Studies on Sino-Tibetan Languages, 269-296 2004-8-004-001-000004-2
Verb-Stem Variations in Showu rGyalrong*
Jackson T.-S. Sun Academia Sinica
The richest verbal system among the rGyalrongic cluster of languages in Tibeto-Burman is found in the Showu dialect of rGyalrong. Drawing on first-hand field data, this paper provides an account of the elaborate morphological patterns in Showu verb-stem formation. Unlike many other rGyalrongic members, Showu possesses non-alternating verbs with invariant stems throughout the paradigm. On the other hand, a good number of basic verbs distinguish a second (or past) stem while many transitive verbs show an additional third (or nonpast singular transitive) stem. Both vocalic, consonantal, and suprasegmental modifications play a role in the formation of the second and third stems. After treating Showu stem variations and their functional distribution, a comparison is made with the more innovative stem-alternating patterns in the Caodeng and Dazang dialects of rGyalrong.
Key words: Tibeto-Burman, rGyalrongic, verbal morphology, stem formation
1. Introduction
In opening my contribution to this volume in honor of Professor Gong Hwang- cherng’s eminent accomplishments in Sino-Tibetan linguistics, I would like to gratefully acknowledge my intellectual debt to Professor Gong’s influence on my research on Tibeto-Burman languages over the years. Particularly inspiring for me has been his important discovery of a system of vocalic alternations in Tangut which functions to form derived verb stems utilized to index a singular speech-act participant
* This research was funded by the National Science Council (ROC) grants 89-2411-H-001-005 and 89-2411-H-001-088. The Showu data cited were recorded at Ma’erkhang in field trips taken in 1996 through 2004. My main consultant is Jingasong (t∆—îm fkë®»o≥), a native from Zh—ongr\e (t®o≥r»e) Village of R\îb\u Township, Ma’erkang County. I am indebted to Jingasong for his devoted teaching and warm friendship. Thanks are also due to the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Sichuan Provincial Government for their invaluable assistance. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 36th International Conference on Sino-Tibetan Languages and Linguistics (Melbourne, Australia, November 28-30, 2003). The constructive comments and suggestions kindly supplied by professors Jim Matisoff, Francois Jacquesson, David Bradley, and especially Weera Ostapirat are greatly appreciated.
Jackson T.-S. Sun
(first-person or second-person) subject in the clause (Gong 2001). The rGyalrongic cluster of languages,1 closely related to Tangut, are also noted for their abundant alternation phenomena in the formation of verb stems. The highest level of elaboration in this area of verbal morphology is attested in Showu rGyalrong (hereafter Showu), the target language of this article. Showu, one of the two principal subdialects of the Sidaba (Stodpa) dialect of rGyalrong,2 is spread across C«aod—eng,3 R\îb\u,4 and K—angsh—an5 townships in M«afl«erk—ang County, K—esh—a and R|ongfl—an townships in Aba County, Sh|îl«î and W|uy—î townships in R«angt|ang County (all in Aba Prefecture), as well as G—el\etu|o Township of S\ed|a County (in G—anz—î Prefecture). There is unfortunately no uniform self-denomination among speakers from the various localities. In my previous work the tentative label Ribu is used, after the name of the major township (locally pronounced zb—u) where a large percentage of its speakers currently reside. To avoid possible confusion with the speech forms confined within that township, I now prefer the less ambiguous term Showu (∆oÙu), an existing Caodeng exonym referring to this particular Sidaba rGyalrong subdialect.6 Despite the potential value of Showu in rGyalrongic linguistics, little systematic research has been carried out on it until recently, and the scanty published data remain uneven in quality. Sporadic Showu forms appear in Lin 1983,7 and a phonemic summary and a short wordlist can be found in Lin 1993.8 Since 1996 I have
1 A Tibeto-Burman subgroup spoken in northwestern Sichuan Province composed of at least three distinct languages: rGyalrong, Lavrung, and Horpa, each with considerable internal diversification. The special genetic relationship among these languages was assumed without demonstration in Qu 1990 and Lin 1993, with Lavrung and Horpa relegated to the status of a ‘western rGyalrong dialect’. Upholding the unity of Qu and Lin’s ‘rGyalrong’ on evidence of shared inflectional morphology, but recognizing the language-like characters of Lavrung and Horpa, I proposed to treat the latter as sister languages of rGyalrong under a unified rGyalrongic subgroup (J. Sun 2000a). Further morphological evidence of Horpa’s membership in rGyalrongic is presented in J. Sun 2000b. This revised view has since been espoused by Sun Hongkai (per. com. in 2002; this volume, p289) and Huang Bufan (Huang 2003:60). 2 The other Sidaba subdialect is Caodeng (Tsho.bdun), spoken by ca. 3,000 rGyalrong Tibetans residing in Caodeng Township (cf. J. Sun 2003). Showu and Caodeng show pronounced differences at all linguistic levels and are hardly intelligible at first contact. 3 At Sh—azu«o Village and First Hamlet in B«aoy|an Village. 4 All but the Amdo-speaking Ru\og«u Village. 5 All but M\ufl«erji«a Hamlet in Y«afl«erz|u Village, in which a variety of Lavrung is spoken. 6 Another term the Caodeng Tibetans use to designate the Showu subdialect is ëlipuskët ‘language of the upriver people’. 7 Misidentified as ‘Caodeng’ forms. 8 The Showu consultant from whom Lin Xiangrong elicited his data happens to be the same person as my current Showu teacher Mr. Jingasong. Owing to the limited time Prof. Lin spent
270
Verb-Stem Variations in Showu rGyalrong investigated several varieties of Showu and made use of Showu morphological data in several recent papers on rGyalrongic languages (J. Sun 2000a, 2000b, 2000c) and Tibetan (J. Sun, forthcoming-a). A full documentation of this conservative rGyalrong dialect is in preparation. A central issue in Showu verbal morphology is how the varied stem forms are constructed and put to use. It will be the goal of this paper to explore the formation and functions of verb stems in the Zhongre variety of Showu. The phonological summary of Showu (Section 1.1) and overview of Showu stem alternations (Section 1.2) in the remainder of the introductory section set the stage for the ensuing main presentation. Section 2 provides a description and analysis of the strategies for the derivation of verb stems. The morphosyntactic distribution of the separate stems are discussed and exemplified in Section 3. The following section adds a comparative perspective with relevant data from the Caodeng and Chabao dialects of rGyalrong. The major findings of this paper are summed up in the concluding section.
1.1 A phonological summary of Showu rGyalrong
Showu syllable onsets contain fifty-nine simplex consonants (enclosed in parentheses are rare or non-native phonemes):
(1) p t ts t® t∆ c k q pæ tæ tsæ t®æ t∆æ cæ kæ qæ npæ ntæ ntsæ nt®æ nt∆æ ncæ nkæ nqæ b d (dÂ) dÔ Ç g nb nd ndz nd ndÔ nÇ ng nG m n ¯ ≥ (f) s (®) ∆ x ≈ (h) v z Ô j © Ù r (¬) l w
As in other rGyalrongic dialects, various combinations of single consonants are permitted to form a vast number of complex onsets, including many three-member and even four-member consonant clusters.
recording this phonetically tricky dialect, his phonemic transcriptions leave much to be desired, especially in the areas of tones and vowels.
