A typology of ‘pinpoint’ contact
localizations in Uralic and Altaic languages (based on the corpus
of New Testament translations)
DOI:10.30842/alp23065737193197233
Paramonova D. A. Tipologiya «tochechnykh»
kontaktnykh lokalizatsiy v uralskikh i altayskikh yazykakh (na
materiale korpusa perevodov Novogo Zaveta). Acta Linguistica
Petropolitana. 197–233.
This article provides the results of a corpus research focused
on a semantic feature of verbs which describe physical contact
localization and on the way this feature may affect the case
marking of object noun phrases in physical contact constructions.
The marking strategies used in such constructions are labeled
‘pinpoint’ contact localization. The study addressed contexts that
include a contact verb and its localization point (e.g., ‘touch the
hand’). A corpus of the New Testament translations (four canonical
gospels, The Acts of the Apostles, and The Book of
Revelation) was chosen as the main research instrument and the
source of the study material. The numbers of the contexts selected
in the different translations range between 28 to 31. The analysis
was carried out for five Uralic (Finnish, Hungarian, Karelian,
Meadow Mari and Erzya) and five Altaic (Turkish, Balkar, Yakut,
Kalmyk and Chuvash) languages. The study found contact intensity to
be an important feature in the total picture of contact
localization. As an instrument to describe the connection between
the marking strategy and verb semantics, I developed a gradual
classification based on a hypothetical contact continuum taking
into account the degree of contact intensity and the scale of its
impact on the object. The classification distinguishes three types
of contact. The first type labeled as ‘Loose contacts’ includes
verbs describing low-intensity actions that do not produce a
significant impact on the object (the core of the ‘pinpoint’
contact localization). They are most often verbs of touching or
kissing. The verbs relegated to the second type are labeled ‘Tight
contacts’ and can be defined as describing the actions of grabbing
or hugging. Placed at the bottom line of the scale are ‘Deforming
contacts’ which seemingly inflict significant changes on the object
of the contact like all kinds of verbs describing the acts of
punching or biting. The paper describes the marking strategies for
all types of contact employed by each of the languages addressed
and determines the relevance of every identified type of contact in
accordance with the proposed semantic continuum.
Keywords
contact point, Uralic languages, Altaic
languages, corpus linguistics
References
Comrie, Malchukov 2015
B. Comrie, A. Malchukov. Valency
classes in the world’s languages. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter
Mouton, 2015. DOI: 10.1515/9783110338812.
Dahl, Wälchli 2016
Ö. Dahl, B. Wälchli. Perfects and
iamitives: two gram types in one grammatical space. Letras de
Hoje. 2016. Vol. 51. No. 3. P. 325–348. DOI:
10.15448/1984-7726.2016.3.25454.
Danilova et al. 2004
N. I. Danilova, N. I. Popova, N. N.
Yefremov. Kurs yakutskoy grammatiki. Sistema grammaticheskikh
kategoriy i sintaksicheskikh konstruktsiy [Yakut grammar
course. System of grammatical categories and syntactic
constructions]. Yakutsk: Institute of Humanitarian Studies of the
Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), 2004.
Davidyuk, Studenikina 2019
T. I. Davidyuk, K. A. Studenikina.
Elativnyy pokazatel i znacheniye TOCHKI PRILOZHENIYA v
gornomariyskom yazyke [Elative marker in construction with physical
contact verbs in Hill Mari]. Acta Linguistica
Petropolitana. 2019. Vol. XV. Pt. 2. P. 60–85. DOI:
10.30842/alp2306573715203.
Filonenko 1940
V. I. Filonenko. Grammatika
balkarskogo yazyka: fonetika i morfologiya [Grammar of the
Balkar language: phonetics and morphology]. Moscow:
Kabardino-Balkarian State Publishing House, 1940.
Ganenkov 2005
D. S. Ganenkov. “Kontaktnyye”
lokalizatsii v nakhsko-dagestanskikh yazykakh [“Contact”
localizations in the Nakh-Dagestan languages]. Voprosy
Jazykoznanija. 2005. No. 3. P. 100–116.
Guzev 2015
V. G. Guzev. Teoreticheskaya
grammatika turetskogo yazyka [Theoretical grammar of the
Turkish language]. St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg State University
Publishing House, 2015.
Hartmann, Haspelmath, Taylor
2013
I. Hartmann, M. Haspelmath, B. Taylor
(eds.). Valency Patterns Leipzig online database. Leipzig:
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 2013. Available
at: http://valpal.info (accessed on 30.05.2022).
Haspelmath 1997
M. Haspelmath. From space to
time: Temporal adverbials in the world’s languages. Munich:
Lincom Europa, 1997.
