Language Contact , Change and Obsolescence: A Case Study of Laria
SYNTAX

 

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Laria like Bagheli and Awadhi, is a dialect of Eastern Hindi, i.e., Ardh-Magadhi form of Indo-Aryan. Laria, like most other Indian languages can be typologically classified as a verb final language.

 
sita
ram
la
maris
Sita
Ram
ACC
hit
'Sita hit Ram.'

The word order in Laria is SOV. Verb-final languages have typical characteristics. These characteristics have been enumerated for Laria as follows.

(i) In the basic word order, the indirect object precedes the direct object.

ra:m
sita:
la
citthi
lekhis
Ram
Sita
ACC
letter
wrote
'Ram wrote a letter to Sita'.

(2) ra:m sita: la citthi lekhis
Ram Sita ACC letter wrote
'Ram wrote a letter to Sita'.

(ii) The auxiliary follows the verb.

(3) ra:m sita: la citthi lekh the
Ram Sita ACC letter writing CONT-2-SING.
'Ram is writing a letter to Sita'.

(iii) Adjectives precede the noun.

(4) bhl bhi
good book

(iv) Determiners precede the noun.

(5) he pila:
that boy

(v) Quantifiers precede the noun.

(6) kete bhi
so many books

(vi) Languages with SOV order are post positional.

(7) ra:m g*h tle bsis e
Ram tree under sit CONT
'Ram is sitting under the tree'.

(vii) In verb final languages the relative clause comes to the left of the main clause.

(8) jen pila gi:t ga: the pne mor bhai e
Which boy song sing CONT he my bother is

The boy who is singing a song is my brother'.

(viii) Genitive precedes the head noun in verb final languages.

(9) raju ke bhi
Raju GEN book
'Raju's book'.

The auxiliary verb follows the main verb.

(10) ra:m ped guis
Ram fell went
'Ram fell down'.

(x) The time adverbials precede the place adverbial in a sentence.

(11) mE) ch bje dilli jiba:r lagi ga:d?I dhrih)
I six o'clock Delhi go-INF for train catch-FUT
'I will catch the train to go to Delhi at 6 o'clock'.

(xi) SOV languages have weather type constructions without the dummy subject.

(12) brsa h the
rain happening
'It is raining'.

(13) bhut grm a:he
very hot is
'It is very hot'.

(xii) Inclusive, exclusive and emphatic particles follow the noun.

(14) ra:m bhi jahi (Inclusive)
Ram also go-FUT
'Ram will also go'.

(15) ra:m hi ja:hi (Exclusive)
Ram only go-FUT
'Only Ram will go'.

(16) ra:m t ja:hi
Ram EMP go-FUT
'Ram will definitely go'.

(xiii) Yes-No questions are always post verbal.

(17) ra:m ghr ja:the ka
Ram home go-CONT QUES
'Is Ram going home?'

(xiv) Dubitative Markers are post verbal.

(18) ra:m ghr jahi bdhe
Ram home go-PST DUB
'Ram will most probably go home'.

(xv) Post Verbal Negatives

(19) ra:m ghr ni jae
Ram home NEG go-FUT
'Ram will not go home'.

Laria does not conform to the post-verbal negative markers trend in SOV languages. Laria has preverbal negative markers.

In this chapter the structure of the language in question, i.e., Laria has been dealt with in detail under the various heads of CO-ordination, Subordination. Interrogation, Negation, Anaphora.


2.1 CO-ORDINATION

Co-ordination refers to the process of conjoining two or more elements of equal categorical status of the three syntactic levels - word, phrasal and sentential - to one conjoined structure, in which all elements are of equal status or rank. Thus, two nouns (N) can be co-ordinated to a noun co-ordination : N N + N, two noun phrases (NP) can be co-ordinated to a noun phrase co-ordination : NP NP + NP, and two clauses (S) can be co-ordinated to a sentence co-ordination : S S + S. Words, phrases and clauses are co-ordinated to a noun phase co-ordination by co-ori\dinating morphemes referred to as co-ordinators, which express the semantic (logical) connections between the elements conjoined. Semantically, three types of co-ordination can be distinguished and they are as follows :

unmarked conjunction - 'and' co-ordination
disjunction - 'or' co-ordination
adversative conjunction - 'but' co-ordination

2.1.1 CONJUNCTIVE CO-ORDINATION

The Conjunctive co-ordinator in Laria is a:u which occurs between the elements conjoined. The conjunctive co-ordination in Laria can be represented as follows :

X X a:u X

The elements which can be placed in variable X's position are:
(a) Lexical Categories
Nouns (N)
Verbs (V)
Postpositions (P)
Adverbs (Adv)
Adjectives (Adj)

(b) Phrasal Categories
noun phrase (NP)
postpositional (PP)
verb phrases (VP)
adverb phrases (Adv P)
adjective phrases (Adj P)

(c) Clauses

Infinitive clauses

(d) Sentences

The following sections are given as illustration.
2.1.1.1.1 Lexical Categories

(i) Noun co-ordination

(20) ra:m a:u šya:m coleg guin
Ram and Shyam college went
'Ram and Shyam went to the college'.

(ii) Verb co-ordination

(21) ra:ju meda:n bhitr la dud?is a:u khelis
Raju field in to ran and played
'Raju ran into the field and played'.

(iii) Postposition co-ordination

(22) ghr ke a:g a:d?e a:u pch a:d?e bhut mela a:he
house of front of and back of lot garbage is
'In front of and at the back of the house, there is a lot of garbage'.

(iv) Adverb co-ordination

(23) ra:m a:ram a:u sa:nti thi bse rihis
Ram confort and peace in sit CONT
'Ram was sitting peacefully and comfortably'.

(v) Adjectives co-ordination

(24) gute gora: a:u sundr d?ki (te) ra:sta: thi ja: tirihis
one fair and beautiful girl one road on go-CONT.
'A fair and beautiful girl was going on the road'.

2.1.1.2 Phrasal Categories

(i) Noun phrase co-ordination

(25) ram [kile santra a:u drjne kdel] ghinis
Ram one kilo oranges and dozen banana bought
'Ram bought a kilogram of oranges and a dozen bananas'.

(ii) Postpositional phrase co-ordination

(26) makd? mne gch u:pre a:u bhui: thi bsinehE)
monkey PL tree on and ground in sitting
'Monkeys are sitting on the tree and on the ground'.
(iii) Verb phrase co-ordination

(27) hri ra:m la ma:ris a:u dud? ke pleis
Hari Ram ACC hit and ran do went
'Hari hit Ram and ran away'.

(iv) Adverb phrase co-ordination

(28) ra:ju pa:ha:d? la bhut jldi a:u bhut a:ra:mse ced? guis
Raju mountain ACC very fast and very comfort climb with
'Raju climbed the mountain very fast and very comfortably'.

(v) Adjective phrase co-ordination

(29) phl gera phirij bhitre bhut thnda: a:u bhut bhl rhrhe
fruit PL fridge in very cold and very good stay
'Fruits in the fridge stay very cold and very fresh'.

2.1.1.3 Clausal Categories

(i) Infinitival clause co-ordination

(30) hri ur?ia pd?ba:r a:u tbla bjaba:r a:rmbh kris
Hari Oriya studying and tabla playing start did
'Hari started studying Oriya and playing tabla'.

2.1.1.4 Sentences

(31) hri bhat khahi a:u ra:m ruti khahi
Hari rice will eat and Ram chappati will eat
'Hari will eat rice and Ram will eat chappati'.

In all the above examples, the conjoined elements belong to the same syntactic category. Chomsky (1957) also says,

. . . .if X and Y are both constituents, but are constituents of different kinds . . .then we cannot in general form a new sentence by conjunction. . . In fact, the possibility of conjunction offers one of the best criteria for initial determination of phrase structure1.

2.1.2 DISJUNCTIVE CO-ORDINATION

There are two disjunctive co-ordinators in Laria -- the co-odinating conjunction word nih ele 'or' and the co-ordinating conjunction interrogative ki 'or'. Disjunctive co-ordination in Laria can be represented as

X ---------> X nihele/ ki X

All the categories which can have conjunctive co-ordination can have disjunctive co-ordination. Examples of disjunctive co-ordination are given below.

2.1.2.1 Lexical Categories

(a) Noun co-ordination

(32) mit ke bhai nihele bhin asihi:
Amit GEN brother or sister come-FUT
"Amit's brother or sister will come'.

(b) Verb co-ordination

(33) me bsih) nihele khelih)
I sit-FUT or play-FUT
'I'll sit to play'.

