Types of use of peripheral forms of the creative case in the aspect of adverbialization (the substantive word form "in a whisper")

Shigurov Viktor Vasil'evich ORCID: 0000-0002-0765-0482 Doctor of Philology Professor, Department of Russian Language, National Research Ogarev Mordovia State University 430010, Russia, Republic of Mordovia, Saransk, Serova str., 3, sq. 12 shigurov@mail.ru Other publications by this author     Shigurova Tat'yana Alekseevna ORCID: 0000-0002-4898-6484 Doctor of Cultural Studies Professor; Department of Culturology, Library and Information Resources; National Research Ogarev Mordovia State University 430010, Russia, Republic of Mordovia, Saransk, Serova str., 3, sq. 12 shigurovа_tatyana@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Pulov Evgenii Viktorovich ORCID: 0000-0002-1946-9760 PhD in Philology Associate Professor, Department of Russian as a Foreign Language, National Research Ogarev Mordovia State University 430021, Russia, Republic of Mordovia, Saransk, Volgogradskogo str., 33, sq. 74 puool@yandex.com

1. Introductory remarks

Adverbialization as a special kind of transposition of substantive word forms into the class of adverbial lexemes has a stepwise character. In different contextual conditions, the degree of neutralization (loss) of semantic and grammatical features of nouns and the formation on the basis of desubstantiation and adverbialization of signs of adverbial units in word forms varies, which gives rise to the identification of different stages (stages) of adverbialization of nouns (discussion of the problems of the theory of transposition (translation, conversion, syntactic / lexical derivation, transitivity) and syncretism in the grammatical structure of the language can be found in: ^{[1; 2; 3, pp. 57-71; 4; 5, pp. 25-38; 6; 7; 8, pp. 13-26; 9; 10; 11, pp. 237-245]}). The adverbial transposition of linguistic units has also been the subject of research in the works of Russian and Western scientists (see, for example: ^{[12; 13, pp. 313-350; 14, pp. 499-538; 15]}). Attempts have been repeatedly made to calibrate the degrees of noun pronunciation (see: ^{[16; 17]}). However, there is still no consensus on many issues concerning the prerequisites, causes, signs and limits of adverbialization. In this regard, the same facts, in particular, concerning the adverbialization of forms of the creative case like in winter, spring, summer (to go on vacation at sea), are interpreted in three ways: (a) as adverbs, (b) as nouns in the creative case, (c) as hybrid, substantive-adverbial formations. This determines the relevance of this study. The purpose of the article is to characterize adverbialization as a stepwise type of transposition of substantive word forms into adverbs. The object of analysis is the forms of the creative case of nouns, which are more or less subject to adverbialization. The subject of consideration is the word form in a whisper, explicating the first stage of adverbialization of nouns. The research material was typical contexts extracted from the National Corpus of the Russian language, as well as the authors' own examples of the article. The novelty of the study consists, first of all, in the fact that it conducts a systematic linguistic analysis of the stepwise adverbial transposition of linguistic units, which generates a large number of syncretic structures in speech, which make it possible to economically but concisely present multidimensional information ^{[18, p. 82; 19; 20, pp. 152-158]}. To achieve this goal, such methods as oppositional analysis, linguistic experiment, elements of component and distributive analysis were used in the work.

         We proceed from the fact that the adverbialization of nouns can be represented in the form of several stages fixed in typical contexts. Each of them is characterized by a certain degree of departure from the class of nouns and approximation to the class of adverbs. It is advisable to depict such stages of adverbialization graphically as links on the scale of transitivity:  A/S(gorge) (the core of nouns) --> Ab/S(gorge) n(arech) (periphery of nouns) ab/s(gorge) n(arech) (hybrids, semi-existent-semi-adverbs) --> aB/s(gorge) N(arech) (periphery of adverbs) --> B / N(arech) (the core of adverbs).

It has been established that the same substantive word form in its development is capable of explicating a number of such stages of adverbialization (see also: ^{[21, pp. 51-62; 22, pp. 161-165; 23, pp. 177-191]}). It is noteworthy in this regard, for example, the word form in a whisper, which reaches the stage of the periphery of adverbs during adverbialization, without, at the same time, going beyond the semantic zone of the original word. To illustrate the main stages of its movement towards adverbs, you can use the following examples.

