FUNCTIONAL STYLES IN ENGLISH AND UKRAINIAN

Plan
1. The classification of styles.
2.. The scientific style and its language features,
3.. The publicistic style.
4. The official business style.
1.Scientists differ as to the amount of functional styles. The definition of functional style runs as
follows: “ A functional style is a system of interrelated language means which serves a definite
aim in communication” ( I.Galperin ). Every style is characterized by a peculiar use of various
language means and some prominent features. The Ukrainian stylistician O.Ponomariv singles out
5 functional styles: publicistic, scientific, official-business, colloquial and literary, or the style of
fiction. Other linguists, including V.Kukharenko, also mention newspaper style. Another, rather
original classification of styles by V.Joos is given in lecture one.
The scientific style is found in articles, monographs and other scientific and academic
publications. The publicistic style involves such genres as essay, feature articles, public speeches,
etc. The newspaper style can be observed in the information materials in mass media.
The official style is represented in all kinds of official documents, papers, agreements, business
letters.
These styles are not homogeneous and fall into several substyles. The analysis of these functional
styles can involve the following aspects: vocabulary, grammar forms, sentence and text
structure.

2. The scientific style. Its main function is to convey knowledge, facts, results and data obtained
by means of experiments and hypothesis. The Ukrainian stylisticians single out such substyles: the
scientific proper ( monograph, article, scientific report, abstract, dissertation ); scientific-popular
(non-special books, articles ), scientific-educational ( textbooks, manuals for schools, universities
, lectures ). The vocabulary of scientific texts includes terminology, special lexis and nomenclature
words peculiar for certain field of science and technology. Stylistically neutral words are also used.
The scientific vocabulary is characterized by set phrases and clichés which add to precision, or
cohesion of the text: In connection with; As it was mentioned above; We can make the
conclusions… Also, texts of this style include references, quotations, symbols, graphs, tables.
The abundance of terms – general and specific – is a typical feature of this style. English terms
are more polysemantic than Ukrainian ones. Many terms are metaphoric though metaphors don’t
often coincide: face of the clock – циферблат годинника; face of the crystal – грань кристалу.
The main tense forms are Past Simple, Present Simple, Present Perfect and Passive Voice. Noun
clusters include not only two but also three, four components. Infinitive constructions are frequent
and present a peculiar feature of English scientific texts.
A peculiar characteristic feature of Ukrainian scientific style is the impersonal sentences, the use
of plural pronoun ми/we for one author as a sign of modesty. Whereas the British and American
scholars use the pronoun I more often.
Another difference, according to O.Dubenko, is certain absence of imperative sentences in
English scientific texts which are so typical for Ukrainian: Визначимо; Розглянемо;
Порівняймо… Their function is often fulfilled by rhetoric questions in English: How do we explain
this phenomenon?

3. The publicistic style. This style falls into three substyles: oratorical, essay and articles. The
main function of this style is to exercise influence on public opinion, to convince the reader or the
listener to accept the point of view expressed in the speech or the article by not only logical
argumentation but also by emotional appeal. Because of this, the publicistic style combines the
features of the scientific prose, on the one hand, and the peculiarities of the style of fiction, on the
other hand. The emotive appeal is achieved by words with emotive and expressive connotative
meanings, by the use of imagery and other stylistic devices.
 Among the common features of the publicistic style in Ukrainian and English languages it is
necessary to single out various clichés, set phrases: vital issues, growing concern, informed
sources, it is reported that; нагальна проблема ,широкий розмах, досягти консенсусу.
Besides these stereotyped phrases, in the British and American mass media we can see barbarisms
and foreign words: per se, déjà vu, enfant terrible. The Ukrainian press abounds in
barbarisms:хеппі-енд, сіквел, паблік рілейшнз. These borrowings from English which belong to
important spheres of human life have penetrated and are still penetrating the language of the
Ukrainian mass media, e.g. in politics: саміт, імпічмент, екзит-пол; economics and finance:
трейдер, дефолт, транш; cinema, show business: римейк, трилер, промоушн; sport: фітнес,
гейм, серфінг.
As a result of this alongside with the assimilation of foreign words another specific process is
going on in the Ukrainian press – the rebirth of the endemic lexis, the existence of two-three words
with similar meaning, i.e. different nominations of the same object or person, the so-called
heteronominations: фактор-чинник, тираж-наклад, журнал-часопис, фото-знімок-
світлина.
In the style of the British and American mass media a very typical feature is the use of catch
phrases, quotations, aphorisms: My fair monkey ( the title ); Show must go on; Elementary, my
dear Watson. In the Ukrainian press proverbs and sayings are used, as well as the allusions and
quotations from famous songs or films, even of the Soviet times.
A specific feature of the style of the Ukrainian newspapers and magazines is the abundance of
clichés based on periphrasis. It is known that periphrasis can be logical, metaphoric and
metonymic. These types of periphrasis are used in relation to objects and famous people: суддя-
слуга Феміди; депутати-народні обранці; газ-блакитне паливо; стати пенсіонером-піти
на заслужений відпочинок; Леся Українка- українська Жорж Санд; Яна Клочкова-золота
рибка. Such devices are aimed at avoiding tautology and at revealing some original feature of the
person or object.
The tendency of political correctness, euphimisms observed in the English publicistic discourse
can be also seen in the Ukrainian mass media: senior citizens=old people; disabled
person=invalid; мало захищені верстви населення=бідні люди; діти з особливими
потребами=діти-інваліди. However, such feature is more characteristic of the British and
American media. Political correctness is also revealed in the trend to avoid the words with a semi-
affix – man: chairman-chairperson; policeman-police officer. In the Ukrainian mass media this
tendency has another form – the use of double variants of the same words with the suffixes
-ка, -ня: колега-колежанка; лікар-лікарка; майстер-майстриня.
One more stylistic peculiarity of both English and Ukrainian mass media is the use of neologisms
and occasional words: eurosceptics; ecocide; talkathon; лохотрон; мажоритарна.
Both publicistic and newspaper styles are characterized by numerous abbreviations: GDP
( gross domestic product ), WTO ( World Trade Organization ), CEO ( chief executive officer ),
ОБСЄ ( Організація з безпеки і співробітництва в Європі ), СБУ ( Служба Безпеки України
), Кабмін, Укрсоцбанк.
Another distinguishing feature of the American press is the wider range of stylistic registers -
from literary to highly colloquial because of the existence of the so-called quality and popular
papers. In recent years this tendency is observed in Ukraine.
Specific features are characteristic of such varieties of this style as headlines, essays and,
especially, advertisements.

