Bao'an
Nominals table
| gloss | layer | nom | gen | acc | loc | pred poss | abl |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| we (du) | lexeme | pətəʁula | pətəʁulanə | pətəʁulanə | pətəʁulada | pətəʁulagaŋ | pətəʁulasa |
| we (du) | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem |
| we (du) | suffix | zero | nə | nə | da | gaŋ | sa |
| we (du incl) | lexeme | maŋgəʁula | maŋgəʁulanə | maŋgəʁulanə | maŋgəʁulada | maŋgəʁulagaŋ | maŋgəʁulasa |
| we (du incl) | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem |
| we (du incl) | suffix | zero | nə | nə | da | gaŋ | sa |
| we (pl) | lexeme | pətəla | pətəlanə | pətəlanə | pətəlada | pətəlagaŋ | pətəlasa |
| we (pl) | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem |
| we (pl) | suffix | zero | nə | nə | da | gaŋ | sa |
| we (pl collective) | lexeme | pətə | pətənə | pətənə | pətəlada | pətəlagaŋ | pətəlasa |
| we (pl collective) | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem |
| we (pl collective) | suffix | zero | nə | nə | da | gaŋ | sa |
| we (pl incl) | lexeme | maŋgəla | maŋgəlanə | maŋgəlanə | maŋgəlada | maŋgəlagaŋ | maŋgəlasa |
| we (pl incl) | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem |
| we (pl incl) | suffix | zero | nə | nə | da | gaŋ | sa |
| we (pl incl collective) option 1 | lexeme | maŋgə | mannə | mannə | manda | maŋgaŋ | mansa |
| we (pl incl collective) option 1 | stem | stem1 | stem2 | stem2 | stem2 | stem1 | stem2 |
| we (pl incl collective) option 1 | suffix | zero | nə | nə | da | gaŋ | sa |
| we (pl incl collective) option 2 | lexeme | maŋgə | mannə | mannə | maŋgəda | maŋgaŋ | maŋgəsa |
| we (pl incl collective) option 2 | stem | stem1 | stem2 | stem2 | stem1 | stem1 | stem1 |
| we (pl incl collective) option 2 | suffix | zero | nə | nə | da | gaŋ | sa |
| I | lexeme | pə | mənnə | mənda | mənda | məngaŋ | zero |
| I | stem | stem1 | stem2 | stem2 | stem2 | stem2 | zero |
| I | suffix | zero | nə | da | da | gaŋ | zero |
| you (du) | lexeme | taʁula | taʁulanə | taʁulanə | taʁulada | taʁulagaŋ | taʁulasa |
| you (du) | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem |
| you (du) | suffix | zero | nə | nə | da | gaŋ | sa |
| you (pl) | lexeme | tala | talanə | talanə | talada | talagaŋ | talasa |
| you (pl) | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem |
| you (pl) | suffix | zero | nə | nə | da | gaŋ | sa |
| you (pl collective) | lexeme | ta | tanə | tanə | tada | tagaŋ | tasa |
| you (pl collective) | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem |
| you (pl collective) | suffix | zero | nə | nə | da | gaŋ | sa |
| you (sg) | lexeme | tɕʰə | tɕʰənnə | tɕʰənda | tɕʰənda | tɕʰəngaŋ | zero |
| you (sg) | stem | stem1 | stem2 | stem2 | stem2 | stem2 | zero |
| you (sg) | suffix | zero | nə | da | da | gaŋ | zero |
| they (du) | lexeme | atɕaŋʁula | atɕaŋʁulanə | atɕaŋʁulanə | atɕaŋʁulada | atɕaŋʁulagaŋ | atɕaŋʁulasa |
| they (du) | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem |
| they (du) | suffix | zero | nə | nə | da | gaŋ | sa |
| they (pl) | lexeme | atɕaŋla | atɕaŋlanə | atɕaŋlanə | atɕaŋlada | atɕaŋlagaŋ | atɕaŋlasa |
| they (pl) | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem |
| they (pl) | suffix | zero | nə | nə | da | gaŋ | sa |
| 3rd person (sg) | lexeme | atɕaŋ | atɕaŋnə | atɕaŋnə | atɕaŋda | atɕaŋgaŋ | zero |
| 3rd person (sg) | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | zero |
| 3rd person (sg) | suffix | zero | nə | nə | da | gaŋ | zero |
| 3rd person (sg logophoric) | lexeme | oroŋ | oroŋnə | oroŋda | oroŋda | oroŋgaŋ | zero |
| 3rd person (sg logophoric) | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | zero |
| 3rd person (sg logophoric) | suffix | zero | nə | da | da | gaŋ | zero |
| child | lexeme | ɕaʑə | ɕaʑənə | ɕaʑənə | ɕaʑəda | ɕaʑəgaŋ | ɕaʑəsa |
| child | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem | stem |
| child | suffix | zero | nə | nə | da | gaŋ | sa |
Bao'an notes
with comparative Mongolic notes
- Singular pronouns do not take the ablative, and plural ones only infrequently (Fried 2010: 112). There does not seem to be a semantic explanation for this, since otherwise there is no restriction on the use of the ablative with singulars (or with human referents for that matter). Note also that in the related Mongolic language Mongghul (Faendrich 2007) there is no such restriction.
