Complication of structure and semantics of pair words in Tuvan and Khakas (based on the example of pair verbs with the meaning of intensity)

Abstract
We study Tuvan and Khakas pair verbs with the meaning of intensity, formed by combining two synonymous verbs that might not necessarily carry the meaning of intensity themselves. The number of such verbs in Tuvan is almost 4 times higher than that in Khakas (110 and 30 respectively). We demonstrate that units with complex forms are also complex semantically, and their meanings are not mere sums of their original components; rather, emergence of additional meanings may be observed here. We classify the lexical-semantic groups of these verbs into: speech verbs and onomatopoetic verbs; verbs denoting emotional states; verbs denoting change in physical state; verbs denoting physical impact. The latter, however, are not found in Khakas language. According to specific lexical features of the components, the following types of pair verbs may be observed: pair verbs with synonymous components; pair verbs with non-synonymous components; pair verbs where only one component possesses an independent meaning, whereas the second component no longer possesses it in modern language. Attributes of such pair words in Tuvan language include such adverbs as ‘very' and ‘very much'. Incorporation of the seme of intensity in the lexical meaning of a verb results in simplification of their syntactic constructions tending to lose a great number of adverbials of degree; however, this loss doesn't hamper native Tuvan speakers to express and detect the meaning of intensity. In Khakas, the semantics of intensity of the studied pair verbs is less transparent. We believe that this class of structurally complex words is emerging because it is necessary to express complex semantics. The kind of pair verbs described in Tuvan and Khakas may be interpreted as an example of coordination between complex forms and complex meanings.

Keywords: Tuvan language, Khakas language, composite verb, the semantics of composite verb,
intensivity sememe