Avessalom Podvodny
Series “Communicatika”
Part 2
THE ART OF UNDERSTANDING
Introduction.
Chapter 1. Triadic Archetype: Synthetic, Qualitative, and Substantive.
Chapter 2. Holistic Archetype: Local and Global.
Chapter 3. Logistical Archetype: Symbolic and Content.
In this book, we will examine three universal archetypes united by a difficult-to-express, yet very significant principle for the communication process—synthesis. In conversation, the question “Do you understand me?” arises frequently. What lies behind this question? Why does it sound so often? The problem lies, in part, in the fact that before a person understands something, they perform a difficult-to-rationalize, yet intuitively essential act of synthesis—uniting the received information into a single whole, which then becomes the basis for their response. This synthesis, or holistic understanding, occurs differently in various cases, and there are three main approaches to this issue, corresponding to the three universal archetypes discussed in this book: Triadic, Holistic, and Logistical.
The Triadic archetype is a family consisting of three higher archetypes: Synthetic, Qualitative, and Substantive.
The Holistic archetype is a family consisting of two higher archetypes: Global and Local.
The Logistical archetype is a family consisting of two archetypes: Symbolic and Content.
Understanding as a psychological process clearly involves various combinations or variations of the archetypes described above, which prompted their descriptions (including their communicative manifestations) in this book. Moreover, there is a noticeable succession, one could say derivation, of the Holistic and Logistical archetypes: they can be derived from the Triadic archetype through a method of (atmanic, but not arithmetic!) summation. Specifically, if we combine (within the framework of the Triadic archetype) the Qualitative and Substantive archetypes on one hand, and oppose this combination to the Synthetic archetype, we obtain precisely the Logistical archetype: the “sum” of Qualitative and Substantive transforms into the Content archetype. If we combine the Synthetic and Qualitative archetypes and oppose this combination to the Substantive, we obtain the Holistic archetype: the “sum” of Synthetic and Qualitative becomes the Universal archetype, while the Substantive becomes the Local.
However, one should not think that this “addition” is a simple and obvious operation, so that the properties and manifestations of the Content archetype can easily be derived (by summation) from the properties and manifestations of the Qualitative and Substantive, or that the properties of the Global can be derived from those of the Synthetic and Qualitative. Furthermore, it turns out that the manifestations of the Substantive archetype differ significantly from those of the Local, and the manifestations of the Synthetic differ from those of the Symbolic. A careful and diligent reader will repeatedly convince themselves of this while reading the book and performing its numerous exercises.
The main concepts of communicatika used in this book can be found in the preface “Psychology of Communication” to the book “Grammar of Communication” (Series “Communicatika,” Part 1). And if, as a result, the reader, without even noticing, begins to understand those around them better and interact with them more adequately, the author will consider the task he set for himself accomplished.
A. Podvodny
Novosibirsk
11.10.2001
Chapter 1
TRIADIC ARCHETYPE:
Synthetic, Qualitative, and Substantive
Markers
Stylistic Qualitative Markers
Cognitive Substantive Markers
Stylistic Substantive Markers
COMPLEX TRIADIC MODALITIES
Modality syn(syn)
Modality syn(qual)
Modality syn(subst)
Modality qual(syn)
Modality subst(syn)
Modality subst(qual)
Modality qual(subst)
COMMUNICATIVE PRACTICE
Comparison of triadic modalities
Pure and mixed transmissions
Syntonality and antitonality
Ambivalence
Synastric markers and complementarity
Monotonic and ambivalent transmissions
Types of ambivalent transmissions
CONTEXT
The role of context
Written text
Triadic-communicative modalities
Triadic-dyadic modalities
Triadic-dialectical modalities
FORMULAS OF MODALITY SEQUENCES
Short formulas: “small descent,” “small ascent,” “descent,” “ascent,” “small fish,” “small frog,” “lizard”
Long formulas: “counterpoint,” “snake”
Soft modal transitions: “cloak” and “carpet”
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Triadic Family. The universal Triadic archetype is a family consisting of three higher archetypes: Synthetic, Qualitative, and Substantive.
The Synthetic archetype corresponds to viewing an object as a single whole; it is a perspective that unites all the qualities of the object and synthesizes all its elements and parts. This perspective is often used when we consider the object as unique, assign it a name, and use that name:
— Theophylact!
