Beyond Time - Linguistics - University of California, Berkeley

tive. Because the distal can co-occur with any of the other markers, it may be assumed to
occupy its own slot, closest to the object marker. 22
2.3.1.3 Subject markers
Totela has subject markers for persons (1, 2, and 3 sg. and pl.; shown in table 2.19), as well
as for each of its noun classes (table 2.20). Subject marking is obligatory and must agree
with the grammatical subject. Generally speaking, SMs surface as toneless, except after
certain pre-initials (e.g. prehodiernal imperfective ka-) and in non-indicative moods.
Singular Plural
1 ndi- tu-
2 u- mu-
3 a- ba-
Table 2.19: Totela person subject markers
Note that the 3sg and 3pl markers are identical to class 1 and 2 markers, respectively.
See appendix D for more details on person and noun class agreement, as well as a discussion
about the resolution of agreement clashes when two nouns from different classes are
conjoined.
2.3.1.4 Object markers
While subject markers are obligatory, object markers are optional and may occur with or
without an overt object. The forms are given in tables 2.21 and 2.22 for persons and noun
classes, respectively, including the reflexive marker -li-. As depicted by the floating Hs in
the tables (´-), singular person object markers are toneless, but all others (plural person and
all noun classes) 23 have a H tone, which surfaces on the preceding syllable.
It should be noted that while the object marker for class 15 nouns, which are few – class
15 is mostly infinitive verbs which have a defective agreement pattern (see appendix D) – is
´-ku-, in practice, the class 1 object marker is usually used.
Totela verbs can apparently take a maximum of two object markers. The indirect object
marker precedes the direct object marker. Regardless of the usual tone of the first (=direct
object) marker, it becomes H in this position (surfacing on the preceding syllable):
(49) bámùndípà
bá-mù-ndí-pà
3pl-3sg(DO)-1sg(IO)-give
‘they gave him to me’ (ZT2009Elic41)
22 I do not have any data on the possibility of past + persistive + distal -na-chi-ka-, which seems a likely
possibility, as well.
23 Noun class 1, identical to 3 rd -person singular, is toneless.
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