Votian/Present Tense

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Present tense [1][edit | edit source]

Morphemes[edit | edit source]

Person

Singular

Plural

1. -n -mmak
2. -t -ttak
3. -p -vat

Pronunciation[edit | edit source]

  1. Final -n is omitted everywhere in Eastern Votic dialect including the first person of singular. It causes lengthening of the preceding vowel pronounced and sometimes gemination of a short consonant preceding the vowel e.g. tuл̆лē̮ ('I come' < *tule-n), luğgē̮ ('I read'[2] < *luge-n).
    1. All the other dialects both in Ingria and Estonia pronounce it n e.g. elän ('I live.').
  2. The morpheme -mmak of the first person of plural is pronounced as -mmaG or -mmäG in Eastern Votic dialect depending in vowel harmony e.g. sāmmaG ('We get (it).') vs. mǖmmäG ('We sell.').
    1. All the other dialects both in Ingria and Estonia pronounce it -mma or -mmä depending in vowel harmony e.g. sāmma ('We get (it).') vs. mǖmmä ('We sell.').
    2. In Jõgõperä dialect it may be sometimes pronounced as -mme̮ or -mme depending in prosody e.g. nüttä sǖmme i jūmme̮ ('Now we('ll) eat and drink.').
    3. In Western Votic dialects it may sometimes drop it's final vowel and sound simply -m̄ depending in prosody e.g. kē̮s ̮tue̮ tağgāz? ('When we('ll) come back.' in Mati dialect).
    4. In Alutaguse dialects [3] the geminated mm has weakened after an unstressed syllable.
      1. In Lüganuse dialect it is pronounced m̆m then e.g. eläm̆mä ('We live.').
      2. In Jõhvi, Iisaku and Western Vaivara dialect it is degeminated to m in every position, if the preceding syllable does not carry a secondary stress e.g. luGesimma ('We read (in past).') vs. annama ('We give (something).' in [[Iisaku dialect]).
    5. In old Lüganuse dialect the morpheme -mmak of the first person of plural was pronounced maije or mäije after a secondary stress [4] e.g. ve̮ttamaije ('We take (something).').
      1. This ending may be composed of -mma and the first person's pronoun of plural meije e.g. ve̮ttamaije < *ve̮ttama meije (even though usually a subject does not follow a verb) or it may be influenced by maije infinitive.
  3. The morpheme -t of the second person of singular is pronounced as -D both in Ingria and Estonia e.g. eläD ('You live.').
    1. It may be sometimes pronounced -t or -d caused by sandhi e.g. ve̮ttaizid ̮enellēz ('You might take it (for yourself).') or e̮sit ̮kaunī tšiutō ('You bought a beautiful shirt.'). (Unfortunately the examples above are not in present tense of indicative.)
  4. The morpheme -ttak of the second person of plural is pronounced as -ttaG or -ttäG in Eastern Votic dialect depending in vowel harmony e.g. sāttaG ('You get (it).') vs. mǖttäG ('You sell.').
    1. All the other dialects both in Ingria and Estonia pronounce it -tta or -ttä depending in vowel harmony e.g. sātta ('You get (it).') vs. mǖttä ('You sell.').
    2. In Jõgõperä dialect it may be sometimes pronounced as -tte̮ or -tte depending in prosody e.g. nüttä sǖtte i jūtte̮ ('Now you('ll) eat and drink.').
    3. In Western Votic dialects it may sometimes drop it's final vowel and sound simply -t̄ depending in prosody e.g. minē peräs̄ sūttuzi ke̮vassi ('Why did you get (very) angry?'). (Unfortunately the example above is not in present tense of indicative.)
    4. In Alutaguse dialects [5] the geminated tt has weakened after an unstressed syllable. It is pronounced t̆t then e.g. lähät̆tä ('You go.').
  5. The morpheme -p of the third person of singular is pronounced as -B both in Ingria and Estonia e.g. eläB ('He lives.').
    1. In Alutaguse dialects [6] it may sound -p or -p̆ also e.g. se̮isa ('It stands.').
  6. The morpheme -vat of the third person of plural is pronounced as -vaD or -väD depending in vowel harmony e.g. sāvaD ('They get (it).') vs. eläväD ('They live.').
    1. In Alutaguse dialects [7] even the third person of plural is falsely in the same grade as all the other persons (influenced by Mid Estonian dialect) e.g. piäväD instead of pitäväD ('They must.'), even though this morpheme can never close the preceding syllable.
    2. In Alutaguse dialects [8] the morpheme may be pronounced -väD even with back vowel stems e.g. e̮liväD ('They were.').
    3. In Lüganuse dialect the first v of this suffix may be degeminated after a secondary stress [9] e.g. kelisevvad ('(The bells) ring.').
    4. This morpheme is recently substituted by indefinite voice both in Ingria and in Alutaguse dialects e.g. nämä tuллassa ('They come.') (probably influenced by Russian language, where the 3. person of plural serves similar role to Finnic indefinite voice e.g. говорят ('They speak.' or 'Someone speaks.').) [10] [11].

