SENTENTIAL CLITICS IN FINNO-UGRIC

Sentential clitics of various Finno-Ugric languages are presented & discussed. Clitics are understood as syntactic words that depend phonologically on a neighboring word, eg, Finnish -ko/-ko 'whether' in which the vowel alternation is conditioned by the vocalism of the preceding word;...

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Published in:Folia linguistica 1990-01, Vol.24 (3-4), p.349-371
Main Author: NEVIS, JOEL ASHMORE
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Sentential clitics of various Finno-Ugric languages are presented & discussed. Clitics are understood as syntactic words that depend phonologically on a neighboring word, eg, Finnish -ko/-ko 'whether' in which the vowel alternation is conditioned by the vocalism of the preceding word; mere absence of stress is insufficient to determine clisis, eg, the Karelian & Votic cognates ko 'whether' are not affected by the preceding word & are classified as prosodic leaners rather than clitics. Sentential clitics occur in clausal second position ("Wackernagel's law") but also in clause-final & penultimate position; therefore, clitics are claimed to lack any special syntax, nor is Wackernagel's law restricted to the syntax of clitics. Northern Vogul -ka 'if' precedes the verb of the conditional clause but depends phonologically on the preceding word, showing further that the syntactic & phonological aspects of cliticization must be separated as hypothesized by Judith L. Klavans (see LLBA 19/3, 8504640). 56 References. Adapted from the source document
ISSN:0165-4004
1614-7308
DOI:10.1515/flin.1990.24.3-4.349