Marking of function A on pronouns (Surgut Khanty)

Neutr: Case alignment is neutral: the functions S, A, and P are not marked morphologically.

NoAMark: The function A is not explicitly marked, while S, P, or both are marked. A is therefore marked with a zero (∅) morpheme.

AAff: The function A is marked with affixation.


(1) ʌüw ńēwrem-əʌ ʌāpət-ʌ.

he/she child-3sg feed-prs.3sg

‘He/she is feeding his/her child.’


(2) ʌüw nüŋ-at ʌāpət-ʌ.

he/she you-acc feed-prs.3sg

‘He/she is feeding you.’


(3) ʌüw-nə ńēwrem ʌāpət-ʌ-i.

he/she-loc child feed-prs-pass.3sg

‘The child is being fed by him/her.’


(4) ʌüw jīs-əʌ.

he/she cry-prs.3sg

‘He/she is crying.’


In Surgut Khanty, the A is in the nominative case in the active voice, which means that it takes a zero morpheme no matter whether it is expressed by a noun or a pronoun. In the case of nominal P’s, which are also unmarked, the S, A, and P roles are neutrally coded (1). However, if the P is expressed by a personal pronoun, it takes the accusative case, hence the A, S and P roles are morphologically distinguishable (cf. NoAMark value) (2). The passive is very frequent in Surgut Khanty, and in this construction the A is marked by the locative (3). The S is always in the nominative (4).

Author: 

Márta Csepregi