The typological structure of simple sentences in the semantics of dictum and modus

Abstract

This article is dedicated to investigating the semantic typology of the simple sentence based on the concepts of dictum and modus. Since the second half of the 20th century, the growing interest in sentence semantics has shown that the meaning of a sentence is determined not only by its grammatical structure, but also by the interrelation ship between its objective and subjective layers of meaning. In this regard, the view that the semantic structure of a sentence consists of two main components – the dictum and the modus – is one of the productive approaches accepted in modern linguistics. Here, the dictum is interpreted as the semantic layer expressing the objective, factual predication of the sentence, while the modus expresses the speaker's attitude towards that content, their communicative intention, and evaluative stance. Based on the concepts of scholars such as Balli S., Arutyunova N.D., Zolotova G.A. and others, it is shown that the full meaning of a sentence is formed only on the basis of the unity of these two components. Modus is analysed through the categories of real and unreal modality, affirmation and negation, while dictum is analysed by the semantic features of the propositional structure, predicate and subject components. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that the semantic typology of simple sentences has been systematically organised on a single plane for both the dictum (objective content) and modus (subjective attitude) components. This allows for the sentence's multifaceted semantic structure, not just its grammatical one, to be viewed as a whole. A differential analysis of dictum semantics shows that the principles of dictum organisation depend on the quantity of propositions (monopropositional and polipropositional) and the quality of the predicative component (domestic, characterising, action-oriented, nominative, temporal and relative) are grouped according to the quantity of propositions (monopropositional and polypropositional) and the quality of the predicative component (domestic, characterising, action, nominative, temporal and relative), thereby presenting a new model for the informative basis of the simple sentence. These scientific innovations establish a new methodological basis for the study of sentence semantics in Azerbaijani and Russian linguistics and enhance the functional-semantic description of the category of modality. The propositions put forward in the article provide rich material for the development of programmes, textbooks and teaching aids for selected courses in “Functional Grammar”, “Cognitive Linguistics” and “Communicative Syntax”. The dictum-modus analysis methodology used in the study can serve as a scientific and methodological basis for young researchers and doctoral students engaged in the study of complex sentences, as well as text syntax. The study demonstrates that in the semantic structure of a simple sentence, the dictum serves as the informational basis, while the modus forms a subjective evaluation upon this basis.