The History of Reflexive Copular Verbs with the Meaning of “to begin”

Abstract

The article examines the history of formation phase copular verbs that indicate the beginning of attribute, based on the reflexive form of verbs with the meaning of creation in the Russian lagnuage. It analyzes the history of copular verbs tvorit’sya–sotvorit’sya, chinit’sya–uchinit’sya and partly of the verb delat’sya–sdelat’sya and some others. The article investigates the causes and conditions of forming this group of phase copular verbs. In the Russian language the verb stat’–stanovit’sya formed, apparently, still in the pre-Slavic era, but its use, especially of the stat’ form, was avoided in literary language because of the semantic and stylistic reasons. Copula stat’ formed in colloquial speech, and for a long time retained a shade of its colloquial nature; its phase with the meaning of beginning was complicated with the undertone of emergence. It was the main reason that made the written language to develop new copular verbs on the basis of reflexive form of verbs with the meaning of creation. Under certain conditions, which are discussed in the article, the grammatical subject of sentences with these verbs lost its indication of agent and began to express the object of perception, and the verb expressed an abstract meaning of “to begin”. In the 19th century copula stat’ lost its colloquial shade and a shade of emergence. This fact caused dying of phase copular formed on the basis of reflexive form of verbs meaning creation.