Universität zu Köln

Kościołek, Iga ORCID: 0009-0003-7768-0497 (2026). Discourse prominence and agent prominence in the Polish ‑no/‑to construction: Interpretation and referentiality of the implicit subject. PhD thesis, Universität zu Köln.

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Abstract

This dissertation describes and examines the function of the Polish impersonal ‑no/‑to construction in discourse. In particular, it focuses on the interaction between the core semantic features of the construction and its behavior in larger discourse units. Specifically, it demonstrates how the semantic properties of the ‑no/‑to construction, namely the implicit human agent and the restriction to past-tense event reference, determine its use in texts. Deriving its discourse function from these semantic components, the dissertation argues that the impersonal ‑no/‑to construction functions as a device of agentive narration, i.e., as a means of highlighting events involving human agency without overtly expressing the agent. Although the construction lacks an overt subject, its implicit agent remains conceptually accessible and exhibits properties similar to grammatical subjects. Under certain discourse conditions, this allows the impersonal event itself to become a prominent discourse element. More precisely, the corpus analysis shows that the ‑no/‑to construction can occur both in the background and the foreground of narrative discourse. In background contexts, it contributes to textual coherence by maintaining the current discourse topic, whereas in foreground contexts it can itself become a discourse topic when the implicit agent is strongly individuated through its effect on a patient and when impersonal events are integrated into a narrative sequence. In addition, experimental evidence demonstrates that speakers can identify the implicit agent of the ‑no/‑to construction with previously mentioned referents in discourse and generally accept interpretations in which the implicit subject behaves similarly to an anaphoric pronoun.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD thesis)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID ORCID Put Code Kościołek, Iga UNSPECIFIED https://orcid.org/0009-0003-7768-0497 UNSPECIFIED
URN:	urn:nbn:de:hbz:38-801655
Identification Number:	10.18716/osc/0032
Series Name at the University of Cologne:	Opera Slavica Coloniensia
Volume:	32
Date:	2026
Publisher:	University and City Library of Cologne
Place of Publication:	Cologne
ISSN:	2748-6060
Language:	English
Faculty:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Divisions:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > Fächergruppe 5: Moderne Sprachen und Kulturen > Slavisches Institut
Subjects:	Language, Linguistics Other languages
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Keywords Language Polish impersonal constructions; ‑no/‑to construction; implicit subject; agentivity; discourse prominence; event prominence; foregrounding and backgrounding; narrative discourse; discourse function; referentiality; anaphoric interpretation; Slavic linguistics English
Date of oral exam:	19 December 2024
Referee:	Name Academic Title Bunčić, Daniel Prof. Dr. von Heusinger, Klaus Prof. Dr.
Funders:	Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft: SFB 1252 “Prominence in Language”, Project ID 281511265
Projects:	B01 “Prominence phenomena in Slavic languages”
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	http://kups.ub.uni-koeln.de/id/eprint/80165