What’s in a Russian Aspectual Prefix? A Cognitive Linguistics Approach to Prefix Meanings

This article analyzes Russian aspectual prefixes from the perspective of cognitive linguistics. First, a general schema is advanced that involves a trajector, a landmark, and a relation connecting the two. Second, it is argued that there are con- ditions on the trajector involving an observer and a domain of accessibility and that the trajector of the prefix is not necessarily the same as the trajector of the verb. Third, landmarks are shown to come in four types, involving the image schemas POINT, LINE, PLANE, and CONTAINER. Fourth, the PATH image schema is demonstrated to represent the prototypical relation between trajector and landmark, although the prefix po- represents an important exception to the generalization that prefixes encode a PATH. Fifth, it is shown that motion verbs provide strong empirical evidence for po- as a pathless prefix. Finally, it is proposed that the aspectual meaning of prefixes is the result of metaphorical extension of their basic spatial senses. Taken together, the article presents a small inventory of conceptual building blocks and advances the hypothesis that these building blocks are sufficient to describe all the meanings of the aspectual prefixes in Russian

Morphology in Cognitive Linguistics

Cognitive linguistics and morphology bear the promise of a happy marriage. Cognitive linguistics provides theoretical concepts and analytical tools for empirical analysis, while morphology offers fertile ground for testing hypotheses and refining core concepts. It is no wonder, then, that numerous contributions to the field of morphology have been couched in cognitive linguistics, and that morphological phenomena have figured prominently in cognitive linguistics. Cognitive linguistics is a family of closely related frameworks that share the idea that language should be analyzed in terms of what is known about the mind and brain from disciplines other than linguistics. Cognitive linguistics furthermore adopts a semiotic perspective, claiming that the raison d’êtreof language is to convey meaning. Another central tenet is the usage-based approach, the idea that grammar emerges through usage, which implies a strong focus on language use in cognitive linguistics. An example of how cognitive linguistics relates morphology to general principles of cognition is the application of general principles of categorization to morphology. Morphological categories are analyzed as radial categories, that is, networks structured around a prototype. Such category networks can be comprised of the allomorphs of a morpheme or be used to model theoretical concepts such as paradigm and inflection class. The radial category is also instrumental in analyzing the meaning of morphological concepts. Rather than assuming abstract invariant meanings for morphemes, cognitive linguistics analyzes the meaning of morphological phenomena through networks of interrelated meanings. The relationships among the nodes in a category network are analyzed in terms of general cognitive processes, such as metaphor, metonymy, and blending. The usage-based approach of cognitive linguistics manifests itself in the strong focus on frequency effects in morphology. It is argued that frequency is an important structuring principle in cognition, and that frequent forms have a privileged status in a morphological paradigm

One or several categories? The Old Church Slavonic nǫ-verbs and linguistic profiling

In this article, I will investigate the Old Church Slavonic verbs with the -nǫ suffix, both the verbs that keep the nasal suffix throughout the paradigm (e.g. plinǫti ‘spit’) and the verbs that display -Ø in the past tense (e.g. pogybnǫti ‘perish’). Do these verbs constitute one or more linguistic categories? Having compiled a complete database of relevant verbs in Old Church Slavonic, I will argue for a compromise, according to which all nǫ-verbs belong to the same category network, but display different centers of gravity (prototypes) within this network. The network hypothesis is corroborated by detailed statistical analysis (called ‘linguistic profiling’), which takes both semantic as well as formal properties of the verbs in question into account.Данная статья посвящена старославянским глаголам с суффиксом -nǫ. В статье рассматриваются и глаголы, сохраняющие суффикс во всей парадигме (напр., plinǫti), и глаголы, в которых суффикс -nǫ в формах прошедшего времени чередуется с нулевым суффиксом (напр., pogybnǫti). Образуют ли эти глаголы одну или несколько лингвистических категорий? Для ответа на этот вопрос была составлена исчерпывающая база данных, включающая все старославянские глаголы на -nǫ. Анализ базы данных позволяет утверждать, что все глаголы на -nǫ принадлежат к одной категориальной сети, но имеют разные центры тяжести (прототипы) внутри этой сети. Сетевая гипотеза находит подтверждение в подробном статистическом анализе (‘лингвистическое профилирование’), при котором учитываются и семантические, и формальные характеристики соответствующих глаголо

“Cyclic” time in the history of Russian. Culture and language internal factors

Accepted manuscript version. Publisher's version available at http://doi.org/10.1075/sl.40.3.04nes.This article offers a diachronic analysis of the concept of “cyclic” time in Russian, more specifically of temporal adverbials such as utrom ‘in the morning’ and vesnoj ‘in the spring’ that refer to the diurnal and annual temporal cycles in nature. It is argued that evidence from diachrony bears on important theoretical questions: Is the sensitivity to “cyclic” time in language due to cultural factors? How does the external factor of culture interact with language internal factors in the formation of temporal concepts? The proposed analysis indicates that the linguistic development in Russian does not mirror changes in cultural practices and values. Instead, the main burden of explanation is placed on a language internal factor, namely the general drift towards more analytic constructions in Russian, which I argue paved the way for the concept of “cyclic” time as reflected in the grammar of the Russian language today

