Typological Database of the Volga-Kama Finno-Ugric Languages

(Udmurt)

(A)–T/M–Subj & (A)–T/M~Subj

(A)–T/M–Subj: Aspect is optionally marked on the verb. When it is present it is followed by an affix marking tense or mood (but not both), which is followed by the marker for the person and number of the subject.

(A)–T/M~Subj: Aspect is optionally marked on the verb. When it is present it is followed by an affix marking the person and number of the subject simultaneously with either tense or mood.

T–Subj

(1)	myn-iśk-od

go-PRS-2SG

‘you go’ (Kel’makov – Hännikäinen 2008: 28)

T~Subj

(2)	myn-e

go-PRS.3SG

‘(s)he goes’ (Kel’makov – Hännikäinen 2008: 28)

T–Subj

(3)	myn-i-z

go-PST-3SG

‘(s)he went’ (Kel’makov – Hännikäinen 2008: 28)

T~Subj

(4)	myn-i

go-PST.1SG

‘I went’ (Y. S.)

T–Subj

(5)	myn-iśkem-my
	go‑PST2‑1PL
	‘we went’ (Kel’makov – Hännikäinen 2008: 199)

T~Subj

(6)	myn-em

megy-PST2.3SG

‘(s)he went’ (Kel’makov – Hännikäinen 2008: 199)

T–Subj

(7)	vetl-o-z
	go_regularly‑ FUT.3SG
	‘(S)he will go.’ (Y. S.)

T~Subj

(8)	vetl-o
	go_ regularly‑ FUT.1SG
	’I will go.’’(Y. S.)

M–Subj

(9)	lykty-sal-my

com-COND-1PL

‘We would come’ (Kel’makov – Hännikäinen 2008: 220)

M~Subj

(10)	lykty-sal

come-COND.1SG

‘I would come’ (Kel’makov – Hännikäinen 2008: 220)

M~Subj

(11)	vera!
	say.IMP.SG2

‘Say it!’’ (Kel’makov – Hännikäinen 2008: 215)

M–Subj

(12)	vera-le!
	say‑IMP.PL2
	’You all say it!’ (Kel’makov – Hännikäinen 2008: 215)

A–T–Subj

(13)	nylaš	koťkud	nunal	lykty-l-i-z.
	girl	every		day	come‑FREQ‑PST‑3SG
	’The girl came every day.’ (Rodionova 2011: 29)

T~Subj

(14)	ogpol	gurt-e		bert-i.
	once	village‑ILL	return‑PST.1SG
	’Once I returned to the village.’ (UdmCorp.)

A–M~Subj

(15)	lykty-ly-sal
	come-FREQ-COND.3SG

’(s)he would come (several times)’ (Udmcorp.)

A–M–Subj

(16)	košky-ly-sal-zy
	leave-FREQ-M-3PL
	’they would leave (several times)’ (Udmcorp.)

A–T~Subj

(17)	gožja-śky-ny 6	čas-yn čukna	lykty-l-i
	write‑AP‑INF	6	hour‑INE morning	come‑FREQ‑PST.1SG
	’I came to write at six every morning’ (Udmcorp.)

In Udmurt, the following of the relevant categories for this parameter (Subj, T, A, M, Obj, Rec, GV) can be marked synthetically: the person of the subject (Subj), tense (T), mood (M) and aspect (A). Present tense has no morphological marker in third person (2). In simple past tense (4) and future tense (8) only the tense marker appears in first person singular, as well as in the third person plural forms of non-witness past (6). In case there is visible person marking, it appears after the tense marker (1), (3), (5), (7). Mood and tense cannot appear in a given synthetic verb form simultaneously (9)–(12). Conditional mood is always marked, with person marking following this affix (9), with the exception of first person singular (10) (it can also be missing in third person singular (see Kel’makov – Hännikäinen 2008: 220, and example (17)). In imperative mood the bare verbal root is used in second person singular (11), but in second person plural a mood marker appears (12). In Udmurt aspect can be productively expressed by synthetic means with the help of the frequentative suffix (see. e.g. the difference between the aspectual values of (13) and (14)), which can combine with the past marker and also the person marker (but in first person singular person is not marked morphologically in past tense (15)), but a mood marker can also be used with a person marker (16) or even without morphological marking (17).

Author: Laura Horváth

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