Table 13 Isomorphic Semantic Groups of Singularia Tantum Nouns

 

ENGLISH	UKRAINIAN
1. Nouns denoting parts of the world: the North, the South, the East, the West, the North-West, the North-East, the South-East, the South-West.	1. Північ, південь, захід, схід, північний схід, північний захід, південний схід, південний захід.

ENGLISH	UKRAINIAN
2. Names of materials: gold, silver, iron, copper, milk, butter, snow, dirt, sand, water, hay, straw, bread, coffee, sugar, wood, etc.	2. Золото, срібло, залізо, алюміній, мідь, молоко, масло, бруд, сніг, пісок, вода, хліб, деревина, сіно, солома, цукор, etc.
3. Collective nouns: brushwood, foliage, leafage, furniture, shrubbery, rubbish, peasantry, hair, professorate, womankind, etc.	3. Білизна, збрід, крам, віниччя, гарбузиння, капустиння, паліччя, збіжжя, птаство, волосся, професура, селянство, жіноцтво, etc.
4. Abstract notions as: courage, knowledge, advice, recognition, friendship, kindness, news, information, business, love, peace, patriotism, weather, etc.	4. Відвага, знання, буття, кохання, любов, мир, патріотизм, погода, прогрес, визнання, гамір, сумління, буття, виховання, ненависть, каяття, etc.

Therefore the main classes of singularia tantum nouns are of isomorphic nature, though their representation is not always equal in the contrasted languages. Thus, there exists no identity between the Ukrainian collective nouns ярина (spring crops), озимина (winter crops), зілля (herbs), бадилля (potato leaves) which are pluralia tantum in English. Neither are there corresponding singularia tantum equivalents in English to the Ukrainian nouns formed with the help of the suffixes -н-я (офіцерня, комарня), -ник, -няк (сливник, вишняк) and -в-а (братва, дітва) whose corresponding equivalents in English are nouns in plural (officers, mice, kids/ children) or in singular - cherry/plum trees orchard, lime-trees grove, etc.

No complete coincidence can be observed in the semantic classes of the pluralia tantum nouns in English and Ukrainian where common lexico-semantic classes are not completely the same either. Completely coincide only nouns belonging to the so-called summation plurals (scissors, tongs, skates, shorts, trousers: ножиці, обценьки, терези, шорти, штани, окуляри, etc. Besides, common are also the pluralia tantum nouns belonging to the semantic group of geographic names: Athens, the Netherlands, the Bahamas, the Andes; Афіни/Атени, Нідерланди, Карпати, Анди, Бровари, Лубни, Суми, etc. 3) Nouns denoting remnants are only partly common too. They are: scraps, leavings, remains (of food), siftings, sweepings; висівки, недопитки, перебірки, одвійки, помиї, вишкрібки,недоїдки, etc.

Not always coinciding, however, are nouns denoting in English and Ukrainian some abstract notions (contents, goings-on, means, manners, savings; злидні, манери, надра, заощадження) and names of some games which are not always the same in the contrasted languages either, eg: cards, billiards, drafts, darts, skittles (карти, шахи, шашки, кеш). Among these are the nouns більярд and барак which belong to common class nouns in Ukrainian. Consequently, a number of nouns may have plural meaning in English and singular meaning in Ukrainian or vice versa as: barracks, goods, customs, works, suds, police/ militia, arms, gymnastics, etc., their Ukrainian equivalents being казарма, товар/майно/добро, мито, поліція/міліція, зброя, фізкультура, etc. Ukrainian plurals вершки, дріжджі, дрова, гроші, on the other hand, have singularia tantum equivalents in English (cream, yeast, firewood, money, etc.).

Hence, the common/fully or partly corresponding table of these semantic classes of nouns has the following counteropposed representation:

Table 14 Isomorphic Semantic Groups of Pluralia Tantum Nouns

 

ENGLISH	UKRAINIAN
1. Summations nouns: trousers, shorts, tongs, scissors, scales, spectacles, eyeglasses, opera-glasses, leggings, strachies, pincers, etc.	1. Штани, шорти, обценьки, ножиці, терези, окуляри, сани, ночви, в'язи, баки, граблі, ворота, цимбали, стречі, леґґінси, etc.
2. Names of remnants (залишки): scraps, slops, sweepings, siftings, leavings, remnants, etc.	2. Покидьки, помиї, висівки, недоїдки, недопитки, зметини, вишкрібки, etc.
3. Names of some games: drafts, cards, darts, skittles, billiards, etc.	3. Шахи, шашки, карти, дротики, кеглі, городки, гилки, etc.
4. Some abstract and concrete notions: outskirts, tigins, (inverted) commas, goings-on, contents, means (кошти), etc.	4. Будні, злидні, іменини, родини, заручини, хрестини, лапки, посиденьки, витребеньки, жмурки, etc.
5. Some geographical names like Athens, the Netherlands, the Alps, the Urals, the Carpathians, the Azores, the Bermudas, the Philippines, etc.	5. Атени, Нідерланди, Альпи, Карпати, Азори, Бермуди, Філіппіни, Бровари, Суми, Лубни, Жуляни, Черкаси, etc.

Some semantic classes of pluralia tantum nouns are more numerous in Ukrainian, than in English. Among them are, for example, nouns denoting such actions as проводи (seeing-off), вхідчини (house-warming) or monetary notions as фінанси (finance), ресурси, кошти (means); no pluralia tantum equivalents have such Ukrainian notions as дрова (firewood), вершки (cream), одвійки, дріжджі (yeast). Neither has present-day English pluralia tantum equivalents to such notions as посиденьки, походеньки, вечірниці, витребеньки, побігеньки, (пі)жмурки, пересміхи, хвастощі, пустощі, гульбощі, ласощі, прикрощі, мудрощі, ревнощі, скупощі and others. Consequently, present-day Ukrainian seems to have a larger number of both the singularia and pluralia tantum nouns in some semantic classes of this part of speech, than the English language has.