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ЕРЕВАНСКИЙ ГОСУДАРСТВЕННЫЙ УНИВЕРСИТЕТ YEREVAN STATE UNIVERSITY

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СТУДЕНЧЕСКОЕ НАУЧНОЕ ОБЩЕСТВО STUDENT SCIENTIFIC SOCIETY

ISSN 1829-4367

СБОРНИК НАУЧНЫХ СТАТЕЙ СНО ЕГУ

COLLECTION OF SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES OF YSU SSS

1.2 (19)

Общественные науки (армянская филология, романо-германская филология, русская филология)

Social Sciences (Armenian Philology, Romance-Germanic

Philology, Russian Philology)

ЕРЕВАН - YEREVAN ИЗДАТЕЛЬСТВО ЕГУ - YSU PRESS

2017

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ԵՐԵՎԱՆԻ ՊԵՏԱԿԱՆ ՀԱՄԱԼՍԱՐԱՆ

ՈՒՍԱՆՈՂԱԿԱՆ ԳԻՏԱԿԱՆ ԸՆԿԵՐՈՒԹՅՈՒՆ

ISSN 1829-4367

ԵՊՀ ՈՒԳԸ ԳԻՏԱԿԱՆ ՀՈԴՎԱԾՆԵՐԻ ԺՈՂՈՎԱԾՈՒ

1.2 (19)

Հասարակական գիտություններ (հայ բանասիրություն, ռոմանագերմանական բանասիրություն,

ռուս բանասիրություն)

ԵՐԵՎԱՆ ԵՊՀ ՀՐԱՏԱՐԱԿՉՈՒԹՅՈՒՆ

2017

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Խմբագրական խորհուրդ` Редакционная коллегия:

բ.գ.դ., պրոֆ. Յու. Ավետիսյան բ.գ.դ., պրոֆ. Ս. Մուրադյան բ.գ.դ., պրոֆ. Ա. Աբաջյան բ.գ.դ., պրոֆ. Ս․ Գասպարյան բ.գ.դ., պրոֆ. Ե․ Երզնկյան բ.գ.դ., պրոֆ. Շ․ Պարոնյան բ.գ.դ., պրոֆ. Վ. Հարությունյան բ.գ.թ., դոց. Ս. Գրիգորյան բ.գ.թ., դոց. Ա. Ջրբաշյան բ.գ.թ., դոց. Վ. Պետրոսյան

д.ф.н., проф. Ю. Аветисян д.ф.н., проф. С. Мурадян д.ф.н., проф. А. Абаджян д.ф.н., проф. С. Гаспарян д.ф.н., проф. Е. Ерзнкян д.ф.н., проф. Ш. Паронян д.ф.н., проф. В. Арутюнян к.ф.н., доц. С. Григорян к.ф.н., доц. А. Джрбашян к.ф.н., доц. В. Петросян

Editorial Board

DSc, Prof. Y. Avetisyan DSc, Prof. S. Muradyan DSc, Prof. A. Abajyan DSc, Prof. S. Gasparyan DSc, Prof. Y. Yerznkyan DSc, Prof. S. Paronyan DSc, Prof. V. Harutyunyan PhD, Associate Prof. S. Grigoryan PhD, Associate Prof. A. Jrbashyan PhD, Associate Prof. V. Petrosyan

Հրատարակիչ՝ ԵՊՀ հրատարակչություն Հասցե՝ ՀՀ, ք. Երևան, Ալ. Մանուկյան 1, (+374 10) 55 55 70, publishing@ysu.am Հրատարակության նախապատրաստող ստորաբաժանում՝ ԵՊՀ ուսանողական գիտական ընկերություն Հասցե՝ ՀՀ, ք. Երևան, Ալ. Մանուկյան 1, (+374 60) 71 01 94, Էլ. փոստ՝ sss@ysu.am ԵՊՀ ՈՒԳԸ կայք՝ sss.ysu.am.

Հրատարակվում է ԵՊՀ գիտական խորհրդի որոշմամբ

Издается по решению Ученого совета ЕГУ

Published by the resolution of the Academic Council of YSU

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Stella Poghosyan Supervisor: Sofy Sargsyan, Candidate of Philology, Associate Professor

Vanadzor State University, Faculty of Philology, Master's Course E-mail: stella-2012pogosyan@mail.ru

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PARENTHETICAL CONSTRUCTIONS IN TALK SHOWS AND NEWSPAPER

ARTICLES

Taking into consideration the actuality of the foregoing topic and the fact that the field has not been investigated thoroughly, firstly we have aimed to provide the article with some general notions and fundamental concepts connected with parenthetical constructions on the basis of which we want to analyse different types of parentheticals in two different spheres, namely talk shows and newspapers.

