The Indicative and Subjunctive da-complements in Serbian: A Syntactic-Semantic Approach (original) (raw)

ii To my family, father Novica, mother Nada, sister Vedrana, and to Max and Lucky who proved to me that the one who does not know how to hate can indeed love unconditionally! "The same causes which tend to promote the belittling of men, also force the stronger and rarer individuals upward to greatness." Nietzsche iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First of all, I would like to thank Professor Biljana Šljivić-Šimišić for all the support she provided during my graduate years at the University of Illinois at Chicago. By allowing me to explore different areas of research freely and trusting me as her teaching assistant, Professor Šljivić-Šimšić helped me follow my instincts and find an interesting and at the same time enticing enough topic for my dissertation. Without Professor Šljivić-Šimšić's help, a Ph.D. would have been only an illusion for me. I am also very grateful to Anastasia Giannakidou whose instructions and discussions have spawned the idea that became a dissertation. She helped me navigate easier through the fields that I had never explored before meeting her. Without her support, understanding, and guidance during my graduate studies, completion of this project would be impossible. Next, I would like to thank Lilia Schürcks. Her continuous support, praise, and value of my work ensured me that I am on the right track. Finally, I thank Colleen McQuillen for serving as Chair on the Committee and for taking the administrative matters of my dissertation defense in her hands. Without Colleen, I would not be writing this acknowledgment as there would be no committee and no defense. I also thank Ljiljana Progovac for all the answers she was able to provide to my numerous questions, and Julie Kurtz who helped me improve the language of this manuscript. Lastly but not least, I am grateful for my family, my father Novica, mother Nada, and sister Vedrana. Without them I would not be who I am today as each of them in his and her way has instigated and supported my continuous desire to learn, to succeed, and to bring this project to a completion. I would also like to remember my late grandmother Divna, my first teacher. The beauty of her storytelling infused with rich iv descriptions and imagination developed in me a a particular language appreciation and initiated linguistics insights on which I heavily relied and implicitly trusted while writing this manuscript.