Introduction

The pertinence of the research stems from the need to develop an algorithm for creating a semantic field of values realized by auxiliary verbs and to identify the degree of their desemantization based on quantitative data. The verbal analytical structures study is one of the main aspects of language functioning analysis.

Auxiliary verbs are difficult to analyze in terms of their meanings. On the one hand, one cannot deny the presence of their own semantics like any other lexical unit. On the other hand, it is necessary to recognize the possibility of realizing grammatical meanings associated with the categories of modality, aspectuality, temporality and others.

Traditionally analytical constructions are distinguished and considered separately if the main component is a verb with different degrees of desemantization or with its own proper semantic. Verb analytical structures include tense forms, impersonal forms such as participle, gerund and infinitive forms allowing to express various meanings.

To achieve the goal the following tasks were set and solved:

1) to determine the range of auxiliary verbs involved in the formation of analytical structures;

2) to investigate the semantic aspects of analytical structures;

3) to identify allomorphic and isomorphic features of auxiliary verbs of movement in structurally different languages.

Practical significance of the work: The materials of the study can be used in special courses on language theory, comparative typology of languages, in the development of courses on theoretical, practical, comparative linguistics. The data obtained can be used in educational and methodological activities such as creating textbooks. The results are relevant for linguistic studies of language functioning. Identifying auxiliary verbs of movement and conducting a parallel analysis of their functioning makes it possible to compare their features in different-structured languages in order to prevent the phenomena of linguistic interference.

Theoretical provisions of the research

The theoretical basis of the research was the works in the field of comparative studies of verbal analytical structures by T.A. Maisak (Maisak, 2005:123), G.F. Lutfullina (Lutfullina, 2016), Ö. Dahl (Dahl, 2000:187).

Some questions on the verbal analytical structures of French are covered in the works of J. Gougenheim (1971:23), J. Bres (Bres, 2007:140), J-P. Desclès, Z. Guentcheva (Desclès, Guentcheva, 2003:49), L.  Gosselin (Gosselin, 2012 :2), G. Kleiber (Kleiber, 2003:14), F. Marsac (Marsac, 2006, 2009), J. Moeschler, (Moeschler, 2000:57). Analyzing Plus-que-Parfait Tense in the French language, J. Bres writes: «Les relations temporelles sont actualizes par des elements verbalst dans les textes / The temporal relations are actualized by verbal elements in the texts» (Bres, 2007:140). He analyses the structure of this Tense and the role of auxiliary verb in expressing temporal relations. J-P. Desclès, Z. Guentcheva pay attention to structural components of Passé Composé Tense. They consider the significance of auxiliary verbs and write that «l’analyse entraine un traitement opertionnel des elements de la forme verbal / the analysis leads to an operational processing of components of the verbal form » (Desclès, Guentcheva, 2003:49).

L.  Gosselin  analyses the elements of verbal forms and wants to determine the potential of auxiliary verbs used to express iterativity in his article «La construction du sens fréquentatif sans marqueur explicite / The construction with frequentative meaning without an explicit marker» (Gosselin, 2012 :2). G. Kleiber writes that «les deux composants verbals constituent les facettes d'un même phénomène ; ils sont mis au même niveau, sans rapport de dependence / the two verbal components constitute facets of the same phenomenon; they are put at the same level, without dependence relationship»  (Kleiber, 2003:14). J. Moeschler is sure that «la nature procédurale des informations temporelles est encodées dans les catégories grammaticales par des verbes auxiliaires / the procedural nature of the temporal information is encoded in grammatical categories by auxiliary verbs » (Moeschler, 2000:57).

Much attention is paid to analytical constructions of English in the works of Laurel and Donna Brinton (L.Brinton, D. Brinton, 2010:205), P.G. Goncharenko (Goncharenko, 2009). R. Carter (Carter, 2006:16), R.  Cowan (Cowan, 2008:200) D. Crystal (Crystal, 2003:34), R. Declerck (Declerck, 2006:15), M. J. Endley (Endley, 2010:111).