(c) Postposition co-ordination

(34) ghr ke a:g a:d?e nihele pch a:de d?ra:m la madi se
house of front side or back side drum CL kept is
'The drum is kept in front of or at the back of the house'.

_________________________________
1 N.A.Chomsky (1957), Syntactic Structures, Mouton, The Hague, p. 36.

(d) Adjective co-ordination

(35) raju kelagi gut?e sundr nihele gora d?ki t?e khuj
Raju for one beautiful or fair girl one search
'Look for a beautiful or fair girl for Raju'.

(e) Adverb co-ordination

(36) makd? la ekhen nihele pche degihi
monkey CL now or afterwards jump
'The monkey will jump now or afterwards'.

(f) Quantifier co-ordination

(37) u:mne mndir lagi t?ike nihele besi pesa dehi:
they temple for little or lot money give
'They will give little or a lot of money for the temple'.
2.1.2.2. Phrasal Categories

(a) Noun phrase co-ordination

(38) jy nihele kr bhai la bjar jael lagihi
Ajay or his brother ACC market go have
'Ajay or his brother will have to go to the market'.

(b) Post positional co-ordination

(39) makd? mne gch u:pre nihele bhui thi bsihE)
monkey PL tree on or ground in sit
'Monkeys sit on the tree or on the ground'.

(c) Adjectival phrase co-ordination

(40) mrubhumi la bhut thnda nihele bhut grm rhthe
desert CL very cold or very hot stays
'The desert stays very hot or very cold'.

(d) Adverb phrase co-ordination

(41) raju bhut jor nihele bhut dhire ca:lthe
Raju very fast or very slow walks
'Raju walks very fast or very slowly'.

(e) Verb phrase co-ordination

(42) raju ra:m sa?ge ld?ihi nihele dud? ke plehi
Raju Ram with fight or run do go
'Raju will fight Ram or run away'.

2.1.2.3 Clausal Categories

(a) Infinitival clause co-ordination

(43) ra:m or?ia pd?ba:r nihele hindi pd?ba:r armbh krihi
Ram Oriya study-INF or Hindi study-INF start do
'Ram will start studying Oriya or studying Hindi'.

(b) Conditional clause co-ordination

(44) jdi tcE) senela jabe nihele ra:m i:nela a:sihi hele
if you there go or ram here come then
ham la khbr la milihi
we ACC news CL get
'If you go there or Ram comes here then we'll get the news'.

2.1.2.4 Sentence Co-ordination

(45) mE) senela jahã nihele raju i:nela a:sihi
I there go-FUT Raju here come-FUT
'I will go there or Raju will come here'.

Like the disjunctive marker nihele the interrogative disjunctive marker ki changes the statement to alternative questions. The interrogative disjunctive marker ki can occur with all the categories listed above. Examples of interrogative disjunction are given below.

2.1.2.5 Lexical Categories

(i) Noun co-ordination

(46) tE bhat ki rut?i khabe
you rice or chappati eat
'Do you want to eat rice or chappati?'

(ii) Verb co-ordination

(47) tE) medan la jaeke bsbe ki khelbe
you field to godo sit or play
'Will you go to the field to sit or play?'

(iii) Adverb co-ordination

(48) ram jorse ki dhire dud?ihi
Ram fast or slow run-FUT
'Will Ram run fast or slowly?'

(iv) Adjective co-ordination

(49) tla gora ki klia d?ki bhl lagthe
you fair or dark girl good like
'Do you like fair or dark girls?'

(v) Postposition co-ordination

(50) makd? mne gch upre ki tle bsi nehE)
monkey PL tree on or under sit-CONT
'Are the monkeys sitting on or under the tree?'

(iv) Quantifier co-ordination

(51) raju bhut ki km bhat khais
Raju lot or less rice ate
'Did Raju eat a lot or little rice?'

2.1.2.6 Phrasal Categories

(i) Noun phrase co-ordination

(52) kumar ra:m ke bet?a la ki mr bet?a la cakri dehi
Kumar Ram GEN son ACC or my son ACC job give
'Will Kumar give a job to Ram's son or my son?'

(ii) Postpositional phrase co-ordination

(53) masr a:ej itihas ke bise thi ki bhugol ke bise thi
teacher today History of about or Geography of about
btehi
talk-FUT.
'Will the teacher talk about History or about Geography today?'

(iii) Adjectival phrase co-ordination

(54) dilli thi bhut thnda ki bhut grm e
Delhi in very cold or very hot is
'Is it very cold or very hot in Delhi?'

(vi) Adverb phrase co-ordination

(55) raju bhut jor ki bhut dhire calthe
Raju very fast or very slowly walks
'Does Raju walks very fast or very slowly?'

(v) Verb phrase co-ordination

(56) kumar hri s?ge ld?ihi ki dud? ke plehi
Kumar Hari with fight or run do go
'Will Kumar fight with Hari or run away?'

2.1.2.7 Clausal Categories

(i) Infinitival clause co-ordination
(57) ra:m i:nela a:ra:m krba:r lagi ki ka:m krba:r lagi a:sise
Ram here rest do-INF for or work do-INF for
Come
'Has Ram come here to take rest or to work?'

(ii) Conditional clause co-ordination

The interrogative disjunctive marker cannot form alternative questions in
conditional clause co-ordination.

2.1.2.8 Sentence Co-ordination

(58) mE) phon krih) ki pne cit?t?hi lekhihi
I phone do-FUT or he letter write
'Will I telephone him or will he write a letter?'

One of the most common usages of the interrogative disjunctive marker ki is alternative question that expresses the alternative of a positive and negative proposition. It is formed by conjoining the positive and the negative clause with ki and deleting every thing of the negative clause except the negative marker ni.

(59) ram kael a:sihi ki ni
Ram tomorrow come-FUT or NEG
'Will Ram come tomorrow or not?'

2.1.3 ADVERATIVE CO-ORDINATION

The adversative co-ordination in Laria is the conjunction word kintu 'but', which occur in-between the two elements conjoined. It is represented as follows:

X X kintu X

A generalised PS-rule may be formed for category co-ordination.

X CONJ Xn

i.e., 'n' like categories may be co-ordinated by any co-ordinating conjunction in any syntactic environment. Conjunctive co-ordinator can co-ordinate any number of like categories.

(60) ra:m a:u raju a:u sita a:u hri bulel guin
Ram and Raju and Sita and Hari stroll went
'Ram and Raju and Sita and Hari went for a stroll'.

Disjunctive co-ordinator can co-ordinate any number of like categories.
(61) tE) raju nihele sita nihele gi:ta la daek debe
you Raju or Sita or Gita ACC call give
'You can call Raju or Ram or Sita or Gita'.

However kintu 'but' can only co-ordinate two like categories.

(62) i:la gute bd? kintu purna(*kintu nua) ghr e
this one big but old but new house is
'This is a big but old (*but new) house'.
kintu 'but' can co-ordinate only a few categories. They are as given below.

2.1.1.1 Lexical Categories

(i) Adjective co-ordination

(63) i:la gute bd? kintu purna ghr e
this one big but old house is
'This is a big but old house'.

(ii) Adverb co-ordination

(64) ha:m jorse kintu ara:m se a:sen
we quickly but comfortably came
'We came quickly but comfortably'.

2.1.1.2 Phrasal Categories

(i) Adjectival phrase co-ordination

(65) u:kr ghr la bhut bd? kintu kete ni kete purna e
their houe CL very big but very old is
'Their house is very big but very old'

(ii) Adverbial phrase co-ordination

(66) pne bhut jldi kintu bhut a:ra:mse paha:d? ced? guis
he very quickly but very comfortably mountain climb went
'He climbed the mountain very quickly but very comfortably'.

2.1.1.3 Clausal Categories

(i) Conditional clause co-ordination

(67) tE) cd?be hele cd? kintu ped? jael pa:rs
you climb then climb but fall go able
'If you want to climb then do so but you might fall'.

2.1.1.4 Sentential co-ordination

(68) ra:m suiba:r lagi ca:ha:the kintu kr ne kht? ni

Ram sleep-INF AUX wants but his with bed NEG
FP
'Ram wants to sleep but he doesn't have a bed'.

2.1.4 GAPPING AND DELETION

Gapping is a term proposed in Generative Grammar to refer to the Deletion of a repeated Verb in Clauses which have been Conjoined2.
One of the most important papers written about deletion in co-ordinated structures is Ross's (1970) paper entitled 'Gapping and the Order of Constituents'. It proposes a hypothesis which is as follows :
The order in which GAPPING operates depends on the order of elements at the time that the rule applies; if the identical elements are on left branches, GAPPING operates forward; if they are on right branches, it operates backwards3.
___________________
2 D. Crystal (1985), A Dictionary of Linguistics and Phonetics, Basil Blackwell, Oxford, p. 133.
3 J.R.Ross (1970), 'Gapping and the Order of Constituents',in MBeierwisch and K. Heidolph (eds.), Progress in Linguistics, Mouton, The Hague, c..f.,R.R. Van Oirsouw (1987). The Syntax of Co-ordination. Croom Helm, London, p. 251.

