Partitive subjects in Estonian dialects

Authors

  • Liina Lindström Institute of Estonian and General Linguistics, University of Tartu, Jakobi 2, Tartu 50090

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12697/jeful.2017.8.2.07

Keywords:

dialect syntax, partitive subject, differential subject marking, Estonian

Abstract

Nominative-partitive alternation in subject marking in Estonian occurs mainly in existentials and related constructions. The paper measures the overall frequency of use of partitive subjects (PS) in Estonian dialects to explore whether differences are found, which can be explained by language contacts. Second, it provides an overview of constructions where PSs occur in Estonian dialects. The data is obtained from the Corpus of Estonian Dialects (12 subdialects, 1517 instances of PS usage). The results show that in usage frequency of PSs, Estonian dialects are relatively uniform and there are no striking differences between the dialects. The use of PSs was less frequent in Northern-Seto (a South-Estonian subdialect, in the Russian contact area), where the use of PSs is more tightly associated with negative clauses than it is in other dialects. Negation is also generally the most powerful factor conditioning the use of PSs (explains 52% of the usages of PSs).

Kokkuvõte. Liina Lindström: Partitiivsubjekt eesti murretes. Nominatiivipartitiivi vaheldumine subjekti markeerimisel toimub eesti keeles peamiselt eksitentsiaallausetes ja sellega sarnastes konstruktsioonides. Artiklis mõõdetakse partitiivsubjekti esinemissagedust eesti murretes, et leida, kas murrete vahel on olulisi erinevusi partiivsubjekti kasutamisel, ja kas neid erinevusi saab selgitada keelekontaktide mõjuga. Lisaks vaadeldakse konstruktsioone, kus partitiivsubjekt üldse võib esineda. Andmed on pärit eesti murrete korpusest (12 eri murrakut, kokku 1517 partitiivsubjekti kasutusjuhtu). Artiklist selgub, et partitiivsubjekti kasutuse põhjal on eesti murded küllalt sarnased. Pisut vähem kasutati partitiivsubjekti Põhja-Seto tekstides, kus see oli tugevamalt seotud eitusega kui mujal. Eitus oli ka üldiselt kõige olulisem partitiivsubjekti kasutamist mõjutav tegur (52% partitiivsubjektiga lausetest olid eitavad).

Võtmesõnad: murdesüntaks; partitiivsubjekt; eristav subjekti markeerimine; eesti murded

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Published

2017-09-06

How to Cite

Lindström, L. (2017). Partitive subjects in Estonian dialects. Eesti Ja Soome-Ugri Keeleteaduse Ajakiri. Journal of Estonian and Finno-Ugric Linguistics, 8(2), 191–231. https://doi.org/10.12697/jeful.2017.8.2.07

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