Tungusic from the Perspective of Areal Linguistics : Focusing on the Bikin Dialect of Udihe

• Main Author: 白, 尚燁
• Other Authors: 津曲, 敏郎, 高瀬, 克範, 佐藤, 知己
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: Hokkaido University
• Subjects: 900; Sakha; Tungusic languages; Yukaghir
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2115/61556; https://doi.org/10.14943/doctoral.k12069

The present dissertation examines the Tungusic languages from the perspective ofareal linguistics, centering on the southern Bikin dialect of Udihe. This study mainlyconsists of four syntactic issues: (i) third person marking on finite indicative forms, (ii)the converbal ending *-mi, (iii) conditional forms, and (iv) correlatives.First, taking the four typological parameters, namely obligatorily distinct,optionally distinct, non-distinct, and non-person marking types in terms of numberdistinction, the analysis demonstrates distinct patterns of third person marking on finiteindicative forms in Tungusic in accordance with areal distribution, strikingly similar tothose of neighboring languages. Second, the functional differences of the converbalending *-mi among the Tungusic languages are analyzed with the employment of thecross-linguistic morpho-syntactic and semantic typological standards of converbs froman areal perspective in relationship with the adjacent languages. Third, based on switchreferenceand semantic classification for conditionals, different syntactic characteristicsof conditional forms in Tungusic according to geographical distribution are clarifiedfrom the viewpoint of areal linguistics. Lastly, correlatives, the WH pronoun in thesubordinate clause corresponding with the WH or DEM pronoun in the main clause, arerevealed to show gradual syntactic variations among the Tungusic languages insimilarity with those of Russian and Chinese correlatives depending on geographicalposition, in terms of correlative types and verb forms in the correlative clause.In conclusion, the syntactic differences among the Tungusic languages stronglycorrelate with areal distribution, classified into three groups; (i) North Tungusic, (ii)East Tungusic, and (iii) South Tungusic. First of all, North Tungusic, spoken in thenorthern Siberian region, shares similar syntactic characteristics with Kolima Yukaghir,Sakha, Russian, and Mongolic. Second, East Tungusic in the Russian Far East retains thegrammatical features of Russian, ...