Possessive copular clause Descriptive copular clause Locational copular clause

forms hinbet are two different verb forms of the same verb root which is hin. Two evidentiality categories are encoded in these forms. I often talk about existential verbs because morphologically these two verbs jøt and duk have nothing in common. The latter is supposed to be a grammaticalized form of Old Tibetan dug spelling as in the source which used to mean ‘to sit, live, stay’ see Jackson 1993:974.

15.5.1 Possessive copular clause

Possessive copular clause has existential copular verb jøt or duk and it encodes possession. Subject is in dative case and object in absolutive case. The basic order is S-O. The terms possessive copular clause, descriptive copular clause, locational copular clause, and equative copular clause come from Tsangla Grammar chapter 8.3 Andvik 1999. The following examples illustrate the possessive copular clause type. 15.34 ki-la kiɕikpa duk. dog-DAT flea EXIST.VIS ‘The dog has fleas.’ 15.35 ŋa-la ŋaa tɕik jøt. 1SG-DAT big.drum one EXIST.EXP ‘I have a big drum.’ Or: ‘I possess a big drum.’ Lit. ‘There is a big drum for me.’ 15.36 gotta-la khim tɕik jøk-ken bet. 3SG-DAT house one EXIST-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘He has a house.’

15.5.2 Descriptive copular clause

Descriptive copular clause may have any of the copular verbs with predicate adjective or predicate nominal. This clause type describes the state of the subject. 15.37 ŋa lo di-ntikma duk. 1SG will warm.up-ADJVZR EXIST.VIS ‘I am happy and free of worries.’ Lit. ‘My inner being is warm.’ The NP which has the noun and modifying adjective is the predicate nominal of this clause. The following example has a predicate adjectival, ‘khe-si. 15.38 ŋa khe-si hin. 1SG skill-INTNS COP.EXP ‘I am really smartskilled.’ 15.39 ŋa thaŋ-puwa jøt. 1SG health-ADJVZR EXIST.EXP ‘I am healthy.’ There is no obvious distinction in syntax between 15.38 and 15.39. It appears that the previous one describes a quality and the latter a state. This example also has a predicate adjective. 15.40 ŋima tshas-si duk. sun be.hot-INTNS EXIST.VIS ‘Sun is very hot.’ Or: ‘It is very hot weather.’

15.5.3 Locational copular clause

Locational copular clause has absolutive case marked S and an IO which indicates the location of the S. Typically the IO is in inessive case, but not always, as seen in example 15.42. 15.41 thoŋpa khim-ki loo-na duk. plough house-GEN beside-IN EXIST.VIS ‘The plough is beside the house.’ 15 .42 ŋima rap-la jøk-ken bet. ear basket-DAT EXIST-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘The ears are in the drying basket.’ This example has absolutive S and ablative, dative or inessive marked IO. 15.43 papa khim-na duk. father house-IN EXIST.VIS ‘Father is in the house.’

15.5.4 Equative copular clause