The Turkic analytical construction in the Abyi dialect of the Yakut language (based on field research)

Today, there is a gradual reduction in the use of specific dialectal features in the Yakut dialect, some of which are rooted in the archaic characteristics of the Yakut language. The Abyi dialect, in particular, is at risk of losing certain linguistic phenomena that are unique to its morphological system. The aim of this paper was to examine the analytical form of the -ya participle and the kel- auxiliary verb, and to conduct a comparative historical analysis of their components. To achieve this objective, the following steps were taken: 1) to identify the frequency of use of the analytical construction in question in the speech of the Abyi Yakuts; to analyze the dialectal analytical construction into components; 3) to compare the dialectal analytical construction with a commonly used free word combination. The survey results, which indicate that the construction remains functional for approximately half of the participants, confirm its relatively high level of vitality. As part of the grammatical analysis, full-fledged words function as the main part of speech and morphemes acquire additional markers. In other Turkic languages there is a similar analytical construction in the composition -gu- kel-, where the components also become indicators of other grammatical categories. The free word combination of the -yah participle, the nominal word sanaa/baga with a possessive affix and the kel- auxiliary, which is part of the norm of the literary language, is a formation of a later period. When speakers of central or relatively close dialects shifted to other modality expressions mode, the use of an archaic form became established in the periphery. It is therefore necessary to identify factors that contribute to the preservation of ancient linguistic phenomena in northern dialects of the Yakut language, in order to maintain the unique linguistic heritage of the North and Arctic regions of the Russian Federation in the future.

1. Malysheva NV, Borisova VS, Turantaeva NV, et al. The Abyi dialect of the Yakut language (based on field materials). Oriental Studies. 2025;2 (in Russian). DOI: 10.22162/2619-0990.

2. Collection of dialectological materials of the Yakut language. Yakutsk: Yakut book publishing house; 1961:130 (in Russian).

3. Korkina EI. Northeastern dialect zone of the Yakut language. Novosibirsk: Publishing house “Nauka”; 1992:267 (in Russian).

4. Comparative-historical grammar of the Turkic languages. Morphology. Moscow: Nauka; 1988:563 (in Russian).

5. Yuldashev AA. On the problem of analyticity in Turkic languages. Voprosy Jazykoznanija. 1965;2:55– 65 (in Russian).

6. Ozonova АА. Modal analytical constructions of the Altai language: Summary of Candidate’s dissertation (Philology). Novosibirsk: 1999:22 (in Russian).

7. Filippov GG. Modal forms of participles in -yah and -ya in the Yakut language. Vestnik of NEFU. 2015;48(4):109–121 (in Russian).

8. Korkina EI. Analytical constructions in the participial form ending in -yahpyn and functional-modal verbs in the Yakut language. Yakutskiy filologicheskiy sbornik: (sbornik nauchnykh trudov). Yakutsk; 1976:42–52 (in Russian).

9. Karymbayeva KM. Analytical form of the verb and its difference from outwardly similar linguistic phenomena. Vserossiyskiy zhurnal nauchnykh publikatsiy. 2012;2(12):74–75 (in Russian).

10. Yuldashev AA. Analytical forms of the verb in Turkic languages. Moscow: Nauka; 1965:275 (in Russian).

11. Grammar of the modern Yakut literary language: in 2 volumes. V. 1: Phonetics and morphology. Moscow: Nauka; 1982:495 (in Russian).

12. Filippov GG. The future participle in -yakh and the form in -ya in the Yakut language. Yakutsk: Publishing house of Yakut State University; 1996:110 (in Russian).

13. Aglamova MT. Methods of expressing imperativeness and desirability in Turkic languages: Summary of Candidate’s dissertation (Philology). Tashkent: 1966:30 (in Russian).

14. Voronkin MS. Dialect system of the Sakha language: Education, interaction with lit. language and characteristics. Novosibirsk: Publishing house “Nauka”; 1999:196 (in Russian).

15. Kharabaeva VI. EI. Korkina about verbal personal-related modal constructions in the Yakut language. In: Danilova NI., Popova NI., Samsonova YeM. (ed.) Evdokia Innokentievna Korkina: biography and interpretation of scientific and creative heritage: collection of scientific articles. Yakutsk: Institute for Humanitarian Research and North Indigenous Peoples Problems; 2018:31–35 (in Russian).