COMPARING VOICE AND ASPECT CATEGORIES IN OROCHON AND EVENKI

Comparing voice and aspect categories in Orochon and EvenkiThe current article presents the results of examining the Orochon voice and aspect verb categories, their meaning and forming patterns. First, The dataresulting from the comparison of Orochon and Evenki verb categories reveal considerable similarity of the grammatical systems of the two closely related languages. First, voice category analysis demonstrates its general similarity. The reflexive voice not previously registered in the Orochon language, according to our field materials, is present there. The grammatical category of voice in the compared languages is formed by means of affixes; the affix forms mostly correlate with the exception of the imperative and cooperative voice where interchange of sounds is found within the affixes. Secondly, aspect types do not correspond in the two languages. Five aspect types demonstrate the correlation in meaning and formation. Nevertheless, each language has aspects which are notpresented in the other. The affixes of the same aspect types are generally equivalent. However, some aspect forms demonstrate vowel or consonant alternations within the affixes. Finally, larger spectrum of affixes characteristic for the corresponding verb patterns should be noted in Evenki compared to Orochon.