The parentheticals, which are also called parenthetical constructions or parentheses [comes from Greek words "παρέν" and "θεσις" meaning "alongside" and "to place"] are explanatory or qualifying words, clauses, or sentences inserted into a passage with which it might not have any grammatical connection. The term "parenthetical constructions" describes the process of the incorporation of one grammatical item into another system.

The work based on parenthetical constructions should obviously contain some definitions of the phenomenon under investigation. Several definitions have already been offered by different scholars. Parentheticals may be briefly defined as referring to parentheticals which show the attitude of the speaker to the predication expressed in the sentence.

Huddleston and Pullum1 point out another general quality of parentheticals, namely that they have non-parenthetical uses in which the anchor serves as the complement rather than the main clause.

The Oxford Student's Dictionary gives the following definition: “a parenthesis is a word, sentence, etc. that is added to a speech or a piece of writing, especially in order to give extra information. In oral speech, parentheticals are phrased in a separate prosodic constituent”.

Having analysed parentheticals, we want to suggest the following definition: parenthetical constructions are words, phrases or clauses by means of which the speaker/ writer either expresses his thoughts and attitude towards what has been said or presents an extra-information to the listener/reader.

1 Huddleston R. and G. K. Pullum., A student’s introduction to English Language, Cambridge University Press, 2002, pp. 891-897.

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Parenthetical constructions are extensively used in English. Parentheses are used both in formal and informal speech. They present less essential information in the texts or the utterance. They can be of various length and complexity, syntactic category and function, which are inserted into the ongoing stream of the utterance. Thus, parentheticals have a huge diversity from a single word to a full clause. Among the constructions that have been considered parentheticals are one-word expressions [see 1], sentence adverbials and adverbial clauses [2], comment clauses [3], reporting verbs [4], question tags [5], full clauses [6], etc. Here are some examples of parenthetical constructions given in bold.

E.g. 1. As distinctions go, this may not be as auspicious as, say, the opposable thumb. [7:24]

2. Actually, what I find is everybody has an interest in education. [17] 3. You see, this is a standard textbook. [13] 4. "I want to grow up! I want to take a stand!" he asked, suggesting Justin

Bieber and Katy Perry as candidates. [6:20] 5…you'd have to conclude the whole purpose of public education

throughout the world is to produce university professors, isn't it? [17] 6. Space and time, as you perceive them right now, are your desktop.

[13] As it becomes obvious from the aforementioned examples, the types of

parentheticals are not clear-cut, which lead to inconclusive debates about what are the types of parenthetical constructions. Having analyzed all the classifications suggested by many prominent scholars, we want to suggest our classifications of parenthetical constructions.

Prior works on parentheticals investigate these linguistic phenomena on the sentence level. However, we also examined the role of parentheticals on the text level, thus, dividing all the parentheticals into two types:

those which integrate into the sentence, those which integrate into the paragraph. Indicting the stylistic choice of the author, the second type of

parentheticals is rare in its usage and more typical of the literature rather than to oral speech. The longest parenthetical that we have found is a chapter in Julian Barnes' novel “The History of the World in 10.5 Chapters”, which consists of eleven chapters, but the penultimate chapter is considered to be a parenthetical one and called "Parenthesis". This chapter does not connect with the main discourse of the work, which is the main characteristic feature of the parenthetical constructions, thus, we may claim that this chapter consisting of about twelve pages is parenthetical in its nature. However, this example is an exceptional one. Generally, parentheticals that can be integrated on the

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paragraph level are full sentences that have their own grammar and core idea. Even though full parentheticals are typical to literature, findings in the newspapers lend support to the claim that parentheticals can be integrated into the paragraph.

E.g. In my darkest moments, I imagine that my friends are humoring me when they insist that their amnesiac lapses are no less alarming than mine. ("Have you ever squeezed toothpaste onto your contact lenses? a friend asked triumphantly.) Am I, like so many of my gang, just another one of the "worried well"? [7:25]

As we can see from the examples the punctuation of these sentences is different from that of full parenthetical clauses. Parentheticals that are integrated into the text begin with the capital letter, like an ordinary sentence; at the end of the sentence we put a comma or other necessary punctuation mark [an exclamation or an interrogative mark]. The aim of such parentheticals is to give additional information, which might seem not very important, but help to create an overall opinion about the antecedent.

