A Grammar of Tundra Nenets Mouton Grammar Library
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Migracijske Teme 4/1988
Migracijske teme 15 (1999), 1-2: 63-153 UDK: 809.45-0 Izvorni znanstveni rad Primljeno: 17. 11. 1998. Paolo Agostini University of Padova [email protected] LANGUAGE RECONSTRUCTION – APPLIED TO THE URALIC LANGUAGES* SUMMARY After pointing out the shortcomings and methodological weakness of the general theory of linguistic reconstruction, the author disputes the alleged antiquity of Uralic. Proto-Uralic as recon- structed by the scholars seems to be the sum of a set of features belonging to several distinct language families. The paper examines a number of lexical concordances with historically attested languages and comes to the conclusion that the Proto-Uralic word-stock is the result of a sum of borrowings that took place from the most disparate languages: Balto-Slavic, Old Swedish, several Turkic dialects, Mongolic, Tunguz, Aramaic, Hebrew, Arabic, late Middle Persian dialects, Byzantine Greek and Latin. Yet, other languages may also come into account: Chinese, Caucasian languages as well as lan- guages unknown in present day are possible candidates. A large number of bases of the Uralic word- stock can be easily identified by following a few phonological constraints. The linguistic features of the Uralic daughter-languages seem to show that they originated from a pidgin language spoken along the merchant routes that connected the Silk Road to North- and East-European trade. It is a well-known phenomenon that sometimes, when groups of people speaking different languages come into contact for the first time, a new restricted language system (lingua franca or pidgin) comes into being in order to cater to essential common needs. -
On the Article-Like Use of the Px2sg in Dolgan, Nganasan and Some Other Languages in an Areal Siberian Context1
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Jagiellonian Univeristy Repository On the Article-like Use of the Px2Sg in Dolgan, Nganasan and Some Other Languages in an Areal Siberian Context1 Marek Stachowski (Kraków) In Stachowski 1998 wurde gezeigt, dass das Possessivsuffix der 2. Person Sg. im Norddialekt des Dolganischen unter nganasanischem Einfluss die Funktion eines bestimmten Artikels erfüllen kann. Im vorliegenden Artikel wird B. Pakendorfs (2007) These, dass dieser Gebrauch des Possessivsuffixes auf ewenkischen Ein- fluss beruhe, sowie dass die Erscheinung im Dolganischen wie im Jakutischen eine gemeinsame Quelle habe, diskutiert. Zum Schluss wird nahegelegt, dass dieses Phänomen, das einerseits das Jakutische mit dem Selkupischen und an- dererseits das Dolganische mit dem Nganasanischen verbindet, möglicherweise zur Festlegung von zwei Spracharealen beitragen kann: „Tajmyr-Areal“ und „(Ur)Selkupisch-(Ur)Jakutisches“ Areal. Ten years ago I published a short article (Stachowski 1998) showing that the Px2Sg (= possessive suffix of the second person singular) can be used with the function of the definite article in the Northern dialect of Dolgan. Since the construction is completely untypical of a Turkic language, I suggested that it was developed under the influence of Nganasan. Some months ago, B. Pakendorf (2007) published a study addressing the same problem, and it is to her merit that she was able to present four Yakut sentences in which the Px2Sg was also used as a definite article.2 This material was unknown to me earlier, and it makes the phenomenon even more interesting. Pakendorf is of course quite right when she says that the Nganasan adstratum cannot be used to explain the origins of the phenomenon in Yakut because of the geographical distance between the two languages. -
The Ongoing Eclipse of Possessive Suffixes in North Saami
