morphological variation in the present-tense third-person plural of the sázet conjugation morphological variation in the present-tense third-person plural of the sázet conjugation Morphological variation in the present-tense third-person plural of the sázet conjugation type in present-day Standard Czech
Abstract
Since 1993, there are two possible forms in the Standard Czech: sázejí and sází (the latter one was codified alongside with sázejí). However, this codification act has not met with general approval.
It stems from the fact that the plural sází form has a special set of linguistic features which can be used as arguments against the codification act (we deal with these features in Chapter 1). In Chapter 2, we outline the historical background of the competition between the two plural forms.
Our text-based analysis shows that the Czech grammarians paid attention to this particular kind of morphological variation from the very start (the second half of the 16th century). In Chapter 3, we try to answer the question to what extent the fact of the sázejí form being the only codified form until 1993 influenced the school language education.
In Chapter 4, we summarize the results of our inquiries into this morphological variation. Our sample contains five inquiries: the online newspaper iDNES (2013-2014), the Czech television main news program Události ČT (2014-2015), the TV political talk show Otázky Václava Moravce (2015-2016), the TV political talk show Interview ČT24 (2016-2018) as well as an inquiry at secondary schools (1094 children, 2018-2019) and at the Charles University in Prague (Faculty of Education, 580 students, 2018-2019).
Our analysis confirmed that the competition between the sázejí and sází plural forms is a living process based on the paradigm levelling within the 4th verb class. To conclude: the long-term process of paradigm levelling within the 4th verb class can be seen as a gradual language shift towards the sází plural form.
We assume that this language shift is irreversible. Hence, in the next few decades, the sází plural form could become the prevailing one.