- Fried (2010) treats the case markers as clitics. His main reason is
that they occur once per NP, at the end. But with pronouns they seem
less clitic-like, because of irregulrities:
- the different distribution of -nə and -də with singular pronouns
- the lack of ablative marking with singular pronouns
- The case Fried (2010) terms 'locative' is called 'dative-locative' in other sources (e.g. Todaeva 1997). In addition to marking locations, it is used for such typical dative functions such as indirect object and goal.
- Non-singular pronouns inflect as nouns, with invariant stem and the same distribution of case clitcs. 1st person collective pronouns though are somewhat unusual.
- Dual pronouns are like plural pronouns with final /a/ in place of /u/ before the number marker -la, e.g. 2nd person dual taʁa-la, 2nd person plural taʁu-la.
References
Faehndrich, Burgel R. M. 2007. Sketch grammar of the Karlong variety of Monggul, and dialectal survey of Mongghul. PhD thesis, University of Hawaii.
Fried, Robert Wayne. 2010. A grammar of Bao'an Tu, a Mongolic language of northwest China. PhD thesis, SUNY Buffalo.
Todaeva, B. X. (1997). 'Baoan´skij jazyk', in Jazyki mira: mongol´skie jazyki, tungusoman´čžurskie jazyki, japonskij jazyk, korejskij jazyk. Moscow: Indrik, 29-36.
Comparative Mongolic notes: Case syncretism in Mongolic
In a number of Mongolic languages the accusative case is syncretic, according to different patterns and affecting different portions of the lexicon.
Case is marked on nouns and pronouns. In Middle Mongol (the oldest directly attested Mongolic language) the accusative case was distinct, as it still is in Khalkha, Buryat and Kalmyk. In the table below, Buryat represents this kind of system. There are two allomorphs of the gentive: -iin with vowel-final stems and -Vi elsewhere. Personal pronouns may also display stem alternations.
| Buryat (Skribnik 2003) | ||||
| suffixes | 'book' | 'letter' | 1SG pronoun | |
| NOM | zero | xada | besheg | bi |
| GEN | -iin/-Ai | xad-iin | besheg-ei | minii |
| ACC | -iiyi | xad-iiyi | besheg-iiyi | namayi |
| DAT | -dA | xadada | besheg-te | namda |
| ABL | -hAA | xada-haa | besheg-hee | namhaa |
| INS | -AAr | xad-aar | besheg-eer | namaar |
| POSS | -tAi | xada-tai | besheg-tei | namtai |
(A represents a vowel subject to vowel harmony; /d/ is devoiced following obstruents.)
The simplest syncretic pattern is the kind found in Dagur, at least in Tsumagari's (2003) account: accusative and genitive suffixes have fallen together, but the cases remain distinct with singular pronouns (1st, 2nd and 3rd) on account of a stem alternation. (In some other descriptions, e.g. Chuluu 1994 or Martin 1961, the two suffixes are distinct for at least some items.)
| Dagur (Tsumagari 2003) | |||
| suffixes | 'mountain' | 1SG pronoun | |
| NOM | zero | aul | bii |
| GEN | -ii | aul-ii | minii |
| ACC | -ii | aul-ii | namii |
| DAT | -(e)d | aul-d | namd |
| ABL | -AAs | aul-aas | namaas |
| INS | -AAr | aul-aar | namaar |
| POSS | -tii | aul-tii | namtii |
It the Mongolic languages of Qinghai and Gansu (China) we find a greater wealth of patterns. This group consists of Shira Yugur and the Shirongol languages, the latter divided into Monguor (Mongghul and Mangghuer) and Baoanic (Baoan, Santa and -- not discussed here -- Kangjia) (Nugteren 2011). Let us first consider the patterns and lexical distribution of syncretism, then look more closely at the forms themselves.
