Descriptive Grammar of Language C - Russian - level 2 3201-1GRMCR1
The course program encompasses the following topics:
1. Verb as a part of speech.
2. Verbal aspect. Aspectual pairedness.
3. Verbal aspect. Semantics of aspectual oppositions.
4. Verbal voice.
5. Russian reflexive verbs.
6. The category of person.
7. The category of tense.
8. The category of mood.
9. Adverb as a part of speech.
10. Subordinate parts of speech, principles of their classification.
11. Definition of sentence.
12. Simple VS complex sentences.
13. Formal structure of simple sentence.
14. Communicative structure of sentences.
The course is intended to present the grammatical system proper to Russian, to amplify the students’ general knowledge of grammar and discrepancies between various grammatical systems, to develop ability of independent grammatical analysis, i.a. the analysis centered on the function served by the relevant grammatical means in texts of different types.
As especially significant is viewed functional motivation of correlation between the form of the word/sentence and its meaning, as well as pragmatic aspect of grammar. For this reason, e.g., the category of voice is treated not only formally, but much attention is payed to pragmatic conditions favoring the use of passive; in the same vein, verbal aspect is analyzed, i.a., from the point of view of speaker intentions and wider utterance context.
Another priority is development of ability of self-teaching. For this goal, students are obliged to read and analyze three academic papers or book chapters. The sources recommended belong to the best literature in the field; such are, for instance, the books of W. Croft, A. Siewierska, works of M. Shibatani and other outstanding authors.
Workload of student
30 hours of classes
20 hours for preparation of homeworks
25 hours for preparation for the exam
Sum total 75 hours
Type of course
Mode
Prerequisites (description)
Learning outcomes
Knowledge
After completing the course student knows
- what are word formation processes;
- which means are employed for formation of words;
- what are parts of speech, what definitions of this notion have been proposed in literature;
- what is grammatical category, what types of grammatical categories are identified in literature;
- what is the semantic content of those categories having their own sense (e.g., nominal number, verbal aspect);
- what modifications are undergone by the primary meaning of particular categories, depending on wider context, lexical semantics of the relevant word and overall semantics of the sentence;
- what is sentence as a unit of speech;
- what are fundamental constituents of the formal structure of (simple and complex) sentence;
- what types of semantic relation occur between the parts of a complex sentence, what varieties of the latter one are singled out in literature;
- what is communicative (information, thematic-rhematic) structure of sentence, why it is important for it’s being congruent with its context and current communicative needs of the speaker.
Skills
After completing the course student is able to
- analyze each grammeme to be found in Russian, both in terms of its form, and its semantic and pragmatic properties;
- classify any word with proper part of speech;
- analyze sentences in terms of their formal-syntactic properties: indicate the subject, the predicate, etc.;
- discriminate a simple sentence from a complex one;
- in the case of complex one, indicate the type of semantic relation between its constituents;
- analyze sentences from the point of view of their thematic-rhematic structure.
Social competences
After completing the course student
- is prepared for independent work towards amplifying her/his knowledge of Russian in her/his self-education and professional activity;
- is able to define priorities in conformity with relevant tasks, to realize time management, to fulfil assigned tasks on time;
- is aware of dissimilarities between the grammar of various languages, in the first place between that of Polish and Russian;
- is able to independently assess her/his knowledge and skills, understands the need of continuous, life-long learning and professional development;
- is prepared for establishing cooperation (also international one) within the domain of her/his professional activities, as well as personal interests
Assessment criteria
Final oral exam
Student’s preparation is assessed along the scale:
over 91% – 5
• 90%-81% – 4+
• 80%-71% – 4
• 70%-61% – 3+
• 60%- 51% – 3
• 50% or less – 2
Bibliography
Students are obliged to read and analyze three academic papers or book chapters (see below)
Basic literature
Русская грамматика. Москва, 2005.
Современный русский язык. Под ред. В.А. Белошапковой. Москва, 1989.
Современный русский литературный язык. Под ред. П.А. Леканта. Москва, 2013.
Additional literature
(three academic papers or book chapters should be chosen)
Апресян Ю.Д. Глаголы моментального действия и перформативы в русском языке // Русистика сегодня. Язык: система и ее функционирование. Москва, 1988. С. 219-237.
Апресян Ю.Д. 1995 – Избранные труды. Т. 1. Москва, 1995.
Бенвенист Э. Отношения времени во французском глаголе // Э. Бенвенист. Общая лингвистика. Москва, 1974. С. 270-284.
Гловинская М.Я. Семантические типы видовых противопоставлений русского глагола. Москва, 1982.
Зализняк А.А. «Русское именное словоизменение» с приложением избранных работ по современному русскому языку и общему языкознанию. Москва, 2012.
Зельдович Г.М. Прагматика грамматики. Москва, 2012.
Маслов Ю.С. Результатив, перфект и глагольный вид // Типология результативных конструкций. Ленинград, 1983. С. 41-54.
Маслов Ю.С. Избранные труды. Москва, 2004.
Мельчук И.А. Определение категории залога и исчисление возможных залогов // 40 лет Санкт-Петербургской типологической школе. Москва, 2004. С. 286-314.
Падучева Е.В. Результативные значения несовершенного вида в русском языке: общефактическое и акциональное значение // Вопросы языкознания. 1993. № 1. С. 64-74.
Падучева Е.В. Семантические исследования. Семантика времени и вида в русском языке. Семантика нарратива. Москва, 1996.
Плунгян В.А. Общая морфология. Москва, 2003.
Шатуновский И.Б. Семантика предложения и нереферентные слова. Значение. Коммуникативная перспектива. Прагматика. Москва, 1996.
Ackerman F., Moore J. Proto-Properties and Grammatical Encoding: A Correspondence Theory of Argument Selection. Stanford, 2001.
Bogusławski A. Problems of the Thematic-Rhematic Structure of Sentences. Warszawa, 1977.
Bogusławski A. Aspekt a negacja. Warszawa, 2003.
Croft W. Syntactic Categories and Grammatical Relations: The Cognitive Organization of Information. Chicago, 1991.
Croft W. Verbs. Aspect and Causal Structure. Oxford, 2012.
Dahl Ö. Aspect and Tense Systems. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1985.
Dowty D. Thematic proto-roles and argument selection // Language. 1991. Vol. 67, № 3. P. 547-619.
Erteschik-Shir N. Information Structure. Oxford, 2007.
Gasparov B. Notes on the "Metaphysics" of Russian aspect // Thelin N. (ed.). Verbal Aspect in Discourse. Amsterdam/Philadelphia, 1990. P. 191-212.
Haspelmath M. Passive participles across languages // Fox B., Hopper P. (eds.). Voice. Form and Function. Amsterdam, 1994. P. 151-177.
Hopper P., Thompson S. Transitivity in grammar and discourse // Language. 1980. Vol. 56. P. 251-299.
Payne D.L. Pragmatics of Word Order Flexibility. Amsterdam/Philadelphia, 1992.
Serzant I., Kulikov L. (eds.). The Diachronic Typology of Non-Canonical Subjects. Amsterdam, 2013.
Siewierska A. The Passive. London, 1984.
Shibatani M. Passive and related constructions: A prototype analysis // Language. 1985. Vol. 61. P. 821-848.
Yokoyama O. Discourse and word order. Amsterdam, 1986
Additional information
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