Article

Name: Markers -bile and deg as a means of expressing comparative semantics in the Tuvan language

Authors: L. A. Shamina

Institute of Philology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russian Federation

In the section Морфология

Abstract:

This article defines comparison as a syntactic construction comprising several requisite components. The basis of any comparison is a shared attribute or quality between the things being compared. However, comparison can serve either to reveal the unique qualitative aspects of the main object or to measure the general quality, indicating a greater degree in one object than in the other. The requisite components of a comparative construction are CMPR1 (the first comparative element, or object of comparison), CMPR2 (the second comparative element, or comparison standard), and PRM (the comparison parameter/module specifying the basis of comparison). CMPR2 can be articulated as a single word, a word combination, or a predicative unit that represents the object or, less frequently, the event, action, state, or characteristic against which a comparison is drawn. PRM indicates a shared or disparate quality between the compared object and the standard, primarily conveyed through verbs and adjectives that explicitly denote actions or attributes. In Tuvan, adjectival types are most frequently used, with adjectives denoting the fixed attributes of objects. Hence, comparisons involving these modules concentrate on the static, unchanging properties of individuals or entities. While predominantly employing inanimate objects, the standards for adjectival comparison can also encompass animals and people, provided they are characterized by stable intrinsic or extrinsic properties. This study identifies and characterizes the structural and semantic mechanisms of image representations within Tuvan texts, focusing on the markers deg and -bile that primarily convey simulative semantics.

Keywords: Tuvan language, comparison, comparative construction, case, postposition, standard, standard, parameter of comparison

Bibliography:

Arkhipov A. V. Tipologiya komitativnykh konstruktsiy [Typology of comitative constructions]. Moscow, Znak, 2009, 293 p. (In Russian)

Arutyunova N. D. Yazyk i mir cheloveka [Language and the world of man]. Moscow, LRC Publishing House, 1998, 896 p. (In Russian)

Cheremisina M. I., Shamina L. A. Vyrazhenie sravneniya v tuvinskom yazyke [Expression of comparison in the Tuvan language]. In Yazyki korennyh narodov Sibiri [Languages of the Indigenous Peoples of Siberia]. Novosibirsk, 1996, iss. 3, pp. 65‒84. (In Russian)

Cheremisina M. I. Sravnitel’nye konstruktsii russkogo yazyka [Comparative constructions of the Russian language]. Novosibirsk, Nauka, 1976, 270 p. (In Russian)

Cheremisina M. I. Tvoritel’nyy padezh kak sredstvo formirovaniya obraza [The instrumental case as a means of image formation]. In Grammatika russkogo yazyka [Grammar of the Russian language]. Irkutsk, Irkutsk univ., 1972, pp. 72‒92. (In Russian)

Drevnetyurkskiy slovar’ [Ancient Turkic dictionary]. Moscow, Nauka, 1969, 676 p.

Iskhakov F. G., Pal’mbakh A. A. Grammatika tuvinskogo yazyka [Grammar of the Tuvan language]. Moscow, Vost. lit., 1961, 472 p. (In Russian)

Katanov N. F. Opyt issledovaniya uryankhayskogo yazyka s ukazaniem glavneyshikh rodstvennykh otnosheniy ego k drugim yazykam tyurkskogo kornya [Experience in researching the Uriankhai language with an indication of its main family relations to other languages of the Turkic root]. Kazan, Tipo-litografiya Imperatorskogo universiteta, 1903, 933 p. (In Russian)

Koshkareva N. B, Plotnikov I. M. Metayazyk opisaniya semantiki sravneniya kak yazykovogo znaka [Metalingistic representation of the semantics of comparison as a linguistic sign]. Kritika i Semiotika [Critique and Semiotics]. 2023, no. 2, pp. 180–216. (In Russian)

