Учебное пособие 1711

Series «Modern Linguistic and Methodical-and-Didactic Researches» Issue № 4 (15), 2016

UDC 811.111’36

Voronezh State University Ph.D. in Philology

Associate professor of the Department of Russian language for foreign students of the basic faculties of the Institute Of International Education

Sushkova Irina Mihailovna

e-mail: ira.sushkova2013@yandex.ru Voronezh State University

Ph.D.of Philology

Senior Lecturer of the Department of Russian language for foreign students of the basic faculties of the Institute Of International Education

Farha Elena Nikolaievna e-mail: elena-farha@yandex.ru

I.M. Sushkova, E.N. Farha

BASIC PREDICATIVE MEANS, WHICH EXPRESS RELATIONS

OF BELONGING (ON THE BASIS OF RUSSIAN,

ENGLISH AND SPANISH LANGUAGES)

This work is devoted to the problem of differentiation of various types of possessive relations depending on the semantics of the possessor and the possessee. The aim of this article is to describe the predicative means of expression of relations of belonging in Russian, English and Spanish. It is analyzed the most frequent cases of usage of deaccented verbal sentences: N – V – N3 (a variant of the semantic structure of the "object – belonging – subject) and their meanings depending on what lexicalgrammatical category their actants belong to. It is shown that these constructions (which express the relations of belonging in three structurally different languages) in nominative aspect have a lot more similarities than differences. These constructions besides the main meaning of belonging often convey other types of possessive relationships. Structural and semantic similarities of these linguistic means in examined languages confirm the universality of the typical meaning of ‘belonging’.

Key words: Russian language, English language, Spanish language, possessivity, belonging, semantical-functional syntax, semantical-functional field, semanticstructural organization of sentence, possessive situation, possessor, object of possessive relation, lexical-grammatical categories of parts of speech.

The attention of modern linguistics turns more and more to the analysis of language units in the context of reflection of reality in them. Identifying similarities and differences in the interpretation of the same conceptual content by the languages of different structures are of great interest. The article deals with the basic means of expressing relation of belonging, which is one of the aspects of the universal relation of possessivity. This study was based on Russian, English and Spanish languages. The subject of the research is semantic-structural organization of predicative constructions with the meaning of belonging. The object of the investigation is the meaning of belonging as one of the side of possessivity that is expressed by these constructions.

The relevance of our research is determined by the fact that the means of expression of belonging, being commonly used in speech, has still not been the subject of system description

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© Sushkova I.M., Farha E.N., 2016

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from the point of view of their semantic and structural organization, lexical content, and the possibility of expression of similar typical meanings in three structurally different languages.

The purpose of the study is to present a systematic description of nominative aspect of the sentences that express the meaning of belonging in Russian, English and Spanish.

The following tasks should be resolved to achieve this goal: 1) clarification of the notion of “belonging” within the broader concept of “possessively”; 2) description of the structure of semantic-functional field of "belonging" in three languages; 3) identify the semantic and structural peculiarities of Russian, English and Spanish sentences related to the lexical content of their syntactic positions; 4) determination of the relation of the meaning of “belonging” to the other typical meanings expressed by the same forms.

Analyzed actual material was extracted from the works of the 20th and early 21st century of Russian (A. Kuprin, V. Kataev, Y. Dombrovsky, S. Dovlatov, D. Rubina), English (A. Christie, M. Wilson, J.R.R. Tolkien, A. Rand, B. Stoker, J.K. Rowling, J. Le Carre), and

Spanish (J. Cortazar, E. Mendoza, J.J. Millás, J.J. Alonso Millán, L. Esquivel, A.Marsillach, etc.) fiction and non-fiction literature, some periodicals (Russian: «Biology», «Nauka i Zhizn», «Folk art», etc.; Spanish: «El Mundo», «La Vanguardia», «Diario de Yucatán», «Diario de las Américas», etc.), electronic resources of the Internet (see numbers 1, 4, 13, 14. 15, 16, 17 of the list of analyzed sources).

