Adnominal Person in the Morphological System of Erzya
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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. -
A Grammar of Tundra Nenets Mouton Grammar Library
Irina Nikolaeva A Grammar of Tundra Nenets Mouton Grammar Library Edited by Georg Bossong Bernard Comrie Matthew Dryer Patience L. Epps Volume 65 Irina Nikolaeva A Grammar of Tundra Nenets ISBN 978-3-11-032047-3 e-ISBN 978-3-11-032064-0 ISSN 0933-7636 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress. Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de. 6 2014 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston Typesetting: RoyalStandard, Hong Kong Printing and binding: CPI buch bücher.de GmbH, Birkach ♾ Printed on acid-free paper Printed in Germany www.degruyter.com Acknowledgment This grammar is the result of many years of cooperation with members of the Tundra Nenets community, whose linguistic intuitions, passion for language, and, last but not least, extraordinary patience in dealing with me made it all possible. I am greatly indebted to all of you. Ңули” сава! I owe a great debt of gratitude to the colleagues with whom I have had the opportunity to work and discuss various intriguing aspects of Tundra Nenets grammar, especially to Farrell Ackerman, Larisa Leisiö and Tapani Salminen. I really miss our joint elicitation sessions; it was a lot of fun! Tapani Salminen was the first to intro- duce me to the language, and his own work on Tundra Nenets has always been a source of inspiration for me. I also thank Tapani and Larisa for their assistance in the practical aspects of my fieldwork. -
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. -
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. -
Reference Grammar & Lexicon (Incomplete)
Bwangxùd Reference Grammar and Lexicon Andrew Ray Revised: July 6, 2018 Contents 1 Foreword ...................................................... 3 2 Overview ...................................................... 4 2.1 Dialects....................................................... 4 3 Phonology ...................................................... 5 3.1 Inventory...................................................... 5 3.2 Tones and sandhi ................................................. 5 3.3 Morphosyntax................................................... 6 3.4 Phonological processes.............................................. 6 3.5 Vowel allophony.................................................. 7 3.6 Consonant allophony............................................... 7 3.7 Dialectal variations in phonology ........................................ 8 3.7.1 Western coastal dialect............................................. 8 3.7.2 Northern interior dialect............................................ 8 3.7.3 Southern coastal dialect............................................. 8 3.7.4 Southern interior dialect............................................ 8 4 Simple morphology and syntax ......................................... 9 4.1 Word classes.................................................... 9 4.2 Word order..................................................... 9 4.3 Deniteness and surprise............................................. 9 4.4 Noun roles..................................................... 10 4.5 Proximity..................................................... -
Multilingual Facilitation
Multilingual Facilitation Honoring the career of Jack Rueter Mika Hämäläinen, Niko Partanen and Khalid Alnajjar (eds.) Multilingual Facilitation This book has been authored for Jack Rueter in honor of his 60th birthday. Mika Hämäläinen, Niko Partanen and Khalid Alnajjar (eds.) All papers accepted to appear in this book have undergone a rigorous peer review to ensure high scientific quality. The call for papers has been open to anyone interested. We have accepted submissions in any language that Jack Rueter speaks. Hämäläinen, M., Partanen N., & Alnajjar K. (eds.) (2021) Multilingual Facilitation. University of Helsinki Library. ISBN (print) 979-871-33-6227-0 (Independently published) ISBN (electronic) 978-951-51-5025-7 (University of Helsinki Library) DOI: https://doi.org/10.31885/9789515150257 The contents of this book have been published under the CC BY 4.0 license1. 