Introduction
Thegiven annual project is dedicated to the linguistic problem — ‘The Subject: Waysof Expressing It in the Sentence’.
Themain goal of the work is to identify the main featuresof the subject in the sentence, basing on the theoretical and scientific works ofRussian, English, American, Moldovan and Romanian authors, and examine the subjectand its features in the works of American and English fiction.
Theobjectives of the thesis, in their turn, representascending steps to the main goal of the project:
1. to define the notion of the subject;
2.to present the classification of the subject according to the theoretical sourcesof the examined works of the linguists.
3. to present the ways the subject is expressedin the sentence.
4.to identify the subject features and the ways it is expressed in the works of theinvestigated American and English fiction.
5.to compare the means the subject is expressed in fiction in the works of such writersas: ‘The Book of Grotesque’ by Sherwood Anderson, ‘The Magic Barrel’ by BernardMalamud, ‘The Last Leaf’, ‘The Gift of the Magi’ by O. Henry, ‘The Man with theScar’, ‘The Door of Opportunity’, ‘A Friend in Need’ by W.S. Maugham.
Actualityof the work maintains the basic functionsof the subject in the sentence as one of the main constituents and its continualstudy due to this fact. That is a linguistic phenomenon having been introduced intoeducation on different educative levels starting from the simplest definitions inprimary school and reaching gradually deep theoretical interpretations of the subjectin the institutions of higher education.
Theannual project is based mainly on the scientific sources of English and Russianlinguists, such as:
Quirk,S. Greenbaum, G. Leech, J. Svartvik, Richard Gardiner, Timothy Cobb, Geoffrey Leech,as for the Russian grammarians: V.L. Kaushanskaya, I. P. Krylova, M. A. Ganshina, N.M. Vasilevskaya, Б.А.Ильин.
Besides,the works of the Romanian scholars – Andrey Bahtaş and Leon Levitchi, and others.
Thus, Chapter One of the present projectembodies three points:
1. The definitions of the subject;
2. Classification of the subject (from structuraland functional points of view);
3. Ways of expressing the subject;
InEnglish grammar the subject (along with the predicate) is researched by a numberof linguists and philologists. It is defined in different interpretations, but stillthe entire variants base on one common backbone of the notion:
The subject (abbreviated sub. or su.)is one of the two main constituents of a clause or a simple sentence, accordingto a tradition that can be tracked back to Aristotle. It is the main part of a two-membersentence which is grammatically independent of the other parts of the sentence andon which the predicate is grammatically dependent.
The subject is sometimes said to be the relativelyfamiliar element, to which the predicate is added as something new, ‘The uttererthrows into his subject all that he knows the receiver is already willing to granthim, and to this he adds in the predicate what constitutes the new information tobe conveyed by the sentence…’ [4, 154]
Besides, the following features of the subjectare maintained in most definitions of the studied linguists:
a) the subject is normally a noun or a clausewith nominal function;
b) the subject occurs before the verb phrasein declarative clauses, and immediately after the operator in questions;
c) the subject has number and person concord,where applicable, with the verb phrase.
The classifications of the subject are presentedaccording to the role and structure of the subject in the sentence.
Ways of expressing the subject vary in conformitywith the parts of speech and constructions it is presented by.
Chapter Two is the practical part of thegiven work on the basis of the studied fiction, such as:
1.American fiction: ‘The Book of Grotesque’ by Sherwood Anderson, ‘The Magic Barrel’by Bernard Malamud;
‘TheGift of the Magi’, ‘The Last Leaf’ by O. Henry;
2.English fiction: ‘The Man with the Scar’, ‘The Door of Opportunity’, ‘A Friend inNeed’ by W.S. Maugham.
Thepractical part is aimed at investigation of the subject features in the works ofAmerican and English fiction and fulfillment of the comparative analysis in thegiven works of two different cultures – American and English.
Theresults of the executed practical work demonstrating common and contrasting waysof expressing the subject in British and American fiction are evidenced in conclusionof the project.
subject sentence
1.ChapterOne. The Subject: Ways of Expressing It in the Sentence
1.1Definitions of the Subject
Thenotion of the Subject in the grammatical theory of the English language can be presentedvery briefly and clearly: it is the main part of a two-member sentence which isgrammatically independent of the other parts of the sentence and on which the predicateis grammatically dependent. [8, 67]
Thereason for calling the subject and the predicate the main parts of the sentenceand distinguishing them from all the other parts which are treated as secondary,is roughly this. The subject and the predicate between them constitute the backboneof the sentence: without them the sentence would not exist at all, whereas all theother parts may or may not be there, and if they are there, they serve to defineor modify either the subject, or the predicate, or each other. [10, 205]
Alinguistic experiment to prove the correctness of this view would be to take a sentencecontaining the subject, a predicate, and a number of secondary parts, and to showthat any of the secondary parts might be removed without the sentence being destroyed,whereas if either the subject or the predicate were removed there would be no sentenceleft: its ‘backbone’ would be broken. This experiment would probably succeed andprove the point in a vast majority of cases.
