Nyelvtudományi Közlemények 84. kötet (1982)

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

THE CONDITIONAL SENTENCE IN OSTYÁK 235 is inferred in each case from the context. Let an example be given to illustrate this point. If we label the time levél présent/future as A and the pást as B, we hâve four combination possibilities for a complète conditional sentence of rejected condition: A+A, B-j-B, A+B, and B+A. In English, Germán, Hungárián, or Finnish, one would ha ve to construct four différent sentences, but in osN one single sentence structure may express several or even ail of the above combination possibilities. The sentence structure following for example occurred in the material examined with three différent combination possibilities: protasis with past tense and ki + apodosis with past tense and loin. B-f-B: O %olibr\ yp\ mà-ki ant uèritsèm, manèm uèlsdt loin 'ha a harminc embert én nem győztem volna le, engemet megöltek volna' (PÁPAY 29) A-f-B: O när) sïmss wçtar} an-kï wqsan, mïn tçtdn ar muéïttak wanssmdn13 'wenn du nicht so erfahren wärest, hätten wir viel Not gelitten' (RÉDEI 126) B-)-A: Kaz. yprdr] ià% %oza si naurèm yphs-ki, uulßäshr} iàx rot andam os loin 'ha a x

or9î) népnél ez a gyermek meghalt volna, a nagy folyóági nép nemzetsége (már) nem volna' (PÁPAY 165) Examples for other sentence structures capable of representing more than one tense level combination could also be given. No sentence structure was found which referred specifically to one tense level combination. To recapitulate, we see that osN distinguishes between conditional sentences of open and of rejected condition in most cases formally, but that in a minority of cases, i.e. those without loin, this distinction must be inferred from the context. OsN does not distinguish différent levels of time in its conditional sentences of rejected condition. The time levels must, as in Russian, be inferred from context. 4. Let us turn our attention now to the conditional sentence in osS, firstly to its linear arrangement and conjunctionality. In this regard three major types can be distinguished, two non-conjunctional and one conjunctional. These are: 1) protasis — indicative mood, no conjunction + apodosis — indicative or imperative, 2) protasis — verbal noun, no conjunction + apodosis — indicative or imperative, and 3) protasis — conditional conjunction %un with indicative mood + apodosis — indicative or imperative. Noteworthy is the complète and total lack of the conditional particle ki, so widespread in osN. 4.1. The first type of conditional sentence in osS, found in 40% of the conditional sentences of open condition, is that employing non-conjunctional paratactical juxtaposition of the two clauses. As in the corresponding sentences in osN the clauses are not connected through formal means. Two clauses thus juxtaposed need not necessarily form a conditional sentence, being also capable of forming temporal, concessive, etc. Compound sentences. That we are dealing with a conditional sentence is made plain from context and the individual meaning of the two clauses. The widespread occurrence of this type in osS lends further credence to the hypothesis that this type is older than that with the conditional particle ki. Examules for this type of sentence can be found in ail dialects of osS: 13 This is the only example found for a conditional sentence of rejected condition which uses the past tense and has loin in a différent position.