Adverbal predicates Semi-verbal clauses

6.4.9 Adverbal predicates

There are several adverbs which in the absence of the verbs they normally modify can function as a predicate. This is similar to the way a number of adjectives can also stand as indefinite pronouns in the absence of the nouns they normally modify. 616 Pa lera lera emkade ma-maini for day day like that RDP-only ‘Every day it was just like that.’ 617 Pa r-mai de, rewa-rewa for 3p-come that RDP-together ‘When they came, they came together.’ 618 E-r-la’awa Upa Hrui emkadi de r-lernana Yakomina Mina edonna DUR-3p-go ancestor sailfish like that that 3p-found Yakomina Mina not ‘They went to Upa Hrui island and found Yakomina, but Mina, they did not.’ 619 Emak hadi wa’ana emaka hadi owa’ana like that this again ‘He did it like that again.’ 620 Pa rmai de rewrewa pa r-mai de rewa-rewa for 3p-come that RDP-together ‘When they came, they came together.’ 6.4.10 ‘talla’ Another word that functions as a predicate but cannot really be classed as a verb since it does not take the required prefix set, is the word talla which literally means ‘road’ but when functioning as a predicate means ‘going together’. It only occurs as a predicate in combination with the verb ora ‘with’ or adverb rewre’wa ‘together’. It could possibly be considered a noun which collocates with the verb ora ‘with’ as in the next three examples. However, in all other constructions, the verb ora ‘with’ collocates with other verbs but not nouns as shown in the last three examples. 621 A-’g e-g-or o’ talla a-’u e-u-ora o’a talla 1s-1s DUR-1s-with you walk ‘I will be with you.’ 622 Pa rew-re’wa talla So RDP-together walk ‘So they went together.’ 623 Riy maka k-ora oleka o’ talla people who REL-with already you walk ‘People who are already together with you.’ 624 A-g-ora tunguru-e Paulus m-torna iskola Lgona 1s-1s-with teacher-e? Paulus 1pe-hold school Luang ‘Teacher Paulus and I were the heads of the Luang school.’ 625 A-g-ora rira onde mut-wua’l-u m-pa-hauru a-u-ora rira onde mutu-wali-’u m-wa-hauru 1s-1s-with people or else companion-other-POS 1pe-MULT-talk ‘I talk with people or my friends.’ 626 A-g-ora Om Nico ma-priksa rew-re’wa a-g-ora Om Nico ma-priksa re’wa-re’wa 1s-1s-with Om Nico 1pe-examine together ‘Om Nico and I examine it together.’ 6.4.11 Comparison Comparison clauses in Luang have adjectives functioning as their predicate. However, although it is possible to make comparisons, it appears to be a rare occurrence, and perhaps not one which is socially acceptable. Rehi ‘very’ is used to indicate superlativity. 627 Atullu reh’i mo-muou lia let di a-tullu reh’i mou-mou la leta di 1s-tall very RDP-good in village this ‘I am taller than everyone in this village.’ 628 Hade pukpuk kelma la let di hade puk-puk kelma la leta di That one RDP-small disappearing in village this ‘That one is the smallest in this village.’ Note the following examples of comparison: 629 Maku tullu reh’i Om Pemerintah Maku tall very Uncle Government ‘Mark is taller that the head of the village.’ 630 Nyong ulatni to’a la Seri Nyong ulti-ni to’a la Seri title skin-POS different than Seri ‘Nyong’s skin is different than Seri’s.’ 7 Interclausal relations A minimal sentence for Luang is “a clause base” as described for the Buru language by Grimes 1991:389. It can be expanded and made more complex through a number of different methods. Referential information can be taken from the clause base and fronted at the beginning of the sentence through left-dislocation. Relativisation, serialisation, complementation, or conjunctions are ways in which clauses can be combined to expand the sentence. The following chart illustrates the structure of the sentence down to the noun phrase level. Table 36. Structure of the sentence SENTENCE PERIPHERY CLAUSE TAG Core Periphery Time Fronted CONJ Actor Verb Nucleus Undergoer Oblique Periphery CONPNPCL Subject NP Predicate VP Object NP PP PPNP

7.1 Left dislocationfronting