Note: this pre-print version contains some minor technical problems, e.g. the devoiced diacritic may not display properly.
PRINMI: A SKETCH OF NIUWOZI*
Picus Sizhi Ding
1 INTRODUCTION
Spoken by the Pumi and the Tibetan nationalities in northwestern Yunnan and southwestern Sichuan, Prinmi (or Pǔmǐ in
Chinese transliteration) belongs to the Qiangic branch of the Tibeto-Burman languages (Sun 1982; Bradley 1997: 35–
37). With widespread settlements in the mountain areas, speakers of Prinmi live close to many communities of distinct
Tibeto-Burman languages. Lu (1983: 90) proposed two major dialectal groups: Northern Prinmi and Southern Prinmi.
Ding (2014: 8–10) further divides the latter into two, resulting in a tripartite grouping: Northern Prinmi, Central Prinmi,
and Western Prinmi. Mutual unintelligibility of varying degrees exists among these dialectal groups. Niuwozi Prinmi, the
variety presented in this chapter, belongs to Central Prinmi. It is spoken in central Ní
nglàng YíAutonomous County in
Yunnan, adjoining Sichuan.
2 PHONOLOGY
2.1 Syllable structure
Unless treated as an independent segment, the glide is considered as part of the nucleus of syllable. This avoids
overloading the consonant inventory (but see Matisoff 1997 for a different approach). An analysis of the syllable
structure is illustrated in Figure 36.1.
2.2 Vowels, glides, and consonants
Niuwozi Prinmi has fifteen monophthongs. These are given in Table 36.1 according to their height, frontness,
roundedness, and nasality.
After a fricative or an affricate, /ɨ/ is realized as a fricative vowel homorganic with the preceding consonant, e.g.
sɨR[s ] ‘to die’, tʃhɨR [tʃh ] ‘dog’, and ʐɨF[ʐʐ] ‘four’ (superscript letters indicate surface tones of different tonal categories:
R = rising, F = falling, and H = high). The vowel /ɨ/ also contrasts, in non-fricative form, with its rounded counterpart,
e.g. bɨH ‘sun’ versus bʉH ‘(of grain) heap’.
Phonetically /y/ is realized as [ɥi], but /ỹ/ is a true monophthong. Discounting /y/, /ỹ/, and /ĩ/, high and mid high
vowels are prone to lowering, hence /i/: [i]~ i], /o/: [o]~ o], and o fort . Preliminary cross-dialectal comparison suggests
that /ɜ/ is historically related to *ε. This central vowel contrasts with schwa, e.g. mɜF ‘bamboo’ versus məF ‘ ky’.
Niuwozi Prinmi has three glides: /j/, /ɥ/, and /w/. The latter two are almost in complementary distribution but contrast
in such minimal pairs of native words as kɥɑH ‘melon’ versus kwɑH ‘(of eye) to open’. Treating a glide as part of a rhyme
leads to a number of rising diphthongs. All three glides can function as the on-glide in diphthongs, but only /j/ and /w/
may serve as the off-glide:
ju,
jɜ,
jɑ,
j ,
jõ;
ɥe,
ɥε,
ɥa,
ɥ ;
wɜ, wa, wɑ, wɑ
ɜj,
aw; wɜj
Table 36.2 displays all consonants in Niuwozi Prinmi. All of them, including sonorants, contrast in voicing. Further,
the various types of oral stop show distinctive aspiration. The rhoticized stops invovles a special secondary articulation
(Ding 2009).
Major allophones of consonants in Niuwozi Prinmi include a set of uvular plosives which are allophones of the velar
set before /ɑ/; t e palatali ed fricative [ʝ], an allophone of / / before /i/ or /j/ (not applicable to /ʃ/); the bilabial fricative
[ϕ], an allophone of /x/ before /u/; and the optional palatalization of /n/ to [ɲ] before /i/ or /j/.
*
The description of Prinmi presented here is based on fieldwork done in Nínglàng County, Yunnan. I am indebted to many Pǔmǐ
people for their invaluable help.
Except for the suprasegmental notation, Prinmi data are presented in IPA according to the latest revision of 2005. Abbreviations –
ASR: assertive; BNY: beneficiary; CAUS: causative; CLF: classifier; CLC: cislocative; COP: copula; DUR: durative; DSC: discourse clitic;
DS.N: desiderative negator; EXT.AN: (animate) existential; FRM: frame-setting marker; INS: instrumental; IPFV: imperfective; M:
modificatory; MRT: mirative; NMLC: nominal clause marker; NMLZ: nominalizer; PF.N: perfective negator; PFV: perfective; PL: plural;
PL.IN: inclusive plural; Q: question; QUOT: quotative; SG: singular; TLC: translocative; TOP: topic marker; and VLT: volitive.