The Qualitative archetype corresponds to viewing an object from the standpoint of its various aspects that characterize it as a whole, but from different possible positions. Characteristic of the qualitative archetype are words like quality:
— This is no easy matter! Oh, no easy matter!
The Substantive archetype corresponds to viewing an object as consisting of various elements or parts, often connected to each other by different relationships:
— A car consists of a body, chassis with wheels, and an engine, as well as a cabin and steering wheel. (subst)
Triadic Modalities.
The Synthetic modality involves considering the object as a whole. Its designation may be its name (but not a brand!) or another reference, such as a pronoun (he, she) or other indication—e.g., generic or metaphorical:
— This is HIM! (Syn)
— Well, where is your (skeptically) Messiah now? Your Hero-Lover? (syn)
The Qualitative modality is characteristic of transmissions that emphasize a certain quality of the object, its property or feature—as a single whole.
— Your little flower is too small… too tiny! (Qual)
— Are you eating, Hermogen? … Well then, eat, eat, eat healthily! (qual)
The Substantive modality is characteristic of transmissions that consider parts or elements of the object, fragments of the overall picture.
— Mom, my pussy hurts! (Subst)
— Many cities in Russia, although not as widely known in the world as Moscow and Petersburg, still represent great interest for tourists—such as Rostov Veliky, Suzdal, Vladimir, Murom, Yaroslavl, and many others. (subst)
________
In the Synthetic modality—ideally—sentences of written language are constructed, according to the well-known school definition: “a sentence is a complete thought.” To understand a conversational partner’s utterance, one must make a synthesizing effort, combining their words (and often intonation, facial expressions, etc.) into a single meaning; sometimes this succeeds, sometimes not, and then we say: “Excuse me, I didn’t understand you.”
A complete sentence contains at least three elements: subject, predicate, and object, for example: “Anfisa eats cheese.” These elements typically possess the following modalities by their nature: (named) subject—synthetic, predicate—qualitative, object—substantive. This means that if in a person’s speech a sentence is pronounced with emphasis on the subject, which is a name, the sentence acquires a synthetic coloring; if on the predicate—qualitative; if on the object—substantive.
This effect is especially pronounced when (as is typical in speech) partners exchange elliptical, i.e., incomplete, utterances, for example:
— Who came to visit us?
— Anfisa. (Syn)
— What, I wonder, is Anfisa doing?
— Eating.
— And what is Anfisa eating?
— Cheese. (Subst)
However, even a complete sentence can have any of the triadic modalities—synthetic, qualitative, or substantive—if one of its words is syntactically, intonationally, or through gestures (mimicry) emphasized and highlighted as the most significant—so much so that the general meaning of the sentence is somewhat overshadowed and becomes secondary. If the emphasized word is the subject, the sentence (usually) acquires a synthetic modality; if the predicate or attribute—qualitative; if the object—substantive, for example:
— And today someone came to visit me… (with a breath) imagine… KIRILL! (syn)
— Kirill came to visit me today—he’s such… (significantly) elegant!
— And today Kirill went… you’d never guess… to the office! (subst)
If a sentence is an aphorism—a brief expression of an important idea or image—whose significance far exceeds the sum of the meanings of its constituent words, its modality is synthetic; for example, proverbs are often perceived this way:
God protects lengthwise and crosswise. (Syn)
God will give, and through the window will provide. (Syn)
Even a worm turns on a hook. (Syn)
Where there’s thunder, there’s a bucket. (Syn)
It’s not a big misfortune if it gets through the gate. (Syn)
You’ll have time to gasp before you have to die. (syn)
The synthetic modality is usually how simple (unexpanded) sentences of three to four words are perceived, containing subject, predicate, object, and possibly one attribute—without situational, intonational, or other emphases, for example:
The lynx sat in ambush. (Syn)
The young deer went to the watering hole. (Syn)
The poor fellow didn’t make it to the water by much. (Syn)
If a sentence contains many words denoting qualities and actions—verbs, adjectives, participles, adverbs—and its main content lies precisely in them, then this sentence usually has a qualitative modality:
— I longed for you from afar: I ran, swam, crept, climbed—in short, I made it somehow. (qual)
— Before me stretched the sea: light-blue, turquoise, greenish-brown, slightly rippling, but overall calm and clearly expecting something. (qual)
If a sentence contains many words denoting unnamed objects of the material world, and the main semantic emphasis lies on them, it acquires a substantive modality:
— Please eat everything on the table: hors d’oeuvres with onion, cucumbers, tomatoes, and rassolnik. (Subst)
I love stars, people, animals, plants, and, of course, minerals.
