Some ways and means of expressing initiality in the conditions of semantic undifferentiation of the verbal vocabulary of the Dari language

Grigoryev Denis Yurievich Adjunct of the Military University of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation 123001, Russia, g. Moscow, ul. Ul. B. Sadovaya, 14 yakuwkina@mail.ru

The relevance of this research is due to the fact that despite many years of experience in studying the grammatical structure of the Dari language, reflected in textbooks, monographs, dissertations and scientific articles on the grammar of the Dari language, there are many issues characterized by little study. Among them is the question of the expression of initiality in the Dari language. The scientific novelty of the topic is associated with a detailed consideration of the complex of lexical and syntactic constructions that can be used to express the meaning of the beginning in the Dari language. The purpose of the work is to identify and consider in detail the means and ways of expressing initiality in the conditions of semantic undifferentiation of verbal vocabulary in the Dari language. The purpose of the work defined the following tasks: to present an extensive system of multi-level means of expression of the beginning in the Dari language, to determine how the meaning of the beginning is expressed in verbal constructions with gereftan, ? oru’ kardan, z kardan, pard? xtan, dast zadan ma? ?ul ? odan, masruf ? odan, dar ? madan, dar ? wardan, ? madan, oft? dan, and? xtan, etc., compare the means and ways of expressing the meaning of the beginning in Dari and Russian.

In the differentiation of the verbal semantics of the Dari language, the meaning of the beginning can be expressed in a variety of ways ^{[1, 2]}. The formalized means of its expression, which does not require additional lexical and contextual indicators, is a verb construction with the verb gereftan, in independent use having the meaning "to take" ^{[3, p. 605]}. The construction is formed as follows: the verb gereftan is added to the infinitive of the semantic verb in the required personal form (usually in the form of a preterite, in the third person singular). There is no consensus among Russian Iranists about the status of the construction with the verb gereftan. Some attribute it to grammatical forms of the verb, others do not share this opinion. What is important for us here is that it can rightfully be considered as a stable model specialized in the expression of an initial action. Its system status is not so important in this case.

The construction with gereftan is optional, there are many other ways to express the initiality in dari. The number of verbs that occur in this construction is limited to an insignificant list of words. Nevertheless, it is quite common in both oral and written language. In the construction with gereftan, verbs are used that can denote a long process that does not seek to be completed quickly. In scientific and methodological works, examples of the type often appear as illustrative examples: Asp dawidan gereft "The horse ran"; B ? d wazidan gereft "The wind blew"; Del-e mard t ? pidan gereft "The man's heart fluttered".

The initial form with the verb gereftan is usually found in the form of a simple past tense in the third person singular. This form is well adapted for the manifestation of the meaning of the beginning, without complicating it with other specific features. Although the main role in expressing the meaning of the beginning in the construction with the verb gereftan belongs to this service or semi-service verb, the form of the preterite also takes part in this process, since it tends to express a productive action. Since the form with gereftan is optional, other means are usually used to express the initiality.

Among the means of expressing initiality are verbal combinations that include components with the corresponding meaning: ? oru' kardan^{[3, p. 480]}, ?y? z kardan "to begin" ^{[3, p. 53]}. The verb denoting the beginning action usually follows in front in the form of an infinitive, it is preceded by the preposition ba: Delh ? du b ? ra ba tapidan ? ? ? z kard "Hearts fluttered again; Sar-am ? oru' ba daur zadan kard "I started to feel dizzy"; Waqt a ke ? ft ? b bar-? mad ? nh ? oru' ba r ? h raftan kardand "When the sun rose, they set off."

In the examples discussed above, the verbs oru’ kardan and ? ? z kardan are in the preterite form, which is most common. The action in this case is a single one. If the verbs are in imperfect, then the action is a process consisting of an unlimited number of repetitive acts, the meaning of the beginning is preserved for each of these composite acts: B ? mow ? zena m ? ? odand ? and qadam lang-lang m ? raftand wa b ? z ba dawidan ? ? ? z m ? kardand "They would lose their balance, limp for a few steps, then start running again."

A single initial action is expressed by syntactic constructions with the verbs oru’ kardan and y?z kardan using the preterite form. The specific semantics of this verb form agrees very well with such a specific linguistic meaning.

Quite often there are syntactic constructions of the beginning, where instead of the verbs ? oru' kardan and ? ? ? z kardan, the verbs pard ? xtan^{[3, p. 157]}, mob ? derat kardan^{[3, p. 631]}, dast zada ^{[3, p. 157]} "to start", "to do" are used: Mard-e hams ? ya bar-x ? st bedun-e inke ba soxan-e ? waq'? nehad, yak b ? r-e digar in s ? wa ? n s ? ba dawidan par ? xt "The neighbor got up, not giving the slightest importance to what he was saying, began to run there"this way." The meaning of the beginning in constructions with the verbs pard ? xtan and dast zadan is expressed only when they are in the form of a preterite. If the verb is in the form of an imperfect or present, then the action is expressed in the process of committing: Dar hang ? m-e solh 'as ? ker ba ma ? q-o-tamrin m e pard ? xtand "In peacetime, soldiers were engaged in combat training."

