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Pan, Chia-jung (2012) A grammar of Lha'alua, an

Austronesian language of Taiwan. PhD thesis, James
Cook University.

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 A Grammar of Lha’alua,
an Austronesian Language of Taiwan

Thesis submitted by

Chia-jung Pan

MA

in March 2012

for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

in the School of Arts and Social Sciences

James Cook University

 Statement of uthorship

E ept where reference i made in the te t of the th i , thi the i contain no

material publi hed el ewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a the i ubmitt d for

the award of any oth r d gree or diploma.

o other per on work ha b n u ed without due acknowledgement in the main

text of the the i .

The the i ha not been submitted for the award of any degree of diploma in any

other tertiary in titution.

Chia-jung Pan
 Acknowledgements

I am grateful to the numerous people and institutions that have, at various stages,
supported me in writing the PhD thesis. Without their support and assistance, I would
not have been able to finish this grammar.

In particular, I would like to acknowledge the invaluable assistance of the

following Lha’alua speakers who patiently assisted in my linguistic fieldwork: Eleke
Lhauracana (Chinese name:余宋美女), Amalanamalhe Salapuana (Chinese name:游
仁貴), Langui Tavuiana (Chinese name:石唐里金), Caepe Lhatiunana (Chinese
name:池明春), and Vanau Tumamalikisase (Chinese name:余寶珠). Special thanks go
to the oldest Lha’alua speaker, Eleke Lhauracana (Chinese name:余宋美女), who
was born in 1924. She is always willing to spend a lot of time working with me,
teaching me the Lha’alua language, and sharing Lha’alua culture and traditional
stories with me.

This thesis could never have happened without the excellent advice and
encouragement of my three supervisors: Professor Alexandra Aikhenvald, Professor
R.M.W. Dixon, and Professor Elizabeth Zeitoun. They have made my study at Cairns
Institute/SASS, James Cook University one of the best memories in my life. I am
most indebted to Professor Alexandra Aikhenvald, who carefully read each chapter
and each draft many times. She also guided and encouraged me with great patience.
She is my mentor and is, by all means, the best supervisor that I could have had.
Professor R.M.W. Dixon read each chapter and gave me insightful comments. He
often helped me to think from a different perspective. I benefited a lot from his great
knowledge of linguistics. I am most grateful to have had Professor Elizabeth Zeitoun
as my external supervisor. She spent a lot of time reading my chapters carefully and
providing me insightful comments. Her valuable comments have made this thesis
better than it was.

I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Jackson Sun for his support and
encouragement during research visit at Research Centre for Linguistic Typology
(RCLT), La Trobe University in 2008. I wish to thank Professor Paul Li, Professor
József Szakos, and Dr. Chao-lin Li for their encouragement. I am also grateful to Dr.
Henry Chang, who was my MA thesis supervisor, for his constant support,
encouragement, and helpful discussion on various topics, and for his research visit at
Cairns Institute, James Cook University in 2010. My sincere gratitude also goes to

i
two external examiners, whose comments assisted me in the final revision of the
thesis. I have profited immensely from them.

I would like to acknowledge all the members and visiting fellows of RCLT, La
Trobe University who were sources of information and inspiration, in particular
Professor Randy LaPolla, during my study at RCLT from 2008 to 2009. I would also
like to thank all the staff at the Cairns Institute, James Cook University for their
administrative help, and all the professors, visiting fellows, post-doctoral fellows
(including Dr. Tianqiao Lu, Dr. Anne Schwarz and Dr. Mark Post), and PhD students
(including Sihong Zhang, Dineke Schokkin, Yankee Modi, Hannah Sarvasy, Juliane
Boettger, and Mikko Salminen) at Language and Culture Research Centre (LCRC) of
the Cairns Institute, James Cook University for their enlightening discussion. I also
benefit greatly from discussion on various grammatical topics with a number of
Austronesian linguists in Taiwan: Dr. Stacy Teng, Dr. Amy Lee, Dr. Joy Wu, Dr.
Hsiu-chuan Liao, Dr. Rik De Busser, Dr. Apay Ai-yu Tang, Yu-ting Yeh, and Wei-chen
Huang.

I wish to thank Dr. Henry Chang, Professor Paul Li, and Professor Elizabeth
Zeitoun for their financial support in conducting fieldwork in Taiwan. I would also
like to thank the Formosan Language Archive Project, Academia Sinica, directed by
Professor Elizabeth Zeitoun, for providing me with a doctoral thesis fellowship.
Thanks also go to La Trobe University for providing me La Trobe University Tuition
Fee Remission Scholarships (LTUTFRS) in 2008, La Trobe University for providing
me La Trobe University Postgraduate Research Scholarships (LTUPRS) in 2008 and
in 2009, and the Australian Government for providing me Endeavour International
Postgraduate Research Scholarships (EIPRS) in 2008 and in 2009 during my study at
RCLT, La Trobe University. I am also thankful to James Cook University for granting
me James Cook University School Scholarship in 2009, James Cook University
Tuition Fee Waiver Scholarship in 2009, James Cook University International
Research Scholar (including two components: James Cook University Research
Tuition Scholarship and James Cook University Postgraduate Research Scholarship)
from 2010 to 2012. I also wish to thank James Cook University for granting me
Graduate Research Scheme in 2010 and in 2011 to conduct fieldwork in Taiwan and
Completion Scholarship in 2011 to prepare my thesis submission.

This thesis could not have been made possible without the constant and
invaluable support of my family over the years. I am immensely indebted to my
dearest parents, Zhen-wang Pan and Xiu-ying Huang, for bringing me up and giving

ii
me endless love all the time. I am also truly grateful to my three sisters, Yan-fen Pan,
Shu-wan Pan and Shu-ru Pan, for their understanding and for their contributions to the
family. They have always been very supportive and I wish to thank them for their love,
help, and patience.

iii
iv
 Abstract

This thesis is a grammar of Lha’alua (known as Saaroa), an Austronesian

language of Taiwan. Lha’alua is spoken in Taoyuan Village and Kaochung Village,
Taoyuan District, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. Lha’alua belongs to the morphological
type of synthetic-agglutinating; usually a word consists of a largish number of
morphemes (roots, affixes and clitics) but by and large morpheme boundaries are clear.
The basic constituent order is VpredAO, if transitive, or VpredS(E), if intransitive. The
bound pronoun is a core argument either in S function or in A function, whereas the
independent pronoun is either a core argument in S (when topicalized), E, A or O
function or a peripheral argument. Prefixation is productive, whereas other affixations
are not. Reduplication is widely deployed. The two major word classes are verb and
noun, with rich morphology marking. Despite some grammatical distinctions
differentiating adjectival elements from dynamic verbs and noun, ‘adjective’ is not
recognisable as an independent word class. Adjectival elements are treated as stative
verbs in that they exhibit the same morphosyntactic properties. The basic constituent
order is VAO, if transitive, or VS(E), if intransitive. The pronominal system consists
of bound pronouns and independent pronouns. The bound pronoun is a core argument
in S function or A function, whereas the independent pronoun is a core argument in S
(when topicalized), E, A or O function. The bound pronouns can be divided into two
sets: nominative pronouns, marking arguments in S function, and genitive pronouns,
marking arguments in A function and possessor function. The case system includes
core, oblique and genitive. The core case covers arguments in S, A and O functions.
The oblique case marks extended arguments (i.e. E function) and peripheral
arguments, e.g. location. The genitive case is used to encode possessor function.
There are three verbal clause patterns in Lha’alua: (i) Pattern 1: monovalent
intransitive clauses, (ii) Pattern 2: bivalent intransitive clauses and (iii) Pattern 3: (a)
bivalent transitive clauses and (b) bivalent applicative clauses. (i) and (ii) take Actor
voice (AV), marked by um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø-; (iiia) takes patient voice (PV), marked by
-a/-ø; (iiib) takes locative voice (LV), marked by -a(na)/-i/-ani. The definiteness
effect plays a role in determining the manifestation of voice in an independent clause,
and the manifestation of voice in independent clauses plays a role in determining
grammatical subjects.

The thesis consists of 10 chapters. Chapter 1 introduces the people, the language,
and some ethnographic notes of Lha’alua. Chapter 2 describes phonology and

v
morphophonology. Chapter 3 discusses word classes, including nouns and subclasses
of nouns, verbs and subclasses of verbs, adjectives and subclasses of adjectives,
numerals, closed classes of shifters, and closed grammatical systems. Chapter 4 deals
with morphological units and morphological processes. Chapter 5 describes nominal
morphology, including common nouns, kinship terms, person names, family names,
locative nouns, and temporal nouns. Chapter 6 describes verbal morphology,
including verb classification, non-spatial setting, voice, imperative, negation, third
person agreement marking and lexical prefix copying. Chapter 7 addresses transitivity
and grammatical relations, including constituent order, construction markers, personal
pronouns and agreement forms. Chapter 8 discusses clause types, including
independent clauses (verbal, nominal, existential, possessive, and locative) and
dependent clauses (relative, adverbial, and complementation strategies). Chapter 9
deals with speech act distinctions, including interrogative, imperative, and declarative
sentences. Chapter 10 addresses numerals and the counting system.

vi
 Table of Contents

Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………....i
Abstract……………………………………………………………………………….v
Lists of Tables………………………………………………………………………. xv
List of Figures……………………………………………………………………... xvii
List of Maps……………………………………………………………………… ...xix
Glossing conventions and abbreviations………………………………………….xxi

Chapter 1 Introduction……………......…………..................……………………. 1
1.1 Grammatical profil e…......................................................………..………… 1
1.2 Background on Formosan languages……………………………………….. 2
1.3 Subgrouping and position of Lha’alua within Formosan languages……….. 4
1.4 About the people, the language, and some ethnographic notes of Lha’alua...7
1.5 Previous publications on the Lha’alua language………………………….. 16
1.6 About the study……………………………………………………………. 18
1.6.1 Fieldwork methodology……………………………………………... 18
1.6.2 Theoretical orientations……………………………………………... 19
1.6.3 Language consultants………………………………………………... 20
1.7 Aims of the present study…………………………………………………. 20

Chapter 2 Phonology and morphophonemics………………………………….. 21

2.1 Phonemic inventory……………………………………………………….. 21
2.1.1 Consonants…....................................………………………………... 21
2.1.1.1 Description…………………………………………………….. 22
2.1.1.2 Minimal pairs………………………………………………….. 23
2.1.1.3 Phonotactic distribution……………………………………..… 26
2.1.1.4 Allophones…………………………………………………….. 27
2.1.2 Vowels……………………………………………………………….. 28
2.1.2.1 Description…………………………………………………….. 29
2.1.2.2 Minimal pairs………………………………………………….. 29
2.1.2.3 Phonotactic distribution……………………………………….. 30
2.1.3 Long vowels…………………………………………………………. 30
2.1.4 Loan phonemes.................................................................................... 31
2.2 The syllable................................................................................................... 32
2.2.1 Syllable structure................................................................................. 32
2.2.2 Vowel sequences.................................................................................. 33

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 2.3 Stress............................................................................................................. 35
2.3.1 Primary and secondary stress assignment............................................ 35
2.3.2 Stress shift…………………………………………………………… 36
2.3.3 Vowel dropping……………………………………………………… 38
2.4 Morphophonemic rules……………………………………………………. 41
2.4.1 Regressive assimilation........................................................................ 41
2.4.1.1 Flap assimilation……………………………………………….. 41
2.4.1.2 Vowel harmony………………………………………………… 42
2.4.2 Deletion……………………………………………………………… 44
2.4.2.1 Vowel deletion............................................................................. 44
2.4.2.2 Syllable deletion………………………………………………...47
2.4.3 Vowel fronting………………………………………………………. 48
2.4.4 Vowel shortening……………………………………………………. 48
2.4.5 Resyllabification…………………………………………………….. 49
2.4.6 Order of rule application…………………………………………….. 49
2.5 Orthography………………………………………………………………... 49

Chapter 3 Word classes……………………………………………………….…. 53

3.1 Delineating major word classes and their functional slots………………….53
3.1.1 Major functions of noun and verb…………………………………… 53
3.1.2 Grammatical properties associated with nouns………………………55
3.1.3 Grammatical properties associated with verbs……………………… 67
3.2 Nouns and subclasses of nouns……………………………………………. 73
3.3 Verbs and subclasses of verbs……………………………………………... 79
3.4 Adjectival elements…………………..…………………………………… 84
3.4.1
Semantic types of adjectival elements and their morphological
properties……………………………………………………………. 86
3.4.2 Grammatical distinctions between adjectival elements, dynamic verbs
and nouns…………………………………………………….…….. 94
3.5 Numerals…………………………………………………………………. 105
3.6 Closed classes of shifters………………………………………………… 105
3.6.1 Pronouns…………………………………………………………… 105
3.6.1.1 Personal pronouns..................................................................... 105
3.6.1.2 Possessive pronouns................................................................. 106
3.6.1.3 Reflexive pronouns................................................................... 106
3.6.2 Interrogatives..................................................................................... 107
3.6.3 Demonstratives.................................................................................. 107
3.6.3.1 Demonstrative pronouns……………………………………... 107

viii
 3.6.3.2 Demonstrative as a marker of temporal and spatial reference
………………………………………………………………. 108
3.6.3.3 Demonstrative as a pause filler………………………………. 109
3.6.3.4 Adnominal demonstratives…………………………………... 110
3.7 Closed grammatical systems……………………………………………... 112
3.7.1 Construction markers………………………………………………. 112
3.7.2 Phrasal and clausal linkers…………………………………………. 112
3.7.2.1 Coordinators …………………………………………………. 112
3.7.2.1.1 Conjunctive coordinators………………………………. 113
3.7.2.1.2 Disjunctive coordinator……………………………… ... 117
3.7.2.2 Subordinators………………………………………………… 117

Chapter 4 Morphological units and morphological processes……………….. 119

4.1 Morphological type………………………………………………………. 119
4.2 Morphological units……………………………………………………… 121
4.2.1 Morphemes and allomorphs………………………………………... 121
4.2.2 Roots……………………………………………………………….. 122
4.2.3 Stems……………………………………………………………….. 123
4.2.4 Affixes………………………………………………………………123
4.2.5 Clitics………………………………………………………………. 124
4.2.6 Words………………………………………………………………. 129
4.3 Morphological processes………………………………………………… 129
4.3.1 Affixation…………………………………………………………... 130
4.3.1.1 Prefixation.................................................................................. 130
4.3.1.2 Infixation.................................................................................... 131
4.3.1.3 Suffixation..................................................................................132
4.3.1.4 Circumfixation........................................................................... 132
4.3.2 Reduplication..................................................................................... 133
4.3.2.1 Lexicalised reduplication........................................................... 134
4.3.2.2 Full reduplication……………………………………………... 135
4.3.2.3 (C)a- reduplication………………………………………......... 135
4.3.2.4 (C)V- reduplication…………………………………………….137
4.3.2.5 CV˘- reduplication…………………………………………….. 139
4.2.2.6 (C)V(C)V- reduplication………………………………………. 141
4.3.2.7 Triplication……………………………………………………. 143
4.3.2.8 Quadreduplication……………….…………………………… 144
4.3.2.9 Serial reduplication…………………………………………… 144

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Chapter 5 Nominal morphology……………………………………………….. 147
5.1 Common nouns…………………………………………………………... 147
5.2 Kinship terms, person names and family names………………………… 150
5.2.1 Kinship terms and their vocative forms……………………………. 150
5.2.2 Person names………………………………………………………. 154
5.2.2.1 Person names and their vocative forms……………………… 154
5.2.2.2 Person names according to different life stages……………… 157
5.2.2.3 Person names according to different social statuses and birth
orders…………………………………………………………161
5.2.3 Family names………………………………………………………. 164
5.3 Locative nouns…………………………………………………………… 165
5.3.1 Nouns referring to a location………………………………………. 165
5.3.2 Orientational and directional nouns………………………………... 165
5.3.3 Place names………………………………………………………… 167
5.3.4 Nouns referring to a ‘place where something gathers or is gathered,
and an action is performed’…………………………………………168
5.3.4.1 Nouns referring to a ‘place where something gathers or is
gathered’……………………………………………………….168
5.3.4.2 Nouns referring to a ‘place where an action is performed’……172
5.4 Temporal nouns…………………………………………………………... 174
5.4.1 Specific Frequency………………………………………………….175
5.4.2 Specific time spans………………………………………………… 176
5.4.3 Temporal shifters…………………………………………………... 177
5.5 Markings of plurality and distributivity………………………………….. 179
5.5.1 Plurality…………………………………………………………….. 179
5.5.2 Distributivity…………………………………………….................. 181

Chapter 6 Verbal morphology............................................................................. 185

6.1 Markers of verb classification..................................................................... 185
6.1.1 Stative marker.................................................................................... 185
6.1.2 Inchoative marker…..……………………………………………... 188
6.2 Non-spatial setting……………………………………………………….. 189
6.2.1 Reality Status………………………………………………………. 189
6.2.1.1 Realis………………………………………………………… 190
6.2.1.2 Irrealis………………………………………………………... 190
6.2.2 Aspect……………………………………………………………….. 193
6.2.2.1 Perfective aspect……………………………………………... 193
6.2.2.2 Imperfective aspect……………………………………………194

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 6.2.2.3 Change-of-state aspect………..……………………………... 195
6.2.2.4 Progressive, continuous, iterative and habitual aspects..……. 196
6.2.2.5 Diminutive/Attenuative aspect………………………………..200
6.2.2.6 Experiential aspect…………………………………………… 201
6.2.3 Evidentiality………………………………………………………... 201
6.2.4 Modality……………………………………………………………. 203
6.3 Voice……………………………………………………………………... 204
6.3.1 Actor voice…………………………………………………………. 205
6.3.2 Patient voice………………………………………………………... 208
6.3.3 Locative voice……………………………………………………… 209
6.4 Imperatives……………………………………………………………….. 210
6.5 Negators………………………………………………………………….. 210
6.5.1 General negator ku…………………………………………………. 210
6.5.2 Existential negator uka’a………………………………………………… 211
6.5.3 Imperative negator kuu…………………………………………….. 212
6.6 Third person agreement marking………………………………………… 212
6.7 Lexical prefix copying…………………………………………………… 214

Chapter 7 Transitivity………………………………………………………….. 217

7.1 Verbal clause patterns and argument structure……………………………218
7.2 Grammatical mechanisms for marking core and peripheral arguments…. 222
7.2.1 Constituent order…………………………………………………… 223
7.2.1.1 The order of full noun phrases……………………………….. 223
7.2.1.2 The order of Pronouns and agreement forms………………… 229
7.2.1.3 The order of elements in possessive constructions…………... 235
7.2.1.4 The position of a topicalized constituent…………………….. 237
7.2.2 Construction markers………………………………………………. 241
7.2.2.1 Topic markers a/ia…………………………………………… 241
7.2.2.2 Linkers a and ka…..…………………………………………. 242
7.2.2.3 Case marking system for full nouns…………………………. 247
7.2.2.3.1 The core markers a and ka…………….………………. 248
7.2.2.3.2 The oblique case marker n(a)……………………………… 253
7.2.2.3.3 The genitive case markers a and ka……………………. 256
7.2.3 Personal pronouns and agreement forms…………………………... 257
7.2.3.1 Personal pronoun systems……………………………………. 258
7.2.3.2 Agreement forms…………………………………………….. 268

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Chapter 8 Clause types…………………………………………………………. 273
8.1 Types of independent clauses……………………………………………..273
8.1.1 Verbal clauses……………………………………………………….273
8.1.1.1 Ambient clauses……………………………………………… 273
8.1.1.2 Intransitive clauses…………………………………………… 274
8.1.1.2.1 Clauses with a monovalent predicate…………………... 274
8.1.1.2.2 Extended intransitive clauses…………………………... 275
8.1.1.3 Transitive clauses…………………………………………….. 276
8.1.1.4 Applicative clauses…………………………………………... 277
8.1.2 Nominal clauses……………………………………………………. 278
8.1.3 Existential, possessive, and locative clauses………………………..279
8.1.3.1 Existential and locative clauses……………………………… 279
8.1.3.2 Possessive clauses……………………………………………. 282
8.1.3.3 Quantifiers and numerals as existential predicates…………... 283
8.1.3.4 pi- ‘have’ and u- ‘have’………………………………………. 286
8.2 Types of dependent clauses………………………………………………. 287
8.2.1 Relative clauses…………………………………………………….. 287
8.2.2 Adverbial clauses…………………………………………………... 291
8.2.2.1 Conditional clauses…………………………………………... 291
8.2.2.2 Temporal clauses…………………………………………….. 294
8.2.2.2.1 Temporal simultaneity…………………………………. 294
8.2.2.2.2 Temporal sequence…………………………………….. 296
8.2.2.2.3 Temporal boundary…………………………………….. 298
8.2.2.3 ‘Concerning’ clauses…………………………………………. 300
8.2.2.4 Concessive clauses.................................................................... 301
8.2.3 Complementation strategies............................................................... 302
8.2.3.1 Utterance predicates.................................................................. 303
8.2.3.2 Knowledge predicates………………………………………... 304
8.2.3.3 Perception predicates………………………………………… 306
8.2.3.4 Predicates of fear……………………………………………...306
8.2.3.5 Desiderative predicates………………………………………. 307
8.2.3.6 Manipulative predicates……………………………………… 308
8.2.3.7 Modal predicates……………………………………………... 308
8.2.3.8 Phasal predicates……………………………………………... 310

Chapter 9 Speech act distinctions……………………………………………… 313

9.1 Interrogative sentences................................................................................313
9.1.1 Polar interrogatives............................................................................ 313

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 9.1.1.1 Interrogative particle................................................................. 314
9.1.1.2 Intonational marking…………………………………………. 315
9.1.2 Constituent interrogatives and their interrelations with other
grammatical categories…………………………………………….. 316
9.1.2.1 ‘What’………………………………………………………... 318
9.1.2.2 ‘Who’………………………………………………………… 319
9.1.2.3 ‘When’……………………………………………………….. 321
9.1.2.4 ‘Where’………………………………………………………. 321
9.1.2.5 ‘Why’………………………………………………………… 322
9.1.2.6 ‘How much/many’…………………………………………… 323
9.1.2.7 ‘How’………………………………………………………… 325
9.1.2.8 ‘Which’………………………………………………………. 326
9.1.3 Answer to questions………………………………………………... 326
9.2 Imperative sentences……………………………………………………... 330
9.2.1 Positive imperatives………………………………………………... 330
9.2.1.1 Politeness varieties…………………………………………… 330
9.2.1.2 Voice varieties and imperative suffixes……………………… 333
9.2.1.3 Other grammatical categories: evidentiality, modality,
aspectuality and reality status……………………………….. 339
9.2.2 Negative imperatives………………………………………………. 340
9.2.3 Hortative…………………………………………………………… 342
9.3 Declarative sentences…………………………………………………….. 343
9.3.1 In relation to the other basic types…………………………………. 343
9.3.2 Interaction with evidentiality………………………………………. 345

Chapter 10 Numerals and the counting system………………………………. 347

10.1 Word formation of numerals and the counting system………………… 347
10.1.1 Numerals from one to ten………………………………………... 347
10.1.2 Numerals higher than ten………………………………………… 352
10.1.2.1 Numerals from ten to nineteen……………………………... 352
10.1.2.2 Numerals from ten to ninety……………………………….. 353
10.1.2.3 Numerals from one hundred to nine hundred……………… 354
10.1.2.4 Numerals from one thousand to nine thousand…………….. 356
10.1.2.5 Numerals higher than ten thousand………………………… 357
10.1.3 Derived numerals………………………………………………… 358
10.1.3.1 Ordinal numerals…………………………………………… 359
10.1.3.2 Distributive numerals………………………………………. 359
10.1.3.3 Frequentative numerals…………………………………….. 361

xiii
 10.1.4 The counting system and person names…………………………...361
10.2 Syntactic functions of numerals………………………………………... 362

Appendix Selected excerpts from Lha’alua stories……………………………365

References…………………………………………………………………………. 377

xiv
 List of Tables

Table 1.1 Background information of language consultants……………………. 20

Table 2.1 Consonant phonemes…………………………………………………. 22
Table 2.2 Distribution of consonants……………………………………………. 27
Table 2.3 Vowel phonemes……………………………………………………… 29
Table 2.4 Distribution of vowels…………………………………………………30
Table 2.5 Distribution of vowel sequences……………………………………… 34
Table 2.6 Word-final vowel dropping…………………………………………… 38
Table 2.7 Orthographic system………………………………………………….. 51
Table 2.8 Orthographic differences……………………………………………... 52
Table 3.1 Major word classes and their functional slots………………………… 55
Table 3.2 Grammatical properties of subclasses of nouns………………………. 74
Table 3.3 Semantic types of adjectival elements…………………..……………. 87
Table 3.4 Morphological properties of semantic types of adjectival elements...... 94
Table 3.5 Grammatical characteristics of Lha’alua, differentiating adjectival
elements from dynamic verbs and nouns…………....……………… 104
Table 5.1 Kinship terms………………………………………………………... 152
Table 5.2 Kinship terms and their vocative forms……………………………... 154
Table 5.3 Person names and their vocative forms……………………………... 155
Table 5.4 Female names according to different life stages…………………….. 157
Table 5.5 Male names according to different life stages………………………. 158
Table 5.6 Female names according to different social statuses and birth orders
………………………………………………………………………. 161
Table 5.7 Male names according to different social statuses and birth orders… 162
Table 5.8 Seven person names of Lha’alua....................………………………. 163
Table 7.1 Possibilities in marking A, O, E, and peripheral arguments………… 218
Table 7.2 Case marking system ………………………….…………………… 248
Table 7.3 Personal pronouns…………...………………………………………. 258
Table 7.4 Genitive pronouns and their related verb agreement forms…………. 269
Table 9.1 Characteristics of constituent interrogatives………………………… 317
Table 9.2 Voice varieties and imperative suffixes in positive imperatives…….. 333
Table 10.1 Simple and reduplicated forms of the PAN numerals……………….. 348
Table 10.2 Numerals from one to ten…………………………………………… 349
Table 10.3 Numerals from eleven to nineteen…………………………..……… 353
Table 10.4 Numerals from ten to ninety……………………………………….... 354
Table 10.5 Numerals from one hundred to nine hundred……………….............. 355

xv
Table 10.6 Numerals from one thousand to nine thousand………………………357
Table 10.7 Numerals from ten thousand to ninety thousand…………..……….. 358
Table 10.8 Female names in different social statuses…………………………… 362
Table 10.9 Male names in different social statuses……………………………... 362

xvi
 List of Figures

Figure 1.1 The genetic subgrouping of the Tsou language (Adapted from Blust
1977)…………………………………………………………………….4
Figure 1.2 The genetic subgrouping of Austronesian languages (Blust 1999:45,
2009)…………………………………………………………………….5
Figure 1.3 Sagart’s (2004:421) higher Austronesian phylogeny based on three
innovations, shown in italicisation……………………………………...6
Figure 3.1 Canonical scheme, with noun also being head of predicate…………...54
Figure 7.1 Verbal clause patterns and argument structures in Lha’alua………… 219

xvii
xviii
 List of Maps

Map 1.1 Distribution of Formosan languages (mainly based on Martin 2006)……. 3

Map 1.2 Geographical distribution of the Lha’alua villages………………………..8

xix
xx
 Glossing conventions and abbreviations

Glossing conventions

Examples have three lines. The first line represents the underlying form. The
second line gives interlinear morpheme-by-morpheme glosses. The third line is a
translation into English.

Examples are numbered consecutively within each chapter and include the
chapter number, so (2.33) is the thirty-third example in Chapter 2. Tables, figures and
maps are numbered consecutively within each chapter and include the chapter number,
so table 7.3 is the third table in Chapter 7. Cited examples come from three sources: (i)
texts that were recorded, translated and glossed in the field, (ii) personal observation,
and (iii) elicitation. Lha’alua words cited within the text are italicised and given in
their underlying forms.

The following symbols are used in examples:

A dot (.) separates the two (or more) functions of a portmanteau morpheme, in
glosses only, e.g. m-ia-ta-tuu-tumu=aku (AV-thrust/push-RED-RED-BOUND.ROOT=1SG.ABS).

A hyphen (-) separates roots and prefixes and suffixes in examples and glosses,
e.g. ngalha-ku (name-1SG.GEN).

An equals sign (=) separates enclitics in examples and glosses, e.g.

ki-a-lha-lhamu=aku (tell/talk-IRR-RED-tell/talk=1SG.ABS).

A colon (:) separates semantically identifiable morphemes in a portmanteau, in

glosses only, e.g. ki-sa-sua (dig-RED:human-two) and kiana (CL:long).

A less than sign plus a greater than sign (<>) separate roots and infixes in
examples and glosses, e.g. m-i<a>ma (AV-drink<IRR>).

Circumfixes are glossed twice on two discontinuing forms, e.g. ma-pitu-lhe

(tens-seven-tens ‘seventy’).

The full stop (.) represents a syllable boundary and hash (#) a word boundary. A

xxi
single asterisk (*) marks hypothetical reconstructed segments and morphemes, and an
ungrammatical or otherwise impossible form.

An underline (_) used in English translations in syntax chapters denotes the

argument which is pragmatically profiled by the voice marker, e.g. m-i<a>ma=mu
salhumu (AV-drink<IRR>=2PL.ABS water ‘You will drink water’).

A long vowel is written as two identical vowels, e.g. lhaamama ‘old person’.

A bound root is glossed as (BOUND.ROOT), since it does not convey any particular
meaning in isolation (§4.1), e.g. m-u-sipare (AV-motion.on.foot-BOUND.ROOT ‘wade a
stream’)

Nouns with an unmarked form are glossed as singular ones. Their precise
translations (either singular or plural) in English are context-dependent (§5.5.1).

Cross-references to whole chapters are given as e.g. ‘Chapter 2’, while

references to sections within chapters are given in the form ‘§10.3’, which refers to
section 3 in chapter 10.

Grammatical morphemes are generally rendered by abbreviated grammatical

category labels, printed in small capitals. A list of standard abbreviations (which are
widely known among linguists and are adopted in this thesis) is given next.

Abbreviations

1, 2, 3 first person etc.

A the argument of a plain transitive verb, whose referent does (or
potentially could) initiate or control the activity
ABSL absolute
ACC accusative
ACHI achievement marker
AF Actor focus
AGR agreement marker
APPL applicative
ASP aspect marker
AV Actor voice
BF benefactive focus

xxii
BV benefactive voice
CAUS causative
CL classifier
CONJ conjunction
COOR coordinator
CORE core case
COS change of state
CV conveyance voice
DEM demonstrative
DISJ disjunction
E the second core argument of a bivalent intransitive verb
EVI evidentiality
EXCL exclusive
EXPE experiential marker
FUT future tense
GEN genitive
HAB habitual marker
IF instrument focus
IMP imperative
IMPERF imperfective marker
INCH inchoative marker
INCL inclusive
INDEP independent (free) pronoun
INST instrumental
INTR intransitive
IRR irrealis
IV instrument voice
LF locative focus
LOC location
LF locative focus
LNK linker
LV locative voice
MOD modality marker
NAF non-actor focus
NAV non-actor voice
NEG negative
NMZ nominalization
NOM nominative

xxiii
O the argument of a plain transitive verb, whose referent is saliently
affected by the activity
OBL oblique case
PART particle
PAST past tense
PERF perfective marker
PF patient focus
PL plural
POSS possessive marker
PV patient voice
Q question
REA realis
RECIP reciprocal marker
RED reduplication
REL relative clause marker
S the sole argument of a canonical intransitive verb and the core
argument of a bivalent intransitive verb
SG singular
STAT stative
TEMP temporal
TOP topicalization marker
TR transitive

xxiv
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Grammatical profile

This thesis is a grammar of Lha’alua (also known as Saaroa), an Austronesian

language of Taiwan. Lha’alua is spoken in Taoyuan Village and Kaochung Village,
Taoyuan District, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. There are approximately 400 people of
Lha’alua. At the moment, 10-15 people are able to speak the language. The language
status of Lha’alua is moribund.

Lha’alua has 13 consonants: /p, t, k, /, s, v, ts, m, n, N, r, R, ¬/ and four vowels: /i,

i, u, a/. Vowel length is contrastive in Lha’alua. The basic syllable pattern is (C)V.
Underived roots carrying the basic meaning of words usually consist of more than two
syllables in a (C)V.(C)V.(C)V pattern. A disyllabic (C)V.(C)V pattern is relatively rare.
Grammatical morphemes are usually a single syllable, e.g. construction markers.
Lha’alua distinguishes primary stress and secondary stress. Primary is not contrastive,
nor is secondary stress. Primary stress within a word typically falls on the penultimate
or antepenultimate syllable. A vowel with primary stress is characterised by higher
pitch and greater intensity.

Lha’alua exhibits a rich morphology and belongs to the morphological type of

synthetic-agglutinating. Usually a word consists of a largish number of morphemes
(roots, affixes and clitics) but at the same time morpheme boundaries are clear.
Prefixation is productive, whereas other affixations are not. Reduplication is widely
deployed. The two major word classes are verb and noun, with rich morphology
marking. Despite some grammatical distinctions differentiating adjectival elements
from dynamic verbs and noun, ‘adjective’ is not recognisable as an independent word
class. Adjectival elements are treated as stative verbs in that they exhibit the same
morphosyntactic properties.

The basic constituent order is VAO, if transitive, or VS(E), if intransitive. The

pronominal system consists of bound pronouns and independent pronouns. The bound
pronoun is a core argument in S function or A function, whereas the independent
pronoun is a core argument in S (when topicalised), E, A or O function. The bound
pronouns can be divided into two sets: nominative pronouns, marking arguments in S

1
function, and genitive pronouns, marking arguments in A function and possessor
function. The case system includes core, oblique and genitive. The core case covers
arguments in S, A and O functions. The oblique case marks extended arguments (i.e. E
function) and peripheral arguments, e.g. location. The genitive case is used to encode
possessor function.

There are three verbal clause patterns in Lha’alua: (i) Pattern 1: monovalent
intransitive clauses, (ii) Pattern 2: bivalent intransitive clauses and (iii) Pattern 3: (a)
bivalent transitive clauses and (b) bivalent applicative clauses. (i) and (ii) take Actor
voice (AV), marked by um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø-; (iiia) takes patient voice (PV), marked by
-a/-ø; (iiib) takes locative voice (LV), marked by -a(na)/-i/-ani. The definiteness
effect plays a role in determining the manifestation of voice in an independent clause,
and the manifestation of voice in independent clauses plays a role in determining
grammatical subjects.

Lha’alua has independent clauses: verbal, nominal, existential, possessive and

locative clauses, and dependent clauses: relative and adverbial clauses. Lha’alua
exhibits 8 complementation strategies: utterance predicates, knowledge predicates,
perception predicates, predicates of fear, desiderative predicates, manipulative
predicates, modal predicates and phasal predicates.

1.2 Background on Formosan languages

According to the statistics compiled by the Council of Indigenous People (CIP),

Executive Yuan, Taiwan in September 2011, the overall population of aborigines is
518218, approximately 2 percent of Taiwan’s total population. Taiwan’s aborigines
are Austronesian peoples, with genetic links to other Austronesian ethnic groups. The
distribution of Austronesian peoples spreads over a vast region from the north, Taiwan,
to the south, New Zealand, and from the east, Madagascar, to the west, Hawai’i.

The languages that Taiwan’s aborigines speak are collectively referred to as the
Formosan languages, subsumed under the Austronesian language family. Nowadays,
there are fourteen Formosan languages: Atayal, Saisiyat, Pazeh1, Thao, Bunun, Tsou,
Lha’alua (also known as Saaroa), Kanakanavu, Rukai, Paiwan, Puyuma, Amis,
Kavalan and Seediq2. (Their geographical distribution is shown on Map 1.1.) A

1
At the time of writing, the last well-known speaker of Pazeh passed away in 2010. Whether there are
other speakers or language rememberers of Pazeh is not crystal clear. It is likely that Kahabu, one of
the dialect of Pazeh might still have a few speakers.
2
Truku is part of the Seediq language.

2
fifteenth indigenous language is Yami, spoken on Orchid Island, Taitung County;
Yami is included in the literature on Formosan linguistics, although it is genetically
closer to the Philippine languages (Batanic subgroup).

Map 1.1: Distribution of Formosan languages (mainly based on Martin 2006)3

Fourteen ethnic groups are officially recognised by the Taiwan government at the
time of writing4: Amis, Atayal, Bunun, Kavalan, Paiwan, Puyuma, Rukai, Saisiyat,
Sakizaya, Seediq, Yami, Thao, Tsou, and Truku, leaving out Lha’alua (subsumed
under Tsou), Kanakanavu (subsumed under Tsou), and Pazeh. The Executive Yuan,
Republic of China (Taiwan) has officially recognised Truku since January 15, 2004.
In terms of language itself, Truku is part of the Seediq language. Sakizaya was

3
The map was re-drawn by Chih-hsien Lin, an assistant at the Institute of Linguistics, Academia
Sinica. In this map, * means the group has not been officially recognised as an independent ethnic
group by the Taiwan government.
4
To gain the official recognition as an independent ethnic group from the Taiwan government, an ethic
group is required to conform to the qualifications drawn up by the CIP and then proceed to petition the
CIP.

3
recognised as an independent ethnic group (from Amis) by the Taiwan government in
January 2007. However, most linguists still consider Sakizaya as a dialect of Amis
(Joy Wu, personal communication).

1.3 Subgrouping and position of Lha’alua within Formosan languages

Blust (1977), using exclusively shared innovations, sound change

correspondence and morphology, proposes that Proto-Austronesian is divided into
four main subgroups: Atayalic, Tsouic, Paiwanic, and Malayo-Polynesian. The Tsouic
group consists of Northern Tsou and Southern Tsou, which has been used by scholars,
such as Ogawa and Asai (1935), Ferrell (1969) (using word list), Tsuchida (1979)
(using reconstruction of Proto-Tsouic phonology), and many others.5 While Northern
Tsou is the so-called Tsou, Southern Tsou covers Kanakanavu and Lha’alua. The
genetic subgrouping of the Tsouic languages is represented in Figure 1.1.

PROTO-AUSTRONESIAN

ATAYALIC TSOUIC PAIWANIC MALAYO-POLYNESIAN

(NORTHERN) TSOU SOUTHERN TSOU

Iimucu6 Luhtu Tapangu Tfuya Lha’alua Kanakanavu

(Saaroa)
Figure 1.1: The genetic subgrouping of the Tsou language
(Adapted from Blust 1977)

Blust (1999, 2009), using exclusively shared innovations and sound change
correspondence, classifies the Austronesian languages into ten subgroups, with nine
subgroups belonging to Formosan languages and all the extra-Formosan languages
subsumed into the remaining subgroup. The ten subgroups of the Austronesian
languages are as follows: 1. Atayalic (Atayal and Seediq); 2. East Formosan, with a
northern branch (Basai-Trobiawan and Kavalan), a central branch (Amis), and a
southwest branch (Siraya); 3. Puyuma; 4. Paiwan; 5. Rukai; 6. Tsouic (Tsou, Lha’alua

5
This view is reflected in Blust’s (1999:52) remarks. “The fundamental evidence for a Tsouic subgroup
has been presented by Tsuchida (1976). Although some writers have questioned the unity of Tsouic
(Harvey 1982:90), I accept it as established on the basis of Tsuchida’s extensive documentation.”
6
Based on Tung (1964), this dialect is extinct.

4
(Saaroa), and Kanakanavu); 7. Bunun; 8. Western Plains consisting of central western
plains with Taskas-Babuza and Papora-Hoanya on the one hand, and of Thao on the
other; 9. Northwest Formosan, with Saisiyat and Kulon-Pazeh; 10.
Malayo-Polynesian. This subgrouping hypothesis is represented in Figure 1.2.

Figure 1.2: The genetic subgrouping of Austronesian languages

(Blust 1999:45, 2009)7

Sagart (2004), using lexical innovations in numerals, proposes that Luilang,

Pazeh and Saisiyat each forms a primary subgroup of Austronesian (since they have
not undergone the shared innovation of *pitu ‘7’), whereas the other Formosan
languages belong to a fourth primary group called ‘Pituish’ (since these languages
have *pitu). Pituish, in turn, comprise a number of languages listed in Figure 1.3 and
a ‘Walu-Siwaish’ subgroup (languages that in addition have *walu ‘8’, and *Siwa ‘9’).
Within Sagart’s (2004) subgrouping, Lha’alua is subsumed under the Walu-Siwaish
subgroup.

7
Courtesy of Elizabeth Zeitoun.

5
 PAn
Pituish
Walu-Siwaish

Luilang Atayalic Tsou

Pazeh Thao Lha’alua (Saaroa)
Saisiyat Favorlang Kanakanavu
Taokas Bunun
Siraya Rukai
Papora Paiwan
Hoanya Puyuma
Kavalan
Amis
Proto Malayo-
Polynesian

*pitu ‘7’ *walu ‘8 ‘

*Siwa ‘9’
Figure 1.3: Sagart’s (2004:421) higher Austronesian phylogeny based on
three innovations, shown in italicisation.

In the literature, Lha’alua and Kanakanavu (collectively labeled as Southern

Tsou) are together subsumed under the Tsou language (the Tsouic Subgroup
Hypothesis: Tsuchida 1976, Blust 1977, 1999, among others). However, whether the
Tsouic Subgroup Hypothesis is adequate or not is still questionable. Ferrell (1969:68)
notes that “although the Saaroa are culturally Tsouic, their vocabulary resemblances
to Siraya and Rukai are so numerous that one may wonder whether Saaroa is indeed a
Tsouic language with extensive influences from neighboring Paiwanic languages, or
whether it may in fact be a Paiwanic language with heavy Tsouic overlay”. Ferrell
(1972:127-128) also indicates that “although Tsouic structural complexities are not
found in Kanakanabu and Saaroa, neither do they appear to have ordinary
Paiwanic-type syntax; evidence is insufficient as yet to determine whether they may
be basically Tsouic-type languages which have simply shed their heavy syntactic
baggage, or what”.8 H. Chang (2006) casts doubt on the Tsouic Subgroup Hypothesis
and raises the question of whether (Northern) Tsou constitutes a subgroup with

8
Usually, Kanakanavu is written in the orthography, rather than Kanakanabu. Here, the original
sentences, however, are retained and cited.

6
Lha’alua and Kanakanavu, due to the fact that none of the (Northern) Tsou exclusive
innovations is attested in Lha’alua and Kanakanavu.9

There are diverse hypotheses towards the subgrouping of Austronesian languages.

For more studies pertinent to this issue, please refer to Haudricourt (1965), Ferrell
(1969), Dyen (1971a, 1971b, 1992), Dahl (1976), Tsuchida (1976), Starosta (1995),
Wolff (1995), Ross (2009), and so on.

1.4 About the people, the language, and some ethnographic notes of Lha’alua

(i) DISTRIBUTION. The Lha’alua people reside in the Taoyuan Village (Chinese name:
桃源村) and Kaochung Village (Chinese name:高中村), Taoyuan District (Chinese
name:桃源區), Kaohsiung City, Taiwan. Some Lha’alua people relocated themselves
to the current Maya Village, Namasia District (Chinese name:那瑪夏區), Kaohsiung
City between 1931 and 1936.10 There are four ethnic communities ‘she (Chinese
name:社)’ of Lha’alua: Lhilhala (Chinese name:雁爾社), Paiciana (Chinese name:排
剪社), Talicia (Chinese name:塔臘袷社) and Vilangane (Chinese name:美壠社/美
蘭社). Lhilhala, including two sub-communities: Tangulha (Chinese name:上部落)
and Karavun, is located in Taoyuan Village. Among the four ethnic communities, it is
the northernmost one. Paiciana is situated in Kaochung Village, including three
sub-communities: Relhece (Chinese name:高中村), Paapanara (Chinese name:二部落)
and Selhengane (Chinese name:檢查哨). Relhece is the place where most Lha’alua
people are living. The ethnic community, Talicia, lay to the north of Taluoliu River in
Kaochung Village, and was no longer extant, approximately back to 1951. Since then,
many of the Lha’alua people in this ethnic community relocated themselves to
Paiciana. Vilangane lies to the east of Laonong River and the opposite side of Taluoliu
River’s mouth in Kaochung Village. This area is also called Suaci (Chinese name:過
河/索阿紀).

9
For detailed discussion on this issue, readers are referred to H. Chang (2006). In addition, Ross
(2009) also raises the same doubt on the Tsouic subgroup.
10
On 1st January 2008, Sanmin Township (Chinese name:三民鄉) was officially renamed as Namasia
District (Chinese name:那瑪夏區) and Minquan Village (Chinese name:民權村) as Maya Village
(Chinese name:瑪雅村). These new names come from the Kanakanavu language.

7
 Map 1.2: Geographical distribution of the Lha’alua villages11

(ii) ENVIRONMENT. Taoyuan District reaches an altitude ranging from 500 to 3000
meters and is surrounded by mountains and rivers. Two national parks, Yushan
National Park and Maolin National Park, abut upon this area. Plenty of abundant
natural environments can be spotted here. According to the Taoyuan District Office,
the yearly average temperature is 22.7 degrees Celsius and the yearly average rainfall
is 2757.5 minimeters. Rainfall mainly accumulates during the rainy season (known as
plum rain season), approximately in May and June, and during the typhoon period,
approximately in summer and early autumn.

(iii) POPULATION, SPEAKERS AND PRESENT STATE. In light of the statistics compiled
by the Council of Indigenous People (CIP), Executive Yuan, Taiwan in September
2011, the overall population of Tsou, including (Northern) Tsou, Kanakanavu and
Lha’alua, is 6871. There is no individual report officially for the population of

11
The map was drawn by Chih-hsien Lin, an assistant at the Institute of Linguistics, Academia Sinica.

8
Lha’alua. However, according to the elders of Lha’alua and the Taoyuan District
Office (Chinese name:桃源區公所), Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, it is estimated that the
population of Lha’alua is, approximately, 400 in total. At present, only 10-15 people
are capable of speaking the Lha’alua language. Most of these speakers live in
Kaochung Village; a few live in Taoyuan Village. At the time of writing the grammar,
two speakers are living in Maya Village, Namasia District. They used to live in
Kaochung Village, Taoyuan District, but they relocated to Maya Village, Namasia
District after marriage. Except for the two speakers in this village, descendants of
those who relocated to the current Maya Village, Namasia District between 1931 and
1936 do not have any knowledge of the Lha’alua language.

