Transitive verbs of substance motion in Tatyshly Udmurt: a typological perspective

The paper discusses the lexical-semantic group of verbs describing caused substance motion (e.g. pour, sprinkle, etc.) in the Tatyshly variety of Udmurt, a peripheral southern dialect. The study employs a frame-based approach to lexical typology, using data elicited via a questionnaire containing diverse substance-motion contexts. Nine core verbs are identified and analyzed: vijatǝnǝ, ǯ’izatǝnǝ, lez’ǝnǝ, omǝrtǝnǝ, piz’nanǝ, kis’tǝnǝ, paz’gǝnǝ, pǝzgǝnǝ, and pal’kkǝnǝ. Their distribution is found to depend on multiple situational parameters: object type (e.g. liquid vs. granular), manner of motion (e.g. stream, drops, etc.), characteristics of source and goal (out of or into the container), and action intentionality (e.g. pouring tea into a cup vs. spilling it on the floor). Six verbs are derivationally linked to intransitive verbs of substance motion, either as causative derivatives (suffix -t) or by having a decausative pair (suffix -is’k). These verbs adhere to the distributional constraints previously established for their intransitive counterparts. A typological evaluation reveals patterns characteristic of Uralic languages, including various lexemes compatible with both liquid and granular substances. Specific Udmurt features are noted, such as a verb covering both stream and drop motion (vijatǝnǝ), a verb for sprinkling a pinch (piz’nanǝ), a verb for emptying a container (kis’tǝnǝ), several verbs for moving small portions of substance (ǯ’izatǝnǝ, paz’gǝnǝ, pǝzgǝnǝ, and pal’kkǝnǝ), and others.

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