Negative existential clause Attributive clause Possessive clause

6.3.3 Presentational clause existential

“Presentational existential clauses are used most commonly to present or introduce a new participant [or descriptive information] into a discourse Grimes 1991:375.” The quantifier, naming and equative clauses are also used for this purpose as well. As a result they tend to occur in backgrounded and non- eventline material. In the presentational clause there is no existential verb, or any other verb for that matter. However in some cases the connector de is used see §7.3.1. chart no. 2 with the same meaning. Often the same information can be presented with or without the de. Sometimes these presentational clauses are used in conjunction with the naming clause, but the naming clause indicates only the name not the existence. Due to length, the examples here will not be fully interlinearized, but only to the extent needed to understand the example. 582 Patke’a nanni Oktovina nora kakni muanke’a a’nani patke’ lawna woru. woman name Oktovina and older sibling male child woman large two ‘There was a woman named Okotvina and her older brother’s two grown up daughters.’ 583 Pa hita-tlena kukru-gauru melu’uta-melliena So lightening thunder darkness ‘So there was lightening, thunder and darkness’ 584 Plollolli de Gera Lhorna Actually that Gera Lhorna ‘Actually it was Gera Lhorna.’ 585 La’ leta ralamni de kniari arahu’ In village inside that work lots ‘In the village there was lots of work.’

6.4 Semi-verbal clauses

The term ‘semi-verbal clause’ refers to clauses in which the predicate is not morphologically marked as a verb. These include bases which could be verb roots but here are morphologically marked as nominals. They also include what could be considered adverbs or adjectives. The negative existential clause and the similative clause have predicates that do not seem to fit into any word class.

6.4.1 Negative existential clause

The negative existential clause is expressed by an NP followed by a negative which functions as the predicate. 586 Rimormiori hademon ma’ta people none still ‘There were still no people.’ 587 A-a’m-u hadamona a-ama-’u none My-father-POS none ‘I had not father.’ 588 Kupna hadamona money none ‘I have no money.’

6.4.2 Attributive clause

There are two types of semi-verbal attributive predicates. One type is structured similarly to a genitive and as such is nominative. The other is structured similarly to an adjective, yet it functions as a predicate. The attributive clause has as its predicate a nominalized non-active intransitive verb. It is nominalized through the addition of a final –ni similar to the genitive suffix see §3.1.2 on nominalizing by the suffix-ni. It is often modified by the deictic di see §7.3.1 for emphasis. 589 I-t-gar-niana ler de it-metam-ni di i-t-gari-nana ler de it-metma-ni di 1pi-1pi-sun-ABIL sun that 1pi-black-POS this ‘Since we sunbathe we are very black.’ lit. We sunbathe, our blackness 590 Ha-peta-ni di ha-petna-ni di AN-fat-POS this ‘Boy is she fat’ lit. Her fatness 591 Ha-fiekat-ni di ha-fiekta-ni di AN-fast-POS this ‘How fast that is’ lit. Its fastness 592 Krei de inpon-ni church that big-POS ‘That is a big church.’ That church, bigness The subject of this type clause is generally a body part or state. The predicate is structurally and semantically similar to an adjective yet functions as a predicate. 593 A-ma’t-u pre’eta a-mata-’u pre’eta my-eye-POS lazy ‘I am sleepy.’ 594 A-ga’y-u mok-mokla. a-gai-’u mokla-mokla my-face-POS RDP hazy ‘I am dizzy.’ 595 Ululu la Lgona di patke’a tuwu lawna welli werta long ago in Luang this woman age big price heavy ‘Long ago in Luang a grown woman’s price was expensive.’

6.4.3 Possessive clause

The possessive clause is one in which a possessed noun is functioning as a predicate. Compare first how possession is marked on nouns in this case roma ‘house’: Table 34. Possession affix for nouns roma ‘house’ 1s a-ro’m-u ‘my house’ 2s o-rom-mu ‘your house’ 3s e-rom-ni ‘his house’ 1pi it-rom-ni ‘our house’ 1pe am-rom-mamni ‘our house’ 2p mi-rom-mi ‘your house’ 3p ir-rom-ni ‘their house’ Now consider how the following verbs are marked in the same way: Table 35. Possession affixes on verbs person gaha ‘own’ suka ‘like’ 1s a-gah’-u ‘I own’ a-su’k-u ‘I like’ 2s o-gaha-mu ‘you own’ o-suk-mu ‘you like’ 3s e-gaha-ni ‘he owns’ e-suk-ni ‘he likes’ 1pi it-gaha-ni ‘we own’ it-suk-ni ‘we like’ 1pe am-gaha-mamni ‘we own’ am-suk-mamni ‘we like’ 2p mi-gaha-mi ‘you own’ mi-suk-mi ‘you like’ 3p ir-gaha-ni ‘they own’ ir-suk-ni ‘they like’ Below are sentence examples of these verbs. 596 Seri e-gaha-ni ahu -dye Seri 3s-own-POS dog that. ‘Seri owns that dog.’ 597 Manke’a de e-suk-ni la patke’a de Male that 3s-like-POS to female that. ‘That man likes that girl.’ 598 Suk-ni na-kowa suka-ni na-kowa like-POS 3s-face down ‘She likes to be face down.’

6.4.4 Naming clause