C36 p. 1
TABLE 36.1 MONOPHTHONGS OF NIUWOZI PRINMI
Front
High
Mid high
Central
oral
i
y
nasal
ĩ
ỹ
oral
e
Back
ɨ
ʉ
u
o
nasal
õ
Mid
ə
Mid low
ɜ
Low
oral
ɑ
a
nasal
TABLE 36.2 CONSONANTS OF NIUWOZI PRINMI
Plosive
Bilabial
Dental
b p pʰ
d t tʰ
Fricative
Nasal
m
m
Lateral
z
s
n
n
l
l
Post-alveolar
Retroflex
ɡ k kʰ
ʃ
Rhotic
Affricate
Rhoticized stop
dz ts t ʰ
Velar
d
tʃ tʃʰ
ʐ
ʂ
ɹ
ɹ
ɣ
x
ɖʐ ʈʂ ʈʂʰ
ɡʴ kʴ kʰʴ
bʴ pʴ pʰʴ
2.3 Suprasegmentals
Prinmi morphemes are predominantly monosyllabic. Monosyllabic words may bear a high tone, a falling tone, or a rising
tone; e.g. bj H ‘bu y’, bj F ‘urine’, bj R ‘to fly’. The suprasegmental contrast between the high tone and the falling tone is
difficult to perceive in monosyllables (Ding 2001; Ding 2007a). This is due to the fact that a monosyllabic domain is too
short to manifest the underlying contrast between them. However, when words are followed by clitics in connected
speech, these three tones effectively contrast in two pitches: high versus low. The falling and rising tones are often split
into a H-L and a L-H sequence respectively in longer domains, whereas the high tone gives rise to H-H (see Table 36.3
for details).
The suprasegmental patterns observed with longer domains indicate that Prinmi tones are differentiated along two
parameters: (a) the location of the H tone on the underlying quadrisyllabic prosodic domain (which covers the basic
scope of a tonal category), and (b) whether the H tone spreads to the successive syllable. The combination of these two
settings yields a total of seven categories:
TABLE 36.3 SUPRASEGMENTAL CATEGORIES IN NIUWOZI PRINMI
Category
Parameters
Quadrisyllabic
Trisyllabic
Disyllabic
I
1] − pread]
H-L-L-L
H-L-L
H-L
II
[1] [+spread]
H-H-L-L
H-H-L
H-H
III
2] − pread]
L-H-L-L
L-H-L
L-H
IV
[2] [+spread]
L-H-H-L
L-H-H
L-H
V
3] − pread]
L-L-H-L
L-L-H
L-
VI
[3] [+spread]
L-L-H-H
L-L-H
L-
VII
[4] [spread]
L-L-L-H
L-L-
C36 p. 2
Monosyllabic
L
(Falling)
H (High)
(Rising)
(Rising)
Tonal patterns found in verb morphology point to both Tone III and Tone V as the sources for the rising tone in
monosyllabic verbs, e.g. bj R ‘to fly’, ɡəL-bj H ‘fly away’, ɡəL-bj H=siL ‘flew away’ versus sɨR ‘to die’, nɜL-sɨR ‘die’, nɜLsɨL=siH ‘died’. The basic tonal pattern of each category, as specified by the two parameters in the table, remains
unchanged on each row. The marked tone, H appearing on the syllable indicated by the first parameter, is essential to a
tonal category, but other tones following it are subject to truncation, as the length of the prosodic domain becomes
shorter. These tonal categories form a phonological system similar to that in Japanese (Ding 2006), which is termed the
‘melody-tone system’ in Ding (2007a), to distinguish it from the better known syllable-tone languages of East and
Southeast Asia on one hand, and from the word-tone languages of Nepal (as discussed in Mazaudon 1977: 76–84) on the
other.
2.4 Phonological alternations
Phonologically-conditioned segmental variation is relatively few, but ‘tone and i’ i perva ive in Prinmi. Most tone
changes ensuing from differences in the prosodic domains where a morpheme is situated are predictable. However, extraprosodicality may occur in prefixed verbs and numeral-classifier compounds (see Ding 2014: 60). Phonological
processes which affects lexical tones include: (a) shifting of the H tone to an adjacent syllable (usually to the right), (b)
reversal of the H-spreading feature, (c) merger of two prosodic domains, and (d) split of a prosodic domain into two.
