Article

Name: Comparative affix -DYy and modal-comparative markers derived from this affix (a case study of the Altai language)

Authors: Aiiana A. Ozonova, Larisa N. Tybykova

Institute of Philology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation; Gorno-Altaisk State University, Gorno-Altaisk, Russian Federation

In the section On the 100th anniversary of the birth of Professor M. I. Cheremisina

Abstract:

The paper examines the semantics and functioning of the comparative affix -DYy and modal-comparative markers derived from this affix in the Altai language. -DYy is a common marker in comparative constructions indicating a realistic comparison. Originating as a postposition, it frequently appears in various Turkic languages. In the Altai language, the status of this affix is not unambiguous, being commonly categorized as a postposition-affix, case form, or derivational morpheme. It signifies the comparative relationships of similarity between situations or objects. In modern Altai, -DYy is a part of two participle affixes, namely the comparative -GAndYy and -GAdYy denoting possibility or suggestion and a part of the modal particle nemediy (as if). All these markers are found to preserve, to varying degrees, the semantics of comparison carried by the affix -DYy, and then to develop the semantics of modality. The -GAndYy participles form synthetic comparative polypredicative constructions, with the standard of comparison thought of as not actually existing but serving as an ideal or standard for some event. The -GAdYy participles denote the semantics of potential possibility and suggestion. The particle nemediy conveys the modal meaning of seemingness and probability of action. All the markers under consideration can denote seemingness when combined with verbs of perception. The semantics analysis of the markers containing -DYy has revealed the connection between non-real comparison and modality and the development of semantics of appearance, with the possibility being the next stage of semantic development.

Keywords: Altai language, syntax, comparison, comparative construction, comparison indicator, comparison parameter, unreal modality, appearance, possibility

Bibliography:

Arutyunova N. D. Yazyk i mir cheloveka [Language and the human world]. Moscow, LRC Publishing House, 1999, 896 p.

Cheremisina M. I. Nekotorye voprosy sintaksisa. Sravnitel’nye konstruktsii sovremennogo russkogo yasyka [Some questions of syntax. Russian comparative constructions]. Novosibirsk, NSU Publ., 1971, 181 p.

Cheremisina M. I. Sravnitel’nye konstruktsii russkogo yazyka [Comparative constructions in the Russian language]. Novosibirsk, Nauka, 1976, 270 p.

Cheremisina M. I., Tybykova A. T. O modal’nyh formah skazuemyh altayskogo yazyka [On modal forms of predicates of the Altai language]. In: Komponenty predlozheniya (na materiale yazykov raznykh sistem) [Sentence components (based on the material of languages of different systems)]. Novosibirsk, 1988, pp. 3–23.

Drevnetyurkskiy slovar’ [Ancient Türkic dictionary]. Leningrad, Nauka, 1969, 676 p.

Dyrenkova N. P. Grammatika shorskogo yazyka [Grammar of the Shor language]. Moscow, St. Petersburg, AN SSSR, 307 p.

Fedina N. N., Koshkareva N. B. Reduktsiya kak mekhanizm var’irovaniya sravnitel’nykh analitiko-sinteticheskikh polipredikativnykh konstruktsiy s poslelogom shylap/ shchylap/shchynap ‘kak, kak budto’ v chalkanskom yazyke [Reduction as a mechanism of variation of comparative analytical-synthetic polypredicative constructions with the postposition shylap/shchylap/shchynap ‘as if’ in the Chalkan language]. Yazyki i Fol’klor Korennykh Narodov Sibiri (Languages and Folklore of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia). 2023, no. 2 (iss. 46), pp. 53‒64. DOI 10.25205/2312-6337-2023-2-53-64

Fedina N. N., Koshkareva N. B., Plotnikov I. M. Sravnitel’nye konstruktsii s polifunktsional’noy leksemoy ush ‘kak; takoy zhe’ kak sredstvo formirovaniya obraznosti v chalkanskom fol’klore [Comparative constructions with the multifunctional lexeme ush ‘as; the same as’ as a means of forming figurativeness in Chalkan folklore]. Epic studies. 2023, no. 4, pp. 62–75. DOI 10.25587/2782-4861-2023-4-62-75

Gorbunova V. A. Sposoby vyrazheniya sravneniya v ul’chskom yazyke [Ways of expressing comparison in the Ulch language]. Sibirskii Filologicheskii Zhurnal (Siberian Journal of Philology). 2023, no. 2, pp. 286–299. DOI 10.17223/1813 7083/83/22

Grammatika altayskogo yazyka. Sostavlena chlenami Altayskoy dukhovnoy missii [Grammar of the Altai language: Compiled by members of the Altai spiritual mission]. Кazan, 1869, 291 p.

