BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Notes on the verbal domain in Meadow Mari - Dr Diane Nelson\, Univ
 ersity of Leeds
DTSTART:20170202T163000Z
DTEND:20170202T183000Z
UID:TALK70449@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Giulia Bovolenta
DESCRIPTION:Mari belongs to the Volgaic branch of the Uralic language fami
 ly\, along with Mordva. It is spoken in the Mari El Republic of Russia (ab
 out 291\,000 speakers) and by a large diaspora in Bashkortostan and Tatars
 tan. Its main dialects\, Meadow and Hill\, are mutually intelligible. Both
  are classified by UNESCO’s Red Book as endangered\, spoken as native la
 nguages by children but in decreasing numbers\, and restricted to certain 
 domains. Mari syntax is typically Uralic\, with a rich case system\, verba
 l negation\, and a wide range of non-finite forms\, but long-term contact 
 with speakers of Turkic has left its mark on both grammar and lexis. This 
 talk will explore several topics of interest in Meadow Mari morphosyntax\,
  starting with the system of tense/mood and the related categories of perf
 ectivity\, evidentiality and mirativity\; these interact with negation in 
 complex ways to yield an unusual clausal architecture. I also look at argu
 ment structure in several types of causative. The Mari have been described
  as “Europe’s Last Pagans” and were featured in Aleksei Fedorchenko
 ’s film The Celestial Wives of the Meadow Mari\; I will discuss some cas
 es where traditional Mari religious beliefs may underlie some unexpected l
 inguistic phenomena.
LOCATION:GR06/7 English Faculty\, Sidgwick Site
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR