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 

Notes on the structure of the verb stem in Tundra Nenets

DOI:10.30842/alp2306573716317
PDF, 637.08 kb
Tatevosov S. G. Neskolko nablyudeniy nad osnovami nenetskogo glagola. Acta Linguistica Petropolitana. 2020. XVI(3): 533–569.

This paper surveys the structure of the verb stem in Tundra Nenets, focusing on stem-final elements a, (y)o, and ø. The latter appears in two varieties, known as “non-alternating ø”, or “øʌ”, and “alternating ø”, or “øi”. In Tundra Nenets, the same stem can surface with more than one stem-final vowel as in xona / ​xonyo ‘fall asleep, sleep’ (a and o); nømta / ​nømtøʌ ‘hear’ (a and øʌ), wøntar°ta / ​wøntar°tøi ‘bend, be bent’ (a and øi), and so on. The goal of this paper is to establish two related empirical generalizations. First, the scope of this phenomenon exceeds by far the limits identified in the previous studies. The paper argues that the stem-final alternations are to be re‑­analyzed in terms of productive derivational morphology that operates on event-structural characteristics of a verbal predicate. Second, the four-way opposition created by the stem-final morphology does not only characterize non-derived verbs, but also extends to verbs with productive derivational morphology. For example, the inchoative morpheme, identified as l(ø) in the previous studies, features the entire array of options including, apart from (non-alternating) ʌ, la, løi, and lyo. The empirical reality of these inchoatives can be assessed by looking at the subjective and reflexive subparadigms of Aorist and, when the forms of Aorist cannot tell different options apart, at the so called connegative subparadigm. Other productive derivational morphemes of Tundra Nenets, the Durative (the ‑mpø morpheme), the Imperfective (‑), the Frequentative (‑r), and the Iterative (‑ngkø) exhibit similar behavior: they are attested with different stem-final elements. This view of stem-final morphology makes a significant prediction. If a, øʌ, øi, and o are derivational morphemes rather than “vowel alternations” epiphenomenal on the formation of the form of Aorist, one can expect to find them elsewhere, that is, outside of the Aorist paradigm. This prediction is borne out: as our study confirms, verbs stems derived from the four elements of this event-structural paradigm (the basic stem, the general finite stem, and the connegative stem) are involved in further morphological derivation yielding causatives, inchoatives, and so on. Thus, for example, the verb yakøl ‘start itching’, the inchoative of yakø ‘itch’, shows the multiplicity of ways of deriving the Iterative: yakøl‑a‑ngkø, yakøl‑°‑ngkø, yakøl‑u‑ngkø, yakøl‑yo‑ngkø, yakøl‑yu‑ngkø. The stems, which the Iterative affix ‑ngkø‑ merges with, all come from different stem-final variants of yakøl: yakøla (cf. yakøl‑a‑ngkø), yakøløʌ (cf. yakøl‑°‑ngkø), yakøløi (cf. yakøl‑u‑ngkø), and yakølyo (cf. yakøl‑yo‑ngkø and yakøl‑yu‑ngkø). The reality of the stem-final event-structural morphology thus receives a strong empirical support.

