Evidentiality in Uzbek and Kazakh

 
4.1.4 Morphosyntactic Properties of Ekan/Eken in Interrogative Clauses 
In interrogative clauses, ekan/eken exhibits some properties not found in declarative 
clauses containing these morphemes. These properties include the possibility of co-occurrence 
with any paradigm of the verb, some differences in person and number marking, and the variable 
positioning of the question particle. 
14
2010. “Oy Salar Oqïyğalar.” Nur-Otaw.kz, 10 Jul. Accessed 28 Jan 2011. 
http://www.nurotau.kz/?p=421 

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104 
Recall that in Uzbek and Kazakh, questions are signaled either by the presence of a 
question word (e.g. nima/ne ‘what’, kim ‘who’, qancha/neše ‘how much’, etc.) or by the 
presence of the polar question marker mi/MA. Uzbek and Kazakh are wh-in-situ languages, so 
questions words undergo no movement. 
The variable positioning of the question marker is the most obvious difference between 
ekan/eken and other forms derived from the copula. In Uzbek, the question particle mi always 
follows the copular past edi and the copular negative emas, but the question particle may precede 
or follow ekan. When the question particle precedes ekan, the two forms are combined, forming 
a single marker mikan. It is customary in Uzbek to represent the combination of anything plus 
the question particle as a single orthographic word. In Kazakh, the question particle MA always 
follows the copular negative emes, but may precede or follow both the copular past edi and eken.
These configurational possibilities are summarized in Table 29: 
Table 29: Possible Configurations of Copular Forms and Question Particles 
Uzbek 
Kazakh 
 
C
OP
+Q 
Q+C
OP
 
C
OP
+Q 
Q+C
OP
 
P
AST
 
edimi 
*mi edi 
edi me 
MA edi 
N
EGATIVE
 
emasmi 
*mi emas 
emes pe 
*MA emas 
E
VIDENTIAL
 
ekanmi 
mikan 
eken be 
MA eken 
 
Person and number marking is also affected by the presence of ekan/eken and the 
question particle. In Uzbek, person and number marking always occurs directly after the past 
tense morpheme. The presence of the question particle on the copular negative and ekan, 
however, allows for two different configurations: one in which person/number marking precedes 
the question particle, and one in which it follows: 
(142) a. 
qil-gan e-mas-lar-mi/e-mas-siz-mi (Uz) 
do-
PRF COP
-
NEG
-
PL
-
Q
/
COP
-
NEG
-2
PL
-
Q
b. 
qil-gan e-mas-mi-lar/e-mas-mi-siz 

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105 
 
 
do-
PRF COP
-
NEG
-
Q
-
PL
/
COP
-
NEG
-
Q
-2
PL
'Have they/you not done?' 
 
(143) a. 
qil-gan ekan-lar-mi/ekan-siz-mi (Uz) 
do-
PRF EVID
-
PL
-
Q
/
EVID
-2
PL
-
Q
 
b. 
qil-gan ekan-mi-lar/ekan-mi-siz 
do-
PRF EVID
-
Q
-
PL
/
EVID
-
Q
-2
PL
'Have they/you (apparently) done?' 
 
When the question particle is present, person/number marking never occurs on the main part of 
the predicate (as may occur in declarative clauses with ekan), but must follow ekan: 
(144) a. 
qil-gan-mi-kan-lar/siz (Uz) 
do-
PRF
-
Q
-
EVID
-
PL
/2
PL
'Have they/you (apparently) done?' 
 
b. 
*qil-gan-siz/lar-mi-kan (Uz) 
do-
PRF
-2
PL
/
PL
-
Q
-
EVID
 
 
 
In Kazakh, person and number marking always occurs on the copular form and is never 
affixed to the main part of the predicate (provided a copular form is present) or to the question