1 Introduction
Kinnauri is subsumed under what is usually referred to as (Standard) Kinnauri in the literature, the Sino-Tibetan (ST) language of Lower Kinnaur. In older literature it is referred to as “Milchan” (Gerard 1841), “Milch(an)ang” (Konow 1909), “Malhasti” (Konow 1909), “Kunawar” (Gerard 1842), “Kanaawarii” (Konow 1905), “(Lower) Kanauri” (Bailey 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1920, 1938), “Kanooringskad” “Kanooreanu skad” (Bailey 1909) and “Kanáwarí” (Joshi 1909). In more recent works the term “Kinnauri” is used to refer to this ST variety (D.D. Sharma 1988; Saxena 1995a, 1995b, 1997b, 2000a, 2000b, 2004, 2007, 2017). According to Ethnologue (Eberhard et al. 2021), its genealogical classification is as follows: Sino-Tibetan > Tibeto-Burman > Western Tibeto-Burman > Bodish > West Himalayish > Kinauri > Kinnauri. The classification according to Glottolog (Hammarström et al. 2020) is: Sino-Tibetan > Bodic > West Himalayish > Western West Himalayish > Kinnauric > Kinnauri.
Chapter 1 provided basic socio-cultural and geographical information on Kinnaur (including Lower Kinnaur). As this region is rather large, with some linguistic differences attributed to regional differences (Bailey 1909, 1920; D.D. Sharma 1988; see also Chapter 5 below), the focus here is on the Kinnauri variety spoken in the Sangla tahsil. The Sangla tahsil belongs administratively to the Kalpa CDB in the Kinnaur district (see Chapter 1). According to the 2011 Indian census, Sangla tahsil has 36 villages (e.g. Kilba Khas, Kanahi, Sapni Khas, Baturi, Barua Khas, Chasu Khas, Kamru Khas, Sangla, Batseri, Rakchham and Chitkul).1 With the exception of Rakchham and Chitkul, the ST speech of these villages is very similar, with a high degree of mutual intelligibility (cf. the results presented in Chapter 5).
As members of these villages interact actively (e.g. marriages among the members of different villages is commonplace), it is not always possible to determine the exact characteristics of the speech of a particular village. For this reason, the linguistic variety described in this chapter reflects the speech of the ST community of the Sangla tahsil, with the exception of Rakchham and Chitkul. This variety is referred to as Kinnauri here.2
The analysis presented in this chapter represents primarily the speech of Brua and Sangla villages, although some observations are also made concerning Kinnauri of other regions (Lower and Middle Kinnaur). This includes the speech of both older and younger speakers, formally educated and those who did not receive formal education. Our most senior consultant Mrs Jwala Sukhi Negi never left Kinnaur except for some visits to Shimla, the capital city of Himachal Pradesh for health checkups etc. She could understand and speak some Hindi. Similarly, Mrs Krishan Bhagti did not receive formal education. She was born, grew up and still lives in the Sangla region. Among young adult speakers the analysis represents primarily the speech of Santosh Negi (Brua, married to a person from Sangla), Chetan Negi (Sangla) and Priya Negi (Sangla).
2 Phonology
2.1 Consonants
The consonant phonemes of Kinnauri are shown in Table 9 and examples of contrasting minimal pairs are given below. The aspirated consonants have comparatively lower degree of aspiration than in many IA languages. The voiced palatal nasal ɲ is rather infrequent in our material. There is, however, a minimal pair found: -ɲ [-2sg.h] : -n [-2sg.nh].
Table 9
Consonant phonemes in Kinnauri
Bilabial |
Alveolar |
Palatoalveolar |
Palatal |
Retroflex |
Velar |
Glottal |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stop |
p b |
t d |
ʈ ɖ |
k g |
|||
Aspirated stop |
pʰ |
tʰ |
ʈʰ |
kʰ |
|||
Fricative |
s |
ʃ |
h |
||||
Affricate |
ʦ ʣ |
ʧ ʤ |
|||||
Aspirated affricate |
ʦʰ |
ʧʰ |
|||||
Nasal |
m |
n |
ɲ |
ŋ |
|||
Lateral |
l |
||||||
Trill |
r |
||||||
Approximant |
ʋ3 |
j |
Minimal (or near-minimal) pairs: Consonants |
||||
p : b |
paŋ |
‘lineage’ |
baŋ |
‘foot, leg’ |
p : pʰ |
pja |
‘bird’ |
pʰjaː |
‘forehead’ |
t : d |
tammu |
‘to smell (tr)’ |
dammu |
‘to roast (tr)’ |
t : tʰ |
taŋmu |
‘to observe’ |
tʰannu |
‘to drop (tr)’ |
t : ʈ |
tuŋmu |
‘to drink’ |
ʈuŋmu |
‘to plant, to stand (tr)’ |
ʈ : ɖ |
ʈanaŋ |
‘shelf’ |
ɖaːnaŋ |
‘punishment’ |
tʰ : ʈʰ |
tʰug |
‘at, above’ |
ʈʰog |
‘white’ |
ʈ : ʈʰ |
boʈaŋ |
‘soybean-like seeds’ |
boːʈʰaŋ |
‘tree’ |
k : kʰ |
ka |
[2sg.nh] |
kʰa |
‘shit’ |
k : g |
kud |
[call.imp] |
gud |
‘hand, arm’ |
k : g |
rak |
‘an alcoholic beverage’ |
rag |
‘stone, rock’ |
k : g |
kar |
‘tax’ |
gar |
‘tooth’ |
d : ɖ |
dam |
‘good’ |
ɖam |
‘a kind of cattle shed’ |
h : kʰ |
hoŋ |
‘insect’ |
kʰoŋ |
[bend.imp] |
s : ʃ |
sa |
[kill.pst] |
ʃa |
‘meat, flesh’ |
s : h |
seː |
[cntr.f] |
he |
‘again’ |
t : ʦ |
to |
[cop], [aux] |
ʦo |
‘thorn’ |
ʧ : ʤ |
ʧabmu |
‘to pull down (tr)’ |
ʤabmu |
‘to come down’ |
ʧ : ʃ |
ʧi |
‘grass’ |
ʃi |
‘leaf compost’ |
ʧ : ʧʰ |
ʧu |
‘word’ |
ʧʰu |
‘why’ |
tʰ : ʈʰ |
tʰis |
‘soft, loose’ |
ʈʰis |
‘join’ |
ʦ : ʦʰ |
ʦam |
‘wool’ |
ʦʰam |
‘ladder’ |
s : ʣ |
saŋ |
‘a kind of kindling wood’ |
ʣaŋ |
‘gold’ |
s : ʣ |
sod |
‘brahmin priest’ |
ʣod |
‘wheat’ |
s : ʣ |
ʦis |
‘rotten’ |
ʦiːʣ |
‘thing’ |
ʦ : ʧ |
ʦuː |
‘cough (n)’ |
ʧu |
‘soot; word’ |
d : ʤ |
du |
[cop], [aux] |
ʤu |
‘cloud’ |
m : n |
baːm |
‘a kind of drum’ |
baːn |
‘bow’ |
b : m |
bal |
‘head, top’ |
maːl |
‘wealth’ |
m : n |
gompa |
‘leg’ |
gonpa |
‘Buddhist temple’ |
n : d |
no |
[3sg.dist.vis] |
do |
[3sg.dist.nvis] |
n : ŋ |
rin |
‘ell, cubit’ |
rəŋ |
[tell.1/2o.imp] |
n : ŋ |
an |
[3sg.ana] |
aŋ |
[1sg.nnom] |
n : ɲ |
-n |
[-2sg.nh] |
-ɲ |
[-2sg.h] |
r : l |
raŋ |
‘horse’ |
laŋ |
‘cow’ |
l : n |
ʋal |
‘much, many’ |
ʋan |
‘steam’ |
ʋ : j |
ʋan |
‘steam’ |
jaŋ |
‘flea’ |
b : ʋ |
bal |
‘head, top’ |
ʋal |
‘much, many’ |
2.1.1 Consonant Allophony and Variation
ɖ has two allophones: [ɖ] and [ɽ], where [ɽ] occurs intervocalically and [ɖ] occurs elsewhere. For example:
[ʤoɽi] |
‘pair’ |
[malɖogaŋ] |
‘life’ |
|
[gəɽi] |
‘clock’ |
[kunɖa] |
‘statue (of god)’ |
|
[reɽu] |
‘radio’ |
[ɖabmu] |
‘to pull’ |
|
[mʊɽǝlo] |
‘limbless’ |
[bulɖjaːmu] |
‘to roast, fry’ |
|
[goɽagaɽi] |
‘horse carriage’ |
[ɖig] |
‘pot’ |
The only apparent exceptions to this complementary distribution principle are [ɖʊɖʊ] ‘owl’ and [ʈʰãːɖi] ‘cold’. In both these examples there is a clear [ɖ] intervocalically. But the prosody of these words diverges from the default prosody of Kinnauri words. In these words either there is a pause between the first and the second syllable ([ʹɖʊ.ˌɖʊ]), or the vowel of the first syllable is long ([ʈʰãːɖi]). It is plausible that [ɖʊɖʊ] might perhaps be an onomotopoeic reduplicated form.4
Variation is also found in the phonetic realization of ʃ. The allophones are [ʃ] and [ʂ]. According to Takahashi (2001: 104), [ʂ] occurs before back vowels and [ʃ] occurs elsewhere. In our material the younger consultants from Sangla use [ʃ] everywhere (e.g., [ʃɔnʃeres] ‘Saturday’). Both [ʃ] and [ʂ] occur in the speech of the older female speaker from Brua, but without any systematic distribution. In her speech both [ʃ] and [ʂ] occur with both front and back vowels. For example, [ʂɔʂɔ] ‘ripen’, [prɔʃɔl] ‘a type of bread’, [kʰaʂe] ‘rough’, [ʃepa] ‘a dog name’, [bɔʂaŋ] ‘year’, [kiʃaŋ] [1pli]. Furthermore, in her speech, the same lexical item can be rendered once with [ʃ] and on a different occasion with [ʂ] (e.g., [ʂum] ~ [ʃum] ‘three’, [ʃɛkʰi] ~ [ʂɛkʰi] ‘pride’).
In addition, ʤ is realized as [ʤ], [ʒ] and at times, also as [ʐ]. For example, ʤəgmu [ʤəgmu] ~ [ʒəgmu] ‘to break (intr)’.
We also find variation in the pronunciation of recognizably Indo-Aryan (IA) words. For examples, IA lexical items with a [h] are regularly pronounced without [h] in Kinnauri, e.g. [mɛl] ‘palace’, [bramən] ‘priest’, [pɛlɛ] ‘earlier’ and [hã] ~ [ã] ‘yes’. Similarly, IA words with voiced aspirated consonants are regularly pronounced without aspiration (e.g. [b] instead of [bʰ], e.g. [bɛm] ~ [bʰɛm] ‘doubt’). But in the speech of literate Kinnauri speakers we find both the typical Kinnauri pronunciation of IA words without [h] and [bʰ] and also the Hindi pronunciation of the same items with [h] and [bʰ]. Similarly, in particular among literate Kinnauri speakers [ʣ] and [z] are in free variation (e.g. [baʣɛnnu] ~ [bazɛnnu]) ‘to play (intr)’. [pʰ] is also realized as [f] (e.g., sapʰi [safi] ~ [sapʰi] ‘handkerchief, rag’).
According to Takahashi (2001: 104), [ɳ] occurs between vowels and [n] elsewhere. This is not attested in our material, where [n] occurs also intervocalically (e.g., [ganam] ‘bad odor’, [gɔniŋ] ‘tree stem’), but the retroflex nasal [ɳ] is always followed by a retroflex consonant (e.g., [raɳɖɔle] ‘widow’, [raɳɖɔlɛs] ‘widower (negative connotation)’, [maɳʈ(r)] ‘female (animal)’). In each such instance in the speech of the older language consultant, we also get a variant without [ɳ]. Instead the adjacent vowel is nasalized: [rãɖole], [rãɖɔlɛs], [mãʈ(r)]. Distinct from this the younger consultants from Sangla village use [n] in these words.
Consonant variation is also found in the word-final position. While b, d and g are consistently realized as voiced stops word-initially, and even though the voicing is largely retained in word-final position, there are some instances where, in casual speech, the word-final voiced stops were realized as voiceless stops or as voiced fricatives. When asked to repeat, language consultants invariably produced a voiced consonant. The following examples represent the Brua variety.
tag |
[tag] ~ [tak] |
‘pus’ |
ʃag |
[ʃagEQ031A] ~ [ʃakEQ031A] |
‘birch’ |
ʃub |
[ʂub] ~ [ʂuβ] |
‘foam’ |
ʦʰag |
[ʦʰag] ~ [ʦʰaɣ] |
‘light’ (n) |
mig |
[mɪg] ~ [mɪɣ] |
‘eye’ |
baŋmod |
[baŋmɔd] ~ [baŋmɔð]5 |
‘footprint’ |
raːg |
[raːg] ~ [raːɣ] |
‘green, blue’ |
ʣabug |
[zabug] ~ [zaβuɣ] |
‘claw’ |
ʈəgmu |
[ʈ(r) əgmu] ~ [ʈ(r) əɣmu] |
‘to break’ |
In some cases the duration of the word-final stop is very short, although the language consultants can still identify the consonant. This is indicated in the phonetic transcription used here as unreleased stops (˺). For example, [jʊme] ~ [jʊmɛd˺] ‘mother-in-law, mother’s brother’s wife’, [ʧʰad˺] ‘son-in-law’, [bɪd˺] ‘shoulder’, [bɔd˺] ‘dead skin (due to e.g., illness), bark, peel’, [karkɛb˺] ‘awl’, [bɔk˺] ‘hot’, [bɔnsak˺] ‘wild entities (animal, plant)’. However, when a plural marker is affixed to a noun, the stem final consonant occurs explicitly. For example, [ʧɪmɛd˺] ‘girl, daughter’, [ʧɪmedɔː] [girl.pl].
2.1.2 Syllable Structure and Consonant Clusters
The attested syllable structures in my data are shown in Table 10. The syllable nucleus is always a single (short or long) vowel. Hence, description of the syllable structure of Kinnauri boils down to describing possible syllable-initial and final consonant clusters.
Table 10
Attested syllable structures in Kinnauri
CV |
do |
[3sg.dist.nvis] |
ʃa |
‘meat, flesh’ |
|
CVC |
rag |
‘rock, stone’ |
pom |
‘snow’ |
|
CCV |
pʰjaː |
‘forehead’ |
kraː |
‘hair’ |
|
CCCV |
(s)kjo- |
‘male (animal)’ |
CCVC |
djaːr |
‘day’ |
(s)kar |
‘star’ |
|
CCVCC |
bjonʦ |
‘grasshopper’ |
krũːnʦ |
‘elbow’ |
|
CVCC |
holɖ |
‘flood’ |
V |
uː |
‘flower’ |
VC |
ag |
‘cave’ |
om |
‘path’ |
|
VCC |
uʃk |
‘old (non-human)’ |
oms |
‘before’ |
2.1.2.1 Word-Initial Clusters
There is a limited number of word-initial three-consonant clusters, all of the form sibilant + stop + approximant (e.g. (s)kjo- ‘male (animal)’) in the speech of some older speakers. Younger speakers consistently provide the forms without the first consonant. Otherwise initial clusters are of the form stop + [r/l/j/ʋ] (only [pʰ] and [kʰ] occur aspirated), sibilant + stop, sibilant + approximant, [ʤ] + [r/ʋ] and [ʋ] + [j]. See Table 10. and additional examples in Table 11.
Table 11
Word-initial consonant clusters
[pr] |
pramu |
‘to spread’ |
[st] |
stal |
‘plough’ |
|
[pj] |
pja(ʦ) |
‘bird’ |
[tr] |
tremu |
‘to knead’ |
|
[br] |
bragmu |
‘to chew’ |
[sk] |
(s)kad |
‘voice’ |
|
[bj] |
bjomu |
‘to go’ |
[sʋ] |
sʋamu |
‘to spoil, ruin’ |
|
[tʋ] |
tʋaːr |
‘Sunday’ |
[ʣj] |
ʣiʋa |
‘heart, soul, spirit’ |
|
[tj] |
tjoŋ |
‘more’ |
[ʣʋ] |
ʣʋalno |
‘shining’ |
|
[dʋ] |
dʋǝnnu |
‘to come out’ |
[sj] |
sjano |
‘old (human)’ |
|
[ɖj] |
djaːr |
‘day’ |
[kʰj] |
kʰjar |
‘goat’s wool blanket’ |
|
[kr] |
kraː |
‘hair’ |
[ʃʋ] |
ʃʋiːg |
‘red’ |
|
[kʋ] |
kʋasmu |
‘to boil’ |
[pʰr] |
pʰralmu |
‘to fell’ |
|
[kj] |
kjar |
‘plait, braid’ |
[kʰr] |
kʰramu |
‘to be late’ |
|
[gr] |
gruːmu |
‘to burn (intr)’ |
[ʤr] |
ʤrakʰraŋ |
‘bush with thorns’ |
|
[gʋ] |
gʋamu |
‘to jump’ |
[ʤʋ] |
ʤʋarat |
‘jewel’ |
|
[gj] |
gjaːmu |
‘to want’ |
[ʋj] |
ʋjapar |
‘business’ |
|
[pʰj] |
pʰjaː |
‘forehead’ |
[kʰʋ] |
kʰʋaʧimu |
‘to boil’ |
|
[mj] |
mja |
‘day’ |
2.1.2.2 Word-Final Clusters
Word-final consonant clusters are of the form [nasal/liquid + stop/affricate], [fricative + stop], [stop + affricate] and also [t + k]. See Table 10. Additional examples are provided in Table 12.
Table 12
Word-final consonant clusters
[kʦ] |
botokʦ |
‘spider’ |
[mp] |
lomp |
‘small kerosene lamp’ |
|
[tk] |
ʦʰatk |
‘light’ |
[nʦ] |
bjonʦ |
‘grasshopper’ |
|
[ms] |
oms |
‘before’ |
[mʦ] |
gumʦ |
‘knife’ |
|
[ns] |
lesəns |
‘license’ |
||||
[nt] |
banbant |
‘much’ |
[nʈ] |
ʈenʈ |
‘tent’ |
|
[nɖ] |
homaŋ kunɖ |
‘altar’ |
[nʈʰ] |
banʈʰ |
‘share, portion’ |
|
[ŋk] |
raŋk |
‘high, tall’ |
[rt] |
ʃǝrt |
‘bet’ |
|
[st] |
ʧust |
‘clever’ |
[ʃk] |
kʰuʃk |
‘dry (inan. objects)’ |
|
[mb] |
bomb |
‘bomb’ |
[nʧ] |
kunʧ |
‘wide (inan. objects)’ |
|
[lɖ] |
holɖ |
‘flood’ |
[pʦ] |
pətrapʦ |
‘kidney’ |
|
[lk] |
melk |
‘low’ |
[rg] |
sorg |
‘heaven’ |
|
[rk] |
surk |
‘salty, sour’ |
[rʦ] |
ʦʰarʦ |
‘dry (e.g. grass)’ |
|
[rs] |
nors |
‘nurse’ |
[rʧ] |
bǝrʧ |
‘leave behind’ |
2.1.3 Geographical Variation in the Consonant System
On the whole, the speech varieties of Kinnauri speakers of the Brua and the Sangla villages are very similar, including their judgements concerning various aspects of Kinnauri grammar. But there are some minor differences which can be attributed to dialect differences. According to the locals the Kinnauri speech of the Brua village represents the Tukpa Kinnauri variety, while the speech of the Sangla village represents a form of speech associated with the Razgramang variety.
