Questions tagged [semantics]

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".

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25 votes
11 answers
7k 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 ...
RegDwight's user avatar
  • 1,259
24 votes
6 answers
3k 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 is....
Vitaly Mijiritsky's user avatar
12 votes
2 answers
2k 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. ...
Manjusri's user avatar
  • 4,502
5 votes
2 answers
242 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 ...
Manjusri's user avatar
  • 4,502