National Repository of Grey Literature 98 records found  1 - 10nextend  jump to record: Search took 0.00 seconds. 
The history of the gerund in English and its structural precursors from a typological viewpoint
Matoušková, Barbora ; Čermák, Jan (advisor) ; Dušková, Libuše (referee)
The following thesis attempts attempts to map the structural precursors of the gerund in the framework of language typology. Its main goal is to verify the assumption that the appearance and increasing use and functional load of the gerund is connected to the development of English as a language type.
Syntactic and FSP aspects of the existential construction in fiction
Drenková, Leona ; Dušková, Libuše (advisor) ; Malá, Markéta (referee)
The aim of this study is to examine the existential construction there is / there are from two viewpoints: syntactic and functional. Analytical tools devised in the framework of functional sentence perspective (FSP) are employed to explore information structure in two types of existential constructions, viz. bare existential constructions and existential constructions with adverbial(s). The study first comprehensively explains the core of the FSP theory and concepts employed in consequent FSP analyses. The analysis of bare existentials is concerned with two areas of examination. First, syntactic structure of the subject noun phrase is examined; attention is paid primarily to types of modification involved. Second, the FSP structure is identified; the main focus being placed on the structure of the notional subject. A special attention is paid to the FSP patterns the bare existential construction can implement. The problem of questions and focalizers is touched upon. The analysis of existentials with adverbial(s) focuses on the FSP role of adverbials in relation to their position in the sentence, semantics and contextual boundness. Finally the problem of potentiality is pointed out and the occurrence of other verbs than be is discussed. The outcome of the study is to identify communicative functions the...
English translation counterparts of Czech relative clauses
Sedláčková, Markéta ; Šaldová, Pavlína (advisor) ; Dušková, Libuše (referee)
The thesis studies authentic English translation counterparts of the Czech relative clauses with the relative in nominative with the objective to describe realization forms of this modifier, which uses nonfinite clauses on a larger scale. In addition, English signals restrictive function of the modifiers with a comma, Czech does not do so. The theoretical part deals separately with English and Czech syntactic relations, modification, and related topics. It sums up main differences and similarities perceived as the consequence of the differences between analytical-nominal character of English, and flective-verbal character of Czech. The study proceeds from general to more detailed, i. e. from the syntactic relations to the non-obligatory process of the modification of the noun. Next, the characterisitics of nominal phrase constituents is described, emphasising the relative clause. However, English part is more focused on the non-finite modifiers, as is supposed that their presence in the data will be denser. Hence, there are separate sections speaking about -ing participle, -ed participle, infinitive, adjectives, prepositional phrase, and apposition. The excerption results show that the relative clause may be translated into preposed adjectives and other types of finite dependent clauses. As the next topic,...
English book titles in gerundial form
Blaheta, Radek ; Dušková, Libuše (advisor) ; Šaldová, Pavlína (referee)
The category of gerund is a symptomatic component of the grammatical system of present-day English. Numerous studies have dealt with its nature and functions as well as with its delimitation as opposed to related forms of present participle or verbal noun. No matter whether the term gerund is used or not and whether it is theoretically sustainable to differentiate between the related -ing forms, it is obvious that the -ing form that in many contexts clearly displays both nominal and verbal features plays a crucial role within both written and spoken discourse. Nonetheless, apart from the gerund operating within continuous texts, it is revealing to explore its behaviour and functions in the text-frame components, particularly the title, i.e. a text-frame component with a crucial role in the printed publication of a book type. In this context, it is necessary to present 3 basic starting points of the present study: 1. the notion of gerund as a grammatical category is retained in this study (see 2.1.3); 2. a new term - gerund title 1 - is introduced in order to capture the analyzed structures (see the detailed characterization in 2.3); 3. the analysis is largely based on the functional approach. Based on the assumptions presented above, the aim of the present study is an overall analysis of the gerund title,...
The principle of end focus in the English clause and the means of its realization. A comparison of older and contemporary literary text
Rubešová, Michaela ; Dušková, Libuše (advisor) ; Brůhová, Gabriela (referee)
In the present study we have attempted to determine the means of realization of the end-focus principle in the English clause. Conducting an analysis of two sample literary texts, an older one and a contemporary one, the aim was to trace the mutual influence of two word order principles, the principle of end-focus, which projects itself in the basic distribution of communicative dynamism over the sentence elements, and the grammatical principle, which represents the main word ordering tool in the English clause and as such may prevail over the functional sentence perspective. The analysis presented here had in its focus the possible outcomes of the application of the two principles. After dividing the material according to the clauses underlying word order, i.e. into clauses with and without transformation, analysis of the aspects influencing the FSP - linearity, the semantic aspect and the contextual aspect - was performed and several distinct types of clauses were identified depending on the extent to which either of the principles asserts itself in them. In the first type, both GWO and BDofCD were displayed by the clauses. These comprised 54.6% of the total of 441 clauses accepted for the analysis. The aspects monitored in them included the context-dependent character of the initial subject and the...
