Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Russian Grammar (But Were Afraid to Ask)

Introduction

      Introduction       This   book   is   a   collection   of   almost   all   of   my   individual   columns   that   were   published   in   the   AATSEEL   Newsletter   between   1998   and   2010   in   answer   to   readers’   questions.   The   columns   were   substantially   revised   for   this   publication.     Most  of  the  questions  are  of  such  a  nature  that  they  are  not  covered  in   either   traditional   grammar   books   or   textbooks   for   learners   of   Russian   as   a   foreign   language,   but   which   nonetheless   are   of   interest   to   students   and   teachers  of  Russian.  They  deal  with  quasi-­‐‑synonyms,  words  or  phrases  (and   even   their   grammatical   features   such   as   case   and   aspect   or   morphological   variants)   that   are   considered   synonymous   by   dictionaries   and   grammar   books,  but  which  have  semantic  or  pragmatic  differences  and  connotations.     This   leaves   students   and   non-­‐‑native   teachers   wondering   when   one   variant  is  used  and  when  the  other.  Consider  the  verbs  of  ‘using’  for  example,   or  the  adverbs  meaning  ‘again’.  Sometimes  native  speakers  choose  one  over   another,  saying  “it  sounds  better  this  way”  without  understanding  why,  and   students  have  little  recourse  but  to  try  to  memorize  the  appropriate  phrases   and  contexts  for  each  quasi-­‐‑synonym.  However,  the  choice  often  depends  on   a  number  of  semantic  and  pragmatic  factors  that  have  to  be  established  for   each   group   and   which   therefore   cannot   simply   be   memorized.   When   using   the   wrong   quasi-­‐‑synonym,   students   of   Russian   may   at   best   say   something   which   sounds   incorrect;   at   worst   their   meaning   and/or   intent   may   be   misconstrued.   We   teach   students   Russian   grammar,   after   all,   because   as   non-­‐‑native   speakers  they  must  rely  on  grammatical  rules  to  correctly  speak  the  language.   Quasi-­‐‑synonyms  leave  gaps  which  can  be  perplexing  and  even  irritating  for   them   (Why   one   and   not   the   other?)   and   which   limit   their   communicative   ability.  These  gaps  are  the  source  of  most  of  the  questions  in  this  book  (all  real   questions   submitted   by   real   readers),   and   the   purpose   of   the   book   is   to   fill   them.   I   know   from   my   own   teaching   experience   that   students   who   have   struggled   with   quasi-­‐‑synonyms   experience   great   satisfaction   when   the   differences   are   explained   to   them,   and   they   become   better   speakers   of   Russian.   Some  of  the  issues  deal  with  changing  norms  or  at  least  changing  usage.   Russian   dictionaries   are   known   to   lag   several   decades   behind   language   xii What You Always Wanted to Know about Russian Grammar change.   While   there   is   a   long   tradition   of   cataloging   new   vocabulary*,   grammatical  changes  are  often  overlooked.  In  the  1970’s  and  80’s  Graudina   and  Gorbachevich  filled  the  gap  with  their  monographs.  Towards  the  end  of   the  century  many  new  dictionaries  appeared,  among  them  Толковый  словарь   русского   языка   конца   ХХ   в.   Языковые   изменения   (Санкт–Петербург:  «Фолио–Пресс»,   1998).   Meanwhile   the   best   attempt   to   catalog   the   changes   was   in   the   monograph   Русский   язык   конца   ХХ   столетия   (1985–1995)   (Москва,   «Языки   русской   культуры»,   1996),   but   it   too   devoted   more   attention   to   changing   lexicon   and   lexical   semantics   than   to   grammatical   changes.  Besides,  it  was  not  written  with  foreign  students  in  mind,  unlike  the   present  collection.                                                                                                                               * The dictionary series entitled Новые  слова  и  значения published an edition for the 60’s and one for the 70’s; there were also annual editions in the 70’s and the 80’s. ...