His apartment was inhabited by numerous animals: a turtle, two dogs, three cats, four canaries, and a small iguana. (subst)
Exercise. Modify the following sentences and utterances (possibly shortening them or slightly supplementing them and changing the word order) and place the logical stress so that they acquire: a) synthetic, b) qualitative, and c) substantive modality.
1. — You’ve grown yourself a great belly, Nikodim Samsonovich!
2. The air smelled sunny, fresh, unexpectedly spring-like.
3. In the savannas and deserts of Africa live countless most amazing animals.
4. — Polycarp, I can currently offer you a small but responsible and promising position as head of our aquarium.
5. The airplane flew low over the turbulent sea.
6. Shustryk was rummaging in a large dirty pile of garbage.
7. The seeds of wisdom sprout unhurriedly.
8. Mount Ararat surpasses the surrounding mountains not only in height.
9. The problem of human survival as a species overshadows and sharpens the problem of personal safety.
10. Virineya stared intently at the figure that appeared before her.
Example.
1a) — (staring at Nikodim’s belly) Well, Nikodim Samsonovich! (Syn)
1b) — Well, Nikodim? Samsonich, you’ve grown yourself a belly! You’ve grown it! (qual)
1c) — Well, Nikodim Samsonovich, you’ve got a belly! (subst)
TRIADIC MARKERS
Cognitive Synthetic Markers.
A common synthetic marker is an emphasized proper name (or a word replacing it) indicating a certain being or unique object:
— And this is our Varlaam! (Syn)
— (appropriately) Shustryk! (Syn)
— And I’m going (significantly) to Moscow! (Syn)
Emphasized personal pronouns in utterances also give them a synthetic tint:
— Who wants ice cream? — Me! (Syn)
— Who spilled milk on the tablecloth? — Him! (Syn)
Short (especially monosyllabic) utterances always have a synthetic tint, but whether it manifests as modality or merely submodality must be determined in each case separately.
— So are you coming with me?
— I’m coming.
The partner’s answer in this dialogue is qualitatively meaningful in content but formally monosyllabic, i.e., synthetic. Most likely, for the protagonist, it means “yes” and therefore has a synthetic modality. However, in the dialogue:
— Are you going or flying?
— Going.
The partner’s answer, though monosyllabic, has its main content as qualitative (“I’m going, not flying”), and therefore the modality of this utterance is qualitative.
In principle, any meaningful utterance (“a complete thought”) thereby bears the influence of the synthetic archetype, and if there are no significant qualitative or substantive markers in this utterance, it is synthetic. However, the absence of qualitative and substantive markers is a rare exception in speech.
Stylistic Synthetic Markers.
The aphorism—short but energetic expression, whose meaning significantly exceeds the sum of the meanings of its constituent words—always tends toward the synthetic modality. Folk wisdom expressed in proverbs, sayings, etc., tends toward the synthetic modality. Any single image, especially one used in metaphors, is in the synthetic modality:
— You’re like a camel in the desert who hasn’t seen water for a week. (Syn)
— I’m waiting for you like a princess in her tower. (syn)
However, comparisons by quality or analogy that do not offer a complete image may have qualitative or substantive modality:
— Why are you so angry today, as if someone bit you? (Qual)
— She was beautiful—like sulfur or a gazelle. (subst)
Gestures emphasizing synthetic modality—movements of the head or the whole body as a single whole, gathering hand movements (as if you are shaping a snowball or collecting nuts scattered uphill), gestures of drawing closed figures in the air, such as circles or ovals. A characteristic synthetic gesture is the index finger solemnly raised upward (especially in combination with an exclamation: “There!”)
To stylistic synthetic markers, one can attribute raising the pitch of the voice and intonation of heightened significance. These markers are especially vivid when combined with cognitive synthetic markers, for example, when addressing a person by name, but sometimes they “work” on their own:
— I want to talk to you, (significantly) Mikita Ferapontovich! (Syn)
— Understand, I need a man. (expressively) A MAN! (syn)
Proverbs and phraseological expressions under the patronage of the Synthetic archetype:
Holy of Holies.
