Impersonal sentences of Russian are those traditionally construed to consist of predicates only. Ever since the first Russian grammar was compiled, they have continued to pose a problem for grammarians. This paper is intended to be a review and evaluation of all types of the so-called impersonal sentences in the Russian language. The investigation of these sentences has been conducted in terms of their relationships to basic (kernel) sentences. Our paper attempts to define the origin for such impersonal sentences, i.e., how such sentences might be derived within the framework of a generative grammar from a set of rules possessing maximal simplicity and maximal generative power. The long-range aim of this investigation involves the most efficient manipulation of such sentences in a recognition device for Russian-English MT.

An algorithm has been devised, and a computer program written, to translate certain recurring types of inorganic-chemistry terms from Russian to English. The terms arc all noun-phrases, and several different types of such phrases have been included in the program. Examples are: AZOTNONATRIEVA4 SOL6 sodium nitrate SOL6 ZAKISI/OKISI JELEZA ferrous/ferric salt ZAKISNA4 OKISNA4 SOL6 JELEZA GIDRAT ZAKISI/OKISI JELEZA ferrous/ferric salt etc., where the stems underlined may be replaced by any of a number of other stems (up to 65 in some positions) in the particular type. Translation of each type encounters problems common to almost all the types: (1) The Russian noun is translated as an English adjective, while the noun of the resulting English phrase is found among the modifiers of the Russian noun. (2) The Russian noun (English adjective) may be a metal with more than one valence state, the state indicated (if at all) by the modifiers. (3) The number of the resulting English noun-phrase is determined by some member of the Russian phrase other than the noun. (4) The phrase elements may occur compounded in the chemical phrase but free in other contexts, and dictionary storage must provide for this. The program permits translation of conjoined phrase elements as well. The paper also includes an investigation into the deeper grammatical implications of this type of chemical nomenclature, and some excursions into the semantic correlations involved.