[Lingtyp] Grammaticalization of 1SG verb forms

[Anna Margetts]

Hi Aigul,

I have looked at phenomena related to what you describe as the “abruptness”
use of the Russian imperative and discuss examples from several languages
in this article:

Margetts, Anna. 2015. Person shift at narrative peak. *Language* 91(4).
755–805.



Regards,

Anna

On Fri, 12 Nov 2021 at 12:20, Aigul Zakirova <aigul.n.zakirova at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Dear colleagues,
> I am wondering whether you know of any languages in which a finite 1SG
> verb form (e.g. non-past) is also used in modal contexts (e.g. optative or
> deontic) with subjects which are not 1SG. I am asking because I came across
> such a use in languages I work on, Meadow Mari and Hill Mari (Uralic).
>
> In the examples below a non-past 1SG form is combined with *əl’e*, a form
> of the verb 'to be', to yield an optative reading. In other types of
> optative utterances əl’e is also used, so  əl’e is not very interesting;
> what interests me is the use of the non-past 1SG form.
>
> Meadow Mari
> erla jür lij-am əl’-e!
> tomorrow rain become-NPST.1SG be-AOR.3SG
> ‘If only it rained tomorrow!’
>
> Meadow Mari
> maksim erla tol-am əl’-e
> Maksim tomorrow arrive-NPST.1SG be-AOR.3SG
> ‘If only Maksim (person's name) arrived tomorrow!’
>
> To put it more broadly, if you have encountered cases where a certain
> "petrified" person-number verb form is used in atypical contexts which are
> distant from the original form's meaning, I am also interested in such
> cases. What comes to my mind is
> -formal coincidence or resemblance between indicative and imperative 2PL
> forms
> -use of imperatives in Russian to convey abruptness (А он как побеги!) or
> in conditional / concessive clauses (Сделай он это, все было бы по-другому)
> But maybe there is something else on the matter?
>
> Best,
> Aigul Zakirova
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