TUVAN (TODŽA)
SUMMARY
In the Todža variety of Tuvan (a Northeastern variety spoken around the Todzhinsky District of Tuva), there are several converbs, i.e. verb forms heading non-finite syntactically subordinate clauses. The subject of some converbs generally corefers with the subject of the superordinate clause, i.e. they are same-subject converbs (SS-converbs). Part-whole relations as well as some alienable possessive relations license the use of such converbs as well. Possession is overtly coded on the possessed subject.
See also Altai, Bashkir, Forest Enets, Karaim, Khalkha Mongolian, Khanty (Eastern), Khanty (Northern), Kirghiz, , Old Turkic, Shor, Tundra Enets, Tundra Nenets, Turkish, Tuvan (Altai), Tuvan (Jungar), Udmurt, Uyghur, Uzbek, Yukaghir (Kolyma), Yukaghir (Tundra).
LANGUAGE PROFILE
EVIDENCE IN SUPPORT OF PIPS
- Evidence for the internal status of possessors comes from adnominal genitive case-marking on the possessor, when expressed.
- Possession is also marked directly on the possessed noun, which indexes the person and number of the possessor.
- Prominent possessors appear to occupy the same syntactic position as other possessors within the NP.
KEY SOURCES
Bergelson, Mira B. and Andrej A. Kibrik. 1995. The system of switch-reference in Tuva, in Martin Haspelmath and Ekkehart König (eds), Converbs in cross-linguistic perspective, 373-414. Berlin: De Gruyter.
