Lection 3-4. The verb in the contrasted languages

1. GENERAL REMARKS

2. ASPECT AND TENSE

3. THE PASSIVE

4. THE IMPERATIVES AND CONDITIONALS

5. PARTICIPLES, GERUND, INFINITIVE

6. TRANSITIVE / INTRANSITIVE VERBS

1. General remarks

The Ukrainian verbal system is, in general terms, very similar to that which is found in the other East Slavonic languages (Russian and Belarusian) as well as in West Slavonic (Polish, Czech, Slovak, and Upper and Lower Serbian). This system is driven by the existence of 'aspectual' distinctions, which reflect the nature of the action expressed by the verb; the tense system is loosely dependent on the aspect of the verb. Although this may at first seem to be complex, it does in fact mean that the number of tenses is strictly limited in comparison with such languages as French, Spanish, German, and even English. The verb is fully conjugated in the present tense, such that a complete paradigm exists expressing person (T, 'you', and so on) and number ('singular', 'plural'); the past is compara­tively minimalist, expressing only number and gender in the singular and number in the plural. Following presentation of aspect and the verbal paradigms examines the use of the verb (including aspect, verbs requiring particular cases, and such notions as the 'conditional' or 'mood', and so on); and describes the system of verbal derivation.

2. Aspect and tense

Practically every verb in Ukrainian exists as a member of an aspectual pair. There are two 'aspects' in the system, 'imperfective' and 'perfective'; readers who are familiar with languages such as French and Spanish are cautioned not to assume this can be equated with the respective tenses in those lan­guages known as the 'imperfect' and 'perfect': although some parallels can be drawn between the use of Ukrainian aspects and Romance tenses, they are, not equivalent. The two aspects, in very broad terms, express two different kinds of action. The imperfective expresses action of a general nature, Ingoing, or repetitive; the perfective, on the other hand, expresses the fact that an action is one-time, completed ('completion' can also mean any one particular point during a larger action), or restricted in some way. Thus, for example:

Він читав книжку. Не was reading a/the book. vs.

Він прочитав книжку. Не read (finished reading) the book.

204 Ukrainian: A Comprehensive Grammar

These are basic rules of thumb, but there are many instances when it will appear that they are violated. The important point for English speakers is the fact that there are sometimes no clear or exact boundaries between the use of verbs of one or the other aspect; occasionally a verb of either aspect is acceptable in a given situation, and even a native speaker would say that he or she is unable to say which form is 'right' or 'wrong'. Far from being a negative point, this shows that there are often no absolutes, and the learner is encour­aged to note particular usages, whether in speech or in writing, and follow them. We shall discuss aspect in more detail in the following sections, in connection with tense, conjugation, syntax, and word formation.

There are three tenses in Ukrainian: present, past, and future. Because of their very general nature, imperfective verbs have all three; as perfective verbs essentially express completed action, however, they can have no present tense - what is past is past, but what looks like a present tense form in a perfective verb therefore on the whole expresses future time. In this book we shall use the term 'non-past' in reference to the present tense forms of imperfective verbs and the future tense forms of perfectives, as they are exactly the same in form, differing with regard to tense only for aspectual reasons. Unlike many European languages, the standard Ukrainian language admits only one com­pound tense, that of one form of the imperfective future (much as in English: I will/shall read the book). We describe the formal side of the aspectual system, by supplying aspectual pairs and outlining how the learner can come to recognize the aspect of a given verb.

ASPECTUAL PAIRS

Both imperfective and perfective verbs can be the 'basic' form, from which corresponding perfective or imperfective verbs are generated. In essence, there are six types of imperfective-perfective pairs:

1 Pairs in which the imperfective (usually a simplex verb) is basic; the perfec­tive member of the pair is generated by the addition of a prefix (X: prefix + X).

2 Pairs in which the sole difference between the two aspectual variants is the vowel preceding the infinitive marker -ти, generally imperf. -а-/-я-, perf. -и-(X – ати/яти: Х-ити).