Kholodilova 2009
M. A. Kholodilova. Konstruktsiya s
periferiynym obladayemym v kalmytskom yazyke [External possession
constructions in the Kalmyk language]. Acta Linguistica
Petropolitana. 2009. Vol. V. Pt. 2. P. 76–93.
Kolyadenkov, Tsyganov 1949
M. N. Kolyadenkov, N. F. Tsyganov.
Erzyansko-russkiy slovar [Erzya-Russian dictionary].
Moscow: State Publishing House of Foreign and National
Dictionaries, 1949.
Kovedyayeva 1976
E. I. Kovedyayeva. Mariyskiy yazyk
[Mari language]. V. I. Lytkin, K. E. Maytinskaya, R. Karoy (eds.).
Osnovy finno-ugorskogo yazykoznaniya. Mariyskiy, permskiye i
ugorskiye yazyki [Fundamentals of Finno-Ugric linguistics.
Mari, Perm and Ugric languages]. Moscow: Nauka, 1976. P.
3–96.
Levin 2012
B. Levin. Slap, give a slap, slap
a slap: Crosslinguistic diversity in hitting events
description. Paper presented at Tenth Biennial Conference of
the High Desert Linguistics Society. University of New Mexico,
Albuquerque, NM, November 1–3, 2012.
Luraghi, Huumo 2014
S. Luraghi, T. Huumo (eds.).
Partitive Cases and Related Categories. Berlin: De Gruyter
Mouton, 2014.
Maytinskaya 1995
K. E. Maytinskaya. Vengerskiy
yazyk. Chast 1:Vvedeniye. Fonetika. Morfologiya [Hungarian.
Pt. 1. Introduction, Phonetics, Morphology]. Moscow: USSR Academy
of Sciences Publishing House, 1995.
Pavlov 2017
I. P. Pavlov. Sovremennyy
chuvashskiy yazyk: monografiya: v 2 t. Tom 2: Morfologiya
[Modern Chuvash language: monograph: in 2 vols. Vol. 2:
Morphology]. Cheboksary: Chuvash State Institute for the Humanities
Press, 2017.
Plungian, this volume
V. A. Plungian. Parallelnyy
korpus kak grammaticheskaya baza dannykh i Novyy Zavet kak
parallelnyy korpus (predisloviye) [The parallel corpus as a
grammar database and the New Testament as a parallel corpus
(Preface)]. This volume.
Say 2009
S. S. Say. Grammaticheskiy ocherk
kalmytskogo yazyka [Grammar essay on the Kalmyk language]. Acta
Linguistica Petropolitana. 2009. Vol. V. Pt. 2. P.
622–709.
Say 2018
S. S. Say (ed.). Valentnostnyye
klassy dvukhmestnykh predikatov v raznostrukturnykh yazykakh
[Valency classes of two-place predicates]. St. Petersburg:
Institute for Linguistic Studies of the RAS, 2018.
Studenikina 2023
K. A. Studenikina. Valentnostnyye
klassy dvukhmestnykh predikatov v gornomariyskom yazyke [Valency
classes of two-place predicates in Hill Mari]. E. V. Kashkin, M.-E.
A. Vinkler, T. I. Davidyuk, V. V. Dyachkov, V. A. Ivanov, D. D.
Mordashova, P. S. Pleshak, I. A. Khomchenkova (eds.). Elementy
gornomariyskogo yazyka v tipologicheskom osveshhenii [Elements
of the Hill Mari language in typological covering]. Moscow: Buki
Vedi, 2023. P. 478–494.
Tatevosov 2004
S. G. Tatevosov. Semanticheskoye
kartirovaniye: metod i teoriya [Semantic mapping: method and
theory]. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Ser. 9:
Filologiya. 2004. No. 1. P. 27–42.
Testelets 2001
Ya. G. Testelets. Vvedeniye v
obshchiy sintaksis [Introduction to general syntax]. Moscow:
Russian State University for the Humanities Publishing House,
2001.
Yeliseyev 1993
Yu. S. Yeliseyev. Finskiy yazyk
[Finnish language]. V. N. Yartseva (ed.). Yazyki mira.
Uralskiye yazyki [Languages of the world. Uralic languages].
Moscow: Nauka, 1993. P. 90–115.
Zaykov 1999
P. M. Zaykov. Grammatika
karelskogo yazyka: fonetika i morfologiya [Grammar of the
Karelian language: phonetics and morphology]. Petrozavodsk:
Periodika, 1999.
Keywords
contact point, Uralic languages, Altaic
languages, corpus linguistics
