RENDERING THE ABSOLUTE PARTICIPIAL CONSTRUCTION IN UKRAINIAN LITERARY TRANSLATION: A GRAMMATICAL CHALLENGE AND A STYLISTIC SOLUTION

Abstract

The article explores the features of translating the absolute participial construction (APC) from English into Ukrainian, based on material from literary discourse. Thanks to their specific structure, APCs ensure a high degree of expressive compactness, enabling the concise transmission of additional semantic nuances and contributing to the dynamism of the narrative. In literary texts, they often serve a stylistic function: offering vivid descriptions of characters’ appearances, emotional states, or the unfolding of events, thus enhancing the imagery and rhythm of narration. The article argues that the choice of translation strategy is influenced by several factors. Chief among them is the position of the APC in the sentence: initial constructions tend to be translated as subordinate adverbial clauses, whereas postpositional ones are more commonly rendered as attributive or coordinate structures. The grammatical tense of the participle also plays a significant role: present participle forms are typically conveyed using active syntactic models, while past participles tend toward descriptive or clarifying constructions. Pragmatic factors are equally important: the translation is shaped by the genre-specific features of the source text, the author’s stylistic intent, and the expectations of the target audience. Thus, in translation, the APC is not merely a grammatical challenge – it is a means of conveying the communicative and cultural specificity of the English text. It functions as a tool that combines structural compactness with expressive strength, and its successful rendering in Ukrainian requires a comprehensive approach that considers both formal aspects and semantic-pragmatic dimensions. The study highlights that working with such constructions is essential not only for enhancing translation practice but also for deepening the understanding of the underlying mechanisms of English syntax and its interaction with the Ukrainian linguistic system.