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In:A Layered Approach to Habitual Constructions
Edited by Sune Gregersen and Kees Hengeveld
[Typological Studies in Language 136] 2026
► pp. 266–308

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Chapter 9
The habitual construction byvalo in Russian

 | Leiden University
 | Leiden University
Published online: 6 January 2026
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/tsl.136.09for
Abstract
This study examines the Russian habitual expression byvalo, focusing on its semantic, syntactic, and functional properties within the framework of Functional Discourse Grammar (FDG). Using data from the Russian National Corpus (RNC) and supplementary sources, we analyze byvalo in relation to FDG’s theory of layers. It is concluded that there is ample evidence that byvalo functions on the layer of the Episode, and some evidence that it functions on the layer of the State-of-Affairs. In some cases, the tests developed to determine the layer status of habituals are inconclusive. Further research into such cases may provide more insight into habituality and its relationship to the theory of the layers proposed by FDG.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The language
  • 3.Strategies of habituality
    • 3.1Overview of strategies
    • 3.2Byvalo
      • 3.2.1Introduction
        • 3.2.1.1Types of byvat’ and their relationship to habitual byvalo
        • 3.2.1.2Types of byvat’ (byvalo) that are part of our analysis
        • 3.2.1.3The dedicated habitual expression byvalo
      • 3.2.2Modifiers
      • 3.2.3Operators
      • 3.2.4Complementation
      • 3.2.5Interpretation
  • 4.Summary
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
  • Corpus
References (25)
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Corpus
Russian National Corpus (RNC). [URL]
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