The research «Nominal Phrases in Modern German» focuses on the structural features of new nominal phrases in modern German from historical perspective and their semantic characteristics. The study highlights internal relationships between groups of nominal phrases in terms of their semantic unity. It shows that most of these new nominal phrases take the form of simple nominal phrases consisting of two compounds and complex nominal phrases consisting of three or four compounds, but in terms of morphological and semantic categories their ranks vary significantly in a specific language. A detailed analysis of morphological, semantic, and syntactic aspects of different types of complex and simple nominal phrases according to their positions in semantic categories within different functional methods is demonstrated. The structural types of complex phrases are identified, along with their semantic, functional, and stylistic characteristics, text composition, practical potential, collectively defining the characteristics of complex and simple phrases in various types of literary and journalistic texts. In literary texts, the nominal phrases contribute to revealing the inner world in terms of the potential to convey semantic meaning of the text, while in newspaper texts, they contribute to conveying realistic information about time, place, and nature of events.
Keywords: nominal phrases, noun, compound, phrase, semantic categories.
1. Introduction )Word groups in German(
1.1- Word groups and their relevance in German linguistics.
Nominal groups are the appropriate linguistic means to refer to objects if you want to make statements about them, ask questions about them, etc. In other words, a preferred use of noun phrases is as a term. As we shall see, this use can take quite different forms. In addition, however, nominal groups can also be used to talk about objects in general, i.e. they can be used as quantifiers; here it will be necessary to gain a clear idea of the difference between terms and quantifiers. The spectrum of noun phrases that we will examine in this study ranges from proper names and quantificational noun phrases to definita, demonstratives and indefinita. As an introduction, however, we will first take a look at two semantically important groups of nouns and noun phrases and at two central semantic relations between nominal groups [9, с. 111].
2. Research by other authors on this topic
2.2- The position of nominal phrases in the German language system
A noun phrase (often also: noun group) is a syntactic unit whose head or core is a noun or pronoun. All other elements of the noun phrase refer to the noun. Their function is to define the noun in more detail and place it in context. Pronouns as the head of the noun phrase are only defined in more detail by attributes in a few cases [9, с. 17].
The term nominal phrase is made up of two elements: nominal and phrase. In this section, we will explain what these two terms and the term mentioned above are all about. The term nominal refers to the fact that a construct called a nominal phrase contains a noun. In addition to the term noun, the dictionary «German morphology» also gives the Germanized expressions Gegenstandswort, Hauptwort, Nennwort, Dingwort for the term noun. Similarly, as we shall show, the term nominal phrase refers to phrases whose regent is a noun [8, с.36].
The constant appearance of nouns over a long period of time to designate ever new terms in the modern German language is due to substantivization. The current state of development of the German language is characterized by an increasing tendency towards nominalization in the broader sense of the word and an increasing activity in the context of verbal word formation. For this reason, the so-called problem of nominalization has emerged in linguistic issues, forming a single and complex set of topics [10, с.3]. In explaining the tendency to nominalization, not the least place is given to the principle of language economy, understood as the ability to convey a large amount of information in a rich sentence [10, с.22]. The subject of the principles of language economy, in the treatment of which decompositions and reconstructions of words, phrases and sentences are undertaken, it is important to mention that language economy, which is the subject of discussion here, is observed in a particular space: the text [5, с.3].
The role of verbal nouns (action, process and state names), which are characterized by semantic capacity and active syntactic behaviour, is becoming more and more obvious: they have a group-organizing property (are group-setting), due to which their use in a sentence leads to the representation of a sentence member by the whole group, which helps to increase the nominal potential of the sentence and the text as a whole [10, с.21].
In this context, the task is to clarify the functional patterns of substantive phrases in sentences and texts of modern German. In order to achieve this goal, it is possible to compare the use of phrases in several styles of modern German and, on this basis, to identify the qualitative characteristics of these styles — artistic and journalistic — in terms of their structural and morphological features. Since phrases represent a special structural unit in the syntax system [16, с.17]. Syntax determines the way words are combined, determines the types and kinds of phrases, and refers to those grammatical units that express common, albeit fragmented, meanings within a sentence. It is this type of grammatical unit that is called a phrase. Phrases only enter the system of communicative language means as part of a sentence and through a sentence [13, с.168].