The study on linguistic means of expression of relations of belonging in terms of their semantic-structural organization and relationship of belonging to another typical meanings may be useful in elaborating problems of semantical-functional syntax of languages of different structures, in creating special courses on functional grammar of Russian, English and Spanish, on Translation Theory and Practice, and in teaching these languages as foreign [1, p.61]. (See here for more on semantical-functional field of possessivity in Russian and English as regards systemic-structural and semantical-functional levels [2, p.164-175]).

We consider belonging to be the part of semantical-functional field of possessivity, which can be included among other semantical-functional fields that combine multi-structural means of expressing the relationship between subject and object [3].

The concept of possessivity in relation to the concept of belonging is a more generic term. The term “possessivity” means ‘ownership, owning by somebody’ and refers to general relationships between possessor and object of possessive relation (possessee). The semantic category of possessivity is represented by language interpretation of a broad range of relations of possession, belonging, partitivity (whole-part relationship) etc. Relation of owning in the proper sense of the word represents a particular case of these relations.

Variations of possessive relation can be differentiated according to the possessor semantics, depending on its characteristics (refers to a person or not, animated or inanimate, concrete or abstract), and according to the possessee semantics characterized by degree of separability from the possessor.

There are two centers in the semantical-functional field of possessivity owing to the different ways of reflection of reality, namely, predication and attribution associated with corresponding possessive constructions: 1) predicative: My brother has an apartment; This property belongs to Basil, etc. and 2) attributive: his apartment, an opinion of his father, Basil's wife, etc. (See here for more on this topic [4]).

The predicative center includes constructions in which all three elements of possessive situation are represented explicitly: possessor, possessee and predicate with possessive meaning. Possessive relation is directed, meaning that a possessor may be considered as an orienting element and a possessee as an orientable, and vice versa [3, p.219-221]. In the former case, the subject-possessor is a central element of the sentence and the message is about its property. In the latter case the object of possessive relation is characterized.

In sentences representing possessive relation from different perspectives two categorial meanings of possessivity are implemented (illustrative examples in Russian, English and Span-

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ish will be given in what follows): 1) possession (the formula “possessor – possession – possessee”): У меня есть книга; Я имею книгу; I have a book; Tengo un libro; 2) belonging (the formula “possessee – belonging – possessor”): Книга принадлежит мне; The book belongs to me; El libro me pertenece. Thus, there are two interconnected microfields in the predictive area of semantical-functional field of possessivity: microfield of possession and microfield of belonging. The special constructions are used for actualization of their meanings [4, p.264-273; 2, p.164-175].

Let us consider the constructions, which are at the core of semantical-functional field of possessivity, in Russian, English and Spanish languages. The constructions are described on the basis of analysis methods of semantic-structural organization of sentence proposed by V. Y. Koprov [6].

The main predicative means of expressing belonging in the given languages are twoactant verbal active constructions, the typical meaning of which is “relations between subjects”, the invariant semantic structure is “subject – possessivity – object”, and the variant of semantic structure is “object – belonging – subject”. The syntactic structure of the two-actant sentence of belonging is represented by formula N – V – N3 [4]. The subject component of semantic structure of the sentence (N) is an object of possessive relation (possessee), and the object component (N3) is a possessor. There is only one verb to be used in the verb position in Russian – принадлежать:

Д о м -то п р и н а д л е ж и т моей с е м ь е , сеньор, уже пятьдесят… нет, постой-

те… пятьдесят четыре года! (Д. Рубина) [1*] – The house belongs to my family, sir, for fifty ... no, wait ... fifty-four years! (D. Rubina); Павлик никак не ожидал такого богатства. Полон стол игрушек и сластей – и в с ё э т о п р и н а д л е ж и т толь-

ко е м у (В. Катаев) [1*] – Pavlik did not expect all this wealth at all. There is a table full of toys and sweets – all this belongs only to him (V. Kataev).

In English the verb to belong (to) is used as a predicate in the sentences of this type:

In Spanish language in the sentences of this type the verb pertenecer is used. This verb has a meaning of belonging. If there is a noun (in a function of indirect object) in a position of possessor in a sentence, the pronoun a is used before a noun [7, p.94]:

González señaló que "el combate, al contrario, me servirá de motivación para regresar

of motivation to win back the crown that belongs to Mexico”.

