Pure-Relational Suffixes and Post Positions in Hungarian

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Linguistic Society of America

Pure-Relational Suffixes and Postpositions in HungarianAuthor(s): Paul L. GarvinSource: Language, Vol. 21, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 1945), pp. 250-255Published by: Linguistic Society of AmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/409692

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PURE-RELATIONALSUFFIXES AND POSTPOSITIONSINHUNGARIANPAULL. GARvns

INDIANA UNIVERSITY[The paper delimits the group of pure-relational suffixesby removing some mor-phemes that have hitherto generally been included in this group. An importantmorphological criterion of these suffixes, the oblique stem, is examined, and asa result of this examination pure-relational suffixes are divided into two classes:case suffixes and suffixed postpositions, the latter forming the transition from thecase suffixes to the free postpositions.]

1. Substantivalsuffixes n Hungariancan be groupedinto two classes, de-pendingon the distributionof the composed ormsconsistingof a stem and thegiven suffix.' The first group of suffixes s formedby those whose composedforms can be replaced n an utterancenot only by anothercomposed orm,butalsoby a singlemorpheme. Thus,the form pelvees/ 'linguist',consistingof thestem /pelv/ 'language' and the suffix alees/ canbe replaced n an utterance byanothercomposed orm /vadaas/ 'hunter', consistingof the stem /vad/ 'game'and the same suffix,by a composedform /utag/ 'traveller',consistingof thestem /ut/ 'road, trip', and another suffix /aIote/o!/, or by a single morpheme/ember/ 'man,person',e.g. /eza pelveesnajonoko'/ 'thislinguist s very clever';/eza vadaas najon okog/ 'this hunter is very clever'; /ezaz utag najon okoA/'this traveller s very clever'; ezaz embernajonokog/ 'thisman is very clever'.The secondgroupof suffixes s formedby those whosecomposed ormcannotbe replaced n an utteranceby a singlemorpheme. Thus,the form/emberek/'men, persons',consistingof the stem /ember/ and the pluralsuffix/k/, canonly be replaced n an utteranceby anothercomposed ormsuch as /assopiok/or /Jerekek/, e.g. /az emberekott voltak/ 'the men were there'; /az assopjokott voltak/ 'the womenwere there'; /a Jerekekott voltak/ 'the childrenwerethere'. A composed orm of this type can also be replacedby one containinganothersuffix. Thus, the form/haazbool/ 'from(inside)the house', consistingof the stem /haaz/ and the pure-relationaluffix/b~'i0l/, can be replacedby aform containingthe same suffix /kertb00l/, or by a form containinganothersuffix uccaarool/,where he suffix s /roo/al/, e.g. /a haazbooljett/ 'he came rom

xA similar grouping is proposed by Thomas A. Sebeok, Finnish and Hungarian CaseSystems: Their Form and Function (unpublishedms.), wherehe says: 'Following one of deSaussure's most fruitful constructs, ... suffixes which are added to substantives may begrouped into two major classes. Those suffixes which function only on the axis of simul-taneities formone group:such a suffix,for example, as -x2 s in a word like Pelvees "linguist",irrespective of its function in an utterance, signifies its relation to the wordnyelv language",which coexists in the same system. Suffixesof the other group, however, function both onthe axis of simultaneities and the axis of successivities: such a suffixas -xok, n a word likeemberek"men", signifies, for one thing, its relation to the wordember"man", which coexistsin the same system, and, in the second place (as in the sentence emberekkyldenek"mensend"), signifies plurality marked also by agreement in the verb (in opposition to kyld"sends").' This and other points of the present paper were discussed extensively withSebeok, whose above-named monograph, in its Hungarian part, is of great interest to thisdiscussion. 250


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SUFFIXES AND POSTPOSITIONS IN HUNGARIAN 251the house'; /a kertb00l jott/ 'he came from the garden'; /az uccaarool jCtt/ 'hecame from the street'.

