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CODE-SWITCHING AS A CONTRASTIVE CONTEXT IN HILL MARI // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2019. Issue 1 (23). P. 56-68

This paper deals with the use of the marker POSS.3G with the form -žə̑ / -žə̈ / -šə̑ / -šə̈ in Hill Mari – one of the Finno-Ugric languages. This affix not only marks prototypical possessive relations (partwhole, kinship, etc.), but also has discourse functions. The discourse meanings of POSS.3SG are bound by the semantics of SELECTION FROM A SET, which brings together the use of the same marker on the levels of referential properties, topic-focus structure and global discourse structure, sometimes involving their interaction. The contexts with the marked code-switching are in the main focus of the paper. This marking fits the notion of POSS.3SG as a contrastive marker. The speaker often uses Russian words, when they fail to select corresponding Hill Mari ones. Possessive marking is met in light of so called Observer’s Paradox or “linguistic cleaning”: the speaker is conscious that the linguist is interested in their language in particular and tends to correct the speech to the detriment of the naturalness. Such metalinguistic usage of the marker of contrastiveness serves as the evidence not only of the separation of two mental lexicons of bilingual speakers, but also of the possibility of metalinguistic operations with them in some circumstances.

Keywords: discourse possessiveness, code-switching, contrastiveness, discourse marker, mental lexicon, bilingualism