Article

Name: Case system in the Altai language (on material of three scientific grammars of the Altai language)

Authors: A. R. Tazranova

Institute of Philology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Novosibirsk, Russian Federation

In the section Linguistics

Abstract: On the basis of three scientific grammars, the author compares and analyses the changes in the Altai case system having occurred during the 148 since the release of the first Altai grammar. During that time, profound linguistic changes have taken place not only in the category of case, but also in phonetics, grammar, and syntax. The paper is to demonstrate the unity of the reflected material in the category of case and the dynamics of its development. The author takes into account that the object of description is unique for every grammar. For example, the Altai grammar includes the Teleut and Kalmyk dialects as well as the traits of the Kondom and taiga subdialects into the definition of the Altai language; N. P. Dyrenkova’s Oirot grammar presents rich reference materials for all Altai dialects. Hence, it is necessary to differentiate the Altai, Teleut, Kondom and taiga forms. The difference of modern grammar from the ones mentioned above is that the authors sought only to reflect the literary forms of the Altai language. The author distinguishes two meanings of the case: 1) case as a grammatical category denoting syntactic relations; 2) case as a specific form (basic, accusative, dative, ablative, locative, directive, instrumental). In the Altai language, basic, genitive, and accusative cases are grammatical, or syntactic, whereas the rest (locative, dative, directive, and ablative) compose the system of semantic, namely local, cases. It has been found that the three grammars serve as reflections of historical shifts in cases: what used to be a postposition-affix turns into an affix, and therefore the paradigm replenishment occurs as a result of postposition synthesising. Literary fiction and mass media written in Altai language play a significant role in this process.

Keywords: altai language, morphology, case, case form, postposition, affixation, grammaticalization, synthesizing

Bibliography:

Baskakov N. A. Istoriko-tipologicheskaya morfologiya tyurkskikh yazykov [Historical and typological morphology of Turkic languages]. Moscow, 1979, 227 p.

Borgoyakov M. I. Razvitie padezhnykh form i ikh znacheniy v khakasskom yazyke [Development of case forms and their values in the Khakass language]. Abakan, 1976, 159 p.

Cheremisina M. I., Ozonova A. A., Tazranova A. R. Elementarnoe prostoe predlozhenie s glagol’nym skazuemym v tyurkskikh yazykakh Yuzhnoy Sibiri [Elementary simple sentence with a verbal predicate in Turkic languages of Southern Siberia]. Novosibirsk, 2008, 205 p.

Dmitriev N. K. Turetskiy yazyk [Turkish language]. Moscow, 1960, 146 p.

Dyrenkova N. P. Grammatika oyrotskogo yazyka [Grammar of Oyrot language]. Moscow, Leningrad, 1940, 302 p.

Gadzhieva N. Z. Problemy tyurkskoy areal’noy lingvistiki [Problems of Turkic areal linguistics]. Moscow, Nauka, 1975, 302 p.

Grammatika altayskogo yazyka [Grammar of the Altai language]. Kazan, 1869, 285 p.

Grammatika altayskogo yazyka. 2-e izd. [Grammar of the Altai language. 2nd ed.]. Gorno-Altaysk, 2005, 346 p.

Grammatika sovremennogo altayskogo yazyka. Morfologiya [Grammar of the modern Altai language. Morphology]. Gorno-Altaysk, 2017, 575 p.

Kazem-Bek M. A. Obshchaya grammatikai turetsko-tatarskogo yazyka [General grammar of Turkish Tatar]. Kazan, 1846, 382 p.

Kononov A. N. Grammatika sovremennogo turetskogo literaturnogo yazyka [Grammar of the modern Turkish literary language]. Moscow, Leningrad, 1956, 569 p.

Nevskaya I. A. Spornye voprosy altayskoy grammatiki: o statuse formy na =ДЫй [Controversial issues of the Altai grammar: about the status of a form on =ДЫй]. In: Rossiyskaya tyurkologiya [Russian turkology]. 2016, no. 1(14), pp. 3–14.

Plungyan V. A. Obshchaya morfologiya [General morphology]. Moscow, 2000, 384 p.

Serebrennikov B. A., Gadzhieva N. Z. Sravnitel’no-istoricheskaya grammatika tyurkskikh yazykov [Comparative-historical grammar of Turkic languages]. Moscow, 1986, 301 p.

Sevortyan E. V. Kategoriya padezha [Category of a case]. Issledovanie po sravnitel’noy grammatike tyurkskikh yazykov. Ch. 2: Morfologiya [A research on comparative grammar of Turkic languages. Pt 2: Morphology]. Moscow, 1956, pp. 45–56.

Tybykova A. T. Bezaffiksnaya forma imeni sushchestvitel’nogo v roli pryamogo dopolneniya v altayskom yazyke [al form of a noun without suffix as a direct object in the Altai language]. In: Morfologiya tyurkskikh yazykov Sibiri [Morphology of Turkic languages of Siberia]. Novosibirsk, 1985, pp. 84–85.

Ubryatova E. I. Issledovanie po sintaksisu yakutskogo yazyka [Study of Yakut syntax]. Moscow, Leningrad, 1950, 118 p.

Ubryatova E. I. Issledovaniya po tyurkskim yazykam. Izbrannye trudy [Researches on Turkic languages]. Novosibirsk, 2011, 280 p.

Zherebilo T. V. Terminy i ponyatiya obshchey morfologii: Slov.-sprav. [Terms and concepts of general morphology: Words.-Reference]. Nazran, Piligrim, 2011, 44 p.

Bӧhtlingk O. Über die Sprache der Jakuten. St. Petersburg, 1851, 184 p.