar from radio detecting and ranging CLIPPING the reduction of a word math matma mathematics matematyka 3 types of clipping are distinguished depending on the part of the word which is reduced 1/ back-clipping the most common way of shortening words; it is characterized by the omission of the final part of the word, as in ad from advertisement 2/ fore-clipping consists in the omission of the beginning of the word, as in phone from telephone 3/ simultaneous back- and fore-clipping is marked by the omission of both the beginning and of the final part of the word, flu from influenza Lexical transfer Words which sound similarly in the two languages and further, have similar meanings may be easier to learn for the learner than dissimilar words, but their transfer into the foreign language often results in errors. False friends Problems with so-called false friends involve partial semantic identity, as witnessed by the pair club: klub transfer of only the meaning, as in the case of *thank you from the mountain used by Polish speakers instead of thank you in advance transfer violating the grammatical constraints on the use of words in larger structures, as is the case of *Let's meet ourselves tomorrow /Spotkajmy się jutro where a reflexive verb is used in English instead of an intransitive verb, possibly because of interference from Polish CONFUSING WORDS EACH OR EVERY? Another important source of common lexical problems is the existence in the foreign language of more than one translational counterpart of a single lexical item of the learner's native tongue. przynieść may be rendered in English by both bring and fetch Problems are also caused by the existence of lexical items in the foreign language which have more than one lexical counterpart in the native tongue teściowa and świekra, which are both rendered in English as mother-in-law each and every each = a single item in a group of items; it takes a singular verb Each member of the group deserves a reward. The book consists of three chapters. Each chapter has 50 pages. every = a greater number of people or things; it creates a collective sense. Every little girl likes playing with the dolls. each and every Each can refer only to two items; every cannot. She kissed him on each cheek. Each and every ----- take singular verbs Each of my brothers was given a scholarship. Each of them deserves it. Each may take a plural verb – it follows the noun (pronoun) it refers to My brothers were each given a scholarship. They each deserve it. Each is not used in negative. ---- neither is used instead. Neither of them did it. SEMANTIC FIELDS vocabulary of feelings, sports, motion, etc., often cause considerable difficulty and uncertainty in learners of a foreign language The vocabulary connected with a specific semantic field can be sizeable and often the differences in meaning between the many lexical items belonging to the common field are subtle and concern the use of the lexical items in context. AS OR LIKE? Both as and like are used in English to express the general meaning of similarity or resemblance, with jak being the Polish counterpart of both of them. like + a noun phrase as + a clause like (preposition) – is used with nouns, pronouns, or gerunds. He swims like a fish. You look like a ghost. Be like Peter/ him: go jogging. The windows were all barred. It was like being in prison. as (conjunction) – there is a finite verb Do as Peter does: go jogging. Why don’t you cycle to work as we do? like + noun He worked like a slave. = very hard as + noun He worked as a slave. = he was a slave. ADVERBS WITH OR WITHOUT -LY Most adverbs in English are marked with the derivational suffix –Iy (proudly, briefly). Some adjectives also end in -ly, e.g. unlikely Adverbs which are identical in form with a corresponding adjective, for example, a fast (adj) train drive fast (adv) are sometimes referred to as flat adverbs. adjectives ending in – ly in a ……….…… way/ manner friendly, costly, cowardly, deadly, lively, lonely, silly, ugly, ghostly He gave me a friendly smile. He smiled in a friendly way. comparative expressions Many comparative expressions are traditional and have foreign origin. Quite a few English comparative structures have direct analogues in Polish, but there are also many differences. Syntax the rules of sentences formation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1r1grQiLdk The rules of syntax… combine words into phrases and phrases into sentences. Among other things, the rules determine the correct word order for a language. English is a Subject–Verb–Object (SVO) language. https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/what-is-word-order In English NPs, the head noun can be preceded and followed by several distinct categories which are all ordered with respect to one another. Polish modifiers have more freedom of position within the noun phrase, but word order is by no means completely free in Polish NPs. PREMODIFICATION - English if there is a determiner, it comes