Conjunction “But” as a Speech Characteristic of Chekhov’s Character (Based on the Material of the Story “The Lady with the Dog”)

The author states that doubts, hesitation and internal conflicts, typical for Chekhovs’ characters, are surely expressed in the speech of his characters. The author analyzes the conjunction “but” , the main meaning of which is adversity. However, article deals with different functions of the conjunction in Chekhov’s story “The Lady with the Dog”. It is shown that semantics of ‘but’ helps us understand more about the past of the characters and some situations that tell readers about the interior lives of the characters.

The paper lists the following functions of “but”:

• it shows potential peculiarities of Gurov’s personality which were not fulfilled;
• it makes some expressions of the main character less categorical;
• it helps to create a plot of the story;
• it marks the movement of the time as well as the psychological features of the character.

Further investigation of the usage of “but” in Chekov’s works could prove that it is his typical feature, which strongly emphasizes his individuality as a writer.