God protects the one who protects himself.
The Russian language is great.
God is an old miracle-worker.
This and that.
God’s will is our lot.
Exercise. Recall proverbs and phraseological expressions you know in the synthetic modality.
Exercise. Think about background synthetic markers—do they exist?
Cognitive Qualitative Markers.
These include adjectives, adverbs, participles, and verbs emphasized in speech:
— You’re so sweet today, so rosy!
— I ran to you, longed for you, fell, broke, and longed again! (qual)
Stylistic Qualitative Markers.
Gestures emphasizing qualitative modality—smooth forearm movements drawing rounded but not closed figures (like parentheses, wavy lines, etc.), standard gestures indicating qualities (big—hands widely spread, fast—frequent movements with bent arms, etc.), often level or wave-like, frequently sung:
— I need a boy—(surely) beau-ti-ful, so smooth… (qual)
Proverbs and phraseological expressions under the patronage of the Qualitative archetype:
The Russian person loves what he can.
I’ll go for a walk, yawn at the bright world.
Not scraped, not planed, just thrown away.
Exercise. Recall proverbs and phraseological expressions you know in the qualitative modality.
Exercise. Think about background qualitative markers—do they exist?
Cognitive Substantive Markers.
Primarily, these are emphasized names of objects or phenomena in speech:
— Do you need a condom?! (Subst)
— Here, take my hand! (Subst)
— And what did you see there?
— An eclipse! (Subst)
Proper names acquire substantive modality when listed as different objects forming a certain number:
— I’ve been to Moscow, to Petersburg, to Zhmerinka, to Paris.
— Today Ismail with Isot, Gavriilo with Galaktion, and Avrora with Agafiya came by. (Subst)
Stylistic Substantive Markers.
Gestures emphasizing substantive modality—movements with fingers, feet, individual fingers (e.g., the “fig” gesture), ending with a sharp stop of the hand in the air or on a material object (e.g., slapping the palm on the table, on the partner’s shoulder or one’s own thigh, pressing the hand to the heart). A characteristic “substantive” gesture is sequentially bending fingers counting “one, two, three…”
Substantive intonations—often abrupt and lowering, concrete, “down-to-earth”:
— I need berries: (down-to-earth) cherries, strawberries, raspberries. (Subst)
— Bring me, please, (lowering the voice) a knife. (subst)
Proverbs and phraseological expressions under the patronage of the Substantive archetype:
This is buckwheat, this is clothes, this is sauerkraut, these are breads, this is a child crying.
On people, on God, on oneself, on the devil.
No bottom for you, no lid.
This and that.
Either a clump of hay, or a pitchfork in the side.
Exercise. Recall proverbs and phraseological expressions you know in the substantive modality.
Exercise. Think about background substantive markers—do they exist?
Exercise. Provide additional examples of synthetic, qualitative, and substantive markers.
Exercise. Invent a) a synthetic, b) a qualitative, and c) a substantive utterance for each of the following situations, as well as for five situations of your choice.
1. Introducing an old friend to a young company.
2. Greeting the boss on Monday morning.
3. Greeting the secretary on Monday morning.
4. Asking your wife to bring coffee to bed.
5. Requesting to leave work an hour early for personal reasons.
Exercise. For the following dialogical situations and five situations of your choice, create two-utterance dialogues in the modalities:
a) syn-syn
b) syn-qual
c) syn-subst
d) qual-syn
e) qual-qual
f) qual-subst
g) subst-syn
h) subst-qual
i) subst-subst
1. Advising a beloved son to pay attention to his mother’s needs.
2. Apologizing to a fearsome brother for being late to a meeting.
3. Asking the boss to postpone the deadline for a task for valid reasons.
4. An unfair emotional reproach to a doll.
5. A justified accusation to a daughter for creating chaos.
Exercise. Determine the triadic modalities of the following written phrases and oral utterances (the latter begin with a dash), as well as five utterances of your choice. Indicate the triadic markers.
1. All our life is a game in the eyes of the Lord.
2. And I sprang onto the roads drawn for me by fate.
3. — I’m powerless before you, powerless!
4. — Kuzma failed the exam.
5. — Vasilisa!
6. — And, Lyubomir, imagine my position now!
7. — And do you have a conscience, Varvara?
