Expressions of the Concept of the Verb ‘To Go’ in Udihe: Polysemy and Directions of Metaphorical Transfers

This article was written according to the author’s report in September 2023 at the Tomsk State Pedagogical University at the international conference “XXX Dulson Readings”. This work describes how to express the concept of the verb ‘to go’ in Udihe. After analyzing about 80 verbs meaning ‘to go,’ we have concluded that this verb is expressed in the language in two basic ways – lexically and derivationally. The derivational suffix -nawith the semantic purpose of the movement is attached to the verbs of different lexical-semantic groups and transfers these verbs into the lexical-semantic group ‘to go’ (ulene- ʻto go digʼ, guŋne- ʻto go say something). An important feature is the lexical diversity of the verbs, which denote not only general but also specific types of the verb ‘to go’ (eme- ʻto comeʼ, uǯa- ʻto follow the track of an animal, aŋanagi- ʻto go backʼ). In addition, this paper discusses several verbs whose figurative meaning correlates with the concept of the verb ‘to go’ (ñuhana- ʻdiveʼ, edine- ʻblow windʼ). This study is based on the work devoted to the related Manchu-Tungusic languages – Manchurian, Nanay, Evenki, Oroch, and Orok (Uilta). The material of the Samoyed and Turkic languages that are typologically similar to Udihe – Nenets, Tuvan, Altai, and Khakass – is also of interest. In addition, the material of the Slavic and Germanic languages that are typologically different from Udihe – Russian and English – is also involved in the study.

Udihe language, the concept of the verb ‘to go,’ the word formation method, lexical variety, purpose of movement, figurative use of verbs, Manchu-Tungusic languages