RELATIVE CLAUSES IN THE "NOVEL ABOUT TROY"

Abstract

This paper deals with the analysis of syntactic-semantic characteristics of relative clauses in Old Serbian Novel About Troy (15th century). Excerpted examples are divided into three groups: 1) Free relative clauses, 2) Relative clauses with formal antecedent, 3) Relative clauses with nominal antecedent. Statistical analysis of the results was performed with reference to the situation in Old Serbian, Serbian Church Slavonic, standard Sebian and dialect (Banat vernaculars of the Šumadija-Vojvodina dialect). The analysis has shown, among other things, that relative clauses in the Novel About Troy have more characteristics of spoken language than Old Serbian legal documents (e.g. high percentage of free relative clauses with the relative pronoun koji). We found that the syntactic level of this text is a unique combination of written and spoken language features, worth further examinations.