On the Divergence of the Slovak and Czech Literary Languages at the Word-formation Level

Lifanov Konstantin Vasil'evich Doctor of Philology Professor, Department of Slavic Philology, Faculty of Philology, Lomonosov Moscow State University 119991, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Leninskie Gory str., 1, p. 51, Faculty of Philology lifanov@hotmail.com

Earlier analysis showed that the Czech and Slovak literary languages in the XX century were characterized by pronounced divergence at almost all language levels ^[2], but especially intensively at lexical and word-formation ^[1].  At the same time, the divergence was asymmetric, i.e., divergent changes, as a rule, characterized only the Slovak language, while Czech largely retained the initial state originally characteristic of both languages ^[6]. Its essence boiled down to the fact that grammatical forms or word-formation models that had previously been in a stable state for a long time were rapidly changing or disappearing. These include the loss of past adverbs, short passive participles and vocative forms, the displacement of verbal adjectives with the suffix -l(y) by corresponding adjectives with other suffixes, adverbs with the suffix -e adverbs with the suffix -o, nouns with the meaning of place with the suffix -i?te names with the suffix -isko, etc. However, in reality, divergence at the word-formation level took a variety of forms, and could cover small closed groups of words and even be unique. It is precisely such changes that are the object of study in this article, which seems very relevant, since it makes possible a more complete consideration of the history of the development of the Slovak literary language. Thus, the purpose of this article is to identify rare or even unique types of divergent phenomena.       

            Such changes affected the noun to the greatest extent. First of all, there was a replacement of the suffix, similar to the suffix in the Czech word. Here are the relevant examples.

(1)   In?m zase znak a mer?tko opravdivej vzdelanosti s? ?koly ^{[8, c.3]}

"For others, schools are a sign and measure of real education."

The noun mer?tko used in this sentence is an analogue of the Czech word mtko “measure, scale". In the modern Slovak literary language, the word meradlo is used in this meaning, containing a different suffix.

(2)   Aj priate?ky?a alebo priate?. Ktor? de? i noc, slas? i stras?, tr?penie i boles? s nami delia... ^{[8, p. 217]}

"And a girlfriend or boyfriend. Which day and night, joy and sorrow, torment and pain share with us...".

The noun priate?ky?a "girlfriend" contains a suffix, which is an analogue of the Czech suffix, which has only a phonetic difference (Czech. ptelkyn?). It was subsequently superseded by the suffix -k(a): priate?ka.

(3) Teraz Vy m?te pravdu, re?ie n starek, utlumiac v sebe rozjatren? myse?, a bolo bez svady ^{[4, p. 19]}

"You're right now," our old man says, suppressing his irritation, and there was no quarrel."

The fixed word starek "old man" contains the suffix -ek, dating back to the Czech -ou?ek (starou?ek) and later replaced by the suffix -ek (star?ek).  

(4)   Jak d?verne a milo d?vaj? sa na teba biele domky zo sadov, jak sa ti bi spokojnos? obyvate?ov, spev ptkov, ?tebot hrav?ch det? ^{[4, c. 81]}

"How confidentially and sweetly the white houses from the gardens look at you, how you like the satisfaction of the inhabitants, the singing of birds, the chirping of playful children."

In the word domek "house" (Czech. domek) the suffix -ek has also been replaced by the suffix -?ek (dom?ek).

(5)   Z usporen?ch zlatiek ?i na doktora ?i na lek?r?u mala sa jedna za druhou, nemocn? by bola potrebovala tie? da?o lep?ieho zjes?, nu? tak skoro ostala mil? modlitebn? kni?ka ?ist?, jakoby ju bol vymietol ^{[4, c. 87]}

"Out of the accumulated gold coins, one after another was spent either on the doctor or on the pharmacy; the patient needed better nutrition, and soon the expensive prayer book was left empty, as if it had been cleaned."

Note also the replacement of the suffix -?r?a in the word lek?rna "pharmacy" (Czech. lek?rna) with the suffix -?re? (lek?re?), although this phenomenon affects a significant group of nouns. We have not noted this phenomenon before.

(6)   Jako by si ty, chudobn? paska (?es. paska, s. slov. pastierka), ?o si dosia? bola, hodnou mohla by? takej milosti! ^{[5, c. 30]}.

"How would you, poor shepherdess, who you have been up to now, be worthy of such mercy!"

The word used is paska (Czech. pasa?ka) "shepherdess", formed from the verb pas? "to graze", is completely replaced by the word pastierka, formed from the noun pastier "shepherd". Note, however, that in the Czech language the word pasty is also represented, while preserving the first one.

            There were also other types of noun changes at the level of word formation.

