Slovak

Draft chapter for Grenoble, L. & Friedman, V. (Eds), The Slavonic Languages. 2nd edition. SLOVAK1 Marián Sloboda and Mira Nábělková 1. Introduction Slovak is spoken by about 4.5 million residents of Slovakia and about 2.7 million people outside Slovakia have at least receptive knowledge of Slovak as their heritage language (Ondrejovič 2008). Slovak is the first language to 5.1 million people and a second language to 1.7 million people worldwide (Simons and Fennig 2017). In Slovakia, it is a mother tongue to 82 per cent of the country’s population (Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic 2021). Outside Slovakia, most vibrant speaker communities reside in Czechia,2 mainly thanks to recent migration from Slovakia, and in Vojvodina (Serbia)3 where Slovaks arrived in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Historical migrations gave rise to Slovak groups also elsewhere in Europe, especially within the territory of former Austria-Hungary, and overseas (esp. USA, Canada and Argentina). Western European countries (particularly Germany, Austria and the UK), Hungary and the USA are the main destination countries of current Slovak migration (cf. OECD 2021). Slovak is the official language of the Slovak Republic, where it enjoys the de jure status of the ‘state language’ (štátny jazyk, per Constitution and Act No. 270/1995). It also is an official language of the European Union and is co-official in Vojvodina, Serbia. Slovak is recognized as a traditional minority language under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in Austria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Ukraine. Standard Slovak is monocentric, but there have been suggestions to view it as a pluricentric language, considering the regularity of specific features of Slovak in public and formal contexts in Vojvodina, Serbia (Dudok 2002, Štolc 1975: 208). In addition to the Standard, or in Slovak terminology ‘literary’, variety (spisovná slovenčina), the current stratification models (Kováčová 2013: Ch. 2) recognize three regionally-specific varieties of Common Slovak (bežné/štandardné variety). These varieties are very close to the Standard but exhibit features specific to western, central and eastern Slovakia, respectively, as well as recent but commonly used borrowings, particularly from Czech. There are also three substandard varieties (subštandardné variety) of supra-interdialectal nature, again divided into the western, central and eastern varieties, as well as numerous traditional local dialects (nárečia) The authors have used some portions of the description of Slovak by David Short (1993) in the first edition of this book; the responsibility for the present text, however, is entirely of the present authors. 2 Approximately 225,000 residents of Czechia claimed Slovak mother tongue in the 2021 Census (www.czso.cz). 3 Approximately 37,000 Slovak mother tongue speakers according to the 2022 Census (www.stat.gov.rs). 1 1 and social dialects. This chapter describes Standard Slovak; however, the final section (8) provides a brief introduction to local dialects. Continuous literary tradition in Slovak dates back to the mid-16th century with the first continuous text preserved from the late 15th century. The beginnings of literary expression, however, can be connected to the 9th century Old Church Slavonic literacy brought into the territory of today’s Slovakia by the Byzantine mission of Sts Cyril and Methodius. Latin, Czech and—to a lesser extent—German and other languages were particularly influential in the elaboration and cultivation of Slovak over centuries. The historical basis of contemporary Standard Slovak is Ľudovít Štúr’s codification of the 1840s (Štúr 1846), based mainly on the north-central dialects as spoken by cultural elites. This standard was soon revised by Michal Miloslav Hodža and Martin Hattala, and published in 1852, after a consensus between representatives of different Slovak elite groups, including the supporters of Štúr, of earlier Anton Bernolák’s codification and of Czech, had been reached. The codification compromise fused Štúr’s Slovak with other varieties, which resulted in the introduction of some less regular features into the Standard variety. That codification also brought Standard Slovak closer to Czech in orthography (e.g., the use of both <i> and <y> for /i/, the non-marking of the palatalization of <ň ď ť> by the caron before <i>, etc.) and in morphology (e.g., the ‘hard’/‘soft’ distinction in adjectival endings and the -l suffix in place of north-central Slovak -u in the masculine past forms). On the other hand, the compromise codification adopted Bernolák’s ľ /ʎ/ which is absent from Czech. The reformed codification was published in Hattala (1852). The Central Slovak basis of the Standard is most pronounced in morphology and phonology; vocabulary maintains many items of Czech origin. As a result, Standard Slovak is close to Czech but also to South Slavic, since the central dialects display non-West Slavic features shared with South Slavic (see section 8). In contrast to Štúr’s, the earlier Bernolák’s codification (1790) was based on Western Slovak, which, though relatively short-lived, did produce some literature and Bernolák’s large posthumous multilingual dictionary (Slowár Slowenskí Češko-Laťinsko-Ňemecko-Uherskí, 1852–7). In the east, Slovak Calvinists had attempted to consistently use a variety based on eastern dialects, but their literary production was discontinued. Slovak Lutherans used the so-called biblical Czech (with Slovak influences) which remained in some use in the Lutheran church up until the 1990s. (For details on the standardization history of Slovak, see e.g., Ďurovič 1980, Krajčovič and Žigo 2011.) The status of contemporary Standard Slovak from the time of its codification until the end of WWI, when Slovak-speaking areas were part of the Hungarian Kingdom, was that of a nonofficial minority language. This substantially changed with the establishment of Czechoslovakia in 1918, when Slovak became official as one of the two standard forms of the ‘Czechoslovak language’ (as per 1920 Constitution and Act No. 122/1920). The 1931 codification of Slovak orthography, also affecting morphology, included many Czech elements, which gave rise to a purist movement. The Standard form and the official position of Slovak stabilized by the end of WWII. After the communist party came into power in 1948, both the linguistic purism and the idea of a common ‘Czechoslovak language’ were discarded for ideological and political reasons and the idea of ‘rapprochement’ (zbližovanie) between Slovak and Czech guided the cultivation of Standard Slovak, particularly in specialized 2 terminology (Lipowski 2005). Later cultivation activities followed mainly the functional structuralist principles of the Czechoslovak (Prague School) theory of language cultivation (Neustupný and Nekvapil 2003: part iv). In 1993, Slovak became the only ‘state language’ of the now independent Slovak Republic. The use of the Standard variety in public communication is explicitly prescribed by the State Language Act (No. 270/1995) as the term state language is defined as ‘Slovak in its codified form’ (para. 11); the use of non-standard elements is allowed if ‘functional’ (ibid.). The codified form is defined on the Ministry of Culture’s website4 and covers norms of orthography, orthoepy, morphology and lexis (i.e. not syntax), as captured by professional linguists (as of 2021, the prescribed reference books comprise Považaj 2013, Kráľ 2009, Dvonč et al. 1966, and Kačala et al. 2020). The Ministry publishes biannual reports on the basis of their monitoring of Standard Slovak use in public. According to the Ethnologue database, the status of Slovak is national (‘the language is used in education, work, mass media, and government at the national level’) and on the Expanded Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (ranging from ‘0’ not disrupted to ‘8’ extremely disrupted intergenerational transmission), Slovak finds itself at level 1 (Simons and Fenning 2017). The position of Slovak, as compared to the languages of the world, is thus very secure. Slovak, especially its western and central (and therefore Standard) varieties, is mutually intelligible with Czech to a high degree (see Gooskens et al. 2018). This stems from a high level of similarity between the two languages. Linguistic distance measures carried out by the present authors using the method of Gooskens (2007) show that the phonetic-grammatical distance of Slovak from Czech is approximately 18%, while it is 29% from Polish and 41% from Russian; the lexical distance from Czech is only 4%, while it is 18% from Polish and 34% from Russian (cf. Heeringa et al. 2013).5 Receptive bilingualism in communication between Slovaks and Czechs is thus possible and has become a normal habitual practice. Receptive bilingualism with speakers of other Slavic languages, particularly Polish, can occasionally be observed, but is usually a matter of situational negotiation between interlocutors, rather than the standard choice. 2. Phonology and Morphonology 2.1 Segmental phoneme inventory Standard Slovak has 41 phonemes, 14 of which are vowels and 27 consonants (incl. /j/). 2.1.1 Vowels The vowel system has a simple triangular organization distinguishing three levels of openness (close, mid and open) and two levels of fronting (front and back) (Figure 1). The system is complicated by the phonological distinction between short and long vowels. There are five short vowels /i ɛ a ɔ u/ and nine long vowels, five of which are monophthongs /iː ɛː aː ɔː uː/ and four are rising diphthongs /i̯ ɛ i̯ a i̯ u u̯ɔ/. A variant of Standard Slovak (as well as some See section Štátny jazyk [State Language] at https://www.culture.gov.sk/. The phonetico-grammatical distance measure is based on the Levenshtein algorithm and the lexical distance measure on the share of non-cognates in the texts used for the measurement. 4 5 3 dialects) feature an additional vowel /æ/ which is very rarely used in contemporary public and formal speech. The vowel inventory is represented in Figure 1 (based on Hanulíková and Hamann 2010).6 A description of vowels in terms of distinctive features (following Hall 2007) is presented in Table 1a. Figure 1. Vowel phonemes of Slovak Table 1a. Vowel phonemes of Slovak i iː ɛ ɛː a aː ɔ ɔː u uː i̯ ɛ i̯ a i̯ u u̯ɔ close + + – – – – – – + + – – + – open – – – – + + – – – – – + – – back – – – – + + + + + + – – – + long – + – + – + – + – + + + + + – + + + + glide – – – The monophthongs belong to the central part of the Slovak phonological system, except for long mid vowels /ɔː ɛː/. The former only appears in loanwords; the latter’s occurrence is restricted to adjectival grammatical morphemes as well as to loanwords. As for the native lexical morphemes, /ɛː/ only occurs in dcéra (‘daughter’) and in onomatopoeic words. In morphonological lengthening (2.3), diphthongs /i̯ ɛ u̯ɔ/ work as the long counterparts to /ɛ ɔ/, whereas long monophthongs /iː aː uː/ alternate with /i a u/. The other two diphthongs, /i̯ u u̯ɔ/, are in the periphery of the Slovak phonological system (for functional load, see Kráľ and Sabol 1989; for frequency measures, see Štefánik et al. 1999). 2.1.2 Consonants We diverge here from the IPA standard set by Hanulíková and Hamann (2010) in representing the phonemes /i̞ u̞/ without the diacritics as /i u/, for the sake of simplicity. 6 4 Slovak consonants are divided into obstruents and sonorants (Table 2a). Sonorants /l r/ (liquids) can stand in syllable nuclei and, when syllabic, the vocalic short/long distinction applies, producing additional liquids /l̩ ː r̩ː/. Short syllabic liquids alternate with their long counterparts like vowels, for example, in the derivation of youngling nouns (e.g, vlk /ʋl̩ k/ ‘wold’ → vĺča /ʋl̩ ːt͡ʃa/ ‘wolfling’, similarly to hus ‘goose’ → húsa ‘gosling’) and in imperfectivization (e.g., vytrhať /ʋitr̩ɦac/ PFV → vytŕhať /ʋitr̩ːɦac/ IPFV ‘to tear apart’, similarly to vysypať PFV → vysýpať IPFV ‘to squeeze out’). Syllabic liquids only occur in lexical morphemes and only between consonants (i.e. not word-initially or word-finally). A syllabic and a non-syllabic liquid do not occur in juxtaposition. Non-sonorants are organized along the voiced/voiceless distinction and the continuant/abrupt distinction. The whole system of consonantal phonemes is shown in Table 2a using the symbols of the International Phonetic Association for the main phonic realization.7 Table 2a. Consonantal phonemes of Slovak (using IPA symbols) CORONAL Features LABIAL +anterior –sonorant +continuant –sonorant –continuant –strident –sonorant –continuant +strident –sonorant +continuant +strident +sonorant +nasal –anterior f v* p b x ɦ t d c ɟ ͡ts d͡z ͡tʃ d͡ʒ s z ʃ ʒ n ɲ +sonorant +lateral l [+syllabic: –long] l̩ ː [+syllabic, +long] ʎ +sonorant –lateral +continuant +sonorant –lateral +glide r [+syllabic: –long] r̩ː [+syllabic, +long] m BACK k g j */v/ behaves as both obstruent and sonorant (see text) and so is rather unspecified for [sonorant]. Phonemes /v m n ɦ/ have obligatory and facultative allophones. The non-sonorant realization of /v/ as [v] is a rule before a voiced non-sonorant in the syllable onset. Before a sonorant Following Hanulíková and Hamman (2010), we use the IPA symbols for palatals to represent non-anterior coronal phonemes which, from the articulatory point of view, materialize as palatalized postalveolars (Dvončová et al. 1969). The unavailability of specific symbols for the latter may justify our use of symbols for palatals, which is to emphasize their separate phonemic status. Concerning our use of the [BACK] feature, see below. 7 5 (incl. vowel) in the syllable onset and after a non-syllabic sonorant in the coda, the usual realization is approximant [ʋ]. After a syllabic sonorant in the coda, with the optional exception before /n ɲ/, the allophone is glide [w] (Table 3). Table 3. Positional allophones of /v/ [v] [ʋ] [w] vziať [vzi̯ ac] ‘to take’ vnútri [ʋnuːtri] ‘inside’ krv [kr̩w] ‘blood’ vbiť [vbic] ‘to beat into’ voda [ʋɔda] ‘water’ hláv [ɦlaːw] ‘heads.GEN’ hlava [ɦla.ʋa] ‘head’ hlávka [ɦlaːw.ka] ‘head.DIM’ červ [t͡ʃɛrʋ] ‘worm’ hlavný ‘main’ [ɦlaʋ.niː], less commonly [ɦlaw.niː] The Standard pronunciation of /m/ before /v f/ is [ɱ] (e.g., emfáza [ɛɱfaːza], triumf [triuɱf], osemvalcový […ɱ.ʋ…] ‘eight-cylinder’). The realization of /n/ may optionally be continuant before continuants (e.g., slovenský [slɔʋɛnskiː] or [slɔʋɛn˺skiː]8 ‘Slovak’; bronchitída [brɔnxitiːda] or [brɔŋ˺xitiːda] with a simultaneous neutralization of the CORONAL feature, see 2.1.4 below). This variation in [continuant] is a reason to maintain [nasal] as a distinctive feature of Slovak nasals. Phoneme /ɦ/ is marked as BACK in order to group with the dorsals. In phonetic terms, the main allophone is laryngeal, but /ɦ/ works as the voiced counterpart to /x/ in the neutralization of voicedness (2.1.4), in which it is usually realized as dorsal [ɣ] (e.g., prah domu [praɣ dɔmu] ‘threshold of a house’, juh a východ [juɣ a ʋiːxɔt] ‘south and east’) (Kráľ 2009: 61). Of the older Slavic palatalization correlation, only /n/:/ɲ/, /t/:/c/, /d/:/ɟ/ and /l/:/ʎ/ have remained in Slovak for morphophonemic alternations (2.3). The /l/:/ʎ/ distinction is generally receding in favour of /l/, which brings Slovak phonology closer to the Central European Sprachbund (cf. Thomas 2008). The change into /l/ takes place especially before /ɛ/ even in formal and public speech (Liška 2007 [1965]). The maintenance of /ʎ/ is still perceived as standard before a back vowel, consonant or word boundary. The palatalization of /ʎ/ is usually well-preserved by speakers from eastern Slovakia and from Vojvodina, Serbia. A trace of the formerly more wide-spread palatalization correlation is also observable in neutralizations: some (formerly palatalized) consonants are followed by non-back (i-initial) diphthongs, rather than long monophthongs (2.1.4). These so-called ‘soft’ consonants comprise strident non-continuants /t͡s d͡z/ and all non-anterior coronals (cf. Table 2a). The ‘hard’ consonants comprise non-strident anterior non-continuants /t d n/, the anterior lateral /l/ and back consonants /k g x ɦ/. The remaining consonants, i.e. anterior continuants /s z r/ and the labials, are ‘ambivalent’ (obojaké), as they can be followed by both long To mark the continuant pronunciation of the two nasals we use the IPA diacritic for ‘no audible release’, although Pavlík (2004) suggests the diacritic for ‘lowered’ articulation (/n̞ ŋ̞/). The reason for our choice is that we already use the ‘no audible release’ diacritic in cases where the alveolar release is cancelled (see anteriority neutralization in 2.1.4). 8 6 monophthongs and non-back diphthongs. The distinction between the ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ consonants is also relevant for the orthography of <i í> vs. <y ý> (2.1.3). The peripheral elements of the Standard Slovak consonantal system include long syllabic sonorants /l̩ ː r̩ː/, voiced affricates /d͡z d͡ʒ/, and phonemes /g/ and /f/ (cf. Štefánik et al. 1999). The voiced affricates do not occur word-initially, except for /d͡ʒ/ in a few onomatopoeia and loanwords (e.g. džem [d͡ʒɛm] ‘jam’). The use of /f/ is also restricted to onomatopoeia and loanwords as well as some voicing neutralization positions. Phoneme /g/ occurs in onomatopoeia, loanwords but also in several words of Slavic origin that are expressive or contain the /zg/ cluster (e.g., gniaviť [gɲi̯ aʋic] ‘suppress, hold down’, miazga [mi̯ azga] ‘sap, lymph’); /g/ also occurs as the result of /k/ voicing; otherwise it changed to /ɦ/ in the Middle Ages. The distribution of /g/ is somewhat wider in Slovak than in Czech (cf. differences in loanword adaptation, e.g., proper name Gaspar → Sk gašpar vs. Cz kašpar ‘buffoon’). There is also a restriction on the tautosyllabic juxtaposition of /j/ and /i/ (cf. Sk iný [iniː] vs. Cz jiný [jɪniː] ‘other’; Sk pi! [pi] vs Cz pij! [pɪj] ‘drink.IMPV’), but on the other hand, /j/ is a usual intervocalic interfix (e.g., pi:j-ú ‘they drink’). On the phonotactic restrictions on long syllabic liquids /l̩ ː r̩ː/, see above. 2.1.3 Relations between phonemes and orthography Standard Latin letters are used to represent most of the phonemes (Tables 1b and 2b), but there is some use of diacritics and digraphs. As for diacritics, the <ä> grapheme with an umlaut represents front /æ/ in the older Standard and in some local dialects; nowadays it usually stands for /ɛ/ (e.g. päta /pɛta/ ‘heel’). The length of monophthongs and /l̩ ː r̩ː/ is marked by the acute <í é á ó ú ĺ ŕ>; non-anterior coronals are marked by the caron <š ž ť ď ň ľ>. Phoneme /ɦ/ is rendered as <h> and affricates /t͡s/ and /t͡ʃ/ with a single letter <c> and <č>, respectively. A circumflex is used for back diphthong <ô>, while digraphs <ie ia iu> are used for the non-back diphthongs. Digraphs <dz> and <dž> are used for /d͡z/ and /d͡ʒ/, respectively, and <ch> for /x/ (Tables 1b and 2b). The phonemes /i iː/ are exceptions to the one-to-one phoneme–grapheme correspondence, as two graphemes, <i í> and <y ý>, are used for their representation (for distribution, see below). Remaining Latin letters <q w x> are maintained in loanwords and usually pronounced, respectively, as [kv], [v]/[ʋ] and [ks] (or [gz] under voice assimilation), although the general tendency to Slovakize loanwords reduces the occurrence of <q> and <w> (cf. quark → kvark; software → softvér, etc.); <x> is preserved (saxofón ‘saxophone’). The full Slovak alphabet (lower case) is as follows (graphemes in addition to the standard Latin alphabet appear in boldface): a, á, ä, b, c, č, d, ď, dz, dž, e, é, f, g, h, ch, i, í, j, k, l, ĺ, ľ, m, n, ň, o, ó, ô, p, q, r, ŕ, s, š, t, ť, u, ú, v, w, x, y, ý, z, ž The alphabet is thus capable of representing each phoneme with a unique grapheme and, indeed, the phonemic principle plays a major role in Slovak orthography. An important divergence from this principle consists in the non-marking of the ‘softness’ of /c ɟ ɲ ʎ/ when followed by /i iː ɛ/ or a non-back diphthong (e.g., [ɟɛci] ‘children’ is written as deti, not *ďeťi; [ci̯ ɛɲɛ] ‘shadows’ is written as tiene, not *ťieňe). 7 Table 1b. Vowel phonemes of Slovak (using Slovak letters) i/y í/ý e é a á o ó u ú ie ia iu ô close + + – – – – – – + + – – + – open – – – – + + – – – – – + – – back – – – – + + + + + + – – – + long – + – + – + – + – + + + + + – + + + + glide – – – Table 2b. Consonantal phonemes of Slovak (using Slovak letters) CORONAL Features LABIAL +anterior –sonorant +continuant –sonorant –continuant –strident –sonorant –continuant +strident –sonorant +continuant +strident +sonorant +nasal –anterior f v p b ch h t d ť ď c dz č dž s z š ž n ň +sonorant +lateral l [+syllabic: –long] ĺ [+syllabic, +long] ľ +sonorant +continuant –lateral +sonorant –lateral +glide r [+syllabic: –long] ŕ [+syllabic, +long] m BACK k g j Other exceptions to the phonemic principle are due to the morphological principle: (i) The graphic shapes of morphemes do not reflect consonantal neutralizations (2.1.4). For example, the written representations of prefixes (except for s-/z-) remain the same irrespective of devoicing: <od> represents both /ɔd/ (as in odbúrať /ɔdbuːrac/ ‘to break down [substances]’) and /ɔt/ (as in odpútať /ɔtpuːtac/ ‘to unleash’). (ii) The INS.SG.F ending -/ov/ ([ɔw]) is written as -ou and, thus, distinguished from the GEN.PL.M ending -ov (also [ɔw]). Finally, the etymological principle is restricted to the following cases: 8 (i) The employment of <i í> and <y ý> to represent /i iː/: the iota appears after a ‘soft’ consonant, the ypsilon after a ‘hard’ consonant (on this distinction, see 2.1.2 above), although there are exceptions to this distribution: (i) loanwords in which the reverted use of <i í> vs. <y ý> itself is etymological (e.g., Greek kino /kinɔ/ ‘cinema’, bicykel /bit͡sikɛl/ ‘bicycle’, Latin aníz /aniːs/ ‘anise’), (ii) onomatopoeic words (e.g., chichot /xixɔt/ ‘snicker’, híkať /ɦiːkac/ ‘to heehaw’), (iii) NOM.PL.M.AN marker in adjectivals (e.g., veľk-í ‘big-NOM.PL.M.AN’ vs. veľk-ý ‘big-NOM.SG.M.AN’), and (iv) a few idiosyncratic native words (e.g., kiahne /ki̯ aɦɲɛ/ ‘smallpox’, kiež /ki̯ ɛʃ/ ‘if only’). (ii) The employment of <ä> (in place of historical /æ/ after labials). (iii) The orthography of loans from languages written in the Latin script (e.g., pizza, workshop), although Slovakization takes place after some time (e.g., angažmán from French engagement; softvér from English software). 2.1.4 Neutralizations of phonemic distinctions There are six neutralizations in Slovak: three vocalic and three consonantal (for an older interpretation, from which this edition diverges to some extent, see Kráľ and Sabol 1989; for a description in the framework of lexical and autosegmental phonology, see Rubach 1993). ‘Rhythmical’ shortening is a traditional term referring to a progressive neutralization of syllabic length: a morphonologically long syllable is realized as short if it immediately follows another morphonologically long syllable, i.e. a syllable containing a [+long] segment (see above). For example, many adjectival endings are long (e.g., pekn-á ‘pretty-NOM.SG.F’, čerstv-ými ‘fresh-INS.PL), but if attached to a stem with a long final syllable, the ending appears with a corresponding [–long] segment (e.g., krásn-a ‘beautiful-NOM.SG.F’, mŕtv-ymi ‘dead-INS.PL’). The place of articulation of the [–long] segment corresponds with its [+long] counterpart; in case of diphthongs, with the diphthong’s second component (e.g. /á ia/ → /a/). In a moraic interpretation of Slovak phonology (Pauliny 1979: 150f.), the segment occupying the first mora in the syllable is deleted. This rule is cyclic, i.e. the first syllable to the right is shortened first, then the second to the right etc. (e.g., {čít-áv-ám} → čít-av-am ‘read-FREQ1SG, cf. ocit-ám sa, ocit-áv-am sa, ‘find(-FREQ)-1SG oneself’). The rule applies to almost all grammatical and most derivational suffixes, but not to roots (e.g., zá-siel-ka ‘consignment, package’). Among purely grammatical suffixes, exceptions to this rule only include (i) GEN.PL.F/N markers, (ii) 3PL ending -ia, and (iii) related markers of the gerund and active participle (-iac) of the i-stem verbs (3.2). The few remaining exceptional grammatical suffixes simultaneously perform a derivational function (for a full list, see Považaj 2013). There are morphophonemic alternations that also prevent two long syllables from occurring next to each other, but in contrast to the rhythmical shortening, they render the stem’s syllable short while the suffix remains long (e.g. pís-ať ‘write-INF’, but short pis-ár ‘scribe’). Thus, the rhythmical shortening rule is part of a wider tendency in Slovak to prevent the juxtaposition of two long syllables in a word. Diphthongization, or [glide] neutralization, proceeds progressively and relates to the ‘soft/hard’ consonant distinction (2.1.2). Following a ‘soft’ consonant, {ɛː aː} materialize as 9 diphthongs /i̯ ɛ i̯ a/ (e.g, myš-iach ‘mouse-LOC.PL.F’ vs. krys-ách ‘rat-LOC.PL.F’; čaša NOM.SG → čiaš GEN.PL ‘calix, cup’ vs. kaša NOM.SG → káš GEN.PL ‘mush, porridge’; smet-iar [smɛci̯ ar] ‘dustman’ vs. drot-ár [drɔtaːr] ‘tinker’). Some derivational and grammatical suffixes thus have two phonemic variants (cf. paradigms in section 3). Diphthong shortening after /j/ resolves the juxtaposition of two glide segments, namely of /j/ and the subsequent diphthong, that would have emerged as a result of diphthongization (see above), by neutralizing the diphthong’s [long] (and thus also [glide]) feature. This neutralization applies to both inflection (cf. ulic-iach ‘street-LOC.PL’ but zmij-ach ‘viperLOC.PL’; obžalôb GEN.PL ‘indictment’, but obhajob GEN.PL ‘defense’) and derivation (peš-iak ‘infantryman’ but voj-ak ‘soldier’). There are several exceptions, in which only the diphthong’s [glide] feature is neutralized and the segment remains [+long] (e.g., maj-ák ‘beacon, lighthouse’; jama NOM.SG → jám GEN.PL ‘hole’; kaj-ám sa ‘repent-1SG’). Neutralization of voicedness is a regressive consonantal neutralization affecting nonsonorants, except for /v/ in the syllable coda position (2.1.2). Devoicing occurs in the following positions: word-finally before a pause (1a) and word-finally and word-internally before a voiceless consonant (1b). (1) a. body – bod b. bod krajiny – bodka /bɔdi/ – /bɔt/ /bɔt krajini/ – /bɔtka/ ‘points’ – ‘point’ ‘landscape point’ – ‘dot’ Voicing occurs as follows: before a voiced non-sonorant word-internally and word-finally (2a) and before a sonorant word-finally (2b) and in compounds also word-internally (2c). Voicing also idiosyncratically occurs before /m/ in forms of náš, váš ‘ours, yours’ (2d) and byť ‘to be’ (2e). (2) a. prosiť → prosba – pros ho /prɔsic/ → /prɔzba/ – /prɔz ɦɔ/ ‘to ask, request’ → ‘request’ – ‘ask him’ b. pros ju – pros ich /prɔz ju/ – /prɔz ix/ ‘ask her’ – ‘ask them’ c. viacej → viacnásobný – viacizbový /ʋi̯ at͡sɛj/ → /ʋi̯ ad͡znaːsɔbniː/ – /ʋi̯ ad͡zizbɔʋiː/ ‘more’ → ‘multiple’ – ‘with more rooms’ d. naše → nášmu /naʃɛ/ → /naːʒmu/ vaše → vášmu /ʋaʃɛ/ → /ʋaːʒmu/ ‘our:NOM.SG.N’ → ‘our:DAT.SG.N’ ‘our:NOM.SG.N’ → ‘our:DAT.SG.N’ e. som, si, sú → sme 10 /sɔm si suː/ → /zmɛ/ ‘I.am, you.are, they.are’ → ‘we.are’ Specific rules apply to prepositions s, so (‘with’) and k, ku (‘to’)9 when used with personal pronouns. In this context, both their basic and vocalized forms are pronounced as written: s [s] ňou (‘with her’), k [k] nej (‘to her’), so [sɔ] mnou (‘with me’), ku [ku] mne (‘to me’), etc. With other nouns, the basic forms of prepositions are subject to neutralization (e.g., s [z] nehou ‘with tenderness’, k [g] nebu ‘to the sky’) and the vocalized forms are voiced contra their orthography (e.g., so sestrou [zɔ sɛstrɔw] ‘with one’s sister’, ku kamarátovi [gu kamaraːtɔʋi] ‘to a friend’). Thus, unless they connect with a personal pronoun, s (so) and another preposition z (zo) (‘out of, from’) are pronounced in the same way and only differ orthographically. Neutralization of anteriority is a regressive consonantal neutralization that applies to noncontinuants before a non-anterior non-sonorant consonant on a morpheme boundary. While this rule is obligatory before non-continuants, it is facultative before continuants in Standard Slovak. For example, (i) od+deliť /ɔd/+/ɟɛlic/ ‘from’ + ‘to partition’ → /ɔɟɟɛlic/ [ɔɟ˺ɟɛlic] ‘to separate’; (ii) od+čerpať ‘to siphon’ → /ɔct͡ʃɛrpac/ [ɔc˺t͡ʃɛrpac]; but (iii) od+žiť ‘to spend a part of one’s life’ is realized as /ɔɟʒic/ [ɔɟ˺ʒic] or /odʒic/ [ɔd.ʒic] (for details on Standard pronunciation, see Kráľ 2009: 75–78).10 Neutralization of [CORONAL] in nasals is a regressive consonantal neutralization affecting the place of articulation of /n ɲ/. Before a LABIAL non-continuant, the realization is also labial (e.g., klenba [kʎɛmba]/[klɛmba] ‘vault’, hanba [ɦamba] ‘shame’; loanwords may be exceptions). Before a BACK non-continuant, and optionally before continuant /x/, the realization is also back [ŋ] (e.g., banka [baŋka] ‘bank’, laň ‘hind’ → lanka [laŋka] ‘small hind’). Labial nasal /m/ is not subject to this neutralization, but see its [ɱ] allophone (2.1.2 above). 2.2 Prosodic phenomena Standard Slovak has fixed initial stress. However, prepositions, especially if monosyllabic, attract the stress, e.g., ruka [ˈruka] ‘hand’ vs. na ruke [ˈna rukɛ] ‘on the hand’. At the beginning of a sentence or before a long word (of four syllables or more), speakers tend to keep the stress on the lexical word, leaving the preposition unstressed. There are several clitics: (i) the COND particle by, (ii) the past tense auxiliary, (iii) weak forms of personal pronouns (Table 11), (iv) the reflexive/reciprocal/passivizing sa and si, and (v) the monosyllabic conjunctions. The clitics have a rather fixed position in the sentence (5.1). The vocalized forms so and ku are used, for pronunciation reasons, when the subsequent syllable onset contains the same or a similar sound, and before the 1SG personal pronoun. 