Middle Russian Research Articles

Ammonites and infrazonal subdivision of the Dorsoplanites panderi zone (Volgian Stage, Upper Jurassic) of the European part of Russia

Eight biohorizons, four of which were previously distinguished in Central Poland and four new (contradictionis, pommerania, kuteki, and pilicensis), were identified in the Dorsoplanites panderi zone of the Upper Jurassic Middle Volgian Substage of the European part of Russia on the basis of the succession of ammonites of the Zaraiskites genus. The peculiarities of variations of the ammonite complexes in space and time testify to the stepwise warming during the Panderi Chron and the occurrence of the significant latitudi� nal temperature gradient in the Middle Russian Sea. New species Zaraiskites kuteki is described.

Genetic differentiation of the Novosibirsk population of Primorsky honey bee

Seven microsatellite loci were evaluated to compare the allele pool of Primorsky honeybee population (n = 90), which was introduced into the Novosibirsk region (south-western Siberia), with the populations of Middle Russian (n = 191, A.m. mellifera), Mountain Grey Caucasian (n =113, A.m. caucasica), Carniolan (n = 61, A.m. carnica) and Carpathian (n = 184, A.m. carpatica) races. The degree of genetic differentiation in Novosibirsk population using a variety of criteria (Fst, Rst (AMOVA), Nei genetic distances) was evaluated.

Krotovinas, pedogenic processes and stratigraphic ambiguities of the Upper Palaeolithic sites Kostenki and Borshchevo (Russia)

The excavations of the Upper Palaeolithic sites of Kostenki and Borshchevo, located in the Middle Russian Plain, bear several meters of loess-derived colluvial deposits of the Middle and Late Valdai, which cover alluvial sediments of the Don floodplain. At least four cultural layers and more than three paleosol units occur within the colluvial deposits. A high number of krotovinas is most obvious, mainly the burrows of Cricetus cricetus and Lagurus lagurus, which on first view seem only to disturb sediment and soil stratigraphy. To disprove this assumption, the present paper investigates the significance of krotovina fillings within soil research by applying micromorphological analysis. The study gives insight into different filling materials, soil forming processes inside abandoned and filled burrow systems, and surrounding material. In some cases, krotovina fillings in this part of the Middle Russian Plain can be areas of bulking and compaction, of preferential paths of infiltration followed by calcium carbonate depletion, and of drying followed by secondary calcification. Further, burrows are paths for second and third generations of soil faunal activities.

Middle–Upper Jurassic (Upper Callovian–Lower Kimmeridgian) stable isotope and elemental records of the Russian Platform: Indices of oceanographic and climatic changes

New isotope (δ18O, δ13C) and elemental (Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca) data of well-preserved belemnite rostra, ammonite and gastropod shells from the Middle Oxfordian–Lower Kimmerdgian (Densiplicatum–Kitchini zones) of the Russian Platform are presented. This record is supplemented with published data from the Upper Callovian–Lower Kimmeridgian interval (Athleta–Kitchini zones). Significant differences in average temperatures calculated from δ18O values of particular fossil groups (5–15°C) show the thermal gradient and the presence of cold bottom waters in the Middle Russian Sea during the Late Callovian–Middle Oxfordian. An Upper Oxfordian–lowermost Kimmeridgian decrease in δ18O values and an increase in Sr/Ca ratios of cylindroteuthid belemnite rostra likely reflect a warming of the bottom waters of ca. 3.5°C. The gradual Late Oxfordian–earliest Kimmeridgian warming is followed by an abrupt temperature rise of 3–6°C that occurred at the transition of the Early Kimmeridgian Bauhini and Kitchini chrons.The occurrences of cold bottom waters and of (Sub)Mediterranean ammonites and belemnites in the Middle Russian Sea at the Middle–Late Jurassic transition are regarded as a result of the opening of seaways during a sea level highstand. The bottom waters are considered to have been formed in the cool Boreal Sea. The subsequent retreats of the cold bottom waters and of the (Sub)Mediterranean cephalopods from the Middle Russian Sea in the Late Oxfordian are explained by the restriction of water circulation during a sea-level fall. The Early Kimmeridgian rise of bottom temperatures of the sea is linked to a global climate warming. The data presented do not support a major cooling of the Arctic and a consequent glaciation in this region at the Middle–Late Jurassic transition. Since occurrences of cold water masses are diachronous in different European basins, the observed variations in sea water temperatures are interpreted as a result of changes in marine currents and water circulation.δ13C values of belemnite rostra from the Russian Platform are scattered but show the long-term Upper Callovian–Middle Oxfordian positive excursion consistent with the previously published isotope records of the Boreal Realm and terrestrial organic matter.