Fixed word combinations are also called collocations. They are typical and common word combinations in which a noun is always used in conjunction with a specific verb or adjective. There are indisputable, generally accepted types of phrases based on the main component:
— Noun (noun) + verb (action word): Example: tanneries stink, Rue Saint-Denis pass (11) ;
— Noun (noun): the face of the sleeping infant, e disturbance of his peace of mind, name in contrast (11) ;
— Verb + verb : are usually also written separately Examples: let fly by, let bring (11) ;
— Adjectives (adverbs) + verbs (action words) are usually also written separately Examples: looks good, smells good: far away (11) .
Of course, different word types have different combination properties and possibilities. The greatest compatibility exists for verbs and nouns, much more limited for adjectives and adverbs, and at the same time the compatibility is limited for words with bad meaning [4, с.74].
According to A. A. Shakhmatov, phrases can be divided into the following two types: independent phrases, whose main constituent, i.e. the word on which other words depend and to which other words are grammatically related, is in the independent form. Independent phrases are parts of a sentence whose main constituent functions either as the main constituent of a one-part sentence or as the subject of a two-part sentence. All other phrases and words of the sentence are phrases and dependent words [12, с.278]. Based on the classification of phrases by composition («by structure»), a distinction is made between simple phrases, which usually consist of two significant words; and complex phrases, which are formed on the basis of simple phrases [14, с. 726ـ871].
It is generally recognized that phrases comprise word combinations based on a subordinate relationship «connection of the main and secondary members» [3, с. 26]. Semantic units in the compared languages are basically the same. This is explained by the general laws of reflection of reality by consciousness, the general laws of thinking. The differences manifest themselves along the syntactic units, i.e. in the composition of their components and in the methods of communication between them. These differences can have various causes [1, с. 259]. As Soviet linguist V. V. Vinogradov emphasized, phrases and sentences are qualitatively different syntactic categories. «Unlike a sentence, a phrase is by no means an integral unit of linguistic communication and message. For the structure of a combination of words, those particular so-called «subjective-objective» syntactic categories (such as the categories of person, tense and modality) that determine the relative completeness of the thought communicated in the language are not characteristic or typical». At the same time, according to V. V. Vinogradov, meaning studying phrases as building material for sentences is no doubt. In the rules of word combinations, in the patterns of formation Different types and kinds of phrases clearly show the national specificity of the language. The sentence is organized around a meaning a word that forms the core of a phrase; it is indicated as both in formal and semantic terms [15, с. 4].
The following types of word connection are used in the German language: Congruenz, Rektion, Anschlieكung [2, с. 238].
With congruence, the dependent word takes on the grammatical forms of the related word. The attributive adjective (participle, pronoun, numerals) agrees with the noun in case, number and gender (the latter only in the singular) the first reactions, past years, 540 people [7] . A noun (used as an apposition) agrees with the relationship word in number and (usually) in case: taktischen Umgang mit Terror [7] .
In the case of a refection, the related word requires a certain case form of the dependent word. Rection occurs either directly or by means of a preposition. The dependent word can be combined with a verb, a noun or an adjective by means of a reduction. The dependent word is usually a noun or a pronoun, sometimes an adjective (also other word types in the case of their nounification): Concert hall Crocus City Hall on Friday night; The attack in Crocus City Hall; Concert hall in the city of Krasnogorsk; War in The Ukraine [7].
By affixation, an uninflected word (alone or as the core word of a word group) and a prepositional phrase are connected to a word type with which they can form a word group. The dependency of a word is only characterized by its position next to or near the related word. A prepositional phrase is usually connected to a verb, noun, adjective, participle, pronoun, numerals: the catacombs of Montmartre, much of the fish crustaceans, field of lilies [11].
3. Carrying out the investigation
The main point of the work is that the results obtained in the study provide a comprehensive description of the mechanism of language change. The results obtained can be applied to the study of general problems of language development and the peculiarities of the functioning of substantive phrases in different types of texts. The novelty of substantive phrases lies in an integrated approach to identifying the functional characteristics of substantive phrases in the German language. A comparison of the role of subject phrases in different styles of modern German and the identification of the qualitative specificity of the styles of artistic prose and newspaper and magazine journalism on the basis of their structural, semantic and syntactic features has not been carried out before. The practical significance of the study lies in its role, which is to reproduce subject phrases present. Based on an empirical sample, a comparative analysis of the material is carried out the use of different types of nominal phrases in artistic «Patrick Süskind — Das Parfum» and newspaper journalistic texts «Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung». The data thus obtained was subjected to quantitative and qualitative analysis. The results are presented in the next chapter.