1. The official business style. The main features of this style are predetermined by its aim.
And the main aim of official and business documents is to state the rights and obligations of the
parties in an undertaking and to reach agreement between them.
This style is divided into the four following substyles: 1) the style of business documents; 2) the
style of legal documents; 3) the style of diplomatic documents; 4) the style of military documents.
The language of documents is formal, accurate, concise and clear.
 The vocabulary is bookish, the words are used in their logical denotative meaning, words with
emotive meaning are excluded. Archaic words, especially compound words, are used in legal
English: herewith, hereinafter, thereby, e.g. We are sending you herewith the statement of your
account. These documents require the use of special formulas of politeness as well as clichés: I
beg to inform you; on behalf of; the items on the agenda. Latin words and some French words are
used: ad hoc; force majeure. Also, official documents contain abbreviations or symbols: Ltd (
company with limited liability ), ad, Gvt (government ), $, Lb ( pound ).
Similar to scientific prose, official and business documents include many terms, both general
and special: the high contracting parties, proceedings, extra-territorial status, the clauses of the
agreements. In Ukrainian the specific feature of this style is the business lexis which includes
legal, diplomatic, administrative terminology – акредитація, заява, кодекс, позов, компенсація,
terms from various fields of technology, science, public life because this style regulates the
business relations of groups and individuals.
The grammar of the official and business style involves the use of non-finite verbal forms –
gerund, infinitive, participle: Considering that…; in order to achieve cooperation…Complex
structures like the Complex Object, the Complex Subject, the Absolute Participial Construction
which are absent in the Ukrainian language abound in English: The conditions being violated, it
appears necessary to state….The most widespread are Simple and Perfect tenses, Continuous
forms are not used. Sentences with Passive voice with the introductory it are frequent. The modal
verb shall is used in the meaning of must to denote obligation:
The results shall be considered.
On the morphological level the Ukrainian texts of this style contain many nouns, in particular
verbal nouns to denote actions and processes:виконання, опис, засідання.
The sentences are usually long, complex and mainly declarative. In many documents imperative
sentences are present.

Special patterns and lexis are typical for such forms as business letters, resumes, contracts. Thus,
in business letters stylistically significant are such parts as salutation, opening lines and
complimentary closing at the end. The typical greetings in English business letters are: Dear
Sir/Madam, Dear Mr/Mrs; while in Ukrainian it is Шановне панство/ Шановна пані.
The starting formulas are similar in both languages: We have received your letter of…; With
reference to your letter of… - Ми отримали вашого листа від…; На підтвердження нашої
домовленості…The concluding sentences are also identical: We expect your early reply; We are
looking forward to hearing from you; Thanking you beforehand for your cooperation. – Просимо
Вас терміново повідомити; Наперед вдячні Вам за співпрацю.
The formal character of letters in both languages is achieved by clichés: For health reasons;
Allow us to draw your attention to…; We take the liberty of offering… The formal effect can be
stressed by the so-called split predicate, that is the combination of a noun with a verb instead of
stylistically neutral predicate: We apologize – We offer apologies; We express our regrets. –
Прийміть наші вибачення; Висловлюємо наш жаль.
In general, the aims of business letters are universal. An important element of business ethic is
the manifestation of friendly attitude to the partner which is revealed in the strong positions of the
text of the letter – at the beginning and at the end. Such friendly attitude can be realized through
the use of stable but limited group of epithets: Many thanks for your warm letter of…; We just
received your gracious letter; I sincerely appreciate our cooperation. – Вдячні вам за чудову
зустріч; Щиро дякуємо за гостинність.
At the same time a peculiar feature of modern English business letters is a clear tendency of
weakening of formal character of correspondence, for example: Dear Robert Jones instead of
Mr.Jones; the use of closing formulas Best regards ; With best regards which, until recently, were
considered too informal.