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Mon Grammar’ 272 D Mathias Jenny: The Verb System of Mon Contents Preface v Abbreviations viii 1. Introduction 1 1.1 The Mon people and language 1 1.2 Sources and methodology 8 1.3 Sentence structure 13 1.4 Sentence types 15 1.4.1 Interrogative sentences 15 1.4.2 Imperative sentences 18 1.4.3 Conditional clauses 20 1.5 Phonology of Mon 23 1.5.1 Historical overview 23 1.5.2 From Middle Mon to Modern Mon 26 1.5.3 Modern dialects 30 1.5.4 The phonology of SM 33 1.5.5 Phonology and the writing system 37 2. Verbs in Mon 42 2.1 What are verbs? 42 2.2 The predicate in Mon 43 2.2.1 Previous studies of the verb in Mon 44 2.2.2 Verbs as word class in Mon 47 2.2.3 Nominal predicates and topicalised verbs 49 2.3 Negation 51 2.3.1 Negated statements and questions 51 2.3.2 Prohibitive 58 2.3.3 Summary 59 2.4 Verbal morphology 60 2.4.1 Historical development 60 2.4.2 Modern Mon 65 2.4.3 Summary 67 2.5 Verb classes and types of verbs 67 2.5.1 Transitive and intransitive verbs 68 2.5.2 Aktionsarten 71 2.5.3 Resultative verb compounds (RVC) 75 2.5.4 Existential verbs (Copulas) 77 2.5.4.1 ‹dah› th ‘be something’ 78 2.5.4.2 ‹måï› mŋ ‘be at, stay’ 80 2.5.4.3 ‹nwaÿ› nùm ‘be at, exist, have’ 82 2.5.4.4 ‹(hwa’) seï› (hùʔ) siəŋ ‘(not to) be so’ 86 i Mathias Jenny: The Verb System of Mon 2.5.5 Directionals 88 2.6 Complements of verbs 89 2.6.1 Direct objects 90 2.6.2 Oblique objects 91 2.6.3 Complement clauses 95 3. The syntax of verbs 98 3.1 Serial verb constructions 98 3.1.1 Historical development 100 3.1.2 Serial verbs in modern Mon 102 3.2 Voice 106 3.3 Attributive and relative 109 4. Causatives 113 4.1 Introduction 113 4.2 Historical overview 114 4.2.1 Verbs with single initial (non labial) 115 4.2.2 Verbs with labial initial 117 4.2.3 Verbs with initial consonant cluster 118 4.2.4 Irregular causatives 119 4.2.5 Causatives of directionals 120 4.2.6 Affix syncretism in MM 120 4.3 The situation in modern Mon 121 4.3.1 Productivity of the p-/pə- prefix 121 4.3.2 The hə- and pə- prefixes 122 4.3.3 The vocalic infix 124 4.3.4 The p- prefix in clusters 125 4.3.5 Irregular developments 126 4.3.6 The periphrastic construction 127 4.3.7 Verbs without morphological causative 129 4.3.8 Suppletive stems 130 4.4 Causatives with directionals 131 4.5 Semantics of causative derivates 132 4.6 Orthography of causatives 134 4.7 Summary of causatives 135 5. The focal and assertive particles, ‹ra› raʔ and ‹roï› noŋ 137 5.1 Description 137 5.2 Historical development 139 5.3 Modern Mon 142 5.3.1 The focal particle ‹ra› raʔ 142 5.3.2 The assertive particle ‹roï› noŋ 147 5.4 Conclusion 151 6. TAM markers and other verbal operators 152 6.1 Iterative and continuous events 154 ii Mathias Jenny: The Verb System of Mon 6.2 Conative reading 156 6.3 Predicate operators 157 6.3.1 ‹måï› mŋ and ‹tau› tao ‘STAY, STAND’ 158 6.3.2 ‹’ā› ʔa and ‹õā› na ‘GO, CAUS:GO’ 167 6.3.3 ‹kluï› klŋ and ‹naï› nŋ ‘COME, CAUS:COME’ 173 6.3.4 ‹tuin› tn and ‹ptuin› pətn ‘MOVE UP, CAUS:UP’ 179 6.3.5 ‹ceh› ceh and ‹phyeĥ› phyeh ‘MOVE DOWN, CAUS:DOWN’ 183 6.3.6 Other directionals 187 6.3.7 ‹law› l ‘KEEP’ 191 6.3.8 ‹tho’› thʔ ‘THROW’ 196 6.3.9 ‹ca› iəʔ ‘EAT’ 199 6.3.10 ‹ket› ket ‘TAKE’ 204 6.3.11 ‹kuiw› k ‘GIVE’ 207 6.3.12 ‹gwa’› kʔ ‘GET’ 215 6.3.13 ‹lep› lèp and ‹mān› màn ‘ABLE’ and ‘WIN’ 228 6.3.14 ‹dah› th ‘HIT’ 231 6.3.15 ‹mik, mik-gwa’› mòc, məkʔ ‘WANT TO’ 238 6.3.16 ‹tuy› toə ‘FINISH’ 241 6.3.17 ‹ira, yya› yaʔ ‘NEW SITUATION’ 249 6.3.18 ‹keï, klā, õiÿ, phuih› kiəŋ, kla, nm, phh ‘EXPER, BEFORE, PERS’ 252 6.4 Summary of verbal and clausal operators 257 Appendices 261 A. Maps of Mon speaking areas 262 B. Phonology tables of Mon dialects 264 C. Excerpt from Saddā Man ‘Mon Grammar’ 272 D. Sample Texts 1. Myazedi Imscription (OM) 277 2. Shwedagon Inscription (MM) 279 3. The story of King Dhammacetī (LM) 281 4. Experiences of a temple boy (SM) 283 E. Table of operators and SFPs 286 F. Text Sources 287 G. References 290 iii Mathias Jenny: The Verb System of Mon Preface This study of the verb system of Mon would not have been possible without the assistance of a number of people in Switzerland, Thailand and Burma. Prof. Karen H. Ebert, head of the Seminar für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft at Zurich University guided me through my studies and gave me the