The Old Russian Syntax Innovation: Genitive vs. Dative

This study elaborates the principles for the variability of Dative-to-Genitive possessive constructions in the Old Russian scripts of Ephraim's of Syria Paraenesis. The focus of our research is placed on the Old Russian syntax innovation implied in substitution of Dative possessive constructions for those in Genitive case. Additionally, statistical analysis was performed to compare the contents of the 13th-14th centuries manuscripts and revealed the mosaic type of the case-to-case migration presented in the versions by various authors within the whole battery of materials given. Inclusively, the construction distribution was found to be dependent upon a certain base-word in a grammar construction.