Kasusmarkierung des Prädikatsnomens in askriptiven Sätzen im Litauischen

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Askriptyviniai sakiniai; Gramatika; Linksnis; Semantinė linksnių opozicija; Vardažodinis tarinys; Vardininkas; Vardinė tarinio dalis; Įnagininkas; Ascriptive sentences; Case; Grammar; Instrumental; Instrumental case; Nominal predicative; Nominative; Nominative case; Predicative; Semantic case opposition.

ENThe article analyzes how the nominal predicative is morphosyntactically expressed in sentences with būti 'to be', likti 'to stay', tapti 'to become'. The characteristics of Modern Lithuanian are compared with those of Old Lithuanian from the end of the 16th century and beginning of the 17th century, concentrating on the usage of the nominative and instrumental in ascriptive sentences. In traditional Lithuanian linguistics, it is generally held that the expression of the nominal predicative by a certain case form is tied to a semantic difference: permanent (static) vs. temporary (dynamic). This assumption, which is based on the semantic opposition of cases, often does not explain instances where the nominative and instrumental can be used interchangeably in a sentence without changing the meaning, i.e., as morphosyntactic variants (Šitas susitarimas buvo pradėtas rengti, kai aš dar buvau ministras (/ ministru); Keistuolis tapo mūsų draugu (/ draugas)).Based on studies of the last few decades and on universal grammatical hierarchies and principles, the article expounds the view that, except for those instances where the two cases are used in opposition, the expression of the nominal predicative by case is variable: both cases, the nominative and instrumental, are possible, but their usage tends to differ, correlating with a range of semantic and formal criteria. The choice of case in the predicate is more influenced by formal criteria (simple vs. complex sentences, marked vs. unmarked word order, the morphological form of the link verb). The instrumental case tends to be used as a diacritical mark to distinguish the two grammatical functions - the subject and predicate of the sentence. The data analysis allows one to state that at the end of the 16th century and beginning of the 17th century, the influence of the Polish language on usage in Lithuanian was not particularly great. In the Lithuanian of the time, the nominal predicative was morphosyntactically expressed similarly to the way it is expressed in Modern Lithuanian. [From the publication]