3.1.2.5. Non-finite verb phrases :
As stated earlier (sec. 2.4.10) non-finite verb phrases form embedded
constructions in higher constructions. This
aspect will be discussed in sec. 3.2.2.2.
Here phrasal feature of non-finite verbs are discussed.
3.1.2.5.1. Infinitive phrase:
Infinitive verb phrase can take an object and/or an indirect
object. Then the object precedes the
infinitive verb root, eg. :
əlekcà ya? ‘(to)
take a fruit’ as in
1 2 2 1
(təwə) əlekcà ya? húnàŋ ‘I want to take a fruit’
1 2 3 4
1 4 3 2
ña? Omne ‘to
catch fish’
1 2
3 3 2
1
imante
cəmne ‘to
help them’
1
2 3
3 2 1
ə phey wane ‘to
play with me’
1 2
3 4
4 3 2
1
cɨŋcà məpu cɨŋcàte tayne ‘to go from one village to another
1
2 3 4
5 5 4 2 1 3
village’
eə
əte lay phane pəy ‘he came to give a book to me’
1 2
3 4 5
6 1
6 5 4
3 2
More than one infinitive
verb can occur in a construction, eg. :
Ka?talannə təwhípəkme ‘people at that time were
1 2
1 2 5
loke yìŋe ŋo?
singing (and) dancing’
3 4
5 (to
sing) (to dance)
3 4
3.1.2.5.2. Participle phrases :
Participle phrases occur embedded in main clause, eg. :
e ha?yaŋe taynàŋkí ‘he after eating is going’
1 2 3
4 1
3 2 4
ka?ta ya*ha?pe tay ‘person
without eating went’
1 2
3 4
1
2 3 4
Participles also can take
objects, eg. :
imannə toy yɨlɨŋpe ŋɨn ya?hú
1 2
3 4 5
6
‘they wanted money without doing the work’
1 6 5 4 3 2
Both infinitive and participle phrases can occur together
in a construction, eg. :
------------
*Because of the following
vowel of that syllable, ɨ changes to a : vowel harmony
Ka?ta phoŋpu nèè eə yoy kari làkne təm
1 2 3 4
5 6 7
(participle phrase) (infinitive
phrase)
‘seeing
the crowd he to stop self vehicle made’
2 1 3
6 4 5
7
hàtñí? ya phawo məpu waŋŋe karilamnə yɨkem
1 2 3
4 5 6
‘starting from Tuesday midnight the buses did not run’
4 3 1 2 5 6
In the above type of constructions usually the participle
phrase occurs before the subject, as above.
Aslo sometimes yaŋ of yaŋe is dropped ; as in the
last example above.
3.1.3. Adverbial phrase :
3.1.3.1. Adverb phrase is one which an adverb functions as
the head. It may or may not contain
other elements. When other elements
occur they may be any of these – an adverb, a verb stem, intensifiers etc. On the whole, time adverbs are used in
phrasal structure more frequently than other adverbs. These time adverb phrases frequently use a
verb to indicate ‘passing’ of ‘time’ or ‘reach’ of the ‘time’. It can also use a manner adverb, eg. :
sa?a məmse ‘now
itself’
1 2 1
2
sa?a məyməy ‘just now’
1 2 1
2
sa?a-o yɨləkpe ‘now also with out stop’
1 2
3 1
2 3
In the first two above illustrations, the first member
sa?a ‘now’, is time adverb and the
second member is a manner adverb. They
indicate məmse ‘quckly’ məy (məy) ‘immediateness’. In the 3rd lək ‘to stop’ a verb with neg.
marker yi; using –pe neg. participal
marker.
ənne nəp ‘next morning’
1 2 1 2
hàtñi ñí? Yaphaw ‘Tuesday
midnight’
1 2 3 1
3 2
əwaŋ
əwaŋme ‘at
the beginning, (ancient times) [əwaŋ ‘first’]
hìpək cəmse ‘at the same time’
sa?a wanə ‘during now’ (Lit. now-during)
In the above 4 examples, no verb or manner adverb is involved. In the 3rd the same form (ordinal
numeral) is reduplicated. In the second
all the three are time adverbs. Here the
order is important. While in the first 2
the second member is important, in the 3rd both are equally
important. In the fourth the head adverb
hìpək ‘time’ occurs first (instead of in 2nd position as in
first 3 examples). In the following
examples a verb is used, eg. :
mŋnñí? ŋóyè ‘till yesterday’
1 2
2
1
sa?ate ŋóyè ‘untill
now’
1 2
2
1
hìpək yo?oŋe taytaki ‘very long time ago/gone by’
1 2 3
2
1 3
hìpək yo?oŋe ləwe lenyaŋ ‘after passing very long time’
1 2 3
4 5
4 2 3
1
phəyme
5
yawan ñoypu haŋwoypu ‘during night’
1 2 2
1
From the above examples, the time adverb occurs first
followed by either a verb in same form (as in 1 & 2) or an intensifier
followed by either a verb in some form (eg.3) or an adjective and then a
verb. The structure is quite complex.
The verb in 1, 2 is in infinitive structure ŋóyè ‘to reach’.
Literally it means ‘to reach yesterday’ and ‘to reach now-to’
respectively. In 3rd the verb
is in its past perfect form. In the 4th
the verb is in past tense.
A Few more examples :
mɨnñí? Hoŋñí? ‘longtime back;
[mɨnñí? ‘yesterday’ ]
[hoŋñí? ‘day before yesterday’ ]
hìpək came ‘once
upon a time’
1 2 2 1
hìpək pheme ‘as
the time passed’
1 2 1 2
təwme peye ‘then
onwards’
1 2 1
2
[pəy ‘to come’
]
[me ‘locative
marker’]
ñí?àpu hìpəkme ‘once upon a time’
1 2 1 2