Article

Name: Word order (verb and direct object) in oral stories in Evenki

Authors: E. L. Rudnitskaya

Institute of oriental studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Moscow, Russian Federation

In the section Linguistics

Abstract: The paper concentrates on the word order in Evenki, in particular, in the verb phrase: verb (V) and direct object (O). The original order of V and O in Evenki (an Altaic language) is OV. This word order was rather strict at the beginning of the 20th century. Since then, the word order has continually been getting more and more variable. Based on spontaneous oral stories recorded at the beginning of the 21st century, we compare contexts with OV and with VO and try to formulate conditions, under which each of the orders is preferred. According to the authors of grammars and monographs on Evenki and Evenki syntax, the VO order emerges in case of focus or emphasis on V or on O. Alternatively, V or O can be focalized by focus particles =dV̅ , =kA, etc. Our results partially support those claims. When V is focused, it is often placed close to the beginning of the sentence, and its arguments, including O, are post-verbal. When O is contrastively focalized, it can follow V. If V or O are focalized, focalizing particles can be added to them. There are, however, other cases of VO that can be found in a story (narrative). When the narrator just lists sequential events, the OV order is used. The VO order is used when the sequence of event is broken because of a turning point in the development of the plot, or because the narrator retreats from the main line of the story, or in concluding sentences that do not belong to the narrative itself. These cases do not fall under the focusing O/V explanation mentioned above. Also, if the whole predicate (the whole V + O constituent) is emphasized, the VO order is preferred. We list examples supporting the rules mentioned. These rules are consistent with a discourse- oriented approach rather than with a derivational approach, in which OV would be regarded as basic, whereas each case of VO would be derivable from OV based on grammatical or information structure rules. So we conclude that a shift to two word orders (OV (unmarked) and VO (marked)) is emerging in the spoken language. We have also mentioned some other shifts to VO order in the narrative in the speech of young narrators.

Keywords: word order, oral speech, narration, focusing, discourse prominence, information structure, Evenki

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