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EASTERN MANSI (KONDA) GRAMMAR

ULLA-MAIJA FORSBERG
(English version of Ulla-Maija Kulonen: Itämansin kielioppi ja tekstejä, Société Finno-Ougrienne
Helsinki 2007)

CONTENTS
Introduction
I PHONOLOGY
Consonants
Consonant clusters
Vowel systems
Vowels in the initial syllables
Quantity and vowel variation
Vowels in the non-initial syllables
II MORPHOPHONOLOGY
Syllable structure
Stem rakenne
Monosyllabic stems
Bisyllabic stems
Stem variation
Denasalization
Suffix structure
III MORPHOLOGY
Noun declension
Possessive suffixes
Cases and their usage
Nominative, dual and plural
Accusative
Lative
Locatice
Ablative
Translative
Instrumental
Caritive / Abessive
Adjective comparison and modal
Pronoun declension
Numerals
Verb conjugation
Tense
Subject conjugation
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Object conjugation and the usage

Mood
Imperative and optative
Conditional
Passive
Verb nominal forms
IV SYNTAX: STRUCTURES
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INTRODUCTION

This grammar of Eastern Mansi describes the Mansi dialects of Middle Konda and
Lower Konda as they are manifested in the texts and grammar notes collected by Artturi
Kannisto. This language form, exactly hundred years old at the time the present
grammar was published in Finnish in 2007, was no more spoken as such at the offset of
the 21st century. The data that this grammar is based on consists of the texts written in
Middle Konda in the collection of samples Wogulische Volksdichtung by Artturi
Kannisto and Matti Liimola. The materials have been previously published by the
Finno-Ugrian Society in its series numbers 101 (WV I; mythological texts), 109 (WV
II; heroic and war stories); 111 (WV III; fairy tales); 116 (WV V; songs from the great
bear ceremonies) and 134 (WV VI; destiny songs and different kinds of small folklore
genres).

For the purposes of the grammatical description I first transcribed all selected texts with
a simplified phonematic transcription system. The notation used in this book differs
from the traditional Finno-Ugric tradition in that the notation created for automatic
processing does not include separate diacritics. The established practices in the Finno-
Ugric standard languages (especially Finnish and Hungarian) have been followed in the
transcription, e.g. in marking vowel length and palatalization, and the characters are part
of the regular Scandinavian character encoding system.

I identified all inflectional and conjugational forms in the texts entered into the
computer, and wrote the morphological description based on the resulting list. In order
to complete the list of forms, I used Kannisto’s morphological notes and paradigms that
are kept as manuscripts in the dictionary of Mansi dialects and its card files. This
compilation method defines the structure of the morphological part, which can also be
motivated by the method used by Kannisto to collect his material in Siberia, and the
form in which he published it. The main method in collecting the material on Konda
dialects for Kannisto was to record the speech of an informant called Afanasiy in the
village of Nakhrachy in the Lower Konda area. Almost all texts marked with KU
represent the idiolect of this informant. Kannisto analysed these texts in detail with
another informant, Andrey Yutkin, whose dialect represents a dialect within the Middle
Konda (KM) group. The dialect of Middle Konda includes features that are typical
especially for the Konda dialects thus separating them from other dialects, and it can be
regarded as “the standard dialect” of Konda. (The standard language, written to some
extent with Cyrillic characters, is based on the third variant, the Yukonda dialect.) The
majority of the texts labelled with the marker KM are thus based on Yutkin’s idiolect. In
the collection Wogulische Volksdichtung, the texts told by Afanasiy and analysed by
Kannisto with the help of Yutkin have been printed as parallel versions, the texts by
Afanasiy as version A and the texts commented by Yutkin as version B. There is
therefore both a KU and a KM variant available for the majority of the words. In the
present grammar these are shown parallell to each other, so that the column on the left
hand side always contains the KM words and word forms, and the column on the right
hand side the corresponding KU forms (i.e. the original data). Some of the materials on
Middle Konda have also been collected from other informants; one text for example has
been told by Kannisto’s third informant Vasiliy Nyemotop, whose idiolect clearly
differs from Yutkin’s. The items on the grammatical paradigms do not always totally
correspond with the forms in the texts, even if they are from the same informant. In
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some special cases and for less frequent forms, I have given special weight to the forms
found in the texts and the examples highlighting them.

I describe and illuminate the usage of the morphological forms (possessive suffixes,
cases, the object conjugation forms and the passive forms of the verbs) with examples
added to the morphological description. The aim is to avoid a heavily abstract and
isolated morphological description by letting the forms that occur in the examples
appear as early as possible in the language learning process. The section of syntax has
therefore remained quite short in this grammar, and I have selected only the very central
features. Several phenomena in Mansi have still remained outside the scope of research
and I hope that this book will play a part in encouraging researchers to take up this
challenging task. All examples of usage as well as text examples in the sections for both
morphology and syntax derive from the original texts. In few cases only have I chosen
to leave out some long and poetical sequences that are frequent in folklore and not
essential to the syntactic structure in question. The fact that all the clause examples are
from the Middle Konda dialect is not specifically mentioned in conjunction with the
clause examples whereas the clause examples otherwise motivated to represent Lower
Konda have always been marked to represent this specific dialect. Where there is no
marker stating the dialect in question, the clause examples thus always represent the
Middle Konda dialect.
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I PHONOLOGY

CONSONANTS

The consonants in the Konda dialects are shown in the table below. For the sake of
clarity the IPA transcription system is presented in parenthesis on each row:

labials p w m (p, w (β), m)

dentals t s l r n (t, s, l, r, n)
palatals ty j sy ly ny (tʲ, j, sʲ, lʲ, nʲ)
velars k k° g x x° ng (k, kʷ, ɣ, χ, χʷ, ŋ )

Out of these /g/ and /ng/ do not occur in word initial positions in either dialect, and /x/
and /x°/ do not occur in word initial positions in KM (in KU preceding the back vowel
k-, k°- > x-, x°- ). /ng/ (ŋ) is here marked with n when preceding the velar (<nk> = ŋk ,
<nx> = ŋχ). When n (n) precedes g (ɣ) and k, it is marked with <n.g> <n.k>, e.g.
møn.gøm ’I go’. Examples:
/p/ Word initial: KM KU pupi ’spirit’, KM põõwøl KU paawøl ’village’, KM KU
påly ’chip’
Word internal: KM KU pupi ’spirit’, KM KU sopii ’broken’
Word final: KM kop, KU xop ’wave’, KM KU seetøp ’thread’, KM KU sågrøp
’axe’
/t/ Word initial: KM KU tor ’throat, sound’, tol ’cloud’, KM töärø, KU täörø
’through’
Word internal: KM KU tåti ’to bring’
Word final: KM KU tøt ’here’, KM koot, KU xoot ’6’
/ty/ Word initial: työäty ’father’
Word internal: KM KU wityøng ’watery, wet’, öätyi ’is not’
Word final: KM KU jiiwty ’trees’, wity ’water’,
/k/ Word initial: KM KU köät ’hand’, kit ’2’, köäli ’to rise, to get up’, køtiili ’to
ask’, KM konti ’to find’
Word internal: KM KU wøkään ’take it (you2/Pl)’
Word final: KM KU nok ’up’, jøsøn.k ’if you come’, KM såk ’all’
/k°/ Word initial: KM KU k°äl ’house’, k°än ’out’, KM k°åt ’where’, k°åsyø ’for
long’
Word internal: KM KU jeek°i ’to dance’, jeek°ør ’root’, lääk°ølti ’to creep, to
move’
Word final: KM KU äk° ’one’ (otherwise word final x°)
/w/ Word initial: KM KU woor ’forest’, wöä ’strength’, wity ’water’
Word internal: KM löäwi, KU läöwi ’to say’, KM põõwøl KU paawøl ’village’
Word final: KM KU jiiw ’tree’, juw ’(to) home’, KM noåløw, KU näöløw ’to the
shore’
/j/ Word initial: KM KU jeek°i ’to dance’, jälwøl ’demon’, KM jor, KU jør
’offering’
Word internal: KM KU äji ’to drink’, KM kooji, KU xooji ’to hit’
Word final: KM KU muuj ’guest’, KM woj, KU uuj ’animal, bear’
/g/ Word initial: —
Word internal: KM KU wøgøm ’I take’, wøgøn ’you take’, KU näägøn ’you
(acc.)’
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Word final: KM KU näg ’you’, tøg ’here’, KM tulømkäg, KU tulømxäg

’secretly’
/x/ Word initial: KU xonti ’to find’, xoot ’six’ (in KM not in this position)
Word internal: KM lyõxøl KU lyaxøl ’message’
Word final: KM KU (øs) öätyøx ’why not’, köärøx ’must’ KM kooløx, KU
xooløx ’people’
/x°/ Word initial: KU x°oly ’goblin’, x°oji ’lie’, x°åt ’where’ (in KM not in this
position)
Word internal: (in consonant clusters only: KM põõx°ti, KU paax°ti ’to shoot’)
Word final: KM KU meex° ’goblin’, KM KU äjøx°, teex°, mønøx° (to eat, to
drink, to go) Infinitive suffix
/s/ Word initial: KM KU sågrøp ’axe’, søs ’back’, sonsi ’look’, soj ’sound’
Word internal: KM KU råsi ’to throw’, søsäät ’his back’
Word final: KM KU pees ’old’, kees ’occasion’, ooløs ’was’ (and all Sbjc3Sg
preterite forms)
/sy/ Word initial: KM KU syük ’mother’, syöär ’place, region’, syüw ’ ’moment,
time’’, syømør ’bit’
Word internal: KM KU uusyønti ’to see’
Word final: KM KU øsy ’ouch’, mårøsy ’a little’
/l/ Word initial: KM KU lääk°i ’to move’, løl ’spirit’, KM löätti, KU läötti ’to say’
Word internal: KM KU jäli ’to go’, KM noåløw, KU näöløw ’to the shore’
Word final: KM KU tol ’cloud’, eel-ol ’the first one’, KM öäl—öäl, KU äöl—
äöl ’either—or’
/ly/ Word initial: KM lyõxøl KU lyaxøl ’message’, KM lyånk, KU lyoonk ’road’
Word internal: KM KU sälyøm-wity ’saliva’, KM tålyøk, KU tålyøx ’top’,
Word final: KM KU påly ’chip’, KM nonkäly, KU nonxäly ’up’
/r/ Word initial: KM KU råwøkti ’to blaze’, reeti ’to lure’, KM roåw, KU räöw
’ash’
Word internal: KM KU tåri ’to something, to someone; towards’, mårøsy ’a
little’, KM töärø, KU täörø ’through’
Word final: KM KU tor ’throat, sound’, puur ’food offering’
/m/ Word initial: KM KU möänk ’we (pl emf)’, moot ’another’, KM mõõ, KU maa
’land’
Word internal: KM KU seemøl ’black’, syømør ’piece’
Word final: KM KU söäm ’corner’, KM kom, KU xom ’man’
/n/ Word initial: KM KU nok ’up’, näär ’what’
Word internal: KM KU møni ’to go’, poni ’put’, jäni ’big’
Word final: KM KU jon ’at home’, pon ’hair’, KM nään, KU nägøn ’you (acc.)’
/ny/ Word initial: KM KU nyøløm ’tongue’, nyöäjt ’shaman’, nyørøsi ’to tear’
Word internal: KM KU äänyø ’pile’
Word final: KM KU äny ’now’
/ng/ Word initial: —
Word internal: KM KU uumøngäg ’to (become) sufficient’ (only in inflected
forms)
Word final: KM KU wityøng ’wet’, uumøng ’sufficient’, näng (variant) ’you’

Consonant clusters

There are no word initial consonant clusters. Also two consonants occurring on the
border of the first and the second syllable usually belong to separate syllables.
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Word or syllable final consonant clusters include only the homorganic clusters of nasal
and a plosive or a sibilant (mp, nt, ns, nty, nsy, nk, nk°) and the ones with -t as the latter
component. Other consonant clusters disperse at the end of the word or the syllable so
that the sonorant vowel ø appears between the consonants. Two contiguous consonants
belong to different syllables. This rule produces such variation in the stem that for the
nouns the nominative and the inflected forms with the consonant initial suffix include a
sonorant vowel, and the inflected forms with a vowel initial suffix include two
successive consonants belonging to different syllables, e.g. pårøk ’root (nom.)’ ~
pårkøn ’to the root (lat. -øn)’ ~ pårøknøl ’from the root (abl. -nøl).’

In the consonant clusters the velar labial quality is transformed to the nasal as well (e.g.
KM mõõnk° (mɘ:ŋʷkʷ) ’end, back’). In the palatal consonant clusters the palatal quality
is marked in the latter component only (<nsy> = nʲsʲ, <nty> = nʲtʲ, <lty> = lʲtʲ). If the
palatal quality in the potential palatal consonant cluster does not extend to the first
component, this is also marked with the full stop (mønøn.syøt ’when you go’). In these
cases there is a syllable border between the consonants.

VOWEL SYSTEMS

The vowels in the first syllable are the following:

short long
KM
CLOSE: ü i uu üü
CLOSE-MID o oo õõ ee
OPEN å ä öä ää

short long
KU
CLOSE ü i uu üü
CLOSE-MID o oo ee
OPEN å ä aa öä ää

/uu/ Long u: — KM KU uuløm ’dream’, uunk°ø ’short’, puur ’(food) offering’; KM

kuuli, KU xuuli ’to stay overnight’, KM kuun, KU xuun ’when’. As the allophone a short
u, mostly in a closed syllable, e.g. KM usløw ’we saw it’ ~ uux° ’to see’. Similarly
regularly before w (juw ’(to) home’, tuw ’(to) there’). The cardinal number KM kurøm,
KU xurøm ’three’ has almost regularly a short vowel, although the vowel is in an open
syllable. There are, however, examples with long vowels (KM kuurøm, KU xuurøm).

/üü/ Close or a close-mid long vowel y: — KM KU küül ’poor; slight’, lyüüly ’bad’.

/o/ Open, short o (In KU the short o is closer and according to Kannisto’s note also
more frontal) — KM KU tor ’throat, sound’, tol ’cloud’, powi ’to catch’, sonsi ’to look’,
wonli ’to sit’, KM kom, KU xom ’man’.
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/ü/ The sound mostly marked by Kannisto with close ø — KM KU püw ’son/boy’,
syüw ’moment, time’, syük ’mother’, pümt- ’begin’, syükør- ’to die’.

/i/ is usually realized as a schwa ə — KU KM isøm ’hot’, jix° ’to come’, jimti ’to
arrive’, liløng ’living’, min- ’to go’, nyilø ’four’, syim ’dear’, wix° ’to take’. Allophones 1)
in both dialects i in the palatal environment: KM wity ’water’, wisy ’small’, lyink ’wedge’,
syisyøg- ’to shout’, syin ’abundance’ and kit ’two’ (no palatal environment!), i ’now etc.’;
2) in KU i (~ e), KM ə: KU titt-, KM tixt- ’to feed’, KU tit, KM tit ’here’, kins- ~ kens- ~
kes-, KM kins- ~ kis- ’to search’ 3) KU e, KM ə: KU pesøwl-, KM pisøwl- ’blow’, KU
ensy-, KM insy- ’to keep, to own, to give birth’, KU kensy-, KM kinsy- ’to wake’, KU el-,
KM il- ’away, further away’, KU peløj- KM piløj- ’to catch fire’, KU syemør, KM syimør
’piece’, KU lelt-, KM lilt- ’to breathe’ (the variation ə ~ e is very free especially in KU);
4) KU KM e : jesøxt- ’to rub’, nyerømt- ’to catch’ (~ nyørøk- ’to tear’). The phoneme /i/ is
the short pair of /ee/.

/oo/ Long o: — or occasionally more open (open-mid) o when attached to velars, e.g.
KM KU ooli ’to be’, ootør ’prince’, moojt ’story’, KM koot, KU xoot ’6’, KM lyoonk, KU
lyoonx ’road’.

/õõ/ In KM a long close-mid illabial central vowel ɘ: — mõõ ’land’, õõw ’door’,
põõwøl ’village’, kõõp ’boat’, lõõl ’foot’, kõõnk- ’to climb’, põõx°t- ’to shoot’. As an
allophone in the closed syllable infrequently also the short õ: KM lyõx ’speech’ (~
lyõõnkøl ’to mark one’s word, for some purpose’), õx ~ õõx ’bank’. This phoneme
corresponds with
/aa/ the long front vowel a: in KU: maa, aaw, paawøl, xaap, laal, xaanx-, paax°t-. In
some individual words by individual informants, the equivalent for the KM õõ can also be
ää or öä (as mentioned above KM lyõ(õ)x ’speech’~ KU lyax, lyäx, KM õõnyt ’horn’ ~
KU öänyt, KM wõõlt- ’to lead’ ~ KU wöält-).

/ee/ Long monophthong e: (KU) or the diphthong-like iè (KM): KU KM teex° ’to eat’,
nee ’woman’, jeek°- ’to play, to dance’, eek° ’wife’, seemøl ’black’, meex° ’forest goblin’.
As an allophone might also be regarded the vowel ii found in both dialects in the words
jiiw ’tree’, jiiw ’comes’ (the conjugated form of the verb ji), before the palatal consonant
preceding the closed syllable in the words piily ’sting’ and iity ’night’ and additionally the
KM iisy ’sister’, and the frontal closed syllable position of w corresponding with the words
with jiiw as in kiiwti ’to rub; to fuck’ and the KU kiiwør ~ KM keewør ’inside’. (In the
palatal front positions in the northern dialect (So) -ee-: peel- ~ peely-, eety, eesy, but also
in the positions preceding w also -ii-: jiiw, jiiw, kiiwør.) In KU there is further a long
vowel ii- in the particle jii-, jiit ~ jit ’behind, from behind’, that in KM corresponds with
the ji-, jit. In KU this might be a case of a widened variation in quantity based on the
syllable position, i.e. the word is within the variation of KU i ~ KM ə. the KM long vowel
ii in turn corresponds with the KU e, (/i/ or /ee/) in the word KM iilyøm ~ KU elyøm
’(axe’s) blade’. Another exception might be found in the personal pronouns: KU miink,
niink ’we2, you2 (emphatic)’ ~ KM meenk, neenk (cf. also with the non-emphatic dual
pronouns KU min, nin, tin ~ KM meen, neen, teen).

/å/ Short labial ɒ or illabial a (found mostly in KU), e.g. KM KU sågri ’hit, beat’, påt
’duck’, mås ’for’, tåri ’to’, tåt- ’bring, take’. Examples of systematic variation KU a ~ KM
å are at least KU ajwø- ~ KM åjwø- ’fall asleep’, KU jal-, jaløn ~ KM jål-, jåløn ’below,
down (below)’, KU sax ~ KM såk ’bar’, KU xal ~ KM kål ’hole’. Words with a, where
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both dialects have the unrounded a are KU tanx- ~ KM tank- ’want’, KU -xar ~ KM -kar
substantival base part of the compound, KU xansy- ~ KM kansy- ’to know’, KU KM
jan.gi ’to play, to act’, KU laxøl ~ KM lakøl ’someone’s way’. In addition to these also in
several words a and å vary freely: KU xåsøp ~ xasøp ’sleeping tent’, KU tålyøx ~ talyøx,
KM tålyøk ~ talyøk ’top’.

/ä/ Short open æ — The distinction to the phonemically long vowel /ää/ can be drawn
on the criterium of length only. Short vowels are the ones that occur as short in open
syllables also, e.g. KM KU mätør ’someone’, päri ’(to come) back’, äjøx° ’to drink’, jäni
’big’, äk° ’one’ (open syllable e.g. äk°ään ’til one, together’).

/öä/ In KM the diphthong øæ with variants (over-short initial component, semi-long

latter component) and in KU also øæ (were the initial component is near-open): KM KU
wöär- ’to do, to make’, söät ’seven’, möänk ’we Pl emf’, töänk ’they Pl emf’, öä ’girl,
daughter’, köät ’hand’, öätyi ’is not’, syöärøsy ’sea’. Allophones 1) KM oå (latter
component semi-long), generally corresponds with the KU äö (labial œ), sometimes also
the KU öä. KM oå occurs mostly next to w and g or in the neighbourhood: KM noåløw ~
KU näöløw ’to the shore’, KM toåwt ~ KU täöwt ’fire’, KM loåwi ~ KU läöwi ’to say, to
tell to’, KM roåw ~ KU räöw ’ash’, KM toågøl ~ KU täögøl ’full’ (sometimes in KM a
monophthong is found instead of a diphthong: KU mäögløp ’breast-full’ ~ KM måågløp,
KU täögøl ’full’ ~ KM tåågøl; in these then KM åå = oå). 2) There is a general
equivalence also with KM öä KU äö: KM löätti ~ KU läötti id., KM öänsyøx° ~ KU
äönsyøx° ’old man’, KM öäl–öäl ~ KU äöl–äöl ’either–or’, KM köäprøn ~ KU käöprøn
’mattress’. Occasionally the KM diphthong öä corresponds with the KU long
monophthong aa or even the short a: KU naaj ’princess’ ~ KM nöäj, KU jaankøm
’frozen’ ~ KM jöänkøm, KU man ’we Pl’ tan ’they Pl’ ~ KM möän, töän.

/ää/ Long open æ: — äät ’smell’, näär ’what’, ääny ’now’. The paradigmatic variation
in the vowel quantity occurs most frequently precisely with the phonemes /ä/ ~ /ää/ (see
below for more information), and the frequency would be considered as a reason to
question the phonemic status of the long and the short ä, as the length of the vowel so
greatly depends on the quality of the syllable, which varies with the different inflection
forms of the word.

The tables below present the vowel phonemes, with the vowel phonemes in bold face and
their most frequent realizations with italics, and they are also found in text examples.

short long
KM
CLOSE : u i ü uu ii üü
õ e
CLOSE-MID o ö ø oo õõ ee
OPEN å a ä oå öä ää

short long
KU
CLOSE : u i uu ii üü
e
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CLOSE-MID o ö ø oo ee
OPEN å a ä aa öä ää

QUANTITY AND VOWEL VARIATION

Similar to other dialects, the two vowel quantities are realized in Kannisto’s texts as
several different vowel lengths. As the main rule, the quantity is realized so that the
phonemically long vowel is realized as long, especially in the open syllable, whereas in
the closed syllable and before a 2nd syllable with a long vowel it is realized as semi-long
or even only quarter-long. The phonemically short vowel can in an open syllable be
realized as quarter-long or even semi-long, but in a closed syllable it is always short. Some
frequent words in Kannisto’s Konda texts occur very exceptionally in this respect: in the
words päti, pätøs ’to begin, to get into; began, got into’ and tåti, tåtøs ’to take, took’ the
vowel in the initial syllable is often realized as long: pääti, päätøs, tååti, tååtøs. (The long
vowel åå is thus not part of the phoneme system; as is the corresponding oå (i.e. /öä/).)

The quantity is essentially connected to the paradigmatic vowel variation typical for the
Mansi dialects. There are two kinds of vowel variation in Mansi: the thematic variation of
old derivation, with the roots going back to the Ob-Ugrian parent language (see p. 000 on
word stems), and the vowel variation derived from the separate development of Mansi and
its dialects. The youngest variant, or at least the most transparent, is the quantitative
variation of the inflection paradigms. There is qualitative variation detectable in the
derivation, which can partly be derived from the parent Mansi or the partly non-
differentiated dialects.

The basic principle of the paradigmatic quantitative vowel variation is that in the open
syllable the vowel is long and in the closed syllable the vowel is short. The varying vowels
form a pair long — short in the vowel system. This pair variation is especially typical for
the eastern dialects. This system is very similar to cases where in a closed syllable the long
vowel has as its pair the variant that is shorter that the long variant of the same phoneme.
This can be called pseudo variation. The rule of the open syllable vs. closed syllable does
not always hold: e.g. the locative and the plural -t are regularly marked as attaching to the
stem without creating the syllable border (that is to form a closed syllable), but the
preceding vowel is often long.

Paradigmatic »normal variation» (Steinitz 1955: 121)

ää ~ ä: KM-O jääløs, jääløn ’go, come!’ ~ jälsøm ’went’, KM jälgøm ’I go’; ääji ’drink’
~ äjsøm ’I drank’, k°äl ’house’ ~ k°äält ’in the house’, k°äälø ’his house’; täw ’he’ ~
tääwø ’him’
öä, oå (KM) öä, äö (KU) ~ å: KM loåwi, löäwi, KU läöwi ’says’ ~ låwwøsøm ’I was
said’, låwgäänøm ’I order them to’; jöält ’down’ ~ jål ’down’
ee ~ i [i, e, ə]: KU neegååm ’I tie’ ~ negsøm ’I tied’ ( the KM neegaam ~ nigsøm): the
variation thus produces either a semi-long variant OR a short vowel corresponding with
the long vowel phoneme; both are possible). Variation /ee ~ i/ can thus be realized as
variation ee ~ e in those dialects, where the realization of /i/ can also be a full vowel e.
oo ~ o: KM kooli ’hears’ ~ kolwøs ’was heard’, toowaam ’I row’ ~ towsøm ’I rowed’,
xotøl ’day’ ~ xootøl ’in the day’, KU xooji ’hits’ ~ xojwøs ’he was hit’, KM KU ooli ’is’ ~
olsøm ’I was’.
 11

õõ (KM), aa (KU) ~ å: KM lõõl KU laal ’foot’ ~ låjløt ’feet’; KM mõõt ’liver’ ~ Pl

måjtøt; KU paawøl ’village’ ~ påjløw ’our village’. This long vowel in Eastern Mansi has
no short pair in the KM phoneme system. Historically it would be represented by a
reduced central vowel, in case it had the phoneme position in the eastern dialects. All
occurrences are, however, results from the pseudo variation caused by the open and the
closed syllable.

VOWELS IN NON-INITIAL SYLLABLES

The vowel systems in non-initial syllables are the following:

KM
CLOSE VOWELS: i ~ ii
CLOSE-MID VOWELS ø
OPEN VOWELS a ~ aa öä ä ~ ää

KU
CLOSE VOWELS: i ~ ii
CLOSE-MID VOWELS ø e
OPEN VOWELS a ~ aa å ~ åå äö ä ~ ää

The phoneme system in non-initial syllables is simpler than the vowel inventory above: in
the open series the vowels have no phonemic length difference, but there is variation of a
different kind: preceding the velars the open vowels (_g, _x, _x° ?_k) (excluding the
diphthong) are realized as short, otherwise mostly as long. A good example of this is
provided by the reflexive derivational suffix variants -(t)axt- ~ -xaat-. In the definite
conjugation person forms (Sg1, Sg2, Pl3) the length of the velar vowel varies freely (e.g.
KU minåm ~ minååm ’I go’). Also the word internal variation of i from short to long is
completely free; in the word final position i is then again mostly short in the 3rd person
singular person marker, whereas in the dual forms it is always long, but this can only be
regarded as a tendency, not a rule. The endings that are most frequently long are the
identical markers for the dual and for the translative forms of the nouns, the word final -ii
that in turn varies with -äg. In the suffixal positions there is no phonemic difference
between e and ø (similar to the 1st syllable).

Out of the vowels found in the suffixes, the most frequent ones are the four front vowels ø,
ä(ä), öä [~ KU äö] and i(i). Out of these ø and ää share the occurrences in the majority of
suffixes: ø is most frequent as the only vowel in the suffix, and also the combinations ø +
ää and ø + ii are frequent. ø and ää vary in several suffixes so that under certain conditions
one of these two suffix variants are chosen, either the variant with the vowel ø or the one
with the vowel ää, mainly based on the syllable number of the stem. In the dual and the
translative forms the ii ~ äö/öä (~ ø) ~ ä(g) vary. There is thus most variation where -g- is
either missing or in the process of disappearing. The same applies to the present tense
forms (1Sg, 2Sg, 3Pl) also, where the suffixal vowel in many cases is a(a), å(å). With
respect to the initial vowels discussed above there are notably few of these: in both
dialects there are only two even partly back vowel verb conjugation suffixes, namely the
1st person singular forms. The 2nd person singular and the 3rd person plural present tense
forms are back vocalic in KM but front vocalic in KU. These back vocalic suffixes are in
such a way facultative that the suffixes also have evidently potential variants with the
vowel ø. Even within one text (from the same informant in the same text) the variation is
 12

demonstrated by e.g. the variations KM tunsyaan ~ tusgøn ’you stand’, minaam ~

min.gøm ’I go’. In the noun declension there are suffixes with back vowels in the
possessive suffixes in the category of the dual possessed (-ååm) and in the KM abessive (-
taal; KU -täöl). There are somewhat more back vowel forms (-a-) within the derivational
suffixes (and on the verb conjugation there is at least the reflexive suffix (t)axt- ~ -xaat
and the continuative -lal-).
 13

II MORPHOPHONOLOGY
SYLLABLE STRUCTURE

The syllables in Konda share the following structure (both for the word stem morphemes
and the inflectional morphemes):

v-: ä- (ä-jøx° ’drink’ inf., ä-jiiløm ’I drink it’)

vv-: uu- (uu-møng ’sufficient’), oo- (oo-li ’is’), öä ’daughter’
(never as non-initial, due to the fact that the word internal syllable border is always before
the consonant)
cv-: ji- (ji-søm ’I came’), ji ’night’, lyi ’or’
-cv (-cø): -nø (k°äl-nø ’to the house’); in the present tense 3Sg forms and factually also -
ci: tå-ti ’he brings’, køtii-li ’he asks’.
cvv-: jee- (jee-k°øs ’(he) danced’), xoo- (xoo-jøs ’hit’), mõõ ’land’, nee ’woman’
-cvv: -lii (k°ää-lii ’2 houses’), -nöä (mø-nöä ’they 2 go’)
vc-: äl- (äl-wøs ’he was killed’)
(never as non-initial, due to the fact that the word internal syllable border is always before
the consonant) vvc-: ool- (ool-søm ’I was’), iity ’night’, eel ’first’, õõw ’door’, uus ’again’
(never as non-initial, due to the fact that the word internal syllable border is always before
the consonant) cvc-: jon ’at home’, påt duck’, k°äl ’house’ k°äl-nø ’to the house’
-cvc: -wøs (äl-wøs ’he was killed’), -läly ( jå-läly ’down’), -røp (såg-røp ’axe’) cvvc-:
teex° ’eat’ (inf.), tuul-søm ’I went (in)’, läöt-ti ’says’, syöär ’place, area’
-cvvc: -sään (ää-lø-sään ’he killed them’), -wååm (pü-wååm ’2 of my sons’) vc1c2-: onk
’resin’, åst ’on the surface’, äxt- (äxt-søm ’I collected’) cvc1c2-: joxt- (joxt-søn ’you
came’), månyt ’skein’, pänk ’head’
-cvc1c2: -wøst (äl-wøst ’they were killed’), -tøst (jox-tøst ’they came’) cvvc1c2-: söämt
’in the far corner’, moojt ’story’, põõx°t-søm ’I shot’
-cvvc1c2: -nääsyt (joxt-nääsyt ’while coming’)

In the syllable final position only such consonant clusters are possible, where the latter
component is t, in addition to the homorganic clusters of nasal and plosive. Other
consonant clusters disperse to an independent syllable with the consonant medial ø as the
sonorant vowel. The syllable border precedes the consonant following the vowel. It can
also occur between two single consonants, or between the components of the geminate,
and also in the sequences of three consonants after t or after the plosive in the homorganic
cluster of the nasal + the plosive, so that the following syllable starts with a single
consonant. There are no sequences of two vowels on the syllable border, and the non-
initial syllable cannot start with a vowel. The sequence marked with two vowels in the
examples is always either a syllable internal long vowel or a diphthong (öä, äö or oå).
An exception to the rule of the syllable final consonant clusters is the suffix-like
conditional marker -k that is attached to the preterite person marker of the verb. It
attaches directly to the final consonant of the person marker without the sonorant vowel
and without assimilating the person marker nasal: teeslään.k ’if you eat it’, älwøsømk ’if
I am killed’.

STEM STRUCTURE

The stem structure in Konda (free morphemes) is represented by the following structure types:
 14

Monosyllabic
v-: i ’and, now’
vv-: uu- ’to see’, öä ’girl, daughter’
vc-: äj- ’to drink’, äny ’now’
vvc-: ool- ’to be, to live’, uus ’town’, uus ’again’, öät ’not’
vc1c2-: äxt- ’to pick, to collect’, onk ’resin’
vvc1c2-: öärt- ’to bar’, õõnk°- ’to undress’
cv-: ji- ’to come’, ji ’night’, lyi ’or’
cvv-: tee- ’to eat’, nee ’woman, wife’, mõõ ’land’
cvc-: min- ’go’, pon- ’put’, tol ’cloud’, püw ’boy, son’
cvvc-: nõõk°- ’to sting’, teel- ’to be born’, xooj- ’to hit’, pees ’old’, köät ’hand’
cvc1c2-: joxt- ’to come’, pümt- ’to begin’, lont ’goose’, pänk ’head’
cvvc1c2-: põõx°t- ’to shoot’, moojt- ’to tell a story; story’, söäjt ’thought’, toåwt ’fire’

Bisyllabic
vvpø-: öäpø ’cradle’ cvcø-: nyølø ’four’, [cvci(i): pupi (~ pupii) ’spirit(being)’, jäni ’big’]
vcøc-: åjøg- ’to shout’, owøl ’head, end’, åløn ’silver’
vvcøc-: eerøg- ’to sing; song’
cvcøc-: pånøl ’hemp’
cvvcøc-: põõwøl ’village’

These are thus the structure types of the underived stems. In the bisyllabic words the
vowel preceding the consonant in the second syllable is always ø (schwa), and there are
full vowels in the derived words only. When a suffix starting with a vowel attaches to the
bisyllabic stem, the vowel in the second syllable is dispersed and the syllable border
moves from after the vowel in the first syllable into between the remaining consonants
(på-nøl ’hemp’: pån-løn ’your hemp’; å-jøgsøm ’I shouted’: åj-gøs ’he shouted’). There
are occasionally more larger scale changes occurring in the stems:

Stem variation

In the declension of some words the stem varies not only for the vowels but also for the
stem consonants. Such are e.g.
KM põõwøl, KU paawøl ~ påjl- ’village’: KM KU påjløw ’our village’, KM påjløtään,
KU påjøltään ’to his village’
KM lõõl KU laal ~ låjøl, låjl- ’foot’: KM KU låjløt ’feet’
KM mõõt ~ måjt- ’liver’: måjtøm ’my liver’

The stem variation is largest with the thematic verbs. There are seven of them, as follows:
mi- ~ mäj- (määj-) ’to give’
li- ~ läj- (lääj-) ’to throw, to shoot’
wi- ~ wäj- (wääj-) ’to take’
ti- ~ täj- (tääj-) ’to knit, to weave’
ji- ~ jäj- (jääj-) ~ jiiw ’to come’
ti- ~ tee- ~ töäj- ~ tåj- ~ tii- ’to eat’
wõõ- (KM) waa- (KU) ~ uu- ’to see’

The first four of these verbs vary regularly so that the j-stem occurs in the imperative and
in the passive forms. Also the j-stem of the verbs ’to come’ and ’to eat’ behaves similarly.
 15

The verb ’to come’ also has a specific assimilated stem and suffix jiiw ’(he) comes’ for the
3rd person definite conjugation present tense. The conjugation of the verb ’to eat’ is the
most versatile, as it has two vowel stem variants (ti- and tee-), two j-stem variants (töäj-
and tåj-) and additionally the suffix tii- (juw-tiinøw ’we would eat it’) occurring in the
conditional present tense. The variation on the phoneme level is not this large, as with the
öä ~ å -variation there is a question of the same long and short vowel variation than with
the first four verbs, and the ee ~ ii represent the same phoneme.

Denasalization

The nasal disappears from the clusters formed by a nasal and a sibilant when a suffix
beginning with a consonant attaches to the stem, and the cluster is moved to the end of
the syllable. In the verbal stems, the stem ending with a consonant cluster never ends the
word form, whereas in the noun stems the nominative is denasalized and the nasal stem
variant occurs in the inflected forms:
påns- ’be finished’: pånsi ’will be finished’, påssøt ’they were finished’
månsy- ’suffer, to be in distress’: månsyi ’suffers’, måsysøn ’you suffered, you were in
distress’,
sons- ’look’: sonsi ’looks’, sosgøn (~ sonsaan) ’you look’
tunsy- ’stand’: tunsyi ’stands’, tusygøm (~ tunsyååm) ’I stand’
kins- ’search’: kinsi ’searches’, kinsään ’He searches for them’, kiswø ’it is searched for’,
kissään ’he searched for them’.
Denasalization also occurs with the clusters of a nasal and a plosive, but more irregularly,
e.g.
kuut ’ ’back-bag, load’: kuuntøm ’my ’back-bag’, kuuntøt ’in the ’back-bag’, kuutmø
’back-bag (acc.)’
kont- ’find’: kontååm ’I find’, kotsøm ’I found’, kotwøs ’(it) was found’.

SUFFIX STRUCTURE

Various structure types can be identified for the inflection suffixes in Konda. One suffix
can even have several phenotypes. Several suffixes that carry several functions
simultaneously are composed of particles that can be separated (such as e.g. the dual
accusative -öämø = -öä (dual) + -mø (accusative)). The agglutination is not as clear with
all suffixes, and it is best to describe some suffixes as portmanteau morphs. The basic
structure types are the following, with one example given of each type:

-v: -ø (PxSg3Sg variant attached to a consonant stem), -i (Sbjc3Sg.prs)

-vv: -öä, -ii (dual; translative)
-vvc: -ååm (Sbjc1Sg.prs; PxDu1Sg), -öän (Sbjc2Sg.prs), -ääp (PrtcPrs, trisyllabic feet), -
äät (PxSg3Sg, trisyllabic feet)
-vvcv: -iitø (ObjcSg3Sg.prs)
-vvcvc: -iiløm (ObjcSg1Sg.prs), -äänøl (PxSg3Pl; PxPl3Pl)
-c: -m (PxSg1Sg), -n (PxSg2Sg), -t (locative), -l (instrumental), -x° (infinitive), -s
(Sbjc3Sg.pret)
-cv: -mø (accusative), -nø (lative), -tø (PxSg3Sg variant attaching to the vowel stem)
-cvv: (KU) -sii (Sbjc3Du.pret)
-cvc: -nøl (ablative)
-cvvc: -sään (ObjcPl3Sg.pret etc.), -gään (ObjcPl3Sg.prs etc.), -täöl (abessive)
-cvvcvc: -säänøl (ObjcSg3Pl.pret)
 16

There are even more complex structures in some suffix clusters. It is, however, usually possible to
separate them into simpler elements.
 17

III MORPHOLOGY
NOUN DECLENSION

The two declension categories assumed by the nouns are the absolute and the possessive
declension. The nouns in both categories can be declined in three grammatical number
categories, namely singular, dual and plural. In the possessive declension the
grammatical number category is part of the possessive suffix, and it is realized as the
number of the possessed. The noun inflected with the possessive suffix in the subject
position causes the predicate actor agree in number, and in the object position it makes
the definite object agree in number in the same way. The grammatical number of the
absolute declension is shown later in the context of the nominative case absolute
declension.

POSSESSIVE SUFFIXES (NOMINATIVE)

KM Sg possessed Du possessed Pl possessed

1Sg -øm -ååm, -oåm -äänøm
2Sg -øn, -n -öän -ään
3Sg -ø, -tø, -äät -öä, -ii, -aa -ään, -äänø
1Du -äämøn -öämøn, -oåmøn -ønäämøn
2Du -ään -öän, ?-nän -ønään
3Du -øtään, -äätøn, -øn -øn, -öän, -käätøn -ään
1Pl -øw -oåw -ønøw
2Pl -ään -öän -ään
3Pl -äänøl -äänøl -äänøl

KU Sg possessed Du possessed Pl possessed

1Sg -øm -ååm, -oam, -äöm -äänøm
2Sg -øn, -n -äön -ään
3Sg -ø, -e, -tø, -äät -äö , -ii, -ää -ään
1Du -äämøn -äöm -näämøn
2Du -ään -äön, ?-ønään -(ø)nään
3Du -ään, -äätøn, -ätøn -øn, -ään -ään
-øn -kään, -käätøn
1Pl -øw -nøw -ønøw
2Pl -ään -nään -(ø)nään
3Pl -äänøl -äänøl -äänøl

The functions of the possessive suffix are closely related to expressing possession and
other close togetherness and part-whole relations in a similar way than in the Finnish
language. Different from Finnish (but similar to Hungarian), they are also used in
forming GN constructions (»father’s house») and existentials of possessive
constructions (»you have a house / you have no house»). See »Possessive
Constructions», p. 000. Some examples are also given in the section presenting the
suffixes.

1SG
 18

The possessive suffix in the category of the 1st person singular single possessed (Sg1Sg)
is an invariable -m. It is attached to the base in consonant-final stems with the binding
vowel (-øm):

KM -(ø)m ~ KU -(ø)m
mõõm ’my land’ maam id.
neegøm ’my woman’ neem id.
onygøm ’my aunt’ onygøm id.
eergøm ’my song’ eergøm id.
lyonkøm ’my road’ lyoonxøm id.
løløm ’my spririt’ løløm id.
määnyøm ’my daugher-in-law’ määnyøm id.
põnytøm ’my brother-in-law’ pånytøm id.
moojtøm ’my fairy tale’ moojtøm id.
nåmtøm ’my thoughts’ nåmtøm id.
ojmøkøm ’my relatives’ ojmøxøm id.

E.g.
eergøm pøl ools, moojtøm pøl ools ’my song was (this), my fairy tale was (this)’
nåmtøm päätøskäät, jäälååm ’if I feel like it (»if my mind falls»), the I arrive’
äk° eeløm k°åt nän såxtøslään? ’how have you counted one of my years wrong?’
om päri-mønååm põnytøm pookøn, noräänøm wøx° mønååm ’I go back to my brother-in-
law, I go revenge’

In compound words, the possessive suffix is often added to the first constituent only, if
the head and the modifier have a subordinating relationship. Compound words denoting
relatives are often of the following type: ’father+daughter’ = ’sister’, ’father+son’ =
’brother’, ’grandfather-daugher’ = ’aunt’. The head is thus available for other endings and
the inflection of the head can, in addition to possession, also denote number or case. All
information in the single words is included in the suffix of the possessive declension. In
asyndetic compounds with both parts equal (such as jeg-syük ’parents (= father-mother)’,
the suffixes used are usually those of the Px-category dual possessed that also employ a
co-ordinating function (see below). Examples of subordinating compound words with
possession marked in the modifier only are:

jägøm-öä ’my sister’ jegøm-äö id. (1=PxSg1Sg 2=Ø)

jägøm-püw ’my brother’ jegøm-püw id.
öäsyøm-öä ’my aunt’ öäsyøm-öä id.
noåjøm-öä ’my daughter-of-the-princess’ naajøm-aa id.

