Reinterpretation of the Numerals as a Part of Speech in the Aspect of V. V. Babajtseva’s Theory of Transitivity

This article proposes a variant of interpretation of the numerals as a part of speech, relevant for the practice of teaching RFL. The study uses the transitivity scale developed by V. V. Babajtseva as a result of her observation of transitional phenomena in the modern Russian language. Numerals are considered not only from the point of view of various linguistic doctrines, which gives a unique opportunity to trace the evolution of the concept of ‘numeral’ in the history of Russian linguistics, but also through the prism of the nuclear-peripheral structure, which allows us to see their semantic commonality and grammatical heterogeneity. The analysis has shown that the formation of numerals differs from other phenomena of historical transition within the framework of the theory of transitivity: words of different classes do not pass directly into the category existing in the system, which sets the model for transformation, but first form a kind of nucleus with a common grammatical criterion, which unites new members in further development and exerts a strong influence. Meanwhile, this process is accompanied by fluctuations in the principles of classification, which causes changes in the composition of numerals. Particular attention is paid to specific transitional phenomena within the category of definite-quantitative numerals: unification of simple counting words and subsequent formation of the nucleus of this part of speech; lexicalization of compound counting words and their loss of the category of number; consolidation of a smaller number of case forms in the paradigm; transformation of syntactic connection with nouns.