| Part 2: Language |
A
Khezha sentence usually consists of a noun phrase as the subject and a
predicate phrase, which is either a predication or modification of the subject.
A predicate phrase may further consist of a noun phrase with a verb phrase, or
a verb phrase alone for predication, whereas for modification it can consist of
only a modifier with or without a modal particle. In Khezha, the predicate
phrase, whether predication or modification plays central role, because it can
constitute the sentence without a subject in normal utterances. For example, in
the sentences below 438 and 439, both are normal sentences, where the sentence
438 is without a subject:
538. Netho eh phe dewa
village loc go part
`Going to village.’
539. Nye nü netho eh phe dewa
I nom village loc go part
`I am going to village.’
Another
interesting syntactic feature in Khezha is that, all the sentences are active
sentence, in the sense that no active sentence can be transformed into passive
form of sentence. The subject of the sentence
can either precede or follow the object, but their markings never dissociate
from them nor do they change into any other form even if they are shifted from
their original position. The position of
the subject and object can freely be interchanged, but the verb is never
affected in any sort. That is, the verbs
are never marked passive even though its object is shifted to the initial
position of the sentence. In other words,
the verb position is always fixed in the final position in the sentence. Consider
the following:
540. nye nü
puwe eh prisa tsü a
I
nom him loc money give part
‘I gave money to him.’
541. Puwe eh
Nnye nü prisa tsü a
him loc I nom money give part
‘I gave money to him.’
In every Khezha sentence, modal
particle also plays active role in their syntactic-semantic relations. In the
sentences below, a modal particle gives indication about the presence and
absence of the subject in the sentence:
542. Ekie metsheh a
house clean part
`The house is clean.’
543. Ekie metsheh ah
house clean part
`Cleaning the house.’
In the sentence 542, the component
metsheh `clean’ plays role as modifier that modifies the subject which is
realized by the modal particle a, while in the sentence 543 the role `clean’
plays is predication that predicates the subject, which is at present not
introduced in the utterance since subject identification is not required at
this moment; yet the particle ah explains that the noun phrase that the
component metsheh predicates is something else other than introduced in
the sentence. When the necessity arises, it will be introduced as,
544. John nü ekie metsheh ah
John nom house clean part
`John is cleaning the house.’ Of `John cleans the
house.’
Whereas
in the sentence 542, the introduction of another noun to act as the subject of
the sentence is restricted by the particle a.
Thus, the sentence below is not possible:
*John nü ekie metsheh a
The
reason is that, the particle a functions as confirmative,
that gives confirmation about the quality of the house rather than
saying what has been acted upon the house.
Furthermore,
modal particles also play role collaterally with verb as well as adjective as
in,
545 Era trö a (subject
modification)
cloth white part
`The cloth is white.’
546. Era ketrö a (subject identification)
(The white cloth)
`It is the white cloth.’
Or
Era trö ah (subject narration)
`The
cloth is white (and the whiteness of the cloth is ongoing)’
547. Era thu metrö ah (subject predication)
cloth wash white part
`Washing the cloth white.’
548. Erah ketrö! (imperative subject identification)
`White cloth!’
Subject-Predicate
theory of traditional grammar cannot provide solution for this kind of
intricacies. Except for the construction 547, the rest of the sentences do not
fall within the scope of this theory in the strict sense. Even in the sentence
type with subject and object order of variation one can argue that, razhu
ketshe zü’ in sentence 549a below do not fall within the scope of
predicate, hence can be shifted to the subject position without constraint,
though 549b does:
549a. Razhu ketshe zü’ John nü süh metsheh ah
shirt new det jon nom brush clean
part
b. John nü razhu ketshe zü’ süh metsheh ah
`John is brushing the new shirt.’
(John is brushing the new shirt so
as to let it become dust free)
It
is communicatively understood that the shirt is dirtied with dust and John is
the actor who is performing action to make it dust free. As per the
Subject-Predicate theory, jon nü is noun phrase which is the subject of
the sentence, and the rest would be treated as verb phrase with two predicates süh
`brush’ and metsheh `clean’, where the latter plays double role: one as
causative that predicates the subject by acting collaterally with the principal
verb süh, and the other as modifier. Nevertheless, the primary
role-played is the principal verb süh. The causative metsheh
`clean’ plays only passive role or secondary role in predication of the
subject. In the sentences below, the
particle assigns metsheh `clean’ to play role either adjective or verb
as the following:
550a
Razhu metsheh a `The
shirt is clean’ (subject modification)
b. Razhu metsheh a’ `The
shirt is very clean’
(subject
intensification)
Razhu
metsheh dah `The shirt is clean
(realis) (it wasn’t
clean
before, but now it is clean)
Razhu
metsheh ah `Cleaning
the shirt.’ (irrealis)
As
per the Subject-Predicate theory, the participant, razhu `shirt’ is the
subject of the sentence in all the cases except 551a, which acts as the
predicate of the subject as in,
551a. John nü razhu metsheh ah. `John is cleaning
the shirt.’
The
same is not possible in other cases,
b. *John nü razhu metsheh a
c. *John nü razhu metsheh a’
d. *John nü razhu metsheh dah
In
the case of 551d, it is possible only when a verb describing about the activity
of the subject (and does not involve modification of the subject) is introduced
as in,
552. John nü razhu jüthu dah
`John has washed the shirt.’
Here,
John that plays role of actor, which becomes the subject of the sentence and
the razhu, as the participant acted upon.
Thus,
the distinction between predication and modification is desirable to clear off
the ambiguity as propounded by
4.1.
Sentence
Khezha
sentence may be classified into different categories such as, simple sentence,
complex sentence, compound sentence, interrogative sentence, imperative
sentence and double subject sentence.
4.1.1.
Simple Sentence:
Simple
sentence consists of a principal clause, eg.,
553. Pu nü
a nö a
he
nom my child part
‘He is my child.’
554. Eja
Nye nü Kewhu eh dzü a
yesterday I nom Kohima loc go(down) part
‘I went down to Kohima yesterday.’
555. A zö terho’ ah
my mother well part
‘My mother is fine.’ (Her good
health is ongoing)
556. No
teh deh yiwe a
you go imp may part
‘You may go.’
557. I ze thu ro?
your name who inter
‘What is your name?’
558. A leshida
heh beh a
my book here exist part
‘My book is here.’
559. Lümi nü
awe eh leche tsü a
girl nom
me loc fruit give part
‘The girl gave me a fruit.’
560 Pu nü
lümi kewe a
she nom girl good part
‘She is a good girl.’
4.1.2.
Complex Sentence:
The
complex sentence consists of a principal clause with one or more subordinate
clause (s). The complex sentence,
however, normally do not consist of more than two subordinate clauses. They can be formed with or without
conjunction.
