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Écnm is used when the context deals with the state of the world, when the speaker paints a picture in which the possession of some entity is in some relation to other states of the world -- a relation of cause and effect, of principle and illustration, or of overlapping states.

[206]<b,kbjntrfhib dcnhtnbkb vtyz c djcnjhujv. Rybub vjb e yb[ tcnm, ht,znf xbnf/n b[.

The librarians greeted me ecstatically. They have my books, children read them.

In [206], the relation is causal: the provincial library has the books, therefore children read them. In [207], having a notebook with a French title is a de rigueur consequence of taking music lessons:

[207]Yj [jlbnm yf ehjrb gjkfuftncz, b e vtyz, rjytxyj, tcnm yjnyfz gfgrf, ult gj-ahfywepcrb yfgbcfyj ≤v/pbr≥.

But it’s expected that I go to music lessons, and of course, I have a folder for sheet music, on which is written in French, “musique.”

Thus in context, †cnm establishes the existence of something, in the face of possible non-existence, where the existence of that entity affects other states of the world. In contrast, †cnm is omitted if the sentence is used to characterize the possessor rather than to establish the polarity of existence:

[208]<f,eirf rhfcfdbwf, yj cregfz. E ytt rk/xb jn rfccs.

Grandmother is a beauty, but she is stingy. She has the keys to the moneybox.

[209]E ytuj lheufz cgtwbfkmyjcnm: jy yfxbyftn ltrkfvbhjdfnm jxtym lkbyyst cnb[b, b exbntkm ujnjd gjcnfdbnm tve k/,e/ jnvtnre, kbim ,s jy pfvjkxfk. He has another specialty: he starts declaiming a long poem, and the teacher is ready to give him any grade if only he will shut up.

Thus [208] describes the possessor (her possession of keys goes along with her other character traits), while [209] explicates where the boy’s true talent lay.

5.4 Quantified (genitive) objects

5.4.1 Basics

The genitive can be used instead of the accusative for the object argument of transitive predicates under one of the following conditions: (a) individual verbs govern the genitive, now usually alongside the accusative; (b) the genitive can be used in place of the accusative in a partitive, or m e t r i c , meaning; and (c) the genitive is still frequently used in place of the accusative object of transitive verbs that are negated. These contexts are different enough from each other to merit separate discussion. Still, there are similarities. The genitive presents the

	Predicates and arguments 317
Table 5.8 Semantic classes of predicates governing object genitive
predicates	semantics
bcrƒnm ‘seek, search for’, ;lƒnm ‘await’,	potential: contact is potential, but
nh†,jdfnm ‘demand’, (gj)ckéifnmcz ‘heed,	unrealized
listen to’, lj;lƒnmcz/lj;blƒnmcz ‘wait for’,
;tkƒnm ‘desire’, [jn†nm ‘want’
ljcn∫xm/ljcnbuƒnm ‘reach’, lj,∫nmcz/lj,bdƒnmcz	tenuous: actual contact in the face of
‘achieve, acquire’, rfcƒnmcz ‘touch on’	possible non-contact
,jz´nmcz ‘fear’, bp,t;ƒnm ‘avoid’, jgfcƒnmcz	avoidance: possible contact is avoided
‘be wary of’, ,th†xmcz ‘be wary of ’

situation more as a state of the world than as a property of a specific entity. At the level of the argument, the genitive is used for nouns that are essentialist rather than individuated in reference (‘this is a token of the kind of thing defined as . . .’).

5.4.2 Governed genitive

The genitive has long been used for the objects of certain verbs (Table 5.8).32 Verbs that can take the genitive at all present a scenario in which the object is potentially affected by the subject, but the potential effect (or the potential contact between the two entities) is less than complete: contact is only potential, not actual; or the contact is attenuated because non-contact was a real possibility; or contact is avoided.

