CHEMICAL RUSSIAN,. SELF-TAUGHT' V . Russian Grammar JAMES W. PERRY Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
The Russian system of inflected forms may be regarded as a complex pattern woven from a relatively small number of sample elements and embroidered with irregularities. Discussion of the use of Russian inflected forms emphaszzes various peculiarities apt to cause dZfficulty when learning to read chemical Russian.
I. INTRODUCTION
In order to read Russian it is not enough to understand the meaning of individual words as listed in a dictionary. It is also necessary to understand how the meaning of individual words may be altered by endings and how words are fitted together to form sentences and phrases. The English language makes use of endings to alter the meaning of words as, for example, in the words "acid," "acids" or "excess," "excesses." In fact, it may be stated as a general rule that the endings "-s" or "-es" are used in English to form the plural of nouns. Knowledge of this rule would be very helpful to a Russian chemist while learning to read chemical English as it would enable him to recognize the plural of most English nouns once he had learned their singular forms as listed in dictionaries. Exceptions to the rule, e. g., " man," "men," would require special attention. Russian makes very extensive use of endings. Thus, for example, the ending of a Russian noun depends on its role in the sentence, i. e., whether subject, direct object of a verb, indirect object, object of a preposition, etc. Dierent endings are used depending on whether the noun is singular or plural. Furthermore, the ending of a noun in many of its forms depends on its grammatical gender. Russians also use a similar set of endings with adjectives. The form of Russianpronouns2 also depends on their use in constructing sentences and phrases. Particular attention must be devoted to Russian verbs, whose various forms correspond more or less exactly to English verb forms such as, "pour," "pours," "poured," l'pouring," "to pour," "to be pouring," etc. The Russian system of endings has such extensive 'Presented before the Division of Chemical Education at the
110th meeting of the American Chemical Society in Chicago,
September 9-13, 1946. English pronouns also have a multiplicity of forms, e. g., I, my (mine), me, we, our (ours), us. Corresponding Russian pronouns have an even larger number of different forms.
ramifications that generalizations in the form of grammar rules are very helpful when learning to read chemical Russian. In order to be of maximum value such rules must (1) be as simple as possible and (2) have a minimum number of exceptions. These two requirements often prove to be inimical with the result that a compromise must be reached between an excessively complicated grammar rule on the one hand, and an excessively large number of exceptions on the other. Since the line separating grammatical regularity from irregularity is necessarily arbitrary, various authorities (1, 5, 4, 6, 6) may present slightly different formulations of various grammar rules. It is essential to start reading material relating to known subject matter, e. g., a beginner's text in chemistry, as soon as the barest ~ d i m e n t of s grammar have been learned. In this way, as discussed in an earlier paper ( 2 ) ,a knowledge of the fundamentals of chemistry can be used as a powerful aid in resolving difficulties due to Russian grammar. During the learning period, i t may be necessary to recall to mind certain fundamental rules as a means to understanding the relationships between words in sentences. With continued practice in reading, the need for consciously recalling grammar rules to mind arises less and less frequently. With sufficient practice, i t is possible to arrive a t the point where the significance of the various endings, idioms, etc., is sensed directly without being conscious of grammar rules a t all. It is convenient to consider the basic principles of Russian grammar under two distinct headings: (1)the derivation of the various inflected forms (cases, tenses, etc.) by adding endings to various stems and (2) the use of the idected forms in expressing thought. Learning the use of Russian inflected forms is not excessively difficult, as grammatical nomenclature (e. g., present tense, singular number, nominative case) usually provides reliable clues to the use of the various tenses, cases, etc. The inflected forms themselves, on the other hand, present serious difficulties. I n fact the
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
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intricacies of the Russian system of endings are such that there is danger of becoming hopelessly bogged down in a morass of details. This danger may be lessened by observing that a relatively small number of elements are involved in the complex pattern of inflected forms. 11. BASIC FEATURES OF RUSSIAN INFLECTIONS
The basic features of the Russian system for inflecting various parts of speech might he summarized as follows. (1) Addition of certain deiinite sets of endings (i. e., "regular endings") is all that is involved in deriving most of the different forms of the great majority of inflected Russian words. The following generalities roncerning regular endings are important. (a) Many of the regular endings, in particularthose sets of endmgs used with nouns and noun modifiers, exist in two modifications, commonly designated as "hard" and "soft." (Tabulations of endings are presented in discussing individual parts of speech.) (b) Although some nouns and adjectives and also certain verb forms are inflected exclusively with hard endings, there are a large number of wordsJ in each of these categories which are inflected partly with hard and partly with soft endings (hereafter referred to as "mixed inflections"). (c) The following phonetic rules greatly simplify the understanding of mixed inflections of various parts of speech. ~~l~ 1, ~h~ letter, 'tbI,n of a hard is replaced by uHu in deriving inflected forms in which L ' ~ V would otherwise follow immediately after either r, = , K, X, *, =,
it is advisable to note carefully the following types of stem changes involved in irregular inflections. (a) Alteration of the stem by removal or insertion of a vowel, in particular "o" or "en or "b" (the soft sign). Such changes usually involve euphony considerations. Thus a vowel may he inserted between two consonants to avoid a consonant combination which otherwise would be unpronounceable or noneuphonious. Deletion of a vowel may contribute to euphony by shortening the word by one syllable and thus makmg the word easier to pronounce. (b) Changing the terminal vowel of a stem to another vowel or to "b." (c) Changing6 a consonant, particularly the terminal consonant of the stem, usually in accordance with the following scheme: , r
--
m o r 3 x o r m ' a - 1 K P. K
-
T
o
x
--
-
(IKor CT
9
or, rarely, m m m s
-
m.
