Semantic Analysis of the Dative Case in New Czech
Semantic Analysis of the Dative Case in New Czech

Summary/Abstract: In this paper I analyse 3141 examples of the dative included in Božena Němcová’s The Grandmother (Babička) in order to observe the semantic configuration of the dative in the Czech language as written in the middle of the nineteenth century. My theoretical framework is mainly based on George Lakoff’s cognitive semantic development and, particularly, on Laura Janda and Steven Clancy’s The Case Book for Czech. In their book, Janda and Clancy divide the semantics of the Czech dative into three basic meanings: 1) DATIVE: A RECEIVER; 2) DATIVE: AN EXPERIENCER, AND 3) DATIVE: A COMPETITOR. I have added the fourth type of semantic category: the TRANSITIONAL DATIVE, which relates and connects all three types of datives, creating a continuous semantic map of the Czech dative.

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