[ Table of Contents | Previous | Next ]
The third phase will be to identify and describe modifiers and particles. Finally, word formation and word modification will be identified within the Text and described.
The fundamental utterance of the Rotokas Text is a single stretch of speech bound by fu.ll pauses, which cannot be divided into smaller units capable of independent use.
Those found in the Text are as follows:
| 2 | //rupupaveva// we both were swimmlng for something years ago |
| 9,10 | //puraveva// 'we both did years ago |
| 13,14 | //a.vaopa// she went years ago |
| 17,24, | |
| 25,26, | |
| 35 | |
| 32,33 | //uturaepa// 1 followed years ago |
| 37 | //aataava// I swam years' ago |
| 41,42 | //kaeraviro// 1 1 raised up completely` |
| 44,45 | //voreraepa// 'I went baek years ago |
| 61,62 | //kareveiepa// we both returned years ago |
| 70 | //iparoepa!/ :he went upr years ago |
| 84 | //aloveva// we both ate years ago |
| 107,108 | //oravurevureroepa// 'he shook himself years ago" |
| 114 | //kareroepa// he returned years ago |
The above list may be extended by taking forms from the texts which closely match any of the above, which are nearly in With the Text as the starting point, the description of Rotokas morphology will be developed. Establishment of the "word" based isolation, or which are repeated in a sequence: upon boundaries of "full pause" will be the first step. Following this, a tentative identification of morphemes within the word will 8 -purapav.eva// we both were making/doing years be made. The first phase will be completed by expanding the 29 -uvuipaveiepa// ago both were being able years we information from sources outside of the Text in order to give in 75 -kareuviroveiepa// ago both returned completely we full the description of this fundamental utterance, the verb. 92 -puravevo// years ago we both made/did recently" I Assuming that the verb can be identified, the second phase will be to isolate nominals using the boundaries of "full pause" and verbal construction. Again tentative identification of morphemes within the nominals will be made and followed by a complete statement'.
Comparing the following pairs of isolated forms, several affixes of the fundamental utterances may be identified:
From the restricted data several tentative conclusions can be posited: the fundamental utterance in Rotokas'is a word which expresses a) action or condition, b) aspect of the action or condition, c) subject of the action or condition, and d) time of the action or condition; there are two sets of past tense markers which seem to refleet "transitiveness" or the lack'af it; the optional tense markers occur in final position within the construction of the verb; the person markers occur in second from final position; the progressive action marker occurs in third from final position; and the eomplete action marker occurs immediately before or immediately after the person marker.
With this sketch of the verb morphology as a framework, the description will be completed drawing upon the Rotokas concordance for the necessary information.
As was hinted at in the investigation of the texts, there are certain morphophonemic rules required in the affixa,ion of Rotokas verbs. By far the majority of such rules in Rotokas morphology occur in the description.of the verb.
In Orders 2 and 5 there are six suffixes with pairs of allomorphs commencing with /v/ and /p/:
| -(u)viro | -piro | completive |
| -voi / -ei | -pi | present |
| -vere | -pere | near future' |
| -verea | --perea | distant future |
| -veira | -paira | habitual |
| -ve | -pe | subjunctive |
In each instance the p-initial form occurs in verbs which have an inanimate subject, and the v-initial form in verbs with animate subjects. When both Order 2 and Order 5 suffixes occur, however, there is an unexplained violation of agreement. The allomorph -piro of Order 2 which normally occurs with inanimate subjects also occurs with,the allomorphs of Order 5 which mark animate subjects, i.e. -vere, -verea, -ve, and -veira.
There is only one verb prefix, the reciprocal action marker (rec) ora-. It has a wide variety of meanings when prefixed to the verb stem: ORA-vurevure (REC-to shake) 'to shake one's self,' ORA-reo (REC-to talk) sto converse,' ORA-ou (REC-to get) 'to marry,' ORA-rugopie (REC-cause to think) to remember," ORA-viki (REC-to throw) 'to jump.' Other illustrations in the Text are found in sentences: 30,38,51,52,57,85,90,93 and 106,through 108.
From,the brief investigation of the texts, four orders of suffixes were suggested. Had more verbs been isolated it could have been established that there are five orders of suffixes. Those five orders are now described.
The two suffixes of Order 1 are the indifferent mode marker -raga and the emphatic mode marker -irao. Although they are mutually exclusive in the vast majority of cases, the author has elicited a verb construction with both occurring, ava-RAGA-IRAO-pa-ra-erao (to go-INDIFFERENT-EMPHATIC-progressive action-I-near past) 'I really just was going days ago'
Both suffixes of Order 1 may co-oecur with any or all of the orders of verb suffixes.
The suffix of Order 2 is -(u)viro - -piro, the complete action marker (ca), kosi-Viro-ta (to exit-CA-you all) 'you all completely exit' and vovouisi pore-PIRO-pa (heart to turn-CA-remote past) 'the heart completely turned years ago (change of mind).' The forms -viro and -uviro alternate freely.
Although this suffix predominantly occurs in Order 2 po'sition, it may follow Order 3 or Order 4 suffixes without a change of meaning. It may oecur with any or all of the orders óf verb suffixes except for
The suffix of Order 3 is -pa, the progressive action marker (pra), sisiu-PA-re-vere (to wash-PRA-he-near future) 'he will be washing soon.' It may oecur with any or all of the orders of verb suffixes. (See Text sentences: 2, 4-8, 21, 28-31, 43, 49, 51, 53, 65, 78, 81, ,85, 89-91, 93, 96, 97.)
-viro may not occur the restriction mentioned in section 3.21. Alsó' with "inanimate" future tense markers. (See sentences:, 40-42, 46, 52, 63, 64, 75, 101.)
These last four suffixes are mutually exclusive with the person-number markers and the suffixes of Order 5.
markers are divided finto those occurring with -verb stems, and those occurring witki g-verb sterns. With -r-verb With f1-verb First person -ra -a Si' Second person -u -ri you" Third person (m) -ro -re he' -o -e she' Third person (f) First person 19 exclusive -io -i we not you The verb may be unmarked for person-number when the subject of the verb is third person masculine singular. This is a stylistic variant. b) Dual. The first and second-third dual markers are the same 6 for both ,r- and f1-verb stems. First person -ve -a- we two' Second-third person -si you/they two" m/m or m/f m/m or m/f Second-third person -ere .you/they two' f/f f/f
First person inclusive -vio -vi we all" Second person -ta you all"
With -f-verb With S-verb Third person -a -i Sthey all'
Alt of the above suffixes are considered markers of animate subjects. The inanimate neuter marker -G is the samF for singular, dual, and plural third person. It is designated by `it.' Any of the person-number markers may occur with any or all of the orders of verb suffixes.
The suffixes of Order 5 are the tense markers and the three mode markers. The latter are mutually exclusive with tense markers.
