Patient marking on the verb (Surgut Khanty)

PatNum: Transitive verbs show agreement with the patient in terms of number (e.g., singular, plural).

PatElse: Transitive verbs show agreement with the patient in terms of some other (or uncleared) grammatical criterion.


(1a) tēmi ivan rӯt. tēm rӯt ʌüw ʌüwə wär-təɣ.

det Ivan boat det boat he himself make-pst.obj.3sg

‘This is Ivan’s boat. He made it himself.’


(1b) tēmi ivan rӯt-ɣən. tēm rӯt-ɣən ʌüw ʌüwə wär-ɣəʌ.

det Ivan boat-du det boat-du he himself make-pst.du.obj.3sg

‘These two boats belong to Ivan. He made them himself.’


(1c) tēmi ivan rӯt-ət. tēm rӯt-ət ʌüw ʌüwə wär-ʌ.

det Ivan boat-pl det boat-pl he himself make-pst.pl.obj.3sg

‘These are Ivan’s boats. He made them himself.’


(2a) tēmi rӯt-əm. tēm rӯt mānə wär-em.

det I boat-1sg  det boat I myself make-pst.obj.1sg

‘This is my boat. I made it myself.’


(2b) tēmi rӯt-ɣəʌ-am. tēm rӯt-ɣən mānə wär-ɣəʌ-am.

det I boat-du-1sg det boat I myself make-pst.du.obj-1sg

‘These two boats are mine. I made them myself.’


(2c) tēmi rӯt-ʌ-am. tēm rӯt-ət mānə wär-ʌ-am.

det I boat-pl-1sg det boat-pl I myself make-pst.pl.obj-1sg

‘These are my boats. I made them myself.’


In Surgut Khanty, the determinate conjugation is used if the object is known (secondary topic, cf. Nikolaeva 1999, 2001). If the object is singular, the verbal suffix is different from the suffix of the indeterminate conjugation (1a), (2a). If the object is dual or plural, a number marker appears before the verbal affix. The dual object is marked by the ­ɣәʌ­ morpheme, (1b), (2b), while plural objects are signaled by the ­ʌ­ element (1c), (2c). These number marking suffixes are the same as the possessive dual and plural endings.

Author: 

Márta Csepregi