4.3 Copulas and existentials
4.3.1 Existential
Dhimal employs the verbhili‘be, stay, live’ to mark the existence or location of a referent. In the negative, there is a suppletive form
manthu, which is fully conjugable. The verbhilimay also be used in possessive ownership constructions. The range of contexts in which the existential occurs appears to be increasing.
227 hi-hi.
be-P
There is [some].
228 uŋko raja-ko eɁ-mi khiniŋ camindi hi-gha-khe.
that king-GENone-HCL only daughter be-PIMPF-IMPF
That king had only one daughter.
229 naŋ-ko saɁ heta hi-hi.
yous.OBL-GEN house where be-P
Where do you live?
230 ode khotar-ta hi-gha-khe.
that cage-LOC be-PIMPF-IMPF
231 ma-ko ka iso hi-gha-kha. NEG-COP I hither be-PIMPF-IMPF.1s
No, I was around here.
232 ede dhaŋgaɁ-ka pusiŋ hasu-ko hi-hi ku-nu?
this be.long-NOM hair who-GEN be-P COP-COND
Whose long hair is this then?
233 naŋ-ko bakhara naŋ hi-hi.
yous.OBL-GEN portion yous.OBL be-P
Yoursportion is yourss.
The verb hili also appears with attributive rather than existential or locational meaning. Here presumably the structure has been interpreted as that of a predicate adjective, which in Dhimal takes the auxiliary verbhili. Compare example (234) with the nominalised verb
remli functioning as a predicate adjective with examples (235) and (236).
234 wa rem-ka hi-hi.
3s good-NOM be-P
He is good.
235 gota-ŋ sərsuphai hi-hi.
each-EMP clean be-P
Everything is clean.
236 te ṭhik hi-hi.
okay fine be-P
Okay, that’s fine.
Existential meaning is sometimes also encoded with a zero allomorph.
237 naŋ-ko heɁloŋ can-camindi?
yous.OBL-GEN how.many son-daughter How many children do youshave?
238 camindi te kaŋ-ko eɁ-loŋ khiniŋ.
daughter TOP I.OBL-GEN one-CL only As for daughters, I have but one.
4.3.2Negative Existential
basic morph: manthu
label: NEG.EXT
Use of the existential verb hili in the negative is restricted to interrogatives (239). Otherwise, the negative existential takes the suppletive form manthu, which denotes the non-existence or lack of something. The negative existential may take tense and aspect markers, though for non-habitual present tense meaning, no suffixes are employed. This copula also acts as an auxiliary and is used in negative resultative and past resultative constructions.
239 bhətiya hi-hi ma-hi-hi?
rice.beer be-P NEG-be-P
Is there any rice beer or not?
240 bhətiya manthu la.
rice.beer NEG.EXT MIR
There isn’t any more rice beer. 241 manthu eɁ-loŋ buŋ.
NEG.EXT one-CL also There isn’t even one.
242 səŋkər bhəgwan-ko muisa eɁ-loŋ manthu-hi.
Saṅkar lord-GEN body.hair one-CL NEG.EXT-P
Lord Saṅkar didn’t have one hair left. 243 dyaŋ manthu-gha-hi.
person NEG.EXT-PIMPF-P
There was no one. 244 manthu-khe.
NEG.EXT-IMPF
There isn’t any (generally).
245 m ca-li manthu-teŋ seŋ-hi.
rice eat-INF NEG.EXT-SEQ be.dried-P
Not having had anything to eat, he grew thin.
4.3.3Equationals
basic morph: ko
label: COP
Tense, animacy and negation play an important role in the occurrence or non-occurrence of copulas. In affirmative statements equationals may be signaled either by a zero copula or the equational copulako.
Typically, a zero copula is used to mark predicate nominal constructions with non-human referents. In clauses with two nominal arguments, the zero copula indicates that the two arguments are equal.
246 naŋ-ko miŋ hai?
yous.OBL-GEN name what What is yoursname?
