Discussion on complex predicates in the Sakha language

Abstract

This article raises questions related to ambiguities of complex predicates in the Sakha language. One of ambiguities is differentiation of the complex predicate from the compound one. The other is functional auxiliary verbs, which semantically supplement aspectual and modal meanings. For example, the verb бар-‘depart’ adds the meaning of inchoation of an action to a main verb in the converb {-An}: ааҕ-ан бар- ‘be going to read’. Functional auxiliary verbs are the result of grammaticalization in the Sakha language. But the process of grammaticalization has not been accomplished in the Sakha language. Thus, it is possible to make dual interpretations of a predicate аhа-ан бар- as ‘begin to eat’(complex) and ‘eat and go’(compound).