before a quantifier or a numeral expression, if any, which in turn precedes an adjective modifier, of which there may be more than one in an ordered sequence before the head noun the three new films te trzy nowe filmy Instead of the determiner, the noun phrase may contain the -'s marked genitive phrase, the so-called possessive. In other words, the determiner is mutually exclusive with the premodifying possessive phrase in English so that it is impossible to say *this John's car *the my book. PREMODIFICATION – Polish demonstratives, especially ten/ta/to (this) & ci (these) may follow the head noun, instead of preceding it Compare the ungrammatical *book this with the grammatical książka ta Furthermore, the typical position of the possessive phrase is after the noun unless the possessive is pronominal, in which case it precedes the head noun, just like a pronominal possessive precedes the head noun in English. Compare the ungrammatical *book John's with the grammatical książka Jana my sister with moja siostra While a pronominal possessive phrase cannot co-occur with a determiner in English, in Polish, where the possessive is typically found after the noun, the two can co-occur. Compare *this my father's friend with its Polish equivalent ten kolega mojego ojca POSTMODIFICATION - English The PP more closely integrated with the lexical meaning of the noun is placed right after it the picture of John in a gold frame *the picture in a gold frame of John POSTMODIFICATION - Polish A similar tendency is observed in Polish. portret księcia z 1861 roku the portrait of the prince from 1861 *portret z 1861 roku księcia *the portrait from 1861 of the prince DETERMINERS An NP in English may contain up to three determiners, which are distinguished on the basis of the position they occupy in the NP The order in which determiners appear in NP is fixed. The initial position is filled by such determiners as both, all, such and expressions of measure like half, etc. e.g. both her sisters all students such a nice person Next come the definite or indefinite articles or demonstratives, of which there may be only one in an NP the book (ta) książka that man ten mężczyzna a few films kilka filmów a little patience odrobina cierpliwości These determiners are mutually exclusive with possessive phrases, both possessive pronouns and possessive NPs in the genitive *John's the book *my another problem Possessives may be followed by quantifiers such as each, enough, much, more, most, less as well as numerals Spielberg's every movie każdy film Spielberga all his many contributions wszystkie jego liczne przyczynki their two cars ich dwa samochody In English, quantifiers are divided between these combining with countable nouns, such as many wiele a few kilka several parę both obaj a couple of parę each każdy every każdy these combining with uncountable nouns much dużo a little trochę little mało less mniej an amount of trochę a great deal of sporo these combining with both countable and uncountable nouns some trochę any trochę a lot of dużo all wszyscy cały enough dosyć more więcej most większość no żaden plenty of mnóstwo DETERMINERS - Polish In Polish, by contrast, only kilka several and parę a couple of are restricted to countable nouns All other determiners may appear both with countable and uncountable nouns. Compare the following examples: too many eggs too much time zbyt dużo jajek zbyt dużo czasu few eggs little time mało jajek mało czasu DETERMINERS – articles In English, two kinds of articles are distinguished, the indefinite articles a/an and the definite article the Polish lacks lexical items corresponding to the English articles, with the exception of jakiś corresponding to the English some. In English, the use of articles is governed by strict rules. DETERMINERS - articles For example, the indefinite article must be used before a singular countable indefinite noun, as shown by the acceptability of I bought a book. Kupiłem książkę. compared with the unacceptability of *I bought book. DETERMINERS - articles It is also used with a singular countable noun when the noun is used generically, that is, represents all the individuals belonging to the class of entities denoted by the noun, as in A whale is an endangered species. DETERMINERS - articles The occurrence of articles in English is occasionally signalled in Polish by the use of indefinite or demonstrative pronouns Buy me a book. Kup mi jakqś książkę. Buy me the book. Kup mi tę książkę. DETERMINERS - articles definiteness or indefiniteness signalled by the articles in English may be conveyed by appropriate word order in Polish Wczoraj widziałam chłopca. Yesterday I saw a boy. the sentence final NP is interpreted as indefinite and its English counterpart is marked with the indefinite article Chłopiec niósł w siatce pomarańcze. The boy was carrying oranges in a bag. the sentence initial NP is interpreted as definite, and it is marked with the definite article in the English counterpart ADJECTIVE