ISSN: 2306-5737E-ISSN: 2658-4069
Acta Linguistica Petropolitana
Transactions of the Institute for Linguistic Studies
ISSN: 2306-5737E-ISSN: 2658-4069
Acta Linguistica Petropolitana
Transactions of the Institute for Linguistic Studies 

Associated motion in parallel translations of the New Testament: Prior motion vs. motion-cum-purpose markers in Tungusic

DOI:10.30842/alp23065737193468524
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Stoynova N. M. Issledovaniye kategorii soputstvuyushchego dvizheniya na materiale parallelnykh tekstov Novogo Zaveta: pokazateli predshestvuyushchego dvizheniya vs dvizheniya s tselyu v tunguso-manchzhurskikh yazykakh. Acta Linguistica Petropolitana. 468–524.

In this paper, I use parallel Bible translations to investigate the category of “associated motion” (AM) and describe in detail the use of the AM-suffix -ndA in Tungusic based on this data.

This suffix has been ascribed two cross-linguistically non-trivial features: first, it is spatially neutral, i.e. it can be used in both andative (‘thither’) and ventive (‘hither’) contexts; and second, it can have a narrow meaning of motion-cum-purpose (‘go to V’). To verify these two claims, I used the Gospel of Luke in Nanai, Even, and Evenki translations and the Gospel of Matthew in Nanai where I annotated all prior motion contexts (‘go/come and then V’, ‘go/come to V’).

To test the spatial neutrality of -ndA, I calculated the number of andative contexts (‘go’) marked with -ndA vs. other means. The same procedure was applied to ventive contexts (‘come’). The results show that though -ndA can indeed occur in either type of contexts, it is more often found in andative ones.

To clarify the exact meaning of -ndA within the prior motion domain and contribute to a more general discussion on the cross-linguistic relevance of distinguishing a separate category of motion-cum-purpose, I classified all the contexts of prior motion into seven types arranged from clearly non-purposive to clearly purposive contexts. The suffix -ndA does not cover clearly non-purposive contexts and, in this sense, it is indeed a dedicated motion-cum-purpose marker. On the other hand, clearly purposive contexts are not central for -ndA either as it tends to occur in contexts intermediate between purposive and non-purposive ones.

I also discuss Bible translations as a reliable source of linguistic data. In particular, I compared the uses of AM-markers in Luke to those found in spontaneous narratives, as well as in two translations of Matthew (1884) vs. Luke (2002). The Bible data appear to be safe enough, although some syntactic calques from Russian do take place.

This study shows the top-down (meaning-form) approach to parallel Bible translations proposed in this volume to be fruitful for investigation of some specific features of AM-markers. However, its use seems problematic for a wide cross-linguistic study of associated motion and of other peripheral grammatical categories. The problem is that they may occur in less predictable contexts; e.g., affixes with the meaning ‘go and V’ may be found far beyond the contexts explicitly marked with the verb ‘go’ in languages lacking such morphemes. The bottom-up (form-meaning) approach used, e.g., by B. Wälchli seems to be more promising for this purpose.

Keywords
associated motion, motion cum purpose, Tungusic languages, Nanai, parallel Bible translations
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Keywords
associated motion, motion cum purpose, Tungusic languages, Nanai, parallel Bible translations
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