Typological Database of the Volga-Kama Finno-Ugric Languages

(Komi-Permyak)

RT+rT+tR+tr

RT+rT+tR+tr: When both T and R appear as nouns, their relative basic word order is RT. If one appears as a pronoun, it precedes the other. If both appear as pronouns, their relative basic word order is tr.

(1)	öndi	śet-ö	tańa-lö	koźin.
	Andrey	give‑prs.3sg	Tanya‑dat	present
	’Andrey gives Tanya a present.’ (V. E.)

(2)	öndi	śet-ö	tenyt	koźin.
	Andrey	give‑prs.3sg	you‑dat	present
	’Andrey gives you a present.’ (V. E.)

Context: Andrey buys a book.

(3)	öndi	śet-ö	sijö	tańa-lö.
	Andrey	give‑prs.3sg	it.acc	Tanya‑dat
	’Andrey gives it to Tanya.’ (V. E.)

(4)	öndi	śet-ö	myjkö	tańa-lö.
	Andrey	give‑prs.3sg	something	Tanya‑dat
	’Andrey gives something to Tanya.’ (V. E.)

(5)	öndi	śet-ö	sijö	sylö.
	Andrey	give‑prs.3sg	it.acc	it.dat
	’Andrey gives it to her.’ (V. E.)

In Komi-Permyak, the order of ditransitive constructions in neutral sentences is affected by the word class of the constituents. When both the recipient (R) and the theme (T) are nouns, the recipient precedes the theme (1). When one of them is a pronoun, it precedes the noun (2)–(4), no matter whether it functions as a R (2) or a T (3)–(4). When both constituents are pronominal, the order is theme–recipient (5) (L. P., V. E.). Further research is needed on this topic.

Author: Nikolett F. Gulyás

[🠐 back]