The Behavior of Czech and Slovenian Clitics (N6-0314)

The project proposes a comparative investigation of clitics in Czech and Slovenian. We aim at gaining new experimental data regarding their syntax, morphology, phonology, and prosody. We use the data to provide new insights into the language-specific properties of clitics in Czech and Slovenian, while at the same time opening new perspectives on some long standing issues regarding the overall architecture of grammar.

In the domain of syntax, the project addresses the question of whether the special placement of clitics (2nd position) interacts with syntactic processes that are known to be sensitive to linear effects. Similarly, we investigate whether general constraints on filler-gap dependencies (such as the Coordinate Structure Constraint) apply to clitics. The presence/absence of such effects allows us to understand the nature of clitic placement, i.e., whether the positioning of clitics is determined in accordance with the rules and constraints that generally accompany syntactic processes, and if so, which ones.

In the domain of phonology, we investigate what kind of segmental and prosodic processes take place at the boundaries between clitics and non-clitics. This allows us to determine the nature of the boundary between clitics and their hosts: do clitics behave like words or affixes? Or are they unlike either of those?

In the domain of morphology, we focus on the issue of syncretism. Our starting point is the observation that clitics can be syncretic with (i.e., identical to) independent words on the one hand, and affixes on the other hand. (For instance, the pronoun nás 'us, accusative' has both clitic and non-clitic uses.) The project studies such 'ambiguous clitics' as a special category, and within that category, it compares clitic uses to non-clitic uses regarding their syntactic and phonological properties. This allows us to determine which of the facts are specific to clitics as a class, and which properties are item specific. In particular, general properties of clitics must also be attested for the clitic use af an ambiguous item, and, in the ideal case, they should be absent with the non-clitic use of the ambiguous item.

The investigation sketched above will be conducted in a comparative fashion in the two languages of interest, i.e., Czech and Slovenian. The benefit of the comparative approach is that it allows us to determine which of the properties of clitics are language specific (these will differ in between the languages), and which properties may be potentially characteristic of clitics as a grammatical class (these will not differ between the languages).

In order to carry out the research as envisaged, the project brings together a team of researchers from Masaryk University, Brno and the University of Nova Gorica. Both teams have experience with experimental research and pursue a common theoretical goal: to understand the nature of clitics and their implications for the division of labor between syntax, morphology and phonology. At the same time, the teams possess complementary strengths. In addition to the obvious fact that each of the teams specializes in a different language, the strength of the Brno team is mainly in morphology and phonology, while the Slovenian team has a clear focus on syntax. Combining the two teams thus brings an added value in that it allows us to address the phenomenon of clitics from a multitude of perspectives, and differentiate language-specific findings from more general properties through cross-linguistic research.

Project group:

Franc Marušič (PI) – Univerza v Novi Gorici (sicris) (2023-)
Petra Mišmaš – Univerza v Novi Gorici (sicris) (2023-)
Rok Žaucer – Univerza v Novi Gorici (sicris) (2023-)
Guy Tabachnick – Univerza v Novi Gorici (sicris) (2024-2025)
Madeleine Butschety – Univerza v Novi Gorici (sicris) (2024-2025)
Olga Šolaja – Univerza v Novi Gorici (sicris) (2025)
Vesna Plesničar – Univerza v Novi Gorici, mlada raziskovalka (sicris) (2023)
Katarina Gomboc Čeh – Univerza v Novi Gorici, mlada raziskovalka (sicris) (2023)

Project group at Masaryk U. of Brno:

Petr Karlík (PI) (2023-)
Pavel Caha (2023-)
Markéta Ziková (2023-)
Michal Starke (2023-)

Duration, type, size, funding:

Project duration: 1.5.2023–30.4.2026
Project type: standard basic research project; category B
Partner institution: Masaryk U. of Brno
Funding agency: Javna agencija za raziskovalno dejavnost Republike Slovenije. For Masaryk U. of Brno: Czech Science Foundation.
Size: 2463 effective hours per year (UNG)
ARIS Project code: N6-0314

Project in Sicris database: Povezava