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This lexicon is a contribution to the study of Turkic language varieties and to historical research on Central Asian civilization.
What is here called Eastern Turki is a corpus of non-standardized, mostly oral Uyghur language items elicited from people who lived in southern Xinjiang in the late 1800s and early 1900s. With its abundance of designations of tools and utensils, vehicles, professions, food, customs and beliefs, animals and plants, soils and terrains, etc., it will help us envision a bygone local Uyghur mode of life and its physical prerequisites.
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The nine contributions collected in this volume deal with clause linkage, focussing on asyndetic constructions that have been little researched in the area of the Ob-Yenisei region. The approaches are in-depth studies of particular languages and mostly based on original data collected in recent fieldworks or from corpora. Differences can be observed, among other things, in a more verbal or nominal use of converbs which take an important role in clause linkage strategies.

Abstract

The chapter investigates clause-linking strategies in Chulym Turkic, relying on natural language data. We show that Chulym Turkic generally adheres to the patterns expected from an areal-typological and genealogical point of view. Coordination is inheritedly realized via mere juxtaposition, although Russian conjunctions are also frequently used nowadays. Subordination is generally realized via nonfinite verb forms, but clause-initial interrogative pronouns or copied Russian conjunctions are also found in combination with finite or nonfinite verb forms. As typical for Turkic languages, Chulym Turkic frequently exhibits clause chaining patterns combining one or more converbs with a finite verb form. These clause chains are structurally similar to postverbial constructions expressing actionality or viewpoint aspects so that it can sometimes be hard to discriminate clause chains against them.

In: Clause Linkage in the Languages of the Ob-Yenisei Area

Abstract

Eastern Khanty shows a preferred asyndetic clause combining strategy, either using nonfinite dependent predicates, or juxtaposing finite clauses in associated chains. However, the robust use of polyfunctional converbal and nominalization structures is diversified (in recent data) by increasing the occurrence of finite syndetic coordinated clauses using overt conjunctions, pronominal complementizers and relativizers, either native or Russian loans. Intense contact influence of Russian—a likely motivation, this may also be a system-internal tendency for the initial grammaticalization via nominalization, with the subsequent addition of finite TAM morphology. Overall, this exemplifies the correlation of finiteness to semantic/discourse-pragmatic dependence and thematic continuity in linked states of affairs.

In: Clause Linkage in the Languages of the Ob-Yenisei Area

Abstract

The chapter is a comprehensive description of clause linkage in both Enets (< Samoyedic < Uralic) lects—Forest Enets and Tundra Enets. The study is based on unpublished text corpora, which in sum contain texts recorded in 1967–2010 and include more than 230,000 tokens. The main strategies of Enets clause linkage are juxtaposition, used for clausal coordination and for some types of complement clauses, and the nonfinite strategy, used for other types of bi-clausal constructions. Still, constructions with conjunctions are also widespread, including, firstly, conjunction-like uses of native particles, secondly, conjunction-like uses of wh-words and, thirdly, conjunctions borrowed from Russian.

In: Clause Linkage in the Languages of the Ob-Yenisei Area

Abstract

The chapter investigates clause-linking strategies in Northern and Southern Evenki varieties, relying on natural language data from the INEL Evenki Corpus. As expected from an areal-typological point of view, clause linkage is chiefly asyndetic in Evenki, making use of non-finite verb forms if necessary. Still, also syndetic constructions occur in more recent data, whereby interrogative pronouns or (borrowed) conjunctions function as linking elements. Besides these general patterns, the chapter points to two special features: First, Evenki (like other Tungusic languages) exhibits internally headed relative clauses (Section 6.3). Second, the Taimyr Evenki variety, heavily influenced by Dolgan (< Turkic), shows patterns of clause chaining, otherwise not typical for Evenki and Tungusic languages.

In: Clause Linkage in the Languages of the Ob-Yenisei Area
In: Clause Linkage in the Languages of the Ob-Yenisei Area

Abstract

Kamas is an extinct Samoyedic language which used to be spoken in Southern Siberia. Its last speaker, Klavdiya Plotnikova, was recorded in 1963–1970. This chapter is based on the INEL Kamas Corpus, comprising texts collected by Kai Donner in 1912–1914 and all known recordings of Plotnikova. In earlier Kamas, the preferred clause linkage strategies were asyndetic, mostly involving general or specialized nonfinite forms. Due to heavy Russian influence, syndetic strategies using borrowed conjunctions expanded greatly in Plotnikova’s variety. While general converbs, participles and infinitives were multifunctional, each of the broadly conceived functions could also be expressed with various means.

In: Clause Linkage in the Languages of the Ob-Yenisei Area
Author:

Abstract

This chapter focuses on clause linkage in Ket. As expected from a polysynthetic language, it exhibits a significant use of asyndetic constructions in coordination, relative clauses, and certain types of complement clauses. However, the majority of adverbial and complement clauses in Ket show a wide range of formally distinct subordinating structures that mimic the formation of subordinate constructions found in neighbouring languages. These structures employ relational morphemes while preserving fully finite forms instead of adopting nonfinite morphology. This demonstrates a case of typological accommodation, where Ket adapts to resemble surrounding languages without abandoning its core traits.

In: Clause Linkage in the Languages of the Ob-Yenisei Area

Abstract

The Mansi language is spoken in Western Siberia and belongs to the Finno-Ugric language family, which forms a branch of Uralic languages. Clause linkage strategies in Mansi include syndetic and asyndetic constructions and non-finite subordination. Coordination relations are generally expressed by mere juxtaposition, but syndetic coordination can also be found with native and borrowed conjunctions. Subordination relations are usually expressed by using non-finite forms. However, syndetic and asyndetic subordination is also possible, although the former cannot appear in complement clauses. The increase of syndetic subordination with borrowed (i.e. Russian) conjunctions is not typical of Mansi.

In: Clause Linkage in the Languages of the Ob-Yenisei Area