On the role of grammaticalization (recategorization) in the origin of Manchu motion verbs

Abstract

Manchu has a set of spatials (adverbs) containing the derivational suffix +si which via grammaticalization (recategorization) evolved into motion verbs, e.g. †do ‘inside’ > dosi ‘to the inside, into’ > dosi- ‘to go into, enter’. Ikegami’s suggestion concerning the origin of one of them, namely tuci- ‘to come out, exit’ < *tulĕ/ĭ-si-, from tule ‘outside’, involves unnecessary phonetic complications: fortition of *-ls- to *-lc- and cluster simplification of *-lc- to -c- are two atypical sound changes in the history of Manchu. An alternative solution is presented instead: tuci- goes back to Proto-Tungusic *turki- ‘to go out’ (unambiguous cognates in South Ewenki), showing regular -c- < *-rk-, and has no suffix whatsoever. The same alternative solution allows us to dispense with the longstanding fallacy that in Manchu the derivational suffix +si has a variant in +ci.