Testing the Semantic Homogeneity Constraint: Analogical change and Russian verbs

Although it has been widely assumed in historical linguistics that semantics plays a crucial role in analogical change, it is difficult to pinpoint the contribution of the semantic factor, since meaning and form work closely together in bringing about language change. The purpose of the present article is to shed light on the issue by means of two case studies from Russian, which enable us to isolate the role of semantics. The hypothesis we test is that analogical change is restricted to semantically homogeneous domains. We call this the Semantic Homogeneity Constraint. Two phenomena from Russian conjugation are explored: suffix shift and NU-drop. Although they seem parallel, analogical change occurs in the former, but not in the latter. It is argued that this is because the verbs involved in suffix shift constitute a semantically homogeneous domain, within which analogical change can take place. By contrast, NU-verbs are semantically diverse, and these semantic differences create boundaries which block analogical change. The findings have implications both for Russian and general linguistics. While suffix shift and NU-drop are well-known phenomena in Russian conjugation, they have not been juxtaposed and compared before. Our comparison provides new insights about the differences and similarities of the two phenomena. From the perspective of historical linguistics, the present article contributes to the theory of analogy, insofar as we provide empirical evidence for the Semantic Homogeneity Constraint, which places restrictions on semantic domains where analogical change can take place

From machine learning to classroom learning: mobile vowels and the Russian preposition v ‘in(to)’

Source at https://www.moderna.uu.se/slavic-languages/slovo/.The present study reports on a machine learning experiment concerning mobile vowels in the Russian preposition v ‘in(to)’. It is shown that a neural network is able to predict mobile vowels in 97.4% of the cases in our dataset, and a decision tree is used to extract a set of three rules that a language learner can use to achieve nearly the same level of accuracy. We argue that these rules are valuable from the perspective of language pedagogy, but that some adjustments are necessary in order to make the rules simpler and more precise. Our study lends support to earlier analyses which emphasize the capacity of mobile vowels to prevent sequences of identical segments. We advance the Word Onset Hierarchy, which enables u s to evaluate the relative importance of phonological features for mobile vowels and highlights the gradient and asymmetric nature of mobile vowels. It is suggested that machine learning represents a valuable tool for language pedagogy, not only for mobile vowels, but also for other areas of Russian grammar that are challenging for students of Russian as a foreign language

Metafor og metonymi: personkarakteriserende sammensatte substantiv i norsk

Denne artikkelen drøfter norske personkarakteriserende sammensetninger som skravlebøtte, stabukk, kjøtthue og driblefant på grunnlag av en database med mer enn 500 eksempler. Dette er sammensetninger som betegner personer gjennom en karakteristisk egenskap som kan oppfattes som negativ. Et viktig spørsmål er hvordan språkbrukerne kan tolke slike sammensetninger, som ofte har ikke-komposisjonell betydning. Analysen viser at metafor og metonymi spiller en nøkkelrolle, og artikkelen gir således empirisk støtte til kognitiv lingvistikk der metafor og metonymi er sentrale begreper. Det påvises at etterleddene faller i fire semantiske hovedgrupper (gjenstander, dyr, kroppsdeler og personer), og at valget mellom metaforisk og metonymisk tolkning styres av etterleddet, idet gjenstander og dyr gir metaforiske tolkninger, mens metonymiske tolkninger er karakteristisk for etterledd som betegner kroppsdeler og personer. Sammensetningenes betydning er således ikke vilkårlig, men motivert av grunnleggende kognitive mekanismer. Valget mellom bokstavlig og metaforisk/metonymisk tolkning er videre motivert av tre prinsipper: ââ¬Åkontekst-ââ¬Â, ââ¬Åinnpregings-ââ¬Â og ââ¬Åblokkeringseffektenââ¬Â. Det argumenteres for at adjektiv og verb som forledd utgjør homogene grupper, mens substantiviske forledd er mer heterogene i det de omfatter hele fem forskjellige metonymier. Analysen av dyreord som etterledd gir en viss støtte til den såkalte antroposentrisme-hypotesen siden det er en tendens til at sammensetninger er basert på dyr som står mennesket biologisk og geografisk nær

In Which Case Are Russians Afraid? Bojat’sja with Genitive and Accusative Objects

Accepted manuscript version.The present article investigates case usage with the verb bojat’sja ‘be scared’ in Russian. Many verbs with -sja never combine with objects in the accusative case. The verb bojat’sja historically was among them, but this verb is undergoing a shift and is currently used with both genitive and accusative objects. This study examines the parameters that motivate this change. Using data from the Russian National Corpus and an experimental study, this arti- cle shows that the accusative case is more likely to appear when the object is individuated. It is furthermore demonstrated that the use of accusative objects depends on register: Less restricted registers, such as newspaper texts and answers in the experiment, show higher use of accusative objects

Statsforvaltar – terminologisk skivebom?

Source at https://www.dagogtid.no/</a

Vi må halde kontakten med russiske intellektuelle

Source at https://www.dagogtid.no/ordskifte/vi-ma-halde-kontakten-med-russiske-intellektuelle-6.71.25234.35cb0cc704.Krigen i Ukraina har til fulle vist kva slags regime vi har i vårt største granneland. Russland er styrt av menneske som har rana til seg store verdiar frå folket, og som ikkje skyr noko middel i den blodige krigen dei har sett i gang. I ein slik situasjon er det forståeleg at somme tar til orde for å kutte alt samarbeid med Russland. Eg vil argumentere for at det ikkje er klokt. Eg vil nytte forsking som døme, for det er eit område der eg sjølv har erfaring