Laria does not follow the gapping pattern as proposed by Ross for verb final languages, i.e., SO+SOV. It has the pattern SOV + SO. For example,

(69) ra:m kr knia la pit?the a:u raju kr kukur la
Ram his wife ACC beats and Raju his dog ACC
'Ram beats his wife and Raju his dog'.

(70) *ra:m kr knia la a:u raju kr kukur la pit?the
Ram his wife ACC and Raju his dog ACC beats
'Ram his wife and Raju beats his dog'.

Oirsouw has collapsed the four rules, i.e., Gapping, Right Node Raising, VP-deletion and Conjunction Reduction into one rule which says : 'delete under identity in co-ordination'. This rule is optional because the grammaticality of co-ordination does not depend on the application or non-application of the co-ordianate deletion rule; the co-ordinate deletion rule does not 'filter out' ungrammatical strings but only maps grammatical strings into grammatical strings4.
The rule of co-ordinate deletion formulated as 'Delete under identity in co-ordinated structures' applies to co-ordination of well-formed Ss only. This makes it one of the 'late' rules in the grammar ; one that applies within what is usually called the 'Government/Binding' model of grammar, to surface structure; i.e., after all the movement rules have applied, or, within other mdels of generative grammar, a rule that applies late post-cycl;ically5.
For example, in English WH-movement precedes deletion.
Who did Ram hug and Hari kiss?
In Laria WH-word deletion is not possible in co-ordinated sentences.
__________________________
4 R.R.Van Oirsouw (1987), The Syntax of Co-ordinated, Croom Helm, London. P. 113.
5 Ibid. p. 252.

(71) *ra:m kla dhris a:u hri Ø cuma di:s
Ram who caught and Hari Kiss gave
'Who did Ram catch and Hari kiss?'

Laria also, like English, deletes verbs and subjects forward.

(72) ra:m rut? khathe a:u ? Ø pa:ni pi:the
Ram chappati eats and water drinks
'Ram eats chappati and drinks water'.

(73) ra:m rut?I khathe a:u hri bhat
Ram chappati eats and Hari rice
'Ram eats chappti and Hari rice'.

Indirect objects and direct objects are deleted forward in Laria.

(74) ra:m sita la bhi di:s a:u hri Ø khata li:s
Ram Sita DATbook gave and Hari copy took
'Ram caught and Hari kissed Sita'.

(75) ra:m sita la bhris a:u hri Ø cuma di:s
Ram Sita ACC caught and Hari kiss gave
'Ram caught and Hari kissed Sita'.

2.2 SUBORDINATION

Subordination is a term used in GRAMMATICAL analysis to refer to the process or result of linking LINGUISTIC UNITS so that they have different SYNTACTIC status, one being dependent upon the other, and usually a constituent of the other. (In this respect, it is usually distinguished from CO-ORDINATE linkage, where the units are equivalent). Subordinate clauses are illustrated in the SENTENCE John came when Mary left; the marker of linkage is when, a subordinating conjunction (or subordinator). A wide range of subordinates exist in English, e.g., although, since, because, while, after. In ENDOCENTRIC PHRASES, the term 'subordinate' is also used to refer to the words which modify the HEAD; e.g., in all the vary big cars, all the very big is subordinate to cars, and very is subordinate to big6.

In a complex sentence, there is a sentence which is the main or matrix sentence and another one which is a dependent or subordinate clause.


The various kinds of complex sentences that can be formed in Laria are:

(i) Relative or Adjectival clauses.
(ii) Complement or Noun clauses
(iii) Adverbial clauses.
(iv) Participial clauses.
__________________
6 D. Crystal (1985), op.cit..p.294.

2.2.1 Relative or Adjectival Clauses

In English, two simple sentences form a relative clause when there is a common noun phrase which can link these two sentences.

Those people [those people live in big houses] have expensive cars.

The second noun phrase can be changed into a relative pronoun and the two sentences joined to form a Relative construction.

Those people [who live in big houses] have expensive cars.

The pronouns which link the main clause with the subordinate clause when the noun phrases are identical are called Relative Pronouns.

A relative construction in Laria can be formed as in the example.

(76) jen pila: jor dud?ihi la puruska:r milihi
which boy fast run-FUT heACC prize get
'The boy who runs fast will get the prize'.
This can be broken into two simple sentences.

(76a) he pila: la [he pila: jor dud?ihi] puruska:r milihi
that boy to that boy fast run prize get

In English, the relative pronouns and the question word are homophonous but in Laria they are different.

Relative pronouns Question word
jen 'who' kiye 'who'
jla 'whom' kla 'whom'
jene 'where' kene 'where'
jebhe 'when' kebhe 'when'
jendi 'which direction' kendi 'which way
'which direction'
jen jagah 'which place' ken jagah 'which place'

In Laria the relative clause can be moved, i.e., the relative clause can occur.

(i) before or to the left of the head noun

(ii) immediately after or the right of the head noun

(iii) after the matrix clause

(77) [jen d?ki t?hiad? his e] pne lmba e
which girl stand- CONT is she tall is
'The girl who is standing is tall'.

(78) hed?ki [jie t?hiad? his e] lmba e
that girl who stand CONT is tall is
'The girl who is standing is tall'

(79) he d?ki lmba e [jie t?hiad? his e]
that girl tall is who stand CONT is
'The girl who is standing is tall'.

The stricture of the relative clause is as given below. The relative clause, bring an adjunct, branches from 1'.


The relative clause (CP) can be extraposed to the beginning or the end of the matrix clause. The relative pronoun occurs in the SPEC of CP. The subject of the relative clause i.e., the relative pronoun is moved to the SPEc CP position leaving a trace at the NP of IP. The trace, the relative pronoun jie in the above sentence and the subject of the matrix clause are co-indexed. The transformation responsible for this movement is WH-movement. The nature of the relative pronoun can be equated with that of WH-question words. Moreover the place to where the relative pronoun moves (SPEC, CP) is the landing site of WH-question words. SO we can assume that the COMP of relative clause is [+WH], although relative clauses are not wh-questions.

2.2.2 Complement or Noun Clauses

Complement clauses are subordinate clauses using a complementizer. In Generative Syntax, the term complementizer (COMP) is used to refer to CONJUNCTIONS which mark in EMBEDED sentence of a complement type Laria has two complementizers (a) je, (b) the quotative belke.

Complex sentences with complement clauses can be formed in the following three ways in Laria.

[MAIN CLAUSE] je [SUBORDINATE CLAUSE]

[MAIN CLAUSE] [SUBORDINATE CLAUSE] belke

[MAIN CLAUSE] je [SUBORDINATE CLAUSE] belke

The following examples illustrate Laria complementation.

(80) ha:m sunen je kael nu kla:s a:rmbh hehi
we heard COMP tomorrow from class start happen
'We heard that classes would start form tomorrow'.

(81) ha:m sunen kael nu kla:s a:rmbh hehi belke
we heard tomorrow from class start happen COMP
'We heard that classes would start from tomorrow'.

(82) ha:m sunen je kael nu kla:s a:rmbh hehi belke
we heard COMP tomorrow from class start happen COMP
'We heard that classes would start from tomorrow'.

When the quotative belke is used as COMP, the subordinate clauses can be extraposed to front before the matrix clauses.

(83) kael nu kla:s a:rmbh hehi belke ha:m sunen
tomorrow from class start happen COMP we heard
'We heard that classes would start from tomorrow'.

But, when je comlementizer is used the subordinate clause cannot be extraposed.

(84) *je kael nu kla:s a:rmbh hehi ha:m sunen
COMP tomorrow from class start happen we heard
'We heard that classes will start from tomorrow'.

(85) *je kael nu kla:s a:rmbh hehi belke ha:m sunen
COMP tomorrow from class start happen COMP we heard
'We heard that classes will start from tomorrow'.

The complex sentences with complement clause can be represented schematically as below.

(86) ra:m bhabis je mohan buta la ker pkehi
Ram thought COMP Mohan work ACC do make fall
'Ram thought that Mohan could do the work'

When the quotative COMP 'belke' is used the schematic representation is

(87) ra:m bhabis mohn buta la ker pkehi belke
Ram taught Mohan work ACC make fall COMP
'Ram thought that Mohan could do the work'

The subordinate clause can also be extraposed before the matrix clause.