(1) The children's laughter was suddenly replaced by a whisper (nuclear substantive word form) (what?);

(2) The doctor was able to stop the blood in some kind of hypnotic whisper (peripheral substantive word form)(with what? in what way?);

(3) The doctor was able to stop blood in a whisper (hybrid, substantive-adverbial word form) (what? in what way?);

          (4)The doctor and the patient talked in whispers (a peripheral adverbial word form that does not violate the identity of the original lexeme) (how?).

         The limit of the adverbialization of the word form in a whisper is the zone of peripheral, actually grammatical (functional) adverbs. To the zone of nuclear adverbs like for nothing (time spent) She doesn't get it.

            2. Research results and discussion

In this article, attention is focused on the specifics of peripheral nouns; see example (2) above.

The sphere of peripheral nouns, correlating with the Ab/S(n) n(arech) link on the adverbialization scale, is represented by two types of contexts with a substantive word form (whisper).

Firstly, these are the typical contexts of using a peripheral noun in a whisper in a syncretic complement function and the circumstances of the mode of action [subjoined Ab1]. It is used in this case with verbs of a certain semantics. We are talking about verbs like drive away, expel, drive away, expel, send away, etc. with the typical meaning of ’to move an object or make an object move in space from somewhere'; scare, amuse, tease, annoy, worry, scare, make laugh, etc. with the typical meaning of 'to cause an emotional state in someone; to bring (bring) someone into any emotional state’; to disrupt, stop, cancel, terminate, interrupt, etc. in the typical meaning of ’to stop any action, the existence of something'; to lull, exhaust, stupefy, heal, to exhaust, revive, put to sleep in the typical meaning of 'to bring any living being into any physiological state' (see: ^{[24, pp. 66, 378, 423, etc.]}):

(5) (a) In a hoarse whisper, he drove the Perfishka away from himself and locked himself in his room. Turgenev. The End of Tchertop-hanov (1872)];

(b) "Where are you!" Frightened by her whisper, I freeze on the stool. Shargunov. Hooray! (2003)];

(c) Her flat shoes did not creak on the sand of the paths, and the rustle of silk skirts was drowned out by the whisper of chestnut trees [Z. Hippius. Without a Talisman (1896)];

(e) Despite the number of people waiting, there was a deep silence in the hall, broken only occasionally by the impetuous whisper of senior officials. [N. Heinze. Arakcheev (1898)];

(e) Dense fir trees lean over him like a black canopy and lull him to sleep with their incomprehensible whisper [M. Lermontov. Vadim (1833-1834)].

In the examples given, the peripheral noun in a whisper acts as a syncretic object-circumstantial component of the utterance (for the polyfunctionality of lexical units, see, for example: ^{[25, pp. 434-439]}). In this case, it simultaneously represents the function of an object complement and the function of a circumstantial component denoting a technique, a method of performing a verbal action: how to lull a bear, in what way, in what way, with what (see, for example, on the semantics of the circumstance of the method of action in the study: ^{[26, pp. 28-31]}).

Secondly, these are typical contexts that demonstrate (in the sub-link Ab2) a peripheral noun in a whisper in the function of the circumstance of the mode of action (or quality, according to another terminology). It is usually used in such cases with verbs of speech such as say, speak, answer, ask, demand, ask, pronounce, warn, etc. For example:

(6) (a) "So you agree?" she said in a hot, joyful whisper, and her eyes loomed very close, as rainbow spots loom in dizziness [O. Slavnikova. Long Jump (2014-2016)];

(b) "Who is this? Bourgeois?" she asked in a joyful, longing whisper. – "And how do I know?" [M. Aldanov. Escape (1930)];

(c) "Hurry up," the boy said in a frightened whisper. – There's a bagato-bagato on the richci, and a scout has twelve cholovik..." [e. Kazakevich. The Star (1946)];

(d) Weakening, but not showing a break in his voice, suppressing the bitter nausea from someone else's blood, Burnashov drawled in an almost cheerful strained whisper, barely catching his breath: "Run, you bastard" [V. Lichutin. Love (1987)];

(e) And my sisters demanded in an angry whisper that I invite their bored friends along the walls [p. Golitsyn. Survivor's Notes (1980-1989)].

