CC BY
8
УДК: 811.511.141
DOI: 10.30624/2220-4156-2022-12-4-755-762
The Hungarian verb fekszik 'lie' with inanimate subjects in locative sentences
М. Sipos
Hungarian Research Center for Linguistics, Budapest, Hungary, sipos.maria@nytud.hu
Zs. Varnai
Hungarian Research Center for Linguistics, Budapest, Hungary, varnai.zsuzsa@nytud.hu
ABSTRACT
Introduction: in the Hungarian languauge, there are two posture verbs that can serve as a verbal element in a locative sentence, i. e. all 'stand' and fekszik 'lie'. In the world's languages, there have been observed various rules governing the choice of quasi-copulas, which can be defined in terms of various features of the Figure and the Ground, the relation between them, and some further aspects like, e. g. having a base.
Objective: to describe the conditions of the use of the quasi-copula 'to lie' in the Hungarian language.
Research materials: the sentences of which our corpus was made up were collected with the "Mazsola" Verb Argument Browser from the 187-million-word first version of the Hungarian National Corpus.
Results and novelty of the research: basically, in locative sentences, fekszik describes the position of an object with a horizontal orientation when supported from below. Its geotopographic use is prominent. It also frequently appears in sentences describing the location of mobile objects. It is also involved in giving the location of points, lines, plane objects, etc., i. e. figures that are not separated from the background plane from dimensional point of view. If the object has a functional base, but is in an orientation in which it cannot fulfil its role, the verb 'lie' should be used, although the verb 'lie' by itself does not express the meaning of abandonment. but this semantics is composed of the sum of the meanings of the Figure, the Ground, and the verbal element. The importance of our paper lies in that it gives the first, preliminary survey of the principles that can be observed in the quasi-copula use of the verb fekszik.
Key words: posture verbs, quasi-copula, locative sentence, Hungarian language, verb fekszik 'to lie'
Acknowledgements: the research is carried out with the financial support of the RFBR within the framework of the scientific project No. 21-512-23006\22 "Ways of expressing spatial relations on the material of the Russian and Ugric languages". The authors express gratitude to Vitaliy Sigiljetov as well as the anonymous reviewers.
For citation: Sipos M., Varnai Zs. The Hungarian verb fekszik 'to lie' with inanimate subjects in locative sentences // Vestnik ugrovedenia = Bulletin of Ugric Studies. 2022; 12 (4/51): 755-762.
Венгерский глагол fekszik 'лежать' с неодушевлёнными предметами
в локативных предложениях
М. Шипош
Венгерский Исследовательский Центр Языкознания, Будапешт, Венгрия, sipos.maria@nytud.hu
Ж. Варнаи
Венгерский Исследовательский Центр Языкознания, Будапешт, Венгрия, varnai.zsuzsa@nytud.hu
АННОТАЦИЯ
Введение. В венгерском языке есть два глагола, характеризующих положение объекта в пространстве, которые могут служить глагольным компонентом в локативном предложении, а именно all 'стоять' иfekszik 'лежать'. В финно-угорских языках существуют правила, регулирующие выбор этих глаголов полусвязок в каждом конкретном случае.
Вестник угроведения. Т. 12, № 4 (51). 2022.
Цель: описать условия, уточнить правила употребления полусвязки 'лежать' в венгерском языке в сопоставлении с соответствующими правилами хантыйского языка. Определение условий/правил употребления глагола (полусвязки) fekszik 'лежать' в венгерском языке.
Материалы исследования: корпус из 6 248 предложений, составленный на основе Венгерского национального корпуса с помощью специализированного поисковика глагольных аргументов «Mazsola».
Результаты и научная новизна исследования. Корпусные исследования дают возможность получить полную картину значения и употребления названного глагола fekszik. В локативных предложениях он описывает положение объекта с горизонтальной ориентацией при расположении внизу, а также местоположение точек, линий, плоских фигур, не отделённых от плоскости основания. Это же правило действует и применительно к объектам, чья пространственная ориентация не позволяет им выполнять свою основную функцию, и в этом случае используется глагол «лежать». Новизна статьи заключается в том, что она впервые обобщает предварительный обзор тех правил, которые можно наблюдать в использовании глагола fekszik.
