Polyfunctional subordinating constructions in Bartangi: Towards a unified analysis


2025. №3, 30-61

Oleg I. Belyaev
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia; Institute of Linguistics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia; belyaev@ossetic-studies.org

Abstract:

In the article I consider the system of subordination in Bartangi, one of the Pamir languages of Mountainous Badakhshan (Iranian branch of Indo-European). I describe the marking strategies of all major subordinate clause types and demonstrate that the core of the system consists of only three subordinators — preverbal ca, clause-internal di (diIN) and interclausal di (diEX) — each of which has a remarkably broad range of usage. I suggest that for each of these subordinators, its range of functions can be derived from a single semantic or syntactic definition. I propose treating constructions with ca as an extended type of relativization — a kind of correlatives — that lack dedicated marking of the relative or matrix NP and can thus have a very wide range of meanings. Constructions with diEX are treated as assertive clauses that simultaneously serve as topics for the main clause: this allows unifying their temporal, narrative, and conditional functions. Finally, I treat the subordinator diEX as lacking any special semantics, serving as a discourse particle that signals that the sentence is incomplete and will be immediately followed by a continuation clause. Such a system, having an extremely narrow inventory of markers with very abstract meanings, is remarkable for the typology and theory of subordination, as well as for the comparative study of Iranian languages.

For citation:

Belyaev O. I. Polyfunctional subordinating constructions in Bartangi: Towards a unified analysis. Voprosy Jazykoznanija, 2025, 3: 30–61.

Acknowledgements:

This research has been supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project No. 22-18-00528 “Clausal connectives in sentence and discourse: Semantics and grammaticalization paths”. I am grateful to all speakers of Bartangi who helped me in my fieldwork and agreed to act as language consultants, in particular to Fayzmamad Nazariev, Kholiqnazar Kuchakshoev, Pulod Kuchakshoev, Jonali Pirmamadov, Anoyatsho Soibnazarov and Kuchaksho Soibnazarov. Some of the data discussed in this paper have been presented as talks at the Pamir field trip seminar (July 2023, Khorog, Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast, Tajikistan) and at the 10th International Conference on Iranian Linguistics (January 2025, Viterbo, Italy); I am grateful to the audience of these talks for all their comments. Finally, I thank two anonymous reviewers of Voprosy Jazykoznanija for their comments and suggestions. All errors are mine.