5 Verbal morphology and verbal phrase
5.1 Verb structure
Table 5.1 shows the structure of Amri Karbi verbs. In Amri Karbi the structure of the strings of formatives is flat, that is, not hierarchal. As can be seen from the template, a verb can have only one head or root.
Table 5.1 Template of Amri Karbi verb structure
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
In the first slot of the template there are proclitics: cislocative nang= and object marking clitics (first person singular ne=, second person nang= and first person plural inclusive i= and first
person exclusive hali=). Cislocative and second person object markers are identical morphemes. The second slot contains the derivational morpheme ki-,which is a nominalizer, and the inflectional morpheme ki-,which is a past tense prefix. Both morphemes originate from the same morpheme, the nominalizer ki-. The third slot has valency-alternating prefixes, the reflexive-reciprocal chi-and the causative pa-. The root is in the fourth slot. The fifth slot is for the predicate derivational suffixes, which is a large class with more than thirty members found in the database. The sixth slot is for reduplication. The seventh slot has the negative and imperative suffixes. The eighth slot is for tense, aspect and mood suffixes. The ninth slot has discourse particles. There are some exceptions to the template attested in the data that will be noted in the following sections. Exceptions concern the fifth slot, with reduplication (RDPL) and negation (NEG), and therefore they are put in brackets.
More than one formative of the template can attach to the root. However, there is co-occurrence restriction within the template, as the past tense prefix ki-cannot co-occur with other TAM suffixes. An imperative cannot appear with the nominalizer ki-and TAM suffixes. However, appearance restriction governs almost every slot (except slot 3 and predicate derivations in slot 5) of the template, as formatives of the same slot cannot appear simultaneously, which is in line with templatic morphology (Sympson and Withgott (1986) and others). This co-occurrence restriction provides criteria for assigning members to the templatic position.
In Amri Karbi a verb stem is a root and a predicate derivation suffix. A verb stem usually cannot form a sentence on its own, unless it is an informal imperative which has zero marking;
for example, one can use a verbal stem chó‘eat’ to form an imperative chó!‘eat!’.Otherwise, a verb can form a sentence with at least one of the suffixes from slots 7, 8 or 2, e.g. chó-lò
(eat-RL) ‘(he) ate’. Maximally the morphemes from five slots can attach to a verb, e.g. nang=pa-dun-tol-ò=hole(CIS=CAUS-join-send-RL=ASSUM) ‘(he) sent to come probably’(elicited).
5.1.1 Proclitics Slot 1
This section deals with the verbal proclitics. Amri Karbi has four pronominal verbal proclitics nang= ‘2’,ne=‘1’, i=‘1PL.INCL’and hali= ‘1PL.EXCL’that also have non-proclitic pronominal alternates. Proclitic nang= is also a cislocative that will be discussed later in §5.1.1.2.
5.1.1.1 Cross-referencing speech act participant
Proclitics nang= ‘2’, ne=‘1’, i=‘1PL.INCL’and hali=‘1PL.EXCL’cross-reference non-subject arguments of a verb (see more on non-subject/object marking in §6). Example (5.1) showsne=
‘1’ cross-referencing first person non-subject argument, example (5.2) showsnang= ‘2’ cross-referencing second person non-subject argument, example (5.3) shows i= ‘1PL.INCL’ cross-referencing first person plural inclusive non-subject argument and (5.4) shows hali=
‘1PL.EXCL’cross-referencing first person plural exclusive non-subject marking.
