Polyfunctional subordinating constructions in Bartangi: Towards a unified analysis

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Abstract

In the article I consider the system of subordination in Bartangi, one of the Pamir languages of Mountainous Badakhshan (Iranian branch of Indo-European). I describe the marking strategies of all major subordinate clause types and demonstrate that the core of the system consists of only three subordinators — preverbal ca, clause-internal di (diIN) and interclausal di (diEX) — each of which has a remarkably broad range of usage. I suggest that for each of these subordinators, its range of functions can be derived from a single semantic or syntactic definition. I propose treating constructions with ca as an extended type of relativization — a kind of correlatives — that lack dedicated marking of the relative or matrix NP and can thus have a very wide range of meanings. Constructions with diEX are treated as assertive clauses that simultaneously serve as topics for the main clause: this allows unifying their temporal, narrative, and conditional functions. Finally, I treat the subordinator diEX as lacking any special semantics, serving as a discourse particle that signals that the sentence is incomplete and will be immediately followed by a continuation clause. Such a system, having an extremely narrow inventory of markers with very abstract meanings, is remarkable for the typology and theory of subordination, as well as for the comparative study of Iranian languages.

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Oleg I. Belyaev

Lomonosov Moscow State University; Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Author for correspondence.
Email: belyaev@ossetic-studies.org
Russian Federation, Moscow; Moscow

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