It is important to know, than case endings of the nouns are transmitted into Spanish with the help of prepositions. These combinations of the verb pertenecer and a preposition a usually correspond to Russian dative case [8, с.240]. In cases when the personal pronoun occupies the position of possessor, personal pronoun is used in dative case, and can be used either with or without a preposition:

La ciudad entera m e pertenece, pero no estoy preparado para asumir de golpe tanto poder… (E. Mendoza) [4*] – The whole city belongs to me, but I'm not prepared to take

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right away so much power; ¡La jueza ha reconocido que este chalet le pertenece a u s t - e d ...! (J.J. Alonso Millán) [4*] – The court has admitted that this villa belongs to you!

Both forms of personal pronoun (with and without a preposition) can be used at the same sentence in the following instances [9, p.51; 10, p.105]:

1) if you need to emphasize a specific point in your text or to draw the interlocutor’s attention on a person that occupies the positon of indirect object without a preposition:

Toda Irlanda les pertenece, igual que n o s pertenece a n o s o t r o s (El Mundo, 07/09/1994) [4*]. – The whole country Ireland belongs them in the same way as to us; –

p e r t e n e c e a m í (A.Marsillach) [4*] – Are you insane? How dared you! This CD is a part of our memories…They are our memories! This CD belongs to u s ! / – No, I am sorry, it is m i n e !

As we can see, in the first part of this dialogue the locutor only uses pronoun nos without a preposition in his speech. But the interlocutor in his answer wants to emphasize than the CD belongs to him, that is why he uses both pronouns with and without a preposition (m e pertenece a m í ) ;

2) if a noun or a pronoun with a preposition in the function of indirect object precede the verb, then both pronouns with and without a preposition are used obligatory:

En fin, que el Che Salieri había empezado por destrozar la funda del disco en que estaba Siboney ... y ahora, incontenible, iba abriéndose paso a patada limpia en busca de

Natalia de Larrea, ... que a m í m e p e r t e n e c e (A. Bryce Echenique) [4*] – As a result, Che Salieri tore the case of CD that contained the photos of Siboney… and now he is searching for Natalia de Larrea … who belongs t o m e ;

3) if it is important to precise what pronoun (without a preposition) exactly is used in the sentences, in the case when different pronouns coincide in form. That is, the third form of personal pronoun in singular (le) and in plural (les) in the function of indirect object can refer to different people: to him, to her, to you, to them. Thus, in this case it is important to clarify what pronoun exactly is used in the sentence. For that purpose the additional form of a pronoun with a preposition is placed after a verb:

(La casa l e pertenece a u s t e d . – The house belongs t o y o u ; La casa l e pertenece a e l l a . – The house belongs t o h e r ; La casa l e pertenece a é l . – The house belongs t o h i m ): ¡La jueza ha reconocido que este chalet l e pertenece a u s t e d ...! (J.J.

Alonso Millán) [4*] – The judge admitted that this chalet belongs to you!

When these sentences express the proper meaning of belonging, the possessor is always animate, that is, in the narrow meaning it signifies “a person”. The possessee is always a concrete noun, and it is characterized as an inanimate object:

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p i e t h a t d i d n o t b e l o n g t o h i m (J. R. R. Tolkien. Hobbit) [5*];

Usted sabe tan bien como yo que l a h e r o í n a que se encontró en aquella casa n o p e r t e n e c e a m i s c l i e n t e s (J. Madrid) [4*] – You know as well as I do that the heroin that was found in that house does not belong to my clients.

However, there are more nouns from other semantic group that can be used in the sentences of this type. Therefore, these sentences will express other meaning besides the proper meaning of belonging.

Thus, the nouns from different lexical-grammatical categories can function as a possessee, besides the concrete inanimate nouns, in this type of sentences. These lexicalgrammatical categories are the bases of our investigation. The classification was made by V.Y. Koprov in his work [6, с.66-79].

