A Cognitive Grammar Analysis of the Semantics of the Russian Verbal Prefix na-

The Russian verbal prefix na- is one of a set of aspectual prefixes that exhibit characteristics of both derivational and inflectional morphemes. In addition to forming aspectual pairs as a grammatical marker of Perfective aspect, na-, in many cases, also carries lexical meaning; in these cases, na-prefixation changes the lexical/semantic meaning of the verbal stem, resulting in a distinct lexical item. I examine a sample of 40 verbs to compare the frequencies of na- as a lexicalized prefix and as a grammaticalized prefix. I then propose a radial category model to account for the polysemous functions of na-, with several metonymically and metaphorically related functions branching out from a single spatial prototype.

Name thesis:degree_name

Linguistics

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Department of Linguistics

Year

2016

Author dc:creator

• Hart-Moynihan, Christopher

Contributors dc:contributor

• Axelrod, Melissa
• Croft, William
• Ivanova, Tanya

• Linguistics
• Russian
• Cognitive Grammar

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/ling_etds/14

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalrepository.unm.edu:ling_etds-1013