(i) Principal clause
with one subordinate clause:
Principal
clause and subordinate clause are interchangeable in their position when there
is only one subordinate clause in a complex sentence.
561a. Noele
puh yimoyi Nye nü tshü eha
you-self say conj I nom
do neg
or
b. Nye nü
tshü eha Noele puh yimoyi
‘I will not do even if you insist.’
In
the sentences 561a and b, the subordinate clause follows in a, while the case
is reverse in b. Consider some more examples.
562 Pu nü
meku ezü Nye nü che ah
he
nom lie conj
I nom know part
‘I know that he is lying.’
(I am knowing
that he is lying.)
563 Pu nü meku ezü
Nye nü che a
he nom lie
conj I nom
know part
`I came to know that he was lying
(someone told me).’
564. No nü a
nhie puh ezü mesü mo dah
you nom me
at tell
conj remember neg part
‘(I have) forgotten that you told
me.’
565. Nye nü
leshikie eh wöh ezü nhie
puwe eh zü kechü a
I
nom school loc come conj at
him loc with meet part
‘I met him when I was going to
school.’
566. No
leshiphrü maleh thechy mezhe eda
you book read subj future
suffer pat
‘You will suffer in future if you
don’t book read.’
567. Mary nü
phrüh mehci le’é feil dah
Dilhi nom read lazy subj fail part
‘Mary failed because he is lazy.’
568. Robert wöh ah eleh
aà nhie puh hi!
he come part subj me at
tell imp
‘Tell me if Robert comes!’
569. John nü
wöh awe eh keshü ah
John nom come me loc scold part
‘John came and abused me.’
In
some situations, the interrogative marker can be followed by conjunctive shyrö
to expand the sentence in the situation when the speaker is transmitting the
interrogation to the third participant by aping the exact phrase of the
sentence uttered by the first speaker, or preconceived the phrase of
interrogation in the mind of the speaker:
570a. I zö mha dah ni?
your mother go(field)
inter
‘Has your mother gone to the field?’
b. I zö mha dah ni? shyrö
John nü nü ah
your mother go part inter conj John
nom ask part
‘John is asking if my mother has
gone to the field.’
(ii) Principal
Clause with two subordinate clauses :
Whenever
there are two subordinate clauses in a sentence, the principal clause always
occurs in between the two subordinate clauses, eg.,
571. Mhekekelebalo pu wöh eleh
a nhie puh hi diey shyrö
puh ah
in-case he come subj part I at tell imp okay
conj say part
‘(He) told me that I should inform
him if he comes.’
572. No menöh maleh pu nü
ìwe eh kehdzü de erö beh diro
you careful subj he nom you loc cheat will conj exist
report
‘He is trying to trick you unless
careful.’
573. No nü
beh mo’ Nye nü beh shay shyrö
beh a
you
nom stay subj I nom stay conc
conj remain part
‘I am thinking to stay back if you
don’t.’
574. Noele
puh yimoyi Nye nü tshü eha
wözhütytoh diro
you-self say conj I
nom do wont absolute
rep
‘I say that) it is absolutely
impossible to do even if you insist.’
575. No Delhi eh
dzü eleh a nhie leshi thu hi de nie
you
shyrö mesü ah
conj
expect part
‘(I) expect that you will write to
me when you go to
576. No nü whöboe lo’
diby tshü ah ya? shyrö
keta rö beh a
you
nom there abl what do asp inter conj discuss conj stay part
‘We are discussing about what you
must be doing over there.’
(We are discussing and remaining,
“What are you doing there?)
4.1.3.
Coordinate Sentence:
In
Khezha, most of the coordinate sentences are conjoined by a conjunction or
subjunctive
577. Neilo nü
neso a ne’
Neilo nom honest part conj
pu chykezü nü pù thre mo a
his younger-brother nom him like neg
part
‘Neilo is honest but his younger
brother is not like him.’
578 No awe eh
leshi tsü eleh Nye nü iwe eh pen
tsü de
you me loc paper give subj I
nom you loc pen give will
‘I will give you a pen if you give
me paper.’
579. No awe eh zomezhe lo’ awe eh thröhy hi ley!
you
me loc pity subj me
loc help imp
‘You help me if you feel pity on
me.’
580. Pu nü
leshiphrü de shyo Nye nü tatah by eda
he
nom book read will conj I nom
cultivate adv pat
‘If
he determines to book read then I will cultivate (field).’ (both cannot go to
school, one has to plough the field for support)
581a. No nü mha de leh Nnye nü
mha dia?
you nom go(field) will or I
nom go(field int
‘Shall you go to the field or shall
l go?’
b. No
nü kö lo’ de leh Nye nü
kö lo’ dia che mo dah
you nom win pot will or I nom win pot inter know neg part
‘(We) don’t know whether you will
win or I will win.’
The
subjunctive leh `or’ is the origin of interrogative marker, hence always
carries interrogative meaning. What the speaker intends to convey is understood
at the level of preceding clause, hence the following clause becomes redundant.
In such a situation even if the sentence is cut short at this level, the
presence of following clause in the underlying level is mutually understood as
in 582,
582. No nü mha
de leh?
you
nom go will subj
`Shall you go to the field or?’
However,
the sentence below is not possible:
*No
nü kö lo de leh?
It
is obligatory to complete entire stretch of the sentence. Reason for such a
difference may be due to psychology factor, a “competing fact”.
Coordinate
sentence also possible in some cases, specially in an impolite speech without a
conjunction or subjunctive, eg.,
583. Pu yi
mehra ayi ketí weh lo
am’tsü
he also
proud subj mouth shut pot adv.
‘He is also so acting he got his
mouth shut.’
584. No nü khah ayi noele
pfò lo
you nom ask part yourself take imp
‘You are asking,
you take it yourself!’ (I have nothing to do with it)
In
the above sentences 581 and 582, the subjunctive ayi can be removed as in the
case of 585 and 586 below:
585.
No eja awe eh kehdzü ba’ dah iwe eh mehli pe eha.
You yesterday me loc bluff adv
part you loc believe more neg
`I
cannot believe you anymore because you have cheated me badly yesterday.’
586. No yi
mezhy a ngö lo am’tsü[1]
you also naughty part
see pot adv
`You are also so restless you got
your lesson!’ (esp., when a
child
stumbles and falls)
4.1.4.
Interrogative Sentence
Any state or declarative sentence
can be changed into interrogative sentence by an interrogative marker. In all the interrogative sentences, an
interrogative marker concludes the sentence.
587a. Mary nü
zowe a
Mary- nom beautiful
‘Mary is beautiful.’
b. Mary nü zowe ny?
ya?
leh?
i?
sheh? and so on
beautiful inter
‘Is Mary beautiful?’