support I needed, also during long stays in Thailand. Prof. G. Diffloth, Dr. E. Guillon and Dr. Nai Pan Hla shared their profound knowledge of the Mon language and culture with me in personal communications on different occasions. Prof. Sujaritlak and Dr. Praphasi of the Institute of Language and Culture for Rural Development at Mahidol University in Bangkok were most helpful, especially in discussing parts of the present study with me and assisting with the publication of parts of my research results in Mon-Khmer Studies (Vol. 33). I am most indebted to the many Mon people in Thailand and especially in Burma who sat through recording sessions and had to endure my (to them) nonsensical questions about their language. Abbots and temple boys, housewives and peasants, market sellers and story writers, pop stars and traditional musicians and dancers, drivers and hotel employees, teachers, journalists and politicians, scholars and illiterate workers, and the people just passing by and stopping for a chat, they all contributed to the completion of this study, more often than not unknowingly, sharing their culture and language with an outsider. It is customary (and sensible) not to mention by name people in Burma itself who assist foreign researchers working on Burmese minority issues, however apolitical they may be. I therefore refrain from listing the names of the Mon in Burma, who not only invited me to their homes but also accompanied me through Monland and introduced me to places and people that I would not have had a chance to find on my own. It is experiences like listening to old monks telling the long forgotten local history, sitting in wooden houses eating freshly caught fried rats, watching whole villages participating in religious ceremonies at a local temple, being invited to an ordination party after a nightlong bus ride through southern Burma, spending nights in monasteries sleeping on the floor among monks who have to get up at five in the morning, and being given the chance to teach village children and at the same time learn a lot from them that keep the interest in a culture and its language alive. It is experiences like these that let one forget the heavy monsoon rains that pour down on Monland six months a year, the very moody electricity supply (if there is any at all), the less than perfect communication and transport facilities within Burma, as well as the political tension that surrounds all Burmese ethnicities, including the Burman themselves. v Mathias Jenny: The Verb System of Mon In Wangka (Sangkhlaburi, Thailand), where most of the research was done, the situation is much more comfortable, although the village has its own share of tension (and heavy monsoon rains), being basically a huge Mon refugee camp in Thailand, though a very open one. Here I owe special thanks to Mr. Ok Pung, who in the first phase of my Mon studies was an invaluable help in almost all respects. He created many sets of Mon fonts for Windows computers and published a number of books, mostly editions of old manuscripts. His daughters Suda and Sajiang spent many nights transcribing and typing my audio recordings. Without their help I would not have been able to make the extensive use of recorded spoken language material that is necessary for a study of this kind. Mr. Ok Pung’s wife Mi Nge proved to be an inexhaustible source of a variety of delicious Mon food, which made working through the nights much more pleasant than it would otherwise have been. Other people worthy mentioning in Wangka are Mr. and Mrs. Phophueak-Sirihong of Wangka Cable TV, who possess an extensive video collection of documentaries and music, and an always open house. Mr. Win Myint was my first Mon teacher, patiently repeating his phrases and trying to understand my first steps in a language that seemed impossible to master. Many more followed, including a number of people who may never realise how much they helped me further my studies just by sitting and talking with me or with each other. Thanks to all of them. Anon C. worked for months scanning and computerising all books in and on Mon we could get hold of, making a collection of a few hundred volumes covering all aspects of Mon culture and language conveniently available on CD ROM.
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