Four new species and one new genus of Jurassic chitons (Mollusca: Polyplacophora: Lepidopleurida) from the Middle Russian Sea

Four new species and one new genus: Leptochiton shapovalovi Sirenko sp. nov., L. liapini Sirenko sp. nov., L. dellangelloi Sirenko sp. nov., and Hoarechiton guzhovi Sirenko gen. nov. et sp. nov. are described from the Middle Russian Sea (Jurassic). L. shapovalovi is probably a xylophagous chiton because this species was found along with pieces of sunken wood and has an aesthete group very similar to some recent xylophagous species. It speculated that the genus Leptochiton was formed under rather temperate or cold conditions in the end of the Paleozoic.

Krotovinas — soil archives of steppe landscape history

Abstract Krotovinas, the burrows of small mammals, are common phenomena in steppe landscapes, and for a long time they have been a major point of discussions about the genesis of Holocene Chernozems. In addition, krotovinas provide a very valuable archive of the biological activities of soil, which is essential when stratigraphical ambiguities are to be solved. Despite this, krotovinas have received little attention within pedostratigraphical research. Using the example of the Upper Palaeolithic excavations Kostienki and Borshchevo in the Middle Russian Steppe an integrative soil scientific approach highlights the importance of burrowing small mammals and of krotovina fillings resulting from both bioturbation and soil erosion in the Late Pleistocene. Based on field and laboratory data of sediments inside and outside krotovinas and 14C dating results from two sections, this systematic approach demonstrates the high value of the burrow fillings: black and humus-speckled fillings belong to deep burrows of hamsters dating to the period of Early Holocene Chernozem formation at the very beginning of the Preboreal (10–8 ka cal BC). Greyish sediments originate either from Ag–Bg horizons of the “Gmelin soil” (25–22 ka) or from other as yet unknown Late Valdai paleosols; these fillings are the result of the activities of shallow-burrowing lemmings. In addition, burrow fillings have provided optimal material for worms. Also, fossil bones and teeth found within krotovina fillings give new insights into the occurrence of Cricetus cricetus and Lagurus lagurus in this part of the Middle Russian steppe.

Latitudinal gradient of taxonomic richness of ammonites in the Kimmeridgian-Volgian in the Northern Hemisphere

The latitudinal gradient of taxonomic richness (LGTR) of Kimmeridgian and Volgian ammonite genera of the Northern Hemisphere is evaluated, and the LGTR evaluation methods and factors influencing LGTR are discussed. In the Kimmeridgian-Volgian the LGTR values for ammonites were largely influenced by the paleogeography of the Middle Russian Sea, which was directly connected with the Neotethys and, to a lesser extent, by the exchange through the connection between the Arctic and Pacific oceans. The Middle Russian Sea is considered to have been a major source of immigrant taxa to the Arctic basins. The highest latitude ammonite faunas were influenced by the Pacific faunas, and due to the permanent presence of oceanic phylloceratids and lytoceratids, ammonite taxonomic richness was relatively high compared to some mid-latitudinal sites. The gradual decrease in taxonomic richness that occurred from the end of the Kimmeridgian to the end of the Volgian in all Subboreal basins probably resulted from the eventual isolation from the Neotethys. Subboreal ammonite associations from the ecotone between the two superrealms (Panboreal and Tethys-Panthalassa) were affected by short-term climatic oscillations, which led to rapid changes in the ammonite assemblages.

The Syntax of Pseudo-Correlative Constructions with the Pronoun KOTORYJ (‘Which’) in Middle Russian

This article takes a close look at pseudo-correlatives: multiple sentences in Middle Russian with the pronoun kotoryj ‘which’ in the first clause. It will be argued that they lack correlatives features and that korotyj in such constructions was not a relative but an indefinite pronoun, like the Russian nekotoryj, koe-kakoj. The pseudo-correlatives of Middle Russian are the result of the intermediate stage of the process of the grammaticalization of kotoryj from indefinite to relative pronoun that caused the transformation of the compound constructions into the complex sentence.

