Mood, tense, and aspect 411

secondary imperfectives, the meaning of the second imperfective is dependent on the meaning of the prefixed perfective. In these respects, the relationship between simplexes and verbs impressed into service as perfective partners is less close and less determined than the relationship between prefixed perfective verbs and their corresponding secondary imperfectives. In short, secondary imperfectives are based on their prefixed perfectives, while simplexes provide the basis for their near-partners, formed with quantizing prefixes or {-nu-}.24

6.4.6 Intrinsic lexical aspect

It is common in studies of English and Western European languages to invoke a classification of lexical items according to their intrinsic semantics, or l e x i - c a l a s p e c t , often the four-part classification proposed by Z. Vendler (1957).25 One can adapt Vendler’s system to Russian, but the insights are modest. Simplex verbs, as a rule, express states (d∫ltnm ‘see’, ckßifnm ‘hear’, uhecn∫nm ‘be sad’) or processes/activities (rhen∫nm ‘twist, twirl’, l†kfnm ‘do’), but Russian is not as concerned with this distinction as English, which forms the progressive from stative predicates less freely than from activities. Prefixed perfectives, as noted above, are likely to express activities that progress to a cumulative result: in Vendler’s terms, these are accomplishments, or in Maslov’s terms, predicates with a telos, or “intrinsic limit.” In Russian, such “accomplishments” are likely to allow the formation of secondary imperfectives, which are then telic activities: they have something of accomplishments but they are activities. The Russian analog to Vendler’s fourth class, achievements, includes changes of state -- verbs reflecting changes from one polarity of a state to another (ed∫ltnm ‘see, catch sight of’, eckßifnm ‘hear [suddenly, as opposed to not hearing]’).26 Such verbs do not form secondary imperfectives. Together with them might be grouped the various kinds of quantification (quantizing) discussed in connection with prefixes: of duration (ghjcgƒnm ‘sleep through’), of distance (yf†plbnm ‘travel through’), of result (yfcjk∫nm juehwj´d ‘pickle [many] cucumbers’), of inception (pf[jl∫nm ‘begin to walk’). Quantizing verbs allow derived imperfectives freely only in an iterative sense.

There are, then, something like analogs to Vendler’s four classes of predicates, but a Vendlerian classification does not do justice to the most characteristic

24 In the vocabulary of structuralism (though this is not the view of, for example, Roman Jakobson), simplex imperfectives are “unmarked” with respect to the perfectives with which they are associated, but secondary imperfectives are “marked” with respect to the prefixed perfectives.

25On the relationship of lexicon and aspect, see Maslov 1948, Forsyth 1970, Brecht 1984, Lehmann 1988, Paducheva 1996. On limitations of the approach of Vendler 1957, see Timberlake 1985[b].

26Lubensky 1985 notes that, unlike most perfectives, these verbs do not readily allow a resultative

or perfect reading: -- Ds dbltkb эnjn abkmv? ‘Have you seen that film?’ will not be answered with

-- Lf, z lfdyj edbltk.

412A Reference Grammar of Russian

feature of Russian aspect: secondary imperfectives that presume a limit (like Vendler’s accomplishments) but insist on the failure to reach a limit (like Vendler’s activities).

In connection with lexical aspect, it is useful to mention a specialized group of verbs whose imperfective reports a process, but the process is an attempt. Such conative verbs form the classic phrase: z tuj e,t;lfk<if>, e,t;lfk<if>, b yfrjytw e,tlbk<pf> ‘I tried to convince him, tried to convince, and finally convinced him’.

6.4.7 Verbs of motion

A set of approximately a dozen verbs that describe physical motion in space have unusual properties with respect to aspect. Notably, these “verbs of motion” have two simplex imperfectives.27 One set, i n d e t e r m i n a t e simplex verbs such as [jl∫nm ‘walk’, ,†ufnm ‘run’, are used to express: motion that is not directed to a single goal ([122]); a roundtrip on a single occasion ([123]); or the essentialist idea of a certain type of activity ([124]):

[122]Z ifufk gj Vjcrdt, tplbk<if id> pfqwtv d nhfvdfz[, b dct ,tphtpekmnfnyj.

I stepped throughout Moscow, took rides on trams without paying, all to no avail.