Thequestion now arises: what criteria do we practically apply when we say that a word(or, sometimes, a phrase) is the subject of a sentence? [10, 206]
Thegrammatical phenomenon of the subject in English has been examined by a number oflinguists, philologists and grammatical experts both of English and foreign originin different epochs. This notion is defined in various interpretations; still thecommon backbone is identified in all of them. Let’s retrace this ‘common thread’,kept in all the definitions of the subject.
SidneyGreenbaum in ‘The Oxford English Grammar’ notes that the subject of a sentence isthe constituent that normally comes before the verb in a declarative sentence andchanges position with the operator in an interrogative sentence. It is applicable,the verb agrees in number and person with the subject (I am ready): the subject‘I’ is first person singular and so is ‘am’ [2,305]
PaulRoberts in ‘Understanding Grammar’ presents the subject as the element stressedor the new element added to the discourse end in complexities that are interestingphilosophically but useless grammatically. The beginner’s device to find the subjectis first to find the verb and then ask ‘who?’ or ‘what’ before it. When the subjectis very specific (e.g. a proper name), we may even invert the normal word orderwithout befuddling out listeners. [6, 405]
Somebrief definitions of the subject are presented by Richard Gardiner and Timothy Cobbin ‘Today’s English Grammar’ from one side, and by Geoffrey Leech in ‘An A-Z ofEnglish Grammar and Usage’ from the other side.
In‘Today’s English Grammar’ the authors state that the word indicating the personor thing referred to is called the subject of the sentence. [1, 202]
GeoffreyLeech, in his turn, notes that the subject is a grammatical term for the past ofa clause or sentence which generally goes before the verb phrase (in statements).[5, 413]
Russianphilologists, such as Kaushanskaya in «Грамматикаанглийскогоязыка»,say that the subject is the principal part of a two-member sentence which is grammaticallyindependent of the other parts of the sentence and on which the second principalpart (the predicate) is grammatically dependent, i.e. in most cases it agrees withthe subject in number and person. The subject can denote a living being, a lifelessthing or an idea. [13, 115]
Accordingto I. P. Krylova in ‘A Grammar of Present Day’ the subject is a word or a groupof words which names the person, object or phenomenon the sentence informs us about.[14,85]
Thus,we can identify the following common points:
a)the subject is normally a noun phrase or a clause with nominal function;
b)the subject occurs before the verb phrase in declarative clauses, and immediatelyafter the operator in questions;
c)the subject has number and person concord, where applicable, with the verb phrase.[3, 158]
Б.А.Ильинin «Строй современногоанглийскогоязыка»examines the question first of all by formulating the structure of the definitionitself. It is bound to contain the following items: (1) the meaning of the subject,that is its relation to the thought expressed in the sentence, (2) its syntacticalrelations in the sentence, (3) its morphological realization: here a list of morphologicalways of realizing the subject must be given, but it need not be exhaustive, as itis our purpose merely to establish the essential characteristics of every part ofthe sentence.
Thedefinition of the subject would, then, be something like this. The subject is oneof the two main parts of the sentence. (1) It denotes the thing whose action orcharacteristic is expressed by the predicate. (2) It is not dependent on any otherpart of the sentence. (3) It may be expressed by different parts of speech, themost frequent ones being: a noun in the common case, a personal pronoun in the nominativecase, a demonstrative pronoun occasionally, a substantivized adjective or past participle,a numeral, an infinitive, and a gerund. It may also be expressed by a phrase. [10,207]
1.2Classification of the subject
Therearesome classifications given by different authors. For example, from thestructural point of view and functional point of view
1.2.1Classification of the subject from the structural point of view
Fromthe point of view of the structure, the subject can be:
1. Simple,expressed by a word or a number of words in the nominal case, the combination ofwhich represents one doer of the action.
Noglass renders a man’s form or likeness so true as his speech. (Ben Johnson, Timber)
Theproper force of words lies not in the words themselves, but in their application.(William Hazlitt, On Familiar Style)
Allthings are admired either because they are new or because they are great. (FrancisBacon)
Evenin his novels Hardy’s pessimism is always a fighting pessimism. (T.A. Jackson, ThomasHardy)
Whatdo you think the weather will be tomorrow?
