On the temporal semantics of the modifier dolzhen [must]

The work deals with the description of temporal semantics of the modal modifier dolzhen [must] which is represented in texts by all the syntactic forms of tense. The empirical material includes utterances with the lexeme dolzhen from the works by I.A. Bunin, F.M. Dostoevsky, I.A. Kuprin, M.Yu. Lermontov, V.I. Nemirovich-Danchenko, V.S. Pikul, A.P. Chekhov. The analysis is based on the data of the grammatical category of tense, of the context, situational information, background knowledge, the logic of reasoning. The modifier, which is situated on the predicative axis, is combined with an infinitive - the marker of a potential situation modally characterized as necessary to be realised with the status of a real world fragment. Attention is drawn to the logic direction of the potential situation and the necessity modus to the physical future time, its correlation / non-correlation with the grammatical meaning of the syntactic form of tense. The present tense form is recognised as the most productive in functioning. The present and past tense forms are presented by the situations localised and not localised in time that define concrete and abstract time correspondingly. The future tense form is a marker of localised situations correlated with the concrete time. The concrete time is objectified by the grammatical system of tense forms of the link-verb byt' [to be]. In this connection, the feature characteristic for the topical semantics of the present tense form is considered to be coincidence of the assumption of necessity to change a potential situation with a moment of speech, but not the process of its realisation. Temporal specifiers of different meanings take part in actualising concrete semantics. Abstract semantics of a tense form is presented by its usage features and its timelessness; the basis of their differentiation is the degree of the situation abstraction from the moment of speech. Usage semantics is characterised by its optional correlation with the point on the time axis; it corresponds to the character's knowledge, logic of his reasoning and conclusions and it can coincide with the speech situation, precede it or follow it. Metaphorised semantics and the semantics of repetition are also referred to usage semantics. Timeless semantics, which represents the highest degree of human intelligence cognition, objectifies connections between real world phenomena that are not correlated with the moment of speech. Both kinds of abstract semantics have been revealed in the speech realisation of the present tense. The past tense form is represented by its usage variant. The conditions forming abstract semantics of the predicative have been determined. The concrete and abstract character of semantics define the lexical composition of the position of the proposition subject. In propositions correlated with localised situations the subject is marked by concrete and rarely by abstract nouns, while in positional schemes marked by timeless semantics the subject is presented by gender and abstract nominations.

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