Dukhan, a Turkic variety of Northern Mongolia: Description and Analysis [76, 1 ed.] 9783447059077, 9783447190671

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TURCOLOGICA Herausgegeben von Lars Johanson Band 76

2011

Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden

Elisabetta Ragagnin

Dukhan, a Turkic Variety of Northern Mongolia Description and Analysis

2011

Harrassowitz Verlag · Wiesbaden

Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografi sche Daten sind im Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar. 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.d-nb.de.

For further information about our publishing program consult our website http://www.harrassowitz-verlag.de © Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG, Wiesbaden 2011 This work, including all of its parts, is protected by copyright. Any use beyond the limits of copyright law without the permission of the publisher is forbidden and subject to penalty. This applies particularly to reproductions, translations, microfilms and storage and processing in electronic systems. Printed on permanent/durable paper. Printing and binding: Hubert & Co., Göttingen Printed in Germany ISSN 0177-4743 ISBN 978-3-447-05907-7 e-ISBN PDF 978-3-447-19067-1

To my father

VII

Contents Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................

1

1 Introduction ................................................................................................................... 3 1.0 The present research ............................................................................................. 3 1.1 Previous studies .................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Fieldwork and data base ........................................................................................ 3 1.3 Methodology and theoretical background ............................................................. 5 1.4 Transcriptions ....................................................................................................... 6 1.5 Abbreviations and other conventions .................................................................... 9 1.6 Organization of the study ...................................................................................... 10 2 The speakers of Dukhan ................................................................................................ 2.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 2.1 The Dukhan people ............................................................................................... 2.2 Historical background ........................................................................................... 2.3 Naming of the Dukhan people ..............................................................................

13 13 13 17 20

3 The Dukhan language .................................................................................................... 3.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 3.1 The position of Dukhan within the Turkic language family ................................. 3.2 The Sayan language complex ............................................................................... 3.2.1 Standard Tuvan .................................................................................................. 3.2.2 Tuvan dialects .................................................................................................... 3.2.3 Tofan .................................................................................................................. 3.2.4 The Soyot variety of Buriatia ............................................................................. 3.2.5 Other Sayan varieties in Mongolia ..................................................................... 3.2.6 Sayan Turkic varieties in China ......................................................................... 3.2.7 Steppe Sayan Turkic vs. Taiga Sayan Turkic .................................................... 3.3 Linguistic features of Dukhan ............................................................................... 3.3.1 Typological profile............................................................................................. 3.3.2 Dukhan classificatory features ........................................................................... 3.4 Language status and use ........................................................................................

23 23 23 23 24 25 25 26 26 27 28 28 28 29 31

4 The sound system: phonemes and allophones ............................................................... 4.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 4.1 The vowel system ................................................................................................. 4.1.1 The low unrounded vowel phonemes ................................................................ 4.1.1.1 The phoneme /a/ .............................................................................................. 4.1.1.2 The phoneme /aa/ ............................................................................................ 4.1.1.3 The phoneme /e/ .............................................................................................. 4.1.1.4 The phoneme /ee/ ............................................................................................

33 33 33 34 34 34 35 35

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Contents

4.1.2 The low rounded vowel phonemes .................................................................... 4.1.2.1 The phoneme /o/ ............................................................................................. 4.1.2.2 The phoneme /oo/ ........................................................................................... 4.1.2.3 The phoneme /ö/ ............................................................................................. 4.1.2.4 The phoneme /öö/ ........................................................................................... 4.1.3 The high unrounded vowel phonemes ............................................................... 4.1.3.1 The phoneme /i/ .............................................................................................. 4.1.3.2 The phoneme /ii/ ............................................................................................. 4.1.3.3 The phoneme /ï/ .............................................................................................. 4.1.3.4 The phoneme /ïï/ ............................................................................................. 4.1.4 The high rounded vowel phonemes ................................................................... 4.1.4.1 The phoneme /u/ ............................................................................................. 4.1.4.2 The phoneme /uu/ ........................................................................................... 4.1.4.3 The phoneme /ü/ ............................................................................................. 4.1.4.4 The phoneme /üü/ ........................................................................................... 4.1.5 Diphthongs ........................................................................................................ 4.1.6 Semi-long vowels .............................................................................................. 4.1.7 Vowel phonemic inventory ............................................................................... 4.2 The consonant system .......................................................................................... 4.2.1 Labials ............................................................................................................... 4.2.1.1 The phoneme /p/ ............................................................................................. 4.2.1.2 The phoneme /b/ ............................................................................................. 4.2.1.3 The phoneme /m/ ............................................................................................ 4.2.2 Dentals/alveolars ............................................................................................... 4.2.2.1 The phoneme /t/ .............................................................................................. 4.2.2.2 The phoneme /d/ ............................................................................................. 4.2.2.3 The phoneme /n/ ............................................................................................. 4.2.2.4 The phoneme /s/ ............................................................................................. 4.2.2.5 The phoneme /z/ ............................................................................................. 4.2.2.6 The phoneme /l/ .............................................................................................. 4.2.2.7 The phoneme /r/ ............................................................................................. 4.2.3 Postalveolar/palatals .......................................................................................... 4.2.3.1 The phoneme /ǰ/ .............................................................................................. 4.2.3.2 The phoneme /š/ ............................................................................................. 4.2.3.3 The phoneme /ž/ ............................................................................................. 4.2.3.4 The phoneme /y/ ............................................................................................. 4.2.3.5 The phoneme /č/ ............................................................................................. 4.2.4 Velar/postvelars ................................................................................................. 4.2.4.1 The phoneme /k/ ............................................................................................. 4.2.4.2 The phoneme /g/ ............................................................................................. 4.2.4.3 The phoneme /ŋ/ ............................................................................................. 4.2.5 Glottals .............................................................................................................. 4.2.5.1 The phoneme /h/ ............................................................................................. 4.2.6 Consonant phoneme inventory .......................................................................... 4.3 Principles of the broad transcription.....................................................................

36 36 36 36 37 37 37 38 38 38 38 38 39 39 39 39 40 40 41 41 41 42 42 42 42 43 43 44 44 44 45 45 45 46 46 46 47 47 47 48 49 49 49 50 51

Contents

IX

5 Phonotactics and morphophonology.............................................................................. 5.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 5.1 Syllable types ........................................................................................................ 5.2 Phonotactic rules ................................................................................................... 5.3 Morphophonological variations ............................................................................ 5.3.1 Morphophonological variations in stems ........................................................... 5.3.1.1 Morphophonology of strong consonants ......................................................... 5.3.1.2 Morphophonology of weak consonants .......................................................... 5.3.2 Vowel loss .......................................................................................................... 5.3.3 Distant assimilations .......................................................................................... 5.3.4 Morphophonological variations in suffixes........................................................ 5.3.4.1 Consonantal assimilations ............................................................................... 5.3.4.2 Suffix vocalization .......................................................................................... 5.4 Sandhi phenomena ................................................................................................ 5.5 Metathesis .............................................................................................................

55 55 55 56 56 56 57 58 60 60 61 61 65 66 67

6 Diachronic phonology ................................................................................................... 6.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 6.1 Proto-Turkic .......................................................................................................... 6.2 Vowels .................................................................................................................. 6.2.1 Short vowels ...................................................................................................... 6.2.1.1 The sound alternation a ~ ï ............................................................................. 6.2.1.2 Fronting of /a/ ................................................................................................. 6.2.2 Long vowels and diphthongs ............................................................................. 6.2.3 Nasalized vowels ............................................................................................... 6.3 Turkic consonantal segments ................................................................................ 6.3.1 Fortis /p/ ............................................................................................................. 6.3.2 Lenis /b/ ............................................................................................................. 6.3.3 Nasal /m/ ............................................................................................................ 6.3.4 Fortis /t/ .............................................................................................................. 6.3.5 Lenis /d/ ............................................................................................................. 6.3.6 Lenis /n/ ............................................................................................................. 6.3.7 Fortis /s/ ............................................................................................................. 6.3.8 Lenis /z/.............................................................................................................. 6.3.9 Liquids /r/ and /l/ ................................................................................................ 6.3.10 Lenis /ǰ/ ............................................................................................................ 6.3.11 Fortis /š/ ........................................................................................................... 6.3.12 Lenis /ž/ ............................................................................................................ 6.3.13 The glide /y/ ..................................................................................................... 6.3.14 The nasalized palatal glide ỹ ............................................................................ 6.3.15 The palatal nasal sound ń ................................................................................. 6.3.16 Fortis /k/ ........................................................................................................... 6.3.17 Lenis /g/ ........................................................................................................... 6.3.18 The nasal velar /ŋ/ ............................................................................................ 6.3.19 The pharyngeal sound ħ ...................................................................................

69 69 69 70 70 71 71 71 72 72 73 73 73 73 74 74 74 75 75 75 75 76 76 76 78 78 79 79 79

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6.3.20 The glottal phoneme /h/ ................................................................................... 6.3.21 Long consonants .............................................................................................. 6.4 The fortis vs. lenis opposition .............................................................................. 6.5 Material copying ..................................................................................................

80 80 82 84

7 Word classes and derivation ......................................................................................... 7.0 Word classes......................................................................................................... 7.1 The word class ‘noun’ .......................................................................................... 7.1.1 Noun formation ................................................................................................. 7.1.1.1 Denominal nominal derivation ....................................................................... 7.1.1.2 Deverbal nominal derivation .......................................................................... 7.1.1.3 Nominal combination ..................................................................................... 7.1.2 Pronouns ............................................................................................................ 7.2 The word class ‘adjective’ .................................................................................... 7.2.1 Adjective formation ........................................................................................... 7.2.1.1 Denominal adjectival formation ..................................................................... 7.2.1.2 Deverbal adjectival formation ........................................................................ 7.2.1.3 Detensifying suffixes ...................................................................................... 7.2.1.4 Intensification ................................................................................................. 7.2.1.5 Privative adjectives ........................................................................................ 7.2.1.6 Quantifiers and determiners ........................................................................... 7.3 The word class ‘verb’ ........................................................................................... 7.3.1 Denominal verbal suffixes................................................................................. 7.3.2 Pronominal verbs............................................................................................... 7.3.3 Deadjectival verbal suffixes .............................................................................. 7.3.4 Synthetic deverbal verbal derivation ................................................................. 7.3.4.1 Iteratives, similatives and desideratives ......................................................... 7.3.4.2 Voice suffixes ................................................................................................. 7.3.5 Deverbal analytical derivation ........................................................................... 7.3.5.1 Actional modificators ..................................................................................... 7.3.5.2 Other auxiliary constructions .........................................................................

89 89 89 90 90 91 92 93 94 95 95 96 97 97 97 98 100 100 101 102 102 102 103 104 105 114

8 Inflectional morphology................................................................................................ 8.0 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 8.1 Nominal inflectional suffixes ............................................................................... 8.1.1 Plural suffix ....................................................................................................... 8.1.2 Possessive suffixes ............................................................................................ 8.1.3 Case suffixes ..................................................................................................... 8.1.3.1 Inflection of pronouns .................................................................................... 8.2 Verbal inflectional suffixes .................................................................................. 8.2.1 Negation of verbal stems ................................................................................... 8.2.2 Finite and non finite verbal inflectional suffixes ............................................... 8.2.2.1 Inflectional suffixes with exclusively finite function ..................................... 8.2.2.2 Inflectional suffixes with finite and non-finite function ................................. 8.2.2.3 Inflectional suffixes with exclusively non-finite function ..............................

121 121 121 121 121 122 128 133 133 133 133 133 139

Contents

XI

9 Aspect, mood and tense ................................................................................................. 9.0 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 9.1 Aspect and tense ................................................................................................... 9.1.1 Intraterminals ..................................................................................................... 9.1.1.1 The marker -Vr ................................................................................................ 9.1.1.2 The marker -Bǝšaan ........................................................................................ 9.1.1.3 The markers -(Ĭ)p-durǝ, -(Ĭ)p-ǰoorǝ, -(Ĭ)p-ǰïhtǝrǝ and -(Ĭ)p-olǝrǝ .................... 9.1.2 Postterminals ...................................................................................................... 9.1.2.1 The marker -GAn ............................................................................................ 9.1.2.2 The marker -GAndĬr(Ĭ).................................................................................... 9.1.3 The past marker -DĬ ........................................................................................... 9.2 Mood ..................................................................................................................... 9.2.1 The marker -J̌ ĬK ................................................................................................. 9.2.2 The marker -(Ĭ)ptĬr ............................................................................................. 9.2.3 The marker -V/y-dĬr(Ĭ) ....................................................................................... 9.2.4 Imperative forms ................................................................................................ 9.2.5 Voluntative forms .............................................................................................. 9.2.6 The marker -GAy................................................................................................ 9.2.7 The marker of epistemic possibility -KĬdeγ .......................................................

145 145 145 146 146 149 149 151 151 152 154 155 155 157 157 158 159 160 161

10 Other word classes ....................................................................................................... 10.0 Introduction ......................................................................................................... 10.1 Adverbs ............................................................................................................... 10.2 Postpositions ....................................................................................................... 10.2.1 Primary postpositions ....................................................................................... 10.2.2 Secondary postpositions: spatial nouns ............................................................ 10.3 Conjunctions ....................................................................................................... 10.4 Particles............................................................................................................... 10.4.1 Predicative copula particles ............................................................................. 10.4.2 Stance particles ................................................................................................ 10.4.2.1 Epistemic particles ........................................................................................ 10.4.2.2 Evidential particles ........................................................................................ 10.4.2.3 Rhetorical markers ........................................................................................ 10.4.3 Topicalization and focus particles .................................................................... 10.5 Existential particles ............................................................................................. 10.6 The interrogative particle BA .............................................................................. 10.7 Interjections ........................................................................................................

163 163 163 167 167 170 172 174 174 180 181 184 187 188 192 193 194

Appendix A: Texts ........................................................................................................... How to do things ......................................................................................................... Text 1: How to make the höngen-bread ...................................................................... Text 2: How to make the hïyma-sausage .................................................................... Text 3: Hunting techniques ......................................................................................... Text 4: Hunting ........................................................................................................... Text 5: The hanging cradle ......................................................................................... Text 6: Tanning the animal skin .................................................................................

195 195 195 197 198 200 206 208

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Contents

Text 7: Reindeer husbandry ....................................................................................... Text 8: Seasonal falling of reindeer horns .................................................................. Text 9: The hunting horn ............................................................................................ Text 10: The trip-bow ................................................................................................ Life stories .................................................................................................................. Text 11: Life story of Šanǰi Aššak.............................................................................. Text 12: Life story of Čuluu ....................................................................................... Text 13: Life story of Gantuya ................................................................................... Fairy Tales.................................................................................................................. Text 14: The story of the wolf .................................................................................... Text 15: The useful skin of the mole rat..................................................................... Text 16: The little fox and the blinded bear: version 1 .............................................. Text 17: The little fox and the blinded bear: version 2 .............................................. Text 18: The hunter and the bear................................................................................ Legends ...................................................................................................................... Text 19: Reindeer taming ........................................................................................... Text 20: The legend of the river Höömey ..................................................................

209 214 215 217 219 219 224 226 229 229 230 231 236 237 242 242 259

Appendix B: Map............................................................................................................. 273 References........................................................................................................................ 274 Index ................................................................................................................................ 287

Contents

XIII

List of Tables Table 1 Chart of vowel phonemes ....................................................................................... 40 Table 2 Chart of consonant phonemes ................................................................................. 50 Table 3 Principles of the broad transcription for vowels ..................................................... 51 Table 4 Principles of the broad transcription for consonants............................................... 52 Table 5 Morphophonological alternations of strong consonants in Sayan Turkic ............... 58 Table 6 Morphophonological alternations of weak consonants in Sayan Turkic ................ 59 Table 7 Morphophonemes in suffix-initial consonants ....................................................... 61 Table 8 Nasalized reflexes of PT *y-/d- in Sayan Turkic .................................................... 76 Table 9 Sayanic traces of F (ỹ/ń) ......................................................................................... 77 Table 10 Fortis lenis opposition .......................................................................................... 84 Table 11 Spirantization........................................................................................................ 85 Table 12 Inflectional paradigms of -ZA, -KĬšA and -DĬ .................................................... 142

Acknowledgments My gratitude goes first to the Dukhan informants, for having worked long hours with me, thus making this description possible. I would like to express my thanks to Bat, Čuluu, Darimaa, Erdenčimeg, Gantuya, Gombo, Pürüvee, Ganbat, Dagǰi, Ölǰee and Šanǰi Aššak, Sendeeli, Sarǝɣ and Hürelgaldan. My gratitude also goes to Oyunbadam and Dalaybayir, who helped me to transcribe many of the recorded texts, and for spending many hours to clarify obscure sentences in my tapes. I am also grateful to all of them for having accepted me into their community for long periods of time, giving me so many insights into their material and spiritual life. My taiga experience represents an unforgettable part of my life. A special word of thank is due to Lars Johanson for the supervision of this research and for accepting it in the series Turcologica. My equally big gratitude goes to Larry Clark for his comments and helpful remarks throughout all these years, and, last but not least, for correcting my English. I would also like to thank Robert M. W. (Bob) Dixon and Alexandra Y. (Sasha) Aikhenvald for the inspiring discussions during my stay at the Research Centre of Linguistic Typology at the La Trobe University from December 2001 to February 2002. I am also thankful to the Landesgraduiertenförderung (Mainz University) for the financial support of my doctoral studies from January 2000 to December 2002, and to the DAAD for having financed my fieldwork in 2001. Furthermore, I sincerely thank the following colleagues and friends for feedback and valuable comments and criticism, whether by providing advice, discussion, or bibliographical information: Kaadïr-ool Bičeldey, Uwe Bläsing, L. Bold, Zoya Čadamba, Marcel Erdal, Béla Kempf, Baiarma Khabtagaeva, Anastasia Mukhanova-Karlsson, Irina Nevskaya, Hans Nugteren, Mehmet Ölmez, Baylak Ooržak, Valentin I. Rassadin, András Róna-Tas, Marti Roos, Claus Schönig, Svetlana Seglenmey, Nadežda Sereedar, Polina Seren, Elena Skribnik, Jan-Olof Svantesson, Erika Taube, Mira Viktorovna, Aziyana BayïrOol and Aylana Irigit. I also wish to thank Sevgi Ağcagül for her precious technical help and Cornelia Kazmierczak from the phonetics department of Frankfurt University for working with me on segmentation of sound files. My sincere thanks also go to Barbara Krauss and Jens Fetkenheuer from Harrassowitz publishing house for their patience and constant readiness during the editing phase. Last but not least, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to Daan and to my parents for all their support throughout all these long years, without whom this book would have never come into existence. Öördǝm! All inaccuracies and mistakes, of course, are mine.

1 Introduction 1.0 The present research The present study is devoted to the description and analysis of Dukhan, an endangered Turkic variety spoken by approximately five hundred people in the Tsagaan-Nuur county of the Khövsgöl region of northern Mongolia (see map in Appendix A). Dukhan belongs to the Taiga subgroup of Sayan Turkic, itself a subgroup of the Siberian branch of the Turkic languages. This study is the first systematic linguistic investigation of Dukhan and is based exclusively on fieldwork materials. The present work is a revised version of my Ph.D. dissertation submitted to the University of Mainz in February 2007.

1.1 Previous studies The available scholarly material on Dukhan deals predominantly with ethnographical and anthropological questions; see Badamxatan (1960, 1962, 1987), Diószegi (1961, 1963), Farkas (1992), Wheeler (1999, 2000), Somfai Kara (1998), Pedersen (2003) and Plumey & Battulga (2003). These works also contain some lexical material. Dulam (1995) and Chagdarsürüng (1996) deal with matters related to Dukhan shamanism, whereas an insight in Dukhan traditional customs is given by Seren (2000). Dukhan has not yet been the subject of any systematic linguistic investigation. Seren published a brief survey on the Dukhan people and language (1993). The publications of Bold (1968, 1975, 1977a, 1977b, 1982) mostly dealt with the Sayan variety spoken in the Tsagaan-Üür county of the Khövsgöl region, referred to in Mongolian as “Uygar-Urianxay” (section 3.2.5). Finally, the previous publications of the author on Dukhan are listed in the references section.

1.2 Fieldwork and data base The present work is based on language materials collected during five periods of intensive fieldwork: September 1999, July-October 2000, August-October 2001, August-September 2002 and September 2008. The recordings were made using a DAT Digital Audio Tape Walkman [TCD-D100]. The Dukhan people are a nomadic group inhabiting the northernmost part of Mongolia’s Khövsgöl region. They nomadize in the forested area, or taiga, northwest of the Khövsgöl Lake, within the Tsagaan-Nuur district. This area borders the Republic of Tuva in the west and the Buryat Republic in the northeast. These areas are not easily reachable.

4

Introduction

After flying from Ulaanbaatar to Mörön, the capital city of the Khövsgöl region, one must take a harsh one-or-two-day trip by jeep to reach the village of Tsagaan-Nuur. In very recent years, however, road conditions have improved, with the building of bridges in strategic points. Previously, getting stuck on the way occurred quite frequently. From Tsagaan-Nuur, the taiga areas are then reachable in a couple of days on horseback. Before undertaking my fieldwork, I consulted the main publications on Sayan Turkic and collected all the historical, anthropological and ethnographical material I could find on the speakers of Dukhan. I prepared various lists of words and sentences both in Tuvan and in Mongolian for use in the initial investigation. The language I used for communicating during my first visit was Khalkha Mongolian. In this first phase, elicitation was an important working tool that allowed me to get the “key words and sentences,” i.e. basic vocabulary and some simple grammatical data that allowed me to construct a first linguistic base for my research. The Dukhans I met were very happy to have among them someone learning their language, a language which is usually regarded as a useless idiom by their Mongol neighbors. As soon as I learned to communicate in Dukhan, I used it for almost all communication. I actively participated in the routine work of the Dukhan community. Hunting was the only activity from which I, like all other women, was excluded. To let a woman participate in hunting supposedly brings bad luck. In the subsequent fieldwork sojourns, I already had knowledge of the language and used it for my everyday communication with the Dukhan people. For long periods only Dukhan was spoken around me. This full immersion was a rich source of linguistic data. Often, for example, some specific grammatical forms that I had been hunting for for days suddenly popped up spontaneously in the course of a conversation. This extremely valuable material was written down in a notebook that was always in my pocket. In the present study, this source material is quoted as “fieldnotes”. Dukhans also invested a lot of time in what I could call my “Dukhan education”. The topics included reindeer husbandry, religious beliefs, how to behave in certain circumstances, what to eat and what not to eat in the forest, how to prevent the assault of wild animals, how to prepare typical Dukhan dishes, how to castrate reindeer, how to mount and dismount a tent, how to pack reindeer for nomadizing, and others. I visited various Dukhan encampments in both the East and the West Taiga, as well as in the river areas of Khogrok and Kharmay (see section 2.1). During these intensive visits, I managed to make many recordings. The recorded material was transcribed in loco and obscure sentences were checked with Dukhans. Grammatical elicitation in order to check paradigms was carried out at various stages of the work. During my last period of fieldwork, my main goals were to fill various grammatical gaps, check hypotheses and clarify problematic parts of the texts. The texts presented in this study were recorded with the following primary informants, aged between 30 and 80, all native speakers of Dukhan. Those informants are listed here alphabetically:  J̌ . Bat (male, born in 1952, East Taiga) 

U. Čuluu (female, born in 1955, West Taiga)



G. Dalaybayir (female, born in 1977, East Taiga)

Methodology and theoretical background



G. Darimaa (female, born in 1956, East Taiga)



Č. Erdenčimeg (female, born in 1968, West Taiga)



G. Erdene (male, 1972-2009, East Taiga)



Č. Gantuya (female, born in 1976, East Taiga)

 

D. Gombo (male, born in 1947, East Taiga) J̌ . Pürüvee (female, born in 1958, East Taiga)



Šanǰi Aššak (male, born in 1933, East Taiga)

5

In addition, at various times, I intensively worked with the following Dukhans: J̌ . Bayindalay (male, born in 1964, East Taiga), S. Bayintogtog (female, born in 1959, West Taiga), Č. Dagǰi (male, born in 1950, West Taiga), P. Erdenčimeg (female, born in 1958, West Taiga), S. Gambat (male, born in 1960, East Taiga), J̌ . Ganzorig (male, born in 1959, West Taiga), Č. Gerel (female, born in 1968, West Taiga), R. Hürelgaldan (male, 1945, East Taiga), S. Narančuluu (female, born in 1960, West Taiga), D. Šarxüü [Sarǝɣ] (female, 1952, East Taiga). On the distinction East vs. West Taiga, see section 2.1.

1.3 Methodology and theoretical background This study is a first systematic analysis of the sound system and the morphology of Dukhan. The synchronic phonological description is taxonomic in the sense of that term developed by the Prague school. I have carried out instrumental analysis in order to check the most relevant features of the system. The diachronic phonological dimension follows the model of Johanson (1998a: 88– 106). With regard to word classes, the main categories of nouns, adjectives and verbs are distinguished from the less clearly defined categories of adverbs, particles, postpositions and interjections. As for the morphological structure, derivational and inflectional morphology will be dealt with. Concerning the description of the verbal categories aspect, mood and tense, Johanson (1971, 2000c) is followed. The impact of foreign languages on the lexicon, on the sound system and on the syntax of Dukhan is discussed in various sections of this study using the concepts and terms of the code-copying framework introduced by Johanson (1992, 2002). Thus, the lexicon is discussed in terms of global, selective and mixed copying. The first type refers to the process where a morpheme or morpheme sequence of a model code is copied into Dukhan in its entirety. Selective copying refers to the copying process where only selected properties of the donor language are copied into Dukhan, for instance, copying of sound properties (material) or structural properties (combinational). Mixed copies consist of a combinational copy which includes at least one global copy.

6

Introduction

This study is not meant to be a complete grammar of the Dukhan language, particularly as syntactic problems are not discussed independently in separate chapters. It should rather be viewed as work in progress. Nevertheless, it provides a substantial starting point for the analysis of Dukhan and a sufficient basis for further research. At the same time, this work is intended to be a contribution to the study of Siberian Turkic languages.

1.4 Transcriptions I have used three types of transcriptions in this description. The first type of transcription is a broad one and is similar to the one generally used in Turcological studies (see Deny et al. 1959: xiv–xv, and Johanson & Csató 1998: xviii–xxii). Like Johanson & Csató (1998), this broad transcription replaces the signs ä and ǧ used in Deny et al. (1959) with e and ǰ. It differs, however, from both in some respects. The distinction between front and back k-, g- and l-sounds is not shown in this transcription inasmuch as the frontness or backness of the syllable is indicated by its vowel. Another noticeable difference concerns the notation of vowels occurring in suffixes. This transcription uses the sign ǝ to represent the lax and reduced vowels occurring beyond the prominent syllable of a word. The second type of transcription is a narrow one and is based on the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). By means of this transcription it is possible to show the various allophones of the Dukhan sound system, as well as its assimilation processes and sandhi phenomena. This transcription is placed in square brackets in chapters 4, 5 and 6. Details on the IPA symbols are found in standard phonetics textbooks and in those listed in the references section. The third and last type of transcription is the phonemic one, which I have used only in chapter four. Thus, the reader should keep in mind that the broad transcription used elsewhere may contain different symbols than those found in the phonemic analysis of chapter four. As for Dukhan morphophonemic units, they are written with capital letters, following Turcological practice. Morphophonemic units of other Turkic languages and Mongolic languages are also represented with capital letters according to the rules explained in their standard grammars. The Cyrillic orthographical forms of Standard Tuvan, Tofan and Khalkha Mongolian have been transliterated into Latin characters, according to the standard practice of transliterating Cyrillic letters, but with the few changes outlined below. As for Tuvan and Tofan, the Cyrillic letters ы and й are transliterated as ï and y, respectively. The sign [ˁ] is used to transcribe the Cyrillic symbol ъ which is used in both Tuvan and Tofan orthographies to symbolize glottalization/pharyngealization. With respect to Khalkha Mongolian, the deviations from the standard practice concern the Cyrillic symbols ж, й, ы and ц which have been transliterated as ǰ, y, ï and ts, respectively. Cyrillic x, occurring in Tuvan and Mongol geographical and ethnic names, is represented by kh, following the common practice found in English publications.

Transcriptions

7

Reconstructed forms are based on the entries in Clauson (1972), as well as on forms provided in investigations on the topic. Finally, the symbols used in the broad transcription applied in this study are listed below: Vowels Unrounded vowels i represents the high front vowels [i] and [ɪ]. e represents the upper-mid front vowel [e] and the lower-mid front vowel [ɛ]. ï represents the high back vowel [ɯ] and the upper-mid back vowel [ɤ]. a represents the low central vowel [a] and the lower-mid central vowel [ɐ]. Rounded vowels ü represents the near-high front vowel [ʏ] and high central vowel [ʉ]. ö represents the upper-mid front vowel [ø] and the lower-mid front vowel [œ]. u represents the high back vowel [u] and [ʊ]. o represents the upper-mid back vowel [o] and the lower-mid back vowel [ɔ]. Lax vowels The symbol [ǝ], schwa, represents the broad range of lax vowels that occur beyond the prominent position of the word: [ɨ], [ʉ], [ɘ], [ɵ], and [ǝ]. Consonants Labial consonants p represents the voiceless bilabial stop [p] and the devoiced bilabial stop [b̥]. b represents the voiced bilabial stop [b]. β represents the voiced bilabial fricative [β]. m represents the voiced bilabial nasal [m]. Dental/alveolar consonants t represents the voiceless alveolar stop [t] and the devoiced alveolar stop [d̥]. d represents the voiced [d]. s represents the voiceless fricative [s]. z represents the voiced fricative [z] and the voiced alveolar affricate [ʣ]. n represents the voiced nasal [n]. l represents the voiced lateral approximants [l] and [ɫ] (velarized). r represents the trill [r].

8

Introduction

Postalveolar/palatal consonants š represents the voiceless alveolo-palatal fricative [ʃ]. č represents the voiceless alveolo-palatal affricate [ʧ]. ǰ represents the voiced alveopalatal affricate [ʤ] and the devoiced [ʤ̥̊ ]. ń represents the voiced palatal nasal [ɲ]. y represents the palatal glide [j]. Velar/postvelar consonants k represents the voiceless stops [k] and [q]. g represents the voiced/partly voiced stops [ɡ], [g̊], [ɢ] and [ɢ̊ ]. x represents the voiceless fricatives [x] and [χ]. γ represents the voiced fricatives [ɣ] and [ʁ]. ŋ represents the voiced velar nasal [ŋ]. Glottal and pharyngeal consonants h represents the voiceless glottal fricative [h] word-initially and word medially. When preceded by the superscript h, h represents the pharyngeal glottal fricative [ћ]. Diacritics A superscript j designates palatalization, e.g. dj. A superscript tilde ̃ designates nasalization, e.g. ỹ (nasalized palatal glide). A right- or left-sided superscript h designates strong aspiration, e.g. ph- and -hp.

9

Abbreviations and other conventions

1.5 Abbreviations and other conventions Grammatical abbreviations occurring in the interlinear glosses are the following: ABL ACC ADJ.DER ADV.DER AGR AST CAUS CB COLL COMP COND COOP COP DAT DES DIR ECH.DER EMPH GEN HF IMP INT INTRA ITER ITJ LF

ablative accusative adjectival derivation adverbial derivation agreement assertive causative converb collective completive conditional converb cooperative copula dative desiderative directive second participant of an echo-compound emphatic genitive high-focal imperative intensification intraterminal iterative interjection low-focal

Further abbreviations are: NAS:

nasalization PT: Proto-Turkic wM.: Written Mongolian Other signs used are: * reconstructed forms // normal pause / short pause → leads to ← copied from

LIM LOC MED N.DER NEG NF PASS PAST PL POSS POST POT PTC Q REC REFL RES SG SIM V.DER VBN VOL

1 2 3

limitative converb locative medial nominal derivation negative non-focal passive past plural possessive postterminal potential particle question particle reciprocal reflexive resultative singular similative verbal derivation verbal nominal voluntative first person second person third person

10

Introduction

~ alternates with < has developed from > has developed into C consonant T Text V vowel X nominal or verbal stem Three dots ... refers to hesitations of the speakers. The symbol [...] refers to an omission of text parts. A right-sided superscript f designates a fortis consonant. A right-sided superscript l designates a lenis consonant. Two types of cross-references are used. The first type refers to chapter and section numbers, e.g. 5.2 is section 2 of chapter 5. The second type of reference preceded by the letter T refers to sentences from the texts included at the end of the work in Appendix A. For example, T3:2 means sentence 2 of text 3. Examples are numbered consecutively within each chapter. In keeping with common Turcological practice, verbal bare stems are marked with a dash, e.g. utǝ- ‘to sleep’. Denominal suffixes are marked with a + sign, e.g. +LĬG, whereas deverbal suffixes are marked with a - sign, e.g. -GAn. The enclitic particle -(Ĭ)l also is marked with a - sign. As customary in grammatical glossing, stems and suffixes are separated by means of a small dash (-). However, where segmentation was not possible, the sign (:) has been employed.

1.6 Organization of the study This study is structured in ten chapters followed by two Appendices, and references. Chapter 1 briefly presents the subject of research, the methods applied and the conventions used. Chapter 2 provides an introduction to the Dukhan people of today and an overview of their ethnohistorical background. Chapter 3 deals, in its first part, with the position of Dukhan within the Turkic language family, and gives an overview of the other varieties that constitute the Sayan group of Turkic. The second part outlines the typological profile of Dukhan and some of its distinctive features. Some sociolinguistic considerations conclude the chapter. Chapter 4 describes the phonological system of Dukhan, and defines its vowel and consonant phonemes, as well as its allophonic variation. Chapter 5 deals with phonotactic patterns and morphophonological variation. Chapter 6 deals with diachronic phonology. Chapter 7 discusses the derivational morphology of nouns, adjectives and verbs. Chapter 8 treats the inflectional morphology of nouns and verbs. Chapter 9 examines the verbal categories of aspect, mood and tense. Chapter 10 deals with adverbs, postpositions, conjunctions, particles and interjections.

Organization of the study

11

Appendix A contains a corpus of twenty interlinearized texts organized according to the topics “How to do things”, “Life stories”, “Fairy tales” and “Legends”. The first line represents the phonetic IPA-based transcription, the second line represents the broad transcription and the third and last line provides morpheme-by-morpheme glosses. The English translation is given separately at the end of each interlinear text. Appendix B contains a map, showing the present location of speakers of Dukhan and their nomadizing areas.

2 The speakers of Dukhan 2.0 Introduction This chapter provides a presentation of the speakers of Dukhan of today as well as an overview of their ethnohistorical background.

2.1 The Dukhan people The Dukhan people are a Turkic-speaking nomadic group inhabiting the northernmost regions of Mongolia’s Khövsgöl region. They call themselves tuhha ulǝs ‘Dukhan1 people’ and their language is referred to as tuhha sös ‘Dukhan language’. The number of speakers of Dukhan is approximately 500. Dukhans live nowadays within the district of Tsagaan-Nuur (see map in Appendix B). This area borders on the northeast with the Buryat Republic, where the eastern Sayan Range functions as a natural border, and on the west with the Tuvan Republic. This region shows a very rich combination of mountain territory with abundant forest and river basins and high-land steppes. The forested zone, better known as taiga, consisting primarily of birch, cedar, larch and spruce, is home to many mammals such as fox, squirrel, sable, lynx, wolf, wolverine, snow leopard, roe-deer, elk, moose, wild reindeer and brown bear. Common fish found in the area are the Siberian salmon, sig, taimen, lenok and grayling. As for birds, this area is home to a multitude of various hawks, vultures, francolines, ravens, cuckoos, wood-grouses, woodpeckers, larks, titmouses and many water birds. The climate is continental with winter temperatures that can drop below -65 °C in the forested areas. July, with an average temperature of 15 °C, is the hottest month but also the most infested by mosquitoes in the swampy areas. The first snow usually falls around mid-August.2 The Dukhan people can be divided into three groups according to their geographical location: a. reindeer-breeding families of the East Taiga b. reindeer-breeding families of the West Taiga c. families living in the village of Tsagaan-Nuur and in the river areas nearby The lifestyle of the Dukhan households living in the taiga areas, i.e. group (a) and (b), is characterized by nomadic pastoralism based on the breeding of reindeer (rangifer tarandus). They depart in this respect from all other inhabitants of Mongolia by being the 1 I use the English term Dukhan to refer to both the people and their language. It is parallel to terms such as Tuvan and Tofan. 2 Climate changes have, however, also affected this region.

14

The speakers of Dukhan

only reindeer breeders of the country. They follow the so-called Sayan-type of reindeer breeding; see Vainshtein (1980: 120–144) for details. Approximately 30-32 households, roughly 180 people, follow this type of nomadic pastoralism. They are geographically divided into two groups: those of the East Taiga and those of the West Taiga. The East Taiga is situated on the northeast of the Shishigt river, 3 i.e. to the north of the village of Tsagaan-Nuur, whereas the West Taiga is situated southwest of the Shishigt river, i.e. to the south of Tsagaan-Nuur. The Shishigt river flows east to west and constitutes one of the main sources of the Yenisey river. The families of the East Taiga winter over in a sheltered valley in the neighborhood of Khogrok, whereas those of the West Taiga winter over not far away from Kharmay (see map in Appendix B). Around April, when the reindeer start breeding, Dukhans move back to more remote areas in the forest. During the month of July, Dukhans reach their highest camps to avoid the infestation of insects. Some encampments4 move camp very often, even every two or three weeks, to provide their reindeer with fresh fodder. However, some other groups have their headquarters rather near to the river areas also in the summer months. In this way, they are more easily reachable by tourists (see below). Dukhans living in the taiga dwell in peculiar conical tents which are called, in their own Turkic phrase, alaǰǝ öγ ‘pole-dwelling’.5 The frame of this construction is made of birch poles (alaǰǝ), which are left behind when moving to a new camp. The external layer nowadays is made of a waterproof synthetic material, whereas in the past reindeer skin and birchbark were used. The tent has a small door facing southeast like the Mongolian yurt. These tepees, as they are often called in the western literature, are bigger and larger in summertime but smaller and often provided with a wooden basement in the winter months to protect against the cold. The internal organization of the alaǰǝ öγ has much in common with the Mongolian yurt. The fireplace is in the middle and to the right are the private areas where food and cooking utensils are kept. In the past the fireplace used to be outside. To the left of the door (from the outside) the hygienic items such as toothbrushes and soap are hung. There, on the ground, the saddles are kept, which are of three types: people saddles (eser), pack saddles (ïngǝršak) and a special saddle for infants and small children (eerǝmeeš). The area opposite of the entrance, which is the place of honor of the tepee, hosts the eeren, a sacred object for the Dukhans that represents the guardian spirits of the family. A wood gahhay (hanging cradle) is attached to the poles of the tepee and hangs to the right of the rear if there is a baby in the family (see Text 5 in Appendix A). On hooks made of reindeer horn called askǝ, Dukhans also hang various items, such as small bags containing some food or containers with reindeer milk. Covering the entire interior walls are different bags like parβa ‘reindeer saddlebags’, which contain various things, mostly clothes and blankets. These bags also provide 3 The Shishgit River has historical importance. It was here that the submission of the Tümen Oyirat occurred; see de Rachewiltz (2006: 163–164) for details. 4 I use here the English word ‘encampment’ to translate Dukhan aal that refers to a group of closely related families herding and migrating together. 5 This kind of conical dwelling used to be common to all Taiga Sayan peoples; further see Potapov (1964: 397), Vainshtein (1980: 244), Seren (2006: 9) and Rassadin (2010: 72b).

The Dukhan people

15

insulation against the cold winds from the outside. When nomadizing, these bags are filled with all their belongings and loaded on the reindeer. Dismantling the pole-dwelling, packing and loading the reindeer can be completed in about an hour. The life of the Dukhans depends on the herding of reindeer and the exploiting of the forest. Reindeer graze all day long almost unattended. In the evening, when they come back, they generally receive some salt, which they love, just like other bovines. They then get tightly fastened to small wooden stakes in the ground very near to the tepees for the night. Additionally, Dukhans have horses and some goats. The latter were recently donated by the Mongolian government. Horses and goats are kept separate in lower areas since in the taiga they can not find suitable fodder. Hunting provides Dukhans with meat for their own diet and pelts for trading and acquiring goods. In the forest, they also gather gök hat ‘blueberries’, inek garaa ‘black currants’, ãy ‘lily bulbs’, maŋgǝn ‘wild garlic’ and gusǝk ‘pine nuts’. Fishing is carried out using atǝr neš ‘tridental wood’, phötpe ‘fishing pole’ and tïrhtkǝ ‘a hooked stick’. However, even though abundant rivers flow in the area where Dukhans live, they fish rather infrequently.6 Additional monetary income comes from selling artefacts made of dry reindeer or maral deer antlers, from international humanitarian help and, mostly in the summer, from tourism.7 Concerning their diet, the main sources of protein are dairy products and meat. Reindeer milk, which has a high fat content, is used primarily for preparing süttǝɣ šay, the widely drunk milky tea, and different kinds of cheese like pïhštak ‘the large-shaped cheese’ and hurǝt ‘the small round-shaped cheese’. Some milk is used to make aǰǝγ süt ‘sour milk’, a thick sour cream which is eaten on bread. In the winter, when reindeer are unproductive, frozen aǰǝγ süt is used to prepare the milky tea. Each family has a metallic jar of aǰǝγ süt and everyday a little bit of milk is added there. Fresh milk can also be boiled for a couple of minutes to turn it into a thick cream called hööretken süt ‘risen milk’ which is eaten hot on bread and often mixed with sugar as well. A couple of spoons of it equal a complete meal. There is no alcoholic drink derived from fermenting reindeer milk parallel to the ‘kumiss’ beverage made from mare’s milk (cf. Tuvan xïmïs) or to the ‘milk-vodka’ made from distilled milk (cf. Tuvan araga). From flour they make their traditional bread höngen, a ring-shaped bread cooked under the ashes (see text 1 in Appendix A), and also hileep, a bread cooked in a metallic pot according to the Russian style. They prepare Mongolian-style food as well, including poosǝ ‘meat dumplings’ (cf. Khalkha Mongolian buuz), tsuyvan ~ suyvan ‘dish with meat, vegetables and fried pasta’ (cf. Khalkha Mongolian tsuivan) and panšǝ ‘boiled meat dumplings’ (cf. Khalkha Mongolian banš).8 Meat mainly serves to prepare mün, a very thick broth, enriched with noodles or rice and 6 Also Carruthers (1913: 229) mentions in his detailed description of the reindeer herding Uriangqai (section 2.3) that they are hunters and trappers but not fishermen. The real fishlovers and expert fishermen of this area, on the other hand, are the Darkhat people. On fishing among the Sayan peoples, see Potapov (1964: 394) and Vainshtein (1980: 189). 7 As the only reindeer herders of Mongolia, Dukhans have become quite a tourist attraction. Both national and international travel agencies may include a trip to the Dukhan people among their itineraries. 8 All such Mongol dishes are, however, ultimately of Chinese origin (Süxbaatar 1997: 209, 47 and 37).

16

The speakers of Dukhan

lily bulbs. In wintertime, when meat is abundant, Dukhans cut the meat into medium-sized stripes, skewer it on a wooden stick and slowly let it cook in the fire. They call this system pïhškǝnnap ǰe- (‘ripe’-V.DER-CB + ‘to eat’), a cooking system that certainly recalls the Turkish döner kebab. When the Dukhan people were asked which dish they consider as their gourmet specialty, they pointed to hïyma, a special kind of sausage which they prepare on special occasions (see text 2 in Appendix A). As for reindeer skin, they use it to create carpets to sit and sleep on. Its insulating effect equals a professional outdoor isomattress. With reindeer skins Dukhans also manufacture boots mostly for children and various souvenirs like little bags, needle holders, and so on, to sell to tourists. Daily life in the taiga includes, besides pastoral activities, a constant visiting between members of the same camp or of nearby camps. This activity actually is called in Dukhan tuhha yosǝ ‘Dukhan tradition’. Not to participate is considered extremely rude. Concerning their spiritual world, Dukhan beliefs are animistic, i.e. they worship nature. Shamans play an important role as intermediaries between the material and the spiritual world. Dukhans have nevertheless also adapted to changes in their environment due to outside forces. Modern technology has reached the taiga areas. Nearly all families possess a solar panel that produces energy to power both radio and television that broadcast programs in Mongolian. Besides, a radio phone connects each taiga encampment with the village of Tsagaan-Nuur and among each other. Since 2009 there also is mobile phone network coverage in the taiga camps. Nearly all Dukhans have a mobile phone, especially the younger ones. Finally, since last year the village of Tsagaan-Nuur has had connection to the internet. It is not excluded that in the near future internet access will be available in the taiga as well, something the Dukhans desire a lot. As for those Dukhan people presently not involved in reindeer breeding in the taiga area (listed under point (c)), they live both in the village of Tsagaan-Nuur and in the neighboring river areas of Khogrok and Kharmay (see map in Appendix B). They follow the Mongolian style of nomadic pastoralism and raise mostly cows, goats and sheep. These Dukhans live in direct contact with Darkhat Mongols, who are said to be of Turkic, probably Tuvan origin, though their language has been replaced with a variety of Mongolic.9 There are cases of mixed marriages with Darkhat Mongols. The feeling of belonging to one of the two taiga groups is still quite vivid. In the summer, some of these Dukhans join the Dukhan households in the taiga and herd reindeer with them. As has become clear to researches, the Dukhans are subject to an ongoing process of Mongolization that already had started decades ago in the Communist era (see next section) that is difficult to stop. The number of Dukhans living in the taiga areas and engaged in the traditional reindeer breeding culture is in progressive decline due to several factors. Reindeer death due to inbreeding and non-human predators, a dramatic decline in game for hunting in the forest, absence of the former Soviet infrastructure, especially with respect to veterinary care, are just some of the problems that the reindeer herding Dukhans are

9 On the Darkhat Mongols, further see Badamxatan (1961, 1987) and Žamcarano (1991). For Darkhat Mongolian, see Sanžeev (1930, 1931), Gáspár (2006) and Ragagnin (forthcoming).