2. Compound,expressed by two or more nouns that represent one and the same notion (or one andthe same person)
Thegreat poet, essayist and philosopher died in 1882. (Emerson)
3. Coordinatedor Homogeneous, that unites two or more different objects with the conjunction.
Tomand Maggie are the principal characters in ‘The Mill of the Floss’. (G. Eliot’snovel)
4. Complex,expressed by a special construction, first of all, by a noun in the nominal casewith an infinitive or with a participle:
Hehad been reported to move house.
Therain could be heard rapping against the windows.
5. Doublethat is characteristic of the English folklore.
‘Somesuits, some suits,’ the sheriff he said, ‘Some suits I’ll give to thee.’ (RobinHood Rescuing the Widow’s Three Sons) [9, 186]
1.2.2Classification of the Subject from functional point of view
Themost typical semantic role of a subject is AGENTIVE; that is the animate being instigatingor causing the happening denoted by the verb:
Johnopened the letter.
Apartfrom its agentive function, the subject frequently has an INSTRUMENTAL role; thatis, it expresses the unwitting (generally inanimate) material cause of the event:
Theavalanche destroyed several houses
Withintransitive verbs, the subject also frequently has the AFFECTED role that is elsewheretypical of the object:
Jackfell down
Thepencil was lying on the table
Wemay also extend this latter function to subjects of intensive verbs:
Thepencil was on the table
Itis now possible to see a regular relation, in terms of clause function, betweenadjectives or intransitive verbs and the corresponding transitive verbs expressingCAUSATIVE meaning:
Saffected Sagent/instr.Oaffected
Thedoor opened John/The key opened the door
Theflowers have died The frost has killed the flowers
SaffectedSagent/instr Oaffected
Theroad became narrower They narrowed the road
Igot angry His manner angered me
SagentiveSagentive Oaffected
Mydog was walking I was walking my dog [3,160]
Thesubject may also have a recipient role with verbs such as have, own, possess, benefit(from), as is indicated by the following relation:
Mr.Smith has bought/given/sold his son a radio → So now his son has/owns/possessesthe radio
Theperceptual verbs see and hear also require a ‘recipient’ subject, in contrast tolook at and listen to, which are agentive. The other perceptual verbs taste, smell,and feel have both an agentive meaning corresponding to look at and a recipientmeaning corresponding to see:
Foolishly,he tasted the soup
*Foolishly, he tasted the pepper in the soup
Theadverb foolishly requires the agentive; hence, the second sentence, which can onlybe understood in a non-agentive manner, does not make sense.
Verbsindicating a mental state may also require a recipient subject:
Ithought you were mistaken (cf It seemed to me…)
Iliked the play (cf The play gave me pleasure)
Normally,recipient subjects go with stative verbs. Some of them (notably have and possess)have no passive form:
Theyhave a beautiful house ↔ A beautiful house is had by them
Thesubject may have the function of designating place or time:
Thispath is swarming with ants (= Ants are swarming all over this path)
Thebus holds forty people (=Forty people can sit in the bus)
Unlikeswarm, the verbs in such sentences do not normally admit the progressive (* Thebus is holding…) or the passive (* Forty people are held …).
Temporalsubjects can usually be replaced by the empty it, the temporal expression becomingadjunct:
Tomorrowis my birthday (= It is my birthday tomorrow)
Thewinter of 1970 was exceptionally mild (= It was exceptionally mild in the winterof 1970)
Eventivesubjects (with abstract noun heads designating arrangements and activities) differfrom others in permitting intensive complementation with a time adverbial:
Theconcert is on Thursday (but * The concert hall is on Thursday)
Finally,a subject may lack semantic content altogether, and consist only of the meaningless‘prop’ word it, used especially with climatic predications:
It’sraining/snowing, etc. It’s getting dark It’s noisy in here [3, 163]
Note:The ‘prop’ subject it as discussed here must be distinguished from the ‘anticipatory’it of sentences like ‘It was nice seeing you’, where the ‘prop’ subject is a replacementfor a postponed clausal subject (= Seeing you was nice).
1.3Ways of Expressing Subject
Asit is stated above, the Subject is the main part of a two-member sentence whichis grammatically independent of the other parts of the sentence and on which thepredicate is grammatically dependent. [7, 67]
Thesubject can be expressed by different parts of speech and by different constructions:
1.The noun in the common (or occasionally possessive) case;
Thesulky waiter brought my tea. (Du Maurier)
Marcellusslowly turned his head. (Douglas) [13, 226]
Theaddress must be written in the center of the envelope.
JonathanSwift is the father of irony. (E.B. Browning, Aurora Leigh) [9, 185]
Occasionallya noun in the possessive case is used as the subject of the sentence.
