I verb 16.109 d
ʑaap-ʏ ʈhokka di lit-tɕe-ma tɕhip-p-e king-GEN door DEF arrive-SBJV-F2 do;VBZR-NMLZ;Q-GEN
jaŋ-la pajisak di set-nar-a bet. TE21 time-DAT money DEF finish-COMPL-NMLZ;Q AUX
‘At the time when he almost reached the palace door his money was finished.’ This is from the story of a man who in order to marry the princess tried to enter the royal palace by
bribing the guards. There is an interesting detail in this example. The verb lit ‘to arrive, to come’ may have either an animate subject or an inanimate subject depending on what is the deictic center. This
time it was the door which was more important than he himself with his thoughts and plans. “Had the door reached him” he would have been able to enter the palace and get the princess. Often a passenger
in a bus has the same view. It is the city which reaches the bus and the passenger.
T1 verb 16.110 gott-e tam ha khoo-t
ɕe-ma jeŋ-kuk.
3SG-ERG language aud.impact hear;understand-SBJV-F2 search-PROG;VIS ‘He begins to understand the language.’ Or: ‘He understands the language already a
little bit.’
ST2 verb 16.111 lakt
ɕuŋma tɕik tɕhak-ni nuk tɕhi-na branch INDF break-NFNT2 this.way do;VBZR-NFNT1
tshar-t ɕe-ma tɕhi-tɕuŋ. TE29
fall.off-SBJV-F2 do;VBZR-PST.EXP ‘One of the branches of the tree broke and therefore I almost fell down.’
16.4.2 Aspectual verb marking initiation
The verb ren- may be classified semantically as belonging to initiation sub-group of aspectual verbs see Givón 2001:151. With this verb the complement-clause verb is nonpast root without any suffixation.
The main verb ren- does have a semantic content in itself, ‘it is time’, ‘time came’ and may be used also as a non-finite verb see example 16.115. It seems best to classify it as an aspectual verb in the
constructions exemplified as follows complement clauses are in square brackets.
16 .112 [ŋa pha u-ko tsaka-la toŋ ]
ren- soŋ.
1SG cow that-head pasture-DAT send;VBZR[NPST] it.is.time-PST.VIS ‘It is time for me to send that cow to pastures.’
The complement clause is the subject argument of the main verb which is I type. 16
.113 [ŋa tɕham ] ren-
soŋ. 1SG walk[NPST] it.is.time-PST.VIS
‘It is time for me to walk.’ Or: ‘The time came for me to walk.’ Or: ‘My walking time came.’ Speaker has been sick and lying down for a while and now he intends to walk.
16.114 [ nam- saŋ toŋ ]
ren- soŋ.
sky-good send;VBZR[NPST] it.is.time-PST.VIS ‘It was time to have a bright sky.’ Or: ‘It is time to have a sunny day.’
It has been raining for a while and finally the sky clears up. 16
.115 ŋ-e papa [ ɕi ] mat-rem-pa-la ɕi-soŋ 1SG-GEN father die[NPST] NEG-it.is.time-NMLZ;Q-DAT die-PST.VIS
‘My father died prematurely.’ Lit. ‘My father died while it was not time for him to die.’ This is a bit more complex. Note that the verb ren- is the nominalized final verb of the adverbial
clause. Within that adverbial clause the aspectual verb ren- is the main verb and the complement clause is
ɕi.
16.4.3 Aspectual verb marking completion
Completive aspect typically expresses the completion of an event or activity or motion. see Payne 1997:214. Naturally this aspect only combines with the past tense and the past perfect tense. The
completive aspect in Lhomi makes use of the auxiliary tshar. The main verb has past root and it stands alone. It is the auxiliary tshar which gets all the finite suffixation. Elsewhere this verb typically means
‘to fall down from, to fall off’. It is a telic verb. Perhaps that is the reason why the language has employed it to mark completion of activity like eating. In the text I have retained the original meaning of
this verb tshar though it is a lexically empty auxiliary here. There is another way to mark completive aspect see section 18.10.4. Consider the following examples completive aspect markers are
underlined.
T1 verb 16
.116 ŋ-e tuwa se tshar-en.
1SG-ERG porridge eat[PST] fall.off-1PST ‘I finished eating.’
The verb tshar is an auxiliary here and it is semantically empty and only marks the completive aspect.
