Endings -a and -u of genitive singular inanimate masculine nouns: a corpus approach to teaching Czech as a foreign language
Abstract
The aim of this study is the issue of competitive endings -a and -u of competitive genitive singular inanimate masculine nouns in the context of foreign language teaching. The emphasis is on a systematic description of genitive endings -a and -u using corpus methods.
In the first step, we analysed the part of the learner corpus including texts of Slavic-speaking students. The results have shown that students quite often confuse both of these endings: the correct ending -u frequently substituted by -a.
Next, we examined the competition of genitive endings within the corpus of contemporary Czech using the Morfio tool that identifies relevant word pairs for further analysis. The identified pairs were divided into three categories: a) nouns with the same etymological origin and meaning, b) nouns with the same etymological origin but different meaning, and c) nouns with inconclusive: competition of genitive endings.
A systemised list of pairs, along with the proportional and absolute frequency given, is a source of information on the use of appropriate endings, with respect to frequency. The information is crucial for students of Czech as a foreign language in order to choose an appropriate variant with the ending that is closest to the current usage.
Based on the analysed material, we proposed three model corpus exercises: two direct exercises for determining a more frequent variant, and one indirect exercise - taking into account semantic differences in the usage of particular endings.