1. L e x i c a l - g r a m m a t i c a l c a t e g o r y o f i n c o n c r e t e n o u n s in the position of possessee. The functional relation between the human being and abstract entities of various kinds is transmitted in such cases in Russian, and English and Spanish languages:

А в т о р с к о е п р а в о на базу данных, состоящую из материалов, не являющихся объектами авторского права, принадлежит лицам, создавшим базу данных (Закон

«О правовой охране программ для электронных вычислительных машин и баз дан-

ных») [1*] – C o p y r i g h t on database that consists of materials that are not the objects of copyright, shall belong to the people who created the database (The legal protection of programs for electronic computers and databases); Т и т у л к р о н п р и н ц е с с ы принадлежал жене царевича Алексея Петровича Шарлотте Христине Софье,

скончавшейся в октябре 1716 г. (Т. Базарова) [1*] – T h e t i t l e o f C r o w n p r i n - c e s s belonged to Christin Sofia, the wife of csarevitch Alexsei Petrovich Sharlotta, who died in October of 1716 (T. Bazarova); Во всяком случае, всегда, когда п р а в о и в о з м о ж н о с т ь выбирать профессию принадлежали мне, а не обстоятельствам, я возвращался в кинематограф (Г. Жженов) [1*] – Anyway, always when t h e r i g h t and t h e o p p o r t u n i t y to choose a profession belonged to me and not to the circumstances, I returned to the cinema (G. Zhzhonov).

In these examples, there are abstract concepts used for official business, and noun the opportunity formed from an adjective in the possessee position.

”He lolls there like a king between his two bags of loot,” Hugo said wistfully “T h e w h o l e w o r l d belongs to him.” (M. Wilson) [2*]; He snapped his way through a big speech, hailing a new era and declaring – in the belligerent tone of a challenge to unidentified enemies – that s c i e n c e belonged to the people… (A. Rand) [6*].

In these sentences, substantive with collective meaning the whole w o r l d , and abstract noun science, which referred to field of human activities and the results of these activities are in the possessee position.

¡E l u n i v e r s o i n t e r i o r me pertenece, tomo posesión de él, lo ocupo, extermino lo superfluo! (А. Jodorowsky) – T h e i n n e r u n i v e r s e belongs to me, I take the possession of him, I occupy its place, clearing the superfluous; El número 42 le pertenece para siempre a J a c k i e R o b i n s o n («Diario de las Américas», 16/04/1997) [4*] – The

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which expresses collectiveness lexically, and ordinal number the forty-second referred to uniform number of baseball player Jackie Robinson.

2 . N o u s o f l e x i c a l - g r a m m a t i c a l c a t e g o r y o f a n t h r o p o n y m s in the position of possessee. These sentences of languages under consideration convey kinship, professional relationships, and one person’s moral dependence on another one:

За столом (нам поставили отдельный от взрослых стол) Вано и Володя спорили,

кому принадлежит Н и н а (А. Терехов) [1*] – Vano and Vladimir argued at the table (they put us a separate table so we sit apart from the adults), who owns N i n a (A. Terekhov); Теперь о н стоял там, на сцене актового зала и принадлежал всем сразу со своей гитарой и со своим репертуаром. (Д. Карапетян) [1*] – Now he stood there, on the stage of the Assembly hall, and h e belonged to all at once with his guitar and his repertoire (D. Karapetian).

In the first example, a person's name is in possessee position, in the second, a personal pronoun replacing the name of the person is in the position.

“There is only one girl I want”, I said. “You. And you know that. I belonged to you” (A. Christie) [3*]; “How dare you touch him, any of you? How dare you cast eyes on him when I had forbidden it? Back, I tell you all! T h i s m a n belongs to me!”(B. Stoker) [7*];

In these examples, this position is occupied by the personal pronoun in the first person in the singular, which names a speaker, and the noun man, directly expressing the anthroponym meaning.

La presencia en casa de estos queridos telegrafistas, me dejó claro que m i p a d r e no me pertenece (L. Esquivel) [4*] – The presence at home of these dear telegraphers made it clear that m y f a t h e r does not belong to me; El director de teatro. E l p ú b l i c o me pertenece (M. Martín Manuel) [4*] – I am the Director of theatre. T h e a u d i e n c e belongs to me.

In the first example, the object of belonging is named according the basis of kinship - el padre (father). In the second example, this position is occupied by the collective noun el público (public), which names a total of individuals that in this case are the subject of the impact of dramatic art.