Future. The future tense markers are suffixed to B-verb stems and r-verb stems alike. They are:
B-verb aio-ri-VOI
,r-verb ava-u-EIina goagoara-O-PI
The classification of Rotokas verbs has been problematical since the recording and analysis of the verbs first began. The root of
f3-verb aio-ri-VO Y-verb ava-u-E (to eat-you-IMMEDIATE PAST (ip)) you ate recently" (to go-you-IP) f3-verb aio-ri-VORAO "Y-verb ava-u-ERAO B-verb aio-ri-VORA Y -verb ava-u-ERA B-verb aio-ri-VA Y-verb ava-u-EPA y• ou went recently` (to eat-you-NEAR PAST (np)) °you ate days ago" yl ava-u-VERE urio-O-PERE aio-ri-VEREA opesi-O-PEREA (to go-you-NEAR FUTURE (nf)) °you will go soon" (to go-you-NP) (to go-you-NEAR FUTURE (nf)) °it will come soon" (to eat-you-DISTANT FUTURE (df)) °you will eat (it) years from now" (to finish-it-DF) °it will fihish years from now" (see 3.21.b) b) Present. The present tense markers are divided three ways: 1) oecurring with B-verb_stems, 2) occurring with Y-verb stems, and 3) occu;rring with inanimate (ina) subject marker. They are: y• ou went days ago" (to eat-you-DISTANT PAST (dp)) "you ate weeks ago" (to go-you-DP) y• ou went weeks ago" (to eat-you-REMOTE PAST (rp)) you ate years ago" (to go-you-RP) °you went years ago.' (to eat-you-PRESENT (p)) °you eat now" (to go-you-P) °you go now" (to boil-it-P) °it boils now" c) Past. The past tense markers are divided into those occurring with B-verb stems and those occurring with Y-verb stems. All stems marked for inanimate subject are suffixed by those markers which normally occur with Y -verb stems to indicate past tense. the problem is the notion of "transitiveness" (which is even unclear in the analysis of English verbs). What are the parameters of transitiveness? Can the verb "to walk" be transitive because there is some goal or direction involved? Why is "to walk" considered transitive in Rotokas when the verb "to return" is never transitive and a goal or direction is more obviously implied in the latter? In the initial analysis "transitiveness" was based upon the occurrence of cne of two sets of person-number markers and non-future markers. The two sets of each of these markers may be identified in the present analysis as "those occurring with B=verb stems" (formerly the transitive markers) and "these occurring with Y-verb stems" (formerly the intransitive markers). For example, in the initial analysis -re 'hep and -va 'remote past' werermarkers from the transitive sets, and -ro 'he' and -epa *remote past" were markers from the intransitive sets. These markers were helpful especially to identify meanings of homonyms, e.g. pura-re-va 'he made/did (it) years ago' and pura-ro-epa 'he said years ago' or pau-re-va 'he built/planted (it) years ago' and pau-ro-epa he sat years ago. Also the markers were helpful when an object is implied, e.g., ori-re-va 'he cooked something (implied) years ago' and ori-ro-epa 'he cooked years ago.' Had the use of the two sets of markers been consistent in marking "transitiveness" there would have been no problem and they would have been most helpful tools. The problem is that some verbs such as voka 'to walk' are also inflected by the "transitive" sets of markers (voka-re-va 'he walked years ago"), while some verbs such as ruipa 'to desire (something)' are inflected by the "intransitive" sets of markers (ruipa-ro-epa 'he desired (it) years ago"). In these cases the "helpful" tools are instead misleading. Until the author can more clearly determine the Rotokas notion of transitiveness or find some other means to predict the apparently inconsistent inflection of these verbs such as voka and ruipa, the dependence upon the two sets of markers will be absent in this analysis. In the present analysis there are four classes of Rotokas Verbs: Class I, II, III, and IV. In this classification the "verb" if to be understood as "verb and affixation." The classification is relevant at the word level in that the particular class manifests particular funetion of the predicate. There are also two sub-classes of verb stems: the B-verb stems and the r-verb stems. In this sub-classification the "verb" is to be understood as the "verb stem without affixation." The sub-classification is relevant at the stem level in that the particular sub-class determines the sets of person-number and non-future tense markers which may co-occur with the members.
An exception to the above statement is when the reflexive prefix ora- occurs. No matter the stem class of the verb, when the stem is prefixed by ora- the person-number and non-future tense markers used are always those which occur with Y-verb stems, e.g. va sisiu-re-va 'he washed it years ago' but ora-sisiu-ro-epa 'he washed himself years ago. Further investigation of this apparent inconsistency may shed more light on the Rotokas notion of "transitiveness."
There are two possibilities of ambiguity occurring by the inflection of the two verb stem types whieh result in a) not being able to identify the intended context when the objeet is also not present, and b) not being able.to identify the meaning of a homonym.
In some abbreviated forms a dependent verb may be used in isolation, e.g., tovosia 'to put (it).' In this case the stem tovo is always a f3-verb stem and there is no question of it being in a transitive context.here. The construction tovosia in isolation is the abbreviation of the understood sentence va tovosia avau (it to-put you-go) °you gó to put it." When a stem is used that is both a f5-verb stem and a Y-verb stem and suffixed by a dependent verb marker, however, there is no way to identify the intended context, unless an object is present, e.g., the verb stem ori to cook."
The use of the dependent marker with homonyms also creates an ambiguous situation if the object is not present. For example, the homonym pau means either 'to build/plant' as a 13-verb stem or 1to sit" as a Y-verb stem. When the abbreviated form, pausia is used in isolation without an objeet, it may either mean (expanded) go build/plant it" or 'come sit down.'
Other ambiguous constructions occur when homonyms or stems which can be members of both classes are inflected by future tense markers (which are not differentiated as to oecurrenee with f3- -'or Y-verb stems) and/or by some person-number markers which again are undifferentiated or homophonous. For example, the verb purg as a f1-verb stem means 'to make' and as a Y-verb stem it means 'to say. A construction such as pura-si-vere may mean 'they two men will make (it) soon' or 5they two men will say soon." An even more confusing construction is when the person-number marker -a is used which means either °I" or 'they.' The construction pura-a may then mean either I make (it)" or °they say." As one would expect, in all of the cases of ambiguity stated above, the context of the statement in general will usually resolve the question of meaning intended.
In the present analysis there are four major verb classes which manifest the four predicate types. It should be remembered that after a thorough analysis of the syntax is completed, there may be some additions or adjustments necessary to bring finto line this present description of the verb morphology.
Verbs which may manifest the Type I Simple Intransitive Predicate are Class I Verbs. These verbs may be either independent or dependent according to the affixation of the stem (see 3.23.42). Some examples of the class are: uusiravere °I will sleep on uriosia to come,' and pouroviro he arrived completely.` (See Text sentences: 3,13-15, 17, 24-26, 34-37, 40-42, 44-46, 52, 59-63, 70, 71, 73-75, 87, 101-103, 114, etc.) are Class II Verbs. They may be either independent or dependent according to the affixation of the stem. There are two verbs of this class which are never inflected, i.e. pe °leave alone" as in ???
