Part II Morphology (I) Nominal morphology
2.19.5 Indefinite pronouns
Cross-linguistically, it is common for indefinite pronouns, those like ‘someone’,
‘somewhere’ etc. in English, to take the same basic form as WH-words. The indefinite pronouns in Puma are partially derived from interrogative pronouns and obligatorily suffixed with -tchaŋ, as in Table 38.
The same indefinite pronouns allow both affirmative and negative forms.
Indefinite pronouns marked with the additive focus marker -tchaŋ ‘also, too, even’
occur exclusively with negative verbs to express a negative meaning (see Sections 2.36 and 3.14). The use of the additive marker with indefinite and interrogative pronouns with negative verbs is a distinctive feature of Kiranti languages (Opgenort 2002: 213–
214; Borchers 2008: 81). The full paradigm of indefinite and interrogative pronouns are presented in Tables 39 and 40, respectively.
(22) (a) to-dho sa-tchaŋ metdʌŋ
DIST-GEN.LOC who-ADD NEG.EXIST.NPST
‘Nobody is there.’
(b) ŋa doro-tchaŋ pʌ-duŋ-nʌŋ
1SG.ABS what-ADD NEG-drink-1SG.NEG
‘I drink nothing.’
Table 39: Indefinite pronouns
ABS ERG DAT GEN GLOSS
satchaŋ satchaŋ-a satchaŋ-lai satchaŋ-bo someone, no one
dorotchaŋ something, nothing
khappʌtchaŋ whichever, none
khatnichaŋ somewhere, nowhere
12 Doro and nʌmma both are synonymous which refer to ‘what?’. However, they are semantically distinct. Doro occurs generally with definite and specific nominals, while nʌmma occurs with indefinite and non-specific nominals.
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Table 40: Interrogative pronouns
GLOSS ABS ERG DAT GEN COM ALL ABL
who sa sa-a sa-lai sa-bo sa-oŋ
what doro
nʌmma
doro-a
*nʌmma-a
doro-lai
*nʌmma-lai
doro-bo
*nʌmma-bo
why nʌmmaki
which khappʌ
where khado kha-tni khado-ŋkʌŋ
how khʌsʌŋni how much demni
when demkha demkha-lai
2.20 Adjectives
Unlike some Tibeto-Burman languages such as Lahu, which express adjectival concepts through intransitive verbs (Tolsma 2006: 40), Puma possesses adjectives. There is a small number of independent or underived adjectives that express colour and dimension in Puma, while many adjectives can be derived from verbs by suffixing =ku to the verb, as in (23) (cf. section 7.14.1). Some adjectives, especially colour adjectives, are suffixed with -ma, which can be dropped sometimes but not in all cases. It is identical with the infinitive marker -ma. Furthermore, other adjectives, which end in =ku, are not actually derived from verbs. This makes the Puma adjectival system complex.
Puma adjectives can be grouped into three sets: underived adjectives, underived adjectives ending in =ku, and derived adjectives suffixing =ku to verbs. Like other Kiranti languages, Puma adjectives precede the noun they modify. Like Tibeto-Burman languages, the verb-like adjectives in Puma are primarily derived from verbs with nominalizing affixes.
(23) (a) ɖher-a=ku munima ta-a beat-PST=NMLZ cat.ABS come-PST
‘A cat that was beaten came.’
(b) pʌŋ ʌru cʌhi abo dot mu-ma-ŋa=ku cʌlʌnʌ
SEQ other TOP now beg do-INF-IPFV=NMLZ tradition
‘The other tradition that is arranged (marriage).’ (birth_death: 031) Table 41: Descriptive adjectives
Types Adjectives Gloss
underived
sehenma sokma kuama kuiyama kuwako bopoti clean idle warm dark hot round underived ending in -ku
ʌlleŋmetku ʌlleŋgoŋku koŋyaŋku long high obedient derived ending in -ku
siaku siku tumaku khʌkku
dead
the thing which is dying ripen
bitter
The underived adjectives are comprised mainly of colour terms and a few other
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semantic types like physical dimension and value. Semantic types of adjectives for dimension, value and colour are illustrated below in Table 42 (cf. Dixon 2002).
