18.47 hi-ni d ʑintak di-ki u-la joŋ khanʈa khanʈa duk=ka
this-ABL host DEF-ERG that-DAT other what what EXIST.VIS=Q ɕøt-ro tɕhi sin-na ɕuwa dʑak-ken bet. TE49
speak-AID do;VBZR[IMP] say-NFNT1 request VBZR-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘The host begs him saying, “Whatever else there is, please do tell it”’
Speaker host is sick and a shaman healer is right there to set his conditions for healing. This is a polite request though no honorific verbs are used.
18.48 nempet raŋ gompa-la ɖo-ro tɕhi.
tomorrow 2SG gomba-DAT go-AID do;VBZR[IMP] ‘Please do go tomorrow to Gomba village, if possible’
Speaker is not able to go and someone has to go and bring the lama. Speaker uses a low pronoun. The addressee would help the speaker to accomplish his goals.
18.49 daku t ɕhit-ro tɕhi-let.
friend do;VBZR-AID do;VBZR-SCI ‘Go and help them’
Speaker sees that some people in the distance need help and he requests his companion to go and help them. He is supposed to come back later, hence he uses -let.
18 .50 ŋa ʈhik-ro mat-tɕhi joŋ ʈhik-ro tɕhi.
1SG fetch-AID NEG-do;VBZR[IMP] another fetch-AID do;VBZR[IMP] ‘Make it possible, not to fetch me’ Or: ‘If possible, fetch someone else, not me’
Speaker is politely declining to go to court as a witness and he requests the hearer to get someone else instead.
18 .51 ŋa ɕi-ro tɕhi.
1SG die-AID do;VBZR[IMP] ‘Help me to die’ Or: ‘Let me die’ Or: ‘Make it possible for me to die’
Speaker is an old and sick person who wants to die. He utters this request to a god or to a religious functionary who has been called to perform rituals for healing him. It does not imply any concrete help
for dying. This may be uttered also as a curse for one’s enemy. Then it is addressed to an evil god in the absence of the victim.
18.52 u-ko mik- ki thoŋ-ro mat-tɕhi.
that-head eye-INS see-AID NEG-do;VBZR[IMP] ‘Make it possible for him not to see with his eyes’
If he sees, make him blind; if he does not see, do not heal him
18.4 Honorific precative
The only difference to ordinary precative is that the main verb t ɕhi is replaced with the honorific verb
naŋ ‘to give’. The next two examples illustrate this. 18
.53 ŋ-e ama loŋ-ro naŋ. 1SG-GEN mother raise.up-AID give[HON.IMP]
‘Please raise my mother up’ Or: ‘Please heal my mother’ This is a proper honorific precative addressed to a shaman who is supposed to heal the mother.
18.54 men t ɕik naŋ-ro naŋ.
medicine INDF give[HON.NPST]-AID give[HON.IMP] ‘Please give me some medicine’
This is higher honorific than 18.34.
18.5 Hortative
The hortative is used to convey a suggestion or a command. The command is addressed to a second person hearer including the speaker also. The hortative requires at least one hearer. In Lhomi there are
two kinds of hortative depending on whether both the speaker and the hearers are included in the action or only the speaker is involved. I call them first person plural hortative 1PL.HORT and first person
singular hortative 1SG.HORT respectively.
The plural hortative is marked by finite verbal suffix - toŋ which is attached to the past root of the
verb. The first person singular hortative is marked by -ki which is suffixed to the past root of the verb. Lhomi hortative combines only with agentive verbs. Emphatic clitic =te combines with the
1PL.HORT. The hortative is regarded as nonpast. Consider the following examples markers are underlined.
18.55 ha t
ɕhøn-toŋ. now go[HON.PST]-1PL.HORT
‘Let us go now’ No need to use a pronoun here, the hortative marker tells that the speaker and hearers are
included in the action or activity. 18
.56 duŋ tɕhi-jaa hi-ko ʈhʏt-toŋ. TE4 wooden.plank big-COMP2 this-head drag[PST]-1PL.HORT
‘Let us drag this bigger plank’ Speaker tells this to all workmen who are building his house. Large planks are dragged on ground
by several men. 18.57
ŋ-e aliŋ taa-ki. 1SG-ERG corn grind[PST]-1SG.HORT
‘Let me grind some corn’ 18.58 roo-ki tuwa se-ki si-kuk.
3SG-ERG food eat[PST]-1SG.HORT say-PROG;VIS ‘He says, “Let me eat my meal”’
In this example and in the previous one there is past verb root.
18.6 Emphatic hortative
The following examples show that the emphatic clitic =te combines with the first person plural hortative emphatic marker is underlined:
18 .59 thaŋpuu-ki pitam tɕik luk-toŋ=te ala. TE16
long.time.ago-GEN story INDF put-1PL.HORT=EMPH still ‘Let us record one more story of old days’
Speaker has been putting his stories on tape recorder. He is the story teller and the other person is recording them on casette.
18.60 u-la te- toŋ=te ta.
that-DAT watch-1PL.HORT=EMPH EMPHP ‘Let us all watch him’
Speaker suggests that his friends watch closely a man to find out whether he will turn out to be a friend or an enemy. There is also an emphatic particle at the end of the phrase.
18.61 ni gempu karm-e lo t ɕik ŋii tɕik siraa hi-ko
gembu karma-ERG year one two INDF hail this-head mat-
ruŋ-a ɕak-toŋ=te. sinna… TE58 NEG-protect-NMLZ;Q leave-1PL.HORT=EMPH
‘Gembu Karma said, “Let us leave it not protected against the hail for one or two years”’ Or: ‘Let us leave the fields unprotected against hail for one or two years’
The village leader is actually arguing for protection of the fields against the hail storms. He wants the villagers to understand that otherwise there would be a harvest failure.
18.7 Non-proximate non-immediative imperative