Verbs which may manifest the Type II Simple Transitive Predicate are ??? very common expression, va pe „leave it alone," and ururau surround/enclose." Some examples of the class are: kaeavere 'I will soon carry (it),' oratovoaepa 'they put themselves years ago," kekeoro 'seeing (it),' and oureva 'he got (it) years ago.' (See Text sentences: 2, 4 ti-10, 18-20, 22, 23, 28, 32, 33, 38-40, 48, 50, 67, 68, 76-78, 80., 82-84, 89, 92, 96-99, 104-112, etc. )
Verbs which may manifest the Type III Simple Quotative Predicate are Class III Verbs. They may be either independent or dependent according to the affixation of the stem. Some examples of the class are: akesivere 'they both will soon ask," rugorugoparai 'I am thinking,' keaparevoi 'he is deceiving,' purapaoro 'while saying,' tavirevoiva 'he told and..' arusia sto summon.' (See Text sentences: 51, 53, 54, 57, 58, 69, 79, 81, etc.)
Verbs which may manifest the Type IV Simple Stative Predicate are Class IV Verbs. The Class is divided into the Class IV-A Verbs which are existential and the Class IV-B Verbs which are conditional. They manifest the Type IV-A and Type IV-B Stative Predicates respectively.
Assuming that the Rotokas verb can now be identified by the affixation, a further investigation•of the Text can proceed with isolating boundaries now being full pause and verb (v), or verb and verb.
| 1 | //ovokivuia (v) | on another day |
| 6 //ovoiei (v) | ||
| 7 //atari'(v) | ||
| 11 (v) voturu// | ||
| 12 (v) viripato (v) | ||
| 19 //opuruvare (v) | ||
| 21 //ro (v) (v) vegoa (v) | ||
| 23 (v) rovua// | ||
| 28 | ||
| 39 //oiraia (v) onto her" 31 | ||
| 46 //uva (v) then/so" (v) voviri (v) baek there" 40 | ||
| 53 (v) Ari// Ari (proper name)" 43 | ||
| 54 //oisio (v) this ' 47 | ||
| 58 //ragai (v) me | ||
| 59 (v) ra (v) and" | ||
| 60 //oire (v) okay " | ||
| 64 (v) opuruva// canoe | ||
| 69 1green 68 //koru (v) coconut° | ||
| 83 „(the) //aio (v) food" | ||
| 87 (v) vokiarovi// evening | ||
| 88 (v) vorevira (v) back° 80 | ||
| 89 (v) vuria (v) trouble | ||
| 91 (v) osia- (v) as | ||
| 96 (v) tuariri// long ago" | ||
| 98 //rera (v) him" | ||
| 105 //votavuru (v) this bundle" | ||
| 112 | (v) otopisivuia// | in another room |
| 113 | (v) voea (v) | them |
Extending the definition of "boundary" now to 1) full pause, 2) verbal construction, and 3) previously identified forms; many more forms can be identified within the Text. 94 97 5 (uva) voa (v) there" ° 99 12 (uva) viapau (v) not 101 (osia) avakava (v) 5(the) ocean" 115 (ro) iraia (opuruva) .with whieh' 18 (uva) kukueva (v) „(my) head" 20 (uva) oirare (v) „for her" 22 (v) e (opuruva) '(interrogative)' 27 (v) (v) 1 you" (v) vorara (opuruva). (opuruva) vavo (oisio) (oira) iv.araiare (v) (v) goteperoia (v) (v) rirovira (v) (vi) vovouaroia (v) (v) vosia (viapau) (v) pautoare (ra) (ra) vegeivi (v) (ra) opitaravai (v) (uva) opitara (v) (uva) varava (v) (avakava) vatuaroia// (atari) kare (v) //aioavaiva (ra) (ra) oai (v) (atari) roviro (v) (uva) lotu (v) (rirovira) rutu,(v) (v) uvare (opuruva) (opuruva) vegei (v) (v) uva (vuria) (uva) eisi (vegei) (uva) ovokirovuia (v) (ragai) raupeto// (uwal) oirato (v) (uva) isio (votavuru) (uva) vaova (v) (ragai) vaaro (ra) (ragai) vavioviri// 1while' 29 way "to (her) top"" with (the) paddle board" very/greatly" thoughts (possessed)" if " to God " "poor" us" coconuts" coconuts" with them° side (possessed) '(fish)-es' with some food" it" these soups" church " truly" because° we two " when" like that" on these other days" Raupeto (proper name)" '(a) man' „Isio (proper name)" from there" mit (possessed)" `Vavioviri (proper name)° The following forms from the Text remain to be identified: 30 1 ora iravu vaisiaro like arimiori and with another man whose 31 30 vouririo raga 31 okarevu avuvai 34 rikurovu rutuia 36 raka iava 39 oa iava 47 ira taporo 48 ae vegeivipa vearovira 49 oa iava 52 eake name is Luke Arimiori` this fear only' some other animals" 5to (the) truly deep water' from (the) reef' after which' with whom ah well for "poor" us" about it` '(may now be identified as 1what') after which' but God,' after which' about it on (the) Band' inside (the) jungle' to (the canoe) with firewood also' to (grease) (the) greens' to home' at this time" 5two others, two boys' these which" 97 itovaia ora vururuva taporo 1in,with (the) bananas and his .war club also' "by (the); wild fig' . with" t finto (the) cave` 1another male, (th"e)•son" 112 aigeiva taporo mother-in-law also` 115 eisivi raga '5just a-little'like-that By comparing some of the above unidentified formse one can arrive at tentative meanings for them." Compare the following: 1 and 97 ora 'and' 1 and 104 iravu 5another man/male" 30 and 115 raga 5just/only" 36, 39, 49, 52 and 57 iava 'from/about/after 39, 49, 57, 92 and 94 oa "which/it 36 and 71 iava 5from' iare 'to' 47, 71, 97 and 112 taporo 5with/also"
Looking over the lists of identified forms, the reader will nota that the majority.of the forms are names of things, persons, places, events, or times. He will also note that often a single Rotokas form is translated by a phrase of English words. Restrictihg the present investigation to the "naming forms," the contrastitig of two or more of these forms at a time which have similar basie meanings will yield a list of affixes. A framework in which the Rotokas nominal morphology will be described can then be constructed on the basis of these identified affixes.