As you can see, the complement function for the peripheral word form, explicating the second stage in the zone of the periphery of nouns (Ab2), is excluded. It is characterized exclusively by the function of circumstance, and, unlike the word form in a whisper at the first stage of the periphery zone (Ab1), with the meaning not of a method, but of a mode of action. It expresses the qualitative specificity of mainly speech action, the degree of audibility of sound, which often has an emotionally expressive coloring (in adjectives).

The peripheral noun (in the sub-link Ab1) is characterized by use only in combination with dependent words that shade its substantive nature, namely with adjectival and subsubstantial distributors (7). In the absence of dependent words, it grammatically degenerates into a hybrid structure synthesizing the properties of the noun and adverb in approximately equal proportions (8). Cf. contexts with a peripheral noun whisper in the sublink Ab1 and a hybrid whisper explicating the zone ab on the transitivity scale:

(7) Luda greeted them in an affectionate whisper: "Mitenka, you've been working all night, hungry, probably, let me warm up the borscht... [M. Bakonin. Nine grams of plasticine (2000)];

(8) I do not want to accept servility, but to please myself, not to get pleasure for myself, but to give it to another – and now she, and not he, dominates with touches and whispers – submitting, wishing only one thing: that this man becomes insanely happy with her... [A. Slapovsky. The death of the guitarist (1994-1995)].

As for the peripheral noun (from the sub-link Ab2), it is also not typical for it to be used in a single position, i.e. without dependent words. The absolute position for him serves as the syntactic basis for mandatory functional adverbialization. However, this peripheral noun, when used without dependent words, bypasses the zone of hybridity, and is immediately transposed into a class of grammatical adverbs with the meaning of a mode of action (or quality). Cf. typical contexts of the use of the peripheral noun in a whisper in the sublink Ab2 (9) and the substantive adverb in a whisper (in the zone of the periphery aB) (10), which does not go beyond the semantic zone of the original lexeme:

(9) The heads of the laboratories... went around all the tables and warned everyone individually in a bashful whisper [A. Solzhenitsyn. In the first circle, vol.1, ch. 26-51 (1968) // "New World", 1990];

(10) In the afternoon, he really wanted to look in on Spiridonov for at least a few minutes. But he still overcame himself, went to the command post of the 64th army, although the instructor of the army political department warned him in a whisper: "You don't need to hurry to a member of the Military Council now." Grossman. Life and Destiny, part 2 (1960)].

The typical environment of a peripheral noun in the form of adjectival and subsubstantial distributors "holds back" further whispered progress towards adverbs. Especially often, with a peripheral substantive word form, qualitative adjectives expressing signs of action (whisper) associated with their emotional assessment are found in whispers (in whispers – joyful, affectionate, jubilant, tragic, trusting, scary, angry, snide, shy, scared, creepy, hating, passionate, etc.) (11); what-or external parameters – the degree of loudness, the speed of the process (whisper – barely audible, quiet, loud, huge, weak, frenzied, slow) (12), physiologically or socially determined sound parameters (whisper – vibrating, whistling, silent, light, clear, confused, hoarse, buzzing, ringing, foreign, theatrical)(13) and others. See examples from the National Corpus of the Russian Language:

(11) (a) "Hello," the old man replied in a tragic whisper, "I'm specially waiting for you here" [I. Grekova. On Trial (1967)];

(b) "I'm going to see him today," he informed me in a confidential whisper. Chigir. Marcellus // "Far East", 2019];

(c) Fyodor threw down the string with a shout and ran up to him. "Dad!.. What are you doing?!" In a terrible hoarse whisper, choking on words, Nahum shouted: "In my chest... he... hit me... broke a bone... I'm disappearing!.." [M. Sholokhov. Farmhands (1928)];

(d) "Well, yes!" – the ghost of the girl who became a mermaid answered in a gentle rustling whisper. Kondratiev. On the banks of the Yaryn River. A demonological novel. (1930)];

(e) Gavrilin's farewell phrase still sounds in my ears, in a sarcastic whisper [I. Vasyuchenko. Lame on the slope // "Ark", 2014];

(e) Lera also quieted down and also began to look around, then pulled Nadezhda's sleeve and screamed in a terrible whisper... [M. Zosimkina. You'll wake up. The first book (2015)];

(g) According to the unwritten rules of commemoration after the end of his speech and until the moment when someone will certainly begin to warn in a frightened whisper: "Don't clink glasses, men!" [A. Hair. Real Estate (2000) // "New World", 2001];

