The vocative case in Old Russian. Institute of Old Slavic Literature and Ancient Eurasian Civilization - iddts. In the Indo-European language

In Polish, the peculiarity of addressing someone lies not only in the use of words Pan, Pani, Pań stwo, Panowie, Panie. If we call a person, for example, by name or profession, then this word should be used in a certain form - the vocative case.

Once upon a time, this case also existed in the Russian language, but over time it was lost. By the way, now it also often disappears in the colloquial speech of the Poles: instead of the vocative case, the nominative case is used. But that doesn't mean you can't follow the rules. literary language. The vocative case has no questions, since it is a special form of address and is used when greeting and parting, in letters, requests, advice, emotional exclamations. As in Russian, in writing, the appeal is always separated by commas.

Vocative forms

For all neuter words, the vocative case forms are identical with the nominative case. Yes, and they exist only hypothetically (the so-called potential forms), because people, as a rule, do not turn to inanimate objects. In the plural, the forms of the vocative case in all three genders are also equal to the forms of the nominative case. And in the singular in the words of the feminine and masculine gender, the picture is different.

Ending — e have masculine nouns whose stem ends in a solid consonant ( b, d, f, ł, m, n, p, r ,s ,t, w, z), except k, g, ch. For example:

Pan-panie!(man);

Professor-profesorze!(Professor);

People-narodzie! (people);

Jan Janie!(Jan)

In this case, the hard consonant is softened with the letter i or alternates with another sound, as in the formation of forms: ł > l, r > rz, t > ci, d > dzi, st > ści, sł > śl, zd > ździ.

Ending — u we write in masculine nouns with a stem in soft ( ć, ś, ń, ź, j, l) or hardened consonant (sz, cz, rz, ż, dz, dż, s) +k, g, ch:

Mąż-mężu!(husband);

Tomek Tomku!(Tomek);

Tadeusz-Tadeuszu!(Tadeusz);

Kraj-kraju!(a country);

Koń-koniu! (horse);

Nauczyciel-nauczycielu!(teacher).

Attention! If the word ends with — ek, then the vowel e in the vocative case “falls out” (this is the so-called fluent sound).

Also in feminine words — a, the stem of which ends in a soft consonant, including in diminutive forms of the name:

Babcia— babciu! (grandmother);

Kasia— Kasiu!(Kate);

martusia— Martusiu! (Martochka).

Ending — o we write in feminine and masculine words that in the nominative case end in -A (-ia/- ja) and at the same time have a solid final consonant in the base (+ k, g, ch). For example:

Tata-tato!(dad);

Mężczyzna-mężczyzno!(man);

Mama mamo!(Mother);

Poland-Polska!(Poland);

Wiktoria-Wiktorio!(Victoria);

Maria— Mario! (Maria);

Beata— Beato! (Beate).

Ending — i have feminine nouns that in the nominative case end in - i, as well as into a consonant (mainly into a soft one). For example:

Pani— pani! (woman);

Gospodyni-gospodyni!(hostess);

Radość-radości!(joy);

Krew-krwi! (blood);

Przyjaźń-przyjaźni!(friendship).

Ending — y we write in feminine words that end in a hardened consonant in the nominative case:

noc— nocy! (night);

Mysz— myszy! (mouse);

moc— mocy! (power, strength);

Mał ogoszcz— Mał ogoszczy! (city of Malogoshch);

Wesz— wszy! (louse).

Note that adjectives, pronouns, and numerals that agree with a noun in the vocative always remain in the nominative. In addition, there are no special forms of the vocative case for female and male surnames: Pani Kozlowska! Panie Walesa! At the same time, the words Pan/ Pani stand in the vocative case.

