Reduplication of figurative and onomatopoeic verbs as a means of expressing multiplicity in the Yakut language (based on the novel by N.E. Mordinov-Amma Achchygiya "Springtime")

Samsonova Ekaterina Maksimovna ORCID: 0000-0001-7870-3097 PhD in Philology Senior Researcher; Institute of Humanitarian Studies and Problems of Small Indigenous Peoples of the North SB RAS 677027, Russia, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Yakutsk, Petrovsky str., 1, room 301 samsonova_em@mail.ru Other publications by this author

Many languages of the world have specialized or combined means for expressing quantitative aspectual meanings. The category of multiplicity, by analogy with the functional-semantic field of aspectuality, has an extensive plan of expression, which, depending on the structure of the language, may have a different structure. Thus, in the Turkic languages, one of the specific representatives of the semantics of multiplicity is a group of figurative (sound-figurative) verbs, which "... already express a single or multiple action in their form" ^{[10, p. 111]}. According to the established Yakut linguistic tradition, such vocabulary is usually divided into two independent categories of words. Here, figurative words (dyuhunnur tylar) mean "unchangeable words expressing sensory representations of movement, signs of an object and the internal state of an organism" ^{[21, p. 200]}, onomatopoeic ones (tyahy utukter tylar) represent "a conditional approximate designation by means of the language of environmental sounds" ^{[7, p. 366]}. This grouping, based on significant differences in their semantic content and morphological structure, is the basis of modern scientific research by Yakut scholars. Despite the fact that recently the vast majority of studies of onomatopoeic and figurative vocabulary are works of a comparative nature ^{[6, 9, 12, 23, etc.]}, another important aspect of the study remains the consideration of the features of their functioning as representatives of certain categories (8,14,16, etc.).

The semantic feature of multiplicity, as V. S. Khrakovsky notes, is realized as a set of values of singleness (singleness) and multiplicity (multiplicity) ^{[17, p. 126]}. Figurative and onomatopoeic verbs of the Yakut language are the most pronounced in terms of the correlation of these two meanings. According to the classification of semantic types, these tools can be considered one of the main lexical representatives of multiplicative multiplicity, consisting of a series of repeating single quanta – semelfactives.

The Yakut language refers to languages that have a formally expressed semantic asset. To denote single acts, analytical formations such as "onomatopoeic (figurative) root + gyn- 'do' (also dieh- 'talk' with onomatopoeic)" are used, for example, duk gyn- 'make a sharp threatening movement, swing sharply', hap gyn- 'momentarily and energetically grab, catch something', daah dieh- 'cry of a crow', lis geun- 'a single knock, the knock of a heavy object falling'.

The associated meaning of multiplicative multiplicity is transmitted in almost all ways of forming onomatopoeic and figurative verbs (affixation, reduplication, paired forms). Among them, in the Yakut language, one of the most expressive and widely used means is reduplication or doubling. According to the researchers, this semantic universal has the greatest productivity in agglutinative languages, which are "characterized by a complete and divergent reduplication of the root bases, based on the repetition of the sound shell of a linguistic sign and acting as a means of explicating syntactic relations" ^{[13, p. 71]}. In the Yakut language, doubling and repetition of the base, as E. I. Ubryatova notes, is mainly used to enhance the lexical meaning of a word, which manifests itself in the form of expressing additional grammatical meanings ^{[20, p. 212]}.

Let's take a closer look at the structural and semantic features of the functioning of reduplicated words belonging to each of these groups. As a practical material, this article uses the text of the famous novel by the Yakut writer N. E. Mordinov - Amma Achchygyya "Saasky Cam" (Springtime) (1944). The choice of the work is due to the fact that it can be considered one of the exemplary sources for studying this phenomenon, since, according to researchers, it is characterized by "skillful use of figurative means of folklore poetics and oral folk speech" ^{[1, p. 179]}.

1. The text of the novel presents several varieties of reduplication of figurative verbs. Thus, the repetition of figurative action is expressed by analytical verbs formed from unchangeable figurative words with the help of the service verb gyn- (either the figurative word or the service verb is doubled), reduplication of instantaneous single forms of figurative words with affixes -c, -x, -k and action forms of figurative verbs.

