The Aktionsarten as a lacuna for RFL learners

Abstract

The article is devoted to a detailed analysis of the Aktionsarten; despite diversity and large volume, they are not covered by existing RFL (Russian as a foreign language) programs. Semantic and structural types of verbs that demonstrate a change in the meaning of a motivating prefixless verb in terms of expressing temporal, quantitative, and terminative characteristics of an action after adding appropriate affixes to it are considered to be Aktionsarten. Most Aktionsarten are formed from imperfective verbs by adding certain prefixes (and in the case at hand, the postfix -ся) resulting in Aktionsarten related to the perfective aspect. An insignificant number of Aktionsarten formed with the help of imperfect suffixes -ва-, -ив(а)-, -ыв(а)- refer to the imperfective aspect. The concept of Aktionsart was introduced by the Swedish linguist S. Agrell to designate the semantic functions of prefixed verbs which clarify the nature of the action; he was the first to distinguish the category of the aspect of a verb from the category of Aktionsart. Further study of the nature of the course of action and aspects expanded the understanding of the term: Aktionsarten are correlated not only with prefix verb formations but also with all verb derivatives formed with the help of other word-formation means (prefixes, suffixes, postfixes, and their combination). This article considers the meaning of semantic and derivational groups of verbs distinguished on the basis of temporal, quantitative, and terminative characteristics. With this approach, the concept of Aktionsart is not applicable to the entire verb vocabulary; this is the case of verbs that are verbal derivatives (their derivational formants are considered to be modification formants). The article attempts to minimize (for the purposes of RFL teaching) the number of Aktionsarten and provide lists of the most commonly used and semantically transparent verbs with rich word-formation potential; examples of their use in a poetic context are meant to interest students in literary works; the effective learning of Aktionsarten undoubtedly opens new opportunities for international students in RFL acquisition.