Semantic Components of the Russian Preposition “Через” in Combination With Different Locums and its Expression in the Persian Language

Abstract

In the Russian language the preposition “cherez (through)” is used in its typical contexts to refer to spatial characteristics in which an action or movement takes place. However, there are cases in the Persian language when there is no clear boundary among the spatial prepositions corresponding to the preposition “cherez (through)”, which causes difculty for Iranian learners to choose the correct one. At the same time one and the same Persian preposition can be expressed by different Russian prepositions which lead to regular mistakes in the speech of Iranian students. Tus, for instance, Iranian students use the preposition “az miyan-e” / (among) in the meaning of the Russian prepositions “cherez” (through), “mezhdu”, “ckvoz” (within) and “iz” (from), although these prepositions are different in meaning and function. In this article, the locations used in combination with the preposition “through” are systematically classifed to explain their specifc features. In addition, the ways of expressing the spatial meanings of the preposition “through” in the Persian language are addressed in order to raise Iranian learners’ awareness of possible mistakes. Te novelty of the article is in the attempt to compare semantic and spatial features of the Russian preposition “cherez (through)” with its correlates in the Persian language. Te fndings of this study can be of interest to RFL teachers, in particular in Iran, as they will highlight common mistakes in the speech of Iranian learners when using the preposition “through”, and to RFL textbook developers.