Chapter 8: Other Verb-Phrase Operations - LOT publications

192 A Grammar of Mualang
besay ka besay ‘become bigger and bigger’
panay ka panay ‘become smarter and smarter’
taw’ ka taw’ ‘become more and more knowledgeable’
bayik ka bayik ‘become better and better’
semak ka semak ‘come closer and closer’
ketawa’ ka ketawa’ ‘continue to laugh’
N-sabak ka N-sabak (ACT-cry to ACT-cry) ‘continue to cry’
N-ili’ ka N-ili’ (ACT-downstream to ACT-downstream) ‘continue to go
downstream’
da-salay ka da-salay (PASS-dry.over.fire to PASS-dry.over.fire) ‘continue to
dry over the fire’
da-gulay ka da-gulay (PASS-mix to PASS-mix) ‘continue to mix’
(8-35) Miak ia’ besay ka besay.
child that big to big
‘The child is growing bigger and bigger.’
(8-36) Sida’ N-ili’ agi’, N-ili’ agi’
3p ACT-downstream again ACT-downstream again
Ketungaw. N-ili’ ka N-ili’,
K ACT-downstream to ACT-downstream
N-ili’ ka N-ili’, baru’ datay
ACT-downstream to ACT-downstream then come
ka ili’.
to downstream
‘They went downstream on the Ketungau River again, they went down
the river. They kept going downstream, then they arrived downstream.’
(8-37) Nemiak ia’ N-sabak ka N-sabak ka’ angkat.
child that ACT-cry to ACT-cry want go
‘The child keeps crying wanting to go.’
(8-38) Beram ia’ da-salay ka da-salay
alcohol that PASS-dry.over.fire to PASS-dry.over.fire
sampay ay’ nya’ mirah.
until water that red
‘The beram is heatened more and more until the water turns red.’
2) A verb can also simply be repeated to express a repetition. Each repetition has its
own word stress, hence these verbs do not constitute a single phrase. Examples of
this can be seen in (8-18c) and the first clause of (8-36).