Asyndetic structures Cover Image

Asindetske strukture
Asyndetic structures

coordination, subordination and text

Author(s): Lada Badurina
Subject(s): Language studies, Language and Literature Studies, Syntax, South Slavic Languages
Published by: Bosansko filološko društvo
Keywords: asyndetic structures; juxtaposition; coordination (parataxis); subordination (hypotaxis); text;

Summary/Abstract: In this paper we focus on asydentic structures, i.e. those structures without conjunctions. Such structures raise several issues. The first is related to the relationship between clauses in such structures: we analyse their possible interpretations with respect to the coordination (parataxis) ~ subordination (hypotaxis) dichotomy. In this context we distinguish in principle two types of asyndetic structures. One type are those in which the relationship between the clauses can be expressed either by explicitly coordinated or explicitly subordinated structures (e.g. Pada kiša, izlet je otkazan – Pada kiša, pa je izlet otkazan, i.e. Zato što pada kiša, izlet je otkazan or Budući da pada kiša, izlet je otkazan); however, in the other type, there is no symmetrical relationship between the constituents and they cannot be paraphrased as coordinated structures (e.g. Molim vas, javite se! or Kažite, jeste li se naspavali). The second issue concerns the order of the elements in the (asyndetic) clause complex. The (im)possibility of permutating the clauses in (some) paratactic structures (e.g. Pritisnuo je papučicu gasa, auto je pojurio, *Auto je pojurio, pritisnuo je papučicu gasa, and even Izlet je otkazan, pada kiša) indicates that it is necessary to (re)define the concept of symmetry of such structures. We will try to analyse the limitations of this type by taking into the account the logic-semantic and pragmatic relations between the clauses. Finally, asyndetic structures are analysed with respect to text, and, especially in the cases where implicit coordination exists, the focus is placed on the issue of the relationship between the complex sentence and the text.

  • Issue Year: 4/2018
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 24-38
  • Page Count: 15
  • Language: Croatian