Historical background

17

experiencing nowadays. Besides, many families prefer to winter over in the village to be together with their children who attend the boarding school there. There have been national and international initiatives for helping reindeer herding Dukhans to survive by adapting to the new life conditions and transformations.10 In this respect, it should be stressed that the possibility to enjoy modern technology in the taiga areas should be considered as a positive factor for the preservation of their traditional lifestyle and the preservation of their native Turkic idiom. On language endangerment, see section 3.4.

2.2 Historical background By engaging in conversation with elder Dukhans about the “old days”, it is possible to obtain first-hand information about their history. Speakers over 50 years old have a clear knowledge of the events concerning their history in the twentieth century. Dukhans identify themselves as Dukha tuhha, which is a phonetic variation of tuva/tuba, a designation common to various groups in the neighboring areas; e.g. tïva (tïˁ va) ‘Tuvan’ and tofa (toˁfa) ‘Tofan’. This name is generally connected with the Du-bo ~ Tu-po mentioned in Chinese sources who were a T’ieh-lê tribe living South of Lake Baykal (Golden 1992: 415; also cf. Okladnikov 1959). On the ethnonym tuva/tuba, further see section 2.3 below. During the Manchu period (1757‒1911), the Dukhans used to nomadize across a much larger area. At that time the territories of present day Tuva and Outer Mongolia were in fact under the same administration. This large territory was called Uriangqai, which used to encompass, among others, the territories of modern Tuva and Mongolia’s Khövsgöl region. In 1921, with the establishment of the political borders between Mongolia and Russia, the Soviets took over northern Uriangqai and renamed it Tannu-Tuva. Southern Uriangqai remained in Mongolia. For an explanation of the term Uriangqai, see section 2.3 below. In the 1920s the Mongolian government wanted to relocate the Dukhans back to Tuva. There are many reports of various families moving back and forth from Tuva to Mongolia. In order to avoid the Russian army draft for the Second World War and the collectivization, they moved out of Tuva. Because they did not encounter much sympathy among ethnic Mongols, they moved back from Mongolia to Tuva. They were called a people without a nation. At this time, they were often still dressed in reindeer skins and did not speak Mongolian well. This situation changed in 1956 when the Mongolian government recognized them as Mongolian citizens. In Mongolia, they apparently joined a small part of speakers of Sayan Turkic that had lived there for centuries. Being Mongolian citizens, they were thus integrated into the local Communist system which meant, from the economic point-of-view, the collectivization of the reindeer and the establishment of very rigid hunting rules. At this time, a collective fishery was built in the place which is now Tsagaan-Nuur to facilitate the 10 The Mongolian government has started to implement the project “Renovation of reindeer entities and improvement of Tsataan’s living standards” for the “Tsaatan minority groups of Uyghur origin” in Mongolia. This project will be implemented in two stages up to 2015. (Batbayar 2008: 154).

18

The speakers of Dukhan

settlement of the nomads. Many Dukhans abandoned their nomadic lifestyle and settled down there. It is reported that during the 1960s there were very few families in the taiga taking care of the collectivized reindeer. When the fishery closed down in 1990, many families returned to the taiga. Some families remained in the village and others started herding Mongolian-style cattle. For a detailed presentation of the events of these years, see Farkas (1992) and Wheeler (1999). The history of the Dukhan people before the twentieth century can not be traced independently of that of the neighboring peoples who identify themselves with a form of the ethnonym tuva/tuba. Moreover, this remains a complex subject, where many details remain unclear (see Potapov 1964: 380). Information is very scanty, especially about the inhabitants of the mountain-taiga area of the Sayan region. Within the Tuvan ethnos, the nomadic lifestyle based on reindeer-breeding and hunting surely links the Dukhans together with the Tuvans of the Bii-Khem and Kaa-Khem basins of eastern Tuva (i.e. Toju and TereKhöl Tuvans), with the Tofans, and with the Soyot of Buryatia (see further section 3.2.7). A detailed ethnohistory of the Dukhan people goes beyond the limits of the present study. I will confine myself to noting some historical stages which are important for the present study. Information on the history and ethnohistory of the Tuvan complex can be found in Clark (1997: 1‒9), Ewing (1981), Forsyth (1992: 21‒24, 279‒282, 372‒375), Mannay-ool (1981, 1986), Okladnikov (1959), Potapov (1964), Tatarincev (1990), Vainshtein [Vaynšteyn] (1961, 1980: 39‒45) and Wilhelm (1957). According to the prevalent view of historians and Turcologists, the populations bearing the ethnonym tuva/tuba were originally Samoyeds (i.e. speakers of languages belonging to the easternmost branch of the Uralic family) and Yeniseians (i.e. Paleosiberians) and were assimilated to Turkic in different historical times. From Antiquity till into the Middle Ages this area was inhabited mainly by various unknown and known peoples, for example by Indo-Europeans, mostly Iranians but possibly also Tokharians. A people bearing the ethnonym Du-bo ~ Tu-po was first registered in the Chinese annal Sui-Shu (covering the years 581‒618) at the turn of the 7th century. In the Chinese annal T’ang-Shu (618‒906) the same people were recorded as a component of the T’ieh-le tribal confederation, of which the Uyghurs and other Oghuz peoples also formed part, indicating that some had already been Turkized (Clark 1997: 3). According to these records, during the times of the Turkic first and second steppe empires (551‒744) and the Uyghur steppe empire (744‒840), the Tu-po lived south of the Kirghiz, south of the “small sea” (most probably Lake Baikal), and north of the Uyghurs; see Menges (1958‒1959: 90). This geographical description corresponds to modern Tuva and its neighboring territories. It is assumed that some nonTurkic groups, possibly Samoyeds and Yeniseians, or maybe others, switched to Turkic, i.e. started to be assimilated to Turkic especially during the time this region became subject to the Uyghur Steppe Empire (744‒840). Abundant archeological remains, including monuments written in the runic script of the standard language used by the Uyghurs, support this idea (Clark 1996: 20). Another Turkic group, historically documented, that has played a role in the Turkization of the area are the Kirghiz. In the 13th century, this area became part of the Mongol empire. In the Secret History of the Mongols mention is made of the Tubas and Tuqas (-s is a Mongolic plural suffix) among the so-called forest-people in the North who were subjugated by the son of Chinggis Khan, J̌ oči. The Dukhans may be connected with the

Historical background

19

latter; further on these names see section 5.3.1.1. It can be assumed that assimilation of some tribes to Mongol (and from Mongol to Turkic of others) started either just before or at this time. A second wave of Turkization of Samoyedic and Yeniseic groups, who lived originally in these same areas, is supposed to have started in conjunction with the Russian occupation of Siberia. Sources of the 18th and 19th centuries indicate that most of the Karagas (the previous name of the Tofans; see section 3.2.3) still spoke Samoyedic languages at that time; see, among others, Castrén (1857: vi) and Stubendorff (quoted in Rassadin 1978b: 190–191). The names of the clans (söök)’11 of the Dukhan can be explained by the historical facts just mentioned. The Dukhans with whom I interacted during my fieldwork belonged to the following clans: Soyan, Balïkšï and Urat. Soyan is the most widespread among the Tuvan clan names and is present among all the populations that bear the ethnonym tuva/tuba. Its origin is unknown but it cannot be separated from the geographical name Sayan for the mountain range. Whether one is based on the other cannot be answered at present. On the clan name Soyan, further see Schönig (2006: 217–218). The Balïkšï clan, which literally means ‘fisherman’ in Turkic, are thought to be descendants of the older Uyghurs who inhabited the Tere-Khöl area in eastern Tuva. The Urat are assumed to represent an assimilated Mongol group (Vainshtein 1980: 190). Wheeler (1999: 20–21) lists besides these three also Čoodu, Salčak and Dodot, specifying, however, that they are represented by few households. Salčak seems to represent a Mongolic element like the Urat, the Dodot probably are assimilated Kets and the Čoodu probably include Samoyedic elements (Vainshtein 1980: 43; 190). I was told in 2008 by an old lady from the West Taiga that the clans Čoodï and Dodot used to exist in the past but not any more. Seren (1993: 149) collected the clan names Höyüg, Demči and Darga in Tsagaan-Nuur during her fieldwork. On the other hand, in the 1960s, Badamxatan collected a total of eleven clan names (1960: 33). For an overview on Dukhan clan composition, also see Mongush (2003: 167– 168). Interestingly enough, the clan names Balagč, Khuular, Khirgis, Soyan and Uygur among the neighboring Darkhat Mongols clearly are of Turkic origin. Further see Badamxatan (1986: 43). 12

11 The word söök literally means ‘bone’ and is used by speakers of Sayan Turkic and by other peoples of Central Asia as a designation for ‘clan’. The corresponding Mongol word yas ‘bone’ also is used by Darkhat people in the same way; cf. in this respect the title of the monograph of Badamkhatan (1965) Xövsgöliin darxat yastan ‘The Darkhat clansmen of Khövsgöl’. 12 During my 2009 fieldwork, a Tuhan man from Tsagaan-Üür-village (section 3.2.5) told me that they call the Darkhat Hončin Soyot ‘sheep-herding Soyot’, which clearly points to the Soyot origin of the Darkhat peoples. On the term Soyot, see section 2.3 below.

20

The speakers of Dukhan

2.3 Naming of the Dukhan people Dukhans refer to themselves as tuhha, a name already recorded in the Chinese chronicle of the seventh century, as mentioned in the previous section. In paragraph §239 of the Secret History of the Mongols, reference is made to two separated groups among the forest peoples subjugated by J̌ oči: the Tubas and the Tuqas. Both forms, as will be explained later in section 5.3.1.1 ultimately go back to *tupa, representing the population inhabiting the Sayan area that was mentioned in the annal Tang-Shu, namely, the Du-bo ~ Tu-po. Forms going back to *tupa are found throughout Sayan Turkic, including tïva ‘Tuvan’, and tofa ‘Tofan’. Besides, one group belonging to Altay Turkic also is referred to as tuba (Pritsak 1959: 569). For the usage of this name among other Turkic peoples of South Siberia, see Schönig (2006). Although the Dukhan people identify themselves as tuhha, they have been designated by various names, especially in the Mongolian sources of the twentieth century, such as “Urianxay”, “Tayga Urianxay”, “Taigïn Irged” ‘peoples of the taiga’, “Oin Irged” ‘peoples of the forest’ and “Soyot” (Badamxatan 1962: 3). The term Uriangqai (also spelled Uriankhai, Urianhai, Uryangkhai, Uriyankhay and Uriyangqay in the literature) is one of the three terms (besides Soyot and Tyva) used to refer to all Sayan Turkic speakers. Its etymology is, however, still unknown. Its earliest reference in the form Wu-liang-hai is in the Liao-shih (Krueger 1977: 9). In the history compiled by Rašīd al-Dīn in the 14th century a distinction is made between the Uriangqat proper and the forest Uriangqat. The latter, who possibly were not Mongol-speakers, lived in the taiga, were dressed in animal skins, and used to eat the meat of their “mountain cattle” (reindeer?) and drank their milk. For those forest people, apparently, to guard sheep was considered a humiliation (Semenov & Khetagurov 1952: 123). The name Uriangqai is mentioned several times in the Secret History of the Mongols, without any clear ethnic or linguistic connotation; see de Rachewiltz (2006: 250‒251, 256, 276‒277, 399‒400). Around the same time, Rubruc [Rubruck] (2002: 161) mentioned a population called Orengai. According to Diószegi (1961: 197-199), Uriangqai is a term used in Mongolia to designate all the Turkic populations of the Mongolian territory who are animist, to distinguish them from the Kazakhs who are Muslims. For the possible Tungusic origin of the name Uriangqai, see Willhelm (1957) and on Uriangqai in general, also see Czaplicka (1914: 59–61) and Atwood (2004: 9a‒b). The term Soyot is a Mongolian plural form of the clan name Soyan that has just been mentioned above. Czaplicka (1914: 215) distinguished between Uriangqai, Soyot and Karagas. Another name for this people has been registered in the literature. Rassadin told me that when he visited the Dukhan people in the 1970s, they used to call themselves Uyghur. Nowadays, however, Dukhans no longer use this name. According to my informants, the term Uyghur apparently was just an official term used by the Mongolian government to classify Turkic people of Mongolia; also cf. Wheeler (1999: 17). Žamcarano (1991: 73) reported that the forest Uriangqai of Eastern Khövsgöl used to call both themselves and the Darkhat people “Uigur”. Carruthers (1913: 200), in his detailed and vivid account of the Uriangqai, mentioned the Darkhat peoples as near

Naming of the Dukhan people

21

neighbors of the Tobas, who live on the shores of Lake Khövsgöl together with the Uriangqai, the latter calling themselves “Uigur”. He also stated that the Darkhat are of the same race as the Uriangqai, but speak the Mongol language. Presently, in Mongolia, the term Uyghur is the self-designation only of about 20 families who live in Khovd Aymag capital and speak a variant of modern Uyghur with Khazakh influences; see Sugahara (1999). The name Uyghur also is found in the designation “Uygar-Urianxay”, especially used to define the Sayan speakers of East Khövsgöl area; see section 3.2.5. In Mongolian, Dukhans generally are called Tsaatan, a rather derogatory term meaning ‘those who have reindeer’ (tsaa ‘reindeer’ plus the denominal suffix +tVn), stressing in this way the fact that they are not like Mongolian herders. The Mongolian style of pastoral nomadism is based on the so-called five snouted animals: sheep, goats, cattle (cows and yaks), horses and camels. The appellation Tsaatan was first introduced by the Mongolian anthropologist Badamxatan in 1935.

3 The Dukhan language 3.0 Introduction This chapter discusses the position of Dukhan within the Turkic language family and gives an overview of the other varieties that constitute the Sayan group of Turkic languages to which Dukhan belongs. The typological profile of Dukhan its distinctive features, as well as sociolinguistic considerations are outlined in the second part of the chapter.

3.1 The position of Dukhan within the Turkic language family Dukhan belongs to the Sayan group of the Siberian branch of the Turkic language family. Sayan Turkic is a quite homogeneous group of languages of South Siberia; it forms together with Abakan-Yenisey Turkic, Chulum Turkic and Altay Turkic the southern branch of Northeastern or Siberian Turkic, i.e. the easternmost branch of the Turkic language family. On the overall classification of Turkic languages, see Johanson (1998a: 82–83). The South Siberian Turkic languages share many features, but at the same time have their own specifics. The Siberian branch has emerged relatively recently. Its varieties have developed on the basis of heterogeneous substrates. Many grammatical features typical of this area can be explained as cases of imposition due to non-Turkic substrates or as cases of adoption of new features due to non-Turkic adstrates. The contact languages of this area are Russian, Mongolic, Tungusic, Samoyedic, Ob-Ugric, and Paleosiberian varieties; see Hajdú (1953), Menges (1956), Janhunen (1989), Schönig (1997b) and Helimski (1995). The territory of present-day South Siberia has always been a melting-pot of peoples, cultures, and languages. Long-lasting contacts have formed isoglosses between Turkic varieties and between Turkic and other varieties, whether genealogically related or not. The linguistic history of the different nomadic groups of this area is largely unknown, but intermixing at various linguistic levels is obvious for all the varieties concerned.

3.2 The Sayan language complex Sayan Turkic constitutes a homogeneous group within the Siberian subbranch of Turkic. The language varieties that form this group are very close to each other and are mutually intelligible. The varieties of the Sayan group are: Standard Tuvan and its dialects, Tofan, the two varieties of Altay Tuvan spoken in Mongolia and China, Dukhan and “Uygar-Urianxay” spoken in northern Mongolia. Standard Tuvan has been raised to the status of official

24

The Dukhan language

language; thus, it is treated as an independent language. Tofan also is a standard language, although its status is quite weak. Speakers of Sayan Turkic identify themselves with the ethnonym tuba/tuva (see section 2.2). The ethnonym türk is not used in this area.1 For the classification of Sayan Turkic according to the steppe vs. taiga axis, see section 3.2.7 below. 3.2.1 Standard Tuvan The majority of the speakers of Sayan Turkic inhabit the Tuvan Republic within the Russian Federation. They call themselves as an ethnic group tïva (tïʔva) ulus and their native language tïva (tïʔva) dïl. The Tuvan Republic borders the Uvs and Bayan-Ölgiy provinces in the southeast of Mongolia, the Khövsgöl province of Mongolia, and the Buryat Republic of Russia in the east, the Irkutsk Oblast of Russia in the northeast, the Krasnoyarsk Krai in the northwest and north, and the Altay Republic of Russia in the west. The capital of the Tuvan Republic is Kyzyl. The current number of speakers is estimated to be around 200,000. Tuvan is the official language of the Tuvan Republic. The standard language was formed during the Soviet period, basically, between 1930 and 1940, like many other Turkic and non-Turkic languages; see Johanson & Csató (1998) and Johanson & Ragagnin (2006: 1891–1897). Standard Tuvan is normalized according to the orthographical, phonological and grammatical rules documented in Isxakov & Pal’mbax (1961). As the basis of the standard language, the central dialect was selected because it was spoken in the most densely populated region. In the process of language standardization many new words were created on the basis of morphological resources of the language, e.g. čagaa xavï (letter sack-POSS3) ‘envelope’, užar-xeme ‘airplane’ (lit. flying vessel), and so on. Standard Tuvan, like other Turkic languages in the Russian sphere of influence underwent a significant degree of lexical impact from Russian. Items copied in the language prior to the formation of the standard language today are written as they were then pronounced; e.g. sapïk ‘boots’ from Russian sapog. Items copied after 1943, such as škola ‘school’, are written according to the Russian orthography, but in pronunciation they are usually accommodated to the Tuvan sound system. Copying of elements from Russian has not been as intensive as in other Siberian Turkic languages, especially at the syntactic level. 2 The contact situation between Tuvan and Mongolian has a much longer history, since the Tuvan territory was part of the Mongol empires of Mongolia, a part of Outer Mongolia until 1921, and a neighbor at all times. Loanwords from Mongolian affect all word classes, e.g. egele‘to start’, berge ‘difficult’, yozugaar ‘in accordance with’ (from yosu ‘habit’ plus the instrumental case suffix -gVVr). Older Mongolic copies are recognizable by their phonetic shape. For example, Mongolic ǰ- generally corresponds to Tuvan č- as in Written Mongolian ǰayaγan, and modern Khalkha Mongolian zaya copied into standard Tuvan as čayan ‘destiny’. In the period 1930-1945, some elements were copied from Khalkha Mongolian. They differ from the older layer in that they reflect, in their orthography, the modern spoken forms of Khalkha Mongolian, e.g. xuviskaal ‘revolution’. These loans 1 For the ethnonym türk that has been applied to this language family, see Golden (1992: 115–117). 2 See, for instance, Nevskaya (2000) for Shor-Russian contact features.

The Sayan language complex

25

usually represent Mongolian neologisms and are currently used as synonyms of corresponding copies from Russian, as with revoljucija ‘revolution’. Common to all varieties of Sayan Turkic, to varying degrees, is substrate and adstrate influence of Samoyedic and Yeniseic languages that have disappeared from the Sayan area; see Menges (1956). Standard Tuvan, has been the subject of various linguistic investigations. General grammatical descriptions, besides the standard work of Isxakov & Pal’mbax (1961) just mentioned above, include Sat (1966, 1997), Monguš & Sat (1969), Menges (1959), Krueger (1977), Anderson & Harrison (1999) and Arıkoğlu (2007). With respect to Tuvan lexicon, Ölmez (2007) focuses on the parallels between Tuvan and Old Turkic on the one side, and with Written Mongolian on the other. The subject of Mongolic copies in Tuvan recently has been extensively treated by Khabtagaeva (2009). Finally, four volumes of a Tuvan etymological dictionary have been compiled by Tatarincev (2002, 2002, 2004, 2008). 3.2.2 Tuvan dialects Within the Republic of Tuva, Tuvan dialectologists distinguish four dialects (Sat 1987: 23– 26): 1.

the central dialect, which was chosen in the 1930s as the basis of the standard language;

2.

the western dialect, which shares some isoglosses with the neighboring Turkic language Khakas;

3.

the north-eastern dialect, which is the Tuvan dialect that is most different from standard Tuvan, sharing a number of isoglosses with Tofan;

4.

the southern dialect, which is the one most influenced by Mongolian due to the bilingualism of many of its speakers in Tuvan and in Mongolian.

Sat distinguished several mixed subdialects in the Tere-Khöl basin and in the KaaKhem area within the north-eastern zone of Tuva, where features of Toju and surrounding subdialects co-occur (1987: 63, 68). The Toju or Eastern Tuvans used to be semi-nomadic hunters and horse-breeders or reindeer nomadic pastoralists in the taiga, but nowadays most of them have settled down to villages and neighboring lower areas. Just a minority of them are still nomadic reindeer breeders. Besides tïʔva, the people of Toju region use the variants tuʔga and tuʔxa as a selfdesignation (Čadamba 1974: 16). The form tuxa also is used among the Sayan peoples of the Tere-Khöl area (Seren 2006: 37). The impact of the standard language on the dialects is rather strong. However, in more remote countryside areas, dialectal features are still not lost as I could verify in my 2006 visit to the Toju and Möngün Taiga regions. 3.2.3 Tofan Within the Russian Federation, another Sayan variety is spoken by the Tofan people. Their self-designation is toʔfa ~ tuʔfa ~ tïʔfa ~ toʔpa. In the literature, Tofans also are known under

26

The Dukhan language

the name Karagas, an older name of the Samoyeds who were assimilated by Turkicspeakers. The Tofans are located along the higher reaches of the rivers Uda and Birusa, in a mountainous area situated in the eastern Sayan region of the south of the Irkutsk Oblast within the Russian Federation. This area is geographically separated from the Tuvan Republic by the eastern Sayan range. A political separation between the Tofan and the Tuvan people has existed already since the 17th century. The Tofans were part of the Russian sphere of influence, which isolated them from the very closely related Toju group of Tuvans, who belonged to the Manchu-Mongol orbit until the 20th century. The Tofan people traditionally lived as reindeer breeders and hunters, but nowadays most of them have settled down in the villages of Alygdzer, Nerkha and Gutara. Whereas Menges (1963: 74) reported the number of 400 speakers of Tofan, according to recent information, the active speakers of Tofan are fewer than forty (Harrison & Anderson 2008: 243). In 1989, efforts were made to turn Tofan into a written language; see Schönig (1993). The primary linguistic sources for the knowledge of Tofan are the works of Rassadin (among others, 1971, 1978, 1995 and 1997). 3.2.4 The Soyot variety of Buriatia Approximately 2,000 Soyot people reside in the Oka County of the southeastern part of the Buryat Republic. This area borders to the South with the Khövsgöl region of Mongolia, to the North with the Irkutsk Oblast and to the East with the Tunka County. In the past centuries, Soyots used to nomadize at the upper reaches of the Oka River. Their lifestyle was characterized by reindeer and yak breeding and hunting. However, by the end of the 19th century, the Soyot language had been replaced by Buryat and low land cattle breeding gradually replaced reindeer herding (Pavlinskaya 2003). In 2000, the Soyot people were recognized as one of the Indigenous Small-Numbered Peoples of the North in Russia. Since then, initiatives for the revitalization of their language and culture have been launched (Žukovskaya & Oreškina & Rassadin 2002). The primary sources on the Soyot variety are the works of Rassadin (2005a, 2005b, 2006, 2009, 2010a, 2010b). Interestingly enough, the Buryat variety spoken in this area is the most divergent form of that language, and it displays many features induced by contact with Turkic (Skribnik 2003: 102–103). The Turkic lexical impact on this Buryat variety was investigated by Rassadin (1985, 1989 and 1996). 3.2.5 Other Sayan varieties in Mongolia The largest community of speakers of Sayan Turkic in Mongolia is settled in the western regions of Bayan Ölgiy and Khovd Aymags. In the literature they also are known as Uriangqai or Altay-Tuvan. According to Sanders (1993: 183), they number about 22,000. Particularly concentrated groups are found in the Tsengel and Buyant sums of Khovd Aymag. There, the number of speakers can be estimated to be about 2,400 persons (Johanson 2001: 26). Some smaller groups also are found in Altanbulag sum of Selenga Aymag and in Zaamar sum of Central Aymag, due to the forced resettlements that occurred in the 1960-1970s. Altay Tuvans follow the Mongolian style of nomadic pastoralism.

The Sayan language complex

27

In the schools of Tsengel, Tuvan has been taught since 1989. According to Taube (1998: 654), grammars and textbooks brought from Tuva are used in these schools. For this and several other reasons, the local Tuvan dialect is now under the growing influence of standard Tuvan, which is considered to be more prestigious. Previously, education was available in Mongolian and since 1963, it also has been available in Kazakh (Sanders 1993: 191). Altay Tuvan has been the subject of many publications by the German scholar Erika Taube, who has carried out intensive investigations on the folklore of this people of Mongolia (among other 1978, 1996, 1998, 2007). A list of her works on Altay Tuvan is contained in Oelschlägel et al. (2005). On Altay Tuvan folklore, also see Seren (2000, 2006). With regard to linguistic investigations, Aydemir (2005) has analyzed the system of converbs of Altay Tuvan on the basis of the text corpus collected by Erika Taube. Sugahara (1999: 157–166) has written a report on the sound system of Buyant Tuvan in comparison with Standard Tuvan. Hashimoto & Purevjav (1999) conducted a lexical comparison between Tuvan and the Uyghur language of immigrants to western Mongolia from Xinjiang in China. Yet another small group of speakers of Sayan Turkic known in the literature as “UygarUrianxay”, but calling themselves tuha, resides to the East of Khövsgöl Lake in the homonymous province in Mongolia. This area stretches from the eastern shores of Lake Khövsgöl to the border with the Buryat Republic. Tuhan people are scattered over a territory encompassing the area between the counties of Tsagaan-Üür and Khankh. Their lifestyle is based predominantly on the herding of cows, which is hös in their idiom (all the other Sayan varieties display inek ‘cow’). Even though, geographically, they are rather near to the Dukhan people, there is no contact between the two groups and the varieties differ in many respects. Tuhan is presently actively spoken by not more than 50 individuals, all aged above 45. Some aspects of the “Uygar-Urianxay” language were investigated by Bold (1968, 1975, 1977a, 1977b, 1982) and recently by the author (Ragagnin 2009b). 3.2.6 Sayan Turkic varieties in China Another Tuvan variety is spoken in the Altay area of the Xinjiang-Uyghur Autonomous Region in China. This area is close to the borders of Kazakhstan, Mongolia and the Russian Federation. The majority of Tuvan speakers are found in the villages of Kom Kanas and Aq Qaba, and their number amounts to approximately 4,000 (Mawkanuli 2005: 1). The self-designation of its speakers is dïwa ǰurt ‘Tuvan people’. Other names commonly used to refer to them are: Altay Tuvan, Uriangqai and Monchak or Kök Monchak ‘Blue Button’. The last two designations are generally used by Kazakhs. The Altay Tuvans live in a Han Chinese environment and their language is under the strong influence of Kazakh and Mongolian. This Sayan variety has been the subject of linguistic investigations, including those of Geng (2000) and Mawkanuli (1999 and 2005). For some aspects of their history, language and culture also see Mongush (1996). Monika Rind is writing her doctoral dissertation at the Frankfurt University focusing on the syntax of Jungar Tuvan, based on her own fieldwork materials.

28

The Dukhan language

3.2.7 Steppe Sayan Turkic vs. Taiga Sayan Turkic Leaving aside geographical criteria based on political borders, Sayan Turkic can be better classified according to the steppe vs. taiga axis. This classification combines linguistic criteria with common features of the lifestyle. To the Taiga Sayan group of Sayan Turkic would belong those varieties spoken by people whose lifestyle is, or was until not too long ago, characterized by reindeer breeding and hunting. Thus, this group includes Dukhan, Tofan, the Toju variety of Tuvan and some varieties of the Tere-Khöl area, as well as Soyot of the Buryat Republic. Since reindeer breeding is not a typical kind of animal husbandry among Turkic peoples, it may be assumed that many, if not all, groups forming Taiga Sayan Turkic might represent those clans of Samoyed origin that shifted to Turkic. On the other hand, to the Steppe Sayan group would belong standard Tuvan and its dialects (with the exception of the Toju dialect and some varieties of the Tere-Khöl area) as well as Altay-Sayan varieties in China and Mongolia, and Tuhan of East Khövsgöl. On the taiga vs. steppe division, though with slight differences from the view presented here, also see Žukovskaja et al. (2002).

3.3 Linguistic features of Dukhan In its typological profile, Dukhan displays those characteristics typical of the Turkic languages. 3.3.1 Typological profile Dukhan displays 16 vowel phonemes according to the features [±front], [±high], [±round] and [±long]. It has 17 consonant phonemes including labials, dentals/alveolars, postalveolar/palatals, velar/postvelars and glottals. The Turkic strong consonants /p/, /t/, /k/, /s/ and /š/ are opposed to the weak consonants /b/, /d/,/g/, /z/ and /ž/ with respect to the feature [±strength]. With regard to accent, Dukhan words are subject to accent rules typical of the Turkic languages. There are two types of accent in the word. The pitch accent falls on the last accentable syllable, whereas the stress or expiratory accent may fall on other syllables including the prominent one. As all Turkic languages, Dukhan is an agglutinative language. Stems and suffixes are subject to sound harmony. Its morphology has few unpredictable allomorphs. Derivational suffixes occur close to the stem, whereas inflectional ones occur in the periphery. Gender and articles do not exist. Plural is not marked after numerals or other quantifiers. Dukhan displays the word classes nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, postpositions, conjunctions, particles and interjections, although other than the first three the classes may have vague boundaries. Nominal derivation includes denominal and deverbal suffixes. Nouns can also be formed by various types of compounding. Nouns are inflected for plural, possessive and case, e.g. iβǝlerǝβǝsten ‘from our reindeer’ (reindeer-PL-POSS1.PL-ABL).

Linguistic features of Dukhan

29

Verbal derivation includes denominal, deadjectival and deverbal suffixes. To the last category belong suffixes of actionality, voice and negation. Inflectional suffixes mark aspect, mood, tense and person, e.g. bardǝŋar ‘you went’ (go-PAST2.PL). The slot for aspect and mood can be filled by suffixes of verbal nominals and converbs. The syntax is leftbranching. The constituents follow the rectum-regens norm, which implies that the syntactically dependent element (rectum) precedes its head (regens). Clause subordination is prepositive (leftbranching) and based on non-finite constructions (i.e. converbs and verbal nominals), where non-thematic suffixes operate as embedding subjunctors. Dukhan can thus be regarded as a well-behaved Turkic language insofar as it displays typological features characteristic of the Turkic language family as a whole. For a treatment of the typology of Turkic languages, see Johanson (1998b, 2002: 19–33). 3.3.2 Dukhan classificatory features Dukhan belongs to the Sayan branch of Northeastern or Siberian Turkic. It thus displays those features that characterize Sayan Turkic as a whole. At the same time, it shares some specific isoglosses with the other Taiga Sayan varieties. Moreover, certain features distinguish Dukhan from the rest of Sayan Turkic. As far as the sound system is concerned, Dukhan displays an opposition of strong vs. weak consonants which is marked by the presence or absence of aspiration in final position of monosyllabic stems, e.g. aht ‘horse’ < *at vs. at ‘name’ < *aad. This corresponds to the Tuvan and Tofan pharyngealization/glottalization, as seen in aˀt vs. at. Dukhan displays the aspirated initial consonants ph- and th- generally in loanwords, whereas the corresponding initial stops in native words are characterized by voice reduction, e.g. phaš ‘cast-iron-cup’ vs. pahš ‘head’. This is typical for Sayan Turkic and is also found in the eastern Turkic languages Yellow Uyghur, Salar and Fu-yü Kirghiz. Proto-Turkic word-medial *-d- and final *-d are represented in Dukhan by a lenis alveolar stop, e.g. atǝɣ ‘bear’ < *adVg, pot ‘self’ < *bood ‘stature’; cf. Tuvan adïg and bot. This phenomenon has classificatory relevance. Dukhan, together with the other Taiga varieties, does not share the intervocalic voicing of strong consonants that is typical of standard Tuvan, e.g. ahtǝm ‘my horse’ vs. Tuvan aˀdïm, but Tofan aˀtïm. This also is the case for consonants that are fortis in Mongolic words. Dukhan displays the affricate ǰ- and the nasalized palatal ỹ- as the continuation of ProtoTurkic *y-/d-, e.g. ǰer ‘place’ < *yer, and ỹon- ‘to whet’ < *yon-. Whereas the sound change *y-/d- > ǰ (lenis palatal affricate) is common throughout Sayan Turkic, the sound change PT *y-/d- > ỹ/ń is one of the features of the Taiga subgroup; cf. Tofan and Soyot ńon-, but Tuvan čon-. The occurrence of ń- in the word ńeš ‘tree’ < *(h)ïgač also should be mentioned here; cf. Tofan ńaš, but Tuvan ïyaš. Word-medially and word-finally, Dukhan ỹ continues the sound ỹ/ń documented in East Old Turkic sources in runiform script. This feature, which also occurs in the other Taiga Sayan varieties, is an important isogloss connecting Taiga Sayan Turkic with Lena Turkic. Word-final *-g is preserved in both stems and suffixes, e.g. gahtǝɣ ‘hard’ < *katVg, cf. Tuvan kadïg and Tofan qaˀtïɣ. This feature also is shared by Abakan-Yenisey Turkic, as seen in Khakas xatïɣ.

30

The Dukhan language

Dukhan has long vowels that result from contractions in the sequence VCV, e.g. ool ‘son’ < *ogVl. This phenomenon is common to all Turkic languages of South Siberia; it also is typical of the Mongolic varieties. The strong nasalization of long vowels due to diachronic loss of *-ŋ-, *-ń- and *-ɣbelongs to the set of features that Dukhan shares with the other Taiga Sayan varieties; e.g. Dukhan and Tofan sö̃ö̃k ‘bone’ < *söŋVk, but Tuvan söök. Strong nasalization also characterizes the words ihx̃ǝ ‘two’ and ihx̃e ‘mother’, also found in Tofan iˀhĩ and iˀhẽ . Tuvan, on the other hand, displays iyi and iye. Dukhan exhibits many assimilations in consonant groups with original dentals, nasals and liquids, e.g. inekter ‘cows’, emner ‘herbs’, haptar ‘sacks’. This feature is common to the Siberian Turkic languages. In the noun morphology, Dukhan shows the directive case suffix +KĬdĬ, which has correspondences in the Toju and Tere-Khöl dialects of Tuvan. Standard Tuvan uses the suffix +Že, whereas the western dialects show -DIvA and Tofan has -šA. Dukhan displays the limitative numeral suffix +KĬỹA, which does not occur in standard Tuvan. Tofan, Soyot as well as other varieties that belong to Steppe Sayan Turkic display corresponding items. Finally, a feature of Dukhan not present in the other varieties is the postposition šïlap ‘like’, whereas Toju Tuvan and Tofan display šïlay and čïlaǰï, respectively. ̌ , which formally and In the verbal system, Dukhan possesses the assertive item -JĬK functionally corresponds to Old Uyghur -yOk. This suffix is common to the other Sayan varieties as well as to Yenisey-Abakan Turkic. Some morphological traits are due to contact with Mongolic, for instance the replacement of the privative suffix +sVz by the construction [noun + ǰok ‘non-existent’], e.g. e.g. pulǝtčok ‘cloudless’; which copies Mongolic [noun + ügei ‘not’]. This phenomenon has occurred throughout Sayan Turkic. At the lexical level, Dukhan possesses the common core of Turkic lexical elements that can be regarded as its basic lexical stock. This inventory includes words such as ay ‘moon’, gïs ‘girl’, hün ‘day’, hïrǝn ‘stomach’, utǝ- ‘to sleep’, ǰe- ‘to eat’, ǰorǝ- ‘to move’, al- ‘to take’, and so on. The lexicon includes a substantial amount of loans from Mongolic varieties. In addition to an older Mongolic layer, which is common to all Sayan varieties, Dukhan has been subject, for the last six decades, to strong influence from modern Khalkha Mongolian and Darkhat Mongolian. A limited amount of loanwords have been copied from Russian. They mostly refer to practical objects and some abstract concepts. However, with regard to abstract concepts, currently there is a tendency to use Mongolian loans, as, for instance, where thetküür ‘pension’ (← Darkhat Mongolian tetküür) has replaced peensǝya ← Russian pensija, which still occurs in the speech of older Dukhans. Similarly, the older generation still uses hambeet ← kanfeta, whereas the younger generation uses the word čhihxǝr, which is Mongolian čixir. Dukhan, as all varieties belonging to the Taiga subbranch of Sayan Turkic, displays a wide range of words in the spheres of flora and fauna that are not present among breeders of other type of cattle. For instance, Dukhan displays a rather rich array of terms that specifically refer to reindeer.

Language status and use

31

The term iβǝ is the generic term to refer to ‘reindeer’. The terms anhay, ehsǝrǝk and hokkaš are used to designate a newborn reindeer calf, whereas taspan designates a young one-year old reindeer. The terms tongǝr and tongǝy, respectively, refer to a young male reindeer and to a young female reindeer below two years of age. The reindeer buck is called ehter, whereas töŋhǝr and usǝn put refer to a young reindeer buck. The words tüktǝɣ mĩĩs or pir tüktǝɣ guuday refer to a three-year-old castrated reindeer, ihx̃i tüktǝɣ guuday to a four-year-old castrated reindeer, üš tüktǝɣ guuday to a five-year-old castrated reindeer and both ǰarǝ and guuday to castrated reindeer in general. A reindeer that got castrated at a later age is called pogana. The word mïndǝ refers to a reindeer doe in general, while the terms mïndǝǰak and ǰaš toŋgǝy refer to a young reindeer doe, and the term hur toŋgǝy is used for a doe that gave birth twice. Finally, a wild reindeer is called tasfanaŋ. Rather unexpectedly, among these terms, only one is clearly of Samoyedic origin, namely mïndǝ ‘reindeer doe’; cf. Mator méinde ‘rangifer ferus’. Helimski (1997: 301‒302) reconstructed Proto Samoyedic *məjan-ce̮ ɜ (məjan ‘earth (GEN)’ + ce̮ ɜ ‘(tame) reindeer’). Most of the other terms have a solid Turkic etymology, e.g. ehter ‘reindeer buck’ is an intraterminal verbal nominal of eht- ‘to scream (in rut)’; on reindeer terminology, see Ragagnin (in print). In referring to the bear, Dukhans use a variety of euphemistic terms, including irey, hayrakkan, ǰaaš, aǰam and aǰay. The term irey ‘gramps’ originates from the noun ire ‘grandfather’ with the addition of the hypochoristic suffix +(V)y; see section 7.1.1.1. This is the word most used by Dukhans, and will be glossed as ‘bear’. The term hayrakkan is a global copy of Mongolic qayiraqan ‘merciful, gracious, beautiful’; also cf. section 6.3.21. The third term ǰaaš, means ‘calm, peaceful’. Finally, the word aǰa ‘father’, when used euphemistically to refer to the bear, is generally followed by the 1.SG possessive or by the hypochoristic suffix +(V)y, as in aǰam and aǰay, which are equivalent to ‘my bear’ and ‘dear bear’, respectively. The terms hayrakkan, ǰaaš and aǰa are glossed in the present work with their original meaning, but they are translated as ‘bear’. Often, two or even three euphemisms occur together; in such cases, they are translated by the single word ‘bear’. The word atǝɣ ‘bear’ < *adVg, which has corresponding forms in almost all Turkic languages, is present in the Dukhan lexicon but is never used, since the most dangerous and awe-inspiring animal of the forest should not be designated by its real name.

3.4 Language status and use Today, all Dukhans are bilingual in Dukhan and Darkhat Mongolian. Dukhan is used as the “in-group” language spoken within the narrow family circle. Darkhat Mongolian serves as the language for all spheres of communication outside the Dukhan community, especially in formal domains such as education and public administration. Dukhans freely switch from one language to the other, depending on the topic or the interlocutor. The high level of bilingualism allows speakers to copy Mongolic nominal and verbal elements and to integrate them into their basic code. This process is facilitated by the close typological affinity of Turkic and Mongolic. The degree of bilingualism has increased considerably in recent decades. Until the 1950s, Dukhans seem not to have spoken Mongolian. At present, on the other hand, according to my personal observations, all Dukhans over 30 years of age

32

The Dukhan language

are bilingual in Dukhan and Darkhat Mongolian. They use one idiom or the other depending on the addressee. Dukhans between 20 and 30 years of age have various degrees of Dukhan proficiency, depending on the internal structure of the family. Dukhans between 15 and 20 years of age tend to use Mongolian for all spheres of communication, even if they, in many instances, master Dukhan perfectly. Dukhans below 15 years of age speak only Darkhat Mongolian, but have a passive knowledge of Dukhan. Their Dukhan speech is strongly adapted to Mongolian constructions. Within the Dukhan community, there are many households where parents speak more Mongolian than Dukhan with their children. In mixed families, where one of the parents is Mongol, the children rarely master Dukhan. Only in rare cases do Mongols who are married to a Dukhan-speaking person learn the language. In the past, as I was told, Dukhans were called people without a nation by the Mongols (cf. section 2.2). Children attending the Mongolian school used to come directly from the taiga and could not speak Darkhat Mongolian very well. They were treated badly and ridiculed by the Mongol pupils. Today’s mothers and fathers prefer not to speak Dukhan with their own children, in order to avoid the treatment they experienced in those days. Good knowledge of Mongolian is a necessary basis for acquiring a higher level of education in the city of Mörön or in the capital. As the result of a Mongolian-Tuvan educational project, Standard Tuvan, which is rather different from Dukhan, especially with respect to the sound system, was taught on a non-compulsory basis as a foreign language for three hours per week in the local boarding school for just a few years (1990-1993 and 2002-2005). The pupils could choose among Tuvan, English and Russian. Mass-media in Tuvan language are not available, neither newspapers, nor radio programs nor television. Television, which exists and works also in the taiga, broadcasts programs in Khalkha Mongolian. Additionally, in 1998, there was a big fire in which all school books got burned, including all the teaching materials in Tuvan. The fact that Dukhan people are quite famous in Mongolia (and beyond) as being the only reindeer herders of the country has the potential to positively affect the preservation of their native language. They are starting to create their own eco-tourism, both in the Taiga and in the village of Tsagaan-Nuur. At the same time, the families that do not want to have contacts with foreigners continue their nomadizing in more distant and less accessible areas. The future status and use of Dukhan will be dependent on the socio-economical status and the level of education, professional knowledge and employment of the Dukhan people. Finally, it should be pointed out that the use of Dukhan is more common in the taiga areas, whereas it is decreasing in the river areas and in the village of Tsagaan-Nuur.

4 The sound system: phonemes and allophones 4.0 Introduction This chapter describes the phonemic system of Dukhan. The inventory of vowels and consonants will be described as a set of contrasting segment classes and as a system of phonemic oppositions. A phoneme is interpreted as a unit that has a distinctive function and is made up of different combinations of certain distinctive features. Each phoneme has a definable phonemic content because the system shows a definite structure (Trubetzkoy (1969: 67). Each phoneme will be discussed separately with its allophones. Three positions within the word will be distinguished: initial, medial and final position. Phonemic oppositions are best represented in the first syllable of a word, which will be referred to as prominent position. Thus, monosyllabic primary stems offer the optimal contrastive examples for the analysis. Particular attention will be paid to cases of neutralization of distinctive features. This is especially relevant for the vowels, which have, in non-prominent positions, a marked tendency towards suspension of features, centralization and so on. This tendency is common to Turkic and Mongolic languages of eastern Eurasia. A factor relevant for neutralization is the speech tempo. Phonemic representations in their “classical form” are only valid for careful speech; see Hock (1991: 49). The sound system of Dukhan is characterized by sound harmony. Among the consonants, velars and liquids display two main allophones which are in predictable complementary distribution according to the feature [±front] in the prominent position (Johanson 1973: 193‒194). Consonants that occur in disjoined environments are regarded in this study as allophones of one phoneme. As for suffixes, there is a tendency towards neutralization of these features. The following phonemic analysis views an inter-speaker variation. Moreover, it is synchronic, whereas diachronic questions will be dealt with in chapter 6. Sound segments occurring in words copied from Mongolic varieties and from Russian will be briefly discussed separately in section 6.5. In this chapter, phonological transcriptions appear in slashes / /, whereas phonetic transcriptions are given in square brackets [ ]. Archphonemes are represented with capital letters, e.g. Š in the word /Šay/ ‘tea’. For a broader transcription, see section 4.3.

4.1 The vowel system Dukhan vowel phonemes are distinguished according to the binary features [±front], [±high], [±rounded], [±long].