If the construction "figurative word + service verb geun-" serves to express the idea of an instantaneous one-time movement (ibir geun- 'easy to move, tremble', gylys geun- 'to slip, to slip into something-L.'etc.), then when repeating the actual figurative words, the meaning of repeated repetition (ibir-ibir gyn- 'twitching convulsively') or its execution by a multitude of subjects (gylys-gylys gyn- 'alternately slip somewhere') is manifested. Such a reduplication of figurative words, according to L. N. Kharitonov, "represents a transitional step to the concept of multiplicity or long-term repeatability of an action" ^{[22, p. 152]}, since it retains both an instantaneous single meaning and expresses a short-term repetition of an action.

In this model of analytical construction, not only the figurative word can be doubled, but also the adverbial form of the service verb gin ' to do'. In the text under consideration, reduplication of the auxiliary verb is mainly used in a construction with an unchangeable figurative word, for example, dyik gyn, meaning 'to flinch (from surprise, fright, etc.)' ^{[19, p. 339]}:

The doubling of the service verb in the presented example, in our opinion, allows us to emphasize the duration of the intervals between acts and the duration of the entire action, compared with the reduplication of the figurative word itself (cf. the form dik-dik gyn- implies a more rapid, short-term movement).

Similar semantics are also found in cases of doubling of the service verb in combination with the instant-single form of figurative verbs formed using affixes -c, -x, -k. The instant-single form forms a semelfactive from figurative verbs, the basis of which expresses a species-neutral sign, state or movement. For example, mathes from mathei is to step forward, protrude, stick out (about the chest)' ^{[3, p. 420]}, ytah from ytay- (ytay-) ' lift the corners of the lips, stretching them and slightly exposing the teeth' ^{[5, p. 487]}:

But most often, various actional forms of figurative verbs are doubled. Although the affixal forms of mobility (-ry, -hy), slowness (-aar), separate (-ldy, -rdaa), rapid (-hachchy, -kychchy, -haldy, -gildy) and uniform multiplicity (-ҥalaa, -ҥhalaa) are in themselves to one degree or another expressions of the multiplicity of actions, their reduplication allows you to give a more frequent and intense character to a repetitive action. In the text, they appear exclusively in the form of reduplicated adverbial adverbs for -a/s, sometimes in combination with causative affixes.

The most common is the doubled form of uniform multiplicity with the affix -ҥnaa, denoting "the usual or constant non-rapid repetition of an action, having a uniform, rhythmic character" ^{[22, p. 156; 7, p. 298]}. For example, reduplication participial forms of verbs, describing not only the appearance, but gait or expression of the eyes, look: balattan-bayatti from biatta- (derived from biatain- to postebatsya, wiggle from L. povrezhdenii ^{[18, p. 130]}, cularin-kylearan from chyluria- PLANO led head, looking around (on a thin, little cheloveke ^{[5, p. 258]}:

The use of figurative verbs, depending on the object of description, can have either an artistic and descriptive character, or express an emotional assessment ^{[14, pp. 93-94]}. Both of the presented examples are descriptive in nature and convey the intense repetition of the action without emotional evaluation. But if in example (5) this is just a characteristic of gait, then in case (6) this verb form participates in creating a portrait of one of the positive characters of Dmitry Erdelyir's novel, "a squat boy with a swarthy face and laughing, mischievous eyes", who is shown "a man of good disposition, cheerful and intelligent, with innate artistic by talent" ^{[11, p. 110]}.

But most often, when used relative to a person, there is an expressive component of "emotional assessment", which usually manifests itself when depicting a not very aesthetic appearance or movements.

Such semantics is manifested when using some uniformly multiple forms in combination with the affixes of the motive voice. According to the researchers, this form of figurative verbs has a peculiar causative-transitional meaning, markedly different from the meaning of action-state verbs ^{[7, p. 258]}. The examples of reduplicated figurative verbs in the motivational form presented below are constructions with direct complement (mainly the names of the body parts of the subject itself in the possessive form). For example, wohun wasnat- from the past- it's hard to stretch out, hang down (about the lower lip)' ^{[18, p. 708]}, haraҕyn turulҥnat- ' to look, turning the whites of the eyes, to stare', etc.

