Nominal Declension in West Slavic Variation and Abnormality

7/28/2019 Nominal Declension in West Slavic Variation and Abnormality

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2010:101-118

Nominal Declension in West Slavic:

Variation and Abnormality*

Choi, Sung-Ho

(Chungbuk National University, Korea)

1. Introduction

Nouns in inflecting languages (including Slavic languages) show a variety of desinence

allomorphy, which has been described in terms of "inflection class" (declension class). For

example, Russian nouns inflect for case and number, whose features are realized as cumulative

morphs; STOL 'table', stol-om 'table-Ins.Sg', where the features of 'Instrumental' and 'Singular'

are realized as -om. However, -om is not the only morph expressing 'Ins' and 'Sg'; they are

also expressed by -oj (e.g., knig-oj) and -ju.(e.g., kost'-ju) Traditional grammars of Russian

handles this kind of desinence allomorphy by setting up a lexical class, elements of which

select an identical set of case/number affixes. Thus, three lexical classes (called "I-declension",

"II-declension", and "III-declension") and their corresponding affixal sets1) have been

established for the singular inflection of Russian nouns.

An essential assumption that this approach takes is that languages have a set of those

case/number affixes with certain relationships among them, namely an affixal set which is

selected by a class of nouns that can be characterized in terms of lexical characteristics such

as gender, animacy, person, or some postulated features, etc. For example, Russian

II-declension nouns that are characterized lexically as those nouns whose lexical funs (i.e.,

NomSg funs) ends in -a (e.g., VODA 'water', KNIGA 'buok', ENA 'wife', DJADJA 'uncle', SIROTA

'orphan', etc.) select the unifuns affixal set of {a/NomSg, u/AccSg, i/GenSg, e/LocSg, e/DatSg,

oj/InsSg}. This set reveals a certain pattern among case affixes; (1) AccSgong cits own affixal

funs, thus never syncret, ewith NomSg, and (2) LocSg is syncretic with DatSg. It is on the

basis of these internal relationships that declension patterns are established.2)

* This work was supported by the research grant of the Chungbuk National University in 2008.

1) Nouns of, for example, "III-declension" (e.g., LJUBOV" 'love') select the following set of

case/number affixes: {/Nom, /Acc, i/Gen, i/Loc, i/Dat, ju/Ins}. See the next paragraph.

2) This point, which I made explicit in my other paper (Choi 2008), will be again illustrated in this

paper.


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From the point of view of desinence distribution, all the case/number affixes constituting a

same affixal set share the identical distribution; for the 2nd set of affixes above, each and

every case/number affix occurs with those nouns that belong to II-declension nouns. One cansay that the 2nd set of affixes are well-motivated in terms of its distribution. Or, the lexical

characteristics of 'lexical form ending in -a' can be said to condition (or "motivate", "licence")

occurrence of the 2nd set of affixes. It stands to reason that the three affixal sets in Russian

are generally complementarily distributed, which makes them stable in the synchronic grammar

of Russian.

However, the real situation regarding desinence allomorphy is not so simple as the above

description would suggest. First, there are affixal sets, whose distribution cannot be uniformly

determined; in other words, a class of nouns selecting a certain affixal set is not characterized

in terms of their lexical features; let us call this instance "a lexically non-characterized affixal

set". Second, there are affixal sets, each of which does not display any relationship among

case affixes; "a morphologically non-uniform affixal set". This paper deals with these

"unusual" inflectional classes, and maintains that either an affixal set as a whole or allomorphs

of a certain individual case tend to be distributionally motivated. This can be interpreted as an

instance of functionalizing (or indexicalizing) allomorphy; namely, each allomorph tends to

occur in a lexically specified class, thus the lexical feature being "indexed" by the very

occurrence of the allomorph.

The data is drawn mainly from Czech and Polish declensions, which, when necessary, are

contrasted with East Slavic data. Section 2 discusses Czech III-declension,3) whose members

are changing their declesional morphology. This paper discusses the reason for the change

(section 2.1) and the innovational path (section 2.2). Section 3 describes Polish I-declension,

whose internal complexity is interpreted from the traditional descriptive framework. I will

criticize this descriptive model in terms of validity of generalizations that the framework

would capture. Section 4 provides conclusion, where I suggest that two requirements

(motivated distribution and formal relationship) must be met in order to establish affixal

patterns in a given language.

2. Czech III-declension

2.1. Some facts

3) "III-declension" is used in this paper to refer to the later development of Common Slavic (=CS)

feminine I-stem pattern.


