EXPRESSING INFERENCE THROUGH COMPLEX SENTENCES WITH CONJUNCTIONS POTOMU CHTO AND TAK CHTO

Abstract

The article analyzes complex sentences with the conjunctions potomu chto (“because”) and tak chto (“so that”) that express inference, i.e., they indicate not objective causal-consecutive relations between situations, but rather that one situation served as the speaker’s basis for assuming the existence of another. The objective of the article is to compare sentences with potomu chto and tak chto in order to, first, identify common features of inferential sentences that distinguish them from sentences describing objective causal-consecutive connections, and second, to highlight the specific features of expressing inference in sentences with different conjunctions. For this purpose, the features of causal-argumentative sentences identified in the literature are systematized and applied to the analysis of sentences with the conjunction tak chto expressing a conclusion. A comparative analysis of sentences with different conjunctions shows that the common features of inferential sentences include the type of conjunction usage, the nature of the relation between the propositions of predicative constructions, and their lexical-grammatical features. Differences between sentences with potomu chto and tak chto are related to the characteristics of the conjunctions themselves, which construct the inference differently.