Mrs.Gummidge’s was in a fretful disposition. (Dickens)
Oh,my dear Richard, Ada’s is a noble heart. (Dickens)
2.A pronoun (personal, demonstrative, defining, indefinite, negative, possessive,interrogative);
Afterabout an hour I heard Montgomery shouting my name. That set me thinking of my planof action. (Wells)
Allwere clad in the same soft, and yet strong silky material. (Wells)
Allwere happy.
Everyonewas silent for a minute. (Wells)
Nothingwas said on either side for a minute or two afterwards. (Dickens)
Theirsis not a very comfortable lodging … (Dickens)
Whotore this book? (Twain) [13, 226]
Thepronouns ‘one, we, you are much used with the same general or indefinite force:
‘Aslong as one is young, one easily acquires new friends.’
‘Wedon’t like to be flatly contradicted.’
‘Youdon’t like to be snubbed.’ [12, 149]
3.A substantivized adjective or participle;
ThePrivileged have seen that charming and instructive sight. (Galsworthy)
Thewounded were taken good care of.
4.A numeral (cardinal or ordinal);
Ofcourse, the two were quite unable to do anything. (Wells)
Thefirst and fourth stood beside him in the water. (Wells)
Twowere indeed young, about eleven and ten. (Galsworthy)
Thefirst was a tall lady with dark hair … (Bronte) [11, 335]
5.An infinitive, an infinitive phrase or construction;
Tosee is to believe.
Tolive uprightly, then, is sure the best. (John Dryden) [9, 185]
Toprolong doubt was to prolong hope. (Bronte)
Forhim to come was impossible.
Tobe a rich man, Lieutenant, is not always roses and beauty. (Heym) [13, 226]
Towalk is useful. Walking is useful. [17, 38]
6.A gerund, a gerundial phrase or construction;
Lyingdoesn’t go well with me.
Winningthe war is what counts. [7, 67]
Walkingis a healthy exercise.
Watchingand ministering Kit was her best care. (Galsworthy) [11, 335]
Teachingothers teaches yourself. [9, 185]
7.Any part of speech used as a quotation;
Onis a preposition.
Ais the first letter of the English alphabet.
Andis a conjunction.
Nois his usual reply to any request. [13, 227]
^is the sign of perpendicular.[16, 50]
8.A group of words which is one part of the sentence, i.e. a syntactically indivisiblegroup.
Theneedle and thread is lost. (here the subject represents one person).
Theirfriend and defender is darkly groping towards the solution. [7, 67]
Twicetwo is four.
Howto do this is a difficult question. [11, 335]
9.It as the subject of the sentence.
InEnglish the pronoun it is sometimes used as the subject of a sentence.
TableTypes of subject it Characteristics Examples Notional
it represents a living being or a thing and has the following characteristics:
P stands for a definite thing or some abstract idea – the personal it;
P points out a person or thing expressed by a predicative noun, or it refers to the thought contained in a preceding statement, thus having a demonstrative meaning – the demonstrative it;
The door opened. It was opened by a young girl of thirteen or fourteen. (Dickens)
If this is a liberty, it isn’t going to mean a thing. (Lindsay)
It is John.
It was a large room with a great window. (Dickens)
Dick came home late, it provoked his father. (Lindsay) Formal
it doesn’t represent any person or thing. Here we must distinguish:
a) the impersonal it, which is used to denote:
* denotes natural phenomena (such as the state of the weather, etc.) or that which characterizes the environment. In such sentences the predicate is either a simple one, expressed by a verb denoting the state of the weather, or a compound nominal one, with an adjective as predicative.
* to denote time and distance
b) the introductory or anticipatory it introduces the real subject.
When the subject of a sentence is an infinitive, or a gerund or a whole clause, it is placed after the predicate and the sentence begins with the pronoun it which is called an anticipatory or introductory it.
c) the emphatic it is used for emphasis.
It is cold in winter.
It often rains in autumn.
It is stuffy in here.
It is delightfully quiet in the night.
It is five minutes past six.
How far is it from your office to the bank? (Galsworthy)
It is a long way to the station.
It is morning already.
It’s no use disguising facts.
It was curious to observe that child.
It was he who had brought back George to Amelia. (Thackeray)
It was Winifred who went up to him. (Galsworthy)
Theconstruction there is
Whenthe subject of the sentence is indefinite (a book, books, some books), it is oftenplaced after the predicate verb and the sentence begins with the introductory particlethere. The word there has no stress and is usually pronounced with the neutral vowel/ðƏ/ instead of /ðέƏ/. It has lost its local meaning, whichis shown by the possibility of combining it in the sentence with the adverbs ofplace here and there:
therewas a gate just there, opening into the meadow… (Bronte)
‘There’sa good spot over there.’ (Cusack) [11, 341]
Thingsare specifically different in cases when it and there are used insubject positions as representatives of words or longer units which embody the realcontent of the subject but are postponed.
