Particle (redirected from Particles)

particle

1. Physics a body with finite mass that can be treated as having negligible size, and internal structure

2. See elementary particle

3. RC Church a small piece broken off from the Host at Mass

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particle [′pärd·ə·kəl]

(mechanics)

material particle

(particle physics)

elementary particle

(physics)

Any very small part of matter, such as a molecule, atom, or electron. Also known as fundamental particle.

Any relatively small subdivision of matter, ranging in diameter from a few angstroms (as with gas molecules) to a few millimeters (as with large raindrops).

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Particle 

a member of a lexical-grammatical class of words that express the attitude of the speaker toward an utterance and that may be used to produce certain grammatical forms. An auxiliary part of speech, the particle is not a sentence part.

Particles exist in many languages, and the Slavic languages have a rather extensive system. In Russian, particles are divided into several semantic-functional types. Syntactic particles are used in the formation of the subjunctive, imperative, and optative moods (by, pust’, da, davai, davaite). Negative particles include tie and ni. Subjective modal particles modify the sense of other words or entire sentences; they include intensive particles (ved’, dazhe, -to, zhe), emphatic particles (toi’ko, lish’), interrogative particles (razve, neuzheli, li), and exclamatory particles (kak, chto zd). Particles are also used as affixes in the formation of pronouns and adverbs (koe-, -libo, -nibud’, -to).

REFERENCES

Grammatika sovremennogo russkogo literaturnogo iazyka. Moscow, 1970.
Vinogradov, V. V. Russkii iazyk, 2nd ed. Moscow, 1972.

V. A. VINOGRADOV