Exceptions:

Bó g— Boż e! (God);

Dziad-dziadu!(grandfather, ancestor);

Lud-ludu!(people);

Dom-domu!(house);

Syn-synu!(son);

Ksią dz— księż e! (priest);

gołą b— gołę biu! (pigeon);

Jastrzą b— jastrzę biu! (hawk);

Paw— pawiu! (peacock);

Nó w— nowiu! (new moon);

Chł opiec— chł opcze! (boy, guy);

Gł upiec— gł upcze! (fool);

Starzec— starcze! (old man);

Ojciec— ojcze! (father).

ABOUT steel nouns on — ec lean in the same way.

Remember one feature! If a title (an indication of a position or profession) refers to a woman, then the name of this title remains in the nominative case:

Panie profesorze/Pani profesor(Professor);

Panie redaktorze/Pani redaktor(editor);

Panie doktorze/Pani doktor(doctor, doctor);

Panie prezydencie/Pani prezydent(the president).

In the Indo-European language - the ancestor of our modern one - this case was equal in rights with other cases. However, when Indo-European split into many language families, Sv. n. in most cases began to coincide with the nominative and ceased to be an independent case. However, in the grammars of 1918 this case was still mentioned.

Now it is He who is used to address a person. n., but the vocative case is partially preserved in Russian. Examples are:

• Marin, please bring a book from the library.

Compare: the use of Im. n. instead of Sound. n. will in no way affect the meaning of the sentence: Marina, please bring a book from the library.

• Look around, old man, everything is destroyed and put on fire.

Here the vocative form "starche" is used to give the statement an elevated sound, this is the so-called high syllable. If we replace the form with Im. etc., then the meaning will not change, but the phrase will sound different.

• Lord, help me walk this path.

Such a word form is used in religious texts and prayers, heard by native speakers, and is not perceived as something unusual.

Features of the case form

Let's single out a few key features inherent in this case form:

• Coincides in form with Him. P.
• Used for the sole purpose of appeal.
• Its function resembles an interjection.
• It is perceived by a native speaker not as a noun, but as an exclamation.

The vocative case could be formed different ways, the main ones are presented in the table.

When forming a new vocative case, endings in such words can be reduced:

• Names, including a diminutive version (Van, Vanyush).
• Terms related to the family (mom, aunt, dad, grandfather).
• Some words form a vocative form even in the plural (guys, girls).

The methods of forming vocative forms cannot be called diverse, but they are often used in oral speech.

Vocative forms

In the table, we present the main forms characteristic of words in the vocative case.

In addition to truncating the endings of proper names, it is also possible to use short forms names of relatives. The vocative case is also formed in Russian. Examples are given below:

• Mom, where is the tablecloth?
• Dad, help solve the problem!
• Aunt, when are you coming?

The form of the vocative case is also preserved in the words "grandfather", "daughter":

• Daughter, come visit soon!
• Grandpa, come here quickly, help!

Such sentences have a pronounced colloquial connotation.

The vocative case in Russian: an example and interesting facts

• The second name Sound. p - vocative.
• There is an old vocative (used as an equivalent case in the ancient form of the language) and a new vocative (formed in oral speech by native speakers by truncating the endings of nouns).
• Initially, it was in many languages: Sanskrit, Latin and ancient Greek, but did not move into modern languages.
• It has been preserved in some languages: in Romanian, Greek, Ukrainian, Serbian, Polish and others.
• The vocative form disappeared from the Russian language quite early, in the 14th-15th centuries, remaining only as a respectful appeal to boyars and princes.

Only masculine and feminine singular nouns could form the vocative case in Russian. Examples: Friends! God! Prince!

Often vocative forms are used in stable phraseological turns: Lord God Jesus Christ (all four words in vowels), our lord.

In the literature of the 19th-20th centuries, the vocative case was also used for archaization. The examples are now quite diverse:

• In Pushkin's text "What do you need, old man" the form is used to create the effect of archaization.
• "Turn around, son." This form helps to recreate the peculiarities of the speech of the Ukrainian Cossacks.

The vocative case in Russian: the rule

Words in the vocative case in a sentence play the role of an address, so they are separated by commas in writing.

