148A Reference Grammar of Russian

Table 3.36 Accentual preferences of nominal declensions

	Declension<IIIa>	Declension<Ia>	Declension<Ib>	Declension<II>
{Rsg : Rpl }	√	√	√	√
	√
{Rsg : Epl (Rnom )}		±
{Rsg : Epl }		±	±
{Esg : Epl }		√	√	√
{Esg : Rpl }			±	±
{Esg : Epl (Rnom )}				±

√

=frequent

±= viable but somewhat restricted

= very restricted, (almost) non-extant

The particular hierarchy of declensions seen in Table 3.36 -- whether accidentally or not -- matches another hierarchy, the preference for null ending in the genitive plural. Declension<II> allows an overt genitive plural only in the rarest of circumstances, Declension<Ib> a bit more frequently (an overt ending is a regular option for the class of derivatives in {-c-}); Declension<Ia> strongly prefers an overt ending, but allows {--º} in certain lexical fields. Declension<IIIa> always has an overt ending.

3.7 Complications in declension

3.7.1 Indeclinable common nouns

Some nouns, especially foreign borrowings, do not inflect; they have one form regardless of the case--number in which the noun is used.29 (Native nouns that are in effect quotes are not declined: iƒ ‘name of the letter ≤i≥’, z´ ‘self, ego’, yt-nhj´ym-vtyz´ ‘name of a flower’.) Whether a borrowing can be declined and what gender it has depends on how well it matches existing Russian patterns.

If a noun ends in a consonant, it is declined as a masculine noun of Declension<Ia>. Declined are then: ,jvj´yl ‘beau-monde’, htq[cnƒu ‘Reichstag’, akƒu ‘flag’, fyukjaj´, ‘Anglophobe’, vfcinƒ, ‘extent’ (< German Maβstab), ljyrb[j´n ‘Don Quixote’, ujnntynj´n ‘Hottentot’, rehj´hn ‘Kurort’, gfyƒi ‘panache’. However, v∫cc ‘miss’ and vflƒv ‘madam’ are not declined because there is a mismatch between the feminine referential gender and the phonological shape, which looks like Declension<Ia>. If a borrowing fits the pattern of Declension<II>, it will be declined as a feminine member of Declension<II>: cbh†yf ‘siren’, vjh†yf ‘moraine’, k†vvf ‘lemma’, kƒvf ‘llama’, lbk†vvf ‘dilemma’, cn/fhl†ccf

29 Muchnik 1963, Kaliniewicz 1978:43--52, Wojtowicz 1984:84--93.

<Ib>

Inf lectional morphology 149

‘stewardess’, f,cw∫ccf ‘abscissa’, gƒepf ‘pause’, vtlépf ‘jellyfish’. Common are nouns with the shape {-Vj-a}: D†yuhbz ‘Hungary’, Uƒv,bz ‘Gambia’, Zgj´ybz ‘Japan’. Nouns ending in {-a} preceded by a vowel do not decline: ,jƒ ‘boa’, r†xef ‘Quechua’, gfneƒ ‘patois’. Nouns ending in stressed {-ƒ} do not decline: yeuƒ ‘nougat’, fynhfiƒ ‘entrechat’.

Nouns ending in {-o} match the shape of neuters in Declension but do not decline: hƒlbj ‘radio’, rh†lj ‘creed’, kb,∫lj ‘libido’, lbyƒvj ‘dynamo’. The familiar words gfkmnj´ ‘coat’ and vtnhj´ ‘underground’ are not declined in standard Russian (Vfzrjdcrbq dsitk yf cwtye d gfkmnj b ikzgt ‘Mayakovsky came out onto the stage in a coat and hat’), but are occasionally declined in the informal register; thus, d gfkmnt appeared 150 xx out of 13,350 xx, or just 1 percent, on the web <20.X.02>.

