Българският и руският език: типологично сравнение на деиктичните глаголи за движение
Bulgarian And Russian: A Typological Comparison Of Deictic Motion Verbs

Author(s): Federico Piccolo
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Theoretical Linguistics, Comparative Linguistics
Published by: Пловдивски университет »Паисий Хилендарски«
Keywords: Motion verbs; Typological contrast; Path encoding; Satellite-framed vs. verb-framed structures; Balkan Sprachbund; Bulgarian and Russian
Summary/Abstract: This study offers a comparative analysis of the system of motion verbs in Bulgarian and Russian, highlighting significant typological differences and potential areal influences. Unlike Russian, which largely follows Talmy’s (1985) satellite-framed model – where the manner of motion is encoded in the verb and the path is expressed through spatial prefixes – Bulgarian adopts a path-focused structure, aligning more closely with a verb-framed pattern typical of Balkan languages. However, it should be noted that Russian, while often conforming to Talmy’s model, does not adhere to it uniformly: there are constructions in which the path is conveyed directly by the verb and others in which the boundary between manner and trajectory becomes less clear. This makes the Russian system more flexible and less rigidly classifiable than other satellite-framed languages such as English or German. In Bulgarian, verbs like izljaza (“to go out”), minavam (“to cross”), or dojda (“to arrive”) encode the path directly, often leaving the manner of motion (e.g.,“to run,” “to fly,” “to sneak”) secondary or implicit. In contrast, Russian favors constructions such as vybežal (“ran out”), where the main verb encodes the manner (bežat’, “torun”) and the prefix vy- specifies the path. Bulgarian’s tendency to fuse path into the verb root – often relying on non-productive prefixes – marks a significant departure from EastSlavic patterns and suggests convergence with other Balkan languages, particularly Greek. This study views such features as a potential instance of Balkan Sprachbund influence, highlighting the role of language contact in reshaping verbal motion systems.

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