Itis most pleasant that she has already come.
Itwas easy to do so.
Thereare a few mistakes in your paper.
Therewere no seats at all.
Itand there in such syntactic structuresare generally called anticipatory or introductory subjects.
Therein such patterns is often referred to as a function word, and this is not devoidof some logical foundation [15, 94] Sentences with the introductory there may serveto assert or deny the existence of something. In sentences with the introductorythere the predicate verb is usually the verb to be; occasionally some other verbsare found, such as to live, to occur, to come, etc., which, similarly to the verbto be, indicate to exist or have the meaning of to come into the existence:
Therewas a little pause. (Voynich)
(there– an introductory particle; was – a simple verbal predicate; a pause – the subject;little – an attribute)
…thereis the rustle of branches in the morning breeze;
…thereis the music of a sunny shower against the window; (Gissing)
Therecame a laugh, high, gay sweet. (Galsworthy) r
…therecame a scent of lime-blossom. (Galsworthy)
Theresoon appeared, pausing in the dark doorway as he entered, a hale, grey-haired oldman. (Dickens) [11, 341]
2.Chapter Two. Ways of Expressing Subject in Fiction
Practicalpart of the given project, presented in Chapter Two, brings to light subject features,investigated from theoretical point of view in Chapter One, in separate examples,drawn from fiction works. Opposing works of American and British English fiction,the paper is aimed at distinguishing subject peculiarities in both fiction sides.Thus, the investigated works are ‘The Book of Grotesque’ by Sherwood Anderson, ‘TheMagic Barrel’ by Bernard Malamud, ‘The Last Leaf’, ‘The Gift of the Magi’ by O.Henry concerning American writers and ‘The Man with the Scar’, ‘The Door of Opportunity’,‘A Friend in Need’ by W. S. Maugham for British authors.
2.1Ways of Expressing Subject in British Fiction
‘Thegreatest English playwright, novelist and short story writer, considered one ofthe most popular writers of his era, and reputedly, the highest paid author duringthe 1930s’ [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W. Somerset Maugham], William SomersetMaugham gives preference mainly to the personal pronouns in the role of the subject.All the examined works of the writer within the project keep the tendency of thepresenting the personal pronouns as the subject.
‘Wedraw our conclusions from the shape of the jaw, the look in the eyes, the contourof the mouth.’ [26, 355]
‘Whenyou made him that offer of a job, did you know he’d be drowned?’ [26, 360]
‘Well,I hadn’t got a vacancy in my office at the moment.’ [26, 360]
‘Shegave him a long searching look.’ [25, 501]
‘Inyour place I should never have been able to resist the temptation to take my eightcops and have a whack at the blighters myself.’ [25, 503]
‘Sheis waiting at the prison door.’ [27, 229]
Thesecond preferable part of speech in the subject role is a noun in the nominal case.
‘Womenthought a lot of him.’ [26, 357]
‘Theblood spurted from the cut vein and dyed his shirt.’ [27, 230]
‘Thisscar spoke of a terrible wound and I wondered whether it had been caused by a sabreor by a fragment of shell.’ [27, 228]
‘ButAlban had already a London look.’ [25, 495]
‘Annequickly made friends with the shy, pretty native woman and soon was playing happilywith the children.’ [25, 496]
Otherparts of speech in the Subject position are surely kept but in much less frequentperiodicity.
‘Thatwas how you thought a poet should look.’ [25, 515] where ‘that’ is a demonstrativepronoun in the Subject role.
‘Twoor three shouted back in answer.’ [25, 525] where ‘two’ and ‘three’ are cardinalnumerals occupying Subject position in the sentence.
‘Theworst of it was that Anne knew how low an opinion Alban had of the Governor’s parts.’[25, 514] where ‘the worst of it’ is construction carrying Subject function in thesentence.
‘Howcan anyone be so shameless?’ [25, 532] where ‘anyone’ is indefinite pronoun in theSubject role.
‘Nothingthat concerns me was at stake.’ [25, 530] where ‘nothing’ is a negative pronouncarrying the Subject function.
‘Allthat was far away in the future.’ [25, 527] where indefinite pronoun ‘all’ is inthe Subject role.
TheSubject it is surely also presented in the works of W. S. Maugham. In consequenceof its research we can state that the frequency of the usage of notional ‘it’ ismuch higher in comparison with the formal ‘it’ in the works of W. S. Maugham.
