D. V. Demidov

CONTENTS 
 
 
INTRODUCTION
6 
PAR T 1. 
LECTURE MATERIAL
 
Module 1
 
TOPIC 1. 
The 
Scope 
of 
Theoretical 
Grammar. 
Basic 
Linguistic 
Notions 
8 
TOPIC 2. 
Basic 
Grammatical 
and 
Morphological Notions 
20 
TOPIC 3. 
The 
Theory 
of 
Grammatical 
Classes of Words 
42 
TOPIC 4. 
General Survey of the Noun and 
its Categories 
54 
TOPIC 5. 
The Verb as a Part of Speech 
66 
TOPIC 6. 
General Characteristics of Syntax 
and Various Syntactic Theories 
76 
TOPIC 7. 
The Theory of the Word Group 
and the Sentence 
83 
PART 2. 
 
PRACTICAL CLASSES 
Module 1 
SEMINAR 1. 
Fundamentals 
of 
Theoretical 
Grammar 
91 
SEMINAR 2. 
The Morphological Level of the 
Language 
94 
SEMINAR 3. 
The Verb and Verbal Categories
97 
SEMINAR 4. 
Syntax. Its Subject and Methods 
100 
SEMINAR 5. 
Constituent 
Structure 
of 
the 
Sentence. Syntactic Processes 
103 
PAR T 3. 
 
INDIVIDUAL TASK 

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TASK 1. 
Topics for Individual Reports
108 
APPENDIX 
 
Questions to Get Ready for the 
Final Test 
109 
Sample Module Test Assignments 
111 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
116 

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INTRODUCTION 
This manual is designed for the part-time students of 
philology departments of higher educational institutions, studying in 
senior courses. 
Its purpose is therefore to lead the students to a scientific 
understanding of new assumptions and views of langua ge as 
system, keeping abreast of the latest findings set forth in the 
progressive development of grammatical theory by native and 
foreign scholars in recent times.
The following course of theoretical grammar serves to 
describe the grammatical structure of the English language as a 
system where all parts are interconnected.
Any linguistic description may have a practical or 
theoretical purpose. A practical description is aimed at providing 
the student with a manual of practical mastery of the 
corresponding part of language (within the limits determined by 
various factors of educational destination and scientific 
possibilities). Since the practice of lingual intercourse, however, 
can only be realised by employing language as a unity of all its 
constituent parts, practical linguistic manuals more often than not 
comprise the three types of description presented in a complex. As 
for theoretical linguistic descriptions, they pursue analytical aims 
and therefore present the studied parts of language in relative 
isolation, so as to gain insights into their inner structure and 
expose the intrinsic mechanisms of their functioning. Hence, the 
aim of theoretical grammar of a language is to present a 
theoretical description of its grammatical system, i.e. to 
scientifically analyse and define its grammatical categories and 
study the mechanisms of grammatical formation of utterances out 
of words in the process of speech making.

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Unlike school grammar, theoretical grammar does not 
always produce a ready- made decision. In language there are a 
number of phenomena interpreted differently by different 
linguists. To a great extent, these differences are due to the fact 
that there exist various directions in linguistics, each having its 
own method of analysis and, therefore, its own approach to the 
matter. But sometimes these differences arise because some facts 
of language are difficult to analyze, and in this case the only thing 
to offer is a possible way to solve the problem, instead of giving a 
final solution. It is due to this c ircumstance that there are different 
theories of the same language phenomenon, which is not the case 
with practical grammar. 
The manual consists of three parts. Part I introduces the 
Lecture material. Every lecture in Part 1 starts with the issues to be 
discussed; it includes sets of questions which will enable the student 
to test his knowledge. Part II includes the topics for discussion at the 
seminars, suggests the lists of recommended literature and a number 
of practical assignments that will help students to solidify their 
knowledge. Part III includes the topics for individual reports.
Publishing this manual, the author hopes that it will help 
students to master their profession deeper and better.

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