588a. A zö
mha dah
my mother go(field) part
‘My mother has gone to the field.’
b. A zö mha dah ny?
go(field)-part inter
‘Has my mother gone to the field?’
589a. A pu nü chahale che ah
my grand-father nom English
know part
‘My grand father knows English.’
b. I pu
nü chahale che ah ya
your grand-father
‘Does your grand father know
English?’
590a. Pu nü che lo dah
he- nom know-part
‘He has learned.’
b. Pu
nü che lo dah ny?
know pot part inter
‘Has he learned?’
4.1.5.
Imperative Sentence
Imperative sentences do not take the
subject of the sentence. Like the
interrogative sentences, an imperative marker closes the imperative sentences
in all the cases. Furthermore, in every imperative sentence, there is a subject
in the underlying form, where the subject is always second person, eg.,
591 Dethru deh!
Kill
imp
‘Kill
it !’
592 The deh!
go imp
‘Go!’
593. Puh hi!
say imp
‘Speak!’
594. Lephre
sa’!
utter-imp
‘Don’t make noise!’
4.1.6.
Double Subject Sentence
Khezha has sentences with double
subject; both are marked with the nominative marker nü. The second subject is pronominalized if it is
identical with the first subject. It
seems that the first subject is not in the same simple sentence as the verb can
be shown by the fact that it has direct relationship with the second subject
only. If the first subject is a human
subject, a clausal complimentizer is required to occur after the verb, which
has relationship with the first subject, rather than the second one. Thus, it appears that they have a structure
that can be represented as,
[ S
[
595. Neilo nü
Wepe nü teh dah shya
Neilo nom Wepe- nom
went report
‘Neilo
said that Wepe has gone.’
596. Daru nü
shü nü we mo a
medicine nom
that- nom good-neg
‘The medicine, then it is not good.’
597. Etseh nü
hy nü eyeh to eda
cattle nom this nom vegetable eat part
‘If the cattle is
let loose like this, it will eat vegetables.’
4.1.7.
Subject and Object Deletion:
In some certain speech situation,
the occurrence of subject or object become redundant which
can result to an ill-formed sentence.
In the examples illustrated below, the subject/object in the sentences
(b) is recoverable from linguistic or nonlinguistic context even if the
subject/object deletion is applied, eg.,
598a. No awe eh
che elah leh mo ro?
you me loc know still conj no inter
‘You still know me or not?’
b. Che ah
know part
‘(I) know (you)’
599a. No daba
wöh ni ah ro?
you where come want
part inter
‘Where do you want to go?’
b.
‘To
600a. No a kie
ngö echü ny?
you my house find can inter
‘Can you find out my house?’
b. Ya,
ngö echü a
yes see can part
‘Yes, (I) can find out.’
4.2.
Phrases
A full fledge sentence (S) in Khezha
is constructed with one or more noun phrase (NP) and a verb phrase (VP) (or a
modifying phrase (MP) that has same structure with VP) as the following :
S >
NP + VP(MP)
4.2.1.
Noun Phrase
Khezha noun phrase may consist of
single noun or a noun with attributive(s) preceding or following the head
nouns. It may also be a coordinate noun
phrase where two or more head nouns with or without attributives are linked
together by a conjunctive marker. There
are also sentential noun phrases or composite noun phrases composed of embedded
sentences with verb phrase(s) under its dominance, which are normally enclosed
by a determiner or nominalizer. The
determiner and nominalizer indicate the demarcation of the boundary between
noun phrase and verb phrase or between noun phrase and modifying phrase. In the
predication, noun phrase functions as subjects of intransitive verb, agents or
patients of transitive verbs, objects of postpositions and verb complements. In
the modification, it functions as the subject of modifier.
A noun phrase may consist of a
single noun, eg.,
NP > N
601a. Mary
wöh a
Mary
come part
‘Mary came.’ (confirmative)
b. Mary wöh ah
`Mary is coming.’ (process)
602a. Ekie metsheh ah (process)
house clean part
‘Cleaning the house.’
b. Ekie metshah a
house clean part
`The
house is clean.’ (confirmative)
603a. Mary zowe a
beautiful part
‘Mary is beautiful.’ (confirmative)
b. Mary zowe dah
`Mary is beautiful ‘ (declarative)
(Mary has become beautiful)
604a. Mary nü
leshikie eh wöh dah
school loc go part
‘Mary has gone to school.’
(declarative)
b. Mary nü
leshikie eh wöh dewa (future)
605. Leshi mekhi phe beh a
book
seat pp exist part
‘The book is on the seat.’
606. Mary zowe a
Mary beautiful part
`Mary is beautiful.’
In the above sentence 604, Mary
nü constitute subject noun phrase, while leshikie eh wöh dah
constitutes predicate phrase. Similarly, in the example 605, leshi
constitutes subject noun phrase, while mekhi phe constitutes
postpositional phrase. In the contrary however, in the sentence 606, Mary constitutes
subject noun phrase, while zowe a constitutes modifying phrase.
In many cases, adjectives and
numerals are used as noun phrase constituent without a noun,
607a. Ketha
hi pfòteh eda
long
det take-away part
‘(I) will remove the long (one).’
b. Ketrö
zü’ medo a
white det like part
‘(I) like the white (one).’
608. Tecie hi
pfo meteh deh!
eight det
take remove imp
‘Subtract the eight!’
609. Pedi zü’ daba lo wöh ro?
four det where from
come inter
‘From where does that four come?’
A noun phrase in Khezha may consist
of a noun with attributive(s) either preceding or following the head noun, eg.,
(a) NP >
N + Attr
610. Era ketrö
cloth white
‘White cloth.’
611. Emi
kewe
person good
‘good
person.’
612. Lüimi
zokewe
girl
beautiful
‘Beautiful girl.’
613. ekie
ketshe’
house new
‘New house.’
614. Thromi
kele
boy one
‘One boy.’
615. Rhaka
meki
rupee twenty
‘Twenty rupees.’
616. Emi seni
person seven
‘Seven persons.’
617. No
hi
you det
‘You (such a creature).’
618. Leshi
zü’
book
det
‘That book.’
619. Leshi
keme
book
some
‘Some book.’
620. Bethu
ketseh
rice few
‘Few rice.’
621. Emi
katrö
person many
‘Many persons.’
622. Prisa
cina
money little
‘Small amount of money.’
(b) NP
> Attr + N
623. Aro
netho
our village
‘Our village.’
624 Kenie
tate
day
walk(N)
‘A day journey.’
625 Keshe
sepu
elder speech
‘mature
speech.’
