1 / 22

Modal verbs in Balto-Finnic

Petar Kehayov & Reeli Torn University of Tartu. Modal verbs in Balto-Finnic. Types of modality The inventory of modal verbs in Balto-Finnic Grammaticalization parameters Language contact. Key issues. Modality types (van der Auwera & Plungian 1998). Possibility. Non-epistemic possibility.

howard
Download Presentation

Modal verbs in Balto-Finnic

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Petar Kehayov & Reeli Torn University of Tartu Modal verbs in Balto-Finnic

  2. Types of modality The inventory of modal verbs in Balto-Finnic Grammaticalization parameters Language contact Key issues

  3. Modality types (van der Auwera & Plungian 1998) Possibility Non-epistemic possibility Epistemic possibility (uncertainty) Participant-internal possibility (Dynamic possibility, Ability) Participant-external possibility Non-deontic possibility Deontic possibility (Permission) Participant-internal necessity (Need) Non-deontic necessity Deontic necessity (Obligation) Epistemic necessity (Probability) Participant-external necessity Non-epistemic necessity Necessity

  4. The inventory of modal verbs in Balto-Finnic POSSIBILITY NECESSITY in all 7 languages täytyä in  5 languages lie- in  3 languages pitää voida saada tulla tarvita

  5. The premodal meanings of these core verbs voida ‘to be able/capable’ < *‘to be strong’ (Saukkonen 1966: 74–75) saada ‘to get’ <*‘to come’ (Saukkonen 1966: 5) pitää ‘to seize; to hold’ (Saukkonen 1965: 113; Laitinen 1992: 137) tulla ‘to come’ täytyä ‘to get filled; to suffice’ (Saukkonen 1965: 144) tarvita ‘to need’ (Laitinen 1992: 130) lie- modal variant of auxiliary ‘be’(Saukkonen 1965: 174)

  6. Impersonal vs personal pattern Minavarimpid’läem. (Salats) Iearliermust(=hold).PST.1SG go-INF ‘I had to leave earlier.’ Minnәnvarald pidiksläem. (Piza) I-DATearly must(=hold)-COND.3SG go-INF ‘I had to leave earlier’

  7. Grammaticalization parameters (Lehmann 2002) Integrity (semantic bleaching, formal erosion) Paradigmaticity Paradigmatic variability Structural scope Bondedness Syntagmatic variability

  8. Integrity: semantic bleachingSemantic bleaching leads to polyfunctionality; e.g. saada ‘get’

  9. Integrity: formal erosion Morphological degeneration: lack of person/number inflection; lack of mood inflection; lack of voice inflection; lack of tense inflection; lack of negative or positive forms; lack of nominalization(s) that are productive with other verbs.

  10. Loss of person inflection:a shift from personal to impersonal pattern Old Written Estonian a. Nende tähtes sannade sees tullewad meil keige ennamiste these important word-PL.GEN in come-PRS.3PL we-ADE SUPER most kaks asja tähhele panna (Seitse Paasto-Jutlust 1817: 56: Penjam 2005: 106) two thing-PRT to_notice-INF ‘In these important words there are two things that need to be noticed above all’ Modern Standard Estonian b. Nende tähtsate sõnade sees tuleb meil kõigerohkem these important.PL word-PL.GEN in come-PRS.3SG we-ADE SUPER most kahte asja tähele panna. two-PRT thing-PRT to_notice-INF ‘In these important words there are two things that need to be noticed above all.’

  11. Lack of nominalization(s) that are productive with other verbs:e.g. lack of agentive nounendingin –ja a. ta tahab tulla ‘s/he wants to come’ → tulla tahtja ‘one who wants to come’ b. ta võib tulla ‘s/he can come’ → *tullavõija ‘one who can come’

  12. ParadigmaticityParadigmaticization: shift from an open class to a closed class of words, increase in irregularity, fossilization Example of fossilization: the form of the potential moodof the Finnish verb lie- has become a modal particle/adverb Väliaikana lienee valmistellaan jo seuraavaa break-ESS be(=SPPL)-POT prepare-PRS.PASS already next-PRT kokousta. (ISK 2004: 1522) meeting-PRT ‘Probably preparations will already be made for the next meeting during the break.’

