Macchina da scrivere: Between Grammar Rule, Grammatical Competence, and Historical Syntax

In this paper, we deal with constructions featuring a noun followed by “da + infinitive”, such as macchina da scrivere and macchina da cucire. During the 20th century, such phrases were considered wrong by some grammarians; the rule that grammarians proposed instead was to replace the preposition da with the preposition per, as in macchina per scrivere and macchina per cucire. As a matter of fact, this prescription influenced at least one generation of students, as can be seen in posts and discussions found on websites and in grammar questions addressed to linguists. Historical linguists reject such a prescription, showing that constructions with da frequently are found in Old Italian texts, as in tavolo da giocare, armi da combattere, pancha da sedere, and cane da combattere. Until now, there have been no attempts to provide a linguistic explanation of the state of things. The apparent contradiction can be solved if one takes into account a syntactic re-analysis that took place within the transition from Old to Modern Italian: the syntactic role of the name preceding “da + infinitive” has no relevance in Old Italian; on the contrary, in Modern Italian, the name must correspond to the direct object of the infinitive (i.e., libro da leggere, cf. leggere il libro, but *coltello da tagliare, cf. *tagliare il coltello). Phrases like macchina da scrivere were not affected by such a restriction, as they are phrasemes, hence perceived as a unity.

To the Problem of Formation of Grammar Compence of Future Foreign Language Teachers

The article is devoted to the peculiarities of the formation of grammar competence of future foreign language teachers. The article describes the methodical integrity of the future foreign language teacher through the prism of forming vocationally oriented grammatical skills. On the basis of the analysis of the peculiarities of vocationally oriented grammatical competence of future foreign language teachers and the goals that the teacher realizes in the process of its formation, methodical grammatical skills and competences that the future foreign language teachers must master for effective professional and methodical competence of students’ competence are determined. The authors of the article interpret grammatical skills as the ability to understand and express meaning (meaning), to generate and recognize phrases that are built on certain principles, not to memorize and reproduce them as ready-made formulas. The article also emphasized that the acquisition of grammar material by future foreign language teachers should be fully conscious, as it is a high final level of command of a foreign language. After all, the high level of formation of vocationally oriented foreign language grammatical competence in future foreign language teachers is a necessary prerequisite for the implementation of foreign language communication activities, professional and professional-methodical in particular, and scientists, in turn, substantiate and propose teaching methods. The article determines that successful grammar development is ensured by the creation of a poly sensor environment: the use of graphic, sound, verbal and non-verbal means. Learning grammar is impossible without taking into account the principle of system. Mastering grammar as a system contributes to the mental development of future educators and achieves high results in the performance of grammar tests and complex tasks. The perception of information through different channels allows you to successfully master grammatical knowledge, skills and abilities.