Megrelian conjunction -ni «that» in hypotactic constructions: main and secondary meanings

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Maia Lomia

Abstract

The paper analyzes the functions of the conjunction -ni “that” in hypotactic constructions based on the material of the Megrelian language. The issue is significant from two viewpoints: Megrelian is an oral, non-written language; the conjunction -ni is a clitic. It is well known that a clitic is very flexible from the viewpoint of information(grammatical-pragmatic). Hence, apart from the chief meaning, in oral speech, secondary meaning is frequently applied. The Megrelian conjunction-clitic -ni easily performs both functions – the chief and secondary functions. Multifunctional nature of -ni is due to its generic meaning. The hypotactic construction with the conjunction -ni is also specific due to the peculiar order of the main and subordinate clauses: constructions of this type are characterized by the shift of the syntactic boundary. In such cases, the typologist linguistics chiefly note that the subordinate clause is shifted to the left. In this regard, Megrelian has revealed a different situation: the position of the subordinate clause does not make a difference in Megrelian. Whether it follows the main clause or precedes it, the traditional syntactic boundary may be destroyed in both cases.


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How to Cite
Lomia, M. (2023). Megrelian conjunction -ni «that» in hypotactic constructions: main and secondary meanings. Scientific Collection «InterConf+», (31(147), 265–270. https://doi.org/10.51582/interconf.19-20.03.2023.028

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