Indefinite spatial demonstratives Ablative marked demonstratives marking temporal linkage

Table 5.4. Summary of spatial demonstratives with inessive case markings Relative altitude Proximal Distal Remote Distal remote jaa-na iki-na Deictic center hi-na u-na phaa-na piki-na maa-na miki-na Distance from the deictic center Demonstratives and movement to and from the deictic center 5.1.5.1 This section discusses demonstratives and movement to and from the deictic center. 5.21 u-ni ni hunto phaa-ni tshul-la juŋ-e jaŋla ... TE42 that- ABL DM now there-ABL here-DAT come-NMLZ;Q-GEN ‘Then at the time when I came from there to here...’ Speaker reports in Kathmandu about his trip from his home village to Kathmandu. The movement is towards the deictic center where he tells his life story. The altitude difference is not always taken into account. 5.22 tshul-la mat ɕu tɕel-la ka tɕet-na jaŋ phal-la sur-la here-DAT flock at-DAT order cut-NFNT1 CONTR2 away.there-DAT astray-DAT ʈap-na khur-ni ni ka tɕøt mit-tshuu-ken. TE30 go.away-NFNT1 carry-NFNT2 DM order cut NEG-be.able-NMLZ;CONJ ‘If the shepherd closes the way for them towards the flock then they run actually far away from the flock and therefore one cannot stop them.’ Speaker is describing the work of a sheep shepherd. In driving the sheep to high country some stubborn individuals try to come back towards the flock and if prevented from doing so they run away from the shepherd and flock. It is the shepherd who is the deictic center here. 5.23 pilel-la phal-la tshul-la ɖo-ja-la mi=raŋ plane-DAT away.there-DAT here-DAT go-NMLZ;Q-DAT man=FOC rii-la 7000 ɖas-si ʈikeʈ-ki khartsa ɖo-kuk. TE75 each 7000 be.alike-INTNS ticket-GEN expenses go-PROG;VIS ‘A return airplane ticket costs about 7,000 rupees for each person.’ Lit. ‘Going away and back in an airplane...’

5.1.6 Indefinite spatial demonstratives

When the remote demonstratives compound with the noun tshøt ‘amount, estimate’, we get the indefinite remote demonstratives. These occur within a NP as the complement of the head noun or as free locative phrases. The only difference compared to remote spatial demonstratives in section 5.1.4 is that these point out to a location which is less definite. Table 5.5. Indefinite remote demonstratives Location away from deictic center Case Location towards deictic center Case phat-tsøt ABS tshut-tsøt ABS phat-tsøt-na IN tshut-tsøt-na IN phat-tsøt-tu LOC tshut-tsøt-tu LOC phat-tsøk-ki GEN, ERG, INS tshut-tsøk-ki GEN, ERG, INS phat-tsøt-la DAT tshut-tsøt-la DAT phat-tsøt-ni ABL phat-tsøt-nala ALL Table 5.5 lists demonstratives which refer to a place away from the deictic center and a place towards the deictic center. It is the verb that indicates the direction and selection of the locative phrase RDEM + tshøt ‘estimate, amount’. The following examples illustrate this: 5.24 u-pa phat-tsøt-ni khatek-la ta-kin that-PL2 there.away-amount-ABL nearby-DAT watch-NMLZ dep-pa bet. stay-NMLZ;Q AUX ‘They remained there while watching from a short distance away.’

5.1.7 Ablative marked demonstratives marking temporal linkage

When proximal and distal demonstatives marked with the ablative case hi- ni, u-ni occur clause initially in narrative or travel stories, they bind the next event to what precedes or the next step procedurally to what precedes. 5.25 det-ni pha-la dep-pen. sit-NFNT2 cow-DAT stay-1PST hi-ni t ɕheppa dʑap-tɕuŋ. TE3 that-ABL rain VBZR-PST.EXP ‘After I had sat down, I remained looking after the cows. Thenafter this it began to rain.’ This text is a travel story. Literally hi-ni means ‘from here’ but it clearly functions as a temporal linkage when it starts a new sentence in this kind of a text. 5.26 ni tøn ɕar-ni hi-ni jaŋ mal-la fall begin-NFNT2 this-ABL CONTR2 there.down-DAT ɖo-ken bet. TE36 go.come-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘As soon as fall time begins, then actually people go to lower area south.’ This story tells about seasonal movements of Lhomis.

5.2 Indefinite and definite articles