Table 13
Dialect variation: [ʈ(ʰ)(r)] and [ʧ(ʰ)(r)]
Razgramang (Sangla) |
Tukpa (Brua) |
||
---|---|---|---|
liːʈ |
[liʈ(r)], [liʧʰ(r)] |
[liʈ(r)], [liʧʰ(r)] |
‘egg’ |
ʈʰanaŋ |
[ʈʰanaŋ], [ʧʰ(r)anaŋ] |
[ʈʰ(r)anaŋ], [ʧʰ(r)anaŋ] |
‘ice’ |
ʈʰab |
[ʈʰab˺], [ʧʰ(r)ab˺] |
[ʈʰ(r)ab˺], [ʧʰ(r)ab˺] |
‘lung’ |
ʈod |
[ʈɔd˺], [ʧ(r)ɔd˺] |
[ʈ(r)ɔd˺], [ʧ(r)ɔd˺] |
‘disease’ |
ʈəgmu |
[ʈəgmu], [ʧ(r)əgmu] |
[ʈ(r)əgmu], [ʧ(r)əgmu] |
‘to break’ |
manʈ- |
[mãʈ], [mãnʈ] |
[maɳʈ(r)] |
‘female (animal)’ |
In a restricted set of Kinnauri lexical items, variation is noted between [ʈ] and [ʧ] and between [ʈʰ] and [ʧʰ] in both varieties. In this set, as illustrated by the examples in Table 13, in the Tukpa (Brua) variety a short [r] is heard after both the [ʈ(ʰ)] and the [ʧ(ʰ)] variants.6 Distinct from this, in the speech of the Razgramang (Sangla) speakers, a short [r] is heard mostly in the [ʧ(ʰ)] variants of this set.
In the Tukpa variety, a short [-r] is also heard after a retroflex consonant ([ʈ(ʰ)]) in lexical items which do not show the [ʈ] and [ʧ] variation, as shown in Table 14.
The corresponding lexical items in closely related Kanashi have [ʧ], and [ʃ] in one instance (‘ice’). See Table 15.
Table 14
Dialect variation [ʈ(ʰ)(r)] without [ʧ(ʰ)(r)]
Phonemic representation |
Razgramang (Sangla) |
Tukpa (Brua) |
|
---|---|---|---|
ʈʰo |
[ʈʰo] |
[ʈʰo], [ʈʰro] |
‘charcoal’ |
ʈʰog |
[ʈʰog] |
[ʈʰog], [ʈʰrog] |
‘white’ |
paːʈ |
[paːʈ] |
[paːʈ], [paːʈr] |
‘ankle’ |
ʈuʈu |
[ʈuʈu] |
[ʈuʈu], [ʈruʈru]7 |
[swell.pfv] |
kjarʈʰaŋ tʰomu |
[kjarʈʰaŋ tʰomu] |
[kjarʈʰaŋ tʰomu], [kjarʈʰraŋ tʰomu] |
‘to carry under the arm’ |
Table 15
Kanashi counterparts of Kinnauri [ʈ(ʰ)(r)] and [ʧ(ʰ)(r)]
Razgramang (Sangla) |
Tukpa (Brua) |
Kanashi |
||
---|---|---|---|---|
liːʈ |
[liʈ(r)], [liʧʰ(r)] |
[liʈ(r)], [liʧʰ(r)] |
[li(ː)ʧ] |
‘egg’ |
manʈ- |
[mãʈ], [mãnʈ] |
[maɳʈ(r)] |
[mĩʧ], [miʧ] |
‘female’ |
ʈʰo |
ʈʰo |
ʈʰ(r)o |
[ʧopʈu] |
‘charcoal’ |
ʈʰog |
[ʈʰog] |
[ʈʰ(r)og] |
[ʧʰo(g)] |
‘white’ |
ʈuʈu |
ʈuʈu |
[ʈ(r)uʈ(r)u] |
[ʧuːrʣ] |
‘swelling’ |
ʈʰanaŋ |
[ʈʰanaŋ], [ʧʰ(r)anaŋ] |
[ʈʰ(r)anaŋ], [ʧʰ(r)anaŋ] |
[ʃaɳaŋ], [ʃanaŋ] |
‘ice’ |
It is important to note that this type of variation occurs in a restricted set of words. In the following instances the retroflex stop consonant [ʈ(ʰ)] occurs without an [r] in both the Razgramang and Tukpa varieties.
-
In words where [ʈ(ʰ)] is immediately followed by the transitivizer -jaː (e.g. meʈjaːmu ‘to gather (tr)’).
-
In words where [ʈ(ʰ)] is immediately followed by the detransitivizer -ed (e.g. meʈed-o [gather(intr)-prog])
-
[r] does not occur in recognizably IA words with retroflex consonants (e.g. beʈa ‘son’).
2.2 Vowels
Table 16 shows the oral vowel phonemes of Kinnauri and a list of minimal pairs is provided below. See Section 2.2.2 for a discussion of the phonemic status of nasal vowels.
Table 16
Vowel phonemes
i, iː |
u, uː |
|
e, eː |
ə |
o, oː |
a, aː |
Minimal (or near-minimal) pairs: Vowels |
||||
i : e |
ʧimu |
‘to wash’ |
ʧemu |
‘to write, to draw’ |
e : a |
eŋe |
‘fourth day after today’ |
aŋ |
[1sg.nnom] |
ə : a |
əpa |
‘father-in-law’ |
api |
‘grandmother’ |
a : i |
ka |
[2sg.nh] |
ki |
[2sg.h] |
o : u |
pʰor |
‘floor’ |
pʰur |
‘boil, blister’ |
i : u |
kim |
‘house, home’ |
kum |
‘pillow’ |
i : iː |
ligmu |
‘to put on’ |
liːg |
‘heavy’ |
e : eː |
le |
‘day’ |
le |
‘tongue’ |
a : aː |
ka |
[2sg.nh] |
kaː |
‘walnut’ |
a : aː |
rag |
‘stone, rock’ |
raːg |
‘green, blue’ |
o : oː |
kʰolaŋ |
‘threshing floor’ |
kʰoːlo |
‘box’ |
u : uː |
sumu |
‘to bathe (tr)’ |
ʃuːmu |
‘to preach’ |
o : aː |
om |
‘path, mountain pass’ |
aːm |
‘mango’ |
Vowel length is phonemic in Kinnauri, although I have found no instances of disyllabic words which have long vowels in both syllables. Minimal pairs for vowel length are also provided among the examples above. It is important to note that the difference between long and non-long vowels is fairly small. Thus, there is very little difference in length between raŋ ‘horse’ and raːŋ ‘mountain’ in (1). See also Figure 5.
(1)
raŋ-rǝŋ
raːŋ
den
bjo-k
horse-com
mountain
over
go-1sg
‘(I) went over the hill with (my) horse.’
When a vowel-initial suffix is added to a stem which ends in a vowel, there is an intervening [j] or [ʋ], the former occurs with front vowels and the latter with back vowels. E.g. ʃi-e rəŋ [die-mnr com] [ʃije rǝŋ] ‘at the time of (his) death’.
2.2.1 Vowel Allophony and Variation

Figure 5
Spectrograms illustrating phonemic vowel length distinctions ka [2sg.nh] (top) and kaː ‘walnut’ (bottom)

Figure 5
Spectrograms illustrating phonemic vowel length distinctions ka [2sg.nh] (top) and kaː ‘walnut’ (bottom)
Figure 5
Spectrograms illustrating phonemic vowel length distinctions ka [2sg.nh] (top) and kaː ‘walnut’ (bottom)
Some variation is found in the phonetic realization of vowel phonemes in Kinnauri. The phonetic realization of vowel phonemes varies both within the speech of an individual and across speakers: i is realized along the entire spectrum of [i]–[ɪ]. Similarly, u : [u]–[ʊ], e : [e]–[ɛ], o : [o]–[ɔ] and a : [a]–[ɐ]–[ɑ].
2.2.1.1 o : [o] ~ [ɔ]
In several cases, the same word is pronounced with [o] in one sitting and [ɔ] in another by the same speaker (e.g. [kɔʧaŋ] ~ [koʧaŋ] ‘direction, side’) and across speakers (e.g. [rãɖɔle] ~ [rãɖole] ‘widow’). At the same time, some systematic distributional tendencies are also observed:
First, o tends to be realized as [ɔ] before a consonant cluster. Example: [hɔlɖ] ‘flood (N)’, [ɔms] ‘before’, [sɔrg] ‘heaven’. Second, word-initially o tends to be realized as a [ɔ]. Third, in di-/polysyllabic words which contain o in consecutive syllables, there are a few lexical items with either [o] or [ɔ] in both syllables ([poʈo] ‘seed’, [bɔtɔkʦ] ‘spider’, [bɔʈɔn] ‘button’, [dɔrɔm] ‘religion’), but more frequently in such disyllabic lexical items [o] occurs in one syllable and [ɔ] in the other (e.g. [ɖɔrko] ‘skeleton’, [kɔkpol] ‘a kind of cheese’, [pʰɔgdori] ‘felt’, [tɔŋlo] ‘acorn, cone’, [sɔkʰo] ‘scorpion’, [sɔrglok] ‘heaven’ and [ɪbrobɔr] ‘similar’).
2.2.1.2 e : [e] ~ [ɛ]
As was the case with [o] and [ɔ], variation is found both within and across speakers. One example of variation within the speech of one speaker: [damɛs] ~ [dames] ‘ox’, [kɔnes] ~ [kɔnɛs] ‘male friend of a man’.
There is also some systematicity where the distribution of [e] and [ɛ] holds across speakers.
First, there is some dialectal variation among my language consultants. In the speech of Brua village, in some compound words where the first member is meː ‘fire’, its vowel is realized as [ɛ] (e.g. [mɛʃɪŋ] ‘match’, [mɛhoŋ] ‘firefly’), but the vowel quality does not change in [melɪŋ] ‘fireplace, oven’. The language consultants from Sangla, however, consistently have an [e] in all the compounds involving meː ‘fire’.
Secondly, in recognizably IA words, Kinnauri tends to retain the IA vowels [e] and [ɛ]. For example, [sɛnɖal] ‘sandal’, [ʃɛ(ː)r] ‘town’, [tʰɛlaː] ‘bag’, [deʃaŋ] ‘village, country’, [kaleʤi] ‘liver’, [mela] ‘carnival’.
Third, the distribution of [e] and [ɛ] seems to be sensitive to stem structure. In many stems ending in -e(C) this e is pronounced [e] when stem-final, but [ɛ] when followed by a stem consonant, e.g. [jʊme] ~ [jʊmɛd˺] ‘mother-in-law’, [rãɳɖɔle] ‘widow’ ~[rãɖɔlɛs] ‘widower’.
In particular, intransitive verbs formed with the suffix -ed show [ɛ] in forms where the stem ends in a consonant, i.e., in the allomorphs -ed and -en (the latter occurring in the infinitive: -ed-mu > -ennu; see Section 4.1.3.4.2), while in the reduplicated perfective, where the stem ends in -e, this is pronounced [e]. This variation in vowel quality does not occur in verbs with a single stem ending in -e. In these cases [e] occurs in all forms, as expected:
Infinitive |
Progressive |
Perfective |
|
---|---|---|---|
polʈen-nu [pɔlʈɛnnu] |
polʈed-o [pɔlʈɛdo] |
polʈe~ʈe [pɔlʈeʈe] |
‘to turn around’ |
ʈʰuren-nu [ʈʰʊrɛnnu] |
ʈʰured-o [ʈʰʊrɛdo] |
ʈʰure~re [ʈʰʊrere] |
‘to run’ |
ʃen-nu [ʃɛnnu] |
ʃed-o [ʃɛdo] |
ʃe~ʃe [ʃeʃe] |
‘to send’ |
ren-nu [rɛnnu] |
red-o [rɛdo] |
re~re [rere] |
‘to sell’ |
halaŋ he-mu [halaŋ hemu] |
halaŋ he-(j)o [halaŋ he(j)o] |
halaŋ he~he [halaŋ hehe] |
‘to plough’ |
tre-mu [tremu] |
tre-jo [trejo] |
tre~tre [tretre] |
‘to knead’ |
2.2.2 Nasal Vowels
Vowels preceding nasal consonants are regularly nasalized. However, in a restricted set of words nasalized vowels occur, even when there is no nasal consonant following it. For example ɖãs ‘gnat’, tãziraŋ ‘a horse name’, suãraŋ ‘monday’, sujĩ ‘tailor (who makes traditional cap and coat)’, ũʈ ‘camel’.8 There is at least one minimal pair: bas ‘fragrant’ : bãs ‘bamboo’, both IA. If nasal vowels have a phonemic status, it is marginal at best. In this chapter, nasalization will be marked only when there is no following nasal consonant following a nasalized vowel.
2.3 Morphophonological Stem Alternations
2.3.1 Nominal Morphophonology
Kinnauri has two kinds of systematic stem alternation which recur in several places in the nominal inflectional system, triggered by particular suffixes.
Polysyllabic stem truncation: As we will see, when certain inflectional suffixes are added to a disyllabic or polysyllabic noun stem ending in -aŋ, -iŋ or -es, this final part of the stem is replaced by the inflectional suffix.
Final vowel elision: When certain vowel-initial inflectional suffixes are added to a disyllabic or polysyllabic stem ending in -a or -e, the stem-final vowel is deleted (stems in -a) or replaced by a high glide (stems in -e). This is normally accompanied by a lowering of the suffix vowel (-u > -o).
2.3.2 Verbal Morphophonology
There are some verbs (e.g. bənnu ‘to come’, lonnu ‘to tell’, sannu ‘to kill’, ʋannu ‘to laugh’, as well as all intransitive verbs formed with the suffix -ed; see Section 4.1.3.4.2), which have three stem allomorphs whose distribution is morphophonologically determined: -V, -Vd, and -Vn.
The n-final allomorph appears in the infinitive, which ends in -nnu in these verbs (e.g. sannu ‘to kill’), most likely due to a mutual assimilation process between the stem-final -d and the affix-initial -m, where the d assimilates in nasality and the m in place of articulation.
The d-final allomorph appears in the following contexts: In the progressive aspect (e.g. sad-o [kill-prog]); when the manner marker -e is suffixed to the verb (e.g. ʋad-e [laugh-mnr]) and in the imperative (e.g. sad [kill.imp]).
The vowel-final allomorph appears in the past tense (e.g. sa-kjo [kill-pst]) and in the reduplicated perfective (e.g. sa~sa [kill~pfv]). The default verbal past tense markers are -gjo and -ge, but with this set of verbs the past tense markers are realized as -kjo and -ke/-ki.9
V (inf) |
V (pst) |
V (pst-3sg.h) |
V (prog) |
|
---|---|---|---|---|
lonnu |
lo-kjo |
lo-ki-ʃ |
lod-o |
‘to tell’ |
bənnu |
bə-kjo |
bǝ-ki-ʃ |
bǝd-o |
‘to come’ |
tonnu |
to-kjo |
to-ki-ʃ |
tod-o |
‘to take out’ |
ʋannu |
ʋa-kjo |
ʋa-ki-ʃ |
ʋad-o |
‘to laugh’ |
tannu |
ta-kjo |
ta-ki-ʃ |
tad-o |
‘to do’ |
2.4 Suffix Suppletion
Some inflectional categories in Kinnauri exhibit suffix suppletion, with (morpho)phonologically determined distribution of the alternants. This holds for the dative (-u/(-)pəŋ; Section 3.2.4.3), for the perfective (-is/[~red]; Section 4.5.2.2), for the habitual (-id/-ʦ; Section 4.5.2.3), and marginally for the locative (-o/-r; Section 3.2.4.5). In all these cases, we seem to be dealing with genuine suppletion, and not, e.g., distinct items with overlapping functions.
3 Noun Phrase
3.1 Noun Phrase Structure
The noun phrase in Kinnauri has the following basic structure:
(dem / NPPOSS) (Num) ((Adv) Adj) N(-dim)(-pl/-du)(-case)(-emp) (foc/too)
For example:
(2)
do
tiʃ
ʋal
gaʈo-ʦ
ʦʰeʦa-ʦ-oː-s
le
dem.dist.nvis
seven
very
small-dim
girl-dim-pl-erg
too
‘Those seven very small girls, too, …’
(3)
ka-s-i
ta
rəŋ-o-n
2sg.nh-erg-emp
foc
tell.1/2o-pst-2sg.nh
‘You (yourself) told (me that).’
The N can consist of a title plus a name. In such cases both orderings, [name title] and [title name], are possible.
(4)
daʃratʰ
raːʣ-o
ʃum
raːni
i.name
king-poss
three
queen
‘The three queens of King Dashrath’
(5)
dok
raːʣa
daʃratʰ-is
then
king
i.name-erg
‘Then the king Dashrath …’
In some discourse contexts, the emphatic marker may precede the locative case marker (e.g., obor-i-o [dungeon-emp-loc]). The most frequent order is, however, where the emphatic marker occurs after the case marker.
(6)
do
rapja
neraŋ-o-i
bəd-o
du-gjo
3sg
a.bird
near-loc-emp
come-prog
aux-pst
‘She was coming near the bird.’
We now turn to a description of the components of the noun phrase.
3.2 Nouns
3.2.1 Noun Structure and Word Formation
3.2.1.1 Noun Structure
Most nouns in Kinnauri are monosyllabic or disyllabic.10 Monosyllabic nouns can end in both vowels and consonants, e.g.:
ti |
‘water’ |
pju |
‘mouse’ |
ʃub |
‘foam’ |
kraː |
‘hair’ |
(s)kad |
‘language’ |
ʧʰaŋ |
‘boy’ |
uː |
‘flower’ |
mig |
‘eye’ |
ʣod |
‘wheat’ |
haːp |
‘jackal’ |
ʦam |
‘wool’ |
(s)kar |
‘star’ |
Disyllabic nouns in Kinnauri often end in -Vŋ, -Vs or -pa. Disyllabic nouns may, however, also end in other syllables. The endings -Vŋ and -Vs appear on IA loanwords and words of unknown etymology (nouns and adjectives), never on ST items, and seem to function as adaptive markers, which simultaneously accomodate the non-ST items to the inflectional system of Kinnauri, and mark them as foreign. They show special behavior in derivation11 and inflection (see below).
ɖejaŋ |
‘body’ |
eraŋ |
‘hunting’ |
ɖokʰaŋ |
‘mountain’ |
kʰiraŋ |
‘milk’ |
bruaŋ |
‘a village name’ |
raːpaŋ |
‘a village name (Sapni)’ |
koʈiŋ |
‘a kind of basket’ |
baniŋ |
‘pots and pans’ |
gaʧʰiŋ |
‘traditional belt’ |
ʈʰepaŋ |
‘traditional cap’ |
bitiŋ |
‘wall’ |
gubiŋ |
‘storey, level’ |
dames |
‘ox’ |
sapes |
‘snake’ |
ʧʰunpa |
‘maidservant’ |
gompa |
‘step’ |
bospa |
‘ash’ |
ʃupa |
‘evening’ |
sutʰon |
‘traditional trousers’ |
june |
‘sun’ |
sokʰo |
‘scorpion’ |
ʧimed |
‘daughter’ |
əkʰa |
‘pain’ |
ʦʰemar |
‘lizard’ |
There are some nouns in Kinnauri which are longer. Most of them are, however, compounds (e.g. kaːnaŋ-kʰə [ear-shit] ‘earwax’) or seemingly compounds (e.g. ʤanekaŋ ‘marriage’, purʧuʈiŋ ‘dust’).
As the examples below illustrate, there are no structural differences between (i) count and mass nouns, (ii) concrete and abstract nouns, and (iii) inanimate, animate and human nouns. Such nouns can be mono- or disyllabic, ending in similar vowels and consonants.