271
Jackson T.-S. Sun
Remarkably, the Showu vocalic system distinguishes plain versus velarized vowels.9 As shown below, all plain vowels have a velarized counterpart. The back unrounded vowel /a/ (phonetically [å]) is the velarized counterpart of /ë/:
(2) Plain Vowels Velarized Vowels i u i© u© ˙ ˙© e Ø o e© Ø© o© ë a
The attested syllable codas are /-v/; /-t/; /-m/; /-n/; /-≈/; /-©/; /-≥/; /-r/; /-l/; /-s/. The codas /-r/, /-l/, /-v/, and /-©/ are frequently devoiced, while /-s/ is usually voiced. As in most rGyalrongic dialects, Showu tonality involves both tonal and accentual phenomena. Two tones contrast in word-final accented syllables, level (—v) versus falling (»v). Phonologically contrastive accent, characterized by pre-accent high-pitched plateau and a post-accent pitch drop, plays a role both lexically and in the morphosyntax. Stem- final is the default (hence unmarked) accent position; non-final accent is marked with the acute accent (|v).
1.2 Showu verb-stem alternations: an overview
While verbs in Showu are often non-alternating with a single invariant stem throughout the paradigm,10 a good number of basic verbs are stem-alternating, showing
9 Syllables containing velarized vowels are pronounced with the dorsum of the tongue arched toward the soft palate. I first discovered velarized vowels in the Horpa dialects of Rangtang County (J. Sun 2000b); subsequent field research turned up velarized vowels in Zhongre, Dawei (K—angsh—an Township), and Mulang (R\îb\u Township)varieties of Showu rGyalrong and, most recently, in the Luoxi variety of Lavrung (J. Sun forthcoming-b). A preliminary comparison shows that while distinctive vowel velarization is not reported in any other Tibeto-Burman language, such vowels may be a feature of Proto-rGyalrongic. When Professor Huang Bufan joined me in my Luoxi Lavrung sessions in Fall 2002, she commented that the Luoxi velarized vowels sounded like what she had previously described as ‘tense vowels’ in Muya (see Huang 1991a:101). 10 Compare the multi-stem Caodeng verb forms and non-alternating Showu verb forms below for ‘to plant (trees)’: Showu Caodeng kØ-vl—˙ k|ë-vli [CITATION] në-vl—˙ ne-vli÷ [PFV] nØ-vl—˙-s n|ë-vl‰ [IMP]
272
Verb-Stem Variations in Showu rGyalrong up to three stems distinguished along tense-aspect-modality and transitivity lines.11 These different stems will be labeled simply as STEM 1, STEM 2, and STEM 3, pending detailed discussions of their specific morphosyntactic environments in Section 3. Examples of three-stem verbs are given as follows:
(3) STEM 1 STEM 2 STEM 3 rb—Ø rb»î rb—e ‘to press’ rz»u rz—o rz»˙m ‘to keep; to raise’ nt∆æ—e nt∆æ»î nt∆æ—o ‘to kill’ sk—ë skæ—ë sk—î ‘to smoke (cigarettes)’ rkw—˙t rkæ—u rk—o ‘to put into (containers)’ ©—ot ©»ot ©—ît ‘to pick (flowers, fruits)’
Two-stem verbs divide into three subtypes according to the formal distribution of the stems (the capital letters A, B, and C represent distinct stems):
(4) TWO-STEM VERBS TYPE I: A-B-B STEM 1 STEM 2/3 t©»ër t©—˙r ‘to hit’ sn»ot sn—˙t ‘to kindle’ nt∆æ—ë nt∆æ—î ‘to use’
(5) TWO-STEM VERBS TYPE II: A-A-B STEM 1/2 STEM 3 nb—˙ nb—o ‘to give (e.g. a gift)’ lw—ë lw—î ‘to dig’ t»a≈ t—Ø≈ ‘to weave’
In such rGyalrongic languages/dialects as Caodeng, Shangzhai Horpa and all known dialects of Lavrung, nearly all verbs distinguish STEM 2 via tonal/glottality inversion. In Showu, a suffix -s shows up in highly specific singular transitive contexts. Specifically, the suffix -s is not used with stems ending in a coda, or those already marked by a distinct ablaut grade. Verbs to which the suffix is applicable fall into two classes. Class 1 verbs (e.g. kØ-rb—Ø ‘to press’) take -s in all S(peech)A(ct)P(articipant) forms regardless of tense/aspect, as well as non-SAP forms built on STEM 1, while Class 2 verbs (e.g. kØ-tæ»î ‘to drink’) are marked with -s in SAP forms built on STEM 2 only. Since (in modern Showu rGyalrong at least) -s is not bound to a particular stem, it is preferable to consider it an inflexional suffix bearing explicit morphosyntactic information (i.e. singular, transitive) rather than part of the verb stems. 11 One irregular verb has been noted with a fourth stem, see data (9) below.
273
Jackson T.-S. Sun
(6) TWO-STEM VERBS TYPE III: A-B-A STEM 1/3 STEM 2 ≈pj—Øt ≈pj»ët ‘to observe’ tsæ—˙ tsæ—ît ‘to say’ fst—en fst»en ‘to look after’
This survey of Showu verb-stem alternation will be incomplete without mentioning verbs showing exceptional stem variations. The most commonplace motion verbs ‘to go’ and ‘to come’ are cases in point. When orientationally unmarked,12 these verbs operate with two stems like other alternating intransitives:
(7) STEM 1 STEM 2 xw—e xw—˙t ‘to go’ v—˙ v—î ‘to come’
However, once orientation is specified via prefixation, additional grammatically conditioned stems are required. For the orientationally explicit verb ‘to go in a certain direction’, a suppletive root is used in both STEM 113 and STEM 214 in addition to a separate progressive/imperative stem form identical to the orientationally unmarked STEM 1:
(8) STEM 1 STEM 2 PROGRESSIVE /IMPERATIVE r»î r—˙t xw—e
For orientationally marked forms of the verb ‘to come in a certain direction’ further stem diversification produces as many as four distinct stems:15
12 Orientation, or topographically based spatial deixis, is an important inflectional category of the verb among rGyalrongic languages (cf. J. Sun 2000a §2.3). In Showu, the solar subsystem (EAST-WEST) has collapsed, resulting in a five-term distinction: UP, DOWN, UPSTREAM, DOWNSTREAM, and CROSSWISE. 13 In the citation forms of orientationally specified verbs ‘to go in a certain direction’, the orientation prefixes occur obligatorily before the nominalizing prefix kØ-: t˙-kØ-r»î ‘to go up’ n˙-kØ-r»î ‘to go down’ ∆˙-kØ-r»î ‘to go upstream’ nu-kØ-r»î ‘to go downstream’ r˙-kØ-r»î ‘to go crosswise’ 14 Cf. the orientationally explicit cognate STEM 2 form re in Caodeng rGyalrong. 15 Stem-alternation in this case reflects two distinct rGyalrongic ‘to come’ roots. Similar
274
Verb-Stem Variations in Showu rGyalrong
(9) STEM 1 STEM 2 PROGRESSIVE IMPERATIVE t»u v—î t—o v—˙
2. Showu stem formation
STEM 1 serves as the verb base from which STEM 2 and STEM 3 are derived through applying a number of stem modification processes involving vocalic, consonantal, tonal, as well as accentual modification.