2.5 Intonation
Intonation exerts a great influence on the surface tones of lexemes. This is achieved mainly by merging two prosodic
domains in an intonational phrase, as in (1), where the word having lost its lexical tone in the merger proccess is
underlined. It is also possible to insert a H boudary tone to the right edge of an intonational phrase, after the original tone
is deleted and replaced by the default low tone; see (2).
(1a)
| ʐ H
toL=boL | tʃɨH=ɡeH
sheep
on= FRM
water=TOP
‘On the sheep, water is heavy.’
lɜjL |
heavy
(1b)
|
tɜH iL=boL
| koLjiL=ɡeL
one:day=FRM
crow=TOP
‘Then one day Crow came over.’
ɡəL-tʃʰ F |
CLC-appear
(2)
tʃɨR %
| ɡəL-ʐɑH
|
water
out-carry
‘the water washed (him) away.’
(tʃɨH: H L+H%=R)
|
3 MORPHOLOGY
3.1 Lexical categories
Prinmi lacks derivational morphology that changes merely lexical categories without introducing additional meaning.
There is considerable overlap between noun, verb, and adjective. Monofunctional adjectives such as buLlɑH ‘many’ and
guHʒĩL ‘(adjective) middle’ are scarce. Incidentally, the latter has a noun form guLʒĩH ‘(noun) middle’; t is is the only
minimal pair with an identical meaning contrast in tones. As a rule of thumb, when a simplex non-grammaticalized word
modifies a noun postnominally, it functions as an adjective, often in a noun-adjective compound. Many adjectives can
also be used as nouns, verbs, or both.
Eleven minor lexical categories have been identified, including (no suprasegmental marking for toneless
morphemes):
existentials – ʃiR ‘(ab tract t ing ) to exi t’, ʒeF ‘(animate) to exi t’, dʒĩF ‘(animate) to exi t among a group’, djõF
‘(inanimate) to exi t’, kɥeF ‘(inanimate) to exi t wit in omet ing’, and tɜjF ‘(inanimate) to exi t on omet ing’;
auxiliary verbs — e.g. kʰuR ‘mu t; need’, ʒj
H
‘can’;
demonstratives — e.g. təH ‘t i ’, əHtəH ‘t at’;
pronouns — e.g. ɜH ‘I’, neR ‘you ( ingular)’, neLdz
H
‘you (dual)’, eLɹəH ‘we (inclu ive)’, ɑLɹəH ‘we (exclu ive)’, niF
‘ e/ e/it (visible to interlocutors)’, ts
H
‘ e/ e/it (invisible to interlocutors)’;
numerals — e.g. tiR ‘one’, niR ‘two’, s
R
‘t ree’;
C36 p. 3
R
classifiers — e.g. tsɨ ‘(for uman )’, b
‘(for tree )’;
ideophones — e.g. tʃjatʃja ‘an inten ive tate of w itene ’, ʂ ʂ ‘an exce ive tate of abundance’;
adverbs — e.g. tiLtiH ‘ lowly’, lɜLlj
onomatopes — e.g. kʰ L·
tʰ
L
R
‘very’;
‘ ound of weig ty object falling into deep water’;
interjections — e.g. wiF ‘expre ing an unplea ant urpri e’; and
postpositions — po ‘under’, to ‘on’, khʉ ‘on top of’, wu ‘in ide’, lo ‘out ide’, dʒe ‘at one’ place’, be ‘at; to; from’ (also
‘wit (in trumental)’, ni ‘wit (comitative)’, bo ‘for
marking the semantic roles of locative, goal, and source),
(benefactive)’, and ki ‘(beneficiary marker)’.
Many postpositions are grammaticalized from nouns. The ongoing process is changing these words into clitics; the fully
cliticized instrumental can form composite variants with other clitics, e.g. ɹõ< ɹə (plural clitic) + õ.
3.2 Affixes
Suffixes are more common than other affixes in Prinmi. They impart additional meanings to a word, e.g. pɜL-tsɨH
‘flower’; tsawH-dĩH ‘beating implement’; tʰj L-jiH ‘beverage’; ɹa LʒawH ‘to be prone to laug ing’.
Antonyms of some descriptive verbs/adjectives are derived with the negative prefix, e.g. mɑL-ʂ H ‘unclean’.
