13

Chaeter - II

SOME SALIENT FEATURES OF MEITEILON GRAMMAR

This chapter tries to highlight very briefly some

salient features of grammar of this language dealing with

word order and grammatical categories (gender, number,

person, tense and voice). Besides these, others are affixes

(prefix, infix and suffix).,. form and function and redupli­

cation. Other very interesting features of this language

are also discussed which enables one to have a glimpse

of this language •

• 1 word O£der:

Meiteilon is a verb final language and has the word

order sov. The preferable position of the subject is initial,

but the word order has a considerable amount of flexibility.

The verb has to be essentially in the final position.

/ai-na 1-nom

sub

tomba-da lairik ama pi-y/ Tomba-acc. bOok one/a give-asp.(simp)

Io no v

'I give a book to Tomba'

This order is very common but we may also have

alternative word orders like:

a. s

b. Do

e. Io

Do

s

s

Io v Io V

Do v

14

Adjective of colours in this language, may precede

and follow 'he noun, for examplea

2. /mahak asa!Jbo macu pam -mi/ he green colour like -asp.

'He likes green c:olou•

3. /mahak macu

'He likes green colour•

Adjective of quality can precede and follow the

noun like adjective of colour, as in sentence 4 and S.

••

s.

/3waqba tall

nupa . ~du iroi -r1/ man that swim -asp.

•The tall msn is swi~ning'

/nupa awa~ba man tall:

iroi -r.t/. swim -asp.{prog)

•The tall man is swimming•

Numeral adjective cnly follows the noun,. as in

sentence 6.

6. /mahak •na hainau meg he -non mango five

'He eats five mangoes•

eai/ eat

1.5

on the contrary, the ordinal adjective only precedes

the noun.

'· /mahal<:-ki aniaubO maca adu he gen second (his) daughter the

'His second daughter had got married'

luhoq-khre/ married-asp.

Demonstrative adjectives like numerals only follow

the noun, as in sentences 4, S and 7, i.e. /adu/ 'that• or

('the' always follows the noun (in sentence 4, /adu/ follows

the noun /nupa/ •man•), in sentence 7 also~ /adu/ follows

the noun /m3ca nupa/ •(his) daughter• but· in sentence 5

/'adu/ follows immediately the adjective /awat:Jba/ •tall'

not the noun immediately). Adverb precedes adjective and

verb they modify,as in sentence 8 and 9 respectively.

e.

10.

/mahak-na ya~ fiz~ba he -non ve~ nice·

£uri t -ama la1/ shirt one buy

'He buys a very nice shirt •

/mahak tap-na .he slowly

'He goes slowly'

/mahak yam-na he very

cat -1:1/ go -asp (prog.)

tapna cat-11/ slowly go-asp.

'He goes very slowly'

But in the case of (Indefinite) quantifiers, like

/khara/ •some', /pumnamak/ or /loina/ 'all, /mayam/ 'all', etc.

these follow the noun. JOr example:

16

hek -li/

-girl flower pluck-asp.

·~¥an~ Some girls are plucking flowers• All

~ayam d -ta 12. /mabak-na 1-oisabi khara -da l~i pumn~mak

he -nom gi.¥"1 -to flower

yel -li/ distribute -ssp.

'He is distributing flowers to r::l girls' ~11 J

/•da/~/-ta/ suffixed to the indefinite quantifiers, in

sentence 3,2, is an accusaative marker. 'Ibis language bas

postposition as opposed to preposition of non-verb-final

languages (Greenberg, 1963 Universal 21). COnsider:

13. a .• /mohak cauki •da fam-11/ he chair -on sit-asp.

'He is sitting on the chair•

b. /mahak pukhri-da i~sh

fa •ri/ he pond'•in catch -asp.

'He is c:atching fish in the pond'

c. /mehak tomb -ga skul C8t -khre/ he Tomba-"t-tith school go -asp .. (perf.)

'He has gone to school with Tomba'

The genitive as well as posses~ive.always precede

the governing noun wh.t.le in languages with dominant VSO

17

order the genitive, as GreenberQ puts it, almost always

follows the governing noun (Greenberg, 1963; Universal 2).