2.1 Vocalic alternations
I have employed the label ablaut to refer to the phenomenon of grammatically conditioned vowel alternations in the rGyalrongic verb (J. Sun 2000a: §2.2). Two categories of ablaut have been recognized, Ablaut A and Ablaut B, figuring respectively in the formation of STEM 2 and STEM 3. The abundance and variety of Showu ablaut reach an unrivaled peak among rGyalrongic languages.16 The vitality of ablaut in Showu can be appreciated from the fact that it has infiltrated the verbal system of neighboring Tibetan dialects through language contact (J. Sun forthcoming-a), and moreover has extended to Tibetan loans which are either invariant or alternating with disparate vowel grades in the source language; for example:
(10) STEM 1 STEM 2 STEM 3 mgr—on mgr»on mgr—în ‘to treat; entertain (< Tib.
suppletive alternations are attested in Lavrung; observe the following stem forms for ‘to come up’ in the Luoxi variety of Lavrung (personal research): Ø-t»u© [STEM 1] Ø-tæ«u© [STEM 2] Ø-v»˙-n [IMP] 16 At least in the Zhongre variety. Other Showu varieties, such as Mulang and Dawei, show considerably reduced ablaut patterns. In Mulang, for instance, STEM 1 and STEM 3 have merged in favor of the former (personal research). 17 [IMPFV]
275
Jackson T.-S. Sun
Stem-alternating intransitive verbs normally show two ablaut grades, while transitive verbs may display up to three vowel grades. Certain intransitive roots undergo further ablauting upon valency-increasing derivation via causativization (11a) or applicativization (11b):
(11) a. ‘to flee’ ‘to cause to flee’ pæ»a [STEM 1] s˙©-pæ»a [STEM 1] pæ»î© [STEM 2] s˙©-pæ»î© [STEM 2] s|˙©-pæe© [STEM 3] b. ‘to be afraid’ ‘to fear’ v»ër [STEM 1] n˙©-v»ër [STEM 1] v»îr [STEM 2] n˙©-v»îr [STEM 2] | n˙©-ver [STEM 3]
The attested ablaut series are summarized and exemplified in the following two tables, pertaining respectively to intransitive verbs (showing STEM 2) and transitive verbs (showing both STEM 2 and STEM 3).19
Table 1: Intransitive Ablaut Series ë-Ø ndz»ës-ndz—Øs ‘to be cautious’ Ø-ë p—Øt-p»ët ‘to be drenched’ nbr—Ø©-nbr»a ‘to be auspicious’ i-e Ùl»î-Ùl—e ‘to speak ill of’ e-i qæj»ev-qæj»îv ‘to be bitter’ u-o lt»u≥-ltæ—o≥ ‘to be financially ruined’ nb»u©-nb—o© ‘to gather; to assemble’ o-u s≥—or-s≥—ur ‘to snore’ i-˙ sm»î-sm—˙ ‘to be cooked’ nb»î©t-nb—˙©t ‘to go astray; to be lost’ ˙-i v—˙-v—î ‘to come’ e-˙ zv»et-zv—˙t ‘to arrive’ ˙-e m—˙t-m»et ‘to not exist’
19 The distinct stems of a given verb are given in sequence separated by a dash (i.e. STEM 1- STEM 2-STEM 3). This format of citing multiple-stem verbs will be followed throughout. Velarized vowel series are subsumed under the corresponding non-velarized vowel series.
276
Verb-Stem Variations in Showu rGyalrong
ë-i tæ—ë-tæ—î ‘to exist’ t∆æ»am-t∆æ»î©m ‘to be excessive’ o-˙ sm»o-sm—˙t ‘to be present; to live; to stay’
Table 2: Transitive Ablaut Series ë-Ø-e s˙ÙlÇ»ë-s˙ÙlÇ—Ø-s˙ÙlÇ—e ‘to rinse’ ë-i-e rg»ë-rg»î-rg—e ‘to cut (weeds)’ ts»a-tsæ—î©-ts—e© ‘to strangle’ ë-˙-e sk»ë-sk—˙-sk—e ‘to spread out’ ë-i-ë ≈»ëm-≈»îm-≈»ëm ‘to yawn’ pæ»a-pæ»î©-pæ»a ‘to escape’ ë-ë-Ø pr»a≈-pr»a≈-pr—Ø≈ ‘to bind’ ë-ë-i n—ë-n—ë-n—î ‘to drive (cattle)’ pær—at-pær—at-pær—î©t ‘to turn off (e.g. a fauset)’ ë-i-i qæ—ëv-qæ—îv-qæ—îv ‘to flip’ ë-˙-˙ nd»ë-nd—˙-nd—˙ ‘to take’ Ø-ë-e sq—Ø-sqæ—ë-sq—e ‘to boil (solid food)’ Ø-i-e rb—Ø-rb»î-rb—e ‘to press down’ Ø-Ø-e ©ld—Ø-©ld»Ø-©ld—e ‘to rub’ Ø-ë-Ø f∆—Øt-f∆»ët-f∆—Øt ‘to recount; to tell’ i-e-i rn»î-rn—e-rn»î ‘to get near’ i-˙-i ©d»î-©d—˙-©d»î ‘to press tight’ i-i-e ÙØrt»î-ÙØrtæ—î-Ù|Ørte ‘to wear (hats)’ i-i-o pj»î-pæj—î-p—o ‘to do; to make’ i-e-e sØld©»î-sØld©—e-s|Øld©e ‘to boil (liquid)’ i-˙-˙ tæ»î-tæ—˙-tæ—˙ ‘to drink’ u-o-˙ ∆»u-∆—o-∆»˙m ‘to entrust’ sanb»u©- sanb—o©- s|anb˙©m ‘to assemble’ u-o-u20 zj»u-zj—o-zj»us‘to add to’ u-u-˙ v©»um-v©—um-v©»˙m ‘to turn upside down’ e-i-Ø ndz—e-ndz—î-ndz—Ø ‘to eat’ e-i-o f∆—e-f∆»î-f∆—o ‘to place’ e-i-e nc—e-nc»î-nc—e ‘to walk’
20 This alternative to the u-o-˙ series is a result of paradigm-levelling, in this case from zj»u-zj—o- zj»˙m.
277
Jackson T.-S. Sun
o-u-i cæ—ov-cæ—uv-cæ—îv ‘to break (e.g. a glass)’ s—o©v-s—u©v-s—î©v ‘to twist; to wring’ o-u-˙ ©d—o-©d»u-©d»˙m ‘to pound’ o-o-i m—o≈-m»o≈-m—î≈ ‘to eat powdery food’ o-˙-˙ rg»ov-rg—˙v-rg—˙v ‘to tie up’ t»o©v-t—˙©v-t—˙©v ‘to thresh’ o-˙-o21 ltæ»o©-ltæ—˙©-ltæ»o© ‘to herd’ vam»o©t-tvam—˙©t-vam»o©v ‘to blow’ ˙-u-o t—˙-tæ—u-t—o ‘to pour into’ ˙-i-˙ c—˙-cæ—î-c—˙ ‘to empty out’
Upon scrutiny of the foregoing tables, a number of generalizations suggest themselves. The predominant principle governing Ablaut A seems to be pairwise inversion, with five attested alternation pairs: ë-Ø, i-e, u-o, i-˙, e-˙. A given vowel shifts into its partner in the respective pair in the formation of STEM 2. However, the ablaut shifts ë→i, o→˙, and (seen in transitive verbs) ë→˙, Ø→i, ˙→u are unidirectional. Two observations concerning Ablaut B can also be made. First, STEM 3 vocalism is frequently identical to that of either STEM 1 (eight out of 31 cases) or STEM 2 (five out of 31 cases). Second, an overwhelming majority (ten out of eleven cases) of ablaut series involving three separate vowel grades mark STEM 3 with one of the mid vowels (e, ˙, Ø, and o).
