Adversative Conjunction and Neighboring Discourse Features in Old Church Slavic (Codex Marianus), with Comparative Notes on the Same Phenomena in Greek, Gothic and Classical Armenian*

Abstract

AbstractThe system of adversative conjunction in the Old Church Slavic Gospels is characterized by two pure adversatives, nŭ and the much less frequent obače, together with two other forms, a and že, which are employed with equal or greater frequency in non‐adversative conjunctive roles. The relationship between nŭ and a is complex. The role of the former is primarily corrective following a negated constituent, while the latter signals a change of topic. The relationship of a and že is primarily one of scope, with the latter serving as the outermost discourse articulator of the language. The purpose of this article is to determine explicitly and in detail the relationships among nŭ, a, and že and to state the syntactic and discourse conditions under which each occurs. However, because the last two appear in non‐adversative value, they infringe upon the domain of i, the basic ‘and’‐word of Old Church Slavic, necessitating also, an analysis of this latter item, which signals a neighbouring discourse category. The final adversative is tŭk(ŭ) mo, which stands on the borderline between an adverb and a conjunction and is best considered a polarity item with both delimitative and liminal semantics.