Keywords
verb structure, event structure, derivational morphology, causative, incho­ative
References
Burkova 2010
S. I. Burkova. Kratkiy grammaticheskiy ocherk vostochnykh govorov tundrovogo dialekta nenetskogo yazyka [A brief grammar sketch of the Eastern varieties of the Tundra dialect of the Nenets language]. S. I. Burkova, N. B. Koshkareva, R. I. Laptander et al. (comp.). Dialektologicheskiy slovar nenetskogo yazyka [The dialectological dictionary of the Nenets language]. Tyumen: BASKO, 2010. P. 179–349.
Bybee et al. 1994
J. Bybee, R. Perkins, W. Pagliuca. The Evolution of Grammar. Tense, Aspect, and Modality in the Languages of the World. Chicago; London: University of Chicago Press, 1994.
Dahl 1985
Ö. Dahl. Tense and Aspect Systems. Oxford: Blackwell, 1985.
Dudchuk 2004
F. A. Dudchuk. Voprosy glagolnogo vida v nenetskom yazyke. Tekhnicheskiy otchet 2003—04.12 [Aspect in Tundra Nenets. Techincal report 2003—04.12]. Moscow: Lomonosov Moscow State University, 2004.
Gusev 2010
V. Yu. Gusev. Stativy i dekauzativy na *-w v samodiyskikh yazykakh [Statives and anticausatives on *-w in Samoyedic languages]. S. I. Burkova (ed.). Materialy 3-y Mezhdunarodnoy nauchnoy konferentsii po samodistike. Novosibirsk, 26–28 oktyabrya 2010 [Proceedings of the 3rd international conference on Samoyedic languages. Novosibirsk, 26–28 October 2010]. Novosibirsk: Lyubava, 2010. P. 54–65
Kavitskaya, Staroverov 2010
D. Kavitskaya, P. Staroverov. When an interaction is both opaque and transparent: the paradox of fed counterfeeding. Phonology. 2010. Vol. 27. P. 1–34.
Körtvély 2005
É. Körtvély. Verb conjugation in Tundra Nenets (Studia Uralo-Altaica. Vol. 46). Szeged: SZTE Finnugor Tanszék, 2005.
Nikolaeva 2014
I. A. Nikolaeva. A grammar of Trundra Nenets. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter, 2014.
Ristinen 1973a
E. K. Ristinen. Some remarks on the function of the subjective and objective conjugations in Samoyedic. Journal de la Société Finno-Ougrienne. 1973. Vol. 72. P. 337–347.
Ristinen 1973b
E. K. Ristinen. Observations on the Functions of the Conjugations in Samoyedic. Uralica. 1973. No. 1. P. 11–38.
Salminen 1997
T. Salminen. Tundra Nenets inflection (Suomalais-Ugrilaisen Seuran Toimituksia. Vol. 227). Helsinki: Suomаlais-Ugrilainen Seura, 1997.
Salminen 1998
T. Salminen. A morphological dictionary of Tundra Nenets (Lexica Societatis Fenno-Ugricae. Vol. 26). Helsinki: Suomаlais-Ugrilainen Seura, 1998.
Shluinskiy 2004
A. B. Shluinskiy. Aspektualnye derivatsii v malozemelskom govore tundrovogo dialekta nenetskogo yazyka. Tekhnicheskiy otchet 2003—06.22 [Aspectual derivation in Trundra Nenets. Technical report 2003—06.22]. Moscow: Lomonosov Moscow State University, 2004.
Tatevosov 2016a
S. G. Tatevosov. Struktura i interpretatsiya nenetskogo glagola: aktantno-aktsionalnye klassy i tipy spryazheniya [Structure and interpretation of Tundra Nenets verbs: eventuality types and conjugation classes]. Voprosy yazykoznaniya. 2016. No. 3. P. 81–114.
Tatevosov 2016b
S. G. Tatevosov. Glagolnye klassy i mezhyazykovoe varirovanie [Verb classes and cross-linguistic variation] Moscow: Yazyki slavyanskoy kultury, 2016.
Tatevosov 2017
S. G. Tatevosov. Struktura sobytiya i nenetskiy glagol: zametki o aktantno-aktsionalnykh svoystvakh Iterativa [Event structure and Nenets verb: notes on argument projection and eventuality type of the Iterative]. Linguistica Uralica. 2017. Vol. 53. No. 3. P. 197–225.
Tatevosov 2018
S. G. Tatevosov. Sobytiyno-strukturnaya morfologiya v nenetskom yazyke [Event-structural morphology in Tundra Nenets]. Rhema. Rema. 2018. No. 3. P. 88–118.
Tereshchenko 1947
N. M. Tereshchenko. Ocherk grammatiki nenetskogo (yurakosamoedskogo) yazyka [A sketch of the Nenets (Yurak-Samoyed) grammar]. Leningrad: State Educational and Pedagogical Publishing House, 1947.
Tereshchenko 1960
N. M. Tereshchenko. O kategorii zaloga v samodiyskikh yazykakh [On the category of voice in Samoyedic languages]. V. M. Zhirmunskiy (red.). Voprosy grammatiki: Sbornik statey k 75-letiyu akademika I. I. Meshchaninova [Grammar issues. Collection of papers dedicated to the 75th anniversary of academician I. I. Meshchaninov]. Leningrad: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1960. P. 178–193.
Tereshchenko 1965
N. M. Tereshchenko (comp.). Nenetsko-russkiy slovar [Nenets-Russian dictionary]. Moscow: Sovetskaya entsiklopediya, 1965.
Tereshchenko 1973
N. M. Tereshchenko. Sintaksis samodiyskikh yazykov. Prostoe predlozhenie. [Syntax of Samoyedic languages. Clause structure]. Leningrad: Nauka, 1973.
Urmanchieva 2013
A. Yu. Urmanchieva. Obrazovanie form aorista v samodiyskikh yazykakh [Aorist formation in Samoyedic languages]. Acta Linguistica Petropolitana. Trudy Instituta lingvisticheskikh issledovaniy. 2013. Vol. 9. Pt. 2. P. 734–766.
Keywords
verb structure, event structure, derivational morphology, causative, incho­ative
ScopusSCImago Journal & Country RankE-Library.ruCrossRefCyberLeninkaVAKERIH Plus