(7) Ved?a nej stoj? Bo?ena, vychovate?ka (“educator"; Czech. vychovatelka, modern words. vychov?vate?ka) ^{[5, c. 31]}

"Next to her is Bozhena, the teacher."

The noun vychovate?ka "educator" originally, as in the Czech language (vychovatelka), was formed from the verb of the perfect form vychova? "to educate", and then began to be formed from the verb of the imperfect form vychov?va? "to educate" (vychov?vate?ka).

(8)   ?id vidiac, ?e je tam ?osi podobn? ?tyrkrajciarn?ku, vzal fla?ku a nalial ?iadnej „tuh?ej“ p?lenky ^{[5, c. 84]}

"The Jew, seeing that there was something similar to a four-kreutzer coin, took a bottle, but did not pour stronger alcohol."

The compound noun with the numerical value ?tyrkrajciarnik was originally formed, as in the Czech language, from the quantitative numeral (?ty?krejcarn?k), which later replaced the collective numeral (?tvorgrajciarnik).

(9)   U? sama vari dvad?ov? cesta do Martina bola n?m v peknom letnom ?ase skvostn?m pitkom... ^{[7, c. 46]}.

"The very two-day trip to Martin in the fine summer time, perhaps, gave us great pleasure…

A similar replacement of the quantitative numeral in the adjective dvadnov? "two-day" by the basis of the collective numeral (dvojdnov?) increased the contrast with the corresponding adjective in the Czech language (dvoudenn?).

            Phonetically close, but different in essence is the change presented in the following example:

(10)          A nie zriedka dosta puh? t?to kres?ansk? zmu?ilos? zmari? svevo?u a pl?ny nepriate?ov ^{[5, c. 26]}

"Often only one Christian courage is enough to resist arbitrariness."

The noun svevo?a "arbitrariness", of course, goes back to the Czech word sv?vole, in which the first component sv? is a form of the genitive case of the unit number of the possessive pronoun sv? "own". In the Slovak language, this pronoun, unlike Czech, has unstressed forms (svoja, genus. unit svojej), in connection with which the first component was replaced by the basis of the pronoun in the Slovak vocalization (svojva).

The case of the loss of a neutral noun by the Slovak language and the transformation of a deminutive into such is extremely interesting.

(11)          ?ijeme v dobe pohnutej, v ktorej ve?k? b?re a prevraty n?s o?ak?vaj? ^{[5, c. 67]}

"We live in a turbulent time in which storms and upheavals await us."

In the given example, the noun b?ra "storm, thunderstorm" is recorded, similar to the Czech bou?e. In the modern Slovak literary language, the word b?rka corresponds to it.

In some words in the Slovak language, there was a simplification of the consonant group, which led to the modification or complete loss of the suffix.

(12)          ...a pr?ve v tejto nedie?nosti viery a poslu?nosti, ktor? v?etko ver? a zachov?va ^{[5, c. 34]}

.. and it is precisely in this inseparability of faith and obedience, which believes in everything and preserves everything."

The fixed noun nedie?nos? "inseparability" correlates with the Czech noun ned?lnost. It is absent in the modern Slovak literary language, since it was replaced by the noun nedelite?nos?, formed according to a different word-formation model.

            Prefixes could also be used as divergence tools at the level of word formation.

(13)          Z Nemecka pri?la zpr?va, ?e knie?a Bismarck, tento ?elezn? kancell?r, ktor? po tri desa?ro?ia v obore (?es. obor, s. slov. odbor) politickom bol mu?om v Europe opravdu najmocnejm, vzdal sa v?etk?ch svojich ?radov a utiahol sa na odpo?inok ^{[5, c. 59]}

"A message came from Germany that Prince Bismarck, this iron chancellor, who for three decades was really the strongest in Europe in the field of politics, resigned from all his fields and retired."

In the noun obor "specialty" (Czech. obor) there was a change in the prefix (modern. words. odbor). Probably, homonymy with the word obor "giant, giant" (Czech obr) contributed to this.

            We have recorded a case of suffix replacement with the simultaneous appearance of a second prefix that was originally absent. Cf. examples:

(14)          Jak?si bezbo?n?ci napadli ned?vno pohr?bn? pr?vod, uchytili kr s umrl?ej truhly a hodili ho do rieky Tiberu ^{[5, c. 154]}

"Some atheists recently attacked a funeral procession, took the cross from the coffin of the deceased and threw it into the Tiber River."

Rozhovor ten pretrhnul sprievod vlaku na kr?tku chvu ^{[9, c. 311]}

"This conversation was interrupted for a short time by the conductor."

Ke? sa Rafael archanjel pon?knul mlad?mu Tobiovi za sprievodcu na cestu do Rages, ?ediv? otec Tobi, prv ne? by bol pustil syna svojho na cestu s n?m, chcel vede?, ?o za ?lovek je ten, ?o chce by? sprievodcom jeho synovi ^{[10, c. 227]}

"When the archangel Raphael offered himself to young Tobias as an escort on the way to Rages, the gray-haired father Tobias, before letting his son go on the road with him, wanted to find out what kind of person he was who wanted to accompany his son."

