Lithuanian Inflection

2015 ◽  
pp. 446-464
Author(s):  
Axel Holvoet
Keyword(s):  
Verbal Inflection ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Evidential Paradigm

The chapter gives an overview of Lithuanian nominal and verbal inflection and discusses a number of contentious issues involving the demarcation of case and adposition, inflection and derivation, affix and clitic. The first issue is illustrated by the local cases of Old Lithuanian. These involve original postpositions added to case-marked forms. Lithuanian reflexive verb forms raise questions concerning the demarcation of clitics and affixes as well as that of inflection and derivation. A similar indeterminacy between proclitic and affix adheres to aspect, scope, and negation markers added to the verb. Baltic evidentials are an interesting instance of a syntactic phenomenon becoming morphologized and giving rise to an evidential paradigm. Finally, Lithuanian derivational aspect raises problems analogous to those of Slavic aspect, but these are made more complex by the weaker degree of grammaticalization of aspect in Lithuanian.

scholarly journals Even and the Northern Tungusic languages

2020 ◽  
pp. 288-304
Author(s):  
Brigitte Pakendorf ◽  
Natalia Aralova
Keyword(s):  
Small Group ◽  
Russian Federation ◽  
Amur Region ◽  
Vowel Harmony ◽  
Verbal Inflection ◽  
Extensive System ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Large Case

This chapter provides a concise structural overview of the three Northern Tungusic languages spoken in the Russian Federation, namely Even, Evenki, and Negidal. Even and Evenki are spoken by people who traditionally were fully nomadic hunters and reindeer herders, whereas Negidal is spoken by a small group who were traditionally semi-sedentary fishers and hunters. Typical features of these languages are root-based vowel harmony, large case systems, an extensive system of verbal inflection and derivation, and the widespread use of nonfinite verb forms in subordination. The three languages discussed here share large numbers of cognate forms, but also have notable individual features, such as the indefinite accusative case found in Evenki and Negidal, the refactive verb derivation that Negidal shares with other Tungusic languages of the Amur region, or the use of evaluative morphology to express (in)definiteness in Even.

scholarly journals Attractors of variation in Hungarian inflectional morphology

2018 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Péter Rácz ◽  
Péter Rebrus ◽  
Miklós Törkenczy
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Methods ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
Memory Model ◽  
Inflectional Morphology ◽  
Word Form ◽  
Adequate Description ◽  
Verbal Inflection ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Algorithmic Learning ◽  
Word Shape

AbstractWe use algorithmic learning and statistical methods over a form frequency list (compiled from the Hungarian web corpus) to investigate variation in Hungarian verbal inflection. Our aims are twofold: (i) to give an adequate description of this variation, which has not been described in detail in the literature and (ii) to explore the range and depth of lexical attractors that potentially shape this variation. These attractors range from closely related ones, such as the shape of the word form or the behaviour of the verb’s paradigm, to broad ones, such as the behaviour of similar verbs or the phonotactics of related verb forms. We find that verbal variation is predominantly determined by similarity to related verb forms rather than by word shape or by word frequency. What is more, the effect of similarity is better approximated using inflected forms as opposed to base forms as points of comparison. This, in turn, supports a rich memory model of morphology and the mental lexicon.

The Acquisition of Polysynthetic Verb Forms in Chintang

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine Stoll ◽  
Balthasar Bickel ◽  
Jekaterina Mažara
Keyword(s):  
Complex System ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
First Language ◽  
First Language Acquisition ◽  
Verbal Morphology ◽  
Verbal Inflection ◽  
Acquisition Process ◽  
Complex Part ◽  
Verb Forms

In first language acquisition research so far little is known about the affordances involved in children's acquisition of morphologies of different complexities. This chapter discusses the acquisition of Chintang verbal morphology. Chintang is a Sino-Tibetan (Kiranti) polysynthetic language spoken in a small village in Eastern Nepal by approximately 6,000 speakers. The most complex part of Chintang morphology is verbal inflection. A large number of affixes, verb compounding, and freedom in prefix ordering results in over 1,800 verb forms of single stem verbs and more than 4,000 forms if a secondary stem is involved. In this chapter we assess the challenges of learning such a complex system, and we describe in detail what this acquisition process looks like. For this we analyze a large longitudinal acquisition corpus of Chintang.