‘It’sonly an hour’s journey,’ said Anne. [25, 495] where ‘it’ is formal denoting timeaspect.
‘Itwas a room with twin beds and a bathroom.’ [25, 502] where ‘it’ is notional pointingout a thing expressed by a predicative noun.
‘Itwas a change, but Anne was always glad to get home.’ [25, 511] where the notional‘it’ is the Subject pointing out a thing expressed by a predicative noun.
‘Itwas on account of the scar that I first noticed him, for it ran, broad and red fromhis temple to his chin.’ [27, 228] where both ‘it’s are notional subjects but first‘it’ points out a thing expressed by a predicative noun whereas the second ‘it’stands for a definite thing mentioned before.
‘Ithappened so quickly that many didn’t know what had occurred, but the others gavea cry of horror;’ [27, 231] where the notional subject ‘it’ again denotes a thingexpressed by a predicative noun.
‘Itwas a busy, exhilarating scene, and yet, I know not why, restful to the spirit.’[26, 357] where ‘it’ is notional carrying the Subject role in the sentence.
Theintroductory ‘there’ also is maintained in the work but as it is mentioned abovein Chapter One, the particle ‘there’ carries just the introductory function, butdoesn’t represent the Subject of the sentence.
‘Therewas a group of natives’ [25, 517]
‘Therewas a little stir at the gateway.’ [26, 229]
Subjectfeatures corresponding to their characteristics in Classifications One and Two canbe commented on the following points.
Proceedingfrom the structural point of view (Classification 1) simple and complex subjectsare predominantly met.
‘Thoughhis offices were in Kobe, Burton often came down to Yokohama.’ [26, 356] where ‘Burton’represents the simple Subject.
‘Thosesort of fellows always do.’ [26, 358] where ‘sort’ presents the simple Subject.
‘Icouldn’t help laughing.’ [26, 358] where I in combination with the gerund ‘laughing’represents the complex Subject.
‘Theylaid the girl on the ground and stood round watching her.’ [27,230] where ‘they’in combination with the gerund ‘watching’ represents again the complex Subject.
‘Therebel advanced a step or two to meet her.’ [27, 231] where ‘the rebel’ in combinationwith the infinitive ‘to meet’ represents the complex Subject.
‘Alban,as was his way, tipped the porter generously and then went to the bookstall andbought papers.’ [25, 495] where ‘Alban’ represents the simple Subject.
ConcerningClassification 2 agentive and affected Subjects are essentially identified.
‘Burtoncame into the lounge presently and caught sight of me.’ [26, 357] where ‘Burton’in relation with the predicate ‘came’ represents the affected Subjects and in combinationwith the predicate ‘caught’ – the agentive Subject.
‘Asort of sigh passed through those men crowded together..’ [27, 231] where ‘ a sort’represents the instrumental Subject.
‘Shestared into his blue eyes as if they were open windows.’ [25, 527] where ‘she’ carriesthe agentive function of the Subject.
‘Thetears streamed from Anne’s eyes, she rushed to the door and ran out.’ [25, 533]where ‘tears’ and ‘she’ represent in both cases the agentive Subject.
‘Weshook hands.’ [26, 359] where ‘we’ represents the affected Subject.
‘Hegave a little mild chuckle and he looked at me with those kind and candid blue eyesof his.’ [26, 360] where ‘he’ represents the agentive Subject in both cases.
Thus,the cases of the agentive and affected Subjects, classified from the functionalpoint of view, and the simple Subjects, classified from the structural point ofview, constitute substantially 99% of the Subject, distinguished in fiction of W.S.Maugham.
2.2Ways of Expressing Subject in American Fiction
Worksof American fiction, examined in the given project are ‘The Book of Grotesque’ bySherwood Anderson, ‘The Magic Barrel’ by Bernard Malamud, ‘The Gift of the Magi’and ‘The Last Leaf’ by O. Henry.
InvestigatingAmerican literature, we should mention that the same Subject features, distinguishedin the works of the British fiction, are kept here as well. Still some peculiaritiesof the Subject are evidenced in comparison with British fiction.
Proceedingfrom the classification of the Subject from functional and structural points ofview, we can identify that surely, the simple (Classification 1) and agentive (Classification2) are essentially distinguished.
‘Acarpenter fixed the bed so that it would be on a level with the window.’ [21, 8]where ‘carpenter’ carries the agentive function and meanwhile has a simple structure.
‘Manmade the truths himself and each truth was a composite of a great many vague thoughts.’[23, 12] where ‘man’ represents the simple and agentive Subject whereas ‘truth’performs the affected function in a simple structure.
