Opast', Osypat'sja, Obrushit'sja, Obvalit'sja: Word-formation Model in Typological Perspective

Verbs of falling represent a separate semantic domain. In Russian language the concept of falling may be expressed through a sizeable number of verbs, some of which are падать, рухнуть, свалиться, and many more. The aim of this research is to examine the way that the group of Russian verbs of falling with the prefix *o-/ob- (опасть, осыпаться, обрушиться, обвалиться) correlate with their translation counterparts in English and Spanish and compare the semantics and distribution of these verbs. The study was based on a research approach called the frame method. In the course of this study we used corpus analysis and developed a questionnaire for native speakers. As a result, we created semantic maps for the investigated domain in each language from our sample to visually show differences and similarities between distribution of these verbs. We hope this study will contribute to the existing knowledge of typology of verbs of falling as well as typology of meanings of derivational prefixes and provide more detailed information on how a particular part of this semantic field is organized in English and Spanish languages in comparison to Russian language.