Syllabicity matters: phonological (prosodic) factors influencing clausal position of the Old Czech be-auxiliary
| Title in English | Syllabicity matters:? phonological (prosodic) factors influencing clausal position of the Old Czech be-auxiliary |
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| Year of publication | 2024 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
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| Description | The 2sg and 3sg forms of the Old Czech preterit auxiliary are both syllabic ("si", "jest") and non-syllabic ("s", "j"). Given the well-observed differences in the behavior of auxiliaries attributed to their prosodic shape across contemporary Slavic languages, this study investigates whether the (non-)syllabic 2sg and 3sg forms in OCz are enclitics or affixes. To determine this, their behavior is analyzed under phonological constraints, such as the 'heavy constituent constraint' and 'Gebauer's rule,' which affect both their position in the clause and within the clitic cluster. The findings reveal that while all analyzed forms are enclitic, they occupy different positions on the grammaticalization cline, with the 3sg "jest" being the least grammaticalized, and the non-syllabic forms "s" and "j" the most grammaticalized. |
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