The research aims to analyse the functioning of the Tuvan function word bolza derived from
the existential verb bol= ‘to be’, ‘to become’ in the conditional form with =sa, as well as its
structural and functional analogues in Turkic and Mongolic languages.
In several Turkic languages, the conditional form of the existential verb bol= ‘to be’,
‘to become’ and e(r=) ‘to be’ function as conjunctions and as function words. Between the two
Old Turkic verbs e(r=) ‘to be’ and bol= ‘to be’, only the traces of the verb e(r=) ‘to be’ were
preserved in the Tuvan language (as particles eves ‘no’, iyik ‘indeed’, ‘conditional particle’, ertik
‘conditional particle’) and therefore the verb bol= ‘to be’ started to be used more heavily. The
verb bol= ‘to be’, ‘to become’ is used as an independent word, as well as an auxiliary verb, and is
sometimes grammaticalized; simple and complex particles are formed on the basis of various
polyfunctional forms of this verb. In particular, such grammaticalization is observed in the case
of the conditional form with =za of the verb bol= bolza which is used as a special intensifying
particle in the Tuvan language. Analysis of semantic and communicative functions of bolza in simple sentences shows that,
in contrast to other Turkic languages where function words bolsa and ise serve mainly as means
of specification of a subject, in Tuvan, the word bolza may be used with other parts of a sentence.
Analysis of language material shows that the Tuvan particle bolza is used in postposition to specify
or to emphasize the meaning of a word that is used as a part of a simple sentence. In the communicative
structure of a sentence, this particle marks the theme, which can denote both the given
and the new information, and which can also possess an additional contrastive meaning.
Usage of particles and function words derived from existential verbs is typical for Turkic languages,
as well as Mongolic languages (Buryat bolbol, Mong. bolbol). Such classes of words are
often described in works on Mongolic languages. Some researchers even separate these words
into a special category of parts of speech on the basis of their functional traits. The usage of bolza
as an intensifying particle in the Tuvan language is suggested to be caused by Mongolian influence.
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