Transcript Modal verbs in Balto-Finnic

Modal verbs in Balto-Finnic
Petar Kehayov & Reeli Torn
University of Tartu
Key issues
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Types of modality
The inventory of modal verbs in Balto-Finnic
Grammaticalization parameters
Language contact
Modality types (van der Auwera & Plungian 1998)
Possibility
Non-epistemic possibility
Participantinternal possibility
(Dynamic
possibility, Ability)
Participantinternal necessity
(Need)
Participant-external possibility
Non-deontic
possibility
Deontic possibility
(Permission)
Non-deontic
necessity
Deontic necessity
(Obligation)
Participant-external necessity
Non-epistemic necessity
Necessity
Epistemic
possibility
(uncertainty)
Epistemic
necessity
(Probability)
The inventory of modal verbs in Balto-Finnic
POSSIBILITY
NECESSITY
täytyä
in all 7 languages
in  5 languages
lie-
voida
in  3 languages
pitää
saada
tulla
tarvita
The premodal meanings of these core verbs
voida
saada
pitää
‘to be able/capable’ < *‘to be strong’ (Saukkonen 1966: 74–75)
‘to get’ <*‘to come’ (Saukkonen 1966: 5)
‘to seize; to hold’ (Saukkonen 1965: 113; Laitinen 1992: 137)
tulla
‘to come’
täytyä
‘to get filled; to suffice’ (Saukkonen 1965: 144)
tarvita
‘to need’ (Laitinen 1992: 130)
lie-
modal variant of auxiliary ‘be’ (Saukkonen 1965: 174)
Impersonal vs personal pattern
Mina
varim
pid’
läem. (Salats)
I
earlier must(=hold).PST.1SGgo-INF
‘I had to leave earlier.’
Minnәn varald pidiks
läem. (Piza)
I-DAT
early must(=hold)-COND.3SG go-INF
‘I had to leave earlier’
Grammaticalization parameters (Lehmann 2002)
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Integrity (semantic bleaching, formal erosion)
Paradigmaticity
Paradigmatic variability
Structural scope
Bondedness
Syntagmatic variability
Integrity: semantic bleaching
Semantic bleaching leads to polyfunctionality; e.g. saada ‘get’
Integrity: formal erosion
Morphological degeneration:
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lack of person/number inflection;
lack of mood inflection;
lack of voice inflection;
lack of tense inflection;
lack of negative or positive forms;
lack of nominalization(s) that are productive with
other verbs.
Loss of person inflection:
a shift from personal to impersonal pattern
Old Written Estonian
a. Nende tähtes
sannade
sees tullewad
meil
keige
ennamiste
these important word-PL.GEN in
come-PRS.3PL
we-ADE SUPER
most
kaks asja
tähhele panna (Seitse Paasto-Jutlust 1817: 56: Penjam 2005: 106)
two
thing-PRT to_notice-INF
‘In these important words there are two things that need to be noticed above all’
Modern Standard Estonian
b. Nende tähtsate
sõnade
these important.PL word-PL.GEN
kahte
asja
sees
in
tähele panna.
tuleb
come-PRS.3SG
meil
we-ADE
kõige rohkem
SUPER most
two-PRT
thing-PRT to_notice-INF
‘In these important words there are two things that need to be noticed above all.’
Lack of nominalization(s) that are productive
with other verbs:
e.g. lack of agentive noun ending in –ja
a. ta tahab tulla
‘s/he wants to come’
→
tulla tahtja
‘one who wants to come’
b. ta võib tulla
‘s/he can come’
→
*tulla võija
‘one who can come’
Paradigmaticity
Paradigmaticization: shift from an open class to a closed
class of words, increase in irregularity, fossilization
Example of fossilization: the form of the potential mood of
the Finnish verb lie- has become a modal particle/adverb
Väliaikana
lienee
break-ESS
be(=SPPL)-POT
kokousta. (ISK 2004: 1522)
valmistellaan
prepare-PRS.PASS
jo
already
seuraavaa
next-PRT
meeting-PRT
‘Probably preparations will already be made for the next meeting during the break.’