Borrowings ending in other vowels violate Russian mores and are not declined: d∫crb ‘whiskey’, hƒkkb ‘rally’, nfrc∫ ‘taxi’, ∫uke ‘igloo’, ,b;é ‘bijoux’, hj´ylj ‘rondo’, abƒcrj ‘fiasco’, kb,h†nnj ‘libretto’, vty÷ ‘menu’, bynthdm÷ ‘interview’, ,br∫yb ‘bikini’, ltdfyƒufhb ‘Devanagari’, rfa† ‘caf†’, ijcc† ‘highway’, эrcgjp† ‘expos†’.

The gender of an indeclinable foreign noun is determined first by animacy:30 if a noun refers to animate sexed beings, its syntactic gender is its referential gender, either masculine ([15]) or feminine ([16]):

[15]Ibvgfypt c,t;fk<msc sg> bp pjjgfhrf, xnj,s dsgbnm gbdf. The chimpanzee fled the zoo in order to drink some beer.

[16]≤Pyfrb≥, rjnjhsvb gjkmpjdfkfcm<fem sg> ibvgfypt Ejij xthtp 22 vtczwf gjckt yfxfkf j,extybz

“Signs” that the chimpanzee Washoe used 22 months after beginning training

Similar to ibvgfyp† are l∫yuj ‘dingo’, rj´kkb ‘collie’, fkmgfrƒ ‘alpaca’. For some nouns the syntactic gender is the referential gender of typical usage: nj´hb ‘Tory’, fnnfi† ‘attach†’, …ve ‘emu’, uyé ‘gnu’, uh∫pkb ‘grizzly’, gj´yb ‘pony’ are masculine, while ahƒe ‘Frau’, vèwwj-cjghƒyj ‘mezzo-soprano’, k†lb ‘lady’ are feminine.

Indeclinable nouns that do not refer to animate beings are generally neuter. All the indeclinable words ending in unusual vowels fit here (nf,é ‘taboo’, etc.). There are few exceptions to this rule. Two common nouns, rj´at ‘coffee’ and d∫crb ‘whiskey’, are exclusively masculine in contemporary Russian (Ult regbnm [jhjibq<msc acc sg> rjat d pthyf[? ‘Where can one buy good coffee in beans?’). For some nouns, especially proper nouns, the gender in Russian is the gender of the Russian word that names the category to which the entity belongs. By this logic ,tyuƒkb and péke are masculine, each being a zpßr ‘language’; v∫yb

30 Corbett 1982.

150A Reference Grammar of Russian

‘miniskirt’, as a kind of ÷,rf ‘skirt’, is feminine. Nj´rbj and N,∫kbcb are masculine like uj´hjl ‘city’. Rjkjhƒlj can be feminine, if it is the htrƒ ‘river’ ([17]), or masculine, if it is the inƒn ‘state’ ([18]):

[17]Gjl ybv nzyekcz Rfymjy, gj rjnjhjve ntrkf<fem sg> Rjkjhflj. Underneath stretched the Grand Canyon, along which flowed the Colorado.

[18]<skj dhtvz, rjulf Rjkjhflj d jlby ltym bvtk<msc sg> nht[ ue,thyfnjhjd. There was a time when Colorado had three governors in one day.

Gender can be attributed to foreign phrases by the same technique, as in [19]:

[19]Alaska Airlines j,(zdktyf<fem sg> kexitq fdbfrjvgfybtq<\fem sg> gj rfxtcnde Bynthytn-j,cke;bdfybz.

Alaska Airlines has been declared the best airline with respect to the quality of its Internet service.

By definition, indeclinable nouns do not themselves show any distinctions of number. But adjectives and verbs agree with the singular or plural sense of these nouns in context: compare singular d cdjtv ytvjlyjv gfkmnj ‘in his out- of-fashion coat’ but plural cnfheirb yjcbkb bcnhtgfyyst cnfhjvjlyst gfkmnj

‘the old ladies wore worn-out old-fashioned coats’.

