Abstract
This article provides a preliminary analysis of aspectual prefixation of Russian perception verbs. It is argued that the choice of prefix is not arbitrary, but depends on the meaning of the verb stem.
Highlights
Why do so-called active perception verbs like слушать ‘listen’ and смотреть ‘look’ form perfective verbs with the prefix по, while the corresponding passive perception verbs слышать ‘hear’ and видеть ‘see’ use у- for this purpose? One might think these are idiosyncratic facts that language learners have to memorize
We argue that the properties “atelic” and “path” are part of the meaning of both по- and the verb stem, and that this semantic overlap motivates the choice of prefix in active perception verbs
We propose that passive perception can be analyzed as metaphorical motion from the object to the subject
Summary
The notions of active and passive perception have been discussed inter alia by Rogers (1970) for English and Apresjan (1995:356ff.) and Padučeva (2004:202ff.) for Russian. We. Poljarnyj Vestnik 11, 2008 suggest that directing one’s attention at something can be analyzed as metaphorical motion from the agent to the patient. Poljarnyj Vestnik 11, 2008 suggest that directing one’s attention at something can be analyzed as metaphorical motion from the agent to the patient Evidence for this comes from the simple fact that смотреть combines with на ‘on’ (e.g. смотреть на кого-либо ‘look at someone’) or в ‘in’ (e.g. смотреть в окно ‘look out of the window’) followed by the accusative case, a construction that is characteristic of directed motion towards a goal. In Russian, imperfective verbs like видеть and слышать represent states, whereas their perfective partners увидеть and услышать are achievements (Padučeva 2004:204).
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