MORE ON “THE ROAD MORE FREQUENTLY TAKEN” OR ON SLAVIC CONJUNCTIONS

Abstract

The paper focuses on the nature of those function words (Pol. wyrazyfunkcyjne, Cro. funkcionalne riječi, Germ. Funktionwörter) that, in traditional linguistics, that is, in grammar books and the majority of papers, are referred to as conjunctions. On the basis of analysis of literature on Slavic languages we conclude that national linguistics have treated these function words in a sporadic manner – studies were conducted in a manner that lacked focus, various methodologies were applied and the results were frequently not reported in grammar books. Although the interest of Slavic linguistics in this type of function words has been growing recently, no synthetic descriptions or interpretations of these words exist. Considering the severity of the issue, this paper is conceived as a sketch which first gives an overview of the general characteristics of traditional conjunctions, followed by a short overview of methodologies used in previous research and a proposal for new avenues of research of not just those words that are traditionally viewed as conjunctions, but also of other means that can be used for linking purposes and that are the result of morphological or functional derivation from primary conjunctions. The aim of the chosen diachronic approach to linking words is to demonstrate the tendencies in their evolution. The paper also employs the contrastive approach as it focuses on the materials from Croatian (Štokavian) and Polish, and some insights from other Slavic languages.