Laurel and Donna Brinton say that «in order to study the structure of the verb phrase, it is necessary to introduce the intermediate category of Vgp = verb group consisting of the lexical verb with or without a particle». They separately consider «the specifiers of the verb, including both tense and the auxiliary verbs» (L.Brinton, D. Brinton, 2010:205).

R. Declerck writes about «alternative definitions of ‘verb phrase’». In his book «The Grammar of the English Verb Phrase» R. Declerck has defined the «VP as that part of the predicate constituent that does not contain optional adverbials.  However, it may be useful to know that some linguistic works use the term in a different sense. Some use it in the sense of ‘predicate (constituent)’, i. e. to refer to the sum of all those constituents of the clause that do not belong to the subject NP. Others use the term in a much narrower sense, to denote no more than the main verb and any auxiliaries accompanying it. In his book a string like may have been reading or will read will be referred to as a ‘verb form’. A verb form consists either of a verb (in the form of a participle or infinitive) plus one or more auxiliaries (e. g. will see, would have seen) or of a (usually inflected) verb only» (Declerck, 2006:15). D. Crystal presents some salient features of English grammar, such as suffixation for noun number and case and verb tense system. He analyses auxiliary verbs (Crystal, 2003:34).

Constructions with the auxiliary verbs of the Russian language is studied by N.M. Stoynova (Stoynova, 2016), N.R. Dobrushina (Dobrushina, 2016). N.M. Stoynova writes about analytical construction of the future tense which represents «a combination of the verb to be in the form of the future tense with the infinitive of a semantic verb» (Stoynova, 2016). Studying Russian particles пусть, пускай (no equivalents in English) she demonstrates that most often they have the imperative meaning and express an indirect motivation (Stoynova, 2016). N.R. Dobrush proves that Russian particle бывало derived from the verb to be (in English we consider as an equivalent used) marks habituality in the past (Dobrushina, 2016). 

A detailed analysis of complex verbs meanings of Tatar is presented in the works of A. A. Aminova (Aminova, 1993:61), F. A. Ganiev (Ganiev, 2000:74). A.A. Amineva writes that «verbs of movement lose their basic semantics of movement and begin to denote various additional semantics: beginning or end, duration of action, etc. Such variants of analytical forms aspects are characteristic only for the Tatar language» (Aminova, 1993:61).  F.A. Ganiev proves that in the Tatar language there are many analytical forms with verbs of movement which form the grammatical category of the aspect (Ganiev, 2000:74).

Research methodology

The research material was:

• for the French language – The French corpus Lexicum (Lexicum),
• for the English language – The British National Corpus (BNC),
• for the Russian language – The National Corpus of Russian Language (RNC),
• for the Tatar language – The Written Corpus of The Tatar Language (TNC).

To solve the above-mentioned problems, we use the following research methods: comparative, structural, descriptive. The use of corpus linguistics methods made it possible to carry out a quantitative analysis with subsequent interpretation of results.

Results and discussion

In French the verbs of movement aller / go and venir / come are used to express temporal meanings in the following French tenses: Futur immédiat / Immediate Future and Futur immédiat dans le passé / Immediate Future in the Past. They are partially deprived of their own meaning but, at the same time, they can function in their direct meanings. There are other auxiliary verbs such as avoir / to have and être / to be. The latter is used only with specific verbs and requires agreement in number and gender with the subject. These auxiliary verbs are used to form complex tenses with the participation of Participe Passé / Past Participle. These verbs are not completely desemantized, as they represent their own meanings in appropriate contexts. To express aspectual meanings, we use the basic phase verbs commencer / begin, finir / end,continuer / continue, as well as the verbs of continuity and iterativity durer, continuer / continue, repeat repeater / repeat. To represent modal meanings corresponding verbs are used such as devoir / must, pouvoir /can and others. In modern French the verb aller / go is a part of the only verb-gerund construction aller (en) p.pr. In this construction aller + Ger the first element represents the meaning of unlimited duration which in combination with the second element actualizes the meaning of a gradual increase of action intensity. J. Gougenheim writes that this analytical construction is involved to designate frequent repetition:… elle allait toujours critiquant /… she was continuing to criticize (Gougenheim 1971: 32,36].

