Nyelvtudományi Közlemények 109. kötet (2013)
Tanulmányok - Simoncsics, Péter: Linguistic gestures: On negation, with special reference to the Permian languages 151
On negation, with special reference to the Permian languages 159 Negative o-stem auxiliaries in the present tense occur in Komi and Mari, while ii-stem occurs in Udmurt. In Mordvinian there are no negative auxiliaries with o- stem in present tense (nor «/-stem either). Both Moksa and Erza dialects of the language apply negative particles with a- in present tense where the provenience of the stem a- is unclear so far. Yet, Mordvinian forms are part of the overall picture of the area, since in testimonial past it also uses an e-stem auxiliary, thus making a clear distinction between present and testimonial past. The distinction between present and past and, further, between testimonial and narrative past seems to be a common feature of the area north and south of the Volga-bend where the four language cognates surrounded by Turkic peoples (Chuvash and Tatar) are situated. In a recent study Bereczki argued that even Hungarian might have preserved this distinction (possibly under Turkic influence) in its various past tense forms, which are now mostly obsolete (Bereczki 2004). (For the time being we will not discuss the fact that distinction between testimonial and narrative past tenses is also a general feature east of our area. The vast Siberian territory inhabited by Uralic, Turkic and Palaeo-Siberian peoples offers a treasure-trove of this distinction thanks to the folkloristic nature of its languages and cultures). Let us return now to the “smaller” area of the Permian languages and their cognates in the Volga region and try to reconstruct the line of development leading from *e- to Udmurt u- and Komi and Mari o-; in other words, let us try to find the origin of this innovation. The geographical distribution of these languages and their respective negative auxiliary stems is shown schematically below: Komi o-Udmurt uм a r M a r o-M 0 r d v i n i a n Í 1-(The symbol [] indicates that the change of illabial to labial negative auxiliary stem in the present tense did not take place in Mordvinian.)
