but no other constituents can not appear after the head of the NP, even if they are disal- lowed before the head due to the presence of a possessor NP.
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141 a. to [mamanaja-tho]
kasipara the
[dull-WH.SUBJ] machete
‘the dull machete’ b. to
kasipara [mamanaja-tho]
the machete [dull-WH.SUBJ]
‘the dull machete’ c. to
de kasiparan [mamanaja-tho]
the my machete
[dull-WH.SUBJ] ‘my dull machete’
Also, short relative clauses based on event verbs can appear after the head, even when there is no possessor NP in the phrase which would force them to appear there.
142 a. to khota-ha
[da-dibaleda-sia] the
meat-NGEN [I-roast-WH.OBJ]
‘the meat I roasted’ b. to
[da-dibaleda-sia] khota-ha
the [I-roast-WH.OBJ]
meat ‘the meat I roasted’
3.2 Sentence Structure
Corresponding to the major verb types,
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there are two major sentence types: event sen- tences and stative sentences. In addition, there are other types, such as event sentences
based on the dummy verb a, and equative sentences with the copular verb to. In the following sections, it should be kept in mind that there is no structural or morpho-
logical difference between statements and yes-no questions. When sentences are simple statements, they are spoken with a sentence-final falling intonation. Speaking them with a
sentence-final rising intonation can change any sentence
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into a yes-no question. 60
Noun Phrase and Sentence Syntax
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The unacceptable phrases are acceptable as independent attributive sentences: ‘The machete is dull.’ ‘My machete is dull.’ See section 3.2.3.1 on attributive sentences.
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See discussion of verbs in Section 2.4.
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Sentences with second-person subjects or objects can be interpreted as questions, even without question intonation. Sentences with first person subjects or objects are rarely interpreted as questions. Word order is not a
significant factor in determining whether a sentence is interpreted as a statement or question.
3.2.1 Event Sentences
Event sentences describe actions or processes. These sentences consist primarily of a sub- ject noun phrase, and a verb phrase containing an event verb and those constituents for
which it is subcategorized such as its direct object NP,
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indirect object postpositional phrase PP, or locational postpositional phrase PP. In addition, event sentences may con-
tain sentence modifiers such as adverbials ADV, other postpositional phrases, a single fronted constituent whose position is tentatively labeled COMP,
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and subject or object appositives APP. A rough formulation giving some idea of the major constituents and
their relative ordering may be found in Figure 13. [COMP [NP
[V NP
PP ADV]
PP ADV
APP] ] Sø
S VP
Figure 13. Event Sentence Structure Below are some examples of various kinds of event sentences with this general structure.
