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SUFFIXAL PREDICATES IN CHUKCHI: SEMANTICS, TYPOLOGY AND ORIGINS // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2019. Issue 3 (25). P. 9-21

The paper discusses the semantics of certain suffixal predicates (bound verbalizers with concrete, root-like semantics) in Amguema Chukchi. I study the semantic oppositions in the system of Chukchi suffixal predicates on the basis of my field data. This study shows that Chukchi suffixal predicates exhibit bleached (as compared to the semantics of the corresponding verbal roots) semantics. Still, this group of suffixes retain some semantic properties which align these predicates with verbal roots and distinguish them from the Chukchi verbalizers in the strict sense. These properties include the specification of the manner of action and of the resultant state to which this action leads. I compare the semantic properties of Chukchi suffixal predicates with the properties of affixal predicates in other languages, including Inuktitut (Eskimo-Aleut) studied by Johns (2007), Bella Coola (Salish) studied by Mithun (1997) and Oneida (Iroquoian) studied by Barrie (2011). This comparison provides an evidence that one of the most probable sources of affixal predication construction in Chukchi is noun incorporation construction. Finally, I highlight some evidence which may serve to distinguish between the two grammaticalization sources of affixal predication in general. Namely, the erosion and bleaching of verbs in noun incorporation construction and the morphologization of light verbs in light verb construction.

Keywords: The Chukchi language, affixal predication, denominal verbs, lexical affixes, grammaticalization