Reconstructing the palaeoenvironment of the Middle Russian Sea during the Middle–Late Jurassic transition using stable isotope ratios of cephalopod shells and variations in faunal assemblages

Oxygen and carbon isotope data of well-preserved belemnite rostra and ammonite shells are presented from the Callovian–Oxfordian boundary (uppermost Lamberti to lowermost Cordatum zones) of the Dubki section near Saratov in the Russian Platform. Palaeotemperatures calculated for nektobenthic belemnites (averages of 5°C and 8°C for cylindroteuthids and belemnopseids, respectively) show the presence of cold bottom waters in the central part of the Middle Russian Sea during the studied interval. Palaeotemperatures calculated for ammonites, which are assumed to have lived in near-surface waters, are considerably higher (average 13°C). The presented data show a vertical thermal gradient in the Middle Russian Sea. The belemnite oxygen isotope record and the relative abundances of ammonite families in the Dubki section do not correlate with each other probably as a result of different depth habitats of ammonites and belemnites. A review of literature isotope data shows the climatic zonation in European seas at the Middle–Late Jurassic transition. Despite the flux of cold polar waters to the Middle Russian Sea and the area of Scotland there is no evidence for glaciation at the Middle–Late Jurassic transition. Changes in water circulation during a sea-level highstand were likely a source of spreads of cold bottom waters and cardioceratid ammonite fauna in this time period.The belemnite isotope record of the Callovian–Oxfordian boundary in the Russian Platform is characterized by significant scatter of δ13C values. No temporal carbon isotope trend is observed. The δ13C values of Russian belemnite rostra average 2.6‰ VPDB being 1 to 2‰ higher than the values of coeval Lower Oxfordian belemnites from the area of the Submediterranean ammonite province. Higher (than Submediterranean) δ13C values of Russian belemnite rostra are likely related to high biologic productivity and/or high organic matter burial in semi-isolated Boreal–Subboreal marine basins.

Zur Geschichte des Wortfeldes „CHLEB“ im Altrussischen

One of the most important food products in Old Russia were products of cereal grains. These findings are not only the result of archaeological research but of careful philological analysis of Old Russian (respectively Middle Russian) corpus sources. The present article gives an insight into the Old Russian food culture by analyzing following words, which describe products of cereal grains in Old Russian belonging to the semantic field CHLEB: бopoɯъHO moπokъHO, onpѣHъκъ, xrѣбъ, κoπaub, κopoϐau, nupo2ъ. Upon the basis of the historical, lexicological and ethnographical data, some semantic features of the mentioned lexemes were examined and designated.

How Muscovy Governed: Seventeenth-Century Russian Central Administration

AbstractThe modern Russian state's first governmental administration, the chancellery system (prikaznaia sistema), guided Muscovy from the 1470s to the 1710s. A handful of state secretaries (d'iaki), subordinate clerks (pod'iachie), and several nascent bureaus matured into over ten permanent, well-codified bodies with decision-making boards, archives, professional hierarchies, and merit-based hiring and promotion by the 1550s. By the 1670s there were 60 chancelleries, and their Moscow staffs by the 1690s had increased to about 3,000, from the highest civil ranks (boyars and okol'niche) through the professional administrative ranks: duma state secretaries (dumnye d'iaki), the state secretaries, and clerks. The chancelleries (prikazy) discharged an array of state, royal court, and church functions, but military concerns were foremost. An arresting internal complexity typified the larger, more important chancelleries, like the Military and Foreign Affairs Chancelleries, divided into sub-units. The chancellery system was entirely homegrown, owning nothing to Roman Imperial and Medieval Latin traditions. The Russians borrowed some paperwork (scrolls) and zealous attention to that from the Mongols, as they did Byzantine and Lithuanian legal elements. Documentary language was a vernacular, Middle Russian register, with burgeoning specialized vocabulary and phraseology. Strict oaths guided conduct, though judicial bureau personnel were notorious for bribe-taking. Foreign travel accounts commented on the obsequiousness of documentary format wherein petitioners referred to themselves as “slaves” (kholopy) and used first-name diminutives. Seventeenth-century Muscovite centralized administration acquired Weber's hallmark features of a bureaucracy; the prikazy guided Muscovy and acculturated its subjects, from tsar to peasant, into its rationale, mechanisms, and operations. Weathering major social traumas and challenges, such as Ivan the Terrible's Oprichnina, the Time of Troubles, the Thirteen Years' War, and the 1682 Musketeers' Uprising, the chancelleries provided the bureaucratic continuity for the Imperial Russian and Soviet states.