Figurative verbs in combination with affixes of a joint-mutual pledge are widely used in the considered text. In this case, in addition to expressing frequent repetition, the meaning of cumulative multiplicity is conveyed with an "additional shade of amplification and emotional coloring" ^{[7, p. 270]}.

Forms with the value of separate multiplicity also participate in the transmission of multiplicity values, denoting "the repeatability of an action, in which each repeating element of an action receives some independence, and the action as a whole represents a chain of separately fixed elements" ^{[22, p. 152]}. Among them, the form with the affix -ldy has a peculiar semantics, which gives the figurative verb the meaning of "a non-rapidly repeating movement with a touch of special emphasis on each bar or period of repetition" ^{[7, p. 300]}. The separateness of the repetition of individual moments of movement is emphasized, according to the researchers, by the presence of the element l in its composition, which gives the meaning an instantaneous one-time shade ^{[22, p. 155]}. For example, kuoҕaldy- from kuoҕai- 'to bend, bend, bend' ^{[2, p. 484]}:

Depending on the context and the meaning of the base, these verbs can express various accompanying expressive shades. In the novel by N. E. Mordinov, the reduplicated adverbial participle kuogeldiye-kuogeldiye from kuogei is often used - 'to swing smoothly from side to side, to sway (about the shaky surface of something) ^{[2, p. 659]}:

If in example (13) the reduplicated form of the figurative verb simply characterizes a more rapid movement, then in example (14) it acts as one of the techniques for describing the inner experiences of the main character of the novel (because of being in a desperate situation, it seems to him that even the ceiling of the house is pressing on him and he wants to run out of there).

2. Compared with figurative words, the reduplicated onomatopoeic verbs in the text of the novel in question are less diverse.

The meaning of the singleness of a sound phenomenon, as L. N. Kharitonov notes, can be traced in all analytical forms, "formed from non–derivative root onomatopoeic words reproducing the simplest single sound - a unit of sound perception", in combination with the service verb gyn- and die- ^{[22, p. 108]}: lis gyn- 'to tap, to produce a single A heavy knock' (make a fox!), Nya-die- ' bark (say Nya!)ʼ. The semelfactive meaning is also preserved in the formation of onomatopoeic verbs from derived bases such as laҥkyr gyn- (from Laҥ) 'imitation of the ringing that occurs when solid objects (for example, metal utensils) hit each other' ^{[3, p. 78]}, lihigir geun- (from fox) the rumble produced by the fall of a heavy object on something solid ^{[3, p. 105]}, since "this complex of sounds is also perceived as an integral unit of perception" ^{[22, p. 108]}.

As with figurative verbs, both analytical forms of the onomatopoeic verb and verbs of affixal formation are reduplicated. Doubling (double use of the same independent onomatopoeic word) is one of the main ways to convey the repeatability of a sound phenomenon. For example, fox-fox 'imitation of repeated deaf heavy knocking ', lihighir-lihighir 'repeated heavy knocking, accompanied by a rumble', etc. The semantics of reduplicated onomatopoeic words implies a multiplicity limited in quantitative terms (the sound phenomenon is repeated two or more times). In this case, the meaning of multiplicity becomes contextually dependent.

In the text of the novel, the writer most often uses the doubling of the onomatopoeic word in constructions with the service verb gyn-, for example:

Onomatopoeic verbs formed in the affixal way (separately-multiple and long-sounding) are also reduplicated. At the same time, in the semelfactive – multiplicative pair of onomatopoeic verbs, the semelfactive meaning is primary, and the multiplicative form is derivative. Thus, the meaning of singleness is most clearly traced in verbs of separate-multiple sounding with affixes -ҕaa (-yҕaa), for example, labyrҕaa- ' to make clapping sounds paw-paw-paw', chybyrҕaa- ' to squeak, chirp', in which this meaning is embedded in the semantics of the onomatopoeic word itself, reproducing the simplest single sound – a unit of sound perception (paws 'imitation of the sound of a single clapping'; chyp 'imitation of a single squeak', etc.).