On the origin of the absolute vs. conjunct opposition in Insular Celtic

2018 ◽  
Vol 123 (1) ◽  
pp. 293-338
Author(s):  
Marco Budassi ◽  
Elisa Roma
Keyword(s):  
Anomalous Behaviour ◽  
Old Irish ◽  
Verbal Inflection ◽  
Double System ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
Morphological System ◽  
Compound Verb ◽  
Phonological Rules

Abstract Despite more than a century of research, the origin of the Insular Celtic double system of verbal inflection is still debated. In this paper, we defend the thesis that the set of absolute endings originated by the agglutination of a subject clitic to the verb form. This clitic marked the declarative (vs. relative) use of verbs, since its distribution was complementary to that of the relative marker *yo. The present indicative as well as the preterite (in both the absolute and conjunct inflection) of one strong verb (berid‘bring’) and one weak verb (lécid‘leave’) are reconstructed according to this theory. For compound verb forms, the clitic ~ *yoalternation can be posited as well. The cases in which the distribution of initial mutations on the verb stem after preverbs does not follow the diachronic phonological rules of Old Irish (that is, there is no lenition after preverbs originally ending in a vowel) are accounted for from a synchronic standpoint. This “anomalous” behaviour can be explained by positing that a functionally relevant (morphological) system of mutations had replaced the previous phonology-based system.

The Concept of Inchoativity in Works of Latin Grammarians

2021 ◽  
pp. 47-54
Author(s):  
Vlada A. Chernysheva ◽  
Keyword(s):  
19Th Century ◽  
Digital Library ◽  
Grammatical Category ◽  
Verbal Inflection ◽  
Tense And Aspect ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Textual Databases ◽  
Verbal Category ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Grammatical Tradition

This article touches upon the idea of inchoativity in the works of Roman grammarians. It aims to observe the development of the usage of the term inchoativus in the Roman grammatical tradition. The study is based on Latin grammatical treatises dating back to the 3rd-7th centuries A.D., the most part of which was published by Heinrich Keil in the second half of the 19th century. Besides Keil's edition, the article refers to recent editions of grammatical treatises. The study was conducted using three digital textual databases including Corpora Corporum, Digital Library of Latin Texts, and PHI Latin Texts. The Latin adjective inchoativus (or inco-hativus, а less common spelling), which literally means ‘inceptive, initial', is attested in three meanings and is used in collocations concerning verbal tense, verbal inflection, and conjunctions respectively. The first two usages were widespread and refer to verbal categories, while the last one is attested only once. The article is divided into two parts. The first one discusses collocations with types of verbal tense such as gradus ‘grade, degree', distantia ‘distance', differentia ‘difference', discertio ‘difference', species ‘aspect' and tempus ‘tense' itself. The second part deals with Roman grammatical categories including forma ‘form', qualitas ‘quality', species ‘aspect', genus ‘voice', figura ‘figure'. The study draws a conclusion that the adjective inchoativus/incohativus is used with categories of tense and aspect only in the works of early grammarians including Probus, Sacerdos, Diomedes, Charisius, and PseudoProbus. However, these grammarians also mention this term with regard to verb forms ending in -sco. Mostly, inchoativity is bound with the Roman verbal category of forma, which can be observed in the works by Dositheus, Phocas, Eutyches, Audax, Pseudo-Victorinus, Donatus and his commentators Sergius, Servius, Pompeius, Cledonius, and Julian of Toledo, and species (Macrobius, Priscian), which is not to be confused with the species of tense mentioned above. Pseudo-Asper is the only Roman grammarian who exceptionally puts inchoativity into the category of figura and spells inchoativus as incohativus. If the category of forma is absent, inchoativity is reckoned to be a verbal quality (Diomedes). Inchoativity is included into the category of voice in case voice is regarded as a subcategory of quality (Sacerdos, Pseudo-Probus, and Cledonius). In respect to forms ending in -sco, inchoativity is a manifestation of the so-called grammatical category of quality.

