Optative () modality in English and Ukrainian serves to express the wish of the speaker to establish the correspondence of content of the utterance to reality. The main ways and means of expressing this type of modality in English are syntactic. They include characteristic sentence structures, the use of auxiliary and modal verbs (to be, were, should, could, let, would, etc.), the ascending or descending utterance intonation. In Ukrainian apart from the modal verbs and intonation (prosodic means) some specifying modal particles are widely used. The most common of them are /, , /, //, , , , , , , , , and others Cf:
. might see her there (M.)
Would it not be better to ? (.) meet them halfway?
Optative modality is used in both languages in ample and composite sentences:
If only it could always be .
spring. (Galsworthy) / /.
Ah, I wish I were fifteen /
again. (Maugham) ' .
express wish with implied regret or unreal wish the stative or may be used in Ukrainian:
I wish I had met him when ,
he was younger.(Greene) , .
1 See more about grammatical/syntactical modality in: . . .. . - .: , 1972, . 125-137.
I wish I could gather knowl- / -
edge as carelessly... /
(Maugham) ...
Optative modality is very often used to express incentive () meanings which are expressed in English simple and composite sentences with the help of the so-called subjunctive I mood form (synthetic or analytical). In Ukrainian the imperative mood of the verb and the particles , , are mostly used for the purpose. They express the meaning pertained to the modal verb may in the subjunctive (I) mood as in the following sentences:
... my gates are open to real ... life, bring what it may. (B.Shaw) ,
./ .
May you both be happy. ./
(Hornby) ./
.
Some optative meanings expressed in Ukrainian through such modal particles as , for example, may not be easy to fully and completely express in English which has no such fine means (Confer the Shevchenkinian , .).
The Optative meaning of the concluding line was rendered by John Weir with the help of the modal verb may. The mansion, too, from far away - May nettle choke the cursed place!
Optative modality in both languages may have different forms of expression. Its formal means in Ukrainian include the corresponding mood forms of the verb (predicate) and the particle /. The particle identifies some subtypes of the subjunctive mood meanings (the suppositional, the conditional, etc.):
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I would he were a tree or ,
flower. (H.S.Leigh) . (
).
If only you could make him ҳ
laugh. (. Twain) /
.
The last sentence, naturally, can be translated without any
structural transformation: .
The meaning of optative modality expressing desire is very close to incentive modality expressing non-categorical demand, requestor threat. Optative meanings are usually realized in English via the modal verbs should, would, may/might, could, and the semantically corresponding infinitive, whereas in Ukrainian the particles , , and the prosodic means (sentence intonation/stress) are mostly employed here:
' '. But no one should ever
(. ) know/learn anything about it.
' But you should (are to) be
'! (. ) here at daybreak!
2. Incentive () modality is more often expressed in English through the modal verb let. These meanings are usually rendered into Ukrainian with the help of the imperative mood forms of the verbal predicate and the particle /:
God said, "Let Newton be! :
and all was light. (A.Pope) !
.
Let him that earns the bread ,
eat it. (Bibl. Saying) , (.
, ).
Let each tailor mend his own
coat. (Saying) .
The meaning of the second sentence, for example, may have a fuller expression when it is rendered into Ukrainian antonymically: , ./ , .
Ukrainian incentive sentences introduced by the particle / are usually translated into English with the help of the modal verb let as well:
Let the old mother learn How
, such kind of children... must be
. (. ) cared for by her. (Transl. ByJ.Weir)
. Let once more our mother
. smile. Our tear-ridden mother.
(. ) (Ibid.)
Incentive modality may also be expressed in Ukrainian with the help of other modal particles. One of the often used for this purpose is /, the meaning of which is usually expressed in English through the modal verb let and the corresponding intonation:
, . Oh let us wander still, my fate...
(..) (Transl.byJ. Weir).