4. Results
4.1 Results of the quantitative analysis
In our material sample, 1002 nominal phrases were identified in the artistic style; in the newspaper style, nominal phrases occur less than 650 times with the same amount of material. In the material examined in both functional styles, simple phrases predominate: the truth of the texts; the foundations of theology; the iron bars of the gateways; anniversary of the accession; the crevices of the doors; part of the table; the study, at the edge of the table [11] , charm of the type, the inhospitable mountains of Tanneron, The Day of Triumph [11].
Complex phrases are created by complicating simple phrases: The mountains of Tanneron to the south (11) , in the city of Krasnogorsk near Moscow, the hostage-taking in the Beslan school, The attack in the Crocus City Hall, the first minutes about what happened in the «Crocus City Hall», two weeks in the grip of kidnappers [7] .
We have identified only 59 instances of pronominal phrases: the strength of his critical spirit; all the energy of his defiance; value of his life; calmness of his heart, perceptions of his sense of smell [11].
In German, the complex lexical meaning of verbal nouns, especially those derived from -ung, encompasses the semantic-syntactic categories of procedurality and objectivity. The suffix -ung is classified by linguists as polysemous. Let's take a closer look at the detailed classification of verbal nouns in the German language. R. Kurt, for example, divides such derived nouns + -ung into two groups based on the research of W. Henzen:
1) nomina actionis: mixture, fulfillment, deportation [11] ;
2) nomina acti: self-aggrandizement, contempt for humanity, utterance [11].
At the same time, the author notes that a strict differentiation of words into these three groups is not possible, since most words with the suffix -ung are ambiguous: Anweisung, Aushنndigung [13, с. 3].
The sample identified 68 verbal nouns: receipt; endeavor; administration (11) . The number of simple phrases amounted to 355 units, for example: the truth of texts; the ravines of alleys;, the disgusting togetherness of corporeal people; gardens the scent; direction the scent [11].
In newspaper style, we identified 650 instances of nominal phrases, 350 of which were complex phrases. The following examples can be given: two weeks in the grip of kidnappers; middle school in the village of Kuriga, The first round of the presidential election in Slovakia [7]. The nature of subordinate linking in newspaper style is reflected in the following examples: The catacombs of Montmartre; a field of lilies; swarm of flies [11]. We identified only 27 cases of pronoun + nominal phrases, for example: doom of our country, the Chamberlain of our days [7].
The table shows a quantitative picture of the use of semantic classes of noun phrases by style.
Table 1
Frequency of use of different semantic classes of nominal phrases in functional styles
Semantic classes |
Newspaper style |
Art style |
Simple nominal phrases |
160 |
355 |
Pronouns + noun phrases |
27 |
59 |
Complex nominal phrases |
350 |
120 |
Verbal noun |
43 |
68 |
Preposition + nominal phrases |
70 |
400 |
As can be seen from the table (1), simple noun phrases are in first place in the artistic style, noun phrases with a preposition are in second place and complex noun phrases are in third place. Last place in terms of the frequency of use of different semantic classes is occupied by verbal nouns and nominal phrases with a pronoun.
In the newspaper style, simple and complex noun phrases are used more frequently and verbal nouns and verbal noun phrases with a preposition are used less frequently; as in the artistic style, noun phrases with a pronoun take the last place in usage.
5. Conclusion
The test results have clearly shown that nominal phrases play an important role in the positioning of sentence elements. With the help of these phrases, the targeted dissemination of information takes place according to the criteria of their importance and novelty, depending on their participation in the transmission of the actual sentence division. Content phrases fulfill their own stylistic function and ensure the implementation of the so-called «functional perspective of the utterance». The rhematic and thematic parts of the message differ in depth and scope of information in the texts of the two styles. In newspapers and journalistic texts, rhematic, new information dominates. In literary texts, thematic structures predominate.
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