VALENCY OF THE VERBS ЛУДАШ ‘TO READ’ AND ВОЗАШ ‘TO WRITE’ IN THE MARI LANGUAGE

Abstract

The article deals with the grammatical means of expression of the actantial and the circonstance structure of Mari predicates indicated by verbs ‘to read’ and ‘to write’. The research is based on contextual analysis of different Mari texts - fiction, folklore and articles. Special attention is paid to the semantic roles of the mentioned verbs in simple sentences. The results of investigation show that the verb ‘to read’ has 18 semantic valency frames, 25 models of actantial structure and 38 models of circonstance structure in simple sentences. As for the verb ‘to read’, it has 20 semantic valency frames, 28 models of actantial structure and 46 models of circonstance structure in simple sentences. Syntactic valencies, formed according to one and the same model, fulfill different semantic functions. Some postpositions act as a grammatical form of both actantial and circonstance structures of a sentence. Obligatory valency of verbs under study is represented in the construct: Subject - Recipient - Object - Predicate. Content is the main valency of the verbs denoting perception. As for the verb ‘to write’, it is usually followed by the word denoting an instrument or a tool. Interesting idiomatic expressions and verbal phrases with metonymic meaning have been found in Mari texts.