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Proquest Dissertations INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy subm itted. Broken or irxiistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough. substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. in the unlikely event that tfie author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. Bell & Howell Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road. Ann Arbor. Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 UMI* THE GENDER OF INANIMATE INDECLINABLE COMMON NOUNS IN MODERN RUSSIAN DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Diaima L. Murphy, M.A. ***** The Ohio State University 2000 Dissertation Committee: Approved by Professor Anelya Rugaleva, Adviser — ^ Adviser Professor Daniel Collins Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures Professor Brian Joseph UMI Number 9962434 UMI* UMI Microform9962434 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell information and Leaming Company. Ail rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Leaming Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ABSTRACT This dissertation offers a comprehensive analysis of inanimate indeclinable common nouns in Modem Russian, with particular emphasis on how such nouns are distributed among genders according to normative works such as dictionaries and assigned to genders by speakers. Chapter 1 discusses the class of inanimate indeclinable nouns in different linguistic and theoretical contexts: it describes in detail the different types of such nouns in Russian; clarifies what differentiates indeclinable nouns from declinable ones; discusses the significance of indeclinability and analyticity in Russian; and considers indeclinable nouns within the context of the nominal inflectional system. Chapter 2 presents a revision of Corbett's model for gender assignment in Russian and closely examines exceptions to the rule that assigns inanimate indeclinable nouns to Neuter. A number of possible explanations for these exceptions are explored, including concept association and instability in loanword assignment. Chapter 3 describes the distribution of inanimate indeclinable nouns among genders according to dictionaries: an analysis of the results of an exhaustive survey of eleven dictionaries of the modem language shows that approximately two-thirds of such nouns are listed as Neuter. We also show that there is a positive correlation between the phonological shape of the indeclinable and gender class membership. The compilation of inanimate indeclinable common nouns in Russian resulting from the dictionary survey is (to the best of the author’s knowledge) the largest to date and the only one organized according to gender class membership; it is reproduced in its entirety in an Appendix. The focus in Chapter 4 shifts to the native speaker. To explore the way that inanimate indeclinable nouns are assigned to genders by speakers, preliminary results of a gender assignment experiment are presented, including an analysis of “gender assignment profiles,” figures showing the relative percentage of experiment participants that selected Neuter, Masculine and/or Feminine for each of the seventy-five nouns in the experiment questionnaire. These profiles allow for the exploration of a number of hypotheses about iii ±e gender assignment of inanimate indeclinable nouns in Russian and provide convincing evidence that deviation from the gender assignment rule for inanimate indeclinable nouns is fairly common. IV Dedicated to Kathryn Geier ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to thank the faculty, staff and my fellow graduate students in the Department of Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures at Ohio State University for their support throughout my graduate career. I am particularly grateful to my adviser. Professor Anelya Rugaleva, and to Professors Daniel Collins and Brian Joseph for their help with this project and for their many years of advice and encouragement I also would like to thank Professor Greville G. Corbett, whose scholarship shapes this study, and to Professor Corbett and Norman Fraser, who graciously shared forthcoming publications. I was able to complete this study with the support of a number sources of funding. Including a Title VIFLAS dissertation fellowship and a generous travel grant from the Ohio State Department of International Studies and the Mershon Center VI Above all, I thank Marcus and Jackson for their steadfast love and support and for helping me to keep it all in perspective. vu VTTA January 16, 1967 Bom, Mountainview, California 1989 B.A., University of New Hampshire 1991 Russian Language Study, Indiana University 1991-1996 Graduate Teaching Assistant, The Ohio State University 1992 M.A., The Ohio State University 1993 Russian Language Study, Pushkin Russian Language Instimte, Moscow 1994 Resident Director, OSU/Purdue/Emory Study Abroad in Moscow Program 1995 Resident Director, American Council of Teachers of Russian Advanced Russian Language Program in Moscow 1995 Academic Director, School for International Training College Semester Abroad in SL Petersburg 1997 Resident Director, American Council of Teachers of Russian Advanced Russian Language Program in St. Petersburg 1997-1998 Graduate Fellow, The Ohio State University 1998-1999 Graduate Teaching Assistant, The Ohio State University 1999-2000 Instructor, Ohio Wesleyan University 2000 Assistant Professor, Ohio Wesleyan University FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Slavic and East European Languages and Literatures v iii TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................ 1 0.1 Preliminary Remarks .................................................................................... 1 0.2 Organization of the Dissertation .................................................................. 3 CHAPTERS 1 INDECLINABLE NOUNS IN RUSSIAN: LINGUISTIC AND THEORETICAL CONTEXTS................................................................ 11 1.1 Preliminary Remarks .................................................................................... 11 1.2 Types of Indeclinable Common Nouns in Russian .................................... 12 1.3 Establishing the Limits of (In)declinability ................................................. 19 1.3.1 Identifying Indeclinable Nouns .................................................... 19 1.3.2 Predicting Indeclinability .............................................................. 21 1.3.3 Phonology Affecting Morphology ............................................. 27 1.3.4 Tendencies in the Modem Language .......................................... 29 1.4 Indeclinable Nouns and Analyticity ............................................................. 30 1.5 Indeclinable Nouns and the System of Declension .................................... 35 1.6 Recent Trends in Lexical Borrowing and in the Usage of Foreign Elements ..................................................................................... 37 2 GRAMMATICAL GENDER AND INANIMATE INDECLINABLE COMMON NOUNS IN MODERN RUSSIAN............................................. 41 2.1 Grammatical Gender and Inflectional (Declensional) Class in Russian ............................................................... ;................................. 41 ix 2.2 Gender Assignment and Loanword Assignment ....................................... 44 2.3 Models for Gender Assignment in Russian ................................................ 47 2.3.1 Model ............................................................................................. 47 2.3.2 Other Accounts .............................................................................. 53 2.4 Exceptions to the Rule for Inanimate Indeclinable Nouns ......................... 54 2.5 The Gender of ko^ ‘coffee’ and eepo euro’ ........................................... 57 2.6 Explaining the Non-Neuter Assignment of Indeclinable Inanimate Notms ...................................................................................... 62 2.6.1 Concept Association ..................................................................... 62 2.6.2 Common and Proper Nouns ........................................................ 72 2.6.3 Instability in Loanword Assignment and Exoticisms ................. 74 2.6.4 Gender in the Source Language ................................................... 79 2.7 Problematic Areas ........................................................................................
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