So, unlike the verbs oru’ kardan and y?z kardan, which express the beginning even with the resistance of the context and the meaning of the grammatical form, the verbs pard ? xtan and dast zadan express the beginning only in a favorable context together with the form of the preterite. That is, in this case, the beginning is expressed by two means together-a lexical means and a grammatical form. The preterite here acts as an equal participant in the expression of the initiative. Another important factor contributing to this is context. If the context prevents the expression of the beginning, then even the preterit does not help: Dar amrik ? ba hays-e ? w ? zx ? n moddat ? ba k ? r pard ? xt wa pul-e q ? bel-e tawaj joh ? ba dast ? ward "For a while he performed as a singer in America, having earned decent money." The expression of the beginning here is hindered by the circumstance of the time moddat e "some time" ^{[3, p. 644]}. A lexical tool with a specific semantics dominates a polysemantic grammatical form. If it were not for this lexical means, the initiative would manifest itself here in a vivid form.

The syntactic constructions of the beginning include phrases constructed according to the same model with the preposition ba with the verbs ma ? ?ul ? odan^{[3, p. 655]} and masruf ? odan^{[3, p. 657]} "to do". When these verbs are in the preterite, the meaning of the formation of the action is usually expressed, denoted by the action name or infinitive, preceded by the preposition ba^[5]. The preposition may be absent, in this case the following is used: Sar az rz-e dowwom ba ejr ?-ye wazife-ye rasmi-ye x masruf ? od"From the second day I took up my official duties."

Among the most common syntactic constructions of the beginning are combinations formed according to the same model with the verbs dar ? madan (in independent use it means "to enter") ^{[3, p. 349]}, dar ? wardan ("to make") ^{[3, p. 349]}, ? madan ("to come") ^{[3, p. 66]}, oft? dan ("to fall") ^{[3, p. 71]}, and? xtan ("to throw") ^{[3, p. 71]}. If the verbs are in the form of a preterite, then the meaning of becoming an action in a favorable context is expressed without the help of any additional means ^{[2, 5]}: Dar in zam? n pesarak-a? az x? b b? d? r ? od wa ba gerya oft? d "At that time her little son woke up and cried"; Mard xandid, du mard-e digar ham ba xanda dar ? madand "The man laughed, the other two men started laughing too." The presence of circumstances of the mode of action, giving the action signs of duration, can slow down the process of becoming an action: Wali hesta-? hesta p? h?-yam ba larza oft? d"But slowly my legs began to tremble."

The meaning of initiality in constructions with verbs dar ? madan, dar ? wardan, ? madan, oft? dan, and? xtan is expressed to a sufficiently strong degree, which is confirmed by examples of the use of presentation and imperfect forms in them, which are usually not inclined to express the formation of action: Mardom-e qariyah? y? ke qow?-ye englis az ? n 'aqab m? raftand aslaha ba dast gerefta ba ? te? bar qow?-ye englis m? pard? xtand "The inhabitants of the villages through which the British troops retreated took up arms and opened fire on the English soldiers"; Ba'd az ? n ke dasth?-ye xod r? ba ? o'-le-ye xunin-e ? te? nazdik m? kardand yak? donb? l-e digar? ba r? h m? oft? dand "After warming their hands at the bright red flames of the fire, one by one they set off on their way." In these examples, the meaning of the beginning is preserved for individual repetitive acts that make up a complex long-lasting action. In the considered constructions of initiality in their direct function within the past tense, preterite prevails, although sometimes there are perfect forms. In certain cases, the preterite is directly involved in the formation of a sign of initiative. In constructions with the verbs ? oru’ kardan and ? z kardan, the active role of the preterite does not manifest itself, since the verbs themselves express the specific feature under consideration quite definitely and unambiguously.

The verbs dar ? madan, bar ? madan, oft ? dan and and ? xtan also express the beginning quite definitely, although they allow its neutralization. In constructions with the verbs dar ? madan, bar ? madan, oft ? dan and and ? xtan, even more than with the verbs mentioned above, the active role of the imperfect in expressing the meaning of the beginning is manifested. The considered constructions of the beginning represent lexical and syntactic models of the expression of the beginning that have fully developed in the Dari language, which can be considered as modeled means of forming this specific meaning.

In addition to the analyzed means in the modern Dari language, there are many other ways to express the meaning of the beginning of an action. In particular, for this purpose, the verbs for ? raftan "to descend", "to dive" ^{[3, p. 544]} and yarq ? odan"to dive", "to sink" ^{[3, p. 530]} can be used: Moddat-e tul ? ni ? e ? m ba dar d ? xt ba'd ham ? nj ? ne ? ast wa ba x ? b-e sangin ? for ? raft "He stared long and hard at the door, then sat down there and fell into a heavy sleep."

Some other non-universal speech means are also used to express the beginnings, including idioms and phraseological units ^[5], for example: P ? h ?-yam ben ?-ye larza r ? goz t wa halq-am xo ? ki nomud"My legs trembled, my throat was dry". The means of expression of initiality include a construction, the permanent members of which are the word r - "person", the preposition ba "to", "in", "on" and the verb neh -dan "to put", "to put": Saw? r ? od wa r ? ba r ? h neh ? d "He mounted his horse and set off."

