Existential meanings of verbs of position in space in the Khakass language

This paper investigates the Khakass lexemes pol- “to be,” tur- “to stand,” odyr- “to sit,” and chat- “to lie” belonging to the group of verbs of being denoting location and existence. These verbs are differentiated by their secondary meanings, which pertain to human body positions (sit, stand, lie down). They are semantically grouped together through the common notion of “to be, to abide, and to exist.” Based on the systematization of the secondary meanings, certain connections are established and some patterns of the meaning formation in terms of the development of this semantics are revealed. In the Khakass language, the secondary meanings of the verbs in question can express various kinds of spatial situations, depending on the type of the localizer and the localized subject. The subject type frequently relates to whether something is animate or inanimate, while the localizer type frequently specifies different space types and abstract phenomena where the subject exists, such as temporal, physical, or ideal spaces. The spatial localizer in this case signifies physical, ideal, and temporal spaces. A distinction is made between the values characterizing the location of entities in physical space. The verbs in question, when combined with temporal localizers, create meanings denoting the subject’s existence within a specific timeframe. When the verbs are integrated with ideal localizers, meanings are generated, signifying the subject’s existence within the intellectual domain.

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