256 A Reference Grammar of Russian

Table 4.15 Retrospective on ref lexive pronouns

level	reflexive	non-reflexive
essence	entity defined as essence by its	entity defined independently of the
	relation to the antecedent	given predication
	cvjue j,yjdbnm cdjq htgthnefh ‘I can	jcnfyjdbnmcz yf эnjv afrnt vjtq
	renew [that which would be] my	kbxyjq ;bpyb ‘pause on this matter
	repertoire’	of my personal life’
individual	the same individual as opposed to	unique individual, no consideration
	other possible individuals	of other possible individuals
	hfpdtcnb gmzys[ gj cdjbv celfv	ghjdjlbd Ctht;e lj tuj rjvyfns
	‘distribute the drunks back to their	‘accompanying Serezha to his room’
	ships’
time-worlds	the entity defined relative to one	the entity independent of time-worlds
	time-world
	z bcrfk cdjq htgthnefh ‘I sought out	gjkexbk gbcmvj jn jlyjuj bp
	[what would be] my repertoire’	xbnfntktq vjtq rybub ‘I received a
		letter from one of the readers of my
		book’
speaker	from the perspective of one subject as	from the perspective of the timeless
perspective	opposed to other possible subjects	and unique speaker
	gj df;yjve lkz ct,z djghjce ‘with	ytghbdsxyst lkz ytuj ckjdf
	respect to an-important-for-him	‘unusual-for-him words’
	issue’

the given predication, by its relation to the subject. Some of the (not exclusive) senses of the opposition are presented in Table 4.15.

4.8 Quantifying pronouns and adjectives

4.8.1 Preliminaries: interrogatives as indefinite pronouns

Pronouns which now function as interrogative or relative pronouns in the contemporary language were historically indefinite: rnj´ ‘who, someone’, xnj´ ‘what, something’, ul† ‘where, somewhere’, etc. In their earlier indefinite meaning, they combined with a variety of particles (or words or small phrases) to form indefinite existential pronouns and negative pronouns.73 Possible combinations are listed in Table 4.16.

73	Veyrenc 1964, 1976, Rybƒk 1965, Boguslawski	◦
		and Karolak 1970, Ruˇziˇcka 1973, Sheliakin 1978,

Ponomareff 1978, Kobozeva 1981, Fontaine 1983:188--231 (source of examples [350], [351], [352], [364], [365], [367]), Paducheva 1984, 1985:219--21.

Arguments 257

Table 4.16 Combinatorics of pronouns and particles

	yb-	y†-	y†-	-nj	-yb,elm	-kb,j	rjt-
		(negative)	(indefinite)
rnj	√	√	√	√	√	√	√
xnj	√	√	√	√	√	√	√
rjulf	√	√	√	√	√	√	√
ult	√	√	†	√	√	√	√
	√	√		√	√	√	√
relf
jnrelf	√	√		√	√	√	√
rfrjq	√		√	√	√	√	√
rfr	√	†	†	√	√	√	√
crjkmrj	√		√	√	√	√
xtq	√			√	√	√	†
rjnjhsq	†		√	†	†

√ = occurs normally= (hardly) occurs

† = infrequent, stylistically restricted (or archaic)

Most combinations are possible, although some, stylistically marked as archaic or folksy, are less frequent than others.74 The prefixes yb(-), negative existential y†(-), and rjt- are placed before primary prepositions: yb c xtv ‘with nothing’, yt c rtv ‘there is no one with whom’, rjt c rtv ‘with someone or another’. The prefix yt- forms two types of compounds, listed separately in Table 4.14: an indefinite pronoun (for example, z ytrjulf ,sk nfv ‘I was there once’) or a negative existential pronoun with the special syntax of the free (dative-with- infinitive) construction (bv<dat> ntgthm ytrjulf ,sdfnm<inf> d jabct ‘these days there is no time for them to be in the office’; tcnm<inf> ,eltn ytxtuj ‘there’ll be nothing to eat’). To the set of indefinite pronouns in y† should be added the adjectival y†rbq ‘a certain’ (rfr bp ghjuhfvvs ,tp jcj,s[ ecbkbq jnrhsnm ytrbq URL bkb jnghfdbnm rjve-kb,j gj эktrnhjyyjq gjxnt gbcmvj ‘how to open a certain URL or send an e-mail without special efforts’). The indefinites in y†(-) are more lexicalized, in that the prefix does not precede a preposition: c y†crjkmrbvb ‘with several’, c y†rbv ‘with a certain’.