Although a few Lha’alua people, including young, middle-aged and old people,
think that they are speakers of the Lha’alua language, those people, in fact, have no
intuition of the Lha’alua language at all, and speak the language very fragmentally.
Estimation of how many people speak a given language can vary tremendously. Some
surveys include only first language (native) speakers, whereas others include both first
and second language speakers, i.e. those who use the language in daily life but are not
native speakers of it, let alone the current situation in Lha’alua. In the case of
Lha’alua, the majority of Lha’alua people barely use their language in daily life, and
merely have a limited, poor or passive knowledge of it. Even for those who are truly
native of Lha’alua speakers, they almost always use Mandarin or Bunun in their daily
life. The Lha’alua language is not actively spoken anymore. In other words, there is
no active speech community of the Lha’alua language.

In Chiu’s (2008) Austronesian cultural study, 12 people can speak a little

Lha’alua, 5 people can understand it, and 21 people can speak it fluently. There are 38
people in total, 14.29 percent of the Lha’alua’s population. However, according to my
fieldwork in the Lha’alua villages, only a small number of speakers can be regarded
as language consultants, and even much fewer are very competent language
consultants. In recent years, the government and the Lha’alua communities have tried
to offer language learning classes in the Lha’alua language for young children in the
elementary school in order to encourage children to learn to speak the language. Due
to the lack of Lha’alua language teachers, children’s learning motivation, and
practical utility in daily life, the effects nevertheless only reach to a rather limited
extent.

(iv) DIALECTS. No literature unearths and mentions dialectal diversity in terms of

lexicon, phonology, morphology and syntax. Similarly, no dialectal variation has been

9
found in this grammar. It is, however, found that there are some grammatical
variations among the Lha’alua speakers of different ages, and this may result from
language obsolescence. For example, some people (around the age of sixty) use
lha-kana’a=na ‘they/them’ to denote third person pronoun; however, the oldest
speaker cannot understand this word at all.

(v) WRITING SYSTEM. In the past, the Roman script was employed in writing in the
previous materials of Lha’alua. On December 15, 2005, a standard orthography
system for Formosan languages was officially adopted by the Council of Indigenous
People and the Ministry of Education of Executive Yuan, Taiwan. At the moment,
only a very small number of Lha’alua people can use this standard orthography
system to write their own language. Discussion about orthography will be provided in
§2.5.

(vi) MULTILINGUALISM. Due to the multiracial state in the area the Lha’alua people
live, many of them could understand and speak other languages of neighboring ethnic
groups. Many Lha’alua people are bilingual speakers, and unsurprisingly even
trilingual, quadrilingual and quinlingual speakers.12 Almost everyone, except those
who are over the age of 70, can understand and speak Mandarin Chinese, the official
language of Taiwan. Besides, some people can understand and speak Taiwanese
Southern Min, another dominating language in Taiwan in addition to the official
language, Mandarin Chinese. Moreover, a large number of people, except young
people, can understand and speak Bunun fluently, the dominant language of
indigenous people in the area. Old people who were born during Japanese occupation
period can understand and speak Japanese, too.

(vii) NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION. Explicit verbal expression is not generally

favored and silence is always appreciated while the ethnic community leader or the
elders are speaking. Implicit verbal expression or verbal expression with humbleness
is highly favored in the community, especially when talking with senior people.

(viii) MEANS OF SUBSISTENCE. The Lha’alua people usually get vegetables from the
farms and get meat from the coops of chicken, ducks, geese, pigs and wild boars. If
men go hunting, usually wild boars, Formosan Reeve’s muntjacs, flying squirrels, etc,
then they can have meat, too, and certainly would share with other people in the
village. Besides, they obtain food (i) shared by other aboriginals from other ethnic

12
The oldest speaker can speak five languages: Lha’alua, Bunun, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, and
Taiwanese Southern Min.

10
groups (e.g. Bunun) in the village, (ii) from two movable stand cars coming to the
village almost every day, or (iii) by going shopping in neighbouring areas like
Peerai/Puurai (Chinese name:寶來) or Lhakuruca (Chinese name:六龜).

(ix) MATERIAL CULTURE. The way of sleeping is on the bed, basically made of wood
or spring. The methods of cooking now consist in boiling on coals or on gas,
stir-frying on gas, steaming in coals or in gas, and roasting on coals or in ground oven.
Cookers and cutleries, no longer made by the Lha’alua people now, are made of wood
or metal, e.g. iron, and are purchased from shops. There is no pottery or ceramics, not
to mention its use for cooking or water storage. Nowadays, almost each house has a
water tower, made of iron, for the storage of water. Hunting tools consist of snares,
knives, guns, fish-catching baskets or nets, bows and arrows, and so on.

(x) TRANSPORT. Owing to the famous and popular hot spring area, Baolai (Chinese
name:寶來), in the neighboring area, public transport, bus, is available in the Lha’alua
villages. The Lha’alua people usually take it when travelling to distant places, e.g. to
go to Kaohsiung City. Besides, almost every family at least has a scooter, a car, or a
van. They usually go to work or visit friends by scooter or by van. When travelling
between villages in the same district or abutting districts, they also use scooters or
cars.

(xi) STYLE OF LIVING. Each extended family has one house, and nowadays for
younger generations, they start to form nuclear families and build their own houses.
Houses are mostly made of brick and cement, and are seldom made of wood. Each
extended family almost has one working hut right near the farm and might even have
one hunting hut in the hunting area. Working huts and hunting huts are chiefly made
of wood and iron sheet, rather than brick and cement.

(xii) DIVISION OF LABOUR. Basically, from past to now, there is a clear-cut division of
tasks between male and female. Most frequently, men do fishing and hunting of small
and large land animals; women look after children or grandchildren and do daily
cooking or cooking on ceremonial occasions. Besides, there are other tasks
specifically for men, e.g. building working huts, building hunting huts, making leather
clothes, weaving baskets, handling public affairs and administration, and logging
wood. Likewise, there are other tasks specifically for women, e.g. brewing rice wine,
sewing, and catching shrimps. Apart from the above-mentioned, the division of other
tasks does not vary greatly; instead, men and women normally work in concert, e.g.
breeding poultry in coops, breeding pigs or wild boars, bringing wasteland under

11
cultivation, making farms, sowing seeds, weeding on farms, harvesting crops,
gathering food from farms, and gathering food from outside farms. In a word, men do
administrative, hazardous, adventurous, risky and skillful tasks while women do tasks
other than these; however, for those labour-intensive and time-consuming agricultural
tasks, men and women work in joint efforts at all times.

(xiii) RELATION WITH NEIGHBOURS. According to the elders of Lha’alua, the

Lha’alua people were the first ethnic group dwelling in the Taoyuan Village and
Kaochung Village. At present, in addition to Lha’alua, these two villages are inhabited
by other ethnic groups, such as Bunun, Rukai, Paiwan, Plain Tribes, Hakka and Han.
Bunun should be the second ethnic group to have dwelled in these two villages. In the
past, Bunun people did fight with Lha’alua, and many Lha’alua were killed.
Nowadays, the Lha’alua elders do not talk about the battle history with the Bunun
people, probably because the two groups have already lived together for some
decades, and the Lha’alua people want to maintain a good relationship with Bunun.
Residing in this multiracial area (in addition to the relationship with Bunun), the
Lha’alua people now have a very friendly relation with other ethnic groups and have
the reputation of being very hospitable people.

(xiv) POLITICAL SYSTEM. According to oral history and according to the elders in the
village, Lha’alua had a strict system of leadership and a definite system of men’s
house (Chinese name:男子聚會所). However, a hundred years or so ago, the Lha’alua
people, due to unknown pandemic diseases, began to disperse the centralised housing
and did no longer live so close together. The existing system was later deconstructed
rapidly, partly because of the Lha’alua people’s cessation of having head-hunting and
warfare against enemies and partly because of the way Japan governed during the
Japanese occupation period. Though at the moment most of the Lha’alua people still
live in the same village, the present way they live together is actually quite different
from the traditional one. In the past, each Lha’alua family’s house was very often next
to each other’s house; however, now each Lha’alua family’s house is usually not next
to each other’s house, because there are also other ethnic groups (e.g. Bunun) who
dwell in the same village.

Nowadays each ethnic community has its own leader and the leadership in
principle is inherited from generation to generation. When the leader dies, his oldest
son will succeed to his leadership. If the oldest son is too young to take the helm, the
elders of the ethnic community’s clans will be the surrogates. When the oldest son
dies, the second oldest son will be the first in succession to the leadership. At present,

12
the ethnic community leader is mainly responsible for the mediation of important
affairs in the ethnic community convention and for the settlement of dispute among
the Lha’alua people.

(xv) ARMY AND WARFARE. No organised army or warfare exists in Lha’alua now.
However, based on oral history and based on the elders in the village, Lha’alua did
have organised army in the past. Each ethnic community had a main commanding
officer selected in the ethnic community convention. The main commanding officer
had to be very brave and skillful in fighting and had to have continuous battle
achievements. Also, there was a deputy commanding officer appointed to assist the
main commanding officer. The army was composed of the Lha’alua men of different
ages. The Lha’alua men were obliged to participate in the army during wartime when
the battle was about Lha’alua. They were, nevertheless, not obliged to joining the
army during wartime when the battle was about personal vengeance. The organisation
of army merely functioned temporarily during wartime, and the army was disbanded
when the war ended.

(xvi) LAW AND PENALTY. There are no laws existing in Lha’alua now, but according to
oral history and according to the elders of Lha’alua, law and penalty were existent in
the past. Basically offences consist of three main categories: murder and injury,
property, and illicit sexual relations. The offence of murder and injury consisted of
murder, manslaughter, and assault. When committing an offence against murder, the
offender would be beaten up by the victim’s family; besides, the offender’s family had
to give some land to compensate the victim’s family. When committing an offence
against manslaughter, the offender had to give some land to compensate the victim’s
family. When committing an offence against assault, the offender had to give some
money to the victim’s family as compensation. With respect to the offence of property,
it covered larceny, trespass and arson. When someone committed an offence of
larceny, he had to return his loot to the person he stole from. When someone
committed an offence of trespass (i.e. illegally entering other clans’ hunting areas), he
had to return his prey to the clan and had to brew wine for the clan as well. In
Lha’alua, the most serious offence for the Lha’alua people was arson. When
committing an offence of arson, the offender would be beaten up by the Lha’alua
people; besides, the offender had to give some land for compensation. Regarding the
offence of illicit sexual relations, it contained rape and adultery. When someone
committed an offence of rape, the rape victim’s father and brother(s) would beat him
up. When finding an offence of adultery, the husband (of the wife who had adultery)
had the rights to kill the adulteress (i.e. his wife) and the adulterer. In usual cases, the

13
husband beat up the adulteress and the adulterer, and then divorced his wife.

Some basic principles were put forth and abided by the Lha’alua people. Firstly,
those offences which were not concrete and not easy to have evidence for were
deemed as taboos. Secondly, offences among the Lha’alua people or in relation to
other genial and friendly ethnic groups were established, whereas offences about
hostile ethnic groups were not. Thirdly, offences were regarded as victims’ disaster
when offenders were under age or had mental sickness. Fourthly, offenders’ relatives
had related responsibilities to their offences. Lastly, though it was advised not to do so,
suffers or victims had the right of vengeance toward offenders.

(xvii) KINSHIP AND MARRIAGE. Kinship system is classificatory, and marriage is

highly patrilineal and mostly patrilocal. Now, marriage is established under the
unanimous consent of the bridegroom, the bride and also their parents. In the past, the
Lha’alua people had a strict system of monogamy, based on women’s marrying into
men’s family. Although polygamy and another style of marriage, i.e. accepting or
rather adopting a son-in-law who would live in the wife’s home and assume the role
of a son, did not exist in the Lha’alua tradition, under the influence of Bunun and Han
people, these two types of marriage which were not prevalent in the Lha’alua tradition
have begun to be adopted by a few Lha’alua people for the past few decades. The
Lha’alua people believe that the ideal husband or wife should possess the virtues of
assiduity, cleverness, obedience, strength and hunting skills, and should not uphold
the misdeeds of lying, theft, sloth and lust.

(xviii) BIRTH-GIVING/GESTATION. Since the amount of Lha’alua population is just

around 400, birth-giving is always greatly welcome by the Lha’alua people. The
Lha’alua people are not particularly fond of boys. Virtually what they consider as
ideal or best is that the children should include boys and girls in the same number.
Despite the fact that they cherish children, they think it inauspicious that
mothers-to-be conceive twins, genetic freaks and fetuses of deformity. In addition,
they deem it disgraceful to have illegitimate children. The Lha’alua people believe
that the pregnant woman’s husband should not break several taboos with respect to
drinking and eating during gestation, e.g. not to eat animal lungs, scorched food, meat
of pregnant animals and twin fruits. Apart from these, the pregnant woman’s husband
should not eat monkeys, or babies will look like monkeys. The pregnant woman’s
husband should not drink deer’s blood; otherwise the expectant mother will bleed a
lot during delivery. The pregnant woman’s husband should not keep interchanging
sitting with standing and vice versa while eating. The pregnant woman’s husband

14
should put chairs in order immediately after eating, or fetuses will be staying in his
wife’s womb and she may have a difficulty of delivery during childbirth. The
pregnant woman’s husband should not put pots or pans down after lifting them up,
after food is well cooked. For the pregnant woman, she should not eat rice re-made of
unfinished rice that is taken back home by her husband after going hunting. Also,
there are some taboos irrespective of drinking and eating during pregnancy believed
by the Lha’alua people. The pregnant woman’s husband should not chop woods with
branches, tie anything and attend ceremonies (in the past he was not allowed to go
head-hunting during his wife’s pregnancy). The pregnant woman’s husband should
get up when hearing the rooster’s crow; otherwise fetuses will be staying in his wife’
womb and she may have a difficult delivery during childbirth.

(xix) NAMING. The name of newborn babies is chosen by their father and mother. If
their parents dream of the Spirit giving names for their newborn babies the night one
day before, they will use the names given by the Spirits. The Lha’alua people do not
invent or create new names; instead, they use names inherited from generation to
generation. Usually names of newborn babies are inherited from relatives or elders of
the family, but adoption of names from their own parents’ names is highly avoided.
Some Lha’alua names have different forms of address at different ages or in different
situations, reflecting that the person is being called, the person is young, adult or old,
or the person’s first child is male or female. Lha’alua names will be discussed more in
detail in §5.2.

(xx) FUNERAL. The Lha’alua people believe that there are two kinds of death, death of
virtue and death of vice. Those who die because of aging or die at home because of
sickness are included into the death of virtue, and those who die in an accident are
subsumed under the death of vice. During the period of funeral, there are several
taboos that the family of the dead should abide by. They should not leave the village
and go to any distant places, and should not sleep out. They should not make any
noises while walking. They should not go to work within five days. They should not
eat sweet food e.g. sugar cane or banana; otherwise, offenders will die young. They
should not sprinkle water in the houses of death and houses for funeral, or the family
members’ hearts will be cooled down, just as cold as the corpse’s heart. They should
not make any noises of beating, tapping or hammering; otherwise, the Spirit of the
dead will do the same things to the offenders later.

13
(xxi) RELIGION. There are two main types of religion in Lha’alua, traditional and

13
For discussions about Lha’alua’s religion, readers are referred to Lai (2004).

15
non-traditional.14 The unique traditional religion is called Takiare. It includes 12
Gods, each with a particular task to do for the Lha’alua people. The 12 Gods are
pavasu ‘God of Courage’, paumala papa’a ‘God of Hunting’, pama lha tura ‘God of
Health’, paumala aane ‘God of Food’, lhalangu ilhicu ‘God of Evil-dispelling’,
patama’i’iare ‘God of Industry’, pamava lha uvau ‘God of Safety’, kupa ma sa vau
‘God of Sloth-dispelling’, paumala ngalha mavacange ‘God of Achievement’, pamai
ia tulhulhu ‘God of Guard’, papa cucu pungu ‘God of Wisedom’, and sipakini varate
lha usalhe ‘God of Wind and Rain’. The non-traditional religion includes
Protestantism, Catholicism, Taoism, and Buddhism, all of which were brought to the
Lha’alua in the 20th century. Among these non-traditional religions, Protestantism has
more faithful followers than the other three.

(xxii) INITIATION, CEREMONIES, ETC.15 There are no special ceremonies for male or
female initiation. At present, there are two major ceremonies in Lha’alua, miatungusu
and takiare. The former used to be held once every two years but is now held once
every year, and the latter is held once every two years. The period of ceremonies
needed 10 days in the past, five days before the ceremony and five days after the
ceremony, but is now streamlined to half one day. In the past only males or the
Lha’alua people were able to attend the ceremonies. Nowadays, females and people
from other ethnic groups with relations by marriage or relatives by affinal relations,
nonetheless, start to attend the ceremonies as well.

1.5 Previous publications on the Lha’alua language

In this section, publications specifically related to linguistic aspects of Lha’alua

are discussed. These publications fall into several categories: (i) description and
documentation, (ii) comparative studies, (iii) specific grammatical issues, (iv)
subgrouping, and (v) studies within the Formalist framework.

(I) DESCRIPTION AND DOCUMENTATION. Ogawa and Asai (1935) provide a very brief
sketch of grammar and texts written in phonetic symbols. The study is the first one
conducted by linguists. P. Li (1997a) provides a brief sketch of grammar, mainly
centering on syntax, and the study also includes three texts and a preliminary
comparison of lexical entries of Tsou, Kanakanavu, Lha’alua, Rukai, and Bunun.
Szakos (1999) presents a report on the Lha’alua language, including texts and lists of
vocabulary. P. Li (2006a) offers Lha’alua songs, with transcription, glosses,

14
‘Non-traditional’ here indicates that the religion was not created by the Lha’alua people and does not
particularly belong to the Lha’alua people, either.
15
For discussions about Lha’alua’s ceremonies, readers are referred to Lai (2004).

16
explanation, and analyses of lyrics.

(II) COMPARATIVE STUDIES. Yan (1964) presents a preliminary comparative study of

Kanakanavu and Lha’alua, including comparison of the phonetic system, words and
morphological features. P. Li (1972) offers an extensive comparison of the three
Tsouic languages, centering on the interrelationships of the three Tsouic languages
and some of the specific developments in the individual languages. The study is the
first one to reconstruct Proto-Tsouic (PT) phonemes and lexemes in the light of a list
of lexical items. Based on common phonological innovations and the degree of lexical
cognation, Kanakanavu and Lha’alua are posited as being genetically closer to each
other than they are to Tsou. Another comparative study was offered by Tsuchida
(1976), with the special focus on reconstruction of Proto-Tsouic phonology on the
basis of data of the three Tsouic languages. This study, ‘reconstruction of Proto-Tsouic
phonology’, was reviewed by Blust (1981). Tsuchida (1998) presents lexical studies
on Formosan languages, listing nursery words in six Formosan languages (Luhtu Tsou,
Kanakanavu, Lha’alua, Maga Rukai, Mantauran Rukai and Isbukun Bunun) and
special hunting words in Tsouic languages (Lha’alua, Kanakanavu and Luhtu Tsou).

(III) SPECIFIC GRAMMATICAL ISSUES. Ting (1967) describes the phonetic system of
Lha’alua, including consonants, vowels, syllable structure, stress and intonation. Ting
(1987) lists seven personal names, briefly mentioning their morphological change.
This short article shows that personal names in Lha’alua may undergo morphological
change and reflect changes in social status from the birth of a boy or a girl. P. Li
(1997b) discusses case markers on nouns and pronouns of Formosan languages, with
brief remarks on Lha’alua. Radetzky (2004), based on texts, proposes that the
etymological source for grammaticalisation of ka is the distal demonstrative kana’a
‘that’, developing from demonstrative to marker of definiteness. Radetzky (2006)
discusses the semantics of the verbal complex, with particular reference to Lha’alua.
Radetzky (2009) discusses sa(a) in Lha’alua and proposes that sa(a) is a device for
overtly mentioning two (or more) 3rd-person participants in the same clause. Szakos
(1998) discusses the semantic prototypes of verb-noun combinations (incorporations),
and observes that the different semantic roles of incorporated nouns help to
disambiguate the homophone verbal (lexical) prefixes.

(IV) SUBGROUPING. Starosta (1996) mentions the position of Lha’alua in the

grammatical subgrouping of Formosan languages and further contends that Ross’s
(1995) reconstruction of PAN verbal morphology, after Rukai dialects and Tsou split
from Lha’alua and the rest of the Formosan languages, was actually formed at a later

17
stage. The author further argues that Malayo-Polynesian should be deemed as a
lower-order subgroup of the AN language family, on account of some morphological
features shared between these remaining Formosan languages and the
Malayo-Polynesian languages. H. Chang (2006) casts doubt on the Tsouic Subgroup
Hypothesis and addresses the question of whether (Northern) Tsou constitutes a
subgroup with Lha’alua and Kanakanavu, due to the fact that none of the (Northern)
Tsou exclusive innovations is attested in Lha’alua and Kanakanavu.

(V) STUDIES WITHIN THE FORMALIST FRAMEWORK. C.-L. Li (2009) investigates

prefix concord effect and offers a minimalist account for various syntactic restrictions
on the prefix concord constructions. Recently, C.-L. Li (2010) investigates the
morpho-syntax and semantics of eventuality in Paiwan and Lha’alua under the
Minimalist framework as well as within the generative Constructionist approach.

1.6 About the study

1.6.1 Fieldwork methodology

In this grammar, fieldwork in the Lha’alua villages was conducted by following

the statement mentioned in the paper, ‘Field Linguistics: A Minor Manual’, written by
Dixon (2007). The grammar is based on a corpus of transcribed texts and field notes
collected during fieldwork with the help of five fluent native speakers of Lha’alua
(including two male and three female speakers). There were two major field trips
during the fieldwork period: one from August 2008 to July 2009 (almost one year),
and the other from February 2011 to May 2011 (almost four months). The corpus
consists of four hours’ texts, which were recorded, transcribed, translated and glossed
with the help of native speakers. For text transcription and revision, almost all the
texts were transcribed as well as revised with the assistance of the oldest speaker of
the language. About 95 percent of the language materials come from the speakers in
Kaochung Village (Chinese name:高中村), and the rest are from Taoyuan Village
(Chinese name:桃源村).

Texts comprise traditional tales, traditional stories about historical events passed
on from one generation to another generation, story-telling, life stories, and stories
concerning recent happenings and developments. Sample texts are presented at the
end of the grammar. Other texts, hopefully, will be published as a book of Lha’alua
texts in the future.

18
 All the Lha’alua language materials were collected during my fieldtrips to the
villages where the language is spoken, and then these materials were further
transcribed and translated. Payne (1997:366-371) mentions that both text and elicited
data are essential to good linguistic analysis. In this grammar, grammatical elicitation
was employed quite sparingly and judiciously; it was merely used to verify and
correct field notes, complete paradigms, and check hypotheses. Speakers were given
putative words, sentences, or descriptions of situations in Lha’alua, instead of asking
them to directly translate sentences from Mandarin Chinese or Taiwanese. Though
Lha’alua is not actively spoken in the community anymore, participant observation
still plays a substantial part in unearthing the ways how the language is used. The
Lha’alua females, especially the oldest consultant, are always very patient and
dedicated in providing corrections and new ways or other ways of describing things,
thereby replenishing additional invaluable linguistic knowledge and information.

The examples used and cited in this grammar are usually from texts or from
natural speech. Merely a small number of elicited examples are used to complete
paradigms. The strong point of this approach is to have more robust and natural
examples and to have a more judicious analysis of the grammar. There are two
potential weak points. Firstly, some examples can be a little difficult to parse, since
natural sentences are never as tidy as elicited ones. Secondly, there are very few
examples that were judged ungrammatical by native speakers. This may be due to
limited proficiency of most speakers. Virtually, this can be deemed as a genuine
shortcoming. Although grammatical examples can tell us a lot about, for example, a
particular syntactic phenomenon, but only by comparing with ungrammatical
examples we clearly demarcate its limits.

1.6.2 Theoretical orientations

The study presents a functional and empirically account of the Lha’alua language,
principally based on the three volumes of Basic Linguistic Theory (Dixon 2010a,
2010b, 2012) and the three volumes of Language Typology and Syntactic Description
(first and second editions), edited by Shopen (1985, 2007). The bulk of the grammar
pays much attention to analyses of phonetics, phonology, lexicon, semantics,
morphology and syntax. The grammar has covered a number of the topics listed in
three volumes of Basic Linguistic Theory and three volumes of Language Typology
and Syntactic Description. Some topics, as separate chapters, are discussed in great
detail, whereas some topics are incorporated into major chapters. It is advisable that
readers refer to the table of contents for an overview of the grammar’s organisation.

19
1.6.3 Language consultants

Transcribed texts and field notes documented in the field and used in this
grammar all came from the five speakers who have proficiency in the Lha’alua
language. Background information of language consultants are provided in the order
of consultation frequency below in Table1.1 with their names in Chinese, names in
Lha’alua, years of birth, and genders.

Table 1.1: Background information of language consultants

Chinese name Lha’alua name Year of birth Gender
余宋美女 Eleke Lhauracana 1924 female
游仁貴 Amalanamalhe Salapuana 1948 male
石唐里金 Langui Tavuiana 1934 female
池明春 Caepe Lhatiunana 1948 male
余寶珠 Vanau Tumamalikisase 1956 female

1.7 Aims of the present study

This thesis is a grammar of Lha’alua. Essentially, there are three major goals in
the present study. Firstly, it aims to offer a thorough description of grammatically
salient characteristics of Lha’alua, in order to add an important and necessary
dimension to a much deeper understanding of the language, especially for the
language speakers, linguists as well as scholars from other disciplines. Secondly, it
will provide language materials for those who wish to make inductive generalisations
and then contribute to the typological theory. Lastly, it provides enough empirical
evidence to demonstrate in what grammatical respects Lha’alua differs from other
putative members of the Tsouic subgroup (i.e. Tsou and Kanakanavu) (and also other
Formosan Languages in general), in order to pin down Lha’alua’s position within the
Formosan languages and within the Austronesian language family.

20
 CHAPTER 2

PHONOLOGY AND MORPHOPHONEMICS

Phonology is the study of how sounds are organised and used in natural
languages. Morphophonemics is the study of phonemic rules explaining alternations
usually induced by affixation or cliticisation of a root or a stem. The phonological
system of Lha’alua consists of an inventory of meaningful sounds and their features,
and rules specifying how sounds interact with each other. Section 2.1 deals with
phonemic inventory. Section 2.2 introduces the syllable. Section 2.3 discusses stress.
Section 2.4 examines morphophonemic rules. Section 2.5 provides orthography.

2.1 Phonemic Inventory

This section introduces phonemic inventory in Lha’alua, including consonants

(§2.1.1), vowels (§2.1.2), long vowels (§2.1.3) and loan phonemes (§2.1.4).

2.1.1 Consonants

There are 13 consonantal phonemes in Lha’alua, as listed in Table 2.1. Place of

articulation consists of active articulators and passive articulators (Dixon
2010a:268-269). In Lha’alua, active articulators include lower lip (labio-), tip of
tongue (apico-), blade of tongue (lamino-) and back of tongue (dorso-), and passive
articulators consist of upper lip (labial), upper teeth (dental), gum ridge (alveolar),
front (hard) part of palate (palatal) and back (soft) part of palate or velum (velar). One
more place of articulation is ‘vocal lips’ (also called ‘vocal cords’ or ‘vocal folds’).
The vocal lips are brought tightly together and then released, producing a glottal stop.
Manner of articulation consists of stop, fricative, affricate, nasal, trill, flap and lateral
fricative.

There are two associated parameters of consonants in Lha’alua: voicing and

aspiration. When a sound is made on a pulmonic airstream, the glottis can be open
(voiceless) or vibrating (voiced). Lha’alua has voiced and voiceless phonemes for
obstruent manners (stop, fricative, affricate). Voicing is also attested in lateral fricative.
Aspiration is attested in stop and affricate. An aspirated stop is produced when there is
friction at the glottis as a lip or mouth closure is released, providing an aspirated tinge
at the end of the stop (which may be voiced or voiceless).

21
 Loan phonemes are put into parentheses and further discussed in §2.1.4.

Table 2.1: Consonant phonemes

active
labio- apico- lamino- dorso-
articulator
glottal
passive
labial dental alveolar palatal velar
articulator
unaspirated
p t k /
voiceless stop
aspirated
(pç) (tç) (kç)
voiceless stop
voiced stop (b) (g)
voiceless fricative s (h)
voiced fricative v
unaspirated
ts (tÅ)
voiceless affricate
aspirated
(tsç)
voiceless affricate
voiced affricate (dz)
nasal m n N
trill r
flap R
voiceless ¬
lateral fricative

2.1.1.1 Description

In this section, the Lha’alua consonant phonemes are described and exemplified
below.

(2.1) /p/ is an unaspirated voiceless bilabial stop, e.g. /pisiri/ ‘kidney’.

/t/ is an unaspirated voiceless alveolar stop, e.g. /ta¬aki/ ‘pig’.
/k/ is an unaspirated voiceless velar stop, e.g. /kiu/u/ ‘tree’.
//// is an unaspirated voiceless glottal stop, e.g. //a¬uku/ ‘claw’.
/s/ is a voiceless alveolar fricative, e.g. /sauNa/ ‘umbrella’.
/v/ is a voiced labio-dental fricative, e.g. /vutuku¬u/ ‘fish’.
/ts/ is an unaspirated voiceless alveolar affricate, e.g. /tsutsu/u/ ‘person’.
/m/ is a bilabial nasal, e.g. /mapatsi/ ‘wine’.
/n/ is an alveolar nasal, e.g. /tanaRai/ ‘peanuts’.

22
 N/ is a velar nasal, e.g. /Na¬a/ ‘name’.
/N
/r/ is an alveolar trill, e.g. /ra¬iNi/ ‘leaf’.
/RR/ is an alveolar flap, e.g. /Ru˘RuNa/ ‘cloud’.
/¬¬/ is an alveolar lateral fricative, e.g. /¬atiNi/ ‘vegetable’.

2.1.1.2 Minimal pairs

In this section, minimal pairs for consonant phonemes are listed and exemplified
in (2.2).

(2.2) a. /p/ vs /t/ /pi˘/i/ ‘female name’

/ti˘/i/ ‘excrement’
vs /RR/ /pituka/ ‘bracelet’
/Rituka/ ‘hare’
vs O /pa˘ri/ ‘dry (verb)’
/a˘ri/ ‘day’
vs O /pa/i/ ‘male name’
/a/i/ ‘yes’
b. /t/ vs //// /varati/ ‘wind’
/vara/i/ ‘lung’
vs /r/ /vatu/u/ ‘stone’
/varu/u/ ‘new’
vs /¬¬/ /vuti/i/ ‘vulva’
/vu¬i/i/ ‘snake’
vs O /taisa/ ‘big’
/aisa/ ‘middle’
vs O /vuti/i/ ‘vulva’
/vui/i/ ‘rattan’
c. /k/ vs /m/ /i¬aku/ ‘first person singular independent pronoun’
/i¬amu/ ‘second person plural independent pronoun’
N/
vs /N /iRiki/ ‘female name’
/iRiNi/ ‘pine tree’
vs /ts/ /kutsu/u/ ‘louse (head)’
/tsutsu/u/ ‘person’
vs /r/ /si˘ki/ ‘male name’
/si˘ri/ ‘Bischofia javanica Blume (plant name)’
vs /t/ //akai/ ‘fish net’
//atai/ ‘male name’

23
 vs O /takiari/ ‘God of Shell’
/taiari/ ‘Alo. cucull (plant name)’
d. //// vs /ts/ /tsara/i/ ‘blood’
/tsaratsi/ ‘louse (body)’
vs /m/ //atsi/i/ ‘liver’
/matsi/i/ ‘to die’
vs /RR/ /tu˘/u/ ‘place name/table’
/tu˘Ru/ ‘three (serial counting)’
vs O /paRi/i/ ‘gall’
/paRii/ ‘male name’
vs O //au/ ‘soup’
/au/ ‘to eat (in negative construction)’
N/
e. /s/ vs /N //avasi/ ‘tongue’
//avaNi/ ‘boat/canoe’
vs /r/ //usai/ ‘male name’
//urai/ ‘grease/oil/petroleum’
vs /RR/ /ta¬iusu/ ‘mulberry’
/ta¬iuRu/ ‘barn/round basket woven from couch grass’
f. /v/ vs /ts/ /tsuvu/u/ ‘bamboo shoot’
/tsutsu/u/ ‘person’
vs /r/ /uvura/ ‘give’
/urura/ ‘string (verb)’
vs O /vu˘ru/ ‘bow’
/u˘ru/ ‘rice (cooked)’
g. /ts/ vs /¬¬/ /tsatsu/u/ ‘Phyllostachys pubescens Mazel (plant name)’
/tsa¬u/u/ ‘Alocasia macrorrhiza (plant name)’
vs //// /matsitsi/ ‘hot (weather)’
/matsi/i/ ‘dead’
vs /s/ /tukutsu/ ‘friend’
/tukusu/ ‘bridge’
vs /v/ /tsara/i/ ‘blood’
/vara/i/ ‘lung’
vs /r/ /tsatsu/u/ ‘Phyllostachys pubescens Mazel (plant name)’
/ratsu/u/ ‘bamboo’
vs O /tsa¬u/u/ ‘Alocasia macrorrhiza (plant name)’
/a¬u/u/ ‘honeybee’
h. /m/ vs /ts/ /mai¬i/ ‘salt’
/tsai¬i/ ‘year’

24
 vs /k/ /ta¬ami/ ‘practice/try’
/ta¬aki/ ‘pig’
vs /¬¬/ /ama/a/ ‘father’
/a¬a/a/ ‘enemy’
vs O /i¬amu/ ‘second person plural independent pronoun’
/i¬au/ ‘second person singular independent pronoun’
i. /n/ vs /¬¬/ /maini/ ‘small’
/mai¬i/ ‘salt’
vs /m/ /a¬ani/ ‘right’
/a¬ami/ ‘bird’
N/ vs /ts/
j. /N //uraNi/ ‘hemp plant’
//uratsi/ ‘vein/sinew’
vs /p/ /NaRi/i/ ‘saliva’
/paRi/i/ ‘gall’
vs /v/ /vaNai/ ‘Melia azedarach (plant name)’
/vavai/ ‘ribs’
vs /k/ //aNai/ ‘male name’
//akai/ ‘fish net’
vs /s/ //uuNu/ ‘horn’
//uusu/ ‘female name’
k. /r/ vs /m/ /miani/ ‘pound (rice)’
/riani/ ‘both/all’
vs /ts/ /ramuru/ ‘cub’
/ramutsu/ ‘hand’
vs /k/ /varati/ ‘wind’
/vakati/ ‘melon’
vs /k/ /ta¬uru/ ‘cave’
/ta¬uku/ ‘wine cup/bamboo cup’
vs /¬¬/ /urura/ ‘string (verb)’
/uru¬a/ ‘snow’
l. /RR/ vs /m/ /tsaRai/ ‘egret’
/tsamai/ ‘side dish’
vs //// /masuRu/ ‘cooked’
/masu/u/ ‘fruit’
vs /¬¬/ /pauRi/ ‘male name’
/pau¬ii/ ‘borrow’
vs /t/ /Ra˘ri/ ‘flying squirrel’
/ta˘ri/ ‘bed’

25
 vs O /tavuRa/ ‘south’
/tavua/ ‘crow’
m. /¬¬/ vs /RR/ /i¬u/u/ ‘beads/necklace’
/iRu/u/ ‘intestines’
vs /RR/ /tavaNa¬a/ ‘beans’
/tavaNaRa/ ‘place name’
vs /s/ /Riu¬u/ ‘price’
/Riusu/ ‘butt’
vs /m/ /ma˘Ri¬i/ ‘eighty’
/ma˘Rimi/ ‘swallow’
vs /k/ /tu¬utsu/ ‘Derris trifoliate (plant name)’
/tukutsu/ ‘friend’
vs /t/ /¬amu/u/ ‘grandchild’
/tamu/u/ ‘grandparent’
vs /ts/ /tsa¬u/u/ ‘Alocasia macrorrhiza (plant name)’
/tsatsu/u/ ‘Phyllostachys pubescens Mazel (plant name)’
vs O /vu¬i/i/ ‘snake’
/vui/i/ ‘rattan’
vs O /pu¬aki/ ‘bark’
/puaki/ ‘wing’

2.1.1.3 Phonotactic distribution

Ting (1967:923-924), providing two sets of examples, mentions that all the
consonants in Lha’alua can appear in word-initial and word-medial positions. Based
on my corpus, it is shown that all the consonants can occur with the four vowels: /i/,
/i/, /u/ and /a/. However, of all the possible combinations of any of the four vowels
with all the consonants in word-initial position, /Ni/ and /ni/ in my corpus constitute
the two exceptions which cannot appear in word-initial position. These may be
regarded as accidental gaps. Table 2.2 exemplifies distribution of all the consonants.

26
 Table 2.2: Distribution of consonants
Word-initial Word-medial
#__i Gloss #__i Gloss #__u Gloss #__a Gloss V__V Gloss
p pituka ‘bracelet’ pi¬iki ‘navel’ puaki ‘wing’ pa¬amira ‘dew’ takupi¬i ‘bowl’

‘crested
t tikuru ‘clothes’ tiki¬i ‘no’ tukutsu ‘friend’ takaukau mavitiNi ‘deaf’
hawk’

k kiri¬i ‘eagle’ kisiNi ‘pan’ kuRaRuNu ‘skin’ kaRavuNu ‘cattle’ iriki¬i ‘old’

‘witch
/ /ivu ‘urine’ /iRivi /urukusa ‘stick’ /a¬ivi ‘wall’ ritu/a ‘sour’
doctor’

‘place
s si¬iani ‘daytime’ si¬iNani suRuRuNa ‘thunder’ sakira¬i ‘river’ masa¬i ‘near’
name’

‘front
v vi/iRi ‘goiter’ viriNa ‘eel’ vutu¬u ‘deer’ va¬ita vaRa¬iva¬i ‘rainbow’
yard/outside’

ts tsiNari ‘window’ tsitsimia ‘moist’ tsuRa¬i ‘bone’ tsaRiNa ‘ear’ iri˘ritsi ‘tight’

‘husband
m miararuma ‘village’ miliNisi ‘long’ muripa˘rana ma¬ipii ‘thin’ si˘sima ‘dark’
and wife’

‘female
n ni˘nau ‘where’ － － nuka ‘and’ na/apu manitiki ‘short’
name’

N Niau ‘cat’ － － Nusuu ‘mouth’ Nati¬i ‘penis’ ¬u˘¬uNu ‘creek’

r ripasi ‘arrow’ ririma˘ni ‘inside’ ruvana ‘evening’ rapi/i ‘branch’ sa˘sari˘ana ‘earth’

R Riatsutsua ‘who’ R<im>itsiNi ‘conceal’ Ru¬ua ‘deep’ RaNiRaNi ‘expensive’ maRikapi ‘thief’

‘head
¬ ¬irukuruka ‘fence’ ¬iNasi ¬umivuru ‘thorn’ ¬asavai ‘lazy’ masai¬a ‘far’
decoration’

There are no attested consonant clusters in Lha’alua underlying forms.

Consonant clusters are only found in loan words as in (2.3) or those words after the
rule application of vowel dropping (§2.3.3).

(2.3) a. /sik´ kçia/ ‘custard apple (from Taiwanese Southern Min)’

b. /RinkiN ta-taisa/ ‘litchi (from Taiwanese Southern Min)’
c. /pinkN/ ‘apple (from Mandarin Chinese or Japanese)’
d. /tDnki/ ‘electricity (from Japanese)’
e. /taNtia/ ‘pot (from Taiwanese Southern Min)’
f. /tinnau/ ‘computer (from Mandarin Chinese)’

2.1.1.4 Allophones

An allophone is the phonological variant of a phoneme as found in different

27
phonological environment. In Lha’alua, three consonant phonemes (/s/, /v/ and /ts/)
may have allophones. Speakers typically produce allophones when they converse in
rapid speed. In contrast, allophones do not occur in relatively slow speech.

/s/ is palatalised and becomes a voiceless palato-alveolar fricative [Å] when

followed by /i/, and elsewhere, a voiceless alveolar fricative [s].

(2.4) a. /s/ and /i/: /sikami/ [Åikami] ‘mat’

b. /s/ and /i/: /si¬iNani/ [si¬iNani] ‘place name’
c. /s/ and /u/: /sumasiRai/ [sumaÅiRai] ‘to lick’
d. /s/ and /a/: /saRa/a/ [saRa/a] ‘road’

/v/ is bilabialised and becomes a voiced bilabial fricative [] when followed by
/u/, and elsewhere, a voiced labio-dental fricative [v].

(2.5) a. /v/ and /i/: /viaviaru/ [viaviaru] ‘place name’

b. /v/ and /i/: /vitirai/ [vitirai] ‘broom’
c. /v/ and /u/: /vukuri/ [ukuri] ‘yam’
d. /v/ and /a/: /varu/u/ [varu/u] ‘new’

/ts/ is palatalised and becomes a voiceless palato-alveolar affricate [tÅ] when

followed by /i/, and elsewhere, an unaspirated voiceless alveolar affricate [ts].

(2.6) a. /ts/ and /i/: /tsivuka/ [tÅiuka] ‘belly/stomach’

b. /ts/ and /i/: /tsitsimia/ [tsitsimia] ‘broom’
c. /ts/ and /u/: /tsutsumatsu/ [tsutsumatsu] ‘aborigine’
d. /ts/ and /a/: /tsatsaRaisa/ [tsatsaRaisa] ‘stuff’

2.1.2 Vowels

There are four vowels in Lha’alua, as listed in Table 2.3. Loan phonemes put into
parentheses are further discussed in §2.1.4.

Three major parameters (heightness, frontness and rounding) are involved in the
production of vowels in Lha’alua, those sounds that occur as the nucleus of a syllable.
The height of the tongue (labeled as high, mid and low) indicates how far it is raised
towards the roof of the mouth. Frontness (labeled as front, central and back) refers to
the horizontal position of the part of the tongue that is raised. Rounding denotes

28
whether the lips are rounded or unrounded.

Table 2.3: Vowel phonemes

Short vowels
Frontness
front central back
Hightness
high i i u
high mid
low mid (D) (N)
low a

2.1.2.1 Description

In this section, the Lha’alua vowel phonemes are described and exemplified
below.

(2.7) /i/ is a high front unrounded vowel, e.g. ipitsi ‘caterpillar’.

/i/ is a high central unrounded vowel, e.g. /ivitsiNi ‘millet’.
/u/ is a high back rounded vowel, e.g. /ususu ‘breats/milk’.
/a/ is a low central unrounded vowel, e.g. aria ‘ax’.

2.1.2.2 Minimal pairs

In this section, minimal pairs for vowel phonemes are listed and exemplified in
(2.8).

(2.8) a. /i/ vs /i/ //usai/ ‘male name’

//usai/ ‘gray hair’
vs /a/ /mipatsi/ ‘drown’
/mapatsi/ ‘wine’
vs O /piauRi/ ‘male name’
/pauRi/ ‘male name’
b. /i/ vs /a/ /ma˘¬i/ ‘ten (things)’
/ma˘¬a/ ‘hungry’
vs O /ma¬avai/ ‘drunk’
/ma¬ava/ ‘bring’
c. /u/ vs /a/ /tsutsu/u/ ‘person’
/tsatsu/u/ ‘Phyllostachys pubescens Mazel (plant name)’

29
 d. /a/ vs /i/ /masu/u/ ‘fruit’
/misu/u/ ‘thirsty’
vs /i/ /vara/a/ ‘charcoal’
/vara/i/ ‘lung’
vs /i/ /ra¬iNa/ ‘sweat’
/ra¬iNi/ ‘leaf’

2.1.2.3 Phonotactic distribution

All the Lha’alua vowels can occur in word-initial, word-medial and word-final
positions. Distribution of vowels is given in Table 2.4.

Table 2.4: Distribution of vowels

Word-initial Word-medial Word-final
#__C Gloss C__C Gloss C__# Gloss
i i Ru/u ‘intestines’ vu¬i/i ‘snake’ ku˘ri ‘mavis
(bird species)’
i iri¬a ‘miscanthus aRimisa ‘throat’ vara/i ‘lung’
(plant name)’
u uRari ‘thread’ /usai ‘gray hair’ i¬amu ‘you (2PL)’
a aniNi ‘torch’ mapatsi ‘wine’ ki˘ra ‘yesterday’

Any of the four vowels can occur as a nucleus, and each vowel constitutes a
separate syllable nucleus. However, vowels in a series do not always and necessarily
belong to different syllables; instead, they might be a long vowel (forming a syllable)
or two separate vowels (forming two syllables). Further discussion is provided in §2.2
and §2.4.

2.1.3 Long vowels

Vowel length is contrastive in Lha’alua, and Lha’alua speakers are sensitive to

vowel length. There are a small number of minimal pairs, showing that vowel length
is phonologically contrastive. The contrast in vowel length can be seen in the
following examples.

