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An Investigation of the Syntactic, Semantic and Pragmatic Interfaces Reciprocity in Russian: An investigation of the syntactic, semantic and pragmatic interfaces DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Lauren Ressue Graduate Program in Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures The Ohio State University 2015 Dissertation Committee: Andrea Sims, Advisor Judith Tonhauser, Advisor Daniel Collins 1 Copyright By Lauren Ressue 2015 2 Abstract This dissertation explores two reciprocal expressions in Russian, drug druga and reciprocal -sja verbs to determine their distribution, semantics and pragmatics. I argue that while these two expressions are similar in many ways, they also differ in subtle ways not before discussed. While the empirical foundations of this dissertation are data from Russian, my findings have empirical and theoretical consequences for both the formal semantic and the typological literature on reciprocity. In English, the reciprocal expression each other has been studied in detail to explore the relations between participants it is compatible with (Langendoen 1978, Dalrymple et al. 1998b, Beck 2001). For example, the sentence in (i) is compatible with either of the relations depicted in (a) and (b), where the arrows represent a binary painting relation. (i) The four artists painted each other. (a) (b) In this dissertation, I explore the meaning of reciprocal expressions in Russian to discover whether these expressions have the same meaning as each other and whether they contribute any ii meaning other than relations between individuals. My data comes from both a corpus study utilizing the Russian National Corpus and elicitation with native speakers of Russian. My results suggest that while both drug druga and the -sja verbs, like each other, also convey more than one relation between individuals they also contribute other semantic content to a sentence. For example, they both introduce a temporal restriction on events. Some of the -sja verbs semantically restrict events to simultaneity, and I argue that drug druga gives rise to an implicature that the events are simultaneous. I also explore two different syntactic constructions the reciprocal -sja verbs occur in and find a number of semantic differences between the two constructions. I conclude that the syntactic environment of a reciprocal expression can affect its semantics. I furthermore find that drug druga is restricted against occurring with the preposition s when it introduces a relation of accompaniment to a sentence. My findings suggest that while reciprocal expressions convey a set of relations between individuals, they also contribute other semantic and pragmatic content that is sensitive to a number of factors. Furthermore, I argue that while reciprocal expressions exhibit some uniformity in their meanings, these meanings also differ. I provide a formal analysis based on those proposed for English each other by Dalrymple et al. (1998b), Sabato and Winter (2005) and Dotlačil and Nilsen (2008). My analysis extends this account to the Russian expressions and captures other semantic and pragmatic properties beyond relations between individuals. The core of the semantic analysis consists of proposed lexical entries for drug druga and the reciprocal -sja verbs, whose truth conditions allow the right predictions about the behavior of these expressions in comparison to each other (and each other) and other reciprocal expressions. iii Dedication This document is dedicated to my mother, for teaching me how to love every step of the way. iv Acknowledgements I must start my acknowledgements by expressing my great appreciation to my two advisors, Drs. Andrea Sims and Judith Tonhauser, for their patience and extreme dedication to me and my project. They have taught me so much about linguistics, writing and the investigative process. What’s more, they have devoted a vast amount of time to giving me detailed and insightful comments on my work and to meeting with me to instruct and guide. This dissertation is theirs as much as it is mine. I also thank Dr. Daniel Collins, my third committee member, for his instruction and support through my graduate career, as well as Dr. Brian Joseph for his insightful comments and suggestions, especially in the beginning stages of this dissertation. Thank you to my four consultants, Yuliia Aloshycheva, Helen Myers, Marina Pashkova and Evgenija Tretiakova. I am indebted to you for your patience with the absurd contexts and questions I have sent you over the years and for the time you have devoted to helping me. I am forever grateful to the Hilandar Research Library for taking me on as a GA, and to Dr. Predrag Matejic, M.A. Pasha Johnson, Helene Senecal and Lyubamira Gribble for being wonderful to me for two years. I learned so much from you and don’t know how I was so lucky to be able to work with you. Please include this in your “works supported” list - this dissertation was certainly supported by all of you. And further thanks to Pasha for the friendship, for taking me in when I was homeless, and for all the book recommendations. v As with many graduate students, I was greatly influenced in everything by the cohort I started with: Yuliia Aloshycheva, Maggie Harrison, Kirk Jorgensen, Michael Nichols, Ceilidh Orr and Daria Safronova. Without these fellow students, I might not have gained and retained the motivation to continue through everything. We were a great group. My thanks most especially to Maggie Harrison and Yuliia Aloshycheva for all the laughs, adventures and challenges we experienced together. A special thank you also to Ceilidh Orr for being there for and through everything. You were a great sounding board throughout the dissertation for everything and anything. I owe a part of Chapter 3 to you. But also, what would the dissertation have looked like without all that Shakespeare, Casanova and kofe? Thanks to my Apropos group that helped me find a place at OSU. I miss you guys. I am further grateful for my colleagues in the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures for their comments on various presentations and other less tangible support. Thanks to Maria Alley, Brian Brookes, Matt Curtis, Michael Furman, Nina Haviernikova, Marcela Michalkova, Jeff Parker, Robert Reynolds, Anastasia Smirnova, Larysa Stepanova, Susan Vdovichenko, and Kate White. Thanks too to Mario Rodriguez Polo and Isa Arranz del Riego for their friendship and constant inspiration. My gratitude to Jessie Labov, who whisked me out of Columbus at the perfect time and gifted me with as much free time as possible to write. I owe Chapter 5 to you. Thank you to the crew at 701. You distracted me at the right times and reminded me that there are things outside of reciprocity. I was lucky to land with you. Thanks especially to Elizabeth Custodio and Meron Bekele for keeping me afloat evening after evening. vi Through everything, I’m sure that what kept me sane was the early morning skating. So thanks to Tony Habart, Lindsay Martin, Dayna Jalkanen and Kristen Spickard for all being part of it and being generally wonderful. As for my family, thank you first to Robert, who always asked the right questions and had the right pieces of advice throughout this process. You’ve always been an inspiration for me. Karen: thank you for your perpetual support and cheerleading through this process. And of course my eternal thankfulness to my mother, to whom I dedicate this dissertation. None of this would have been possible without your constant kindness and wisdom. When I’m stuck in life, you always suggest just the right, unique, positive perspective. Such guidance has been immensely useful in developing this dissertation and beyond. And John. What can I say? Thank you for the plane tickets, weather reports, conversion assistance and careful proof-reading, all of which I couldn’t have done without. Thank you for bearing with me throughout all of this. Za! vii Vita 2006 ..................................................................... B.A. Modern languages, Beloit College 2007-2008 ........................................................... University Fellowship 2008-2012 ............................................................ Graduate Teaching Associate, Slavic and East ................................................................ European Languages and Cultures, The Ohio ................................................................ State University 2009 ..................................................................... M.A., Russian Linguistics, The Ohio State ............................................................................. University 2012-2014 ............................................................ Graduate Research Associate, Resource Center ............................................................................. for Medieval Slavic Studies Publications 2013 Review of The Semantics of Genitive Objects in Russian: A Study of Genitive of Negation and Intensional Genitive Case, by Olga Kagan. Springer, 2012. LinguistList. 2010 Formal Studies in Slavic Linguistics, co-edited with Anastasia Smirnova and Vedrana Mihaliček. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Fields of Study Major Fields: Slavic and East European Languages and Cultures viii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ ii Dedication ......................................................................................................................................
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