Polyprefixal verbs with diminutive semantics in language consciousness of russian language speakers

Russian like some other Slavonic languagespossesses verbs with two prefixes. The most common among polyprefixal units are verbs with diminutive, distributive and accumulativesemantics. Diminutive units representing ancient polyprefixal formations reflect the peculiar features of Russian mentality (aptness toreflexion and self-reflexion, high degree of evaluation, non-categoricity, etc.). Diminutiveness in nomination of action is expressed bymeans of secondary verbal prefixes ПРИ-, ПОД-, ПО-. Actualising the completion degree of action denoted by the verb, such a prefixcorrects the frame of action, evaluating it and presenting as non-complete, limited in time and/or result. Despite series of research ondiminutive prefixes and verbs wit diminutive semantics in the whole, the given object of study has not been considered in the aspect ofthe frames of prefix semantics variation as diminutiveness markers, secondary prefixes function, role of prefixes in expressing thegeneral meaning of the verb, etc. The authors of the article regard a psycholinguistic experiment as possible and research-prospectivemeans of analyzing these units. The aim of the experiment is singling out the peculiarities of perception of verbs with secondary prefixesПРИ-, ПОД-, ПО- by Russian language speakers. The results of a series of experiments show that the informants recognize diminutivesemantics and relate it with prefixes ПРИ-, ПОД- и ПО-, but the degree of recognition depends on the prefix. The majority of theinformants single out the secondary prefix ПРИ- as a marker of non-completion of action. The informants perceive the semantics of theprefix ПОД-, representing a complex system of heterogeneous meanings, as non-segmented. Still, the results of the experiment showthat the given prefix can denote non-completion of action, little degree of its display. The secondary prefix ПО- is the least segmented asa means of expressing the diminutive semantics. Thus, the psycholinguistic experiment shows that despite the heterogeneity of thespeakers perception of verbs with diminutive secondary prefixes, diminutiveness is a constant feature of the Russian verb, which had itsway of expression back in the Old-Russian period and still regular for the modern Russian language.

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