Russian Aspect:
From Theory to Pedagogy
Laura A. Janda
Universitetet i Tromsø
[email protected]
John Korba
University of North Carolina
[email protected]
Some of the great advantages of
Cognitive Linguistics are that…
• It is based on general cognitive capacities
(embodied experience, metaphor)
• It does not require mastery of a
theoretical/terminological artifice
This makes it possible to take the
results of scholarly research and
translate them into pedagogical
materials
(cf. Janda & Clancy 2002, 2006)
Interplay between
theory and pedagogy
A theoretical model
is developed
to account for
a linguistic
phenomenon
The extended model
reveals new
research opportunities
and amendments
to theoretical model
The model
is extended
to apply to
an entire subsystem
in a language and
present it to learners
Comparison with
theoretical model
suggests further
pedagogical strategies
Overview
1. What is the cluster model of Russian aspect?
– Metaphorically motivated implicational hierarchy
– Advantages over “pair” model
2. Cluster databases
– Linguistic database
– Pedagogical database
3. Implications for pedagogy
– Online resource
– Suggested teaching strategies and materials
4. Further implications
– Type & token frequency
– Entrenchment
1. The cluster model of
Russian aspect
• An extension of the pair model
– Four types of Perfectives
• Natural Perfective (NP): написать, сыграть
• Specialized Perfective (SP): переписать,
выиграть
–Secondary Imperfective: переписывать,
выигрывать
• Complex Act Perfective (CA): пописать,
поиграть, почихать
• Single Act Perfective (SA): чихнуть
1. The cluster model of
Russian aspect
Metaphorical motivations
A completable activity is travel to a destination
• Natural Perfective: написать, сыграть
• Specialized Perfective: переписать, выиграть
A non-completable activity is motion without a
destination
• Complex Act Perfective: пописать, поиграть,
почихать
A granular activity is made up of individual
cycles
• Single Act Perfective: чихнуть
1. The cluster model of
Russian aspect
The Implicational Hierarchy: A>(NP/SP)>CA>SA
Activity
щипатьi ‘pinch/pluck’
> (Natural/Specialized Perfective)
о(б)щипатьp ‘pinch/pluck’/выщипатьp ‘pluck out’
> Complex Act
пощипатьp ‘pinch/pluck a while’
> Single Act
щипнутьp ‘pinch/pluck once’
1. The cluster model of
Russian aspect
Implicational hierarchy accounts for 12 cluster structures:
A+NP (key #1)
A+NP+SP (key #2)
A+NP+SP+CA (key #3)
A+NP+SP+CA+SA (key #4)
A+NP+CA
A+NP+CA+SA
A
A+CA
A+CA+SA
A+SP
A+SP+CA
A+SP+CA+SA
One more cluster type exists, but is rare: NP (perfectiva tantum)
1. The cluster model of
Russian aspect
Advantages of cluster model
– Gives more information than pair model alone
– Makes it possible to expect and interpret
many more verbs, including ones often not
listed in dictionaries
– Integrates aspectual “anomalies” such as biaspectual verbs and motion verbs
– Not really any harder to learn
2. Cluster databases
• Linguistic database
– 306 clusters
– Multiply stratified sample
• Fully represents all non-productive
verb classes
• Samples of all productive verb classes
2. Cluster databases
• Pedagogical database
– 266 clusters
– Based on verbal lexicon of Nachalo and
V puti
– All clusters based on verbs with high
token frequency; very little
representation of verbs with low type
frequency
Linguistic Database
Pedagogical Database
A+NP+SP+CA (key cluster 3)
18.3% A+NP (key cluster 1)
36.1%
A+NP+SP (key cluster 2)
18%
A+NP+SP (key cluster 2)
19.5%
A+SP+CA
16.7%
A+NP+SP+CA (key cluster 3)
13.2%
A+NP+SP+CA+SA (key cluster 4)
10.5% A+SP+CA
6.8%
A+NP (key cluster 1)
8.8%
A+CA
5.3%
A+CAP
8.5%
A+SP
4.9%
A+SP+CA+SA
7.5%
A+NP+CA
4.1%
A+CA+SA
5%
A+NP+SP+CA+SA (key cluster 4) 4.1%
A
2.3%
A
3.8%
A+SP
2.3%
A+SP+CA+SA
1.1%
A+NP+CA
2%
A+CA+SA
0.8%
A+NP+CA+SA
0.3%
NP
0.4%
NP
0%
A+NP+CA+SA
0%
Relative Frequencies of Cluster Types
35
30
25
Linguistic
20
Pedagogical
15
10
5
A+
SA
A
A+
N
P+
SP
+C
P+
SP
+C
A+
N
P+
SP
A+
N
P
0
A+
N
Frequencies in Percent
40
Cluster Types
3. Implications for pedagogy
• Online resource:
– http://hum.uit.no/lajanda/clusterfrontpage.html
• Suggested teaching strategies
– Option A: Gradual build-up of clusters
– Option B: Clusters based on motion verbs
• Suggested teaching materials
– See exercises on handout
4. Further implications
• Type & token frequency
• Entrenchment
Bibliography
• Isačenko, A. V. Grammatičeskij stroj russkogo jazyka v sopostavlenii
s slovackim – Čast’ vtoraja: morfologija. Bratislava: Izdatel’stvo akademii
nauk, 1960.
• Janda, Laura A. “A User-friendly Conceptualization of Aspect”, Slavic
and East European Journal 47 (2003): 251–281.
• Janda, Laura A. “Aspectual clusters of Russian verbs”, Studies in
Language 31:3 (2007), 607-648.
• Janda, Laura A. “What makes Russian Bi-aspectual verbs special”, to
appear in: Dagmar Divjak and Agata Kochanska, eds. Slavic
Contributions to Cognitive Linguistics. Cognitive Linguistics Research.
Berlin/New York: Mouton de Gruyter. Forthcoming.
• Janda, Laura A. and John J. Korba. “Beyond the pair: Aspectual clusters
for learners of Russian” Forthcoming. (Provisionally accepted for Slavic
and East European Journal).
• Kagan, Olga and Frank Miller. V puti: Russian Grammar in Context.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996.
• Lubensky, Sophia et al. Nachalo, book 1 & 2. McGraw Hill, 2002.
• Sasse, Hans-Jürgen. 2002. Recent activity in the theory of aspect:
Accomplishments, achievements, or just non-progressive state?
Linguistic Typology 6, 199-271.
• Tatevosov, Sergej.“The parameter of actionality”. Linguistic Typology 6
(2002): 317-401.