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The sound system: phonemes and allophones

The system displays the following set of short vowel phonemes: /a/, /e/, /o/, /ö/, /i/, /ï/, /u/ and /ü/, which are opposed to corresponding long vowel phonemes /aa/, /ee/, /oo/, /öö/, /ii/, /ïï/, /uu/ and /üü/. Long vowels are characterized by a special pitch contour, which, however, will not be discussed here. Besides, Dukhan displays non-phonemic diphthongs, near-long vowels and nasalized vowels. These sounds will be further discussed in sections 6.2.2 and 6.2.3. Suffix vocalization will be dealt with in greater detail in section 5.3.4.2. The presence of long vowels in medial and final position of the word, which is mostly regulated by morphophonological rules, will be discussed in section 5.3.4.1. On the other hand, long vowels occurring in the prominent position of the word will be dealt with in section 6.2.2. 4.1.1 The low unrounded vowel phonemes 4.1.1.1 The phoneme /a/ The phoneme /a/ occurs in all positions of the word and displays as main allophone the low unrounded central vowel [a]. Some examples are the following: /aŋ/ [aŋ] ‘(wild) game ’, /aǰa/ [aʤa] ‘father’, /dayga/ [d̥ajɢa] ‘taiga’, /ay/ [aj] ‘moon’, /aldĬ/ [aɫdɘ] ‘sable’, /ad/ [at] ‘name’, /ag/ [ak] ‘white’, /han/ [han] ‘blood’, /hab/ [hap] ‘sack’, /dag/ [d̥aʁ] ‘mountain’, /dazban/ [d̥aspan] ~ [d̥asɸan] ‘young reindeer buck’, /bag/ [b̥aʁ] ‘tie’, /aya/ [aja] ‘trip-bow’, /ayĬk/ [ajɘq] ‘bowl’, /agža/ [akʃa] ‘money’, /alaǰĬ/ [aɫaʤɨ] ‘pole, beam’. The allophone [a] may, however, be slightly backened adjacent to velar and postvelar consonants. Between two palatal consonants, /a/ is realized as [æ], e.g. /Šay/ [ʃæj] ‘tea’, /ǰay/ [ʤ̊æj] ‘summer’. However, beyond the prominent position, the quality of /a/ is less clear cut, tending towards the more centralized sound [ɐ], which also may be quantitatively reduced, e.g. /araha/ [arɐha] ‘alcoholic beverage’, /garak/ [ɢ̥araq] ~ [ɢ̥ arɐq] ‘eye’, /ǰïlan/ [ʤ̊ɯɫan] ~ [ʤ̊ɯɫɐn] ‘snake’, /munar/ [munar] ~ [munɐr] ‘rides’, /haptar/ [haptar] ~ [haptɐr] ‘sacks’, This is especially the case in suffix vocalization; further see section 5.3.4.2. Reduction also may occur word-finally, especially if there is a long vowel in the preceding syllable, e.g. /oorha/ [õːrhɐ] ‘back’. A slightly labialized quality of /a/, which occurs in contact with labial consonants, has been noted in the speech of some speakers, which occurs in contact with labial consonants, e.g. /aba/ [aβɒ] ‘mother’, /barba/ [b̥arβɒ] ‘reindeer saddlebag’. In some words, the phoneme /a/ is nasalized in the neighborhood of nasal and/or palatal/nasalized consonants, e.g. /ay/ [ãj̃] ‘wild onion’, /mïyak/ [mɯ̃ ̃ãq] ‘excrement’; further see section 6.3.14. On the segment [ỹ], see also section 4.2.3.4 below. Adjacent to aspirated fortis consonants, the phoneme /a/ is realized as extra-short, e.g. /at/ [ăht] ‘horse’, /baš/ [b̥ăhʃ] ‘head’, /bak/ [b̥ăhq] ‘bad’. This allophone occurs only in prominent position. 4.1.1.2 The phoneme /aa/ The phoneme /aa/ is the long counterpart of the phoneme /a/ and is realized as [aː], e.g. /aaz/ [aːs] ‘mouth’, /gaaz/ [ɢ̊ aːs] ‘elegant’, /ǰaahay/ [ʤ̥aːhaj] ‘nice, good’, /laa/ [ɫaː] ‘candle’, /baar/ [b̥aːr] ‘liver’, /baa/ [b̥aː] ‘his/her/its lasso’, /ǰaab/ [ʤ̥aːp] ‘raining’, /ǰoraan/

The vowel system

35

[ʤ̊oraːn] ‘gone’. In the neighborhood of velar and postvelar consonants [aː] is realized more back. Many instances of nasalization of the phoneme /aa/ are found in the corpus, e.g. /haag/ [hɑ̃ːk] ‘willow’, /yaa/ [ ̃ãː] ‘new’, /yaak/ [ ̃ãːk] ‘chin’, /aar/ [ãːr] ‘heavy’, /aarĬg/ [ãːrɘʁ] ‘sick’, /saarzĬk/ [sãːrsɘk] ‘one of two’. The opposition between /a/ and /aa/ is represented by the following minimal pairs: /al/ [aɫ] ‘take!’ as opposed to /aal/ [aːɫ] ‘family, encampment’, /bar/ [b̥ar] ‘existent’, as opposed to /baar/ [b̥aːr] ‘liver’, /ad/ [at] ‘name’ as opposed to /aad/ [aːt] ‘lull’. 4.1.1.3 The phoneme /e/ The phoneme /e/ displays two main allophones: the lower-mid front unrounded vowel [ɛ] and the upper-mid front unrounded vowel [e]. Word-initially, the allophone [e] tends to occur in contact with labials and alveodentals, whereas in other environments the lower allophone [ɛ] occurs. Some examples are the following: /ezer/ [esɛr] ‘saddle’, /ezeŋgĬ/ [esɛŋgɘ] ‘stirrup’, /ed/ [et] ~ [ɛt] ‘goods’, /em/ [em] ‘medicine’. The same situation holds true word-medially, e.g. /men/ [men] ‘I’, /bez/ [b̥ es] ‘gland’, /ǰel/ [ʤ̊el] ‘horsehair’, /helĬn/ [hɛlɨn] ‘bride’. In polysyllabic words especially after a long vowel, the quality of /e/ is less clear-cut, tending to be realized as the more centralized allophone [ɜ], e.g. /eeremǰĬk/ [eːrɜmʤ̊ɨk] ‘spider’. Word-finally, /e/ is generally realized as [ɛ], e.g. /iiye/ [iːjɛ] ‘yes’, /tebe/ [theβɛ] ‘camel’, /üye/ [ʏjɛ] ‘time’, /dünne/ [d̥ʏnːɛ] ‘at night’. In this position /e/ may also be devoiced: [øskɛ̥] ~ [øskɛ] ‘other’. In some instances, /e/ has a nasal outset, especially in the neighborhood of nasal and nasalized consonants, e.g. /yeš/ [ɲɛ̃ʃ] ‘tree’. In prominent position, in front of aspirated consonants, /e/ has a shorter duration, e.g. /et/ [ĕht] ‘meat’. 4.1.1.4 The phoneme /ee/ The phoneme /ee/ is opposed to the phoneme /e/ with respect to the feature [±long]. Its allophones are [eː] and [ɛː], e.g. /eerĬmeež/ [eːrʲǝmeːʃ] ‘reindeer saddle for small children’, /beerĬ/ [b̥eːrɨ] ‘since (postposition), to this side (adverb)’, /geer/ [g̊ɛːr] ‘comes’, /eeremǰĬk/ [eːrɜmʤ̊ɨk] ‘spider’, /dee/ [d̥eː] ‘that (one) over there’. The lower allophone [ɛː] mostly occurs in velar environment. A special case is /ee/ occurring in the word /ǰeedĬ/ [ʤeːdɨ] ‘seven’ in the speech of some speakers. In the speech of some others, however, /ee/ alternates with a homorganic short phoneme /e/: [ʤedɨ]. Cases of nasalization of the phoneme /ee/ also occur, e.g. /ee/ [ẽː] ‘master, owner’, /seen/ [sẽːn] ‘cord of the trip-bow’, /deerĬ/ [dẽːrɨ] ‘sky’, /eeǰek/ [ẽːdʒek] ‘heal’. The opposition between /e/ and /ee/ is represented by the following minimal pair: /ber/ [b̥ er] ‘give!’ vs. /beer/ [b̥ eːr] ‘gives’.

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The sound system: phonemes and allophones

4.1.2 The low rounded vowel phonemes 4.1.2.1 The phoneme /o/ Word-initially, the phoneme /o/ is realized as a higher-mid back rounded vowel [o], or as a lower-mid back rounded vowel [ɔ], e.g. /od/ [ot] ~ [ɔt] ‘fire’, /omak/ [omaq] ~ [ɔmaq] ‘alert’, /olbĬk/ [ɔlbɵq] ‘mattress’, /orĬk/ [orɘq] ‘path’. Word-medially, in the neighborhood of post-velar and glottal consonants it is mostly lowered to [ɔ], e.g. /homžĬ/ [ɢ̥ɔmʃɘ] ‘horsewhip’, /horĬbžĬ/ [hɔrɘpʃɘ] ‘thimble’, /hodan/ [hɔd̥an] ‘rabbit’, /hobĬgana/ [hɔβɵɢɐnɐ] ‘butterfly’. Following alveopalatal consonants, the phoneme /o/ mostly displays the allophone [o], e.g. /don/ [d̥on] ‘vest’, /tož/ [thoʃ] ‘elk’. Word-finally, the phoneme /o/ occurs, in my material, exclusively in the word /bo/ [b̥ɔ] ‘this’ and in the lexeme /ïraado/ [ɤ̆raadɔ] ‘radio’, which is copied from Russian. The phoneme /o/ does not occur in non-initial syllables in words of Turkic origin. Exceptions are found in some items that go back to compounds, e.g. /alton/ [aɫ̥ton] ‘sixty’. For such cases, see also section 7.2.1.6. Adjacent to a nasal or nasalized consonant, the phoneme /o/ may be nasalized, e.g. /yomman/ [ ̃õmːan] ‘mole rat’, /hoy/ [hõ ̃] ‘sheep’. Preceding strong aspirated consonants, /o/ has a shorter realization, e.g. /ot/ [ɔ̆hth] ‘grass’, /goš/ [ɢ̥ɔh̆ ʃ] ‘balanced load’. 4.1.2.2 The phoneme /oo/ The phoneme /oo/ is opposed to the phoneme /o/ with respect to the feature [±long]. It is realized as [oː] and [ɔː] and occurs in all positions of the word, e.g. /ǰoog/ [ʤ̊oːq] ‘near’, /ool/ [ɔːɫ] ‘son’, /Soog/ [sɔːq] ‘cold’, /boo/ [bɔː] ‘rifle’, /dozzoo/ [d̥ɔsːɔː] ‘birchbark bucket used for reindeer milking’, /boor/ [b̥oːr] ‘becomes’, /toom/ [thɔːm] ‘animal path’, /dĬroo/ [dǝroː] ‘emphatic copula particle (section 10.4.2.3)’, /hožoon/ [hɔʃoːn] ‘administrative unit’, /artoo/ [ar̥toː] ‘behind’. The phoneme /oo/ can be nasalized, e.g. /yoon/ [ ̃õːn] ‘pregnant’, /hooray/ [hõːrã ̃] ‘city’, /oorha/ [õːrhɐ] ‘back’. The phonological opposition between /o/ and /oo/ is shown in the minimal pair /bo/ [b̥ɔ] ‘this’ vs. /boo/ [b̥ɔː] ‘rifle’. 4.1.2.3 The phoneme /ö/ The phoneme /ö/ occurs word-initially and word-medially and displays the following allophones: [ø], [œ], [ɵ] and [o]. Word-initially, it is represented by the lower-mid front rounded allophone [œ] and the higher-mid front rounded allophone [ø], e.g. /ört/ [ør̥t] ‘fire’, /öžgĬ/ [øʃkǝ] ~ [œʃkǝ] ‘goat’, /ög/ [œɣ] ~ [øɣ] ‘dwelling’, /özgĬz/ [œskǝs] ‘orphan’. Word-medially, following labials, it is realized as [ø], e.g. /böz/ [b̥øs] ‘cloth’, /börĬ/ [b̥ørɨ] ‘wolf’. In other environments, the allophone [œ] is more common, e.g. /Söz/ [sœs] ‘language’, /dömey/ [d̥œmej] ‘same’. Especially in the neighborhood of velar and glottal consonants, the phoneme /ö/ is realized as [œ], e.g. /gög/ [gœˑk] ‘blue’, /höl/ [hœl] ‘lake’, /höm/ [hœm] ‘ashes’. In the speech of some speakers, in this environment, /ö/ may be realized as [ɵ] and even [o], e.g. [gɵˑk] ~ [goˑk] ‘blue’.

The vowel system

37

The phoneme /ö/ does not occur beyond the prominent position in primary stems of Turkic origin. An exception is the village name [akːœl] ‘Akköl’ which is made up of /ag/ ‘white’ plus /höl/ ‘lake’. Preceding strong consonants, /ö/ gets devoiced due to the aspiration of the consonant, e.g. /gök/ [g̊œ̆hk] ‘root’, /göp/ [g̊œ̆hp] ‘much’. 4.1.2.4 The phoneme /öö/ The phoneme /öö/ occurs in all positions of the word and displays the main allophones [øː] and [œː]. The latter mostly occurs in the environment of velars and glottals. Some examples are the following: /göör/ [g̊œːr] ‘sees’, /ööm/ [øːm] ‘my dwelling’, /berhöö/ [b̥ erhœː] ‘very difficult’, /ergöö/ [ergœː] ‘I wonder if (epistemic particle, see 10.4.2.1)’, /Seröön/ [serœːn] ‘chilly’, /höömey/ [hœːmej] ‘throat singing’, /ööbǝz/ [øːwɵs] ‘our dwelling. In the speech of some speakers /öö/ may be realized as [ɵː], e.g. /dököör/ [d̥øxˑɵːr] ‘approaches’. A special case is /öö/ occurring in the speech of some speakers as [øː] in the word /döört/ [d̥ øːrt] ‘four’, whereas in the speech of some others, /öö/ may vary with the homorganic short vowel /ö/ and this word is realized as [d̥ ørt]. The phoneme /öö/ can be nasalized, e.g. /Söög/ [sø̃ːk] ‘bone’, /yöög/ [ȷø̃ ː̃ k] ‘feather, animal hair’, /öög/ [œ̃ ːk] ‘button’. The phonological opposition between /ö/ and /öö/ is seen in the following minimal pair: /gör/ [gœr] ‘see’ vs. /göör/ [gœːr] ‘sees’. 4.1.3 The high unrounded vowel phonemes 4.1.3.1 The phoneme /i/ The phoneme /i/ displays the following allophones [i], [ɪ], [ɨ], [ɘ], and ultimately may be realized as schwa [ǝ]. The main word-initial and word-medial allophone is represented by [ɪ], a near-high front and unrounded vowel, e.g. /inek/ [ɪnek] ‘cow’, /ildeŋ/ [ɪldeŋ] ‘open’, /diž/ [d̥ ɪʃ] ‘tooth’, /dilgĬ/ [d̥ ɪlgǝ] ‘fox’, /Sigen/ [sɪgɛn] ‘grass’, /hin/ [hɪn] ‘navel’, /gidĬs/ [g̊ ɪdɨs] ‘felt’. Occurrences of [i], however, are not excluded, e.g. /ibĬ/ [iβɨ] ~ [ɪβɨ] ‘reindeer’, /Sigen/ [sigɛn] ~ [sɪgɛn] ‘grass’, /biz/ [b̥ is] ~ [b̥ ɪs] ‘we’. In the prominent position, preceding aspirated consonants, /i/ is generally realized as very short, e.g. /išdĬ/ [ɪ̆ hʃtǝ] ‘inside’, /isĬg/ [ĭhsɨɣ] ‘warm’. Beyond the prominent position, the quality of /i/ is less clear-cut. The lowered and/or centralized allophones [ɨ] and [ɘ] may occur, e.g. /SemĬz/ [semɨs] ‘fat’, /elĬk/ [elɘk] ‘brown antilope’, /gidĬz/ [g̊ ɪdɘs] ‘felt’. Also, the allophones [ɨ] and [ɘ] may vary with schwa, e.g. /ibĬlĬg/ [iβɨlǝɣ] ~ [iβɨlɘɣ] ‘provided with reindeer’. This is generally the case in suffix vocalization. For the neutralization of the opposition /i/ vs. /ï/ beyond the prominent position, see /ï/ below. The same situation holds true for the word-final position, e.g. /ezeŋgĬ/ [esɛŋgɘ] ‘stirrup’, /ibĬ/ [iβɨ] ‘reindeer’. Finally, in the following two words, /i/ is strongly nasalized: /ikĬ/ [ɪ̆ x̃ ̃ ˑɘ̃] ‘two’ and /ike/ [ɪ̆ x̃ ̃ ˑɛ̃] ‘mother’. In these two cases, the medial fricative also is strongly nasalized; see section 4.2.4.1 below.

38

The sound system: phonemes and allophones

4.1.3.2 The phoneme /ii/ The phoneme /ii/ occurs in all positions of the word and is realized as [iː]. However, its word-initial occurrence is limited to the item /iiye/ [iːje] ‘yes’ and the assertive particle /iik/ [iːk]. On the latter, see section 10.4.2. The phoneme /ii/ is opposed to the phoneme /i/ with respect to duration and is realized as [iː], e.g. /miiz/ [miːs] ‘horn’, /ǰiir/ [dʒ̊iːr] ‘eats’. The phoneme /ii/ can be nasalized, e.g. /siir/ [sɪ ̃ːr] ‘sinew’, /miit/ [mɪ ̃ːt] ‘Siberian lenox’. 4.1.3.3 The phoneme /ï/ The phoneme /ï/ displays the following main allophones: [ɯ], [ɤ] [ɨ], [ɘ], and ultimately may be realized as schwa [ǝ]. Word-initially, it occurs as [ɯ], a high back unrounded vowel, e.g. /ïr/ [ɯr] ‘song’, /ïglaar/ [ɤʁɫaːr] ‘cries’. Word-medially, /ï/ occurs as [ɯ] or as the lower allophone [ɤ], e.g. /mïndĬ/ [mɤndɨ] ‘reindeer doe’ and /dïrtar/ [tɤr̥tar] ‘pulls’, /dïrbak/ [d̥ɤrβaq] ‘nail’, /gïz/ [ɢ̊ɤs] ‘girl’, /hïl/ [hɤɫ] ‘animal hair’. The lower allophone [ɤ] tends to occur adjacent to velar and postvelar consonants. Adjacent to palatal consonants, /ï/ is realized as [ɯ] or even [ɨ], e.g. /šïmbay/ [ʃɯmbaj] ‘pleasant’, /ǰïl/ [dʒɯɫ] ~ [dʒɨɫ] ‘year’, /mïnǰab/ [mɯnʤap] ~ [mɨnʤap] ‘thusly’. In non-prominent position and in word-final position, the feature [±front] of the phonemes /i/ and /ï/ is neutralized in favor of the lax, i.e. lowered and/or centralized allophones [ɨ] and [ɘ] that can alternate with a schwa element [ǝ], especially in less careful speech. This is the case in suffix vocalization, e.g. /dabarĬp/ [d̥aβɐrɨp] ~ [d̥aβɐrǝp] ‘stepping in’, /gelĬp/ [g̊ɛlɨp] ~ [g̊ɛlǝp] ‘coming’. Preceding strong aspirated consonants, the phoneme /ï/ is pronounced as very short, e.g. /ït/ [ɯ̆ ht] ‘dog’, /gïš/ [qɤ̆hʃ] ‘winter’, /bïšdak/ [b̥ɤ̆hʃtaq] ‘cheese’. A reduced realization of the phoneme /ï/ occurs in word-initial position preceding the liquid phoneme /r/ in words of Russian origin, e.g. /ïrayoon/ [ɤ̆rajoːn] ‘province’ from Russian rayon, see also /r/ later in this chapter. 4.1.3.4 The phoneme /ïï/ The long counterpart of the phoneme /ï/ is the phoneme /ïï/. In my material, the only occurrence of this phoneme in word-initial position is in the word /ïït/ [ɤ̃ːt] ‘sound’, where the phoneme is, additionally, nasalized. Word-medially and word-finally, the phoneme /ïï/ is realized as [ɤː] or [ɯː], the latter occuring in palatal environment. Some examples are the following: /ǰïïr/ [ʤɯːr] ‘collects’, /gïïr/ [ɢ̥ɤːr] ‘makes’, /sïïn/ [sɤːn] ‘maral deer’, /palïï/ [b̥aɫɤː] ‘its fish’, /aarïï/ [aːrɨː] ‘his/her/its illness’. However, in the speech of some speakers, the allophone [ɤː] may vary with the labial sound [ɔː]: [b̥aɫɔː] ~ [b̥aɫɤː] ‘its fish’. 4.1.4 The high rounded vowel phonemes 4.1.4.1 The phoneme /u/ The phoneme /u/ occurs as [u] and [ʊ] word-initially and medially, e.g. /uba/ [ʊwɒ] ‘elder sister’, /uzĬn/ [usɘn] ‘long’, /duz/ [d̥ʊs] ‘salt’, /urĬg/ [urɘʁ] ‘child’, /uduur/ [ud̥ʊ:r] ‘sleeps’,

The vowel system

39

/gulak/ [ɢ̊ʊɫaq] ‘ear’, /bulĬt/ [b̥uɫɘt] ‘cloud’, /gulĬr/ [ɢ̊ʊɫɘr] ‘flour’, /hurĬt/ [hʊrɘt] ‘roundshaped cheese’. Even if the quality of /u/ is lowered, the phonological opposition with /o/ is preserved as the following minimal pair shows: /bod/ [b̥ɔt] ‘self’ vs. /bud/ [b̥ʊt] ‘leg’. In my material, there are no occurrences of /u/ in final position of monosyllabic stems. Beyond the prominent position of the word, the quality of /u/ is less clear cut. The lowered and centralized allophones [ɵ], [ʉ] and ultimately schwa [ǝ] occur, e.g. /murgĬ/ [mʊrʁɵ] ~ [mʊrʁǝ] ‘hunting horn’; /munĬp/ [munʉp] ~ [munǝp] ‘riding’. This is generally the case in suffix vocalization. For the neutralization of the opposition /u/ vs. /ü/ beyond the prominent position, see /ü/ below. In prominent syllables, preceding aspirated consonants, /u/ is realized as extra-short, e.g. /ǰuk/ [ʧŭhk] ‘resin’. 4.1.4.2 The phoneme /uu/ The phoneme /uu/ occurs in word-medial and word-final position and represents the long counterpart of the phoneme /u/. It is mostly realized as [ʊː], e.g. /muurday/ [mʊːrdaj] ‘cat’, /Surguul/ [sʊrʁʊːl] ‘school’, /yanuu taš/ [ ̃ãnʊː d̥aʃ] ‘whetstone’, /Suu/ [sʊː] ‘his/her/its water’, /uuždaar/ [ʊːʃtaːr] ‘tans’, /hoy gudĬruu/ [hɔ ̃ ɢʊd̥ǝrʊː] ‘sheep’s tail’. 4.1.4.3 The phoneme /ü/ Word-initially and word-medially, the realization of the phoneme /ü/ oscillates between the allophones [ʏ], and [ʉ], e.g. /ün/ [ʏn] ‘go out!’, /üne/ [ʏnɛ] ‘price’, /Süd/ [sʏt] ‘milk’, /ǰügen/ [ʤʏgɛn] ‘bridle’, /ǰürek/ [ʤʏrek] ‘heart’, /hürež/ [hʉreʃ] ‘wrestling’, /hün/ [hʉn] ‘day’, /güǰ/ [g̊ʉʃ] ‘strength’. The centralized allophone occurs especially in velar environment. In the speech of some speakers, however, the quality of /ü/ in velar environment can approach [u]: /hül/ [hʉl] and [hul] ‘ashes’. Similarly to /i/ and /ï/, in non-prominent position and in word-final position, the feature [±front] of the phonemes /u/ and /ü/ is mostly neutralized in favor of the centralized high unrounded allophone [ʉ] and the lowered allophone [ɵ] and ultimately may be realized as schwa [ǝ], e.g. /hölĬmdĬrĬk/ [hœlʉmdǝrǝk] ~ [hœlɵmdǝrǝk] ~ [hœlǝmdǝrǝk] ‘breast girdle (of the reindeer)’, /ünĬb/ [ynʉp] ~ [ynǝp] ‘exiting’. Preceding aspirated consonants, /ü/ is pronounced as very short, e.g. /ǰük/ [ʤʏ̆ hkh] ‘load’. 4.1.4.4 The phoneme /üü/ The phoneme /üü/ occurs in word-medial and word-final position. It represents the long counterpart of the phoneme /ü/, and is pronounced with long duration. The phoneme /üü/ is represented by the allophone [ʉː], e.g. /düün/ [d̥ʉːn] ‘yesterday’, /ǰüün/ [ʤ̊ʉːn] ‘eastern’, /ǰüü/ [ʤ̊ʉː] ‘what’, /büürek/ [b̥ʉːrek] ‘kidney’. A minimal pair opposition between /ü/ and /üü/ is found in /dün/ [d̥ʏn] ‘night’ and /düün/ [d̥ʏːn] ~ [d̥ʉːn] ‘yesterday’. 4.1.5 Diphthongs Dukhan displays the following non-phonemic diphthongs: [ae], [oe], [ʏi] and [ei]. Phonologically, they represent sequences of V + /y/; see /y/ below.

40

The sound system: phonemes and allophones

The diphthong [ae] is found in the following words: /gay/ [ɢ̥ae] ‘which (one)’, /ǰayǰak/ [ʤ̊aeʤæk] ‘bow’, /ǰayn/ [ʤ̊aen] ‘in the summer’, /hayčĬ/ [haetʃːǝ] ‘scissors’, /nayr/ [naer] ‘feast’, and the verb stems /hayl/ [hael] ‘to melt’, /hayn/ [haen] ‘to boil (intr.)’ and /ayddĬr/ [aetːǝr] ‘to ask’. In fast speech, the diphthongs often undergo monophthongization: [hæːlbǝʃaːn] ~ [haelbǝʃaːn] ‘melting’, [ʤ̊æːn] ~ [ʤ̊aen] ‘in the summer’, [haetʃːǝ] ~ [hæːtʃːǝ] ‘scissors’, [hæːndǝrar] ~ [haendǝrar] ‘boils’. On diphthongs, further see section 6.2.2. The diphthong [oe] is found in the following words: /moyn/ [moen] ‘neck’, /oyn/ [oen] ‘game’, /hoynaar/ [hoeɲaːr] ‘puts onto the breast (hunting practice)’. The diphthong [ʏi] and [ei] are found in the words [ʏiʃ] ‘three’ and [b̥eiʃ] ‘five’, respectively, in the speech of some speakers. However; in the speech of some others, [ʏi] alternates with [ʏː] or with a homorganic short vowel [ʏ], and [ei] alternates with [eː] or with [e]. Thus, ‘three’ displays the realizations [ʏiʃ], [ʏːʃ] and [ʏʃ], and ‘five’ may be pronounced as [beiʃ], [beːʃ] and [b̥eʃ]. 4.1.6 Semi-long vowels A limited set of monosyllabic words displays a vowel quality which is significantly longer than that of normal short vowels occurring in the same position. This vowel quality has been represented with the IPA-sign used to denote half length [ˑ]. Yet, semi-long vowels do not display the special pitch contour typical of long vowels. Semi-long vowels occur in the following words: /ag/ [aˑq] ‘white’, /gög/ [gɵˑk] ‘blue’, /düg/ [d̥ʉˑk] ‘hair’, /ǰog/ [ʤ̊oˑq] ‘non-existent’, and /ǰüg/ [ʤ̊ʏk] ‘feather’. Worth noticing is that the velar consonants occurring after the semi-long vowels are realized as stops; cf. section 4.2.4.2 below. These cases will be further discussed in section 6.2.2. Among these examples, /ǰog/ [ʤ̊oˑq] ‘non-existent’ forms a minimal pair with /ǰoog/ [ʤ̊oːq] ‘near’. Since semi-long vowels do not contrast with short vowels, in the broad transcription they have been marked as short vowels. 4.1.7 Vowel phonemic inventory In the table below, the vowel phonemes of Dukhan are schematically represented according to the oppositions [±high], [±front], [±rounded] and [±long]. Table 1 Chart of vowel phonemes front high non-high

unrounded short long i ii e ee

rounded short long ü üü ö öö

back unrounded short long ï ïï a aa

rounded short long u uu o oo

Besides, the system displays a wide range of reduced lax vowels and extra-short vowels. Lax vowels are produced with less energy, i.e. with less tension of the muscles, and tend to occur beyond the prominent position in suffixes. They will be dealt with in greater detail in section 5.3.4.2.

The consonant system

41

Extra-short vowels occur before strong aspirated consonants in prominent position of the word. They will be further discussed in chapter 6. Finally, the system also includes non-phonemic semi-long vowels and diphthongs.

4.2 The consonant system The Dukhan consonant system has 19 phonemes representing five places of articulation: labial, dental/alveolar, palatal, velar, postvelar, pharyngeal and glottal. Among them, the consonants /p/, /t/, /k/, /s/, /š/ are opposed to /b/, /d/, /g/, /z/, /ž/ with respect to the feature [±strength]. Strong consonants are articulated with higher muscular effort that also involves glottal tension. Especially in final position of monosyllabic stems, strong consonants are preaspirated. The feature of aspiration will be further dealt with in section 6.4. The occurrence of long consonants in primary stems, which is regulated by diachronic assimilatory processes, will be discussed in section 6.3.21, whereas long consonants resulting from morphophonological assimilations will be dealt with in section 5.3.4.1. Consonant clusters are of limited inventory and will be dealt with briefly in section 5.2. 4.2.1 Labials 4.2.1.1 The phoneme /p/ The phoneme /p/ is a strong phoneme in opposition to the weak phoneme /b/. Word-initially, /p/ is realized as a strongly post-aspirated bilabial voiceless stop [ph], e.g. /par/ [phar] ‘tiger’, /paž/ [phaʃ] ‘cast-iron cup’, /pödbeleer/ [phøtpeleːr] ‘fishes’, /pöž/ [phøʃ] ‘cedar’. Word-initial [ph] occurs in a small set of words of foreign origin; see /p/ in section 6.5. Word-medially, /p/ occurs in syllable-final position in front of sibilants and stops, and is realized as [hp], i.e. with strong preaspiration, e.g. /dïpza/ [tɯ̆ hpsa] ‘if (s)he finds’. The vowel that precedes the strong consonants is extra-short. As seen in the example above, non-initial allophones can trigger the total devoicing of word-initial consonants. For the distant assimilation of voicelessness, see section 5.3.3. The allophone [hp] also occurs word-finally in monosyllabic words, e.g. /göp/ [g̊œ̆hph] ‘abundant’, /dïp/ [tɯ̆ hp] ‘find!’. Additionally, this allophone can be realized with postaspiration, e.g. [g̊œ̆hph] ‘abundant’. In intervocalic position, /p/ varies with the pharyngeal fricative [ħ], which is pronounced with very strong effort. It may produce the acoustic impression of a geminate due to the strength of the articulation. Some examples are the following: /göbey/ [g̊œћˑɛj] ‘much’, /tïbar/ [tɤћˑar] ‘finds’, /gapay/ [ɢ̥ aћˑaj] ‘hanging cradle’, /dupa/ [tuћˑa] ‘Dukhan’. However, in less careful speech, the pharyngeal fricative varies with the less energetic glottal fricative [h]: [g̊œhɛj] ~ [g̊œ̆ћˑɛj] ‘much’, [tʊћˑa] ~ [tʊha] ‘Dukhan’. For the morphophonemic variation of /-hp/ → [ħˑ], see section 5.3.1.1.

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The sound system: phonemes and allophones

4.2.1.2 The phoneme /b/ The phoneme /b/ occurs in all positions of the word. Its allophones are the stops [b], [b̥ ] and [p], and the fricatives [β], [w] and [ф]. Word-initially, the phoneme /b/ is realized as an unaspirated bilabial stop which ranges from voiced [b] to partly devoiced [b̥] or voiceless [p], e.g. /balĬk/ [balɘq] ~ [b̥alɘq] ~ [palǝq] ‘fish’, /bud/ [b̥ʊt] ‘leg’, /bar/ [b̥ar] ‘existent’. The phonemes /p/ and /b/ are opposed in word-initial position as shown by the following minimal pair: /par/ [phar] ‘tiger’ vs. /bar/ [b̥ ar] ‘existent’. Following the liquid phoneme /l/ and the bilabial nasal /m/, the phoneme /b/ occurs as a bilabial non-aspirated voiced stop [b], e.g. /alban/ [aɫban] ‘soldier’, /gelbe/ [g̊ɛlbe] ‘do not come!’, /Šïmbay/ [ʃɯmbaj] ‘pleasant’. In intervocalic position and between sonorants except /l/ and /m/, the realization of the phoneme /b/ alternates between the bilabial fricative [β] and the bilabial glide [w], e.g /barba/ [b̥arβa] ‘saddlebag’, /gar ǰagbaz/ [ɢar ʤaʁβɐs] ‘it does not snow’, /ibĬ/ [iβɨ]. The allophone [w] usually occurs if one of the two vowels is rounded, e.g. /uba/ [uwa] ‘elder sister’. In the neighborhood of non-sonorants, the phoneme /b/ is realized as a voiceless stop [p], e.g. /dazban/ [d̥aspan] ‘young reindeer buck’, /üžbĬl/ [ʏʃpǝl] ‘francolin’, /ebžĬ/ [epʃɨ] ‘female’, /gažbal/ [ɢ̥ aʃpal] ‘gorge, ravine’. In less careful speech the voiceless bilabial fricative allophone [ф] also occurs in some of these words: [d̥asфan], [ʏʃфǝl] and [ɢ̥aʃфal]. In a very restricted number of words, immediately after the strong phoneme /k/, the phoneme /b/ is realized as the glide [w], e.g. /ǰekbe/ [ʤ̊ĕhkwɛ] ‘wolverine’, /ökbe/ [œ̆ hkwɛ] ‘lung’, /gakba/ [ɢ̥ăhqwa] ‘trap’; see also sections 5.5 and also 6.3.16. Word-finally, the phoneme /b/ occurs as the bilabial voiceless stop [p], e.g. /eb/ [ep] ‘agreement’, /hab/ [hap] ‘sack’, /heb/ [hɛp] ‘shape’. Word-final /b/ occurs as [β], [w] or [v] when a suffix with initial vowel is added, e.g. /hebĬ/ [hɛβɨ] ‘its shape’; for morphophonological variations, see section 5.3.1.2. 4.2.1.3 The phoneme /m/ The phoneme /m/ occurs in all positions of the word and is realized as a bilabial nasal stop [m], e.g. /mal/ [maɫ] ‘cattle, /men/ [men] ‘I’, /mïndĬ/ [mɤndɘ] ‘reindeer doe’, /mün/ [myn] ‘soup’, /amdĬ/ [amdɘ] ‘now’, /ǰime/ [dʒɪmɛ] ‘thing’, /daman/ [d̥ aman] ‘limb’, /duŋma/ [d̥ uŋma] ‘younger sibling’, /emey/ [emej] ‘breast’, /em/ [em] ‘medicine’, /ham/ [ham] ‘shaman’, /hem/ [hem] ‘river’. In the word /meder/ of Russian origin, /m/ is palatalized: [mjed̥ er] ‘meter’. 4.2.2 Dentals/alveolars 4.2.2.1 The phoneme /t/ The dental stop /t/ is a strong phoneme in opposition to the weak phoneme /d/. Word-initially, /t/ is represented by the strongly aspirated allophone [th], e.g. /tebe/ h [t ɛβɛ] ‘camel’, /tabak/ [thaβaq] ‘plate’, /torga/ [thorʁa] ‘sparrow’, /tus/ [thus] ‘separated’, /tölge/ [thœlgɛ] ‘omen’, /tas/ [thas] ‘vulture’, /tala/ [thaɫa] ‘side’, /tïnar/ [thɯnar] ‘breaths’, /tukay/ [thuχˑaj] ~ [thuχˑae] ‘occasion’.

The consonant system

43

Word-medially, /t/ displays the allophone [ht], a voiceless and preaspirated consonant, e.g. /eter/ [ĕhter] ‘reindeer buck’, /atĬg/ [ăhtɘʁ] ‘arrow shot’. As an instrumental analysis clearly shows, the liquid is devoiced in place of the preaspiration after a liquid, e.g. /altĬ/ [aɫ̥tɘ] ‘six’, /erte/ [er̥tɛ] ‘early’, /artĬž/ [ar̥tǝʃ] ‘juniper’.1 An exceptional case is the word /amtan/ [amthan] ‘taste’, where medial /t/ is postaspirated. The allophone [ht] occurs in final position of monosyllabic words, e.g. /at/ [ăht] ‘horse’, /ot/ [ŏht] ‘grass’, /ït/ [ɯ̆ht] ‘dog’, /et/ [ɛ̆ht] ‘meat’, /ört/ [ør̥ t] ‘fire’, /bört/ [pør̥ t] ‘hat’. Additionally, this allophone can be realized with postaspiration, e.g. [ă hth].. 4.2.2.2 The phoneme /d/ The dental stop /d/ is a weak consonant which occurs in all positions of the word. Word-initially, /d/ occurs as an unaspirated alveolar stop ranging from voiced [d] to partly devoiced [d̥] or voiceless [t], e.g. /don/ [don] ~ [d̥on] ~ [ton] ‘vest’, /diiŋ/ [d̥iːŋ] ‘squirrel’, /duzak/ [d̥uz̥aq] ‘trap’, /dürgen/ [d̥ʏrɣen] ‘fast’. Between vowels and after sonorants, /d/ is generally realized as [d̥], e.g. /uduur/ [ud̥ʊːr] ‘sleeps’, /bedĬk/ [b̥ed̥ɪk] ‘high’, /adak/ [ad̥ak] ‘lower part, end’, /aldĬ/ [aɫd̥ɨ] ‘sable’, /sïldĬs/ [sɯɫd̥ɘs] ‘star’. Following long vowels, the degree of voicing may be higher, e.g. /aadar/ [aːdar] ~ [aːd̥ar] ‘lulls’. In the word /daarda/ [d̥ãːrta] ‘tomorrow’, /t/ is completely devoiced. Word-final /d/ is represented by [t], e.g. /at/ [at] ‘name’, /ot/ [ot] ‘fire’. When a suffix with an initial vowel is added, /d/ occurs as devoiced [d̥] or as [d], e.g. /adĬm/ [ad̥ɘm] ~ [adɘm] ‘my name’. The opposition between strong /t/ and weak /d/ is shown by several minimal pairs some of which are listed as follows: word-initially in: /tus/ [thʊs] ‘separated’ vs. /dus/ [d̥ʊs] ‘salt’, /tož/ [thɔʃ] ‘elk’ vs. /dož/ [d̥ɔʃ] ‘ice’; word-medially in: /atĬg/ [ăhtɘʁ] ‘arrow shot’ vs. /adĬg/ [ad̥ɘʁ] ‘bear’, /butĬk/ [b̥ŭhtɘq] ‘branch’ vs. /budĬk/ [b̥ud̥ɘq] ‘color’; word-finally in: /et/ [ɛ̆ht] ‘meat’ vs. /ed/ [ɛt] ‘goods’, /at/ [ăht] ‘horse’ vs. /ad/ [at] ‘name’, /ot/ [ɔ̆ht] ‘grass’ vs. /od/ [ɔt] ‘fire’, /ǰet/ [ʧĕht] ‘reach!’ vs. /ǰed/ [ʤ̊et] ~ [ʧet] ‘lead!, draw!’, /ǰït/ [ʧ̊ɤ̆ht] ‘lie down!’ vs. /ǰïd/ [ʧ̊ɤt] ‘smell’. 4.2.2.3 The phoneme /n/ The phoneme /n/ is realized in most environments as the voiced alveodental stop [n], e.g. /inek/ [inek] ‘cow’, /Šanak/ [ʃanaq] ‘sledge’, /hün/ [hʉn] ‘day’, /don/ [d̥on] ‘vest’, /üzgĬn/ [ʏskɵn] ‘nape’, /anhay/ [anhaj] ‘reindeer calf’, /han/ [han] ‘blood’. Word-initially, its occurrence is restricted to a limited set of lexical elements copied from Mongolic, e.g. /nom/ [nom] ‘book’, /naadĬm/ [naːdɘm] ‘festivity’, /nayr/ [naer] ~ [næːr] ‘feast’. On such cases, further see section 6.5.

1 This phenomen has close correspondences in Khalkha Mongolian; see Svantesson & Karlsson (2002) for details. Similar phenomena are also found in Scandinavian languages that display aspiration (Hansson 2001).

44

The sound system: phonemes and allophones

Adjacent to /y/, the phoneme /n/ is palatalized, e.g. /daynaar/ [d̥ajɲãːr] ‘chews’, /hoynaar/ [hojɲãːr] ‘puts onto the breast (hunting practice)’. For assimilation of palatality, further see section 5.3.4. In the word /baaren/ of Russian origin, /n/ is palatalized: /bareen/ [b̥areːɲ]. ‘jam’. 4.2.2.4 The phoneme /s/ The phoneme /s/ is a strong consonant in opposition to /z/. The phoneme /s/ is realized as a pre-aspirated alveolar fricative voiceless [hs], e.g. /ǰas/ [ʤ̊ăhs] ‘rain’, /as/ [ăhs] ‘hang’, /asar/ [ăhsar] ‘hangs’, /ǰasaar/ [ʤăhsaːr] ‘castrates’. In the speech of some speakers, /s/ is realized with longer duration, e.g. /esĬrĬk/ [ĕsˑǝrǝk] ‘drunken’. The following minimal pairs with the phonemes /s/ and /z/ are found in my material: /asar/ [ăhsar] ‘hangs’ vs. /azar/ [asar] ‘disappears’, /ǰas/ [ʤ̊ăhs] ‘rain’ vs. /ǰaz/ [ʤ̊as] ‘spring’. In less careful speech, /s/ also can vary with the glottal fricative [h], realized with a slight glottal movement: /asar/ [ahar] ~ [ahsar] ‘hangs’. Note that in Yakut, [h] occurs instead of /s/ in intervocalic position (Krueger 1962: 63). Word-initially, the opposition between /s/ and /z/ is neutralized in favor of a voiceless alveolar fricative [s], e.g. /SemĬz/ [semɘs] ‘fat’, /Soo/ [sɔː] ‘birchbark bucket’, /Sen/ [sen] ‘you’. 4.2.2.5 The phoneme /z/ The phoneme /z/ is a weak consonant. Word-final /z/ is realized as a voiceless alveolar fricative [s], e.g. /SemĬz/ [semɘs] ‘fat’, /sïldĬz/ [sɤɫd̥ɘs] ‘star’, /gïz/ [ɢ̥ ɤs] ‘girl’, /iz/ [is] ‘trace’. Between vowels and between sonorants and vowels, /z/ has two allophones in complementary distribution: the voiceless alveolar fricative [s] and the voiced alveolar affricate [ʣ]. The former occurs in the speech of the East Taiga, whereas the latter is mostly found in the speech of the West Taiga. Some examples of this distribution are the following: /uzĬn/ [usɘn] ~ [uʣɘn] ‘long’, /ezer/ [ɛsɛr] ~ [ɛʣɛr] ‘saddle’, /güzĬn/ [g̊ʉsǝn] ~ [g̊ʉʣǝn] ‘in the autumn’. This distribution, however, mostly concerns /z/ when it occurs in root syllables. Otherwise, the allophone [s] is more common, e.g. /ǰagza/ [ʤ̊aʁsa] ‘if it rains’. In less careful speech, the slightly voiced allophone [z] also may occur. Preceding a syllable that begins with a stop or following a syllable that ends with a stop, the phoneme /z/ is realized as the voiceless fricative [s], e.g. /dazban/ [daspan] ‘young reindeer buck’, /özge/ [œskɛ] ‘other’, /güzge/ [g̊ʉskɛ] ‘mouse’, /bakzĬraar/ [b̥ahqsǝraːr] ‘gets bad’, /tïpza/ [tɤ̆hpsa] ‘if (s)he finds’. The sound [z] that occurs in a very restricted set of words which are copied from Darkhat Mongolian such as /zakĬ/ [zaxˑɘ] ‘market’ < zaxă (Sanžeev 1931: 51) may be assigned to the phoneme /z/; further see section 6.5. 4.2.2.6 The phoneme /l/ The phoneme /l/ occurs in all positions of the word and has two main variants according to the feature [±front]: an alveolar liquid [l] and a more back realization [ɫ]. Some examples are the following: /aldĬ/ [aɫdɨ] ‘sable’, /ǰalhĬ/ [ʤaɫhɘ] ‘horde of horses’, /ǰalĬg/ [ʤ̊aɫɘʁ] ‘warm’, /höl/ [hœl] ‘lake’. In back syllables adjacent to palatals, however, /l/ is realized as

The consonant system

45

[l]. This phenomenon is common to many Turkic languages; see, among others, Kirchner (1992: 143). Yet, beyond the prominent syllable, it is often difficult to judge upon the [±front] quality of the phoneme /l/. Before the phoneme /t/, the phoneme /l/ is completely devoiced, e.g. /altĬ/ [aɫ̥tɘ] ‘six’, /altan/ [aɫ̥tan] ‘gold’. After the palatal glide /y/, the phoneme /l/ is often palatalized, e.g. /baylak/ [bajljaq] ‘richness’. Word-finally, /l/ may be partially devoiced, e.g. /ol/ [oɫ̥] ‘that (one)’. Word-initial /l/ occurs in a very restricted set of words copied from Mongolian, e.g. /lama/ [ɫama] ‘lama’, /laa/ [ɫaː] ‘candle’; see section 6.5. 4.2.2.7 The phoneme /r/ The occurrence of the phoneme /r/ is limited to word-medial and word-final position. Word internally, /r/ is represented by the alveolar trill [r], e.g. /ǰaraž/ [ʤ̊araʃ] ‘nice, pretty’, /aarĬg/ [ãːrɘʁ] ‘ill’, /deerĬ/ [d̥ẽːrɨ] ‘sky’. In front syllables, especially in the proximity of /y/, the phoneme /r/ may be palatalized, e.g. /irey/ [irjej] ‘bear’. Similarly to /l/, preceding the phoneme /t/, /r/ is completely devoiced, e.g. /erte/ [er̥tɛ] ‘early’, /bört/ [b̥ør̥t] ‘hat’, /ört/ [œr̥t] ‘fire’, /gart/ [ɢ̥ ar̥t] ‘membrane’. Word-finally, /r/ is often partially devoiced, e.g. /pir/ [b̥ɪr̥] ‘one’, /alĬr/ [aɫɘr̥] ‘takes’. There are no words beginning with /r/ in Dukhan. Words copied from Russian, which originally display /r-/, are provided with a prothetic vowel, e.g. /ïrayoon/ [ǝ̆rajoːn] ‘rayon’ /ïraado/ [ɤ̆raːdo] < radio; also see section 4.1.3.3 above, and the phonotactic rules presented in section 5.2. 4.2.3 Postalveolar/palatals 4.2.3.1 The phoneme /ǰ/ The lenis phoneme /ǰ/ occurs in initial and medial position of the word. This consonant is not in opposition to a strong counterpart. It ranges from voiceless to voiced, in line with the other lenes of the system. In word-initial position, the realization of the phoneme /ǰ/ ranges from voiced [ʤ] to devoiced [ʤ̊] and voiceless [ʧ], e.g. /ǰaraž/ [ʤaraʃ] ~ [ʤ̊araʃ] ~ [ʧaraʃ] ‘nice, pretty’, /ǰer/ [ʤ̊er] ‘place’, /ǰurt/ [ʤ̊ur̥t] ‘land’, /ǰag/ [ʤ̊aʁ] ‘fat’. Word-medially, the phoneme /ǰ/ is realized as the voiceless affricate [ʤ] or the devoiced [ʤ̊], e.g. /aǰa/ [aʤa] ‘father’, /olǰa/ [olʤa] ‘share’, /eeremǰĬk/ [eːremʤɨk] ‘spider’, /aǰĬɣ/ [aʤɘʁ] ~ [aʤ̊ɘʁ] ‘bitter’, /heǰĬge/ [heʤ̊ǝgɛ] ‘braid’. In the pronunciation of some speakers, /ǰ/ can be realized as the alveolar palatal [dj]. Some examples are the following: /ǰïlan/ [djɯɫan] snake’, /ǰok/ [djoq] ‘non-existent’, /ǰel/ [djel] ‘horsehair’, /mïnǰa/ [mɯndja] ‘like this’. For [ǰ] as a morphophonemic variant of the lenis phoneme /ž/, see section 5.3.1.2. In some words, especially in less careful speech, the nasalized glide [ ̃] may occur as a word-initial facultative variant of /ǰ/, e.g. /ǰaŋgĬs/ [ ̃ãŋɢɨs] ~ [djãŋɢɨs] ~ [ʤ̊aŋɢɨs] ‘alone’, /ǰok/ [ ̃õq] ~ [djõq] ~ [ʤoq] ‘non-existent’. For [ ̃], see below. Also note that this case is often due to Sandhi; see section 5.4.