In English auxiliary verbs to be / to have are used to express temporal meanings. They function is an indicator of a tense group with a certain basic meaning: Simple – action constancy, Continuous – action implementation at a certain moment in time, Perfect – action accomplishment by a certain moment. The combination of these auxiliary verbs helps to express an accomplishment of durative action by Present Perfect Continuous and Past Perfect Continuous. They are used to form complex tenses together with Participle. These verbs are not completely desemantized, as they represent their own meanings in appropriate contexts. These auxiliary verbs are used to unify meaning of tenses in particular groups. They are used to differentiate tense groups and to combine tenses in groups (Goncharenko 2009: 23). The particular feature of English is the existence of fully desemantized auxiliary verbs will, shall which are used to form Future Tenses depending on the person. To express the planned future action a construction with the verb to go / go “to be going to + Verb” is used. Auxiliary verbs will, shall in Past Tenses are involved to form tenses such as the Future in the Past. Their inherent meaning of succession is extrapolated to the Past plan. Aspectual meanings are expressed by prototypical phase verbs such as to start, to begin, to finish, to end and by continuity and repetition verbs such as to continue, to go on, to repeat. The peculiarity of the English language is functioning of the verb to use in the Past Tense to represent repeated actions in the Past. In the construction used to + Infinitive, two meanings are activated: temporal localization + aspectual concretization. Modal meanings are represented: 1) by corresponding verbs must, can, should etc.; 2) by desemantized verbs in the constructions to have to, to be able to, to be to; 3) by Past Tense forms of the auxiliary verbs should, would. It is interesting to note the functioning of the verb to help in the construction can't help doing smth. It is necessary to remember constructions with the verbs to make, to let which are considered as Complex Object. Laurel Brinton and Donna Brinton investigate phrasal constructions with verbs in the chapter “Phrasal structure and verb complementation” in the paragraph “Verb phrase / Verb constructions” (Brinton Laurel J. Brinton, Donna J., 2010).

In Russian in order to express temporal meanings, the verb буду / will be in the Future Tense is used to represent the meaning of Future (Stoynova, 2016). This verd is partially desemantized, as it also functions in its direct meaning. To express aspectual meanings nuclear phase verbs начать / start, продолжить / continue, закончить / to finish are involved as well as the verbs of duration and repetition:  длиться / last, продолжаться /continue, повторяться / repeat. It is interesting to note the functioning of the verb быть / be in the form бывало / happened to express repetitive actions in the Past. In Russian N.R. Dobrushina distinguishes constructions with particles было, бывало, пусть, пускай (Dobrushina, 2016). To represent modal meanings verbs of the corresponding semantics are used.

In Tatar to express temporal meanings, the auxiliary verbs иде / was and торган / stood in Past Tense forms are used to represent the meanings of the Durative or Continuous Past Tense and of the Repetitive Past Tense. They are partially desemantized as they implement their own meanings. The peculiarity of Tatar is the fact that the Repetitive Past Tense укыйторганиде / used to study represents repeated actions in the Past. It is possible to note that two meanings are activated: temporary localization + aspectual concretization. To express aspectual meanings, the nuclear phase verbs башлау / start, тəмамлаү / complete, the verb of continuity дəвамитү/ / continue and repetition кабатлау / repeat are used. However, it should be noted the richness of the Tatar language: 1) various verbs of motion represent different aspectual meanings of instantaneousness, singularity and effectiveness of actions: чыгыпкитте / came out, килептɵште / appeared, укыпчыкты / have read; 2) verbs of state and movement express long-term actions: эшлəптора / works, укыпйɵри / studies. To represent modal meanings, verbs of the corresponding semantics are involved. In the Tatar language there are many verbal-gerund constructions where verb-modifiers have different degrees of grammaticalization.

