Article

Name: The category of prichastodetie (Gerundivum) in the Russian literary language of the 18th century (a case study of the works of the Siberian cycle by A. N. Radishchev)

Authors: Sergei V. Vlasov, Dmitrii G. Demidov

St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation; Chengchi State University, Taipei, Taiwan

In the section Linguistics

Abstract:

The artificial, at first glance, and peripheral category of prichastodetie (Gerundivum) (special nominal forms of the verb in -teln-) dynamically turns into the category of state, adverbs, adjectives, discursive words, prepositions, preserving its traces in its meaning of verbal action and a separate subject of action. Discovered by M. Smotritsky and described by other scholars, the prichastodetie experienced a boom in its development in the 18th century, accompanied by the lexicalization of the most common word forms. The process of formation and further lexicalization of the grammatical forms in question (“passing to the rank of qualifying adjectives,” according to Vinogradov) is rather similar to how participles are formed from verbs and transformed into adjectives and adverbial participles into adverbs. The difference is not in the quality but in the degree of productivity. The metaphorization of the verb meaning, its transfer from the physical to the emotional, and, more broadly, to the spiritual sphere facilitates the transformation of Russian “gerundives” into qualifying adjectives. The increased use of Russian “gerundives” formed from verbs of specific semantics in scientific and technical language strengthens their direct semantic link with the verb and prevents them from losing the meaning of verbal action. The prichastodetie is on the periphery of the morphological system of the Russian language and interacts with its system of word formation. The development of the category of prichastodetie is analyzed using the National Corpus of the Russian Language and the works of the Siberian cycle of A. N. Radishchev.

Keywords: Slavonic grammar, word formation, suffix -teln-, prichastodetie (Gerundivum), adjectival and adverbial “prichastodetie”, Russian literary language

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