Poskakali ! «Filons!» / « Assez couru!»: construire l’instable (les verbes nesti, nosit′, skakat′ et le préfixe po-)
Poskakali! “Let’s Flee!” / “Enough Running!”: Constructing Instability (The verbs nesti, nosit′, skakat′ and the prefix po-)

Summary/Abstract: Russian verbs capable of expressing spatial displacement (among other meanings) allow the prefixpo- to express two contradictory meanings: inchoation (onset of action: ‘Let’s go!’) and delimitation(temporal bounding: ‘Enough running!’). This article explores the conditions triggering this duality,focusing on the grammatical category of so-called “verbs of motion”. Within this small set, whichcontrasts determinate and indeterminate verbs, the former tendentially select the inchoative meaning,while the latter select the delimitative meaning. The analysis is carried out using the example ofthe determinate verb (po)nesti and the indeterminate (po)nosit′, with extension to non-motion uses.The core argument is that determinate verbs – like other motion-capable verbs – rely on anunstable term a, whereas indeterminate verbs, as products of a morphological derivation process,operate on the feature that distinguishes verbs within this category: the mechanism creating thisinstability. In the case of nesti/nosit′, this involves a contingently defined locator (e.g., a “carrier”).Consequently, po- prefixed to determinate verbs targets the existence of a, while with indeterminateverbs, it modifies the properties of the “carrier”. For verbs outside the determinate/indeterminateopposition, the ambiguity stems directly from the verbal base’s interpretation, generating specificsemantic effects.

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