A Grammar of Miya - UCLA Department of Linguistics

i
256 A Grammar of Miya
construction. The examples are all intransitive verbs with pronominal subjects. See
§3.4.2, comment (2), immediately below for an explanation of tbe verbal noun fonn here'
see 4:fn.31 for further comment: '
mlyahiy-uwsg 'his death'
ef. the first example in the list just above for the expected linked construction, also from a text
bUwahiya-fg 'your (ms) going'
3.4.2. Nominalized verbs with expressed objects. A gerund with an expressed
semantic direct object takes a direct genitive of the "feminine" form. However, gerund +
direct object differs in two ways from other N + N direct genitive constructions:
(I) For object nouns with the prefix a- (8:§2.4.1), the prefix is not omitted as it would
be in normal genitive or other noun phrases, but rather it remains (becoming long aa- by
regular rule) as it would when appearing as the object of a finite verb.
acam (m) 'work': Gerund + DO
Verb+DO
v s. Direct genitive
Indep. genitive
Demon. + noun
kwahfy aacam
mon di'>m aacam
anfyhi\ cam
micam
nabncam
'lacking work' (kwdhfy + dedm)
'I did work'
'a remedy for work'
'tbat of work'
'this work'
(2) When the object of the verbal noun is a noun, it uses the expected "feminine" direct
genitive constnlction §3. 1. 1. However, when the object is a pronoun, the gerund ending
-aka of polyconsonantal verbs is replaced by -ahiy, the normal ending for monoconsonantal
verbs.
5ahiy(a) aabfy
kwahfya laafiyeewato
si'>nak(a) aacam
ti'>kaka baa'iy
doonak(a) aanfyhi
kfyaka Kasham
vi'>rkaka vorkg
mahiyuwun
tlyahiyatlon
kfyahiywlin
vi'>rkahiyilwsg
'swimming' (breaking water)
'ill health' (lacking health)
'knowing (how to) work'
'accompanying strangers'
'looking for medicine'
'biting Kasham'
'bearing a child'
'forgetting me'
'accompanying tbem'
'biting me'
'bearing him'
(5ahiy + abfy)
(kwahfy + laafiyeewato)
(si'>nab + acam)
(ti'>kako + baa'iy
(doonako + anfyhl)
(kfyako + Kasham)
(vi'>rkako + vorb)
(mahiy)
(fiyako)
(kfyako)
(vi'>rkab)
I was unable to elicit any examples of deverbal nouns (as opposed to gerunds) with
semantic direct objects. It may be that genitive complements of deverbal nouns are
restricted to semantic subjects.
I did not elicit examples of nominalized verbs with indirect objects, but the following
examples came up incidentally:
(mon njaa suw) tsahiya-ya (bbo tuwun-ay)
(mi'>n gaa saake) di'>ngahiya-yajbi'>lahfya-ya
'(I refused) to give him (my gown)'
'(I will repeat) recounting to him/telling him'
10. Noun Phrase Syntax (§4J 257
rhese examples suggest that nominalized verb + indirect object is formally identical to
nominalized verb + direct object, and if tbe direct object is also expressed, the indirect
object preempts the postverbal position.
4. Adnominal Attributes
4.1. Attributive adjectives. See 8:§3 for a complete list of adjectives and discussion
of adjectival morphology.
The normal position for attributive adjectives is directly following tbe noun. Noun +
adjective forms a tonal phrase (3: §6.1). The adjective agrees with the noun in
gender/number. For singular nouns, agreement is marked by the suffixes -na (m) or -ya
(f). For morphologically plural nouns, tbe adjective shows agreement by the suffix -niy
with "animate" nouns, but for "inanimates", agreement is with the lexical gender (see
8:§2.3.3 for a general discussion of animacy and agreement).
mbi'>rgu gama 'large ram' si'>m karakarana 'tall man'
tomaku gy:irya 'large ewe' 'an karakaraya 'tall woman'
tomakwiy gyamwniy 'large sheep (pI)' si'>bo karakaraniy 'tall people'
maaarinna 'black castrated goat' till tsontsi'>nna 'sour beer'
'afuw rinya 'black nanny goat' leem60 tsi'>nlsgnya 'sour lime'
cuw rfnniy 'black goats' kutg tsonts,mniyll 'sour thing(s)'
ndilwul mbfyna 'red pot' cf. nduwulalaw mbfyna 'red pots'
dlorkfy mbfyya 'red hen' ef. ti'>bmamaw mbfyya 'red chairs'
si'>iJg mbfyniy 'red people'
Attributive adjectives can precede the noun. Formally, adjective + noun is a direct
genitive construction (§3.1.1) and the adjective is invariable. I did not pursue this
construction, so I do not know whether it is possible for every adjective. Neither can I say
much about how it may differ in meaning from the noun + adjective construction. In some
cases, the adjective + noun construction seems to be a compound, but in other cases the
two word orders were given as equivalent. I have listed those cases where I explicitly
remarked on that equivalency in my notes.
magadzazuw
maggdza mardi'>
maggdza kUtg
papora kf5i
papgra kUtg
by"tlama piyam
byatiama kUtg
saaboo nduwul
tsoohoo kam!kamamaw
mblyasaw
dziifjgna gutsgr
lIS .
ee fn. 9 for the plural agreement WIth kit!;:) 'thing(s)'.
'year-old sorghum (m)'
'year-old millet (f)'
'year-old thing(s) (pI)'
'potsherd' « par 'break' + kifJi (m) 'clay bow!")
'broken thing (pI)'
'unripe pumpkin (f)' (= piyam byatJyamaya)
'unripe thing(s) (pI)' (= kilto byatlamaniy)
'new pot' (= nduwul saaboona)
'old house/houses' (= kam/kamamaw tsoohoona)
type fish with a red tail ("red tail")
type of green snake ("7 mucous")