| Summary: | In those Slavic languages where the vocative inflectional case endings are used inconsistently, a statistically increased occurrence of vocative’s endings can be observed with nouns having a diminutive or hypocoristic semantics. Assuming that is the ‘affective charge’ of some specific nouns which enhances the probability of vocative case forms, the present paper has two aims: 1. to verify empirically in three Slavic languages (Serbian, Polish, Bulgarian) whether the vocative case is better preserved with nouns having a derogatory semantics (insults and bad words), 2. to establish which are the rules governing their use.
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