PARTICULARITIES OF THE CHOICE OF ASPECT FOR MODERN RUSSIAN INFINITIVES USED WITH THE FUNCTION OF THE OLD RUSSIAN SUPINE

It is a well-known fact that infinitives of purpose are mostly used in the perfec- tive, in particular after the conjunction čtoby. But when we examine the choice of the aspect of infinitives of purpose coming immediately after a verb of motion (without a conjunction), we notice the completely opposite tendency of using mostly the im- perfective. This use of the imperfective aspect becomes especially noticeable after the conjunction čtoby + clause when the imperfective aspect must be replaced by the perfective.

Napoleon ne prosto šël v Rossiju, on šël osvoboždat' krest'jan ot krepostnogo prava.. [M. Zadornov]
≠ Napoleon ne prosto šël v Rossiju, on šël, čtoby osvobodit' krest'jan ot krepost-nogo prava.

It appears that the study of patterns in the choice of aspect of the infinitive of purpose obliges us to distinguish among infinitives of purpose a special subcategory of infini-tives used in Modern Russian in the syntactic function of the Old Russian supine. This subcategory requires dedicated research.

After briefly reviewing the choice of the aspect of the infinitive after different prefixed and simple verbs of motion, we demonstrate that the greater compatibility of the infini- tive following a verb of motion with the imperfective could be explained by a special close connection between the verb of motion and the infinitive used as the former supine, as well as by a special type of purpose expressed by the infinitive after a verb of motion. Unlike other infinitives of purpose, the modern infinitive used in the function of the Old Russian supine expresses purpose secondarily, through the expression of destination. The infinitive is thus used in an allative meaning so that destination comes first, and purpose is only a consequence of the expression of destination.