Frustrated obligation 11.
18 .282 daŋ ŋa daku tɕaa-la ɖo go-køt.
yesterday 1SG friend to-DAT go have.to-PROG;EXP n
ɖo tshuu-moŋ. go be.able-NEG.PST.EXP
‘Yesterday I had a need to go to my friend. However I wasn’t able to go.’ Frustrated facility
12. 18
.283 daŋ ŋa daku tɕaa-la phin-na ɖo tshuu-køt. yesterday 1SG friend to-DAT go.come[PST]-NFNT1 go be.able-PROG;EXP
ni hin-na ak mat-phin. COP-NFNT1 INCLN NEG-go[PST]
‘Yesterday I would have been able to go to my friend. Yet I didn’t go.’
Note again how the tense is marked. In the first sentence it is the time adverb that fixes the point of time. The finite verb is nonpast. Any other suffixation would make it a real event implying that he
actually went. However this is irrealis. In the latter sentence the finite verb is marked for past tense which is carried backwards.
19 Discourse
19.1 Developmental marker ni
19.1.1 DM marking a non-finite clause
“Particularly in SOV languages that permit several subordinate clauses to precede the main verb, a developmental marker is often attached to the end of a subordinate clause to act as a spacer and mark
the transition to the development described in the next clause” Levinsohn 2001:93. This is exactly what happens in Lhomi discourse. I have called this marker a developmental marker DM.
The next example comes from a travel narrative. It is interesting that the speaker uses the verb ‘come’ rather than ‘go’. The reason is that the deictic center is his home and also the place where his
story was recorded, sahib’s place. Normally, home or home village is the deictic center for Lhomis. Therefore one never ‘goes home’ but ‘returns home’ or ‘comes home’.
This text consists mainly of events which are in temporal order and it is the past tense which marks every event. The developmental marker ni marks a non-final tail-head linkage clause and signals that the
speaker is going to tell what happened after he arrived home. The clause thus marked sets the start of a new development or a sub-theme. I have underlined the whole clause which is marked by DM.
19.1 khim- la juŋ-en.
house-DAT come-1PST khim-la
juŋ-ni ni house-DAT come-NFNT2 DM
sajip-so t ɕaa-la juŋ-a-la tshap-tɕuŋ.
sahib-PL1 at-DAT come-NMLZ;Q-DAT hurry-PST.EXP hi-
ni jaŋ kʏntukpa lit-tɕuŋ. this-ABL CONTR2 k
ʏntukpa come-PST.EXP k
ʏntukpa juŋ-ni sa tɕik-la pajisak khaa ʈhuk luk-pen. k
ʏntukpa come-NFNT2 field INDF-DAT money 20 six put-1PST
khaa ʈhuk luk-ni sajip-ki tɕaa-la juŋ-en. TE3
20 six put-NFNT2 sahib-GEN at-DAT come-1PST ‘I came home. Having come home I hurried to come to sahib’s place. Then at the same
time K ʏntukpa came. Since he came I gave him 120 rupees for a piece of field.
Having paid him 120 rupees I came to sahib.’ There is a kind of new short episode following the developmental marker. Speaker indicates that he
intended to come to sahib right away after his arrival at home. But someone came and that delayed him. 19.2 setni hassøt go di dum.
kill-NFNT2 VIP head DEF chop.off[PST] ŋiŋ di ɕe-ni
heart DEF split.open-NFNT2 puss
ʏt ʈhu khaŋ mikma ɕuŋmar-e pussʏt ʈhu khaŋ thøn. hair cubit one mikma shungmara-GEN hair cubit one come.out[PST]
ŋiŋ di ʈhe. heart DEF cut.off[PST]
go di lakpa di ʈhe-ni ni
head DEF hand DEF cut.off-NFNT2 DM hassøt khur-ni mint
ɕuŋ ŋøruk tɕel-la phim-pa bet. TE17 VIP carry-NFNT2 mint
ɕung ŋøruk at-DAT go.come[PST]-NMLZ;Q AUX ‘Having killed him they chopped the head off. After they split the heart open, a piece
of Mikma Shungmara’s hair, one cubit long, came out. They chopped the heart off. After they had chopped off the head and the arm, they took them and went to
Mint ɕung Ngøruk.’
This story tells what happened at the time when Lhomis settled in the area. The tale-head linkage underlined is marked again by DM.
Two characters were commissioned to murder the victim, Mikma Shungmara. And they had to chop the head and arm off to prove that they had done what they were supposed to do. Then they take the
head and arm and go to Mint ɕung Ngøruk, who had commissioned them. The climax of the whole
narrative comes very soon after these events. VIP climax marker gives a hint. Note also that the important same subject rapid consecutive events are past verb roots.That
highlights the events in this story. See 18.10 about serial verbs. 19.3 ni keri
ɕi-na na ni leader.sheep die-NFNT1 RSPNS DM
keri di mit-na ni leader.sheep DEF NEG.EXIST-NFNT1 DM
luk tsas-sa-la ʈhik-na ɖo mit-tshuu-ken. TE30
sheep grass-land-DAT take-NFNT1 go NEG-be.able-NMLZ;CONJ ‘If the leader sheep dies, if there is no leader sheep, the shepherd is not able to take
the sheep to a pasture.’ This text tells about herding sheep. Speaker tells about his own experience. If the condition is
actualized then the consequence is also actualized and the shepherd is in real trouble. He cannot take the rest of the fold anywhere. The conditional clause is reiterated using a different verb and then marked by
DM. This whole sentence highlights the importance of the leader sheep.
19 .4 ni phiŋ-na ak ni jok jok mit-tɕhik-ken
sink-NFNT1 INCLN DM shiver shiver NEG-do;VBZR-NMLZ;CONJ
naa døk-ken bet. lay.down stay-NMLZ;CONJ AUX
u- tu=raŋ khaa-ki tshik-tu hi-ni naa-ni ni
that-LOC=FOC snow-GEN amidst-LOC this-ABL lie.down-NFNT2 DM tsa ak mit-sa-ken bet. TE32
grass INCLN NEG-eat-NMLZ;CONJ AUX ‘Even though it becomes buried in snow it does not shiver but lies down.
Having lain down in snow, it does not even eat any grass.’
Speaker draws the attention of the hearer to his assertion that follows the DM. This is about a yak which lies down in snow and needs no grass for days.
19.1.2 DM marking a NP and other syntactic units
