136 a. aba kodibio
one bird
‘a bird’ b. bian
kodibio-be two
bird-PL ‘two birds’
c. johon kalyn-tho
falhetho-dalhidi-koana-be many
fast-WH.SUBJ white.man-run-THING-PL
‘many fast cars’ If the head of the NP is a pronoun, no other constituents may precede it. For example, in the
following noun phrases, the relative clause ‘who ran’ can precede the head of a noun phrase when that head is a noun. However, it must follow the head when the head is a pronoun.
137 a. li dalhidi-thi-fa
wadili the
run-WH.SUBJ-FUT man
‘the man who will run’ b. lirabo
he.distant ‘he over there’
c. lirabo dalhidi-thi
he.distant run-WH.SUBJ
‘the one over there who ran’ d. dalhidi-thi
lirabo
9
run-WH.SUBJ he.distant
‘the one over there who ran’ If the head of a noun phrase is not a pronoun, it may be modified either by a possessor
NP see Section 3.1.3 or by a morphologically bound possessive pronoun. Morphologically bound pronouns do not have the same co-occurrence restrictions that possessor NPs have.
As has already been mentioned, possessor NPs cannot co-occur with pre-head relative clauses. This means that when a morphologically free pronoun functions as the head of a
possessor NP, it cannot also co-occur with a pre-head relative clause. However, a morpho- logically bound possessive pronoun can. This contrast can be explained by assuming that
morphologically bound pronouns are, in fact, part of the head noun of the matrix NP and do not function syntactically as possessor NPs.
10
They then fall outside of the co-occurrence restriction. For example, notice the use of ‘her’ in the following examples:
58 Noun Phrase and Sentence Syntax
9
Example 137d is ungrammatical only if it is taken as a single noun phrase. It is grammatical as an equative sentence meaning: ‘He over there is the one who is running.’
10
This assumes a structure something like the following: N
clitic N
138 a. thora hala-n
her bench-POSS
‘her bench’ b. to
sioko-tho th-ala-n
the small-WH.SUBJ
her-bench-POSS ‘her small bench’
c. to sioko-tho
thora hala-n
the small-WH.SUBJ her
bench-POSS ‘her small bench’
The word sioko-tho ‘small-WH.SUBJ’ in the latter of these examples would have to be taken as modifying thora ‘her’, a pronoun. Since this is not allowed, the phrase is
ungrammatical. When a quantifier phrase and a morphologically bound possessive pronoun both occur in
the same noun phrase, the phrase seems to receive a partitive interpretation. 138 a. aba
da-sikoa one
my-house ‘one of my houses’
b. aba firo-tho
da-sikoa one
big-WH.SUBJ my-house
‘one of my bigger houses’
3.1.6 Post-Head Relative Clauses
A relative clause can also occur after the head of the noun phrase. At first glance, the kinds of relative clauses that appear here seem to be in complementary distribution with
those that appear before the head. That is, after the head, one finds relative clauses which are too heavy to appear before the head, and others which cannot appear there due to the
presence of a possessor NP in that position.
140 a. to khota-ha
[l-eretho dibaleda-sia
miaka] the
meat-NGEN [his-wife roast-WH.OBJ
yesterday] ‘the meat his wife roasted yesterday’
b. bian dalhidi-koana [na-jonto-sia
forto-n miaka]
two run-THING
[they-buy-WH.OBJ town-LOC
yesterday] ‘two cars they bought in town yesterday’
c. li wadili
[kansin-thi to
toho] the
man [like-WH.SUBJ
the this]
‘the man who likes this referential’ However, this complementarity is not complete. Short relative clauses based on stative
verbs i.e. relative clauses consisting of just a stative verb with relativizing morphology, 3.1 Noun Phrase Structure
59
but no other constituents can not appear after the head of the NP, even if they are disal- lowed before the head due to the presence of a possessor NP.
11
141 a. to [mamanaja-tho]
kasipara the
[dull-WH.SUBJ] machete
‘the dull machete’ b. to
kasipara [mamanaja-tho]
the machete [dull-WH.SUBJ]
‘the dull machete’ c. to
de kasiparan [mamanaja-tho]
the my machete
[dull-WH.SUBJ] ‘my dull machete’
Also, short relative clauses based on event verbs can appear after the head, even when there is no possessor NP in the phrase which would force them to appear there.
142 a. to khota-ha
[da-dibaleda-sia] the
meat-NGEN [I-roast-WH.OBJ]
‘the meat I roasted’ b. to
[da-dibaleda-sia] khota-ha
the [I-roast-WH.OBJ]
meat ‘the meat I roasted’
3.2 Sentence Structure
Corresponding to the major verb types,
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there are two major sentence types: event sen- tences and stative sentences. In addition, there are other types, such as event sentences
based on the dummy verb a, and equative sentences with the copular verb to. In the following sections, it should be kept in mind that there is no structural or morpho-
logical difference between statements and yes-no questions. When sentences are simple statements, they are spoken with a sentence-final falling intonation. Speaking them with a
sentence-final rising intonation can change any sentence
13
into a yes-no question. 60
Noun Phrase and Sentence Syntax
11
The unacceptable phrases are acceptable as independent attributive sentences: ‘The machete is dull.’ ‘My machete is dull.’ See section 3.2.3.1 on attributive sentences.
12
See discussion of verbs in Section 2.4.
13
Sentences with second-person subjects or objects can be interpreted as questions, even without question intonation. Sentences with first person subjects or objects are rarely interpreted as questions. Word order is not a
significant factor in determining whether a sentence is interpreted as a statement or question.