626 Kecü
mhetho
youngster work
‘childish act’
627 Deobani mehpö
Sunday meeting
‘Sunday service’
628 Melimi
kekha
believer prayer
‘Prayer of believers’
629 Kewumi
mehzhe
theft problem
‘Problem of theft’
A noun phrase may also contain
pronominal and post-nominal attributes.
There are no co-occurrence restrictions across the head noun, eg.,
NP
> Gen +
N + Adj
+ Num +
Dem + Q
630 A tepi
razhu ketshe’ pedi
hyro keme
my sister shirt new
four these some
‘Some of these new blouses of my
sister.’
631 Aro lakhö
ketre pedi hyro
medö
our(pl) bag old four these all
‘All these four old baskets of
ours.’
632 Noro
leche kemu teköro
zü ketseh
you
fruit riped nine-pl
that few
‘Few of those nine ripped fruits of
yours.’
4.2.1.1.
Coordinate Noun Phrase
Two or more noun phrases can be
conjoined by subjunctive leh, mo’, or conjunctive le’:
NP
> NP + NP
(i) Coordinate noun phrase with
conjunctive le’ :
When
a coordinate noun phrase is built up the conjunctive marker must occur
immediately after initial noun phrase.
Thereafter, any number of noun phrase can occur
without further introducing the conjunctive marker. Unless number of participant is enumerated,
it requires a number marker to be attached with the last constituent:
633. Thromi kele le’ lümí kele
father one conj mother one
‘One boy and one girl’
634. pfü le’ zönhi
father conj mother-DL
`father and mother’
635. Etshüh le’
Etso
wood
conj stone
‘stone and wood’
636. Ezö le’
epfü nomiro
mother conj father child-pl
‘father, mother and children’
637. Thromí le’ lümí zömíro
boy
conj girl mother-pl
`boys and girls and mothers’
638. Etseh le’
tshüüvoro
cattle conj dog-pig-pl
‘cattle, dogs and pigs’
639. Thromiro le’ lümiro
mo’ zömíro
boy-pl conj girl-pl
subj elder-pl
‘boys and girls or mothers’
*Thromiro le lümiro
le zömíro
640 Thromi
pedi lee’ lümi pedi
boy
four conj girl
four
‘four boys and four girls’
641. Etseh
seni lee’ etshü pedi
evo kenhi, shyrö thri lo
cattle seven-conj dog
four pig two
conj buy imp
‘Buy seven cattle, four dogs and two
pigs’
Inanimate
nouns appear to be different from animate nouns in collocation. Because the
preceding nouns of inanimate category does not take number marker:
642. Bera lee’
mizhü
chair conj table
‘chair and table’
643. Bera lee’ mizhüro
chair conj table-pl
‘chairs and tables’
644. Bera lee’ mizhünhi
chair conj table-Dl
‘chair and table’
645. Leshi lee’ pen tsokhöro
book conj pen slat-pl
`book, pen and slat’
The
sentence 645 speaks more than one participant for each noun, whereas in the
case of 646 and 647 it speaks one each together two or three. Of course, when
information for enumeration for each item is sought, the numeral occurs after
noun as in the case of animate nouns:
646. Bera lee’
mizhü leshida
chair conj table
book
‘chair, table and book’
647. Bera
kenhi lee’ mizhü kenhi
chair two conj table two
‘two chairs and two tables’
648. Bera pedi lee’
mizhü pangö lesida
sarü
chair four conj
table five book six
‘four chairs, five tables and six
books’
(ii) Coordinate noun phrase with leh and mo’ :
Unlike
conjunctive NP construction, subjunctive NPs never cause any ambiguity. Because the number marker is attached to each
phrase for both animate and inanimate nouns in the case where the number of
participants in a phrase is more than one.
This type of coordinate noun phrase construction under the dominance of
verb phrase normally does not expand more than two phrases. And when they are expanded more than two
phrases, the subjunctive marker must occur after each and every phrase. The difference between the two is that, mo’
is used for state and command, while leh is used for interrogation.
648. Bera
mo’ mekhi
chair subj seat
‘chair or seat!’
650. Bera leh mekhi
chair subj seat
‘Chair or seat? (Chair or any
ordinary seat?)
651. Thromiro mo’ lümiro mo’ zömiro ketöyi
hyba phe!
boys
subj girls subj
mothers any this-side come (horizontal)
‘Come this
side, any boys or girls or mothers!’
Thromiro leh lümiro mo’ zömi ketöyi
`(Do you
mean) anyone, boys or girls or any mother?’
4.2.1.2.
Sentential Noun Phrase:
A noun phrase may also consist of
verb phrase(s) under its dominance. In
this case a determiner to give demarcation between noun phrase and verb phrase
dominance closes the verb phrase.
NP >
NP + VP
653. Emi
hyboe beh eh züno
zü teh dah
person here stay part Rpr-Sg det go part
‘The person who was here went away.’
654. Tshüka a nechü
thu eh züno hi merese deh
malesü a
stick my eye
hit part Rpr-Sg det bread imp
must part
‘The stick which hit my eye has to
be broken off.’
655. Emi
ketöyi mheche ni ah
züro leshiphrü lo’ ley
person any
learn want part Rpr-Pl book
read pot subj
‘Anyone who wants be educated may
study.’
656. A kezü
awe eh thröhy rö teh dah
zünhi zü lewö dah
my friend me loc help conj go part
Rpr-Dl det return part
‘My friends who helped me and went
have returned.’
4.2.2. Verb Phrase
A verb phrase may consist of one or
more verb(s) with or without verbal modality. It may also contain one or more
noun phrases under its dominance. The composition of noun phrase is the same
whether it functions under the dominance of noun phrase or verb phrase. A verb
phrase is built up of a verb, which is the nucleus of the verb phrase with
certain other following or preceding elements.
Normally, the post-verb elements consist of the modal particles such as,
aspect, mood, interrogative and so on. The adverb may precede or follow the
verb. Khezha verb phrases have the
following possible structure, where VP is underlined.
VP >
VB
VP >
NP (+NP) + VB
VP > VP + VP
i. VP > VB
657. Kewekha
wöh a
Kewekha come part
‘Kewekha came.
658. Kewekha wö dah
Kewekha has come
659. Kewekha wöh ah
Kewekha is coming.’
660. John
terho ah
I
well part
‘John is well.’
661. Rübe
pre ah
paddy grow part
‘Paddy is growing.’
662. Leche
muh dah
fruit ripe part
‘Fruit is ripped.’
663. Pu nü
mha dewa
he nom go(field) part
‘He is going to the field.’
ii.
VP > NP
(+NP) + VB
664. Nye nü
ekie metsheh ah
I
nom house clean
part
‘I am cleaning the house.’
665. Pu nü
ekie metsheh echü a
he
nom house clean can part
‘He can clean the house.’
