Typological Features of Attributive Clauses

Like all other nominal clauses, English and Ukrainian attributive clauses have also both isomorphic and allomorphic features. The isomorphic features, which generally outnumber the latter, are predetermined by some common syntactic and semantic factors. These are the following features of attributive clauses in the contrasted languages: 1) they always follow the antecedent noun, pronoun or numeral which they modify/ specify; 2) they may sometimes be substituted for the corresponding participial constructions performing an attributive function; 3) They may often be joined to the English antecedent asyndetically. Cf.:

He could be somebody who could He could be somebody playing

play the piano. (Saroyan) the piano.

Similar transformations are possible in Ukrainian, though postposed participial constructions can rarely substitute an attributive clause. More often the past participle can be used instead, which may be substituted for an attributive clause:

Слова, підхоплені на парті, йому припали до душі. (Масенко) — Слова, які/що були підхоплені на парті, йому припали до душі.

Note. Far from all English participial constructions used in the attributive function to a prepositive nominal word, can be transformed into an attributive clause (or vice versa). The restrictions are due to the meaning of the participle and the predicate verb in the attributive clause respectively. Cf. There was the other Sirnosian with them who was not an uneasy man. (Aldridge) Or:... it is so now, at the time I am writing. (Amis) Neither of the two attributive clauses in these sentences can be transformed into a semantically corresponding attributive participial construction because the predicate "was not an uneasy man" like "am writing" are not transformable (like their equivalents in Ukrainian) into present participles in general.

Attributive clauses in the contrasted languages have some other common features, namely:

a) they can be joined to the antecedent of the matrix clause by means of conjunctions that, as if/as though, whether (що, мов, ніби):

Gilbert has just told me something Джільберт щойно сказав мені that I can hardly bring myself to таке, у що я ніяк не можу no- believe. (Maugham) вірити.

І have a feeling that if I'd stayed а У мене таке відчуття, що коли б

day longer I should have been я залишилась тут ще день, я б

bored. (Ibid.) умерла з нудьги.

b) they are much more often joined to the matrix clause by means of relative pronouns and relative adverbs (who, whose, what, which, that, when, whence, where, how — хто, кого, ким, який, що, де, коли, звідки, куди, чому):

І glanced at Daisy, who was staring Я глянув на Дейзі, яка злякано

between Gatsby and her husband. дивилася кудись поміж Ґетсбі й

(Fitzgerald) своїм чоловіком.

It is the sanctuary where all things Це і є те сховище, де все може

find refuge. (Maugham) знайти притулок.

Common in the contrasted languages are some traditionally distinguished groups of attribute clauses like the following:

1. Appositive clauses which are joined to an antecedent noun having a most general abstract meaning or to a pronoun (mostly indefinite) with the help of a relative pronoun or pronominal adverb:

This was the time when they looked І от настав час, коли очі вже

now. (O'Dell) бачили.

Also it seemed to be connected with Здавалося також, що це було

something which required conceal- пов'язане з чимось, що треба

ment. (Dreiser) було приховувати.

2. Restrictive attributive clauses in English and Ukrainian are very closely connected with the antecedent which is determined or identified/ particularised by the subordinate clause without which the matrix clause is incomplete:

There was a legend among the Між людьми ходила легенда,

people that the island had once been що острів колись був покритий

covered with tall trees. (O'Dell) високими деревами.

3. Descriptive attributive clauses give some additional information about the antecedent. Due to this the clauses in both contrasted languages may be omitted without affecting the semantic completeness of the sentence:

...his eyes were fixed upon the prin-...його очі не відривалися від

cess, who sat to the right of his принцеси, яка сиділа праворуч

father. (Stockton) від батька-короля.

Attributive clauses in both languages may be joined to the matrix clause by prepositional relative pronouns:

His love became a prison for him Його кохання стало в'язницею

from which he longed to escape. для нього, з якої він волів

(Maugham) утекти.