Table 42: Semantic types of adjectives Property Adjective Gloss Dimension
kʌheppaŋ kʌcuppaŋ bʌɖɖhe
big small much/ many Value kʌnimak
kʌisʌmak
good bad Colour
ompʌacima makcʌkma halachuma halapekma
white black red yellow 2.21 Numerals and classifiers
Numerals are one of the most important characteristics of Puma nominal morphology. It is interesting to note that Puma speakers do not count more than three in day-to-day life.
However, they claim that the language has numbers up to one hundred, and the forms were published in their bilingual magazine Buŋwakhop. But those numbers except one to three have never been used in discourse and daily conversation. Although the Nepali numeral system is now widely used by Puma speakers for numerals above four, and often even for numerals above zero, a native numeral system does still exist. Table 43 below shows the Puma numeral forms from one to three.
Table 43: Numerals
1 ʌk
2 ʌsʌ
3 sum
Like in the neighbouring Kiranti languages, attributive forms of the numerals are used in most cases, and also sometimes for counting. These attributive forms are formed by indexing one of the numeral classifier suffixes to the numeral.
Numerals have classifier suffixes affixed to the numeral stem. These numerals obligatorily occur with classifiers. The use of classifiers depends on whether the enumerated noun is human or non-human. For non-human referents, the classifier -ta occurs only with ʌk ‘one’ whereas -ra occurs with ʌsʌ ‘two’ and sum ‘three’ to show non-human. Like other Kiranti languages, Puma classifiers always follow the numeral
but precede the noun head, and the classifiers are bound morphemes, as in:
(24) (a) ʌk-ta munima one-CLF cat.ABS
‘A cat.’
(b) ʌsʌ-ra cabha-ci two-CLF tiger-NS.ABS
‘Two tigers.’
(c) sum-ra takhi-ci three-CLF cap-NS.ABS
‘Three caps.’
Like in the Tibeto-Burman languages such as Thangmi (Turin 2012: 324), certain nouns do not require numeral classifiers because nouns themselves function as numeral classifiers.
(25) casum ʌsʌ doŋ betd-i Casum two year reach-3P
‘Casum is two years old.’ (Rai et al. 2009: 2)
When counting human referents, only the human classifier -poŋ is attached to the numeral stem, as in:
(26) (a) ʌk-poŋ marchacha one-CLF girl.ABS
‘A girl/daughter.’
(b) ʌsʌ-poŋ throŋcha-ci two-CLF boy-NS.ABS
‘Two boys/ two sons.’
There are also other classifiers in Puma which are attached to a noun but not used with a numeral. The classifier -si is used to denote objects, especially fruits or grains, which are small and round in shape in (27a). The other classifier -la is attached to a noun to refer to a bunch of plantains in (27b).
(27) (a) suntala-si ca-ma pʌ-li-nin orange-CLF eat-INF NEG-be-NEG
‘Orange’s seed should not be eaten.’
(b) mʌkʌi-la corn-CLF
‘Corn plantain.’
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Table 44 presents an overview of numerals and classifiers in Puma. The classifiers (-tut, -tep, -cok) which refer to liquid are synonymous.
Table 44: Numerals and classifiers
NUMERAL 1 2 3
COUNTING FORM ʌk ʌsʌ sum
HUMAN REFERENT ʌk-poŋ ʌsʌ-poŋ sum-poŋ
NON-HUMAN REFERENT ʌk-ta ʌsʌ-ra sum-ra
ROUND REFERENT ʌk-lut (natural)
ʌk-bop (man-made) ʌsʌ-lut
ʌsʌ-bop sum-lut sum-bop
VINE REFERENT ʌk-ri ʌsʌ-ri sum-ri
LEAVES REFERENT ʌk-pheŋ ʌsʌ-pheŋ sum-pheŋ
LONG REFERENT (e.g.bamboo) ʌk-sora ʌsʌ-sora sum-sora
LIQUID REFERENT
ʌk-tut ʌk-tep ʌk-cok
ʌsʌ-tut ʌsʌ-tep ʌsʌ-cok
sum-tut sum-tep sum-cok
PIECES REFERENT ʌk-ɖhaŋ ʌsʌ-ɖhaŋ sum-ɖhaŋ
Following Turin (2012: 325), the numeral classifiers and the semantic classes of nominals with which they occur are presented in Table 45.