Patterns of syncretism in the Qinghai/Gansu Mongolic languages
Some languages are like Dagur, in that there is a single syncretic pattern, accusative/genitive. In Shira Yughur the lexical distribution is similar, in that these cases are not syncretic for 1SG and 2SG pronouns. In contrast to Dagur, they not only have different stems, but have different suffixes as well. (Mangghuer optionally displays this pattern as well.)
| Shira Yughur (Nugteren 2003) | |||
| 1SG | 2SG | elsewhere | |
| NOM | bi, bu | ci | Ø |
| GEN | mini, muni | cini | -ni |
| ACC | namiin | cimiin | -ni |
| DAT | nanda | cima-di | -ndi |
| ABL | nanda-sa | cima-sa | -sa |
| INSTR | nanda-ghaar | cima-ghaar | -ghaar |
| COM | nandala | cima-la | -la |
In Santa Mongolian the accusative is syncretic with the genitive throughout, with a single suffix allomorph for all lexemes. Unlike Dagur, there is no stem alternation for these cases in the singular pronouns, so there is in fact no reason to posit two cases at all, as they are never distinct.
| Santa Mongolian (Field 1997) | |||
| 1SG | 2SG | elsewhere | |
| NOM | bi | tʂi | Ø |
| GEN | mi-ni | tʂi-ni | -ni |
| ACC | mi-ni | tʂi-ni | -ni |
| DAT | (nɑ)mɑ-də | tʂimɑ-də | -də |
| ABL | (nɑ)mɑ-sə | tʂimɑ-sə | -sə |
| COM | (nɑ)mɑ-lə | tʂimɑ-lə | -lə |
In the other languages accusative/genitive syncretism is combined with accusative/dative syncretism. In the Halchighol dialect of Mongghul accusative/genitive syncretism is found outside of 1st and 2nd person pronouns, while the 1SG pronoun has accusative/dative syncretism.
| Halchighol dialect of Mongghul (Georg 2003) | |||
| 1SG | 2SG | elsewhere | |
| NOM | bu, ndaa |
qi | Ø |
| GEN | muni, ndaani |
qi-nɨ | -nɨ |
| ACC | ndaa | qimu | -nɨ |
| DAT | ndaa | qimii | -dɨ |
| ABL | ndaa-sa | qima-sa | -sa |
| COM | ndaa-la | qimu-la | -la |
In most of the other other languages (including other dialects Mongghul), accusative/dative syncretism is found in the 2SG pronoun as well. In these languages there is no distinct accusative case form, but a juxtaposition of all the paradigm types suggests that the notion of accusative case is still useful. The paradigm below from the Naringhol dialect of Mongghul is a representative example.
| Naringhol dialect of Mongghul (Faehndrich 2007) | |||
| 1SG | 2SG | elsewhere | |
| NOM | bu | tɕɨ | Ø |
| GEN | muni | tɕɨ-ni | -ni |
| ACC | nda: | tɕɨmi | -ni |
| DAT | nda: | tɕɨmi | -du |
| ABL | nda:-dza | tɕɨmi:-dza | -dza |
| COM | nda:-la | tɕɨmi:-la | -la |
| INS | nda:-ra | tɕɨmi:-ra | -ra |
| LOC | muni-re | tɕɨni:-re | -re |
Other languages with the same system are: other dialects of Mongghul, Baoan (as described by Fried 2010) and Mangghuer (at least optionally). In Baoan, the singular logophoric pronoun patterns with the 1SG and 2SG.
In the sKa.gsar subdialect of Baoan, accusative/dative syncretism is found in the plural of the 1st and 2nd person pronouns as well. (Likewise in the variety described by Todaeva 1964).
| sKa.gsar subdialect of Baoan (Hugjiltu 2003) | ||||||
| 1SG | 2SG | 1PL (ex) | 1PL (incl) | 2PL | elsewhere | |
| NOM | be | ce | man'ge | bede | ta | Ø |
| GEN | mene | cene | mane | beda-ne | tane | -nə |
| ACC | na-da | co-da | man-da | bedan-da | tan-da | -nə |
| DAT | na-da | co-da | man-da | bedan-da | tan-da | -da |
| ABL | na-sa | co-sa | man-sa | bedan-sa | tan-sa | -sa |
Case forms in the Qinghai/Gansu Mongolic languages
A noteworthy feature that distinguishes this group of languages is the use of a suffix -ni (or -nɨ, -ne, -nə) as the default for the genitive. The Buryat suffixes -iin or -Vi (see above) are typical of what is found in the other Mongolic languages. It has been suggested that the initial /n/ may have come from a reanalysis of stem final /n/ in some words (Slater 2003: 166, citing Poppe 1955: 192). Stem-final /n/ has a special status in the Mongolic languages, as it is typically involved in stem alternations, the Buryat paradigm below being a typical example; stem-final /n/ is absent in the ablative and, optionally, in the instrumental.