Sebeok2 calls the first group of suffixes derivational suffixes, and the secondgroup paradigmatic suffixes.2. Pure-relational suffixes3belong to the group of paradigmatic suffixes, be-cause composed forms containing a pure-relational suffix can be replaced in anutterance only by other composed forms.Lack of a clear-cut structural definition may have been the cause for the in-clusion among pure-relational suffixes of morphemes which, in the light of whathas been said, cannot be considered paradigmatic suffixes. Such morphemesare found in both Lotz's4 and Hall's5 lists of pure-relational suffixes, althoughHall is more careful in his classification.Sebeok' has shown that Lotz's suffix N15, the temporal /kor/, is a free mor-pheme (the noun /kor/ 'age, period') added to the preceding stem to forma compound. Lotz's ~22, the formal /keent/, resp. /keep/ or /keepen/,can be analyzed the same way as /kor/. /keep/ is a noun, and /keepen/ anoun with superessive suffix, meaning 'picture, mode, manner'; each may forma compound with the preceding stem. /keent/ would then be a morphemealternant of /keep/ in compounding position. Sebeok7 calls Lotz's ? 16, thetemporal iterative /nta/e/, a formative (denominative, distributive-repetitive)suffix, classing this suffix as derivational rather than paradigmatic. In the utter-ance, a composed form containing the temporal iterative suffix can be re-

placed by a single morpheme, which confirms the classification as derivational:/havonta haaromsor mejek moziba/ 'I go to the movies three times a month';/maama haaromsormejek moziba/ 'I'm going to the movies three times today'.Lotz's N23, the distributive /nkeent/, occurs in complementary distributionwith the just mentioned temporal iterative, and is therefore its morphemealternant, hence also a derivational suffix: /havonta/ 'per month', /heten-keent/ 'per week'. Lotz's # 21, the essive /u/yl/, is not a pure-relational suffixbut an adverb-forming suffix which mainly occurs with adjectives. Lotz's2Vowel Morphophonemicsof Hungarian Suffixes, SIL 2.47-50 (1943).3 Cf. Edward Sapir, Language 107 (New York, 1921).4JAnos Lotz, Das ungarische Sprachsystem 63, 66 (Stockholm, 1939). Lotz lists 24suffixesunder the heading Kasussuffixe in the following order, correspondingto an approxi-mative semantic classification: 1. nominative 0, 2. accusative /t/, 3. inessive /balen/, 4.elative /boo/l1/, 5. illative /bale/, 6. superessive /n/, 7. delative /rooi*lP1/, 8. sublative

/ra/e/; 9. adessive /na/eetB/, 10. ablative /tool901/, 11. allative /hole/*z/, 12. locative /tt/, 13.terminative /ig/, 14. dative /na/ek/, 15. temporal /kor/, 16. temporal iterative /ntale/; 17.causal-final /eert/, 18. instrumental /valel/ or final consonant repeated + /a/el/, 19. factive/vaalee/ or final consonant repeated + /aa/ee/, 20. sociative /gtu/yl/, 21. essive /uI/l/, 22. for-mal: (1) /keent/, (2) /keep/ or /keepen/, 23. distributive /nkeent/, 24. modality /laleg/.5 Robert A. Hall Jr., Hungarian Grammar 32-33 (Baltimore, 1944). Hall groups thesuffixes in 2 main classes: those requiring an auxiliary vowel (/n/, /t/ or /tt/, /nkeent//ntal/), and those not requiring an auxiliary vowel. The latter are divided by the stemvowel morphophonemecontained: those containing x1(a. /ig/, b. /eert/), those containingX2(a. /lyl/; b. /bool0l1/,/rooli1/, /tool/l/; c. /naaliel/, /vaaleel; d. /balel, /baln/, /laleg/,/nlek/, /ra/e/, /valel/), and one containing x3 (/holel*z/).I Loc.cit., footnote 2.