MODIFIERS In English, the adjective premodifier (adjectives, participles, other nouns) on the whole must not be complemented or postmodified. a proud man dumny mężczyzna which includes a simple adjective modifier the ungrammatical *a proud of his son man dumny ze swego syna mężczyzna which includes a complex adjective modifier A complex adjective modifier is placed after the noun in English facilities comparable to ours udogodnienia porównywalne do naszych In Polish, by contrast, a premodifying adjective modifier can be freely complemented or postmodified dumny z syna mężczyzna a man proud of his son (*a proud of his son man) Interestingly, discontinuous modification (a term that denotes a modifier being split by either the head of the phrase or by a clause element) is a restricted phenomenon also in Polish. przykuty do łóżka pacjent (* a confined to his/the bed patient) pacjent przykuty do łóżka (a patient confined to his bed) and the discontinuous *przykuty pacjent do łóżka (*a confined patient to his bed) ADJECTIVE MODIFIERS In English, most simple adjective modifiers, regardless of their semantic status and the type of relation to the noun, precede the noun they modify and further, they come in the noun phrase in a strict sequence when there is more than one of them. The modifier next before the head noun is an adjective often with the meaning of consisting of, involving or relating to. an ethnic problem problem etniczny Next left comes the adjective of style or provenance (origin), the London musical life życie muzyczne Londynu Next come participial modifiers an embroidered Dutch tablecloth haftowany holenderski obrus Preceding the participle is the adjective of colour a black carved Venetian wooden box czarne drewniane rzeźbione weneckie pudełko The adjective of colour is preceded by the adjectives of size, age, or shape a big black chair duże czarne krzesło "general" adjectives expressing subjective qualities are farthest from the noun good old times stare dobre czasy The order of adjectives O – opinion + fact S – size A – age S – shape C – colour O – origin M – material P – purpose The order of adjectives O – opinion + fact S – size physical quality A – age or time  S – shape C – colour location O – origin or source M – material type P – purpose In Polish, a simple adjective modifier usually precedes the head noun if it expresses a non-inherent property biała suknia a white dress and usually follows the noun if it expresses a defining, inherent (natural) property energia słoneczna solar energy adjective modifiers have far more freedom of position in Polish. *a fat big fish tłusta duża ryba * a brown leather long belt brązowy skórzany długi pasek English adjectives are not inflected for cases, number or gender. Most of them are used in two positions. a/ before nouns (attributively) You got a fast car. (Tracy Chapman) b/ after link verbs (predicatively) He looks nice. The position of adjectives A–adjectives that are used only predicatively; (used after a link verb); they do not take a noun afraid There’s nothing to be afraid of now awake He lies awake at night worrying about his job.  afloat Somehow we kept the boat afloat. They will have to borrow £10 million next year, just to stay afloat. asleep The baby was sound asleep (= sleeping deeply) upstairs. alone He lives alone. Finally, the two of us were alone. alive We don’t know whether he’s alive or dead. alike My sister and I do not look alike. ill He fell ill and died soon after. well (in good health) I don’t feel very well. Adjectives that are used attributively (they precede the noun they modify) They are not intensified. sheer [only before noun] used to emphasize the size, degree or amount of sth We were impressed by the sheer size of the cathedral. only [only before noun] used to say that no other or others of the same group exist or are there: She’s their only daughter. previous No previous experience is necessary for this job. main Be careful crossing the main road. elder [only before noun] (of people, especially two members of the same family) older my elder brother his elder sister Some adjectives can be used either attributively or predicatively; and some change the meaning when moved from one position to another. bad/ good; big/ small; heavy/ light; a small farmer a small farmer – a man who has a small farm the farmer is small – he is a small man physically There is a limited class of adjectives, mostly ending in -ible or –able which may either precede or follow the noun, usually with no difference in meaning. you can say both in the material available w materiale dostępnym and in the available material w dostępnym material A few adjectives change in meaning depending on whether they come before or after the noun, for example, the present address obecny adres, present refers to time the students present studenci obecni (gdzieś) present refers to location proper / ˈprɒpə $ ˈprɑːpər / adjective 1 [ only before noun ] right, suitable, or correct : Everything was in its proper place (= where it should be ). the proper way to clean your teeth The proper name for Matthew’s condition is hyperkinetic syndrome. 