2.2 Consonantal alternations
Stem derivation by means of altering the consonantal makeup of verb stems is less in evidence. The observed consonantal changes include initial aspiration and excrescence of stem codas.
2.2.1 Onset aspiration
Voiceless unaspirated stop/affricate initials in STEM 1 tend to undergo aspiration in STEM 2. This formation applies to both intransitive (12) and transitive (13) verbs:
21 An alternative pattern to o-˙-˙.
278
Verb-Stem Variations in Showu rGyalrong
(12) STEM 1 STEM 2 xt—î xtæ—î ‘to be big’ nc»î ncæ—e ‘to dine’ t∆—or t∆æ—ur ‘to be sour’ pr—um pær—um ‘to be white’
(13) STEM 1 STEM 2 STEM 3 tw—ë tæw—ë tw—î ‘to open’ sk—ë skæ—ë sk—î ‘to smoke (cigarettes)’ mts»u mtsæ—o mts»˙m ‘to thrust (a spear) at’ nt»u ntæ—o | nt˙m ‘to gather (e.g. berries)’
Aspiration, however, is not a reliable morphological index of STEM 2,22 as quite a few native alternating verbs are immune to aspiration, e.g.
(14) STEM 1 STEM 2 p—Øt p»ët ‘to be drenched’ nc—e nc»î ‘to walk’ t∆»ov t∆—˙v ‘to sew’ sk»ë sk—˙ ‘to spread’
2.2.2 Coda excrescence 2.2.2.1 STEM 2-marking -t
Four alternating verbs have been recorded with an excrescent -t coda in STEM 2:
(15) STEM 1 STEM 2 sm»o sm—˙t ‘to stop; to stay’ xw—e xw—˙t ‘to go’ r»î r—˙t ‘to go (in a certain direction)’ tsæ—˙ | tsæit ‘to speak’
This coda may bring to mind the -t suffix in some Sino-Tibetan languages serving various derivational purposes (Ebert 1994:20-21; LaPolla 2003:24; Matisoff 2003: §11.3). However, the two kinds of stem-final -t may not be relatable, considering the
22 In an earlier study on aspiration as a stem-marking strategy in rGyalrongic languages (J. Sun 2000b: §3.2.1.2), I supplied some Ribu (i.e. Showu) examples of aspiration in STEM 3. Upon double-checking, my consultant rejected them as uncertain variants of the unaspirated forms.
279
Jackson T.-S. Sun heterogeneous morphological function of the Showu STEM 2 -t coda and the rGyalrong-internal evidence pointing to an entirely different origin in -s, as evidenced for instance by the Zhuokeji rGyalrong form ts—˙s ‘to say’.23
2.2.2.2 STEM 3-marking -m
A handful of Showu transitive verbs are characterised by the nasal coda -m in STEM 3. All the attested cases show back rounded vowels in STEM 1 and STEM 2, and ˙- vocalism in STEM 3, as in:
(16) STEM 1 STEM 2 STEM 3 ©d—o ©d»u ©d»˙m ‘to beat’ rz»u rz—o rz»˙m ‘to keep; to raise’
The STEM 3-marking nasal coda -m is also attested in a vestigial form in the markedly different Chabao dialect of rGyalrong (Lin and Luo 2003:26-27; Jacques 2004: §5.2.2). Even though the surviving verbs that retain a STEM 3 form in -m are mostly disparate in the two rGyalrong dialects, there is little doubt that this suffix must be among the most archaic morphological markers of STEM 3 in rGyalrongic.
2.3 Tonal alternations24
Alternation between level and falling tones is also exploited in Showu verb-stem formation, in the form of tonal inversion where STEM 2 can be formed solely by a shift in tone:25
(17) STEM 1 STEM 2 sc—es sc»es ‘to be brave’ pæ—ot pæ»ot ‘to dare’ ÙØrs»î ÙØrs—î ‘to look for’ vz»î vz—î ‘to do; to make’
23 Cf. also Chaobao rGyalrong (D|e’«erb—a variety; Lin and Luo 2003) t˙t [STEM 2]. The sound change *-s > -t has been attested sporadically in rGyalrongic; e.g. Zhuokeji kæ˙∆p»as, Showu k˙sp»es; Mu’erzong Lavrung xpØs, but Caodeng k|˙∆pet ‘marmot’. 24 In writing this section I benefited much from insights supplied by Prof. Weera Ostapirat. 25 The remarkable phenomenon of STEM 2-building tonal inversion was proposed as a diagnostic feature of rGyalrongic inflectional morphology in my earlier studies (J. Sun 2000a: §2.1; 2000b: §3.2.1.3).
280
Verb-Stem Variations in Showu rGyalrong
However, it is not always possible to predict the STEM 2 tone from the corresponding STEM 1 tone, unlike in some other rGyalrongic dialects.26 In addition to verbs operating with invariant stems, about one fifth of alternating verbs fail to implement tone inversion in STEM 2. One factor disrupting the regularity of tonal alternations may be repercussions from segmental morphological processes on the tonal plane. STEM-2 building aspiration seen in §2.2.1 above, for example, is consistently associated with the level tone (12-13). This is to be contrasted with data (14) where tonal inversion is shown to apply in the absence of onset aspiration. The excrescent codas -t (15) and -m (16) on derived STEM 2, likewise, co-occur respectively with level and falling tone. On the other hand, a good number of verbs that fail to undergo inversion of tone in STEM 2 mark this derived stem with ablaut, as in
(18) STEM 1 STEM 2 r—ot r—ut ‘to rise; to get up’ ∆—ëm ∆—îm ‘to brood’ fk»ev fk»îv ‘to cover with lid’ q»ër q»îr ‘to separate’
Thus, the language appears to show a preference of economy over double-marking with both segmental and tonal exponents in stem derivation. This is best evidenced by the existence of STEM 2 variants marked either by ablaut or by a change of tone:
(19) STEM 1 STEM 2 lqæ—o≈ lqæ—u≈ ± lqæ»o≈ ‘to embrace’ ≥—ov ≥—uv ± ≥»ov ‘to sip’ nguzgj—e nguzgj—î ± nguzgj»e ‘to call; to yell’ ëlÇw—e ëlÇw—î ± ëlÇw»e ‘to be curved’
Elsewhere in rGyalrongic, STEM 3 generally copies the tonality of STEM 1. Here Showu is again the odd one out, since in quite a few common Showu transitive verbs tonal shift contributes to making STEM 3 phonologically distinct from STEM 1. Verbs showing this exceptional property belong either to three-stem verbs (e.g. 20) or two- stem verbs of the A-B-B type (e.g. 21):
26 In Caodeng rGyalrong, Shangzhai Horpa, and all known dialects of Lavrung, tones (and final glottality in the case of Caodeng) undergo regular inversion in the derivation of STEM 2 from STEM 1. Exceptions are rare.
