Structural and probabilistic research of passive verbs in American and British prose

The article presents a systematic description of the voice in the English language, shedding light on its historic development by using the method of structural and probabilistic analysis. The purpose of the work is to analyze the frequency of the use of passive constructions in English-language literary texts and to study them across four synchronic sections. The research novelty stems from the fact that it traces the verbal functioning of the passive voice and reveals similarities and differences between the reasons affecting the distribution of passive constructions in various genres of fiction. The analysis also addresses the interdependence between the grammatical structure of the text and its content, including genre affiliation and the nature of changes in lexical composition over time. An attempt is made to establish linguistic trends and investigate their implementation in speech, as well as to trace the mechanisms of language evolution. For the most complete disclosure of the course of historical linguistic changes, a comparative analysis of the states of the language in different time periods was conducted. This gives a comprehensive picture of the use of the voice system in the standard English language during two centuries (or more precisely, four half-centuries).