E.g.
om jägøm-öä tulmøntøsløn, teep-wånsyørøn öätyi, loåm-wånsyørøn öätyi ’you have
robbed my sister, although you have no tablespoon, no soupspoon’
noåjøm-öä ootrøm-öä køtiiliiløm, täw komøly loåwi, öät loåwi ’I ask of my daughter-of-
the-princess, my daughter-of-the-prince, what they say or not’
In the category of dual possessed, the element denoting the number or the possessed
resembles the suffix of the absolute dual, but is not truly equivalent with it. In the
possessive paradigm it is the velar monophthong -åå- that refers to the dual possessed in
1st person singular, whereas the absolute dual is marked by the palatal diphthong (-äö ~ -
öä) or the monophthong -ii (see below for more information):
 19

KM -ååm (-oåm) ~ KU -ååm (-oam, -äöm)

öägååm ’my daughters2’ öägååm id.
püwååm ’my sons2’ püwååm (püwäöm) id.
säämååm ’my eyes2’ säämååm id.
jääpååm (jääpoåm) ’my brothers2’ jääpååm (jääpoam) id.
(kit) ootrååm ’my2 princes’ (kit) ootrååm id.

E.g.
om säämååm k°åtøl wøsöän? ’where have you fetched my eyes?’
om püwååm jon öätyømäg ’neither of my sons are at home’
om püwååm joxtøx° tø jømtsäg ’my sons2 are coming’
jääpoåm løløngäg? ’are my brothers2 with spirit (alive)?’

In the category of plural possessed, the element indicating person in the possessive suffix
is attached to the element -ään denoting the plural possessed.

KM -äänøm ~ KU -äänøm (Pl1Sg)

ääkäänøm ’my uncles (pl)’ ääkäänøm id.
pänkäänøm ’my teeth (pl)’ pänkäänøm id.
kuusyäänøm ’my farmhands (pl)’ xuusyäänøm id.
inkijäänøm ’my maids (pl)’ enkijäänøm id.

E.g.
tåm, öät tøgløm, tus-keewør-pänkäänøm öät piilyaat ’no, I do not eat, (in-the-mouth-)
my teeth can not’
In compound words, plurality can also be emphasized by attaching the absolute plural
suffix to the head (in the example clause there are two synonyms, the single word
constituent ääk ’uncle’ and the two-word constituent öäsy-püw id.).

KM -øm + -t ~ KU -øm + -t
öäsyøm-püwt ’my uncles (pl)’ öäsyøm-püwt id.

ääkäänøm, öäsyøm-püwt jål-søriløwt, koontløwt ’my uncles (pl), my grandfather’s sons

(pl) are thrust with a sword and defeated’

2SG
The basic element in the 2nd person singular is -n and the same form also serves as the
possessive suffix of the single possessed.

KM -øn, -n ~ KU -øn, -n (Sg2Sg)

öän ’your daughter’ öän id.
püwøn ’your son’ püwøn id.
mõõn ’your land’ maan id.
neen ’your wife’ neen id.
wöän ’your strength’ wöän id.
koolkøn ’your people’ xoolxøn id.
k°ääløn ’your house’ k°ääløn id
köätøn ’your hand’ köätøn id
låjløn ’your foot’ låjløn id.
påjløn ’your village’ påjløn id.
 20

öänsyøk°øn ’your old man’ äönsyøx°øn id.

E.g.
om jägøm-öä tulmøntøsløn, teep-wånsyørøn öätyi, loåm-wånsyørøn öätyi ’you have
robbed my sister, although you have no spoon no soup spoon’ (existential possessive
construction)
syøm kom, näg püwøn päri-uurääløn! ’good man, control your son!»
oojt öäløm-pöält påjløn tåt tø wonli ’on the other side of the meadow is your village’
öänsyøk°øn jöänkøt jål-piilyøs ’your old man sank into the bog’
In the category of dual possessed the function of the dual is realized by a different
vowel than in the 1st person singular: KM -öä- / KU -äö- :

KM -öän ~ KU -äön (Du2Sg)

öägöän-püwöän ’your children2’ äögäön-püwäön id.
püwöän (~ püwaan) ’your sons2’ püwäön id.

E.g.
öägöän-püwöän köärøx lyø öät köärøx? ’do you need your children or not?’
om keetwøsøm näg püwöän pookøn ’I was sent to your sons’
In the category of plural possessed the suffix is the portmanteau morph -ään: KM KU
püwään ’(many) sons’.

3SG
The 3rd person singular possessive suffix has three suffix variants in the category of
single possessed: -ø, -tø and -äät. Variant -tø is the rarest of these. It is, however, the
only option for the single syllable vowel stems such as KM mõõ, KU maa ’land’ and
KM KU nee ’wife’. Variation between the variants is otherwise relatively free: both
variants can be found in the text for several words (lølø ~ løläät ’spirit’, owlø ~ owläät
’end’, työätyø ~ työätyäät ’father’, torø ~ toräät ’voice, throat’, iisyø ~ iisyäät ’little
sister’). In the three-syllable feet the variant -äät -variant is clearly primary:

KM -tø ~ KU -tø (Sg3Sg)

mõõtø ’his place, his land’ maatø id.
komtø ’his man’ xomtø id.

KM -ø ~ KU-ø (Sg3Sg)
sojø ’his voice’ sojø id.
tålykø ’his top’ tålyxø id.
mõõnk°ø ’his back’ maank°ø id.
låjlø ’his feet’ låjlø id.
lølø ’his spirit’ lølø id.
k°äälø ’his house’ k°äälø id.
kääsyø ’his little brother’ kääsyø ’little brother’
põnytø ’his brother-in-law’ paanytø id.

KM -äät ~ KU -äät (Sg3Sg)

løläät ’his spirit’ løläät id.
õõwäät ’his door’ aawäät id.
jiiwäät ’his wood’ jiiwäät id.
 21

öänsyøk°äät ’his old man’ äönsyøk°äät id.

osytøräät ’his whip’ osytøräät id.
sågrøpäät ’his axe’ sågrøpäät id.
oosymøsyäät ’his key’ osymøsyäät id.
kosyäjnäät ’his master’ küsyäjnäät id.

In the 3rd person GN (possessor + possessed noun) constructions the noun denoting the
possessor is not declined, and the construction is marked with a possessive suffix
attached to the possessed (see section »Constructions» for more details). When the
possessor is known (in the translation into Finnish it usually expressed with the pronoun
“he”), it is usually absent from the surface structure. The possessor is marked with a
pronoun only if it is particularly stressed (as is the case in other persons).

kom lølø päri-tuujøpøs ’man’s spirit came back’

pöäl låjlø mønømtøwøs, pöäl köätø mønømtøwøs ’his one leg was torn, his one arm was
torn’
towøl-wojøt kom põnytø jåt pümtøs koontlaxtøx° ’then the man started to fight with his
brother-in-law’
øl-säästøläp põõwøl-owläät øl-säästøliitø, øl-säästøläp uus-owläät øl-säästøliitø ’the
side of his expandable village side (he) expands, the side of his expandable town (he)
expands’
äk°-määsyt toräät köälynäät lyoomii-tornø päätøs ’then its sound turned into gnat buzz’

In the 3rd person singular the possessive suffix has also a deictic function:
moot komtø tåri löättii ’he says to another man (»his man»)’

In the category of dual possessed, the main variants of the 3rd person singular are the
same than the usual variants -äö / -öä and -ii marking the absolute dual. It is therefore
not possible to infer without context from an isolated word form whether it is a question
of an absolute or a possessive dual (kõõpöä ’two boats’ or ’his both boats’). Words
denoting relatives can positively be interpreted as possessives. For the possessive form
of compounds denoting relatives, the possessive suffix can be attached either to the first
or the second part of the compound: KM jägöä-püw ~ jäg-püwöä, KU jegäö-püw ~ jeg-
püwäö (father-PxDu3Sg+son-SgNom ~ father-SgNom+son-PxDu3Sg) ’his 2 brothers’.
In KM there is also a non-frequent monophthong variant -aa in addition to the frequent
variants.

KM -öä ~ KU -äö (Du3Sg)

kääsyöä ’his little brothers2’ kääsyäö id.
köätöä ’(both) his hands’ köätäö id.
säämöä ’(both) his eyes’ säämäö id.
öägöä-püwöä ’(both) his children’ äögäö-püwäö id.

KM -ii ~ KU -ii (Du3Sg)

säämii ’(both) his eyes’ säämii ’eye’ id.
öägii-püwii ’(both) his children’ äögii-püwii id.

KM -aa ~ KU -äö (Du3Sg)

owlaa ’(both) his heads’ owläö id.
 22

köätaa ’(both) his hands’ köätäö id.

lõõl-äälaa ’(both) his ankles’ laal-ääläö id.

Some examples:
kurøm jäg-püwønsy wisykø kom jägöä-püw pookøn joxtøs ’of three brothers the
youngest came to his brothers’
jägø-püwöä pårøwløsgø ’his brothers jumped into it’
k°oløx öägöä-püwöä øsøpøsgø säm nõõk°øx° ’raven’s young sat down to peck at (dead
ones’) eyes’
ääktø säämiimø øsøm-wityøl syåstøgöä, ääktø säämii keeløptøwøsäg ’he rubs uncle’s
eyes with hot water, uncle’s eyes turned bloody’
ääktø köäløpøs, säämöä punsiitaxtsäg ’uncle got up and his eyes opened’
puwøx° jømtøstø, köätaa öät tø joxtsäg ’he was about to catch it, but his hands did not
reach’

In the category of the plural possessed, the 3rd person possessive suffix singular is equivalent with
the 2nd singular suffix, the 2nd/3rd person dual suffixes and the 2nd person plural possessive
suffixes within the same category. It is thus a polysemous morpheme -ään which as a person
marker also appears as part of several object conjugation suffixes (more of these below).

KM -ään ~ KU -ään (Pl3Sg)

komään ’(all) his belongings’ xomään id.
wisy-karään ’his children (pl)’ wisy-xarään id.
kuusyään ’his farmhands (pl)’ xuusyään id.
kääwään ’his stones (pl)’ kääwään id.
püwään ’his sons (pl)’ püwään id.
inkijään ’his maids (pl)’ inkijään id.

E.g.
wisy-karään rõõsiilääm lyöälyt köälsøt ’his children came crying to him’
ton-tø-karään söärøsynø noåløw tø råssään ’he threw those his belongings into the sea’
põnytø inkijään kuusyään koontlaat, juw-mønøst ’his brother-in-law’s farmhand and
maid listen, went in’
täw püwään kurøm püw ’his sons were three sons’

1DU
The possessive suffix in the 1st person dual in the category of single possessed includes,
in addition to the primary element denoting person -møn, also a full vowel -ää-
functioning as the transitional vowel. (KM öämpäämøn ’our2 dog’, k°ääläämøn ’our2
house’, KU k°ääläämøn ’our2 house’, logäämøn ’our2 horse’). Other examples:

KM -äämøn ~ KU -äämøn (Sg1Du)

öägäämøn ’our2 daughter’ öägäämøn id.
lyõõnkäämøn ’our2 word’ lyaanxäämøn id.
komäämøn ’our2 man’ komäämøn id.
nääräämøn ’what our2’ nääräämøn id.
kääsyäämøn ’our2 brother’ kääsyäämøn id.
nåmtäämøn ’our2 thought’ nåmtäämøn id.
 23

In the category of dual possessed, the diphthong-element of the dual appears in the suffix. The
suffix Du1Du found in one of the KM texts includes both the diphthong-element indicating the
dual possessed, and the 1st person dual person element entirely. There are two diphthong variants
for the dual: the palatal and the velar: öämpoåmøn ’2 dogs of the two of us’, k°äälöämøn (also
k°äälønäämøn resembling the plural) ’2 houses of the two of us’. The suffix in KU is more worn,
and it includes only the dual element and the element m referring to the 1st person, and the marker
-n denoting the dual possessor is absent. In the text example this is compensated by the personal
pronoun of the possessor min ’we2’:

KM -öämøn ~ KU -äöm (Du1Du)

KM öägöämøn-püwöämøn ’our2 (both) children’
KU min äögäöm-püwäöm id.

In the category of the plural possessed the 1st person possessive suffix is transparent: the suffix
-näämøn includes the n-element referring to the plurality and the person element -møn of the
possessed.

KM -ønäämøn ~ KU -ønäämøn (Pl1Du)

lølønäämøn ’our2 spirits (pl)’ lølønäämøn id.
jõõsønäämøn ’our2 hands (pl)’ jåsønäämøn id.
köätønäämøn ’our2 hands (pl)’ köätønäämøn id.

2DU
The 2nd person dual is together with the 2nd person plural the most infrequent of the
person forms appearing in the text, and therefore only few examples can be expected, and
it is precisely these two forms that have been joined together in most of the categories. In
the category of the single possessed the suffix -ään (Sg2Du) is found in both dialects:

KM -ään ~ KU -ään (Sg2Du)

jäg-öägään ’your2 sister’ jeg-öägään id.
öämølään ’your2 skill’ öämølään id.

In the category of the dual possessed, -öän (öämpöän ’your2 dogs2’) is the frequent variant and
includes the dual element. In his grammatical paradigms, Kannisto also presents the variants -
ønään and -ään (k°äälønään ~ k°äälään ’your2 houses2’) that in form are close to the suffixes in
the plural category. Only the most predictable form KU -äön, KM -öän can be found in nominative
case in the text.

KM -öän ~ KU -äön (Du2Du)

öägöän-püwöän ’your2 both children’ äögäön-püwäön id.

The example found in the text of 2nd person dual suffix of the plural possessed category
is unclear regarding the number of the possessed, because it is in theory possible to refer
to the dual members of the human body also with the suffix of the single possessed.
Thus two pairs of eyes possessed by two possessors could also be realized with the dual
form possessed. Most expressions of these dual body members do, however, include the
suffix of the single possessor of the dual possessed (c.f. ääktø säämii ’his uncle’s eyes’,
köätöä ’his hands’ above), and the logical interpretations of two eyes of the dual
possessor = four eyes = plural suffix as a result.
 24

KM -ønään ~ KU -ønään (Pl2Du)

säämønään ’your (pl) eyes’ säämønään id.

3DU
In the 3rd person dual suffix, specifically in the category of the single possessed, the
basic element -tøn marks the person category in question. It is attached as such to the
monosyllabic vowel stem. The most frequent variant is -äätøn with an initial full vowel
and there also exists an alternative variant -øn resembling the suffix Sg2Sg, that seems to
occur attached to stems -t, -ty (i.e. *-täätøn, *-tyäätøn > -tøn, -tyøn).

KM -tøn ~ KU -tøn (Sg3Du)

wöätøn ’their2 strength’ wöätøn id.

KM -äätøn ~ KU -äätøn (Sg3Du)

kääsyäätøn ’their2 brother’ kääsyäätøn id.
öämøläätøn ’their2 skill’ öämøläätøn id.
öätømäätøn ’their2 people’ öätømäätøn id.

KM -øn ~ KU -øn (Sg3Du)

köätøn ’their2 hand’ köätøn id.
työätyøn ’their2 father’ työätyøn id.

In the category of dual possessed the versatility is as large as in the category of single possessed
described above. As can be expected, the same suffixes are found here than in the category of the
singular; these are -øn and -ään, where no element in either of them is referring directly to the dual
possessed. They are attached to words, where the dual is more or less implicit (KM jäg-syük
’father and mother’, köät ’hand’ and KU äö-püw ’child; daughter and son’), or the numeral kit
’two’ is present as an attribute. The final -n itself can be interpreted as the marker for the dual
possessor. Another dual type typically includes a diphthong as the dual marker, or some other
vowel instead of the velar plosive -k-. Among these velar variants of the possessive suffix Du3Du
are the KU KM -käätøn and the KU -kään. Out of these suffix variants -käätøn is the most
transparent one: there is a clear dual element -k- and the most unambiguous 3rd person dual
element -tøn.

KM -øn ~ KU -øn (Du3Du)

jägøn-syükøn ’their2 parents’ jegøn-syükøn id.

KM -ään ~ KU -ään (Du3Du)

kit köätään ’their2 hands’ kit köätään id.
KU äögään-püwään ’their2 children2’

KM -käätøn ~ KU -käätøn (Du3Du)

wäätøkäätøn ’their2 ski bindings2’ wäätøkäätøn id.

KU -kään (Du3Du)
wäätøkään ’their2 ski bindings2’
toorøm-nyol =maa-nyolkään ’their2 heaven and earth oaths’
 25

In the KM texts even some other possessive suffix variants Du3Du are occasionally
found: here is an example about both variant -öän and variant -aan: KM öägöän-
püwöän ’their2 children2, KM köätaan ’their2 hands’.
Based on the Kannisto paradigm the notion of the suffix Du3Du is much more simple;
Liimola (1963: 205–06) presents the following: KU k°äälään, k°ääløtøn (the same as
suffixes Sg3Du), KM öämpöän, k°äälään. There are no examples about the plural
possessed in this person category. The Kannisto paradigms (this volume, pp. 000)
present suffixes KU -ään, -ønään (k°äälønään ’their many houses’ ) and KM -ään.

1PL
The 1st person plural possessive suffix KU KM -øw is identical with the basic person
element.

KM -øw ~ KU -øw (Sg1Pl)

jägøw ’our father’ jegøw id.
noåjøw, nöäjøw ’our princess’ näöjøw, naajøw id.
ootrøw, ootørøw ’our prince’ ootrøw, ootørøw id.
öäsy-öägøw ’our aunt’ öäsy-öägøw id.

In the category of the dual possessed, the suffix (Du1Pl) found in the Kannisto
paradigm is the transparent -oåw in KM (Liimola 1963: 206), where -oå- is the dual
element, and -w the possessed person element. In the KU paradigm this form is found in
one example word only: k°äälnøw, and this is identical to the form in the possessed
plural category. The plural possessed category suffix is -nøw, -ønøw. The latter one of
these seems more frequent. It is also attached to a monosyllabic vowel stem with a
binding vowel -g- (KM wöägønøw ’our power (pl)’) similarly with øw of the single
possessesed (öägøw above).

KM -(ø)nøw ~ KU -(ø)nøw (Pl1Pl)

sownøw ’our skins’ sownøw id.
noåjønøw ’our princesses’ naajønøw id.
ootrønøw ’our princes’ ootrønøw id.
nyuupønøw ’our brothers-in-law’ nyuupønøw id.
koontønøw ’our troops’ xoontønøw id.

2PL
In the 2nd person plural of the singular category, the suffix is the above mentioned -ään
with multiple functions. The same suffix also functions in KM in the plural category
(Pl2Pl) partly following the Kannisto paradigms. In these paradigms the dual category
suffix for this person in KM is again -öän indicating the dual element. In KU the suffix
Du2Pl is similar to the plural category suffix, but not precisely: in the paradigm
(Liimola 1963: 205) k°äälnään ’their two houses’ and k°äälønään ’their many houses’.

KM -ään ~ KU -ään (Sg2Pl)

sojään ’your (pl) voice’ sojään id.
syükään ’your (pl) mother’ syükään id.
tøtään ’this your (pl) (thing)’ tøtään id.
öäsy-öägään ’your (pl) aunt’ öäsy-öägään id.
 26

3PL
The possessive suffix of the 3rd person plural is the same -äänøl in all number categories
for the possessed. The suffix is attached to the monosyllabic vowel stem with the binding
consonant -g- :

KM -äänøl ~ KU -äänøl (Sg3Pl)

mõõgäänøl ’their land’ maagäänøl id. (KM mõõ, KU maa ’land’)
säägäänøl ’their plait’ säägäänøl id. (KM KU säg ’plait’)
õõtäänøl ’their hair’ aatäänøl id.
keewräänøl ’their inside’ kiiwräänøl id.
põnytäänøl ’their brother-in-law’ pånytäänøl id.
lyoonkäänøl ’their road’ lyoonxäänøl id.
kosyäjnäänøl ’their master’ küsyäjnäänøl id.

When the possessive suffix does not show any difference between the single and the
plural possessed, it is possible to mark only the first part of the compound with Px (as
usual) and the absolute plural marker can thus be attached to the latter part, which
usually is the basic form of the word: (KU) jegäänøl-püw ’their one brother’ ~ ’their 2
brothers’ ~ ’their many brothers’ but jegäänøl-püwt only ’their many brothers’. An
infrequent variant found in KU is a shorter polysemic -ään, which on the basis of its
other functions more clearly indicates the plurality of the possessed (KU jøn-xarään
’their kin = their relatives at home’ vs. KM jon-karäänøl id.).

KM -äänøl ~ KU -äänøl (Pl3Pl)

ääsäänøl ’their holes’ ääsäänøl id.
pänkäänøl ’their knobs’ pänkäänøl id.
köätäänøl ’their hands’ köätäänøl id.
jägäänøl-püwt ’their (all) brothers’ jegäänøl-püwt id.
 27

CASE DECLENSION AND THE FUNCTIONS OF THE CASES

In addition to the invariable nominative, there are seven other noun cases. The case
suffixes of the absolute declension are presented in the table below. The suffixes for the
possessive declension are shown with to each case. Suffixes boldfaced in the table
represent suffixes found in the texts. Suffixes printed in the normal font do not appear in
the texts but I have added cases that seem uncontroversial to the KM table.

KM Sg Du Pl
Nom — -ii, -öä, -äg -t
Acc -mø -iimø, -ägmø -tmø
Lat -øn, -ään, -nø -öänø, -öän, -ägøn -tnø
Loc -t, -äät, -tø -öät -tøt
Abl -nøl -öänøl -tnøl
Transl -äg, -ii, -öä, -aa -äg -äg
Instr -øl ? -öätøl ? -tøl
Car -tal, -töäl ? ?

KU Sg Du Pl
Nom — -ii, -äö -t
Acc -mø, -m -äömø -tmø
Lat -øn, -ään, -nø -äön, -ägøn, -tnø, -øtnø
-öänø, -äönø
Loc -t, -äät, -tø
Abl -nøl -tnøl
Transl -äg, -ig, -ii, -äö -äg -äg
Instr -øl
Car -täöl

Nominative, dual and plural

The nominative singular is invariable.

The nominative dual suffix is also the marker for the absolute dual. Its basic elements
have several realizations: two of them are vocalic and one of them is consonantal.
Historically, the consonantal elements are primary, because both of the vocalic elements
can be considered to display the resulting forms of their phonological developments.
Similar vocalizations can be identified in other suffixes and grammatical elements which
can be historically seen as developed from the suffixes with the element g; among these
are, in addition to the dual, also the present tense and the translative forms. Different
variants have no clear distributions. Even examples of several words exist that occur
with several different dual suffixes, e.g. KM komöä / komii, KU xomäö / xomii ’2 men’,
KM eek°-öänsyøk°öä / eek°-öänsyøk°äg, KU eek°-äönsyøk°äö / eek°-äönsyøk°ii ’2 old
women-old men = old woman and old man’. In the texts there are three different types of
dialectal variation: the first one has a diphthong (KU -äö, KM -öä) in both dialects, the
second one has the monophthong variant -ii in both dialects, and the third one has a
consonant variant -äg in KM corresponding with the monophthong in KU.
 28

KM -öä ~ KU -äö (DuNom)

jääpöä ’brothers2’ jääpäö id.
eek°-äönsyøk°öä ’old woman and old man’ eek°-öänsyøk°äö id.
jortöä ’partners2’ jortäö id.
xomöä ’men2’ xomäö id.

KM -ii ~ KU -ii (DuNom)

öägii-püwii’children2’ äögii-püwii id.
komii ’men2’ xomii id.
neegii ’women2 neegii id.
toorømii ’gods2’ toormii id.
tõõxtii ’black-throated loons2’ taxtii id.

KM -äg (~ -øg) ~ KU -ii (DuNom)

nee-syisyk°äg ’wives2’ nee-syisyk°ii id.
lõõlwäg ’red-throated loons2’ lalwii id.
eek°-öänsyøk°äg ’old woman and old man’ eek°-äönsyøk°ii id.
jåsøg’skis’ jåsii id.

The nominative plural suffix also functions as the marker of the nominal absolute
plural. The ending -t is the same as the most frequent variant of the locative singular
endings. The suffix is attached to the vowel stem as such, and also to most of the
consonant stems, because it is the consonant clusters ending with t that are the most
stable among the word final and syllable final endings. Only the plosives -k, -p, -t and -k°
and the labiovelar -x° as stem final separate the suffix t into a separate syllable that thus
begins with the final consonant of the stem in question. The plural -t is attached to the
stems of type (C)v(v)cøc either directly or through metathesis, where -ø- moves from
between the stem consonants to a position preceding the suffix. Examples of such
alternating constructions are ootør ’prince’: PlNom ootørt / ootrøt ’princes’.

KM -t ~ KU -t (PlNom)
(vowel-final stem)
neet ’women’ neet id.
kosgiit ’ants’ xosiit id.
(consonant-final stem)
k°äält ’houses’ k°äält id.
komt ’men’ xomt id.
öätømt ’people’ öätømt id.
öänt ’cups’ öänt id.
jäg-öänsyt ’siblings’ jeg-öägønsyt id.
püwt ’boys’ püwt id.
õõwt ’doors’ aawt id.

KM -øt ~ KU -øt (PlNom)

öäsøkøt ’trunks’ öäskøt id.
eek°øt ’old women’ eek°øt id.
öänsyøk°øt ’old men’ äönsyøx°øt id.
koontøt ’troops (pl)’ xoontøt id.
kowtøt ’spruces’ xowtøt id.
 29

The word jiiw ’tree’ (which has a homonym verb jiiw ’comes’) gets an exceptional plural
suffix -ty KM KU jiiwty ’trees (pl)’ which is not found with any other noun. jiiwt is
merely the form ’they come’.

The functions of the nominative

Nominative is the case denoting subject. With the nominal subject in nominative singular,
the verb takes the 3rd person singular form:

kom joxti ’man comes’, eek° mønøs ’old woman left’.

The nominative dual can function as a marker for the dual subject, where the verb agrees
with it in numeral, and it is thus in 3rd person dual:
neegii tåtøxtøsgø, mønøsäg ’women traipsed around, left’
komii löättöä ’men say’.

In the nominative plural, also the verb, in addition to the subject, is in the 3rd person plural:
tåt päjøktääm ooløm öätømt tulsøt, mønøst, säämnøl kåriløst ’people there at the fish
drying job had escaped, vanished out of sight’
kurøm jäg-öänsyt tok oolaat ’so live three sisters’.

In the passive clause, the nominative constituent with which the verb agrees in person
functions as the subject:
(dual) eek°-öänsyøk°äg komøly kasywäg? ’how old man and old woman are known?’
(plural) uus-õõwt pöäli-ponwøst ’city gates were opened’
ääkäänøm öäsyøm püwt jål-søriløwt, koontløwt ’my uncles, my grandfather’s sons are
thrust with a sword and are defeated’.

Nominative is also the case of the indefinite object (cf. accusative). The dual object and
the plural object in nominative can also be definite, which can in these cases be seen in
the way the object conjugation of the verb is used. The verb thus agrees with the dual or
the plural object (see »object conjugation» in more detail):
(dual) komöä kåjøntäx° pätsöä ’he started to beat men’
(plural) iity-søgør-kom k°ål-søgør-kom eek°øt neegii wøsään ’he wedded the wives of
the men of the red of eve and the red of dawn’
eek°ø mønøs, nyolt kowtøt jåt-mänliitesään ’old woman went, snatched along firs and
spruces’
möänknaan wöäng ooløpøt, ootrøt kønsøx° köärkøt ’must find us strong heroes and
princes’.

Also nouns with possessive suffixes are definite, and as objects it is often enough to
mark them with the possessive suffix of the nominative. Therefore the accusative case
of the possessive declension is very rare and in practice it is limited to 3rd person
objects.
äk° eeløm k°åt nän såxtøslään? ’how have you counted one of my years wrong?’
joorlii öän, joorlii püwøn tøxtääløn, äjtääløn ’feed, give a drink to your poor daughter, your poor
son’.
 30

The nominative constitutent can further function as a the predicative of the clause (but
see the translative case also):
(dual) kon nee-syisyk°äg? ’whose dear wives are they?’
(plural) töän k°åtøm pøl koontøt tøt ’these must be troops’.

The possessor is also marked with the nominative, and it also indicates to whom or
where something belongs. In these constructions the possessed is marked with the
possessive suffix (see «Possessive construction»):
õõw-wõõtäät jääpöä jåsøg wäätøkäätøn øl-sågrøpesöä ’he cut out in the doorway his
brothers’ ski bindings’
k°oløx öägii-püwii jägøn-syükøn joxtsäg ’raven chicks’ father and mother came’
k°ääløng eek°-öänsyøk°öä eek°ø löättii ’house’s couple’s old woman says’
når öäsøkøt tålykäänøl koot toorøs, söät toorøs ’tops of long trunks were six, seven
shaftments’.

Also the possessor in the possessive constructions of the habeo-type are in the nominative,
as possession is expressed with the verb (ønsyi ’habet / he has’), and the possessor is the
subject of the clause:
õõx°tøsøng-mågløp ooløpøt õx°tøs-søm ønsyaat, a ton-mänt keewräänøl töätlään
’stone-breasted heroes have a stone heart, but their insides are empty’.

Nominative is also the case for the modifier in the postpositional phrase:
pöätømläämäät wojøl k°oløx öägii-püwii tärmøløn pätøs ’when he jumped he fell on the
raven sons’
eek°-öänsyøk°öä pookøn juw wøl koojøn! ’do not go to the old woman and old man!’
k°äält kålt sopøl tunsyi ’in the middle of the houses stands a pillar’.

In addition to substantival nouns, dual and plural suffixes can be attached to other nouns
(adjectives) and pronouns. These are used in the position of the predicative:
køtiiløgöä: »jääpoåm løløngäg?» ’he asks them: »Are my two brothers with spirit?»
(»alive»)
teen toorømii äm näärii? ’are they two gods or what?’.

The dual and the plural forms of the particle öätyøm ’is not, does not exist’ denoting the
predicative existence function similarly:
KU öätyimii ~ äötyømäg ’are not (two)’, KM öätyømäg id.
om püwååm jon öätyømäg ’my two sons are not at home’
uurøs, uurøs, öätyømäg ’he waited and waited, they (two) do not come’
uurkaatsøt, uurkaatsøt, öätyømt ’waited and waited, no one comes (»there is no one»)’.

An important function of the dual is to denote the asyndetic coordination of two nouns.
The dual marker is then usually attached to both coordinated nouns. The compound ’old
woman and old man’, with the latter part always in the dual form and the first part (’old
woman’) always in singular, is an exception to this rule.
eek°-öänsyøk°äg komøly kasywäg? ’how do they know old woman and old man?’
kääsøtäänøl tõõxtii lõõlwäg k°än-öälmøjøsöä ’took out from his pocket a black-throated
loon and a red-throated loon’.
 31

Accusative
The accusative suffix is -mø. In KU there is also a less frequent variant -m or -øm with
a genuine gliding vowel; it can also follow a broken consonant cluster, e.g. KU påtøløm
’lump, block (acc.)’

KM -mø ~ KU -mø, -(ø)m (SgAcc)

mõõmø ’land (acc.)’ maam(ø) id.
neemø ’woman (acc.)’ neem(ø) id.
woormø ’forest (acc.)’ woorøm id.
påtølmø ’lump (acc.)’ påtøløm id.
søriimø ’sword (acc.)’ søriimø id.
nöäjmø ’woman, princess (acc.)’ najmø id.
k°älmø ’house (acc.)’ k°älmø id.
kommø ’man (acc.)’ xommø id.
õõwmø ’door (acc.)’ aawmø id.
põõwølmø’village (acc.)’ paawølmø id.
öänsyøx°mø ’old man (acc.)’ äönsyøx°mø id.
tänkørmø ’mouse (acc.)’ tänkørmø id.

In conjugating the demonstrative pronouns, the stem is readily expanded with a

substantival uniting element -kar (KU -xar):
KU KM
ton-karmø ’it (acc.)’ tonmø id.
tøtmø ’this (acc.)’ titmø id.

The accusative plural is an agglutinative suffix, which is combined out of the absolute
plural suffix and the accusative suffix. The plural element is attached to the word jiiw
’tree’ in the form of -ty (see above). It was also noted above that even the determinate
plural object is often in the nominative form, and the determinacy of the object is
expressed with the object conjugation of the verb. The same is expected to hold with
dual definite objectives, as accusative duals are not found in the texts.

KM -tmø ~ KU -tmø (PlAcc)

k°äältmø ’houses (acc.)’ k°äältmø id.
wisy-kartmø ’children (acc.)’ wisy-xartmø id. (wisy-kar »little one» (noun))
koontøtmø ’troops (acc.)’ xoontøtmø id.
jiiwtymø ’trees (acc.)’ jiiwtymø id.

The possessive accusative is rather rare and in practice restricted to the objects possessed by the
3rd person (see the examples of nominal objects above). The 1st and the 2nd person possessive
suffixes are sufficient in covering the separate case marker of the definite object in the same way
than in Hungarian (láttam a férjed ’I saw your spouse’), thus also e.g.
om lyoonkøm öät kansyiiløm ’I know not my road’
wønø mät onk-syømør-toåwtøn wäjääløn! ’take your resin-lump-fire, if you want!’
om öägöän-püwöän nåløw-pöäjtøgååm ’I put your children into the pot’

KM Sg poss. Du poss. Pl poss.

3Sg -ääm, øtääm -iimø ?
3Du
 32

3Pl

KU Sg poss. Du poss. Pl poss.

3Sg -ääm, øtääm ?-iimø ?
3Du
3Pl

The Sg3Sg suffix of the possessive accusative has two basic variants -ääm and -
(ø)tääm. The first one of these is formed with the possessive suffix vowel variant (eek°ø
’his wife’  eek°ääm), and the other one (-tääm) is in principle based on the less
frequent variant -tø (öätø ’his daughter’  öätääm). In practice in the nominative form
the possessive suffix is -äät, and in the accusative the words the possessive suffix is -
øtääm.

KM -ääm ~ KU -ääm (Sg3Sg Acc)

eek°ääm ’his wife’ eek°ääm id.
runtääm ’his ship’ runtääm id.
sågrøpääm ’his axe’ sågrøpääm ’id.

KM -tääm ~ KU -tääm (Sg3Sg Acc)

öätääm ’his daughter’ öätääm ’daughter’ PxSg3Sg + Acc II: 207
påtøltääm ’his lump (akk.)’ påtøltääm id.
öäk°røsytääm ’his aunt’ äök°røsytääm id.

KM -øtääm ~ KU -øtääm (Sg3Sg Acc)

ääkøtääm ’his uncle’ ääkøtääm id.
nyõõløtääm ’his arrow’ nyaaløtääm id.
põnytøtääm ’his brother-in-law’ pånytøtääm id.
püwøtääm ’his son (akk.)’ püwøtääm id.

We have information about the possessive Du3Sg accusative in KM only. The suffix is
the completely transparent -iimø. It is a question of a possessive accusative of an
asyndetic compound, where the suffix of the first part is a plain px and the suffix of the
latter part is a combination of the px and the case ending: KM öägii-püwiimø ’his two
children’. The possessive accusative of a subordinate compound can be formed as a
combination of the px in the first part and the case ending in the latter part: KM jägøm-
püwmø ’my brother’, KU jegøm-püwmø id., e.g.
jägøm-püwmø jåt wotääløn! ’invite my brother too!’

Use of the accusative form

The accusative is the case for the definite object, while the indirect object is marked with
the nominative case. The primary actants attached to transitive verbs are the prototypical
direct objects:
jäg-mõõmø, syük-mõõmø k°åtøl wøgäänøm? ’where do I find my father’s land, my
mother’s land?’
muj-nee tääk° neetäätøl søriimø jål-jäxtøpøstøn ’strange woman and wife cut out the
sword from its belt’
jøni-säm uumøsy-säm wisyøng nöäjmø reetøng woj kurøm reetøl reettøstø ’(pretty as a)
sea-buckthorn pretty as a raspberry maiden he lured with three decoy charms’
 33

mõõ-säx° eek°ø k°änø jøs, kontøstø tåt kommø ’land-hillock-old woman came out, found
the man’
tøg joxtsøm jø õõwmø öät kontiiløm ’I came here, and I do not find door’
tøt õõx°tøs-påtølmø nok-kølølään! ’dig up that stone pillar!’
sålyøng-nyåløp woor-k°oløx-tågølmø määsøstø, ponøstø ’he dressed up, put on white
frost-beak-forest raven -cloth’.
Examples of the possessive accusative:
wõõt-seen.gøp seen.gøng runtääm noålwø runtøxtøsäänøl ’they shoved into the water
their 30-fungus fungus-woodboat’
jäni ooløp öätääm øl-tujtøstø ’older hero had hidden his daughter’
ton tørmään syääptøstø ääløm põnytetääm ’in that coffin he buried his killed brother-in-law’.
Pronouns:
ton-karmø tøg peertølään! ’sell it to me!’
tøtmø öälmøx° uusiilään? ’can you lift this?.

Also the verb ’ask’ is transitive and thus receives an object:

(köärt) wisy-kommø køtiliitø ’(stork) asks young man’
eek°ääm køtiiliit ’asks from his wife’
wisykø kom syükøtääm køtiiliitø ’younger man asks his mother’

In Mansi also the motion verbs can receive objects in the accusative form:
söät woor jääløn, äk° woormø wøl mønääløn! ’go to seven forests, in one forest do not
go!’ (jääl- ’walk’, møn- ’go’)
eek°ø-püw wisykø kommø tärmøl pårøwløstø ’old woman’s son jumped on a young man’
uusmø jåløl tuusäänøl, nomøl tuusäänøl ’they forced their way into the fortress from
below, from above’ (tuu- ’enter, go, get in’)
tøt uusmø komlyäly wojliiløw? ’how do we get around this fortress’
põõwølmø wojølsäänøl koontläx° ’they made war on the village’ (wojøl- ’enter’)
päätmäät wojøl õõx°tøs-mõõmø nyoor-mõõmø töärø-lääk°øltøstø kit toorøs syüwnø ’when it fell
down it sunk into a rocky land, Ural-land into two shaftments’ kääsyøtääm lääk°øltääptøstø,
kääsyø koji ’he crept to his brother, brother sleeps’ (lääk°ølti ’move, step, creep’)
k°åsyø lyø wõõty mønøs, jäg-püwøtääm joxtøstø ’he went a long way or a short way, he reached
his brother’ (joxt- ’come’).

The clause constituent in a recipient or a beneficent role can also be a (definite) clause
object. This is an instance of the so called dative shift which is realised in ditransitive
trivalent verbs. In the construction, the demoted patient object is marked with the
instrumental (see this section and »Constructions»)
Tänkørmø äät köärøs-toågøl løgnøl ääløstøn, äät köärøs-toågøl nyoxsøl ääløstøn ’they
caught for the mouse five storehouse-full of squirrels, five storehouse-full of sables’
påsøng-kom jäg püwøtääm suurøny osymøsy-köärøk°øl wöäxtøstø ’cheerful man father threw his
son a golden bunch of keys’

Lative
The most frequent suffix variant in the lative case in both dialects is the vowel final -nø.
In addition to it there is also a less frequent variant, the consonant final -øn. These two
alternate (e.g. xuur : xuurøn ~ xuurnø ’end’, lyaxøl : lyaxøløn ~ lyaxølnø ’message’,
paawøl : paawøløn ~ paawølnø ’village’ in KU). Only the KM pronoun forms (nän, kon)
 34

seem to be systematically consonant final. The consonant final variant -ään is attached to
vowel stems (pusyirka ’bottle’ : pusyirkään, äk°ø ’one’ : äk°ään).

KM -nø ~ KU -nø
jaa ’river’ jaanø id.
meex°nø ’goblin’ meex°nø id.
nyõõlnø ’to an arrow’ nyaalnø id.
kålnø ’in between’ xålnø id.
k°älnø ’to a house’ k°älnø id.
sämnø ’to an eye’ sämnø id.
jånøgnø-kännø ’to a play field’ jån.gøn-kännø id.
kuurnø ’to the edge of’ xuurnø id.
uusnø ’to a town’ uusnø id.
jõõtnø’to the middle of’ jaatnø id.
köätnø ’to a hand’ köätnø id.
nåmtnø ’to a thought’ nåmtnø id.
pääsønnø ’to the table’ pääsønnø id.
söärøsynø ’to the sea’ söärøsynø id

KM -(ø)n ~ KU -(ø)n
maa ’to a land’ maan id.
jöänkøn ’to a swamp’ jöänkøn id.
öänkøn ’to aunt’ äönkøn id.
öäløm-pöäløn’to the other side’ ääløm-pöäløn id.
keelpøn ’into blood’ keelpøn id.
wityøn ’into water’ wityøn id.

KM -ään ~ KU -ään
äk°ään ’together’ äk°ään id.
åsmään ’on a pillow’ åsmään id.
pusyirkään ’into a bottle’ pusyirkään id.

Pronouns KM -n ~ KU -nø
Nän ’what (lat.)’ näänø id.
Kon ’who (lat.)’ xonø id.

The form with the diphthong KM -öän(ø), KU -äön(ø) is the basic variant of the dual
lative, and in addition to it there is also a consonantal dual element -ägøn:

KM -öänø ~ KU -öänø, -äönø

jääpöänø ’to two brothers’ jaapöänø id.
komöänø ’to two men’ xomäönø id.

KU -öän ~ KM-äön
eek°-öänsyøk°öän’old woman and old man’ eek°-äönsyøk°äön id.
KM -(j)ägøn , -(j)ägnø ~ KU -(j)ägøn
komøjägøn ~ komøjägnø ’to two men’ xomøjägøn id.
 35

The plural lative suffix consists of the plural element t and the lative vowel final suffix
variant. The lexeme ’tree’ (jiiw) is here as well a distinctive palatal plural suffix element,
but there is also a non-palatal variant.

KM -tnø ~ KU -tnø
püwtnø ’to boys’ püwtnø id.
wõõtøtnø ’to the shores’ waatøtnø id.
jiiwtnø (jiiwtynø) ’to the trees’ jiiwtnø (jiiwtynø) id.

The endings for the possessive lative are shown in the table below. The endings
boldfaced are those found in the texts. The others have been added to the KM table on the
basis of the possessive nominative paradigm.

KM Lat Poss Sg possessed Du possessed Pl possessed

1Sg -ømnø -oåmnø, -oåmønnø -äänømnø
2Sg -ønnø, -øn -öännø -äänønnø
3Sg -ään, -øtään -öänø, -øjägnø, -åånø -äännø
1Du -mønnø -oåmønnø -ønäämønnø
2Du -ønnø -ønännø -ønännø
3Du -tønnø -ønännø -ønännø
1Pl -øwnø -oåwnø -ønøwnø
2Pl -äännø -öännø -ønännø
3Pl -äänølnø -äänølnø -äänølnø

KU Lat Poss Sg possessed Du possessed Pl possessed

1Sg -ømøn, -ømnø -ååmøn
2Sg -ønnø, -øn ? -ään
3Sg -ään, -tään, -øtään
-öän, -äön, -äönø -ään, -äänøn
1Du
2Du -ønäännø
3Du -tøn
1Pl -øwnø, -øwøn
2Pl -äännø
3Pl -äänølnø, -äänøløn

KM -ømnø ~ KU -ømøn, -ømnø (Sg1Sg LATIVE)

pookømnø ’to me’ pooxømnø, pooxømøn id.
püwømnø ’to my son’ püwømnø, püwømøn id.

