This article offers the first comprehensive analysis of the Extreme Reduplicative Pattern (ERP) formed with Russian short-form adjectives. I argue that ERPs constitute root-based reduplications whose reduplicant attaches directly to the adjectival root with the fixed segment -im, distinguishing them from both total and prefixal reduplication. The morpheme -im is shown to originate in the tautological instrumental and to have undergone grammaticalization into a derivational marker of intensification, an instance of TETU(The Emergence of The Unmarked)-driven reanalysis. The study further demonstrates that ERP stress behavior—often treated as templatic—arises epiphenomenally from the interaction of root-based derivation with non-canonical prosody. In addition, ERPs display a systematic discourse function: the reduplicant frequently operates as a topical instrumental that foregrounds the property denoted by the base. Drawing on data from folklore, vernacular registers, and literary prose, the article argues that ERPs represent a productive resource at the intersection of morphology, prosody, and discourse. Their formal and functional complexity provides new evidence for how Russian reduplication can extend beyond canonical copying to encode maximality, emphasis, and topicality.
Russian Dative-Infinitive-Structures (DIS) have been a matter of debate, with focus on such issues as mono vs. bi-clausality, modal flavour, TAM features and case-marking. I argue that all contextual realizations of Russian DIS sentences express a single flavour in root indicative clauses — alethic modality and exhibit the constraint on perfect infinitives in non-negative clauses. The Perfective Infinitive Constraint is canceled in other varieties of DIS sentences which do not express alethic meanings and are realized in irrealis or usual contexts. These asymmetries are explained by the fact that root DIS declaratives unlike irrealis DIS clauses have deictic tense. On formal accounts, deictic tense comes from the TP layer above the infinitive phrase, and the illocutionary force and modal flavour come from the upper CP layer above the TP. Root DIS declaratives enter the derivation as bi-clausal but undergo restructuring as the border between TP and VP is removed. The dative subjects of DIS sentences are raised out of the embedded infinitival clause and lack the animacy condition. The syntax and semantics of DIS sentences are valued across an overtly similar sentence pattern with embedded infinitives ― Dative-Predicative-Structures (DPS). I argue that Russian DPS sentences are control structures that implement a different mechanism of case assignment. Russian infinitival clauses by default retain deictic tense: this factor overrides the control versus raising distinction, but some types of both control and restructuring predicates block deictic tense for semantic reasons.
В статье анализируется функционирование деепричастий в русском языке XVII в. На основе анализа контекстов, отсутствующих в современном русском языке, делаются выводы о том, что в XVII в. деепричастие теряло абсолютное временное значение, которое имело некогда, приобретая относительное значение в зависимости от времени главного сказуемого, но оставалось при этом предикатом еще формально независимой клаузы. Закрепление за деепричастием функции предиката в зависимой обстоятельственной предикации происходит уже в XVIII в., т.к. контексты, свидетельствующие об этом процессе, отсутствуют в XVII в. и появляются только в XVIII в. Кроме того, сопоставление материала XVII и XVIII в. показало, что использование деепричастия в других специфических функциях характеризовало весь XVII в. и первую половину XVIII в. и начало сходить на нет во второй половине XVIII в.
This study applies and extends Keymorph Analysis (KMA) with cognitive linguistic theory to investigate the representation of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict in Russia Today (RT)’s Russian-language headlines. Unlike traditional keyword analysis, which primarily focuses on lexical content, KMA reveals underlying narrative orientations by examining how systematic morphosyntactic choices contribute to the construal of participant roles. Our approach integrates three analytical layers: (1) a Quantitative Layer that identifies statistically significant keymorphs using a novel dual-reference framework (Standardized Residuals for internal distinctiveness and Log-likelihood tests against a broad reference corpus) via LLM-enhanced annotation (98.58
Political discourse operates through the complex interplay of semantic, affective, and pragmatic dimensions. This study proposes Integrated Discourse Analysis (IDA), a systematic methodology that brings together Keymorph Analysis (KMA), agentivity analysis of verb semantics and thematic roles, and sentiment analysis. KMA, a quantitative methodology that measures morpheme frequencies, provides a foundation for analyzing case meanings. In Russian, genitive case markers can signal either agent or patient roles when used with deverbal nouns, requiring verbal semantics to determine agentivity. Verb semantics addresses this limitation by clarifying agentivity in argument structures. Sentiment analysis furnishes quantitative evidence for the speaker’s affective stance toward referents. Applying IDA to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s speeches on the Russia-Ukraine war, this study reveals how Lavrov systematically constructs Russia as a positively evaluated agentive subject while portraying Ukraine and NATO as non-agentive entities subject to negative evaluative framing. Statistical validation reveals significant differences in agentivity distribution among these nouns. IDA offers an empirically grounded, multidimensional framework, providing new insights into rhetorical strategies in contemporary political narratives.
