| Summary: | In Itelmen (a Chukotko-Kamchatkan language spoken in Kamchatka of the Russian Federation), the person and the number (1st, 2nd, and 3rd person and singular and plural, respectively) are marked by verbal affixation. In most cases, verbs conjugate by person and number of the intransitive subject and the transitive direct object. Itelmen also includes person conjugation with oblique arguments, and this conjugation occurs frequently. Semantic roles of the oblique person markers are mostly possessive, locative, and directive. Note that verbal person markers not only indicate the subject, the direct object, and the oblique argument, but also express person of reason or purpose of the action without overt argument. It is assumed that the main function of verbal person markers in Itelmen is to indicate which person is prominent in the discourse.
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