Modelling of Reciprocal Semantics and Methods of Its Identification in the English Language (On the Material of Verbal Lexis)

The study is aimed at modelling the reciprocal proposition and working out the methods of reciprocal semantics identification in the English language. A reciprocal situation is defined as a situation in which an actant is both the agent and the object or recipient of the same action(s) done by (an)other participant(s). The participants are connected by equivalent relations. Within the invariant reciprocal meaning there are different variations - configurations of propositions: indirect-reciprocal and direct-reciprocal with its subtypes: subject-reciprocal, subject-reciprocal with causation, quasi-reciprocal and object-reciprocal. The range of conceptual spheres in which reciprocal situations are possible is wide and represented by physical, social, intellectual and speech actions, causation of possession and non-possession, different types of relations, as well as location. Utterances describing such situations are constructed within the following syntactic patterns: the pattern with the subject expressing the plural agent, which represents the participants connected by reciprocal relations without a position for special reciprocal markers, the syntactic pattern with the same subject and a position for special reciprocal markers, the syntactic pattern with the subject and the object which are parties of the reciprocal relation. English verbs participating in reciprocity expression can be classified into three groups, namely: verbs that require special reciprocal markers, verbs that bear reciprocal semantics in certain syntactic patterns and verbs with inherent reciprocal semantics. The classification integrates the abovementioned patterns and lexico-syntactic contextual conditions necessary for reciprocity expression. The latter group incorporates verbs which convey reciprocal semantics without any affixal marker. Such a covert expression of the categorical semantics can be identified with the help of a transformational test (mutual diathesis exchange), a logico-semantic interpretation and by the neighbouring element in the syntactic construction. At the same time, there are certain restrictions on the application of such identification methods: functioning of a verb within a status-marked speech action, certain types of syntactic constructions that cannot be transformed and verbal deixis. These methods enable us to identify the modelled reciprocal proposition in English utterances with the help of objective criteria.

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