Functional-Semantic Features of Complex Sentences of Purpose in British and American Variants of English

Abstract

The functional-semantic features of purpose clauses introduced by conjunctions so that, lest, in order that, for fear that, in the hope that, and to the end that are examined in this study. These conjunctions differ in their frequency and expressiveness. The material for the study was taken from the Corpus of Contemporary American English and the British National Corpus. The novelty of the research lies in specifying the list of differential features of the categorical grammatical value of complex sentences of purpose. It is demonstrated that complex sentences with purpose conjunctions are used in literary, journalistic, scientific, and conversational texts, but their frequency differs not only depending on the type of discourse but also on the language variant. Based on statistical data, it is confirmed that Present Subjunctive forms are the most commonly used in purpose clauses regardless of the language variant. Types of purpose clauses are analyzed: proper-purpose, argumentative-purpose, syncretic, and anti-purpose clauses. It is established that the first ones, which are not complicated by additional shades of meaning, are most frequent in American texts, while the third ones, containing indications of circumstances for achieving the goal, are most commonly used in British texts.

Keywords

• functional-semantic field
• conditionality
• functional-semantic category
• purpose
• subor-dinate clause
• conjunction
• corpus