Directive-optative markers in Slavic : observations on their persistance and change

Abstract

The article examines the usage range and the provenance of 'particles' that, in Slavic languages, are employed as markers of directive-optative speech acts. The investigation concentrates on typical representatives derived from LET-verbs (*nehati, pustiti) and on Cz. ať. These units serve not only as illocutionary markers, but have found their way into domains of clause combining, such as concessive or complement clauses. As a pilot study, this article presents pieces of a global picture that should bring together issues concerning the diachronic development of these units in terms of syntactic variability and semantic expansion, and how both correlate. Jointly, the article raises general methodological issues relevant for clause combining and the representation of meaning variation on a synchronic and a diachronic level.