The main difference between the reduplication of these verbs from analytical doubled forms is that it implies more numerous repetitions of the sound phenomenon, produced over a more or less long time. In the text, they are most often used in the form of adverbs in the form of an incentive or jointly-mutual pledge.

The form of split-multiple sounding, which serves to denote "the repetition of the same separately perceived sound phenomenon occurring for a more or less long time" ^{[22, p. 114]}, is closer in meaning to the verbs of repeated sounding formed from doubled onomatopoeic words. For example, challrҕaa- to slurp loudly, sonorously ^{[5, p. 100]}; to make sounds of chalk-chalk (about drops of liquid or mucous mass falling)' ^{[21, p. 281]}; tohurҕaa- ' produce a light jerky sound tos-tos ' [Ibid., p. 277]; kullurҕaa- ' to publish deaf guttural sounds (e.g., about chickens, grouse), current' ^{[2, p. 459]}.

Depending on the lexical basis and quantitative characteristics of the actants, both the actual multiplicative meaning (16) and the sequence of performing multiple actions (17) can manifest themselves. In example (18), the multiplicity of the subject and the use of the form of the co-dependent voice leads to the predominance of distributive semantics in this sentence.

Despite the fact that long-sounding verbs imply continuous or fused reproduction of a sound phenomenon, the forms of uniformly long-sounding with the affix -kynaa have some semantic originality. In verbs like laҥkynaa, the duration of the sound can be considered as a multiplicative multiplicity, since it represents "a fused, undulating continuity of repeated long sounds (laҥ-laҥ-laҥ...)" ^{[22, p. 126]}. For example, the repetition of the sound of a blow on metal in the verb taҥkynaa is 'to make a booming bell' ^{[4, p. 214]}:

In this example, the onomatopoeic word performs not just a descriptive function, but is used to convey the emotional state of the hero (he is in high spirits, running for water with the vivacity characteristic of the young). Contextually, the duration of this sound phenomenon is limited by the time required to reach the final destination of the movement – the lake.

Thus, the reduplication of figurative and onomatopoeic verbs in the Yakut language is one of the specific means of expressing the semantics of multiplicity, or rather its multiplicative variety. It is established that in figurative and onomatopoeic vocabulary, the correlation of multiplicatives with semelfactives has its own characteristics. The Yakut language is characterized by a clear formal expression of semelfactual meaning: such analytical formations as "figurative (onomatopoeic) word + gyn - 'do' (also die- 'speak' with onomatopoeic) are used to express individual acts." If the reduplication of the first component in this construction conveys the semantics of short-term frequent repetition, then doubling the service verb in the adverbial form to -a(s) allows you to emphasize the duration of the intervals between acts and the duration of the entire action. Most often, various actional forms of figurative and onomatopoeic verbs are doubled, which in themselves are the exponents of the multiplicative. Speaking exclusively in the form of reduplicated adverbial participles on -a/s, sometimes in combination with causative affixes, they are used to give a frequent and intense character to a multi-act event. At the same time, in all these means, there is a preservation of a distinct shade of singleness.

In a literary text, the reduplication of figurative verbs, depending on the context and the object of description, can perform an artistic and descriptive function, or convey an emotional assessment. So, in relation to objects or phenomena, such vocabulary performs rather a descriptive function (intense repetition of an action without emotional evaluation is highlighted), whereas when used relative to a person, it most often acquires an emotionally expressive character.

Symbols in glosses

1,2,3 – indicators of the first, second, and third person

ABL is the original case

ACC is the accusative case

ADVLZ is an adverbializer

AOR – aorist, present-future tense

AUX.V is an auxiliary verb

CAUS – causative, incentive pledge

COM – jointly-mutual pledge; joint case

COND – conditional mood

CONJ – union

CVB is the adverbial part

DAT is the dative case

IMAG is a figurative word

INSTR is the creative case

ITER – iterative, multiple

PAST – recent past tense, past categorical time

PCP.FUT – future participle

PCP.PRS – present-future participle

PL is the plural

POSS is an indicator of belonging

POSTP – postposition

PRTC particle

RED – reduplication

REFL – reflexive, refundable deposit

SG is a singular number

SS is an onomatopoeic word