‘Neopredeljonnyj’ [Indefinite] vs. ‘Neulovimyj’ [Elusive] in Aspect of Categorical Perception

• Published in: Nauc̆nyj dialog (Online) Vol. 12; no. 6; pp. 28 - 46
• Main Author: Kalinina, L. V.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Russian
• Published: Tsentr nauchnykh i obrazovatelnykh proektov 01.09.2023
• Subjects: categorical perception; categorization difficulties; perceptual lexicon; semantics of elusiveness; semantics of indefiniteness
• ISSN: 2225-756X; 2227-1295
• DOI: 10.24224/2227-1295-2023-12-6-28-46

The article discusses the phenomenon of categorical perception, the success of which the author suggests can be expressed by the formula “this is exactly X from the category ‘X’.” The lexemes ‘neopredeljonnyj’ [indefinite] vs. ‘neulovimyj’ [elusive] are considered as units that verbalize the subject’s categorization difficulties in perception. Based on a comparison of the use of the adjectives ‘neopredeljonnyj’ [indefinite] vs. ‘neulovimyj’ [elusive] with nominations of different types of perceptual perception, it is established in which cases the object of perception, causing categorization difficulties, is designated as ‘neopredeljonnyj’ [indefinite] X and in which cases it is designated as ‘neulovimyj’ [elusive] X . The study is carried out using methods of definitional, componential, distributive, and contextual analysis based on explanatory dictionaries and data from the Russian National Corpus . As a result of the analysis of linguistic material, it was revealed that the combination ‘neopredeljonnyj’ [indefinite] X denotes that a certain X is well perceived by the sense organs, but the subject is unaware (it is absent from their lexicon) of the designation for this X . The combination ‘neulovimyj’ [elusive] X denotes that the sense organs only register the presence of a certain X , while X manifests itself too quickly/weakly or is heterogeneous, making it unrecognizable.