Vārdu pāra ja – tad funkcionālā analīze
Semantic analysis of the word pair ja – tad ‘if – then’

Summary/Abstract: There are the semantic functions of the word tad in the word pair ja – tad ‘if – then’ analyzed in this paper. This word pair is often used in conditionals, for example, Ja strādā ar prieku, tad nekas nav grūti ‘If you are working with joy, then nothing is difficult’. The grammars do not specify cases in which the word tad must be used after conditional subordinate clause. The author considers that tad after the conditional subordinate clause makes the text more precise, as it is done in the exact sciences. In spoken language tad clarifies the parts of utterances; however, in written text, journalism, fiction etc., tad after the conditional subordinate clause is not necessary.Like the word pair kad – tad ‘when – then’, ja – tad also possess implication of continuity. We can say that all the conditionals with ja – tad possess the implication of time but the utterances with kad – tad can possess implication of condition, e. g. Kad debess bieži nozvaigžņojusies, tad sagaidāms slikts laiks ‘When there are often stars in the sky, then the weather will be bad’, and there can also be utterances without this implication, e. g. Kad vajadzēja stāvēt barikādēs, tad zināja, kur laukos atrodas cilvēki ‘When we had to stand in barricades, then they knew where there are people in the country’.Ja – tad is often used to express the comparison. It can be used to express comparison in time, e. g. Ja vakar twitteris bija pilns ar gruzīgiem twītiem par skolu, tad šodien viss ir pretēji ‘If yesterday the twitter was full of depressive tweets about the school, then today everything is completely different’, or, the comparison based on common features like in the metaphor, e. g. Ja krieviem ir Puškins, tad latviešiem ir Rainis ‘If the Russians have Pushkin, then the Latvians have Rainis’. The transformation of implication of continuity of ja – tad into conditional and comparison can be showed as follows:Ja – tad can be used as a discourse marker, making constructions that are considered as verbosity, e. g. Ja runājam par logiem, tad.. ‘If we are talking about the windows, then..’ These constructions facilitate the perception of text because there is the subject, main issue introduced in this formula.

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