E 100 aueia sikatoaia 103 vava eriaia 104 iravu ovito oa iava 56 ari pauto oa iava 57 oa iava 63 vo rogaraaro 67 vegoa sioparoia 71 iare erakopaara taporo 72 auere arua vore atoia 77 vo vovio 79 aitereivu kakaetoarei 89 voeao oea 92 siraoa oa 93 ita oravegeipa 94 oisivio raga votavitaviaro oa aueia naintin sikisti sikis 95 oavivu garea 96 oisioa ito 1sorrow which 51again for ourselves" just a little like this' tale/story (possessed) which' in nineteen sixty six" another little one' 1always bananas" I a) Specific plural marker, -ro ovokivuia 'on another day' óvoki-ro-vuia 'on these other days° b)' Specific singular marker, -o voea 'they' voea-o 'thes.e' c) Alternative marker, -vu vovoki-o-ia 'on this day ovoki-vu-ia on another day' Diminutive marker, -vi vegei 'we two" vegei-vi °"poor" we two" Relator vegeivi vegeivi-pa Reflexive marker, ora ageivipa 'for "poor" us óra-vegeipa 'for ourselves' don-absolute marker, -(a)vai opitara 'coconuts" opitara-vai °coconuts Possessive marker, -aro atu-aro-ia by (the) side votavitavi-aro 'tale/story va-aro °it (possessed)' I i) IGender markers, -va (feminine), -to (masculine), -a, (neuter)I. The identification of these is tentative, but may besubstant!iated by including the pronoun and/or verb person marker i which refers back to the nominal being illustrated. opuru-va 'canoe (f)' Ref: oira 'her' and toupaeva °she was" avaka-va ocean (f)" Ref: tokoeva 'she broke` viripa-to 'rope (m)' Ref ro iraia 'this male with which (m)' pau-to 'build/sit (m)/God' Ref: tavi-re-vo 'he told' sirao-a °sorrow (n)" Ref: va-aro 'it (possessed)' j) Relator markers, -ia, -va, -pa, -re and iava, iare d) avakava 'ocean' l e) f) marker 'for,' -pa '"poor" we two" 5for "poor" us twa avakava-ia 'in (the) ocean' oira 'her' oira-ia °onto her" ira °whieh (m)" ira-ia °with whieh (m)" two" va-aro 'it (possessed)' va-va witki it" g) -pa 'illustrated in (e).' h) (uneertain)" opuruva 'canoe" opuruva-re 'for (the) canoe' (possessed)" (possessed)" oira 'her' oira-re 'for her' raka iava 'from (the) reef' oa iava 'about/after it" opuruva iare 'to (the) canoe'
Rotokas words which name things, persons, places, times, or events are nominals. They may be classified nouns, proper nouns, kinship terms, pronouns, locatives, or temporals. The Rotokas nominals are identified by the affixes which are peculiar to them. The dominant feature of the nominals is gender which is identified by suffixes marking gender or by the referent which may be a pronoun or person marker of the verb.
Modification of the nominals is predominantly by affixation. The affixation occurs in order and with some co-occurrence restrictions as deseribed below.
The specific (sp) morpheme evo-/vo- - o- occurs prefixed to classified noun stems and to free-form pluralizers. The allomorph o 1this, these' occurs with either the alternative marker -vu or the relative pronoun marker -a, and the allomorph vo- occurs elsewhere.
The following formulae demosntrate the orders and co-occurrence restrictions.
The reflexive (ref) morpheme ora- occurs prefixed to the personal pronouns only. When it does occur, the pronoun is obligatorily suffixed by a postpositioned relator, e.g., ORA-rera-pa (REF-him-for) 'for himself,° and ORA-voea-ia (REF-they-locativie) 'by/on themselves.° (See Text sentence 93.8.)
The following morphemes to be deseribed are all directly suffixed to the nominal or free-form pluralizer according to order and co-occurrence restrictions. As an alternative, however, the morphemes may occur suffixed to the prepositioned Class 3 Relative Pronoun aue. A more detailed description of this relationship will be given in the section on the appositive string, therefore only an example will be given here. Normal suffixation: Akoitai tarai-A-ARO (Akoitai know-NEUTER SINGULAR-POSSESSIVE MARKER) 'Akoitai.s knowledge.° The alternative: aue-ARO Akoitai tarai-A (Class relative pronoun-POSSESSIVE MARKER Akoitai know-NEUTER SINGULAR) 1Akoitai°s knowledge.° A further alternative, but much less common cons'truction is the suffixation of the prepositioned Class 2 Relative Pronouns oisi and eisi in an identical manner as that exemplified above.
The instrument-agent marker is also suffixed to proper nouns, i.e. names of places, Ruruvu-PA-to (Ruruvu-AGT-masculine singular) 'male from Ruruvu.` It optionally occurs suffixed to some introduced Neo-Melanesian nouns, didiman-PA-to (agricultural officer-AGT-masculine singular) 'agricultural officer,' and to some introduced English nouns, parisi-PA-to (pharisee-AGT-masculine singular) `Pharisee."
Finally the instrument-agent marker may be suffixed to temporals and locatives, e.g.; tuariri-PA-irara (long ago-AGT-masculine plural) 'men of long ago' and tauai-PA-rirei (far away-AGT-feminine dual) 'two females from afar.' (See Text sentence 12.7)
The classifier markers (cl) are mutually exclusive with the instrument-agent markers and are followed optionally by the number markers which do not include gender., There are four classifiers which are all related to 5shape": -isi 5round object," -kuio Sround object (particularly a root such as the edible,taro root)", -ua 1narrow object," and -kae Slang object."
For example: takura 5egg" and takura-ISI (egg-ROUND OBJECT) 1egg opo taro" and opo-KUIO (taro-ROUND OBJECT) taro rogara 1sand" and rogara-UA (sand-NARROW OBJECT) 5beach"; evao 'tree' and (tree-LONG OBJECT) pole. An alternative form is aue-KAE (Class 3 Rel. Pro.-LONG OBJECT tree-LONG OBJECT) pole." classifier markers do not occur suffixed to relative (Class 1) or to verb stems but they may nominalize adjective roots, e.g., riro-ISI (large-ROUND OBJECT) 5large round object." (No examples in Text.)
There are two sets of Order Two Suffixes which mark number. In addition, one of the sets marks gender: masculine (m), feminine (f), and neuter (n).
The gender-number markers (gen) not only mark gender, but also they denote number and nominalize adjectives and a smali number of verb roots. They most commonly occur with the classified noun stems.
The number markers (num) do not distinguish between genders. They do nominalize adjectives and a smali number of verb roots. They'primarily distinguish between specifi.: and non-specific objects. These markers most commonly occur with the free-form pluralizers.
Chart Number 1 Number Markers (Appendix p.147) best demonstrates the relations between gender and number. The masculine singular marker -toa occurs when another suffix follows, otherwise it alternates freely with -to. The feminine singular marker -riva alternates freely with -va and seems to be a remnant•of a past speech form: The final /i/ of the dual markers is lost when a gender objects combined with masculine. For example, ovi-TOAREI (offspring-MASCULINE DUAL) may be translated 5two sons" or alternatively 'son and daughter.' The dual and plural markers of the feminine gender are restricted to feminine objects. (See Text sentences: 3.1, 12.5.7.11, 18.2, 19.1, 22.2, 23.1.2.4, 30.4, 31.10, 48.5, 52.8, 55.4, 56.2.7, 60.3, 64.4, 66.3, etc.)
