Pronouns always precede the noun they are modifying, with possessive pronouns preceding demonstrative pronouns Xu 2001:74,76:
24 ga
33
x ɣ
33
ni
55
mja
33
I
POSS
this knife ‘this knife of mine’
2.2.2 Lahu noun phrase structure
An
NP
in Lahu has a nominal nucleus an autonomous noun with all its modifications followed by zero to two noun particles signifying, for example, ‘vocative’, ‘accusative object’, ‘because of
N
’, ‘together with
N
’, ‘place of
N
’, ‘only
N
’ Matisoff 1973:155–166, followed by zero to six particles that are either • universal particles meaning, for instance, ‘during
N
’, ‘as muchmany as
N
’, ‘onlyjust
N
’, ‘because of
N
’, and
N
s Matisoff 1973:170–171; or •
NP
-final topical or emphatic particles meaning, for example ‘as for
N
’, ‘alsoeven
N
’, ‘and
N
’ Matisoff 1973:174–178.
Sentence-final particles may follow the
NP
in “minor” sentences that have no
VP VP
s are outlined in section 9.2.2
and section 9.5.2
. A minor sentence is a “sentence whose final phrase is a natural
NP
” Matisoff 1973:40. A sentence with a final
NP
in an SOV language has no
VP
. Table 1. Sentence-final particles in relation to the
NP
in sentences that have no
VP
1 2
3 4
5
NP
nucleus Noun particle
Universal particles
NP
-final particles
Sentence-final particle
25 Thây-ch
ɔ c
ɛ tí
l ɛ,
Lâhu-kh ɔ̂
mâ šī
N
Thai
P
univ
P
univ
P
univ
Lahu-language not know
to extent of
N
only
N
because of
N
‘Since he’s only a Thai, he doesn’t know Lahu.’ Matisoff 1973:173
2.2.2.1 Types of
NP
nuclei
There are several types of
NP
nuclei Matisoff 1973:110–153: • determined nucleus
• extentive nucleus • genitive nucleus
• quantified nucleus • special nucleus
A determined nucleus has the determiner ‘thisthese’, and is often quantified Matisoff 1973:110. The structure of a determined nucleus can vary as follows Matisoff 1973:110–113:
• the word ‘thisthese’ as an autonomous pronoun • Noun+ ‘thisthese’
• ‘thisthese’ + genitive particle +
N
meaning the same as the second construction •
N
+ ‘thisthese’ + genitive particle, also equivalent to constructions 2 and 3. Matisoff 1973:113–115 describes seven structures having a quantified nucleus with “
QP
” being a numeral + classifier that are related to the determined nucleus see previous paragraph:
•
N
+
QP
+ ‘thisthese’ • ‘thisthese’ + genitive particle+
N
+
QP
•
N
+
QP
+ ‘thisthese’ + genitive particle •
N
+ ‘thisthese’ + genitive particle +
QP
•
N
+ ‘thisthese’ +
QP
• ‘thisthese’ + genitive particle +
QP
• ‘thisthese’ +
QP
Extentive nuclei characterize the “size, location, quantity, sameness or difference, wholeness or partiality” of nouns Matisoff 1973:117. All are limited nouns and cannot occupy the initial position of
an
NP
nucleus Matisoff 1973:130. There are four subclasses: 1. Extentives of amount, size, length, and distance
a. As much as
N
, as big as
N
, as long as
N
, and as far as
N
b.
N
+ thisthese + extentive Matisoff 1973:117–124 2. Diminutive extentives of amount, size, length, and distance
a. As few as
N
, as small as
N
, as short as
N
, and as close as
N
b.
N
+ thisthese + extentive Matisoff 1973:127–130 3. Extentives expressing “more than
N
” and “all
N
considered individually” with the structure
N
+ extentive Matisoff 1973:130–133
4. Extentives meaning ‘likeas
N
’, ‘just like
N
’, ‘up to
N
’, ‘all
N
as a single entityeverything’, also with the structure
N
+extentive Extentive particles in the first subclass of extentive nuclei can be reduplicated Matisoff 1973:123,
and can occur with quantified
NP
nuclei of various structures. Extentive particles of the third and fourth subclasses of extentive nuclei may follow not only natural nouns, but also clauses that have been
nominalized by the genitive particle Matisoff 1973:132, 136–140. Example of extentive nuclei of the first subclass: distance
26 Cî-mày
f ɨ
Chiangmai distance ‘the distance to Chiangmai’
Example of the second subclass: diminutive 27
chi h �́-ɛ̀
ve há-p ɨ-šɛ́n
this small-amount of jewel ‘such a tiny jewel’
Example of the fourth subclass: ‘like
N
’ 28
Cî-mày f
ɨ qh
ɛ Chiangmai distance like
‘about the distance to Chiangmai’ Matisoff 1973:129
2.2.3 Lalo noun phrase structure