Te ongoing eclipse of possessive sufxes in North Saami A case study in reduction of morphological complexity Laura A. Janda & Lene Antonsen UiT Te Arctic University of Norway North Saami is replacing the use of possessive sufxes on nouns with a morphologically simpler analytic construction. Our data (>2K examples culled from >.5M words) track this change through three generations, covering parameters of semantics, syntax and geography. Intense contact pressure on this minority language probably promotes morphological simplifcation, yielding an advantage for the innovative construction. Te innovative construction is additionally advantaged because it has a wider syntactic and semantic range and is indispensable, whereas its competitor can always be replaced. Te one environment where the possessive sufx is most strongly retained even in the youngest generation is in the Nominative singular case, and here we fnd evidence that the possessive sufx is being reinterpreted as a Vocative case marker. Keywords: North Saami; possessive sufx; morphological simplifcation; vocative; language contact; minority language 1. Te linguistic landscape of North Saami1 North Saami is a Uralic language spoken by approximately 20,000 people spread across a large area in northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland. North Saami is in a unique situation as the only minority language in Europe under intense pressure from majority languages from two diferent language families, namely Finnish (Uralic) in the east and Norwegian and Swedish (Indo-European 1. Tis research was supported in part by grant 22506 from the Norwegian Research Council. Te authors would also like to thank their employer, UiT Te Arctic University of Norway, for support of their research. -
Reconstructing Proto-Ugric and Proto-Uralic Object Marking Katalin É
Reconstructing Proto-Ugric and Proto-Uralic Object Marking Katalin É. Kiss ([email protected]) Research Institute for Linguistics of the Hungarian Academy and Pázmány P. University Abstract This paper demonstrates that syntactic changes in the feature specifications of functional heads can be traced back to undocumented stages of languages. It reconstructs the object–verb relation in Proto-Uralic – by means of the comparative method adapted to syntax. Present-day Uralic languages display differential object–verb agreement and/or differential accusative marking. In double-marking languages, the head licensing object–verb agreement may be different from that licensing accusative-marking. The licensing conditions of object marking are also different across languages. It is argued that the Uralic parent language had both object-verb agreement and accusative assignment licensed by a TP-external functional head with a [topic] feature. The [topic] feature of this head has been reanalyzed as [specific] in Udmurt, and as [definite] in Hungarian – via a natural extention of the content of the notion of topicality. In languages with generalized accusative assignment, i.e., in Hungarian and Tundra Nenets, the licensing of object agreement and accusative marking have been divorced; the latter has come to be associated with v. Keywords: differential object marking (DOM), object–verb agreement, accusative, syntactic reconstruction, comparative method 1. Introduction According to the Borer–Chomsky Conjecture (Borer 1984), the parametric values of grammars are expressed in the functional lexicon. Under this assumption, syntactic changes involve changes in the feature specifications of functional heads. It is an open question whether changes of this type, affecting features of morphologically real or abstract syntactic heads, can be traced back to undocumented stages of languages (cf. -
Drastic Demographic Events Triggered the Uralic Spread to Appear in Diachronica
Drastic demographic events triggered the Uralic spread To appear in Diachronica Riho Grünthal (University of Helsinki) Volker Heyd (University of Helsinki) Sampsa Holopainen (University of Helsinki) Juha Janhunen (University of Helsinki) Olesya Khanina (Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences) Matti Miestamo (University of Helsinki) Johanna Nichols (University of California, Berkeley; University of Helsinki; Higher School of Economics, Moscow) Janne Saarikivi (University of Helsinki) Kaius Sinnemäki (University of Helsinki) Abstract: The widespread Uralic family offers several advantages for tracing prehistory: a firm absolute chronological anchor point in an ancient contact episode with well-dated Indo-Iranian; other points of intersection or diagnostic non-intersection with early Indo-European (the Late PIE-speaking Yamnaya culture of the western steppe, the Afanasievo culture of the upper Yenisei, and the Fatyanovo culture of the middle Volga); lexical and morphological reconstruction sufficient to establish critical absences of sharings and contacts. We add information on climate, linguistic geography, typology, and