Ключевые слова: глаголы, характеризующие позу/положение, полусвязка, локативное предложение, венгерский язык, глагол fekszik 'лежать'
Благодарности: исследование выполнено при финансовой поддержке РФФИ в рамках научного проекта №21-512-23006\22 «Способы выражения пространственных отношений на материале русского и угорских языков». Авторы выражают благодарность Виталию Сигильетову.
Для цитирования: Шипош M., Варнаи Ж. Венгерский глагол fekszik 'лежать' с неодушевлёнными предметами в локативных предложениях // Вестник Угроведения = Bulletin of Ugric Studies. 2022. Т. 12, № 4 (51). С. 755-762.
Introduction
In our paper we aim to describe some aspects of the use of the Hungarian posture verb fekszik 'lie' with inanimate subjects.1
The systematic study of quasi-copulas started with two major studies. Although there had been excellent articles on this topic earlier, it was Newman's monograph on posture verbs [9], as well as Ameka and his colleagues' project [1] focusing on the typology of quasi-copulas that set the standard for the investigations concerning the verbal elements of locative sentences.
In his monograph on the three cardinal posture verbs, Newman has convincingly shown that the metaphorization and grammaticalization of the verbs 'sit', 'stand', and 'lie' are generally significant in the world's languages. Regarding their new functions, they may become, among other things, aspect markers, auxiliaries or, very frequently, copula-like elements of locative sentences [9].
In Ameka and Levinson's introduction to the thematic issue of Linguistics (2007), the description is not limited to the three cardinal posture verbs but also includes the verbal elements of the basic locative structures that go back to further verbal categories. The authors emphasized that, depending on the number of verbal elements used in sentences answering the question " Where is X?", the practices documented in various languages of the world can be classified in four typological groups (Type 0 - Type III):
Type 0 - It has no verb in the basic locative construction (e. g. Saliba);
Type I - It has one single locative verb; a copula (e. g. English, Tamil), or a special locative verb determined by grammatical categories (e. g. Japanese, Chinese);
Type II - It has a large or unlimited set of position verbs (9-100), (e. g. Likpe, Zapotec);
Type III - It has a small contrastive set of posture verbs (typically 'sit', 'stand', and 'lie'), (e. g. Dutch, Arrernte, Guugu Yimithirr, Yeli-Dnye) [1].
As is emphasized in the studies mentioned above, the quasi-copulas of the locative sentences can go back not only to posture verbs. In the English language, concerning frequency, the cardinal posture verbs in their basic meanings are followed by the verb 'hang' [10, 358]. The verb 'hang' as a possible source for quasi-copulas also occurs in Yeli-Dnye, a Papuan language, where there is a set of three verbs which, in addition to 'sit' and 'stand', does not include the basic posture verb 'lie' but the position verb meaning 'hang' [1, 847]. Concerning Hungarian, the verbs fugg 'hang', log 'hang' also have great significance in expressing the spatial disposition of various objects. Besides these, the verb hever 'lie, lain' also frequently occurs in locative sentences, however, its semantics involve that the lying Figure is in some way abandoned or neglected. As the semantics of the word hever contains the above mentioned extra component,
1 The paper summarizes the results of the research carried out in the frame of the project Способы выражения пространственных отношений на материале русского и угорских языков (2021-2022) Югорский государственный университет, Ханты-Мансийск. 1. Within this project, research has been done regarding Khanty, Hungarian and Russian languages. In addition, investigations are also carried out concerning the verbal elements of locative sentences in the Mansi and the Nganasan languages in the Hungarian Research Centre of Linguistics, e. g. [8; 14; 15; 16; 18; 19].
we do not discuss it together with the neutral posture verb fekszik 'lie'.2
In the Hungarian language, as the verb ul 'sit' has no quasi-copula function [11], there are two posture verbs that can serve as a verbal element in a locative sentence, i. e. âll 'stand', as well as fekszik 'lie'. Under these conditions, one could conclude that the dividing line between the uses of the two quasi-copulas can be drawn with ease because the verticality or horizontality of a Figure's prominent axis can always be identified. However, on the one hand, the rules governing the choice between fekszik 'lie' and âll 'stand' are more complex than that, and, on the other hand, their scopes sometimes even overlap.
In what follows, we aim to present a selection of rules governing the choice of the verbal elements observed in various languages, which seem to be relevant in our research on the Hungarian verb in question.