Paradigmatic variability: the freedom to chose
between various means for expressing the
category or to leave the category unspecified
The decrease of such freedom is called “obligatorification” by Lehmann.
For example, the Estonian necessity verb tulema ‘to come’ requires the
subject of the infinitive to be animate (b). In contrast, the verb pidama ‘to
hold’, which is also used for expressing necessity, does not show such a
restriction (a), and, is, thus, more obligatory:
a. Müts
peab
peas
cap
must(=hold)-3SG
head-INE
‘A cap must be worn.’ (Uuspõld 1989: 475)
b. *Mütsil tuleb
peas
olla.
cap-ADE must(=come)-3SG head-INE be-INF
‘A cap must be worn.’ (Uuspõld 1989: 475)
olema.
be-INF
Structural scope
The structural scope of a gram is the structural size of the
construction it helps to form. The structural scope of the verbs
following the personal pattern – see Karelianvoija in (a) – is
narrower than the structural scope of those following the
impersonal pattern – see Karelian piteä in (b).
a. Mie voin
lähtie
I
can-1SG
go-INF
‘I can go to sleep.’
makuamah.
sleep-INF
b. Miula
pitäy
lähtie
makuamah.
I-ADE/ALL must(=hold)-3SGgo-INF
sleep-INF
‘I must go to sleep.’ (Pekka Zaikov, p.c.)
Bondedness; Syntagmatic variability
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Bondedness:
The syntagmatic cohesion or bondedness of a sign is
the intimacy with which it is connected with another
sign to which it bears a syntagmatic relation.
Syntagmatic variability:
Syntagmatic variability concerns the positional
mutability of a sign with respect to those constituents
with which it forms a construction.
Language contact
Types of language contact:
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Lexical borrowing
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Code-copying
Language contact: code-copying
Karelian: due to the intense contact with
Russian practically all core modal verbs can
occur in the impersonal pattern.
Voidgo
miuлa
teil’ä
üödä
moata.
can(=be_able)-3SG-Q I-ADE/ALL you-ADE/ALL night-PRT sleep-INF
‘Can I sleep at your place tonight.’ (Palmeos 1962: 33).
Suawgo
lähtie
get(=get)-3SG-Q depart-INF
‘Can you go?’
Koska auto rikkautu,
sinul? (SKJ-LD 1990: 364)
you-ADE/ALL
meilä
piti
because car brake-REFL-PST.3SG we-ADE/ALL must(=hold)-PST.3SG
kulkie.
walk-INF
’Because the car broke down, we had to walk.’ (Pekka Zaikov: Standard
Karelian p.c.)
Hänellä
tarviččenut
s/he-ADE
need-PST.PTCP
‘S/he had to dive.’
sukeltaa. (Anastassia Trifonova: Olonets p.c.)
dive-INF
miuл
tuloo
sanuo
I-ADE/ALL
‘I must say.’
must(=come)-3SG
say-INF
Miuл
täydyö
lähtie
I-ADE/ALL
‘I need to go.’
must(=get_filled)-3SG
miula
l´ienöu
ruadua. (KKS III 1983: 86)
I-ADE/ALL
‘I must work.’
must(=be)-3SG
work-INF
(Saukkonen 1965: 154)
(Saukkonen 1965: 147)
depart-INF
Verbs used with the impersonal modal
pattern
WESTERN
EASTERN
Livonian
Estonian
Finnish
Votic
Ingrian
Karelian
Veps
voida
‘to be able’
NO
NO
NO
YES
?
YES
YES
saada
‘to get’
NO
NO
NO
YES
?
YES
YES
pitää
‘to hold’
YES
NO
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
West-east cline:
WEST
1) high polyfunctionality of ‘to get’
2) verbs of possibility always occur in
personal pattern
3) preference for modal verbs
EAST
1) low polyfunctionality of ‘to get’
2) verbs of possibility also occur in
impersonal pattern
3) preference for modal adverbs
Conclusions
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Seven core modal verbs in Balto-Finnic.
Semantically defined class with rather
heterogeneous morphosyntactic properties.
Relatively low degree of grammaticalization.
The modal system of Balto-Finnic has been
subjected to a considerable external
influence.