Table 45: Numeral classifiers
Form Semantic class of noun Gloss
poŋ humans CLF.HN
ta non-humans CLF
lut round natural CLF2
bop round man made CLF3
ri vine CLF4
pheŋ leaves CLF5
sora long things CLF6
tut liquid CLF7
tep liquid CLF8
cok liquid CLF9
ɖhaŋ pieces CLF10
cilo times CLF11
bhuŋ pile CLF12
2.22 Adverbials 2.22.1 Manner adverbs
Manner adverbs in Puma are mostly heterogeneous. Some adverbs are derived from an adjective while others are reduplicated. When derived from an adjective, no uniformity is found. In (28a) the adjective mʌjʌ ‘good’ is suffixed by -le to derive an adverb.
However it is interesting to note that this adjective mʌjʌ ‘good’ cannot independently
occur in any way because it has been borrowed from Nepali and the genitive morpheme -bo should be suffixed to use it as an adjective.
(28) (a) mʌjʌle kanch-o cham mu-ci-ne puma-bo nicely last.born.male-VOC song.ABS do-DL-OPT Puma-GEN
kʌ-la-a mu-ci-ne!
3SG.POSS-language-ERG do-NS-OPT
‘Kancha! Let us sing a song in the Puma language nicely!’ (pum_song_01) (b) mʌjʌ-bo cham
nice-GEN song
‘Nice song.’
The phonological nature of the reduplicated morphemes varies from language to language and construction to construction (Rubino 2013). Puma only employs full reduplication, which is a lexical device to form manner adverbs. In full reduplication an entire word is repeated. Reduplicative morphemes can carry a number of meanings, and in some languages such as Ilocano, spoken in Philippines, and Nez Perce, spoken in the United States, the same repeated morpheme is used to denote quite contrary meanings (Rubino 2013). However, in Puma a word without repetition never independently occurs. Such kind of repetition (partial as well) is also found in idiophones and few adjectives. Consider Puma examples:
Table 46: Manner adverbs Manner adverb Gloss dopsi dopsi
doyom doyom mʌto mʌto kʌle kʌle kʌsit kʌsit
slowly with laziness slowly
quickly daily
continuously
(29) (a) kharo-ŋkʌŋ dopsi-dopsi tʌ-ta-yaŋ?
where-ABLT slowly 2-come-IPFV
‘Where are you coming from slowly?’ (Rai et al. 2009: 80) (b) khʌnna kʌle-kʌle toŋya-khim puks-a!
2SG.ABS daily knowledge-house go-IMP
‘Go to school daily!’ (Rai et al. 2009: 14) 2.22.2 Temporal adverbs
Puma has an impressive set of indigenous time adverbials. Temporal adverbs are broader in scope than manner adverbs and characterise entire events. In many Tibeto-
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Burman languages, including the sub-group of Kiranti, while the terms used for days of the week and months of the year are loans from Nepali, indigenous Puma temporal adverbs exist and their widespread use and range of meanings extend beyond those of the corresponding Nepali terms (cf. Turin 2012: 334). There are distinct Puma lexical items for three days in the past to four days in the future, and from three years in the past to four years in the future. Temporal adverbs are presented in Table 47.
Table 47: Temporal adverbs
DAY
-3
adhyʌdhepa addhyʌpa ase
three days ago
the day before yesterday yesterday
0 ai today
+4
setlam citthum sotthum botthum
tomorrow
the day after tomorrow three days from now four days from now
YEAR
-3
adoŋbatnʌŋ achenbatnaŋ atapnʌŋ/anemnʌŋ
three years ago two years ago last year
0 aipʌdoŋ this year
+4
nammʌŋ chenmʌŋ lenmʌŋ donmʌŋ
next year two years ahead three years ahead four years ahead
PERIODS OF A DAY
+2
ramarumi kʌsetlam
dawn/dusk morning
0 kʌleda noon
-2
kʌnamdʌŋ/kʌnampʌk kʌkhakhut
evening night
Like in Indo-Aryan languages such as Nepali, a distinct use of special words for days and years in the past and the future is very wide spread in Tibeto-Burman languages, including the Kiranti sub-group. Caughley (2000) mentions special forms for eight days and years before and after the present day or year in Cepang. Puma has special terms for three days in the past and four days in the future, three years in the past and fours year in the future.
(a) Periods of a day
Puma specifies five periods in any given day: rāmārumī ‘dawn’ which is most probably a loan from Nepali, kʌsetlam ‘morning’, kʌleda ‘daytime’, kʌnampʌk ‘evening’ and kʌkhakhut ‘night’. Example (30) below illustrates the uses of Puma temporal adverb
kʌsetlam ‘morning’ and kʌkhakut ‘night’.
