Typology of the Sentence

Unlike word-groups which are subject of investigation in Minor syntax, the sentence is investigated in the so-called Major syntax. Hence, the sentence in the contrasted languages has a large number of typologically relevant features in common. The existence of such isomorphic features both in the simple and in the composite sentence is predetermined by the main common types of aspects characteristic of the sentence as a peculiar language unit. These aspects are three: 1) structural; 2) semantic and 3) pragmatic. This aspective trichotomy directly correlates with the meaning, form and functioning of the sentence in speech where it realises its explicit form of an utterance corresponding to a logically complete proposition.

These three aspects are practically of universal nature; they constitute the main basis for a systemic arrangement and systemic contrasting of simple and composite sentences in all languages. Apart from this, the mentioned aspects can also serve as reliable distinguishing features between the main syntactic units, i. e. sentences on the one hand and the word-groups that are used to form sentences, on the other.

The principal distinguishing features characterising the sentence as a universal language unit are as follows: 1) the sentence is the main language unit; 2) it is the main syntactic unit and 3) it is the main integral part of speech, in other words - the principal communicative unit. Unlike

word-groups, sentences in the contrasted languages are distinguished from word-groups and words, that are as lower in rank language units, by some peculiar features, the main of which are the following four: 1) an intonation contour; 2) predication; 3) modality; 4) and a relative sense completion.