(no subject)

[wolfie-18.livejournal.com]

Can someone please explain the participle -то after nouns and verbs. This is NOT in reference to когда-то, где-то, что-то, кто-то, куда-то and basically any of its variants. The -то I am referring to is usually in more colloquial speech. I hear snippets of it everytime, and I am trying to recall some examples...

My host mother once asked me "А ты что вчера делал-то?" In Oblomov movie, in one scene a man says "Это Лука-то строил" or perhaps I am misremembering and it was "Кто это построил-то?"

And I often see "А я-то думал, что..." usually it ends up being иначе.

Comments

[pacifik.livejournal.com]

This participle, going with verb or noun, is a method to point out that you are very interested in clarifying of this verb (or noun).
"А ты что вчера делал-?" - "Расскажи что ты вчера делал?"
"Это Лука- строил?" - " Лука это строил?"
"Кто это построил-?" - ", кто же это построил?".

This participle adds more expression to whole question and certain word and replaces additional words in questions.

[mophu.livejournal.com]

As an example:
"Кто это построил-то?" - "Кто мог ТАКОЕ построить?"
The meaning of -то depends on context and emotional emphasis.

[joliecanard.livejournal.com]

+1
But it's called a "particle" NOT a "participle"
(an example of a participle is танцующий)

[pacifik.livejournal.com]

Author said "participle", not me : )
I wrote "particle" first but then checked question and replaced it with "participle". Becouse my English is not very good and oftenly do mistakes.

[joliecanard.livejournal.com]

It was a correction for everybody
:)

[l-ionella.livejournal.com]

+1
Kind of "I wonder" at the end of a sentence.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Historically, this is what remains of the postpositioned definite article, now non-existent in Russian language. In some rural dialects, it still works aa the definite aricle. Some Slavic languages still use postpositioned definite article, like in Bulgarian: airplane = самолет; when the airplane arrives in Sofia? = кога пристига самолетът в София?
In some Russian dialects, this exact sentence would look approx. like "когда самолёт-от прилетает?" ("тът" -> "-от" in some dialects, "-то" in common colloquial speech.)

[joliecanard.livejournal.com]

Actually, in the dialects which have this particle functioning as a definite article, it's a spontaneous development and not some holdover from a historical time.
AFAIR, a definiteness distinction only ever existed in adjectives. I don't recall ever seeing a particle on nouns in either Old Russian or Old Church Slavonic texts that marked for definiteness. The definite articles in Macedonian and Bulgarian are attributed to the Balkan Sprachbund

[ashalynd.livejournal.com]

Wow thats an interesting piece of info. Among the living languages I know about, Swedish also has the postpositioned definite article that sounds similarly (not always though).

[archaicos.livejournal.com]

Even more things with -то:

"Т_а_к-то[, вот]." is usually said when there had been a mistake made or unfortunate fact and it was described. This is used as at the end to sum up and emphasize the badness of it and that that should be a lesson. Example:
- ... А я сглупил. Так-то, вот. (meaning that whatever was done wrong should now be a lesson for everyone)

Also, for almost the same purpose can be used "Т_о_-то./!" Usually this is used after describing the implications of someone's bad deed (usually to the doer) that wasn't well thought-through in the beginning and now makes sense and. The use is also emphatic. Example:
- Я и не знал, что так плохо выйдет.
- То-то. (meaning now you know and learned the lesson)
However, there's a different one:
- То-то он удивится! (meaning he will be for sure very much surprised)

And there's this different use also. "как то" is used not in the sense of "как-то" (однажды, once(upon a time), some time), but as "как" before a list of nouns, separated by commas, for examlpe:
Для этого может существовать масса причин, как то: низкая покупательная способность, неправильное позиционирование товара на рынке, ...

Как-то кто-то или некто
где-то что-то делал.
Этот некто или кто-то
на соплях куски приделав,
Напортачив что-то там,
говорил всегда всем смело:
"Не мешай, отстань, я - сам!"
И в итоге, как всегда,
Получалась ерунда.

Just kidding... :)

[zhirafov-nyet.livejournal.com]

So "как то" sort of means "such as"?

[archaicos.livejournal.com]

Precisely.