{On the Agreement Between Adjective “svätý” (Saint) and Multiple Word Structures Containing the Names of Saints [Using the Examples “svätý Cyril a Metod” (Saint Cyril and Methodius) and “svätí Cyril a Metod” (Saints Cyril and Methodius)]}

Abstract: The article deals with the use of adjective “svätý” (saint) in multiple word structures containing the names of saints. These structures are used mainly in religious texts; the structures “svätý/svätí Cyril a Metod” (Saint/Saints Cyril and Methodius) are frequently used in Slovak religiously and culturally oriented texts, in which the adjective “svätý” (saint) refers to both names. Although Slovak grammar uses both singular and plural forms of the adjective, we decided to carry out a detailed analysis of the usage of both variants. Our aim is to answer the following questions: Which form of adjective “svätý” (saint) is used in religious genres (songs, prayers)? Is the singular form (the form referring to singular number) preferred in religious genres? In the study, we further examined the frequency of singular and plural forms of these constructions on the texts from the Slovak National Corpus (Slovenský národný korpus). Although we primarily investigated the phrase “svätý/svätí Cyril a Metod” (Saint/Saints Cyril and Methodius), its occurrence can be analogically noticed on other examples as well, e. g. “svätý/svätí Peter a Pavol” (Saint/Saints Peter and Paul), svätý/svätí Andrej Svorad a Benedikt (Saint/Saints Andrew Svorad and Benedict), svätá/sväté Perpetua a Felicita” (Saint/Saints Perpetua and Felicity), etc. The analysis showed that the singular form of adjective “svätý” (saint) is almost exclusively used in songs and prayers of litanies, whereas the plural forms of adjective “svätý” (saint), i. e. “svätí” (saints; including all forms of grammatical cases) are more frequently found in the texts from the Slovak National Corpus (Slovenský národný korpus).

Authors: Petráš, Patrik

DOI: 10.17846/CL.2021.14.1.194-208

Publication order reference: Mgr. Patrik Petráš, PhD.; Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Faculty of Arts, Department of Slovak Language and Literature, Štefánikova 67, 949 74 Nitra, Slovakia; email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; ORCID ID: 0000-0003-3946-5596, WOS Researcher ID: AAO-7616-2020, SCOPUS Author ID: 57193956532

Source: Konštatínove listy, 2021, vol.: 14, issue: 1, pages: 194-208 (PDF file)

Keywords: SAINT CYRIL AND METHODIUS, SAINTS CYRIL AND METHODIUS, ADJECTIVE, CATEGORY OF AGREEMENT, MULTIPLE SENTENCE ELEMENTS

Language: SLOVAK