Experiencing time in Estonian constructions with an adjective and an MA-infinitive

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F00216224%3A14210%2F20%3A00117116" target="_blank" >RIV/00216224:14210/20:00117116 - isvavai.cz</a>

Result on the web

<a href="http://www.baltistica.lt/index.php/baltistica/article/view/2372" target="_blank" >http://www.baltistica.lt/index.php/baltistica/article/view/2372</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.15388/baltistica.55.1.2372" target="_blank" >10.15388/baltistica.55.1.2372</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Experiencing time in Estonian constructions with an adjective and an MA-infinitive

Original language description

The article is concerned with an Estonian construction such as in Sügis on kiire tulema ‘Autumn is quick to come’, Aastad on kärmed kuluma ‘Years are quick to pass’, Petlik mulje on kerge tekkima ‘False impression is easily formed (lit. false impression is easy to come into existence)’, Haavad on raksed paranema ‘Wounds will heal with difficulty (lit. wounds are difficult to heal)’ in which a combination of an adjective and an infinitival form (the MA-infinitive in illative) is used to characterize the subject. I analyse this construction as a specific variant of a semantically less specific and more widespread Estonian construction with the same components (X is ADJ V-MAINF). The meaning of the specific variant analysed here is related to experience of time and the sentences such as those above give a prediction as to how likely or unlikely an event is to occur or is experienced as such. The adjective usually specifies the change as swift, easily and inevitably coming or as hindered and improbable. The verb in MA-infinitive is mostly a dynamic existential verb denoting either coming into existence or ceasing from it. The subject of the sentence gets an event-like interpretation even if such meaning is not a primary one for the respective NP (c. f. petlik mulje ‘false impression’, haavad ‘wounds’). This specific variant is then due to its specific semantic features analysed as an extension in respect to the more general Estonian construction X is ADJ V-MAINF.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_ost - Miscellaneous article in a specialist periodical

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

60203 - Linguistics

Project

—

Continuities

S - Specificky vyzkum na vysokych skolach

Publication year

2020

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Baltistica

ISSN

0132-6503

e-ISSN

2345-0045

Volume of the periodical

55

Issue of the periodical within the volume

1

Country of publishing house

LT - LITHUANIA

Number of pages

21

Pages from-to

159-179

UT code for WoS article

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EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85097784952