Figure: Prominent axis
It seems evident that, if the verb 'lie' is used with inanimate subjects in a certain language, this Figure must have at least one prominent horizontal axis. The typical subjects of such locative sentences are pens, knives, books, letters etc. However, as is observed by Atintono concerning Gurene [2, 191], as well as Kutscher and Schultze-Berndt in German [5, 999], objects lacking salient dimensions can also be described as lying. Serra Borneto gives numerous examples, e. g. beans, lumps, crumbs, heads of lettuce, points (on a line), cubes etc. [17, 482]. In the Dutch language, balls generally take the quasi-copula 'lie' because they do not have a prominent axis [20, 24].
Figure: Size
In some cases, the size of the Figure can also be relevant in chosing the proper quasi-copula. In the Dutch language, with an object lacking a salient dimension, e. g. apples, balls etc., it is liggen 'lie' that is typically used. However, when the Figure is of considerable size, "(especially vis-à-vis its ground or the perceiver)", then the perception of verticality operates, resulting in the choice of the quasi-copula 'stand', "e. g., er stonden reusachtige bollen op hetplein 'there stood gigantic balls on the square'" [6, 122].
Figure: Legs, base
Standing, as a human posture, requires a base (feet) that can support the upright human body. When the inanimate Figure has a similar base, e. g. feet (furniture), wheels (vehicles), bottom (cups, plates, dishes), runner (sleigh, sledge), the quasi-copula 'stand' is often used. In English, stand may be used if the Figure has legs. In Dutch, "the object need not have leg-like parts at all and it has, moreover, promoted the use of staan ['stand'] to the general rule, if the canonical position of resting on a base applies. It applies to a virtually open-ended set: plates, dishes, containers, ashtrays, printers, staplers, cars, trains, pies, etc." [6, 120]. All this is summarized by Walop as follows: "Liggen is the verb which is directly contrasted with and the complete opposite of staan. Thus its leading principle is that the object is not on its base." This is illustrated with the ball-example: "A ball does not have a base, so it cannot be on its base" [20, 24]. In other words in Dutch, the quasi-copula 'lie' must not be used with objects having legs irrespective of whether its prominent axis is parallel with the surface of the Ground or not.
Accordingly, when the object lacks a base, it often triggers the verb 'lie', as was observed in the Laz language [5, 1044].
In Dutch, it is compulsory to use liggen 'lie' when the object in question does have a base but it is turned to the side [6, 121]. This is related to the aspect of function, see below.
Figure: Function, inherent orientation
In several languages, the choice between the quasi-copulas 'lie' and 'stand' depends on the relation of the Figure's function to its current orientation. In Dutch, if the momentary disposition of the object is in accordance with its function, it is the verb staan 'stand' that will be chosen, even if the form of the object. e. g. in the case of a plate, would not explain it in itself [20, 24] Similarly, in German, the following sentence, Die Teller stehen auf dem Tisch. 'The plates are on the table' describes a canonical situation, while the same sentence containing the verb 'lie' means that the plates are placed upside down. "In other words, what is normally construed as the base is still physically there, but it doesn't accomplish its main function which consists of
2 According to the descriptions, within one language, there can be more than one verbs denoting the same cardinal human posture, even in languages with a small set of quasi-couplas, e. g. Nganasan 'stand' [18].
providing a place of contact between the object and its support. In this case the verb liegen is selected in accordance with the categorization of the object as maximally extended along the horizontal axis" [17, 463]. Another example of expressing the difference between canonical vs non-canonical, functional vs non-functional dispositions is the German sentence-pair Das Eis steht auf dem Tisch vs Das Eis liegt auf dem Tisch; ,The ice cream is (standing / lying) on the table.', in which the first one denotes a normal situation, in which "the ice cream is interpreted as being in a bowl", while in the second one, "the ice cream is seen as located directly on the table" [17, 463].
Figure: Rigidity
In the analyses of Dutch posture verbs, it is often stated that the rigidity of the Figure, or more precisely, the lack of rigidity may be a complicating factor in the interplay of various principles. It is evident that cloths cannot hold themselves, this is why they usually trigger 'lie'. However, according to Lemmens, soft bags may be used with the quasi-copula 'stand' when they are filled because they have a functional base [6, 121].