(2.9) a. /i˘/ vs /i/ /ki˘ra/ ‘yesterday’

/kira-/ ‘step on’

30
 vs /i/ /umi˘api/ ‘read/study’
/umiapi/ ‘count’
vs /i/ /ma¬ipi˘/ ‘thin’
/ma¬ipi/ ‘laminated shape’
b. /i˘˘/ vs /i/ /si˘ki/ ‘male name’
/tiki/ ‘heart’
c. /u˘˘/ vs /u/ /¬amu˘na/ ‘now’
/¬amuna/ ‘begin’
vs /u/ /vu˘ru/ ‘bow’
/vur-u/ ‘give (PV.IMP)’
vs /u/ /ku˘ri/ ‘mavis (bird species)’
/kuri-/ ‘shoot’
d. /a˘˘/ vs /a/ /pa˘ri/ ‘dry (verb)’
/pari-/ ‘pluck/seize/catch’
vs /a/ /m-a˘-maini/ ‘drink a little’
/ma-maini/ ‘child’

A long vowel is written as two identical vowels, i.e. VV, in the following
chapters throughout the grammar. Since a long vowel and two identical vowels have
the same orthographic character, it is worth noting in advance that a long vowel forms
a syllable and two identical vowels constitute two syllables. The orthography the
study adopts is provided in §2.5. More discussion about vowel length and vowel
sequences is given in §2.2.2. Long vowels may interact with stress (see §2.3.2).

2.1.4 Loan phonemes

There are plenty of loan words in Lha’alua, many of which were introduced
during the Japanese occupation period (1895-1945). Apart from Japanese, words were
borrowed from Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese Southern Min, and other aboriginal
languages in the neighbouring area, e.g. Bunun. In my corpus, nine consonant
phonemes and two vowel phonemes are found exclusively in loan words. Loan
phonemes, together with phonetic description and examples, are provided below.

31
(2.10) /b/ is a voiced bilabial stop, e.g. //otobai/ ‘motorcycle (from Japanese)’
/pçç/ is an aspirated voiceless bilabial stop, e.g. /pçu˘tçau/ ‘grapes (from
Mandarin Chinese)’
/tçç/ is an aspirated voiceless alveolar stop, e.g. /pçu˘tçau/ ‘grapes (from
Mandarin Chinese)’
/kçç/ is an aspirated voiceless velar stop, e.g. /sik´ kçia/ ‘custard apple (from
Taiwanese Southern Min)’. Note that the coda /k´ / is unreleased.
/tsç/ is an aspirated voiceless alveolar affricate, e.g. /tsçaipu mapu¬i/ ‘radish
(first element from Mandarin Chinese, second element from Lha’alua)’
Å/
/tÅ is an unaspirated voiceless palato-alveolar affricate, e.g. /tÅu˘goku/
‘China (from Japanese)’
/dz/ is a voiced palato-alveolar affricate, e.g. /dzu˘dzi/ ‘ten o’clock (from
Japanese)’
/g/ is a voiced velar stop, e.g. /go˘tÅo˘/ ‘county chief (from Japanese)’
/h/ is a voiceless glottal fricative, e.g. /huari/ ‘place name (from Bunun)’
/DD/ is a low mid front unrounded vowel, e.g. /tDnki/ ‘electricity (from
Japanese)’
N/
/N is a low mid back rounded vowel, e.g. /pNRNmi/ ‘jackfruit (from
Mandarin Chinese)’

2.2 The syllable

2.2.1 Syllable structure

Even though not all linguists agree that the syllable is an essential phonological
unit, syllables are a useful construct which enables us to describe several phenomena
in an economic way (Hyman 1975:192-193). In Lha’alua, the syllable is fundamental
to phonological processes and morphophonemic rules, such as stress assignment and
reduplication.

The basic syllable pattern in Lha’alua is (C)V, where C stands for consonants and
V for vowels or long vowels.16 Underived roots carrying the basic meaning of words
typically consist of more than two syllables, in a (C)V.(C)V.(C)V pattern. A disyllabic
(C)V.(C)V pattern is relatively rare, e.g. tiki ‘heart’. On the other hand, grammatical
morphemes are usually a single syllable. For phonotactics of the syllable, distributions
of consonants and vowels have been provided in §2.1.1.3 and §2.1.2.3, respectively,
16
Two Lha’alua words do not conform to the basic syllable structure, i.e. /tam/ ‘very’ and //intavangi/
‘taro’. Note that the CVC syllable structure of these two words is not the result of vowel dropping
(§2.3.3) and subsequent resyllabification (§2.4.5).

32
and restrictions on vowel sequences will be provided in §2.2.2.

Consonants typically do not appear in word-final position (also syllable-final, i.e.

coda position), since, as a rule, words end in an open syllable, the last vowel often
being an echo vowel. Vowel dropping (§2.3.3) in normal and rapid speech may give
rise to CVC and VC syllables. Note that the word-final consonant virtually results
from vowel dropping, and hence neither of these two syllable types is considered as
the basic syllable structure of Lha’alua (§2.2.1).

In (2.11), the word-final vowel /u/ is elided in normal and rapid speech; as a
result of subsequent resyllabification, a CVC syllable arises.

(2.11) kaRlavuNu ‘cattle’

slow/deliberate speech: /ka.Ra.vu. Nu/
normal/rapid speech: /ka.Ra.vuN/

In (2.12), the word-final vowel /i/ is reduced in normal and rapid speech, and this
results in the creation of a phonetic VC syllable.

(2.12) /ariami ‘cogon grass’

slow/deliberate speech: //a.ri.a. mi/
normal/rapid speech: //a. ri.am
 /

2.2.2 Vowel sequences

This section discusses vowel sequences. They are mentioned under section 2.2
(the syllable): unlike a long vowel that form just one syllable, vowels in a sequence
constitute two syllables (and relatively fewer, of three syllables). In Lha’alua, vowels
can appear alone, as long vowels or in clusters. When appearing in clusters, they
usually appear in a sequence of two (relatively fewer, of three) vowels. Ting
(1967:925) mentions that the vowel sequences /ii/ and /iu/ do not occur in Lha’alua.
Tsuchida (1976:61) and P. Li (1997a:273) both state that the vowel sequences /ui/, /ii/
and /iu/ do not occur in Lha’alua.

Based on my corpus, the following gaps in Lha’alua vowel sequences are found:
(i) the systematic gap of non-occurrence of /iu/ and /ui/ in all positions, (ii) the
accidental gap of non-occurrence of /ii/ and /ii/ in word-initial and word-final
positions, and (iii) the accidental gap of non-occurrence of /ia/ and /ui/ in word-initial
positions. Attested vocalic sequences are illustrated and exemplified in Table 2.5.

33
 Table 2.5: Distribution of vowel sequences
Word-initial Word-medial Word-final
#__C Gloss C__C Gloss C__# Gloss
ii － － kiiRisi ‘together’ － －
iu iuNu ‘arrive(NEG)’ miuNu ‘to arrive’ matavu¬iu ‘red’
‘to count
ia iapi /aRaRiami ‘small fly’ ta¬iaria ‘sun’
(NEG)’
ii － － pasaranaiia ‘reliable’ － －
iu － － － － － －
ia － － a¬aNiaNa ‘dirty’ mi˘mia ‘also/all’
ui － － takui/iari ‘to work’ /ukui ‘goat’
ui － － － － － －
‘eight ‘eight (serial ‘two
ua uaRu kuaRu usua
(nonhuman)’ counting)’ (nonhuman)’
ai aisa ‘middle’ taisa ‘big’ makuRai ‘fast’
ai ainimi ‘six (human)’ maiNi ‘sneeze’ vavai ‘ribs’
au aupati ‘four (human)’ tapaupau ‘mushroom’ /aru¬iau ‘swallow’

A sequence of two vowels constitutes two separate syllable nuclei. There are
three reasons to account for this. Firstly, the two vowels, unlike diphthongs, have their
own sonorities, and stress (if any) can fall on either vowel (Ting 1967:926). Secondly,
in a very slow speech register, each vowel is articulated separately and there is always
a pause marked by the syllable break between the two vowels. Examples supporting
these two reasons are presented below.

(2.13) a. /sa.Ri.a/ ‘house/home’

b. /tsa.ma.i/ ‘side dish’
c. /va.na.u/ ‘female name’
d. /u.ma.u/ ‘to eat’
e. /¬a./a.Ru.a/ ‘Lha’alua’
f. /ta˘.pu./a.i/ ‘butterfly’

Thirdly, a number of nouns referring to plants and animals use (C)V-

reduplication together with -a suffixation to derive names for plant farms and animal
habitats, i.e. ‘a place where something gather or is gathered’ (§5.3.4.1). In (2.14), the
first syllable of the nominal roots is reduplicated.

34
(2.14) a. /¬a.ti.Ni/ ‘vegetable’
→ /¬a. -¬a.ti.Ni.-a/ ‘the place where vegetable is gathered
(vegetable garden)’
b. //u.¬u.¬a.Ni/ ‘Sebastan Plum Cordia (plant name)’
→ //u. -/u.¬u.¬a.Ni.-a/ ‘the place where Sebastan Plum Cordia is gathered
(Sebastan Plum Cordia garden)’

For examples like (2.15) consisting of a sequence of two (or more) different
vowels, the first syllable of the root is reduplicated. /i/ in (2.15a), /a/ in (2.15b) and /a/
in (2.15c) are not reduplicated, because they all form a separate syllable of their own.

(2.15) a. /ma. i.ra.Ni/ ‘sweet potato’

→ /ma. -ma.i.ra.Ni-a/ ‘the place where sweet potatoes are gathered
(sweet potato farm)’
b. /vi.a. ru/ ‘corn’
→ /vi. -vi.a.ru.-a/ ‘the place where corn is gathered (corn farm)’
c. /Ni.a. u/ ‘cat’
→ /Ni. -Ni.a.u.-a/ ‘the place where cats gather (cat house)’

The above discussion excludes the existence of glides (or semi-vowels), mainly
due to the fact that unlike diphthongs, a sequence of two vowels have their own
sonority value, and stress (if any) can fall on either vowel.

2.3 Stress

2.3.1 Primary and secondary stress assignment

Lha’alua distinguishes primary stress (indicated by  ) and secondary stress

(indicated by  ). Primary stress is not contrastive, nor is secondary stress. A vowel
with primary stress is characterised by higher pitch and greater intensity. Though the
stressed syllable is realised with a high pitch, the difference between words does not
lie in the positioning or quality of this pitch. Therefore, Lha’alua should not be
considered a pitch-accent language.

The primary stress within a word in Lha’alua typically falls either on the
penultimate or antepenultimate syllable. When a word has two syllables, which is less
common in Lha’alua, the penultimate syllable bears primary stress. When a word has
three or more syllables, primary stress falls on the penultimate or antepenultimate
syllable. For some Lha’alua words, the syllable with primary stress may vary freely

35
from speaker to speaker and even within the usage of the same speaker. Examples
below show that different speakers and even the same speaker have different stress on
different syllables of the same word.

(2.16) a. /sa.Ri.a/ or /sa.Ri.a/ ‘house/home’

b. /ta.¬a.ki/ or /ta.¬a.ki/ ‘pig’
c. /va.na.u/ or /va.na.u/ ‘female name’
d. /sa.su.a/ or /sa.su.a/ ‘two (people)’

There is one primary stress per word. However, in monomorphemic words with
more than four syllables, the secondary stress can be discovered. Only prefixes, rather
than enclitics or suffixes, can carry a secondary stress. Words with less than four
syllables do not have a secondary stress. Examples consisting of three, four and seven
syllables are given below.

(2.17) a. three syllables: /sa.-su.a/ ‘two (human)’

b. four syllables: /a.Ri.mi. ¬i/ ‘wild boar’
c. four syllables: /sa˘.-¬a.ma.r-a/ ‘he burns’
d. seven syllables: /ku.-a-.sa.ka.-sa.ka.vi/ ‘to be eating stealthily’

2.3.2 Stress shift

Primary stress shift typically occurs as the result of the addition of suffixes or
enclitics to the host, i.e. the root or stem, as in (2.18). Note that the primary stress
within a word in Lha’alua falls either on the penultimate or antepenultimate syllable,
even if there is any stress shift.

(2.18) a. /sa.ki.ra.¬i/ ‘river’

→ /sa.ki.ra.¬i.=na/ (river=DEF) ‘the river’
b. /pu˘.si.a.mi/ ‘rice plant’
→ /pu˘.si.a.mi.-ku/ (rice.plant-1SG.GEN) ‘my rice plant’
c. /m-a.va.tsa.Ni/ ‘good’
→ /m-a.va.tsa.Ni.=u.=i/ (AV-good=2SG.NOM=Q) ‘How are you?’
d. /a.Ri.mi.¬i/ ‘wild boar’
→ /a.Ri.mi.¬i.=i.sa a.ma./a/ (wild.boar-3.AGR father) ‘father’s wild boar’

Note that voice markers do not incur stress shift. In (2.18c), it is the clitics /u/
and /i/ that attract primary and secondary stress shifts. While in (2.18), secondary
stress undergoes rightward stress shift when a suffix or an enclitic is attached to its

36
host, i.e. the root or stem, it might also undergo leftward stress shift when lexical
prefixation or the addition of prefixes is attached to the host, as in (2.19).

(2.19) a. /Na.¬a.Na.¬a/ ‘again’

b. /ku-.a-.Na.¬a.Na.¬a.=a.ku u.m-u u˘.ru/
eat-IRR-again=1SG.NOM AV-eat rice
‘I will eat rice again.’
c. /¬i-.ku-.Na.¬a.Na.¬a.=tsu.=a.ku u.m-u u˘.ru/
PERF.ASP-eat-again=COS.ASP=1SG.NOM AV-eat rice
‘I already ate rice again.’

As shown in (2.19c), whenever there is a possibility for secondary stress to

undergo leftward or rightward stress shift, the leftward stress shift is always applied
first.

When long vowels appear, they usually bear primary stress or secondary stress,
as in (2.20). They bear the primary stress, when there are more than two syllables
(including two syllables) in a word, and it falls on the penultimate or antepenultimate
syllable. They carry the secondary stress while a word has more than three syllables.

(2.20) a. /¬u˘.¬u.Nu/ ‘river’

b. /mi˘.mi.a/ ‘also’
c. /ma˘.ta˘.ta/ ‘tomorrow’
d. /ki˘ra/ ‘yesterday’
e. /pu˘.si.a.mi/ ‘rice plant’

A stressed long vowel can be optionally shortened when a stress-shifting prefix,

suffix or enclitic is attached to the root/stem, and the root/stem henceforth loses its
secondary stress, shifting to the newly-added prefix. It is quite common to come
across this phenomenon in rapid speech. For instance, in (2.21a) and (2.22a), before
a stress-shifting prefix is attached, the stressed long vowel has to maintain its vowel
length and cannot be optionally shortened. However, in (2.21b), (2.21b), (2.22b) and
(2.22b), after a stress-shifting prefix is attached, the vowel length of non-stressed
long vowel can be maintained or be shortened. Usually, it is maintained in slow
speech (e.g. grammatical elicitation), and shortened in fast speech (e.g. story-telling,
conversation, etc.).

37
(2.21) a. /m-a˘-.a-.ma.i.ni.=a.ku m-i.ma ma.pa.tsi/
AV-drink-IRR-a.little=1SG.NOM AV-drink wine
‘I will drink a little wine’
a. */m-a- .a-.ma.i.ni.=a.ku m-i.ma ma.pa.tsi/
b. /Ji-.m-a˘-.ma.i.ni.=a.ku m-i.ma ma.pa.tsi/
PERF.ASP-AV-drink-a.little=1SG.NOM AV-drink wine
‘I drank a little wine’
b. /Ji-.m-a-.ma.i.ni.=a.ku m-i.ma ma.pa.tsi/

(2.22) a. /sa˘-.tsa.vu.-a va.na.u.=na pa.pa./a/

3.AGR-wrap-PV female.name=DEF meat
‘Vanau wrapped the meat.’
a. */sa- .tsa.vu.-a va.na.u.=na pa.pa./a/
b. /Ji-.sa˘-.tsa.vu.-a va.na.u.=na pa.pa./a/
PERF.ASP-3.AGR-wrap-PV female.name=DEF meat
‘Vanau wrapped the meat.’
b. /Ji-.sa-.tsa.vu.-a va.na.u.=na pa.pa./a/

2.3.3 Vowel dropping

Vowel dropping typically takes place in normal and rapid speech, but does not
occur in slow and deliberate speech. Only a nasal plus a high vowel can undergo
vowel dropping in word-final position. Possible combinations are provided in Table
2.6, and examples are shown in (2.23). Only one example is found in the /Ni/
combination.

Table 2.6: Word-final vowel dropping

word-final vowel dropping

High vowel
i i u
Nasal
m － ＋ －
n － － －
N ＋ ＋ ＋

38
(2.23) a. mi# ‘rice plant’ ‘cogon grass’ ‘small fly’
pu˘siami /ariami /aRaRiami
slow/deliberate speech: /pu˘.si.a.mi/ //a.ri.a.mi/ //a.Ra.Ri.a.mi/
normal/rapid speech: /pu˘.si.am
 / //a.ri.am
 / //a.Ra.Ri.am
 /
b. Ni# ‘sweet potato’ ‘vegetable’ ‘when’
mairaNi JatiNi tsuJaumaNi
slow/deliberate speech: /ma.i.ra.Ni/ /Jati.Ni/ /tsu.Ja.u.ma.Ni/
normal/rapid speech: /ma.i.raN/ /Ja. tiN/ / tsu.Ja.u.maN/
c. Nu#17 ‘cattle’ ‘skin’ ‘meet’
tauruNu kuRaRuNu tarutsuvuNu
slow/deliberate speech: /ta.u.ru.Nu/ /ku.Ra.Ru.Nu/ /ta.ru.tsu.vu.Nu/
normal/rapid speech: /ta.u.ruN/ /ku.Ra.RuN/ /ta.ru.tsu.vuN/
d. Ni# ‘spoon’
taisiNi
slow/deliberate speech: /ta.i.si.Ni/
normal/rapid speech: /ta.i.siN/

It is important to notice that the primary stress and secondary stress (if any) are
still maintained. There is no stress shift after vowel dropping in word-final position.
As a result of subsequent resyllabification, a CVC or VC syllable arises (see §2.2.1).

P. Li (1997a) collected 15 Lha’alua words including vowel dropping in

word-final position, preceded by /¬/ in (2.24a-m), /n/ in (2.24n) and /s/ in (2.24o).
However, as noted above and as shown in Table 2.6 and example (2.23), only a
syllable consisting of a bilabial or velar nasal plus a high vowel may undergo vowel
dropping in word-final position. The comparison of P. Li (1997a) and my field notes
are listed below.

(2.24) P. Li (1997a:513-554)18 this study gloss

a. /sa.ki.raJ/ /sa.ki.ra.Ji/ ‘river’
b. /ta.vi.Ji.viJ/ /ta.vi.Ji.vi.Ji/ ‘banana’
c. /mu˘.Ra.saJ/ /mu˘.Ra.sa.Ji/ ‘kneel’
d. /mi.ta.Ja˘JJ/ /mi.ta.Ja˘.Ji/ ‘run’
e. /ma.i.sa.piJ/ /ma.i.sa.pi.Ji/ ‘patch’
f. /ma.pu.aJ/ /ma.pu.a.Ji/ ‘twenty’
g. /ma.tu.RuJ/ /ma.tu.Ru.Ji/ ‘thirty’

17
# indicates a word boundary.
18
Note that the original data in Li (1997a:513-554) have been written as IPA symbols here. Also notice
that based on my corpus, the word ‘ninety’ does not have a glottal stop sound in word-medial position.

39
 h. /ma.u.pa.tiJ/ /ma.u.pa.ti.Ji/ ‘forty’
i. /ma.Ri.maJ/ /ma.Ri.ma.Ji/ ‘fifty’
j. /ma.i.ni.miJ/ /ma.i.ni.mi.Ji/ ‘sixty’
k. /ma.pi.tuJ/ /ma.pi.tu.Ji/ ‘seventy’
l. /ma˘.RiJ/ /ma˘.Ri.Ji/ ‘eighty’
m. /ma.si./aJ/ /ma.si.a.Ji/ ‘ninety’
n. /tu.mi.ni˘.n/ /tu.mi.ni˘.ni/ ‘weave’
o. /pu.ri.Nu.su.Nu.s/ /pu.ri.Nu.su.Nu.su/ ‘snore’

In each example above, every reduced vowel appears in word-final position.

However, it is also found in this grammar that there are a few words with reduced
vowels appearing in non-word-final position; they occur in the word-medial position
and also have the same possible combinations as shown in Table 2.6. Under this
circumstance, it is plausible to state that Lha’alua surface forms might have consonant
clusters after the rule application of vowel dropping.

(2.25) ‘pineapple’ ‘pepper’

pangitaJi samisami
slow/deliberate speech: /pa.ngi.ta.Ji/ /sa.mi.sa.mi/
normal/rapid speech: /pan g.ta.Ji/ /sam .sam/

It is also important to note that just like vowel dropping in word-final position,
the primary stress and secondary stress (if any) remain unchanged and do not have
any stress shift after vowel dropping in the word-medial position. However, as a result
of subsequent resyllabification, a phonetic CVC syllable is henceforth produced.

The common characteristic of reduced vowels in word-final and word-medial

positions is that typically they are all not placed in the stressed syllable, either primary
or secondary.

Vowel dropping does not take place when there is a stress shift on the
vowel-reducing syllable after affixation.

(2.26) a. /ma.i.ra.Ni/ ‘sweet potato’

→ /ma.i.ra.Ni=
 na/ (sweet.potato=DEF) ‘the sweet potato’
b. /ka.Ra.vu.Nu/ ‘cattle’
→ /ka.Ra.vu.Nu. -ku/ (cattle-1SG.GEN) ‘ my cattle’
c. /ta.i.si.Ni/ ‘spoon’
→ /ta.i.si.Ni. =na/ (spoon=DEF) ‘the spoon’

40
 d. /pu˘.si.a.mi/ ‘rice plant’
→ /pu˘.si.a.mi. -ku/ (rice.plant-1SG.GEN) ‘my rice plant’

2.4 Morphophonemic rules

In Lha’alua, there are a number of morphophonemic rules which result from the
affixation or cliticisation of a morpheme in a word. These rules include regressive
assimilation (§2.4.1), deletion (§2.4.2), vowel fronting (§2.4.3), vowel shortening
(§2.4.4) and resyllabification (§2.4.5). Order of rule application is demonstrated in
§2.4.6.

2.4.1 Regressive assimilation

Regressive assimilation refers to the influence wielded by one segment over the
articulation of another segment leftward or backward, the two sounds becoming more
alike or identical. There are two kinds of regressive assimilation in Lha’alua: flap
assimilation and vowel harmony. They are subsequently discussed in §2.4.1.1 and
§2.4.1.2, respectively.

2.4.1.1 Flap assimilation

The alveolar trill /r/ in the lexical prefix undergoes flap assimilation and
becomes the alveolar flap /R/ when there is an alveolar flap /R/ in the root.

(2.27) /ari-/ /aRi-/

a. /m-ari-vakisi/ /m-aRi-RikiJi/
AV-hand.motion-BOUND.ROOT AV-hand.motion-vehicle
‘hit with fist’ ‘take vehicle’
b. /m-ari-a-tumuJu/ /m-aRi-tiniRi/
AV-hand.motion-IRR-a.lot AV-head.motion-BOUND.ROOT
‘to harvest a lot’ ‘nod head/lower head’
c. /m-ari-pitsi/ /m-aRi-viRau/
AV-hand.motion-BOUND.ROOT AV-hand.motion-BOUND.ROOT
‘chop in half’ ‘throw away’

41
(2.28) /uru-/ /uRu-/
/m-uru-tisi/ /m-uRu-a-Ri˘-/i/
(AV-come.out-fart) (AV-come.out-IRR-RED-tears)
‘fart’ ‘to shed tears’

2.4.1.2 Vowel harmony

Vowel harmony refers to the phonological process where adjacent vowels

assimilate to each other. There are two types of vowel harmony in Lha’alua, both of
which are regressive. The first type refers to the high back rounded vowel /u/, which
after prefixation or infixation undergoes vowel harmony and assimilates to the high
central unrounded vowel /i/ when the high central unrounded vowel /i/ is next to it.
Examples of prefixation are given in (2.29). Examples of infixation are shown in
(2.30).

(2.29) Underlying form Derived form

a. /ku-iRisi/ → /ki-iRisi/ (eat-together) ‘eat together’
b. /ku-RipiNi/ → /ki-RipiNi/ (eat-finish) ‘eat up’
c. /taku-iRisi/ → /taki-iRisi/ (work-together) ‘work together’
d. /taku-RipiNi/ → /taki-RipiNi/ (work-finish) ‘finish working’
e. /m-u-tsikiJi/ → /m-i-tsikiJi/ (AV-motion.on.foot-come) ‘come’

(2.30) Underlying form Derived form

a. /R<um>iviNi/ → /R<im>iviNi/ (conceal<AV>) ‘conceal’
b. /t<um>iRiRaJi/ → /t<im>iRiRaJi/ (earthquake<AV>) ‘earthquake’

Examples in (2.31) show that only the high central unrounded vowel /i/ can
trigger vowel harmony, whereas other vowels cannot.

(2.31) a. /ku-maini/
eat-a.little
‘eat a little’
b. /ku-tumuJu/
eat-a.lot
‘eat a lot’

Examples in (2.32) illustrate that vowel harmony cannot be triggered when the
high back rounded vowel /u/ is not right adjacent to the high central unrounded vowel

42
/i/ after prefixation or infixation.

(2.32) Underlying form Derived form

a. /ku-iRisi/ → /ku-a-iRisi/ (eat-IRR-together) ‘to eat together’
b. /ku-RipiNi/ → /ku-a-RipiNi (eat-IRR-finish) ‘to eat up’
c. /taku-iRisi/ → /taku-a-iRisi/ (work-IRR-together) ‘to work together’
d. /taku-RipiNi/ → /taku-a-RipiNi/ (work-IRR-finish) ‘to finish working’
e. /R<um>iviNi/ → /R<um>a-RiviNi/ (RED<AV>-conceal) ‘to conceal’
f. /m-u-tsikiJi/ → /m-u-a-tsikiJi/ (AV-motion.on.foot-IRR-come) ‘to come’

The second type of vowel harmony is triggered when after applying vowel
fronting (i.e. i → i / __ + (C)u; see §2.4.3) the high central unrounded vowel /i/ in the
penultimate syllable of the root assimilates to the high front unrounded vowel /i/ in
the root-final position.

(2.33) Underlying form Derived form

a. /m-ari-a-/ivitsiNi=tsu/ → /m-ari-a-/ivitsiNi=tsu/
AV-hand.motion-IRR-millet=COS.ASP
‘to harvest millet’
b. /m-aRi-RipiNi=tsu/ → /m-aRi-RipiNi=tsu/
AV-hand.motion-finish=COS.ASP
‘have harvested millet’
c. /paRimis-u-mau/ → /paRimis-u=mau/
bind-PV.IMP=IMP
‘Bind (it)!’

When a sequence of syllables with the high central unrounded vowel /i/ appears,
the vowel harmony can apply just once or apply to all. Applying vowel harmony
across several syllables is also acceptable as long as it applies syllable by syllable
leftward and is not blocked by other vowels.

(2.34) Underlying form Derived form

a. /m-ari-a-/ivitsiNi=tsu/ → /m-ari-a-/ivitsiNi=tsu/
AV-hand.motion-IRR-millet=COS.ASP
‘to harvest millet’
a. /m-ari-a-/ivitsiNi=tsu/ → /m-ari-a-/ivitsiNi=tsu/
a. /m-ari-a-/ivitsiNi=tsu/ → /m-ari-a-/ivitsiNi=tsu/

43
 b. /Ji-m-i-tsikiJi=tsu/ → /Ji-m-i-tsikiJi=tsu/
PERF.ASP-AV-motion.on.foot-come=COS.ASP
‘have come’
b. /Ji-m-i-tsikiJi=tsu/ → /Ji-m-i-tsikiJi=tsu/
b. /Ji-m-i-tsikiJi=tsu/ → /Ji-m-i-tsikiJi=tsu/

2.4.2 Deletion

Deletion refers to a process of simplification which influences certain types of

phonemes. There are two types of deletion in Lha’alua: vowel deletion and syllable
deletion. They are subsequently discussed in §2.4.2.1 and §2.4.2.2, respectively.

2.4.2.1 Vowel deletion

Vowel deletion is different from vowel dropping occurring in the normal and
rapid speech (§2.3.3). There are three main types of vowel deletion in Lha’alua. The
first type is limited to enclitic pronouns beginning with the high front unrounded
vowel /i/ and the aspectual marker /=tsu/. The high back rounded vowel /u/ of the
aspectual marker /=tsu/ undergoes vowel deletion when an enclitic pronoun beginning
with the high front unrounded vowel /i/ is attached to it.

(2.35) /=tsu-isa/
a. /ima=ts-isa saJumu/
drink(PV)=COS.ASP-3.GEN water
‘Water was drunk by him/her/it/them.’
/=tsu=ita/
b. /Ji-m-ima=ts=ita saJumu/
PERF.ASP-AV-drink=COS.ASP=1PL.INCL.NOM water
‘We drank water.’

The second type of vowel deletion deals with imperative suffixes in voice
constructions. The final vowel of verbal root undergoes vowel deletion after an
imperative marker in Actor, patient or locative voice construction suffixes to the
verbal root.

(2.36) Underlying form Derived form cf.

a. /paRimisi-u=mau/ → /paRimis-u=mau/ /paRimisi/
bind-PV.IMP=IMP bind(AV)
‘Bind (it)!’ ‘bind’

44
 b. /m-a˘-tumuJu-a=mau/ → /m-a˘-tumuJ-a=mau/ /m-a˘-tumuJu/
AV-drink-a.lot-AV.IMP=IMP AV-drink-a.lot
‘Drink a lot!’ ‘drink a lot’
c. /vuru-i=mau/ → /vur-i=mau/ /u-vuru/
give-LV.IMP=IMP AV-give

‘Give (something)!’ ‘give’

(2.37) Underlying form Derived form cf.

a. /kiRa-piRiti-u=mau/ → /kiRa-piRit-u=mau/ /kiRa-piRiti/
step.so.as.to.separate-PV.IMP=IMP step.so.as.to.separate(AV)
‘Step so as to separate (it)!’ ‘step so as to separate’
b. /kiRa-piRiti-a=mau/ → /kiRa-piRit-a=mau/ /kiRa-piRiti/
step.so.as.to.separate-AV.IMP=IMP step.so.as.to.separate(AV)
‘Step so as to separate (it)!’ ‘step so as to separate’

The second type of vowel deletion does not apply to all verbs. In example (2.38),
the final vowel of the verbal root does not undergo vowel deletion when an imperative
suffix in Actor, patient or locative voice construction attaches to the verbal root.

(2.38) Underlying form Derived form cf.

a. /m-a˘-maini-a=mau/ → /m-a˘-maini-a=mau/ /m-a˘-maini/
AV-drink-a.little-AV.IMP=IMP AV-drink-a.little
‘Drink a little!’ ‘drink a little’
b. /kuri-aRuaRu-a=mau/ → /kuri-aRuaRu-a=mau/ /kuri-aRuaRu/
shoot-first-AV.IMP=IMP shoot-first(AV)
‘Shoot first!’ ‘shoot’

The third type of vowel deletion takes place when a patient or location voice
marker attaches to the verbal root, and then the final vowel of the verbal root is
deleted.

45
(2.39) Underlying form Derived form cf.
a. /taivi-a/ → /taiv-a/ /t<um>aivi/
cover-PV cover-AV
‘cover’ ‘to cover’
b. /taivi-ana/ → /taiv-ana/ /t<um>aivi/
cover-LV cover-AV
‘cover’ ‘cover’
c. /uRuNu-a/ → /uRuN-a/ /um-uRuNu/
take.off-PV AV-take.off
‘take (clothes) off’ ‘take (clothes) off’

(2.40) Underlying form Derived form cf.

a. /ia-pa-puaRi-a/ → /ia-pa-puaR-a/ /m-ia-pa-puaRi/
push-RED-BOUND.ROOT-PV AV-push-RED-BOUND.ROOT
‘push’ ‘push’
b. /ia-pa-puaRi-ana/ → /ia-pa-puaR-ana/ /m-ia-pa-puaRi/
push-RED-BOUND.ROOT-LV AV-push-RED-BOUND.ROOT
‘push’ ‘push’

Similar to the second type of vowel deletion, the third type of vowel deletion
does not apply to all verbs, either. Examples below show that the final vowel of the
verbal root remains unchanged after a patient or location voice marker attaches to the
verbal root.

(2.41) Underlying form Derived form cf.

a. /iRivi-ana/ → /iRivi-ana/ /m-iRivi/
go.by.means.of-LV AV-go.by.means.of
‘go by means of ’ ‘go by means of ’
b. /Ji-ru-pitsi-a/ → /Ji-ru-pitsi-a/ /Ji-ru-pitsi/
PERF.ASP-tear-apart-PV PERF.ASP-tear-apart(AV)
‘have torn apart’ ‘have torn apart’’

(2.42) /Ji-taJi-suRu-a/
→ /Ji-taJi-suRu-a/
PERF.ASP-give.some.kind.of.mental.effect.by.verbal.action-BOUND.ROOT-PV
‘have cheated/joked’
cf. /Ji-t<um>aJi-suRu/
PERF.ASP-give.some.kind.of.mental.effect.by.verbal.action<AV>-BOUND.ROOT

‘have cheated/joked’

46
2.4.2.2 Syllable deletion

Syllable deletion in Lha’alua is limited to a syllable consisting of a glottal stop

and a vowel. There are three environments where the glottal stop plus V syllable
deletion takes place. The first environment occurs when a suffix is attached to a
nominal root consisting of a glottal stop and a vowel in the last syllable position.

(2.43) a. /tamu/u/ ‘grandparent’

→ /tamu-ku/ (grandparent-1SG.GEN) ‘my grandparent’
b. /ina/a/ ‘mother’
→ /ina-ku/ (mother-1SG.GEN) ‘my mother’
c. /vuNu/u/ ‘head’
→ /vuNu-ta/ (head-1PL.INCL.GEN) ‘our head’
d. /vara/a/ ‘charcoal’
→ /vara-Jamu/ (charcoal-1PL.EXCL.GEN) ‘our charcoal’
e. /tsumi/i/ ‘cheek’
→ /tsumi-u/ (cheek-2SG.GEN) ‘your cheek’
f. /Ji˘//i/ ‘marrow’
→ /Ji˘-isa/ (marrow-3.GEN) ‘his/her/its/their marrow’

The second environment takes place when a verbal lexical prefix is attached to
the nominal root consisting of a glottal plus a vowel in the last syllable position.

(2.44) a. /tamu/u/ ‘grandparent’

→ /pi-a-tamu/ (speak-IRR-grandparent) ‘to worship’
b. /vuNu/u/ ‘head’
→ /m-aru-vuNu/ (AV-remove-head) ‘decapitate’
c. /ti˘//i/ ‘excreta’
→ /m-u-a-ti˘/ (AV-move-IRR-excreta) ‘to defecate’
d. /tisi/i/ ‘fart’
→ /m-uru-tisi/ (AV-come.out-fart) ‘fart’

Not every nominal root consisting of a glottal plus a vowel in the last syllable
position can come across the second environment. The choice is lexically determined.

(2.45) a. /tsuvu/u/ ‘bamboo shoot’

→ /pari-tsuvu/u/ (catch/cut-bamboo.shoot) ‘cut bamboo shoot’

47
 b. /tsara/i/ ‘blood’
→ /m-uru-tsara/i/ (AV-come.out-blood) ‘bleed’

The third environment involves syllable deletion whereby /kana/a/ and /kani/i/
occur in rapid speech and texts. Note that /kana/a/ and /kani/i/ can be used as
demonstrative pronouns (§3.6.3.1) , markers of temporal and spatial reference
(§3.6.3.2), pause fillers (§3.6.3.3) and adnominal demonstratives (§3.6.3.4).

(2.46) a. /m-itiaJi=tsu n kana saJmu/.

AV-come.across=COS.ASP OBL PAUSE.FILLER water
‘(Someone) came across water.’
b. /um-aru-mia=tsu kani /isisi-isa=na/.
AV-use-BOUND.ROOT=COS.ASP PAUSE.FILLER tail-3.GEN=DEF
‘(It) used the tail of its.’

2.4.3 Vowel fronting

The high central unrounded vowel /i/ undergoes vowel fronting and becomes
the high front unrounded vowel /i/ when a clitic or suffix in the immediate adjacent
syllable contains the high back rounded vowel /u/.

(2.47) /i-/ → /i-/

a. /pu˘siami/ /pu˘siami-ku/
rice.plant rice.plant-1SG.GEN
‘rice plant’ ‘my rice plant’
b. /m-a-vatsaNi/ /m-a-vatsaNi=u=i/
AV-STAT-good AV-STAT-good=2SG.NOM=Q
‘good’ ‘How are you?’
c. /araa-vu-vurai/ /araa-vu-vurai=cu Ru˘vi=na/
INCH-RED-ripe INCH-RED-ripe=COS.ASP kiwi.fruit=DEF
‘to become ripe’ ‘The kiwi fruit has become ripe.’
d. /paRimisi/ /paRimis-u=mau/
bind bind-PV.IMP=IMP
‘bind’ ‘Bind (it)!’

2.4.4 Vowel shortening

A long vowel /a˘/ is shortened when there is an identical vowel (short or long)

48
right next to it after affixation.

(2.48) Underlying form Derived form

a. /m-a˘-a-maini/ → /m-a-a-maini/ (AV-drink-IRR-a.little) ‘to drink a little’
b. /sa˘-a˘ni-a/ → /sa-a˘ni-a/ (3.GEN-eat-PV) ‘he ate’
OR → /sa˘-ani-a/ (3.GEN-eat -PV) ‘he ate’
c. /sa˘-aRi-a/ → /sa-aRi-a/ (3.GEN-take-PV) ‘he took’
d. /apa˘-a-RiviNi/ → /apa-a-RiviNi/ (CAUS-IRR-conceal) ‘make somebody
conceal’

2.4.5 Resyllabification

Resyllabification results from vowel dropping which takes place in normal and
rapid speech registers. It does not occur in slow and deliberate speech when a nasal
plus a high vowel appear in word-final position and rarely in word-medial position.
Details about vowel dropping have been brought up in §2.3.3.

2.4.6 Order of rule application

From §2.4.1 to §2.4.5, a number of morphophonemic rules have been discussed.

While a word applies more than one morphophonemic rule, these morphophonemic
rules do have ordering of application. Example (2.49) illustrates that vowel deletion is
first applied, then vowel fronting and finally vowel harmony.

(2.49) Underlying form Rules Derived form

/paRimisi-u=mau/ → vowel deletion /paRimis-u=mau/
→ vowel fronting /paRimis-u=mau/
→ vowel harmony /paRimis-u=mau/
bind-PV.IMP=IMP
‘Bind (it)!’

2.5 Orthography

In the past, the Roman script was employed in writing in the previous materials
of Lha’alua. Though it was not widely used and well accepted by the Lha’alua people,
it was the only way to write the Lha’alua language. Due to the lack of a standard
orthography system, different people, also including scholars, use different
orthography.

49
 In December 2005, a standard orthography system was officially established by
the Council of Indigenous People (CIP) and the Ministry of Education (MOE) of
Executive Yuan, Taiwan. This grammar, in principle, employs the standard version of
the government, with a minor difference of the voiceless alveolar lateral fricative [¬].
This grammar adopts ‘lh’ rather than the standard version ‘hl’. The reason for the use
of ‘lh’ in this grammar is that in the world’s languages, voiceless or aspirated sound
when written as ‘h’ typically appears after the other letter.

Though the majority of Lha’alua people (except for those who are very old) are
well-educated, a large number of the Lha’alua people in fact neither know how to
write their language, nor can they understand the current writing system. As for those
who are able to write the Lha’alua language, there is one minor inconsistency in
practice. The example is high central unrounded vowel /i/. The Lha’alua speakers
typically prefer to write ‘u’ rather than ‘e’.

The orthographic characters, corresponding to consonant phonemes and vowel

phonemes (including loan phonemes), which are employed in this grammar, are
provided in Table 2.7. In the remainder of the grammar, examples are written in
practical orthography (e.g. e = i, lh = ¬, and so on).

50
 Table 2.7: Orthographic system
Phoneme Orthography Phonetic representation
/p/ p [p] in all environments
/t/ t [t] in all environments
/k/ k [k] in all environments
/ // ’ [/] in all environments
[s] in all environments, except followed by the high front
/s/ s unrounded vowel /i/; [Å] before the high front unrounded
vowel /i/.
[v] in all environments, except followed by the high back
/v/ v rounded vowel /u/; [] before the high back rounded
vowel /u/.
[ts] in all environments except before the high front
/ts/ c unrounded vowel /i/; [tÅ] before the high front rounded
vowel /i/.
/m/ m [m] in all environments
/n/ n [n] in all environments
/ N/ ng [N] in all environments
/r/ r [r] in all environments
/ R/ l [R] in all environments
/¬ / lh [¬] in all environments
/b/ b [b] loan phoneme
/pç/ ph [pç] loan phoneme
/tç/ th [tç] loan phoneme
/kç/ kh [kç] loan phoneme
/tsç/ ch [tsç] loan phoneme
/tÅ/ ts [tÅ] loan phoneme
/dz/ dz [dz] loan phoneme
/g/ g [g] loan phoneme
/h/ h [h] loan phoneme
/i/ i [i] in all environments
/i/ e [i] in all environments
/u/ u [u] in all environments
/a/ a [a] in all environments
19
/D/ e [D] loan phoneme
/N/ o [N] loan phoneme
20
/V˘/ VV any long vowel written as two identical vowels

Orthographic differences between different previous studies on Lha’alua and this

grammar are shown in Table 2.8.

19
/D/ only occurs in loan words, so it is not confusing with /i/. For typographic convenience, they will
be having the same orthographic character ‘e’ in this grammar.
20
Thus, when seeing two identical vowels appearing in a sequence in spelling, there are two
possibilities. One is a long vowel forming one single syllable. The other is two identical vowels
constituting two separate syllables. This seeming puzzle can be tackled by examining primary and
secondary stress (if any) placement and primary and secondary (if any) stress shift.

51
 Table 2.8: Orthographic differences
C.-L. Li
this MOE Paul Li Radetzky Tsuchida
IPA (2008,
study (2005) (1997) (2006) (1976)
2010)

voiceless glottal stop / ’ ’ ? ’ 7 ?

voiced bilabial fricative v v v v v b v

velar nasal N ng ng N ng g N

alveolar flap R l l l l d l
voiceless alveolar ¬ lh hl l hl l l
lateral fricative
high central
unrounded vowel
i e e  e e 

52
 CHAPTER 3

WORD CLASSES

This chapter presents word classes of Lha’alua. In Lha’alua, there is a basic and
clear distinction among the two major word classes: noun (§3.2) and verb (§3.3). The
distinction is primarily made by morphological and syntactic features. The two word
classes both comprise of further subclasses, in terms of distinct semantic,
morphological and syntactic characteristics. Despite some grammatical distinctions
differentiating adjectival elements from dynamic verbs and noun, they are not
recognisable as a distinct word class in Lha’alua. Adjectival elements are treated as
stative verbs in that they pattern very similarly (§3.4). Other word classes are
subsumed under closed word classes, including numerals (§3.5), closed classes of
shifters (i.e. pronouns, interrogatives, and demonstratives) (§3.6), and closed
grammatical systems (i.e. construction markers and phrasal and clausal linkers)
(§3.7).

3.1 Delineating major word classes and their functional slots

3.1.1 Major functions of noun and verb

As stated in Dixon (2010:41-45), there are four schemes for the correspondences
between clause structure and word class: (Scheme I) a noun can only occur in an NP
and a verb can only occur as head of predicate, (Scheme II) in addition to scheme I,
noun may have a secondary function as head of predicate, (Scheme III) in addition to
scheme I, verb can also be head of NP as predicate argument, and (Scheme IV) in
addition to scheme I, noun may have a secondary function as head of predicate and
verb can also be head of NP as predicate argument.

Lha’alua accords with scheme II, illustrated in Figure 3.1. Verbs always occur as
head of a predicate. Nouns always occur in an NP, which is an argument of a predicate,
and have a secondary function as head of a predicate. Generally, nouns are restricted
to intransitive predicates.

53
CLAUSE STRUCTURE predicate NP as argument (S, A, O, etc)

WORD CLASS verb noun

Figure 3.1: Canonical scheme, with noun also being head of predicate

(3.1) Verb as head of a predicate

a. m-alusapi=cu [a ’a’ai]S.
AV-sleep=COS.ASP CORE baby
‘The baby has slept.’
b. t<um>a-tineene [a eleke]S [vanukanuka]E cu-ruvana.
IRR<AV>-weave CORE female.name pants IRR-evening
‘Eleke will weave pants this evening.’

(3.2) Noun as argument of a predicate (a primary function)

a. m-u-sala=ami [a cucu-isa=na]S u-kiri-kirimi
AV-motion.on.foot-road=EVI CORE person-3.GEN=DEF AV-RED-search/hunt
[isana]E.
3.INDEP
‘It is said that their people went to hunt it.’
b. karekelhe[=amu]S lh<um>a-lhavu [tikuru]E.
often=1PL.EXCL.NOM RED<AV>-wash clothes
‘We often wash clothes.’

(3.3) Noun as head of a predicate (a secondary function)

a. [alhaina]verbless.clause.complement-ku [a cucu’u a kana’a]S.
woman-1SG.GEN CORE person LNK that
‘That person is my wife.’
b. [tasau]verbless.clause.complement-ku [ka kana’a]S.
dog-1SG.GEN CORE that
‘That is my dog.’

Table 3.1 summarises the relationships between the two major word classes and
their functional slots in Lha’alua. Typical (both primary and secondary) syntactic
functions of nouns are heads of noun phrases, heads of intransitive predicates, and
modifiers in NPs. Typical (both and secondary) syntactic functions of verbs are heads
of transitive and intransitive predicates, and modifiers in NPs. A member of either
major word class can be used as a head of an intransitive predicate. Nevertheless,

54
nouns can only take a limited amount of verbal morphology (for instance, they cannot
take imperative affixes) while they are used as heads of intransitive predicates. To be
used as the head of a transitive predicate, nouns have to be verbalised through
affixation. To be used as arguments, verbs have to be nominalised.