Here's an example:

• Marus, come to the performance today.
• Mom, help me wash the dishes!
• Vanyush, where is the new book?

From the examples given, it can be seen that this rule applies to any sentence - declarative, imperative or interrogative.

Often, to give the text an ironic coloring, the vocative case in Russian is used. Example: Man! When will you take up your mind and work properly!

The vocative case in Russian, examples of which were given above, is an amazing grammatical phenomenon, indicating that our language changes over time. If many centuries ago this form was commonly used in oral speech, now it is often used only in religious texts or to give a sentence an elevated color.

The vocative case form (from the Latin word "vocativus") is used to identify the object to which the appeal is used. As a rule, this applies to nouns. It should be noted that such a form is conditionally called a case, since if we talk about grammatical semantics, then such a form is not a case at all.

This case form has its roots in the Indo-European languages. The vocative case was used in languages ​​such as ancient Greek, Latin, and even Sanskrit. Later, in most Indo-European languages, this case ceased to exist, but some language systems still retain this case form.

These languages ​​today include: Romani, a number of Celtic and Baltic languages, Greek and some Slavic. If we talk about the Romance group, then this form is also inherent in the modern Romanian language. The vocative case is also used today by people who speak Arabic, Georgian and Korean.

In Russian, the beginning of the death of this form dates back to about the 11th century, when a mixture of the vocative with the nominative began to be traced. Later, this form was still encountered, but it was used only with respectful appeal to people who had a high rank. A similar use was recorded in the 14th-15th centuries (in birch bark letters). For example: “Father!”, “Lord!”, “Prince!” etc.

The vocative form left colloquial speech in the middle of the 16th century. And only in the church language did an address of this kind continue to exist, for example, “Vladyko!”

Until 1918, in Russian grammars, this case was the seventh in the list of cases. Today, if such an obsolete form has been preserved, then it is used as a form of the nominative case, for example: "Vladyka Moses read a prayer service." But some come out in defense of the pure Russian language and call for the complete abandonment of the archaic form.

But in spite of everything, the obsolete form still continues to exist in some archaisms. Here we are talking about stable phraseological turns, which include such archaisms. In the literature, the vocative form is used in some cases:

For deliberate archaization of the text;

To give the Ukrainian heroes of the works a certain "Ukrainization";

When using Church Slavonic quotations in the text.

It is worth noting that the use of such a case form in the church language (it should be noted that the Church Slavonic language is the officially recognized language in which services are conducted in the Russian Orthodox Churches) on a regular basis has led to the fact that, in addition to the speech of clergy, in the speech of believers and parishioners more and more often you can hear obsolete forms of the vocative case. Such forms also often appear in new Russian texts on religious subjects.

Many hymnographic texts have been studied, from the analysis of which it follows that the use of the vocative case form is associated with traditional canons with complete disregard for grammatical norms. Moreover, the obsolete vocative form in some cases is used not only for proper names, but also for inanimate names (common nouns). For example: “image”, “warmth”, “bridge”, “protected”, “stone”.

Today, nouns related to the first declension and having a zero ending are often referred to the new vocative case. For example: “Kat”, “Mash”, “Sing”, “mom”, “grandfather”, etc. As we can see, these forms completely coincide with the forms of the genitive plural. But such a topic is still a subject of controversy for linguists, since not everyone wants to single out such a form in a separate category of grammar.

In today's issue, we continue to answer questions sent by readers. Here is Love's letter:

“Good evening, Julia!

Maybe for us, trying to learn Serbian, the topic "Features of the vocative case" will be interesting?

I tried to arrange the names of the Serbs in addressing them in a vocative form. But some said that their name does not change when referred to.

Sincerely, Love"

Does he exist?

To answer Lyubov's question, first let's figure out what the "vocative case" is and why, when teaching the Serbian language, acquaintance with it is often superficial, why it raises so many questions and misunderstandings. The vocative case is usually called the form of nouns (proper names or common nouns), which is used when directly referring to a person or object:

Detso, go ovamo! children, come here

Love me, we will! - My love, I love you

Ladies and gentlemen! - Ladies and Gentlemen!

