Table Of ContentSlovene
A Comprehensive Grammar
Slovene: A Comprehensive Grammar is the most complete reference guide
to the contemporary language.
Key features of this new edition include:
• updated examples reflecting current usage;
• expanded discussions of particular areas of difficulty;
• a brief history of the language, dialects and register;
• clear distinctions between written and spoken usage;
• new tables and charts for quick reference.
The grammar provides a jargon-free and systematic description of all parts
of speech, promoting an in-depth understanding of the Slovene language.
Slovene: A Comprehensive Grammar is a key resource for linguists and
students of Slovene at intermediate and advanced levels.
Peter Herrity is a Professor Emeritus of Slavonic languages at the University
of Nottingham.
Routledge Comprehensive Grammars
Comprehensive Grammars are available for the following languages:
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Slovene
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Slovene
A Comprehensive Grammar
Second edition
Peter Herrity
Second edition published 2016
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
© 2016 Peter Herrity
The right of Peter Herrity to be identified as author of this work has
been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or
reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or
other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying
and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and
explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 2000
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Herrity, Peter, author.
Slovene : a comprehensive grammar / Peter Herrity. — Second
Edition.
pages cm
In English and Slovenian.
1. Slovenian language—Textbooks for foreign speakers—
English. 2. Slovenian language—Grammar. I. Title.
PG1827.5.E5H47 2016
491.8'482421—dc23
2015026420
ISBN: 978-1-138-81862-0 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-81863-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-74512-1 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon and Gill Sans
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
Acknowledgements xii
Abbreviations and symbols xiii
Introduction 1
The Slovene dialects 1
The history of the written literary language 4
1 Phonology 15
1.1 The Slovene alphabet 15
1.2 The Slovene vowel system 17
1.3 Vowels 17
1.4 The tonemic system 23
1.5 Stress 24
1.6 The pronunciation of vowels in the spoken language 25
1.7 The Slovene consonant system 29
1.8 Voiced and voiceless consonants 36
1.9 Morphophonemic alternations inherited
from Proto-Slavonic/Proto-Slovene 40
1.10 The alternation o/e 42
2 Nouns 43
2.1 Common nouns 43
2.2 Gender 44
2.3 Animacy 51
2.4 Number 53
2.5 Plural nouns 54
2.6 The dual 55
vv
Contents 2.7 Collective nouns 60
2.8 Case 61
2.9 The declension of masculine nouns 61
2.10 Modification of the stem 65
2.11 Case variants 70
2.12 The declension of feminine nouns 77
2.13 The nouns máti ‘mother’ and hcˇí ‘daughter’ 82
2.14 Indeclinable feminine nouns 82
2.15 Feminine Christian names and surnames 82
2.16 The declension of neuter nouns 83
2.17 Modification of the stem 84
2.18 Irregular neuter declensions 87
2.19 Adjectives used as nouns 87
2.20 Use of cases 89
2.21 The stress of nouns 95
3 Adjectives 98
3.1 Types of adjectives 98
3.2 Usage 99
3.3 Declension 99
3.4 Definite/indefinite adjectives 101
3.5 Agreement of the predicative adjective 104
3.6 Colloquial forms of definite and indefinite adjectives 105
3.7 The so-called orphan accusative 106
3.8 Possessive adjectives 107
3.9 Indeclinable adjectives 109
3.10 Substantivised adjectives 110
3.11 The adjective ràd 111
3.12 Cases governed by predicative adjectives 112
3.13 The negative prefix nè- 114
3.14 The comparative degree 114
3.15 Comparatives formed by derivational means 114
3.16 Analytical means of comparison 116
3.17 Constructions using the comparative 117