(i) |
Count nouns |
Mass nouns |
||
---|---|---|---|---|
(s)toː |
‘face’ |
(s)puː |
‘body hair’ |
|
pja |
‘bird’ |
ʦʰa |
‘salt’ |
|
rud |
‘horn’ |
kʰod |
‘dandruff’ |
|
mi |
‘man’ |
meː |
‘fire’ |
(ii) |
Concrete nouns |
Abstract nouns |
||
---|---|---|---|---|
bal |
‘head, top’ |
laːn |
‘air, wind’ |
|
ɖokʰaŋ |
‘mountain’ |
miʧʰaŋ |
‘envy, jealous’ |
|
rag |
‘stone, rock’ |
ʦʰag |
‘light (n)’ |
(iii) |
Inanimate nouns |
Animate nouns |
||
---|---|---|---|---|
ʣaŋ |
‘gold’ |
raŋ |
‘horse’ |
|
tromaŋ |
‘copper’ |
ʃokraŋ |
‘orphan’ |
|
ʋaː |
‘nest’ |
pja |
‘bird’ |
3.2.1.2 Word Formation of Nouns
In Kinnauri there is a small set of derivational morphemes deriving nouns from nouns. These are maɳʈ-, (s)kjo-, bi-, ran-, -(o)nig and -ʦ. With the exception of -ʦ (which also attaches to other parts of speech), they are not productive in the modern language.
manʈ- |
‘female (animals)’ |
manʈ-kukəri |
‘hen’ |
(s)kjo- |
‘male (animals)’ |
(s)kjo-kukəri |
‘cock/rooster’ |
bi- |
‘step- (kinship)’ |
bi-bon, bi-boba |
‘stepfather’ |
bi- |
‘step- (kinship)’ |
bi-ama, bi-mən |
‘stepmother’ |
ran- |
‘defective’ |
ran-ʦʰesmi |
‘widow’ |
-onig |
[-female] |
rikʰ-onig |
‘she-bear’ |
-onig |
[-female] |
sod-onig |
‘priest’s wife’ |
-ʦ |
[-dim] |
pja-ʦ |
[bird-dim] |
-ʦ |
[-dim] |
ʦʰeʦa-ʦ |
[girl-dim] |
A more productive process of forming complex nouns is compounding. By “compound” in this work I mean a single word unit, which consists of at least two independent stems. Most frequently the compounds in Kinnauri consist of two stems. Structurally, they are made up by N-N or Adj-N.
N-N |
|||
meʃiŋ |
meː+ʃiŋ |
[fire+wood] |
‘match’ |
mehoŋ |
meː+hoŋ |
[fire+worm] |
‘firefly’ |
ʋasjaŋ |
ʋas+jaŋ |
[honey+fly(n)] |
‘bee’ |
misti |
mig-s+ti |
[eye-lnk+water] |
‘tear’ |
Adj-N |
|||
rokmig |
rok+mig |
[black+eye] |
‘pupil’ |
pəʣər |
pə+ʣər |
[four+corner] |
‘square’ |
The following phonological modifications have been observed to occur when the element stems become a part of a nominal compound. The vowel of the first stem is reduced (e.g., [i] > [ɪ], [iː] > [i]). For example, ti+daːmes [water+ox] > [tɪdamɛs] ‘(non-castrated) bull’. When the first component of a compound ends with an adaptive marker (-Vŋ), the adaptive marker is frequently deleted (e.g. boniŋ+sak [forest+wild.creature] > [bɔnsak] ‘wild animal’, boniŋ+mi-ʦ [forest+man-dim] > [bɔnmiʦ] ‘fairy, elf’, haraŋ+koʈiŋ [bone+kind.of.basket] > [harkɔʈɪŋ] ‘skull’).
Further, if the first stem ends in a consonant, in some cases, the stem final consonant is deleted (e.g. gud+sab [hand+narrowness] > [gʊsab] ‘glove’, piːg+jaŋ [yellow+flea] > [pijaŋ] ‘wasp’, juŋʣ+riŋʣ [brother+sister] > [jʊŋrɪŋ]12) or it gets assimilated for voicing (e.g. sag+ti [core+water] > [sagti] ~ [sakti] ‘whirpool’). There does not seem to be any specific phonological context which determines when a final consonant will be deleted. In the following examples, the phonological shape of the first component of a compound remains unaffected.
migbod |
mig-bod |
[eye-skin] |
‘eyelid’ |
sakpju |
sak-pju |
[wild.creature-rat] |
‘outdoor rat’ |
bonpraʦ |
bon-praʦ |
[father-finger] |
‘thumb’ |
ʋasjaŋ |
ʋas-jaŋ |
[honey-fly(n)] |
‘bee’ |
balrig |
bal-rig |
[head-louse] |
‘head louse’ |
baŋmod |
baŋ-mod |
[foot-impression] |
‘footprint’ |
mənbon |
mən-bon |
[mother-father]13 |
‘parents’ |
In a restricted sub-set an additional -s14 occurs as a linking element between the stems (e.g. mig-s-ti [eye-lnk-water] > [mɪsti] ‘tear’, mig-s-pu [eye-lnk-body.hair] > migspu ‘eyebrow, eyelash’).15
3.2.2 Number
Generally, a two-way number distinction—singular vs. plural—is made in Kinnauri nouns (but see Section 3.3.2.1 below for some instances of dual marking). The singular is zero-marked. Mass nouns such as ti ‘water’, meː ‘fire’, ʤu ‘clouds’ do not take a plural marker. Similarly, nouns denoting unique natural objects such as ‘sky’, ‘moon’ and ‘sun’ do not take the plural marker.
The following plural markers are found in our material: -aː, -eː, -oː/-goː and lengthening of the stem-final vowel. The distribution of the plural markers on nouns is not completely systematic, but some tendencies are observable.
Nouns which end in one of the adaptive markers (-Vŋ/-Vs) permit polysyllabic stem truncation (see Section 2.3.1) and the plural marker -aː is added to the resulting truncated stem. Additionally, with noun stems ending in the front-vowel adaptive suffixes -iŋ/-es, a -j normally appears between the truncated stem and the plural ending.
Singular |
Plural |
|
---|---|---|
haraŋ |
har-aː |
‘bone’ |
ãʤaŋ |
ãʤ-aː |
‘intestine’ |
moraŋ |
mor-aː |
‘mask for gods made of gold/silver’ |
ʈaːnaŋ |
ʈaːn-aː |
‘jewelry’ |
ɖokʰaŋ |
ɖokʰ-aː |
‘mountain’ |
dames |
dam-aː |
‘ox’ |
bitiŋ |
bitj-aː |
‘wall’ |
takʃuliŋ |
takʃulj-aː |
‘nostril’ |
ores |
orj-aː |
‘carpenter, name of a social group’ |
banes |
banj-aː |
‘pot’ |
kones |
konj-aː |
‘male friend of a man’ |
gales |
galj-aː |
‘abuse’ |
In nouns with the adaptive markers, the adaptive suffix can be retained—apparently with no difference in meaning. In such instances the regular plural marker -oː/-goː occurs.
Singular |
Plural |
|
---|---|---|
gaːraŋ |
gaːraŋ-oː, gaːr-aː |
‘river’ |
ɖejaŋ |
ɖejaŋ-oː, ɖej-aː |
‘body’ |
koʈiŋ |
koʈiŋ-oː, koʈj-aː |
‘basket which is carried on the back’ |
junnaŋ |
junnaŋ-oː, junn-aː |
‘mortar’ |
hasgoʈaŋ |
hasgoʈaŋ-oː, hasgoʈ-aː |
‘hand.grinding.stone’ |
patʰraŋ |
patʰraŋ-oː, patʰr-aː |
‘leaf’ |
In a few nouns, the stem-final vowel is lengthened to mark plurality by our Tukpa language consultant, but our Razgramang (Sangla) younger language consultants did not permit vowel lengthening as a plural marking device here, instead selecting -goː as the plural marker in all the following examples, except ‘sheep/goat’ (which is also irregular in losing the stem-final consonant).
Singular |
Plural |
|
---|---|---|
ate |
ateː, ate-goː |
‘older brother’ |
rikʰa |
rikʰaː, rikʰa-goː |
‘bear’ |
le |
leː, le-goː |
‘tongue’ |
mi |
miː, mi-oː, mi-goː |
‘man’ |
ʣed |
ʣeː |
‘sheep/goat’ |
In a restricted set of nouns the plural marker is -eː.
Singular |
Plural |
|
---|---|---|
roʈ |
roʈ-eː |
‘chapati’ |
ʦʰatig |
ʦʰatig-eː |
‘mosquito’ |
elkar |
elkar-eː |
‘minister’ |
riŋʣ |
riŋʣ-eː |
‘sister’ |
sok |
sok-eː |
‘co-wife’ |
haːp |
haːp-eː |
‘jackal’ |
gambuːʈ |
gambuːʈ-eː |
‘boot’ |
The plural marker -eː also occurs with the numeral id ‘one’, forming a generic pronoun (7–8).
(7)
id-eː-s
aŋ
ʧʰaŋ-ʦ
lod-o
du
one-pl-erg
1sg.nnom
boy-dim
tell-prog
aux.prs
‘Some are saying: “(You are) my son”.’
(8)
id-eː-nu
naːne
lod-o
one-pl-dat.pl
aunt
tell-prog
‘(He is) calling some (women) “Aunt”.’
In the remaining cases, the default plural marker is -oː/-goː, where -goː [gɔː] occurs after a stem-final vowel and -oː [ɔː] after a stem-final consonant. These plural markers also occur after an agentive nominalizer. The plural marker -aː/-gaː, too, occurs in our material, e.g. baniŋ : baniŋ-aː ~ banj-aː ‘kitchen utensils’. According to our Sangla consultants -aː/-gaː reflects the speech of some other Kinnauri varieties, but not that of Sangla.
Singular |
Plural |
|
---|---|---|
tʰar |
tʰar-oː |
‘leopard’ |
rag |
rag-oː |
‘stone, rock’ |
krog |
krog-oː |
‘ant’ |
raŋ |
raŋ-oː |
‘horse’ |
mig |
mig-oː |
‘eye’ |
gud |
gud-oː |
‘hand, arm’ |
kʰjar |
kʰjar-oː |
‘blanket made of goat’s hair’ |
stal |
stal-oː |
‘plough’ |
gar |
gar-oː |
‘tooth’ |
ʧin |
ʧin-oː |
‘fingernail’ |
ʃiŋ |
ʃiŋ-oː |
‘wood’ |
kep-ʦ |
kep-ʦ-oː |
‘small needle’ |
mul |
mul-oː |
‘silver’ |
mig |
mig-oː |
‘eye’ |
bed |
bed-oː |
‘traditional doctor’ |
bod |
bod-oː |
‘peel’ |
ʧimed |
ʧimed-oː |
‘girl, daughter’ |
gone |
gone-goː |
‘wife’ |
piʃi |
piʃi-goː |
‘cat’ |
ama |
ama-goː |
‘mother’ |
lanʦjaː |
lanʦjaː-goː |
‘maker’ |
bore |
bore-goː |
‘brother’s wife’ |
gora |
gora-goː |
‘stone.house’ |
porʣa |
porʣa-goː |
‘citizen’ |
sjano |
sjano-goː |
‘old man’ |
jaŋʣe |
jaŋʣe-goː |
‘old woman’ |
ʣuʈi |
ʣuʈi-goː |
‘hair ribbon’ |
pʰoʃa |
pʰoʃa-goː |
‘deer meat’ |
raːni |
raːni-goː |
‘queen’ |
The plural marker occurs also in noun phrases which include a numeral.
(9)
niʃ
ʧimed-oː
to-ke
two
girl-pl
cop-pst
‘There were two girls.’
3.2.3 Gender
Gender is not a grammatical category in Kinnauri nouns, other than in the restricted sense that the language has a “variable” class of adjectives, which distinguish a masculine and a feminine form reflecting natural sex in animate nouns (see Section 3.4). There are also some word-formation devices for creating nouns denoting female and male humans and animals.16 With two exceptions to be described below, these processes are not productive.
A few nouns denoting female referents end in -mo or in -ma (e.g. ama ‘mother’). In Tibetan loanwords, Tibetan rules for gender distinction are followed (for example ʣo ‘mountain ox’ : ʣomo ‘mountain cow’).
Further, with animal names the gender distinction can be encoded by means of the prefixes (s)kjo- and manʈ-. (s)kjo- denotes male and manʈ- denotes female animals. As the following examples illustrate, the ST gender prefixes (s)kjo- and manʈ- can also be affixed to loan nouns in Kinnauri. However, (s)kjo- and manʈ- do not occur frequently in natural texts.
(s)kjo-raŋ |
‘stallion’ |
manʈ-raŋ |
‘mare’ |
(s)kjo-kui |
‘dog’ |
manʈ-kui |
‘bitch’ |
(s)kjo-kukəri |
‘rooster’ |
manʈ-kukəri |
‘hen’ |
(s)kjo-piʃi |
‘cat (male)’ |
manʈ-piʃi |
‘cat (female)’ |
(s)kjo-tʰar |
‘leopard (male)’ |
manʈ-tʰar |
‘leopard (female)’ |
(s)kjo-kangaru |
‘kangaroo (male)’ |
manʈ-kangaru |
‘kangaroo (female)’ |
There is also a restricted set of feminine nouns characterized by the suffix -onig, e.g.:
rakses |
‘demon’ |
raksonig |
‘demoness’ |
rikʰa |
‘bear’ |
rikʰonig |
‘she-bear’ |
suːres |
‘pig (male)’ |
suːronig, manʈ-suːres |
‘sow’ |
sod |
‘priest’ |
sodonig |
‘priest’s wife’ |
ores |
‘male belonging to a certain caste’ |
oronig |
‘female belonging to a certain caste’ |
A possible IA influence could be seen in some noun pairs, where the feminine noun forms end in -i or -e, and the corresponding masculine forms in most cases end in an -o.
laro |
‘bridegroom’ |
lari |
‘bride’ |
ʤaro |
‘deaf (m)’ |
ʤare |
‘deaf (f)’ |
kano |
‘one-eyed (m)’ |
kane |
‘one-eyed (f)’ |
ʃaro |
‘beautiful (m)’ |
ʃare |
‘beautiful (f)’ |
ʧores |
‘thief (m)’ |
ʧore |
‘thief (f)’ |
The following two almost-grammatical processes are, however, productive. In the agentive nominalization the choice of the nominalizers: -ʦjaː and -ʦeː, signals gender, where -ʦjaː denotes male referents and -ʦeː denotes female referents.17
gas-oː ʧi-ʦjaː |
‘washer of clothes (m)’ |
gas-oː ʧi-ʦeː |
‘washer of clothes (f)’ |
gas-oː pon-ʦjaː |
‘tailor (m)’ |
gas-oː pon-ʦeː |
‘seamstress (f)’ |
ne-ʦjaː |
‘knower (m)’ |
ne-ʦeː |
‘knower (f)’ |
In the contrastive specifier markers too, a gender distinction is made: -sjaː [-cntr.m] and -seː [-cntr.f]. For example, ʧad-sjaː [son.in.law-cntr.m] and ʧimed-seː [girl-cntr.f].18
The gender distinction is also indicated in the terms used to describe inhabitants of villages in Kinnaur or of Kinnaur. This is done by affixing two distinct sets of bound morphemes to the village name (see Table 17). In some cases the stem is modified in the process. The -pa and -meʦ suffixes are ST in origin, while the other suffixes appear to be IA.
3.2.4 Case
The case markers in Kinnauri are shown in Table 18. The nominative is unmarked. Other case markers are suffixes.19 They are generally agglutinated to the last element of the noun phrase, normally a noun or pronoun (in the singular, dual or plural), although it also appears in headless NP s, e.g., added to an adjective or numeral.
3.2.4.1 Nominative
The nominative form is the stem of a noun or pronoun without any other case suffixes. This form can be used for subjects (intransitive and transitive)—i.e., the NP triggering subject indexing in the verb—and direct objects.
Table 17
Place names and nouns denoting inhabitants
Official name |
Place name in Kinnauri |
Men (or people) from this place |
Women from this place |
---|---|---|---|
Kinnaur |
kənoriŋ |
kənores |
kənorije |
Baturi |
boʈriŋ |
boʈres |
boʈre(ʦ) |
Batseri |
boseriŋ |
boseres |
bosere(ʦ) |
Kanai |
kone |
konpa |
konmeʦ |
Kamru |
mone |
monpa |
monmeʦ |
Pangi |
paŋe |
paŋpa |
paŋmeʦ |
Bhaba |
ʋaŋpo |
ʋaŋpa |
ʋaŋmeʦ |
Sangla |
saŋla |
saŋlagja, saŋlagpa, saŋlakpa |
saŋlage |
Kothi |
koʃʈampi |
koʃʈampa, koʃʈampipa |
koʃʈammeʦ, koʃʈampimeʦ |
Poo |
puː |
pupa |
pumeʦ |
Kadogri |
kaːɖogri |
kaːɖogripa |
kaːɖogrimeʦ |
Nako |
nako |
nakopa |
nakomeʦ |
Leo |
lijo |
lijopa |
lijomeʦ |
Kanam |
kanam |
kanampa |
kanammeʦ |
Sungra |
grosnam |
grosnampa, grospa |
grosmeʦ, grose |
Purbani |
pənnam |
pənnampa, pənnamja |
pənnammeʦ, pənname |
Punang |
punaŋ |
punaŋpa |
punaŋmeʦ, puːneʦ |
Brua |
bruaŋ |
brumpa |
brumeʦ |
Shong |
ʃoŋ |
ʃompa |
ʃomeʦ |
Chansu |
ʧaːsaŋ |
ʧaːsaŋpa |
ʧaːsaŋmeʦ, ʧaːse |
Labrang |
labraŋ |
labraŋpa |
labraŋmeʦ, labre |
Rarang |
raraŋ |
raraŋpa, rapa |
raraŋmeʦ, rameʦ |
Nichar |
nalʦe |
nalʦinpa |
nalʦinmeʦ |
Telangi |
tele |
teliŋpa |
teliŋmeʦ |
Kilba |
kilba |
kiliŋpa |
kiliŋmeʦ |
Chitkul |
ʧʰitkul |
ʧʰitkulja, ʧʰitkula |
ʧʰitkulmeʦ, ʧʰitkule |
Table 18
Case markers in Kinnauri
Case |
Case marker(s) |
---|---|
Nominative |
Ø |
Ergative/instrumental |
-is/-s |
Dative |
-u, -n(u), (-)pəŋ |
Possessive |
-u, -n(u) |
Locative |
-o, -n(o), -r |
Ablative |
-ʧ |
Comitative |
(-)rǝŋ |
Manner |
-e |
3.2.4.2 Ergative/Instrumental
The case marker -is/-s functions both as an ergative marker and as an instrumental marker. It has two allomorphs: -s and -is [ɪs] ~ [ǝs].20 Their distribution is phonologically determined: -s occurs with stems ending in a vowel and -is occurs with stems ending in a consonant.
The ergative marker occurs only on the subject of transitive verbs,21 but its occurrence is not obligatory. Examples (10–13) show that the occurrence of the ergative marker is not restricted to any specific tense, aspect or person. These examples further illustrate that the ergative marker occurs in descriptive narration (10, 12), as well as inside direct speech (11) and in clauses which introduce direct speech (12).
(10)
ruʣa22-ʦ-is
id
kuʈon
pʰjo-gjo
o.man-dim-erg
one
demon(f)
take.away-pst
‘The old man took away a female demon.’
(11)
ki-s
ase
taː-ti-ɲ
2sg.h-erg
torture(n)
keep-fut-2h
‘You will torture (her).’
(12)
ʃepa
rǝŋ
ʃampa-ʦ-is
lod-o
i.name
com
i.name-dim-erg
tell-prog
‘Shepa and Shampa were telling.’
(13)
do
tʰar
ʧʰaŋ-ʦ-oː-s
ta
ne-o
du
dem.dist.nvis
leopard
child-dim-pl-erg
foc
know-prog
aux.prs
‘Those leopard cubs are knowing (know) (this).’
Kinnauri allows both an ergative and a dative marker in a simple finite clause. For example:
(14)
do-s
id
ʃu-pǝŋ
piʤ-a
3sg-erg
one
god-dat
pray-pst
‘He prayed to one god.’
