The suffix - ča in Tungusic languages

Tokyo: Tokyo University of Foreign studies. Asian and African languages and linguistics, No.5, 2010: 17-34.The suffix -ča function as the ordinary past tense form in some Tungusic languages (such as Ewenki) while in other languages (such as the east dialect of Ewen) the cognate suffix exhibits noun-like behavior, and the verbal character of the suffix is more restricted. Moreover, in other Tungusic languages (such as Nanai), the cognate morpheme is a nominalizing suffix with limited productivity. In this paper, I propose to reconstruct the historical development of the past tense in Tungusic languages through an analysis of this suffix: further, I attempt to clarify the cross-linguistic problem of the development and decline of inflectional elements.