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EVIDENCE OF LANGUAGE CONTACT IN KOLYMA-ALAZEIA TUNDRA IN THE 19TH AND THE EARLY 20TH CENTURIES. TUNDRA YUKAGHIRS AND THEIR CONTACTS WITH THE NEIGHBOURS // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2022. Issue 1 (35). P. 56-77

This paper is the third one within the series of studies devoted to the linguistic situation in the Kolyma-Alazeia tundra, a region of intense ethnic and linguistic contacts, in the late 19th — early 20th centuries. The study focuses on Tundra Yukaghirs and the Tundra Yukaghir language, which was in contact with Chukchi, Even, Yakut and Russian. First, we provide a brief historical review on Yukaghirs in the 17–19th centuries, which shows that the region in question became a contact area only since the 18th century. Then, using the literature on the Yukaghir loanwords and our own field data, we consider the phenomena in Tundra Yukaghir that were caused by the influence of other languages of the Kolyma-Alazeia tundra. This overview displays that the number of lexical borrowings in the modern Yukaghir language is the lowest from Chukchi (less than 5), and comprises about 50 words from Even, more than 60 words from Yakut and, finally, more than 150 words from Russian. Based on the various sources (ethnographic literature, eyewitness accounts), we describe the social conditions that accompanied contacts between the representatives of various peoples in the Kolyma-Alazeia tundra. These data are compared with the data on linguistic evidence of the contacts. Contacts with Chukchis in the Kolyma-Alazeia tundra were quite recent, which explains the small number of borrowings in Yukaghir. On the contrary, marital and neighborly ties between Yukaghirs and Evens were very tight (for example, there were mixed Even-Yukaghir clans, and Even-Yukaghir bilingualism was most likely widespread). The relations between Yakuts and Yukaghirs were mainly of a commercial nature (Yakuts possessed valuable products of horse and cattle breeding). Contacts with Russians have ancient history, and in many cases they involved control over the state duties that was exercised by Russians, which indicates the hierarchical nature of these contacts. Thus, the study shows that a large number of borrowings can be explained both by the long-term history and cultural mixing (Evens and Yukaghirs), and the hierarchical nature of the relations between the communities in contact (Yakuts and Yukaghirs, Russians and Yukaghirs).

Keywords: Yukaghir languages, Tundra Yukaghir, Yukaghirs, language contact, multilingualism, lexis, loanwords, kinship terms

STRATEGIES OF ENCODING VOLITION IN HILL MARI // Tomsk Journal of Linguistics and Anthropology. 2022. Issue 3 (37). P. 69-87

The article discusses the expression of volition in Hill Mari, a language belonging to the Uralic family. The author focuses on two strategies for expressing volition: a synthetic strategy using the desiderative mood with the suffix -ne and an analytical strategy using the construction NMLZ + šoeš (‘achieve-NPST.3SG’). The semantics of these constructions is analyzed in terms of the subjects’ preference for certain alternatives, with the lexical verb representing the most preferred option. The construction with the desiderative suffix adds an additional component of the subjects’ strong willingness to realize their desire and take control of future events. The morphosyntax of the constructions is also compared, with the analytical construction being more flexible in terms of expressing tense and subject. The author also proposes a hypothesis about the development of the analytical construction in Hill Mari and other languages in the Volga region under the influence of Turkic languages, where a similar construction also exists. In contrast, languages in other groups of the Uralic family, such as Ugric and Samoyed, as well as the Permic language Komi, use constructions with the finite verb ‘want’ or a desiderative affix rather than an analytical construction with a grammaticalized verb of movement.

Keywords: volition, scale of alternatives, semantics, morphosyntax, areal typology, Hill Mari, Uralic languages