Tone Change for Grammatical Purposes in the Rawang Language
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1. Introduction •Tibeto-Burman language; far north of Kachin State, Myanmar. Tone Variation for Grammatical Purposes •Closely related to Dulong in China. in the Rawang Language of Kachin State •Data from the Mvtwang (Mvt River) dialect of Rawang. Randy J. LaPolla & David Sangdong •Verb-final, agglutinative, both head marking and dependent Nanyang Technological University marking. •Verbs: take hierarchical person marking, aspect marking, SEALS24, Yangon University, 27-31 May 2014 directional marking (which also marks aspect in some cases), and tense marking. •Word classes and transitivity are clearly differentiated. •The Rawang orthography (Morse 1962, 1963) is used in this paper. 2. Verb classes •Most letters represent the pronunciations of English, except i = [i], v = [ǝ], a Morphology in citation identifies form class (third person non-past = [ɑ], ø = [ɯ], q = [ʔ], and c = [s]. Tones: high or high-falling á, low or affirmative/declarative): low falling à, and mid level ā. Syllables ending in a stop consonant (-p, -t, - q, -k) are in the high tone. Open syllables with no tone mark are unstressed. • Intransitives: non-past affirmative/declarative particle (ē) alone in the A colon marks non-basic long vowels. non past (e.g. ngø ̄ē 'to cry') and the intransitive past tense marker (-ı ̀) in past Examples of the tone contrasts: forms (with third person argument). This includes what would be translated (1) kā& ‘chicken’ ká& ‘debt’ kà& ‘word’ as adjectives on some other languages. rı ̄& ‘bundle, bunch’ rı ́& ‘carry’ rı ̀& ‘plural marker’ rū& ‘to write’ rú& ‘to be struck’ rù& ‘poisoned’ ngā&‘fish’ ngá& ‘borrow’ ngà& ‘1sg’ gár& ‘CL(drop)’ gār& ‘protect’ gàr& ‘large’ Pre,x HeadBenefactiveModality Agreement Transitive Cl. ,nal particle • Transitives: non-past third person P marker (ò) plus non-past affirmative/ è-/nv- VH ā daq nē -ng|-ì dv-/shv-(-shì)kē/ké dvnǵ ngut -shì/-shøng̀ -ò -e declarative particle (ē) in non-past forms (e.g. rıò́ē 'to carry (something)') and mv- vm/v̄ ḿ dvshà nvm/nàm̀ -nøng̀ dvzaq pvń past tense particle transitive past tense marker (-à) in past forms (with third person P dvzvr ́pvng̀ dǿm rà(ng) arguments). gvm̄ shā(ng) -à jāng shvlā -ì jøm̀ vdu|àng • Ambitransitives (labile verbs): used as transitives or intransitives (vmò́ ē / jòr yvk vm̄ ē 'to eat'). Both S=P type and S=A types. vløt yùl lún rvzaq lvwvn(v)løt mūn vnvp mvn̄ vlé mvyǿ 3. Tone Variation for Grammatical Purposes •Tone variation with nominalizing suffixes: 3.1. Deverbal nominals oLocative nominalizer -r\a: •Tone variation alone: l|vmr\a 'dancing place' (cf. l\vm—e'dance') dvsh——î 'a spirit who can make you die' (cf. dvsh|î'cause to die') r|ungr\a 'sitting place' (cf. r—ung—e 'sit') vy|a'lier' (cf. vy\a—e'to lie'). oAgentive