Dative-Infinitive Structures in Russian: Syntax and Semantics

Russian Dative-Infinitive-Structures (DIS) have been a matter of debate, with focus on such issues as mono vs bi-clausality, modal flavour, TAM features and case-marking. I argue that all contextual realizations of Russian DIS sentences express a single flavour in indicative clauses — alethic modality. Russian Dative- Predicative-Structures (DPS) with predicatives like nado, nužno can also express deontic or internal modality. I concur with Mitrenina [2017: 70] that the Russian DIS construction covers three basic alethic modes from four, except for alethic possibility. This generalization holds in indicative DIS clauses, more precisely, in non-interrogative indicative clauses. All proposals to postulate the same piece of structure to DIS and DPS run into trouble. For the first, the dative subject of DPS is obligatory animate, while the subject of DIS is not. For the second, the dative case is assigned structurally in Russian non-finite clauses including DIS, while in finite DPS clauses it is assigned lexically. For the third, DIS subjects are raised, while obligatory animate DPS subjects are syntactic and semantic arguments of the matrix clause predicatives. The meanings of imperative and subjunctive DIS clauses can be modeled on the basis of indicative DIS, while the reversed is false. There is no path to the alethic meaning from any non-veridical uses of DIS. The constraint on perfective infinitives in non-negative DIS clauses disappears in the imperative DIS construction, where the animacy condition arises. This proves the switch from alethic to deontic modals in a different type of clauses.俄语与格-不定式结构（Dative-Infinitive-Structures，DIS）长期以来皆是学界争论的议题，其讨论焦点集中于单分句与复分句性、模态语义类型、时态-体貌-语气（TAM）特征以及格标记等问题。本文主张，俄语DIS陈述语气分句的所有语境实现形式，仅表达单一的模态语义类型——实然模态（alethic modality）。带有nado、nužno等述谓成分的俄语与格-述谓结构（Dative-Predicative-Structures，DPS），还可表达应然模态（deontic modality）或内在模态（internal modality）。 本文赞同Mitrenina[2017:70]的观点，即俄语DIS结构涵盖了四类实然模态中的三种基本类型，但不包含实然可能性模态。这一概括适用于陈述语气下的DIS分句，更确切地说，适用于非疑问式陈述语气DIS分句。 所有试图将DIS与DPS归为同一结构范畴的主张均存在缺陷：其一，DPS的与格主语必须为有生命成分，而DIS的主语则无此限制；其二，俄语非限定分句（包括DIS分句）中的与格由结构赋值，而限定语气下的DPS分句中与格则由词汇赋值；其三，DIS主语属于提升主语，而带有强制性有生命要求的DPS主语则是主句述谓语的句法与语义论元。 祈使式与虚拟式DIS分句的语义可基于陈述式DIS分句进行建模，反之则不成立。无法通过DIS的任何非事实性用法推导出实然模态语义。非否定DIS分句中对完成体不定式的限制，在祈使式DIS结构中不复存在，此时取而代之的是有生命性条件。这一现象证明，在这类不同的分句类型中，模态由实然转向了应然。