The only bound morpheme which may be suffixed to the ergative marker is the emphatic suffix -i (see example 15). Discourse markers which refer to an NP (e.g. ta in example 15) occur after the NP.
(15)
ka-s-i
ta
rəŋ-o-n
2sg.nh-erg-emp
foc
tell.1/2o-pst-2sg.nh
‘You (yourself) told (me that).’
The ergative marker in Kinnauri narratives functions as a linguistic tool to describe a shift in perspective (Saxena 2007). An examination of the occurrence of the ergative marker in traditional narratives shows that the ergative marker occurs almost obligatorily on the subject in the he said-construction (the direct-speech introducing statement “he said: Direct speech”). The occurrence of the ergative marker here can be seen as a deictic marker which draws the listener’s attention to the change in the mode of narration—from the descriptive to the expressive mode. Similarly, the ergative marker in other contexts in narratives occurs regularly in situations where the clause describes something which runs counter to expected behavior (including social norms). The ergative marker in such situations, too, functions as a discourse marker, the aim of which is to highlight the shift in the perspective—to draw the listeners’ attention away from the default expectation mode.23
The case marker -is/-s also functions as the instrumental case marker. As an instrumental marker, it occurs with both concrete and abstract nouns.
(16)
isan
ta
rakses-is
bukraŋbuk
bal-is
boːʈʰaŋ-u
ran-gjo
briefly
foc
demon-erg
with.a.thud
head-ins
tree-dat
give-pst
‘For a while, the demon banged the tree with (his) head.’
(17)
radʰa-s
gas-oː
ti-s
ʧi-o
i.name-erg
garment-pl
water-ins
wash-pst
‘Radha washed clothes with water.’
(18)
du
ɲum-s24
ʋal
kʰuʃ-is
ɲal-is
du-gjo
3sg.poss
after-ins
much
happiness-ins
enjoyment-ins
cop-pst
‘After that, (they) lived with much happiness and enjoyment.’
(19)
peʈiŋ
əkʰa-s
ʃi-o
du-k
stomach/belly
pain-ins
die-prog
aux-1sg
‘(I) am dying of stomach/belly ache.’
The instrumental marker also occurs with directional expressions, such as beriŋ ‘outside’, tʰug ‘above’.
(20)
ʧʰad-sjaː
tʰug~tʰug-s25
bjo~bjo
son.in.law-cntr.m
above~echo-ins
go~pfv
‘The son-in.law went up there.’
3.2.4.3 Dative26
The dative case markers are -u and (-)pəŋ in the singular and -n(u) in the plural. -nu and -n are interchangeable, without any apparent change in the meaning, although -n tends to occur more frequently in fast speech.27 The dative suffixes never trigger polysyllabic stem truncation.
With nouns in the singular, the dative marker -u occurs predominantly with stems ending in a consonant and (-)pəŋ occurs predominantly with stems ending in a vowel. There are, however, instances in narratives and in the direct-elicited material, of one and the same noun taking the dative marker -u at one place and (-)pəŋ at another.
Nom |
Dat |
Nom |
Dat |
||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
baiʦ |
baiʦ-u |
‘y. sibling’ |
maːduri |
maːduri(-)pəŋ |
‘i.name’ |
pjaʦ |
pjaʦ-u |
‘(small) bird’ |
ʦʰesmi |
ʦʰesmi(-)pəŋ |
‘woman’ |
ɖig |
ɖig-u |
‘pot’ |
mi |
mi(-)pəŋ |
‘man’ |
bakʰor |
bakʰor-u |
‘goat’ |
ʧʰanli |
ʧʰanli(-)pəŋ |
‘shawl’ |
ʧʰaŋ |
ʧʰaŋ-u |
‘boy’ |
raːni |
raːni(-)pəŋ, raːni-u |
‘queen’ |
(21)
ʈan-aː~tʰanaː
ʦeik
raːni-u
ran~ran
jewelry-pl~echo
all
queen-dat
give~pfv
‘(The king) gave all, jewelry etc, to the queen.’
-n(u) occurs only with plural arguments. The language consultants exhibit free variation between -nu and -n in their speech.
(22)
gə
mi-oː-nu28
ʃa
ran-ta-k
1sg.nom
man-pl-dat.pl
meat
give-fut-1sg
‘I will give meat to the men.’
The following examples illustrate -u and (-)pəŋ with singular direct objects and -n(u) with plural nominal direct objects.
(23)
do-s
do
ʦiʈʰi(-)pəŋ
ʦer-ʦ
3sg-erg
dem.dist.nvis
letter(-)dat
tear-hab
‘He tears up that letter.’
(24)
ʧimed-u
ku~ku
daughter-dat
call~pfv
‘(He) called (his) daughter.’
(25)
ʦeik
ʧimed-oː-nu
ʣaː-u
du-gjo
all
daughter-pl-dat.pl
eat-prog
aux-pst
‘(The demon) was eating all the daughters.’
The occurrence of the dative marker is, however, not obligatory. In natural discourse its occurrence correlates strongly with semantic factors such as animacy and definiteness, where direct objects which are higher on the animacy and agency hierarchies tend to receive an explicit case marker.
As is the case with many South Asian languages, Kinnauri, too, has the dative experiencer construction; see Section 5.1.
3.2.4.4 Possessive
The possessive markers in Kinnauri are -u in the singular and -n(u) in the plural. -nu and -n are interchangeable, without any apparent change in meaning.
(26)
id
jaŋʣe-ʦ-u
kim-o
toʃ-gjo
one
o.woman-dim-poss
house-loc
sit-pst
‘(They) stayed at an old woman’s house.’
(27)
ʃum
ate-goː-nu
bore-goː
ʋal-i
mari
ʦʰeʦ-aː
du-gjo
three
o.brother-pl-poss.pl
brother’s.wife-pl
much-emp
bad
woman-pl
cop-pst
‘The wives of (her) three brothers were very bad women.’
The possessive singular suffix -u optionally triggers polysyllabic stem truncation (see Section 2.3.1), being realized as -o in this case (e.g., boːʈʰaŋ ‘tree’, boːʈʰ-o [tree-poss]). It also optionally triggers final vowel elision (see Section 2.3.1).
Nom |
Poss |
Nom |
Poss |
||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ri |
rj-u, ri-u |
‘a kind of tree’ |
jaŋʣe |
jaŋʣj-o, jaŋʣe-u |
‘old woman’ |
dasi |
dasj-u, dasi-u |
‘female servant’ |
ʃibʤi |
ʃibʤi-u |
‘i.name’ |
sena |
sen-o, sena-u |
‘army’ |
laːʧʰa |
laːʧʰ-o, laːʧʰa-u |
‘metal’ |
ate |
atj-o, ate-u |
‘older brother’ |
rikʰa |
rikʰ-o, rikʰa-u |
‘bear’ |
The following examples illustrate the attributive use of the possessive markers with singular and plural possessors.
-u |
-n(u)29 |
||
---|---|---|---|
atjo kim |
‘o.brother’s house’ |
ategoːn(u) kim |
‘o.brothers’ house’ |
atjo rim |
‘o.brother’s field’ |
ategoːn(u) rim |
‘o.brothers’ field’ |
atjo pǝ boːʈʰaː |
‘o.brother’s four trees’ |
ategoːn(u) pǝ boːʈʰaː |
‘o.brothers’ four trees’ |
miu ʧimedoː |
‘the man’s daughters’ |
minu ʧimedoː, mijoːnu ʧimedoː |
‘the men’s daughters’ |
3.2.4.5 Locative
The locative markers are -o, -n(o) and -r. Of these, -o and -n(o) are productive: -o occurs in the singular (with stems ending in both consonants and vowels30) and -n(o) in the plural. -no and -n are interchangeable, without any apparent change in the meaning.
Nom |
Loc Sg |
Loc Pl |
|
---|---|---|---|
kim |
kim-o |
kim-oː-n(o) |
‘house’ |
deʃaŋ |
deʃaŋ-o, deʃ-o |
deʃaŋ-oː-n(o), deʃ-aː-no |
‘village’ |
ʈʰepiŋ |
ʈʰepiŋ-o |
ʈʰepiŋ-oː-no, ʈʰepjaː-n(o) |
‘traditional cap’ |
le |
le-o |
le-oː-n(o) |
‘tongue’ |
pagaɽi |
pagaɽi-o |
pagaɽi-oː-no |
‘turban’ |
(28)
obor31-o
ʃe-ta-k
dungeon-loc
send-fut-1sg
‘(I) will send (this person) into the dungeon.’
(29)
dok
om-oː-no
bospa
raʃaŋ-oː
kis-i
ni-ʦ
to
then
path-pl-loc.pl
ash
pile-pl
many-emp
stay-hab
aux.prs
‘Then, on the way there are lots of piles of ashes.’
The locative marker -r occurs only with demonstrative pronouns.
(30)
do-r
pʰolaŋ
lag-e-kjo
dem.dist.nvis-loc
fruit
attach-intr-pst
‘There fruits came.’
(31)
gə
hojo-r
to-k
1sg.nom
dem.prox-loc
cop-1sg
‘I’m here.’
The locative singular marker -o optionally triggers polysyllabic stem truncation (see Section 2.3.1):
Nom |
Loc |
Nom |
Loc |
||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
boːʈʰaŋ |
boːʈʰaŋ-o, boːʈʰ-o |
‘tree’ |
pabaŋ |
pabaŋ-o, pab-o |
‘pasture’ |
panʈʰaŋ |
panʈʰaŋ-o, panʈʰ-o |
‘floor’ |
maʤaŋ |
maʤaŋ-o, maʤ-o |
‘middle’ |
kʰakaŋ |
kʰakaŋ-o, kʰak-o |
‘mouth’ |
kʰuraŋ |
kʰuraŋ-o, kʰur-o |
‘stable’ |
baniŋ |
baniŋ-o, banj-o |
‘pots/pans’ |
ɖibaːliŋ |
ɖibaːliŋ-o, ɖibaːl-o |
‘swamp’ |
It also triggers final vowel elision (see Section 2.3.1). In the case of diʃa ‘direction’ both diʃ-o and diʃa-o are permissible.
Nom |
Loc |
Nom |
Loc |
||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
laŋka |
laŋk-o |
‘p.name’ |
ɖoŋa |
ɖoŋ-o |
‘tree stump’ |
ʣaga |
ʣag-o |
‘place’ |
bagiʦa |
bagiʦ-o |
‘garden’ |
ʣila |
ʣil-o |
‘district’ |
diʃa |
diʃ-o, diʃa-o |
‘direction’ |
With stems ending in other vowels, the locative marker -o is affixed to the final vowel of the noun stem. In fast speech, in noun stems ending in -o, one does not always hear both the stem final vowel and the locative marker, but when asked, the language consultants provide a long -o and separate the noun stem and the locative marker. When the stem ends with a front vowel, this stem final vowel can be realized as -j before the locative marker.
Nom |
Loc |
Nom |
Loc |
||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
raɳɖole |
raɳɖole-o |
‘widow’ |
prai |
prai-o |
‘in-law’ |
nane |
nane-o |
‘aunt’ |
dorko |
dorko-o |
‘skeleton’ |
kui |
kui-o |
‘dog’ |
to |
to-o |
‘face’ |
nukuri |
nukuri-o |
‘employment’ |
ʦaku |
ʦaku-o |
‘knife’ |
ʦiʈʰi |
ʦiʈʰi-o |
‘letter’ |
kʰou |
kʰou-o |
‘food’ |
Nouns in the locative are sometimes lexicalized into adverbs. For example, djaːr-o [day-loc] ‘daily’.
3.2.4.6 Relationship among the Dative, Possessive and Locative Case Markers
As seen above, the dative, possessive and locative case markers coincide in form to some extent. Nevertheless, there are distributional facts which support the division made here into three different case forms.
Firstly, even if there is some overlap in form, there are also unambiguous exponents of each of the three cases. Thus, (-)pəŋ is an exclusive signal of the dative (after a stem-final vowel).
The locative marker always has the vowel -o, never -u. Hence, -u/-nu can only ever signal dative or possessive.
The dative singular suffix never triggers polysyllabic stem truncation, while both the possessive and locative singular suffixes are optionally accompanied by this morphophonological alternation.
Possessive and to some extent locative singular both trigger final vowel elision, which the dative singular does not (since it has a completely different allomorph after vowel-final stems: (-)pəŋ). With stems ending in -e, the stem-final vowel may disappear in the locative (just as in the possessive), but normally it is reduced to a glide (-j) instead.
Table 19 shows some concrete examples of how these differences manifest themselves.
Table 19
Dative–possessive–locative with different stem types
Stem type |
Nominative |
Dative |
Possessive |
Locative |
---|---|---|---|---|
Adapted IA |
boːʈʰaŋ ‘tree’ |
boːʈʰaŋ-u |
boːʈʰaŋ-u, boːʈʰ-o |
boːʈʰaŋ-o, boːʈʰ-o |
e-final |
ate ‘o.brother’ |
ate(-) pəŋ |
atj-o |
atj-o |
C-final |
kim ‘house’ |
kim-u |
kim-u |
kim-o |
V-final |
boba ‘father’ |
boba(-) pəŋ |
bob-o |
bob-o |
3.2.4.7 Ablative
The case marker -əʧ/-ʧ functions as the ablative marker. -əʧ occurs with stems ending in a consonant and -ʧ occurs with stems ending in a vowel or in a nasal. The ablative marker occurs in the following structures: N-abl, N-loc-abl and N-poss dok-abl.32 N-abl and N-loc-abl occur only with non-human head nouns, where n-loc-abl occurs with nouns whose referents are physically or conceptually viewed as finite, with clearly defined boundaries; N-abl occurs elsewhere. N-poss dok-abl occurs only with human head nouns.
ham-ʧ |
[where-abl] |
‘from where’ |
dilli-ʧ |
[p.name-abl] |
‘from Delhi’ |
dəŋ-ʧ |
[over.there(nvisible)-abl] |
‘from over there’ |
dusraŋ-o-ʧ |
[chimney-loc-abl] |
‘from inside of the chimney’ |
ti-o-ʧ |
[water-loc-abl] |
‘from inside of the water’ |
lag-o-ʧ |
[sleeve-loc-abl] |
‘from inside of the sleeve’ |
(32)
kuʈon-u
ʧimed-u
dokʧ
ʈaːn-aː
gas-oː
kʰaŋ~kʰaŋ
witch-poss
daughter-poss
from
jewelry-pl
garment-pl
grab~pfv
‘(He) grabbed jewelry and clothes from the witch’s daughter.’
3.2.4.8 Comitative
The case marker (-)rǝŋ functions as the comitative (or associative) marker,33 with a ‘together with, along with’ interpretation. Unlike other case markers, in most cases (-)rǝŋ patterns prosodically like an independent word, a postposition rather than a suffix, although it does also sometimes behave like a bound suffix (e.g., tʰar-rǝŋ laŋ [tʰarǝŋ laŋ] ‘the leopard along with the cow’).
(33)
do
rag-u
joʈʰaŋ
id
raksonig
an-u
tiʃ
ʧʰaŋ-aː
rǝŋ
ni-ʦ
du-gjo
dem.dist.nvis
stone-poss
under
one
demon(f)
3sg.ana-poss
seven
child-pl
com
stay-hab
aux-pst
‘Under that stone a demoness used to live along with her seven children.’
(34)
gǝ
ki-n
rǝŋ
dəŋ
bjo-k
1sg.nom
2sg.h-poss
com
over.there(nvisible)
go-1sg
‘I went there with you.’
(35)
santoʃ
ʧʰoŋmi
rǝŋ
bjo
i.name
husband
com
go.pst
‘Santosh went with (her) husband.’
While the comitative marker occurs predominantly with human nouns, there are also instances of (-)rǝŋ occurring with non-human, animate nouns and with inanimate nouns.
(36)
miː=le
hatʰi
rǝŋ
bjo-gjo
man.pl=too
elephant
com
go-pst
‘Men, too, went along with the elephant.’
(37)
maːr
rǝŋ
duː
gjaː-ti-ɲ-a
butter
com
salted.porridge
want-fut-2h-q
‘Do (you) want butter with salted porridge?’
(38)
raːʣa
gaʤa=baʤa
rǝŋ
raːni
pʰjo-mu
bǝ-ki-ʃ
king
pomp=echo
com
queen
take.away-inf
come-pst-3h
‘The king came with pomp etc. (and show) to take the queen.’
(-)rǝŋ is also used to form a coordinate construction with the structure: N (-)rǝŋ N((-)case marker34).
(39)
ama
rǝŋ
boa
lo-ʃi-gjo
mother
com
father
tell-mdl-pst
‘Mother and father told themselves:’
(40)
jug
rǝŋ
tʰug
haled-o
du-gjo
down
com
over.above
roam-prog
aux-pst
‘(The mouse) was roaming up and down (on all the floors of the house).’
(41)
june-rǝŋ
golsaŋ-u
dǝŋ
krab-o
krab-o
sun-com
moon-poss
near
cry-prog
cry-prog
‘To Sun and Moon, (she) is crying (complaining), crying’
The comitative marker also follows the verb in non-final clauses. The verb in such constructions has either a nominalized verb form or is immediately followed by the manner marker -e. Such non-final clauses have a temporal adverbial interpretation.
(42)
nǝŋ
pǝn-nu
rǝŋ
ʧʰaŋ-u
boːʈʰ-o
ʦʰu~ʦʰu
du
over.there(visible)
reach-inf
com
boy-dat
tree-loc
tie~pfv
aux.prs
‘As soon as (he) reached over there, (he) tied (the) boy to the tree.’
(43)
dok
ner-o
ner-o
bǝd-e
rǝŋ
trǝʋal-u
kʰoŋ-o
du
then
near-loc
near-loc
come-mnr
com
sword-dat
turn-prog
aux.prs
‘Then while coming near (closer), he is turning the sword.’
3.2.4.9 Manner
The case marker -e forms constituents answering questions like: “How?”, “In what manner?”, “By which means?”.35
bal-e tʰomu |
[head-mnr to carry] |
‘to carry on head’ |
bid-e tʰomu |
[shoulder-mnr to carry] |
‘to carry on shoulder’ |
ek-e bjomu |
[one-mnr to go] |
‘to go together or to accompany’ |
raŋ-e36 |
[exterior.of.a.shoulderblade-mnr] |
bag-e |
[last.place.in.traditional.dance-mnr] |
bal-e |
[head-mnr] ‘first in a queue’ |
kal37-e |
[last.in.a.queue-mnr] |
The manner marker -e can be affixed to demonstrative pronouns (e.g. (ho)do (dist, non-visible), (ho)jo38 (prox), no (dist, visible)) for expressing, e.g., ‘in this manner’, ‘in that manner’. When -e is affixed to the demonstrative pronouns, the stem final vowel is lost and the resulting forms are hod-e, hoj-e hoʤ-e and ne, respectively.
(44)
gə
hojo-r
hoj-e
to-k
1sg.nom
dem.prox-loc
dem.prox-mnr
cop-1sg
‘I am in this (the tree) like this (in this manner).’
(45)
niʃi
ta
hoj-e
pǝ~pǝ
1du.incl
foc
dem.prox-mnr
reach~pfv
‘(We) two reached (the palace) in this condition.’
(46)
ne
ʧʰǝ
lod-o
du -n
dem.dist.vis.mnr
what
tell-prog
aux-2nh
‘What are (you) telling like that?’
Further, -e occurs with the third person anaphoric pronoun an (see Section 3.3.2). an-e has an intensifying function (‘(all) by him/herself’).
(47)
dok
an-e
bjo-ge-ʃ
then
3sg.ana-mnr
go-pst-3h
‘Then (he) himself went.’
The manner marker -e also occurs with the IA numeral ek ‘one’. ek-e indicates togetherness.
(48)
do
niʃ
ek-e
bjo-gjo
3sg
two
one-mnr
go-pst
‘Those two went together.’
Finally, -e is also suffixed to the verbs of non-final clauses. Such clauses have an adverbial interpretation. In many—though not in all constructions, the comitative marker (-)rǝŋ follows the non-final verb with -e.