To begin with, it should be noted that the vocative case does not exist at all, i.e. there is a special form of the word used to refer to someone or something, but it is not a case.

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vocative

vocative, vocative form, vocative(lat. vocativus) is a special form of a name (most often a noun) used to identify the object being referred to. The name of this form "case" is conditional, because. in a strictly grammatical sense, the vocative form is not a case. The vocative case (vocative), traditional for the Slavic languages, is "the name of the object of thought (person) to which speech is addressed." Being a case that establishes contact between the speaker and the receiver of speech, it realizes the will of the speaker. The grammatical meaning of the vocative case is realized in its inherent special syntactic function - address.

Historically, the vocative form was an element of the Indo-European case system and existed in Latin, Sanskrit, and ancient Greek. Although it was subsequently lost by many modern Indo-European languages, some languages ​​​​have retained it to our time, for example, Greek, Romany, many Slavic languages ​​\u200b\u200b(Ukrainian, Belarusian, Polish, Serbian, etc.) and some Celtic languages ​​\u200b\u200b(Scottish and Irish) , Baltic languages ​​(for example: Latvian and Lithuanian). Of the Romanesque, the vocative form has been preserved only in the Romanian language. It is also present in some non-Indo-European languages ​​such as Georgian, Arabic and Korean.

The vocative case begins to die out quite early: already in the Ostromir Gospel (XI century), its confusion with the nominative is recorded. As birch bark documents show, in the XIV-XV centuries. it was preserved solely as a form of respectful address to persons of a higher social rank: mister! mistress! prince! father! brother! By the middle of the XVI century. he finally disappeared from living speech, remaining only in the forms of addressing the clergy ( father! lord!). Until 1918, the vocative case was formally listed in grammars as the seventh case of the Russian language. Nowadays, the loss of the idea of ​​the vocative case leads to the fact that in live speech the archaic forms of the vocative case are often used as nominative: “Father told me yesterday”; "Vladyka Dositheus delivered a sermon". This causes indignation among the zealots of the purity of the language, who call for the complete abandonment of vocative forms.

In modern Russian, it exists in the form of several archaisms, for the most part included in phraseological turns and other speech formulas, or passed into the category of interjections ( God, Creator, God, Jesus, hri?ste, vlady?ko, metropolitans, doctor, hundred?, o?tche, bra? those, sy? not, friend?, prince?, human and others). Sometimes found in the literature or for the purpose of archaization ( “… what do you want, old man?”- Pushkin), or in quotations from Church Slavonic texts and prayers ( "King of heaven, save me..."- Lermontov), ​​or to "Ukrainize" the speech of Ukrainian heroes ( "Turn around, son!"- Gogol; "Where are you from, man?"- Bagritsky). However, the regular and normative use of this grammatical form in Church Slavonic, which is the official language of worship in Russian Orthodox Church, as well as the appearance of such texts in new religious texts in Russian, including (services, akathists, prayers, troparia to the newly glorified saints), affects the speech of modern Orthodox believers, in connection with which we can note the activation of the archaic vocative form. An analysis of modern hymnographic texts written in Russian indicates that the vocative form is consistently used when addressing, violating the grammatical norm, but preserving the tradition. Moreover, in the old vocative form, not only proper names are used, but also inanimate common nouns, such as ste? but, rule, image, protect, re? ko, tra? pese, praise, heat? then, hundred? lpe, lamp? before, stone, none, mo? ste and others.

At the same time, sometimes the "modern vocative case" (or "new vocative") is understood as word forms with a zero ending of nouns of the first declension, as Mish, Linen, Tan, Marin, granny, mom, dad etc., that is, coinciding in form with the plural declension of the genitive case. The status of this form of the word is still the subject of controversy among scientists: some are inclined to single out such a form as a separate grammatical category, while some oppose it.