46

The sound system: phonemes and allophones

4.2.3.2 The phoneme /š/ The phoneme /š/ is a strong consonant which is in opposition to the lenis /ž/. In final position of monosyllabic stems, /š/ is realized as a pre-aspirated voiceless palatal fricative [hʃ], e.g. /aš/ [ăhʃ] ‘open’, /gïš/ [ɢ̥ɤ̆hʃ] ‘winter’. The same realization also occurs word-medially preceding stop consonants, e.g. /gošdab/ [qɔ̆hʃtap] ‘carrying’, /gešder/ [kĕhʃtɛr] ‘animal skins’. Between vowels, the realization of /š/ varies between an alveolar and a palatal fricative, both displaying longer duration. They are articulated with glottal tension. The vowel preceding /š/ generally is rather short. Some examples of these realizations are the following: /ašar/ [ăçˑar] ~ [ăʃˑar] ‘opens’, /ǰašĬt/ [ʤ̊ăçˑɘt] ~ [ʤ̊ăʃˑɘt] ‘secret’, /gišĬn/ [ɢ̥ɤ̆çˑɘn] ~ [ɢ̥ɤ̆ʃˑɘn] ‘in wintertime’, /gišĬ/ [g̊ĭçˑɘ] ~ [g̊ĭʃˑɘ] ‘person’. The same allophones may occur in lexemes copied from Russian, e.g. /mašiina/ [măʃˑiːna] ~ [măçˑiːna] ‘car’. According to Baylak Ooržak (personal communication), this case also is typical of the speech of older speakers of Tuvan. In less careful speech, /š/ may be realized as the glottal fricative [h], articulated with slight glottal tension, e.g. /ašar/ [ahar]. Yakut also displays [h] as an intervocalic variant of /š/ (Krueger 1962: 63). In the analysed corpus there are also cases where intervocalic/-š-/ is realized as [ʒ], e.g. [g̊ĭʒǝ] ‘person’. There is often great variation due to speech tempo, even in the speech of one and the same speaker. 4.2.3.3 The phoneme /ž/ The phoneme /ž/ is a weak consonant and is in opposition to the tense phoneme /š/ in the prominent position of the word by the absence of aspiration. Word-medially and word-finally, the phoneme /ž/ occurs as an unaspirated palatal fricative consonant, e.g. /aŋžĬ/ [aŋʃɨ] ‘hunter’, /aalžĬ/ [aːɫʃɨ] ‘guest’, /emžĬ/ [emʃɨ] ‘doctor’, /arĬgžaan/ [arəkʃaːn] ‘spring, holy water’, /banžĬ/ [b̥anʃɘ] ‘small meat dumplings’, /agža/ [aqʃa] ‘money’, /palĬkžĬ/ [b̥aɫǝqʃɘ] ‘fisherman’. Word-initially, the opposition between /š/ and /ž/ is suspended in favor of the voiceless palatal fricative [ʃ], e.g. /ŠažĬn/ [ʃaʃɨn] ‘religion’, /Šïlba/ [ʃɯɫba] ~ [ʃɯɫβa] ‘lasso’, /Šïmbay/ [ʃɯmbaj] ‘pleasant’. With the addition of vowel-initial suffixes, the phoneme /ž/ generally varies with [ʤ]. In less careful speech, however, the variant [ʒ] may also occur, e.g. [eʤɨ] ~ [eʒɨ] ‘his/her friend’ from /ež/ [eʃ] ‘friend’; see section 5.3.1.2. The opposition between the phonemes /š/ and /ž/ is seen in the following minimal pair: /aš/ [ăhʃ] ‘open!’ vs. /až/ [aʃ] ‘cross!’. 4.2.3.4 The phoneme /y/ The phoneme /y/ occurs in all positions of the word. Intervocalically and in syllable- and word-final position, /y/ is realized as the palatal glide [j], e.g. /hayrĬhan/ [hajrǝhan] ‘bear (euphemic)’, /ay/ [aj] ‘moon’, /irey/ [irjej] ‘bear’, /anhay/ [anhaj] ‘newborn reindeer calf’. In some words, the sequence V + /y/ yields to diphthongs; see section 4.1.5 for examples. Besides, in less careful speech, word-final /-y/ of polysyllabic words drops, producing lengthening of the preceding vowel, e.g. [irjɛj] ~ [irjɛː] ‘bear’.

The consonant system

47

The phonemes /y/ and /ǰ/ are opposed word-medially, as shown by the following minimal pair: /aya/ [aja] ‘trip-bow’ vs. /aǰa/ [aʤa] ‘father’. The sound [j] occurs word-initially in lexical copies mostly from Mongolian: /yïlgaa/ [jɯɫɢaː] ‘difference’, /yerööl/ [jerøːl] ‘benediction’, /yertĬnǰey/ [jertǝnʤej] ‘universe’; also see section 6.5. Yet, in some words, /y/ is systematically nasalized. Some examples of word-initial [ ̃] are the following: /yaag/ [ ̃ãːq] ‘cheek’, /ỹarĬn/ [ ̃ãrɘn] ‘shoulder-blade’, /yan/ [ ̃ãn] ‘return (home)’, /yoon/ [ ̃õːn] ‘pregnant’, /yöög/ [ ̃ø̃ːk] ‘feather, animal hair’. In some cases, [ ̃] can vary with the palatal nasal allophone [ɲ], e.g. /yaa/ [ ̃ãː] ~ [ɲaː] ‘new’. This allophone occurs systematically in the word /yež/ [ɲɛʃ] ‘tree, wood’. The sound [ ̃] also occurs word-medially, e.g. /mïyak/ [mɯ̃ȷã ̃k] ‘excrement’, /durĬyaa/ [d̥ũrǝ̃ỹãː] ‘crane’, /doyĬg/ [d̥õȷɘ̃ ɣ̃ ̃] ‘hoof’, /bežgĬye/ [b̥eʃkɨ ̃ẽ] ‘only three’. For the limitative numeral suffix +KĬỹA, see section 7.2.1.6. The occurrence of [ ̃] word-finally is restricted to the following two instances: /hoy/ [hõȷ]̃ ‘sheep’, homophone with [hõȷ]̃ ‘bosom’, and /ay/ [ãȷ]̃ ‘lily bulb’. The latter occurs in minimal pair opposition with /ay/ [aj] ‘moon’. However, in the speech of some speakers it also occurs void of nasalization as [aj]. The occurrence of [ȷ]̃ as a facultative variant of lenis /ǰ/ was mentioned above in section 4.2.3.1. For the classificatory relevance of the sound ỹ, cf. section 3.3.2. 4.2.3.5 The phoneme /č/ The phoneme /č/ is a marginal phoneme in Dukhan. Word-initially, it occurs in the following two instances, where it is postaspirated: /čikĬr/ [ʧhixˑǝr] ‘sugar’ and /čoloo/ [ʧhoɫɔː], the name of one of the speakers of the West Taiga, a modern Mongolian word meaning ‘stone’. Word-internally, it is postaspirated in the words /ǰeček/ [ʤ̊ĕhʧek] ‘flower’ and /ǰečen/ [ʤ̊ĕhʧen] ‘wise’. Besides, the phoneme /č/ occurs beyond the prominent position of the word as a voiceless palatal affricate [ʧ] which is realized with longer duration. Some examples are the following: /hayčĬ/ [haeʧːɘ] ~ [haeʧˑɘ] ‘scissors’, /ibĬčĬ/ [iβɘʧːɘ] ~ [iβɘʧˑɘ] ‘reindeer herder’, /arahačĬ/ [arahaʧːɘ] ~ [arahaʧˑɘ] ‘vodka-drinker’. Tofan displays close similarities in this respect; see Rassadin (1971: 48). 4.2.4 Velar/postvelars 4.2.4.1 The phoneme /k/ The phoneme /k/ is a strong phoneme in opposition to the weak stop /g/. It does not occur word-initially. For /h-/, see below. Word-medially, preceding non-sonorants, the phoneme /k/ is represented by [ hk] and h [ q] according to the feature [±front], e.g. /bakzĬraar/ [b̥ăhqsɘraːr] ‘it gets bad’, /ǰükdeer/ [ʤ̊ʏ̆hkteːr] ‘carries’, /gakba/ [găhqwa] ‘trap’, /ökbe/ [œ̆ hkwɛ] ‘lung’, /ǰikbe/ [ʤ̊ĭhkwɛ] ‘wolverine’. On the last three examples, also see section 5.5. The allophones [hk] and [hq] may be realized as homorganic fricatives for example before sibilants, as in /bakzĬraar/ [b̥ăhχsǝraːr].

48

The sound system: phonemes and allophones

Between vowels, /k/ occurs as a homorganic fricative pronounced with strong energy effort involving glottal tension in careful speech. It has longer duration. Some examples are the following: /pakay/ [b̥ăχˑaj] ‘bad’, /takĬlga/ [d̥ăxˑǝłɢa] ‘ritual’, /akĬm/ [ɑ̆χˑәm] ‘flowing (water)’. The last example also occurs, though just once in my material, as [ahqːǝm], where a preaspirated long velar [hqː] is an allophone of /k/. In the following two words, /k/ also is strongly nasalized: /ike/ [ĭx̃̃ ˑɛ̃] ‘mother’, /ikĬ/ [ĭx̃̃ ˑɪ ̃] ‘two’. Word-final /k/ is strongly pre-aspirated in monosyllabic words, e.g. /ok/ [ʊ̆hq] ‘arrow, bullet’, /bak/ [b̥ăhq] ‘bad’, /dek/ [d̥ɛh̆ k] ‘fast’, /ǰuhk/ [ʧŭhq] ‘resin’. Additionally, this allophone can be realized with postaspiration, e.g. /ok/ [ʊ̆hqh] ~ [ʊ̆hq]. Word-final /k/ in polysyllabic words is realized as a voiceless velar stop without preaspiration, with the allophone [k] in front syllables, and the allophone [q] in back syllables, e.g. /palĬk/ [b̥ałɘq] ‘fish’, /bedĬk/ [b̥edɘk] ‘tall’, /irĬk/ [irǝk] ‘rotten’. 4.2.4.2 The phoneme /g/ The velar stop /g/ is a weak phoneme and is in opposition to the strong phoneme /k/. Word-initially, /g/ is realized as a velar stop, ranging from voiceless to slightly voiced, e.g, /gïz/ [ɢ̥ɤs] ‘girl’, /gal/ [ɢ̥aɫ] ‘stay!’, /guuday/ [ɢ̥ʊːdaj] ‘castrated reindeer’, /gidĬz/ [g̊ɪdɪs] ‘felt’. Word-medially, in intervocalic position, /g/ occurs with little or no friction, e.g. /sigen/ [sigɛn] ‘grass’, /ǰügen/ [ʤ̊ʏgen] ‘bridle’, /ǰügĬrer/ [ʤ̊ʏgǝrer] ‘runs’. The same realization occurs after /l/ and /y/, e.g. /dilgĬ/ [d̥ilgɘ] ‘fox’, /dayga/ [d̥ajɢa] ‘taiga’ and /bolgan/ [b̥oɫɢan] ‘has been’. In less careful speech, /g/ may undergo fricativization in this position, e.g. [b̥oɫʁan] ~ [b̥oɫɢan] ‘has been’. After nasals, /g/ is often realized as a somewhat devoiced stop, as in /ezeŋgĬ/ [ɛsɛŋg̊ɘ] ‘stirrup’. In the environment of sibilants, the phoneme /g/ displays the voiceless allophones [k] and [q] according to the [±front] feature, e.g. /özge/ [œskɛ] ‘other’, /azgǝr/ [asqɘr] ‘stallion’, /güzge/ [g̊ʏskɛ] ‘mouse’, /agža/ [aqʃa] ‘money’, /sugzap/ [sʊqsap] ‘being thirsty’. Word-final /g/, after short vowels, is realized as the fricatives [γ] and [ʁ] according to the feature [±front], e.g. /bag/ [b̥aʁ] ‘tie’, /deg/ [d̥ɛγ] ‘like’, /Sug/ [sʊʁ] ‘water’. These allophones are often realized with little or no friction, especially in less careful speech, e.g. /ög/ [œx] ~ [œγ] ‘dwelling’. In word-final position of monosyllables which display a long vowel, /g/ is realized as a stop and not as a fricative, e.g. /öög/ [œ̃ ːk] ‘button’, /Söög/ [sø̃ːk] ‘bone’. The same realization occurs after semi-long vowels, e.g. /düg/ [d̥ʉˑk] ‘hair’, /gög/ [g̊œˑk] ‘blue’, /ag/ [aˑk] ‘white’ and /ǰog/ [ʤ̊oˑq] ‘non-existent’. For these allophones, further see sections 5.3.1.2 and 6.2.2. In final position of polysyllabic words there is often no perceivable difference between back and front variants of /g/ especially in suffixes, e.g. /ibĬlĬg/ [iβɨlǝɣ] ‘provided with reindeer’, /mïndĬlĬg/ [mɯndɘlǝɣ] ‘provided with reindeer does’. Minimal pairs with word-final /k/ and /g/ in monosyllabic words are the following: /ǰük/ [ʤ̊ʏ̆ hk] ‘load’ vs. /ǰüg/ [ʤ̊ʏk] ‘direction’, /gök/ [kœ̆ hk] ‘root’ vs. /gög/ [g̊ œk] ‘blue’, /bak/ [b̥ăhq] ‘bad’ vs. /bag/ [b̥aʁ] ‘tie’. Minimal pairs in non-first syllables include: /aarĬk/ [aːrɘq] ‘skinny’ vs. /aarĬg/ [ãːrɘʁ] ‘sick’ and /balĬk/ [b̥ aɫɘq] ‘fish’ vs. /balĬg/ [b̥aɫɘʁ] ‘wound’.

The consonant system

49

4.2.4.3 The phoneme /ŋ/ The velar phoneme /ŋ/ is realized as a voiced velar nasal consonant, and it occurs only in syllable- and word-final position, e.g. /duŋma/ [d̥ ʊŋma] ‘younger sibling’, /duŋmak/ [d̥ʊŋmaq] ‘thigh’, /ǰaŋgĬz/ [ʤaŋɢɘs] ‘alone’, /döŋgĬr/ [d̥œŋgɵrj] ‘young male reindeer’, /ezeŋgĬ/ [ɛsɛŋgɘ] ‘stirrup’, /aŋ/ [aŋ] ‘wild animal’, /baylaŋ/ [b̥ajɫaŋ] ‘small fish’, /diiŋ/ [d̥iːŋ] ‘squirrel’. 4.2.5 Glottals 4.2.5.1 The phoneme /h/ The phoneme /h/ is realized as a glottal fricative [h]. Word-initially, it occurs in a large set of words, e.g. /han/ [han] ‘blood’, /hem/ [hɛm] ‘river’, /hep/ [hɛp] ‘shape’, /hin/ [hɪn] ‘navel’, /haban/ [haβan] ‘boar’, /heǰǝge/ [hɛʤɨge] ‘braid’. This realization may alternate in the speech of some speakers with the voiceless fricatives [x] and [χ] according to the [±front] feature, e.g. /had/ [hat] ~ [χat] ‘berry, wind’. Word-medially, /h/ occurs beyond the prominent position of the word, after liquids and nasals or in intervocalic position. Some examples are the following: /erhek/ [erhek] ‘finger’, /alhĬ/ [aɫhɘ] ‘animal skin’, /araha/ [araha] ‘alcoholic beverage’, /oorha/ [õːrha] ‘back’, /balïïrhaar/ [palɤːrhaːr] ‘pretends to feel pain’, /anhay/ [anhaj] ‘reindeer calf’, /hayrĬhan/ [haerǝhan] ‘bear (euphemism)’. On the last item, also see section 6.5. In less careful speech, the voiced allophone [ɦ] may occur, e.g. /araha/ [araɦa] ‘vodka, spirits’. The phonemes /h/ and /g/ are opposed in initial and medial position of the word. Minimal pairs with /h/ and /g/ in initial position are: /hïl/ [hɤɫ] ‘hair’ vs. /gïl/ [g̊ɤɫ] ‘make (it)!’, /hem/ [hɛm] ‘river’ vs. /gem/ [g̊ɛm] ‘defect’. The phonemes /g/ and /h/ are opposed word medially, as seen in the following minimal pair: /algĬ/ [ałɢǝ] ‘shriek’ vs. /alhĬ/ [ałhɘ] ʻcovering’.

50

The sound system: phonemes and allophones

4.2.6 Consonant phoneme inventory The consonant phonemes of Dukhan are listed below according to their place and manner of articulation. Marginal segments are shown in brackets. Table 2 Chart of consonant phonemes labial plosive

strong weak

dental/alveolar p b

strong weak

t d

affricate fricative nasal lateral vibrant glide

m

strong weak n l r

postalveolar/ palatal

s z

strong weak strong weak [ń]

y [ỹ]

č ǰ š ž

velar/ postvelars strong k weak g

pharyngeal and glottal

strong [x]

[ћ] h

ŋ

51

Principles of the broad transcription

4.3 Principles of the broad transcription In this chapter a phonemic transcription and an IPA-based narrow transcription have been applied to describe the sound system of Dukhan. In the following chapters, however, a broader transcription will be used. That broad transcription is phonemic, but uses the symbols of the most frequent allophones in certain positions. In the two tables below, the principles of this broad transcription for vowels and for consonants are presented schematically. Vowels Table 3 Principles of the broad transcription for vowels Phoneme /a/ /aa/ /e/ /ee/ /o/ /oo/ /ö/ /öö/ /i/ /ii/ /ī/ /īī/ /u/ /uu/ /ü/ /üü/

Prominent position a aa e ee o oo ö öö i ii ī īī u uu ü üü

Non-prominent position a aa e ee o (rare) oo ö (rare) öö ǝ ii ǝ īī ǝ uu ǝ üü

Nasalization, although not a contrastive feature, is marked in the broad transcription, since it represents a salient feature of Dukhan. Nasalized long vowels are written with the superscript tilde [˜], e.g. ããr ‘heavy’. Diphthongs will be treated as sequences of vowels and /y/. The only exception is [ae] occurring in the word [gae] ‘which (one)’. This word will be written as gae in the broad transcription.

52

The sound system: phonemes and allophones

Consonants The relevant feature of aspiration has been marked using the superscript sign consonant it belongs to.

h

before the

Table 4 Principles of the broad transcription for consonants Phoneme /p/ /b/

Word-initial position p hp-

/m/ /t/ /d/

mtht-

/n/ /s/ /z/ /l/ /r/ /š/

nslr-

Word-medial position

Word-final position

VhpC VβV, CβV, CpV, CbV and VpC -mVhtV and VhtC -VtV-, -VdV-, VVdV, CdV, CtC and VtC -nVhsV and VhsC VsV/VzV, CsV, and VsC -l-rVhhjV, and VhšC

-hp -p

VšV, CšV and VšC VǰV, CǰV and CčV -y-ỹVhčV and VččV VhxV, VhkC

-š -y -ỹ -hk (in monosyllabic words) and -k (in polysyllabic words) -γ and -k (after long vowels) -ŋ -

-m -ht -t -n -hs -s -l -r -hš

š/ž/ /ǰ/ /y/ [ỹ] /č/ /k/

ǰyỹč h-

/g/

g-

/ŋ/ [ń] /h/ [ħ]

ńh-

-

VgV, VɣV, CɣV, VɣC, CkV, VkC and -CgV -ŋ-ńVhV, ChV VhhV

In intersonantic position, lenis /d/ will be written as t, exclusively in positions where it contrasts with fortis /t/. Otherwise, it will be written using the sign d. As for intervocalic lenis /z/, it will be written both as -s- and -z-, thus respecting the East vs. West Taiga distribution of this sound, e.g. eser [ɛsɛr] and ezer [ɛʣɛr] ‘saddle’. Medial lenis -g- will be written as g in the neighborhood of long vowels, e.g. nogaan ‘green’.

Principles of the broad transcription

53

Nasalization is systematically marked in the broad transcription for the palatal glide ỹ and for -hx̃- occurring in the words ihx̃ǝ ‘two’, and ihx̃e ‘mother’.

5 Phonotactics and morphophonology 5.0 Introduction This chapter deals with the phonotactic rules that govern the arrangement of phonemes in Dukhan words, and with the morphophonemic alternations both in stems and suffixes. The morphophonemes of suffixes, which summarize all possible realizations, will be written with capital letters; e.g. -BA (the verbal negative suffix) represents the variants -ba, -be, -pa, -pe, -βa, -βe, -ma and -me. Sandhi phenomena and metatheses are touched upon in the last two sections of the chapter. Examples will, in general, be given in the broad transcription outlined in sections 4.3, but also in narrow IPA transcription if required.

5.1 Syllable types The monosyllabic primary stems display the following combinations of vowels and consonants: VV

e.g. ẽẽ ‘owner’

VC

e.g. at ‘name’

CV

e.g. te- ‘to say’

CVV e.g. ỹãã ‘new’ VVC e.g. aal ‘encampment’ CVC e.g. hem ‘river’ VCC e.g. örht ‘fire, burning’ CVVC e.g. ǰook ‘near’ CVCC e.g. pörht ‘hat’ It has been suggested that Turkic initial vowels are preceded by a glottal stop (e.g. Baskakov 1966: 16–17). However, my instrumental analysis does not systematically show an element of this kind. Polysyllabic stems will be briefly discussed below. Some polysyllabic stems go back to older combinations of monosyllabic primary stems and suffixes. An example of this type is öske ‘other’ < *öz ‘essence’ plus the now unproductive agent suffix +GA (for the suffix +GA, see Erdal 1991: 376). Others are bisyllabic primary stems, e.g. pörǝ ‘wolf’ < *böri, utǝ- ‘to sleep’ < *udïï-. Many

56

Phonotactics and morphophonology

polysyllabic stems are of non-Turkic origin. The lexeme šulǝn ‘reindeer moos’, for instance, is of unknown origin, whereas hoβǝgana ‘butterfly’ likely represents a formation with the Mongol suffix -GAnA (Poppe 1964: 41). The noun mïndǝ ‘reindeer doe’ is a global copy from Samoyedic, whereas both thoom ‘path of wild animals’ and naadǝm ‘festivity’ are copied from Mongolic, cf. sections 3.3. and 6.5, respectively.

5.2 Phonotactic rules Dukhan phonotactic rules do not allow word-initial consonant clusters. Clusters in words copied primarily from Russian are provided with a prothetic vowel, e.g. ïškoola ‘school’ ← škola; further see /ï/ in section 4.1.3.3 and /r/ in section 4.2.2.7. Among the consonants, r and ŋ are not permitted word-initially. Stem-final combinations of r and an alveodental stop are permitted in Dukhan, e.g. örht ‘fire’, arht- ‘to remain’, tört ‘four’, ǰurht ‘land’, pörht ‘hat’, gorht- ‘to fear’, perht ‘very’. On [r] + [ht], see sections 5.3.1.1 and 6.3.4. Consonant clusters in Dukhan occur across syllable boundaries. Within a word, a maximum of three consonants can cluster together, e.g. törttǝγ ‘provided with four (entities)’. Geminate consonants which are due to morphophonological processes will be dealt with in greater detail in section 5.3.4. Long consonants, which occur within primary stems, i.e. within stems like ekkǝ ‘good’ and tïkka ‘very’ that cannot be analyzed synchronically, will be dealt with in section 6.3.21. Liquids and nasals can cluster with voiceless consonants in Dukhan. Some examples of this are the following: amsaar ‘tastes’, polsam ‘if I would be’, õõrha ‘spine’. In this respect, Dukhan shares close similarities both with Tofan and with Tere-Khöl Tuvan; cf. Rassadin (1971: 63‒65) and Seren (2006: 35). Tuvan, on the other hand, systematically displays voiced variants; see, among others, Monguš (1963) and Anderson & Harrison (1999: 8). The occurrence of low rounded vowels is not restricted to initial syllables in Dukhan, e.g. arhtoo ‘behind, north’, ayool ‘danger’, poo ‘rifle’, tǝroo ‘enphatic copula particle’; further see section 6.5 below. Vowel hiatus, i.e. the occurrence of vowel sequences, is not permitted in Dukhan. This is also true for the relation between stems and suffixes.

5.3 Morphophonological variations The addition of suffixes leads to systematic cases of assimilation of the final segment of the stem and the initial segment of suffixes. In the following sections, morphophonological variations at the end of stems and at the beginning of suffixes will be treated separately. 5.3.1 Morphophonological variations in stems Cases of morphophonological variation of stems before suffixes with initial vowels will be treated first.

Morphophonological variations

57

5.3.1.1 Morphophonology of strong consonants The strong consonants /p/, /t/, /k/, /s/ and /š/ do not undergo voicing before a suffix with vowel onset; thus, /-p/ is realized as a pharyngeal fricative, /-t/ as a preaspirated dental/alveolar stop, /-k/ as a homorganic velar or postvelar fricative according to the feature (±front), /-s/ as a preaspirated alveolar fricative and /-š/ either as an alveolar or as a palatal fricative. The fricative realizations of fortes are characterized by longer duration and glottal tension in careful speech; cf. chapter 4. In less careful speech, however, especially, the morphophonemic variants of /-p/ and /-k/ merge into a glottal fricative sound [h], articulated with less energy effort. Convergence phenomena of this kind are common crosslinguistically. The morphophonological variants of fortis consonants may be schematically presented as follows: /-p/ → [ħˑ] represented as -hh/-t/ → [ht] represented as -ht/-k/ → [χˑ] and [xˑ] represented as -hx/-s/ → [hs] and [sˑ] represented as -hs/-š/ → [çˑ] ~ [ʃˑ] represented as -hhjThe following examples illustrate these processes: tïhp- ‘to find’ plus -Vr (INTRA.LF) → tïhhar [tɯ̆ ħˑar] ‘finds’ tehp- ‘to kick’ plus -Vr (INTRA.LF) → tehher [tĕħˑɛr] ‘kicks’ aht ‘horse’ plus +(Ĭ)m (INTRA.LF) → ahtǝm [ɑ̆htǝm] ‘my horse’ ahk- ‘to flow’ plus -Vr (INTRA.LF) → ahxar [ɑ̆χˑar] ‘flows’ ǰühk ‘load’ plus +(Ĭ)m (INTRA.LF) → ǰühxǝm [ʤʏ̆ xˑǝm] ‘my load’ ahs- ‘to hang’ plus -Vr (INTRA.LF) → ahsar [ăhsar] ~ [ăsˑar] ‘hangs’ ahš- ‘to open’ plus -Vr (INTRA.LF) → ahhjar [açˑar] ~ [aʃˑar] ‘opens’ Exceptional is the morphophonological variation of /-t/ in the words pörht ‘hat’ and gor t- ‘to fear’. In these cases, stem-final fortis /-t/ is substituted by the glottal sound -hwhen a suffix with initial vowel is added, e.g. pörht plus -(Ĭ)m (POSS1.SG) → pörhǝm [b̥ørhǝm] ‘my hat’ and gorht- plus -Vr (INTRA.LF) → gorhar [ɢ̥ɔrhar] ‘fears’. In such and similar cases, /r/ is not devoiced. The same phenomenon can be seen between perht ‘tough’ and perhe ‘difficult’. Note that the last item represents a Turkic re-borrowing from Mongolic; cf. section 6.5 therefor. For the change /-rt/ > -rh-, see /-t/ in section 6.3.4. In just two instances of the analyzed corpus that occur in a situation of less careful speech, the strong consonants /-p-/ and /-k-/ have disappeared in front of a suffix with an initial vowel. Both words have an initial sibilant. These cases are: suuβǝdar ‘quickly dips’ h

58

Phonotactics and morphophonology

from suhk- ‘to dip’ plus +(Ĭ)βĬt- (COMP) plus -Vr (INTRA.LF), and šïp ‘covering’ from šïhpplus -(Ĭ)p (CB). The latter example also can also be regarded as a case of crasis. The morphophonological alternations of strong consonants of Dukhan in prevocalic position are schematically represented below, with comparisons with Tofan and Standard Tuvan. For the transliteration of Tuvan and Tofan, see section 1.4. Table 5 Morphophonological alternations of strong consonants in Sayan Turkic Phoneme /p/ /t/ /k/ /s/ /š/

Dukhan /p/ o hh /t/ o ht /k/ o hx /s/ o hs /š/ o hhj

Tofan /p/ o ˁφ /t/ o ˁt /k/ o ˁh /s/ o ˁs /š/ o ˁhj

Tuvan /p/ oˁβ /t/ o ˁd /k/ o ˁγ /s/ o ˁz /š/ o ˁž

The morphophonological variants of fortis /p/ also are found in the ethnonym of the speakers of Dukhan, Tofan and Tuvan: tuhha ‘Dukhan’, tïˁva ‘Tuvan’ and toˁfa ‘Tofan’. It is also interesting to see that these three different realizations of /p/ correspond to the three stages that are supposed to have led to the disappearance of Proto-Turkic *p-; cf. section 6.1. Parallel processes are attested in the languages of the area. The spirantization of /p/ in intervocalic position also is found in Mongolic languages (Janhunen 2003: 6). In addition, the Samoyed languages Nganasan and Mator spirantize *p into x (Janhunen 1998: 466). These sound changes possibly may reflect features of a substratum language once common to the whole region. Furthermore, considering that a laryngeal sound -h- is reconstructed for Pre- or Proto Mongolic as a realization of /p/ and /k/ (Janhunen 1999), medial -q- which occurs in the name tuqa ‒ documented in the Secret History of the Mongols (cf. section 2.3) besides tuba ‒, in that case would represent -h- < *p. The ethnonym tuhha ‘Dukhan’ would go back to this form. At the same time, tïˁva ‘Tuvan’ and toˁfa ‘Tofan’ seem rather clearly to be related to the form tuba. If these reconstructions are correct, it may be argued that already in the XIII century tuqa and tuba were different peoples. 5.3.1.2 Morphophonology of weak consonants Word-final weak consonants may undergo voicing and/or voiced spirantization or affricatization with the addition of a suffix with vowel onset. Their morphophonological variants are schematically presented below. The morphophonological variation of /-g/ is treated separately thereafter.

59

Morphophonological variations

/-b/ → [β] represented as -β/-d/ → [d̥] represented as -t/-z/ → [s] and [ʣ] represented as -s- and -z-1 /-ž/ → [ʤ] represented as -ǰThe following examples illustrate these processes:

hap ‘sack’ plus +(Ĭ)m (POSS1.SG) → haβǝm [haβǝm] ‘my sack’ at ‘name’ plus +(Ĭ)ŋ (POSS2.SG) → atǝŋ [ad̥ǝŋ] ‘your name’ gïs ‘girl’ plus +(Ĭ)m (POSS1.SG) → gïsǝm [ɢɤsɨm] ~ gïzǝm [ɢɤʣɨm] ‘my girl’ eš ‘friend’ plus +(Z)Ĭ (POSS3) → eǰǝ [eʤɨ] ‘his/her friend’2 As already mentioned in sections 4.2.2.5 and 4.3, the alveolar affricate [ʣ] is typical of the speech of the West Taiga people. The morphophonological variations of word-final /g/ deserve some special attention. Word-final /-g/ disappears with the addition of a suffix beginning with or consisting of a vowel. The suffix vowel assimilates to the final vowel of the stem, producing a long vowel, e.g. ööm Ø; see Ramstedt (1957: 39‒40), Doerfer (1976: 24‒26) and Tenišev (1984: 396‒402). In nearly all Turkic languages the result of *p- is Ø. According to one widespread opinion among Turcologists, in non-initial position of monosyllabic words, i.e. in monosyllabic primary stem morphemes, the stops were in opposition with respect to the features fortis vs. lenis. Regarding their articulatory features, it can be assumed that the strong member of the opposition was aspirated, whereas the weak member was non-aspirated. It is unclear whether this strength opposition concerned also spirants and affricates. Following Johanson (1986, 2007), the structure of the two opposed syllable types may be schematically represented as follows: (C) + short vowel + fortes [p, t, k] (C) + long vowel + lenes [b, d, g]

formally formally

(C)VCf (C)VVCl

A contrastive treatment of the fortis vs. lenis opposition of consonants within and beyond the Sayan area is the subject of section 6.4.

6.2 Vowels The diachronic paths of Dukhan short and long vowels occurring in words of Turkic origin will be discussed in this section. In the reconstruction of these forms, a vowel is considered long if it is documented as such in old written sources and/or in modern languages such as Yakut, Turkmen and Khalaj. Examples from these languages will be used in this analysis. 6.2.1 Short vowels Dukhan short vowels may correspond to both Proto-Turkic long vowels and Proto-Turkic short vowels. Some examples of the development of Dukhan V < PT *VV are the following: taš ‘stone’< *taaš, at ‘name’ < *aad, gïs ‘girl’ < *kïïz, tiš ‘tooth’ < *tiiš, tus ‘salt’ < *tuuz, güš ‘strength’ < *güüǰ, gol ‘arm/hand’ < *kool ‘upper arm’, geǰe ‘evening’ < *kėėǰe. This phenomenon is common throughout Sayan Turkic. However, for cases of preservation of Proto-Turkic vowel length in Dukhan, see section 6.2.2 below. Proto-Turkic short vowels that occur in the reconstructed sequence (C)VCf appear in Dukhan as extra-short vowels, e.g. aht [ăht] ‘horse’ < *at, eht [ĕht] ‘meat’ < *et, göhp [g̊œ̆hp] ‘much’ < *köp. Proto-Turkic short vowels that occur before the consonants s, č and š also are realized as extra-short vowels in Dukhan, e.g. ahs- [ăhs] ‘to hang’ < *as-, pahš [b̥ăhʃ] ‘head’ < *baš, ahš- [ăhʃ] ‘to open’ < *ač-. For Dukhan š < *č and *š, see /š/ in section 6.3.11. Proto-Turkic short vowels which occur before consonants other than the fortis consonants p, t, and k, and the consonants s, č and š, appear in Dukhan as short vowels, e.g. gïl- ‘to do’ < *kïl-, gal- ‘to remain’ < *kal-, pil- ‘to know’ < *bil-, pol- ‘to become’ < *bol-.

Vowels

71

6.2.1.1 The sound alternation a ~ ï In some words, Dukhan ï corresponds to Proto-Turkic *a, e.g. ǰïht- ‘to lie’ < *yat-, hïrǝn ‘stomach’ < *karVn, tïhp- ‘to find’ m in words that display a velar. On this latter phenomenon, see Schönig (1999). The presence of a nasal consonant later in the word can trigger nasalization of short vowels. This is especially the case in the presence of the nasalized glide ỹ; see section 6.3.14 below. For the exceptionally strong nasalization in the lexemes ihx̃ e [ĩx̃̆ ˑẽ], ‘mother’ and ihx̃ ǝ [ĩx̃̆ ˑĩ] ‘two’, further see section 6.3.16. In some instances, such as ãy and ay ‘moon’, nasalization is not consistent. As mentioned earlier in this study, in the speech of some speakers nasalization is a very aggressive feature that may spread over a whole phrase or sentence. Nasalization is also consistently present in Tofan (Rassadin 1971), in the Tere-Khöl dialect of Tuvan (Seren 2006: 35) and in the taiga variety of Toju Tuvan (Čadamba 1974: 19). As seen in section 3.3, it represents an important isogloss of Taiga Sayan Turkic. For nasalization in Sayan Turkic, also see Menges (1959: 648–649).

6.3 Turkic consonantal segments Dukhan consonant segments of Turkic origin will be discussed in the following. Long consonants occurring in synchronically unsegmentable lexemes of Turkic origin going back to intersyllabic clusters are discussed in section 6.3.21. Consonant segments of foreign

Turkic consonantal segments

73

origin, including the fortis phoneme /č/, is the subject of section 6.5. Preaspiration is dealt with in section 6.4. 6.3.1 Fortis /p/ Dukhan -hp continues PT fortis *-p, in syllables of the structure (C)VCf, e.g. göhp [g̊œ̆hp] ‘abundant’ < *köp, tehp- [d̥ehp] ‘to kick’ < *tep-, tïhp- [d̥ɤ̆hp] ‘to find’ < *tap. For the alternation a ~ ï, see section 6.2.1.1 above. For the strongly aspirated consonant ph- occurring in a limited set of words in wordinitial position, see section 6.5. 6.3.2 Lenis /b/ Dukhan initial p- continues PT *b-, e.g. paγ ‘tie’ < *baag, pot ‘self’< *bood ‘stature’, peš ~ pieš ‘five’ < *bieš. In the word puhtǝk ~ muhtǝk ‘branch’ < *butVk, initial p- freely alternates with m-. Dukhan medial -β- continues PT*-b-, e.g. theβe ‘camel’ < *tebe(y). For the initial th-, see /t/. Dukhan final -p continue PT lenis -b occurring in the syllable-type (C)VVCl, e.g. hap ‘container’ < *kaab, hep ‘shape’ < *kėėb. 6.3.3 Nasal /m/ Word-initial m- is a secondary development of *b-. In Turkic words whose first syllable ends in a nasal consonant, the original *b- has been nasalized by regressive assimilation to the following nasal, e.g. mïŋ ‘thousand’< *bïŋ, men ‘I’ < *ben, mün ‘soup, broth’< *bün. This regressive nasalization also affected lexemes displaying a velar consonant, e.g. murgǝ ‘hunting horn’, a deverbal noun from *bur- ‘to drill’, cf. section 7.1.1.2. With the exception of cases of Dukhan m- < *b-, otherwise, m- occurs in non-Turkic words. Dukhan word-medial -m- continues Proto-Turkic *-m-, e.g. heme ‘boat’ < *kemii, temǝr ‘iron’ < *temVr. Yet, in some instances, Dukhan -m- continues PT *-b-. Some of these cases represent regressive assimilation to the syllable final -n, e.g. taman ‘limb’ which is cognate with Old Turkic taban ‘the sole of the foot’ (Clauson 1972: 441b), and the negative copula emes < *er- ‘to be’ plus the intraterminal negative verbal suffix *-mAz. These words are found in Tuvan as tavan and eves. The alternation m ~ b in medial position occurs in many other Sayan varieties of both the Taiga and the Steppe subgroup and in other Turkic languages as well. For the alternation -b- ~ -m- in Mongolic, see Poppe (1987: 99‒100). Dukhan word-final -m continues PT *-m, e.g. ham ‘shaman’ < *kam, höm- ‘to bury’ < *köm-. 6.3.4 Fortis /t/ The occurrence of the preaspirated consonant -ht can be traced back to PT fortis *-t occurring in the syllable-type (C)VCf, e.g. aht ‘horse’ < *at, oht ‘grass’ < *ot and eht ‘meat’ < *et, tuht- ‘to catch, to hold’ < *tut-. Final fortis -ht goes back to Proto-Turkic *-k when it occurs as second member of the cluster *-rk, e.g. perht ‘difficult’ < *berk and pörht ‘hat’ < *börk and gorht- ‘to fear’ < *kork-. Throughout Sayan Turkic, the original Turkic wordfinal cluster *-rk has developed into -rt because clustering of r plus velar stops is not

74

Diachronic phonology

permitted. Kazakh, on the other hand, displays the corresponding forms börik and qoruq(Shnitnikov 1966: 67b, 267b), where the consonant cluster *rk has been solved by introducing a vowel between the two consonants. On permitted word-final consonant clusters in Dukhan, cf. section 5.2. Dukhan word medial -ht- continues PT *-t-, buhtǝk ~ muhtǝk ‘branch < *butVk. Initial th- is found in a small number of lexemes of Turkic origin. The word thos ‘nine’ is a word of Turkic origin with th- going back to PT *t-. One way to explain it is as a case of consonantal fortition due to the loss of an intervocalic fortis consonant. Thus, Proto-Turkic *tokuz (or *tokkuz) ‘nine’ may have become *tohhus, and when this intervocalic glottal fricative was lost, it was reflected as aspiration of the initial consonant, thoos > thos; on distant assimilations in Dukhan, also see section 5.3.3. Note that the reconstructed intermediate stage is similar to Tofan toˁhus, where the sound -ˁh- is the intervocalic morphophonological variant of fortis /k/; cf. section 5.3.1.1. Note also the close similarities with Yellow Uyghur tohqïs ‘nine’ (Roos 1999: 20). Similarly, the initial strongly postaspirated th of the particle thAA (section 10.4.3) is a case of consonantal fortition. It goes back to *taki from the verbal stem tak- ‘to tie sth.’ plus the converb suffix A; cf. Räsänen (1957: 236). In the case of theβe ‘camel’ and thaβak ‘plate’, the aspiration of thmay be due to contact with Mongolic varieties. Darkhat and Khalkha Mongolian temee ‘camel’ and tavag ‘plate’ display an initial aspirated dental/alveolar [th]; cf. wM. temeγen ‘camel’ and tabaγ ‘plate, dish, platter, tray’ (Lessing 1995: 800a, 760b). In other words of Turkic origin, however, aspiration is difficult to explain, as is the case of thar ‘narrow’ and thïn- ‘to breath’. Both words are aspirated also in Standard Tuvan. Cf. also Yellow Uyghur thar ‘narrow’ (Roos 1999: 47) but Turkish dar ‘id’. Otherwise, th- occurs in words of foreign origin, see section 6.5. 6.3.5 Lenis /d/ The lenis phoneme /d/ continues PT *t-, *-d- and *-t, e.g. taš ‘stone’ < *taaš, taγ ‘mountain’ < *taag, atǝγ ‘bear < *adVg, sitǝk ‘urine’ < *sidVk, at ‘name’ < *aad, ot ‘fire’ < *ood. The continuation of PT medial *-d- represents an areal feature of the Sayan group, which also is shared by Khalaj. In Oghuz, Kipchak and Uyghur-Karluk Turkic, *-δ- has developed into -y-, e.g. Turkish ayak ‘foot’, Tatar ayu, Uzbek ayiq ‘bear’, cf. Yakut atax ‘leg’, Tuvan adïg ‘bear’. In Abakan-Yenisey Turkic and Yellow Uyghur, the reflex of *-dis -z-: Khakas azax ‘foot’ and Yellow Uyghur azaq ‘foot’. The classificatory importance of *-d- has already been mentioned in section 3.3.2. Nevertheless, not all Proto-Turkic *-dhave developed into lenis -t- in Dukhan. For some irregular correspondences, see /z/ below. 6.3.6 Lenis /n/ Word-medial -n- continues Proto-Turkic -*n-, e.g. honǝk ‘lodging’ < *konVk, ỹonak ‘saddle pad’ < *yonak. Word-final -n continues Turkic *-n, e.g. hün ‘sun, day’ < *kün, ton ‘dress’ < *toon, mün ‘soup, broth’ < *bün. Dukhan initial n- occurs only in foreign lexemes, see section 6.5. 6.3.7 Fortis /s/ Final -hs has developed from Proto-Turkic *-s when preceded by extra-short vowels, e.g. ahs- ‘to hang’ < *as-.