3 [ only before noun ] British English spoken real, or of a good and generally accepted standard SYN decent, real American English : When are you going to settle down and get a proper job ? Try to eat proper meals instead of fast-food takeaways. 4 [ only after noun ] the real or main part of something, not other parts before, after, or near to it : The friendly chat which comes before the interview proper is intended to relax the candidate. the genitive has two forms in English the so-called inflected NP-'s genitive the so-called periphrastic of + NP genitive NPs in the genitive have several distinct meanings associated with them: they express the relation of possession my son's wife the source or origin of the relation girl's story physical features or characteristics a man of many talents measurements a ten days' absence the height of the tower  Genitive case Saxon Genitive the s-genitive boy – boy’s my father’s car girls – girls’ my parents’ house the Smiths’ car Peter and Mary’s parents = 2 people (they are siblings) Peter’s and Mary’s parents = 4 people (separate parents) children – children’s room women’s rights Saxon Genitive the s-genitive Euripides’ death Archimedes’ Law Sophocles’ plays (some famous classical names) Other names ending in -s can take ‘s or the apostrophe alone: Mr Jones’s house Mr Jones’ house Dickens’s childhood Dickens’ childhood Mr Lewis’s dog (more common) When is the inflected genitive used? with animate nouns (people, animals) with geographical names (it is preferred) England’s monuments When is the inflected genitive used? with inanimate nouns which are personified – ships, planes, favourite cars the ship’s bell the yacht’s mast with nouns denoting a person at Jack’s at the baker’s at the dentist’s it is also used to express location in time yesterday’s newspaper tomorrow’s lecture in two years’ time last Sunday’s match distance a stone’s throw a two miles’ walk it is also used to express amount fifty pounds’ worth of books The fire caused thousands of pounds’ worth of damage. ten dollars’ worth of ice-cream duration a three weeks’ holiday (a three-week holiday) a two hours’ debate (a two-hour debate) compound nouns and Saxon genitive my sister-in-law my sister-in-law’s house passers-by the passers-by’s heads the Queen of England the Queen of England’s palace Henry the Eight Henry the Eight’s wives somebody else somebody else’s book the of-genitive inanimate nouns the leg of the table animate nouns if they are followed by a phrase or a clause the name of the man with red hair I took the advice of a couple I met on the train and hired a car. nouns denoting quantity or containers a group of children, a cup of coffee the double genitive a/ an(an indefinite article) or this/ that (a demonstrative pronoun) + a noun + the double genitive a friend of my mother’s = one of my mother’s friends this friend of yours = it suggests criticism this friend of mine I saw that stupid boyfriend of Sue’s yesterday. There are quite a few idiomatic expressions, especially involving the inflected genitive, which do not conform to the general tendency a wasps' nest the water's edge arm's length The hotel is only a stone’s throw from the beach. the genitive in Polish is inflected and it is the noun rather than the noun phrase as in English that appears marked for it. In Polish the genitive is realized as an inflectional ending while in English -s is attached to the whole noun phrase The range of meanings of the genitive in English is the same in Polish, but Polish favours NP including only one noun in the genitive in contrast to English, where the inflected genitive can co-occur with the periphrastic genitive. the committee's approval of the plan is rendered in Polish as akceptacja planu przez komisję (the approval of the plan by the committee) with the Polish equivalent of the English by-phrase rather than as * komisji (gen) akceptacja planu (gen) *akceptacja planu (gen) komisji (gen) both of which involve two genitive NPs two genitive phrases are not impossible in Polish especially if one of them denotes the possessor or indicates the origin of the relation zbiór znaczków (gen) mojego męża (gen) my husband's collection of stamps GENDER IN ENGLISH AND POLISH natural vs. arbitrary Gender is natural when sex distinctions between the referents of animate nouns determine gender distinctions, when the referent is female and the noun is feminine. Gender is arbitrary when gender distinctions depend on purely morphological considerations such as the ending of the noun. In Polish, for example, the ending -o is characteristic of neuter. GENDER IN ENGLISH In English, gender is natural. Typically, a noun with a male referent is masculine a noun with a female referent is feminine and all other nouns are neuter. Many nouns reflect the natural sex of their referents through their derivational