Beyond Time - Linguistics - University of California, Berkeley

(483) tàlí mwàyá kwàKàìwàlà?
ta-li mwa-y-a kwa-Kaiwala
neg-be 2pl.cmpl-go-fv cl17(loc)-Kaiwala
‘didn’t you go to Kaiwala?’ (ZT2009Elic148) 16
(484) tàlí tàmùnáyì kwàKàìwàlà?
ta-li ta-mu-na-y-i kwa-Kaiwala
neg-be neg-2pl.cmpl-go-fv cl17(loc)-Kaiwala
‘isn’t it the case that you didn’t go to Kaiwala?’(ZT2009Elic149) 17
Such a use is also possible with the posthodiernal future. In such cases, the verb is formed
with -la- (485a), rather than as a subjunctive (485b).
(485) a. tàlí ! nándìlàyà? 18
ta-li na-ndi-la-y-a?
neg-be posthod-1sg-noncmpl-go-fv
‘aren’t I going?’ (ZT2009Elic170)
b. tàlí ! nándìyê
ta-li na-ndi-y-e
neg-be posthod-1sg-noncmpl-go-fv.sbjv
‘I won’t go’ (ZT2009Elic170)
7.4.2 Imperatives
Second-person singular imperatives are formed with the bare stem and a final -a. They surface
with penultimate H tone, generally with plateauing. Monosyllabic stems are somewhat
dispreferred in the imperative (hortative forms are typically used instead), but can still be
formed.
(486) a. wâ
u-a
fall-fv.imp
‘fall!’
16 In response to this question, éènì ‘yes’ can mean either ‘yes I did go’ or ‘yes, I didn’t go’. In contrast,
á-à ‘no’ can only negate the propositional content, i.e. ‘no, I didn’t go’ but not ‘no, I did go’.
17 According to consultants, hese statements may be affirmed or negated by both éènì ‘yes’ and á-à ‘no’,
followed by an explanatory statement, e.g. éènì, twàyà ‘yes we went’ or éènì tàtùnáyì ‘yes, we didn’t go’
(ZT2009Elic149). ‘Yes’ and ‘no’ both have the same default interpretation (affirming the negative statement
in (484), but both can also be used to deny it.
18 Pronunciation with a pause is also possible here, resulting in a falling tone on -li (tàlî nándìlàyà).
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