9 THE SENTENCE 269
Notice that in 281 the speech between A the little old woman and B the girl is direct and between B and C the parents indirect. The reverse is true
in 282, where the speech between B and C is also direct. Whether this variation is always possible or whether it depends on other deictic phenomena
is not yet clear.
9.21. Perfective -mo in narrative discourse
In narrative texts the perfective suffix -mo has its own special usage. Since this usage can only be discussed with reference to complex sentences, it has to
be treated here rather than in the next chapter. Primarily, -mo is suffixed to those verbs that denote a new completed state
or action. In narratives such verbs take the story one step further, and a quick look at the use of -mo in a story reveals that the verbs suffixed with
-mo form the backbone or skeleton of the story. Hence we do not find -mo attached to verbs in conjoined clauses or clauses providing background
information. In other words, -mo functions as a sequential or development marker.
In certain cases -mo is optional, but the governing principles behind this choice are not yet completely clear.
Some examples of -mo in consecutive clauses:
284 do-kala-mo tora; do-wora-mo me-kabua-no; no-feena-mo Wa Ode T. 3pR-go-PF again 3pR-see-PF -fish-A.PART 3sR-ask-PF Wa Ode T.
they went again; they saw someone fishing; Wa Ode T. asked... 285 dadi no-suli-mo te lambu-no; no-fo-rato-mo idha-no ini
so 3sR-return-PF loc house-his 3sR-CAUS-arrive-PF father-his this so he came home; he told his father...
These examples consist of more than one sentence boundary marked by ;. Sentences consisting of more than one clause have various restrictions on the
occurrence of -mo. It is not found in the following cases, even though a completed state or action may be denoted:
a. In juxtaposed clauses including relative juxtaposed clauses, see 9.2.1:
286 no-suli-mo no-bhasi ndoke he went home and called the
3sR-return-PF 3sR-call monkey monkey he went home to call
the monkey 287 do-kala-mo do-ghondo-e
they went and looked at it 3pR-go-PF 3pR-look-it
they went to look at it 288 naando se-ghulu ghule niho no-pada ne-tolo se-ghulu kadadi
be one-CLAS snake just 3sR-finish 3sR-swallow one-CLAS animal there was a snake that had just swallowed an animal
b. In complement clauses 9.2.2, 9.2.3: 289 do-kiido-mo da-pogaa-ti
they refused to separate 3pR-refuse-PF 3pI-separate-TR
290 no-wule-mo dahu no-lumpa the dog was tired from running
3sR-tired-PF dog 3sR-run
270 A GRAMMAR OF THE MUNA LANGUAGE
c. In temporal conjoined clauses with or without conjunctions, see 9.7: 291 garaa no-rato we kaghotia maitu, no-wora-da-mo
SURPR 3sR-arrive loc beach that 3sR-see-them-PF when he arrived on the beach he saw them
292 pada do-kawi do-kala-mo te lambu-no ina-no after 3pR-marry 3pR-go-PF loc house-POS mother-her
after they got married they went to her mothers house 293 no-pooli kaawu no-mentae no-sampu-mo no-bhasi-da
3sR-get after 3sR-morning 3sR-go.down-PF 3sR-call-them the next morning he went down to call them
d. -mo is obligatorily absent after the conjunctions kansuru at once, maka and then, bhe with and sampe until:
294 no-rato a-fererene a-ko-ghendu; kansuru a-wanu 3sR-arrive 1sR-wake.up 1sR-HAVE-shake at.once 1sR-get.up
when I woke up, I was startled; at once I got up The verb a-fererene is not suffixed with -mo because it is inside a temporal
conjoined clause; a-ko-ghendu does not have -mo because it is not a completed state. Other examples:
295 ne-ala-mo se-poi kontu maka no-ghompa-e 3sR-take-PF one-CLAS stone then 3sR-throw-it
he took a stone and threw it 296 no-pada kaawu aitu, no-ere-mo maka no-fealai-kanau
3sR-finish after that 3sR-stand-PF then 3sR-ask.permission-me after that he stood up and asked me permission to leave
297 no-rato te tumbu-no kalei bhe no-futaa, kansuru ne-ala 3sR-arrive loc top-POS banana and 3sR-laugh at.once 3sR-take
kalei se-wua maka no-fumaa banana one-CLAS then 3sR-eat
when he arrived at the top of the banana tree, while laughing, he right away took a banana and ate it