Euphony and ease of pronunciation are the most important factors underlying . - this type .. of stem change. (d) Alteration of the stem by addition, insertion, or removal of a single consonant or a syllable, especially -OB-, -ew, or -m-. (e) Combinations of t h e above stem changes are also observed occasionally.
It is particularly important to note that irregular inflections in Russian nearly always involve stem changes and that the regular endings are used, as a rule, with irregularly altered stems. This fact greatly facilitates recognition of the case, tense, etc., of a given form of a word whose inflection deviates from the regular ,,,. *. Rule 2. Similarly the letter "on of an un- pattern. In order to recognize the stem of an irregularly accented ending is replaced by "e"4 in de- inflected word and thus understand what object, propriving forms in which -"oVwould otherwise erty, action, etc., is designated, it is necessary to perceive what alteration has been applied to the stem in follow either x, q, s, m, or rq. deriving the inflected form in question. These imporRule 3. In certain verb endings the letters tant points will be clarified by consideration of Russian "a," "y," and "n" are sometimes replaced, respectively, by ''J?"' "IO" and ' (or inflection of individual parts of speech. "b") in order to facilitate pronunciation or 111. NOUN DECLENSION to render it more euphonious. (a) Regular Nouns: The regular endings for declin(2) Although many of the Russian inflected forms must be classed as irregular, the usual regular endings ing nouns might be summarized as follows. are used almost exclusively in deriving all inflected S~QULAR forms, both regular and irregular. In general, Masdine Feminine Neuter irregularities in inflected forms consist of some unHard Soft Hard Soft Hard Soft usual change6in one or more of the last few letters Nmn. . . . . -5, -~ -a -II, -5 -0 -e -m -0 -a -R of the stem prior to affuringthe usual regular end- Gen. -a -n -e -a -y -m Dal. -y -m ings. Occasionally recognition of a stem in altered Am. -Y -m,-h -0 -e .. . . -h, -a form may involve some difficulty. For this reason In&. -OM -eM +*(-om)-&(-em), - b ~ , QY - e ~ "A
-
'
a This is particularly true of participles, which are used as noun modifiers and which, quite logically, are inflected using the regular adjective endings. 4 No distinction has been made between Russian "e" and " E M throughout this paper. The letter "e" is used for bath "e" and ''6" in most Russian scientific puhlicationa.
Pmp.
-e
-e, -a
-e
-2,
-u
-e
-e. -a
A8 pointed out in a previous paper (7), roots may undergo similar alterations in derivation of various words. 6 The direction of the arrows may be regarded as reversed in the inflection of certain words, e. g., ussnesb, ta extract, (s K), ~ ~ m e x Iyshall , extract.
-
81
FEBRUARY. 1947
Masdine Hard Soft N m . -ar -a Gen. - 0 ~-eB, -e* Dat. - a ~-m Acc. -= -a Imtr. -a - n ~ n -5. Prep. -ax -nx
PLURAL Feminine Hard Soft -51
.... - a ~ -h~
-am -ax
-a -e*,
-b
-RM
-a
--.
-%xu
-RX
Naler Hard Soft -a -n ... . -It, -ezt -a, -a -R - a ~ a-mu -ax -ax
,,
The grammatical gender of most Russian nouns can be determined by examining their nominative singular form7and applying the following rules. Masculine Nouns: Nominative singular ends in (1) a consonant not followed by -b, or (2) -2. Feminine Nouns: Nominative singular ends in (1) -a, or (2) -n. Neuter Nouns: Nominative singular ends in (1) -0, or (2) -e. Some nouns, whose nominative singular case ending is -b. are feminine while others are masculine, without being classifiable by a general rule. Note, however,
that nouns whose nominative singular ends in - ~ e n bare masculine while others ending in - O C T ~ or -eCTb are feminine. The following examples illustrate the use of hard and soft endings in declining nouns. Note in particular
Stena
Bemecmo (substance) RemeCTB-
NEUTER NOUNS none ysrrnnqe (school) (field) non-
Endings Nmn. Gen. Dat. Aee. Imtr. Prep.
