Allomorphic Correlations between Some English and Ukrainian Simple and Composite Sentences

The contrastive analysis of the compound and complex sentences performed on the foregoing pages has testified to the existence of complete isomorphism in the syntactical nature, nomenclature and functions of their clauses in English and Ukrainian. The few divergences mentioned refer to the structural nature and to the ways of connection of some clauses in these two languages. Allomorphic for English are definite personal clauses whereas Ukrainian has no tag-clauses and some structural forms of subject and predicative clauses and no syndetic way of joining the attributive clauses to the antecedent in the matrix clause. There is mostly no structural identity between the English sentences con-


taining some secondary predication and passive voice constructions and their corresponding Ukrainian syntactic units. Hence, the regularity of the necessary transformations which the English simple and composite sentences often undergo in Ukrainian. This usually happens in the following cases:

1. When a passive construction in the English simple sentence has no functional verb-form equivalent in Ukrainian:


It was a chance not to be missed. (Dreiser)


Це була нагода, яку я немає права упустити.


2. When in the English simple sentence there is an objective with, the infinitive construction:


He had seen the world change. (Hemingway)


Він бачив, як на його очах змінюється світ.


3. When in the English simple sentence there is an objective with the participle or adjective construction/complex:


Suddenly I saw the bush moving on the opposite side of the ravine. (O'Dell)

George considered himself lucky to live in the little room. (T. Wolfe)


Раптом я побачив, як заворушився кущ на протилежному боці.

Джорж вважав, що йому пощастило мешкати в цій кімнаті.


4. When in the English simple sentence there is a subjective with the infinitive/participle construction:


Fleur is said to resemble her mother. (Galsworthy) The goods are reported to have been awaiting shipment for several days. (F. Times)


Кажуть, що Флер схожа на свою матір.

Повідомляють, що товари в порту чекають на відправлення вже кілька днів.


5. When there is a gerund or a gerundial complex in some function in the simple English sentence:


"Do you mind letting me call you F. R?" (Galsworthy)


Ви не будете заперечувати, якщо я величатиму вас Ф. Ф.?


6. When the English simple sentence contains a nominative absolute participial construction in some adverbial function:


But Henry VIII being dead, nothing was done. (Leacock)


Та оскільки Генріх VIII помер, то відтоді нічого й не робилося.


7. When a secondary predication construction (sometimes a single gerund) is used in an English clause, the Ukrainian transform of it usually has one clause more: .


I could not eat much, nor could I

sleep without dreaming terrible

dreams. (O'Dell)

She was not expected to reply,

but she did. (Dreiser)

He didn't care that they saw him

crying. (Hemingway)


Я не могла їсти, як не могла я і спати, щоб мене не жахали страшні сни.

Не сподівалися, що вона відповість, а вона відповіла. Йому було байдуже, що вони бачили, як він плакав.


On the same ground English three-claused composite sentences (супідрядні речення) are to be transformed into four-claused sentences in Ukrainian. Cf.


You saw me open it, you see what's inside it now. (J. K. Jerome)


Ви бачили, як я відкривав скриньку, тепер бачите, що в ній є.


The absence of structurally equivalent transforms for such and the like English simple and composite sentences in Ukrainian testifies to the existence of some typological allomorphism in the system of the highest syntactic level units in the contrasted languages.