Marking of function P on nouns (Synja Khanty)

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


(1) ńāwrem ńax-l.

child laugh-prs.3sg

‘The child is laughing.’ (S. O.)


(2) ńāwrem pisma xanš-l.

child letter write-prs.3sg

‘The child is writing a letter.’ (S. O.)


(3) ńāwrem-ǝn pisma xanš-l-a.

child-loc letter write-prs-pass.3sg

‘The letter is being written by the child.’ (F. L.)


(4) ńāwrem luwel kaš-l-ǝli.

child (s)he.acc look_for-prs-obj.3sg

‘The child is looking for him/her.’ (S. O.)


In Synja Khanty, the marking of the patient function is divided: nominal P’s are unmarked (2), while pronominal ones (4) are marked by the accusative–dative case. In the passive voice, P subjects are also unmarked (3), (5) in contrast to the A which is marked by the locative suffix. In the active voice, the S (1) and the A (2), (4) functions are also unmarked, thus the marking in the case of nominals is neutral (cf. Honti 1983, 1984: 88, 93‒96, Nikolaeva 1999a: 30‒34, 38‒39, Solovar 2009: 61‒81, 2010).

Author: 

Nikolett F. Gulyás