Stylistic potential of tense-aspect verbal forms in modern English

l. the common aspect (speaks, spoke, will speak);

2. the continuous aspect (is speaking, was speaking)

N.N. Rayevska puts forward several interesting and stimulating ideas for the further philological observations that according to her point of view are very productive and prospective:

1. Development of grammat co-ideomatical structures.

2. Morphological correlations of interlevel units and inclusion them in the peripheral field of verbal forms.

3. The Phrasiological System in its unity with garammatical functioning.

4. Paculiarities of lexical combinability and realization of tense-aspect forms in the community of their syntactical structures and others (a lot of ideas!)

The field arragement of tense-aspect: system for philological observations expands the frames of the traditional English Grammar and helps to reveal a lot. of stylistic colours and their shades.

In her turn the author of Stylistics of Modern English (Stylistic Decoding), I.V. Arnold writes:

«Stylistic potential is possibility to add an idiomatic power to the language and express various subtle distinctions of thoughts and meanings». [4, 124]

The author divides transposition into two types and distribute this material into two groups, Table 1.4 that have been complited by our team as visual material for studatns:

1. Transposition with emotional expressiveness.

2. Transposition with functional-stylistic character.

In our practical part-the second part of our paper - we give a lot of examples from original literature using this table and presenting some connotations of tense-aspect system conveyed by verbal forms:

- historical presence;

- continuous verbal forms;

- echo-questions;

- popular language;

- modal verbs, particles, idioms;

- repetitions of grammar forms;

- archaic verbal forms.

Two types of transposition [Table 1.4] described by I.V. Arnold are used in our practical part with the aim to expand the frames of their usage as obvious and visuial examples from English original literature.

Y.M. Skrebnev in his book Fundamentals of English Stylistics (lines down that «Stylistic Morphology, both paradigmatic and syntagmatic, has not yet been given full attention, especially with regard to English that has very few inflections, and most grammatical meanings are expressed analytically». [33; 84] The author puts in the forefront the problems of synonymy and transposition:

- variability of verbal forms;

- morphological difference between verbal forms;

- abolishing the morphlogical differentiations between Subjunctive II of the verb «to be» and the past indicative;

- «ungrammatical» usage of verbal forms;

- «praesens historicum» and others.

Y.M. Skrebnev represents Syntagmatic and Paradigmatic Morphology as means of the sylistic stocks. The author treats practically all the essentials of stylistics, gives numerous samples of text analysis, teaches the students to interpret and find adequate verbal account for stylistic impressions.

Satisfactory results in the philological training of students can be achieved only on condition that students have firmly, mastered the basic principles if every linguistic disciplin, stylistics included.

In the next monograph «English Stylistics» written by A.N. Morokhovskei it is accentuated that Stylistics is a synthetico - linguisitic subject and the language is researched as the system with a lot of elements that united into:

1. Expression means on all linguistic levels.

2. STYLISTIC DEVICES ON ALL COLLOQUIAL LEVELS.

3. Functional correlations with a society and environment.

In chapter «Stylistic usage of the verbal means» the author underlines that all stylistic possibilities of English verbs are very rich if we take into account a variety of verbal forms vebals and their range of meanings, tinges and nuances. The author considers that the tense-aspect forms can be presented in the contexts by the ways of making and creating their syntactic correlations (intercommunications) between forms, structures, constructions and grammar categories. And it is not disputed because the - verbal formations and» arragements are the main dynamic means and devices of stylistic expressions in literary, puplicistic and colloquial styles.

In this monograph these are a lot of interesting facts from different connotations in the grammatical, semantic and polysemantic realisations.

e.g. Douglas: Cris is doing all right, Basil.

Greff: Is that true? Are you doing all right, Cris?

In the question we can catch of feel either ironic or warm intonation but not duration expressed by the continuous tense. The forms of the present indefinite and present continuous are used for the transmission of facts, actions, events which have illsion of the Result but not duration as in following:

e.g.: Thanks for breakfast. I'm catching the train home. We can mart; that the modality of the obligation is shown by means of the continuous tense.

1. The categories of the English voice also can be in the role of stylistic means and devices:

e.g.: Since to love is better to be loved. It is the structure with antithesis.

2. e.g.: I did help him.

«did» is «still, nevertheless, however».

e.g.: They did go.

«did» is «the last, finally, in the end».

The emphatic «DO» is a strong stylistic feature that in its correlation with the verbal predicate creats the emphatic expression.

3. Implicit agent in scientific style is used in the introduction of the facts.

e.g.: It is understood / mentioned / assumed / believed / known…

For students we have completed two tables (13,14) with interesting facts and examples:

- how to use stylistic potential of the Imperetive mood;

- semantic and stylistic peculiarities expressed by the forms of the Subjunctive mood.

In monograph Stylistics of English Language the authors show that the diapason of stylistic devices is very high. We have marked only s some of them but very expressive categories of time, voice and mood. All these means can be used only in context. We consider that the subject «The Theory of Context» must be included in the syllabus for students from the foriegn language faculties. Our tables (13-14) which were completed for students as HOs on the Theoretical Grammar will help them to realise this garammatical material in practical frames.

