Монгол хэлний зарим мөхсөн дагаврын тухай

Some extinct suffixes in Mongolian language

Abstract

DOI: 10.22353/ms20234708

https://doi.org/10.22353/ms20234708

The examination of changes within inflectional systems and the origin and extinction of inflectional morphemes holds significant importance in understanding language evolution. Throughout linguistic development and its evolution, new morphemes emerge while others fall into disuse. Despite the prevalence of frozen and extinct suffixes within Mongolian root structures, there exists a notable gap in research concerning these extinct morphemes. This paper addresses the frozen suffixes within free root structures, focusing specifically on numerals as exemplars.
We propose identifying certain suffixes, occurring in limited number of word structures, and failing to form new words, as extinct suffixes. Specifically, we identify -na/-ne, -či, -r, -γa/-ge (-ba/-be, -ma/-me), and -ǰi suffixes within numeral constructions as examples of extinct morphemes. These suffixes are embedded within the structure of free roots in contemporary Mongolian, aligning with Sh.Luvsanvandan’s assertion that “one or more extinct suffixes are affixed to extinct primary roots” (1963) to create derived roots.
In contrast to suffixation, compounding shows greater creativity in word formation. Consequently, non-productive, and extinct suffixes tend to increase in the Mongolian language over time.