proto-southwestern-tai revised: a new reconstruction - seals 22

Thai Prepositions 45
(23) a. raw yùu nay bâan kháw
We stay in house he
We live in his house.
b. * bâan kháw nàʔ raw yùu nay
house he TOP we stay in
As for his house, we live in.
c. raw yùu nay * day / *ʔɨ̀ɨn
we stay in which / other
* Which in do we stay?
* We stayed in others.
d. * raw yùu kɨ̀ɨ / lǎay nay
we stay how many / several in
* How many in do we stay?
* We stay several in.
e. * raw yùu mây nay bâan kháw
we stay NEG in house he
We did not live in his house.
f. A: kháw yùu nay bâan rɨ́ɨplàw
he stay in house or not
Is he in the house?
B: yùu / * nay
stay / in
He is.
The word nay cannot be left stranding at the end of the sentence, just as prepositions and
nouns in (23b). It cannot be modified by any determiners in (23c) or any quantifiers in
(23d) and hence cannot be a noun. The word nay ‘in’ is not a verb because it cannot cooccur
with the negation word mây in (23e), nor can it be given as a short answer to a yesno
question in (23f). The word nay is hence a preposition.
Preposition thɨ̌ŋ2 ‘about’
The application of the stranding test in (24b), the determiner tests in (24c), the quantifier
test in (24d), the co-occurrence with the negation word mây test in (24e), and the short
answer to a yes-no question test in (24f) are shown as follows.
(24) a. kháw phûut thɨ̌ŋ nɔ́ɔŋ chán
he speak about younger sibling I
He spoke of my younger sibling.
b. nɔ́ɔŋ chán nàʔ kháw phûut thɨ̌ŋ
younger sibling I TOP he speak about
My younger sibling, he spoke of him/her.
c. kháw phûut thɨ̌ŋ *day / *ʔɨ̀ɨn
he speak about which / other
* Which of did he speak?