666. Noro evo
meru lo ley!
You-Pl pig
rear will inter
‘Rear pig! Why don’t you?’
667. No
awe eh zomezhie rö leshi pfò
awe eh tsü denyou
you
me loc sympathy conj book inst me
loc give part
‘Will you please give me the book?’
iii. VP >
(NP) + VP
+ (NP) +
VP (+VP)
668. Mary
wöh rö teh dah
Mary
come-conj go-asp
‘Mary came and went away.’
669. A zö
nü era jüthu rö beh a
my mother cloth wash
conj remain part
‘My wife washes cloth.’
(lit. My
wife is abusing me without ceasing)
670. A zö
nü awe eh lisü rö
tre ah
my mother nom me loc love conj cry part
‘My mother missed me and wept.’
671. Nye lesi phrü
mó tatà male
diby to shy
I book read
subj cultivate if-not what eat part
‘What shall I eat if I don’t study
or cultivate.’
672. Mary nü litro rö leshi
keza pfò ezü phe khe hi dah
Mary nom angry conj book throw Inst
bed on put imp part
‘Mary threw the book on the bed with
anger.’
673a. Mary nü
likhö rö Dilo leshida
ketshe zü keza pfo
ezü phe
Mary- nom angryconj
Dilo book new that thow inst bed on
b. khe hi dah diro
put
impr part
‘Mary threw Dilo’s new book on the
bed with anger (I report)’
674. No
awe eh zü leshikye eh wöh mo’
ekie eh beh rö
you me loc with school loc go subj house loc
remain conj
i zö eh zü beh shay
your mother loc with remain part
‘If
you don’t go to school with me you have to stay with your mother at home (don’t
go away).’
675. No
awe eh zü leshikie eh wöh de leh
ekie eh beh rö
you me loc with school loc
go will iubj house loc remain
conj
ì zö eh zü beh dia keta mhe lo
your mother loc with remain
inter decide quick imp
‘Whether you will go to school with
me or stay with your mother? Decide immediately!’
4.3. Relative Clause
The relative clause in
Khezha is identified by the relative pronoun (Rpr) zü. It is obligatory
for the relative pronoun to take a number marker if it refers a noun; but when
it refers the entire composition of the clause, the number marker is dropped.
In all the cases, the relative pronoun takes a demonstrative determiner that
gives information about proximity of the referee as well as time sequence (see
tense for time sequence).
676. I kezü iwe
eh zü rö
leshiphrü ah züno hi
Your friend you loc with conj book read part
Rpr-Sg det
`Your friend who
studies with you’ (deictic present)’
677. I kezü iwe eh zü rö
leshiphrü ah züno zü’
`Your
friend who studies with you (deictic past)’
678. I
kezü iwe eh zü rö leshiphrü ah züno shü
`Your friend who
studied with you (non-deictic)
The
position of relative pronoun is fixed after the referee. It must be immediately
preceded by irrealis ah and closed by a determiner. That is, the
relative pronoun must always occur between irrealis ah and a determiner.
A component or participant occurring after them is no more under the domain of
the relative clause.
679. Awe
eh zü rö leshiphrü ah züno hi a kezü a
me loc with conj study ir
Rpr det my friend conf
`The one who studies
with me is my friend.’
680a. Nöcü
whöboe phe ah züno hi thu’ ya?
child there go part
Rpr det who inter
`Who
must be the child who is going over there?’
The sentence 680b below is not possible,
b.
*Whöboe phe ah züno hi nöcü thu’
ya?
Similarly, the sentence 681b is not possible
681a. I
kezü iwe eh zü rö leshiphrü ah züno zü’ thu’ ro?
who inter
`Who
is that your friend who studied with you?’
b. *Iwe
eh zü rö
leshiphrü ah züno zü’ i kezü thu’
ya
Both the sentences 682
and 683 below are possible, but your friend and the child are more within the
domain of the relative clause.
682. Whöboe
phe ah züno hi thu’ nöcü ya?
there go part Rpr det who child inter
`Whose child it must be
that the one who is going over there?’
683. Iwe
eh zü rö
leshiphrü ah züno zü’ thu’ kezü ro?
you loc with conj book read part Rpr det who friend inter
`Whose
friend is that the one who studied with you?’
As long as the relative
pronoun closes the clause, it can be expanded indefinitely as in,
684. I
kezü thromi iwe eh zü rö leshíphrü ah züno hi
your friend boy you loc
with conj study ir Rpr det
`Your boy friend who studies with you.’
685. I kezü thromi tecie iwe eh zü rö leshiphrü ah züno
zü’
your friend boy eight you
loc with conj study ir Rpr det
`Eight boys of your friend who studied with you.’
686. I
kezü kecü zhokewe kele iwe eh zü rö leshiphrü ah züno zü’
your friend young gentle
one you loc with conj study ir Rpr det
`A young gentle friend of yours who studied with you.’
The relative pronoun
drops the number marker when it refers not only the noun, but the entire
strength of event as in,
687. A
kiemi nü razhu ketshe’ zokewe
my husband nom blouse new
beautiful
awe eh tsü ah zü zü’
mesümo deh eha.
come me loc part Rpr det
forget will neg
(that a new good
blouse my husband bought for me from
`I cannot forget (the love of my husband) that
the new beautiful blouse my husband brought for me from
688. Pu
nü eja awe eh mekupuh zü zü’ no che mo leh?
he nom yesterday me loc
lie tell Rpr det you know neg inter
`Don’t you know that he
falsely accused me yesterday?’
(Don’t you know the event which he accused me
falsely yesterday?’
689a. Tshüka a nechü kethu ah zü zü’ no ngö mo
leh?
Stick my eye hit ir
Rpr det you see neg inter
`Didn’t
you see that the stick hit my eye?’
b.
Tshüka a nechü kethu ah züno zü’ no ngö mo leh?
`Didn’t you see the stick
that hit my eye?’
In
the above
4.4. Case Relations:
Case
is a property of noun phrase. It is a
grammatical category, which gives explanation about the function of a noun
indicating its relationship to other words in a sentence. In the universal domain, there are two different
types of languages, namely, inflected and non-inflected languages. In the inflected languages, cases are usually
distinguished by declensional endings and their morphological variations are
relatively more complex than that of their counter parts. The non-inflected
languages lack this kind of morphological variations, because the identity of
each grammatical morphemes in these languages are transparent in most of the
cases; that is, each element that occurs in the phrase contains lexical meanings
in some way or other.
