On the adverbs formed from pronouns: spelling rule correction (from materials of the academic description of Russian orthography)

Abstract

The existing rules of spelling adverbs are oriented towards different word groups that are morphologically (i. e. from the standpoint of word-formation) and lexically characterised. Adverbs formed from pronouns with the aid of prepositions-prefixes are one of such particular groups. The wording of the rule traditional for spelling guides is of general nature. Thus, it creates the illusion that any adverbs can be built from any pronouns, and that such adverbs should be spelt as one word (i. e. have a concatenated spelling). However, this is not the case. The analysis has revealed the limitations of the lexical content of the rule and its vocabulary nature. The article proposes a new wording of the rule which correctly reflects its scope. On this basis, the typology of spelling rules for adverbs is clarified. The article also introduces new lexical material including both exceptions to the rule and a range of fixed adverbial combinations of pronouns with prepositions (bezo vsego / without anything, bezo vsyakogo / without any, bez nikakikh / with no, pri svoyom / with one’s, pri etom / in this respect, pri sebe / on the person, pro sebya / to oneself). Such expressions do not satisfy the criteria of the rule, but they are necessary to describe the category of words under discussion objectively and comprehensively. The article is part of a series of publications devoted to the academic description of Russian orthography.