298 garaa a-bhiku-a-bhiku ini no-fenu-mo toli-no bhe no-ghae SURPR RED-ART-snail this 3sR-blow-PF mucus-his and 3sR-cry
Snail blew his nose and cried 299 no-ala-mo kapulu-no maka no-lobhi wughu-no ghule sampe
3sR-take-PF machete-his then 3sR-hit neck-POS snake until no-po-gunti
3sR-PO-cut he took his machete and hit the snakes neck until it was cut in
two
9 THE SENTENCE 271
300 ae-ngko-ngkora-mo kansuru sampe no-mentae 1sR-RED-sit-PF continually until 3sR-morning
I remained sitting until it became morning When kansuru at once is inflected as a verb ae-class, it does not
receive -mo, nor does the following verb: 301 sa-no-wora ghule, ne-kansuru no-logha-e
WHEN-3sR-see snake 3sR-at.once 3sR-stab-him as soon as he saw the snake, he stabbed him right away
e. In a clause containing a phrase or word other than the verb that is suffixed with -mo, the verb is not marked with -mo:
302 morondo ao-lodo rambi-mo ompulu raa-mata last.night 1sR-sleep blow-PF ten two-eye
last night I went to sleep at twelve oclock 303 se-taghu-mo no-hawo we Kandari
a year ago he moved to Kendari one-year-PF 3sR-move loc Kendari
304 pada-mo do-ghoro-e isa-hi-hi-no finish-PF 3pR-throw-her older.sibling-PLUR-PLUR-her
she has been thrown away by her older siblings In a number of constructions -mo seems to be optional, even when it denotes a
new and completed state or event. This is the case in the following constructions, all taken from narrative texts.
a. After verbs suffixed with -ghoo or -ane:
305 no-rato ne kampuuna no-po-ghawa-ghoo kamokula 3sR-arrive loc crossroads 3sR-REC-get-IO old
when she arrived at a crossroads she met an old man 306 pada kaawu aitu do-fentoho-ane kadeki
finish after that 3pR-stop-it first after that they stopped doing it
b. The first action clause in a story may lack -mo: 307 naando wawo-no a-bhiku-a-bhiku bhe a-laga-a-laga. Kamokula-no
be top-its RED-ART-snail with RED-ART-ant old-POS a-bhiku-a-bhiku ini bhe a-laga-a-laga do-kala de-wei te molo
RED-ART-snail this with RED-ART-ant 3pR-go 3pR-clear loc hills in former times lit. at the top there lived Snail and Ant. The
parents of Snail and Ant went to clear the forest on the hills 308 talahano ini a-dhi-a-dhini bhe a-paa-paando do-po-dhalu
once this RED-ART-jin and RED-ART-mouse.deer 3pR-REC-compete ka-ntara de-mboto
NOM-long 3pR-stay.awake
272 A GRAMMAR OF THE MUNA LANGUAGE
once upon a time the jin and the mouse deer held a competition in staying awake longest
c. In a fast sequence of actions without conjunctions the second verb may lack -mo:
309 kamokula amaitu no-sangke-mo pandanga-no, no-tonda-mo lima-no old that 3sR-lift-PF spear-his 3sR-take-PF hand-POS
ka-bua-bua maka do-kala te ko-ghule-ha-no girl then 3pR-go loc HAVE-snake-LOC-A.PART
the old man lifted his spear, took the girl by the hand and then they went to the place where the snake was
d. When the verb is followed by a derivation consisting of ngka- + redupli- cation indicating simultaneity 10.2.19:
310 no-filei-mo ngka-pode-podea she ran away screaming
3sR-run.away-PF WHILE-RED-scream The demand that the verb presents a new and completed action accounts for the
fact that -mo is not present in clauses providing background information and in negative clauses.
Special mention must be made of clauses that are repetitions, rewordings or further specifications of preceding clauses. Sometimes the verbs in such
clauses also take -mo, and sometimes they do not, the reasons for which are not clear.
311 no-kawi-ane-mo anahi anagha; no-kawi-ane-mo Wa Ndaipitu 3sR-marry-her-PF child that 3sR-marry-her-PF Wa Ndaipitu
he married the child; he married Wa Ndaipitu 312 do-kala-mo tora do-owa-e; no-kala no-owa-e tora o
3pR-go-PF again 3pR-bring-it 3sR-go 3sR-bring-it again ART ka-kamo-kamokula
DIM-RED-old they went again to bring it; the little old woman went to bring it
again This last example is a case of self-correction by the narrator.
Although the main outline of the usage of -mo is fairly clear, it certainly remains an area of research that needs much more attention.
9.22. The clitic -a