3 Pairs in which an expansion of the root or stem takes place in the forma­tion of an imperfective based on a perfective, by means of:

(a) the addition of an imperfectivizing suffix -ува-/-юва or -ава- to a pre­fixed perfective (prefixed X: prefixed X + ува/ава), as in: доносити - доношувати 'to wear out', устати -уставати 'to stand up', 'rise' (this process as a whole is structurally close to Type 2);

(b) the expansion of the root of a prefixed perfective by the appearance of a vowel not present in the base form: thus imperf. брати - perf. вибрати > new imp. вибирати;

(c) the addition of the suffix -ай- to a number of simplex perfectives (usually consonant stems): лягти (1.sg. ляжу) - лягати (1.sg. лягаю).

4 Pairs in which the perfective is marked by the presence of the suffix -ну-.

5 Pairs differentiated only by the place of stress.

6 Anomalous pairs in which the two members are not formally related ('sup-pletion', X:Y).

Type 6 involves only a few verbal pairs; in the following sections all six types are described in turn.

TYPE 1: PREFIXATION

Of the prefixes that are used in the formation of perfectives, з- (зі-), на-, про-, and especially пo- are the ones that can occur solely as markers of the perfect­ive aspect. Others (and indeed these four as well) impart additional lexical meaning to the verbs in question; a full treatment of the semantic compon­ent, and of all the prefixes, as the primary purpose of this section is to describe the nature of aspectual pairs.

ПО-

Imperfective Perfective Meaning

звати позвати to call, name

дарувати подарувати to give (as a gift)

чути почути to feel

кликати покликати to call, name

нести понести to carry

просити попросити to request

дзвонити подзвонити to phone

обіцяти пообіцяти to promise

мити помити to wash

пробувати попробувати to try, test

цілувати поцілувати to kiss

At times the new perfective has to be translated more precisely in order more satisfactorily to express its perfectiveness, for example, the onset of an action; compare the pair любити 'to love' vs. полюбити 'to fall in love'.

Imperfective Perfective Meaning

HA-

писати написати to write

лити налити to pour

малювати намалювати to paint, depict

ПРО-

читати прочитати to read

чистити прочистити to clean

3-

їсти з'їсти to eat

нудити знудити to tire, bore

The intersection of prefixation, stress, and aspect is one of the more complex sides of Ukrainian grammar, as there are many instances in which a given form is either (a) not the aspect that one expects, or (b) not semantically compatible with a seemingly related form or partner. Thus, злазити 'to crawl', 'creep (down)' is not the perfective partner of * лазити, but the imper-fective partner of злізти; compare the analogous пролазити-пролізти 'to crawl through or over', and намерзати - намерзнути 'to freeze'. For a com­plete inventory of verbal prefixes and their meanings.

TYPE 2: -йти: -ати

In the -ити: -ати (-йти: -яти) pairs it is the perfective that may be considered the basic form, but this is very often not obvious; as it is basic, however, we cite the perfective first. If the consonant preceding -ити can mutate, it will do so in the generation of the imperfective (the fact that there is a mutation in the imperfective indicates that it is the perfective that is basic); here are some typical -ати: -ити pairs:

Perfective Imperfective Meaning

навчити навчати to teach, instruct

кінчити кінчати to finish

озарйти озаряти to illuminate

доставити доставляти to provide

лишити лишати to abandon, leave

появитися появлятися to appear

змістити зміщати to contain, include

схилити схиляти to incline, bend down

утратити утрачати to lose

пригостити пригощати to entertain, receive (a guest)

Note as a rule, those imperfective verbs which are derived from stem-stressed perfectives will be end-stressed, as they will be when derived from end-stressed perfectives.

TYPE 3: SUFFIXATION AND ROOT ENLARGEMENT

Enlarged forms, whether by suffixation or root expansion, are also generated from perfective base forms, as in Type 2. In contrast to that type, however, we find that forms based on end-stressed perfectives will tend to have stress retracted to the stem.