(5.1)ne=‘1’ cross-references first person non-subject argument alangke akengpo hlodamphlutsi tokokpoyoksi
alang=ke a-keng-po hlo-dam-phlut-si tokok-po=yok=si 3=TOP POSS-foot-DEF release-go-FOC:RL tokok-DEF=NSUBJ=FOC.RL
pakorongo nang nechoye ba nechoyepoke nangbudi
pa-kōr-rōng-lò nang ne=chó-ye-ba ne=chó-ye-po=ke nang-budi
CAUS-bite-by.mistake-RL 2 1=eat-FUT-or 1=eat-FUT-DEF=TOP 2-wisdom dochotdik khoi
do-chot=dik khoi
COP-finish=TAG friend
‘he released the foot and bit the stick by mistake, if you really want to eat me, you have a lot of wisdom, ok, friend?’ (RB Fox and crocodile)
(5.2)nang=‘2’ cross-references second person non-subject argument hane nangalpiye nangalpiye pusi mengsurungpo thano
hane nang=lang-pi-ye nang=al-pi-ye pusi mengsurung-po than-lò 1 2=watch-BEN-FUT 2=care-BEN-FUT QUOT fox-DEF say-RL
ghurialpo ayok ghurial-po a-yok crocodile-DEF POSS-NSUBJ
‘I will watch for you, I will care for you, the fox said to the crocodile’ (RB Fox and crocodile)
(5.3)i=‘1PL.INCL’cross-references first person plural inclusive non-subject argument potte itaram do ibupe
pot=te i=taram do i-bù-pe
what=Q1 1PL.INCL=call COP 1PL.INCL-grandmother-F
‘why are you calling us, grandma?’ (BT Monkey)
(5.4)hali=‘1PL.EXCL’cross-references first person plural exclusive non-subject argument sa hali=pi-lò him hali=pi-lò
tea 1PL.EXCL=give-RL biscuit 1PL.EXCL=give-RL
‘(they) gave us tea, (they) gave us biscuits’ (MsR Meeting) 5.1.1.2 Cislocative
The cislocative nang= (dialectal variants:ang=, jang=) marks movement towards the speaker or the deictic centre. The cislocative nang= is similar in form to the second person object marker nang=, and the meaning is differentiated through context. Konnerth (2014) gives an extensive discussion on the Karbi cislocative nang= originating from the second person object marker nang=. Amri Karbi ciloscative nang= has likely developed through a similar path along with Karbi, but in addition Amri Karbi has developed two dialectal variants of the cislocative nang=:ang=and jang=. Some speakers even use the verb wang‘come’ as a proclitic instead of nang= which has similar semantics of movement directed towards the speaker. The cislocative can be added to most of the motion and some non-motion verbs and may interact with predicate derivation suffixes of direction, associated motion and path (see more in §5.1.7) and with the reflexive-reciprocal suffix chi–that is described in §5.1.4. In the example (5.5), the cislocative nang=marks the movement of the verbkat‘run’ to the deictic point which is the addressee.
(5.5) the deictic point is the addressee neke angkatdununetema khoi katun’e potsi
ne=ke nang=kat-dun-un-Ce=tema khoi kat-un-Ce potsi 1=TOP CIS=run-join-be.able-NEG=SUPP friend run-be.able-NEG because
‘I cannot run behind you, do I, my friend, because I cannot run’(HI Turtle and rabbit)
The cislocative nang=marks the verb sum‘beat’ in (5.6) to specify that the action is directed towards the deictic point. The action of sum‘beat’ in (5.6) is directed towards lang‘water’.
(5.6)
lang jangsum jangsumsi kidam tokokpopen
lang nang=sum nang=sum-si ki-dam tokok-po=pen see CIS=beat CIS=beat-NF:RL NMLZ-go stick-DEF=with
‘he goes and beats on the water with the stick’ (RB Fox and crocodile)
The cislocative nang= in (5.7) marks the verb do‘stay’ to cross-reference the deictic point lang
‘water’ and the cislocative nang= in this case functions as thedeictic pronoun ‘there’.
(5.7)
lang jundamo layokke lang jangkijun adung ghorialpo
lang jùn-dam-lò la=yok=ke lang nang=ki-jùn a-dung ghorial-po water drink-go-RL DEM=DIR=TOP water CIS=NMLZ-drink POSS-near crocodile-DEF
jangdoweno nang=do-wen-lò
CIS=stay-already-RL
‘(fox) went to drink, at the time, near the waterfall with drinking water, the crocodile was already there’(RB Fox and crocodile)
The cislocative nang=can attach to non-final verbs marked with a non-final suffix. Both the main verb kat‘run’ and the non-final verb arting‘turn’ are marked with the cislocative nang=
in (5.8) and the deictic point is implicit and it is the place where the rabbit started running.