The other classification that we want to suggest is based on the function of parenthetical constructions. In this paper, we put forward the claim that there are three types of parentheticals.

The first type of parenthetical constructions is called a "connector". This type of parentheticals includes parenthetical adverbs [however, still, moreover], prepositional phrases [by the way, at least, for instance]. With the help of connectors, sentences are connected and form a paragraph.

E.g. We humans, by the way, are the only animals whose brains are known to atrophy as we grow older… [7:24]

Informatives represent another type of parentheticals. These are the additions to the main ideas of the discourse of the sentence. This type of parentheticals has various subtypes, such as full parenthetical clauses, non-restrictive clauses, nominal appositions, reporting verbs, etc. Reporting verbs, for instance, give the information about who is speaking or what is the response of the interlocutor/ interlocutors.

E.g. “I mean, he had his moments!” Horovitz said defensively. [6:21] According to our classification, the third type is called an attitudinal

parenthetical. With the help of them the speaker shows his/her attitude towards the utterance. Attitudinal parentheticals are comment clauses, if-parentheticals, as-parentheticals, question tags, etc.

E.g. So the unpredictability, I think, is extraordinary. [17]

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Here is the diagram of the classification suggested in our paper:

On the basis of the above-mentioned classifications, taking into

consideration the whole variety of parenthetical constructions, we have analyzed parenthetical constructions in "The Guardian", "The New Yorker" and "Ted Talks" to investigate the differences and similarities between these two spheres.

From a syntactic point of view, the structures studied are very heterogeneous, ranging from adverbs to full parenthetical clauses, thus, in the present study almost all types of construction are represented. In the present research, we have excluded some types of parenthetical constructions, such as "or-parentheticals", "if-parentheticals" and one-word parentheticals [for example, "say"]. The reason for omitting these types of constructions is that we have found almost the same small amount of parentheticals in both spheres [no parenthetical or at most two parentheticals are found]. Thus, it is possible to deduce that the use of these constructions is just a stylistic choice of the author, in which we are not interested. For instance, the one-word parenthetical "say" is found twice in the same article, which proves the idea that it is just the individual style of the author. In the oral speech, we have not found any example of parenthetical "say".

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The first part of our investigation is based on the data from the articles taken from "The Guardian", "The New Yorker". We have taken into consideration all the major types of parenthetical constructions. We examined 16 articles; the results of the analysis are reported in the following bar chart.

Bar Chart 1. The Frequency of Usage of Parentheticals in Written and Oral Speech

It becomes obvious from the Bar Chart 1 that some parenthetical

constructions are typical for the written speech [full parenthetical clauses, nominal appositions, non-restrictive clauses, reporting verbs, adverbs, and prepositional phrases], especially for the publicistic style, whereas others are not frequently used [comment clauses, infinitive phrases, interjections and tag questions]. The reason for such a small numbers of above-mentioned parentheticals is that they are more spontaneous and are used as connectors or gap fillers, which are typical for oral speech. Besides, the main aim of the articles is to provide the information or news, so the unnecessary parts, which may hinder the reader to receive the information, should be omitted.

Alongside with publicistic style, we have examined some talks from Ted Talks as the examples of oral speech. The statistic data are also illustrated in Bar Chart 1. From the chart, it becomes obvious that adverbs, comment clauses, prepositional phrases, question tags are more frequently used.

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In the present study, we have investigated the polarity of usage of parenthetical constructions. Let us compare the data gathered from these two fields starting with adverbs.

Parenthetical adverbs are adverbs that do not change the meaning of the sentence. Most parenthetical adverbs are separated by commas. Generally speaking, they do not add any meaning to the sentence, serving as transitions between sentences or paragraphs. As we can see from the Bar Chart 1, parenthetical adverbs are indicated in great number both in oral and written speech though they are extensively used in oral, unprepared speech.

But parentheticals being used in oral speech belong to the lower register. It is very important to mention that 47 adverbs out of these 121 examples are the adverb "now", and in 24 sentences the adverb "so" is used. On the contrary, in the written speech such adverbs as moreover, first, next, though, apparently, nevertheless, therefore, etc. have been found and the most frequently used two parenthetical adverbs in oral speech so and now have not been indicated.