English incentive meanings can also be expressed through the combination of the particle long with the modal verb may, which together with the corresponding intonation of the sentence express the meaning close to the Ukrainian exclamatory sentences with the particlexafi or the particles : Long live and prosper our Motherland! May our Motherland live long! / !
3. The means of expression as well as those of rendering sub
junctive modality are mostly common with those employed to ex
press optative modality. They are in English the modal verbs could,
should, would, might or the expressions would rather, would
sooner. For example: / would rather come tomorrow than today.
He would sooner resign than take part in such dishonest business
deals. (Kerr) These modal verbs are also used to express the corre
sponding subjunctive meanings in Ukrainian simple and composite
sentences:
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ϳ . would go through thick
() and thin/through many trials.
You would perfectly suit for
. (Ibid) a hospital nurse.
4. The expression of subjunctive modality in the composite
sentence of the two languages does not differ from that in their simple
sentences. Allomorphism, i.e., divergence is observed only in the
already mentioned formal expression of incentive meanings with the
help of the so-called subjunctive I mood; the latter does not correlate
with its Ukrainian grammatical and partly semantic expression. For
example: It is necessary that you (should) come a couple of days
before the others. (Kerr) /,
.
The subjunctive I form should come or simply come (It is necessary that you come) used for any person in singular or plural has in Ukrainian the only equivalent verb form in the indicative mood ().
Other English synthetic and analytical subjunctive mood forms in simple and composite sentences have in Ukrainian their morphological and semantic equivalents. Constantly distinguishing among them is that same particle / or the conjunction , which help to render the meanings of the suppositional and the conditional mood forms into Ukrainian. The use of the modal particle or the conjunction is predetermined by the meaning of the Ukrainian verb and not by the mood or tense form of its English lexical equivalent, which may express actions referring both to present and to future as in the following sentences:
It would be madness to start in management unless one had , at least three plays. (Maugham) /
'.
Should Carry come, ask her ,
to wait." (Dreiser) , '.
Similarly rendered are also meanings expressed by the subjunctive II and conditional mood forms of the verb, which may refer to present, past or future. These forms of the verbal predicate have their corresponding paradigmatic equivalents in Ukrainian. Cf.:
But if they had been sent by
people to take me away, then , ,
should not hide. " (O'Dell) .
If he had any sense, he^d .
shut his eyes. (Maugham) .
The clauses which express the subjunctive meanings in English and Ukrainian may have no introductory/connecting conjunction if (, ):
Were I less attached to you,
might pretend to gloss it over. ,
(Cronin) ./
... had any stranger been ... prowling round the house, he , would have been seen by the servant or the keepers. (Wilde) .
The past subjunctive II (had been prowling'] and the past conditional mood paradigm (wouldhave been seen) have in these sentences their corresponding verb forms in Ukrainian. These subjunc-
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tive mood forms under the pressure of centuries long domination Russian in Ukraine are mostly substituted for simple past verb forms. Being lexically equivalent and structurally much like their English paradigms, these Ukrainian subjunctive mood forms present an excellent morphological means of expression and must not be neglected when rendering such type of meanings into Ukrainian.
Exercise I. Identify the type of modal meaning (incentive, suppositional, conditional, etc.) expressed by the modal verbs and mood forms in the English sentences below. Suggest the appropriate means and ways for faithful translating these sentences into Ukrainian.
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1.1 should have seen them farther first. 2. I would have it as a gift. (Galsworthy) 3. Jacob would have insisted on going to the police. 4. Most people, Mr.Poirot, would let this business go. (Christie) 5. If only one were like birds! (Galsworthy) 6. I should be sorry to interrupt you. 7. I suggested we should meet here... (Snow)
8. I couldn't squeeze a tear out of my eyes, if life depended on it...
9. A real change of air surroundings would be very helpful if you
could arrange it. (M.Wilson) 10. The thing was rich, as his father
would have said - if he knew, I would see her furtherfirst. (Galsworthy)
11. I wish you had not put yourself to so much trouble. (Cronin)
12. You had better move over to the other side. (Hemingway)
13. I wouldn't stay with you, though if you didn't worry me.
14. What a delight it would be if it would endure. 15. I wouldn't have
wanted you to come if I hadn't loved you. (Dreiser) 16. He had been
anxious that morning in case she might take it into her head to come.
