Grammar, semantics, and usage in a dynamic relation: The use of the construction ‘verb with prefix pod- + accusative’ on the basis of the RNC

Abstract

© 2017 Springer Science+Business Media DordrechtThe article analyses the use of the construction ‘verb with the prefix pod- plus noun in the accusative without a preposition’ (pod-V + NAcc) based on data taken from the Russian National Corpus (RNC). The study included the analysis of over 2000 examples of this construction in use. It concentrates on developing a methodology for the semantic and grammatical analysis on the basis of a vast range of material. The verbs were analyzed with regard to their grammatical structure and semantic classification. The interaction between the characteristics of the prefix and the verb stem has been illustrated with the help of the grammatical categories of transitivity and reflexivity. This means that the prefix functions as a relator that changes the conceptualization of a situation. The data from the RNC were used to demonstrate and update the classification of the meanings of pod- previously suggested by V. Plungjan. The notion of radial categories was used to demonstrate the relationship between the different meanings of this prefix.