The Spatial Concept ‘Proximity’: Linguistic Expressive Means in Mongolic Languages Reviewed

Abstract

Introduction. The article deals with key lexical and morphological means of expressing the spatial concept of proximity in Mongolic languages. Such lexical means include adjectives, adverbs and verbs, while morphological ones are case forms and postpositions. Goals. The study aims to describe key linguistic means of expressing the concept of proximity in Mongolic languages. Materials. The work analyzes Mongolic dictionary entries and texts contained in national corpora of the examined languages. Results. The analysis shows there are multi-level linguistic means of expressing the concept ‘proximity’, all lexical and morphological tools being presented in static and dynamic locative situations. Adjectives in attributive constructs, spatial adverbs, verbs that initially comprise some spatial semantics are widely used to express the meaning of being, moving nearby, or approaching. For example, the meaning of staying near a certain object can be conveyed by static localization verbs, while the direction of movement towards the object, approaching a landmark can be conveyed by dynamic localization verbs. The grammatical expressive means traced are case forms and postpositions which are also used in various types of contexts (location, orientation towards a landmark, movement in a neutral direction). Semantics of postpositions, in contrast to case forms, is certain enough. Postpositions with the meaning ‘proximity’ cluster together to form the most numerous group in Mongolic languages. Conclusions. The conducted analysis attests to a variety of expressive means pertaining to the concept ‘proximity’ and reveals peculiarities of their use in related Mongolic languages. The examined language expressive means are of significant interest for semantic typology at large.

Keywords

• space
• proximity
• mongolic languages
• lexical and morphological expressive means