grammar query

[William Mahota]

On Mon, 4 Jan 1999, Emily Tall wrote:

> Can someone tell me why none of the new Russian textbooks include "koe-"
> when they treat indefinite particles? I learned about "koe-" during the
> IREX teacher exchange in MOscow but have never seen that material included
> in textbooks. Thanks! Emily Tall
>

The situation with the indefinite particles is more complex than it may
seems at first glance.  I will greatly oversimplify the facts to try to
answer Emily's question.
In the hierarchy of definiteness, koe- is at the top; it is the most
definite, and means that the speaker knows exactly what s/he is talking
about.  -to is next, and merely vouches for existence; what exists may not
be clear.  -libo is sort of in between -to and -nibud' (and is different
stylistically). -nibud' is the least definite, and does
not even vouch for existence.  That is why it is used in commands, the
future, and the subjunctive (for the most part).  The real problem is the
overlap between koe- and -to; in colloquial everyday
speech, -to is often used, even when the speaker knows exactly what s/he
is talking about, e. g.
        Ja xochu tebe chto-to skazat'  (or koe-chto).
        Mne nado kuda-to zajti.  Davaj vstretimsja cherez chas.

Koe- has acquired additonal semantic marking; it is often used when the
speaker doesn't want to tell exactly what s/he is talking about, but wants
his/her interlocutor to know that the something/someone/etc. exists. It
might be bad, great, a secret, etc.:
        Ja koe-chto uznal pro tebja vchera.  (possibly with marked
intonation).
Again, I am grealy oversimplifying.  To answer your question, I think it
is avoided in textbooks-at least elementary and intermediate- because it
is not really necessary, and students generally have enough problems with
-to and -nibud'.  There are few contexts where the use of koe- is
required,although it might be "preferred," strictly speaking.  We treat it
in advanced courses, and the students generally have enough experience to
understand it then.  I think it would be very confusing
in the first few semesters, simply because the "rules" are not that simple
(i.e. discourse and intonation play a role), and the "rules" are often
broken by native speakers.
Bill Mahota