EXPRESSION OF EVALUATION IN THE WORD COMBINATION IN MODERN ENGLISH

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of the expression of evaluation in the word combination. In modern linguistics, problems of nomination are especially actual and affect different language units: words, word combinations, sentences, text, i.e. all forms of language fixation of any fact or phenomenon can be qualified as a means of nomination. Evaluation is the basis of the process of nomination. Consequently, evaluation is the essence of the language presentation of extra-linguistic reality. In the process of evolution of the language system evaluation, appearing explicitly, crystallized in linguistic units: affixes, words, word combinations, separate expressions. The word combination is more complex in structural terms means of the expression of evaluation. The analysis of the factual material showed that the evaluation is mainly realized by word combinations with structural schemes Adj. + N (with the variant Adj. + Adj. + N) and N of N. The very nature of the attributive word combinations with subjective component in their meaning help to the direct or indirect expression of the evaluation and shows the speaker’ attitude. The predicates denoting concepts of concrete semantics are used in the word combinations. As a rule, these are nouns, reflecting the person’s inner world, his daily life, behavior, mental and physical activity. Such words always contain evaluative semes in their semantic structure. The study of the attributive word combinations indicates that almost all the adjectives have evaluative semes in the semantic structure. It provides the emerging of evaluation in the word combination. The word combinations, built on structural scheme N of N, also actively participate in actualization of evaluation. These word combinations are immeasurably more important for evaluation because they retained in their semantic structure traces of contexts of their former use. The emotional degree of such contexts is not the same, but it is not essential for their present use. All evaluative predicates that are actively involved in the creation of word combinations belong to the most frequently used lexical strata of the English language. The word combinations, which structural schemes contain adjectives, often realize evaluation. It is quite natural, because in the semantic structure of adjectives evaluative semes occur more frequently than in the semantic structure of the other parts of speech. The research of the functioning of evaluative word combinations in publicistic and other types of discourse is very perspective.