Latvian Verb Research Articles

Latvian verbs in -ēt: semantics vs. conjugation

The conjugation of secondary Latvian verbs is determined with high accuracy by their suffixes. However, verbs with the suffix -ē- are different: they are more or less equally divided between the traditional second and third conjugations. The article sets out to prove or disprove the hypothesis that the assignment of Latvian verbs with the suffix -ē- to a specific conjugation correlates with their semantics. For that purpose, 705 disyllabic verbs ending in -ēt were collected and marked by their origin, transitivity, and conjugation. Verbs that are not obvious borrowings were then divided into semantic classes. As a result of the semantic classification, the working hypothesis was confirmed: second conjugation verbs ending in -ēt predominantly denote agentive actions (creation, destruction, modification, etc.), whereas third conjugation verbs usually denote phenomena, processes, states, and sound production. The results suggest that the Latvian verbal system exhibits a close interrelation between semantics and morphology.

Syntactic and aspectual functions of Latvian verbal prefixes in Livonian

This paper presents an analysis of an assumed contact-induced change in the Livonian modes of expressing perfective aspect: the adoption of Latvian-origin verbal prefixes expressing perfective aspect. The main objective of this article is to determine whether long-standing contact between Livonian and Latvian has led to the introduction of verbal prefixes as both pure lexical elements and, in parallel, as markers of grammatical functions that distinguish Livonian from its closest cognate languages. The current study is based on the data derived from unpublished recordings and published written material representing spoken Livonian, already extinct as a first language in the traditional speech area.
 There are a total of eleven Latvian-origin verbal prefixes in Livonian, a language which usually does not display this category. The prefixes are as follows: aiz-, ap-, at-, ie-, iz-, nuo-, pa-, pie-, pōr-, sa-, and uz-. In Latvian, most of these items can be used as bound verbal prefixes and also prepositions marking adverbial functions. In Livonian, these prefixes can be combined with both Livonian and Latvian verbs but, as a rule – except for pa- – they do not occur as prepositions. The frequency of their occurrence in the data varies considerably and, presumably, corresponds to the degree that a given prefix may derive perfective verbs. In fact, verbal prefixation can be considered, to some extent, a means for expressing perfective aspect in Livonian, thereby adding a secondary strategy to the inherent Finnic way of expressing aspectual oppositions, namely the object case alternation and verbal particles.

Latvian verbs of speaking and their relations to evidentiality

The paper offers a functional analysis of three Latvian verbs of speaking used in their indicative third person forms – saka, runā and stāsta ‘say(s), speak(s) and talk(s)’ – based on the Latvian language corpus online (www.korpuss.lv) and, additionally, on examples excerpted from Internet discourse. The article discusses semantic and syntactic similarities and differences between these words, the functions of particular constructions distinguished according to specific syntactic criteria (presence vs. absence of a subject), and the use of these verbs in combination with the Latvian verb form traditionally associated with (potential) evidential meanings, the oblique (atstāstījuma izteiksme). While the use of verbs of speaking for introducing reported speech is seen as unproblematic, the relationship between verba dicendi and evidentiality requires more attention and remains in focus throughout this study. In order to offer an in-depth overview of the nature of this relationship, the relations between reported speech and evidentiality, as well as the oblique and evidentiality, are also briefly considered. The paper concludes that the possibility of the three verbs functioning as evidential markers depends on considerations of theoretical/terminological nature (how to define evidentiality, should reported speech be considered part of it, etc.) and also, to some extent, on the way the subject is realized in verba dicendi constructions (specific human agent vs. non-specific empty subject and absent or zero subject).

Estonian equivalents of the Latvian verb prefix aiz-

Estonian equivalents of the Latvian verb prefix aiz-

Expressing the Latvian verb prefix ie- in Estonian

Expressing the Latvian verb prefix ie- in Estonian

Latvian dabūt 'get': An acquisitive modal?

Depending on the context the Latvian verb dabūt ‘get’ expresses either necessity or possibility in combination with the infinitive, which makes it similar to what is known as “acquisitive modals” in other languages, such as Swedish and Estonian. The Latvian verb is different in that it is implicative rather than modal, i.e. the necessity or possibility that it expresses is always actualized, unless the verb is negated. The use of dabūt with the infinitive has developed from the meaning ‘onset of possession’ alongside other meanings that include ‘displacement/change of state’ and ‘unpleasant experience/damage’, the former also being found with acquisitive verbs in other languages.

Otrā un trešā konjugācija agrākajās latviešu gramatikās

THE SECOND AND THIRD CONJUGATIONS IN THE EARLIEST LATVIAN GRAMMARSSummaryThe earliest writers on Latvian inherited much of their framework from Latin, but many ques­tions required independent empirical analysis, especially in verb morphology. The present tense contrast between dzied-u and strād-āju proved particularly troublesome.Rehehusen (1644) seems to have been hardly aware of the problem. Büchner (c. 1670) did little more than note the two types. Langius (1685) did not refer to the problem at all. Dreszell (1685) recognized the distinction between monosyllabic and polysyllabic infinitives, but his treatment of polysyllables was highly confused. Adolphi (1685) provided the first extensive treatment, but yet left many details unresolved. The „Dispositio imperfecti...“ (1732) offered a new theoretical ap­proach in which the present (not the infinitive) serves as the starting-point, but this innovation, both in practice and in theory, proved to be unworkable. The next grammar, "Lotavica Gram-matica” (1737), reverted to a re-statement of Adolphi’s views.It is only with Stender (1761), who, ironically, expressed grave doubts about the organization of polysyllables, that further real progress is made. His description is inferior to the modern theory in minor respects only. His work stands as the culmination of the first phase of research on the Latvian verb.

Latviešu valodas verbu semantiskās sistēmas analīzes veids

ANALYSIS OF LATVIAN VERBS AS A SEMANTIC SYSTEMSummaryThe present paper suggests the way of describing the meanings of Latvian verbs as a semantic system. Separate meanings as concrete expressions of processual indication are stated in the first step of study. The second step deals with the interrelations of meanings. Three basic points should be clarified here: the dependence of meaning upon the mode of cognition of reality; the relation of meaning to the time axis; the meaning and the identification of situation. The verb meaning tota­lity as the expression of the qualities of the united wholeness is discussed in the third step.The author considers that such analysis gives the possibility of describing the lexical nļeanings of verbs as a semantic system of stating the logico- semantic types of verbal sentences and of con­structing studies of the verb semantic systems.Making use of the notions of judgement and proposition, nine types of verbal sentences are obtained: the qualification of the subject with the one-place proposition; the qualification of the subject with the two-place proposition; the classification of the subject with the one-place proposi­tion; the classification of the subject with the two-place proposition; the existence of the subject as a zero-place proposition; the existence of the subject as a one-place proposition; the relation of the subject in a way of a two-place proposition; the relation of the subject in a way of a three-place proposition; the relation of the subject in a way of a four-place proposition.

Rytų baltų <em>CiR</em> tipo veiksmažodžiai

Rytų baltų <em>CiR</em> tipo veiksmažodžiai

HOLVOET, A.: Studies in the Latvian Verb

Holvoet, Axel: Studies in the Latvian Verb. Kraków, Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego, 2001, gr.-8°, 209 S. (Baltica Varsoviensia, Tom czwarty. [Band 4.]). Geb.

Tense formation chains for Latvian verbs (1644–1761)

(1978). Tense formation chains for Latvian verbs (1644–1761) Journal of Baltic Studies: Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 129-137.