Search

POLYSEMY PATTERNS OF THE SIMILATIVE SUFFIX -LA IN HILL MARI // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2021. Issue 4 (34). P. 88-101

This article discusses the polysemy models of the Hill Mari suffix la, which main meaning is marking the standard of comparison in similative constructions: glottonym marker, marker of the actant in constructions with the verb madaš ‘play’, marker of the approximate localization. In addition to the typologically expected patterns of polysemy (for example, the marker of glottonyms or the complementizer marker in constructions with the verbs čučaš ‘seem’, kajaš ‘be seen, seem’), the Hill Mari similative marker la has some functions that are less studied from typological perspective. Previous research has shown that la can have different morphosyntactic restrictions depending on the context. The article presents the restrictions for contexts of la that were not studied previously in a proper way. Thus, when used as a glottonym marker or as a marker of an actant in constructions with the verb madaš ‘play’, la has a more limited morphosyntactic distribution compared to similative constructions and constructions with verbs like čučaš ‘seem’. Another context for la is locative expressions. The suffix is used to indicate the direction and not a final point. In this function, la is attached to a noun phrase marked by one of the locative cases, as well as to a postpositional group with a spatial postposition or to an adverb that retains the old forms of locative cases. It is important that la can be attached to all three locative cases, not just to the illative, as noted in the grammars. Moreover, the article analyzes the existing polysemy network: there is an attempt to present a possible invariant underlying all functions of the la. This is the similative meaning of the suffix, which is spread from the similative constructions to other contexts.

Keywords: Uralic languages, Hill Mari language, similative constructions, polysemy models, typology