Chapter Le marche di lista in russo. Segnali riformulativi, estensivi, generalizzanti… i vse takoe

This paper offers a survey of list markers in contemporary Russian, i.e. discourse markers that signal the presence of a list and fulfil specific semantic and pragmatic functions, such as generalization (и все такое ‘and things like that’), exemplification (типа ‘such as/kind of’) or reformulation of the list content (так сказать ‘so to speak’). It also explores the structural and functional properties of general extenders within the framework of CxG, focusing particularly on the process of lexicalization and grammaticalization of the discourse marker и все такое ‘and things like that’

Riflessioni sull’evoluzione del prostorečie russo

Some Remarks On the Development of Russian Prostorečie The paper provides a brief outline of Russian prostorečie (urban popular language), which is the supraregional language variety spoken by uneducated or half educated urban population, that doesn’t know the norms of standard language. Phonetic, morphosyntactic and lexical peculiarities of this language variety are illustrated by means of a real sample of Russian prostorečie: a letter written by an 80-year-old woman. The article also focuses attention on the development of a new prostorečie, which, with respect to old prostorečie, is characterized exclusively on lexical plane, and is the source by which slang and professional elements penetrate into the standard language

Binominal constructions with metaphorical quantifiers in Russian: “vsplesk ėmocij i volna pozitiva”

The paper provides a usage-based description of left-headed Russian binominals of the type [N1[metaphorical quantifier]N2GEN] (e.g. vsplesk ėmocij ‘a surge of emotions’, volna pozitiva ‘a wave of positivity’), where N1 is used metaphorically and tends to ‘grammaticalize’ into a quantifier and/or intensifier, denoting a large quantity or a sudden increase of N2. The analysis presents two case studies based on complex upward/forward-oriented movements: vsplesk ‘surge’ and volna ‘wave’. The study, set in the framework of cognitive linguistics, adopts a usage-based approach in order to identify the classes of N2-collocates for the two quantifiers/intensifiers and determine which semantic (intensity, arrangement, shape), actional (inchoativity, iterativity and multiactionality) and pragmatic features (i.e., connotation, evaluation, speaker’s attitude towards increasing processes and large quantities) are mapped from N1 onto N2

Chapter Le metafore di intensificazione in russo: la realizzazione linguistica del concetto di COMPLETEZZA

Adopting a data based approach, the study explores Russian intensifying metaphors of COMPLETENESS. A wide range of instantiations of the metaphor of COMPLETENESS is analyzed within the framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff & Johnson 1980), comprising achievement of a result (soveršennyj idiot), filled container (nabityj durak) and round form (kruglyj otličnik). The contrastive perspective (Russian-English-Italian) provides new insights on the mapping of the source domain of COMPLETENESS onto the target domain of INTENSITY in different languages and cultures

La reduplicazione nella codifica della maniera

Reduplication display a number of functiond ranging from the expression of plurality to the encoding of progressive aspect and intensity. In Italian, it can also convey manner, specifying the way a given processi s carries out or how a state manifests itself. Through the strategy at stake, complex espressions are creates with the purpose of conveying the meaning of manner based on the duplication of the main part of speech. The paper consists of two parts. Firstly, we aim outline a semantic taxonomy of the main and frequent manner reduplications as observed in some specific diaphasic and diatopic varieties of Italian. In the second part of paper, we will focus on Sicialian, where reduplication acquires values connectes with the semantic field of effeort/difficulty, slowness, or intensity through metonymic and metaphorical shifts of originally locative and quantificative meanings. We will adopt a usage-based approach, i.e., corpus data, spoke language data, along with consulting lexicographic sources as far as the variety of Siciliani s concerned

clinical outcome of patients over 90 years of age treated for chronic subdural hematoma

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Posterior Titanium Screw Fixation without Debridement of Infected Tissue for the Treatment of Thoracolumbar Spontaneous Pyogenic Spondylodiscitis