cognate frequency distributions to reconstruct the Uralic origin and spread. We argue that the Uralic homeland was east of the Urals and initially out of contact with Indo-European. The spread was rapid and without widespread shared substratal effects. We reconstruct its cause as the interconnected reactions of early Uralic and Indo-European populations to a catastrophic climate change episode and interregionalization opportunities which advantaged riverine hunter-fishers over herders. Keywords Uralic; Finno-Ugric; Indo-European; Yamnaya; Indo-Iranian; Siberia; Eurasia; Seima-Turbino, 4.2 ka event; linguistic homeland Note: In-text references have not yet been fully deanonymized. 2 Drastic demographic events triggered the Uralic spread (Contents, for convenience) Main text (pp. -
Verb Valency Classes in Evenki in the Comparative Perspective Igor Nedjalkov (Institute for Linguistic Studies; St-Petersburg) 1
Verb valency classes in Evenki in the comparative perspective Igor Nedjalkov (Institute for Linguistic Studies; St-Petersburg) 1. Introduction The present paper presents an overview of valency patterns and valency alternations in Evenki, a North-Tungusic language, from a comparative perspective. The paper is structured as follows. Section 2 provides information on case paradigms in Tungusic languages (TLs) relevant to issues of valency classification. Section 3 describes main valency patterns in Evenki. Section 4 addresses uncoded argument alternations (“case alternations”), while section 5 describes verb- coded alternations (“voice alternations”) in Evenki in the comparative perspective in TLs. Evenki displays many typical properties of Altaic languages: it is an agglutinating language making use of suffixation. Evenki is a nominative-accusative language with basic word order SOV. The basic intransitive and transitive construction in Even are exemplified in (1) and (2) below: (1) Oron-Ø bu-re-n reindeer-NOM die-NF-3SG ‘The reindeer died.’ (2) Etyrken-Ø oron-mo vaa-re-n old_man-NOM reindeer-ACC kill-NF-3SG ‘The old man killed the wild reindeer.’ The subject (S/A argument) is in the nominative, while the direct object (P) is in the accusative (other forms of the direct object in Evenki are Indefinite Accusative and Designative cases or Reflexive-possession markers). Agreement is possible only with the nominative subject; there is no object agreement in Evenki. TLs have the following valency-changing categories: Causative in -vkAn- (cf. iče- ‘see’ à iče-vken- ‘show’), Passive in –v- (va- ‘kill’ à va-v- ‘be killed’), Decausative (Mediopassive) in -p-/-v- (sukča- ‘break’ (tr.) à sukča-v- ‘break’ (intr.), Reciprocal in –mAt- (iče- ‘see’ à iče-met- ‘see each other’), Resultative in –ča- (loko- ‘hang’ (tr.) à loku-ča- ‘hang’ (intr.), The sociative suffix –ldy may express the reciprocal meaning with some verbs. -
Corpus Study of Tense, Aspect, and Modality in Diglossic Speech in Cairene Arabic
CORPUS STUDY OF TENSE, ASPECT, AND MODALITY IN DIGLOSSIC SPEECH IN CAIRENE ARABIC BY OLA AHMED MOSHREF DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Linguistics in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2012 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Professor Elabbas Benmamoun, Chair Professor Eyamba Bokamba Professor Rakesh M. Bhatt Assistant Professor Marina Terkourafi ABSTRACT Morpho-syntactic features of Modern Standard Arabic mix intricately with those of Egyptian Colloquial Arabic in ordinary speech. I study the lexical, phonological and syntactic features of verb phrase morphemes and constituents in different tenses, aspects, moods. A corpus of over 3000 phrases was collected from religious, political/economic and sports interviews on four Egyptian satellite TV channels. The computational analysis of the data shows that systematic and content morphemes from both varieties of Arabic combine in principled ways. Syntactic considerations play a critical role with regard to the frequency and direction of code-switching between the negative marker, subject, or complement on one hand and the verb on the other. Morph-syntactic constraints regulate different types of discourse but more formal topics may exhibit more mixing between Colloquial aspect or future markers and Standard verbs. ii To the One Arab Dream that will come true inshaa’ Allah! عربية أنا.. أميت دمها خري الدماء.. كما يقول أيب الشاعر العراقي: بدر شاكر السياب Arab I am.. My nation’s blood is the finest.. As my father says Iraqi Poet: Badr Shaker Elsayyab iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I’m sincerely thankful to my advisor Prof. Elabbas Benmamoun, who during the six years of my study at UIUC was always kind, caring and supportive on the personal and academic levels. -
