On adverbial clauses in Udmurt

Abstract

This paper presents three types of non-finite adverbial clauses in Udmurt: the ones encoded with the suffixes -(e)mja, -(o)nja, and -(o)ńńa. I propose that these suffixes should be decomposed morphologically and that these non-­finite adverbial clauses are to be analyzed as postpositional phrases. In this way, the paper contributes to the analysis of non-finite adverbial subordination in Udmurt. Moreover, the description of -(o)ńńa-clauses in the Middle Cheptsa dialect, which have not been previously described in the literature, also deepens our knowledge of Udmurt dialectal syntax. Additionally, this study has implications for our understanding of the Udmurt case system, as it makes a novel proposal regarding the adverbial case in Udmurt.