3.7.2 Acronyms

Acronyms that remain unassimilated are pronounced as a series of names of letters: ЭDV [e.voe.emo]. Unassimilated acronyms do not decline, but they have gender (that of the head noun) and number (as appropriate in context). Thus, feminine is used for the constituents of ldt<fem> ЭDV ‘two computers’, r wtynhfkmyjq<fem dat sg> ЭDV ‘to the central computer’ because feminine is the gender of the noun of Эktrnhjyyfz dsxbckbntkmyfz vfibyf ‘electronic calculating machine’. TЭC is neuter, as in xnj,s TЭC ghjdjlbkj<nt sg> cjwbfkmye/ gjkbnbre ‘in order that the EEC might implement its social program’, because Tdhjgtqcrjt Эrjyjvbxtcrjt Cjj,otcndj ‘European Economic Community’ is neuter. CЭD, for Cj/p Эrjyjvbxtcrjq Dpfbvyjgjvjob ‘Society for Mutual Economic Assistance’, is masculine. Plural number is marked by agreement, as gjzdbkbcm<pl> ljcnfnjxyj yflt;yst<pl>, vjoyst<pl> b ytljhjubt<pl> ЭDV

‘there appeared sufficiently reliable, powerful, and inexpensive computers’. Some acronyms have been assimilated into common parlance, and are pro-

nounced not as a series of names of letters but as a phonological word; for example, NFCC is pronounced [toas], not [toe.a.eso.eso]. The noun is then assigned to a declension class according to its phonological shape and declined. Thus VBL, for Vbybcnthcndj Byjcnhfyys[ Ltk ‘The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’, declines

(d cntyf[ VBLf<gen sg>

Inf lectional morphology 151

‘within the confines of MID’) and conditions masculine agreement (bnfkmzycrbq<msc sg> VBL pfzdbk<msc sg> ‘the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced’).

3.7.3 Compounds

Compounds are of two types.31 If the second noun is semantically dominant and the first is a specifier, the second noun declines and determines agreement, while the first noun is inert, and does not decline. A gkƒo-gfkƒnrf is above all a gfkƒnrf<\fem>, which is further characterized as a gkƒo<\msc>.

[20]Bdfy Nhjabvjdbx nfobk vtyz yf ,jkmijq<fem sg> gkfo-gfkfnrt<\fem sg> xthtp pjye j,cnhtkf.

Ivan Trofimovich dragged me through the line of fire on a big poncho-tent.

Alternatively, the first noun may define the type, and the second noun the specifier. In irj´kf-bynthyƒn the more general category is irj´kf<\fem> ‘school’, which is specified as an bynthyƒn<\msc> ‘boarding school’. In this case, both nouns decline and the first noun determines the gender of adjectives (vjcrj´dcrjq<fem sg>), relative pronouns (rjnj´hfz<fem sg>), and anaphoric pronouns (t=<fem sg>):

[21]Extybrb vjcrjdcrjq<fem sg> irjks<\fem gensg> -bynthyfnf<\msc gen sg> § 18,

rjnjhfz<fem sg> ,skf jcyjdfyf xtndthnm dtrf yfpfl gj bybwbfnbdt dslf/ob[cz yfib[ extys[, jnvtxfkb tt<fem sg> /,bktq.

The students of Moscow Boarding School 18, which was founded a quarter of a century ago on the initiative of our leading scholars, celebrated its anniversary.

For any compound usage is largely fixed, with only occasional variation: dfuj´y- dßcnfdrf is feminine if it is more an exhibition than a vehicle, as in dfujydscnfdrf gjkmpjdfkfcm<fem sg> ,jkmibv ecgt[jv ‘the railroad-car-exhibition enjoyed great success’, but masculine if it is more a vehicle than an exhibition, as in dfujy-dscnfdrf cnjzk<msc sg> yf pfgfcyjv genb ‘the exhibition railroad-car was on a siding’.32

3.7.4 Appositives

It is common to combine in apposition a common noun and a proper noun, where the common noun names the category to which the proper noun belongs. Two cases can be distinguished: (a) a personal name with title or occupation; and (b) a geographical name or a title of an artistic work used with a noun stating to what category it belongs.

