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Moreover, alongside the standard analytical forms characterized by the unequal ranks of their components
(auxiliary element - basic element), as a marginal analytical form-type grammatical repetition should be
recognized, which is used to express specific categorial semantics of processual intensity with the verb, of
indefinitely high degree of quality with the adjective and the adverb, of indefinitely large quantity with the
noun. Cf.:
He knocked and knocked and knocked without reply (Gr. Greene). Oh, I feel I've got such boundless,
boundless love to give to somebody (K. Mansfield). Two white-haired severe women were in charge of shelves
and shelves of knitting materials of every description (A. Christie).
§ 5. The grammatical categories which are realized by the described types of forms organized in functional
paradigmatic oppositions, can either be innate for a given class of words, or only be expressed on the surface of
it, serving as a sign of correlation with some other class.
For instance, the category of number is organically connected with the functional nature of the noun: it
directly exposes the number of the referent substance, e.g. one ship - several ships.
The category of number in
the verb, however, by no means gives a natural meaningful characteristic to the denoted process: the process is
devoid of numerical features such as are expressed by the grammatical number. Indeed, what is rendered by the
verbal number is not a quantitative characterization of the process, but a numerical featuring of the subject-
referent. Cf.:
The girl is smiling.-The girls are smiling. The ship is in the harbour. - The ships are in the harbour.
Thus, from the point of view of referent relation, grammatical categories should be divided into "immanent"
categories, i.e. categories innate for a given lexemic class, and "reflective" categories, i.e. categories of a
secondary, derivative semantic value. Categorial forms based on subordinative grammatical agreement (such as
the verbal person, the verbal number) are reflective, while categorial forms stipulating grammatical agreement
in lexemes of a contiguous word-class (such as the substantive-pronominal person, the substan-live number) are
immanent. Immanent are also such categories and their forms as are confined within a word-class, i.e. do not
transgress its borders; to these belong the tense of the verb, the comparison of the adjective and adverb, etc.
Another essential division of grammatical categories is based on the changeability factor of the exposed
feature. Namely, the feature of the referent expressed by the category can be either constant (unchangeable,
"derivational"), or variable (changeable, "demutative").
An example of constant feature category can be seen in the category of gender, which divides the class of
English nouns into non-human names, human male names, human female names, and human common gender
names. This division is represented by the system of the third person pronouns serving as gender-indices (see
further). Cf.:
It (non-human): mountain, city, forest, cat, bee, etc.
He (male human): man, father, husband, uncle, etc.
She (female human): woman, lady, mother, girl, etc.
He or she (common human): person, parent, child, cousin, etc.
Variable feature categories can be exemplified by the substantive number (singular - plural) or the
degrees of comparison (positive - comparative - superlative).
Constant feature categories reflect the static classifications of phenomena, while variable feature categories
expose various connections between phenomena. Some marginal categorial forms may acquire intermediary
status, being located in-between the corresponding categorial poles. For instance, the nouns singularia tantum
and pluralia tantum present a case of hybrid variable-constant formations, since their variable feature of number
has become "rigid", or "lexicalized". Cf:. news, advice, progress; people, police; bellows, tongs; colours, letters;
etc.
In distinction to these, the gender word-building pairs should be considered as a clear example of hybrid
constant-variable formations, since their constant feature of gender has acquired some changeability properties,
i.e. has become to a certain extent "grammaticalized". Cf.: actor - actress, author - authoress, lion - lioness, etc.
§ 6. In the light of the exposed characteristics of the categories, we may specify the status of grammatical
paradigms of changeable forms.
Grammatical change has been interpreted in traditional terms of declension and conjugation. By declension
the nominal change is implied (first of all, the case system), while by conjugation the verbal change is implied
(the verbal forms of person, number, tense, etc.). However, the division of categories into immanent and
reflective invites a division of forms on a somewhat more consistent basis.