Predicates and arguments 281

Like intransitives, transitives can be enriched with phrases expressing the domain of change of the object. Thus gjl vs´ irb is the goal of the boots’ movement in [1].

(g) P R E D I C A T I V E S : with the predicate be -- that is, the absence of an overt predicate in the present tense or forms of ,s´ k, etc., in the past and ,éle, etc., in the future -- an adjective or noun predicates a property of an entity, as in [1] Dj dnjhj´q gjkjd∫yt lyz´ vs´ ,s´ kb cdj,j´lys ‘in the afternoon we were free’; pƒgbcm jrfpƒkfcm nj´xyjq ‘the transcript turned out to be accurate’. The subject argument is modal (responsible) and aspectual -- any changes are changes in its properties, as in ldƒ aen,jk∫cnf jrfpƒkbcm cdj,j´lysvb gthtl djhj´nfvb ‘two players got free in front of the goal’. The subject is individuated and representative. The domain is the values of the state.

The predicate types listed above can be hierarchized according to the parameter of quantification -- viewing the world and its participants as existing or not, as tokens of types -- as opposed to individuation -- viewing the world in terms of properties of distinct individuals. At one extreme are existential predicates, in which the nominative subject is not individuated and the domain argument is rather the most individuated argument. (Similar are modal and quantifying predicates.) At the opposite end are predicatives, whose subject is necessarily individuated. Transitives are close to predicatives. Intransitives cover a wide range. Among intransitives, verbs of position and motion most easily allow an existential reading.

The individuation of the predicate shows up in: (a) which argument is referentially more prominent, and can therefore serve as the antecedent to reflexives and other reference operations (§4.7.4); (b) the likelihood of using the genitive of negation (§§5.3, 5.4); (c) the likelihood of plural agreement as opposed to singular agreement, when the subject is a quantifier phrase (§5.9); (d) preferred patterns of the order of predicate and its arguments (§7.3).

5.2 Predicative adjectives and nouns

5.2.1 General

Like verbs, adjectives can predicate properties of entities, as in [15--17].

[15]Vjq ,hfn Dkflbvbh gj[j;<pv> yf lzl/. My brother Vladimir looks like our uncle.

[16]Jyf ctujlyz jleitdktyyfz<nom> , ;bdfz<nom> , yfhzlyfz<nom> . Today she is animated, lively, elegant.

[17]Jyf djj,ot xfot ,skf dtctkjq<ins> , hjdyjq<ins> , gjrkflbcnjq<ins> , xtv ytljdjkmyjq<ins> , pkjq<ins> .

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In general she was more often cheerful, even, obliging, than she was dissatisfied,

nasty.

The adjective establishes a property that holds of the subject argument, which is individuated and responsible, inasmuch as the subject’s unique identity determines the validity of the predication. The subject argument is aspectual: if there is change in the property, it is a change in that entity. The subject argument is informative: its property is what is at issue. Adjectives in this construction can appear in one of three forms: the predicative, or “short” form ([15]), the nominative, a “long” form ([16]), or the “long” instrumental ([17]) (§§5.2.5, 5.2.6). In the present tense, no form of a verb is needed to make an adjective serve as a predicate; the adjective itself makes the predication. The corresponding sentences in the past or future use a past or future form of the verb ,s´ nm ‘be’ that agrees with the subject: Vfif<\fem> ,skf<pst> dtctkfz ‘Masha was cheerful’, Vfif<\fem> ,eltn<fut> yfhzlyfz ‘Masha will be elegant’; adjectives can be used as predicates with forms of ,s´ nm in the imperative (,elm<imv> dtctkjq) and in various non-finite verbs of ,s´ nm (adverbial participle in [8] ,elexb ,jkmysv ‘being ill’). It is useful to refer to the whole set of these copular constructions in various tenses and moods as constructions with the verb be, and include in that designation predicate adjectives in the present tense which do not have an overt verb form of be.

In parallel fashion, nouns can predicate:

[18]-- Jy vjq cnfhibq ,hfn<nom> ! He’s my older brother!

As with adjectives, predicative constructions with nouns can appear in all tenses and moods. Again, no overt form of ,s´ nm is needed in the present tense. As predicatives, nouns can in principle appear in the nominative or instrumental (§5.2.5). A noun used as a predicative is interpreted as a property -- it states something about the subject -- in one of a number of ways: as a relation ([18]), as a description (Jy ,sk vbksq xtkjdtr ‘He was a nice person’), as a classification into a group (Jy ,sk vjyfh[bcnjv ‘He was a monarchist’), as a function (Jy ,sk yfxfkmybrjv njq kf,jhfnjhbb, d rjnjhjq hf,jnfk ve; vjtq ctcnhs ‘He was the head of the laboratory where my sister’s husband worked’).

