SV order: syntactic factors

7 THE CLAUSE 151 22 no-bhari seakito there are many black ants 3sR-many black.ant 2. VS is the order in fixed expressions. a. descriptions with lalo heart to refer to mental states and emotions: 23 no-bhela lalo-ku I am sad 3sR-wounded heart-my 24 no-rungku lalo-ku I am happy 3sR-touched heart-my b. statements about time or weather: 25 no-pana gholeo it is hot 3sR-hot sun 26 no-pute wula it is full moon 3sR-white moon 27 no-ghindotu gholeo it is noon 3sR-zenith sun 3. VS is the order in subordinate constructions with kaawu after see 9.7.2: 28 no-mai kaawu moghane-no, no-ghondo-e-mo 3sR-come after man-her 3sR-look-it-PF when her husband came, he looked at it 29 no-mate kaawu ghule amaitu, andoa do-si-suli-ha-mo 3sR-dead after snake that they 3pR-SI-return-HA-PF when the snake was dead, they went home together When the order VS in the subclause is changed to SV, the result is ungrammatical: 30 moghane-no kaawu no-mai, no-ghondo-e-mo man-her after 3sR-come 3sR-look-it-PF

7.1.3. SV order: syntactic factors

Several partly independent syntactic factors seem to be responsible for a large number of the actual SV occurrences. At least three such factors have been found, but it should be added at once that a number of counter-examples have also been encountered to be presented below, for which no satisfactory explanation is yet at hand. The three syntactic factors, discussed in turn, are the following: a. presence of a prepositional phrase; b. presence of a nominal indirect object; c. verbal juxtaposition. a. Presence of a prepositional phrase in the clause. The unmarked order is now S-V-PP: 152 A GRAMMAR OF THE MUNA LANGUAGE 31 o katogha no-pee-mo ne sau mba-langke-langke-no ART crow 3sR-land-PF loc tree RATHER-RED-high-A.PART the crow landed on a rather high tree 32 kenta topa no-ndawu-mo ne wite fish dry 3sR-fall-PF loc earth the dried fish fell to the ground 33 o oe no-pesua we bhangka-ndo ART water 3sR-enter loc boat-their the water entered their boat 34 ama-ku ne-ngkora ne soriri-ku father-my 3sR-sit loc side-my my father sat down by my side 35 a-bhiku-a-bhiku no-luku-mo welo nuhua RED-ART-snail 3sR-enter-PF in pitcher Snail crept into the pitcher 36 o pikore ne-ere-ere te wawo-no katumpu ART bird 3sR-RED-stand loc top-POS tree.trunk the bird stood on top of the tree trunk The following examples are exceptions to this general rule: 37 do-fewule-mo ko-rudua-ha-ndo ne ghowa-no bhake 3pR-rest-PF KO-two-HA-their loc bottom-POS banyan the two of them rested under a banyan tree 38 ingka miina na-[m]otaa se-mie-no we simbali watu ENIM not 3sI-laugh one-person-A.PART loc room that but somebody is not laughing there in that room It seems likely, however, that these prepositional phrases have been moved out of their position and are therefore right-dislocated. These states of affairs are presented as afterthoughts and in spoken language this may but need not be reflected in an intonation break between the rest of the clause and the PP. b. The second syntactic factor explaining SV order is the presence of an indirect object in the clause, marked by the verbal suffix -ghoo. The unmarked order in a clause containing a subject NP and an indirect object NP is S-V-IO: 39 inodi ini a-rugi-ghoo-mo ka-pudhi-no dahu I this 1sR-lose-IO-PF NOM-praise-POS dog I suffered a loss because of the dogs praises 40 o karambau no-mate-ghoo ka-wule the buffalo died of exhaustion ART buffalo 3sR-die-IO NOM-tired 41 a-laga-a-laga nao-kuta-ghoo-mo dua ka-gharo RED-ART-ant 3sI-break-IO-PF also NOM-hungry Ant will also break down with hunger 7 THE CLAUSE 153 c. The third syntactic factor is verbal juxtaposition, in which there is a strong tendency to put the subject before the first V, rather than in between the two Vs. For verbal juxtaposition see 9.2. 42 robhine-no no-kala-mo no-sola-sola-i-e woman-his 3sR-go-PF 3sR-RED-crawl-TR-him his wife went to spy on him 43 kampufu-no kino liwu no-kala-mo ne-uta bhelomba-no youngest-POS chief village 3sR-go-PF 3sR-pick k.o.fruit-his the youngest child of the village chief went and picked some of his bhelomba fruits 44 bhai-hi-ku do-wolo do-suli friend-PLUR-my 3pR-finish 3pR-return my friends all returned 45 o dahu no-wule-mo dua no-lumpa ART dog 3sR-tired-PF also 3sR-run the dog was also tired of running Here, too, we occasionally find counter-examples: 46 no-wule-mo mie anagha ne-ghondo-hi karuku 3sR-tired-PF man that 3sR-look-TR herb the man was tired of looking for herbs 47 do-wolo do-lodo o anahi-hi 3pR-finish 3pR-sleep ART child-PLUR all the children were asleep

7.1.4. SV order: pragmatic factors