10 In substandard varieties, this neutralization also applies to some continuants, namely strident ones, but only if the following consonant is also strident, e.g., roz-šíriť /rɔʃʃiːric/ ‘to widen’, roz-česať /rɔʃt͡ʃɛsac/ ‘to comb tangled hair, to tear apart’. 9 11 Slovak has no pitch accent, but former tones have influenced the distribution of vowel length, so short/long vocalic alternations may occur in word inflection and derivation (cf. 2.3 and 3.1–3.3). 2.3 Morphophonemic alternations As in other Slavic languages, the morphophonemic alternation system of complicated one (cf. Sokolová 2000). However, alternations triggered by morphemes have reduced more than in the other West Slavic languages. triggered by derivational morphemes have not (ibid.: 443). Alternations grammatical morphemes are more regular, while alternations induced by morphemes are more widespread (ibid.). Slovak is a grammatical Alternations induced by derivational The typical functions of alternations are the following: (a) in inflection:       to help distinguish the nominative from oblique cases in some masculines and neuters, and also occasionally feminines (see 3.1) to help distinguish the genitive plural of the feminines and neuters that do not have an overt ending in that case-form (3.1) to help differentiate the positive from the comparative and superlative in gradation (3.1.4) to differentiate between the finite stem vs. the infinite stem in some verb classes (3.2.2) to mark imperfectives (3.2.1) to help differentiate determinate vs. indeterminate imperfectives (4.2.1). (b) in derivation:     nouns from verbs (3.3.1) adjectives from nouns (3.3.2) adjectival numerals (3.1.5) diminutive nouns and verbs (3.3.1 and 3.3.3) The number of alternants in Standard Slovak is not particularly different from other West Slavic languages, but there has been a reduction in their distribution. So for example the old k/c alternation has been retained, but remains confined to fewer grammatical contexts (e.g., vojak ‘soldier’ – vojaci ‘soldiers’, but ruka ‘hand:NOM.SG’ – ruke ‘hand:DAT/LOC.SG’). Alternations involve both vowels and consonants. Regular and frequent vocalic alternations include a/á, i/í, u/ú, a/ia, e/ie, epenthetic e and o. Regular and frequent consonantal alternations are n/ň, l/ľ, d/ď, t/ť, c/č, k/č, k/c and sk/šť. The high number of vocalic phonemes in Slovak corresponds to a high number of vocalic alternations, although /i̯ u/ does not participate. Vocalic alternations involve vowel length (quantative ones) or vowel quality (qualitative ones). 12 Quantitative vocalic alternations are common in derivation, much less in inflection. Alternations between e/é and o/ó are restricted to loanwords, ie and uo being the alternants to e and o, respectively. The vocalic alternations also include l/ĺ and r/ŕ for the liquids’ ability to carry vocalic length. Table 3 shows existing vocalic alternations M/Mː and M/D (M = monophthong or liquid, D = diphthong). Table 3. Quantitative vocalic alternations in Slovak M Mː D a á ia e (é) ie i í o (ó) u ú r ŕ l ĺ uo Qualitative vocalic alternations (Table 4: M1/M2, Mː/D1 and D1/D2) are infrequent, except for the regular o/u alternation in the pracovať verb class (3.2.2). Mixed, qualitativequantitative, vocalic alternations (M1/Mː and M1/D1) are more frequent, in particular in verb inflection (3.2). Table 4. Qualitative and mixed vocalic alternations in Slovak (adapted from Sokolová 2000) M1 M2 Mː D1 o a á uo o u ú o e a e (a) D2 ie á ie (í) e/ä ia e i í i o í ie ia Vowel/consonant alternations are very rare, occurring in the forms and derivatives of the verb ísť (‘go’) and of the žať verb subclass of old Slavic verbs: i/j (idem ‘I go’ → nájdem ‘I will find’), a/m and a/ím (i.e. the -jať ‘take’ verbs), a/ín and a/ň (the -ťať ‘cut’ and the -žať ‘mow’ verbs), ä/ň and ä/ín (the -päť ‘stretch’ verbs) (3.2.2). 13 Consonantal alternations cluster into four main groups (Figure 2) that differ in terms of both phonological features involved and of their application in inflection and derivation. Some of these alternations are the result of the Common Slavic iotation (2.3.1) and Common Slavic palatalizations (2.3.3). Figure 2. Consonantal alternations (adapted from Sokolová 2000) C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 Group 1a n ň j l ľ t ť c s/z d ď dz z/s Group 2 Group 1b s š z ž c č dz dž Group 3 sl šľ st šť zd žď sk šk šť zg žď ck čť Group 4 k č c g dž/ž z ch š s h ž z 2.3.1 Iotation The historical iotation has resulted in the widespread alternation between anterior and nonanterior coronals (C1/C2, hereafter ‘softening’). Softening occurs before the many grammatical and derivational suffixes that begin with /i iː i̯ V ɛ/. It can additionally be found 14 before the diminutive and feminizing k-suffixes -k(a), k(o), -tek, in transflective diminution (3.3), in the derivation of inhabitant names (3.3.1) and in the denominal derivation of adjectives with -n- (3.3.2). There are two subtypes of the softening. Group 1a (Fig. 2) consists in the softening of non-strident anterior coronals. In addition to the uses just mentioned, this subtype of softening frequently occurs before adjectivizers -ajš- and -sk- and in the imperative of the ie- and e-stem verbs of the III and IV conjugation (3.2.2). Group 1b, involving strident coronals, also regularly occurs in the inflection of the česať and niesť subclasses of the III and IV conjugation (3.2.2). Another alternation is between non-strident and strident coronal consonants (C1/C5, C1/C6, C2/C5 and C2/C6 in Group 2, Fig. 2). These include the historical iotation tj and dj with c and dz as the results in Slovak (e.g., svietiť ‘to lit’ – svieca ‘candle’; prehradiť ‘to dam up’ – hrádza ‘dam, dike’). This alternation has also remained in imperfectivization, in the conjugation of the česať verbs, where t, d alternate with c, dz, and in the conjugation of some niesť verbs, where s alternates with t, ť and d, ď (3.2). Alternations between consonantal clusters (C1/C2 and C1/C3 in Group 3, Fig. 2), such as the -sk- and -ck- adjectivizers (e.g., anglický ‘English’ → angličtina ‘the English language’), are also mostly results of the historical iotation. 2.3.2 Vowel/zero alternations This type of alternations appears as epenthesis and as elision. The most frequent epenthetic vowels (and reflexes of proto-Slavic yers) in Slovak are ie, o and e. The diphthong ie is a typical one, but in the position neutralized by rhythmical shortening (2.1.4), o or, in some cases, e is inserted instead. In the GEN.PL (3.1.2), epenthetic á and ô, untypical for West Slavic languages, are used in a restricted set of words (e.g., jedlo → jedál ‘meal’, doska → dosák ‘board, plank’, tehla → tehál ‘brick’, karta → karát ‘card’ slivka → slivák ‘plum’, kvapka → kvapôk ‘drop’, jamka → jamôk ‘hole’). Their full list is not much longer and the use of epenthetic á and ô is facultative in most of them; ie is the alternative. Elision affects e, ie and o in the derivational suffixes -ec, -iec, -ok and in the word-final -eň, er, -el, -eľ, -ev, -or, -ol, -oľ irrespective of whether they are part of the root or of a suffix (e.g., hrniec → hrnc-a ‘pot-GEN.SG’; cukráreň (NOM.SG)’ → cukrárn-e (GEN.SG) ‘patisserie’; meter ‘meter[NOM.SG]’ → metr-ový ‘meter-ADJ:NOM.SG’; kábel ‘cable’ → kábl-ik ‘cable-DIM’). In several lexemes, elision applies to other vowels (e.g., chrbát ‘spine[NOM.SG]’ – chrbt-a ‘spine-GEN.SG’; čak-ať IPFV – po-čk-ať PFV ‘wait’; po-čít-ať ‘to count’ – výpo-čt-ový ‘computational’). 2.3.3 Historical palatalizations Proto-Slavic palatalizations manifest themselves as alternations between back consonants and strident coronals (C1/C3 and C1/C4 in Group 4, Fig. 2). Alternations with anterior coronals (C1/C4) have become very restricted in inflection: while the voiceless k/c and ch/s alternate in the inflection of some words (e.g., žiak ‘pupil’ → žiaci ‘pupils’, mních ‘monk’ → mnísi 15 ‘monks’), g/z and h/z only alternate in derivation. The ch/s alternation is a non-West Slavic feature, nowadays confined to the NOM.PL of a narrow set of animate masculines (beloch NOM.SG – belosi NOM.PL ‘white people’, černoch – černosi ‘black people’, Čech – Česi ‘Czechs’, Valach – Valasi ‘Vlachs/shepherds’, divoch – divosi ‘savages’, hajdúch – hajdúsi ‘hajduks’, slaboch – slabosi ‘weaklings’, ženich – ženísi ‘grooms’). Other animates lack this alternation (e.g., duch – duchovia ‘ghosts’, Kazach – Kazachovia ‘Kazakhs’). Specific alternations can be found with g that usually alternates with ž and dž, but even these alternations are rare and irregular, which is related to the overall peripherality of /g/ in the Slovak phonological system. 2.3.4 Other alternations Singular alternations j/ň, s/dz and c/ž also are results of phonological changes after the Common Slavic period. The j/ň alternation can be found in the inflection of the 3SG pronoun (Table 12) and in the imperfectivization and derivation of the verbs with the historical -ja(ť) ‘take’ root (e.g., za-jať ‘capture’ vs. vy-ňať ‘exempt’). The s/dz alternation takes place in the imperfectivization of the verbs with the -vies(ť) ‘lead’ root (e.g., uvies-ť PFV → uvádz-ať IPFV ‘introduce’). Finally, the c/ž alternation occurs in the inflection of the modal verb môcť ‘can, be able to’ and its derivatives. Elisions of consonants is systematic with k and g, e.g., in the gradation of adjectives and adverbs with the historical -k- suffix (3.1.4) and in the adjectivization of place names with stem-final k or g (e.g., Norfolk → norfol-ský ‘Norfolk-ADJ’, Peking → pekin-ský ‘BeijingADJ’). Loanwords are subject to some wider ‘European’ alternations (e.g., demokrac-ia ‘democracy’ → demokrat-ický ‘democratic’). 3. Morphology The morphemic structure of the inflected Slovak word is as follows: (PREFIX +) ROOT (+ DERIVATIONAL SUFFIX + MODIFYING SUFFIX) + ENDING (+ POSTFIX) In addition, there are a few circumfixes. The use of modifying suffixes is confined to verbal inflection: they express the lexico-grammatical categories of aspect and gradation. In perfectivization, the modifying affix is prefixed; in the superlative, it is circumfixed. There are also thematic submorphemes which extend suffixes and usually only associate a given verb with a conjugational class. Sometimes, however, they also contribute to imperfectivization (3.2.1) and to the derivation of frequentatives (3.3.3). Postfixes are used mostly in the derivation of indefinite pronouns (3.1.3). Words with more than one prefix, root or derivational suffix occur, but are much less common, except for the accumulation of derivational suffixes in nouns. Slovak has four basic types of inflection: (1) substantival declension 16 (2) ‘adjectival’ or congruent declension: (2a) ‘long’ declension (further divided into ‘hard’ and ‘soft’) applies to:      substantivized adjectives (3.3.1) demonstrative pronouns taký ‘such’ and toľký ‘so much’, interrogatives/relatives aký ‘what like’, ktorý ‘which’, čí ‘whose’ and koľký ‘which (in order)’ and their derivatives adjectives other than individual possessives most numerals participles (2b) ‘short’ declension applies to:     demonstratives ten and onen ‘that’, interrogatives/relatives kto ‘who’ and čo ‘what’, and their indefinite and determinative derivatives possessive pronouns individual possessive adjectives some numerals (3) gradation (4) verbal conjugation Additionally, personal pronouns and numerals 1–4 have their own paradigms (see below). The inflectional system of Slovak has become more regular as compared to proto-Slavic and some other modern Slavic languages. Compared to Czech, for example, adjectival endings apply more consistently across congruent parts of speech, namely in possessive adjectives (e.g., Sk otcov-ho vs. Cz otcov-a ‘father:POSS-GEN.SG.M’), demonstrative pronouns (e.g., Sk t-ých vs. Cz t-ěch ‘they-GEN.PL’) and ordinal numerals (e.g., Sk piat-ich vs. Cz pět-i ‘fiveGEN.PL’) (for details, see Sokolová et al. 2005). The short endings of rád (‘glad, happy’) is a remainder of a formerly more extensive use of short endings in adjectival declension. Today, rád only occurs in the five forms of the NOM (differentiated according to gender and number) in predicative constructions and is often used as an adverb. The other remnants of the short Slavic declension are hoden (‘worthy’) and dlžen (‘owed, indebted’), used as predicatives only, often in expressive usage and high style. In what follows, we deal with the inflection types 1–3 in section 3.1. Type 4 (verbal inflection) is the topic of section 3.2. 3.1 Nominal inflection 3.1.1 Nominal categories Nouns inflect according to number, case and gender. Pronouns, adjectives and numerals express agreement in the three categories with the head noun. In addition, adjectives have their own lexico-grammatical category of gradation. 17 The number category has two values: singular and plural. Isolated traces of the historical dual are present in the NOM.PL of oko ‘eye’ (oči) and ucho ‘ear’ (uši), optionally also in the INS of dva ‘two’ (dvoma vs. tromi ‘three:INS’) and oba ‘both’ (oboma), but are absent from other names of paired objects (cf. Czech in Chapter 13). The case system consists of six values: NOM, ACC, GEN, LOC, DAT and INS. Several words (exclusively masculines) have preserved their historical vocative form for specific lexical or stylistic uses: Bože ‘God!’, Otče ‘Father-god!’, pane/Pane ‘Sir! / Oh, Lord!’, majstre ‘maestro!’, človeče ‘man!’ (also used as a particle), chlapče ‘boy!’ (ditto) etc. Many personal names and a few appellatives denoting familial roles have developed a special form for vocative uses, e.g., Eva → Evi!, Danuša → Danuš-ø! (female names), Jaro → Jari! (a male name), mama → mami! ‘mom’, oco → oci! ‘daddy’ (Slančová and Sokolová 1998). The use of these forms is facultative, the nominative can be used instead. Proper nouns and loanwords are integrated into the Slovak case system depending on their natural gender and/or word-final phoneme. If they conform to one of the declension classes (3.1.2), they acquire the corresponding endings. If they end in a different sound, they usually remain indeclinable (e.g., masculines: atašé ‘attaché’, emu, Višnu; feminines: lady, Ingrid; neuters: semifinále ‘semifinal’, menu etc.). Classical (unlike Modern) Greek and Latin endings -us, -os, -es, -as, -um, on are usually recognized as such and dropped in inflection (e.g., Pytagor-ovi ‘PythagorasDAT/LOC.SG.M.AN’). Three grammatical genders are represented: masculine, feminine and neuter. Masculine declension distinguishes animates and inanimates. Within the animates, there is a distinction between humans (persons) and animals (non-persons) in the plural. While personal masculines have a specific declension, the animal masculines inflect as the inanimates. The intensity/amount of the quality expressed by ADJ and ADV has three grades: positive, comparative and superlative. The comparative is usually used in constructions with conjunctions než ‘than’ or ako ‘as’; the preposition od(o) ‘from’ is an option in comparing age and height of people. If standing alone, i.e. without an object compared to, the comparative implies a negative delimitation of the quality as ‘not really/already X’ (e.g., má novšie auto ‘he/she has a newer car’, i.e. newish – not old, but not really new). For its similarity to adjectival gradation, the gradation of adverbs is described in the section on adjectives (3.1.4). 3.1.2 Substantival inflection The traditional description of the Slovak substantival paradigms has been the subject of revision efforts, especially after the computerized quantification of the sizes of individual declensional classes became available (e.g., Benko et al. 1998). Here we draw on the noun declension system proposed by Sokolová (2007). A major difference between the two lies in the number of classes: the traditional description has 14 classes with a number of ‘exceptions’ whose exceptional status has been contradicted by the quantitative data, while Sokolová (2007) proposes 33 classes with few exceptions. The general pattern is that the inflection of neuters is similar to that of the masculines in the singular, while it resembles the inflection of the feminines the plural (Table 5). 18 Table 5. Overview of grammatical morphemes in substantival declension (adapted from Sokolová 2007: 32, rhythmically shortened variants are in brackets) Case SG NOM ACC GEN LOC DAT INS PL NOM ACC GEN LOC DAT Gender M.AN M.INAN N -ø, -o, -a, -us, -as, -es, -s -o, -e, -a/ä, -ie, -um, -on -a, -u, -ho -ø = NOM -a, -u, -ia -ho -ovi, -u, -m -e, -u, -i, -í -ovi, -u, -mu -u, -iu -om, -ím, -m M.AN M.INAN -i, -ovia, -ia -y, -e -ov, -í = NOM -ov, -í, -ø -och -om N INS F -a, -ø, -á -u, -ø, -ú -y, -e, -i, -ej -e, -i, -ej = LOC -ou F -á (-a), -ia (-a) = NOM -y, -e, -i, -é = NOM -ø, -í -ách (-ach), -iach (-ach) -ám (-am), -iam (-am) -mi, -ami, -iami Table 5 shows that unification across paradigms has taken place in the following cases:     GEN.SG of the animate and inanimate masculines and neuters (namely the adoption of the -u ending also for animates), LOC.PL and DAT.PL of the animate and inanimate masculines, LOC.PL and DAT.PL of the feminines and neuters, INS.PL of all genders. Within paradigms, unification has taken place in:      NOM.SG and ACC.SG of neuters and other nouns have a zero-ending in the NOM, NOM.PL and ACC.PL of all nouns except the personal animate masculines, ACC.SG and GEN.SG of animate masculines, ACC.PL and GEN.PL of personal animate masculines, LOC.SG and DAT.SG of masculines. Animate masculines are distinguished into personal (human) animates, the ACC of which is identical with the GEN in both numbers, and animal animates, in which the ACC is identical with the GEN in the singular but with the NOM in the plural. The personal animates consist of three groups distinguished by their GEN/ACC.SG ending (-a, -u and -ho). Further differention in the a-group and u-group is in the NOM.PL and the result is six classes of personal masculines. The animal masculines form two classes according to the word-final consonant. The classes are labelled according to model words chlap, syn, priateľ, futbalista, hrdina, kuli, had and medveď (see below). Full paradigms are shown in Table 6. Table 6. Paradigms of animate masculines SG 19 NOM chlap génius Pythagoras Sofokles syn dedo priateľ chlapa chlapa chlapovi (pánu) chlapovi (pánu) chlapom ACC GEN LOC DAT INS futbalista hrdina kuli futbalistu futbalistu futbalistovi futbalistovi futbalistom kuliho kuliho kulim kulimu kulim futbalisti hrdinovia futbalistov futbalistov kuliovia kuliov kuliov futbalistoch futbalistom futbalistami (husitmi) kulioch kuliom kuliami had medveď hada hada hadovi hadovi hadom PL NOM ACC GEN LOC DAT INS chlapi synovia chlapov chlapov chlapoch chlapom chlapmi (chlapcami) priatelia priateľov (hostí) hady hady hadov medvede medvede medveďov (koní) hadoch hadom hadmi (orlami) The chlap (‘man, bloke’) class dominates the animates. It includes both native and borrowed appellatives and personal names with a zero ending in the NOM.SG and -i in the NOM.PL. The syn (‘son’) class is more restricted. It includes nouns ending in velar phonemes /g ɦ/ and some in /x/, in the NOM.SG -o, and in the -ok, -ček derivational suffixes. This class also includes several other, semantically-defined, nouns: some names denoting familial relations (e.g, syn ‘son’, otec ‘father’), monosyllabic ethnonyms, but also titles, deities, masters and specialists. The NOM.PL -ovia is a way to avoid morphophonemic alternations of /g ɦ x/ before -i that affects masculines in the chlap class or, in contrast to -i, to connote higher social status (cf. cynici ‘cynics’ vs. cynikovia ‘Cynics’ as a group of philosophers). The -ia NOM.PL ending defines the priateľ (‘friend’) class which includes nouns with the derivational suffixes -teľ (i.e. agent names) and -an (inhabitant names), nouns denoting social roles in the home environment (brat ‘brother’, rodič ‘parent’, manžel ‘husband’, hosť ‘guest’) and religious categories kresťan (‘Christian’), žid (‘Jew’) and pohan (‘pagan’). The futbalista (‘football player’) class is a group of nouns, usually loanwords, that end in -ista or -ta in the NOM.SG. The hrdina (‘hero’) class integrates the rest of the animate masculines with the NOM.SG -a. The kuli (‘coolie’) class consists of very few appellatives, but integrates a number of foreign proper names that end in a vowel other than the native -o or -a (e.g., Goethe – Goethe-ho ‘Goethe-GEN.SG’). The singular paradigm of this class is much like the short congruent declension (Table 16). The differential criterion of the had (‘snake’) vs. medveď (‘bear’) animal classes is the stemfinal consonant: animal names ending in a ‘soft’ consonant belong to the medveď class; the rest belong to the had class. Some animal names with final -r (e.g. tiger) fall within the soft class, despite the fact /r/ is not a soft consonant. The soft/non-soft distinction also applies in inanimate masculines that inflect in the same way in the plural (see below). 20 Morphophonemic alternations that take place in the animate masculine declension include vowel elision in the derivative suffixes containing e or o and in the roots of some words (e.g, sved-ok-ø ‘wit-ness-NOM.SG.M’ → sved-k-ami ‘wit-ness-INS.PL.M’; orol-ø ‘eagle-NOM.SG.M – orl-a ‘eagle-GEN.SG.M’). The non-strident anterior consonant softening (2.3.1) and, to a limited extent, also the back/strident alternation (2.3.3) take place in the NOM.PL of personal masculines. Inanimate masculines are organized in two major groups – ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ – distinguished in the NOM.PL (-e vs. -y). The -y ending is phonemically identical to the corresponding -i ending in animate masculines, but no softening (2.3.1) or back/strident consonant alternation (2.3.3) occurs before y. The two major groups are further differentiated into 10 classes: zápas, vzťah, materiál, dub, jazyk, hotel and Topoľčany are of the hard type, and stroj, žiaľ and Leváre belong to the soft type. Full paradigms are shown in Table 7. Table 7. Paradigms of inanimate masculines SG NOM zápas ACC GEN LOC DAT INS zápase vzťah zápas zápasu vzťahu zápasu zápasom materiál materiáli dub dube jazyk dub duba jazyku dubu dubom hotel – stroj žiaľ – stroj stroja hoteli žiaľu stroji stroju strojom PL NOM ACC GEN LOC DAT INS zápasy duby Topoľčany stroje zápasy duby stroje zápasov dubov Topoľčian strojov zápasoch duboch strojoch zápasom dubom strojom zápasmi vzťahmi materiálmi dubmi jazykmi hotelmi strojmi žiaľmi (problémami) (výsledkami) (vetrami) (kúskami) (koncami) (kuframi) The largest class among the hard type – and among the inanimate masculines in general – is the zápas (‘match, struggle’) class. It mostly consists of abstract or material nouns and nouns ending in -m (Proto-Slavic u-stem nouns, Žigo 2013). The vzťah (‘relation’) class differs from the zápas class in the LOC.SG because of the stem-final back consonant which evades the alternation before -e (present in the zápas class) by associating with -u instead. The materiál (‘material’) class includes only loanwords ending in -l or -r. The other triad of hard classes (Table 7) covers countable nouns and is organized in a similar way as the first triad: the dub (‘oak’) class is the general group; the jazyk (‘language’) class contains nouns with a back consonant at the end of their stem; and the hotel class consists of borrowed nouns with stemfinal -l, -r. The LOC.SG and NOM.PL forms of the loanwords ending in -l, -r show a high level of variation and speakers’ insecurity, as some words of the native stock also end in -l, -r but fall into the zápas class. The insecurity is exacerbated by the fact that certain -l, -r nouns belong to the soft classes (cf., kufor ‘suitcase’ – v kufr-i ‘in suitcase-LOC.SG’ – kufr-e ‘suitcase-NOM.PL’). 21 Leváre Levár There is a morphological difference, namely in the GEN.SG, between (i) countable nouns (the dub ‘oak’ and stroj ‘machine’ classes), for which -a is preferred, and (ii) abstract and material nouns (the jazyk ‘language’ and žiaľ ‘sorrow’ classes), for which -u is preferred. Some nouns go with both variants, but the use of one over the other may underscore the word’s status as either countable or abstract/material (e.g., veľkosť hráška ‘the size of a pea’ vs. šálka hrášku ‘a cup of pea(s)’) (Majchráková 2009). Foreign place names most often have -u, while Slovak place names take -a. The two remaining classes – Topoľčany and Leváre – consist of pluralia tantum place names. The zero ending in the genitive, which is typical of feminine and neuter nouns, is their defining feature. Elision of sounds occurs in a similar way as in animates (see above). On the other hand, the softening of /t d n l/ does not take place in the NOM.PL as in animates but in the LOC.SG, and there is no back/strident alternation in inanimates. Feminine nouns split into four major groups which are differentiated in the NOM.SG and the NOM.PL (Table 8). The four groups are as follows: (i) the hard -a type: žena and idea, (ii) the soft -a type: situácia, poisťovňa and ulica, (iii) the zero type: možnosť-ø and dlaň-ø, and (iv) the ‘adjectival’ -á type: gazdiná. Table 8. Paradigms of feminines SG NOM žena idea ACC ženy GEN LOC DAT situácia poisťovňa ženu situácie žene žene ulica možnosť dlaň možnosť možnosti dlane gazdiná gazdinú gazdinej gazdinej gazdinej možnosti možnosti gazdiné gazdiné gazdín gazdinách gazdinám idei idei ženou INS PL ženy ženy NOM ACC GEN LOC DAT žien poisťovne poisťovne ideí ulíc ženách ženám poisťovniach poisťovniam ženami INS dlane dlane dlaní By far the largest class of (not only hard) feminine nouns is the žena (‘woman’) class. This class also subsumes pluralia tantum, including place names with -y in the NOM.PL and -ách in the LOC.PL (e.g., Tatry ‘the Tatra mountains’). The idea class consists of a narrow set of loanwords whose stem ends in e or in part also u or o, which is untypical of the native Slovak vocabulary. The largest class of soft -a feminines is the situácia class which consists of numerous loanwords, mostly of Greek and Latin origin, that end their stem in i. That is, the i is not part of the ending, hence long grammatical endings -ám, -ách (e.g., situáciách ‘situation:DAT.PL.F’), whereas i in -iam, -iach (e.g., uliciam ‘street:DAT.PL.F’) is part of the ending in the other soft classes. 22 The GEN.PL forms of feminines present a complex system with many exceptions and variant usage (e.g., košieľ/košelí ‘shirts’). The zero ending is usually accompanied by a vowel epenthesis in the stem. The epenthesis takes place if the stem ends in (i) two consonants with a morpheme boundary in between, such as between the root and the frequent derivative morphemes -k(a) and -b(a) (e.g., maľ-b-a – maľieb ‘paintings’), (ii) in a two-consonant cluster in which at least the second consonant is sonorant (e.g., hr-a – hier ‘games’) and (iii) in a cluster of more than two consonants (e.g., sestr-a – sestier ‘sisters’). The epenthetic ie can optionally be subject to the rhythmical shortening, resulting in e (e.g., both výhier and výher ‘wins’ count as Standard forms). However, in case (i), i.e. on morpheme boundary, the epenthetic vowel in the position exposed to rhythmical shortening is o (e.g., kaderníčka – kaderníčok ‘hairdresser:F’). When the stem ends in a single consonant, there is no epenthesis but an alternation of the short/long vocalic type (2.3.1) in the stem’s last syllable (e.g., maliny NOM – malín GEN ‘raspberries’). No alternation occurs in the following cases: (i) if the stem’s last syllable is already long (e.g., brán-y – brán ‘gates’); (ii) if the stem’s last syllable has been subject to rhythmical shortening (e.g., úloh-a – úloh ‘tasks’); (iii) if shortening after stem-final /j/ applies (2.1.4); (iv) if there is /v/ in the coda of the stem-final syllable (obviously, the sonorant realization of /v/ as [w] is a factor here, e.g., budov-a – budov ‘buildings’); and (v) if the nouns with e or o in the stem are loanwords (e.g., epoch-a – epoch ‘era’, cf. the native ploch-a – plôch ‘flat surface’). Of the two -ø classes, možnosť (‘possibility’) and dlaň (‘palm’), the former is larger and more productive, as it integrates abstract nouns derived by the -osť and -esť suffixes. Older words that used to belong here have mostly moved to the dlaň class which it is not semantically specialized like možnosť. Vowel elision takes place in the roots of some of these words (e.g., lož-ø NOM.SG – lž-i GEN.SG ‘lie’; cirkev-ø NOM.SG – cirkv-i GEN.SG) as well as in the -áreň suffix of the dlaň class (e.g., eletr-áreň-ø NOM.SG – elektr-árn-e GEN.SG ‘power station’). Finally, the gazdiná class is peripheral, consisting of only 11 words that denote familial or other traditional social roles as gazdiná ‘housekeeper’ does: stryná ‘aunt’ (father’s sister), ujčiná ‘aunt’ (mother’s sister), švagriná ‘sister-in-law’, testiná ‘mother-in-law’ (wife’s mother), šľachtičná ‘noble woman’, kráľovná ‘queen’, cisárovná ‘empress’, cárovná ‘tsar:F’, princezná ‘princess’ (king’s daugher), kňažná ‘princess’ (independent ruler) and their derivatives. Some of these words move to the žena class or come out of use. A related word pani ‘madam, lady / Mrs’ is very frequent, being used in addressing women be it with their name or their social category (e.g., pani učiteľka ‘teacher’) but, when used in this attributive function, the word remains uninflected (pani učiteľk-u ‘teacher:F-ACC.SG.F’) (see also 7.2). The reason why this word does not fully fit in the gazdiná class is that some endings undergo diphthongization (as the stem ends in soft /ɲ/, while gazdiná etc. end in hard /n/), in addition to an idiosyncratic INS.PL (Table 9). The gazdiná class is inflected as hard adjectives in the singular and as a combination of the adjectival and žena declensions in the plural. Table 9. Special declension of pani (‘Mrs, madam, lady’) NOM ACC GEN SG PL pani paniu panej panie panie paní 23 LOC DAT INS panej panej paňou paniach paniam paniami In all the feminine classes, rhythmical shortening (2.1.4) increases the number of endings on the one hand, but suppresses the differentiation between the hard and soft classes on the other, as the shortened endings are the same for both the hard and the soft group. The GEN.PL -í ending belongs to the few exceptions to the rhythmical shortening rule, remains long even after a long syllable, and also remains unaccompanied by vocalic alternations. Neuter nouns fall into four major groups owing to the differences in the NOM.SG (-o/-um/-on; -e; -ie; -a/ä). The -o neuters split into two subgroups according to the LOC.SG (-e vs. -u). Thus, there are six classes in total: mesto, stredisko, médium, srdce, stretnutie and dievča (Table 10). Table 10. Paradigms of neuters SG NOM mesto ACC = NOM GEN LOC meste DAT INS médium epiteton = NOM mesta stredisku mestu mestom srdce stretnutie dievča = NOM = NOM stretnutia stretnutí stretnutiu stretnutím = NOM dievčaťa dievčati dievčaťu dievčaťom srdcia líca = NOM sŕdc stretnutia srdciach lícach srdciam lícam stretnutiach dievčatá / dievčence = NOM dievčat / dievčeniec dievčatách / dievčencoch dievčatám / dievčencom dievčatami srdci PL NOM ACC GEN LOC DAT INS miest mestá miesta = NOM stredísk médií vajíčok mestách miestach mestám miestam mestami = NOM stretnutí stretnutiam stretnutiami The largest class of neuters is the mesto (‘city’) class which comprises neuters ending in -o in the NOM.SG with a stem-final non-soft consonant. The stredisko (‘centre’ in the sense of ‘a central establishment’) class consists of a subset of -o neuters with a back consonant /g k x ɦ/ at the end of the stem. As these consonants are incompatible with the front -e LOC.SG ending, back -u is used instead. The same ending is used in the médium class, comprising loanwords with stem-final vowels /i ɛ a u/ and the NOM.SG ending -um, -on or postvocalic -o (e.g., štúdio). The stretnutie (‘meeting’) class is specific for its endings are long and resist rhythmical shortening (2.1.4). The endings have a simultaneous derivational function: many collectives and verbal nouns fall into this class (e.g., listy ‘leaves’ → lístie ‘foliage’; čít-ať ‘read-INF’ → čít-an-ie ‘read-ing-NOM.SG.N’). 