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Article published In: Similatives: Semantic sources, pathways, and types of usage
Edited by Anna Kisiel, Hélène Vassiliadou, Valentina Benigni, Beatrice Bernasconi, Lieselotte Brems and Dejan Stosic
[Lingvisticæ Investigationes 48:2] 2025
► pp. 348–376

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On the similative uses of esprit and dukh in French and Russian

 | University of Latvia | University of Burgundy Europe
 | University of Burgundy Europe
Published online: 19 February 2026
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/li.00134.vla
Abstract
This paper examines the similative uses of the French esprit and the Russian dukh within the constructivist framework of the Culiolian school. Building on their etymology, morphological bases, and authentic corpus uses, we identify the parameters that constitute their core semantics and the principles of their variation. In similative constructions, esprit appears as an autonomous, initially unanchored force (F) that acquires qualitative determination (esprit de N). Rather than remaining fixed, F expands and disperses, animating each subject it encounters and directing their activity. The similative value arises when an occurrence (X) is recognized as the result of this oriented activity, insofar as X reveals properties identifiable with those of F. While both esprit and dukh share this semantic potential, their uses diverge: esprit tends toward stable anchoring in human subjects, whereas dukh retains autonomy, which accounts for its broader similative range in Russian.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • 1.State of research
    • 1.1The case of esprit
    • 1.2The case of dukh
  • 2.From morphological root to core semantics
    • 2.1The case of esprit
    • 2.2The case of dukh
  • 3.Similative uses
    • 3.1The case of esprit
      • 3.1.1X dans l’esprit (de) Y
        • 3.1.1.1N2 is a proper N
        • 3.1.1.2N2 is a common N
      • 3.1.2“C’est dans l’esprit” (‘It’s in the spirit’)
    • 3.2The case of dukh
      • 3.2.1N2 is a PrN
      • 3.2.2N2 is a common noun
      • 3.2.3V dukhe: Introducer to reported speech
      • 3.2.4(i vse) v takom (v tom zhe) dukhe: Construction of a class of occurrences
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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