About semantic and syntactic compression, or What do we mean when we don’t say something out loud?

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to analyze cases of semantic and syntactic compression (contraction, constriction) in the Russian language. From the surface side the syntactic compression is a reduction of the phrase, due to the tendency to save speech effort. In fact – it is an actual method of compacting and packaging information, in which the internal structure of the utterance is transformed, some words get new functions, and others are omitted and reduced. Colloquial speech plays a special role in the spread and legalization of such cases of compression. Examples from fiction and journalism in Russian are given – such as archeology instead of archaeological excavations or sports instead of sports motorcycle. The article analyzes cases of complex, multi-component transformations, during which the structure of the phrase is significantly reduced and «condensed», for example: the richest people in Russia, recorded in the magazine «Forbes» → Russian «Forbes». Nouns (or noun groups) are usually used as key (reference) words that remain in the course of contraction. The article shows that the addressee (reader), as a rule, adequately perceives and understands such statements, based: 1) on previous speech experience (including standard models of metonymy); 2) on verbal and situational context; 3) on the rules of common sense. It is concluded that the analysis of utterances that include facts of semantic and syntactic contraction (as an element of «dynamic» grammar) helps to demonstrate the rich capabilities of the Russian language in terms of processing and packaging of thought.