The lative dual (Du1Sg) example is a question of an asyndetic compound (KM) työätyoåm-
syükoåm ’my father and mother’ (literally thus ’my two fathers and two mothers’). The
exceptional lative suffix -ønnø might result from the fact that, in this example, the roles of the
dual singular and the dual 1st person might have been mixed up. The standard representation
would rather be syükoåmnø ’»to my two mothers»’

KM -oåmnø, -oåmønnø ~ KU -ååmøn (Du1Sg LATIIVI)

työätyoåmnø ’»to my two fathers», lat.’ tyäätyååmøn id.
syükoåmønnø ’»to my two mothers», lat.’ syükååmøn id.
 36

KM -ønnø, -øn ~ KU -ønnø, -øn (Sg2Sg LATIVE)

kotølønnø ’to your day’ xotølønnø id.
syüwønnø ’like you’ syowønnø id.
jüürsyønnø ’to your brother-in-law’ jüürsyønnø id.

The Du2Sg lative is transparent and regular -öän + nø in KM, whereas in KU there is a
shortened form -ään instead, which in addition is similar to the possessed plural suffix
basic form.

KM -öännø ~ KU -ään (Du2Sg LATIVE)

jäg-püwöännø ’both your brothers (lat.)’ jeg-püwään id.
The shortest variant of the 3rd person singular lative suffix is the polysemic -ään. In
principle it is formed directly from the vowel variant of the Sg3Sg possessive suffix:
öämpø ’his dog’  öämpään ’to his dog’. The most frequent variant is -(ø)tään which
is formally built on the variant -tø of the px. This is the foundation to at least neetø ’his
wife’  neetään ’to his wife’. Most of the other forms are analoguous, and the
nominative -äät or -ø alternates with the lative -(ø)tään (påjlø ’his village’ : påjøltään ~
påjløtään ’to his village’, KM käänäät ’his road’ : käänøtään ’to his road’, KU KM
owlø ~ owläät ’(its) end’ : owløtään ’to (its) end’.

KM -ään ~ KU -ään (Sg3Sg LATIVE)

pänkään ’on his head’ pänkään id.
wõõtään ’to its shore’ waatään id.

KM -øtään ~ KU -ään (Sg3Sg LATIVE)

köätøtään ’on his hand’ köätään id.
käänøtään ’on his road’ käänään id.
kääsøtään ’into his pocket’ kääsøtään id.

KM -tään ~ KU -tään (Sg3Sg LATIVE)

neetään ’for his woman’ neetään id.
tuustään ’into his mouth’ tuustään id.
ootørtään ’for his prince’ ootørtään id.
påjløtään ’into his village’ påjøltään id.
öänsyøk°tään ’for her old man’ äönsyøk°tään id

KM -øtään ~ KU -øtään (Sg3Sg LATIVE)

jägøtään ’for his father’ jegøtään id.
owløtään ’on its head’ owløtään id.
põõwøltään ’into his village’ påwløtään id.
k°ääløtään ’into his house’ k°ääløtään id.
käänøtään ’on his road’ käänøtään id.
müwøtään ’to his (toilet-)business’ müwøtään id.
öäk°røsytään ’for his aunt’ äök°røsytään id.
kõõnk°øltääpøtään ’to his ladder’ xanx°øltääpøtään id.

The possessive Du3Sg lative has several suffix variants. In KU both the dual elements
and the case elements (vowel final vs. consonant final) alternate, in KM only the dual
 37

element. Of the suffix variants the diphthong -öä-, the monophthong -åå-, and -øjäg- are
all found in KM. As the vowels in KU alternate -äö-, -öä- and -aa-:

KM-öänø ~ KU -äönø (Du3Sg LATIVE)

låjläönø ’to his feet’ låjlöänø id.
köätöänø ’to his hands’

KM -åånø ~ KU -äönø (Du3Sg LATIVE)

owlåånø ’onto its both ends’ owläönø id.

KM-öänø ~ KU -äön/-öän (Du3Sg LATIVE)

jäg-püwöänø ’to his two brothers’ jeg-püwäön id.
jääpöänø id. ’to his two brothers’ jääpöän id.

KM -øjägnø (Du3Sg LATIVE)

öägii-püwøjägnø ’to his two children’

KU -aan (Du3Sg LATIVE)

wojnaan ’onto his shoulders’

The Pl3Sg latives in KU and KM rather systematically differ from each other. In KU the
lative is expressed by the polysemic -ään alone, whereas in KM there is an overt case
suffix -nø / -øn.

KM -äännø ~ KU -ään (Pl3Sg LATIVE)

inkijäännø ’piioilleen’ inkijään id.
kuusyäännø ’rengeilleen’ xuusyään id.
lyonkäännø ’teilleen’ lyoonxään id.
wisy-karäännø ’lapsilleen’ wisy-xarään id.

The 1st and 2nd person dual lative forms are found in the Kannisto paradigms edited by
Liimola: KM k°äälöämønnø (Du1Du + Lat) ’to our2 houses2’ KM k°äälöännø (Du2Du
+ Lat) ’to your2 houses2’, KM k°äälønännø (Pl2Du + Lat) ’to your2 houses(pl)’. Based
on other paradigms, these forms are regular, even though Liimola regards them as
unstable (1963: 232).

The ending of the Sg3Du possessive lative has several variants: the KU variants are -tøn
and -ønnø. The variant -tøn seems to lack the case suffix and -ønnø is similar to the
Sg2Sg lative suffix. The latter is also found in KM where there are also variants -tønnø
and -äätønnø which include the 3Du possessive elements:

KM -(ää)tønnø ~ KU -tøn (Sg3Du LATIVE)

mõõtønnø ’into their2 land’ maatøn id.
jägäätønnø ’for their2 father’

KM -ønnø ~ KU -ønnø (Sg3Du LATIVE)

jägønnø ’for their2 father’ jegønnø id.

Of the plural person cases, the 1st and the 3rd person lative forms are clearly
agglutinative (px + Cx), the 2nd person plural singular lative is equivalent with the
 38

Pl3Sg lative form. The Pl3Pl lative suffix is exactly similar to the suffix in the category
of single possessed.

KM -øwnø ~ KU -øwnø (Sg1Pl LATIVE)

jägøwnø ’for our father’ jegøwnø id.
mõõgøwnø ’into our land’ maagøwnø id.
pookøwnø ’to us’ pooxøwnø id.

KM -äännø ~ KU -äännø (Sg2Pl LATIVE)

jägäännø ’for your father’ jegäännø id.
KM -äänølnø ~ KU -äänølnø, -äänøløn (Sg3Pl LATIVE)
mõõgäänølnø ’into their land’ maagäänøln(ø), maagäänøløn id.
påjläänølnø ’into their village’ påjläänølnø, påjläänøløn id.
jägäänølnø ’for their father’ jegäänølnø id.
uusäänølnø ’into their town’ uusäänøløn id.

KM -äänølnø ~ KU -äänøløn (Pl3Pl LATIVE)

k°ääläänølnø ’into their houses’ k°ääläänøløn id.

Functions of the lative

The primary, adverbial function of the lative is to denote location in the directional cases:
ton tø õõx k°ätyølynø mønøs, õõxnø nok-suumøs ’went to the middle of that hill, galloped to the
hill’
k°älnø juw-tuus ’stepped into the house’
mønøst jånøgnø-kännø ’they went to the playground’
mønøsäg, mønøsäg, äk°-määsyt tol kuurnø joxtsäg ’they went, went, then they came to the edge of
the cloud’
öäs-wõõt-sørnø joxtsäg ’they came to the shore sand of Ob’
tømøly uusnø joxtsäg ’they arrived at such a town’
ootør kõõp-jõõtnø töäløs ’the prince positioned himself in the middle of the boat’
neenk põõwøl-kän jõõtnø konii kojään ’lie you down in the middle of the village path’
jöänk jõõtnø kontøs ’he looked into the centre of the bog’
jowtø-nyõõlø köätnø öälmøjøstø ’he took the bow and arrow into his hand’
toonøntøl jöänkøm-wooj poolyøm-wooj pääsønnø wotsäg ’then they sat down at a table
set with cold fat and frozen fat’
söärøsynø noåløw öältøntøgään ’he carries them to the seashore’
mønøsäg, söärøsy öäløm-pöäløn joxtsäg ’they2 went, they2 came to the other side of
the sea’
läwläw, jeekøx° möästør-karøw wityøn pätøs ’friends, our dance master fell into the
water’
nee-k°oløx pusyirkään köät-tolyø lükømøwøs ’a finger was pushed into the mother
raven’s bottle’
ton tø jõõ wõõtøtnø jäni pupi jäni teer lakøl tow wontään! ’on that river’s riverside
settle down there as great spirits great gnomes!’
eek°ø wøstø, mågøl-wõõtään juntøp k°årøl tosytpøstø ’the old woman took him, inserted him as a
needle in her bosom’
toonäätøl käänøng põõwøl käänøtään mønøs, käänøng uus käänøtään mønøs ’then he
went along his path in his pathful village, his road in the roadful town’
 39

tågløng põõwøltään tågløng uusøtään tow i wontøs ’into his full village into his full
town he there settled down’.

The lative suffix attached to animate nouns usually takes the function of the dative (such
as to give or to make something for someone). This function is relatively rare, as the
animate recipient is usually promoted through dative shift to the position of the subject
in the clause. There are very few examples of the datival lative:

pon-sop wisy-kortkään såjrøng tåglø, oxtoor-tåglø ootørtään pøsøwløstø ’the moulting small hawk
blew his white cloth his shroud to the prince’
påsøng-kom jägøtään puurlaxtøs ’for the cheerful man his father he prepared a food offering’
ton tø säm-wojäät nom-toorøm-kom jägøtään nok-råwlöäløstø ’these eye-birds he sent
to the god in heaven, his father’
jääjøn om püwømnø! ’come to my son!’.

The lative cases governed by some verbs denoting utterances resemble this pattern. On
the other hand, loåwi ’say, command’ and køtiili ’ask’ are realized with the accusative
(see above). E.g. oåjgi ’to shout’ receives the dative form:

pupi-torøl k°oly-torøl oåjgøs nonkäly påsøng-kom jägøtään ’he shouted up to the

cheerful man his father with a voice of the spirit, with a voice of the underworld spirit’
söärkøsy-tågøl määsøm kom ootør nom-toorøm-kom jägøtään åjgøltøs ’the man dressed
in an eagle’s suit shouted at the god in heaven, his father’.

The lative is also used to indicate the resulting state of change, of becoming something:

äk°-määsyt köälynäänøl tø roågnøs, lyoomii-tornø päätsøt ’soon their voice quietened

down, turned into gnat buzz’
mønnø-mõõmt öäl løløngnø öäl koolømnø ’after I have gone (I return if I return) alive
or dead’
öänøm näänk syüwønnø päättøsløn ’you made me just like yourself’.

Special phrasal cases are 1. to wed a man, 2. to be born (»to come ~ to fall into one’s
eyes»)

näg öäl-nøsør woor-jälwøl, woor-meex°nø komøjøsøn ’you have wedded some forest
demon, some forest goblin’
om püwømnø komøjøn! ’take my son to be your husband!’
sämnø päätøm wisy-öä-püw ’newborn baby’
sämnø-päätøm kurmøt kotøltäät jowtøl nyõõløl ølø pøl põõx°tlii ’on the third day from
his birth (he) starts shooting with a bow and an arrow’.

The grammatical function of the lative is the marking of the agent in the passive clause
(see also «Passive»):
Animate agents:

moot k°älnø juw-tuux° wisy-neenø öät täärøtøwø ’he is not let in the other house by the
girl’
koontøn tø jøwø ’the troops attack’
 40

tow k°ås joxti, eek°-öänsyøk°öänø kotwøs: nyöäny ’when it comes, it was seen by the
old woman: (it’s) a bread!’
Inanimate (instrumental) agents:
älwøs kit-wor-ootør nyõõlnø ’he has been killed by the arrow of a two-hill prince’
kopnø põõ-lowøsøwt ’the (things) were washed up on the shore with the wave’
nyõõlnø jowtnø wøl koojønk°ään! ’so that you would not be hit by arrows and bows!’
om älwøsømk, keelpøn syonkløwø ’if I am killed, there dries blood’
låjlöänø k°åt tåtwø, tow joomi, pänkään k°åt tåtwø, tow joomi ’he walks where he is carried by his
feet, walks where his is taken by his head ’

Locative
The basic variant of the locative suffix is the consonantal element -t. The suffix is
attached to the bisyllabic and longer vowel stems in the form of -äät. This is thus an
instance of the same final vowel mutation as in the lative suffix (see above). The ending
is attached to the shortest stems (CV-) in the form of -tø (KM KU jøtø ’in the night’).

KM -t ~ KU -t
mõõt ’on the ground’ maat id.
jõõt ’in the middle’ jaat id.
jålt ’in bed’ jålt id.
söämt ’in the corner’ söämt id.
åst ’on surface’ åst id.
søst ’on back’ søst id.
päätyøt ’at the bottom’ päätyøt id.
lyoonkøt ’on the road’ lyoonxøt id.
wityøt ’in the water’ wityøt id.
põõwølt ’in the village’ paawølt id.

KM -äät ~ KU -äät
öäpäät ’in the cradle’ öäpäät id.
k°åsyäät ’a long time ago’ x°åsyäät id.

The following table shows some endings of the possessive locative:

KM Loc Poss Sg possessed (Du possessed) (Pl possessed)
1Sg -ømt
2Sg -nt, -ønt
3Sg -äät, -øtäät -öät (Liimola)
1Du
2Du
3Du -ønt, -tønt
1Pl -wt
2Pl
3Pl -äänølt, -ønänt

KU Loc Poss Sg possessed Du possessed Pl possessed

1Sg -ømt
2Sg -nt
3Sg -äät, -täät
1Du
 41

2Du
3Du -ønt, -tønt
1Pl -wt
2Pl
3Pl -äänølt

KM -mt, -ømt ~ KU -mt, -ømt (Sg1Sg LOCATIVE)

mõõmt ’in my land’ maamt id.
käxrømt ’in my stomach’ käxrømt id.
tärmølømt ’on top of me’ tärmølømt id.

KM -ønt, -nt ~ KU -nt (Sg2Sg LOCATIVE)

mõõnt ’in your land’ maant id.
toormønt ’in your time’

The locative ending of the possessive declension (Sg3Sg) takes similar variants to the
possessive lative. The most usual of these is –täät that builds on the suffix tø, but there
are also examples of the simpler variant -äät. This in turn is based on the simple vowel
variant of the px: käänø ’his road’, käänään ’into his road’, käänäät ’on his road’ (and
further käänäänøl ’from his road’ and kaanäätøl ’with his road’). The use of the
locative variant -(ø)täät is thus based on analogy similar to the usage of the possessive
cases above.

KM -äät ~ KU -äät (Sg3Sg LOCATIVE)

käänäät ’on his road’ käänäät id.
toräät ’in his throat’ toräät id.

KM -(ø)täät ~ KU -(ø)täät (Sg3Sg LOCATIVE)

kotøltäät ’on his day’ xotøltäät id.
kääsøtäät ’in his pocket’ kääsøtäät id.
puwtøtäät ’in his bosom’ puwtøtäät id.
søsøtäät ’on his back’ søstäät id.
owløtäät ’at the end’ owløtäät id.
pättyøtäät ’at the bottom of it’ pättyøtäät id.

The Sg3Du locative suffix is also built on both øn- (in the consonant stems) and the
variant tøn (in the vowel stems):

KM -ønt ~ KU -ønt (Sg3Du LOCATIVE)

pänkønt ’on their2 head’ pänkønt id.

KM -tønt ~ KU -tønt (Sg3Du LOCATIVE)

mõõtønt ’in their2 land’ maatønt id.
The possessive Sg1Pl locative in both dialects is the regular Px + Cx, -(ø)wt:

KM -(ø)wt ~ KU -(ø)wt (Sg1Pl LOCATIVE)

mõõgøwt ’in our land’ maagøwt id.
wõõtygøwt ’near us’ waatygøwt id.
 42

In addition to the possessive Sg3Pl locative suffix -äänølt, there is a KM variant -

ønäänt. This variant is found only in the word mõõ ’land, place’, in its temporal use
(see below):

KM -äänølt, -ønäänt ~ KU -äänølt (Sg3Pl LOCATIVE)

mõõgäänølt, mõõgønäänt ’in their land’ maagäänølt id.
pöältäänølt ’with them’ pöältäänølt id.

Use of the locative

The locative has as its basic function the marking of the state case essive.

oolaat tøtø mõõt ’ they live in that place’

neemøntøng jålt köäprønøng jålt k°oji kom ’the man is lying on the bed with blankets
and mattresses’
täw jø-pöält mønøs, nyowølkaatøs, jäg-püwøtääm juw keetøstø ’he went after him,
followed, sent his brother home’
somlyøx-söämt ømøn-jiiw soj-jiiwøm uusløn? ’did you see my holy staff-wood in the
storehouse corner?’
põõwøl oåjpääm oolt, kit ämnø kurøm oåjgøl syüwt kit ämnø kurøm sõõt syüw kåspøt
neegøm olgøt ’at the end of the village in two or three versts there are two or three
hundred sleeping tents set up’
tø syüwt nomøn kõõrsyøtøs sorøm-ääst ’then at the top in the vent hole there was a
rumble’
lyoonkøt tunsyi, eesøplaxtii, k°åtäly mønøx° ’he is standing on the road, thinking where
to go’
lyoonkøt teenø kool ’travel snack’ (»food eaten on the road»)
kit neegöä kääsøtäät, kurmøt neetø puwtetäät ’two wives in his pocket, third wife in his
bosom.

The local case can also be directional or separative:

tawaj, kõõp-päätyøt wäärt-jiiw-tuupøt nok-leewøtään! ’take the hard-wood-paddles

from the bottom of the boat!’
öänsyøk°øn jöänkøt jål-piilyøs ’your old man fell into the bog’
jøsøt, jøsøt pøl söärsyøt jøkäänøl, pöänkii tø keløjøst, ääjølän wity-kål tø(g) öätyi ’they
came, came and after coming to the sea (they) looked like soot, there is even no
drinking water place’

Another important function is a temporal one:

meen syükräänäämøn jø-pöält nöänk oolään! ’you go on living after our deaths!’
kom mønøm jø-pöält muj-nee uus joxtøpøs ’after the man had gone the strange woman
came again’
kuun syüwt jøx° tø jiiwnø, omnaanøl pänkii öät köäliinø ’some time when you come
anyway, you will not above me rise’
tø syüwt nomøn kõõrsyøtøs sorøm-ääst ’then at the top in the vent hole there was a
rumble’
 43

sämnø-päätøm kurmøt kotøltäät såjlø-jiiw jowtøl nyõõløl ølø pøl põõx°tlii ’on the third
day from his birth (he) starts shooting with a bow and an arrow made of shingle’.

The possessive locative of the words KM mõõ KU maa ‘place’ is used in specifying time:
KU mønnø-maant (’to go’-Gerund + ’your place’ PxSg2Sg + Loc) ’as you go’, KM
mønøm mõõgønänt ’after (their) having gone’. More examples:
mønnø-mõõmt öäl løløngnø öäl koolømnø ’when I go (I return if I return) alive or dead’
näg pøl mønnø-mõõnt ponøng jøpiinø, ponøng torgiinø wøl puwønk°øn! ’let no feather-full eagle
owl, no feather-full eagle catch you as you go!’

The locative can also be instrumental:

towløng-köärt kom-wäärø päätyøt kojøp-jiiw tålykøtään säärø tø wäärøtøs nok ’the

winged stork with his manpowers was hardly able to rise on top of a snag tree’.

Ablative

The ablative suffix is an invariable -nøl.

KU -nøl ~ KM -nøl
jaanøl ’from the river’ jõõnøl id.
maanøl ’from the place, land’ mõõnøl id.
nyixnøl ’from the larch’ nyixnøl id.
sujnøl ’from the moor’ sujnøl id.
xomnøl ’from the man’ komnøl id.
woornøl ’from the forest’ woornøl id.
xuurnøl ’from the edge of’ kuurnøl id.
witynøl ’from the water’ witynøl id.
kiiwørnøl ’from inside’ keewørnøl id.
konnøl ’from whom’ xonøl id.

The suffix of the ablative plural is agglutinated from the plural element -t- and the
ablative basic suffix. E.g. KM KU puutøtnøl ’from the pots’
The following table shows the endings of the possessive ablative:

KM Abl Poss Sg possessed Du possessed Pl possessed

1Sg -ømnøl -öämnøl
2Sg -ønnøl
3Sg -øtäänøl -öänøl
1Du -mønnøl -öämønnøl
2Du -öännøl
3Du -tønnøl
1Pl -øwnøl
2Pl -ønäännøl
3Pl -äänølnøl,
-ønäännøl

KU Abl Poss Sg possessed Du possessed Pl possessed

1Sg
 44

2Sg
3Sg -äänøl, -aanøl -äänøl
1Du
2Du
3Du -ønnøl
1Pl -øwnøl
2Pl -äännøl
3Pl -äänølnøl

There are no examples of the category for the 1st and 2nd person single possessed in the
texts. These forms are, however, quite predictable (k°äälømnøl ’from my house’,
k°äälønnøl ’from your house’). In the category of the dual possessed there is a front
vowel dual diphthong (example in KM only):

KM -öämnøl (Du1Sg ABLATIVE)

saagöämnøl ’of my plaits’
The most usual ending variant in the Sg3Sg possessive ablative seems to be -äänøl which
is built on the Px vowel variant. Some examples are also found of the type tø
representative -(ø)täänøl.

KM -äänøl ~ KU -äänøl (Sg3Sg ABLATIVE)

tålykäänøl ’from its top’ talyxäänøl id.
syükäänøl ’from his mother’ syükäänøl id.
kääsäänøl ’from his pocket’

KM -täänøl ~ KU -øtäänøl (Sg3Sg ABLATIVE)

syopørtäänøl ’from his neck’ kääsøtäänøl ’from his pocket’

The Du3Sg ablative in KM is the transparent -öänøl. The suffix -äänøl in KU is

equivalent with the Sg3Sg ablative (as there is a paired body part in the example, the
suffix can in principle naturally also be of the category for the single possessed).

KM -öänøl ~ KU -äänøl (Du3Sg ABLATIVE)

kånøl-pättyöänøl ’from his armpits’ xanøl-pättyäänøl id.
saagöänøl ’of/from his plaits’

In the Liimola (1963: 232–33) paradigm there is an example about a Du1Du ablative
(KM) k°äälöämønnøl and a Du2Du ablative (KM) k°äälöännøl. In the KU text there is
one example of a Sg3Du ablative. Its counterpart in the KM text is the lative form
jägäätønnø. Both of these are possible to find in the texts: ’they2 shouted’ of their father
the god in heaven (KU) / -to their father (KM) the heat (KU) / that he would fix the heat
(KM)’. In this KU suffix the ablative is attached to the short Px-variant:

KU -ønnøl (Sg3Du ABLATIVE)

jøgønnøl ’from his father’
The ablative suffix of the plural person possessors is transparent in both dialects: Sg1Pl -
øwnøl, Sg2Pl KM -ønäännøl, KU -äännøl and Sg3Pl -äänølnøl. In KM there is in
addition also the variant -ønäännøl that is built on another Px variant (as for the locative -
ønäänt above):
 45

KM -øwnøl ~ KU -øwnøl (Sg1Pl ABLATIVE)

työätyøwnøl ’from our father’ työätyøwnøl id.

KM -ønäännøl ~ KU -äännøl (Sg2Pl ABLATIVE)

jägønäännøl ’from your father’ jegäännøl id.

KM -äänølnøl ~ KU -äänølnøl (Sg3Pl ABLATIVE)

mõõgäänølnøl ’from their land’ maagäänølnøl id.

KM -ønäännøl (Sg3Pl ABLATIVE)

mõõgønännøl ’from their land’

Use of the ablative

The primary use of the ablative is to mark the locality of the separative case:
Motion verbs:

öälnø mõõnøl öälnø syöärnøl jøm kit kom oosmøn ’we are two men coming from some
land, from some corners’
ootør kuul-k°årøl witynøl nok-nøgløpøs ’the prince rose from the water in a shape of fish’
k°äl keewørnøl kit nee k°än-lääk°øltøsgø ’two women came out of the house’.
Other verbs: to detach, to find, to bring, to hang with something etc.:
nyixnøl nyix-påly k°ostøs, kosynøl kosy-påly k°ostøs ’he whittled from larch a larch-chip,
whittled from spruce a spruce-chip’
söät woor ool woornøl äältal woornøl towøl kølsååm ’from the last forest of seven
forests, from the forbidden forest there I dug them2 up’
kontøng keewørnøl tåtøm neetmø wityøn sok k°än-towgään! ’shove into the water all
women brought from Konda!’
påsøng-kom jägetäänøl söät jorøl juwtkaatø ’from a cheerful man his father, he bought
himself free with seven blood offerings’
söät täl saagöämnøl tägmäätwøm ’I am hanged from my seven fathom long plaits’.
The subject of stories told, singing etc. is expressed with the ablative, and the patient
(song, tale) is expressed with the instrumental such as in the following example (see also
below)
jäni eeri owløl eerøgpååm, konnøl eerøgpiiløm ’I sing the end of my great song, who
shall I sing it about?’

Parenthood is also one of the subject areas of the ablative:

ton komnøl söät püw teeløs, kuurøm öä teeløm oolii ’seven sons were born to that man,
three daughters have been born’
jänik ooløpnøl öä teeløs, wisykøk ooløpnøl püw teeløs ’a daughter was born to the older
hero, a son was born to the younger hero’

The distribution of the expressions denoting birth is the following: from the point of view
of the parent, and when the one being born is in the focal point of the clause, the verb
teeli is used (which also means ’grows’), and when the one being born is the topic of the
clause, the expression sämøn päti is chosen (see the examples of the lative).
 46

Translative

Some of the variants of the translative suffix are phonologically equivalent with the dual
suffix. The basic variants in the translative are -ii and -äg. The distributional tendencies
can be traced from the examples only well enough to conclude that especially in KM, but
also to some extent in KU, the polysyllable feet favour the suffix variant -äg and the
bisyllabic translative feet most often end in the suffix -ii. The suffix -ii is attached to the
monosyllabic vowel stem with the gliding consonant -g-, in the bisyllabic -c1øc2 stems
the syncope of ø (uuløm : uulmii ’dream’) takes place. With the monosyllabic stem
ending in a final plosive, the final plosive tends to duplicate in front of the ending (teep :
teeppii ’food’):

KU -ii ~ KM -ii
neegii ’into a woman’ neegii id.
muujii ’into a guest’ muujii id.
pänkii ’into a head’ pänkii id.
täöglii ’into a suit’ tåglii id.
päämii ’into heat’ päämii id.
eeppii ’into steam’ eeppii id.
jortii ’into a partner’ jortii id.
jiiwii ’into a tree’ jiiwii id.
ootrii ’into a prince’ ootrii id.

KU -äg ~ KM -äg (mostly with the trisyllabic feet)

öätømäg ’into a person’ öätømäg id.
k°ürnyikäg ’into a pie’ k°ørnyøkäg id.
tunsyøngäg ’into a high’ tunsyøngäg id. (tunsyøng tunsyi ’stand’)
syåxløngäg ’into hillock-full’ syåxløngäg id. (syåxløng  syåxøl ’hillock’)
wonkøngäg ’into hole-full’ wonkøngäg id (wonkøng  wonk ’hole’)
tulømxäg ’secretly’ tulømkäg ~ tulmøkäg id (tuulmøx ’thief’)

But sometimes also with the bisyllabic feet:

tälk°äg ’into low’ tälk°äg id.
søgläg ’into shred’ søgläg id.
køgnäg ’into light’ køgnäg id.
wöänngäg ’into strong’ wöänngäg id. (wöäng  wöä ’strength’)

The diphthong variants (KU -äö, KM -öä) are more infrequent. In translative they seem
to appear only in the lexicalized, temporal particles such as the KM eeröä, the KU øgräö
’forever’, KU x°ålnäö ’in the end’ (KM k°ålnäg). Even more infrequent variants such as
the KM -aa : iity-pöälaa ’later in the evening’ are found in similar expressions. The
translative has no dual or plural declensions, nor are there any possessive declension
forms. Such forms are at least not found in the texts. The translative denoting the dual
subject and the plural subject is the translative singular: eek°-öänsyøk°äg wøktøsgø
’they2 took each other into husband and wife’, jäniimøst kom jääntäg ’they grow to the
size of men’.

The basic function of the translative is to ’become something’, ’stay as something’ or

’make into something’ and constructions such as ’take to something’:
 47

om neegøm neegii nän wøsløn? ’why have you taken my woman as your wife?’
k°än-tulømtiiläämøn, neegii wøgläämøn! ’let us steal her, take to be a wife!’»
öätø komøly tulmøntäx° neegii? ’how to steal a girl to become a wife?
oosykäg syoornäg, koont-jortii jåt jiiwnø? ’Oosyk and Syoorn, will you come along to be
my fellow fighters?’
ton kuuly-tõõt-pöälmø eek°ø wisy-komnø kuuly-tåglii juntøstø ’the old woman sewed the
kaftan’s sleeve into a kaftan for the young man’
k°äl-toågøl jiiwtymø sok juw-tåtøste, k°äälii nok sågrøx° pümtøstø ’houseful of
(necessary) logs (he) brought all home, started carving them to be a house’.
tø syüwt sågrøpäät køgnäg jømti, äk° køgnäg jømtøs ’then an axe becomes lighter, all the
more lighter’
toorøs syüwnøl töärø jomiitiitø mõõ-känmø, wöänngäg tok tø jømtøs ’he walks a span’s
deep in the earth crust, so strong he has become’
näg öätømäg teelsøn ’you were born to become a human being’
pon-sop wisy-kortkään k°årøl jääløm løl k°olytøs öätømäg ’the spirit in the shape of a
moulting small hawk remained a human being’
jäniimøs, nee jääntäg, kom jääntäg jømtøs, säästøs, woortøs ’he grew up, became a size
of man, size of woman, grew up, got older’
wøktøsgø, eek°-öänsyøk°äg wøktøsgø ’united into a man and a wife’ (a singular
translatival adverbial in addition to the dual predicate).

Predicative is another central function of the translative:

nyowlyøt tånk°ømäg kumlyø uulöät? ’how are the pieces of meat (this) hard?’ (singular
translatival predicative in addition to the plural subject)
sålyøng-nyåløp woor-k°oløx-tågøl määsøm ootrii ooløn! ’be a prince dressed in a white
frost-beak-forest raven cloth!’.

Another function close to the translative is the function of the state of things
corresponding to the Finnish essive and the construction ’to consider as something’:

øsøm-wity eeppii, toåwt-päämii towøl komøly k°än-köäløs ’as it had stepped out from
there as a hot water steam, as the heat from the fire’
såly-teepii, puut-teepii kon teex° wäärøtøwään? ’who wants to eat you as dried food (? =
stockfish) as pot food?’
kit eek°-öänsyøx-karnø nyöänyii wöärwøsøm, woojøng k°ørnyøkäg olsøm
’old woman and old man made a bread out of me, as a fatty Cornish pasty I was’
öänøm uus öätømäg kåjtømtäptiiløn? ’will you make me again to run as a human being?»
räx°-säm päätøs, tojii lowøntøwøs, tuujt-säm päätøs, töälii lowøntøwøs ’when a rain drop
fell down, it was taken as summer, when a snow flake fell down, it was taken as winter’.
The translative denoting purpose is also frequent:
muujii koontii määtør tø joxtøs ’some one has come for a visit, for a conquest’
(eek°ø tåri löättøn,) jønäät syüwt nyol-jiiw kowt-jiiw jåt mänliitø wonsøx-jiiwii! ’(tell the
old woman,) to bring along fir trees and spruce trees for duckboards!’
The translative can also function as the patient of the clause (or the phrase in the
following example). In the same clause there is also the construction ’to take as
something’:
teepii tees teepøng jortii, uulmii kojøs uulmøng jortii wäjwøst i powwøst ’they were taken
and abducted as food eating food partners, sleep-full sleeping partners’.
 48

Translative is also used in constructions of the type ’seem, sound, feel something’:
söärsyøt jøkäänøl, pöänkii tø keløjøst ’after coming to the sea (they) looked like soot’.

Instrumental

The suffix of the instrumental in the absolute declension is the invariable -l, that is attached to
the vowel stem as such and to the consonant stem with the binding vowel -ø- :

KU -(ø)l ~ KM -(ø)l (SgInstr)

maal ’land (instr.) mõõl id.
søriil ’sword (instr.)’ sørøjøl id.
åjgøl ’cry (instr.)’ oåjgøl id.
paanxøl ’fly agaric (instr.)’ põõnkøl id.
woojøl ’fat (instr.)’ woojøl id.
keelpøl ’blood (instr.)’ keelpøl id
x°öärøl ’shape (instr.)’ k°årøl id
aax°tsøl ’stone (instr.)’ õx°tøsøl id.
täöwtøl ’fire (instr.)’ toåwtøl id.
wityøl ’water (instr.)’ wityøl id.
köärøk°øl ’bundle (instr.)’ köärøk°øl id.
öätømøl ’human being (instr.)’ öätømøl id.
sank°øltääpøl ’harp (instr.)’ söänk°øltääpøl id.

In the possessive declension the ending of the instrumental is -tøl. This is preceded by the
regular possessive suffix. The forms are shown in the following table:

KM Instr Poss Sg possessed Du possessed Pl possessed

1Sg -ømtøl -öämtøl -äänømtøl
2Sg -øntøl -äänøntøl
3Sg -äätøl, -(ø)täätøl -öätøl -ääntøl
1Du
2Du
3Du -øntøl, -äätøntøl
1Pl -øwtøl
2Pl
3Pl -ääntøl, -äänøltøl -ønääntøl

KU Instr Poss Sg possessed Du possessed Pl possessed

1Sg -ømtøl -äömtøl
2Sg -øntøl
3Sg -äätøl, -(ø)täätøl -öätøl -ääntøl
1Du
2Du
3Du -øntøl
1Pl
2Pl -ääntøl
3Pl -ääntøl, -äänøltøl -ääntøl , -äänøltøl
 49

Examples of the forms found in the texts are shown below. A special case are the
particles with the meaning ’then/in time’ formed with the possessive instrumental from
the demonstrative toon (’that’). The person of the possessive suffix of the particle is
determined following the clause subject.

KM -ømtøl ~ KU -ømtøl (Sg1Sg INSTRUMENTAL)

toåwtømtøl ’with my fire’ täöwtømtøl id.
lyõõnkømtøl ’with my message’ lyankømtøl id.

KM -öämtøl ~ KU -äömtøl (Du1Sg INSTRUMENTAL)

låjlöämtøl ’with my feet’ låjläömtøl id.

KM -øntøl ~ KU -øntøl (Sg2Sg INSTRUMENTAL)

toåwtøntøl ’with your fire’ täöwtøntøl id.
oosytørøntøl ’with your whip’ oosytørøntøl id.

In the 3rd person singular the instrumental suffix has again two basic variants: -äätøl
built on the vowel variant of the Px, and -(ø)täätøl built on the variant tø. The latter of
these is more frequent, and its formation is similar to the possessive suffixes presented
above (p. 000).

KM -äätøl ~ KU -äätøl (Sg3Sg INSTRUMENTAL)

k°åräätøl ’in his shape’ x°öäräätøl, x°äöräätøl id.
toonäätøl ’then (he)’ toonäätøl id.

KM -(ø)täätøl ~ KU -(ø)täätøl (Sg3Sg INSTRUMENTAL)

neetäätøl ’with his wife’ neetäätøl id.
noåjøtäätøl ’with his woman’ näöjtäätøl id.
öätømøtäätøl ’with his people’ öätømtäätøl id.
põnytøtäätøl ’with his brother-in-law’panytøtäätøl id.
uulmøtäätøl ’with his dream’ uulmøtäätøl id.
toonøtäätøl ’then (he)’ toonøtäätøl id.

KM -öätøl ~ KU -öätøl (Du3Sg INSTRUMENTAL)

määrøköätøl ’with his wings’ määrköätøl ’wing’

KM -ääntøl ~ KU -ääntøl (Pl3Sg INSTRUMENTAL)

jäg-püwääntøl ’with his brothers’ jeg-püwääntøl id.

KM -øntøl ~ KU -øntøl (Sg3Du INSTRUMENTAL)

toonøntøl ’then (they2)’ toonøntøl

KM -äätøntøl (Sg3Du INSTRUMENTAL)

lyõõxøläätøntøl ’with (their2) words’

KU -ääntøl (Pl2Pl INSTRUMENTAL)

losøm-owlääntøl ’with your bone ends’
 50

In the 3rd person plural the instrumental can be found in both dialects in both the longer
agglutivative variant -äänøltøl and the shorter suffix built on the Px -ään. The variants
of the plural possessed are KM -ønääntøl and KU -ääntøl, -äänøltøl:

KM -äänøltøl ~ KU -äänøltøl (Sg3Pl INSTRUMENTAL)

kämpäänøltøl ’with their power’ kämpäänøltøl id.

KM -ääntøl ~ KU -ääntøl (Sg3Pl INSTRUMENTAL)

noåjääntøl ’with their princess’ nöäjääntøl id.

KM -ønääntøl ~ KU -ääntøl (Pl3Pl INSTRUMENTAL)

toonääntøl ’then (they)’ toonääntøl id.
sõõnønääntøl ’with their birch barks’

KU -äänøltøl (Pl3Pl INSTRUMENTAL)

wujäänøltøl ’with their animals’
säm-päly-täögøläänøltøl ’with their eyes and ears full’

Use of the instrumental

The basic function of the instrumental is denoting medium: the thing with which, with the
help of which or using which something is done.

sørøjøl sågrøpäx° nyoriitø k°ås, søriimø köältiitø, öät kojwø ’although (he) tries to thrust
with a sword, raises the sword, it does not hit’
jøni-säm uumøsy-säm wisyøng nöäjmø reetøng woj kurøm reetøl reettøstø ’the maiden
(pretty as) a sea-buckthorn (pretty as) a raspberry (he) lured with decoy’s three charms’
woor-põõwøl syääräänyäät koji, toåwtøl nok-pølømtøwøs ’Vorpaul lies as a pile of ash, it
has been burnt with the fire’
lowtsøgään, løløng-wityøl säärtgään ’he washed them, spreads with the water of life’
løløng-wity wityøl teeliitøwøs ’the water of life was mixed in water (~ with water)’
toåwtø köät-pättyøl läp-wåtiitøstø, jål-lyäpsøts ’fire with the hand (he) smacked, (it) went
out’
towøl-wojt lõõl-nyål-tålykøl nok-owriitestø ’then he rolled it up with the tip of his toe’
kon söänk°øltääpøl söänk°ølti, kon tõõri-sop-jiiwøl wöärli ’who plays the harp, who the
crane-instrument’
pum-määrøköätøl tøglømløs ’took off into the air with his hay wings’
tøt onk-syømør-töäwtøntøl näär wöärlalwø? ’what will be done with your resin-lump-
fire’
låjlöämtøl jøm päält lyoonkøt toorøm-syisyk°ääm öät kontøsløm ’on the long road I
walked on foot I have not found a god’
ton syinyøtäätøl, ton känsyøtäätøl ääny pøl tø ooli, tåkøly pøl tø ooli ’in his abundance,
in his well-being (he) lives there even now, lives there even later’.

This is closely related to a comitative function with especially animate (and possessive)
instrumentals, but a similar function is possible also with inanimate constituents:

k°ål-søgør-pänk-kom noåjøtäätøl kurøm jäw-terax pårkøn tow jål-wotsäg ’the red of

dawn man was put to sit with his princess under those three giant pine trees’
 51

wisykø kom põnytøtäätøl äk°ään tåxøn.katsäg ’young man and his brother-in-law
attacked each other’
ton løløng-wityøtäätøl mønøs månt juw-teem-kart pookøn ’with that water of life (he)
went to the earlier eaten people’.

The grammatical function of the instrumental is to denote the patient in the ditransitive
clauses (with two objects), where the recipient is the clause member in nominative or
accusative that is promoted to become the object through the dative shift (see p. 000):

põõnkøl tøxtøx° köärøx ’he must be fed with the fly agaric’
öänøm oolnø-mõõl loåwääløn! ’order me a place to govern!’
öänøm kääwøl õõx°tøsøl äxtølään! ’collect me stones and rock!’
tänkørmø äät köärøs-toågøl løgnøl ääløstøn ’they caught five storehouse-full of squirrels
for the mouse’
wityøl lowsaxtøx° köältiiløwt ’water is carried to them so that (they) could rinse
themselves’
påsøng-kom jägøtään öätømøl mäjwøs ’the cheerful man gave him people, twenty
thousand men’
oosymøsy-köärøk°øl wöäxtwøs ’he was thrown a key bundle’.

The instrumental patient can also be attached to the recipient, as well as to the directional
locative:

mõõl köältøstø, sowøl köältøstø ’land and bog he lifted on top of them’
pöäjøltääm wityøl soosøntäx° pümtsään ’they started pouring hot water over them’.
Expressions of the type ’ full’ are realized by the constituent in the instrumental:
jälwøl-öänsyøx° käxør keewør öätømøl toåglø ’the goblin’s stomach is full of people’
ääny tok uusøw keewør pupi-k°orøl åsjø-løgpøl täwløwø ’now our town fills up with
snakes and lizards’.

Some inanimate constituents resembling subjects can be instrumental. Usually in this

case the verb is of the type ’be seen, appear’:

k°ål-søgør-kom ox-toor nyåsømsiipøtääm kontøstø: keelpøl nøgløs, syonkløs ’the man of

the red dawn notices his white shroud: blood shows there, blood dries there’
ooløp-uulmøtäätøl åjwøs ’he fell into heroic sleep’.

The figure (KM k°år, KU x°äör) is usually in the instrumental form, as well when
appearing as a certain figure as when transforming into one:

tääk° losywøn wåsy-woj k°årøl råwlaxtøs ’the scoundrel transformed himself into a frog’
ootør kuul-k°årøl witynøl nok-nøgløpøs ’the prince rose out of water in a shape of a fish’
ton kop mänt kurøm jäg-püwønsyt juw-äxøtsyaxtøst, kon åsjø-løgøp k°årøl, kon k°årt
k°årøl, kon toonsy k°årøl ’in the meantime the three brothers gathered inside (in the
town), one as a lizard, one as a caterpillar, one as a worm’
juuntøp tääk° kom k°åräätøl tunsyølmäätøs ’the needle rose up standing in (his) shape of
a man’.
 52

Caritive / Abessive

The basic form of the caritive suffix in KU is -täöl and in KM -tal (phonetically as -taal,
but actually the invariable -tal).