7 Op.cit.


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252 PAULL. GARVINexample /kiraajul/8 'in a royal way, royally' patterns with /neemetyl/ 'inGerman', which Lotz9 calls an essive case form. Lotz's view, however, seemsrather far-fetched, since in the same place he considers the suffixes /aIen/ and/la/eg/, which are obviously in complementary distribution with /U/yl/ andhave the same adverbial function, separate case suffixes and calls themmodal and modality. It seems, however, difficult to establish any but dis-tributional differences between the functions of these three suffixes in suchcases as /neemetyl/ 'in German', /baatran/ 'bravely' and /matematikailag/'mathematically': they are added to various stems, but the resulting compoundforms are mutually substitutable, and can also be replaced by a single mor-pheme, which classes these suffixes as derivational, e.g. /neemetyl is lehet mon-dani/ 'it can be said in German, too'; /baatran is lehet mondani/ 'it can be saidbravely, too'; /matematikailag iA ehet mondani/ 'it can be said mathematically,too'; /i4 is lehet mondani/ 'it can be said this way, too'.What has been said above eliminates, of course, Lotz's ~ 24, the modalitysuffix /la/eg/, from among the paradigmatic suffixes.His ? 20, the sociative /AtuIYl/ is a compound derivational suffix, consistingof the adjective-forming suffix /a/oie/o/ and /tuI/l/, which is a morpheme alter-nant of /uI/l/ after /aio/e/I0/. Thus, /6alaado'tul/ 'together with one's family'can be analyzed as /6alaadog/ 'having a family' plus a morpheme alternant/tulyl/ of the adverbial suffix /u/Yl/.Finally, Lotz's S 12, the locative /tt/, is a morpheme alternant of the superes-sive suffix /n/ and the inessive suffix /ba/en/, whenever they are in complementarydistribution, and is in free variation with either, being the less preferredvariant,after a few stems denoting the names of certain cities, such as /pee6/ 'Pcs',/100r/ 'Gy6r' and others: /pee6en/ ~ /peedett/ 'in PNcs', /j00rben/ ~ /jg00rtt/'in Gyor'.Of Lotz's suffixes, therefore, only the following may be considered pure-rela-tional: S 1 nominative 0, ~2 accusative /t/, #3 inessive /bairn/, 4 elative/boo/0l/, S 5 illative /bale/, S 6 superessive /n/, S 7 delative /roo/00/, S 8 subla-tive /rale/, S~9adessive /na/eel/, 10 ablative /too/1l/, 11 allative /hoe/0z/,S 13 terminative /ig/, S 14 dative /nalek/, S 17 causal-final /eert/, N 18 instru-mental /vlel/, and S 19 factive /v/ee/.3. A clue to the morphological analysis of these suffixes is given by Hall'sstatement that 'the place of the combination pure-relational suffix or postposi-tion + personal pronoun is taken by a special form of the suffix or postposition(for which, in the case of the suffixes, a special "oblique" stem-form is used).This special form is made up of oblique suffix-stem or postposition + personalpossessive endings."'1 Hall correctly notices that the oblique-stem forms of someof these pure-relational suffixes pattern similarly to postpositions, inasmuch aspersonal possessive endings can be added to them. In his classification of suf-fixes, however, Hall mentions this fact only casually by quoting the oblique stemafter each suffix, or mentioning that a given suffix has no oblique stem."1

8 This suffix occurs after noun stems only very rarely, mainly in bookish and archaicstyle.9 Loc.cit. 91.10Loc.cit. 32.11 bid. 32-3. Lotz, incidentally, considers the special forms consisting of oblique


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SUFFIXESAND POSTPOSITIONSN HUNGARIAN 2534. The occurrence of this oblique-stem form with pure-relational suffixes willbe used as a criterion for their classification. In the following, these suffixes

(excluding the nominative zero suffix) will be quoted in Lotz's order and theiroblique-stem forms will be stated and analyzed.ACCUSATIVE /t/. This suffix has no oblique stem. Accusative forms of thepersonal pronoun are formed for the pronoun of the third person, by adding thesuffix /t/ to the stem in the singular: /00t/, or with reduplicated suffix /00tet/,and by adding the plural suffix /k/ and the suffix /t/ to the stem in the plural:/00ket/; for the pronouns of the first and second persons plural, by adding thesuffix /t/ to a special morpheme alternant: /minket/, /bennynket/ for the firstperson, /titeket/, /benneteket/ for the second person; for the pronouns of thefirst and second person singular by a special case form of the personal pronoun,

