Preposition "по" in Russian Scientific Texts in the Meaning "to Act in Accordance with Something, on the Basis of Something"

• Main Author: N. G. Naumova
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kemerovo State University 2019-05-01
• Series: Вестник Кемеровского государственного университета
• Subjects: meanings of the preposition "по"; semantics; shade of meaning; adverbial relations; functional language style; active processes in modern russian
• Online Access: https://vestnik.kemsu.ru/jour/article/view/2673

The paper describes the semantics of the preposition "по", which is the most ambiguous and common preposition of the modern Russian language. Thus, it reveals a tendency to blurred semantics, which makes a deeper consideration of this problem quite relevant. The author analyzed scientific literature on this issue and built a classification its meanings. The semantic analysis and statistical calculations were conducted in the basis of scientific texts. The preposition proved to be used mostly in the meaning of adverbial modifier of manner "to act in accordance with something, on the basis of something". Within this meaning, a number of semantic shades were highlighted: to be defined according to some parameter; act on the basis of certain data, facts; act in accordance with a certain way of organizing the phenomenon; act on the basis of someone's will (decision), desire; act in accordance with certain official documents and procedures; to be defined according to a certain naming method; to be defined on the basis of some measurement method. The analysis can improve the semantic structure of the preposition "по" in modern Russian.