Consider:

14. a. /ai I

ljol:'alJ yesterday

DOIJY8i Nongyi

-gi -gen

yum -da lai/ house-in stay

'I stayed yesterday in Nongyai•s house•

b. /no~l- gi maca nupi ama loi/ Nongal-gen his daughter one has

'Nongal has a daughter•

Tbe auxiliary verb always follows the main verb

without any exception, in Meiteilon, as opposed to the

tendency in language with dominant verb-initial order where

the auxiliary precedes the verb (Greenberg, 1963, Universal

16). Illustration:

1S.a./mahak cak cai-y/ he rice eat-asp. (Simple)

'He eats rice•

b. /mahak cak- ca -ri/ eat-asp. {Progressive)

c. /mahak cak ca - ~~r;} eat -asp. (Perfect)

'He has eaten rice'

d. /mahak cak c::a -gani/ r_:- :Joi nl) eat -asp. (Unrealized)

'He will eat rice•

e. /mahak cak ca -ni/ eat-aux.

'He will eat rice'

18

The bound morpheme /-ni/ in sentence 15 (e) is

an auxiliary and suffixed to the main verb al•o• This /-ni/

has the underlying me~ning of futurity.

Articles a

Meiteilon has no articles. The numeral /dma/

· •one' supplies the place of an indefinite article, while

definitness is denoted by means of demonstrative pronoun

/adu/ or /madu/ 'that• and /asi/ or /masi/ 'this.

Maiteilon has also no grammatical gender, number

and person.

2.2 Gendera

a.

b.

/loisabi girl

iroi-ri/ swim-asp.

•The girl is swimming'

/pakha9 boy

iroi-ri/ swim-asp.

• The boy is swimming •

The verb /iroi-r~/ •swim+Progressive• remains the

same for both the different natural genders - male and

female - /pakha~; 'boy' in sentence 16 (b) and /131sabi/

•girl' in sentence 16 (a) respectively.

2.3 Numbers

17. a. /a~ag skul cat-11/ child school go-asp.

The child goes to school'

/a9aq-sig skul child-pl.mk. school

'Children go to school'

c-at-11/ go-asp.

19

The verb /c t-11/ •go+progressive aspect remains

unchanged in both the sentence 16 (a) and (b) singular and

plural respectively.

2.4 Persona

2.5

18. di-1 It

aikhoi­•we • na~-•you• (sg) nokhoi­'You • (pl) mohak-'He'

maldloi­'they •

cak ca -ri/ rice eat -asp.

The /ca•ri/ •eat+progressive• remains same in all

persons.

Tense a

Tense is not a universal grammatical category.

In Tibeto-surman languages tense is not distinctive as it

is in other lo.nguages like English, sanskrit and Hindi. ,......

Such incU.stinctive use of tense is found in Meiteilon too.

Action related to time is expressed by adverb .. of time,

20 such as /q'dsi/ • today • , /naraiJ/ • yesterday', /n~ha n/ 'day

before yesterday•, /gosai/ ·~hat moment•, etc. COnsider:

19. n<7ran n~han oi cinema ~du ye9 -y/ ~osai I that see

• ~esterday j Day before yesterday That time

I saw that picture•

verbs form remains unchanged even when the action

takes place in past or present. Time distinction is not

expressed by the verb form. The verb /yen-y/ •see+simple

aspect occurs along with /~dra~/ •yesterday•, /nahan/

• day before ye(!lterday •, etc. and the same verb form also

occurs with /9asi/ 'today', etc.

But some adverbial time elements referring to the l

future time such as /h-ayelj/ 'tomorrow• to the indefinite

time of future or •next moment• (and action related to un­

reali•ed moments or action-programmed in the futufe time)

will grammatically occur with a particular bound morpheme

/-gani/ or /•ni/ which must be added to the verb ( /-ga-/1

one called an unrealized aspect markera /-ni/ is mentioned

above). There is a syntactic constraint that the unrealized

1. The unrealized aspect marker /-go/ will go together with ~ bound morpbe~~e /-ni/ which is an auxiliary verb

21

aspect marker /-ga-ni/ or /-ni/ cannot occur with the

adverbial time elements of past viz., /n ran/ •yesterday•,

/n han/· 'day before yesterday•, etc. Considera

20 • fhdl'enJ oi cinema odu a. (!l neit

I cinema that see- asp.mk.