The diminutive (dim) marker -vi simply lends the meaning of little" and figuratively 'poor,' siposipo-a-VI (story-neuter suffix follows. It is obvious that further morpheme breaks could be made, e.g., -re dual," however, it is uneconomical considering system as a whole (see Chart 3 through 8 in Appendix). The masculine dual and plural markers may include the feminine evao-KAE evao-KAE
The pronouns singular-DIM) 'little story, aue-toa-VI oira-tóa-VI (Class 3 Rel. Pro.-masculine singular-DIM person-masculine singular-DIM) Slittle mgle,' and ragai-VI (me-DIM) "poor" me.' (See Text sentence 31.2, 48.1, 55.6, 87.4, 95.1, 115.1.)
All nominals except the proper nouns may be suffixed by the diminutive marker.
The alternative (alt) marker -vu has been exemplified in seetion 3.41.b occurring with the specifier prefix o-. It does not occur suffixed to nominals other than relative pronouns unless the specifier is also present. In general the meaning it denotes is 1another.' For example, o-urui-vi-VU (sp-village-dim-ALT) 5this other little village." It should be noted that the alterriati.ve marker more often occurs suffixed to a relative pronoun in an appositive expansion, oa-VU ke a (it-ALT house) 'another house.'
The alternative marker may be suffixed to classified nouns, relative pronouns, and free-form pluralizers. In all the materials collected thus far, it occurs mutually exclusive with the possessive marker. (See Text sentences:, 1.1.4, 31.5, 79.1, 93.2, 95.1, 104.2, 112.5.) occurring morpheme following order 2 morphemes. It indicates that the stem is possessed. The possessor usually, but not always, immediately precedes the possessed item, vi varivari-ARO (you strength-POSS) 5your strength" and aue-ARO rera orui (Class 3 Pro.-POSS he hair) 1his Kair.' (See Text sentences 1.5, 52.4, 63.4, 77.7.9, 92.4, 94.7, 115.4. )
Affixation of the personal pronouns may be formulated as follows: + ref + personal pronoun + dim + num + poss, e.g., ragai rera-aro (I him-possessed) 'my male," ora-igei-pa (ref-we (exelusive)-for) ourselves not you,` and voea-reo (they-these two) 'these two groups.
It not common for more than one affix to occur in a single personal pronoun construction. The personal pronouns are illustrated in. Chart 3 Personal Pronouns. (See Text sentences: 4.1, 20 28.1, 30.2, 31.2.7, 38.2, 39.1.5, 40.2, 48.2, 52.3, 53.2, 55.6, 56.3, 58.1, 64.1, 65.1, 71.2, 103.1, 115.3.4.7, etc.)
The demonstrative pronouns are divided into two classes, a) those whose referenta are animate or inanimate objects, and b) those whose referents are associated with either time or space.
Both classes of demo-nstrative pronouns are sub-classified aecording to the "position" of the referent in relation to the speaker, i.e., referent near at hand, referent at a distance, and referent removed or out of sight. These pronouns have a greater range of use than the name might imply. They do more than point out their referent. They may in fant be the subject of a sentence, possessor of an item, or in the case of the second class, they may manifest the location or time functions with or without an overt referent.
Affixation of the demonstrative pronouns is as follows: + demonstrative pronoun + dim + poss, e.g., (with Class I demonstrative pronouns) eva-vi (that-dim) 'that little object (neuter),' ragai ro-aro (I this male-poss) 'my object (masculine) near at hand;' (with Class II demonstrative pronouns) vo-re oira vo-aro atoia (here-to her here-poss home) 'to her home,' evoa-vi (there-dim) 'not too far.'
The Class I demonstrative pronouns are illustrated on Charts 6, 7, and 8 in the Appendix. The recurring partials have been recognized by the author (-o, e-, and -ri); however, it is more economical to handle them as they are presented.
The Class II demonstrative pronouns are: vavo sthere (general),' evoa 'there (exteme),' voa „there (midway)," vo 'here, and voari 'back there/over there.' They may be used in reference to either time or space as in the following examples: voari tuariri back there long ago,' or voari vokepa siovaraia (back-there this-house inside) back there inside of this house." (See Text sentences: 5.2.5, 12.9, 21.1, 31.11, 46.3, 47.2, 72.5, 77.6, 81.3, 89.5, 90.5, 101.2.) classified nouns or free-form pluralizers by o-...-a, e.g., which story." Text.)
Class 1B relative pronoun is the word uva Swhere/when." The referents are Class II demonstrative pronouns, locatives, or. temporals, e.g., vo tuariri uva (in long ago when) 'in the past when,' and vo uva (here where) 'here where.' It is uninflected. (See Text sentence 91.12.)
Class 1C relative pronouns denote person, number, and gender. They are illustrated in Chart Number 4 Relative Pronouns. The affixation of Class 1C relative pronouns is as follows: + Class 1C relative pronoun + num + alt + poss, e.g., oea-ro-vu (they-there-alt) `these others," ira-aro (he-poss) 'he (possessed).' The assistant indicated that the possessive marker occurring with the relative pronoun is acceptable, but the more acceptable combination is the possessive marker occurring with the personal pronoun. When suffixed by the number and/or alternative markers, the final /a/ is lost from aitereia, airea, and airoa as in airo-ro-vu (they (f)-these-alt) 'these other female objects. (See Text sentences: 1.4, 12.10, 21.3, 39.3, 47.3, 49.1, 52.6, 56.5, 57.4, 79.1, 82.3, 89.6-,^ 92.6, 94.8, 104.2. )
Interrogative pronouns when used in a clause require a statement as an answer in contrast to the interrogative particie which requires only a "yes" or "no" answer. Also most interrogative pronouns are inflected, in contrast to the interrogative particie which never is. The pronouns are as follows: apeisi 'how,° ovu `where,' irou who," aa 5which," eake 'what,' ovirovu Show urany, avoviroa "how much", and roroa "how much".
The interrogative apeisi may be suffixed by the emphatic marker -irao, e.g., apeisi-IRAO 5truly how?!' The interrogative irou may be suffixed by the gender-number markers, e.g. irou-TO
The relative pronouns are divided of the direction syntactically of i.e., the referent precedes Class into three classes on the basis the referent from the pronoun, relative pronouns, the referent fiL may precede or follow Class 2 relative follows Class 3 relative pronouns. a) Class 1A relative pronouns are pronouns, and the referent those which are derived from the affixation of o-siposipo-a (sp-story-relative pronoun marker) examples in They are uninflected. (There are no the mmm _ ws w w
46 47 1,4 s ~. Is7~ i.ul " s t (who-MS) 'who (masculine)' and irou-RIREI (who-F DL) Swho (fem ijoe oual).' The interrogative eake is interesting in that it can be suffixed by nearly every suffix accounted for thus far, e.g., eake-to (what-m s) Swhat male," eake-vira (what-like) Slike what," eake-sia (what-pua) 'to do what,' eake-oro (what-sma) 'doing what,' eake-pere (what-nf) 'what will be, and eake-viro-pa-o-i (what-ca-pra-she-p) 'what is she doing completely now.' Its most apparent use is in questioning a construction not clearly heard or understood. (See Text sentences: 31.1 and 52.1.)
