Typological Features of the Noun as a Part of Speech

Lesson 3. Typology of the Parts of Speech in the Contrasted Languages. Typology of Noun.

Contents

1.Typology of the Parts of Speech in the Contrasted Languages. 1

2.Typological Features of the Noun as a Part of Speech. 1

3. Noun Affixes. 2

4. Morphological Categories of Noun. 3

4.1. Category of Number 3

4.2. Category of Case. 5

4.3. The Category of Definiteness and Indefiniteness. 6

Typology of the Parts of Speech in the Contrasted Languages

On the ground of identical or similar semantic, morphological/formal and syntactic/functional properties pertaining to common lexico-grammatical classes of words, the number of notional parts of speech in English and Ukrainian may be considered (from the typological point of view) all in all the same - seven. Namely: noun, adjective, pronoun, numeral, verb, adverb, stative - іменник, прикметник, займенник, числівник, дієслово, прислівник, слова категорії стану.

As to the functionals (semi-notional words, as they are still some-times called) their number in the contrasted languages is not identical, because present-day English has the article which is missing in Ukrainian. The rest of functionals are all common: conjunctions, prepositions, modal words and modal expressions, particles, exclamations, articles (in English), сполучники, прийменники, модальні слова та вирази, частки, вигуки.

Typological Features of the Noun as a Part of Speech

The noun as a part of speech is characterised in English and Ukrainian by a common lexico-grammatical nature of substantivity or "thingness". Hence, typologically isomorphic are also the main paradigmatic classes of nouns, which are two: 1) common nouns and 2) proper names.

Common Nouns split in the contrasted languages into the following subclasses:

Proper names in their turn split in English and Ukrainian into some common subclasses as well.

Isomorphism is equally observed in the existence of some other grammatically and typologically relevant groups of nouns in English and Ukrainian. Among these are, first of all, life nouns (boy, girl, cat, cock, goat, wolf — хлопець, дівчина, кіт, півень, цап, вовк); inanimate nouns (atom, bell, door, stone — атом, дзвін, двері, шлях); count nouns (pen, star, tree, wall — ручка, зірка, дерево, стіна), and noncount nouns (air, honesty, slavery — повітря, чесність, рабство), etc.

The most characteristic divergent feature of English nouns as compared with the Ukrainian ones is their usually indistinct lexico-grammatical nature at language level. As a result, determiners (usually the definite or the indefinite article or demonstrative pronouns) are used to identify these nouns: the bear, the round of talks, that round of talks. Besides, English nouns are often determined by the -'s/-s- element (cf. today's weather, London's population, etc.).