Hard BemeOTBO Bemecma BeqeCTBy BemeCTBO eemecmoM BemeCTBe
sojt none nom nom none nOneM none
Noun
Endings Nan. Gm. Dat. Acc. Imtr. Prep.
7 This is the form in which Russian nouns me listed in diotionaries. A very few Russian nouns exist in the plural form only, e. g., Bopom, gateway, gates, or nw, cabbage soup.
YsKnElUeM ysanume PLURAL Hard Soft nonn none* nonm nOJIH nonm nonm
RBJIeEIEe (phenomenon) RBneUTr-
Soft
Soft
MASCULINE NOUNS npuemrm (receiver) npaexnm-
Noun Stem
PO*
(swarm)
K ~ T ~ P &
OXUCJIUTWIb
(criterion) KpUTepB-
(oxidising agent) OKECJIkiTeJI-
Soft KpaTepaB KpHTepUn Kpmepm ~pn~epuii KpaTepXeM xpmepun
Hard npaeMAaK npuearnma npae-Y UpUeMKUK npaeMaaKoM npnmnuxe
Endings Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc. Insb. Prep. Endings Nom. Gen.
n ys (ray)
Soft
Hard runpa== mxPaTOB
Dal.
Aec. Imt7. Prep.
qvam nysax
porn ponx
FEMININE NOUNS Noun Stem
Monexyna (molecule) Monexyn-
Endings Nom. Gen. Dat. Ace. Inst?.
nayKa (science) myK-
exnn~qa (unit) ew~llqSINGW Mized enmma
.
Sojt T W P ~
Soft con5 COJIU
eonu COX5 COXhEO
Prep. Endings Nmn. Gen. Dat. Acc. Zmtr. Prep.
~eopan (theory) Teopa-
P L ~ L . Hard MOneKynhI
Hard
Soft
Soft COJnt
eon& COJUlM
oonu COJIWdll
OOnRX
Soft
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Certain irregular endings are sometimes encountered the use of mixed endings (i. e., partly hard and partly soft) with certain nouns. Such use of mixed endings with nouns whose declension otherwise is quite regular. is in accord with phonetic rules, previously summarized, Thus, nouns denoting persons, animals, and similar concerning changes in vowels following the letters r, living entities (but not parts of the body) change the accusative ending to that of the genitive for both singux, % x, E, % ' m, m. (b) Irregular Nouns: A particularly important type lar and plural of masculine nouns but only for the of irregularity in noun declensions consists of a stem plural of the other two genders. A similar irregularity change in which one of the vowels, "on or "e," is either is the use of the ending "-y" (hard) or "-to" (soft) to inserted or removed or interchanged with "b': as in derive either (1) a form of the genitive used in certain the following examples. The importance of euphony expressions indicating amount (one form of partitive considerations in connection with this type of irregu- genitive) or in certain idioms or (2) a form of the prepositional used after one or both of the prepositions, larity has been mentioned already.
Noun
iron Koneq (angle) (end)
Stem ymnCnaG
Koneq.
Masculine oeap nyswen (precip- (little itate) bubble) OCauoK- nynysmpeK-
nex (ice) neu-
nopmew (piston)
sopo~xa (funnel)
nopmen-
~opom-
Feminine mnnn Kanemxa (drop) (little drop) mnnxanenbx-
Neuter A cTewro xonbno (glass) (ring) CTeKJI-
x0~11.q-
tered Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc. Instr.
ymn yrna v r m" " yron
~ m e q nex KOW nbna xonnv nbnv .. xoneq nex
YIXOM
KOHgOld
IlhAOM
ocaxox ocaxxa ocawv .. . ocaxoos OCaXKOM
Prep.
yrne
xanne
nbxe
ocaxxe
Nmn. Gen. Dat. Ace.
y ~ mx o n m mum ocamn yrnas K O ~ O B nhxon O C ~ P O B yrnsM KOHgRM JI6XaM OCaUKkWd
A limited number of nouns are irregular with respect to one or more of the following: (1) gender (as determined by rules given above), (2) stem changes other than vowel-changes mentioned above, (3) endings used. Many irregular nouns in this general category are of little importance to chemical Russian. Note that even with the most highly irregular nouns, the regular endings are used for many of the cases.
