FROM GRAMMAR TO COMMUNICATION AND BACK – THE EXAMPLE OF POST-TONIC LENGTH

Sažetak: Normative manuals have deviated least from the so-called classical accentuation, in particular in the case of post-tonic length. Changes have only been made in modern grammars in which “grammar” is separated from “communication”, thereby implying a different status of length in communication (i.e. in usage). Since length is linked, among others, with certain suffixes and grammatical endings but is the first to be reduced in speech when word-final, the gap between usage and codified norm appears even greater. We perform a comparative analysis of various manuals to establish whether they have considered the realisation of the post-tonic length in communication. Also, by analyzing usage (in speakers with a pitch-accent and a stess-accent system) we draw attention to places where length is more (un)stable, and propose explanations for length becoming more and more attenuated or even disappearing as one turns away from grammar to focus on communication.