To a large degree the Neo-Melanesian and.English numbering systems are replacing the vernacular terms over "ten." Numbers from "one" to "ten," however,' are in commón use; and numbers "one" to "five" are frequently inflected optionally by the agent marker -pa and/or by gender-riumb.er markers, or they are inflected by -pa and subsequently compounded with another nominal stem, e.g., katai-to (one-m s) 'one masculine.object,' or erao-pa-voki (two-agt-day) 1Tuesday." They also may be possessed as in this example, ragai vovavae-aro siraopavavae (I these five-poss sorry-agt-five) Smy,,— five sorry (things)." To a much less degree the smaller numbers may be inflected by the remaining nominal affixes, e.g., o-vavae-vu 1these other five (things)."
The counting system is quinary (as are the other Non-Austronesian languages on Boungainville) and is exemplified as follows: Katai 'one,' erao_'two," peva 'three,' resiura Sfour," vavae five/band, katai vatara Ssix,` erao vatara 'seven,' peva vatara „eight," resiura vatara Snine million" (ipu). A large number will illustrate in part the system: erao tuku resiura vatara vovoto vopeva tau vavae 2,935. (A description of Rotokas and other counting systems of Melanesia is in.manuscript form and hopefully will be published.) The only numbers used in the Text (sentenee 94) are not Rotokas, but English.
There are several morphemes which appear to be suffixes in that they obligatorily and immediately follow the classified noun which they pluralize. As free forms, however, they may be inflected by both nominal prefixes and suffixes. The author has chosen to regard them as free forms and as a type of nominal because of the affixation and_distribution when inflected.
The affixation of the free-form pluralizers is as follows: + sp + free-form pluralizer + num + alt/relative pronoun marker. All of the pluralizers recorded to date are illustrated below.
There are terms for "hundred" (vovoto), "thousand" (tuku), and ???
Having described verbs and nominals of the Rotokas language, the remaining forms to be identified (listed on page 30) may now be investigated. Using the definition of "boundary" as 1) full pause, 2) verbal construction, 3) previously identified forms, and 4) nominal, the final list of identified forms can be compiled along with those forms previously identified but not as yet described.
(v) ora (n) and" 5 uva then/so" (identified) osia 'as" (identified) 6 ovoiei 'finally" (identified) 12 viapau 'no/not' (identified) 22 e '(interrogative marker)" (identified) 29 oire `okay' (identified) 30 (n) raga (v) 'only" vosia 1 if" (identified) 49 (n) avuvai (n) some" (?) vorara while" (identified) 34 rutu(-ia) 5truly" (identified) 36 iava from/about/after" (identified) 43 (uva) vorevira (v) again/back" 47 (n) taporo (v) with/also" (v) rirovira (v) very/greatly" 48 //ae (n) ahJ" (n) vearovira (rutu) well/good-like" 55 ra and/and then' 56 //ari (n) hut' 71 (n) iare (n) to 77 (v) vo (n) on/by/at" 91 uvare because" (identified) 93 (v) ita (n) again" Remaining also are the postpositioned relators: -pa, -re-, -ia, -va, and -ri, which were identified previously but not as yet described. Looking over the remaining forms one notes that there is no single grammatical class into which they may be put. Instead some are modifiers, others conjunctions, exclamations, relators, etc. The modifiers will be described separately and all remaining forms which seem to be more relevant at the sentence level than at the word or clause level will be described as "particles."
The modifying words can be divided into two basic groups, a) the "adjeetives" which modify nominals; which may occur in a Type IV Predicate construction; or which may be nominalized by affixation, compounded with noun roots to form nominals, or adverbialized; and b) the "adverbs" which predominantly modify verbs.
<3>3.61 Adjectives as Modifiers of Nominals a) The common adjectives are examplified by: poteku 'short,' riro 'large,' tuakaka 'hard,' vavata 'heavy,' tupitupi 'wet,' and kasirao 'hot. The common adjectives may be inflected by the emphatie marker -irao 'truly' or by the diminutive markers -vi or -visivi, e.g., uteo-IRAO (cold-TRULY) 'truly cold' and riro-IRAO (big-TRULY) 'truly big;' poteku-VISIVI (short-DIM) 'shorter.' (There are no adjectives as modifiers in the Text.) 5adjectives denoting color the forms are not inflected although some of them may be "intensified" by the morpheme tore dark." Some examples are popote 'white,' revasi 'red/blood,' uriko green,' katokato 'black,' kuuva 'blue,' and kuuva tore 'dark blue.' See section 3.92. (There are no color adjectives in the Text.) c) The possessive adjectives are not inflected 'but function as quasi-suffixes in that they obligatorily follow immediately the possessed item. The possessive adjectives parallel the personal pronoun set and upon close examination one will notice that parts of some of the forms are identical to person markers of the verb. The possessive adjectives are given in Chart 5 of the Appendix. Examples of their use are as follows: kepara oaio (houses our (exclusive)) „our houses not yours,' riakorirei oaro) (two women his) 'his two women.' (There are no possessive adjectives in the Text.)There are several morphemes whieh cannot be defined within the framework of the above deseriptive statements. They are presented, here and are named primarily on the basis of distribu;tion.
Affirmatives primarily introduce sentences. They are: aure 'yes, of eourse,' and iu, ari, and o, all meaning 'yes. (They are not present in the Text.)
The negative particles occur in verb phrases where they negate the action or state of being and in sentences where they pose on introductory warning or negation. They are: viapau 'no, not, nothing,' opeita 'do not,' teapi 'it is not good that...' and aviova 'no.' (See Text sentences: 12.2, 16.3, 29.2, 55.2, 91.1.)
2 I 51 2again/another/only" as in these phrases avaroepa ITA 'he went again years ago,' iravu ITA „another maleagain," ragai ITA 'only me,' and oisi raga ITA 'just like this again.' The last two are much more restrieted in their use and meaning, aia more, again" and pasi 'maybe." (See Text sentences: 30.5, 34. 3, 48. 4, 52.2, 90.3, 93.7 ,94.3, 115.2.) tou-VISIVI (to exist-LESS) 'a little while/shortly.' (See Text sentences: 43. 2, 47. 6, 48. 3, 88. 4, y0.2) m m w . m, mm om m, mm m. 52
Because the Rotokas relator partieles are for the most part more important in the description of the functions of Rotokas words which includes syntactical relations, and because the description of these relators will serve as a link between form and function, they will not be described in this portion other than to give a listing of them and their meanings: vo and -ia may be translated by nearly all of the prepositions known in European languages, like: in, on, at, to, from, with, by, about, because of, during, for, (in fact, they are very much like the Neo-Melanesian long);e-pa 'for,'
-re „to/for, -va 'from/with,` iare 'to/towards,` iava L from/about/after,` and tapo(ro) `with/to'o/also. 3.8 Stem Formation .•a S V
Having elassified and described, at le,as,t in part, the words.of the
Text in terms of stems and affixes, a closer look at some of the stems within the Text will reveal another area yet to be investigated, stem formation. Two examples erom the•Text will,,„ illustrate the two means of forming stems in Rotokas (other than by, te.1.~`tOiV.derivation,-,previously.accounted.for), i.e., by compounding and by reduplieation
The first illustration compares,-venb`s,tems..from se,ntenees 90; and 93: orarugorugopiepaoro `thinking ba.ck` and orarugopiepave 'we both would be remembering back.` Although,this;,is, a, po.or illustration bec,ause of the lael, of a -clearly„gontrast~ve difference between.-'thinking` and _'rememberin,g,,.' it. will s,erve .,to ,l JEiii~r 1 _.
