Temporal periphery Temporal, locative and manner periphery

182 A GRAMMAR OF THE MUNA LANGUAGE

7.10.1. Temporal periphery

The temporal periphery answers the question when? or how long? in relation to the clause core. The temporal periphery may be filled by a number of different words and phrases, all of which I will call temporal in this section. The following temporals may be distinguished the list is not exhaustive: 1. demonstrative see 5.5: aitu now; at that time ani-ini just now, recently anagha-ini formerly, once 2. noun phrase: ghole itu today ta-na-se-wula in a month se-taghu ka-ompona-no for a year se-wakutuu once, at one time samentaeno in the morning ghole-gholeo at noon korondoha in the evening rambi ompulu ten oclock talahano ini once upon a time saowalahano at dawn ta-sendai shortly tompa-tompa-no-mo ultimately 3. derived numeral see 5.7.3: nae-tolu in three days ne-tolu-mo three days ago 4. prepositional phrase see Chapter 6: ampa aitu now, nowadays ampa ka-soo-no gholeo till sunset 5. adverb see 7.11.1: madaho in a while, later sadhia always nihomo just tantigho all the time indewi yesterday 6. measure phrase see 10.2.11: se-komi-ha in one suck se-pilo-ha in one blink In some cases it is not easy to decide on the word class of a temporal: 7 THE CLAUSE 183 paka-paka nounadverb? first bhaa-bhaano nounparticiple? at first, in the beginning; first As far as the place of the temporal periphery is concerned, the usual position is clause-initial: 274 bhaa-bhaano no-naando wite-no Wuna peda adho-no se-ghonu pasi RED-first 3sR-be land-POS Muna like shape-POS one-CLAS coral in the beginning the land of Muna had the shape of a coral reef 275 sa-lompo-lompona-no pasi-hi maitu ne-mbali-mo se-ghonu liwuto SA-RED-long-its coral-PLUR that 3sR-become-PF one-CLAS island gradually those coral reefs became an island 276 wakutuu aitu Sawerigading no-sawi ne bhangka time that Sawerigading 3sR-go.by loc boat at that time Sawerigading entered a boat 277 ampa aitu bhangka-no naando-e his boat is still there until now boat-his be-it 278 naewine da-si-kala-ha dae-kabua tomorrow we will go fishing tomorrow 1pI-SI-go-HA 1pI-fish together 279 naando saowalahano sepaliha do-bhose-mo be dawn very 3pR-row-PF while it was still very early they rowed away 280 se-tofa-ha kaawu no-filei-mo having struck just one blow one-hit-HA only 3sR-run-PF he ran away 281 se-pilo-ha no-pada-e-mo in a wink he had finished it one-blink-HA 3sR-finish-it-PF It is not unusual, however, to find the temporal periphery in clause-final position: 282 kansuru do-rame-rame-ane fato-fulu-gha at.once 3pR-RED-celebrate-her four-ten-day at once they gave her a party which lasted for forty days 283 miina dao-maa dua se-gholeo one day we will not eat not 1pI-eat also one-day 284 da-po-ghawa tora ta-na-se-wula we will meet again in a month 1pI-REC-get again STILL-FUT-one-month Certain temporals may also occupy the position between the preverbal NP either subject or object and the verb: 285 dadi a-laga ta-sendai na-mate-ghoo ka-gharo so ART-ant TA-little 3sI-die-IO NOM-hungry so in a while Ant will die of hunger 184 A GRAMMAR OF THE MUNA LANGUAGE 286 kamokula-hi-no tigho do-ghae parent-PLUR-her all.the.time 3pR-cry her parents were crying all the time 287 ihintu-umu madaho tala-amu ne wiwi-no sala you-PLUR later IMP-row-PLUR loc side-POS road you pl must stand in a row at the roadside 288 kenta ka-ghawa-no sadhia miina na-bhari-a fish NOM-get-his always not 3sI-many-CL he never caught many fish Not all temporals can occur in every possible position, however. The following five temporals were tried out in different positions in a clause: ani-ini just now, recently indewi yesterday tolu wula ka-ompona-no for three months sadhia always tantigho all the time These five temporals were inserted in the numbered positions in the following clause: 1 2 3 4 5 isa-ku ne-gholi roti we daoa brother-my 3sR-buy bread loc market my brother buysbought bread in the market The results were as follows: 1 2 3 4 5 aniini x x ? x x indewi x x x x tolu wula kaomponano x x x sadhia x x x tantigho x x = possible = impossible = possible, but change of meaning the temporal is seen to be part of the locative; for example, three months residence in the market ? = questionable This suggests that temporals may belong to different subclasses defined on the basis of their possible position in the clause. Such a subclassification, however, still remains to be worked out.

7.10.2. Locative periphery