Turkic consonantal segments

75

Dukhan medial -hs- goes back to PT *-s-, e.g. ahsar < *asar, ihsǝɣ ‘hot’ < *isVg. Besides, -hs- occurs in the copy from Mongolic ǰahsa- ‘to get ready, to castrate’, cf. wM. ǰasa- ‘to put in order, fix, repair, correct, make correction[s]; to improve; to decorate; to castrate’ (Lessing 1995: 1039a-b). Dukhan word-initial s- goes back to *s-, e.g. süt < *süt ‘milk’, saɣ- < *saga- ‘to milk’. 6.3.8 Lenis /z/ Word-initially, the sound z- occurs only in very few lexical copies from modern Khalkha Mongolian; see section 6.5. Word-medially, Dukhan -s- goes back to Proto-Turkic *-z-, e.g. gïsǝl ‘red’ < *kïzVl and tusak ‘snare’ < *tuzak. The words eser ‘saddle’ and askər ‘stallion’ are exceptional cases. In these words, the phoneme /z/ represents a reflex of *-d-, which otherwise has evolved into -t- in Dukhan (cf. /d/ above). The same reflex is found in Khakas izer < *eder and asxïr < *adgVr. Final non-aspirated -s can be traced back to Proto-Turkic *-z, e.g. gïs ‘girl’ < *kïïz, aas ‘mouth’ < PT *agVz. 6.3.9 Liquids /r/ and /l/ Dukhan medial and final l reflects Proto-Turkic *-l-, and -*l, e.g. pulǝt ‘cloud’ < *bulVt, helǝn ‘bride’ < *kelVn, höl < *kööl ‘lake’, pol- < *bol- ‘become’, ool ‘son’ > *ogVl. For Dukhan word-initial l- occurring exclusively in non-Turkic lexemes, see section 6.5. Similarly, word-medial -r- and word final -r go back to Proto-Turkic *-r-, e.g. gara ‘black’ < *kara, sarǝɣ ‘yellow’ < *saarVg, gar ‘snow’ < *kaar, e.g. ããr ‘heavy’ < *agVr. Word-initial r- does not occur in Dukhan. For the adaptation of Russian copies displaying initial r-, see section 6.5. 6.3.10 Lenis /ǰǰ/ Word-initial lenis ǰ- goes back to the sound reconstructed by some linguists as *y-, and by others as *d- (see Johanson 1998a: 97), e.g. ǰer ‘place’ < *yer or *der and ǰaɣ ‘fat’ < *yaag or *daag. The presence of the affricate ǰ- in Dukhan and in the Sayan complex has classificatory relevance; see section 3.3.2. For cases of PT *y-/*d- > Dukhan ỹ-, see section 6.3.14 below. Medial -ǰ- continues both the PT medial affricates *-č- and the PT medial alveopalatal *-š-, as in keǰe ‘evening’ < *kėėǰe, cf. Yakut kiehe, eǰǝk ‘door’ < *ėėšik ‘threshold’ (Tekin 1995: 181). Word-medial -ǰ- in the word aǰa ‘father’ continues medial *-č- of the word that Nugteren & Roos (2006: 125) reconstruct as *ača ‘dad, uncle’ for Northeast Turkic. However, kinship terms form a complicated etymological field and require further investigation. Cognates of this word are widespread in Siberian Turkic and non-Turkic languages; for copies in Samoyedic, see Joki (1952: 57). 6.3.11 Fortis /š/ Word-initial š- goes back to *č-, e.g. šuγla- ‘to wrap, to pack up’ < *čuglaa-, šerǝγ ‘soldier’ < *čerVg ‘troops drawn up in battle order’ (Clauson 1972: 428b). Word-medial -hš- goes back to both *-š- and *-č- when preceded by short vowels, e.g. h j ga h an ‘when’ < *kačan, gihhjǝ ‘person’ < *kiši.

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Similarly, word-final -hš goes back to both *-č and *-š when preceded by a short vowel, e.g. ahš- ‘to open’ < *ač-, ihš- ‘to drink’ < *ič-, gïhš ‘winter’ < *kïš, pahš ‘head’ < *baš. 6.3.12 Lenis /ž/ Word-final -š goes back to both *-č and *-š when preceded by a long vowel, e.g. uš ‘extremity’ < *uuǰ, eš ‘friend, companion’ < *eeš. A special case is intervocalic -š- in the word ušǝ ‘sleep’ that goes back to the fusion of two separate sounds as a consequence of the following evolutionary path: ušǝ < *uhju < *uhyu < *uyhu < *uyku < *udVk, the latter a deverbal derivative from *udV- ‘to sleep’; for uyku < udïk, see Erdal (1991: 252). Tofan and Soyot display the forms uˁyhju (Rassadin 1995: 78b) and uˁyhï (Rassadin 2010: 178b), whereas Tuvan has uygu (Tenišev 1968: 436a). 6.3.13 The glide /y/ The occurrences of non-nasalized word-initial y- are limited to words of foreign origin and are dealt with in section 6.5. Dukhan word-medial -y- goes back to *-y-, e.g. haya ‘rock’ < *kayaa, uya ‘nest’ < *uyaa ‘bird’s nest’. Word-final -y continues Proto-Turkic *-y, e.g. ay ‘moon’ < *aay (or *haay), pay ‘rich’ < *baay. 6.3.14 The nasalized palatal glide ỹ The occurrence of the sound ỹ in Dukhan has classificatory relevance. In quite a few words of Turkic origin, PT *y-/d- is represented by a nasalized palatal glide ỹ in Dukhan. Tofan and Soyot show ń- but Standard Tuvan displays the regular development to a medial lenis affricate of PT *y-/d-. Among the Tuvan dialects, the Taiga variety of Toju displays initial ỹ- (Čadamba 1974: 47). Some Dukhan examples of this reflex are contrasted with Tuvan and Tofan in the following table: Table 8 Nasalized reflexes of PT *y-/d- in Sayan Turkic Dukhan ỹãã ỹããk ỹanỹangǝs ỹarǝn ỹonak ỹonỹõõn

Tofan ńãã ńããk ńanńuŋus ~ ńũũs ńarïn ńonaq ńonńõõn

Tuvan čaa čaak čančangïs čarïnčonak čončoon

Gloss ‘new’ ‘lower jaw’, (only in Tuvan) ‘cheek’ ‘to return (home)’ ‘alone’ ‘shoulder blade’ ‘saddle pad’ ‘to whet’ ‘thick’, (Dukhan also) ‘pregnant’

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Turkic consonantal segments

The topic of the preservation of Old Turkic y- in Tofan and in the so-called UygarUrianxay variety (section 3.2.5) is discussed by Rassadin (1983: 29‒30) and Kormušin (2002: 612); also see Menges (1959: 652) and Tenišev (1984: 300‒303) in this regard. Dukhan ỹat- ‘to be ashamed’ has a close correspondence to Tofan and Soyot ńat- as against Old Turkic uyat- and Tuvan ïyat- ‘id’. This case partially patterns together with ńeš < *ïgač (or *hïgač), analyzed above. In addition, ỹ- also occurs in the following Dukhan lexemes: ỹõõn- ‘to behave how’, which is homophone with ỹoon ‘pregnant’, just analyzed above, and ỹomman ‘mole rat’. The verb ỹõõn- may be viewed as consisting of the verbal stem ỹõõ-, possibly etymologically related to the Mongolic interrogative verb formed from the pronominal root *ya- ‘which’, but augmented by the voice suffix -(Ĭ)n; see Ragagnin (2010b) for details. Tofan and Soyot display the cognate ńoon-, whereas Tuvan has čoon-. As for ỹomman ‘mole rat’, it may be a copy from Mongolic, cf. wM. nomun ‘mole’, Khalkha Mongolian nomin ~ nomon ‘mole rat’. Thus, in this instance, Dukhan ỹcorresponds to Mongolic n- (< *d-?). Note that a cognate of Dukhan ỹomman is found in Soyot ǰomman displaying initial ǰ- (Rassadin 2010: 169a), whereas corresponding forms are not documented in Tuvan and Tofan. Altay Turkic, on the other hand, displays nomon ‘krot’ and momon ‘zemlanaja medvedka’ (Baskakov & Toščakova 2005: 113a, 110b), phonetically rather close to Mongolic nomun. Besides, ỹ- occurs in the lexeme ỹö̃ö̃k ‘animal hair, feather’. Tofan displays ńöök, whereas the Soyot cognate with an initial affricate patterns together with Tuvan čöök. Räsänen (1969: 211b) conjectured that Tuvan čöök may be derived from *yüŋäk consisting of *yüŋ ‘wool’ plus a diminutive suffix. Dukhan medial -ỹ- and final -ỹ, in Turkic words, correspond to that sound represented by the runiform character F in East Old Turkic monuments. According to Erdal (2004: 70) F represented either a palatal nasal ń or a nasalized palatal ỹ. Some Dukhan examples of this sound in these positions are contrasted with Tofan, Tuvan and East Old Turkic in the following table: Table 9 Sayanic traces of F (ỹ/ń) Dukhan tuỹǝγ turǝỹãã mïỹak hoỹ

Tofan tuỹuγ turuỹa ~ duruńa mïỹak hoỹ

Tuvan duyug duruyaa mïyak hoy

East Old Turkic tuńaaγ turńa~ turuńa1 bańak koń

Gloss ‘hoof’ ‘crane’ ‘dung’ ‘sheep’

Note that among the examples quoted in the table, in the words for both ‘hoof’ and ‘dung’, intervocalic -ń- did not drop and did not result in a long nasalized vowel in Dukhan, as it happened in other cases analyzed above. Besides, the sound ỹ also occurs systematically in Dukhan in the limitative numeral suffix +KĬỹA. Tofan and Soyot display the corresponding postposition qïńa (cf. section 1 Erdal (2004: 71).

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7.2.1.6). The related Old Turkic diminutive suffix +KIńA is written with F in runiform sources (Erdal 2004: 71). The occurrence of -ỹ-/-ń- in Dukhan and Tofan represents an important isogloss connecting Taiga Sayan Turkic with Lena Turkic. Interestingly, the relation between Yakut and Dolgan parallels that of Dukhan and Tofan: the former has a nasalized ỹ, whereas the latter displays a palatalized ń, as seen in Dolgan tuńak vs. Yakut tuỹak ‘hoof’. For reflexes of the sound represented by Runic F in Khalaj, see Doerfer (1988: 54). Word-finally, -ỹ occurrs in the word hoỹ ‘sheep’ which corresponds to East Old Turkic FOq koń. Tofan, Toju Tuvan (Čadamba 1974: 43) and Tere-Khöl Tuvan (Seren 2006: 35) also display a nasalized palatal ỹ, thus patterning together with Dukhan. On the other hand, Soyot hoy (Rassadin personal communication) is not nasalized. Tuhan from East Khövsgöl, displays goń, where the vowel preceding ń is not nasalized. In some other instances nasalization is facultative; it may or may not occur, e.g. in aỹ and ay ‘moon’. On the other hand, aỹ ‘lily bulb’, a lexeme of non Turkic origin, is nasalized in the speech of many speakers. 6.3.15 The palatal nasal sound ń The word-initial palatal nasal sound [ń] in the word ńeš ‘tree’ deserves special attention. The evolutionary path of this lexeme can be reconstructed as follows: ńeš < *ińeš < *ïńaš < *ïỹaš < *ïyaš < *ïgaš < *(h)ïgač. The Toju dialect of Tuvan and Tofan show very close forms to Dukhan, with ńaš ~ ńeš and ńeš, respectively. Standard Tuvan, on the other hand, displays the item ïyaš, which may be pronounced with or without nasalization. Older Sayan Turkic sources display forms with nasal consonants for this sound. In Katanov’s Soyon material, the forms iŋäš and iŋääš occur, whereas Castrén’s Karagas material (1857: 135a) shows ńaiš while Olsen (1915: 46) documented the form ńaš. 6.3.16 Fortis /k/ Dukhan medial -hx- reflects Proto-Turkic *-k-, e.g. sahxal ‘beard’ < *sakaal, puhxa ‘bull’ < PT *bukaa ‘bull’. See also section 6.5 for -hx- occurring in Mongolic copies. A special case in this respect is the medial velar nasal fricative that occurs in the lexemes ihx̃ ǝ [ĩx̃̆ ˑɘ̃] ‘two’ < *ėkii (or *ėkki) and ihx̃ e [ĩx̃̆ ˑɛ̃] ‘mother’. The latter form possibly goes back to PT *eke, cf. Old Turkic eke ‘a close female relative older than oneself and younger than one’s father’ (Clauson 1972: 100b).2 Tofan shows close similarities in the forms iˤh̃i, and iˤh̃e (Rassadin 1971: 51). On the other hand, standard Tuvan displays -y- in both cases: iyi ‘two’ and iye ‘mother’. Bičeldey (1999: 146c) cited both words with pharyngealization: iˤyi and iˤye. Tere-Khöl Tuvan stands midway between Tuvan and Dukhan and Tofan, displaying ixi ‘two’ and iỹe ‘mother’ (Seren 2006: 20, 37). Futhermore, the material of Katanov (1903) shows iŋi, ‘two’ with a velar nasal but iye ‘mother’ without nasalization. For the classificatory relevance of these two words, see section 3.3.2. The word-internal preaspirated velar stop -hk- occurring in the words öhkpe ‘lung’ and h ga kpa ‘trap’ deserves special attention. The evolutionary paths of these two lexemes can be reconstructed as follows: öhkpe < *öpke and gahkpa ‘trap’ < *kapka. In both cases, the 2 On *eke, further see Tatarincev (2002: 345‒346) and Li (1999: 172‒174).

Turkic consonantal segments

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preaspiration of the original fortis /p/ has shifted to the velar due to metathesis; on this topic, also see section 5.5. The same phenomenon also is found in the word ǰehkpe of non Turkic origin, cf. Tofan čeˁkpe (Rassadin 1995: 87a). The occurrence of the pre-aspirated sound -hk, preceded by an extra-short vowel, can be traced back to fortis -k occurring in the syllable type (C)VCf, e.g. ahk-‘to flow’ < *ak-, ohk ‘arrow’ < *ok. Dukhan word-final -k in polysyllabic words corresponds to Proto-Turkic *-k, e.g. honǝk ‘lodging’ < *konVk, eǰǝk ‘door’ < *ėėšik ‘threshold’. 6.3.17 Lenis /g/ Word-initial g- goes back to *k-, e.g. gel- ‘to come’ < *kel-, gör- ‘to see’ < *kör-, gïs ‘girl’ < *kïïz. In these and similar cases the spirantization induced by contact with Mongolic varieties has not occurred. Generally, as seen above, Turkic original *-g- was dropped in intervocalic position, thereby triggering the formation of a contraction long vowel. However, in some cases, this did not happen and -g- is preserved in word-medial position of Turkic words, e.g. sigen ‘grass’ cognate to Old Uyghur sigen (Ölmez 2007: 250a), but also ǰügǝr- ‘to run’ cognate to Old Turkic yügür-, and ǰügen ‘bridle’, which corresponds to Yakut üün. For a hypothetical reconstructed Turkic form *yügen, see Stachowski (1993: 136). Such cases may be viewed either as representing former clusters, or as cases of retention of -g- due to a preceding long vowel. An example that might support the latter assumption is ǰuga ‘thin’, etymologically related with Old Turkic yuyka. A similar case where medial *-g- did not drop is the Tuvan word sïgït ‘whistling-like throat-singing style’, etymologically related to Old Turkic sïgït ‘wheeping ‘lamentation’ (Clauson 1972: 806b). A question for further research is the connection between the retention of medial -g- in Sayan Turkic and Proto-Turkic long vowels, a process that would pattern together with the retention of vowel length reflected in word final velar stops dealt with in section 6.2.2. Note that -g- occurs in medial position in copies from Mongolic displaying a neighboring long vowel, as in nogaan ‘green’, cf. wM. noɣoɣ-a(n), and ǰugaa ‘talk’, cf. wM. ǰuɣaɣ-a and Khalkha zugaa ‘talk’. The occurrence of final -ɣ in monosyllables can be traced back to *-g occurring in the syllable-type (C)VVCl, e.g. taɣ ‘mountain’ < *taag, paɣ ‘tie, bound’ < *paag. Dukhan word-final -ɣ in polysyllabic words corresponds to Proto-Turkic *-g, e.g. sarǝɣ ‘yellow’ < *saarVg. 6.3.18 The nasal velar /ŋ/ The consonant ŋ does not occur initially or between vowels in Dukhan. When Dukhan ŋ occurs in syllable and word-final position, it is a reflex of Proto-Turkic *-ŋ, e.g. eseŋgǝ ‘stirrup’ < *izeŋü ʽstirrupʼ (Róna Tas 1991), eŋ ‘very’ < *eŋ, mïŋ ‘thousand’ < *bïŋ. Most cases of syllable-final -ŋ within a word, however, are the result of regressive assimilation to a following /g/; for this, see section 4.2.4.3. 6.3.19 The pharyngeal sound ħ Dukhan -hh- [ħ] continues PT *-p-, e.g. göhhək ‘foam’ < *köpVk, tehher ‘kicks’ < *teper (tehp- ‘to kick’ < *tep-). Another example is gahhay ‘hanging cradle’, which is cognate to the k(a)b(a)y ‘cradle’, of the Old Turkic Yenisey inscriptions (Malov 1952: 75), Tuvan

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kaˤvay, Toju Tuvan kaˤvay and Soyot qaˤhay. The sound [ħ] occurring in the word ǰöhhǝree ‘tree bark’ displays the same distribution within Sayan Turkic: Soyot čöˤhree (Rassadin 2010: 198), Karagas t’efere ~ t’öföre (Castrén 1857: 114b, 116a), and čöbree in the material of Katanov (1903: 1344a). Menges (1960: 148) assumed that such Sayan Turkic forms are related to *yaprak ‘leaf’. Thus, [-ħ-] can be traced back to PT *-p- as well. 6.3.20 The glottal phoneme /h/ Word-initial h- goes back to *k-, e.g. hol ‘arm, hand’ < *kool ‘upper arm’, hïl ‘horsehair’ < *kïl, hün ‘sun, day’ < *kün. Spirantization of *k- is a common feature of Sayan Turkic, see Doerfer (1973: 257‒258). Most probably, the process is influenced by Mongolic, also see section 6.5 below. An exception in this respect is the word harǝ ‘bee’ < *arïï. In this case, Dukhan wordinitial h- is a prothetic consonant. Both in Toju and Tere-Khöl Tuvan a prothetic h- occurs in some words of Turkic origin, including harï (Čadamba 1974: 51, Sat 1987: 75). However, there is no systematic correspondence between Dukhan and the other Taiga Sayan Turkic varieties; e.g Toju displays höörü, but Dukhan has öörǝ ‘upwards’. Some words may display an initial h- in free variation, e.g. aŋ ~ haŋ ‘wild animal’. Prothetic hmight, eventually, be related to the sporadic glottal stop mentioned in section 5.1. On the other hand, standard Tuvan lacks this case of prothesis. On h- in Turkic, see Doerfer (1981, 1982). 6.3.21 Long consonants The long consonants -kk-, -šš-, -čč- and -pp- occur in the following synchronically not segmentable lexemes: ekkǝ ‘good’, ökkǝs ‘orphan’, tïkka ‘very’, hokkaš ‘newborn reindeer calf’, hokkay ‘wolf’, hayrakkan ‘bear (euphemic)’, hakka ‘elder brother’, akkel- ‘to bring’, aššak ‘old man’, pičče ‘small’, hayččǝ ‘scissors’ and appar- ‘to take’. These cases will be discussed below. The lexeme ekkǝ ‘good’ originates from PT *edgV through the following evolutionary path: ekkǝ < *etkV < *edgV. This lexeme represents a case of diachronic regressive assimilation in Dukhan. Assimilation at original morpheme boundaries is otherwise usually progressive. Standard Tuvan has the corresponding form eki, whereas Tofan displays ekki ~ ehkki. The lexeme ökkǝs ‘orphan’ is a variant of öskǝs and thus represents a case of regressive assimilation. The long postvelar stop of the lexeme tïkka ‘very’ is the result of progressive assimilation across syllables. Standard Tuvan and Tofan show the corresponding forms dïka and dïkka, respectively. According to Tatarincev (2002: 310‒311), the item dïka derives from *dïk ‘strong’ plus the denominal suffix +GA. On the suffix +GA in Old Turkic, see Erdal (1991: 376‒382), and on the adverbializing suffix +GA in Tofan, see Rassadin (1978: 248) and also section 10.1. The lexeme hokkaš ‘newborn reindeer calf’ has a parallel form in Yellow Uyghur qohqaš ‘small bird’ (Nugteren & Roos 2006: 110). This could be a euphemism, i.e. a name applied to both human and animal infants to assert that they are too insignificant for the evil spirits to pay attention to. The analysis of the word hokkaš as consisting of a word for bird ( OO is typical of Sayan Turkic (courtesy of B. Khabtagaeva). An example illustrating this is the following: Tuvan oo ‘poison’, cf. Old Turkic aɣu (Clauson 1972: 78b). Due to their isolation from the main Tuvan population, the levelling effect of standard Tuvan and the influence of Russian were avoided in Dukhan. On the other hand, in addition to the older Mongolic impact on Tuvan, the Dukhan language has been subject to a more recent and strong influence from neighboring Mongolic varieties, especially Darkhat Mongolian. One example for that is the copying of the word-initial voiced alveolar fricative z- which otherwise is a rare allophone of lenis /z/ in less careful speech (cf. section 4.2.2.5), e.g. zahxǝ [zaxˑǝ] ‘market’, cf. Khalkha Mongolian zax and Darkhat zaxǝ. Moreover, a future extension of its occurrence to word-initial position can not be excluded. Tuvan and Tofan display word-initial z- in a restricted set of lexical copies from Russian, e.g. Tuvan zvonik ‘bell’ from Russian zvonok. Presently, due to the high level of bilingualism and consequent code-switching, Darkhat Mongolian phonetic features are easily transferred into Dukhan. This field, however, awaits further research. Note that this phenomenon also occurs in Tsengel Tuvan (Xijs 2009: 6). Many also are the cases of ad-hoc copying of Mongolic lexemes into the flow of speech in Dukhan. Since they are extemporaneous copies, they have not been included in the phonetic analysis. In this situation also sound combination that otherwise do not exist in Dukhan, may occur. One example is šiidβer [ʃɪːdβer] ‘decision’ which is pronounced as in Darkhat Mongolian, with a medial cluster of [d] and [β]. The corresponding Tuvan word is, on the other hand, šiitper (cf. wM. siidbüri). Another Dukhan example is hugǝzaa [hʊɢǝzaː] ‘period’, cf. wM. quɣučaɣ-a(n). In Dukhan this word is pronounced according to the spelling of the Darkhat Mongolian. As for Dukhan-Russian contact phenomena, the rather few instances of global lexical copying show a high degree of phonological adaptation, which corresponds to the phonological adaptation of Russian lexemes in Tuvan in the 1950s as described by Pomorska (1995). In those years (see section 2.2), Dukhans were still nomadizing between the territories of the Tuvan Republic and the Mongolian Khövsgöl region, but their knowledge of Russian was limited. For instance, global copies displaying an initial liquid rare provided with a prothetic vowel: ïrado ~ arado ~ ïradyo ← radio ‘radio’, ïrayoon ← rajon ‘province’. In the following examples, Russian original accent is reinterpreted as

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vowel length: gïlaas ‘class’ ← kláss, gostǝrool ‘pot’ ← kastrjúlja, hambeet ‘candy’ ← konféta, hileep ~ hilep ‘bread’← xléb, teehǝnǝk ‘technics’ ← téxnika, tǝraaktǝr ← tráktor, toraaǰǰǝ ‘yeast ← dróžži. Tofan and Toju Tuvan show similarities; see Rassadin (1971: 38) and Čadamba (1974: 23), respectively. A further Russian phonetic feature which has been copied in Dukhan, as well as in the other Sayan Turkic varieties, is the word-initial palatalization of m-, e.g. meter [mjeter] ← metr. Besides, palatalization of -n is seen in the lexical copy pareeń ‘jam’ ← Russian varen’e. Concerning other contact languages of the Siberian area, there is no reliable evidence of the influence of Samoyedic and Yeniseic on Dukhan. It is true that some scholars have proposed that the occurrence of the segment ph- and the nasalization of word-initial ProtoTurkic *y- into ỹ- and ń- are due to Samoyedic substrate (Menges 1956: 175), but this has not been proven. The occurrence of ph- belongs to the features shared by Sayan Turkic with the Turkic languages of western China, Salar and Yellow Uyghur; see Dwyer (2007: 108) for Salar, and Hahn (1998: 398) for Yellow Uyghur. With regard to ph-, an interesting case is Dukhan phötpe ‘fishing rod’ corresponding to Tofan hötpe (Menges 1960: 148, Rassadin 1971: 191). Yet, the etymology of this word is unknown. It either could be a lexeme of foreign origin, as proposed by Menges (1960: 148), who did not exclude a relation with Ostyak Samoyed kod, kot, kota, kotte, or a Turkic instrument noun formed with +MA. This suffix, though rare, nevertheless shows traces in Siberian Turkic; e.g. *södürme ‘fishnet, dragnet’ occurs in several Siberian Turkic languages (courtesy of H. Nugteren), such as Khakas sözı̆ rbe ‘nevod, rybolovnaja set’’ (Baskakov & Inkižekova-Grekul 1953: 196a).

7 Word classes and derivation 7.0 Word classes This chapter discusses the derivational morphology of the three defined word classes of Dukhan: nouns, adjectives and verbs. Departing from traditional grammatical descriptions of Turkic languages, where nouns and adjectives are grouped together in the superclass of ‘nominals’, in this study the word class ‘noun’ is distinguished from the word class ‘adjective’ according to the theoretical principles of Johanson (2006). Johanson argues that nouns and adjectives constitute distinctive word categories in Turkic languages by combining several morphosyntactic features. He distinguishes three different semantic functions pertaining specifically and exclusively to adjectives. In their primary function adjectives are lexemes which semantically answer to the question ‘how’ and describe a quality. In this function they modify nouns taking the adnominal position, e.g. ekkǝ aht ‘good horse’. In their secondary semantic function adjectives undergo a markerless process of nominalization which can be schematically shown as follows: ‘so, like this’ → ‘a person/thing that is so, like this’, e.g. ekkǝ ‘good’ → ‘good person/good thing’. In their tertiary function adjectives get abstract meaning, e.g. ekkǝ ‘good’ → ‘goodness’. Additionally, adjectives can occur as adverbs, when occupying the preverbal position, e.g. ekkǝ tuhhalaar ‘(s)he speaks well Dukhan’ (good Dukhan-V.DER-INTRA.LF). Turkic nominal and verbal roots which are not any more productive in Dukhan are quoted according to Clauson (1972) and written with an asterisk. Copied Mongolian suffixes are cited after Poppe (1964). Adverbs, postpositions, conjunctions, particles and interjections will be dealt with in chapter 10.

7.1 The word class ‘noun’ Dukhan nouns of Turkic origin are words that answer to the question ‘what’ or ‘who’. They refer to animates or to objects which normally can be perceived with the five human senses. Semantically, they can be grouped in the following categories: humans, body parts, physical objects, flora and fauna, celestial and environmental entities. Some examples: gihhjǝ ‘person’, aššak ‘husband, old man’, gatay ‘woman, wife’ aǰa ‘father’, ihx̃e ‘mother’, gïs ‘daughter’, ool ‘son’, put ‘leg’, gol ‘hand, arm’, aas ‘mouth’, hããy ‘nose’, mĩĩs ‘horn’ toỹǝγ ‘hoof’, gulak ‘ear’, moyn ‘neck’, tuk ‘hair’, taš ‘stone’, ton ‘vest’, taγ ‘mountain’, ńeš ‘tree’, ǰït ‘smell’, ïš ‘smoke’, pörǝ ‘wolf’, iβǝ ‘reindeer (general term)’, ehter ‘reindeer

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buck’, taspan ‘reindeer calf’, inek ‘cow’, hoỹ ‘sheep’, pulǝt ‘cloud’, ay ‘moon’, hat ‘wind’, gar ‘snow’. Besides, Dukhan displays a conspicuous amount of lexemes copied from Mongolic, e.g. thas ‘volture’, gatǝrhǝ ‘greyling’, heǰǝge ‘braid of hair’, huǰǝr ‘salt march, soda’, agaar ‘air’. Among them, many are abstract noun, e.g. amthan ‘taste’, šïtal ‘power’, ǰayan ‘destiny, fate, luck’, ǰïrgal ‘happiness, pleasure’, uhxaan ‘intellect’, tura ‘wish, desire’, and so on. Nouns are an open class. New members can be copied from Mongolic varieties and Russian or created using the morphological resources of the language. Pronouns constitute a closed subclass of nominals; they will be discussed separately in section 7.1.2. 7.1.1 Noun formation Dukhan derives nouns synthetically, i.e. by means of suffixes added to nominal and verbal stems, and analytically by juxtaposing two nouns. The rules of morphophonological variation of bases and suffixes were explained in section 5.3. 7.1.1.1 Denominal nominal derivation Dukhan denominal nominal suffixes form diminutives, collectives and nouns designating concrete objects. The class of diminutives includes the following suffixes: +J̌ ĬɣAš, +J̌ Ĭk, +J̌ Ak and +(V)y. Some examples with +J̌ ĬɣAš, +J̌ Ĭk, +J̌ Ak are the following: Urnaǰǝɣaš ‘little Urna’ from the proper name Urna, otčǝɣaš ‘little fire’ from ot ‘fire’, tilgǝǰek ‘little fox’ from tilgǝ ‘fox’, mïndǝǰak ‘little reindeer doe, young reindeer doe’ from mïndǝ ‘reindeer doe’ (cf. section 3.3.2), hemǰǝk ‘rivulet’ from hem ‘river’, hapčǝk ‘little sack’ from hap ‘sack’. The suffix +J̌ Ak is also found in the word ǰayǰak ‘bow’. This lexeme etymologically goes back to *yaa ‘bow’ plus +J̌ Ak. However, in Dukhan, a reflex of the first element does not occur on its own; also see section 6.2.2 on this matter.1 The hypochoristic suffix +(V)y is added to the following lexemes belonging to the semantics of family relationship: aǰa ‘father’, aβa ‘mother’ ire ‘grandfather’, hakka ‘elder brother’ and tuŋma ‘younger sibling. The items aǰay ‘daddy’ and aβay ‘mummy’, hakkay ‘dear older brother’, and tuŋmay ‘dear younger sibling’ are used affectionately and mostly occur in exclamatory sentences, whereas irey ~ iree is used both for ‘grandfather, old man’ and as a euphemistic term to refer to the bear; also cf. section 3.3.2. The noun gatay ‘woman, wife’ also belongs to this formation, deriving from gata ‘older woman’. The suffix +LĬšKĬLAr serves to form collective nouns from nouns belonging to the semantics of family relationship, e.g. aβalǝškǝlar ‘the mother and her children’ from aβa ‘mother’, atalǝškǝlar ‘the father and his children’ from ata ‘father’, tuŋmalǝškǝlar ‘younger siblings’ from tuŋma ‘younger sibling’. Dukhan shares this suffix with the Toju dialect (Čadamba 1983: 22) and with Tofan (Rassadin 1978: 63, 66). On the other hand, Standard

1 Tuvan and Tofan, on the other hand, display ča ‘bow’. In this regard, also note that Khakas displays the forms čaa and čaaǰax both meaning bow (Arıkoğlu 2005: 69b).

The word class ‘noun’

91

Tuvan displays two parallel forms: +(I)šKI(LAr) and +LIšKI(LAr) (Isxakov & Palm’bax 1961: 171–172). The suffix +LĬK forms nouns that refer to concrete objects which are used for the reference of the noun, roughly ‘meant for X’, e.g. ottǝk ‘whetstone’ from ot ‘fire’, goltǝk ‘armpit’ from gol ‘arm, hand’, ǰühstǝk ‘ring’ from ǰühs ‘joint’, göstǝk ‘front couple of reindeer horns’ from *köz ‘eye’.2 7.1.1.2 Deverbal nominal derivation The set of deverbal nominal suffixes of Dukhan includes the following items, functionally divided into three groups: a) -(Ĭ)š, -(Ĭ)m and -(V)VšKĬn; b) -(Ĭ)G and -(Ĭ)K and c) -KĬ and -GVš. The formants -(Ĭ)š, -(Ĭ)m and -(V)VšKĬn form nouns that refer to ‘the X-ing thing/person’ with intransitives and ‘the thing that gets X-ed’ with transitives. This type of distribution, which is common throughout Turkic, is referred to by Erdal (1991: 169) as “ergative”. Some examples with -(X)š: tanǝš ‘acquaintance’ (lit. ‘the known person’) from tanǝ- ‘to get acquainted’, ünǝš ‘plant’ (lit. ‘the thing that comes out’) from ün- ‘to come out, to exit’, munǝš ‘riding’ (lit. ‘ridden thing’) from mun- ‘to ride’. Some examples with -(Ĭ)m: ahxǝm ‘current’ (lit. ‘what flows, flowing’) from ahk- ‘to flow’, ölǝm ‘something dead’ (lit. ‘what dies’) from öl- ‘to die’, tuhtǝm ‘bundle, knot’ (lit. ‘what is held’) from tuht‘to hold’, ǰem ‘food, meal’ (lit. ‘what gets eaten’) from ǰe- ‘to eat’. The suffix -(Ĭ)m is distinguished from the suffix -(Ĭ)š because it forms nouns of unity or entirety of something; ǰem, for instance, refers to one unity of food, i.e. to a meal. For this question, also see Deny (1921: 550). The suffix -(V)VšKĬn mostly forms object nouns from transitives, e.g. oyńaaškǝn ‘game (i.e. ‘the object of playing’) from oyńa- ‘to play’, aŋnaaškǝn ‘hunting’ (lit. ‘the object of hunting, i.e. the various animals of the forest’) from aŋna- ‘to hunt’. On the other hand, when added to intransitive bases it forms action nouns, e.g. poluuškǝn ‘happening (things), what happens’, ããrïïškǝn lit. ‘what got ill’, which also can be interpreted as ‘illness’, ǰaaškǝn ‘what drops from the sky, i.e. rain and the like’. When added to stems displaying a final consonant, the suffix vowel is subject to the rounded vs. unrounded harmony, whereas with stems displaying a final vowel, the suffix vocalization is represented by the lengthening of the stem vowel. The suffixes -(Ĭ)G and -(Ĭ)K form object nouns when added to transitive verbs. Some examples of nouns formed with -(Ĭ)G are: aǰǝɣ ‘mountain pass’ from aš- ‘to pass’, gïhštaɣ ‘winter quarter’, from gïhšta- ‘to pass the winter’, ǰaylaɣ ‘summer quarter’ from ǰayla- ‘to pass the summer’, güseɣ ‘autumn quarter’ from güse- ‘to pass the autumn’. The suffix -(Ĭ)K 2 Sayan Turkic shows an interesting semantic variation for items going back to *köz plus +LXk, generally referring to ‘something for the eyes’. In Kašɣarī’s Compendium of the Turkic dialects, the form közlük refers to “something woven from horse tails and put on the eye if it is bleared or dazzled” (Dankoff & Kelly 1982: 357). Tofan köstük (Rassadin 1995: 27a), Soyot köstik (Rassadin 2006: 58) and Tuhan göstǝk (Ragagnin, fieldnotes) all refer to ‘bill of a cap’. On the other hand Tuvan köstük bears the meaning ‘glasses’. Darkhat Mongolian displays the structurally similar lexeme nüdevč (‘eye’ + the denominal nominal suffix -vč) to refer to the anterior small horns of the reindeer, whereas the horns of other animals are simply called ever, using the general Mongol term meaning ‘horn’. In other Mongolic languages cognates of nidübči refer to ‘cover for the eyes’ (Lessing 1995: 578b). Finally, worth noticing is that in Hungarian such horns are called szem ág (‘eye’ + ‘branch’).

92

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has a lower functional load than -(Ĭ)G; some examples: putǝk ‘painting’ from putǝ- ‘to paint’, sitǝk ‘urine’ from *siδ- ‘to urinate’, šuγlak ‘blanket, sleepingbag’ from šuγla- ‘to cover’. When added to intransitive verbs, the suffixes -(Ĭ)G and -(Ĭ)K form adjectives; see section 7.2.1.2. The suffix +KĬ forms nouns that denote instruments or result of actions. Some examples: tïrhtkǝ ‘a kind of hooked stick used for fishing’ from tïrht- ‘to pull’, ǰetkǝ ‘fishing net’ from ǰet- ‘to lead’, guhskǝ ‘vomit’ from guhs- ‘to vomit’, ahskǝ ‘hook (made of reindeer horn)’ from ahs- ‘to hang’, murɣǝ ‘hunting horn’ most probably from *bur- ‘to drill’.3 For the occurrence of the suffix +KĬ together with the postposition teɣ in the formation of the marker of epistemic possibility -Kǝdeɣ, see section 9.2.7. The suffix +GVš forms nouns referring to instruments and it occurs only with transitive verbal stems. Its meaning can be roughly described as ‘a thing for X-ing’, e.g. ahskǝš ‘hook’ from ahs-, ‘to hang’, paɣlaaš ‘rope, lasso’ from paɣla- ‘to tie’, tïrβaaš ‘hooked knife used for tanning the animal skin’ from tïrβa- ‘to scratch’. In the case of stems displaying a final vowel, suffix-initial G- drops, and the suffix vocalization is represented by the lengthening of the stem vowel. As for stems ending in a consonant, the suffix vocalization undergoes the rounded vs. unrounded harmony (cf. section 5.3.4.2). Suffixes with low functional load such as +(Ĭ)n, +(Ĭ)ndAK and +(Ĭ)ndĬ, e.g. helǝn ‘bride’ from gel- ‘to come’, have not been marked in the grammatical glosses. Besides the suffixes just mentioned, a set of suffixes forming abstract nouns have been globally copied from Mongolic. The most common are -l, -lGA, -ldA, -mAl, and -mǰi mostly occurring with nouns of Mongolic origin. Some examples of these suffixes are: šïtal ‘power’ from šïta- ‘to be able’, potalga ‘thought’ from pota- ‘to think’, hïnalda ‘control’ from hïna- ‘to check’, pihhjǝmel ‘manuscript’ from pihhjǝ- ‘to write’, thusalamǰǝ ‘help’ from thusala- ‘to help’. These formations occur throughout Sayan Turkic; further see Khabtagaeva (2009). 7.1.1.3 Nominal combination The combination of two nominal lexemes is a very productive means of word formation in Dukhan. The juxtaposition of two nouns which belong to the same semantic field serves to form collective nouns. Some examples of this process are: urǝγ tarǝγ ‘children’ from ‘child’ and ‘seed’4, ata ihx̃ e ‘parents’ from ‘father’ and ‘mother’, altǝ tiiŋ ‘small rodents’ from ‘sable’ and ‘squirrel’, aŋ meŋ ‘nourishing resources from the forest’ from ‘game’ and ‘grain’ 5, sẽẽk mẽẽs ‘flies and other (annoying) insects’ from ‘fly’ and ‘horsefly’, suγ ahxǝm ‘water flowings’ from ‘water’ and ‘current’, poo moŋgǝ ‘weapons’ from ‘rifle’ and ‘club’. Such nominal combinations, which are typical of many Turkic languages, are called binomes or

3 Dukhans slowly drill a soft piece of willow wood with a special tool in order to make it into a mur . Cognates of this word are widely documented throughout Turkic, e.g. Old Uyghur burγu ‘trumpet’, Chagatay borγu ‘a hollow twig which they blow like a fife’ and Koman Turkic borγu ‘trumpet’ (Clauson 1972: 361a), Kazakh burγu and Turkish boru ‘tube’ (Räsänen 1969: 89b). 4 This word occurs only in this formation and is not used independently in Dukhan. 5 In the same way as tarǝγ, the word meŋ occurs only in this formation.

The word class ‘noun’

93

hendiadys in the Turcological literature; see Brands (1973: 22‒25) and also Rassadin (1978: 16) for Tofan parallels. Collective nouns of a more vague meaning are formed by juxtaposing two lexemes where the second element can not be analyzed etymologically but displays a phonetical structure close to the first lexeme. These echo-compounds are nouns that generalize the concept denoted by the reference noun. The echo-compounds are of two types: one with vowel change and a second with the replacement of the first consonant by m-. Some examples of this type are: aǰǝmak uǰǝmak ‘saddlebags and the like’ from aǰǝmak ‘saddlebag’, itǝk atǝk ‘boots and the like’ from itǝk ‘boots’, nom nam ‘books and the like’ from nom ‘book’, pörht mörht ‘hats and the like’ from pörht ‘hat’, sitǝk mitǝk ‘urine and the like’ from sitǝk ‘urine’. In this study, the second element of echo-compounds will be glossed as ECH-DER. Mongolic languages show very close corresponding forms; for Khalkha Mongolian, see Kullman & Tserenpil (1996: 59). Another type of compounding is the juxtaposition of two nouns where the first one functions as a qualifying attribute, e.g. alaǰǝ öɣ ‘pole-dwelling’, from alaǰǝ ‘pole, beam’ and öɣ ‘dwelling’, ńeš bayšǝn ‘wooden house’ from ńeš ‘tree’ and bayšǝn ‘house’, alhtǝn ǰühstǝk ‘golden ring’ from al htǝn ‘gold’ and ǰühstǝk ‘ring’. The first element often refers to materials. On this type of compounding strategy, see Johanson (1990: 190, 1998b: 50). Dukhan also displays ad-hoc formations consisting of the combination of the nouns ǰüme ‘thing’ and gihhjǝ ‘person’ with the verbal nominal -Vr or other elements in adjectival position, e.g. ǰiir ǰǝme ‘food’ (lit. ‘something to eat)’, thanuur gihhjǝ ‘acquaintance’ (lit. ‘known person’).6 In this respect, also cf. Tofan (Rassadin 1978: 61). A last type of nominal compounding consists of the juxtaposition of two nouns where the second one is marked for third person possessive. Some examples of this type are: iβǝ sütǝ (reindeer + milk-POSS3) reindeer milk’, aŋ ehtǝ (game + meat-POSS3) ‘game meat’, inek garaa (cow + eye-POSS3) ‘black currant’, tẽẽrǝ puhxasǝ ‘stag beetle’ (sky + stagPOSS3). The last two example have corresponding constructions in Mongolic: ükerün nidü (cow-GEN + eye) ‘black currant’ (Lessing 1995: 1003a) and Khalkha Mongolian tengriin böx (sky-GEN + stag). Both formations may be viewed as selective copies. 7.1.2 Pronouns The category of pronouns represents a closed subclass of nouns in Dukhan and consists of personal, demonstrative, interrogative, indefinite and reflexive pronouns. The set of personal pronouns includes the following components: men ‘I’, sen ‘thou’, pis ‘we (restrictive: referring to the speaker and his/her narrow group)’, pister ‘we (extended group)’, siler ‘you’. The second person plural is also used for polite reference to a single person. The demonstrative adjective ol ‘that’ functions as the personal pronoun of the third person singular, whereas the items ol ulǝstar (that people-PL) and olar function as the personal pronouns for the third person plural ‘they’. However, the item olar is used less frequently.

6 See further Skribnik (2008) for the grammaticalization of the nominalizators ‘thing’, ‘person’, ‘people’, and ‘place’ that may be used for nominal derivation across Uralic and Turkic languages of South Siberia.

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Word classes and derivation

The demonstrative adjectives po ‘this’, ol ‘that’ and tee ~ töö ‘that (more distant)’ (section 7.2.1.6) function as demonstrative pronouns in their secondary semantic function. The interrogative pronouns are gïm ‘who’ ǰüü ~ ǰü ‘what’ and gae ‘which (one)’. The addition of the particle thAA after the interrogative pronouns forms generalized indefinite pronouns. On the particle thAA, see further section 10.4.3. 1.

Gïm

2.

Ol

thaa

monǝ

pil-ǝr.

who PTC this:ACC know-INTRA.LF ‘Anybody knows it.’ (fieldnotes)

gihhjǝ

ǰüme

thee

pil-bes.

that person thing PTC know-NEG.INTRA.LF ‘That person does not know anything.’ (fieldnotes)

The indefinite pronouns ‘someone’ and ‘something’ are formed by qualifying the nouns gihhjǝ ‘person’ and ǰüme ‘thing’ with the cardinal number pir ‘one’, namely pir gihhjǝ and pir ǰüme. The reflexive pronoun is pot and it always occurs with personal possessive suffixes; see section 8.1.3.1.