(Murdoch) 17. I'd have been hurt, if you hadn't called. (M.Wilson)
18. It wouldn't have been so bad if she hadn't been all alone in the
house. (Stout) 19. It wouldn't have happened if Douglas hadn't come
here. (Spark) 20. Had he not known, it could be so easy. (Stone)
21. Even if they had wanted me to stay, I should have refused.
(Maugham) 22. Happy they could have been, if they could have dis
missed me at a month's warning too. (Christie) 23. She wished she
had an opportunity of a few words with him, so that she would have
told him not to worry. 24. If you had been in love with him, you wouldn't
have wanted three days to think it over. You'd have said yes there and
then. (Maugham) 25. And their feet would have yet trod many trails
and not dusting brushed the clouds aside and cleared the air. (Lon
don) 26. If I had been you, mother, I might have done as you did...
(B.Shaw)
Exercise II. Identify the modal meanings (optative, incentive, suppositional, etc.) expressed through optative or subjunctive modality in the English sentences below and translate them into Ukrainian.
1. I wish it hadn't happened. Oh, I wish it hadn't happened. 2. If you rested, I would go, I urged him. (Hemingway)S. I think I'd better ring off. 4. And with time on my side I would look back on the day without bitterness... 5. On your way, bums, the policeman said, prodding us with his billy. (Caldwell) 6. You go up to bed, I said, You are sick. 7. Don't think, I said, Just take it easy. 8. Let's not have any ordering, nor any silliness, Francis, Margot said.9. Behave yourself. Oh, shut up, Macober almost shouted. 10. Let's go to the car, said Macober. Let's all have a drink. Come along. 11. You ought to take some broth to keep your strength up. 12. It would have been natural for him to go to sleep. 13. I'd rather stay awake. (Hemingway) 14. Well, he says himself, he wouldn't have white servants. 15. I guess maybe I'd better (shake hands), she said. I wouldn't for the world have him think I had any feeling (here ). 16. I think I'd better shake hands, just the way I would with anybody else. (D. Parker) 17. The girls wouldn't have thought so much of him if they'd seen him then. 18. If he couldn't get something to do he'd have to commit suicide. 19. The swim shouldn't take you much over an hour and a quarter. (Maugham) 20. We'd better be getting back, one of the girls said. 21. Richard should stay here and I should go up North, Frank said. (M. Spark) 22. I wish you hadn't stopped your German, said Mor. (Murdoch) 23. If you should happen to change your mind, I'm always ready to take off your hands. (Bennett) 24. I expect you've not finished your business. I should be sorry to interrupt. (Snow) 25. If Joe were only with him! (Galsworthy) 26. Happy they could have been, if they could have dismissed me at a month's warning too. 27. But for your help, the old woman would not have risked crossing the street. (Kerr) They were ready to attack the intruders, should they prove unfriendly. 28. If they were hunters, I must hide before they saw me. (S.O'Dell) 29. If worst came to worst. (Saying) 30. He suggested that they should have a stroll through the Luxembourg (museum).30. Then, perhaps, I'd be able to judge if I could help.31. Even if they had wanted me to stay, I should have refused. (Maugham) 32. If we could get hold of her, we might learn a lot more. (Christie) 33. I wish you had not put yourself to so much trouble, Stephen said. (Cronin) 34. I think I'd sooner have the other one,
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said Mr. Povey. (Bennett) 35. I wouldn't have it as a gift.(Galsworthy) 36. She wished she had an opportunity of a few words with him so that she would have told him not to worry. (Maugham) 37. Mike, would you guess I was half Welsh?. 38. Would you want a job? Sure? Oh yes, quite sure. (Trevor)