The verbs of Table 5.8 all used to take the genitive regularly, but over the course of the twentieth century it became increasingly possible to use the accusative. Among the common verbs, the genitive is still usual with the highly modal nh†,jdfnm (over 90%), but now infrequent with bcrƒnm (less than 30% genitive), with ;lƒnm ‘wait’ intermediate. The accusative has made such progress with these verbs that RG 1980 recognized the accusative as a stylistically neutral option in two contexts: with nouns referring to persons (in the singular of Declension<II> or Declension<III> -- otherwise the animate accusative would be invoked), as in [210], and with nouns referring to known entities, as in [211]:

[210]Z gjitk bcrfnm cdj/ vfnm<acc> . I set off to look for my mother.

[211]Tve ye;yf jlyf rybuf, rjnjhfz e yfc tcnm. Z gjitk bcrfnm rybue<acc> . He needed a certain book that we had. I went to look for the book.

32 Matthews 1997.

318A Reference Grammar of Russian

In fact, the accusative is used more broadly with bcrƒnm and ;lƒnm. The accusative can be used for non-individuated objects if the eventual result is envisioned ([212--13]):

[212]Jntw t;tlytdyj e[jlbk bcrfnm rdfhnbhe<acc> .

Every day father would go out to search for an apartment.

[213]Jyf gjckfkf ntktuhfvve, cnfkf ;lfnm jndtnyjt gbcmvj<acc> . She sent a telegram and began to wait for the letter of reply.

The accusative is used for repeated activities, each of which is successful,

[214]Rf;lsq ltym z jnghfdkzkcz yf ks;f[ nj d jlye cnjhjye, nj d lheue/, bcrfk ltkzyrb<acc> , ult uecnj hjckb cjcys b gb[ns, gjnjv dtk nelf ktcjhe,jd b yfvtxfk ljhjub lkz dsdjprb ,htdty.

Every day I set out on skis in one direction or another, and located dense stands of pine and fir, then I brought the lumberjacks there and marked out roads for taking out the logs.

Or for an activity that is confined to a delimited interval of time:

[215]J,scr ghjljk;fkcz lj hfccdtnf. Gjlybvfkb gjkjdbws, bcrfkb jhe;bt<acc> , xbnfkb gbcmvf, jgznm bcrfkb, ybxtuj yt yf[jlbkb.

The search lasted until dawn. They lifted up the floorboards, they searched for guns, they read letters, they searched some more, they found nothing.

The generalization is that the accusative is used when the event is bounded. In contrast, the genitive is used when the event is not limited. In [216], the

speaker engages in the activity of waiting while, concurrently, observing another activity; [217] reports an open-ended process.

[216]Z ;lfk yf djrpfkt gjtplf<gen> c ,bktnjv d rfhvfyt b yf,k/lfk, rfr ldf yjcbkmobrf dskfdkbdfkb d njkgt gjljphbntkmys[ b dtkb b[ pf ne vfktymre/ ldthre.

I waited at the station for a train with a ticket in my pocket and observed how two porters would pick out suspicious types from the crowd and lead them behind that small door.

[217]Jy gjlfk fgtkkzwb/ d WRR b nthgtkbdj ;lfk htitybz<gen> cdjtq celm,s. He had put in an appeal to the Central Committee and was waiting patiently for the resolution of his fate.

In both [216--17], the object is defined in essentialist terms: ‘that which would be a train’, ‘that which would be the resolution of his fate’. This context -- openended activity, essentialist reference of the argument -- is the last refuge of the governed genitive.

Predicates and arguments 319

Unpaired reflexive verbs (,jz´nmcz ‘fear’, etc.) still take the genitive, but have begun to allow the accusative in the colloquial register with objects naming unique individuals:33

[218]Nfhfrfys yt ,jzkbcm lzl/ Dfc/<acc> . The roaches did not fear Uncle Vasia.

5.4.3 Partitive and metric genitive

The genitive case can be used for the object in what is often termed a pa r t i t i v e sense. The partitive sense presupposes a mass that is homogeneous (any portion is equivalent to any other), the total quantity of which is open-ended (there is always more where that came from). In the partitive usage, this formless mass is given shape: as a result of a bounded event, an unspecified but delimited quantity is created. In [219],

[219]-- Gjcnjq, cjecf<gen> djpmvb, -- crfpfk jy, elth;bdfz here Ktdbyf, rjnjhsq jnnfkrbdfk jn ct,z cjec<acc> .