Common, though more characteristic of Ukrainian than of English, are the so-called continuative attributive clauses which have no correlating relative pronoun to the nominal antecedent in the matrix clause. These clauses are introduced by the conjunction що/that, eg:

Почуття волі були такими гаря- The feeling of freedom became so

чими, що серце солодко захлину- warm that his heart chocked with

лося, попливло... (Гуцало) enthusiasm and floated...

Іноді він поринав у такий глибокий Sometimes he would plunge into

роздум, що його будили, як сон- so deep a contemplation that he

ного... (Довженко) had to be awakened like a man

asleep...

Very often, however, English relative pronouns referring to antecedents denoting person can be substituted in Ukrainian for a relative pronoun or for the conjunction що:

I looked at my cousin, who began to Я повернувся до двоюрідної сестри, ask me questions... (Fitzgerald) яка/що стала розпитувати мене...

English attributive clauses, which specify antecedents denoting non-421

person, are mostly introduced by the relative pronoun which (sometimes preceded by a preposition) or by the conjunction that, eg: On the second floor were managerial offices, to which after some inquiry, she was now directed. (Dreiser) I decided to pack the things that I would take to the cave on the ravine. (O'Dell) In Ukrainian, however, the relative pronoun, as a rale, agrees in number and gender with the antecedent noun or pronoun of the matrix clause. Cf....і великий став би художник, який зумів би передати все це. (Гончар) В штабі запанувала пауза, в якій чути було далеку канонаду... (Яновський) Зажурено дивився він у маленьке віконце, за яким снував пряжу післядощовий капіж. (Тютюнник) Нема таких туманів, які б не розійшлися над тобою... (Рильський)

Of isomorphic nature, however, are some implicit adverbial meanings expressed also by the attributive clauses through their adverbial connectors, as in the above-given already examples:

Time: It was the time when they Настав час, коли вони (щенята)

looked now. (O'Dell) вже не були сліпі.

Cause: There was no reason why Я не бачу жодних підстав, чому

she should not get some б вона не знайшла потрібного

dramatist... (Maugham) драматурга...

Place: It is the sanctuary where all Це — сховище, де всі речі зна-

things find refuge. (Ibid.) йдуть собі прихисток.

Isomorphic in the syntactical systems of the contrasted languages, however, is the existence of polycomponental and simpler complex sentences with the so-called comment clauses [52, 293]. Their common forms are you know, you see, as you know, what's more (бачите, розумієте, як бачите, як кажуть). The clauses may occur in the sentence initially, medially or finally. Cf. "You see, when we left New York she was very nervous and she thought it would steady her to drive... (Fitzgerald) — Бачите, коли ми виїхали з Нью-Йорка, вона була дуже знервована, тож вона вирішила, що її заспокоїть їзда за кермом автомобіля.

The English two-componental clause "You see", like its Ukrainian definite personal clause equivalent "Бачите", practically performs no syntactic (subordinated or subordinating) function. It serves as an ap-

pended sentence to mark a colloquial introduction to the complex sentences whose structural pattern in English and Ukrainian can be presented as follows: Scomment.<Sadv>Smatr.<Sobj.

When in its medial position, the comment clause resembles or coincides in its function with the inserted clause as in the following sentence: "I'm glad that you both "know all", as Eteban dramatically put it... because it... leaves us free to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion." (Coward) "Я радий, що ви обидва "знаєте все", як неждано-негадано заявив Етебан, тому що це... дозволяє нам прийти до позитивного розв'язання справи."

The underlined clause "as Eteban dramatically put it" has no syntactic dependence on the preceding or on the succeeding clause as the two other subordinate clauses have in the sentence.

As was pointed out, one more allomorphic feature of English attributive clauses is the omission of the joining/connecting element before the subordinate clause which is impossible in Ukrainian. Cf. "There's a woman [ ] set about me with a stick on the commoc," he said (V.C. Pritchett) Or in such a sentence: "There's crowds of artists [ ] have asked me- sometimes it's just funny stuff, of course, but mostly it's genuine." (A. Wilson))

And who was it last night said [ ] he wouldn't have fat on his mean and changed it for hers?' (Lessing) In these sentences the connective pronoun who is omitted.