Functions of the Pronoun DRUGOY [OTHER] and Features of Its Representation in Dictionaries

Based on the analysis of the behavior of the pronoun DRUGOY [OTHER] in utterances, the article studies the features of its representation in dictionary entries and develops a specific dictionary entry model taking into consideration the deictic, anaphoric, and quantifying functions of this lexeme. The article examines pronouns in the broad sense - determined by the absence of a nominative function and the presence of quantifying and indicative functions, as well as a complex of such specific features as grammatical heterogeneity, semantic incompleteness, egocentrism, absence of a stable denotation, broad meaning, etc. The article is based on the dictionary entries (about 500) of the basic explanatory dictionaries and text fragments containing the lexeme DRUGOY from the Subcorpus of Spoken Russian of the Russian National Corpus. The pronoun DRUGOY belongs to the group of defining pronouns that are especially interesting to linguists and lexicographers due to the lack of studies and difficulty in describing their semantics. The pronoun has polysemy, as well as the ability to perform several functions simultaneously, to demonstrate the correlation between function and meaning, to perform an identifying function through the reflection of discrepancy with a feature/object referenced to the deictic center. The analysis of the explanatory dictionaries shows that, when compiling dictionary entries of pronouns, lexicographers usually do not consider the specifics of their interpretation as linguistic units that differ significantly in their semantics from lexemes with nominative meanings, do not indicate explicitly the role of the deictic center in their characteristics, although illustrative material may contain contexts with the pronoun DRUGOY that performs various functions. The authors suggest defining the pronoun’s functions as the main principle of compiling dictionary entries. According to this, the authors compiled the dictionary entry of the pronoun DRUGOY analyzing its behavior in utterances where the pronoun performs deictic, anaphoric, and quantifying functions determined by the different components of communication, elements of the previous context, and other contextual indicators. The developed dictionary entry model applies descriptive (and not reference) definitions, which are constructed based on the leading function. The definitions represent a single hierarchically arranged semantic structure: the meaning that can serve as a source of derivation and function in terms of a minimum context is considered as main or first. Due to the peculiarity of the pronominal meaning, the authors recommend including in the dictionary entries specific lexical and grammatical information. The dictionary entry model of the pronoun DRUGOY developed by the authors as a result of this research can serve as a starting point for the compilation of a specialized dictionary of Russian pronouns in the future.

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