On verb functions in the letters addressed by Dimitry Rostovsky to Stefan Yavorsky

The article is focused on an actual issue of linguistics - verb functions in the epistolary texts, in particular, the studies deals with the analysis of Dimitry Rostovsky’s personal letters addressed to his friend Stefan Yavorsky in the period from the edge of 1707 till the beg. of 1708. The choice of the verbal units is motivated by the fact that they denote various types of human activity, states and relations, and their presence in personal letters reflects processes of communication and interpersonal relations between an addressee and an addresser. The studies results have proved that the verbal units perform in the epistolary letters the text-constructing, style-denoting, and characterization functions. The text-constructing function is presented in the etiquette frame of the letter; it is shown in the content progression from an introduction to the main body of the letter, the verbs as linguistic means are explicitly developing the topic. The style-denoting function is associated with the personal literary manners of the author, it points to certain preferences in the choice of languages means and their usage and reflects individual rhetoric, expressiveness, irony of the addresser. The characterization as a function is viewed in two aspects: the text interpretation can make either addressee’s features and personal relations or the addresser personality vivid and evident. Due to the results of the studies both addressee and addresser are educated people with a high level of language competence, they were masters of the language resources usage.