Numerals in “Russian grammar” by A. A. Barsov

The article is devoted to the theoretical research of numerals found in the outstanding monument of Russian linguistic thought of the XVIII century - “Russian Grammar” by A. A. Barsov. It is determined that A.A. Barsov was the first national grammar linguist who made an attempt to develop a lexical-semantic classification of Russian numerals. The application of classification’s principles, despite their obvious connection with the European grammatical tradition, does not prevent a researcher from understanding peculiarities of this special language material. The interest of the founder of the “Russian Grammar” is equally manifested both in the attitude towards traditional writing and in the attention paid to the living, “easy to use” language. Such scientific approach allows identification of a broader, than in M. V. Lomonosov grammar, zone of variability in the functions of numerals. This phenomena is observed not only in the Russian literary language but also in the conversational language of the late XVIII century. Particularly noteworthy is an interpretation of syntactic properties of numeration in “Russian Grammar”. This interpretation has common features with other interpretations of modern linguistics.