(Meadow Mari)
VAux & AuxV
VAux: The auxiliary follows the main verb.
AuxV: The auxiliary precedes the main verb.
| (1) | erla | teatr-əš | o-na | kaj: | žap-na | uke. |
|---|
| tomorrow | theater‑ILL | NEG‑1PL | go.CNG | time‑1PL | NEG.exist |
| ’We won’t be going to the theater tomorrow, we don’t have time.’ (Riese et al. 2022: 206) |
| (2) | paləm-em | koncert-əšte | gitar | dene | šokt-aš | tüŋal-eš. |
|---|
| acquaintance‑1SG | concert‑INE | guitar | with | play‑INF | begin‑3SG |
| ’My acquaintance will play the guitar in the concert.’ (Riese et al. 2022: 207) |
| (3) | šə-m | tol |
|---|
| NEG.PST1‑1SG | come.CNG |
| ’I didn’t come.’ (Alhoniemi 1985: 116) |
| (4) | ončəgeče | samoľot-əš | šukt-en | o-m-əl. |
|---|
| the_day_before_yesterday | flight‑ILL | catch‑PST2 | NEG‑1SG‑be |
| ’I didn’t catch my flight the day before yesterday.’ (Riese et al. 2022: 220) |
| (5) | ončəč | məj | ere | kud | šagat-lan | kəńel-am | əľ-e. |
|---|
| in_the_past | I | always | six | o’clock‑DAT | get_up‑1SG | be‑PST1‑3SG |
| ’I always used to get up at six o’clock.’ (Riese et al. 2022: 224) |
| (6) | samərək | godəm | te | počelamut-əm | voz-eda | ul-maš. |
|---|
| young | during | you | poem‑ACC | write‑2PL | be‑NMLZ |
| ’You wrote poems when you were young, it turns out.’ (Riese et al. 2022: 226) |
| (7) | budapešt-əške | kajə-me | deč | ončəč | me | samoľot | dene |
|---|
| Budapest‑ILL | go‑PTCP.PASS | than | sooner | we | plane | with |
| ńigunam | čongešt-en | o-na-l | əl’e. |
| never | fly‑PST2 | NEG‑1PL‑be | be.PST1‑3SG |
| ’Before we went to Budapest, we had never flown by plane.’ (Riese et al. 2022: 229) |
| (8) | nuno | ümašte | japon-əške | mij-en-ət | ul-maš. |
|---|
| they | last_year | Japan‑ILL | go‑PST2‑3PL | be‑NMLZ |
| ’(I heard) they went to Japan last year.’ (Riese et al. 2022: 232) |
The basic word order of Meadow Mari is SOV. In present tense (1) and the first past tense (3) the negative auxiliary precedes the main verb, but it follows it everywhere else: in negated second past tense (4), complex past tenses (5)─(8), and also when the verb tüŋalaš ’begin’ is used as a future auxiliary (2).
Author: Bogáta Timár
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