ST1 verb 16.117 roo-so l-e
tsimuŋ-la dze tshar-a bet. 3SG-PL1 mountain-GEN peak-DAT climb[PST] fall.off-NMLZ;Q AUX
‘They finished climbing and reached the top of the mountain.’ I verb
16.118 halo- ni ŋik-ki phitsa di-ki S.L.C. di
this.year-ABL 1PL.EXCL-GEN child DEF-GEN SLC.exam DEF ʈhup tshar-a bet. TE74
finish[PST] fall.off-NMLZ;Q AUX ‘This year the SLC exam of our child was completed.’
T1 verb 16.119 u-ki kett
ɕa u-ko jamp-ʏ mi khajet that-GEN story that-head Kathmandu-GEN man plural
kurik-ki ha khoo tshar-a bet. all-ERG aud.impact hear[PST] fall.off-NMLZ;Q AUX
‘All men of Kathmandu got to hear that story.’
This example shows how the completive aspect marks the end of the process of the story spreading around.
Table 16.2. Summary of the inflections of aspectual verb tshar Lexical verb
Aspectual verb Auxiliary
Suffixes it combines with Vpast root
tshar-en tshar-a
tshar- soŋ
tshar-tuk tshar-
tukŋ bet
1PST NMLZ;Q AUX
PST.VIS PRF.VIS
PST.EXP 16.4.4
Aspectual verb marking immediative aspect
The immediative aspect conveys the idea of immediateness of an action. This is not to be confused with immediate aspect see Givón 2001:298.
This aspectual verb combines with action and motion verbs. The verb has a past root and the auxiliary follows it with appropriate finite endings. It is the auxiliary
toŋ which marks this aspect and also governs the tense of the clause.
Immediative aspect cannot be negated. This aspect is very commonly used in conversation and narratives.
Table 16.3. Construction of immediative aspect Action Verb
First auxiliary
Second auxiliary
Finite Suffix Tense
PST Root toŋ-
-ken -NMLZ;CONJ
PST Root toŋ-ken
bet -NMLZ;CONJ AUX
PST Root taŋ-a
bet -NMLZ;Q AUX
PST Root taŋ-
- soŋ, -tuk
-PST.VIS, -PRF.VIS Consider the following examples the auxiliary is underlined.
T1 verb 16.120 api phu
ʈʈik-ki tɕha dak-ʏ set taŋ-tuk. aunt phu
ʈʈik-GEN chicken friend-ERG kill[PST] IMMED-PRF.VIS ‘A friend has killed the chicken of aunt Phu
ʈʈik.’ T2 verb
16.121 ni s ʏpu di-la loŋ mit-tshuu-kel-la
theme body DEF-DAT rise NEG-be.able-NMLZ;CONJ-DAT sø
taŋ-a bet. TE31 make[PST] IMMED-NMLZ;Q AUX
‘They made his body as one who is not able to get up.’ This happened after beating him very badly.
T1 verb 16.122 hi-ni
jaŋ oŋpu tɕem-ma di-ki tɕhe this-ABL CONTR2 health with-F2 DEF-ERG DETERM
ŋa oŋp-ʏ=raŋ kherak-ki ʈhik toŋ-ken. TE21 1SG health-INS=FOC force-INS go.bring[PST] IMMED-NMLZ;CONJ
‘Then the healthy one said, “As for me, certainly I’ll go and take her for marriage forcefully with my strength.”’
This is from a story where each one of four characters makes a plan how he would get the princess of the country for marriage. Immediative aspect in this one refers to a rapid action.
ST1 verb 16
.123 ŋa gur-na det toŋ-ken. TE29 1SG put.up-NFNT1 sit;stay[PST] IMMED-NMLZ;CONJ
‘Putting up with it I just sit down.’ This is from a dream in which the speaker is harassed and he decides to put up with it. Note that
the tense is nonpast but the root of the main verb det is past.
17 Verb nominalization and relative clauses
When it comes to verb nominalization and relative clauses, Lhomi is not an exception among Tibeto- Burman languages. DeLancey says, “One of the striking typological characteristics of the Tibeto-Burman
languages is their extensive use of nominalization for a wide range of grammatical purposes” 1999:231.
In the current section I want to limit myself to talking about relative clauses only. Nominalization in this write-up is also discussed in chapters on complement clauses section 18.11, adverbial clauses
section 18.9, and modality verbs chapter 16, etc.
17.1 Verb nominalizers
