Published 2020-11-04
Keywords
- case system, proprial component, possessive formant, possessive, attributive function
- система відмінків, пропріативний компонент, присвійний формант, посесив, атрибутивна функція
Abstract
The purpose of the research aimed to study the genitive constructions of English medical eponymous terms concerning the twocase grammar system.
Methods. The following methods of linguistic analysis are used in the paper: comparative-historical (to trace the evolution of the genitive case; structural (to identify genitive relations between elements of eponymous terms); descriptive (allows interpreting the genetive constructions of English medical eponymous terms and their possessive forms at the present stage of development of the English language).
Results. Morphological changes that took place in the Middle English period led to the fact that all cases, except the genitive, lost their endings and assimilated into the nominative. Thus, the English language has lost its case system, leaving for nouns only the common case, and the genitive case, which is correlated with the possession, the possessive case, respectively. Such a two-case grammar system has caused that the genitive case is quite difficult to identify due to numerous interpretations. Genitive relations can indicate affiliation, origin, description, measurement, perform an attributive role and, the like. Since the common case is expressed by word order, then, in turn, the genitive case has syntactic and morphological ways of formation.
Conclusions. In English medical terminology, the eponymous term is a substantivized phrase, the proprial component of which reflects the category of the genitive case. Genetive constructions concerning the proprial component of the eponymous term in English medical terminology have the following forms of expression: 1) by means of a possessive formant, namely an apostrophe and ’s, such as Wells’ syndrome or Kahler’s disease; 2) prepositions, namely paracusis of Willis or osteodysplasty of Melnick and Needles; 3) with the help of inflections -ian / -ic, namely Pickwickian syndrome, Hippocratic nails or the classical Latinized form of the genitive singular, i.e. torcular Herophili. Due to the evidence of the apostrophe’s, the category of the possessive case with the meaning of belonging disappears gradually, and such ways of its expression as apostrophe, inflection and prepositions lead to the fact that the proprial component acts as an attributive modifier eliminating the possessive function.
References
2. Блох М.Я. Теоретическая грамматика английского языка. Москва : Высшая школа, 1983. 383 с.
3. Воронцова Г.Н. Очерки по грамматике английского языка. Москва : Изд-во литературы на иностранных языках, 1960. 400 c.
4. Грибанова Т.И., Коршунова Е.Н. Тенденции употребления генетива в современном английском языке. Вестник МГЛУ. Гуманитарные науки, 2017. Вып.11(784). С. 104–117.
5. Костромин А.Б., Горбатенко О.Г. Притяжательный падеж и категория субъективности английских существительных. Вестник РУДН. Русский и иностранные языки и методика их преподавания, 2015. № 1. С. 47–52.
6. Смирницкий А.И. Морфология английского языка. Москва : Изд-во лит. на иностр.яз., 1959. 440 с.
7. Харитонов І.К. Теоретична граматика сучасної англійської мови : навчальний посібник для ВНЗ. Вінниця : Нова Книга, 2008. 352 с.
8. Algeo J. The Origins and Development of the English Language. Boston : Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. 364 p.
9. Anderson J.B. The Language of Eponyms. Journal of the Royal College of Physicians London, 1996. № 30(2). P. 174–177.
10. Ayesu K., Nguyen B., Harris S., Carlan S. The case for consistent use of medical eponyms by eliminating possessive forms. Journal of the Medical Library Association, 2018. № 106(1). P. 127–129.
11. Clark R. Apostrophes: feeling possessive? European Science Editing, 2014; 40(2). P. 41–43.
12. Dirckx J.H. The synthetic genitive in medical eponyms: is it doomed to extinction? Panace @, 2001. Vol.2 (5). P. 15–24.
13. Hogg R. An introduction to Old English. Edinburgh : University Press Ltd, 2002. 163 p.
14. Iverson C, Christiansen S, Flanagin A. AMA manual of style: a guide for authors and editors. NY : Oxford University Press, 2007. P. 777–780.
15. Lowe, J.J. English possessive ’s: clitic and affix. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory, 2016. № 34. P. 157–195.
16. Macaskill MR, Anderson TJ. Whose name is it anyway? Varying patterns of possessive usage in eponymous neurodegenerative diseases. Peer Journal, 2013. 1(5):e67.
17. Quirk R., Greenbaum S., Leech G., Svartvik J. Comprehensive grammar of the English grammar. London : Longman, 1985. 1779 p.
18. Radiopaedia.org. URL : https://radiopaedia.org/articles/apostrophe-use-and-eponyms-1.
19. Steinnagel S. A historical study of the English genitive, as compared to other western Germanic languages. Thesis (B.A.). Swarthmore College. Dept. of Linguistics, 1993. 110 p.
20. Sweet H. A New English Grammar Logical and Historical. Oxford : Clarendon Press, 1898. 137 p.