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UOT 81-11
INVERSION IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
KARIMOVA DILARA ABUZAR
Sumqait State University, Senior lecturer
e-mail: sdu.elmixeberler@mail.ru
Keywords: word order, disorder of word order, linguistic, language, text, theme, structure
Understanding the nature of the language and thought, or at least what they are not, is just
about as important as any understanding can be. Both are at the basis of our lives; in a sense they
are our lives. Is language a distinct faculty? Is it controlled by parts of the brain dedicated to
language? Is human thought language? If it is, are we intellectual prisoners l imited to thinking what
language can describe, and allows us to think? Or is language a human invention? Is thought
essentially independent of language, but in practice critically influenced by it?
Much, politically and socially, depends indirectly on which is the correct view, and much
depends on the view of linguistics, neuroscientists and philosophers, whether they are correct or not
[1, 117].
In general, an "inversion" is a changed order of things. If X usually comes before Y, the
inverted order will be Y first, then X. When looking at the grammar of the English language we see
inversions for instance in the normal order of the subject and the verb in a sentence. To explain
what an inversion is in English, first think of a simple sentence like: "Graffiti is ugly." In sentences
like this the subject (graffiti) must come before the verb (is). This is the normal order. The most
common example of the inverted order of the subject and the verb is seen in questions such as: "Is
graffiti ugly?" The English language often use this kind of inversion in order to make a question,
but this is not the only time that the normal order of the subject and the verb in a sentence is
inverted. Changing standard word order is called "inversion". Inversion in English usually refers to
placing the auxiliary, modal, or main verb before the subject. Inversion is used with a certain aim,
often for emphasis [3.204-206] f.ex.
Never before have I seen such beauty. Heç vaxt belə gözəllik görməmişəm.
There can be another problem. Orada başqa problem ola bilər.
Away ran the witch and the monster. İfritə və əcaib div qaçıb getdilər.
In linguistics, inversion is any of several grammatical constructions where two expressions
switch their canonical order of appearance, that is, they invert. The most frequent type of inversion
in English is subject–auxiliary inversion, where an auxiliary verb changes places with its subject;
this often occurs in questions, such as Are you coming?, where the subject you is switched with the
auxiliary are. In many other languages – especially those with freer word order than English –
inversion can take place with a variety of verbs (not just auxiliaries) and with other syntactic
categories as well.
Subject–auxiliary inversion:
The most frequently occurring type of inversion in English is subject–auxiliary inversion.
The subject and auxiliary verb invert. f.ex.
a. Alice will stay.
b. Will Alice stay? - Subject–auxiliary inversion with yes/no question
a. Alice has done it.
b. What has Alice done? - Subject–auxiliary inversion with constituent question
a. Alice has helped at no point.
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b. At no point has Alice helped. - Subject–auxiliary inversion with fronted expression
containing negation (negative inversion)
a. If we were to surrender, ...
b. Were we to surrender, …- Subject–auxiliary inversion in condition clause [4.25-24]
The most common type of inversion in English consists in moving the auxiliary verb into the
position before the subject. This type of inversion is most frequently used in questions. f. ex.
Did Lena go to the park yesterday? Lena dünən parka gedib?
What are you doing now? Sən indi nə edirsən?
Is this story long? Bu hekayə çox uzundur?
How long is this story? Bu hekayə nə qədər uzundur?
Has she found her keys? O açarlarını tapdı?
Inversion refers to an irregular verb placement form: Use of Question Form In this
case, the question form (auxiliary + subject + main verb) takes the place of the standard positive
sentence structure. f.ex.
I not only enjoy classical music, but I also have a season ticket to the symphony. Not only do I
enjoy classical music, but I also have a season ticket to the symphony.[3,168-170]
The default order in English is subject–verb (Subject Verb), but a number of meaning-related
differences (such as those illustrated above) motivate the subject and auxiliary verb to invert so that
the finite verb precedes the subject; one ends up with auxiliary–subject (Aux-Subject) order. This
type of inversion fails if the finite verb is not an auxiliary:
a. Alice stayed.
b. Stayed Alice? - Inversion impossible here because the verb is not an auxiliary verb
Subject–verb inversion
The verb in cases of subject–verb inversion in English is not required to be an auxiliary verb;
it is, rather, a full verb or a form of the copula be. If the sentence has an auxiliary verb, the subject
is placed after the auxiliary and the main verb. f.ex.
a. She will come into the room.
b. Into the room will come she.
Since this type of inversion generally places the focus on the subject, the subject is likely to
be a full noun or noun phrase rather than a pronoun. Third-person personal pronouns are especially
unlikely to be found as the subject in this construction. f.ex.
a. Down the stairs came the dog. - Noun subject
b. Down the stairs came it. - Third-person personal pronoun as subject; unlikely unless it has
special significance and is stressed
c. Down the stairs came I. - First-person personal pronoun as subject; more likely, though
still I would require stress
There are a number of types of subject-verb inversion in English: locative inversion, directive
inversion, copular inversion, and qualitative inversion.
The following cases of inversion occur when some parts of the sentence, for example, the
adverbial modifier of place or direction, come at the beginning of the sentence. Inversion in such
cases consists in moving the auxiliary verb, and in some cases the main verb (i.e., the whole tense
form), into the position before the subject. [1.54-58]
Such cases of inversion are rather formal and emphatic. They are generally used in formal
writing and in literary works. The examples below are given in pairs: Inverted word order –
Standard word order.
Inversions with "so", "neither" and "nor": When "so", "neither" and "nor" are used to
make short agreements they are followed by an inversion.
"I am not into hip hop." "Neither am I." (Or:
"Nor am I.")
"I am fond of flamenco dancing." "So am I."
Inversion in the English language