The Finnish Noun Phrase
Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia Facoltà di Lingue e Letterature Straniere Corso di Laurea Specialistica in Scienze del Linguaggio The Finnish Noun Phrase Relatore: Prof.ssa Giuliana Giusti Correlatore: Prof. Guglielmo Cinque Laureanda: Lena Dal Pozzo Matricola: 803546 ANNO ACCADEMICO: 2006/2007 A mia madre Table of contents Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………….…….…… III Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………........ V Abbreviations ……………………………………………………………………………VII 1. Word order in Finnish …………………………………………………………………1 1.1 The order of constituents in the clause …………………………………………...2 1.2 Word order and interpretation .......……………………………………………… 8 1.3 The order of constituents in the Nominal Expression ………………………… 11 1.3.1. Determiners and Possessors …………………………………………………12 1.3.2. Adjectives and other modifiers …………………………………………..… 17 1.3.2.1 Adjectival hierarchy…………………………………………………………23 1.3.2.2 Predicative structures and complements …………………………………26 1.3.3 Relative clauses …………………………………………………………….... 28 1.4 Conclusions ............……………………………………………………………. 30 2. Thematic relations in nominal expressions ……………………………………….. 32 2.1 Observations on Argument Structure ………………………………….……. 32 2.1.1 Result and Event nouns…………………………………………………… 36 2.2 Transitive nouns ………………………………………………………………... 38 2.2.1 Compound nouns ……………….……………………………………... 40 2.2.2 Intransitive nouns derived from transitive verbs …………………… 41 2.3 Passive nouns …………………………………………………………………… 42 2.4 Psychological predicates ……………………………………………………….. 46 2.4.1 Psych verbs ………………………………………………………………. -
Spatial Semantics, Case and Relator Nouns in Evenki
Spatial semantics, case and relator nouns in Evenki Lenore A. Grenoble University of Chicago Evenki, a Northwest Tungusic language, exhibits an extensive system of nominal cases, deictic terms, and relator nouns, used to signal complex spatial relations. The paper describes the use and distribution of the spatial cases which signal stative and dynamic relations, with special attention to their semantics within a framework using fundamental Gestalt concepts such as Figure and Ground, and how they are used in combination with deictics and nouns to signal specific spatial semantics. Possible paths of grammaticalization including case stacking, or Suffixaufnahme, are dis- cussed. Keywords: spatial cases, case morphology, relator noun, deixis, Suf- fixaufnahme, grammaticalization 1. Introduction Case morphology and relator nouns are extensively used in the marking of spa- tial relations in Evenki, a Tungusic language spoken in Siberia by an estimated 4802 people (All-Russian Census 2010). A close analysis of the use of spatial cases in Evenki provides strong evidence for the development of complex case morphemes from adpositions. Descriptions of Evenki generally claim the exist- ence of 11–15 cases, depending on the dialect. The standard language is based on the Poligus dialect of the Podkamennaya Tunguska subgroup, from the Southern dialect group, now moribund. Because it forms the basis of the stand- ard (or literary) language and as such has been relatively well-studied and is somewhat codified, it usually serves as the point of departure in linguistic de- scriptions of Evenki. However, the written language is to a large degree an artifi- cial construct which has never achieved usage in everyday conversation: it does not function as a norm which cuts across dialects. -
Tánczos Orsolya Causative Constructions and Their
