Pragmatic Peculiarities of the Utterances with Subjunctive Mood free essay sample

Study of pragmatic types of sentences is an important sphere of linguistic studies, as the knowledge of language requires not only ability to build up sentences (language competence), but also ability to use them correctly in speech acts in order to achieve needed communicative-functional result (communicative competence). The subject matter of this research is the pragmatic peculiarities of the utterances with Subjunctive Mood in the Modern English language. The aim of this research is to investigate the pragmatic peculiarities of the utterances with Subjunctive Mood in the Modern English language by means of analytical examination of the modern English literary texts. The matter of the peculiarities of pragmatic types of sentences with Subjunctive Mood in the modern English language has been investigated Ð ¾n the basis of the detective novel â€Å"Tell me your Dreams† by Sidney Sheldon, popular American writer of the 20th-21st century. Proceeding from the aim of the research, there were a number of concrete tasks set to be carried out: 1) to describe the pragmatic peculiarities of the utterances with Subjunctive I; 2) to describe the pragmatic peculiarities of the utterances with Subjunctive II; 3) to describe the pragmatic peculiarities of the utterances with Suppositional Mood; 4) to describe the pragmatic peculiarities of the utterances with Conditional Mood. The results of this investigation proved the current relevance and the novelty of the study. The current relevance of the topic of the research is conditioned by the necessity of overall theoretical viewing the category of modality and the systematization of the means of its expression in the Modern English language. Despite the large number of theoretical works by domestic and foreign researches devoted to the issue of modality, this question requires constant reconsideration by means of analytical investigation of the modern literary texts. Therefore, the lack of scientific enlightenment of the issue of mood as one of the means of expressing modality in the Modern English language motivated the choice of the topic of this course paper. The novelty of the course paper is conditioned by the fact that the problem of defining the Subjunctive Mood has aroused a large number of contradictions in the Modern English language. That is for the reason that the verb form expressing suppositional action may coincide with the form of Indicative Mood. Thus, the analytical investigation of the modern literary text with the object of using in it the utterances with Subjunctive Mood allows to follow the ways of practical usage of the grammatical category of mood as a means of expressing modality. In theoretical part consisting of three chapters such questions as the notion of modality, the definition, sense and circle of meanings of this category; the types of modality and ways of its expression; the notion of pragmatics and pragmatic types of sentences were examined. In practical part, which consists of five chapters, according to the aim of the course paper, there were considered solutions to number of issues, such as: description of pragmatic peculiarities of the utterances with Subjunctive I, Subjunctive II, Suppositional Mood and Conditional Mood. In the basis of the analysis were the classification of pragmatic types of sentences by G. G. Pocheptsov and the theoretical works of foreign and Ukrainian linguists. In course of analysis of the text with the object of using in it the utterances with Subjunctive Mood has been counted the percentage of number of the sentences with Subjunctive I, Subjunctive IІ, Suppositional Mood and Conditional Mood: 1,2%, 24,4%, 2,8% and 71,4%. This gives grounds to state that the Conditional Mood form is the most widely used form of Subjunctive Mood in the modern English language. By means of the method of continuous selection, 242 examples of the utterances with Subjunctive Mood have been classified in accordance with G. G. Pocheptsov’s classification of pragmatic types of sentences. As a result of analysis it was revealed that only 3 (1. 2%) of 242 found utterances were the examples of usage of Subjunctive I. It was also exposed, that these utterances corresponding to constative type of sentences by form, in speech realization receive the illocutionary meaning of injuctive. In such cases, the incentive sense of the sentence was not expressed by the imperative form of addressing, that is why the injuctive concealed meaning emerged from the context of situation. In the text under analysis have been found 173 examples with Conditional Mood, which composes 71,4% of the total number of utterances with Subjunctive Mood. It was revealed that majority of utterances according to their commucative-intentional content completely corresponded to pragmatic type of constative. Nevertheless, along with this, there was a certain number of constative by form, affirmative utterances, the content of which expresses injuctive and requestive intention. Apart from the constatives, among the expressions with Conditional Mood, there was a number of quesitives found. The peculiarity of this pragmatic type expression is ambiguity of an utterance, thus about 30% of all the quesitives with Conditional Mood in the novel, being interrogative by form, carried hidden injuctive and constative intention. [=I bet you would like to know! ] [=He has nothing to say to her. ] A separate chapter was dedicated to the issue of pragmatic transposition of sentences. This phenomenon is a typical feature of dialogue speech, as a sentence endowed with formal indications of one pragmatic type, may acquire an illocutionary meaning of another. As a result of analytical comprehension of the text, it was established that about 15% of all the utterances with Subjunctive Mood in the novel â€Å"Tell me your Dreams† by S. Sheldon were transposed into categorically not characteristic field of usage: constatives as requestives: constatives as promisives: [=I promise I will attract you. ] quesitives as requestives: quesitives as injuctives: [=Stop talking about it now! ] This gives grounds to state, that according to pragmatic approach, the sentences of one and the same structural type may appear completely different. As a result of analysis, we have come to the conclusion, that the great majority of all the utterances with Subjunctive Mood in the Modern English language constitute constatives and quesitives, less numerous are requestives, injuctives and menancives, and in the rarest usage are promisives and performatives. The reason for this is that Subjunctive Mood, as the indicator not of a real fact, but only of desire, supposition, suggestion, demand, doubt or condition the realization of which is doubtful, impossible or possible, a bit narrows the spectrum of utterances’ pragmatic tints.