Sasak serial verb constructions fall under one intonation contour
82
Mesti-n=t eaq lalo meta owat=n
must-link=1P PROJ go N.search cure=3S ‘→e have to find the cure.’
83
Tiang ndeq=k lampaq ngaji.
1-S NEG=1S walk pray ‘I don’t go to recite Qur’anic verses.’
84
Ndeq=k uah gitaq=n tegel kepeng.
NEG=1S PERF see=3S touch money ‘I have not see him get the money.’
The aspect marker of Sasak serial verb constructions in clause 79 and clause 80 is uah
‘already done’. In clause 79, aspect marker uah ‘already done’ precedes the intransitive verbs dateng
‘come’ and berorah ‘get a massage’. In clause 80, aspect marker uah
‘already done’ precedes the intransitive verb lalo ‘go’ and bedait ‘meet’. The clauses above are dependent serial verb construction in which the first verb has the
bare form while the second verb has inflectional morphology. The mood marker of Sasak serial verb constructions in clause 81 and clause 82
is eaq ‘will’. In clause 81, mood marker eaq ‘will’ precedes the two verbs which are
intransitive verb lalo ‘go’ and transitive verb nalet ‘plant’. In clause 82, mood marker
eaq ‘will’ precedes the intransitive verb lalo ‘go’ and transtive verb meta ‘search’. Note
that mesti ‘must’ can co-occur with projective eaq ‘will’, as seen in clause 82 above.
The negation marker of Sasak serial verb constructions in clause 83 and clause 84 is ndeq
‘not’. In clause 83, negation marker ndeq ‘not’ precedes the intransitive verbs lampaq
‘walk’ and ngaji ‘pray’. In clause 84, negation marker ndeq ‘not’ precedes the aspect marker uah
‘already done’, the intransitive verb gitaq ‘see’, and the transitive verb tegel
‘touch’. Note that the negative marker can precede and have scope over the other marker, as seen in clause 84 above.
The syntactical characteristic of Sasak serial verb constructions that explains above has similarity with the characteristics of serial verb constructions cross-
linguistically. Aikhenvald 2006: 8 stated that serial verb construction shares aspect as seen in clauses 79 and 80; mood as seen in clauses 81, and 82. I also found that it
shares negation as well as aspect and mood, as seen in clauses 83 and 84.