Chapter 8. Verbalization and insubordination in Siberian languages

The paper deals with insubordination phenomena in Siberian languages, focusing on Tungusic and Paleosiberian languages. It shows that Siberian languages, both Transeurasian/Macroaltaic and Paleosiberian, share a tendency to renew the finite verb forms through forms of nonfinite origin. This tendency can manifest itself either in the reanalysis of a nominal (participial) predicate as a verbal predicate (verbalization), or in the reanalysis of the erstwhile subordinate clause as a main clause (insubordination). Although the tendency for renewal of finite verb forms constitutes a general areal feature of Siberian languages, the outcome of these processes would be somewhat different, reflecting the difference in scenarios involved (insubordination proper vs. verbalization), as well as differences in the input structures.