Votian/Present Tense Indefinite Voice

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Indefinite voice

The indefinite voice describes an action without giving any information about it's agent. Hence a present tense indefinite expression like juvvaz could be translated approximately as: "Somebody drinks!". We don't bother ourselves clarifying, who is drinking.

Mood	Negation verb	Main verb ending
Present tense indicative		-t'aksen
Present tense indicative negation	epi	-t'ak

• The -t'ak suffix is composed of an indefinite voice marker -tta and a present tense marker -k.

But it seems to have been replaced with the -tak infinitive by metanalysis. See the morphophonology chapter below.

• The *-t'aksen suffix was composed of the previous one and 3. person's singular hen .
  • The ks cluster was replaced later with ss both in Votian (like) dialects of Ingria and Estonia hence producing -t'aksen > -tassen .

Morphophonology

• The final -k is pronounced as -G only in Eastern Votic dialect e.g. ep tuллaG ('Nobody comes'). All the other dialects both in Ingria and Estonia have lost the phoneme *k in the end of words e.g. ep tuллa.
• The final -n was pronounced as a prolongation of the preceding vowel e.g. pan+t'aksen > pannassē̮ ('Somebody puts' - Pontizõõ dialect ).
  • In Votian like dialects of Estonia the long vowels without primary stress have been shortened (influenced by Mid Estonian dialect) e.g. süö+t'aksen > süässe ('Somebody eats.' - Lüganuse dialect).

The vowel a alternates with ä and e̮ alternates with e according to vowel harmony rules.

• pan+t'aksen > pannassē̮ ('Somebody puts' ) - Pontizõõ dialect
• pes+t'aksen > pesässē ('Somebody washes' ) - Pontizõõ dialect

• The -ta component of the suffix has usually been assimilated with preceding dental consonants: l, л, n, r, s, t like the -t'ak infinitive e.g. epi tuл+t'ak > ep tuллaG ('Nobody comes').
• The -ta component of the suffix will be assimilated also with preceding stressed long (labialized) vowels: o, u, ö, y like the -t'ak infinitive producing:
  • ō + ta > uvva
  • ū + ta > uvva
  • ȫ + ta > üvvä
  • ǖ + ta > üvvä
    • e.g. jō+t'aksen > juvvassa ('Somebody drinks').
• The -ta component of the suffix will lose it's t after unstressed vowels like the -tak infinitive e.g. se̮ve̮tta+t'aksen > se̮ve̮ttāssē̮ ('Somebody dresses') - Pontizõõ dialect.

• Indefinite voice suffixes take a consonant stem if available.
• But verbal stem is always in the same grade as the -tak infinitive and plural of the second person imperative.
  • лuke̮assa ('Somebody reads.') ~ лuke̮a ('to read') ~ лuke̮gā ('Read!' - plural) X лuge̮G ('Read!' - singular)
  • vs. magatassa ('Somebody sleeps.') ~ magata ('to sleep') ~ magatkā ('Sleep!' - plural) X makā ('Sleep!' - singular)

It seems to be a metanalytic feature, because a verbal stem is always in the weak grade in front of any indefinite voice marker in other Baltic-Finnic dialects .

Dialectal alternatives

• Dialectal alternatives of the negation verb epi were described in the lesson about present tense negation e.g. ep tuллa vs. ei tulla ('Nobody comes.') .

• In Ingria:

1. Eastern Votic dialect
   1. The final -k is pronounced as -G e.g. eb e̮ллaG.
   2. The geminated ss is degeminated e.g. kutsu+t'aksen > kutsuasē̮ ('Somebody invites' ).
2. Western
   1. Hill Votic dialect: Kattila and surroundings
      1. The suffix -t'aksen has became -tassa or -tässä according to vowel harmony rules e.g. ripussa+t'aksen > ripussāssa ('Somebody hangs' ) vs. repi+t'aksen > repiässä ('Somebody tears' )
      2. The suffix -t'aksen may have lost its final syllable and became -tas̄ or -täs̄ according to vowel harmony rules e.g. лauлa+t'aksen > лauлās̄ ('Somebody sings')
   2. Valley Votic dialect: Mati and surroundings
      1. The suffix -t'aksen has became -taz or -täz according to vowel harmony rules e.g. sȫ + t'aksen > süvväz ('Somebody eats' ) vs. ve̮tta+t'aksen > ve̮ttāz ('Somebody takes' )
      2. The suffix -t'aksen may still occur with it's final syllable e.g. -taze̮ or -täze according to vowel harmony rules.
   3. Pontizõõ dialect
      1. The suffix -t'aksen has became -tassē̮ or -tässē according to vowel harmony rules e.g. pan+t'aksen > pannassē̮ ('Somebody puts' ) vs. pes+t'aksen > pesässē ('Somebody washes' )
   4. Vaipooli
      1. Jõgõperä dialect
         1. The suffix -t'aksen has been replaced with -tā or -tǟ (influenced by Ingrian dialects) e.g. лauлo+t'aksen > лauлotā ('Somebody sings') vs. tšüsü+t'aksen > tšüzütǟ ('Somebody asks' )
         2. In front of any indefinite voice marker the stem-vowel a alternates with e̮ and ä alternates with e e.g. levvetǟ ('Somebody finds' vs. levvä - the 2. person's singular imperative). This example is composed for Wikiversity and needs verification.
         3. Verbal stem is always in the weak grade in front of any indefinite voice marker e.g. itke̮+t'aksen > idge̮tā ('Somebody cries').