E.g. Now, there are many demonstrations that are quite compelling that we construct what we see. [Oral speech] [13]

One cluster of kids was getting sick, though, not because their parents lacked the wherewithal to have them immunized but because the parents… did not believe in immunization. [Written speech] [6:19]

The second type of parentheticals under investigation is reporting verbs. It becomes obvious from Bar Chart 1 that these constructions are mostly used in prepared written speech. While examining the newspapers, we noticed that many articles in "The Guardian" are begun with reporting verbs.

E.g. "Cookie is a nuisance," said a celebrated Guardian editorial of 1968. [5:3]

Quirk2 argues that reporting verbs behave like adverbials, such that their positioning is flexible and omission is possible. Reporting verbs may also occur, sentence initially and function as the main clause. In this case, they are followed by "that".

E.g. We are fully aware that our financing and investment activities can have significant social and environmental consequences." [5:14]

Another type of parenthetical insertion is a comment clause. In the previous study ["Parenthetical or Comment Clauses in Modern English"] we have examined the frequency of usage of comment clauses in Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and 71 comment clauses have been found.

2 Quirk R., Greenbaum S., Leech G. and J. Svartvik., A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language, Longman, New York, 1985, pp. 778-780, 1112-23, 1300-2, 1240–59.

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This work shows the diversity of usage of comment clauses: you know, I suppose, I wonder, I think, you see, I believe, I'm afraid, I mean.

Both in the articles and the talks we do not find such diversity, though comment clauses are more typical for talks, i.e. unprepared, oral speech, where the speaker needs to share his message without getting his audience bored by giving pompous transitions. From the materials taken from Ted Talks, we have found the following comment clauses: I mean, you know, I think, I guess, you see.

E.g. Now as I was there, I guess, like a lot of people, I assumed that it was just an aspirin for the mind. [Oral speech] [16]

Like reporting clauses, comment clauses can be used at the beginning of the sentences as a matrix clause. Reporting clauses are similar to comment clauses in structure: they are loosely connected to the main clause, they normally lack an explicit link, and they are usually short and can appear in a variety of positions. They are usually in the present rather than past tense, first or second rather than third person, and comment on a thought rather than the delivery of a wording.

Question tags consist of an auxiliary verb and a personal pronoun. Although question tags are not strictly independent clauses they are loosely connected to the main clause. The main clause and the tag are generally opposite in polarity: negative tags are added to positive declarative clauses while positive tags are added to negative declarative clauses.

In the present study, we have found out that question tags are typically used in oral speech, as far as the speaker needs the response of the audience and question tags are the shortest way of getting that response. Moreover, the newspapers have a specific style, which requires a laconic speech, thus, question tags may be considered redundant.

Question tag does not necessarily have to be placed at the very end of the clause though it cannot precede the verb phrase of the main clause. But, generally speaking, they commonly occur at the ends of the sentence so that the interlocutors can agree with their propositional content.

E.g. You don't think of Shakespeare having a father, do you? [17] Just like question tags, interjections are also characteristic of oral speech.

Interjections are the only type of insert that has been described in most grammars. In the material taken from Ted Talks, we have found an ample of the interjection "well".

E.g. Why have we made so little progress? Well, some experts think that we can't solve this problem because we lack the necessary concepts and intelligence. [13]

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Inspection of the examples in our texts from the newspapers shows that besides "well" there are a variety of forms of interjections.

E.g. … citing a study that found that isolation among senior was linked with cognitive impairment. (Party on!) [7:26]

Another type of a parenthetical construction that should be discussed is a full parenthetical clause, which is characteristic of written speech. Parenthetical sentences are also frequently used in the articles.

E.g. In 2012, though, the state legislature passed a law requiring parents to consult with a health-care professional about vaccination before they reject it… (Washington passed a similar law and has experienced a bigger decline.) Last week, legislators in California introduced a bill to eliminate the personal-belief exemption…. [6:20]

Dahé's3 classification of parentheticals suggests that full parentheticals are divided into 3 types: interpolations, and-parentheticals, and as-parentheticals.

E.g. Many historic places will be affected by targeted demolition, but the historic significance of buildings and their ability to contribute to the future revitalization of Detroit should be factored into any plans to "right-size" the city. [8:7] Space and time, as you perceive them right now, are your desktop. [13]

All the other types of parenthetical constructions, namely prepositional phrases, infinitive phrases, nominal appositions and non-restrictive relative clauses have been found in both spheres, though the data gathered in the present paper suggest that they are frequently used in the formal speech rather than in unprepared speeches. In the table represented further, we have gathered the examples taken from both registers.