Most verbs can be affixed with at least one of the six directional prefixes given in Table 36.4 (cf. Fu 1998: 27–72 for
verb prefixation in Lánpí
ng Prinmi):
TABLE 36.4 THE DIRECTIONAL PREFIXES
Category
Person
Prefix
Meaning
dɜ-/dəh
Prefix
h
Meaning
cislocative (towards the speaker)
t ɜ-
translocative (away from the speaker)
Space
gə-/k ə-
outwards
(x)ɜ-
inwards
Vertical
nɜ-
downwards
tɜ-
upwards
There are two unproductive nominal affixes: the vocative prefix ɑ- and the conjunctive infix -mə-, e.g. ɑL-kawF
‘materal uncle’; nĩH-mə L-nĩ L ‘day after day’.
3.3 Inflection
A small number of verbs and auxiliary verbs in Niuwozi Prinmi are inflected for agent agreement in terms of person and
number, as exemplified in Table 36.5.1 The inflections are often associated with the perfective aspect but their occurrence
is variable.
TABLE 36.5 THE CONJUGATION OF THE COPULA AND VERBS
Root
First person singular
dzɨF
dj
pɑF
tʰj
R
maLsɨF
Second person singular
1/2 person plural
Third person
Meaning
F
dawF
dĩF
dzɨF
be
pj
F
puF
pĩF
pɑF
do
tʰ
R
tʰ
tʰĩR
tʰɥ
maLsĩF
maLsʉF
maLsj
F
R
maLsawF
R
drink
know
Reciprocal verbs are derived through reduplication, e.g. tsɜHtsawL ‘to fig t’ < tsawH ‘to beat’; ɡjɜLɡeR ‘to elp eac
ot er’ < ɡeR ‘to elp’. Notice the modification of the vowel in the first syllable.
A few verbs are remnants of an archaic causative prefix of Proto-Tibeto-Burman. They contrast with the base form in
terms of controllability and voicing, e.g. kʴj H ‘to break (something)’ ver u ɡʴj H ‘(something) to break’; pheF ‘to de troy’
versus beF ‘to collap e’.
C36 p. 4
3.4 Compounding
Compounding is extremely productive in Prinmi. Except for those permitted in specific patterns, affixes and clitics do not
partake in compounding. Most compounds are bisyllabic or quadrisyllabic; trisyllabic ones typically involve ideophones,
e.g. bɨH L L ‘paper-t in’ and pʰʴĩHtʃjaHtʃja L ‘snow-w ite’. Iterative compounding results in complex structure. For
instance:
{[(kʰʴəHɹuH) ɹɜLkɑL][(loLtʃʰɥeH) ɹɜLkɑL]} ‘fibu ’
foot:stem bone out:side bone
3.5 Clitics
Clitics are attached to phrases rather than words. Except for negative and interrogative clitics, all others are enclitics.
Major nominal clitics include the plural ɹə and the dual dz , e.g. tʃj LɹəH ‘c ildren’ and kɹhəHdz H ‘two feet’. Ot er
nominal clitics mark topics (see Section 4.9) and modificators (see Section 4.2). They can cling to a VP occasionally.
Discourse clitics such as bo and ne can be considered to be a minor type of nominal clitic. They function much like gap
fillers and can be readily omitted (as witnessed in editing recorded spontaneous speech).
Verbal clitics are richer than nominal ones in number and form. The experiential tʉ signifies experience of doing
something. The durative nõexpresses a continual state; cf. (21) and (28). The hortative ɡi conveys the wish to engage in
some activity together. The quotative tʃɨɹju is used for marking hearsay information whose truth is not committed to by
the speaker, e.g. (3). Its precise function in (3b) is to mark mirative, a psychological sense of surprise (see DeLancey
1997).
(3a)
(3b)
mjaHbuF=ɡeL=boL kʰʴəHɡ L
toL
nɜL-ʈʂwɑL=siH
eyelid=TOP=FRM
knee
on
down-contact=PFV
‘It i aid t at t eir eyelid touc down to t e knee .’
pʉHʃiL
last.night
ɜH
1SG
ʒɨHmeL tiL
dream one
tʃɨL=ɹjuL
QUOT
ɡəL-tʃʰ L
out-appear
ɜH
x L
tiH
beH
tʰɜL-pʴawF=siL
*(tʃɨL=ɹju)
1SG parrot one
to
TLC-transform=PFV
MRT
‘ a t nig t I dreamt of my elf tran forming into a parrot.’
