perfective aspect’ + -vaun plural ergative case -van in the example above appears to be derived from -vaun.
The following examples show that the IRMs, under certain circumstances, can be suffixed to the subject of the marked clause. In 28 the verb that would normally receive the operator is pragmatically
marked and therefore placed sentence-initial, and in 27 the reason is ellipsis of the verb ‘say’. This is very common in narrated dialogue. Frequently the pronoun also is left out, thus causing the IRM to
become a free form which either links two strings of dialogue or a string of dialogue with the continuation of the narrated events. Most IRMs can be used in this way.
27 Hiqui -ra
-hqui hiya hiin-xon -I -yu, huha, jan-hcun -mun-quiha,
be.ready-QUEST-3ACT for.me see -BENEF -come-IMP mother she-SQDS-FO -REPORT ca-xon
hiin -hi… go-SQSSTR look -NONSQSSITR
‘Come, see for me, mother, if it the clay pot is ready,’ she said. Going the old woman looked,…
28 Vachin min-hcun -mun jan yohi -xo
-hnu. quarrel you-SQDS-FO
he say -3PAST-DECL ‘He said that you had been quarreling.’ Lit.: Quarreling is what you had been doing…’
2.1.1.2 IRMs encoding non-sequential events
When the temporal relation between the clauses is non-sequential, -hi and -quin express SS, -haito expresses SO, and -hain-haivaun DS. The SS-morphemes also encode whether or not the controlling verb
is transitive, but the SO and DS-operators do not.
2.1.1.2.1 Same subject
-hi encodes that the controlling verb is intransitive.
29 Jii rura-rura-hi
-mun jan pacuu-xo -hnu.
tree fell -fell -NONSQSSIT-FO he fall -3PAST-DECL
‘While cutting down trees he fell.’
-quin encodes that the controlling verb is transitive.
30 Jiri -quin
-mun non jato nincaa -cu -hnu.
eat -NONSQSSTR-FO we them hear -1PAST -DECL ‘While eating we heard them.’
I mentioned in Section 1.2.2 that -hi and -quin also function as infinitive markers. It is the characteristic of unspecified time boundaries that serves to encode non-sequential events in the IRS.
2.1.1.2.2 Subject is coreferential with object
-haito encodes SO.
31 Hu -qui
-ri nanu
-haito -mun hun hino rutu -cu
-hnu. me -against -ward approach -NONSQ.SO -FO
I jaguar
kill -1PAST
-DECL ‘When the jaguar was coming towards me I killed it.’
The following example can be interpreted as describing a logical or temporal relation. 32
Hiya yono-xon -aito -mun miya copi-catzi hun-hca -nu.
for.me work-BENEF -NONSQ.SO -FO you pay-FUT I -1ACT-DECL
‘If you work for me, I will pay you.’ If we analyze -haito, we note that -hai encodes ‘repeated or continuous action’ see Table 1.2 and,
although it might be difficult to prove that -to encodes the SO-feature of the IRM, the idea receives some support when we consider that the form -to also appears on the following object pronouns: jato ‘them,
direct or indirect object’, and mato ‘you, plural, direct or indirect object’, whereby ma- and ja- share the roots with second and third person pronouns respectively: man ‘you, plural’, and jan ‘he’. However, when
we compare -haito with its counterpart -xo ‘sequence, SO’ 23, we observe that -xo lacks the explicit reference to SO. See discussion in Section 2.2 below Table 2.4, and Section 2.2, Supposition v.
2.1.1.2.3 Different subject
-hain and -haivaun encode DS.
-hain encodes either a singular or identified plural subject of the marked clause.
33 a. Xano -Ø hoxa-hoxa-hain
-mun jan vacu junumuran-xo -hnu.
woman -ABS sleep-sleep-NONSQDS-FO her child drown
-3PAST -DECL ‘While the woman continued sleeping her child drowned.’
b. Xano -vo hoxa-hoxa-hain
-mun jaton vacu-vo junumuran-xo
-hnu. woman-ABS.PL sleep-sleep-NONSQDS-FO
their child-ABS.P drown -3PAST-DECL
‘While the women continued sleeping their children drowned.’
-haivaun replaces -hain when the plural subject of the marked clause is not identified.
34 Nocoo-haivaun
-mun hun ca-cu -hnu.
arrive-NONSQDS.PL-FO I go-1PAST-DECL
‘As they were arriving, I left.’ When we compare the non-sequential DS-morphemes with their sequential counterparts 33, 34; 24–
26, we recognize the same pattern: a tenseaspect marker + ergative case. The ergative case marker is generally used for IRM-marking only in connection with transitive verbs. In some of these constructions,
however, neither the marked verbs 33, 34 nor the controlling verbs 26, 33, 34 are consistently transitive.
20
See discussion in Section 2.2.
2.1.1.3 Subsequent event