(h) Again?! – Andrei said in an eerie whisper and retreated to the door. Colin. Diary of Betrayal (2011)];

(and) Having said this, she looked at me as if she was begging for alms, but in a rage for the shame caused to me, I objected in a hateful whisper that these veal tenderness was not for our court... [M. Ageev. An affair with cocaine (1934)];

(y) "Feed?!" – "Quiet you! Fedka replied in a furious whisper. – There she goes" [A. Oleynikov. Velka's childhood (2007)];

(k) Instantly changing his facial expression, smiling, as if during the most ordinary small talk, the Tsar reminds Katya: "Is he ... our child?" Katya – in a passionate whisper: "Yes, I want him to be – I want to see him, hold him, kiss him!" [E. Zamyatin. The Tsar in Captivity (1934)];

(12) (a) Already completely intoxicated, the prince read his poem, barely standing on his feet, making long pauses, looking around in fright and shouting out some lines too loudly, and others in a barely audible whisper. Kataev. My Diamond Crown (1975-1977)];

(b) He looked at the philologist with white eyes and said in a low whisper... [p. Dovlatov. Another Life (1984)];

(c) Her husband tells her something in a loud, ominous whisper [A. Panteleev. Anya (1942)];

(d) Goodbye, goodbye, my august August, goodbye glorious summer loss! – I also say in response to his delicate, refined parting, uttered in some huge whisper of a world that has everywhere withdrawn and retreated into its beyond. Volodin. The tale of bygone years // "Volga", 2011];

         (e) A soldier is being carried on a stretcher, barely alive, mangled by the explosion of a bomb, and he barely utters in a tongue-tied, weak whisper: "Take care of our father, General L...." [A. Kuprin. The Last Knights (1934)];

             (e) "What am I like?" Marinelli replied in a frenzied whisper. Bulls. Spelling (2002)];

(13) (a) "Instructions," Kostya read the inscription on the cover of the notebook in a whistling whisper and turned the first page... [V. Medvedev. Barankin, be a man! (1957)];

(b) In the huge hall of the Lenin Library, I read in a silent whisper poems from the magnificent "Apollo" and "Golden Fleece"... [p. Golitsyn. Survivor's Notes (1980-1989)];

(c) A breeze ran through the leaves, willows rustled, poplars responded in a clear whisper [F. Kryukov. The Swell (1909)];

(d) ... That night, in a confused whisper from a makeshift cot in the corner of the room, Lubka told her life in detail [D. Ruby. Lubka (1987)];

(e) Anna – turning to Stepanov – in a staccato whisper: "Wait – this is svitskiy..." [E. Zamyatin. The Tsar in Captivity (1934)];

(e) Besides them, the millet porridge, called "kirzovoy" in the commune, was consumed by the withered, transparent from weakness Feldman, the silent Teremnykh and the peasant poet Konkin, a desperately unpleasant, sloppy type and all the time smiling with a gap-toothed smile of a notorious rascal. – Lovetsky? Feldman asked in a rustling whisper... [d. Bulls. Spelling (2002)];

(g) All in long veils, she bent in a darkened silhouette over the lonely princess. She whispered strange things in her buzzing whisper. It was beyond happiness and grief. White. The Northern Symphony (1917)];

(h) "Pronto?" (Done?) – he asked anxiously in a ringing whisper, pointing with his eyes at the terrible door at the end of the corridor. Bunin. The Gentleman from San Francisco (1915)];

(and) Noticing that Nerzhin, staring into the blue light bulb, was not sleeping, Ruska asked in a hoarse whisper: Gleb! Do you have any cigarettes nearby? Give" [A. Solzhenitsyn. In the first circle, vol. 1, ch. 1-25 (1968) // "New World", 1990]; (y) It was as if a factory had run out in the iron ones, maternal songs were scratched with uterine tremors, crumbs of petty-bourgeois chernozem swelled under the nails, the blood was now filled with the foreign whisper of the father-mother ... [A. Terekhov. Stone Bridge (1997-2008)];

(k) Let's get started!" – Boris Naumovich suggested in a theatrical whisper, with compressed lips. Shulyak. Apartment number nine. A novel with devilry // "Volga", 2013].