KM -tal ~ KU -täöl
nåmttal ’without a thought, thoughtless’ nåmttäöl id.
sowtal ’without skin, skinless’ sowtäöl id.
teetal ’without food’ teetäöl id.
õõwtal ’without door, doorless’ aawtäöl id.
sorømtal ’without vent hole’ sorømtäöl id.

The caritive suffix can appear in the text forming, like the abessive, a free adverbial, but
its nature as the derivational suffix is indicated among other things by the fact that it is
possible to attach other derivational suffixes to the caritive suffix, such as the ending -t
(KU wisyxar-xart säöjttäölt ’the children are foolish’). An adjective formed in the same
way can naturally also be an adjective attribute:

sowtal köät-tolyäät moot pusirk keewørnø lükmøstø ’he pushed his skinless finger into
the other bottle’
k°äälø(g) õõwtal sorømtal k°äl ’his house is doorless, a house without a vent hole’.

On the other hand, the suffix in the following clauses functions like an abessive, forming
a word form occurring as an adverbial:

moot nee öätyi-näär öät löättii, nåmttal wonlii ’the other woman does not say anything,
sits without thoughts’
teetal päätsøt ’they were left without food’
tok tø kojøpøs teetal ’so he went to bed without food’.

The same suffix can also be attached to the verb stem. The caritive suffix attached to the
verb stem produces a verbal noun, the use of which resembles a participle, and which
modifies the noun:

piilytal ’unpierceable’ piilytäöl id.

tusytal ’ungrowable’ tusytäöl id.
kåntal ’unstickable’ xantäöl id.
peerttal ’unsellable’ peerttäöl id.
joxttal ’unarrivable’ joxttäöl id.

E.g.
ton k°än-pöälnø määsøs sørii-piilytal sørii-kåntal tolyø-nyål-kåntal juuntøp-tågøl ’over
it he wore a sword unpierceable sword un-stickable fingertip un-stickable suit of armour’
owlø joxttal põõwøl teelø, owlø joxttal uus teelø! ’let here be born a never-ending
village, let be born a never-ending town!’.

Just because of the attachment to the verb stem, it is virtually impossible to treat the
caritive as a real case form but rather as a derivational suffix. On the other hand, the
caritive suffix in the possessive declension behaves structurally and functionally the same
way than the case suffixes. Its nature is thus an ambivalent derivational or inflectional
 53

suffix. There are examples of the 1st person singular only, but these examples are
unambiguous, structurally transparent Px + Cx examples:

KM -ømtal ~ KU -ømtäöl (Sg1Sg ABESSIVE)

oosymøsyømtal ’without my key’ oosymøsyømtäöl id.
sågrøpømtal ’without my axe’ sågrøpømtäöl id.

The caritive forms of the verb are different. These examples are from the inflection of the
3rd person possessive singular, and at least in these examples the order of the suffixes is
different: Only the caritive suffix makes the verb stem able to take the possessive suffix
attachment.

KM -töäläät Car + PxSg3Sg

kistöäläät ’his unsearched one’
kottöäläät ’his unfound one’
The context in the example is the following:

KM
täw kistöäläät, täw kottöäläät näär uuli.
he search-Car-PxSg3Sg he find-Car-PxSg3Sg what is-sbc3Sg.prs
’What is (such) that he could not search for (hunt) and find (catch)?

The behaviour of the ambivalent abessive-caritive in the possessive declension of the

nouns and the verbs as described above would so far be quite logical. The surprise
awaits in the pronoun declension, where all case inflection is possessive keeping in
mind that the declension stem of the personal pronouns is formed with the help of the
possessive suffix (more of this below, see p.???). The abessive, of which there is an
example of the 3rd person singular only, shows also in this case a reverse order
compared to other cases: täwtöäläät ’without him’ = täw ’hän’ + -töäl- Abess + -äät
PxSg3Sg. More information for solving this problematic case can be found only when
we know more about the abessive cases of other personal pronouns on the one hand, and
about the 3rd person singular pronoun declension. The texts provide surprisingly sparse
examples of this pattern.

Adjective comparison and modal particles

The suffix of the comparative denotes comparison of adjectives and adverbs. The
comparative forms can be further inflected so in that respect they are derivatives. On the
other hand the comparative suffix follows the case suffix (either historical or
synchronic) in the adverb comparison. The comparative suffix in both dialects is -nyøw:

KU -nyøw ~ KM -nyøw (Comp)

wisnyøw ’smaller’ wisnyøw id.
weernyøw ’younger’ weernyøw id.
åsjønyøw ’thinner’ åsjønyøw id.
päämøngnyøw ’stronger’ päämøngnyøw id.
townyøw ’further there’ townyøw id.
öälpølnyøw ’before’ öälpølnyøw id.

Examples of the use:

 54

åsjønyøw-kart tøg öälømwøt noåløw, åsøng-kart öät tøg uuswøt ’thinner (trunks) are
carried to the shore, thick ones can not’
tow nyårømtøs, noåj kommø townyøw kåsømtøstø ’he crawled, the maiden pulled the man
closer’
The modal suffix is used for turning adjectives into adverbs. It is thus more a derivative
for the adverbs than a declension suffix. The ending is -sy.
KU -(ø)sy ~ KM -(ø)sy (Mod)
køgnøsy ’easily’ køgnøsy id.
øtøngøsy ’hard’ øtgøsy ’hard’ id.
päämøngøsy ’loudly’ päämøngøsy id.
 55

PERSONAL PRONOUN DECLENSION

The declension patterns of the personal pronouns differ from the noun declension
described above, where also the demonstrative and the interrogative forms were
presented. In addition to the nominative cases, the personal pronouns have only three
inflectional cases, at least following Liimola (1944). Liimola has provided a detailed
description of the personal pronoun declension based on Kannisto’s grammatical notes.
The following table shows the forms he concluded for Konda. Abessive is not at all
included. I have added in italics such parallel forms that were found in the texts but not
mentioned by Liimola. The forms in the regular font are the forms in Liimola’s
paradigms that are not found in the text, and the ones in the bold font are found in both
the Liimola paradigm and the texts.

The accusative of the personal pronoun consists in principle of the pronoun stem and the
basic element of the possessive person suffix. The forms are, however, not systematic.
Also in the accusative there is much variation in the most frequent person forms, such as
the 2nd person singular.

KM KU
1Sg om om, åm
Acc oånøm, öänøm öänøm
Lat omnöän, öänøm, omnaan omnaan, åmnaan
Abl omnöänøl, omnaanøl omnaanøl, åmnaanøl

2Sg näg, näng näng, näg

Acc nään näängøn, näägøn, nägønmø
Lat nägnöän, nägnaan nägnaan, nängnaan, nägnäön
Abl nägnöänøl, nängnöänøl nägnaanøl, nängnaanøl

3Sg täw täw

Acc tääwø, tääwøtääm tääwø
Lat täwnöän täwnaan
Abl täwnöänøl täwnaanøl
Abess täwtöäläät täwtöäläät

1Du meen min

Acc meenaam, meenååm miinäömøn, miinååm, miinaam
Lat meenöän miinäönø, miinäön
Abl meenöänøl miinäönøl

2Du neen nin, niin

Acc neen niinøn
Lat neenöän, neen niinäön, niin
Abl neenöänøl niinäönøl

3Du teen tin

Acc teen tiinøn
Lat teenöän tiinäön
Abl teenöänøl tiinäönøl
 56

1Pl möän man

Acc möänøw möänøw, maanaw, maanøw
Lat möänöän möänaan
Abl möänöänøl möänanøl

2Pl nöän nan, naan

Acc nöän nöänøn
Lat nöänöän, nöänaan nöänaan, naanaan
Abl nöänöänøl, nöänaanøl nöänanøl, naanaanøl

3Pl töän tan

Acc töän täönøn, töänäänøl
Lat töänöän töänaan
Abl töänöänøl töänaanøl, taanaanøl

NUMERALS

The cardinal numbers are the following (Honti 1993: 197–98)

KM KU
1 äk°~ äk°ø äk° ~ äk°ø
2 kit ~ kitøg kit ~ kitøg
3 kuurøm xuurøm
4 nyølø nyølø
5 ät ät
6 koot xoot
7 söät söät
8 nyåløw nyaløw
9 ontøløw ontøløw
10 low low
11 äk-kujøp-low äk-xujøp-low
12 kit-kujøp-low kit-xujøp-low
13 kuurøm-kujøp-low xuurøm-xujøp-low
14 nølø-kujøp-low nyølø-xujøp-low
15 ät-kujøp-low ät-xujøp-low
16 koot-kujøp-low xoot-xujøp-low
17 söät-kujøp-low söät-xujøp-low
18 moot-lowøn-nyåløw moot-lowøn-nyaløw
19 moot-lowøn-ontøløw moot-lowøn-ontøløw
20 kos xos
30 wõõt waat
40 nälmøn nälmøn
50 ätpøn ätpøn
60 kootpøn xootpøn
70 söät-low söät-low
80 nyål-sõõt nyal-saat
90 ontøl-sõõt ontøl-saat
100 sõõt saat
1000 sootør sootør
 57

The ordinal numbers are formed of the cardinal numbers with the suffix -(ø)t. This is a
word final variant. When word internal, i.e. in the inflected forms, the ordinal suffix
appears in the form -nt- (söätøntii ’for the seventh’). Formation of the ordinal ’the first’ is
exceptional, as in most languages. Also ’the second’ is formed out of the demonstrative
pronoun moot ’other’ instead of the numeral (kit, kitøg), which also is quite usual. The
ordinal ’second’ does include the ordinal suffix.

KM -nt- KU -t (Ord)
mootøt ~ mootønt- mootøt ~ mootønt- ’2.’
kuurmøt ~ kuurmønt- xuurmøt ~ xuurmønt- ’3.’
nyøløt ~ nyølønt- nyøløt ~ nyølønt- ’4.’
äätøt ~ äätønt- äätøt ~ äätønt- ’5.’
kootøt ~ kootønt- xootøt ~ xootønt- ’6.’
söätøt ~ söätønt- söätøt ~ söätønt- ’7.’
? nyåløwt ~ nyåløwønt- nyaløwt ~ nyaløwønt ’8.’
? ontøløwt ~ ontøløwønt- ontøløwt ~ ontøløwønt- ’9’
? lowt ~ lowønt- lowt ~ lowønt- ’10.’

eel-ol ’first’ eel-ol ’first’

 58

VERB CONJUGATION

The finite conjugation categories of the verb are voice (active/passive), tense (present
tense/preterite), mood (indicative, imperative/optative, conditional), definiteness and
person. In addition to the finite categories also infinite categories are used in temporal
and other infinite clauses that chain the progress of events. All clauses except for the
predicative clauses include a verb. Predicative 3rd person clauses never have copulas and
they appear occasionally in other persons.
The starting point for the description of the verb conjugation is the subject conjugation of
the active indicative preterite. There are several reasons for starting off with the preterite.
The main tense in the existing material, and the Kannisto linguistic data which is the
primary source for the present book, is the past, and the texts describe past events; they
are fairy tales and heroic tales, to a lesser extent destiny songs and songs and to the least
extent the present tense folklore texts (riddles, rhymes etc.) and descriptions of the songs
and plays in the great bear ceremonies. The predominant tense in the texts is thus the
preterite. Another reason for this is didactic: the preterite is simpler in form than the
present tense. Both categories of time are marked in Konda (as in Mansi in general), and
the preterite marker -s- is clearly agglutinative in form and position. It is thus possible to
easily segment the basic elements of the person forms included in the preterite forms.
These primary personal endings of the present tense forms are partly assimilated into the
temporal material.
After the indicative preterite and the present tense in the subject conjugation, the definite
conjugation, i.e. the object conjugation is presented, after which the other modal forms
and their use are described, and finally the passive forms and the morphology of the
nominal verb forms are presented. The use of the passive and the nominal forms is
presented separately in the syntax section.

INDICATIVE PRETERITE; SUBJECT CONJUGATION

The marker of the preterite is -s-; the indicative modus is unmarked. The verb inflects in
nine persons: in three numbers (singular, dual, plural) in three persons (1st, 2nd, 3rd). In
the indicative preterite, the tense marker is followed by the person markers in their
primary forms:

KM 1st 2nd 3rd

Sg -øm -øn Ø
Du -møn -ään -äg, -gø
Pl -øw, -wø -ään -øt, -t

KU 1st 2nd 3rd

Sg -øm -øn Ø
Du -møn -ään -ii, -gii, -äö
Pl -øw, -wø -ään, -nø -øt, -t

The person markers are for the most part the same than in the nominal possessive
declension (possessive suffixes). The most important differences are found in the 3rd
person forms, where there are no person elements involved. The ending of the 3rd person
singular is null (the preterite thus ends with the preterite marker -s), the ending for the 3rd
person dual is the dual marker and the ending for the 3rd person plural is the plural
 59

marker correspondingly. The 2nd person dual and plural forms are identical. There are no
remarkable differences between KM and KU in this respect. The only more significant
difference is the phonetic difference, and the pleonasm related to it, found in the 3rd
person dual ending in KU.

The elements are rather familiar from the Mansi perspective, and partly also in a much
larger scale from the Uralic point of view. The mere segmenting of the personal suffixes
functionally into smaller parts clearly creates difficulties. The element -m- can be
regarded as the basic element of the 1st person. However, the suffix of 1st person plural
is of another origin (Honti 1979). In the 1st person dual the element -m- marking the 1st
person precedes the dual element -n, but this element is absent in the rest of the dual
paradigm. In fact it also appears in the 2nd person dual, but there it cannot be,
unambiguously at least, interpreted as a dual marker, as the same element also denotes
the 2nd person plural, and this element n is also common to all 2nd person elements.
The element that most clearly denotes the 2nd person is thus n that only historically
marks the dual form. The 3rd person dual suffix –tøn that is analoguous to the 1st
person dual suffix is found in the object conjugation and in the nominal possessive
suffixes, but not in the indicative of the subject conjugation.

The element indicating person for the 2nd person forms is thus clearly -n. The
synchrony of the 2nd person forms in the dual and the plural is the element uniting the
whole Ob-Ugrian linguistic area. A clear separating element between the singular and
the non-singular is absent.

The 3rd person forms represent the feature familiar from the Uralic perspective that the
actual element denoting person is absent, presenting thus Ø instead. The 3rd person
singular forms always end with the marker for the tense, and the subject conjugation
preterite never includes the element marking number or person. The 3rd person dual
suffix is the same suffix than the marker for the dual number in the absolute nominal
declension, and in the 3rd person plural suffixes the tense suffix is followed by the
plural suffix -t that resembles the marker for the absolute plural number. The dual that
in most paradigms shows the most remarkable phonetic variation and alteration in form
is the only form to include unexpected elements in the preterite paradigm also. The
absolute dual suffixes in the nominal declension are the KU -ii, -äö and the KM -ii, -öä,
-äg. Among the elements presented in the table, the predictable (Sbjc pret) 3rd person
dual suffix elements are thus the KU -ii, -äö and the KM -äg. The unexpected suffixes
KU -(s)gii and KM -(s)gø are such variants that are defined by the syllable position, and
their source of analogy goes back to the present tense conjugation. The diversity of the
dual suffix is explained historically primarily by the fact that the marker for both the
present tense and the dual form has previously been the velar spirant -g- that is very
clearly present in the standard Northern Mansi. This velar spirant has in Konda showed
a tendency towards vocalization, and for this reason the double suffixes forced by
analogy or other (historical) reasons have gained ground. A typical dual suffix of this
kind is the KU -gii that, if regarded as a preterite suffix, should naturally be interpreted
as a suffix made of two dual suffixes but as it most evidently is derived from the present
tense paradigm, the -g- in the suffix is historically the present tense -g- instead of the
dual -g-.

Single person forms (1SG 2SG 3SG)

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The preterite suffix -søm of the 1st person singular similarly to the 2nd person singular
suffix -søn is attached without variation to all stem types and syllable positions:

KM -søm ~ KU -søm (1Sg PRET)

jøsøm ’I came’ jøsøm id.
oolsøm ’I was’ oolsøm id.
jälsøm ’I went’ jälsøm id.
tåtsøm ’I brought’ tatsøm id.
kåtsøm ’I found’ xåtsøm id.
uurkaatsøm ’I waited’ uurxaatsøm id.
pägørmäätsøm ’I rolled, I have rolled’ pägørmäätsøm id.

KM -(ø)søn ~ KU -(ø)søn (2Sg PRET)

jøsøn ’you came’ jøsøn id.
teelsøn ’you were born’ teelsøn id.
jälsøn ’you went’ jälsøn id.
kotsøn ’you found’ xotsøn id.
komøjøsøn ’you wedded, you have wedded’ xomøjøsøn id.

The preterite marker -s functioning as the 3rd person preterite singular suffix is attached
as such to the monosyllable vowel stem and with a binding vowel to the consonant final
stem:
KM -øs, -s ~KU -øs, -s (3Sg PRET)
jøs ’he came’ jøs id.
løs ’he shot’ løs id.
jeek°øs ’he danced’ jeek°øs id.
ooløs ’he was’ ooløs id.
mønøs ’he went’ mønøs id.
löäwøs ’he said’ läöwøs id.
jål-jiinkøs ’it got dark’ jal-jiinkøs id.
kåjtøs ’he ran’ xajtøs id.
pøløjøs ’it lit’ peløjøs id.
nyowømtøs ’he rose’ nyowømtøs id.
pägørmäätøs ’he rolled’ pägørmäätøs id.

Dual person forms

There are no examples of the 1st person dual forms, but based on other corresponding
forms it is safe to assume that the form is the invariable -smøn (like the exceptional
present tense form of the verb ’to be’ oosmøn ’we2 are’ vs. oosøm ’I am’, oosøn ’you
are’ ~ oolsøm ’I was’, oolsøn ’you were’). The preterite suffix in the subject conjugation
2nd person dual is the invariable -sään. It is possible that the same variation that is seen
in the 2nd person plural form also occurs under the same conditions in this suffix. As it
has been shown above, the 2nd person dual and plural forms show a tendency towards
external similarity in all person form categories, and e.g. the monosyllabic vowel stem
verb jø- ’to come’ of the subject conjugation 2nd person preterite dual would be
expected to be jøsnø ’you2 came’. There are no examples of these in the texts.

KM -smøn ~ KU -smøn (1Du PRET)

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jøsmøn ’we2 came’ jøsmøn id.

mønøsmøn ’we2 went’ mønøsmøn id.

KM -sään ~ KU -sään (2Du PRET)

tuulsään ’you2 fled’ tuulsään id.
wöärsään ’you2 did’ wöärsään id.
pätsään ’you2 fell’ päätsään id.

The most frequent variants of the 3rd person dual suffixes are the KM -säg ~ the KU -
sii. This can thus be considered the prototype of the suffix. It can be found in all other
positions except attached to a monosyllabic vowel stem, and it is usually attached
directly to the stem. In some frequent word tokens such as mønøsäg ~ mønøsii ’they2
went’ there is a binding vowel between the stem and the suffix. There are also cases of
metathesis, such as nøgølsäg ~ nøgløsii, in which the binding vowel is the stem vowel
moving in the metathesis. The combination säg ~ -sii forms a separate syllable in each
case, and the preceding syllable can end at least in a vowel (except for the first syllable),
in a consonant (-j, -g, -l, -m, -s, -t) or in a consonant cluster with the final t.

KM -säg ~ KU -sii (3Du)

äjsäg ’they2 drank’ äjsii id.
kuulsäg ’they2 stayed the night’ xuulsii id.
jälsäg ’they2 went’ jälsii id.
køssäg ’they2 searched (pret)’ køssii id.
löätsäg ’they2 said’ läötsii id.
joxtsäg ’they2 came’ joxtsii id.
kojøsäg ’they2 lay’ xojøsii id.
nøgølsäg ’they2 appeared’ nøgløsii id.
peeltaxtsäg ’they2 changed’ peeltaxtsii id.
lowtsaxtsäg ’they2 washed themselves’ lowtsaxtsii id.
wontølmäätsäg ’they2 sat down’ wontølmäätsii id.

The actual position of the second basic variant KM -sgø ~ KU -sgii is after the
monosyllabic vowel final stems. These are the so called thematic stems (see «Stem
variation«), of which the most frequent ones in Konda are jø- ’to come’, wø- ’to take’
and tee- ’to eat’. In addition to these the KM -sgø ~ KU -sgii can also be attached to the
bisyllabic or several syllable vowel final stem. The vowel final stems are often
derivatives, in which the stem structure is regulated by the attachment of the stem and
the suffix and the metathesic processes occurring within the attachment. The vowel in
the third syllable (tøglømlø-, kåjtømlø-) is no longer metathesic but forms a vowel stem
(these derivatives have no variants of the type tøglømøl). The vowel stem appears in the
border of the second and the third syllable if the consonant cluster at the end of the stem
turns out to be too heavy. Either metathesis (-x°øt-) or cluster lenition: -kt > -xt would
be alternative consonant stems for the derivatives -x°tø- and -ktø- in the examples
below. In KU this has indeed occurred (puuxtøsgii), but the suffix is still the variant
typically attached to the trisyllable. Among the examples there are thus some instances
of KU -sgii ~ KM -sgø attached to a bisyllabic stem but the tendency would seem to be
towards the fact that the ending in question specifically favours monosyllabic and
trisyllabic vowel stems, and the end result is a bisyllabic or a quadrasyllabic foot. The
endings attached to the bisyllabic stems are thus analoguous.
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KM -sgø ~ KU -sgii (3Du PRET)

jøsgø ’they2 came’ jøsgii id.
wøsgø ’they2 took’ wøsgii id.
teesgø ’they2 ate’ teessii, teesgii id.
wøktøsgø ’they2 took each other’ wøktøsgii id.
puuktøsgø ’they2 grasped each other’ puuxtøsgii id.
tøglømløsgø ’they2 took off’ tøglømløsgii id.
såsømøsgø ’they2 settled’ sasømøsgii id.
kåjtømløsgø ’they2 ran’ xajtømløsgii id.
kuulmiitøsgø ’they2 stayed overnight’ xuulmiitøsgii id.

Plural person forms

The suffix in the 1st person plural has two variants. In both dialects, the most usual one
is -søw:

KM -søw ~ KU -søw (1Pl PRET)

joxtsøw ’we arrived’ joxtsøw id.
øsysøw ’we owned, we had’ esysøw id.

The variant KM KU -swø ending with a vowel is attached to the monosyllabic vowel
stems, being similar to the variant 3Du sgø ~ sgii. This rule is not consistent in KM, as
the basic variant is also valid in this position. The same ending can also form a
quadrasyllabic foot.

KM -swø, -søw ~ KU -swø (1Pl PRET)

jøsøw, jøswø ’we came’ jøswø id.
jöäpøsytøswø ’we aimed at’ jöäpøsyteswø id.

The same distribution with the suffixes above is also found for the preterite suffixes in
the subject conjugation 2nd person plural. There are, however, quite few examples
available. In the verb conjugation, the basic variant is phonetically equivalent with
certain forms in the object conjugation and the corresponding nominal possessive
suffixes (joxtsään also ’he reached them2 / them (Pl)’.

KM -sään ~ KU -sään (2Pl PRET)

joxtsään ’you arrived’ joxtsään id.

KM -snø ~ KU -snø (2Pl PRET)

jøsnø ’you came’ jøsnø id.

The variation in the suffixes for the 3rd person plural is possibly the most automatic
variation pattern of the ones described above, and the variation is, conforming with the
rules governing the syllable structure, also relatively free. Out of the consonant clusters,
those ending with t are the most stable ones, and in addition to the homorganic clusters
formed by a nasal and a plosive, also the only possible ones. Clusters of three
consonants do not, however, exist. Therefore the preterite forms of the 3rd person plural
in the subject conjugation have been interpreted so that the form of the suffix is -søt,
whenever preceded by a consonant. In case the verb has a vowel stem, the attaching 3rd
person preterite plural suffix of the subject conjugation is -st, except for the case of a
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thematic monosyllabic short vowel stem (jø- ’to arrive’). The long vowel in the stem
tee-’to eat’ already admits the word final cluster (teest). These rules are based on the
method with which Kannisto has marked the syllable boundaries in his texts. E.g. the
verb ’to arrive’ can in Kannisto’s original transcription be in the form joxt(st or jox(tst .
In the first case the sonant is positioned between the consonants (joxtsøt), and in the
second case the position of the sonant in the 2nd syllable is after the first consonant
(joxtøst). This is because a syllable (and a word) can end with two consonants under the
conditions stated above, but it is not possible for a syllable to begin with two
consonants. The variation is quite free after a vowel (teesøt ~ teest), although usually in
this case the ending is undoubtedly -st, unless the syllable border has been specifically
marked.

KM -søt ~ KU -søt (3Pl PRET)

jøsøt ’they came’ jøsøt id.
teesøt ’they ate’ teesøt id.
wöärsøt ’they did’ wöärsøt id.
loåwsøt ’they said’ läöwsøt id.
joxtsøt ’they arrived’ joxtsøt id.
k°olytsøt ’they stayed’ x°olytsøt id.
jømtsøt ’they became (something)’ jømtsøt id.
syisyøgsøt ’they screamed’ syisyøgsøt id.
uurkaatsøt ’they waited’ uurxaatsøt id.

KM -øst, -st ~ KU -øst, -st (3Pl PRET)

teest ’they ate’ teest id.
äjøst ’ they drank’ äjøst id.
mønøst ’ they went’ mønøst id.
åjgøst ’ they shouted’ åjgøst id.
koojøst ’ they struck’ xoojøst id.
såsømøst ’they settled’ såsømøst id.
kåmøtøst ’ they made a noise’ xåmøtøst id.

INDICATIVE PRESENT TENSE; SUBJECT CONJUGATION

In the subject conjugation the segmentation of the person form endings in the present
tense is more complicated compared to the preterite person endings. The present tense
paradigm is often considered the basic paradigm in the verb conjugation, to which the
further elements are added by the marked tense (the future tense or the past tense) or the
modal forms, or even the definite object. There is no actual unmarked paradigm, as the
basic elements in the person forms presented in the table on p. 000 are elements on
which the present tense paradigm builds. Some forms in the paradigm are clearly
agglutinative: clearly segmentable variants can be found here and there, in which the
element -g- resembling the marked form and the basic element of the person form
(above) are readily recognizable. On the other hand it seems that two totally separate,
even if historically closely related suffix variants can represent one function, as is the
case of the 3rd person dual suffix ending, the variation of which is already shown
above. The variation of the suffixes presented in the table seems already at first glance
more diversified than those of the preterite paradigm. The diversity is due to the fact
 64

that the actual present tense marker -g-, well preserved in e.g. the Northern Mansi, is
vocalized in several Konda cases, and the vowel resulting from the phonological
development varies qualitatively. (There is also quantitative variation but it is not
phonological in nature.). However, this present tense marker has not existed in all
person forms: such are the 3rd person singular (the ending of which is originally a
participle, cf. the participial -ii) and the 1st person dual, the 2nd person dual, the 1st
person plural and the 2nd person plural, in which the suffix -ii- is analoguous to the 3rd
person singular ending.

The table below shows the subject conjugation present tense person endings

KM 1st 2nd 3rd

Sg -aam, -ååm -aan, -öän, -i, Ø
-gøm, -øm -gøn,-øn
Du -iimøn -iin, -iinø, -nø -öä, -gø, -aa
Pl -øw, -wø, -gwø, -iinø -aat, -öät, -gøt, -t
-iiwø

KU 1st 2nd 3rd

Sg -åm, -ååm, -gøm -äön, -gøn, -i, Ø
-øn
Du -iimøn -iin, -nø -äö, -gii
Pl -øw, -wø, -wwø -iin, -øn, -nø -äöt, -gøt, -øt, -t

The basic paradigm of the verb ’to go’ in KM looks like the following
1st 2nd 3rd
Sg mønååm mønaan møni
Du møniimøn møniinø mønöä
Pl mønøw møniinø mønaat

In the Sosva dialect (in Northern Mansi) the corresponding paradigm looks like this
1st 2nd 3rd
Sg mineegøm mineegøn mini
Du minmeen mineen mineeg
Pl mineew mineen mineegøt

Comparison of the paradigms reveals the changes caused by the vocalization of the g-
marker in the present tense (and the 3rd person dual ending). In the 1st and 2nd person
singular as well as the 3rd person plural the variants retaining the g-marker møn.gøm ’I
go’, møn.gøn ’you go’ and møn.gøt ’they go’ are possible also in Konda, but these are
unusual in the texts, more like stylistic variants.

Singular person forms (1SG 2SG 3SG)

The basic element in the 1st person singular was defined above as -m ~ -øm. The
preterite suffix is contrasted clearly by the 1st person singular present tense suffix -gøm
that can be segmented into the present tense marker -g- and the basic personal element.
One would suppose that this suffix would be extremely popular because of its
transparency, but it appears to be very rare in the texts.

KM -gøm ~ KU -gøm (1Sg PRESENT TENSE)

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løltgøm ’I breathe’ leltgøm id.

tusygøm ’I stand’ tusygøm id
øsygøm ’I have’

The 1st singular present tense suffix in the subject conjugation of the monosyllabic
thematic verbs and also the verb ’to be; to live’ (ooli) is the simplest type possible: it is
thus identical with the person element. These verbs are of such a nature that the
knowledge on the tense is encoded in their stem, and most of them take use of the
present tense sub stem ending with g, and in addition also other possible stem variants
(e.g. wø- ~ wøg- ~ wäj- ’to take’). The verb jiiw ’to come’ is the same verb with the
preterite forms based on the stem jø-, as is the case of several other verbs also; for this
particular verb the suffix -w- can be interpreted as the marker for the present tense, but
it is not the present tense marker for the paradigm, as it is functional in this one stem
only. In the verb ooli ’to be’, on the other hand, the present tense stem ends — rather
astonishingly — with consonant -s- , the only clear tense marker that in all other verbs
except for this particular verb denotes the preterite.

KM -øm ~ KU -øm (1Sg PRESENT TENSE)

oosøm ’I am’ oosøm id.
jiiwøm ’I come’ jiiwøm id.
wøgøm ’I take’ wøgøm id.

The most usual 1st person singular present tense suffix is KM KU -ååm. In some KM
idiolects there is a corresponding suffix -aam that includes an illabial vowel.

KM -ååm ~ KU -ååm (1Sg PRESENT TENSE)

jäälååm ’I go’ jäälååm id.
mønååm ’I go’ mønååm id
ønsyååm ’I have’ ensyååm id.
löättååm ’I say’ läöttååm id.
kansyååm ’I know’ xansyååm id.
kønsååm ’I search’ kønsååm id.
kontååm ’I find’ xontååm id.
eerøgpååm ’I sing’ eergøpååm id.
lääk°øltååm ’I creep’ lääk°øltååm id.
lükømååm ’I postpone’ lükømååm id.
oormølaxtååm ’I try’ oorømlaxtååm id.

KM -aam e.g. løltaam ’I breathe’, tunsyaam ’I stand’, oolaam ’I am’, mønaam ’I leave’,
joxtaam ’I come’, säjgøntaam ’I stray’, tuujøpöälaam ’I drop in’.

The 2nd person singular suffixes are relatively symmetrical with the 1st person singular
suffixes. The distributions are equal. There is more variation in the portmanteau-suffix
vocalization. The suffix -gøn is precisely similar to the infrequent 1st person singular
suffix variant -gøm. This corresponding 2nd person singular suffix is as infrequent as
the corresponding 1st person singular suffix, and the occurrence is also found in the
same context.

KM -gøn ~ KU -gøn (2Sg PRESENT TENSE)

tusygøn ’you stand’ tusygøn id
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The basic person element -øn occurs in the subject conjugation present tense function
under the same conditions than the corresponding 1st person singular suffix variant -øm
i.e. attached to the verb ’to be’ (with the present tense sub stem oos-) and the present
tense stems of the thematic verbs:

KM -øn ~ KU -øn (2Sg PRESENT TENSE)

oosøn ’you are’ oosøn id.
jiiwøn ’you come’ jiiwøn id.
wøgøn ’you take’ wøgøn id.

The portmanteau-morpheme has two main variants. The more frequent of these is the
one where the KU suffix -äön corresponds with the KM -aan. It is evident and
uncontroversial that in KM this is a question of an illabial monophthong that actually
phonetically resembles the latter component of the diphthong öä-. In a very rare variant
in KM there is a diphthong: -öän. Sometime also the KU KM -ään is found in this
position.

KM -aan ~ KU -äön (2Sg PRESENT TENSE)

küünaan ’you want’ küünäön id.
ønsyaan ’you have’ ensyäön id
jäälaan ’you go’ jääläön id.
mønaan ’you go’ mønäön id.
wöäraan ’you do’ wöäräön id.
nyoraan ’you want, intend’ nyoräön id.
kønsaan ’you search’ kønsäön id.
tunsyaan ’you stand’ tunsyäön id.
lünsyaan ’you cry’ lyüünsyäön id.
löättaan ’you say’ läöttäön id.
joxtaan ’you arrive’ joxtäön id.
kolilöälaan ’you hear’ xolilöäläön id.
wöärlöälaan ’you dabble’ wöärläöläön id.
mønøntaan ’you go’ mønääntäön id.

KM -öän ~ KU -äön (2Sg PRESENT TENSE)

pägräntöän ’you roll’ pägräntäön id.
komøjöän ’you take as a husband’ xomøjäön id.

There is relatively little variation in the 3rd person singular suffix compared to the ones
described above. The Ø representation of the basic person element appears in few verbs
only, such as jiiw ’to come’. The ending g of the thematic verbs, which is the original
present tense suffix, can also be regarded as Ø representation historically but as an
independent present tense variant synchronically. Although thematic verbs as such are
quite frequent, these forms are not often found in the texts.

KM Ø ~ KU Ø (3Sg PRESENT TENSE)

jiiw ’he comes’ jiiw id.

KM -g ~ KU -g (3Sg PRESENT TENSE)

wøg ’he takes’ wøg id.
*teeg ’he eats’ *teeg id.
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*wõõg ’he knows’ *waag id.

The full vowel -i ~ -ii is the basic variant of the subject conjugation 3rd person singular
present tense suffix. As concluded above, the quantity of the vowels in the non-initial
syllables has no distinctive function. From the phonological point of view it might be
justified to consider the long vowel on the basis of its frequency as unmarked, and thus
also as the basic form of the suffix in question. In precisely this suffix, however, it is the
short vowel that is the more usual realization. The suffixes that consist merely of the full
vowel i are so distributed that the present tense suffix discussed here is primarily
realized as short (in Kannisto’s original texts there is a short or sometimes a semilong
vowel), whereas the dual suffix is primarily realized as long (in Kannisto’s original texts
there is a long or sometimes a semilong vowel). This is the case for the dual especially
in the nominal declension, but the -ii in the dual suffix is usually long as part of the
verbal suffix also, as is the 3rd person dual preterite suffix variant of the subject
conjugation -sii discussed above.

KM -i ~ KU -i (3Sg PRESENT TENSE)

åjgi ’(he) shouts’ åjgi id
koji ’he lies’ x°oji id.
nõõk°i ’he stings’ naak°i id.
jonki ’he turns’ jonki id.
köäli ’he rises’ köäli id.
teeli ’he is born’ teeli id.
wonli ’he sits, he is’ wonli id.
møni ’he goes’ møni id
pori ’he bites’ pori id.
sonsi ’he looks’ sonsi id.
tunsyi ’he stands’ tunsyi id.
löätti ’he says’ läötti id.
loåwi ’he says’ läöwi id.
uusyøntöäli ’he sees’ uusyinti id.
kuntønti ’he carries’ xuntänti id.
öälmønti ’he carries, he lifts’ äölmønti id.
kåjtømli ’he runs’ xåjtømli id.

Dual person forms (1DU 2DU 3DU)

The suffix -møn functioning as basic element of the 1st person dual forms the subject
conjugation present tense suffix alone for the verbs ’to be’ and the thematic verbs
(jiiwmøn ’we2 come’, wøgmøn ’we2 take’). The dominating type in this paradigm is -
iimøn. The suffix contrasts with the corresponding preterite suffix, so that whenever the
preterite suffix includes the tense element -s-, its position in the present tense paradigm
is taken by the suffix -ii- as if functioning as the present tense marker that has been
abstracted from the 3rd person singular ending following the preterite analogy:

mønøs : mønøsmøn (’left; we left2’

møni : x (’leaves; we leave2’); x = møniimøn
 68

Through this process the suffix -ii- has also become part of the 1st person plural, and the
2nd and the 3rd person dual suffixes. In none of these, however, does it appear as
regularly as in the 3rd person singular and the 1st person dual suffixes. It cannot exactly
be considered the marker for the present tense as it is absent from more than half of the
present tense person forms in the paradigm.

KM -møn ~ KU -møn (1Du PRESENT TENSE)

oosmøn ’we2 are’ oosmøn id.
jiiwmøn ’we come2’ jiiwmøn id.

KM -iimøn ~ KU -iimøn (1Du PRESENT TENSE)

møniimøn ’we2 go’ møniimøn id.
k°åsgiimøn ’we2 pray’ x°åsgiimøn id.
wöäriimøn ’we2 do’ wöäriimøn id.
ønsyiimøn ’we2 have’ ensyiimøn id.
loåwiimøn ’we2 say’ läöwiimøn id.
wøktiimøn ’we2 unite’ wøktiimøn id.
peeltaxtiimøn ’we2 change’ peeltaxtiimøn id.
uurkaatiimøn ’we2 wait’ uurxäätiimøn id.
jälpöäliimøn ’we2 go’ jääløpöäliimøn id.
kuutøltaxtiimøn ’we2 swing’ xuutøltaxtiimøn id.

In KM there is also a suffix variant -iimø, which clearly lacks the final consonant
denoting duality. However, on the grounds of its final vowel, it does differ even as it is
from the 1st person singular, where -m is always in the absolute final position and from
the 1st person plural, where -w(ø) instead of m denotes the person.

KM -iimø (1Du PRESENT TENSE)

møniimø ’we2 go’
ooliimø ’we2 are’

The sequence KM -iinø ~ KU -iin can be considered the basic form of the 2nd person
dual present tense suffix. The variant -nø is attached to the thematic verbs and other
monosyllabic vowel stems. The difference between the preterite and present tense is
reflected in this person, as well as in the 2nd person plural, on the one hand as the
presence of the preterite marker s (-snø : -nø), and on the other hand also as the quality
of the suffix vowel (KU -sään : -iin). In KM also the final vowel ø (KM -sään : -iinø)
can be added. The variation is rather symbolic, as the element n remains the uniting
element, the common element for all second person forms.

KM -iinø ~ KU -iin (2Du PRESENT TENSE)

ooliinø ’you2 are’ ooliin id.

nääriinø ’what (you2 have)’ nääriin id.
wöäriinø ’you2 do’ wöäriin id.
ønsyiinø ’you2 have’ ensyiin id.
tøsyøntöäliinø ’you2 eat’ tesyøntöäliin id.

KM -nø ~ KU -nø (2Du PRESENT TENSE)

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jiiwnø ’you2 come’ jiiwnø id

tuunø ’you2 enter’ tuunø id.

It is mainly the suffix KM -öä ~ KU -äö that is identical to the absolute dual suffix
functioning as the 3rd person dual present tense suffix. In KM there is also a
monophthong variant -aa. The suffix variant KM -gø ~ KU -gii attaches to the thematic
stems. There are very few examples of these forms. The basic variant identical to the
dual marker is equivalent to the nominal absolute dual, and it is also very similar to the
suffix in the double object category suffix of the object conjugation that is used when
the 3rd person singular (ObjcDu3Sg.prs) is the subject. The lack of a tense element
separates it from the previously described suffix. The vowel suffix -öä ~ -äö formally
lacks the tense element, but the actual person is also absent from its person element, and
what is visible is actually the number of the subject person only (c.f. the object
conjugation suffixes Du3Sg and Sg3Du below).

KM -öä ~ KU -äö (3Du PRESENT TENSE)

oolöä ’live2’ ooläö id.
äälöä ’kill2’ ääläö id.
joxtöä ’come’ joxtäö id.
pølöä ’fear2’ pøläö id.
ponöä ’put2’ ponäö id.
rõõsöä ’cry2’ raasäö id.
kansyöä ’know2’ xansyäö id.
kontöä ’find2’ xontäö id.
k°åsgöä ’pray2’ x°åsgäö id.
wøktöä ’unite2, take each other’ wøktäö id.
löätkaatöä ’talk2’ läötxaatäö id.
køtiilaxtöä ’ask2’ køtiilaxtäö id.
nyiilytelaxtöä ’fight2’ nyilytelaxtäö id.

KM -aa (3Du PRESENT TENSE)

tunsyaa ’stand2’
joxtaa ’come2’
nyiilyetöäløxtaa ’fight2’

KM -gø ~ KU -gii (3Du PRESENT TENSE)

tøggø ’eat2’ tøggii id.

*wøggø ’take2’ wøggii id.
*wõõgø ’see2’ *waagø id.

Plural person forms (1PL 2PL 3PL)

The 1st person present plural tense suffix is identical with the previously mentioned
person element. The most frequent variant is -øw. In monosyllable thematic stems the
variant is -wø, and it is attached to the stem g that is similar to the 3rd person dual suffix
of the verb ’to eat’ discussed in the previous example. In KU there is an assimilated
variant (-wwø). The frequent verbs ’to come’ and ’to be’ have several realizations in the
1st person plural: ’we come (Pl)’: KU jiiwøw ~ jiiwø ~ jiiwwø, KM jiiwwø; ’we are’:
KU KM ooløw ~ ooswø. Examples of other persons and form categories could be
 70

expected in a larger corpus. The variant -wø is again used not only for the thematic
verbs but in the fourth syllable also; In KU in the form -øwwø and -iiwø, in KM only in
the latter. An explanation for this might be found in the tendency to favour a certain
word rhythm.

KM -øw ~ KU -øw (1Pl PRESENT TENSE)

ooløw ’we are’ ooløw id.
åjgøw ’we shout’ åjgøw id
ääjøw ’we drink’ ääjøw id.
koojøw ’we hit’ xoojøw id.
mønøw ’we go’ mønøw id.
wöärøw ’we do’ wöärøw id.
tunsyøw ’we stand’ tunsyøw id.
joxtøw ’we come’ joxtøw id.

KM -wø ~ KU -wø (1Pl PRESENT TENSE)

tøgwø ’we eat’ tewwø id.
wøgwø ’we take’ wøwwø id.
jiiwwø ’we come’ jiiwø, jiiwwø id.
ooswø ’we are’ ooswø id.

KM -iiwø ~ KU -iiwø, -øwwø (1Pl PRESENT TENSE)

kåjtømtiiwø ’we raise’ xåjtømtiiwø id.
råwøktiiwø ’we bend’ räöwøktøwwø id.
møniiwø ’we go’

The 2nd person plural forms are identical with the 2nd person dual forms, also in the
present tense. The main variant is KU -iin ~ KM -iinø. As can be expected based on the
dual forms, the suffix variant -nø is attached to thematic verbs and other monosyllable
vowel stems; its free variation with the KU suffix -øn is unexpected, as the forms are
equivalent with the 2nd person singular present tense forms.