• Alutaguse dialects

1. The suffix -t'aksen has became -tasse or -tas̆se (after an unstressed syllable) e.g. tuo+t'aksen > tuasse ('Somebody brings' ) - Lüganuse dialect vs. tuo+t'aksen > tūvas̆se ('Somebody brings' ) - Iisaku dialect
   1. The suffix -t'aksen may substitute -t'ak suffix by negation e.g. epi tuo+t'aksen > ei tuvas̆se ('Nobody brings' ) - Lüganuse dialect
2. In front of any indefinite voice marker the stem-vowel a alternates with e̮ and ä alternates with e e.g. laula+t'aksen > laulet̆tasse ('Somebody sings') - Jõhvi dialect.
3. Verbal stem is always in the weak grade in front of any indefinite voice marker e.g. keittä+t'aksen > keitet̆tässe ('Somebody boils').

The suffix -t'aksen may have been replaced with -ta or -Da (possibly influenced by Estonian coastal dialects) e.g. vestä+t'aksen > vestetä ('Somebody whittles')

1. The suffix -t'aksen may have been replaced with -tta or -t̆ta (after an unstressed syllable) (possibly influenced by Estonian coastal dialects) e.g. kisku+t'aksen > kisut̆ta ('Somebody tears' )
2. The -ta component of the suffix has usually been assimilated with preceding dental consonants: l, n, r, s, t like the -tak infinitive e.g. me̮ttel+t'aksen > me̮ella ('Somebody thinks'), pes+t'aksen > pessäs̆se ('Somebody washes') - Lüganuse dialect.
3. The -ta component of the suffix will be assimilated also with preceding stressed long (labialized) vowels and diphtongs: uo, ū, üö, ǖ like the -tak infinitive producing
   1. in archaic Lüganuse dialect
      1. uo + ta > ua
      2. ū + ta > ua
      3. üö + ta > üä
      4. ǖ + ta > üä
   2. elswhere in Alutaguse dialects
      1. uo + ta > ūva
      2. ū + ta > ūva
      3. üö + ta > ǖvä
      4. ǖ + ta > ǖvä
         1. e.g. tuo+t'aksen > tua - Lüganuse dialect ~ tūva - Jõhvi dialect ('Somebody brings' )

Both suffixes with -sse component and without it may be found in Alutaguse runic songs , what makes it difficult to decide which option was the endemic one.

Other Finnic dialects

• Standard Finnish : lue-taan ('Somebody reads.') / ei lue-taʔ ('Nobody reads.')
• Vesjegonski Karelian dialects : lugie-tah ('Somebody reads.') / ei lugie-ta ('Nobody reads.')
• Central Vepsian dialects : luge-das ('Somebody reads.') /
• Hevaha Ingrian dialects : lue-Dān ('Somebody reads.') / ei lue-DaG ('Nobody reads.')
• Standard Estonian : loe-takse ('Somebody reads.') / ei loe-ta ('Nobody reads.')
• Räpina South Estonian dialects : loe-ttas̀ ('Somebody reads.') / ei loe-ttaʔ ~ loe-tta ̮aiʔ ('Nobody reads.')

See also

• Grammar of Votian dialects (syllabus)
• Votian indefinite imperative
• Translative

Educational level: this is a non-formal education resource.

Type classification: this is a lesson resource.

Completion status: Deliberately incomplete for educational purposes.

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