Parentheticals The Guardian, The New Yorker Ted Talks

Prepositional phrase

We humans, by the way, are the only animals whose brains are known to atrophy as we grow older…[7:27]

Actually, he was four everywhere, to be honest. [17]

Infinitive phrase

…banking mental health as if it were a 401(k) to borrow an analogy from Sherrie All, … hinges on the wildly accepted theories of brain reserve and cognitive reserve. [7:25]

To date, Joel’s gotten requests from over 40 environmental groups… [9]

Nominal appositions

Capitan …of the Philadelphia police said the mother, Luz Cuevas, contacted the authorities… [5:3]

One writer, Hugh Howey, experimented with short stories on Amazon … . [10]

3 Dahé N., Parentheticals in Spoken English: The Syntax-Prosody Relation, Cambridge University Press, 2014, p. 250.

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Non-restrictive relative clauses

In one such case, one of my clients, who made sandwiches for a large chain, cashed her weekly check for years and kept the money in her basement. [8:7]

Those of our ancestors, who saw more accurately, had a competitive advantage compared to those, who saw less accurately… [13]

To conclude, we want to focus on the fact that the present study explicitly

includes some of the most frequent, well-known and widely studied parenthetical constructions, such as comment clauses, which have been discussed by different scholars. At the same time, it includes some less widely studied examples of insertions, around which there has been an inconclusive debate about whether they are parentheticals or not. Throughout this study, we prove that parentheticals are the independent elements of the sentence which are connected with the rest of the sentence semantically rather than grammatically.

Bibliography

1. N. Dahé, Prentheticals in Spoken English: The Syntax-Prosody Relation, Cambridge University Press, 2014, 250 p.

2. R. Huddleston and G. K. Pullum, A student’s introduction to English Language, Cambridge University Press, 2002, pp. 891-897

3. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, Oxford University Press, New 8th Edition. 4. R. Quirk, S. Greenbaum, G. Leech and J. Svartvik, A Comprehensive Grammar of the

English Language, Longman, New York, 1985, pp. 778-780, 1112-23, 1300-2, 1240–59. 5. The Guardian, March 3, 2004 6. The New Yorker, Feb. 16, 2015 7. The New Yorker, July 29, 2013 8. The New Yorker, Sept. 2, 2013 9. https://www.ted.com/talks/chris_bliss_comedy_is_translation 10. https://www.ted.com/talks/andrew_fitzgerald_adventures_in_twitter_fiction 11. https://www.ted.com/talks/robert_gupta 12. https://www.ted.com/talks/elora_hardy_magical_houses_made_of_bamboo 13. https://www.ted.com/talks/donald_hoffman_do_we_see_reality_as_it_is 14. https://www.ted.com/talks/rana_el_kaliouby_this_app_knows_how_you_feel_from_the_l

ook_on_your_face 15. https://www.ted.com/talks/cosmin_mihaiu_physical_therapy_is_boring_play_a_game_ins

tead 16. https://www.ted.com/talks/andy_puddicombe_all_it_takes_is_10_mindful_minutes 17. https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution 18. https://www.ted.com/talks/adora_svitak

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Стелла Погосян

СРАВНИТЕЛЬНЫЙ АНАЛИЗ ВВОДНЫХ И ВСТАВНЫХ КОНСТРУКЦИЙ В ТОК-ШОУ И

ГАЗЕТНЫХ СТАТЬЯХ

Ключевые слова: вводные конструкции, частота использования, уровень предложения, текстовой уровень, слова-соединители, слова-информаторы

Аннотация

В статье рассматриваются вводные и вставные конструкции в английском языке и частота их использования в устной и письменной речи. Кроме того, мы предлагаем с новой стороны взглянуть на проблему вводных и вставных конструкций, рассмотреть их не только на уровне предложения, но и в контексте, другими словами, на текстовом уровне. В статье мы также предприняли попытку классифицировать вводные и вставные конструкции по их функциям в предложении и в тексте.

Stella Poghosyan

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF PARENTHETICAL CONSTRUCTIONS IN TALK SHOWS

AND NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

Key words: parenthetical constructions, frequency of usage, sentence level, contextual level, connectors, informatives

Summary

The article investigates the parenthetical constructions in the English language as well as the frequency of their usage in oral and written speech. Moreover, we suggest exploring the problem from a new angle not only on the basis of the sentence level but also on the contextual level. We also propose a new, previously non-existing classification of parentheticals, taking into account their function.