Semantic and Syntax Structure of Unextended Sentences of Verbal Type in the Belles Lettres Communication of Oles Gonchar

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of the structure of the Ukrainian sentence. At the centre of the authors' scientific interests are unextended sentences of verbal type. The investigation was carried out with the presupposition of the opinion of leading modern syntacticians on the division of simple sentences or parts of complex sentences into extended and unextended ones and the recognition of the minimal structural elements by syntactic units, self-sufficient for forming and expressing predicative basis. The object of the study was unextended verb-type sentences without obligatory predicate components. The analysis includes not only sentences consisting of a subject and a predicate (two-member sentence) or a main clause (one-member sentence sentence), expressed by an absolute verb, but also those that can be distributed by optional components, as well as sentences of complex structure. The material for scientific research was a discourse of high functional-stylistic and individual-speech quality, accumulated in Oles Honchar's novels «Cathedral» and «Your Star». Among the verbs of the modern Ukrainian language, which model unextended sentences of verbal type, the following semantic groups are distinguished: verbs that express action as a lesson, skill, duty; verbs representing the psychophysiological state; verbs of movement, motion; verbs with the meaning of «transformation», «transition», «emergence of a new feature», «strengthening of a feature or quality»; verbs denoting sounds; verbs with the meaning «to take place», «to be» (about the natural phenomena). The main attention in the article is focused on the semantic and syntactic organization of unextended sentences. For this purpose, semantic types of verbs of the modern Ukrainian language are singled out and illustrated with extensive examples, which compose unextended sentences of verbal type in Oles Honchar's belles-lettres communication. Their analysis showed that the writer prefers the verbs of movement, motion and especially those verbs that express the psychophysiological state. Oles Honchar rarely uses verbs that express action as a lesson, skill, duty. The verbs denoting sounds represent a small group either. Verbs with the meaning «to take place», «to be», reproducing the natural phenomena are more frequent. The verbs denoting «transformation», «transition», «emergence of a new feature», «strengthening of a feature or quality» took a borderline position in terms of usage frequency. Based on the analysis of uncommon verb-type sentences without obligatory predicate components in Oles Honchar’s belles-lettres communication, a general conclusion is made that their meanings form a complex of heterogeneous semantic elements. Semantic-syntactic differential features of such sentences are due, among other things, to the self-sufficient semantic content of absolute verbs-predicates.