Ktdby gjrjhyj gjkj;bk ct,t cjecf<gen> , yj yt lfk tcnm Cntgfye Fhrflmbxe. -- Hold on, take some sauce, -- he said, restraining Levin’s hand, who had been pushing the sauce away.

Levin obediently took some sauce, but wouldn’t let Stepan Arkadich eat.

Levin responds to a request to create some delimited quantity of sauce (twice genitive), but manipulates the whole quantity of sauce (accusative).

The possibility of using a partitive genitive depends on the noun, on the verb, and on the context. The partitive genitive is most likely with nouns that refer to undifferentiated masses, especially comestibles. It is less frequent, but possible, with plural nouns ([220]).

[220]Jy regbk gfgbhjc<gen> b gjitk yfpfl r vjcnrfv. He bought cigarettes and went back to the platform.

The partitive is most natural with those predicates that report a situation in which the act itself creates a quantity, as happens with interpersonal, domestic acts of transfer (purchasing, serving, or giving), consumption, or accumulation (Table 5.9).

Using the genitive in its partitive sense depends in part on the aspectualmodal quality of the situation. Because the quantity is created by the event, the partitive sense is most natural in contexts in which completion of an action has occurred or is anticipated -- a perfective imperative (recall [219]), a past perfective ([221]), or a purpose clause or infinitive ([222]):

33 Butorin 1966.

320 A Reference Grammar of Russian

Table 5.9 Predicates taking partitive and metric genitive

verbs of	examples	typical objects
t r a n s f e r : quantity defined	lƒnm/lfdƒnm ‘give’,	domestic products, money
by moving some quantity	reg∫nm/gjregƒnm ‘buy’,
away from source location	ghbckƒnm/ghbcskƒnm ‘send’,
to new location	dpz´nm/,hƒnm ‘take’ [rare],
	pfyz´nm/pfybvƒnm ‘borrow’
	[rare]
c o n s u m p t i o n : quantity	c(†cnm/c(tlƒnm ‘eat up’,	liquids, foodstuffs
defined by act of	ukjnyénm/ukjnƒnm ‘swallow’,
consumption	ds´ gbnm/dsgbdƒnm ‘drink up’
a c c u m u l a t i o n : quantity	yf,hƒnm/yf,bhƒnm ‘gather’,	liquids; particulate mass;
defined by act of	yfk∫nm/yfkbdƒnm ‘pour’,	abstracts (in idioms)
accumulation, especially	ghb,ƒdbnm/ghb,fdkΩnm ‘add
increase over prior amount	to’, lj,ƒdbnm/lj,fdkΩnm ‘add’

[221]Uhtiybwf, z lfkf<pf pst> tq cdjt gfkmnj b ltytu<gen> yf ljhjue lj Vjcrds, relf jyf gjt[fkf [kjgjnfnm j djccnfyjdktybb.

Sinner that I am, I gave her my coat and money for the trip to Moscow, where she was going to see about her rehabilitation.

[222]Yb jlyjuj lyz yt ghjdtk jy d ghfplyjcnb, cjdctv pf,sk vepsre, hfccskfz gj dctv ue,thybzv gbcmvf c ghjcm,jq ghbckfnm<pf inf> ctvzy<gen> b cf;tywtd<gen> , tot rfvyz<gen> , tot ktce<gen2> , heufzcm c gjlhzlxbrjv.

He didn’t spend a single day in idleness, completely forgot music, sending out letters to every province asking them to send additional seeds and seedlings, stone, and lumber, cursing at the contractor.

The genitive is not used as partitive for imperfective actions in progress, as in jyf rfr hfp yfkbdfkf vyt {xfq<acc> / xfz<gen>} ‘she was just pouring out some tea’, inasmuch as the quantity becomes defined only as a result of a finished action.34 The partitive is not used with imperfectives reporting generalized activities:

[223]Veptq cnfk cjplfdfnmcz ktn nhbyflwfnm yfpfl, rjulf nehbpv yfxfk lfdfnm ltymub<acc> .

The museum was founded about thirteen years ago, when tourism began to produce money.

The partitive genitive can be used with imperfectives that report a series of separate events, each of which is completed; in [224], he was given a quantity of money on each visit:

34 Russell 1986.