The Sentence as the Framework for non-referential uses of Verbs Cover Image

Реченица као сигнал нереференцијалности глаголске радње
The Sentence as the Framework for non-referential uses of Verbs

Author(s): Sreto Tanasić
Subject(s): Theoretical Linguistics, Syntax, South Slavic Languages
Published by: Institut za jezik
Keywords: non-referential use of verb; sentence; Serbo-Croatian language; interrogative sentence;

Summary/Abstract: In Serbo-Croat, as well as in other Slavic languages, verbs can be used referentially as well as non-referentially. The opposition is not however realized by any over morphologicas marker. This makes it very difficult for the linguist to differentiate one use from another unless he decides to rely on other linguistic device such as aspect, clausal elements or even larger contexts. lt is the case in Serbo-Croat that certain verbal forms allow only one interpretation of the verb, it some verbs can be interpreted either only referentially or only non-referentially, depending weather they are used to denote present or past time. For instance the complex sentence containing the temporal clause and conjunction kad, which refers to the present, allows only the non-referential use of the verb in the predicate. The aim of this article is to provide an account of one type of the clause which represent the only framework for the interpretation of the verbal action. It is shown that the interrogative sentences eliciting information about when (kada) or till when (dokada) the action is supposed to last in the present time allow only non-referential interpretation of the verbal action regardless of the aspect itself.

  • Issue Year: 15/1986
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 177-181
  • Page Count: 5
  • Language: Croatian