Human classifier -pa, HUM1 Human classifier -paa, HUM2

would be the only prefix in Lhomi noun morphology. The current meaning of this Lhomi noun is ‘an idol or any image representing an object which is worshipped’. It is only when ku is the first member of a compound that it functions as an honorific classifier. When ku is the last member of a compound it no longer produces an honorific word, e.g. sir-ku ‘golden idol’. The noun ku is a free morpheme that produces a word of tense register even if the latter member of the compound is a lax word. Lhomi word stems have no word-medial aspirated obstruents; therefore, the original initial aspiration is dropped. With sibilants except h and obstruents gemination takes place. Table 3.9 illustrates some of these nouns. Table 3.9. Honorific nouns produced by classifier ku ku + common noun Honorific noun Gloss ku + tshap ku-tsap-a ‘delegate, representative’ ku + lʏ ku- lʏ ‘incarnation, body’ ku + sʏ kus- sʏ ‘body’ ku + ro ku- ro, phuŋpu ‘body of a dead man’ ku + ɕaa kuɕ-ɕaa ‘body of a dead man’ ku + ʈhin kuʈ-ʈin ‘kindness, kind act’ ku + nesso ku-ne ‘age of a person’ ku + tsham ku-tsam ‘seclusion for study’ ku + jøn ku-jøn ‘payment for a lama’

3.4.2 Human classifier -pa, HUM1

The human classifier suffix -pa, HUM1, combines with monosyllabic and compound noun stems. Nouns with this suffix refer to humans and occasionally to gods and evil spirits. Human class nouns produced in this way are a rather small closed class. Plural marker PL2 cannot combine with human class nouns. There are several homophones to this classifier but they are treated elsewhere, e.g. in chapter 4 on numerals and section 5.1 on demonstratives. As for morphophonemic changes with this classifier, stem-final t becomes p and stem-final n becomes m. If the noun stem ends with pa, the stop p is dropped from the suffix as in one of the examples below. The nouns in the left-hand column of table 3.10 are all free morphemes. The examples in table 3.10 give an idea of how this derivation works. Table 3.10. Human class nouns produced by classifier -pa Noun stem Gloss Noun-pa Gloss net ‘sickness, fever’ nep-pa ‘sick person, patient’ kʏnnak ‘thievery, stealing’ kʏnnak-pa ‘thief’ khimtsi ‘neighbour’ khimtsi-pa ‘person next door’ nøt ‘trouble, harm’ nøp-pa ‘evil spirits generic’ oŋren ‘strength, health’ oŋrem-pa ‘dominant, powerful person’ samtɕen ‘epilepsy’ samtɕem-pa ‘epileptic person’ lopʈuk ‘discipleship’ lopʈuk-pa ‘disciple’ phøt ‘Tibet’ phøp-pa ‘Tibetan man’ dzumʈʏ ‘trick, miracle’ dzumʈʏ-pa ‘miracle performer’ tɕhakpa ‘robbery’ t ɕhakpa-a ‘robber’ kaŋtɕik ‘co-operation’ kaŋtɕik-pa ‘co-worker’ ʈhoŋ ‘household, family’ ʈhoŋ-pa ‘people of a household’

3.4.3 Human classifier -paa, HUM2

The difference between the human class that takes human classifier -paa, HUM2, and the previous one is somewhat blurry. Nouns of the -paa class seem to refer to the permanent local identity of men like residents of a certain village, clan identity, and their religious or professional identity, whereas the classifier -pa seems to produce more generic human class nouns. If the stem ends with pa or ŋ the initial stop of the suffix is dropped. If the stem ends with i the initial stop of the suffix is changed to j. If the stem ends with u the initial stop of the suffix is changed to w. Stem-final n changes to homorganic nasal m. Stem-final a changes to aa. Table 3.11 gives some examples. Table 3.11. Human class nouns produced by classifier -paa N Gloss N-paa Gloss tsaŋpa ‘tsangpa clan, lizard’ tsaŋpa-a ‘man of tsangpa clan’ tsøn ‘prison’ tsøm-paa ‘prisoner’ go ‘head’ go-paa ‘areal headman’ kha ‘mouth’ kha-paa ‘advocate, defender’ lam ‘trail’ lam-paa ‘guide’ gen ‘responsibility’ gem-paa ‘leader, elder’ juu ‘village’ juu-paa ‘villager’ paŋtok ‘Pangtok village’ paŋtok-paa ‘person of Pangtok’ thaŋmu tɕhi ‘T hangmu ‘tɕhi village’ thaŋmu tɕhi-jaa ‘person of Thangmu tɕhi’ rukkama ‘Rukkama village’ rukkama-a ‘person of Rukkama’ damtaŋma ‘Damtangma village’ damtaŋma-a ‘person of Damtangma’ gompa ‘Gompa village’ gompa-a ‘person of Gompa’ tshikuluŋ ‘Tshikulung village’ tshikuluŋ-aa ‘person of Tshikulung’ tɕhø ‘lamaism, religion’ tɕhø-paa ‘religious practitioner’ ta ‘horse’ ta-paa ‘horse rider’ tɕhoo ‘foreign country, side’ tɕhoo-paa ‘foreigner’ ʈhu ‘boat’ ʈhu-paa ‘boatman, seaman’ na ‘fish’ na-paa ‘fisherman’ piipu ‘village called Piipu’ piipu-waa ‘man of Piipu’

3.4.4 Gender