• ~morrow Day after tomorrow] I shall see that cinema.

b. /13osi ai cinema adu ye9 - ! 9~11 1 tcday I cinema that see - asp.mk.

'Today I shall see that cinema•

ai cinema adu

* ~esterday ~ Day before yesterday That time

I shall ·see that cinema.

Combina~ion of MOrphology and syntaxa

In Tibeto•Burman languages, the same word can often

be used as a noun or as an adjective or as a verb. Muller

remarks that Tibeto-Burman languages do not possess a real

verb. verbs in Meiteilon are determined through a set of

suff.ixes. On this ground it is agreed that in Meiteilon

the distinction between morphology and syntax is not always

clear;s01netimes even word can be a sentence; it crcfn express

complete idea or expression ~ot only in Imperative sentences

"fh~

P; tJ4 77U I )3

M4

22 but in interrogative and declarative sentences also.

Consider:

A. Imperative:

21. a. /cat -lo/ go -comd.

'Go • (Go away)

b. /thok•u/ drink-comd.

c.

'Drink it•

/thak drink

-nu/ -neg.comd.mk •

. •non•t drink it•

d. /pa- ra -g a •nul read-conti-asp.neg.com.

•oon•t continue your reading'

B. Interrogativ~:

22. a. /edt -la -bra/ go -conti·inf.o.mk.

'Are you going•

/pa -roi read •neg

-dra/ -o.mk

•will you not read it•

e. /tomba -ra/ Tomba -Q.mk + verb 1 be •

• Are you Tomba'

c. Declarative:

23. a. /ca -re/ eat -perf.asp.

• I have ,He has taken•

b. /pa -ri/ read -prog.asp.

• I am He is reading•

c. /cot .. loi/ go -ncg.mk.

24. a.

•won't go' '(sub) will not go•

/at -ni/ I -be

'I am• or • It is t•

b. /ai -gi -ni/ I •gan -be

'It is mine •

c. /lairik -ni/ book -be

'It is a bcok•

23

The verbal suffixes indicate aspect and modality,

but tense is not indicated by the suffixes. Verbs are not

inflected .for person and casea It is a characteristic of /

Meiteilon that affixes-prefix, infix and suffix - are very

significant.

language~

After all, Meiteilon is an agglutinative

24

2.7 Voicea

voice in Meiteilon is not distinctive.

Consider a

25. a. /oi -na tombs -da lairik ama pi/ .I-nom 'l'omba -accou. book one give

'I give a book to TOmha'

b. /tomba-da ~i-na lairik oma pi/ TOmba•accou I•nom book one give

'I give a bOok to Tomba'

c. /lairik ama oi•na 'tomba-da pi/ book one I-nom Tomha•acc. give

•z gi'V'e a book to 'l'omba•

26. a. /8!-na tombs •bu c~i -na fui/ I-nom ~mba -accu. stick -inst beat

'I beat Tbmba with a stick'

b. /tomba-bu ai-na cai-na fui/

'I beat Tombs with a stick'

2.8 Casea -From the aforesaid sentences 24 and 25, it can be

said that Meiteilon is a nominative-accusative languagea the subject and object are not characterised by the linear

word order position in a construction but characterised by

the ease marker that is, nominative and accusative case

markers. The case markers area

25

1. Nominate- /-na/

2. Accusative- /-bu/, /-da/

3. Possessive- /-gi/, /-ki/

4. Instrumental- I-na/

s. Dative- /-da/

6. Ablative- /-dagi/.

7. Locative- /-da/

2.9 Three type§ of Construetionsa

On the nature of relationship between subject and

predicate in syntactic c:onsuruetion there may be three

groups of constructionsa

(a) a very general construc:ti~n having subject and predicate, say sentence 24 and 25;

(b) a construction having no subject as in sentence 26, and

(c) a construction having no subject and object as in sentence 27.

27. a. /mi hat -le/ man kill -perf.asp.

'A man has been killed'

b. /sel lak -khre/ money snatch -perf.asp.

'Money has been snatched'

e. /tha u -re/ moon see -perf.asp.

