The Verb Lecture

The verb
Grammatically the verb is the most complex

part of speech. It performs the predicative
function of the sentence. i.e. the functions
establishing the connection between the
situation named in the utterance and reality.
Meaning - a process presented dynamically, i.e. developing in time. E.g. I do
love you, really I do.
Form. The verb is characterized by an elaborate system of morphological
categories (tense, aspect, mood, voice, person, and number).
Function. (a) Verbs are connected with a preceding noun that is the subject
(children play) and with a following noun that is the object (play games). They
are also modified by adverbs (write quickly). May be combined with an
adjective (married young). (b) A verb (in its finite forms) is always the
predicate or part of it (link verb).
Morphological features of the verb
The grammatical categories: tense, aspect, voice, mood, person, number, and
phase.
The formative elements expressing these categories are grammatical affixes,
inner inflexion and function words.
The typical suffixes of the verb are: -ate (cultivate), -en (broaden), -ify
(clarify), -ize (normalize). The verb-deriving prefixes are: be- (belittle,
befriend), and en-/em- (engulf, embed). Some other characteristic verbal
prefixes are: re- (remake), under- (undergo), over- (overestimate), sub-
(submerge), mis- (misunderstand), un- (undo), etc.
Classification of verbs (according to semantic and lexico-
grammatical features)
The class of verbs falls into a number of subclasses distinguished
by different semantic and lexico-grammatical features. On the
upper level of division two unequal sets are identified:
- the set of verbs of full nominative value (notional verbs)
- the set of verbs of partial nominative value (semi-notional and

functional verbs).
Semi-notional and functional verbs serve as markers of
predication in the proper sense, they show the connection
between the nominative content of the sentence and reality.
They include auxiliary verbs, modal verbs, semi-notional
verbid introducer verbs and link-verbs. Auxiliary verbs
(constitute grammatical elements of the categorial forms of
the verb) are be, have, do, shall, will, should, would, may,
might.
The modal verbs are can, may, must, shall, will, ought,
need, used (to), dare. The verbs be and have in the modal
meanings “be planned”, “be obliged” and the like are
considered by many modern grammarians as modal verbs
and are included in the general modal verb list.
Function as predicative markers expressing relational
meanings of the subject attitude type, i.e. ability, obligation,
permission, advisability, etc.; express relational probability.
Tom may stay for the teleview if he will. → Tom is permitted
to stay. The storm may come any minute, you had better
leave the deck. → The storm is likely to come any minute.
Semi-notional verbid introducer verbs are seem, happen,
turn out, try, fall, manage, begin, continue, stop, etc.
compare “They began to fight” and “They began the fight”.
The verb in the first sentence is a semi-notional predicator, the
verb in the second sentence is a notional transitive verb
normally related to its direct object.
Link verbs introduce the normal part of the predicate (the
predicative) which is commonly expressed by a noun, an
adjective or a phrase of a similar semantico-grammatical
character. They are not devoid of meaningful content.
They function as a connecting element between the subject

and the predicative of the sentence, thus, they express
semantics of connection.
Two types of link verbs
1. Pure link-verb be
2. Specifying link-verbs
The specifying link-verbs fall into two main groups: those that
express perception and those that express non-perceptional, or
factual link-verb connection. The main perceptional link-verbs
are seem, appear, look, feel, taste; the main factual link verbs
are become, get, grow, remain, keep.
Grammatical subcategorization of notional verbs
On the basis of the subject-process relation:
1. Actional verbs express the action performed by the subject, i.e. they present the
subject as an active doer, e.g. do, act, perform, make, go, read, learn, discover, etc.
2. Statal verbs denote the state of their subject, e.g. live, survive, suffer, worry, stand,
see, know, etc.
3. Processual verbs express neither actions, nor states, but "processes".
- "processual-statal" verb refers to an inactive substance, e.g. The snow is thawing. →
The snow is in the state of thawing.
- "processual-actional"verb refers to an active doer e.g. The designer is considering
another possibility. → The action of the designer is that he is considering another
possibility.
On the basis of aspective verbal semantics:
1. The limitive verbs present a process as potentially limited e.g. arrive, come, leave,
find
2. The unlimitive verbs present a process as not limited by any border point e.g. move,
continue, sleep, work
For instance, the verb arrive expresses an action which evidently can only develop up to the
point of arriving; on reaching this limit, the action ceases. The verb start denotes a
transition from some preliminary state to some kind of subsequent activity, thereby implying
a border point between the two. As different from these cases, the verb move expresses a
process that in itself is alien to any idea of a limit, either terminal or initial.
On the basis of aspective verbal semantics:
3. Verbs of double aspective nature: limitive or unlimitive meaning
depend on the context:
He turned the corner and found himself among a busy crowd of
people. (Limitive meaning)
It took not only endless scientific effort, but also an enormous courage
to prove that the earth turns round the sun. (Unlimitive meaning)
The lexical aspect in English and in Russian
The English lexical aspect expresses a potentially limited or
unlimited process, whereas the Russian aspect expresses the actual
conclusion (the perfective, or terminative aspect) or non-conclusion
(the imperfective, or non-terminative aspect) of the process in question.
Thus, both the English limitive verbs and unlimitive verbs may
correspond alternately either to the Russian perfective verbs or
imperfective verbs, depending on the contextual uses.
Eng.: The exploratory party arrived at the foot of the
mountain.
Russ.: Экспедиция прибыла к подножию горы (the
perfective Russian equivalent)
Eng.: In those years trains seldom arrived on time.

Russ.: В те годы поезда редко приходили вовремя (the
imperfective Russian equivalent)
On the basis of the valency of verbs
"Valency" - the combining power of words in relation to other words in syntactically
subordinate positions (adjuncts)
The obligatory valency is such as must necessarily be realized for the sake of the
grammatical completion of the syntactic construction.
The optional valency is such as is not necessarily realized in grammatically complete
constructions.
Cf.: * We saw in the distance. * Saw a house in the distance. We saw a house (in the
distance).
Complementive verbs (taking obligatory adjuncts)
Uncomplementive verbs (taking optional adjuncts)
1. Uncomplementive verbs: personal and impersonal verbs.
The personal uncomplementive verbs refer to the real subject of the denoted process
(work, start, pause, hesitate, act, function, materialize, laugh, grow, etc).
The impersonal verbs is small and strictly limited. Here belong verbs mostly expressing
natural phenomena (rain, snow, freeze, drizzle, thaw, etc).
2. Complementive verbs: the objective and adverbial sets.

Verbal objectivity is the ability of the verb to take any object, be it direct, or oblique
(prepositional), or that of addressee.
1. objective verbs
2. non-objective verbs. e.g. Come tomorrow. Who's sitting over there?
Verbal transitivity is the ability of the verb to take a direct object. The direct object is
joined to the verb "directly", without a preposition.
3. transitive verbs
4. intransitive verbs
.
Thanks for your
attention!

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The verb

Grammatically the verb is the most complex

- the set of verbs of full nominative value (notional verbs)

- the set of verbs of partial nominative value (semi-notional and

They function as a connecting element between the subject

Eng.: In those years trains seldom arrived on time.

2. Complementive verbs: the objective and adverbial sets.

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