Modal verb ‘have to’

• The complement-clause subject is either dative or absolutive marked subject of the main clause. • The subject of the complement clause and the subject of the main clause are co-referential and the rest of the complement clause is the object of the main clause. Consider the following examples. 16.75 toto-la roo- raŋ-ki khim-la baalik elder.brother-DAT 3SG-self-GEN house-DAT bamboo.mat kop gø- soŋ. to.place[NPST] need.to-PST.VIS ‘Elder brother needed to roof his house.’ 16.76 gotta ʈhakuk-ki hok-la ɕuk gø-soŋ. 3SG overhang-GEN under-DAT enter[NPST] need.to-PST.VIS ‘He needed to go underneath an overhang.’ 16.77 u-ko ama- raŋ-ki ŋa-la sir mit-gø-ken bet. that-head mother-self-ERG 1SG-DAT say NEG-need.to-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘Mother, you do not need to tell me that.’ 16.78 ama di phitsa-la ŋiŋ tsha-j-e mother DEF child-DAT heart feel.hot-NMLZ;Q-INS ni ama di ɕi gø ɕar-a bet. TE21 DM mother DEF die[NPST] need.to[NPST] start-NMLZ;Q AUX ‘Mother felt compassion towards the child and therefore mother had to die.’ This is from a fable and “mother” refers to a mountain goat. This statement is a parenthetical statement explaining why the mother was burned up in a fire.

16.3.2 Modal verb ‘have to’

Lhomi has another modality commonly known as obligative modal. see Palmer 2001:22. The verb is go- ‘have to, must’ and it has the following syntactic characteristics: • The modal verb is the main verb of the matrix clause which is possessive copula or I type. • The main clause cannot be eventivized with any syntactic operators. • Unlike the ‘need to’ modal verb in 16.3.1 this verb combines only with nonpast tense. • The complement-clause verb is a nonpast verb root of almost any verb type except existential or equative copular. • If there is a subject it is in absolutive case. • The subject of the complement clause and the subject of the main clause are co-referential and the rest of the complement clause is the object of the main clause. The following examples illustrate this modality: 16.79 ama tshøtma-la tsha luk go-ken bet. mother gravy-DAT salt put[NPST] have.to-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘Mother has to put salt into the gravy.’ There is a general obligation to do that. 16 .80 miŋpu loŋ go-ken bet. younger.brother rise.up[NPST] have.to-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘Younger brother has to get up.’ 16.81 tuwa nøtt ɕa-la ɕoŋ go-ken bet. porridge pot-DAT fit.into[NPST] have.to-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘The porridge has to fit into the pot.’ 16.82 t ɕheppa dʑak go-ken bet. rain VBZR[NPST] have.to-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘It has to rain.’ Or: ‘It must rain.’ Speaker sees the clouds or he may express a need for rain. The following example shows how this modal verb combines with a complement-clause non- agentive verb. It has to be agentivized first before it can combine with this modality verb. The process changes the meaning somewhat. Consider the following example. 16 .83 ŋ-e tam hi-ko raŋ ha khoo-wa I-GEN message this-head 2SG aud.impact hear;understand-NMLZ;Q t ɕhit go-ken bet. do;VBZR[NPST] have.to-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘You must understand this message of mine.’ Or: ‘You have to make an effort to understand this message of mine.’ The meaning of ha khoo is typically ‘to understand, to hear’. When a transitivizer chyit is added it becomes more like ‘making an effort to understand’. Speaker is talking about a difficult topic and the hearer has not grasped it.

16.3.3 Commissive modality ‘committed to’