Basic HTML Version
E
LIISA
P
ITKÄSALO
238
theless, analysing these types of phrases required special vigilance in select-
ing the material. Examples 1 and 2 demonstrates this difference in meaning:
(1)
Jumala siunatkoon, auttakoon ja varjelkoon
sinua, herttainen lapsi!
(SKK: Pakkala)
(2)
„Herra siunatkoon,
kukas tuolta tulee!” kaikuu silloin Aina Kustavan
ääni sisältä. Ja samassa emäntä juoksee aamuröijyssään eteiseen…
(SKK: Lehtonen)
The phrase
Jumala siunatkoon, auttakoon ja varjelkoon
has the object
sinua
in example 1. This indicates that the phrase is a prayer, request or de-
sire rather than an emphatic phrase. In example 2, however, the phrase,
where blessing, healing, or protection is requested from the characters of
Christianity (
herra siunatkoon
), is an emphatic phrase due to its context. In
other words, the original meaning has been removed from the phrase and
therefore is not related to a Christian prayer. Ulla-Maija Kulonen (1990),
however, asserts that there is no guarantee that the subject component is
Christian in origin, although the names of the characters are decidedly relig-
ious in nature – be it Christian or pagan.
In some instances, the emphatic phrase assumes the characteristics of an
interjection, which is generally not categorised as being parentheses owing to
its phonological brevity, among other reasons. The research material includes
some instances where an emphatic phrase has been shortened into a single-
word phrase, but is still recognisable as an emphatic phrase because the jus-
sive construction has lost its subject instead of its predicate (
siunatkoon
). In
borderline cases, the emphatic phrase is separated from the text by an excla-
mation mark. This practice does, however, question the parentheticality of
the emphatic phrase. I have excluded emphatic phrases that merely have an
interjective function from my research material, except for those instances
that are illustrated by example 3:
(3) Simeoni.
Jumala paratkoon!
hillitön, villitty on elämämme ollut aina
tähän päivään asti (Kivi 2012: 12).
In these types of examples, the emphatic phrase is separated from the rest
of the sentence by an exclamation mark. The continuation of the sentence is,
however, indicated by using a lower-case letter in the word following the ex-
clamation mark.
The function of the emphatic phrase can be regarded as commenting on
the content of its structural framework as an interpersonal addition. This is,
in addition to specifying, correcting, expanding, anticipating and providing