CHAPTER SIXTEEN

DAKNYI AND ANYI

Th e constructions to be described in this chapter are all based on some form of the lexical verbs dakpe ‘to say’, or ale ‘to do’. Th ese two verbs occur in various infl ections and varying degrees of grammaticalisation in a wide variety of constructions, with a dramatic functional prominence in Tshangla discourse. Th e constructions built on each verb will be described in turn.1 In the fi nal section evidence will be given to show that these con- structions are grammaticalised derivatives of a non-fi nal concatenating construction.

16.1 Daknyi

16.1.1 Lexical verb Th e fi rst verb to be described is dakpe ‘to say’. Dakpe shows the behavior common to any lexical verb, participating without restriction in any of the tense, aspect and mirativity infl ections.2 Examples (1), (2), (3) and (4), show the present imperfective mirative and non-mirative, and past perfec- tive mirative and non-mirative infl ections respectively. Example (5) shows dakpe in the imperative mood. (1) Nyi tam thur zhu-wa giwala, cangapa-gi. Pon, dak-la dang . . . PRT story one tell-NOM COP joker-AGT king say-COP PRT ‘So he told a story, the joker. “King, he says . . .” ’ (2) Bumthang nang-ka la, rokte Khengpa dak-ca me. Bumthang in-LOC PRT 3p Khengpa say-COP PRT ‘In Bumthang, they say (i.e. call them) Khengpa.’ (3) Ata brang-ka di-nyi, ji-gi nan yen ma-bi-la elder.brother place-LOC go-NF 1s-AGT 2s teach NEG-give-PRT dak-pa-la. say-PTC-COP ‘Th en he went to his brother and said, I will not teach you.’

1 Cf. also Andvik 2004. 2 Although negative infl ection is rare for dakpe. 396 chapter sixteen

(4) Zala-gi hang a-n-ca ya abi dang monkey-AGT what do-SE-COP QUES grandmother and meme? dak-pa dang. grandfather say-NOM PRT ‘Th e monkey said, “What are you doing old man and woman?” ’

(5) Taktakpa odo dak-co na! frog come.IMP say-IMP PRT ‘Tell the frog to come!’

16.1.2 Quotative marker—speech Th e most common usage of dakpe, however, is in its non-fi nal infl ection daknyi, which functions as a ‘quotative marker’ to set off an embedded discourse from the matrix clause. In this quotative function, daknyi occurs together with a main verb, commonly yekpe ‘to speak’ (6), but also any other verb of speech, such as gephe ‘cry’ (7) or jime ‘ask’ (8). Th e embed- ded discourse or quotation content itself is formally the complement of the verb daknyi. (6) Nan shong la-i dak-nyi, brumsha-gi yek-pa-la. 2s breath take-IMP say-NF pumpkin-AGT say-NOM-COP ‘ “You take a rest,” the pumpkin said.’ (7) Meme shi-wa dak-nyi, ro-ki ge-pha. grandfather die-NOM say-NF 3-AGT cry-NOM ‘ “Th e old man died!” she cried.’ (8) Nyi songo khepa ngam-sho ma-ngam-sho dak-nyi PRT person type chew-IMP NEG-chew-IMP say-NF ji-ma-la. ask-NOM-COP ‘Th en he asked, “Should this man be swallowed or not?” ’ Th e quotative daknyi is occasionally omitted when a main verb of speech is present, and especially when the quotation complement occurs immedi- ately before the fi nal verb, as in example (9). (9) Brumsha-gi nan shong la-i yek-pa-la. pumpkin-AGT 2s breath take-IMP speak-NOM-COP ‘Th e pumpkin said, “You take a rest!” ’ Alternatively, the main speech verb itself may be left implicit, leaving the quotation clause with daknyi to function as an ordinary non-fi nal clause, followed by another clause which encodes a subsequent event in the dis- course. In this case daknyi does double duty, as both quotative marker and main verb in the non-fi nal clause.