Influence of Analogy on Innovation of an Interrogative Particle in Manchu

Abstract

Previous studies considered nio to be a combination of the emphasis particle ni and the interrogative particle o. However, there are two facts that complicate this situation. First, nio is not present in materials that reflect the Manchu language of the early 17th century; it was not until the early 18th century that its usage frequency increased. Secondly, the realization condition of nio shows a restricted condition. The realization condition of nio overlapped with the realization condition of ningge, which was already used productively. Therefore, this study suggests that the word nio was influenced by ningge’s word formation method. Instead of ūn, an interrogative particle used under special conditions, language users used ni-, which combines –ngge, with o, the most productive interrogative particle. However, when the nio form is used as an interrogative particle, the preceded nouns and adjectives, of the realization condition of ningge, are added to the realization condition of nio by analogy. As a result, phonological realization conditions and grammatical realization conditions, which are unrelated, were simultaneously applied to the realization of nio.