Subordinate durative activity marked by reduplicated verb root Subordinate adverbial clause marked by verbal suffix -ni

18.9.6 Subordinate durative activity marked by reduplicated verb root

The following text tells about two siblings, brother and sister, who had to run away from home after their mother had died and they just kept going and going. The verb root is repeated three times to communicate the idea of covering a long distance and also long time span. Their conversation and the activity of going are simultaneous. The verb phin- ‘to go.come’ is an eventive verb. Therefore the speaker reiterates it several times to give the impression of durative activity. There is also serial chain here and the final verb is phin-ni which makes the clause subordinate to the main clause. 18.122 ni p ʏn ŋii-pu di ʈhoppa too-p-e kha brother two-M1 DEF stomach feel.hungry-NMLZ;Q-INS mouth kom-p-e phin phin phin-ni become.dry-NMLZ;Q-INS go.come[PST] go.come go.come[PST]-NFNT2 hat ɕak-ki ama ɕi-na khur-a bet. 1PL.INCL-GEN mother die-NFNT carry-NMLZ;Q AUX nam ʈhet-tɕe aa …? TE41 when meet-SBJV SCAP ‘After the brother and sister because of hunger and thirst had been going and going, finally they said, “Our mother has died. When do we meet her?”’ 18.123 ni phin phin phin-ni ni go.come[PST] go.come[PST]-NFNT2 DM roo-so ɕøm-paa lip-a bet. TE41 3SG-PL1 ride-COMP2 come-NMLZ;Q AUX ‘After they had been going and going, they finally became young adults.’ The durative activity and growing up are simultaneous. They grew up on the way.

18.9.7 Subordinate adverbial clause marked by verbal suffix -ni

Without causal overlay or time overlap For temporal sequence English uses words like ‘after, before,’ etc. Lhomi typically uses the suffix-ni, NFNT2 which is a non-finite verbal suffix. This verbal suffix may also mark causal relation to the main clause. I discuss that in the next section. Now I concentrate only on temporal sequence. The following examples illustrate this adverbial clause the non-finite verbal marker is underlined: 18.124 ʈhopu doole di thaŋ khirik di le ok=tu phin-ni friend monkey DEF and pheasant DEF work till=PURP go.come[PST]-NFNT2 ŋimmu ŋin khaŋ oo-pa bet. TE16 day day one till-NMLZ;Q AUX ‘After the bond friends monkey and pheasant went to do fieldwork, they worked for a whole day.’ This example has purely temporal relation, an event followed by a span of activity without any overlap of time. First they go to a field, then they work. This is from a narrative in which typically the finite verbs are marked in past tense. 18.125 hi-ni gem-pu di-ki missir di-ki lak-ni this-ABL responsibility-M1 DEF-ERG people DEF-GEN hand-ABL ʈhema pajisak pajisak dʏ-ni taxes money money collect-NFNT2 sarkar-la ʈøk-ken bet. TE33 government-DAT give-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘After the village leader has collected the taxes from the people, he hands the tax money over to the government.’ This example is a generic statement of how the village leader collects taxes and then hands the money over to the government officials, a span of activity followed by an event. 18 .126 sempuŋ-nala tɕhi-ni makpa khaluŋ-nala khaa tɕat thiri duk. TE3 sempung-ALL do;VBZR-NFNT2 makpa khalung-ALL snow white bright EXIST.VIS ‘When I arrived in Sempung area there was white snow in Makpa Khalung.’ Speaker tells that when he arrived in Sempung area he saw snow on the other side of the river. There is no overlap of time. The next example has two consecutive spans of activities without any time overlap. 18.127 u-pa t ɕhu-tsøt tɕik ɕo dʑap-ni that-PL2 water-time one gamble VBZR-NFNT2 u-ni t ɕhu-tsøt tɕik taatsa tsi-soŋ. that-ABL water-time one cards play-PST.VIS ‘Having gambled with dice for an hour they then played cards for an hour.’ The next example has two consecutive events without any time overlap: 18.128 gott-e u-la t ɕhu thuŋ-tɕe-ma tɕik bin-ni 3SG-ERG that-DAT water drink-SBJV-F2 INDF give-NFNT2 u- ki thuŋ-soŋ. that-ERG drink-PST.VIS ‘After they had given that man something to drink, he that man drank.’ The non-final verb has no marking to indicate that the subject changes; therefore, it must be indicated with the pronoun uki. Subordinate temporal sequence with causal overlay It is not always perfectly clear if the sequence is a purely temporal one or if there is an overlay of reason in relation to the main clause. When there is a causal overlay it is never highly prominent. Consider the following. 18 .129 le maŋ ʈhaa-ni toŋ tshup-moŋ. TE13 work a.lot become-NFNT2 send;VBZR be.able-NEG.PST.EXP ‘The work load became too much, therefore I could not send the letter.’ 18.130 ni ama di ɕi gø ɕar-a bet. mother DEF die needed.to start-NMLZ;Q AUX phits-e da-la ni ɕi-ni rekket ama di tiŋ-laa child-GEN with-DAT DM die-NFNT2 goat mother DEF after-ADVZR d ʑaa-p-ʏ phu-mu-la kii-pa bet. TE21 king-M1-GEN daughter-DAT be.born-NMLZ;Q AUX ‘Mother goat had to die. Since she had died with the child, she was later born as a princess.’ The heroic act of the mountain goat mother was rewarded in the next incarnation and she was born as a human princess. This is both time sequence and causal. 18.131 t ɕheppa dʑap-ni pha-la tsa tir thuk-moŋ. TE3 rain VBZR-NFNT2 cow-DAT grass give be.able-NEG.PST.EXP ‘Because it rained I was not able to give any grass to the cows.’ 18.132 khirik ɕekket ɕor-ni mik juŋ-tɕe di pheasant laughter burst.out-NFNT2 eye come-SBJV DEF thøn di hi-ko bet. TE16 reason DEF this-head COP ‘The reason for its eyes becoming red is because it burst out laughing.’ The pheasant was laughing at the monkey who burned his buttock on a hot frying pan.

18.9.8 Subordinate reason clause marked by t