A description of numerals in grammars of the Croatian Kajkavian literary language

• Main Author: Ivana Klinčić
• Format: Article
• Language: Croatian
• Published: Institut za hrvatski jezik i jezikoslovlje 2012-01-01
• Series: Rasprave: Časopis Instituta za Hrvatski Jezik i Jezikoslovlje
• Subjects: numerals; Croatian Kajkavian literary language; Kajkavian grammars; 18^th century
• Online Access: http://hrcak.srce.hr/file/142482

The article provides both an analysis of numerals in grammars of the Croatian Kajkavian literary language and a comparison with the 1758 mathematical handbook <i>Arithmetika horvatszka</i> by Mihalj Šilobod Bolšić. A morphological description of cardinal numbers, ordinal numbers, collective numbers and numeral adjectives is provided. The expected result of this comparison of grammatical norms and linguistic concretisation is an insight into the norming of the morphological features of numerals. The research encompasses six published grammars of the Croatian Kajkavian literary language: 1. Josip Matijević: <i>Pomum granatum</i>, 1771; 2. Ignac Szentmartony: <i>Einleitung zur kroatischen Sprachlehre für Teutsche</i>, 1783; 3. Franz Kornig: <i>Kroatische Sprachlehre</i>, 1795; 4. Josip Matijević: <i>Horvaczka grammatika</i>, 1810; 5. Josip Đurkovečki: <i>Jezichnica horvatzko-slavinzka</i>, 1826; 6. Ignac Kristijanović: <i>Grammatik der Kroatischen Mundart</i>, 1837. The grammars by Szentmartony, Matijević and Kristijanović represent a solid continuity of grammatical description, and so the descriptions of numerals in each individual grammar rely on descriptions from prior grammars. Doublets are not a sign of digression from the norm, but rather point to the hybridity and superdialectal nature of the Croatian Kajkavian literary language.