3.18 Pseudo-comparatives 118
3.19 Indicating the degree of difference 118
3.20 The superlative 120
3.21 The constructions ‘the most . . . of (all)’/
‘the least . . . of (all)’ 120
vi 3.22 The construction ‘the . . . -est possible’ 120
3.23 The prefix pre- 120 Contents
3.24 The stress of adjectives 121
3.25 The stress of the comparative 121
3.26 The stress of the superlative 122
4 Pronouns 123
4.1 Types of pronouns 123
4.2 Personal pronouns 123
4.3 The reflexive pronoun: sêbe ‘self, selves’ 130
4.4 Possessive pronouns 131
4.5 Demonstrative pronouns 136
4.6 Interrogative pronouns 142
4.7 Relative pronouns 145
4.8 Indefinite pronouns 150
4.9 Negative pronouns 157
4.10 Pronouns of totality: distributive and summative
pronouns 161
4.11 Evaluative pronouns 167
4.12 The reciprocal construction drúg drúgega/drúgemu
etc. ‘each other, one another’ 169
4.13 The emphatic pronoun sám ‘-self’ 170
5 Numerals 173
5.1 Gender 173
5.2 List of cardinal and ordinal numerals 174
5.3 Cardinal numerals 175
5.4 Ordinal numerals 186
5.5 Collective numerals 187
5.6 Differential numerals 189
5.7 Multiplicative numerals 190
5.8 Fractions 191
5.9 Numerals in -ka 195
5.10 Numerals in -ica 196
5.11 Numerals in -ec 197
5.12 Numerals in -ak 197
5.13 Numerals in -cˇek 197
5.14 Numerals in arithmetic 198
5.15 Numerals in compound adjectives and nouns 199
5.16 Distribution 199
5.17 Adverbial numerals 200 vii
Contents 6 Verbs 203
6.1 Verbal morphology 203
6.2 Aspect 203
6.3 Transitivity 209
6.4 Reflexive verbs 213
6.5 Person 218
6.6 Number 219
6.7 Gender 220
6.8 Tense 221
6.9 Mood 221
6.10 Voice 222
6.11 Conjugation 224
6.12 The infinitive 224
6.13 The present stem 226
6.14 The present tense 226
6.15 The thematic conjugations 227
6.16 The athematic conjugation 228
6.17 Negation of the present tense 230
6.18 First conjugation verbs in -a- 230
6.19 Second conjugation verbs in -i- 233
6.20 Third conjugation verbs in -je- 234
6.21 Fourth conjugation verbs in -e- 235
6.22 The use of the present tense forms of perfective verbs 237
6.23 The compound tenses and moods: the -l participle 241
6.24 The perfect tense 246
6.25 The future tense 247
6.26 The pluperfect tense 248
6.27 The present conditional 249
6.28 The past conditional 251
6.29 The imperative 252
6.30 The optative 257
6.31 Indeclinable present and past active participles
(adverbial participles) 258
6.32 The present active adverbial participle 258
6.33 The past active adverbial participle 261
6.34 The present participle active 262
6.35 The past participle active 263
6.36 The past participle passive 264
6.37 The supine 269
viii 6.38 The verbal noun 270
6.39 Modal verbs 273 Contents
6.40 Verbs used with an enclitic personal pronoun 277
6.41 Aspectual derivation 278
6.42 The derivation of perfective verbs (prefixation) 278
6.43 The basic meanings of the verbal prefixes 280
6.44 Imperfective verbs 294
6.45 Suffixation 294
6.46 Suppletive aspectual pairs 302
6.47 Verbs of motion 302
6.48 Place of stress in verbs 315
7 Adverbs 321
7.1 Formation of adverbs 321
7.2 Adverbs derived from adjectives 321
7.3 Adverbs derived from other parts of speech 323
7.4 Types of adverbs 324
7.5 Adverbs of time 324
7.6 Adverbs of place 326
7.7 Adverbs of time and place beginning with màrsi-/
mnógo- ‘many a . . .’; málo-/rédko- ‘hardly . . .’ 328
7.8 Adverbs of manner 329
7.9 Adverbs of degree 330
7.10 Interrogative adverbs 331
7.11 Interrogative adverbs of cause and reason: zakáj/
káj/cˇemú ‘why’ 332
7.12 Interrogative adverbs of quantity, frequency and duration 332
7.13 Negative adverbs 333
7.14 Indefinite adverbs 334
7.15 Adverbs governed by prepositions 336
7.16 The comparative of adverbs 336
7.17 Analytical comparatives 338
7.18 The superlative of adverbs 339
7.19 The prefix pre- 340
7.20 Predicatives 340
8 Prepositions 345
8.1 The repetition of prepositions 345
8.2 Types of prepositions 346
8.3 Primary prepositions 347
8.4 Adverbial prepositions 348 ix