" ~ a "and
dserences in meaning. Thus, 3y6 (tooth) has two distinctly different plural declensions. Singular: sy6, syCia,sy6y, sy6, s y 6 o ~ay6e , Plural: 5 ~ 6 %~ Y ~ O BS ,Y ~ ~ M8 , ~ 6 %s y 6 a w 5 ~ 6 (teeth % ~ of animal or person) sy6~.n, sy6ses, 8 ~ 6 6 ~ 1sy6bn. , a y 6 b m , sy6bxx (teeth of eaw, gem, or the like)
Masculine rma (eye)
Nom. Gen. Dat. Ace. Inslr.
npyr (friend)
rnas rnaaa rnasy mas
UPY~ upyra UPYU' XPYra
~ & S O M
A ~ Y ~ M
Prep. rnaae
npyre
CYU~R
(judge) cYnm CYXbU
CYXbe CYx6K)
CYXbeB (cynbem) cynhe
"B."
A few nouns are declined differently depending on
Feminine
pe6ewo~ (child)
ny~b (way, mad) Smomhn
- ,
M&T~
(mother)
wuo8 (wonder)
Neuter Do (ear)
speMn (time)
pe6enox npb pe6ema npa pe6emy ny~u pe6ema ny~b p e 6 e m o ~ WTeM pe6eme
nym
PLURAL Nom. Gen, Dat. Acc. Instr. Prep.
pe6n~a C Y X ~ ~ rmsa ~py31.n rnaa qpyabeil cyxelt pe6n~ masaw upysbm cyxbnna pe6n~a~ rnasa wueB pe6.m ~pysseB rnasam upysmn cyxbwaa pe6n~m CYXbRX pe6nmx npysbnx -masax "he only other word similarly declined is ne6a (sky).
nyTu we& nyrwl nyTu n y ~ m ny~nx
MaTepnx
wqeeax
ymax
spexena BpeMeH BpeMeUaM epearens. spexenam spexenax
83
FEBRUARY. 1947
Some nouns of foreign origin ark not declined, e. g., m m n n , alkali; nannro, indigo; ryaao, guano; panno, radio. Case endings are not used with abbreviations of words formed by dropping one or more letters from the end of a.word. Thus, for example, case endings are not used with the abbreviation T. nx. (standing for TeMnepa ~ y p anna~neaurrr,"melting point"). If, however, an abbreviation is formed by dropping the middle letters of a word, then the case endings are used with the t); abbreviation, e. g., Nom., T-pa ( ~ e ~ n e p a ~ y p tGen., e), T-pb~( ~ e ~ n e p a ~ y pDat., a ) ; T-pe ( ~ e ~ n e p a ~ y petc.
Masculine Soft Singular Hard .., -b
Feminine Hard Saft
Nf~dw'~ Hard Soft -O -e
-x
-8
Masc., Fern., Neuler Hard Soft plurd
-E
-hl
or with the letter consonant?soft signcornonant. In such adjectives insertion of a vowel in the stem frequently occurs, usually in accord with the following rules, (1) ~f the stemends in uK,w the vowel uo,, is inqo,.+e~ "-A
(2) If the stem ends in "a," the vowel "e" is inserted. (a) The Regular Endings: Endings used in declining (3) The soft sign is replaced by "e." adjectives might be summarized as follows. Vowel insertion occurs for phonetic reasons. Consequently no vowel insertion occurs if the stem of an Srnaah~ adjective ends in a consonant combination deemed proMasculine Feminine nounceable and euphonious by the Russians. Note in Hard Soft Hard Soft Nom. -&(-a) -& -aa -~IIR this connection that some adjectives whose sterns end Gen. -or0 -em 4-08 -e@ in "m" insert a vowel while some others drop one Dat. 4aay -eMy -04 -e4 "a," Note also that adjectives whose stems contain Ace. -ar4*(-04') -mg -ym -mm Instr. - b m - n ~ -oB(-om) -e&(-em) an "8" may replace this with "e" in deriving the Prep. -OM -eM -04 -e4 masculine singular predicative form. IV. ADJECTIVE DECLENSION AND COMPARISON
Nom. Gen. Dat. Am. Insb.
Prep.