'The moon has been seen' (The moon is sean)

d. /huranba fa -re/ thief caught -perf.asp.

'The ~hief has been caught' (The thief is eaught)

26

(These sentences 27 (a-d) have no subject in the surface structure but in deep st~ucture each sentence has subject~ i.e. •some one' or 'some•).

28. a. /eat -le/ go -prog.

., (I am) going •

b. /c::3t -loi •da/ go -neg.mk. -pleonastic marker

(I) ~hal~ J 111 not go•

e. /cat -1 -ge/ go -prog.-Verbal suffix

'I am going'

The above~mentioned sentences are all simple

sentences (sentences 24, 25, etc.) having only one Main

verb. Now we will consider sentences having connectors

or conjunctions.

2.10 Connectors or ConJunctions:

Sentences in Meiteilon ean be joined tog~ther with

the help of connectors or conjunctions; there can be three

groups.

27

I. Connectors or conjunctions affix are /-g~/ 'w1th' 1

/-ga ••• • ga/ 'with •••. with (and), /-su/ or /•S\1 .•••

su/ •also•, /•ne -- ne/•together ••• together•

/-gum/ •as if', ~tc. Examples are given belowa

29. a. /mahak tomba -ga skul cat- kbre/ he Tomb a -with school go -asp.

'He has gone to school with Tomba •

b. /tomba -goa caoba -ga iroi -ri/ tomba -w1 th Chouba -with swim -asp.

•Tomba and Qlouba are swimming •

30. a. /tomba -su iroi -ri/ . Tomba -also swim -asp •

'Tomba is also swinming•

b. /tomba -su eaoba -su iroi -ri/

• 'l'Omba and Chouba are also swimming~

II. Connector or conjunction affix with lexical item is

/ga loinena/ •together with'

31. /tomba, caoba -gd loinona 'l'Omba Chouba •with together

'Tomba is swimming with Chouba •

iroi -ri/ swim -asp.

III. COnnectors or conjunctions expressed by lexical items

are /amasul)/ •and', /C)dudagi/ 'thin•, /ddugi mdth~qda/

'thereafter• 1 /maramdduna/ 'therefore', /m.:3ramd1/

'because •, /~ubu/ or /tduiguigwnb suiJI 'but •, /adum

28

oinamak/ 'however', /odumoak-pu/ 'even then •, /~dug~ I

'then• or 'after that• or 'but•, /n tr ga/ 'or•, etc.

Consider the examplesa

32. a. /tombs ~masun caoba iroi-ri/

'Tomba and Qlaoba are swimming'

b. /tomba iroi-ri gduga caoba -di lairik Tomba swim-asp. but Chaoba-part. book

pa- ri/ read-asp.

'Tomba. is swimming but Chaoba is reading

c. /tomba nat raga c:aoba kaithel cat - ni/ To mba or Chaoba market go-asp.

'.Tomba or Chaoba will go to market•

2.11 ~ffixesa

2.11.1

one of the most distinctive characteristic features

of this language is affixes. Meiteilon is rich in affixes

and has all the three kinds of affixes:

1. Prefix 2. Infix, and 3. suffix.

They are being discussed one by one.

Prefix:

Prefixes in Meiteilcn are not as many in number

as there are suffixes.. Very common prefixes are /a-/,

29

/ma-/, /khut-/, /1-/ and /no-/, /1-/, /nd-/ and /m~-/

which are ~ery commonly used in kinship terms as well as

in mode of address.

/1-/

/no-/

/nG-/

expresses the meaning •my• - blood relationship.

exptesses the meaning •your• - blood relationship.

expresses the meaning 'his' - blood relationship.

l'or ~xamplea ~

a. /d:-1 + /C::'dl/ /r~.~-1 + /C<?l/ /mi I + /c~l/

b. /i-/ + /bai/ /na-/ + /bai/ /ma-/ + /bai/

c. /1-/ + /pa/ /no•/ +/pa/ /m"d-/ +/pa/

d. /i-/ + /ma/ /n-;;-/ + /rna/ /m'd-/ +/mal

/1-c~l/ •my sister /n~-cdl/ 'Your sister'

