Nyelvtudományi Közlemények 84. kötet (1982)

Tanulmányok - Riese, Timothy: The Conditional Sentence in the Ostyak Language 229

234 TIMOTHY RIESE ad 2) O äddhmdn tryyaina Ösmdn-ki, pm Ős loin 'ha külön helyen volnák, jobb volna' (PÁPA Y 44) ad 3) 0 ma nvrjèn mudi il-ki tàlsè mloln, wor\ yplna i %vtl-sis an uèritsèn 'ha az elébb lehúztalak volna (a víz alá), te még egy napig se birtad volna ki' (PÁPAY 7) While loin occurs in the majority of conditional sentences of rejected condition, it does not appear to be absolutely necessary, as evidenced by the following examples: Sy. nar) ki g,ntum ysn, min kärti löwn éita si lêsajmdn 'wenn du nicht gewesen wärest, wären wir von dem Eisernen Pferd da gefressen worden' (STEINITZ 144) Serk. m ëwdttem tajdm po%en kë $6, êitd yün nërijdsl 'wenn dein Sohn von mir erzeugt wäre, wie würde er (da) so (etwas) tun!' (STETNITZ 236) O an-ki làbdtsèn, uèk and ät labdtsèn\ 'ha nem tápláltál volna, hát örökre nem tápláltál volna' (PÁPAY 40) osN possesses only two moods, indicative and imperative, and thus lacks in contrast to Vogul a mood of the subjunctive/conditional/potential type. What is expressed in other languages with such a mood is expressed in osN primarily with the pást indicative. Indeed, the pást tense is connected in a great many languages and language groups with a conditional function, also in Vogul and Hungárián, the languages most closely related to Ostyák. In connection with loin the pást tense in osN is definitely of a conditional nature. In a few cases, such as in the sentences above, the past tense in the proper context is enough to establish the conditional nature of the sentence. Of the 26 sentences of rejected condition from osN, 22 use the past tense. When the présent tense is used in a conditional sentence of rejected condition, the particle of unreality loin is also used and the following observations can be made: 1) the sentence expresses a polite request or suggestion and 2) loin is not placed after the finite verb as is usual but stands towards the beginning of the clause: Sy. nar) in ly,ln jëmsrj nola j&rjxdm wëren potdnhn ki, muj %orpi pelai 'wenn du jetzt von deiner Fahrt zum Heiligen Kap erzählen würdest, wie wäre das?' (STEINITZ 65) Sy. narj in lüln jçi%ldn ki o%sar iki %oéa, luw ësom jir)kdl wö%ldn 'wenn du jetzt zum Fuchs gehen würdest, du könntest ihn um seine Milch bitten' (STEINITZ 145) 3.1.1. One aspect of the osN conditional sentence of rejected condition remains yet to be discussed, that of a possible differentiation between time levels in such sentences. Many languages distinguish between présent/future and past (or completed and incompleted action) in their corresponding sentences (if I knewjif I had known, ha tudnék/ha tudtam volna, jos tietäisin/jos olisin tietänyt). Other languages do not make this distinction, e.g. Russian: ecAU 6bl il 3HüA 'if I knew/if I had known'. Northern Vogul, which has an optative-conditional mood possessing only one tense-form, distinguishes in the protasis, but not in the apodosis. OsN would seem not to distinguish between time levels in its conditional sentences of rejected condition. This is probably not due to Russian influence as the Russian language has not had such a great influence on Ostyak syntax. We can find one and the same structure in osN conditional sentences referring to différent time levels. The specific time level referred to