Definitional analysis of verbs of instrumental semantics

The article provides a definition-based analysis of Russian instrumental verbs пилить (to saw / cut or to nag) as a case study. Various lexicographic sources, including explanatory, phraseological, and synonym dictionaries, as well as encyclopedias, are used. The research focuses on the meanings recorded in the sources, identifies associations, proverbs, idiomatic expressions, semantically related words, and key semantic features of the verb. It also describes both prototypical and non-prototypical meanings of instrumentality. The definitional analysis is enhanced by componential analysis and synonymy degree calculations. The componential analysis identifies core (integral) semantic features, as well as peripheral ones. Calculations of the synonymy degree provide insights into the verb and its lexical proximity to other Russian verbs considered synonyms. The main semantic features such as rationality, purposefulness, causality, causativeness, instrumentality, locativity, interactivity, which are actualized in a situation with the verb nag, were identified. The findings highlight the broad semantic potential of the analyzed verb and its diverse range of uses.