Russian Language Journal
Author ORCID Identifier
Keywords
Russian language, Russian motion verbs
Abstract
The present paper puts forward and analyzes the postulate that the grammatical category of verbs of motion in Russian can be characterized as unstable and gradational. Instability is manifested in the fact that members of verb oppositions included in this category can weaken or even lose their grammatical status, i.e., their semantic and syntactic parallelism, cf.: bresti domoj / brodit’ domoj. Oppositions within the grammatical category of verbs of motion are not equal in terms of their grammatical status: some verbs are retained in the grammatical system more firmly than others. In this regard, an attempt is made to describe the oppositions of verbs of motion as a gradational system, according to the degree of their typicality—from the most typical, i.e., least susceptible to the weakening of grammatical status, to the least typical, i.e., most susceptible to the weakening of grammatical status.
Recommended Citation
Bernitskaia, N. (2025). Русские глаголы движения типа идти/ходить как неустойчивая и градационная грамматическая категория / Russian motion verbs of the idti / khodit' type as an unstable and gradable grammatical category. Russian Language Journal, 75(1). https://doi.org/10.70163/2831-9737.1486