demonstrat,e the• me.chanics of reduP_lication rr _ F , .r:.m: r s_s, t r,F dv
,Reduplication, has been defined,as a type of allomorphic alternatioh in which an affix is of exactl th.e same form as.part, or all of the,stem, or is the same, plus an additional phonemes (Elson and Pickett. 1962 45). All three of these possibilities. occur in the Rotokas'language. a) reduplication of stem ta pa 'to_,, hit" and tapatapa 'to hit repeatedly`; reduplieation with loss of final phoneme of stem, kavau 'to bear a child` and kavakavau_.~,.to:bear many children`; reduplication with loss of initial phoneme o stem, ikau 'to hurry` and ikaukauvira 'repeatedly hurrying-like'; and reduplication with addition of phonemes to reduplicated stem, numbers resulting in the meaning of "grouping," e.g., katai one and katakatai „one by one, or erao „two` and eraerao „two by two,` etc.
The second illustration is from sentence number 43: goteperoia gotepaoro 'while paddling with (a) paddle board (oar).` In the illustration the verb stem gote 'to paddle` is compounded with the noun stem ero 'board` resulting in gotepero 'paddle board/oar.` At this level, by definition, we are speaking of.the compounding of "roots" in the formation of "stems."
Several types of combinations may be illustrated from the Rotokas concordance:
At this point there is a transition between simple compounding of two units as described above and the description of word modification which follows. In this transition area it is often difficult to distinguish between a word and a phrase. For the sake of analysis and description (and economy) one would tend to consider the constructions about to beainvestigated as single words made up of compounded roots and/or stems. For the sake of the new literate, however, one would tend to break the construction into segments and consider it a phrase of words. Allowing for inconsistency between technical description and practical noun gae to follow a pach` and gaegaere 'to drift about.`
Reduplication predominantly oecurs with verb,stems. T meaning which results is that of "repeated action" as is above by tapatapa. When it oecurs with a limited the result is "many," e. g., kopi 'a dot' and dots/mottling. Reduplication also oecurs with e exemplified of noun stems, kopikopi 'many number orthography, the author will treat the constructions as single words in this paper.
The problem can be shown in this construction of compounded stems: vuripitupitupurapairara `trouble makers.` This construction may be broken down as follows: vuri-pitupitu-pura-pa-irara (bad-fashion-make-agt-m pl). An additional example is vo-kakiua-siovaraia-tou-to (this-cave-inside-exist-m s) cave dweller." Another problem construction in this transitional area is the phrase plus agent marker plus gender-number marker, e.g. Wakunai-iava-pa-irara (Wakunai-from-agt-m p1) „people of Wakunai/men of Wakunai," or vo-voki-iava-pa riako (sp-day-from-agt f p1) 'today"s female generation,' or voea-iava-pa-to (they-from-agt-m s) „one of them."
One further construction which is less complicated and much more common is that of stem plus root, e.g., ori-pa-kepa (to cook-agt-house) „cookhouse" or papa-pa-kepa (to fly-agt-house) airplane.`
0f the examples above one my conclude that there are at least three basie types of modifications, i.e., modification of verbal constructions, modification of nominals, and possession of nominals.
| 1 | vaisiaro |
| 12 | viapau taraiveiepa |
| + | Aux | + | rutu | ... | + | Manner | + |
|
... | + | verb | |||
| + rutu/aia/ita/pasi | + | |||||||||||||
The verb is modified initially by the Auxiliary which optionally oecurs with an associated optional qualifier, rutu. The Auxiliaries are the negatives viapau and opeita (3.72) and the command particie tepa (3-74). Secondly, the optional modification by a Manner morpheme may occur with the associated optional qualifier, rutu, raga, or ita (3.62.b).. The Manner morphemes are the adverbs described in section 3.62.a. Finally, the verb itself may be followed by the qualifying adverbs, pasi, rutu, aia, and/or ita. There appears to be no restriction upon the use of all four qualifiers occurring simultaneously in the order shown in the formula, or any combination. The formula shows the potential maximum expansion, but rarely do all modifiers,and qualifiers oecur. (Opeita followed by rutu has never been recorded.) Some examples of the modified verb are as follows: series of juxtaposed nominals in an appositive relationship with each nominal explaining or expanding other nominals of the series. This type of modification will be described as the Appositive String (seetion 3.94).
The formula for the potential nominal modification is as follows:
+ Adjeetive + Nominal + Possessive adjective + rutu/raga/ita 'I'm really not going!' vokavira raga pupipai 5they dance just walkinglike' viapau rutu avaparaiThe modifieation of Rotokas nominals has two different formulations. One is a typical Modifier-Head relationship beloW), but a second type, a quasi-modification model, is (as shown in fact a ???
| ??? | ??? | ??? |
That is, nominals are optionally modified by a preposed common or , color adjective, they may be marked as "possessed" by an optionally oecurring possessive adjective which also indicates the gender and number of the possessor, and may optionally be further qualified by morphemes rutu or raga, and/or ita. Most common and color adjectives are restricted to the modifieation of classified nouns
voreraepa ita vearovira rutu vokepa oritoive viapau vearovira rutu toupaivoi iravu oratovoroepa aia
opeita va purapari tepa kareu ita 7 I returned again long ago' they would decorate this house very nicely' they are not now existing very nicely' he placed another man more (again) long ago" you must not be doing it' You must return a,gain1 only. For examples of possessive adjective, see section 3.93:
Examples are as follows:
Classified noun -
roroio urui raga 'just (a) separate village'
Proper noun -
Wakunaipairara raga 'only Wakunai men'
Kinship term - vovoao rutu
Temporal - vuri voki rutu ita vokiara rutu
Locativie - irapaua rutu
Personal pronoun - ragai ita 'all (of the) sister' '(a) truly bad day again' 1all (of the) time/days"
Demonstrative pronoun - evavi raga
Relative pronoun
oisio rutu Interrogative pronoun -
eake rutu
Numeral - vopeva raga Free-form pluralizer vokarero rutu
Modification of relative pronouns Class 1B and Class 3 lias so far not been recorded. (See examples 30, 34, 52 and 94 on page 57.)
