Basic word order of nominal adverbials (Udmurt)

XOV & XVO & VXO & VOX

XOV: The basic word order is XOV.

XVO: The basic word order is XVO.

VXO: The basic word order is VXO.

VOX: The basic word order is VOX.

(1)tabörśykyšnomurtsssr-yśvcik-lentöro-jez-lym.kalińin-ly
thisafterwomanUSSRELAVCIKGENleader3SGDATM.KalininDAT
gožtetgožt-e (...)
letterwrite3SG
’After this the woman writes a letter to M. Kalinin, head of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of the USSR (...)' (Udmurt Dunne 2020/11)

(2)ivanluppovičkyšno-jez-leśgožtetbaśt-e.
IvanLuppovichwife3SGABLletterget3SG
’Ivan Luppovich receives a letter from his wife.’ (Y. S)

(3)ivanluppovičbaśt-ekyšno-jez-leśgožtet.
IvanLuppovichget3SGwife3SGABLletter
’Ivan Luppovich receives a letter from his wife.’ (Y. S.)

(4)lingvist-josötća-zyerika-jezodigužrad-e.
linguistPLinvitePST.3PLErikaACConeeventILL
‘The linguists invited Erika to an event.’ (Y. S.)

(5)orgańizator-josiževsk-eötća-zypörtemudys-yśspecialist-jos-ty.
organizerPLIzhevskILLinvitePST.3PLvariousareaELAspecialistPLACC
’The organizers invited specialists of various fields to Izhevsk.’ (Y. S.)

(6)orgańizator-josötća-zyIževsk-epörtemudys-yśspecialist-jos-ty.
organizerPLinvitePST.3PLIzhevskILLvariousareaELAspecialistPLACC
’The organizers invited specialists of various fields to Izhevsk.’ (Y. S.)

In Udmurt, the basic word order can be both SOV and SVO, irrespective of the definiteness and other grammatical properties of S and O (Asztalos 2018, see also the parameter on Basic word order (S, V, O)). Nominal adverbials can appear in XOV (1)–(2), VXO (3), (6), VOX (4) and XVO (5) orders, the neutral status of a particular order, however, depends on the type of the nominal adverbial, the context, as well as the lexical meaning of certain sentence elements. More research is needed to establish the details.

Author: Laura Horváth


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