Семантическое поле ‘менять’ в севернохантыйском языке: доминантная система с размытой периферией

Acta Linguistica Petropolitana. Труды института лингвистических исследований. 2026. Т. 22-1. С. 352–404.

Starchenko A., Маринина В. В.

The study focuses on the semantic field ‘change’ in Northern Khanty. Based on a typological questionnaire, we present data on the use of the lexical items of the field and provide their analysis in frame semantics. We show that Northern Khanty has a dominant system in which most frames are expressed by the pɛlət- / pɛlətš- stem. It covers the core of the field which includes prototypically transitive contexts, while the periphery is covered by descriptive constructions or valency-changing derivations from the dominant stem. An explanation of this division is provided, based on the internal form of the stem. Our evidence shows that pɛlət- / pɛlətš- is a denominal derivation formed by the transitivizing suffix -(ə)t which, though no longer separable synchronically, imposes restrictions on the use of the stem. Discussing valency-decreasing derivations from the dominant stem, we argue that they pose a problem for the frame analysis of the field, which may be resolved by merging them with the dominant stem into one lexical item. Their behavior highlights a more general question of whether semantic study should treat non-productive and irregular derivations as separate lexemes irrespective of their purely grammatical meaning.

The study also describes the phonological variability of the pɛlət- / pɛlətš- stem in the context of Khanty interdialectal correspondences and historical reconstruction. We show that the variant pɛlət- behaves as a standard stem both synchronically and diachronically. In contrast, pɛlətš- does not form a full paradigm, exhibiting suppletion with pɛlət-. The variant that requires fewer phonological alternations is thus more stable in the modern variety of Northern Khanty. From the diachronic perspective, the variant pɛlətš- does not regularly correspond to its cognates. We discuss possible scenarios of its emergence.

Keywords: лексикология, lexicology, lexical semantics, лексическая типология, Northern Khanty, севернохантыйский язык, semantic field ‘change’, Khanty languages, семантическое поле ‘менять’, праугорская реконструкция, хантыйские языки

Publication based on the results of: Language in Real-world and Digital Environments (2024)