The Krymchak Nominative as One of the Indicators of Noun Indefiniteness and the Cases of Unusual Use of it in the Biblical Translations

Abstract

The Turkic languages, including the Krymchak (=Krimchak) Jewish ethnolect of the Crimean Tatar, have no formal markers of the (in)definiteness of a noun, but a certain lexical and morphological set allow for linguists to determine the meaning of the definiteness / indefiniteness. However, also the Krymchak nominative case fulfils the role of the indefinite index in the functions of a direct object and of an attribute, which is argued in the first part of this article. Thus, the connection and opposition of the nominative with accusative and genitive cases are shown. After some remarks on the category of (in)definiteness in the Turkic languages we analyze the nominative form in the functions of subject, direct object and of attribute in comparison with accusative and genitive case forms used in the analogical functions. By comparison, their definite/indefinite meanings are revealed to be clear. Finally, we discuss the described material, and offer three tables as results. Some instances of the unusual use of the nominative case in the Krymchak Biblical translations is discussed in the second part of this paper. The cited examples are taken from written sources published during the last half century, including the Krymchak translations of Biblical books.