23 That John wrote the letter….
am[ef pm udk a|: | \cif: onf
jon ca kui
re: ra.
hkrang: sany
[[[[John [letter Ob]
write] De] Nom] Nom]
24 John’s having written the letter….
am[ef pm a|: cJh onf
jon ca re:
hkai. sany
[[[John letter
write] Pr ]
Nom]
2.5.3 Future Nominal
25 That John will write the letter…. J.
pm udk a|: vdrfh rnf`
jon ca kui
re: lim.
many [[[ [John [letter Ob ] ] write ] Psb ] IrRl ]
26 John’s future writing the letter… J.
aemufrSm a|: rnhf
pm onf
jon nauk hma
re: many.
ca sany [ [[ [[John afterward]
write] IrRl Rel ] letter ] Nom ]
2.5.4 Procedural
27 John’s writing of the letter…
pm udk
J
a|: xm: onfh ykH
onf
ca kui jon
re: hta: sany.
pum sany [[[[[
letter Ob] John write put ] Nom Rel ] manner] Nom]
By using the head noun
ykH
pum as a nominal in its basic meaning as manner or way of
doing something, i.e., how he wrote the letter, the construction in 27 allows focus on the action of writing and amplification of that verb with the possibility of additional specifiers of
action.
2
The manner nominal becomes the head of the immediate relative clause construction with the object role extracted to the left. This fronting is not necessarily focus shifting for the
purpose of highlighting the object. Rather the process of tightening the construction by placing the agent next to the verb, invokes a closer formal semantic blending of the
nominalized clause giving the reading of emphasis on the procedure.
2
Note, the view taken here differs from traditional Burmese grammar in which postverbal particles are regarded as auxiliaries to the main verb which is the head of the construction. Here particles are regarded as heads of the
construction. Successive particles following the main verb are treated as types of higher-level propositions whose scope may relate to the whole sentence rather than as an immediate constituent of the verb.
28 The way John writes wrote the letter…. J.
pm a|: wJh ykH onf
u
jon
ca re:
tai. pum
sany ka.
[[[[ [John [letter write ] ] Nom Rel ] manner ] Nom A ]
2.5.5 Infinitive
29 To write the letter….
pm a|: |ef
ca re: ran
[ [letter write ] Pur ] 30 Writing the letter…
pm udk a|:
| \cif:
ca kui re:
ra. hkrang:
[[[ [letter Ob ] write ] De ] Nom ]
2.5.6 Agentive Realis
31 Whoever writes wrote… the letter
rnf ol r qdk
a|: onfh pm udkonf
many su ma. hcui
re: sany. ca
kui sany [ [[[[ IIrRl person Ng
say ] write ] Nom Rel ] letter ] Ob Nom ]
Nominalization of the action with explicit mention is typically realized as a relative clause. The role of the agent is in normal clause order. The object follows the verb.
2.5.7 Future Agentive
