Searching and finding the meaning of new verbs: prefix variation of the Russian verb гуглить ‘to google’

Abstract

This article analyses the semantics of four perfective Russian verbs with similar but not identical meanings —погуглить, загуглить, нагуглить and прогуглить ‘to google’. The verbs were analyzed with regard to the adverbs and direct objects each verb takes. The results show that погуглить and прогуглить are more often used in the sense ‘to search for something [using Google]’, нагуглить in the sense ‘to find something [using Google]’, and that загуглить can be used in both senses. The method used in this article, analysis of co-occurrences, is useful for anyone who wishes to study the semantics of closely related words.