---?- /ma-c'dl/ ~his sister•

-~~> /i-bai/ •my brother-in-law --~ /n-;;-bai/ •your brother-in-law --? /ma-bai/ 'his brother-in-law •

.,-.-----7' /1-pa/ •my father --+ /n-o-pa/ •your father•

/ma-pa/ 'his father•

--~ /1-ma/ • my mother' ---~ /na-ma/ 'your mother• __ ....., /m~-ma/ • his mother •

/1-/, /no-/ and /rna-/ are also used for body parts and

inalienable possessions.

a. /1-/ +/kok/ /1-kok/ •my head' /na-/ + /kok/ }' /na- kok/ •your head' /rna-/ + /kok/ /rn-a-kok/ 'his head •

b. /1-/ + /khut/ /i•khut/ •my hand' /n a/ + /khut/ /na-Jthut/ •your hand' /m:a-1 + /khut/ > /m~·khut/ 'his hand •

c. /i-/ + /s-orn/ /n-a-/ + /som/ /me-/ + /s'dm/

/1-s-om/ •my hair' /n-a-sam/ •your hair • /~sdm/ 'his hair'

30

/1-/, /n M/ and /m •/ are also used to indicate possession

or ownership of property.

a. /i-/ + /yum/ /i-yum/ 'my house• /nC)•/ + /yum/ 7' /n~ywn/ •your bouse• /m~-1 + /yum/ /m-a-yum/ 1 his house •

b. /1-/ + /rC"Jn/ /i-rCJn/ 'my property' /na-/ + /r'dn/ /na-ran/ •your property• /m-a-/ + Jr;;m/ /m:d-ran/ •his property 1

/m-o ... / and ,lkbut•/ also function as adverb of manner. ·

jma..:;

/khut-/

/mo-l + /ca/ /ma-ca/ 'the manner of (his)

/m~/ + /c?Jt/ /ma-o t/

/ma-/ + /tum/ /mo-tum/

/m-a-/ + /pi/ /ma-pi/

/khut-/ + /ca/ -~> /khut-ca/

eating• •the manner of (his) gait'

• the manner of (his) sleeping'

'the manner of (his) giving'

• the manner of (his) eating'

/khut-/ +/cat/ ---?/khut-cat/ 'the manner of(his) going'

/khut-/ + /fu/ ----7 /khut-fu/

'the manner of (his) looking' 'the manner of (his) beating •

31

Prefix &,-/a

Noun can be changed into adjective (attributive)

by adding this prefix~-/. Consider:

lo•/ + /muba/ /d!nuba/ 'black •

/a-1 + /IJarJl>a/ > /&9a1Jba/ •red'

/d-1 + /sdJ3ba/ /~sdEjba/ •green•

jc; ... ; + /siba/ /asiba/ 'dead'

Infixes

Infixes in this language:are net as many in number

as suffixes are. COmmonly used infixes are the negative

marker 1-ta-/I"V/•dB-/ (for detail, see Chapter IV, Negation ""

section ) .and request marker /-bi-/.rv /-pi-/ (see

Chapter VI). consider:

33. Aff. /ai yu tbak •Y/ I liquor drink -asp.mk.

' I d .e-ink liquor •

Neg. /~1 yu tbdk -1!1 I liquor drink•neg.+asp.mk.

'I don't drink liquor•

Req. /yu th.:3k -2! -yu/ liquor drink -req-~mp.mk.

•Please drink liquor•

Other infixes are: [/-rdk-/ /V /-ldk-/ J 'indicating action completed in past

time + direction•

2.11.3

32

34. /oi cak ca-rak - y/ I meal eat --- -asp.

'I have had eaten my meal•

(the action of •eating• was perfo~ed 'there• away from the place of utterance and the speaker is coming towards the place of utterance after the completion of •eating'a the place of utter­ance is 'here' J

[/-lam-/,....., /-ram-/ J • indicating action completed in past time + definitizer•

35. /mahak oak ca-r~m-mi/ he roeal eat -asp.

