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(Section about asking "Whose ...?") |
(More on subordinate clauses) |
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Line 1,427: | Line 1,427: | ||
The enemy wants to finish departing. | The enemy wants to finish departing. | ||
===More Complex Sentences=== | |||
In this case, the subordinate clause is always placed at the end of the sentence. The superordinate verb takes a pronouns to mark whether the subordinate verb is the accusative, ergative or intransitive argument of the verb: | |||
{| class="wikitable" | |||
|- | |||
! !! Accusative !! Ergative !! Intransitive | |||
|- | |||
| Before a consonant || nó || ŋá || sí | |||
|- | |||
| Before a vowel || ón- || áŋ- || íts- | |||
|- | |||
| Emphatic || nò̰ || ŋà̰ || ì̤t | |||
|} | |||
For example, from the sentence: | |||
/múˈhḛ̂=ɾù ˈsâ̰pè áˈlòṳn/ | |||
mother=ERG know everyone | |||
The mother knows everyone. | |||
We can replace the object with a pronoun to get | |||
/múˈhḛ̂ lán=ˈsâ̰pè/ | |||
mother 1PS.INCL.ACC=know | |||
The mother knows us (including you). | |||
If there is a subordinate clause, then the accusative pronoun is replaced with /nó/ e.g. | |||
/múˈhḛ̂ nó=ˈsâ̰pè ˈkʰwèi̤=zù káiʔk kʰlè̤/ | |||
mother SBRD.ACC=know dog=ERG bite child | |||
The mother knows the dog will bite the child. | |||
If the superordinate clause's absolutive argument is also the topic of the subordinate clause, then it does not need to be mentioned twice e.g. | |||
/múˈhḛ̂ nó=ˈsâ̰pè ˈkʰwèi̤=zù káiʔk/ | |||
mother SBRD.ACC=know dog=ERG bite | |||
The mother knows the dog will bite her. | |||
It would be redundant to say something like ?/múˈhḛ̂ nó=ˈsâ̰pè ˈkʰwèi̤=zù káiʔk mùˈhḛ̂/. | |||
Another example where the subordinate clause is the topic of a transitive sentence: | |||
/ŋá=pínjáˈpèi̤ múˈhḛ̂ ˈkʰwèi̤=zù káiʔk kʰlè̤/ | |||
SBRD.ERG=teach mother dog=ERG bite child | |||
That the dog bit the child taught the mother. | |||
Like before, if the superordinate clause's absolutive argument is also the topic of the subordinate clause, then it does not need to be mentioned twice e.g. | |||
/ŋá=pínjáˈpèi̤ múˈhḛ̂ ˈkʰwèi̤=zù káiʔk/ | |||
SBRD.ERG=teach mother dog=ERG bite | |||
That the dog bit the mother taught her (the mother). | |||
And another example using an intransitive verb (in this case, one that would be an adjective in English): | |||
/sí=ˈlwéʔpìd ˈḛ̂nèmì kúʔn tjǎ̤ŋ/ | |||
SBRD.INTR=fast enemy depart yesterday.ADV | |||
It was fast for the enemy to have departed yesterday. | |||
And another example using a postposition: | |||
/múˈhḛ̂=ɾù ˈnòʔ=ɾí ˈdè̤sì kʰlè̤ ˈkʰwèi̤=zù káiʔk gáʔɾ/ | |||
mother=ERG SBRD.ACC.EMP=SEC speak child dog=ERG bite lizard | |||
The mother told the child that the dog would bit the lizard. | |||
And as before, the absolutive argument of the superordinate clause can be the topic of the subordinate clause e.g. | |||
/múˈhḛ̂=ɾù ˈnòʔ=ɾí ˈdè̤sì kʰlè̤ ˈkʰwèi̤=zù káiʔk gáʔɾ/ | |||
mother=ERG SBRD.ACC.EMP=SEC speak child dog=ERG bite | |||
The mother told the child that the dog would bite him (the child). | |||
/múˈhḛ̂ ˈnòʔ=ɾí θú=ˈdè̤sì ˈkʰlè̤=jàuŋ ˈkʰwèi̤=zù káiʔk/ | |||
mother SBRD.ACC.EMP=SEC ANTIP=speak child=DAT dog=ERG bite | |||
The mother told the child that the dog would bite her (the mother). |
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