Complex sentences with subordinate clauses of time and negation in sermons of Old Lithuanian

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Neigimas; Pamokslai; Senoji lietuvių kalba; Sermon; Sintaksė; Sudėtiniai sakiniai; Sudėtinis sakinys; Šalutiniai laiko sakiniai; Šalutinis prijungiamasis laiko sakinys; Complex sentence; Complex sentences; Negation; Old Lithuanian; Pamokslas; Sermons; Subordinate clause of time; Subordinate clauses of time; Syntax.

ENThe analysis of the structure of complex sentences with subordinate clauses of time in selected Lithuanian sermons of the 16th-17th century has demonstrated rather varied tendencies of employing negation in different types of the above complex sentences. In sentences with conjunctive words expressing a general temporal meaning, negation is optional. In this category, cases of rather archaic sentential rhythm have been identified: On the one hand, sentences with the particles "ne" or "gu" (both also merged into one - "negu"), and on the other hand sentences with the enclitic adverbial particle dabar"'yet, still, even" (accompanied by negation it means "not yet" - explainable by Wackernagel's law). A higher relative frequency of complex sentences with subordinate clauses of time under negation in the layer of sermon commentaries has confirmed Taimy Givon's hypothesis that negation constitutes a special type of speech act. In complex sentences with subordinate clauses of time introduced by the conjunctive words of boundary "iki" resp. "kol", negation is usually optional. In most cases of Daukša's postil, such complex sentences that include a negated predicate in the secondary constituent opt for the conjunctive compound word "ikkolei" that marks a more distinct boundary here. In the analysed data, there are rather a few cases in which negation is a mandatory part of the sentence for expressing temporal boundary, in which a deontic predicate in the main constituent requires that "iki" resp. "kol" accompanied by a negative verb in the past tense is used in the subordinate clause. Complex sentences with subordinate clauses of time introduced by "net", "(pirm) neg", or "pirm ne kaip" have demonstrated different tendencies as to the use of negation.The obligatory (100 % in WP, BP and SP) or frequent (-64 % in DP) negative employed in the main constituent in sentences with net expressing temporal boundary may be linked to pragmatic factors of expression of the mentioned sentence type. As attested by the data, clauses including "net" mostly refer to the simultaneity of certain actions, which to a certain boundary is understood as impossible. The predicate in the subordinate constituent in sentences with "net" is always positive. An exclusively rare negative in the main constituent of sentences with "pirm neg" resp. "pirm ne kaip" where the predicate in the subordinate constituent is also positive may be linked to one of the major functions of this sentence type: to express a sequence of certain acttions, where the factivity of the sequence is beyond the narrator's doubt. [Extract, p. 267-268]