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Nominal Declension in West Slavic: Variation and Abnormality 103

Czech III-declension continues Common Slavic (=CS) I-stem affixal pattern, and shows

many archaic features. Nouns taking III-declension are all feminine and have a stem-final

(historically) "soft" consonant. See the following:

(1) CS I-stem pattern & Czech III-declension4)

CS I-stem pattern Czech III-declension ("III-a")5)

NS kost- kost-

AS kost- kost-

GS kost-i kost'-i

LS kost-i kost'-i

DS kost-i kost'-i

IS kost-j kost'-

----------------------------------------------------------------

NP kost-i kost'-i

AP kost-i kost'-i

GP kost-j kost'-

LP kost-x kost-ech

DP kost-m kost-em

IP kost-mi kost'-mi

The shift of the two reduced vowels, which took place in the late CS period, resulted in

their vocalization and elimination, depending on the well-known phonological environment (i.e.,

"Havlk's law"); hence, LP kost'-ech, DP kost'-em, and IP kost'-mi (compare this with Russian

kost'-ax, kost'-am, and kost'-am'i, respectively, which were reformulated analogically from the

feminine A-stem pattern). This affixal set is taken productively for those feminine nouns with

suffix -ost and for isolated feminine nouns (e.g., HRST 'palm', ELIST 'jaw', E 'speech', V C

'thing').

As many Czech grammars describe, III-declension shows variation. This variant is mixed in

its affixal constituency; its affixal inventory includes affixes of II-declension "soft" sub-pattern.

4) Czech has the following phonemic system (Comrie & Corbett 1993:456-7):

p b t d t' d' k g h i, u, ( )

f v s z ch e, o,

c a,

r

j

m n

5) Cf. Russian. kost'-, -, -i, -i, -i, -ju; kost'-i, -i, -ej, -ax, -am, -am'i.


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Let us call this variant-pattern "III-b" (the affixal pattern given in (1), "III-a").

(2) Czech III-a Czech III-b Czech II-declension, "Soft"NS kost- dlan'- r -e

AS kost- dlan'- r -i

GS kost'-i dlan'-e r -e

LS kost'-i dlan'-i r -i

DS kost'-i dlan'-i r -i

IS kost'- dlan'- r -

NP kost'-i dlan'-e r -e

AP kost'-i dlan'-e r -e

GP kost'- dlan'- r -

LP kost-ech dlan'-ch r -ch

DP kost-em dlan'-m r -m

IP kost'-mi dlan'-emi r -emi

The underlined affixes of III-b are from the "Soft" variant pattern of II-declension. Note

that words like dlan' used to have kost pattern (cf. Russian ladon' 'palm' inflects like kost',

which is a III-declension noun), which means that III-b is a result of later developmentcf. e q

wsrn ( is, what motivates such acfhange? . Rusis an interwsrnng q wsrn (, ase kmpared wish

the fact that Russian III-declension nouns do not ex Rbis such acvariarn (, and thwse two

variant cfhange?spms are engmples of what was termalm' ithe introductory remark "lexically

non-characterized affixal sets". In other words, their distributions cannot be completely

predicted.

As I discussed elsewhere (Choi 2008), the main reason for the non-merger between II

declension and III-declension in Russian is because they are different from each other in their

lexical form, even though they share the same gender; namely, /kost'/ (III-declension) vs.

/pesn'a/ (II-declension). Nouns of III-declension have lexical forms ending in a (sharped)

consonant, while nouns of II-declension always end in /a/ in their lexical form (i.e., NS form).

This lexical feature that II-declension nouns have is so pervasive and unexceptional that even

masculine nouns (e.g., /papa/ 'daddy', /sud'ja/ 'judge') or common gender nouns (e.g., /s'irota/

'orphan', /kollega/ 'colleage') ending in /a/ take II-declension pattern. It was argued there that

this difference primarily motivates non-merger between these two patterns in Russian.


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2.2. Why variation in Czech III-declension?

Now, turn our attention to the Czech situation. Note first that in Czech the "Palatal(=Soft)"feature plays a pivotal role in structuring affixal patterns, which is not the case with Russian.

Czech I-declension and II-declension both have two variants: unmarked "Hard" sub-pattern vs.

marked "Soft" sub-pattern. This is, of course, continuation of Common Slavic dichotomy found

within O-stem and A-stem patterns ("hard variant" vs. "soft variant"; cf. Borkovskij &

Kuznecov 1965:191-). See the following, where "a" means Hard sub-pattern, while "b", Soft

sub-pattern:

(3) Comparison between Russian and Czech I- (for inanimate nouns) & II-declensions

(singular only)

NS AS GS LS DS IS nouns

Russian I a e u om STOL

Czech I-a a~u e~u u em ROZBOR

I-b e i i em KO

Russian II a u i e e oj ENA

Czech II-a a u i e e ou ENA

II-b e i e i i R E

The two Soft variants are taken by those nouns whose stem ends in a palatal consonant

such as / c t' d' n' j/.6) Note also the morphophonemic reduction that observes in the

Soft variants: /a/, /e/, /u/, and /ou/ of the Hard sub-pattern corresponds to /e/, /i/, /i/. and //

of the Soft sub-pattern, respectively.

