18.31 u-ki philiŋ u-ko pur-loŋ.
that-GEN basket that-head throw.away[IMP]-PUNC ‘Throw that basket away’
Speaker considers the basket useless. Punctiliar imperative in this one entails the idea of no more hesitation, throw it right away.
18.32 hi-ni satt ɕip tɕik-ki tɕam ɕok-loŋ
this-ABL secretary INDF-ERG away put.leave[IMP]-PUNC khit-
raŋ-ki ʈoo u-ko. TE58 2PL-self-GEN tradition that-head
‘Then one of the secretaries said, “Abandon right away that tradition of yours”’ Punctiliar imperative in this example conveys the idea that the suggestion be carried out
momentarily, not like a long process. This is a suggestion not a real command by a low ranking government official who addresses the people of a Lhomi village.
18.33 hi-ntuk t ɕhi-pa-la khanʈ-e simpa ɕor-kuk=ka?
this-ADVZR do;VBZR-NMLZ;Q-DAT what-GEN mind go.after-PROG;VIS=Q hi-ko t
ɕam lø toŋ-loŋ. TE64 this-head away desire send;VBZR[IMP]-PUNC
‘Why does your mind go after that kind of deeds? Abandon them without hesitation’ Speaker is encouraging his audience to mend their ways in a momentary action.
18.2.3 Honorific imperative
The honorific system in Lhomi is very complicated. It usually requires the replacement of the whole verb and sometimes even nouns and adjectives. Kinship terms, as terms of address, often determine the
honorific degree indicated in verbs. It is not my intention to go into details of the honorific system in this section. In the honorific imperative the replacement of the ordinary verb with an honorific one may
sometimes be enough. An honorific verb behaves like any other verb of the same type. However if the speaker wants to be polite he uses proper address terms and precative see section 18.3.
18.34 men t ɕik naŋ.
medicine INDF give[HON.IMP] ‘Please give me some medicine’
Though an honorific verb is used, this construction is not highly honorific and is not used often. Precative with honorific verb is more common instead, see examples 18.53 and 18.54.
18.2.4 Speaker centered imperative
Speaker centered imperative, SCI, indicates that the hearer has to go to another location and come back to the speaker in order to fulfill the order or that he has to come to the speaker to fulfill it, or that the
action or activity of fulfilling the order is somehow directed towards the speaker, or that the hearer is somehow accountable to the speaker for the action he fulfills.
This imperative is marked by -let which is suffixed to the imperative root. It combines only with agentive verbs. When negated the negative prefix is attached to the verb.
Consider the following examples the marker is underlined. 18.35
ʈe-ki tuwa toŋ-let. TE4 rice-GEN food send;VBZR[IMP]-SCI
‘Send us some cooked rice’
Speaker is the host of workmen who are eating and he orders the women to bring some cooked rice. The action to fulfill the order is directed towards the speaker who is one of the eaters.
18.36 ha na baalik kop-let. TE4 now RSPNS bamboo.mat cast-SCI
‘Put the bamboo mats on the roof’ Or: ‘Roof the house’
This is a phase in building a house. Speaker is the leader who gives the orders and he is right there. He is responsible for the whole process. All workmen are addressees. He himself may not participate in
the actual work of roofing but he is involved as a leader and others are accountable to him. 18.37 d
ʑaa-p-ʏ phu-mu-la matɕik-raŋ phil-la king-M1-GEN son-F1-DAT aunt-self go.come-DAT
khan ʈa-la pakka-la mit-thøŋ-ken
what-DAT outside-DAT NEG-come.out-NMLZ;CONJ.Q sin-na
ʈhii-let. TE21 say-NFNT1 ask-SCI
‘Aunt, go to the princess, ask her, “Why do you not come outside?”’ Speaker commissions his aunt and the order is carried out in another location, in front of the
princess. The point is that the aunt has to come back and tell the answer to the speaker. 18.38 ni hi-ko ha
ɕøt-let this-head now speak-SCI
sin-na nem-pa bet. TE21 say-NFNT1 listen-NMLZ;Q AUX
‘She said, “Tell it to me now” and then she listened.’
The princess is in dilemma and it is the “aunt” who gives the order to the princess to speak. The activity of speaking is directed towards the one who gave the order, no distance involved.
18.39 ha na aku d ʑentser-raŋ enɕuk-la loŋ-let. TE4
now RSPNS uncle d ʑendzen-self first-DAT rise.up-SCI
‘Now uncle Jyendzen, get up first’ Speaker gives an order to the officiating lama and tells him to get up from sitting position to receive
a scarf from the speaker. The hearer ranks only little bit higher than the speaker, hence no honorifics are used.
18.40 aku d ʑentsel-la enɕuk-la puu-let. TE4
uncle d ʑendzen-DAT first-DAT offer-SCI
‘Serve uncle Jyendzen first’ Speaker gives an order to one of the servants in the party of his house dedication. The hearer is
accountable to the speaker who gives the command.
18.2.5 Emphatic imperative