(49)
gas-oː
ʧi-e
rǝŋ
id-is
ʧimed-u
lod-o
garment-pl
wash-mnr
com
one-erg
girl-dat
tell-prog
‘At the time of washing (their) clothes, one (woman) is telling the girl:’
3.3 Pronouns
3.3.1 Demonstrative Pronouns
The demonstrative pronouns are (ho)do [dem.dist.nvis], (ho)no [dem.dist.vis] and (ho)ʤo ~ (ho)jo [dem.prox] in the singular, and the corresponding plural forms are (ho)do-goː, (ho)no-goː and (ho)ʤo-goː, (ho)jo-goː. The shorter forms are used as third-person personal pronouns (see Section 3.3.2).
Plural forms can be used with singular head nouns, as a marker of respect (e.g. do-goː lamaː [dem.dist.nvis-pl lama.sg] ‘that lama’). The opposite can happen in non-honorific situations, where the singular demonstrative form occurs with plural head nouns, for example, do kim-oː [dem.dist.nvis.sg house-pl] ‘those houses’, do ʦʰesmi-goː [dem.dist.nvis.sg woman-pl] ‘those women’.
3.3.2 Personal Pronouns
Singular |
Dual |
Plural |
|
---|---|---|---|
1 |
gə (nom), aŋ (nnom) |
kiʃaŋ |
niŋo (excl), kiʃaː (incl) |
2nh |
ka |
kaniʃ |
kano, kanegoː39 |
2h |
ki40 |
kiʃi, kisi |
kino, *kinogoː |
3 |
do (dist, nvis) no (dist, vis) ʤo (prox) an (ana) |
doksuŋ noksuŋ ʤoksuŋ anegsuŋ |
dogoː41 nogoː ʤogoː anegoː |
The 1sg person pronoun has two forms, referred to here as nominative and non-nominative. gǝ [1sg.nom] is used as subject and also to form the ergative: gǝ-s. The non-nominative pronominal form aŋ [1sg.nnom] is used as object, as possessive and as the stem to which other case suffixes are added (including those for dative and possessive). In the reflexive construction, the dative case marker is affixed to the non-nominative pronominal form.
The dative forms of the personal pronouns are as follows:
Singular |
Dual |
Plural |
|
---|---|---|---|
1 |
aŋ-u |
niʃ-u |
niŋo-n(u) (excl), kiʃaː-n(u) (incl) |
2nh |
ka-nu |
kaniʃ-u42 |
kano-n(u) |
2h |
ki-nu |
kis-u |
kino-n(u) |
3 |
do-pəŋ, du43 |
do-goː-n(u) |
|
no-pəŋ, nu |
no-goː-n(u) |
||
ʤo-pəŋ, ʤu |
ʤo-goː-n(u) |
Both (-)pəŋ and -u are permissible with third person pronouns (e.g. do-pəŋ [dɔpəŋ] and du for the 3sg.dist pronoun), without any apparent difference in meaning; -nu occurs with 2sg pronouns and -u with dual pronominal forms.
The possessive forms of the personal pronouns are as follows:
Singular |
Dual |
Plural |
|
---|---|---|---|
1 |
aŋ |
kiʃaŋ-u |
niŋo-n(u) (excl) |
kiʃaː-n(u)44 (incl) |
|||
2h |
ki-n45 |
kino-n(u) |
|
2nh |
ka-n46 |
kanegoː-n(u), kano-n(u) |
|
3 |
an (ana) |
anegsuŋ47-u (ana) |
anegoː-n(u) (ana) |
du/do-u (nana) |
doksuŋ-u (nana) |
noksuŋ-u (nana) |
|
ʤu (nana) |
dogoː-n(u) (nana) |
||
nu (nana) |
ʤogoː-n(u) (nana) |
||
nogoː-n(u)48 (nana) |
As stated above, the third person pronouns are the short forms of the demonstrative pronouns (see Section 3.3.1). As with demonstrative pronouns the plural forms of the personal pronouns (e.g. dogoː and nogoː) can also occur with a singular referent, as a marker of respect.
(50)
do-goː
ɖokʈar
to-ke-ʃ
3-pl
doctor
cop-pst-3h
‘S/He was a doctor.’
(51)
no-goː
ɖokʈar
to-ke-ʃ
3-pl
doctor
cop-pst-3h
‘S/He was a doctor.’
(52)
kino
ɖokʈar
to-ke-ʧ
2pl.h
doctor
cop-pst-2pl.h
‘You (pl) were a doctor.’
The most common usage of third-person anaphoric pronouns is as reflexive pronouns (see Section 3.3.4). The third-person anaphoric pronoun also functions as an emphatic pronoun, where it can be preceded by its head noun or a regular (non-anaphoric) third-person pronoun.
(53)
do
an
tʰas~tʰas
du-gjo
3sg
3sg.ana
hear~pfv
aux-pst
‘He himself heard (this).’
(54)
mohan-is
kuaŋ-o
laːŋ
ʃe~ʃe
an-i
ʃi~ʃi
i.name-erg
well-loc
jump(n)
send~pfv
3sg.ana-emp
die~pfv
‘Mohan jumped into the well and died.’
In such cases, the case marker may appear both on the head noun and on the anaphoric pronoun.
(55)
do-s
an-is
ʧe~ʧe
3sg-erg
3sg.ana-erg
write~pfv
‘He himself wrote (a letter).’
3.3.2.1 Dual Number in Pronouns
Personal pronouns can be marked for dual number.
kiʃaŋ functions as the first person dual pronoun.
(56)
kiʃaŋ
ʤanekaŋ-o
bə-te
1du
wedding-loc
come-fut.1du
‘We (two) will come for the wedding.’
-suŋ is suffixed to third person pronouns to indicate duality. It also emphasizes togetherness. This suffix is attached to a special stem of the third person pronouns, which ends in -k (dok-suŋ, nok-suŋ, ʤok-suŋ, anek-suŋ) or in -g (aneg-suŋ). These pronominal stems do not occur in any other context, except possibly in the ablative form dokʧ (see Section 3.2.4.7). Possibly, these represent apocopated plural forms (with assimilative devoicing of g before the s of -suŋ).
dok-suŋ |
[3sg-du] |
‘those two (who are not in sight)’ |
nok-suŋ |
[3sg-du] |
‘those two (who are in sight)’ |
ʤok-suŋ |
[3sg-du] |
‘these two (who are in sight)’ |
In natural discourse -suŋ rarely occurs with common nouns. However, in direct-elicitation language consultants accepted -suŋ with a few [+human] common nouns.
ʦʰeʦaʦ-suŋ |
‘girl-du’ |
tete-suŋ |
‘grandfather-du’ |
ɖekʰraːʦ-suŋ |
‘young man-du’ |
ruʣa-suŋ |
‘o.man-du’ |
* ʦʰesmi-suŋ |
‘woman-du’ |
* kim-suŋ |
‘house-du’ |
* mi-suŋ |
‘man-du’ |
* boːʈʰaŋ-suŋ |
‘tree-du’ |
-suŋ also occurs as a verb indexing marker with third person dual subjects. Its occurrence is, however, not obligatory. More frequently the plural indexing marker occurs also with dual subjects.
(57)
sjano
mi
rǝŋ
an-u
ʦʰesmi
ʤanekaŋ-o
bə-ti-suŋ
old
man
com
3sg.ana-poss
woman
wedding-loc
come-fut-3nh.du
‘The old man and his woman (= his wife) will come for the wedding.’
(58)
sjano
mi
rǝŋ
ʦʰesmi
ʤanekaŋ-o
bə-suŋ
old
man
com
woman
wedding-loc
come-3nh.du
‘The old man and woman came for the wedding.’
(59)
sjano
mi
rǝŋ
ʦʰesmi
ʤanekaŋ-o
bə~bə
to-ge-suŋ49
old
man
com
woman
wedding-loc
come~pfv
aux-pst-3nh.du
‘The old man and woman came for the wedding.’
(60)
sjano
mi
rǝŋ
ʦʰesmi
ʤanekaŋ-o
bə~bə
to-ke
old
man
com
woman
wedding-loc
come~pfv
aux-pst
‘The old man and woman came for the wedding.’
The numeral niʃ ‘two’ occurs, at times, after the second and third person pronouns to indicate duality.
do-niʃ |
[3sg-two] |
‘those two’ |
ka-niʃ |
[2sg.nh-two] |
‘you two’ |
kiʃi,50 ki-niʃ |
[2sg.h.two], [2sg.h-two] |
‘you (h) two’ |
Without a preceding pronoun niʃi51 has a first person dual inclusive interpretation.
(61)
niʃi
ʤanekaŋ-o
bə-ti-ʧ
1dui
wedding-loc
come-fut-1ple
‘We (two) will come for the wedding.’
3.3.3 Interrogative Pronouns and Adverbs
Some interrogative pronouns (and adverbs) in Kinnauri are:
hat |
‘who, which’ |
tʰu, ʧʰu52 |
‘why’ |
|
ham |
‘where’ |
teta, te, tetra |
‘how much, many’ |
|
ʧʰəd, ʧʰa53 |
‘what’ |
teraŋ, tetraŋ |
‘when’ |
|
hala |
‘how (action)’ |
hales |
‘how (quality)’ |
te ‘how much’ is frequently repeated (i.e., te~te [te~echo]). For example, a group of customers in a shop can use te~te to ask how much each one of them owes. tetra ‘how much’ is used when asking about one specific object. teraŋ ‘when’ is an open question. The speaker does not have any specific time-frame in mind. It could be today, tomorrow, in one month or one year or in distant future. When there is a more specific time-frame in mind (e.g. ‘after lunch today’, ‘before 10pm’), tetraŋ is used instead. See also Section 5.2.
3.3.4 Reflexive Pronouns
As mentioned above, Kinnauri has distinct subject and non-subject pronominal forms for the first person singular (gǝ vs. aŋ; see Section 3.3.2), and it is the latter form which is used as the first-person singular reflexive pronoun. In the third person, the anaphoric pronouns an, anegsuŋ and anegoː are used as the reflexive pronouns. In all other cases the same pronominal forms occur in both subject and non-subject positions (including with the ergative marker). In the reflexive pronoun construction, the dative marker is affixed to the pronoun in the direct object position.
(62)
maŋ-o
gǝ-s
aŋ-u
sa-k
dream-loc
1sg-erg
1sg-dat
kill-1sg
‘In the dream I kill myself.’
(63)
maŋ-o
kiʃaŋ-is
kiʃaŋ-u
sa~sa
dream-loc
1du-erg
1du-dat
kill~pfv
‘In the dream we (two) killed ourselves.’
(64)
maŋ-o
niŋo-s
niŋo-nu
sa~sa
dream-loc
1ple-erg
1ple-dat.pl
kill~pfv
‘In the dream we killed ourselves.’
(65)
do-s
an-u-i
lo-kjo
3sg-erg
3sg.ana-dat-emp
tell-pst
‘He told himself.’
(66)
do-goː-s
ane-goː-n(u)
taŋ~taŋ
3-pl-erg
3pl.ana-pl-dat.pl
observe~pfv
‘They looked at themselves.’
As will be discussed in Section 4.1.3.3, the middle voice marker -ʃi also occurs in the reflexive construction. As the examples (67–68) illustrate both the reflexive pronoun and the middle marker -ʃi can co-occur in the same clause.
(67)
niŋo
niŋo-nu
kʰja-ʃ-o
du-ʧ
1ple.nom
1ple-dat.pl
see-mdl-prog
aux-1ple
‘We (excl) saw ourselves (in the mirror).’
(68)
kiʃaː
kiʃaː-nu
kʰja-ʃ-o
to-me
1pli.nom
1pli-dat.pl
see-mdl-prog
aux-1pli
‘We (incl) saw ourselves (in the mirror).’
3.4 Adjectives
Adjectives in Kinnauri precede their head nouns.
(69)
ʃum
uʃk
kim-oː
three
old
house-pl
‘Three old houses’
(70)
do-s
ʈʰog
rǝŋ
rok
gas-oː
gaʤ-is
du
3sg-erg
white
com
black
garment-pl
wear-pfv
aux.prs
‘He has worn black and white clothes.’
(71)
ʧʰaŋ
ka
boːlaː
gaːraŋ-u
ner-o
tʰa-bjo
child
2nh
rough
river-poss
near-loc
proh-go
‘Child, don’t go near the rough river!’
(72)
dam
gas-oː
ʈan-aː
taŋ~taŋ
good
garment-pl
jewelry-pl
observe~pfv
‘(She) looked at nice clothes and (pieces of) jewelry.’
(73)
imandaːr
ʧʰaŋ
dake
ma-taŋ-ʦ
honest
boy
problem
neg-observe-hab
‘The honest boy does not have (any) problem(s).’
As is the case with nouns, most adjectives, too, are mono- or disyllabic in Kinnauri. As with nouns, some disyllabic adjectives, too, end in -aŋ.
dam |
‘good’ |
tʰaːsaŋ |
‘bottom’ |
|
kaːg |
‘bitter’ |
ajãːraŋ |
‘dark’ |
|
bok |
‘hot (objects)’ |
ʦuʈkaŋ |
‘quiet’ |
Quantifiers such as ‘all’, ‘whole’, etc., pattern like adjectives.
dam bataŋ |
[good news] |
‘good news’ |
ʦeik kʰiraŋ |
[all milk] |
‘all milk’ |
gui raːtiŋ |
[whole.duration night] |
‘whole night’54 |
ʃar-e ʦʰeʦaʦ |
[beautiful-f girl] |
‘beautiful girl’ |
ɖekʰres mi |
[male man/person] |
‘male (of any age)’ |
Modifying adverbs, such as ʋal ‘much’, bodi ‘more, much (cnt)’, goma ‘very’, san ‘some’ and kjalekʰa ‘enough, sufficient’ precede adjectives.
(74)
ʃiml-o55
mosam
ʋal-i
dam
p.name-poss
weather
much-emp
good
‘Shimla’s weather is very good.’
(75)
do-mja56
san-ʦ
dam
haʧ-is
dem.dist.nvis-day
some-dim
good
become-pfv
‘That day (she) got a bit better.’
3.4.1 Adjective Inflection
Used attributively, i.e. in combination with a head noun, adjectives in Kinnauri behave similarly to IA adjectives with respect to gender inflection, and optionally also with respect to number marking. As in IA languages, Kinnauri distinguishes between a category of “invariable” adjectives and one of “variable” adjectives (Masica 1991: 250–251).
3.4.1.1 Invariable Adjectives
The adjectives in this category do not inflect for gender and/or number of their head nouns. In the following examples, the same adjectival form occurs with singular and plural head nouns, as also with male and female head nouns.
Invariable adjectives: gender and number |
|||
sjano mi |
‘old man’ |
sjano ʦʰesmi |
‘old woman’57 |
ɖalɖis mi |
‘poor man’ |
ɖalɖis ʦʰesmi |
‘poor woman’ |
saukar mi |
‘rich man’ |
saukar ʦʰesmi |
‘rich woman’ |
braːʈ mi |
‘stingy man’ |
braːʈ ʦʰesmi |
‘stingy woman’ |
teg mi |
‘older man’ |
teg ʦʰesmi |
‘older woman’ |
ʃuʃkes mi |
‘clean man’ |
ʃuʃkes ʦʰesmi |
‘clean woman’ |
baːdur mi |
‘brave man’ |
baːdur ʦʰesmi |
‘brave woman’ |
ʦəlak mi |
‘clever man’ |
ʦəlak ʦʰesmi |
‘clever woman’ |
mari ʧʰaŋ |
‘weak boy’ |
mari ʦʰesmi |
‘weak woman’ |
muʃʈiŋ ʧʰaŋ |
‘strong boy’ |
muʃʈiŋ ʦʰesmi |
‘strong woman’ |
aːlsi ʧʰaŋ |
‘lazy boy’ |
aːlsi ʦʰesmi |
‘lazy woman’ |
dam ʧʰaŋ |
‘good boy’ |
dam ʦʰesmi |
‘good woman’ |
salgi ʧʰaŋ |
‘naked boy’ |
salgi ʦʰesmi |
‘naked woman’ |
ãdoliŋ ʧʰaŋ |
‘blind boy’ |
ãdoliŋ ʦʰesmi |
‘blind woman’ |
saukar ʧʰaŋ-oː |
‘rich boys’ |
saukar ʦʰesmi-oː |
‘rich women’ |
baːdur ʧʰaŋ-oː |
‘brave boys’ |
baːdur ʦʰesmi-oː |
‘brave women’ |
ɖalɖis ʧʰaŋ-oː |
‘poor boys’ |
ɖalɖis ʦʰesmi-oː |
‘poor women’ |
mari ʧʰaŋ-oː |
‘weak boys’ |
mari ʦʰesmi-oː |
‘weak women’ |
muʃʈiŋ ʧʰaŋ-oː |
‘strong boys’ |
muʃʈiŋ ʦʰesmi-oː |
‘strong women’ |
aːlsi ʧʰaŋ-oː |
‘lazy boys’ |
aːlsi ʦʰesmi-oː |
‘lazy women’ |
dam ʧʰaŋ-oː |
‘good boys’ |
dam ʦʰesmi-oː |
‘good women’ |
salgi ʧʰaŋ-oː |
‘naked boys’ |
salgi ʦʰesmi-oː |
‘naked women’ |
ãdoliŋ ʧʰaŋ-oː |
‘blind boys’ |
ãdoliŋ ʦʰesmi-oː |
‘blind women’ |
3.4.1.2 Variable Adjectives
Some adjectives of the variable category have distinct adjectival forms with animate and inanimate head nouns. E.g., for ‘black’, rok is the form used with inanimate nouns, while with humans (e.g. ‘black, dark-skinned (man woman)’), we get either rokalo (m) and rokale (f), or the adjective paŋk ‘dark-skinned (man/woman)’.