These pronouns, especially rnj´ and xnj´, can still be used as indefinites without a particle in certain contexts, such as: distributive contexts (‘some fit one description, others do not’):

74Levin 1973, Pereltsvaig 2000, http://mt.nightmail.ru/russian/pronoun.htm (28.04.2002). Some combinations not mentioned in these sources can be found on the web.

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[337]Elbdbntkmye/ vs ghtlcnfdkzkb uhegge. Rnj d djtyyjq ajhvt, rnj d bvghjdbpbhjdfyyjv hf,jxtv rjcn/vt, rnj d pfnhtgfyyjv infncrjv . . .

We made for a motley picture: here and there was someone in military garb, another in an improvised worker’s uniform, somebody else in ragged civvies . . .

In conditions, which, like distributive contexts, contrast different types of individuals:

[338]Tckb rnj ,jufn, nj ,jufn rfr Rhtp, tckb ,tlty, nj b wthrjdyfz vsim -- d kexitv gjkj;tybb.

If someone is rich [in Brazil], then he’ll be as rich as Croesus, if he’s poor, a church mouse is better off.

Or in concessive contexts, with the particle yb next to the verb and ,s next to the pronoun:

[339]Rfrbt ,s vsckb yb djpybrfkb d ujkjdt xtkjdtrf, jyb vjuen djpybryenm kbim yf ,fpt zpsrjdjuj vfnthbfkf.

No matter what thoughts come into a person’s mind, they can arise only using linguistic material.

Each of the five sets of pronouns (leaving aside the negative existential and indefinites in y†-) has its own zone of contexts in which it is likely to be used. Together, the form and the context create a characteristic scenario. As in other cases, it is difficult to say how much is in the meaning of the individual word, how much in the meaning of the context.

4.8.2 Negative pronouns in yb-

The negative yb(-) makes negative existential pronouns that deny that any entity exists that could fit in the event. Yb(-) combines with most pronouns: ybrnj´, ybx†q, etc. (Ybrjnj´hsq is archaic.) Negative pronouns in yb(-) are used when the argument is within the same syntactic and semantic domain as a negated predicate. More than one such pronoun can occur in a given clause ([340]).

[340]Ybrfrbt vths ybrjulf b ybult yt vjukb gjvtifnm djpybryjdtyb/ cgtrekzwbb d nhelyst dhtvtyf.

No measures at any time or place could interfere with the appearance of speculation in difficult times.

Negative pronouns in yb(-) usually appear only if the predicate is also negated, though they can occur in elliptical fragments when there is no overtly negated predicate ([341--43]):

[341]<skj dtctkj, pf,jn ybrfrb[, rjhvbkb dct[ ;blrjq gityyjq rfitq. It was fun, no worries, everyone was fed with a thick wheat kasha.

Arguments 259

[342]Afynfcnbrf, enjgbz? Ybxtuj gjlj,yjuj. Fantasy? Utopian dreams? Nothing of the sort.

[343]Xtv vs njulf pfybvfkbcm? Lf ybxtv.

And with what did we occupy ourselves? Well with nothing.

These negative pronouns are used with infinitives dependent on negated finite predicates:

[344]Jy tot yt ecgtk ybxtuj gjlevfnm<inf> , htibnm<inf> .

He still had not had time to think over, to decide anything.

[345]J,zpe/cm ybrjulf, ybrjve, lf;t cfvsv ,kbprbv hjlysv ybxtuj yt hfccrfpsdfnm<if> j lfyyjv cnhjbntkmcndt.

I agree never, to no one, even to my closest relatives, to tell anything about the aforementioned construction project.

The force of negation, however, does not reach into finite subordinate clauses that depend on negated predicates, when instead the pronoun in -yb,elm is used:

Jy yt [jxtn, xnj,s z j,hfofkcz { yb r rjve r rjve-yb,elm} ‘he doesn’t want me to turn to anyone’.75

In complementary fashion, -yb,elm pronouns usually do not occur when the predicate is negated: J,zpe/cm ybrjve-yb,elm, xtuj-yb,elm yt hfccrfpsdfnm. Pronouns in -yb,elm do occur, however, when the pronoun is protected from the force of negation. Thus -yb,elm is possible in an infinitive that is not tightly bound to the main predicate ([346]):

[346]D ujkjde tve yt ghb[jlbkj relf-yb,elm cghznfnmcz jn ytt. It did not occur to him to hide anywhere from her.

