Elene Kubryakova (1927–2011)

Chief Researcher, Section of Theoretical Linguistics

Elena Kubryakova is a distinguished expert in the field of theoretical linguistics, onomasiology, morphology and word derivation, morphonology, parts of speech studies, cognitive linguistics, discourse analysis.

Her research interests include, but are not limited to, general problems of theoretical linguistics, grammar of Germanic languages, typology of closely related languages, semantics and morphology of a derived word, child speech development, language categorization and conceptualization, types of discursive activity.

Graduated from the Lomonosov State University of Moscow in 1951.

Had been employed at the Institute of Linguistics RAS since 1959. Has co-authored several major academic papers which were well-received with other scholars and educational institutions around the world. Among them are "Comparative grammar of the Germanic languages" in four volumes (Moscow, 1963-1970), "General linguistics", translated into many other European languages (Moscow, 1972), "Hypothesis in contemporary linguistics" (Moscow, 1980), "The human factor in language" (Moscow, 1991), "Language and science in the end of the XX century" (Moscow, 1995), and others.

Elena Kubryakova authored many scholarly works, well-known both in Russia and abroad. Her fundamental research had given bases for many lines of linguistic study; theory of linguistic naming, derivational onomasiology, theory on parts of speech, studying the linguistic view of the world, linguistic categorization. She is an expert on cognitive linguistics. Elena Kubryakova has paved the way for cognitive-discursive research in Russian linguistics.

She had published over 360 academic papers, including 9 monographs and dictionaries. Her works include "What is word derivation" (1965), "Fundamentals of the morphological analysis" (1974), "Parts of speech in light of onomasiology" (1978), "Types of linguistic meanings. Semantics of a derived word" (1980), "Morphonology in language description" (1983), "The nominative aspect of text production" (1986), "Parts of speech from the cognitive point of view" (1997), "Language and meaning" (2004), "Theory of naming and word derivation" (2010). These were republished several times and continue to influence new generations of linguists. "The concise cognitive dictionary", on which she collaborated with Demyankov V., Pankrats Yu., and Luzina L., allowed for the development of cognitive linguistics into a separate field of study in Soviet and later Russian linguistics.

Elena Kubryakova combined her scholarly work with organizational; she served as the Chairperson of the Presidium of the Russian Association of Cognitive Linguists, was a member of the International Committee of Slavists (word derivation committee), was a member of the editorial boards for the journals "The Academy of Science News", "Issues of Philology", "Issues of Cognitive Linguistics".

Participated in many international and Russian conferences, among which were the annual Round table "Cognitive studies of language" and the International Cognitive Linguistics Congress.

She was part of the Dissertation committee at the Institute of Linguistics RAS.

20 PhD thesis and 40 Dr.habil. theses were defended under her guidance.

Elena Kubryakova passed away on 27th July, 2011, following a long illness.

Photo gallery

Photos from the personal archives of Novodranova V. (1-9). Photos 10-12 provided by Mariya Kovshova.

Selected publications