Reviewed by Michael W. Morgan, Addis Ababa University

The negation of stative relation clauses in the Mordvin languages, the publication of Arja Hamari’s dissertation, is a detailed account of the various forms of negative stative predication in the two Mordvin languages, Erzya and Moksha. H has produced a rich, corpus-based study. Native speakers of both languages were consulted in addition to a written corpus that includes translations of three of the Gospels into both Mordvin languages, material from cultural journals, and an electronic corpus of literary and older folkloristic texts.

After an introductory chapter (12–21), in Ch. 2, ‘Predication of stative relations’ (22-75), H discusses the various stative relations found crosslinguistically (proper inclusion, equation, attribution, location, existence, and possession) and presents the main features of Mordvin affirmative predication with a focus on nominal conjugation. Ch. 3, ‘Negation’ (76–94), discusses such matters as scope, structural types, and marker types, which are pertinent to negation.

After the background of Mordvin predication and negation and the comparative framework given in Chs. 2 and 3, H discusses the specific characteristics of Mordvin negative stative relations. Ch. 4, ‘The Mordvin negative markers and their origin’ (95–123), presents the negative markers used in the two languages and their origins. Mordvin negation is complex in that there is a variety of different negative markers, not always cognate, differing in structure (negative particles, suffixes, and auxiliary verbs all being present) and function (there are different tense- and mood-specific forms, as well as a separate verb to express negated existence). In Ch. 5, ‘Formation of negative stative relation clauses in the Mordvin languages’ (124–248), the negative form of each stative relation type examined in Ch. 2 is dealt with in turn. Clauses of proper inclusion, equation, and attribution with nominal or adjectival predicates are negated similarly, as are locative, existential, and possession predicates, but the possessive relation is divided into ‘have’ and ‘belong’ constructions that express negation differently. Ch. 6, ‘The functional development of the Mordvin negative markers’ (249–84), proceeds to explicate the development of negative markers in the two Mordvin languages. A short conclusion in Ch. 7 (285–88) is followed by a list of references (289–98).

This is an excellent book. Its wealth of data and its clear, insightful analysis make it a welcome addition to the libraries of Finno-Ugricists and typologists alike.