The complementizers occur in the COMP of Cp. Declarative clauses are marked with the feature [-Q] and interrogative clauses with the feature [+Q]. The X-bar projections of C are the projection of these features. In Laria, as far as embedded clauses are concerned, the feature [-Q] is optionally realised as 'je' or 'belke'.

2.2.3 Adverbial Clauses

Adverb (ial) is a term used in the GRAMMATICAL classification of WORDS to refer to a heterogeneous group of items whose most frequent function is to specify the mode of action of the verb7. Adverbial clauses can be classified into the following type :

(i) Time
(ii) Place
(iii) Manner
(iv) Reason
(v) Purpose

2.2.3.1 Time

When the adverbial can be questioned by ketekhn 'when', the adverbial is a time adverbial.

(88) kael caer bje ra:m ghr jahi
tomorrow four o'clock Ram home go
'Tomorrow at four o'clock Ram will go homw'.

The adverbial can be questioned as

(89) ra:m ketekhn ghr jahi ?
Ram when home go
'When will Ram go home?'.
______________________
Ibid.p.7.

2.2.3.2 Place

Place adverbials in Laria can be questioned by kene 'where'

(90) [dilli ke la:l kila ne] mE) ra:ju la bhet?E)
Delhi of Red Fort at I Raju ACC met
'I met Raju at Red Fort in Delhi'.

The place adverbial can be questioned as

(91) tE) raju la kene bhet?E)
you Raju ACC where met
"Where did you meet Raju?"

2.2.3.3 Manner

Manner adverbials in Laria can be questioned by kenta 'how'.

(92) [gad?i thi b kenes ke] mE) dilli a:sE)
car in sit-CONT I Delhi come
'I came to Delhi sitting on a car'

The manner adverbial can be questioned

(93) tE) kenta dilli a:sE)
you how Delhi came
'How did you come to Delhi?'

2.2.3.4 Reason

An answer to the question kaje 'why' is a reason adverb.

(94) raja ni a:sis [kaje ki pne bema:r ped jae rihis]
Raja NEG came because he sick fall went
'Raja didn't come because he had fallen sick'.

The reason adverbial can be questioned as
(95) raja kaje ni a:sis
Raja why NEG came
'Why didn't Raja come?'

2.2.3.5 Purpose

The purpose adverbial can also be questioned with kaje 'why'

(96) taj mhl dekhba:r la:gi raju agra: jaerihis
Taj Mahal see-INF for Raja Agra go-PST
'In order to see the Taj Mahal Raju went to Agra'.

The purpose adverbial can be questioned as

(97) raju agra: kaje jaerihis?
Raju Agra why go-PST
'Why did Raju go to Agra?'

The adverbial is an adjunct which branches from V' in the above sentence.

Adverbials can be moved anywhere in the sentence as shown in the example

(98) raju [taj mhl dekh ba:r lagi] agra: jae rihis
Raju Taj Mahal see INF for Agra go-PST
'Raju had gone to Agra to see the Taj Mahal'.

(99) raju agra [taj mhl dekhba:r lagi] jaerihis
Raju Agra Taj Mahal see-INF for go-PSt
'Raju had gone to Agra to see the Taj Mahal'.

(100) raju agra jaerihis [taj mhl dekhba:r lagi]
Raju Agra go-PST Taj Mahal see-INF for
'Raju had gone to Agra to see the Taj Mahal'.

2.2.4 Participalisation

Paticipialisation is another strategy for noun modification. But it is difficult to make a clear or absolute demarcation between a relative clause and a participle clause. Some linguistic features of a relative clause are

(i) Presence of Tense
(ii) Presence of Identical NP
(iii) Absence of Genitive

A full fledge participle has exactly the opposite features.

(i) Absence of Tense
(ii) Absence of Identical NP
(iii) Presence of Genitive

Dravidian languages and Oriya do not have a full fledged participle strategy. These participles are called Relative Participles.

(101) Oriya - ra:m pd?hithiba bhi
Ram read-PST book
'Ram's read book'.

(102) Telugu - kamala cadiw - in a pustakam
Kamala-NOM read PST-ADJ-MKR book
'Kamala's read book'.

Laria also does not have a full fledge participle strategy. The participle is marked by the presence of tense.

(103) Laria - ra:m ke pd?hla bhi
Ram-GEN read-PST book
'Ram's read book'.

2.2.4.1 Noun Phrase Accessibility Hierarchy

Keenan and Conrie have proposed an Accessibility Hierarchy for all languages and have provided three kinds of universals for the accessibility of noun phrases for modification.

(a) A language must have a primary relative clause strategy. It means a language must
have a strategy of modifying NP.

(b) If a primary strategy in a given language can apply to a low position of the
Accessibility Hierarchy then it can apply to all higher positions.

(c) If the primary strategy stops at a particular position in the Accessibility Hierarchy
then the primary strategy cannot apply to all lower positions.

The Accessibility Hierarchy is as given below:

Subject>D.Object>Indirect Object>Oblique Objects -Instrumental>Locative>Ablative>Comitative>Genitive>Object of Comparison.

Modification of NPs in Laria by 'Relative Clauses' and 'Participles' and the accessibility of modification in terms of NPAH is as given below.

(i) NP as Subject.

(104) he pila: [jie pd?ht he]
that boy who read-PRE-3-CONT.

(104a) pd?h terba:r he pila
read-PRE-3-CONT that boy
'That boy who is reading.'

(ii) NP as Direct Object

(105) he a:m [jen la se pila khais]
that mango which ACC that boy eat-PST

(105a) pila: ke khaela a:m
boy6 GEN eat-PST mango
'That mango which the boy has eaten'.

(iii) NP as Indirect Object

(106) bhukha log [jen mnla tum echen tk khali
hungry people who PL-ACC you so far only
santna deha]
assurance given

(106a) tor ehen tk khali santna dela log
you so far only assurance given people
'Hungry people whom you have given only assurance so far.'

(vi) NP as Oblique Object

(a) Instrumental

(107) he ca:muc [jen thi chua mne gurs pi:nehE)]
that spoon which with child PL milk drink-PST

(107a) chua mn ke gurs pi:la camuc
child PL POSS milk drink spoon
'That spoon with which children drank milk'.

(b) Locative

(108) he midset [jen thi dhi rkhla: a:he
That cupboard which in curd kept is

(108a) dhi rkhla: midset
curd kept cupbroad
'That cupboard in which curd is kept'.

(c) Ablative

(109) he ga:e [ja:ha:r nu gurs duha: guis e]
that cow which from milk milked went is

(109a) gurs duhula ga:e
milk milked cow
'That cow from which milk has been extracted'.

(d) Comitative

(110) he pila [jie ra:m sa?e a:sis]
that boy who Ram with came

(110a) ra:m sa?e a:sla pila
Ram with came boy
'That boy who came with Ram'.

(c) Genitive

(111) he cut?ia [ja:ha:r pr ka:et diya gu:is e]
That bird whose feather cut given went is

(111a) pr ka:tla cut?ia
feather cut bird
'That bird whose feathers have been trimmed'.

(f) Object of comparison

Object of comparison cannot be modified in Laria. Therefore, the modification in the Accessibility Hierarchy stops at the Genitive and all the NPs above Genitive can be modified. Laria, thus, conforms to Keenan and Comrie's Accessibility Hierarchy.

2.3 INTERROGATIVES

Interrogative is a term used in the GRAMMATICAL classification of SENTENCE types, and usually seen in contrast to DECLARATIVE. IT refers to VERB FORMS or sentence/CLAUSE types used in the expression of QUESTIONS, e.g. the inverted order of is he coming? Or the use of an 'interrogative word' (often subclassified as interrogative ADJECTIVES e.g. which; ADVERBS, e.g. why; and PRONOUNS, e.g., who).8

Laria has the following sub-types of interrogatives :

(a) WH - questions or Information questions

(b) Yes/No questions

(c) Echo-questions

(d) Alternative questions

2.3.1 WH- questions or Information questions

Information questions or question word questions take the truth of a proposition for granted and ask for a particular information of the proposition. They interrogate only a constituent of the sentence. In the sentence 'Whom did John meet?' the WH-question interrogates the direct object in the sentence. For the above question the potential answers can be 'John met Mary' or 'John met the doctor' but not 'Mary met the doctor'. Therefore all the potential answers to the question can be written as John met X where X is the variable which is being questioned.

Semanticaly, question words are operators and must take scope over their relevant domain. In English, a question word moves to the clause initial position at S-structure. Laria however like Sambalpuri, Hindi and other Indian languages has WH-question words in-situ at S-Structure.
__________________________
8 Ibid, p. 162.

