Mermaid construction: a case of Kazym Khanty

This paper investigates the syntax of mermaid constructions in Kazym Khanty. Mermaid constructions (MMCs) consist of the following parts: [[Clause] Noun Copula] (for a detailed description and criteria, see Tsunoda 2020). MMCs can express modal, aspectual, evidential and other meanings. MMCs have been argued by Tsunoda (2020) to be monoclausal, but data from Kazym Khanty suggests otherwise: Khanty MMCs are biclausal and exhibit control. Based on arguments involving clausal negation, passivisation of the embedded clause, scope of negative pronouns and partial control, I demonstrate that MMCs can be biclausal, thus potentially expanding Tsunoda’s classificaton of mermaid constructions.