Adjectives in this category display complex behavior. In the following examples adjectives can optionally inflect for number, but not for gender. The adjective in this sub-set takes the plural marker -oː/-goː or -eː (with both masculine and feminine head nouns). As with nouns, which adjectives take -eː or -oː/-goː is lexically determined. The plural marker is optional on adjectives in this set, however.
gaʈo ʧʰaŋ |
‘small boy’ |
gaʈo ʦʰeʦaʦ |
‘small girl’ |
raŋk ʧʰaŋ |
‘tall boy’ |
raŋk ʦʰeʦaʦ |
‘tall girl’ |
nakiʦ ʧʰaŋ |
‘thin boy’ |
nakiʦ ʦʰesmi |
‘thin woman’ |
soukar mi |
‘rich man’ |
soukar ʦʰesmi |
‘rich woman’ |
teg mi |
‘big man’ |
teg ʦʰesmi |
‘big woman’ |
braːʈ mi |
‘stingy man’ |
braːʈ ʦʰesmi |
‘stingy woman’ |
gaʈo-goː ʧʰaŋ-oː |
‘small boys’ |
gaʈo-goː ʦʰeʦaʦ-oː |
‘small girls’ |
raŋk-eː ʧʰaŋ-oː |
‘tall boys’ |
raŋk-eː ʦʰeʦaʦ-oː |
‘tall girls’ |
nakiʦ-eː ʧʰaŋ-oː |
‘thin boys’ |
nakiʦ-eː ʦʰesmi-oː |
‘thin women’ |
soukar-eː mi-goː |
‘rich men’ |
soukar-eː ʦʰesmi-oː |
‘rich women’ |
teg-eː mi-goː |
‘big men’ |
teg-eː ʦʰesmi-oː |
‘big women’ |
braːʈ-eː mi-goː |
‘stingy men’ |
braːʈ-eː ʦʰesmi-oː |
‘stingy women’ |
raŋk-eː ʧʰaŋ-o |
‘tall boys’ |
raŋk-eː ʦʰetsaʦ-oː |
‘tall girls’ |
Distinct from this, some adjectives which take the adaptive marker -Vs with masculine singular head nouns, also permit inflection for the natural gender of the animate head noun. The masculine marker in such instances is -a and the feminine marker is -e. As can be seen in the examples below, with masculine head nouns both the default adjectival form with the adaptive marker and truncated adjective with the masculine marker -a are permitted. The corresponding feminine forms take the suffix -e.
moʈʰes ɖekʰraːʦ, moʈʰ-a58 ɖekʰraːʦ |
‘fat y.man’ |
moʈʰ-e ʦʰeʦaʦ |
‘fat y.woman’ |
laʈas mi, laʈ-a mi |
‘mute man’ |
laʈ-e ʦʰesmi |
‘mute woman’ |
ʧʰoʈas ʧʰaŋ, ʧʰoʈ-a ʧʰaŋ |
‘short boy (in height)’ |
ʧʰoʈ-e(-ʦ) ʦʰesmi |
‘short woman’ |
kan-es ʧʰaŋ, kan-a ʧʰaŋ |
‘blind boy’ |
kan-e ʦʰesmi |
‘blind woman’ |
ʃares mi |
‘handsome man’ |
ʃar-e ʦʰesmi |
‘handsome woman’ |
In this set of adjectives, the singular and plural forms are the same (cf. the examples above and below).
moʈʰes ɖekʰraːʦ-oː, moʈʰ-a ɖekʰraːʦ-oː |
‘fat y.men’ |
moʈʰ-e ʦʰeʦaʦ-oː |
‘fat y.women’ |
laʈ-a ɖekʰraːʦ-oː |
‘mute y.men’ |
laʈ-e(-goː)59 ʦʰesmi-oː |
‘mute women’ |
ʧʰoʈ-a ʧʰaŋ-oː, ʧʰoʈas ʧʰaŋ-oː |
‘short boys’ |
ʧʰoʈ-e ʦʰesmi-goː |
‘short women’ |
kan-a mi-oː |
‘blind men’ |
kan-e tsʰesmi-oː |
‘blind women’ |
It is possible that gender as a grammatical category is finding its way into Kinnauri. If a particular adjective which inflects for gender can occur with inanimate head nouns, the inanimate head noun takes the feminine adjectival form. For example, ʃar-eː ɖani(ʦ) ‘beautiful hill’; ʃar-eː rag ‘beautiful stone’. Even though adjectives which inflect for number with animate head nouns in principle permit number agreement with inanimate head nouns, this is only marginally acceptable (uʃk-e gas-oː ‘old garments’; rok(-e) patraŋ-oː ‘black leaves’).
As seen in the examples above, the plural form of adjectives which permit number inflection may also occur with explicit head nouns. But if the identity of the head noun is clear in a given context, the head noun need not occur explicitly. The form of the adjective remains the same irrespective of if the head noun is there explicitly or not. When an adjective occurs without a head noun, the same nominal inflectional endings are affixed to the adjectives.
(76)
ʦeik-u-i
ʣaː-mu
ran-gjo
all-dat-emp
eat-inf
give-pst
‘(They) gave (food) to everyone to eat.’
3.4.2 Predicative Adjectives
Apart from adjectives functioning as a modifier to a nominal argument, they also occur as the second argument in predicative constructions. As seen in example (74) above, the copula is not obligatory.
(77)
gǝ
dam
to-k
1sg.nom
good
cop-1sg
‘I (m,f) am good (well).’
(78)
gǝ
moʈʰe
to-k
1sg.nom
fat.f
cop-1sg
‘I (f) am fat.’
(79)
gǝ
moʈʰes
to-k
1sg.nom
fat.m
cop-1sg
‘I (m) am fat.’
(80)
niŋo
moʈʰaː
to-ʧ
1ple
fat.m.pl
cop-1pl
‘We (m) are fat.’
(81)
niŋo
moʈʰe-goː
to-ʧ
1ple
fat.f.pl
cop-1pl
‘We (f) are fat.’
3.4.3 Degrees of Comparison
Adjectives have no comparative forms. Comparison is expressed by affixing a combination of the locative marker (-o) and the ablative marker (-ʧ) to the standard of comparison.
(82)
sjo
dakʰaŋ-o-ʧ
sost-aː
du
apple
grape-loc-abl
cheap-pl
cop.prs
‘Apples are cheaper than grapes.’
(83)
hojo
mi
ʦʰesmi-o-ʧ
soukar
du
dem.prox
man
woman-loc-abl
rich
cop.prs
‘This man is richer than the woman.’
(84)
bəgiʦ-o
sjo
ʣaŋgal-o
seo-ʧ
em
du
orchard-poss
apple
forest-poss
apple.loc-abl
sweet
cop.prs
‘The orchard’s apples are more tasty than wild apples.’
(85)
hojo
ʧʰaŋ
hodo-ʧ
gaʈo-ʦ
du
dem.prox
child
dem.dist.nvis-abl
small-dim
cop.prs
‘This child is younger than that one.’
The superlative is expressed by putting either ʦeik-o-ʧ [all-loc-abl] or ʣo [sup] before the adjective.
(86)
ʤo
ʦeik-o-ʧ
teg60
gaːraŋ
du
3sg.prox
all-loc-abl
big
river
cop.prs
‘This is the longest river.’
(87)
do
ʦeik-o-ʧ
takraː
du
3sg
all-loc-abl
strong
cop.prs
‘He is the strongest amongst all.’
(88)
id
ʃare-ʦ
pja-ʦ
ʣo
gaʈo-ʦ
ate-o
ɲums
bəd-o
du-gjo
one
beautiful.f-dim
bird-dim
sup
small-dim
brother-poss
after
come-prog
aux-pst
‘One beautiful bird was coming after (following) the youngest brother.’
3.5 Numerals
Like adjectives, numerals in Kinnauri precede their head nouns. Modifying adjectives occur between a numeral and the head noun. In Kinnauri the plural marker may also appear in a noun phrase which contains a numeral (89), although its appearance is optional with numerals (90).
(89)
ʃum
uʃk
kim-oː
three
old
house-pl
‘Three old houses’
(90)
hodo
niʃ
pʰolaŋ
lig-ʃ-is
bjo-o
du
dem.dist.nvis
two
fruit
put-mdl-pfv
go-prog
aux.prs
‘Having taken those two fruits, (he) is going.’
3.5.1 Nondecomposable Numerals
The numerals in Kinnauri which are not (synchronically) decomposable into simpler parts—“atoms” in the sense of Greenberg (1978)—are those for 1–11, and the numerals for ‘twenty’, ‘hundred’ and ‘thousand’. These numerals are as follows.
id |
‘one’ |
ʈug : rug61 |
‘six’ |
sigid |
‘eleven’ |
niʃ |
‘two’ |
(s)tiʃ |
‘seven’ |
niʣa |
‘twenty’ |
ʃum, sum |
‘three’ |
re |
‘eight’ |
ra |
‘hundred’ |
pə |
‘four’ |
(s)gui |
‘nine’ |
həʣar |
‘thousand’ |
ŋa |
‘five’ |
se |
‘ten’ |
sigid ‘eleven’ and niʣa ‘twenty’ are in all likelihood historically derivable from the combinations se ‘ten’ plus id ‘one’ and niʃ ‘two’ plus se ‘ten’, respectively. Except for the IA loanword həʣar ‘thousand’, the nondecomposable numerals in Kinnauri are of ST origin. See also Chapter 5 for numerals in other ST varieties of Kinnaur. In modern times the use of Hindi numerals is gaining ground.
3.5.2 Complex Numerals
The remaining numerals are complex, formed from nondecomposable numerals (and recursively from other complex numerals) by formal devices corresponding to the arithmetic operations multiplication, addition and (rarely) subtraction.
The hundreds are formed by multiplication, formally expressed as juxtaposition of the terms for 2–9 and ra ‘hundred’, e.g., ŋara ‘five hundred’.
There are two ways of forming numerals higher than 1,000, corresponding to the patterns sigid ra [eleven hundred] and həʣar-is ira [thousand-ins one.hundred] ‘1,100’.62
The Kinnauri numeral system is basically vigesimal, i.e., the interval between 20 and 100 is subdivided into twenties, not into decades, e.g. niʣ-o sigid [twenty-nlc eleven] ‘thirty-one’. The words for the decades 30–90 are as follows.
niʣo se |
‘thirty’ |
ʃumniʣa |
‘sixty’ |
pəniʣa |
‘eighty’ |
niʃniʣa |
‘forty’ |
ʃumniʣo se |
‘seventy’ |
pəniʣo se |
‘ninety’ |
niʃniʣo se |
‘fifty’ |
The words for the units (1–19) are added after ‘ten’ and the terms for twenties, with an intervening connecting morph -o/-a(ː) (-nlc). This could be an original possessive or locative suffix.63 E.g., s-a pa/s-o pa [ten-nlc four] ‘fourteen’, s-o ŋa [ten-nlc five] ‘fifteen’, niʣ-o s-o rug [twenty-nlc ten-nlc six] ‘thirty-six’, niʃ-niʣ-o gui [two-twenty-nlc nine] ‘forty-nine’, ʃum-niʣ-o s-a pa [three-twenty-nlc ten-nlc-four] ‘seventy-four’.
Complex numerals in Kinnauri can also be formed by subtraction. The smaller subtracted value appears before the larger base value (a decade), with the expression ma(ː)ts [neg.cop] ‘without’ (see Section 4.6.1)—or alternatively the IA loanword kam ‘less’—between the two expressions. E.g, ŋa maːts ʃum-niʣa [five neg.cop three-twenty] ‘fifty-five’, ʃum maːts pa-niʣ-o se [three neg.cop four-twenty-nlc ten] ‘eighty-seven’.
4 The Verb Complex
The verb complex in Kinnauri exhibits one of the following structures.
Copula construction: |
(neg-)cop(-tns)-idx |
Non-copula |
(proh/neg-)V(-o.idx/mdl)-tns-idx |
constructions: |
N Vlight-tns-idx |
V.pfv Vlight(-o.idx/mdl)-tns-idx |
|
V(-o.idx)-asp (aux(-tns)-idx) |
|
N Vlight-asp (aux(-tns)-idx) |
|
V.pfv Vlight(-o.idx)-asp (aux(-tns)-idx) |
In non-copula constructions the following combinations are attested in our material:64
V-jaː-mdl(-tns)-idx |
V-jaː-o.idx(-tns)-idx |
|
V(-mdl)-tns-idx |
V-o.idx-tns-idx |
|
V-ed-tns-idx |
||
V.intr(-tns)-idx |
In the following sections, we describe the structure of verb lexemes, including valency-changing morphology, subject and “object” indexing, and the two main types of construction listed above, copula and non-copula constructions with their accompanying tense and aspect markers. Negation and imperatives/prohibitives are treated in separate sections.
4.1 Verb Lexemes and Their Structure
4.1.1 Simplex Verbs
The simplex verbs, like nouns and adjectives, are mostly mono- or disyllabic. There are no formal characteristics which distinguish different semantic classes of verbs, as can be seen from the following examples.
onnu |
‘to be hungry’ |
kriŋmu |
‘to shiver’ |
|
pʰasmu |
‘to vomit’ |
gismu |
‘to sneeze’ |
|
bjomu |
‘to go’ |
bənnu |
‘to come’ |
|
bragmu |
‘to chew’ |
koːrmu |
‘to dig’ |
|
tuŋmu |
‘to drink’ |
məlmu |
‘to cut’ |
|
ʦʰunnu |
‘to tie’ |
ʧimu |
‘to wash’ |
|
gomu |
‘to understand’ |
gjaːmu |
‘to want’ |
|
nemu |
‘to know’ |
ʦalmu |
‘to feel, to think’ |
|
tammu |
‘to smell’ |
ʈʰəŋmu |
‘to touch’ |
|
kunnu |
‘to call’ |
lonnu |
‘to tell.n1/2o’ |
Unlike other ST languages of this region such as Bunan and Navakat, verbs in Kinnauri do not have different verb forms for honorific and nonhonorific subjects, beyond the use of the plural marker with singular subjects.
4.1.2 Complex Verbs
Complex—multi-word—verbs are frequently encountered in Kinnauri. One of the two main types consists of a nominal argument followed by a light or support verb. A frequently occurring verb in such constructions is lannu ‘to do, to make’. The nominal argument in this construction contains the primary semantic content, while the verb takes the verbal inflectional endings.
maʤbur lan-nu |
[helpless(n) make-inf] |
‘to force’ |
bok lan-nu |
[warm(n) make-inf] |
‘to warm’ |
puʤa lan-nu |
[prayer(n) make-inf] |
‘to pray’ |
puʤa ma-lan-nu |
[prayer(n) neg-make-inf] |
‘to not pray’ |
sapʰ lan-nu |
[clean(n) make-inf] |
‘to clean’ |
ipəŋ lan-nu |
[save(n) make-inf] |
‘to save’ |
məna lan-nu |
[refuse(n) make-inf] |
‘to refuse’ |
Unlike instances where lannu ‘to make’ functions as a lexical verb, in this complex verb construction the dative marker does not occur after the nominal component of the verb complex (e.g. after maʤbur ‘helpless(n)’ in maʤbur lannu ‘to force’), suggesting that the noun (maʤbur ‘helpless(n)’ here) forms part of the complex verb. Further, in many cases an additional argument occurs in such constructions, which optionally can take the dative marker (91–92).
(91)
ama-s
kim-u
sapʰ
lan-a-ʃ
mother-erg
house-dat
clean(n)
make-pst-3h
‘Mother cleaned the house.’
(92)
ama
niʃ-u
ʦeik-is-i
ase
taː-ʧ-o
du
mother
two-dat
all-erg-emp
torture(n)
keep-1/2o-prog
aux.prs
‘ “Mother, everyone is torturing us (two).” ’
The negative marker (including the prohibitive marker) is, however, affixed to the verb (e.g., puʤa ma-lan-nu [prayer(n) neg-make-inf] ‘to not pray’).
The compound verb construction is the other frequently used complex verb construction in Kinnauri. Here the main verb (in the perfective) is followed by a light or vector verb such as nimu ‘to stay’, rannu/kemu ‘to give’, bjomu ‘to go’, taːmu ‘to keep’ or ʃennu ‘to send’. The vector verb may be followed by an auxiliary. Each vector verb adds a specific semantic dimension to the main verb. For example, the vector verb nimu ‘to stay’ indicates the continuation of the state indicated in the main verb.65 The verbs ʃennu ‘to send’ and rannu/kemu ‘to give’ as vector verbs indicate the completeness or totality of the action expressed in the main verb. All instances of these vector verbs involve active main verbs.66
(93)
kim-o
[toʃ-is
ni-ʦ
du-gjo]
house-loc
[sit-pfv
stay-hab
aux-pst]
‘(He) used to sit at home.’
(94)
do-s
kʰou
[ʣaː~ʣaː
ʃe~ʃe]
3sg-erg
food
[eat~pfv
send~pfv]
‘He ate (up everything).’
4.1.3 Valency Changing Mechanisms
Transitivity is determined only by means of formal criteria—transitive verbs can take objects. Objects do not need to be explicitly present in order for a verb to be considered transitive. Intransitive verbs take nominative subjects. Subjects of transitive verbs can be either in the ergative or in the nominative. Objects can be in the dative or in the nominative. The case marking possibilities in simple transitive clauses (except with ditransitive verbs and the verb ‘to say’) with explicit A and O are (nominative left without indication):
A-erg |
O-dat |
V |
A-erg |
O |
V |
A |
O |
V |
A |
O-dat |
V |
(95)
raːni-s
do
niʃ-u
taŋ-gjo
queen-erg
dem.dist.nvis
two-dat
observe-pst
‘The queen saw those two.’
(96)
raːm-is
rak
tuŋ~tuŋ
i.name-erg
alcohol
drink~pfv
‘Ram drank alcohol.’
(97)
ama
pol-eː
lan-ʦ
mother
fried.bread-pl
make-hab
‘Mother makes (prepares) fried bread.’
(98)
hat-u
raːʣa67
ʦum-ta
who-dat
king
catch-fut
‘Whom will (they) catch (as their) king.’ (Who will become the king?)
(99)
aŋ-u
ʋal-i
ʤãŋk
bǝ
1sg-dat
much-emp
very warm (weather)
come.pst
‘I felt very hot.’
In ditransitive clauses where both a direct object and an indirect object occur, the indirect object gets the dative marker, and the direct object remains in the nominative.
(100)
gǝ-s
ka-nu
id
bakʰor
ke-ta-k
1sg-erg
2sg.nh-dat.pl
one
goat
give.1/2o-fut-1sg
‘I will give a goat to you.’
(101)
raːʣa-s
raːni-pəŋ
nukur*-u
ran-o
king-erg
queen-dat
servant*-dat
give-pst
‘The king gave the servant to the queen.’
(102)
do-s
uː-nu68
ti
ran-o-ʃ
3sg-erg
flower-dat.pl
water
give-pst-3h
‘She gave water to the flowers (plants).’
(103)
do-s
uː-pəŋ69
ti
ran-o-ʃ
3sg-erg
flower-dat
water
give-pst-3h
‘She gave water to the flower (SG).’
4.1.3.1 (De)transitivizing Voicing Alternation
Most Sino-Tibetanists posit an original de-transitivizing prefix *n- whose reflex in modern forms is voicing of the root-initial consonant. In a small set of verbs, when the intransitive verb form begins with a voiced obstruent (a stop or an affricate), the corresponding transitive verb form begins with a voiceless consonant. This is also observed in Kinnauri, although not as a productive process. In such verbs the transitive marker -jaː is not permitted (see Section 4.1.3.4.1 for -jaː).
V (intr) |
V (tr) |
|
---|---|---|
bəŋmu |
pəŋmu |
‘to fill’ |
bogmu |
pogmu |
‘to burn’ |
grumu |
krumu |
‘to burn (food items)’ |
bannu |
pannu |
‘to cook’ |
bjugmu |
pjugmu |
‘to blow off fire’ |
gjulmu |
kʰjulmu |
‘to scrape’ |
ʤogmu |
ʧogmu |
‘to drip’ |
bralmu |
pʰralmu |
‘to fall, to fell’ |
The middle marker -ʃi (see Section 4.1.3.3), too, can be affixed to some transitive verbs of this set to decrease their valency, e.g., pog-ʃi-mu ‘to get burnt by inadvertently touching a hot pan’ < pogmu ‘to burn (tr)’.
4.1.3.2 The Transitivizing Prefix s-
There are some Kinnauri transitive verb forms in the speech of older consultants (or attested in the examples provided in older literature) which contain the prefix s-. For example, (s)kʋamu ‘to jump (tr)’, (s)tugmu ‘to push’. Bailey (1920) provides the following: tuŋmū ‘to drink’ : stuŋmū ‘to cause to drink, give to drink’. In all such cases, the forms without the prefix also occur as independent transitive verbs. It is noteworthy that some language consultants (especially the younger ones) use and recognize only the variants without the prefix s-.
4.1.3.3 The Middle Marker -ʃi
Kinnauri has a multifunctional verbal suffix -ʃi with cognates in several other ST languages.70 This suffix is realized as -ʃ when the suffix following it starts with a vowel. The -ʃ in -ʃi never assimilates to surrounding consonants or vowels (e.g. with regard to voicing), which otherwise is a common phenomenon in Kinnauri. With a restricted set of verbs, however, it is realized as -ʧi, and not as -ʃi (e.g., legmu ‘to burn’, legʧimu [lɛkʧimu] ‘to get burned’, but not *legʃimu). With all other verbs -ʧ as the middle marker is not permitted. The distribution of the middle marker -ʃi and -ʧi is not morphophonologically conditioned. It is unclear why some verbs take -ʧi, and not the default -ʃi. It is possible that forms with -ʧi are borrowed from some other language.
Kinnauri -ʃi expresses functions which are typically associated with the middle marker, as shown below, but it also occurs in some other, distinctly non-middle constructions. However, regardless of the varying semantics of the verbs containing -ʃi, it will be consistently referred to and glossed as “middle” (mdl) in this chapter, including the word list in Appendix 2A.