PLURAL Masc., Fem.; Neuter Hard Soft -bre -ne -blx
-EX
-~IM
-m
-xe9
-meq
-61MU -EJX
-=ME
A djedive
6b1c~p pem~OP~K-
-mx
In spite of the multiplicity of endings the various forms of any regularL0 adjective are derived quite simply by &Xing the tabulated endings to the adjective's stem, which is easily found by removing the case ending (i. e., either -ba, -0i3, or -&I) from the masculine, nominative, singular form of the adjective as found in dictionaries. This procedure is practically identical with that followed in derivine the various f o m of remlar nouns. For this reason it seems unnecessary to give lengthy tabulations of inflected forms of individual adjectives. When adjectives are used as direct modifiers of nouns, the endmgs given above are used. But when Russian adjectives are used as predicative modifiers," another set of endings are used as follows (these endings exist only in the nominative case) a t the top of the next column. Irregular stem changes which frequently occur in deriving the masculine singular predicative form involve adjectives whose stems end with two consonants
-
-
'This aecusntivc ending is chongcd to thlt of the corresponding genitive &en an adjective i s u w l to modify a n o w denoting a person, >minull. or h d u r living enthy ( h t not a psn of the body). lo There are verv few irremlar adiectives, excent adjectives
modifiers, e. g., pan (glid).
S&m
nonab14 (complete) 60n~ao4 (sick) mcn& (smr) nuc~b~tr(clean, pure) ec~ec~sennbrli(naturd) o~nposea~b14(clear, candid) nonaltab14 (quiet, dead) ~ ~ 0 2 h U 1 8(stable)
Tornnona6onbnnmcJIPEICT-
eCTCCTBeHElomposean~OKO~A-
CTO~%-
Masc., Sing.. Pr~dimI.im . . ... ' 661c~p
penon mpee TOYe* no no^
6onc~ KECCJ~
PmcT eCTCCTBeH OTKpOBeEeR ITOKO~A CTO~K
Certain adjectives do not have uredicative forms. A particularly important class of such adjectives is formed with the suffix,-meex-. From them are derived corresponding adverbs ending in -nsecxn-. Thus we have, for example, x n m s e c d , chemical (adjective), and m q e c m , chemically (adverb). (b) The Comparison of Adjectives: The comparison of adjectives in Russian is characterized by several peculiarities. The general method of forming the comparative degree (corresponding to English faster, rarer, stronger, more exact, etc.) of adjectives used as direct modifiers of nouns is to use the adverb, Gonee, together with the positive degree of the adjective. Thus, for example: donee 6xc~panpea~qaa faster reaction 6onee p e m m MeTann rarer metal 6once .racTafl xncnoTa purer acid '2 The neuter, singular, predicetive farm of many adjectives rarclv, is used adverbiallv, e. -a,.. nenno, .. ecTecTsenno..naturallv. .. 661~1.~0, rapidly, k&. la Note that the word, xammc, is the nominative plural (attributive) of the p w i v e past participle of the verb, nam, to eive. Russian auite freauentlv uses adieotives snd ~ a r t i eipiks as substanti&, i . e., i s nouns. ,
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
84
A few adjectives are exceptional in that they have simple comparative forms which may be used as direct modifiers of nouns, e. g., ~ n 3 m $ i ,lower (nna~nti, low); s m d , higher ( B H C O K high); ~ ~ ~ , nysmnfi, better (xopomB, good), etc. The predicative of the comparative degree which is regularly formed by adding -ee to the stem of the adjective (i. e., to the stem of the positive degree) is not declined at all. It should be noted, moreover, that it is quite common for this predicative form of the comparative to be derived irregularly by first effecting a change in the stem of the adjective and then adding -e (or rarely -ee). Such stem changes usually involve consonant shifts of the type already summarized. Since the same type of stem change sometimes occurs in connection with one form of superlative, examples of the irregular predicative comparative are given along with the closely related superlative. Oneform of the superlative of adjectives is formed by attaching the suffix -eiim- or -a$im- to the stem of the positive degree, thus forming a new stem which is declined using the regular adjective endmgs. This form might be termed the attenuated superlative as it is sometimes used to indicate a high degree of quality somewhat short of an absolute superlative, corresponding to English "extremely fast," "extremely rare," etc. Note that a consonant shift involving the stem may take place before the s u f i is attached. Adjective
Compamtivc degme Affauatedsuperlative, afflibutiveform predicative form"
Stem
Various forms of superlative are formed as follows: (1) By using cammi3 with the positive degree of an adjective or with those simple comparative forms which can be used as direct modifiers of nouns, e. g., camtt pe@ MeraJrn the rarest metal camze Tosnble nemnme the most precise data. ca~br*nysmatt cnoco6 the best process
(2) By using the adverb ~an6oneeor the prefix =an-. nan6o;lce pcsmi4 U C T H T ~ the rarest metal ~aaSo.we6hw~panpeaxnan the fastest reaction manvquntfl euoeo6 the best rroceVs nanskemu~fmmnor the highest homolog
The prefix, npe-, is sometimes used similarly to aan-. Note, however, that npe-, when used with adjectives, does not always denote the superlative degree. (3) A predicative form14of the superlative involves using Bcero or Bcex (singular and plural genitive forms of seca,'%ll) with the predicative form of the comparative degree. -e
Bcero purest of all
6b1c~peeBCeX fastest of all
~~~-
Such predicative forms, both of the eomparative and also of demee. mav be used adverbiallv. ~- the ~~~- suoerlative ~~". e. "a,.. Bxc~pee,more swiftly, 6m&peeence~,most swiftly. The ward, secb, is used both as a pronoun and as an adjective. Its declension deviates somewhat from that of a regular adjective. '4
$
~
-
~
-
~
~
~
~
~
V.