to which the accusative suffix may be added: /engem/, /engemet/ for the firstperson, /teeged/, /teegedet/ for the second. All these alternant forms are infree variation.INESSIVEba/en/. The oblique stem of this suffix is /benn/, which differsfrom the front allomorph of the suffix (the alternant with a front vowel) only bythe reduplication of the final consonant. Personal possessive endings are addedto this oblique stem as follows: /bennem/ 'in me', /benned/ 'in you', etc.ELATIVE/boo/001/. The oblique stem of this suffix is /bel0l/, which is a re-duplicated form of the front allomorph of this suffix. Personal possessive end-ings are added as follows: /bel00lem/ 'from (within) me', /bel00led/ 'from(within) you', etc.ILLATIVE/bale/. The oblique stem of this suffix is /belee/, which is a redu-plicated form of the front allomorph of this suffix with lengthened final vowel.Personal possessive endings are added as follows: /beleem/ 'into me', /beleed/'into you', etc.'2

SUPERESSIVE /n/. Ha1l13 gives as its oblique (suppletive) stem /rajt/.Since there is no formal similarity between /n/ and /rajt/, it is better to statethat /n/ has no oblique stem, and that /rajt/ occurs in most of those positionswhere such an oblique stem can be expected to occur.A formal similarity exists, however, between the suppletive form /rajt/ andthe suffixes /rool/l/ and /ra/e/. The analogy with the preceding set /ba/"n/,/boo/01/, /bale/ shows that in both cases there is the same initial consonant in allthree suffixes so grouped, and that the vowels in the first and third suffix are thesame (or similar: ale/ resp. /a/, and /ale/). Viewed from this standpoint,thesuffix /n/ itself, rather than the oblique stem /r,tjt/, would be suppletive.14Another morphological property of the superessive to be noted in this con-nection is the fact that the superessive is the only pure-relational suffix whichsuffix stem or postposition + personal possessive endings case forms of the personal pro-nouns, and their morphological nature is only hinted at in a note saying: 'Die obigen For-men zeigen Xhnlichkeit mit den Kasussuffixen und den unselbststandingen Adverbien, diemit Possessivsuffixen versehen werden' (loc.cit. 106-7).12 The long vowel in these forms can also be analyzed as the final short vowel of theoblique stem plus an initial short vowel of the personal possessive ending: /bele-em/,/bele-ed/, etc.13 Loc.cit. 32.

14 This even more so, if the oblique stem is considered the basic form.


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254 PAULL. GARVINregularly occurs before certain postpositions, such as /tul/, /aat/, /kivyl/:/tengeren tul/ 'across the sea, overseas'; /a fojoon aat/ 'across the river'; /ezenkivyl/ 'aside from this, except for this'. Of these postpositions, only /kivyl/occurs after the oblique-stem superessive with personal endings, and these forms(/rajtam kivyl/ 'aside from me, except for me') alternate with special forms inwhich the postposition /kivyl/ has personal endings and no superessive occursnext to it (/kivylem/ 'aside from me, except for me'). This distributional dif-ference between the superessive suffix /n/ and the oblique-stem superessive/rajt/ underlines the distinction made between the two forms on other grounds.DELATIVEiroo001/. The oblique stem of this suffix is /rool/, which is its backallomorph (the alternant with a back vowel). Personal possessive endings areadded as follows: /roolam/ '(down) from me, about me', /roolad/ '(down) fromyou, about you', etc.SUBLATIVE ra/el/. The obliquestem of this suffix is /raa/, whichis the backallomorph of the suffix with lengthened vowel. Personal possessive endings areas follows: /raam/ '(towards) upon me', /raad/ '(towards) upon you', etc.15

ADESSIVE /naaeel/. The oblique stem of this suffix is /naal/, which is itsback allomorph. Personal possessive endings are added as follows: /naalam/'next to me', /naalad/ 'next to you', etc.ABLATIVE /too/l/. The oblique stem of this suffix is /t001/, which is its frontallomorph. Personal possessive endings are added as follows: /t0plem/ 'from(next to) me', /to0led/ 'from (next to) you', etc.ALLATIVE /hoie/ z/. The oblique stem of this suffix is /hozzaa/, which is theback allomorph with reduplicated final consonant and following long /aa/.Personal possessive endings are added as follows: /hozzaam/ 'to (next to) me',