24 The dievča (‘girl’) class has a specific type of inflection due to the -ať/at- derivational suffix in case-forms other than the NOM.SG (Table 10). The class specializes in the names of younglings, usually animals. With some members of this class the -enc- suffix plus masculine o-endings present an alternative for the plural. The words teľa ‘calf’, prasa ‘pig’ and šteňa ‘puppy’ can form their plural forms using the -c- suffix (teľce, prasce, štence). The use of enc- and -c- is regional and colloquial. The alternation patterns in the GEN.PL are similar to the corresponding patterns in the feminines (i.e. epenthesis: mydl-o – mydiel ‘soaps’, vajíč-k-o – vajíčok ‘eggs’; quantitative alternation: jazero – jazier ‘lakes’; and rhythmical shortening: písmen-o – písmen ‘letters’). Neuter stems ending in -(s)tv(o) diverge from these patterns, for ie is inserted contra the rhythmical shortening rule (e.g., kaderníctv-o – kaderníctiev ‘hairdresser’s’). The three exceptions that have an -í instead of -ø ending include pole – polí ‘fields’, more – morí ‘seas’ and oje – ojí ‘drawbars’. Consonantal alternations are restricted to the non-strident softening (2.3.1) in the LOC.SG of the mesto class only. 3.1.3 Pronominal inflection There are chiefly two types of pronominal inflection: (i) inflection specific to genderless personal pronouns (i.e. the first and second persons and the reflexive) and (ii) congruent or adjectival declension (3.1.4) with peculiarities characteristic of the individual types of pronouns. The declension of the genderless personal pronouns (Table 11) has two striking features. Firstly, the pronouns have strong and weak (clitic) variants in the ACC, GEN and DAT singular. The strong forms are used after prepositions or for emphasis, otherwise the weak forms are used (cf. 5.1). Secondly, suppletive roots are used in the oblique cases of the first person pronouns. Table 11. First- and second-person and reflexive pronouns NOM ACC GEN LOC DAT INS 1SG ja mňa, ma mňa, ma mne mne, mi mnou 2SG ty teba, ťa teba, ťa tebe tebe, ti tebou 1PL my nás nás nás nám nami 2PL vy vás vás vás vám vami RFL –* seba, sa seba, sa sebe sebe, si sebou * The reflexive pronoun sa (referring to whoever is the speaker) does not have a NOM form. The third-person personal pronouns differentiate their forms according to gender. There are three gender forms in the NOM.SG, two (M/N vs. F) in the oblique singular, two (M.AN vs. the others) in the NOM and ACC plural and a common form in the rest of the plural (Table 12). Again, there are strong and weak (clitic) forms and suppletive roots in the SG.M/N. Additionally, there are special ň-initial forms (both strong and weak) in the ACC/GEN/DAT for use with prepositions. The weak ň-forms of the masculine and neuter are suffixed to some 25 prepositions: the -ňho variant in M.AN, while -ň in M.INAN/N (e.g., do ‘in, into’, doňho ‘in him’, doň ‘in it’). The ň-forms are combinable with prepositions that are monosyllabic and end in a vowel (i.e. not with s, z, k, v); the -ň can also be affixed to a monosyllabic preposition ending in a consonant (epenthetic e is inserted without softening the preceding consonant, e.g., pod – podeň /pɔdɛɲ/ ‘below it’; nad – nadeň /nadɛɲ/ ‘over it’; cez – cezeň ‘across it’). As for grammatical endings (Table 12), they are of the short adjectival type with several idiosyncrasies (cf. Table 16). Table 12. Third-person pronouns SG NOM ACC GEN LOC DAT INS PL NOM ACC GEN LOC DAT INS M on jeho, ho; neho, -ňho/-ň jeho, ho; neho ňom jemu, mu; nemu ním N ono jeho, ho; neho, -ň jeho, ho; neho ňom jemu, mu; nemu ním M.AN oni ich; nich ich; nich nich im; nim nimi Other ony ich; ne ich; nich nich im; nim nimi F ona ju; ňu jej; nej nej jej; nej ňou The possessives, particularly the first- and second-person ones, have the regular short adjectival declension (Table 13). The third-person possessives jeho (SG.M/N), jej (SG.F), ich (PL) do not inflect for case. Table 13. Possessive pronouns SG NOM ACC M.AN môj môjho GEN LOC DAT INS PL NOM ACC GEN LOC DAT INS M.AN moji mojich M.INAN môj môj môjho mojom môjmu mojím N moje moje F moja moju mojej mojej mojej mojou Other moje moje mojich mojich mojim mojimi 26 Demonstratives ten ‘that’ and onen ‘that over there’ and interrogatives (relatives) kto ‘who’ and čo ‘what’ generally have the short adjectival declension, though there are peculiarities (cf. Tables 14 and 16). The plural paradigm of ten, for example, does not have short but long endings of the hard type, but the NOM.PL of M.INAN/F/N is soft tie, although pronounced hard as [ti̯ ɛ] in Standard Slovak. In contrast to other Slavic languages, both čo and kto share the same o-endings (see Table 14). Table 14. Demonstrative and interrogative pronouns SG M.AN ACC toho GEN LOC DAT INS PL NOM ACC GEN LOC DAT INS M.INAN ten NOM ten toho tom tomu tým M.AN tí N to to F tá tú tej tej tej tou – kto koho koho kom komu kým – čo čo čoho čom čomu čím Other tie tých tých tých tým tými The other demonstratives and interrogatives—taký ‘such’, toľký ‘so much/many/big’, koľký ‘how much/many/big’, aký ‘what (kind of)’, ktorý ‘which’, čí ‘whose’, their indefinite derivatives (see below) and determinatives každý ‘everybody’, všetok ‘all’, iný ‘other’, ten istý ‘the same’, sám ‘-self, the very’ and samý ‘-self, alone’—have the long adjectival declension (Table 15), except for the short forms in the NOM and ACC of všetok and sám (e.g., všetok ‘all[NOM.SG.M]’, všetk-a ‘all-NOM.SG.F’, všetk-o ‘all-NOM.SG.N’ and všetc-i/všetk-y ‘NOM.PL.M.AN/M.INAN+F+N’). Naturally, adverbial pronouns (e.g., kde ‘where’, ako ‘how’ etc.) are indeclinable. Verbal pronouns ondiať and tentovať both meaning ‘do that thing’ (in reference to a negatively perceived activity in colloquial speech) are inflected as verbs. The morphology of pronouns is enriched by a wide range of affixes used to derive indefinite pronouns from other types of pronouns. In Standard Slovak, unspecified indefiniteness can be expressed by three prefixes: nie-, da- and voľa- (e.g., niekto, dakto, voľakto ‘someone’). The nie- prefix is widely used in both informal and formal contexts; da- may be regionally specific (central Slovakia); and voľa- is somewhat colloquial. To express an indefinite selection from a given set of objects (‘some of’), cumulative prefixation with po- can be employed (e.g., podaktorý/poniektorý ‘some of those’). Indifference in selection (‘any-’) is expressed through the prefixes hoci- and bárs- as well as through the postfix -koľvek (e.g., hocikto, bárskto and ktokoľvek ‘anybody’). To express diversity (‘all sorts of’), the prefixes kade-/kde- and všeli- are used (e.g., kadekto, kdekto, všelikto ‘all sorts of people’). A small number is expressed by málo- (e.g., málokto ‘hardly anybody’). Unclear or uncertain definiteness is expressed by the postfix -si (e.g., ktosi ‘someone’). 27 Diatopic variation can be observed in some determinatives, e.g., odtiaľ/odtade/stade ‘from there’, odkiaľ/odkade/skade ‘from where’ etc. The presence/absence of the distinction between stationary kde (‘where about’) and directional kam (‘where to’) is another diatopic difference. Some speakers use kde in both meanings. 3.1.4 Adjectival and adverbial inflection Adjectival inflection reflects noun–adjective agreement in all the nominal grammatical categories. The two basic adjectival declensions are long (Table 15) and short (Table 16). The former is either ‘hard’ or ‘soft’: this distinction follows from the diphthongization rule (2.1.4) and, when written, also from the use of <í> instead of <ý> in the soft type (e.g., hard mlad-ý NOM.SG.M, mlad-á NOM.SG.F, etc. ‘young’ vs. soft cudz-í NOM.SG.M, cudz-ia NOM.SG.F, etc. ‘foreign’). The long endings may shorten as a result of the rhythmical shortening rule (2.1.4), which undoes the hard/soft distinction and removes some differences between the long and short paradigms (the feminine paradigms end up identical). The long declension is used with most ADJ types (the qualitative, relational and generic ones). Generic possessives receive the long soft endings despite the two neutralization rules, which thus foregrounds the simultaneous derivational function of the endings (e.g., páv-ieho ‘peacock-like.GEN.SG.M/N’ vs. dávn-eho ‘ancient-GEN.SG.M/N’). The short declension is used with the singular and the NOM/ACC.PL of individual possessives (the rest of the plural forms are long). Table 15. Long adjectival declension (hard/soft) SG NOM ACC GEN LOC DAT INS PL NOM ACC GEN LOC DAT INS M N -ý/í -é/ie -ého/ieho -é/ie -ého/ieho -om -ému/iemu -ým/ím M.AN -í -ých/ích -ých/ích -ých/ích -ým/ích -ými/ími F -á/ia -ú/iu -ej -ej -ej -ou Other -é/ie -é/ie Table 16. Short adjectival declension (hard/soft) SG NOM ACC GEN LOC DAT M.AN -ho M.INAN -ho -om -mu N -o/e -o/e F -a -u -ej -ej -ej 28 -ým/ím INS PL NOM ACC M.AN -i -ich -ou Other -y/e -y/e -ich -ich -im -imi GEN LOC DAT INS Ascending gradation is marked on the adjective by a separate non-final suffix -š-, or its phonetically-motivated extended variant, -ejš- in the comparative. For superlative, the circumfix consisting of the comparative affix plus prefixed segment naj- are employed (e.g., dlh-é ‘long-NOM.SG.N’ → dlh-š-ie ‘long-CMPR-NOM.SG.N’ → naj-dlh-š-ie ‘SUPL1>long<SUPL2-NOM.SG.N’; the seemingly different endings in the positive vs. the other two forms are due to diphthongization after soft š, 2.1.4). Descending gradation is only possible analytically through the addition of the comparative and superlative of málo ‘few’ (e.g., menej dlhé ‘less long’, najmenej dlhé ‘the least long’). A small set of highly frequent adjectives have a suppletive root when graded:      malý → menší → najmenší (‘small’) veľký → väčší → najväčší (‘big, large’) dobrý → lepší → najlepší (‘good’) zlý → horší → najhorší (‘bad’) pekný → krajší → najkrajší (‘beautiful, nice’) In adjectives with the -k-/-ok-/-ek- (historical) suffix, the suffix is elided in the comparative and superlative (e.g., ľah-k-ý → ľah-š-í ‘lighter’ in weight; hlb-ok-ý → hlb-š-í ‘deeper’). The -š- triggers the vocalic shortening alternation and the softening of strident consonants in the root (e.g., riedky → redší ‘thinner, sparser’; nízky → nižší ‘lower’). Before -ejš-, in contrast, the softening concerns non-strident consonants (e.g., temný /cɛmniː/ → temnejší /cɛmɲɛjʃiː/ ‘darker’). In contrast to Czech (Chapter 13), the back/strident alternation (2.3.3) no longer applies (e.g., dlhší ‘longer’, tichší ‘quieter’, aromatický → aromatickejší ‘more aromatic’). Gradation also applies to qualitative adverbs. The patterns of the comparative and superlative formation are very similar to the adjective gradation: the -(ej)š- suffix is just followed by adverbalizer -ie (irrespective of the adverb’s suffix in the positive: -o, -e or -y, e.g., teplo → teplejšie ‘more warmly’; odvážne → odvážnejšie ‘more courageously’; pomaly → pomalšie ‘slower’). As a result, the comparative and superlative forms of adverbs coincide with those of several adjectives, cf. sformulovala to stručnejšie (‘she formulated it more briefly’) vs. stručnejšie formulácie (‘briefer formulations’). Irregular forms of the comparative/superlative occur with those adverbs derived from irregular adjectives and with the following ones: veľmi → väčšmi ‘more’, veľa/mnoho → viac(ej) ‘more’, málo → menej ‘less’, skoro → skôr/skorej/skoršie ‘sooner’, neskoro → neskôr/neskoršie ‘later’, and ďaleko → ďalej ‘farther’. 29 3.1.5 Numeral inflection Most numerals express agreement in case and, to a limited extent, in gender with head nouns. The declension is usually adjectival of the long type, but cardinals 2–4 share an idiosyncratic paradigm and higher numerals may remain uninflected (see below). When standing alone, i.e. without a counted noun, the numerals sto (100), tisíc (1000), milión (‘million’), miliarda (‘billion’) etc. have a substantival declension corresponding to to their NOM endings. The cardinal numeral 1 has the hard type of the long adjectival paradigm except for the NOM of all genders and the ACC.M.INAN/F/N (Table 17). The idiosyncratic declension of numerals 2–4 as well as oba/obidva ‘both’ is shown in Table 18. Numerals 2 and higher have special NOM forms for animate masculines (dvaja, traja, štyria, piati, šiesti etc.). While these forms are obligatory with 2–4, they are optional with 5 and higher. The adjectival endings of the cardinals 5–20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90 stand in a position to which the rhythmical shortening rule applies and are thus short (Table 19). Table 17. The numeral 1 SG NOM ACC M.AN jeden jedného GEN LOC DAT INS M.INAN jeden jeden jedného jednom jednému jedným N jedno jedno F jedna jednu jednej jednej jednej jednou Table 18. The numeral 2 SG NOM ACC GEN LOC DAT INS M.AN dvaja dvoch M.INAN N&F dva dve dva dve dvoch dvoch dvom dvoma/dvomi (tromi/troma, štyrmi) Table 19. The numeral 5 SG NOM ACC GEN LOC DAT INS M.AN Other piati/päť päť piatich/päť päť piatich piatich piatim piatimi The numerals 11 and above are derived with affixoids -násť (11–19), -dsať (20, 30 and 40) and -desiat (50, 60, 70, 80 and 90) or are compounds with uninflected -sto (200, 300 etc.) and 30 -tisíc (2,000, 3,000 etc.) (Table 20). Milión, miliarda etc. are used as separate nouns (ibid.). In some numerals, alternations apply in the derivation, namely štyri (4) vs. štrnásť (14) and ť → t in pätnásť (15), šestnásť (16) and devätnásť (19) (ibid.). Table 20. Cardinal and ordinal numerals 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Cardinal jeden dva tri štyri päť šesť sedem osem deväť desať jedenásť dvanásť trinásť štrnásť pätnásť šestnásť sedemnásť osemnásť devätnásť dvadsať Ordinal prvý druhý tretí štvrtý piaty šiesty siedmy ôsmy deviaty desiaty jedenásty dvanásty trinásty štrnásty pätnásty šestnásty sedemnásty osemnásty devätnásty dvadsiaty Cardinal dvadsaťjeden tridsať štyridsať päťdesiat šesťdesiat sedemdesiat osemdesiat deväťdesiat sto dvesto tristo štyristo päťsto tisíc dvetisíc päťtisíc milión dva milióny päť miliónov miliarda 21 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 200 300 400 500 1000 2000 5000 million 2 million 5 million billion Ordinal dvadsiaty prvý tridsiaty štyridsiaty päťdesiaty šesťdesiaty sedemdesiaty osemdesiaty deväťdesiaty stý dvojstý trojstý štvorstý päťstý tisíci dvojtisíci päťtisíci miliónty dvojmiliónty päťmiliónty – When part of a noun phrase, numerals 5 and higher may remain uninflected (e.g., s pätnásť dolármi besides s pätnástimi dolármi ‘with 15 dollars’). Numbers 21, 31… 91 are always indeclinable (the declibable forms with switched units and tens as in German, i.e. jedenadvadsať ‘one-and-twenty’ etc., are coming out of use). No declension is also the rule with hundreds and is common with thousands (e.g., s dvesto eurami ‘with 200 euros’, s dvetisíc eurami ‘with 2,000 euros’, although s dvoma tisícmi/tisícami eur also occurs). Within a complex number, both units and tens may be inflected, while hundreds and thousands remain uninflected (e.g., s tisícpäťsto päťdesiatimi piatimi dolármi besides uninflected s tisícpäťstopäťdesiatpäť dolármi ‘with 1,555 dollars’). Other numerals, namely ordinals (Table 20), adjectival multiplicatives (e.g., dvojnásobný ‘double’; dvojitý ‘twofold, doubled’ etc.) and generics (e.g., dvojaký ‘of two kinds’) have the long adjectival paradigm. The endings of most ordinals are rhythmically shortened due to a preceding long syllable (e.g., piaty ‘fifth’). As for collectives, the numeral jedni/jedny (‘one set of…’) has a long paradigm except for the NOM.M.AN and the NOM/ACC of the other genders, where the endings are short; the collectives dvoje (‘two sets of…’) and troje (‘three sets of…’) have a short declension. Higher collectives (štvoro, pätoro… tisícero), adverbial multiplicatives (e.g., dvakrát / dva razy… päť ráz… ‘two times… five times’) and some names of fractions (pol ‘half’, štvrť ‘quarter’, trištvrte ‘three-quarters’) are indeclinable. 31 Names of fractions (štvrtina ‘one-fourth’, desatina ‘one-tenth’, stotina ‘one-hundredth’ etc.) inflect as the žena noun class due to the -in(a) suffix with which they are derived. 3.2 Verbal morphology 3.2.1 Verbal categories Slovak verbs inflect according to the following categories: person, number, mood, tense, aspect and voice. In addition, the past, the conditional and the participles also express congruence with the subject in gender. On the other hand, not all word-forms express all the categories. Three persons (first, second and third) are expressed in most verbal forms, except for the infinitive, gerund and participles. There is a single set of final suffixes marking the person in the indicative (Table 21); only the verb byť ‘be’ has an idiosyncratic 2SG (Table 22). The verb byť ‘be’ is used as the auxiliary in periphrastic forms, and it is the inflected forms of this auxiliary that express the person. Not all verbs have forms for all person values: with some agentless verbs only 3SG (sometimes also 3PL) forms are used in non-poetic usage (3a–c). (3) a. prš-í:ø rain-PRS.IND.3SG ‘it rains’ b. smäd-í:ø thirst-PRS.IND.3SG ma I:ACC ‘I am thirsty’ c. stromy tree:NOM.PL.M zelen-e:j:ú green-PRS.IND.3PL ‘the trees are (glowing) green’ Table 21. Personal verbal endings (indicative mood) Person SG PL First -m -me Second -š -te Third -ø -ú (-u)* /-ia * If shortened by the rhythmical shortening rule. Table 22. Present and future indicative forms of byť (‘to be’) Person SG PL 32 PRS.IND First som sme Second si ste Third je sú FUT.IND First budem budeme Second budeš budete Third bude budú The number (singular and plural) is expressed with the person in the verbal ending. Additionally, it is marked in the adjectival endings of the participles, so the periphrastic forms of the past indicative and of the conditionals mark the number twice in the first and second persons: on the participle and on the auxiliary (4a); the third persons have zero form, so the number is overtly marked once (4b). In contrast to the indicative and conditional, the expression of person is limited in the imperative mood (see below). (4) a. vyrást-l-a b. s-om vyrást-l-a ø PFV:grow-PST-SG.F AUX-1SG PFV:grow-PST-SG.F 3 ‘I grew up’ ‘she grew up’ Three values of mood are morphologically coded in Slovak: indicative, conditional and imperative. While the indicative uses only personal endings attached to the finite verbal stem (3.2.2) without overt expression, the conditional is expressed in an analytic form. The periphrastic construction is similar to the past indicative and consists of the following components: (i) The l-participle (LPT): this participle is formed from the infinite stem (3.2.2) by attaching the PST -l- suffix and the -ø (SG.M), -a (SG.F), -o (SG.N) or -i (PL) ending. Depending on the verb class (3.2.2), -l- may expand to the left by a thematic submorpheme, or if the verb has none, o is inserted to prevent the occurence of sonorant -l after an obstruent in the syllable coda (e.g., vyrástol ‘he grew up’, but vyrástla, vyrástlo, vyrástli ‘she, it, they carried’), hence -a:l, -e:l, -i:l and -o:l.11 (ii) The conditional marker by: is a separable clitic (5.1) and, in contrast to some other Slavic languages, preserves its phonemic shape and does not combine with other words; it In the morphemic segmentation that we apply here, the submorphemic (purely classificatory, non-semantic) status of the theme is marked by a colon on the boundary between the submorpheme and the rest of the morpheme it belongs to. In Slovak linguistics, the theme is not considered part of the root, but rather of the suffix, since the phonemic structure of Slovak roots typically is CV(C) rather than CVCV (i.e., pad-ol, rather than pado-l). In interlinear morphological glosses, however, the colon is applied as usual: to mark a morpheme boundary not shown in the original in a given example. 11 33 can only be found integrated in conjunctions aby/žeby ‘(in order) to’, keby ‘if’ and akoby ‘as if’. (iii) Finally, a present-tense form of the ‘be’-auxiliary is added in the first and second persons, while the third persons have a zero form, i.e. vyrástla by som ‘I would grow up’, but vyrástla by ‘she would grow up’. As for the imperative mood, three synthetic forms with endings partially shared with the indicative exist for the 2SG, 1PL and 2PL (3.2.2). If the action is ordered/desired to be performed by a third party, an analytical construction is used (5.3.3). Four tenses are used in Slovak: three central—present, simple past and future—and one peripheral—pluperfect. The IND inflects for all the four tenses. The COND and the active PT have only the present and the past (although the past forms of the active PT are vanishing). The other forms, i.e. the INF, IMPV, but also GER and passive PT, are not marked for tense. The present forms of the active indicative are synthetic, implying the tense in the personal endings (see above). The past forms are periphrastic except for the active PST.PT which formed synthetically by attaching the -vš- suffix to the infinite stem and complemented by a long adjectival ending (e.g., preži-ť ‘survive-INF’ → preži-vš-í, preži-vš-ia, preži-vš-ie etc. ‘survive-PST.PT-NOM.SG.M/F/N’). The periphrastic form of the PST.IND is composed of an LPT accompanied in the first and second persons by a present-tense form of the ‘be’-auxiliary (4a); in the third persons, the LPT is used without the auxiliary (4b). The PST.COND is similar to the PRS.COND, with just the ‘be’-auxiliary appearing in a past-tense analytic form (e.g., bola by som vyrástla ‘I would have grown up’). The pluperfect in Slovak has formed as a double perfect (cf. Thomas 2008). The construction is thus similar to the simple past (which historically was a perfect as well), only the ‘be’-auxiliary appears here in a past-tense form (5). Nowadays the PLU is rarely used, it is stylistically marked and common only in several phrases, particularly with verbs of communication, such as (5) (Stašková 2011; Sokolová and Žigo 2014: 200–202). PLU of perfective verbs primarily has a resultative meaning, whereas PLU of imperfective verbs works as antepreterite (Sokolová and Žigo 2014). (5) ako s-om bo-l-a poved-a:l-a as AUX-1SG AUX-PST-SG.F say-PST-SG.F ‘as I (have/had) said’ The future is periphrastic with imperfective verbs, being composed of the future forms of ‘be’ (Table 22) plus the infinitive (6a). The perfective verbs express the future by their synthetic present-tense forms (6b). (6) a. bud-e:š AUX.FUT-2SG pís-a:ť write-INF ‘you will be writing’ b. na-píš-e:š PFV-write-(PRS.)IND.2SG ‘you will write’ 34 The category of aspect refines this apparently simple three/four-tense system with the perfective/imperfective opposition. Simple verbal forms can be either PFV or IPFV, e.g., kúpiť (‘buy:INF’) is PFV, while lúpiť (‘loot:INF’) is IPFV. Aspectual transformation from the PFV to the IPFV and vice versa is synthetic. The perfective is formed from the IPFV by (i) prefixation or (ii) suffixation. Any prefixation (except for the the negativizer ne-) entails perfectivization, e.g., lúpiť → vy-lúpiť (‘PFV-loot:INF’). The prefix often also brings along a shift in the lexical meaning (3.3.3). In our example, the word lúpiť corresponds more to the English ‘loot’, while the word vylúpiť is more like ‘rob’, pulling valuables out of something as in vylúpiť banku (‘rob a bank’). With other verbs, however, the vy- prefix only serves the grammatical perfectivizing function, e.g., prať IPFV → vyprať PFV (‘wash, launder’). The following prefixes often have just the aspectual grammatical function: u-, na-, po- and s-/z-. The latter is usually employed to perfectivize recent loanwords, e.g., kopírovať → skopírovať (‘copy’), demontovať → zdemontovať (‘remove, dismount’), but other prefixes may perform the job if their meaning corresponds to the stem’s meaning, e.g., distribuovať → rozdistribuovať (‘distribute’; roz- has the meaning of spreading), eliminovať → vyeliminovať (‘eliminate’; vy- has the meaning of taking out). The perfectives whose lexical meaning has shifted as a result of prefixation are amenable to secondary imperfectivization (e.g., lúpiť → vylúpiť → vylupovať) whereas ‘pure’ perfectives are not (e.g., lúpiť → ulúpiť → *ulupovať). Perfectivization by way of suffixation is carried out using the -n- suffix, e.g., pad-ať → pad-n-úť (‘fall-IPFV-INF’), but occurs with some verbs only, such as semelfactives (3.3.3). The imperfective is formed from the PFV by (i) suffixation or (ii) transflection. The suffix used is -v- (if the stem ends in a vowel) and -ov- or -áv/iav- (if the stem ends in a consonant), e.g., rozžu-ť → rozžú-v-ať (‘chew’), kúp-iť → kup-ov-ať (‘buy’), usp-ať → usp-áv-ať (‘put to sleep’), zdrž-ať → zdrž-iav-ať (‘delay’). Morphophonemic alternations usually accompany the -v- and -ov- suffixation (cf. rozžu-ť → rozžú-v-ať ‘chew’; skrát-iť → skrac-ov-ať ‘shorten’). The -áv/iav- suffix is amenable to rhythmical shortening (e.g., odpútať → odpútavať ‘unbend, unleash’; zmiešať → zmiešavať ‘mix’). Transflection, the other imperfectivization strategy, comprises morphophonemic (vocalic and the strident/non-strident consontantal) alternation (2.3) plus the application of thematic submorpheme a without any affixation. Thus, the verb moves to class I (3.2.2), e.g., spojiť PFV → spájať IPFV (‘connect’), splatiť PFV → splácať IPFV (‘pay back’), spracovať PFV → spracúvať IPFV (‘process’), zodrať PFV → zodierať IPFV (‘flay, rub off’) etc. The transflective forms are receding in favour of suffixed ones, so both currently co-exist with some verbs (e.g., spojiť → spájať/spojovať). Still, transflective imperfectivization is more frequent in Slovak than in Czech (cf. Sk prilepiť → priliepať ‘stick’; vysypať → vysýpať ‘spill solid’; zahrnúť → zahŕňať ‘include’, etc.). A few, but highly frequent, aspectual pairs have suppletive roots: brať IPFV – vziať PFV ‘take’, hovoriť IPFV – povedať PFV ‘say’, klásť IPFV – položiť PFV ‘put’, and their derivatives, also robiť IPFV – spraviť (besides urobiť) PFV ‘do’ and the prefixed derivatives of ísť ‘go’ like prísť PFV – prichádzať IPFV (‘come, arrive’). Voice is a two-value category: active and passive. Intransitive verbs do not have the passive, except for rare figurative usage (esp. bol odídený ‘he was go:away:PSV:SG.M’, i.e. ‘he was 35 fired’), but they may have a subjectless form with the sa particle (e.g., 43a, b). The active forms are synthetic only in the PRS.IND, while the passive ones are periphrastic. There are two morphological strategies for the passivization. (i) Participial passive: the ‘be’-auxiliary is combined with the PSV.PT (e.g., napísať → byť napísaný ‘to be written’, bolo napísané ‘it was written’ etc.). (ii) Reflexive passive: the sa passivizer/reflexive morpheme is combined with the active form (e.g., stavia dom ‘he/she/it builds a house’ → stavia sa dom ‘the house is being built’). In contrast to some other Slavic languages, the sa morpheme is separable from the verb (5.1). (For other ways of expressing passivity, see 5.7.4.) The morphology of the non-finite forms does not express person and some other verbal categories. The forms include: the infinitive, the gerund, two active participles and one passive participle. All infinitives are marked with -ť in Standard Slovak; the ending sometimes has a left vocalic (thematic) extension a, ie, ú or i, depending on the verb class (3.2.2). Verbs in the INF only express aspect and voice. The gerund is formed from (i) the finite stem by adding (ii) the -c suffix, again extended to the left by ú (or u if rhythmically shortened) with verb classes I–IV and by ia (resistant to the rhythmical shortening) with class V (3.2.2), e.g., vol-a:j:ú:c (a is a thematic submorpheme and j is an interfix) (‘calling’), nesú:c (‘carrying’), píš-u:c (‘writing’) and pál-ia:c (‘burning’). The GER form is the same for all numbers and genders. The present active participle has the form of the GER to which a soft long (but rhythmically shortened) adjectival ending is attached, e.g., nesúc-i (NOM.SG.M), nesúc-a (NOM.SG.F), nesúc-e (NOM.SG.N), etc. The past active participle is formed from (i) the infinite stem to which (ii) the -vš- suffix plus (iii) a soft long adjectival ending are attached, e.g., vol-a:vš-í (NOM.SG.M), vol-a:vš-ia (NOM.SG.F) etc. The passive participle consists of (i) the infinite stem, (ii) suffix -t- or -n- and (iii) a long adjectival ending (Table 24). The so-called ‘l-participle’ no longer functions as a participle and remains only a part of the PST.IND and the COND forms (see above). 