Morphology of the imperative (Northern Mansi)

ImpSpecSgSpecPl: Second-person singular and plural each have a specific imperative form.


Indeterminate conjugation     

toti ’take’

2Sg      2Du     2Pl

tot-en tot-ēn tot-ēn

                                             

Determinate conjugation, singular object   

toti ’take’

2Sg.Sg    2Du.Sg   2Pl.Sg

totē-l-n tote-l-ēn tote-l-ēn

       


There are overt imperative morphemes in Northern Mansi: -en in the singular, -ēn in the dual and plural of the indeterminate conjugation. The two imperative morphemes are different forms since vowel length is distinctive feature in Northern Mansi. In the determinate conjugation, there is also a difference between the singular (-n) and the plural (-ēn) imperative forms (Rombandeeva 1973: 126). The dual and the plural forms are the same in the imperative, but it cannot be generalized to the entire conjugational paradigm. Dialectal variation is possible: e.g. in the Upper Lozva dialect, -an is the singular, -ān is the dual and the plural imperative form (Rombandeeva 1973: 126).

Author: 

Szilvia Németh