Nyelvtudományi Közlemények 94. kötet (1994-1995)

Kisebb közlemények - Sherwood, Peter: Ob-Ugrian ’consume’ 119

122 PETER SHERWOOD a Natural (unmarked) Agent-Subject and the passive structure is available only if the animacy hierarchy is inverted and the sentence double marked, on both noun and verb. In the example below, 'sheep' is not marked for plural, being a low Animate, but the verb records plurality of the 'logical' object: (1) pogk=iy-\-uj ös- am pusn té- s- an WW 636b tooth=ed+animal sheep-sl ail eat-PAST-objPL/s3 (the) wolf ate ail my sheep 'Wolf (Subject-Agent unmarked) précèdes 'my sheep' (0 unmarked); wordorder (SOV) and the natural order conspire to détermine the meaning. The Ob-Ugrian 'passive' counterpart of this may not be everyone's idea of a passive transformation: (la) pogk = iy-\-uj ös-äm-nd (pusn) té we- s -0 (own e.g.) -Na eat-PASS-PAST-s3 (the) wolf was eaten (up) by my sheep or: my sheep ate (up) (the) wolf (In the English translation, the English passive may preferred because of the topic hierarchy: John was run over by a car being préférable to A car ran John over; but the fact remains that there is no alternative structure in Ob-Ugrian here, just as 'My sheep were ail eaten by (the) wolf is subsumed under (1).) 'My sheep' is marked as Agent with -Na the verb with -WE-; 'wolf is unmarked as Patient-Subject. This pattern occurs because the animacy hierarchy has been inverted, with those lower on the hierarchy—on this particular occasion and unusually—taking on an Agent Rôle, while those higher hâve a Patient rôle. Subjecthood is retained in accordance with the universality of the hierarchy: pronouns, humans &c retain their universal relations irrespective of a particular occasion or types of occasion when the hierarchy is inverted or otherwise violated. The sensés of our verb We turn now to identifying the sensés of our verb, giving the accompanying syntax. The sensé are given NOT in order of frequency or importance, but in an order that demonstrates the semantic relationships of the various sensés to each other. We distinguish between a situation where the AGENT is CONTROLLABLE (normally or potentially under human control), and one where the Nyelvtudományi Közlemények 94. 1994-1995.