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function words). In Ukrainian the synthetic way is prevalent.
The German language is characterized by a more or less equal
combination of synthetic and analytical means, whereas in
English analytical means are dominant.
According to the type of functioning the divergence can
be obvious in the following way:
1) in the correlation between grammar and vocabulary.
Thus, in Ukrainian the form of singularity and polarity are
possessed only by countable nouns, the category of voice/state is
possessed only by transitive verbs, the degree of comparison is
characteristic only of qualitative adjectives. In some other
languages (for example, in French) lexico-grammatical categories
are not so strictly limited: some words can acquire certain
grammatical categories non- compatible with their semantics,
changing simultaneously their meaning (abstract nouns can
acquire the plural form, intransitive verbs often become
transitive);
2) in the secondary functions of grammatical forms.
Compare: in English They told me «Мені сказали» and I was told
«Я був сказаний» (literally) – the latter is impossible in
Ukrainian.
The tasks carried out in CG studies are first of all
corresponding to the demands of practical usage, that is: the
methodology of language study, compiling different textbooks,
dictionaries and reference books in translation techniques etc.
Especially important are such contrastive grammar textbooks for
school teaching. Contrasting two language systems can reveal
certain regularities in one of them which have not become the
object of study till this time. In recent years the synchronic
comparative study of languages has become still more topical.
The aims of major comparative investigations are:
1) to identify and classify the main isomorphic and
allomorphic features characteristic of languages under
investigation;

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