Table 3.1: Major word classes and their functional slots

verb noun
head of intransitive predicate ++ +
head of transitive predicate ++ -*
head of NP -* ++
modifier in NP + +

Here ++ indicates a primary function and + a secondary function; - indicates that

the property is lacking and * marks that there are exceptions.

3.1.2 Grammatical properties associated with nouns

In Lha’alua, there are nine grammatical properties typically associated with a

noun or an NP when it is an argument of a predicate: (i) gender, (ii) noun
classification, (iii) number, (iv) numeral (chapter 10), (v) possession (§7.2.1.3,
§7.2.2.3.3, and §8.1.3.2 ), (vi) case (§7.2.2.3), (vii) definiteness, (viii) agreement
(§7.2.1.2 and §7.2.3.2), and (ix) existential negation (§6.5.2).

(i) GENDER. Lha’alua does not have a fully developed grammatical system of gender.
However, gender can be involved in the referent in terms of animacy terms and
kinship terms. Lha’alua gender is not marked on the noun itself. It is realised through
another modifying noun. The constituent order between modifying NPs referring to
animacy terms and modifying NPs referring to kinship terms is different. A phrase
consisting of modifying NPs referring to animacy terms has modifier + modifiee
constituent order, whereas a phrase including modifying NPs referring to kinship
terms has modifiee + modifier one. Modifiers are in boldface in examples (3.4) and
(3.5).

(3.4) Modifying NPs involving gender: animacy terms (modifier + modifiee)

a. ina’a(-isai) turukuukai
mother-3.AGR chicken
‘hen’

55
 b. ama’a(-isai) turukuukai
father-3.AGR chicken
‘rooster’
c. tangalicura turukuuka
? chicken
‘rooster’

(3.5) Modifying NPs involving gender: kinship terms (modifiee + modifier)

a. tamu’u lhalhusa
grandparent man
‘grandfather’
b. tamu’u alhaina
grandparent woman
‘grandmother’
c. alhalua lhalhusa
older.sibling man
‘older brother’
d. alhalua alhaina
older.sibling woman
‘older sister’
e . lhimilavae lhalhusa
younger.sibling man
‘younger brother’
f. lhimilavae alhaina
younger.sibling woman
‘younger sister’

The constituent order of modifying NPs in possessive constructions is identical

to that of modifying NPs referring to kinship terms, as shown in (3.5), but different
from that of modifying NPs referring to animacy terms, as shown in (3.4). Examples
of modifying NPs in possessive constructions are provided below.

(3.6) Possessive construction (modifiee + modifier)

a. valhituku a vanau
money GEN female.name
‘Vanau’s money’

56
 b. salia ka cucu’u kana’a
house GEN person that
‘that person’s house’
c. alemelhe a amalhe
wild.boar GEN male.name
‘Amalhe’s wild boar’
d. ’ususu kalavungu
milk cattle
‘cow’s milk’

(ii) NOUN CLASSIFICATION. In Lha’alua, noun classification is a syntactic

phenomenon but is not a fully developed grammatical system. The phenomenon
involves a specific noun occurring in an NP together with a classifier. There are just a
limited number of classifiers. Not every noun may occur with a classifier; specifically,
usually ‘persons’, ‘animals’, and mostly ‘concrete objects’ are used with a classifier.
There are two types of classifiers: sortal classifier and mensural classifier. There is
usually a clear semantic basis to each classifier, relating to the form of an object, or
arrangement and quantity of persons, animals and objects.

(3.7) Sortal classifiers

a. ucani kiana tavelhevelhe
one CL:long banana
‘one banana’
b. ucani palungana kiu’u
one CL:vertical tree
‘one tree’

(3.8) Mensural classifiers

a. ucani takupilhi suva
one CL:bowl noodle
‘one bowl of noodle’
b. ucani talhuku mapaci
one CL:cup wine
‘one cup of wine’
c. ucani tareane cucu’u
one CL:group person
‘one group of people’

57
 There are likely to be some nouns that can occur with more than one classifier
(one at a time but not several together) with different meanings.

(3.9) a. ucani cavirana sulhate

one CL:thin.flat book/paper/word
‘one piece of paper’
b. ucani tepelha sulhate
one CL:booklike book/paper/word
‘one book’

The syntactic function of classifiers is that they are typically used with numerals
or quantifying expressions.

(3.10) a. m-a-aru a ucani kiana tavelhevelhe-isa.

AV-STAT-exist CORE one CL:long banana-3.GEN
‘She/he/they has(ve) one banana.’ (lit. One his/her/their banana exists.)
b. m-a-aru a usua tepelhana sulhate-isai
AV-STAT-exist CORE two CL:booklike book/paper/word-3.AGR
languii.
female.name
‘Langui has two books.’ (lit. Two langui’s books exist.)
c. tam m-a-tumulhu kiana tavelhevelhe-isa.
very AV-STAT-a.lot CL:long banana-3.GEN
‘They have a lot of bananas.’ (lit. Their bananas a lot.)
d. tam m-a-tumulhu tepelhana sulhate-isai languii.
very AV-STAT-a.lot CL:booklike book/paper/word-3.AGR female.name
‘Langui has a lot of books.’ (lit. Langui’s books a lot.)

Besides, classifiers can be used with markers of possession, as a marker of the

type of possession or as a classifier of the thing possessed.

(3.11) a. m-a-aru a upitu tepelha na sulhati-ku.

AV-STAT-exist CORE seven CL:booklike GEN book-1SG.GEN
‘I have seven books.’ (lit. My seven books exist.)
b. tam m-a-tumulhu tepelha na sulhati-ku.
very AV-STAT-a.lot CL:booklike GEN book-1SG.GEN
‘I have a lot of paper.’ (lit. My paper a lot.)

58
(iii) NUMBER. Lha’alua can distinguish singular and plural on nouns, although the
singular noun has either singular or plural reading. Very often, language speakers only
use the singular form of a noun in the texts and conversation. Either singular or plural
reading of the singular form must be determined in the context. As for the plural form
of a noun, it must be formed through reduplication, and its semantics is quite
straightforward; that is, the pluralised nouns must acquire plural readings, rather than
singular readings.

(3.12) (C)V(C)V- reduplication

kiu-kiu’u
RED-tree
‘trees’ (plural)
cf. kiu’u ‘tree/trees’ (singular/plural)

(3.13) CV˘˘- (i.e. CVV-) triplication

lhaa-lhaa-lhaamaama
RED-RED-old.person
‘old people’ (plural)
cf. lhaamaama ‘old person/people’ (singular/plural)

(3.14) (C)V(C)V- triplication

vutu-vutu-vutukulhu
RED-RED-fish
‘fish’ (plural)
cf. vutukulhu ‘fish’ (singular/plural)

(3.15) Quadreduplication
maa-maa-ma-maini
RED-RED-RED-small
‘children’ (plural)
cf. ma-maini ‘child/children’ (singular/plural)
(CV reduplication from maini ‘small’)

(iv) NUMERAL. There are basically three sets of numerals in Lha’alua: serial counting,
nonhuman, and human (see §10.1). Nonhuman numerals and human numerals are
typically used to modify nouns referring to nonhuman referents and human
participants, respectively. In terms of syntactic functions in an NP, numerals are
employed as a pre-modifier or post-modifier to the head noun.

59
(3.16) Numerals referring to nonhuman referents
a. m-a-aru a [kalavungu-ku] ucani.
AV-STAT-exist CORE cow-1SG.GEN one
‘I have one cow.’ (lit. My cow one exists.)
b. lhi-um-u=cu=aku [lhavate] usua.
PERF.ASP-AV-eat=COS.ASP=1SG.NOM guava two
‘I have eaten two guavas.’ (lit. ‘I have eaten guava two.’)
c. m-a-aru a ucani [likilhi-ku] um-aru-a-sapalhe.
AV-STAT-exist CORE one vehicle-1SG.GEN AV-use-A-foot
‘ I have one bicycle.’ (lit. My foot-use vehicle one exists.)

(3.17) Numerals referring to human participants

a. m-a-aru la-lima [cucu’u] salia-ku.
AV-STAT-exist RED-five person house-1SG.GEN
‘There are five people in my family.’ (lit. My house five people exist.)
b. m-a-aru a ca-cilhi [alhalua-ku lhalhusa]
AV-STAT-exist CORE RED-one older.sibling-1SG.GEN man
lha ca-cilhi [lhimilavae lhalhusa].
CONJ.COOR RED-one younger.sibling man
‘I have one older brother and one younger brother.’
(lit. One my older brother and one younger brother exist.)

Nonhuman numerals and human numerals can modify nouns with plural forms
via reduplication, denoting plurality.

(3.18) Quadreduplication
sa-sia maa-maa-ma-maini
RED-nine RED-RED-RED-small
‘nine children’

(3.19) CV˘˘- (i.e. CVV-) triplication

pa-pitu lhaa-lhaa-lhaamaama
RED-seven RED-RED-old.person
‘seven old people’

60
(3.20) CV(C)V- reduplication
upitu kiu-kiu’u
seven RED-tree
‘seven trees’

(3.21) (C)VCV- triplication

ualu alha-alha-alhame
eight RED-RED-bird
‘eight birds’

(v) POSSESSION. The possessor can be a pronoun, a proper noun or a common noun,
depending on human, animate or inanimate (§7.2.1.3, §7.2.2.3.3, and §8.1.3.2). The
possessed nouns can be body parts considered as inalienable possession and all else
regarded as alienable possession. In Lha’alua, inalienable possession and alienable
possession do not exhibit any grammatical distinction. The constituent order in
possessive constructions is possessed + possessor, i.e. head + post-modifier. The
possessed noun and the possessor noun (except bound pronouns as in example (e))
can be linked by a or ka. Omitting the genitive marker does not give rise to any
semantic or pragmatic difference.

(3.22) a. i<a>ma-isai ka amai-ku ’ususupossessed

drink(PV)<IRR>-3.AGR CORE father-1SG.GEN milk
[kalavungupossessor] ia, m-arakaaka=cu.
cattle TOP AV-off/broken=COS.ASP
‘The cow milk my father will drink is off.’
(lit. As for the cow milk my father will drink, (it is) off.)
b. pai-tealh-a=cu a cacalaisapossessed [a vanaupossessor].
find-ACHI-PV=COS.ASP CORE stuff GEN female.name
‘Vanau’s stuff has been found.’
c. karekelhe a eleke k<um>a-kii-kita ’alhingupossessed
often CORE female.name RED<AV>-RED-look/see shadow/TV
[ka languipossessor].
GEN female.name
‘Eleke often watches Langui’s TV.’
d. m-a-pulhi a tapaepossessed-isa [sulhate possessor]=na.
AV-STAT-white CORE color-3.AGR book=DEF
‘The color of the book is white.’

61
 e. ku ’ikaripossessed[-kupossessor] a kana’a.
NEG bamboo.partridge-1SG.GEN CORE 3.INDEP
‘It is not my bamboo partridge.’

(vi) CASE. One of the means for marking syntactic relations in Lha’alua is to use case
on NPs. Case markers are typically monosyllabic forms and are divided into three
groups according to their functions: core (a and ka), oblique (n(a)) and genitive (a and
ka) (see §7.2.2.3). Syntactically, the case marker precedes an NP, whereas
phonologically, it attaches to the preceding word. Similar phenomena have been
discussed by Klavans (1985). In (3.23a), the patient voice suffix profiles the patient as
the grammatical subject, taking core case. In (3.23b), the sole core argument is
profiled by an Actor voice affix as the grammatical subject, and takes core case. In
(3.24), the Actor argument in transitive clauses takes core case. In (3.25a), the patient
selected by the bivalent verb takes the oblique case in the extended intransitive clause.
In (3.25b), the peripheral argument (denoting location) unselected by the verb takes
oblique case.

(3.23) Core case

a. lhi-pai-pekel-a=cu a
PERF.ASP-action.involving.hands-BOUND.ROOT-PV=COS.ASP CORE
eleke a tangusulhu=na.
female.name CORE rice.cake=DEF
‘Eleke has moulded the rice cake.’
b. um-arace a tasau na ma-m-a-ini.
AV-bite CORE dog OBL RED-AV-STAT-small
‘Dogs bit the child.’

(3.24) Core case

a. u-sipar-a=cu a ilhaku a
motion.on.foot-BOUND.ROOT-PV=COS.ASP CORE 1SG.INDEP CORE
lhuulhungu kiira.
stream yesterday
‘I waded the stream yesterday.’

62
 b. i<a>ma-isai ka inai-ku ’ususu kalavungu ia,
drink(PV)<IRR>-3.AGR CORE mother-1SG.GEN milk cattle top
m-arakaaka=cu.
AV-off/broken=COS.ASP
‘The cow milk my mother will drink is off.’
(lit. As for the cow milk my mother will drink, (it is) off.)

(3.25) Oblique case

a. c<um>a-caa-capa amalhe lha kuate na
RED<AV>-RED-broil male.name CONJ.COOR female.name OBL
alemelhe.
meat
‘Amalhe and Kuate are broiling a wild boar.’
b. amilh-a amalhe lhi-k<um>ita=ami n vuvulungaa
say-PV male.name PERF.ASP-see<AV>=EVI OBL mountain
n cumi’i.
OBL bear
‘Amalhe said he saw a bear in a mountain.’

(vii) DEFINITENESS. Lha’alua has two means of marking definiteness, one through
grammatical relations and the other through the cliticisation of =na. Definiteness is
essentially a discourse category; a definiteness marker can generally be omitted and
the message is still fully comprehensible and, of course, grammatical. The
definiteness marker =na is an enclitic in that it is not selective to its host. The host can
be a noun or a whole NP.

(3.26) Definiteness of a noun

a. m-ia-ta-tuu-tumu=aku [alha’a]=na ka
AV-thrust/push-RED-RED-BOUND.ROOT=1SG.NOM enemy=DEF LNK
m-a-lhavae.
AV-STAT-drunk
‘I will be hitting the enemy who is drunk with fists.’
b. t<um>a-taa-tangi a [ma-m-a-ini]=na ka
RED<AV>-RED-cry CORE RED-AV-STAT-small=DEF LNK
m-a-alha.
AV-STAT-hungry
‘The child who is hungry is crying.’

63
(3.27) Definiteness of an whole NP
a. m-ita-levenge a ma-m-a-ini na [’ilikusu a kiu’u
AV-hide-hide CORE RED-AV-STAT-small OBL back GEN tree
taisa]=na.
big=DEF
‘The child hid at the back of the big tree.’
b. tam m-a-tumulhu a [’urai-isa ka papa’a]=na.
very AV-STAT-a.lot CORE fat-3.AGR GEN meat=DEF
‘The fat of the meat is a lot.’

There are five groups of nouns which are considered intrinsically definite in
Lha’alua, e.g. topicalised nouns (§7.2.1.4 and §7.2.2.1), person names (§5.2.2),
personal pronouns (§7.2.3.1), demonstrative pronouns (§3.6.3) and those definite
nouns marked by grammatical relations (i.e. the choice of core case) (see chapter
7). Although it might be redundant, the cliticisation of =na to any group of these
nouns is fully comprehensible and grammatical in the Lha’alua language.

(3.28) Cliticisation of =na to a topicalised noun

a. m-aa-kaaiu turukuuka=na ia,
AV-BE:LOC/TEMP-there(DIST) chicken=DEF TOP
m-angalai=cu=aku isana.
AV-love.to.eat=COS.ASP=1SG.NOM 3.INDEP
‘I love to eat the chicken far there.’
(lit. As for the chicken far there, I love to eat it.)
b. ama’a=na ia, m-ari-a-vakese tasau.
father=DEF TOP AV-hand/head.motion-IRR-BOUND.ROOT dog
‘Father will beat a dog.’ (lit. As for father, (he) will beat a dog.)

(3.29) Cliticisation of =na to a person name

a. karekelhe a langui=na lh<um>a-lhaa-lhavu tikuru.
often CORE female.name=DEF RED<AV>-RED-wash clothes
‘Langui often washes clothes.’
b. m-ari-a-pici a langui=na maataata
AV-hand/head.motion-IRR-split CORE female.name=DEF tomorrow
kiu’u.
tree/wood
‘Langui will chop so as to make wood split tomorrow.’

64
 c. ku a tautau=na a-pana maataata alemelhe.
NEG CORE male.name=DEF IRR-shoot/hunt tomorrow wild.boar
‘Tautau will not hunt wild boars tomorrow.’

(3.30) Cliticisation of =na to a personal pronoun

a. lhi-k<um>ita=aku na ilhau=na.
PERF.ASP-see<AV>=1SG.NOM OBL 2SG.INDEP=DEF
‘I saw you (singular)’
b. lhi-k<um>ita=aku na ilhamu=na.
PERF.ASP-see<AV>=1SG.NOM OBL 2PL.INDEP=DEF
‘I saw you (plural)’

(3.31) Cliticisation of =na to a demonstrative pronoun

a. m-a-rumuku a ma-m-a-ini a kana’a=na
AV-STAT-like CORE RED-AV-STAT-small LNK that=DEF
k<um>ita ’alhingu.
look/see<AV> shadow/TV
‘That child likes to watch TV.’
b. m-a-aru a pa-pitu a ma-m-a-ini-isa
AV-STAT-exist CORE RED-seven LNK RED-AV-STAT-small-3.AGR
alhaina a kani’i=na.
woman LNK this=DEF
‘This woman has seven children.’ (lit. This woman’s seven children exist.)

(3.32) Cliticisation of =na to a already-definite noun marked by grammatical

relations
a. The definite noun profiled by Actor voice in a monovalent intransitive clause
t<um>alhi-a-suu-sulu
give.some.kind.of.mental.effect.by.verbal.action<AV>-IRR-RED-BOUND.ROOT
[a tautau=na]S.
CORE male.name=DEF
‘Tautau is joking.’
b. The definite noun profiled by Actor voice in a bivalent intransitive clause
lhi-luliulhu [a ma-m-a-ini=na]S [tikuru-isa]E.
PERF.ASP-change(AV) CORE RED-AV-STAT-small=DEF clothes-3.GEN
‘The child has changed his clothes.’

65
 c. The definite noun profiled by patient voice in a bivalent transitive clause
lhi-aala [’angai]A [vutukulhu=na]O na lhuulhungu.
PERF.ASP-take(PV) male.name fish=DEF OBL stream
‘’angai took the fish in a stream.’
d. The definite noun profiled by location voice in a bivalent transitive clause
lhi-aala-ana [’angai]A [vutukulhu]E [a lhuulhungu=na] O.
PERF.ASP-take-LV male.name fish CORE stream=DEF
‘’angai has caught fish in the stream.’

(viii) AGREEMENT. In Lha’alua, nouns (except pronouns) can agree in person in

possessive constructions (§7.2.1.2 and §7.2.3.2). Only third person but not first person
and second person plays a role in agreement. The third person agreement marker -isa
(both singular and plural) is always suffixed to the head noun (i.e. possessed) which
triggers person agreement.

(3.33) a. lhi-aala-ana-ku a [valhitukupossessed]-isa ama’apossessor.

PERF.ASP-take-LV-1SG.GEN CORE money-3.AGR father
‘I took father’s money.’
b. tam m-a-tumulhu a [’uraipossessed]-isa ka papa’apossessor=na.21
very AV-STAT-a.lot CORE fat-3.AGR GEN meat=DEF
‘The fat of the meat is a lot.’
c. karekelhe a eleke m-u-a-saa-sala
often CORE female.name AV-motion.on.foot-IRR-RED-road
m-alhu-kua [saliapossessed]-isa ka languipossessor.
AV-get.to-get.to house-3.AGR GEN female.name
‘Eleke often goes to Langui’s house.’

(ix) EXISTENTIAL NEGATION. There is one existential negator in Lha’alua: uka’a

(§6.5.2). It negates a noun, an NP or a nominal clause. Typically, uka’a occurs in the
initial position of a clause, unless a temporal expression, i.e. time point like now,
today, yesterday, tomorrow, but not time span like one day, appears before it.

(3.34) a. uka’a a ma-m-a-ini-isa tautau.

NEG CORE RED-AV-STAT-small-3.AGR male.name
‘Tautau has no children.’

21
‘The fat of the meat’ is part-whole relation rather than strict possession. Different types of
possession (e.g. alienable, inalienable, part-whole, etc) do not exhibit different grammatical properties
in Lha’alua. In other words, they all behave identically.

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 b. kani’i=na uka’a=cu a valhituku-ku.
this=DEF NEG=COS.ASP CORE money-1SG.GEN
‘I have no money now.’

The negative marker uka’a can be treated as a verb, since it possesses some
verbal properties. For example, it can attract an aspectual marker.

(3.35) a. uka’a=cu naani a ma-m-a-ini t<um>a-taa-tangi.

NEG=COS.ASP here CORE RED-AV-STAT-small RED<AV>-RED-cry
‘The child who was crying is no longer here.’
b. uka’a=cu a lhi-aala-isa langui valhituku.
NEG=COS.ASP LNK PERF.ASP-take-3.AGR female.name money
‘The money that Langui took is gone.’

When a noun is negated, it can be indefinite as in example (a) or definite as in

example (b).

(3.36) a. uka’a a ma-m-a-ini-ku.

NEG CORE RED-AV-STAT-small-1SG.GEN
‘I have no children.’
b. uka’a ka ilhaku ka vilangane.
NEG CORE 1SG.INDEP KA place.name
‘I am not at Vilangane (Chinese name: Guohe 過河).’

3.1.3 Grammatical properties associated with verbs

In Lha’alua, there are seven grammatical properties typically associated with a

verb when it is head of a predicate: (i) voice (§6.3, §7.1 and §8.1.1), (ii) reality status
(§6.2.1.1 and §6.2.1.2), (iii) aspect (§6.2.2), (iv) modality (§6.2.4), (v) mood (§9.2),
(vi) agreement (§6.6, §7.2.3.2 and §7.2.1.2) and (vii) verbal negation (§6.5).

(i) VOICE. In Lha’alua, the grammatical coding of the subject lies in the
morphological markings on the verb and on the noun. The morphological marking on
the verb, i.e. voice markers, represents the semantic role of the nominal argument, i.e.
Actor, patient, or locative. Traditionally, Actor voice encodes a nominal argument
with the semantic role, Actor, and profiles the nominal argument as the grammatical
subject. Patient voice encodes a nominal argument with the semantic role, patient, and
profiles the nominal argument as the grammatical subject. As for locative voice, it

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encodes a nominal argument with the semantic role, locative, and profiles the nominal
argument as the grammatical subject.

(3.37) Actor voice

m-i-ungu kani’i ia, ausi
AV-action.concerning.location-BOUND.ROOT this/now TOP possible
22
lailha=cu usua philhingii .
ten=COS.ASP two clan
‘Till now, it is possible that there are twelve clans.’
(lit. As for arriving now, perhaps already twelve clans.)

(3.38) Patient voice

aunaana ka lhi-timalha-ku a lhaamaama kiariari.
like.that LNK PERF.ASP-hear(PV)-1SG.GEN CORE old.person past
‘That is what I heard from the old people in the past.’

(3.39) Locative voice

racu’u salia ia, italuailipi-a[-isa]A [parana]O.
bamboo house TOP elax(in.a.cool.place)-LV-3.GEN place
‘We relax in the bamboo house.’
(lit. As for the bamboo house, they relax in the place.)

Voice will be further discussed in §6.3, in §7.1 and in §8.1.1. In §8.1.1, I address
an alternative to analyse the Actor, patient and locative voice markers as
intransitivizing, transitivizing and applicative markers, respectively.

(ii) REALITY STATUS. In Lha’alua, reality is defined as follows: realis (§6.2.1.1) refers
to something that happened in the past, happens now, or has happened, and irrealis
(§6.2.1.2) indicates something that didn’t happen in the past (but could have),
something that would/will happen in the future, or something that is happening (i.e.
progressive) at the time of speaking. Realis is zero-marked, whereas irrealis is
expressed through prefixation a-, infixation <a>, or Ca/Caa reduplication on the verb.

22
philhingi ‘clan’ here is lengthened as philhingii in the text. It is likely that there is a pragmatic
implication.

68
(3.40) Irrealis expressed through prefixation a-
t<um>alhi-a-suu-sulu
give.some.kind.of.mental.effect.by.verbal.action<AV>-IRR-RED-BOUND.ROOT
[a eleke]S.
CORE female.name
‘Eleke is joking.’

(3.41) Irrealis expressed through infixation <a>

i<a>ma-isa langui salhumu.
drink(PV)<IRR>-3.AGR female.name water
‘Langui will drink the water.’

(3.42) Irrealis expressed through Ca/Caa reduplication

a. ku pai-ta-tealhe=’ai=maanai lhatareae i<a>ma-isa
NEG find-IRR-ACHI=MOD=MOD pheasant drink(PV)<IRR>-3.AGR
salhumu.
water
‘Probably, the pheasant couldn’t find the water to drink.’
b. t<um>a-tineene a ina’a na tikuru maataata.
IRR<AV>-weave CORE mother OBL clothes tomorrow
‘Mother will weave clothes tomorrow.’
c. m-aa-taa-tumulhu=ita cu-ruvana m-ima mapaci.
AV-drink-IRR-a.lot=1PL.INCL.NOM IRR-evening AV-drink wine
‘We will drink a lot of wine this evening.’

Irrealis will be discussed in §6.2.1.2.

(iii) ASPECT. According to Comrie (1976), aspect refers to different perspectives

which the speaker views the internal constituency of a situation. Lha’alua aspect
consists of perfective, imperfective, change-of-state, progressive, continuous, iterative,
habitual, diminutive/attenuative and experiential aspects. The formation of aspect
markers is through prefixation, encliticisation or reduplication.

(3.43) Prefixation: perfective aspect ‘lhi-’

lhi-m-ari-tamaku a tautau.
PERF.ASP-AV-hand/head.motion-cigarette CORE male.name
‘Tautau has smoked.’

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(3.44) Encliticisation: change-of-state aspect ‘=cu’
m-i-ungu=cu=aku na
AV-action.concerning.location-BOUND.ROOT =COS.ASP=1SG.NOM OBL
vilangane.
place.name
‘I arrived at Vilangane (Chinese name: Guohe 過河)’

(3.45) Reduplication: iterative aspect: CV˘- reduplication

m-utu-a-taa-tapusu a
AV-contact/move.towards-IRR-RED-BOUND.ROOT CORE
maa-maa-ma-m-a-ini .
RED-RED-RED-AV-STAT-small
‘Children will jump repeatedly.’

More detailed discussion on aspect will be presented in §6.2.2.

(iv) MODALITY. Epistemic modality, which connotes how much certainty or

possibility a speaker has for the proposition expressed by his or her utterance, is
represented through the morphological process of cliticisation in Lha’alua. There are
four epistemic modality markers in Lha’alua: =’ai ‘uncertain’, =ainii ‘uncertain’,
=iau ‘uncertain’, and =maanai ‘possible’. Examples are given below, respectively.

(3.46) The modality marker =’ai ‘uncertain’

taia=’ai mata-ma-upate-lhe meemea.
approximate=MOD human-tens-four-tens also
‘(The number of population) also approximates forty.’

(3.47) The modality marker =ainii ‘uncertain’

taia=’ai m-ulavae n mata-ma-tulu-lhu=ainii.
approximate=MOD AV-reach OBL human-tens-three-tens=MOD
‘(The number of population) also approximately reaches thirty.’

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(3.48) The modality marker =iau ‘uncertain’
m-a-aru=mana=iau ka saa-saree-ana
AV-STAT-exist=IMPERF.ASP=MOD CORE RED-soil/dirt-LOC.NMZ
m-aa-’ulutii.
AV-BE:LOC/TEMP-a.magic.object.that.provokes.an.earthquake
‘A magic object that provokes an earthquake still exists in the Earth. (from a
traditional story)’

(3.49) The modality marker =maanai ‘possible’

ku pai-ta-tealhe=’ai=maanai lhatareae i<a>ma-isa
NEG find-IRR-ACHI=MOD=MOD pheasant drink(PV)<IRR>-3.AGR
salhumu.
water
‘Possibly, the pheasant couldn’t find the water to drink.’

Modality will be discussed in §6.2.4.

(v) MOOD. Imperative mood is the main means of marking directive speech acts,
including orders and requests (Aikhenvald 2008:276, 2010a:33, 2010a:395). In
Lha’alua, commands can be addressed to people of any age, especially children.
When addressing command to old people, it is regarded as a token of etiquette to
employ polite request. In contrast, using strong request to old people is deemed as a
behaviour which is culturally unacceptable. In imperative sentences, an imperative
suffix is obligatorily added to the main verb. The second person noun phrase in S or A
function is omitted. In Actor, patient, and locative voice constructions, the imperative
suffixes -a, -u and -i/-ani are used, respectively.

(3.50) Strong request: the imperative suffix -a in Actor voice constructions

m-aa-m-a-ini-a=mau m-ima [mapaci]E!
AV-drink-AV-STAT-small-AV.IMP=STRONG.REQUEST AV-drink wine
‘Drink a little wine!’

(3.51) Strong request: the imperative suffix -u in patient voice constructions

cuu=mau lili-u [savuane]O!
STRONG.REQUEST=STRONG.REQUEST apply-PV.IMP ointment
‘Apply the ointment!’

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(3.52) Strong request: the imperative suffix -i in locative voice constructions
vur-i a kana’a=na valhituku!
give-LV.IMP CORE 3.INDEP=DEF money
‘Give him money!’

Imperative mood will be further discussed in §9.2.

(vi) AGREEMENT. In Lha’alua, agreement is determined by third person and the

patient voice construction. Specifically, in the patient voice construction, the third
person agreement markers saa- and -isa can occur to cross-refer the Actor in A
function. The difference between saa- and -isa is that while saa- is prefixed to the
verb, -isa is suffixed to the verb.

(3.53) Agreement in patient voice construction

a. saa-apaa-tilmaha [amalhe]A ilhaku salhi.
3.AGR-CAUS-listen(PV) male.name 1SG.INDEP song
‘Amalhe let me listen to the song.’
b. saa-apaa-kita [eleke]A ilhaku ’alhingu.
3.AGR-CAUS-look(PV) female.name 1SG.INDEP shadow/TV
‘Eleke let me watch TV.’
c. a-taeve-isa [langui]A a ta’elha salia=na.
IRR-cover(PV)-3.AGR female.name CORE chair house=DEF
‘Langui will cover the chair of the house.’

Agreement will be discussed in §6.6, §7.2.3.2 and §7.2.1.2.

(vii)VERBAL NEGATION. Two negators are used to negate verbal elements in Lha’alua:
ku and kuu. While ku negates a verb, an VP or a verbal clause, kuu is employed in
imperative sentences. Typically, verbal negators occur in the initial position of a
clause, unless a temporal expression, i.e. a time point like now, today, yesterday,
tomorrow, but not a time span like one day, appears before it.

(3.54) Verbal negator ku

a. ku=cu a-tangi a ma-m-a-ini=na.
NEG=COS.ASP IRR-cry CORE RED-AV-STAT-small=DEF
‘The child is no longer crying.’

72
 b. ku karekelhe pari-a-varate kiariari.
NEG often blow-A-wind past
‘There were no typhoons frequently in the past.’
(lit. (It) didn’t typhoon often in the past)

(3.55) Verbal negator kuu

a. kuu=kia u-sa-sipare lhuulhungu!
NEG.IMP=POLITE.REQUEST motion.on.foot-RED-BOUND.ROOT stream
‘Don’t wade a stream!’
b. kuu=kia a-kirimi alemelhe!
NEG.IMP=POLITE.REQUEST IRR-search/hunt wild.boar
‘Don’t hunt wild boars!’

The two negators ku and kuu can be treated as verbs, in that they possess some
verbal properties. As shown in (3.54a), ku can attract the change-of-state aspect =cu.

More discussion on negation and negative imperatives will be presented in §6.5

and §9.2.2, respectively.

3.2 Nouns and subclasses of nouns

“Noun is assigned to the class of words in which occur the names of most
persons, places, and things” (Schachter 1985:7). Nouns, an open word class, comprise
a complicated part of the Lha’alua grammar, in terms of the richness of grammatical
categories and of morpho-phonological involvedness. However, compared with verbs,
nouns are relatively simpler. That nouns are an open word class is espoused by the
facility Lha’alua has in adopting loans as nouns. As having shown in §2.1.4, Japanese,
Bunun, Mandarin Chinese, and Taiwanese Southern Min words are often borrowed as
nominals. These nominals are then used as arguments of predicate and take all the
appropriate nominal morphology of Lha’alua, such as chaipu mapulhi ‘radish’
(chaipu from Mandarin Chinese, mapulhi ‘white’ from Lha’alua), ’otobai-ku
(motorcycle-1SG.GEN) ‘my motorcycle (’otobai from Japanese)’, phuuthau=na
(grapes=DEF) ‘the grapes’ (phuuthau from Mandarin Chinese)’, and so on.

As mentioned in §3.1.2, typical syntactic functions of nouns are being able to be

heads of noun phrases, heads of intransitive predicates, both a head and a dependent
in possessive constructions, both a head and a modifier in an NP, and a head of
predicate (secondary function). Lha’alua nouns can be defined as having grammatical

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categories of (i) gender, (ii) noun classification, (iii) number, (iv) numeral (chapter 10),
(v) possession (§7.2.1.3, §7.2.2.3.3, and §8.1.3.2 ), (vi) case (§7.2.2.3), (vii)
definiteness, (viii) agreement (§7.2.1.2 and §7.2.3.2), and (ix) existential negation
(§6.5.2). Apart from these, nominal morphology will be discussed in Chapter 5.

In Lha’alua, nouns are subsumed under several grammatical subclasses

according to their morphological/syntactic possibilities correlating with semantic
properties of their referents: (i) common nouns, (ii) kinship terms, (iii) human and
nonhuman nouns, (iv) person names, (v) locative nouns and (vi) temporal nouns.
These classes may overlap; accordingly, a noun can fall into more than one class.

Table 3.2 presents the grammatical properties of subclasses of nouns which will
be discussed below in this section.

Table 3.2: Grammatical properties of subclasses of nouns

head a modified by
case floating numeral
vocative possessive pluralised adjectival
choice around agreement
NP elements
common nouns N Y Y N Y Y Y
kinship terms S Y Y N Y ? Y
human and
S Y Y N Y Y Y
nonhuman nouns
person names S N Y N N ? Y
locative nouns N Y S S ? ? Y
temporal nouns N N N S N N N

In Table 3.2, ‘Y’ (for yes) means that the property includes all members; ‘S’ (for
some) signify that the property includes some members or applies under some
circumstances; ‘N’ (for no) indicates that the property is lacking; ‘?’ denotes that
available data are not able to make a decision.

The six grammatical subclasses of nouns are further elaborated as follows.

(i) COMMON NOUNS. In Lha’alua, common nouns can be underived and derived ones.
While the former do not involve any morphological processes, the latter do. Derived
common nouns, which are not simple words, are formed by undergoing at least one
morphological process, e.g. through prefixation lhi-culhuku ‘sticky rice cake’, through
reduplication ma-m-a-ini ‘child’, etc. Common nouns can take core and oblique case

74
markers. Common nouns take core case markers in intransitive sentences (marked by
Actor voice markers), extended intransitive sentences (marked by Actor voice
markers), transitive sentences (marked by patient voice markers), and locative
applicative sentences (marked by locative voice markers), when the arguments are in
S or O function. Common nouns take core case markers in transitive and locative
applicative sentences when the arguments are in A function. Common nouns take
oblique case markers in extended intransitive, transitive, and locative applicative
sentences when there are arguments in E function or when there are peripheral
arguments (i.e. adjuncts), e.g. locational expressions.

(3.56) Common nouns (i.e. S/O arguments) take core case markers
a. in intransitive sentence (i.e. Actor voice construction)
akuisa lh<um>ivuru [civuka-isa]E
when stab<AV> belly/stomach-3.GEN
m-utu-pulhu=ami [a ma-m-a-ini-isa]S
AV-move.toward-come.out=EVI CORE RED-AV-STAT-small-3.GEN
riane23=ami [alemelhe]S.
all=EVI wild.boar
‘It is said that when (he) stabbed her belly, the children came out, and all
(children) were wild boars.’
b. in extended intransitive sentence (i.e. Actor voice construction)
aunaana=ami ka kiariari m-u-sala=ami
like.that=EVI LNK past AV-motion.on.foot-road=EVI
[a cucu’u]S kana m-alhu-kua [n vuvulungaa]E.
CORE person PAUSE.FILLER AV-get.to-get.to OBL mountain
‘Like that, it is said that people went to a mountain in the past.’
c. in transitive sentence (i.e. patient voice construction)
[saa-]Alhivur-a=ami [a alhaina=na]O.
3.GEN-stab-PV=EVI CORE woman=DEF
‘It is said that he stabbed the woman.’
d. in locative applicative sentence (i.e. locative voice construction)
lhi-aala-ana=cu [a ma-m-a-ini]A [a
PERF.ASP-take-LV=COS.ASP CORE RED-AV-STAT-small CORE
sulhate-isa ina’a]O.
book/paper/word-3.AGR mother
‘The child took mother’s book.’

23
The quantifying expression riane ‘all’ is subsumed under stative verbs, and typically functions as a
predicate.

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(3.57) Common nouns (i.e. A arguments) take core case markers
a. in transitive sentence (i.e. patient voice construction)
[mapaci]O a, i<a>ma-isa [ka lhaamaama]A.
wine TOP drink(PV)<IRR>-3.AGR CORE old.person
‘The old person will drink the wine.’
(lit. As for the wine, the old person will drink (it).)
b. in locative applicative sentence (i.e. locative voice construction)
lhi-aala-ana=cu [a ilhaku] A [a valhituku-isa
PERF.ASP-take-LV=COS.ASP CORE 1SG.INDEP CORE money-3.AGR
ama’a]O.
father
‘I took father’s money.’

(3.58) Common nouns (i.e. E/peripheral arguments) take oblique case markers
a. in extended intransitive sentence (i.e. Actor voice construction)
[saa-]Apala-va-vililh-a=ami
3.GEN-stealthily.follow-RED-stealthily.follow-PV=EVI
[ka kana cucu]O [salia-isa]E k<um>ita aunaana=iau
CORE PAUSE.FILLER person house-3.GEN look/see<AV> like.that=MOD
rumalhae m-uritalhivae [na alemelhe]E.
when AV-have.a.love.affair OBL wild.boar
‘It is said that he stealthily followed the person to her house and had a look.
Like that, (he saw her) have a love affair with a wild boar.’
b. in transitive sentence (i.e. patient voice construction)
[mapaci]O a, i<a>ma-isa [ka lhaamaama]A [na
wine TOP drink(PV)<IRR>-3.AGR CORE old.person OBL
salia-isa amalhe]E.
house-3.AGR male.name
‘The old person will drink the wine in Amalhe’s house.’
(lit. As for the wine, the old person will drink (it) in Amalhe’s house.)

(ii) KINSHIP TERMS. In Lha’alua, kinship terms form a closed subset. They always
have a human referent. Some have a fixed gender. For example, tamalengale ‘uncle’
and ama’a ‘father’ are always masculine, but tavanau ‘aunt’ and ina’a ‘mother’ are
always feminine. Some have a variable gender. For example, tamu’u ‘grandparent’,
alhalua ‘older sibling’ and lhimilavae ‘younger sibling’. Kinship terms (not all)
distinguish non-vocative and vocative forms. Kinship terms which have a vocative

76
form are found only with consanguineous kinship terms of senior generations above
ONESELF (i.e. ego), e.g. ‘grand grandparent’, ‘grandparent’ and ‘father and mother’.
Kinship terms in non-vocative forms, when used in vocative, undergo some
morphological/phonological changes, e.g. ‘grand grandparent’ and ‘grandparent’, t
and m becoming p separately, thereby deriving papu’u from tamu’u. Kinship terms
differ from common nouns. For instance, kinship terms when distinguishing gender
co-occur with alhaina ‘woman’ or lhalhusa ‘man’, whereas common nouns referring
to animate referents co-occur with ina’a ‘mother’ or ama’a ‘father’. Kinship terms
can be pluralised. For example, the first two syllables of lhimilavae ‘younger sibling’
can be reduplicated as lhimi-lhimilavae ‘younger siblings’ to denote plurality.

(iii) HUMAN AND NONHUMAN NOUNS. Nouns referring to human and nonhuman
referents are both likely to trigger number agreement and have overt number markings
on the noun; however, they differ in the principles of numeral modification. The usage
of numerals is determined by humanness/nonhumanness of the referent. Other
parameters do not play a role in selection of numerals. When a human referent occurs,
the numeral has to agree in humanness by using (C)a reduplication, e.g. ta-tulu cucu’u
‘three people’ and a-u-pate cucu’u ‘four people’. Vocatives are typically formed on
nouns referring to animate referents and person names, e.g. eleke
eekee (female
name). These restrictions are tendencies rather than steadfast rules: some nouns
referring to an addressee, if called, or spoken to, may acquire vocative forms.
Vocatives never form part of a clause, and are separated from the clause by a pause.

(iv) PERSON NAMES. In Lha’alua, person names are a culturally salient subclass. They
typically have a culturally important human/nonhuman referent, and a fixed gender.
Person names do not take plural marking, or occur as heads of possessive NPs. Person
names (not all) may have different patterns in vocative forms (§5.2.2.1), in different
life stages (§5.2.2.2), and in different social statuses and birth orders (§5.2.2.3).

(v) LOCATIVE NOUNS. Four types of locative nouns in Lha’alua can be distinguished:
nouns referring to a location (§5.3.1), orientational and directional nouns (§5.3.2),
place names (§5.3.3), and nouns referring to a place where something gathers or is
gathered, and an action is performed (§5.3.4). Locative nouns can be differentiated
from other nouns because of their limited environments when case-marked. Locative
nouns take oblique case markers in extended intransitive and transitive clauses, but
take the core case markers only in applicative clauses.

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(3.59) Locative nouns take the oblique case na in an extended intransitive
sentence
ku=ita u-a-sala m-alhu-kua
NEG=1PL.INCL.NOM motion.on.foot-IRR-road AV-get.to-get.to
na vilangane.
OBL place.name
‘We will not go to Vilangane (Chinese name: Guohe 過河).’

(3.60) Locative nouns take the oblique case na in a transitive sentence

[mapaci]O a, i<a>ma-isa [ka lhaamaama]A [na
wine TOP drink(PV)<IRR>-3.AGR CORE old.person OBL
salia-ku]E.
house-1SG.GEN
‘The old person will drink the wine in my house.’
(lit. As for the wine, the old person will drink (it) in my house.)

(3.61) Locative nouns take the core case in a locative applicative sentence
racu’u salia ia, italuailipi-a[-lhamu]A [a
bamboo house TOP relax(in.a.cool.place)-LV-1PL.EXCL.GEN CORE
parana]O.
place
‘We relax in the bamboo house.’
(lit. As for the bamboo house, we relax in the place.)

(vi) TEMPORAL NOUNS. In Lha’alua, temporal nouns refer exclusively to time points
(e.g. kiira ‘yesterday’ and maataata ‘tomorrow’) and time spans (e.g. ucani aari ‘one
day’ and usua cailhi ‘two years’). Typically, temporal nouns are not marked for case.
Temporal nouns are less noun-like than prototypical nouns because they cannot be
modified by adjectival elements, or be possessors or possessees in possessive NPs.
Besides, unlike other nouns that have a fixed position in terms of argument selections
and grammatical relations, temporal nouns referring to time points, but not time spans,
could float around within a sentence.

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(3.62) a. lhi-u-lhamare [a lhaamaama]S kiira
PERF.ASP-AV-set.fire.to.mountain CORE old.person yesterday
[caacapukaa]E.
couch.grass.plain
‘The old person set fire to mountain’s couch grass plain yesterday.’
b. lhi-u-lhamare [a lhaamaama]S [caacapukaa]E kiira.
c. kiira lhi-u-lhamare [a lhaamaama]S [caacapukaa]E.

3.3 Verbs and subclasses of verbs

“Verb is the name given to the parts-of-speech class in which occur most of the
words that express actions, processes, and the like” (Schachter 1985:9). Verbs, an
open word class, form the most intricate part of the Lha’alua grammar, in terms of the
affluence of grammatical categories and morpho-phonological complexity. That verbs
are an open word class is upheld by the facility Lha’alua has in productively creating
verbs through verbal lexical prefixation, e.g. ku-tumulhu (eat-a.lot) ‘eat a lot’,
ku-m-a-ini (eat-a.little) ‘eat a little’, ke-elese (eat-together) ‘eat together’, ke-lepenge
(eat-finish) ‘eat up’, and so on.

As mentioned in §3.1.3, typical syntactic functions of verbs in Lha’alua are the

ability to head transitive and intransitive predicates. Lha’alua verbs can be defined as
having grammatical categories of (i) voice (§6.3, §7.1 and §8.1.1), (ii) reality status
(§6.2.1.1 and §6.2.1.2), (iii) aspect (§6.2.2), (iv) modality (§6.2.4), (v) mood (§9.2),
(vi) agreement (§6.6, §7.2.3.2 and §7.2.1.2), and (vii) verbal negation (§6.5).

Verbs are subsumed under several grammatical subclasses according to their

morphological/syntactic possibilities correlating with semantic properties of their
referents: (i) transitivity classes, (ii) stative verbs, and (iii) adverbial verbs. All these
classes may overlap; accordingly, a verb can fall into more than one class.

(i) TRANSITIVITY CLASSES. In Lha’alua, verbs can be sub-divided into several classes
in terms of their argument structures characterised by their morphological derivations
to a certain extent. Here verbs are classified on the basis of valency. More detailed
discussion will be provided in chapter 7 and in §8.1.

ZERO VALENCY OR ‘AMBIENT’ VERBS do not take any argument. The argument
referring to the weather condition or to the time is not specified.