'He had taken his meal'

/-han-1/V/-bal-/ •causative marker'

/cat-han-bo/ •to cause to go• -go

/thak-han-ba/ •to cause to drink' drink

/set-han-b3/ •to cause to put on• put

suffixes a

In Meiteilon, suffixes are numerous and they are

backbone of this agglulinative language. T.here ~re many

kinds of suffixes, as given belowa

1. Care suffixes ,2. Aspect suffixes 3. Negative suffixes 4. Interrogative suffixes s. Imperative suffixes 6. Derivative suffixes 7. Pleonastic suffixes.

33 These are some of the very common suffixes 1n this language.

They are discussed one by one.

2.11.3.1 case suffixes•

(a) Nominative suffix /-na/tv /-no/

36. /mabak-na Meiteilon tamb.i./ he -nom teach

'He teaches Meiteilon•

(b) ACcusative suffix /-bu/~/-pu/

3 7. /tornba•bu Chaoba-na fui/ tomba-aecu -nom beat

•cnaoba beats Tomba'

(c) Locative suffix (•da·/;'V /-ta-1

38. /r.r~raq atkhoi Moirang-~ yesterday we Mbirang-IOc.

lai/ stay

*Yesterday we stayed at Moirang'

(d) Ablative suffix /•d7gi/ /-t091/

39. /ai-na lairik . as1 I-nom book class

tomba-day!. Tomba-ab·a.

'I take this book from ~a'

(e) Instrumental suffix /-na/

40. /mahak•na kai adu be -nom. tiger class

nogm8i-!!! gun-Inst.

1He shoots the tiger with a gun•

(f) Associative suffix /-ga/rv/-kd/ 41. /~ mBhak•ka Delhi cat-11/

I be -- no -asso. v

• I go to Delhi w1 th him •

1-au-y/ take

kap-y/ shoot

2.11.3.2

2.11.3.3

(g) Genitive suffix (-gi//V/-ki/

42. /md8i ~1-g! lairi~-ni/ this I-gen. book -be

'This is my book'

Aspect suffixess

(a) Simple aspect /-y/

43. /mahak lairik adu pa- y/ he book class read-asp.

'He reads the book'

(b) Progressive as~ect /-11/ /-ri/

44. /mahak lairik adu pa•ri/

'He is reading the book'

(c) Perfect aspect /-re/rv/-le/

45. /mahak lairik cdu pa-£!1

'He has read the book'

(d) unrealized aspect /-ga-/ /-ka-/

46. /mahak lairik adu pa -~ -ni/ 1He will read the book•

Neqative,suffixes•

34

In Meiteilon negation is expressed by the negative

suffix markers, such as /-t-c-/ /•do•/, /-loi/"'-'/-roi/,

/-nu/ and /-gum/~/-kum-/. (For detailed discussion, see

Chapter IV, Negation).

47. a. /ai yu thdk - te/ I liquor drink-neg.mk.+asp.

•t do not drink liquor'

b. /a! yu thok •loi/ -neg.mk.+asp.

'! will not drink liquor•

e. /na~ yu thak-nu/ -neg .. mk.+Imp.mk.

'Don't drink liquor•

Interrogative suffixes:

35

Yes/No question, in Meiteilon, is framed by the

suffixation of yes/no question markers like 1-ra//V/-la/,

/-dra/;v/-tra/ as in the following sentences. (Por a

detailed discussion, see Chapter v, Interrogatives).

48. a. /most this

lil -!!I snake -o.mk. +be

'Is this a snake'

/naq yu thdk• p -ra/ (-pra) you liquor drink-O.mk.

•no you drink liquor•

c. /fti3Ji yu thak-tra/ -neg.+Q.mk.

'Don't you drink liquor•

2.11.3.5

2.11.3.6

36

Imeerative suffixes&

Imperative constructions are formed by the

suffixation of imperative markers, such as /•o/, 1-u/,

/-lu/,v/-ru/, /•10//V/-ro/, /-kho/, etc. (For detailed

discussion see Chapter VI on Imperatives).

_ ~ 49. a. /cak -ca- [:]; meal -eat-Imp.mk.

