Predicates and arguments 293

[76]Эnb vjltkb j,kflf/n cdjtq cbkjq yt ,kfujlfhz rfrbv-nj dyenhtyybv cdjqcndfv, yj gjnjve xnj jyb cenm nhflbwbjyyst xfcnb rekmnehs.

These models have force not by virtue of some intrinsic properties, but because they are traditional components of culture.

5.2.8 Эnj ,sk . . .

The demonstrative э´nj equates its referent (something in the text or the speech context) and a predicative noun. In the past or future, the copula agrees with the noun:

[77]Эnj ,skf<fem sg> ,sdifz ctrhtnfhif<\fem sg> Rhegcrjq. That was the former secretary of Krupskaia.

[78]Эnj ,sk<msc sg> dtcmvf pfvryensq vbhjr<\msc sg> . That was a very closed world.

If the applicability of the equation is restricted by a circumstantial argument, the noun goes into the instrumental, and the copula agrees with э´nj (that is, neuter singular):

[79]Эnj<nt sg> ,skj<nt sg> lkz dct[ ,jkmibv cj,snbtv<ins> . That was for us all a great event.

5.2.9 Predicatives in non-finite clauses

Predicatives with non-finite verbs tend strongly to appear in the instrumental. With ,élexb, the adverbial participle of be, the instrumental is always used with nouns ([80]), usually with adjectives ([81]), and regularly with passive participles ([81]):

[80]Vfnm Njkcnjuj, ,elexb { cthmtpyfz [jpzqrf<nom> cthmtpyjq [jpzqrjq<ins> }, cltkfkf gjlhj,ye/ jgbcm.

Tolstoy’s mother, who was a dedicated housewife, made a detailed description.

[81]	?ytljkmysq<nom>			ytljdjkmysv<ins>				}
Jy dsitk bp cj/pf, ,elexb {jcrjh,ktyysq					jcrjh,ktyysv
{		<nom>					<ins> }
Hjvfyjdsv.
	dissatisfied with					Romanov.
He withdrew from the coalition, being insulted by

With infinitives whose implicit subject corresponds to the subject of the main clause, the instrumental is obligatory with nouns ([82]), usual with adjectives, though the predicative form is possible for certain adjectives ([83]), and possible for passive participles ([83]), especially as the main verb increases in semantic weight ([84]):

[82]Jy vj;tn ,snm { cthmtpysq [jpzby<nom> cthmtpysv [jpzbyjv<ins> }

He could be a dedicated landlord.

294 A Reference Grammar of Russian

[83]	ytljdjkty			ytljdjkmysv
	Jy vj;tn ,snm {jcrjh,kty		<pv> jcrjh,ktyysv<ins> }
	{	<pv>		<ins> }

dissatisfied He might be .

humiliated

[84]Xtkjdtr k/,bn ,snm { jcrjh,kty<pv> jcrjh,ktyysv<ins> }. Man loves to be humiliated.

In the dative-with-infinitive construction, adjectives in earlier Russian used to be in the dative ([85], from The Igor Tale), but now only the instrumental is used (as in the modern translation of [85] in [86], or [87]):

[85]Kewt ;( ,s gjnzne<dat> ,snb yt;t gjkjytye<dat> ,snb.

It would be better to be stretched out dead than to be captured.

[86]E; kexit bcctxtyysv<ins> ,snm, xtv d ytdjk/ ljcnfnmcz.12

It would be better to be hacked to bits than to fall into captivity.

[87]Rfr yt ,snm j,vfyensv<ins> ghb gjregrt rfcctns? How not to be deceived while buying a cassette?

A special construction that has attracted attention in the recent literature is the case used by the adjectives cƒv ‘self ’ and jl∫y ‘alone’. In reference to the subject of a finite verb or a dependent infinitive, they are nominative, and agree with the subject in gender--number:

[88]Jyf<fem sg> {gjt[fkf htibkf gjt[fnm} cfvf<fem sg nom> nelf, xnj,s ghjzcybnm cbnefwb/.

She {went decided to go} there herself in order to clarify the situation.

When the implicit subject corresponds to a dative or accusative in the main clause ([89]) or the dative of a dative-with-infinitive construction ([90]), cƒv is dative. It agrees with the implicit subject in gender--number:

[89]Jyf {ghbrfpfkf vyt<\msc sg dat> evjkzkf vtyz<\msc sg acc> } gjt[fnm

cfvjve<msc sg dat> .

She {ordered me beseeched me} to go myself.

[90]Gjxtve ,s nt,t<\msc sg> yt gjt[fnm cfvjve<msc sg dat> ? Why not go yourself ?

The dative in [89] might be thought to show that cƒv agrees in case with the implicit -- dative! -- subject of the infinitive.13 But the dative is not used with subject-controlled infinitives ([88]), and the dative is not always used with infinitives whose implicit subject is an accusative object:

[91]Z pfcnfdbk Bdfyf<acc> gjqnb nelf jlyjuj<acc> . I made Ivan go there alone.

12[86] from Jakobson 1948/1966:134, [87] Jakobson’s translation (p. 165).

13Comrie 1974, Babby 1998.

Predicates and arguments 295

Table 5.4 Summary of predicative constructions

		adjective	adjective	adjective	noun	noun
		pv (“short”)	nom	ins	nom	ins
	copular: present tense	√	√		√
	copular: past, future tense	√	√	±	±	√
	aspectual-modal copular	±	?	√		√
	aspectual co-predicate		√	±		√
			√			√
	modal co-predicate

The dative is used with infinitives dependent on nouns: djpvj;yjcnm gjt[fnm cfvjve<msc sg dat> ‘the possibility of going alone’. It appears that the “second dative” of cƒv and jl∫y is an idiom based on the dative in the free infinitive ([90]).

5.2.10 Summary: case usage in predicatives

The basic types of predicative constructions and the forms they prefer or allow are listed in Table 5.4. Each form has its preferred distribution, and each type of predicative construction has its own properties. Evidently there is a divide between copular constructions (both the basic copular relation be and its enrichments such as jcnƒnmcz ‘remain’, etc.) and constructions in which the predicative is a secondary predication, or co-predicate, overlaid on an independent predication; the latter do not allow the predicative (“short”) form of adjectives.

Nouns go into the instrumental the moment there is the slightest restriction on the state -- in time (past or future tense), modality (imperative, subjunctive) -- or any sense that the predicative noun describes in what capacity, qua what, the predicative relation holds. For this reason, predicative nouns used as copredicates always go into the instrumental.

With adjectives, the instrumental is used less than with nouns, and only when there is a pronounced boundary. Adjectives present an interesting contrast between the predicative (short) form and the nominative (long) form. The layered conditions involved in the contrast between these forms (Table 5.5) relate to: the subject; the property itself; the occasions (time-worlds) on which the property holds; and the function of the predicative in context. In idealized terms, the predicative (short) form states one contingent, accidental property of a known individual, among other possible properties. It occurs in copular constructions and marginally with aspectual-modal hosts (jcnƒnmcz). The (long) nominative presents the subject as an entity that embodies a necessary property -- an essence -- unconditionally.