TABLE 36.6 ATTACHMENT PATTERNS OF THE INTERROGATIVE AND THE NEGATIVE CLITICS
Clitic group
Attaching position
Clitic type
Bare monosyllabic verb
ɑ/mɑ/me/tjɑ + Verb
Proclitic
Bare disyllabic verb
Verb' + ɑ/mɑ/me/tjɑ + Verb
Endoclitic
Prefixed, no other clitics
Prefix + ɑ/mɑ/me/tjɑ + Verb
Mesoclitic
With other verbal clitics
(Prefix) + Verb + ɑ/mɑ + Aspect/Modal
Enclitic
Aspect, modality, and evidentiality can be expressed with sets/pairs of clitics sensitive to the factor of controllability.
Of the two perfective markers si and sj , the basic one is si; see (9) and (15). When an activity is controllable by the
agent, sj is chosen (for first person singular). Likewise, the pair of modal clitics, ʃo and kɜj, differ in whether or not the
wi to do omet ing i under t e agent’ direct control; cf. (25). Controllability also plays an important role for the set
of imperfective clitics ɹõ, ɹu, and ɹĩ, versus the default one ɹju; see (10) and (12). The former set conveys controllability
of a situation by interlocutors, whereas the latter indicates a lack of such control. The variants of the set for constrollable
situations are selected according to the person and number of the agent: ɹõ(first person singular), ɹu (second person
singular), and ɹĩ (first/second person plural).
Occurring at the end of the utterance, attitudinal clitics usually bring in some extra information about t e peaker’
attitude or emotional state at the time of speaking. Commonly seen attitudinal clitics are: ɡjɑ (expressing surprise), mɑ
(making a suggestion), pɑ (speculation), and mə (making an assumption). Of these, mɑ and pɑ are likely to be loans from
Southwestern Mandarin.
Prinmi has three specialized negative clitics: the general negator mɑ, the perfective negator me, and the desiderative
negator tjɑ (often found, but not exclusively, in imperative sentences). These negators and the interrogative clitic ɑ are
the only ones that may precede the verb host, as they prefer the penultimate position in the clitic group. Depending on the
number of syllables in the clitic group, the negator and the interrogative clitic may appear as a proclitic, an endoclitic, a
mesoclitic or an enclitic, as summarized in Table 36.6.
C36 p. 5
4 SYNTAX
4.1 Grammatical system
Prinmi does not operate on a grammatical system with a clearly definable concept for subject and object. Although
unstable agent agreement is found on a small number of verbs, no other grammatical properties suggest the existence of
subject in the language.
Prinmi tends to mark the agent with the instrumental clitic õ, especially after a third-person singular noun in the form
of ɡõ; cf. (14) and (23). Sometimes this optional marking is also found after non-third-person agents. The inconsistency
suggests that the development of ergativity in Prinmi is at an early stage (cf. LaPolla 1995).
4.2 Structure of the noun phrase
Six kinds of modifying elements may appear in a Prinmi noun phrase. According to their closeness to the head noun, the
noun p ra e can be analy ed a aving four layer ( ee Figure 36.2): T e ‘modificator’ i a pecial type of modifier,
typically signified by the modificatory clitic ɑ or its complex variants such as ɡjɑ. Genitive expressions, e.g. ɜH=ɡjɑH
kʰʴəH ‘my foot’, and the relative clause, exemplified in (4), are effected through the modificatory relation. The
modificatory clitic is often omissible; cf. the genitive expression in (6).
The following contains all the possible elements in a noun phrase, except for the postposition/clitic:
(4)
[mjaHbuLtɜjL]
eyelid:big
[tʃɨLdĩH
flood
diH-mi=ɑL]
cast-er=M
təH
this
ʃɨHbɑH
əLɡj H
ʃɨHbɑH
puLdiL
nɜHtsɨL
dragon:family old.man
dragon:family
old.woman
two:CLF
‘these two big-eyelided old man and old woman of the Dragon family who have started the flood’
The pair of coordinate heads (in boldface) in (4), each taking an attributive noun, is qualified by two modificators (placed
within brackets), a demonstrative, and a numeral expression.
4.3 Structure of the clause
The structure of Prinmi clauses can be described elegantly with the layered analysis advanced in Role and Reference
Grammar (see van Valin and LaPolla 1997 and references therein). The smallest layer is the nucleus, containing the
predicate. The core layer consists of the nucleus and the core argument(s) of the predicate. Modifiers of the predicate
such as temporals and locatives are situated in the periphery. These three together form a clause expandable to a simplex
sentence, as shown in Figure 36.3.
