2.2.5.4. Dative Case
It is the identification of
the target with the noun phrase. It
relates to the transfer or movement of something to a person the receiver as
destination. If the receiver is the
person, then it is called indirect object (in the presence of DO). Then the DO occurs after the IO. Only in transitive sentence this relation is
possible. Its marker is te~ta. eg.:-
(a) tƏwƏ náŋte layca pha `I gave you a book'
1
2 3 4
(b) tƏwƏ layca nàŋte pha `I gave a book to you'
1
2 3 4 1
4 2 3
Though
both the orders are possible as above (a) is more frequently used than (b).
hàtƏwlay eƏ ete phanàŋ `this book he gives me'
1
2 3 4 1
2 4 3
When the
object is focused, it can occur before the subject as above.
`Dative'
also conveys a sense of location. Then
the dative occurs after the `object'.
tƏwƏ hàtláy? te tayyáŋki `I had been to the market'
1
2 3 1 3 2
tƏwe layca hiyonte súŋ `I sent a book to Hiyong
1
2 3 4 1
4 2 3
nòkte nƏyƏkem táw? `go around the house'
1
2 2 1
In this
last example, though nòk `house' is the object, in absence of the subject gets
the `goal' marker. Similarly-
Paypu
ka?talan asayte `to all
the arrived people'
1
2 3 3 1 2
yoyoy
nòkte `to
(their) respective house(s).
1
2 3 3 1
2
In
affectative constructions `goal' marker is used as mentioned above (see
2.2.5.1.)
1.2.5.5.
Ablative
(source) Case
It is
the `source' from which the movement takes place. In otherwords `source' is denoted by the noun
phrase whose relation to the action is that of a fixed point. This marker is mepu* `from ' eg:-
tƏwƏ laypanmƏpu pƏy `I came from the school'
1
2 3 4 1
4 3 2
nàŋƏ tƏwciŋmƏpu ka?ta Əwo yisiŋ
1
2 3 4
5 6
`you do
not know anyone from that village'
1
6 4 5
3 2
eƏ pesoŋ mƏpu cay ŋo? nàŋ
1
2 3 4
5
`he is
far from the tree'
1
5 4 3
2
hàtñí?
yaphaw mƏpu `from
Tuesday
1
2 3 4
4 1 3
2
hàmƏpu `from here'
1 2
2 1
tƏwmƏpu `from there'
1 2
2 1
2.2.5.6. Locative
Case
This
case indicates the `locus' of an action.
It's marker is me `in/at' eg:-
hàtƏw `here' +
me à hàtƏwme `at here'
uƏw `there' +
me à utƏwme `at there'
me conveys a sense of
possession when the noun is in alienable relation, eg:-
Əme nòkcà ŋo? nàŋ `I
have one house'
1 2 3 1
3 2
(lit. me-at
house-one is)
Əme nòkpili ŋo `I
had four houses'
(lit me-at
house-four was)
* mƏpu seems to be a composite form consisting of
locative marker me and a bound element –pu.
As the second part is bound, the whole form is considered as a single
unit.
In inalienable possession me is not used.
temporal
nouns also take this marker, eg:-
tƏwe ŋapacement khaksue sinlaw
1 2 3 4
`I wokeup at five o' clock sharp'
1
4 2 3
eƏ pƏnpaceme len kƏp hƏyáŋe opiste pƏn mƏcepace
Əthame pay
1
2 3 4
5 6 7 8
`he got
the train at 10 (am) and came to the office at 11.30 (am)'
1
4 3 2 5
8 6 7
Spatial nouns also take this marker,
eg:-
tƏwe
siti sun simpate ephay yaniŋ hàt ñí?
1 2 3
4 5 6 7
wàkciŋme tƏwƏ táwñoy tƏw? SƏwme
8 9 10
11 12
`I sent the letter to the friend with him
(at ) night (on)
1
3 2 4 5 6
sunday
at watching before I left that place'.
7 8 12 9 11 10
Ən `evening' + me → Ənme `in the evening'
Əwaŋ Əwaŋ + me →ƏwaŋƏwaŋ me
`very
beginning'/ `in
the very beginning'/
ancient
times' `in
ancient times'
mƏy keppu la? Keppu `hunting,
shooting' + me →
mƏy keppu la? Keppume `in
hunting, shooting'
pecoŋñí
`two gates' + me→ pecoŋñíme
ña? ómpu
hƏy yèŋ súpumecin catching and preparing water'. When the verb is of movement/locomotion type,
then it cannot take the location marker me, instead takes another marker
kaye `through', eg:-
tumannƏ tƏwlƏm kaye minñí? tay
1 2 3
4 5
`we
passed through that path yesterday'
1 5 3 2 4
kòñák
ka?talannƏ lúŋ kaye..
1 2 3
4
`konyak
people through (bamboo) thread. . . .'
1 2 4 3
Finer
shades of meaning are obtained by adding certain bound post positional adverbs
to the locative marker. For instance
distinction between on the table vs. in the table is obtained by adding taŋ→
layƏ teblme `book (is) in the table'.
hay
tebltaŋme `book (is) on the table'
But if
such distinction is not possible then only me is used or taŋ is
optionally used, as in- layƏ saŋ (taŋ) me `book is on the head'.
There
are 16 postpositional bound adverbs marking various distinctions. They are listed below. Also with the case marker they become free
forms and are treated or postpositional adverbs when used elsewhere.
sa – me as in
nòksame `in the house'
moŋ – me
as in nòkmoŋme `inside the house'
saŋ – me
as in nòksaŋme `on the top of the house'
taŋ – me as in nòktaŋme `on the house'
Əw – me as in nòkƏwme `at the side of the house'
phaŋ –
me as in nòkphaŋme `below the house'
phƏy – me as in nòkphƏyme `behind the house'
sup – me as in nòksupme `at the back of the house'
at – me as in nòkatme `outside the house'
tok – me
as in nòktome `above the house'
soŋ – me as in nòksoŋme `near the house'
ó - me as in
nòkóme `near the house'
pa – me as in indiya hƏy `between
yó – me as in nagaland `among Nagaland càtlanyóme tribes'