7.2 The word class ‘adjective’7 Adjectives answer to the question ‘how?’ and ‘what kind?’. They refer thus to qualities that describe how something is. In the following, some among the most common Dukhan adjectives are grouped according to the semantic types conceptualized by Dixon (1977, 1982, 2001) for the word class adjectives. Core semantic types Dimension: usǝn ‘long’, gïhska ‘short’, piččǝ ‘small’, ulǝγ ‘big’ Age: ỹãã ‘new, young’, anhǝỹak ‘young (for humans)’, gïrγan ‘old (for humans)’, erhǝ ‘old (for objects)’, hur ‘of last year’ Value: ekkǝ ‘good’, pahk ‘bad’, ǰaraš ‘nice, pretty’, šïmbay ‘pleasant, tasty’, ǰaahay ‘nice, fine’, ǰaaš ‘calm, peaceful’, hïsǝr ‘barren’ Color: ak ‘white’, gara ‘black’, gïsǝl ‘red’, gök ‘blue’, sarǝγ ‘yellow’, nogaan ‘green’, pora ‘gray, brown’

7 A previous version of this section on adjectives was a paper presented at the Research Centre of Linguistic Typology, La Trobe, 2002.

The word class ‘adjective’

95

Peripheral semantic types Physical property: seröön ‘chilly’, ǰïlǝγ ‘warm’, ihsǝγ ‘hot’, sook ‘cold’, ỹõõn ‘thick, pregnant’, ããrǝγ ‘ill’, šeβer ‘clean’, goya ‘nice’, semǝs ‘fat’, aarǝk ‘skinny’, gahtǝɣ ‘hard’, ǰihtǝ ‘sharp’, irǝk ‘rotten’, pharǝ ‘hard, sturdy (especially when referring to wood)’, pašǝɣ ‘strong (for textures)’, toŋ ‘frozen’, öl ‘wet’, šïk ‘humid’, haš ‘hairless’ Human propensity: omak ‘proud’, sirɣek ‘smart’, us ‘talented’ Speed: türɣen ‘fast’, ür ‘slow’ Difficulty: amǝr ‘easy’, perhe ‘difficult’, perht ‘tough’ Similarity: öske ‘other’, teŋ ‘equal’ Qualification: ǰöp ‘correct, true’, puruu ‘wrong’, tuhha ‘Dukhan’, tarhat ‘Darkhat’, mool ‘Mongol’, er ‘male’, epšǝ ‘female’ Position: ǰook ‘near’, petǝk ‘high’, ïrak ‘far’, tühhjǝk ‘low’, parïïn ‘right’, ǰöön ‘left’ Adjectives represent an open class which is readily expandable by new items derived from nominal and verbal stems through suffixation and by items copied from neighboring Mongolic varieties. A closed subclass of adjectives is formed by determiners and quantifiers. They are dealt with separately in section 7.2.1.6 below. 7.2.1 Adjective formation With respect to word formation, Dukhan adjectives are derived denominally and deverbally. 7.2.1.1 Denominal adjectival formation The most productive denominal adjectival suffixes in Dukhan are +LĬG, +ČĬ, +čĬn, +KĬ, +GĬRĬ and +KĬr. The suffix +LĬG is widely used in Dukhan. It may in principle be added to any noun. It forms adjectives roughly meaning ‘provided with the content of the reference noun’. Some examples of these suffixes are: iβǝlǝγ ‘provided with reindeer’ from iβǝ ‘reindeer’, ahttǝγ ‘provided with horse’ from aht ‘horse’, uhxaannǝγ ‘intelligent’ from uhxaan ‘intellect’, amthannǝγ ‘tasty’ from amthan ‘taste’. The addition of the suffix +LĬG to the nouns herek ‘need’, ‘yosǝ ‘rule’ and uhhjǝr ‘cause’ forms, together with a preceding verbal stem provided with the verbal nominal suffix -Vr, modal periphrastic markers of necessity and obligation; see section 8.2.2.2. The suffix +ČĬ forms adjectives covering the meaning “active with regard to the concept expressed by the stem” (Johanson 2006: 74) and is very productive. Some examples of this suffix are: aŋšǝ ‘hunting (pursuing game)’ from aŋ ‘game’, palǝkšǝ ‘fishing’ from palǝk ‘fish’, aalšǝ ‘visiting (families)’ from aal ‘family, encampment’, arahaččǝ ‘drinking vodka’ from araha ‘alcoholic beverage, vodka’, iβǝččǝ ‘herding reindeer’ from iβǝ ‘reindeer’. In their secondary adjectival function they refer to the person/thing active with regard to the concept expressed by the stem, e.g. palǝkšǝ ‘fisherman’ aŋšǝ ‘hunter’ and arahaččǝ ‘vodka-drinker’. For the morphophonological variants of the suffix +ČĬ, see section 5.3.4. The suffix +čĬn is functionally similar to the suffix +ČĬ. It is a Mongolian copy and it exclusively occurs together with Mongolian nominal stems, e.g. aǰǝlčǝn ‘working’ and (in

96

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its secondary function) ‘worker’ from aǰǝl ‘work’, malčǝn ‘breeding cattle’ and (in its secondary function) ‘cattle breeder’ from mal ‘cattle’. The suffix +KĬ forms adjectives related to the substance or quality of the referent of the noun, e.g. pahškǝ ‘related to the head, first’ from pahš ‘head’, suulgǝ ‘related to the tail, last’ from suul ‘tail’, gïhškǝ ‘related to the winter, wintry’ from gïhš ‘winter’, ǰaygǝ ‘related to the summer, summery’ from ǰay ‘summer’, erhtengǝ ‘related to the morning’ from erhten ‘early morning’. The suffix +GĬrĬ derives adjectives whose content can be roughly paraphrased as ‘provided with the material of the nominal stem on the surface’; some examples: ńeškǝrǝ ‘provided with trees on the surface’ from ńeš ‘tree’, taškǝrǝ ‘provided with stones on the surface’ from taš ‘stone’, taɣǝrǝ ‘provided with mountains, i.e. mountainous’ from taɣ ‘mountain’. The suffix +GĬrĬ probably goes back to *kïr ‘limit’ plus 3rd possessive suffix. The suffix +KĬr forms adjectives that denote richness and abundance of the substance expressed by the nominal stem, e.g. sütkǝr ‘rich of milk’ i.e. ‘milky’ from süt ‘milk’, sṏṏkkǝr ‘bony’ from sṏṏk ‘bone’, ehtkǝr ‘meaty’ from eht ‘meat’. 7.2.1.2 Deverbal adjectival formation The suffixes -(Ĭ)K, -(Ĭ)G, -ǰAK, -(Ĭ)lǰAn, -(Ĭ)nǰĬG, -ČAl, -(Ĭ)Kšǝ and -(Ĭ)ŋ form deverbal adjectives. The suffixes -(Ĭ)K and -(Ĭ)G derive adjectives from intransitive verbal stems signaling the quality expressed by the verbal stem. Some examples of these suffixes are: tühhjǝk ‘low’ from tühš- ‘to fall’, petǝk ‘tall’ from petǝ- ‘to become tall’, ǰïmǰak ‘soft’ from ǰïmǰa- ‘to become soft’, sook ‘cold’ from soo- ‘to grow cold’, gahtǝγ ‘hard’ from gahtǝ- ‘to become hard’, ããrǝγ ‘ill’ from ããrǝ- ‘to become ill’, ihsǝγ ‘hot’ from ihsǝ- ‘to become hot’, ǰoβaγ ‘tired’ from ǰoβa- ‘to become tired’. The suffix -ǰAK is mostly added to verbal stems provided with the reflexive and medial suffixes (see section 7.3.4.2). It forms resultative adjectives, e.g. aǰǝnǰak ‘irritated, angry’ from aǰǝn- ‘to get irritated, to get angry’, pildǝnǰek ‘known’ from pildǝn- to be known’. The suffix -(Ĭ)lǰAn derives adjectives expressing ‘(someone/something) frequently Xing’, e.g. eselǰen ‘yawning’ from ese- ‘to yawn’, gahtkǝrǝlǰan ‘laughing’ from gahtkǝr- ‘to laugh’, oksǝrǝlǰan ‘furting’ from oksǝr- ‘to furt’. The suffix -(Ĭ)nǰĬG forms adjectives which roughly express ‘something X-ful or X-ing for oneself’. Some examples of these suffixes are: gorhǝnǰǝɣ ‘frightful’ from gorht- ‘to get afraid’, öörǝnǰǝɣ ‘joyful’ from öör- ‘to become happy’, ỹadǝnǰǝɣ ‘shameful’ from ỹat- ‘to be ashamed of’. The suffix -ČAl forms adjectives denoting somebody or something that X-es, e.g. ỹatšal ‘prude’ from ỹat- ‘to be ashamed of’, toŋšal ‘freezing’ from toŋ- ‘to freeze’. Dukhan -ČAl shows formal similarities with the Toju Tuvan suffix -čAl (Čadamba 1974: 89). Tuvan, on the other hand, displays the extended form -VVčAl; see Isxaxov & Pal’mbax (1961: 200– 202). The suffix -(Ĭ)KšĬ forms deverbal adjectives that express a quality pertinent to the notion expressed by the verbal stem. Some examples of this suffix are: ööredǝkšǝ ‘teaching’ i.e. (in its secondary adjectival function) ‘teacher’ from ööret- ‘to teach’, öörenǝkšǝ ‘learning’ i.e. (in its secondary adjectival function) ‘pupil’ from öören- ‘to

The word class ‘adjective’

97

learn’. This suffix is a combination of the deverbal nominal suffix -(Ĭ)K (section 7.1.1.2) and the denominal adjectival suffix +ČĬ (section 7.2.1.1). The suffix -(Ĭ)ŋ forms habitual adjectives, e.g. ïγlaŋ ‘habitually crying’, from ïγla- ‘to cry’, ỹanǝŋ ‘habitually coming back’ (referred, for instance, to a dog) from ỹan- ‘to come back’. This suffix also occurs in Toju Tuvan and Tofan; see Čadamba (1974: 108) and Rassadin (1978: 105), respectively. The functionally close suffix -AgAn which forms habitual adjectives both in Tuvan and Tofan (Rassadin 1978: 103) does not occur in Dukhan. 7.2.1.3 Detensifying suffixes The suffixes +ZĬmAr and +ZĬG are two deadjectival adjectival suffixes that serve to detensify the quality expressed by the adjectival stem. They occur mostly with color adjectives but also with some adjectives belonging to the semantic class of dimension, e.g. aksǝmar ‘whitish’ from ak ‘white’, gïsǝlsǝmar ‘reddish’ from gïsǝl ‘red’, sarǝγsǝmar ‘yellowish’ from sarǝγ ‘yellow’, ulǝγsǝmar ‘biggish’ from ulǝγ ‘big’. The suffix +ZĬG added to color adjectives forms new adjectives meaning ‘X-ish’; some examples of this suffix are: nogaansǝɣ ‘greenish’ from nogaan ‘green’, sarǝγsǝɣ ‘yellowish’ from sarǝγ ‘yellow’. 7.2.1.4 Intensification A limited set of adjectives belonging to the core semantic types of dimension and color display a special morphological partial reduplication to express intensity. The adjective gets preposed by its own initial sequence (C)V followed by an additional bilabial consonant; some examples of this process are: aβak ‘very white’ from ak ‘white’, nopnogaan ‘very green’ from nogaan ‘green’, sapsarǝγ ‘very yellow’ from sarǝγ ‘yellow’, upusǝn ‘extremely long’ from usǝn ‘long’ etc. Otherwise, the modification of the last syllable of some adjectives forms elatives, e.g. piččii ‘very small’ from piččǝ ‘small’, ekkii ‘very good’ from ekkǝ ‘good’, petii ‘very high’ from petǝk ‘high’, göhhii ‘very abundant’ from göhhey ‘abundant’, perhöö ‘very difficult, very hard’ from perhe ‘difficult, hard’. Also see the example below: 3.

Am

Ulaanbaatar-da

eht

üne-sǝ

perhöö!

now Ulaan Baatar-LOC meat price-POSS3 difficult-INT ‘Now the meat price in Ulaan Baatar is veeery high!’ (fieldnotes)

For Toju Tuvan parallels, see Čadamba (1974: 88), and for Tuvan and Tofan, see Johanson (2006). The suffix +(V)y is added to some adjectives without changing their lexical meaning, e.g. pahk and pahxay ‘bad’, göhp and göhhey ‘abundant’. Corresponding forms occur throughout Sayan Turkic. According to Rassadin (1978: 101) this suffix displays a slight intensifying function. 7.2.1.5 Privative adjectives The juxtaposition of the adjective ǰok ‘non-existent’ to a noun creates adjectives expressing lack of the notion the noun refers to. Some examples: ńeš ǰok ‘treeless’ from ńeš ‘tree’,

98

Word classes and derivation

akša ǰok ‘money-less, poor’ from akša ‘money’, arγa ǰok ‘means-less’ from arγa ‘means’, ỹatar arǝn ǰok gihhǝ (‘to be ashamed’-INTRA.VBN + ‘face’ + ǰok + ‘person’) ‘a shameless person’. For other functions of the item ǰok, see section 10.5. This type of adjectival privative construction represents a mixed copy of the Mongolic construction [noun + ügei ‘not’]. The total replacement of the Turkic privative suffix +sVz by ǰok represents a classificatory feature of Siberian Turkic (Schönig 1997a: 126); also cf. section 3.3.2. 7.2.1.6 Quantifiers and determiners Quantifiers and determiners form together a closed subclass of the adjective class. The category of quantifiers includes cardinal numerals and indefinite adjectives. The set of cardinal numbers is listed below and commented upon thereafter. pir ‘one’ ihx̃ ǝ ‘two’ üš ~ üüš ‘three’ tört ~ töört ‘four’ peš ~ peeš ‘five’ alhtǝ ‘six’ ǰetǝ ~ ǰeedǝ ‘seven’ ses ‘eight’ thos ‘nine’ on ‘ten’ on pir ‘eleven’ on tört ‘fourteen’

on ses ‘eighteen’ ǰeerβǝ ‘twenty’ üǰon ~ üǰön ~ üǰen ‘thirty’ törton ~ törtön ~ törden ‘forty’ peǰon ~ peǰön ~ peǰen ‘fifty’ alhton ~ alhtan ‘sixty’ ǰedon ~ ǰedön ~ ǰeden ‘seventy’ seson ~ sesen ‘eighty’ thoson ~ thosan ‘ninety’ ǰüs ‘hundred’ mïŋ ‘thousand’ saya ‘ten thousand’

The tens from 30 up to 90 structurally represent analytic decades formed by the juxtaposition of cardinal units to on ‘ten’. For many speakers the item on still preserves its lexical meaning and it is thus pronounced as on. However, in the speech of others, the item on undergoes sound harmony. Nonharmonized forms of the decades were also typical of Toju Tuvan in the 1970s; see Čadamba (1974: 89–90) for details. The presence of lower analytical decades is a common isogloss of Siberian Turkic languages, also including Yellow Uyghur; see Clark (1996: 26–29) and Nugteren & Roos (2006: 119). As for the cardinal number ‘one’, Dukhans, besides pir, also use the items piree and ǰaŋgǝs. Morphologically, piree can be traced back to *biregü, showing thus traces of the collective suffix +AgU of Old Turkic. Accordingly, the item piree can be translated as ‘a set of one’ (also see Erdal 2004: 225). The word ǰaŋgǝs means ‘single’ and is used when the speaker wants to emphasize the fact that it is just ‘one’ and not more. The different meanings of the items pir, piree and ǰaŋgǝs are shown in the following three examples: pir gihhjǝ ‘one person’ piree gihhjǝ ‘a set of one person’ and ǰaŋgǝs gihhjǝ ‘one single person’. Another much used numeral is sããrsǝk ‘one of the two’, e.g. sããrsǝk mĩĩstǝɣ ǰarǝ ‘a riding reindeer with one horn’. For Tofan, see Rassadin (1978: 21). Ordinal numbers are formed with the juxtaposition of the element tugaar to cardinal numbers, e.g. pir tugaar ‘first’, üš tugaar ‘third’, thos tugaar ‘ninth’ etc. The element

The word class ‘adjective’

99

tugaar is a global copy of Khalkha Mongolian dugaar ‘number’. In Khalkha Mongolian, the element dugaar has become the specialized suffix to form ordinal numbers and is subject to vowel harmony, e.g. negdügeer ‘first’ from neg ‘one’, xoyordugaar ‘second’ from xoyor ‘two’. Distributive numerals usually are formed by doubling cardinal numbers: e.g. üš üš ‘three each’. A somewhat rare formation consists of adding the suffix +(L)Ar, common to all Sayan varieties, e.g. ǰetǝler ‘seven each’. The item pirer, formed with this suffix, however, also bears the meaning ‘some’, e.g. pirer ǰïllarda ‘in some years’. Toju Tuvan shows similarities in this respect; cf. Čadamba (1974: 77). The suffix +KĬỹA is added to cardinal numbers and forms restrictive numbers, e.g. üškǝỹe gihhjǝ ‘only three people’, alhtǝgǝỹa aht ‘only six horses’. Toju Tuvan displays the corresponding suffix +KIyA, e.g. üškiye ‘liš’ (tol’ko) odin’ (Čadamba 1974: 90). In Tofan and Soyot, on the other hand, the related particle qïńa forms diminutives and can be added to all nouns (Rassadin 1978: 53, 55, 271; 1995: 34b, 2010: 41, 120a). For the classificatory relevance of +KĬỹA, see section 3.3.2. Functionally, +KĬỹA corresponds to the Mongolic suffix -KAn (Poppe 1964: 42). Collective numerals are formed with the addition of the suffixes +AAn and +AAlI. Tuvan, on the other hand, displays +AlAA(n) and +AldIrzI, whereas Tofan is closer to Dukhan with the suffixes +AAn and +AAlIn. Toju Tuvan displays +AAn as well. For a Sayan-Altay view of these formations, see Rassadin (1978: 122–123). The indefinite quantity of persons or things is expressed by the following adjectives: göhp and göhhey ‘abundant, many’, and eβeeš ‘few’; some examples of their usage are: göhp gihhjǝ ‘many people’, göhp gulǝr ‘a lot of flour’, eβeeš gihhjǝ ‘few people’ and eβeeš gulǝr ‘little flour’. Collective adjectives meaning ‘all’ are hamǝk and pühxǝ, e.g. hamǝk ulǝs ‘all the people’, pühxǝ palǝk ‘all the fish’. In addition, the nouns šuptǝ and thödǝ, both meaning ‘everything’, express indefinite quantity and are postposed to the noun they refer to. The adjectival class of determiners includes the deictic set of demonstrative adjectives as well as ordinal and distributive numbers. The set of demonstrative adjectives comprises the items po ‘this’, ol ‘that (visible)’ and tee ‘that (possibly non visible)’, e.g. po tayga ‘this taiga’, ol tayga ‘that taiga’ and tee tayga ‘that taiga over there, far away from the speaker and the addressee(s) and, possibly, non visible’. Tofan and Toju Tuvan share similarities with Dukhan displaying the item tee, the former, and dee ~ dii, the latter; cf. Rassadin (1978: 256) and Čadamba (1974: 92), respectively. Standard Tuvan, on the other hand, displays variants with rounded vowels: döö ~ doo ~ düü and duu (Isxakov & Pal’mbax 1961: 231–232). According to Isxakov & Pal’mbax (1961: 231–232), the item döö originates from the oblique form tüün of the Mongolian demonstrative adjective ter ‘that’. The items po and ol also serve for the formation of the adjectives mïndǝɣ ‘like this (one), such’ and ïndǝɣ ‘like that (one), such’. These forms go back to the oblique stems of po and ol, mïn- and ïn-, respectively (section 8.1.3.1), occurring in their secondary function, i.e. meaning ‘this one’ and ‘that one’, plus a synharmonic form of the postposition teγ

100

Word classes and derivation

‘like’.8 The interrogative adjective gandǝɣ ‘like which (one)?’ has a parallel origin from gan-, the oblique stem of gae ‘which (one)’, plus teγ. For verbal formations from demonstratives, see section 7.3.2.

7.3 The word class ‘verb’ The word class ‘verb’ includes lexemes that denote actions, events, processes, physical and mental states. Some examples of such lexemes are: per- ‘to give’, al- ‘to take’, gör- ‘to see’, ǰe- ‘to eat’, öl- ‘to die’, ǰorǝ- ‘to move’, utǝ- ‘to sleep’, gïrǝ- ‘to become old’, öör- ‘to become happy’. Verbal lexemes fall into two categories: transitives and intransitives. Verbs represent an open class which is readily expandable in three different ways. One means of derivation consists of suffixation from nominal, adjectival and verbal stems. Besides suffixation, new verbal lexemes also can be derived analytically, i.e. through complex verbal composition. Finally, global copying from Mongolic varieties represents a very productive means for the extension of the verb class. 7.3.1 Denominal verbal suffixes The set of denominal verbal suffixes includes +LA, +KAr, +A, +Ĭ, +ZĬ, +ZĬrA and +ZA. The suffix +LA forms verbal lexemes which denote activities related to the notion expressed by the noun. It is highly productive in Dukhan. Some examples of this suffix are: aŋna- ‘to hunt’ from aŋ ‘game (wild animal)’, palǝkta- ‘to fish’ from palǝk ‘fish’, poganala- ‘to castrate (a reindeer in advanced age)’ from pogana ‘(older) castrated reindeer’, gïhšta- ‘to pass the winter’ from gïhš ‘winter’, ǰayla- ‘to pass the summer’ from ǰay ‘summer’, iβǝle- ‘to look for reindeer’ from iβǝ ‘reindeer’, murɣǝla- ‘to call with the hunting horn’ from murɣǝ ‘hunting horn’. The suffix +LA also can be added to adjectives occurring in their secondary function. In this case the meaning conveyed by the verbal lexeme is ‘to become somebody/something that displays the quality expressed by the adjective’, e.g. piččele- ‘to become something small’ from pičče ‘something small’, ǰarašta- ‘to become something nice’ from ǰaraš ‘something nice’. The suffix +KAr exclusively forms transitive verbs; some examples of their use are: ohtkar- ‘to graze’ from oht ‘grass’, aškar- ‘to eat’ from *aš ‘food’, pahškar- ‘to lead’ from pahš ‘head’. The suffixes +A and +Ĭ form verbal lexemes that express actions and states related to the notion expressed by the noun. The occurrence of these two suffixes is restricted to mono- and bisyllabic stems ending in a consonant. Some examples: tüǰe- ‘to dream’ from tüš ‘dream’, tusa- ‘to salt’ from tus ‘salt’, ata- ‘to call’ from at ‘name’, ǰurhta- ‘to inhabit’ from ǰurht ‘land’, ota- ‘to set a fire’ from ot ‘fire’, gurhta- ‘to get worms’ from gurht ‘worm’, oyńa- ‘to play’ from oyn ‘game’. As with the suffix +LA, the suffixes +A and +Ĭ also can be added to adjectives occurring in their secondary function, e.g. payǝ- ‘to become somebody who is rich’ from pay ‘rich’, eβeeǰe- ‘to become something small, to decrease’ from eβeeš ‘little’. 8 For the corresponding forms antag and montag occurring in inscriptional Old Turkic, see Erdal (2004: 336).

101

The word class ‘verb’

The suffix +ZĬ forms intransitive verbal lexemes which roughly express ‘behaving like the notion expressed by the noun’. Some examples of this suffix are: aŋsǝ- ‘to behave like a wild animal, i.e. to become unfriendly’ from aŋ ‘game (wild animal)’, urǝɣsǝ- ‘to behave like a child’ from urǝɣ ‘child’. The suffix +ZĬrA forms verbal stems that roughly express ‘feeling the lack of the notion expressed by the noun’. Some examples of such verbs are: ǰüreksǝre- ‘to feel the lack of heart, i.e. to become a coward’ from ǰürek ‘heart’, ehtsǝre- ‘to feel the lack of meat, to be hungry for meat’. The suffix +ZĬrA also can be added to adjectives occurring in their secondary function, e.g. pahksǝra- ‘to become something bad’ from pahk ‘bad’, ǰaŋgǝssǝra‘to become somebody lonely’ from ǰaŋgǝs ‘single’. The suffix +ZA forms verbal lexemes which denote the desire to get the notion expressed by the noun. Some examples of this suffix are: suksa- ‘to desire water, i.e. to be thirsty’ from suɣ ‘water’, poosa- ‘to desire a rifle’ from poo ‘rifle’, ihx̃ese- ‘to long for the mother’ from ihx̃e ‘mother’, hünse- ‘to spend a day’ from hün ‘day’. In the last example, however, a direct relation to the semantics of the suffix is missing. 7.3.2 Pronominal verbs The addition of the suffix +ǰA to the oblique stems of the demonstrative pronouns po ‘this (one)’, ol ‘that (one)’ and the interrogative pronoun gae ‘which (one)’, namely mïn-, ïn- and gan-, forms three verbal lexemes that have a high functional load in Dukhan: mïnǰa- ‘to do like this’, ïnǰa- ‘to do like that’ and ganǰa- ‘to do how?’. These types of verbal forms are usually referred to as pronominal verbs in Turcological studies, and are common throughout Siberia encompassing beside Turkic also Mongolic and Tungusic; further see Menges (1963: 134–136), Poppe (1964: 66) and Ragagnin (2010b). The demonstrative pronoun tee does not occur in this type of verbal formation. Some examples of these verbal lexemes are: 4.

Am

gan-ǰa-ar

pis?

now

which-V.DER-INTRA.LF

we

‘What should we do now?’ (fieldnotes) 5.

Ïn-ǰa-aš-tǝŋ

höngen

te-p

ekkǝ

ǰe-m.

that-V.DER-CB-GEN

höngen-bread

say-CB

good

eat-N.DER

‘And so höngen-bread is good food.’ (T1:7) 6.

Ïn-ǰa-p

gehš-tǝ

uušta-ar.

that-V.DER-CB

skin-ACC

stretch-INTRA.LF

‘In this way one stretches the (reindeer) skin (for tanning).’ (T6:10) 7.

Am

pis-ter

now

we-PL

mïn-ǰa-ar. this-V.DER-INTRA.LF ‘Now we will do it like this.’ (fieldnotes)

102 8.

Word classes and derivation

Ïn-ǰa-n-gaš

am

ol

tuht-ǝp

al-gan

that-V.DER-MED-CB

now

that

catch-CB

take-POST.VBN

iβǝ-ler-nǝ reindeer-PL-ACC

ös-kǝr-ǝp

grow-CAUS-CB

‘So, now growing the reindeer they cought’ (T19:37) For the lexicalization of the pronominal verbs provided with the converbial suffixes into sentence and modal adverbs, see section 10.1. 7.3.3 Deadjectival verbal suffixes The set of deadjectival verbal suffixes comprises +(Ĭ)r, +ZĬn and +(A)t. The suffixes +(Ĭ)r, and +(A)t form intransitive verbs denoting ‘to become like the quality expressed by the adjective’. Some examples of verbs formed with +(A)r are: aɣarto become white’ from ak ‘white’, ekkǝr- ‘to become good, to get better’ from ekkǝ ‘good’, sarɣǝr- ‘to become yellow’ from sarǝɣ ‘yellow’. For the dropping of the vowel in the last example, see section 5.3.2. Some examples of such verbs formed with +(A)t are: ulgat- ‘to become big’ from ulǝɣ ‘big’, göhhet- ‘to become abundant’ from göhp ‘abundant’. The suffix +ZĬn forms intransitive verbal lexemes denoting ‘to feel like the quality expressed by the adjective’, e.g. puruusǝn- ‘to feel wrong, guilty’ from puruu ‘wrong’, ekkǝsǝn- ‘to feel good’ from ekkǝ ‘good’. 7.3.4 Synthetic deverbal verbal derivation Synthetic deverbal verbal derivation includes iterative, similative, desiderative and voice suffixes. 7.3.4.1 Iteratives, similatives and desideratives The iterative suffixes -GĬLA and -DA signal repetitive action, e.g. ahtkǝla- ‘to shoot repeatedly’ from aht- ‘to shoot’, göhškǝle- to nomadize very frequently’ from göhš‘nomadize’, gahkta- ‘to beat repeteadly’ from gahk- ‘to beat’, sohkta- ‘to knock repeatedly’ from sohk- ‘to knock’. The suffix -VrhA is a similative suffix. It forms verbal lexemes denoting ‘to pretend to X’, e.g. payïïrha- ‘to pretend to be rich’ from payǝ- ‘to become rich’, pilirhe- ‘to pretend to know’ from pil- ‘to know’, palïïrha- ‘to pretend to feel pain’ from palǝ- ‘to feel pain’. The suffix -(Ĭ)KsA is a desiderative suffix forming verbal lexemes that denote the desire to obtain the content of the noun, e.g. aŋnaksa- ‘to desire to hunt’ from aŋna- ‘to hunt’, görǝkse- ‘to desire to see’ from gör- ‘to see’. This suffix possibly represents a combination of the suffixes -(Ĭ)K (section 7.1.1.2 ) and -ZA (section 7.3.1). The suffix -(Ĭ)ŋnA forms intensive verbs, e.g. selgeŋne- ‘to shake out strongly’ from selge- ‘to shake out’, aksaŋna- ‘to limp a lot’ from aksa- ‘to limp’. On synthetic actional markers in Sayan Turkic, also see Menges (1963: 113–116).

The word class ‘verb’

103

7.3.4.2 Voice suffixes The set of voice suffixes in Dukhan includes causative, passive, reflexive, medial and reciprocal-cooperative. The addition of voice suffixes affects the actancy patterns of the verbal lexemes in that it changes the syntactic roles of its actant(s). Dukhan displays the following range of causative suffixes: -(Ĭ)t, -DĬr, -Ĭr, -KĬr, -KĬs and -Ĭs. The occurrence of one or the other suffix is partly predictable depending on the phonology of the stem, that is, it varies according to the quantity of syllables of the stem, and it also depends on the quality of the stem-final sound. The partial unpredictability of causative allomorphs is common throughout Turkic; see Johanson (1998b: 36). The suffix -(Ĭ)t occurs mainly after stems displaying a word-final vowel and after polysyllabic stems ending with -r. Some examples of this suffix are: ǰïlgat- ‘to make lick’ from ǰilga- ‘to lick’, ïɣlat- ‘to cause to cry’ from ïɣla- ‘to cry’, ǰorǝt- ‘to cause to move, to send’ from ǰorǝ- ‘to move’, gïškǝrt- ‘to cause to scream’ from gïškǝr- ‘to scream’. The suffix -DĬr occurs generally with stems ending in consonants with the exception of -r in polysyllabic stems. Some examples of this suffix are: toldǝr- ‘to fill’ from tol- ‘to fill (with)’, gehstǝr- ‘to cause to cut’ from gehs- ‘to cut’, hayǝndǝr- ‘to cause to boil’ from hayǝn- ‘to boil (intr.)’, ayttǝr- ‘to cause to say, to ask’ from *ayït- ‘to ask, to say, to speak’ (Clauson 1972: 268b–269a). The suffix -Ĭr occurs after certain monosyllabic stems displaying word final -š, -t and -l; e.g. aǰǝr- ‘to make pass’ from aš- ‘to pass’, uhhjǝr- ‘to cause to fly’ from uhš- ‘to fly’, ölǝr‘to cause to die, i.e. to kill’ from öl- ‘to die’, pütǝr- ‘to complete’ from püt- ‘to be complete’, aadǝr- ‘to cause to lull’ from aat- ‘to lull’. The suffix -KĬr occurs in the following three verbal lexemes: ǰïhtkǝr ‘to cause to lie down’ from ǰïht- ‘to lie, lie down’, öhskǝr- ‘to grow (tr.)’ from öhs- ‘to grow (intr.)’ and ötkǝr- ‘to cause to pass through’ from öt- ‘to pass through’. The suffixes -KĬs and - Ĭs have a low functional load but occur in the following very commonly used verbal lexemes: turɣǝs- ‘to build’ from tur- ‘to stand’, ahxǝs- ‘to let flow’ from ahk- ‘to flow’, ǰelǝs- ‘to trot (of a horse)’ from ǰel- ‘to trot (of a horse)’. The causative suffixes mentioned above are common to Tuvan and Tofan with the exception of the suffix -KĬr, which occurs in Tofan but not in Tuvan. Tofan displays čïhtkǝr- and öhskǝr- from ǰïht- and from öhs-, respectively, whereas Tuvan displays čïttïrand östür-, respectively. Cases of double causatives also occur in Dukhan, e.g. ǰorǝttǝr- ‘to cause to cause to move, i.e. to let send’ from ǰorǝ- ‘to move’. In some cases, the addition of a causative suffix to a verbal lexeme already provided with a causative suffix may additionally imply that the first actant is the patient, e.g. ölǝrt- ‘to let kill’ and ‘to be killed’ from ölǝr- ‘to kill’; on this phenomenon, see Johanson (1998b: 56). The passive, reflexive and middle voices represent three categories that often can not be distinguished in a clear cut way, since the interlacings among them are very tight. Passivity is expressed by the suffixes -(Ĭ)l and -(D)DĬn, whereas the suffix -(Ĭ)n is a marker of reflexivity and mediality, besides being a passive allomorph for some verbal stems ending with a vowel. In this study -(Ĭ)n will be glossed as MED. Some examples with -(Ĭ)l are: tïhhǝl- ‘to be found’ from tïhp- ‘to find’, tïŋnal- ‘to be listened’ from tïŋna- ‘to listen’. Some examples with the suffix -(D)DĬn are: pildǝn- ‘to be known’ from pil- ‘to

104

Word classes and derivation

know’, tuhttǝn- ‘to be held’ and ‘to hold for oneself’ from tuht- ‘to hold’, emnettǝn- ‘to be healed’ from emne- ‘to heal’, aattǝn- ‘to be lulled’ and ‘to lull for oneself’ from aat- ‘to lull’. On this topic, also see Johanson (1998b: 54–55). The suffix -(D)DĬn is common to the whole Sayan area; see Schönig (1998: 412). Some examples with -(Ĭ)n: görǝn- ‘to appear, to see oneself’ from gör- ‘to see’, ahtǝn- ‘to shoot oneself’ from aht- ‘to shoot’, örhten- ‘to be burned’ and ‘to burn oneself’ from örhte- ‘to burn’, šuɣlan- ‘to be covered’ and ‘to cover oneself’ from šuɣla- ‘to cover’, tïran- ‘to be combed’ and ‘to comb oneself’ from tïra- ‘to comb’. The reciprocal-cooperative suffix is -(Ĭ)š. Some examples of this suffix are: soodaš- ‘to speak together’ from *sooda- ‘to speak’, ǰorǝš- ‘to move together’ from ǰorǝ- ‘to move’, teš- ‘to say together’ from te- ‘to say’. Cooperative verbs may also be formed with the addition of the suffix -KĬdĬ, e.g. ihškǝdǝ‘to drink together’ from ihš- ‘to drink’, utǝgǝdǝ- ‘to sleep together (referred, for instance, to people sleeping in the same tepee)’ from utǝ- ‘to sleep’. The formally corresponding Tofan suffix -GIdI, on the other hand, expresses iterativity; see Rassadin (1978: 152) for examples. 7.3.5 Deverbal analytical derivation Deverbal analytical derivation is very productive in Dukhan. It consists of a converbial suffix and an immediately following auxiliary verb. These types of verbal constructions are known in Turcological studies as postverbs, postverbial constructions or auxiliary verb constructions. On this topic, see, inter alia, Johanson (1999a, 2000c: 55–57, 2002: 91–97, 2005), Schönig (1984), Demir (1993) and Ağcagül (2009). The converb suffixes involved in these constructions are -(Ĭ)p and -V/y. In some instances the converb segment -(Ĭ)p may alternate with -GAš. On converb suffixes, see section 8.2.2.3. The auxiliary verbs occurring in Dukhan postverbial constructions are: tur- ‘to stand up, to stand’, ǰïht- ‘to lie down, to lie’, ǰorǝ- ‘to set into movement, to move’, olǝr- ‘to sit down, to sit’, gal- ‘to get into a state, to remain in that state’, per- ‘to give’, al- ‘to take’, par- ‘to go away’, gel- ‘to come’, gir- ‘to enter’, ün- ‘to exit’, tühš- ‘to fall’, gaɣ- ‘to throw away’, ït- ‘to send’, occurring in the suffix -ĬβĬt, gör- ‘to see’, pol- ‘to become’, pil- ‘to know’, ǰas‘to miss’, šïta- ‘to be able’, yata- ‘to be unable’, and ehxele- ‘to begin’. The grammaticalized notion expressed by these postverbial constructions is derived from the original lexical meaning of the auxiliary verb. The auxiliaries have developed from lexical sources. The well-developed system of postverbial constructions is a typical feature of the South Siberian linguistic area; cf. also section 3.3.2. For a survey on this topic, see Anderson (2004). Dukhan analytical verbal constructions that modify the actional content of the lexical verb will be dealt with in section 7.3.5.1, whereas other auxiliary verb constructions are the subject of section 7.3.5.2.

105

The word class ‘verb’

7.3.5.1 Actional modificators The set of postverbial constructions that modify the actional content of the lexical verb includes markers of phase specification, markers of direction, and markers of subject and object version. On actionality and its relevance in the aspect-tense system, see section 9.1. -(Ĭ)p tur-, -(Ĭ)p ǰïht-, -(Ĭ)p ǰorǝ- and -(Ĭ)p olǝrThe constructions -(Ĭ)p tur-, -(Ĭ)p ǰïht-, -(Ĭ)p ǰorǝ- and -(Ĭ)p olǝr- are specific markers of the statal phase of the actional phrase. They thus refer to ‘a dwelling in X’, so that readings like ‘to start X-ing’ or ‘to X throughout’ are excluded. The auxiliary verbs tur- ‘to stand up, to stand’, ǰïht- ‘to lie down, to lie’, ǰorǝ- ‘to set into movement, to move’, and olǝr- ‘to sit down, to sit’ are not totally desemanticized. The choice of one or the other auxiliary verb gives additional information on the physical position, according to which the action is performed. Some examples of these constructions are: 9.

Amdǝ now

thaa

la

PTC

PTC

šuptǝ all

po

tayga

this

gahhay

ulǝs-tar-ǝ

taiga

people-PL-POSS3

hereɣle-p

cradle

tur-ar.

use-CB

stand-INTRA.LF

‘And even now, all of these taiga peoples use the hanging cradle.’ (T5:10) 10.

Tayga-da taiga-LOC

piččǝ

urǝɣ-lar

small

child-PL

gahhay-da

utǝ-p

cradle-LOC

sleep-CB

ǰïht-ar.

lie-INTRA.LF

‘In the taiga, small children sleep in the hanging cradle.’ (fieldnotes) 11.

Iβǝ-ler

reindeer-PL

oht-ta-p

grass-V.DER-CB

ǰora-an.

move-POST

‘The reindeer were grazing around.’ (fieldnotes) 12.

Aya-nǝ

pol-sa

gonǰǝɣ

perhe

gïrgan

trip-bow-ACC

become-COND3

very

difficult

old

ulǝs-tar

gïl-ǝp

tur-gan.

people-PL

make-CB

stand-POST

‘As for the trip-bow, it is very difficult (to make it), old people used to make it.’ (T10:7) 13.

Teer

üye-de

ancient

time-LOC

ihx̃ ǝ two

gïrɣan-nar

urǝɣ

tarǝɣ

old-PL

child

seed

106

Word classes and derivation

ǰok

aššak

non-existent

gatay

old man

ihx̃ ǝ

woman

two

tayga-da taiga-LOC

amǝdǝra-p live-CB

olǝr-ɣandǝrǝ. sit-RES

‘In olden times, two old ones, an old man and an old woman, without children, used to live in the taiga.’ (T14:1) 14.

Er

male

ulǝs-tar

šuptǝ-sǝ

people-PL

aŋ-na-p

all-POSS3

ö-ön-de

game-V.DER-CB

aǰǝl-ǝn

dwelling-POSS3-LOC

ǰoru-ur.

gïl-ǝp

work.POSS3.ACC

Gatay-lar

move-INTRA.LF

woman-PL

ǰïht-ar.

make-CB

lie-INTRA.LF

‘All the male people go out hunting. The women make their work in their tent/tepee.’ (T7:30-31) -(Ĭ)p galThe construction -(Ĭ)p gal- also focuses on the statal phase of the actional phrase. Its meaning can be paraphrased as ‘to remain having X-ed’. It thus signals “to get to a point where the crucial limit is transgressed and to be in this posttransformative phase” (Johanson 2004a: 187–188), and it occurs exclusively with transformative verbs. On transformativization and transformative verbs, see section 9.1. The following examples are illustrative: 15.

Jǎ

yeah

men

pičč-ii-de

ata-m

ses

I

small-INT-LOC

father-POSS1.SG

eight

gar-lï-ïm-da

öl-ǝp

snow-ADJ.DER-POSS1.SG-LOC

die-CB

gal-gan.

remain-POST

‘Yeah, when I was very small, my father died when I was eight.’ (T11:1) 16.

Pir

hoỹ

tur-ǝp

one

sheep

stand-CB

gal-dǝ

te-en.

remain-PAST3

say-POST

‘Reportedly, one sheep has remained standing there.’ (fieldnotes) 17.

Ol

that

ulǝs-tar

people-PL

tarhat

pol-ǝp

Darkhat

become-CB

gal-dǝ.

remain-PAST3

‘Those ones have become (and therefore still are) Darkhat (people).’ (fieldnotes) -V(y) perThe construction -V(y) per- is an ingressive marker. It specifies the initial phase of the actional content, i.e. the dynamic entrance into ‘the state of X-ing’. Some examples of this construction are: 18.

Sïïn

maral deer

ün-ǝn

voice-POSS3.ACC

tïŋna-ar

listen-INTRA.LF

thoš elk

gulaš-ta-ar

on foot-V.DER-INTRA.LF

taspan

reindeer calf

107

The word class ‘verb’

eht-er-le-er.

scream-INTRA.VBN-V.DER-INTRA.LF

Šuptǝ all

gulaš-ta-y

on foot-V.DER-CB

per-ɣen

give-POST.VBN

tur-ar.

stand-INTRA.LF

‘The maral deer hear the sound (of those other deer), the elk move around, the young reindeer bucks strut around. All (the animals) have begun to move around.’ (T4:24) 19.

Bat

õõrha-la-p

Bat

utǝ-y

spine-V.DER-CB

sleep-CB

pe-er.

give-INTRA.LF

‘Bat falls asleep with his back getting warm by the fire’. (fieldnotes) 20.

Gurht-a-an

worm-V.DER-POST.VBN

šïta-βas.

be able-NEG.INTRA.LF

irey

öɣ-ɣǝdǝ

gorh-a

pe-er.

bear

fear-CB

taβǝr-ǝp

dwelling-DIR

come across-CB

give-INTRA.LF

‘The bear that has gotten worms can not go (through) into the tent. It gets afraid.’ (T15:6-7) 21.

Am

ǰok

soor-a

pe-er-ɣe

ǰit-e

now

non-existent

get cold-CB

give-INTRA.VBN-DAT

disappear-CB

βeːr, ǰit-ǝβǝd-ar, öl-ǝ pe-er. disappear-COMP-INTRA.LF die-CB give-INTRA.LF pe-er ‘(speaking about worms) Now there aren’t any. When it starts to get cold, they start to disappear, they completely disappear, they die off. (T7:37) -(Ĭ)p ünAnother construction that marks ingressivity is -(Ĭ)p ün-. However, it occurs less frequently than -V(y) ber-. The example below is illustrative: 22.

On ten

ǰetǝ

seven

gar

snow

ǰeht-keš

reach-CB

gesǝ-l-ǝp

wander-MED-CB

ün-gen.

exit-POST

‘Reaching seventeen years of age, I started wandering around.’ (T9:10) -(Ĭ)p girThe postverbial construction -(Ĭ)p gir- is an inchoative construction which mostly occurs with nontransformative actional phrases in Dukhan; its functional load is, however, rather low. For the regressive assimilation of p to k due to the following velar plosive, see section 5.3. Examples of this construction include the following:

108 23.

Word classes and derivation

Šagay

Akköl-de

aǰǝl-da-p

gir-ɣen.

Šagay

Akköl-LOC

work-V.DER-CB

enter-POST

‘Šagay has started to work in Akköl.’ (fieldnotes) 24.

On

üš

gar-lǝɣ-dan

so-on-da

ol

örɣe

ten

three

snow-N.DER-ABL

end-POSS3-LOC

that

ground squirrel

tiiŋ

ïn-dǝɣ

pičče

ǰime

aht-ǝp

ïn-ǰa-n-gaš

squirrel

that-ADJ.DER

small

thing

shoot-CB

that-V.DER-MED-CB

la

ekkǝ

aht-ar

pol-ǝp

gir-er.

PTC

good

shoot-INTRA.VBN

become-CB

enter-INTRA.LF

‘After becoming thirteen years old, they shoot small things like earth squirrels and sables and gradually start to become good shooter(s).’ (fieldnotes) For the corresponding construction in Tofan, see Rassadin (1978: 153–154) and Anderson (2004: 139–140). -(Ĭ)p gaɣThe construction -(Ĭ)p gaɣ- marks the thorough completion of the actional content i.e. ‘to X throughout’, and is highly productive in Dukhan. For the systematic metathesis between the final bilabial stop of the converb suffix and the initial velar plosive of the auxiliary verb, also see section 5.3. Some examples of this construction are: 25.