Within the scope of a clause, word order is quite rigid, starting from the adjunct/modifier in the periphery, followed
by the core argument(s) on the core layer and then the verb on the nucleus layer. The default order of arguments is agentrecipient-theme, but core arguments can also appear outside the clause when they serve as sentential topics. Note that the
extra clausal positions are reserved for pragmatic topics; simultaneous topics at both ends are prohibited. Sentence-initial
topic is dominant while sentence-final one marginal. For instance (bracketing indicates the layers within a clause; N =
nucleus, C = core, and P = periphery):
(5) neR P[ɹəLbeH]P C[ʈʂĩLʈʂuL=ɡeH N[nɜL-diL
nɜL-ʃɨH
keH.]N ]C
2SG
first
pestle=TOP
down-cast
down-go
caus
‘You t row t e pe tle down fir t.’
The presence of the temporal expression ɹəLbeH ‘fir t’ in (5) is helpful for recognizing a left-detached argument. For the
core argument neR ‘you’ to precede t e temporal at the periphery, it must be situated at the left-detached position outside
the clause.
4.4 Major sentence types
Exemplified in (6)–(8) are the major sentence types: declarative, negative, and interrogative.
(6)
pɜHdiH
ɜH
ɖʐuL
dzɨH.
frog
1sg
friend cop
cop
‘Frog i my friend.’
(7)
mɜHtʃeH ɹiR meL=thõH.
seek
get PF.N=succeed
‘( e) earc ed (but) couldn’t get (one).’
C36 p. 6
(8)
põHpõL
ɑH= eL?
uncle
q=ext.an
‘I uncle ( ere)?’
Prinmi also has tag questions which imply a pragmatic presupposition. These are constructed by rendering the
interrogative clitic as the tag, with its own intonation phrase, as shown in (9). An information-seeking question arises
when an interrogative pronoun is employed in situ, without any change of word order, as given in (10); see also (16).
(9)
neR
dɜL-jiH=siL
ɑL?
2sg
clc-come;2sg=pfv
q
‘You’ve come over, aven’t you?’
(10)
neR hɜHkiL ʃɨL=ɹuL?
2sg where
go=ipfv;2sg
‘W ere are you going?’
Verbs in imperative sentences generally show consistent agreement with the agent, even though it is often expressed
implicitly. Negation of imperative sentences requires the use of desiderative negator, as in (11b).
(11a)
(neL)
dzɑwH.
2sg
eat;2SG
‘(You) eat.’
(11b)
(neLɹəH)
tjɑL=dzĩH.
2pl
DS.N=eat;2PL
‘(You) don’t eat.’
4.5 Clause compounding
When two Prinmi verbs are adjacent in a sentence, they may conjoin into a unit: t e ‘double-verb predicate’ (t e term
‘double’ i not to be taken literally). On account of recursion it is possible to have more than two verbs in this type of
complex predicate. As with morphological compounds, the conjoining is binary in nature and it occurs on the nucleus
layer. The verbs in the complex predicate are syntactically interdependent on each other, but without subordination. A
prime example of double-verb predicate (double-underlined) is provided in (12). Note that ʃɨH ‘go’ function a an
auxiliary verb and takes the clause headed by the double-verb predicate as its complement.
(12) ts LɡyH=ɡeH
niF beL
ɡəL-jɜR
tʰɜL-kʰj L
ʃɨH
ɑL=ɹjuL?
attire=TOP
3SG to
out-fetch TLC-give
go
q=ipfv
‘Will (t e Golden P ea ant) go bring and give t e clot e back to im?’
(13)
ts LɡyH=ɡeH
ɡəL-jɜR
niF beL
tʰɜL-kʰj L ʃɨH
ɑL=ɹjuL?
attire=TOP
out-fetch 3SG to
TLC-give
go
q=ipfv
‘Will (t e Golden P ea ant) go bring t e clot e and give (t em) back to im?’
Given in (13) is another type of clause compounding. The erstwhile shared argument (single-underlined), intervening
between the verbs, has prevented formation of a double-verb predicate. Notwithstanding its identical meaning to (12),
(13) takes the syntactic structure of clause-chaining sentence, similar to the following:
(14) məF=ɡ L=neL
məF toL
bɨH
ɜH-tyL
liH
ɜH-tyL.
sky=ins=dsc
sky on
sun in-put:3
moon in-put:3
‘T e eavenly god placed a un and a moon in t e ky.’
Clause-chaining sentences involve conjoining of clauses at a level higher than the nucleus. They are looser in structure
and laxer in prerequisites, and thus occur more commonly than the double-verb predicate in Prinmi.