(112) ra:m ka:la: khahi
Ram what eat
'What will Ram eat?'

The question words in Laria are:

kiye 'who' kene 'where'
kala: 'what' ka:ha:r 'whose'
ken 'which' kenta 'how'
ka:je 'why'
In languages with overt WH-movement, the WH-phrase is assumed to move to [SPEC, CP] as in the case of English. In the case of languages like Laria, where the interrogative marker is in-situ, the movement takes place at LF. Following Mahajan (1990), it is assumed that WH-phrases undergo Quantifier Raising (QR) at LF. Mahajan (1990) develops this view, mentioned in Chomsky (1964), in his analysis of Hindi interrogatives. He argues that all in-situ WH-phrases act as clause-bound quantifiers. When governed by the matrix Co with the [+WH] feature it receives wide scope reading. Subjacency effects are not seen at LF because movement is strictly local. Laria, like Hindi has WH-phrases 'in-situ' at S-Structure. At LF, all WH-phrase QR to their minimal IP.

(113) kiye a:sis
who come PST
'Who came?'

(114) pne kala kha:is
he what eat-PST
'What did he eat?'

(115) ra:m kenta kene kala ghinis
Ram how where what bought
'How did Ram buy where what?'

If the WH-question words are moved to the [SPEC, CP] position, sentence (115) would create problems for ECP (Empty Category Principle) which requires that the traces should be properly governed. If the WH-words QR to the nearest IP, ECP is not violated. Under the segment type approach to adjunction all phrases adjoined to an XP are hierarchically at par (May 1985; Chomsky 1986b).

At LF, the WH-words QR to the local IP and they can govern their traces as all the segments are at par hierarchically. The LF representation of (115) is given below as tree:


In the schematic representation the WH-question words kenta, kene, kala: mutually c-command each other because segments are hierarchically at par as said before. As adjunction voids barrierhood, IP is no longer a barrier. Therefore, the WH words can govern their traces.

2.3.1.1 WH-questions in Embedded clauses

In Laria, non-finite complements remain in the canonical complement position.

(116) tla ka:ha:r gi:t gaeba:r (la) bhl la:gthe
you whose song sing-INF ACCgood feel
'Whose singing do you like?'

(117) ra:m la ka:la krba:r la bhl ni la:ge
Ram DAT what do-INF ACC good NEG feel
'What does Ram dislike to do?'

Discussing Hindi non-finite complements Dayal (1996) argues that Hindi non-finites are DPs. Apart from exhibiting typical characteristics of gerunds, they behave like noun phrases in terms of distribution and case marking. This could be extended to Laria non-finite complements. In (117) the non-finite complement has been assigned accusative case. The non-finite complement being a DP which is L-marked, the WH-phrase can QR to the minimal IP, i.e., the matrix IP, and receive wide scope reading.s

Finite complements are obligatory extraposed to the right in Laria as in Hindi. Dayal (1996) argues that this extraposition is due to the Case Resistance Principle proposed by Stowell (1981). Co with a [+tense] feature is incompatible with case. Since finite complements are extraposed to the right and the canonical direction of government is to the left the WH-question words in the finite complements which remain in-situ at S-structure do not have wide scope reading.

(118) ra:m ja:nis e kiye khaela:sihi
Ram know is who eat come
'Ram knows who will come for dinner'.

(119) tE) janehas (ki) kiye guis
you know (that) who went
'You know who went'.

In the above sentences (118) and (119) the WH-words do not receive wide-scope reading.

Laria has two strategies for giving wide scope to the WH-words in finite complements - - extraction and the scope-marking structure. These are the two strategies employed in Hindi too.

(120) kene tE) bhabths je juh hhi
where you think COMP war happen
'Where do you think war will take place?'

(121) tE) ka bhabths je kene juh hhi
you what think COMP where war happen
'Where do you think war will take place?'

(120) employs the extraction strategy where the WH-question word is extracted from the embedded clause at S-structure and in (121) scope marking strategy is used where ka in the matrix IP gives wide scope to the embedded WH-question word.

Mahajan (1990) and Dayal (1996) argue that extraction takes place in (121) before the finite complement is extraposed to the right as it is then in the canonical direction of governmental and is L-marked.

(122) *kene tE) i:la bhabths je judhhhi
where you this think COMP war happen
'Where do you think war will happen?'

Sentence (122) is ungrammatical because no extraction is possible from the extraposed clause when the expletive i:la occupies the canonical complement position. The presence of i:la indicates that the finite complement is base generated in the extraposed position.

Coming to the scope-marking strategy, Mahajan (1990) regards the scope-marker kya: in Hindi as an expletive while Dayal (1996) holds it to be a substantive WH-phrase. However as (123) reveals it is essential to assign a positive value to the scope-marker for the embedded WH-phrases to receive wide scope. A negative value to the scope marker prevents the assigning of values to the embedded WH.

(123) (a) ka tE) jane has ki kiye kala kris
QUES you know AUX that who what did
'Do you know who did what?'

(b) h mE) janehã ki kiye kala kris
yes I know-AUX that who what did
'Yes, I know who did what?'

(c) ni mE) ni jani ki kiya kala kris
NEGI NEG know that who what did
'No, I don't know who did what'.

Another fact to be noted is that the scope marker is morphologically identical to the Yes/No question word ka (Yes/No questions are dealt with in the next section). It is assumed therefore that the scope-marker is a Yes/No operator in the matrix clause. The Yes/No operator QRs to the matrix clause and is governed by Co[+WH]. The matrix clause contains the trace of the extraposed CP and if values are not assigned to the WH-phrases in the complement, the matrix IP remains an open sentence.

2.3.2 Yes/No Questions

Yes/No questions ask whether the contents of the proposition supplied by the speaker is true or not. The Yes/No question word is Laria is the interrogative marker ka. The Yes/No operator occurs at the end of the sentence after the verb in simple sentences.

(124) tE) ghr ja:ths ka
you home go-CONT QUES
'Are you going home?'

In complex construction the Yes/No operator occurs after the matrix verb and has scope over the matrix clause.

(125) ra:m khis ka je hri ghr ja:the
Ram said QUES COMP Hari home go-CONT
'Did Ram say that Hari was going home?'

(126) ra:m khis je hri ghr ja:the ka
Ram said COMP Hari home go-CONT QUES
'Ram said that was Hari going home?'

Apart from the post-verbal position, the Yes/No operator can occur adjacent to other constituents of a sentence like NPs and APs. When the Yes/No operator occurs adjacent to a constituent, contrastive reading of that constituent is allowed. For example:

(127) ka tE) ghr ja:ths
QUES you home go-CONT
'Are you going home (or someone else)?'

(128) tE) ka ghr ja:ths
you QUES home go-CONT.
'Are you going home?'

It is therefore held that the Yes/No operator can be base-generated adjoined to any maximal projection. The constituent to which it adjoins becomes quantificational and it QRs to its minimal IP. Governed by a Co[+WH] it receives the required interpretation.

The following are the LF representations of (128) and (131).


The yes/no operator in (124) is be generated adjoined to the IP and has scope over the entire sentence.


In (127) the yes/no operator is base-generated adjoined to the NP and the whole NP then QRs at LF.

2.3.3 Echo Questions

Echo sentences is a term used in some GRAMMATICAL description to refer to a type of sentence which repeats, in whole or in part, what has just been said by another speaker. Such 'echo utterances' include 'echo QUESTIONS'9. Echo
__________________________
9 Ibid, p. 104.
questions are questions asking for clarifications on what the previous speaker has said. For example,

A : I saw a ghost

B : You saw what?

Echo question can again be subdivided into four categories.

2.3.3.1 Yes/No Echo-Questions

(129) A : mE) dilli ja:th)
I Delhi go-PRE-CONT-SING-1
'I am going to Delhi'

(130) B : tE) dilli ja:ths
you Delhi go-PRE-CONT-SING-2
'Are you going to Delhi?'

(131) B : tE) dilli ja:ths ka
you Delhi go-PRE-CONT-SING-2 QUES
'Are you going to Delhi?'

In (130) the hearer repeats the statement of the speaker with a rising intonation and forms a Yes/No echo-question. (130) has the Yes/No question word and forms the echo question.

2.3.3.2 Question Word Echo-Questions

(132) A : ra:m bjar ja:the
Ram market go-PRE-CONT-3-SING
'Ram is going to the market.'

(133) B : ra:m kaha: ja:ths ka
Ram where go-PRE-CONT-3-SING
'Ram is going where?'