Secondly, for Russian, the lexical feature that motivates choice of II-declension pattern, as

mentioned before, is phonological characteristics of the lexical form: nouns ending in /a/ select

the II-pattern.7) Note that gender is not the decisive factor, since not only feminine gender

nouns, but masculine and commone gender nouns (see section 2.1) select II-pattern. In

contrast, in Czech, the phonological feature does not appear to be the primary factor; rather,

6) In Russian, where the phonetic feature of 'sharping' serves as phonemic, nouns of both hard and

soft stems take an identical affixal set, which is I-declension for masculine and neuter gender nouns

and II-declension for (mostly) feminine gender nouns.

7) One may view that the phonological form of a lexeme (lexical form) is defined in terms of stem,

not of NS form. On the stem-based view, the selectional criteria would be NS form itself, thus

making the morphological feature a lexical one, which is tentamount to saying that each lexeme

must include arbitrarily postulated morphological feature. For example, lexemes like kniga include as

their lexical feature [-a, NS], which then allows kniga to select II-pattern.


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gender plays a decisive role. Masculine nouns ending in /a/ are mixed; for example, p ednosta

'chief', NS p ednost-a, AS p ednost-u, GS p ednost-i, LS p ednost-ovi, DS p ednost-ovi, IS

p ednost-ou; NP p ednost-ov, AP p ednost-i, GP p ednost- , LP p ednost-ech, DPp ednost- m, IP p ednost-i.8) Nouns of this class inflect exactly like normal 'virile' masculine

nouns in the plural and in DS and LS. Further, just like feminine nouns like r e, there are

neuter nouns that have /e/ in their lexical form; e.g., mo e 'sea', etc. These all facts point to

the claim that Czech utilizes primarily gender in selecting the appropriate affixal set.

The discussion up to now lays foundation for understanding the reason for the variation

within the III-declension pattern, mentioned in sementioned. The former III-declension nouns

such as dlan' 'palm' are feminine and stem-finally palatal, which are shared with II-b nouns

such as r e. The difference with respect to lexical form (or NS form), as discussed hin

tlaimed hbovedece femiconsidered as a motnsating atal, in determining distribution of affixal

patternseclension nunlikely cleRussiane forother words nouns art of Czech grammar that takes

chargnsof the distribution of nheinal allomorphyece forced to describe the distribution of

III-pattern hin II-b pattern hrbitrarilye siving dlan'-istribwords the morphological feature of [III]

hin r e-istribwords, that of [II-b]ornamelye they are lexically non-chartalerized hin thus

femimotnsated. Thiibwould gns smuch burden y non-cgrammar, since it would contain arbitrary

specifications on inflectional pattern in their lexicon.

We contend that it is due to this arbitrariness that the dlan'-class words abandon their

previous affixes and acquire new affixes from the II-b pattern, which the r e-class words

select. Once they are completely assimilated to the II-b pattern, which means that the two

would be combined into a single class, the grammar would not have any arbitrary

specifications, since the two lexical features of [feminine] and [stem-final palatality], which are

already provided for the two classes, would successfully predict their distribution. This would

obviate the arbitrary morphological features like [+III] and [+II-b], which distinguished the two

classes for the purpose of inflection. Now the grammar would be simplified, and the combined

class would be distributionally motivated.

The complete assimilation of the dlan'-class to the r e-class has not yet take place, though.

This non-completion brings about variation within the III-declension, namely, III-a vs. III-b. To

see (3), III-b pattern, which the dlan'-class now selects, show the same affixal set as II-b

pattern, except for NS and AS. The underlined affixes are innovated ones.9) This part of

Czech grammar still contains some degree of arbitrariness, but it seems a matter of time for

the dlan'-class to be completely adapted to the r e-class.10)

8) Russian congener, starosta, selects II-declension pattern.

9) The name "III-b" is a little misleading; rather, "I-b" is more appropriate for obvious reasons.

10) But, Czech might retain the difference in NS and AS between III-b and II-b, which are anyway


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2.3. Innovative path

The discussion in section 2.2 makes it clear that the III-b pattern underwent a change, by

which many III-declension nouns took the II-b pattern. Czech data shows that the change is a

living process that is still taking place at the present moment. Furthermore, the data provides

some clue about the innovative trajectory, which some case affixes of III-pattern take. A

careful description of the trajectory reveals that affixal innovations take place not randomly,

but, rather, in a systematic way. This is the topic that this section discuss.