281
Jackson T.-S. Sun
(20) STEM 1 STEM 2 STEM 3 r≥»ë r≥»î r≥—e ‘to borrow’ pj»î pæj—î p—o ‘to do; to make’ ts»a tsæ—î© ts—e© ‘to strangulate’
(21) STEM 1 STEM 2/3 n»ë n—˙ ‘to bite’ ∆»î ∆—˙ ‘to give to drink’ rg»ov rg—˙v ‘to tie up’
2.4 Accentual alternations
As previously stated, the default Showu accent position is stem-final. Variation in accent placement serves lexical as well as grammatical functions. An intriguing type of morphologically conditioned non-final accent is called into service in STEM 2 and STEM 3 formation. There is, for one thing, a class of verbs whose perfective forms marked with the orientation prefixes27 for UP, UPSTREAM, and DOWNSTREAM are accented on the penultimate. Perfective verb forms marked with the orientation terms for DOWN and CROSSWISE as well as past imperfective forms are exempt, despite the fact that perfectives and the past imperfective both employ STEM 2. This peculiar distribution of marked accent among STEM 2 forms (shown below in boldface) is exemplified with the three-stem verb rkw—˙t-rkæ—u-rk—o ‘to insert; to put into (container)’:
(22) t|ë-rkæu ‘s/he inserted it upward’ ∆|ë-rkæu ‘s/he inserted it upstream’ n|u-rkæu ‘s/he inserted it downstream’ rë-rkæ—u ‘s/he inserted it crosswise’ në-rkæ—u ‘s/he inserted it downward; s/he was inserting it’
A possible explanation for the exclusion of past imperfective forms from the special accent rule is that the past imperfective-marker në- is grammaticalized from the orientation prefix for DOWN,28 which is not one of the orientation terms attracting
27 Orientation marking does triple duty in rGyalrongic (and certain other Qiangic) languages, coding perfectivity and imperativity as well as topography-based spatial deixis (Huang 1991b: §4.1; J. Sun 2003: 496). 28 In all the documented rGyalrongic dialects known to us, past imperfective verb forms are invariably built on STEM 2 (if available) plus a past imperfective prefix grammaticalized from the orientation term for DOWN.
282
Verb-Stem Variations in Showu rGyalrong marked accent. This makes it possible to generalize marked accentuation as part of the morphological markup of STEM 2, at least for the verbs that display accent alternations of this type. Accentuation likewise sensitive to orientation selection also figures in STEM 3 formations. This involves placing penultimate accent on STEM 3 forms of yet another class of verbs when they are marked for the three “accent-prone” orientation terms seen above. Contrast for example the plural imperative (showing STEM 1), the perfective (showing STEM 2), and the singular imperative (showing STEM 3) forms of the three- stem verbs ÙØrs»î-ÙØrs—î-Ù|Ørse ‘to look for’ and sØrkuj»î-sØrkæoj—e-sØrk|oje ‘to pen up (livestock in separate groups)’:29
(23) n˙-ÙØrs»î-¯ ‘You all look for it!’ ti-sØrkuj»î-¯ ‘You all pen in (livestock)!’ nu-Ù|Ørsi ‘s/he looked for it!’ të-sØrkæ|oje ‘s/he penned in (livestock)’ n˙-Ù|Ørse ‘Look for it!’ ti-sØrk|oje ‘Pen in (livestock)!’
The two groups of accent-alternating verbs have shared members with penultimate accent turning up in both perfective and STEM 3 forms, as in (24):
(24) kØ-nkr—os ‘to discuss (STEM 1)’ kØ-nrkw—˙t ‘to wear (STEM 1)’30 t|ë-nkærus ‘s/he discussed it (STEM 2)’ ∆|ë-nrkæu ‘s/he wore it (STEM 2)’ t|î-nkris ‘Discuss it! (STEM 3)’ ∆|Ø-nrko ‘Wear it! (STEM 3)’
The membership overlap is imperfect though, as we have verbs with penultimate accent only in perfectives (e.g. 25) or only in STEM 3 forms (e.g. 26):
(25) kØ-fts»e ‘to cherish (STEM 1)’ kØ-p—˙ ‘to bake (STEM 1)’ t|ë-ftsæe ‘s/he cherished it (STEM 2)’ ∆|ë-pæu ‘s/he baked it (STEM 2)’ ti-fts»e-s ‘Cherish it! (STEM 3)’ ∆Ø-p—o ‘Bake it! (STEM 3)’
(26) kØ-nguzgj—e ‘to call (STEM 1)’ kØ-nzÙ—e ‘to transport (STEM 1)’ ti-nguzgj»e ‘s/he called it (STEM 2)’ të-nzÙ»e ‘s/he transported it (STEM 2)’ ti-ng|uzgje ‘Call it! (STEM 3)’ t|î-nzÙe-s ‘Transport it! (STEM 3)’
29 The orientation conventionally associated with this verb is DOWNSTREAM. The spatial deictic semantics in this case has been bleached and the orientation prefixes function purely as perfective and imperative markers. 30 Wear rings, bracelets, etc.
283
Jackson T.-S. Sun
3. Stem distribution
The distinct verb stems occupy different morphological environments defined by various verbal inflectional categories. Purely syntactic factors do not play a role in conditioning verb stem alternation, unlike in Kuki-Chin languages (see e.g. Hyman and VanBik 2002). For convenience of exposition, the following discussion on stem usage proceeds from the highly restricted STEM 3 to the more prevalent STEM 2, and then to the default STEM 1.
3.1 STEM 3
The apparent function of this derived stem is to highlight transitivity in a set of specific morphosyntactic contexts constrained by number (singular), tense-aspect (non- past, non-progressive), as well as direction (direct). The typical uses of STEM 3 are illustrated below with ndz—Ø, STEM 3 of ndz—e-ndz—î-ndz—Ø ‘to eat’:
(27) ndz—Ø; mØ-ndz—Ø ‘s/he eats;’ ‘s/he does not eat’ (gnomic) j˙-ndz—Ø ‘s/he is about to eat’ (prospective) vë-ndz—Ø ‘s/he often eats’ (present imperfective) ti-ndz—Ø ‘Eat!’ (singular imperative) ë-t|˙-ndzØ ‘Let him/her eat!’ (singular jussive) ë-t˙-t|˙-ndzØ ‘Eat it later in my absence!’ (delayed singular imperative) ë-t|î-ndzØ ‘if s/he eats it’ (singular irrealis)
3.2 STEM 2
This derived stem is functionally more pervasive, required not only by the two tense-aspect categories with predominant past-time reference, namely the perfective and the past imperfective, but also by the (primary) progressive, which is independent of temporal force. The perfective verb, formally STEM 2 prefixed with perfective orientational markers, includes in its range of uses both perfective (28a) and perfect or retrospective readings (28b-c).
(28) Perfective a. ˙k—˙ r˙∆w—er t|î-nngë
3S yesterday PFV-be ill2 ‘S/he got ill yesterday.’
284
Verb-Stem Variations in Showu rGyalrong
b. n|˙-ncæe-≥ t∆»ë kØ-ndz—e më-cæ»ë-≥
PFV-dine2-1S anything NMLZ-eat NEG-be.able-1S ‘I have eaten, so I can’t eat anything more.’ c. ¬Øs»e Ùn|î-lØ të-r—˙t-≥
Lhasa two-time PFV:UP-go2-1S ‘I have been to Lhasa twice.’
The past imperfective verb form, made up of the past imperfective prefix në- plus STEM 2, expresses open-ended events or states no longer holding true at the moment of speaking. The obligatory occurrence of the past imperfective introduces a clear past versus non-past distinction among the imperfectives, giving incontestable proof that Showu has grammaticalized absolute tense.31
(29) Past imperfective a. ˙k—˙ jo≈m—Ø ˙kæ—o t∆æ˙ts»e në-tæ—˙ (tæ»î-tæ—˙-tæ—˙ ‘to drink’)
3S just.now here tea IMPFV:PAST-drink2/3 ‘S/he was drinking tea here just now (but has gone away).’ b. z˙k—u tØk—˙t në-skæ—ë (sk—ë-skæ—ë-sk—î ‘to smoke’)
before cigarette IMPFV:PAST-smoke2 ‘S/he used to smoke cigarettes (but no longer does now).’