KM -iinø ~ KU -iin (2Pl PRESENT TENSE)

jääliinø ’you go’ jääliin id.
wonliinø ’you sit’ wonliin id.
møniinø ’you go’ møniin id.
ønsyiinø ’you have’ ensyiin id.
tunsyiinø ’you stand’ tunsyiin id.
joxtiinø ’you come’ joxtiin id.
põõx°tiinø ’you shoot’ paax°tiin id.

KM -nø ~ KU -øn, -nø (2Pl PRESENT TENSE)

jiiwnø ’you come’ jiiwnø, jiiwøn id.
wøgnø ’you take’ wøgøn id.

The suffix in which a diphthong or a monophthong occurs in addition to the plural

element t can be considered the main variant of the 3rd person plural present tense. For
the vowel sequence these ending variants KM -aat ~ KU -äöt and KM -öät ~ KU -äöt
resemble the 2nd person singular present tense suffix variants KM -aan ~ KU -äön and
 71

KM -öän ~ KU -äön containing full vowels. The most simple ending variant in the 3rd
person plural present tense is -t and it is often attached to the long vowel stem of the
thematic verbs (tee- ’to eat’ as an example) and also the stem of the verb jiiw-’come’.
The short vowel stem receives the ending -gt, which as a sequence ending in t can occur
as word final.

KM -aat ~ KU -äöt (3Pl PRESENT TENSE)

oolaat ’they are, they live’ ooläöt id.
jäälaat ’they go’ jääläöt id.
kojaat ’they lie’ xojäöt id.
jeek°aat ’they play’ jeek°äöt ’id.
koontlaat ’they listen’ xoontläöt id.
mønaat ’they go’ mønäöt id.
ønsyaat ’they have’ ensyäöt id.
löättaat ’they say’ läöttäöt id.
loåwaat ’they say’ läöwäöt id.
löätkaataat ’they talk’ läötxaatäöt id.
lowøntaat ’they count’ lowøntäöt id.
kårttaxtøntaat ’they creep’ xårttaxtäntäöt id.

KM -öät ~ KU -äöt (3Pl PRESENT TENSE)

kojöät ’they lie’ xojäöt id.

ääjöät ’they drink’ ääjäöt id.
kuulöät ’they stay the night’ xuuläöt id.
løløjöät ’they recover’ løløjäöt id.
mønöät ’they go’ mønäöt id.
kägmøjöät ’they think’ keewmäöt id.
tøgliitöät ’they fly’ tøgliitäöt id.
uulöät ’they are’

The suffix variant KU KM -gøt including the tense marker -g- is contrasted with the
preterite suffix -søt, but like the ending variants for the agglutinative and regularly
contrasting 1st person and 2nd person singular ending variants, the plural 3rd person -
gøt is also very infrequent.

KM -gøt ~ KU -gøt (3Pl PRESENT TENSE)

löätgøt ’they say’ läätgøt id.
sågørkaatgøt ’they fence’ säögørxaatgøt id.
uulgøt ’they are, they live’

KM -gt ~ KU -gt (3Pl PRESENT TENSE)

wøgt ’they take’ wøgt id.

KM -t ~ KU -t (3Pl PRESENT TENSE)

teet ’they eat’ teet id.
jiiwt ’they come’ jiiwt id.
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Paradigm models for the most frequent verbs

Present tense ’to be’ ’to come’ ’to eat’ ’to go’
oosøm ~ oolaam jiiwøm teegøm mønååm
oosøn jiiwøn teegøn mønäön
ooli jiiw teeg møni
oosmøn jiiwmøn tøgmøn møniimøn
oolään jiiwään teegään mønään
oolöä jiiwöä tøggø mønöä
ooswø ~ ooløw jiiwwø tøgwø mønøw ~ møniiwø
oolään jiiwään teegään mønään
oolaat jiiwt teet mønaat

Preterite ’to be’ ’to come’ ’to eat’ ’to go’

oolsøm jøsøm teesøm mønsøm
oolsøn jøsøn teesøn mønsøn
ooløs jøs tees mønøs
ooløsmøn jøsmøn teesmøn mønøsmøn
oolsään jøsään teesään mønøsään
ooløsgø jøsgø teesgø mønøsäg
oolsøw jøswø teesøw mønsøw
oolsään jøsään teesään mønøsään
oolsøt jøst teest mønøst
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INDICATIVE PRESENT TENSE: OBJECT CONJUGATION

The object conjugation i.e. the definite (determinative) conjugation of the verb is used
when the object of the finite verb is present in the clause or the situation. The use of the
object conjugation thus allows for the definite and thus known object to be left
unexpressed in the clause. If the clause constituent can be contextually predicted, the
mere use of the object conjugation is enough to show that the constituent functions as
the object of the clause in question. On the other hand also the definite object expressed
in the clause, marked as definite either by the accusative suffix or a mere possessive
suffix, launches the definite form of the verb. The use of the object conjugation is
discussed in more detail after the morphological description.

The present tense forms and the preterite forms in the object conjugation are roughly as
transparent with respect to the tense elements. On the other hand, in both the present
tense and the preterite, the portmanteau-morphemes with some specific suffix parts
clearly functioning in double roles are favoured by certain person forms. But then again,
some suffixes or variants represent the agglutinative method in its most transparent
form.

In addition to the tense and the person, also the presence of the definite object and its
number, i.e. the number of the objects, have been coded in the object conjugation
paradigms. As there are three number categories in Mansi and thus nine person markers,
there are 27 parts in the object conjugation. Each of these subject person markers can be
attached to three object numbers. The use of the object conjugation forms does not
depend on the fact whether the definite object belonging to the verb is expressed or not.
The object conjugation does, however, offer the speaker more options for expressing the
object, even if this would not be indicated with a specific word in the surface structure.
Different from Hungarian, which also has object conjugation, the definiteness of the
object does not depend on the person category, i.e. also the 1st and 2nd person pronouns
absent from the surface structure will launch the choice of suffix from the object
conjugation paradigm.

The object conjugation present tense suffixes with the tense markers are the following (the
forms found in the texts (bold face) in the table below have been complemented using
Kannisto’s grammatical notes):

KM Sg object Du object Pl object

Sg1 -iiløm, -løm -gååm -gäänøm
Sg2 -iiløn, -løn -gään -gään
Sg3 -iitø -öä, -göä -gään
Du1 -läämøn -goåmøn -gønäämøn
Du2 -iilään -gään -gään
Du3 -iitøn -gään -gään
Pl1 -iiløw, -liiwø -oåw -løgnøw
-gønøw -øgnøw, -gønøw
Pl2 -iilään -gään -gønään
-gønään
Pl3 -äänøl, -gäänøl -gäänøl -gään
-gäänøl
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KU Sg object Du object Pl object

Sg1 -iiløm, -løm -gååm -gäänøm
Sg2 -iiløn, -løn -gään -gään
Sg3 -iit, -iitø -äö, -gäö -gään
Du1 -läämøn -gønäämøn -gønäämøn
Du2 -iilään -gään -gään
-gønään
Du3 -iitøn -gään -gään
Pl1 -iiløw, -lew -gønøw -løgnøw
-øgnøw,
-gønøw
Pl2 -iilään -gään -gønään
-gønään
Pl3 -äänøl, -gäänøl -gään -gään
-gäänøl -gäänøl

The forms indicating the dual object are found in the texts only as attached to the
singular person forms, whereas the subject person forms denoting a plural object are
lacking. This refers clearly to the fact that the dual category is infrequent, and it is thus
not surprising that it has totally disappeared from Southern Mansi.

1SG
In the category for a single object the 1st person singular (from now on Sg1Sg and
correspondingly; the object number followed by the subject person and number) has two
ending variants. The primary basic variant -iiløm includes the tense, the element -ii-
denoting the present tense (the same element that were discussed in some person forms
in the subject conjugation already), the object, specifically the element -l- denoting its
number (Sg) and the basic element -øm marking the person. Although the suffix -ii- in
the subject conjugation seems secondary as the tense element, and although it occurs in
few person forms only, it could form basis for the object conjugation interpreted as the
tense suffix. It is, however, also in this context found only in the category of the single
object, but it appears in all person forms excluding the 3rd person plural, and it
definitely increases the coherence within the paradigm for the single object present. The
less complicated suffix variant -løm is attached to the present tense stem of the
thematical verbs. These forms do thus not need a separate present tense marker.

KM -løm ~ KU-løm (Sg1Sg PRESENT TENSE)

tøgløm ’I eat it’ tøgløm id.
wøgløm ’I take it’ wøgløm id.
møgløm ’I give it’ møgløm id.

KM -iiløm ~ KU -iiløm (Sg1Sg PRESENT TENSE)

wöäriiløm ’I do it’ wöäriiløm id.
kansyiiløm ’I know it’ xansyiiløm id.
keetiiløm ’I send it’ keetiiløm id.
peeltiiløm ’I change it’ peeltiiløm id.
kåntiiløm ’I find it’ xåntiiløm id.
eerøgpiiløm ’I sing it’ eergepiiløm
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k°olytøptiiløm ’I leave it’ xolytøptiiløm id.

jältøptiiløm ’I revive him’ jältøptiiløm id.

In the category of the single object changing the subject person (shown in the first
diagonal column in the table), the coherence of the paradigm is considerably greater
than in the paradigm for the 1st person singular object conjugation changing the object
number (found when progressing vertically in the table). These three suffixes have only
the person element in common, the suffix final -m. In the paradigm of the non-singular
object the function of the present tense is taken by -g-, that for its own part increases the
internal coherence of these form categories. The difference between the singular and the
non-singular object categories is thus twofold, and in a remarkably overemphasized: the
difference is seen not only in the object marker but also in the tense marker.

KM -gååm ~ KU -gååm (Du1Sg PRESENT TENSE)

wøgååm ’I take them2’ wøgååm id.
pöäjtøgååm ’I boil them2’ pöäjtøgååm id.
søtgøløgååm ’I scorch them2’ søtgøløgååm id.

If the 1st person singular verb suffixes are considered as a whole, it is noteworthy that it
is the suffix denoting dual objects in the object conjugation that resembles the subject
conjugation present tense full vowel suffix -ååm the most. Only the object conjugation -
g- separates these two. The contrasts in the 1st person singular suffixes in the object
conjugation are overall surprising: the single, dual and plural object suffixes differ from
each other with regard to the consonantal as well as the vocalic elements: they all have
the basic element -m denoting person, and the non-singular object suffixes are linked
together also through the suffix initial -g- that contrasts with two separate elements in
the singular object suffix: this can be interpreted either as denoting the present tense (vs.
ObjSg -ii-) or the non-singular object (vs. ObjSg -l-), or then this is an instance of a
portmanteau-morph with these two functions. The suffix denoting the plural object
introduces to the category of the 1st person singular subject suffixes yet another, the
third [suffix type], [that includes a] full vowel and the actual plural object element -n-:

KM -gäänøm ~ KU -gäänøm (Pl1Sg PRESENT TENSE)

kasygäänøm ’I know them’ xasygäänøm id.
wøgäänøm ’I take them’ wøgäänømid.
kårgøtøgäänøm ’I extinguish them’ xårøgtøgäänøm id.
öärtøgäänøm ’I close them’ öärtøgäänøm

The thematic verb wø- ’to take’, to which, as with thematic verbs in general, the suffixes
are attached to their »purest» form, and the 1st person singular forms contrast with each
other in the following way:
wøgøm ’I take (something)’ wõõgøm ’I see’
wøgløm ’I take it’ wõõgløm ’I see it’
wøgååm ’I take them2’ wõõgååm ’I see them2’
wøgäänøm ’I take them’ wõõgäänøm ’I see them’

When the suffix -g- is part of the stem, the segmentation of the suffix elements is
transparent: in the subject conjugation the person suffix -(ø)m, and in the object
conjugation preceding it the suffix -l- (ObjSg) / -åå- (ObjDu) / -ään- (ObjPl) denoting
 76

the object and at the same time denoting its number. The presence of the object as such,
without a function denoting the object number, does not have a marker of its own.
Among the three first forms the only differing form is the Pl1Sg, where the suffix
makes the syllable number of the word increase with one. The subject conjugation form
can be told from the Sg1Sg object conjugation form by the object marker, the frontal
element -l- in the person suffix, and in the Du1Sg object conjugation the difference can
be identified in the variation in the suffix of the full vowel as opposed to the reduced
vowel; the morphological method is again in this case approaching a symbolic one. For
the verb of the normal paradigm, with no alternating stem i.e. the sub stem of the
present tense, the corresponding contrasts look like the following:

sonsååm ’I look at (something)’ joxtååm ’I come’

sonsiiløm ’I look at it’ joxtiiløm ’I reach him’
sosgååm ’I look at them 2’ (-ns- > -s- _#) joxtgååm ’I reach them 2’
sosgäänøm ’I look at them’ joxtgäänøm ’I reach them’

The biggest difference would seem to be between the most frequent form Sg1Sg in the
subject conjugation and the object conjugation, where the full vowels are mutually
maximally contrasting, and in addition also the Sg1Sg object conjugation suffix
disyllabic because it consists of three elements: the full vowel -ii- denoting tense, the
object element -l- and the person element -øm. It thus increases the syllable number of
the word form with one. There is no specific tense marker in the subject conjugation
suffix, but the suffix rather resembles a portmanteau-morph. The element distinguishing
the subject conjugation form from the Du1Sg object conjugation form on the synchronic
level – seemingly – is the tense marker -g- found only in the non-singular object
conjugation forms, the closed syllable in which and the following syllable final
assimilation together make the contrast based on flexion in the paradigm of this stem
type: these two forms differ from each other on the grounds on the stem internal
consonantal variation. In other stem types there is an ostensible infix -g-. However, the
suffix in the first form is a one-piece portmanteau-morph -ååm [T+P] (or alternatively a
two-piece -åå [T] -m [P]) and the latter one is a three-piece -g- [T] åå [Odu] -m [P] (c.f.
Pl1Sg -g- [T] ään [Opl] -øm [P]). The element that in the first example joxtååm is
interpreted as a tense marker functions as the object suffix in the second example
joxtgååm. 1

2SG
The 2nd person singular (Sg2Sg) in the single object category has two ending variants
comparable to the Sg1Sg suffixes. The primary basic variant -iiløn includes the element
-ii- denoting tense, the element -l- denoting object (Osg) and the basic person element -
øn, as in Sg1Sg -iiløm. The simpler suffix variant -løn attaches to the present tense stem
in the thematic verbs, like in the 1st persons. The single stem jø- ~ jiiw -verb of the verb
group denoting “to come” seems not to be used in the object conjugation, although the
object and also the passive conjugation is an option for the motion verbs. The verbs
meaning “to come” have been found in the object and the passive conjugation only for
the disyllabic verb joxti.

KM -løn ~ KU -løn (Sg2Sg PRESENT TENSE)

1
This has a historical explanation: both are normalized to the marker g found in e.g. North Mansi: sunseegøm ’I watch
(something)’ ~ sunsijagøm ’I watch those two’.
 77

wøgløn ’you take it’ wøgløn id.

*møgløn ’you give it’ *møgløn id.

KM -iiløn ~ KU -iiløn (Sg2Sg PRESENT TENSE)

tankiiløn ’you want it’ tanxiiløn id.
kansyiiløn ’you know it’ xansyiiløn id.
peeltiiløn ’you change it’ peeltiiløn id.
loåwiiløn ’you order him’ läöwiiløn id.
nyowløsiiløn ’you follow it’ nyawløsiiløn id.
wäärøtiiløn ’you try it’ wäärøtiiløn id.

Instances of forms denoting dual objects attached to the 2nd person singular subject
forms are not reliably identified in the corpus. If the examples below truly represent the
dual object suffixes, they are exactly equivalent with the plural object suffixes. This as
such would not be unheard of, on the basis on the fact that dual is a yielding category
and, as described later, the same suffix is also equivalent with several other object
conjugation suffixes and also the corresponding nominal possessive suffixes (Pl2Sg,
Pl3Sg, Pl2Pl, Pl3Pl). In the Kannisto paradigms the dual object suffix is the expected
KM -göän ~ KU -gäön (expected because the corresponding verbal suffix in each of the
various of Ob-Ugrian dialects is phonologically mostly similar to the possessive suffix
of the category of the dual possessed). There are no examples of these suffixes in the
texts. The eventual examples of the dual are of the suffix -gään:

KM -göän ~ KU -gäön (Du2Sg PRESENT TENSE)

tåtgöän ’you bring them2’ tåtgäön id.
röärgöän ’you hit them2’ röätgäön id.

? KM -gään ~ KU ?-gään (Du2Sg PRESENT TENSE)

wøgään ’you take them2’ wøgään id.
låwgään ’you say them2’ låwgään id.

Both the dual and the plural readings for the example clause are possible (the clauses
share the same context and they are consecutive; the latter is an answer to the question
presented in the first clause.):
KU tit jegøm-når oorøm-når päri-wøx° låwgään
this father-Px+revenge family-Px+revenge back+take-inf order-ObjcDu2Sg
äämnø äöt låwgään? (II: 308)
of not order-ObjcDu2Sg
’do you order me or not order me to revenge my father’s wrath, my
relative’s wrath?’
KU elø-teeløp äöng-naat püwøng-naat mønnø mäntøl wøgään
(…born daughter+time with the son+by time) take-ObjcDu2Sg
äämnø äöt wøgään pøl (II: 308)
or no take-ObjcDu2Sg and
’during the lifetime of my daughter and my son to be born you either
revenge or not (father-wrath, family-wrath), (it is your choice)’

In any case, the 2nd person singular object conjugation suffix denoting to a plural object
is the suffix -gään that is identical with the suffix described above. It is composed of the
element -g- denoting tense and the polysemous suffix element -ään that, as already
 78

pointed out, in the verb conjugation only has a function of denoting to several person
forms.

KM -gään ~ KU -gään (Pl2Sg PRESENT TENSE)

köäsyelöälgään ’you (sg) notice them’ köäsyeläölgään id.
låwgään ’you (sg) order them’ låwgään id.

If the contrasts included in the subject and object conjugation paradigms are considered
with the 2nd person singular subject, the situation is as follows:
wøgøn ’you (sg) take (something)’ wõõgøn ’you (sg) know’
wøgløn ’you (sg) take it’ wõõgløn ’you (sg) know it’
wøgöän ’you (sg) take them2’ wõõgöän ’you (sg) know them2’
wøgään ’you (sg) take them’ wõõgään ’you (sg) know them’

In the category of thematic verbs the object conjugation forms Sg2Sg are differentiated
from the subject conjugation form 2nd person singular by the frontal element -l- in the
person suffix, the object marker, in the same way than in the 1st person singular
paradigm. There is a vowel contrast between the forms denoting to dual and plural
objects. In the suffixes there is the element -n- denoting to person that binds them to the
paradigm of the person forms, but the plural object suffix would in the paradigm seem
to miss either the marker for the object plural or the marker for the subject person form.
The corresponding contrast for the verbs in the normal paradigm looks like the
following (KU):
sonsäön ’you look at (something)’ joxtäön ’you come’
sonsiiløn ’you look at it’ joxtiiløn ’you reach him’
sosgäön ’you look at them 2’ joxtgäön ’you reach them 2’
sosgään ’you look at them’ joxtgään ’you reach them’

3SG
Differing from the subject conjugation, there is a clear separate person ending for the
3rd person singular forms in the object conjugation, specifically for the singular object.
This Sg3Sg suffix consists of two parts, (mainly) of -ii- the element denoting to tense
and the person element (person ending) -t ~ -tø (KU) / -tø (KM). While KM has one
suffix -iitø, KU has also a suffix -iit and the variation seems to be free.

KM -iitø ~ KU -iit(ø) (Sg3Sg)

uusiitø ’(he) can (do) it’ uusiit, uusiitø id.
kansyiitø ’knows it’ xansyiit, xansyiitø id.
säästøliitø ’raises him’ säästøliit, säästøliitø id.
pøsøwliitø ’blows it’ peswøliit id.
køtiliitø ’asks him’ køtiliit id.
kooliitø ’hears it’ xooliitø id.
tunsypiitø ’stops there’ tunsypiit id.
tøxtiitø ’feeds it’ tittiitø id.

The 3rd person suffix singular denoting the presence of the dual objects does not, in
contrast with the suffix -iit, include any clear elements denoting the subject. But then
again, this is precisely characteristic to the 3rd person singular subject. The suffix in the
object conjugation consists of the present tense element -g- common for the suffixes
 79

denoting to non-singular objects, and the diphthong element KU -äö KM -öä typical for
the dual in general, and the dual object in this particular case.

KM -göä ~ KU -gäö (Du3Sg)

køtiiløgöä ’asks them2’ køtøløgäö id.
kønsyøltøgöä ’wakes them2’ kinsyøltøgäö id.

The object conjugation form KM sosgöä KU sosgäö ’he watches them2’ thus includes
the present tense marker, whereas the subject conjugation of the 3rd person dual form
KM sonsöä KU sonsäö ’they2 watch’ does not include any tense markers. This is the
only difference between these two suffixes. Both of them are, however, present tense
forms.

The 3rd person singular present tense suffix denoting to a plural object is equivalent
with several suffixes already discussed. The suffix -gään does not include any elements
denoting the 3rd person singular subject: -g- is a tense marker and -ään is a polysemous
portmanteau-morph. The element -n- is a possessive suffix- and from the point of view
of the object paradigms it is definitely plural, in this case it is the marker of the plurality
of the object. There is again reason to state that the 3rd person singular subject naturally
does not need any markers. The horizontal present tense paradigm (KM) -iitø / -göä / -
gään in the object conjugation, following the subject person, is unsymmetrical: the
ending for the singular object differs from the other suffixes both with respect to the
tense marker that the subject person ending. The dual and the plural object endings in
turn include the same tense marker and both of them have their own object number
element, and they do not have separate subject person endings.

KM -gään ~ KU -gään (Pl3Sg PRESENT TENSE)

øsygään ’keeps them’ esygään id.

kotgään ’finds them’ xootgään id.
lowtgään ’washes them’ lowtgään id.
röätgään ’throws them’ räötøgään id.
junitätgään ’beats them’ junitäätgään id.

The suffix is thus polysemous: e.g. the word lowtgään means all of the following: ’you
wash them (pl)’ ’he washes them (pl)’ and also ’you2 wash them2’, ’they2 wash them
(pl)’, you (pl) wash them2’, and possibly (at least partially) also ’you2 wash them (pl)
and ’you wash them2’.These are the least infrequent person forms, and that partly
explains why not all of them include knowledge derived from the corpus.

Dual person forms

The suffixes denoting to singular objects are the only forms available based on the texts
of the dual subject forms, the rest of the forms are found in the Kannisto paradigms.
Similar to the singular subject person suffixes, also the 1st and 2nd person forms have
the element -l- as the object conjugation marker, which is preceded by the tense marker
-ii- and at the end of the suffix there is an element denoting the subject. For the thematic
verbs in the present tense, the object and the person elements without the tense element
attach to the sub stem ending -g-.
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KM -läämøn ~ KU -läämøn (Sg1Du PRESENT TENSE)

møgläämøn ’we2 give it’ møgläämøn id.
wøgläämøn ’we2 take it’ wøgläämøn id.

KM -iiläämøn ~ KU -iiläämøn (Sg1Du PRESENT TENSE)

ääliläämøn ’we2 kill him’ ääliläämøn id.
kansyiiläämøn ’we2 know it’ xansyiiläämøn id.
såjletiiläämøn ’we2 donate it’ såjletiiläämøn id.
jältøptiiläämøn ’we2 revive him’ jältøptiiläämøn id.
tulømtiiläämøn ’we2 steal it’ tulømtiiläämøn id.

In the category of dual object the object suffix in KU is equivalent with the plural object
suffix (the examples are from the paradigms):
KM -goåmøn, -göämøn ~ KU -gønäämøn (Du1Du PRESENT TENSE)
tåtgoåmøn ’we2 bring them2’ tåtgønäämøn id.
röätgöämøn ’we2 hit it2’ röätgønäämøn id.

KM -gønäämøn ~ KU -gønäämøn (Pl1Du PRESENT TENSE)

tåtgønäämøn ’we2 bring them’ tåtgønäämøn id.
röätgønäämøn ’we2 hit them’ röätgønäämøn id

Examples of the 2nd person dual subject have not been found in the texts. The dual and
plural 2nd person forms are usually identical, and based on the Kannisto paradigms, this
is also the case for the category of the singular object in the object conjugation present
tense: the Sg2Du suffix -iilään is identical with the Sg2Pl suffix. The suffixes denoting
the dual and the plural objects have not been able to maintain a clear distribution on
number: in principle the dual object is denoted by the polysemous -gään (cf. above) and
the plural object by the -gønään that includes the marker for the plural object, but these
suffixes have partially changed place in both paradigms:

KM -iilään ~ KU -iilään (Sg3Du PRESENT TENSE)

röätiilään ’you2 hit it’ röätiilään id.

KM -gään, -gønään ~ KU -gään, -gønään (Du3Du PRESENT TENSE)

tåtgään ’you2 bring them2’ tåtgään ~ tåtgønään id.
röätgønään ’you2 hit them2’ röätgønään id.

KM -gään ~ gønään ~ KU -gään, -gønään (Pl3Du PRESENT TENSE)

tåtgønään ’you2 bring them’ tåtgään id.
röätgønään ~ röätgään ’you2 hit them’ röätgønään ~ röätgään id.

The object conjugation forms of the 3rd person dual are those in which the specific 3rd
dual person element -tøn shows as a person ending. This person element contrasts with
the person element -møn found in several 1st person dual suffixes. In the object
conjugation suffix the person ending is preceded by the suffix -ii- functioning as a
present tense element. In the thematic verbs the person element attaches without the
tense element to the present tense sub stem with final -g-.

KM -tøn ~ KU -tøn (Sg3Du PRESENT TENSE)

wøgtøn ’they2 take it’ wøgtøn id.
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KM -iitøn ~ KU -iitøn (Sg3Du PRESENT TENSE)

kansyiitøn ’they2 know it’ xansyiitøn id.
k°änsiitøn ’they2 scratch it’ k°änsiitøn id.
wøxriitøn ’ they2 dig it’ küpriitøn id.

The 3rd person dual subject person suffix -gään denotes both the dual and the plural
objects. In Kannisto’s paradigms tåtgään and ’they2 bring them2’ and they2 bring
them(pl)’ and röätgään as well as ’they2 hit them2’ and ’they2 hit them(pl)’.

Plural person forms

The object conjugation suffix Sg1Pl denoting the 1st person subject plural person is
built similarly with the corresponding singular 1st and 2nd person suffixes, and it
contrasts clearly with them. The suffix consists of the tense element -ii-, the person
basic element -l- denoting to the object, and the basic person elements that for the 1st
person plural is -øw (c.f. Sg1Sg -iiløm, Sg2Sg -iiløn):

KM -iiløw ~ KU -iiløw (Sg1Pl REESENS)

kansyiiløw ’we know it’ xansyiiløw id.
peertiiløw ’we sell it’ peertiiløw id.
tuuliiløw ’we bring it’ tuuliiløw id.
wojliiløw ’we step there’ wojliiløw id.

There are no examples denoting to the dual object in the corpora. In the Kannisto
paradigms there is clearly the original dual object suffix -oåw (tåtoåw, röätgoåw) as
well as the -gønøw (tåtgønøw) borrowed from the plural paradigm. The plural object
ending (Pl1Pl) has two variants in the texts: -gønøw and -øgnøw, where the suffix -g- is
in the category of the non-singular object the frequent present tense marker, and -n- is
the element denoting to the plural object:

KM -gønøw ~ KU -gønøw (Pl1Pl PRESENT TENSE)

toggønøw ’we take them’ towgønøw id.
wotøgønøw ’we call them’ wowgønøw id.
nyilyetalgønøw ’we drag them’ nyilyøtäölgønøw id.
tägølymäätgønøw ’we attack them’ tägølymäätgønøw id.

KM -øgnøw ~ KU -øgnøw (Pl1Pl PRESENT TENSE)

søriiløgnøw ’we defeat them with a sword’ søriiløgnøw id.
ääløpøgnøw ’we kill them’ ääløpøgnøw id.

The suffix -iilään denoting the singular object 2nd person plural consists of the tense
element -ii-, the single object marker -l- and the multifunctional person element -ään.
There are no examples of suffixes denoting non-singular objects, and the same suffixes
than in the 2nd person dual subject person: -gään ~ -gønään alternate in the paradigms.

KM -iilään ~ KU -iilään (Sg2Pl PRESENT TENSE)

tuuliilään ’you (pl) let it (go)’ tuuliilään id.
uusiilään ’you (pl) can (do) it’ uusiilään id.
pårøwliilään ’you (pl) attack it’ pårwøliilään id.
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KM -gään, -gønään ~ KU -gään, -gønään (Du2Pl PRESENT TENSE)

tåtgään ’you (pl) bring them2’ tåtgään id.
tåtgønään ’you (pl) bring them2’ tåtgønään id.
röätgønään ’you (pl) hit them2’ röätgønään id.

KM -gønään ~ KU -gään ~ -gønään (Pl2Pl PRESENT TENSE)

tåtgønään ’you (pl) bring them’ tåtgønään id.
röätgønään ’you (pl) hit them’ röätgään id.

The 3rd person plural forms in the object conjugation differ from all other subject
person forms most clearly for their tense element. As the present tense is denoted by -ii-
in all other person forms for singular object suffixes, the suffix denoting the 3rd person
plural for both the singular and the non-singular object has the suffix -g- in the tense
marker position. The most frequent variant is the KM KU -gäänøl, the variant without
the tense marker is possible:

KM -gäänøl ~ KU -gäänøl (Sg3Pl PRESENT TENSE)

køtiløgäänøl ’they ask him’ køtiligäänøl id.
pägørtalgäänøl ’they roll it’ pägørtäölgäänøl id.

KM -äänøl ~ KU -äänøl (Sg3Pl PRESENT TENSE)

tåtäänøl ’they take it’ tåtäänøl id.

The same suffix KM KU -gäänøl can also denote the dual (Kannisto paradigms) or the
plural object. Another suffix variant for both non-singular number forms of the object is
the shorter, multifunctional -gään. In the longer variant there is no specific marker for
the object number, as it is the same than the Sg3Pl suffix. The shorter variant -gään then
again misses the clear element denoting to the person, as it is identical with several of
the person suffixes for the plural objects (Pl2Sg, Pl3Sg, Pl2Du, Pl2Pl).

KM -gäänøl ~ KU -gäänøl (Pl3Pl PRESENT TENSE)

sonsiilegäänøl ’they look at them’ sonsiilegäänøl id.
påtørtøgäänøl ’they turn them’ potørtøgäänøl id.
kotgäänøl ’they find them’ xotgäänøl id.

KM -gään ~ KU -gään (Pl3Pl PRESENT TENSE)

wöärgään ’they do them’ wöärgään id.

INDICATIVE PRETERITE: OBJECT CONJUGATION

The preterite paradigms in the object conjugation are, similar to the subject conjugation
also, more regular than the present tense paradigms. The tense marker in all person
forms is the same in all object categories, and it is also the same than that of the subject
conjugation preterite i.e. -s-. It has replaced the present tense elements -ii- and g- in
most of the suffixes. Otherwise the elements denoting the object and the person
included in the endings are mostly identical with the forms in the object conjugation
present tense. The contrast between the present tense and the preterite for each person
and the object number is thus transparent and clear. The element -l- is still strongly
 83

present in denoting the singular object, and it is present in all 1st and 2nd person
suffixes. There are, however, also examples of some quite surprising variants, as shown
in the table below. The forms boldfaced are again from the texts, and the ones in regular
font are from the Kannisto paradigms:

KM Preterite Sg Object Du Object Pl Object

1Sg -sløm -sååm -säänøm
-saam
2Sg -sløn -söän -sään
3Sg -øst, -stø -söä, -saa -sään, -saan
1Du -øsläämøn -soåmøn -sønäämøn
-sønäämøn
2Du -slän, -slään -sään -sønään
-sønään
3Du -stäätøn, -støn -sään -sään
1Pl -øsløw -soåw -sønøw
-sønøw
2Pl -øslään -sään -sønään
-sønään
3Pl -säänøl -säänøl -säänøl

KU Preteriti Sg Object Du Object Pl Object

1Sg -sløm -sååm -säänøm
2Sg -sløn -säön -sään, -esään
3Sg -øst , -stø -säö -sään
1Du -øsläämøn -sønäämøn -sønäämøn
2Du -slään -sønään -sønään
3Du -støn -sään -øsään
-säö -säänøl
-säänøl
1Pl -øsløw -sønøw -sønøw
2Pl -øslään -sønään -sønään
3Pl -säänøl -säänøl -säänøl

Singular person forms

The 1st person singular (Sg1Sg) preterite suffix denoting a singular object clearly
contrasts with the corresponding present tense suffix. The present tense (-iiløm) marker
-ii- coincides with the preterite marker -s-. It is distinguished from the suffix for the 1st
person preterite singular suffix (-søm) in the subject conjugation by the explicit suffix -l-
denoting the presence of the singular object. The corresponding present tense form of
the example verb evidently is uujiiløm ’I see it’.

KM -sløm ~ KU -sløm (Sg1Sg PRETERITI)

uusløm ’I saw it’ uusløm id.
The contrasts are less clear for the 1st person singular suffix denoting dual objects. The
preterite suffix is distinguished from the object conjugation present tense suffix -gååm
on the basis of the tense element. On the other hand the suffix is contrasted with the
 84

tense elements also with the subject conjugation 1Sg present tense suffix (-ååm), were
the tense element is absent:

KM -sååm ~ KU -sååm (Du1Sg PRETERITE)

kølsååm ’I dug it’ xølsååm id.

Thus e.g. joxtååm ’I come’ (joxtiiløm ’I reach it’)

joxtgååm ’I reach them2’
joxtsååm ’I reached them2’ (joxtøsløm ’I reached it’)

But for the thematic verbs e.g.

wøgøm ’I take’ wøgløm ’I take it’
wøgååm ’I take them2’
wøsååm ’I took them2’ wøsløm ’I took it’

For the thematic verbs the contrasts are sort of expected: they are the clearest between
the subject conjugation on the other hand and the object conjugation of the single object,
and on the other hand between the present tense and the preterite of both object
numbers. There are no text examples of the plural object: the suffix is the expected KM
KU -(ø)säänøm : wøsäänøm ’I took them (pl)’, tåtsäänøm ’I brought them (pl)’.
The 2nd person singular (Sg2Sg) preterite suffix denoting the single object is the
invariable -sløn. Its clearest contrasts are on the other hand between it and the
neighbouring person (note, e.g. uusløm ’I saw it’ — uusløn ’you saw it’) and the
corresponding present tense form. Similar contrasts operate like the Sg1Sg suffix.

KM -sløn ~ KU -sløn (Sg2Sg PRETERITE)

wøsløn ’you took it’ wøsløn id.
uusløn ’you saw it’ uusløn id.
koliiløsløn ’you heard it’ xoliiløsløn id.
tulmøntøsløn ’you stole it’ tulmøntøsløn id.

The 2nd person singular preterite suffix KM -söän ~ KU -säön denoting the dual object
contrasts with the single object suffix by replacing the marker -l- in the single object
form with the diphthong from the dual object form, where the diphthong as a pure vowel
element is as such again similar to the nominal absolute dual suffix. The contrast with
the corresponding 2nd person singular present tense suffix (-gään) in the object
conjugation is greater and more irregular: there is a difference in both the tense
elements, as can be expected, but in addition to this, unexpectedly in the vowel also. In
this preterite suffix the vowel element is »more dual», and in the present tense the suffix
seems to be borrowed from the category of the plural object.

KM -söän ~ KU -säön (Du2Sg PRETERITE)

wøsöän ’you took them2’ wøsöän id.

Similar to the Du1Sg suffix, also this suffix is contrasted by its tense suffix additionally,
and in this case more directly, with the 2Sg suffix in the subject conjugation, its variant
KM -öän ~ KU -äön.

thus (KU) joxtäön ’you come’ (joxtiiløn ’you reach it’)

joxtsäön ’you reached them2’ (joxtøsløn ’you reached it’)
 85

but joxtgään ’you reach them2’

(and also joxtsään ’you reached them (pl)’ see the following)

The suffix -sään denoting the plural object thus contrasts by its vowel with the 2nd
person singular dual object suffix:

KM -sään ~ KU -sään (Pl2Sg PRETERITE)

wøsään ’you took them’ wøsään id.
jeekørtøsään ’you squinted at them’ jeekørtesään id.
tootsään ’you helped them’ tootsään id.

The main type of the 3rd person singular preterite form denoting the singular object in
KU is the consonant final -øst, but also the vowel final variant -stø similar to the KM
suffix is found here and there, especially with the thematic verbs and the four-syllable
feet:

KM -stø ~ KU -st (Sg3Sg PRETERITE)

köältøstø ’he lifted it’ köältøst id.
kåntøstø ’he found it’ xåntøst id.
reettøstø ’he lured him’ reettøst id.
loåwøstø ’he ordered him’ läöwøst id.
wotpøstø ’he put it’ wottøpøst id.
öälmøjøstø ’he lifted it’ äölmøjest id.
pøsøwløstø ’he blew it (out)’ peswølest id.
töärømäätøstø ’he let it go’ täörømäätøst id.

KM -stø ~ KU -stø (Sg3Sg PRETERITE)

wøstø ’he took it’ wøstø id.
møstø ’he gave it’ møstø id.
søgløjøstø ’he shredded it’ søgløjøstø id.

Instead of the present tense ii-element there is the preterite -s-. The true independent
marker for the object conjugation or the single object is absent. Instead, it is justified to
consider the ending -tø the basic person element, as it is remarkably similar to the
possessive suffix of the same person form (e.g. öä ’daughter’: öätø ’his daughter)
The 3rd person singular preterite suffix denoting the dual object (Du3Sg) includes, as
does the corresponding present tense suffix also, in addition to the tense marker mainly
the diphthong functioning as the basic element in the dual, so there is thus no element
present to indicate the subject person form. The dual suffix in KM has two variants (-
söä and -saa) that include the same vowels than the suffix variants in the subject
conjugation 3rd person dual. In KU there is only one suffix (-säö).

KM -söä ~ KU -säö (Du3Sg PRETERITE)

teesöä ’he ate them2’ teesäö id.
ponsöä ’he put them2’ ponsäö id.
puwsöä ’he grapped them2’ puwsäö id.
loåwsöä ’he ordered them2’ läöwsäö id.
köältsöä ’he woke them2’ köältøsäö id.
sågrøpøsöä ’he beat them2’ säögrøpøsäö id.
k°änsiitøsöä ’he grabbed them2’ k°änsiitøsäö id.
 86

KM -saa ~ KU -säö (Du3Sg PRETERITE)

nyørøsøsaa ’he pulled them2’ nyørøsøsäö id.
keeriitesaa ’he tied them2’ keeritesäö id.

The suffix has the strongest contrast with the corresponding object conjugation present
tense suffix (Du3Sg -göä ~ -gäö), and together they contrast with the 3rd person dual
present tense suffix in the subject conjugation by either the presence or the non-presence
of the tense suffix:

KM tåtöä (~ tåtaa) ’they2 bring (something)’

tåtgöä ’he brings them2’
tåtsöä (~ tåtsaa) ’he brought them2’
(tåtsäg ’they2 brought (something)’)

KU tåtäö ’they2 bring (something)’

tåtgäö ’he brings them2’
tåtsäö ’he brought them2’
(tåtsii ’they2 brought (something)’)

The 3rd person singular (Pl3Sg) preterite suffix denoting the plural object is the
invariable -sään. The suffix is completely equivalent with several object conjugation
suffixes (Pl2Sg, Du3Du, Pl3Du, Du2Du, Pl2Du, Du2Pl and Pl2Pl, see also below).

KM -sään ~ KU -sään (Pl3Sg PRETERITE)

wøsään ’he took them’ wøsään id.

tåtsään ’he took them with him’ tåtsään id.
råssään ’he threw them’ råssään id.
keetsään ’he sent them’ keetsään id.
kuutømsään ’he carried them’ xuutmøsään id.
peersøsään ’he tied them’ peersøsään id.
äätøsyløsään ’he gathered them’ äxøtsään id.
öälmøjøsään ’he lifted them’ aalmøjøsään id.
mänliitesään ’he tore them’ mänliitesään id.
jäxtøpøsään ’he bashed them into two’ jäxtøpesään id.

Dual person forms

In the category of the single object for the dual subject there is again the object
conjugation marker -l- in the 1st and 2nd person subject suffixes. The 1st person dual
suffix clearly contrasts with the corresponding present tense suffix -iiläämøn by
denoting the tense by the present tense ii-element instead of the preterite element -s-.
Both the present tense and the preterite suffix have -ää- functioning as the binding
vowel. There are no examples in the texts of suffixes denoting dual and plural objects.
In the paradigms the dual object is denoted by the KM -soåmøn, -söämøn ~ KU -
söämøn including the diphthong functioning as the dual form marker, and -sønäämøn
including the plural object plural form marker -n-. The plural suffix also partially occurs
in the dual paradigm.
 87

KM -släämøn ~ KU -släämøn (Sg1Du PRETERITE)

kontøsläämøn ’we2 found it’ xontøsläämøn id.

KM -soåmøn, -söämøn, ~ KU -söämøn (Du1Du PRETERITE)

röätsöämøn ’we2 hit them2’ röätsöämøn id.
tåtsoåmøn ’we2 brought them2’

KM -sønäämøn~ KU -sønäämøn (Du1Du PRETERITE)

tåtsønäämøn ’we2 brought them2’ tåtsønäämøn id.

KM -sønäämøn~ KU -sønäämøn (Pl1Du PRETERITE)

tå tåtsønäämøn ’we2 brought them’ tåtsønäämøn id.
röätsønäämøn ’we2 hit them’ röätsønäämøn id.

Correspondingly in the 2nd person dual the singular object is denoted by the preterite -
slään contrasting with the present tense dual suffix -iilään-. This suffix is equivalent
with the corresponding preterite form of the 2nd person plural subject person (denoting
the singular object) (the contrasts are specified below, see page 000???).

KM -slään ~ KU -slään (Sg2Du PRETERITE)

såxtøslään ’you messed up with it 2’ såxtøslään id.

In the categories for the dual and the plural objects the suffix -sään denotes solely the
dual object and the variant -sønään including the plural suffix n denotes either the dual
or the plural object (data from the Kannisto paradigm):

KM -sään, -sønään ~ KU -sønään (Du2Du PRETERITE)

tåts[øn]ään ’you2 brought them2’ tåtsønään id.
röäts[øn]ään ’you2 hit them2’ röätsønään id.

KM -sønään ~ KU -sønään (Pl2Du PRETERITE)

tåtsønään ’you2 brought them’ tåtsønään id.
röätsønään ’you2 hit them’ röätsønään id.

There are examples in the texts of the 3rd person dual for the categories of the single,
the dual as well as the plural objects. The most frequent form of the suffix denoting a
singular object in both dialects is -støn. Similarly to the present tense, the latter element
is the person element denoting the subject only. Its function, however, includes the
presence of the object, because the element denoting person is absent in the subject
conjugation, and there is the suffix denoting number instead (KU tåtsii ’they2 brought
(something)’) which, however, represents the subject person on the structural level of
the suffix.