Ïn-ǰa-ar

that-V.DER-INTRA.VBN

gaaš

middle

pasa

throw-CB

pe-er

orhta

and

pir

and

give-INTRA.VBN

pasa saahar

one

sugar

pir

one

gara-an

eye-POSS3.ACC

aks-ǝn-gǝdǝ

mouth.POSS3-DIR

al-ǝp

take-CB

gïl-ǝp

make-CB

ǰime. thing

‘As soon as he said this (lit. did like this), he also took out another one of his eyes and put another piece of sugar into his mouth.’ (T16:16) 26.

Irey bear

ot

fire

hayrakkan merciful

ot-a-βǝd-ar

aǰa-sǝn

father-POSS3.ACC

fire-V.DER-COMP-INTRA.VBN

ǰïht-kǝr-ǝp

lie-CAUS-CB

ga-aš

throw-CB

ǰime. thing

‘He makes the bear (lit. his father-bear-merciful)9 lie down and quickly starts up a fire.’ (T16:21)

9 On the various euphemistic terms used by Dukhans to refer to the bear, see section 3.3.

109

The word class ‘verb’

27.

Tünne

at night

iβǝ-ler-ǝβǝs-tǝ

paɣ-la-p

reindeer-PL-POSS1.PL-ACC

rope-V.DER-CB

ga-ar

throw-INTRA.LF

pis. we

‘We tie up our reindeer in the evening (and they remain tied up)’. (fieldnotes) 28.

Po

this

šiš-tǝ

stick-ACC

ǰer-ɣǝdǝ

ground-DIR

gaht-ap fix-CB

ga-ar

men.

throw-INTRA.LF

I

‘I stick this stake in the ground (and it stays there well-fixed)’. (fieldnotes) 29.

Men I

ńeš-ke

tree-DAT

eht

meat

ahs-ǝp

hang-CB

ga-ar

throw-INTRA.LF

men. I

‘I hang the meat on the tree (and it remains there).’ (fieldnotes) As seen in these examples, the strong movement referred to by the verb gaɣ- ‘to throw away’ is still relevant in the postverbial construction under discussion. Yet, this active and strong movement also can be metaphorically interpreted as ‘giving an intention’ to the action, so that -(Ĭ)p gaɣ could be interpreted as a marker of completion of an intended action. Mongolic displays structural and functional similarities in this respect. The postverbial construction -ČI orki-, which is formed by the converbial suffix -ČI and the verbal lexeme orki- ‘to throw away’, explicitly, marks the completion of an intended action (Yoshitake 1928: 531–532). -(Ĭ)βĬtThe construction -(Ĭ)βĬt- also belongs to the set of markers of completion in Dukhan. Additionally, it bears the nuance of ‘quickness’ and ‘suddenness’ and sometimes ‘unexpectedness’. It is thus productively used in imperative sentences. Morphologically, -(Ĭ)βĬt- has a very reduced form. It originates from the juxtaposition of the converbial suffix -(Ĭ)p and the verbal lexeme ït- ‘to send’. Thus, -(Ĭ)βĬt- represents a postverbial construction in a more advanced stage of grammaticalization than the ones analyzed so far. The converbial suffix and the postverbal segment have merged into a new unit that has undergone sound harmony. In this study -(Ĭ)βĬt- is thus treated as a suffix and glossed with COMP (completive). This type of fusion and consequent harmonization of the converb suffix and the auxiliary verb has occurred throughout the South Siberian area; for instance, both Tuvan (Sat 1997: 388) and Tofan (Rassadin 1997: 377) display -(X)vXt- and Khakas has -(I)bIs- (Baskakov 1975: 184). However, departing from Tuvan, Dukhan does not display further reduced forms of -(Ĭ)βĬt- such as -IptAr and -IpkAn (< *-XvIt + the intraterminal suffix -Vr and + the postterminal suffix -GAn, respectively). The corresponding Dukhan forms are -ĬβĬdAr and -ĬβĬtkAn. Both the Toju and Tere-Khöl dialects show similarieties with Dukhan in this respect. Some examples of this construction are: 30.

Am now

utǝ-βǝd-ar

sleep-COMP-INTRA.LF

pis. we

‘Now we get off to sleep.’ (fieldnotes)

110 31.

Word classes and derivation

Ot-tǝ

fire-ACC

pol-sa

tünne

become-COND3

ot-a-βǝd-ar.

at night

fire-V.DER-COMP-INTRA.LF

‘As for the fire, we promptly make the fire at night.’ (T4:12) 32.

Irey bear

pir

one

hayrǝhan-nǝŋ

pir

merciful-GEN

gara-an

one

saahar

eye-POSS3.ACC

al-gaš-tǝŋ

take-CB-GEN

suu-βǝd-ar.

sugar

dip-COMP-INTRA.LF

‘He takes out one eye of the bear and he flicks a piece of sugar (into his mouth).’ (T16:12) 33.

Ün-ǝβǝt!

exit-COMP-IMP.SG

‘Go out!’ (fieldnotes) 34.

Maaga

this:DAT

gel-ǝβǝt!

come-COMP-IMP.SG

‘Come here (quickly)!’ (fieldnotes) -A/y tühšThe construction -A/y tühš- is a marker of completion, highlighting the nuances of quickness and unexpectedness. The following example is illustrative: 35.

Ït-tar

dog-PL

šuptǝ-sǝ all-POSS3

gir-e

enter-CB

tühh-ǝp

gel-dǝ.

fall-CB

come-PAST3

‘All the dogs quickly (and unexpectedly) entered (the tepee).’ (fieldnotes) For similar uses in Tofan, see Rassadin (1978: 154) and Anderson (2004: 128-131). -(Ĭ)p alThe postverbial construction -(Ĭ)p al- is the specialized marker for subject version, i.e. it expresses the notion ‘to do something for the advantage of the actant’. This interpretation is clearly inherent in the semantics of the auxiliary verb chosen for this purpose, namely al‘to take’. In addition, -(Ĭ)p al- also marks the completion of the actional phrase. Some examples of this construction are: 36.

Po

this

ös-kǝr-ǝβ

tayga

ulus-tar-ǝ

taiga

grow-CAUS-CB

people-PL-POSS3

a-ar

take-INTRA.VBN

gahhay cradle

pile

with

uruɣ-lar-ǝn

child-PL-POSS3.ACC

ǰime. thing

‘These taiga people raise their children with the hanging cradle.’ (T5:1)

111

The word class ‘verb’

37.

Geǰe

pol-sa

ǰerle

tayga

gihhjǝ-sǝ

evening

become-COND3

really

taiga

person-POSS3

ihhj-er

ǰi-ir

ǰe-m-ǝn

ǰi-p

drink-INTRA.VBN

eat-INTRA.VBN

eat-N.DER-POSS3.ACC

eat-CB

al-gaš-tǝŋ

gïl-ǝr

ǰime

ǰok.

take-CB-GEN

make-INTRA-VBN

thing

non-existent

‘As for the evening, once they have had their evening meals and drinks, taiga people don’t really have anything to do.’ (T7:33) 38.

Aŋdar-ɣan-nǝŋ

so-on-da

turn-POST.VBN-GEN

ahs-ǝp

hang-CB

pir

end-POSS3-LOC

šak

one

so-on-da

hour

end-POSS3-LOC

al-ǝr.

take-INTRA.LF

‘After it is turned over, after another hour one hangs it out.’ (T1:5) 39.

Ïn-aarǝ

par-ǝp

iβǝ-ler-ǝβǝs-tǝ

ehsǝr-ǝk-te-d-ǝp

that-ADV.DER

go-CB

reindeer-PL-POSS1.PL-ACC

get drunk-ADJ.DER-V.DER-CAUS-CB

al-gaš

pir

take-CB

one

ün-er

exit-INTRA.LF

ay

hire

moon

about

pol-gaš

ǰay-la-k-kǝdǝ

become-CB

summer-V.DER-N.DER-DIR

pis. we

‘When we arrive there, we make our reindeer give birth, and after about one month we go up to the summer quarters.’ (fieldnotes) -(Ĭ)p perThe construction -(Ĭ)p per- is the specialized marker of object version i.e. ‘to do something to the advantage of others than the actant’ in Dukhan. This interpretation is inherent in the semantics of the auxiliary verbs chosen for this purpose, namely per- ‘to give’. This construction is thus complementary to -(Ĭ)p al- analyzed above. In addition, -(Ĭ)p per- is also a marker of completion. Some examples of this construction are: 40.

Ïn-ǰa-n-sa

that-V.DER-MED-COND3

te-er

say-INTRA.VBN

mẽẽŋ I:GEN

gara-am-nǝ

eye-POSS1.SG-ACC

ǰuhkš-ǝp

pluck out-CB

ǰime. thing

‘“If it is so, pluck out my eye for me”, he says’. (T16:10)

per

give-IMP.SG

112 41.

Word classes and derivation

Punsal Punsal

pis-ter-ɣe

göhh-ey

we-PL-DAT

ǰime

abundant-ADJ.DER

pelek-te-p

thing

per-ɣen.

gift-V.DER-CB

give-POST

‘Punsal gave us a lot of things as a present’. (fieldnotes) -(Ĭ)p gelThe construction -(Ĭ)p gel- indicates motion towards the deictic center. Additionally, it also points to a gradual completion of the actional phrase. For the regressive assimilation of velarity of -p, see section 5.3. Some examples of this construction are presented below: 42.

Men I

tayga-da

ös-ǝp

taiga-LOC

gel-gen

grow-CB

men.

come-POST

I

‘I grew up in the Taiga.’ (fieldnotes) 43.

Jǎ

yeah

po

ǰaŋgǝs

this

aht-ar

ba

shoot-INTRA.LF

taman-nǝɣ

single

aht-bas

ǰayǰaan

pir

bow-POSS3.ACC

tïhrt-ǝp

one

pull-CB

come-CB

bear-ACC

te-eš

sogǝn

say-CB

Q

gel-geš

irey-nǝ

calm

pa

shoot-NEG.INTRA.LF

Q

ǰaaš

limb-ADJ.DER

arrow

aht-pas

turǝ.

shoot-NEG.INTRA.LF

PTC

‘So, after thinking, “should I shoot this bear with a single limb or not”, he gradually stretched the bow and he doesn’t shoot.’ (T18:6) 44.

Teer

ancient

üye-den

ǰehtǝrǝ

po

ǰepšek

pile

until

weapon

peerǝ

time-ABL

this

with

am

since

pis-tǝŋ we-PL

game

ulǝs

gïl-ǝp

gel-gen.

make-CB

üye

this

tuhha

Dukhan

aŋ

po

now

people

time

yanzǝ-püriin all sorts of

come-POST

‘Since olden times up to these times our Dukhan people have hunted with a variety of weapons.’ (T3:1) 45.

Ol

that

thaa PTC

iβǝ-ler

reindeer-PL

gol-ga

arm-DAT

gol-ga

arm-DAT

ǰeht-er

reach-INTRA.VBN

ǰeht-kǝdeγ reach-POT

pol-ǝp

become-CB

mïn-ǰa-p

this-V.DER-CB

tuht-ar

hold-INTRA.VBN

gel-gendǝrǝ. come-RES

‘Those reindeer came up to (her) hand in such a way to be almost touched; they (gradually) started to be reachable by hand.’ (T19:23)

113

The word class ‘verb’

46.

Irey-ǝβǝs

üš

hon-gaš

ỹan-ǝp

ge-er.

old man-POSS1.PL

three

overnight-CB

return-CB

come-INTRA.LF

‘Our old man (the speaker is referring to her husband) will be back in three days’. (fieldnotes) -V/y parThe postverbial construction -V/y par- indicates a moving from the deictic center, i.e. away from the speaker or from the person addressed. It is complementary to the construction -(Ĭ)p gel- analyzed above. Some examples of this construction are: 47.

Pahk-ka

murgǝ-la-ar

pol-sa

bad-DAT

hunting horn-V.DER-INTRA.VBN

become-COND3

sïïn

gel-bes.

Pil-ǝp

ga-aβǝt-kaš

maral deer

come-NEG.INTRA.LF

know-CB

throw-COMP-CB

ïŋgay

ǰo-y

pa-ar.

further

move-CB

go-INTRA.LF

‘If one uses the murgu in a wrong way, the maral deer does not come. He notices it (gets to know it quickly and completely) and moves away.’ (T9:5-6) 48.

Gïhš-ta-ar

winter-V.DER-INTRA.VBN

ǰer-ǝn-gǝdǝ

place-POSS3-DIR

töhxǝ-y

pa-ar.

approach-CB

go-INTRA.LF

‘(They) are coming closer to the places where they winter’. (T13:22) 49.

Po

ulǝs-tar

pa-ar

pis.

this

go-INTRA.LF

people-PL

ǰora-aš

move-CB

göhhj-ǝp

nomadize-CB

paht-a

sink-CB

we

‘After these people have left, we move downwards’. (fieldnotes) 50.

Hããg-ǝn

willow-POSS3.ACC

sal-ǝβǝt-kaš

leave-COMP-CB

ǰengerten-ǝp

tumble-V.DER-MED-CB

paht-a

sink-CB

pa-ar.

go-INTRA.LF

‘He (just) lets go of his twig (lit. willow) and goes tumbling down’. (T16:31) -V/y ǰasThe postverbial construction -V/y ǰas- forms actional phrases that roughly signal the idea of ‘almost X’ and, in my material, mostly occurs with transformative actional phrases marked with the +PAST verbal suffix -DĬ and the resultative form -GAndĬrĬ. The following examples are illustrative:

114 51.

Word classes and derivation

Po this

taspan

öl-ǝ

reindeer calf

ǰas-tǝ.

die-CB

miss-PAST3

‘This reindeer calf almost died’. (It was severely bitten by a wolf in the night)’ (fieldnotes) 52.

Utǝ-y

sleep-CB

ǰas-tǝŋ

ba?

miss-PAST2.SG

Q

‘Did you almost fall asleep?’ (fieldnotes) 53.

Uy ITJ

utǝ-y

ǰas-kandǝrǝ

sleep-CB

men!

miss-RES

I

‘Oof, I have almost fallen asleep! (as I suddenly become aware of)’ (fieldnotes) 7.3.5.2 Other auxiliary constructions There is also a wide range of periphrastic constructions based on the pattern [X-CB + auxiliary verb]. They include markers of possibility, permission, attempt, capability and ability and expressions for ‘to begin to X’. The converbial segments that occur in these periphrastic constructions are -(Ĭ)p and -V/(y), whereas the auxiliary verbs involved are pol- ‘to become’, pil- ‘to know’, al- ‘to take’ gör- ‘to see’, šïta- ‘to be able’, yata- ‘not to be able’, and ehxele- ‘to begin’. Among these verbal lexemes, šïta-, yata- and ehxele- are global copies from Mongolic. All of these constructions, with the exclusion of the capability marker -V/(y) al-, have Mongolic corresponding forms. -(Ĭ)p polThe construction -(Ĭ)p pol- is a marker of epistemic and deontic possibility. Some examples of this construction are: 54.

Pörǝ-nǝ

wolf-ACC

pol-sa

gahkpa

become-COND3

pile

trap

with

öl-ǝr-ǝp

die-CAUS-CB

pol-ǝr.

become-INTRA.LF

‘As for the wolf, one can kill it with a trap.’ (T3:13) 55.

Gahhjan when

thaa

gïl-ǝp

pol-ǝr.

make-CB

PTC

become-INTRA.LF

‘One can make it any time.’ (T2:5) 56.

Sen

am

you

now

ǰorǝ-p go-CB

pol-bas

sen.

become-NEG.INTRA.LF

you

‘You can’t/aren’t allowed to go now’. (fieldnotes) 57.

Poo rifle

pile

with

aya

trip-bow

sal-ǝr.

set-INTRA.LF

̌ Jügeerǝ well

ïn-dǝɣ

that-ADJ.DER

ǰayǰak bow

115

The word class ‘verb’

ïn-dǝɣ

ǰüme

that-ADJ.DER

pile

thing

aya

with

sal-ǝp

trip-bow

set-CB

pol-ǝr.

become-INTRA.LF

It is possible to set up a trip-bow with a rifle. Sure, it is also possible to set up a tripbow with such a bow, with such a thing.’ (T3:11-12) The auxiliary verb pol- also occurs in other types of periphrastic constructions. When combined with the intraterminal participle -Vr, it forms analytical constructions which roughly express the notion ‘to become X-ing’ signaling thus the transition to an intraterminal state. For intraterminality, see section 9.1. The construction -Vr pol- is very productive in Dukhan. For functionally and structurally parallel constructions in Turkish and in other Turkic languages, see Johanson (1971: 191–193, 1998b: 42). Some examples of this construction are: 58.

Šulǝn-dan

reindeer moss-ABL

öske other

ǰime thing

ǰi-βes

eat-NEG.INTRA.VBN

po-or

become-INTRA.VBN

iβǝ.

reindeer

‘Reindeer don’t eat (become non-eaters of) anything else than reindeer moss.’ (fieldnotes) 59.

Ekkǝ

aŋ-na-ar

good

pol-gan.

game-V.DER-INTRA.VBN

become-POST

‘He became a good hunter.’ (fieldnotes) -(Ĭ)p pilThis construction refers exclusively to the modality of possibility. As opposed to -(Ĭ)p pol-, analyzed above, the periphrastic construction -(Ĭ)p pil- does not include in its scope the modality of permission. See the following examples: 60.

Pohǝn

gar

today

snow

ǰa-ap

fall-CB

pil-ǝr.

know-INTRA.LF

‘Today it might snow.’ (Looking at a very gray and intimidating sky) (fieldnotes) 61.

Irey bear

Ïn-dǝɣ

tïkka very

that-ADJ.DER

ahšta-sa

be hungry-COND3

gihhjee

person:DAT

gel-ǝp

come-CB

pil-ǝr.

know-INTRA.LF

amǝtan. animal

‘If the bear is very hungry, it may come across people. It is such an animal.’ (fieldnotes) -(Ĭ)p görThe periphrastic construction -(Ĭ)p gör- expresses an attemptive modality. Thus, it can be translated as ‘to try to X’. Some examples of this construction are:

116 62.

Word classes and derivation

Sen

ǰarǝ

mun-ǝp

gör-ɣen

sen

iyen.

you

riding reindeer

mount-CB

see-POST

you

PTC

‘You have evidently tried to ride a reindeer.’ (fieldnotes) 63.

Iβǝ

sa-ap

reindeer

gör-βe-en

milk-CB

sen.

see-NEG-POST

you

‘You have not tried to milk a reindeer’. (fieldnotes) 64.

Sitǝk

miti-in

urine

ǰïlga-d-ǝp

ECH.DER-POSS3.ACC

töhxǝ-se

approach-COND3

le PTC

gör-ǝp

lick-CAUS-CB

töhxǝ-p

le

approach-CB

ïn-ǰa-p

see-CB

that-V.DER-CB

tur-ar

PTC

stand-INTRA.VBN

la PTC

pol-gandǝrǝ. become-RES

‘She tried to get them to lick her urine etc. and in this way (the reindeer) kept getting closer and closer.’ (T19:18) 65.

̌ Jerle

totally

mẽẽŋ I:GEN

aŋ-na-p

gör-βe-en

game-V.DER-CB

ǰer-ǝm

see-NEG.POST.VBN

place-POSS1.SG

ǰok

non-existent

‘Really, there is no place where I haven’t tried to hunt.’ (fieldnotes) -(Ĭ)p šïtaThe periphrastic construction -(Ĭ)p šïta- is a marker of capability. It expresses the notion ‘to be able to X’ and is widely used in Dukhan. The construction -(Ĭ)p šïta- is a combinational mixed copy of Mongolic -ČI čida- formed by the converb -ČI and the verbal lexeme čada‘to be able’. Examples of this construction include the following: 66.

Amdǝ now

po

this

put leg

ǰer

pahs-ǝp

ground

press-CB

šïta-βas.

be able-NEG.INTRA.LF

Now this leg can not touch the ground.’ (The speaker had just fractured her leg) (fieldnotes) 67.

Öl-ǝr-ɣen

die-CAUS-POST.VBN

aŋ

soy-ǝp

game

šïta-βas

skin-CB

be able-INTRA.LF

men. I

‘I am not able to skin a killed animal.’ (T11:5) 68.

Mool-lar

Mongol-PL

ǰarǝ

riding reindeer

mun-ǝp ride-CB

šïta-βas.

be able-NEG.INTRA.LF

‘Mongols can not ride reindeer.’ (fieldnotes) 69.

Sen you

ǰarǝ

riding reindeer

mun-ǝp ride-CB

‘Can you ride reindeer?’ (fieldnotes)

šïta-ar

be able-INTRA.LF

sen you

be? Q

117

The word class ‘verb’

-(Ĭ)p yataThe construction -(Ĭ)p yata- is a peripheral marker of incapability, i.e. ‘not to be able to X’ in Dukhan. It is a mixed copy of Mongolic -ČI yada- ‘not to be able to X’, formed by the converb -ČI and the auxiliary verb yada- ‘not to be able’. However, the negative form of the construction -(Ĭ)p šïta-, namely -(Ĭ)p šïtaβa-, just dealt with above, is commoner. An example with the periphrastic construction -(Ĭ)p yata- is the following: 70.

Ulǝɣ

ǰaaš

big

ïn-da [...]

calm

ǰïht-kan

that-LOC

ǰime

lie-POST.VBN

thing

üt

gas-ǝp

hole

dig-CB

yada-p

be unable-CB

turǝ. COP

‘A big bear there [...] was unable to dig a hole.’ (T18:5) -V/y alThis construction is a marker of ability in Dukhan. However, it is seldom used. The following elicited example may be used by some speakers. 71.

Ol

gihhjǝ

ïr-la-y

al-bas.

that

person

song-V.DER-CB

take-NEG.INTRA.LF

‘That person can not sing’ (fieldnotes) However, speakers are more likely to use the following: 72.

Ol

that

gihhjǝ

person

ïr-la-p

song-V.DER-CB

šïta-βas.

become-NEG.INTRA.LF

‘That person can not sing’ (fieldnotes) To mark ability, speakers more often use the Mongolic selective mixed copy -(Ĭ)p šïta-, dealt with above. -(Ĭ)p ehxeleThe periphrastic construction -(Ĭ)p ehxele- is an inchoative construction signaling ‘to start X-ing’. Its occurrence is restricted to nontransformative actional phrases. It can be compared functionally to the Turkish construction -(y)A başla-. On nontransformative actional phrases, see section 9.1. Some examples of this construction are: 73.

Ak

white

ay

moon

so-on-da

end-POSS3-LOC

ün-ǝp

exit-CB

ehxe-le-er.

begin-V.DER-INTRA.LF

‘They start growing after White Month (Februaty).’ (T8:5)

118 74.

Word classes and derivation

Am

po

now

üš

three

tayga-nǝŋ

this

taiga-GEN

nasǝn-dan

urǝɣ-lar-ǝ

child-PL-POSS3

snow-ADJ.DER-POSS3-ABL

öören-ǝp

become-COND3

ehxe-le-eš

gar-lï-ïn-dan

age-ABL

pol-sa

begin-V.DER-CB

on

ten

aŋ-nǝ

hunt-ACC

ehxe-le-er.

learn-CB

begin-V.DER-INTRA.LF

‘Well, as for the children of this taiga, they start to learn hunting from the age, from the age of thirteen.’ (T4:29) Dukhan does not display a complementary egressive construction denoting ‘to stop Xing’. The notion of ‘to stop X-ing’ is reinterpreted as -BAs polǝ per- ‘to enter the state of being a non-X-er’. This construction represents a composition of the negative form of the periphrastic construction +Vr pol- (see above) plus the ingressive marker +V/y per- (see above). On the suffix -BAs, see section 8.2.2.2. An example with the construction -BAs polǝ ber- is present in the conversation passage below: 75.

Am

pol-sa

aŋ-na-βas.

Aŋ-na-βas

now

become-COND3

game-V.DER-NEG.INTRA.LF

game-V.DER.NEG.INTRA.VBN

pol-ǝ

per-ɣen

men.

Thetküür

ün-gen

become-CB

give-POST

I

pension

exit-POST.VBN

peerǝ.

Murn-ǝn-da

aŋ-na-p

ǰora-an.

since

front-POSS3-LOC

game-V.DER-CB

move-POST

‘As for now, I do not hunt. I have become a non-hunter. Since I got retired. Previously, I used to hunt.’ (fieldnotes) On the other hand, Standard Tuvan and Tofan both display a periphrastic construction formed by the converb -(I)p and the verbal lexeme doos- ‘to finish’, namely -(I)p doos-, as seen in the following Tofan example: 76.

Aŋ-na-p

doos-tum.

game-V.DER-CB

finish-PAST1.SG

‘I stopped hunting.’ (Rassadin 1978: 154) Through elicitation I could get the following sentence: 77.

Gulǝr flour

ǰi-p

eat-CB

toos-kan. finish-POST

‘(We) ate the flour and (we) finished it.’ (fieldnotes)

The word class ‘verb’

119

Note that this example is interpreted as ‘(we) ate the flour (and) we finished it’, displaying thus two actancy patterns, and not as ‘we finished eating the flour’. On converb clauses, see section 8.2.2.3.

8 Inflectional morphology 8.0 Introduction This chapter presents the inflectional morphology of the word classes ‘noun’ and ‘verb’. The word class ‘adjective’ does not display independent inflectional morphology. Adjectives when occurring in their primary adjectival function, i.e. as adnominal modificators, do not take inflectional suffixes. On the other hand, when occurring in their secondary and tertiary functions, i.e. as nouns, adjectives get nominal inflectional morphology (cf. section 7.0). The word classes adverbs, postpositions, conjunctions, particles, and interjections also do not display inflectional morphology.

8.1 Nominal inflectional suffixes Inflectional morphology of nouns includes three categories: number, possession and case. 8.1.1 Plural suffix The plural suffix is +LAr and displays the range of phonologically conditioned variants as outlined in section 5.3.4.1. Some examples of the plural are: ister ‘traces’ from is ‘trace’, aššaktar ‘old men’ from aššak ‘old man’, hemner ‘rivers’ from hem ‘river’, oollar ‘sons’ from ool ‘son’, and tuhhalar from tuhha ‘Dukhan’. After numerals and quantifiers Dukhan nouns do not take a plural marking, e.g. peš eser ‘five saddles’. 8.1.2 Possessive suffixes The set of possessive suffixes of Dukhan is represented below: 1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

+(Ĭ)m +(Ĭ)ŋ +(Z)Ĭ(n) +(Ĭ)βĬs +(Ĭ)ŋAr +(Z)Ĭ

The 3rd person possessive generally occurs as +(s)Ĭn when case suffixes, other than the genitive, are added. This ‘n’ is known in Turcological studies as “pronominal n”.

122

Inflectional morphology

Dukhan does not distinguish between 3rd possessive singular and plural, in line with the other Sayan varieties.1 Some illustrative paradigms are presented below:

aǰa ‘father’ aǰam aǰaŋ aǰasǝ aǰaβǝs aǰaŋar aǰasǝ

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

aht ‘horse’ ahtǝm ahtǝŋ ahtǝ ahtǝβǝs ahtǝŋar ahtǝ

mün ‘soup’ münǝm münǝŋ münǝ münǝβǝs münǝŋer münǝ

ïr ‘song’ ïrǝm ïrǝŋ ïrǝ ïrǝβǝs ïrǝŋar ïrǝ

hap ‘sack’ haβǝm haβǝŋ haβǝ haβǝβǝs haβǝŋar haβǝ

A special use of the second person singular possessive occurs in narratives. It bears affective connotations. In this way the speaker gets the listener more involved in the story; the following example is illustrative: 1.

J̌ ühxər

oγl-ǝŋ

dear

son-POSS2

tört

four

am

now

ǰük-tǝγ

feather-ADJ.DER

öt-kǝr-ǝp

hayrakkan merciful

sogǝn

pile

arrow

with

aht-kaš

pass-CAUS-CB

shoot-CB

ǰaaš

calm

irey-nǝŋ bear-GEN

tört

söγle-en-ǝ

say-POST.VBN-POSS3

pile

with

ǰüg-ǝn-den

four

direction-POSS3-ABL

hayrakkan merciful

thaa PTC

öl-gendǝrǝ. die-RES

‘Our good boy (lit. your good boy), well, as the bear had said, he shot him with arrows with four feathers from the four directions, and the bear is dead.’ (T18:14) 8.1.3 Case suffixes Dukhan displays 6 suffixally marked cases: the genitive +NĬŋ, the accusative +NĬ, the dative +GA, the locative +DA, the ablative +DAn and the directive +KĬdĬ. The unmarked basic form functions as the nominative. Four illustrative case paradigms are presented below.

NOM GEN ACC DAT LOC ABL DIR

‘taiga’ tayga

tayganǝŋ tayganǝ taygaγa taygada taygadan taygaγǝdǝ

1 Cf. Schönig (1998: 408).

‘girl’ gïs

gïstǝŋ gïstǝ gïska gïsta gïstan gïskǝdǝ

‘river’ hem

hemnǝŋ hemnǝ hembe hemde hemden hembǝdǝ

‘lake’ höl

hölnǝŋ hölnǝ hölge hölde hölden hölgǝdǝ

123

Nominal inflectional suffixes

The genitive suffix occurs in genitive constructions (noun-GEN noun-POSS3; cf. section 3.3.1) marking the possessor. Three examples are found in the sentence below: 2.

Tayga

ulǝs-ǝ-nǝŋ

ündesǝn-nǝŋ

hileeβ-ǝ

höngen

te-p

taiga

people-POSS3-GEN

origin-GEN

bread-POSS3

höngen-bread

say-CB

ǰime-nǝ

gan-ǰa

thing-ACC

gïl-ǝr-nǝŋ

which-ADV.DER

make-INTRA.VBN-GEN

thuhxay-ǝ

soodan-ǝyn.

situation-POSS3

speak-VOL1.SG

‘Let me speak about how one makes the thing called höngen, the traditional bread of the people of the taiga.’ (T1:1) With time expressions the possessive suffix is regularly omitted; consider the following example: 3.

Güsǝn

polsa

nine

am

moon-GEN

on

thos

now

nine

peš-te

ten

sïïn

five-LOC

maral deer

ay-nǝŋ

moon-GEN

gïhškǝr-a scream-CB

pe-er.

give-INTRA.LF

‘As for the fall, well on the fifteen of month nine the maral deer starts crying out (in rut).’ (T4:21) The accusative marks specified direct objects of transitive verbs. Some examples: 4.

Ïn-ǰa-ar-da

that-V.DER-INTRA.VBN-LOC

tilgǝ-ǰek

ool

fox-N.DER

ehkkǝ-r-t-ǝr

son

gara-aŋ-nǝ

eye-POSS2.SG

te-eš-tǝŋ

good-V.DER-CAUS-INTRA.LF

say-CB-GEN

‘So the little fox after saying, “I will make your eyes get better” (T16:18) 5.

Ol

that

purǝn

previous

ulǝs-tar-ǝ

people-PL-POSS3

šaɣ-dan

time-ABL

thödǝ all

peerǝ since

hereɣle-p use-CB

gahhay-nǝ cradle-ACC

tayga taiga

tur-ar.

stand-INTRA.LF

‘Since those former times, all of the taiga people use the (hanging) cradle.’ (T5:9) When juxtaposed to a noun provided with the 3rd possessive suffix, the accusative is represented by a form that does not contain the normal accusative suffix but only an ‘n’ which might be the pronominal ‘n’.

124 6.

Inflectional morphology

Ehs-keš-tǝŋ

hül-ǝn

take out-CB-GEN

ash-POSS3.ACC

so-on-da

gahk-ta-p

šeβer-le-eš

beat-ITER-CB

clean-V.DER-CB

onǝŋ

that:GEN

ǰi-ir.

end-POSS3-LOC

eat-INTRA.LF

‘After one takes it out, one cleans it by shaking off its ashes, after that, one eats it.’ (T1:6) 7.

Ehxe-le-eš

garht-ǝn

al-ǝr

begin-V.DER-CB

membrane-POSS3.ACC

take-INTRA.LF

tïrβa-aš

pile

scratch-N.DER

with

‘First thing, one takes off its membrane with a scratching hook’ (T6:4) Besides, the accusative – or a suffix homophone with it – occurs in exclamatory sentences, and has emphasizing functions; consider the example below: 8.

Am now

gan-dǝɣ

šïmbay

which-ADJ.DER

gara-am-nǝŋ

eye-POSS1.SG-GEN

ǰime

pleasant

po-or-ǝl

thing

become-INTRA.LF-PTC

amthan-no-on!

taste-ADJ.DER-POSS3.ACC.EMPH

‘What a nice thing is the taste (of his eye).’ (T16:7) The vowel of the accusative suffix is rounded for emphasis. See Monguš (1986) for corresponding functions of the accusative in Tuvan. The dative marker +GA marks indirect objects and can also be used to express dynamic adlocations that imply the reaching of the goal. Some examples: 9.

Gahhay cradle

pol-sa

become-COND3

hamǝk-tǝŋ all-GEN

ekkǝ good

ǰime thing

po

this

urǝɣ-lar-ɣa. child-PL-DAT

‘As for the cradle, it is the best thing for these children.’ (T5:5) 10.

Sĩĩge

mün

per-gen

iyǝk-ǝl.

you:DAT

soup

give-POST.VBN

PTC-PTC

‘But the soup was already given to you!’ (fieldnotes)

125

Nominal inflectional suffixes

11.

Oom-dan

am

that:POSS1SG-ABL

par-ǝp

now

tïraaktǝr

go-CB

Gaa-Hem

asǝ

Kaa-Khem

ǰolaaččǝ

tractor

öske

or

gïl-ǝp

driver

ïrayoon-ga

other

make-CB

rayon-DAT

tur-dǝm.

stand-PAST.1SG

‘After (that time) of mine, well, I went to Kaa-Khem or some other rayon and I was a tractor driver.’ (T11:17) The suffix +GA can also occur as a marker of non-dynamic adlocations, as for instance in the sentence below: 12.

Hem-ner river-PL

hem-ner river-PL

hem river

ihšt-ǝn-ge

inside-POSS3-DAT

ǰïht-ar

lie-INTRA.VBN

pol-gan

become-POST.VBN

ǰime. thing

‘They settled down inside of some rivers, rivers, river (country).’ (T19:2) The occurrence of the dative suffix is (often) motivated by the actional nature of the verb. As explained by Johanson (2004b: 12–13) in Sayan Turkic as well as other Siberian Turkic languages, the dative suffix marks non-dynamic adlocations when occurring with initiotransformative verbs, i.e. verbs covering a telic and a subsequent atelic state of affairs. On initiotransformative actional phrases, see also section 9.1. In the example above the verb ǰïht- ‘to lie down, to lie’ is thus interpreted in its telic, i.e. adlocational sense of ‘to lie down’ and thus governs the dative. The dative case also marks the causee in causative constructions; see the example below: 13.

Sindeelǝ Sindeli

Bat-ka

iβǝ-ler-ǝβǝs-tǝ

Bat-DAT

iβǝ-le-t-ken.

reindeer-PL-POSS1-ACC

reindeer-V.DER-CAUS-POST

‘Sindeli made Bat look for our reindeer.’ (fieldnotes) The locative marks stative adlocations and time expressions; some examples: 14.

Men I

piččǝ-de

small-LOC

on üš

thirteen

gar-lǝγ-da

snow-ADJ.DER-LOC

aŋ-na-p

game-V.DER-CB

ehxe-le-en.

begin-V.DER-POST

‘When I was small, when I was thirteen, I started hunting.’ (T11:3) 15.

Ïrak-ta

distant-LOC

aŋ

game

par

existent

po

this

ǰook-ta

near-LOC

aŋ

game

ǰok.

non-existent

‘Far away (from here) there is game (but) no game in this neighborhood.’ (T7:34)

126

Inflectional morphology

The locative also marks the possessor in constructions corresponding to ‘have’constructions. In this respect, also see section 10.5 and the examples quoted there. The ablative case marks the source of delocation, i.e. ‘away from’; some examples are quoted below: 16.

Mẽẽŋ I:GEN

aǰa-m

aβa-m

father-POSS1.SG

gel-ǝp

mother-POSS1.SG

amǝdǝra-ar

come-CB

Thoǰǝ Toju

hošoon-dan banner-ABL

Mool-ga

Mongol-DAT

pol-gan.

live-INTRA.VBN

become-POST

‘My father and mother came to Mongolia from the Toju province and settled down (here).’ (T12:1) 17.

Ah

irey

hayrakkan

bear

ITJ

paht-a

pa-ar

sink-CB

petǝk

merciful

high

tayga-dan

ǰuɣlǝ-p

taiga-ABL

roll down-CB

ǰime.

go-INTRA.VBN

thing

‘Ah, the bear goes rolling down from the high taiga.’ (T16:26) The suffix +KĬdĬ is an adlocational marker, implying movement towards a goal, without suggesting that the goal is reached. Consider the following examples: 18.

Hem-den river-ABL

taɣ-ɣǝdǝ

mountain-DIR

pol-a

become-CB

aŋ-nar

game-PL

ǰer-ǝn-ge

place-POSS3-DAT

ǰoru-ur

move-INTRA.VBN

per-ɣendǝroo. give-RES.EMPH

‘Now they came to be people who go hunting from the river (areas) towards the mountains, to places where they hunt. Sooo it was.’ (T19:40) 19.

Šuptǝ all

mïn-aarǝ

this-ADV.DER

ǰer-ǝn-gǝdǝ

place-POSS3-DIR

töhxe-y approach-CB

gotǝ

downwards

töhxö-ör.

approach-INTRA.LF

göhhj-er.

nomadize-INTRA.LF

Gïhš-ta-ar

Gïhš-ta-ar

winter-V.DER-INTRA.VBN

winter-V.DER-INTRA.VBN

ǰer-ǝn-gǝdǝ

place-POSS3-DIR

pa-ar.

go-INTRA.LF

‘All (the families) move down (from higher up), this way. They get closer to places where they winter. They go closer to the places where they winter.’ (T13:20-22)

127

Nominal inflectional suffixes

In some cases, the suffix +KĬdĬ seems to have a slightly more specific meaning of ‘into something’, as in the examples below: 20.

Eŋ

purǝn

most

eht-ǝn

previous

õõsǝn-gǝdǝ

soona

that:POSS3-DIR

toora-p

meat-POSS3.ACC

asǝ

onion

al-gaš

slice-CB

or

take-CB

mangǝn

holǝp

wild garlic

mix-CB

‘At first, one cuts the meat in small pieces, one adds onion or garlic into it’ (T2:2) 21.

Ol

that

ǰime-nǝ

thing-ACC

ahs-ǝp

hang-CB

öl-ǝr-ɣeš

die-CAUS-CB

a-ar-da

take-INTRA.VBN-LOC

taβarǝp

gehhj-ǝn

eǰǝk

skin-POSS3.ACC

aks-ǝn-ga

door

gurht-a-an

worm-V.DER-POST.VBN

mouth-POSS3-DAT

irey

öɣ-ɣǝdǝ

bear

tent-DIR

šïta-βas.

come across-CB

be able-NEG.INTRA.LF

‘After one kills that thing and one hangs its skin at the door’s entranceway, the bear that has gotten worms (i.e. is hungry) can not step into the tent.’ (T15:6) For the relevance of +KĬdĬ for classification, see section 3.3. The nominative case, besides marking the subject, can also occur where a locational, adlocational or delocational case would be expected. Some examples: 22.

Pis we

tayga

amǝdǝra-ar

taiga

pis.

live-INTRA.LF

we

‘We live in the taiga.’ (fieldnotes) 23.

Tããrda

thöp

gir-er

pis.

tomorrow

center

enter- INTRA.LF

we

‘Tomorrow, we will enter the center (i.e. the village).’ (fieldnotes) 24.

Irey bear

gusǝk-šǝ

hayrǝhan-nǝ

pine nut-ADJ.DER

merciful-ACC

tilgǝ-ǰek

fox-N.DER

ool son

haya rock

aǰ-ǝr-ɣan.

pass-CAUS-POST

‘The little fox caused the pine nut-eating bear to fall off the rock.’ (T17:3) 25.

Selenge Selenge

Aymak

province

ǰora-an.

move-POST

Ńeš tree

üldǝr-ǝn-de

factory-POSS3-LOC

aǰǝl-da-an.

work-V.DER-POST

‘I went to the Selenge province. I worked in the lumber factory.’ (T11:29‒30)

128

Inflectional morphology

Johanson (2004b: 3‒4) explained this fact by considering nominals as adverbial complements with inherent spatial meanings. Thus, the movement or non-movement character of the predicate verb yields to the dynamic or nondynamic interpretations of these nominals. Mongolic languages show close similarities in this respect. 8.1.3.1 Inflection of pronouns The inflectional paradigms of personal, demonstrative and interrogative pronouns (section 7.1.2) are presented below. Some illustrative examples follow thereafter. Personal pronouns display the following paradigms: a) Singular forms:

NOM GEN ACC DAT LOC ABL DIR

‘I’ men mẽẽŋ menǝ mĩĩge ~ meŋe mende menden mengǝdǝ

‘you’ sen sẽẽŋ senǝ sĩĩge ~ seŋe sende senden sengǝdǝ

‘(s)he, it’ ol onǝŋ ~ ooŋ onǝ ããgã ~ ãã ~ aŋa ïnda oon olɣǝdǝ

b) Plural forms: ‘we (restrictive)’ pis pistǝŋ pistǝ piske piste pisten piskǝdǝ

‘we (extended)’ pister pisternǝŋ pisternǝ pisterγe pisterde pisterden pistergǝdǝ

‘you’ siler silernǝŋ silernǝ silerγe silerde silerden silergǝdǝ

‘they’ olar olarnǝŋ olarnǝ olarγa olarda olardan olargǝdǝ

The item ol displays the oblique stems on-, an- and ïn- when case suffixes are added. 26.

Jǎ

yeah

te-en.

menǝ I:ACC

say-POST

Men I

gan-ǰa-n-gaš

which-V.DER-MED-CB

senǝ

you:ACC

aht-kaš

shoot-CB

aht-pa-dǝŋ

shoot-NEG-PAST2.SG

gan-ǰa-ar

öskǝs

ool

orphan

which-V.DER-INTRA.LF

son

men? I

‘(The bear) said, “Yeah, orphan boy how come you didn’t shoot me?” (The boy answered) “How could I shoot you”.’ (T18:9-10) 27.

Ol

that

ulǝs-tar

people-PL

tããrda

tomorrow

‘They will leave tomorrow.’ (fieldnotes)

ǰoru-ur.

move-INTRA.LF

129

Nominal inflectional suffixes

The genitive forms are used as possessive adjectives; consider the following examples: 28.

Sẽẽŋ

you:GEN

at-ǝŋ

gïm-ǝl?

name-POSS2.SG

who-PTC

‘What’s your name?’ (fieldnotes) 29.

Mẽẽŋ

at-ǝm

I:GEN

name-POSS1.SG

Batzaya. Batzaya

‘May name is Batzaya’ (fieldnotes) Demonstrative pronouns display the following inflectional paradigms:

NOM GEN ACC DAT LOC ABL DIR

‘this’ po monǝŋ ~ mooŋ monǝ maaga ~ maa ~ maŋa mïnda monuun ~ moon bogǝdǝ

‘that (one)’ ol onǝŋ ~ ooŋ onǝ aaga ~ aa ~ aŋa ïnda onuun ~oon olgǝdǝ

‘that (one) more distant’ tee2 teeŋ teenǝ teege teede teenǝn teegǝdǝ

The item po exhibits oblique stems, namely mon-, man- and mïn-, that differ from its nominative stem. For the oblique stems of ol, see above. The demonstrative pronoun po displays two ablative forms, namely monuun and moon. The former is mostly used as a place adverb meaning ‘from there’ whereas oon means ‘from this’. The demonstrative ol displays the same distribution, namely onuun ‘from there’ vs. oon ‘from that’. However, some speakers also use moon and oon as spatial adverbs. On the other hand, tee displays one form meaning both ‘from over there’ and ‘from that one’. For other adverbs going back to fossilized case forms of po and ol, see section 10.1. Use of these pronouns is illustrated in the following examples: 30.

Monuun this:ABL

tee

that

ǰehtǝrǝ until

ïrak far

emes.

NEG.COP

‘From here up to there is not far.’ (fieldnotes) 31.

Monǝ

this:ACC

ekkǝ well

pil-ǝr

know-INTRA.LF

men. I

‘I know it well.’ (fieldnotes) 32.

Mïn-da this-LOC

aŋ

game

par

existent

‘After seeing that there is game here’ (T3:7)

2 The emphatic form of dee is döö.

te-p

say-CB

gör-ǝp see-CB

al-gaš

take-CB

130 33.

Inflectional morphology

Mïn-da this-LOC

emes.

Ïn-da.

NEG.COP

that-LOC

‘(It is) not here. It is there.’ (fieldnotes) The pronouns po and ol often occur together with possessive suffixes, which are added to their oblique stems mon- and on-, e.g. moom ‘this one of mine’ < *mon-ǝm and oom ‘that one of mine’ < *on-ǝm, respectively. Their paradigms are shown in the table below. The item dee does not occur in this type of formation.

POSS1 POSS2SG POSS3 POSS1PL POSS2PL POSS3

mon- < po

on- < ol

moom mooŋ mõõsǝ mooβǝs mooŋar moosǝ

oom ooŋ õõsǝ ooβǝs ooŋar oosǝ

For some speakers all the forms of the paradigms above may be nasalized. Consider the following examples of the use of these pronouns: 34.