  13. Paradigmatic variability: the freedom to chose between various means for expressing the category or to leave the category unspecified The decrease of such freedom is called “obligatorification” by Lehmann. For example, the Estonian necessity verb tulema ‘to come’ requires the subject of the infinitive to be animate (b). In contrast, the verb pidama ‘to hold’, which is also used for expressing necessity, does not show such a restriction (a), and, is, thus, more obligatory: a. Mütspeabpeas olema. capmust(=hold)-3SG head-INE be-INF ‘A cap must be worn.’ (Uuspõld 1989: 475) b. *Mütsiltulebpeas olla. cap-ADEmust(=come)-3SGhead-INEbe-INF ‘A cap must be worn.’ (Uuspõld 1989: 475)

  14. Structural scope The structural scope of a gram is the structural size of the construction it helps to form. The structural scope of the verbs following the personal pattern – see Karelianvoija in (a) – is narrower than the structural scope of those following the impersonal pattern – see Karelian piteä in (b). a. Mie voin lähtie makuamah. I can-1SG go-INF sleep-INF ‘I can go to sleep.’ b. Miulapitäylähtie makuamah. I-ADE/ALLmust(=hold)-3SG go-INF sleep-INF ‘I must go to sleep.’ (Pekka Zaikov, p.c.)

  15. Bondedness; Syntagmatic variability Bondedness: The syntagmatic cohesion or bondedness of a sign is the intimacy with which it is connected with another sign to which it bears a syntagmatic relation. Syntagmatic variability: Syntagmatic variability concerns the positional mutability of a sign with respect to those constituents with which it forms a construction.

  16. Language contact Types of language contact: Lexical borrowing Code-copying

  17. Language contact: code-copying Karelian: due to the intense contact with Russian practically all core modal verbs can occur in the impersonal pattern.

  18. Voidgo miuлa teil’ä üödä moata. can(=be_able)-3SG-Q I-ADE/ALLyou-ADE/ALLnight-PRT sleep-INF ‘Can I sleep at your place tonight.’ (Palmeos 1962: 33). Suawgolähtie sinul? (SKJ-LD 1990: 364) get(=get)-3SG-Qdepart-INF you-ADE/ALL ‘Can you go?’ Koska autorikkautu, meilä piti because carbrake-REFL-PST.3SGwe-ADE/ALL must(=hold)-PST.3SG kulkie. walk-INF ’Because the car broke down, we had to walk.’ (Pekka Zaikov: Standard Karelian p.c.)

  19. Hänellä tarviččenut sukeltaa. (Anastassia Trifonova: Olonets p.c.) s/he-ADE need-PST.PTCP dive-INF ‘S/he had to dive.’ miuлtuloo sanuo (Saukkonen 1965: 154) I-ADE/ALL must(=come)-3SG say-INF ‘I must say.’ Miuл täydyö lähtie (Saukkonen 1965: 147) I-ADE/ALL must(=get_filled)-3SG depart-INF ‘I need to go.’ miula l´ienöu ruadua. (KKS III 1983: 86) I-ADE/ALL must(=be)-3SG work-INF ‘I must work.’

  20. Verbs used with the impersonal modal pattern WESTERN EASTERN Livonian Estonian Finnish Votic Ingrian Karelian Veps voida ‘to be able’ NO NO NO YES ? YES YES saada ‘to get’ NO NO NO YES ? YES YES pitää ‘to hold’ YES NO YES YES YES YES YES

  21. West-east cline: WEST EAST high polyfunctionality of ‘to get’ 2) verbs of possibility always occur in personal pattern 3) preference for modal verbs low polyfunctionality of ‘to get’ 2) verbs of possibility also occur in impersonal pattern 3) preference for modal adverbs

  22. Conclusions • Seven core modal verbs in Balto-Finnic. • Semantically defined class with rather heterogeneous morphosyntactic properties. • Relatively low degree of grammaticalization. • The modal system of Balto-Finnic has been subjected to a considerable external influence.

More Related