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(3.63) Weather condition
a. ku karekelhe pari-a-varate kiariari.
NEG often blow-A-wind past
‘There were no typhoons frequently in the past.’
(lit. (It) didn’t typhoon often in the past)
b. um-usalhi=cu.
AV-rain=COS.ASP
‘(It) has rained.’

(3.64) Time
ualu=cu a pakiaturua kani’i.
eight=COS.ASP CORE o’clock/teacher this/now
‘It is eight o’clock now.’

MONOVALENT VERBS, taking only one obligatory argument, the subject marked
by a core case, are always intransitive and inflected with Actor voice markers (i.e.
intransitivizing affixes).

(3.65) a. lhi-um-aceka [ma-m-a-ini]S kimatata upitu

PERF.ASP-AV-get.up RED-AV-STAT-small morning seven
pakiaturua.
o’clock/teacher
‘The child got up at seven o’clock in the morning.’
b. m-alusapi=cu [a ’a’ai]S.
AV-sleep=COS.ASP CORE baby
‘The baby has slept.’

BIVALENT VERBS usually have intransitive forms (i.e. Actor voice) and transitive
forms (i.e. patient voice). Transitive forms are zero-marked or marked by the
transitivizing suffix -a. They take an Actor genitive enclitic pronoun or an Actor core
NP in A function, and take a patient core NP in O function.

(3.66) a. lhi-aala[-ku]A [a vutukulhu]O na sakeralhe.

PERF.ASP-take(PV)-1SG.GEN CORE fish OBL river
‘I took the fish in a river.’

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 b. lhi-tineen-a=cu [a eleke]A [a tikuru]O
PERF.ASP-weave-PV=COS.ASP CORE female.name CORE clothes
ki-ruvana.
REA-evening
‘Eleke wove the clothes this evening.’

The example shown above is transitive in patient voice. When such a verb
appears in Actor voice as shown below, it is intransitive and has the marking as a
monovalent verb. The patient NP, if any, is demoted as an Extended argument (i.e.
antipassive) and takes the oblique case.

(3.67) a. um-a-aala[=aku]S [na vutukulhu]E na sakeralhe.

AV-IRR-take=1SG.NOM OBL fish OBL river
‘I will take fish in a river.’
b. t<um>a-tineene [a vanau]S [na tikuru]E cu-ruvana.
IRR<AV>-weave CORE female.name OBL clothes IRR-evening
‘Vanau will weave clothes this evening.’

TRIVALENT VERBS take three arguments. A typical trivalent verb, such as ‘give’
and ‘lend’, selects an Actor, beneficiary and theme. Trivalent verbs can be intransitive
in Actor voice forms, transitive in patient voice forms or applicative in locative voice
forms. Intransitivity, transitivity or applicativity is determined by the definiteness
effect. When the patient is indefinite (thus in E function), the verb is in an intransitive
form (i.e. Actor voice) and the Actor takes the core case in S function. When the
patient is definite (thus in O function), the verb has a transitive form (i.e. patient
voice). When the location is promoted from a peripheral argument to a core argument
and enters into the O function, the verb has an applicative form (i.e. locative voice).

(3.68) a. u-a-vura[=aku]S [na lhaamaama]E [na vutukulhu]E maataata.

AV-IRR-give=1SG.NOM OBL old.person OBL fish tomorrow
‘I will give fish to old people tomorrow.’
b. a-vur-a[-ku]A [lhaamaama]E [vutukulhu]O maataata.
IRR-give-PV-1SG.GEN old.person fish tomorrow
‘I will give the fish to old people tomorrow.’
c. a-vur-i[-ku]A [amalhe]O [vutukulhu=na]E maataata.
IRR-give-LV-1SG.GEN male.name fish=DEF tomorrow
‘I will give Amalhe the fish tomorrow.’

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(ii) STATIVE VERBS. In Lha’alua, stative verbs are characterised by the fact that they
are zero-marked or marked by -a. Quantifying expressions are classified as stative
verbs. Semantically, quantifiers are words that express contrasts in quantity (Crystal
1991:286). The fact that quantification is expressed through verbs is not exceptional
(cf. Schachter 1985:38). As is the case for stative verbs, Lha’alua uses forms that are
morphologically verbs to express quantifying notions, e.g. through Actor voice or
stative markers: m-a-tumulhu ‘a lot (inanimate)’ and tumalhae ‘a lot (animate)’.

(3.69) a. tumalhae a cucu’u m-aa-relhece.

a.lot CORE person AV-BE:LOC/TEMP-place.name
‘There are a lot of people in Relhece (Chinese name: Kaochung 高中).’
(lit. People a lot in Relhece.)
b. m-a-tumulhu a kiu-kiu’u m-aa-caale.
AV-STAT-a.lot CORE RED-tree AV-BE:LOC/TEMP-mountain
‘There are a lot of trees in mountains.’ (lit. Trees a lot in mountains.)

Unlike dynamic verbs, stative verbs can be modified by the degree word tam
‘very’.

(3.70) a. tam tumalhae a tukucu-ku.

very a.lot CORE friend-1SG.GEN
‘I have a lot of friends.’ (lit. My friends very a lot.)
b. alha-m-a-cici ia, tam m-a-tumulhu a pari-a-varate.
season-AV-STAT-hot TOP very AV-STAT-a.lot CORE blow-A-wind
‘In summer, there are a lot of typhoons.’
(lit. As for the summer, typhoons very a lot.)

Existential predicates are classified as stative verbs. As is the case for stative
verbs, Lha’alua uses forms that are morphologically verbs to express existence, e.g.
through Actor voice or stative markers: m-a-aru ‘exist’. In addition to m-a-aru, there
are two verbal lexical prefixes pi- and u- denoting existence (see §8.1.3.4).

(3.71) alhaama lha’alua ia, m-a-aru=cu n kani’i

ancestor Lha’alua TOP AV-STAT-exist=COS.ASP OBL this
saa-saree-ana.
RED-soil/dirt-LOC.NMZ
‘Lha’alua’s ancestor lived at this place.’
(lit. As for the Lha’alua’s ancestor, (they) existed at this place.)

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 Quantifying expressions and existential predicates, like dynamic verbs, can
attract aspectual markers, whereas they, unlike dynamic verbs, cannot attract bound
pronouns. Examples of quantifying expressions are given below.

(3.72) a. tumalhae=cu a cucu’u m-aa-lhakuruca.

a.lot=COS.ASP CORE person AV-BE:LOC/TEMP-place.name
‘There have already been a lot of people in Lhakuruca (Chinese name:
Liugui 六龜).’ (lit. People already a lot in Lhakuruca.)
b. m-a-tumulhu=cu a kiu-kiu’u m-aa-vuvulungaa.
AV-STAT-a.lot=COS.ASP CORE RED-tree AV-BE:LOC/TEMP-mountain
‘There have already been a lot of trees in mountains.’
(lit. Trees already a lot in mountains.)
c. langui ia, m-a-aru=cu n kani’i
female.name TOP AV-STAT-exist=COS.ASP OBL this
saa-saree-ana.
RED-soil/dirt-LOC.NMZ
‘Langui used to live at this place.’
(lit. As for Langui, (she) existed at this place.)

In addition to quantifying expressions and existential predicates, adjectival

elements in Lha’alua are also analysed as stative verbs. Detailed discussion on
adjectival elements is provided in §3.4.

(iii) ADVERBIAL VERBS. Formosan languages are characterised by adverbial verbs, a

typologically unusual construction where adverbials expressing manner, iteration,
frequency, and so forth, surface as higher verbs in syntax (H. Chang 2006b, 2009,
Holmer 2006, 2007, among others). In Lha’alua, adverbials verbs exhibit a number of
distinctive grammatical features including (i) the occurrence of prefixes that are
specific to adverbial verbs, (ii) the existence of adverbial compounds that are
comprised of an adverbial (bound) root and an event-denoting prefix, (iii) the
voice-marking of the lexical prefix of an adverbial compound, and (iv) the duplication
of a lexical prefix or a lexical verb that represents the same event as its preceding
lexical prefix. An adverbial verb usually consists of an adverbial free/bound root, e.g.
-sakave ‘stealthily’, -elese ‘together’ and -muamuare ‘slowly’, a numeral root, e.g.
-sua ‘two’, or an adjectival element, e.g. taisa ‘big’.

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(3.73) a. ku-a-elese=ita maataata um-u papa’a.
eat-IRR-together=1PL.INCL.NOM tomorrow AV-eat meat
‘We will eat meat together tomorrow.’
b. m-aa-muamuare=amu cu-ruvana m-ima mapaci.
AV-drink-slowly=1PL.EXCL.NOM IRR-evening AV-drink wine
‘We drank wine slowly this evening.’

3.4 Adjectival elements

Noun and verb exist universally among all the word classes (Dixon 1982, Dixon
2004, Dixon 2010b, Hopper and Thompson 1984, Schachter 1985), while other word
classes exhibit a huge amount of variation in numbers and types among languages24. As
for adjectives, some languages treat them as a distinct category, whereas some do not
(Dixon 1982, Thompson 1988, Schachter 1985). In languages which have a separate
lexical category of adjectives, the class can be open (e.g. English) or closed (e.g Igbo).
However, in languages which do not have a distinct category of adjectives, they can be
divided into adjectival-noun languages (e.g. Finnish) or adjectival-verb languages (e.g.
Acehnese, spoken in northern Sumatra) (Dixon 1982, Thompson 1988, Schachter 1985).
Adjectival-noun languages are defined as languages in which their property concepts
pattern very similarly to nouns, and adjectival-verb languages as languages in which
their property concepts share many properties with the class of verbs.

As for Formosan languages, Starosta (1988: 546) claims that ‘a separate class of
adjectives probably does not exist in any of the languages since words which translate
as adjectives have the syntactic distribution of nouns.’ It has been recognised in some
Formosan languages that an independent word class ‘adjective’ is absent (in that it
patterns similarly to verb), such as Puyuma (Ross and Teng 2003:18, Teng 2007:87-89,
2008), Saisiyat (M.L. Yeh 2003b, Zeitoun forthcoming), Paiwan (Wu 2004), Amis (S.C.
Yeh 2005), Tsou (Pan 2005, 2012), and Mantauran Rukai (Zeitoun 2007:76-81).

In Lha’alua, the functional possibilities of adjectival elements typically include

being modifiers to a head noun in an NP and heads of an intransitive predicate.

24
According to Radford (2004), grammatical categories can be divided into lexical/substantive
categories and functional categories. The former is defined in terms of the substantive
lexical/descriptive content, e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and prepositions, whereas the latter is
defined based on the essentially grammatical function, e.g. particles, auxiliaries, determiners, pronouns,
and complementisers.

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(3.74) As modifier in an NP
lhi-k<um>ita=aku m-a-licece [a tasau].
PERF.ASP-see<AV>=1SG.NOM AV-STAT-black LNK dog
‘I have seen a black dog.’

(3.75) As intransitive predicates

m-a-liseelhe=i ta’elha kani’i=na?
AV-STAT-heavy=Q chair this=DEF
‘Is this chair heavy?’

In §3.4.2, a number of grammatical distinctions between adjectival elements,

dynamic verbs and nouns will be demonstrated. However, the results do NOT indicate
that adjectival elements are regarded as an independent word class in Lha’alua.
Adjectival elements are analysed as stative verbs because they both share the same
morpho-syntactic properties, e.g. voice markers (Actor voice), stative marker (a-),
inchoative marker (araa-), degree modification (tam ‘very’), and transitivity
possibilities (intransitive only). As shown in examples (3.76) and (3.77), an adjectival
element and a stative verb take the same Actor voice marker and stative marker, and
they are modified by the same degree word tam ‘very’.

(3.76) Adjectival element

tam m-a-kisemere a kulalungu alemelhe.
very AV-STAT-thick CORE skin wild.boar
‘The skin of wild boars is very thick.’

(3.77) Stative verb

tam m-a-rumuku a ma-m-a-ini a kana’a=na
very AV-STAT-like CORE RED-AV-STAT-small LNK that=DEF
k<um>ita tarisia pi-a-taelhekai.
look/see<AV> game have-A-ball
‘That child likes to watch ball games.’

In addition, both adjectival elements and stative verbs can occur with the
inchoative marker araa-, e.g. adjectival element: araa-tavulhiu ‘become red’ and
stative verb: araa-arumuku ‘become fond of’. With respect to transitivity possibilities;
both adjectival elements and stative verbs are in intransitive predicated. They do not
take patient or locative voice markers, hence not occurring in transitive clauses or
applicative clauses.

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 In the following subsections, I discuss the semantic types of adjectival elements
and their morphological properties (§3.4.1) and grammatical distinctions between
adjectival elements, dynamic verbs and nouns (§3.4.2).

3.4.1 Semantic types of adjectival elements and their morphological

properties

Dixon (2004:3-4) states that there are four core semantic types typically associated
with both large and small adjective class: dimension, age, value and color, and a
number of peripheral semantic types typically associated with medium-sized and large
adjective class: physical property, human propensity and speed. Semantic types of
adjectival elements in Lha’alua are illustrated below.

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 Table 3.3: Semantic types of adjectival elements
SEMANTIC
Lha’alua examples Number
TYPES

langica ‘high/tall’, m-elengese ‘long (distance)’,

raalhua ‘long (time)’, m-a-niteke ‘short’, taisa ‘big’,
DIMENSION 10
m-a-ini ‘small’, m-a-lakeve ‘wide’, m-a-kisemere ‘thick’,
m-a-lhipii ‘thin’, tamavelhe ‘fat’,
varu’u ‘new’, erekelhe ‘old (object)’, lhaamaama ‘old (age)’,
AGE 4
alamuru ‘young’
m-a-vacange ‘good/beautiful’, takuliace ‘bad’,
VALUE lhi-patealhe ‘right’, ku-patealhe ‘wrong’, tekelhe ‘wrong’, 6
langelange ‘expensive’
m-a-tavulhiu ‘red’, m-a-lhisare ‘yellow’, m-a-licece ‘black’,
m-a-pulhi ‘white’, valacuku ‘dark blue’,
COLOR 9
m-a-langilhu ‘blue/dark green’, vitunga ‘purple’
seesema ‘dark’, silhange ‘bright’
m-a-liseelhe ‘heavy’, m-a-lialhe ‘light/fast’, m-a-ngane ‘dry’,
m-a-tarengere ‘wet’, m-a-sareme ‘cold (weather)’,
m-a-talheteke/m-a-talheketeke ‘cold (object)’,
PHYSICAL m-a-cici ‘hot (temperature)’, m-a-siame ‘hot (taste)’,
PROPERTY m-a-amii ‘sweet’, m-a-reme ‘bitter’, ritu’a ‘sour’,
(INLUDING m-a-karimikimi ‘salty’, m-a-acarem ‘sick’, sa’au ‘tasty’,
GENERAL m-a-lhatera ‘strong’, m-isu’u ‘thirsty’, lhi-mepulate ‘tired’ 34
AND m-a-ngusipi ‘alive’, tupi’i ‘blind’, m-a-vetenge ‘deaf’,
CORPOREAL teketaurungu ‘dumb’, pe’ele ‘lame’, m-a-lhavae ‘drunk’,
PROPERTIES) m-a-vacuku ‘full (stomach)’, m-a-alha ‘hungry’, milii ‘full’,
m-a-carengece ‘itchy’, m-a-ta’e ‘raw’, m-a-verae ‘ripe’,
m-a-sulu ‘cooked’, m-a-varevare ‘sharp’, m-iamelhe ‘dry’
m-a-talhisauka ‘clear (liquid)’, m-a-salangesange ‘handsome’
HUMAN
m-a-sangare ‘happy’, lhasavae ‘lazy’, tama’iare ‘industrious’ 3
PROPENSITY
SPEED m-a-kulai ‘fast’, m-uamuare ‘slow’ 2

Totally, sixty eight adjectival elements are documented in my corpus and listed in
the table above. Further description on these adjectival words is provided below.

(i) DIMENSION. There are ten members in the semantic type of dimension. Some
words are monomorphemic, e.g. taisa ‘big’, tamavelhe ‘fat’, etc., and some words are

87
polymorphemic, e.g. m-a-ini ‘small’, m-a-kisemere ‘thick’ and so forth.
Polymorphemic words may contain an Actor voice marker, e.g. m-a-lakeve ‘wide’,
m-elengese ‘long (distance)’, etc., or include a stative marker, e.g. m-a-kisemere
‘thick’, m-a-lhipii ‘thin’, and so on.

The root of polymorphemic words are always bound and cannot be used alone,
such as m-a-niteke ‘short’, m-a-ini ‘small’, etc. The only exception is that when
co-occurring with the verbal negator ku, the Actor voice marker must be omitted.
Under this circumstance, it is plausible to say that a bound root occurs independently,
or it is a free root, e.g. m-elengese ‘long (distance)’
ku elengese ‘not long
(distance)’.

The (free) root of the monomorphemic word taisa ‘big’ can be further derived to
form a member of a new word (verb) through verbal lexical prefixation, such as
t<um>u-taisa ‘cry loudly (lit. cry big)’, palhu-taisa ‘sing loudly (lit. sing big)’,
pi-taisa ‘speak loudly (lit. speak big)’, and kira-ta-taisa ‘step heavily (lit. step big)’.

Similar to monomorphemic words, polymorphemic words like m-a-ini ‘small’

can be further derived to form a member of a new word (verb) through verbal lexical
prefixation, such as ku-m-a-ini ‘eat a little (lit. eat small)’, m-aa-m-a-ini ‘drink a little
(lit. drink small)’, and kira-ma-m-a-ini ‘step lightly (lit. step small)’. Besides, m-a-ini
‘small’ can also be derived to form a member of a new word (noun) through
reduplication, such as ma-m-a-ini ‘child’ and maa-maa-ma-m-a-ini ‘children
(plurality)’. Apart from verbal lexical prefixation and reduplication, some new words
can be derived through nominalisation, e.g. m-elengese-na ‘long (distance)
thing/stuff’ and m-a-niteke-na ‘short thing/stuff’.

The word langica is a polysemy. When used as an adjectival category, it means

‘high’ for inanimate referents or ‘tall’ for animate referents. When used as a noun, it
means ‘sky’. The words m-elengese and raalhua are synonymous, both standing for
‘long’. The difference lies in the fact that the former refers to ‘distance’, whereas the
latter refers to ‘time’.

(ii) AGE. There are four members in the semantic type of age. The four members are
all monomorphemic words; in other words, they do not take any Actor voice markers
and stative markers. With respect to deriving a new word, m-ara-varu’u ‘become
new’ is derived from varu’u ‘new’ to form a member of a new word (verb) through
verbal lexical prefixation. As for a<la>lamuru-a ‘young person’, it is derived from

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alamuru ‘young’ to form a member of a new word (noun) through reduplication.
Apart from verbal lexical prefixation and reduplication, varu’u ‘new’ and erekelhe
‘old (object)’ can be derived to form a member of a new word (noun) through
nominalisation, e.g. varu’u-na ‘new thing/stuff’ and erekelhe-na ‘old thing/stuff’.

The words erekelhe and lhaamaama are synonymous, both denoting ‘old’. The
difference lies in the fact that while the former refers to ‘object’, the latter ‘age’.

(iii) VALUE. There are six members in the semantic type of value. Some words are
monomorphemic, e.g. takuliace ‘bad’, tekelhe ‘wrong’, etc., and some words are
polymorphemic, e.g. m-a-vacange ‘good’ including an Actor voice marker and a
stative marker. The adjectival element lhi-patealhe ‘right’, consisting of a perfective
aspect marker, is lexicalised and historically derived from the free root form patealhe
‘think of’. Similarly, ku-patealhe ‘wrong (lit. not right)’ is derived from the verbal
negator ku plus the root form patealhe ‘think of’. Since ku-patealhe ‘wrong (lit. not
right)’ has the root form patealhe ‘think of’, unsurprisingly, ku patealhe is
polysemous and acquires the other meaning ‘not think of’, in addition to ku-patealhe
‘wrong (lit. not right)’. The adjectival word lange-lange ‘expensive’ is formed
through lexicalised reduplication.

The bound root form of m-a-vacange ‘good’ can be used to derive several new
words (verbs). For example, m-ati-vacange ‘finish repairing (lit. repair good)’ is
formed through verbal lexical prefixation, pai-vaca-vacange ‘prepare with great care
(lit. prepare good)’ through verbal lexical prefixation plus reduplication, and
um-aru-vaca-vacange ‘make good use of (lit. use good)’ through verbal lexical
prefixation plus reduplication.

The adjectival element m-a-vacange is a polysemy, in that it can denote ‘good’ as

mentioned above and ‘beautiful’.

(3.78) a. aari-naani ia, m-a-vacange a langica.

day-here TOP AV-STAT-good CORE sky/tall/high
‘Today, it (the weather) is good.’ (lit. As for today, the sky good.)
b. tam m-a-vacange a ’acangeralha.
very AV-STAT-beautiful CORE star
‘The stars are very beautiful.’

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 c. tam m-a-vacange=i valalhevalhe?
very AV-STAT-beautiful=Q rainbow
‘Is the rainbow beautiful?’

The word tekelhe is polysemous. Under the semantic type of value, it means
‘wrong’. Apart from, it also means ‘other’, e.g. tekelhe talhana ‘other ethnic group’.
The temporal expression tekelhe aari is derived from tekelhe ‘other’, standing for ‘the
day after tomorrow (lit. other day)’.

(iv) COLOR. There are nine members in the semantic type of color. In terms of
morphological structure, some are monomorphemic, e.g. seesema ‘dark’, and silhange
‘bright’, valacuku ‘dark blue’ and vitunga ‘purple’, and some are polymorphemic
consisting of an Actor voice marker and a stative marker, e.g. m-a-tavulhiu ‘red’,
m-a-lhisare ‘yellow’, m-a-licece ‘black’, m-a-langilhu ‘blue/dark green’ and
m-a-pulhi ‘white’.

In Lha’alua, more color terms can be derived through reduplication, in addition

to the nine primary terms listed in Table 3.3. The meaning acquired after reduplication
is diminutive. The reduplicant is composed of the first two syllables of the bound root.

(3.79) a. m-a-tavulhiu ‘red’

→ m-a-tavu-tavulhiu ‘pink (lit. light red)’
b. m-a-lhisare ‘yellow’
→ m-a-lhisa-lhisare ‘orange/tangerine color (lit. light yellow)’
c. m-a-licece ‘black’
→ m-a-lice-licece ‘grey (lit. light black)’
d. m-a-langilhu ‘blue/dark green’
→ m-a-langi-langilhu ‘ light blue/green’
f. vitunga ‘purple’
→ vi-tunga-tunga ‘light purple’
g. valacuku ‘dark blue’
→ *va-lacu-lacuku ‘light blue’
h. m-a-pulhi ‘white’
→ m-a-pulhi-pulhi ‘half white’

The color term valacuku ‘dark blue’ cannot be reduplicated as *va-lacu-lacuku

‘light blue’. The reason might be attributed to the fact that predictably the new
meaning acquired after reduplication of valacuku would be ‘light blue’, which is

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already acquired by m-a-langi-langilhu ‘light blue/green’. The only exception which
does not acquire the diminutive meaning after reduplication is m-a-pulhi ‘white’.
Again, it is predictable that there is no color as ‘light white’, so m-a-pulhi ‘white’
after reduplicated as m-a-pulhi-pulhi is translated into ‘partly white’ (i.e. something
including white color and the other color(s)).

In Lha’alua, there are other expressions related to or used with color terms. For
example, tatapa ‘pattern’ can be used with some color terms, such as tatapa m-a-pulhi
‘white with patterns’, tatapa m-a-tavulhiu ‘red with patterns’, and so forth. In addition,
pumaraialhe ‘half’ can co-occur with several color terms, such as lhi-pumaraialhe
m-a-langilhu ‘half blue/dark green’ (i.e. something including blue/dark green color
and the other color(s)), lhi-pumaraialhe m-a-licece ‘half black’ (i.e. something
including black color and the other color(s)), and so on.

The word silhange ‘bright’ can denote ‘light’, when it co-occurs with sun, e.g.
silhange talhiaria ‘sun light’. To form a member of a new word (verb), it can be
derived through verbal lexical prefixation and reduplication, e.g. m-uru-si-silhange
‘glitter’.

(v) PHYSICAL PROPERTY (INLUDING GENERAL AND CORPOREAL PROPERTIES). There

are thirty four members in the semantic type of physical property. Some words are
monomorphemic, such as ritu’a ‘sour’, tupi’i ‘blind’, teketaurungu ‘dumb’, and
pe’ele ‘lame’. Some words are polymorphemic, some including an Actor voice
marker and a stative marker, such as m-a-liseelhe ‘heavy’, m-a-lialhe ‘light’,
m-a-ngane ‘dry’, m-a-tarengere ‘wet’, m-a-sareme ‘cold (weather)’, etc, and some
consisting of just an Actor voice marker, e.g. m-isu’u ‘thirsty’ and m-ilii ‘full’ .

The roots of polymorphemic words are always bound and cannot occur alone.
There are two exceptions: m-isu’u ‘thirsty’ and m-ilii ‘full’. When they co-occur with
the negative verb ku, the Actor voice marker must be omitted, thereby resulting in the
root to appear alone, e.g. ku isu’u ‘not thirsty’ and ku ilii ‘not full’.

Some polymorphemic words can be further derived to form a member of a new

word class. For example, the bound root of m-a-ngusipi ‘alive’ can be nominalised to
form a member of a new word (noun): si-a-ngusipi ‘blessing/benediction’. Similarly,
m-a-karimikimi ‘salty’ and ritu’a ‘sour’ can take the nominaliser -na to form a
member of a new word (noun), e.g. m-a-karimikimi-na ‘salty thing/stuff’ and
ritu’a-na ‘sour thing/stuff’. Apart from nominalisation, the bound roots of

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m-a-careme ‘sick’, m-a-cici ‘hot (temperature)’ and m-a-vacuku ‘full (stomach)’ can
take a verbal lexical prefix to form a member of a new word (verb), e.g.
um-arii-careme ‘get a headache from reading’, araa-cici ‘to fever (lit. become hot)’
and ku-a-vacuku ‘eat so as to be full’.

Also, the root can be reduplicated to acquire an intensification meaning, e.g.

through CV reduplication ku-a-va-vacuku ‘very full’. This example involves CV
reduplication, rather than Ca reduplication. In Lha’alua, Ca reduplication is used in
numerals to derive forms referring to human participants, and in dynamic and stative
verbs to express irrealis. In this example, the meaning of the reduplicated form is
intensification, which is typically used for CV reduplication.

(3.80) ku-a-va-vacuku=i meemea?

eat-IRR-RED-full=Q all
‘Do (you) all eat so as to be very full?’

In the semantic type of physical property, some words are synonyms. For
instance, m-a-sareme and m-a-talheteke/m-a-talheketeke both indicate ‘cold’. The
difference is that m-a-sareme refers to weather, and m-a-talheteke/m-a-talheketeke
refers to objects. Likewise, m-a-cici and m-a-siame have the same meaning ‘hot’;
m-a-cici refers to ‘temperature’, and m-a-siame refers to ‘taste’. Similarly, the
difference between m-a-vacuku and m-ilii lies in the fact that the former denotes ‘full
(e.g. stomach)’ and the latter ‘full (e.g. container)’. The word m-a-lialhe has two
meanings. It means ‘light’ under the semantic type ‘physical property’ and ‘fast’ under
the semantic type ‘speed’.

(vi) HUMAN PROPENSITY. Three words are categorised into the semantic type of
human propensity. The words lhasavae ‘lazy’ and tama’iare ‘industrious’ are
monomorphemic, and m-a-sangare ‘happy’ is polymorphemic, composed of an Actor
voice marker and a stative marker.

The bound root of m-a-sangare ‘happy’ is always bound and cannot be used
alone. The root can be reduplicated with an intensification meaning, e.g. through CV
reduplication m-a-sa-sangare ‘overjoyed’ and through CVCV reduplication
m-a-sanga-sangare ‘overjoyed’. Apart from, it can be further derived to form a
member of a new word (verb) through verbal lexical prefixation, e.g.
t<um>alhi-a-saa-sangare ‘praise’. It can also be derived to form a member of a new
word (noun) through nominalisation, e.g. si-a-sa-sangare ‘happiness’. The example

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can be clause-linked by a disjunctive coordinator: si-a-sa-sangare alha si-a-ta-tare
‘happiness or sadness’.

(vii) SPEED. There are two members in the semantic type of speed: m-a-kulai ‘fast’
and m-uamuare ‘slow’. They are polymorphemic words, in that they consist of an
Actor voice marker. Different from m-uamuare ‘slow’, m-a-kulai ‘fast’ is inflected
with a stative marker.

The bound root of m-uamuare ‘slow’ is always bound and quite productive in
deriving new words (verbs). For example, it can form new words (verbs) through
lexical prefixation, such as pa-a-m-uamuare ‘slow in thinking about something’,
pu-a-m-uamuare ‘slow in reading/looking at something’, taku-a-m-uamuare ‘slow in
doing something’, um-arii-a-m-uamuare ‘slow in reading something’,
m-aa-m-uamuare ‘slow in drinking something’ and m-ara-m-uamuare ‘slow in
washing something’. The word m-uamuare ‘slow’ can be reduplicated with an
intensification meaning, e.g. mua-m-uamuare ‘very slow’.

(3.81) mua-m-uamuare a ’arariira=na m-u-sala-sala.

RED-AV-slow CORE turtle=DEF AV-motion.on.foot-RED-road
‘The turtle walks very slowly.’

The words m-a-lialhe ‘light/fast’ and m-a-kulai ‘fast’ are synonymous. Examples
of m-a-lialhe ‘light/fast’ are provided below.

(3.82) a. m-a-lialhe a hanaku=na m-aka-lhangulu.

AV-STAT-fast CORE female.name=DEF AV-swim-swim
‘Hanaku swims fast’
b. m-a-lialhe a ’arulhiau=na m-ipilhilhi.
AV-STAT-fast CORE Swallow=DEF AV-fly
‘The swallow flies fast.’
c. m-a-lialhe a mu’u=na m-italhalhe.
AV-STAT-fast CORE male.name=DEF AV-run
‘Mu’u runs fast.’

Table 3.4 summarises the morphological properties of semantic types of

adjectival elements in Lha’alua.

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 Table 3.4: Morphological properties of semantic types of adjectival elements
SEMANTIC verbal lexical
morpheme voice stative reduplication nominalisation
TYPES prefixation
DIMENSION mono-/poly- Y Y Y Y Y
AGE mono- N N Y Y Y
VALUE mono-/poly- Y Y Y Y Y
COLOR mono-/poly- Y Y Y Y Y
PHYSICAL
PROPERTY
(INLUDING
mono-/poly- Y Y Y Y Y
GENERAL AND
CORPOREAL
PROPERTIES)
HUMAN
mono-/poly- Y Y Y Y Y
PROPENSITY
SPEED poly- Y Y Y Y Y

In Table 3.4, ‘Y’ denotes that the semantic type has the property, and ‘N’
indicates that the semantic type does not possess the property.

3.4.2 Grammatical distinctions between adjectival elements, dynamic verbs and

nouns

As demonstrated in the introduction of §3.4, adjectival elements behave like

verbs in a number of Formosan languages. In this section, I present grammatical
characteristics of Lha’alua, which can differentiate adjectival elements from dynamic
verbs and nouns. Dixon (2004:15-22) discusses some distinctions of ‘verb-like’
adjectives from verbs in terms of five different possibilities: (i) different possibilities
within the predicate slot, (ii) different transitivity possibilities, (iii) different
possibilities as modifiers within an NP, (iv) different possibilities in comparative
constructions, and (v) different possibilities for forming adverbs (that is, modifiers to
verbs). Except for (iii) and (v), other three possibilities are found in Lha’alua, and
discussed as below.

(i) DIFFERENT POSSIBILITIES WITHIN THE PREDICATE SLOT FOR ADJECTIVAL

ELEMENTS AND FOR DYNAMIC VERBS . In Lha’alua, exactly the same morphological
processes and syntactic modifiers may apply to a dynamic verb and an adjectival
element within a predicate, e.g. voice markers and relative clause linker ka. However,

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the possibilities still vary. Most typically, an adjectival element is far more restricted
than a dynamic verb when it occurs as a predicate head, as shown from (A) to (D)
below.

(A) BOUND PRONOUNS. A dynamic verb as a predicate head allows two varieties of
bound pronouns (nominative pronoun in an intransitive clause and genitive pronoun in
a transitive clause); an adjectival element as a predicate head only allow one type of
bound pronouns, which is a nominative pronoun in an intransitive clause.

(3.83) Nominative/genitive bound pronoun attached to a dynamic verb as a

predicate head
a. um-a-aala[=amu]S [vutukulhu]E na sakeralhe.
AV-IRR-take=1PL.EXCL.NOM fish OBL river
‘We will catch fish in a river.’
b. lhi-aala[-lhamu]A [vutukulhu]O na sakeralhe.
PERF.ASP-take(PV)-1PL.EXCL.GEN fish OBL river
‘We have caught the fish in a river.’

(3.84) Nominative bound pronoun attached to an adjectival element as a predicate

head
m-a-vacangi=u=i, pakiaturua?
AV-STAT-good=2SG.NOM=Q teacher
‘How are you, teacher?’ (lit. You good, teacher?)

(B) THIRD PERSON AGREEMENT MARKERS. Another limited possibility for adjectival
elements than for dynamic verbs is that a dynamic verb as a predicate head in a
transitive clause allows two varieties of third person agreement markers saa- and -isa,
in each case relating to the A argument, whereas an adjectival element as a predicate
head does not allow any third person agreement marker.

(3.85) Third person agreement markers saa- and -isa attached to a dynamic verb
as a predicate head
a. saa-ia-pual-a [amalhe]A [a likilhi]O
3.AGR-thrust/push-BOUND.ROOT-PV male.name CORE vehicle
kiira.
yesterday
‘Amalhe pushed the vehicle yesterday.’

95
 b. pai-tualh-a-isa [ma-m-a-ini]A=na [saunga]O.
find-ACHI-PV-3.AGR RED-AV-STAT-small=DEF umbrella
‘The child found the umbrella.’

(C) IRREALIS. A dynamic verb as a predicate head allows the option of taking an
irrealis marker. In contrast, an adjectival element as a predicate head does not allow
any irrealis marker.

(3.86) Irrealis markers on a dynamic verb as a predicate head

a. i<a>ma[-lhamu]A [salhumu-isa langui]O.
drink(PV)<IRR>-1PL.EXCL.GEN water-3.AGR female.name
‘We will drink Langui’s water.’
b. t<um>a-tineene [a kuate]S [vanukanuka]E cu-ruvana.
IRR<AV>-weave CORE female.name pants IRR-evening
‘Kuate will weave pants this evening.’

(D) REDUPLICATION. In Lha’alua, reduplication is a very productive morphological

process (§4.3.2). Exactly the same morphological process may apply to a dynamic verb
and an adjectival element within a predicate. For example, when undergoing
reduplication, both adjectival elements and dynamic verbs can have ‘progressive’,
‘continuous’, ‘intensification (or ‘iteration’)’, ‘diminutive’ and ‘collectivity’ meanings,
as shown in examples (3.87-3.96). However, the possibilities still vary. An adjectival
element is far more limited than a dynamic verb when it occurs as a predicate head.
Namely, dynamic verbs may also have the meanings of ‘irrealis’, ‘excessive’, ‘habitual
(when co-occurring with a frequency expression)’ and ‘reciprocal (when co-occurring
with a reciprocal prefix)’, as illustrated in examples (3.97-3.100), whereas adjectival
elements may not.

(3.87) Reduplication signifying ‘progressive’: an adjectival element as a predicate

head
a. araa-vurae ‘become ripe’
b. araa-vu-vurae
INCH-RED-ripe
‘becoming ripe/ripening’

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(3.88) Reduplication signifying ‘continuous’: an adjectival element as a predicate
head
a. araa-velhe ‘become fat’
b. araa-ve-velhe
INCH-RED-fat
‘keep on being fat’

(3.89) Reduplication signifying ‘intensification’: a ‘non-color’ adjectival element

as a predicate head
a. erece ‘tight’
b. e<ree>rece
tight<RED>
‘very tight’

(3.90) Reduplication signifying ‘diminutive’: a ‘color’ adjectival element as a

predicate head
a. m-a-tavulhiu ‘red’
b. m-a-tavu-tavulhiu
AV-STAT-RED-red
‘pink/light red’

(3.91) Reduplication signifying ‘collectivity’: an adjectival element as a predicate

head
a. m-elengese ‘long’
b. kiu-kiu’u m-u<la>lengese lha ta-taisa=na.
RED-tree AV-long<RED> CONJ.COOR RED-big=DEF
‘The trees are ALL long and big.’

(3.92) Reduplication signifying ‘progressive’: a dynamic verb as a predicate head

a. m-i<a>tungusu ‘to practice the Ritual of God of Shell’
b. m-i<a><tu>tungusu
AV-Ritual.of.God.of.Shell<IRR><RED>
‘to be practicing the Ritual of God of Shell’

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(3.93) Reduplication signifying ‘continuous’: a dynamic verb as a predicate head
a. lhuulhungu ‘creek’
b. m-u-lhuu<ngu>lhungu
AV-motion.on.foot-creek<RED>
‘keep walking along a creek’

(3.94) Reduplication signifying ‘intensification’ or ‘iteration’: a dynamic verb as a

predicate head
a. m-utu-a-tapusa ‘jump’
b. m-utu-a-taa-tapusu
AV-move.toward-IRR-RED-BOUND.ROOT
‘jump many times’

(3.95) Reduplication signifying ‘diminutive’: a dynamic verb as a predicate head

a. kit-u! ‘Look (PV)!’
b. ki-kit-u!
RED-look-IMP.PV
‘Try a quick look!’

(3.96) Reduplication signifying ‘collectivity’: a verb as a predicate head

a. lhi-angalhi ‘have been from’
b. lhi-a<nga>ngalhi
PERF.ASP-from<RED>
‘have ALL been from’

(3.97) Reduplication signifying ‘irrealis’: a dynamic verb as a predicate head

a. a-kalii ‘to dig’
b. k<um>a-kalii
RED-AV-IRR-dig
‘to dig’

(3.98) Reduplication signifying ‘excessive’: a dynamic verb as a predicate head

a. m-i<a>ma ‘to drink’
b. m-i<a><maa>ma
AV-drink<IRR><RED>
‘to drink more’

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(3.99) Reduplication signifying ‘habitual’ when co-occurring with a frequency
expression: a dynamic verb as a predicate head
a. u-a-kirimi ‘to search/hunt’
b. kani’i ia, ku karekelhe a-kiri-kirimi alemelhe.
this/now TOP NEG often IRR-RED-search/hunt wild.boar
‘Now, (we) do not hunt wild boars often.’
(lit. As for now, not often hunt wild boars)

(3.100) Reduplication signifying ‘reciprocal’ when co-occurring with a reciprocal

prefix: a dynamic verb as a predicate head
a. taku-a-liungu ‘to play/visit’
b. alupa-taku-a-lii-liungu
RECIP-patrol/work-IRR-RED-BOUND.ROOT
‘play with each other/visit each other’

The discussion above has shown that an adjectival element is more restricted than
a dynamic verb when it occurs as a predicate head. However, adjectival elements may
have wider possibilities than dynamic verbs, as shown in (E) and (F) below.

(E) NOMINALISATION. Adjectival elements may differ from dynamic verbs in

possibilities for derivation. For instance, while the nominaliser si- applies to both
adjectival elements (e.g. si-a-sa-sangare ‘happiness’ from m-a-sangare ‘happy’) and
dynamic verbs (e.g. si-pangelhev-a ‘door’ from m-angelheve ‘close’), the nominaliser
-na is usually restricted to adjectival elements, e.g. varu’u-na ‘new thing/stuff’ and
erekelhe-na ‘old thing/stuff’, m-a-karimikimi-na ‘salty thing/stuff’, ritu’a-na ‘sour
thing/stuff’, and so forth.

(F) DEGREE MODIFICATION. Another wider possibility for adjectival elements than for
dynamic verbs is that adjectival elements, like stative verbs, can be modified by the
degree word tam ‘very’, whereas dynamic verbs cannot.

(3.101) Degree word tam ‘very’ modifying a quantifying expression (stative verb)
as a predicate head
alha-m-a-cici ia, tam tumalhae a lhalhali.
season-AV-STAt-hot TOP very a.lot CORE cicada
‘In summer, there are a lot of cicadas.’
(lit. As for the summer, cicadas very a lot.)

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(3.102) Degree word tam ‘very’ modifying an adjectival element as a predicate
head
a. tam m-a-vacange vulailhi ina-ku.
very AV-STAT-good eye mother-1SG.GEN
‘My mother’s eyes are very beautiful.
b. tam m-a-lhatera caepe=na.
very AV-STAT-strong male.name=DEF
‘Caepe is very strong.’
c. tam m-a-kisemere a kulalungu alemelhe.
very AV-STAT-thick CORE skin wild.boar
‘The skin of wild boars is very thick.’

From the above discussion, it is shown that most typically, an adjectival element is
far more restricted than a dynamic verb when it occurs as a predicate head, as shown
from (A) to (D). Besides, adjectival elements may have wider possibilities than
dynamic verbs, as shown in (E) and (F). Apart form these, adjectival elements and
dynamic verbs may have different possibilities.

(G) CAUSATIVE. To form a causative, dynamic verbs take the prefix apaa- or paa-, but
adjectival elements (as well as stative verbs) take the prefixes p-araa- (p- ‘causative’
plus araa- ‘inchoative’). (Nouns take araa- to form an inchoative, e.g. araa-ruvana
‘become evening’).

(3.103) Causative prefix apaa- or paa-: a dynamic verb as a predicate head

a. lhi-apaa-kii-kirimi=aku ilhau alemelhe kiira.
PERF.ASP-CAUS-RED-search/hunt=1SG.NOM 2SG.INDEP wild.boar yesterday
‘I made you hunt wild boars yesterday.’
b. apaa-a-tuu-tulhucu=aku
CAUS-IRR-RED-put.Derris.trifoliate.so.as.to.let.it.flow.and.poison=1SG.NOM
ilhau vutukulhu maataata.
2SG.INDEP fish tomorrow
‘I will make you put Derris trifoliate (plant name) so as to let it flow and
poison fish tomorrow.’
c. lhi-apaa-tineene=aku ina-ku tikuru kiira.
PERF.ASP-CAUS-weave=1SG.NOM mother-1SG.GEN clothes yesterday
‘I made my mother weave clothes yesterday.’

100
 d. m-a-aru a cucu’u paa-pa-paci alemelhe.
AV-STAT-exist CORE person CAUS-RED-die wild.boar
‘There is someone killing wild boars.’
(lit. Person killing wild boar existed)

(3.104) Causative prefixes p-araa-: an adjectival element as a predicate head

a. p-araa-tarengiri=cu a caepe=na tikuru-isa.
CAUS-INCH-wet=COS.ASP CORE male.name=DEF clothes-3.GEN
‘Caepe made his clothes wet.’
b. saa-p-araa-tarengere a ma-m-a-ini=na a
3.AGR-CAUS-INCH-wet CORE RED-AV-STAT-small=DEF CORE
vanukanuka-ku.
pants-1SG.GEN
‘The child wetted my pants.’

(ii) DIFFERENT TRANSITIVITY POSSIBILITIES FOR ADJECTIVAL ELEMENTS, NOUNS AND

DYNAMIC VERBS. In Lha’alua, a number of verbs can be used intransitively (inflected
with an Actor voice marker (alternatively called intransitiviser)), transitively (inflected
with a patient voice marker (alternatively called transitiviser)) or applicatively
(inflected with a locative voice marker (alternatively called applicative)). For some
verbs, the argument in S function in the intransitive clause relates to the argument in A
function in the transitive clause and for others S relates to the argument in O function in
the transitive clause.

(3.105) S=A
a. um-a-aala[=amu]S [vutukulhu]E na sakeralhe=na.
AV-IRR-take=1PL.EXCL.NOM fish OBL river=DEF
‘We will catch fish in the river.’
b. lhi-aala[-lhamu]A [vutukulhu]O na sakeralhe=na.
PERF.ASP-take(PV)-1PL.EXCL.GEN fish OBL river=DEF
‘We have caught the fish in the river.’

(3.106) S=O
a. ku pipici [a kiu’u=na]S.
NEG split CORE tree/wood=DEF
‘The wood is not split.’

101
 b. lhi-pu-pici-a[-lhamu]A [kiu’u=na]O.
PERF.ASP-hand.motion-split-PV-1PL.EXCL.GEN tree/wood=DEF
‘We split the wood by using hands.’

Unlike verbs, adjectival elements do not take a patient or locative voice marker;
namely, adjectival elements are used as intransitive predicates only, rather than as
transitive predicates.

Notice that in Lha’alua, nouns may have a secondary function as head of a

predicate. However, unlike adjectival elements and verbs, nouns do not take any voice
markers when it occurs in the predicate position.

(3.107) Noun as head of a predicate (a secondary function)

[alhaina]verbless.clause.complement-ku [ka kani’i]S.
woman-1SG.GEN CORE this
‘This is my wife.’

(iii) DIFFERENT POSSIBILITIES IN COMPARATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS FOR ADJECTIVAL

ELEMENTS, NOUNS, AND DYNAMIC VERBS. In Lha’alua, the parameter of comparison
can be an adjectival element and a noun, but not a dynamic verb. In other words,
adjectival elements can be fully compared to a certain extent, and this furnishes a
criterion for differentiating adjectival elements from dynamic verb classes. This is also
referred in literature on other languages where adjectives are similar to verbs, such as
Toba-Batak (Nababan 1981:71-2), Korean (Sohn 2004), North-East Ambae (Hyslop
2004), Qiang (LaPolla and Huang 2004), and Lao (Enfield 2004).