‘Thematchmaker appeared one night out of the dark fourth-floor hallway of the gray stonerooming house…’ [24, 380] where ‘the matchmaker’ represents a simple Subject carryingthe agentive function.
‘Dellafinished her cry and attended to her cheeks with the powder rag.’ [23,12] where‘Della’ is a simple Subject with an agentive function.
‘Themagi brought valuable gifts, but that was not among them.’ [23,18] where ‘the magi’is again a simple Subject with an agentive function.
Still,another types of the Subject are also distinguished.
‘Jimstopped inside the door, as immovable as a setter at the scent of quail.’ [23,17]where the simple Subject ‘Jim’ carries the affected function.
‘John’seyes were open wide.’ [22, 100] where the simple Subject ‘John’s eyes’ carry theaffected function.
‘Thething to get at is what the writer or the young thing within the writer, was thinkingabout.’ [21, 10] where the construction in the role of the Subject ‘the thing toget at’ is complex in its structure.
‘Herface deeply moved him.’ [24, 404] where the simple Subject ‘her face’ performs theinstrumental function.
‘Anodor of frying fish made Leo weak to the knees.’ [24, 408] where the simple Subject‘odor’ displays again the instrumental function.
‘Theidea alternately nauseated and exalted him.’ [24, 412] where the simple Subject‘the idea’ performs the instrumental function.
‘But,surprisingly, Salzman’s face lit in a smile.’ [24, 390] where the simple Subject‘Salzman’s face’ carries the affected function.
‘Suddenlyshe whirled from the window and stood before the glass.’ [23, 12] where the simpleSubject ‘she’ displays the affected function.
Theonly peculiarity of American fiction in comparison with the British one in the Subjectinvestigation is that the instrumental function of the Subject appears on the pagesof the examined stories.
Theways of expressing the Subject also maintain similar features of being presentedby a noun or pronoun (esp. personal) in nominal case in the examined stories ofAmerican fiction.
‘Shestood by the window and looked out dully at a gray cat walking a gray fence in agray backyard.’ [23, 12] where she is personal pronoun in the Subject role.
‘Afterthe doctor had gone Sue went into the workroom and cried a Japanese napkin to apulp.’ [22, 100] where ‘the doctor’ and ‘Sue’ represent Subjects expressed by acommon and a denominative nouns in nominal case.
‘Theold man listed hundreds of the truths in his book.’ [21, 12] where ‘the man’ isthe Subject expressed by a common noun in nominal case.
‘Byremembering it I have been able to understand many people and things that I wasnever able to understand before.’ [21, 12] where the Subject is expressed by thepersonal pronoun ‘I’.
Still,some cases where the subject is expressed by numerals, interrogative and demonstrativepronouns are also noticed.
‘Whocan love from a picture?’ mocked the marriage broker.’ [24, 414] where the Subject‘who’ is expressed by the interrogative pronoun.
‘Thisis my baby, my Stella, she should burn in hell.’ [24, 412] where the Subject ‘this’is expressed by a demonstrative pronoun.
‘Hundredsand hundreds were the truths and they were all beautiful.’ [21,12] where the Subjectis expressed by cardinal numerals.
TheSubject is undoubtedly maintained in American fiction as well.
Thenotional ‘it’ is noticed much oftener in comparison with the formal ‘it’ as it iswitnessed in British fiction as well.
‘Well,it is the weakness, then,’ said the doctor. [22,100] where the subject ‘it’ is notional and denotes a thing expressed by a predicativenoun.
‘Itreached below her knee and made itself almost a garment for her.’ [23, 12] wherethe Subject ‘it’ is notional and denotes a definite object mentioned before.
‘No,it wasn’t a youth, it was a woman, young, and wearing a coat of mail like a knight.’[21, 10] where the Subject ‘it’ is again notional anddenotes a thing expressed by predicative noun.
Theintroductory features of ‘there’ are kept on the pages of the American fiction aswell.
‘Thereare only five left now’ [22, 102]
‘Therewas a pier-glass between the windows of the room.’ [23, 12]
Thus,the Subject features in American fiction are predominantly similar to the ones keptin British literature; the only noticed peculiarity is the instrumental functionof the Subject.
Conclusion
Onthe basis of the theoretical and practical investigation of the Subject within theframework of distinguishing its features in American and British fiction conformingto the examined theory, we have reached the following results of the research work:
TheSubject justifies its definition of being ‘the main part of a two-member sentencewhich is grammatically independent of the other parts of the sentence and on whichthe predicate is grammatically dependent’ in combination with all the other characteristicsmentioned by different grammarians of any languages practically throughout the investigatedfiction.