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

Konyrov T. Strukturno-semanticheskaya priroda sravneniya v kazakhskom yazyke (komparativnye konstruktsii) [Structural-semantic foundations of comparison in Kazakh (comparative constructions)]. Alma-Ata, Mektep, 1985, 215 p.

Koshkareva N. B., Plotnikov I. M. Metayazyk opisaniya semantiki sravneniya kak yazykovogo znaka [Metalingistic representation of the semantics of comparison as a linguistic sign]. Kritika i Semiotika (Critique and Semiotics). 2023, no. 2, pp. 180–216. DOI 10.25205/2307-1753-2023-2-180-216

Nevskaya I. A. Spornye voprosy altayskoy grammatiki: o statuse formy na -DYy v altayskom literaturnom yazyke [On disputable issues of the Altai grammar: on the status of the form -DIy in the Altay literary language]. Russian Turkology. 2016, no. 1 (14), pp. 3–15.

Nevskaya I. A., Tazhibaeva S. Zh. Issledovanie sravnitel’nykh konstruktsiy v tyurkskikh yazykakh (sravnitel’no-sopostavitel’nyy aspekt) [Research on comparative constructions in Turkic languages (a comparative aspect)]. In: Predlozhenie kak edinitsa yazyka i rechi: Materialy Vseros. nauch. simpoziuma s mezhdunarodnym uchastiem [Sentence as a unit of language and speech: All-Russian scientific symposium with participation of foreign scholars]. E. V. Tyuntesheva (Ed.). Novosibirsk, Akademizdat, 2019, pp. 183–187.

Nevskaya I. А. Tipologicheskie osobennosti shorskikh ekvativnykh i similyativnykh konstruktsiy [Typological features of Shor equative and similative constructions]. Sibirskii Filologicheskii Zhurnal (Siberian Journal of Philology). 2022, no. 4, pp. 286–299. DOI 10.17223/18137083/81/22

Ozonova A. A. Sposoby vyrazheniya sravneniya v altayskom epose (na materiale eposa “Ochy-Bala”) [Ways of expressing comparison in the Altai epic (on the material of the epic “Ochy-Bala”)]. Epic studies. 2023, no. 3, pp. 42–55. DOI 10.25587/2782-4861-2023-3-42-55

Ozonova A. A. Sravnitel’naya polipredikativnaya konstruktsiya s poslelogom chylap/chilep ‘kak, kak budto’ v altayskom yazyke [Comparative polypredicative construction with the postposition chylap/chilep ‘as if’ in the Altai language]. Sibirskii Filologicheskii Zhurnal (Siberian Journal of Philology). 2023, no. 4, pp. 260–271. DOI 10.17223/18137083/85/19

Shamina L. A. Strategiya markirovaniya komparativnoy leksiki v tuvinskikh tekstakh [Strategy of labeling comparative lexicon in Tuvan texts]. Vestnik of Tuvan State University. Issue 1. Social sciences and humanities. 2022, no. 1 (88), pp. 35–46.

Shamina L. A. Genitivnye i ablativnye posessivnye konstruktsii kak markery sravneniya v tuvinskom yazyke [Genitive and ablative possessive constructs as markers of comparison in the Tuvan language]. Sibirskii Filologicheskii Zhurnal (Siberian Journal of Philology). 2023, no. 4, pp. 243–259. DOI 10.17223/18137083/85/18

Shentsova I. V. Pragmatika komparativnykh konstruktsiy v epicheskikh tekstakh tyurkov Sayano-Altaya [Pragmatics of comparative constructions in epic texts of Sayano-Altai Turks]. Kritika i Semiotika (Critique and Semiotics). 2022, no. 2, pp. 10–23. DOI 10.25205/ 2307-1737-2022-2-158-173

Tybykova L. N. Semanticheskie tipy imennykh sravnitel’nykh konstruktsiy v altayskom yazyke [Semantic types of nominal comparative constructions in the Altai language]. In: Yazyk i kul’tura altaytsev [The language and culture of the Altaians]. Gorno-Altaisk, Gorno-Altayskaya respublikanskaya tipografiya, 1993, pp. 55–69.

Tybykova L. N. Sravnitel’nye konstruktsii altayskogo yazyka [Comparative constructions in the Altai language]. Abstract of Cand. philol. sci. diss. Alma-Ata, 1989, 17 p.

Tybykova L. N. Sintaksicheskie funktsii formy na =gandyy v altayskom yazyke [Syntactic functions of the form on =gandy in the Altai language]. In: Komponenty predlozheniya (na materiale yazykov raznykh sistem) [Sentence components (based on the material of languages of different systems)]. Novosibirsk, 1988, pp. 88–101.

Vasil’ev Yu. I. Sposoby vyrazheniya sravneniya v yakutskom yazyke [Means of expressing comparison in the Yakut language]. Novosibirsk, 1986, 111 p.