[{"id":938,"title":"Problems in Erzya subject-object-conjugation ambiguity","sha":"fc0d9c8d50420092baf48a1b72109203","user_id":null,"state":"published","body":"The Mordvin languages, Erzya and Moksha, are known for their subject and subject-object marking. The cellular structure and usage in the sibling languages diverge. Here, I discribe phenomena in Erzya.\r\nThe subject-object marking in Erzya involves ambiguity and non-ambiguity for 28 non-reflexive relations.\r\nIn the non-past indicatitve, these relations are represented by 15 formatives that can be divided into groups of ten non-ambiguous, 3 two-way ambiguous, and two six-way ambiguous formatives.\r\n\r\nNon-ambiguity comprises pairs of specific singular arguments and singular subjects with third person plural objects.\r\nPlural subjects with third-person objects are two-way ambiguous.\r\nThe remainder comprises two sets of six-way-ambiguous formatives.\r\n\r\nActually, the last set represents seven-way ambiguity, as the third-person-plural form represents an indefinite actor singular or plural. \r\nThus an example:\r\n«Molʲan lučše vastomot karman, štobu kijak avolʲidʲizʲ nʲejtʲ.» 'Better yet, I'll go and meet you[sg], so that nobody[sg] will see you[sg].'\r\nProblem: the indefinite pronoun (kijak[sg] 'anybody') has a plural counterpart (kitʲkak), and yet the non-specific, indefinite singular is referenced in the subject marking as third person plural. There is an overlap of formatives in four cells. \r\nQuestions: Should multiambiguity be seen as default object conjugation marking, and how is the plural indefinite prounoun used?","created_at":"2022-05-02T09:59:53.773Z","updated_at":"2023-09-03T18:11:57.492Z","zenodo_id":6643877,"doi":"https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6643877","subject":null,"tags":["erzya language","uralic languages","verbal conjugation","object marking","ambiguity","finite-state morphology","linguistics"],"vote_count":1,"view_count":1,"score":1.1,"deleted":false,"muted":false,"tweeted":false,"attachment_file_name":null,"attachment_content_type":null,"attachment_file_size":null,"attachment_updated_at":null},{"id":1007,"title":"Shallow-transfer problems in Erzya-Moksha conjunctive-preterite2 syncretism","sha":"97022095f12e3b681120870cb53bf2eb","user_id":null,"state":"published","body":"The Mordvin languages, Erzya and Moksha, have as many as eight moods, including the Conj(unctive), and Ind(icative).  Both languages have two Ind preterites (Prt1, Prt2) and a non-past. In Erzya, Prt2 and Conj have distinct morphology, whereas, in Moksha, the two are syncretic. In a preliminar parallel corpus test, three measures were taken: \r\n(1) the causal conjunction 'in order to' /štobu/ (Erzya), /štoba/ (Moksha) was counted for co-occurrence with finite and non-finite verbal forms; \r\n(2) the number of Conj vs Ind Prt2 forms were counted where the causal conjunction was absent, and \r\n(3) the corresponding predicates were established for the forms attested in (2). \r\nMoksha Conj, Erzya Opt/Conj – 4/56. \r\nMore divergence was found in the absence of clausal conjunction structures.\r\nMoksha: 5 Conj, 1 Prt2 reading.\r\nErzya 4 Conj, 17 Prt2 readings.\r\nOnly one Moksha conjunctive lacked a parallel in Erzya; \r\nOf the remaining 16 Prt2 in Erzya, 13 had Freq + Prt1 Moksha correlates, two had copula correlates, and one was lacking a correlate due to changes in the text. \r\nThe virtual absence of Ind Prt2 forms in the Moksha text is curious. \r\nAdditional work will be needed to establish regular frequentative derivation patterns for Erzya-to-Moksha transfer, whereas the reverse is complex.","created_at":"2022-09-18T13:51:59.169Z","updated_at":"2023-09-03T18:11:55.362Z","zenodo_id":7232614,"doi":"https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7232614","subject":null,"tags":["erzya language","moksha language","morphology","syncretism","conjunctive","second preterite","shallow-transfer machine translation","mordvin","uralic","apertium","giellalt","emerald"],"vote_count":1,"view_count":1,"score":1.1,"deleted":false,"muted":false,"tweeted":false,"attachment_file_name":null,"attachment_content_type":null,"attachment_file_size":null,"attachment_updated_at":null}]