Insubordination – the conventionalized use of morphologically non-finite forms as finite ones – is an ordinary syntactic event in synchronic spontaneous discourse; it is also an ordinary stage of the grammaticalization of non-finite clauses as finite ones. This chapter explores the morphosyntactic typology of insubordination and its ontogeny in Inner Asian Turko-Mongolic languages. In so doing, I clarify criterial features of insubordination. I also consider whether insubordination is a transient phenomenon as part of a larger process of grammaticalization.I hypothesize that spoken interactive discourse is the major source of candidate structures for insubordination. Inner Asian Turko-Mongolic insubordination occurs in cross-linguistically typical if-clauses, but it also occurs in several other morphologically nonfinite contexts such as purposive clauses (e.g. Uyghur …üčün ‘in order to…’), imperfective clauses (e.g. Southeastern Monguor …bari-ǰi ‘taking…’). I first survey the range of conventionalized insubordinate readings of such non-finites in a half dozen modern Turko-Mongolic languages. Turning to their ontogeny, I then show how contemporary examples of candidate utterances for insubordination often originate as co-constructed utterances in discourse.The grammaticalization of nonfinite clauses as finite ones is a well-established phenomenon in Turkic and Mongolic. Looking at clause length, frequency, and recoverability of semantic content, some conventionalized examples of insubordination (for instance the Monguor imperfective clauses with -ǰi) are losing an insubordination reading and becoming grammaticalized as finite utterances. If insubordination criterially entails semantic and grammatical elision, such constructions become independent in the final phase of insubordination, and “it may not be possible to restore any ellipsed material” (Evans 2007: 370–376). But if insubordination is viewed as a short-term, discourse-based and fundamentally transient phenomenon, then Monguor imperfective nonfinites would be seen as “mature” examples of insubordination. Social and regional variation and even language contact contribute to the introduction of new candidates for insubordination, as well as for their loss.
2007Insubordination and its uses. In Finiteness: Theoretical and Empirical Foundations, Irina Nikolaeva (ed.), 366–431. Oxford: OUP.
Ford, Cecilia & Thompson, Sandra A
1986Conditionals in discourse: A text-based study from English. In On Conditionals, Elizabeth Closs Traugott, Alice ter Meulen, Judy S. Reilly & Charles A. Ferguson (eds), 353–372. Cambridge: CUP.
1894/1909Progress in Language with Special Reference to English. London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co.
Lehmann, Christian
1982Thoughts on grammaticalization: A programmatic sketch [Arbeiten des Kölner Universalien-Projekts 48.1]. Köln: Universität zu Köln.
Maslova, Elena
2003A Grammar of Kolyma Yukhagir. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
McCreedy, Lynn
1989Cohesion and discourse structure in three genres of Navajo discourse. In Athabaskan Linguistics: Current Perspectives on a Language Family, Eung-Do Cook & Keren Rice (eds), 439–486. Berlin: Mouton.
Menges, Karl H
(ed.)1933Volkskundliche Texte aus Ost-Türkistan. Aus dem Nachlass von N. Th. Katanov herausgegeben. Aus den Sitzungsberichten der Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-historische Klasse 1933. Berlin.
Nedjalkov, Igor
1995Converbs in Evenki. In Converbs in Cross-linguistic Perspective: Structure and Meaning of Adverbial Verb Forms – Adverbial Participles, Gerunds [Empirical Approaches to Language Typology 13], Martin Haspelmath & Ekkehard König (eds), 97–136. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.
Nikolaeva, Irina
2007Introduction. In Finiteness: Theoretical and Empirical Foundations, Irina Nikolaeva (ed.), 1–19. Oxford: OUP.
Ramstedt, Gustav J
1945Das deverbale Nomen auf -i in den altaischen Sprachen. Studia orientalia edidit Societas orientalis fennica 11(6): 6.
Ramstedt, Gustav J
1950Das deverbale Nomen auf -m in den altaischen Sprachen. Mémoires de la Société Finno-Ougrienne 98: 255–264.
Robbeets, Martine
2009Insubordination in Altaic. Вопросы филологии 1: 61–79.
Scollon, Ron & Scollon, Suzanne B.K
1981Narrative, Literacy and Face in Interethnic Communication. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Sechenchogtu. 斯钦朝克图
1999康家语研究 (Research on the Kangjia language). Shanghai: 远东出版社 Far East Publishing.
Slater, Keith
2003The Grammar of Mangghuer: A Mongolic Language of China’s Qinghai-Gansu Sprachbund. London: Routledge.
Stirling, Lesley
1999Isolated if-clauses in Australian English. In The Clause in English. In Honour of Rodney Huddleston [Studies in Language Companion Series 45], Peter Collins & David Lee (eds), 273–294. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Tannen, Deborah
1987Repetition in conversation: Towards a poetics of talk. Language 63(3): 574–605.
Tenishev, E.R
1984Uygurskie Teksty. Moscow: Nauka.
Thackston, Wheeler M
(ed.)1993The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince and Emperor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations.
Trask, Robert L
1993A Dictionary of Grammatical Terms in Linguistics. London: Routledge.
2022. Si vous avez quelqu’un sous la main : les si-indépendantes en tant que format de requête. Langue française N° 216:4 ► pp. 47 ff.
la Roi, Ezra
2021. The Insubordination of If- and That-Clauses from Archaic to Post-Classical Greek: A Diachronic Constructional Typology. Symbolae Osloenses 95:1 ► pp. 2 ff.
Labiano, Mikel
2023. Griego antiguo εἰ μή … γε. Respuesta no preferida replicativa e insubordinación. Cuadernos de Filología Clásica. Estudios griegos e indoeuropeos 33 ► pp. 69 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 12 april 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
Any errors therein should be reported to them.