(Udmurt)

NRel & RelN

NRel: The relative clause follows the noun head.

RelN: The relative clause follows the noun head.

(1)besermankalykbyr-iśkalykpöly
Besermyanpeoplebecome_annihilatedPTCP.PRSpeopleamong
pyrt-emyn.
bringPTCP.PASS
’The Besermyan people have been added to the peoples facing extinction.’ (UdmCorp.)

(2)kuddyraćizikśuj-evaty-l-i-z
at_timesselfPCLgroundILLburyFREQPST3SG
byr-emeš-jos-se (...)
diePTCP.PSTfriendPLACC.3SG
’At times (s)he buried his/her dead friends in the ground himself/herself.’ (UdmCorp.)

(3)śiśmy-sabyr-onośionśaryśen
rotCVBdecayPTCP.FUTfoodaboutNEG
śulmaśke (...)
worry.CNG.2PL
’Do not worry about the rotting food (...)’ (UdmCorp.)

(4)tapoemasiź-emynudmurtkylburći-lyfilipp
thispoemcommemoratePTCP.PASSUdmurtpoetDATFilip
kedrov-ly,kudizož-ynbyr-i-z.
KedrovDATwhowarINEdiePST3SG
’This poem commemorates the poet Filip Kedrov, who died in the war.’ (UdmCorp.)

In Udmurt, non-finite clauses expressing relativization precede the head noun (1)–(3), whereas finite relative clauses follow it (4). Out of these two ways of expressing relativization, non-finite constructions are more limited in the grammar: used the most frequently when the head noun has a subject or object function in the relative clause, and occasionally also when it would be a place, time or comitative adverbial. Possessive and comparative relativization, however, can only be expressed using finite subordination. Judgements on head initial and head final orders also depend on sociolinguistic factors such as age, as well as the dialectal background of the speakers (Asztalos 2018: 176–182).

Author: Laura Horváth


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