Lexical and semantic correlations of verbs with figurative-characterizing meaning in the Khakas and Altai languages (in Contrast with the Kipchak languages)

We study the correlations between figurative-characterizing verbs in Turkic languages of Siberia (Altai, Khakas) and Kipchak languages (Kyrgyz, Kazakh, Bashkir). In these languages, we distinguish a small ancient group of figurative stems common for all Turkic, and sometimes also Mongolian and Tungusic languages. In the Altai and Khakass languages, there are commonalities and differences in the formation of complex words from figurative bases both between these languages themselves and with Kipchak. One common trait of these languages is the simultaneous formation of figurative-characterizing verbs and their Aktionsart meaning defined by an auxiliary verb (in analytic word formation) or certain affixes: =y characterizes a state while =ŋda ~ =ŋna ~ =ŋnaa denotes an evenly distributed meaning of action. The =(а)y affix is also found in the Mongolian language while =ŋda ~ =ŋna ~ =ŋnaa is typical for the Siberian and Kipchak languages. The difference in the formation of complex verbs with figurative-characterizing meaning lies in the usage of different verb components: Alt. et= ‘to do’; Khak. tüs= ‘to go down’, pol= ‘to be’, it= ‘to do’ (rarely); Kyrg., Kaz. et= ‘to do’, ber= ‘to take’, qaq= ‘to knock’, etc. The analysis of correlations has shown their small number among complex words and greater number among synthetic words, with a high number of Mongolian loanwords common for Siberian and Kipchak languages. In figurative-characterizing verbs, most correlations found in Siberian languages (without those in Kipchak) are derived from all-Turkic stems. No Altai-Kipchak correlations without their presence in the Khakass language were found, while there are a few correlations with Kyrgyz language. Also, no Khakas-Kipchak correlations were detected.

Keywords

Authors

References