Study DesignRetrospective study.PurposeThe aim of our study was to analyze the safety and effectiveness of posterior pedicle screw fixation for treatment of pyogenic spondylodiscitis (PSD) without formal debridement of the infected tissue.Overview of LiteraturePosterior titanium screw fixation without formal debridement of the infected tissue and anterior column reconstruction for the treatment of PSD is still controversial.MethodsFrom March 2008 to June 2013, 18 patients with PSD underwent posterior titanium fixation with or without decompression, according to their neurological deficit. Postero-lateral fusion with allograft transplantation alone or bone graft with both the allogenic bone and the autologous bone was also performed. The outcome was assessed using the visual analogue scale (VAS) for pain and the Frankel grading system for neurological status. Normalization both of C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate was adopted as criterion for discontinuation of antibiotic therapy and infection healing. Segmental instability and fusion were also analyzed.ResultsAt the mean follow-up time of 30.16 months (range, 24–53 months), resolution of spinal infection was achieved in all patients. The mean CRP before surgery was 14.32±7.9 mg/dL, and at the final follow-up, the mean CRP decreased to 0.5±0.33 mg/dL (p <0.005). Follow-up computed tomography scan at 12 months after surgery revealed solid fusion in all patients. The VAS before surgery was 9.16±1.29 and at the final follow-up, it improved to 1.38±2.03, which was statistically significant (p <0.05). Eleven patients out of eighteen (61.11%) with initial neurological impairment had an average improvement of 1.27 grades at the final follow-up documented with the Frankel grading system.ConclusionsPosterior screw fixation with titanium instrumentation was safe and effective in terms of stability and restoration of neurological impairment. Fixation also rapidly reduced back pain

Le metafore di intensificazione in russo: la realizzazione linguistica del concetto di COMPLETEZZA

Intensifying Metaphors in Russian: The Linguistic Realization of COMPLETNESS This paper is part of the studies on linguistic intensification, i.e. a family of linguistic strategies that scale the referential force of a lexical item upwards (Bolinger 1972, Paradis 2008). Firstly, the study offers a corpus based classification of the most widespread Russianintensifying metaphors of COMPLETENESS.The data was analyzed within the theoretical framework of Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff & Johnson 1980). Different applications of this source domain were recognized: COMPLETENESS in fact can be conceptualized as the achievement of a result (совершенный идиот), the filling of a container (набитый дурак), or through the concept of circularity (круглый отличник). Adopting a contrastive perspective (Russian-English-Italian), the analysis provides new insights on the mapping of the source domain of COMPLETENESS onto the target domain of INTENSITY in different languages and cultures

Paradigmatic List Constructions. Patterns and Functions

<p>This paper deals with listing as a useful conceptual tool for categorization and offers an overview of the different types of lists in Russian, highlighting both universal and language-specific characteristics of this kind of construction. <br />The data-driven approach adopted in this study allows you to identify the main criteria according to which lists can be classified (exhaustiveness of the enumeration, conjunction, types of constituents, compositionality, and so on). <br />Particular attention is paid to paradigmatic lists, i.e. lists whose items are in a paradigmatic relationship with each other as either synonyms, co-hyponyms or co-meronyms. The features of this family of lists are dealt with in the framework of Construction Grammar, which accounts for both similarities in structure and meaning and differences in pragmatic and communicative functions.</p

È stato un mezzo disastro… Points of Convergence Between Approximation and Intensification: A Contrastive Italian-Russian Study

Based on the case-study of the Italian downtoner mezzo, ‘half of’, the present work aims to highlight, through a usage-based approach, interesting points of semantic and functional convergence between approximation and intensification, which are traditionally considered divergent meaningconstruction strategies. Mezzo functions both on the semantic level, by modulating the referential force of nouns, verbs, and adjectives, and on the pragmatic level, where it acts as a discourse marker, enabling the speaker to reduce the illocutionary force of their assertions and helping the receiver to make the inferences necessary to recognise the speaker’s communicative intentions in cases of “loose talk” (in Relevance Theory terms), such as understatement and overstatement. In the second part of the article, the results of a contrastive analysis with Russian are discussed, based on the assumption that the identification of functional equivalences between different languages is a valid heuristic method to explain the semantic and pragmatic multifunctionality of certain lexical elements, also from a cross-linguistic perspective.A partire dal case-study dell’approssimante italiano mezzo ‘metà di’ e attraverso un approccio basato sull’uso, il presente lavoro si propone di evidenziare interessanti punti di convergenza semantica e funzionale tra approssimazione e intensificazione, strategie di costruzione del significato tradizionalmente considerate divergenti. Mezzo agisce sia a livello semantico, modulando la forza referenziale di nomi, verbi e aggettivi, sia a livello pragmatico, dove funziona come marca discorsiva che consente al parlante di ridurre la forza illocutiva delle sue affermazioni e al ricevente di compiere le inferenze necessarie a interpretare correttamente le intenzioni dell’interlocutore dietro ad usi non letterali (o cosiddetti loose dalla Teoria della Pertinenza), quali, ad esempio, l’understatement e l’iperbole. Nella seconda parte dell’articolo verranno discussi i risultati di un’analisi contrastiva con il russo, partendo dal presupposto che l’identificazione di equivalenze funzionali tra lingue diverse è un metodo euristico valido per spiegare la multifunzionalità semantica e pragmatica di alcuni elementi lessicali, anche in una prospettiva interlinguistica