КОГНИТИВНО-ЭВОЛЮЦИОННАЯ ИНТЕРПРЕТАЦИЯ СИНТАКСИЧЕСКОЙ БЕЗЛИЧНОСТИ: ПРИЧИНЫ ВОЗНИКНОВЕНИЯ И СОВРЕМЕННОГО ИСПОЛЬЗОВАНИЯ НЕАКТИВНОСТИ АГЕНСА (НА МАТЕРИАЛЕ РУССКОГО ЯЗЫКА)

The article presents the cognitive and evolutionary interpretation of syntactic impersonality in
the Russian language. The target of research selection is conditioned by the next considerations. Many
Indo-European languages and languages of other families evolved from agential inactive ergativity to
agential active nominativity. Having developed activity of agent in nominative constructions, these
languages communicative comfortably kept the possibility to express inactivity of agent in impersonal
constructions of sphere of existence. The Russian language on the whole evolved in line with this tendency,
but in two aspects it showed evolutional lag and even anti-evolutionism. Firstly, Russian syntax
saved impersonality in spheres of natural phenomena, of organism and modality of type “it is Necessary”,
where, in particular, in German and Romance grammars only nominativity is preferred. Secondly,
as researchers note, in the last decades in Russian syntax there are high frequency and expansion
of impersonal constructions of sphere of existence application, including the conceptualisation of
situations that require the active presence of agent.
The cognitive and evolutionary approach to study of language phenomena is supposed to exposure
language phenomena reasons. While studying the reasons of agent inactivity in Russian impersonal
constructions the data of subjects allied with linguistics (evolutional epistomology, age-related
psychology, ethnic psychology, history and other allied with linguistics anthropo-sciences – about
perception) are used. The perception quality influence on the quality of logic as building thinking is

grounded. The thesis about the perceptual conditioned quality of logic influence on cognitive activity
of native speakers and their spontaneous forming and changing of linguistic structures is accepted.
Syncretical, surface and alternative degrees of perceptions providing corresponding quality of logic
and, as a result, of linguistic structures are presented. Possibilities of native speakers evolution from
one degree of perception to another are demonstrated. The reasons of different rates of cognitive evolution
for different languages native speakers are explained from the position of evolutional epistomology.
The data about inactive manifestation of mentality of the Russian native speakers substantiated
by A. Wierzbicka are cited. The optimistic position of М. Epstein in relation to development of
activity of agent in the field of transitivity of Russian verbs and the pessimistic position of Т. Radbil in
relation to development of activity of agent due to unjustified wide spreading by modern Russian native
speakers of application of impersonality and passive- reflexiveness are compared. Finally the
conclusion is drawn that perceptive evolution of Russian native speakers must precede the evolution of
agent activity in Russian grammar.