8. And, imagine, our favorite Tarik flies into the sky… and—forever.
9. — (Demonstrating to the partner a combination of three fingers) And you, excuse me, have you ever seen a middle finger?!
10. — Well, you won’t be left short, you.
11. Get ready, dear, get ready.
12. And I like to lie on the top shelf.
13. — Excuse me, Ivan Efremovich, please, please excuse me.
14. — And here, meet our best specialist in thefts, a lawyer with grand experience, known throughout our region—the very Rafail Falaleyevich!
15. — No, you’ll never get this from me!
16. — And you, Akulina Terentievna, please try, hurry.
17. — What a worthless person you turn out to be!
18. — Well, I don’t have them—neither a nail nor a single screw!
19. Trial followed trial, and no end was in sight.
20. Incarnating in the human world as an avatar, Vishnu attracts the attention of numerous demons and defeats them mercilessly.
21. — And I tell you: Saveliy is Saveliy!
22. Neither cart tracks nor even paths lead there.
23. And by the window in a pot, it’s hard not to notice a huge… (showing with hands) cactus!
24. — We unfortunately have a lot of these bloodsucking creatures—especially these… what are they called… (remembering) midges!
Exercise. Determine the triadic modalities of the following utterances and five utterances of your choice. Indicate the triadic markers.
1. — Your belly is insatiable!
2. — Oh!
3. — Run quickly along the path, along the trails, all the way to the sea.
4. — You speak sweet words, Leonty Platonovich, strange and incomprehensible ones!
5. — Stop!
6. — What, Paramon, were you born yesterday?
7. — You, Antonido, are exactly like a cuckoo—you keep calling every day.
8. — And nature itself whispers this to us…
9. — Well, you, Erast, are a goose!
10. — And you, in the morning, walk barefoot on the dewy grass—green, soft, fresh, and cool.
Exercise. Modify the following utterances so that they acquire: a) synthetic modality, b) qualitative modality, and c) substantive modality.
1. — I’m waiting for you.
2. — Clementius came to visit me yesterday.
3. — Well, I don’t know.
4. — This shouldn’t be done.
5. — Can you really think so poorly of me?
6. — If someone finds it funny—I don’t.
7. — And what if right now—we jump into the river?
8. — Your reasoning seems to me not entirely justified.
9. — And the Tsar Cannon has never fired even once in its entire life.
10. — Language is the soul of a nation.
11. — No matter how you twist it, you’ll still have to get married.
12. — The knowledge of the ancient Greeks was significantly inferior to ours, yet descendants remember them even after two thousand years, while who will remember us after two decades?
13. — He-he.
14. — Do you remember our meetings in Crimea?
15. — The Holy Grail is a much older symbol than the sword—the sign of primitive male dominance.
16. — Eat, my little son, your porridge.
17. — Now it would be good to hear the opinion of the head of the territorial department.
18. — It was getting dark.
19. — A wise person will not overcome unnecessary obstacles.
20. — We don’t agree on many parameters.
Example.
1a). I’m waiting for you. (Syn)
I’m waiting for you. I, Prov Platonovich. (Syn)
I’m waiting for you like a gray goose waits for his bride. (Syn)
1b). I’m waiting for you—longing, waiting, longing. (qual)
I’m waiting for you, my dear, tender-beloved, painfully desired. (qual)
1c). I’m waiting for you, my little bird, my falcon-dove, my fish-bunny. (Subst)
Exercise. Respond to the following addresses and five of your choice: a) in synthetic modality, b) in qualitative modality, and c) in substantive modality.
1. — What’s your name, wonderful stranger?
2. — Tell me about your life.
3. — Have mercy on this idiot! (gesture toward the boss)
4. — Think long, act fast—that’s how, friend Panteleimon!
5. — Why don’t you, Anfiska, fly down to the market?
6. — Your tricks, Trifon Fedotich, are stuck in my throat!
7. — Should I go to Petersburg, or what, in my old age?..
8. — Introducing Western ways in Russia—an idea not new and equally hopeless! Do you have a different opinion?
9. — I invite you, Ladimir Svyatoslavovich, as a guest to our region, slightly east of the Yenisei.
10. — Shustryk! Don’t bark at strange cats, at least at night!
Example.