3. L e x i c a l - g r a m m a t i c a l c a t e g o r y o f z o o n y m s , occupying the position of an object of belonging in these sentences. The meaning of the actual belonging is expressed in the sentences of this kind in three languages:

Одна из лошадей, большая гнедая к о б ы л а с белым пятном на лбу, принадлежала старухе, остальные – соседям (Э. Казакевич) [1*] – One of the horses, a big bay m a r e with a white spot on his forehead, belonged to the old woman, the others belonged to the neighbors (E. Kazakevich); – Ваша честь, я легко докажу, что п о п у - г а й принадлежал мне, потому что только я знаю один секрет этой птицы

(«Биология») [1*] – Your Honor, I can easily prove that the p a r r o t belonged to me, because I'm the only one who knows a secret of this bird («Biology»);

I knew t h e h o r s e , sir. I t used to belong to Mr. Carey over at Shettlegroom (A. Chris99

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M i p e r r o no me pertenece, yo le pertenezco a él [4*] – M y d o g does not belong to me.

In all examples listed above nouns, naming different animals, are occupied the position of the object of belonging, such as: mare, parrot; horse, owl; el perro (dog) that belong to a person not metaphorically, as in the case with the objects of the groups 1 and 2, but they are objects of ownership in the literal sense.

4. L e x i c a l - g r a m m a t i c a l c a t e g o r y o f « p a r t s o f t h e b o d y » that is used in the position of the object of belonging. In these sentences, the relationship between a man and his "physical components"(the parts of the body and internal organs) is expressed:

Профессор Мезонье говорит: "Этот ч е р е п принадлежит человеку вымершей расы, жившей, ну, скажем, в конце вюрмского обледенения" (Ю. Домбровский) [1*]

– Professor Mazone says: "This s k u l l b elongs to a man of an extinct race that lived, say, at the end of the Wurm glaciation" (Y. Dombrovski); Лысая блестящая г о л о в а ,

с отдельными волосами и россыпью родинок, с устало прикрытыми глазами и опущенными уголками губ, принадлежала сапожнику с Чадровой улицы… (А. Или-

чевский) [1*] – Bald shiny h e a d , with separate hair, and a scattering of moles, covered with tired eyes and drooping corners of the lips, belonged to the cobbler from Kadrovoi street (A. Ilichevsky); Дина пришла, полюбовалась и снова вернулась в свой кабинет, даже не очень разглядев, кому принадлежали эти противоестественно великолепные з у б ы (И. Безладнова) [1*] – Dina came, gave a look, and returned to his office, not even really seeing whom these unnatural perfect t e e t h belonged to (I. Bezladnova);

A black-haired baby was zooming in and out of the picture on a tiny broom, roaring with laughter, and a p a i r o f l e g s that must have belonged to James were chasing after him (J. Rowling) [9*]; She was glad that a f a c e she had liked belonged to a man she could admire (A. Rand) [6*];

Todavía hoy, a pesar de los años que llevo conviviendo con mis pies, sigo pensando en ellos como en un par de prótesis que me pusieron al nacer, pero que no me pertenecen. ...

Por eso, cada mañana, al ponerme los zapatos, miro en su interior, por si por la noche se hubieran colado unos p i e s que no me pertenecen (J.J. Millás) [4*] – And even today, despite so many years leaving with my feet, I continue to think of them as two implants, which I was given at birth, and which didn't belong to me. ... So every morning, putting on shoes, I inspect them inside, in case at night other feet have snuck that didn't belong to me.

This relation can be roughly called as "the part and the whole", because the whole is the body, not the person who "owns" the body. Linguistic mentality considers that this relation includes two stages of possessive relations: 1) "a man (the unity of his spirit and the body) and his body"; 2) "the body (unity of body parts) and its parts". In fact, possessive constructions, as a rule, express the belonging of the individual parts of the body not to the body but to its "possessor", to a person. It is also confirmed by the fact that the position of the possessee can occupy nouns that denote the body by itself:

В следующее мгновение в комнату внесли корчащееся тело. Оно издавало жуткие

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стоны и отборную матерщину. Т е л о п р и н а д л е ж а л о д е м б е л ю (А. Геласи-

мов) [10*] – In the next instant, a writhing body was carried into the room. It was making horrible moaning and selective swearing. T h e b o d y b e l o n g e d t o t h e d e - m o b e e (A. Gelasimov);

compare with Spanish:

E l c u e r p o de una mujer l e pertenece únicamente a ella (E. Noriega) [4*] – A woman's b o d y belongs only to h e r .