To express the initial action, combinations of nouns or infinitives with verbs are also used sar d ? dan "to begin" ^{[4, p. 330]}, mowajeh ? odan "to collide" ^{[4, p. 625]}, tan dar d ? dan "to collide" ^{[4, p. 625]}, "to be exposed", w ? red ? odan "to enter", "to join" ^{[4, p. 97]}, dast d ? dan "to get" ^{[4, p. 163]}. Mdndaz ?anidan-e ?eninxabar, ?ewaz’ ba man dast d ? d "You understand what my mood was when I heard this news." 

There are also many other interesting phrases, often of a phraseological nature, expressing the beginnings. However, our analysis is limited to the most common and stable designs, which can be attributed to the number of standardized models.

Combinations of names with the verb gereftan "to take" occupy a prominent place in a number of purely lexical means of expressing initiality. Here we do not mean complex verbs like qar ? r gereftan "to occupy a position", "to be located", anj? m gereftan "to end", "to end", where gereftan is a full-fledged composing verb, but those combinations where this verb largely retains its qualities of the significant part of speech and lexical meaning, little inferior in this sense to the second component of the combination. The second component can be nouns and substantive infinitives: Zan r ? xanda gereft "The woman was taken apart by laughter"; B ? z ham dawidan r ? gereft "He ran again".

The fact that in the examples given here, combinations with the verb gereftan have the status of syntactic phrases, and not complex verbs, is most clearly evidenced by the last sentence, where the first component is followed by an object postposition r?, making this component a direct complement of the sentence, and gereftan is a predicate. All actions clearly show a sign of initiality, mainly due to the lexical semantics of the verb gereftan, although, of course, the expression of this meaning is greatly facilitated by the form of the preterite.

The expression of initiality can appear as a result of direct interaction of the semantics components of grammatical forms with the lexical meaning of verbs of certain semantic classes. The preterite form is most actively involved in this. Verbs of movement in the form of a preterite in a minimal context express the formation of an action:Hama ba ? n s? sar? sima dawidand "Everyone ran in that direction in confusion." In these cases, the meaning of the initial action is formed as a consequence of the equal interaction of the grammatical form and the components of the lexical semantics of verbs.

Thus, a set of means is used in Dari to express initiality – lexical and syntactic constructions, where syntactic, morphological means and the lexical meaning of the verbs themselves interact.

Comparing the means of expressing meanings from the field of verb form and modes of action, in Dari and Russian, we see that there are fundamental differences between these languages. In the Russian language, these tools are concentrated mainly in the field of word formation and are presented at the level of the original verb forms, which include the widest set of prefixes and suffixes, allowing to detail a wide range of various signs of the internal properties of verbal actions. In the Dari language, at the level of the initial forms, the verbal vocabulary is not differentiated even by the most important specific features, not to mention those that relate to the sphere of methods of verbal action. In the process of translation, in order to accurately convey those components of the lexical semantics of verbs that relate to the internal properties of action, morphological, lexical and syntactic means are used in their various sets and various combinations.

One of the ways to translate the Russian verb word forms denoting the process in its formation phase into the Dari language is to consider the use of stable syntactic constructions that include as a permanent component the verbs dar ? madan, oft ? dan, ? madan, dar ? wardan, and? xtan. It is these verbs that most often appear in the constructions of the beginning, and their frequent use is a normal phenomenon corresponding to the modern language norm.

In second place in terms of usage are the constructions of the beginning with the verbs ? oru’ kardan (? odan), ? ? ? z kardan (? odan). Combinations with the verbs dast zadan, pard? xtan are characterized by approximately the same frequency of use. With these means, it is possible to diversify the ways of translating Russian verbs of the initial mode of action, while remembering that they are inferior in use to the means mentioned in the previous paragraph. Other lexical and syntactic means are recommended to be used in translation from Russian with caution, remembering that their frequent appearance in speech can create the impression of deviation from the modern literary norm.

In modern dari, there is a special analytical form with the auxiliary verb gereftan, designed to express such a specific kind of non-process action as an initial action. The presence of such a morphological means has led researchers to pay attention to this very meaning from the field of verbal action methods and means of its expression. Due to the facultative and little-used form of the beginning with the verb gereftan, morphological, lexical, word-formation and syntactic, as well as phraseological resources of the language are widely used to express the formation of action in dari. The bulk of such means are stable syntactic phrases, in which verbs with the meaning of transition to a state, becoming an action are included as a component.

The extensive system of multi-level means of expression of initiative also insistently dictates a special approach to the evaluation of such a phenomenon in the lexical and semantic system of the language as synonymy. The term lexico-semantic system of the language itself does not seem quite correct here, since the means of expressing the initiality of an action, which in the Russian language constitute a significant semantic grouping of verbs of the corresponding method of verbal action, in the Dari language are almost completely tied to other levels of the linguistic structure and include elements of the morphological and word-formation levels of the language.