From the examples given, it can be seen that some of them present a complex, multidimensional characteristic of the process (in a whisper), with the actualization of certain semantic components in the semantic structure of adjectives.

Subsubstantial distributors in the form, for example, of the genitive case of the name are used much less frequently in the studied word form in a whisper; cf.:

(14) (a) Drive us away – we will go into the catacombs and there, in the dark, suffocating, we will live with the whisper of numbers, the rustle of papers [And. Ehrenburg. The Extraordinary Adventures of Julio Jurenito (1921)];

(b) But the gentleman in the bowler hat was such a curiosity that the whole "Rotunda" trembled, fell silent for a minute, and then burst into a whisper of surprise and alarm. Ehrenburg. The Extraordinary Adventures of Julio Jurenito (1921)].

In general, the word form in a whisper on two stages of the zone of the periphery of nouns is characterized by the most important signs of the original part of speech – the general grammatical semantics of the subject, the categories of gender, number and case in fixed grammatical forms of the creative case and singular, the inflected morpheme -om, expressing the meanings of the masculine gender, singular and creative case, the primary function of complement (in the sub-link AB1) and typical noun distributors – consistent adjectival words (on the left) and controlled forms of indirect cases of nouns (on the right), lexical and grammatical categories of common nouns, inanimate and abstract-concrete nouns.

The first, in fact, syntactic step towards adverb in this word form is associated with its use in the function of the circumstance of the mode of action (sub–link aB1), coupled with the function of the object complement, and in the sub-link aB2 of the zone of the periphery of nouns - with the only function of the circumstance of the mode of action, which is confirmed by the inability to ask the question of the complement of what?

The peripheral noun in a whisper, explicating the first sub-link in the zone of the periphery of the noun aB1, is syntactically connected with the main verbal component of the phrase in a way of weak control that implements object–circumstance relations (to lull a child with a caressing whisper - what? and in what way? with what?). The duality of the above questions to the word form in a whisper indicates its functional syncretism.

 The peripheral noun in a whisper, representing the second stage of aB2 on the scale of adverbialization, implements a different type of verbal subordination in a phrase with the main component of the verb (to speak in a low whisper) – case adjunction, which is unpredictable and is due solely to the communicative needs of the speaker (see: ^{[27, pp. 75-79]}).

As in the core zone, on the periphery of nouns, the word form in a whisper, regardless of the approaches aB1 and aB2, has the lexical meaning of ’quiet, non-ringing speech in which sounds are pronounced without the participation of vocal cords', modified to one degree or another, especially with metaphorical reinterpretation, with the help of consistent adjectives.      

The peripheral noun, which, relatively speaking, makes the first step towards adverb, has a certain compatibility with adjectival words of different types – mainly with qualitative adjectives, with pronouns-adjectives (in a whisper – her fascinating, somehow incomprehensible, the same, such, such) (15). It can also be used with participial forms of verbs, including those that have been subjectivated to one degree or another (in a whisper – interrupted, hissing, whistling, panting, longing, choking, irritated, hiding, hunted, worried, pleading, spitting) (16). For example:

(15) (a) It will fit to the mirror – curls, eyelashes, this and that. He'll wink at himself in a funny way. She was as receptive as a monkey: she would raise one eyebrow, and the man was ready. Or he talks about rags in a kind of deep, mysterious whisper, in the manner of a Hollywood star: "The style of veri nice" [I. Grekova. Summer in the City (1962)];

(b) Finally, Delyukin ended the conversation and explained in the same whisper... [p. Dovlatov. The Suitcase (1986)];

(c) Alexandra Andreevna now called me simply "Borya", proving: I de live in St. Petersburg; Moscow is de nervous; it will be warmer here; stroking everything on the shoulder, bending over and looking into eyes; saying with such an affectionate whisper... [A. White. Between Two Revolutions (1934)];

(16) (a) We interrupted her,– Fedka began to speak in a breathless whisper. Oleynikov. Velka's childhood (2007)];

(b) Then, coming to his senses, he suddenly pushes out a wet gag with his tongue, hot from saliva, but does not scream, but asks in a small, choking whisper... [M. Sholokhov. The raised virgin land. Book 1 (1932)];

(c) "No, you, Praskovya Yudishna, leave the princely table," he said in an irritated whisper, "you don't belong here" [A. Apukhtin. Between life and death (1892)];

