The choice of gender of inanimate indeclinable nouns by ordinary native speakers (on the material of metalinguistic comments)

The article describes the features of linguistic categorization, considered on a dynamic part of the gender system of the Russian language - new indeclinable inanimate nouns (IIN). Analysis of the peripheral part of the grammatical system of the Russian language, where categorization processes are still vivid, can show the motivational mechanisms that determine the choice of one or another gender of IIN, namely borrowed nouns, which undergo a complex and lengthy process of adaptation in the foreign language system. In addition to basic, universally accepted criteria for the classification of nouns into genders, reference to which can be found in modern grammars and dictionaries, there are popular specific principles, manifested in the periphery of the grammatical category of gender and only partially addressed in the research literature. In this paper, the author attempts to explore these specific criteria in the metalinguistic comments of native speakers, visitors of various Internet forums, on the gender of IIN characterized by gender variability. 133 contexts with anchor words - IIN of different thematic groups ("alcoholic beverages", "car brands", "spices", "fruits", etc.) - have been analyzed, and a statistical calculation has been made. The identified types were divided into two macro-groups: predominantly linguistic and extra linguistic criteria of the choice. Linguistic criteria are those whose motivating mechanism operates based on the linguistic intuition or linguistic knowledge of speakers: the criterion of the general rule, when speakers categorize INN as belonging to the neuter gender, according to the general gender rule for inanimate nouns; the criterion of semantic analogy, when speakers find a synonym or a hyperonym with clear indicators of gender; peripheral criteria of the original source of a name, when speakers determine the IIN gender by its gender in the source language; the derivational criterion, when speakers motivate the IIN gender by the gender of its derivatives. Extra-linguistic criteria for choosing the IIN gender are not directly connected with language rules, although are partly based on them. The criteria of this macro-group correspond to two trends: the determination of gender based on emotional attitude towards the denotation (its embodiment); reference to various authorities (for example, dictionaries or experts in the subject area), based on which the conclusion about the IIN gender is made. Having analyzed the material, the author came to a conclusion that besides the well-known IIN gender criteria, fixed in dictionaries and grammars, extra-linguistic criteria are also important for the processes of categorization, which suggests the trends of the influence of semantics (linguistic or non-linguistic) in determining the gender of IIN. There are some specific principles for IIN gender determination popular among native speakers, such as an unconscious focus on the hypo-hyperonymic relations of IIN with other words, linguistic mechanisms of metonymy, personification and euphony. Thus, the IIN classification into genders is connected not only with the structure of this grammatical category, but also with the general principles of linguistic categorization as a whole.

Keywords

Authors

References