Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.47960/2712-1844.2026.12.279
Reflexes of the Latin Present Active Participle in Lastrić's Testimonium bilabium: the Historian's Opus As a Source for the History of Language
Luciana Boban
; University of Mostar Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Josip Grubeša
; University of Mostar Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Jelena Jurčić
; University of Mostar Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Abstract
As the Latin language and its grammatical system played a crucial role in the development of the Croatian grammatical system and linguistic phenomena of the Croatian language, an invaluable source for the study of the development of Croatian is undoubtedly the work Testimonium bilabium seu sermones panegyrico-dogmatico-morales pro solemnitatibus Domini Sabaoth (Venice, 1755) by Fra Filip Lastrić. This Latin-Croatian bilingual work presents each sermon in both Latin and Croatian. Lastrić's work is analysed with regard to the reflexes of the Latin present active participle in Croatian, a specific grammatical category that underwent a transition in Croatian from one part of speech (adjective) to another (adverb). The "adverbialization" of verbal adjectives into adverbs has been the subject of numerous studies employing various approaches and methodologies. The specificity and advantage of the methodology used in this study lies in the fact that it is based on an original bilingual text by a single author, which establishes a direct connection between the Latin and Croatian texts, that is, between their syntactic structures. Lastrić's "Croatian" solutions for the Latin present active participle are compared with the grammatical norms of Croatian and Latin grammars of his time (synchronic analysis), as well as with translation solutions for the Latin present active participle provided a century earlier by Fra Ivan Ančić in his work Porta caeli et vita aeterna – Vrata nebeska i život vični (Ancona, 1678) (diachronic analysis).
By analysing the language used by Lastrić and Ančić, one may observe that their works do not contain certain forms prescribed by the historical grammars of their time (for example, the declinable adjective ending in -vši). This can be attributed, on the one hand, to the inertia that is one of the key characteristics of grammatical systems and grammatography, and on the other hand, to the dependence of historical grammars on the model of the Latin grammatical system, which is entirely expected in the pre-standard phase of the development of the Croatian language. A comparison of Lastrić and Ančić has shown that, over the course of less than a century – the period separating Ančić's work from that of Lastrić – one can observe a strengthening of the interference of Croatian on Latin expression, as well as a diminishing influence of the grammatical system of Latin on the Croatian language.
Within the context of this research, Lastrić's work Testimonium bilabium, in accordance with its title, truly represents a testimony not only to its time and faith, but also to the language at a particular point in time and space. As such, it constitutes an inexhaustible and valuable source for research into the development, morphology, and syntax of the Croatian language, especially in light of its parallelism with the Latin language, which exerted an enormous influence on the development of Croatian.
Keywords
Testimonium bilabium; present active participle; reflexes of the participle in Croatian; Ančić's translation; historical grammars.
Hrčak ID:
351189
URI
Publication date:
1.10.2026.
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