Authors

Ilenia Del Popolo Marchitto¹;  ¹ Tallinn University, Estonia

Discussion

The Russian particle “-ka” is frequently used in colloquial speech, according to certain sociolinguistic conventions, to convey different semantic nuances and fulfil various pragmatic purposes. Depending on the communicative context, this particle is used either to mitigate direct requests and commands or, on the contrary, to intensify them by expressing the urge to comply with the demand. The connotation of closeness, spontaneity and casualness carried by the particle “-ka” in both instances makes the boundaries between these functions not always clear-cut. Moreover, in some cases, the use of “-ka” simply adds an element of expressiveness and irony to the utterance.

The aim of the current study is to investigate the usage and distinctive features of the Russian particle “-ka” in spontaneous interactions from different levels of linguistic analysis. 

First of all, given that the use of the particle “-ka” is regulated by morphological, lexical and semantic co-occurrence restrictions, the linguistic context adjacent to the particle will be examined from both qualitative and quantitative perspectives. Specifically, its combinations with other linguistic units and the associated communicative purposes will be explored.

Secondly, and most importantly, in order to provide a deeper understanding of frequency and patterns of usage, data will be analysed in relation to sociolinguistic factors, by taking into account the speakers’ gender, age, educational and professional background. Scholars concur that the speaker employing this particle typically holds a higher or at least equal status as the listener, with whom there should be a close interpersonal relationship and a high level of familiarity. Thus, interpersonal social dynamics in the context of “-ka” usage will be considered as well. 

The relevance of the present research lies in the pursuit of a comprehensive understanding of such a complex linguistic unit by means of a usage-based approach. Data of authentic, naturally-occurring speech are derived from the full-length transcriptions of the Corpus of Russian everyday communication Odin Rechevoy Den’ (One Speaker’s Day).