As pointed out in section 2.2, there are six loci where III-a and III-b differ from each other

in affixal shape. See the following:

(4) Affixal differences between III-a and III-b

NS AS GS LS DS IS NP AP GP LP DP IP

III-a i i i i i ech em mi

III-b e i i e e ch m emi

Certainly, it is not the case that the change of III-a to III-b for dlan'-class nouns took place

"overnight" and simultaneuously in all those loci. Non-abruptness and non-simultaneousness of

the affixal innovation is evidenced by the data which will be discussed later in this section. If

not abrupt and simultaneous, then what way would the innovation take place?11) If the

innovation occurred in a non-systematic way, then there would be 64 possible sets that are

mixed between III-a and III-b; each set would select one of two alternatives for each

case/number ({i~e} for GS, NP and GP, {ech~ch} for LP, {em~m} for DP, and {emi~mi}

for IP, thus 2*2*2*2*2*2=64). Then, does Czech declension data actually exhibit those 64

possible sets? The answer is clearly no and the number of attested patterns are very small.

Now the question is, why are there restrictions on the patterning?

Let us examine the following data on III-declension nouns:

differentiated from each other in their lexical forms (/dlan'/ vs. /r e/), one ending in a palatal

consonant, but the other ending in a vowel. In this case, it would be more appropriate to say that

these two classes are variants of feminine "Soft" class (e.g., "II-b-1" vs. "II-b-2")

11) Wurzel's (1984) theory of declension change provides some explanatory hypothesis, which, however,

I will not discuss in this paper. His proposal differs from mine in both spirit and form (cf. Choi

2008).


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(5) Czech mixed III-declension patterns

III-a Mixed III-b

I II III IVkost ob t' hn d' noc hut' dla

NS kost- ob t'- hn d'- noc- hut'- dla -

AS kost- ob t'- hn d'- noc- hut'- dla -

GS kost'-i ob t'-i hn d'-i noc-i hut'-i/-e dla -e

LS kost'-i ob t'-i hn d'-i noc-i hut'-i dla -i

DS kost'-i ob t'-i hn d'-i noc-i hut'-i dla -i

IS kost'- ob t'- hn d'- noc- hut'- dla -

VS kost'-i ob t'-i hn d'-i noc-i hut'-i dla -i

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NP kost'-i ob t'-i hn d'-i noc-i hut'-i/-e dla -e

AP kost'-i ob t'-i hn d'-i noc-i hut'-i/-e dla -e

GP kost'- ob t'- hn d'- noc- hut'- dla -

LP kost-ech ob t-ech/t'-ch hn d'-ch noc-ch hut'-ch dla -ch

DP kost-em ob t-em/t'-m hn d'-m noc-m hut'-m dla -m

IP kost-mi ob t/t'-mi hn d'-mi noc-emi hut'-emi dla -emi

Gloss. 'bone' 'victim' 'brown' 'night' 'iron works' 'palm'

As seen in (5), Czech declensional morphology tolerates only four mixed patterns,

substantially reduced from theoretically possible 64 sets, showing clearly that there must be

something that constrains proliferation of affixal sets. Let us point out several facts on each

mixed pattern.

Ob t' -pattern. First, the ob t' -pattern shows varying affixes in LP and DP, and the remaining

all other cases follow the kost-pattern. Second, the variants (/ch/ and /m/), which are LP and

DP affixes of II-b (=III-b) pattern, do not cause stem alternation, thus the stem-final consonant

remaining intact as sharped. Third, even though IP itself does not show affixal variation, the

stem-final consonant does show variation. This suggests that the innovation starts from

marginal cases and marked number, which are LP and DP.

Hn d'-pattern. First, LP and DP have new fixed II-b (=III-b) affixes, - ch and m,

respectively. Second, IP retains the III-a affix, /mi/, but does not allow stem alternation, which

as such is an innovation. And it lies in elimination of stem alternation in IP. Third, all the

remaining cases still retain III-a affixes.

Noc-pattern. First, all marginal cases in the plural take II-b (=III-b) affixes. Second, all the

remaining cases take III-a affixes.12)


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Hut'-pattern. First, all marginal cases in the plural take II-b (=III-b) affixes. Second, NP, AP

and GS show variation, old /i/ from III-a and new /e/ from II-b (=III-b). Note that these three

cases are direct cases.Dla -pattern (III-b). This is the pattern that eliminates the variation of the hut'-pattern. If

the NS and AS took affixes of II-b pattern (r e-pattern), then III-b would be completely

merged with II-b. This would mean that many previous III-declension nouns, except ASr

nouns with the derivative -xes and some lexically specified nouns (le 'lie', zed' 'wall', ees

'honSr', lees 'ruse', ve 'louse'), has shifted their affxal pattern from III to II-b.