KM -støn ~ KU -støn (Sg3Du PRETERITE)

wøstøn ’they2 took it’ wøstøn id.
ääløstøn ’they2 killed it’ ääløstøn id.
wottøstøn ’they2 put it’ wottøstøn id.
sågrøpøstøn ’they2 beat it’ säögrøpøstøn id.
jäxtøpøstøn ’they2 cut it’ jäxtøpøstøn id.
mønømtøstøn ’they tore it’ määnømtestøn id.
 88

öälmøjöäløstøn ’they lifted it’ äölmøjöäløstøn id.

sõõnkøsöäløstøn ’they bit it’ saanxsöäløstøn id.

In KM also the variant -stäätøn has been found but it can also be incidental. The suffix
is pleonastic, and it seems to be built on the 3rd person form dual person suffix (-tøn)
added to the suffix Sg3Sg (-stø): punstäätøn ’they2 put it (somewhere)’.
The dual and the plural objects are additionally denoted, in connection to the 3rd person
dual subject, also by the same suffix -sään that has above been shown as
multifunctional. The grouping of the examples below is based on contextual
information, where the duality or plurality of the object is visible or can be concluded.
According to the Kannisto paradigm there are in KU two optional suffixes denoting the
dual object: the suffix -säö including the dual element (tåtsäö ’they2 brought them2’
that has a different vowel element than in the subject conjugation form tåtsii ’they2
brought [something]’), and the second optional element is the suffix -säänøl (tåtsäänøl)
that is equivalent with the suffix indicating Pl3Pl.

KM -sään ~ KU -sään (Du3Du PRETERITE)

såxtsään ’they2 wrapped them2’ saxtsään id.
õõx°sään ’they2 undressed them2’ aax °sään id.

KM -sään ~ KU -sään (Pl3Du PRETERITE)

jäxtøpøsään ’they butchered2 them (pl)’ jäxtøpøsään id.
jål-älsään ’they2 killed them (pl)’ jal-ääløsään id.
uuriilesään ’they2 waited for them (pl)’ uuriilesään id.

Plural person forms

In the plural 1st person suffix there is again the element -l- as the marker for the singular
object, preceded by the tense marker. The person is denoted by the sole person element -
øw. The suffix is extremely transparent and it contrasts clearly with both the
corresponding present tense suffix (tense -s- cf/vs. -ii-) and the subject conjugation
plural 1st person preterite suffix (object -l- vs. Ø).

KM -sløw ~ KU -sløw (Sg1Pl PRETERITE)

tåtøsløw ’we brought it’ tåtøsløw id.
uusløw ’we saw it’ uusløw id.

Cf. e.g. tåtiiløw ’we bring it’ (tåtgønøw ’we bring them’)
tåtøsløw ’we brought it’ (tåtsønøw ’we brought them’)
tåtsøw ’we brought (something)’

or with a thematic verb (KM) wøgløw ’we take it’

wøsløw ’we took it’
wøsøw ’we took (something)’

There are no text examples about the dual or the plural object suffixes. In the paradigms
there is in KM a particular suffix -soåw for the dual object, and -sønøw for the plural
object. In KU the latter also has the dual object function, and also in KM it is an
alternative for the dual suffix.
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KM -soåw, -sønøw ~ KU -sønøw (Du1Pl PRETERITE)

tåtsoåw ’we brought them2’ tåtsønøw id.
röätsoåw ’we hit them2’ röätsønøw id.
tåtsønøw ’we brought them2’

KM -sønøw ~ KU -sønøw (Pl1Pl PRETERITE)

tåtsønøw ’we brought them’ tåtsønøw id.
röätsønøw ’we hit them’ röätsønøw id.

The 2nd person plural single object (Sg2Pl) preterite suffix -slään is identical with the
corresponding 2nd person dual suffix. The person element is the polysemic -ään that
occurs in several person forms and from which it is possible to separate the suffix -n
usually formally found in the 2nd person only.

KM -slään ~ KU -slään (Sg2Pl PRETERITE)

tåtøslään ’you brought it’ tåtøslään id.
täärøtøslään ’you let it go’ täörøteslään id

The suffix contrasts with the corresponding present tense suffix through its tense marker
(-s- vs. -ii-), but through its object marker (-l- vs. Ø) it contrasts, not only with the
corresponding person preterite suffix in the subject conjugation, but also with the 3rd
person dual non-singular object preterite suffix. In the latter case the object marker is
thus assimilated into the portmanteau-morph. Because of the semivowel and the changes
in the syllable number the latter contrast in the normal stem verbs differs from the
thematic verbs, in which the forms are more similar to each other (all of them are
disyllabic):
tåtøslään ’you2/you (pl) brought it’ tåtsään ’he brought them’
’they2 brought them2/them’
’you2 brought them2/them’
tåtiilään ’you2/you (pl) bring it’
C.f.
wøslään ’you2/you (pl) took it’ wøsään ’he took them’
’they2 took them2/them’
’you2 took them2/them’
wøglään ’you2/you (pl) take it’
The 3rd person preterite plural suffix is, as is the corresponding present tense suffix, the
same suffix that denotes the singular, the dual and also the plural object.

KM -säänøl ~ KU -säänøl (Sg3Pl PRETERITE)

wøsäänøl ’they took it’ wøsäänøl id.
tuusäänøl ’they entered there’ tuusäänøl id.
wåxtsäänøl ’they threw it’ wåxtsäänøl id.
ääløsäänøl ’they killed it’ ääløsäänøl id.
mønøsäänøl ’they went there’ mønøsäänøl id.
nyørømtøsäänøl ’they pulled it’ nyørømtøsäänøl id.
mänømtøsäänøl ’they tore it’ mänømtøsäänøl id.
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The difference between the singular and the plural object can be deduced from the
context. There is thus no formal difference. The examples of the dual objects are from
the Kannisto paradigm (in KU there are thus two variants).

KM -säänøl ~ KU -säänøl, -sään (Du3Pl PRETERITE)

tåtsäänøl ’they brought them2’ tåtsäänøl id.
röätsäänøl ’they hit them2’ röätsään id.

KM -säänøl ~ KU -säänøl (Pl3Pl PRETERITE)

såxtsäänøl ’they wrapped them’ såxtsäänøl id.
kotsäänøl ’they found them’ xåtsäänøl id.

The contrasts with the semantically close forms are the same for both the verbs with the
normal stem and the thematic verbs. Differences between the subject and the object
conjugation are significant, since the construction elements of the suffixes are
completely different. In the object conjugation paradigm the suffix does contrast with
the polysemic suffix -sään-, but the contrast remains unclear on the construction level (?
-øl vs. Ø), as both suffixes as portmanteau-morphs, where no actual person elements can
be identified.
tåtgäänøl ’they bring it/them’ (tåtäöt ’they bring (something)’)
tåtsäänøl ’they brought it/them’ (tåtsøt ’they brought (something)’)
tåtsään ’he brought them (pl)’
’they2 brought them2/them (pl)’
’you2 brought them2/them (pl)’

wøgäänøl ’they take it/them’ (wøgt ’they take (something)’

wøsäänøl ’they took it/them’ (wøst ’they took (something)’)
wøsään / ’he took them/them (pl)’
’they2 took them2/them (pl)’
’you2 took them2/them (pl)’

Paradigm models of the most frequent verbs:

Present tense
’eat it’ ’eat them’ ’reach it’ reach them’
tøgløm teegäänøm joxtiiløm joxtgäänøm
tøgløn teegään joxtiiløn joxtgään
tøgtø teegään joxtiitø joxtgään
tøgläämøn joxtiiläämøn joxtgønäämøn
tøglään joxtiilään joxtgønään
tøgtøn joxtiitøn joxtgään
tøgløw tøggønøw joxtiiløw joxtgønøw
tøglään teegään joxtiilään joxtgønään
teegäänøl teegäänøl joxtgäänøl joxtgäänøl

’take it’ ’take them’ ’bring it’ ’bring them’

wøgløm wøgäänøm tåtiiløm tåtgäänøm
wøgløn wøgään tåtiiløn tåtgään
wøgtø wøgään tåtiitø tåtgään
wøgläämøn wøggønäämøn tåtiiläämøn tåtgønäämøn
wøglään wøggønään tåtiilään tåtgønään
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wøgtøn wøgään tåtiitøn tåtgään

wøgløw wøggønøw tåtiiløw tåtgønøw
wøglään wøgään tåtiilään tåtgønään
wøgäänøl wøgäänøl tåtgäänøl tåtgäänøl

Preterite
’eat it’ ’eat them’ ’reach it’ ’reach them’
teesløm teesläänøm joxtøsløm joxtsäänøm
teesløn teesään joxtøsløn joxtsään
teestø teesään joxtøstø joxtsään
teesläämøn joxtøsläämøn joxtsønäämøn
teeslään joxtøslään joxtsønään
teestøn joxtøstøn joxtsään
teesløw ?teesønøw joxtøsløw joxtsønøw
teeslään teesään joxtøslään joxtsään
teesäänøl teesäänøl joxtsäänøl joxtsäänøl

’take it’ ’take them’ ’bring it’ ’bring them’

wøsløm wøsäänøm tåtøsløm tåtsäänøm
wøsløn wøsään tåtøsløn tåtsään
wøstø wøsään tåtøstø tåtsään
wøsläämøn tåtøsläämøn tåtsønäämøn
wøslään tåtøslään tåtsønään
wøstøn tåtøstøn tåtsään
wøsløw ?wøsnøw tåtøsløw tåtsønøw
wøslään wøsään tåtøslään tåtsään
wøsäänøl wøsäänøl tåtsäänøl tåtsäänøl

Use of the object conjugation

The object conjugation is used when there is an expressed definite object in the
clause. Definite objects are all nominal objects that have been mentioned in the text
previously, and generally known and thus considered definite and marked with the
accusative or with the possessive suffix. Also all personal pronouns, including the
object forms of the 1st and the 2nd person forms, are definite objects:

toorømmø [’god’, acc.] koot kontiiløm, pöäli-såågriiløm ’when I find god, I will
beat him to pieces’
sålyøng-nyåløp woor-k°oløx söät jäg-püwønsymø [brothers’, acc.] koot
köäsyelöälgään? ’have you happened to see seven white-frost-full forest- raven
brothers?’
äk°-määsyt õx°tøs-påtøl nyoor-påtøltäätøl k°äältmø [’houses’, acc.] øläly møni
junitätgään, päri møni junitätgään ’then he goes forward and hit houses with his
lump of stone, his lump of ural, return and hit houses’
tøtmø [’this’, acc.] öälmøx° uusiilään? ’can you lift this?’
om öäm [daughter’ + PxSg1Sg] nägnöän öät møgløm ’I will not give you my
daughter’
tuulyøn [’axe’ + PxSg2Sg] nän pöänliiløn? ’why do you sharpen your axe?’
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näg tø jåltøn-pöälønt wøgrø [’blood’ + PxSg3Sg] wøx° tø jømtøsløm, wøgrø

[’blood’ + PxSg3Sg] wøgløm’with your permission I am going to shed his blood, I
shed his blood’
iity-søgør-kom jortöä [’partner’ + PxDu3Sg] nok-kønsyøltøgöä ’red of eve man
tries to wake up his two partners’
näg meen kom-syisyk°äämøn [’good man’ + PxSg1Du] juw-teex° nyoriiløn? ’do
you want to eat our good man?’
öänøm [’I’, acc.] jortii wøgløn? ’do you take me as a partner?’
meen nään [’you’, acc., dative shift] teenø-karøl møgläämøn ’we give you food’
ääny meenk tääwø [’he’, acc., dative shift] määtørøl såjletäniiläämøn ’now we
would donate him something’
möänøw [’we (pl)’, acc.] komøly ooløx° låwgään? ’how do you order us to live?’
The object can also be a whole clause:
ääpgäänøm, teetal måsysään, om kansyiiløm ’my sons, you have had no food, I
know’
öät kansyiiläämøn k°åt mønøs ’we2 do not know, where he went’
(näär eerkøløs, ton wöärsøw;) möänk kansyiiløw: ootør ’(What he said, so we did;)
we know that he is a prince’.

The use of the object conjugation also reveals that the clause has a definite object,
even if it is not expressed. The object conjugation ending expresses the number of
the object. The object can be found quite near in the preceding context:
työätyøwnøl k°olytøs äk° eemøn-jiiw soj-jiiw, peertiiløw! ’our father left behind a
holy staff-wood, let us sell it!’
noåjøm-öä ootrøm-öä, juw-tuuliiløw jån.giläänø puumøsy-karøw! ’daughter of the
princess, daughter of the prince, let us take it in as our toy!’
»Ääk», loåwi, »öät ääliiløm, säämøl wöäriiløm» ’»uncle», says, »I will not kill
you, I will give you eyes»’
k°än-tulømtiiläämøn, neegii wøgläämøn! ’let us steal her, take as a wife!»
k°åtøl wøgååm? ’where do I take them2 from?’
kønsøs, kønsøs, öät kotgään ’he searched, he searched, does not find them’
lowtsøgään, løløng-wityøl säärtgään, nonkø-løløjöät ’he washed them, sparkles
them with water of life, they revive’
jø tägølymäätgønøw! ’at night we attack them!’

Also the target of the motion verb can be marked as the definite object, in this case
it is in the accusative form. The motion verb object is inflected in the object
conjugation:
seemøl-mõõ-käänmø [’earth crust’, acc.] lõõl-sår-jõõtnøl töärø-sosiitiitø jomiitiitø
’he walks steps along black earth crust groin deep’
tøt uusmø [’fortress’, acc.’] komlyäly wojliiløw? ’how do we walk over this
fortress?’
Also the target of the motion verb can remain not expressed in the clause. Using the
object conjugation indicates that such a target exists, and at the same time it
partially adapts the meaning of the motion verb (joxti ’to come’  ’to reach’)
täw mälkøt mønøstø, päri jøs, joxtøstø jøt. ’he went past him, turned back, reached
him’
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IMPERATIVE AND OPTATIVE FORMS IN THE SUBJECT CONJUGATION

The imperative forms are primarily mood categories of the 2nd person forms. There are
also 1st and 3rd person optative forms in Konda, and they are similar to the 2nd person
basic imperatives both with respect to the formation and the markers. In the 2nd person
imperatives, the contrasts with the indicative forms are interesting for the particular
reason that the imperative as a speech act, especially for the 2nd person forms, is at least
as central as the indicative. This understanding is backed up by morphology: the
imperatives for the 2nd person forms are mostly very simple in structure, even primary.
In the Konda texts a separate, common marker -k- for the imperative and the optative
can be identified, but the imperatives involving this marker are notably less frequent
than the zero marker imperatives. As with the indicatives, also verbs in the imperative
are conjugated in the subject as well as the object conjugation. The imperative and
optative formation of the subject conjugation is presented below:

Imp/Opt KM 1st 2nd 3rd

Sg -øn, -køn -ø
Du -ään, -kään -äg
Pl -iiwø, -køw -ään -øt

Imp/Opt KU 1st 2nd 3rd

Sg -øn, -køn -ø
Du -ään, -kään
Pl -iiwø, -køw -øn, -ään -øt

The most frequent variant of the 2nd person singular imperative suffix in the subject
conjugation is the simplest possible person suffix, where the person element is the only
element. The form only shows the person form in question, and the primary reading
thus is the most salient speech act for the 2nd person singular, the imperative:

KM -øn ~ KU -øn (2Sg IMPERATIVE)

wäjøn ’take’ wujøn id.
jäjøn ’come’ jääjøn id.
oåjgøn ’shout’ åjgøn id.
ooløn ~ uuløn ’be’ ooløn id.
köäløn ’rise’ köäløn id.
mønøn ’go’ mønøn id.
määsøn ’get dressed’ määsøn id.
kønsøn ’find’ kønsøn id.
kåjtøn ’run’ xajtøn id.
wontøn ’sit’ wontøn id.
löättøn ’say’ läöttøn id.

The negation of the imperative is formed by adding to the imperative form the negation
particle wøl ’do not’ to the preverbal position. Also here the main verb includes the
person ending in contrary to e.g. Finnish, where the negation verb is conjugated. The
suffix wøl is invariant, as is the negation particle at in the indicative form also.
wøl ääløn ’do not kill’ wøl ääløn id.
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wøl mønøn ’do not go’ wøl mønøn id.

wøl nyåwølkaatøn ’do not follow’ wøl nyawølxaatøn id.

The contrasts with the indicative are clear. For the normal stem verbs the corresponding
indicative person form includes either the tense marker (in the preterite) or the
portmanteau-morph (KM -aan, KU -äön) that is clearly longer than the basic person
element, and in the imperative the mere person ending is included:

KM mønaan ’you go’ mønøn ’go’ mønsøn ’you went’

äälaan ’you killed (someone)’ ääløn ’kill’ älsøn ’you killed’
KU mønäön ’you go’ mønøn ’go’ mønsøn ’you went’
ääläön ’you kill (someone)’ ääløn ’kill’ älsøn ’you killed’

The verb ooli ’to be, to live’ both the indicative present tense and the imperative have
the same suffix, the plain person element. In the imperative it attaches directly to the
normal stem, in the present tense to the present tense sub stem instead (as stated above).
The contrast between the corresponding three forms shows thus partly in the stem and
partly in the structure of the suffix.

KU KM oosøn ’you are’ ooløn ’be’ oolsøn ’you were’

The thematic verbs also have the same suffix -øn in the indicative present tense and the
imperative. So the difference between the indicative and the imperative forms is
realized within the stem.

KM wøgøn ’you take’ wäjøn ’take’ wøsøn ’you took’

jiiwøn ’you come’ jäjøn ’come’ jøsøn ’you came’
løgøn ’you shoot’ lääjøn ’shoot’ løsøn ’you shot’
tøggøn ’you eat’ toåjøn ’eat’ teesøn ’you ate’

KU wøgøn ’you take’ wujøn ’take’ wøsøn ’you took’

jiiwøn ’you come’ jäjøn ’come’ jøsøn ’you came’
løgøn ’you shoot’ lääjøn ’shoot’ løsøn ’you shot’
tøggøn ’you eat’ tåjøn ’eat’ teesøn ’you ate’

The imperative suffix contrasts with the suffix -gøn that includes the indicative present
tense marker (an infrequent variant, see above) with respect to the tense suffix. Caused
by the shift in the syllable border, the contrast is seen in the stem:

KU tusygøn ’you stand’ tunsyøn ’stand’ tusysøn ’you stood’

The more infrequent 2nd person singular suffix imperative variant in the object
conjugation is the suffix -køn that includes the element -k- classified as the imperative
marker:

KM -køn ~ KU -køn (2Sg IMPERATIVE)

roåwløkøn ’throw’ räöwløkøn id.
köälkøn ’rise’ köälkøn id.
 95

The 2nd person dual of the subject conjugation imperative suffix has, like the singular
2nd person two variants, the suffix -kään that includes the mood marker, and the more
frequent -ään with no mood marker:

KM -ään ~ KU -ään (2Du IMPERATIVE)

jäjään ’come2’ jäjään id.
kojään ’go2 to bed’ xojään id.
mønään ’go2’ mønään id.
øsään ’sit2 down’ øsään id.
tåtään ’bring2’ tåtään id.
k°olytään ’stay2’ xolytään id.
tujtkaatään ’hide’ tujtxaatään id.
uurkaatään ’wait2’ uurxäätään id.
lowøntään ’lower down’ lowøntään id.

This simpler variant contrasts with the indicative present tense forms through the suffix
vowel. The indicative present tense suffix includes the vowel -ii- that is typical for the
present tense forms, whereas the suffix in the imperative is the more neutral -ää- similar
to the binding vowel. The imperative is discriminated from the preterite form by the
lack of the tense suffix. Also the dual form of the verb ’to be’ follows this model:

KM
møniinø ’you2 go’ mønään ’go2’ mønsään ’you2 went’
ääliinø ’you2 kill (someone)’ äälään ’kill2’ älsään ’you2 killed’
ooliinø ’you2 are’ oolään ’be2’ oolsään ’you2 were’

KU
møniin ’you2go’ mønään ’go2’ mønsään ’you2 went’
ääliin ’you2 kill (someone)’ äälään ’kill2’ älsään ’you2 killed’
ooliin ’you2 are’ oolään ’be2’ oolsään ’you2 were’

Thematic verb forms are more remote from each other because another suffix variant -
nø is attached to them in the indicative present tense (without the present tense element
-ii-):

KU
jiiwnø ’you2 come’ jäjään ’come2’ jøsään ’you2 came’

The variant including the mood suffix -k- is notably infrequent:

KM -kään ~ KU -kään (2Du IMPERATIVE)

jål-lääk°øltalkään ’dive2’ jal-lääk°øltalkään id.

The 2nd person plural imperative suffix resembles the dual suffix, similar to the
indicative present tense forms. The contrasts are thus also similar. This suffix is also
remarkably polysemic, as it seems that all imperative suffixes denoting non-singular
objects in the object conjugation forms are of the same type (see below). For example
 96

the word form jäjään is thus not only ‘come (du)’ but also ’come (pl)’ and tåtään ’bring
(du/pl) something’ is also ’bring them (du/pl)’ and ’bring (du/pl) them (du/pl)’.

KM -ään ~ KU -ään (2Pl IMPERATIVE)

jäjään ’come’ jäjään id.
oolään ’live’ oolään id.
kuulään ’stay overnight’ xuulään id.
mønään ’go’ mønään id.
wöärään ’do’ wöärään id.
ääsyøntaxtään ’trust’ ääsyøntaxtään id.

Optative suffixes

The suffix for the 3rd person singular optative is -ø. Its structure can be interpreted as a
plain mood element or a portmanteau-morph (mood + person). The suffix is mostly
contrasted with the corresponding indicative present tense person suffix, also a
portmanteau-morph (tense + person), and with the vowel element (-i(i)). The 3rd
person singular optative suffix resembles the person element in that the final vowel -ø is
also the variant of the same person possessive suffix attaching to the consonant stem. It
could thus be regarded as the person element proper for the 3rd person singular, in
addition to the element -tø found in the object conjugation. It is also found in the
passive indicative and optative endings.

KM -ø ~ KU -ø (3Sg OPTATIVE)
jål-jiinkø ’let it get darker’ jal-jiinkø id.
towlø ’let it be enough’ towlø id.
teelø ’let it be born’ teelø id.
mänliitø ’let it tear’ mänliitø id.

Thus e.g. towli ’is enough’ — towlø ’let it be enough’

teeli ’is born’ — teelø ’let it be born’

The optative form of the verb to be, oolkø ~ uulkø is used to form kind of a »compound-
optative» together with the main verb. The form of the main verb is a verbal noun
(gerund) with the marker -k-, and where the possessive suffix is attached (the full vowel
-aa- in the example is part of the verbal noun suffix). Similar nominal verbs are also
found in the conditional perfect form, see page 000.

KM »wojøng-kar suurøng-kar teep-mätør

fat-adj+Sbst soft meat+Sbst eating+something
isykaam ulkø!»
own-VNom-PxSg1Sg be-Sbjc3Sg.Opt
’I wish we (according to the text two, according to px ’I’) had something
fat eating, soft meat eating (i.e. child)’

There are no separate optative forms for the 1st or 3rd person duals available. Optative
forms for the1st persons are not included in the Kannisto paradigms. The full
imperative/optative paradigm for the verb ’to come’ is given in connection with the
examples of the conditional, and there is an indicative form for the 1st persons. The 3rd
 97

person dual form of this thematic verb is jääjäg: the imperative stem and the person
basic element, quite similarly to the other 3rd person forms.

There are two variants of the 1st person plural optative suffix in the texts, out of which
the other one is vowel final (similar to the 3rd person singular suffix). In addition it
includes the tense element ii- typical for the indicative:

KM -iiwø ~ KU -iiwø (1Pl OPTATIVE)

nok-tuunsypiiwø ’let us rise’ nonk-tunsypiiwø id

This suffix mostly resembles the suffixes 1Du (-iimøn) or 2Pl (-iinø) in the subject
conjugation in the indicative present tense paradigm
KM møniiwø ’let us go (pl)’ mønøw ’we (pl) go’
møniimøn ’we2 go’
møniinø ’you(pl) go’

The other one of the 1st person plural optative suffixes includes the element k in the
imperative/optative and thus contrasts more directly with the 1st person indicative
present tense plural paradigm suffix and on the other hand also the 2nd person
imperative suffixes including the element -k-

KM -køw ~ KU -køw, -xøw (1Pl OPTATIVE)

köäløkøw ’let us rise’ köälekøw id.
oormølaxtkøw ’let us try’ oormølaxtxøw id.

The 3rd person plural optative suffix comprises in principle of the mere plural element -
t-. It is also possible to interpret the reduced vowel element as being part of the optative
function, as it is the same suffix than in the 3rd person singular. The 3rd person plural
optative would thus be the same as the plural form of the 3rd person singular optative.
The phonetic transcription by Kannisto in the two last examples refers to the suffix -øt
in KU, whereas in KM there is no sign of the schwa-vowel (-lLt).

KM -øt (-t) ~ KU -øt (3Pl OPTATIVE)

wonløt ’let them sit’ wonløt id.
syinyølt ’let them live well’ syinyøløt id.
kämpølt ’let them prevail’ käämpøløt id.

UMF katso tämä vielä loppujen lopuksi että on oikein!

The contrast between the 3rd person optative plural and the 3rd person optative singular
is clear. The 3rd person optative plural contrasts with the indicative in a similar way that
the 2rd person singular imperative contrasts with the corresponding indicative forms.
This is at least partly because the vowels resemble each other greatly.
e.g. wonlø ’let him sit’
wonløt ’let them sit’

and on the other hand:

KM
mønaat ’they go’ mønøt ’let them go’ mønsøt ’they went’
äälaat ’they kill (someone)’ ääløt ’let them kill’ älsøt ’they killed (someone)’
 98

KU
mønäöt ’they go’ mønøt ’let them go’ mønsøt ’they went’
ääläöt ’they kill (someone)’ ääløt ’let them kill’ älsøt ’they killed (someone)’

IMPERATIVE AND OPTATIVE IN THE OBJECT CONJUGATION

The object conjugation marker in the single object category for the imperative is the
suffix -l- familiar from the indicative forms. In the imperative it appears every now and
then, also in the suffixes denoting several objects. Similarly to the subject conjugation
imperatives, the imperative in the object conjugation also has in each person, at least in
combination of a singular object, two basic variants, an unmarked one and another one
with the mode marker -k-. The 2nd person imperative suffixes in the object conjugation
differ from the indicative suffixes mostly in that the tense element (-ii-) is missing,
because the imperative mood has neutralized the tense. The suffixes, however include
phonetic substance approximately as much as the indicative forms. The differences are
explained by the various functions of the elements, mostly the vowels. In the indicative,
especially in the present tense forms the vowel elements function in denoting tense,
whereas the imperative has no specific function, and it is kind of a binding vowel. In the
suffixes denoting plural objects, the missing tense marker would seem to make the
marking of both plurality and person in the same suffix possible, contrary to the
indicative, where the suffixes denoting the 2nd person subject and the plural object only
include one element -n- (-gään, -sään).

KM Imperat Sg Object Du Object Pl Object

2Sg -ääløn -öän -ään (?-aan), -lään
2Du -(ø)lään -ään -ønään
-kølään
2Pl -ølään -ään -ønään
-kølään ?-lään

KU Imperat Sg Object Du Object Pl Object

2Sg -ääløn -äön -ään, -lään
-kääløn
2Du -lään, -ääløn -ølään -nään
-kølään -ølään
2Pl -lään, -iilään -ølään -ølään
-kølään ?-iilään ?-nään

The imperative suffix indicating the single object and the 2nd person singular is in its
simple, unmarked form -ääløn in both dialects. The suffix begins with a full vowel in
the position of a binding vowel (that is not in opposition with the reduced vowel, i.e. the
suffix -øløn does not exist in any function). The marked suffix KU -kääløn shows that
the tense and the mode always occupy the same position in the suffix; the simplest
suffixes, where the position is empty, are imperatives.

KM -ääløn ~ KU -ääløn (Sg2Sg IMPERATIVE)

wäjääløn ’take it’ wøjääløn id.
wotääløn ’call him’ wogääløn id.
åjgääløn ’shout for him’ åjgääløn id.
uurääløn ’guard him’ uurääløn id.
 99

ønsyääløn ’keep him’ ensyääløn id.

mønääløn ’go there’ mønääløn id.
loåwääløn ’say it; order him’ läöwääløn id.
jowtääløn ’buy it’ jowtääløn id.
tåxømjääløn ’pick lice from it (obj)’ tåxømjääløn id.
løliitääløn ’revive him’ leliitääløn id.
täärøtääløn ’allow him’ täörøtääløn id.
kojøptääløn ’put him to sleep’ xujøptääløn id.

KU -kääløn (Sg2Sg IMPERATIVE)

tøgøltøkääløn ’make it fly’

The simpler suffix is differentiated from the corresponding indicative forms the object
element -l- by the quality of the preceding vowel. In the indicative forms the vowel is
the tense marker, in the imperatives it is a binding vowel. The thematic verbs, to which
the indicative suffix attaches with no tense markers, the contrast in these forms is found
in the stem, and only partly in the subsequent vowel element.
e.g. (KU)
läöwiiløn ’you say it’ läöwääløn ’say it’
ensyiiløn ’you have it’ ensyääløn ’keep it’
wøgløn ’you take it’ wøjääløn (wujääløn) ’take it’

The 2nd person singular imperative suffix KM -öän ~ KU -äön denoting dual object
also only includes the vowel element marking the object number, and the subject person
element. The vowel element is the same than the absolute dual marker in the nouns, and
the 3rd person dual subject conjugation indicative suffix. The only text example is a
thematic verb. In the Kannisto paradigms there are verbs ’to bring’ and ’to hit’ in the
corresponding forms KM tåtöän, KU tåtään ’bring them2’, KM röätöän, KU röätäön
’hit them2’.

KM -öän ~ KU -äön (Du2Sg IMPERATIVE)

wäjöän ’take them2’ wäjäön id.

The suffix differs from the corresponding object conjugation indicative suffix
surprisingly with its vowel. The corresponding indicative present tense suffix is
identical with the plural object, -gään. Instead, the imperative suffix differs from the
corresponding preterite suffix (ObjcDu2Sg.pret) only with respect to the missing tense
marker,
e.g. KU
wøgään ’you take them2’ wäjäön ’take them2’ wøsäön ’you took them2’
låwgään ’you say them2’ läöwäön ’say them2’ läöwsäön ’you said them2’
tåtgään ’you bring them2’ tåtäön ’bring them2’ tåtsäön ’you brought them2’

The variant including the imperative marker is -käön and there is an example of it in KU
only, similarly with the last marked imperative:

KU -käön (Du2Sg IMPERATIVE)

tøgøltøkäön ’make them2 fly’
Both examples come from the same text, from the same informant. The dual object
suffix contrasts with the singular object suffix on the basis of the object element: [OSg]
 100

= -(ää)l- >< [ODu] = -äö-. In the following examples the clause contexts are presented
so that the in both cases there is an expressed object; in the first example the clause is
singular, and in the second example it is clearly dual:

KU [OSg]
»tåt (– –) ootør-xarøn xoløx-nyal-söäjøntøl
that prince-Sbst-PxSg2Sg (O) raven beak-arrow-PxSg2Sg-Instr

täörø-tøgøltøkääløn!» II: 20
through-make them fly-ObjcSg2Sg.Imp

’let your arrow pierce by flying that (– –) prince-like!’

KU [ODu]
»(– –) nyaaløntøl x°oløx xojtøl täörø-tøgøltøkäön
arrow-PxSg2Sg-Instr raven like through-make fly-ObjcDu2Sg.Imp

xaap jaat jex°øp kit öäsräjmø!» II: 18, 19

boat in the middle of dance-PrtcPrs 2 demon-Acc

‘let your arrow pierce by flying those two demons dancing in the middle of the boat!’

The 2nd person singular imperative suffix denoting plural object is the simple -ään that
is composed of a multifunctional portmanteau-morph forming an element also in the
indicative plural object suffixes (also in the paradigms: KM KU tåtään ’bring them
(pl)’):

KM -ään ~ KU -ään (Pl2Sg IMPERATIVE)

tåtilään ’take them’ tåtiilään id. (tåtiili ’bring frekv.)
wotään ’call them’ woowään id.
wöärään ’do them’ wöärään id.

The lack of the tense marker differentiates the imperative from the indicative in the
object conjugation. The quality of the portmanteau-morph vowel element differentiates
it from the 2nd person singular indicative suffix in the subject conjugation.
E.g. (KU)
wöäräön ’you do (something)’
wöärään ’do them (pl)’ wöärgään ’you do them (pl)’ wöärsään ’you did
them (pl)’

In the 2nd person dual imperative suffix denoting singular object, object conjugation is
again represented by the element -l-, and the person is represented by the element -n
usually denoting second person forms. The more usual variant is again the unmarked -
lään for the mood, and the marked suffix variant is -kølään.

KM -lään ~ KU -lään (Sg2Du IMPERATIVE)

kølølään ’dig2 it’ kålølään id.
kønsølään ’find2 it’ kønsølään id.
töäjølään ’eat2 it’ täöjølään id.
wäjølään ’take2 it’ wääjølään id.
 101

KM -kølään ~ KU -kølään (Sg2Du IMPERATIVE)

wöärkølään ’do2 it’ wöärkølään id.

Besides the unmarked variant there is in KU also the variant -ääløn that is identical with
the Sg2Sg imperative suffix (see above). Based on the context, the imperative subject
here is in every case clearly the 2nd person dual ’you2’ (and KM corresponding in the
text is the form ponølään).

KU -ääløn (Sg2Du IMPERATIVE)

ponääløn ’put2 it’
The suffix variant -lään (-ølään) also has the corresponding function to the 2nd person
plural, but only partially. In this form group these two person forms are not, unlike in
most cases, completely homonyms.

The 2nd person dual imperative suffixes denoting dual objects are not found in the texts
but based on the manuscript paradigm it seems to be partly similar to the plural object
suffix: KM tåtønään ’bring2 them2/them (pl)’. On the other hand, the verb ’to hit’ in
KM has been altered to the form röätään! ’hit2 them’ and the KU form is similar to the
singular object suffix: röätølään! The entity thus seems quite incoherent.

The imperative suffix -ønään denoting the plural object is the only 2nd person suffix
with the expressed two separate n-elements: the other one denotes plural object and the
other (including the vowels) the 2nd person dual category. The Kannisto manuscript
gives from KU a similar form denoting the singular object.

KM -nään ~ KU -nään (Pl2Du IMPERATIVE)

kartønään ’pull them’ xartønään id.
(tåtønään ’bring them’ tåtølään id.; from the paradigm)

There is much variation in the 2nd person plural imperative forms in the object
conjugation. Some of it might be quite apparent. The primary suffix variant -(ø)lään is
identical with the corresponding 2nd person dual suffix, as is usual also in the other
groups. One example is the KU suffix -iilään that is similar to the corresponding
indicative suffix (Sg2Pl). It is clearly a question of an imperative, and corresponding
KM in the text also the normal imperative form (peertølään) is usual.

KM -lään ~ KU -lään (Sg2Pl IMPERATIVE)

wotølään ’call him’ wowølään ’id.
tåtiilelään ’take it’ tåtiilelään id.
keetelään ’send it’ keetlään id.
tuulelään ’bring it’ tuullään id.
peertølään ’sell it’ (peertiilään id.)

In addition to these, the 2nd person plural also has a suffix variant -kølään that includes
the imperative marker. The examples come from different texts.

KM -kølään ~ KU -kølään (Sg2Pl IMPERATIVE)

wøkølään ’take it’ sopi-pårgøltøkølään ’jump over it’
 102

The KU equivalent wøkään for the KM wøkølään- includes the suffix -kään that is more
simple and has no object marker; here it is evidently a question of a imperative form in
the subject conjugation, even though in the corresponding KM text this formerly
mentioned and well known prince is (as an object) is denoted by the imperative form in
the object conjugation:
KU
»– – ootør», läöwi, »wityøn päätøs» läöwi.
prince says water-Lat fall-Sbjc3Sg.pret says

»witynøl wity wity ootør wøkään!» (WV III: 68)

water-Abl water water prince (O) take-Sbjc2Pl.Imp

c.f. KM
»– – ootør», loåwi, »wityøn päätøs», loåwi.
prince says water-Lat fall-Sbjc3Sg.pret says

»witynøl ootørmø põõ-wøkølään!» (WV III: 69)

water-Abl prince-Acc (O) to the shore-take-ObjcSg2Pl.Imp

’»prince fell into the water» (someone) says, »lift him to the shore from the water!»’

Denoting the dual object can, in the light of the text example, happen either by the
specific singular or plural object suffix. In the Kannisto paradigms the suffixes for the
2nd person dual and the 2nd person plural are similar: Kannisto gives from KM the
forms tåtønään ’bring them2’ and röätään ’hit them2’, and from KU the corresponding
(similar to singular object) tåtølään and röätølään. In the first text example ’let us two
come in’ the object marker is the singular -l- (preceded in KU by a full vowel). In the
latter example form the same text ’let them2 in’ the object marker is the suffix -n-
denoting to plurality. Although it is not clear if the speakers in this example know how
many persons are coming in, and also their actions are denoted in the passive voice in
the preceding clause.

KM -ølään ~ KU -ilään (?Du2Pl IMPERATIVE)

tuulølään ’let us go’ tuulilään id.

KM -ønään ~ KU -enään (?Du2Du IMPERATIVE)

tuulølään ’let us go’ tuulilään id.

The whole passage (KM):

»öälnø mõõnøl jøm kit kom oosmøn,
some land-Abl come-PrtcPret 2 men be-Sbjc1Du.prs

løgnøjääm nyoxsøjääm jääliimøn,

hunt squirrels-Prtc hunt sables-Prtc go-Sbjc1Du.prs [there are 2 of them!]

löämläx° kuulläx° juw-tuulølään!»

cook-Inf stay overnight-Inf in-allow-ObjcDu2Pl.Imp = ObjcSg2Pl
 103

’We are two men, who have come from some corner of the world, we go hunting
squirrels and sables. Allow us in to make food and sleep overnight!’

(inkiit kuusyt jon koontlaat. mønøst ooträän pookøn, löättaat: »noåjønøw ootrønøw,
nöän», loåwi, »tø (– –) uulløwään.» inkiit kuusyt keetwøst:)
(maids and farmhands inside listen. They went to their prince, they say: our princess our
prince, you are now spoken to. Maids and farmhands were sent to:)
»mønään, juw-tuulønään!» (WV II: 321)
go-Sbjc2Pl.Imp in-allow-ObjcDu2Pl = ObjcPl2Pl.Imp

’Go, let them in!’

Such dual object treatment is a rather concrete example of how a marginal category can
be represented by grammatical elements taken from another, but a less marginal
category. What is surprising is the fact that within the same text there are two elements
»borrowed» from different sources. This is also connected to the fact that the (subject)
person suffixes of the 2nd person dual, and partly also the 3rd person dual, are
equivalent with each other and with the corresponding plural suffixes when there is
more than one object involved.
There are also optative suffixes in the object conjugation, i.e. the 1st and 2nd person
endings including the same imperative marker. There are text examples of the 1st
person duals and plurals (1 object):

KM -køläämøn ~ KU køläämøn (Sg1Du OPTATIVE)

peeløpøkøläämøn ’let us2 change it’ peeløpøkøläämøn id.

KM -køløw ~ KU -køløw (Sg1Pl OPTATIVE)

jål-älkøløw ’let us kill him’ jal-äälkøløw id.

The Kannisto manuscripts do not know the 1st person optatives. Instead in the notes
there are categories of the 3rd person object conjugation optative forms. The paradigms
are not completely congruent, and the forms are clearly infrequent and uncertain (the
bands also include strike-through markings and corrections). The verbs in the following
table are the basic examples in the Kannisto paradigms, tåt- ’to bring’ and röät- ’to hit’.

KM Optative Sg Object Du Object Pl Object

3Sg tåtäät tåtöä tåtään
röätäät röätöä röätaan
3Du tåtäätøn tåtään tåtään
röätäätøn röätään röättäätøn
3Pl tåtäänøl tåtäänøl tåtäänøl
röätäänøl röätäänøl röätaan

KU Optative Sg Object Du Object Pl Object

3Sg tåtäät tåtään tåtään
röätäät röätään röätään
3Du tåttøn tåtään tåtøtøn
röättøn röätäö / röättøn röätøn / röätäänøl
3Pl tåtäänøl tåtäänøl tåtäänøl
röätäänøl röätäänøl röätäänøl
 104

CONDITIONAL

There are two conditional markers in Konda. It is possible to functionally and

morphologically differentiate the conditional present tense, formed with the marker -n-,
from the conditional preterite with the marker -k- positioned differently as the modal
element. The same element -k- together with an auxiliary verb also produces the second
past tense form of the conditional, the perfect tense.

CONDITIONAL PRESENT TENSE

The conditional present tense endings found in the texts have been summoned (in bold
face) to the table below. The table also presents (in regular face) the KM kånsi ’to
know’ and KU møni ’to go’ verb forms extracted from the Kannisto grammatical notes.

KM Cond Prs I 1st 2nd 3rd

Sg -äänååm, -äänaam -äänaan -ni
kåsnaam kåsnaan kåsni
Du -niimøn -niinø kåsnöä
kåsniimøn kåsniinø
Pl -niiwø kåsniinø kåsnaat
kåsnøw

KU Cond Prs I 1st 2nd 3rd

Sg -äänååm -äänäön -ni
mønnååm mønnäön mønnii
Du -niimøn -niin mønnäö
mønniimøn mønniinø
Pl -nøw mønniinø mønnäöt
mønnøw

The person markers following the conditional marker in the conditional present tense
are the same than in the indicative present tense. This means that the mood marker in
this category also follows the tense element assimilated in the vowel of the present tense
person ending. In the conditional present tense, the present tense endings are in their
most frequent forms, there is thus less variation than in the indicative present tense
forms.

The 1st person singular I Cond.prs-suffix consists of the transitional vowel, the
conditional marker -n- and the portmanteau-morph that includes the present tense and
the person element. The transitional vowel is not found in the paradigms in the Kannisto
grammatical notes (KM kåsnaam ’I would know’, KU mønnååm ’I would go’).

KM-äänååm, -äänaam ~ KU -äänååm (1Sg CONDITIONAL PRESENT TENSE)

k°olyiitäänååm ’I would let rise’ xolyitäänååm id.
kojøntäänaam ’I would lie’ xojäntäänååm id.
jeesøxtäänaam ’I would rub’ jesøxtäänååm id.

The corresponding 2nd person singular suffix is very symmetrical with the
corresponding 1st person singular suffix. It includes the same transitional vowel, the
 105

characteristic full vowel -ää-, the same conditional element and the most frequent 2nd
person singular element in the present tense paradigm.

KM -äänaan ~ KU -äänäön (2Sg CONDITIONAL PRESENT TENSE)

komøjäänaan ’you would get married’ xomøjäänäön id.