The traditional classification of case is
largely based on the variations in the morphological forms of word; each
morphological element is analyzed in terms of a specific range of meaning. As such, the term ‘case’ does not apply in
non-inflected languages. In
In Khezha, every case marker that occurs in the
syntactic relation has its own lexical root and its etymological meaning is
always apparent. Their semantic representations are kept distinct from one
another and are used directly or almost exclusively for controlling or
constraining the various morpho-syntactic processes that occur in this
language. Furthermore, Khezha is a verb-final language and word order variation
in the sentence is relatively free, as long as the sentence ends with a modal
particle, which may sometime be a zero morpheme in a rare case. But the change of word order never affects
their case relations. On the whole
therefore, Khezha may be considered as a non-inflected language. The sentence
like, ‘John gave me a pen’ can have the following word order variations without
affecting their meanings and their morphological variations:
690a. John
nü awe eh pen
pfò tsü a
John nom me
loc pen inst give part
b. John
nü pen pfò
awe eh tsü a
c.
Awe eh John nü
pen pfò tsü a
d.
Awe eh
pen pfò John nü tsü a
e.
Pen pfò
John nü awe eh tsü a
f.
Pen pfò
awe eh John nü tsü a
`John gave me a pen.’
The above markers nü, eh and pfò
are nominative, locative and instrumental case markings respectively. Although
they occur immediately after nouns, yet cannot be treated as postpositions for the
fact that their function is indicating the role of the noun in the
syntactic-semantic relations. Therefore, they may be identified as case
markers. Postpositions do not have such potentiality since they operate within
postpositional phrase. The nominative nü,
provides information about the role played by the subject, John, as actor or
agent of the sentence. The locative eh assigns the role of the object of
the sentence, awe, as recipient or beneficiary. Similarly,
the morpheme pfo carrying etymological meaning `take’ assigns pen as the
instrument. All these three components have syntactic-semantic
relationship with the verb tsü `give’.
The morpheme a is modal particle belonging to the grammatical
property of verb limiting time of event performed by the verb and closes verb
phrase. It has no relation with the three components functioning as case
markers. So far I have identified six (6) case markers in this language,
nominative nü
locative eh
ablative -lo
benefactive dzelo, jelo
sociative zü
instrumental pfo
4.4.1. Nominative :
Khezha nominative can be categorized
into two types: agentive (agent) and non-agentive (nom) in the semantic
paradigm, but morphological markings do not show any variation. The agentive
plays role as actor or agent while the non-agentive is the noun identified with
the subject of the sentence and does not play role as actor.
Agentive:
691.
nye nü meri è cüshü dà
I nom
Mary loc kick part
I kicked Mary.’
Non-Agentive:
692. thromi hyno hi a
boy this det
`This
is the boy.’
In the above sentence 585, the nominative
marker nü assigns the subject nie as agent, whereas in the case
of 584 thromi `boy’ is identified as the subject of the sentence without
assigning the role as agent by the marker. In some other cases, the
non-agentive nominative can also take the marker nü, but without
assignment as agent of the sentence. This may be due to the intervention of
other factors, tense for example (tense section). Because the nominative nü
does not only play role as agent of the sentence, but also has tense relation
in some context, while in some other context it also plays role as subject
referentiality.
693. John
nü puwe eh cüshü a
John nom him loc kick
part
‘John
kincked him.’
694. A
tepi nü phelö a
my sister nom cripple
‘My sister is cripple.’
695. Pu
nü chahami a
he nom officer
`He is an officer.’
In the above sentence
585, the nominative nü plays role as agent as well as subject
referentiality. Thus, it has literal meaning as, it was no one else, but John
who kicked me. In the sentences 586 and 587, however, the nominative plays role
as subject referentiality and not agent. Thus, it is apparent that, in Khezha,
any type of sentence whether state, process or action, takes nominative case
marker regardless of whether the subject is agent or non-agent. Consider more
examples:
696. I
tepi nü awe eh likhö ah
your sister nom me
loc angry part
‘Your
sister is angry with me.’
(My sister is being
angry with me)
697. A
nö nü pu kezü
eh zü rö leshiphrü ah
my child (nom) his friend
loc with book read part
‘My
child is book reading with his friend.’
698. I
kezü nü kenia ah
your friend nom complain part
‘Your
friend is complaining’
699. A
kezü nü awe eh cüshü a
my friend nom me loc
kick part
‘My friend kicked me.’
(It was my friend who kicked me)
700 Maryi
nü a prisa wu edah
Mary
nom. my money steal part
`Mary
has stolen my money.’
701 Emu
nü a
loh kehpu dah
land-slide nom my
field fill part
‘The
land-slide has destroyed my field’
(lit. Land-slide
filled by field.)
In the above, the nominative
in the sentences 696-701 plays role as agent as well as functioning as subject
referentiality. Therefore, the occurrence of agentive nominative maker nü
is obligatory. However, the nominative that does not play role as agentive
normally do not take nominative marker as the examples below:
702. Nöcü
tre ah
baby cry part
‘The
baby is crying.’
703 Dilo wöh dah
Dilo come part
‘Dilo came.’
704 John
terho’ dah
John
nom well part
‘John
is fine.’
When these sentences
take the nominative nü, even when they do not play role of agentive, it
gives indication of subject refenrentiality implying the meaning as `as N is
concern”:
705. Nöcü
nü tre ah
baby nom cry
‘As
the baby is concern, she is crying.’
706. Dilo
nü wöh dah
Dilo
come part
‘As Dilo is concern, he has come.’
707. John
nü terho’ dah
John
nom well part
‘As
John is concern, he is fine.’
Sometimes,
the subject that is functioning as agentive nominative may also be unmarked
when the identity of the role player is not ascertained.
708a. No
awe eh de a
you me-loc beat conf
‘You
beat me.’
b.
Lehnü a phe medu dah
snake my leg bite part
`The snake bit my leg.’
In
708 above, for instance, the agent is unmarked in both the sentences, yet they
are natural sentence. This is possible in the situation when someone patted me
from behind and I suspected second person, yet unsure. Similarly, in708b, I
felt sensation of snake bite on my leg, but did not see what type of snake it
must be! Or could be by something else.
4.4.2. Locative:
The
locative marker eh is used to indicate various meanings for various
aspects of syntactic relations such as locative or accusative, dative recipient
or patient, postposition indicating within the bounded periphery of the
location or specifically implying enclosed spaced and so on. Thus, wherever it
occurs it always has spatial relation with either abstract domain or concrete
spatial goal:
709. I
mhetho zü pu sepu eh
lu dah
your deed det. his word loc enter
‘Your
act of conduct fulfilled his prediction’
(lit. that of your deed has entered into his prediction)
710. John
nü Lucy eh ny a
John
nom Lucy
loc love part
‘He
loves Lucy.’
