Towards a New Classification of Czech Verbs

Abstract

In Czech as in Russian and the other Slavic languages the verb differs from other inflected categories in that its inflectional patterns are highly dependent upon the derivational structure of the verb stem. By contrast, the theme vowel which marked the various substantival declensions at some early stage of Proto-Slavic merged with either the declensional endings or the stem, so Slavic nouns are composed of only a single stem (containing all derivational affixes) and the inflectional endings. In the verbs, however, although certain derivational affixes are incorporated into the leftmost portion of the stem, for each verb there is a single derivational suffix (which may be zero) occurring between the left-hand portion of the stem and the ending. Since differences between these derivational suffixes may be used to represent differences in the inflectional patterns of the verbs, we may follow Isa'enko in calling this suffix a verbal classifier. When the verbal classifier is zero, we will term the verb NONSUFFIXED; when it is not zero, we will term it SUFFIXED. A classification which does not distinguish between suffixed and nonsuffixed verbs is still used in the Czech handbooks, where verbs are traditionally divided into five groups on the basis of the 3rd sg. form, e.g., (1) nese, (2) tiskne, (3) kryje, (4) prosi, (5) de'ld.1 Note that classes 1-3 correspond to the -et verbs of Russian and class 4 to the -it verbs, while Russian does not have verbs corresponding to those with contracted endings (class 5). In the classification which follows, this traditional ordering of verb classes is changed. This is to capture certain regularities and productive tendencies operating within contemporary standard Czech. Furthermore, we indicate places in the system which are at present subject to phonological or morphological analogy. These, incidentally, are the places where the student may hear so-called colloquial or even substandard forms. It might be helpful to begin with some phonological rules in Czech which have contributed to differences between Czech and Russian verbal types, specifically vowel contraction and so-called pfehlaska (the shift of a and u to 6 and i after palatal consonants). Note for example the homophonous -dt of the following Czech infinitives (3rd sg. form in parentheses)