The trophic structure of macrozoobenthos in marsh water bodies of the forest-steppe zone in the Middle Russian Hills

The trophic structure of macrozoobenthos was studied in a lake and three marshes of different succession stages. Trophic groups and guilds of macrobethic communities are found. A comparative analysis was made of trophic diversity, structure, and the distribution of trophic groups in different marsh hydrobiocenoses under secondary steppe conditions of the Zorinsky part of the Central Chernozem Reserve.

Intraspecies differences in mechanisms of formation of protective processes in the honeybee Apis mellifera

Presented in the work are data on interrace differences in mechanisms of formation of antioxidant and phenoloxidase complexes in honeybees of the Middle Russian (Apis mellifera L.) and Caucasian (Apis mellifera caucasica Gorb.) geographic races. Different degree has been revealed of activation of these complexes depending on their localization in the insect organism and providing different strategy of adaptation to temperature stress. A diverse role of ascorbic acid in regulation of the honeybee protective system has been shown.

Grammation, regrammation, and degrammation

Taking Heine’s (2003) characterization of Grammaticalization as its point of departure, this paper proposes an elementary framework, and corresponding terminology, for the description of the most common types of historical change in grammar (changes in content, content syntax, expression, and morphosyntax) and the types of innovation that give rise to them (neologism, extension, adoption, reanalysis, monolingual and bilingual). These basic conceptual tools of the historical linguist are illustrated with an analytic account of the development of the Russian tense–aspect system, from prehistory through the attested period. The account includes a plausible explication of the remarkable historical reduction in tense–aspect paradigms, from eight in Old Russian through five in Middle Russian to three in the modern language.

Das Ukrainische als Kirchensprache. (Ukrains'ka mova v tserkvakh) by Michael s> Moser (review)