As the WH-question words are in-situ in Laria, the structure of echo questions is same as that of a WH-question. The difference is that echo questions have a rising intonation.

2.3.3.3 Yes/No Question Echo - Question

(134) A : tE) skul ja:ths ka
you school go-CONT QUES
'Are you going to school?'
(135) B : mE) skul ja:th ki ni
I school go-CONT or NEG
'Am I going to school or not?'

Yes/No questions echo questions are alternative questions where speaker B allows himself to have the option of two propositions; yes and no.

2.3.3.4 Question word question echo questions

(136) A : mE) kaha ja:th)
I where go-PRE-CONT-1-SING
'Where am I going?'

As the question words are in-situ in Laria all the constituents in a sentences can be subject to echo questioning. In the example [Sentence (143)] given below, the subject, direct object and the indirect object can be subject to echo-questioning.

(138) A : ra:m sita: la bhi gute di:s
Ram Sita ACC book one gave
'Ram gave a book to Sita.'

(139) B(1) : kiye sita: la bhi gute di:s
who Sita ACC book one gave
'Who gave a book to Sita?'

(140) B (2) : ra:m kla bhi gute di:s
Ram who book one gave
'Ram gave a book to whom?'

(141) B (3) : ra:m sita la kala: di:s
Ram Sita ACC what gave
'Ram gave what to Sita?

Echo-questions can be used for more than one constituent at a time in a sentence. In the following example (142) the direct object and the verb can be subject to echo questions.

(142) A : ra:m raju la maris
Ram Raju ACC beat-PST
'Ram beat Raju'

(143) B : ra:m kla ka kris
Ram who what do-PST
'Ram who what to whom?'

2.3.4 Alternative Questions
Alternative questions provide either two alternative propositions or one proposition and its negation. The addressee is requested to commit himself to one of the alternative of the two propositions or the propositions or the propositions and its negation10.

In Laria, alternative questions are formed by the disjunctive (ki in Laria) co-ordination of two sentences where some identical material is deleted from the second sentence.
________________________
10 T.Lehmann (1989), A Grammar of Modern Tamil, Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture. Pondicherry, p. 235.

(144) tE) ca: pibe ki cofi
you tea drink or coffee
'Do you want tea or coffee?'

In the above alternative question, the identical subject and the verb is deleted from the second sentence.

Alternative questions are also formed by the negation of a proposition where only the negative marker is used instead of the co-ordinated second sentence.

(145) tE) ghr ja:ths ki ni
you home go-CONT or NEG
'Are you going home or not?'

In alternative questions with a negative marker in Laria can have the redundant verb in the second sentence.

(146) pne he ka:m la krihi ki ni kre
he that work ACC do-FUT or NEG do
'Will he do that work or not?'

Such constructions are ungrammatical in Hindi and English, maybe because of redundancy of the verb in the second sentence. (147) is an example in Hindi and (148) in English.

(147) *ra:m ga:na ga:ega ya: n"hi ga:ega
Ram song sing or NEG sing
'Will Ram sing a song or not?'

(148) *Will Ram go to school or not go?

2.4 NEGATION

Negation is a process or construction in grammatical and semantic analysis which typically expresses the contradiction of some or all of a sentence's meaning. In English grammar, it is expressed by the insertion of the 'negative PARTICLE' not or n't (the CONTRACTED negative); in LEXIS there are several possible means. E.g. PREFIXES such as un-, non-, or words such as deny. Some LANGAUGES use more than one particle to express negation (as in French ne…pas). The use of more than one negative form in the same clause (as in 'double negatives') is characteristic of some English DIALECTS, e.g. I'm not unhappy (which is a stylistically MARKED mode of assertion) and I've not done nothing (which is not acceptable in STANDARD English)10.

In Laria, Negation is expressed by the negative particle ni which occurs in the pre-verbal position.

(149) tE) a:m ni khã:
I mango NEG eat
'I don't eat mangoes.'

Laria also has a number of negative particles - nuhe for the 'equational' e, ni n for the 'existential' a:he as shown below

(i) nuhe : equtional
(ii) ni n

These are the result of the 'fusion' of the negative particle ni and the inflected copula or auxiliary verb11.

Examples of sentential negative with inflected negative particles are given below:

(150) ga: th i thnd?a: e
village in cold is
'It is cold in the village'.

(151) gã: th i thnd?a: nuhe
village in cold NEG
'It is not cold in the village'.

(152) pd?ia th i ghas a:he
ground in grass is
'There is grass in the garden.'
____________
11 Z.N. del Prado and J.Gair (1993), The Position of Negation in Bengali : an account of synchronic and diachronic variation, SALA XV, University of lowa, p. 235.

(153) pd?ia th i ghas ni n
ground in grass NEG
'There is no grass in the garden.'

Inflected negatives always occur in the post-verbal position whereas uninflected negatives occur in the pre-verbal position in Laria.

Typological studies of the position of negation (as in Dryer, 1988 and Dahl, 1979) have identified the patterns as : (i) inflected negative particles tend to behave like auxiliaries, i.e., the inflected negative particle occurs post-verbally in head-final (SOV) languages and pre-verbally in head-initial languages ; and (ii) uninflected negative particles tend to occur in pre-verbal position, irrespective of the head parameter value of the language12.

(i) SOVE NEG+ INFL
S NEG+INFL VO

(ii) S O NEG V _ INFL
S NEG V + INFL O

The negative particle in Laria conforms to the general pattern as given above. In main finite clauses and in je- complement clauses ni occurs in the pre-verbal position in unmarked form
______________
12 Ibid, p. 234.

(154) mE) rut?i ni kha
I chappati NEG eat
'I do not eat chappati'

(155) pne khis je raju ni jael pa:re
he said that Raju NEG go able
'He said that Raju will not be able to go.'

However, the negative particle can be moved to the post-verbal position for emphasis as in the examples,

(156) mE) rut?i kha ni
I chappati eat NEG
'I do not eat chappati'

(157) pne khis je raju jael pa:re ni
He said that Raju go AUX NEG
'He said that Raju will not be able to go.'

The movement of the negative particle to the post-verbal position is to emphasis the act of kha 'eat' in (156) and jael pare 'able to go' in (157).
In conditional clauses like jdi…hele…and conditionals expressed by the non-finite suffix - le. ni is preverbal.
(158) tE) ni kh aele mE) ni kha
you NEG eat of I NEG eat
'If you don't eat, I will not eat'.

(159) tE) jdi ni khae hele mE) ni kha
you if NEG eat then I NEG eat
'If you don't eat, then I won't eat'.

The negative marker ni has to be obligatory pre-verbal in the subordinate conditional clasuses.

(160) * tE) jdi khae ni hele mE) ni kha

Preverbal negation is onligatory when a non-finite verb or a 'verbal noun' is negated.

(161) pr ke ktha ni sunba:r ktha
other of words NEG hear INF talk
'One should not hear others talking'.

(162) * pr ke kotha ni sunba:r ni ktha

(163) uria: ni si:khba:r la suibidha e
Oriya NEG learn CL problem is
'Not learning Oriya is a problem'.

(164) *uria: si:khba:r ni la subidha e
The negative ni can occur in both pre-verbal and post-verbal positions in co-relative constructions but the post-verbal construction seems very marked.

(165) tE) jen khata: gera thi ni lekhbar se gera mla de de
you REL copy PL in NEG write- INF COR PL. I give
'You can give me those copies in which you don't write'.

(166) tE) jen khata: gera thi lekhbar ni se gera mla de de
'You can give me those copies in which you don't write'.

Laria, therefore, follows the typological pattern that has been stated above.

2.4.1 Constituent Negation

In the case of constituent negation only lexical negation is possible in Laria by adding the prefix - to lexical items. For example.

bhdr - bhdr
'gentle; 'rude

bela - bela
'time' 'untimely'

sundr - sundcr
'beautiful' 'ugly'

sntust - sntust
'satisfied' 'dissatified'

santi - santi
'peace' 'trouble'

khaeke - khua:
'having eaten' 'without eating'

ga:ed ke - gdhua
'having taken a bath' 'without taking a bath'

st - st
'truth' 'lies'

2.4.2 Focus Particle in Negatives

Laria is marked by the presence of focus particle in its negative constructions. The focus particle occurs obligatory in sentences in the present tense.

(167) mr ne bhi la ni n
my POSS book CL NEG FP
'I don't have the book'.

(167a) * mr ne bhi la ni

(168) pne khus ni n
he happy NEG FP
'He is not happy'.

(168a) * pne khus in
The focus particle occurs optionally in the past and future tense as in the examples below.

(169) mr ne bhi la ni thai n
my POSS book CL NEG there FP
'I did not have the book'.

