Noun Verbalization in the Erzya Dialects of the Prisurye Region

Introduction. The lexicalization of various parts of speech in the Mordovian languages remains a complex and understudied phenomenon within Finno-Ugric studies. This process is determined by the specific morphological structure of these languages, which is characterized by the presence of declension and conjugation paradigms in the majority of parts of speech, thereby creating preconditions for shifts in their grammatical status. The aim of this study is to examine verbalized nouns using dialectal material from the Erzya subdialects of the Sura region and to identify the distinctive features of the functioning of these word forms. Materials and Methods. The research material comprised dialectal records compiled by the authors during linguistic expeditions conducted in 2022, 2023, and 2024 to Erzya villages in the Prisurye region of the Republic of Mordovia, Penza Oblast, and the Chuvash Republic. The collection of field material was carried out using a questionnaire-based methodology. The following research methods were employed in the study: the descriptive method, which enabled the tracing of the use of verbalized nouns in the dialectal speech of Erzya language speakers; and the comparative and structural methods, which facilitated the identification and illustration of the specific features governing the formation and functioning of the analyzed word forms within the examined linguistic area. Results and Discussion. In the Erzya dialects of the Prisurye region, as in the literary Erzya language, the process of lexicalization is widely prevalent. One of its forms is the verbalization of significant and auxiliary parts of speech. Through verbalization, all non-verbs can adopt predicative suffixes and inflect for person, number, and tense, much like verbs. Regarding nouns, however, not all undergo the process of verbalization, but only those with specific semantics that are contextually and situationally determined. Word forms functioning as syntactic wholes are extensively represented in the speech of native speakers. These neologisms are not uniform in their phonetic and morphological characteristics: in the dialects of Chuvash Prisurye, unlike other dialects of the Prisurye landscape, the consonant -j-, an interfix, appears before -a-, the present tense suffix, in the formation of verbalized noun forms. The functioning of these neologisms in the Erzya dialects of the Sur region reflects the specificity of the area under consideration. Conclusion. An analysis of the linguistic material from the studied area has demonstrated that nouns of the primary declension actively adopt predicative suffixes and exhibit conjugation paradigms. The conducted research has revealed that verbalized forms in the nominative and oblique cases partially retain both their lexical and case meanings, while the verbal morpheme indicates the person, number, and tense of the action. A dialectological study of the verbalization of other parts of speech would provide an opportunity to elucidate the specific features and tendencies in the lexicalization of the Mordovinian languages.