| Buryat 'horse' (Skribnik 2003) | |
| NOM | morin |
| GEN | morin-oi |
| ACC | mory-iiyi |
| DAT | morin-do |
| ABL | morin-hoo |
| INS | moryoor, morin-oor |
| POSS | morin-toi |
Whatever the origin of -ni, it appears then to have been extended to the accusative, as examination of the pronominal stem alternation patterns makes apparent. The Proto-Mongolic pattern involved the alternation of three stems, thus 1SG nominative bi, genitive min- and oblique nama-; 2SG nominative ci, genitive cin-, oblique cima- (Janhunen 2003: 18). The oblique stem was used for all the remaining cases. This pattern is still generally found outside of the Qinghai-Gansu group, as in Buryat below. Dagur, in spite of the syncretism of the genitive and accusative suffixes, retains the original distinction between the stems. But in Santa, one of the Qinghai-Gansu languages, the original genitive stem is found with the accusative too.
| 1SG pronoun | |||
| Buryat | Dagur | Santa | |
| NOM | bi | bii | bi |
| GEN | minii | minii | mi-ni |
| ACC | namayi | namii | mi-ni |
| DAT | namda | namd | (nɑ)mɑ-də |
| ABL | namhaa | namaas | (nɑ)mɑ-sə |
| 2SG pronoun | |||
| Buryat | Dagur | Santa | |
| NOM | shi | shii | tʂi |
| GEN | shinii | shinii | tʂi-ni |
| ACC | shamayi | shamii | tʂi-ni |
| DAT | shamda | shamd | tʂimɑ-də |
| ABL | shamhaa | shamaas | tʂimɑ-sə |
However, in most of the Qinghai-Gansu languages the 1SG and 2SG pronouns display instead accusative/dative syncretism. The formal details vary considerably, both between languages and between the 1SG and 2SG pronouns. Three types of formation are found.
First, what appears to be the direct diachronic reflex of the dative form is found in accusative as well. For the 1SG pronoun, the etymologically expected dative form involves a dative suffix -da attached to either a reduced or full version of the oblique stem (na- or nama-). The reduced version is found in the sKa.gsar subdialect of Baoan and the various dialects of Mongghul. In Mongghul this dative form, complete with the original suffix, serves as the base for other cases such as the ablative (see also Shira Yughur above), and in the Halchighol can in fact replace all stem alternants. In Mangghuer (in one paradigm option), the dative was based on the full oblique stem. As with Mongghul, this form was reinterpreted as an inflectional base, and the dative may secondarily take the default (for Mangghuer) dative suffix/enclitic du.¹
With the 2SG pronoun, only the sKa.gsar subdialect of Baoan shows a comparable formation, based on a reduced version of the oblique stem.
| 1SG pronoun | |||||
| Baoan, sKa.gsar subdialect |
Mongghul, Halchighol dialect |
Mongghul, Naringhol dialect |
Mongghul, Tianzhu dialect |
Mangghuer (one variant paradigm) |
|
| NOM | be | bu, ndaa | bu | bu | bi |
| GEN | mene | muni, ndaa-ni | muni | mu-nɨ, mɨ-nɨ | mu=ni |
| ACC | na-da | ndaa | nda: | da: | nangda |
| DAT | na-da | ndaa | nda: | da: | nangda(=du) |
| ABL | na-sa | ndaa-sa | nda:-dza | da:-sa | ?nangda=sa |
| 2SG pronoun | |
| Baoan, sKa.gsar subdialect |
|
| NOM | ce |
| GEN | cene |
| ACC | co-da |
| DAT | co-da |
| ABL | co-sa |
Second, what looks as if it is the reverse situation is found with the 2SG pronoun in Mongghul and Mangghuer, as well as in one variant paradigm of the 1SG pronoun Mangghuer: the syncretic accusative/dative looks as if it is the diachronic reflex of the accusative. The Proto-Mongolic accusative is reconstructed as *-yi, the dative as *-dU or -da (Janhunen 2003: 14); this is fairly directly reflected in the Buryat forms, repeated here. The Mongghul and Mangghuer accusative/dative suffix -ii/-i/-ɨ/-ei looks like a plausible reflex of the accusative, but not the dative. On the other hand, in the Halchighol dialect of Mongghul, the two are distinguished as accusative -u vs. dative -ii. Neither of these has an obvious correspondent in the other Mongolic languages, as far as I am aware. Georg (2003: 298) notes that the forms are irregular, but does not discuss their origin. In Mangghuer, this syncretic form can be disambiguated through the default dative enclitic/suffix du, both for the 2SG and 1SG pronouns; note that in the case of the 1SG pronoun, this disambiguation is obligatory.