3.2.2 Conjugational paradigms Slovak verbs usually have two stems, namely the finite (present) stem and the infinite (nonfinite) stem. Modifying morphemes (imperfectivizers) and grammatical endings can have a left vocalic extension (thematic submorpheme). The thematic submorphemes used with the finite stems classify the verbs in to five classes: I (á), II (ie, but e in 3PL), III (ie, but none in 3PL), IV (e) and V (í). These groups further split into 14 subclasses (Table 24). Table 24. Verb classes Class INF 1SG (PRS) 3PL (PRS) LPT PSV.PT I chyt-a:ť chyt-á:m chyt-a:j:ú chyt-a:l-ø chyt-a:n-ý II rozum-ie:ť rozum-ie:m rozum-e:j:ú rozum-e:l-ø rozum-e:n-ý III nies-ť nes-ie:m nes-ú nies-o:l-ø nes-e:n-ý tr-ie:ť tr-ie:m tr-ú tr-e:l-ø tr-e:n-ý (utretý)* hyn-ú:ť hyn-ie:m hyn-ú hyn-u:l-ø (u)hyn-u:t-ý 36 IV V br-a:ť ber-ie:m ber-ú br-a:l-ø (zo)br-a:t-ý čes-a:ť češ-e:m češ-ú čes-a:l-ø čes-a:n-ý prac-ov-a:ť prac-uj-e:m prac-u:j-ú pracov-a:l-ø (s)prac-ov-a:n-ý chud-n-ú:ť chud-n-e:m chud-n-ú chud-o:l-ø (s)chud-n-u:t-ý žu-ť žu:j-e:m žu:j-ú žu-l-ø žu-t-ý ža-ť žn-e:m žn-ú ža-l-ø ža-t-ý rob-i:ť rob-í:m rob-ia rob-i:l-ø rob-e:n-ý vid-ie:ť vid-í:m vid-ia vid-e:l-ø vid-e:n-ý krič-a:ť krič-í:m krič-ia krič-a:l-ø krič-a:n-ý * The trieť subclass usually has the -t- suffix, but the unprexfixed trieť itself has -n-. Diphthongization (2.1.4) applies to the long thematic submorpheme and rhytmical shortening to the -ú ending (e.g., chytám ‘I catch’ vs. vešiam ‘I hang’; češú ‘they comb’ vs. píšu ‘they write’). Vocalic and consonantal alternations take place in the niesť (III) subclass (e.g., pliesť – pletiem /plɛci̯ ɛm/ – plietol ‘knit’; klásť – kladiem /klaɟi̯ ɛm/ – kládol ‘put’; piecť – pečiem – piekol ‘bake’). The česať (IV) subclass has a stem-final alternation involving strident consonants (cf. blikotať – blikocem ‘blink’; vládať – vládzem ‘be able to’; plakať – plačem ‘cry’). As for smaller subclasses, there is a vowel/zero alternation in the brať (III) subclass and vocalic alternations in some verbs of the žuť (IV) subclass (e.g., siať – sejem ‘sow’); a rare vowel/consonant alternation occurs in the žať (IV) subclass (see 2.3). The personal endings, applicable to all the verb classes in the indicative, are shown in Table 21 above (for an illustration of a whole paradigm, see Table 25). The imperative has three synthetic forms with similar endings, -ø (2SG), -me (1PL) and -te (2PL). These endings are attached to the finite stem together with a thematic submorpheme and the j interfix (7a). If the stem ends in /i/, the j interfix is not inserted in the IMPV, as this would result in a tautosyllabic /ij/ cluster which is avoided in Slovak (7b). Non-strident anterior consonants at the end of the stem are subject to alternation with their non-anterior counterparts (7c). If the stem ends in a consonantal cluster that would be difficult to pronounce word-finally, an i-extension is attached to the ending, resulting in -i (2SG), -ime (1PL), -ite (2PL) (7d). After those clusters that are not difficult to pronounce word-finally, either variant of the ending may occur (e.g., pusť/pusti ‘release!’, urč/urči ‘determine!’). (7) a. chyt-a:j:ú chyt-a:j:ø catch-PRS.IND.3PL catch-IMPV.2SG ‘they catch’ ‘catch!’ b. pi:j-ú pi-ø drink-PRS.IND.3PL drink-IMPV.2SG ‘they drink’ ‘drink!’ 37 c. ved-ú veď-ø lead-PRS.IND.3PL lead-IMPV.2SG ‘they lead’ ‘lead!’ d. tr-ú tr-i:ø rub-PRS.IND.3PL rub-IMPV.2SG ‘they rub’ ‘rub!’ Table 25. Illustration of a present indicative paradigm (niesť ‘carry’) Person SG PL first nesiem nesieme second nesieš nesiete third nesie nesú Slovak has several irregular verbs: jesť ‘eat’, ísť ‘go’, vedieť ‘know’, stať ‘stand, stop’, stať sa ‘become’ as well as byť ‘be’ and their derivatives. Their irregularity lies in a difference between the phonemic shapes of the finite and infinite stems or in the use of the -ia instead of the -ú IND.3PL ending (Table 26). The verb byť also has irregular negative formation (5.6). Table 26. Irregular verbs (irregularities marked bold)* INF IND.1SG (PRS) IND.3PL (PRS) IMPV.2SG LPT (M/F) jes-ť (‘eat’) j-em jed-ia jedz jed-ol/jed-la ís-ť (‘go’) id-em id-ú poď/choď (i)šiel/(i)šla ved-ieť (‘know’) v-iem ved-ia vedz vedel/vedela sta-ť (‘stop’) stan-em stan-ú staň stal/stala sta-ť sa (‘become’) stan-em sa stan-ú sa staň sa stal/stala sa * For byť, see Table 22 above. Evidentiality is not morphologically coded in Slovak, but there are special constructions for this purpose (6.6). 3.3 Derivational morphology 3.3.1 Major patterns of noun derivation Derivation of nouns most often takes place through suffixation. Names of agents are productively formed using -teľ, -č, -ár/-iar, -ník and the borrowed -ist(a) and -ér (e.g., 38 predkladať INF → predkladateľ ‘submitter’; baviť INF → bavič ‘entertainer’; komisia ‘commission’ → komisár ‘commissioner’, koaličný ‘coalition:ADJ’ → koaličník ‘coalition member’; taekwondo → taekwondista ‘taekwondo figher’; pizza → pizzér ‘pizza maker’). Inhabitant names are usually formed using -čan, -an and -ec with morphophonemic alternation where applicable (e.g., Londýn → Londýnčan ‘Londonner’; Mexiko → Mexičan ‘a Mexican’; Vietnam → Vietnamec ‘a Vietnamese’). Female nouns usually have an (additional) suffix -(ič)k- preceded by consonantal alternation where applicable (e.g., koaličník M → koaličníčka F ‘coalition member’, ekológ → ekologička ‘ecologist’, Mexičan → Mexičanka, but -k- replaces -ec- as in Vietnamec – Vietnamka). The -k- suffix is widely used as a feminizer even where other Slavic languages have different traditional suffixes -ic- and -yň- (cf. Sk úradníčka vs. Cz úřednice ‘official, clerk’; Sk učiteľka vs. Ru učiteľnica ‘teacher’; Sk ministerka vs. Cz ministryně ‘minister’ etc.). The feminization of surnames is traditional in Slovak. The most common derivational suffix is -ov- which is the same as for possessive ADJ, but in contrast to the possessives, it is followed by long adjectival endings, e.g. Kováč (M) → Kováčová (F) (NOM.SG). Those surnames that have an adjectival form do not have the -ov- suffix but feminine adjectival endings only, e.g., Uličn-ý (M) → Uličn-á (F) (NOM.SG). Collective family names are formed using the composite suffix -ovc- plus masculine nominal endings, e.g., Kováč (NOM.SG.M) → Kováčovci (NOM.PL) ‘Kováč family’. Names of things and instruments are productively derived by -ák/iak, -(č)k-, -č, -dl- and by simple conversion accompanied by morphophonemic alternation (e.g., smeť ‘piece of litter’ → smetiak ‘dustbin’; vŕtať ‘to drill’ → vŕtačka ‘drill machine’; vykrajovať ‘to cut out’ → vykrajovač ‘kernel cutter’; zahustovať ‘to thicken’ → zahusťovadlo ‘thickener’; vypísať ‘to extract by writing’ → výpis-ø ‘a note, extract, list’). In Common Slovak, the -ák suffix tends to resists diphthongization (2.1.4) under the possible influence of Czech (e.g., vodičák ‘driver license’) and -iar resists rhythmical shortening (2.1.4). Nouns denoting places are often derived using -(ár)eň, -(ov)ň- or -isk- (e.g., elektráreň ‘power plant’; serverovňa ‘server room’; let-ieť ‘tofly-INF’ → letisko ‘airport’). There is variation between -isk(o) and -išt(e) in several words, with semantic differentiation in some (e.g., riečisko/riečište ‘riverbed’; stanovisko ‘viewpoint, opinion’ vs. stanovište ‘position, outpost’). Mere conversion with morphophonemic alternation is also a common strategy for place nouns (e.g., vybehnúť ‘to run out’ → výbeh-ø ‘paddock, sheep-run, chicken-run etc.’). In the derivation of abstract nouns, -osť is the most productive suffix and to a lesser extent others like -(s)tv- (e.g., udržateľnosť ‘sustainability’, priateľstvo ‘friendship’). Action nouns include verbal nouns, formed using the -t- or -n- suffix (as in the PSV.PT) accompanied by the specific endings of the stretnutie class (3.1.2). Borrowed suffixes of Latin, Greek, Romance and English origin are widely used, sometimes along with native ones (e.g., relativita or relatívnosť ‘relativity’). Names of actions are also derived by way of conversion with morphophonemic alternation (e.g. vystrel-iť INF → výstrel-ø ‘shot’; porod-iť INF → pôrod-ø ‘childbirth’ with additional [ɟ]/[d] stem-final alternation not captured by the orthography). 39 Diminutives are derived using a variety of k-suffixes, including -k- (that coincides with the feminizer), -čk- and -nk- with either feminine or neuter endings; masculine variants are -ík, ok, -ček, -tek; alternations accompany the suffixes (e.g., hlava → hlávka ‘head’; pero → pierko ‘feather’; bod [d] → bodík [ɟ] ‘point’; klas → klások ‘cob’; nos → noštek ‘nose’). Diminution is also carried out by way of transflection, i.e. with no derivational affix, but a change in declension class or in gender, plus alternation (e.g., žena (F) → žieňa (N) ‘woman’; chlap (M) → chlápä (N) ‘man, boy’). Augmentatives are usually formed using the -isksuffix (e.g., dub → dubisko ‘big oak-tree’; dievča → dievčisko ‘big/strong girl’; chlap → chlapisko ‘big/strong man, hefty fellow’). The names of younglings are derived by -(í)č- (e.g., slon → sloníča ‘young elephant’, lev → levíča ‘young lion’) or by transflection (e.g., hus-ø F ‘goose’ → hús-a N ‘goosling’; medveďø M ‘bear’ → medvieď-a N ‘bearcub’). The transflection is used for the NOM.SG only, while derivational suffix -ať/at- is attached in the other case-forms (hús-ať-a ‘goos-ling-GEN.SG.N’, medvieď-at-á ‘bear-cub-NOM/ACC.PL.N’ etc., see the dievča class in Table 10). Collectives are derived by several suffixes, such as -(s)tv- and -in- (e.g., vodstvo ‘waters’, dubina ‘oak grove’), but some receive the specific endings of the stretnutie class only and may undergo alternation (e.g., list ‘leaf’ → líst-ie ‘foliage’, rad stromov ‘row of.trees’ → stromorad-ie ‘alley’). These derivational strategies are for their most part shared with the derivation of abstract nouns. Some collectives are derived by way of prefixation with transflection (e.g., vet-a F ‘sentence’ → sú-vet-ie N ‘compound sentence’). Substantivized adjectives are a special group of nouns that have adjectival form but stand in the clause alone like other nouns (e.g., recepčný ‘receptionist’, vedúci ‘director, head, manager’, vreck-ov-é ‘pocket-ADJR-NOM.SG.N’ or ‘pocket money’). Some nouns are derived via a type of prefixation that resembles composition, as it consists in adding prefixoids, mostly of foreign origin, such as bio-, euro-, ex-, pseudo- etc., to the root (e.g., exmanžel ‘ex-husband’, bioplyn ‘biogas’, eurofondy ‘EU funds’, pseudoproblém). Composition as such is a rather unproductive derivational strategy today, with exceptions such as with numerals (e.g., dvojposteľ ‘double bed’). Interfix -o- is the major connector in compounds (e.g. voda + vodiť ‘water + to lead’ → vodovod ‘water-conduit’; sever + východ → severovýchod ‘northeast’). Those compounds that have emerged from a noun phrase retain the first component’s ending as the connector (e.g., schopnosť konkurenci-e ‘capability competition-GEN.SG’ → konkurencieschopnosť ‘competitiveness’). Composition may combine with affixation (e.g., sprav-o-daj-c-a ‘news-INTERFIX-provide-DERAGENT-NOM.SG.M’, i.e. ‘correspondent, reporter’). Compounds in Slovak are mostly exocentric, but some are endocentric (cf. above); there are apparently no coordinative compounds in Slovak. 3.3.2 Major patterns of adjective derivation Very productive adjectivizers include the suffixes -n- and -ov-. Some lexical morphemes combine with both, but there is a tendency for functional specialization: -n- derives various types of qualitative adjectives, while -ov- relational ones (e.g., srdečná žena ‘warm-hearted woman’ vs. srdcová choroba ‘heart disease’). The Slavic soft -ň- adjectivizer is absent from 40 Slovak. The groups of adjectives derived in these ways are relatively large and productive. Suffix -ac- is used for deverbatives meaning ‘intended for doing X’ (e.g., merací prístroj ‘measuring instrument’); it is similar to, but still different from, the active PT suffix (cf. 3.2.1). Facilitatives are mostly formed using suffixed combination -teľ-n- (e.g., merať ‘measure:INF’ merateľný ‘measurable’). Proprietives are often derived with -nat- (e.g., voda ‘water’ → vodnatý ‘watery’; sval ‘muscle’ → svalnatý ‘muscular’), some using a prefix bez- ‘without’ (e.g., bezruký ‘armless’). Suffixes -(k)ast- and -(k)av- derive a small set of attenuatives (e.g., červený ‘red’ → červenkastý or červenkavý ‘reddish’; sprostý → nasprostastý ‘a bit blockheaded’, here in a combination with prefix na-). Diminutives are formed using combined suffixes similar for nouns (3.3.1), i.e. -ičk-, -ink-, -učk-, -unk- with possible partial reduplication (e.g., nov-uč:k-ý, nov-uč:ič:k-ý ‘new-DIM-NOM.SG.M). Downward intensification is achieved by the diminutive suffixes -čk- or -nk- that can also have one or multiple i- and/or u-extensions (e.g., slab-ý → slab-ulink-ý ‘so weak, faint, dauncy’). Upward intensifiers are -ánsk- and -izn- (e.g., veľký → velikánsky or veličizný ‘gigantic’). Intensification can also be carried out through prefixation, using pri-, pre-, super-, hyper- and ultra- (e.g., priveľký ‘too big’, primalý ‘too small’, prekrásny ‘so beautiful’, supertajný ‘super-secret’). Negativizer is ne- (neveľký ‘not big, modest’). A wide inventory of derivational suffixes is mobilized for chemical terminology, namely chemical compounds (in order to indicate oxidation numbers from +1 to +9): -n-, -nat-, -it-, ičit-, -ičn-/ečn-, -ov-, -ist-, -ičel-, -ut- (e.g., oxid dusný ‘N2O’, oxid dusnatý ‘NO’, oxid dusičitý ‘NO2’ etc.). Individual possessives are derived using -ov- from masculines and -in- from feminines (e.g., matka → matkin ‘mother’s’; otec → otcov ‘father’s’, páv → pávov ‘peacock’s’). Generic possessives are derived just by long adjectival grammatical endings (3.1.4), whose additional derivational function is emphasized by resistance to rhythmical shortening (e.g., páví ‘peacocks’’, i.e. characteristic of the species). Composition is a peripheral derivational strategy for adjectives, but a number of quite frequent compounds do exist, including terminology items and colour tones and combinations (e.g., schopný boja ‘capable of fighting’ → bojaschopný; farba + slepý ‘colour + blind’ → farboslepý; sneh + biely ‘snow + white’ → snehobiely). 3.3.3 Major patterns of verb derivation In contrast to nouns and adjectives, prefixation predominates in verb derivation. However, derived from other parts of speech, many verbs have emerged through mere conversion accompanied by morphophonemic alternation; the thematic submorpheme in this case is most often i and, with some change-of-state verbs, ie (e.g., liek ‘medicament’ → liečiť ‘heal’; sivý ‘grey’ → sivieť ‘grow grey’). Many other verbs, including most loanwords, are derived by suffix -ov- (e.g., práca → pracovať ‘work’, plán → plánovať ‘plan’) which is also widely used for imperfectivization (3.2.1). Derivatives from pronouns and interjections use the -k- or -č- suffix and fall into class I (ty → tykať ‘to use T form, be on first-name terms’; mé → 41 mečať ‘to bleat, naa’). Concerning types of verbal action (Aktionsarten), instances of suffixation include the following types:     semelfactives and some change-of-state verbs share the -n- suffix (e.g., kop-n-úť ‘to kick (once)’; star-n-úť ‘to grow older’); frequentatives are derived using the -v- suffix with a long thematic extension (-á:v- or -ie:v- depending on the conjugation class, e.g., vol-ať → vol-áv-ať ‘to call frequently’; bal-iť → bal-iev-ať ‘to pack frequently’; tráv-iť → tráv-iev-ať ‘to spend one’s time freequently’, note the -ie- suffix resists rhythmical shortening); expressives, i.e. verbs denoting intensified and usually unpleasant acts, are derived using the -ot- (-oc-) suffix; their expressivity is amplified by strident consonantal alternations in the finite stem (e.g., búchať → buchotať INF, buchocem 1SG,… ‘slam’); diminutives, characteristic of baby-talk, are derived by the -(in)k- suffix plus morphophonemic alternation where applicable (e.g., sadať si → sadkať si ‘to sit down’; plakať → plačkať ‘to cry, weep’; spať → spinkať ‘to sleep’). Other action types are coded by way of prefixation (Table 27). Table 27. Prefixes for different action types Prefix Action type Example Meaning za- ingressive zaplakať ‘start to cry, weep’ factitive začierniť ‘blacken’ roz- + sa inchoative rozplakať sa ‘burst into tears’ do- completive doplakať ‘finish crying’ po- (+ si) delimitatives poplakať si ‘to cry a little’ zahrať si ‘to play a little’ repetitive prepísať ‘rewrite’ excessive presoliť ‘oversalt’ pri- attenuative pripísať ‘add something by writing’ od- egressive odpísať ‘write off’ u- (+ sa) exhaustive uplakať sa ‘cry until the end’ na- intensive naplakať ‘cry to certain amount (of tears)’ na- + sa cummulative naplakať sa ‘cry a lot’ vy- + sa saturative vyplakať sa ‘cry until satisfaction’ poza-/povy-/ponaetc. distributive pozapisovať ‘to write more things down’ za- si pre- Some of the prefixes are accompanied by movable morphemes sa or si. These morphemes assume multiple roles in Slovak: 42 (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) derivational affixes used in verb derivation as shown in Table 27, an inherent part of the lexeme in those verbs that do not occur without sa/si (e.g., smiať sa ‘laugh,’ not *smiať; všimnúť si ‘notice’, not *všimnúť), ACC and DAT forms, respectively, of the RFL personal pronoun (on forms, see 3.1.3; on use, 5.7.1), sa also works as a means for deriving anticausatives (e.g., otvoriť CAU → otvoriť sa ANTIC ‘to open’) and some inchoatives (e.g., pustiť ‘to release’ → pustiť sa ‘to get down to, embark on’) (for details, see Ivanová et al. 2017: 61–79), sa as a passivizer (3.2.1 and 5.7.4). 3.4 Uninflected words 3.4.1 Prepositions The morphology of Slovak prepositions is restricted to the composition of simple prepositions. Locational prepositions can be two-component, when combined with po-, but also three-component, when combined with s- and po-. The double prepositions refer to the location of a moving object in relation to the location of something else, while the triple ones to the movement from the place between, below, above, in front of or by something, e.g., pred (‘in front of’) – popred (‘along the front of’) – spopred (‘from in front of’). Secondary prepositions, i.e. of substantive, noun-phrasal or adverbial origin, have the original inflected form petrified (e.g., ohľadom ‘with respect to, regarding, concerning’ from the INS.SG of ohľad ‘respect, observance’). 3.4.2 Conjunctions The role of conjunctions of relational clauses is performed by interrogative (relative) pronouns which inflect. Many other conjunctions are compounds of either multiple simpler conjunctions or of other parts of speech, such as prepositions and pronouns (e.g., preto ‘therefore’ from pre ‘for’ + to ‘it’) or particles (e.g., a preto aj ‘and therefore also’). A few composite conjunctions are reduplicates (e.g., alebo X, alebo Y ‘either X or Y’; ani X, ani Y ‘neither X nor Y’). 3.4.3 Particles Many particles too originate from other parts of speech, including verbs, nouns, pronouns and a numeral (raz ‘once, at all’). They preserve a petrified form of former predicates or noun phrases. Some de-adverbial particles have preserved the older derivational suffix -e, while the corresponding adverbs have acquired the productive -o suffix (e.g., určite/určito ADV ‘exactly’ vs. only určite PTCL ‘certainly’). Several deverbative particles have preserved older verb forms (e.g., veru ‘truly, indeed’ vs. contemporary verím ‘I believe’). Some particles can have the -že intensifier attached (e.g., isteže, veruže ‘of course!’) or conditional by added (kiežby, bodaj by ‘if only’ both). Several particles are reduplicated compounds (e.g., už-už ‘just now’). 43 4. Morphosyntax and the semantics of grammatical categories 4.1 Nominal categories 4.1.1 Gender The category of gender is a propriety of nouns; adjectives, pronouns, numerals and some verbal forms (the participles and the past tense singular forms) express agreement with nouns in gender. With indeclinable nouns (3.1.1), it is the agreement ending on the dependent word that identifies the noun’s gender. In this sense, every noun has a gender. There are several types of mismatches between grammatical gender and natural gender. Although female nouns (3.3.1) are widespread in Slovak, masculine forms are also commonly used generically (7.3). The generic masculine is particularly common in the PL. Its use is supported by the fact that the doubling of agreement endings (M/F) on noun-dependent words complicates writing in cases where agreement is to be marked multiple times in a sentence. Generic feminine is rare, mostly restricted to the plural of names of domestic animals (e.g. kravy ‘cows’, ovce ‘sheep:PL’, husi ‘geese’, etc.). There are a few feminines, namely osoba ‘person’, bytosť ‘being’ and sirota ‘orhpan’, that are regularly used as generic in the SG; generic masculines of this type include človek ‘human’, tvor ‘creature’ and hosť ‘guest’. Nouns for younglings (3.3.1) are usually grammatically neuter. Agreement with these words is according to their grammatical gender. A mismatch between natural and grammatical gender also occurs in collectives of living creatures; these nouns usually have a neuter ending following the corresponding derivational suffix (e.g., učiteľ-stv-o ‘teachers’ as a group). Grammatical gender changes in transflective diminution (3.3.1) and with the augmentation of male and female nouns, as they acquire a neuter ending following the DIM/AUG suffix (e.g., chlap ‘bloke[NOM.SG.M]’ → chlap-isk-o ‘bloke-AUG-NOM.SG.N’; žen-a ‘woman-NOM.SG.F’ → žen-isk-o ‘woman-AUG-NOM.SG.N’). However, while such nouns are marked as neuter, agreement marking on dependent words in the SG can be with the natural gender as well as the grammatical one (e.g., vysok-é (N) chlapisko or vysok-ý (M) chlapisko ‘tall man’). In the PL, the agreement is with the grammatical gender as a rule. 4.1.2 Number Agreement in number is expressed similarly to the agreement in gender (4.1.1 above). In noun phrases constituted of multiple nouns of different gender, the agreement is usually with the noun positioned closer in both the number and gender (8a), but sometimes the dependent word appears in the (generic masculine) plural even when the closest noun is in singular (8b). (8) a. moj-a my-NOM.SG.F b. moj-i mama a otec mom:NOM.SG.F and dad[NOM.SG.M] mama a otec and dad[NOM.SG.M] my-NOM.PL.M.AN mom:NOM.SG.F 44 ‘my mom and dad’ There are singularia and pluralia tantum in Slovak. The former mostly consist of collective, material and abstract nouns. Some do have PL forms, but their meaning is shifted as compared to the SG, e.g., reč ‘speech’ vs. reči ‘rumors, gossip, gab’. Some pluralia tantum denote a composite object (e.g. nožnice ‘scissors’, dvere ‘door’, prázdniny ‘vacation, holidays’). 4.1.3 Animacy and virility The animate/inanimate distinction fully applies to the masculines only (see below). However, there is also a morphological distinction between animate and inanimate neuters in the sense that the whole dievča ‘girl’ class comprises only animates: names of younglings and transflective diminutive names of animals and humans (3.3.1). Among the feminines, there is a certain distinction between personal and non-personal ones in the sense that the former can only belong to the -a and -á classes. Agreement markers on dependent words, however, are the same as for the other neuters and feminines. In contrast, the personal/non-personal (human/animal) distinction within the animate masculines in the plural applies to both the nouns themselves and agreement markers (e.g., NOM.PL t-í star-í pán-i ‘the old men’ vs. t-ie star-é jelen-e ‘the old deer/stags’). Despite this the personal animate masculines are not considered a specific gender subcategory in Slovak grammars (cf. the masculine-personal gender in Polish, Chapter 12). In addition, there are optional exceptions among animal names, including pes ‘dog’, vlk ‘wolf’, vták ‘bird’ and a few other animal nouns (esp. -k- derivatives, such as ježko ‘hedgehog’). These nouns may be inflected as animate as well as inanimate in the plural (e.g., NOM.PL vtáky [INAN] or vtáci [AN] ‘birds’; ježky [INAN] or ježkovia [AN] ‘hedgehogs’). 4.1.4 Case usage All case forms except for the LOC may occur without a preposition, being marked solely with an ending. This typically concerns the ‘syntactic’ cases: NOM, ACC and GEN. The nominative is the typical case of the sentence subject and of the predicate noun (5.4.2); it is also used in forms of address. As a form of address in familial and intimate relations, the vocative effect of the NOM may be highligthed by postponing the first person possessive pronouns which are otherwise used in anteposition (e.g., Viem, mama moja, viem ‘I know, mom, I know’; for details, see e.g., Nábělková 2019). The accusative is typically used for the direct object. This function has become more widespread in Slovak, since the accusative has replaced older Slavic constructions with the genitive and dative. Some adverbials of time, place and manner occur in the accusative. The genitive is usually used for the attribute (incl. possessive and partitive constructions), but also for the object (of multiple reflexive verbs) and adverbials. The partitive genitive occurs mostly in the attributes of the nouns of quantity and with numerals 5 and higher (5.9). Its occurence is rather rare in subjects and direct objects (9a). In contrast to some other Slavic languages, negative constructions with the GEN are rare compared to the ACC ones (5.5.2). The 45 constructions composed of an indefinite or negative pronoun and an adjective also tend to have the adjective in the NOM or ACC, rather than the GEN (e.g., Sk niečo/nič dobré NOM/ACC vs. Cz něco/nic dobrého GEN ‘something/nothing good’). The quantitative GEN is used to express a very large amount of something (9b). (9) a. napadl-o fall:PST-SG.N ø sneh-u 3 snow-GEN.SG.M ‘a lot of / some snow fell’ b. Tam bol-o there was-SG.N ø ľud-í! 3 people-GEN.PL.M.AN ‘There were so many people there!’ The ‘semantic’ cases or the DAT, INS and LOC are used for various types of adverbials, but especially the dative is also extensively used to mark the indirect object in various passive roles with respect to the verbal action (i.e. recipient, beneficiary and experiencer). For a restricted number of verbs, the DAT marks their direct object (10). (10) Posmievala sa svoj-mu manžel-ovi. she.mocked RFL.PRO-DAT.SG.M husband-DAT.SG.M.AN ‘She mocked her husband.’ The possessive DAT is common with an external possessor (5.8.6) and is not unusual in some other possessive meanings (5.8.2). The ethical DAT also occurs (5.7.6). The instrumental marks (i) the verbal agent in passive constructions (predicative INS) and (ii) an instrument of action in predicative constructions. In (iii) predicate constructions with the ‘be’-copula (i.e. ‘X is Y’), the INS is somewhat less common in Slovak than in Czech (5.4.2). The locative cannot be used without a preposition and so its function as a case is weakened. Several prepositions go with two cases which thus have the capacity to distinguish the meanings of the prepositional phrases. These prepositions include mostly locational ones (5.10). The preposition za combines with three cases (ACC, GEN, INS) which specify its various meanings (‘behind/instead/for…’). 