SEER,Vol. 84,No.4, October 2006 Reviews Moser, Michael (ed.). Das Ukrainische als Kirchensprache. (Ukrains'ka movav tserkvakh). SlavischeSprachgeschichte,i. LIT Verlag, Munster,Hamburg, Berlin, Vienna and London, 2005. 4I6 pp. ?39.90. THE collection of essaysunder reviewheraldstwo importantevents in modern Slavic studies. First, this collection was published as the first volume in a newly-foundedLIT Verlag seriesdedicatedto the historyof Slavic languages. Second, as pointed out by the editor (p.7), the book is a culmination of a three-year cooperation of scholars from the Institute of Slavic Studies at Vienna University (Michael Moser, principle co-ordinator) and from the Institute of Ukrainian Language (Vasyl' Nimcuk, co-ordinator) within a researchprojectsponsoredby the federalEndowmentfor the Advancementof Scholarly Research (Fonds zur Forderungder wissenschaftlichenForschung, FWF). A short review can hardly do justice to all the essays in this voluminous book. Different in scope and methods though, they all treat Ukrainian as a church language approached diachronically and synchronically. Special emphasis is placed on a series of related questions, in particularthe coexistence of Ukrainianwith (Old)Church Slavonic and its competence with other national languages,Russian and Polishas liturgicallanguages (p. ii). The first contribution by Vasyl' Nimcuk leads off with a comprehensive overview of Ukrainiantranslationsof the Holy Scriptures(pp. 15-64). He startshis survey with the Peresopnycja Gospel, translated in I556-6i, the Volhynian Arian Valentyn Nehalevs'kyj's [Niegaliewski]translationfrom the Polish Gospel in I58i, and the Krechiv Apostol (I563-72) (P. 23 ff.). The author finds it difficult to ascertain,however, the exact chronology and geography of Middle Ukrainian translations.He gives specialattentionto the firsttranslation(i860-62) of the New Testament into the new Ukrainian standard language by Pylyp Moracevs'kyj,published posthumously in I906-I9II, and translationsof the New Testament (i88o) and the Bible (I903) by PantelejmonKulis, Ivan Puljuj, and Ivan Necuj-Levyc'kyj.Their influenceon the developmentof 'the confessional style'of the new Ukrainianstandardlanguagewas significant(p. 32). In thisrespect,of utmost importanceare also the second and thirdtranslationsof the Bible, made by Ivan Ohijenko in I940 (firstpublished in I962) and Ivan Chomenko in I963 (PP. 41-44). The fourth translationwas initiated by the Ukrainian Biblical Society in 1992-93, albeit the project has not been completed yet. The authormaintains,and rightlyso, that the previoustranslations were the most significantcontributionsto the formationof the new Ukrainian standardlanguage, especially as compared with modern secular or regional (e.g. Lemkian)translations(pp.57-60). A remarkably long and informative essay, 'The Ostroh Academy and Printing House (1576/77-I636)', of Juliane Besters-Dilger(pp.65-I50) offers an all-encompassingstudy of the language of the Academy in the late sixteenth to early seventeenth centuries (p. 67). The author tries to determine 744 SEER, 84, 4, 2006 if there were in use any 'local norms' of theprostaja mova and Church Slavonic in Ostroh and, if any, what were their relations in the literary output of the Academy (p. 68). Drawing primarily on her Ukrainian predecessors' description,supplementedby her own researchin the librariesof L'viv, Kyiv, Moscow and Oxford, Besters-Dilgerprovides a detailed list of the originalor translatedtexts (primers,writings of holy fathers, anthologies, sermons, etc.), published in Ostroh or prepared for publication in other places; there is a separategroup of textswhich have not been extant from that time (pp.83-91]). Having analysed most representativetexts, Besters-Dilgerascribes to the prostaja mova,a 'mixed' or 'artificiallanguage', with a heavy Polish admixture (pp. 102, 104), a set of stable phonetic, morphological, and syntactic traits (pp. 142-44). Unlike Pavlo Zytec'kyj and A. Nazarevskij (incidentally, not cited by the author),as well as Nikita Tolstoj and Michael Moser, the author posits a rather moderate influence of Polish on prepositions, conjunctions, particles, the predicative instrumentaland some other patterns in the prostyj syntax (ib.).The phonological and morphologicalfeaturesof the prostaja mova, as used in Ostroh, tend to relate this language to the Middle Russian administrativelanguage (theprikaznyj jazyk)(ib). However, the interpretationof the prostaja movaas an alleged 'amalgam of Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Church Slavonic' (p. I03) is open to doubt. The author does not mention a single Belarusian element in the make-up of this 'artificiallanguage'. The reader, therefore, is at a loss as to what extent the local variant of the...

Palaeogene leaf compressions of myrtaceous affinity from Pasekovo, Middle Russian Upland, southern European Russia

Leaf compressions from Pasekovo, Voronezh oblast′, a Late Eocene site, constitute the first record of mummified «paper coal» leaves of myrtaceous affinity in Russia. The fossil leaves are assigned to the organ-genusRhodomyrtophyllum Rüffle & Jähnichen (Myrtaceae) on the basis of epidermal and venation features. The exceptionally high level of preservation is illustrated by LM and SEM reproductions of anomo-, anomostauro- and laterocytic stomatal sets including giant stomata, double cuticular rims, trichome bases (scars) and a buttressed structure of the epidermal cell wall. Leaf structure is mesoxeromorphic. In both western and eastern Europe, species of the genus do not post-date the terminal Eocene and are the index taxa for the middle to late Eocene interval. The newly described Russian species R. pasekovicum Vikulin, sp. nov. is considered against the background of British, German and Czech extinct species along with comparisons with possible «nearest living relatives» which include mesoxeromorphic Eugenia LSyzygium Gartn. and Rhodomyrtus DC, from South-East Asia, Australia and South America. Ancient Tethys-ocean migrational channels may explain European palaeofloristic relations with the Australo-Malesian area during Eocene times. A later Eocene age is postulated of the Pasekovo palaeoflora in contrast to the early Oligocene age suggested by other authors.