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(3.108) Comparative: adjectival elements
a. maacu ka kana taia=’ai=maanai
concerning LNK PAUSE.FILLER approximate=MOD=MOD
m-a-taingale m-a-liseelhe ia, taia=’ai
AV-STAT-exceed AV-STAT-heavy TOP approximate=MOD
utulu tingatinga.
three Taiwanese.kilogram
‘As far as being heavier is concerned, it weighs about three Taiwanese
kilograms.’
(lit. As for concerning perhaps approximating to be heavier, it
approximates to three Taiwanese kilograms.)
b. m-a-taingale taisa sapalhe-isa tautau.
AV-STAT-exceed big foot/sole-3.AGR male.name
‘Tautau’s soles are bigger.’

(3.109) Comparative: nouns

luuvi=na maaci kana p-araa-vurae ia,
kiwi.fruit=DEF if PAUSE.FILLER CAUS-INCH-ripe TOP
m-a-taingale kana i’a’a=na sa’au lha maamii.
AV-STAT-exceed PAUSE.FILLER shop=DEF tasty CONJ.COOR sweet
‘If the kiwi fruit becomes ripe, (it is) more tasty and sweeter than shops’
(kiwi fruit).’
(lit. As for the kiwi fruit if (it) becomes ripe, (it is) more tasty and sweeter
than shops’ (kiwi fruit).)

Table 3.5 summarises grammatical characterisations of Lha’alua, differentiating

adjectival elements from dynamic verbs and nouns, in terms of three different
possibilities: (i) different possibilities within the predicate slot for adjectival elements
and for dynamic verbs (including (A) to (G)), (ii) different transitivity possibilities for
adjectival elements, nouns and dynamic verbs, and (iii) different possibilities in
comparative constructions for adjectival elements, nouns and dynamic verbs.

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 Table 3.5: Grammatical characteristics of Lha’alua, differentiating adjectival
elements from dynamic verbs and nouns
GRAMMATICAL NOUNS ADJECTIVAL DYNAMIC VERBS
CHARACTERISTICS ELEMENTS

Yes: nominative
Yes: genitive Yes: nominative (i.e. S argument)
BOUND PRONOUNS
(i.e. possessor) (i.e. S argument) / genitive
(i.e. A argument)
THIRD PERSON
Yes: -isa No Yes: saa-/-isa
AGREEMENT MARKERS

IRREALIS No No Yes: a- / <a> / Ca-

Yes: ‘progressive’,
‘continuous’,
Yes: ‘intensification (or
Yes: ‘progressive’, ‘iteration’)’,
distributivity, ‘continuous’, ‘diminutive’,
REDUPLICATION ‘collectivity’,
plurality, and ‘intensification’,
PLACE ‘diminutive’, and ‘irrealis’,
‘collectivity’ ‘excessive’,
‘habitual’, and
‘reciprocal’
NOMINALISATION No Yes: si- / -na Yes: si-
DEGREE
No Yes No
MODIFICATION

Yes:
CAUSATIVE No Yes: p-araa-
apaa- / paa-
Yes: intransitive /
TRANSITIVITY Yes: intransitive Yes: intransitive
transitive
COMPARATIVE Yes Yes No

(Dixon 2004:19-20) states that there are DIFFERENT POSSIBILITIES AS MODIFIERS

WITHIN AN NP. There are ways in which adjectives may differ from verbs in the
modification of a head noun within an NP. The most straightforward difference is that
only an adjective can directly modify a noun, but a verb cannot. This is referred in
literature, in languages such as Kamaiur (Seki 2000:70, 117), Tigak (Beaumont
1980:85), and Papantla Totonac (Levy 2004). In Lha’alua, there are no ways in which
adjectival elements may differ from dynamic verbs in the modification of a head noun
within an NP.

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3.5 Numerals

In Lha’alua, numerals constitute a small set of closed lexical classes. Lha’alua is

a structurally intact decimal system, i.e. 1-10. Basically, there are three sets of
numerals: serial counting, nonhuman, and human. Nonhuman numerals and human
numerals are used to modify nouns referring to nonhuman referents and human
participants, respectively. The distinction can be found in cardinal numerals, in the
interrogative ‘how many/how much’ and other derivative numerals. Derived numerals
include ordinal numerals, distributive numerals and frequentative numerals.

There are two major groups of numerals in Lha’alua: numerals from one to ten
and numerals higher than ten. As for numerals higher than ten, they can be further
divided into numerals from ten to nineteen, numerals from ten to ninety, numerals
from one hundred to nine hundred, numerals from one thousand to nine thousand, and
numerals higher than ten thousand.

Numerals will be further discussed in chapter 10.

3.6 Closed classes of shifters

This section deals with closed classes of shifters. Three types of closed classes of
shifters are addressed in the following three subsections: pronouns (§3.6.1),
interrogatives (§3.6.2), and demonstratives (§3.6.3).

3.6.1 Pronouns

Three types of pronouns are mentioned in the subsequent subsections: personal

pronouns (§3.6.1.1), possessive pronouns (§3.6.1.2), and reflexive pronouns
(§3.6.1.3).

3.6.1.1 Personal pronouns

In Lha’alua, personal pronouns, unlike full noun phrases, exhibit formal

differences depending on their syntactic functions. Personal pronouns distinguish
three persons (first, second, and third) and two numbers (singular and plural). First
personal plural pronouns make a further distinction between inclusive and exclusive
forms. The use of inclusive or exclusive forms is conditioned by whether the hearer(s)
is/are included. Specifically, when the hearer(s) is/are included, inclusive forms are

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employed; conversely, when the hearer(s) is/are not included, exclusive forms are
used.

Four types of personal pronouns can be distinguished in Lha’alua: nominative,

genitive, independent, and absolute possessive pronouns. Nominative and genitive
pronouns are bound, in that they cannot occur alone and have to attach to their host.
Bound nominative pronouns are treated as pronominal clitics, but bound genitive
pronouns are analysed as pronominal affixes. Independent pronouns and absolute
possessive pronouns are free form pronouns; that is, they can occur independently and
needn’t attach to a host.

More detailed discussion on personal pronouns will be provided in §7.2.3.1.

3.6.1.2 Possessive pronouns

Absolute possessive pronouns are pronominal forms that can be translated as

‘mine, yours, hers’ and so on in English. The formative of an absolute possessive
pronoun is isikana plus a genitive pronoun of the same person and number.

Possessive pronouns will be discussed in §7.2.3.1.

3.6.1.3 Reflexive pronouns

“While a prototypical reciprocal clause is one in which two participants equally

act upon each other, in a reflexive clause, the Actor performs an act upon
himself/herself” (Teng 2007:272). Kemmer (1993) observes that reflexive and
reciprocal relations are identically expressed in some languages, with the same
morphosyntactic means supplying two functions. In Lha’alua, these two functions are
not expressed by the same morphosyntactic means. A prototypical reflexive
construction is one in which subject and object have the same referent altogether.
Reflexives, similar to causative constructions, can be expressed lexically,
morphologically, or analytically (cf. Payne 1997:198). Payne (1997:200) shows that
analytic reflexives are often based on body parts, usually “head” or “soul/self”, or
other parts. Lha’alua has analytic reflexives, which are signaled by the use of
takacicilhi ‘self’. The reflexive pronoun can refer to another entity in any person and
any number.

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(3.110) a. m-a-calhia=u=mana=i kari takacicilhi?
AV-STAT-know=2SG.NOM=IMPERF.ASP=Q language self
‘Do you still know (your)self’s language?’
b. m-a-calhia=amu=mana kari takacicilhi.
AV-STAT-know=1PL.EXCL.NOM=IMPERF.ASP language self
‘We still know (our)selves’ language.’
c. m-a-calhia=mana sumukulhu kari takacicilhi.
AV-STAT-know=MPERF.ASP Bunun.people language self
‘Bunun people still know (them)selves’ language.’

3.6.2 Interrogatives

Based on different syntactic structures and different types of requests of inquiries,

interrogatives in Lha’alua are subsumed into two major types: polar interrogatives
(§9.1.1) and constituent interrogatives (§9.1.2). Polar interrogatives (or yes/no
questions) in Lha’alua are characterised by prosodic (intonational marking) and
morphological (interrogative particle) properties. Constituent interrogatives consist of
‘what (ngalha and misaini)’, ‘who (ngalha-isa, ngasa, liacucua, and cucu’u misaini)’,
‘when (culhaumange)’, ‘where (ini and niinau)’, ‘why (tiara and taa’iara)’, ‘how
much/many (tainiini, pa-piaini, and upiaini)’, ‘how (auniini and tainiini)’, and ‘which
(auniini)’.

More detailed discussion on interrogatives will be provided in §9.1.

3.6.3 Demonstratives

There are two demonstrative words in Lha’alua: kani’i ‘this’ and kana’a ‘that’.
They can be used as demonstrative pronouns (§3.6.3.1), temporal and spatial
reference (§3.6.3.2), pause fillers (§3.6.3.3) and adnominal demonstratives (§3.6.3.4).

3.6.3.1 Demonstrative pronouns

This section deals with demonstrative pronouns. They are distinguished in terms
of visibility (i.e. visible/invisible) and distance (i.e. near the speaker, near the hearer
and the speaker, or far from both).

(3.111) a. kani’i ‘this [+visible, -far from the speaker]’

b. kana’a ‘that [±visible, ±far from the speaker and the hearer]’

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 Demonstrative pronouns are free forms that are used to refer to third person
participants or nonhuman referents. They are equivalent to English words, e.g. ‘this’,
‘that’, ‘it’, ‘he/him’, ‘she/her’, and ‘they/them’. Very often, they co-occur with the
definite marker =na. In terms of syntactic functions, they can occur as core arguments
in S, E, A, and O functions.

(3.112) a. lhi-um-u=cu=i [kana’a=na]S?

PERF.ASP-AV-eat=COS.ASP=Q 3.INDEP=DEF
‘Has he eaten?’
b. u-a-vuru[=aku]S [ilhamu]E [na kani’i]E.
AV-IRR-give=1SG.NOM 2PL.INDEP OBL this
‘I will give you this.’
c. lhi-tulhuc-a=cu
PERF.ASP-put.Derris.trifoliate.so.as.to.let.it.flow.and.poison-PV=COS.ASP
[a kana’a=na]A [a vutukulhu]O kiira.
CORE 3.INDEP=DEF CORE fish yesterday
‘They put Derris trifoliate (plant name) so as to let itflow and poison the
fish yesterday.’
d. a-vur-i[-ku]A [eleke]E [kani’i=na]O.
IRR-give-LV-1SG.GEN female.name this=DEF
‘I will give this to Eleke.’

3.6.3.2 Demonstrative as a marker of temporal and spatial reference

The demonstrative kani’i ‘this’ can refer to the temporal point ‘now’. There are
various positions in which it can occur, e.g. clause-final position, topicalised position
and position between predicate and core argument. Unlike the other two positions, the
position between predicate and core argument is reserved for adjuncts.

(3.113) Temporal reference

a. karekelhe um-a-usalhe kani’i.
often AV-IRR-rain this/now
‘(It) often rains now.’
b. kani’i ia, ku karekelhe a-kii-kirimi alemelhe.
this/now TOP NEG often IRR-RED-search/hunt wild.boar
‘Now, (we do) not often hunt wild boars.’
(lit. As for now, (we do) not often hunt wild boars.)

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 c. tainiini kani’i a valhituku-u?
how.much/many this/now CORE money-2SG.GEN
‘How much money do you have now?’ (lit. How much now your money?)
d. upiaini=cu kani’i a cailhi-u?
how.much/many=COS.ASP this/now CORE year-2SG.GEN
‘How old are you now?’ (lit. How many now your years?)

In addition, the demonstrative kani’i ‘this’ can have spatial reference ‘this
place/here’.

(3.114) Spatial reference

m-i-ungu kani’i ia, ausi
AV-action.concerning.location-BOUND.ROOT this /here TOP perhaps
lailha=cu usua pilhingi.
ten=COS.ASP two clan
‘Perhaps twelve clans already arrived here.’
(lit. As for arriving here, perhaps already twelve clans.)

3.6.3.3 Demonstrative as a pause filler

Demonstratives kana’a and kani’i can be used as pause fillers, reflecting that the
speaker is unsure, is hesitating, is thinking what he is going to say next, and so on. It
is always followed by a pause. If there is no pause, the demonstratives kana’a and
kani’i are instead used as adnominal demonstratives (§3.6.3.4). In the texts, the
demonstratives kana’a and kani’i are often omitted as kana and kani; that is, the final
syllable is dropped.

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(3.115) a. m-u-capi-a=mau!
AV-motion.on.foot-BOUND.ROOT-AV.IMP=STRONG.REQUEST
m-u-a-elese=ita=mana kana
AV-motion.on.foot-IRR-together=1PL.INCL.NOM=IMPERF.ASP PAUSE.FILLER
m-i<a>tungusu.
AV-Ritual.of.Sacred.Shells<IRR>
‘Come down! We will still go to the Ritual of Sacred Shells (Chinese
name: 貝神祭).’
b. lhilhala ia, la-lima=mana
ethnic.community.name TOP RED-five=IMPERF.ASP
m-a-calhia m-asi-lha’a-lha’alua kani’i kana’a
AV-STAT-be.able.to AV-speak-RED-Lha’alua this PAUSE.FILLER
lhilhala.
ethnic.community.name
‘Still five people are able to speak Lha’alua in this Lhilhala (Chinese
name: Yanershe 雁爾社).’
(lit. As for the Lhilhala, still five people are able to speak Lha’alua in this
Lhilhala.)
c. m-a-aru=’ai vuvulungaa taramuare=’ai ka tasau-isa
AV-STAT-exist=MOD mountain procrastinate=MOD CORE dog-3.GEN
kana m-icengelhe=mana=ami kana kuli
PAUSE.FILLER AV-chase=IMPERF.ASP=EVI PAUSE.FILLER animal
vuvulungaa.
mountain
‘It is said that in a mountain, his dog that chased animals of a mountain
incurred loss through procrastination.’
d. um-aru-mia=cu kani ’isisi-isa=na.
AV-use-BOUND.ROOT=COS.ASP PAUSE.FILLER tail-3.GEN=DEF
‘(It) used the tail of its.’

3.6.3.4 Adnominal demonstratives

In Lha’alua, kani’i ‘this’ and kana’a ‘that’ can be used as adnominal

demonstratives. They do not replace or head an NP, but rather modify a noun. In terms
of their position in a clause, language speakers tend to use them as pre-modifiers or
post-modifiers. There is commonly no linker in which the adnominal demonstrative
occurs before the noun, but there usually tends to be a linker where the adnominal
demonstrative occurs after the noun. When used as post-modifiers, they often

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co-occur with the definite marker =na. In the texts, kani’i ‘this’ and kana’a ‘that’
often become kani and kana, in that the final syllable is left out.

(3.116) Adnominal demonstratives: pre-modifiers

a. lhi-m-u-sala=aku n kana’a
PERF.ASP-AV-motion.on.foot-road=1SG.NOM OBL that
saa-saree-ana.
RED-soil/dirt-LOC.NMZ
‘I have been to that place.’
b. ku=ami pai-ta-tealhe isana m-u-sala
NEG=EVI find-RED-ACHI 3.INDEP AV-motion.on.foot-road
m-aki-ka-kua n kana kaa-kalavungu-a.
AV-?-RED-? OBL that RED-cattle-LOC.NMZ
‘It is said that (they) went to that place where cattle gathers but couldn’t
find it.’
c. maacu a m-a-ca-calhia=mana
concerning LNK AV-STAT-RED-be.able.to=IMPERF.ASP
m-asi-lha’a-lha’alua ia, umara-maalhi=cu=’ai=maanai ka
AV-speak-RED-Lha’alua TOP HUMAN-ten=COS.ASP=MOD=MOD LNK
m-a-calhia m-asi-lha’a-lha’alua n kani’i
AV-STAT-be.able.to AV-speak-RED-Lha’alua OBL this
kaa-relhece=na.
PERSON.OF-place.name=DEF
‘Concerning still being able to speak Lha’alua, perhaps ten people in
Relhece (Chinese name: Kaochung 高中) are able to speak Lha’alua.’

(3.117) Adnominal demonstratives: post-modifiers

a. m-a-liseelhe a vatu’u kani’i=na.
AV-STAT-heavy CORE stone this=DEF
‘This stone is heavy.’
b. ku u a ma-m-a-ini a kana’a=na.
NEG eat(AV) CORE RED-AV-STAT-small LNK that=DEF
‘That child does/did not eat’
c. sulhate a kana’a ia, isikanaku.
book LNK that TOP 1SG.ABSL.POSS
‘Those books are mine.’ (lit. As for those books, (they are) mine.)

Adnominal demonstratives, unlike some nouns, can not be formally marked as

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plural. The plurality reading is acquired from the reduplicated noun or from the
contexts. In other words, kani’i ‘this’ and kana’a ‘that’ may obtain the meanings of
‘these’ and ‘those’ in English equivalents, respectively.

3.7 Closed grammatical systems

This section discusses closed grammatical systems. Two types of closed

grammatical systems are addressed in the following two subsections: construction
markers (§3.7.1) and phrasal and clausal linkers (§3.7.2).

3.7.1 Construction markers

In Lha’alua, three types of construction markers are identified: (i) topic markers
(§7.2.2.1), (ii) linkers (§7.2.2.2) and (iii) case markers (§7.2.2.3). A topic marker is
used to link a topicalised constituent and the rest of a sentence. In Lha’alua, a topic or
topics can be linked to the rest of a sentence by the topic marker a or ia. Apart from,
Lha’alua makes use of a special type of construction marker to link a head (usually a
noun or a verb) with its following attribute (e.g. a demonstrative, noun, possessor, or
relative clause). This type of construction marker is commonly referred to as a
ligature or a linker in the literature on Austronesian languages. Case markers, which
are used to mark the grammatical relations of noun phrases in Lha’alua, are typically
monosyllabic forms that occur before noun phrases. Full noun phrases themselves do
not exhibit formal differences to reflect their grammatical functions. Rather, their
grammatical functions are manifested by contrastive constituent order and/or by a
class of prenominal monosyllabic forms.

More detailed discussion will be provided in §7.2.2.

3.7.2 Phrasal and clausal linkers

This section deals with phrasal and clausal linkers. Two kinds of linkers are
addressed in the following two subsections: coordinators (§3.7.2.1) and subordinators
(§3.7.2.2).

3.7.2.1 Coordinators

Coordinators are used in syntactic constructions where two or more units of the
same type are conjoined together into a larger unit and still have the same semantic

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relations with other surrounding elements (Haspelmath 2007:1). There are two types
of coordinators in Lha’alua: conjunctive coordinators (§3.7.2.1.1) and disjunctive
coordinators (§3.7.2.1.2).

3.7.2.1.1 Conjunctive coordinators

There are three conjunctive coordinators: (i) nuka, (ii) nua (iii) lha. The three
coordinators, serving to link the constituents of a coordinate construction, are particles.
Coordinate constructions may have some overt linking device (i.e. syndetic
coordination) like (i) nuka, (ii) nua, (iii) lha, or may lack an overt coordinator (i.e
asyndetic coordination). The asyndetic coordinator (i.e. zero-marking) constitutes
(iv) in Lha’alua, and is discussed below. Syndetic coordination always has a single
coordinator, and the coordinator is prepositive (i.e. preceding the second coordinand
A co-B).

By far the most frequently occurring conjunctive coordinator is (iii) lha; the
frequency of occurrence of (i) nuka and (ii) nua is much lower. Illustrations of the
three conjunctive coordinators from my corpus are provided below.

(i) CONJUNCTIVE COORDINATOR nuka. The particle serves to link the constituents of
a coordinate construction. As shown in the following examples, the conjunctive
coordinator nuka is mutually interchangeable with the other two conjunctive
coordinators nua and lha.

(3.118) a. ku a [langui] nuka [tautau] a-alha.

NEG CORE female.name CONJ.COOR male.name STAT-hungry
‘Langui and Tautau are not hungry.’
b. ku a [langui] nua [tautau] a-alha.
NEG CORE female.name CONJ.COOR male.name STAT-hungry
‘Langui and Tautau are not hungry.’
c. ku a [langui] lha [tautau] a-alha.
NEG CORE female.name CONJ.COOR male.name STAT-hungry
‘Langui and Tautau are not hungry.’

(ii) CONJUNCTIVE COORDINATOR nua. Like the conjunctive coordinator nuka, the
particle nua serves to combine the constituents within a coordinate construction. As
illustrated in the example below, a coordinate construction consists of two linked
person names or two kinship terms.

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(3.119) a. m-ali-lepenge a [’aavi ] nua [mu’u=na]
AV-quarrel-finish CORE male.name CONJ.COOR female.name=DEF
m-ari-sangilhi t<um>u-sa-sua=cu
AV-verbal.action-BOUND.ROOT cry<AV>-RED-two=COS.ASP
t<um>angi.
cry<AV>
‘After ’aavi and Mu’u quarreled, both of them cried.’
b. m-a-calhia a [ama-ku] nua [ina-ku]
AV-STAT-be.able.to CORE father-1SG.GEN CONJ.COOR mother-1SG.GEN
m-asi-a-lha’a-lha’alua.
AV-speak-IRR-RED-Lha’alua
‘My father and my mother are able to speak Lha’alua.’

(iii) CONJUNCTIVE COORDINATOR lha. A coordinate construction can consist of

different types of coordinands: words, phrases, clauses, or sentences. In Lha’alua,
coordinands are of the same type within a coordinate construction; that is, they
contain syntactic similarity and do not have any semantic infelicitousness. Examples
of the conjunctive coordinator lha are provided below.

(3.120) Coordinands: nouns/NPs

a. c<um>a-caa-capa [amalhe] lha [tautau] na papa’a.
RED<AV>-RED-broil male.name CONJ.COOR male.name OBL meat
‘Amalhe and Tautau are broiling meat.’
b. m-aa-lhuulhungu a [amalhe] lha [tautau]
AV-BE:LOC/TEMP-stream CORE male.name CONJ.COOR male.name
pasa-ula-ulaula’e.
play-RED-BOUND.ROOT
‘Amalhe and Tautau are playing at a stream.’
c. m-alhava amalhe=na [vuuru] lha [ripase]
AV-bring male.name=DEF bow CONJ.COOR arrow
m-u-sala vuvulungaa m-ere-ceka.
AV-motion.on.foot-road mountain AV-hunt-hunt
‘Amalhe brought a bow and an arrow to go to a mountain to hunt.’

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(3.121) Coordinands: verbs/VPs
aru-a-mia ’avase=na [m-aru-riri] lha
use-IRR-BOUND.ROOT tongue=DEF AV-speak-BOUND.ROOT CONJ.COOR
[sipakua kalhange].
taste(v) taste(n)
‘Tongue is used to speak and taste a taste.’

(3.122) Coordinands: adjectival words/APs

a. tualhe a ’iilhi=na paa-taku-calhia [m-a-vacange]
can CORE portent.bird=DEF CAUS-patrol-know AV-STAT-good
lha [takuliace].
CONJ.COOR bad
‘The portent bird can predict (what is) good and (what is) bad.’
b. capa vukuri=na ia, [sa<malhe>malhenge] lha [sa’au].
broil(PV) yam=DEF TOP savory<RED> CONJ.COOR tasty
‘As for broiling the yam, (it is) very savory and tasty.’
c. vekee-isa ia, [m-a-licece] lha [m-elengese].
hair-3.GEN TOP AV-STAT-black CONJ.COOR AV-long
‘Her hair is black and long.’
(lit. As for her hair, (it is) black and long.)

In addition to binary coordinations, conjunction in Lha’alua allows an indefinite

number of coordinands, i.e. multiple or n-ary coordination. When multiple
coordinands occur, there are two possibilities: a full pattern (i.e. each coordinand
requires a coordinator, e.g. A co-B co-C co-D) and a pattern with coordinator
omission (i.e. except for the second coordinand, other coordinands do not require a
coordinator, e.g. A co-B C D). An example of coordinator omission is provided
below.

(3.123) Multiple coordinands

maaci kilaliali-a alhaama ia, tumua ap-ialange
if practice.ritual-PV ancestor TOP need CAUS-prepare
[alenge] lha [mapaci] [uuru] [papa’a].
torch CONJ.COOR wine rice meat
‘ When practicing the rituals to ancestors, (one) needs to prepare torch, wine,
rice, and meat.’

(iv) ASYNDETIC COORDINATOR Ø. “Coordination without an overt linker occurs

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widely in the world’s languages” (Haspelmath 2007:7). Although in Lha’alua,
monosyndesis of the type A co-B is the norm, asyndesis (also called juxtaposition)
also occurs, especially with the meaning of conjunction. In Lha’alua, asyndesis occurs
commonly with NPs and VPs. Asyndetic coordination of modifying phrases, such as
adverbials and adjectivals, appears to be more restricted. When asyndetic coordination
occurs, there must be a pause between the two coordinands.

(3.124) Coordinands: NPs

a. ku-a-seke-sekere-a [uuru] [camai] m-aa-takupilhi=na!
eat-IRR-RED-finish-IMP.AV rice side.dish AV-BE:LOC/TEMP-bowl=DEF
‘Eat up the rice and side dishes in the bowl!’
b. m-e-cekelhi=cu a varate. tumua
AV-motion.on.foot-come=COS.ASP CORE wind need
[si-pangelhev-a] [cingare] m-a-vaca-vacange m-angelheve.
INST.NMZ-close-PV window AV-STAT-RED-good AV-close
‘Wind is coming. The door and window need close with care.’

(3.125) Coordinands: VPs

kilaliali ka miararuma, [m-a-aru a cucu’u picua
practice.ritual CORE tribal.village AV-STAT-exist CORE person brew
mapaci], [m-a-aru a cucu’u paa-pa-paci talhake].
wine AV-STAT-exist CORE person CAUS-RED-die pig
‘When the tribal village practices rituals, there are people brewing wine and
there are people killing pigs.’

Asyndetic coordination, like syndetic coordination (e.g. the conjunctive

coordinator lha), allows multiple coordinands within a coordinate construction. A
pause is required between coordinand and coordinand when multiple coordinands
occur within a coordinate construction.

(3.126) Multiple coordinands

vavalhira=na ia, [m-a-aru m-a-langilhu],
hill=DEF TOP AV-STAT-exist AV-STAT-green
[m-a-aru m-a-tavulhiu], [m-a-aru m-a-lhisare].
AV-STAT-exist AV-STAT-red AV-STAT-exist AV-STAT-yellow
‘On the hill, there is (something) green, there is (something) red, and there is
(something) yellow.’
(lit. As for the hill, green exists, red exists, and yellow exists.)

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3.7.2.1.2 Disjunctive coordinator

The particle alha functions as a coordinator marking disjunction. As illustrated

below, the speaker addresses two alternatives in his utterance.

(3.127) viaru=na maaci [avava] alha [capa] riane tam sa’au.

corn=DEF if boil(PV) DISJ.COOR broil(PV) all very tasty
‘The corn is all very tasty if (it is) boiled or broiled.’
(lit. As for the corn if (it is) boiled or broiled, (it is) all very tasty.)

3.7.2.2 Subordinators

In Lha’alua, there are a set of bi-clausal constructions, in which one clause is

used to modify the other in a way parallel to the way in which an adverb modifies a
proposition. Three types of dependent (i.e. subordinate) clauses can be identified in
Lha’alua: those which function as modifiers of nouns (i.e. relative clauses (§8.2.1)),
those which function as modifiers of verb phrases or entire propositions (i.e. adverbial
clauses (§8.2.2)), and those which are an alternative to an NP for filling a core
argument slot (i.e. complement clauses (§8.2.3)). The subordinating morphemes of
these three types of dependent clauses are called subordinators.

More detailed discussion on dependent clauses is provided in §8.2.

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118
 CHAPTER 4

MORPHOLOGICAL UNITS AND MORPHOLOGICAL PROCESSES

Morphology is the study of the internal structure of words. This chapter aims to
deal with fundamental issues of the internal structure of Lha’alua words. This chapter
first explains the morphological type of Lha’alua (§4.1) and then introduces
morphological units (§4.2), including morphemes and allomorphs (§4.2.1), roots
(§4.2.2), stems (§4.2.3), affixes (§4.2.4), clitics (§4.2.5) and words (§4.2.6). Two
morphological processes are discussed in §4.3: affixation (§4.3.1) and reduplication
(§4.3.2).

4.1 Morphological type

According to Dixon (2010a:226), a number of terms are adopted in describing

the morphological type of a language, including, in alphabetical order, agglutinating,
analytic, fusional, inflectional, isolating, polysynthetic and synthetic. Most
Austronesian languages are characterised as synthetic-agglutinating (Blust 2009:343),
and Lha’alua is also included in this morphological type. In Lha’alua, a word is
usually composed of a largish number of morphemes (roots, affixes and clitics), but
by and large, morpheme boundaries are clear. In other words, one can easily place a
hyphen between a root and an affix and between each affix, showing that each
component of meaning is represented by its own morpheme.

(4.1) a. ku-a-ngalhangalha=aku um-u uuru.

eat-IRR-again=1SG.NOM AV-eat rice
‘I will eat rice again.’
b. lhi-ku-ngalhangalha=cu=aku um-u uuru.
PERF.ASP-eat-again=COS.ASP=1SG.NOM AV-eat rice
‘I already ate rice again.’

As stated in Dixon (2010a:226), ‘isolating, agglutinating, and fusional are

idealisations. No language exactly fits one type but is always a mixture.’ Lha’alua is
basically agglutinating but with some fusion in some words, which might be treated as
the result of the sound changes this language has undergone. While the boundary of
morphemes is usually clear, some morphemes are fused together so that it is difficult
for them to be segmented, thereby constituting portmanteau morphemes.

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 Another difficulty in segmenting morphemes in Lha’alua appears when a
complex verb consists of a lexical prefix and a bound root. Usually, the lexical prefix
conveys a general meaning. The bound root, however, does not convey any
particular meaning in isolation. The overall meaning is acquired by the
combination of the lexical prefix and bound root. For example, m-ali-a-esepe
indicates ‘close one’s eyes’ . While the lexical prefix ali- denotes ‘action towards
oneself’, the root esepe does not indicate ‘eyes’. In Lha’alua, when expressing ‘eyes’,
one has to use vulailhi. Analogous examples exhibiting difficulties in segmenting
morphemes are abundant in the Lha’alua grammar. Some similar examples are
provided below. For ease of exposition, I adopt the gloss ‘BOUND.ROOT’ throughout
the grammar.

(4.2) a. m-i-ungu
AV-action.concerning.location-BOUND.ROOT
‘arrive’
b. t<um>alhi-a-suu-sulu
give.some.kind.of.mental.effect.by.verbal.action<AV>-IRR-RED-BOUND.ROOT
‘to be joking’
c. m-u-sipare
AV-motion.on.foot-BOUND.ROOT
‘wade a stream’
d. m-u-capi
AV-motion.on.foot-BOUND.ROOT
‘come down’
e. m-ari-sangilhi
AV-verbal.action-BOUND.ROOT
‘quarrel’
f. pasa-ula-ulaula’e
play-RED-BOUND.ROOT
‘be playing’
g. aru-a-mia
use-IRR-BOUND.ROOT
‘to use’
h. si-taku-a-mia
NMZ-work-A-BOUND.ROOT
‘work/life’

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4.2 Morphological units

4.2.1 Morphemes and allomorphs

A morpheme is the smallest meaningful unit in the grammar of a language and

cannot be further decomposed into smaller meaningful parts. A distinction between
free and bound morphemes and between lexical and grammatical morphemes can be
drawn. This distinction is attested in some languages, e.g. Mantauran (Rukai), an
Austronesian language of Taiwan (Zeitoun 2007:46).

In Lha’alua, free morphemes, which occur freely, include lexical items like
maataata ‘tomorrow’, salia ‘home/house’ and cucu’u ‘person’ and functional words
such as lha ‘and’, nua ‘and’ and alha ‘or’. Bound morphemes, which cannot occur
independently, consist of affixes like -ku ‘1SG.GEN’ and ku- ‘eat’ and clitics such as
=aku ‘1SG.NOM’ and cu= ‘COS.ASP’.

Lexical morphemes, including free and bound roots, are morphemes used to
construct new words. They usually (i) comprise two or more syllables, e.g. kuri-
‘shoot’, teke ‘heart’, talhake ‘pig’ and taluvucu ‘mouse’, (ii) carry stress (either
primary or secondary), e.g. tikuru ‘pig’ and alemelhe ‘wild boar’, and (iii) undergo
morphological processes like affixation, e.g. ku-tumulhu ‘eat a lot’ and reduplication,
e.g. lhaa-lhaa-lhaamaama ‘old men’. Grammatical morphemes, including function
words, affixes and clitics, are morphemes used for the expression of grammatical
relationships between words. They are typically monosyllabic or disyllabic, e.g. lha
‘conjunctive coordinator’, na ‘oblique case’ and alha ‘disjunctive coordinator’.

An allomorph consists of one of two or more complementary morphs

manifesting a morpheme in its different phonological or morphological surroundings.
Specifically, the allomorphs of a morpheme are derived from phonological rules as
well as any morphophonemic rules that may apply to that morpheme. Allomorphs of
the Actor voice marker <um> are given below as an illustration (§6.3.1).

The Actor voice marker <um> has three allomorphs: um-, u- and <um>. The
choice of an allomorph is conditioned by the initial phoneme of the stem. The prefix
um- is attached to the stem beginning with a vowel. There is no attested stem
beginning with the high central unrounded vowel [i] (written as ‘e’ in Romanised
orthography throughout the grammar), thus constituting an accidental gap.

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(4.3) a. um-ulungu ‘take off’
b. um-arace ‘bite’
c. um-ilave ‘chew’

The prefix u- is attached to the stem beginning with a labial consonant.

(4.4) a. u-pana ‘shoot’

b. u-vuru ‘give’
c. u-mia ‘pass’

The infix <um> is attached to the stem beginning with a non-labial consonantal
phoneme.

(4.5) a. s<um>a-sala ‘to fix road’

b. t<um>aeve ‘cover’
c. lh<um>avu ‘wash (clothes)’
d. l<um>a-liili ‘to apply (ointment)’
e. k<um>alii ‘dig’
f. c<um>ulhu ‘burn’

4.2.2 Roots

A root is ‘an unanalysable form that expresses the basic lexical content of the
word’ (Payne 1997:24). It is the part of a word that is universal to a set of derived or
inflected forms (if any), and is not further analysable into meaningful elements. Being
morphologically simple, a root carries the primary part of meaning of the words in
which it functions. If a root does not appear by itself in a meaningful way in a
language, then it should be labeled as a bound root. In Lha’alua, roots can be divided
into free roots and bound roots. The former can occur alone without affixes, whereas
the latter cannot appear unaffixed. Examples of Lha’alua are presented below.

(4.6) Free roots

a. m-ari-tamaku ‘smoke’ → tamaku ‘cigarette’
b. m-ara-ramucu ‘wash hands’ → ramucu ‘hands’
c. m-ali-likilhi ‘board’ → likilhi ‘vehicle’
d. m-ari-’aapalataa ‘strike of a lightning’ → ’aapalataa ‘lightning’

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(4.7) Bound roots
a. m-a-pulhi ‘white’ → *pulhi25
b. araa-mii ‘become sweet’ → *mii
c. m-ara-cicilhi ‘wash feet’ → *cicilhi
d. m-ia-tumu ‘hit with fists’ → *tumu
e. m-usu-rauvu ‘dance’ → *rauvu
f. tu-a-puru ‘to sit’ → *puru
g. taku-a-liungu ‘to play/visit’ → *liungu
h. m-ali-a-esepe ‘to close one’s eyes’ → *epese

4.2.3 Stems

A stem, comprising minimally a root, may be analysable into a root plus

derivational morphemes. Along with any derivational affixes, a stem is the root or
roots of a word to which inflectional affixes are attached. For instance, in
m-ara-ramucu ‘wash hands’, the stem to which the affix m-ara- attaches is -ramucu.
In lhi-m-ara-ramucu ‘have washed hands’, the stem to which the affix lhi- attaches is
m-ara-ramucu.

4.2.4 Affixes

An affix is a bound morpheme that is attached before, after, within or

circumjacent to a root or stem. A prefix is an affix that is added before a root or stem.
A suffix is an affix that is adjoined to the end of a root or stem. An infix is an affix
that is inserted within a root or stem. A circumfix is an affix that comprises two
separate parts surrounding a root or stem. In Lha’alua, prefixes substantially
outnumber suffixes, infixes and circumfixes. Examples are provided below.

(4.8) a. prefix: ramucu ‘hand’ → m-ara-ramucu ‘wash hands’

b. suffix: ramucu ‘hand’ → ramucu-ku ‘my hand’
c. infix: m-ima ‘drink’ → m-i<a>ma ‘to drink’
d. circumfix: tii’i ‘feces’ → taa-tialh-aa ‘toilet’
(lit. place to defecate)

Parallel to remarks made by Haspelmath (2002:155), Lha’alua affixes are

characterised in terms of the following properties: they (i) have no freedom of
movement, (ii) have no freedom of stem selection, (iii) are prosodically integrated, (iv)

25
* means the example is ungrammatical.

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are always within the domain of a phonological rule and (v) may trigger or undergo
morpho-phonological or suppletive alternations. For affix-base combinations, affixes
may have idiosyncratic meanings and present arbitrary gaps.

A derivational affix, not part of an obligatory set of affixes, generally occurs

closer to the root. Its meaning is generally more concrete. It is more likely to be
idiosyncratic in meaning. The newly derived word usually belongs to a different word
class from the original one. In contrast to a derivational affix, an inflectional affix
usually does not change the word class of its stem, and is typically placed farther from
its root than a derivational affix. It typically occurs to meet grammatical needs and
produces a predictable as well as a non-idiosyncratic change of meaning. Examples
are provided below.

(4.9) a. Derivational: e.g. lexical prefix

vuuru ‘bow’ → kuri-vuuru ‘shoot with a bow’
b. Inflectional: e.g. perfective aspect
m-ari-tamaku ‘to smoke’ → lhi-m-ari-tamaku ‘have smoked’

4.2.5 Clitics

A clitic is a morpheme that has independently syntactic characteristics of a

grammatical word and displays evidence of being phonologically bound to another
word. A number of linguists have sought to provide defining characteristics for clitics,
in order to distinguish them from affixes and words, including Aikhenvald (2002),
Anderson (2005), H. Chang (1999), Haspelmath (2002), Klavans (1985), Kroeger
(2005), Nevis (2000) and Zwicky (1977, 1985). However, it is not an easy task to
reach a completely satisfactory cross-linguistic definition, due to the behavior of
clitics with varying degrees from language to language.

Some guidelines, nonetheless, can be abided by in general. In term of

Haspelmath (2002:155), clitics (i) have freedom of movement, (ii) have freedom of
host selection, (iii) are not prosodically integrated, (iv) may be outside the domain of
a phonological rule and (v) may not trigger and undergo morpho-phonological or
suppletive alternations. For clitic-host combinations, clitics may not have
idiosyncratic meanings and arbitrary gaps. According to Aikhenvald (2002:43-57),
clitics can be characterised in terms of (i) direction, (ii) selectivity, (iii) type of host,
(iv) relationship with phonological word, (v) segmental and phonotactic properties of
clitics, (vi) phonological cohesion, (vii) the relationship of clitics to pauses, (viii)

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combinations of clitics; and the status of words including clitics, and of clitic-only
words, (ix) relative ordering in clitic strings, (x) position with respect to what can be
defined as affixes, (xi) the correlation of clitics with grammatical words, (xii)
syntactic scope of clitics, (xiii) lexicalisation, and semantic and morphological
idiosyncrasies, (xiv) clitic-specific syntactic rules, and (xv) correlation with
morphological classes.

Eight defining properties of clitics mentioned above are illustrated below, in

order to show how clitics behave in Lha’alua.

(i) DIRECTION. In terms of direction, clitics can be divided into enclitics and
proclitics. In Lha’alua, only enclitics, occurring after the word to which they are
phonologically adjoined, can be attested. Examples are given below.

(4.10) Enclitic
lhi-um-ailhi=cu=aku kiira valhituku.
PERF.ASP-AV-deposit=COS.ASP=1SG.NOM yesterday money
‘I had deposited money yesterday.’

(ii) SELECTIVITY. In Lha’alua, clitics attach to their host with low selectivity. For
example, the interrogative enclitic =i and nominative bound pronouns can attach to
different types of word classes.

(4.11) a. word class of host: verb

lhi-um-u=cu=u=i camai?
PERF.ASP-AV-eat=COS.ASP=2SG.NOM=Q side.dish
‘Have you eaten side dish?’
b. word class of host: noun
sulhati-u=i?
book-2SG.GEN=Q
‘Your book?’

(4.12) a. word class of host: verb

um-a-ailhi=aku maataata valhituku.
AV-IRR-deposit=1SG.NOM tomorrow money
‘I will deposit money tomorrow.’

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 b. word class of host: verbal negator
ku=aku um-a-ailhi maataata valhituku.
NEG=1SG.NOM AV-IRR-deposit tomorrow money
‘I will not deposit money tomorrow.’

(iii) TYPE OF HOST. In terms of type of host, clitics can be classified as fixed position
clitics and floating clitics. Fixed position clitics attach to the first constituent in a
clause; however, a clause with topicalisation constitutes an exception. Examples can
be seen below.

(4.13) The first word in a clause

a. um-a-ailhi=aku maataata valhituku.
AV-IRR-deposit=1SG.NOM tomorrow money
‘I will deposit money tomorrow.’
a. ku=aku um-a-ailhi maataata valhituku.
NEG=1SG.NOM AV-IRR-deposit tomorrow money
‘I will not deposit money tomorrow.’
b. m-a-vacuku=cu=aku.
AV-STAT-full=COS.ASP=1SG.NOM
‘I am full.’
b. tam=cu=aku m-a-vacuku.
very=COS.ASP=1SG.NOM AV-STAT-full
‘I am very full.’

(4.14) Clause with topicalisation

kiira ia, lhi-um-aru-mia=ita lhalhitu
yesterday TOP PERF.ASP-AV-use-BOUND.ROOT=1PL.INCL.NOM rifle
u-pana ’ukui.
AV-shoot goat
‘We used a rifle to shoot a goat yesterday.’
(lit. As for yesterday, we used a rifle to shoot a goat yesterday.)

In addition to attaching to the first constituent in a clause, fixed position clitics

may occur in phrase-final position, depending on the grammatical class of the host. A
phrase-final clitic is a clitic that is associated with words of a certain class, being
placed at the end of a phrase and having a member of that word class as its head,
e.g. ’s in English (Aikhenvald 2002:46). In Lha’alua, the definite marker =na can be
positioned after a simple noun, a noun phrase or a nominal clause.

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(4.15) a. salhmu=na
water=DEF
‘the water’
b. salhmu m-a-cici=na
water AV-STAT-hot=DEF
‘the hot water’
c. salhumu ka lhi-ima=cu-isa=na
water LNK PERF.ASP-drink=COS.ASP-3.GEN=DEF
‘the water it has drunk’

Floating clitics can attach to various grammatical classes, depending on which of

them is emphasised. For instance, the evidentiality marker =ami appears in different
positions and attaches to different types of host, e.g. the subordinator maaci ‘if’, the
negator uka’a ‘no’, the verb lhava-a ‘bring’ and the quantifier riane ‘all’ (see §6.2.3).

(iv) SEGMENTAL AND PHONOTACTIC PROPERTIES OF CLITICS. In Lha’alua, clitics

(and affixes) differ from roots in their segmental structure. Like affixes, clitics tend to
be monosyllabic or disyllabic. In addition, clitics (and suffixes) differ from roots in
their phonotactics. Like suffixes, clitics do not allow long vowels and the high central
unrounded vowel [i] (written as ‘e’) to occur.

(v) THE RELATIONSHIP OF CLITICS TO PAUSES. No pause can be attested on affix

boundaries or clitic boundaries.

(vi) POSITION WITH RESPECT TO WHAT CAN BE DEFINED AS AFFIXES. In most

languages, clitics typically appear outside all affixes. Nonetheless, as in the
Portuguese conditionals, enclitics may sometimes appear before suffixes, and in some
varieties of Brazilian Portuguese, there is a phenomenon called endoclisis, namely,
derivational or other affixes intervening between clitics (Aikhenvald 2002:53). In
Lha’alua, the aspectual marker =cu can appear before genitive bound pronouns
(marking arguments in A function) which are defined as affixes (§7.2.1.2 and
§7.2.3.1). Genitive bound pronouns can also intervene between clitics. Examples of
Lha’alua are given below.

(4.16) a. maaci m-iamilhi=cu ia, aali=cu-ta m-aatarase.

if AV-dry=COS.ASP TOP take(PV)=COS.ASP-1PL.INCL.GEN AV-cut
‘If (it is) dry, we take (it) to cut.’

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 b. maaci m-ikaaci=cu, tualhi=cu-ku=i
if AV-stop.raining=COS.ASP can=COS.ASP-1SG.GEN=Q
m-u-sala salia-isa ka tamu’u?
AV-motion.on.foot-road house-3.AGR GEN grandparent
‘If it stops raining, can I go to grandparent’s house?’

(vii) SYNTACTIC SCOPE OF CLITICS. In Lha’alua, clitics differ in their scope. A clitic
marking a polar question has the scope over an entire clause, while a clitic marking
definiteness has scope over a phrase or just a head word. Examples of Lha’alua are
shown below.

(4.17) Question
lhi-um-u=cu=u=i uuru?
PERF.ASP-AV-eat=COS.ASP=2SG.NOM=Q rice
‘Have you eaten rice?’

(4.18) Definiteness
a. ’au=na
soup=DEF
‘soup water’
b. ’au m-a-cici=na
soup AV-STAT-hot=DEF
‘the hot soup’
c. ’au ka lhi-ima=cu-isa=na
soup LNK PERF.ASP-drink(PV)=COS.ASP-3.GEN=DEF
‘the soup it has drunk’

(viii) LEXICALISATION, AND SEMANTIC AND MORPHOLOGICAL IDIOSYNCRASIES. Just

like most languages in the world, clitics in Lha’alua do not display any semantic or
morphological idiosyncrasies.

