Noun Determiners with Temporal Value in the Bulgarian Rhodope Dialect

Abstract

This paper presents the analysis of the spatio-temporal deictics in the Rhodope dialect (Slavic) spoken in the territory of Bulgaria, namely the use of the three definite forms -s, -t and -n with nominals.
I explore the domain of temporal value in the nominal structure, in order to better understand the relation between speaker, addressee, temporal interpretation and its consequences on morphosyntactic constructions.
The specific research question is the identification of temporal functions and semantic values of tripartite deictics in discourse and narrative contexts in the Rhodope dialect. The three morphemes are described according to their temporal values, also taking into account that temporal expressions in nominals, in specific contexts, may compete with verbal temporality. The analysis demonstrates that the choice of the form is mainly based on cognitive and contextual factors, due to the polysemy of the morphemes and the general correspondence between form and meaning. The interpretation of the event by the speaker and the degree of familiarity with respect to informational content play a primary role in defining the syntactic hierarchy of the sentence. It is clear that the expression of the possessive relation in the Rhodope dialect is primary, which shall be supported by qualitative and quantitative analysis.
The aim of this research is to contribute to the theory building process of the temporal expression in nominals, which may be useful in typological perspective and to share linguistic material on the Balkan Slavic dialect of the Rhodopes.