Kstati (For Good Measure), Which is Not Always a Good Measure: the Specifi cs of the Use of the Unit in Modern Oral Everyday Speech

The word kstati (by the way, for good measure) actively functions in oral everyday speech and can be perceived by listeners as a junk word. However, such use of this unit remains outside the scope of its lexicographic description. This a rticle examines the semantic, functional and structural features of the word kstati on the material of speech corpora, as well as the author’s notes of the spoken speech. Thus, in spoken speech kstati expresses subjective-modal meanings of ‘accentuation of the listener’s attention’ and ‘inconsistency with the expected’. The main function of this word is connective. It can connect closely and distantly located replicas, as well as extralinguistic information and the speaker’s utterance. In addition to the connective function, kstati can return the interlocutor’s attention to what was previously said or introduce a new topic of conversation. The following uses of this unit seem inappropriate: 1) if the connection of the components of the utterance is clear only to the speaker, 2) in the meaning of ‘inconsistency with the expected’. In addition, the article describes the communicatives kstati, kstati da / da kstati, as well as such constructions as <kstati znaesh’ (znaete), (chto)>, <kstati о + X>, <kstati naschet + N>, <kstati po povodu + N>, <kstati pro + N>. The information obtained can be used for a new lexicographic description of the word kstati and also be useful for replenishing linguistic databases.In addition, the results of the study can be used while teaching modern Russian, Russian as a foreign language or translating Russian texts into other languages.