khuŋ di ta ma di ɖi-mu di true DEF EMPHP CONTR1 DEF female.yak-F1 DEF
ga ɕ-ɕo juŋ-ken bet. TE32
be.pleased-SUP come-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘The mother of a yak is a female yak. Female yak is the best. In fact the truth really is
that female yak is the best.’ In this text the writer tells about yaks and various hybrids of yak and cow. This is an evaluating
statement.
18.12.9 Exception sentence relator
jaŋ
There is another exception sentence relator jaŋ CONTR2 which marks very much the same kind of
relation as ma di does. As for jaŋ, the relation may be either anaphoric or cataphoric. The English
translation may be one of the following conjunctions: ‘on the other hand’, ‘at least’, ‘however’, ‘instead’. 18.248 u-la kurik khan
ʈa tɕhit-tɕe ek juŋ-ken bet. that-DAT all what do;VBZR-SBJV INCLN come-NMLZ;CONJ AUX
jaŋ u-ki dzo di-ki ʈuku mit-juŋ-ken CONTR2 that-GEN dzo DEF-GEN calf NEG-come-NMLZ;CONJ
bet. u-ki jaŋ uko raptɕet bet. TE32
AUX that-GEN CONTR2 that barren COP ‘Any kind of work will be OK for a dzo. However, it does not reproduce. It is barren.’
Speaker has been talking about different kinds of work one may do with dzo and now he states that there is one negative quality, it is barren. The marker
jaŋ marks the contrastive ‘on the other hand, however’ relation to previous assertions.
18.249 se-ni le di ʈhup nam rø tɕhi-ni
eat-NFNT2 work DEF finish[PST] darkness become do;VBZR-NFNT2 lok-na
juŋ-a bet. ha jaŋ nempet jaŋ return-NFNT1 come-NMLZ;Q AUX now CONTR2 tomorrow CONTR2
ʈhopu doole-ki le-la phim-pa bet. TE16 bond.friend monkey-GEN work-DAT go.come[PST]-NMLZ;Q AUX
‘After they had eaten lunch, their work finished and it became dark, therefore they returned home. Then next day they both went to work on bond friend monkey’s field
instead.’
This one is from an oral fable about monkey and pheasant who become bond friends. First they both go to work for the pheasant for one day. The next day they go to work for the monkey ’instead’.
The scene of activity changes and speaker indicates it with this corrective sentence relator. Though the relator is adjacent to the NP ‘tomorrow’ it signals the change of the scene in relation to the whole
preceding section.
18 .250 daŋ-hariŋ tsoŋ gø tɕhuŋ-na
yesterday-today sell need.to happen-NFNT1 jaŋ jak-la dʑapa ŋa ʈhuk sir-køt-na
CONTR2 yak-DAT hundred five six say-PROG;EXP-NFNT1
dzo-la d ʏn dʑet sik-kel-la lik-ken bet. TE32
dzo-DAT seven eight say-NMLZ;CONJ-DAT come-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘Nowadays if someone happens to have a need to sell and he says that the price of a
yak is 500–600, then the price of a dzo would reach at least 7–800.’ This example illustrates
jaŋ as marking a kind of corrective contrastive wording of the previous conditional clause.
jaŋ nani marking independent clauses in a paratactic relation which translates into English like ‘
Either…or…or’. 18.251
jaŋ nani khur-let tɕhi-toŋ. CONTR2 CONFIRM bring-SCI say-1PL.HORT
jaŋ nani kʏnnak kʏ-toŋ. CONTR2 CONFIRM theft steal-1PL.HORT
jaŋ nani jar-toŋ. CONTR2 CONFIRM borrow-1PL.HORT
‘Let us either tell him saying, “Give it” Or let us steal it Or let us borrow it’ The speaker is giving three options to his friends how to go about getting a thing from someone.
18.12.10 ‘on the one hand…on the other hand’ exception relator
When the particle jaŋ occurs in two consecutive clauses or sentences, it produces the English relation ‘on
the one hand…on the other hand’ between the sentences. The two sentences marked with the particle
jaŋ are not independent and therefore I still call it exception relator. The next examples illustrate this, though there is an extra unmarked sentence in
between: 18.252 nuk t
ɕhi-pa phøt-laŋ-taŋ duŋka dʑak-p-e jaŋ-la this.way do;VBZR-NMLZ;Q Tibetan-bull-COM bullfight VBZR-NMLZ;Q-GEN time-DAT
phøt- laŋ-la tɕhʏ juŋ-ken bet jaŋ.
Tibetan-bull-DAT wisdom come-NMLZ;CONJ AUX CONTR2 thuu thaŋ tɕhʏ thaŋ di phøt-laŋ-la juŋ-ken bet.
perseverance and wisdom and DEF Tibetan-bull-DAT come-NMLZ;CONJ AUX jak-la
jaŋ tsaŋʈa juŋ-ken bet. TE32 yak-DAT CONTR2 cleanliness come-NMLZ;CONJ AUX
‘When a Tibetan bovine bull fights with a yak the Tibetan bull has wisdom. On the one hand the Tibetan bull has perseverance and skill. On the other hand the yak has
cleanliness.’ This is a written story about yak. Speaker begins to describe how a Tibetan bull and yak fight with
each other. He compares them and jaŋ marks the contrastive relation, ‘on the one hand...on the other
hand’. The exception relator
jaŋ may be reiterated which highlights the exception relation ‘on the one hand…on the other hand’ between the sentences or clauses. The next example illustrates this.
18.253 ni jaŋ dzo-la jaŋ aja di laŋ taŋ-na
CONTR2 dzo-DAT CONTR2 male DEF bull send;VBZR-NFNT1
jaŋ jaŋ laŋ=raŋ laŋ=raŋ kii-ken bet. CONTR2 CONTR2 bull=FOC bull=FOC be.born-NMLZ;CONJ AUX
jaŋ jaŋ pha-la jak taŋ-na CONTR2 CONTR2 cow-DAT yak send;VBZR-NFNT1
jaŋ jaŋ dzo dzo-mu kii-ken bet jaŋ. TE32 CONTR2 CONTR2 dzo dzo-F1 be.born-NMLZ;CONJ AUX CONTR2
‘On the one hand if someone breeds the dzo with a bovine bull, then it actually conceives a bovine bull. On the other hand if someone breeds the bovine cow with a
yak, then it actually conceives a male dzo or female dzo.’ This story tells about crossbreeding bovine cows and yaks.
18.12.11 ‘Instead, on the contrary, as a matter of fact’ correction sentence relator