(5.8)
hohaipoke lalongparasi hohaipoke angchirtingphaksi
hohai-po=ke la=long=para=si hohai-po=ke nang=chi-arting-phak-si rabbit-DEF=TOP DEM=LOC=from=FOC:RL rabbit-DEF=TOP CIS=RR-turn-back-NF:RL
angkathrolo nang=kat-hrol-lò
CIS=run-away-RL
‘the rabbit from that place turned back (made a U turn)and ran away’ (HI Turtle and rabbit) The cislocative may appear with non-motion verbs to mark a direction towards a deictic point.
As example (5.9) shows nang=marking the non-motion verb rung ‘collect’, that creates the meaning ‘come to V’, the deictic point in (5.9) is the speaker.
(5.9)
bus hendumanpo poisa nangrungngo bus henduman-po poisa nang=rung-lò bus conductor-DEF money CIS=collect-RL
‘bus conductor came to collect money’(JB Bus)
Another example where cislocative marks a non-motion verb is shown in (5.10) where the cislocative nang= marks the verbs kan‘dance’ and lún‘sing’ creating themeaning ‘go andV’
and cross-referencing the deictic point penpo hem‘the house of the area boundary keeper’.
(5.10)
penpo hem along alangli angkanbo anglunbo
pen-po hēm a-long alangli nang-kan-bò nang-lún-bò
area.boundary.keeper house POSS-LOC 3PL CIS=dance-IRR2 CIS=sing-IRR2
‘they will come and dance and sing in the house of the area boundary keeper’(TI Puja) Example (5.11) shows wang‘come’ used as a cislocative. The context in (5.11) is similar to the context in (5.5) above, i.e the deictic point is the addressee. Both examples come from narratives of two different speakers.
(5.11)wang‘to come’ as a cislocative
thūr-bò monon=ke ne=ta ne=khoi-po wang=hleng-dun-bò=mine stand.up-IRR2 now=TOP 1=ADD 1=friend-DEF come=reach-join-IRR2=may.be
‘I need to stand up and now my friend is running behind me, maybe’(HI Turtle and rabbit)
5.1.2 Nominalizer ki-, Slot 2
The nominalizer ki- is a productive morpheme that can be attached to all the verbs. The nominalizer ki-is used to derive nouns that denote events, for example ki-lang(NMLZ-see), and ki-jor (NMLZ-sell) in (5.12). The subordinate clauses, including relative, adverbial and complement clauses (§9.1) are all constructed with the nominalizer ki-. The nominalizer ki-is not productive in deriving participant nominalizations however, which is different to some of the Tibeto-Burman languages (see Matisoff (1972), DeLancey (1999, 2002), Genetti et al.
(2008), and many others). In order to construct participant nominalizations, a nominalized verb needs to attach one of definiteness markers, -po or -hel, see details in §5.1.13. This type of construction is linked to the headless relative clauses described in §10.1.3. The nominalizer ki-has been reanalysed as a past tense marker on finite verbs, see the next section as well as
§8.1.2 and §12.9 for the full account.
(5.12)
nangli laba kijor akime hlongmanma
nangli la=bang ki-jor a-ki-me hlong-man=ma 2PL DEM-GNR NMLZ-buy POSS-NMLZ-be.good get-HAB=Q
The nominalizer ki-has an allomorph ka-and a marginal allomorph ku-. The allomorphy of the nominalizer ki-/ka- is mostly regulated by the number of syllables in a verb before nominalization. If the verb stem is no more than one syllable, the nominalizer will have the ki-form; if the verb is more than one syllable the nominalizer will have theka-form. The prefixes pa-‘CAUS’and reflexive chi-‘RR’may also be counted to the number of syllables of the verb.
Monosyllabic verb root ki-wang
‘NMLZ-come’
‘coming’
Dissyllabic verb root ka-phere
‘NMLZ-be.afraid’
‘being scared’
Dissyllabic stem because of a prefix ka-chi-lang
‘NMLZ-RR-see’
‘seeing’
ka-pa-hleng
‘NMLZ-CAUS-reach’
‘making reach’
The rule of syllable quantity is quite pervasive in Amri Karbi. There is a handful exceptions to this rule, as some two-syllable verbs, in addition to the prefix ki-, can also carry ka-form. As a result, these exhibit free variation between ki-andka-in a limited amount of words. One of the most frequent examples is the word tiki‘work’which, being a two-syllable word, qualifies for the prefix ka-,katiki, but the speakers may also use the prefix ki-with this word kitiki.