In the 3rd person singular the conditional element is attached to the stem without the
transitional vowel (similarly to the 1st and 2nd person forms in the Kannisto
paradigms), and similarly to the other singular person forms, the person is denoted by
the portmanteau-morph.

KM -ni ~ KU -ni (3Sg CONDITIONAL PRESENT TENSE)

köälni ’he would get up’ köälni id.

The structure of the non-singular subject person suffix cluster looks a bit different. The
transitional vowel is also missing from the dual person suffixes also in the text
examples, and the tense element in the 1st and the 2nd person forms is clearly
recognizable. The 3rd person dual suffix is comprised of the mood marker -n- and the
dual basic element only.

KM -niimøn ~ KU -niimøn (1Du CONDITIONAL PREESENS)

kotniimøn ’we2 would find’ xotniimøn id.

KM -niinø ~ KU -niinø (2Du CONDITIONAL PREESENS)

kåsniinø ’you2 would know’ mønniinø ’you2 would go’

KM -nöä ~ KU -näö (3Du CONDITIONAL PREESENS)

kåsnöä ’they2 would know’ mønnäö ’they2 would go’

The 1st person plural suffix in KM is structurally similar to the 1st person dual suffix
(mood-tense-person). On the other hand, the KU suffix is lacking the tense element that
is also missing from the indicative present tense 1st person plural suffix. The KM suffix
-nøw in the paradigm is also similar in structure:

KM -niiwø, -nøw ~ KU -nøw (1Pl CONDITIONAL PREESENS)

kuulniiwø ’we would stay overnight’ xuulnew id.
kåsnøw ’we would know’ mønnøw ’we would go’

KM -niinø ~ KU -niinø (2Pl CONDITIONAL PREESENS)

kåsniinø ’you would know‘ mønniinø ’you would go’
The 3rd person plural suffix is also comprised of the mood marker and the usual present
tense subject conjugation person marker.

KM -naat ~ KU -näöt (3Pl CONDITIONAL PRESENT TENSE)

kåsnaat ’you would know‘ mønnäöt ’they would go’

There are also comprehensive series in the manuscripts for the singular, dual and plural
objects in the conditional present tense object conjugation. Let us present the KM tåti
’to bring’ -verb forms here. The paradigm is relatively straightforward. In the category
of the single object, the conditional present tense is represented by the ending -nii- in
 106

other than the 3rd person plural ending, and it is followed by the 1st and 2nd person
ending with the element -l- denoting the single object. The dual and the plural object
category is a clear conditional present tense marker -nøg-, followed by a dual object
category (excluding the dual and plural, scarcely occurring and often formally
equivalent 2nd person subject forms), the vowel -oå- ~ -öä- (~ -aa-) slightly more
characteristic for the dual, and the object plural marker -n- in the most frequent person
forms of the plural category.
KM
Sg object Du object Pl object
tåtniiløm tåtnøgaam tåtnøgäänøm ’I would bring it/them2/them(pl)’
tåtniiløn tåtnøgöän tåtnøgään
tåtniitø tåtnøgöä tåtnøgään
tåtniiläämøn tåtnøgoåmøn tåtnøgønäämøn
tåtniilään tåtnøgønään tåtnøgønään
tåtniitøn tåtnøgään tåtnøgään
tåtniiløw tåtnøgoåw tåtnøgønøw
tåtniilään tåtnøgønään tåtnøgään
tåtnøgäänøl tåtnøgäänøl tåtnøgäänøl

CONDITIONAL PRETERITE

The conditional preterite is formed by attaching either -k or -käät to the full preterite.
The choice of the suffix is completely free. The meaning of the form built this way does
not necessarily refer to the past, but the present tense irrealis is formed on the basis of
the preterite, as is usual or at least historically verified in many languages. This is at
least the image emerging from the texts. In the Kannisto grammatical notes there are
also additional paradigms on conditional marker -k attaching to the present tense forms,
but the difference in the functions of these particular paradigms is not quite clear.
An exception to this full preterite formation is the verb ’to be’ with its own conditional
form KM ooløx ~ ooløk, KU ooløx ’if (it) were’, KM öätyøm ooløk, KU äötyøm ooløx
’(if it) were not’. This form of the verb ’to be’ is used also in the conditional composite
forms (se below). The second exception built on the non-preterite form is the KM KU
köärøxkäät ’if obliged, if necessary’ of the single person ambivalent word ’must;
necessity’ (see below). The conditional marker -k attached to the preterite person forms
is (presumably because of a relatively late agglutination) phonetically exceptional: it
attaches directly to the preceding consonant without a binding vowel and also without
assimilating the nasal in the 2nd person marker:

KM -søn.k ~ KU -søn.k (2Sg CONDITIONAL PRETERITE)

nyorsøn.k ’if you wanted’ nyørsøn.k id.
mønøsøn.k ’if you went’ mønøsøn.k
åjgøsøn.k ’if you shouted’ åjgøsøn.k id.

KM -søn.käät ~ KU -søn.käät (2Sg CONDITIONAL PRETERITE)

oolsøn.käät ’if you where’ oolsøn.käät id.
kasysøn.käät ’if you knew’ xasysøn.käät id.

KM -øskø ~ -øskäät ~ KU -øskäät (3Sg CONDITIONAL PRETERITE)

ooløskø ~ ooløskäät ’if (he) was’ ooløskäät id.
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mønøskäät ’if (he) went’ mønøskäät id.

päätøskäät ’if (he) fell’ päätøskäät id.
jonkøskäät ’if (he) turned’ joonxøskäät id.

KM -sään.k ~ KU -sään.k (2Du CONDITIONAL PRETERITE)

ääsyøntaxtsään.k ’if you trusted (yourselves)’ ääsyøntaxtsään.k id.
In the Kannisto manuscript materials there is the following subject conjugation preterite
paradigm (KU):
wöärsømkäät ’if I do’
tox wöärsøn.käät nängnåån jåmøs äöt jømti ’if you do so, no good will follow’
wöärøskäät ’if they do’
wöärsäämøn.käät ’if we2 do’
wöärsään.käät ’if you2 do’
wöärsägkäät ’if they2 do’
wöärsøwkäät ’if we (pl) do
wöärsään.käät ’if you (pl) do’
wöärsøtkäät ’if they (pl) do’

In the Kannisto paradigms there is also a Pl3Sg object conjugation form for the k-
conditional:

KM -sään.k (Pl3Sg CONDITIONAL PRETERITE)

täw möänøw jøt-joxtsään.k älgään
’if he catches us, he will kill us’

The following object conjugation forms have been extracted from the texts:
KM -slään.k ~ KU -slään.k (Sg2Du CONDITIONAL PRETERITE)
teeslään.k ’if you2 eat it’ teeslään.k id.

KM -sään.käät ~ KU -sään.käät (Pl2Pl CONDITIONAL PRETERITE)

wøsään.käät ’if you (pl) take them’ wøsään.käät id.

KM -slään.k ~ KU -slään.k (Sg2Pl CONDITIONAL PRETERITE)

teeslään.k ’if you (pl) eat it’ teeslään.k id.
k°åltøslään.k ’if you (pl) destroy it’ x°åltøslään.k id.

The clause context for the previous forms as an example of the use of the conditional
(KM):
om tø lyälytøptääm teepøng k°ääløm, mooløng k°ääløm päri-k°åltøslään.k, päri-
teeslään.k ’ if you fully destroy and eat empty this food-full house that I have acquired,
my fur-full house’.

Fine examples of the use of the conditional are also the two subject conjugation
conditional paradigms found in the Kannisto manuscript materials, of which the first
one introduces the conditional preterite discussed above and the second one is the
present tense of the conditional -k, that is the conditional form built on the usual subject
conjugation present tense form that is not found in the texts. The choice of the suffix /
the conditional marker seems to be free:
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Present tense (KM)

öätyi-näär öät kontaamk[ø]/[äät], juw jiiwøm
’if I do not find anything, I will come back’
öätyi-näär öät kontaan.k[ø]/[äät], juw jäjøn!
’if you do not find anything, come back’
öätyi-näär öät kontiik[ø]/[äät], juw jääjø!
’if they do not find anything, let them come back’
öätyi-näär öät kontiimøn.k[ø]/[äät], juw jiiwmøn
’if we2 do not find anything, we2 will come back’
öätyi-näär öät kontiinøk[äät], juw jääjään
’if you2 do not find anything, come2 back’
öätyi-näär öät kontöäk[ø]/[äät], juw jääjäg!
’if they2 do not find anything, let them2 come back!’
öätyi-näär öät kontøwk[ø]/[äät], juw jiiwwø
’if we do not find anything, we will come back’
öätyi-näär öät kontiinøk[ø]/[äät], juw jäjään!
’if you do not find anything, come back’
öätyi-näär öät kontaatk[ø]/[äät], juw jäjøt!
’if they do not find anything, let them come back’

Preterite (KM)
öätyi-näär öät kotsømk[äät], juw jiiwøm
’if I do not (once) find anything, I will come back’
öätyi-näär öät kotsøn.k[äät], juw jäjøn!
’if you do not (once) find anything, come back!’
öätyi-näär öät kontøsk[ø]/[äät], juw jääjø!
’if they do not (once) find anything, let them come back!’
öätyi-näär öät kotsäämøn.k[äät], juw jiiwmøn
’if we2 do not (once) find anything, we2 will come back’
öätyi-näär öät kotsään.k[äät], juw jääjään
’if you2 do not (once) find anything, come2 back’
öätyi-näär öät kotsägk[äät], juw jääjäg!
’if they2 do not (once) find anything, let them2 come back!’
öätyi-näär öät kotsøwk[äät],eejuw jiiwwø
’if we do not (once) find anything, we will come back’
öätyi-näär öät kotsään.k[äät], juw jäjään!
’if you do not (once) find anything, come back!’
öätyi-näär öät kotsøtk[äät], juw jäjøt!
’if they do not (once) find anything, let them come back!’

CONDITIONAL PERFECT TENSE

The conditional perfect tense is formed by the verbal noun (gerund) with the marker -k-
including a possessive suffix, the possessive suffix of the subject person and the
conditional ooløx ~ ooløk for the verb ’to be’. The examples from the texts:

KM KU
reextiiløkøm ooløk ’(if) I had shaken’ rextiiløkøm ooløx id.
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köälømtøkäät ooløx ’if they had told’ köälømtøkäät ooløx id.

jäxtkään ooløk ’if you2 had slaughtered’ jäxtkään ooløx id.
olkäätøn ooløk ’(if) they2 had been’ oolxaatøn ooløx id.

In the Kannisto grammatical notes we can infer a paradigm for the conditional preterite
in the object conjugation. Here the gerund is not followed by a possessive suffix but the
whole finite verb person ending denoting a single object. The 1st and the 2nd person
forms thus include the element -l- in the object conjugation. The 3rd person forms in the
subject and the object conjugation are the same because the object conjugation ending
as such is the same than the possessive suffix without the element -l- (see p. 000???).
om tääwø kasykääløm olk (ooløk) ’if I had noticed him’
näg tääwø kasykääløn ooløk ’if you had noticed him’
täw tääwø kasykäät ooløk ’if he had noticed him’
meen tääwø kasykøläämøn ooløk ’if we2 had noticed him’
neen tääwø kasykølään ooløk ’if you2 had noticed him’
teen tääwø kasykäätøn ooløk ’if they2 had noticed him’
möän tääwø kasykøløw ooløk’if we had noticed him’
nöän tääwø kasykølään ooløk ’if you had noticed him’
töän tääwø kasykäänøl ooløk ’if they had noticed him’

In connection to the Tatar-based word köärøx ’to have to’, the preterite form of the
verb ’to be’ is used in the conditional perfect tense. köärøx is ambivalent with respect to
the word class, it functions as the clause predicate that is neither a verb nor a
predicatival noun. But it still agrees in number with the verb ’to be’, the number of
which in turn is defined by the object number in the following example:
KM
öätømt jåt wøx° köärøkøt oolsøt
man-PlNom with take must-Pl be-Sbjc3Pl.pret

’people should have been taken along’

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PASSIVE
All verb categories discussed so far have represented the active voice conjugation. In
Eastern Mansi, as in the Ob-Ugrian languages in general, the passive as the main
conjugation category and reverse to the active voice is extensively used, and this usage
is also wider than in the languages with the passive as a main category in general. The
passive in Mansi represents the type of the passive that is reversed from the active
clause and the object in the corresponding active clause is promoted to the subject
position, while the subject in the active clause moves to the position of the agent or
remains unexpressed in the clause. It is thus used for the topicalization of the second
actant of the verb. The clause constituent promoted to the position of the subject in the
passive clause can be the object of the transitive verb in the active clause, but in
addition also the object of e.g. an »intransitive» motion verb. The object of such a
motion verb can also function as the accusative object in the active clause and it can
launch the object conjugation form of the verb. It is therefore reasonable to keep the
term »intransitive» in quotation marks when referring to the Ob-Ugrian languages. The
recipient or the benefactor of a trivalent verb promoted to the object position can
naturally also be promoted to the subject of the passive clause, when the original object
is in the instrumental (see the section »the use of the instrumental»). Examples of all
these can be found below in the section »Use of the passive». The verb in the passive
form can further, in addition to the indicative mood, also represent the conditional
preterite or the present tense (less frequently), or the optative with its own passive
suffixes.

PASSIVE INDICATIVE PRESENT TENSE

The passive person paradigms are structurally logical and the individual suffixes are in
the same way easily segmentable than the active indicative preterite suffixes are. The
passive present tense and the active indicative preterite are parallel paradigms in that the
different person suffixes in them correspond with each other very exactly. Where the
indicative preterite suffixes are composed of the preterite marker -s- and the person
basic element, the same person element is in the passive the suffixes combined with the
passive marker -w-. In some verbs the passive marker can also be interpreted as a
derivative suffix, because some verbs, such as åjøw- ’to sleep’, püümløw- ’to freeze’
have no active conjugation at all. There are also examples of these among the verbs in
the clause examples.

KU Passive prs 1st 2n 3rd

d
Sg -wøm -wøn -øw, -wø
Du -wäämøn -wään -wii
Pl -wøw -wøn, -wään -wøt, -øwt

KM Passive prs 1st 2nd 3rd

Sg -wøm -wøn -wø
Du -øwäämøn -wään -wäg
Pl -wøw -wään -wøt, -øwt

The passive present tense 1st person singular suffix -wøm and the corresponding 2nd
person singular suffix -wøn are thus both composed of the passive marker and the basic
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person element. Different from the other present tense suffixes (active indicative and the
conditional present tense), the tempus marker is missing. The present tense in the
passive is thus uncontrovesially an noncharacteristic tense category.

KM -wøm ~ KU -wøm (1Sg PASSIVE)

älwøm ’I am killed’ älwøm id.
wøwøm ’I am taken’ wøwøm id.
(jål) püümløwøm ’I am frozen’ (jål) püümløwøm id.

KM -wøn ~ KU -wøn (2Sg PASSIVE)

älwøn ’you are killed’ älwøn id.
k°äsøgløwøn ’you are hurt’ k°äsgøløwøn id.
juw-teewøn ’you are eaten’ juw-teewøn id.

These suffixes contrast most clearly with the active indicative preterite subject
conjugation due to the structure of the suffix cluster, they are separated only by the
gender element taking the position of the tense element:
wøsøm ’I took (something)’ wøwøm ’I am taken’
wøsøn ’you took (something)’ wøwøn ’you are taken’

or for a non-thematic verb:

älsøm ’I killed (someone)’ älwøm ’I am killed’
tägmäätsøm ’I hung (something)’ tägmäätwøm ’I am hung’

The 3rd person singular passive present tense suffix has at least in KU two variants:
consonant final and vowel final. In KM the vowel final suffix is exclusive. The KU
consonant final variant is equivalent with indicative 1st person plural present tense form
in the subject conjugation.

KM -wø ~ KU -wø (3Sg PASSIVE)

wõõwø ’(it) is known’ waawø id.
åjwø ’(he) is asleep’ åjwø id.
tuulwø ’(it) is allowed’ tuulwø id.
joxtwø ’he is reached’ joxtwø id.
tøxtwø ’he is fed’ titwø id.
såjølwø ’(it) is broken down’ såjølwø id.
wöäxtwø ’(it) is thrown’ wöäxtwø id.

KM -wø ~ KU -øw (3Sg PASSIVE)

køtiiløwø ’(he) is asked’ køtiiløw id.
tulmøntøwø ’(it) is stolen’ tulmøntøw id.
syonkløwø ’(it) is dried’ syonkløw id.
täärøtøwø ’(he) is allowed’ täärøtøw id.

The dual passive present tense suffixes are similarly parallel with the active indicative
preterite suffixes in the subject conjugation than the 1st person singular and the 2nd
person singular suffixes. They comprise of the gender element and the person basic
element that in the 2nd person dual is again the polysemic -ään. The 3rd person dual
person element KM -äg ~ KU -ii is still identical with the nominal absolute dual marker.
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KM -wäämøn ~ KU -wäämøn (1Du PASSIVE)

köäsyøløwäämøn ’we2 are noticed’ köäsyeløwäämøn id.
jål-älwäämøn ’we2 are killed’ jal-älwäämøn id.

KM -wään ~ KU -wään (2Du PASSIVE)

puwwään ’you2 are caught’ puwwään id.
jøwään ’you2 are come to’ jøwään id.
joxtwään id. joxtwään id.
loåwøltøwään ’you2 are ordered’ läöwøltawään id.

KM -wäg ~ KU -wii (3Du PASSIVE)

läxwäg ’they2 are crept towards’ läxwii id.
kasywäg ’they2 are known’ xasywii id.
røgtwäg ’they2 sweat’ røgtwii id.
kåjøxwäg ’they2 are touched’ xåjøxwii id.
køtiiløwäg ’they2 are asked’ køtiiløwii id.

The contrasts to the active indicative preterite paradigm in the subject conjugation are
identical with the singular person forms described above:
wøsäämøn ’we2 took (something)’ wøwäämøn ’we2 are taken’
wøsään ’you2 took (something)’ wøwään ’you2 are taken’
wøsii ~ wøsäg ’they2 took (something)’ wøwii ~ wøwäg ’they2 are taken’

or for a non-thematic verb:

älsäämøn ’we2 killed (someone)’ älwäämøn ’we2 are killed’
älsään ’you2 killed (someone)’ älwään ’you2 are killed’
älsii ~ älsäg ’they2 killed (someone)’ älwii ~ älwäg ’they2 are killed’

The 1st person plural suffix represents the same structure; the gender element -w- is
followed by the person element -(ø)w.

KM -wøw ~ KU -wøw (1Pl PASSIVE)

jøwøw ’we are come to’ jøwøw id.
älwøw ’we are killed’ älwøw id.

The 2nd person plural has in KU in addition to the expected suffix -wään that is similar
to the 2nd person dual suffix the suffix variant -wøn that is identical with the 2nd person
singular suffix. The latter is from a destiny song, and it does thus not represent normal
prose.

KM -wään ~ KU -wään (2Pl PASSIVE)

uulløwään ’you are shouted at’ uulløwään id.
sårgøltøwään ’you are bullied’ sårgøltøwään id.

KU -wøn (2Pl PASSIVE)

räx°wøn ’you (pl) are rained on’
wootwøn ’you (pl) are blown at’
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The 3rd person plural passive suffix form varies based on the stem type. The difference
between the variants -wøt and -(ø)wt is the placement of the transitional vowel within
the suffix:

KM -wøt ~ KU -wøt (3Pl PASSIVE)

joxtwøt ’they are come to’ joxtwøt id.
kasywøt ’they are known’ xasywøt id.
röätwøt ’they are beaten’ räötwøt id.
tøxtwøt ’they are fed’ titwøt id.
öälømwøt ’they are carried’ äölømwøt id.

KM -øwt ~ KU -øwt (3Pl PASSIVE)

koontløwt ’they are defeated’ xoontløwt id.
køtiiløwt ’they are asked’ køtiløwt id.
k°ätørøwt ’they are suffocated’ k°äätørøwt id.
låwøsøwt ’they are rinsed’ låwøsøwt id.
k°olytøptøwt ’they are left’ x°olytøptøwt id.

PASSIVE INDICATIVE PRETERITE

The passive preterite suffixes are similarly transparent than the present tense suffixes. In
the passive suffixes the tense elements are placed after the gender element. As noted
above, the tense marker denotes the past only.

KM Passive pret 1st 2nd 3rd

Sg -wøsøm -wøsøn -wøs, -øwøs
Du -wøsäämøn -wøsään -wøsäg
Pl -wøsøw -wøsään -wøst

KU Passive pret 1st 2nd 3rd

Sg -wøsøm -wøsøn -wøs
Du -wøsäämøn -wøsään -wøsii, -wøsgi
Pl -wøsøw -wøsään -wøst

In the 1st and the 2nd person singular forms the passive (-w-) and the preterite elements
(-s-) are followed by the person basic element -m and -n.

KM -wøsøm ~ KU -wøsøm (1Sg PASSIVE PRETERITE)

mäjwøsøm ’I was given’ mäjwøsøm id.
wöärwøsøm ’I was made’ wöärwøsøm id.
keetwøsøm ’I was sent’ keetwøsøm id.
åjgøløwøsøm ’I slept’ åjgøløwøsøm id.

KM -wøsøn ~ KU -wøsøn (2Sg PASSIVE PRETERITE)

tåtwøsøn ’you were brought’ tåtwøsøn id.
wotøwøsøn ’you were called’ wowwøsøn id.
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The contrast with the present tense passive forms (and the active preterite forms) is
increased not only by the fact that the passive preterite forms are longer in syllable
number, but for the thematic verbs especially also by the fact that the passive preterite is
built on the same stem than the imperatives, but different than the passive present tense
and the indicative active forms:
wøsøm ’I took (something)’ wøwøm ’I am taken’ wäjwøsøm ’I was taken’
wøsøn ’you took (something)’wøwøn ’you are taken’ wäjwøsøn ’you were taken’
wäjøn ’take (something)’

Non-thematic verb forms are distanced from each other by the difference in the syllable
number:
älsøm ’I killed (someone)’ älwøm ’I am killed’ älwøsøm ’I was killed’
älsøn ’you killed (someone)’ älwøn ’you are killed’ älwøsøn ’you were killed’

The person element is missing from the 3rd person singular passive preterite suffix. It
comprises thus of the passive and the preterite markers.

KM -wøs ~ KU -wøs (3Sg PASSIVE PRETERITE)

jäjwøs ’(he) was come to’ jäjwøs id.
åjwøs ’fell asleep’ åjwøs id.
älwøs ’he was killed’ älwøs id.
ponwøs ’it was put’ ponwøs id.
nyoåxwøs ’it was stamped’ nyäöxwøs id.
wotøwøs ’he was called’ wowwøs id.
tøxtwøs ’he was fed’ titwøs id.
öälømwøs ’it was lifted’ öälømwøs id.
öärtøwøs ’it was closed’ öärtøwøs id.
lükømøwøs ’it was pushed’ lükømøwøs id.
mønømtøwøs ’it was torn’ määnømtøwøs id.
töäjøpøwøs ’it was eaten’ täöjøpøwøs id.

In the thematic verbs the suffix attaches, as do the other passive preterite suffixes also,
to the imperative stem (jäjwøs ’he was arrived at’, wäjwøs ’he was taken’). As the
passive suffix as such resembles the 1st person plural person marker, the preterite form
is close to the 1st person plural optative form in the subject conjugation. Because of the
different stems, both differ quite a lot from the passive present tense form:

KM toåjwøs ’he was eaten’ toåjwø ’let us eat’ teewø ’he is eaten’

To begin with, the suffix in the 1st person dual has quite a heavy structure. Attached to
the gender element there is a combination of the tense and person elements including a
full vowel, a suffix that as such is found also in the active indicative preterite paradigm.
The passive preterite suffix has two variants based on the word stem. The transitional
vowel -ø- can be positioned either within the suffix (-wøsäämøn) or between the stem
and the suffix (-(ø)wsäämøn). An example of both types:

KM -wøsäämøn ~ KU -wøsäämøn (1Du PASSIVE PRETERITE)

låwwøsäämøn ’we2 were ordered’ läöwwøsäämøn id.

KM -wsäämøn ~ KU -wsäämøn (1Du PASSIVE PRETERITE)

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roåwløwsäämøn ’we2 were thrown’ rawløwsäämøn id.

There are no examples of the 2nd person dual, but by the other incomplete paradigms it
is possible to assume that the suffix is identical with the corresponding 2nd person
plural suffix (-wøsään, see below). In the 3rd person dual suffix the gender and the
tense elements are followed by the element (KM -äg ~ KU -ii, -gi(i)) familiar from the
absolute dual. The dual marker thus functions as the 3rd person dual person element.
The variants in KU are the same ones that are also found in the active indicative
preterite paradigm. In KM there is no such that would match the variation in the active
voice suffix in question. In addition, also the position of the transitional vowel differs in
KU. There are in KU thus three different variants, in KM only one.

KM -wøsäg ~ KU -wøsii (3Du PASSIVE PRETERITE)

mäjwøsäg ’they2 were given’ mäjwøsii id.
töärømäätwøsäg ’they2 were allowed’ täörømäätwøsii id.
k°olytøptøwøsäg ’they2 were left’ x°olytøptøwøsii id.
keeløptøwøsäg ’they2 were blooded’ keeløptøwøsii id.

KU -wsii (3Du PASSIVE PRETERITE)

tosytepøwsii ’they2 were put’

KU -wøsgii (3Du PASSIVE PRETERITE)

juw-tuulwøsgii ’they2 were let in’

The passive preterite suffixes of the plural person forms are also transparent. In the
thematic verbs the suffix attaches to the imperative stem. This increases the distance of
the forms to the corresponding passive present and indicative preterite forms, where the
suffix person element is otherwise the same, e.g. (KU)

tåjwøsøw ’we were eaten’ teesøw ’we ate’ teewøw ’we are eaten’
tåjwø ’let us eat’
tåjwøsään ’you were eaten’ teesään ’you ate’ teewään ’you are eaten’
tåjään ’eat!’
tåjwøst ’they were eaten’ teest ’they ate’ teewøt ’they are eaten’
tåjøt ’let them eat’

KM -wøsøw ~ KU -wøsøw (1Pl PASSIVE PRETERITE)

toåjwøsøw ’we were eaten’ tåjwøsøw id.
äjwøsøw ’we were drunk’ äjwøsøw id.
moojtwøsøw ’we were told’ moojtwøsøw id.
eerøgwøsøw ’we were sung’ eerøgwesøw id.
kømtøwøsøw ’we were beaten’ xømtøwøsøw id.

KM -wøsään ~ KU -wøsään (2Pl PASSIVE PRETERITE)

tåjwøsään ’you were eaten’ tåjwøsään id.
äjwøsään ’you were drunk’ äjwøsään id.
mojtwøsään ’you were told’ mojtwøsään id.
eergøwøsään ’you were sung’ eerøgwesään id.
låwwesään ’you were ordered’ läöwwesään id.
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KM -wøst ~ KU -wøst (3Pl PASSIVE PRETERITE)

wäjwøst ’they were taken’ wäjwøst id.
toåjwøst ’they were eaten’ tåjwøst id.
äjwøst ’they were drunk’ äjwøst id.
jixwøst ’the night fell on them’ jixwøst id.
kotwøst ’they were found’ xotwest id.
põõx°twøst ’they were shot at’ paax°twøst id.
pägøltøwøst ’they were bathed’ pägøltøwøst id.
nyowømtøwøst ’they were moved’ nyuwømtøwøst id.

Use of the passive (indicative)

The prototype of the passive represents a situation, where the constituent functioning as
the object in the active clause is the topic of the clause and it is promoted to the subject
position. If the agent of the action defined in the clause is known and/or it is to be
expressed, it is present in the passive clause as the agent in the lative (see the section
«Lative« for more information about the passivization):
nöän [subj] tøt mõõnø tøt syöärnø nø(g) eergøm-karnø [Ag] tøg eergøwøsään, nø
moojtøm-karnø [Ag] tøg mojtwøsään? ’what singer [Ag] has you [subj] sung, what
storyteller [Ag] has told you to this land, to this corner of the world?’
k°åsyø mønømäänøl [Subj] konø[Ag] wõõwø, wõõty mønømäänøl [Subj] konø [Ag]
wõõwø ’who knows, if they went for a long time or a short time’.

The agent does not need to be animate: it can also be inanimate, a so called force,
instrument or other cause:
älwøs [Pred + Subj] kit-woor-ootør nõõlnø [Ag] ’he [Subj] was killed by the two-ridge-
prince’s arrow [Ag]’

The verb person ending is sufficient for expressing the subject in the clause, as in the
active clause also:
pees jägøn-öäsyøn teem-ääjøm-kartnø [Ag] juw-teewøn [Pred + Subj] ’(monsters, Ag)
that ate your grandfater will eat you (too)’
påsøng-kom jägäännø [Ag] tokø låwwesään [Pred + Subj] ’your father the cheerful man
ordered you this way’
møniimøn, työätyoåmnø-syükoåmønnø [Ag] köäsyøløwäämøn [Pred + Subj] ’let us go
(we2), my father and my mother will notice us’
k°åsyø lyø wõõty oolsøt, kon[Ag] kasywøt ’for a long time or for a short time they lived,
who knows (about them)’.

If the agent is unknown or it is not wished to be expressed, no agent is required. It can

become evident from the preceding context:
söät täl säägöänøl tägmäätwøs ’she was hung (on the wall) by her 7 fathom (long)
plaits’
äk°-määsyt løsytwøst, sok i põõx°twøst i k°åløst ’ then they were wiped away, all were
shot dead, it was their end’
løløng-wityøl säärtliitøwøs, sop-lotø [subj] ponømtøwøs, løløng-wityøl rowtløwøs,
soospøwøs ’he was dabbed with water of life, the neck was put in its place, there water
of life was sprinkled, poured onto’
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(jø-pöälnøl koojøs lyüüly-nyåløp ogmøng woot.) teepnøl teeløm sowlyøkøng teep k°årøl
wootømløwøst, jäg kurøm öägååm [Subj] syük kurøm öägååm [Subj] tåtwøst ’(From
the north hit an evil-nosed pain-full wind.) The wind blew them away like from cereal
grown bastard-cereal, three daughters of my father, three daughters of my mother were
taken away.’

The verb ’to ask’ is governed by the object. In the passive clause the recipient of the
question (the person who is asked) is the subject:
wisy-kar-küült [Subj] køtiiløwt: »öäsy-öägään k°åsyäät ämnø wõõttyøn oolii?» ’Little
children [Subj] are asked: »Is your aunt far away or nearby?»’

The recipient promoted to the object position from the position of the directional
adverbial or the directional locative can also function as the topic and the subject of the
passive clause (see the instrumental and pp. 000 in the section on syntax)
(k°oløx-tågøl määsøm ootørnø [Ag] tow i k°olytøptøwøsäg [Pred + Subj]). ox-toor
nyåsømsiipøl mäjwøsäg [Pred + Subj] ’(prince dressed in raven-suit left them2 there.)
They2 [Subj] were given a white shroud.’
løløng-wityøl säärtliitøwøs, sop-lotø [subj] ponømtøwøs, ( sop-lotø [subj]) løløng-wityøl
rowtløwøs, soospøwøs ’ he was dabbed with water of life, the neck was put in its place,
there water of life was sprinkled, poured onto’.

In the same way than the motion verb in the active voice can receive an object, it can
also be passivized, and the object of the movement becomes the subject.
syuuløng-pänkøp öänsyøx°nø [Ag] jäjwøs [Pred + Subj], löätwø [Pred + Subj] ’a grey-
haired old man [Ag] came [passive predicate] to him [Subj], says to him’
ääny jø-pöält koontnø [Ag] jøwään [Pred + Subj] wisy-nee tuulmøntäämøn mås ’now
you [Subj] are being followed [passive predicate] by an army [Ag], because we have
stolen a maiden’
läxwäg [Pred + Subj] koontnø [Ag] ’army [Ag] creeps [passive predicate] towards them
[Subj]’.

The subject of the passive verb can also be a different kind of an »beneficiary»
adverbial:
om jål-kolnøm jø-pöält (– –) soåw räx°nø [Ag] räxwään [Pred + Subj], soåw wootnø
[Ag] wootwään [Pred + Subj] ’when I am dead, many rains [Ag] (– –) will rain [passive
predicate] on you [Subj], many winds [Ag] will blow [passive predicate] against you
[Subj]’

The agent can be very abstract or directly impossible, as in the following example:
mønøst, mønøst, jål-jixwøst [Pred + Subj] ’they went, they went, (to them, Subj) it
became evening [passive predicate]’

Some verbs only conjugate in the passive voice. The agentive subject is not possible for
these verbs:
uus mønøs kåspøtään, kojøs. kojøs, åjwøs. ’He went again to his sleeping tent, lay down
and slept.’
jål-neeg-öänk åjøltöäløm, åsøng uuløm worøng jålnø k°åsyään jål-åjgøløwøsøm ’put to
a heavy sleep by the underworld wife on a lumpy mattress for a long time I fell asleep’
jäni eek°øt öänsyøk°øt [Subj] røgøtnäänøl nyownø päämølänäänøl nyownø k°åt
k°ätørøwt ’old wives and men [Subj] sweating and suffering from heat suffocate’
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om [Subj] jål pøl tø püümløwøm ’I [Subj] quite freeze to death’

komøly öät eesømøwøn? ’why are you not ashamed?’

There is no subject in the impersonal passive clause. The verb is always in the generic
3rd person singular form with no subject person included. It cannot, however, include
an object as the corresponding constituent is always promoted to the subject position in
the passive clause in Mansi. If such a constituent is absent in the situation, the clause is
impersonal (Kulonen 1989: 259–60):
towøx° nogwøs ’(we) started to row’
joxtwøs, jøpøs k°äl, töäwt-jiiwøn öätyi ’(we) got (there), the house was dark, there is no
firewood’
mønøx° tø mønwø ton k°äl töärø ’(our) going (we) go through that house’
tokäly tø kønsiiløwø ’this is how (we) hunt’
mät toorøm pojørtään mås päri joxtlalwø? ’is it so, that (we) return only when god
allows it?
oos kotøl köälwø, äk° sowør-løgnø seelkäätøntøw ’every morning (one) gets up, grabs
the same cow’s tail’.

PASSIVE OPTATIVE

The passive optative has a specific marker separate from the passive proper, and it
seems that there is not even any historical connection between them. The marker is
especially characteristic, with a labiovelar as the consonant element; there are only two
conjugation suffixes that include a labiovelar in the morphology of the Eastern Mansi:
the infinitive in addition to the passive optative. In the infinitive the labiovelar is the
morpheme final and the word final -x°, in the optative passive it is the cluster -nk°- of
the nasal and the plosive preceding the person element, the optative person ending.
Phonetically both sounds in the cluster are labiovelars, i.e. the nasal also has the colour
of a labiovelar nasal, but it is the assimilation caused by k° that is the factor causing the
labial property. The labiovelar nasal never occurs alone in the word form, but as
preceding k° or x° only. The person endings in the passive optative forms are the same
than the active imperatives/optatives. There are no examples of the 1st person forms in
the texts, and neither are there any examples of them in the Kannisto paradigms.
Similarly to the optative active, the tense in the optative passive is neutralized and it has
thus no specific marker. The passive optative in the suffix is a combined function
supported by a single element, and -nk°- is thus a portmanteau-morph composed of the
gender and the mood markers. The vowel preceding the actual optative suffix has two
realizations, the full vowel -ä- and the reduced transitory sound -ø-. The variation is the
same than with the other labiovelar suffix, the infinitive. In the infinitive the vowel
quality seems to be more tied to the syllable number of the stem than to the suffix
discussed here. In the infinitive the vowel -ä- is found quite regularly in the third
syllable, i.e. when the infinitive form is trisyllabic. In the disyllabic and quadrasyllabic
infinitive forms the vowel is -ø-, and in the monosyllabic infinitive forms of the
thematic verbs, the labiovelar attaches directly to the monosyllabic vowel stem. In the
passive optative forms the suffix frontal -ä- also occurs mainly in the third syllable.

KM Passive Opt 1st 2nd 3rd

Sg -ønk°øn, -änk°øn -ønk°ø
Du -ønk°ään -änk°äg
Pl -änk°øt
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KU Passive Opt 1st 2nd 3rd

Sg -ønk°øn, -änk°øn -ønk°ø
Du -ønk°ään
Pl -ønk°ään, -änk°ään

Kannisto has (in the manuscript) the following paradigm for the verb ’to freeze’ in the
passive conjugation:
KM
näg wøl eesørmänk°øn ’do not let yourself freeze’
täw wøl eesørmänk°ø ’let him not freeze’
neen wøl eesørmänk°ään ’let you2 not freeze’
teen wøl eesørmänk°äg ’let them2 not freeze’
töän wøl eesørmänk°øt ’let them(pl) not freeze’

The 2nd person singular passive optative suffix is thus formed with the gender marker
together with the mood marker and the person element -øn:

KM -nk°øn, -änk°øn ~ KU -nk°øn, -änk°øn (2Sg PASSIVE OPTATIVE)

puwønk°øn ’let you be caught’ puwønk°øn id.
soxriitänk°øn ’let you be pressed’ soxriitänk°øn id.
woxriitänk°øn ’let you be scratched’ wåxriitänk°øn id.

The person element following the passive optative suffix in the 3rd person singular is
the same than in the active optative form. The same element can also be interpreted to
be included in the passive indicative person suffix of the same person form:

KM -nk°ø ~ KU -nk°ø (3Sg PASSIVE OPTATIVE)

piilyønk°ø ’let him be stung’ piilyønk°ø
nyawlønk°ø ’let him be followed’
The dual and the plural 2nd person forms have the same suffix also in the passive
optative, as the basic person element (-ään) is the same with both suffixes. There are
examples of the 2nd person plural in KU only.

KM -ønk°ään ~ KU -ønk°ään (2Du PASSIVE OPTATIVE)

koojønk°ään ’let you2 be hit’ xoojønk°ään id.

KU -ønk°ään (2Pl PASSIVE OPTATIVE)

uurønk°ään ’let you be waited’
läösyønk°ään ’let you be lurked’
köällänk°ään ’let you be risen/climbed on’
raax°ønk°ään ’let you be descended from’

The passive optative is used under the same syntactic constraints than the passive in
general. The optative function is especially common in all kinds of wishes and
incantations. Clauses containing the passive optative also include an expressed animate
or inanimate agent:
KM mønnø-mõõnt ponøng jøpiinø [Ag], ponøng torgiinø [Ag] wøl puwønk°øn! ’let no
feather-full eagle owl catch you as you go, feather-full eagle!’
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KU tø jii-pöält xuun päri-jøx° jømtiin, sujt jäløp suj-lonkøsy püwnø [Ag], woort jäløp
woor-lonkøsy püwnø [Ag] lyäölyt uurønk°ään, lyäölyt läösyønk°ään! ’after this when
you intend to come back, let you be expected, let you be lurked by the heath-going son
of the heath-demon, forest-going son of the forest-demon!’
woor-jiiw-townø [Ag] kõõpøn [Subj] töärø-piilyønk°ø! ’let your stomach [Subj] be
pierced by a branch [Ag] of a forest-tree!’
neen tujtkaatään jeek°ør-koopølnø, nyõõlnø [Ag] jowtnø [Ag] wøl koojønk°ään! ’ Hide
in the hollow of the roots of a tree, so that you will not be hit by arrows and bows!’
KU toorøm-sex° maa-sex° mønnø määnt wisy wityøn [Ag] losøm-owlääntøl
köällänk°ään, jäni-wityøn [Ag] losøm-owlääntøl raax°ønk°ään! ’Together with the
going of heaven mist earth mist let the small water rise over your bones, let the flood
water run over your bones’ (»come with your bones to be risen and laid down»).

Agentless passive optatives are also possible:

kon määtør oolsøn.käät, sømøng käxrønnøl, måjtøng käxrønnøl töärø-soxriitänk°øn
woxriitänk°øn! ’whoever, whatever you are, let you be pressed down scratched on your
heart-full stomach, liver-full belly!’

PASSIVE CONDITIONAL

The following paradigms are found in the Kannisto manuscripts, of the conditional
preterite, and of the k-conditional also as attached to the passive present tense:

Passive conditional preterite (KM):

wotøwøsømkäät mønaam ’if I have been invited (once), then I will go’
wotøwøsøn.käät mønøn! ’if you have been invited (once), then go!’
wotøwøskäät mønø! ’if he has been invited (once), then let him go!’
wotøwøsäämøn.käät møniimøn ’if we2 have been invited (once), then we will go’
wotøwøsään.käät mønään! ’if you2 have been invited (once), then go!’
wotøwøsägkäät mønäg! ’if they2 have been invited (once), then let them go’
wotøwøsøwkäät mønøw ’if we have been invited (once) , then we will go’
wotøwøsään.käät mønään! ’if you have been invited (once), then go’
wotøwøstkäät mønøt! ’if they have been invited (once), then let them go!’

Passive conditional present tense (KM)

wotøwømkäät mønaam ’if I am invited, then I will go’
wotøwøn.käät mønaan ’if you are invited, then you will go’
wotøwkäät møni ’if he is invited, then he will go’
wotøwäämøn.käät møniimøn ’if we2 are invited, then we2 will go’
wotøwään.käät møniinø ’if you2 are invited, then you2 will go’
wotøwägkäät mønöä ’if they2 are invited, then they2 will go’
wotøwøwkäät mønøw ’if we are invited, then we will go’
wotøwään.käät møniinø ’if you are invited, then you will go’
wotøwtkäät mønaat ’if they are invited, then they will go’

There is a text example of one 1st person singular suffix only. In this example, the
conditional marker is in the simpler form -k:

KM -wøsømk ~ KU -wøsømk (1Sg CONDITIONAL PRET PASS)

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älwøsømk ’if I am killed’ älwøsømk id.

In the text there is one occurrence of a suffix that according to the translation and the
interpretation given in the latter part of the text collection must be understood mainly as
a passive present tense conditional. The suffix KU -säänøw ~ KM -säänøwø seems to
be comprised of the preterite, the conditional and the passive elements and it thus
follows the structure ([T][M][G]). What is exceptional is that the tense marker precedes
both the mood and the gender elements, although the preterite -s- is here evidently part
of the conditional marker without a proper tense function. The meaning of the form is
the present tense. The suffix cluster ends with the gender marker and it lacks the person
element, as does the passive 3rd person singular form as well. Based on the example at
least the following passive conditional represents the impersonal passive:

KM -säänøwø ~ KU -säänøw (3Sg PASSIVE CONDITIONAL)

kõõnk°säänøwø ’one would climb’

»tøt öälnø toorøm-pøsyøl tosytøm kõõnk°øltäp», loåwi.

here maybe god+skill-Instr put up-PrtcPret ladder says

»mätør wõõm ämøn öätyi,

some strength-PxSg1Sg ori has-not

tøg nåk tø kõõnk°säänøwø», loåwi.

here up so climb-Pass.Cond.pret3Sg says

’»Here are some ladders put up with godly skill», says. »Had I strength (enough) or not,
here should (one) now climb up’», says. (Kannisto: ’hier hinauf müßte man nun
klettern’)
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NOMINAL VERB FORMS

The nominal verb forms in Eastern Mansi are the infinitive, the four participles and the
gerund. The infinitive marker is a word final labiovelar. This suffix does not attach to
other suffixes, unless it is assumed that the passive optative is this same suffix attached
to the person endings. This could perhaps be hypothesized on morphological grounds,
but the semantical interpretation does not really support such a hypothesis. The vowel
preceding the labiovelar varies mainly in the same way than the passive optative suffix
described above: in the 1st syllable the transitional vowel is missing, in the 2nd and 4th
syllables it is -ø- and in the 3rd and 5th syllable it is -ä-. This is more like a tendency
than a rule. As a rule, however, the full vowel is always short, unlike the other full
vowel -ää- occurring in the other suffixes which is invariably long.