In addition to the above-mentioned defining properties of clitics, some more

reasons can expound why these bound morphemes are regarded as clitics in Lha’alua.
Phonologically, they are prosodically dependent, and utterance is not interruptible at
the bound-form boundary. They are not contrastively stressable, nor can they have a
separate domain for word stress. Syntactically, they are not allowed to be topicalised
or coordinated.

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4.2.6 Words

Words are units that comprise constituents at the phrase level and above. The
word word has been used and defined in different ways to a varying degree, and has
often been devoid of a clear distinction. Thus, it is of importance that certain
elementary distinctions must be made: (i) between a lexeme and its varying forms, (ii)
between an orthographic word (something written between two spaces) and other
types of word, and (iii) between a unit primarily defined on grammatical criteria and
one primarily defined on phonological criteria (Dixon and Aikhenvald 2002:6). It is
necessary to address the question of phonological word and grammatical word in the
grammar of Lha’alua.

A phonological word is a phonological unit larger than the syllable, having at

least one of the phonological defining properties: (i) segmental features, (ii) prosodic
features and (iii) phonological rules (Dixon 2010b:7, Dixon and Aikhenvald 2002:13).
A grammatical word results from applying morphological processes to a lexical root,
and has conventionalised coherence and meaning (Dixon 2010b:13, Dixon and
Aikhenvald 2002:19).

The criteria for phonological word in Lha’alua consist of pause, stress (§2.3),
vowel dropping (§2.3.3) and morphophonemic rules, such as flap assimilation
(§2.4.1.1), vowel harmony (§2.4.1.2), vowel deletion (§2.4.2.1), syllable deletion
(§2.4.2.2), vowel fronting (§2.4.3), vowel shortening (§2.4.4) and resyllabification
(§2.4.5).

The criteria for grammatical word in Lha’alua include grammatical categories,

such as prefixes (§4.2.4 and §4.3.1.1), infixes (§4.2.4 and §4.3.1.2), suffixes (§4.2.4
and §4.3.1.3), circumfixes (§4.2.4 and §4.3.1.4), aspectual markers (§6.2.2), modality
markers (§6.2.4) and evidentiality markers (§6.2.3).

4.3 Morphological processes

A morphological process is a means of altering a stem to adjust its meaning to

suit its syntactic and communicational context. Two types of morphological processes
in Lha’alua are discussed in this section: affixation (§4.3.1) and reduplication
(§4.3.2).

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4.3.1 Affixation

Affixation is the morphological process whereby an affix is attached to a root or

stem. There are four types of affixation in Lha’alua: (i) prefixation (§4.3.1.1), (ii)
infixation (§4.3.1.2), (iii) suffixation (§4.3.1.3) and (iv) circumfixation (§4.3.1.4).
Among the four types of affixation, prefixation outnumbers the other three types.

4.3.1.1 Prefixation

Prefixation is a morphological process whereby a bound morpheme is attached to

the front of a root or stem. There are two types of prefixation in Lha’alua: inflectional
prefixation and derivational prefixation. Inflectional prefixation does not change the
word class of its stem and produces a predictable, non-idiosyncratic change of
meaning. In contrast to inflectional prefixation, derivational prefixation generally is
more concrete in meaning and is more likely to result in a form that has a somewhat
idiosyncratic meaning.

(4.19) Example of inflectional prefixation: perfective aspect lhi-

aunaana ka lhi-timalha-ku na alhaama kiariari
like.that LNK PERF.ASP-hear(PV)-1SG.GEN OBL ancestor past
n kana m-uritalhivae n alemelhe.
LNK PAUSE.FILLER AV-have.a.love.affair OBL wild.boar
‘That is what I heard from ancestors in the past about having a love affair
with a wild boar.’

(4.20) Example of inflectional prefixation: third person agreement marker saa-

saa-arac-a tasau ka ma-m-a-ini=na.
3.AGR-bite-PV dog CORE RED-AV-STAT-small=DEF
‘Dogs bit the child.’

(4.21) Example of inflectional prefixation: Actor voice marker u-/m-/um-

a. u-a-kii-kirimi=aku na vutulhu.
AV-IRR-RED-search=1SG.NOM OBL deer
‘I will be searching for deer.’
b. m-i<a>ma alhame salhumu.
AV-drink<IRR> bird water
‘The bird will drink water.’

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 c. um-a-urape a ama’a na ’evecenge.
AV-IRR-sow CORE father OBL millet
‘Father will sow millet.’

(4.22) Example of derivational prefixation: u- ‘motion on foot’

m-u-sala=ami a cucu-lhamu=na
AV-motion.on.foot-road=EVI CORE person-1PL.EXCL.GEN=DEF
u-kiri-kirimi alemelhe.
AV-RED-search/hunt wild.boar
‘It is said that our people went to hunt wild boars.’

4.3.1.2 Infixation

Infixation is a morphological process whereby a bound morpheme attaches

within a root or stem. In Lha’alua, typical examples of infixation are irrealis marker
<a> and Actor voice marker <um>.They are inflectional, since the word class of their
stems remains the same and a predictable, non-idiosyncratic change of meaning is
produced.

(4.23) Example of inflectional infixation: irrealis marker <a>

m-i<a>ma malhipilhipi-lhamu salhumu.
AV-drink<IRR> duck -1PL.EXCL.GEN water
‘Our ducks will drink water.’

(4.24) Example of inflectional infixation: Actor voice marker <um>

k<um>a-kii-kita a tautau sulhate.
RED<AV>-RED-look/see CORE male.name book/word/paper
‘Tautau will be doing homework.’

In addition to being treated as inflectional infixation, the morphological process

of adding Actor voice marker <um> can be treated as derivational infixation, since it
alters the word class of its stem and produces a form that has a somewhat
idiosyncratic meaning, e.g. sulhate ‘word/paper/book’ → s<um>ulhate ‘write’ and
tapae ‘color’ → t<um>apae ‘draw’.

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(4.25) Example of derivational infixation: Actor voice marker <um>
s<um>a-su-sulhate=aku.
RED<AV>-RED-word/paper/book =1SG.NOM
‘I am writing.’

4.3.1.3 Suffixation

Suffixation is a morphological process whereby a bound morpheme is attached

to the end of a stem. There are two types of suffixation in Lha’alua: inflectional
suffixation and derivational suffixation. Inflectional suffixation does not alter the
word class of its stem and constructs a predictable, non-idiosyncratic change of
meaning. In contrast to inflectional suffixation, derivational suffixation generally is
more concrete in meaning and is more likely to generate a form with an idiosyncratic
meaning.

(4.26) Example of inflectional suffixation: third person agreement marker -isa

lhi-aala-ana=cu a ilhaku a sikame-isa
PERF.ASP-take-LV=COS.ASP CORE 1SG.INDEP CORE mat-3.AGR
tamu’u.
grandparent
‘I took grandparent’s mat.’

(4.27) Example of derivational suffixation: genitive marker

ma-m-a-ini-ku a kana’a=na.
RED-AV-STAT-small-1SG.GEN CORE 3.INDEP=DEF
‘He is my child.’

4.3.1.4 Circumfixation

Circumfixation is a morphological process whereby an affix made up of two

separate parts surrounds and attaches to a root or stem. In Lha’alua, circumfixation is
derivational; generally, it is more meaningful, is not part of an obligatory set of affixes,
and is more liable to construct a form that has a somewhat idiosyncratic meaning.
Examples of circumfixation consist of numerals, like ma-pitu-lhe (tens-seven-tens
‘seventy’), and nouns referring to a place where an action is performed (§5.3.4.2).

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(4.28) Derivational: referring to a place where an action is performed taa-…-aa
a. taa-lhavu-aa
‘laundry’ (lit. place to wash (clothes))
cf. lh<um>avu ‘wash (clothes)’
b. taa-paalhim-aa
‘a hut to scare birds away from farm’
cf. m-alhimu ‘scare birds away from farm’
c. taa-paasin-aa
‘bathroom’ (lit. place to bathe)
cf. m-asinu ‘bathe’
d. taa-tialh-aa
‘toilet’ (lit. place to defecate)
cf. tii’i ‘faeces’

4.3.2 Reduplication

Reduplication is a morphological process in which a root or stem or part of it is

repeated. Marantz (1982:437) defines reduplication as a “morphological process
relating the base form of a morpheme or stem to a derived form that may be analysed
as being constructed from the base via the affixation (or infixation) of phonemic
material which is necessarily identical in whole or in part to the phonemic content of
the base form.” I adopt this definition in the discussion of reduplication in Lha’alua.

Lha’alua exhibits a large array of reduplication patterns, applying more

prolifically to verbs than to nouns, and a few examples of triplication,
quadreduplication and serial reduplicaton. Following parameters provide an overview
of reduplication in Lha’alua.

(i) What is repeated? (a) one syllable, (b) two syllables, and (c) the complete word.

(ii) Where does the reduplicant appear? (a) at the beginning of the word (when
there is no lexical prefix or no Actor voice marker), (b) at the beginning of the
free/bound root or stem (when there is a lexical prefix or there is an Actor voice
marker) and (c) within the free/bound root.

(iii) What kinds of word classes does reduplication apply to? (a) verbs (including
stative verbs, dynamic verbs, adjectival elements, quantifying expressions and
adverbial verbs), (b) nouns and (c) numerals. It may apply to all members of a certain

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word class or merely to some members of a word class.

(iv) Is reduplication productive or non-productive? Some reduplicative patterns

are productive whereas some are not.

(v) Does reduplication have any grammatical function? Reduplication can be a

word-class changing derivation.

(vi) Does reduplication interrelate with any grammatical categories? A reciprocal

construction is represented by a derivational prefix to the verb, together with
reduplication of the free/bound root or stem. Besides, a habitual meaning is shown by
a frequency word, plus reduplication of the free/bound root or stem. In addition, the
addition of Actor voice marker <um> triggers (C)a- reduplication which conveys
irrealis.

(vii) What is the meaning of the reduplicated form? There are a variety of
meanings: ‘the PLACE where something gathers or is gathered’, plurality, collectivity,
distributivity, irrealis, diminutive/attenuative, iterative, continuous, progressive,
intensification and ‘do something MORE’.

The following subsections deal with these different patterns of reduplication

which are distinguished from structures of reduplication. “A pattern only refers to one
type of reduplication, while a single underlying structure can subsume different
patterns of reduplication which perform the same (or similar) functions” (Zeitoun
2007:57). Patterns of reduplication that will be discussed include lexicalised
reduplication (§4.3.2.1), full reduplication (§4.3.2.2), (C)a- reduplication (§4.3.2.3),
(C)V- reduplication (§4.3.2.4), CV˘- reduplication (§4.3.2.5) and (C)V(C)V-
reduplication (§4.3.2.6). Triplication, quadreduplication and serial reduplication are
discussed in §4.3.2.7, §4.3.2.8 and §4.3.2.9, respectively.

4.3.2.1 Lexicalised reduplication

Lexicalised reduplication refers to historically reduplicated disyllables. Adelaar

(2000, 2011) introduces lexicalised reduplication in Siraya, an extinct Austronesian
language of Taiwan. In Lha’alua, there are two types of lexicalised reduplication: full
lexicalised reduplication and partial lexicalised reduplication. These reduplicated
forms usually have no attested simplex counterparts

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(4.29) Full lexicalised reduplication
a. taretare ‘woodpecker’ (<*tare)
b. tautau ‘male name’ (<*tau)
c. samesame ‘pepper’ (<*same)
d. langelange ‘expensive’ (<*lange)
e. tungatunga ‘Jew’s harp’ (<*tunga)

(4.30) Partial lexicalised reduplication

a. tavelhevelhe ‘banana’ (<*velhe)
b. takungukungu ‘water spinach’ (<*kungu)
c. tapaupau ‘mushroom’ (<*pau)
d. takaukau ‘crested hawk’ (<*kau)
e. tapataparu ‘Taluoliu Creek (Chinese name:塔羅留溪) area’ (<*tapa)

4.3.2.2 Full reduplication

Full reduplication refers to the copying of a whole root. Full reduplication differs
from lexicalised reduplication in that reduplicated forms via lexicalised reduplication
usually have no attested simplex counterparts, whereas reduplicated forms via full
reduplication do have attested simplex counterparts (i.e. free roots).

Temporal nouns in Lha’alua may possess distributivity meanings via full

reduplication.

(4.31) a. aari ‘day’

b. aari-aari
RED-day
‘every day’ (Semantics: distributivity)

(4.32) a. cailhi ‘year’

b. cailhi-cailhi
RED-year
‘every year’ (Semantics: distributivity)

4.3.2.3 (C)a- reduplication

(C)a reduplication refers to the copying of the first consonant of a root/stem

together with the addition of a fixed vowel /a/, or refers to the occurrence of /a/ if the

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root/stem begins with a vowel (Blust 1998). This type of reduplication is reported to
be extremely productive in a fairly high number of Formosan languages, e.g. Amis,
Thao, Saisiyat, Siraya (Adelaar 2000), Pazeh, Puyuma, Atayal, and Paiwan. In
Lha’alua, typical examples of (C)a reduplication are numerals and question words
like ‘how much/many’ (§10.1.1) when referring to human participants.

(4.33) a. pa-piaini ‘how many (people)’

b. ca-cilhi ‘one (person)’
c. sa-sua ‘two (people)’
d. ta-tulu ‘three (people)’
e. a-u-pate ‘four (people)’
f. la-lima ‘five (people)’
g. a-e-neme ‘six (people)’
h. pa-pitu ‘seven (people)’
i. la-la-alu ‘eight (people)’
j. sa-sia ‘nine (people)’

(4.34) a. ki-sa-sua k<um>ali tanalai.

dig-RED-two dig<AV> peanut
‘Two people dug peanuts.’
b. pa-piaini a tukucu-isa?
RED-how.much/many CORE friend-3.GEN
‘How many friends do he have?’ (lit. How many his friend?)

In Mantauran Rukai, Ca reduplication is always triggered by prefixation,

e.g. ’ini-Ca + verb ‘oneself’ and ma-Ca + verb ‘reciprocal’ (Zeitoun 2007:59).
Similarly, (C)a reduplication, in addition to examples like numerals and question
word ‘how much/many’, can be triggered by lexical prefixation or infixation of
Actor voice marker <um> in Lha’alua. Semantically, this type of reduplication
conveys the meaning of irrealis.

(4.35) (C)a reduplication triggered by lexical prefixation

ini pai-ta-tealh-ani?
where find-RED:IRR-ACHI-LV
‘Where can (it) be found?’ (lit. Where find?) (Semantics: irrealis)

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(4.36) (C)a reduplication triggered by lexical prefixation
m-ia-ta-tuu-tumu=aku [alha’a]=na ka
AV-thrust/push-RED:IRR-RED-BOUND.ROOT=1SG.NOM enemy=DEF LNK
m-a-lhavae.
AV-STAT-drunk
‘I will be hitting the enemy who is drunk with fists.’ (Semantics: irrealis)

(4.37) (C)a reduplication triggered by infixation of Actor voice marker <um>

k<um>a-kii-kita a tautau nua langui
RED:IRR<AV>-RED-look/see CORE male.name COOR.CONJ female.name
sulhate.
book/word/paper
‘Tautau and Langui will be reading books.’ (Semantics: irrealis)

4.3.2.4 (C)V- reduplication

(C)V- reduplication refers to the copying of the first, second or last syllable of a
root or a stem. In examples (4.38) to (4.45), (C)V- reduplication applies to the first
syllable of a root or a stem. In examples (4.46) and (4.47), (C)V- reduplication applies
to the second syllable of a root. In example (4.48), (C)V- reduplication applies to the
last syllable of a root. Except for number words in example (4.40) where (C)V-
reduplication applies to a stem, (C)V- reduplication applies to a root in other types of
word classes. Example (4.48) shows that the reduplicant appears within the root. This
is the only example whereby the reduplicant does not appear at the beginning of the
root, stem or word. (C)V- reduplication indicates ‘the PLACE where something
gathers or is gathered’ in nouns, distributivity in numerals, and diminutive/attenuative,
intensification, progressive, continuous, reciprocal and collectivity in verbs.

(4.38) a. ’ukui ‘goat’

b. ’u-’ukui-a
RED-goat-A
‘place where goats gather or goat enclosure’
(Semantics: the PLACE where something gathers or is gathered)

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(4.39) a. areme ‘pangolin’
b. a-areme-a
RED-pangolin-A
‘place where pangolins gather’
(Semantics: the PLACE where something gathers or is gathered)

(4.40) a. ca-cilhi ‘one (human)’

b. a-ca-ca-cilhi
A-RED-RED-one
‘everyone’ (Semantics: distributivity)

(4.41) a. kit-u! ‘Look (PV)!’

b. ki-kit-u!
RED-look-IMP.PV
‘Try a quick look!’ (Semantics: diminutive/attenuative)

(4.42) a. kira-taisa ‘step on something heavily’

b. kira-ta-taisa
step.on-RED-big
‘step on something very heavily’ (Semantics: intensification)

(4.43) a. araa-vurae ‘become ripe’

b. araa-vu-vurae
INCH-RED-ripe
‘becoming ripe/ripening’ (Semantics: progressive)

(4.44) a. araa-velhe ‘become fat’

b. araa-ve-velhe
INCH-RED-fat
‘keep on putting weight’ (Semantics: continuous)

(4.45) aluka-ca-calai
RECIP-RED-care
‘care/love each other’ (Semantics: reciprocal + RED)

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(4.46) a. m-itungusu ‘practice the Ritual of God of Shell’
b. m-i<a>tungusu ‘to practice the Ritual of God of Shell’
c. m-i<a><tu>tungusu
AV-Ritual.of.God.of.Shell<IRR><RED>
‘to be practicing the Ritual of God of Shell’ (Semantics: progressive)

(4.47) a. lhi-angalhi ‘have been from’

b. lhi-a<nga>ngalhi
PERF.ASP-from<RED>
‘have ALL been from’ (Semantics: collectivity)

(4.48) a. lhuulhungu ‘creek’

b. m-u-lhuu<ngu>lhungu
AV-motion.on.foot-creek<RED>
‘keep on walking along a creek’ (Semantics: continuous)

4.3.2.5 CV˘- reduplication

CV˘- reduplication refers to the reduplication of the first or the second syllable of
a root, where V˘ stands for a long vowel. In examples (4.49) to (4.55), CV˘-
reduplication applies to the first syllable of a root. In examples (4.56) and (4.57), CV˘-
reduplication applies to the second syllable of a root. CV˘- reduplication conveys ‘the
PLACE where something gathers or is gathered’ in nouns, diminutive/attenuative,
iterative, progressive, continuous, habitual, reciprocal, and do something MORE in
verbs, and intensification in ‘adjectival elements’.

(4.49) a. vaake ‘tangerine/orange’

b. vaa-vaake-a
RED-tangerine/orange/lemon-LOC.NMZ
‘tangerine/orange/lemon farm’
(lit. place where tangerines/oranges/lemons are gathered)
(Semantics: the PLACE where something gathers or is gathered)

(4.50) a. varate ‘wind’

b. pari-varate ‘blow strongly’
c. pari-vaa-varate
blow-RED-wind
‘breeze’ (Semantics: diminutive/attenuative)

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(4.51) a. m-utu-a-tapusa ‘jump’
b. m-utu-a-taa-tapusu
AV-contact/move.towards-IRR-RED-BOUND.ROOT
‘jump many times’ (Semantics: iterative)

(4.52) a. m-ia-tumu ‘hit with fists’

b. m-a-lhavai=cu a tautau
AV-STAT-drunk=COS.ASP CORE male.name
[lhi-m-ia-tuu-tumu ma-m-a-ini]RC.
PERF.ASP-AV-thrust/push-RED-BOUND.ROOT RED-AV-STAT-small
‘Tautau, who was hitting a child with fists, has been drunk.’
(Semantics: progressive)

(4.53) a. tu-a-puru ‘to sit’

b. tu-a-puu-puru
sit-IRR-RED-BOUND.ROOT
‘to keep on sitting’ (Semantics: continuous)

(4.54) a. palhu-a-salhi ‘to sing’

b. palhu-a-saa-salhi
sing-IRR-RED-song
‘to sing (often)’ (Semantics: habitual + RED)

(4.55) a. taku-a-liungu ‘to play/visit’

b. alupa-taku-a-lii-liungu
RECIP-patrol/work-IRR-RED-BOUND.ROOT
‘play with each other / visit each other’ (Semantics: reciprocal + RED)

(4.56) a. m-ima ‘drink’

b. m-i<a>ma ‘to drink’
c. m-i<a><maa>ma
AV-drink<IRR><RED>
‘to drink more’ (Semantics: do something MORE)

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(4.57) a. erece ‘tight’
b. e<ree>rece
tight<RED>
‘very tight’ (Semantics: intensification)

4.3.2.6 (C)V(C)V- reduplication

(C)V(C)V- reduplication involves the copying of two syllables of a root or a stem.

In case of a disyllabic stem, the whole stem is reduplicated. In Lha’alua, there is no
example of a disyllabic root to which (C)V(C)V- reduplication applies. One example
of a disyllabic stem is found in my corpus: um-au-a-u ‘to be eating’, which is a verb,
indicating progressive.

(4.58) a. um-a-u ‘to eat’

b. um-au-a-u
AV-RED-IRR-eat
‘to be eating’ (Semantics: progressive)

In case of tri-syllabic and quadric-syllabic stems, (C)V(C)V- reduplication copies

the first two syllables in examples (4.59) and (4.60), and reduplicates the second and
third syllables in example (4.61). In case of tri-syllabic and quadric-syllabic roots,
(C)V(C)V- reduplication copies the second and third syllables, as illustrated in
example (4.62), and reduplicates the first two syllables, as shown in examples (4.63)
to (4.70). Such examples like (4.61) and (4.62) are rare in my corpus. (C)V(C)V-
reduplication conveys the meanings of distributivity in numerals, collectivity and
diminutive/attenuative in adjectival elements, and diminutive/attenuative, collectivity,
iterative, continuous, intensification, habitual and ‘do something excessively’ in verbs,
and plurality and ‘the PLACE where something gathers or is gathered’ in nouns.

(4.59) a. ucani ‘one (non-human)’

b. a-uca-ucani
A-RED-one
‘each one (non-human)’ (Semantics: distributivity)

(4.60) a. m-a-calhia ‘know’

b. ta-maca-m-a-calhia
TA-RED-AV-STAT-know
‘know a little’ (Semantics: diminutive/attenuative)

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(4.61) a. p-a-aru ‘at/have’
b. p-aru-a-aru
AV-RED-STAT-exist
‘all at/have’ (Semantics: collectivity)

(4.62) a. m-a-maaialhu ‘the same’

b. m-a-maa<ia>ialhu
AV-STAT-same<RED>
‘all the same’ (Semantics: collectivity)

(4.63) a. m-a-tavulhiu ‘red’

b. m-a-tavu-tavulhiu
AV-STAT-RED-red
‘pink/light red’ (Semantics: diminutive/attenuative)

(4.64) a. m-ali-a-esepe ‘close one’s eyes’

b. m-ali-a-ese-esepe
AV-action.towards.oneself-IRR-RED-BOUND.ROOT
‘blink’ (Semantics: iterative)

(4.65) a. sakeralhe ‘river’

b. m-u-sake-sakeralhe
AV-motion.on.foot-RED-river
‘walk along a river continuously’ (Semantics: continuous)

(4.66) a. pa-cepeng-a ‘think’

b. pa-cepe-cepeng-a
think-RED-BOUND.ROOT-PV
‘think briefly’ (Semantics: diminutive/attenuative)

(4.67) a. um-aru-vacange ‘use well’

b. um-aru-vaca-vacange
AV-use-RED-good
‘use with great care’ (Semantics: intensification)

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(4.68) a. a-kirimi ‘to search’
b. a-kiri-kirimi
IRR-RED-search
‘to search (often)’ (Semantics: habitual + RED)

(4.69) a. kiu’u ‘tree’

b. kiu-kiu’u
RED-tree
‘trees’ (Semantics: plurality)

(4.70) a. kiu’u ‘tree’

b. kiu-kiu’u-a
RED-tree-LOC.NMZ
‘forest’ (Semantics: the PLACE where something gathers or is gathered)

4.3.2.7 Triplication

Blust (2001, 2003) defines triplication as a morphological process involving the

reduplication of the same part or the totality of the root twice in a unitary process.
This term differs from serial reduplication (§4.3.2.9), which refers to the reduplication
of a segment that has already been reduplicated (Blust 2001). In Lha’alua, the
reduplicants of triplication are (C)V- in (4.71), CV˘- in (4.72) and (4.73), and
(C)V(C)V- in (4.74). Triplication indicates continuous and iterative meanings in verbs
and plurality in nouns.

(4.71) a. u-palu ‘wait’

b. u-pa-pa-palu
AV-RED-RED-wait
‘keep on waiting’ (Semantics: continuous)

(4.72) a. lhaamaama ‘old person’

b. lhaa-lhaa-lhaamaama
RED-RED-old.person
‘old people’ (Semantics: plurality)

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(4.73) a. masu’u ‘fruit’
b. maa-maa-masu=cu
RED-RED-fruit=COS.ASP
‘fruit repeatedly’ (Semantics: iterative)

(4.74) a. alhame ‘bird’

b. alha-alha-alhame
RED-RED-bird
‘birds’ (Semantics: plurality)

The following example is unusual in that it involves full reduplication (a

property this noun shares with other temporal nouns to denote distributivity; see
§5.5.2) as well as triplication.

(4.75) Full reduplication + triplication:

a. aari ‘day’
b. aari-aari-aari
RED-RED-day
‘every day’ (Semantics: distributivity)

4.3.2.8 Quadreduplication

Quadreduplication in Lha’alua is a morphological process consisting of

reduplication of the same part or the totality of the stem thrice in a unitary process.

(4.76) maa-maa-ma-maini
RED-RED-RED-small
‘children’ (Semantics: plurality)

4.3.2.9 Serial reduplication

Serial reduplication in Lha’alua is quite productive and is defined as involving

two distinct reduplication patterns within one word.

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(4.77) Ca- reduplication + CV˘- (i.e. CVV-) reduplication:
t<um>a-tuu-turu
RED:IRR<AV>-RED-teach
‘to keep on teaching’ (Semantics: irrealis + continuous)
cf. a-turu ‘to teach’

(4.78) Ca- reduplication + triplication:

t<um>a-tu-tu-turu
RED:IRR<AV>-RED-RED-teach
‘to keep on teaching’ (Semantics: irrealis + continuous)
cf. a-turu ‘to teach’

(4.79) CV- reduplication + CV:- (i.e. CVV-) reduplication + quadreduplication:

maa-maa-ma-maini
RED-RED-RED-small
‘children’ (Semantics: plurality)
cf. ma-maini ‘child/children’

In each of (4.77-4.79) above, the form will be grammatical without one of the
two or three reduplication patterns; the meaning, however, will be changed. In (4.77),
CV˘- reduplication (with a continuous meaning) is not obligatory; the form
t<um>a-turu will be grammatical (meaning: to teach (irrealis)). In (4.78), triplication
can be omitted; t<um>a-turu will be grammatical (meaning: to teach (irrealis)). In
(4.79), a form without triplication is grammatical; ma-maini will be grammatical
(meaning: child/children).

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146
 CHAPTER 5

NOMINAL MORPHOLOGY

This chapter deals with nominal morphology. Nouns can be divided into several
categories: common nouns (§5.1), kinship terms, person names, and family names
(§5.2), locative nouns (§5.3) and temporal nouns (§5.4). These are all subclass of
noun, based on their distinct morpho-syntactic characteristics (§3.2). Plurality and
distributivity meanings are acquired via reduplication (§5.5).

5.1 Common nouns

In Lha’alua, common nouns include all nouns referring to human and non-human
referents, e.g. cucu’u ‘person’, tasau ‘dog’ and vatu’u ‘stone’, with the exception of
kinship terms, person names, family names, locative nouns as well as temporal nouns.
A brief sample list of common nouns is provided below, on the basis of several
distinct semantic categories: persons, body parts, food and drink, animals, plants,
nature and cultural artifacts.

(5.1) Common nouns: persons

a. alhaina ‘woman/wife’
b. alha’a ‘enemy’
c. cucumacu ‘aborigine’
d. kavurua ‘dwarf (folk tale)’
e. lhaamaama ‘old person’
f. lhakesaiana ‘mainlander’
g. lhalhusa ‘man/husband’
h. pakisiia’a ‘Minnan (ethnic name) person’
i. puutu ‘Hakka (ethnic name) person’
j. vulivaavalee/tukucu ‘friend’

(5.2) Common nouns: body parts

a. alheae ‘chin’
b. alhiasa ‘shoulder’
c. ’avase ‘tongue’
d. ’ukulhucu ‘body hair’

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 e. lhikelecelha ‘heart (organ)’26
f. ngiingisi ‘pubic hair’
g. pali’i ‘gall’
h. pelheke ‘navel’
i. tapuunge ‘elbow’
j. tuave’era ‘arm’

(5.3) Common nouns: food and drink

a. ’au ‘soup’
b. camai ‘side dish’
c. mailhi ‘salt’
d. maisikici ‘glutinous rice’
e. mapaci ‘wine’
f. masu’u ‘fruit’
g. papa’a ‘meat’
h. salhumu ‘water’
i. tangusulhu ‘rice cake’
j. uuru ‘cooked rice’

(5.4) Common nouns: animals

a. taalhiaputa ‘firefly’
b. taavulhinga ‘snail’
c. takulhu ‘fox’
d. taralhai ‘Chinese Goshawk’
e. tangalulhu ‘earthworm’
f. tapuavuavu ‘dove’
g. tapulhacenge ‘monkey’
h. tarangau ‘big fly’
i. taurungu ‘Formosan muntjac’
j. tiilungesulhai ‘dragonfly’

(5.5) Common nouns: plants

a. ’arisange ‘pigeon peas’
b. alenge ‘pine tree’
c. erelha ‘miscanthus’
d. lavalhi ‘Asplenium nidus’

26
This word is different from the word teke ‘heart (mind)’ which is regarded as a location of mental
process.

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 e. lhalungu ‘cogon grass’
f. talhiusu ‘mulberry’
g. talhivakuralhai ‘wild yam’
h. tapaupau ‘mushroom’
i. tavangalha ‘bean’
j. vukuri ‘yam’

(5.6) Common nouns: nature

a. ’aapalataa ‘lightening’
b. ’acangeralha ‘star’
c. ’aravange ‘cave/hole’
d. lavuku ‘sand’
e. luulunga ‘cloud’
f. palhamera ‘dew’
g. sakeralhe ‘river’
h. sululunga ‘thunder’
i. urulha ‘snow’
j. valalhevalhe ‘rainbow’

(5.7) Common nouns: cultural artifacts

a. ’akai ‘fish net’
b. ’avange ‘boat/canoe’
c. limangulhu ‘spear’
d. lhuungu ‘mortar’
e. pangili ‘pestle’
f. pituka ‘bracelet’
g. ripase ‘arrow’
h. sikame ‘mat made of Alpinia speciosa leaf’
i. talaku ‘winnowing basket’
j. talimau ‘hoe’

In Lha’alua, several common nouns are composed of at least two morphemes,

undergoing at least one morphological process and deriving from a free root whose
word class is a noun or an adjectival element itself. Examples of morphologically
complex common nouns are given below, with their particular semantic categories
and the morphological processes they have applied. In example (a), ‘old person/the
senior’ consists of three prefixes, one reduplicant and one root which is a noun itself.
In example (b), ‘sticky rice cake’ is composed of one prefix and one free root which is

149
a noun itself. In example (c), ‘doctor’ consists of two prefixes, two reduplicants and
one root which is a noun itself. In example (d), ‘child’ is composed of one reduplicant
and one root which is an adjectival element. In example (e), ‘earth’ consists of one
reduplicant, one suffix and one root which is a noun itself. In example (f), ‘broom’ is
composed of two prefixes, one reduplicant and one root which is a noun itself. In
example (g), ‘farmer’ consists of two prefixes and one root which is a noun itself.

(5.8) Common nouns: miscellaneous

a. lhi-m-aku-a<lha>lhalua
PERF.ASP-AV-PREFIX-elder.sibling<RED>
‘old person/senior’ (person: prefixation+reduplication)
b. lhi-culhuku
PERF.ASP-sticky.rice.cake
‘sticky rice cake’ (food: affixation)
c. m-ai-saa-savu-savuane
AV-action.involving.hands-RED-RED-medicine
‘doctor’ (profession: prefixation+reduplication)
d. ma-m-a-ini
RED-AV-STAT-small
‘child’ (person: reduplication)
e. saa-saree-ana
RED-soil/dirt-LOC.NMZ
‘earth’ (nature: suffixation+reduplication)
f. si-paa-va-veterae
INST.NMZ-CAUS-RED-broom
‘broom’ (cultural material: prefixation+reduplication)
g. taku-a-uumuma
work-A-farm
‘farmer’ (profession: prefixation)

5.2 Kinship terms, person names and family names

This section addresses kinship terms (§5.2.1), person names (§5.2.2) and family
names (§5.2.3), all of which form grammatically defined subclasses of noun (§3.2).
Each of these forms a closed subclass due to its limited number of members.

5.2.1 Kinship terms and their vocative forms

In Lha’alua, kinship terms are defined in terms of familial relationships,

including consanguinity like ‘father and son’ and affinal relations like ‘son-in-law and

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daughter-in-law’. They are not used for phatic communion and tabooed relationships
in kinship terms. Kinship terminology distinguishes between different generations, e.g.
great grandparent, grandparent, father/mother, sibling, child, grandchild, and so on.
Sibling relations are differentiated in terms of relative age. For example, there are
separate words for ‘elder sibling’ and ‘younger sibling’.

A full list of Lha’alua kinship terms is provided below.

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 Table 5.1: Kinship terms
Non-vocative forms Meanings
tamu’u tulhulha ‘great grandparent’
tamu’u tulhulha alhaina ‘great grandmother’
tamu’u tulhulha lhalhusa ‘great grandfather’
tamu’u ‘grandparent’
tamu’u alhaina ‘grandmother’
tamu’u lhalhusa ‘grandfather’
ama’a ‘father’
ina’a ‘mother’
tama ‘parent-in-law’
tamalengale ‘uncle’
tavanau ‘aunt’
alhalua ‘elder sibling’
alhalua alhaina ‘elder sister’
alhalua lhalhusa ‘elder brother’
lhimilavae ‘younger sibling’
lhimilavae alhaina ‘younger sister’
lhimilavae lhalhusa ‘younger brother’
turuua ‘cousin’
paarana/lhalhusa ‘husband’
usumaane/alhaina ‘wife’
mamaini ‘child’
mamaini alhaina ‘daughter’
mamaini lhalhusa ‘son’
alimu spouse of a child
alimu alhaina son-in-law
alimu lhalhusa daughter-in-law
grandchild/grandchild’s
lhamu’u
spouse
lhamu’u alhaina ‘granddaughter’
lhamu’u lhalhusa ‘grandson’

Kinship terms differ from common nouns with reference to two grammatical
categories: (i) gender distinction and (ii) vocative forms.

(i) GENDER DISTINCTION. While distinguishing gender, kinship terms co-occur with
alhaina ‘woman’ or lhalhusa ‘man’ whereas common nouns (i.e. animals) co-occur

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with ina’a ‘mother’ or ama’a ‘father’ to distinguish biological gender (or sex). The
syntactic position of gender markers is different. Specifically, the gender marker
occurs after kinship terms, while the gender marker occurs before common nouns
referring to animals.

(5.9) Kinship terms with gender distinction27

a. tamu’u ‘grandparent’
a. tamu(’u) alhaina ‘grandmother’
a. tamu(’u) lhalhusa ‘grandfather’
b. lhimilavae ‘younger sibling’
b. lhimilavae alhaina ‘elder sister’
b. alhalua lhalhusa ‘elder brother’

(5.10) Common nouns (i.e. animals) with gender distinction28

a. turukuuka ‘chicken’
a. ina(’a) turukuuka ‘rooster’
a. ama(’a) turukuuka ‘hen’
b. taluvucu ‘mouse’
b. ina(’a) taluvucu ‘female mouse’
b. ama(’a) taluvucu ‘male mouse’

When addressing kinship terms, it is uncommon for Lha’alua speakers to

distinguish gender. For instance, they would simply say tamu’u ‘grandparent’, rather
than tamu’u alhaina ‘grandmother’ or tamu’u lhalhusa ‘grandfather’. They only use
these words when they attempt to match the exact concept from Mandarin Chinese or
Taiwanese Southern Min. It is likely that the usage of kinship terms with gender
distinction is influenced by Mandarin Chinese or Taiwanese Southern Min, in that
these two languages do distinguish kinship terms with gender obligatorily.

(ii) VOCATIVE FORMS. A number of kinship terms have vocative forms whereas
common nouns do not. Kinship terms (not all) distinguish non-vocative and vocative
forms. Kinship terms with vocative form are only found with consanguineous kinship
terms of senior generations above ONESELF (i.e. ego), e.g. ‘great grandparent’,
‘grandparent’ and ‘father and mother’. The kinship term alhalua ‘elder sibling’ has no
vocative form and is the only exception to this generalisation. It is likely that Lha’alua
treats alhalua ‘elder sibling’ as the same generation with ONESELF (i.e. ego).

27
Parenthesis here means the syllable deletion phonological process, i.e. a glottal stop plus a vowel,
may apply when speakers utter in fast colloquial speech or in texts.
28
It is the same as the footnote above.

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 A full list of Lha’alua kinship terms and their corresponding vocative forms is
provided below.

Table 5.2: Kinship terms and their vocative forms

Non-vocative forms Meanings Vocative forms
tamu’u tulhulha ‘great grandparent’ papu’u tulhulha
tamu’u tulhulha alhaina ‘great grandmother’ papu’u tulhulha alhaina
tamu’u tulhulha lhalhusa ‘great grandfather’ papu’u tulhulha lhalhusa
tamu’u ‘grandparent’ papu’u
tamu’u alhaina ‘grandmother’ papu’u alhaina
tamu’u lhalhusa ‘grandfather’ papu’u lhalhusa
ama’a ‘father’ kaamu
ina’a ‘mother’ kainu

Non-vocative kinship terms undergo some morphophonemic alternations to form

vocatives. For ‘great grandparent’ and ‘grandparent’, t and m both become p, thereby
deriving papu’u from tamu’u. The terms, ama’a ‘father’ and ina’a ‘mother’, undergo
three morphophonemic alternations. First, the prefix ka- is added to the root. Second,
applying syllable deletion phonological process, a syllable consisting of a glottal stop
and a vowel is deleted. Third, applying vowel dissimilation phonological process, the
low central unrounded vowel a becomes the high back rounded vowel u. Hence,
ka-amu and ka-inu from ama’a ‘father’ and ina’a ‘mother’ are derived.

5.2.2 Person names

Lha’alua names are gender-specific and usually chosen from one’s ancestors,
preferably grandparents or generations above. It is forbidden for a baby to be given a
name which is exactly the same as its parent’s name. As shown in the following
subsections, Lha’alua person names (not all) may vary in vocative forms (§5.2.2.1),
according to different life stages (§5.2.2.2) as well as according to different social
statuses and birth orders (§5.2.2.3).

5.2.2.1 Person names and their vocative forms

There are 12 names for females and 24 names for males collected in my corpus.
Some of the names of Lha’alua are the same as those of Tsou (e.g. kuate, ’angu’u,
kilhakilhau and takanau) and Rukai (e.g. langui, takanau and tautau). Some of the

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names have corresponding vocative forms. A full list of Lha’alua person names,
including male and female, and their corresponding vocative forms (if any) is
provided below.

Table 5.3: Person names and their vocative forms29

Female names Male names
Names for adults Vocative forms Names for adults Vocative forms
’uusu uusuu ’aavi ’ avii
apee apee ’angai ?
aruai ? ’angu’u ?
eleke eekee ’atai ?
inguruu iinguu ’usai ?
kuate kuatee amalhe maeei
langui languii caepe ?
lhaa’u lha’uu elengane nganee
lhatingai tingaii kilhakilhau kilhakilhauu
na’apu na’apuu mu’u ?
pii’i pi’ii lha’ulha ?
vanau naau lhakuta’i ?
- - pa’e ?
- - paani ?
- - palii palii
- - pauli paulii
- - piace ?
- - piauli ?
- - salapu ?
- - seeke ?
- - takanau takanauu
- - talhe ?
- - tamaulhu maulhuu
- - tautau ?

Although it is difficult to provide a generalisation applying to every person name

when used in vocative, some morphophonemic alternations applying variably from
word to word can be found. First, vowel lengthening frequently applies to the
word-final vowel of a person name and occasionally applies to the word-initial or

29
? here means that the person name was not collected during fieldwork, the person name is no longer
remembered by language speakers, or simply it has no vocative form.

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word-medial vowel of a person name. Second, vowel shortening may apply to a long
vowel of a person name in the word-medial position. Third, consonant deletion may
apply to the initial consonant of a person name. Fourth, syllable deletion may apply to
a person name in which a syllable in word-initial, word-medial and word-final
positions is deleted, or two syllables in word-initial position are deleted. Fifth,
partially suppletion may apply to a person name and its corresponding vocative form
if they cannot be related to each other by (morpho-)phonological rules.30

These morphophonemic alternations together with examples are summarised and

exemplified below.

(5.11) Morphophonemic alternations of person names and their vocative forms:

a. vowel lengthening: e.g. word-initial: inguruu → iinguu; word-medial:
vanau → vaau ; word-final: pauli → paulii
b. vowel shortening: e.g. ’aavi → ’avii
c. consonant deletion: e.g. ’uusu → uusuu
d. syllable deletion: one syllable: e.g. word-initial: tamaulhu → maulhuu;
word-medial: vanau → vaau; word-final: inguruu → iinguu; two syllables:
e.g. elengane → nganee
e. partially suppletion: amalhe → maeei

Some Lha’alua person names in vocative may have more than one
morphophonemic alternation. For example, in (5.12a), a long vowel in word-initial
position is shortened and a short vowel in word-final position is lengthened. In
(5.12b), a word-initial consonant is deleted and a short vowel in word-final position is
lengthened. In (5.12c), one or two word-initial syllables are deleted and a short vowel
in word-final position is lengthened.

(5.12) More than one morphophonemic alternation of person names in vocative:

a. vowel shortening + vowel lengthening: e.g. ’aavi → ’avii
b. consonant deletion + vowel lengthening: e.g. ’uusu → uusuu
c. syllable deletion + vowel lengthening: e.g. tamaulhu → maulhuu; elengane
→ nganee

30
The five morphophonemic alternations listed in order do not imply any sequence or ordering in
application.

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5.2.2.2 Person names according to different life stages

As mentioned in §5.2.2.1, 12 names for female adults and 24 names for male
adults are collected in my corpus. In this section, I will address person names in
different life stages.

Person names of Lha’alua may vary according to different life stages, i.e. adults,
(early) youths and seniors. The variation can be attested in female names and male
names. A full list of Lha’alua person names according to different life stages is
provided below, in terms of female and male names.

Table 5.4: Female names according to different life stages31

Names for adults Names for (early) youths Names for seniors
’uusu ? tam’uusu
apee ? tanakeape
aruai ? tamaaruai
eleke ? talhivereke
inguruu ? tamainguruu
kuate ? tamakuate
langui ? tamalangui
lhaa’u ? tamlhaa’u
lhatingai ? tamlhatingai
na’apu ? tamna’apu
pii’i ? tampii’i/tampi’i
vanau ? taavanau

31
? here means that the female name for (early) youth was not collected during fieldwork, the female
name for (early) youth is no longer remembered by language speakers, or simply it has no name for
(early) youth.

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 Table 5.5: Male names according to different life stages32
Names for adults Names for (early) youths Names for seniors
’aavi ? tam(a)’aavi
’angai ? tam(a)’angai
’angu’u ? tam(a)’angu’u
’atai ? tam(a)’atai
’usai ? ?
amalhe ? tamalingale
caepe ? tam(a)caepe
elengane ? tavetaverenga
kilhakilhau ? tamakilhakilhau
mu’u ? ?
lha’ulha ? ?
lhakuta’i ? ?
pa’e ? ?
paani ? tam(a)paani
palii ? tam(a)palii
pauli ? tam(a)paulii
piace ? tam(a)piace
piauli ? tam(a)piauli
salapu ? ?
seeke ? tam(a)seeke
takanau ? tam(a)takanau
talhe ? ?
tamaulhu ? tam(a)tamaulhu
tautau ? tam(a)tautau

Since adult names are the base of Lha’alua person names, only (i) person names
of youths (?) and (ii) person names of seniors may have morphophonemic
alternations.

(i) PERSON NAMES OF YOUTHS?. Due to the paucity of time in collecting data in the
field and due to a high degree of language and culture obsolescence, person names on
this category have not been well documented. However, it is likely that Lha’alua has

32
? here means that the male name for (early) youth was not collected during fieldwork, the male
name for (early) youth is no longer remembered by language speakers, or simply it has no name for
(early) youth.

158
person names of youth, in that the genetically related language, Tsou, has person
names according to different life stages. For example, the male adult named Pasuya
was called Sua when he was a kid, and will be called Amo Pasuya when he is old.
Further research on Lha’alua is required.

(ii) PERSON NAMES OF SENIORS. The PAN form *t-ama can refer to both ‘father’ and
‘uncle’. In Lha’alua, seniors are expected to be above the age of 60 or 70. When
expressing person names of seniors, tama- (cf. tamalengale ‘uncle’) is added to the
nominal root of an adult name, as shown in the following examples.

(5.13) Person names of seniors

a. tama-aruai (cf. aruai)
b. tama-inguruu (cf. inguruu)
c. tama-langui (cf. langui)
d. tama-’aavi (cf. ’aavi )

However, Lha’alua person names in the life stage of seniors are morphologically
complex. Though it is difficult to provide a generalisation for each and every person
name, some morphophonemic alternations applying variably from word to word can
be found. There are two positions in which morphophonemic alternations may apply:
(A) tama- (cf. tamalengale ‘uncle’) and (B) the nominal root of adult names.