There is a peripheral allomorphku-of the nominalizer ki-.This allomorphy is not guided by the number of syllables in a verb. ku-occurs only on words with the initial /w/, which suggests that the allomorphy is triggered by the assimilation of the vowel /i/ of the prefix ki-to the rounded vowel /u/, e.g. wang‘come’ – kuwang,wan‘bring’ –kuwan. This variation is not shared by all Amri Karbi speakers as only some of the speakers in the database produced it, particularly from Lower Amri.
Nominalized verbs can take nominal morphology including the plural -heland the definite -po, but they do not take the possessive prefix a-(except adjectival verbs that usually take it). Event nominalizations can be created from the verbal complex that includes morphemes from slots 1 to 6 and the negative suffix from slot 7.
5.1.3 Past tense ki-, Slot 2
The prefix ki-occurs on finite verbs and in those cases it functions as a past tense marker; in other words, the nominalizer ki-has been reanalysed as a past tense marker on finite verbs. The past tense ki-is the only prefix among Amri Karbi TAM affixes. In Karbi Konnerth (2014) reports that the nominalizer ke- also occurs on main verbs and functions as an imperfective.
The Amri Karbi prefix ki-consistently occurs on main verbs as a past tense marker that has utterance time as the reference point and the event that it marks happened before that point.
Past tense functions of the prefix ki-are described in §8.1.2.
5.1.4 Reflexive and reciprocal chi-, Slot 3
The functions of the prefix chi-resemble those of the reflexive in other languages, but besides that, it also has some sub-functions in Amri Karbi, namely benefactive, collective plurality of the subject, possessive, emphasising the subject and extending the meaning of the verbs wan
‘bring’ and lang‘see’. The prefix chi-also functions as a reciprocal. The various meanings of chi-are distinguished through the context. The prefix chi-co-occurs with the reflexive pronoun bithang; it also marks reciprocity, therefore it is glossed as a reflexive-reciprocal in the data.
The reflexive-reciprocal prefix chi-is an old morpheme and it has lexicalized in some verbs.
Reflexive
The prefix chi- marks a verb to indicate that a subject acts upon itself; in other words, it functions as a reflexive. Example (5.13) shows the transitive verb thulwol‘fold’ carrying chi-, which makes the subject and object argument of the verb identical.
(5.13)
aro anang sango tene batluamu badisi chithulwolman
aro anang sāng-lò tene batluamu badi=si chi-thulwol-man and 3 rest-RL then ball as=FOC:RL RR-fold-HAB
‘when he rests,he folds himself round like a ball’(PI Pangolin)
The reflexive pronoun bithangoften co-occurs with the reflexive prefix on the verb. Example (5.14) shows how bithang‘self’ is used when the subject is co-referential with the non-subject.
The co-occurrence of the pronoun bithangwith the prefix chi-is not obligatory as we saw in (5.13) above for reflexive meaning. In (5.14) bithang brings metaphorical meaning ‘lose ourselves’26, so it is not necessary for literal reflexive meaning ‘get lost’ that is shown in (5.15).
(5.14)
aro ilibithangsi chipangbohlongman
aro ili-bithang=si chi-pa-ingbo-hlong-man and 1PL.INCL-SELF=FOC:RL RR-CAUS-lose-get-HAB
‘and we get to lose ourselves’(BR Lying cowboy)
26This metaphor appears in the context where the speaker tells that telling lies can hurt ourselves.
(5.15)
labang homoisi arnampe aso chingbojango
la=bang homoi=si arnam-pe a-so chi-ingbo-jang-lò
DEM=GNR time=FOC:RL god-F POSS-child RR-lose-off-RL
‘that time the goddess’ child got lost’(KP Honghora) Reciprocal
The reflexive prefix chi- also functions as a reciprocal, which is when each participant functions both as a subject and an object (5.16).