711. Mary
nü ketsü eh beh
a
Mary
nom garden
loc exist
‘Mary
is in the garden’
712. Mary ketsü eh lu dah
enter
‘Mary
went to the garden’
713. Lehnü
nü John eh medu dah
snake nom John loc bite part
‘Snake
has bitten John.’
Or
`The
snake bit John.’
It is interesting to note
that, in the case of agent and patient relationship, there are two constraints
for the patient to take case marker, (i) the referee must be either human
or animal; (ii) some affect must have occurred upon it by some means of
external agency. In the sentences below
where the patient is neither human nor animal, the locative marker is covertly
marked,
714. Tshüka
(nü) a nechü kethu dah
stick (nom) my
eye hit
‘The
stick hit my eye’
715. Mary
nü rocü bothru dah
‘Mary-nom
bird kill
‘Mary
has killed the bird’
716. Dilo
nü tshübo we ah
Dilo
nom tree cut
part
‘Dilo
is felling down the tree.’
717. No
(nü) thrüzo bophro dah
you nom glass break
‘You
have broken the glass’
718. Meri a phe du dah
axe my leg cut
‘The
axe cut my leg.’
Another interesting feature
in Khezha is that animals are distinguished between higher animals and lower
animals in case markings. Lower animal
nouns like ant, for instance, take the marker only when both the actor and the
patient belong to the same family, eg., wasp acted upon another wasp, or an ant
acted upon another ant, but not by human or higher animal nouns, or by another
family of the same group,
719. Coha
nü cotsü eh meke ah
ant-red nom ant-black
loc bite
‘A
red ant is biting a black ant.’
720. Cotsü
nü coha eh mekethru dah
black-ant nom red-ant bite-kill
‘A
black ant has killed a red ant.’
721. Fǘjü
fütrü eh medu dah
cock hen loc bite
‘The
cock bit the hen.’
However, patient do
not take case marker if the agent belongs to different group,
721. Taco
nü lopfü süh ah
ant nom worm pull
‘The is pulling the worm.’
722. Bozhoh
nü tomhi füh ah
hornet nom fly chase
‘A
hornet is chasing the flies.’
723. Tözhi
nü efǘ pfòteh dah
eagle nom fowl carry-away part
‘The
eagle took away a chicken.’
4.4.3. Ablative:
The
ablative case marker –lo indicates source and removal of something from the
space/location of source. The ablative marker is a bound morpheme that requires
either locative eh as elo `from’ or a postposition in the preceding
position as in phelo (from-on),
(i) Ablative with locative marker, elo:
724. Rocü
ketsü elo zhoteh
dah
bird garden abl
fly-away part
‘A
bird flew away from the garden.’
725. A nö nü
pedi elo pangö eh pre edah
my child nom four abl
five come-out part
‘My
child has passed from (class) four to five’
726. Aro
keba seni elo tecie
ketso mepö lo yiwe a
we hour
seven abl eight upto
meet will
‘We
may have meeting from seven to eight.’
(ii) Ablative with postposition in the
preceding position:
727. Rocü ketsü patölo
zhoteh dah
bird garden above-abl
fly go
‘A
bird flew away from above the garden.’
728. Aro
keba seni nhielo
tecie ketso mepö de
we hour
seven at-abl eight upto
meet-will
‘We
will meet at around seven to eight hours.’
729. Pen bera phelo
tsa dzü dah
pen chair on-abl
fall down
‘A
pen fell down from the chair’
4.4.4. Sociative :
The
sociative case marker zü indicates association or relation between the
subject and object in a sentence. Thus, whenever the sociative marker occurs in
a sentence, it signifies double participants in the sentence.
730. Mary
nü awe eh zü kedze ah
Mary
nom me loc
soc play
‘Mary
is playing with me.’
731. Emi awe eh zü leshiphrü ah züno
zü wöh ah
person me loc
soc book read read
that det come
‘The
person who studies with me is coming’
732. Therü
nü kemhö
zü wöh ah
rain nom cloud
soc come
‘The
rain is coming with the cloud.’
733. John
nü keri zü thro ah
John nom river soc
go-up
`John is going along
with the river.’
734. Nye nü a lido pfo puwe eh zü keze hi a
I nom my idea Inst him loc soc share
`I shared my opinion
with him.’
4.4.5. Instrumental:
The
instrumental case marker pfo refers to the inanimate entity causally
involved in the action of verb,
735. Pu
nü tshüka pfo a nechü
kethu dah
he nom stick Inst
my eye hit
‘He
has hit my eye with stick.’
736. Nye nü
a lydo pfo pu nhie
pu hi a
I nom my idea Inst him at
tell
‘I
told him about my idea’
737. Dilo
nü leshi pfo awe eh tsü a
Dilo
nom book
Inst me loc give
‘Dilo
game me a book’
738. Chairman
nü zhoro pfo phrüh meche hi dah
chairman nom rules
Inst read announce imp part
‘The
chairman has read out the rules.’
739. Ketöyi
ami mheche pfo ketry
ketsü mehseemo
anyone our wisdom Inst sin
that proper-neg
‘No
one should misuse wisdom.’
In many cases, human nouns
are conceived as inanimate beings and used them as instrumental case showing
locative relationship with verb,
740. Pu
nü awe eh pfo ketö tshü by a
he nom me loc Inst any
do adv part
‘He
takes me lightly (never shows due respect).’
741. Nye
nü puwe eh
pfo pu tepi nykemo
tshü dah
I
nom him loc
Inst his sister like-no
do part
‘I
have made him displeased his sister.’
(lit. I used him and he displeased his sister)
742. Nye
nü puwe eh pfo emi kedzümi tshü dah
I
nom him loc
Inst person other do
part
`I
took him to be someone else.’
4.4.6. Benefactive:
Benefactive
dzelo or jelo indicates the semantic relation between the actor’s
performance and its beneficiary. The
subject of these verbs therefore is most commonly the agent, and the
beneficiary must be human noun.
743. a pfü nü a dzelo mezhe dah
my father nom me ben suffer part
‘My
father had suffered because of me.’
744. Nye
nü a
kiedi-kiehu dzelo mhetre ah
I
nom my
family ben earn
part
‘I
am earning for my family.’
Some verbs that appear in this class
syntactically are semantically complex, and in some sense condense another
proposition into a seemingly simple clause, i.e., the presence of the agent is
very implicitly expressed,
745. A
mehnie phri de ketsü
jelo rhitshü
rö mhetshü ah
my shame cover
will that ben
hard-do and work part
‘I
am working very hard in order to cover my shame.’
746. I
mhetho kewe jelo
iwe eh kele’ lo’de
your work good
ben you loc save pot will
‘You
will be saved by your good deed.’
747. I
mhetho jelo a zah
khe dah
your work ben my day
block
‘I
wasted my time because of your work.’
