THE CASE SYSTEM IN THE MIDDLE-BULGARIAN TRANSLATION OF THE HOMILETIC CYCLE ON THE SERAPHIM BY ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM

Abstract

The paper examines the morphological and syntactic parameters of the case system in the unstudied homilies On the Seraphim. The case paradigm is too conservative; the congruency has not changed, the indications for analyticity are manifested in the wider compatibility of some prepositions; the possessive use of the dative has been consistently applied, competing with the traditional possessive function of the genitive; there are no structures with the fully grammaticalised preposition “of”, which were typical for the 14th century; no middle-Bulgarian tendency towards occurrences of the casus generalis is observed; the prepositions “of” and “between” are distributed within the genitive.