KM -x° ~ KU -x° (INFINITIVE)

jøx° ’come’ jøx° id.
wøx° ’take’ wøx° id.
teex° ’eat’ teex° id.
tuux° ’enter’ tuux° id.

KM -øx° ~ KU -øx° (INFINITIVE)

åjgøx° ’shout’ åjgøx° id.
ääjøx° ’drink’ äjøx° id.
syisygøx° ’scream’ syisygøx° id.
jääløx° ’walk, go, leave’ jääløx° id.
kønsøx° ’search’ kønsøx° id.
toogøx° ’row’ toowøx° ’take’
jeerlaxtøx° ’fight’ jeerlaxtøx° id.
soopørlaxtøx° ’be at war, fight’ soopørlaxtøx° id.

KM -äx° ~ KU -äx° (INFINITIVE)

komøjäx° ’wed’ xomijäx° id.
tåxømjäx° ’pick lice from’ tåxømjäx° id.
sonsiiläx° ’look’ sonsiiläx° id.
øsøpäx° ’sit down’ øsøpäx° id.
tuulmøntäx° ’steal’ tuulmøntäx° id.
äätøsyläx° ’pick’ äxøtsyäx° id.
peeltäx° ’change’ peeltäx° id.

The infinitive is used with auxiliary verbs. The most frequent auxiliaries are päti,
püümti, jømti ’start, begin’, tanki, wäärøti ’want’, nyori ’try, want’ and the single
person köärøx ’must’.
älkaatøx° tø pümtsøt ’they started fighting’
eek°-ääpii-püw pøltaxtøx° pümtøs ’the old woman’s nephew started to feel scared’
teex° nyorååm ’I want to eat’
wityøng mõõnøl wøx° wäärøtiinø, toosøm mõõnøl wøx° wäärøtiinø ’you want to
take from a wet land, you want to take from a dry land’
sår sonsøx° köärøx ’we must look’.

The declining auxiliary takes all finite endings. It declines in the object
conjugation if the infinitive is followed by a definite object.
 123

tøtmø öälmøx° uusiilään? ’can you lift this?’

tø syüwt påsøng-kom työäty jeekrøng säm kurøm owløl sonspäx° tø nyorøstø
’then the cheerful man the father tried to look at him with the three corners of his
squinted eye’

The combination of the infinitive and the finite verb highlights the intensity of the
action.
mønøx° tø mønwø ton k°äl töärø ’(we) go, going and going through that house’
nookø porkaatøx°, nookø porkaatøx°! ’then they bite, biting and biting each
other’

The third, important function of the infinitive is to denote finality, intention:

woor kønsøx° mønøx° jømtøs ’started going hunting’
nägrøsy, ääpii, näär kønsøx° jøsøn? ’what have you come to search for, you poor boy, you
nephew?’
muuj-kom, koont-kom jåt muujlaxtøx° koontlaxtøx° lyälyøgsøm ’I am ready to visit and
fight a stranger-man, a soldier’
kõõrøs-öänsyøx° kurøm püw öärmø tusløx° møngäänøl ’Kõõrøs-old man’s three sons
go to check the dam’
tow mønøsäg jåmøs uuløm wöärøx° ’they went there to say goodbye’
määnyøtään tärmøl jomliitøwøs pääsyølaxtøx° lyõnkøl ’his daughter-in-law stepped
towards him in order to greet him’.

PARTICIPLE SUFFIXES

The past participle (PrtcPret) is formed with a suffix, where in addition to the element -
m the same vowels than in the infinitive are in use, and they mostly also vary similarly.
The suffix -m attaches directly to the single vowel stems, with the binding vowel is -ø-
in the 2nd syllable and -ää- in the 3rd syllable, of which the latter is thus mostly long
when preceding the suffix m. The vowel -ää- occurs for some reason also in the verb
peelt- ’to change’, and in this same verb the vowel occurred in the 2nd syllable also in
the infinitive, which implies a lexical phenomenon. There are also other exceptions
(rõõpääm / raapääm ’fallen’).

KM -m ~ KU -m (PARTICIPLE PRETERITE)
jøm ’come’ jøm id.

KM -øm ~ KU -øm (PARTICIPLE PRETERITE)

säjøm ’rotten’ säjøm id.
nõõk°øm ’stung’ naax°øm id.
kuuløm ’worn’ xuuløm id.
ääløm ’killed’ ääløm id.
teeløm ’born’ teeløm id.
poolyøm ’frozen’ poolyøm id.
mønøm ’gone’ mønøm id.
jöänkøm ’frozen’ jaankøm id.
toosøm ’dried, dry’ toosøm id.
kansyøm ’known’ xansyøm id.
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KM -ääm ~ KU -ääm (PARTICIPLE PRETERITE)

rõõpääm ’fallen’ raapääm id.
peeltääm ’changed’ peeltääm id.
sågrøpääm ’cut’ sågrøpääm id.
towørtääm ’barred’ towørtääm id.

The basic element in the past participle is the same than the 1st person singular basic
element. These infinitive forms are thus phonetically close with the finite forms in
question. The distinctive factor is the vowel preceding the consonant element, and/or the
tense element in the finite forms suffixes, e.g.
mønøm ’gone’ mønååm ’I go’
møn.gøm ’I go’ (møngååm ’I go to them2’)
mønsøm ’I went’
xåløxtääm ’dug’ xåløxtååm ’I dig (something)’

The preterite participle is usual as a predicative or an attribute that can be either

active or passive in meaning:
uus-keewør öätøm rõõpääm pånlø kojtøl rõõpääm pum kojtøl tok i rõõpøs
’town folk fell like a fallen tree, like a fallen grass’
tääwø woltøm jiiw nårmøl wöärøstø ’he made him a stage out of carved tree’
ton tørmään syääptøstø ääløm põnytetääm ’in that coffin he buried his killed
brother-in-law
joxtmäänøl wojøl nåj õõx°tøs-püxrøp keewørt jål-towørtääm ’when they come,
the virgin is locked in a cellar of stone’.

The preterite participle is also used to form modal converb constructions (such as
the last example clause). The most usual suffix in the infinite participle (PrtcPrs)
is formed of the element -p further with the same binding vowels than the
infinitive and the past participle. Also this suffix attaches to the reflexive suffix
always with the vowel -ø-, even in the case of an uneven syllable (KU
xoontlaxtøp ’fighting’). This suffix under discussion is the only suffix with the
element -p in Eastern Mansi.

KM -p ~ KU -p (PARTICIPLE PRESENT TENSE)

teep ’eating’ teep id.

KM -øp ~ KU -øp (PARTICIPLE PRESENT TENSE)

tusyøp ’standing’ tusyøp id.
pöältøp ’burning’ pöältøp id.
kojøp ’lying’ xojøp id.
mønøp ’going’ mønøp id.
jääløp ’going’ jäløp id.
ooløp ’living, being’ ooløp id.
koontlaxtøp ’fighting’ xoontlaxtøp id.

KM -ääp ~ KU -ääp (PARTICIPLE PRESENT TENSE)

kårilääp ’extinguishing’ xarilääp id.
põõx°tlääp ’shooting’ paax°tlääp id.
säästølääp ’raising’ säästølääp id.
 125

The more infrequent participles, used mostly in the present tense, that is the infinite
participle suffixes, are -ii and -s. As suffixes that form nominal verb forms they are
interesting in so far as both of them are completely equivalent with the highly frequent
and usual verb finite suffixes: 3rd person singular indicative subject conjugation present
tense suffix -ii and the same person preterite suffix-s in the subject conjugation 2. For the
context the suffix -ii is similar to the present tense suffix is clearly in the function of the
infinite participle, the epithets of the characters in the hero’s tales:

KM -ii ~ KU -ii (PARTICIPLE PRESENT TENSE)

wõõtii ’picking’ waatii id.
pupti ’threading, setting’ puptii id.
mäxtøli ’setting a trap, lowering a net’ mäxtøli id.

The whole names are as follows (KU):

[kurøm-täl [k-!!] woor-pupii öätø] poløm-waatii wisyøm-naaj, säöwøny-waatii wisyøm-
naaj
’[daughter of the three fathoms tall forest goblin’s is] a lingonberry picking beautiful
maiden, a bilberry picking beautiful maiden’
wisyøk öä tolyøm puptii wisyøm naaj, jontøp puptii wisyøm naaj (II: 266)
’[The youngest girl,] a thimble slipping beautiful maiden, a threading beautiful maiden’
äös-waatään mäxtii møl-kämkø-nääl-ootør (II: 266)
’on the shore of Ob a traps setting deep-lobster-trap-frame prince’
The same person : äös-waatään mäxtøli täörwityøng kämkø-nääløp ootør
’on the shore of Ob a traps setting heavy-trap-frame prince’ (II: 308)

As stated above, the length of the non-initial syllable vowels does not have a
phonematic function. Despite of this the closing vowel in the 3rd person singular
present tense forms is usually short, and the final -ii in the dual forms is usually long.
The length of the closing vowel varies in the participle. On the phonematic level and in
the phonetic realism in any case the 3rd person singular present tense suffix in the
subject conjugation and the present tense participle suffix discussed here, as well as the
forms carrying these are completely equivalent, thus
puptii’he slips’, ’slipping (he, who slips)’
waatii’he picks’, ’picking (he, who picks)’

Another more infrequent participle, -s has more diverse functions. Some examples
clearly denote infinite activity, while it is possible to interpret some examples also as
indicators of completed activity, at least with the verb ’put to sleep’ (below), where in
the third example (wåjgøløs ’stepped’) the corresponding KM participle is the m-
participle denoting a completed activity. The verbs ’run’ and ’tread’ in the examples can
be translated either as the present tense or the perfective.

KM -s ~ KU -s (PARTICIPLE PRESENT TENSE/PRETERITE)

tees ’eating, eaten’ tees id.
kojøs ’lying’ xojøs id.
kåjtøs ’running, run’ xåjtøs id.

2
Historically it is a question of the same suffixes. The ii-participle and the 3rd person singular present tense marker as
its continuation correspond historically with the actor noun -ja in Finnish, and at the same time e.g. the 3rd person
singular present tense ending in Mordvin.
 126

wojølsøs ’treading, trodden’ wojgøløs id.

åjøltöäløs ’putting to sleep, put to sleep’ åjøltäöløs id.

There is a one example for the first two forms. The informant tells about a robbing of a
wife (where one of the robbed is precisely the puptii-princess, and one of the robbers is
the heavy-trap-frame prince). All example clauses are KU variants:

teepii tees teepøng jort, uulmii

food-Transl eat-Prtc food-Adj partner- dream-Transl

xojøs uulmøng jortii wäjwøst (WV II: 270)

lie-Prtc dream-Adj partner-Transl take-Pass3Pl.pret

’They were taken as food eating partners, in sleep sleeping sleeping-partners’

xom xojøs toxøng jalnø, ootør xojøs

man lie-Prtc mattress-Adj bed-Lat prince lie-Prtc

toxøng jalnø täw i ponwøs (II: 322)

mattress-Adj bed-Lat he and put-Pass3Sg.pret

’[prince] was put on a one-man-lying madrass-ful bed, on a one-prince-lying madrass-

ful bed’

mäönsy-xom wojgøløs såwøm-maa ponøng-maa

mansi+man step-Prtc crust-Adj+land hair-Adj+land

tärmølnø joxtäön (WV II: 306)

on top come-Sbjc2Sg.prs

’you come (– –) to a crusty land stepped by a Vogul man, on a hairy land’

söät nååti xåjtøs töältøng sunt

7 female reindeer run-Prtc haven-Adj mouth

töältään naaløw råwxaatsøt (WV II: 322)

haven-PxSg3Sg-Lat to shore hurry-Sbjc3Pl.pret

’they hurried down to haven-full river mouth’s haven, where seven female reindeer run
(«haven run by 7 female reindeer»)’

joorgøn neeg-äönk ensyøm söät püw åjøltäöløs

Samoyedic woman+aunt gives birth-Prtc 7 son put to sleep-Prtc

ååsøng uuløm worøng jålnø x°åsyään åjgøløwøsøm (WV II: 308)

deep dream corner-Adj bed-Lat for long sleep-(Pass)1Sg.pret

’»deep sleep, into which I was put by the seven sons who were given birth by a
Samoyedic aunt, I have on this corner-full bed for a long time slept»’
 127

The corresponding structure in the KM text (WV II: 256) corresponds with the preterite
participle åjøltöäløm ’put to sleep (by someone)’ (WV II: 257). The participle suffix is
precisely equivalent with the subject conjugation 3rd person singular preterite suffix:
xåjtøs thus both ’he ran’ and ’running / run’, xojøs and similarly’he lay’ and ’lying /
lyable / lain’. The ambiguity caused by the equivalence of this suffix and the previous
participle and finite forms might be dispelled by the other form being finite and the
other infinite. In the example clauses above the interpretation changes towards
unambiguity with the help of the context when a separate — and unambiguous — finite
verb is also present in the clause.

GERUND SUFFIXES

The gerund suffix in Eastern Mansi is -ään ~ -øn ~ -nø. The frequent function of the
suffix is to form the initial parts in compound nouns out of verbs, but some lexicalized
gerunds, such as äjnø-teenø, äjøn-teenø ’drinking-eating’ = ’food’ also occur as such.
The suffix form varies so that only the only suffix attaching to the monosyllabic vowel
stems is the vowel final i.e. the syllable forming suffix -nø (teenø ’that eaten’),
otherwise in bisyllabic feet the vowel and consonant final variants vary freely.
Trisyllabic feet favour the full vowel variant -ään. Also the vowel final variant -äänø
(KM) comprised with a full vowel occurs occasionally.

KM -øn ~ KM -øn (GERUND)

joxtøn ’coming’ joxtøn id.
mønøn ’going’ mønøn id.
äjøn ’drinking’
KM -nø ~ KM -nø (GERUND)
äjnø ’drinking’ äjnø id.
teenø ’eating’ teenø id.
oolnø ’being, living’ oolnø id.
köälnø ’rising’ köälnø id.
joxtnø ’coming’ joxtnø id.
mønnø ’going’ mønnø id.

KM -ään(ø) ~ KU -ään (GERUND)

pølmään ’being frightened’ pølmään id.
jån.giilään(ø) ’playing’ jån.giilään id.
põõnklään ’getting drunk’ paankølään id.
ääjølään ’drinking’ ääjølään id.

The suffix -n is one of the most frequent suffixal consonants and therefore also its
gerund forms are equivalent with several 2nd person finite forms. The context, however,
functions as a separating factor. In addition, regarding the noun inflection, both the 2nd
person singular possessive suffix (-øn) and the lative suffix (-øn ~ -nø) are also similar
in form with the gerund suffix, thus e.g.
äjøn both ’a drink-’ and ’drink (something)’ ääjølään both ’a drink-’ and ’drink (you2
you pl) something’ jon.gøn both ’playing’ and ’play!’ and ’your (1) play’ jonøgnø both
’playing’ and ’to a play (lat)’
The gerund is thus used as the first part in the compound words: jånøgnø-kän ’playing
ground’, äjnø-wity ’drinking water’. Its other important function is to form temporal
converb structures (see p. 000).
 128

The other gerund suffix, with which temporal converbs are formed, is the verbal
noun with the elements -k- ~ -x- that is used only as attached to other suffixes
instead of alone, like the suffix described above. Most examples are of the 3rd
person singular, where the suffix can be interpreted also as a possessive locative
with a shorter px. This also explains the meaning of the converb:

KM -käät ~ KU -käät, -xaat, -xäät (-kø + PxSg3Sg ? + LOCATIVE)

møn.käät ’while going’ møn.käät id.
wonølkäät ’while sitting’ wonølxaat id.
jomiitekäät ’while going’ joomiitekäät id.
k°åsøgkäät ’while praying’ x°åsøgxäät id.
jälgølöälkäät ’while going’ jälgølöälkäät id.
sågørkäät ’while whittling’ sågrøkäät id.

KM -käätøn ~ KU -xaatøn (-kø + Px 3Du)

älkaatkäätøn ’while they2 were fighting’ älxaatxaatøn id.
tosjøxlaxøtkäätøn ’while they2 were beating each other’ tosjøxlaxøtxaatøn id.

The gerunds do not in this case attach to any temporal adverbs nor are there any
case markers attached to them that have a temporal function, which would be
expected in temporal converb structures usually:
teen tåk älkatkäätøn, tosjøxlaxøtkäätøn nyöäny-eek° söälyeläm øl-pägørmäätøs
’while they were there fighting and beating each other the bread-old-woman
pitying rolled away’.
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III SYNTAX: STRUCTURES

WORD ORDER AND CONSTITUENT ORDER

The basic word order in the neutral clause in Mansi is SOV:

om [S] öägöän-püwöän [O] nåløw-pöäjtøgååm [V]
’I [S] put [V] your children [O] in the pot’.

The verb-initial location is also taken by other verb modifiers:

ootør[S] kõõp-jõõtnø [Loc] töäløs [V]
’the prince placed himself in the middle of the boat’
toonäätøl [Temp] käänøng põõwøl käänøtään [Loc] mønøs [V], käänøng uus
käänøtään[Loc] mønøs [V]
’then he went along his path in his pathful village, his road in the roadful town’
neenk [S] põõwøl-kän jõõtnø [Loc] konii [Mod] kojään [V]
’you go lie down on your back in the middle of the village road’.

Verbless clauses include predicative clauses, where the predicative takes the
sentence-final position. The predicative agrees with the subject in number. The
word order is thus S—Pvi. Other modifiers are placed in front of the predicative
complement.
jääpoåm[S, PxDu1Sg] løløngäg? [Pvi, Du]
’are my brothers [S] alive? (»in life») [Pvi]
jääpoåm [S] øng [Temp] løløngäg [Pvi]
’my brothers2 are still alive’
teen [S, 3Du] toorømii [Pvi, Du] äm näärii [Pvi, Du]?
’are they [S] gods [Pvi] or what [Pvi]?’.

In the noun phrase the modifiers take a headword-initial position: the adjective
attribute or the participial attribute precedes the noun, and the modifiers of the
participle (such as the object in the example) precede the participle:
juuntøp [garn] puptii [threading] wisyøm [beautiful] naaj
’beautiful maiden threading garn’
åsmäät [on the pillow] kojnø [resting] åsmøng [plenty of pillow] jortøm
’my pillow mate resting on a pillow’

Related to this general tendency, the genitive also precedes the possessed (see
possessive constructions below), and the postpositions are in use:
kol [’house’] keewørt [PP] ’in the house’
söärøsy [’sea’] öäløm-pöält [PP] ’over the sea’
kotøl [’day’] jõõt [PP] ’in the middle of the day’
koont õõkøt [’strait’] sopii [PP] jønø öämøläänøl öätyi
’the army had no means to cross the strait’.

NEGATION

In the basic proposition of the clause, negation is expressed with an invariant

negative particle added to the predicate KM öät, KU äöt. The negative particle
occupies the position immediately before the verb.
om öäm nägnöän møgløm ~ om öäm nägnöän öät møgløm
 130

’I give you my daughter ~ I do not give you my daughter’

om lyoonkøm kansyiiløm ~ om lyoonkøm öät kansyiiløm
’I know my way ~ I do not know my way’
näg tøg joxtaan ~ näg tøg öät joxtaan
’you come here ~ you do not come here’
nee nåmttal päätøm pättyøtäät öät kooliitø, öät kansyiitø
’the wife with her thoughts lost does not hear him, does not know him’.

The negation of the verbal attribute functioning as the modifier of the noun is
indicated with the caritive affix (KM -tal (-taal), KU -täöl). In other words, the
negative participle is formed with it:
owlø joxttal põõwøl teelø, owlø joxttal uus teelø!
let a never-ending (»end not encountered», »end non-reachable») village be born
here, let a never-ending town be born!
ton k°än-pöälnø määsøs sørii-piilytal sørii-kåntal tolyø-nyål-kåntal juuntøp-tågøl
’on top of it did he put on his harness no sword will permeate, no sword will
seize, no finger will claw’.

Existential verb phrases are negated by replacing the predicate ooli ’to be’ with
the negation predicate KM KU öätyi ’not to be’. The existential clause is also
verb-final (contrary e.g. to the subject-final construction in Finnish):
om ääsyøm öätyi ’is not my concern’
(jägnøl teelmøn öät kansyiitøn, syüknøl teelmøn öät kansyiitøn,) jeg öätyi, syük
öätyi
’(they2 know of no father by birth, of no mother by birth,) there is no father, no
mother’
teen löättaat: öätøm ooli. öätøm öätyi.
’They say that there are people. There are no people.’
nyør-uus töärø-mønnø öämøläät öätyi.
’they could not get through the pole paddock (»they had no possibility to leave»)’.

In the past tense the composite negative predicate form öätyøm ooløs ’was not’ is
used
päri mønøst, ooträänøl öätyøm ooløs
’they went back, their prince was not (there)’.

The same negation word can also turn indefinite, interrogative and other pronouns
into negatives. In addition to these negative pronouns, the clause is also negated
with the negation particle öät ~ äöt or the negation particle öätyi.
öätyi-näär öät kontøs ’he did not find anything’ (näär ’which, what?’)
öätyi-k°åtøl juw-tuunø-kål öätyi ’there is no opening to get in’ (k°åtøl
’somewhere’).

The same negation word öätyi is also used for negating the whole proposition in
either-or structures:
ääliiløn öätyi, nägnöän älwø
’either you kill him or you do not kill him but if someone is able to do it then it is
you’.
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POSSESSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS

In the GN (possessor + possessed noun) constructions the noun expressing the

possessor is not inflected, and the construction is marked with a possessive suffix
(3rd person) attached to the possessed noun. When the possessor is given, the
possessive suffix of the possessed noun alone is sufficient. (sågrøpäät alone
corresponds with the Finnish construction »hänen kirveensä» ’his axe’). The
possessed, marked with a possessive suffix, of a given possessor can naturally be
a possessor noun of another noun (»his axe his blade» ’the blade of his axe’):
kom lølø päri-tuujøpøs ’the spirit of the man returned’
sågrøpäät iilymø mõõnk°ø ååstäg jømtøs ’the blade of his axe had become as
wide as his back’

The personal pronoun in a clause is marked only when necessary: when there is a
wish to emphasize the possessor or a requirement to mark it for the sake of clarity:
om püwøm ’my son’
täw työätyø ’his father’
meen öäsymøn ’our2 grandfather’
töän k°äläänøl ’their house’.

When the pronoun possessor is present it is seldom possible to leave out the
possessive suffix of the possessed. This operation seems not possible in the 1st
and 2nd singular forms. A similar case is leaving out the final possessive suffix in
a possession chain, as shown in the second clause:
möän koløs tokäly tårii wøglöäliitø ’our man (»man of ours») takes it up this
way’
täw työätyø koontøt tøg tø jälsøt ’his father’s troops had come here’.

An existential possessive construction (without the possessive verb) is formed

with a possessive suffix added to the possessed and with the 3rd person singular
of an existential verb, e.g. ooli ’is’, öätyi ’is not’, joxti ’comes’. This is not
necessarily an instance of a habitive possessive proper, but an expression of being
a part of a bigger whole:
täw õõwäät ooløskø, pøl korkii nõõk°øm wømääs ’if the door (»his door») was
indeed (in the house), it was like a hole knocked by a woodpecker’
om jägøm-öä tulmøntøsløn, teep-wånsyørøn öätyi, loåm-wånsyørøn öätyi ’you
have robbed my sister, even though you possess no tablespoon, no soupspoon’
mät wöän joxti lyøpø öätyi ’you will gain strength or will not’.

An alternative, and a more frequent construction for the existential possessive is a

construction formed by a habeo-verb ønsyi, where the possessor is the subject and
the possessed the object of the clause:
om lyõx ønsyååm nägnaan löättøx° ’I have a message to tell you’
äny mät wöä tø(g) ønsyaan ’what powers do you possess now?’
jäg-püw-kääsy koot ønsyaan? ’where do you have your little brother?’
jälwøl-öänsyøx° kuut ønsyøs ’the devil had a container’
töän pöältäänølt ønsyøw jäg-nor öäsy-nor ’we feel father’s hatred towards them,
grandfather’s hatred (that needs revenge)’.
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DITRANSITIVITY AND DATIVE SHIFT

Such constructions are ditransitive, where the verb, in addition to the object
(patient Pat), also takes a recipient (Rec) or some other lative case locative that for
pragmatical reasons can be promoted past the patient in the syntactic hierarchy of
the clause. As recipients are usually animate and recipients inanimate, the dative
shift is a fairly usual syntactic configuration. In the dative shift the recipient
moves into the position of the object, and the patient is demoted to the position of
the adverbial marked with an instrumental case:
NP1 [S] — NP2 [O] [Pat] [nom / akk] — NP3 [Rec] [lat / dat] — V 
NP1 [S] — NP3 [O] [Rec] [nom / akk] — NP2 [Pat] [Instr] — V
Here the patient object is usually indefinite, and both the nominal and especially
the pronominal recipient objects are definite. After the dative shift the predicate of
the clause thus usually follows the object conjugation, and the suffix of the object
number is determined by the number of the recipient (object).
meen [we2] [S] nägnöän [’you’] [Rec] [dat] teenø-kar [’food’] [O] [Pat] [nom]
møgmøn [V] [Sbjc1Du.prs]

meen [we2] [S] nään [’you’] [O] [Rec] [akk] teenø-karøl [’food’] [Pat] [Instr]
møgläämøn [V] [ObjcSg1Du.prs]
’we give you food’
toorøm [’god’ [S] meenöän [’we2’] [Rec] [dat] öä-püw [’child’] [O] [Pat] [nom]
loawøs [V] [Sbjc3Sg.pret]

toorøm [’god’] [S] meenååm [’we2’] [O] [Rec] [akk] öäl-püwøl [’child’] [Pat]
[instr] loawsöä [V] [ObjcDu3Sg.pret]
’god has given us children’
jäg [’father’] [S] püwäännø [’boys’] [Rec] [PxPl3Sg.lat] oosymøsy-köärøk°
[’bundle of keys’] [O] [Pat] [nom] wöäxtøs [V] [Sbjc3Sg.pret]

jäg [’father’] [S] püwään(mø] [’ boys’] [O] [Rec] [PxPl3Sg.akk] oosymøsy-
köärøk°øl [’bundle of keys’] [Pat] [instr] wöäxtsään [V] [ObjcPl3Sg.pret]
’father sent his boys a bundle of keys’

The recipients are the most common targets for the dative shift. Also the
benefactive connected to the verb can be subjected to it although more indirectly, as
in the following examples:
öänøm [’I’] [O] [Ben] [akk] kääwøl [’stone’] [Pat] [instr] äxtølään! [V]
[ObjcSg2Pl.Imp]
’collect stones for me!’
Tänkørmø [’mouse’] [O] [Ben] [akk] äät köärøs-toågøl (’five full granaries’)
løgnøl [’squirrel’] [Pat] [instr] ääløstøn [V] [ObjcSg3Du.pret], äät köärøs-toågøl
nyoxsøl [’sable’] [Pat] [Instr] ääløstøn [V] [ObjcSg3Du.pret]
’they caught the mouse five granaries full of squirrels, five granaries full of sables’

Expressions of place can also be subjected to the dative shift, as can an inanimate
constituent. It is often a case where a locative is marked with a lative case, and
essive is also possible:
ääktø säämiimø [’eyes’ Du] [O] [Loc] [akk] løløng-wityøl [’life water’] [Pat] [instr]
ponsöä [V] [ObjcDu3Sg.pret]
 133

’he put life water to the eyes of the uncle’

[töän ’they’ O akk absent from the surface structure] pöäjøltääm wityøl [’water’]
[Pat] [Instr] soosøntäx° [’to pour Inf] pümtsään [’begin’] [V] [ObjcPl3Pl.pret]
’they started to pour hot water over them’
(kit-wor-ootør tomøn-päätyøtnø nyål-sõõt oonii jål-syäärkøtøs tomøn jõõtnø.)
[Tomøn-päätymø ’bottom of the sea’ O akk absent from the surface structure]
mõõl [’earth’] [Pat] [instr] köältøstø [V] [ObjcSg3Sg.pret], sowøl [’turf’] [Pat]
[instr] köältøstø [V] [ObjcSg3Sg.pret]
’(The prince of Kahdenharju put under water, in the middle of the lake Tuman, to
the bottom of the lake, four hundred tree trunks.) Lifted earth and turf on them.’

PASSIVE

Similar to the dative shift, the passive is also a case of pragmatically alternative
clause constructions. The most common motivation for using the passive is the
topicalization of the patient (object) of the clause, or else some other important
constituent, very often the recipient or the benefactive. When such constituent can
with the help of the passive be promoted to the subject of the clause, it
simultaneously occupies the most important position in the syntactic hierarchy of
the clause, and it is automatically positioned at the beginning of the clause. This
most important subject position in the syntactic hierarchy is also highly relevant in
that it is so evidently familiar to the listener that in practice it is often possible to
leave it unmarked in the clause. The same applies to the subject in the active
clause.
The passive in Mansi is an inverse construction alternative to the active transitive
clause, quite similar to e.g. the passive be in English. Using the passive, the object
of the active clause can be promoted past the original subject in the syntactic
hierarchy of the clause to become the subject of the passive clause, and the subject
of the active clause can, if desired, be marked in the passive clause as an agent in
the lative case. In a prototypical situation, the subject in the active clause assumes
the informed actor (agentive) role and the object assumes the patient role.
NP1 [S] [Ag] [nom] — NP2 [O] [Pat] [nom / acc] — V [act]  NP2 [S] [Pat]
[nom] — NP1 [Agent] [Ag] [lat] — V [pass]
kääsyøm [’my little brother’] [S] [Ag] [nom] nään [’you’] [O] [Pat] [acc] ääliitø
[ObjSg3Sg.prs]

näg [’you’] [S] [Pat] [nom] kääsyømnø [’my little brother’] [Agent] [Ag] [lat]
älwøn [Pass2Sg.prs]
’my little brother kills you’
It is also quite possible to promote the goal of the motion verb, in addition to the
patient object, to the position of the subject in the passive clause:
NP1 [S] [Ag] [nom] — NP2 [Target] [lat] — V [akt]  (NP1 [S] [Ag] [nom] —
NP2 [O] [target] [nom / acc] — V [akt] ) NP2 [S] [target] [nom] — NP1
[Agent] [Ag] [lat] — V [pass]
muuj-kom [’guest’] [S] [Ag] [nom] nägnöän [’you’ [target] [lat] joxti
[Sbjc3Sg.prs]
(
muuj-kom [’guest’] [S] [Ag] [nom] nään [’you’ [target] [lat] joxtiitø
[ObjcSg3Sg.prs]

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näg [’you’] [S] [target] [nom] muuj-komnø [’guest’] [Agent] [Ag] [lat] joxtwøn
[Pass2Sg.prs]
Likewise e.g.
Tøtø kotøl iity-pöälaa koontnø [’army’] [Agent] [Ag] [lat] jøwään [’come’]
[Pass2Pl.prs], joxtwään [’come’] [Pass2Pl.prs]
’today towards the evening an army comes to you, you will be caught by an army’
[teen, ’they2’ S absent from the surface structure] läxwäg [’creep’] [Pass3Du.prs]
koontnø [’army’] [Agent] [Ag] [lat]
’the army crept towards them’

Ditransitive constructions can be passivized based either on the patient object

clause or on the recipient object clause. The latter case is a more frequent one,
again motivated by the hierarchy of animacy. The recipient, in addition to the
agentive, is most frequently the only conscious, human or animate constituent
making the topicalization justified. Either
toorøm [’god’ [S] meenöän [’we2’] [Rec] [dat] öä-püw [’child’] [O] [Pat] [nom]
loåwøs [V] [Sbjc3Sg.pret]

öä-püw [’child’] [S] [Pat] [nom] toorømnø [’god’] [Agent] [Ag] [lat] meenöän
[’we2’] [Rec] [dat] låwwøs [V] [Pass3Sg.pret]
’we were given children by god (»girl-boy»)’
or
toorøm [’god’ [S] meenöän [’we2’] [Rec] [dat] öä-püw [’child’] [O] [Pat] [nom]
loåwøs [V] [Sbjc3Sg.pret]

toorøm [’god’] [S] meenååm [’we2’] [O] [Rec] [akk] öäl-püwøl [’child’] [Pat]
[instr] loåwsöä [V] [ObjcDu3Sg.pret]
’god has given us children’

meen [’we2’] [S] [Rec] [nom] toorømøn [’god’] [Agentti] [Ag] [lat] öäl-püwøl
[’child’] [Pat] [instr] låwwøsäämøn [Pass1Du.pret]
’we were given children by god (»girl-boy»)’
E.g.
[täw ’he’ S absent from the surface structure] påsøng-kom jägøtään [’father’]
[Agentti] [Ag] [lat] öätømøl [’people’] [Pat] [instr] mäjwøs [Pass3Sg.pret], kos
sootør kom, wõõt sootør kom
’shining man, his father gave him people, twenty thousand men thirty thousand
men’
[töän, ’he’, S absent from the surface structure] wityøl [’water’] [Pat] [instr]
lowsaxtøx° [wash’] [inf] köältiiløwt [’carry’] [Pass3Pl.prs]
’they carried water so they can be washed’

CONVERB CONSTRUCTIONS

Modal converb constructions

Modal converb constructions are formed with a combination of a m-participle and
a finite verb.
KM löäsyøm wonlaan KU läösyøm wonläön ’you sit spying’
KM wooplääm jäälaan KU woopjelääm jääläön ’you go spying’
KM pølmääm pättyetäät KU pølmääm päättyetäät ’with fright, frightened’
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KM eesøplääm wonlaat KU nåmsääm eesøplääm wonläöt ’they sit thinking’

A similar modal converb construction is formed with the suffix KM -käg ~ KU -
xii including a translative suffix:
KM uurøkäg kojöät KU uurøxii xojäöt ’they lie guarding’

Temporal and causal converb constructions

Two actions taking place at the same time is indicated with an gerund n by adding
to it a possessive suffix and a temporal particle (e.g. mänt, mäntøl, KU uujøl, KM
wojt ’during’). In the same way than other temporal phrases formed with the
gerund or the participle, the possessive suffixes in these constructions derive from
the class of the singular possessed.
KM KU
mønnøm ’my going’ mønnøm id.
wønøn ’your taking’ wønøn id.
uusnøn ’your well being’ uusnøn id.
uusnäät ’(his) well being’ uusnäät id.
kojnäät ’his laying’ xojnäät id.
joxtnäämøn ’our2 arriving’ joxtnäämøn id.
kuulnäätøn ’their2 staying the night’ xuulnäätøn id.
røgøtnäänøl ’their sweating ’ røgøtnäänøl id.

tok oolnäätøn kojnäätøn wojøl kuul kønsøx° pätsäg

’while being and living (there) they started catching fish’
tokø jån.gønäänøl wojøl, tokø pägørtöäløxtäänäänøl wojøl täw jålkäg
täärøtaxtøs
’when they were playing and wrestling, he sought (on purpose) disadvantage’
meenk jõõsønäämøn köätønäämøn kålt lølønäämøn syoonønäämøn kåritänäämøn
syüwt øl teeløp öäng nåt püwøng nåt mønnø mänt nø(g) eeri-owläämøn, nø
moojt-owläämøn øl tø tåtwø?
’if (when?) we ourselves in between our hands and feet let our soul and spirit
cease, the new lines of daughters and sons wandering our memories of song,
memories of tales moving forward?’
om tuttøläänø wisy õõwømt lääk°øltäänäänøl wojt keepløng nee keepläänøl wøl
towørmäätøt
’when they go through the little door used by me, let their hemful women’s hem
not touch (the frame of the door)’

Also KM mõõ, KU maa ’earth, place’ with the help of the nominal temporal
constructions are formed. ’earth’ can be marked either with a mere possessive
suffix or a possessive locative:
KM mønnø-mõõgäänøl, KU mønnø-maagäänøl ’ while (they) are going’
KM mønnø-mõõmt, KU mønnø-maamt ’while I go’
mønnø-mõõmt öäl om løløngøn öäl om koolømnø
’when (now) I go, (I return) either alive or I will die’
ääjøx° teex° pümtnø mõõgøwt jål-älkøløw, k°åtøm öät rømliiløw?
’when we start to eat and drink let us kill him, how do we do not catch him?’
åm tärmølømt teex° wontøm-mõõgäänølt älkaatøx° pümtsøt
’when he sat down to eat me they started to fight’
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jäni pupi jäni teer lakøl tøg wontøm-mõõgäänølt eeri-owläät, moojt-owläät

tøgøl nok-kønsøtøs.
’when they have settled there as great spirits great gnomes the end of song, the
end of story has been achieved.’

The m-participle denoting a completed action can also be used in forming

temporal or similar constructions with the help of possessive suffixes and case
endings. With other than 3rd person singular possessives a temporal particle (KM
wojøl KU uujøl, KM löät KU läöt) is required. The 3rd person singular does not
require the particle because the longer px-variant can also be interpreted as a
combination of the shorter variant and a locative. Similarly, the possessive
locative of the m-participle in 2nd singular can as such be used as a temporal
construction. In the second example from KU, the suffixes appear in an untypical
order (Cx + Px)

tøt öät kånsyømønt mõõ-säx° eek°äänøl teeløm mõõ-kål pöärt-kål püw tøttø
naankii
’this is, if you do not happen to know, the earth-hole son, the board-hole son
who was given birth to by the land-hillock-old woman, here himself.’
näg om ooløm-mõõm k°åsyø oolmønt koliilöäløsløn?
’while living long have you heard of the land, where I live?’

Instead of the locative it is possible to use the temporal particle (KM wojøl KU
uujøl, KM löät KU läöt):
õx°tøs-påtølmø wöäxtmäät wojøl põnytø k°äl øl-öälømwøs
’when he threw the lump of stone, his brother-in-law’s house lifted up in the air’
lømäät wojøl low sootør kom äk° nyõõl-näälnø keerøjøsään
’while shooting at ten thousand men he pierced into one arrow shaft’
mønømäänøl wojøl söärøsynø joxtøst
’while going/walking/travelling they came to a sea shore’
mønømäätøn wojøl söärøsy-wityøn täärøtaxtsäg
’while going/walking/travelling they2 came to a sea shore’

Temporal syüwt-constructions

Yet another type of temporal constructions is the verb form formed with the
agglutinated particle syüwt (> -syøt, -syt) ’during a time’ (syüw ’time, times’). It
can be added either directly to the participle suffix m, or a combination of the m-
participle and a possessive suffix or a combination of the gerund n and a
possessive suffix (note that in the agglutinated particle the palatal initial
consonant does not assimilate the gerund n-marker nor the final consonant in the
possessive suffix).

KM PrtcPret + Px + syüwt ~ KU PrtcPret + Px + syüwt

jømtmääsyt ’when he is beginning’ jømtmääsyt id
kojmääsyt ’when he is laying’ kojmääsyt [k-!] id.
lowøntaxtmäänøl.syøt ’when they (pl) are lowering’ lowøntaxtmäänøl.syøt id.
wojlømäänøl.syøt ’when they are stepping’ wujølmäänøl.syøt id.
pümtmømsyøt ’when I am beginning’
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mønømøn.syøt ’when you are going’

taarøtämääsyøt ’when (he is) letting go’

KM PrtcPret (+ Px) + syüwt

pöäjøltäämsyøt ~ pöäjøltäämääsyt ’when it is boiling’

KM Act + Px + syüwt ~ KU Act + Px + syüwt

sågrøpäänääsyt ’when cutting, when he has cut’ sågrøpäänääsyt id.
pätmään.syøt ’when you are having to, after you have been having to’
pätmään.syøt id.
jømäänølsyøt ’when they are (pl) arriving’ jømään.syøt ’when they2 are
arriving’
øsynään.syøt ’when they2 are owning’ esynäänøsyt id.

KM PrtcPret + Px + syüwt + ään ~ aan

mønømømsyøtään ’when I was going, when I had gone’
mønømønsyøtään ~ mønømønsyøtaan ’when you are going, when you had gone’
KM Act + Px + syüwt + ään
taarømätnømøsytään ’when I am letting go, when I had let go’

Examples:
muujøng lyonk koontøng lyonk jääløx° pümtmømsyøt mõõ-kålt pöäsøng jiiw-kålt
öät towørmäätååm
’after I started to go on the espousal trip, war trip, I have not been grabbed to an
earth-hole, hole-full tree-hole’
påsøng-kom jägään pookøn joxtøx° jømtmääsyt pon-sop kortkään k°årøl
råwlaxtøs
’when it came (when coming/after coming) to the cheerful man, its father, it
turned into a moulting-full hawk’
kom kojmääsyt åsøm-pänkøtään sørjäät nonkø-tägøtøstø
’when lying down the man hung his sword next to his pillow’
nø jow-sår kotølnø pätmäänsyøt tø päält mõõnø tøg jøsnø?
’into which distress day have you got into (= after you got into) (when) you
have this far come?’
syükäänøl öäl-kuurnøl k°än-wojlømäänøl.syøt sõõnøng öä sõõnønäntøl öäpøng
öä öäpønäntøl lünsyøltääptwøst, nyowømtøwøst
’when they had dashed from their mother’s hem-edge, they were allowed to cry
with the birch-bark-girl’s birch bark, cradle-girl’s cradle and then were let go’ (=
’when they were first being born, they were taken care of as babies and then they
started to walk’).
(mønøst, mønøst.) päri-lowøntaxtmäänølsyøt jøm mõõgäänøl päältø räx°-säm
päätøs, tojii lowøntøsäänøl, tuujt-säm päätøs, töälii lowøntøsäänøl
’(They went, went.) While figuring when there dropped a rain drop on the land
they going on, they figured it as summer, when a snowflake dropped, they
figured it as winter.’
Examples of the n-gerund:
päämøngnyøw-kar sågrøpäänääsyt sågrøp-iilymäät mõõnk°-ääsø kuur mås tø
jäli
’when the stronger man hits, the axe blade goes into the (tree) up to the axe eye’
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nüünø säjøm püwii, neen lo-søm tesyøntöäliinø, wöä(g) öät øsynäänsyøt?

’lads2 rotten into the cunt, are they bones you eat, when you2 have no strength?’