(The -nj series is not so restricted: Rnj-nj yt ghbitk, rnj-nj jgjplfk ‘Someone didn’t come, someone was late’. See below for -kb,j and negation.)

The negative pronouns are not required when the force of negation is attenuated, as it is with expressions such as xenm yt ‘almost not’, gjrf yt ‘until, for so long as not’, ytkmpz crfpfnm, xnj,s yt . . .‘one couldn’t say that . . .’, or in questions ([347]):76

[347]Gjckt e;byf dct [jlbkb cvbhyst, dt;kbdst b njkmrj ghbckeibdfkbcm, yt hsxbn kb ult-yb,elm ≤<jhjlf≥ -- nfr tuj ghjpdfkb.

After supper they all moved meekly, just listening, whether “The Beard” (as they called him) was not snarling about somewhere.

Under conditions of epistemological doubt or dread (with ,jznmcz, xnj(,s) yt ‘be afraid lest’ -- [6.20]), both series are conceivable, with a different interpretation: with -yb,elm the speaker fears there might be some dissatisfied readers; with yb(-) the speaker fears that all readers will be dissatisfied.

75Comrie 1980[b]:109.

76Paducheva 1974[b]:148--50, 1985:218--19 (semantics), Brown 1999[a]:94--98, 1999[b] (distribution).

260 A Reference Grammar of Russian

[348]Z ,j/cm, xnj vjb hfccrfps {rjve-yb,elm = ybrjve} yt gjyhfdzncz. I fear that {someone wouldn’t = no one would} like my stories.

Though a negative pronoun in yb(-) denies any referent, it does create a position for an argument. Anaphoric and reflexive pronouns can point to negative existential arguments:

[349]Ybrnj<i> yt [jntk ghbyznm yf ct,z<i> jndtncndtyyjcnm pf nfrjt ytghbznyjt htitybt.

No one wanted to take upon himself the responsibility for such an unpleasant decision.

That is, there exists no such x (x a person) such that x would make the decision.

4.8.3 -Nj, -yb,elm

Pronominal compounds in -nj, -yb,elm (and also -kb,j, rjt-) are said to be indefinite, but above all they are existential: they invite one to entertain the thought that there is an individual of some type that could fit in the event. The two series of pronouns, -nj and -yb,elm, differ in how they conceptualize the individual and hence in the contexts in which they are naturally used.

Compounds in -nj establish the existence of an entity that has certain properties that make it different from other possible entities one might think of. The -nj series is natural when the event is actual and known, as when the verb is a past perfective ([350]) or an imperfective reporting an activity ongoing in the present or past ([351]):

[350]Cj pdjyjv xnj-nj egfkj yf gjk.

With a noise something fell to the floor.

[351]Nfv d rjhhbljht xnj-nj {ckexfkjcm<pst if> ckexftncz<prs if> }

In the corridor something {was going on is going on}.

Pronouns in -nj are used when the event is actual, and the entity and its properties are fixed.

In contrast, -yb,elm is used when the entity and its properties are in some way indeterminate. More specifically, -yb,elm is used in the following contexts.

Epistemological uncertainty: Operators such as djpvj´;yj ‘possible’, dthjz´nyj ‘likely’, vj´;tn ,ßnm ‘maybe’ indicate that it is not certain whether the event occurred at all. Hence the existence of the entity is uncertain, its identity unknown:

[352]Vj;tn ,snm, ghjcnj jnvtxfkb rfrjt-yb,elm cj,snbt. Perhaps they were just celebrating some special event.

Arguments 261

A question is sufficient to elicit -yb,elm, even with a past perfective ([353]):

[353]Yt pfdtkf kb ns nfv rfrjuj-yb,elm rfdfkthf?

You haven’t acquired some sort of beau there, have you?

-Yb,elm itself can signal that the event is hypothetical -- in [354], the bemused speaker imagines a plausible scenario to explain why a young girl failed to appear as expected:

[354]F-f-/ fathbcn / fathbcn rfrjq-yb,elm gjgfkcz / relf-yb,elm yt nelf edtp / gjt[fkb yf djrpfk / ghjlfkb ,bktns / jy ltymub ct,t dpzk

A con man / con man turned up / led her off somewhere she’s not supposed to be going / they went to the station / sold the tickets / he grabbed the money for himself

The particle -nj would be used if [354] were intended as a factual, not a hypothetical, report.

