174 A Reference Grammar of Russian

Another not strictly transparent use of number involves situations in which there is a distributive relationship among a plural set of possessors and a set of possessed entities. Usually the plural is used ([50--51]):

[50]Jyb ikb vtlktyyj, ybprj jgecnbd ujkjds<pl> . They walked slowly with their heads lowered.

[51]Rhfcysq Rhtcn pfybvfkcz celm,fvb<pl> njkmrj gjkbnbxtcrb[ pfrk/xtyys[. The Red Cross was concerned with the fates only of political prisoners.

The singular means the possessed entities are not separate entities. A body part is not an independent entity but part of the predicate -- in [52], the manner of locomotion:

[52]Jyb dctulf ldb;encz c jgeotyyjq ujkjdjq<sg> , xnj,s yt bcgsnsdfnm kbiytuj cjghjnbdktybz djple[f.

They always move with lowered head, in order not to experience extra wind resistance.

With an abstract noun such as cel,mƒ, the singular can be used for plural individuals in an essential sense of ‘whatsoever the fate would be’ ([53]).

[53]B[ edtkb, b ybrjulf jyf yt epyfkf j, b[ lfkmytqitq celm,t<sg> . They were led away and she never found out about their further fate.

4.1.10 Morphological categories of nouns: case

Case is expressed by nouns and other constituents of arguments, and in this respect is self-evidently a property of arguments. But case is chosen according to the way the argument fits into context. It is therefore natural to discuss the choice of case when the contexts for arguments are discussed, above all with predicates (§5). For reference, Table 4.2 lists the major uses of cases, with references to the discussion of uses elsewhere.

4.2 Prepositions

4.2.1 Preliminaries

Prepositions combine with nouns, imposing a case on the noun.16 Combinations of preposition and noun function as argument phrases. Semantically, prepositions locate a mobile entity -- the m i s s i l e -- in a space of possible locations relative to a specific l o c u s , the referent of the noun used with the preposition. For example, in Fylhtq hfpdthyek gthtlj vyjq rfhns ‘Andrei spread out

16Hill 1977 treats the expansion of ligature {n}. In those prepositions for which Hill observed variation, the Uppsala Corpus, composed of more recent texts, shows further generalization of {n}.

Arguments 175

maps in front of me’, the missile is maps, which are distributed in space relative to the locus, the speaker’s field of vision. The space can be physical space, as in this instance, or more abstractly, a space of possible states. Thus in ltcznrb utjkjujd gthtl ytq ,kfujujdtkb ‘dozens of geologists did obeisance before her’, the missile is the geologists or, better, their behavior, which adopts a certain attitude (reverence) in the presence of the locus.

How prepositions behave depends on how old they are. The oldest, p r i m a r y, prepositions in effect define what we think prepositions should be.

[54]Primary prepositions (govern various cases)

d<\loc \acc> ‘in’, j(,)<\loc \acc> ‘about’, yf<\loc \acc> ‘at’, ghb<\loc> ‘at, in the presence of ’; ghj<\acc> ‘through’, xthtp<\acc> ( x†htp);17 pf<\ins \acc> ‘behind’, yfl<\ins> ‘above’, gjl<\ins \acc> ‘under’, gthtl<\ins> ‘in front of ’; r<\dat> ‘to’, gj<\dat \loc(\acc)> ‘along, after’; c<\gen \ins \acc> ‘with; off of ’, e<\gen> ‘near, at’, lj<\gen> ‘up to’, bp<\gen> ‘out of ’, jn<\gen> ‘away from’, ,tp<\gen> ‘without’

Primary prepositions, which as a group govern various cases, have abstract as well as concrete, spatial meanings. Primary prepositions are not used without a noun as adverbs. Primary prepositions are unstressed and generally monosyllabic, except for the fact that prepositions that end in a consonant acquire a linking, or l i g a t u r e , vowel {o} under certain conditions (gthtlj vyjq ‘in front of me’, j,j dctv ‘about everything’). The negative particles yb and y† are moved in front of primary prepositions: yb c rtv ‘with no one’, yb gthtl rtv ‘before no one’, yt r xtve ‘not for anything’, as is the pronominal operator rjt: rjt c rtv ‘with this or that person’, rjt d rfrb[ ‘in certain kinds’. Primary prepositions have a further morphophonemic property. Immediately after a primary preposition, third-person pronouns acquire a ligature consonant, spelled as ≤y≥, pronounced [n]:˛pf ybv ‘behind him’, pf ytq ‘behind her’, c ybv ‘with him’, j yb[ ‘about them’, gthtl ybv ‘before him’. Third-person possessives do not use this ligature: gjl b[ bvtytv ‘under their name’, c tt ctcnhjq ‘with their sister’. The {n} ligature thus distinguishes genitive argument pronouns (jn yb[ ‘from them’) from possessives (jn b[ ntnb ‘from their aunt’).