The declension of Russian personal pronouns is rather irregular as seen from the following examples. Note, however, that, in many cases, similarity to corresponding noun or adjective endings exists. Pronoun n
Prep. Prnoun Nm. Ga. Dat. Acc. Inslr. Prep.
me ~ b l
(we) . .
HeM PLURAL om (tbev)
Mbf H&C
naM mc naMa nac
The declensions of possessive pronouns for the most part involve regular adjective endings as is seen from the example: Mase. Nom. am Gen. aamero Dat. namew
Ham - OUR SWO~LAR -PLURALN e u h Masc., F a . , Neuter Fa. nsma name Aamn ~ameit mmem aamux name* H&-M
.
The possessive pronouns em (his or its), ee (her), and &(their) are-not declined. Demonstrative pronouns are declined mostly with regular adjective endings, as in the following example: 3TOT
- THIS
-%NGULAB. Masc. Fern. BTa Nw. BTOT aToit Gen. BToro Dat. s ~ o ~ yB T O ~ Am, BTOT BTY Inslr. BTHM s ~ a i i(BTOH)) Prep. DTOM aTOa '
.
-PLURANmler Masc., Fern.. Neuter ST0 BTOIW BTOM~ BTO BTEM BTOM
BTU BTHX BTUM
?TU B T ~ U BTEX
Space restrictions prevent discussion of various minor peculiarities involved in declension of other pronouns, particularly the indefinite and negative pronouns.
VI. VERB CONJUGATIONS (a) The Durative" and. Perfective Aspects: Nearly all Russian verbs have two infinitives, the durative" and perfective, from each of which various tenses, participles, etc., are derived. The various inflected forms derived from the durative infinitive of a given verb are used in referring to action in progress or incomplete or frequently repeated, while forms derived These forms used after prc ositions. The durative aspect is aEo termed the imperfective by various authorities on Russian grammu. '6 '17
FEBRUARY. 1947
85
from the perfective infinitive are used if the action is thought of as finished or as a completed whole. Several distinctlv different devices are used to distinguish between durative and perfective infinitives. In general both of a given pair of durative and perfective infinitives are derived from the same root by means of prefixes and suffixes. ~h~ vagaries of usage are such, however, +,hat any general mles are of little value because of excessively large numbers of exce~tions. For this reason it is not a k s a b l e to learn indjvidual infinitives and then attempt to use rules for deriving the corresponding companion infinitives. It is much more practical to learn Russian infinitives in pairs, as shown in the following examples.
onnexBaTb nepenuesma~b
Duratiue Infinitive
Durative
Perfectiue Infinitiue
Aclwnla Exnressed
OnsicaTb nepemCsTb
to describe to copy, transcribe, rewrite ~ O ~ ~ C T U Tto~ clean. ~ u r i f v n p o s u e ~ w b to clean'up B ~ ~ ~ U C T U T S to clean out YMepTBUTb inflict death
YUCTUTK
zrq',"m'Ty ynlepmsnRTb
A startling difference in meaning may exist between two perfective infinitives formed by affixing different prefixes to a given durative infinitive. Duraliue
Pwfecliue
TYXHYTS
npo~yx~ym to decay, to rat
From the same root we also have: Perfeclive
3&TYXaTb 88TYXHYTb T Y ~ U T ~nOTYUIUTb
TeYb uena~b
nOTe9b to flow exena~s to do ~ ~ C T U BbIpaCTH . to grow TaRTS pacTaRTb to thaw 6 a n b ~ p o ~ a ~ b n p 0 6 H n b ~ p 0 ~ a ~ bto filter nyGnnsoBa~b ony6nu~oaa~b to publish mevs cx(e96 to inflame, burn +a~orpatpupona~b c ~ o ~ o r p ~ + u p a s ato~photograph b nneaTb ~anuca~b to write nonysa~b nonysuTb to obtain no~yna~s xynaT6 to buy nOHBMaT6 nOHRTb to understand I13BneK&Tb USBJIe96 to extract nepero~mb nepema~s to distill, to overtake ~a6xrnxa~b aa6nmc~u to observe PBB&T~ X&T~ to give Gpam B311Tb to take XBIIP~T~ nse~y~b to move O~M&¶EB~TE 06~040~b to moisten ynrapa~b ywepeTb to die
