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[ARCHIVE] Ordering the Czech clitics: Introduction [2019-04-18]

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Fnirk1
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[ARCHIVE] Ordering the Czech clitics: Introduction [2019-04-18]

Post by Fnirk1 »

Originally posted by: nueby https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/31466920


This is our intro post in the series focusing on the words rather rigidly placed in the sentence, which we will call the clitics. Think of them as weak words (or arguably phrases) that like to cling for support to stronger pieces of the sentence, called the hosts, most typically by following them. This clinging has more to do with pronouncing the sentence in a stressed/de-stressed pattern than with the clitics actually being tied to the hosts by grammar.

First a few introductory bullets:

  • Clitics are special words that cannot go just anywhere in the Czech sentence.
  • They generally want to go right after the first constituent in the clause (in the second position).
  • The first constituent is not necessarily just one word.
  • Words that do not count as the first constituent: a, i, and ale.
  • Constant clitics are always clitics. These cannot start a sentence, end a sentence outside the second position, or be the entire sentence.
  • Inconstant clitics can go either way. They can be clitics, and then they have to follow the clitic ordering rules, or they can be non-clitics.
  • Clitics like to bunch up in a cluster in the second position because so many of them compete for a single spot. Specific clitic order rules apply inside the cluster.
  • Non-clitics are not allowed to interrupt the clitic cluster.

Let's take this step by step. In

  • Já ho už nemiluju. (I don't love him anymore.)

the clitic "ho" leans on the host “já“ for intonation support, even though “ho” actually serves the function of the direct object of the verb "nemiluju". We will refer to this grammar dependency as the clitic being governed by that verb or another word. We could also say

  • Už ho nemiluju.

where the hosting duty moves to the adverb, or

  • Nemiluju ho už.

where the governing verb itself gets to be the host.

What all three Czech versions of "I don't love him anymore." given here have in common is that the clitic "ho" is placed in the second position. This will be one of the keys for dealing with the Czech clitics:

Clitics want to go second.

But what is the "first position"? In Czech, it is not necessarily just one word. For example, we could instead have

  • Jeho krásná žena ho už nemiluje.
  • Jeho krásná žena, pro kterou by modré z nebe snesl, ho už nemiluje.

The key there is that we need to be "done" with the first coherent piece of the sentence, even if it takes a subordinate clause to get there. So

  • ???Jeho krásná ho žena už nemiluje.

is wrong because (“jeho krásná“ what?) we clearly were not done with that first piece.
Identifying the end of the first complete constituent of the sentence should not feel entirely strange to an English speaker. "His beautiful does not love him wife anymore." or "His does not love him anymore beautiful wife." should feel ill-formed as well. The subject was not finished when we rushed in with the predicate.

Some words do not count as the first constituent.

Please keep in mind that a, ale, and i cannot host clitics and do not count for the first position:

  • ???(A/Ale/I) ho miluje.

is wrong because the first position is effectively empty, and the clitic \"ho\" starts the sentence.

Constant clitics are always clitics, but inconstant clitics can behave as regular words.

Some words are always clitics, and we will call them constant clitics, in contrast to inconstant clitics. We need to know the difference because inconstant clitics can appear as regular words outside the clitic cluster, while constant clitics cannot do that. When an inconstant clitic shows up in the cluster, it must follow the cluster order rules/preferences as if it were a constant clitic.

If there are more clitics competing for the second place, they follow certain rules.

Clitics often meet in the same sentence and drift into a bunch we call the clitic cluster. We need some rules for ordering them in that cluster. As a starting point, our ordering formula will be


AUX < REFL < DAT < ACC < TO


where

  • AUX = the conditional or past auxiliary form of “být“ [constant clitics]: bych, bys, by, bychom, byste; jsem, jsi, jsme, jste [Do not confuse the past auxiliary forms with the regular forms.]
  • REFL = se, si, ses, sis [constant clitics]
  • DAT = dative personal pronouns: mi, (mně), ti, mu,(jí), (nám), (vám), (jim) [inconstant clitics listed in (parentheses), the rest constant]
  • ACC = accusative personal pronouns: (mě), (mne), tě, ho, (jej), (ji), (je), (nás), (vás) [inconstant clitics listed in (parentheses), the rest constant]
  • TO = nominative or accusative independent pronoun "to" [inconstant clitic, but typically shows up as a clitic]

For example:

  • Učila jsem se. (I was studying.)
  • Ale včera jste ji neviděl? (But yesterday you did not see her?)
  • Já jsem ji neznal. (I did not know her.)
  • František si ho pamatuje. (František remembers him.)
  • Byla by mu zima. (He would be cold.)
  • Líbila se mi. (I liked her.)
  • Líbilo by se mi to. (I would like it.)
  • Podařilo by se mi vás to naučit. (I would succeed in teaching it to you.)

A few examples illustrating the hard ordering rules by violating them:

  • ???Dala ho mu. [No, the accusative clitic cannot go before the dative clitic. Either switch ”mu” to “jemu” or swap ”ho” and “mu”.]
  • ???Líbilaa mu se. [No, the dative clitic cannot go before the reflexive.]
  • ???Já je jsem jí vysvětlill. [The required sequence is “jsem jí je“: first the past auxiliary, then the clitic dative, then the clitic accusative.]
  • ???Líbil se by jí. [No, the reflexive cannot go before the conditional auxiliary.]
  • ???Chtěla jsem to jí říct. [As a clitic, the dative “jí“ must go before the clitic “to“. Here “jí“ is used as a clitic (because the strong pronoun “jemu“ would not work in its place).]

Non-clitics are not allowed to interrupt the clitic cluster.

  • ???Chtěli jsme jemu ho dát.

The clitics “jsme“ and “ho“ cannot be separated by a non-clitic word, in this case “jemu“, but "Františkovi" or "té dívce" or "jeho třem dětem" would also create an unacceptable interruption.

Clitics cannot start a sentence, end a sentence after the second position, or become the entire sentence.

Only inconstant clitics can behave as non-clitics, so they can begin a sentence

  • jsem to nedal.

end a sentence beyond the second position

  • Dal jsem to jim.

and be the entire sentence

  • Komu jsem tořekl? Vám.

In all of these respects, inconstant clitic personal pronouns resemble the strong (never clitic) personal pronouns “tebe”, “jeho”, “tobě”, and “jemu”.

Examples violating these constraints:

  • ???Tě neviděli.
  • ???Dala jsem tu knihu mu.
  • ???Mu?

Also note that

  • Jsem doma. (I am at home.)

is OK. This \"jsem\" is not the past auxiliary.

Conclusion and next steps:

This post is just an introduction. Czech has more types of clitics than what we included in the initial formula, and even our course contains words of those additional types. We will need to extend our cluster formula for the more advanced students to include subject pronouns, genitive pronouns, instrumental pronouns, pronouns with prepositions, positive present forms of the regular (copula) verb být, and a few short adverbs.

We will also want to share some rules for the drifting of clitics into the cluster: Do we always have to dump all of the clitics in a centralized spot? And should we?

Finally, we need to work the clitic angle in the overall context of the Czech word order. What all happens outside the second position and why?

More to come.

[Edit: 2019-04-18]

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