In his very scientific monograph «Modification of Verbal Forms in Modern English» A.I. Dorodnyh analises a lot of works written by outstanding philologists, native and foreign, and gives his own system of English verb, as follows:

1. Category of time: Past Nonpast

worked works

was working is working

2. Category of temporary retrospectiveness:

Perfect Nonperfect

has worked works

had worked worked

will have worked will work

has been working is working

3. Category of temporary perspectiveness:

Future Nonfuture

will work works

would work worked

will have worked have/has worked

will be working is working

The author's verbal system is very individual and interesting for those students and teachers who wants to expand their scientific skills in Philological, sphere and continue to research some discussible problems, namely:

l. What is the main factor of the evolution in the verbal system that can be presented in the social community?

2. Is there the future category or future tense?

Can you as a teacher find more examples to argue your discoveries and explain them to students more popularly then in the monograph by A.I. Dorodnyh, and others.

M.Y. Blokh in his A Course in Theoretical English Grammar underlines:

«Language is means of forming and storing ideas as reflections of reality and exchanging them in the process of human intercourse. Language is social by nature: it is inseparably connected with the people who are its creators and users; it grows and develops together with development society».

Grammatical time, or tense, is one of the typical functions of the finite verb. The author describing the present tense as opposed to the past tense accentuates the stylistic features and peculiarities in the linguistic circumstances, specifically «the historic present»,

If we say, «Two plus two makes four», the linguistic implication of it is «always; at the moment of speech».

If we say, «I never take his advise», we mean «at the present time».

If we say «In our millennium social formations change quicker then in the previous periods of man's history', the linguistic, temporal content of it is «in our millennium including the moment of speech»… Here worthy of note are utterances where the meaning of the past tense stands in contrast with the meaning of some adverbial phrase referring the event to the present moment.

The seeming linguistic paradox of such cases consists exactly in the fact that their two-type indications of time, one verbal-grammatical, and one adverbal-lexical, approach the same event from two opposite angles. It is the transpositional use of the present tense with the past adverbials, either included in the utterence as such, or expressed in its contectual environment. The stylistic purpose of this transposition, known under the name of the «historical present» is to create a vivid picture of the event reflected in the utterance.

e.g.: Then he turned the corner, and what do you think happens next? He faces nobody else than Mr. Greggs accompanied by his private secretary!

The «historical present» will be included in our practical part that is why we want to describe this subject in details.

The Historical Present

The English «historical present» is usually described as a way of making storytelling events more vivid.

e.g.: Last night Blackie (cat) comes with this huge dead rat in her mouth and drops it right at ray feet.

These utterence has an adverbial of time «last night» establishing the time of the event in the past, while the actions are described in the present tense. The actual time is remote from the time of utterence, but the actions described are presented as if they coincide with the time of the utterence.

e.g.: My parents worked in the field all day. And I work in the fields all day like them…

The so-called «historical present» is characteristic of popular narrative style (or fictional present or fictional narrative). In Older English, the simple present was used more widely with reference to a present event which would now be described by use of the present progressive (durative):

e.g.: I go = I'm going.

The «historical present» describes the past as if it is happening now; it conveys something of the dramatic immediacy of an eye-witness account.

e.g.: I couldn't believe it! Just as we arrived, up comes Ben and slaps me on the back as if we're life-long friends. «Come on, old pal», he says. Let me buy you a drink! I'm telling you, I nearly fainted on the spot».

A very different use of the present tense in reference to the past is that found with verbs of communication:

e.g.: The ten o'clock news says that there's to be storm. Such verbs include also verbs like understand, hear, learn which refer to the receptive end of the communication process.

e.g.: I hear that poor Mr. Simpson has gone into hospital.

These sentences would also be acceptable with the simple past or present perfective, but the implication of the present tense seems to be that although the communication event took place in the past, its result - the information communicated - is still operate.

e.g.: The Book of Genesis speaks of the terrible fate of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Thus, although the Book of Genesis wsa written thousands years ago, it still «sreaks» to us at the present. The notion that the past can remain in the present also explains the optional use of the present tense in sentences reffering to writers, composers, artists, etc., and their extant works.

e.g. In The Brothers Karamazov, Dostoevsky draws/drew his characters from sources deep in the Russian soul.

It is something more than a figure of speech to suggest that author is still able to speak to us through his works.

The present tense can even be used, without respect to any patticular work, for general artistic characterization of the author, but biographical details of the artist's life must be normally reported through the past tense. Hence there is an interesting contrast between:

e.g.: Murasaki write/wrote of life in 11th century Japan.

cf: Murasaki wrote in 11th century Japan.

The simple present is usually used in Newspaper Headlines.

e.g.: «NO SELL-OUT» SAYS P.M.

TRADE UNIONS BACK MERGER

There is a close connection between the «historical present» of above, and the simple present as used in the «Fictional narrative». The only difference is that whereas the events narrated by means of the «historical present» are REAL, those narrated by the «fictional historical present» are IMAGINARY.

This is stylistically marked in contrast to the normal convention of the past tense for store-telling.

e.g.: The crowd swarms around the gateway, and seethes with delighted anticipation; excitement grows, as suddenly their hero makes his entrance…

A special exception in the use of the present tense in stage direction.

e.g.: Millinson enters. The girls immediately pretend to be working hard. William assures a businesslike air, picks up two folders, and makes for door.

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