The possession of nominals in Rotokas may be by three different means, a) direct affixation of possessive suffix, b) indirect affixation of possessive suffix, or c) use of possessive adjective.
| ragai ro-aro | (I this male-poss) | 'my (this) man' |
| rera vokepa-aro | (he this-house-poss) | 'his house' |
| Vavioviri kaakau-aro | (vavioviri dog-poss) | "Vavioviri's dog" |
| oira via-aro voevao | (she it-poss this-tree) | 'her tree' |
| aue-aro Pauto taraia | (aue-poss God knowledge) | "God s knowledge" |
| oira varei-aro vaisirei | (her it (dual)-poss | "her two balls" |
| ragai rera-aro oirato | (I he-poss man) | "my man" |
| Vusipiri aue-aro kokioto | (Vusipiri aue-poss chicken) | "Vusipiri's chicken" |
| voea vo-aro atoia | (they herc-poss home) | "their home" |
The third type makes use of the possessive adjective whieh always follows immediately the possessed nominal.
kakaeto oara raga 'your boy only'
riro vaisi oaive 'their large name/bali'
The pronoun possessing the nominal is sometimes repeated as a personal pronoun initially.as in the following example:
ragai vaisia oaa (I name mine) 'my name"
An alternative expression of possession makes use of the locativie ruvaraia 'near.' It is idiomatically understood as indicating possession, e.g.,
| vara ouri rera ruvaraia | (them you-get him near) | 'get them near him/get his' |
(See Text sentences: 1, 52, 77, 92, 94, 115.)
Early in the Rotokas language study the assistant made a comment which has proved to be very significant in the subsequent attempts to describe the language. He noted that, in contrast to English, "we (the Rotokas) say one thing many times." He was, in fact, describing the Appositive String, i.e., a series of components not connected by conjunctions which rename or explain any of the other components in the series and which together function as a single unit. It is commonly used as a type of modification model and is more common than the Modifier-Head type described in section
The significant difference between the two types of modification is that each component of the appositive string may stand by itself in place of the string, but not so in the case of the modifier-head relationship. The meanings of two nearly identical expressions may appear to be the same, but in light of the above statement, they are significantly different. For example,
(Appositive String) riroto oirato (large-m s person m s) 'large male, (a) man'
(Modifier-Head) riro oirato (large person-m s) '(a) large man.'
In the first example there are two separate components which function together as a single element in a clause, and in the second example there are two associated components which function as a single element as a single element in a clause.
The components of an appositive string may be: any of the nominals, clause(s), sentence(s), paragraph(s), or an entire discourse. There are three arrangements of these components which may be formulated and contrasted on.the basis of the Class relative pronoun when it occurs as a component. To reiterate the basis of classifying relative pronouns (section 3.43.8), Class 1 - follow the pronoun, and Class-3 - referenta follow he pronoun.
With this in mind, the theee "constructions" may be formulated as follows: (The colon ":" signals an appositive relationship.)
???
Personal pronoun voea : voeao oea
Classified noun - kaakau : o : aria
Kinship term - voaraorei : vaitereo aiterea
Proper noun - Karuru : ro : ira
Locativie - reroaro : vo : uva
Temporal - vovokio : vao :.ovokia
An example of the use in a sentence would be helpful at this point: vovokio vao ovokiaia avaparoi 'this day, this one, on this day he is going" or 'he is going today.' The relative clause as a component of the appositive string occurs in this example: rakoru kekepari o iria rataua riaroia toupae (snake see-you-are this (f) she/which door opening-in exist-she-is) 'you are seeing (the) snake, this female, which is in (the) doorway.' In this example the appositive string is, rakoru : o : iria rataua riaroia toupae snake : this (f) which is in (the) doorway."
In the Text is an example of the common occurrence of a complete thought (sentence) in an appositional relationship with oa 'which.' In sentence 49 the oa "renames" the entire thought of sentence 48 'about which' the person was happy'
word(s)/clause(s)/sentence(s)/discourse : Class 2
relative pronoun + Quotative predicate (or the
reverse order of the string)
Examples:
ragai tavireva oisio toupari (I tell-he-years ago like-this exist-pra-you) he told me years ago this, "You stay (here)" oisio puraroepa o ae vearpvira rutu (like-this say-he-years ago oh ah good-like Fuly) years ago he said this, "Oh, ah, thank you very much"
(Discourse) eisi oisioa tavitavipaaveira ((discourse) like-that always beli (repeatedly)-pra-they-habitually) they are always telling (it) like-that (discourse)
An example in the Text is in sentences 54, 55, and 56. As in the examples above the oisio of sentence 54 is in an appositional relationship wiht the quote (sentences 55 and 56). Re-phrasing the sentences makes the relationship clearer: SYears ago he said this, "If you had not cried to God..."."
With Class 3 Relative Pronoun, aue (or to a lesser degree,. oisi. o
Class 3 relative pronoun (or oisi(o)) : nominal/clause/sentence Examples of aue and oisio with following nominal component:
varao aue aio okovoro taporó Sthese 0 food gardens also) these rood gardens also vopeva aue aioiva,koie kare (three.0 they-ate-years ago pig pplural) they a5 three pigs years ago viapau oisio rirokaekae siposipoa (not like-t,his very-long story not this, (the) very long storyExamples of aue and oisio with following clause component:
siopaipatoarei aue iava uvare tokopievira oisioa toupasive (two-unlearned-men a about because isolated-like always exist-pra-they two (m)-would) 'two ignorant men because they both would always be isolatedviapau oisio,avapar:ai (not like-this go-pra-I-present) 'I am not going
The appositive relationships in the above five examples are:
| aue | : | aio kovoro taporo |
| aue | : | koie kare |
| oisio | : | riro kaekae siposipoa |
| aue | : | tokopievira oisioa toupasive |
| oiaio | : | avaparai |
Also noted in sentence 72 of the Text where the appositional relationship is between aue and the construction arua rovisia (gree-ns to-grease) 'to grase (the) greens.'
All of the above examples illustrate the important function of the relative pronouns in the appositive string. They serve agents a) to summarize the entire string and/or b) to take affixation of the string as a unit, especially the relator marker affixation. It has been implied that the relative pronoun as a component of the string may stand alone in place of the string. Although occurrenees have been recorded, this is very rare.
Instead, the personal pronouns or demonstrative pronouns occur as the independent representatives of a potential string.
The more complicated appositive strings have been dealt with above,.but it will be remembered that there are other simpler comb.i.nationns possible, such as classified noun : classified noun, as in riroto oirato given in the introductory paragraph above. (See Text sentences 1.4-5: 6-7, 12.7:9:10-12, 27.2:4-5 (28) 1-3, 30.7:(31) 1-31, 31.11:12, 39.1-2:3, 47.2:3-5. 47.8:(48) 1-6 (49) 1-3, 49.(48)1-6:1, 51.3:(52)1-10, 52.1-5:6, 54.1:(55) 1-7 (56) 1-8, 56.1-4:5, 57.(48)-(56):2, 57.(1)-(46):4, 58.3:(59) 1-3, 79.1:2, 89.3-4:5:6-9, 91.9-11:12, etc.)