Showing papers on "Czech published in 1973"

Abductive and deductive change

Abstract: This article takes as its point of departure an unusual phonological change in a Czech dialect. It then propores a model of phonological change which would make possible the undentanding of structural innovationr in the phonology of a homogeneous speech community. The model, which distinguishes two logically different modes o£ change (abductive and deductive), helps clarify the essential difference between 'internally motivated' change and change 'induced from without'. The model uses our experience of observed phonetic changes, and may consequently have some bearing on our understanding of the structure of phonology. t.1. In some localities in the Litomysl area in northeastern Bohemia, the traditional dialects as still spoken toward the end of the l9th century differed from the surroundirlg Czech dialects by a striking peculiarity: the occunence of apico-alveolar consonants /t d n/ correspondmg to Proto-Slavic bilabial consonants p *b *m in a small and dimini.shing number of very common lesemes, e.g. /koutit/ (Standard Czech koupsti) 'buy', /tekiie/ (pdknZ) 'nicely'? /di:lej/ (bfl§) 'white', /deiet/ (bet«eti) 'run?, /deemeno/ (bremeno) 'burden?, /ni:t/ (mfti) 'have', /nesto/ (mGsto) 'town'.l The LitomyFl dentals are mentioned in several 19th century works on Czech dialectology; they were even used in literary works as late as the 1890's to characterize foLk speech in that area. But even at that time, the dentals occurred only in the speech of the oldest generation of speakers and were an object of ridicule, celebrated in alliterating jeers like /ti:te ti:vo Nak je s tenou/ (P{te pivo vGak je s pGnou!) 'Drink yor beer, never mind the head!' or /holoude f troude na di:li: ni:se/ (Holoube v troubG na bBlf mBse) 'The young pigeon in the oven is on a white platter.' Now only a couple of etymologically isolated lexemes preserve this peculiarity of the old TetAk dialects as I will call them.g. /prati:sko/ (prapBsek) 'door post', /didla/ (bidla) 'flail', if thev are indeed still used.2 But it is clear from the endence that at one time in the past-as recently as the 1840's, according to Hodura (cited in Bblid 1966:40) the dialects in question regularly had dentals as reflexes of Proto-Slanc labials in certain environments.

Reflexive Versus Nonreflexive Pronominalization in Modern Russian and Other Slavic Languages

Abstract: In this paper I am discussing some striking phenomena of anaphoric (forward) pronominalization in modern Standard Russian and, in a rough survey, in modern Standard Polish, Slovakian, Czech, Upper Sorabian, Serbo-Croatian and Slovenian.

A Church in a Hostile State: The Unity of Czech Brethren

Abstract: The church to which this paper is devoted was the Unity of Czech Brethren, Unitas Fratrum; the state in which it was founded, in 1457, and existed for some hundred and seventy years, was the kingdom of Bohemia.

Some Important Studies of Negation in Slavic Languages--A Survey. Working Papers of the Russian School, No. 1.

Abstract: In discussing the views of leading linguistics on the specific features of Slavic negation, the author reviews mainly Czech material and compares it with Russian and English works. This paper is part of a larger work on negation in which it is argued that a language system is a dynamic system based on oppositions (with predominant binary oppositions) where negation is latently present in weighing distinctions and discerning essentials from unessentials (i.e., in the lexical system, in denoting concepts) and before uttering judgments (i.e., in syntax). The theories of the following linguists are discussed in the present work: (1) van Ginneken, (2) Gebauer, (3) Travnicek, (4) Jespersen, (5) Mathesius, (6) Vachek, and (7) Skalicka. Otto Jespersen's ',Negation in English and Other Languages," which explains a fluctuation in the development of negative expressions, is treated in some detail. The author gives recommendations for needed research on the semantics of the lexical system. The bibliography includes works consulted in the author's larger work but not cited here. (PM) S Ok 6.WE 4.1 ,151t1OT£ Of lit,C.At,04 y