• Take your meal'

b. leak ca-!2/

'(Go and) take your meal•

Request construction is formed by the infixation

of request marker /-bi//V/-pi/ between the root and the

imperative marker. COnsider&

50. /ca thak-2!-Yu/

'Please drink liquor•

Derivative suffixes&

JUst for the conveniencei derivative suffixes ~an be sub-c:ategorized 1ntot .,

(a'f Reciprocal suffix /..-na/

51. a. /makhoi ni kha&J-~ ... y/~-aN/ they both know-

''!bey know each other•

37

•we.love each other•

(b) Togetherness /•minn~/

52. a. /9ikho1 ~ni ca -minna-y/§'"d9' we both eat-

' vle eat together •

b. /makhoi mdy'am s'kul c'dt-minn;;}-y~aW they all school go-

'They all go to school together•

(c) Causation:

Causation is denoted by the addition of causative

marker /-hdni...v /-h&l;/ to the bound root. COnsider:

/cat + h.:m + ba/ /c ot-han-ba/ •to cause to go' go - inf.mk.,

/fu +han+b~/ /fu-hon•ba/ •to cause to beat• beat -

/pi ~n+b'd/ /pi-han•bd/ •to ~ause to give' -give

/set +h.:m+ba/ /set-han-b'd/ •to cause to put put on - on'

/pai +h-an+bd/ /pai-h3n-ba/ •to cause to hold' hold -

(d) Reflexive:

Reflexive (verb) is formed by the addition of

/•o¥/\/1-j:l to the verb., Consider:

38

5311 a. /makboi masel they selves

fu -nd •jo -y)J~ beat-reoi.-refl.asp.

'They beat themself'

b. /<71 sum-nd kbdn-j& ·Y~'d9' I so/as think•

'I think in that way myself'

In Meiteilon. the lexical root itself does not

stand for particular grammatical categorya it is specified

by su~fixes which when added to the root assigns it to the

partic':llar grammatical.cat~gory.

(e) !'ormation of Adve.rb:

§oot -c· na AdverJil

/to;,p/ + /na/ /tap-·na/ •slow•

•slowly'., •gently'

t'kap/ + /na/ /kap-na/ •crying (ly) • •cry'

/nok. I + /na/ /nok-na/ 'laughingly • 'laugh •

/saw I + /na/ /saw-na/ •angrily • •angry•

/siq I + /na/ /siq-na/ •wisely' 'wise•

(f) Foruetion of Adjective:

~+Root + i;~ Adjective

I e> + tap .+ p'C) I IBtC) p .. p;:)/ • slow • or • gentle' •• N 'slow'

I '0+ k-op +Po I I olt.;3p-po/ 'crying ••• N' •cry•

I '0+ nok + pa I > /anok .... pa/· 'laughing ••• N' • laugh •

I 'd + si9, + bol 'wiae•

Pleonastic suffixes:

39

/asig•bal 'wise ••• N'

Maiteilon has some pleonastic markers which decor­

ate the utterance and make the utteran=e more natural and n

lively. suffixation ·of tho pleonastic markers in the

utter~nee is a general feature of Meiteilon. The very

comraon pleonastic markers are /-kol, /-ta/, 1-to/~/-do/,

/-na/, /-ne/'~ /-pa/...-vl•ba/ and 1-se/. consider:

54. /saqgom d<Su milk class

th.;Jk-u ... drink­

Imp.

• Drink the milk • ·

~~1 sel I ba na 1 d~

Other pleonastic mar~ers ate /-neko/, 1-d nal, 1-nese/.

Consider:

ss .. [

dana. I /hidak asi ca-si nekoj I medicine class eat- nese

•tet us take this medicine• (excluding the speaker)

2.12 Multi-dimensional categories of suffix: -A very distinctive characteristic feature of this

language is that affixes (suffixes) have multi-dimensional

categories which incorporate different syntactic and

semantic structures. For our convenience, suffixes are

40

categorized into four groups, which are discussed below:

1. /-loi/ rv/-roi/ and /-nul

/-loi/A//-roi/ indicates two meanings, first,

a negative marker, second, meaning of futurity. (For

detail, see ). Consider:

56. /9ikhoi yu th~k- loi/ we liquor drink- t "neg .,mk.

•we will not drink liqu~o~r~•r-----~nrealized asp. (future)

/-nu/ also in~o~orates two semantic levels.

(For detail, see ). Considera

57. /yu thok -nul liquor drink- rc-----------= neg .mk.