Analysis of stylistic features in English and Czech radio debates
Neubauerová, Alena ; Dušková, Libuše (advisor) ; Malá, Markéta (referee)
This MA thesis focuses on the stylistically marked features that occur in an English radio debate called Any Questions? aired by BBC - Radio 4 and a Czech radio debate called Speciál Martina Veselovského aired on Český rozhlas 1 - Radiožurnál. Stylistically marked features are restricted to certain kinds of social context: in the case of this thesis, it is two radio debates broadcast by public service media. Those linguistics features that are considered stylistically marked in the two debates are identified on the morphological, syntactical and lexical level, and classified into categories based upon a view of their functions. Subsequently, they are described as standard or nonstandard. Some of the features found are shared by both debates. However, some are, due to the different language systems concerned, symptomatic of only one of the languages. The difference between the English and the Czech stylistically marked features is also revealed as to the frequency of their occurrence. Finally, the conclusions about the level of informality of the two debates are drawn.
Determiners with Dutch and English nouns
Smetanová, Andrea ; Hrnčířová, Zdeňka (advisor) ; Dušková, Libuše (referee)
This thesis deals with the grammatical category of definiteness and presents a synchronic comparison of various types of reference and their respective means of expression used in Dutch and English. In the chapter devoted to classification of languages, both languages are put in the cultural and historical context. This is followed by general observations on the category of definiteness and its ways of expression and over the article as a word-class, its form and position. Based on a detailed description of the Dutch and the English system of articles, the formal differences in the way of expressing definiteness in both languages are summarized. In the chapter dealing with the system of reference, we present the basic types of reference used in Dutch and English and their respective means of expression. This chapter, too, is concluded by listing the formal and terminological differences. Quite close attention is paid also to the phenomenon of 'overt absence of a determiner' with nouns in both languages, a systematic treatment of which is usually not offered by the canonical grammar books. In relation to plural nouns, the situation is quite transparent, since the overtly absent article indicates either 'generic' or 'non-generic indefinite' reference, in both cases by means of the zero article. However, in...
The principle of end-focus in biblical narrative
Nováková, Eliška ; Dušková, Libuše (advisor) ; Čermák, Jan (referee)
The present study attempts to outline the influence of the principle of end-focus in a Biblical narrative by means of the theory of functional sentence perspective (FSP). It focuses on different types of interaction between two word order principles: the linearity principle of FSP, which places the communicatively most important element (rheme) at the end (end-focus), and the principle of grammatical word order, which in English requires SVOAdv(s) ordering of clause elements. Following a previous research in the field carried out on contemporary fiction, the textual material is analysed from the viewpoint of the following groups: (1) a group with clauses that adhere to both principles, (2) a group displaying violation of grammatical word order, and (3) a group displaying violation of the principle of end-focus. The fourth group is constituted by the so called transformed structures (in opposition to basic structures in the first three groups), i.e. clauses which with special devices to align the clause elements in agreement with both principles (such as the passive construction). This group is treated both separately, and in relation to the other three. As the study is intended to be diachronically comparative, the analysis is done on three versions of the same text: the Old Testament book of Esther in the...
Cleft sentences in English and Norwegian
Mojžíšová, Kateřina ; Šaldová, Pavlína (advisor) ; Dušková, Libuše (referee)
The subject of this thesis is the use of the cleft construction in English and Norwegian. These languages employ a formally similar construction to focus a sentence element, but the use of the construction is not always identical. The analysis is carried out on English and Norwegian translations of Czech texts. The main aim of this thesis is to identify and analyse possible types of motivation for the use of the cleft construction. The studied types of motivation are the FSP, textual and syntactic motivation. The analysis of the FSP motivation is based on the theory of the FSP as described by Jan Firbas (Firbas 1992). The list of textual functions is based on the work of Jan Firbas (Firbas 1995) and Hilde Hasselgrd (Hasselgrd 2004). Some types of the syntactic motivation are proposed by Libuše Dušková (Dušková 1999: 319), but the types described in this thesis result from the present analysis. In addition to the motivation for the use of the construction, the thesis deals with Norwegian and English counterparts of the analysed cleft sentences. These counterparts are divided into three groups: the cleft or pseudo-cleft construction, the underlying non-cleft construction and a different construction (cf. chapter 4.4.). The purpose of the analysis is to find where the use of the cleft construction differs in...
Aspiration of English plosives in Czech students of English studies
Pospíšilová, Andrea ; Skarnitzl, Radek (advisor) ; Dušková, Libuše (referee)
Voice onset time (VOT) was shown to provide an effective basis on which to differentiate individual plosives in English. This thesis carries out an analysis of recordings of university students to determine whether specific phonetic in- struction improves pronunciation of non-native speakers of English with focus on aspiration of plosives and VOT. In the first part, a theoretical background is provided with definitions of plosives, VOT and its use and measurement. It also reviews the factors that have been shown to affect the VOT values. In addition, a brief overview of second language acquisition is given, with focus on English pronunciation. The second, empirical part describes the material and method used in the analysis and provides figures and results of statistical tests that were run. The results suggest a significant increase in VOT values as a result of one semester of Phonetics and Phonology course. Furthermore, individual plosives and positions in a word were examined sep- arately to determine whether there are any differences as suggested by the theoretical overview. Keywords: voice onset time, aspiration, Czech English, second language acquisition

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1 DUŠKOVÁ, Ludmila
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2 Dušková, Linda
23 Dušková, Lucie
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