247 ede torse.
this mango
248 gota-ŋ eɁ-loŋ doŋ. each-EMP one-CL FOC
They’re all the same.
249 rajghaṭ hane-ka dama idoi.
Rājghāṭ go-NOM road this This is the road that goes to Rājghāṭ.
250 lumphi heɁ-taka gota?
banana how.many-taka each
How much are the bananas a piece?
When the referents are human or emphatic, however, the copula ko
may be employed. When used emphatically, ko may be pronounced with high level pitch and increased duration, as in examples (251) and (252). This copula does not take agreement or tense markers.
251 hai ko?!
what COP
What is it?!
252 hisika waraŋ ko?!
what.kind old.man COP
What kind of an old man is he?!
253 bheneŋ dyaŋ ko re!
different person COP ASS
It’s a different person, I tell you!
The copulakois also employed when a physical object is presented to someone (254) and occurs in the adverbials kunu ‘so, then’ and
makunu‘isn’t it so?’.
254 ko dada mun re.
COP elder.brother beaten.rice ASS
255 te ku-nu.
okay COP-COND
Okay then.
256 hul-hi ma-ku-nu?
fall-P NEG-COP-COND
He fell out, didn’t he?
To encode a negative equational, the negative copula mako is used with both human and non-human referents. It is also used to make a negative claim about the truth value of a proposition.
257 na jəti-ka dharma hasu ma-ko.
yous however.much-NOM virtue who NEG-COP
No one is as virtuous as yous. 258 wa insika dyaŋ ma-ko.
3s such person NEG-COP
He’s not that kind of person.
259 hai doŋ ma-ko.
what FOC NEG-COP
It’s nothing at all.
260 ma-ko ka iso hi-gha-kha.
NEG-COP I hither be-PIMPF-IMPF.1s No, I was around here.
4.4Negation
4.4.1Prefixal negation
basic morph: <ma->
All simplex verbs are negated by using the negative prefixal morpheme <ma->. Only the resultative and the past resultative take the suppletive negative auxiliary manthu. The negative prefix is also used to form negative adjectives and adverbs: cuɁka ‘sharp’ >
macuɁka‘dull’;elka‘attractive’ >ma-elka‘unattractive’. 261 cudur ca-li ma-sikaɁ-khe-na?
snail eat-INF NEG-feel.queasy-IMPF-2 Doesn’t eating snails make yousfeel queasy?
262 leder-li ma-el.
be.shy-INF NEG-be.proper One shouldn’t be shy.
263 ka te ma-han-aŋ-ka.
I TOP NEG-go-FUT-1s As for me, I won’t go.
4.4.2Absolute negative
basic morph: <mha->
label: ABS
The only attested instance of a preclitic aside from the negative prefix <ma-> is the morpheme <mha-> which has an absolutive sense. An absolute negative categorically denies that an event takes place.
264 dada-heŋ umpai mha-ma-dusu-hi doɁ-khe.
e.brother-DAT Umpai ABS-NEG-meet-P say-IMPF
Umpai didn’t run into older brother at all, he says. 265 mha-ma-hiŋ-khe.
ABS-NEG-listen-IMPF
266 paya ahar mha-ma-ca-khe.
pig food ABS-NEG-eat-IMPF
The pig isn’t eating the slop at all.
267 na mha-ma-lo-khe-na kelai suta.
yous ABS-NEG-come-IMPF-2 wep home Yousdon’t come at all to ourphouse.
268 mha-manthu la.
ABS-NEG.EXT MIR
There isn’t any at all.
269 mha-ma-kiɁ-khe u.
ABS-NEG-want-IMPF REFR
[He] doesn’t want to at all, you know.