Palaeogene leaf compressions of myrtaceous affinity from Pasekovo, Middle Russian Upland, southern European Russia

Leaf compressions from Pasckovo, Voronezh oblast, a Late Eocene site, constitute the first record of mummified ‘paper coal’ leaves of myrtaceous affinity in Russia. The fossil leaves are assigned to the organ-genus Rhodomyrtophyllum Rüffle & Jähnichen (Myrtaceac) on the basis of epidermal and venation features. The exceptionally high level of preservation is illustratcd by LM and SEM reproductions of anomo-, anomostauro- and laterocytic stomatal sets including giant stomata, double cuticular rims, trichome bases (scars) and a buttressed structure of the epidermal cell wall. Leaf structure is mesoxeromorphic. In both western and eastern Europe, species of the genus do not post-date the terminal Eocene and are the index taxa for the middle to late Eocene interval. The newly described Russian species R.pasekovicum Vikulin, sp.nov. is considered against the background of British, German and Czech extinct species along with comparisons with possible ‘nearest living relatives’ which include mesoxeromorphic Eugenia L., Syzygium Gartn.and Rhodomyrtus DC, from South-East Asia, Australia and South America. Ancient Tethys-ocean migrational channels may explain European palacofloristic relations with the Australo-Malesian area during Eocene time S. A later Eocene age is postulated of the Pasekovo palaeoflora in contrast to the early Oligocene age suggested by other authors.

Soil formation in Greyzems in Moscow district: micromorphology, chemistry, clay mineralogy and particle size distribution

Greyzems (Grey Forest Soils) are zonal soils of the forest–steppe, in Russia geographically situated between the (Podzo) Luvisols of the southern taiga forest and the (Luvic) Chernozems of the steppe. Greyzems are characterized by a dark mollic horizon, with uncoated (bleached) silt and sand grains on pedfaces, and an argic horizon as diagnostic horizons. The FAO–Unesco soil map of the world shows Greyzems and Luvisols in Russia at this transition (the Russian soil map shows only Greyzems), while in similar geographic position in the USA and Canada the proportion of Greyzems is very small and Luvic Phaeozems/Chernozems and Albic Luvisols occupy those transitional zones of the grassland–forest interface. Three Greyzem profiles, presently under forest, and developed on loess-like mantle loams of Late Weichselian (Valday) age in the northern forest–steppe zone of the East European plain (Middle Russian Upland) were described and sampled near Pushchino, some 100 km south of Moscow. Micromorphology, particle size data, chemical data and clay mineralogy were studied. Based on the particle size distribution and the occurrence of fragments of a second humus horizon (SHH) the presence of two, rather similar, deposits in the solum is advocated. The following processes have been deduced from the study: (i) decalcification and secondary accumulation of carbonates; (ii) humus accumulation, including the significance of the SHH; (iii) clay illuviation, presumably two main phases; (iv) biological activity; (v) degradation of the mollic A: occurrence of bleached grains; (vi) downward migration of textural components and organic matter, in the Bt horizon along major pedfaces: occurrence of black organo-clay coatings and uncoated silt/sand grains; (vii) gleying. The tentative sequence of these processes during Late Weichselian and Holocene times leads us to conclude that Greyzems are polygenetic. They formed as Podzo(Luvisols) under forest, with fine clay coatings in the fine pores inside the blocky and prismatic peds, in the Late Glacial and Early Holocene. The change to tall grass steppe in the Atlanticum created a mollic horizon, that degrades when forest re-invades during the Subatlanticum. Fine clay, combined with organic matter forms black coatings on the major pedfaces. Uncoated silt and sand particles also migrate downward along those major pedfaces. Biological activity is involved in the very complex pattern of the transitional AhE and EBt horizons. Active gleying only occurs in the profile on the lowest topographic position. These latter processes are still active today. Similar soils do occur in the grassland–forest interface in North America, except where the younger age of the landscape and high CaCO3 content at shallow depth prevented their full development.