Therefor we get the followings results of the analysis (see table 1). In French there are 4 auxiliary verbs expressing temporal meanings (Future and Past), but they are not completely desemantized. In English there are 4 auxiliary verbs expressing temporal (Future, Present, Past) and modal meanings, two of which are completely desemantized. Iterative actions in the Past are represented by 1 special verb. In Russian there is 1 auxiliary verb expressing the temporal meaning (Future) and the aspectual meaning of iteration, but it is not desemantized. In the Tatar language there are 2 auxiliary verbs expressing the temporal meaning (Past) and the aspectual meaning of iteration, but they retain their semantics. In the Tatar language numerous verbs of movement are involved to express different aspectual meanings. The results of analyses are represented in the following Table 1.

Table 1. Expression of different meanings by auxiliary verbs

In Diagram 1 it is shown which temporal meaning are rendered by auxiliary verbs in French, English, Russian and Tatar languages.

Diagram 1. Expression of temporal meanings by auxiliary verbs

THE AUXILIARY VERB TO GO. Let us consider the different meanings realized by the verb of movement "to go".  This verb is used to form analytical constructions and to express different meanings in French, English, Russian and Tatar languages.

French verb aller / go

(1) En allant manger chez un ami, tout à coup, celui-ci me dit ... / On the way (= literally going) to have dinner, my friend suddenly says to me (hereinafter, the author's translation. (Éd. Leméac) [Lexiqum].

(2) USA Network a fait un excellent travail en allant nous chercher / The US Network has done an excellent job by continuing to track us down ... (Éd. Leméac) [Lexiqum].

(3) Il écoute la musique en allant du logement à l'école / He listens to music on his way from home to school (Éd. Leméac) [Lexiqum].

(4) Il allait sortir lorsque sa mère est venue / He was about to leave when his mother came (Éd. Leméac) [Lexiqum].

In French the verb of movement aller / go is used to express temporal meanings, it forms and represents the meaning of the Immediate Future Tense (4). In modern French the verb aller is a part of the only one gerund-verb construction aller (en) p.pr. which expresses the gradual increase in action intensity and which is complemented by aspectual shade of multiplicity. In The French Language corpus (significantly quantitatively inferior to other used corpuses), we identified all 4 types of functioning: a simple gerund (1), as a part of a gerund in analytical structure (2), direct meaning (3), as a part of the Immediate Future Tense (4). In total, 50 tokens of this verb used as a gerund and in imperfect tenses were identified in The French Language Corpus.  All constructions were analyzed by total sampling method. Only in 25% of tokens this verb aller functions as a gerund and as a part of analytical construction. It is possible to say that the ratio between functioning in direct meaning and functioning as a part of analytical construction is 1 to 4.

English verb to go.

(5) That type of mistake is going to happen to many goalkeepers this season, 'said Beasant.' (The daily mirror) [BNC].

(6) If Graham Taylor is going to play the long ball, Deanesy is ideal (The daily mirror) [BNC].

(7) Because she is going to the first aid room (M. Bowring. Vets in opposition) [BNC].

(8) Erm so how much time are you spending just is going to school? (V. Godfrey. Inner and outer) [BNC].

In English there is a construction with this verb to be going to + Verb used to express the planned future actions (5), (6). In The British National Corpus, the frequency of functioning of the structure to be going to is 32557 tokens. In order to calculate the direct meaning usage, we set the search parameter going to the, where the article implies the presence of the following noun, and we got 1193 tokens. It is possible to compare the frequency of verb constructions is going to –2637 tokens in The BNC corpus, and the frequency of verb use in its direct meaning going to the – 25 tokens (7), (8). We also compared the frequency of functioning in the form of the plural are going to – 2303 tokens, and the frequency of verb use in the direct meaning are going to the – 40 tokens. As it can be seen from the frequency indicators, desemantized functioning prevails for singular and plural forms. The ratio is 100: 1.