The Showu primary progressive is formed by attaching the prefixes r˙-/rë-32 to STEM 2. This aspectual form behaves more like a continuative since, unlike the irrealis progressive, it can apply not only to ongoing events (30a) but also to postures (30b) and certain statives (30c-d).
(30) Primary Progressive a. p|˙skæo ≥—˙ tØk—˙t r˙-skæ—ë-s-≥
now 1S cigarette PROG-smoke2-S:TR-1S ‘I am smoking cigarettes now.’
31 The same is true of the other rGyalrongic languages. Unlike in Caodeng where the two imperfectives always make a distinction in the stems, the present and past imperfective in Showu can sometimes be distinguished only from the different prefixes used. 32 This alternation is based on transitivity and discourse pragmatics: non-SAP transitive verb forms take rë-; all other cases call for r˙-.
285
Jackson T.-S. Sun
b. lØqØl≥—Ø≈ t∆o≈ts»î v˙-t»a≈ ra-mdz»u (mdz—o-mdz»u ‘to sit’)
kitty table 3S:POSS-top PROG-sit2 ‘The kitty is sitting on the table.’ c. ˙k—˙ nbØrkæ—Øm r˙-sm—˙t (sm»o-sm—˙t ‘to live’)
3S Ma’erkang PROG-live2 ‘S/he lives at Ma’erkang.’ d. pt®Ø∆—î vë-tsæ—˙ r˙-tsæ—ë-≥ (tsæ—ë ‘to understand’)
Trashi IMPFV-say1 PROG-understand-1S ‘I understand what Trashi says.’
Stative verbs in progressive form denote an inchoative meaning:
(31) Inchoative fson»ëm r˙-ëv˙¯—ëm (ëv˙¯—ëm ‘to be fat’) Sonam PROG-be.fat ‘Sonam is getting fat.’
3.3 STEM 1
This verb stem occurs in all other environments not selected by the aforementioned marked stems, including the citation form nominalized by kØ-. It can therefore be regarded as the base or default verb stem. STEM 1 without tense-aspect prefixation bears a fundamentally non-past function and may denote present stative (32), future (33), and gnomic (34) meanings:33
(32) Present Stative fson»ëm ≥um»e ng—o (ng—o-ng»o ‘to be poor’)
Sonam very be.poor1 ‘Sonam is very poor.’
(33) Future t˙-sk»î (sk»î-skæ—e ‘to be burnt’)
2-be burnt1 ‘You will scald yourself (a warning)!’
33 Recall that singular non-past forms of transitive stem-alternating verbs must select STEM 3 instead of STEM 1 (§3.1).
286
Verb-Stem Variations in Showu rGyalrong
(34) Gnomic zbuv»e p»a≈ rz»u-¯ (rz»u-rz—o-rz»˙m ‘to raise’)
Ribu.people pig keep1-3P ‘The Ribu people raise pigs.’
A number of prefixed verbal forms with non-past temporal reference are also based on STEM 1, including the prospective (35), the irrealis progressive (36),34 the present imperfective (37), and the non-singular imperative (38):
(35) Prospective tsæefs»ëm-re k˙l»ë tØk—˙t j˙-sk—ë-¯
Tshefsam-P in.a.while cigarette PROS-smoke1-3P ‘In a while, Tshefsam and others are going to smoke.’
(36) Irrealis Progressive p|˙skæo tëÙ—o ësë-tæ»î t—a≈
now booze PROG:IRR-drink1 be.certain ‘(I assume that) s/he must surely be drinking booze now.’
(37) Present Imperfective35 a. ëpæ|e¯i t˙kw—e nu-rkw—e-ndÔ˙ (rkw—e-rkw»î-rkw—e ‘to spin’)
3D yarn IMPFV-spin1-D ‘The two of them (habitually) spin yarn.’ ‘The two of them have been spinning yarn.’ b. p|˙skæo ëpæ|e¯i ˙s—e t˙kw—e nu-rkw—e-ndÔ˙
now 3D still yarn IMPFV-spin1-D ‘The two of them are still spinning yarn now.’
34 Showu distinguishes an irrealis progressive from the primary progressive (see further on). The irrealis progressive verb form (ësë-STEM 1) is used when the speaker assumes that an event that s/he witnessed away from the speech-act location a while ago must still be going on at the moment of speech. 35 The present imperfective, formed by attaching the present imperfective prefixes (vë- UP; nu- DOWN/DOWNSTREAM, ru- CROSSWISE and ∆u- UPSTREAM) to STEM 1, has habitual, progressive, as well as what Comrie (1976: §3.1.3) calls ‘perfect of persistent situations’ uses. Note that with temporal adverbial like p|˙skæo ‘now’ the verb form can acquire a ‘still-tense’ reading, as in (37b).
287
Jackson T.-S. Sun
(38) Non-Singular Imperative ti-ndz—e-¯ ( IMP-eat1-2P ‘You all eat it!’ The use of the Showu STEM 1, furthermore, prevails even in contexts calling for STEM 2 in other rGyalrong dialects. Discussed herein are oblique deverbal nominalizations in së-, a converb construction in së-, and two passive-like formations. Participant nominalizations are deverbal nouns referring to entities associated with the verb root. The four participant nominalizations in Showu denote respectively the agent (agentive nominalization), patient (patientive nominalization), manner or extent (manner nominalization), and location or instrument (oblique nominalization) involved in the event described by the verb. As demonstrated in (39) below with the three-stem verb ndz—e-ndz—î-ndz—Ø ‘to eat’, these nominalizations all build on STEM 1 plus proper nominalizing prefixes: (39) Participant nominalizations k˙-ndz—e ‘the one who eats’ (agentive) kë-ndz—e ‘that which is eaten’ (patientive) t˙-ndz—e ‘the manner /extent of eating’ (manner) së-ndz—e ‘the place of eating; the instrument with which to eat’ (oblique) The converb, or verbal adverb, formation doubly marked by reduplication of STEM 1 and the prefix së- denotes states or durative actions accompanying the main predicate. (40) së-rg˙-rg—e nbërkæ—Øm në-r—˙t-≥ (rg—e-rg»e ‘to be happy’) CONV-RDPL-be.happy1 Ma’erkang PFV:DOWN-go2-1S ‘I went happily downhill to Ma’erkang.’ Both of the two valency-reducing derivations examined next, the middle and the agentless passive, resemble passive constructions. These verb formations are peculiar in that neither can be fully inflected for such verbal categories as person, number, or tense-aspect. The middle construction (in the sense of Payne 1997: §8.2.4), composed of the prefix kë- added to STEM 1, functions to predicate an ongoing transitive process a patient-role entity is undergoing at the moment of speaking: 288 Verb-Stem Variations in Showu rGyalrong (41) Middle tæëfk»e-na≥ qaw—˙ kë-p—˙ tæ—ë-ki hearth-inside bread MID-bake1 be.found-MED ‘Some bread is baking in the hearth.’ STEM 1 is also used together with the generic human argument marker ë- to derive an agentless passive with which the speaker speculates on an activity performed in the past by an unspecified agent on the basis of current observable results. (42) Agentless passive a. zd|Ø-Ùër pØnt∆—en ¯˙36-≈p»ër ë-lÇ—o≈ wall-on Panchen 3P:POSS-photo GHA-paste1 ‘A photo of the Panchen Lama got pasted on the wall.’ b. laÔ—o ë-ndz—e-ki nd|eni dried.meat GHA-eat1-MED for kØ-mt—ë më≥»ît NOM-see not.be.found:MED ‘(I see that) someone ate the dried meat, as it is gone.’ 4. rGyalrongic comparisons Verb stem alternations are on the decline among rGyalrongic languages in general. Although the distinction between STEM 1 and STEM 2 is robustly maintained in Lavrung (J. Sun 2000a: §2) and at least some dialects of Horpa (J. Sun 200b: §2), few traces of STEM 3 have been identified in these languages. Within rGyalrong proper, the best-known Situ (or Eastern) dialect presents us with the least evidence for the erstwhile existence of multiple verb stems (You-Jing Lin, p.c. 2003). This apparently leaves us with the Chabao (Japhug or Northeastern) dialect and the Caodeng subdialect of the Sidaba dialect as the only other rGyalrongic members that still preserve STEM 2 and STEM 3 alternations in the verb paradigms. 36 Note the honorific use of the plural. 289 Jackson T.-S. Sun 4.1 Chabao rGyalrong37 In Chabao rGyalrong the few dozen stem-alternating verbs that have survived sweeping paradigm leveling supply us with valuable comparative evidence for both STEM 2 and STEM 3. Lin and Luo 2003 reports three verbs showing STEM 1-STEM 2 alternations, and forty-six verbs showing STEM 1-STEM 3 alternations in the Chabao variety spoken at De’erba Village in Dazang Township. Two of the three attested STEM 2 forms38 are directly comparable with Showu: (43) ‘to come’ STEM 1 STEM 2 De’erba Chabao ©i ©e Showu v—˙ v—î (44) ‘to say’ STEM 1 STEM 2 De’erba Chabao ti t˙t Showu tsæ—˙ tsæ—ît The De’erba Chabao STEM 2 forms of ‘to come’ and ‘to say’ are characterized by ablaut (Ablaut A), with an additional coda -t in the latter verb form. As can be seen in the cognate Showu forms, ablaut and -t coda addition are without doubt vestiges of STEM 2-marking devices now in the terminal stage of degeneration in Chabao. STEM 3 forms, marked by ablaut (Ablaut B) and occasionally also by the coda -m, are much better attested. Following are the recorded Chabao ablaut grades (cum -m excrescence) (Lin and Luo 2003:26):39 Table 3: Chabao STEM 3 Ablaut Series a-e ndza-ndze ‘to eat’ u-e vzu-vze ‘to do’ Ë-i ≈tË-≈ti ‘to buy’ 37 Information about Chabao stem variations is from my own unpublished field data, as well as from Qu 1983, Jacques 2004, and the ongoing work by You-Jing Lin. There is no distinctive tone in Chabao. 38 The other such verb in De’erba ∆e ‘to go’ shows a suppletive STEM 2 form tæël. cf. Zhuokeji rGyalrong t∆æ»e [STEM 1]-tæ»al [STEM 2]. 39 As a result of innovative paradigm extension, the G—anm\uni«ao (kÌm¯∑) dialect regularly turns STEM 1 open rhymes -a, -o, -u, and -∑ into STEM 3 -e, -Ìm, -e, and -i (Jacques 2004: §5.2.2). 290 Verb-Stem Variations in Showu rGyalrong u-˙m tu-t˙m ‘to open’ o-ëm no-nëm ‘to drive (nail)’ Again, these valuable relic forms constitute proof that Ablaut B and the suffixation of -m found in both dialects reflect archaic STEM 3-forming devices in the common ancestral language. 4.2 Caodeng rGyalrong Stem-deriving morphology in Caodeng is less diverse but more thoroughgoing. Formation of STEM 2 is achieved principally by regular inversion of stem-final glottality, corresponding to Showu (not fully productive!) tonal inversion. Accentual alternation occurs minimally, by way of automatically relocating marked penultimate accent (if any) of STEM 1 to the default final position in STEM 2. STEM 2 is occasionally signaled by Ablaut A in the form of vocalic alternation between ë and e/‰, with a relic ablaut series i-‰ embodied by a single exceptional verb wi-w‰÷ ‘to come’ and its derivatives. Many basic transitive verbs distinguish STEM 3, identical to STEM 1 except for a different vocalism. Caodeng no longer permits more than two vowel grades in any given verb, hence the vocalism of STEM 2 of three-stem verbs will always be identical to that of either STEM 1 or STEM 3, as shown by the attested transitive ablaut patterns in Table 4: Table 4: Caodeng Transitive Ablaut Series i-i-‰ n|ëji-nëji-n|ëj‰ ‘to wait for’ u-u-‰ ≈tu-≈tu÷-≈t‰ ‘to buy’ e-e-ë rqje÷-rqje-rqjë÷ ‘to take apart’ ‰-‰-ë sël‰-sël‰÷-sëlë ‘to bring to a boil’ e-e-o pe-pe÷-po ‘to do’ ‰-ë-ë fc‰÷-fcë-fcë÷ ‘to change; to replace’ e-ë-ë s˙rnÇe÷-s˙rnÇë-s˙rnÇë÷ ‘to lengthen’ Interestingly, Caodeng manages to differentiate even more stem forms by putting the available stem-marking strategies to productive use. Aside from STEM 3 reserved exclusively for ‘strong’ or irregular transitive verbs, all transitive verbs regularly yield STEM 2 as well as two variant derivatives of STEM 1: a high-transitivity progressive stem and a passive stem. 291 Jackson T.-S. Sun The high-transitivity progressive40 comprises the prefix ësë- added to a derived stem produced by making certain phonological adjustments to STEM 1 which conspire to turn out an accented stem-final syllable in falling tone: (45) a. Obliterate any input glottal-stop coda. b. Shift any penultimate accent to final position. c. If the base terminates in a checked syllable, change the input level tone to falling. The high-transitivity progressive is used to describe dynamic ongoing events that are prototypically transitive; involitional transitives (e.g. ‘to hear’, ‘to own’), reflexives, reciprocals, as well as verbs framed in inverse viewpoint are ineligible. On the other hand, only penultimately accented monosyllabic verb bases produce finally accented, falling-toned passive stems, phonologically exactly like a product from high-transitivity progressive formation. In all other cases, the passive stem is identical to STEM 1. This skewed pattern of stem differentiation is exemplified by: (46) STEM 1 STEM 2 STEM 3 HTR-PROG PASS | ret ret | rët r»et r»et ‘to write’ r|ëski rëski r|ësk‰ rëski r|ëski ‘to pull’ The passive stem enters into the two passive-like formations introduced in §3.3 above, namely the middle (kë- plus passive stem) and the agentless passive (ë- plus passive stem). Consider the Caodeng equivalents of the Showu examples given earlier as (41)- (42): (47) Middle tæëfke-na≥ q|ëjwi kë-po wëÇo (| po-po÷-| poj ‘to bake’) hearth-inside bread MID-bake:PASS be.found ‘Some bread is found baking in the hearth.’ (48) Agentless passive snd|ëj-Ùër pënt∆en n˙-≈për ë-lÇø wall-on Panchen 3P:POSS-photo GHA-paste:PASS ‘A photo of the Panchen Lama got pasted on the wall.’ Leaving aside the two secondary Caodeng verb stems missing in Showu, we turn now to a comparison of the functional distribution of the three major stems in the two 40 Etymologically related to the Showu irrealis progressive [ësë-STEM 1] seen earlier in (36). 