Syntax: Introduction into Basic Notions

The basic unit of syntax is the sentence. There exist many definitions of the sentence, but none of them is generally accepted. But in the majority of cases speakers actually experience no difficulty in separating one sentence from another in their native tongue. Though a sentence contains words, it is not merely a group of words (or other units), but something integral, a structural unity built in accordance with one of the patterns existing in a given language.

Now the relation of the thought of a sentence to the situation of speech is called predicativity (предикативність – відношення змісту речення до дійсності). Predicativity is an essential part of the content of the sentence. The sentence can thus be defined as a communication unit made up of words (and word-morphemes) in conformity with their combinability, united by predicativity and intonation.

In the same way as the word serves to name certain objects of extra-linguistic reality, the sentence serves to name situations involving these objects. No object is static. Objects interact, being in constant change, movement. Thus, the relations between objects, events happening to them create the situation reflected in every act of speech.

Much in the same way as the word has its form and content, the sentence also has its form and its content, being a bilateral sign. The content of the sentence is called in other words its deep structure, its outer form (the string of words/word-forms, united in conformity with grammatical rules and combinability patterns) – the surface structure. One and the same deep structure can be expressed with the help of different surface structures, nevertheless being related by transformational rules. For example, to express the situation, where the “boy” (the doer of the action) “throws” (the action itself) the “ball” (the object upon which the action is directed) there are at least two surface structures: 1) the sentence in the active voice: The boy throws the ball, and 2) the sentence in the passive voice: The ball is thrown by the boy.

Within a sentence, the word or combination of words containing the meaning of predicativity may be called the predication, the grammatical employment of predicativity (предикація – граматичне втілення предикативності).

In the sentence He considered it for a minute the predication is he considered. He indicates the person, considered – the tense and mood components of predicativity.

The character of formal means of rendering the syntactic relations is a determining one for the language structure. That is why in this respect the Ukrainian language as a flexional language differs strongly from the English language as an analytical one.

In Ukrainian the syntactic relations, that is relations between sentences and their members, are expressed with the help of flexions, auxiliary and pronoun words, the word order and intonation.

The most widespread means of expression of word relations in the Ukrainian language is the flexion. Prepositions are also widely used for this purpose. They are combined with the forms of indirect cases of nouns or pronouns (as well as numerals) since exactly in this function the mentioned parts of speech can perform functions of dependent (coordinated) sentence members. Word order in Ukrainian has mainly an auxiliary meaning.

For the English language of great importance is the word order. The word order is crucial for differentiating the subject and the predicate, the subject and the object etc. For example, the sentence Петро читає книжки at changing the word order can have six variants whereas in English it has the only possible variant Peter reads books.

Within grammar pairs the most widespread types of syntactic means in Ukrainian are: agreement (узгодження), for example: наступного дня, усім трьом, на першому поверсі; government (керування), for example: корисний усім, усіх розважав, усміхнувся від задоволення; and adjoinment (прилягання), for example: досконало перевірити, його задум, рушив услід. In English these types of relations between the elements of a subordinate word-group are also present: agreement (this book), adjoinment (to go quickly), government (to be fond of smth.). In agreement the subordinate element gets the same grammatical meaning as the kernel one. In English 24% of word-groups are joined this way, whereas in Ukrainian – 53%. When the grammatical meaning of the kernel element demands from the subordinate element one particular grammatical meaning we speak of the government. In English 39% of word-groups have this way of connection and in Ukrainian – 32%. As for adjoinment – the elements are joined without changing their forms. Such groups are spread in English (37%), whereas in Ukrainian they present a minority – 15%. The specific way to express word relations in English is the so-called enclosement (замикання). At enclosement the border members of the word groups are drawn apart creating as if the frame for attributes belonging to this word combination: his long new coat.

Prof. Korunets’differentiates among others the following types of syntactic processes:

1. Extension which is achieved in both contrasted languages through adding subordinate components to an element that is the head/nucleus, i.e. subordinating in the syntaxeme. As to their structure, word-groups can be unextended, i.e. consisting of two notional words (read well, nice flowers) and extended which consist of more than two notional words, e.g. to go to work every day. Compare: можна спати – можна довше спати – можна завтра довше спати. Extension can be combined with:

a) apposition (прикладка), e.g.: a woman doctor, the city of London, жінка-лікар, місто Київ Шевченко-поет;

b) detachment (відокремлення), e.g.: … he had this old coloured nurse, this regular old nigger mammy, … у нього навіть нянькою була страра негритянка, справжнісінька негритоска мемі, ….

c) specification (уточнення), e.g.: I am not very tall, just average. Я не дуже висока, якраз середнього зросту.

2. Expansion as a syntactic process is equally aimed at enlarging the content of word-groups and sentences in both contrasted languages by representing a co-ordinate joining of components which are syntactically equal in rank. For example, homogeneous subjects: The police, the fishmongers, boys going to school, dozens of people waved to him. Полісмени, торгівець рибою, учні, що йшли до школи, десятки людей махали йому руками.

3. Ellipsis which is occurring in oral and written speech in two-member sentences in both contrasted languages. Omitted, for example, may be only one or both principal parts of the sentence: - When did you get in? – Yesterday morning. – Ти коли прибув сюди? – Вчора ввечері. Here the subject (you) and the predicate (did you get in) are omitted in the English sentence and in its Ukrainian variant.

4. Representation which is a particular process of syntactic substitution alien to the Ukrainian language. It represents a kind of reduction in which the component of a syntaxeme is used to present the content of the whole syntactic unit, which remains in preceding syntaxeme but its meaning is implicitly represented by some element. For example: I don't know if he is hungry, but I am. Here the linking verb (am) in the closing coordinate clause represents the whole subordinate close (if he is hungry).

5. Contamination is the process in which two syntaxemes murge into one predicative unit as in the following sentence: The moon rose red. This means: The moon rose + she was red. In Ukrainian: Наталка прибігла сердита, задихана. Натадка прибігла +(Наталка) була сердита + (Наталка) була задихана.

6. Compression represents a syntactic process which is closely connected with reduction and with secondary predication constructions. It exists only in English. It is most often observed with absolute participial constructions, e.g.: He stood beside me in silence, his candle in his hand. The absolute participial construction in this sentence is a reduced transform from the construction his candle being or having been in his hand.

Sentences with only one predication are called simple sentences. Those with more than one predication usually have the name of composite sentences. In a composite sentence each predication together with the words attached is called a clause.

Composite sentences with coordinated clauses are compound sentences, e.g.: She is a very faithful creature and I trust her.

Composite sentences containing subordinated clauses are complex sentences, e.g.: If I let this chance slip, I am a fool.

In a complex sentence we distinguish the principal clause (I am a fool) and the subordinate clause (If I let this chance slip) or clauses.

The clauses of a composite sentence may be joined with the help of connective words (syndetically) or directly, without connectives (asyndetically).

The dominating type of sentence (clause), with full predication, i.e. containing both the subject and the predicate, is called a two-member sentence (clause). All other types are usually called one-member sentences (clauses). Common for both languages are the following types of one-member sentences:

1) Nominative sentences (називні), e.g.: Thomas, Sir. A man of facts and calculations. Вечір. Ніч.

2) Imperative sentences (наказові), e.g.: Come here at once. Іди сюди негайно.

3) Infinitive sentences (інфінітивні), e.g.: To be lonely and to grow older and older. Що робити? За людьми іти …

Besides, in Ukrainian there are widely used other types of one-member sentences which have as their correspondences two-member sentences in English, e.g.: impersonal sentences (безособові): Сутеніє. It is getting dark.

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