1 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Tabula Gratulatoria Jack Rueter has been in an important figure in our academic lives and we would like to congratulate him on his 60th birthday. Mika Hämäläinen, University of Helsinki Niko Partanen, University of Helsinki Khalid Alnajjar, University of Helsinki Alexandra Kellner, Valtioneuvoston kanslia Anssi Yli-Jyrä, University of Helsinki Cornelius Hasselblatt Elena Skribnik, LMU München Eric & Joel Rueter Heidi Jauhiainen, University of Helsinki Helene Sterr Henry Ivan Rueter Irma Reijonen, Kansalliskirjasto Janne Saarikivi, Helsingin yliopisto Jeremy Bradley, University of Vienna Jörg Tiedemann, University of Helsinki Joshua Wilbur, Tartu Ülikool Juha Kuokkala, Helsingin yliopisto Jukka Mettovaara, Oulun yliopisto Jussi-Pekka Hakkarainen, Kansalliskirjasto Jussi Ylikoski, University of Oulu Kaisla Kaheinen, Helsingin yliopisto Karina Lukin, University of Helsinki Larry Rueter LI Līvõd institūt Lotta Jalava, Kotimaisten kielten keskus Mans Hulden, University of Colorado Marcus & Jackie James Mari Siiroinen, Helsingin yliopisto Marja Lappalainen, M. -
Contact-Driven Multilingual Practices (Helsinki, 1‒2 June 2017) Book of Abstracts
Contact-Driven Multilingual Practices (Helsinki, 1‒2 June 2017) Book of abstracts Evgeniya Aleshinskaya ..................................................................................................................... 2 Jenni Alisaari, Leena Maria Heikkola, Emmanuel Opoku Acquah ..................................................... 3 Djegdjiga Amazouz, Martine Adda-Decker ........................................................................................ 4 Timofey Arkhangelskiy, Maria Usacheva .......................................................................................... 6 Hiwa Asadpour ................................................................................................................................. 7 Victor Bayda ..................................................................................................................................... 8 Ingeborg Birnie ................................................................................................................................. 8 Urjani Chakravarty ............................................................................................................................ 9 Svetlana Edygarova ........................................................................................................................ 10 Martin Ehala ................................................................................................................................... 11 M. M. Jocelyne Fernandez-Vest .................................................................................................... -
Erzya E-Learning Course, Grammatical Description
ERZYA E-LEARNING COURSE, GRAMMATICAL DESCRIPTION Sirkka Saarinen The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Sirkka Saarinen E-learning course: Erzya THE MORDVINS Moksha Mordvin girls Flag of the Mordvin Republic Erzya Mordvin women Mordvins = Erzyas and Mokshas The Mordvins are divided into two ethnic groups, Erzyas and Mokshas. The Mordvins reside in their own republic which is part of the Russian Federation (25,266 km2), in the territory between the Volga tributaries, the Oka and the Sura. Only 27% of the Mordvins dwell in the titular republic; the majority live in scattered enclaves over a very extensive area to the north and south of the borders of the republic as well as widely in the zone reaching to the Ural Mountains. According to the last Soviet census (1989) there were 1,154,000 Mordvins, although of these only 67% spoke their mother tongue Erzya or Moksha. The second Russian census (2010) estimated the number of Mordvins to have decreased by over 30 %, that is, to 806,000. About two-thirds of the Mordvins speak Erzya and one-third Moksha, which to some extent are mutually understandable. Literary languages for both groups were developed in the 1920s. The Mordvin languages belong to the Volgaic branch of the Finno-Ugric languages. The Russians began converting the Mordvins to the Orthodox faith as early as the 15th century. -
Book of Abstracts
Congressus Duodecimus Internationalis Fenno-Ugristarum, Oulu 2015 Book of Abstracts Edited by Harri Mantila Jari Sivonen Sisko Brunni Kaisa Leinonen Santeri Palviainen University of Oulu, 2015 Oulun yliopisto, 2015 Photographs: © Oulun kaupunki ja Oulun yliopisto ISBN: 978-952-62-0851-0 Juvenes Print This book of abstracts contains all the abstracts of CIFU XII presentations that were accepted. Chapter 1 includes the abstracts of the plenary presentations, chapter 2 the abstracts of the general session papers and chapter 3 the abstracts of the papers submitted to the symposia. The abstracts are presented in alphabetical order by authors' last names except the plenary abstracts, which are in the order of their presentation in the Congress. The abstracts are in English. Titles in the language of presentation are given in brackets. We have retained the transliteration of the names from Cyrillic to Latin script as it was in the original papers. Table of Contents 1 Plenary presentations 7 2 Section presentations 19 3 Symposia 199 Symp. 1. Change of Finnic languages in a multilinguistic environment .......................................................................... 