18.76 khøt-la hi-ntuk t ɕhi-pa nam nam-la ak juŋ-tɕe
2SG-DAT this-ADVZR do;VBZR-NMLZ;Q when when-DAT INCLN come-SBJV mip-pa
toŋ. NEG.EXIST-NMLZ;Q send;VBZR[IMP]
‘May that never happen to you’ Speaker has either seen or heard about something bad and pronounces this wish to his friend.
18 .77 ŋ-e kettɕa hi-ko raŋ-ki ha khoo-tɕe
1SG-GEN message this-head 2SG-ERG aud.impact hear;understand-SBJV jøp-pa
toŋ. EXIST-NMLZ;Q send;VBZR[IMP]
‘May you understand this message of mine’ Speaker is explaining something which is difficult and he utters this wish.
18.9 Adverbial clauses
The following types of adverbial clauses that cannot be substituted by a single word, have been reported for the languages around the world: purpose, reason, circumstantial, simultaneous, conditional,
concessive, substitutive, additive, and absolutive Thompson et al. 2007:243. My intention in the current section is to describe the various adverbial clause types Lhomi has in my data.
18.9.1 Subordinate purpose clause
Purpose clause marked by purpose clitic =tu. In Lhomi there are several types of adverbial clauses whose reading is ‘for the purpose’, ‘to’, ‘for’. In
the current type the purpose clause is nominalized but it is not an argument of the main verb. Rather it expresses the purpose relation to the main clause. In section 18.11.1 the same clitic =tu marks an
argument of the causative verb ts ʏt, therefore it is treated there as a complementizer.
Lhomi does not have an infinitive verb form as such but the purpose-clitic marked verbs come very close to it. Cross-linguistically an infinitive is supposed to have been grammaticalized from purpose
markers see Thompson et al. 2007:252. • The purpose relation is not highlighted in the current purpose clause type.
• The subject of the subordinate nominalized purpose clause and the main clause may or may not be co-referential. There is no single overt marker to signal the difference.
• It is the purpose clitic =tu that marks the purpose of the main clause. • Typically agentive verbs like ‘to send, to go, to come’ occur as main verbs.
Consider the following examples the finite clause verb and the purpose clitic in the adverbial
clause are underlined. 18
.78 gotta ŋa-la ʈhi tsoŋ=tu lit-tɕuŋ. 3SG 1SG-DAT knife sell=PURP arrive-PST.EXP
‘He came to sell me a knife.’ 18.79 pempu daku-la guk=tu t
ɕhøn-soŋ. headman friend-DAT wait=PURP come[HON]-PST.VIS
‘The headman came in order to wait for a friend.’ 18.80
ɕiŋka-la ta=tu phim-pen. TE4 field-DAT look.at=PURP go.come[PST]-1PST
‘I went to have a look at my field.’
18.81 bak t ɕøt=tu toŋ. TE6
bamboo cut=PURP send;VBZR[IMP] ‘Send them to cut bamboos’
Speaker commands someone else to send workmen to cut bamboo. Subjects are not co-referential. 18
.82 gomuŋ ɕak=tu duŋ ɕak=tu gomuŋ ɕok=tu short.plank split=PURP long.plank split=PURP short.plank adjust=PURP
duŋ ɕok=tu taŋ-en. TE4 long.plank adjust=PURP send;VBZR-1PST
‘I sent the workmen to shape short planks, to shape long planks, to adjust the short ones, to adjust the long planks.’
There are several juxtaposed adverbial clauses which are in paratactic relation to each other. It is the purpose clitic =tu which marks each of them.
Purpose clause marked by SBJV -tɕe and DAT -la Typically this subordinate purpose clause is more prominent than the main clause. The meaning in
English is ‘for the purpose of’, ‘for’, ‘in order to’. Table 18.3 summarizes all grammatical markings that mark the subordinate clause as purpose
clause. Typical is -t ɕe-la, subjunctive+dative case, but postpositions also occur. The examples below
from collected texts illustrate some of them. All purpose clauses in this section are NPs nominalized clauses.
Example 18.83 is from a story which describes various responsibilities of assistant leaders in the village. There are three of them and they take turns to collect various fees from the villagers each year.
The finite clause is a benefactive construction. They do it for the benefit of others. The following examples illustrate this subordinate purpose clause.
18.83 hi-ni u-ko d ʏt-tɕe-la
this-ABL that-head collect-SBJV-DAT miŋo di-pa lo rii rii-la
assistant leader DEF-HUM1 year each each-DAT paalo paalo gir-na t
ɕhi-na tik-ken bet. TE36 turn turn walk.around-NFNT1 do;VBZR-NFNT1 give-NMLZ;CONJ AUX
‘For the purpose of collecting that fee the assistant leaders take turns each year.’ 18
.84 ŋ-e=raŋ khattsaŋ pupu so-tɕe-la 1SG-ERG=FOC couple.weeks.ago Pupu placate-SBJV-DAT
d ʏt-mu ʈøt sik-kin sik-kin khit khajet khanʈa-la
collect-F1 give[IMP] say-NMLZ say-NMLZ 2PL plural what-DAT d
ʏt-mu mit-ʈøk-ken? TE46 collect-FEM1 NEG-give-NMLZ;CONJ.Q
‘A couple of weeks ago I was telling you repeatedly, “Give contribution for the purpose to placate Pupu” Why don’t you give it?’
This is from a story in which the village leader reprimands the villagers who have neglected to bring in their contribution to have a communal ritual of placating Pupu.
The following example illustrates a purpose clause marked by SBJV -t ɕe and jøp-pa-la.
18.85 att ɕet khe-paa-la thøn tshuu-tɕe jøp-pa-la
little.bit skill-COMP2-DAT come be.able-SBJV EXIST-NMLZ;Q-DAT dinaa [NAME] sik-
keŋ-ki kalets tɕik-la ɖoo-pa bet. TE74 Dinah [Name] call-NMLZ;CONJ-GEN college INDF-DAT study-NMLZ;Q AUX
‘In order that Dinah would be able to come out a bit more skilled than others, she has studied in a college which is called [Name].’
This purpose clause type does not have any other grammatical marker except negative prefix to mark it as negated purpose. Negated illustration 18.85 would be ...tshuu-t
ɕe mip-pa-la... Or ...tshuu-tɕe mip-
pe ʈhik-la Purpose clause marked by NMLZ;Q-GEN, -p-e and
ʈhik-la postposition 18.86 u-ni u-p-e phumu di
ʈhok tshuu-p-e that-ABL that-HUM1-ERG girl DEF take.by.force be.able-NMLZ;Q-GEN
ʈhik-la thup-tsøt berŋ-ken bet. TE65 purpose-DAT protect-amount strike-NMLZ;CONJ AUX
‘Then family members beat them for the purpose to defend and to be able to take back their daughter by force.’
This is from a story that tells about marriage customs of Lhomis. They typically take the bride forcefully from her home and drag her away. Her family members pretend to resist this on the spot. In
reality they have to consent and let her go. The purpose clause is nominalized and it becomes a complement of the postposition
ʈhik-la. Table 18.3. Summary of purpose–means grammatical markings and inter-clause relations
Purpose markings on adverbial clause Inter-clause relation
- tɕe-la
PURPOSE–means -
tɕe jøp-pa-la, -tɕe mip-pa-la PURPOSE–means
- tɕe-ki ʈhik-la
PURPOSE–means -
tɕe-ki thøl-la PURPOSE–means
-p- e ʈhik-la
PURPOSE–means
18.9.2 Subordinate conditional clause
