snoxa

[Bjoern Wiemer]

As for "snoxa", I am no native speaker of Russian, but I have asked my wife
and her cousin, who are. My wife - PhD of Russian language and literature,
received in StP - refers the word both to the husband's father's and
mother's perspective; her cousin - somewhat younger, from Siberia,
mathematician - wasn't sure about its referential scope, but eventually
answered that it may denote also the wife of one's brother. Thus, the
comment of John Dingley's Russian informants may well reflect common
tendencies to widen the scope of "snoxa" - or to forget the word altogether.
Think of "dever" or "shurin", which - to my knowledge - are no longer used
(Russians nowadays have to think hard in order to REMEMBER what WAS properly
meant), or of the extension of "teshcha" on the expense of "svekrov'" (I
know of educated Moscow speakers, who would mix up both terms).
        Best,
Bjoern Wiemer.


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Bjoern Wiemer
Universitaet Konstanz
Philosophische Fakultaet / FG Sprachwissenschaft - Slavistik
Postfach 55 60 - D 179
D- 78457 Konstanz

e-mail: Bjoern.Wiemer at uni-konstanz.de
tel.: 07531 / 88- 2582
fax:  07531 / 88- 4007
                - 2741

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