Closest to primary prepositions are root prepositions, often derived from noun roots:

[55]Root prepositions (governing genitive)

ghj´nbd ‘against’, ‘between’, ,k∫p ‘near’, lkz ‘for’, dlj´km ‘alongside’, chtl∫ ‘in the midst’, v∫vj ‘past’, rhj´vt ‘except’, hƒlb ‘for the sake of ’, rheuj´v ‘around’, dy†

‘outside of ’; crdj´pm<\acc> ‘through’, v†;le<\ins> ‘between’

17 Xthtp is said to have two variants, a stressed variant implying devoicing before a following sono-

rant or vowel (x†htp y†crjkmrj vbyén [c˛er˛ιsn˛esk´l˛k´] ‘after several minutes’) and an unstressed

‹⁄ ⁄

variant without devoicing (xthtp jryj´ [c˛ιr˛ιzøkno] ‘through the window’).

‹ ⁄

176 A Reference Grammar of Russian

Like primary prepositions, root prepositions are generally not used alone as adverbs (exceptions: v∫vj, rheuj´v). Most govern the genitive (exceptions: crdj´pm<\acc>, v†;le<\ins>). As a class, they are phonologically more autonomous than primary prepositions, in that most are stressed, and some have two syllables. They count as phonological words, inasmuch as final voiced obstruents are devoiced before words beginning with vowels or sonorants: crdj´pm vjhj´pysq nevƒy [s˛m] ‘through a cold fog’, crdj´pm jxr∫ [s˛ø] ‘through glasses’. Almost all root prepositions use the {n} ligature. Only dyt has resisted: dyt tt ‘outside of her’. Negative particles yb and y† and pronominal rjt are generally anomalous in either order: yb ,kbp xtuj, ,kbp ybxtuj, yb rhjvt rfrb[, rhjvt ybrfrb[,

rjt rhjvt xtuj (but rhjvt rjt-xtuj ‘except for something or another’, yb vt;le rfrbvb bysvb j,kfcnzvb ‘not between any such other areas’). The exception is lkz (yb lkz rjuj, rjt lkz xtuj). This preposition, whose only vowel is not stressed and undergoes reduction, might be considered to have moved into the class of primary prepositions.

Next come a large number of p r e f i x a l prepositions, etymologically a prefix or preposition and a case form of a noun. Some govern the genitive, others the dative case.

[56]Prefixal prepositions (governing genitive)

´rjkj ‘around’, dj´pkt ‘next to’, dv†cnj ‘in place of ’, dyenh∫ ‘inside of ’, gj´ckt

‘after’, djrhéu ‘around’, gjpfl∫ ‘after’, dgthtl∫ ‘in the front of ’, gjd†h[ ‘above’, yfghj´nbd ‘opposite’, cpƒlb ‘behind’, gjchtl∫ ‘in the middle of ’, archaic jrh†cn

‘around’

[57]Prefixal prepositions (governing dative)

dck†l ‘after’, yfdcnh†xe ‘towards’, djghtr∫ ‘against’

Prefixal prepositions often have more than one syllable and are stressed (implying devoicing of obstruents before following sonorants and vowels: djrhéu v†cnf [km]˛‘around the place’). Some can be used independently without a noun; some of those that take the dative can follow the noun: gjikf vyt yfdcnhtxe (possible) ‘she came towards me’, cvjnh/ tq dcktl (usual) ‘I follow her with my eyes’. Negative particles (yb, y†) and rjt are anomalous in either order ( yb jrjkj xtuj,

jrjkj ybxtuj, rjt jrjkj rfrb[, jrjkj rjt-rfrb[). Prefixal prepositions split in the way they use the ligature {n}. Those governing the dative do not use {n} (dcktl tve ‘after him’) and seem doomed never to develop {n}, while those governing the genitive have generalized the {n} ligature, in some instances quite recently. As late as the nineteenth century, some common prefixal prepositions did not use {n} consistently: djrhéu 15 percent without {n}, ´rjkj 25 percent without {n}. Both finished generalizing {n} during the course of the twentieth century. (V†;le also generalized {n} in the early part of the twentieth century.)

Arguments 177

Table 4.3 Properties of prepositions

		ligature {o}					free		ligature
			yb, rjt	stress	cases		occurrence		{n}
	primary	√	√		acc, gen, dat, loc, ins				√
									√
	root			√	gen (1 acc, 1 ins)
	\
				√	gen		√		√
	prefixal ( gen)
	\			√			√
					dat
	prefixal ( dat)
	convert			√	acc, gen, dat		√

The last to go is dyenh∫, which in the first half of the twentieth century still used {n} only half of the time; it now uses {n} consistently.