(30) (a) setlam kʌsetlam ŋa belṭār puŋ-ŋa
tomorrow morning 1SG.ABS Beltar go-1SG.S/P.NPST
‘Tomorrow morning I go to Beltar.’ (Rai et al. 2009: 14) (b) kʌkhakhut ka-kima ket-a
night 2SG.POSS-fear feel-PST
‘You were frightened at night.’ (Rai et al. 2009: 14) (b) Past and future days
As already presented above in Table 43, Puma has separate lexical items from three days in the past to four days in the future. Nepali has separate lexical items from three days in the past (hijo, asti, jhanasti) to five days in the future (bholi, parsi, nikorsi, kānekorsi and piṭhekorsi13). Turin (2012: 338) notes that with respect to these distinct lexical temporal adverbs, Nepali has more in common with many Tibeto-Burman languages than it does with its genetically close cousin languages such as Hindi, in which kal refers to both ‘yesterday’ and ‘tomorrow’, and parsō refers to both ‘the day before yesterday’ and ‘the day after tomorrow.’ Example (31) below shows the use of the adverbs illustrated in Table 47.
(31) (a) hen setlamʌŋ mʌjʌle-a bas ɖʌbʌl paisā it-na-nin
now tomorrow nicely-ERG FS double paisa give-1SG>2-1/2PL
‘Tomorrow I will give youPL the double money.’ (myth_boka: 200) (b) sanima-o khʌnna doro khan tʌ-ŋi-yaŋ ai
mother’s.y.sister-VOC 2SG.ABS what curry 2-cook-IPFV today
‘Today what curry are you cooking, auntie?’ (convers_01: 15) (c) Past and future years
Exactly as in past and future days, Puma also is rich in the adverbs for past and future years in which a set of Puma temporal adverbs extend three years into the past and four years into the future. As can be seen from Table 47 above, there is a greater range of adverbs for expressing future years (up to four years after next) than past ones (up to three years back), which appears to be opposite to Thangmi, in which Turin (2012: 342) proposes that this is to be expected since past years have definitely occurred, while future years have an element of uncertainty about them at least in Thangmi. Perhaps this
13In Nepālī Brihat Shabdakosh, 7th edition 2067 B.S, piṭhekorsi is not listed, however, this term is often used in author’s Parbate dialect.
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does not help to make generalisation in the case of Puma in this way. Example (32) illustrates the use of the adverbs of past and future years shown in Table 47.
(32) (a) premdhoj adoŋbatnʌŋ khim mu-a Premdhoj.ABS three.years.ago house do-PST
‘Premdhoj built houses three years ago.’ (Rai et al. 2009: 4) (b) kipmakha-o aipʌdoŋ bhartī puŋ-ŋa-ŋa
soltini-VOC this.year recruit go-1SG.S/P.NPST-IPFV
‘Soltini14, this year I am going to join the army.’ (senti_song: 02) 2.23 Gender
Like other neighbouring Rai Kiranti languages, Bantawa (Rai 1985) and Camling (Rai 2003), Puma has no grammatical gender, and gender distinctions are commonly expressed lexically, such as cha ‘son’ and nammet ‘daughter-in-law’ which do not have the masculine and feminine suffixes. Natural gender is distinguished for human beings and some other animals such as birds and domestic animals by suffixing -pa for masculine and -ma for feminine.
The masculine suffix -pa is the Tibeto-Burman masculine suffix *pa and the noun
*pa = (p) wa ‘man, person, husband and father. Similarly the feminine suffix -ma is the Tibeto-Burman feminine suffix *ma and the noun *ma ‘mother’ (Opgenort 2004: 133).
The suffixes -pa and -ma function as gender markers for male and female respectively, as in (33)-(34). These suffixes function only for some referents, e.g., ascending kin.
(33) (a) uŋ chadip-pa
1SG.POSS father-in-law-MASC
‘My father-in-law.’
(b) uŋ chadip-ma
1SG.POSS mother-in-law-FEM
‘My mother-in-law.’
(34) (a) ken wa-pa 2SG.POSS bird-MASC
‘Your cock.’
(b) ken wa-ma 2SG.POSS bird-FEM
‘Your hen.’
14Brother’s wife’s sister and sister’s husband’s sister.