The fixed word pr?vod "procession, escort", correlating with the Czech word pr?vod and having the prefix pr?-/pr?- presupposes in the Slovak language of the XIX century the existence of the noun pr?vod (Czech pr?vod) "escort, conductor, conductor". In the latter, however, the genetically Czech, albeit Slovakized prefix is first replaced and a second prefix (sprievod) appears, and then the suffix (sprievodca) is replaced.

The unique divergence was realized not only in the names of nouns, but also in other parts of speech.

(15)          Flavius prv? podst?pil smr? mu?edln?cku z rozkazu cis?ra Domitiana, svojho pr?buzn?ho... ^{[4, c. 26]}.

"Flavius was the first to be martyred by order of the Emperor Domitian, his relative...".

In the adjective mu?edln?cky (art. Czech. mu?edlnick?) ^[3] "martyr" was simplified in both languages, but with differences: in Slovak, the combination dl (mu?en?cky) was completely lost, whereas in Czech – only the consonant l (mu?ednick?) ^[11].

(16)          Deti obojeho pohlavia ni?e 12-ro?n? maj? by? z pr?ce v priemyslov?ch z?vodoch vylen? ^{[5, c. 67]}

"Children of both sexes under the age of 12 should be prohibited from working in industrial enterprises."

In the adjective priemyslov? (Czech pr?wmyslov?), "industrial" was replaced by the suffix (modern words. priemyseln?).

(17)          Chce?-li, mil? kres?ane, ma? astliv? nov? rok, maj tie dve nevyhnute?ne potrebn? kr?dla, vieru a pokoj svedomia, a astne prelet nad morom roku nast?vaj?ceho ^{[4, c.2]}

"If you want, dear Christian, to be happy in the new year, have two absolutely necessary wings, faith and peace of conscience, and you will happily fly over the sea of the coming year."

A similar process is recorded in the adjective nevyhnute?ne (Czech.   nevyhnuteln?, sovr. words. nevyhnutne) "inevitably".

(18)          Kone?ne, ?o je u? s?ce vo vuveden?ch p?doch obsa?en? (?es. obsa?en?, s. slov. obsiahnut?), ?e toti?to za pr?zvukovou hl?skou na konci slova z dvoch nepr?zvu?n?ch slab?k posledniume za pr?zvu?n? pova?ova? ^{[5, c.. 117]}

"Finally, and this is already contained in the above paragraphs, of the two unstressed syllables following the percussive sound, the latter can be considered percussive."

The model of formation of the passive participle in verbs on -n (-nu?) has changed, since the suffix -en- has been replaced by the suffix -t-; cf.: obsa?en? (Czech. obsa?en?, sovr. words. obsiahnut?) "contained

(19)          Jak ?aleko siahala moravo-slovensk? dr?ava Svatopluka I., tak ?aleko bola tie? cyrillo-metodejsk? cirkev slovansk? rozprestren?... ^{[4, c. 91]}

"As far as the Moravian-Slovak state of Svyatopolk I extended, the Cyril and Methodius Slavic Church was also widespread..."

A similar process was observed in some other verbs, for example rozprestren? (Czech. rozprost?en?, sovr. words. rozprestret?) "common". 

(20)          … uvykli sme spatrova? ono znamenie v?zna?n?, ktor?m katolici od nekatolikov sa rozozn?vaj? ^{[5, c. 34]}

"... we are used to noticing that important sign by which Catholics are distinguished from non-Catholics."

In the verb uvykn (Czech. uvyknout) "to get used to", the prefix (modern. words. privykn, navykn).

(21)          Av?ak raz ti to e?te dovol?m, abych tvrdo s tebou nezach?dzala (?es. zach?zet, s. slov. zaobch?dza?) ^{[5, c. 30]}

"But I'll let you do it again so she doesn't treat you harshly."

In the verb zach?dza? (Czech. zach?zet) "get around" the second prefix appeared (modern. words. zaobch?dza?).

            Thus, the divergence of the Czech and Slovak literary languages at the word-formation level by distancing the Slovak language covered not only significant arrays of the same type of vocabulary, but also manifested itself in small closed groups or even individual words. At the same time, the means of divergence were very diverse, although these processes covered nouns to the greatest extent. The methods of divergence were diverse, but the most frequent was the replacement or modification of suffixes. The study of this problem is an important aspect of understanding the ways of formation of the lexical composition of the Slovak literary language in the XX century. Its results are also important for the comparative study of the Czech and Slovak languages at the synchronous level.