292 Verb-Stem Variations in Showu rGyalrong dialects. STEM 3 need not concern us here, as its usage is the same for both dialects. In Showu as well as Caodeng, STEM 2 shows up in perfective, past imperfective, and at least one of the two progressive formations. However, STEM 2 in Caodeng allows a wider range of uses including several nominalized derivations as well as the së- converb construction, whose corresponding Showu forms all rely on STEM 1. Take the verbs x∆u-x∆u÷-x∆‰ ‘to entrust’; Çi÷-Çi ‘to be heavy’; ≈e÷-≈e ‘to be happy’ for example: (49) Caodeng nominalizations using STEM 2 a. t˙-x∆u÷ ‘the manner of entrusting’ (manner nominalization) b. së-x∆u÷ ‘the place or time sth is entrusted’ (oblique nominalization) c. të-Çi ‘heaviness’ (property nominalization) (50) Caodeng converb construction së-≈˙-≈e nbërkæem÷ në-re-a≥ CONV-RDPL-be.happy2 Ma’erkang PFV:DOWN-go2-1S ‘I went happily downhill to Ma’erkang.’ 5. Conclusions The present study unveils a surprising degree of complexity in the formation of verb stems in the Showu rGyalrong dialect. More than any other rGyalrongic member, Showu bears clear testimony to three well-differentiated verb stems, STEM 1, STEM 2, and STEM 3. While numerous Showu stem-alternating verbs are still in active use, none of the stem-encoding devices examined herein are really productive. The available comparative data indicate that many of the observed irregular alternations in Showu, such as onset stop aspiration, ablaut, and coda excrescence, are conservative features now rarely seen elsewhere in rGyalrongic. In contrast, the high-transitivity and passive stems in Caodeng are in all likelihood secondary innovations regularly derived from STEM 1. This is corroborated by the fact that Showu simply uses STEM 1 in the analogous verb formations. The important evidence from Showu also makes it possible for us to delineate the functional range of the three major rGyalrongic verb stems, such that we may refer to them heuristically as the verb base, the past stem, and the non-past singular transitive stem, respectively. The disparity between Showu and Caodeng STEM 2 distribution still needs to be accounted for. Is it to be attributed to the innovative extension of the functional domain of STEM 2 on the part of Caodeng, or rather to paradigm leveling on the part of Showu? Interestingly, a few lexicalized nominalizations have been discovered in Showu with STEM 2 instead of STEM 1, as for example the instrumental 293 Jackson T.-S. Sun deverbal noun sëtæw—ë ‘key’ from tw—ë-tæw—ë-tw—î ‘to open’. These may be sobering indications that even the generally conservative Showu dialect has apparently undergone innovative leveling in favor of STEM 1, at least for certain nominalized formations. Much still remains to be worked out about the form and function of the rGyalrongic verb stems. More unexplored rGyalrongic dialects should be looked at in depth.41 For now, we are grateful for the opportunity to still be able to work with an amazingly conservative dialect like Showu rGyalrong, which grants us a precious glimpse into an ancient verbal system whose level of elaboration seems second to none in the Tibeto-Burman family. ABBREVIATIONS 1 first person 2 second person CONV converb D dual FUT future GHA generic human argument HTR high transitivity IMP imperative IMPFV imperfective IRR irrealis MED mediative MID middle NEG negator NMLZ nominalizer P plural PASS passive PFV perfective POSS possessive PROG progressive PROS prospective S singular TR transitive 41 Is there, for instance, also a ‘morphologically conservative’ variety of Situ rGyalrong waiting to be discovered? 294 Verb-Stem Variations in Showu rGyalrong References Comrie, Bernard. 1976. Aspect. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ebert, Karen H. 1994. The Structure of Kiranti Languages. Zürich: Universität Zürich. Gong, Hwang-cherng. 2001. X—îxi\a y«u d\ongc|î de r|ench—eng h—uy\îng y«u y—îny\un zhu«anhu\an [Personal agreements and phonological alternations in the Tangut verb]. Language and Linguistics 2.1:21-67. Huang, Bufan. 1991a. M\uy«ay«u [The Muya language]. Z\angmi«any«u Sh|îw«uzh«ong [Fifteen Tibeto-Burman Languages], ed. by Dai Qingxia et al., 98-131. Beijing: Yanshan Press. Huang, Bufan. 1991b. Qi—angy«uzh—î [The Qiangic branch]. H\anz\angy«u G\ail\un [Introduction to Sino-Tibetan languages], ed. by Ma Xueliang, 208-369. Beijing: Beijing University Press. Huang, Bufan. 2003. L—aw\ur|ongy«u [The Lavrung language]. Minzu Yuwen 2003.3:60- 80. Hyman, Larry M., and Kenneth VanBik. 2002. Tone and Stem2-formation in Hakha Lai. Linguistics of the Tibeto-Burman Area 25.1:113-121. Jacques, Guillaume. 2004. Phonologie et morphologie du Japhug (rGyalrong). Paris: Université Paris VII dissertation. LaPolla, Randy J. 2003. Overview of Sino-Tibetan morphosyntax. The Sino-Tibetan Languages, ed. by Graham Thurgood and Randy J. LaPolla, 22-42. London and New York: Routledge. Lin, Xiangrong. 1993. Jiarongyu Yanjiu [A Study of rGyalrong]. Chengdu: Sichuan Nationality Press. Lin, You-Jing, and Luo Erwu. 2003. D\az\ang Ji—ar|ongy«u d\ongc|î de f—angxi\ang qi|anzhu¸î y«u c|îg\an bi\anhu\a [Verbal orientational prefixes and stem variations of the verb in Dazang rGyalrong]. Minzu Yuwen 2003.4:19-29. Matisoff, James. A. 2003. Handbook of Proto-Tibeto-Burman. Berkeley: University of California Press. Payne, Thomas. 1997. Describing Morphosyntax, a Guide for Field Linguists. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Qu, Aitang. 1983. Ji—ar|ongy«u d\ongc|î de r|ench—eng f\anch|ou [The verbal category of person in rGyalrong]. Minzu Yuwen 1983.4:35-60. Sun, Jackson T.-S. 2000a. Parallelisms in the verb morphology of Sidaba rGyalrong and Guanyinqiao in rGyalrongic. Language and Linguistics 1.1:161-190. Sun, Jackson T.-S. 2000b. Stem alternations in Puxi verb inflection. Language and Linguistics 1.2:211-232. Sun, Jackson T.-S. 2000c. The irrealis category in rGyalrong. Paper presented at the 6th 295 Jackson T.-S. Sun Himalayan Languages Symposium. University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee; June 15-17, 2000. Sun, Jackson T.-S. 2003. Caodeng rGyalrong. The Sino-Tibetan Languages, ed. by Graham Thurgood and Randy J. LaPolla, 490-502. London and New York: Routledge. Sun, Jackson T.-S. (Forthcoming-a). 2005. Perfective stem renovation in Khalong Tibetan. Studies in Himalayan Linguistics, ed. by Roland Bielmeier. Mouton de Gruyter. Sun, Jackson T.-S. (Forthcoming-b). 2005. Ji—ar|ong y«uz«u y«uy|an de y—îng—ao: li«ang g\e g\e\an y|anji\u [Pitch in rGyalrongic languages: two case studies]. Yuyan Yanjiu. 296