The following points are drawn from these facts. First, Nouns that undergo the shift are

III-declension nouns, which means that the direction of the shift is unidirectional; from III-a to

III-b (and II-b) and not the other way around. Second, the III-pattern has not yet died out, but

its lexical domain is continuously shrinking and is limited to {ost}-suffixed nouns and a few

isolated nouns. Third, the innovation from III-a to III-b starts from the plural number and

from the marginal cases, both of which are marked. There are no mixed patterns that would

have II-b affixes in the singular and III affixes in the plural; also, no mixed patterns that

would have II-b affixes in the directive cases (such as Nominative, accusative, and/or genitiv

e13)) and III affixes in the marginal cases. On the basis of these points, I claim that these

asymmetrical behaviors between two numbers, on the one hand, and between directive and

marginal cases, on the other, put constraints on possible mixed patterns.

In terms of "markedness" (Andersen 2001:30-), the III-declension pattern, which clearly is

marked as opposed to the unmarked II-b pattern, is reducing their distributional domain. In

other words, the marked pattern is associated with the more marked environment. Further,

when nouns of the marked pattern loses their previous affixal pattern, the elimination takes

place in the more marked grammatical properties (namely, the plural number and the oblique

cases). This is only natural, since affixes of these marked properties (e.g., IP, DP, LP) are

less likely to be supported by their infrequent token frequency; the singular number and the

direct cases are more likely to be used, so that they are more resistant to the innovation. This

explains the reason why III-b nouns (dla -pattern nouns) still retain the two direct singular

case-affixes (NS and AS) of the III-a pattern (kost-pattern nouns).

In fact, this innvational path takes mirror image as compared with other, more general,

cases. Andersen (2001:31-2) exemplifies the principle of "markedness agreement," citing

Timberlake's (1977) findings on case marking of direct objects in negative sentences: "... the

12) Czech academy dictionary describes nemoc 'illness' as having variations in LP (/ech/~/ch/) and DP

(/em/~/m/), but not in IP (/emi/) and lod' 'boat' as having variations in GS, NP and AP, just like

hut'-pattern and also in IP (/d'emi/~/d'mi/).

13) The genitive case in Slavic can be assigned to the subject and the object in certain syntactic

environments, which allows one to view it as a directive case.


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older use of the genitive is giving way to the use of the accusative (which is regular in

affirmative sentences) in an ordered progression such that the accusative occurs earlier and

more widely in proper nouns than in common nouns, earlier in nouns denoting humans thanin other nouns, earlier than in animates than in animates...". In other words, the new,

innovative use of the accusative progressively replaces the older, traditional use of the genitive

in negative sentences. In short, markedness agreement principle predicts that replacement

occurs earlier in unmarked categories than in marked ones. In contrast, the innovation under

our discussion takes place earlier in marked categories than in unmarked ones. How should we

understand this case of "markedness reversal"?

Note that the Czech change is essentially an elimination of the arbitrariness ([III-declension])

from the grammar, as compared to the Russian change cited above, which is an introduction

of a new motivated semantic feature ("definiteness") to the grammar. It stands to reason that

the arbitrariness is mt the arbitrarineeliminated in morinearked categories, since, as mentioned

above, they are less likely to be used and thus are easy to be replaced. It is no wonder that

unmarked categories, which are more likely to be used, are more resistant to the replacement;

it is supported by its frequent usage.

In contrast, an introduction of a new semantic feature, which brings about a noble

opposition in the grammar, is more likely to take place in unmarked categories, since they

constitute contexts that allow more oppositions (cf. Brndal's principle of complementation14)).

This consideration offers a good reason for the principle of "markedness assimilation" to be

modified: namely, a change that eliminates arbitrariness from the grammar progresses from

marked categories to unmarked ones, while a change that introduces a noble feature to the

grammar takes place earlier in unmarked categories than in marked categories.

2.4. Comparison with Polish III-declension

There are two sub-patterns in Polish III-declension, just like in Czech III-declension.

(6) Comparison between Polish and Czech in III-declension and II-b

III-a III-b II-b

Polish Czech Polish Czech Polish Czech

NS a e

AS i

GS i i i e i e

14) As an example, consider the fact that the imperfective in Russian, which is unmarked as opposed

to the marked perfective, allows the further division between "unidirectional" (idti, exat', etc.) and

"multidirectional" (xodit', ezdit', etc.).


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LS i i i i i i

DS i i i i i i

IS NP i i e e e e

AP i i e e e e

GP i i

LP ach ech ach ach ach ach

DP om em om am om am

IP ami mi ami ami ami ami

Exx. mysz kost noc dlan' praca r e

'mouse' 'bone' 'night' 'palm' 'work 'roze'

The Polish III-b share the same affixal set with III-a, except for NP and AP, which take

II-b affixes. This adoption might be viewed as another example that shows elimination of III-a

affixes in NP and AP in favor of II-b affixes. However, this is only apparent; the replacement

is part of general innovative tendency of unification that has taken place in the whole plural

inflection. Besides the marginal cases (LP, DP and IP) that do not have any desinence

allomorphy, NP (=AP) took -e, which is the affix for all the "Soft-stem" nouns (except for

