The Czech dative of interest: The hierarchical organization of possession in discourse and pragmatics

This thesis is a functional analysis of the Czech dative of interest, a construction both functionally and structurally distinct from all other dative constructions in Czech. In addition to examining the dative of interest, this study makes a comparative analysis of the so-called benefactive dative. Although the two datives may have identical surface structure, the study shows that there is virtually no functional overlap between them.; Syntactically ungoverned, the dative of interest is conditioned systematically by rules of discourse and pragmatics. Those rules are shown to be hierarchically organized. The study employs Kuno's (1987) Empathy theory, and concludes that the dative of interest is an Empathy phenomenon. The possessive construction zero is demonstrated to signal the absence of speaker Empathy, and is shown to be functionally opposed to the dative of interest. Parallels are drawn between this situation and certain possessive constructions in Russian and English.; The thesis contributes to the study of Czech, Slavic linguistics, discourse and pragmatic theory, Empathy theory, and the study of possession and possessive constructions.