1a). — Bronislava. (syn)
— As my parents named me. (Syn)
— No name. (Syn)
1b). — How interesting! (qual)
— They call, they name, but no one will ever finish naming. (qual)
1c). — And what else will you ask—about eyes and ears, knees and legs? (Subst)
Exercise. Compose a short story on each of the following topics (from schoolchildren’s lives) in three modalities: synthetic, qualitative, and substantive.
1. How I went to the river with my dog Shustryk.
2. How teachers in school tried to teach me.
3. How my girlfriends hurt me.
4. How boys tested my strength.
5. How I cooked cheese pancakes.
6. How I embroidered a handkerchief for my mom for March 8.
7. How I vacuumed the apartment.
8. How my dad embarrassed me.
9. How I senselessly bothered passersby.
10. How I made up my face with my mom’s cosmetics and what came of it.
Example. Story “How I went to the river with my dog Shustryk.”
a) Shustryk is my friend. And I am his master. We are inseparable. Yesterday we went to the river. The weather was good. Rain poured like from a bucket. I jumped in puddles. Shustryk barked at cows. The river overflowed its banks. But the cows weren’t afraid of either the river or Shustryk. Then Dad found us. He scolded and thundered for a long time, like thunder from a cloud. And Mom at home cried her eyes out. (Syn)
b) I love my Shustryk very much, just unusually. He’s so shaggy, ringing, jumping, and restless. And yesterday we decided to take a walk, to rest, to visit different places. After all, our river flows nearby—small, fast, cold, winding. So early in the morning we went—me running, Shustryk jumping, barking, having fun. Then rain started—light at first, then heavy, warm, wet, also cheerful and playful. And cows came toward us—big, brown, white, gray, horned and hornless, wet. And near the river, angry, wet, sad Dad found us—and scolded, scolded, scolded… It turned out Mom had been waiting and waiting for us at home, very worried and crying. (qual)
c) I love my Shustryk very much—especially his paws, neck, and tail. And he also has wool and a nose, as well as ears and a muzzle. And yesterday we went to the river, across the field first, over a bridge, along the road, then another road, through a ravine and along a stream through a little forest and a field. And there we saw cows, calves, bulls, and heifers. Then rain started, a downpour, almost hail, streams of water, and the river became a channel, and suddenly—Dad appeared. And he took us home, to Mom, to tea with cherry jam and cabbage pie.
Exercise. Respond to the following protagonist’s addresses so that it becomes clear to them that you have perceived their utterance: a) in synthetic modality, b) in qualitative modality, and c) in substantive modality. Same task for five addresses of your choice.
1. — I brought you a puppy, Virineya.
2. — Varvara, today’s weather is good.
3. — Is there really nothing you like about me, Kiryak?
4. — It’s time to sit down to lessons, Vilya!
5. — Are you feeling very bad, Nathanail?
Example.
1a) — Wise thought, Rafail.
1b) — Brought?! You’d better say: dragged!
1c) — What kind of puppy again?!
Exercise. Compose three scenes on the following topics and five of your choice. The characters in the scenes should speak in the following modalities:
a) protagonist—subst, partner—qual;
b) protagonist—qual, partner—syn;
c) protagonist—syn, partner—subst.
1. Impresario Antoniy (protagonist) persuades stage star Klavisiya to go on tour to the polar city of Zamozhnik. The star is frightened by the frost and polar bears.
2. A real estate agent and a buyer are inspecting a country house with a plot. The buyer is curious and fussy.
3. Onisifor Onufrievich—the head of the “Niagara” travel agency—sends his employee Protas to Central Africa to prepare a future tour. Protas doesn’t want to go and refuses his boss, offering his own options.
4. A woman’s car breaks down on the road. She signals and asks a truck driver who stopped to help her.
5. Faust tries to give a task to the demon Mephistopheles. The devil refuses for various reasons.
Exercise. Compose scenes on the following topics and five of your choice. The characters in the scenes should speak in the proposed modalities. Then write new scenes on the same topics, changing the modalities but keeping the roles used by the characters: syn to qual, qual to subst, subst to syn.
1. Three sages: Pitirim (syn), Mokhey (qual), and Kliment (subst)—debate karma: how it manifests in human life and how best to work it off.
2. Yerofey (syn), in love with Susanna (qual), introduces the girl to his mother Akulina Manuilovna (subst).
3. Viktor’s bachelor furniture—the sofa (syn), dining table (qual), and floor lamp (subst)—talk about the necessity of marrying their master and discuss a possible candidate—his old acquaintance Klara.
