End and finality. On Slavic units derived from compositions with the nouns koniec, край, конец

This article presents a case study in the field of interlingual analysis of units with non-representational meaning, with special focus on Slavic languages. The units analysed are a) based on finality nouns, b) (almost) identical in form and c) similar in meaning but not in usage. By examining grammaticalized expressions derived from compositions with Polish nouns koniec ‘end’, ostateczność ‘finality’ and their Bulgarian and Russian equivalents, we address the problem of the non-overlapping nature of non-representational units in various languages. Regardless of any similarity in respect to how such units are formed, it is rare for two (or more) languages to have semantically and functionally identical equivalents. Also, as regards categorizing such units into subgroups based on meaning or function, it is uncommon that these subgroups consist of identical elements in various languages. The data collected supports the opposite hypothesis: non-representational layer of lexis is structured differently in various languages and only some elements have semantic or functional equivalents in other languages.

Publication year:2019