Existential constructions in the Yakut language: the model of the beginning of existence, events, and actions

This article explores the syntactic models of existential constructions in the Yakut language. It examines the model of the beginning of existence, event, and action in relation to the problem of identifying core and peripheral means of expression as elements of the field of functional-semantic categories. The relevance of this article stems from modern approaches to the study of the Yakut language as a system represented by multi-level means of expression. The sentence, as the basic syntactic unit, is represented in a model that «unites the invariants of minimal structural schemas that ensure sentence completeness and the generalized propositions associated with them». The structural model of the beginning of existence, event, or action in the Yakut language consists of a subject and an existential predicate, expressed by verbs of being. The typical meaning of the model is «to begin (to start) one's existence, to appear (to appear), to become (to become) existing; to begin (to start) performing some action, to be accomplished, to occur». This study is based on a functional-semantic approach to studying linguistic phenomena, which assumes a holistic organization of universal semantic categories. The study utilizes a continuous sampling method to gather material from lexicographic sources, a modeling method, and a glossing method to present illustrative material. A novel feature is the presentation of a model of the beginning of existence, event, and action as a component of the functional-semantic field of being in the Yakut language. The basis of this study is the functional-semantic approach to the study of language phenomena, which assumes a holistic organization of universal semantic categories. The study used the continuous sampling method when forming material from lexicographic sources, and the glossing method to present illustrative material. What is new is the presentation of the model of causation of the beginning of existence as a component of the functional-semantic field of beingness in the Yakut language. It has been determined that the subject of the syntactic model under consideration can be expressed by a noun, a substantivized adjective, or a pronoun in the primary case in the plural or singular, denoting an animate or inanimate person. The predicate of this model can be expressed by basic verbs representing the subgroup of the beginning of existence of the lexical-semantic group of verbs of being, such as sagalan (to begin), teree (to give birth, to be born, to be born), yeskee (to be born, to originate from, to occur, to be born from somewhere, to grow up somewhere).

functional grammar, category, beingness, semantics, function, model, construction, means of expression, verb, Yakut language