Search

Introduction. The feature of the Baltic-Finnish languages is a system of infinitives and infinitive constructions. The article analyzes the syntactic roles of the inessive of the II infinitive, which according to the Baltic-Finnish syntax classification is considered an adverbial construction that characterizes the verb predicate. Materials and Methods. The analysis is performed using comparative and descriptive methods. The article uses the language dialect material and material of the Veps literary language that has been developing for 30 years, and which writing began to revive in 1989. Results and Discussion. Semantically the inessive of II infinitive has two main functions: temporal and final. The first one indicates an action that occurs at the same time with the action represented by the main finite verb. The second function indicates the purpose of the action represented by the main verb. At the same time, the final function is purely Vepsian. Conclusion. Modern Vepsian syntax is the result of development that was caused by the loss of traditional Baltic-Finnish features and taking of some significant features because of the influence of the Russian language.

The disciplines of literature and linguistics have separated: it is possible for a student to earn a degree in English literature without having any linguistic expertise, and more specifically without knowing anything significant about the grammar of the English language. In part this is because of the increasing professionalization and scientific orientation of linguistics. But here I focus on a different issue: that even highly educated scholars of English typically hold mostly mistaken beliefs about English grammar. Education in the subject ossified more than 200 years ago. First, unsupportable claims about the structure of the language — artifacts of indefensible analyses — are still widely assumed; and second, ‘ghost rules’ that never correctly characterized the language are still commonly trusted. To illustrate the insupportable analyses I consider the definitions of lexical categories like noun or verb, the analysis of the infinitival marker to, and the misclassification of prepositions. To illustrate ghost rules I discuss split infinitives, restrictive which, genitive antecedents for pronouns, stranding of prepositions, and singular antecedents for they. I conclude with a brief plea for reunification of literary and linguistic studies.