Non-strict negative concord proper and languages in contact. Translating Latin into Croatian Church Slavonic and Greek into Old Church Slavonic
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Ana Šimić
Abstract
Negative concord proper, as the most common negative concord variety, is the co-occurrence of negative indefinites with predicate negation. Non-strict negative concord proper refers to the word order ruled negative concord: it is obligatory with a postverbal negative pronoun/adverb and optional or not allowed at all with a preverbal negative pronoun/adverb. Croatian Church Slavonic is a nonstrict negative concord proper language. The same goes for Old Church Slavonic and Greek. But Latin, as the source language of many Croatian Church Slavonic texts, does not exhibit negative concord at all.
The aim of this paper is to further the analysis of the relation between Latin and Croatian Church Slavonic with respect to non-strict negative concord proper. The analysis was conducted on the first part of the Second Beram breviary, the Croatian Church Slavonic manuscript from the 15th century containing texts translated from Latin or revised according to the Latin source texts. Quantitative data shows that the majority of sentences with a preverbal negative pronoun/ adverb do not exhibit negative concord proper. In comparison, applied negative concord proper is the favoured option in Codex Marianus, an Old Church Slavonic manuscript translated from Greek.
These data confirm that the influence of a non-negative concord language (Latin) cannot change the essence of such a distinctive typological parameter like negative concord. It can however, where possible, have an impact on the choice of one of the two equally valid options. In contact linguistics, such a syntactic change is known as narrowing.
Abstract
Negative concord proper, as the most common negative concord variety, is the co-occurrence of negative indefinites with predicate negation. Non-strict negative concord proper refers to the word order ruled negative concord: it is obligatory with a postverbal negative pronoun/adverb and optional or not allowed at all with a preverbal negative pronoun/adverb. Croatian Church Slavonic is a nonstrict negative concord proper language. The same goes for Old Church Slavonic and Greek. But Latin, as the source language of many Croatian Church Slavonic texts, does not exhibit negative concord at all.
The aim of this paper is to further the analysis of the relation between Latin and Croatian Church Slavonic with respect to non-strict negative concord proper. The analysis was conducted on the first part of the Second Beram breviary, the Croatian Church Slavonic manuscript from the 15th century containing texts translated from Latin or revised according to the Latin source texts. Quantitative data shows that the majority of sentences with a preverbal negative pronoun/ adverb do not exhibit negative concord proper. In comparison, applied negative concord proper is the favoured option in Codex Marianus, an Old Church Slavonic manuscript translated from Greek.
These data confirm that the influence of a non-negative concord language (Latin) cannot change the essence of such a distinctive typological parameter like negative concord. It can however, where possible, have an impact on the choice of one of the two equally valid options. In contact linguistics, such a syntactic change is known as narrowing.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Preface V
- Contents VII
- Glossing IX
- Introduction 1
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Part I: The influence of Latin on Slavonic vernaculars
- The paths of grammaticalization of North Slavonic connectors. An interface point of Slavonic, Greek and Latin 11
- The influence of Latin on the syntax of Old Polish numerals 37
- The influence of the Latin Vulgate on the word order of pronominal enclitics in the 1st edition of the Old Czech Bible 53
- The accusativus cum infinitivo in 16th–19th century Croatian texts. Contact-induced and internally motivated syntactic change 81
- Relative coordination. Kateri-/koteri-relatives in 18th century Slovene and Kajkavian 107
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Part II: The influence of Greek on Church Slavonic
- Blocking of syntactic constructions without Greek counterparts in Church Slavonic 133
- The article-like usage of the relative pronoun iže as an indicator of early Slavonic grammatical thinking 163
- Past tense usage in Old Russian performative formulae. A case study into the development of a written language of distance 179
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Part III: The influence of Latin on Church Slavonic
- When Church Slavonic meets Latin. Tradition vs. innovation 201
- Non-strict negative concord proper and languages in contact. Translating Latin into Croatian Church Slavonic and Greek into Old Church Slavonic 233
-
Part IV: In lieu of a conclusion
- First attestations. An Old Church Slavonic sampler 255
- Index 303
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Preface V
- Contents VII
- Glossing IX
- Introduction 1
-
Part I: The influence of Latin on Slavonic vernaculars
- The paths of grammaticalization of North Slavonic connectors. An interface point of Slavonic, Greek and Latin 11
- The influence of Latin on the syntax of Old Polish numerals 37
- The influence of the Latin Vulgate on the word order of pronominal enclitics in the 1st edition of the Old Czech Bible 53
- The accusativus cum infinitivo in 16th–19th century Croatian texts. Contact-induced and internally motivated syntactic change 81
- Relative coordination. Kateri-/koteri-relatives in 18th century Slovene and Kajkavian 107
-
Part II: The influence of Greek on Church Slavonic
- Blocking of syntactic constructions without Greek counterparts in Church Slavonic 133
- The article-like usage of the relative pronoun iže as an indicator of early Slavonic grammatical thinking 163
- Past tense usage in Old Russian performative formulae. A case study into the development of a written language of distance 179
-
Part III: The influence of Latin on Church Slavonic
- When Church Slavonic meets Latin. Tradition vs. innovation 201
- Non-strict negative concord proper and languages in contact. Translating Latin into Croatian Church Slavonic and Greek into Old Church Slavonic 233
-
Part IV: In lieu of a conclusion
- First attestations. An Old Church Slavonic sampler 255
- Index 303
