To the question about the case system of the Kumandin language

the article is devoted to a comparative description of the evolution of the case system of the Kumandin language over roughly eighty years and fills the gap in systematic studies of this idiom. The aim is to clarify the inventory of cases, their morphological formatives, and their functional?semantic domains in comparison with classical and contemporary descriptions. The relevance lies in the need for a unified paradigm for further documentation and preservation of the language, as well as for typological generalizations within South Siberian Turkology. The novelty consists in a consolidated analysis of affixation and the grammaticalization of postpositions. The research question concerns the dynamics of the inventory and distribution of functions. Indicators of stability and the directions of systemic shifts are tested. The material derives from published grammatical descriptions and a corpus of examples representing simple, possessive, and pronominal declensions. The methodology includes paradigmatic alignment, inventorying of affixes with regard to phonologically conditioned allomorphy, comparison of functions in constructions of subject, object, and adverbial roles, as well as mapping of spatial and non?physical meanings. Criteria of grammaticalization of postpositions are applied on the basis of stress, derivational productivity, and loss of lexical autonomy. The analysis relies on systematic comparison of forms and meanings with control of diachronic changes. Descriptive and elementary quantitative procedures are employed for verification. The results show the stability of six basic cases in the classical description alongside the establishment of a seven?member paradigm in modern grammar, due to the inclusion of the comitative?instrumental format. The status of the possessive?genitive is specified, with regular distribution of allomorphs according to phonological context. The directional?dative demonstrates an expanded set of markers, the locative covers temporal interpretation, and the ablative preserves the polysemy of origin and source. A shift of postpositions such as la/le, byla/bile toward affixal behavior is noted. In the pronominal paradigm, analogical leveling and convergence with nominal declension are observed, while idiosyncratic forms are retained.

the Kumandin language, case system, the Turkic languages, affixation, grammaticalization