Perfective Imperfective Meaning

наламати наламувати to break many things

обговорити обговорювати to talk over, discuss

змішати змішувати to mix, blend, to confuse

зміцнити зміцнювати to strengthen, reinforce

повторити повторювати to repeat

пригріти пригрівати to warm up

вибрати вибирати to choose, elect

послати посилати to send

утопити утеплювати to drown

відірвати відривати to pull/tear off

почати починати to begin

відпочити відпочивати to rest

Stress immediately precedes the suffix -ува-/-юва-, otherwise it is on -a-. Note that not all -ува-/-юва verbs are new derived imperfectives, thus, працювати 'to work', страйкувати 'to strike' are basic or primary (non-derived) imperfectives. Derived forms are extremely numerous, as this process is productive: i.e. it is a living process used in the formation of new verbs. In a pair of the почати - починати type, the -н- of the imperfective does not represent an addition, but is present in the non-past paradigm of почати.

TYPE 4: PERFECTIVES IN -ну-

This suffix is frequently used to form perfectives indicating a short or momentary action; it is not limited to perfectives, although imperfectives with -ну- are relatively few in number (for example, сохнути 'to grow dry').

Imperfective Perfective Meaning

зникати зникнути to disappear

кліпати кліпнути to blink, bat one's eyelids

достигати достигнути to mature, ripen (also perf. inf. достигти)

мигати мигнути to wink, vacillate, glimpse

зникати зникнути to disappear, vanish

кричати крикнути to shout

відкидати відкинути to reject, abandon

оглядати оглянути to see, look around

змикати зімкнути to close, lock, cover

Note 1 The tendency is for stress to retract іn the new perfectives if the base imperfective is end stressed (for example зникати > зникнути) but as the pair мигати-мигнути illustrates this is a tendency (albeit a strong one) and not a rule

Note 2 A root consonant (especially the stops т and д) can be lost before ну- as in відкидати відкинути

TYPE 5: PLACE OF STRESS

Imperfective Perfective Meaning

посипати посипати to strew, sprinkle

скликати скликати to summon, convene

розкидати розкидати to scatter about

виміряти виміряти to measure

відкликати відкликати to call back, revoke

покидати покидати to throw, cast away

For the last pair listed there is another perfective, viz покинути (Type 4 above), which is more common than покидати Great care must be taken not to assume that all pairs of this kind are aspectual pairs, as sometimes there can be a semantic difference (with or without aspectual differentiation), as in

виникати (perf) to search through

but

виникати (imperf) to arise, proceed from

сапати (imperf) to breathe hard

but

сапати (also imperf) to weed with a hoe

досипати (perf) to fill in (with grain), to add more (of a substance)

but

досипати (imperf) to sleep until a certain time, catch upon sleep

копати, копнути (imperf, perf) to kick

but

копати, копнути (imperf, perf) to dig, scoop out

походити (imperf) to resemble, be like

but

походити (perf) to walk a little

Where they do form aspectual pairs, there may be a difference in their con­jugation Compare

скликати скличу, скличеш

but

скликати скликаю, скликаєш (compare розкидати розкидати, which have identical conjugations)

The system is characterized by a considerable amount of variation, thus there may be more than one permissible imperfective or perfective with or without a sight change in meaning Thus

виміряти (perf), but also вимірити (perf), виміряти (imperf), but also the expanded form вимірювати (imperf), cf Type 3 above

виносити (imperf) 'to carry out/away', with its basic partner винести (perf), but cf виносити (perf) 'to carry out/away, one after another', the last mentioned also has an expanded partner виношувати (imperf)

Compare also the following pairs, in which there is variation in form the perfectives зустріти - зустрінути 'to meet' can be paired with either зустрічати or зустрівати (the latter is considered less common) In all such instances, whether there is variation in form or in stress, a good dictionary will provide the necessary information

TYPE 6: SUPPLETION

The members of the following pairs are either unrelated to each other, or they merely look unrelated as a result of their historical development, either way, they may look as though they do not belong together

Imperfective Perfective Meaning

брати узяти to take

займатися* зайнятися* to be occupied with

знаходити* знайти* to find, come upon

*аnd all other prefixed pairs involving the roots -йматися/-йнятися and

-ходити/-йти