and one of the noun phrases, generally the first,
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consists of a free relative clause. It could be argued that such a clause has a true relative clause construction with an empty head position,
since its head would, in all cases, be identical to the second NP of the sentence. 186 a. Kydy-tho
to. heavy-WH.SUBJ
it ‘It is heavy.’
b. Kydy-tho to
siba. heavy-WH.SUBJ
the stone
‘The stone is heavy.’ c. Firo-thi
li wadili.
big-WH.SUBJ the
man ‘The man is big.’
d. Wakhai-tho kho
to hala.
bad-WH.SUBJ not
the bench
‘The bench is very good.’ Although several of the above attributive sentences contain the form to, this to is the
article ‘the’ and is not the same as the copular verb to found in equative sentences. Unlike the copular verb, the article must agree with the gender and number of the head of the
noun phrase, i.e. to ‘the non-masculine’, li ‘the masculine singular’ na ‘the human plu- ral’. Furthermore, equative sentences are divided into three intonational units, with poten-
tial hesitation points before and after the copula. Attributive sentences are usually spoken with a single intonation contour, and one cannot pause between the article and the rest of
the noun phrase.
3.2.3.2 Stative sentences with stative verbs
Stative sentences can also be constructed with a stative verb as their main verb see Section 2.4.2 on stative verbs followed by a subject noun phrase.
187. Alekhebe-ka li
wadili. happy-INDIC
the man
‘The man iswas happy.’ 3.2 Sentence Structure
79
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I have recorded several instances where the order of the NPs is reversed. However, in these cases the first NP seems to behave as if it is in the TOPIC position of the sentence. It has to be old information, and is usually
separated intonationally and rhythmically from the rest. Furthermore, when editing their own texts, Arawaks often add a sentence final pronoun to such sentences, making the last part of the sentence, again, into an
attributive sentence starting with a relative clause and ending with an NP.
To siba,
kydy-tho .
the stone heavy-WH.SUBJ
‘The stone is heavy.’ ‘Concerning the stone, it is heavy.’
To siba,
kydy-tho to
. the
stone heavy-WH-SUBJ it
‘Concerning the stone, it is heavy.’
These sentences differ both from the other stative sentences and from event sentences. Un- like other stative sentences which have, at most, a bare copula for a verb, the verb in
stative verb sentences can receive a rather full set of tense, affix, and pronoun affixes.
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188 a. Jara-ka bo.
here-INDIC you
‘You are here.’ b. Hebe-fa
to dalhidi-koana.
full-FUT the
run-thing ‘The carbus will be full.’
c. Seme-ka to
sikalho. sweet-INDIC
the sugarcane
‘The sugarcane is sweet.’ d. Somole-ka-i
hibin. drunk-INDIC-he
already ‘He is already drunk.’
As can be seen in the above examples, this type of sentence also differs from other types in its word order. This is the only type of sentence in Arawak where the subject clearly
seems to follow the verb.
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189 a. Stative sentence: Fonasia-fa
lirabo. hungry-FUT
he.over.there ‘He will be hungry.’
b. Simple intransitive event sentence: Lirabo
osy-fa. he.over.there
go-FUT ‘He will go.’
In addition to the basic verb-subject ordering for these stative sentences, one occasion- ally does find subject-first ones. However, such sentences seem to be the result of subject
fronting. As is the case with event sentences, in stative sentences it is also possible to front various constituents to the LSAP position.
80 Noun Phrase and Sentence Syntax
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See Figure 8 in Section 2.4.2.1 for a summary of stative verb affixes.
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Semantically, the second NP in attributive sentences seems more subject-like than the first. However, there is always some uncertainty created by the fact that the first constituent in attributive sentences seems to be an NP
also, and therefore might be the subject.
