The Semantics of the Effector in Impersonal Constructions with Marked Thematic Relations

The article deals with thematic relations of impersonal constructions in Russian like “Vetrom sorvalo kryshu”. They are considered to be formed with transitive verbs denoting destruction, dislocation, change of the object's configuration, etc. The abstract (surface) structure of the considered impersonal construction presents a subjectless sentence; in Russian philology they are considered to have a corresponding “normal” sentence with a nominative (Veter sorval kryshu). In terms of linguistic typology, they have remained as a relict of the ergative sentence with its focus of the action on a patient. The investigation is based on the idea of the so-called “alternative grammars” by Yu. Levitsky: typologically, the discussed construction presents a sentence model with marked thematic relations and is used in modern Russian equally with other models. So the term “thematic impersonal construction” (TIC) can be applied to the object of this research. The aim of this study is to specify the main participant's semantic role, which was traditionally interpreted on the basis of the Russian instrumental case as either an instrument or a performer of an action. With the appearance of syntax semantics, the term Effector was introduced to denote a thing which does not control the situation but affects it mindlessly. In Russian philology (e.g., A. Peshkovsky, A. Letuchy, A. Pecheny), the semantic role of the Effector is limited to the meanings “force” or “natural elements”; at the same time, the language data presented in the Russian National Corpus illustrate the more diverse semantics of the Effector. The search was conducted by the input of formal characteristics (e.g., S,ins,inan - 1 - V,indic,praet,tran,sg,n), on the one hand, and appropriate verbs typical of TIC (e.g. sorvalo), on the other. The analysis of more than 500 sentences brought to light several referents that an Effector stands for: not only natural elements, but also all kinds of energy, weather extremes, different substances, organisms, artifacts, devices, weapons, physical disorders, mental states, dramatic events, etc. Special attention is paid to the topic and comment structure of TIC as it is closely connected with the thematic relations. According to the analysis, the Effector does not always occupy its inherent first position, tending to the communicative function of a comment, or rheme, (49.6 %) rather than a topic, or theme, (31.6 %). The result obtained reveals that a present-day native speaker of Russian can use structures from its “ergative past” on an equal basis with “normal” nominative sentences, determining the focus of an utterance pragmatically, according to the situation or the context.

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