Neuter nouns, which is -a, irrespective of stem-final softness); NP prac-e 'work; feminine',

stacj-e 'station; feminine', wo nic-e 'coachman; masculine', kraj-e 'country; masculine', pisarz-e

'author; virile', etc. In other words, -e of III-b NP noc-e is not something taken from the II-b

NP affix -e. Note also that III-b GP retains the old one, - i, while II-b pattern has - for G

P.15)

In fact, Polish declension, like Russian declension, shows that there is only one single

affixal pattern for the plural inflection. In the oblique cases, affixal unification has already

been completed; thus, LP -ach, DP -om and IP -ami are selected for all nouns, irrespective of

gender and declension class. It is true that each direct case (NP, AP, or GP) reveals its own

variant-affixes, but conditioning factors are different not only among the three cases, but from

its singular counterpart (cf. Schenker 1964, Szober 1969). For example, 'virility (masculine &

person)', which never serves as a conditioning factor in the singular, becomes an important

factor in NP. In the plural, the accusative is syncretic with the nominative for all nouns,

except for masculine animate nouns (including virile nouns), which has Acc=Gen syncretism,

15) It is interesting to note that Slavic languages exhibit different distributional facts in GP allomorphs.

Since this is a topic beyond this paper, I will not dwell on this, except for mentioning that the

dichotomy between "Neutral" and "Palatal" sub-patterns in Czech feminine nouns is still operative,

which, it would seem, motivates the retention of - (


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but in the singular, this syncretism does not apply for feminine II-declension nouns. The

distribution of genitive affixes in the singular is stated in terms of declension class and

lexico-semantic features such as animacy, countability etc., but in the plural, the genitiveaffixes are distributed in terms of morphonological features of lexemes such as 'stem-final

palatality' and phonological characteristics of the NS form. In other others, in Polish plural

inflection, desinence allomorphy cannot be captured in terms of declension class, and must be

described case by case.

3. Masculine I-declension in Polish

Polish I-declension pattern, which continues the common Slavic O-stem pattern, is

distributed in both masculine and neuter nouns, as is the I-declension of other Slavic

languages, and is divided accordingly into two sub-patterns, M(asculine)-pattern and

N(euter)-pattern.16) On one hand, The conflation of two sub-patterns into a global I-declension

pattern is based upon affixal identity and relation in many cases; their IS affix is /em/, the

non-distinction between NS and AS, their GS, DS, and LS affixes are partially identical, /a/,

/u/, and /e/, respectively. On the other, their distinction is supported by the difference between

affixal constituency: each sub-pattern exhibits different implicational relation (no animacy

syncretism in AS in N-pattern) and different allomorphy in some cases (fewer number of

allomorphs in GS in N-pattern).

In this article, I will discuss M-pattern only, since this pattern exhibits case allomorphy

sufficient to exemplify the points that are made in the introductory remark, namely an

example of "morphologically non-uniform affixal set". Polish M-pattern exhibits the following

sets of case allomorphy:

(7) Case allomorphy displayed in Polish M-pattern

NS17) AS GS LS DS IS

, a a, u e, u owi, u em

16) In Polish, as in East slavic languages, affixal patterns among cases are established only for the

singular inflection. In the plural inflection, as mentioned in the previous section, only one pattern

must be set up, which can be called "Plural" pattern. This means that case allomorphy has different

distributional factors between the two numbers. This paper deals with case allomorphy only in the

singular inflection. For Polish consonant phonemes, see Comrie & Corbett (1993:688).

17) Those Masculine nouns ending in -a (e.g., kolega 'colleague') or -o (e.g., tato 'dad') are excluded

from our discussion, which however does not influence the main point made in this paper in any

way.


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Aside from AS, which does not have its own affix, Polish M-pattern is subdivided into

several classes/sets, if one take inflection-class approach. Thus, Schenker (1964:50) suggests

three inflectional sets on the basis of syncretism; two "four-case" systems in which the LSaffix (-u) is syncretized with either the DS affix or the GS affix, and one "five-case" system.

The "five-case" system is further sub-divided with respect to GS, LS, and DS affixal

arrangement: (a) -u, -owi, -e, (b) -a, -owi, -e, (c) -a, -owi, -u, and (d) -a, -u, -e. Thus, what

he actually suggests is that there are six inflectional sets within Polish M-pattern:

(8) Polish Masculine inflectional sets (Schenker 1964)18)

Set 1 2 3 4 5 6

NS

GS a u u a a a

LS u u e e u e

DS u owi owi owi owi u

IS em em em em em em

ex. pan kraj dwr profesor kupiec pies

gloss. mister country manor professor merchantdog

There are several points to be discussed in this treatment of Polish M-pattern.

First, these sets display a different degree of productivity among themselves; thus, sets 1

and 6 are used for a small number of masculine nouns, since the DS affix - u is losing its

productivity (cf. Cameron-Faulkner & Carstairs-McCarthy (=CF & CM) 2000:819).