Ground: Altitude
Fagan, in her analysis concerning the German verb sitzen 'sit', emphasizes that its use is related to the location, more precisely, to the height of the location. "The verbs sitzen and setzen differ from liegen, legen, stehen, and stellen in that the choice of verb is determined more by the location of the object than by its physical characteristics. For example, sitzen and setzen are used to express the fact that an object is located or placed on some elevated position, that it perches or is made to perch somewhere" [3, 142].
Ground: Horizontality
In the case of the quasi-copula 'lie', a typical Ground is horizontal, i. e. earth-level, or a surface of some kind of furniture etc. In the Gurene language, the level of Ground is strictly defined when it is used with inanimate objects: "F[igure] is inanimate with salient dimensions horizontally oriented or F[igure] has no salient dimension and G[round] is earth or floor level" [2, 193]. In the Norhern Khanty language, the use of the verb 'lie' with inanimate subjects is often triggered by low, ground-level surfaces as a Ground [16, 327].
However, the Ground is not always horizontal. In the Northern Khanty language, the location of a string of pearls, which typically falls in wide bands on the chest, is also given with the help of the quasi-
copula 'lie' [16, 326].
Relation of Figure and Ground: Subterranean position
There are languages in which the relation of the Figure and the Ground settles the quasi-copula to be used in a sentence. In Ku-Waru, if the Figure is in some way hidden, it triggers the use of the verb 'lie'. "When used of inanimate objects, pe-('lie'/'sleep'/'be') contrasts with mol- 'stay'/'be') and angaly- ('stand'/'be') in usually entailing the notion that the object is in a subterranean or otherwise concealed position, e. g., sweet potatoes in the garden, sugar in tea, or money in one's pocket (...)". [12, 265].
Relation of Figure and Ground: Figure and Ground in the same plane
Serra Borneto, besides analyzing the disposition of three-dimensional objects in the concrete space, also deals with expressing location in the abstract space. A typical field of it is defining spatial relations in geometry, e. g. "Der Punkt liegt auf der Gerade. 'The point is on the line'." According to his interpretation, what concerns the Figure, it is a geometrical point with no dimension at all, which is situated on a one-dimensional Ground. To put it in another way, the Figure lacks dimensional saliency, this is why the proper quasi-copula choice is liegen 'lie'. Basically, he considers this aspect belonging to the general topic of non-perceptual locations, cf. 1.4 [17, 468-469].
Perceptual and non-perceptual locations, geotopographical use
When discussing non-perceptual locations in his study concerning the uses of the German verbs stehen 'stand' and liegen 'lie', Serra Borneto presents an explanation of the quasi-copula choice of the sentences in which the verb liegen is used despite the definitely high and vertically prominent geometrical attributes of the Figure [17, 469-470]. For instance, if a church, a high building etc. is in the perceptual scope of the speaker, he/she will use the verb stehen 'stand'. However, if we talk about the geographical or topographical location of an object, we should choose the verb liegen 'lie'. This is called a geotopographical use. In addition, Lemmens and Perrez found a similar background to the use of liggen 'lie' in Dutch, but according to their investigations, "Even when standing right in front of a quite saliently vertical building, like a church, that typically is thought of as standing (resting on its base), we can still felicitously say, e. g., De kerk lag pal voor ons 'the church lay right in front of us'; in
that case, we would obviously not be talking about it as a building, but about its geographical location" [7, 323].
Section 2 gives a description of the corpus. In section 3, we give a survey of the relevant aspects of the use of the quasi-copulafekszik 'lie' in Hungarian. Finally, Section 3 summarizes our findings.
Materials and methods
Our sentences containing the verb fekszik 'lie' were collected for our study using the "Mazsola" Verb Argument Browser [13]. The corpus behind the tool is the 187 million word Hungarian National Corpus (from five regional language varieties and five stylistic varieties, first version). This tool reveals the typical usages of verbs in terms of how nouns are collocated with verbs as certain dependents. With the help of it, one can find out what typical words cooccur with a given verb as a certain dependent. The tool can also be used to examine the frequency relations of different structures. "Mazsola" gave a total of 6,248 hits for the verb fekszik 'lie' with nominative arguments. From these hits, we excluded those containing an animate subject, as well as the sentences that do not answer the question "Where?".