The situation is complicated by the variable effect of various prefixes on durative infinitives. As illustrated by examples given above, a given prefix, when used with certain durative infinitives, merely converts them to perfective infinitives. The same prefix when used with some other simple durative infinitive may shift the meaning to a degree which varies with the verb involved. A similar shift in meaning is sometimes caused by changes in the stem as in yMepeTb (to die) and Y M ~ P T B U T ~ "(to inflict death). Duraliue Infinitive Pmfeclive Infinitiue Action Expressed CTeWT6 CTeVb t0 flow away, 01 off, to drin npOTeKaTb npoTesb to Roi. through, to run on BbITeKaTb BblTe9b to flow out, t o leak out BT~KLLT~ BTeqb to flow in H ~ T ~ K B T ~ H R T ~ ¶ ~ to flaw in (in sufficient . amount) 0 ~ 6 U n b ~ p 0 ~ b lO ~ Ta+~M6J I S T P O B ~ Tto ~ filter Out n o n n u c b l ~ ~ ~ b noxnueam to sign (affix signature) This column might be regarded as giving a translation of the perfective infinitives only. The corresponding durative infinitives might be translated by "to be thinking," "to be rubbing," "to be washing," etc. In The perfective verb yMepTeaTb and the corresponding durative, yMepqsnnm, are rather grandiose in character. The verb pair, y6ueam (durative), y6um (perfective), is more commonly used with the meaning "to kill." Differences with respect to degree of dignity or edotional content characterize many Russian verb variations, which are used with great skill by Russian poets and literary artists.
Action Expressed
;~"T,",Z} noTyxuyTs to go out, t o be extinguished Action Expressed to start to g0 out, tO nearly g0 Out to cause to go out, t o extinguish
Other complications also are encountered. For example, the prefix no-, which is used to form the perfective of many verbs; is used with some verbs to indicate an action of brief duration, e . g., nonncam (to write a little), nosmam (to read a little). Similarly the prefix, 3a-, may be used to indicate the initiation of an action and no- to indicate sufficiency of an action. Some verbs have a separate perfective infinitivez0 ending in -ny~b,=O for expressing (1) an action of very short duration or (2) a sinale occurrence of an action ordinarily involving m u ~ ~ ~ l iofc strokes i t ~ or movements. Furthermore, certain verbs have special durative infinitivesz' to denote intermittent action. Thus we have: '
a
CBUCTaTb (durative) IIODBUCT&T~ (perfective) t o whistle nocBucTbrBaTb (durative) to be whistling intermittently CBHCTH to whistle once or very briefly .V T ~(~erfective) . CTysaTb (durative) nOCTy9aTb (perfective) to knock nOCTyKUBaTb (durative) to be knocking intermittently e ~ y ~ n (y p~ eb~ f ~ ~t ot knock i ~ ~ once )
Complications also arise with certain verbs indicatine: motion-such as going, carrying, traveling, etc. such complicationsmight be summarized in.an oversimplified fashion by saying that such verbs have two durative infinitives, one of which is used to describe the action when carried out to effect a definite purpose while the other durative infinitive is used to describe the action without reference to any particular purpose. indefinae ~~~i~~ ,,a,
Definite Adion nnmb (to be swimming or going by boat)
.."*..."(to be carrying, bearing) -mn..-c
nPcTm --..-
RO"WTL -. -....
,(to be leading, conducting, guiding) XOXUTL UTTU (NUTU) (to be going a n foot) esxu~r. exam (to be going not on foot, to be traveling) (The list is far from complete) ~
~
20 Note, however, that instantaneous action is not denoted by all verbs whose infinitives end in -WT6. A few verbs have imperfective infinitives ending in -HYTL., e. g . , T Y X U Y T ~ . Various tenses, participles, etc., are formed from these special infinitives as from other durative and perfective infinitives.
