Spatial orientation and grammaticalization
Spatial orientation and grammaticalization

Summary/Abstract: The focus of this paper is on a probably universal type of grammaticalization whereby body part terms turn into place-denoting morphemes (adverbs, postpositions or local case markers). The linguistic expressions of the major areas of deictic orientation in the Mansi language are analysed on the basis of their lexical sources. According to general typological studies, the lexical origin of spatial morphemes shows considerable agreement across languages of the world: most of them go back to names of body parts. The paper shows that body part term sources follow the universal patterns in Mansi, too: in that language, 'back', 'head', and 'heart' have turned into general spatial markers. Exploring the system of spatial morphemes in Mansi, the paper argues that the etymology of those morphemes often reveals what is called a "relational object-part" origin; that class of sources is frequently attested in the typological literature, too. Finally, the paper tries to find out how unequivocally the body part terms that have turned into spatial markers can be determined. It is concluded that data from the various Uralic languages contradict some of the general statements found in the typological literature.

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