Second, this way of presenting M-pattern misses several important generalizations on affixal

distribution. (A) The lexico-semantic category of "animacy" allows M-pattern to be subdivided

into two major classes (namely, "animate" sub-pattern vs. "inanimate" sub-pattern) according to

AS=NS or GS syncretism. (B) It has expanded its conditioning force beyond the accusative

case, and has reached the GS; all animate nouns (except for a single word, vow 'ox') having

18) The essentially ssss classification is given in Teslar (1957), cited in Csssron-Fsulkner &Csrstairs-McCsrthy (2000:818). The only difference lies in rthy act that they include VS affixes, -e

and -u, due to which seven, rather thlassix, classes are suggested. The (2000, 81tabatiis provided

only for comparison:

Schenker 4 5 6 1 5 3 2

CF & CM 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

NS

GS a a a a a u u

LS e u e u u e u

DS owi owi u u owi owi owi

IS em em em em em em em

VS e u e e e e u


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114 15-1

M-pattern take -a, and never -u, for GS, while inanimate nouns take either -a or -u. (C) The

choice of GS -a vs. -u for inanimate nouns depends on a variety of lexico-semantic criteria,

on which I will not touch in this paper (cf. Schenker 1964, Janda 1996, etc.). (D) The choiceof LS -u vs. -e has nothing to do with "animacy", but rather, it depends on phonological

characteristics of the stem-final consonant; that is, nouns with stem-final velars (/k g ch/19);

e.g., rak-u 'crab; LS', targ-u 'fair; LS', brzuch-u 'belly; LS') or "soft" consonants (e.g., kraj-u

'country; LS', n -u 'knife; LS') take -u, but otherwise, -e. In short, affixal distributions are

determined differently from case to case, which cannot be captured by such classifications as

given in (8). Of course, each lexical class (i.e., inflection class) that is associated with each

affixal set can be characterized in terms of lexical features that are shared by its members; for

example, nouns of sub-pattern (4) are characterized as having the lexical features of [animate]

and [non-velar], but this as such does not explicitly state that [animate] is responsible for GS

affix -a, and [non-velar] motivates LS -e.

Third, most importantly for our aim, the Polish M-pattern shows no indication of innovation

that would induce migration from a certain sub-pattern to another,20) which IS observed in

Czech III-declensional sub-patterns (cf. mixed patterns in (5)). Recall that no lexical features

could characterize each of them, due to which they are all lexically arbitrary. My claim was

that precisely this arbitrariness motivates the innovation in Czech from III-a to III-b. However,

Polish Masculine I-declension does not exhibit this sort of innovation. The reason for this is

non-arbitrariness in affixal distribution, as mentioned in the foregoing paragraph.

If one attempts to establish an affixal pattern as a sort of desinence allomorphy, he must

find certain sorts of implicational relation in affixal choice among cases such as syncretism,

mutual implication, etc. For example, in Russian II-declension, there is a syncretism between

DS and LS (-e), and mutual relation between NS, AS, and IS (i.e., -a, -u, and -oj,

respectively). In short, affixal pattern (or desinence pattern) is a set of affixes, among which

certain formal relations hold.

From this perspective, we can establish, as mentioned above, two sub-patterns within

M-pattern in Polish, namely, Animate sub-pattern and Inanimate sub-pattern. For animate

masculine nouns, there is a syncretic relation between AS and GS, and GS must be -a, never

-u; for inanimate masculine nouns, there is a syncretic relation between AS and NS, but GS

allows either -a or -u. On the other, affixal choice in LS has nothing to do with animacy,

and no formal relation between these directive cases and LS is possibly established in

Animate or Inanimate sub-pattern. This leads us to maintain that desinence allomorphy in LS

19) Nouns with -ec also take -u (e.g., chopec 'boy' chopc-u 'LS').

20) Of course, a DS affix -u is dying out, being replaced by the productive -owi, but this is not an

example of class-movement.


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should be described as a specific feature of the case itself, just as in GS of the Inanimate

sub-pattern.

I propose the following organization in Polish M-pattern:

(9) Sub-patterns in Polish M-pattern

Inanimate sub-pattern Animate sub-pattern

NS

AS =NS =GS

GS u~a a

LS u~e u~e

DS owi owi

IS em em

Thus, both Inanimate and Animate sub-patterns are examples of "morphologically

non-uniform affixal set". Some cases (here, GS and LS) allow more than one allomorphs, each

of which has its own distribution, determined by different factors.

4. Conclusion

This paper discusses "unusal" inflection classes that are shown in Czech III declension and

Polish Masculine I-declension. The Czech one illustrates inflection classes that are not lexically

characterized, while the Polish masculine I-declension exhibits morphologically non-uniform

affixal sets. The abnormality lies in the fact that affixal sets postulated in these two languages

are either distributionally arbitrary or internally unrelated in affixal choice among cases.

In discussing the Czech example, I argued that lexically non-characterized inflection classes

tend to be eliminated in favor of the most unmarked inflection class among them. The

elimination of such arbitrary classes simplify the grammar, since the previously postulated

morphology-based lexical features (e.g. [III-a], [III-b], etc.) is now obviated. I suggested thatthe innovational path takes the orders of "marked plural number" and then "unmarked singular

number" and of "marked oblique cases" and then "unmarked directive cases" (see section 2.2).

What this means for the synchronic grammar is that inflection classes are motivated; in other

words, they are lexically characterized. The transfer of previous III-a declension nouns to

current III-b (and II-b) declension nouns is abandonment of their old III-a pattern and

(incomplete) acquisition of a new II-b pattern, thereby being motivated. While the III-a pattern

reduces its distributional domain, it becomes motivated, too.


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116 15-1

On the discussion of the Polish example, I suggested that the M-pattern should be

subdivided into "Inanimate" and "Animate" subpatterns, since the semantico-lexical feature of

Animacy is extending its selectional force beyond AS onto GS. In other words, affixal choicein GS depends on animacy opposition, just like in AS. This expansion brings about an

implicational relation in affixal choice within the M-pattern: if AS shows GS syncretism, then

GS selects -a. For DS, one of the two allomorphs, namely -u, is dying out, which means that

nouns selecting it must be lexically so specified, thus augmenting arbitrary specification in the

lexicon. This dooms to be eliminated, and that is exactly what is happening now: the

productive and dominating DS affix is -owi. As for LS, its competing variants show quite

different distributional statements from GS variants (cf. section 3). This entails that there is no

implicational relation between GS affixal choice and other cases' affixal choice: their

distributions are independent from one another. If no implicational relation is established, no

affixal pattern will be established. Of course, it is possible to set up affixal sets, as in FM &

CM (2000), but they are only for the sake of classification, lacking any significant

generalization on affixal allomorphy.

In conclusion, I claim that the notion of "inflection class" or "affixal pattern" serves a

valid analytical tool, in so far as it satisfies the two requirements: namely, "motivated

distribution" and "internal implicational relation".

R e f e r e n c e

Andersen Henning(2001), Markedness and The Theory of Linguistic Change, in his (ed.)

Actualization: Linguistic Change in Progress, John Benjamins Publishing Company,

Amsterdam, 21-57.

Borkovskij V. I. & P. S. Kuznecov(1965), Istori eskaja grammatika russkogo jazyka, Nauka,

Moskva.

Cameron-Faulkner and Andrew Carstairs-McCarthy(2000), Stem Alternants as Morphological

Signata: Evidence From Blur Avoidance in Polish Nouns, Natural Language and

Linguistic Theory 18, 813-835.

Choi Sung-ho(2008), Structure and Innovation of Declension Patterns in Inflecting Languages:

Motivated Distribution and Markedness Principle, Eoneohag 51, 43-72.

________(2009), Declensions in East Slavic Languages: Typology and Theory, Rusistika 30,

Korean Association of Russianists, 283-313.

Comrie Bernard and Greville G. Corbett (eds.) (1993), The Slavonic Languages, London and

New York, Routledge.


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de Bray R. G. A.(1980), Guide to the West Slavonic Languages, Slavica, Ohio.

Havrnek Bohuslav & Alois Jedli ka(1963), esk Mluvnice, Sttn Pedagogick Nakladatelstv,

Praha.Janda Laura A.(1996), Back from the brink: a study of how relic forms in languages serve as

source material for analogical extension, Lincom Europa, Mnchen.

Komrek Miroslav et. al.(1986), Mluvnice e tiny. Tvaroslov, Academia, Praha.

Schenker Alexander M.(1964), Polish Declension: A Descriptive Analysis, Mouton & Co., The

Hague.

Stypua Ryszard and Slin Kowalowa(1989), Podr czny Sownik Polsko-Rosyjski, Pa stwowe

Wydawnictwo, Wiedza Powszechna.

Szober Stanisaw(1969), Gramatyka j zyka polskiego, Warszawa, Pa stwowe wydawnictwo

naukowe.

:

I- O-

3 1 . 3

, ,

.

, . , 1

,

. , 3 ,

, .

(indexicality)

, . ,

syncretism , -a ,

syncretism , -a -u ,

.

.


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118 15-1

West Slavic languages, Czech, Polish, nominal declension, declension class, declension

pattern, allomorphy, distribution, case, gender, animacy, innovation, dynamic synchrony

, , , , , , , , , , , ,

(Submitted): 2009.12.30.

(Reviewed): 2010.1.4.~1.30.

(Accepted): 2010.2.5.

[email protected]

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Nominal Declension in West Slavic Variation and Abnormality