Distributive (iterative) contexts: With -yb,elm in distributive contexts, a different individual fits on each occasion:

[355]Yэgvfys pf,bhfkbcm r rfrjq-yb,elm ye;lf/otqcz cnfheirt, lfdfkb pf afvbkmyst htkbrdbb ybxnj;yst cevvs.

The NEPmen would go to some old woman in need and give miserable sums for the family relics.

Potential contexts: Potential contexts include counterfactual ([356]), imperative ([357]), potential (future) conditional ([358]), and deontic ([359]) contexts:

[356]Tckb ,s xnj-yb,elm c lzltq Vbitq d ljhjut ckexbkjcm, ns yfv ybrjulf yfitq ytjcnjhj;yjcnb yt ghjcnbk ,s.

If something had happened with Uncle Misha on the way, you would have never forgiven us for our carelessness.

[357]Gjpjdb rjuj-yb,elm bp cnfhib[. Call one of the senior people.

[358]Tckb xnj-yb,elm jrf;tncz d <hfpbkbb yt gj drece, jyb tuj djpmven j,hfnyj pf hf,jne.

If something in Brazil should turn out not to his liking, they’ll give him return passage in exchange for labor.

[359]B nen jy dcgjvbyfk, xnj yflj ,skj ,s ghbdtpnb tq xnj-yb,elm, rfrjq-yb,elm gecnzr: xekrb, rjat.

And then he remembered that he ought to bring her something, some sort of trifle: stockings, coffee.

262A Reference Grammar of Russian

All these are contexts in which the event is less than certain or less than real, and the entities that are hypothesized to participate have a tentative, hypothetical existence.

Idiomatically, -yb,elm is used when the specific properties are not important -- jxthtlb rfrb[-yb,elm gjkxfcf ‘a line of a half an hour or so’ -- and by extension to disparage something through indifference:

[360]Htlfrnjhs ujdjhbkb, xnj lkz xbnfntkz bynthtcty Ljcnjtdcrbq, f yt xmz-yb,elm ghf,f,eirf.

The editors said that for readers what was interesting was Dostoevsky, not somebody or another’s great-grandmother.

The complementary distribution of -nj in realis contexts, -yb,elm in irrealis contexts is not watertight. Less-than-real contexts allow -nj, for example, in questions when the speaker suspects the answer:

[361]F e nt,z xnj-nj tot yt ljltkfyj?

[I take it] you’ve got something to finish off?

In a potential context, -nj emphasizes the eventual uniqueness of the entity:

[362]Yj hfccrfp j, tuj lfkmytqitq ;bpyb -- эnj yjdfz rybuf, gbcfnm rjnjhe/ ,eltn e;t rnj-nj lheujq, yfi ghttvybr, bleobq pf yfvb cktljv.

But the tale of his subsequent life -- that’s another book, which will be written by someone else, our successor who comes after us.

When that radiant future arrives, there will be a single unique individual, hence

-nj.

In iterative contexts, both types of pronouns are used. In such contexts, -yb,elm makes a condition: whenever some situation arises, whenever an individual of a certain type exists, then something happens, as in [355] above. In iterative contexts, -nj allows one to imagine a representative occasion and describe the occasion and the individual which is unique relative to that occasion. In [363], -nj depicts an individual and his activity. On each of the many occasions, each a sequence of actions, one scene or person is presented:

[363]Эkkbc cbltk, vt;le yfc, gjhjq dcrfrbdfk, ghtlcnfdkzz xnj-nj, rjuj-nj, b cyjdf djpdhfofkcz r yfv, yt ghtrhfofz hfccrfpf.

Ellis sat between us, he would occasionally hop up, portraying something or someone, and again return to us without interrupting the story.

It is even possible to combine -nj and -yb,elm. A set of hypothetical occasions can be established first by means of -yb,elm, and then -nj points to an entity that is unique relative to one occasion from the set (in [364], a victim’s life):

Arguments 263

[364]B tve rfpfkfcm ytgjvthyjq hjcrjim/ vyjujvtczxyfz nhfnf dhtvtyb yf nj, xnj,s evtymibnm chjr yfrfpfybz rfrjve-yb,elm vthpfdwe, rjnjhsq pfue,bk xm/-nj ;bpym.

And it seemed to him an extreme luxury, this waste of months of time to shorten the prison sentence of some scoundrel who had extinguished someone’s life.

In general: -nj signals that there exists an entity sufficiently individuated that it could be distinguished from other possible entities. -Yb,elm indicates that a possible individual exists that would fit in the event, but it cannot be differentiated from other possible individuals.