Russian verb ходить/ go.

(9) И это «тсыканье» означало, что настроение отличное, пищеварение в порядке, делаидутхорошо и виды на будущее ещё лучше / And this "hitching" meant that the mood was excellent, digestion was in order, things were going well and the prospects for the future were even better (Ю.К. Трифонов. Предварительные итоги) [RNC].

(10) Как у вас дела, как празднуете в Берлине? ― Делаидутхорошо, товарищ Сталин / How are you doing, how are you celebrating in Berlin? - Things are going well, Comrade Stalin (С.М. Борзунов. Бросок: Берлин – Прага) [RNC].

(11) Как-никак мы миновали утром сегодня Тихвин и говорим теперь о Вятке. В общем, мыидемхорошо / After all, we passed Tikhvin this morning and we are now talking about Vyatka. In general, we are going well (П.К. Козлов. Географический дневник) [RNC].

(12) По наукам я иду хорошо. Как и всегда, меня несколько подкузьмила математика, а именно ― я получил 7 баллов, но зато по остальными предметам баллы, к моему удивленно, очень и очень порядочные: по немецкому у меня 9 баллов, по химии 10 баллов, по тактике и по русскому языку 12 баллов / I am doing well in the sciences. As always, mathematics gave me a little kick, namely - I got 7 points, but on the other subjects the points, to my surprise, are very, very decent: in German I have 9 points, in chemistry – 10 points, in tactics and in Russian - 12 points (С. Я. Надсон. Дневники) [RNC].

In Russian this verb is combined with process nouns denoting actions, in which it expresses continuity. In the above given examples (10)-(12), we use 2 sentences as it is necessary to understand the realized meaning – direct or figurative. One sentence helps to understand the meaning of the verb to go in another sentence. In examples (9), (10), there are expressions делаидутхорошо / things are going well. The form of the Present Tense singular идут/ go has 24,596 tokens. In The National Corpus of the Russian Language, the sentence "Делаидутхорошо / Things are going well" appears 46 times. No tokens were found for sentences like Войскаидутхорошо / Troops go well and и Детиидутхорошо / Children go well. We decided to reveal the frequency of personalized sentences with personal pronouns and the frequency of functioning in the direct meaning using the example Мыидемхорошо / We go well (11) and Яидухорошо / I go well (12). As a result, we found only one proposal for each type. The last example with the personal pronoun Я/ I also implies functioning in a figurative sense (12). It can be assumed that a phrase with a subject represented by a noun or by a third person pronoun always implies functioning in a figurative meaning (9), (10). Then it can be argued that the presence of an adverb хорошо / well is an indicator of understanding this verb in a figurative sense. The ratio is X to O where X is mathematical notation and means indefinite quantity of uses in a figurative sense. It means there is no example of direct meaning in relation to any number of examples of figurative meaning that we could not find in the result of our search in The National Corpus of the Russian Language. With other phrases such as хорошо + идут, хорошо + идут / go well, no result is always obtained, although there are some examples in the National Corpus of the Russian Language. However, we can say that there isn’t any analytical structure with the verb ходить / go in the Russian language. We can only stress functioning of this verb in a figurative sense.

Tatar verb йɵрү /go.

1.  ничә айлар инде Садыйк абый хакында мыгырдап йөри: "Үзе бишенче разрядлы, ә гади детальләрне_дә эшли алмый, адәм имгәге!" - ди /  The Master has been whispering about uncle Sadic for several months: "he himself is the fifth grade mechanic, but he cannot make simple details, Adam!" (А. Алиш. Кадыйр Бикмурзинның җинаяте) [TNC].
2.  механизаторлар курсында укып йөри икән / It turns out that he is studying at the courses of machine operators (В. Имамов. Тозлы яра, ПКТЯ).
3.  киткәндә аның төпчеге Илдуска бары_тик алты_гына яшь иде, ә хәзер инде ул мәктәпкә йөри / When Khaibulla left, his ward Ildus was only six years old, and now he goes to school (Г. Әпсәләмов. Хәйбулла солдат) [TNC].
4.  айга бер тапкыр хастаханәгә йөри / Aliya goes to the hospital once a month (Казан утлары) [TNC].
5. кына чирләп йөри иде шул " / He was ill for a long time (Безнең гәҗит,) [TNC].

