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On Diversity and Complexity of Languages Spoken in Europe and North and Central Asia
Edited by Pirkko Suihkonen and Lindsay J. Whaley
[Studies in Language Companion Series 164] 2014
► pp. 109–132

Spatial semantics, case and relator nouns in Evenki

| University of Chicago

Evenki, a Northwest Tungusic language, exhibits an extensive system of nominal cases, deictic terms, and relator nouns, used to signal complex spatial relations. The paper describes the use and distribution of the spatial cases which signal stative and dynamic relations, with special attention to their semantics within a framework using fundamental Gestalt concepts such as Figure and Ground, and how they are used in combination with deictics and nouns to signal specific spatial semantics. Possible paths of grammaticalization including case stacking, or Suffixaufnahme, are discussed.

Keywords: case morphology, deixis, grammaticalization, relator noun, spatial cases, Suffixaufnahme
Published online: 17 December 2014
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https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.164.04gre
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