Results
The inanimate subjects in the locative sentences containing the quasi-copula fekszik
As the aim of the paper is to describe the neutral, quasi-copula use of the verb fekszik 'lie', we do not discuss any other metaphoric or figurative meanings of it, as in (i), (ii) and (iii).3
Geographical and administrational units, buildings as Figures
In our corpus, there are 425 sentences in which the verb fekszik has the meaning 'be somewhere, be located, spread', which proved to be the largest group. In other words, this seems to be the most characteristic use of the quasi-copula in question. The subjects of these sentences are geographical units (hills, mountains, planes; nature reserves), administrational units (countries, counties), various types of settlements (towns, villages), various institutions (schools, swimming pools), companies, factories, and buildings (1) (2) (3):
3 (i) Egy élet munkâja fekszik ebben a hâzban! Lit.: The work of a lifetime lies in this house.
(ii) Ez az üj stilus nagyon fekszik nekem.
Lit. This new style really lies to me (i.e. suits me).
(iii) Torzonborz âlom fekszik rajta.
Lit. There is a shaggy dream lying on it.
(1) A Duna-Ipoly Nemzeti Park hatvanezer-hâromszâz hektâros területen fekszik.
Lit.: The Duna-Ipoly National Park lies in an area of sixty-three hundred hectares (i. e. covers an area of...).
(2) Ez a to is a déli féltekén, az Egyenlitö alatt fekszik.
Lit.: This lake also lies in the southern hemisphere, below the equator.
(3) Az iskola egyébként csöndes, nyugodt kôrnyéken fekszik.
Lit.: The school lies in a quiet, peaceful neighbourhood.
In the same way, the location of parts of buildings, inner spaces, rooms can also be expressed using this quasi-copula (4) (5) (6):
(4) Erre feküdt a nagy auditorium (diszterem) is.
Lit.: The large auditorium (banqueting hall) lied
here (i. e. was also located here).
(5) Elek lakâsa régimodi hâzban feküdt.
Lit.: Elek's apartment lay in an old-fashioned house.
(6) Az un. „régi bejârat" pedig a II. és III. szârny közötti részen fekszik.
The so-called "old entrance" lies (i. e. is located) between wings II and III.
The above sentences are instances of the so-called geotopographical use, which proves to be typical in the case of the Hungarian quasi-copula fekszik.
Mobile Figures
As is always emphasised in the literature, quasi-copulas going back to posture verbs retain some components of their original meaning, which means that the choice of nouns that can be used with them as subjects is related to their geometric properties [1; 8]. On this basis, in the case of a verb 'lie', we expect the shape of the Figure to be elongated or oblong (7) (8) (9):
(7) A könyvek az asztalon fekszenek.
Lit.: The books are lying on the table.
(8) A koporso az asztalon feküdt.
Lit.: The coffin was lying on the table.
(9) A puska a földön feküdt.
Lit.: The rifle was lying on the ground.
In the corpus, there are 155 sentences in which the quasi-copula choice can be explained with the geometrical features of the Figure.
The form of the Figure is an undeniably relevant component in choosing the proper quasi-copula. In the following examples, the Figure is either long (10), or has a considerable surface (11) but the horizontal support is missing in both cases:
(10) (...) mert a sorompo ket feher rudja mar leeresztve fekszik az ut felett, (...)
Lit.: (...) because the two white bars of the barrier are already lowered over the road, (...)
(11) (...) mint nem is olyan regen meg kozos szallodaszobatokban, ott fekudt az allvanyon a frissen alapozott vaszon, (...)
Lit.: (...) as in your hotel room shared not so long ago, there lay on the rack the freshly primed canvas (...)
As the above two sentences are not acceptable for some native speakers, it needs further investigations to get a better understanding of the interplay of the various aspects in the choice of the proper quasi-copula.
Round and dimensionless Figures
As is also described in several languages, round and ball-like Figures can take the quasi-copula 'lie' also in Hungarian (12):
(12) A labda a merkozes vegeig ott fekudt a kozepkorben anelkul, hogy barki is hozzaert volna, (...)
Lit.: The ball was lying in the kick-off circle for the rest of the match without anyone touching it, (...)
N.B. this sentence is not acceptable for all native speakers, cf. also (27).