4.5Manner adverbs
The suffix <-pa>, deriving from the lexical verb pali ‘to do, make’, functions both to indicate the manner in which an event occurs and to indicate a causative event, depending on the syntactic environment in which it occurs. When <-pa> is affixed to a verbal or nominal root preceding the main verb, a manner adverbial results. When this suffix occurs on the main verb, <-pa> yields a causative. Both of these functions share the invariant meaning of causation, the bringing about or causing of an event. In the case of the adverbial use, this suffix indicates the ‘doing’ in such a manner as to cause the event encoded by the root to come about. The semantic connection between these two functions becomes a little clearer with a slightly different, albeit awkward, glossing. Thus, examples (272) and (274) could be paraphrased respectively as ‘she teaches doing just like me’ and ‘we don’t beat like that making it die’. These paraphrases do no harm to the essential meaning of the sentences and illustrate how such a development from a verb meaning ‘do, make’ to a marker of manner might arise. As for the use of <-pa> in causative constructions, the development of verbs meaning ‘do, make’ into causative markers is
well documented cross-linguistically. For example, both the English verb ‘make’ and the Dutch verbdoen‘do, make’ are used in causative constructions. Causatives formed with the <-pa> suffix are examined in Section 4.9.3.
Manner adverbs mark the way in which an event occurs and are constructed simply by suffixing the morpheme <-pa> to a verbal or nominal stem, e.g. da:ka ‘black’ > da:pa ‘darkly’, makiɁli ‘to not want’ > makiɁpa ‘unwillingly’. Adverbs are generally the first constituent before the verb phrase. Semantically, manner adverbs encode manner, medium or measure. In a small number of common adverbs, this suffix is realised as <-pha>, e.g. rempha ‘well’ and
lampha ‘before’. The comitative postposition dopha also takes the aspirated suffix.
The manner in which an event occurs is often encoded through adverbial phrases. The modifying word may be verbal, in which case the verb is always intransitive. The restriction of adverbial <-pa> to intransitive verbs supports a verbal origin for this morpheme.
270 thi-teŋ rhai da:-pa teŋ-hi.
be.afraid-SEQ face be.black-do begin.to-P
[Her] face turned black with fear.
271 boɁboɁ-pa jim la.
be.warm-do sleep MIR
Sleep well.
272 kaŋ-ko bhai-pa-ŋ dhir-pa-khe. I.OBL-GEN be.like-do-EMP learn-do-IMPF
[She] teaches just like me.
In some cases when the adverbial derives from a verbal root, the semantics involved seem to approximate the English temporals ‘until’ or ‘while’.
273 ota hane-pa hane-pa belhaɁt-a wa.
there go-do go-do be.dusk-FUT DED
While going there, dusk may fall. 274 insa si-pa ma-dənai-nha-khe.
like.that die-do NEG-beat-1p-IMPF
Wepdon’t beat it like that until it dies.
275 kalau jhem-pa-ŋ rhum-khe.
then be.dawn-do-EMP wait-IMPF
Then [they] wait until dawn.
276 esa bakharai-pa bukharai-pa belhaɁt-a wa.
thus share-do share-do be.dusk-FUT DED
Thus, while apportioning it out, dusk may fall.
277 gora mha-pa am-hi.
alcohol be.drunk-do drink-P
[He] drank until he was drunk.
278 baraɁ-pa-ŋ doɁ-teŋ cum-pu-hi.
be.big-do-EMP say-SEQ take-DIST-P
[He] took him away until he was grown.
Less commonly, the adverbial <-pa> may be affixed to nominal roots. Examples (279) and (280) illustrate nominal roots with <-pa> indicating the manner in which the action of the verb is accomplished. 279 dhemal-lai-pa doɁ.
Dhimal-PL-do say
Say it in Dhimal. 280 lipai-pa nui-pa.
fart-do make.sound-do
Onomotopoeia may take the adverbial suffix.
281 rhuta-so te bukbak-bukbak-pa hul-khe aŋ.
above-EL TOP plop-plop-do fall-IMPF FOC1
From above, [things] comes falling down ‘plop plop’. 282 pok-pa dənai-nha-khe.
pop-do hit-1p-IMPF
Wepsmack it.
