Constructions with preposition dla in the Polish language Cover Image

Konstrukcje z przyimkiem "dla" w polszczyźnie
Constructions with preposition dla in the Polish language

Author(s): Maria Lesz-Duk
Subject(s): Theoretical Linguistics, Western Slavic Languages
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the present article is to analyse different semantic-syntactic functions of the preposition dla from the oldest times until the present day and the changes in its use and application. In the Old Polish the preposition dla functioned as adverbial of reason and of purpose. In the 16th century it occasionally signified the relations of use, harm, and appropriation (zrobić kolację dla dzieci - to prepare supper for the children). Since the 18th century it was extensively used in this sense and supplanted the traditional Dativ in the verbal, adjectival, and nominał relations. Only in a single case was its occurence limited - in the 20th century it ceased to signify causal relations (nie zjeżdżaj z gościńca dla zlej drogi - do not leave the highway for bad track, with „for” meaning „because of" in this case).

  • Issue Year: 1995
  • Issue No: 34
  • Page Range: 61-68
  • Page Count: 8
  • Language: Polish