The Participial Clause in the History of the Russian Language

The article examines the structure of the participle clause, in which the participle precedes the subject, with the actant or subordinate clause related to the participle placed in postposition. The study aims to reveal grammatical indicators of the participle predicativity, to determine the dynamics of the use of the clause under consideration, its stylistic peculiarities and the reasons for its loss in the Russian language. The application of comparative-historical and comparative-typological methods has enabled the author to prove the higher degree of predicative power of prepositive participles in comparison with the postpositive ones. The grammatical indicators of the participle predicativity have been established. They are expressed in word order, agreement of the participle and the subject in meaning, separation of the participial clause from the verbal part of the sentence with a dot or their connection by means of coordinating conjunction. The participial clause structural diversity has been studied and the development of absolute participle clauses on its basis has been revealed. The dynamics of its use in different periods of the history of the Russian language has been investigated. The frequency of its use has been ascertained in the written records of various genres dating back to the 11 th – 17 th centuries. The analysis of the texts originating from the 18th century has shown the dynamics of participial clause use in different periods of the history of the Russian language, which indicates the reference of such participial constructions to the bookish style.