Date Thesis Awarded

5-2024

Access Type

Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only

Degree Name

Bachelors of Arts (BA)

Department

Linguistics

Advisor

Jack B. Martin

Committee Members

Rachel Varra

Alexander Angelov

Abstract

This thesis looks into the nuances of the vestigial ergative construction in the Atkan Aleut Gospel of Mark by analyzing the relative case as it is used in the text, and how it challenges claims made by Knut Bergsland. The Orthodox missionary Lavrenty Salamatov wrote the aforementioned text in 1860, making it one of the last works to be translated by a Russian missionary into Atkan Aleut before the American purchase of Alaska in 1867. Salamatov produced a number of religious texts, including the Gospel according to St. Mark into Atkan Aleut, using the Cyrillic orthography. This project transliterated this text into the Atkan Aleut Latin orthography. While Mark has been translated to English, the Latin orthography will be provided to the community as a bilingual text for educational purposes and academic study. This paper begins with a historical context to the Aleut people, the texts, and Bergsland’s claims, followed by a general grammatical overview of Atkan Aleut. Once the sketch is complete, the paper will discuss the methodology used and finally, explore five major uses of the relative case in Mark, and how they address Bergsland’s claims.

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