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Instrumental of affirmation in selected Slavic languagesIn the present article I argue that apart from the genitive of negation, Slavic also makes use of the instrumental of affirmation – but its recognition requires a more sophisticated, function-oriented analytic model, firmly grounded in the real linguistic usage and sensitive to semantic conditioning – such as cognitive semantics. The discussion offered seems to suggest that the Slavic instrumental is an inherently affirmative case, as opposed to genitive which has specialized in expressing partition, disjunction and negation, e.g. compare Pol. ciasto z orzechami/ Srb. kolač sa orasima ‘a cake with nuts INSTR’ vs. Pol. ciasto bez orzechów/ Srb. kolač bez oraha ‘a cake without nuts GEN’. Furthermore, because of its semantic properties, the instrumental case is attracted by positive contexts and acts as an intensifier of affirmation. Slavic instrumentals can be classified, on the basis of the positive meanings they imply, as instrumentals of completeness, instrumentals of conjunction and instrumentals of existence. The proposed semantic classification becomes more refined when image-schemas of CONTAINER, PATH, SURFACE and conceptual metaphors related to the physical relation of COVERAGE are included in the model.

Quantifiers and existentials as markers of affirmation in SerbianIn the paper I argue that quantifiers understood as numerical language expressions and the verb ‘to be’ are used to express and intensify affirmation in Serbian and other Slavic languages. I focus on two types of quantifiers: the universal quantifier, represented in Serbian by the lexeme svi and its derivatives, and the existential quantifier associated with the numeral jedan and the verb ‘to be’. Both types of quantifiers in analyzed contexts acquire secondary functions of affirmation markers. However, the scope of this type of affirmation marking is quite limited as very often the same words may be used in negative contexts. As a consequence, it is impossible to describe this function referring to any strict logical rules, but it is better to regard it as a metaphorical extension. Thus, the use of universal quantifier as a marker or intensifier of affirmation is believed to be best described as being based on the conceptual metaphor AFFIRMATION IS COMPLETENESS and the intensification of affirmation in the case of existential quantifier and the verb ‘to be’ relies on the metaphor AFFIRMATION IS EXISTENCE.

Affirmation Modality in Bulgarian, Macedonian and SerbianIn the case of affirmation modality the speakers transform their utterances by stressing or attributing a positive value as an additional component added to the semantic structure of a proposition. This type of affirmative polarization is triggered in opposition to negation or hypothetically negative contexts. The goal of the present paper is twofold: on the one hand to compare and contrast affirmative periphrastic constructions in Bulgarian, Macedonian and Serbian and, on the other hand, to ascertain what these constructions reveal regarding the organization of grammatical categories in general and the status of affirmation modality as a coherent and homogenous category with a linguistic validity.

Affirmation Modality in Bulgarian, Macedonian and SerbianIn the case of affirmation modality the speakers transform their utterances by stressing or attributing a positive value as an additional component added to the semantic structure of a proposition. This type of affirmative polarization is triggered in opposition to negation or hypothetically negative contexts. The goal of the present paper is twofold: on the one hand to compare and contrast affirmative periphrastic constructions in Bulgarian, Macedonian and Serbian and, on the other hand, to ascertain what these constructions reveal regarding the organization of grammatical categories in general and the status of affirmation modality as a coherent and homogenous category with a linguistic validity.

Quantifiers and existentials as markers of affirmation in SerbianIn the paper I argue that quantifiers understood as numerical language expressions and the verb ‘to be’ are used to express and intensify affirmation in Serbian and other Slavic languages. I focus on two types of quantifiers: the universal quantifier, represented in Serbian by the lexeme svi and its derivatives, and the existential quantifier associated with the numeral jedan and the verb ‘to be’. Both types of quantifiers in analyzed contexts acquire secondary functions of affirmation markers. However, the scope of this type of affirmation marking is quite limited as very often the same words may be used in negative contexts. As a consequence, it is impossible to describe this function referring to any strict logical rules, but it is better to regard it as a metaphorical extension. Thus, the use of universal quantifier as a marker or intensifier of affirmation is believed to be best described as being based on the conceptual metaphor AFFIRMATION IS COMPLETENESS and the intensification of affirmation in the case of existential quantifier and the verb ‘to be’ relies on the metaphor AFFIRMATION IS EXISTENCE.

Instrumental of affirmation in selected Slavic languagesIn the present article I argue that apart from the genitive of negation, Slavic also makes use of the instrumental of affirmation – but its recognition requires a more sophisticated, function-oriented analytic model, firmly grounded in the real linguistic usage and sensitive to semantic conditioning – such as cognitive semantics. The discussion offered seems to suggest that the Slavic instrumental is an inherently affirmative case, as opposed to genitive which has specialized in expressing partition, disjunction and negation, e.g. compare Pol. ciasto z orzechami/ Srb. kolač sa orasima ‘a cake with nuts INSTR’ vs. Pol. ciasto bez orzechów/ Srb. kolač bez oraha ‘a cake without nuts GEN’. Furthermore, because of its semantic properties, the instrumental case is attracted by positive contexts and acts as an intensifier of affirmation. Slavic instrumentals can be classified, on the basis of the positive meanings they imply, as instrumentals of completeness, instrumentals of conjunction and instrumentals of existence. The proposed semantic classification becomes more refined when image-schemas of CONTAINER, PATH, SURFACE and conceptual metaphors related to the physical relation of COVERAGE are included in the model.