nominalizer -sh|u: •Sometimes appears with intransitivizing prefix , but v- is optional, so not v- lvmshú́ ‘dancer’ relevant to tone variation: r|ungsh|u 'one who sits (a retired person)' •vng|ö ~ ngǿ 'one who cries easily' (cf. ng—ö—e'to cry') •vk|ö~ kǿ 'thief' (cf. k——ö—e/ k|ö\o—e 'to steal'). oClassifier used as nominalizer: r|ungg|ö [sit+CL(people)] 'the one sitting'. •Tone variation in v-V-shaq nominals: •No tone variation with nominalizing prefix \ang- (= 3sg pronoun and 3rd (2)&wēlòng gø vyv̄ ngshaq́ íwē í rvt nø (Text̀ 03-52). person possessive prefix): & wē&lòng& gø&̄ v-yvng-shaq̀ & í& wē& í& rvt& nø̀ \angw—vm 'lid' (cf. w—vm\o—e'to cover'). that CLF(general) also INTR-see/look-PERF COP NOM COP because PS ‘that has been checked out already for that..,’ •Tone variation when adjectives are used as nominals or to modify a noun: •Tone variation in V-dvng(ẁ ā) nominals: (5)&a.&Shǿngsvp rì mvshøng̀ ē. &&b. Shǿngsvp mvshǿng. (3)&pvlasdik rìí yúl dvngẁ ā ídár (Text 03-164). &&shǿng-svp&rì& mvshøng-̀ ē& shǿng-svp mvshøng̀ & pvlasdik&rì-í& yùl& dvng-ẁ ā& í-dvr ́ wood-leaf PL be.green-N.PAST wood-leaf red plastic PL-INST easy just-only/just COP-TMhrs ‘The leaves are green.’ ‘The green leaf.’ ‘nowadays (you can stop the water) easily with the plastics.’ (6)&tiqmóngmóng shórkéò nø mvshé̄ dvngẁ ā wvtnē (Text 15-7). (4)&tun tadvng̀ wekvt nø yvnǵ dvng̀ íám (Text 03-83). & tiq-móng-móng& shór-ke-ò& nø̄& mvshè& dvng̀ &wā& wvt-ē & tun& ta& dvng̀ &we&kvt& nø& yvng̀ & dvng̀ & í-vḿ one-region-region bright-BEN-TNP TOP red.color just only blossom-N.PAST basket place just that CLF(time) TOP see/look just COP-DIR '(The flowers) shine with red colour and bloom across the whole area.’ ‘you place a basket (another part of the trap) it is finished and (you) can just watch.’ 3.2. Inflected verbs •Tone variation with su.xes (PART)-ì ‘I.PAST’, and -ò ‘TNP’ (7)&shǿnggùng vtúngdaqì kvt (Text 09-32). PART is the particles -vm, bø, long, ra, dar (these particles are appear with & shǿng& gùng& vtūng& daq-ì& kvt high tone), yàng, vp, vt and daq tree/wood CLF(tree) collapse DIR(down)-I.PAST CLF(time) ‘When the tree falls down ..,’ o The -ı sù .x ‘intransitive past’: tébǿ-ì& cf. tēē ̄ ‘to be big’& #change of tone mid > high bébǿ-ì& cf. bēē ‘to ,nish/used up’ rúngbǿ-ì& cf. rūngē ‘to sit’ vmb́ ǿ-ì& cf. vm̄ ē ‘to eat’ But with some verbs there is no change, or a change to low tone: v̀lbǿ-ì cf. v̄l ‘stay’ #mid > low tone dìdǿ-ì cf. dı̄ ‘go’ zēbǿ-ì& cf. zē ‘cripple’& #no change of tone wàbǿ-ì cf. wā ‘say’ døb̄ǿ-ì& cf. dø ‘dark’̄ zàbǿ-ì cf. zā ‘sick’ lōbǿ-ì& cf. lō ‘return home’ wērvp wērvp katv́m nø̄ v̀l yàngì vpōbǿ-ì& cf. vpō ‘turn into’ (8)& (Text 02-50). wē rvp wē rvp kvt-v́m nø ̄ v̄l yv̀ng-ì vlēbǿ-ì& cf. vlē ‘pass by’ that CLF(family) that CLF(family) plant-DIR TOP exist TMyrs-I.PAST ‘Each family cooked separately.’ dømb̄ ǿ-ì& cf. døm̄ ‘block up’ dēbǿ-ì& cf. dē ‘break’ (débǿì ‘did something foolishly) o But no change with the -à su.x ‘T.PAST’: o The -ò su.x Intransitive& Transitive bābǿ-à & cf. bā ‘astride’&& =bābø ̄ē kēē& kēbø &̄ē ké-òē& kébǿ-òē& kébǿ-à& ‘bite’ dø &̄ē døbø̄ &̄ē dǿ-òē& dǿbǿ-òē& dǿbǿ-à& ‘wear’ chūbǿ-à & cf. chū ‘to plough’&& =chūbø ̄ē lāē& lābø &̄ē lá-òē& lábǿ-òē & lábǿ-à& ‘search’ sābǿ-à& cf. sā ‘to wait’&& =sābø ̄ē rı ̄ē & rıbø̄ &̄ē rí-òē& ríbǿ-òē& ríbǿ-à& ‘carry’ tāē& tābø &̄ē tá-òē& tábǿ-òē& tábǿ-à& ‘listen’ dēbǿ-à & cf. dē ‘to break’&& =dēbø ̄ē shāē& shābø &̄ē shá-òē& shábǿ-òē& shábǿ-à& ‘know’ jūbǿ-à & cf. jū ‘to bark’&& =jūbø ̄ē rūngē& rūngbø &̄ē rúng-òē& rúngbǿ-òē & rúngbǿ-à& ‘sit’ vhøm̄ ē& vhømbø̄ &̄ē vhǿm-òē& vhǿmbǿ-òē & vhǿmbǿ-à& ‘meet’ kwēbǿ-à &cf. kwē ‘to lend, to hook’&=kwēbø ̄ē vm̄ ē& vmbø̄ &̄ē vm-ò́ ē& vmb́ ǿ-òē & vmb́ ǿ-à& ‘eat’ tābǿ-à & cf. tā ‘to receive’&& =tābø ̄ē zvnḡ ē& zvngbø̄ &̄ē zvng-ò́ ē& zvngb́ ǿ-òē & zvngb́ ǿ-à& ‘put it’ •Tone variation with benefactive marking suffix: •Tone variation with the reflexive/middle marking suffix -shı̀: (9) àngwà í dø̄ gv́lāò (Text 14-298) (11) paqzv̀ng vyá, vyà yv́ng kèní wēdø̄ vsv̀ng shí pv́ngshì yàngì. (Text 26-14) àngwà í dø ̄ gv̀l-ā-ò paqzv̀ng vyà vyà yv́ng kèní usually COP manner keep-BEN-TNP lizard lie lie place/at from ‘(He) kept it as usual.’ wē dø ̄ vsv̀ng shì pv̀ng-shì yv̀ng-ì that manner human.being die start/begin-R/M TMyrs-I.PAST (10) Gvràyí dvgǿā yàngà dvgø̀ yàngàkū íē (Text 02 179) Gvrày-í dv-gø̀-ā yv̀ng-à 'The dead of human begins because the liar bird/Pazang lied.' God-AGT CAUS-complete-BEN TMyrs-T.PAST dv-gø̀ yv̀ng-à kū í-ē CAUS-complete TMyrsT.PAST suppose COP-N.PAST ‘God has prepared abundance for them. (I) suppose (God) has prepared.’ In some cases there is a difference of tone on the verb in a direct reflexive (13) a.n\an—ön\a\ew|ash\îb|ö\î 'You did it to yourself.' situation relative to an indirect reflexive. In these cases a high tone marks a n\an—ön\a\e-w\a-sh\îb|ö-\î direct reflexive, while a mid tone marks an indirect reflexive. This can be 2sg TOP 2sg N.1-do-R/M PFV-IPAST seen by comparing the (a) and (b) examples in (12)-(13): b.n\an—ön\a\ew—ash\îb|ö\î 'You did it for yourself.' (12) a . \angn—ö\angvd|örsh\î—e 'He's hitting himself.' n\an—ön\a\e-w\a-sh\îb|ö-\î 2sg TOP 2sg N.1-do-R/M PFV-IPAST \angn—ö\angvdør-sh\î-—è 3sg TOP 3sg hit-R/M-N.PAST In (13a-b) again the forms differ only in terms of the tone, but this makes the b.\angn—ö\angvd—örsh\î—e 'He is hitting his own (child, etc.).' difference between the actor as P and the actor as Benefactive (with possibly some other assumed P). \angn—ö\angvdør-sh\î-—è 3sg TOP 3sg hit-R/M-N.PAST In (12b) the form is that of a direct reflexive except for the tone on the verb, which marks the action as NOT a direct reflexive, so the referent hit must be something other than the actor, but something closely related to the actor.