Classificationsof the Subject presented in two variants reflect that from structural point of view,simple and complex types of the Subject are predominantly used. From functionalpoint of view, the agentive and affected role of the Subject is generally maintained.Vivid examples proving the present conclusion are presented in Chapter Two.
Waysof expressing the Subject vary mainly surely between the nouns in nominal case (theseexamples constitute the majority part of expressing the Subject), personal pronouns(that also present a vast percentage of the examples where they are in the roleof the Subject), demonstrative, interrogative, indefinite pronouns are of less oftenfrequency.
Numeralsare also used in the role of the Subject, these cases are mainly characteristicof the colloquial dialogues.
Infinitiveand gerundial constructions possess a rather high index of frequency usage identifiedin the investigated fiction.
Concerning‘it’ Subject, the results of the investigations prove to state that generally thenotional type of ‘it’ is practiced in the role of the Subject. Formal type of ‘it’Subject is used much more moderate.
Regardingthe other parts of speech that also can be used in the role of the Subject, thatis substantivized adjective or participle, any part of speech used as a quotation,a group of words which is one part of the sentence, i.e. a syntactically indivisiblegroup are less preferred both by the American and British writers within the givenproject.
Inreference to the feature differences in the usage of the Subject in American andBritish fiction, we can surely state that both cultures prefer to use common featuresof the Subject. The only characteristic of the American fiction touches the factthat instrumental function of the Subject is used a little oftener whereas Britishwriters keep 100%-preference to the Subject expressed by nouns and personal pronouns.
Theimplemented investigation will be elaborated in the subsequent thesis of the nextyear based on the fiction of the John Galsworthy (‘The Forsyte Saga’) where detailedinternal research analysis will be executed.
Bibliography
1.Cobb Timothy and Gardiner Richard, Today’s English Grammar, Bucureşti,Prietenii cărţi, 1994,330 p.
2.Greenbaum Sidney, Oxford English Grammar, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1996,652 p.
3.Greenbaum Sidney, Quirk R., Leech G., Svartvik J, A University Grammar of English,Moscow, 1982, p. 158
4.Newsperson Otto, University of Grammar, Chicago and London, The University of ChicagoPress, 1991, 347 p.
5.Leech Geoffrey, An A-Z of English Grammar and Usage, 1991, 575 p.
6.Paul Roberts, Understanding Grammar, New York and Evanston, Row Publishers, 1954,550p.
7.Bahtaş Andrey, Limba Engleza, Bucureşti, Teora, 1993, 67 p.
8.Cataraga Angela, Gramatica Limbii Engleze, Bucureşti, Teora, 2003, 67 p.
9.Levitchi Leon, Gramatica Limbii Engleze, Bucureşti, Teora, 2005, 186 p.
10.Ильин Б. А., Строй современного английского языка, Москва, Издательство «Просвещение»,1965, 206 стр.
11.Vasilevskaya N. M., Ganshina M. A., English Grammar, Higher School Publishing House,Moscow, 1964, p. 335
12.ИофикЛ.Л.,ЧахоянЛ.П.,Readings in the Theory of English Grammar, Москва,1967, 149стр.
13.Каушанская В. Л., Грамматика английского языка, Москва, 1968, 227 стр.
14.Крылова И. П., AGrammar ofPresent Day,Москва, Издательство «Просвещение», 1990, 100 стр.
15.Раевская М.М., PresentDay EnglishSyntax, Киев, Издательство «ВищаШкола», 1970, 175 стр.
16.СоколенкоА.П.,ТатаринаА.С.,ДудкинаВ.В.,English Grammar in Tables, Moscow,1975, 50 стр.
17.Шалаева Н. В., Краткая грамматика английского языка в таблицах и схемах, Москва,
1991,38 стр.
18.Hornby A.S. Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Oxford, OxfordUniversity Press, 2000, p.1520
19.Muller V.K., Modern English-Russian Dictionary, Moscow, ‘Russky Yazyk Publishers,1999, 880 p.
20.Anderson Sherwood, The Book of the Grotesque, Moscow,Raduga Publishers, 1989, 590 p.
21.Henry O., The Last Leaf, New York, Strictly Business, 1919, 670 p.
22.Henry O., The Gift of the Magi, New York, Higher School Publishing House, 1972,325 p.
23.Malamud Bernard, The Magic Barrel, Moscow, Raduga Publishers, 1989, 590 p.
26.Maugham W.S., Collected Short Stories, The Door of Opportunity, London, MandarinPaperbacks, 1990, 950 p.
25.Maugham W.S., Collected Short Stories, A Friend in Need, London, Mandarin Paperbacks,1990, 950 p.
26.Maugham W.S., Collected Short Stories, The Man with the Scar, London, Mandarin Paperbacks,1990, 950 p.