<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Ján Bosák’s passing away before reaching of his 80th birthday has given an impulse for a reflection on the ways of addressing people in Slovak, with special regard to vocative and non-vocative forms of the name <italic>Ján</italic> [Slovak equivalent of John]. The attention is partially also given to comparison with Czech – in contrast to standard Slovak where vocative forms have declined similarly as in the dialects of Central Slovakia, the vocative forms in standard Czech are still alive. Besides the use of nominative hypocoristic/diminutive forms <italic>Jano</italic>, <italic>Janko</italic>, <italic>Janík</italic>, <italic>Janíčko</italic> as common ways of addressing people, the study also mentions the use of a compound addressing with possessive pronoun in post-position (<italic>Jano môj</italic>, <italic>Janko/Janík/Janíčko môj</italic>) which represents a specific substitute for the vocative forms in Slovak. In addition, the study deals with the vitality of vocative case in Slovak dialects and in common communication. It also offers a few probes into “textual life” of the historic vocative form <italic>Jane</italic>, especially in ethnoculturally rare Slovak midsummer songs (e.g. <italic>Jane, Jane, Vajane</italic>) and in the spiritual poetry of Ján Hollý.</p></abstract>

Ján Bosák’s passing away before reaching of his 80th birthday has given an impulse for a reflection on the ways of addressing people in Slovak, with special regard to vocative and non-vocative forms of the name Ján [Slovak equivalent of John]. The attention is partially also given to comparison with Czech – in contrast to standard Slovak where vocative forms have declined similarly as in the dialects of Central Slovakia, the vocative forms in standard Czech are still alive. Besides the use of nominative hypocoristic/diminutive forms Jano, Janko, Janík, Janíčko as common ways of addressing people, the study also mentions the use of a compound addressing with possessive pronoun in post-position (Jano môj, Janko/Janík/Janíčko môj) which represents a specific substitute for the vocative forms in Slovak. In addition, the study deals with the vitality of vocative case in Slovak dialects and in common communication. It also offers a few probes into “textual life” of the historic vocative form Jane, especially in ethnoculturally rare Slovak midsummer songs (e.g. Jane, Jane, Vajane) and in the spiritual poetry of Ján Hollý.

“Here’s to you, dear Janko, on your birthday...” On the ways of addressing people in Slovak (and something over and above that)

Journal of Linguistics/Jazykovedný casopis

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Ján Bosák’s passing away before reaching of his 80th birthday has given an impulse for a reflection on the ways of addressing people in Slovak, with special...

“Here’s to you, dear Janko, on your birthday...” On the ways of addressing people in Slovak (and something over and above that)

Published Online: Apr 13, 2020

Page range: 627 - 651

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jazcas-2020-0008

Keywords
Ján Bosák, Slovak language, vocative forms, neo-vocative, addressing, Slovak-Czech comparison, Slovak dialects, midsummer songs

© 2020 Mira Nábělková, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

“Here’s to you, dear Janko, on your birthday...” On the ways of addressing people in Slovak (and something over and above that)

Published Online: Apr 13, 2020

Page range: 627 - 651

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jazcas-2020-0008

KeywordsJán Bosák, Slovak language, vocative forms, neo-vocative, addressing, Slovak-Czech comparison, Slovak dialects, midsummer songs

© 2020 Mira Nábělková, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Ján Bosák, Slovak language, vocative forms, neo-vocative, addressing, Slovak-Czech comparison, Slovak dialects, midsummer songs