Doctoral defence: Hanna Pook "Pronoun use and variation in Estonian dialects: kes 'who', mis 'what' and keegi 'someone'"

On 24 August at 13:00 Hanna Pook will defend her doctoral thesis „Pronoun use and variation in Estonian dialects: kes 'who', mis 'what' and keegi 'someone'" for obtaining the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (in Estonian language).

Supervisor:
Professor Liina Lindström, University of Tartu

Opponent:
Professor Marja-Liisa Helasvuo, University of Turku (Finland)

Summary

Variation is an inherent part of language: variation can occur in pronunciation, lexis, morphological forms, constructions, etc. Variation can be found in all languages, dialects and registers, on all linguistic levels, and in every person’s speech. This dissertation examines the variation in the use of pronouns in Estonian dialects. The studied pronouns are interrogative-relative kes ‘who’ and mis ‘what’, and indefinite keegi ‘someone’, and their variation has been examined from two aspects. Firstly, while in Standard Estonian kes and keegi can only be used to refer to animate entities and mis to inanimate entities, certain Estonian dialects allow the opposite use of these pronouns (Kellest sa leiba teed? Mulle tuli kiri vennalt, mis Saksamaal elab. Poest ei olnud kedagi saada.). Secondly, while the partial object position requires for the other (pro)nouns to be in the partitive case, the pronoun mis in the same position is often used in the nominative case instead (Mida ~ mis sa teed?). The aim of the dissertation is to ascertain which geographical and morphosyntactic variables affect these variations and what might have influenced their emergence. It is found that an important contributor in the development of the studied variations is grammaticalisation: a phenomenon
where, over time, lexical elements develop into more grammatical units and thereby lose distinctions in meaning. The variation was often most pronounced precisely in the most grammaticalised positions and functions of the pronouns. The results show that the variation in the use of these pronouns is not random, but governed by many different, often interrelated language internal and external factors. The speakers might be unaware of these factors, but they are identifiable by quantitative and statistical frequency-based analyses. Therefore it is especially important to employ such methods in the study of (dialect) syntax, as it allows the researcher to discover even the most subtle nuances in variation, which might otherwise be overlooked in a qualitative analysis.

Defence can be also followed in Zoom: https://ut-ee.zoom.us/j/91870428137?pwd=SnVTMmVBNEo3ZGorcnpxWkhSc3kwZz09 (Meeting ID: 918 7042 8137, Passcode: 297182)