283 gota-ŋ arna diya lo-hi garaŋguruŋ-pa.
each-EMP arna water.buffalo come-P thunderous-do All the wild water buffalo came with a thundering roar.’ The spatial medium by which an event occurs may be marked with the morpheme <-pa>. Example (284) illustrates three different functions of this morpheme. The first is as an adverb indicating medium, in this case the choice of route. The second appearance of <-pa> functions as a causative marker, while the third functions as the lexical verb ‘do’ acting as a topic introducing conditional.
284 bhenaŋdama-pa hane-pa-he pa-nu jen-dhaŋ.
other path-do go-do-HYP do-COND become-IRR
If one had [him] go by another route, it would be alright. 285 saŋkoi-pa lo-khe.
bridge-do come-IMPF
[He] is coming across the bridge. 286 ka ede dama te-li pi-ka-ta-ŋ
I this road walk-INF give-NOM-LOC-EMP pi-ka-ta-ŋ aro-ŋ ede-pa buŋ te-pi-khe. give-NOM-LOC-EMPmore-EMP this-do also walk-DIR-IMPF
I continually let them walk this road, and yet they still walk this [other] way.
Dhimal also employs the <-pa> suffix in an ablative manner to indicate the spatial location or direction through which, by which or from which an event occurs.
287 lekhara-pa khici-hi.
backside-do take.photo-P
He took a photo from behind.
288 wa te iŋko rhuta-pa te phar-hi.
3s TOP that above-do TOP carry.in.mouth-P
It carried that from above in its mouth. 289 iŋko liɁta-pa hul-hi.
that inside-do fall-P
He fell from the inside.
290 mahẽ-pa
south-do
From the south (by way of the south).
The adverbial <-pa> also occurs with nominals in a measurative or distributive sense. Sometimes reduplication is employed to reinforce the distributive sense, as in examples (293) and (294).
291 iŋko jhoko-pa jeŋ-hi.
that amount-do become-P
There was that much [for each].
292 jharaŋ saɁ-ta taka nheɁ-taka-pa eɁ-mana-pa all house-LOC rupee two-rupee-do one-mana-do
uŋkhu gora eɁ-gilas-pa mun-gelai. rice alcohol one-glass-do beaten.rice-P
At each of all the homes — two rupees, onemanauncooked rice, alcohol, and one glass beaten rice and such.
293 eɁ-ser eɁ-ser-pa sum-mi-heŋ la buŋpuge-a wa
one-serone-ser-do three-HCL-DAT MIRalso arrive-FUT DED
One share each for three people may also be enough then. 294 nheɁ-loŋ baha-ta eɁ-lolom-pa
two-CL arm-LOC one-CL-do
nariya gha-pu-hi la doɁ-khe.
elephant play-DIST-P MIR say-IMPF
He went along playing with an elephant under each arm, they say.
In addition to the comitative dopha and allative thekapa, this morpheme also occurs with the relator wordbherpa‘near’.
295 kalau esa bherpa bhiri-pu-hi doɁ-khe bəs.
so like.this near approach-DIST-P say-IMPF stop So he went along like this approaching nearer.
296 kalau syaile-heŋ kai-hi asa bherpa-ŋ.
so jackal-DAT call-P more near-EMP
And so he called the jackal nearer.
297 ka ka ka ka pa-teŋ iŋko wajan-heŋ bherpa.
caw caw caw caw do-SEQ that boy-DAT near
Near that boy, it went ‘caw caw caw caw.
The suffix <-sa> is also attested as marking manner in a handful of words, e.g. bolsa‘by force’,hesa‘how’ and note also the comitative
morpheme dosa ~ dopha. The restricted distribution and
improductivity of <-sa> suggest that it may be the older of the two suffixes. This is supported by the interrogative pronoun hesa ‘how’, which also occurs as hesapa. The suffix <-pa> has presumably marginalised <-sa> to all but a few words, and it appears that the remaining holdouts are under pressure to regularise.