[123]Tot d yfxfkt ktnf d Vjcrde tplbkf<if id> vjz ctcnhf Cjyz b, dthyedibcm, hfccrfpfkf vyt j, эnjq ltdjxrt.

At the beginning of the summer my sister Sonia went to Moscow and, once she returned, told me about this girl.

[124]Эnj Fkbyf. Tq djctvm vtczwtd. Jyf e;t [jlbn<if id> . This is Alina. She’s eight months old. She’s already walking.

The other set of simplex verbs, for example, bln∫ ‘walk’, ,t;ƒnm ‘run’, are determinate. They express motion that has a single direction towards a goal on a single occasion. Determinate verbs are used in the progressive ([125]) or durative sense ([126]:

[125]Gjvybncz, t[fkb<if dt> vs jlyf;ls ,jkmijq rjvgfybtq d Vjcrde. I remember how once we were going in a large group to Moscow.

[126]Ljkuj ;t ds t[fkb<if dt> ! You sure traveled a long time.

When motion is iterated, both types of verbs occur. Indeterminate verbs are used when the multiple acts are viewed as a habit, even if the acts have a goal ([127--28]):

27 Isaˇcenko 1975:419--42.

Mood, tense, and aspect 413

[127]Rf;le/ ce,,jne vs ,jkmijq rjvgfybtq gjcnjzyyj [jlbkb<if id> d ntfnh, cnjkm ;t ,jkmijq rjvgfybtq tplbkb<if id> gj djcrhtctymzv r Jcjhubysv, rfnfkbcm<if id> nfv yf ks;f[.

Every Saturday a large group of us would go to the theater, in just such a group would go on Sundays to the Osorgins, and ski there.

[128]Jyf jrjyxbkf irjke, gjcnegbkf r yfv hf,jnfnm, hfp d ldt ytltkb tplbkf<if id> gj ds[jlysv ljvjq.

She finished school, came to work with us, once every two weeks on her days off would go home.

Determinate verbs are used when the individual sub-events attract attention, for example, if each token of motion is sequenced with respect to other events ([129]):

[129]Tckb ,skj ;fhrj, jy itk<if dt> yf htre, hfpltdfkcz<if> , ,hjcfkcz<if> d djle, ljgksdfk<if> lj ghjnbdjgjkj;yjuj ,thtuf b j,hfnyj.

If it was hot, he would go to the river, get undressed, throw himself into the water, and swim to the opposite bank and back.

Verbs of motion have interesting properties when they are prefixed. To make qualitative perfectives, the prefix is added to the determinate. The stem for the corresponding secondary imperfective is selected or formed in one of four ways. In s t r a t e g y 1, the imperfective is formed by prefixing the indeterminate stem directly (6 roots, e.g. pfqn∫<pf>/pf[jl∫nm<if> ‘drop in, deviate from inertial path towards a new destination’, likewise ktn†nm<dt> ktnƒnm<id>, ytcn∫<dt>

yjc∫nm<id>, dtcn∫<dt> djl∫nm<id>, dtpn∫<dt> djp∫nm<id>, uyƒnm<dt> ujyz´nm<id>). In s t r a t e g y 2, the secondary imperfective uses the indeterminate stem, but is suffixed with the classificatory suffix {CVC-ƒ- : CVC-ƒj-|e|}

(3 roots, e.g., gtht,t;ƒnm<pf>/gtht,tuƒnm<if> ‘run across’, gj´kpfnm, †plbnm, the last-mentioned with a new consonant grade Cj, as in dßt[fnm<pf>/dstp;ƒnm ‘ride out’). Under s t r a t e g y 3, the imperfective is made from the determinate stem by adding the same classificatory suffix {CVC-ƒ- : CVC-ƒj-|e|} (3 roots, e.g., ck†pnm<pf>/cktpƒnm<if> ‘climb down’, also gkßnm<dt> gkƒdfnm<id> -gksdƒnm<if>; ,htcn∫<dt> (,htlé) ,hjl∫nm<id>, -,htlƒnm<if>). S t r a t e g y 4 con-

sists of adding the productive suffix {-iva- :	-ivaj-} to the indeterminate
stem (2 roots, e.g., dnfo∫nm<pf>/dnƒcrbdfnm<if>,	also rfn∫nm<dt> rfnƒnm<id>,

-rƒnsdfnm<if>, and also from others in the colloquial register: gthtk=nsdfnm<if>, gjlgƒkpsdfnm<if>).