4.6 Subordinate clauses
Clause subordination is found in relative clauses and periphrastic constructions where an embedded clause serves as a
complement to the auxiliary verb. Sometimes verbs of cognition may also take a complement clause. Prinmi uses the
nominal clause construction to convey a sense of discovery based on cursory observation of the surroundings. This
construction consists of a relative clause and the marker ti, which functions as the structural head. For instance:
(15) təH
miF=ɡeL
nɜL-sɨL=si=ɑH
tiL.
this
person=TOP down-die=PFV=M nmlc
‘T i per on (i ) dead.’ (occurring in a direct peec )
C36 p. 7
As with other relative clauses, the modificatory clitic in (15) is omissible.
When the copula is used in periphrastic constructions, its complement clause is nominalized by the suffix -ji for the
obligational construction, e.g. (16), or by the suffix -mi for the focus-presupposition construction, e.g. (17).
(16) meH
tʰɜL-tʃʰɨL-jiL
dzɨL?
what
tlc-do-nmlz
cop
‘W at ould (we) do?’
(17)
ʃj H=ɡ H
gəL-tsɑwH-miH
dzɨL.
iron=INS
out-hit-NMLZ
cop
‘(T e tool,) w at I’m aying i : (it) i forged from iron.’
Complement clause to auxiliary verb is not marked by any grammatical means, and this frequently leads to juxtaposition
of two verbs, e.g.:
(18) kwɜjH=boH
tjɑL=kwɜjH
kuH .
cry=frm
ds.n=cry
must
‘A for crying, (you) mu tn’t cry (any more).’
(19)
[[[ eLɹə H=boL
ɖʐəL ɖʐuL tʃʰɨH]3
ɹ HɹĩL=ɑL=ɹjuL ]2
ɜL-ʃjaL ʃjaH]1
1pl.in=frm
friend
do
want=Q=IPFV
in-try
‘(You) give a try and ee if ( e) want to make friends wit u .’
tiL
one
puL
do;2SG
That the head verbs of these complements do not constitute a double-verb predicate with the auxiliary verb is evinced in
the negation pattern in (18) and subordination in (19). When a double-verb predicate is negated, the negative clitic
appears on the final unit, as in (20). However, the negator occurs within the complement clause in (18).
(20) neR
tɜH-pʰeH
tʃʰɨL ɡəL- ɨR
mɑR=keL=boL
2SG
up-cough.out
do
out-come
N=CAUS=FRM
‘If you don’t coug ( im) out …’ (lit. ‘cough up – don’t let come out’).
Three orders of subordination are observed in (19). Of these, only the head of the inner most complement is adjacent to
an auxiliary verb. The other instances see intervention of a clitic between two verbs of cognition and separation of the
auxiliary verb from its complement by the numeral ti ‘one’.
Non-embedded subordination is rare. Adverbial clauses of manner may involve such subordination, e.g.:
(21) niFɹəL thɜL-ʃuLʃuH=nõL
tʃhwɑLt ɜjH pɑL=nõL
kɹõLkɹiH.
3pl
TLC-gather=DUR
voice:big do=DUR
sing
‘T ey ing aloud toget er.’
Both adverbial clauses in (21) happen to contain the durative clitic nõ, but it does not signal subordination.
4.7 The causative construction
Prinmi has various means for expressing causation. The most important one is with the causative verb, built on the
following structure:
Causer + Affectee/Goal/Sociative + Complement clause + Causative verb ke
According to the degree of volitionality and/or affectedness, the causee can be expressed as a sociative, a goal, or an
affectee, as provided in (22)–(24) respectively (cf. Shibatani and Pardeshi 2001). Irrespective of how the causee
(rendered in boldface in the examples) is encoded, it is always co-referenced with the agent in the complement clause.
(22)
ɜH
neL kiH
ɡoR poL
1sg
2sg bny hill below
‘I let you go down t e mountain.’
nɜ L-ʃɨH
down-go
(23)
ʃj F=ɡ L
kiHpuL
beL nɜL-ɡwɜjH
keL.
golden. pheasant=INS cuckoo to
down-dress caus
‘T e Golden P ea ant got t e Cuckoo to put (t e clot e ) on.’
(24)
niHɹ L
ɜH
ɜ L-ʃɨH
meH=kɥ H.
3pl;ins
1sg
in-go
pf.n=caus;3
‘ I wanted to go in;] t ey wouldn’t let me in.’
C36 p. 8
keF.
caus
(Affectee)
(Sociative)
(Goal)
When a powerless causee is involved in a direct causation, it is encoded as affectee without marking by any postposition,
as in (24). In a situation where the causee could have avoided the event, it is marked by be as a goal in the indirect
causation, as in (23). Finally, the causee may be a willing participant in an event; in such cases, the causee is signified
with ki in the sociative causation, as seen in (22).
