1700-luvun almanakkojen uudismuodosteita

• Pirkko Forsman Svensson

Avainsanat: infinitiivirakenteet, partisiipit, vanha kirjasuomi

Abstrakti

New constructions in 18th century almanachs (englanti)

2/1999 (103)

Pirkko Forsman Svensson ([e-mail])

NEW CONSTRUCTIONS IN 18TH CENTURY ALMANACS

The article examines the language used in a series of Finnish almanacs from the period 1769&endash;1786, focusing mainly on certain non-finite forms. The almanacs were chosen for two reasons: they contain language features that do not appear in other texts, and the language used in them is so homogeneous that the same person can be assumed to have translated all eighteen almanacs into Finnish. The dialectal features lead to the conclusion that the translator was from Ostrobothnia, probably from central or northern Ostrobothnia. The translator's idiolect also indicates an Ostrobothnian idiomatic expression.

The almanacs contain a large number of different passive forms, including special constructions. The passive form of the 1st infinitive is nowadays not normally found outside the Hme dialects, but it may previously have also been widespread in the Ostrobothnian dialects. In the almanacs examined here, the passive 1st infinitive appears in contexts where it otherwise would almost never be met, for instance in the role of a passive clause of finality, as found e.g. in the 1775 almanac: [hamppua pannaan] cuhiloihin, jotca, estett wahingota linnuilda, olilla peitetn ('[hemp is put] into stooks, which, to avoid damage from birds, are covered with straw').

The predicate of temporal constructions differs in form from modern Finnish in certain instances. In past tense temporal constructions the passive past participle with an active meaning is regularly formed with a single-t marker instead of a geminated t: the passive past participle marker -U (< *dU) and the partitive case ending -tA are added to the (strong grade) vowel stem, e.g. joutu+u+ta (= jouduttua), lhte+y+t (= lhdetty), 1780 almanac: Akelman cucoistuuta (= apilan kukittua 'when the clover had flowered'); 1784 almanac: sadetta &endash; &endash; ottautansa wastaan (= saatuaan sadetta 'after receiving rain'). The same type of participles appear in Savo dialects and in certain related languages, and a couple of examples have also been found from the work of Mikael Agricola. The majority of the exceptional participles are passive in meaning; they have a separate passive marker (-ttA- or -tA-) and participle marker (-U-), e.g. leikat+ta+u+ta, iske+tt+y+t. In stems ending in a short unstressed vowel there is thus a geminated-t marker, e.g. 1777 almanac: pohjan jllens kijni iskettyt ('when the base has been tightly closed'); in other stems there is a single-t marker, e.g. 1780 almanac: Eloja syxyll leicattauta ja coottauta ('when the crops have been cut and harvested').

The person translating the almanacs into Finnish has morphologically differentiated those temporal constructions with an active meaning from those with a passive meaning and has thus tried to create a system whereby form corresponds to meaning. The participial type lhteyt (= lhdetty) was perhaps part of the translator's idiolect, and on this basis it was possible to create participles with a passive meaning by adding a passive marker to them to indicate the meaning more clearly. Active and passive variants have also been distinguished in modal constructions: where laittain corresponds to the active clause 'siten, ett x laittaa', the 2nd infinitive instructive form corresponding to the passive clause 'siten, ett laitetaan' is laitettain (1774 almanac: tytyy &endash; &endash; sadetta odoteldaa, toki nijn laitettain kylwmist, ett se on tapahtunut ennen, cuin satamaan rupia).

The almanacs provide evidence of a receding practice by which participial forms constructed with the passive single-t marker (e.g. kuiva+u+ta) had a reflexive-automative function. This formulation was no longer sufficient when participles had a purely passive (indefinite agent) function; the passive geminated-t marker was needed for clarity (kuiva+tta+u+ta). The innovative almanac translator placed the passive marker not only in temporal constructions but also in 2nd infinitive instructive forms (laite+tta+i+n), so that the morphological form corresponded with the (passive) meaning of the construction. The system was undoubtedly clear and filled a gap in the language, but it remained only an interesting experiment, just like certain artificial forms created by nineteenth-century Finnish grammarians.