| 2SG pronoun | |||||
| Buryat | Mongghul, Naringhol dialect |
Mongghul, Tianzhu dialect |
Mongghul, Halchighol dialect |
Mangghuer | |
| NOM | shi | tɕɨ | tɕɨ | qi | qi |
| GEN | shinii | tɕɨ-ni | tɕɨ-nɨ, tɕɨna | qi-nɨ | qi=ni |
| ACC | shamayi | tɕɨmi | tɕɨmɨ | qimu | qimei |
| DAT | shamda | tɕɨmi | tɕɨmɨ | qimii | qimei(=du) |
| ABL | shamhaa | tɕɨmi:-dza | tɕɨmɨ-sa | qima-sa | ?qimei=sa |
| 1SG pronoun | ||
| Buryat | Mangghuer (one variant paradigm) |
|
| NOM | bi | bi |
| GEN | minii | mu=ni |
| ACC | namayi | namei |
| DAT | namda | namei=du |
Finally, in the variety of Baoan described by Fried (2010), it looks as if the genitive stem has been extended to the rest of the paradigm, except for the nominative. Compare these forms with those from the sKa.gsar subdialect , described by Hugjiltu (2003). If this is a correct intepretation, then although the syncretic accusative/dative has the originally dative suffix -da, the form as a whole is not original, given the innovative stem formation.
| Baoan | ||||
| 1SG | 2SG | |||
| Fried 2010 | Hugjiltu 2003 | Fried 2010 | Hugjiltu 2003 | |
| NOM | pə | be | tɕʰə | ce |
| GEN | mən-nə | mene | tɕʰən-nə | cene |
| ACC | mən-da | na-da | tɕʰən-da | co-da |
| DAT | mən-da | na-da | tɕʰən-da | co-da |
Notes
1: Slater (2003) treats the case markers as clitics, because they're phrase final, and suspects this applies to all the other Mongolic languages as well. Note also that the genitive can be combined with the other case markers, occuring at the end of the sequence (so that 'from her basket' is 'basket-abl-gen').
References
Chuluu, Üjiyediin. 1994. Introduction, grammar, and sample sentences for Dagur (Sino-Platonic Papers 56). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania.
Faehndrich, Burgel R.M. 2007. Sketch grammar of the Karlong variety of Mongghul, and dialectal survey of Mongghul. PhD thesis, University of Hawai'i at Manoa.
Field, Kenneth Lynn 1997. A grammatical overview of Santa Mongolian. PhD thesis, University of California, Santa Barbara.
Fried, Robert Wayne. 2010. A grammar of Bao'an Tu, a Mongolic language of northwest China. PhD thesis, SUNY Buffalo.
Georg, Stefan. 2003. Mongghul. In Juha Janhunen (ed) The Mongolic Languages, pp. 286-306. London: Routledge.
Hugjiltu, Wu. 2003. Bonan. In Juha Janhunen (ed) The Mongolic Languages, pp. 325-345. London: Routledge.
Janhunen, Juha. 2003. Proto-Mongolic. In Juha Janhunen (ed) The Mongolic Languages, pp. 1-29. London: Routledge.
Martin, Samuel E. 1961. Dagur Mongolian: Grammar, Texts, and Lexicon. (Indiana University Publications: Uralic and Altaic Series, 4.) Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Nugteren, Hans. 2003. Shira Yughur. In Juha Janhunen (ed) The Mongolic Languages, pp. 265-285. London: Routledge.
Nugteren, Hans. 2011. Mongolic phonology and the Qinghai-Gansu languages. PhD thesis, Leiden University.
Poppe, Nicholas. 1955. Introduction to Mongolian comparative studies. (Suomalais-Ugrilaisen Seuran toimituksia, 110.) Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura.
Skribnik, Elena (2003) Buryat. In Juha Janhunen (ed) The Mongolic Languages, pp. 102-128. London: Routledge.
Slater, Keith W. 2003. A grammar of Mangghuer: a Mongolic language of China's Qinghai-Gansu sprachbund. London: RoutledgeCurzon.
Todaeva, B. X. 1964. Baoan'skij jazyk. Moscow: Akademia Nauk SSSR.
Tsumagari, Toshiro. 2003. Dagur. In Juha Janhunen (ed) The Mongolic Languages, pp. 129-153. London: Routledge.