4.8 The comparative construction
The comparative construction has the following structure:
Theme + Noun phrase/Clause + to + Descriptive verb
Strictly speaking, the comparative construction lacks morphosyntactic marking. The intended comparison is achieved
only when the postposition to ‘t an (literally: on)’ i con trued a a sort of complementizer which introduces the standard
for comparison. This is often a noun phrase, but it can also be a short clause.
In transitive sentences, the comparative construction may be embedded in a relative clause to modify the patient
argument. An instance of this is provided in (25), where the comparative construction is underscored.
(25) ɜH
nɜ LɡeH təH
dj LbaH toL
tʃhɥɑH
tiL=boL
mɜHtʃeH pɹhəR
mɑL=kɜjH.
1sg again
this
place than
good;M one=DSC seek
meet
n=vlt
‘I won’t be able to find a place better t an t i one again.’ (lit. ‘ eek not meet one better t an t i
place’).
4.9 The topic–comment construction
Prinmi has two topic markers: the frame-setting clitic bo for establishing discourse scenes, typically regarding a locative
frame (see (1a) above) or a temporal frame, e.g. (26), and the general topic clitic ɡe for indicating a topic on which a
comment is made.
Note that ɡe is often used to mark specificity rather than a topic; see (1b) above, where koLjiR
‘crow’ i newly introduced to t e di course. On the other hand, a topic can also occur without any morphosyntactic
marking; see (6).
Major types of topic-comment construction include the double-topic construction, chained comment construction, and
embedded topic-comment construction. The first type may be simplex in structure, but the other two are always complex.
The double-topic construction consists of a frame-setting topic (double-underlined below) and a topic (single-underlined)
in an aboutness relation with a comment (placed inside brackets), e.g.:
(26) mɑLtoH kʰeH=boL
boR,
ɹɜLpuF=ɡeL
[nɜL-diL].
final
time=FRM
DSC
rooster=TOP
down-cast
‘Finally, the rooster (you) throw (it) down.’
In the chained comment construction a topic is shared by two or more comments in chained clauses, e.g.:
(27) lʉHb L=ɡeL
[sj Lb H tɜHt ʰ L], [bĩH],
[lɜLlj R ɡɥ H].
China.fir=TOP tree
one:kind radially.thick very
tall
‘T e C ina fir i a kind of tree, radially t ick, and very tall.’
The topic–comment relation may be recursive, giving rise to the embedded topic-comment construction (cf. Ding 2007b:
Chapter 7). The outer topic and the embedded topic in the construction must hold the semantic relation of set–member.
For instance, in (28) the sentence initial topic represents a whole and the other topics body parts. In (29), the set–member
relation is realized as agent-and-activity. The set denotes activities done by the agent. This semantic relation is necessary,
but not sufficient, for topic-comment embedding. Note that the complex structures of (28) and (29) involve not only
topic-comment embedding but also chained comments.
(28)
j LdzɨHpɑLpɑL [ zʉL=ɡeH [ ɖʐɜL=n L]]
[ ʈʂoL=ɡeH
bat
face=TOP
bad=DUR
organ=TOP
‘T e bat, (it ) face i ugly; (yet it ) organ are perfect.’
(29)
ʈʂɜH
earth
[dziL]].
wonderful
to=ɑL
ɖʐɜLɖʐɜH tʃhɨH miL=boL
on=M
bad
do
person=FRM
[ tsiHlɜjH=boL
[wuLɖʐɑH
khəL-tʃhjõL
j L]],
seed:sow=FRM
harvest:poor
out-appear asr
[ ɡĩLʃawH=boL
[ɖʐõR
mɑR=j L]],
livestock:raise=FRM smooth n=asr
[ t ʰ LtʃʰɨH
lɑH
[kuHdziH ɹiR
mɑR=j L]].
business:do also
profit
get
n=asr
C36 p. 9
‘Per on w o behave badly on earth, for cultivation, a poor harvest will certainly come; for livestockrai ing, (it) certainly won’t be moot ; for doing bu ine , profit certainly won’t be made.’
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FIGURE 36.1 THE STRUCTURE OF PRINMI SYLLABLES
FIGURE 36.2 A LAYERED ANALYSIS OF THE NOUN PHRASE
FIGURE 36.3 THE STRUCTURE OF THE SIMPLEX SENTENCE
C36 p. 10
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