IDU ETO YA... ON SOME DISCOURSE FUNCTIONS OF THE DEMONSTRATIVE WORDS

Deictic words, the original function of which is to ensure the reference, have a lot of non-trivial discourse meanings and usages. The paper is devoted to one of main demonstratives of the Russian language — eto (this), in one of its discourse types of use (Иду это я и вижу...). In this case, the particle eto is usually placed after the verb, and the verb tends to occupy the initial position in a sentence or a fragment, and the sentence almost always is with inversion. Most often, eto is combined with such verbs as идти, ехать, сидеть, лежать, прийти, приехать (to go, to go, to sit, to lie down, to come) in the present tense. Other verbs are rare. It turns out that, like some other discourse particles with originally demonstrative meanings, Eto is used for the purpose of textual layout, namely, it marks the exposition of the story. It tells the recipient, that he or she is going to hear a description of the backgound, followed by an unexpected plot twist. The example that follows shows very clearly the use of the particle eto for the compositional layout of a text:

Новый шарф мой — источник радостей. Стою это я, свесив голову на грудь, трусь об эту пушистость подбородком. «Юлий, что с вами?» — «Понимаете, — говорю, — либо я чокнулся, либо от него духами пахнет…»

[Юлий Даниэль. Письма из заключения (1966–1970)] ‘My new scarf is a source of happiness. Look, I stand around hanging my head on my chest, rubbing my chin on its fluffiness. "Yuli, what is with you?" — "You see, — I say, — either I went crazy, or it smells of perfume …" [Yuli Daniel. Letters from jail (1966–1970)]

The first sentence contains a kind of general thesis, which the further story is supposed to illustrate. At the beginning of the story, the particle eto appears, marking the exposition of the story, followed by an intriguing plot twist.

The particle eto is considered in the paper against the background of the discourse usages of such words as вот, вон, тут, такой, себе (here, there, here, like this, yourself). All of them convert an objective narrative into something that involves the personal interaction of the speaker and the addressee, but they all have important semantic and functional differences.