4.8.4 Rjt-

Compounds with rjt- seem similar to compounds in - nj. Rjt- invites one to think of a plural set of possible elements that could be involved in the event. Of this set certain entities fit while others might not. Rjt- fits naturally in description as opposed to narrative:

[365]Hfc[jlbkbcm vjkxf. Rjt-rnj rjcj gjukzlsdfk yf vtyz. Hs,frjd itk hzljv, euh/vj gjvfkrbdfz.

People dispersed in silence. Here and there somebody would glance at me sideways. Rybakov walked alongside, gloomily maintaining silence.

[366]Rjt-rnj jcnfkcz pf cnjkjv, lheubt hfp,htkbcm. Somebody or another stayed at the table, others scattered.

-Nj, in contrast, is interested in whether at least one individual exists. -Nj fits in causal, sequential narrative. In [367], the hero was able to sit, and further events followed, because there existed at least one individual who made room for him.

[367]Ybrjyjd djitk. {Rnj-nj ?Rjt-rnj} gjntcybkcz, jy ctk, pfgs[fdibqcz, cltkfkcz ytdblbvsv.

Nikonov entered. Somebody squeezed over to make room, he sat down wheezing and made himself inconspicuous.

-Nj and rjt- then come close to each other’s domains, but still differ: -nj implies the existence of at least one relevant entity; no more is known about a set of possible entities. Rjt- expresses existence and differentiation of some entities from others in the set.

4.8.5 -Kb,j

-Kb,j, like -yb,elm, deals with a set of possible entities that might fit in a proposition. If with -yb,elm it does not matter which entity is chosen, with -kb,j there is at least the possibility that some elements fit, others would not. Accordingly, -kb,j is used when alternative scenarios are differentiated. Four contexts can be distinguished.

264A Reference Grammar of Russian

Epistemological uncertainty: Though -yb,elm is more usual, -kb,j can be used in contexts that comment on the speaker’s indeterminate knowledge ([368]), doubt ([369]), incredulity ([370]), or hope ([371]):

[368]Rnj-nj dscrfpfk vytybt -- vj;tn ,snm, lzlz Vbif evth jn rfrjq-kb,j ,jktpyb. Someone expressed the thought -- maybe Uncle Misha died of some sort of disease.

[369]Cjvytdf/cm, xnj rnj-kb,j ntgthm cvj;tn cltkfnm xnj-kb,j gjlj,yjt. I doubt that anyone now could do anything similar.

[370]Htrjhl dhzl kb ,eltn rjulf-kb,j gj,bn. The record will hardly be broken anytime.

[371]{jxe yfltznmcz, xnj эnf zhrfz cthbz ,eltn rjulf-kb,j yfgtxfnfyf.

I would like to think that, one day, this brilliant series will be published.

Potential occasions: In potential contexts -- imperatives, future events, events dependent on modal predicates -- the usual existential pronoun is -yb,elm, which focuses on whether any element exists that would fit: Cgjqnt rfre/-yb,elm [jhjie/ gtcy/ ‘Sing some nice song’. -Kb,j is possible with the future, if there is epistemological uncertainty (see [370--71]), or with modals, if the context suggests multiple occcasions ([372]).

[372]Lkz njuj, xnj,s gjckfnm dfv gbcmvj, cgfvth ljk;ty jnrelf-kb,j epyfnm dfi e-mail.

In order to send you a letter, a spammer has to find out your e-mail address from somewhere.

Iterative occasions: -Kb,j is used in iterative contexts, if it is of interest that, on various occasions, different elements with different properties would fit.

[373]Ghb[jlbkb yf cdblfybt ldjt, yf gthde/ cvtye zdkzkfcm tuj ;tyf, yf dnjhe/ -- tuj jntw bkb vfnm bkb rnj-kb,j bp tuj ctcnth.

Two people came for the visits, his wife for the first shift, and either his father or mother or some one of his sisters for the second.

Negation of multiple alternatives: It has been noted that -kb,j is often used in contexts of weak or implicit negation. In such contexts -kb,j invites one to think: no matter which element is selected, the result will nevertheless be the same. -Kb,j is usual with the preposition ,tp ‘without’ ([374]), with which it is more frequent than -yb,elm by a ratio of 100 to 1. -Kb,j can also be used with comparatives ([375]) and summaries of failed occasions, on which some positive element might have appeared ([376--77]):

[374]Dct ,skj jhufybpjdfyj cfvj cj,jq, ,tp rfrjuj-kb,j exfcnbz. Everything got organized by itself, without anyone’s participation.