TÁNCZOS ORSOLYA CAUSATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS AND THEIR SYNTACTIC ANALYSIS IN THE UDMURT LANGUAGE (M ŰVELTET Ő SZERKEZETEK ÉS MONDATTANI ELEMZÉSÜK AZ UDMURT NYELVBEN) DOKTORI (PHD) ÉRTEKEZÉS Pázmány Péter Katolikus Egyetem Bölcsészet és Társadalomtudományi Kar Nyelvtudományi Doktori Iskola Vezet ője: Prof. É. Kiss Katalin egyetemi tanár, akadémikus FINNUGOR M ŰHELY TÉMAVEZET Ő: PROF. CSÚCS SÁNDOR EGYETEMI TANÁR BUDAPEST 2015 Nagyapámnak, aki Zeppelint látott 2 CONTENTS Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... 7 Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................... 10 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 12 1.1 The aim of the dissertation .................................................................................. 12 1.2 The Udmurt data of the dissertation................................................................... 14 1.2.1 Acceptability judgments ............................................................................... 14 1.2.2 Data collecting method ................................................................................ 15 1.2.3 The examples ................................................................................................ 16 1.3 The Udmurt language .......................................................................................... 16 -
An Analysis of Use of Conditional Sentences by Arab Students of English
Advances in Language and Literary Studies ISSN: 2203-4714 Vol. 8 No. 2; April 2017 Flourishing Creativity & Literacy Australian International Academic Centre, Australia An Analysis of Use of conditional Sentences by Arab Students of English Sadam Haza' Al Rdaat Coventry University, United Kingdom E-mail: [email protected] Doi:10.7575/aiac.alls.v.8n.2p.1 Received: 04/01/2017 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.alls.v.8n.2p.1 Accepted: 17/02/2017 Abstract Conditional sentences are made of two clauses namely “if-clause” and “main clause”. Conditionals have been noted by scholars and grammarians as a difficult area of English for both teachers and learners. The two clauses of conditional sentences and their form, tense and meaning could be considered the main difficulty of conditional sentences. In addition, some of non-native speakers do not have sufficient knowledge of the differences between conditional sentences in the two languages and they tried to solve their problems in their second language by using their native language. The aim of this study was to analyse the use of conditional sentences by Arab students of English in semantic and syntactic situations. For the purpose of this study, 20 Arab students took part in the questionnaire, they were all studying different subjects and degrees (bachelor, master and PhD) at Coventry University. The results showed that the use of type three conditionals and modality can be classified as the most difficult issues that students struggle to understand and use. Keywords: conditional sentences, protasis and apodosis, mood, real and unreal clauses, tense-time 1. -
A Reappraisal of M. Alexander Castrén's Forest Nenets Records
Rentota Relata Studia Orient¡¡lia 97, Helsinki 2003, pp. 263-271 A Reappraisal of M. Alexander Castrén's Forest Nenets Records Tapani Salminen Among the first of the many highlights of M. Alexander Castrén's great Siberian expedition (1845-1849) was his scientific discovery of the Forest Nenets people and language in the surnmer of 1845. It turned out to have significant consequences for Castrén's thinking of comparative linguistics and Siberian ethnohistory, and his records of the language continue to be of utmost importance to Samoyedological studies. More exactly, Castrén's material shows the existence of two distinct varieties of Forest Nenets, and the bulk of this article is devoted to determining the nature of their differences and their background. The progress of Castrén's expedition is accounted in detail in Castrén (1856), and his encounters with the Forest Nenets are dcscribed in the section titled <<Reise von Samarowa nach Surgub>, which includes a travel account (pp. 62-88) as well as two letters, one to Castrén's supervisor, Councillor of State A. J. Sjögren (pp. 88-90), and the other to his friend, Assessor F. J. Rabbe (pp. 90-92). In the summer of 1845, Castrén was mainly engaged in Khanty studies, but he was even more intrigued about the possibility of contacting Forest Nenets people, known at the time as Kondinsk or Kazym Samoyeds, who he had heard about on his first expedition. He finally succeeded in meeting and, albeit briefly, working with a few Forest Nenets after he had left Samarova at the beginning of July and, for a month, travelled along the waterways of the Ob to various directions between Samarova and Silyarskoy.