Törten forty

ses

eight

ǰïl-da

year-LOC

so-on-da

men

Õõβǝs-tan

ihx̃e-m

end-POSS3-LOC

that-POSS1PL-ABL

I

tayn

thoosǝ-l-gan.

war

ihx̃e-m

mother-POSS1.SG

mother-POSS1.SG

Ooŋ

finish-PASS-POST

pile [...] with

pile

that:GEN

ihx̃-een

with

two-ADJ.DER

mool

Mongol

arht-kan.

remain-POST

ǰurht-ǝn-ga

country-POSS3-DAT

gel-gen.

come-POST

‘In the year ‘48 the war came to an end. After that, my mother and I stayed together. After that (lit. that of ours), together with my mother [...] I came to the Mongol country.’ (T11:21-23) 35.

J̌ arǝ-lar

mĩĩs-ǝ

üš

tört

ay-da

tühhj-er.

reindeer-PL

horn-POSS3

three

four

moon-LOC

fall-INTRA.LF

Õõsǝn-dan

ün-ǝp

ehxe-le-er.

that-POSS3-ABL

exit-CB

begin-INTRA.LF

‘The horns of riding (i.e. castrated) reindeer fall in month four or five; after that they start growing.’ (T8:6-7)

131

Nominal inflectional suffixes

The interrogative pronouns gïm ‘who?’, ǰüü ~ǰü ‘what?’ and gae ‘which (one)?’ display the following paradigms: ‘who?’ gïm gïmnǝŋ gïmnǝ gïmba gïmda gïmdan gïmbǝdǝ

NOM GEN ACC DAT LOC ABL DIR

‘what?’ ǰüü ǰüünǝŋ ǰüünǝ ǰüüge ǰüüde ǰüüden ǰüügǝdǝ

‘which (one)?’ gae gaenǝŋ gaenǝ gayaa gaeda gaedan and gayïïn 3 gaegǝdǝ

In addition, in the speech of some Dukhans, especially among those belonging to the West Taiga, I could often hear the form ǰüüǰe ‘where to’ going back to ǰüü + the directive +če. Standard Tuvan displays the corresponding form čüüže (Tenišev 1968: 552). Some examples with interrogative pronouns are presented below: 36.

Gïm who

gel-gen?

come-POST

‘Who has come?’ (fieldnotes) 37.

̌ Jüü

pile

what

ǰayǰak bow

pile

with

aŋ

with

ǰahktǝr flint

aŋ

game

gïl-gan

game

poo

make-POST.VBN

gahkpa

rifle

trap

gïl-ǝp

make-CB

ti-se

say-COND3

ïn-dǝɣ

that-ADJ.DER

aya

trip-bow

ǰüme thing

gel-gen.

come-POST

‘If one asks with what they have hunted, then, they have hunted with the trip-bow, the little bow, the flintlock, traps and things like that.’ (T3:2) 38.

̌ Jüü-den

what-ABL

Bat Bat

aŋ

game

ǰorǝ-βa-an?

move-NEG-POST

‘Why didn’t Bat go hunting?’ (fieldnotes)

̌ Jüü-ge

what-DAT

Akköl Akköl

ǰoru-ur

move-INTRA.LF

sen? you

‘Why do you go to Akköl?’ (fieldnotes)

3 The adverb gayïïn ‘from where’ is originally a more archaic ablative formation from the pronoun ‘which (one)’; cf. section 10.1. For corresponding forms in Tofan and Soyot, see Rassadin (1995, 2010).

132 39.

Inflectional morphology

Ol

that

otkǝr-ǝp

wake up:CAUS-CB

ǰüü

what

gan-ǰa-p

which-V.DER-CB

tur-ar

ortha

stand-INTRA.VBN

utǝ-p

ǰüü

middle

ǰïht-ar

sleep-CB

gïm

what

gihhjǝ

lie-INTRA.VBN

person

who

gan-ǰa-p

which-V.DER-CB

sen. you

‘As soon as she wakes him up, he says: “What?! Who?! What?! How can you be a person sleeping here?’ (T18:22) 40.

Gaeda

aǰǝl-da-ar

which-LOC

work-V.DER-INTRA.LF

sen? you

‘Where do you work?’ (fieldnotes) The dative, locative, ablative and directive forms of gae function as space adverbs; also cf. section 10.1. The reflexive pronoun pot always occurs with possessive suffixes, e.g. potǝm ‘myself’, potǝŋ ‘yourself’, potǝ ‘himself, herself, itself’, potǝβǝs ‘ourselves’, potǝŋar ‘yourselves’ and potǝ ‘themselves’. Some illustrative examples of this pronoun are the following: 41.

Aya

pol-sa

gonǰǝɣ

perhe

pahk-ka

trip-bow

become-COND3

very

difficult

bad-ADV.DER

tïrht-ar

pol-sa

pot-ǝ

thaa

öl-ǝr-t-ǝ-p

pull-INTRA.VBN

become-COND3

self-POSS3

PTC

die-CAUS-CAUS-CB

ga-ap

pil-ǝr.

throw-CB

know-INTRA.LF

‘As for the trip-bow, it is (something) extremely difficult, if (someone) pulls it in a bad way, he can even get killed himself.’ (T10:8) 42.

Ol

that

iβǝ-nǝ

reindeer-ACC

amǝdǝral-ǝn-ga life-POSS3-DAT

pol-ǝ

become-CB

am

now

tïkka very

per-ɣendǝroo.

ašǝɣla-p

exploit-CB

ašǝɣla-p

exploit-CB

pot-ǝ-nǝŋ

self-POSS3-GEN

ašǝɣla-ar

exploit-INTRA.VBN

give-RES.EMPH ‘They became people who make wide use of the reindeer in their own life. Sooo it was.’ (T19:38)

Verbal inflectional suffixes

133

8.2 Verbal inflectional suffixes Verbal inflectional suffixes in Dukhan include the following markers: negation, aspect, mood, tense, verbal nominals and converbs. 8.2.1 Negation of verbal stems The addition of the suffix -BA to verbal lexemes forms negative verbal stems, e.g. ahspa‘not to hang’ from ahs- ‘to hang, gelbe- ‘not to come’ from gel- ‘to come’, munma- ‘not to mount’ from mun- ‘to mount’, öltǝrβe- ‘not to kill’ from öltǝr- ‘to kill’, šïtaβa- ‘not to be able’ from šïta- ‘to be able’. Irregular negative verbal formations of intraterminals and converbs, which are common throughout Turkic, will be indicated in the respective sections. 8.2.2 Finite and non finite verbal inflectional suffixes Verbal inflectional suffixes in Dukhan can have finite and non-finite functions. Some of them can only be finite, in the sense of forms that close up a sentence, e.g. -DĬ. Some of them only have non-finite functions, e.g. converb markers. Others can occur in both functions, e.g. -GAn. 8.2.2.1 Inflectional suffixes with exclusively finite function The inflectional suffixes that can only have finite functions are: the intraterminal markers ‑(Ĭ)p‑turǝ, -(Ĭ)p-ǰorǝ, -(Ĭ)p-olǝrǝ, -(Ĭ)p-ǰïhtǝrǝ and -A-dǝrǝ, the postterminal markers -GAndĬr(Ĭ) and -J̌ ĬK, the past marker -DĬ, the imperative markers -Ø (SG) and -(Ĭ)ŋ(Ar) (PL), and the voluntative markers -ǝyn (1SG), -AAlĬ (1PL), -ZĬn (3SG) and -ZĬnnAr (3PL). As for personal marking, intraterminals and postterminals take the personal markers of the pronominal type, i.e. they are followed by the postposed personal pronouns men ‘I’, sen ‘you, pis ‘we (restrictive)’, pister ‘we (extented)’ siler ‘you’. Third persons are usually not marked. If the subject of the sentence is expressed, the personal markers can be omitted also for the other persons. The past marker is the only finite item that takes personal endings of possessive origin. This feature is shared by the conditional and the limitative converbs; see the contrastive table in section 8.2.2.3 below. Voluntatives and imperatives mostly do not display synchronically segmentable personal markers, since they signal mood and person at the same time. Detailed treatment of forms used as finite markers will be presented in chapter 9. 8.2.2.2 Inflectional suffixes with finite and non-finite function The inflectional suffixes -Vr, -GAn and -Bǝšaan can be used in both finite and non-finite function. This means that, besides constituting the finite predicate nucleus, they can also be used as suffixes in verbal nominals, i.e. as verbal nouns and verbal adjectives (participles). The suffix -Vr is intraterminal, whereas -GAn is postterminal; on this distinction, see section 9.1. On the finite uses of -Vr and -GAn, see sections 9.1.1.1 and 9.1.2.1, respectively.

134

Inflectional morphology

Phonologically, the suffix -Vr shows some degrees of unpredictability with respect to the choice between low A and lax Ĭ vowels, e.g. pilǝr ‘knows’ from pil- ‘to know’, tïhhar ‘finds’ from tïhp- ‘to find, polǝr ‘becomes’ from pol- ‘to become’, üner ‘exits’ from ün- ‘to exit’, ahtar ‘shoots’ from aht- ‘to shoot’. The reason for this phonological unpredictability lies in the diachronic evolutionary paths of this suffix. In this regard, see Johanson (1976), Erdal (1986) and Schönig (1989). When added to stems with vowel onset, the suffix vocalization is represented by the lengthening of the stem vowel, e.g. aŋnaar ‘hunts’ from aŋna- ‘to hunt’ and iβǝleer ‘looks for reindeer’ from iβǝle- ‘to look for reindeer’.4 The negative form of -Vr is -BAs. Verbal nominals used as verbal adjectives can function as attributes and can also occur without a head. However, unlike other adjectives, they do not occur as adverbs (Johanson 2006: 76). Verbal nominals used as verbal nouns refer to actions and are used to construct complement clauses. Some examples with verbal adjectives are presented below: 43.

Arht-ǝn-da

öɣ-de

behind-POSS3-LOC

taara-ar

arht-kan

tent-LOC

mal-ǝn

sew-INTRA.LF

ulǝs-tar

remain-POST.VBN

cattle-POSS3.ACC

people-PL

gö-ör

gatay-lar

woman-PL

ńeǰ-ǝn

see-INTRA.LF

tree-POSS3.ACC

ton-ǝn

vest-POSS3.ACC

ńeš-te-er.

tree-V.DER-INTRA.LF

‘The people and the women left behind in the tents sew their clothing, tend their cattle and chop their wood.’ (T4:27) 44.

Pir-ǝ

pol-sa

mïn-dǝɣ

aŋ

ǰoro-or

one-POSS3

become-COND3

this-ADJ.DER

game

move-INTRA.VBN

ǰoro-or

orǝk-ka

aya

sal-ǝp

ga-aβǝd-ar.

move-INTRA.VBN

path-DAT

trip-bow

set-CB

throw-COMP-INTRA.LF

‘As for a single (hunter), it is like this: he sets up on a path, where the game goes along, a trip-bow.’ (T3:9) Very common in Dukhan is the occurrence of the verbal adjective -GAn referring to entities that are different from the first actant of the verb. Consider the following examples: 45.

Mẽẽŋ

sa-ar

iβǝ-m

peš.

I:GEN

milk-INTRA.VBN

reindeer-POSS1SG

five

‘I have five reindeer to milk (lit. the reindeer I have to milk are five).’ (T13:17) 46.

Maa

this:DAT

mool

Mongol

ǰurht-ǝn-ga

land-POSS3-DAT

ǰorǝ-βa-an

move-NEG-POST.VBN

ǰer-ǝm

place-POSS1.SG

4 This rule is valid for all Sayan varieties with the exception of Tuhan; see Ragagnin (2009c) for details.

135

Verbal inflectional suffixes

ǰok

gör-βe-en

non-existent

ǰer-ǝm

see-NEG-POST.VBN

ǰok.

place-POSS1.SG

non-existent

‘Here in the land of the Mongols there is no place where I haven’t gone and there is no place that I haven’t seen.’ (T7:37) 47.

Ay-la-an

wild onion-V.DER-POST.VBN

ǰe-m-le-p

ay-ǝn

hayǝn-dǝr-ǝp

wild onion-POSS3.ACC

boil-CAUS-CB

ǰi-ir.

eat-N.DER-V.DER-CB

eat-INTRA.LF

‘They boil the wild onions they have gathered, put them into the food and eat them.’ (T7:27) The following are some examples of verbal nominals used as verbal nouns: 48.

Gesi-i

aɣla-ar.

aht-ar.

Pir-ǝ

part-POSS3

shoot-INTRA.LF

scare off-INTRA.LF

one-POSS3

orǝk-ka

Ïn-ǰa-aš

that-V.DER-CB

pol-sa

trip-bow

game

gel-gen-ǝn

come-POST.VBNPOSS3.ACC

mïn-dǝɣ

become-COND3

aya

path-DAT

aŋ

this-ADV.DER

sal-ǝp set-CB

aŋ

ǰorï-ïr

game

move-INTRA.VBN

ga-aβǝd-ar.

throw-COMP-INTRA.LF

‘Some of them scare off (the game) and that way, (the others) can shoot the game that have come (to them). As for a single (hunter), it is like this: he sets up on a path, where the game goes along, a trip-bow.’ (T3:8-9) 49.

Hayrakkan merciful

ǰüg-ǝn-den

ǰaaš

irey-nǝŋ

calm

direction-POSS3-ABL

bear-GEN

öt-kǝr-ǝp

pass-CAUS-CB

söγle-en-ǝ

say-POST.VBN-POSS3

aht-kaš

shoot-CB

pile

tört

with

hayrakkan merciful

four

thaa PTC

öl-gendǝrǝ. die-RES

‘As the bear had said, he shot him with arrows with four feathers penetrating the four cardinal points, and the bear is dead.’ (T16:14) 50.

Toŋgǝr-lar reindeer-PL

mĩis-ǝ

horn-POSS3

ǰahsa-an-nǝŋ

castrate-POST.VBN-GEN

so-on-da

tühhj-er.

end-POSS3-LOC

fall-INTRA.LF

‘The horns of young bucks fall after they have been castrated. (T8:4) The verbal nominal -GAn can occur in non-finite position marked with possessives. In these cases it forms temporal clauses. Some examples are cited below:

136 51.

Inflectional morphology

Ehrte

purǝn

early

šaɣ-da

previous

gïr-ǝn-da

limit-POSS3-LOC

gusǝk-ta-ar

time-LOC

pine nut-V.DER-INTRA.VBN

utǝ-p

irey bear

haya rock

ǰïht-kan-ǝ

sleep-CB

lie-POST.VBN-POSS3

‘In earlier times there was a pine nut-searching bear sleeping upon a rock […]’ (T17:1) 52.

Ol

that

ïht-ǝ

ǰuhrt-ta

dog-POSS3

land-LOC

ǰora-aš

ol

thööhǝ-lǝɣ

ǰime.

move-CB

ahšta-p

leave:POST.VBN-POSS3

ïht-ǝ

that

history-ADJ.DER

gaγan-ǝ

dog-POSS3

be hungry-CB

pörǝ

pol-a

wolf

become-CB

suk-sa-p

thirsty-V.DER-CB

per-ɣen

give-POST.VBN

thing

‘Since it was left in the camp (alone), it was constantly hungry and thirsty, and that’s the story of how that dog began to turn into a wolf.’ (T14:10) The verbal nominal -Vr also participates in the formation of several periphrastic constructions. The item -Vr followed by the nouns herek ‘need’ and yosǝ ‘rule’, provided with the adjectival suffix +LĬG, forms modal periphrastic constructions of necessity and obligation, respectively. Some examples are presented below: 53.

Am now

monuun this:ABL

göhhj-er

nomadize-INTRA.VBN

herek-tǝɣ.

need-ADJ.DER

‘We need to nomadize (away) from here.’ (fieldnotes) In the example below, however, herek occurs without the suffix +LĬG: 54.

Ah ITJ

murgǝ-nǝ

hunting horn-ACC

murgǝ-la-ar-da

hunting horn-V.DER-INTRA.VBN-LOC

sïïn

ün-ǝn-ge

teŋ

po-or

herek.

maral deer

voice-POSS3-DAT

equal

become-INTRA.VBN

need

‘When using the hunting horn, it must be the same as the voice of the maral deer.’ (T9:2) 55.

Mẽẽŋ I-GEN

aǰa-m

father-POSS1.SG

pol-sa

become-COND3

ah ITJ

te-er

say-INTRA.VBN

‘If it were my bear, he should say “Ah”.’ (T16:30) These types of constructions display Mongolic parallels.

yosǝ-lǝɣ.

rule-ADJ.DER

137

Verbal inflectional suffixes

When combined with the auxiliary verb pol- ‘to become’, -Vr forms analytical verbal constructions which express the notion ‘to become X-ing’, thus signaling the transition to an intraterminal state; for examples, see section 7.3.5.2. The combination of the verbal nominal -Vr with the conjunction tep (section 10.3) creates a construction which expresses the notion ‘to be about to X’; see the following example: 56.

Pis-ter we-PL

am

now

aŋ

game

ǰoru-ur move-INTRA.VBN

te-p

turǝ

say-CB

COP

pis-ter. we-PL

‘We are about to go hunting.’ (fieldnotes) With finitransformative actional phrases this construction indicates propinquity. For examples, see section 9.1.1.3. In addition, -Vr can be combined with the item teeš (< te- ‘to say’ plus the converb suffix -GAš, see section 8.2.2.3) to form purposive clauses, as seen in the example below: 57.

Gulǝr flour

al-ǝr

take-INTRA.VBN

te-eš

say-CB

Akköl Akköl

ǰora-an. go-POST

‘He went to Akköl in order to get flour.’ (fieldnotes) Moreover, -Vr together with the element elek ‘not yet done, unripe’ forms a construction meaning ‘not to be able to X yet’. An example of this construction in predicative function is quoted below: 58.

mẽẽŋ

Am

sen

now (PTC)

you

amdǝ

al-ǝr

elek.

take-INTRA.VBN

not yet done

now

I:GEN

gïs-ǝm-nǝ

sen

girl-POSS1.SG-ACC

you

‘Well, you cannot get my daughter yet.’ (T29:40) This construction shows close similarities with the Kirghiz and Yakut forms -A elek and -A ilik, respectively; see Kasapoğlu-Çengel (2005: 301) and Ubrjatova (2006: 324–325) for details. Tofan, apparently, does not display a corresponding construction, although elek occurs in sentences like the following: 59.

Amdï

elek

talaš-pa!

now

not yet done

hurry-IMP.SG-NEG

‘Eščjo rano, ne toropis’.’ (Rassadin 1995: 103b) On the other hand, Tuvan displays both elek ‘eščjo rano, poka rano’ (Tenišev 1968: 611a) and the related participle -GAlAk, known in Turcological studies as participium nondum facti (Benzing 1959: 4). The participle -GAlAK is documented in Karagas (Castrén 1857: 41) as well. On GAlAk in Siberian Turkic and its etymological paths, further see Schönig (1999: 77) and Nasilov (2005).

138

Inflectional morphology

The verbal nominals -Vr and -GAn provided with case markers, as well as postpositions or nouns form special constructions which are functionally related to converbs. 5 Some examples of these constructions are presented in the following: 60.

Pis-ter

pičče

aǰa

aβa-βǝs

we-PL

tur-ar-ǝβǝs-ka

small

father

stand-POST.VBN-POSS1.PL-DAT

mother-POSS1.PL

pasa

pis-ter-nǝ

and

we-PL-ACC

pasa

pis-tǝŋ

and

we-GEN

ol

gahhay-ga

that

cradle-DAT

ös-kǝr-ɣen.

grow-CAUS-POST

‘When we were small, also our parents raised us in that (hanging) cradle.’ (T5:8) 61.

Öl-ǝr

orhta

die-INTRA.VBN

middle

ol

that

taγ-nǝŋ

mountain-GEN

gïr-ǝn-gǝdǝ

limit-POSS3-DIR

ǰühk-te-p

load-V.DER-CB

ün-dǝr-γeš

exit-CAUS.CB

‘As soon as he died, (the boy) carried him out on his shoulders towards that mountain ridge’ (T18:15) 62.

Menǝ

utǝ-p

ǰiht-ǝr-ǝm

orhta

eeremǰǝk

I:GEN

sleep-CB

lie-INTRA.VBN-POSS1.SG

middle

spider

mẽẽŋ I:GEN

gïr-ǝm-dan

tühhj-e

per-gen

pol-dǝ.

top-POSS1.SG-ABL

fall-CB

give-POST.VBN

become-PAST3

‘While I was sleeping a spider dropped from above.’ (fieldnotes) In the two preceding examples, the combination of the verbal nominal -Vr with the spatial noun orhta ‘middle’ forms a construction meaning ‘as soon as X-ed’. For other uses of the spatial noun orhta, see section 10.2.2. In the second example above, the subject of the dependent clause is marked with the accusative. Further examples include the following: 63.

Höngen

höngen-bread

gïl-ər-da

make-INTRA.VBN-LOC

ehxe-le-eš-təŋ

begin-V.DER-CB-GEN

suɣ

water

ihsə-t-keš

be hot-CAUS-CB

‘When one makes höngen, first of all one heats up water’ (T1:2)

5 For investigation on constructions based on verbal nominals in Tuvan, see, among others, Sat (1960), Bergel’son & Kibrik (1995) and Šamina (2001); specifically for Altai Tuvan, see Aydemir (2002) and (2009).

139

Verbal inflectional suffixes

64.

ol

that

aya-ga

trip-bow-DAT

güs-kǝ

aŋ

gulaš-ta-p

autumn-ADJ.DER

game

on foot-V.DER-CB

ge-er

üye-de

come-INTRA.VBN

time-LOC

‘When the autumn animal comes running to the trip-bow’ (T10:3) 8.2.2.3 Inflectional suffixes with exclusively non-finite function The converbial suffixes -(Ĭ)p, -V/y, -GAš, -GAlA, -ZA and -KĬšA exclusively occur in nonfinite function. Among them, the converb -V/y displays some phonological unpredictability. When added to stems with vowel outset, it is realized as -y, e.g. aŋnay ‘hunting’ from aŋna- ‘to hunt’. When added to stems displaying a consonant outset, it is realized as -A or -Ĭ, showing the same phonologically unpredictability as -Vr (cf. section 8.2.2.2 above), e.g. alǝ ‘taking’ from al- ‘to take’ and ehte ‘rutting’ from eht- ‘to rut’. Within the scope of this study, converbs will be defined as adverbial forms of the verb that relate semantically to the content of the superordinate clause. Converb clauses are thus non-finite realizations of predications that participate in pluripredicative constructions within the limits of the sentences. On Turkic converb clauses, see Johanson (1995b, 1998b: 63–65) and Johanson & Csató (1993). The items -V/y, -(Ĭ)p and -GAš do not take personal marking and lack a one-to-one relationship of affirmative and negative forms. Their common negative form is -Biin that can be translated as ‘without X-ing’ or ‘not having X-ed’. However, the negative converb is seldom used. Besides, the converbs -(Ĭ)p and -V/y, and, marginally, -GAš, occur in postverbial constructions (see section 7.3.5). The items -(Ĭ)p and -V/y also occur in the formation of analytical intraterminal verbal suffixes; see section 9.1.1.3. The following examples are illustrative of these items: 65.

Guuday

üš

peš

gar

castrated reindeer

three

five

snow

ǰarǝ

ǰeht-keš

reach-CB

pol-ǝr.

riding reindeer

become-INTRA.LF

‘The guuday-reindeer becomes a ǰari after reaching 3-4 years of age.’ (fieldnotes) 66.

Tayga-da taiga-LOC

pis-ter

õõrha-la-p

we-PL

spine-V.DER-CB

utǝ-y

sleep-CB

pe-er.

give-INTRA.LF

‘In the taiga, we fall asleep by warming (our) back up by the fire.’ (fieldnotes) 67.

Ïn-dǝɣ

ǰïl

pol-sa

irey

gurht-a-p

gulaš-ta-ar.

such

year

become-COND3

bear

worm-V.DER-CB

on foot-V.DER-INTRA.LF

‘When a year like this happens, the bear walks around with worms in its stomach (i.e. hungry).’ (T15:1-2)

140 68.

Inflectional morphology

Ol

aŋ-ǝ

that

maŋna-p

game-POSS3

gir-ɣeš

aht-ǝn-ǝp

enter-CB

par-ɣaš

run-CB

ol

go-CB

that

aya-ga

trip-bow-DAT

öl-ǝr.

shoot-REFL-CB

die-INTRA.LF

‘When the animal runs by and comes across the trip-bow, it gets shot and dies.’ (T3:10) 69.

Po

ulǝs-tar

this

ǰora-aš

people-PL

gotǝ

move-CB

paht-a

downwards

pa-ar

sink-CB

pis.

go-INTRA.LF

we

‘After these people have gone, we move (lit. sink) downwards (i.e. to lower places).’ (fieldnotes) 70.

Omak

sirɣek

proud

alert

olβar-lǝɣ.

booty-ADJ.DER

Orǝk way

ge-er

sen!

come-INTRA.LF

you

ǰora-aš

ge-er

move-CB

sen!

come-INTRA.LF

ǰorǝk-ka

sataa

move-N.DER-DAT

Olǰa

you

ǰok

obstacle

booty

non-existent

ǰora-aš

move-CB

‘Be safe and come back with booty! May your journey be without obstacles!’ (fieldnotes) The example above is the blessing Dukhans who remain in the camp usually say to those who go hunting. 71.

Hatkal-dan 6

Hatkal -ABL

ǰorǝ-y

move-CB

gel-gen

come-POST.VBN

ulǝs-tar

people-PL

par-ɣan

aš

ǰe-m

food

eat-N.DER

ǰi-βiin

eat-NEG.CB

iyǝk.

go-POST

PTC

‘The people who came from Khatgal went away this morning without eating anything, for a fact.’ (fieldnotes) 72.

Araha

ihš-piin

ǰorï-ïr

sen!

vodka

drink-NEG.CB

move-INTRA.LF

you

‘You should live without drinking vodka!’ (fieldnotes) 73.

Erhten

morning

iβǝ-nǝ

reindeer-ACC

ït-kaš

send-CB

oht-kar-ǝp

grass-V.DER-CB

6 Village on the southern shore of Lake Khövsgöl; see map in Appendix B.

ǰorǝ-y

move-CB

geǰe

evening

141

Verbal inflectional suffixes

akkel-geš bring-CB

paɣ-la-ar.

tie-V.DER-INTRA.LF

‘After setting free the reindeer in the morning, one takes them out to pasture, and after bringing them back in the evening, one ties them up (again).’ (T7:1) The converb -V/y also occurs in pairs denoting how the content of the verb it modifies is carried out. Consider the following two examples: 74.

Mool

Mongol

ǰurht-ǝn-gǝdǝ

country-POSS3-DIR

ïra-d-ǝ

göhhj-ǝp

göhš-kǝle-p

become distant-CAUS-CB

ïra-d-ǝ

nomadize-CB

nomadize-ITER-CB

become distant-CAUS-CB

amǝdǝra-ar

live-INTRA.VBN

pol-ǝp

become-CB

gel-gen.

come-POST

‘They nomadized in the direction of the land/country of the Mongols, and they become people who live by nomadizing repeatedly always in distant places.’ (fieldnotes) However, -V/y alone or in pairs rarely occurs in the analyzed corpus. I could collect just few examples like the one cited above. On the other hand, the converb -GAš has a high functional load. It is a syndetic and nonmodifying converb that refers to events of equal narrative value with the event of the head clause. Its propulsive nature orders the events linearly and makes it a perfect item for plot advancing. For these reasons it is very used, especially in narratives. The texts of Gombo contain clear examples of its uses and functions. On the concept of linear successivity and on periodic chain sentences, see Johanson (1971: 246–247, 1995b: 329–330). The converb -GAš can also occur provided with the genitive suffix bearing the meaning of ‘after having X-ed’. The following is an example of this formation: 75.

Onəŋ

so-on-da

su-un

gut-əp

gulər-ən

that:GEN

end-POSS3-LOC

water-POSS3.ACC

put-CB

flour-POSS3.ACC

gut-əp

ǰuur-gaš-təŋ

ekkǝ

niile-də

ǰuur-əp

put-CB

mix-CB-GEN

good

join-ADV.DER

knead-CB

ot

fire

ihšt-ən-de

inside-POSS3-LOC

hül-ge

ash-DAT

höm-er.

bury-INTRA.LF

‘After that, one puts water, one puts the flower and after it is mixed and after the mixture is well-kneaded, one buries it in the ashes inside the fire.’ (T1:3) The juxtaposition of the converb -GAš to the pronominal verbs ïnǰa- and mïnǰa- (see section 7.3.2) creates conjunctional adverbs meaning ‘thus, in this or that way’; also cf. section 10.1. These forms are very common in Dukhan. Some examples are presented below:

142

Inflectional morphology

Ïn-ǰa-aš

76.

that-V.DER-CB

göhhj-er

pol-gan.

nomadize-INTRA.VBN

become-POST

‘So, the time came to move (lit. they became nomadizers).’ (T14:4)

Ïn-ǰa-aš-tǝŋ

77.

höngen

that-V.DER-CB-GEN

te-p

höngen-bread

ekkǝ

say-CB

ǰe-m.

good

‘And so, höngen -bread is a good food.’ (T1:7)

eat-N.DER

Some examples with the converb -GAlĬ: 78.

ǰer-ge

Ašša-am husband-POSS1.SG

ǰora-alǝ

place-DAT

ihx̃ǝ

move-CB

two

hon-gan. overnight-POST

‘Two days have passed since my husband went hunting.’ (fieldnotes) 79.

Erten-nǝ

Erdene-ACC

gör-be-elǝ see-NEG-CB

on ten

hon-dǝm.

overnight-PAST1SG

‘Ten days passed since I saw Erdene (lit. did not see Erdene).’ (fieldnotes) As seen in the example above, the converb -GAlĬ is negated with the negative suffix -BA (section 8.2.1). The conditional converb -ZA and the terminative converb -KĬšA constitute a special class of converbs in the Dukhan system. First of all, both converbs differ from the other converbs by the fact that they take possessive-type personal marking, like the past -DĬ, and negation is expressed regularly by the verbal suffix -BA (see section 8.2.1). For the classificatory relevance of these features, see section 3.3. As for their function, -ZA forms conditional clauses, whereas -KĬšA forms temporal clauses, meaning ‘until X-ing’. The inflectional paradigms of -ZA, -KĬšA and the past item -DĬ are shown below on the base of par- ‘to go’. Illustrative examples follow thereafter. Table 12 Inflectional paradigms of -ZA, -KĬšA and -DĬ

1SG 2SG 3SG 1PL 2PL 3PL

80.

Conditional parsam ‘if I come’ parsaŋ ‘if you come’ parsa ‘if (s)he comes’ parsaβǝs ‘if we come’ parsaŋar ‘if you come’ parsa ‘if they come’

̌ Jer

ground

toŋ-gǝša

freeze-LIM3

ay-la-ar

Limitative parɣǝšam ‘till I come’ parɣǝšaŋ ‘till you come’ parɣǝša ‘till (s)he comes’ parɣǝšaβǝs ‘till we come’ parɣǝšaŋar ‘till you come’ parɣǝša ‘till they come’

wild onion-V.DER-INTRA.LF

pis-ter. we-PL

‘We collect wild onions until the ground freezes.’ (fieldnotes)

Past pardǝm ‘I came’ pardǝŋ ‘you came’ pardǝ ‘(s)he came’ pardǝβǝs ‘we came’ pardǝŋar ‘you came’ pardǝ ‘they came’

143

Verbal inflectional suffixes

81.

Mẽẽŋ

aǰa-m

thön-gǝše

tayga-da

I:GEN

finish-LIM3

ööt

upwards

aβa-m

father-POSS1.SG

taiga-LOC

mother-POSS1.SG

iβǝ

reindeer

mal-da-p

cattle-V.DER-CB

pol-sa

nasǝn

become-COND3

ǰora-aš

age

nasǝn

move-CB

age

pol-gan.

become-POST

‘Concerning my mother and father, after tending reindeer in the taiga till the end of their lives, their lives passed.’ (T12:9) 82.

Mẽẽŋ I:GEN

be Q

gara-am-nǝ

eye-POSS1SG-ACC

tilgǝ-ǰek

fox-N.DER

ïn-ǰa

that-ADV.DER

ool son

ǰuhkšǝ-saŋ

pluck out-COND2SG

te-er

say-INTRA.VBN

ekkǝ-r-er

good-V.DER-INTRA.LF

ǰime. thing

‘(He) says, “If you pluck out my eye that way, will it get better little fox?”.’ (T16:8) Finally, the lexicalized forms tise (< te- ‘to say’ plus -ZA) and polsa (< pol- ‘to become’ plus -ZA) functioning as marker of topicalization, will be dealt with in section 10.4.3.

9 Aspect, mood and tense 9.0 Introduction This chapter discusses aspect, mood and tense categories which occur in the finite verbal clauses in Dukhan.

9.1 Aspect and tense The following description of the aspect-tense system of Dukhan is based on the model proposed by Johanson (1971, 2000c). These categories, which also rely on actionality, are realized by interaction of morphosyntax, lexical semantics and pragmatics (Johanson 2000c: 30). A detailed comment on this topic would go beyond the limits of this research; I will give some information on the key concepts of viewpoint operators, actional phrases and focality. Aspect categories are interpreted as viewpoint operators that operate on actional phrases and determine them aspectually. Viewpoint operators present events by relating their limits to points of view, vantage points. Three aspectual viewpoints are distinguished: intraterminality, postterminality and adterminality. The intraterminal aspect envisages the event within its limits (intra terminos). Postterminality views the event after the transgression of its relevant limit (post terminum). Adterminality views the event at the very attainment of its crucial limit (ad terminum). Dukhan exhibits the first two kinds of viewpoint operators: intraterminality and postterminality. It lacks, as the other Turkic languages, the adterminal viewpoint operator, which is, for instance, typical of Slavic languages. An actional phrase consists minimally of a verbal lexeme and is characterized by an internal phase structure (IPS). This can be transformative, which implies the presence of a crucial limit, or nontransformative, which implies the absence of a crucial limit. Transformative actional phrases are of two kinds: initiotransformative and finitransformative, depending on whether the initial limit or the final limit is the crucial one. For instance, aŋna‘to hunt’ is a nontransformative actional phrase but öl- ‘to die’ is a finitransformative actional phrase, whereas olǝr- ‘to sit down and to sit’ represents an initiotransformative actional phrase. Initiotransformative actional phrases can be considered two-phase verbs insofar as they display a dynamic transformative phase and a following statal nontransformative phase. The IPS of actional phrases can be subject to recategorization, that is to a change of their internal phase structure. Nontransformative actional phrases can undergo transformativization, and transformative actional phrases can undergo nontransformativization. The auxiliary verb constructions presented in section 7.3.5.1 serve these purposes by functioning as actional recategorizers. Productive transformativizers include -V/y per-, -(Ĭ)p

146

Aspect, mood and tense

gaγ, -(Ĭ)vĬt-,-(Ĭ)p ün-, -(Ĭ)p al-, -(Ĭ)p per-, and -(Ĭ)p gel- and -(Ĭ)p gal-. Nontransformativizers include -(Ĭ)p tur-, -(Ĭ)p ǰïht-, -(Ĭ)p ǰorǝ-, and -(Ĭ)p olǝr-. For a general view on Turkic transformativizers and nontransformativers, see Johanson (2000c, 2004a). Another important parameter for the analysis of aspect and actionality is the degree of focality. Focality can be defined as the concentration (focus) of the psychological interest in the situation obtaining at the vantage point, the core of “nunc” (Johanson 1971: 130–134). Both intraterminals and postterminals can display higher or lower degrees of focality. Thus, more focal items put a narrower focus on what is going on at the vantage point. As in other Turkic languages, the relevant tense opposition in Dukhan concerns anteriority vs. non-anteriority [±PAST]. For descriptions of aspect-tense systems according to this model, see Johanson (1971) for Turkish, Buder (1989) for Yakut, Karakoç (2005) for Noghay, Rentzsch (2005) for modern Uyghur and Aydemir (2009) for Altay Tuvan. 9.1.1 Intraterminals Dukhan displays four intraterminal items on the [-PAST] level: the low-focal suffix -Vr, the more focal item -Bǝšaan, the high-focal analytical forms -(Ĭ)p-turǝ, -(Ĭ)p-olǝrǝ, -(Ĭ)p-ǰorǝ and -(Ĭ)p-ǰïhtǝrǝ, and the non-focal item -V/y-dĬr(Ĭ). The item -Vr can combine with markers of past tense. The non-focal item -V/y-dĬr(Ĭ) has modal meanings and will be dealt with under mood in section 9.2. 9.1.1.1 The marker -Vr The suffix -Vr is a low focal intraterminal item. Its rather low degree of focality allows a broad range of readings stretching from general and habitual presents to modal forms expressing inclination and prospectivity including future readings. The negated form of -Vr is -BAs. Some examples of this item are: 1.

Eht-er

scream-INTRA.VBN

so-on-da

end-POSS3-LOC

mĩĩs-ǝ

horn-POSS3

tot-ǝɣ-la-an

be full-ADJ.DER-V.DER-POST.VBN

tühhj-er.

fall-INTRA.LF

‘The horns of the reindeer buck fall after mating.’ (T8:3) 2.

Pis

tayga

ǰaahay

we

taiga

nice

amǝdǝra-ar. live-INTRA.LF

‘We live well in the taiga.’ (fieldnotes) 3.

Tuhha

ulǝs-tar

thölge

merγele-er

ỹarǝn

gö-ör.

Dukhan

people-PL

omen

divinize-INTRA.LF

scapula

see-INTRA.LF

‘Dukhan people do omens, divinations, and scapulimancy.’ (fieldnotes) 4.

Ol that

ïn-dǝɣ

this-ADJ.DER

perhe difficult

ǰime-ler thing-PL

mẽẽŋ

gara-am-ba

I:GEN

eye-POSS1SG-DAT

147

Aspect and tense

göst-ǝp

tur-ar.

see-PASS-CB

stand-INTRA.LF

‘Such terrible things are visible to my eyes.’ (T4:33) 5.

pol-sa

Irey bear

become-COND

on

bir

ay-da

utu-ur.

ten

one

moon-LOC

sleep-INTRA.LF

‘As for the bear, it sleeps in month eleven. (T4:7) 6.

Tayga taiga

ulus-tar-ǝ

people-PL-POSS3

güs-ǝn

thos

ay-da

tongǝr

autumn-ADV.DER

nine

moon-LOC

reindeer calf

ǰahsa-ar.

castrate-INTRA.LF

‘Taiga people castrate reindeer bucks in month nine.’ (fieldnotes) 7.

Eht-tǝ

pol-sa

pïhškǝn-na-p

meat-ACC

become-COND3

ripe-V.DER.CB

ǰi-ir.

eat-INTRA-LF

‘As for meat, (we) eat it (after it’s) ripened up (on the stake).’ (fieldnotes) 8.

İrǝ-k

ńeš

gihk-pas.

get rotten-ADJ.DER

wood

burn-NEG.INTRA.LF

‘Rotten wood does not burn.’ (fieldnotes) 9.

J̌ arǝ

riding reindeer

ńeš-ke

wood-DAT

töŋhǝr

mïndǝ

reindeer calf

reindeer doe

mĩĩs-ǝn

sürt-pes.

mĩĩs-ǝn

ńeš-ke

sürt-er.

wood-DAT

scratch-INTRA.LF

horn-POSS3-ACC

horn-POSS3-ACC

scratch-NEG.INTRA.LF

Ehter

scream-INTRA.VBN

‘Riding (i.e. castrated) reindeer do not scrach their horn onto trees. Reindeer bucks (not castrated), reindeer calves and reindeer does scratch their horns on trees. (T8:89).1 10.

Ïn-dǝɣ

this-ADJ.DER

ǰïl

year

pol-sa

irey

become-COND3

bear

gurht-a-p

worm-V.DER-CB

gulaš-ta-ar.

on foot-V.DER-INTRA.LF

‘When a year like this happens, the bear walks around with worms in its stomach.’ (T15:2) 11.

Tããrta

ǰoro-or.

tomorrow

move-INTRA.LF

‘We (will) move tomorrow.’ (fieldnotes)

1 Productive (i.e. not castrated) reindeer and reindeer does are subject to a seasonal shedding of the velvet of their horns, which is hormonally conditioned. When their horns start ‘peeling’, reindeer don’t miss a tree or branch that they don’t scratch.

148 12.

Aspect, mood and tense

Am

utu-ur

pis.

now

sleep-INTRA.LF

we

‘Now we sleep.’ (fieldnotes) 13.

Aǰa-m

par-da

gihhjǝ

thanï-ïr

father-POSS1.SG

existent-LOC

person

know-INTRA.LF

par-da

ǰer

existent-LOC

horse-POSS.1SG

gö-ör.

le

place

aht-ǝm

ptc

see-INTRA.LF

‘When there is my father, I get to know people and when there is my horse, I get to see places.’ (fieldnotes, Dukhan proverb) 14.

Aǰǝn-ǰak

pol-saŋ

get sour-ADJ.DER

become-COND2

pod-ǝŋ

ǰoβa-ar.

self-POSS2.SG

Pedǝk

taγa

aht

tall

mountain:DAT

horse

get tired-INTRA.LF

ǰoβa-ar.

get tired-INTRA.LF

‘If you get angry, you get tired, the horse gets tired when climbing up the high taiga.’ (fieldnotes, Dukhan proverb).’ The intraterminal verbal nominal -Vr combines with the (+PAST) copula particle turɣan (section 10.4.1) to form a low focal intraterminal in the past. The form -Vr turɣan thus represents habitual past and can be translated into English with ‘used to X’. Two examples are found in the following conversation passage: 15.

Purǝn-gǝ

previous-ADJ.DER

Pis-tǝŋ

po

we-GEN

am

now

this

ulǝs-tar ǰer-nǝŋ

place-GEN

Mool-nǝŋ.

Mongolian-GEN

Tuhha-da

Dukhan-LOC

aya

people-PL

thoǰǝ-da

Toju-LOC

trip-bow

gatay-lar

woman-PL

Purǝn

previous

aŋ-na-ar

pǝle with

aŋ-na-ar

hunt-INTRA.VBN

pol-sa

become-COND3

üye-de

time-LOC

game-V.DER-INTRA.VBN

game-V.DER-INTRA.LF

previous-ADJ.DER

PAST.COP

PAST.COP

aŋ-na-βas

purǝn-gǝ turɣan

turɣan.

tiiŋ

squirrel

üye-de

time-LOC

piččǝ small

ǰime. thing

‘Former people used to hunt with the trip-bow. As for the women of this place of ours, they do not hunt, now, in (this place of) Mongolia. In previous times, in former times, they used to hunt in Tuva, in Toju, squirrels and small things.’ (fieldnotes)

149

Aspect and tense

With motion verbs, the element turɣan may be substituted by ǰoraan formed by ǰorǝ- ‘to set into movement, to move’ plus the postterminal suffix -GAn, as in the following example: 16.

Men I

purǝn-gǝ

previous-ADJ.DER

üye-de

aŋ-na-ar

time-LOC

game-V.DER-INTRA.VBN

ǰora-an.

PAST.COP

‘In the past I used to hunt.’ (fieldnotes) 9.1.1.2 The marker -Bǝšaan The etymologically quite obscure suffix -Bǝšaan signals that the intraterminal state of the action has already begun and is still going on at the moment of speech. It is a -past(+post(-intra)) aspecto-temporal item, that expresses a special type of interaction in which a +POST notion operates upon a +INTRA notion (Johanson 2000: 170–71). Its closest English equivalents are ‘still X-ing’ and ‘has/have been X-ing’. The item -Bǝšaan occurs only in the positive form, usually followed by the particle turǝ. Only the initial consonant of the suffix undergoes synharmonysm. Some examples with this suffix are: 17.

Mün soup

gïl-bǝšaan

make-PAST(+POST(-INTRA))

men. I

‘I am still preparing the soup.’ (fieldnotes) 18.

J̌ aγ

hayl-dǝr-bǝšaan

fat

melt-CAUS-PAST(+POST(-INTRA))

turǝ COP

‘The fat is still melting.’ (fieldnotes) Tofan shows the close formal and functional correspondence of this marker in the continuative present form -bïšaaŋga (Rassadin 1978: 208–209). As for Tuvan, the suffix -Bïšaan functions as a converb; see Isxakov & Pal’mbax (1961: 336–341), Anderson & Harrison (1999: 59) and Bergel’son & Kibrik (1995: 397). Concerning the origin of -Bǝšaan, Menges (1959: 665) views it as consisiting of -p-ïd-ayat-qan (-CB-‘to send’-CB + ‘lie’-POST). He defines it as “Presens continuativum”. Besides, it should be noted that Mongolic languages display the imperfect verbal nominal suffix -GA (Poppe 1964: 94) which functionally corresponds to Dukhan -Bǝšaan. 9.1.1.3 The markers -(Ĭ)p-durǝ, -(Ĭ)p-ǰoorǝ, -(Ĭ)p-ǰïhtǝrǝ and -(Ĭ)p-olǝrǝ Dukhan displays four parallel high-focal intraterminal viewpoint items formed by the converbial suffix -(Ĭ)p in combination with the four copula forms turǝ (< tur- ‘to stand up, to stand’), ǰoorǝ (