(169a) mr ne bhi la ni thai

(170) mor ne bhi la ni rhe n
my POSS book CL NEG be-FUT FP
'I won't have the book'.

The focus particle can be optionally present in the post-verbal position. The meaning of the sentence changes with the presence of the focus particle.

(171) ra:m gi:t ni gae
Ram song NEG sing
'Ram won't/doesn't sing'.

(171a) ra:m gi:t ni gae n
Ram song NEG sing FP
'Ram won't ever sing'.

The post-verbal focus particle emphasizes the degree of negation in the sentence. The focus particle can not negate a sentence on its own.

(171b) * ra:m gi:t n gae

(171c) * ra:m gi:t gae n

n is a focus particle is shown by the fact that it cannot occur in sentences where the negative particle is moved to post-verbal position. For example

(172) ra:ju khae ni
Raju eat NEG
Raju won't eat

(172a) * raju khae ni n

hi (emphatic particle) can also be substituted by the focus particle n as shown on the examples below.

(173) ra:m hi jahi
Ram EMP go-FUT
'Ram only will go.'

(174) ra:m n jahi
Ram FP go-FUT
'Ram only will go.'

2.4.3 Negative Particle and its Position in the Structure.

It has been proposed hat sentential negation involves generating a functional projection. Pollock (1989) and Ouhalla (1990) have referred to it as Negation Phrase (NEg P) and Laka (1990) has referred it to as Sigma Phrase (?P) for emphatic assertion ad negation. In Laria the negative particle ni occupies the head position NEG.

2.4.4 Constituent Negation vs. Sentential Negation

Consider the examples:

(175) mE) bhabth) je dilli thi rheke hindi ni sikhba:r
I think that Delhi in stay-AUX Hindi NEG learn-INF
'I think that, staying in Delhi, not to learn Hindi will be a problem'.

(176) mE) bhabth), je dilli thi rheke hindi sikhba:r
I think that Delhi in stay-AUX Hindi learn-INF
thi subidha ni he
in problem NEG be-FUT
'I think tat, staying in Delhi, to learn Hindi will not be a problem.'

(175) means it will be necessary to learn Hindi. (176) means it will be easy in learn Hindi. Syntactically, ni in (175) negates the non-finite verb (sikhba:r 'to learn') while in (176) ni negates the finite verbs (he 'to be').

The negative particle that negates the non-finite verb has to be obligatory pre-verbal whereas that negates the finite verb can be moved to the post-verbal position for emphasis.

(178) * mE) bhabth) je dilli thi rhe ke hindi sikhba:r la ni subidha e.

(179) * mE) bhabth) je dilli thi rhe ke hindi sikhba:r la ni subidha he ni.

This contrast allows us distinction between 'cinstituent negation' as in (178) and (179) 'sentential negation'. del Prado and Gair propose that the difference comes up with respect to the constituent that the negative particle negates in each case. In cases of constituent negation ni negates a verb; in cases of sentential negation ni negates a verb; in cases of sentential negation ni negates tense. In other words, constituent negation constitutes negation of a lexical head (V0) while sentential constitutes negation of the [V
+T] complex in T0.

2.5 ANAPHORA

2.5.1 REFLEXIVES

Anaphors are NPs which have no capacity for 'inherent reference'. Chomsky's Principle A states that 'An anaphor is bound within its governing category'.

Chomsky gives the definition of 'bound' as follows

(i) a is X-bound by b if and only if a and b are coindexed, b c-commands a and b is in an X-position.

(ii) a is locally bound by b if and only if a is X-bound by b and if * Y - binds a then either * Y - binds b or *=b.

(iii) a is locally * bound by b if and only if a is locally bound and X-bound by b.

where, 'X' can be replaced by A or A and 'X' and 'Y' may be independently replaced by A or A.

(a) Bill i saw himself i in the mirror.
In (a) Bill and himself are co-indexed. 'himself' is the anaphor which is bound by the NP Bill.

In Laria the anaphor (reflexive) is nije (self).

(b) ram nije la drpn thi dekhis
ram self ACC mirror in saw.
Ram saw himself in the mirror.

The reflexive nije in Laria is bound by the NP ra:m and they are co-indexed. NP ra:m is in an A-position and its c-commands the reflexive.

2.5.1.1 Distribution of Reflexives

In Laria reflexives occur in four different positions.

(a) as the object (direct or indirect) of a verb.
(180) ra:mi nijei la bhl pathe
Ram self ACC love does
'Ram loves himself.'

(181) ra:mi nijei la gute upha:r di:s
Ram self DAT one present gave
'Ram gave himself a present.'

In (180) nije is the direct of the verb and in (181) nije is the indirect object of the verb. The reflexive nije is properly governed, coindexed with the NP ra:m.

(b) as the object of the proposition

(182) ra:mi nijei upre khus heis
Ram self on happy happened
'Ram was happy with himself.'

(c) as the specifier of an NP

(183) hri nije ke gadi hjae dis
Hari self POSS vehicle lost gave
'Hari lost his vehicle.'

As a possessive, the reflexive behaves like an emphatic pronoun.

(185a) rbii simaj la u):kr nije i+j ke ga: la lis
Ravi Seema ACC their own POSS village to took
'Ravi took Seema to their village'.

(185b) rbii simaj la nije i+j ke ga: la lis
Ravi Seema ACC self POSS village to took
'Ravi took Seema to their village'.

A pronoun can have a split antecedent, but an anaphor cannot have a split antecedent. Therefore is (185a) when a possessive pronoun is attached to the anaphor the anaphor is more like an emphatic pronoun. IN (185b) the anaphor reflexive is attached only to its antecedent NP.

(d) As the subject of a gerund

(186) mdhui nijei ke gi:t gaeba:r psnd krthe
Madhu self POSS song singing like does
'Madhu likes singing songs.'

The subject position of a gerund is ungoverned, according to Chomsky (1991) as indicated by the occurrence of PRO in this position.

(187) mdhu PRO gi:t gaeba:r psnd krthe
Madhu song singing like does
'Madhu likes singing songs'.

In Laria, the usual practice is to avoid reflexives although they can occur in the subject position of a poss-ing construction. Thus, we can have,

(188) mdhu gi:t gaeba:r psnd krthe

In sentence (187), the reflexives being the subject of a gerund, is ungoverned and does not have a governing category. It, therefore, can satisfy principle (A) vacuously.

2.5.1.2 Long Distance Anaphora

Chomsky's Principle A says the reflexive must be bound within its governing category i.e. within the same simplex sentences. In some sentences the reflexive can not be co-indexed with its antecedent in the same governing category. The antecedent has to be found outside the simplex sentence. Consider the following example.

(189) ra:m hrii la nijei/*j la dos ni deba:r lagi khis
Ram Hari ACC self ACC blame NEG give-INF AUX said
'Ram asked Hari not to blame himself.'

(190) rbii mohnj la kr nijei/j lagi gut?e sa:t? anba:r
Ram Mohan ACC his self AUX one shirt bring
lagi khis
AUX said
'Ravi asked Mohan to bring a shirt for him/himself.'

(191) ra:mi ra:juj la kr nijei/j ke kpd?a spha: kr ba:r
Ram Raju ACC his self POSS cloth clean do-INF
Lagi khis
AUX said
'Ram asked Raju to clean his clothes'.

The S-structure representation of the sentences (189), (190) & (191) are given below.

(192) ra:m hrii la [PRO nijei lagi] khis

(193) rbii mohnj la [PRO kr nijei/j lagi gut?e sa:t? a:n ba:r lagi] khis

(194) ra:mi ra:juj la [PRO kr nijei/j ke kpd?a spha: kr ba:r lagi] khis kr khis

In the S-structure of the above sentences we can see that the reflexives do not have their antecedent NPs in the same simplex sentence. It has to move outside the simplex sentences to find an antecedent. In sentence (192), the reflexive is necessarily bound in its governing category. In sentence (193) the reflexive occurs as an object of the preposition. The reflexive is therefore not properly governed and it can move outside its governing category for co-indexation. The reflexive kr nije can be co-indexed with both the NPs viz. rbi and mohn.

Even when the pronoun kr is deleted, the reflexive pronoun nije can be co-indexed with the both the subject and the object NPs ram and raju respectively.

(195) ra:mi rajui la [PRO nijei/j ke kpda spha krba:r lagi] khis

This is similar to both Oriya and Hindi construction as shown in (
196) and (197)

(196) Oriya - ra:m raju ku nij r kpd?a spha
Ram Raju ACC self POSS cloth clean.
kriba pai khila
do-INF to said
'Ram asked Raju to clean his shirt'.

