Search

METATHESIS AND REANALYSIS IN KET // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2013. Issue 1 (1). P. 14-26

This article provides and overview of Key morphological traits in Ket and other Yeniseian languages (Kott, Yugh). It first identifies and describes several key features inherited from Proto-Yeniseian (polysynthetic prefixing verb structure, possessive prefixes, phonemic tones). Next it discusses other features that arose or were influence areally by prolonged contact with the surrounding suffixal agglutinating languages (case suffix systems, encliticization of possessive prefixes, repositioning of the finite verb’s semantic head toward the verb word’s leftmost edge). Finally, five morphological features are considered that appear to be anomalous from a typological perspective as they cannot be shown to have been inherited from Proto-Yeniseian in their present functions yet also cannot have arisen through language contact. The features in question are: thematic consonants occupying verb agreement slots, seemingly redundant plural suffixes on verbs, sporadic plural agreement suffixes on adjectives, sporadic pluractional markers on infinitives, and irregular ablaut noun plural formation). Each of these traits is shown to have arisen due to metathesis between originally labial and non-labial segments. In some cases, the metathesis triggered secondary morphological reanalysis, as when original adjectival or infinitival derivational suffixes were reinterpreted as plural or pluractional markers due to homonymy with a common noun plural suffix, or when an original thematic consonant in verbs was reinterpreted as the homonymous inanimateclass agreement marker when it metathesized into that marker’s morpheme position.

Keywords: morphological typology, areal traits, Proto-Yeniseian, inherited traits, metathesis, reanalysis

LINGUO-CULTURAL INTERPRETATION OF METAMORPHOSIS IN THE NATIVE FOLKLORE OF OB-YENISEI AREA // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2016. Issue 2 (12). P. 73-80

This paper investigates linguistic and cultural aspects of metamorphosis of folklore characters of three peoples of Ob-Yenisei area: Ket, Selkup, and Khanty. This work focuses on variants of a single myth about the moon's origin shared by these three cultures. This myth revealed several metamorphoses, for example: man → man’s half without a heart → moon; man → swan → man’s half without a heart → moon, and the others. The structure of metamorphosis situations might include the following components: 1) who/what is transforming; 2) in whom/what subject is transforming; 3) initiator of transformation (if available); 4) what actions are accompanying and/or initiating the transformation. Thus the metamorphosis situation can be observed as a not elementary language unit, that is built by mutual penetration of composed components.

Keywords: folklore, Ob-Yenisei area, metamorphosis, lexical and grammatical means of realization