(104)
sapes-is
radʰa-pəŋ
ʈok~ʈok
snake-erg
i.name-dat
sting.pfv
‘The snake stung Radha.’
(105)
gə
ʈok-ʃi-s
to-k
1sg.nom
sting-mdl-pfv
aux-1sg
‘I am bitten (by a snake).’
(106)
sapes-is
aŋ-u
ʈok-ʧ-is
snake-erg
1sg-dat
sting-1/2o-pfv
‘The snake stung me.’
The middle marker occurs with both ST and non-ST verbs. Among non-ST verbs, the focus here will be on IA loans. With IA verbs, as can be seen in the examples provided here, it occurs only on verb stems which contain the transitive marker -jaː (see Section 4.1.3.4.1).
ST/IA |
V (tr) |
V (mdl) |
V (intr) |
|
---|---|---|---|---|
ST |
pramu |
praʃimu |
‘to spread’ |
|
ST |
ʧimu |
ʧiʃimu |
‘to wash’ |
|
ST |
tʰannu |
tʰaʃimu |
‘to drop’ |
|
ST |
sǝrmu |
sǝrʃimu |
‘to wake up’ |
|
IA |
polʈjaːmu |
polʈjaːʃimu |
polʈennu |
‘to turn (around)/roll’ |
IA |
rokjaːmu |
rokjaːʃimu |
rukennu |
‘to stop’ |
Kinnauri has a reflexive construction involving a transitive verb and a reflexive (anaphoric) pronoun, with the verb form remaining the same in a regular transitive clause. Most likely this reflexive construction in Kinnauri is due to its contact with IA languages.
(107)
do-s
an-u
kʰjo-o
du
3sg-erg
3sg.ana-dat
see-prog
aux.prs
‘S/He is seeing her/himself (in the mirror).’
As in many other ST languages, a reflexive reading in Kinnauri can also be accomplished by suffixing the middle marker -ʃi to a transitive verb. The reflexive pronoun is optional in constructions with the middle marker (67–68, repeated here slightly modified as 108–109).
(108)
niŋo
(niŋo-nu)
kʰja-ʃ-o
du-ʧ
1ple.nom
(1ple-dat.pl)
see-mdl-prog
aux-1ple
‘We (excl) are seeing ourselves (in the mirror).’
(109)
kiʃaː
(kiʃaː-nu)
kʰja-ʃ-o
to-me
1pli.nom
(1pli-dat.pl)
see-mdl-prog
aux-1pli
‘We (incl) are seeing ourselves (in the mirror).’
The middle marker occurs also in reciprocal constructions.
(110)
do-goː
me
ama-bua
taŋ~taŋ
du
3-pl
yesterday
mother-father
observe~pfv
aux.prs
‘Yesterday they looked at (someone’s) parents.’
(111)
do-goː
me
taŋ-ʃ-is
du
3-pl
yesterday
observe-mdl-pfv
aux.prs
‘Yesterday they looked (at one another).’
The reciprocal construction with -ʃi, too, can optionally contain the anaphoric pronoun.
(112)
ʦʰets-oː
(ane-goː)
baːt-jaː-ʃ-o
du
woman-pl
ana-pl
talk-tr-mdl-prog
aux.prs
‘The women are talking among themselves.’
(113)
ʧʰaŋ-oː
(ane-goː)
kul-ʃ-o
du
child-pl
ana-pl
beat-mdl-prog
aux.prs
‘The children are fighting among themselves.’
As in several other ST languages, in Kinnauri too, -ʃi as the middle marker is used to decrease verbal valency. Thus, the ergative and the dative marker are not permitted on the core arguments of a transitive verb when the middle marker -ʃi has been added to it, while with the same verb without the middle marker, the core arguments may take the ergative and the dative marker.
(114)
ʧʰaŋ-oː-s
ʈokʰ-jaː-o71
lod-o
du
boy-pl-erg
call.out-tr-prog
tell-prog
aux.prs
‘The boys are telling (others), by calling out to (them).’
(115)
ʧʰaŋ-oː*-s
ʈokʰ-jaː-ʃ-o
lo-ʃ-o
du
boy-pl*-erg
call.out-tr-mdl-prog
tell-mdl-prog
aux.prs
‘The boys are telling one another, by calling out to one another.’
Alternatively, the original subject can be suppressed (117, 119 compared to 116, 118).
(116)
gǝ
pitaŋ
pid-o
du-k
1sg.nom
door
close-prog
aux.prs-1sg
‘I am closing the door.’
(117)
pitaŋ
pi-ʃ-o
du
door
close-mdl-prog
aux.prs
‘The door is closing (on its own).’
(118)
mi-s
murti
ti-o
bojaː~jaː
ʃe~ʃe
man-erg
statue
water-loc
flow.tr~pfv
send~pfv
‘The man floated ([+control]) the statue in the water.’
(119)
ŋa
ʧʰaŋ-oː
ti-o
bo-jaː-ʃ-is
du-ge
five
boy-pl
water-loc
flow-tr-mdl-pfv
aux-pst
‘Five boys were swept ([-control]) into the water.’
-ʃi in Kinnauri occurs also in constructions which are not normally associated with the middle voice.
First, there is a kind of generalization of the reflexive usage of -ʃi in Kinnauri, reminiscent of possessor raising (Deal 2017), where the verb retains the object or other non-subject argument, and -ʃi indicates that its referent belongs to the subject, e.g., through a kinship relation, or by being part of their body (the subject doing something to/with their body part) or through possession/ownership.
(120)
do
raːʣkumar
an-u
ʈʰepiŋ-o
ʦisaŋ
lig-ʃ-is
kim-o-ʧ
dʋǝ~dʋǝ
bjo-gjo
dem.dist.nvis
prince
ana-poss
cap-loc
flour
put-mdl-pfv
house-loc-abl
come.out~pfv
go-pst
‘That prince, taking flour in (his) cap, came out of the home and went.’
(121)
bag-e
bal-e
pitaŋ
lig-ʃ-is
rear.of.dance-mnr
head-mnr
door
put-mdl-pfv
‘(The priest’s wife said: “the smart prince) is dancing, carrying (our home’s main) door on (his) head”.’
(122)
raːʣa
somsi
raŋ-u
den
ʃog-ʃ-is
ane-nu
dǝrbar-o
bǝ-ʧ-is
king
early.morning
horse-poss
on
ride-mdl-pfv
ana.pl-poss
court-loc
come-mdl-pfv
‘the next day the king rode on (his) horse, and came to (his) court.’
Second, -ʃi occurs in constructions where it highlights that more than one person is involved in an activity and that the action is done collectively. The corresponding clauses with singular subject occurs with the same verb, but without -ʃi. This happens with both transitive (123–126) and intransitive (127–128) verbs.
(123)
nane
ʧʰu
krab-o
du-ʃ
aunt
why
cry-prog
aux.prs-3sg.hon
‘aunt, why is (she) crying?’
(124)
isan
ta
krab-ʃ-o
du
briefly
foc
cry-mdl-prog
aux.prs
‘For some time (those two) are crying.’
(125)
raːʣa
hal-ed-o
du
king
walk-intr-prog
aux.prs
‘The king is taking a walk’
(126)
kon-jaː
ek-e
hale-ʃ-o
du
friend-pl
one-loc
walk-mdl-prog
aux.prs
‘Friends are walking (together).’
(127)
do-goː
ʃum-is
ʦʰeʦaʦ-u
san-ǝm
rujaː-ʃ-is
du-gjo
dem.dist.nvis-pl
three-erg
girl-dat
kill-nmlz
prepare-mdl-pfv
aux-pst
‘Those three (sisters-in-law) prepared to kill the girl.’
(128)
ʃum-ki72
lo-ʃ-o
du
three-emp
tell-mdl-prog
aux.prs
‘All three are telling (at the same time to one another).’
-ʃi also occurs in constructions where the agency/volitionality of the subject is emphasized; that the subject acted on his/her own free will. The regular active clause case marking on core arguments is retained. This usage has been reported as the primary function of cognate items in the Macro-Tani languages by Modi and Post (2020) under the label “subject autonomy”.
(129)
somsi
sǝr-o
du
early.morning
rise-prog
aux-pst
‘In the early morning (the prince) is waking up.’
(130)
jaŋʣe-s
raːtiŋ
sǝr-ʃ-is
do
ɖig-u
maŋ-gjo
o.woman-erg
night
rise-mdl-pfv
dem.dist.nvis
pot-dat
hide-pst
‘In the night the old woman woke up (and) hid the bowl [she woke up in the middle of the night as she wanted to hide the bowl before everyone else wakes up in the morning].’
(131)
ʧoraː
saŋ-ʃ-is
ʧʰǝʦ-i
maː-ʦ
ʦeik
luʈjaː~ʈjaː
thief.pl
enter-mdl-pfv
some-emp
neg.aux-hab
all
loot.tr~pfv
‘(The priest’s wife said:) “thieves entered the house. Nothing is there (= left). (They) looted (us).” ’
Finally, the verb forms with the middle marker can also occur in non-final clauses. For example in relative clauses (e.g. gjaː-ʃ-id [want-mdl-hab] ‘(the queen) who is desired)’ and in non-final clauses in a complex construction.
(132)
niʃ -i
ʧʰaŋ-oː
krab-ʃ-o
krab-ʃ-o
ma-han-am
nipi
sunts-jaː-ʃ-o
du-gjo
two-emp
child-pl
cry-mdl-prog
cry-mdl-prog
neg-can-nmlz
after
think-tr-mdl-prog
aux-pst
‘Those two children, sobbing, after not agreeing (to stay behind), were (collectively) thinking’
4.1.3.4 (De)transitivizing Morphology in IA Loanwords
In a subset of IA loanwords, -e/-ed/-en is suffixed to form an intransitive verb and -j/-jaː in the same slot is suffixed to form the corresponding transitive verb.
V (intr) |
V (tr) |
|
---|---|---|
polʈennu |
polʈjaːmu |
‘to turn around, to roll’ |
baːsennu |
baːsjaːmu |
‘to smell’ |
paːlennu |
paːljaːmu |
‘to grow’ |
bojennu |
bojaːmu |
‘to float, to blow’ |
somʣennu |
somʣjaːmu |
‘to understand’ |
ʤonlennu |
ʤonljaːmu |
‘to swing’ |
Both suffixes are subject to morphophonologically conditioned variation (see Sections 2.3.2 and 4.5.2.4).
4.1.3.4.1 The Transitive Marker -j/-jaː
All Kinnauri disyllabic verb stems with -j/-jaː in the final syllable are transitive verbs.73 The allomorph -j appears before the progressive aspect marker -o (see Section 4.5.2.4), and -jaː occurs in all other contexts. -j/-jaː is suffixed to IA loans and to verbs of unknown etymologies, but never to ST verbs. All the following verbs are of IA origin.
monjaːmu |
‘to make someone agree’ |
pʰuljaːmu |
‘to blow (something)’ |
arjaːmu |
‘to call (someone)’ |
somʣjaːmu |
‘to explain (something)’ |
pʰikjaːmu |
‘to throw (something)’ |
polʈjaːmu |
‘to flip over (e.g. bread, quilt)’ |
ʦʰuʈjaːmu |
‘to release (something)’ |
toljaːmu |
‘to weigh (something)’ |
Once the transitivizer -j/-jaː is affixed to the verb stem, it becomes part of the lexical item, which then undergoes the same processes as a regular lexical verb. As we will see in Section 4.5.2.2, the monosyllablic verb stem is reduplicated in the perfective aspect, if the verb stem does not end in -ʧ or -ʃ. If the verb stem is disyllabic, there is partial reduplication, where only the second syllable is reduplicated. In the perfective form of the verb stems with -j/-jaː, it is the last consonant of the penultimate syllable together with the final syllable (-jaː) which is reduplicated.
V (tr, inf) |
V (pfv) |
|
---|---|---|
pʰikjaːmu |
pʰikjaːkjaː |
‘to throw (something)’ |
ʦʰinjaːmu |
ʦʰinjaːnjaː |
‘to cut (e.g. vegetables)’ |
polʈjaːmu |
polʈjaːʈjaː |
‘to flip over (e.g. bread)’ |
bodjaːmu |
bodjaːdjaː |
‘to increase (something countable)’ |
rokjaːmu |
rokjaːkjaː |
‘to stop (someone)’ |
meʈjaːmu |
meʈjaːʈjaː |
‘to gather (something)’ |
kuʃjaːmu |
kuʃjaːʃjaː |
‘to wipe, to sweep (something)’ |
ʤonljaːmu |
ʤonljaːljaː |
‘to swing (something)’ |
ʤekʰjaːmu |
ʤekʰjaːkʰjaː |
‘to rub (e.g. clothes)’ |
ʃoʈʰjaːmu |
ʃoʈʰjaːʈʰjaː |
‘to leave (something)’ |
4.1.3.4.2 The Intransitive Marker -e/-ed/-en
Disyllabic verb stems with -e/-ed/-en as the final syllable are intransitive verbs in Kinnauri. As was the case with the transitive marker -j/-jaː above, -e/-ed/-en too occurs only with IA loans or verbs of unknown etymology, never with ST verbs. The suffix appears in three different shapes determined by morphophonological context; see Section 2.3.2.
As some of the previous as well as the following examples show, some verbs permit two de-transitivized verb forms, one with the middle marker and another with the intransitive marker -e/-ed/-en.
V (tr) |
V (mdl -ʃi) |
V (intr -ed) |
|
---|---|---|---|
polʈjaːmu |
polʈjaːʃimu |
polʈennu |
‘to flip’ |
baːsjaːmu |
baːsjaːʃimu |
baːsennu |
‘to smell’ |
paːljaːmu |
paːljaːʃimu |
paːlennu |
‘to grow’ |
ɖubjaːmu |
ɖubjaːʃimu |
ɖubennu |
‘to drown’ |
somʣjaːmu |
somʣjaːʃimu |
somʣennu |
‘to explain’ |
sikjaːmu |
sikjaːʃimu |
sikennu |
‘to move’ |
bodjaːmu |
bodjaːʃimu |
bodennu |
‘to increase’ |
rokjaːmu |
rokjaːʃimu |
rukennu |
‘to stop’ |
ʤonljaːmu |
ʤonljaːʃimu |
ʤonlennu |
‘to swing’ |
In such instances there seems to be some difference in their distribution: -e/-ed/-en occurs with singular subjects, while -ʃi (i.e., -jaː-ʃi), has the interpretation that more than one participant is involved and that they acted collectively:
V (intr -ed) |
V (mdl -jaː-ʃi) |
||
---|---|---|---|
polʈennu |
‘to turn around, to roll’ (sg) |
polʈjaːʃimu |
‘to turn around, to roll’ (pl, collectively) |
baːsennu |
‘to smell’ (sg) |
baːsjaːʃimu |
‘to smell’ (pl, collectively) |
paːlennu |
‘to grow’ (sg) |
paːljaːʃimu |
‘to grow’ (pl, collectively) |
bojennu |
‘to float, to blow’ (sg) |
bojaːʃimu |
‘to float, to blow’ (pl, collectively) |
rukennu |
‘to stop’ (sg) |
rokjaːʃimu |
‘to stop’ (pl, collectively) |
somʣennu |
‘to understand’ (sg) |
somʣjaːʃimu |
‘to understand’ (pl, collectively) |
ʤonlennu |
‘to swing’ (sg) |
ʤonljaːʃimu |
‘to swing’ (pl, collectively) |
However, as the following examples show, some verbs which take the transitive marker -j/-jaː, do not permit the intransitive marker -e/-ed/-en.
V (tr -jaː) |
V (mdl -jaː-ʃi) |
V (intr -ed) |
|
---|---|---|---|
ʈ(r)uːtʰjaːmu |
ʈ(r)uːtʰjaːʃimu |
*ʈ(r)uːtʰennu |
‘to squeeze’ |
ʃoʈʰjaːmu |
ʃoʈʰjaːʃimu |
*ʃoʈʰennu |
‘to leave’ |
pʰurkjaːmu |
pʰurkjaːʃimu |
*pʰurkennu |
‘to blow’ |
arjaːmu |
arjaːʃimu |
*arennu |
‘to call’ |
pʰikjaːmu |
pʰikjaːʃimu |
*pʰikennu |
‘to throw’ |
ʦʰinjaːmu |
ʦʰinjaːʃimu |
*ʦʰinennu |
‘to cut’ |
ʤekʰjaːmu |
ʤekʰjaːʃimu |
*ʤekʰennu |
‘to rub’ |
toljaːmu |
toljaːʃimu |
*tolennu |
‘to weigh’ |
meʈjaːmu |
meʈjaːʃimu |
*meʈennu |
‘to gather’ |
kuʃjaːmu |
kuʃjaːʃimu |
*kuʃennu |
‘to wipe/sweep’ |
meʈjaːmu |
meʈjaːʃimu |
*meʈennu |
‘to gather’ |
In this set of verbs, as the following examples illustrate, the verb form with the middle marker occurs with singular as well as plural subjects. It is unclear why the -ed verb forms are not permitted with this set of verbs.
(133)
id
kamiːʣ
laːn-is
pʰik-jaː-ʃ-is
du
one
shirt
wind-ins
throw-tr-mdl-pfv
aux.prs
‘One shirt fell down in the wind.’
(134)
ʦeik [ʦei]
kamiːʣ-eː
laːn-is
pʰik-jaː-ʃ-is
du
all
shirt-pl
wind-ins
throw-tr-mdl-pfv
aux.prf
‘All shirts fell down in the wind.’
4.2 Subject Indexing
Both nominative and ergative subject arguments control subject indexing. The subject indexing markers occur in both copula and non-copula constructions. Table 20 presents the subject indexing markers. -oː functions as the plural indexing marker with 2nh and 3h and -suŋ functions as the dual subject indexing marker with 3nh. In natural discourse the plural marker does not occur obligatorily with plural subjects. Similarly, with dual subjects, the plural marker -oː occurs more frequently than the dual indexing marker -suŋ.
Table 20
Subject indexing markers
Person |
SG |
PL/DU |
---|---|---|
1 |
-k |
-ʧ (du, ple), -me (pli) |
2nh |
-n |
-n(-oː) (du, pl) |
2h |
-ɲ |
-ʧ (du, pl) |
3nh |
Ø |
Ø (du, pl), -suŋ (du) |
3h |
-ʃ |
-ʃ(-oː) (du, pl) |
4.3 “Affected Object” Indexing
The object indexing marker is -ʧ/-ʧi (except with the verbs ‘to give’ and ‘to tell’ where there is a change in the verb form; see below) is suffixed to the verb. When the following suffix begins with a vowel, the -ʧ allomorph appears. The object index occurs with speech act participants in both singular and plural.
The characterization “most affected object” captures the distribution of the “1st/2nd object” index better than simply calling it an “object” marker. -ʧ/-ʧi occurs when a speech act participant is the most affected—zero or dative marked—participant in a clause (finite or non-final). This could be a patient, a recipient, or a beneficiary, including a speech act participant in the “subject” position in dative subject construction (see below). The speech act participant is [-control] in such constructions.
(135)
dok
meː
leg-ʧ-a-k
then
fire
burn-1/2o-fut-1sg
‘I will set you on fire.’
(136)
aŋ-u
ama-boba-s
birmaʧʰosten
rakses-u
dor
ʃe-ʧ-is
1sg-poss
mother-father-erg
i.name
demon-poss
near
send-1/2o-pfv
‘My parents sent me with the demon Birma Chostin,’
(137)
gə
me
ki-n
dokʧ
ral
un-ʧi-mu
to-ʧ-e-k
1sg.nom
yesterday
2sg.h-poss
from
rice
take-1/2o-inf
aux-pst-1sg
‘Yesterday I was (thinking of) taking rice from you.’