Preverbation and narrativity in Lithuanian. The distribution of finite simplex and compound verbs in narrative main clauses

2010 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 167-192
Author(s):  
Lea Sawicki
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Text ◽  
Past Tense ◽  
The Past ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Compound Verbs ◽  
Finite Verb

The article deals with the use of simplex and compound (prefixed) verbs in narrative text. Main clauses comprising finite verb forms in the past and in the past habitual tense are examined in an attempt to establish to what extent simplex and compound verbs exhibit aspect oppositions, and whether a correlation exists between the occurrence of simplex vs. compound verbs and distinct textual units. The investigation shows that although simple and compound verbs in Lithuanian are not in direct aspect opposition to each other, in the background text portions most of the verbs are prefixless past tense forms or habitual forms, whereas in the plot-advancing text portions, the vast majority of verbs are compound verbs in the simple past tense.  

[discussion materials] A remark on the Salos glossing rules: Verb forms

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 177-188
Author(s):  
Aleksey Andronov
Keyword(s):  
Verb Forms

This remark addresses the article by Nicole Nau and Peter Arkadiev "Towards a standard of glossing Baltic languages: The Salos Glossing Rules" published in the 6th volume of Baltic Linguistics.

Lexical Semantics of Russian Verbs and Their Function of Action Fixation Using Perfect Forms

2019 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-87
Author(s):  
Sergei A. Karpukhin
Keyword(s):  
Lexical Semantics ◽  
Russian Language ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Lexical Semantic ◽  
Objective Time ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
The Russian Language

This article describes the connection between perfect verb forms and the typical lexical meanings of generating imperfectives using the example of a prefix model in the Russian language. The research is based on a fundamentally new approach, i.e. the means of “fixing” action in the objective time. The relevance of combining the action and the situational background to the lexical-semantic groups of verbs is established. In the course of the research, the materials of the Bolshoi Akademichescky Slovar (Big Academic Dictionary) were used.

Features of optative modality in Macedonian language (with emphasis on the functionalities of independent da-construction)

2020 ◽  
pp. 301-323
Author(s):  
Natalya I. Kikilo ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Literary Language ◽  
Natural Context ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Verb Forms ◽  
Text Types ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Ritual Context

In the Macedonian literary language the analytic da-construction used in an independent clause has a wide range of possible modal meanings, the most common of which are imperative and optative. The present article offers a detailed analysis of the semantics and functions of the Macedonian optative da-construction based on fiction and journalistic texts. The first part of the article deals with the specificities of the optative as a category which primarily considers the subject of a wish. In accordance with the semantic characteristics of this category, optative constructions are used in those discourse text types where the speakers are explicitly designated (the most natural context for the optative is the dialogue). The analysis of the Macedonian material includes instances of atypical usage of the optative da-construction, in which the wish of the subject is not apparent and thereby produces new emotional tonalities perceptible to the reader of a fiction/journalistic text. The study describes Macedonian constructions involving two different verb forms: 1) present tense form (da + praes) and 2) imperfective form (da + impf). These constructions formally designate the hypothetical and counterfactual status of the optative situation, respectively. Thus, the examples in the analysis are ordered according to two types of constructions, which reflect the speaker’s view on the probability of the realisation of his/her wish. Unrealistic wishes can be communicated through the present da-construction, while the imperfective construction denotes situations in which the wish can be realised in the future. The second part of the article is devoted to performative optative da-constructions, which express formulas of speech etiquette, wishes and curses. The analysis demonstrates that these constructions lose their magical functions, when used outside of the ritual context, and begin to function as interjections.

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