A functional typology of Altaic languages focusing on person marking and person markers

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K12364
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 02060:Linguistics-related
• Research Institution: Tokyo University of Foreign Studies
• Principal Investigator: Norikazu Kogura 東京外国語大学, アジア・アフリカ言語文化研究所, 准教授 (70597757)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: シベ語 / 現代ウイグル語 / トゥヴァ語 / 日本語 / 証拠性 / 自己性 / 意外性 / 文末詞

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The study aimed to analyze and contrast the semantic functions of (1) finite verb and participle predicates, (2) verbal noun predicates, (3) auxiliary/copula verbs, and (4) sentence-final verbs in Modern Uyghur, a syntactic personal marking type language, and in Sibe, a functional personal marking type language where personal marking is not obligatory and personal marking takes on other semantic functions. The aim of this study was to elucidate the development of the grammatical categories of the two types of languages. The results show that syntactic and functional personal marking languages differ only in the semantic function of the inflectional forms of verbs (finite verbs, participles, and verbal nouns), and that copula/auxiliary verbs and sentence-final particles have a common semantic function and form a common category in both languages.

Free Research Field

記述言語学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

(1)人称変化の出現/消失という言語変化について、その具体的なプロセスを述部を構成する文法カテゴリ全体の意味分析を通して明らかにすることにより、一般的に文法体系において人称標示がどのような位置を占めるのかという問いの解明に繋がる。
(2)基本語順や形態構造において日本語に近い点で注目されるアルタイ諸言語の研究が、日本語の文法的特徴の解明のためのデータの供給に繋がると同時に、日本語や日本語以外の言語についての社会的な理解の向上に繋がる。