The slavic root pust- in the context of the US – THEM opposition Cover Image

Славянский корень *pust- в контексте концептуальной оппозиции свой / чужой
The slavic root pust- in the context of the US – THEM opposition

Author(s): Margarita V. Žujkova
Subject(s): Language studies, Language and Literature Studies, Cognitive linguistics, Descriptive linguistics, Philology
Published by: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Marii Curie-Sklodowskiej
Keywords: Slavic root *pust; us vs. them

Summary/Abstract: An assumption is made that in the Old-Slavic era the root pust- was one of the means of verbalizing an alien (untamed) space. On this basis the author reconstructs the archaic semantics of the concept. She first analyzes the semantics of the comparative pušče (puščij), then through an analysis of contemporary semantics of the Russian verb pustit’ and its derivatives she establishes a semantic link between the nominal and verbal root *pust-, which allows her to explain the emergence of the semantics of motion in the verbal element. A claim is made that the verb *pustiti was primarily connected with the forest and meant ‘let a forest grow’. Because the growth of plants (especially trees) was seen as active encroachment on free, empty space, the idea of growth became strictly connected with motion. It is on this basis that the verb *pustiti received the meaning ‘let move’, found in contemporary Slavic languages.

  • Issue Year: 19/2007
  • Issue No: 19
  • Page Range: 211-224
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: Russian