This kind of relation is identified not as a partitive relation, but as an ‘inherent relationship according to its function’ [11, p.45-46].

The given examples of the sentences with the nouns from different lexical-grammatical categories functioning as a possessee show that in Russian and in English and Spanish the place of possessee may be taken by the names of objects of the man’s personal sphere (names of parts of the body, individuals connected to possessor by kinship or other social relations, etc.) and names of various abstract concepts, which are metaphorically objects of belonging.

The nouns from the following lexical-grammatical categories can function as a possessor. They are expressed in the given construction by object form in Russian and in English and Spanish.

1. L e x i c a l - g r a m m a t i c a l c a t e g o r y o f a n t h r o p o n y m s is used in the position of possessor in the presented sentences:

Но этот браслет принадлежал ещё моей п р а б а б к е , а последняя, по времени, его носила моя покойная матушка (А. Куприн) [1*] – But this bracelet belonged to my g r e a t -g r a n d m o t h e r , and the last time it was worn by my deceased mother – the sentence expresses the proper meaning of belonging;

Everything on the other side of the valley belongs to us, but that cottage belongs to a n o l d t r a m p c a l l e d G a u n t a n d h i s c h i l d r e n (J. Rowling) [11*] – the sentence expresses the proper meaning of belonging;

Este descubrimiento le pertenece a A n d r e B o v i s , un catador de vinos y quesos francés, el primero en emplear la Radiestesia para chequear la frescura de los alimentos

(R.L. Gerula) [4*] – This discovery belongs to A n d r e B o v i s , a taster of wine and cheese French, the first to employ Dowsing to check the freshness of the food – the sentence expresses relation between the human being and abstract entity.

2. L e x i c a l - g r a m m a t i c a l c a t e g o r y o f z o o n y m s is used in the position of possessor in the presented sentences:

Звук то усиливался, то затихал и явно принадлежал к а к о м у - т о з в е р ь к у (Н.

Ромашова) [1*] – The sound now grew louder, and again calmed down and apparently belonged to s o m e k i n d o f s m a l l a n i m a l (N. Romashova); Если огоньки голу-

бые – значит, они принадлежат п а у к а м («Наука и жизнь», 2009) [1*] – If the lights are blue, it means they belong to s p i d e r s ( «Nauka i Zhizn», 2009) – the sentences express relation between the zoonym and abstract entity;

Their heads were dragonish, and their pupil-less eyes white and staring. Wings sprouted from each wither – vast, black leathery wings that looked as though they ought to belong to giant b a t s (J. Rowling) [12*] – in the sentence, the relationship between the zoonym

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and its "physical components" is expressed;

Si el perro es el mejor amigo del hombre sobre la tierra, en el mar esta distinción le pertenece al d e l f í n («Expreso», 22/04/1990) [4*] – If the dog is the man’s best friend on earth, in the sea, this distinction belongs to the d o l p h i n – the sentences express relation between the zoonym and abstract entity.

3. L e x i c a l - g r a m m a t i c a l c a t e g o r y o f i n c o n c r e t e n o u n s that is used in the position of possessor in the presented sentences among which collective nouns have a special place (category, class, estate, etc.). In such cases, in Russian, and English and Spanish languages belonging to a group of people united by some criterion (membership relation) is expressed. In Russian variant of the construction with preposition к is used:

In the sentences of this kind not only anthroponyms can be in the position of possessee, but also nouns of other lexical-grammatical categories (zoonyms, inanimate concrete and inconcrete nouns). In these sentences, the construction under consideration conveys relationship of classification:

Оказалось, что м и к р о о р г а н и з м принадлежит к «эпидемическому типу»