(d) He spoke in a hidden whisper, his shaggy head was lowered low, tears were dripping on the telegrams. Shishkov. Ugryum River. Ch. 5-8 (1913-1932)];

(e) "I can't turn away," he replied in a hunted whisper. Iskander. The Thirteenth Feat of Hercules (1966)];

(e) Oh, no, sir," she said in a worried whisper, "don't transfer me to the hospital, don't touch me. Turgenev. Living Relics (1874)];

(g) Nikolai Sergeyevich folded his hands pleadingly, hissed in a pleading whisper... [B. Pilnyak. Zashtat (1923-1928)];

(h) "Something happened," he said in a quick, spitting whisper. Nabokov. King, Queen, Jack (1927-1928)].

         Verbs with which a peripheral noun is syntactically linked in a whisper by the method of case adjunction or weak control are used in four main forms of grammatical representation. These are:

         Personal forms of verbs:

(17) It looked like Nikolai Vasilyevich really got him – instead of the former calm, imposing, well-dressed and, apparently, successful realtor, a disheveled nervous man was talking in my ear, cracking his knuckles, in an excited whisper [A. Hair. Real Estate (2000) // "New World", 2001].

         Infinitive forms of verbs:

(18) And after all this, you can take scissors for cutting flowers in your right hand and slowly walk... no, swim into the garden, so that near the jasmine thickets you suddenly gasp, drop the umbrella and scissors from your hands and stammer in a broken whisper: "Michelle, well, I asked you, I begged you not to come anymore here!" [M. Baru. Castle with music // "Volga", 2013].

         Adverbial forms of verbs:

(19) She appeared very opportunely – Andrei's classmate Marina stayed too long, who was pretty boring to him: she clung to him with frightening fearlessness, laying out all her family secrets in a secret whisper, and so ingratiated herself with her aunt that she went to the market with her [A. Azolsky. Lopushok // "New World", 1998].

         Participial forms of verbs:

(20) The hearing seemed to stretch into an even thread, braided like telegraph wires with match voices, the whispers of the heavenly spheres [I. Polyanskaya Street. Passing of the Shadow (1996)].

         It should be noted that for many cases of using a peripheral noun in a whisper, the so-called semantic coordination (or, in other words, semantic coordination) with the verb is characteristic, manifested in the presence of common semes in the semantic structure. This refers to the sema of speaking (sounding); cf.: speaking in a low whisper. The word whisper, as already mentioned, suggests a very quiet speech. A similar semantic agreement can be observed in cases such as riding, especially in tautological combinations of substantive word forms with the same-root verbs to run, to fill, to nod, to give for free. Something similar takes place when adverbializing adverbial participles with negation in combinations such as talking without ceasing (it is assumed: without ceasing to speak) (see: ^{[28, p. 129]}). This kind of semantic coordination of the verb and the non-substantive adverbial formation, however, is not a factor that prevents or, conversely, favors the process of adverbialization of nouns such as riding, whispering. It can either be (speak in an affectionate whisper) or be absent (stop in a whisper) at different stages of adverbialization of substantive word forms; cf.: be replaced by a whisper (the stage of the core of the noun) --> speak in a low whisper; stop the blood in some strange whisper (the stage of the periphery of the noun) --> stop the blood in a whisper (the stage of hybrid, substantive-adverbial formations) --> to speak in a whisper (the stage of the periphery of adverbs).

           3. Conclusion

The conducted research indicates that in the zone of the periphery of nouns, the word form (in a whisper) is characterized by two types of usage, demonstrating a stepwise movement towards adverbs. The first type of word form usage is associated with the implementation of object-circumstance relations: being multifunctional, it acts as a complement and circumstance of the mode of action. The way of its literal connection with the main component of the phrase is weak management. The second type of use of a peripheral noun is characterized by the function of the circumstance of the mode of action. The method of its verbal subordination is case adjunction. The presence of obligatory distributors in the form of consistent and/or controlled components, as well as the complement function, prevent the further advancement of the studied word form towards adverbs.

Gratitude.

 The research was carried out with the financial support of the Russian Academy of Sciences within the framework of scientific project No. 24-28-00674 "The study of adverbialization as a type of stepwise transposition of substantive word forms in the system of parts of speech of the Russian language."