'Otherwise, It Is Unclear What for I Am Living on Earth' (In Memory of V.A. Kosova)

G.Kh. Gilazetdinova ^a*, T.G. Fomina ^b**, L.R. Akhmerova ^a***, E.S. Palekha ^c****

^aKazan Federal University, Kazan, 420008 Russia

^bIndependent Researcher, Kazan, 420032 Russia

^cInstitute of Pedagogy, Psychology, and Social Problems, Kazan, 420039 Russia

E-mail: ^*ggilaz@mail.ru, ^**tfomina@yandex.ru, ^***lavolkins15@mail.ru, ^****katerina.paleha@gmail.com

Received July 15, 2021

PERSONALIA

Full text PDF

DOI: 10.26907/2541-7738.2021.4-5.9-22

For citation: Gilazetdinova G.Kh., Fomina T.G., Akhmerova L.R., Palekha E.S. “Otherwise, it is unclear what for I am living on earth” (in memory of V.A. Kosova). Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta. Seriya Gumanitarnye Nauki, 2021, vol. 163, no. 4–5, pp. 9–22. doi: 10.26907/2541-7738.2021.4-5.9-22. (In Russian)

Abstract

This article is dedicated to the memory of Vera Alekseevna Kosova (1960–2021), a prominent Kazan linguist, the representative of the Kazan School of Linguistics. Her life as a researcher and educator was inextricably linked with Kazan University, where she worked on the important problems of the theory of word formation, starting from her PhD thesis written under the guidance of a famous scientist Emiliya Agafonovna Balalykina and dedicated to the functioning of word-formation categories in their interaction with other levels of the language. V.A. Kosova pursued her reflection on this problem in the subsequent monograph and doctoral thesis. She concluded about the inter-level nature of derivational processes and relationships and the important role of word-formation science in the process of cognition: word formation, according to her, is capable of opening categorical “corridors” to the secrets of the structures of linguistic consciousness before researchers. By elaborating and developing the achievements of Kazan linguists, V.A. Kosova was one step ahead of her teachers in her theoretical views on the above problem. She performed a comprehensive analysis of the concept of word-formation category and turned to the theory of nomination. She was also successful in teaching, worked a lot with Russian and foreign students, including those in abroad universities, and strengthened the cooperation between Russia and other countries. Under her guidance, eight theses were defended; she was the chairperson of the Thesis Council. For many years, V.A. Kosova was the deputy executive editor and a member of the editorial board of the scientific journal Uchenye Zapiski Kazanskogo Universiteta (Proceedings of Kazan University. Humanities Series). V.A. Kosova will remain forever etched in the memory of her relatives and colleagues because of her exceptional human qualities, such as greatheartedness, cheerfulness, sincere affection, humanity, and responsiveness.

Keywords: Vera Alekseevna Kosova, Russian scholar, Kazan University, Kazan School of Linguistics, Balto-Slavic language relations, word formation, word-formation categories

Figure Captions

Photo 1. School years of Vera Kosova, 1971.

Photo 2. V.A. Kosova (on the left) during the “Comrade Song” event for foreign students at the KSU dormitory no. 3 on February 6, 1985. Next to Nina Dmitrievna Orlova and Gelinya Khairetdinovna Gilazetdinova.

Photo 3. V.A. Kosova (in the center) at the University of Giessen (Germany) with her colleague Gelinya Khairetdinovna Gilazetdinova (on the right) and her student Sabrina Lorenz, 2001.

Photo 4. V.A. Kosova (on the left) during the celebration of the jubilee of her thesis director Emilia Agafonovna Balalykina (next to her) on April 11, 2012. In the first row next to her: Gelyniya Khairetdinovna Gilazetdinova and Tatyana Gennad’evna Bochina; in the second row: Tatyana Mikhailovna Nikolayeva.

Photo 5. V.A. Kosova (on the right) after the Thesis Council Meeting with her graduate student Elena Alexandrovna Makleeva who has just defended her PhD thesis, November 15, 2018.

References

1. Kosova V.A. Suppletion in the nominative-derivational system of the modern Russian language. Extended Abstract of Cand. Philol. Diss. Kazan, 1995. 24 p. (In Russian)
2. Kosova V.A. Derivational and grammatical categorization of semantics: General and specific features. In: Yazykovaya semantika i obraz mira: kollektivnaya monografiya [Language Semantics and World Image: A Joint Monograph]. Bochina T.G. (Ed.). Kazan, Kazan. Univ., 2013, pp. 119–141. (In Russian)
3. Kosova V.A. Slovoobrazovatel’nye lategorii russkogo yazyka: problemy teorii [Derivational Categories of the Russian Language: Theory Problems]. Kazan, Nov. Znanie, 2014. 204 p. (In Russian)
4. Kosova V.V. Systemic importance of the categories of word formation in the Russian language. Extended Abstract of Doct. Philol. Diss. Kazan, 2014. 43 p. (In Russian)

The content is available under the license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.