31 Raecke 1972.

32 Cited by Crockett 1976.

152 A Reference Grammar of Russian

When names and titles or occupations are combined, both parts decline: c utythfkjv Dkfcjdsv ‘with General Vlasov’, c dhfxjv Dthjq Fafyfcmtdyjq ‘with Doctor Vera Afanasevna’.

With geographical and genre names used in apposition, the syntactic gender is that of the common noun used to categorize the proper noun:

[22]Ujhjl<\msc sg> Vjcrdf<\fem sg> ghtj,hfpbkcz<msc sg> . The city of Moscow has been transformed.

[23]:ehyfk<\msc sg> ≤?yjcnm≥<\fem sg> gjzdbkcz<msc sg> . The journal ≤Youth≥ appeared.

[24]Jpthj<\nt sg> <fqrfk<\msc sg> uke,jrj<nt sg> . Lake Baikal is deep.

In such combinations, the category noun always declines (uj´hjl ‘city’, ;ehyƒk ‘magazine, journal’, ´pthj ‘lake’, hjvƒy ‘novel’). Whether the proper noun also declines depends on the category and how familiar the proper noun is. With uj´hjl, proper nouns typically decline, ltncndj d ujhjlt Djhjyt;t ‘childhood in the city of Voronezh’, except exotic ones, d bcgfycrjv ujhjlt Nf,thyfc ‘in the Spanish city of Tabernas’. With the category ctkj´ ‘settlement’, place names that are presumed familiar can decline, as in d ctkt Rjnjdt, ult z ;bk njulf ‘in the village of Kotovo, where I lived at that time’, but place names do not decline if the place is defined in bureaucratic style: Clftncz d fhtyle ahernjdsq cfl d ctkt {bkrjdj ‘An orchard is to be leased in the village [that is called] Khilkovo’. In unconventional combinations proper names do not decline: d hf,jxtv gjctkrt Yjdjcbytukfpjdcrbq ‘the workers’ settlement of Novosineglazovsky’, jrregfwbz ctrnjhf Ufpf ‘the occupation of the Gaza Strip’, yf dctvbhyj bpdtcnyjv rehjhnt Bgfytvf d Hbj-lt-:fytqhj ‘at the world-famous resort of Ipanema in Rio de Janeiro’. Only the most familiar rivers decline, cjcnjzybt htrb Djkub ‘the state of the River Volga’, xthtp Vjcrde-htre ‘across the Moscow River’ but ,thtu htrb Bjhlfy ‘the shore of the River Jordan’. Variable is: Pfhf;tyf hs,f b d cb,bhcrjq htrt J,b ‘Fish has been contaminated also in the Siberian river, the Ob’ but cekmabls vtlb d ,fcctqyt htrb J,m ‘copper sulfides in the drainage of the river Ob’. Names of lakes do not decline in apposition: e ,thtujd jpthf Bkmvtym ‘on the shores of Lake Ilmen’, vthjghbznbz gj j[hfyt jpthf <fqrfk ‘measures for the preservation of Lake Baikal’.

If the proper noun is marked or understood as a quoted phrase, it does not decline. Hence titles of artistic works used in apposition do not decline: d ktnytv yjvtht ;ehyfkf ≤Ajhby faathc≥ ‘in the summer issue of the journal Foreign Affairs’, D эnjv rf,bytnt Ljcnjtdcrbq hf,jnfk yfl hjvfyjv ≤<hfnmz Rfhfvfpjds≥ ‘It was in this study that Dostoevsky worked on the novel The Brothers Karamazov’.