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Semantics of Genitive Objects in Russian

A Study of Genitive of Negation and Intensional Genitive Case

  • Book
  • © 2013

Overview

Authors:
  1. Olga Kagan

    1. Modi'in, Israel

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  • Sheds new light on the genitive/accusative opposition phenomenon in Russian, an object case alternation that has long puzzled linguists
  • Provides a new semantic analysis of genitive objects
  • Reveals a semantic parallel between genitive Case and subjunctive mood
  • Relates genitive objects in Russian to other instances of differential object marking
  • Explains the relation between case and specificity, definiteness, scope, number and aspect ?

Part of the book series: Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory (SNLT, volume 89)

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Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xviii
    Download chapter PDF

  2. Non-Canonical Genitive: How Many Cases?

    • Olga Kagan
    Pages 1-30

  3. Previously Proposed Accounts

    • Olga Kagan
    Pages 31-57

  4. Subjunctive Mood and the Notion of Commitment

    • Olga Kagan
    Pages 59-73

  5. Irrealis Genitive: Formulating the Analysis

    • Olga Kagan
    Pages 75-88

  6. Irrealis Genitive and Relative Existential Commitment: Part 1

    • Olga Kagan
    Pages 89-117

  7. Irrealis Genitive and Relative Existential Commitment: Part 2

    • Olga Kagan
    Pages 119-140

  8. The Interaction of Case with Aspect and Number

    • Olga Kagan
    Pages 141-159

  9. Irrealis Genitive in a Broader Context

    • Olga Kagan
    Pages 161-183

  10. Back Matter

    Pages 185-186
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Keywords

About this book

The genitive/accusative opposition in Slavic languages is a decades-old linguistic conundrum. Shedding new light on this perplexing object-case alternation in Russian, this volume analyzes two variants of genitive objects that alternate with accusative complements—the genitive of negation and the intensional genitive. The author contends that these variants are manifestations of the same phenomenon, and thus require an integrated analysis. Further, that the choice of case is sensitive to factors that fuse semantics and pragmatics, and that the genitive case is assigned to objects denoting properties at the same time as they lack commitment to existence. Kagan’s subtle analysis accounts for the complex relations between case-marking and other properties, such as definiteness, specificity, number and aspect. It also reveals a correlation between the genitive case and the subjunctive mood, and relates her overarching subject matter to other instances of differential object-marking.

Reviews

From the reviews:

“Kagan … takes on the goal of unifying the Intensional Genitive and the Genitive of Negation as one phenomenon. … This book will be of primary interest to Russianists, as it provides a well-supported analysis of a much-discussed linguistic puzzle in Russian … . will be of primary interest to those interested in non-canonical genitive use in Russian. … It is well researched, well-argued and makes an important contribution to the topic of genitive objects and to the field of Russian linguistics in general.” (Lauren Ressue, The Linguist List, January, 2013)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Modi'in, Israel

    Olga Kagan

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Semantics of Genitive Objects in Russian

  • Book Subtitle: A Study of Genitive of Negation and Intensional Genitive Case

  • Authors: Olga Kagan

  • Series Title: Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5225-2

  • Publisher: Springer Dordrecht

  • eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-94-007-5224-5Published: 11 October 2012

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-94-017-8195-4Published: 09 November 2014

  • eBook ISBN: 978-94-007-5225-2Published: 11 October 2012

  • Series ISSN: 0924-4670

  • Series E-ISSN: 2215-0358

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XVIII, 186

  • Topics: Syntax, Semantics, Russian

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