Субъектная референция в ижорском и водском языках: из истории одного заимствования
Subject reference in Votic and Ingrian: on the history of one contact-induced change

Summary/Abstract: The article deals with diachronic study of subject reference in Votic and Ingrian (Finnic branch, Uralic family). At present, in these languages, as in Russian, the subject pronoun is predominantly expressed explicitly (Ingrian: Miä muiššan šenen hüväšt ‘I remember it well’). However, this pronominal pattern is not typical for other Uralic languages, where the pronoun tends to be omitted (at least in the first and second person). In this regard, the genesis of pronominal referential pattern in Votic and Ingrian languages is of great interest. Based on diachronic analysis of Votic and Ingrian texts (mid 19th — early 21st century), the article shows how the pronominal pattern has developed through the Central and the Lower Luga dialects of Votic and through the Soikkola dialect of Ingrian. All idioms demonstrate a significant expansion of third person subject pronouns in the middle of the 20th century. This process coincides with the period of increased contacts with native speakers of Russian and can thus be explained by contact influence.

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