Article

Name: On Tuvan particle «bolza»

Authors: A. V. Bayyr-ool, N. N. Shirobokova

Institute of Philology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Novosibirsk, Russian Federation; Novosibirsk National Research State University, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation

In the section Linguistics

Abstract: The research aims to analyse the functioning of the Tuvan function word bolza derived from the existential verb bol= ‘to be’, ‘to become’ in the conditional form with =sa, as well as its structural and functional analogues in Turkic and Mongolic languages. In several Turkic languages, the conditional form of the existential verb bol= ‘to be’, ‘to become’ and e(r=) ‘to be’ function as conjunctions and as function words. Between the two Old Turkic verbs e(r=) ‘to be’ and bol= ‘to be’, only the traces of the verb e(r=) ‘to be’ were preserved in the Tuvan language (as particles eves ‘no’, iyik ‘indeed’, ‘conditional particle’, ertik ‘conditional particle’) and therefore the verb bol= ‘to be’ started to be used more heavily. The verb bol= ‘to be’, ‘to become’ is used as an independent word, as well as an auxiliary verb, and is sometimes grammaticalized; simple and complex particles are formed on the basis of various polyfunctional forms of this verb. In particular, such grammaticalization is observed in the case of the conditional form with =za of the verb bol= bolza which is used as a special intensifying particle in the Tuvan language. Analysis of semantic and communicative functions of bolza in simple sentences shows that, in contrast to other Turkic languages where function words bolsa and ise serve mainly as means of specification of a subject, in Tuvan, the word bolza may be used with other parts of a sentence. Analysis of language material shows that the Tuvan particle bolza is used in postposition to specify or to emphasize the meaning of a word that is used as a part of a simple sentence. In the communicative structure of a sentence, this particle marks the theme, which can denote both the given and the new information, and which can also possess an additional contrastive meaning. Usage of particles and function words derived from existential verbs is typical for Turkic languages, as well as Mongolic languages (Buryat bolbol, Mong. bolbol). Such classes of words are often described in works on Mongolic languages. Some researchers even separate these words into a special category of parts of speech on the basis of their functional traits. The usage of bolza as an intensifying particle in the Tuvan language is suggested to be caused by Mongolian influence.

Keywords: tuvan language, function word, particle, existential verb, verb form, grammaticalization, turkic languages, mongolian language

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