The Functions of the Possessive Affixes in Tundra Nenets and Vakh Khanty

The aim of this article is to define the semantics of the lexemes marked by possessive affixes in Tundra Nenets and Vach Khanty and therefore to get the semantics of the possessive affixes established. The defined semantics both in Tundra Nenets and Vach Khanty are compared. Possessive affixes can function as independent affixes marking lexemes of different theme groups. Markedness of the lexemes by possessive affixes can be a part of bigger constructions like head-marked and double marked constructions. The aim of this article is to study the independent usage of possessive affixes in Tundra Nenets and Vach Khanty as morphological means of expressing possession to a person. This research is based on the glossed corpus of Tundra Nenets folklore texts and Vach Khanty field recorded texts. Both languages are recognized as endangered. To analyze the semantics of the possessive affixes, a narrow approach to possessive semantic relations has been applied. Theme groups of the lexems marked by the possessive affixes have been defined, the semantics of the possessive affixes thus have been established for each theme group. These are: kinship terms, body parts, objects of legal ownership, processes and results of those, locations. Tables with comparatible examples of the theme groups and resulting semantic relations in Tundra Nenets and Vach Khanty are presented. In Tundra Nenets the list of the parts of speech able to be marked by possessive affixes is not limited only to nouns, but also includes pronouns, adjectives, numerals and postpositions derived from nouns. The spectrum of the lexemes marked by possessive affixes and possessive semantic relations are practically similar in Tundra Nenets and Vach Khanty, but the obligation of the markedness is different. For example, in Tundra Nenets lexemes of the theme groups ʻbody partsʼ and ʻkinship termsʼ are obligatorily marked by the possessive affixes while in Vach Khanty the lexemes of these theme groups are not. In addition, in Tundra Nenets folklore texts and speech a lot of examples were found implying that possessive are affixes also used to express definiteness, referentiality, amplification besides the possessive semantics. The examples of such usage of possessive affixes in Vach Khanty texts are found to be sporadic. In general, a tendency for coding possessive relations with lexical means is spotted in Vach Khanty due to the Russian interference. In Tundra Nenets the usage of markedness with possessive affixes is still widely spread. The relevance of the article is based on several notions: researching means of expressing possession is essential not only from a linguistic point of view, but also from a cultural one, because defining possessive semantics and possessives helps to understand the personal sphere limits of influence assigned by language to every speaker. In this article, the analysis of morphological means of expressing possession is done from typological and crosslinguistic perspectives.

possession, possessive affixes, theme groups, semantic relations, languages of Siberia, Tundra Nenets, Vach Knanty

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