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The decay of cases in Molise Slavonic

  • Silvia Luraghi and Milena Krstić
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Diachronic Slavonic Syntax
This chapter is in the book Diachronic Slavonic Syntax

Abstract

This paper discusses the use of cases in Molise Slavonic, a high contact South Slavonic variety spoken in Southern Italy by about 1,000 speakers. Based on available texts and on data from informants, we show that cases are still realized by older, fluent speakers, even though the extent to which they actually contribute to distinguishing meanings is limited. As a consequence, case morphology is no longer mastered by younger semi-speakers. The absence of fluent speakers among young generations is thus leading to the decay of the case system. Patterns of reduction of case meanings in Molise Slavonic are similar to those found in other high contact Slavonic varieties.

Abstract

This paper discusses the use of cases in Molise Slavonic, a high contact South Slavonic variety spoken in Southern Italy by about 1,000 speakers. Based on available texts and on data from informants, we show that cases are still realized by older, fluent speakers, even though the extent to which they actually contribute to distinguishing meanings is limited. As a consequence, case morphology is no longer mastered by younger semi-speakers. The absence of fluent speakers among young generations is thus leading to the decay of the case system. Patterns of reduction of case meanings in Molise Slavonic are similar to those found in other high contact Slavonic varieties.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part I: The noun phrase
  5. Some observations on the usage of adnominal genitives and datives in Middle Bulgarian Church Slavonic 13
  6. Quantifying syntactic influence: Word order, possession and definiteness in Old Church Slavonic and Greek 29
  7. The decay of cases in Molise Slavonic 63
  8. Part II: The verbal phrase and related topics
  9. Null subjects and person in Old North Russian 95
  10. On the permeability of grammars: Syntactic pattern replications in heritage Croatian and heritage Serbian spoken in Germany 125
  11. Possessive resultative constructions in Old and Middle Polish 161
  12. Mechanisms of word order change in 12th and 13th century Serbian 187
  13. Historical development and contemporary usage of discourse structuring elements based on verba dicendi in Croatian 209
  14. Part III: The complex sentence
  15. The status and origin of the accusativus cum infinitivo construction in Old Church Slavonic 261
  16. On triangulation in the domain of clause linkage and propositional marking 285
  17. The development of perception verb complements in the Serbian language 339
  18. A tale of two pathways: On the development of relative clause chaining in East Slavonic 361
  19. Relativisation strategies in Slovene: Diachrony between language use and language description 387
  20. Index 407
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110531435-004

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter i
  2. Contents v
  3. Introduction 1
  4. Part I: The noun phrase
  5. Some observations on the usage of adnominal genitives and datives in Middle Bulgarian Church Slavonic 13
  6. Quantifying syntactic influence: Word order, possession and definiteness in Old Church Slavonic and Greek 29
  7. The decay of cases in Molise Slavonic 63
  8. Part II: The verbal phrase and related topics
  9. Null subjects and person in Old North Russian 95
  10. On the permeability of grammars: Syntactic pattern replications in heritage Croatian and heritage Serbian spoken in Germany 125
  11. Possessive resultative constructions in Old and Middle Polish 161
  12. Mechanisms of word order change in 12th and 13th century Serbian 187
  13. Historical development and contemporary usage of discourse structuring elements based on verba dicendi in Croatian 209
  14. Part III: The complex sentence
  15. The status and origin of the accusativus cum infinitivo construction in Old Church Slavonic 261
  16. On triangulation in the domain of clause linkage and propositional marking 285
  17. The development of perception verb complements in the Serbian language 339
  18. A tale of two pathways: On the development of relative clause chaining in East Slavonic 361
  19. Relativisation strategies in Slovene: Diachrony between language use and language description 387
  20. Index 407
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