748. Ketöyi kelekelo ngö lo de
ketsü jelo metsheh lo malesü
anyone salvation see pot will that ben
clean pot must
‘In
order to achieve salvation everyone must be sanctified.’
4.5.
Word Order Variation
Khezha is a verb-final
language. Word order in the sentence is relatively free, as long as the
sentence ends with a verb and a modal particle or an adjective with or without
a modal particle. This is not surprising because there are a number of overt
syntactic markers, which specify syntactic relations within the sentence and
allow unambiguous identification of function not dependent on word order. In
some cases, however, morphological markings of syntactic relations are
restricted. This makes some statement of normal word order possible. Thus, the
analysis reveals two trends: (i) freedom of word order variation where the
syntactic relations are overly marked; and (ii) word order pattern is fixed
where the syntactic relations are covertly marked, relative clause, for
example. Consider the following word order variations. The sentence like `John
kicked me’ in Khezha, it can have the following word order variations:
749a. John nü awe eh cüshü dah
John nom me loc kick
part
b.
Awe eh John nü cüshü dah
Also,
the sentence, `John gave me ten rupees.’
750a. John
nü awe eh rhaka cirü pfo tsü a
John
nom me loc rupee ten Inst give part
b.
John nü rhaka cirü pfo awe eh tsü a
c.
Awe eh John nü rhaka cirü pfo tsü a
d. Awe
eh rhaka cirü pfo John nü tsü a
e Rhaka cirü pfo John nü awe eh tsü a
f. Rhaka
cirü pfo awe eh John nü tsü a
The
above variation of word order does not change their meaning, and in general, it
is extremely difficult to establish an underlying word order of constituents of
a free word order language like Khezha. Consider again the sentences where the
locative marker is covertly marked in 647 and both nominative and locative are
covertly marked in 648.
751a. Bill
nü eha bophro dah
Bill
nom cup break part
b.
Eha Bill nü bophro dah
`Bill broke the cup.’
In all the cases, the
position of subject and object, also direct and indirect object can be
interchanged without restriction, but the position is verb phrase is always
fixed in the final position of the sentences.
752a. Bill nü a nhie leshi thu
hi a
Bill nom me at letter write md
b. Bill nü leshi a nhie thu
hi a
`Bill wrote a letter to me.’
753a. A kiemi nü awe eh thromi kele menö zü’ a
my wife nom
me loc boy one born with part
b. A
kiemi nü thromi kele àwe eh menö zü’ a
`My wife born
a boy to me.’
There is however, one
possible syntactic argument for hypothesizing SOV, and not say OSV, as
representing the underlying word order for Khezha. For example, in the cases
where both the subject and object do not take any morphological marker, the
subject position is fixed in the initial position, Thus,
the object follows the subject. Consider the following:
754a. Tshüka a nechü kethu dah
stick my eye
hit part
`The stick hit my eye.’
b. A nechü tshüka kethu dah.
In these of
constructions, the participant that occurs in the preceding position is
understood as Agent and the one occurring in the following position as patient.
Thus, in the sentence 754a, my eye is patient and the stick, agent. The case is
vice versa in 754b. The English equivalent therefore is understood as `My eye
hit the hit’ because, while the stick remains in its own position my eye
initiated action hitting the stick. Thus, in the sentence 754b, `my eye’ is the
agent and `the stick’ is patient. Hence, the sentence 755b below is not
possible where the nominative case is covertly marked:
755a. Bill leshi thu ah
Bill letter write part
`Bill is writing a
letter.’
b.
*Leshi Bill thu ah
Another point to
consider is that, overt case marking is not always necessary. In many cases,
instrumental case marker is covertly marked, In such a
case, word order variation is more or less fixed.
756a. Bill nü awe eh ephe cüshü a
Bill nom me loc leg
kick part
b.
*Bill nü ephe awe eh cüshü a
c. *Ephe Bill
nü awe eh cüshü a
d. *Ephe awe
eh Bill nü cüshü a
c.
*Awe eh ephe Bill nü cüshü a
d.
*Awe eh Bill nü phe cüshü a
Since the subject and
object positions are fixed to SOV pattern where their cases are not
morphologically marked, we may conclude that Khezha is SOV language.
In the case of the
order of the clauses, the position of the subordinate clause is fixed in the
initial position whenever there is only one subordinate clause in the sentence:
757. Pu wöh ah eleh Nye beh eha.
He come
if I remain neg
`If he comes I will not
stay.’
758. No tshü lo yiwe eleh awe eh prisa tehpu hi
malesü a
you possible if me loc money lend md must part
`If possible you must
lend me some money.’
In the above sentences,
the boundary between the main clause and the subordinate clause is demarcated
by the subjunctive élè. Thus, the subordinate clause is fixed in the initial
position of the sentence in all the cases. However, in the cases where there
are two subordinate clauses, the position of the principal clause is fixed
between the two subordinate clauses.
In the case of
coordinate sentences, i.e., when the conjunction conjoins two principal
clauses, the conjunction must occur between the two clauses. In this case, the
position of the clauses can be interchanged freely:
759a. I pfü nü mheche shyo i zö nü zowe shya
your father nom learned
conj your mother beautiful part
`Your father is
educated and your mother is beautiful.’
b. I zö nü zowe shyo ì pfü nü mheche shya
`Your mother is
beautiful and your father is learned.’
760a. Mary nü zowe a ne’ Eliz nü zosü a
Mary
nom beautiful part conj Eliz nom ugly part
Mary is beautiful but Eliz is ugly.’
b.
Eliz nü zosü a ne’ Mary nü zowe a
`Eliz is ugly but Mary
is beautiful.’
In
Khezha, the position of adjective and numeral is fixed after noun:
761. Lümí kewe
girl good
`good
girl’
762. Thromí ketha
boy tall
`tall
boy.’
763. Lümí kele
girl one
`one
girl.’
764. Leshi pedi
book four
`four
books’
When an adjective and a
numeral occur together, the numeral must occur after adjective:
765. Thromi kewe kele
boy good one
`one
good boy.’
766. Thromi ketha pedi
boy tall four
`four
tall boys.’
Adverb
always occurs after verb or adjective:
767. We she
good very
`very
good.
768. Nye to she dah
I eat very part
`I ate so much.’
769. Pu tshü mehsü ceh dah
he do badly
so part
`He did so badly’
770. Nye nü puwe eh zü kechü rö meníe she’ dah
I nom her loc with meet conj shame much part
`I felt so shy by
meeting her.’
Or
`I felt so
embarrassed.’
(I met her and I felt
so shy)
[1] am’tsü is short form of a mítsü as in, iwe è tsü a mitsü or ìwe è tsü am’tsü `(N) gave you, didn’t you remember?’.