'Don't drink liquor' imp.mk.

2. /-la/ !'V" I-ra/

/-la/A//-ra/ is a yes/no question marker. Syntacti­

cally, when /-la/~1-ra/ is suffixed to noun and pronoun,

it has two meanings.

sa. a. /mdsi lil-la/ this snake-t r----- Q.mk.

'Is this a snake' Verb 'be •

3. /-ru/ /'1:.,/-lu/

/-ru/~/-lu/ has the underlying meaning of 'go'

while /-ro/ ~/-lo/ has the underlying meaning of •come•.

Consider a

59. a. /cak meal

t (Go

ca -c eat- . . Imp.mk •. underlying

and) take your meal'

meal eat- · Imp.mk.

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'go •

/cak ca -co

· Underlying •come• '(Come and) take your meal'

Besides all these suffixes, there are some other

suffixes which are performing predieative functions and give

two or more meanings. The suffixes are /-ni/, /-kbi/.

Consider: (a) /-ni/

60. a. /ai koithel I market ~~~-t=· I immediate future

definitizer .Auxiliary

'I shall/will go to market'

b. /mahak haye9 isai sak-ni/ he tomorrow song sing- timmediate future

definitizer Auxiliary

(b) /-khi/

61. /mahak library eat-r=hi he go- ·action completed

definitizer 'He went to the library'

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2.13 Form and Function•

A for:m may have more than one meaning& the

meaning of the particular form is decided by the function

of

1.

2.

the item in ~is language. Consider a

/f-au/ (N) 'paddy' (V) 1 spread 'in the sun'

62. /fou fau/ paddy spread

1 Spread the paddy in the sun•

/loi/ (N) 'flower• (V) 'buy•

63. /mahak•na ce -gi lai ama -he -nom paper-gen flower one

'He buys a paper flower•

lai/ buy

3. /cai/ (N) 'stick' (Vj •to scold someone•

64. a. /mohak-na tomba-da cai ama pi/ he -nom Tomba-dat. stick one give

'He gives one stiCk to Tomba'

b. /m~hak-na tomba-da cai/ he -nom 'l'omba-to scold

'He scolds TOmba'

4. /hut/ (N) 'dog • (V) •steal'

65. /mohak-na he -nom

hui ama qara9 h~/ dog one yesterday s eal

'He stole a dog yesterday'

5. /lou/ (N) 'paddy field' (V) •take •

66. /naq mahak-ki lau Odu lau/ you he -gen field class take

• (You) take his paddy field •

6. /hoi/

67. a.

(N) • fruit • (V) •to pour•

/mPhak-na h~i yol-11/ -'He is selling fruit'

b. /mohak-na isig h-ai/ he -nom water pour

'He pours water•

2.14 Reduplications

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Reduplication in this language is very commonly

used. Reduplication of adjective, adverb and wh-question

words is quite common, but that of noun is not very common.

1. Adjective

Reduplication of adjective indicates plurality.of

the noun. Consider:

68.a./ai foza -fazd-b~ 1~1 pam -1/

b.

I beautiful-beautiful flower like-asp.

'I like beautiful flowers•

/m. ahak ac~u-~eouba ~. he big-big fish

'He buys big fishes•

181/ buy

II Adverb

69. a. /mahak tapna he slowly

tapna edt-li/ slowly go -asp.

'He is walking very slowly'

44

b. /m8hak isai he song

sak-na sak-na thabak Eau-y/ singing singing work do

'He did the work while singing•

III Wh•question words

Reduplication of Wh•question words, like the

reduplication of adjective, affects the meaning, that is,

it indicates plurality. OOnsidera

10. a., /na9 kdri kori lairik pam-mi/ you which which book want

'Which books do you want• (Which are the books you want?)

b. /garag k~na kana lak -y/ yesterday ;no- wno- come -

'Who came yesterday' (How many came yesterday?)

a. /makboi kadai kddai•da they where where

'At what places do they stay'

lo.l/ stay

(For a detailed discussion of reduplication of Wh-question words in Meiteilon, see Chapter IV-Interrogatives ).

These are some of the salient features of Meiteilon grammar

discussed briefly.