The Russian system of stress

Russian stress is a puzzle. Numerous investigators have tried their hands at unraveling it, starting around the beginning of the last century. Studies carried out in the context of a general inquiry into the history of Slavic accentuation have predominated, and the purely synchronic focus on Russian stress is largely a product of the last forty years. Reliable monographic descriptions of the patterns of Russian stress now exist (e.g. , Red'kin 1971 , Stricek 1966, Fedjanina 1982), as do historical treatments based on the (re)examination of Old and Middle Russian accented texts (e.g., Kolesov 1972, Xazagerov 1973, Zaliznjak 1985). Despite this progress, with its main emphasis on descriptive refinement and comprehensiveness, the basic puzzle remains unsolved. Why does accentual mobility in declension and conjugation continue to exist and to thrive in certain word classes? Whereas the Common Slavic patrimony, with its phonologically based patterns of accentual alternations, can be looked to as a remote source of the persistence of mobility throughout the history of Russian despite the early loss of tone and length distinctions, what is to explain the pervasive patterns of stress "shifts" in the contemporary language? All sorts of ingenious answers to these questions have been devised by modern investigators, particularly in the wake of transformationalgenerative grammar, but on balance the functional system of Russian stress still awaits explanation. Of course, certain facts are clear. First, Russian stress is part of the morphology and morphophonemics of Russian and is basically not motivated by the phonology (while having phonological consequences, namely vowel reduction).1 Second, though stress is in principle free to occur on any syllable of a word, certain restrictions are known to obtain whereby the morphophonemic or morphological structure of a given word, or its membership in a particular form class or semantic category, narrow the range of possible accent positions. Third, not all accentual phenomena are equally motivated: in quite a number of cases (including whole classes of words) there is no motivation in terms of the contemporary system of Russian stress. Items of this sort have to be learned by speakers individually as "traditional" holdovers from an earlier system. They are, of course, also prime candidates for change. So much is common knowledge. A major advance beyond this stage of

On the penetration of the perfect into the Russian narrative system

The decline of the old narrative tenses, viz. the aorist and the imperfect, and the generalization of the perfect in the role of a preterite at their expense till their total extinction, are considered essential phenomena of the far-reaching evolution which the Russian verbal system underwent between the Xllth and the XVIth centuries (cf. Borkovskij-Kuznecov 1963, 277sq). This mutation, along with the advancement of the category of aspect which it favoured (Veyrenc 1970, 82), prepared the ground for the rise of the narrative system in its modern shape, i.e. a system with a single tense, dominated by the aspectual dichotomy. In order to examine closely this mutation we have chosen an extensive narrative corpus from the period of transition between Old and Middle Russian, viz. the Moskovskij letopisnyj svod konca 15-ogo veka2 . In this text the transformation of the narrative system is rather advanced, even though the aorist is still the best represented past tense. In fact, out of a total of ca. 16 600 occurrences, 80% are aorist, 8% are imperfect, and only 12% are perfect. Among the 2000 occurrences of the perfect we find examples for all its syntactic values, old and new. In order to display these values, it is necessary to etch out the historical development of the perfect in Old Russian starting from Old Church Slavonic. The usual definitions of the perfect normally underline its fundamentally adjectival character (van Schooneveld 1959, 15-16). The -/participle combined with the present of the auxiliary byti produces a complex form which refers to both the past and the present. Thus, for Andre Vaillant the perfect expresses "Faction passee envisagee du point de vue du present" (1964, 346). Another feature frequently noted is that of resultativity ("vyslednost", Dostal 1954, 601), i.e. a present state which results from a past action. But already in Old Church Slavonic the perfect is beginning to penetrate into the preterite accompanied by the decay of the other two past tenses. This naturally results in a progressive loss of its specificity vis-d-vis its two moribund rivals (Vaillant 1964, 254; Borkovskij 1949, 181). Istrina (1923, 123) distinguishes three major groups in the use of the perfect. Its most frequent use is in direct discourse, then in subordinate narrative clauses and finally in main clauses. We intend to show that these three groups correspond to the three stages which the perfect had to traverse on its way from being an "adjectival", "objectivizing" tense (van Schooneveld 1959, 94), to becoming the sole past tense, narrative as well as discursive. It is not at all surprising that the perfect, which in the opinion of grammarians had already become well entrenched in the spoken