Konverben und Konverbsätze im Hinuchischen

Abstract

The Hinuq converb does not satisfy all criteria of syntactic subordination; it also differs from both coordination and consubordination. Furthermore, the Hinuq converb does not comply with the traditional definition of the morphological category of “finiteness.” Transferring the criteria used in other languages to distinguish between finite and infinite verbs is not feasible in Hinuq:

With respect to agreement in grammatical gender (i.e. class) and number converbs and finite verbs use the same morphological exponent. The converb is subject to the same syntactic rules (=the argument in the absolutive case controls the agreement).

Case marking of the argument follows the same syntactic rules.

Converbial clauses, just like the main clause, equally allow the omission of the subject.

The properties of the Hinuq converb are typical, and in some cases even identical, to converbs of other languages within the Nakh-Daghestanian family. Notably, in this respect, Hinuq exhibits a particular similarity to the other Tsezic (Didoic) languages and to Godoberi.