After prefixal prepositions follows an open group of words or phrases that are used as prepositions, in that they occur with a noun and impose a semantic operation on the noun. Some are phrases composed of preposition and noun (gj gj´djle ‘on the basis of ’, dj dh†vz ‘during’, d jnyji†ybb ‘in relation to’, d xbck† ‘among, in the number of ’). Others are developing from gerunds (,kfujlfhz´ ‘thanks to’, ytcvjnhz´ yf ‘despite’), and, possibly, comparatives (gh†;lt ‘before’, hƒymit ‘earlier’, gj´p;t ‘later’). These new c o n v e r t prepositions generally do not elicit the {n} ligature, except in less than standard Russian: hfymit ytuj ‘earlier than him’ (2,080 xx on the web), d jnyjitybb ytuj ‘in relation to him’ (7,160 xx on the web).18

Prepositions can be arranged in a list by group, with the properties that are characteristic of the groups as a whole (Table 4.3). The older the preposition, the greater number of the characteristic properties of prepositions it has.

4.2.2 Ligature {o}

Primary prepositions sometimes add a ligature vowel {o} to forestall clusters that might arise when the final consonant of the preposition meets the initial consonant(s) of the next word.19 Whether {o} is used depends on how idiomatic the combination is and on the phonological properties of the impending cluster.

Other things being equal, {o} is more likely to be used if the combination of preposition and head word is conventional and idiomatic: d cnjhjyt jnj dct[ ‘off to the side of all’ still preserves the vowel even when it is lost in novel combinations, jnkbxty jn dct[ lheub[ ‘distinct from all others’. Roots can be ranked according to the criterion of idiomaticity. The two pronominal roots

18 Via Google (<15.IX.02>).

19 Rogozhnikova 1964.

Table 4.4 Prepositions and ligature {o}

	pronoun vy-, dc-, quantifier	non-syllabic nominal root	same place and manner of
preposition	vyju-, dnjh-	k,-, ly-, hn-, kml-	articulation	other clusters
d(j)	dj vyt, dj vyjub[, dj dctq,	dj cyt, dj kmle, dj hne	dj dhtvz, dj	d cnhtvz, d cdjtq ;bpyb,
	dj dnjhjv, dj xnj, dj		dpfbvjltqcndbb, dj	d Lytgh, d cnhfyt
	crjkmrj		Dkflbvbht, dj dpukzlf[
c(j)	cj vyjq, cj dctvb, cj dct[,	cj k,f, cj lyz, cj lyf, cj	cj ccskrjq, cj cnjhjys, cj	cj ldjhf (c ldevz) // c
	cj vyjubvb, cj dnjhsv	kmljv, cj kmdbysvb, cj	cdjtq, cj crhbgjv, cj	lkbyysv, c rkfl,bof, c
		cyjv // c h;fdxbyjq	cwtys, cj cgbyjv, cj	,kfujlfhyjcnm/, c
			chtljq, cj pyfybtv // c	gktvzyybwtq, c dkfub
			lkbyysvb	(cj dkj;tyysv vt;le
				ybvb rkbyjv)
r(j)	rj vyt, rj dctve, rj	rj cye, rj lye, rj ly/ // r	rj {hbcne, rj Rkbvtwrjve //	rj ldjhe, rj dljdt, rj
	dnjhjve, rj vyjubv	lyzv	r rkfccbwbpve, r Rkfdlbb,	dhtvtyb // r
			r [hfytyb/	pkjrfxtcndtyyjve, r
				pyfyb/, r cdjtq, r
				cyb;tyb/, r lkbyyjve, r
				ldthb, r dhfxfv, r ldev
yfl(j), gjl(j) gthtlj vyjq, gjlj vyjq //		gjlj kmljv (gjl kmljv b	yfl ldthzvb, yfl lheubvb	yfl cnhfyjq, gthtl dkfcnm/,
gthtl(j)	gthtl dctv, gthtl	cytujv), yfl(j) k,jv,		gthtl dcnhtxtq, gthtl
	vyjubvb ghj,ktvfvb	gthtl cyjv, gjl lyjv		ghbpsdyjq, gthtl [vehsv
				ve;xbyjq
bp(j), jn(j)	bp dct[ (bpj dct[ cbk), jn	bpj hnf, bpj lyz d ltym, jnj	bp lkbyys[, jn ldjhf, bp	jn dhtvtyb, jn ghelf, jn
	dct[ (d cnjhjyt jnj dct[),	hnf, jnj lyz // jn kmlf	lde[, jn pyfybz, jn	gkj[juj, jn dphjcks[, jn
	bp dctuj, jn vyjub[, jn		lheujuj, jn nhe,s, jn	rybu
	dnjhjuj		lheptq
j(,(j))	j,j dctv, j,j vyt, j,j	j,j kmlt (j, ktl)	-----	-----
	xnj-nj elfhbkcz