4.2 Verbal categories 4.2.1 Aspect The basic distinction is perfective/imperfective, but the distinction is not coded in a straightforward way: as mentioned above (3.2.1), simple verbal forms (consisting in the root, the thematic submorpheme and the personal or infinitive ending only) can be either perfective or imperfective, depending on the particular verb. Nevertheless, the perfective is considered as marked, for its meaning is more precisely defined (as complete[d] action) and it is usually formed from the imperfective by prefixation (3.2.1). The prefixes usually also change the verb’s lexical meaning, which is why aspect is a lexico-grammatical category in Slovak. The 46 formation of imperfectives from perfectives is by transflection or suffixation which, on the one hand, are ‘purer’ grammatical strategies in Slovak, but on the other hand, the suffixation is formally very similar to the derivation of frequentatives (3.3.3): the same -v- suffix is used, albeit with a different thematic submorpheme (cf. the imperfectivization of kúp-i:ť ‘buyPFV.INF’ as kup-o:v-a:ť ‘buy-IPFV-INF’ vs. the formation of a frequentative kup-o:v-á:v-a:ť ‘buy-IPFV-FREQ-INF’). In addition to the frequentative/non-frequentative, there is the determinate/indeterminate sub-division within imperfectives, which particularly concerns the verbs of motion. The determinates refer to a single ongoing movement (e.g., veziem deti do školy ‘I am driving children to school’), while the indeterminates do not (vozím deti do školy ‘I drive children to school’). The determinate/indeterminate forms differ in the phonemic shapes of their roots; the roots of ‘go’ verbs are suppletive (Table 23). The indeterminate counterpart to hnať, i.e. honiť, has become obsolete and semantically restricted, so various (semantically shifted) derivatives are employed instead, depending on context (naháňať (sa) ‘chase’, poháňať ‘propel, power’, vyháňať ‘expel’, etc.). Prefixation of the verbs of motion makes them perfective but also shifts their meaning (e.g., zaletieť ‘get to a place by flying’, uniesť ‘manage to carry / abduct’). All the verbs of motion form the PST, FUT and IMPV in regular ways, only ísť ‘go’ displays some peculiarities. The PST of ísť has suppletive root (i)š-: (i)šiel (M.SG), (i)šla (F.SG), (i)šlo (N.SG) and (i)šli (PL). Only the indeterminate counterpart to ísť, i.e. chodiť, can express the FUT (e.g., budem chodiť ‘I will go’). The prefixed perfective’s IMPV forms (poď, poďme, poďte) are generally preferred to the IMPV forms of ísť (> iď, iďme, iďte), and the negative IMPV usually sounds nechoď etc. rather than nejdi etc. Table 23. Imperfective verbs of motion Determinate Indeterminate Meaning ísť chodiť ‘go’ bežať behať ‘run’ letieť lietať ‘fly’ ležať líhať ‘lie (down)’ sedieť sadať ‘sit (down)’ niesť nosiť ‘carry’ viesť vodiť ‘lead’ viezť voziť ‘drive, convey, carry’ liezť loziť ‘crawl, climb’ vliecť vláčiť ‘drag’ tiahnuť ťahať ‘draw, pull’ hnať honiť* ‘chase, drive, propel, herd’ 47 *See text for commentary. Some verbs occur as perfectives only (perfectiva tantum):        inchoatives (rozpršať sa ‘start to rain’); completives (dodýchať ‘breathe one’s last’); resultatives (otehotnieť ‘get pregnant’); intensives (nasmiať sa ‘laugh a lot’); distributives (pospomínať ‘remember, remind of [more times or more objects of remembering]’); prefixed directional verbs (prikráčať ‘walk to’, vykráčať ‘walk out’, odkráčať ‘walk away’ etc.); and some other frequent words, such as vydržať (‘withstand’), dokázať (in the sense of ‘be capable of’), (za)obísť sa (‘do without’) and pristať (‘suit’). Some other verbs occur as imperfectives only (imperfectiva tantum):      existential verbs (byť ‘be’, existovať ‘exist’, chýbať ‘be absent’ etc.); the modal verbs (incl. also vedieť ‘know’ and vládať ‘be able, manage’) and some semi-modal verbs (e.g., potrebovať ‘need’, patriť sa ‘fit, be appropriate’, hodiť sa ‘be useful, come in handy’); the numerous static verbs (stáť ‘stand’, nachádzať sa ‘be located, can be found’, patriť ‘belong’, obsahovať ‘contain’ etc.); verbs of psychological processes (vnímať ‘perceive’, báť sa ‘be afraid’, snívať ‘dream’, myslieť ‘think’, domnievať sa ‘opine’, milovať ‘love’, vážiť si ‘respect’ etc.) and of other non-transformative process (topiť sa ‘melt’, prosperovať ‘prosper’ etc.); verbs of non-transformative action (e.g., vravieť ‘say’, tvrdiť ‘claim’, čušať ‘keep silent’, varovať ‘warn’, venovať sa ‘attend to’, vládnuť ‘govern, rule’). Few native verbs are bi-aspectual: počuť ‘hear’, darovať ‘donate, make a present’, venovať ‘dedicate, devote’, obetovať ‘sacrifice’, pomstiť (sa) ‘avenge’ and some forms of odpovedať ‘reply’ (its finite forms distinguish aspect: odpoviem PFV.1SG vs. odpovedám IPFV.1SG). Many recent loanwords with the -ov- verb marker are bi-aspectual, but many others integrate in the Slovak aspectual system (3.2.1). 4.2.2 Tense Expression of tense is necessary for predication in Slovak. Slovak has four tenses, with the PLU (past perfect) receding. Synthetic forms are used for PRS and PFV.FUT, while periphrastic constructions are used for IPFV.FUT, PST and PLU (3.2.1). The PST has developed from the former Slavic perfect with the ‘be’-auxiliary. Nevertheless, mať ‘have’ and to a lesser extent zostať ‘remain’ can optionally also be used as auxiliaries when combined with the PSV.PT of perfectives; the constructions have a resultative meaning. However, the participle in this construction usually expresses congruence with the object (11) and, therefore, still cannot be considered a grammaticalized perfect (Giger 2016). (11) knihu má-m prečít-an-ú 48 book:ACC.SG.F have-IND.1SG PFV:read-PSV-ACC.SG.F ‘I have read the book’ 4.2.3 Futurity The present-tense forms of PFV verbs express the future (e.g., kúp-i:m ‘buy-IND.1SG’ meaning ‘I will buy’ vs. kup-uj-e:m ‘buy-IPFV-IND.1SG’ meaning ‘I buy / am buying’). The future of the IPFV verbs uses a periphrastic construction of the ‘be’-auxiliary plus INF, but the presenttense forms are also sometimes used when the future action is pre-planned or scheduled (e.g., zajtra letíme do Chicaga ‘tomorrow we are flying (IPFV) to Chicago’ vs. zajtra poletíme do Chicaga ‘tomorrow we will fly (PFV) to Chicago’). A special type of future, namely for upcoming or imminent events, has ísť ‘go’-auxiliary (12a) and it can also have a past form (12b). (12) a. id-e:ø pršať go-PRS.3SG rain:INF ‘it is going to rain’ b. iš-l-o ø go-PST-SG.N 3 pršať rain:INF ‘it was about to rain’ 4.2.4 Conditional/Optative/Subjunctive The present and past COND forms (3.2.1) primarily refer to unreal, conditioned or potential actions and often occur in compound sentences. Secondarily, they express an indirect command or request (7.1). The COND can also replace the IND in modest or uncertain statements. Wishes are formulated using constructions with various particles plus the PRS.IND as well as the COND with -by particles (5.3.3). 4.2.5 Taxis Morphological expression of taxis is very limited due to the absence of the PST.GER and rare use of PST.PT. A simultaneous, or with perfectives a closely preceding, event can be described using the PRS.GER (13a, b) or the PRS.PT (13c, d). The use of GER, especially with perfectives, is not very frequent in Slovak, albeit still more than in Czech. Multiple related verbal actions are usually expressed by finite verbal forms in separate clauses (13e), by deverbative adverbs (13f) or other types of adverbials (13g). (13) a. Id-úc go-GER okolo spozoroval oheň. by fire[ACC.SG.M.INAN] PFV:spot:PST[3SG.M] ‘As he walked by, he spotted a fire.’ 49 b. Spozoruj-úc PFV:spot-GER jej nevôľu, začal her displeasure start:PST[3SG.M] ju presviedčať. her convince.IPFV:INF ‘Having noticed her displeasure, he started convincing her.’ c. Občan id-úc-i citizen:NOM.SG.M okolo spozoroval go-PRS.PT-NOM.SG.M by PFV.spot:PST[3SG.M] oheň. fire[ACC.SG.M.INAN] ‘A citizen walking by spotted the fire.’ d. oheň fire[NOM.SG.M] spozorovaný okoloid-úc-im PFV:spot:PSV:NOM.SG.M pass.by-PRS.PT-INS.SG.M občanom citizen:INS.SG.M ‘the fire spotted by a passing-by citizen’ e. Keď iš-iel when go-PST[3SG.M] okolo, spozoroval oheň. by fire[ACC.SG.M.INAN] PFV.spot:PST[3SG.M] ‘As he was walking by, he spotted the fire.’ f. Idúc-ky okolo spozoroval go:ing-ADV by oheň. PFV.spot:PST[3SG.M] fire[ACC.SG.M.INAN] ‘Walking by, he spotted the fire.’ g. Cestou On.way okolo spozoroval oheň. by fire[ACC.SG.M.INAN] PFV.spot:PST[3SG.M] ‘On the way, he spotted the fire.’ Unlike in English, there is no shifting of tenses in subordinate clauses in Slovak (14). (14) Poved-al-a si, že nemá-š čas. say-PST-SG.F AUX:2SG that NEG:have-PRS.2SG time[ACC.SG.M.INAN] ‘you said you did not have time’ 50 5 Syntax 5.1 Declarative sentences Word order in declarative sentences is relatively free, being structured primarily according to the functional sentence perspective (Firbas 1992), i.e. with the known theme or topic coming first and message rheme or focus second. For example, the sentence with the OVS order in (15a) appeared in a regional news report on the cause of a train crash.12 The accident had already taken place two days before and so it was the cause (here the SBJ) that was the focus of the news and, therefore, was placed in the last position. The reformulations in (15b–f) all show acceptable word orders that put different constituents into focus without any changes in the grammatical values expressed; however (15e, f), in which V is positioned sentenceinitially, give the feeling of incompleteness of the utterance and resemble polar questions (5.2.2), rather than declarative sentences. (15) a. Nehodu nespôsobila technická chyba. accident:ACC.SG.F NEG:cause:PST:3SG.F technical:NOM.SG.F error:NOM.SG.F OBJ V SBJ ‘It was not a technical error that caused the accident.’ b. Technická chyba SBJ nespôsobila nehodu. V OBJ ‘The technical error did not cause an accident.’ c. Nehodu OBJ technická chyba nespôsobila. SBJ V ‘The technical error did not cause an/the accident.’ d. Technická chyba SBJ nehodu nespôsobila. OBJ V ‘The/A technical error did not cause the accident.’ e. Nespôsobila nehodu V OBJ technická chyba. SBJ ‘It was not a technical error [but sth. else] that caused the accident.’ f. Nespôsobila technická chyba V SBJ nehodu. OBJ ‘The technical error did not cause an/the accident [but it caused sth. else].’ In addition—or alternatively—to the word order, intonational emphasis may produce the focus in speech, so the element in focus can stand in a position other than final. 12 See https://bratislava.sme.sk, 11 Jan 2008. 51 There are certain limitations to the free word order. One of them is the order of the elements in the noun phrase. Those attributes that carry nominal agreement markers—i.e. determiners, adjectives and lower numerals—and numerals 5 and higher (5.9) stand in the anteposition to the head, while the other attributes—i.e. modifying nouns, adverbs and infinitives—stand in the postposition. As can be observed in (15a–f) above, elements of the NP (technická chyba) maintain their order and are not moved for topic–focus; however, their inversion may occur if the phrase has a contextual extension (be it in the same sentence or elsewhere) that makes the contrast thus produced explicit, as in (16). (16) Nehodu nespôsobila chyba accident:ACC.SG.F NEG:cause:PST:IND.3SG.F error:NOM.SG.F technická, ale ľudská. technical:NOM.SG.F but human:ADJ:NOM.SG.F ‘It was not a technical, but a human error that caused the accident.’ (cf. 22a) The postpositioning of the adjectival attribute for focusing is significantly less common in Slovak than in Czech (Sokolová at al. 2005: 115). Nevertheless, postposition is the rule in specialized terminology (e.g., oxid dusný ‘N2O’, sokol sťahovavý ‘peregrine falcon’) and normally occurs in historical names of rulers (e.g., Karol Veľký ‘Charles the Great’), in phraseology and in poetic expression. The word order within the multi-element adjectival attribute in which the adjectives express properties that are qualitatively incommensurable is also rather fixed: first come (i) contextual elements, i.e. všetok/každý/celý ‘all/every/each/whole’, other determiners and possessives; then (ii) a quantitative element, i.e. a numeral; and finally, (iii) qualitative elements, i.e. evaluative adjectives, relational adjectives and adjectives that form a tight, lexicalized, conjunction with the head noun (Ivanová 2016a: 105). The order of the elements within groups (i) and (iii) may vary (17a, b). Moreover, the numeral (component ii) sometimes precedes the possessive (component i), producing a slight difference in meaning: a subset in (17c) vs. the total number in (17d). (17) a. typický typical obrázok [nášho každého väčšieho mesta] image of.our each larger city ‘a typical image of every major city [of ours]’ b. v in okolí [každého surroundings of.each nášho mesta] our city ‘in the vicinity of each of our city’ c. Na on lavičke sedeli dvaja naši mladí hráči. bench were.sitting two young players our ‘Two of our young players were sitting on a [penalty] bench.’ 52 d. Ocenení awarded boli aj naši dvaja mladí hráči. were also our two young players ‘Our two young players were also awarded.’ If the multi-element adjectival attribute contains a noun modifying the adjective, the whole attribute usually occurs in postposition to the head, the adjective being placed closer to the head (18a). The attribute may also occur in anteposition, but the order of the adjective and its modifier is inverted so that the adjective again stands closer to its head (18b). (18) a. Je to excentrický starec, unavený životom. is it eccentric old.man tired life:INS b. Je to životom unavený excentrický starec. is it life:INS tired eccentric old.man ‘It is an eccentric old man, tired of living.’ Enclitics (2.2) also have a fixed, so-called second or Wackernagel, position in a clause and their order in that position is fixed as well (19a). The first constituent of the sentence can be composed of multiple words or include an embedded clause. Only when it becomes very long, the enclitics come in the third-constituent position (3P). Clitic lowering to 3P is also common after adversative coordinating conjunctions ale and avšak ‘but’ and sometimes takes place after subordinating conjuctions such as že ‘that’ and lebo ‘because’ (Ivanová 2022). In sentences with non-finite dependent clauses, the clitics governed by the INF may be placed in the second position within that non-finite clause (19b) or the whole part of the sentence before the non-finite clause may be treated as occupying the first position, the clitics being placed immediately behind (19c). In contrast, clitics governed by the GER or PT do not climb like this and may only come after the GER or PT (19d). Pronouns referring to direct/indirect objects may be shifted to the first (or last) position for emphasis, but they take their strong form (3.1.3) in such case, ceasing to be clitics (19e). The enclitics other than pronouns normally do not move out of the second position and their order does not change. The position of sa and si has become more fixed compared to the older Slovak usage described by Short (1993: 567). (19) a. 1Nikdy never 2 by som COND PRS.AUX neodvážila povedať. NEG:dare:SG.F say:INF sa mu to však RFL13 him:DAT it:ACC but ‘However, I would never dare tell him (about it).’ b. 1Nikdy 2by som sa však neodvážila [Ipovedať IImu to]. (cf. 19a) c. I[1Nikdy 2by som sa však neodvážila] IImu to povedať. (cf. 19b) d. 1Čoskoro 13 2 sa [Izvierajúc vrátila, II ich v ruke]. For the sake of simplicity, we gloss sa and si as ‘reflexive’ also when it is inherent to the lexeme. 53 soon RFL returned:3SG.F hold.tight:GER them in hand ‘She soon returned, holding it (i.e. the newspaper) tightly in her hand.’ e. 1Jemu 2by som sa to však nikdy neodvážila povedať. ‘However, I would never dare tell it to him.’ 5.2 Interrogatives 5.2.1 K-questions The interrogative pronouns (many of them beginning in k, hence ‘K-questions’) are generally placed at the beginning of the interrogative clause (20a) unless the queried element follows a particle, preposition and/or word of address (20b). Similar to the declarative sentences, another constituent may be placed at the beginning when in focus, provided for a certain contextualization (20c). (20) a. Kto who:NOM ide so mnou? go:PRS.3SG with me:INS čom sme čítali? AUX:1PL read:PST:PL ‘Who is going with me?’ b. Tak, deti, so o child:NOM.PL about what ‘Well, kids, what have we read about? c. A so And with mnou kto pôjde do kina? me:INS who:NOM PFV:go:3SG to cinema ‘And who will go to the cinema with me?’ (from an online discussion on going out on Valentine’s Day) When more aspects of the situation are asked about, the corresponding interrogative pronouns may keep the position of the queried constituents as ordered in a declarative sentence (21a) or they may all be fronted (21b). In the case of fronting, the whole group of pronouns is usually treated as the sentence’s first constituent, i.e. a coordinator may be inserted and enclitics follow the last pronoun (21b). Left branch extraction occurs in Slovak K-questions (see 21c vs. 21d). (21) a. Kto who:NOM pôjde kam? PFV:go:3SG where ‘Who will be going where?’ b. Kedy a when and s kým ste boli naposledy v kine? with who:INS AUX:2PL be:PST:PL last.time in cinema ‘When and with whom were you last at the cinema?’ c. Akú si mala 54 cestu? how:ACC.SG.F d. Akú how:ACC.SG.F AUX:2SG have:PST:SG.F trip:ACC.SG.F cestu si mala? trip:ACC.SG.F AUX:2SG have:PST:SG.F ‘How was your trip?’ 5.2.2 Polar questions This type of questions is identical in form to declarative sentences (cf. 15a vs. 22a), differentiated by intonation (6.1.2); however, in contrast to declarative sentences, it is common to have the predicate in the first position (22b). Interrogative particles exist—či, expressive čo (22c), doubtful or hopeful azda/hádam ‘maybe’, and somewhat surprised vari ‘maybe’—but they need not be used. The plain či seems to be coming out of use in this function. (22) a. Nehodu nespôsobila accident.ACC technická chyba? did.not.cause technical.NOM error.NOM ‘Was it not a technical error that caused the accident?’ b. Nespôsobila nehodu did.not.cause technická chyba? accident.ACC technical.NOM error.NOM ‘dtto’ c. Čo PTCL si sprostý? are.2SG stupid:NOM.SG.M ‘Are you stupid?’ (in the sense of: Why are you doing/saying such a stupid thing!?) Tag questions are usually created using (i) particles však, že, či, čo, nie (see below for details) and their variants at the end of the declarative sentence (23a) or (ii) však and variants at the beginning of the sentence (23b). The most common is však, homonymous with the disjunctive conjunction ‘but’. In Common Slovak že, homonymous with the complementizer ‘that’, is often used instead, possibly under the influence of Czech. Much less common is či, homonymous with a conjunction meaning ‘or’, as in German (oder). When insistence is expressed or agreement invited from the interlocutor more urgently, čo ‘what’ may be used in informal speech (23c). Combinations of však and že with áno ‘yes’ or hej ‘yeah’, or in negative sentences with nie ‘no’ (e.g, však áno?, však nie?) may be used to convey the same meaning. When the speaker expresses, in a reproaching tone, a higher level of certainty, just nie ‘no’ is used (23d). In contrast, a lower level of certainty, surprise, dismay or anger may be indicated by the combination či čo ‘or what’ (23e). (23) a. Chýbala miss:PST:SG.F b. Všakže som som ti, však (áno/hej)? AUX:1SG you.SG:DAT PTCL ti chýbala? 55 AUX:1SG PTCL you.SG:DAT miss:PST:SG.F ‘You missed me, didn’t you?’ c. Chýbala miss:PST:SG.F som ti, čo? AUX:1SG you.SG:DAT PTCL predsa ide, nie? after.all go:PRS.3SG no ‘dtto’ (with more insistence) d. O to about nám it:ACC we:DAT ‘That’s what we’re after, aren’t we?’ e. Vari či horí, maybe burn:PRS.3SG or čo? what ‘Is it burning, or what?’ (Also used metaphorically in the sense of: ‘Is it urgent?’) 5.2.3 Possible responses to interrogatives Responses to K-questions consist of the constituent verbalizing the queried information, and they may also contain other elements. Replies to why-questions may be introduced by pretože/lebo ‘because’ (24a). Replies to which-questions do not usually begin with the adjective right away, but with a determiner (24b). Similarly, a K-word with a preposition is normally responded to starting with the preposition (24c). (24) a. A: Prečo si mi to nepovedal? why me.DAT it:ACC NEG:say[SG.M] AUX:2SG ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ B: Pretože som nevedel. because AUX:1SG NEG:know:PST:SG.M ‘Because I didn’t know.’ b. A: Ktorý sa ti páči? which:NOM.SG.M RFL you.SG:DAT like:IND.3SG ‘Which one do you like?’ B: Ten modrý. DET:NOM.SG.M blue:NOM.SG.M ‘The blue one.’ c. A: Na čo máš for what have:PRS.2SG taste chuť? ‘What do you have taste for?’ 56 B: Na nič. for nothing ‘For nothing.’ Replies to polar questions with particles include áno ‘yes’, hej ‘yeah’, no (a weak ‘yes’) etc. for affirmation, nie ‘no’, vôbec ‘not at all’ etc. for negation, or particles of uncertainty or ignorance. They may be supplemented or replaced by elements repeated from the question. The reply to a question containing a periphrastic verbal form may just repeat the lexical, or if there is a modal verb, then just the modal, part of the construction (25). The auxiliary or the conditional particle only are used as replies to polar questions in the Lowland Slovak varieties (section 8) that are in contact with Croatian and Serbian (cf. BCMS in Chapter 6). (25) A: Chcela by want:LPT:SG.F COND si ísť domov? AUX:2SG go:INF home ‘Would you like to go home?’ B: Chcela. / Chcela by want:LPT:SG.F / want:LPT:SG.F som. (By. only in Lowland Sk) COND AUX:1SG ‘I would.’ If the polar question contains a negated verb and the answer should confirm the negated state of affairs, the answer is ‘no’ (26). That is, the negative particle negates the proposition, not the formulation. (26) A: Ty si nebola v kine? ‘Did not you go to the cinema?’ B: Nie. ‘No.’ (= I didn’t) There does not seem to be a substantial difference between replies to polar questions and to question tags. 5.3 Imperatives & other expressions of desire 5.3.1 Morphological imperatives Morphological strategies exist for 2SG, 1PL and 2PL imperative (3.2.2). Negative imperatives are formed synthetically by prefixing ne- to the verb stem. The negative imperative of IPFV verbs usually prohibits the (completion of an) ongoing or habitual action (27a), while the negative imperative of PFV verbs may be used to prohibit a particular future action (27b) (for more details, see Ivanová 2019). (27) a. Už anymore prosím ne-píšte do novín. please NEG-write:IMPV.2PL into newspaper 57 ‘Please, do not write in a newspaper anymore.’ b. Prosím Vás, ne-na-píšte please to NEG-PFV-write:IMPV.2PL do novín. it:ACC into newspaper ‘Please, do not write it into the newspaper.’ (Context: a famous football player asks journalists in an interview not to write about an embarassing past deed of his.) 5.3.2 Other commands Commands directed at the addressee(s) can also be expressed by means of INF, especially in public prohibitions, in commands by the police, teachers, cookbooks and other recognized authorities, e.g., nefajčiť! ‘do not smoke’ (or typically in public signage: fajčiť zakázané ‘smoke:INF prohibited’ or zákaz fajčiť ‘prohibition smoke:INF’); stáť! INF (instead of stojte! IMPV ‘stop, stand, wait!’); neotáčať sa! INF (instead of neotáčajte sa! IMPV ‘do not turn!’); variť do mäkka ‘cook:INF until soft’, etc. Less frequently, the IND is employed, particularly the 1PL (e.g., bežíme! instead of bež! IMPV ‘run!’), for example, as commands given by coaches to athletes. The imperative use of the IND.1SG (bežím!) and IND.2SG (bežíš!) may also occur, for example, in the army or in colloquial speech as part of habitual phrases (e.g., budeš ticho! ‘be.FUT:IND.2SG quiet’; dáš mu pokoj! ‘give:IND.2SG him peace’). Some standardized drill commands and commands to domestic animals are performed by parts of speech other than the verbs (e.g., sole prepositional phrases containing nouns or pronouns, as in k pocte zbraň! ‘to honor:DAT.SG.F weapon[NOM/ACC.SG.F]’, i.e. ‘present arms!’; and ku mne! ‘to me’, i.e. ‘come!’ addressing a dog). Verbal nouns are not used for commands. The IMPV of the verb ísť, namely poď (2SG), poďme (1PL) and poďte (2PL), formal high-style IMPV.2PL of the verb ráčiť (i.e. ráčte, translation depends on the context), and expressive colloquial particle with IMPV endings hybaj (2SG), hybajme (1PL) and hybajte (2PL) (historically derived from hýb-ať ‘to move’) are used in combination with infinitives, adverbs or adverbial phrases to order an action (e.g., poďme robiť ‘let’s work’; ráčte vstúpiť ‘please, enter’; hybaj sem ‘come here’, hybaj do roboty ‘let’s go to work’). Ráčte serves more as an invitation and poď/poďme/poďte as an appeal or encouragement (i.e. hortative ‘let’s…’), rather than as a command. 5.3.3 Optative, jussive, hortative expressions Wishes and desires are formulated using a variety of expressions. Optative constructions use COND forms with the by marker integrated in a particle/conjunction (28a, b) or IND forms with a particle, especially with nech ‘may, let’ (28c, d). The other particles are more specialized in style: nechže and bodaj (by) are expressive; kiež and bár(s) are formal to bookish. (28) a. Keby (tak) prišli! 58 if.only come.PFV:LPT:3PL ‘If only they came.’ b. Prajem I.wish si, aby prišli. RFL:DAT to.COND come.PFV:LPT:3PL ‘I wish they would come.’ c. Prajem I.wish si, nech prídu. RFL:DAT may come.PFV:IND.3PL ‘I wish they come.’ d. Nech may prídu! come.PFV:IND.3PL ‘May they come.’ / ‘Let them come.’ Particle nech (nechže when intensified) may have a jussive function with the third persons of the PRS.IND (28d). A jussive function may also be performed by predicate adverbs treba and (the less widespread) načim ‘be necessary, be needed, should, ought to’ which, in contrast to nech-sentences, can form the PST (bolo treba) and the FUT (bude treba). The jussive function is also conveyed by the 3SG of modal verbs of permission/obligation, impersonalized by an attached sa morpheme: môže sa (from môže ‘can, is allowed to’), smie sa (from smie ‘is allowed to’), má sa (from má ‘has to’) and musí sa (from musí ‘must, is obliged to’) (29). (29) Musí sa must:PRS.IND.3SG IMPS / Treba ísť do is.necessary go:INF into obchodu. shop ‘It is necessary to go to the shop.’ Hortative expressions are usually formed using the IMPV of ísť with the INF (5.3.2). A question tag, such as dobre? ‘okay?’, can also be used for this purpose (30). (30) Pôjdeš do obchodu, dobre? PFV:go:IND.2SG into shop good:ADV ‘You’ll go to the shop, okay?’ 5.4 Copular sentences 5.4.1 Copulas The verb byť ‘be’ is the main copula (31a) (on the use of mať ‘have’ in resultative constructions, see 4.2.2). There are several semi-copular verbs that are often used in conjunction with predicate adjectives: stať sa ‘to become’; (z)ostať ‘to remain, stay’; cítiť sa (a derivative from the TR cítiť) ‘to feel (like)’; zdať sa and javiť sa ‘to seem, appear’; vyzerať ‘to look’; ukázať sa ‘to show (as)’; prísť and vidieť sa (a derivative from the TR vidieť ‘to see’) ‘to seem, occur (to be)’ (31b) (Ivanová et al. 2017: 196–218). 59 (31) a. Moja my:NOM.SG.F mam-a je učiteľk-a. mom-NOM.SG.F is teacher-NOM.SG.F ‘My mom is a teacher.’ b. Tieto silné these strong:NOM.PL.F také chvíle sa mi vid-ia moment:NOM.PL.F ITR I:DAT see-PRS.3SG dôležité so:NOM.PL.F important:NOM.PL.F ‘These strong moments seem so important to me.’ The ‘be’ copula is normally elided in the PRS in constructions containing the following: (i) the INF of (ne)dostať ‘be (un)available’ (32a); (ii) modal predicate adverbs (treba ‘be necessary’, možno ‘be possible’, slobodno ‘be allowed’, hodno ‘be desirable’, radno ‘be advisable’ and their negative forms) (29, 32b, c); and (iii) the INF and ADV of sensory perception (cítiť ‘be feelable, smellable’; počuť ‘be hearable’; badať ‘be observable’; vidieť INF and vidno ADV ‘be visible’; poznať ‘be recognizable’; the negative forms of the above; and nevedno ‘be unknown’) (32e). In contrast to the PRS, the copula is overtly used to mark the PST and FUT. In the vernacular, also the PRS copula is sometimes overtly used with the words above, possibly due to Czech influence. In Standard Slovak, the PRS copula is not used but, in formal style, both the modal predicatives and the infinitives of perception give way to alternative constructions with corresponding adjectives or passive participles, with which the ‘be’-copula is used in the PRS: treba vs. je potrebné; možno vs. je možné (32d); vidieť vs. je viditeľný (32f) etc. In contrast to the modal ADJ constructions, constructions with the verbs of perception are inflected: their PT expresses agreement with the subject (cf. 32d vs. 32f). (32) a. Tú that:ACC.SG.F značku tu bežne nedostať. brand:ACC.SG.F here normally NEG:get:INF ‘One doesn’t normally get that brand here.’ b. Súpera nikdy ne-radn-o opponent:ACC.SG.M never podceňovať. NEG-advisable-ADV underestimate:IPFV:INF ‘The opponent is never to be underestimated.’ c. Dotáciu subsidy:ACC.SG.F možn-o použiť do 31. decembra. possible-ADV use:INF until 31st december ‘The subsidy can be used until 31 December.’ d. Dotáciu subsidy:ACC.SG.F je možn-é použiť do 31. decembra. COP possible-NOM.SG.N use:INF until 31st december ‘dtto’ e. Úbytok vidieť zelene 60 aj z ulice. decrease[ACC.SG.M.INAN] of.greenery see:INF also from street ‘The loss of greenery is also visible from the street.’ f. Úbytok decrease[NOM.SG.M] aj zelene je viditeľn-ý greenery:GEN.SG.F COP see:able.ADJ-NOM.SG.M z ulice. also from street ‘dtto’ 5.4.2 Predicate nouns For predicate nouns, both NOM and INS are used. While the NOM is the unmarked choice, as in (31a) above, there are specific semantic and syntactic motivations for the use of the INS. As for the semantic ones, the INS specializes in non-evaluative predications expressing that the subject is a function of the object (33a) or that the predication’s validity is temporarily or otherwise restricted (33b). Since the NOM is the case of the subject, the INS may be employed for highlighting or emphasizing the predicate (33c). (33) a. A že vraj francúzsky jazyk-ø PTCL.REP French:ADJ language-NOM.SG.F is language-INS.SG.M of.poets je jazyk-om básnikov! ‘The French language is allegedly the language of the poets!’ b. Jeho otec-ø his father-NOM.SG.M bol vojak-om, neskôr učiteľ-om. was soldier-INS.SG.M later teacher-INS.SG.M gymnastiky. of.gymnastics ‘His father was a soldier and later a gymnastics teacher.’ c. Jágrov-a akci-a Jágr:POSS-NOM.SG.F action-NOM.SG.F bola nádher-ou. was brilliance-INS.SG.F ‘Jágr’s [an ice hockey player’s] action was brilliant.’ As for the syntactic motivation, the INS tends to be used (i) when the subject is represented by an INF, (ii) when the object preceeds the subject and (iii) when the subject and object stand in juxtaposition with copula being placed before or after the two (Ivanová 2016a: 57). The INS is the rule in predicates with the verbs stať sa ‘to become’ and (z)ostať ‘to remain’. The predicate noun rarely appears in the GEN, such as in stable turns of phrase (34a). The predicate noun may also occur in other case-forms when part of a prepositional phrase (34b). (34) a. Páchateľ perpetrator[NOM.SG.M] bol nižš-ej postav-y. was[3SG.M] shorter-GEN.SG.F stature-GEN.SG.F 61 ‘The perpetrator was of lower stature.’ b. Polícia police:NOM.SG.F bola v rozpak-och. was:3SG.F in embarrassment-LOC.PL.M ‘The police were embarrassed.’ 5.4.3 Predicate adjectives Predicate ADJ usually appear in the NOM. The INS is often used (i) to distinguish the predicate ADJ from an attributive ADJ (35) and (ii) with the ‘become’ and ‘remain’ copulas (5.4.1). The GEN is used when the subject contains an indefinite or cardinal numeral 5+, which requires its head in the GEN (65a and 68a in 5.9 below). (35) Z hľadiska témy je zaujímav-ou from viewpoint of.topic is interesting-INS.SG.F poviedk-a “Príbeh”. short.story-NOM.SG.F tale ‘From the point of view of the topic, the short story “Tale” is interesting.’ 5.5 Existential constructions 5.5.1 Positive existential Existence is denoted by the verb byť ‘to be’ (36a). There is a special form for the third person PRS.IND of this verb, namely jesto, which is specifically used to stress the existence (36b). The subject of existential byť is usually in the NOM, but expecially jesto may go with the partitive or, as in (36b), the quantitative GEN. Instead of byť, two other verbs, existovať and jestvovať ‘to exist’ (the latter being stylistically restricted), may be used if absolute existence in a world is to be denoted (36c). Some other verbs express more specified or relative types of existence, such as nachádzať sa ‘to be found’ (i.e. in relation to location) (36a) as well as objaviť sa ‘to appear’, vyskytnúť sa ‘to occur’, žiť ‘live’ etc. in some of their uses (36c). (36) a. V záhrade in garden sú / sa nachádzajú are / ITR find:PRS.3PL fruit:ADJ-NOM.PL.M.INAN ovocn-é strom-y. tree-NOM.PL.M.INAN ‘There are fruit trees in the garden.’ b. Chlapc-ov boy-GEN.PL.M vraj jesto, len tanečník-ov niet. REP be.PRS.3 only dancer-GEN.PL.M NEG.be.PRS.3 ‘Reportedly, there are (many) boys, but no dancers.’ 62 c. Víly fairy-NOM.PL.F sú / existujú / žijú are / exist:PRS.3PL / live:PRS.3PL only iba v rozprávkach. in fairy.tales ‘Fairies exist / live only in fairytales.’ 5.5.2 Negative existential The various existentials have corresponding negative forms to express nonexistence. The negative of jesto is nieto or niet and it always requires the GEN (niet peňaz-í ‘there is no money-GEN.PL.M’; also 36b). The other existential verbs go with the NOM (37). Negated ordinary ‘be’-forms (Table 22) with the NOM (e.g. nie sú peniaz-e ‘there is no moneyNOM.PL.M’) are more frequent alternatives to the specifically existential niet(o) + GEN., which is maintained in idiomatic phrases, such as niet pomoci ‘there is no help’, niet nádeje ‘there is no hope’, niet inej možnosti ‘there is no other option’, etc. (37) V záhrade nie sú / sa nenachádzajú in garden NEG are / ITR NEG:find.IPFV:PRS.3PL ovocn-é strom-y. fruit:ADJ-NOM.PL.M.INAN tree-NOM.PL.M.INAN 5.6 Negation Sentence negation is carried out by way of negating the copula (38a), the auxiliary in the IND (38b, c), the modal verb (38d) or the lexical part of the predicate in other constructions (38e). The ne- prefix is used for this purpose, except for the PRS.IND and GER of byť ‘to be’, for which the negativizer is the syntactically separate morpheme nie (38b). Morpheme nie is moveable for emphasis (e.g., to je nie ona instead of the unmarked to nie je ona ‘that is not her’). Negation with the modals may be external as in (38d) but also internal (38f) or both (38g) producing difference in meaning (Pavlovič 2003, Ivanová 2009). When the sentence contains a relative pronoun (incl. an adverbial one), the pronoun is negated (using ni- prefix) along with the verb, i.e. there is a ‘double’ negation (38h, also 32b, 41a and 75d). Constituent negation is performed by the anteponement of the particle nie (38i). The object is normally only negated if a contrasting positive element is co-present (38j). Negative particle ani ‘not even’ may be used in negative sentences (i.e. with a negative predicate) to additionally emphasize the negation of a particular constituent (38k). The negation of an additional fact may be performed using a corresponding preposition, such as bez ‘without’ (38l, m). Negation does not require case-forms different from those in positive sentences except with the negative existential niet(o) (5.5.2), although the negative GEN can be encountered more widely in higher style and in idiomatic phrases to emphasize the negation (38h). (38) a. Váš POSS.2PL partner nie je šťastný. partner[NOM.SG.M] NEG COP happy:NOM.SG.M ‘Your partner is not happy.’ 63 b. Dvere door:NOM.PL.F nie sú zavreté. NEG AUX:3PL close:PSV.PT:NOM.PL.F ‘The door is not closed.’ (Note: the Slovak word for “door” is a pluralium tantum.) c. Dvere door:NOM.PL.F neboli zavreté. NEG:AUX:PST:3PL close:PSV.PT:NOM.PL.F ‘The door was not closed.’ d. Dvere door:ACC.PL.F nemôžeme zavrieť. NEG:can:PRS.IND.1PL close:INF ‘We cannot close the door.’ e. Dvere by door:ACC.PL.F nezavreli. sme COND AUX:1PL NEG:close:LPT:PL ‘We would not close the door.’ f. Dvere door:ACC.PL.F môžeme nezatvárať. can:PRS.IND.1PL NEG:close.IPFV:INF ‘We need not close the door.’ g. Dvere nemôžeme door:ACC.PL.F nezavrieť. NEG:can:PRS.IND.1PL NEG:close:INF ‘It cannot but close the door.’ h. Ni-kdy NEG-when ni-komu ne-povedal kriv-ého NEG-who:DAT NEG-say:PST[3SG.M] slov-a. bad-GEN.SG.N word-GEN.SG.N ‘He never told anything bad to anyone.’ i. Nie každá NEG every:NOM.SG.F kniha dosahuje book:NOM.SG.F reach:PRS.IND.3SG náklady Harryho Pottera. circulation:ACC.PL.M Harry:GEN.SG Potter:GEN.SG ‘Not every book reaches the Harry Potter [series]’s number of copies.’ j. Hodnotíme evaluate:PRS.1PL predsa film after.all film[ACC.SG.M.INAN] and nie knihu. NEG book:ACC.SG.F a ‘After all, we evaluate the film and not the book.’ k. Ľudia si dnes 64 už people:NOM.PL.M RFL:DAT today already ne-kúpia ani knihu. NEG-buy:PRS.3PL not.even book:ACC.SG.F ‘People don’t / no longer even buy a book today.’ l. Odišli leave:PST:3PL bez oznámenia. without notification:GEN.SG.N ‘They left without notification.’ m. Odišli bez toho, aby leave:PST:3PL without DEM:GEN.SG.NCONJ.COND niekomu oznámili. someone:DAT notify:LPT:3PL to DEM:ACC.SG.N ‘They left without informing anyone.’ 5.7 Valence and diathesis 5.7.1 Reflexives Enclitic morphemes sa and si perform various functions in Slovak (3.3.3), including the role of reflexive pronouns, simultaneously referring to the subject and the direct object (39a) or the indirect object (39b). The reflexives operate in the maximum extent of a clause (39c). There does not seem to be a grammatical difference between extroverted reflexives (39b) and introverted reflexives (39c). If the object is in focus, the reflexive pronouns take their strong, non-clitic forms of seba and sebe, respectively, and can be further emphasized by the intensifier pronouns sám ‘self, alone’ (39d) or, less frequently, samotný ‘alone’. The strong forms obligatorily occur (i) after a preposition (39e), (ii) in cases other than the DAT or ACC (39f), and (iii) when the verb has a lexical sa or si, i.e. two sa/si clitics are not used with one verb (39g). Reflexive possesive ADJ svoj may be used to modify the nominal direct object alongside, or instead of, the DAT si to emphasize the possessive relationship (39h). As an exception, in expressions na svoje miesto ‘to its place’ and na svojom mieste ‘in its place’, svoj may refer to the object that the place belongs to, not necessarily to the subject (39i, j). (39) a. Niektorí z vás sa some:NOM.PL.M.AN of you RFL:ACC mohli vidieť v reportáži. can:PST:3PL see:INF in report ‘Some of you could have seen yourself in the (news) report.’ b. Pre tmu for darkness som si nevidel ani na ruku. AUX:1SG RFL:DAT NEG:see:PST[SG.M] even on hand ‘Because of the darkness, I couldn’t even see my hand.’ 65 c. Prinútila force:PST:3SG.F ho umyť si oči. he:ACC wash:INF RFL:DAT eye:ACC.PL.N vidím (samu) seba. see:PRS.IND.1SG self:ACC.SG.F RFL:ACC ‘She made him wash his eyes.’ d. Pri pohľade do zrkadla with view into mirror ‘Looking in the mirror I see myself.’ e. Pozrel look.PFV:PST[3SG.M] na seba/*sa do zrkadla. on RFL:ACC into mirror ‘He looked at himself in the mirror.’ f. Opovrhovala despise:IPFV:PST:3SG.F sebou za tú ničomnosť. RFL:INS for that meannness ‘She despised herself for the meanness.’ g. Ak if to dokážem, it:ACC manage:PRS.IND.1SG si budem seba/*sa vážiť. AUX.FUT:1SG RFL:DAT RFL:ACC respect:INF ‘If I manage that, I will respect myself.’ h. Rozbila break:PST:SG.F som (si) svoj krásny AUX:1SG RFL:DAT own:ACC.SG.M beautiful biely hrnček. white mug[ACC.SG.M.INAN] ‘I have broken my beautiful white mug.’ i. Vrátil knihu return:PST[3SG.M] book:ACC.SG.F na svoje miesto. on own:ACC.SG.N place:ACC.SG.N ‘He put the book back in its place.’ j. Zaistite ju na svojom mieste secure:IMPV.2PL she:ACC on own:LOC.SG.N place:LOC.SG.N utiahnutím skrutky. by.tightening of.screw ‘Secure it [a component] in place by tightening the screw.’ Some other uses of sa/si have derivational function but still add reflexivity to the verb’s meaning. For example, informovať ‘to inform’ with sa, i.e. informovať sa, does not mean to provide information to oneself, but to seek and receive information (40a, b). Si may produce a similar shift in the lexical meaning, such as between povedať ‘to say (utter)’ and povedať si ‘to say to oneself (i.e. to think)’. 66 (40) a. Žiaci informovali pupil:NOM.PL.M.AN inform:PST:3PL občanov o cieli citizen:ACC.PL.M about goal zbierky. of.collection ‘Our students informed citizens about the purpose of the (public) collection.’ b. Občania citizen:NOM.PL.M.AN sa informovali o RFL inform:PST:3PL about possibilities možnostiach zamestnania. of.employment ‘Citizens inquired about employment opportunities.’ The reflexive sa-derivatives further include autocausatives, comprising verbs of movement such as postaviť sa ‘to stand up’ (vs. postaviť ‘to place sth. upright’). Partitive reflexives are another group of objectless reflexive derivatives, including verbs such as baliť sa ‘to pack one’s things’ (vs. baliť ‘to pack sth.’). 5.7.2 Reciprocals Similarly, reciprocals comprise inherent reciprocal verbs, derivative reciprocal verbs and reciprocal constructions, mostly with the sa and si morphemes as reciprocity markers (41a, b, c). The strong seba/sebe forms are employed under emphasis or after a preposition (41d). The prepositional phrase so ‘with’ + the INS of sa (i.e. so sebou) only functions as the reflexive ‘with oneself’, not the reciprocal ‘with each other’, which is expressed using navzájom (‘mutually’) or jeden s druhým (‘with each other’) (see below). Multiple participants to a reciprocal action may also be denoted by a comitative construction (5.11). (41) a. Nikdy never predtým sme sa nevideli. before:that AUX:1PL RCP:ACC NEG:see:PST:PL ‘We have never seen each other before.’ b. Pre tmu for darkness sme si nevideli do tváre. AUX:1PL RCP:DAT NEG:see:PST:PL into face:GEN.SG.F ‘Because of the darkness, we did not see each other’s faces.’ c. Objali hug.PFV:PST:3PL sa a pobozkali. RCP:ACC and PFV:kiss:PST:3PL ‘They hugged and kissed (each other).’ d. Nechápavo sme uncomprehendingly AUX:1PL pozerali na seba. look.IPFV:PST:PL on RCP:ACC 67 ‘We were looking at each other uncomprehendingly.’ Disambiguation (due to the polyfunctionality of sa/si) or an emphasis on reciprocality are achieved using adverbs navzájom and vzájomne ‘mutually’, or the pronominal phrase jeden druhého ‘each other’. While the adverbs supplement sa/si (42a, b), the pronominal phrase jeden druhého is used in place of sa/si, both parts of the phrase being inflected (42c). When the participants to the reciprocal relationship are of different genders, both elements of the phrase have a masculine form (42d). (42) a. Navzájom mutually sa podporovali. RCP:ACC support:IPFV:PST:3PL ‘They supported each other.’ b. Navzájom mutually si podporili niektoré RCP:DAT support:PST:3PL some:ACC.PL.M.INAN návrhy v parlamente. proposal:ACC.PL.M.INAN in parliament ‘They supported some of each other’s proposals in parliament.’ c. Sú sestry, are sisters jedn-a druh-ú. na kastingu podporovali on casting support:IPFV:PST:3PL one-NOM.SG.F other-ACC.SG.F ‘They are sisters, they supported each other at the casting.’ d. Muž a žen-a milujú man[NOM.SG.M] and woman-NOM.SG.F love:PRS.3PL jeden druh-ého. one[NOM.SG.M] other-ACC.SG.M ‘A man and a woman love each other.’ 5.7.3 Impersonal and oblique experiencer Experiencer is impersonal or oblique in several types of syntactic constructions. Deontic and customary impersonal statements may be formed using the 3SG.N of IPFV verbs with the sa morpheme (43a). When an ADV of manner like dobre ‘well’, zle ‘wrong’, ľahko ‘easily’, ťažko ‘with difficulty’, príjemne ‘nicely, pleasantly’, nepríjmene ‘uncomfortably’ etc. is added, the construction has a subjective evaluative meaning and the experiencer may be overtized in the DAT (43b). (43) a. Spal-o sleep:PST-SG.N ø sa na slame. 3 IMPS on straw sa (mi) ‘People/one slept on straw.’ b. Spal-o ø 68 dobre. sleep:PST-SG.N 3 IMPS I:DAT well ‘One(/I) slept well (the sleep was good).’ Desiderative ‘feel-like’ expressions consist of (i) the 3SG.N of chcieť ‘to want’, (ii) the sa morpheme, (iii) the INF and (iv) the experiencer that is normally overtised in the DAT (44). (44) Bolo neskoro a chcel-o ø sa mi sp-ať. was late and want:PST-SG.N 3 IMPS I:DAT sleep-INF ‘It was late and I was feeling sleepy.’ Internal feelings and emotions may be expressed using the construction of (i) the 3SG.N of the verb of an internal psycho-/physiological process, (ii) an adverbial phrase specifying the location in the body if relevant, and (iii) the experiencer in the DAT or the ACC depending on the verb (45a, b). Similar constructions with 3SG.N may be used for accidents (45c). Copular expressions of internal feeling contain an ADV of the psycho-/physiological state in the predicate and the experiencer that is expressed in the DAT with some of the ADV (45d, e). (45) a. Odľahl-o relieve:PST-SG.N ø mi. 3 I:DAT ø ma 3 I:ACC in sacrum:LOC.PL.M ø ma 3 I:ACC snow:INS.SG.M ‘I am/was relieved.’ b. Bolel-o hurt:PST-SG.N v krížoch. ‘I had back pain.’ c. Zasypal-o cover:PST-SG.N snehom. ‘[Snow fell on me and] I was covered with snow.’ d. Bol-o COP:PST-SG.N ø mi to ľúto 3 I:DAT it.ACC sorry:ADV vyhodiť. throw.away.PFV:INF ‘I was sorry to throw it away.’ e. Bol-o COP:PST-SG.N ø (mi) tam teplo. 3 I:DAT there warm:ADV ‘It was warm there. (I was warm there.)’ To express the concept ‘to like sth.’ requires the construction with páčiť sa ‘to like’, the grammatical subject of which is the actual object of liking, while the experiencer is in the DAT (46a, b). (46) a. Páčil-o like:PST-SG.N ø sa mi 3 RFL I:DAT there ‘I liked it there.’ 69 tam. b. Páčil-i ø like:PST-PL 3 sa mi t-ie farb-y. RFL I:DAT DEM-NOM.PL colour-NOM.PL.F ‘I liked the colours.’ In many of the constructions above, the oblique experiencer may be made impersonal by using the DAT form of človek ‘human, person, one’ (47). (47) Človek-u to bol-o ø ľúto vyhodiť. human-DAT.SG.M it.ACC COP:PST-SG.N 3 sorry:ADV throw.away:INF ‘One was sorry to throw it away.’ (cf. 45d) The (in)ability to perceive something may be expressed through the copular construction consisting of (i) the copula (omitted in the PRS), (ii) the INF of the verb of sensory perception (vidieť ‘be visible’, cítiť ‘be feelable, smellable’, počuť ‘be hearable’, badať ‘be observable’, poznať ‘be recognizable’ and their negative forms) or the ADV (ne)vidno ‘be (not) visible’, and (iii) the direct object; the experiencer is not expressed in this case (48, also 32e). (48) Zreteľne bol-o ø cít-iť zápach distinctly COP:PST-SG.N 3 feel-INF smell[ACC.SG.M.INAN] zhorených plastov. burnt:GEN.PL plastic:GEN.PL.M ‘There was the distinct smell of burnt plastic.’ 5.7.4 Passive There are several types of passive constructions. The participial passive consists of the PSV participle, the ‘be’-auxiliary and the patient as the subject (49a). The participial passive is used in all tenses, moods, persons and genders. The PSV participle may also be used as a noun modifier (49b). If the agent is expressed, it is usually as an object in the INS (49c) (but see 53). (49) a. Diel-o work-NOM.SG.N je pís-an-é denníkovou AUX.PRS.3SG write-PSV-NOM.SG.N diary:ADJ:INS.SG.F formou. form:INS.SG.F ‘The work (piece) is written in diary form.’ b. Sokrates Socrates[NOM.SG.M] nezanechal pís-an-é NEG:leave:PST[3SG.M] write-PSV.PT-ACC.SG.N dielo. work:ACC.SG.N ‘Socrates did not leave written work.’ 70 c. Článok article[NOM.SG.M] je pís-an-ý AUX.PRS.3SG write-PSV-NOM.SG.M human-INS.SG.M bez skúsenosti. without experience:GEN.SG.F človek-om ‘The article is written by a person without experience.’ Another passive construction is the so-called ‘reflexive’ passive consisting of the sa morpheme, the finite verb and the patient as the subject (50a). This construction is not used with verbs that already have a (lexical) sa. While the participial passive is preferred for specific, individualized patients (49a), the sa-construction tends to indicate a more general or prescriptive statement (50a); it is preferred with IPFV verbs and inanimate patients. Some verbs do not have the participial form, so the sa-passive is used exclusively (50b). (50) a. Dovedna together sa píš-u zložen-é predložk-y. PSV write-PRS.3PL compound-NOM.PL.F preposition-NOM.PL.F ‘Compound prepositions are written together.’ b. Je to pravda, is it true čo sa vrav-í:ø. / *je vravené. what:NOM PSV say-PRS.3SG ‘It is true what is said.’ When the agent is unclear or unimportant to identify, the third person forms of the transitive verb may be used as passive; the patient remains in the position of the direct object (51a, b). The 3SG.N construction is usually restricted to non-human agents, such as natural forces, and to the PST (51a), while the 3PL construction implies human agents and occurs in other tenses as well (51b, 59c). (51) a. Na dome odniesl-o ø on house:LOC.SG.M carry:away:PST-SG.N 3 strech-u. roof-ACC.SG.F ‘The roof on the house got blown away.’ b. Kde where píš-u tak-ú blbosť? write-PRS.ACT.3PL such-ACC.SG.F stupidity[ACC.SG.F] ‘Where do they write such nonsense?’ 5.7.5 Causatives In addition to causative verbs, there are also periphrastic and analytical causative constructions in Slovak. They consist of (i) the verbs dať ‘to give’ or nechať ‘to let/leave/allow’ and (ii) the INF or, with permissive causatives, a subordinate clause. The verb dať is almost exclusively used in cognitive causatives (52a) and commonly in factitive causatives, although factitives with nechať also occur in the vernacular (52b). Nechať is typically used for permissive causatives, especially those expressing non-intervention (52c, 71 d). Permissive causatives expressing enablement/disablement sometimes also occur with dať or, rather, the NEG nedať (52e). The causee in permissive causatives is in the ACC with nechať (52c, d) and in the DAT with dať (52e). (For details, see Ivanová et al. 2017.) (52) a. Výraz jeho tváre dával expression[NOM.SG.M] of.his face že sa niečo stalo. that RFL something happened tuš-iť, give:IPFV:PST[3SG.M] suspect-INF ‘The expression on his face suggested that something had happened.’ b. Rodičia dali/nechali syn-ovi parents:NOM.PL.M give/leave:PST:3PL postav-iť son-DAT.SG.M build-INF dom. house[ACC.SG.M] ‘The parents had a house built for their son.’ c. Rodičia nechali syn-a postav-iť parents:NOM.PL.M leave:PST:3PL son-ACC.SG.M build-INF im dom. they:DAT house ‘The parents let their son build a house for them.’ d. Rodičia nechali syn-a, aby parents:NOM.PL.M leave:PST:3PL son-ACC.SG.M to postavil dom. PFV:build:LPT[3SG.M] house[ACC.SG.M.INAN] im they:DAT ‘dtto’ e. Hluk noise[nom.sg.M] im ne-dal sp-ať. they:DAT NEG-give:PST[3SG.M] sleep-INF ‘The noise kept them awake (did not allow them to sleep).’ Reflexive morpheme sa is commonly used to derive anticausatives from causatives (3.3.3), but a narrow set of verbs may participate in reflexive causative constructions, in which the agent is expressed in an ADV phrase with the preposition u ‘with’ (like the French ‘chez’, rather than ‘avec’) (53). (53) Lieči sa u neurológa. cure:PRS.3SG RFL:ACC with psychiatrist:GEN.SG.M ‘He/she is treated by a neurologist.’ 72 5.7.6 Ethical dative The functions of the ethical DAT in Slovak include the DAT of emotion or affective stance (54a), enjoyment (54b), contact (54c) and interest (54d) (Ivanová 2016a: 86). Since this type of the so-called ‘free’ DAT expresses speaker’s/adressee’s involvement, usually only the first and second persons and RFL pronouns are employed. (54) a. To it.NOM je mi is I:DAT news:NOM.SG.F novinka! ‘What a news!’ b. Len si only RFL:DAT tu tak ležím. here so lie:PRS.1SG ‘I’m (enjoying) just lying here.’ c. Mne vám I:DAT you:DAT.PL bolo tak fantasticky, sama doma, kľud, ticho. was:3SG.N so fantastically alone home peace quiet ‘Hey, I felt so fantastic—alone at home, peace and quiet.’ d. Návštevnosť attendance[NOM.SG.F] nám začína we:DAT start:PRS.3SG decline:INF klesať. ‘Visitor attendance is starting to decline.’ 5.8 Possession 5.8.1 Verbs of possession The verb mať ‘to have’ is the primary verb for expressing possession in a variety of meanings (55a–h). There is a limitation pertaining to the formulations of feeling thirsty and hungry and to some abstract nouns, particularly deadjectives denoting a characteristic property, for which the construction ‘to be’ + ADJ is preferred (55h), unless the characteristic is further specified (55i) (for details, see Chomová 2011). Possessive relation to material objects is emphasized by employing the verb vlastniť ‘to possess’ (which can stand in place of mať in 55a, but not in the other examples). (55) a. Mám have:PRS.1SG krásnu záhradu. beautiful:ACC.SG.F garden: ACC.SG.F ‘I have a beautiful garden.’ b. Záhradu garden:ACC.SG.F mám krásnu. have:PRS.1SG beautiful:ACC.SG.F ‘My garden is beautiful.’ 73 c. Podujatie event:NOM.SG.N malo úspech. have:PST:3SG.N success[ACC.SG.M] ‘The event was a success.’ d. Nevesta bride:NOM.SG.F mala šaty krémovej have:PST:3SG.F dress:ACC.PL.F cream:ADJ:GEN.SG.F farby. colour:GEN.SG.F ‘The bride was wearing a cream-coloured dress.’ e. Mladí učitelia young:NOM.PL.M.AN majú nástupný teacher:NOM.PL.M.AN have:PRS.3PL starting:ACC.SG.M plat 730 eur. salary[ACC.SG.M] 730 euro[GEN.PL.N] ‘Young teachers have a starting salary of 730 euros.’ f. Byt má appartment[NOM.SG.M] tri izby. have:PRS.3SG three:ACC.F room:ACC.PL.F ‘The apartment has three rooms.’ g. Tento dom má this:NOM.SG.M:DET house[NOM.SG.M] 70 rokov. have:PRS.3SG 70 year:GEN.PL.M ‘This house is seventy years old.’ h. Je COP.PRS.3SG smädná. / trpezlivá. thirsty:NOM.SG.F / patient:NOM.SG.F ‘She is thirsty/patient.’ i. Má have:PRS.3SG s deťmi trpezlivosť. with children:INS.PL.N patience[ACC.SG.F] ‘She/he has patience with children.’ When the possessed entity is the subject of the sentence, patriť ‘to belong’, or its stylistically marked equivalents prislúchať and prináležať, are used (56). (56) K bytu prislúcha pivnica. to appartment:DAT.SG.M belong:PRS.3SG cellar:NOM.SG.F ‘The appartment comes with a cellar.’ The verb byť ‘to be’ can be used to express possession in a construction with a pronoun in DAT (5.8.2) or with a possessive ADJ (5.8.3). The ‘be’-construction with preposition u ‘with’ (‘chez’ in French) plus the GEN has a possessive shade of meaning when the possessum is 74 understood as placed in the location belonging to the possessor (57a, b) and in some idiomatic phrases (57c). This type of ‘be’-construction, however, foregrounds existentiality, rather than possessivity, compared to the alternative use of a ‘have’-construction (applicable in examples 57a–c as well). (57) a. Za behind plotom u sused-ov je čerešňa. fence with neighbour-GEN.PL.M be.PRS.3SG cherry:NOM.SG.F ‘There is a cherry-tree behind the fence at the neighbours’ [garden, yard…].’ b. Rodina family:NOM.SG.F je u n-eho na prvom mieste. be.PRS.3SG with he-GEN on first place ‘To him, family comes first.’ c. Je u be.PRS.3SG with n-eho predpoklad, že he-GEN .M supposition[NOM.SG.M] that sa zamestná. PSV employ.PFV:3SG ‘He is expected to be employed.’ (‘There is an expectation that he will be employed.’) 5.8.2 Dative/Genitive The possessive DAT exists in Slovak (58a) along with other possessive forms (58b), but its primary meaning is that of interest or involvement (benefactive and malefactive). Formally, the possessive DAT occupies the position of an indirect object (58a) or the second-constituent position (5.1) when expressed by the clitic form of a personal pronoun (58c, e). The construction of this (58c, e) type is receding in favour of ‘have’-constructions (58d) and constructions with possessive pronouns (58f) (Nábělková 2014: 73). In copular sentences with a predicate adjective, the possessive DAT is usually only used with pronouns (58g), while in copular sentences with a predicate noun, also the nouns modifying it may occur in the possessive DAT (58h). (58) a. Rozbila break:PST:3SG.F sused-ovi okno. neighbour-DAT.SG.M.AN window:ACC.SG.N ‘She has broken a neighbor’s window.’ b. Rozbila break:PST:3SG.F sused-ov-o okno. neighbour-POSS-ACC.SG.N window:ACC.SG.N m-i na výške. at height:LOC.SG.F ‘dtto’ c. Dcéra je daughter:NOM.SG.F I-DAT be.PRS.3SG 75 ‘My daughter is in college.’ d. Dcéru mám daughter:ACC.SG.F have:PRS.1SG na výške. at height:LOC.SG.F ‘dtto’ e. V Kodani in m-i študuje vnuk. Copenhagen I-DAT study:PRS.3SG grandson[NOM.SG.M] ‘My grandson studies in Copehagen.’ (‘As for Copenhagen, my grandson studies there.’) f. V Kodani študuje in Copenhagen môj vnuk. study:PRS.3SG my[NOM.SG.M] grandson[NOM.SG.M] ‘dtto’ g. Žena wife:NOM.SG.F m-i je chorá. (*Žena je susedovi chorá.) I-DAT COP.PRS.3SG sick:NOM.SG.F ‘My wife is sick.’ (‘Neighbour’s wife is sick.’) h. Panna virgin Mária bola Mary Ježiš-ovi COP:PST:3SG.F Jesus-DAT.SG.M.AN najväčšou biggest:INS.SG.F partnerkou. partner:INS.SG.F ‘Virgin Mary was the best partner to Jesus (Jesus’ best partner).’ The possessive GEN occurs in noun phrases, usually in a postnominal position (59a), but it may occur in anteposition in some situations, particularly with the names of relatives (59b), for poetic effect or sometimes for focusing (unusual, however, in prepositional phrases, such as 59a). Singular personal possessors in the GEN usually come with an attribute or an appositive (59a); without them, they are preferably expressed by corresponding possessive adjectives (59c). When a SG personal possesor without an attribute/appositive occurs in the adnominal GEN, the construction becomes qualitative, rather than possessive (59d). Plural personal possessors commonly occur in the GEN without as well as with an attribute/appositive, as possessive adjectives cannot have PL referents (5.8.3). (59) a. Ide o dielo go:PRS.3SG about work:ACC.SG.N majstr-a Leonard-a master-GEN.SG.M Leonardo-GEN.SG.M da Vinci-ho. da Vinci-GEN.SG.M ‘It/Concerned is the work of master Leonardo da Vinci.’ 76 b. Môj-ho my:GEN.SG.M priateľ-a otec robí friend-GEN.SG.M father[NOM.SG.M] make:PRS.3SG šoféra. driver:ACC.SG.M ‘My friend’s father works as a driver.’ c. Majstr-ov-o master-POSS-NOM.SG.N mnohých rokoch. many years dielo objavili až po work:NOM.SG.N discover:PST:3PL until after ‘The master’s work was not discovered until many years later.’ d. Pre mňa for je I:ACC be.PRS.3SG to dielo majstr-a. it:NOM.SG.N work:NOM.SG.N master-GEN.SG.M ‘For me, it is a masterpiece.’ 5.8.3 Possessive adjective Possessive adjectives usually precede the head, as in (58b, 59c) above. Postposition sometimes occurs for focusing (60a), in expressive negative evaluation, and in religious and poetic usage (60b). Possessive adjectives cannot have a modifier in Standard Slovak and only refer to a singular possessor. (60) a. Nie je NEG is Boží syn, God:ADJ.NOM.SG.M son[NOM.SG.M] ale syn but son[NOM.SG.M] diabl-ov. devil-POSS[NOM.SG.M] ‘He is not a son of God, but a son of the devil.’ b. Zmizni PFV:disappear:IMPV.2SG mi z I:DAT from očí, plemeno eye:GEN.PL breed:NOM.SG.N diabl-ov-o! devil-POSS-NOM.SG.N ‘Get out of my sight, you devil’s breed!’ 5.8.4 Definiteness Unlike in South Slavic, possessive adjectives are not marked for (in)definiteness in Slovak. Nevertheless, possessor’s definiteness seems to enable the occurence of SG personal 77 possessors in the postnominal GEN even when they are not modified by an attribute or appositive (61). (As mentioned in 5.8.2, there is otherwise a preference for having the unmodified SG personal possessor expressed in a possessive ADJ.) (61) Teším sa na ďalšiu look.forward:PRS.1SG at next:ACC.SG.F knihu autorky. book:ACC.SG.F author:GEN.SG.F ‘I am looking forward to the author’s next book.’ 5.8.5 Inalienable possession There does not seem to be alienability split in Slovak: both alienable and inalienable possessees occur having their possessor in the DAT, the GEN as well as in the form of a possessive adjective or pronoun. However, the (infrequent) possessive constructions with the DAT personal pronoun of the (58g) type above do not normally occur with alienable possession (62); a ‘have’-construction or a possessive pronoun is normally used instead. (62) *Počítač mi computer[NOM.SG.M] I:DAT je nefunkčný. COP:PRS.3SG NEG:functional:NOM.SG.M ‘My computer is down.’ (cf. 58g) 5.8.6 External possession The external possessor construction with the DAT is a common phenomenon in Slovak (63a– d), as in most other European languages (Haspelmath 1999). However, the construction is not strictly limited to animate possessors (cf. 63e) and states are not excluded either (63f, g). (63) a. Lekári doctor:NOM.PL.M.AN mu vyšetrili brucho. him.DAT examine:PST:3PL abdomen:ACC.SG.N ‘Doctors examined his abdomen.’ b. Chlapec boy[NOM.SG.M] jej hodil na nohy her:DAT throw:PST[3SG.M] on legs kabátik. jacket[ACC.SG.M] ‘The boy threw a jacket on her legs.’ c. Spadli mu hračky fall:PST:3PL him.DAT do kanála. toy:NOM.PL.F into canal ‘His toys fell into the canal.’ d. Zlomil break:PST[3SG.M] sa jej hlas. ITR her:DAT voice[NOM.SG.M] 78 ‘Her voice broke.’ e. Lietadl-u aircraft-DAT.SG.N sa pri pristátí nevysunuli kolesá. ITR at landing NEG:lower:PST:3PL wheel:NOM.PL.N ‘The aircraft did not lower its wheels when landing.’ f. Vidia mu tvár. see:PRS.3PL him.DAT face[ACC.SG.F] ‘They see his face.’ g. Sedel sit:PST[3SG.M] jej na kolenách. her:DAT on knee:LOC.PL.N ‘He was sitting on her knees.’ 5.9 Quantification 5.9.1 Quantifiers Adjectival quantifiers—such as mnohý ‘numerous’, viacerý ‘multiple’, každý ‘every’ and všetok ‘all’—express agreement with the quantified noun which thus governs them as well as the predicate verb (64). (64) Mnoh-í ľud-ia bol-i ø numerous-NOM.PL.M.AN people-NOM.PL.M.AN were-PL 3 evakuovan-í. evacuated-NOM.PL.M.AN ‘Many people were evacuated.’ Adverbial quantifiers—such as málo ‘few’ and veľa or mnoho ‘many, much, a lot’—in subject and direct-object NPs require the quantified noun in the GEN and the predicate in the 3SG(N). However, predicate adjectives and participles express agreement with the quantified noun (65a). In NPs other than subject and direct-object ones, the quantified noun is governed by the predicate verb (65b) or, in prepositional phrases, by the preposition (65c). (65) a. Veľa ľud-í many people-GEN.PL.M bol-o ø zranen-ých. was-SG.N 3 injured-GEN.PL.M ‘Many people were / have been injured.’ b. Zatiaľ yet to nepovedala veľa ľuď-om. it:ACC.SG.N NEG:tell:PST:3SG.F many people-DAT.PL.M ‘She hasn’t told (it to) many people yet.’ c. Robil work:PST[SG.M] som s veľa AUX:1SG with many people-INS.PL.M 79 ľuď-mi. ‘I (have) worked with many people.’ Nouns of quantity—such as trocha ‘a little’, polovica ‘a half’, kúsok ‘a bit’, štipka ‘a pinch’, kopa ‘a bunch/pile’ etc.—are governed by the verb or a preposition (66a, b). When the quantified NP is the subject, the predicate verb may either express agreement with the noun of quantity or, especially if the predicate precedes the noun, take the 3SG(N) form (66c). (66) a. Poznám know:PRS.1SG kop-u ľud-í. bunch-ACC.SG.F people-GEN.PL.M ‘I know a bunch of people.’ b. Zoznámili ma introduce:PST:3PL s I:ACC with kop-ou ľudí. bunch-INS.SG.F people-GEN.PL.M ‘They introduced me to a bunch of people.’ c. Bol-o/Bol-a ø was-SG.N/F 3 tam kop-a ľudí. there bunch-NOM.SG.F people:GEN.PL.M ‘There was a bunch of people there.’ In addition to the lexical items above, a large quantity may also be signalled by the choice of a GEN rather than the NOM or ACC in some constructions (4.1.4). 5.9.2 Numerals Cardinal numerals 1–4, oba/obidva ‘both’, and ordinal numerals agree with the quantified noun in case and gender which is the head of the phrase (67a, b). (67) a. Jej her dv-e sestr-y odišl-i ø na západné pobrežie. two-NOM.F sister-NOM.PL.F left-PL 3 onto western coast ‘Her two sisters left for the west coast.’ b. Pomáhala svoj-im helped:3SG.F RFL.POSS-DAT.PL dv-om sestr-ám s deťmi. two-DAT sister-DAT.PL.F with children ‘She was helping out her two sisters with their children.’ Cardinal numerals 5 and higher, as well as indeterminate numerals (e.g., viacero ‘multiple’, niekoľko ‘several’), often do not inflect. Similarly to the adverbial quantifiers (5.9.1 above), they require the quantified noun in the GEN.PL and the predicate verb in the 3SG(N); the quantified noun, in turn, governs adjectives and participles (68a). With personal animate masculines, however, lower numerals of this group, i.e. 5, 6…, are sometimes used in their inflected forms (3.1.5), expressing agreement with the quantified noun which also governs the predicate in this case (68b). (68) a. Zasahoval-o intervene:PST-SG.N ø päť profesionáln-ych 3 five professional-GEN.PL.M 80 hasič-ov z Trenčína. firefighter-GEN.PL.M from Trenčín ‘Five professional firefighters from Trenčín intervened.’ b. Na mieste on site zasahoval-i ø intervened-PL 3 piat-i profesionáln-i five-NOM.PL.M.AN professional-NOM.PL.M.AN hasič-i. firefighter-NOM.PL.M.AN ‘Five professional firefighters intervened on the site.’ (cf. 68a) While the 3SG(N) form of the predicate verb occurs with higher numerals invariably, there is a variation in the verb form in constructions with numeral nouns, i.e. desiatky ‘tens’, stovky ‘hundreds’ and tisíce ‘thousands’ (69a–c). (69) a. Desaťtisíc-e ľudí ten:thousand-NOM.PL.M.INAN bol-o ø people:GEN.PL.M.AN was-SG.N 3 evakuovaných. evacuated:GEN.PL ‘Dozens of thousands people were evacuated.’ b. Desaťtisíc-e ľudí ten:thousand-NOM.PL.M.INAN bol-i ø people:GEN.PL.M.AN was-PL 3 klaman-é. deceived-NOM.PL.M.INAN ‘Dozens of thousands people were deceived.’ c. Státisíc-e ľudí hundreds:thousand:NOM.PL.M.INAN núten-í utiecť. forced-NOM.PL.M.AN flee:INF bol-i ø people:GEN.PL.M.AN was-PL 3 ‘Hundreds of thousands of people were forced to flee.’ In other than subject and direct-object phrases, the counted noun is governed by the verb or the preposition. Numerals from 5 to 20 and simple numerals for tens may express agreement with the counted noun (70), while longer, complex numerals and numerals 100 and 1000 remain uninflected (3.1.5). (70) Začínal s päťdesiat(-imi) dolár-mi vo vrecku. started[3SG.M] with fifty(-INS.PL) dollar-INS.PL.M in pocket ‘He had fifty dollars in his pocket to start out.’ 81 5.9.3 Collectives Collective numerals function as cardinals for pluralia tantum (71a, b), pairs (71c) and, less often, with counted entities understood as a group (71d) or as different types (71e). Collectives 1–3 are declinable, while higher collectives are indeclibable. Collective jedny (1) combine with the NOM of the counted noun, dvoje (2) and troje (3) with the GEN or, in colloquial expression, with the NOM (71a, b), and higher collectives with the GEN only (71d, e). When a collective in the GEN is the subject, the predicate verb has the 3SG(N) form (71b– d). (71) a. Pri bočnom vchode bol-o ø dvoje by GEN.PL.F side:ADJ entrance was-SG.N 3 two.set:NOM.F door- dver-í. ‘There was two doors by the side entrance.’ b. V chodbe in corridor bol-i ø dvoje dver-e. were-PL 3 two.set:NOM.F door:NOM.PL.F ‘There were two doors [lit. sets of door] in the corridor.’ c. Nech aj ona pozrie do toho okna she looks into that window dvoj-e oč-í viac vidí. two.pairs-NOM.N eye-GEN.PL more see:PRS.3SG let also – ‘Let also her look in the window—two pairs of eyes can see more.’ d. V in tejto drevenici nás this wooden.house us.GEN sedmoro det-í. group.of.seven children-GEN.PL.N bol-o ø were-SG.N 3 ‘There were seven of us children in this wooden house.’ e. Už already starí Gréci poznali devätoro umen-í. old Greeks knew nine.kinds art-GEN.PL.N ‘The ancient Greeks already knew/recognized nine (kinds of) arts.’ 5.10 Location and motion Slovak K-words kde and kam distinguish the notions of ‘where’ and ‘whither’, respectively, although especially speakers from Central Slovakia may only use kde in both meanings. Several K-words differentiate between some directions of motion, e.g., kade/kadiaľ ‘through 82 where, which way’, odkade/odkiaľ/skade/skadiaľ ‘where from’, dokiaľ ‘as far as where’ and pokade/pokiaľ ‘as far as what limit’ (the variants are mostly diatopic). More commonly, the distinction between location and various types of motion is expressed using combinations of prepositions and cases. Stationary or stative meanings are expressed by the LOC or INS, while motion is implied by the ACC. More specifically, preposition na ‘on(to)’ requires the LOC and prepositions nad ‘above’, pod ‘below’, pred ‘before’, za ‘behind’ and medzi ‘between’ require the INS for location, the ACC is employed for motion (72a vs. 72b). These prepositions also form compounds to distinguish between (i) location or movement to that location (e.g., nad ‘above’ + INS/ACC), (ii) movement within the location (ponad + ACC) and (iii) movement from the location (sponad/znad + GEN) (cf. 72b–d). (72) a. Nad above oblak-mi vždy svieti cloud-INS.PL.M always shine:PRS.3SG sun:NOM.SG.N slnko. ‘Above the clouds (i.e. in that position), the sun always shines.’ b. Vyleteli up:fly:PST.3PL nad oblak-y. above cloud-ACC.PL.M ‘They flew (soared) above the clouds (i.e. to that position).’ c. Preleteli cross:fly:pst:3pl ponad oblak-y. through.above cloud-ACC.PL.M ‘They flew over the clouds (i.e. through that position).’ d. výhľad s-ponad view[NOM.SG.M] oblak-ov from-through.above cloud-GEN.PL.M ‘a view from above the clouds.’ While LOC/INS vs. ACC distinguish between location and motion with the above prepositions, the location inside and movement into something are expressed using different prepositions: v ‘in’ (with LOC) and do ‘into’ (with GEN) (73a, b). (73) a. Žraloky sharks plávajú v swim:PRS.3PL in rieke Brisbane. river:LOC.SG.F Brisbane ‘Sharks are swimming in the Brisbane River.’ b. Žraloky sharks plávajú do swim:PRS.3PL into rieky Brisbane. river:GEN.SG.F Brisbane ‘Sharks are swimming into the Brisbane River.’ In place of a prepositional phrase, bare ‘through/across’ with some verbs (cf. 74). (74) Riek-ou Poprad river-INS.SG.F Poprad[NOM.SG.M] INS may be used to express the motion sem priplávali zo severu. to.here to:swim:PST:3PL from north 83 ‘Through the river Poprad, they [salmons] came here from the north.’ 5.11 Coordination & comitativity Conjunctions are the primary means of expressing coordination, the main being a ‘and’, primarily used as a copulative coordinator. The coordinators are usually only used before the last coordinated element, the preceding elements being juxtaposed asyndetically (75a). A few coordinators, such as však ‘however, yet’ and tak/teda ‘so, thus’, may take the secondconstituent position in the clause (75b). The absence of any conjunction indicates that the list of elements is inconclusive, the last element is a refinement of the previous ones as in (75c), or that the poetic function is foregrounded. The duplication (or rarely multiplication) of a conjunction, e.g., aj X, aj Y (‘both X and Y’) and ani X, ani Y (‘neither X, nor Y’), usually produces emphasis. In addition to the duplicated conjunctions, there are also several two-part conjunctions, such as nielen Y, ale aj Y (‘not only X, but also Y’) and tak X, ako aj Y (‘X as well as Y’). With negative coordination, typically using ani ‘nor, neither’, the predicate is also negated (75d). (75) a. Rozprávali, hovorili narrated:3PL talked:3PL a spomínali na mladé roky. and remembered:3PL on young years ‘They were telling stories, talking and remembering their young years.’ b. Na leto môže byť on summer can be 1 2 čistá biela pure kostým svetlejší, costume lighter však white however nie vždy pôsobí elegantne. not always works elegantly ‘For the summer, the costume may be lighter, but pure white does not always look elegant.’ c. Materiál je mäkký, vzdušný, pohodlný, príjemný na nosenie. material is soft comfortable pleasant to wearing airy ‘The material is soft, airy, comfortable, [i.e.] pleasant to wear.’ d. Našťastie, fortunately nikto ne-bol zranený ani usmrtený. NEG:who NEG-was injured nor killed ‘Fortunately, no one was injured or killed.’ The predicate of a multi-element subject is in the PL, and also in M.AN form if at least one of the elements is M.AN (76a). Alternatively, agreement may be dictated by the coordinated subject element closest to the predicate, especially when the predicate precedes the subject (76b). (76) a. Aj jej also her brat a sestry brother[NOM.SG.M.AN] and sister:NOM.PL.F 84 sú are ryšav-í. redheaded-NOM.PL.M.AN ‘Her brother and sisters are also redheaded.’ b. Ako ø how 3 sa volal-a mam-a a otec ITR called-SG.F mother-NOM.SG.F and father[NOM.SG.M] Ježiša? Jesus:GEN.SG.M ‘What were the names of the mother and father of Jesus?’ In comitative subject constructions, the predicate verb may occur in either the (77a, b). (77) a. S niektorými with some:INS.PL i SG or the chalanmi s-me sa nevidel-i guy:INS.PL.M AUX-1PL RCP:ACC NEG:see:PST-PL PL roky. even years ‘With some guys, we have not seen each other for years.’ b. S mnohými with many:INS.PL s-om sa nevidel-ø už AUX-1SG RCP:ACC NEG:see:PST-SG.M already desať rokov. ten years ‘With many (of them), I haven’t seen each other for ten years already. 5.12 Subordination 5.12.1 Relativization Any syntactic position but for the object of comparison may be relativized in Slovak. The proposition of the whole main clause may also be relativized, using the pronoun čo ‘what’ which is inflected according to the syntactic structure of the relative clause (78). (78) Skončil druhý, s č-ím nerátal asi finished[3SG.M] second with what-INS NEG:counted[3SG.M] maybe nikto. NEG:one:NOM ‘He [the racer] finished second, which probably no one counted on.’ The relativization of individual sentence constituents is usually carried out using relative pronouns, incl. adjectival and adverbial ones, which are formally identical with interrogative 85 pronouns, i.e. with K-words. The basic ones are čo ‘what’ (used mostly in colloquial expression) and ktorý ‘which’ (79a, b). Others, such as aký ‘what kind’, čí ‘whose’, kto ‘who’, kde ‘where’ and kam ‘wither’, are used facultatively and according to whether the relativized word’s semantics corresponds to the meaning of the pronoun (79c, d). The range of antecedents of kto ‘who’ is restricted to pronouns (79e). (79) a. Ako by how si to definoval nejakému COND AUX:2SG it define:LPT[SG.M] INDF.PRO:DAT.SG.M človeku, čo nevie, čo to znamená? human:DAT.SG.M what NEG:knows what it means ‘How would you define it for a person who doesn’t know what it means?’ b. Môžu can:3PL pomôcť človeku, ktorý nevie, help:INF human:DAT.SG.M which:NOM.SG.M NEG:knows ako ďalej. how farther ‘They can help a person who does not know how to go on.’ c. Prečo je podstatné sa vrátiť práve why is important RFL return:INF just k človeku, akým to human:DAT.SG.M what.kind:INS.SG.M was bol Adam Smith? Adam[NOM] Smith[NOM] ‘Why is it important to go back to a man like Adam Smith?’ d. Aký máte what:ACC.SG.M vzťah have:PRS.2PL relationship[ACC.SG.M.INAN] kde / v ktorom k mestu, to city:DAT.SG.N where / in which:LOC.SG.N ste vyrastali? AUX:2PL grew.up:PL ‘What is your relationship to the city where / in which you grew up?’ e. Ako by how ste COND AUX:2PL to opísali it describe:LPT:PL / niekomu, *človeku *human:DAT.SG.M / someone:DAT.SG o čom je reč? about what is talk kto nevie, who:NOM NEG:knows ‘How would you describe it to *person/someone who doesn’t know what it’s about?’ 86 In colloquial speech, čo ‘what’ may also be used instead of ktorý ‘which’ uninflected (i.e. as ‘that’, rather than ‘which’). In such a case, čo is usually accompanied by a resumptive pronoun if other than the NOM is required in the relative clause (80a, b). (80) a. My we.NOM sme tí dvaja, are those two:NOM.M.AN čo ich that them.ACC.PL so.much toľko hľadáte. search:PRS.2PL ‘We are the two who you are looking for so much.’ b. Vyber čo hrniec, choose[IMPV.2SG] pot[ACC.SG.M.INAN] that varieva polievky. cooks soups v ňom mama in it:LOC.SG.M mom ‘Choose the pot in which mom cooks soups.’ The relative pronouns or relativizers stand in the clause-initial position, although when they are part of a noun phrase, they may follow the NP head, especially in idiomatized prepositional phrases, such as v rámci ktorého ‘in the framework of which’. Relative subject and object clauses may stand before the main clause (81a). The antecedent need not be overt for relativized subject and direct object (81a). When the relativized subject or direct object are in focus and with an indirect object, correlative demonstrative pronouns are added, usually in adjacency to the relative clause (81a–c). The word order as in (81d) may also occur with a somewhat poetic effect. (81) a. Kto who:NOM získa najviac gain:PRS.3SG most hlasov, (ten) zvíťazí. votes PFV:win:3SG DEM:NOM.SG.M ‘Whoever gets the most votes will win.’ b. Zvíťazí ten, kto získa who:NOM gain:PRS.3SG most kto získa najviachlasov, zvíťazí. who:NOM gain:PRS.3SG most zvíťazí, kto získa PFV:win:3SG who:NOM gain:PRS.3SG most PFV:win:3SG DEM:NOM.SG.M c. Ten, DEM:NOM.SG.M d. Ten DEM:NOM.SG.M najviachlasov. votes votes PFV:win:3SG najviachlasov. votes 5.12.2 Complementation Complement clauses in Slovak may be introduced by a number of conjunctions and relative pronouns. Typical conjunctions include že ‘that’ and, with unrealized or desired action, aby ‘(in order) to’ (82a, b). Relative pronouns are selected according to the function which their 87 referent should have in the complement clause (82c, d). In object clauses, the neuter correlative demonstrative to ‘it, that’ is used when the verb requires a preposition with the object (82e) or as a focus marker (82a). When the complement clause stands in the position of a predicate adjective, the adjectival demonstrative taký ‘such, that kind’ is obligatorily used (82f). (82) a. Povedala told:3SG.F mu (to), že him:DAT DEM:ACC.SG.Nthat sme sa dohodli AUX:1PL RCP agreed:PL na spolupráci. on collaboration ‘She told him that we had agreed on collaboration.’ b. Povedala told:3SG.F mu, aby sme sa dohodli him:DAT in order to AUX:1PL RCP agree:LPT:PL na spolupráci. on collaboration ‘She told him that we should agree on collaboration.’ c. Povedala told:3SG.F mu, kedy sme sa dohodli him:DAT when AUX:1PL RCP agreed:PL na spolupráci. on collaboration ‘She told him when we agreed on collaboration.’ d. Povedala told:3SG.F mu, na čom sme sa dohodli. him:DAT on what:LOC AUX:1PL RCP agreed:PL že sa dohodneme RCP agree:IND.1PL ‘She told him what we had agreed on.’ e. Dospeli came:PL sme k tomu, AUX:1PL to DEM:DAT.SG.Nthat na spolupráci. on collaboration ‘We came to (the conclusion) that we would agree on collaboration.’ f. Podmienky boli condition:NOM.PL.F were:3PL také, že normálny such:NOM.PL.F that normal človek by tam nerobil. person COND there NEG:work:LPT[3SG.M] ‘The conditions were such that a normal person would not work there.’ 88 Anteposition of complement clauses is usually possible. The pattern is similar to the relative clauses (5.12.1). 5.12.3 Non-finite elements or their substitutes Participles, which carry adjectival markers of agreement, are a frequent alternative to relative clauses: example (79a) above may also be expressed using an active PT as (83a) and examples (80a) and (81b) with a passive PT as (83b) and (83c), respectively, adding formality to the expression. (83) a. Ako by how si to definoval nejakému COND AUX:2SG it define:LPT[SG.M] INDF.PRO:DAT.SG.M človeku neved-iac-emu, human:DAT.SG.M NEG:know-ACT.PT-DAT.SG.M what čo to znamená? it means ‘How would you define it for a person not knowing what it means?’ (cf. 79a) b. My we.NOM sme tí dvaja are those two:NOM.M.AN vami toľko you.PL:INS so.much hľad-an-í. search-PSV.PT-NOM.PL.M.AN ‘We are the two so much looked for by you.’ (cf. 80a) c. Zvíťazí ten PFV:win:3SG DEM:NOM.SG.M s najviac získ-an-ými with most gain-PSV.PT-INS.PL vote:INS.PL.M hlasmi. ‘The one with the most votes gained will win.’ (cf. 81b) Gerunds may describe an event asynchronic to, embedded in or framing the predicated action and, therefore, can be used as an alternative to subordinate sentences (4.2.5). The GER occurs in various positions in the sentence, but is rarely used in Slovak nowadays, especially if standing alone (without modifiers and adjuncts) or when the subject is overtly expressed by a noun (the use of a participle, action noun or a finite clause is more common in this case). Verbal nouns and other action nouns (3.3.1) are often used in Slovak as alternatives to subordinate clauses. Complement clauses, such as (82a) above, can be reformulated using noun phrases, in which the agent of the action denoted by the action noun, if different from the subject, is referred to by a possessive pronoun (84). (84) o našej dohode Povedala mu told:3SG.F he:DAT about our:LOC.SG.F agreement:LOC.SG.F on collaboration ‘She told him about our agreement on collaboration.’ (cf. 82a) 89 na spolupráci. Infinitive constructions are a frequent (condensed or action backgrounding) alternative to complement clauses, typically following verbs of perception (85a, b), prohibition/permission (85c, d) and motion (85e, f). (85) a. Svedkovia witnesses ho videli, ako uteká cez him saw run:PRS.3SG across parking.lot how parkovisko. ‘Witnesses saw him running across the parking lot.’ b. Svedkovia witnesses ho videli utek-ať do zadnej uličky. him saw to back run-INF alley ‘Witnesses saw him running into a back street.’ c. FED vtedy zakázal, Fed then forbade aby banky platili úroky na to bank:NOM.PL.F pay on netermínované vklady. non.termed deposits interests ‘The Fed [i.e. Federal Reserve System] then forbade banks to pay interest on demand deposits.’ d. FED vtedy bankám Fed then zakázal bank:DAT.PL.F forbade plat-iť úroky na pay-INF interests on netermínované vklady. non.termed deposits ‘dtto’ e. Každý everyone uteká, aby sa skryl. run:PRS.3SG to RFL hide:LPT[3SG.M] ‘Everyone is running to hide.’ f. Chlapec boy sa uteká skry-ť. RFL run:PRS.3SG hide-INF ‘The boy is running away to hide.’ Extraction from subordinate clauses is does not usually occur. Similarly, object extraction from relative clauses as in (81c) does not seem to be possible. On the other hand, extraction from clausal adjuncts occurs (86). (86) Stretla som sa s ľuďmi, ktorí keď met:SG.F AUX:1SG RCP with people who:NOM.PL.M when schudli, akoby stratili chuť do života. became.poor:3PL as.if zest into life lost:3PL 90 ‘I have met people who, when they became poor, seemed to lose their zest for life.’ Expressions of the type ‘the man that I think that you saw’ occur with the antecedent (‘the man’) represented in the complement clause by a pronoun (87a). In the type ‘the man that I think that saw you’, it is the personal ending in the complement clause that refers to the antecedent (87b). The propositions in this type of constructions with the verb myslieť (si) ‘to think’ in 1SG may be expressed with myslím (si) ‘I think’ as a particle, so the Slovak equivalent of ‘the man that I think that saw you’ would more simply sound as (87c). (87) a. Ste jedným z troch mužov, o one of three men about which myslím, že som mala šťastie ich think:1PRS.SG that AUX:1SG had:SG.F luck you.are ktorých si RFL stretnúť. them meet:INF ‘You are one of the three men that I think that I have been lucky enough to meet.’ b. Dal gave[SG.M] som hlas kandidátovi, o AUX:1SG vote candidate:DAT.SG.M.AN about which myslím, že nám môž-e:ø pomôcť. think:1PRS.SG that we:DAT can-3SG help:INF ktorom si RFL ‘I have voted for a candidate who I think can help us.’ c. …muž, …man ktor-ý ť-a myslím videl. who-NOM.SG.M you.SG-ACC I.think saw[3SG.M] ‘the man that I think saw you’ (‘the man that saw you, I think’) 6 Discourse-level phenomena 6.1 Intonation Sentence intonation in Standard Slovak is described, e.g., in Bugárová (2001) and Kráľ (2009: 90–103). 6.1.1 Declarative Final concluding intonation is falling in the declarative sentences in which the speaker does not indicate any special stance toward the content or to the addressee of the utterance. The intonation (pitch) fall usually begins at the topic part of the sentence (6.3) or at the first syllable of an emphasized word, if there is any. If a sentence is composed of more clauses, the end of the non-final clause carries a nonconclusive intonation which can be either rising, flat or falling (in the latter case, the intonation does not mark the boundary between clauses and the whole compound/complex sentence thus has a gradually falling intonation). In case of the rising intonation, the rise is at the last syllable of the clause-final word and the tone remains high on the conjunction. Similar intonation patterns are also used to separate words of a multi-word constituent. 91 6.1.2 Interrogative Unmarked K-questions (5.2.1) have a falling intonation similar to declarative sentences, with an intonation peak on the K-word. Polar questions (5.2.2) carry a rising final intonation. If the sentence-final word has two syllables, the penultimate syllable usually has a low tone and there is a rise and a decent fall on the final syllable. Sentence-final words with three or more syllables are marked by a low tone between the third and the second syllables, or on the second syllable, from the end before a final rise. These contours may be modified in questions conveying speaker’s emotions or evaluative stance toward the content or addressee. 6.1.3 Imperative The intonation contour of imperative sentences is similar to declarative sentences (falling sentence-final) with emphasis (by pitch and intensity rise) on the stressed syllable of the focus word. 6.2 Definiteness 6.2.1 Articles and related forms There are no articles in Slovak, but the demonstrative pronoun ten ‘that’ can perform the function of a definite article (88a) and the numeral jeden ‘one’ of an indefinite article (88b). These uses are not grammaticalized. (88) a. Keď začneme listovať when begin:PRS.1PL leaf:INF nájdeme v find.PFV:1PL in v tej in DEM:LOC.SG.F book:LOC.SG.F knihe nej všeličo zaujímavé. her many.a.thing interesting ‘When we start flipping through that book [referring to a registry book mentioned earlier], we find many interesting things in it.’ b. Tento this recept som našla v jednej recipe found in one:LOC.SG.F book:LOC.SG.F AUX:1SG knihe. ‘I have found this recipe in a book.’ In addition to these, possessive adjectives express definite possessors (5.8.4). Some qualitative adjectives, such as daný ‘given’ and určitý ‘certain’, express definiteness. 6.2.2 Definite/indefinite pronouns There is a number of indefinite pronouns in Slovak (see 3.1.3). Demonstrative pronouns may imply definiteness (as in 92a). 92 6.2.3. Double determination Double determination does not seem to occur in Slovak. 6.2.4 Word order The noun phrase in the topic of a sentence is usually definite, while the noun phrase in the focus is usually indefinite. 6.3 Topicalization Elements in the frontmost position in a sentence are topicalized once fronted (see 5.1). Nominal left dislocations are accompanied by an intonational break and a fronted demonstrative pronoun agreeing in case, number and gender with the dislocated topic (89a). Nominal left dislocation may also be introduced by a phrase, such as čo sa týka ‘as concerns’. Verbal left disclocations stand in the infinitive (89b) (89) a. Jožo, tak Jožo:NOM.SG.M so už roky. already toho som nevidel DEM:ACC.SG.M AUX:1SG NEG:saw[SG.M] years ‘Joseph, I haven’t seen him for years already.’ b. Rob-iť work-INF som nerob-il-a zo zdravotných dôvodov. AUX:1SG NEG:work-PST-SG.F of health reasons ‘As for work, I did not work for health reasons.’ 6.4 Focus Focus is performed by positioning an element sentence-finally (5.1) or by intonational emphasis. Referents of personal pronouns in focus are expressed using strong forms of the pronouns (3.1.3). Clefts are formed with (i) the pronoun to ‘this, that, it’ always in this NOM.SG.N form, (ii) the element in focus and (iii) a predicate (90a) or as a separate clause using (i) verb ‘be’, (ii) pronoun to, (iii) the element in focus and (iv) a relative pronoun in the function of a conjunction to the superordinate clause (90b). (90) a. To this:NOM.SG.N on nám pomohol. he:NOM us helped ‘It was he who helped us.’ b. Bol to on, was[3SG.M] this:NOM.SG.N he:NOM 93 kto nám pomohol who:NOM us helped ‘It was he who helped us.’ 6.5 Deixis and anaphora Slovak is a pro-drop language. Personal pronouns are employed for subject reference usually only when in focus and for disambiguation in case of a multiple constituent (91a). Demonstratives are used for both deixis and anaphora and this extends beyond the clause. In contrast to South Slavic, demonstratives in their simple forms are not distinguished according to the proximal–medial–distal trichotomy, but proximal ones may be derived from simple demonstratives by adding the -to ‘this’ morpheme as a postfix (91b) and distal demonstratives by prefixing tam- ‘there’ (91c). When a whole content of a previous discourse is referred to, to ‘this’ is used in this SG.N form (91d). (91) a. Ona odišla a ja som bol she.NOM left:3SG.F and I.NOM AUX:1SG was[SG.M] znova sám. again alone[NOM.SG.M] ‘She left and I was alone again.’ b. Pozemok land je od t-oh-to stromu is from DEM-GEN.SG.M-this tree:GEN.SG.M po t-en-to stĺp. to DEM-ACC.SG.M.INAN-this pillar[ACC.SG.M.INAN] ‘The land is from this tree to this pillar.’ c. Bežte run/go:IMPV.2PL k tam-t-ej to there-DEM-DAT.SG.F rock:DAT.SG.F skale! ‘Run/Go to that rock!’ d. To that:NOM.SG.N bola teda história jej lásky. was:SG.F then history:NOM.SG.F of.her love ‘So that was the history of her love.’ (After a multi-sentence description of what happened.) Anaphora of the ‘former–latter’ type is carried out using numerals: (ten) prvý ‘first’ X, (ten) druhý ‘second’ Y (92a); v prvom prípade ‘in the first case’ X, v druhom prípade ‘in the second case’ Y; etc. Reference to the ‘latter’ may also be performed using an adjectival phrase such as posledný uvedený or posledný spomenutý, both meaning ‘last mentioned’. Anaphora in written texts may alternatively be carried out using the adjectival phrase vyššie uvedený/spomenutý ‘above-mentioned’. Zero anaphora also occurs in Slovak (92b). (92) a. Autorom myšlienky bol slovenský 94 filozof Peter Michalovič, author of.idea was Slovak philosopher Peter Michalovič jej realizátormi Miroslav Marcelli a Miroslav Petříček her implementers Miroslav Marcelli and Miroslav Petříček – ten prvý slovenský, ten druhý český filozof. – DEM first Slovak DEM second Czech philosopher ‘The author of the idea was Slovak philosopher Peter Michalovič, its implementers [were] Miroslav Marcelli and Miroslav Petříček: the former a Slovak, the latter a Czech philosopher.’ b. Bola was:3SG.F hustá hmla, thick:NOM.SG.F fog:NOM.SG.F takú som ešte nezažil. such:ACC.SG.F AUX:1SG yet NEG:experienced[SG.M] ‘It was a thick fog, such as I had never experienced before.’ For cataphora, active participle nasledujúci or adjective nasledovný, both meaning ‘following’ (93a), or a proximal demonstrative (such as tento NOM.M ‘this.one’, takýto NOM.M ‘such’, takto ‘such a way’) are used (93b). (93) a. Výsledk-y 1.1%. 1.1%. result-NOM.PL.M.INAN boli nasledujúc-e: Áno: 96.1%. Nie: were following-NOM.PL.M.INAN yes: 96.1%. no: ‘The results [of a survey] were as follows: Yes: 96.1%. No: 1.1%.’ b. Konečné final výsledk-y boli t-ie-to: [a table follows] result-NOM.PL.M.INAN were DEM-NOM.PL.M.INAN-this ‘The final results were as follows: [a table].’ 6.6 Reported speech and evidentiality Reported speech is introduced by a clause with a verbum dicendi and a subordinate clause beginning in: conjunction že ‘that’ for a reported declarative sentence (94a); či ‘if, whether’ for a reported polar question (94b); a K-word for a reported K-question (94c); or aby ‘in order to’ or nech ‘let’ for a reported imperative sentence (94d, e). Generally, the tense and aspect of the reported utterance is preserved. For reporting imperatives, the conditional is used with conjunction aby (which contains the conditional particle by, 94d) and the indicative with conjunction nech (94e). (94) a. Oznámila, announced:3SG.F že príde neskoro. that PFV.come:IND.3SG late 95 ‘She announced that she would come late.’ b. Pýtali asked:3PL sa jej, či je ITR her.GEN if be.PRS.IND.3SG v poriadku. in order:LOC.SG.M.INAN ‘They asked her if she was okay.’ c. Pýtal asked[3SG.M] sa ho, kedy ITR him.GEN when already už konečne finally príde. PFV.come:IND.3SG ‘He asked him when he would finally come.’ d. Povedal told[SG.M] k nám. to us.DAT som mu, aby prišiel AUX:1SG him.DAT to.COND PFV.come:LPT[3SG.M] ‘I told him to come to us / to our place.’ e. Povedal told[SG.M] som mu, nech príde ku mne. AUX:1SG him.DAT let to me.DAT PFV.come:IND.3SG ‘I told him to come to me / to my place.’ Slovak belongs to languages without grammaticalized evidenciality. The functional-semantic domain of evidentiality in Slovak represents a category with a relatively small number of central verbal resources serving as markers of reportative evidentiality (hearsay and quotative) and a larger peripheral set of verbs, adjectives and adverbials serving as perceptive, inferential and deductive evidential markers. The evidential means of hearsay reporting to an anonymous source include evidential particles vraj and more formal údajne ‘reportedly, allegedly’. Especially in news-reporting, modal auxiliary mať ‘have to, should’ adopted the evidential function of hearsay and is used instead of the two particles (95a). Verbs dicendi such as hovoriť and vravieť ‘to say’ and verb scribendi písať ‘to write’ may be used for reporting in their 3PL forms (95b) or in impersonal clauses (95c). For quotative evidentiality, there is the construction podľa ‘according to’ + GEN (95a). Perceptive evidentiality is expressed using adjectives and adverbs/particles derived thereof, such as očividný – očividne ‘obvious – obviously’, zjavný – zjavne ‘apparent – apparently’, viditeľný – viditeľne ‘visible, observable – visibly, observably’, etc. (95d); predicate adverb vidno (95e); predicate infinitives of perception verbs, e.g., počuť ‘hear’, cítiť ‘feel/smell’, baďať ‘observe, see’, vidieť ‘see’ (95f), as well as finite forms of these verbs (95g). (For details, see Ivanová, 2012, 2016b.) 96 (95) a. Podľa according mal obžalob-y prijať indictment-GEN.SG.F had[3SG.M] úplatok bribe[ACC.SG.M.INAN] accept:INF 5 miliónov korún. 5 million:GEN.PL.M crowns[GEN.PL.F] ‘According to the indictment, he was to accept a bribe of 5 million crowns’ b. V In Biblii píš-u, že vystúpia Bible:LOC.SG.F write-PRS.IND.3PL that come.out:PRS.IND.3PL falošní proroci. false:NOM.PL.M.AN prophet:NOM.PL.M.AN ‘The Bible says that false prophets will come out.’ c. V In Biblii sa píš-e:ø, že Bible:LOC.SG.F IMPS write-PRS.IND.3SG that hladného treba nakŕmiť. hungry:ACC.SG.M is.necessary PFV:feed:INF ‘The Bible says that the hungry must be fed.’ d. Už Already viditeľne strácala trpezlivosť. visibly lost.IPFV:3SG.F patience[ACC.SG.F] ‘She was visibly losing patience already.’ e. Bolo vidno, že was:3SG.N visible that si váži ľudí. DER respect people:ACC.PL.M ‘It was apparent that he respected people.’ f. Bolo vid-ieť, was:3SG.N see-INF že ho to mrzí. that him.ACC it:NOM be.sorry:PRS.IND.3SG ‘One could see that he was sorry.’ g. Vid-ím, see-PRS.IND.1SG že vás to zaujíma. that you.PL:ACC it:NOM be.of.interest:PRS.IND.3SG ‘I see you are interested (in this).’ 7 Pragmatics 7.1 Speech acts Opening a conversation with an unfamiliar person is usually formulated as an apology (96a), unless in a pressing, emergent situation, in which the person is addressed (7.2) right away. 97 Conversation may also be opened by a greeting. Greetings in formal spoken communication have the form of a wish pertaining to a whole day (dobrý deň ‘good day’) or a particular part of the day (e.g., dobré ráno ‘good morning’); verbs prajem(e) or želám(e), both meaning ‘I (we) wish’, may be added. Informal greetings include, most commonly, ahoj ‘hi’ which also occurs in the plural (ahojte) for multiple addressees. Some other informal greetings include čau/čaute and servus. For longer conversations between strangers or in conversations with friends and intimates in which a stranger occurs, it is a common polite practice to introduce oneself or those who are unfamiliar to the other interlocutors, respectively, by their name or position in relevant social relations right after the greeting. Opening of e-mails and letters is done using adjective milý ‘dear’ or more formal vážený ‘respected’, followed by the addressee’s given name (if informal), address pani ‘misses’ or pán ‘mister’, a title and optionally a surname (96b, c). This ‘dear X’ type of opening is also used in formal public speech (96d). In e-mail communication, it gives way to the ‘good day’ type of opening. (96) a. Prepáč-te excuse-IMPV.2PL (pros-ím (Vás)) beg-PRS.IND.1SG you.PL:ACC ‘Excuse me (please)’ b. Mil-á dear-NOM.SG.F Jan-k-a Jana-DIM-NOM.SG.F ‘Dear Janka [Jenny]’ c. Vážen-á pani respected-NOM.SG.F profesor-k-a missis professor-F-NOM.SG.F (Kováč-ov-á) Kováč-F-NOM.SG.F ‘Dear Professor (Kováčová)’ d. Vážen-í host-ia respected-NOM.PL.M.AN guest-NOM.PL.M.AN ‘Dear guests’ Closing of a formal conversation is performed using the word dovidenia (until:seeing:GEN.SG.N) ‘good bye’, informally shortened as dovi, or if in the absence of a visual channel, such as in a phone call, dopočutia (until:hearing:GEN.SG.N). Closing can also be done in the form of a wish with the verb mať sa (97a) or the wish of a nice day or evening (97b) or of good night (97c). The closing can be signalled by particle tak ‘so, well’ (e.g., tak dovidenia, tak ahoj, tak sa majte). Closing of an informal conversation is carried out using informal greeting ahoj or čau, or their plural forms ahojte and čaute. If another meeting is foreseen or wished in the near future, adverb zatiaľ ‘for.the.moment’ may be used either alone or elaborated (e.g., zatiaľ ahoj, tak zatiaľ sa maj). Formal closings of letters or emails is done using a greeting (97d–f) or a wish (97g). (97) a. Maj-te have-IMPV.2PL sa (pekne / dobre) ITR/RFL nicely / well ‘Take care.’ 98 b. Pekný deň! nice:NOM/ACC.SG.M.INAN day[NOM/ACC.SG.M.INAN] ‘Have a nice day!’ c. Dobrú noc. good:ACC.SG.F night[ACC.SG.F] ‘Good night.’ d. S úctou with respect:INS.SG.F ‘Yours sincerely’ e. S pozdravom with greeting:INS.SG.M ‘Best regards’ f. Srdečne heartily (pozdravujem) greet:IPFV:PRS.IND.1SG ‘Warm regards / Cordially’ g. Všetko dobré all:NOM/ACC.SG.N good:NOM/ACC.SG.N ‘All the best’ Requests are usually performed using the verb prosiť ‘beg’ (98a), the IMPV or the COND of other verbs, with accompanying prosím ‘please’ as a more polite option, and even more politely in the negative form of the verb (98b). (98) a. Pros-ím beg-PRS.IND.1SG si čiernu kávu. RFL:DAT black:ACC.SG.F coffee:ACC.SG.F ‘A cup of coffee, please.’ b. Ne-zavreli NEG-close:LPT:PL by ste, COND AUX:2PL prosím (Vás), beg:PRS.IND.1SG you.PL:ACC okno? window:ACC.SG.N ‘Would you, please, close the window?’ Thanking is frequently done by the verb ďakovať ‘thank’ (99a) or the noun vďaka ‘thanks’ (in singular in Slovak). There are serveral frequent responses to thanks (99b–e). (99) a. Ďakuj-em (Vám) thank-PRS.IND.1SG you.PL:DAT ((veľmi) pekne)). very nicely 99 ‘Thank you (very much).’ b. Rado glad:SG.N sa stalo. DER happened:3SG.N ‘Happy to help.’ c. Nie je NEG be.PRS.IND.3SG za čo. for what:ACC ‘You are welcome.’ d. Za for málo. little:ACC.SG.N ‘You are welcome.’ e. Vďačne. thankfully ‘Gladly.’ Promises use the sľubovať (100). FUT tense forms; the explicit marking of a promise is done by the verb (100) Sľubuj-em, že promise-PRS.IND.1SG that nabudúce sa polepším. next.time RFL:ACC PFV:better:IND.1SG ‘I promise I’ll do better next time.’ Congratulations are usually performed by the verbs gratulovať and blahoželať (both meaning ‘to congratulate’) in a DAT construction with the preposition k ‘to’ (101). (101) Blahožel-ám congratulate-PRS.IND.1SG (Vám) k víťazstv-u! you.PL:DAT to victory-DAT.SG.N ‘Congratulations (to you) on winning!’ Warning is usually performed with the noun pozor ‘attention’ (102a, b); negative clauses with particle nech ‘let’ (102c); as well as the verbs varovať ‘warn’ (102d, e) and vyvarovať sa ‘avoid [a danger]’ (102f). (102) a. (Dávajte si) pozor na autá! RFL.DAT attention[ACC.SG.M.INAN] on car:ACC.PL.N si) pozor, aby vás give:IMPV.2PL RFL.DAT attention to.COND you:ACC.PL nezrazilo auto. NEG:hit:LPT:3SG.N car:NOM.SG.N give.IPFV:IMPV.2PL ‘Watch out for cars!’ b. (Dajte 100 ‘Be careful not to be hit by a car.’ c. (Pozor,) attention nech sa mu nič ne-stane. let DER him.DAT nothing[NOM] NEG-happen:PRS.IND.3SG varujem ťa pred ním. warn:PRS.IND.1SG you:ACC.SG in.front him.INS ‘Be careful that nothing happens to him.’ d. Eva, Eva:NOM.SG.F ‘Eva, I warn you against him.’ e. Varuj-eme warn-PRS.IND.1PL najmä starších ľudí, especially older:ACC.PL.M.AN people:ACC.PL.M.AN aby si uzamkýnali svoje to.COND RFL:DAT lock.IPFV:LPT:3PL POSS.RFL:ACC.PL.N obydlia. dwelling:ACC.PL.N ‘We especially warn older people to lock their homes.’ f. Vyvaruj-te avoid-IMPV.2PL sa nadváhy. RFL:ACC overweight:GEN.SG.F ‘Avoid being overweight.’ 7.2 Speech etiquette Slovak distinguishes T/V forms (tykanie/vykanie), where 2SG forms indicate closer relationship between the addresser and the addressee, whereas 2PL forms are used as honorific. In addressing one person the pronouns and verbs are in the 2PL, while adjectivals remain in the 2SG in Standard Slovak (103a). In Common Slovak, however, the l-participle receives a SG ending. Asymetric use of T/V is regarded impolite if not offensive, unless the receiver of a T form is a child. The use of V forms is usually incompatible with the use of informal greetings, such as ahoj and čau (7.1). There is an older honorific usage of 3PL forms (onikanie) still in place in Slovakia in communication of younger persons with the elderly in private communication. Older people are referred to using 3PL even if they are not the addressees of the message but if spoken about (103b). (103) a. Nebol-i NEG:be:LPT-PL by s-te tak-á COND AUX-2PL so-NOM.SG.F good-NOM.SG.F a neposlal-i mi to? and NEG:send:LPT-PL me:DAT it:ACC.SG.N ‘Would you be so kind and send it to me? 101 dobr-á b. Stark-á ø umrel-i. grandma-NOM.SG.F 3 died-PL ‘My grandma has died.’ It is a common practice to address persons using their titles, if known to the addresser, in formal spoken and written communication. The titles commonly used include university degrees (e.g. doktor/doktorka ‘doctor.M/F’, docent/docentka ‘associate professor.M/F’, profesor/profesorka ‘professor.M/F’, etc.), higher ranks in organizations (e.g. predseda/predsedníčka ‘chairman/chairwoman’, riaditeľ/riaditeľka ‘director.M/F’, učiteľ/učiteľka ‘teacher.M/F’, minister/ministerka ‘minister.M/F’, etc.) and doctors of medicine (doktor/doktorka). The title is preceeded by the word pán ‘Mr./Sir’ and pani ‘Ms./Madam’ (e.g., pán doktor, pani doktorka) (104, also 96c above), otherwise the address would become impolite. If a relevant title is not known, formal address consists of the word pán/pani followed by the addressee’s surname. When speaking about a person, the word pani remains uninflected if it is accompanied by an (inflected) title term or surname (e.g., pre pani doktork-u Kováčov-ú, ‘for misses doctor:F-DAT.SG.F Kováč:F-DAT.SG.F). Combinations of pán/pani with given names mitigate the formality of the interlocutors’ relationship, but this is more commonly performed by using V forms with a person’s given name only, i.e. without pán/pani. If both the title and the name of an addressee are not known, only the words pane (the historical vocative form of pán) and pani are used when the person should be called upon. Elder people are sometimes addressed as teta ‘aunt’ and ujo ‘uncle’. However, terms of address are sometimes avoided, the expressions prepáčte ‘excuse me’ or prosím Vás ‘beg:1SG you.PL:ACC’ being used to attract the addressee’s attention instead. (104) Vážen-á pani prezident-k-a, stoj-íte respected-NOM.SG.F Madam President-F-NOM.SG.F stand-PRS.IND.2PL na začiatku nového, dôležitého obdobia… at beginning of.new important period ‘Madam President, you are standing at the beginning of a new, important period…’ 7.3 Sex indices Gender is morphologically marked on nouns and copied on adjectivals and some verb forms via agreement. Inherited gender bias is in favour of the masculine. This can be observed on the agreement markers of the pronouns kto ‘who’, niekto ‘someone’ which are masculine, although they may refer to a female (105a). For another example, female names of professions and of ethnic membership are usually derived from simpler masculine names (3.3.1). To refer to groups that are mixed or indetermined for gender in the given context, generic masculine, especially in its PL form, is often used. However, the use of female names (e.g., sud-kyň-a ‘judge-F-NOM.SG.F’, prezident-k-a ‘President-F-NOM.SG.F’, riaditeľ-k-a ‘director-F-NOM.SG.F’, etc.) is common in both public and private communication. An apparently important factor in maintaining generic masculine in the SG seems to be legal text genres in which generic SG masculine is used. Otherwise, the practice of using both forms 102 next to each other (usually divided by a slash in written communication or by conjuction a ‘and’ in speech) has also become usual in other types of communication (105b), although there are practical limitations due to obligatory gender agreement markers on adjectivals and some verb forms (4.1.1). In relation to female surnames, the use of derivational feminizing suffix -ov- has been a topic of recent public debates, especially for the fact that the suffix is followed by feminine grammatical endings which allow for the inflection of the given surname, while the underived, ‘masculine’, form of the surname remains uninflected when referring to a woman (105c). Novel forms combining masculine and feminine endings (as in German) have not developed in Slovak to date. (105) a. Chceli, aby úlohu Bellatrix wanted:3PL that role:ACC.SG.F Bellatrix hral niekto played[3SG.M] someone:NOM beautiful-NOM.SG.M and krásn-y a tajomn-ý a sú presvedčení, mysterious-NOM.SG.M and are:PRS.IND.3PL convinced:NOM.PL.M.AN na vhodn-á. že Elizabeth that Elizabeth je is.PRS.IND.3SG on rolu role:ACC.SG.F suitable-NOM.SG.F ‘They wanted the role of Bellatrix to be played by someone beautiful and mysterious and they are convinced that Elizabeth is suitable for the role.’ b. Účastníkmi boli participant:INS.PL.M were:3PL študent-i a student-NOM.PL.M.AN and končiaceho ročníka. ending:GEN.SG.M year:GEN.SG.M študent-k-y student-F-NOM.PL.F ‘The participants were final year students.’ c. Jan-u Kirschner a Marik-u Gombit-ov-ú Jan-ACC.SG.F Kirschner and Marik-ACC.SG.F Gombit-F-ACC.SG.F porazila Katk-a Knecht-ov-á. defeated:3SG.F Katk-NOM.SG.F Knecht-F-NOM.SG.F ‘Jana Kirschner and Marika Gombitová were defeated by Katka Knechtová.’ 8 Dialects The old idea that Slovak has a central position among the Slavic languages (e.g., Štúr 1846: 7) is based on the fact that diatopic varieties of Slovak display features of not only West Slavic, but also East Slavic (Eastern Slovak varieties) and South Slavic (Central Slovak varieties). Most South Slavic features (so-called juhoslavizmy) also occur in the standard variety and 103 thus emblematically distinguish Slovak from its West Slavic relatives. They include the following:        ra- and la- word-initially in some nouns, including in the prefix raz-, in place of the West (and some of East) Slavic ro-, lo- that developed from Proto-Slavic õrC- and õlC- (e.g., rastie ‘it grows’, ražeň ‘grill’, rázcestie ‘crossroads’, rázštep ‘fission, cleavage, cleft’, lakeť ‘elbow’, lani ‘last year’, etc.); s in place of West Slavic š as a result of the second Slavic palatalization of velars (e.g, Česi ‘Czechs’, ženísi ‘grooms’) (2.3.3); a in place of the West and East Slavic e or o as a reflex of the Proto-Slavic yers in several words (e.g., dážď ‘rain’, ľan ‘flax’, mach ‘moss’, raž ‘rye’); syllabic r in cases like krv (‘blood’), krst (‘baptism’) etc.; the 1SG -m in all verb classes (e.g., kupujem ‘I buy’) in place of the West and East Slavic vocalic endings; the neuter o-ending in adjectives (dobrô ‘good’, krásno ‘beautiful’) (this is a nonStandard feature); the 1PL -mo (e.g., kosímo ‘we mow’) in place of the West and East Slavic -me (a nonStandard feature in Slovak). Slovak dialects form three major areas – Western Slovak, Central Slovak and Eastern Slovak – which are further divided into regional dialect groups (for details, see Ripka 1997). In addition to purely linguistic features, the traditional delimitation of dialect areas and regions has been based on geomorphological boundaries and administrative county borders of the Kingdom of Hungary, during the period of which the dialects formed. Therefore, the dialect groups as traditionally distinguished are internally heterogeneous (Habovštiak 1998: 195; Múcsková 2009: 68). The border between the Slovak and Czech dialects is very fuzzy especially in the southern (lowland) part of the borderland. The language border has been consensually established on the political border between Slovakia and Czechia despite the fact that some emblematic Czech features, such as post-alveolar trill ř, do not fully extend to the eastern border of the Czech language area as delineated today (Nábělková 2016). On the other hand, the Záhorie (westernmost) dialects have traditionally been considered Slovak, even though they share a number of features with Czech absent from the rest of the Slovak language area. Transitional dialects to Polish in the north are labelled as separate Goral (‘Highlander’) dialects, without being identified as Slovak but neither as Polish (cf. Štolc 1968a; Štolc 1994). The diatopic variation in Slovak phonology mostly concerns the following features:   gradual shift of the word stress from the initial to the penultimate position from the west (initial) to the center (penultimate in expressive utterances) to the east (penultimate); gradual loss of vowel length from the west (highly present) to the centre (restricted by the rhythmic shortening rule, except in the south-central Gemer dialects) to the east (absent); 104      the distribution of syllabic liquids (widest in central and south-western dialects, somewhat smaller presence in the westernmost varieties as in Czech, and no syllabic liquids in the east, as in Polish and Ukrainian) the presence/absence of diphthongs (highest in the central area); asibilation and/or depalatalization of ť, ď (extensive in the western and eastern areas). the fricative/sonorant nature of /v/ (mostly fricative in the arc extending from the westernmost region to the north and further to the central-eastern group); [l] vs. [w] variation in some positions (especially in the LPT.SG.M, e.g., mal vs. ma[w] ‘he.had’) across the dialect areas. In morphology, all the dialects share the same set of inflectional categories and values, but significant differences can be found in their formal expression and in the levels of formal differentiation. Major features include the following:          unification of the GEN, DAT and LOC of plural nouns (formerly masculine endings apply to all genders) in the eastern area; unification of the ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ NOM/ACC.SG forms of neuter nouns in western and eastern dialects; unification of the ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ adjectival declension in eastern and some western and central dialects; unification of the adjectival NOM.PL.M.AN form with other gender forms in eastern dialects; overall variation in the distribution of the e and o elements in the endings of the congruent declensions accross adjectives, pronouns and numerals (e.g., dobreho/dobr-ého vs. dobr-oho ‘good-GEN.SG.M’; č-eho vs. č-oho ‘what-GEN’); variation in the inflection of possessives (long declension in the west and east, short declension in the central area); non-differentiation between the ie-stem and the e-stem verbs (III and IV classes) in the western and eastern areas; the preservation of two verbal endings for IND.1SG (-m and -u) in the westernmost and the easternmost dialects. variation in the formation of demonstratives (e.g., western and central ten vs. eastern tot(en) ‘that:NOM.SG.M’) Overall, western and eastern dialects share several features that the central ones do not have in both phonology and morphology (for detailed lists of differences between the dialect areas and their groups, see Krajčovič 2009, Štolc 1994). As for language attitudes, some western features are perceived as prestigeous/attractive, indexing the metropolis of Bratislava which is located in the west; the western varieties’ similarity to the prestigeous Czech language may also play a role. However, north-central Slovak has maintained its traditional image as the basis of the Standard and the best or purest (but also ‘too soft’ and ‘rural’ for some) Slovak (Ondrejovič 1991). Eastern (inter)dialects are maintained thanks to strong and distinctive regional identities and possibly also due to a 105 certain level of othering (cf. the common category of východniar ‘Easterner’, also po východniarsky, východniarčina ‘[in] Eastern speech’). Large-scale migrations of Slovaks from the territories of present-day Slovakia and northern Hungary (roughly Upper Hungary or Highlands, Horná zem, at the time) to the territories of today’s southeastern Hungary, Croatia, Serbia and Romania, or Lowlands (Dolná zem), in the 18th to 19th centuries gave rise to the so-called Lowland Dialect Complex. Depending on the major source localities of emigration, the Lowland dialects are of two types: (i) Western, mostly of the southern type, and (ii) Central, mostly of the southeastern type (on the language of Rusyn migrants from eastern Slovakia in Serbia, see Chapter 16). Immigrants from multiple localities of the Highlands usually came together in the new settlements and secondary migrations between Lowland settlements themseves also took place, forming new local dialects by way of convergence. As a result, hardly any Lowland dialect can be identified with any particular one in Slovakia (Dudok 1993). In addition, the Lowland Slovak varieties exhibit a higher level of borrowing from, and advergence to, the dominant languages of the new environments, i.e. Hungarian, Serbian, Croatian, Romanian and, to some extent, German. The best maintaned are the Slovak dialects in Vojvodina, Serbia, although language shift is apparent even in these speaker communities today. Most borrowings here come from Serbian, especially in specialized terminology, expressive vocabulary, hypocoristic forms of personal names, names of relatives, names of food and dishes, and phraseology. Many cultural and technological innovations that have emerged after the migration from the Highlands are referred to with mostly Serbian terms (106a, b). Another set of loanwords is due to different climatic or argicultural conditions compared to those in the Highlands (e.g., 106c). Extensive borrowing has also concerned prepositions (e.g., both the dative pre ‘for’ and purposive na ‘for, to’ in SkSLK have been replaced by za in SkVOJ from Sr za) and particles (e.g., connectors SkVOJ pa and ma vs. SkSLK no, nuž ‘so, well’; prompting particle SkVOJ daj vs. SkSLK no tak ‘come on’; emphasizing particle SkVOJ baš vs. SkSLK práve, akurát ‘just, right’, see esp. Myjavcová 2009, also Makišová 2017). (106) a. Sr nameštaj → SkVOJ námeštaj SkSLK nábytok ‘furniture’ b. Sr sladoled → SkVOJ sladoľéd SkSLK zmrzlina ‘ice cream’ SkSLK melón/dyňa ‘watermelon’ c. Hu görögdinnye → SkVOJ gerega The phonological integration of the loanwords mostly consists in the softening (2.3.1) of t, d, n and l before i and e in grammatical morphemes (e.g., Sr uputiti [uputiti] → SkVOJ upúťiť [upuːcic] ‘to direct, refer’; Sr u zgradi [zgradi] → SkVOJ v zgraďe [zgraɟɛ] ‘in a building’). In those Vojvodina varieties that have /ʎ/, the palatalization of l also applies to the roots of Serbian loanwords (e.g., SkVOJ koľega vs. both SkSLK and Sr kolega ‘colleague’). This suggests that the softening, especially of l, is a salient feature of Slovak in the Serbian context. In addition, Serbian alternation rules are not followed (e.g., Sr upropastiti INF → upropašten PSV.PT vs. SkVOJ upropásťiť → upropásťený ‘ruined’). Loanwords from Serbian usually receive Slovak grammatical endings (e.g., Sr gaz-e travu → SkVOJ gaz-ia trávu ‘trample- 106 PRS.IND.3PL the grass’) and prefixation remains mostly Slovak, although calques can also be observed (see below). Major influence of Serbian on Vojvodina Slovak in phonetics concerns the affrication of ť and ď (cf. Chapter 6), the maintenance of palatalized ľ in those dialects that have had the phoneme traditionally and the velarization of prealveolar l. As for grammar, the gender assignment to international loanwords follows the Serbian pattern (e.g., auto ‘car’ and other words in -o are masculine in Sr and SkVOJ while neuter in SkSLK). Grammatical transference has restructured aspectual verb pairs, such as (107). In syntax, the transfers include the use (or non-use) of a preposition in verb–object constructions (108a, b), verbal government (109), constructions with the verbs of perception (110) and ‘to feel like X-ing’ desiderative constructions (111). In derivational morphology, the transfers concern, for example, the combinations of prefixes and roots (e.g., SkSLK rozšíriť vs. SkVOJ prešíriť after Sr proširiti ‘to widen’, while roz-/raz- is used with other roots in SkVOJ and Sr, respectively); widespread is the use of -ír- instead of -ov- for verb derivation (e.g., SkSLK študovať vs. SkVOJ študírať after Sr studirati ‘to study’). Derivatives of international loanwords are borrowed from Serbian together with the derivational affixes (e.g., SkSLK telefón-n-y or telefon-ick-ý vs. SkVOJ telefón-sk-y from Sr telefon-sk-i ‘telephone-ADJ-NOM.SG.M’) (for more examples, see Myjavcová 1996). (107) SkSLK rodiť – porodiť SkVOJ poráďať sa – porodiť sa Sr porađati – poroditi ‘give (IPFV) birth – give (PFV) birth’ (intransitive usage) (108) a. SkSLK zabudnúť na niečo b. ďakujem za kávu (ACC) SkVOJ zabudnúť niečo ďakujem na káve (LOC) Sr zaboraviti nešto hvala na kafi (LOC) ‘to forget sth.’ ‘thank you for the coffee’ (109) SkSLK spýtať sa mamy (GEN) SkVOJ spýtať mamu (ACC) Sr pitati majku (ACC) ‘to ask one’s mom’ (110) SkSLK b-ol-o ø poču-ť muzik-u hear-INF music-ACC.SG.F sa muzik-a hear-PST-SG.F 3 PSV music-NOM.SG.F ču-l-a se muzik-a PSV music-NOM.SG.F AUX-PST-SG.N 3 SkVOJ poču-l-a Sr ø ø hear-PST-SG.F 3 ‘music can be heard’ 107 (111) SkSLK chce sa mi IMPS I:DAT sleep:INF sa mi sleep:3SG IMPS I:DAT spava mi se sleep:3SG I:DAT IMPS want:3SG SkVOJ spí Sr spať ‘I feel like sleeping’ The classic dialectological descriptions of Lowland varieties include Dudok (1972) and Štolc (1968) for Vojvodina, Benedek (1983) for Romania, and Ondrus (1956) and Štolc (1949) for Hungary. Király (1993) is a dialect atlas of Slovak in Hungary. Hammerová and Ripka (1994) is a study on the speech of Slovaks in the USA. 9 Future research Additional research could be conducted on virtually any aspect of Slovak; however, some issues are more pressing then others. For example, the codified form of Standard Slovak is prescribed by law for many domains of public communication, but the latest comprehensive reference book for Standard morphology dates back to the 1960s (Dvonč et al. 1966). Several important morphology works have been published (e.g., Dolník 2010, Sokolová 2007, Sokolová and Žigo 2014), but a complex description remains a desideratum as of today. Diatopic variation in Slovak is another important issue. There are mainly two reasons for this: (1) there have been long-term uncertainties and controversion about the classification of Slovak dialect groups (Maxwell 2006) and (2) there is a lack of variationist and perceptual or language ideology studies, while the traditional dialects are on the decline but the maintenance of some regional differences in the substandard and Common varieties continue to be socially important at the same time. There is a perceived need for such a type of new dialectological research (Múcsková 2009: 67, cf. Múcsková 2022), but also the already available dialect data can now be easily aggregated and analysed quantitatively. Research on gender-sensitive language and pragmatics (Cviková 2005; Molnár Satinská and Valentová 2016; Ivanová and Kyseľová 2022), to mention another important area, is in demand from the wider public and deserves more elaboration. 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