英语专业语法书答案Lecture 5 Genitive Nouns.doc

Lecture 5Genitive NounCASE is a grammatical category. It denotes the changes in the form of a noun or a pronoun showing its relationship with other words in a sentence. As modern English is basically an analytic language, English nouns have not a complicated case system like that of Latin, German, or modern Russian. The different grammatical functions of English nouns in a sentence are mostly determined by the word order, not by any case form. It is in this sense that the genitive case may be viewed as a relic of the old case system. The genitive was traditionally labelled as the possessive case; however, in view of the fact that possession is just one of the meanings expressed by the genitive, we prefer to use the present name rather than the traditional term.5.1 Formation, meanings and uses of genitive nouns1) Formation of genitive nounsRules of formation are as follows:a) The genitive is formed in writing by addings to singular nouns and to those plural nouns that do not end in -s, eg:my mothers arrivalwomens clothesb) Plural nouns ending in -s take an apostrophe as genitive marker, eg:the girls dormitory a teachers collegec) In compound nouns or a postmodified noun phrase, the genitive ending is added to the end of the compound or to the end of the noun phrase, eg:my mother-in-laws deathan hour and a halfs talk somebody elses opinionthe University of Minnesotas presidentd) In coordinate nouns, the genitive ending is added to each of the coordinate elements when denoting respective possession, and only to the last coordinate element when denoting common possession. Compare:Marys and Bobs booksMary and Bobs bookse) In the construction of noun phrase + appositive, the genitive ending is added to the end of the appositive. It can also be added both to the end of the noun phrase and to the appositive.Basel the booksellers Basels, the booksellersf) In personal names ending in sibilant / z /, the genitive ending can either bes or an apostrophe only, but it can only bes when personal names end in other sibilant sounds, eg:Dickens / Dickenss novelsJones / Joness poems Marxs doctrineRosss discoveries2) Meanings of genitive nounsThe genitive is chiefly used to denote possession, and therefore, is traditionally called possessive case. But genitive meanings are by no means restricted to possession. They can be summed up as follows:a) Possessive genitive, eg:Mr. Browns suitcase has been taken upstairs.Taiwan is part of Chinas territory. b) Subjective genitive, eg:The Prime Ministers arrival was reported in the morning paper. Everybody was pleased at Davids quick recovery from illness.c) Objective genitive, eg:The enemys defeat brought the war to an end.The criminals punishment will be ten years in prison. d) Genitive of origin, eg:I havent received my sisters letter yet. Newtons law was developed in the 17th century.e) Descriptive genitive, eg: I first met her on a summers day.This workshop makes mens shoes.f) Genitive of time, distance, measure, value, etc, eg:two hours delay300 kilometres distancefive dollars worth of stamps 50 kilograms weight3) Uses of genitive nounsGenitive nouns are mostly used as central determiners and therefore perform the same function as possessive determiners (traditionally called possessive pronouns), eg:the boys father = his fatherthe womans husband = her husbandthe students essays = their essaysthe prime ministers arrival = his / her arrival the criminals punishment = his / her punishment Marys letter = her letterthe strangers story = his storyAs central determiner, genitive nouns cant collocate with other central determiners, nor can they be preceded by a premodifier,. For instance, we can say Marys letter, but not *a Marys letter; we can say Marys interesting letter instead of *interesting Marys letter. This, however, does not apply to some other genitive nounssuch as the descriptive genitive and the genitive that denotes time, distance, value or measure. These genitive nouns are not used as determiners but as premodifiers in the noun phrase, eg: a childrens bookthese childrens booksan interesting childrens book some other new childrens booksthe newly published childrens booka / another three days journeya pleasant three days journeyanother very boring three days journeyAs central determiner, genitive nouns are sometimes interchangeable with of-phrases, eg:Chinas foreign policy = the foreign policy of China an elephants trunk = the trunk of an elephantthe prime ministers arrival = arrival of the prime ministerthe criminals punishment = punishment of the criminalNewtons law = the law of NewtonShakespeares tragedies = the tragedies of ShakespeareBut in some cases, we can only use genitive nouns instead of of phrases, eg:at ones wits endat swords points a hairs breadtha wolf in sheeps clothing a birds eye viewat a stones throwIn some other cases, however, we can only use of-phrases-instead of genitive nouns, eg:the opinion of the chairman appointed a month agothe suggestions of those present at the meetingthe income of the richthe struggle of the exploited the City of Rome5.2 Independent genitive and double genitive1) Independent genitiveAs has been mentioned in the previous section, a genitive noun can sometimes be used independently, that is, without a following noun. This use of the genitive may be termed as the independent genitive. Independent genitive is used:a) when the missing noun has occurred somewhere in the context and can be easily retrieved:Her memory is like an elephants.Marys is the largest apartment in the building.b) when the missing noun refers to somebodys house or residence:Im going to dine at my brothers.The doctors is on the other side of the street.c) when the missing noun refers to church, school, or other , public buildings:at ones wits endat swords points a hairs breadtha wolf in sheeps clothing a bird s eye viewat a stones throwIn some other cases, however, we can only use of-phrases instead of genitive nouns, eg:the opinion of the chairman appointed a month agothe suggestions of those present at the meetingthe income of the richthe struggle of the exploited the City of Rome5. 2 Independent genitive and double genitive1) Independent genitiveAs has been mentioned in the previous section, a genitive nouncan sometimes be used independently, that is, without a following noun. This use .of the genitive may be termed as the independent genitive. Independent genitive is used:a) when the missing noun has occurred somewhere in the context and can be easily retrieved:Her memory is like an elephants.Marys is the largest apartment in the building.b) when the missing noun refers to somebodys house or residence:Im going to dine at my brothers.The doctors is on the other side of the street.c) when the missingR01!ln refers to church, school, or other public buildings:Joe lives near St. Pauls (Cathedral) in London.He was educated at Merchant Taylors (school).d) when the missing noun refers to commercial firms: Pickled vegetables are available at the grocers.Chinese toys are sold both at Smiths and at Browns.2) Double genitiveAn independent genitive can sometimes be used as prepositional complementation (traditionally known as prepositional object ) . The prepositional phrase (usually an of-phrase) that takes an independent genitive as complementation is called a double genitive, eg:He is a friend of my fathers.= He is one of my fathers friends.This is a painting of my roommates.= This is one of the paintings owned by my roommate.She is a business client of Sir Rogers.= She is one of Sir Rogers business clients.From the above examples, we can see that the independent genitive in the of-phrase must be definite specific personal reference.Thus, we can say a patient of the doctors , but not *a patient of a doctors; nor can we say * an engine of the planes. In the first example a doctors is not definite specific reference, while in the second, the reference of the planes is not personal.From the above examples, we can al