In the Tatar language the meaning realized in analytical structures depends on the nature of the main verb. Procession meaning is realized with non-limit verbs in a concrete-singular situation укыпйɵри / is studying now and in a generalized fact укыпйɵри / studies (13). A number of scientists (Aminova, 1993), (Ganiev, 2000) state that this verb expresses the meaning of “relatively long, continuous action”. The Written Corpus of the Tatar Language contains 139,099 tokens of this verb. We note various meanings of constructions formed by this verb in the Tatar language. We decided to take the pragmatic situation as the basis for the analysis, which implies a large share of relativity. As part of the analytical construction укыпйɵри / (he) studies,continues to study, this verb has 813 tokens in The Written Corpus of The Tatar Language (14).  As part of the analytical construction мәктәпкәйɵри / (he) goes to school this verb has  574  tokens (15). To designate the pragmatic situation of studying at school, we can say with a certain degree of confidence that both the analytical structure and the implementation of direct meaning are represented in the Tatar language. A similar picture is observed when we analyze the situation of the disease: the construction чирләпйɵри / (he) continues to be ill, is ill has 10 tokens, and the construction ахастаханәгәйɵри / (he) goes to the hospital has 11 tokens. The ratio is 1: 1.

The summary of the quantative analyses of the auxiliary verb to go functioning in French, English, Russian and Tatar languages is presented in Table 2.

Table 2. Quantitative analyses of auxiliary verb to go functioning in different languages

Diagram 2 represents the distribution of the auxiliary verb to go functioning in direct meaning and in indirect meanings as a part of analytical structures in French, English and Tatar languages.

Diagram 2. Distribution of auxiliary verb to go functioning in direct meaning and partially desemantized.

In French the dominance of indirect meaning functioning is determined by the existence of the Immediate Future Tense.

In the English language the dominance of direct meaning functioning is determined by the common use of this verb as a part of different stable expressions designating movement. This verb can express different types of movement irrelevant to the way of realization that’s why it is so wide used in direct meaning.

In the Tatar language the relative uniformity of direct and indirect meaning functioning (with slight dominance of direct meaning) is determined by the fact that there are many other verbs engaged in forming an analytical construction and used in in their indirect meaning. This verb is only one of them that’s why it functions equally in direct and indirect meaning.

Conclusion

Thus, the following conclusions can be drawn. In the investigated languages, the number of auxiliary verbs ranges from 1 to 4, and only a single verb is completely desemanticized. The presence of 4 auxiliary verbs indicates their activity in different time planes. In French, English and Tatar languages the aspectual meaning of iteration is grammaticalized in combination with the temporal meaning of the Past Tense by the corresponding partially desemantized verb. In the expression of the aspectual meanings of phase, the corresponding verbs are always involved. Modal meanings are expressed by the semantics of corresponding verbs. In English the presence of 4 auxiliary verbs allows them to function in modal area too.

Using the example of the verb to go, we can see the dependence of quantitative indicators and the level of desemantization. We introduced such parameter as the ratio of desemantized functioning and of functioning in direct meaning: in French – 1: 4, in English – 100: 1, in Tatar – 1: 1. In the Russian language only functioning in a figurative meaning is noted, so the ratio is X to O where X is a mathematical notation and means indefinite quantity of uses in a figurative sense. These quantitative indicators show that desemantization is represented in most investigated languages, although its correlation with the use in the direct meaning may be different.

The prospect for further research is to analyze meanings and degree of desemantization of other auxiliary verbs of different-structured languages.