266 A GRAMMAR OF THE MUNA LANGUAGE
minor clause is marked by salangi, saneghoomo while or ane if, whereas the major clause is introduced by poolimo or poolighoomo possibly from the verb
pooli can, be able, often followed by dua too.
267 salangi ihintu mie r[um]emba-no o-[m]ondo-i-mo, poolimo while you person arrive-A.PART 2sI-can-TR-PF much.more
dua inodi also I
if a newcomer like you can do it, how much more I myself 268 salangi no-moisa we Bandu se-tanga mate-mo, poolimo dua bhe
while 3sR-alone loc Bandung one-half dead-PF much.more also with inodi
I living alone in Bandung was already a heavy burden on him, how
much more when I am with him 269 ane nao-maa-e kadadi ka-mama-no maitu na-mate, poolimo dua
if 3sI-eat-it animal NOM-chew-her that 3sI-die much.more also nao-maa-e manusia
3sI-eat-it man when an animal eats her quid, it will die, how much more when a man
eats it The other type of balanced sentence is the so-called co-balanced type: the
more ... the more. Both clauses are introduced by the conjunction nihompu the more:
270 nihompu no-hende ka-bhari-no ihi-no anoa, nihompu the.more 3sR-grow NOM-much-POS contents-his he the.more
no-tubhari no-ungko ne bhai-no 3sR-add 3sR-bow loc friend-his
the heavier his ears, the more he = the rice bows to his friends
9.20. Direct and indirect speech
9.20.1. Direct speech
Direct quotations usually follow verbs of speech such as bisara say, speak, feena ask, bhalo answer, but they may also precede these verbs. When the
verb of speech precedes the quote, the quotation noun amba-no his word or amba-ku my word and so on is often found at the juncture point. It is not
obligatory. Occasionally the reduced variant mba-no is found.
9 THE SENTENCE 267
271 no-feena-mo kapoluka: peda hamai itu bhirita? 3sR-ask-PF tortoise like where that news
the tortoise asked: How is it going? 272 no-bisara-mo tora mie anagha amba-no: sio-siomo pae-mo
3sR-speak-PF again person that word-his hopefully FUT.no.more da-marasai
1sI-suffer the man spoke again, he said: Hopefully we will no longer suffer
273 do-bhalo mie-hi niho r[um]ato-no ini amba-do: insaidi 3pR-answer person-PLUR just arrive-A.PART this word-their weex
ini o Wadho this ART Bajau
then answered the people who had just arrived: We are Bajaus It is possible to start a new sentence with amba-no without having an
introductory verb of speech. Especially in spoken narrative texts, it is common to add many amba-nos, at the beginning, at the end, but also in the middle of
an utterance. The following two examples are taken from oral narratives:
274 no-doli-mo we wawa. Amba-no: bhahi ihintu eda, 3sR-turn-PF loc space.under.house word-her maybe you girl
amba-no a-[m]orai-mo ihintu idi, amba-no word-her 1sI-propose-PF you I word-her
she looked down under the house and said: Maybe you girl, she said, I will propose to you, she said
275 no-bhasi-e-mo karambau, amba-no: aitu, amba-no,
3sR-call-him-PF buffalo word-his now word-his
da-po-dhalu dua ka-ghosa da-po-semba 1pI-REC-compete also NOM-strong 1pI-REC-kick
the buffalo called him, he said: Now, he said, we will also compete in kicking as hard as possible
9.20.2. Indirect speech
Non-interrogative indirect speech is simply juxtaposed to the main clause containing the verb of speech 9.2.3. This is also possible after amba-no:
276 no-bisara-mo ama-no da-gh[um]oro-fi-da welo karumbu 3sR-speak-PF father-his 3pI-throw-REP-them in forest
then his father said that they would throw them away in the forest 277 no-tudu-da da-[m]utaa
he ordered them to laugh 3sR-order-them 3pI-laugh
268 A GRAMMAR OF THE MUNA LANGUAGE
278 amba-no we lalo-no ne-taa-mo na-s[um]uli-mo word-his loc heart-his 3sR-good-PF 3sI-return-PF
he said to himself that it was better to go home Indirect interrogative clauses can also be juxtaposed to a clause containing
feena ask, but very frequently the word bhahi is found introducing the speech clause. Although at first sight this bhahi functions as a complementizer
English ask whether, it seems more appropriate to regard this as a special use of the disjunctive adverb bhahi maybe, emphasizing the open character of
the question see also 8.6.5.
279 no-feena-kanau bhahi sehae taghu umuru-ku 3sR-ask-me maybe how.much year age-my
he asked me how old I was 280 no-feena-ghoo bhahi naando
he asked whether there still 3sR-ask-IO maybe be
were some Finally, direct and indirect speech may be embedded in direct or indirect
speech, as when, for example, A orders B to tell C something. When the embedded direct speech B to C refers to the future, it is preceded by the quotation
word potae variant potee. This word is synonymous with so amba-mu your future word sometimes reduced to s-amba-mu. Potae is glossed as QUOTE:
281 no-bisara-mo tora ka-kamo-kamokula ini: Suli-mo we 3sR-speak-PF again DIM-RED-old this IMP-return-PF loc
lambu-mu keda, maka fo-rato kamokula-mu potae house-your girl then IMP-CAUS-arrive old-your QUOTE
pae-mo o-ko-dawua we dhunia ini FUT.no.more 2sI-HAVE-happiness loc world this
then the little old woman said: Go home, girl, and tell your parents that you will have no more happiness in this world
282 hadhi amaitu no-tudu-mo anahi moelu maitu na-k[um]ala na-bhasi haji that 3sR-order-PF child orphan that 3sI-go 3sI-call
guru-no potee: no-bhasi-ko hadhi welo kaendea teacher-his QUOTE 3sR-call-you haji in plantation
the haji ordered the orphan child to go and call his teacher and to say: The haji in the plantation calls you
283 no-bisara-mo Kapitalao Lahataala: suli-mo fo-rato 3sR-speak-PF Kapitalao Lahataala IMP-return-PF IMP-CAUS-arrive
Kapitalao Dhunia s-amba-mu: Kapitaloa Lahataala no-ko-ana-mo Kapitalao Dhunia for-word-your Kapitalao Lahataala 3sR-HAVE-child-PF
then Kapitalao Lahataala said: Go home and tell Kapitalao Dhunia: Kapitalao Lahataala has got a child
9 THE SENTENCE 269
Notice that in 281 the speech between A the little old woman and B the girl is direct and between B and C the parents indirect. The reverse is true
in 282, where the speech between B and C is also direct. Whether this variation is always possible or whether it depends on other deictic phenomena
is not yet clear.
9.21. Perfective -mo in narrative discourse