Morphophonology[edit | edit source]

  • In all dialects both in Ingria and Estonia personal endings never follow any consonant stem e.g. imperative plural pes-kā ('Wash!') vs. the second person of singular peze-B ('(Someone) washes.') or imperative plural page̮t-kā ('Escape!') vs. the first person of plural pake̮ne̮-mma ('We run away.').
  • Thus these forms are always in the same grade as the singular of the second person imperative and in a grade opposite to any other suffixal imperative form caused by consonant gradation in stems e.g. jättägō ('Let him leave (it)!') vs. jätäD ('You leave (it).') or page̮t-kā ('Escape!') vs. pake̮n-e̮-D ('You escape.').
    • The only exception is the third person of plural, which according to consonant gradation principles may occur only in the strong grade e.g. tetševäD ('They do (it).') and pake̮ne̮-vaD ('They run away.'), because this morpheme can never close the preceding syllable.
      • In Alutaguse dialects [12] even the third person of plural is falsely in the same grade as all the other persons (influenced by Mid Estonian dialect) e.g. piäväD instead of pitäväD ('They must.'), even though this morpheme can never close the preceding syllable.

Phonological history [13][edit | edit source]

Other Finnic dialects [15][edit | edit source]

The first person of singular

The first person of plural

The second person of singular

The second person of plural

The third person of singular

The third person of plural

References[edit | edit source]

  1. Ariste, Paul Vadja keele grammatika. Tartu, 1948. p. 73,75,76
  2. Laanest, Arvo: Sissejuhatus läänemeresoome keeltesse, Tallinn 1975. p.149
  3. Must, Mari 1987. Kirderannikumurre: häälikuline ja grammatiline ülevaade. p. 233
  4. Must, Mari 1987. Kirderannikumurre: häälikuline ja grammatiline ülevaade. p. 234
  5. Must, Mari 1987. Kirderannikumurre: häälikuline ja grammatiline ülevaade. p. 233
  6. Must, Mari 1987. Kirderannikumurre: häälikuline ja grammatiline ülevaade. p. 237
  7. Must, Mari 1987. Kirderannikumurre: häälikuline ja grammatiline ülevaade. p. 239
  8. Must, Mari 1987. Kirderannikumurre: häälikuline ja grammatiline ülevaade. p. 237
  9. Must, Mari 1987. Kirderannikumurre: häälikuline ja grammatiline ülevaade. p. 234
  10. Ariste, Paul Vadja keele grammatika. Tartu, 1948. p. 75
  11. Must, Mari 1987. Kirderannikumurre: häälikuline ja grammatiline ülevaade. p. 267
  12. Must, Mari 1987. Kirderannikumurre: häälikuline ja grammatiline ülevaade. p. 239
  13. Laanest, Arvo: Sissejuhatus läänemeresoome keeltesse, Tallinn 1975. p.149
  14. Laanest, Arvo: Sissejuhatus läänemeresoome keeltesse, Tallinn 1975. p.98
  15. Laanest, Arvo: Sissejuhatus läänemeresoome keeltesse, Tallinn 1975. p.149, 163-181

See also[edit | edit source]

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