Puhesuomen muuttuva omistusmuotojärjestelmä

• Heikki Paunonen

Avainsanat: morfologia, omistusmuodot, puhekieli (ks. myös puhuttu kieli), sosiolingvistiikka

Abstrakti

Morphological changes in spoken Finnish possessive forms (englanti)

1995 (99)

Heikki Paunonen (University of Tampere; [e-mail])

Morphological changes in spoken Finnish possessive forms

Based on data from two time periods, the article examines how the morphological marking of possession has changed in spoken Helsinki Finnish at the end of the 20th century. The older material dates from 1972-74 (three age groups, 96 informants in all), and the more recent material from 1991-92 (three age groups, 45 informants). Two traditional questions are posed: (1) how realistically can an apparent-time analysis represent an ongoing change? and (2) how stable does the language spoken by the same age group remain at different periods? Although both sets of material include data from the same 29 informants, the comparison does not extend to the analysis of idiolects.

In spoken Helsinki Finnish, five possessive variants are found in the 1st person singular: A) minun kirjani 'my book', B) kirjani, C) minun kirja, D) mun kirjani, E) mun kirja. The 3rd person singular has four variants: A) hnen kirjansa 'his/her book', B) kirjansa, C) hnen kirja, D) sen kirja. On the basis of their referential relationships, the forms are further divided into two groups: reflexive and non-reflexive. Reflexive forms refer to the subject of the clause: min kadotin kirjani 'I lost my book'; is kadotti kirjansa 'father lost his (own) book'. Non-reflexive forms refer to referents other than the clause subject: is kadotti (minun, mun) kirjani 'father lost my book'; is kadotti hnen kirjansa 'father lost his (= someone else's) book'.

In the 1st person singular the analytic type mun kirja is spreading (figures 1 and 2). However, there is a clear hierarchy between reflexive and non-reflexive forms: the mun kirja type has spread more rapidly in non-reflexive contexts. At the forefront of the change are young people of the 1990s, who use this type in 97% of non-reflexive contexts and 61% of reflexive contexts. The 3rd person singular also shows a growing preference for the analytic type sen kirja (figures 4 and 5). The development in the 3rd singular has nevertheless led to a polarization between the reflexive and non-reflexive forms. Among young people in the 1990s, the type sen kirja is used in 95% of non-reflexive contexts, but the kirjansa type is the only choice in reflexive contexts. A comparison between the two periods shows that in this speech community the change has proceeded linearly and consistently over 20 years. At least in this case, the apparent-time picture of the change suggested by the 1970s material corresponds well with the actual change that occurred. However, the language of individual generations has not changed very much during the period studied. On the contrary, it seems that each generation has become stabilized at a particular stage in the ongoing flow of change. This makes it even possible to venture a hypothetical prediction about the future destiny of Finnish possessive suffixes (diagram 3).