Quantizing prefixes are applied directly to the indeterminate simplex: gj[jl∫nm ‘walk a bit’, pf,†ufnm ‘start running’, j,(†plbnm ‘encompass all destinations in traveling’, hfc[jl∫nmcz ‘become engaged in extensive walking’, dßtplbnm ‘train by riding’, jngkƒdfnm ‘finish one’s sailing days’, ghj†plbnm ‘spend a whole

414A Reference Grammar of Russian

Table 6.5 Verbs of motion

				secondary
			qualitative	imperfective	quantizing
gloss	determinate	indeterminate	perfective	(strategy)	perfective
‘walk’	bln∫	[jl∫nm	pfqn∫	pf[jl∫nm (1)	pf[jl∫nm
‘ride’	†[fnm	†plbnm	gtht†[fnm	gthttp;ƒnm (2)	j,(†plbnm
‘run’	,t;ƒnm	,†ufnm	lj,t;ƒnm	lj,tuƒnm (2)	yf,†ufnmcz
‘fly’	ktn†nm	ktnƒnm	dktn†nm	dktnƒnm (1)	pfktnƒnm
‘swim’	gkßnm	gkƒdfnm	egkßnm	egksdƒnm (3)	yfgkƒdfnm
‘crawl’	gjkpn∫	gj´kpfnm	yfgjkpn∫	yfgjkpƒnm (2)	pfgj´kpfnm
‘carry’	ytcn∫	yjc∫nm	dßytcnb	dsyjc∫nm (1)	gthtyjc∫nm
‘lead’	dtcn∫	djl∫nm	jndtcn∫	jndjl∫nm (1)	gjdjl∫nm
‘convey’	dtpn∫	djp∫nm	ghbdtpn∫	ghbdjp∫nm (1)	gjdjp∫nm
‘drive’	uyƒnm	ujyz´nm	gjljuyƒnm	gjlujyz´nm (1)	gthtujyz´nm
‘drag’	nfo∫nm	nfcrƒnm	dnfo∫nm	dnƒcrbdfnm (4)	yfnfcrƒnm
‘climb’	k†pnm	kƒpbnm	ck†pnm	cktpƒnm (3)	ghjkƒpbnm
‘wander’	,htcn∫	,hjl∫nm	lj,htcn∫	lj,htlƒnm (3)	gj,hjl∫nm
‘roll’	rfn∫nm	rfnƒnm	dcrfn∫nm	dcrƒnsdfnm (4)	j,rfnƒnm

interval of time driving’, cktnƒnm ‘fly there and back’, yf†plbnm ‘cover great distance driving’, bp(†plbnm ‘exhaustively travel’. There is a potential for ambiguity. For some verbs, the quantizing perfective (for example, pf[jl∫nm<pf> ‘begin to walk’) is the same as the imperfective derived by strategy 1 (pf[jl∫nm<if>, imperfective of pfqn∫<pf> ‘drop by, deviate from path’). The motivation for using the indeterminate in this way is presumably that it expresses the sense of the essential activity, the activity in and of itself (§6.5.4); it is that sense which is quantified.

Table 6.5 lists verbs of motion with some representative derivatives. Intransitives are listed above transitives, with the more marginal members at the bottom.

The usage of aspect of prefixed verbs of motion is generally similar to other aspectual pairs. The perfective reports a single event, the imperfective is used, for example, for events in progress (Rjulf vs njkmrj gjl[jlbkb<if> r эnjve cfvjve lhtdytve yf ctdtht ujhjle, yfc gjhfpbkj rjkbxtcndj [hfvjd ‘As we were just approaching this most ancient northern city, we were astounded by the number of churches’) or iterated events (Ythtlrj ghb[jlbk<if> ljrnjh Ybrjkmcrbq ‘Not rarely, Dr. Nikolsky came’). Noteworthy is the fact that the perfective is used only when the aspectual argument (subject of intransitives, object of transitives) is still at the destination at the time when the next event occurs.