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JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
Both sets of infinitives listed above are durative with respect to aspect. By attaching the prefix, no-, to the infinitive denoting definite action, the perfective infinitive of these verbs is formed. Thus we have nonnblm, to swim, noaecm, to carry, to bear, etc. When, on the other hand, the prefix, no-, is attached to the above listed infinitives denoting indefinite action, perfectivez2infinitives having highly restricted meanings are formed, such as nomasam, to swim or sail for a little while, noeocmb, to slander, to defame, to carry for a short time. With prefixes other than no- corresponding durative and perfective infinitives are derived from the above listed indefinite and definite infinitives, respectively, as shown by the following examples. In forming such pairs of derived verbs, changes in the stem of the parent verb or in the prefix sometimes occur.
perfective, e. g., c o c ~ o l r ~ b c d(to ' take place). Other verbs employ a single infinitive for both the durative and perfective aspects, e. g., ~enerpa@siposa~b (to be telegraphing, to telegraph), s o s n e i t c ~ ~ o s a(to ~ bbe acting on, to act on). (b) Use of Endings with Verbs: SUMMARY OF REGULAR ENDINGSAND ORIGIN OF STEMS:AS mentioned above, a set of inflected forms is derived from both the durative and perfective infinitives. Since the perfective inherently indicates completed action, it cannot be used logically to indicate action in the present tense. This has two important consequences: (I) the perfective, as a matter of principle, cannot form present participles and present gerunds, and (2) the same tense endings which are used with the durative infinitive to form the present tense are used with the perfective infinitive to indicate future action. This dependence of the significance of an irnLhrdive Perfective Tramlatia of Perfective portant set of endings on the infinitive with which the B ~ T B to exit sbnronmb to renore. to denounce. to carry to endings are used may cause confusion unless care is .~ .O H O C B T ~ noaec~a .. t h i end to lead through, to conduct through taken to learn the durative and perfective infinitives n p o ~ o n a ~ b nposecm in pairs as discussed above. nepeaoxuTb nepesecTu to transfer, to translate A~XOUBT~ U~BTU to find The important details regarding Russian verb inn p ~ ~ c x orrpomoP~a ~ ~ ~ b to happen, to come about, to result, flections can be summarized in tabular form. This to be derived from table presents (1) a list of endmgs and (2) notes on the The infinitives of indefinite action may also be used origin of stems. Attention is directed to the following: with prefixes to form perfective infinitives as in the (A) The regular endings are used in conjugating following examples. practically all verbs. In other words, irregularities Durative Perfeditre Tramlation oJ Perfective in the verb endings are rare. This is a general rule. s~XsjKassm B U X O U ~ T L torear (children), tonurse (the (B) All the various inflected forms of completely regular sick) until well verbs could be represented as derived directly from UoHamsam ~OHOCBTL. to wear out (clothes) UpOBOXaTb npOBOXUTb to escort, to accompany their infinitives. Certain verbs may have a separate durative infini- (c) If, for all Russian verbs, the infinitives are assumed to be the basic forms from which all other forms tive (the iterative durative) which serves to emphasize are derived, then the most important type of the recurrent, habitual, or continuing character of the irregularity will be found to be stem change in action. formation of the present tense (from durative inDuralive Iteratine finitives) or the perfective future tense (from perDwative Aelion Expressed fective iufinitives). Such stem changes cany over, 6x~b 6 b l ~ a ~ h to be, $0 exist ~ ~ X U T L ewxam to he traveling with a majority of irregular verbs, into the present XOXBTE. xsxcneam to be going on foot participles2~bothactive and passive), the present snasaTb to be knowing 8AaTb gerund,2Jand those forms of the imperative haviug In order to have a basis for coping with these various their own distinctive endings. Note further in this complications, it is highly advisable to follow the policy connection that irregular verbs in general formz6 of memorizing both the durative and perfective infiniof this close relationship ssnam is sometimes cited as tives when learning a Russian verb. For example, it is seauence Note in this connection th; perfective counterpart of sn&. advisable to learn the infinitivepairs, n y ~ a ~ b - n o n y ~ a that ~ b , in English the verb "to know" is sometimes used with IIkiCaTb-RaIIkiCaTb, ITOJIYTiTb-nOJrysHTb, ek., TVheIl nerfertive for~e. Thus the ex~ression."I would like to know." be used to mean, "I ro;ld like to find out." learning the Russian verbs used to indicate the actions ;nay 24 The infinitive, cocTonT+cn, is reflexive in form as indicated by the ending. -cn. The reflexive is discussed in subsequent of thinking, writing, obtaining, etc. of thls paper. However, some verbs have only one infinitive.2a sections PS As already nointed out. Russian perfective infinitives canThus a few verbs exist only in the durative form, e. g., not form present participlesand present perunds. coneDxaTb (to he containing). while others onlv in the
-
$¶Note, however, that this rule is not without exception. Thus, noxoxuTb is perfective when it means "to walk a certain amount," but is imperfective when it is used to mean "to be resembling." ' 8 Sometimes authorities may not agree as to whether or not a eiven Russian verb exists in both durative and nerfective as