4. Primitive warrior Tusk of the Mammoth (subst), his wife Flower of the Star (qual), and their six-year-old son Accurate Arrow (syn) discuss their plans for Sunday.
5. Shah Abdullah (syn) informs his wives Zulfia (qual) and Zarema (subst) about his new infatuation—a girl named Gulyachatay. The wives are curious, give advice.
COMPLEX TRIADIC MODALITIES
In many cases, the main modality of an utterance contains an overtone, or submodality, corresponding to another (or the same) triadic modality—thus forming a complex triadic modality. Let us examine their possible types.
Modality syn(syn).
Synthetic-synthetic modality arises, for example, when revealing a person’s name through another name or a metaphorical image:
— And now performing before you is the pride of our circus—the athlete Vasily, nicknamed “Muscle.” syn(syn)
— Meet: this is my friend Apollos, the intellectual Everest of our days. syn(syn)
Other examples:
— Meet: Zinovy Kalistratovich. syn(syn)
— And this is Gedeon from “Hungry Duck.” syn(syn)
— And this is Ambrosiy from Tula. syn(syn)
— Very pleased: Avessalom Podvodny. syn(syn)
— I am Zhora from Timofey. syn(syn)
— You are Agafon? syn(syn)
Another variant of the emergence of modality syn(syn) is the emphasis on a proper name or personal pronoun in a short, aphoristic utterance (such utterances most often occur in oral dialogues):
— The capital of our homeland is Moscow. syn(syn)
— Who was with you today?
— Andronik. syn(syn)
— To whom did you twist someone’s neck today, repeat?!
— Agafangel! syn(syn)
Phraseological expressions and proverbs in modality syn(syn):
Where Holy Sophia is, there is Novgorod.
The voice of the people betrayed Christ.
Exercise. Invent situations where modality syn(syn) appears.
Exercise. Modify the following utterances so that they acquire modality syn(syn). Same task for five utterances of your choice.
1. — I don’t want to go to the mountains with you, Eremey—never!
2. — It’s getting cold toward evening, getting cold…
3. — And my dad works in the ministry!
4. — May you sink on the spot!
5. — Ugh!
Exercise. Respond to the following addresses and five questions of your choice in modality syn(syn).
1. — What the hell brought you here, Agapit?
2. — It wouldn’t be bad to relax in the sauna…
3. — What are you so deeply dissatisfied with, Your Grace?
4. — It turns out you haven’t completely forgotten me, Niphont!
5. — Well, I haven’t gone crazy yet listening to you, Bronislav.
Exercise. In the following situations and five of your choice, invent addresses in modality syn(syn).
1. Inviting an old acquaintance to have lunch at the “Snowflake” cafe.
2. Accusing a new doll of boasting.
3. Asking an animal not to beg.
4. Sending the subordinate’s secretary to the big boss’s office.
5. Announcing a minor force majeure to the subordinate team.
Modality syn(qual).
Synthetic-qualitative modality is characteristic of proper names and titles that include certain qualitative attributes, for example: Ivan-the-fool, Vasilevich, John-the-beggar, Beauty, Weakling, “Sweetie,” “Tenderness.”
In the same modality sound metaphorical images with a strong qualitative emphasis, for example:
— You’re like a monkey—old, ugly, dried-up. syn(qual)
— Our conversation flowed like a smooth, full river. syn(qual)
Also in modality syn(qual) sound short statements with a noticeable (but not excessive) emphasis on action or property:
— Goose pig—”bad” companion. syn(qual)
— I’m going to Petersburg. syn(qual)
In the same modality, in dialogues, short one- or two-word utterances often sound—adjectives, participles, or verbs—provided these words are insignificant for the meaning of the utterance and can be replaced without much loss by words like “yes” or “no.” (With a strong semantic emphasis on the used word, modality qual(syn) arises—see description below).
— So, how’s your Ambrosiy—getting married at last?
— Getting married, dear. syn(qual)
— Well, is my fiancée nice?
— Nice. syn(qual)
Typical utterances in modality syn(qual) are short emotional exclamations:
— Oh! syn(qual)
— Scary! syn(qual)
— Phew! syn(qual)
— Hooray! syn(qual)
Phraseological expressions and proverbs in modality syn(qual):
Moscow is