The “object” index marker -ʧ/-ʧi, like middle -ʃi, does not assimilate. The exception is a set of verbs where the object index is realized as -ʤ/-ʤi, but never as -ʧ/-ʧi. In my material, this applies to the following verb stems: ʣaː- ‘eat’, gjaː- ‘want’, mjaː- ‘not.want’, kʰo- ‘skin(v)’, and ruŋ- ‘watch’. A few verbs (e.g. pʰjo- ‘take away’, taː- ‘put’) seem to permit both -ʧ/-ʧi and -ʤ/-ʤi as the object marker.
(138)
boba-s
gaːraŋ-u
deŋ-staŋ
kǝr-ʧ-is
kiʃaŋ-u
id-u
nǝŋ
pʰjo-ʧ-is
id-u
ʤaŋ
taː-ʤ-is
dok
kiʃaŋ-u
dobi
bajaːraŋ-is
pal-jaː-ʧ-is
father-erg
river-poss
there-until
bring-1/2o-pfv
1du-poss
one-dat
there
take.away-1/2o-pfv
one-dat
there
put-1/2o-pfv
then
1du-dat
washerman
couple-erg
raise-tr-1/2o-pfv
‘ “(Our) father took us to the river. He took away one of us. The other one was left there. Then the washerman couple raised us two.” ’
(139)
aŋ-u
pʰjo-ʤi-mu
1sg-dat
take.away-1/2o-nmlz
‘While coming to take me,’
The object indexing marker occurs when the speech act participant is the most affected argument in a clause. If the proper conditions are met, both subject indexing and object indexing can occur in the same clause. The object indexing marker occurs before the tense/aspect markers.
(140)
do-s
aŋ
dokʧ
rupja
un-ʧ-e-ʃ
3sg-erg
1sg.nnom
from
money
ask-1/2o-pst-3h
‘S/He then asked me for money.’
(141)
aŋ-u
birma=ʧʰosten
rakses-u
dor
ʃe-ʧ-is
1sg-dat
i.name
demon-poss
near
send-1/2o-pst
‘I was sent with the demon Birma Chosten.’
(142)
do-s
aŋ-u
kamaŋ
rju-ʧ-e
3sg-erg
1sg-dat
work(n)
make.do-1/2o-pst
‘S/He made me do the work.’
(143)
do
raːm-u
kamaŋ
rju-o
3sg
i.name-dat
work(n)
make.do-pst
‘S/He made Ram do the work.’
(144)
maŋ-o
aŋ-u
rakses-is
ʣaː-ʤ-e
dream-loc
1sg-dat
demon-erg
eat-1/2o-pst
‘In the dream the demon ate me.’
(145)
raːm-is
aŋ-u
ʣali
baːt-en-nu
ʃe-ʧ-e
i.name-erg
1sg-dat
lie(n)
talk-intr-inf
send-1/2o-pst
‘Ram made me tell a lie.’
Clauses involving the object indexing marker can have all three persons as their subjects (see examples above and below). The subject indexing marker remains the same (including its placement), as described in Section 4.2.
(146)
aɲaːres-o
raːm-is
aŋ-u
taŋ-ʧ-e-ʃ
darkness-loc
i.name-erg
1sg-dat
observe-1/2o-pst-3h
‘In the darkness Ram saw me.’
(147)
do-s
lo-kjo
“gjaː-ʤ-a-k
gjaː-ʤ-a-k”
3sg-erg
tell-pst
want-1/2o-pst-1sg
want-1/2o-pst-1sg
‘He (= the priest) said: “I want, I want (you as my servant).” ’
Although -ʧi is the default object indexing marker, in the case of the verbs ‘give’ and ‘tell’ there is verb stem suppletion instead. The stem variants kemu [to.give.1/2o]74 and rəŋmu [to.tell.1/2o]75 occur when the clause has a speech act participant as affected object; the variants rannu ‘to give’ and lonnu ‘to tell’ occur with third person objects. The object indexing marker -ʧ/-ʧi does not occur with these verbs.76
(148)
arʤun-is
mohan-u
kǝtab
ran-o-ʃ
i.name-erg
i.name-dat
book
give-pst-3h
‘Arjun gave a book to Mohan.’
(149)
ama-s
aŋ-u
kʰou
ker-o-ʃ
mother-erg
1sg-dat
food
give.1/2o-pst-3h
‘Mother gave me food.’
(150)
ka-s-i
hudu77
lo~lo / *rəŋ~rəŋ
2sg.nh-erg-emp
dem.dist.nvis.dat
tell~pfv
‘You (yourself) told (this) to him.’
(151)
raːm-is
ki-nu
rəŋ~rəŋ / *lo~lo
i.name-erg
2sg.h-dat.pl
tell.1/2o~pfv
‘Ram told (this) to you.’
The object index marker is also suffixed to verb stems with the transitive marker -j/-jaː. For example,
(152)
raːm
aŋ-u
id
baːtaŋ
somʣ-jaː-ʧ-e78
i.name
1sg-dat
one
talk(n)
understand-tr-1/2o-pst
‘Ram explained me one thing.’
(153)
do-s
aŋ-u
tol-jaː-ʧ-o
to-ʃ
3sg-erg
1sg-dat
weigh-tr-1/2o-prog
aux-3h
‘He is weighing me.’
(154)
ki
aŋ-u
somʣ-jaː-ʧi-ɲ-a
2sg.h
1sg-dat
understand-tr-1/2o-2h-q
‘Will you explain (X) to me?’
The object index marker (or the corresponding suppletive verb stem) also occurs in non-final clauses, nominalized clauses (e.g. ke-ma ‘(if it is) given to me …’ from kemu ‘to give-1/2o’) as well as in finite verbs.
The dative-marked argument in the dative experiencer construction does not control subject indexing (see Section 5.1). If the dative-marked argument is a speech act participant, it triggers object indexing instead, suggesting that it has not yet acquired the full subject status.
(155)
ki-nu
əkʰa
ker-o
du-ge
2sg.h-dat.pl
pain
give.1/2o-prog
aux-pst
‘You were having pain.’
As described in Section 4.2, Kinnauri has -ʧ also as the subject index marker with 1du, 1ple, 2du and 2pl subjects. The subject index marker -ʧ and the object index marker -ʧ/-ʧi occur in two different slots; further, the subject index marker is never realized as -ʤ/-ʤi, which, as shown above, is the case with the 1/2o marker. This is the case in both declarative and imperative clauses.
(156)
ki-s
aŋ
dokʧ
rupja
un-ʧ-e-ʧ
2sg.h.erg
1sg.nnom
from
money
take-1/2o-pst-2du/pl.h
‘You asked me for money.’
(157)
kiʃaŋ-s
ki-n
dokʧ
rupja
un-ʧ-e-ʧ
1du-erg
2sg.h-poss
from
money
take-1/2o-pst-2du/pl.h
‘We (dual) asked you for money.’
(158)
kino-s
aŋ
dokʧ
rupja
un-ʧ-e-ʧ
2pl.h-erg
1sg.nnom
from
money
take-1/2o-pst-2du/pl.h
‘You (hon, pl) asked me for money.’
(159)
hod-e
rǝŋ
aŋ-u
baːt-jaː-ʤi-ri-ʧ
dem.dist.nvis-loc
time
1sg-dat
talk-tr-1/2o-imp-2du/pl.h
‘(When you will get tired,) that time you call me.’
Similarly, the following examples illustrate the difference between the 1/2 affected participant marker -ʧ/-ʧi and the middle marker allomorph -ʧi.
(160)
somsi
sǝr-o
du
morning
raise-prog
aux.prs
‘In the morning (the prince) is raising (the priest from his sleep).’
(161)
nasom
niŋo-nu
le
sǝr-ʧi-ra
tomorrow
1ple-dat.pl
emp
raise-1/2o-imp
‘Tomorrow you should wake me up!’
(162)
ʦʰeʦaʦ-oː
sǝr-ʃ-e
girl-pl
raise-mdl-pst
‘The girls woke up (on their own).’
This category is slightly reminiscent of egophoricity in Tibetic (e.g., in Navakat; see Chapter 3), in that it concerns SAP verb arguments. The similarity ends there, however, since the referent of the object index marker remains the same in declaratives and in interrogatives. The “Object” index (including verb suppletion of ‘give’ and ‘tell’) in Kinnauri occurs everytime we have a speech act participant as the most affected participant (including in the dative subject construction, see below).
And lastly, the deictic center in Kinnauri is broader than in some other ST languages such as Lhasa Tibetan and Ladakhi in that in Kinnauri it includes second person. In Lhasa Tibetan and Ladakhi a distinction is made between first vs. non-first person, while in Kinnauri it is third person vs. non-third person.
4.4 Copula Constructions
to, du and ni function both as equational and existential copulas (glossed here as [cop]).79 The copulas to and du occur in non-future tenses, where clauses involving the copula to may occur with all three persons as their subjects; the copula du occurs here only with third person subjects. The copula ni, on the other hand, occurs in all tenses. In the future tense it occurs with all persons, where it takes the tense and subject indexing markers, but in the past and present tenses it occurs only with third person subjects, where it does not take any inflectional ending.
(163)
gǝ
maʃʈor
to-k / *du-k
1sg.nom
teacher
cop.prs-1sg
‘I am a teacher.’
(164)
ka
maʃʈor
to-n / *du-n
2sg.nh
teacher
cop.prs-2sg.nh
‘You are a teacher.’
(165)
kǝtab
dam
to / du / ni
book
good
cop.prs
‘The book is good.’
(166)
id
raʣa
du-gjo
one
king
cop-pst
‘There was a king.’
The distribution of to, du and ni with third person honorific and non-honorific subjects is semantically conditioned. The semantic interpretations of to and du with honorific subjects are different from their interpretations with non-honorific subjects.
We will first consider the semantic interpretations associated with the copulas in clauses involving non-honorific subjects.
to in such constructions indicates that the subject is somehow related to the speaker. This may either be because they are members of the same family or because they are in physical proximity to each other.
du occurs in contexts where the subject does not belong to the speaker and the speaker has no information or knowledge about the subject.
ni occurs where the hearer has some doubts either about the very existence of the subject, or in identifying the subject as either A or B, while the speaker definitely knows the answer (either because they saw it themselves or because they have some way of knowing the truth).
to is used in example (165), when the book either belongs to the speaker or is in their possession; du is used when the book neither belongs to the speaker nor is in their possession; ni is used if the hearer has some doubts concerning the book being good, while the speaker knows that it is good.
The distribution and the semantic interpretations of the copulas (to, du and ni), as described here, remain the same in the past tense.
The choice of the copulas to and du with honorific subjects in the copula constructions is, on the other hand, determined by the animacy of the subject. In non-experiencer subject copula constructions, to-ʃ occurs with animate subjects and du-ʃ occurs with inanimate subjects. The semantic interpretation of ni with honorific subjects remains the same as with non-honorific subjects (see above).
(167)
sudeʃ
ʃare
to-ʃ / *du-ʃ
i.name(f)
beautiful.f
cop-3h
‘Sudesh is beautiful.’
(168)
sudeʃ
ʃare
to-ke-ʃ / *du-ge-ʃ
i.name(f)
beautiful.f
cop-pst-3h
‘Sudesh was beautiful.’
(169)
do-goː-nu
gas-oː
dam
du-ge(-ʃ) / *to-ke(-ʃ)
3-pl-pl.poss
garment-pl
good
cop-pst(-3h)
‘Their clothes were good.’ (With inanimate subjects du is permitted.)
(170)
ki-n
gas-oː
dam
du-ge(-ʃ) / *to-ke(-ʃ)
2h-poss
garment-pl
good
cop-pst(-3h)
‘Your clothes were good.’ (With inanimate subjects du is permitted.)
Tables 21–23 present the Kinnauri copula paradigms in the past, present and future tenses in the declaratives. Here we can see the distribution of the copulas as well as the distribution of the subject indexing markers. As we can see in these paradigms, while the copula du takes the past tense marker -ge and -gjo (du-ge, du-gjo), the other copula to takes the past tense markers -ke and -kjo (to-ke, to-kjo). As we saw in Section 2.3.2 above, the past tense marker -kjo occurs with a sub-set of verbs where the verb-stem historically had a final -d. Since the copula to also takes the past tense marker -kjo, it is possible that the copula to historically had a stem-final -d.
Table 21
Kinnauri copula paradigm (declaratives): Past tense
Person |
SG |
PL |
---|---|---|
1 |
to-ke-k |
to-ke-ʧ (du, ple), to-ke-me (pli) |
2nh |
to-ke-n |
to-ke-n(-oː) (du, pl) |
2h |
to-ke-ɲ |
to-ke-ʧ (du, pl) |
3nh |
to-ke, du-ge, to-kjo, du-gjo |
to-ke, du-ge, to-kjo, du-gjo (du, pl) |
3h |
to-ke-ʃ, du-ge-ʃ |
to-ke-ʃ(-oː), du-ge-ʃ(-oː) (du, pl) |
3du.h |
to-ke-suŋ, du-ge-suŋ (du), ni |
Table 22
Kinnauri copula paradigm (declaratives): Present tense
Person |
SG |
PL |
---|---|---|
1 |
to-k |
to-ʧ (du, ple), tonne80 (pli) |
2nh |
to-n |
to-n(-oː) (du, pl) |
2h |
to-ɲ |
to-ʧ (du, pl) |
3nh |
to, du, ni |
to, du, ni (du, pl) |
3h |
du-ʃ, to-ʃ, ni |
to-ʃ(-oː), du-ʃ(-oː), ni (du, pl) |
3du.h |
to-suŋ, du-suŋ, ni (du, pl) |
Table 23
Kinnauri copula paradigm (declaratives): Future tense
Person |
SG |
PL |
---|---|---|
1 |
ni-tə-k |
ni-ti-ʧ (du, ple), ni-te (du, pli) |
2nh |
ni-tə-n |
ni-ta81-n(oː) (du, pl) |
2h |
ni-ti-ɲ |
ni-ti-ʧ (du, pl) |
3nh |
ni-to |
ni-to(-goː) (du, pl) |
3h |
ni-ti-ʃ |
ni-ti-ʃ(-oː) (du, pl) |
3du.h |
ni-ti-suŋ (du), ni (du, pl) |
Although the occurrence of the copula is not obligatory in declaratives, it occurs rather frequently.
(171)
ʦʰeʦaʦ-u
naːmaŋ
laʈeserzaŋ
girl-poss
name
i.name
‘The girl’s name (was) Latiserzang.’
(172)
toro
ta
ama
dam
to-ʃ
today
foc
mother
good
cop-3h
‘Today mother is (feeling) good.’
While the copula du is not acceptable in declaratives with honorific human subjects, it is permitted in the corresponding interrogative sentences with (honorific) subjects:
(173)
boa
kim-o
to-ʃ / *du-ʃ
father
house-loc
cop-3h
‘Father is at home’ (Both when the speaker has seen him at home and when the speaker draws inference.)
(174)
boa
kim-o
du-a / to-a /
to-ʃ-a / du-ʃ-a
father
house-loc
cop-q
cop-3h-q
‘Is father at home?’
(175)
baːdur
kim-o
du-a / to-a
(Nepali.)farm.hand
house-loc
cop-q
‘Is the Nepali worker at home?’
(176)
ki-n
baja-ʦ
kim-o
du-a / ?to-a /
to-ʃ-a / du-ʃ-a
2sg.h-poss
brother-dim
house-loc
cop-q
cop-3h-q
‘Is your brother at home?’
In possessive constructions while the copula to is preferred with human subjects, the copula du is also acceptable among equals. This happens also with third person honorific subjects.
(177)
aŋ
ʧʰaŋ
dam
to / du /
to-ʃ / du-ʃ
1sg.nnom
child
good
cop.prs
cop.prs-3h
‘My son is good.’
(178)
ki-n
ama-boa
dam
to-ke-ʃ / du-ge-ʃ /
du-ge
2sg.h-poss
mother-father
good
cop-pst-3h
cop-pst
‘Your parents were good.’
(179)
ki-n
ʧaʰŋ-oː
dam
du-ge / to-ke82
2sg.h-poss
child-pl
good
cop-pst
‘Your children are good.’
(180)
do-goː-nu
ʧaʰŋ-oː
dam
to-ke-ʃ / du-ge-ʃ /
to-ke / du-ge
3-pl-pl.poss
child-pl
good
cop-pst-3h
cop-pst
‘Their children are good.’
(181)
ki-n
kui
ruʣa
du / to /
*du-ʃ / *to-ʃ
2sg.h-poss
dog
old
cop.prs
cop.prs-3h
‘Your dog is old.’
Whether the object is honorific or nonhonorific (e.g. difference between a religious book and a fiction book) is not a significant factor in the choice of the copula. As we can see below the copula choice remains the same with both a religious and a non-religious book.
(182)
aŋ
kataːb
dam
to / du /
*to-ʃ * / du-ʃ
1sg.nnom
book
good
cop.prs
cop.prs-3h
‘My book (fiction) is good.’
(183)
aŋ
pothi
dam
du / to /
*to-ʃ * / du-ʃ
1sg.nnom
religious.book
good
cop.prs
cop.prs-3h
‘My religious book is good.’
Similarly, the copula choice is not sensitive to if the information which the listener receives is new to the listener or not.
(184)
aŋ
dəŋ
(hodo)
kitab
to / *du
1sg.nnom
com
(dem.dist.nvis)
book
cop.prs
‘I have that book.’ (This occurs regardless of whether the listener knows which book is being referred to.)
(185)
aŋ
dəŋ
id
kinori
ʃol
to / *du /
*to-ʃ / *du-ʃ
1sg.nnom
com
one
kinnauri
shawl
cop.prs
cop.prs-3h
‘I have a kinnauri shawl.’ (This occurs regardless of whether the listener knows which shawl is being referred to.)
4.5 Non-Copula Constructions
4.5.1 Non-Copula Constructions without Auxiliaries
The indexing markers are already described above. Here we will describe the tense distinction. In this finite verb structure a future and past tense distinction is made. This non-copula construction does not occur in the present tense.83
4.5.1.1 Future Tense
The future tense markers (-a/-ta, -i/-ti, -o/-to) and their distribution here are the same as in the copula constructions (see Tables 23 and 26 above). The future tense marker -a/-ta occurs with 1sg, 2sg.nh and 2pl.nh subjects. -a occurs with verb stems ending in ʧ or ʃ and -ta elsewhere.
(186)
pan-ʦ-i
poʧ-a-k
grinding.stone-dim-emp
search-fut-1sg
‘(I) will search for a grinding.stone.’
(187)
gǝ
ta
ʦeik-u
lo-ta-k
1sg.nom
foc
all-dat
tell-fut-1sg
‘I will tell everyone.’
(188)
ka
ʧʰǝ
gjaː-ta-n
2sg.nh
what
want-fut-2sg.nh
‘What do you want?’
As is the case in the copula construction, the future tense marker -i/-ti occurs, here, too, with 1pl.excl, 2sg.h, 3sg.h and 3pl.h. -i occurs with verb stems ending in -ʧ or ʃ, and -ti elsewhere.
(189)
niŋo
ham
bjo-ti-ʧ
1ple
where
go-fut-2du/pl.h
‘Where will we go?’
(190)
ʤo
ki
ʧʰǝ
baːtaŋ
ʃe-ti-ɲ
dem.prox
2sg.h
what
talk (n)
send-fut-2h
‘What are you saying to her!? (to express astonishment)’
(191)
dogoː84
raːʣgadi-u
den
ma-toʃ-i-ʃ
3pl
throne-poss
on
neg-sit-fut-3h
‘He will not sit on the throne.’
(192)
jumed
tʰas-ti-ʃ
mother.in.law
hear-fut-3h
‘(Your) mother-in-law will hear (the noise).’
The future tense marker -o/-to occurs with 3sg.nh and 3pl.nh subjects. -o occurs with verb stems ending in -ʧ or -ʃ and -to elsewhere.
(193)
ŋa
ʧʰoŋ-oː
rǝŋ
ʃadi
haʧ-o
five
husband-pl
com
wedding
become-fut
‘(Dropadi) will marry with five husbands.’
(194)
ʤo-s
kʰou
ke-to
3sg-