Questions about the formal, theoretical description of meaning of morphemes (e.g. suffixes), words, or constructions. For questions about the meaning of concrete words or expressions see tags "meaning", "single-word-request", "word-choice", "usage" and "expressions".
2
votes
0answers
85 views
Do Russian prefixes embody event structures?
Considering words (nominals, verbs and adjectives) we can notice that lexical items derived from a same stem (e.g. -лив-/-лит-) like полив, разлив, перелив, вылить, долить, отлить, etc. suggest ...
7
votes
4answers
260 views
What is the meaning of “от добра добра не ищут”?
От добра добра не ищут.
Is its meaning the same as in
Лучшее - враг хорошего?
If not, are there any similar idioms in Russian which might clarify the meaning of the former phrase?
0
votes
3answers
140 views
What are the exact orthography, etymology and explicit semantics of галимо/голимо?
In phrases like:
Это г@лимый бред.
Это г@лимыe сопли.
The word has been detected in conversational register of middle/low class native speakers in NW Russia, sometimes in fictional ...
3
votes
2answers
169 views
Этимология слова «аист» / etymology of “аист” (stork)
Считается, что в русском языке нет исконных слов, начинающихся на букву «А». Как объяснить этимологию слова «аист», явно отличающуюся от лексем в родственных языках?
бел. бусел
укр. лелека
русин. ...
1
vote
2answers
170 views
Kонцепт «хамство» по Вежбицкой / Concept “khamstvo” according to Wierzbicka
Каково точное значение концепта "хамство" в терминах семантики Вежбицкой?
Опишите, пожалуйста, понятие "хамство", используя "семантические примитивы" из списка ниже. Внизу также дан пример описания ...
3
votes
4answers
337 views
What is the difference between “вчера” and “день назад”?
Do вчера and день назад refer to the same time period? If no, what is the difference?
10
votes
10answers
4k views
Usage patterns of “надо” vs. “нужно”
What are the mechanics behind using надо over нужно or vice versa? What governs when they are interchangeable and when not?
To be perfectly clear: I have no problems simply using whichever sounds ...
4
votes
2answers
127 views
Is there any difference between “потому что” and “потому как”?
Is there any difference in meaning between these two conjunctions? And can someone come up with a sentence where only one of the two can be used?
So far, I think that потому как is a more colloquial ...
5
votes
2answers
78 views
Do quantification adjectives have any effect on metonymy?
Are the following phrases equally acceptable?
a. Он взял автобус в заложники.
b. Он взял весь автобус в заложники.
a. Он съел тарелку.
b. Он съел всю тарелку.
a. Он договорился с ...
4
votes
3answers
117 views
The meaning of verbs with prefix “раз-\рас-” and postfix “-ся”
Can the following words be used in any context? I even doubt that some of them exist, but I cannot think of any reason why they shouldn't:
разработаться
расчитаться (from читать)
раздуматься
...
5
votes
1answer
150 views
Why do “наддать” and “поддать” have the same meaning?
There are examples like наддать пару and поддать пару (not my favorite Russian words, but still they both exist).
They have the same meaning, at least that is what gramota.ru suggests: наддать, ...
9
votes
2answers
218 views
What's the difference between -либо and -нибудь?
The pairs кто-нибудь and кто-либо, когда-нибудь and когда-либо etc. have slight differences in meaning, and each particle is used in specific settings, but I can't quite pinpoint what the difference ...