2.5.2 RECIPROCALS

Reciprocals are formed by using the antecedent NP in plural along with reduplicated pronominals. For example .

(198) u: mnei u) : kr-u) : kri ktha-barta lagin
they their their talk did
'They talked to each other'.

(199) : mnei u)kri-u)krii ma : rdhr hein
they their their fight did
'They hit each other'.

Reciprocals in Laria are formed by reduplicated form of the pronoun 'their' instead of a single word like paraspara (each other) in Oriya or ek dusre in Hindi.

2.5.2.1 Distribution of Reciprocals

Like reflexives the reciprocals in Laria occur in four different positions. Consider the reciprocals in these different positions.
(a) As the object of the verb

(200) u:mneiu):kri u):krii bhl pa:thE)
they their their love get
'They love each other'.

(201) hrii a:u mdhui u):krbina: brsikiya: thi u):kr-u):kri
Hari and Madhu their marriage anniversary in their their
bhet di:ya di: hein
present gave gave happened
'Hari and Madhu gave presents to each other on their wedding anniversay'.

In (200), the reciprocal u:kr u:kr occurs as the direct object of the verb but in (201) it occurs as the indirect as the indirect object of the verb. Both these positions are properly governed.

(b) As the object of a post position

(202) ra:ja:i a:u rajui u):kr- u):kri lagi sa:t? g hinin
Raja and raju their their for shirt bought
'Raja and Raju bought shirts for each other'.

(c) As the specifier of an NP

(203) u:mnei u):kr u):kri bhi pd hin
They their their book read
'They read each other's books'.

(d) As the subject of the gerund

(204) u:mnei u):kr u):kri khel thi bhag neba:r psnd krthE)
They their their games in participating like do
'They like each other's participating in the games'.

2.5.2.2 Long Distance Anaphora

Reciprocals in tensed clauses, like the reflexives, obey the Principle A. Consider the following.

(205) (a) ma:str mne khin cha:tr mnei u):kr u):kr mni la
teacher PL said student PL their their Pl ACC
sahajy krihi:
help do

'The teachers said the students will help each other'.

(b) *ma:str mne khin cha:tr mne u):kr u):kr mn
la sahajy krihi:

In (205) the reciprocal is contained in the embedded tensed clause. In (205a) the reciprocals are bound inside the governing category, but in (205b) the reciprocal is bound outside the governing category. Therefore (205a) is grammatical while (205b) is ungrammatical.

(206) gita a:u mita:i bhabt hE) je ra:m a:u mina:j u):kr u):kr *i/j
Gita and Mita think that Ram and Mina their their
odisi na:c na:cba:r psnd krthE)
Odisi dance dancing like do

'Gita and Mita think that Ram and Mina like each other's dancing Odissi dance'.

In sentence (206) the reciprocal occurs in a gerund which is contained in a tensed clause. The reciprocal can only be co-indexed with the object NP and satisfy Principle A vacuously.

(207) ma:ster mne cha:tr mn la u:kr-u:kr birudh thi
teacher PL student PL ACC their their against in
prca:r krba:r lagi khin
campaign do for said
'The teachers asked the students to campaign against each other'.

In sentence (207) the reciprocal is in the object position of a post position therefore it is not properly governed. The reciprocal can thus be co-indexed outside its governing category with both the NPs.

2.5.2.3 Verbal Reciprocal

Laria does not have a verbal reciprocal. But a reduplicated verb can act as a verbal reciprocal. Consider the following examples:

(208) u:mne thela theli hein
they pushing happened
'They pushed each other'.

(209) u:mne putla putli hein
they embracing happened
'They embraced each other'.

In the sentences (208) & (209) the reduplicated verbs thela theli and putla putli give the meaning of reciprocity.

2.5.3 PRONOMINALS

Chomsky's Principle B states that 'A pronominal must be free within its governing category'.
For example in English

(210) Bill, saw him *i/j

In (210) the pronoun 'him' is free within its governing category and him cannot be co-indexed with 'Bill'.

Principle A and B of the binding theory jointly predict that there must be complementary distribution of anaphors and pronominals. Therefore within its governing category a pronoun must be free where as an anaphor is bound.
The pronouns can be checked in the positions where anaphors are placed. The four different positions are as follows:

(a) As the object of the verb

(211) hrii la*i dekhis
Hari him saw
'Hari saw him'.

(212) sitai la*i gute bhi di:s
Sita her one book gave
'Sita gave her a book'.

In (211) the pronoun is the direct object and in (212) it is the indirect object. In both cases, the pronoun cannot be bound within the governing category, which is S. The pronoun la in Laria obeys Principle B.

(213) sitai khis je madhuj lai/*j gute bhi di:s
Sita said COMP Madhu her one book gave
'Sita said that Madhu gave her a book'.

The pronoun is free within its embedded tense clause. It can be co-indexed outside its governing category i.e. with the subject of the matrix clause.

(b) As the object of a post position

(214) ra:mi kri la:gi gute bhi ghinis
Ram his for one book bought
'Ram bought a book for him'.

(215) ra:mi kri la:gi bhi ghinba:r la psnd kthe
Raju his for book buying CL like does
'Raju bought buying books for him'.

(216) raju ram ke kri la:gi bhi ghinba:r la
Raju Ram GEN his for book buying CL
psnd krthe
like does
'Raju likes Ram's buying for him'.

(24) is a simple sentence where the pronoun can be coindexed with the subject and therefore bound in its governing category. In (215) the pronoun is a post positional object occuring in a ground and it can be bound in its governing category. (216) is a gerundival sentence with a genitive subject. The pronoun can be co-indexed with subject of the embedded sentence and thus be bound within its governing category. It can also be coindexed with the subject of matrix clause. Pronouns in any type of sentence as the object of the proposition does not obey Principle B.

(c) Pronouns in gerunds

(217) ra:mi la*i ga:li del psnd ni kre
Ram him cursing like NEG do
'Ram does not like cursing him'.

(218) ra:mi sita ke lai/*j ga:li deba:r psnd ni kre
Ram sita GEN him curse giving like NEG do
'Ram does not like Sita's cursing him'.

In (217) the gerund has a PRO-subject and in (218) it has a genitive subject. In all the sentences the gerund is the governing category for the pronoun. The gerund is the minimal category containing the pronoun, its governer (namely the verb of the gerund) and the accessible SUBJECT/subject. The pronoun is free inside the governing category. It is co-indexed only with the subject of the matrix clause. Hence, a pronoun in a gerund always obeys Principle B.

(d) As the specifier of an NP
(219) rami kri bja bja the
Ram his drum playing
'Ram is beating his drum'.

(220) ram sita la kr bhi pdba:r lagi khis
Ram Sita ACC his book read-INF for said
'Ram asked Sita to read his book'.
In (219) the pronoun occurs in the specifier position of an NP. The governing category of the pronoun is S and the pronoun can be bound in its governing category. In (220) the pronoun is in specifier position of an NP in a gerund with a genitive subject. The pronoun can be co-indexed with both, the NP of embedded gerundive clause and the NP of the matrix clause.

2.5.4 EMPHATICS

The emphatic pronoun in Laria is homophonous with the reflexive pronoun. For example,

(225) ra:m nije la drpn thi dekhis
Ram self ACC mirror in saw
'Ram saw himself in the mirror'.

(226) ra:m he ka:m la nije krihi
Ram that work ACC self do-FUT
'Ram will do the work himself'.

An overt case marker is present with the reflexive pronoun as it is an argument and is marked in the Ø-grid. The emphatic pronoun does not have a case marker and it is not an argument. It is an adjunct, which can be dropped. The schematic representation of the sentences (225) & (226) are shown as

The emphatic in a sentence can be moved and it has its scope over the NP near which it is present. This is illustrated in the following examples.

(227) ra:m sita: la nije ka:m krter ba:r dekhis
Ram Sita ACC self work do-PRE-CONT saw
'Ram saw sita doing the work by herself'.

(228) nije ra:m sita: la ka:m krter ba:r dekhis
self Ram Sita ACC work do-PRE-CONT saw
'Ram saw sita doing the work by herself'.

(229) ra:m nije sita: la ka:m krter ba:r dekhis
Ram self Sita ACC work do-PRE-CONT saw
'Ram saw sita doing the work by himself'.

In (227) the emphatic pronoun has scope over the direct object sita. In (228) and (229) the emphatic pronoun has scope over the subject NP ra:m.

Emphatic pronoun are used for emphasis of a particular NP. In (227) the emphasis is on sita:, i.e. 'Sita did the work himself'. In (228) the emphasis is on ra:m, i.e. 'Ram himself saw Sita doing the work'.