201 Symp. 2. Multilingual practices and code-switching in Finno-Ugric communities .......................................................................... 215 Symp. 3. From spoken Baltic-Finnic vernaculars to their national standardizations and new literary languages – cancelled ...... 233 Symp. 4. The syntax of Samoyedic and Ob-Ugric languages ...... 233 Symp. 5. The development -
Arxiv:2103.13275V1 [Cs.CL] 24 Mar 2021
When Word Embeddings Become Endangered Khalid Alnajjar[0000−0002−7986−2994] Department of Digital Humanities, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki, Finland [email protected] Abstract. Big languages such as English and Finnish have many nat- ural language processing (NLP) resources and models, but this is not the case for low-resourced and endangered languages as such resources are so scarce despite the great advantages they would provide for the language communities. The most common types of resources available for low-resourced and endangered languages are translation dictionar- ies and universal dependencies. In this paper, we present a method for constructing word embeddings for endangered languages using existing word embeddings of different resource-rich languages and the translation dictionaries of resource-poor languages. Thereafter, the embeddings are fine-tuned using the sentences in the universal dependencies and aligned to match the semantic spaces of the big languages; resulting in cross- lingual embeddings. The endangered languages we work with here are Erzya, Moksha, Komi-Zyrian and Skolt Sami. Furthermore, we build a universal sentiment analysis model for all the languages that are part of this study, whether endangered or not, by utilizing cross-lingual word em- beddings. The evaluation conducted shows that our word embeddings for endangered languages are well-aligned with the resource-rich languages, and they are suitable for training task-specific models as demonstrated by our sentiment analysis model which achieved a high accuracy. All our cross-lingual word embeddings and the sentiment analysis model have been released openly via an easy-to-use Python library. Keywords: Cross-lingual Word Embeddings · Endangered Languages · Sentiment Analysis. -
Indigenous Peoples and Access to Information (Examples of the Republic of Karelia and the Republic of Mordovia)
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND ACCESS TO INFORMATION (EXAMPLES OF THE REPUBLIC OF KARELIA AND THE REPUBLIC OF MORDOVIA) Authors: Alexey TSYKAREV Member of the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Vasily NEMECHKIN PhD in Law, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, Ogarev Mordovia State University Petrozavodsk city – Saransk city 2018 1 2 Content Introduction 1. Legal framework: international standards, review of national and subnational legislation 2. Situation of indigenous peoples and information need 3. Access to information for indigenous peoples: best practices and trends a. Access to information about indigenous peoples b. Access to information about state and municipal services c. Access to information in digital space and media. Access to information in native languages. Conclusion and recommendations 3 Introduction The issue of the indigenous peoples’ access to information is relevant to the traditional areas of dense residence of indigenous peoples. It was highlighted many times during such large fora as the World Congresses of the Finno-Ugric Peoples. The issue of access to information includes the following aspects: a) receiving information about the rights of indigenous peoples, ways of their realization, and state services; b) access to information in native languages of indigenous peoples; c) information channels; d) transparency of state bodies and state-funded organizations; e) role of media in distribution of information about the rights of indigenous peoples. The institutions of indigenous peoples seek for more systematic and parity communication with public authorities based on the principles of transparency and access to necessary information. This study allowed defining the relevant current trends in the Republic of Karelia as well as in the Republic of Mordovia, one more region of the Finno-Ugric peoples’ residence, to make it possible to compare.