/hozzaad/ 'to (next to) you', etc.-TERMINATIVE /ig/. This suffix has no oblique stem. Another morphological

property of the terminative has to be noted here. It is the fact that the termina-tive can be added to oblique stems of other suffixes (and postpositions) + per-sonal possessive endings: /hozzaamig/ 'until (next to) me, up to me', /mellee-mig/ 'until at my side, up to my side', etc.DATIVE /nalek/. The oblique stem of this suffix is /nek/, which is its

frontallomorph. Personal possessive endings are added as follows: /nekem/ 'to me',/neked/ 'to you', etc.CAUSAL-FINALeert/. The oblique stem of this suffix is also /eert/. Per-sonal possessive endings are added as follows: /eertem/ 'for me, for my sake',/eerted/ 'for you, for your sake', etc.INSTRUMENTAL /Valel/.17 The obliquestem of this suffix s /vel/, whichis itsfront allomorph. Personal possessive endings are added as follows: /velem/'with me', /veled/ 'with you', etc.

1sThese forms can also be analyzed as Ira-am/, ira-ad/, etc. cf. footnote 10.16These forms can also be analyzed as /hozza-am/, /hozza-ad/, etc. cf. footnote 10.17Sebeok calls this suffixcomitative. The initial consonant /v/ of this suffix, and of thefollowing suffix /vaaie*/, occurs only with vowel-final stems. With consonant-final stems,the /v/ is replaced by a consonant equal to the final consonant of the preceding stem.


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SUFFIXESAND POSTPOSITIONSN HUNGARIAN 255FACTrVE/vaa/ee/.18 This suffix has no oblique stem.5. On the basis of the foregoing analysis, two groups of pure-relational suf-fixes can be established: those that have no oblique stems, and those that haveone. In the first group would be classed the accusative /t/, the superessive/n/, the terminative /ig/, and the factive /va/ee/. In the second group wouldbe classed all the other suffixes. Two of the suffixes of the first group, the

superessive and the terminative, aside from lacking an oblique stem, presentanother common feature: they both occur together with postpositions. Thisfeature seems to separate the two suffixes in question even further from thesuffixes of the second group. The suffixes of the second group present a veryimportant feature in common with the postpositions, as has been pointed out byHall and quoted above :" they both take personal possessive endings, the suffixeswith the help of oblique stems. It is therefore proposed to call this group ofsuffixeS SUFFIXED POSTPOSITIONS.Following a suggestion of Hall's,20 the oblique-stem form, rather than thesuffixed form, may be considered the basic form of a given suffixed postposition.When this basic form is suffixed to a given substantival stem, it falls into thecontour of the stem and undergoes the vocalic alternations consistent with thevowel harmony pattern of the suffixed postposition. The vowel harmony pat-tern can be covered by a blanket statement such as has been made by Sebeok21and by Hall in his Hungarian Grammar.22 However, other differences betweenthe suffixed and the oblique-stem forms, such as lengthening or reduplication,would still have to be mentioned in separate statements.Only the suffixes of the first group, together with the nominative zero suffix,would be CASE UFFIXESn this treatment; and the Hungarian case system wouldhave only 5 cases: nominative, accusative, superessive, terminative, and factive.6. In conclusion, it can be said that this analysis results in three pure-rela-tional categories in Hungarian: case suffixes, suffixed postpositions, and freepostpositions. The former two classes can be grouped together as pure-rela-tional suffixes, to preserve both Hall's (originally Sapir's) term and class. Theclose connection between the two classes of pure-relationalsuffixes and the classof postpositions was already hinted at by Hall23when he grouped pure-relationalsuffixes with postpositions because of certain characteristics (primarily theiruse as separate words when provided with personal possessive suffixes), whichthey share with the [latter]'. This contribution tends to clarify that connectionby showing that instead of two partially related classes, there are actually three,one of which (the suffixed postpositions) forms a transition between the othertwo (case suffixes, postpositions).

1s Sebeok calls this suffix translative. Regarding the initial /v/, cf. footnote 15.19See footnote 11.20Personal communication.21See footnote 2.22Loc.cit. 19."ILoc.cit. 32.

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