Koshkareva N. B., Solovar V. N. Komparativnye konstruktsii s semantikoy ekvivalentnosti v mansiyskom yazyke [Comparative constructions with equivalence semantics in the Mansi language]. Sibirskii Filologicheskii Zhurnal [Siberian Journal of Philology]. 2024, no. 3, pp. 80–94. (In Russian)

Kyrzhinakova E. V. Sposoby vyrazheniya sravneniya v khakasskom yazyke [Means of expressing comparison in the Khakass language]. Cand. philol. sci. diss. Abakan, 2010, 262 p. (In Russian)

Malov C. E. Pamyatniki drevnetyurkskoy pis’mennosti. Teksty i issledovaniya [Monuments of ancient Turkic writing. Texts and studies]. Moscow, Leningrad, AN USSR, 1951, 451 p. (In Russian)

Melioranskiy P. M. Kratkaya grammatika kazak-kirgizskogo yazyka [Brief grammar of the Cossack-Kyrgyz language]. St. Petersburg, Tip. Imperatorskoy akad. nauk, 1897, pt. 2: Sintaksis [Syntax], 92 p. (In Russian)

Nasilov V. M. Grammatika uygurskogo yazyka [Grammar of the Uyghur language]. Moscow, 1940, 152 p. (In Russian)

Pevnov A. M. O proiskhozhdenii pokazatelya tvoritel’nogo padezha v tunguso-man’chzhurskikh yazykakh [On the origin of the instrumental case marker in the Manchu-Tungusic languages]. Yazyki i Fol’klor Korennykh Narodov Sibiri [Languages and Folklore of Indigenous Peoples of Siberia]. 2025, no. 1 (iss. 53), pp. 70‒79. (In Russian)

Shamina L. A. Morfosintaksicheskie sposoby kodirovaniya mnozhestvennosti situatsiy i ikh uchastnikov v tuvinskom yazyke [Morphosyntactic methods of encoding the plurality of situations and their participants in the Tuvan language]. In Tyurkskie arealy Sibiri [Turkic areas of Siberia]. Novosibirsk, Akademizdat, 2022, pp. 358‒375. (In Russian)

Shcherbak A. M. Ocherki po sravnitel’noy morfologii tyurkskikh yazykov (narechie, sluzhebnye chasti rechi, izobrazitel’nye slova) [Essays on the comparative morphology of Turkic languages (adverbs, functional parts of speech, figurative words)]. Leningrad, Nauka, 1987, 152 p. (In Russian)

Tolkovyy slovar’ tuvinskogo yazyka s perevodom znacheniy slov i ustoychivykh slovo-sochetaniy na rus. yaz. [Explanatory dictionary of the Tuvan language with translation of the meanings of words and stable word combinations into Russian Language]. Vol. 1. Novosibirsk, Nauka, 2003, 596 pp.; Vol. 2. Novosibirsk, Nauka, 2011, 795 p. (In Russian)

Tuvinsko-russkiy slovar’ [Tuvan-Russian dictionary]. Moscow, Sov. entsikl., 1968, 646 p. (In Russian)

Tybykova L. N. Sravnitel’nye konstruktsii altayskogo yazyka [Comparative constructions in the Altai language]. Abstract of Cand. philol. sci. diss. Alma-Ata, 1989, 19 p. (In Russian)

Ubryatova E. I. Sledy drevnikh tyurkskogo, uygurskogo i kirgizskogo yazykov v sovremennykh yazykakh Sibiri [Traces of ancient Turkic, Uyghur, and Kyrgyz languages in modern languages of Siberia]. In Izbrannye trudy. Issledovaniya po tyurkskim yazykam [Selected works. Research on Turkic languages]. Novosibirsk, Editorial and Publishing Center of NSU, 2011, pp. 58‒67. (In Russian)

Vasiliev Yu. I. Sposoby vyrazheniya sravneniya v yakutskom yazyke [Ways of expressing comparison in the Yakut language]. Novosibirsk, Nauka, 1986, 111 p. (In Russian)