Ground in the depth
In 42 sentences, the choice of the quasi-copula fekszik is in connection with some features of the Ground, which is below the ground level, or deep under the sea, or in a pit (13) (14) (15) (16) (17):
(13) Svedorszag atomszemete peldaul otven meterrel a fold alatt fekszik.
Lit.: Sweden's nuclear waste, for example, lies fifty metres underground.
(14) A Kurszk nevu atom-tengeralattjaro mintegy 100 meteres melysegben fekszik a tengerfeneken.
Lit.: The nuclear submarine Kursk lies at a depth of about 100 metres on the seabed.
(15) A csontok retegekben egymas alattfekudtek (foleg koponyak, also - es felso vegtagok csontjai.)
Lit.: The bones lay in layers (mainly skulls, lower and upper limb bones.)
(16) ...az osszes fogaval egyutt megmaradt noi koponya mellett szorosan egy sokkal szelesebb allkapocscsont fekudt, fogakkal.
Lit.: A much broader jawbone, with teeth, lay close to the female skull, which was preserved with all its teeth.
(17) A gyéren és tóredékesen fennmaradt csontok szétszóródva feküdtek külónbózo mélységekben.
Lit.: The sparse and fragmentary bones were lying scattered at various depths.
However, in the majority of the examples shown above, the objects do not function any longer because e. g. they went wrong, perform no function at all, or it is parts of skeletons that make the subjects of the sentences. Such sentences frequently appear in archeological context. All these point toward the importance of function and functionality because they are associated to the notion of standing, while lying position, in turn, suggests that the Figure in question is out of order, ruined, worn out etc.
Non-horizontal Ground
In the next group of examples, the Figure and the Ground are connected on a certain kind of surface, however, the Ground is not necessarily horizontal (18) (19) (20):
(18) Hátukon fekszik a zsák, abban Búbos.4
Lit.: On their backs lies the sack in which (they
are carrying / there was) Búbos.
(19) A puska alkarjuk felso felén fekszik, csovel kissé felfelé.
Lit.: The gun rests on the upper part of their forearm, with the gun barrel slightly upwards
(20) A nagy idegkóteg mindig a bél alatt fekszik.
Lit.: The large nerve bundle always lies under
the intestine.
Such sentences definitely exist, although they are much less frequent than the prototypical ones.
Figure and Ground in the same plane
Primarily in the context of geometry, we can find sentences from the other subcategory of non-perceptual locatives. These are the examples containing Figures that cannot be separated from the Ground, i. e. points, lines, shapes, plane figures. In addition, there are sentences describing the location of shadows, beams of rays, light etc. with the quasi-copula fekszik (21) (22):
(21) Feküdjék az ABCD és az EBCF paralelogramma ugyanazon a BC alapon és ugyanazon AF, BC párhuzamosok kózótt.
Lit.: Let the paralelograms ABCD and EBCF lie on the same base BC, and between the same parallel lines AF and BC.
(22) Az Uránusz tengelye viszont teljesen a bolygó pályasíkjában fekszik.
4 Bubos is the name of the protagonist in a dramatized tale; in this scene he is being carried in a sack by two gendarmes.
Lit.: The axis of Uranus, on the other hand, lies entirely in the planet's orbital plane.
Function and abandoned Figure
Although the verb hever 'lie abandoned or neglected' is excluded from this investigation, in 44 sentences of the corpus the semantic component of abandonment concerning the subject of the sentences can be identified (23) (24) (25) (26):
(23) A szekreny ott fekudt a kadban az oldalara forditva.
Lit.: The cabinet was lying in the bathtub on its side.
(24) A kapu mellett 14 rezbol ontott agyu fekudt a foldon, hosszu, cifra csovel (...)
Lit.: Next to the gate, 14 cast copper cannons lay on the ground, with long, jagged barrels, (...)
(25) A vastraverzek mar a szoloben fekudtek.
Lit.: The iron pylons were already lying in the
vineyard.
(26) A kantin kavefozoje most is az agyon fekudt.
Lit.: The canteen coffee machine was still lying
on the bed.
However, in these examples, it is not the verb alone that conveys this meaning. The semantics of the sentence should be considered compositional, i. e. the objects are in a disposition that makes it impossible to fulfill their technical function, and, in the majority of the cases, the Ground is somehow odd for the object in question. The verb fekszik expresses nothing else that these Figures do not stand on their bases.