(5.16)
manta halabang athepo ili hekpensonang pusi
manta ha=la=bang a-the-po ili hek-pen-sonang pusi but DIST.DEM=DEM=GNR POSS-fruit-DEF 1PL.EXCL pluck-really-HORT:EMPH QUOT
anali chithano anali chi-than-lò 3PL RR-say-RL
‘but before going let us pluck this fruit, they said to each other’(RI Monkey and crocodile) Autobenefactive
There are reflexive constructions in Amri Karbi that involve the reflexive chi- that creates extended meanings of identical subject and object argument of the verb. In example (5.17), chi-marks the verb bi‘keep’ for autobenefactive meaning where the benefactor and the benefactee are the same.
(5.17)
angkhanke kicho ayok chibiman aro angkhanke jorman
angkhan=ke ki-chó a-yok chi-bi-man aro angkhan=ke jor-man some=TOP NMLZ-eat POSS-PURP RR-keep-HAB and some=TOP sell-HAB
‘some we keep for ourselves for eating and some we sell’ (TI Vegetables)
Sub-functions of the prefix
chi-One of the functions of the prefix chi-is to indicate the collective plurality of the subject.
Example (5.18) shows that the prefix chi-on the verb indicates plurality of the subject and that the subject acts as a big group or together and not upon themselves.
(5.18)
hemsar nitu nihang domanta analike
hēmsar nitu nihang do-man=ta anali=ke
elders.of.clan north south exist-HAB=ADD 3PL=TOP
chipangrumdetsi minonhok minonpara alangli dolo
chi-pangrum-det-si minon=hok minon=para alangli do-lò
RR-gather-all-NF:RL now=till now=from 3PL stay-RL
‘they all came together, those who are on the north or the south, from today onwards they (clans) stay (in Penpo)’(TI Bihu)
Sometimes chi-can also mark verbs for dual subjects (5.19), indicating themeaning ‘together’
or that the subject acted in agreement.
(5.19)
katnang pusi kachithang aporparake alangli ilong
kat-nang pu-si ka-chi-thang a-por=para=ke alangli i-long run-HORT say-NF:RL NMLZ-RR-say POSS-time=from=TOP 3PL one-CLF:LOC
ajaga kikat asin chipilo
a-jaga ki-kat a-sin chi- pi-lò
POSS-place NMLZ-run POSS-line RR-give-RL
‘when they decided to run, both of them, they put a (finish) line at one place’(HI Turtle and rabbit)
The reflexive chi- also marks that the subject is the possessor of the object. Example (5.20) shows that chi- marks the verb en ‘take’ that creates the meaning of taking something that belongs to the subject.
(5.20)
ango ahupopara kipi adunglepo
ango a-hu-po=para ki-pi a-dungle-po before POSS-father-in-law-M=from NMLZ-give POSSnear-DEF
ahupohel kachienphak ayoksi
a-hu-po-hel ki-chi-en-phak a-yok-si
POSS-father-in-law-M-PL NMLZ-RR-take-back POSS-PURP-NF:RL
‘his father-in-low wanted to take back his land that he has given’(MI One man)
chi- may also co-occur with the reflexive pronoun bithang, as in example (5.21), where the possession is intensified with the reflexive/reciprocal pronoun abithang‘their own’.
(5.21)
anali laan abithang asal chitikang anali wang do
anali laan a-bithang a-sal chi-tikang anali wang do they this.much POSS-self POSS-work RR-leave 3pl come COP
‘they left their own work and came’(BR Lying cowboy)
The prefixchi- can also function as an emphatic. Example (5.22) shows that chi- marks the verb padem‘repair’ as an emphatic for the subject ne‘1’, resulting in ‘myself’.
(5.22)chi-as an emphatic
neke hem chipademde tene konamte padembo pulo
ne=ke hēm chi-padem-Ce tene konam=te padem-bò pu-lò 1=TOP house RR-repair-NEG then when=Q2 repair-IRR2 say-RL
‘if I do not repair myself, then when will I repair’(BT Monkey)
The prefix chi-extends the meaning of verbs wan ‘bring’, pon‘take’ and làng‘look’. The prefixchi-can yield themeaning ‘along’ on the ditransitive verbs wan‘bring’ and pon‘take’.
Example (5.23) shows chi-occurring on the verb wan‘bring’ for the meaning ‘bring along’.
Example (5.23) shows chi-occurring on the verb wan‘bring’ for the meaning ‘bring along’.