(«Наука и жизнь», 2009) [1*] – It turns out that t h e m i c r o o r g a n i s m belongs to the "epidemic type"; Ч ё р н о е м о р е принадлежит к числу незамерзающих морей

(Ю. Карпун) [1*] – T h e B l a c k S e a is one of the ice-free seas (Y. Karpun); Х и м и -

ч е с к а я п р о м ы ш л е н н о с т ь принадлежит к числу крупнейших потребителей энергии («Вестник РАН», 2009) [1*] – T h e c h e m i c a l i n d u s t r y is one of the largest energy consumers («Herald of the Russian Academy of Sciences», 2009);

In the first example, a zoonym acts as an object of belonging (microorganism), in the second example a concrete noun, a proper noun, denoting a geographical feature acts (the Black Sea), in the third – an inconcrete noun with a collective meaning (industry).

A n t s are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera [13*]; N e w s p a p e r s b elong to the oldest methods of getting information to the public and keeping people well-informed on important events [14*]; R u s s i a n belongs to the family of Indo-European languages and is one of the three living members of the East Slavic languages [15*];

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In the first example, a zoonym (ants) acts as an object of belonging, in the second – a concrete noun (newspapers), in the third – a concrete noun R u s s i a n (language).

Cualquiera que haya criado gusanos de seda sabe que los propios gusanos son hijos de las mariposas, y que por tanto g u s a n o s , m a r i p o s a s y c r i s á l i d a s pertenecen a la misma especie... (М. Delibes de Castro) [4*] – Anyone who has raised silkworms knows that worms are the children of the butterflies, and that therefore w o r m s , b u t - t e r f l i e s and c h r y s a l i s b e l o n g t o t h e s a m e s p e c i e s … ;

L o s m i n e r a l e s y l o s c o m b u s t i b l e s f ó s i l e s pertenecen a esta categoría, cuya explotación terminará el día en que se agoten (J.L. Fuentes Yagüe) [4*] – M i n e r a l s and f o s s i l f u e l s belong to this category, the exploitation of which will end the day they are exhausted.

In this case, as the first example, zoonyms appear as an object of belonging: gusanos, mariposas y crisálidas (worms, butterflies and cocoons), as the second – concrete nouns: los minerales y los combustibles fósiles (minerals and fossil fuels).

Inconcrete nouns from other lexical-grammatical categories can function as a possessor, in which cases the construction in Russian, and English and Spanish languages, depending on the semantics of subject actants, conveys other relationship, such as an possessee characteristic:

Да, я всецело принадлежу д е л у в е л и к о й б о р ь б ы за освобождение рабочего класса («Znamya», 2002) – Yes, I fully belong to t h e g r e a t s t r u g g l e of working class liberation [1*]; Гоголь уникален по своей сути, а Достоевский и Толстой при-

надлежат м а с с е – Gogol is essentially unique, but Dostoevsky and Tolstoy belong to t h e m a s s e s («Iskusstvo kino», 2003.06.30) [1*].

In such cases, this sentence is used in another way, not in its proper function, expressing the situation of characterization. The situations presented in these examples can be represented this way as follows: I am an active supporter of business of the great struggle for the liberation of the working class / I actively participate in the great struggle for the liberation of the working class; Gogol is unique in nature; and works of Dostoevsky and Tolstoy are art for the masses.

To Erik, Regan belonged to a f o r g o t t e n e r a of whisked men (M. Wilson) [2*] – Для Эрика Риган принадлежал к т о й д а л ё к о й э п о х е , когда мужчины носили бакенбарды.

In this example the target construction also is used not in its proper function, the object of belonging (anthroponym) is characterized by certain similarities with the representative of a certain period.

La esperanza le pertenece a l a v i d a , es la vida misma defendiéndose (J. Cortazar) [4*]

– The hope belongs to l i f e , it's life itself defending itself.

In this case, the metaphorical definition, the characteristic of an object of possessivity – inconcrete noun, abstract concepts la esperanza (hope) is given.

4. L e x i c a l - g r a m m a t i c a l c a t e g o r y o f i n a n i m a t e n o u n s that is used in the position of possessor in the considered sentence. In such sentences, the nouns, which denote collective owners, often function as a possessor, and the possessee refers to collective property:

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