The interplay of the various aspects
Finally, it must be emphasized that, although the varios factors were discussed one by one, independently, in the majority of cases more than one aspects seem to operate when choosing the proper quasi-copula. In each of the following examples, several such factors can be identified. In all of them, the Ground is below the typical activity zone of humans (floor, ground). Furthermore, in (27), as has been mentioned above, the ball has no prominent axis, in (28) the acqarium was brought down, cannot function as a container, in (29), the material of the bag is soft:
(27) Ott fekudt mellettem a pottyos labdaja a fuben, (...)5
Lit.: His/her spotted ball was lying next to me in the grass, (...)
(28) Ezek szerint Torma Gedeon gyonyoru akvariuma a fatyolfarku halakkal meg a csudakek Kek Kisasszonyokkal meg egyeb egzotikus fergekkel ott fekszik a foldon, (...)
Lit.: So, Gedeon Torma's beautiful aquarium with the veiltail fish and the wonder-blue "blue damsels" and other exotic worms is lying on the ground, (...)
(29) A sofor labanal egy nejlonzacsko fekszik a padlon, (.. .)6
Lit.: A nylon bag lies on the floor at the driver's feet, (...)
Discussion and Conclusion
In the Hungarian language, there are two quasi-copulas that have a posture verb origin, i. e. fekszik 'lie' and all 'stand'. The present paper gave a preliminary description of the main functions of fekszik.
The use of this lying quasi-couple does not deviate significantly from what is expected: it describes the position of an object with a horizontal orientation when supported from below.
With inanimate subjects, the geotopographic use of the verb 'lie' is the most prominent, in other words, it often describes the location of geographical places, settlements, buildings, and parts of buildings. Evidently, it also appears in sentences describing the location of mobile objects. In addition, in geometrical contexts, it is also involved in giving the location of points, lines, plane objects, etc., i.e. figures that are not separated from the background plane from dimensional point of view. Furthermore, it is also often used when the background is at ground level or deep in the ground or water, which explains its high frequency in archeological texts.
In many cases, the use of the verb 'lie' is closely related to the function of the Figure. If the object has a functional base, but is in an orientation in which it cannot fulfil this role, then the verb 'lie' should be used.
It is probable that the verb 'lie' by itself does not express the meaning of abandonment, neglect, but the meaning is composed of the sum of the meanings of the Figure, the Ground, and the verbal element, i.e. at sentence-level.
Finally, we take it for granted that several factors usually combine to determine the choice of the quasi-copula in a sentence.
5 N. B. this sentence is not acceptable for all native speakers, cf. (12).
6 Although this paper focuses on locative sentences, it should be noted that it has been observed that two-thirds of the world's languages use the same verbal elements in the locative and the existential sentences [1, 854]. In the present paper, this is the only example of the quasi-copula fekszik appearing in an existential sentence.
Вестник угроведения. Т. 12, № 4 (51). 2022.
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ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Sipos Maria, Senior Researcher, Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics (1068, Hungary, Budapest, Bencztir st., 33), PhD.
sipos.maria@nytud.hu
ORCID ID: 0000-0001-5269-7784
Varnai Zsuzsa, Researcher, Hungarian Research Centre for Linguistics (1068, Hungary, Budapest, Bencztir st., 33), PhD.
varnai.zsuzsa@nytud.hu
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-9574-5659
ИНФОРМАЦИЯ ОБ АВТОРАХ
Мария Шипош, старший научный сотрудник, Венгерский Исследовательский Центр Языкознания (1068, Венгрия, Будапешт, ул. Бенцур, д. 33), доктор философии. sipos.maria@nytud.hu ORCID ID: 0000-0001-5269-7784
Жужа Бармам, научный сотрудник, Венгерский Исследовательский Центр Языкознания (1068, Венгрия, Будапешт, ул. Бенцур, д. 33), доктор философии. varnai.zsuzsa@nytud.hu ORCID ID: 0000-0002-9574-5659
ИСТОРИЯ, ЭТНОГРАФИЯ, АРХЕОЛОГИЯ
HISTORY, ETHNOGRAPHY, ARCHEOLOGY
