Comparative Analysis of Semantic and Morphosyntactic Peculiarities of the Demonstratives in the Eastern Khanty and the Southern-Central Selkup Languages

Abstract

This research deals with semantic and morphosyntactic peculiarities of the demonstratives in two indigenous languages of Western Siberia: Khanty and Selkup. Comparative analysis of demonstratives is mainly based on the dialects of the Eastern Khanty and the Southern-Central Selkup languages. These dialects of Khanty and Selkup languages are less described and highly endangered. The speakers of the Eastern Khanty and Southern-Central Selkup, due to their mixed residence in area of the middle Ob river and some of its tributaries in Tomsk region, are supposed to have been being in the extended ‘cultural and linguistic contact’. The aim of our paper is to research similarities and differences in the deictic systems of the demonstratives in the described languages.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n2s1p527