affixes. For example, feminine nouns are derived with the suffix -ess, as witnessed by waitress he- marks nouns with a male referent, as in he-goat she- marks nouns with a female referent, as in she-wolf GENDER IN ENGLISH Some personal nouns are of dual gender and can be referred to both by the pronouns she and he as is the case with student and parent Nouns like baby, which may be referred to by who and what he, she, or it are of so-called common gender. Some common nouns which are referred to by it/ono in the singular and they/oni, one in the plural, may occasionally be personalized. For example, a noun denoting a country is typically substituted by the pronoun it, but it may be used to refer to the nation and is then substituted by the pronoun she. Also ships and other larger machines may be referred to by she. Ships, cars, countries when regarded with affection or respect are considered feminine. The ship struck an iceberg, which tore a huge hole in her side. Scotland lost many of her bravest men in two great rebellions. Lexical expression of gender Lexical pairs mother – father brother – sister king- queen widow – widower bride – groom bull – cow ram- ewe dog- bitch duck - drake  Lexical expression of gender Formal markers add: male or female male nurse, male horse (mare; stallion) add: he/ she he-sparrow he-goat she-wolf add suffix: -ess actor – actress waiter – waitress lion – lioness form a compound with man/ woman policewoman, spokesman, businesswoman, chairman personification the Moon – she the Sun – he death, fatherland – he countries, ships, planes, nature, earth, motherland – she GENDER IN POLISH In Polish, every noun is uniquely classified for gender and is either masculine, feminine, or neuter in the singular. In the plural, two genders are distinguished, masculine personal and non-masculine personal. For example, the noun samochód is masculine in the singular and non-masuline personal in the plural. The grammatical gender of animate nouns in general corresponds to natural sex distinctions. Exceptions include nouns denoting the young of the species, e.g. szczenię, prosię diminutives, e.g. chłopię augmented forms, e.g. babsko/virago, which are all of neuter gender. GENDER IN POLISH Also male personal nouns like poeta, artysta decline like feminine nouns, which typically end in -a. Nouns like sędzia, whose referents may be both female and male, also decline like feminine nouns. The gender of inanimate nouns is strictly grammatical and depends on the ending of the noun. Furthermore, Polish has a productive derivational suffix marking feminine nouns -ka, as in aktorka and some minor suffixes, -yni, as in dozorczyni or -ica, as in siostrzenica  https://www.nck.pl/projekty-kulturalne/projekty/ojczysty-dodaj-do-ulubionych/ciekawostki- jezykowe/o-sedzi-sedzim-i-sedzinie-cz-i Gdy SĘDZIĄ jest MĘŻCZYZNA, stosujemy odmianę przymiotnikową (ściślej: przymiotnikowo-rzeczownikową): lp.: ten sędzia, tego sędziego, temu sędziemu, tego sędziego, z tym sędzią, o tym sędzi, panie sędzio!; l.mn. ci sędziowie, tych sędziów, tym sędziom, tych sędziów, z tymi sędziami, o tych sędziach, panowie sędziowie! Dopuszczalna - choć już mocno przestarzała - jest również odmiana rzeczownikowa (ściślej: rzeczownikowo- przymiotnikowa): ten sędzia, tego sędzi, temu sędzi, tego sędzię, z tym sędzią, o tym sędzim, panie sędzio! (liczba mnoga taka sama jak poprzednio). Drugi, starszy sposób odmiany stosujemy tylko wyjątkowo, np. gdy chcemy nadać tekstowi nieco archaiczną formę. Staramy się również nie mieszać obu sposobów odmiany w obrębie jednego tekstu. Gdy SĘDZIĄ jest KOBIETA, nadajemy rzeczownikowi rodzaj żeński i stosujemy odmianę w całości rzeczownikową: lp.: ta sędzia, tej sędzi, tej sędzi, tę sędzię, z tą sędzią, o tej sędzi, pani sędzio!; l.mn.: te sędzie, tych sędzi, tym sędziom, te sędzie, z tymi sędziami, o tych sędziach, panie sędzie! Powiemy i zapiszemy zatem poprawnie: Czy nie widział ktoś sędzi Kowalskiej? Sprawy rozwodowe prowadziły dziś dwie sędzie: Anna Cichy i Maria Głośny. Drogie panie sędzie! Jakże się cieszę, że was widzę! Spotykana niekiedy forma SĘDZINA nie jest niepoprawna, ale nie jest też zamiennikiem żeńskiej formy SĘDZIA. SĘDZINA to albo archaiczne już określenie żony sędziego - a więc jeśli pani sędzia ma męża sędziego, to jest jednocześnie sędzią i sędziną, albo całkiem potoczne określenie pani sędzi – ale tylko potoczne. W polszczyźnie ogólnej PANI SĘDZIA to po prostu SĘDZIA. GENDER IN POLISH There is also a masculine marking suffix, -or, as in gqsior/ gander There are subclasses of nouns with both male and female referents. Nouns like beksa sierota decline like feminine nouns. https://poradniajezykowa.uw.edu.pl/porady/sierota/ The natural gender distinction is revealed in the form of the determiner which is in concord with the noun, e.g. ta (fem) gaduła ten (masc) gaduła GENDER IN POLISH https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYH2qGScEVk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjJZ8THmtXQ