The Russian Razve: from a Proposition to an Interrogative Particle

This paper reconstructs the way of the semantic evolution of Russian word razve from a proposition with the meaning ‘except for’ (in Old Russian) to its current use as an interrogative particle. A three-step model is developed. The first step is a shift from the idea of the exclusion of an object to the idea of the exclusion of a situation; the second is represented by the construction [razve + inf?] and results in the appearance of the speaker, introducing an action that is perceived by the speaker as a possible positive alternative to the negative state of affairs described in the preceding speech fragment. The third step, during which the actual interrogative particle appears, results in the following semantic structure: the speaker is in a situation which is negative only due to a cognitive dissonance triggered by the fact that the state of affairs Q can only take place if P is true, while the speaker believes that P is not true. By using an interrogative utterance with razve, the speaker asks the interlocutor to provide a way out from this uncomfortable state of cognitive dissonance.