Passive participles ([19]) and prepositional phrases ([20]) also function as predicatives:

[19]Fh,ep njh;tcndtyyj c(tlty<pss> .

The watermelon was consumed triumphantly.

[20]Dkflbvbh ,sk d vjhcrjv ,eikfnt. Vladimir was [dressed] in a navy jacket.

		Predicates and arguments 283
Table 5.1 Typology of predicative constructions
construction	meaning	examples
copular	predicative reports property	Exbntkm ,sk yjdsq.
	of subject	‘The teacher was new.’
		Jy vjq cnfhibq ,hfn.
		‘He is my older brother.’
copular,	host predicate reports	Ltkj jrfpfkjcm elbdbntkmysv.
aspectual-modal	property of subject, subject	‘The matter turned out surprising.’
	to change over time-worlds	Jy jrfpfkcz kexibv extybrjv.
		‘He turned out to be the best
		student.’
co-predicate,	predicative reports state of	Jyb dthyekbcm ecgjrjtyyst.
aspectual relation to	aspectual argument	‘They returned comforted.’
host predicate	contingent on host	Z dthyekcz ctlsv cnfhbrjv.
	predicate	‘I returned a gray-haired old man.’
co-predicate, modal	predicative states condition	B cgzobq jy jgfcty.
relation to host	for truth of host predicate	‘Even asleep he is dangerous.’
predicate		Z pyfk tuj ht,tyrjv.
		‘I knew him as a child.’

Active participles, at least those that are well on their way to being lexicalized as adjectives, occasionally appear in predicative constructions ([21]):

[21]J,cnjzntkmcndf ghtcnegktybz ,skb zdyj jnzuxf/obvb<pcl> . The circumstances of the crime were obviously aggravating.

Constructions analogous to those with be can be formed with other, more meaningful host predicates. Four broad groups of predicative constructions can be distinguished according to the context (host predicate) with which the predicative is used (Table 5.1).5

The four groups can be ranked according to the relative autonomy of the predicative, from copular constructions in which the adjective or noun acts as an autonomous predication (there is no predicate other than past or future be) to those in which the predicative is a co-predicate with an independent, autonomous host predicate. The four groups will be discussed in greater detail below, in reverse order of Table 5.1.

5 The typology of constructions is based on Nichols 1981.

284 A Reference Grammar of Russian

5.2.2 Modal co-predicates

In one type of predicative construction, the situation expressed by the predicative is taken as a given, as a condition, for the event expressed by the host predicate. The coincidence of two states is noteworthy, often because it runs counter to expectations, as does the condition of attire during sleeping in [22]. Common are qualifiers such as b ‘even’, tot ‘still’, e;t ‘already’, e;t yt ‘no longer’, which comment on the unexpected fact that the two events overlap.6 An adjective or participle is nominative, not instrumental ([22]):

[22]Jy byjulf ,hjcftncz yf rhjdfnm b cgbn jltnsq<nom> .

He occasionally throws himself onto the bed and sleeps dressed.

An adjective or participle can be used to state a property of an object, when it will be accusative ([23]):

[23]Yfcntyt b cgzoe/<acc> tt lth;fnm ljcnfdkzkj eljdjkmcndbt.

For Nastena it was a pleasure to hold her even [while she was] asleep.

Nouns ([24]) and nominal adjectives (dphj´cksq in [25]) use the instrumental:

[24]Ht,tyrjv<ins> z dctulf cnhtvbkcz gj,scnhtt cvsnmcz jn dphjcks[.

As a child I always tried to sneak away from the grownups as quickly as possible.

[25]E;t dphjckjq<ins> Wdtnftdf xfcnj dbltkf evthituj Fktrcfylhf <kjrf ;bdsv<ins> .

Even as a grownup Tsvetaeva often [imagined she] saw the deceased Alexander Blok alive.

A special construction is one in which the predicative adjective, in the nominative or instrumental, refers to ordering of elements: g†hdsq/g†hdsv ‘first’, gjck†lybq/gjck†lybv ‘last’. The nominative is temporal: the entity who is g†hdsq is earlier than anyone else:

[26]Bvtyyj :lfyjd gthdsq<nom> ddtk vfccjdst fhtcns rjvveybcnjd.

It was specifically Zhdanov who first introduced massive arrests of Communists.

The instrumental is implicitly nominal. It characterizes an individual in a sequence of individuals, each of which has a distinct role, such as the wedding attendants in [27]:

[27]Gthdsv<ins> lth;fk dtytw yfl ytdtcnjq tt ,hfn Cfif, dnjhsv<ins> -- z. The first holding the wreath over the bride was her brother Sasha, the second was I.

6 Exceptionally the predicative can be hosted by a noun with implicit predication: yfl tuj gbcmvtyysv cnjkjv dbcbn ajnjuhfabz vfnthb tot ltdeirjq<ins> ‘Above his desk there hangs a photograph of his mother as a girl’.