(A) TAMA- (cf. tamalengale ‘uncle’). Tama- has four forms: tama-, tam-, tana-, and
taa-. tama- may undergo vowel deletion and becomes tam-. Besides, tama- may
undergo syllable deletion and then becomes ta-. In addition, tama- may undergo
syllable deletion becoming ta- and further undergo vowel lengthening becoming taa-.
All these processes are partially predicable. Morphophonemic alternations of ‘tama’
and their corresponding examples are demonstrated below.

(5.14) Morphophonemic alternations of ‘tama-’:

a. vowel deletion: e.g. ’uusu → tam-’uusu; lhaa’u → tam-lhaa’u; ’aavi →
tam(a)-’aavi; ’angai → tam(a)-’angai 33
b. syllable deletion: e.g. apee → ta-nakeape; eleke → ta-lhivereke; amalhe →
ta-malingale; elengane → ta-vetaverenga
c. syllable deletion + vowel lengthening: e.g. vanau → ta-vanau →
taa-vanau

33
Parenthesis here means that presence and absence are both acceptable for some language speakers.

159
 It is important to note that it is optional for many person names to undergo vowel
deletion, i.e. tama- → tam-. Omitting the vowel a does not give rise to any semantic
or pragmatic difference. Also notice that when syllable deletion as shown in (5.14b)
applies, i.e. tama- → ta-, the nominal root of an adult name is always a suppletive
form.

(B) THE NOMINAL ROOT OF ADULT NAMES. Some of the nominal roots of adult names
remain unchanged when they are used from adults to seniors.

(5.15) Person names from adults to seniors

a. aruai → tama-aruai
b. inguruu → tama-inguruu
c. langui → tama-langui
d. ’aavi → tama-’aavi

However, some of the nominal roots of adult names do undergo

(morpho-)phonological changes. They include vowel shortening, syllable insertion,
syllable deletion, ele → vere, and suppletion. These (morpho-)phonological changes
do not apply to every nominal root of adult names.

Vowel shortening means that a long vowel in word-final position becomes a

short one. Syllable insertion indicates that a syllable or two syllables are inserted
before the nominal root form names of adults. Syllable deletion means that the
word-final syllable is deleted. ele → vere indicates that ele in the first two syllables of
the nominal root form names of adults becomes vere. Suppletion shows that the
nominal root form names of adults does not correspond to any (morpho-)phonological
rules. These morphophonemic alternations together with corresponding examples are
demonstrated in (5.16) below. Note that the morphophonemic alternations of the
nominal root from names of adults do not apply to every person name of seniors.

(5.16) Morphophonemic alternations of person names for seniors:

a. vowel shortening: e.g. apee → ta-nake-ape
b. syllable insertion: one syllable: e.g. eleke → ta-lhi-vereke; two syllables:
e.g. ’ apee → ta-nake-ape; elengane → ta-veta-verenga
c. syllable deletion: e.g. elengane → ta-veta-verenga
d. ele → vere: e.g. elengane → ta-veta-verenga; eleke → ta-lhi-vereke
e. suppletion: amalhe → tama-lingale

160
 There is a correlation between (morpho-)phonological changes and tama- (cf.
tamalengale ‘uncle’), as shown in (5.16a) to (5.16-d). Specifically, when these
(morpho-)phonological changes take place, tama- always undergoes syllable deletion
and becomes ta-.

5.2.2.3 Person names according to different social statuses and birth orders

In Lha’alua, person names may undergo morphophonemic alternations in order

to reflect their variations in social status and birth order. While most person names
remain unchanged, a small number of Lha’alua person names can be changed. A full
list of Lha’alua person names in different social statuses from my own fieldwork is
provided below, in terms of female and male names. Names undergoing
morphophonemic alternations are shown in bold-face.

Table 5.6: Female names according to different social statuses and birth orders
Names for adults The first-born child is a male The first-born child is a female
’uusu ’uusu ’uusu
apee inalanape / ina-laa n-ape ina-lu k-ape
aruai ina(l)anaruai / ina-laa n-aruai inalukaaruai / ina-lu k-aruai
eleke ina(l)aneleke / ina-laa n-eleke ina-a p-eleke
inguruu inala(a)ninguru / ina-laa n-inguru ina-li k-inguru
kuate kuate kuate
langui langui langui
lhaa’u lhaa’u lhaa’u
lhatingai lhatingai lhatingai
na’apu na’apu na’apu
pii’i pii’i pii’i
vanau inala(a)vanau / ina-laa vanau inalukuvanau / ina-lu ku-vanau

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 Table 5.7: Male names according to different social statuses and birth orders
Names for adults The first-born child is a male The first-born child is a female
’aavi ’aavi ’aavi
’angai ’angai ’angai
’angu’u ’angu’u ’angu’u
’atai ’atai ’atai
’usai ’usai ’usai
amalhe amalanamalhe / ama-laa n-amalhe akamalhe / aa k-amalhe
caepe caepe caepe
amaamalhelengane /
elengane amaamalhelengane
ama-ama lh-elengaane
kilhakilhau kilhakilhau kilhakilhau
mu’u mu’u mu’u
lha’ulha lha’ulha lha’ulha
lhakuta’i lhakuta’i lhakuta’i
pa’e pa’e pa’e
paani paani paani
palii amalaapalii amalaapalii
pauli pauli pauli
piace piace piace
piauli piauli piauli
salapu salapu salapu
seeke seeke seeke
takanau takanau takanau
talhe talhe talhe
tamaulhu tamaulhu tamaulhu
tautau tautau tautau

Liu (1969:129), a social anthropologist, first pointed out this phenomenon. Ting
(1987:383-384) presents seven names and briefly describes this phenomenon. In his
descriptions, person names may have morphophonemic alternations when names’
bearers acquire a son or daughter. This phenomenon is known as teknonymy, which
is defined as a practice of parents referring to each other by names of their children.

Based on seven person names (reproduced in Table 5.8, with the retention of
original IPA symbols), Ting (1987:383-384) provides some descriptions and analyses
which are summarised in (5.17).

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 Table 5.8: Seven person names of Lha’alua
New name after New name after
Original name Sex
acquiring a son acquiring a daughter
1. ap F ina-laa n-ap ina-lu k-ap
2. aruai F ina-laa n-aruai ina-lu k-aruai
3. iNuru F ina-laa n-inguru ina-li k-inguru
4. lk F ina-laa n-lk ina-a p-lk
5. vanau F ina-laa vanau ina-lu ku-vanau
6. amal• M ama-laa n-amal• aa k-amal•
7. lNaan M ama-ama l•-lNaan

(5.17) Ting (1987:383-384)

a. all the vowel initial names are prefixed by n- or k- to address the person
acquiring a son or a daughter, respectively
b. ina is a short form of ina’a ‘mother’; ama is a shot form of ama’a ‘father’
c. ina-laa is an honorific form meaning ‘mother having a son’; ina-lu an is an
honorific form meaning ‘mother having a son’; ama-ama is an honorific
form meaning ‘father having a son’; aa is an honorific form meaning
‘father having a daughter’
d. -li in ina-li is derived from the base -lu, assimilated by the succeeding
syllable of k-iNuru
e. -a in ina-a p-lk has no explanation; p- in ina-a p-lk probably
dissimilates from k of the last syllable
f. the u of ku- in ina-lu ku-vanau is added since no consonant clusters are
permitted in this language
g. ama-laa in ama-laa n-amal• is a change similar to the female form ina-laa
h. l•- in ama-ama l•-lNaan remains obscure34

However, based on consultation with the two oldest speakers of Lha’alua, it is

shown that the morphophonemic alternations of person names in reflecting new social
status have to deal not just with a son or a daughter but also the first-born. Though
not many names in different social statuses were collected, Ting did provide adequate
descriptions and analyses. Based on my fieldwork, three comments can be made on
Ting’s (1987:383-384) descriptions and analyses. Firstly, as mentioned above, the
morphophonemic alternations of person names in reflecting new social status have to
deal not just with a son or a daughter but also with the first-born. Secondly,
concerning (5.17c), those forms are just plain forms rather than honorific ones to

34
Three possible explanations are proposed in the original paper.

163
Lha’alua speakers. Thirdly, regarding (5.17f), Lha’alua may have consonant clusters
in surface forms after the rule application of vowel dropping (§2.3.3).

5.2.3 Family names

12 family names were collected in may corpus. The twelve family names are
provided below with their equivalent Chinese names.

(5.18) Family names

a. ’iiangeana ‘Chinese name: Deng 鄧/Lin 林’
b. lhaiputana ‘Chinese name: Yu 余’
c. lhapa’alheca ‘Chinese name: Yu 余’
d. lhauracana ‘Chinese name: Song 宋’
e. lhauvulhana ‘Chinese name: Guo 郭/Zhong 鍾’
f. muuana ‘Chinese name: You 尤’
g. piiana ‘Chinese name: Cai 蔡’
h. salapuana ‘Chinese name: Shi 石/You 游’
i. tavavulana ‘Chinese name: Pong 彭’
j. tavuiana ‘Chinese name: Tang 唐’
k. tumamalikisase ‘Chinese name: Yu 余’
l. tumalhalhasenga ‘Chinese name: Liao 廖’

There are fixed and established correlations between Lha’alua family names and
Mandarin Chinese family names. The correspondence between Lha’alua and
Mandarin Chinese is not one-to-one. That is to say, one Lha’alua family name may
correspond to different Mandarin Chinese family names. In contrast, one Mandarin
Chinese family name may correspond to different Lha’alua family names. For
example, the Lha’alua family name ’iiangeana corresponds to two different Mandarin
Chinese family names Deng (Chinese character:鄧) and Lin (Chinese character:林).
The Mandarin Chinese family name Yu (Chinese character:余) corresponds to three
different Lha’alua family names, i.e. lhaiputana, lhapa’alheca, and tumamalikisase.

Some family names might be morphologically complex. For example, some

family names begin with lha, and some end with na. However, no particular meanings
about these two morphemes can be obtained from the Lha’alua speakers.

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5.3 Locative nouns

In light of grammatical relations, Lha’alua locative nouns can be distinguished

from other nouns due to their limited functions. Locative nouns take oblique case
markers in extended intransitive and transitive clauses, but take the core case markers
only in applicative clauses rather than other clause types. An example of oblique case
is provided below.

(5.19) ku=ita u-a-sala m-alhu-kua

NEG=1PL.INCL.NOM motion.on.foot-IRR-road AV-get.to-get.to
na vilangane.
OBL place.name
‘We will not go to Vilangane (Chinese name: Guohe 過河).’

Four types of locative nouns are discussed in the following subsections: nouns
referring to a location (§5.3.1), orientational and directional nouns (§5.3.2), place
names (§5.3.3), and nouns referring to a place where something gathers or is gathered,
and an action is performed (§5.3.4).

5.3.1 Nouns referring to a location

Examples of nouns referring to a location are provided below.

(5.20) Nouns referring to a location

a. miararuma ‘village’
b. salia ‘house’
c. tapulhailhia ‘men’s house’
d. valhitaa ‘yard’

5.3.2 Orientational and directional nouns

Orientational and directional nouns express the location of an entity with

reference to another object. They differ from common nouns in that they cannot be
reduplicated to convey the meaning of plurality or distributivity. Examples of
orientational and directional nouns are provided below.

165
(5.21) Orientation and directional nouns
a. ’ilikusu ‘behind/back’
b. ’ivavu ‘up’
c. aisa ‘middle’
d. alhane ‘right’
e. irii/vaciki ‘left’
f. langica ‘above’
g. lika’a ‘below/under/down there’
h. liliunga ‘nearby’
i. lhalhirange ‘beside’
j. lhialhikua ‘in front’
k. masailha ‘far’
l. masalhi ‘near’
m. pateke ‘direction’
o. reremaane ‘inside’
p. valhitaa ‘outside’

Cardinal directions constitute an exception in terms of morphology and form a

subclass of orientation and directional nouns. Except tavula ‘south’, cardinal
directions in Lha’alua are all derived and morphologically complex. ‘West’ comes
from the verb ‘(sun) sets’ via locative nominalisation. Similarly, ‘east’ comes from the
verb ‘(sun) rises’ through locative nominalisation. The word ’alhipaputakulhulha
‘north’ has another meaning, i.e. Jade Mountain, which is the highest mountain (3952
meters) in Taiwan and is situated in the north of the Lha’alua villages. Possibly, ‘Jade
Mountain’ might be the prototypical meaning long time ago and later was
semantically extended to the cardinal direction ‘north’. This type of orientation is
called landmark orientation, which is mentioned in Levinson (2003).

(5.22) Cardinal directions

a. (pateke) ’alhipaputakulhulha
? Jade.Mountain
‘the north/Jade Mountain’
b. patapualh-a(na)
set-LOC.NMZ
‘the west’
cf. m-atapualhe ‘(sun) sets’
c. tavula
‘the south’

166
 d. uru-a-mit-ane
come.out-IRR-BOUND.ROOT-LOC.NMZ
‘the east’
cf. m-uru-mita ‘(sun) rises’

Alternatively, ‘east’ can also be expressed by the phrase ‘the place where sun
rises’, as in (5.23a). Likewise, ‘west’ can be expressed by the phrase ‘the place where
sun sets’, as in (5.23b). Unlike ‘east’ and ‘west’, ‘south’ and ‘north’ are not expressed
in a similar way.

(5.23) Cardinal directions

a. uru-mit-ana talhiaria
come.out-BOUND.ROOT-LOC.NMZ sun
‘the east/the place where sun rises’
b. uulaikas-ana talhiaria
set-LOC.NMZ sun
‘the west/the place where sun sets’

5.3.3 Place names

At the moment, it is a very arduous task to understand exactly the history of

Lha’alua place names. Likewise, it is difficult to delve into the original meanings or
semantic extensions of Lha’alua place names and hard to know if they have existed
from Lha’alua people’s responses to certain events, landscape features, activities,
states, people, animals or plants associated to those places.

Similar to orientation and directional nouns, place names differ from common
nouns in that they cannot be reduplicated to have the semantics of plurality as well as
distributivity. Instances of place names are presented below, including some loan
words borrowed from Chinese and Japanese, e.g. taipake ‘Chinese name: Taipei 台北’,
taivange ‘Chinese name: Taiwan 台灣’ and takaua ‘Chinese name: Kaohsiung 高雄’.

(5.24) Place names:

a. ’alisange ‘Chinese name: Ali Mountain 阿里山’
b. kalevenga ‘Chinese name: Taoyuan Village 桃源村’
c. kusinge ‘Chinese name: Jiaxian 甲仙’
d. lhakuruca ‘Chinese name: Liugui 六龜’
e. peerai/puurai ‘Chinese name: Baolai 寶來’

167
 f. relhece ‘Chinese name: Kaochung Village 高中村’
g. savusa ‘Chinese name: Tulongwan 土壠灣’
h. selhengane ‘Chinese name: Jianchashao 檢查哨’
i. suaci ‘Chinese name: Guohe 過河’
j. taipake ‘Chinese name: Taipei 台北’
k. taivange ‘Chinese name: Taiwan 台灣’
l. takaua ‘Chinese name: Kaohsiung 高雄’
m. tamulasai ‘Chinese name: Zhangshan 樟山’
o. taunga’ala ‘Chinese name: Laonong 荖濃’
p. tavangala ‘Chinese name: Tinglaonong 頂荖濃’
q. tavulungana ‘Chinese name: Meixiutai 美秀台’
r. tuvutavalhe ‘Chinese name: Maolin 茂林’

5.3.4 Nouns referring to a ‘place where something gathers or is gathered, and

an action is performed’

There are two subclasses of locative nouns, which need to be dealt with
separately from other locative nouns, i.e. nouns referring to a place where something
gathers or is gathered, and an action is performed. There are two morphological
processes to derive locative nouns from common nouns: reduplication plus a
suffix and circumfixation. The former refers to a ‘place where something gathers or
is gathered’, whereas the latter refers to a ‘place where an action is performed’. In
addition to the difference in the derived meanings, different semantic types of the
underived/original nouns also correspond to different types of morphological
processes. Reduplication plus a suffix and circumfixation are sensitive to semantic
types of nouns in deriving nouns referring to a ‘place where something gathers or is
gathered’ (§5.3.4.1) and a ‘place where an action is performed’ (§5.3.4.2).

5.3.4.1 Nouns referring to a ‘place where something gathers or is gathered’

Nouns referring to plants and animals can undergo this type of morphological
process, i.e. reduplication plus a suffix and produce the meanings of plant farms and
animal habitats. This process is fully productive.

Locative nouns in this subclass are derived via reduplication plus a suffix.
There are three subtypes of reduplication plus a suffix: (i) CV- reduplication plus -a,
(ii) CV˘- reduplication plus -a, (iii) CVCV- reduplication plus -a and (iv) CV˘-
reduplication plus -ana.

168
(i) CV reduplication plus -a. CV reduplication plus -a derives names for plant farms
and animal habitats from nouns referring to plants and animals. The first syllable (a
consonant plus a short vowel) of a nominal root is reduplicated, and -a is suffixed to
the nominal root.

(5.25) CV- reduplication plus -a: plants

a. ’a-’asupi-a
‘persimmon farm’ (lit. place where persimmons are gathered)
cf. ’asupi ‘persimmon’
b. ci-civangerelha-a
‘olive farm’ (lit. place where olives are gathered)
cf. civangerelha ‘olive’
c. lha-lhatenge-a
‘vegetable farm’ (lit. place where vegetable is gathered)
cf. lhatenge ‘vegetable’
d. ma-mangesa-a
‘mango farm’ (lit. place where mangos are gathered)
cf. mangesa ‘mango’
e. ma-mairange-a
‘sweet potato farm’ (lit. place where sweet potatoes are gathered)
cf. mairange ‘sweet potato’
f. sa-sasauvulhu-a
‘tomato farm’ (lit. place where tomatoes are gathered)
cf. sasauvulhu ‘tomato’
g. va-vakate-a
‘melon farm’ (lit. place where melons are gathered)
cf. vakate ‘melon’

(5.26) CV- reduplication plus -a: animals

a. ’u-’ukui-a
‘place where goats gather or goat enclosure’
cf. ’ukui ‘goat’
b. a-areme-a
‘place where pangolins gather’
cf. areme ‘pangolin’

169
 c. cu-cumi’i-a
‘place where bears gather’
cf. cumi’i ‘bear’
d. ta-tape’e-a
‘place where night owls gather’
cf. tape’e ‘night owl’
e. ta-taurungu-a
‘place where Formosan muntjacs gather’
cf. taurungu ‘Formosan muntjac’
f. vu-vutulhu-a
‘place where deer gather’
cf. vutulhu ‘deer’

(ii) CV˘- reduplication plus -a. Analogous to CV- reduplication plus -a, CV˘-
reduplication plus -a also derives names for plant farms and animal habitats from
nouns referring to plants and animals. The difference between these two types lies in
the vowel length of a reduplicant. In this type, the first syllable (consisting of a
consonant plus a long vowel) of a nominal root is reduplicated, and -a is suffixed to
the nominal root.

(5.27) CV˘- reduplication plus -a: plants

vaa-vaake-a
‘tangerine/orange/lemon farm’
(lit. place where tangerines/oranges/lemons are gathered)
cf. vaake ‘tangerine/orange’

(5.28) CV˘- reduplication plus -a: animals

a. vee-veete-a
‘place where Mikado Pheasants gather’
cf. veete ‘Mikado Pheasant’
b. vii-viia-a
‘place where cobras gather’
cf. viia ‘cobra’

(iii) CVCV- reduplication plus -a. One example in my corpus employs CVCV-
reduplication plus -a. In this patterns, the first two syllables of a nominal root are
reduplicated.

170
(5.29) CVCV- reduplication plus -a
’eve-’evecenge-a
‘millet farm’ (lit. place where millets are gathered)
cf. ’evecenge ‘millet’

(iv) CV˘- reduplication plus -ana. Different from CV- reduplication plus -a and CV˘-
reduplication plus -a, CV˘- reduplication plus -ana does not derive plant farms and
animal habitats from nouns referring to plants and animals. Instead, it derives ‘earth’
from ‘soil’. Since there is just one example in my corpus, it is hard to generalise a
semantic type to which this type of derivation applies. To derive a locative noun in
this type, the first syllable (consisting of a consonant plus a long vowel) of a nominal
root is reduplicated, and -ana is suffixed to the nominal root. Since -ana is the same
as the locative voice marker -ana, there is a possibility that -ana here should be
considered as the locative voice marker. Tentatively, I treat the morpheme -ana as a
morpheme that may be etymologically connected to the locative voice marker.

(5.30) CV˘- reduplication plus -ana

saa-saree-ana
‘earth’ (lit. place where soil gathers)
cf. saree ‘soil’

Notice that -ana here should not be analysed as -a=na, where =na is the definite
marker. If -a=na is analysed as consisting of two morphemes, then one would expect
the definite marker =na to be able to be omitted. However, without na, saa-saree-a is
not acceptable to language speakers. Compared with the other two above-mentioned
morphological processes, i.e. CV- reduplication plus -a and CV˘- reduplication plus -a,
the definite marker =na can easily co-occur with -a in order to have definiteness
effect.

(5.31) CV- reduplication plus -a plus =na

a. ma-mairange-a
‘sweet potato farm’ (lit. place where sweet potatoes are gathered)
cf. mairange ‘sweet potato’
b. ma-mairange-a=na
‘the sweet potato farm’ (lit. the place where sweet potatoes are gathered)

171
(5.32) CV˘- reduplication plus -a plus =na
a. vee-veete-a
‘place where Mikado Pheasants gather’
cf. veete ‘Mikado Pheasant’
b. vee-veete-a=na
‘the place where Mikado Pheasants gather’

Likewise, in CV˘ reduplication plus -ana, the definite marker =na can also
co-occur with -ana to obtain definiteness effect.

(5.33) CV˘- reduplication plus -ana plus =na

a. saa-saree-ana
‘earth’ (lit. place where soil is gathered)
cf. saree ‘soil’
b. saa-saree-ana=na
‘the earth’ (lit. the place where soil is gathered)

5.3.4.2 Nouns referring to a ‘place where an action is performed’

Unlike nouns referring to a ‘place where something gathers or is gathered’ (via

reduplication plus a suffix) (§5.3.4.1) which are quite natural in deriving the meanings
of plant farms and animal habitats from nouns referring to plants and animals, nouns
referring to a ‘place where an action is performed’ (via circumfixation) generally do
not apply to nouns referring to plants and animals.

Nouns referring to a place where an action is performed are formed through

circumfixation, a morphological process whereby a discontinuous affix occurs on
both sides of the stem or root. There are three subtypes of circumfixation in deriving
nouns referring to a place where an action is performed: (i) taa-…-aa, (ii) taa-…-a
and (iii) ta-…-ana.

(i) taa-…-aa. Some locative nouns are derived via the circumfixation of taa-…-aa to
the verbal root, thus deriving a place where an action is performed, e.g. ‘wash
(clothes)’, ‘scare birds away from farm’, ‘bathe’ and ‘defecate’.

172
(5.34) Circumfixation: taa-… -aa
a. taa-lhavu-aa
‘laundry’ (lit. place to wash (clothes))
cf. lh<um>avu ‘wash (clothes)’
b. taa-paalhim-aa
‘a hut to scare birds away from farm’
cf. m-alhimu ‘scare birds away from farm’
c. taa-paasin-aa
‘bathroom’ (lit. place to bathe)
cf. m-asinu ‘bathe’
d. taa-tialh-aa
‘toilet’ (lit. place to defecate)
cf. tii’i ‘faeces’

In my corpus, one example appears to constitute an exception to the

above-mentioned semantic generalisation that derived nouns referring to a place
where an action is performed (via circumfixation) generally do not include nouns
referring to plants and animals. As shown below, ki comes from kiu’u ‘tree’ and
belongs to the semantic type of plant. However, this word virtually is not an exception
because it obviously refers to a storage place for wood logs as fuel, not to a place to
store trees as vegetation.

(5.35) Circumfixation: taa-… -aa

taa-ki-aa
‘place to store trees/chopped wood’
cf. kiu’u ‘tree’

(ii) taa-…-a. ‘Plate’ and ‘traditional steamer’ are derived through the circumfixation
of taa-…-a. It is hard to generalise in terms of an overall semantic type, either
location or instrument. There are two possibilities. In terms of the whole element, the
derived noun is an instrument, whereas in terms of the nominal root, i.e. food, the
derived noun is a location, in which food is placed.

(5.36) Circumfixation: taa-… -a

a. taa-camai-a
‘plate’
cf. camai ‘side dish’

173
 b. taa-culhuk-a
‘traditional steamer (cooking utensil)’
cf. culhuku ‘rice cake’

(iii) ta-…-ana. ‘Place to take’ is derived through circumfixation of ta-…-ana.

Available data are not enough to make a decision in terms of an overall semantic type
of nouns. The morpheme -ana may be regarded as the locative voice marker, in that
they have the same morphological shape -ana. Tentatively, I consider the morpheme
-ana as a morpheme that may be etymologically connected to the locative voice
marker.

(5.37) Circumfixation: ta-… -ana

ta-aala-ana
‘place to take’
cf. um-aala ‘take’

5.4 Temporal nouns

Dixon (2012) classifies time words into five classes: duration, frequency
(including general and specific), specific time spans, with respect to expectation
and temporal shifters. In Lha’alua, the five classes of time words are expressed in
nouns. Duration, general/specific frequency and with respect to expectation have the
secondary function as head of a predicate, whereas specific time spans and temporal
shifters cannot. As shown in example (5.38), the temporal noun raalhua ‘a long time’
referring to duration occurs in the predicate position. When functioning as a predicate,
it can exhibit some grammatical properties of being a predicate. For example, it takes
the irrealis marker a- as well as attracts the interrogative clitic =i.

(5.38) Duration: secondary function as head of a predicate

a-raalhua=i?
IRR-a.long.time=Q
‘How long is it?’

Temporal nouns referring to specific frequency (§5.4.1), specific time spans

(§5.4.2) and temporal shifters (§5.4.3) are discussed in the following subsections.

174
5.4.1 Specific Frequency

Unlike general frequency, e.g. ‘often’, ‘sometimes’, etc, specific frequency

expressions refer to specific temporal time spans, e.g. ‘annually’, ‘monthly’, etc.

Specific frequency in Lha’alua is expressed via full reduplication or triplication

of a nominal free root (i.e. the copy of the same word). In examples (a) and (b), the
whole nominal (free) root consisting of the meaning of specific frequency is
reduplicated. In example (c), the nominal (free) root is reduplicated twice, i.e.
triplication. No distinction between example (a) and example (c) can be found.

(5.39) Specific Frequency: full reduplication and triplication

a. aari-aari
RED-day
‘every day’
cf. aari ‘day’
b. cailhi-cailhi
RED-year
‘every year’
cf. cailhi ‘year’
c. aari-aari-aari
RED-RED-day
‘every day’

Specific frequency has the secondary function as head of a predicate. As

illustrated in (5.40), the temporal noun aari-aari ‘every day’ referring to specific
frequency occurs in the predicate position. When functioning as a predicate, it can
show some grammatical characteristics of being a predicate. For example, it attracts
the second person clitic pronoun =u and interrogative clitic =i.

(5.40) Specific Frequency: secondary function as head of a predicate

aari-aari=u=i palhu-saa-salhi?
RED-day=2SG.NOM=Q sing-RED-song
‘Do you sing every day?’

175
5.4.2 Specific time spans

Specific time spans are classified into units, e.g. ‘day’, ‘month’, ‘year’, etc and
parts of these spans, e.g. ‘morning’, ‘afternoon’, ‘night-time’, ‘weekend’, ‘summer’,
‘winter’, ‘wet season’, etc.

Units referring to specific time spans are underived and morphologically simple,
e.g. ‘day’, ‘month’ and ‘year’.

(5.41) Units of specific time spans

a. aari ‘day’
b. vulalhe ‘month’
c. cailhi/cailha ‘year’

Similar to nouns referring to units of specific time spans, some nouns referring to
parts of specific time spans are underived and morphologically simple, e.g. ‘daytime’,
‘evening’ and ‘night’.

(5.42) Parts of specific time spans

a. silhiane ‘daytime’
b. ruvana ‘evening’
c. verengane ‘night’

However, some nouns referring to parts of specific time spans are derived and
morphologically complex. For instance, seasons like ‘summer’, ‘spring’, ‘autumn’
and ‘winter’ are derived via prefixation, whereby the temporal prefix alha- ‘season’ is
added to the root or stem.

(5.43) Parts of specific time spans: seasons

a. alha-m-a-cici
season-AV-STAT-hot
‘summer’ (lit. hot season)
b. alha-vungelaia
season-sprout
‘spring’ (lit. sprouting season)
c. alha-usalh-a
season-rain-TEMP.NMZ
‘autumn’ (lit. rainy season)

176
 d. alha-’amisana
season-cold
‘winter’ (lit. cold season)

Analogous to ‘seasons’, names of rituals in Lha’alua are derived and

morphologically complex. They can be derived via the addition of an irrealis marker,
which comes from an affix a- or Ca- reduplication, to a free or bound root. Apart from
the addition of an irrealis marker, the derived ritual name may take an Actor voice
marker. In examples (a-c), the Actor voice marker <um> is present, and the first
consonant of the verbal root is reduplicated. In example (d), the Actor voice marker is
null, and the irrealis marker a- is prefixed to the stem. Notice that in example (d), the
nominal root ’ilhicu ‘ghost’ also undergoes CVCV reduplication.

(5.44) Parts of specific time spans: rituals

a. c<um>a-culhu lhialuvu
RED<AV>-burn roof
‘a Ritual name’
b. c<um>a-cukuru
RED<AV>-?
‘the Ritual for storing millet’
c. l<um>a-lemeke
RED<AV>-plant
‘the Ritual for sowing millet’
d. pari-a-’ilhi-’ilhicu
blow/catch/pick-A-RED-ghost
‘the Ritual for expelling ghost’

5.4.3 Temporal shifters

Temporal shifters are classified into within today, e.g. ‘earlier on today’, ‘now’
and ‘later on today’, and outside today, e.g. ‘yesterday’, ‘tomorrow’, ‘next month’,
etc. In Lha’alua, some temporal shifters are underived and morphologically simple,
e.g. ‘these years/nowadays’, ‘now’, ‘past’, ‘yesterday’, ‘tomorrow’ and ‘this year’.

(5.45) Temporal shifters:

a. ’inani ‘these years/nowadays’
b. kani’i ‘now’
c. kiariari ‘past’

177
 d. kiira ‘yesterday’
e. lhamuuna ‘now’
f. maataata ‘tomorrow’
g. mamisa ‘this year’

Some temporal shifters are derived and morphologically complex. They are
formed through prefixation and compounding.

(i) PREFIXATION. For example, temporal shifters like ‘next year’ and ‘tomorrow
evening’ are derived via the addition of the temporal prefix cu-. Similarly, temporal
shifters like ‘last year’ and ‘yesterday evening’ are derived via the addition of the
temporal prefix ki-. These two temporal prefixes can be generalised as ki- ‘before the
point of speaking’ and cu- ‘after the point of speaking’.

(5.46) Temporal shifters formed through prefixation

a. cu-cailhi ‘next year’
b. ki-cailhi ‘last year’
c. cu-ruvana ‘tomorrow evening’
d. ki-ruvana ‘yesterday evening’

(ii) COMPOUNDING. For instance, temporal shifters like ‘today’, ‘last month’, ‘the day
after tomorrow’ and ‘the day before yesterday’ are derived via compounding. These
temporal shifters form a phonological word. In terms of prosodic features, they take
one primary stress and one secondary stress. In terms of phonological rules, they
apply rules within the compound.

(5.47) Temporal shifters formed through compounding

a. aari naani
‘today’
cf. aari ‘day’; naani ‘here’
b. vulalhe kikiari
‘last month’
cf. vulalhe ‘month’
c. tekelhe aari
‘the day after tomorrow’
cf. tekelhe ‘other’; aari ‘day’

178
 d. kiras kiira
‘the day before yesterday’
cf. kiira ‘yesterday’

5.5 Markings of plurality and distributivity

A number of morphological and semantic factors play a role in the expression of

plurality and distributivity in Lha’alua. Morphologically, formation of plurality and
distributivity are expressed through reduplication. Semantically, the notion of
plurality is closely associated with that of ‘animacy’, i.e. usually only nouns referring
to humans or animals are overtly marked as plural. However, the noun kiu-kiu’u
‘trees’ referring to plants is an exception.

5.5.1 Plurality

In Lha’alua, nouns very often are not marked overtly for plurality; instead, nouns
with an unmarked form (i.e. singular form) are used. Their precise translations in
English are context-dependent. Examples from texts can be seen below.

(5.48) a. alha-usalh-a ia, m-a-verai=cu a vaake.

season-rain-TEMP.NMZ TOP AV-STAT-ripe=COS.ASP CORE tangerine
‘In autumn, tangerines are ripe.’
(lit. As for the autumn, tangerines are ripe.)
b. alha-m-a-cici ia, tam m-a-tumulhu a pari-a-varate.
season-AV-STAt-hot TOP very AV-STAT-a.lot CORE blow-A-wind
‘In summer, there are a lot of typhoons.’
(lit. As for the summer, typhoons very a lot.)

Reduplication can be employed to denote plurality explicitly and unambiguously.

Several patterns of reduplication are used to convey the meaning of plurality: CV˘-
triplication, (C)VCV- triplication and (C)V(C)V- reduplication (see §4.3.2). There is no
direct correlation between semantic type and reduplication pattern. The choice is
lexically determined.

(i) CV˘- TRIPLICATION. The first syllable (consisting of a consonant plus a long/short
vowel) of a nominal root is reduplicated twice.

179
(5.49) Plurality: CV˘- triplication
lhaa-lhaa-lhaamaama
RED-RED-old.person
‘old people’ (plurality)
cf. lhaamaama ‘old person’

(ii) (C)VCV- TRIPLICATION. The first two syllables (consisting of a consonant plus a
short vowel in each syllable) of a nominal root are reduplicated twice.

(5.50) Plurality: (C)VCV- triplication

a. vutu-vutu-vutukulhu
RED-RED-fish
‘fish’ (plurality)
cf. vutukulhu ‘fish’
b. kuli-kuli-kuli’i
RED-RED-animal
‘animals’ (plurality)
cf. kuli’i ‘animal’

(iii) (C)V(C)V- REDUPLICATION. The first two syllables (consisting of a consonant

plus a short vowel in each syllable) of a nominal root are reduplicated.

(5.51) Plurality: (C)V(C)V- reduplication

a. alha-alhalua
RED-elder.sibling
‘elder siblings’
cf. alhalua ‘elder sibling’
b. lhimi-lhimilavae
RED-younger.sibling
‘younger siblings’
cf. lhimilavae ‘younger sibling’
c. kiu-kiu’u
RED-tree
‘trees’ (plurality)
cf. kiu’u ‘tree’

180
(5.52) kiu-kiu’u m-u<la>lengese lha ta-taisa=na
RED-tree AV-long<RED> CONJ.COOR RED-big=DEF
‘The trees are ALL long and big.’ OR ‘The trees are VERY long and big.’
cf. kiu’u ‘tree’

There are two differences between CV˘- triplication and (C)V(C)V- reduplication.
The first one is that while CV˘- is reduplicated twice, (C)V(C)V- is reduplicated once.
The second one is that as demonstrated in example (5.49), V˘ stands for a long vowel,
hence comprising one syllable. On the contrary, as shown in (5.51c), VV means two
different vowels, thereby constituting two distinct syllables.

5.5.2 Distributivity

Distributivity in Lha’alua is expressed via full reduplication or triplication. In

examples (5.53a) and (5.53b), the nominal root referring to specific frequency is
reduplicated wholly. In example (5.54), the nominal root is reduplicated twice, i.e.
triplication. No distinction between (5.53a) and (5.54) can be attested.

(5.53) Distributivity: full reduplication

a. aari-aari
RED-day
‘every day’
cf. aari ‘day’
b. cailhi-cailhi
RED-year
‘every year’
cf. cailhi ‘year’

(5.54) Distributivity: triplication

aari-aari-aari
RED-RED-day
‘every day’

Only temporal expressions referring to specific frequency fall into this category.
In contrast, other nouns do not adopt reduplication to derive distributivity. As
exemplified below, when acquiring the distributivity meaning, other semantic types of
nouns, e.g. animal, plant, nature, food, body part, person, location and time words
(excluding those referring to specific frequency), are not reduplicated. Rather, the

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numeral word ucani ‘one’ is reduplicated.

(5.55) a. a-uca-ucani alhame

A-RED-one bird
‘every bird’ (animal)
b. a-uca-ucani kiu’u
A-RED-one tree
‘every tree’ (plant)
c. a-uca-ucani ’acangeralha
A-RED-one star
‘every star’ (nature)
d. a-uca-ucani papa’a
A-RED-one meat
‘every piece of meat’ (food)
e. a-uca-ucani ’ukulhucu
A-RED-one body.hair
‘every body hair’ (body part)
f. a-uca-ucani alhaina
A-RED-one woman
‘every woman’ (person)
g. a-uca-ucani salia
A-RED-one house
‘every house’ (location)
h. a-uca-ucani alha-m-a-cici
A-RED-one season-AV-STAT-hot
‘every summer’ (specific time spans)

Temporal nouns conveying the distributivity meaning can occur in the predicate
position or adjunct position.35 As illustrated in (5.56), the temporal noun aari-aari
‘every day’ occurs in the predicate position. When functioning as a predicate, it can
display some grammatical properties of being a predicate. For example, it attracts the
second person clitic pronoun =mu and interrogative clitic =i. As shown in (5.57), the
temporal noun aari-aari ‘every day’ occurs in the adjunct position. When functioning
as an adjunct, it cannot exhibit any grammatical properties of being a predicate. As for
its syntactic position, it is right-peripheral.

35
Similar phenomena can be attested in Tsou, a closely related language with Lha’alua (Pan 2007,
2010).

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(5.56) As a predicate
aari-aari=mu=i palhu-saa-salhi?
RED-day=2PL.NOM=Q sing-RED-song
‘Do you sing every day?’

(5.57) As an adjunct
ngalha-isa a-tama-tamalheng-a-mu aari-aari?
what-3.AGR IRR-RED-do/make-PV-2PL.GEN RED-day
‘What do you do every day?’

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184
 CHAPTER 6

VERBAL MORPHOLOGY

This chapter discusses verbal morphology. Lha’alua exhibits an elaborate set of

concepts morphologically marked on the verb. These consist of markers of verb
classification (including stative marker in §6.1.1 and inchoative marker §6.1.2),
non-spatial setting (including reality status in §6.2.1, aspect in §6.2.2, evidentiality in
§6.2.3 and modality in §6.2.4), voice (including Actor voice in §6.3.1, patient voice in
§6.3.2 and locative voice in §6.3.3), imperatives (§6.4), negators (including general
negator in §6.5.1, existential negator in §6.5.2 and imperative negator in §6.5.3), third
person agreement marking (§6.6) and lexical prefix copying (§6.7).

6.1 Markers of verb classification

The dynamic and stative contrast can be seen in Mantauran Rukai (Zeitoun
2000a, 2007, Huang 2000, M. Yeh 2003a). In Lha’alua, there is an overt marking for
stativity but no overt marking for dynamicity. A dichotomy between inchoativeness
and stativity can be found in Lha’alua. Markers for inchoativeness and stativity are
present in a number of constructions. Further subclasses of verbs are discussed in
§3.3.

6.1.1 Stative marker

In Formosan languages, stative verbs can be marked by ma- (Blust 2009, Huang
2000, Zeitoun 2001, Zeitoun and Huang 2000). Like many Formosan languages,
Lha’alua has the marker ma-. In Lha’alua, ma- could be analysed as m- (Actor voice
marker) and a- (stative marker). Stative verbs have the characteristic of being bound
in that they cannot occur without a prefix.

(6.1) a. m-a-vacangi=u=i?
AV-STAT-good=2SG.NOM=Q
‘How are you?’
b. m-a-pulhi a tapae-isa luulunga=na.
AV-STAT-white CORE color-3.AGR cloud=DEF
‘The color of cloud is white.’

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 c. m-a-liselhe a ta’elha kani’i=na.
AV-STAT-heavy CORE chair this=DEF
‘This chair is heavy.’
d. alha-usalh-a ia, m-a-verai=cu a vaake.
season-rain-TEMP.NMZ TOP AV-STAT-ripe=COS.ASP CORE tangerine
‘In autumn, tangerines are ripe.’
e. m-a-lhavai=cu a palii=na kiira.
AV-STAT-drunk=COS.ASP CORE male.name=DEF yesterday
‘Palii was drunk yesterday.’
f. alha-m-a-cici ia, tam m-a-tumulhu a pari-a-varate.
season-AV-STAt-hot TOP very AV-STAT-a.lot CORE blow-A-wind
‘In summer, there are a lot of typhoons.’

The reason why ma- may be treated as consisting of two separate affixes m-a- in
Lha’alua can be seen in negative constructions. In negative constructions, Actor voice
distinctions are neutralised. In the following examples including dynamic verbs, Actor
voice markers occur obligatorily in declarative sentences, whereas the voice
distinctions are neutralised in negative sentences.

(6.2) a. m-u-a-sala=aku relhece=na maataata.

AV-motion.on.foot-IRR-road=1SG.NOM place.name=DEF tomorrow
‘I will go to Relhece (Chinese name:高中) tomorrow.’
a. ku=aku u-a-sala relhece=na maataata.
NEG=1SG.NOM move-IRR-road place.name=DEF tomorrow
‘I will not go to Relhece tomorrow.’
b. m-alhava kana’a=na valhituku.
AV-bring 3.INDEP=DEF money
‘S/he brings money.’
b. ku alhava kana’a=na valhituku.
NEG bring 3.INDEP=DEF money
‘S/he does/did not bring money.’
c. um-u a ma-m-a-ini a kana’a=na.
AV-eat CORE RED-AV-STAT-small LNK that=DEF
‘That child eats (something).’
c. ku u a ma-m-a-ini a kana’a=na.
NEG eat CORE RED-AV-STAT-small LNK that=DEF
‘That child does/did not eat’

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 d. m-alusape a alhaina kana’a=na.
AV-sleep CORE woman that=DEF
‘That woman sleeps.’
d. ku alusape a alhaina kana’a=na.
NEG sleep CORE woman that=DEF
‘That woman does/did not sleep.’

Similarly, in the following examples consisting of stative verbs, while Actor

voice markers are present obligatorily in declarative sentences, the distinctions are
neutralised in negative sentences. Since the stative marker a- is not omitted together
with the Actor voice marker m-, they might be treated as two different affixes m- and
a-, rather than one single affix ma-.

(6.3) a. m-a-ngane a ravau=na.

AV-STAT-dry CORE forklike.plant=DEF
‘The forklike plant is dry.’
a. ku a-ngane a ravau=na.
NEG STAT-dry CORE forklike.plant=DEF
‘The forklike plant is not dry.’
b. aari-naani ia, m-a-cici.
day-here TOP AV-STAT-hot
‘Today, it is hot.’
b. aari-naani ia, ku a-cici.
day-here TOP NEG STAT-hot
‘Today, it is not hot.’
c. mamisa ia, m-a-verae a vaake.
now TOP AV-STAT-ripe CORE tangerine
‘Now, tangerines are ripe.’
c. mamisa ia, ku a-verae a vaake.
now TOP NEG STAT-ripe CORE tangerine
‘Now, tangerines are not ripe.’

Not every stative verb is marked by the stative marker a-. Some of the stative
verbs are zero-marked. The choice is lexically determined.

(6.4) a . m-elengese a vekee-isa kana’a=na.

AV-long CORE hair-3.AGR 3.INDEP=DEF
‘Her hair is long.’

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 b. tam langica palii=na.
very tall male.name=DEF
‘Palii is tall.’
c. tumalhae a laare m-aa-vuvulungaa.
a.lot CORE flying.squirrel AV-BE:LOC/TEMP-mountain
‘There are many flying squirrels in the mountains’

6.1.2 Inchoative marker

Stative verbs may co-occur with the inchoative prefix araa- (equivalent to
English translation ‘become’), expressing the initiation of an event or state. They are
contrasted with stative verbs with the prefix a- (or zero-marked; the choice is lexically
determined), denoting stativity. When a stative verb takes the prefix araa-, the stative
marker a- is no longer present. The stative verb becomes an inchoative one, losing its
stativity.

(6.5) a. araa-tavulhiu a tapae-isa tikuru-u.

INCH-red CORE color-3.AGR clothes-2SG.GEN
‘The colour of your clothes becomes red.’
b. araa-lhavai=cu a palii=na.
INCH-drunk=COS.ASP CORE male.name=DEF
‘Palii becomes drunk.’
c. ku-na araa-ngane ravau=na.
NEG-not.yet INCH-dry forklike.plant=DEF
‘The forklike plant has not become dry yet.’
d. aari-naani ia, araa-cici.
day-here TOP INCH-hot
‘Today, it becomes hot.’
e. mamisa ia, araa-verae a vaake.
now TOP INCH-ripe CORE tangerine
‘Now, tangerines become ripe.’

Those stative verbs which do not have the stative marker a- (i.e. zero-marked)
can also occur with the inchoative prefix araa-.

(6.6) araa-langica a ma-m-a-ini=na.

INCH-tall CORE RED-AV-STAT-small=DEF
‘The child becomes tall.’

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6.2 Non-spatial setting

Non-spatial setting includes a number of parameters, most of which are relevant

to verbal morphology and discussed in the following subsections. These parameters
consist of reality status (§6.2.1), aspect (§6.2.2), evidentiality (§6.2.3) and modality
(§6.2.4).

6.2.1 Reality status

Based on Bhat’s (1999) prominence typology, the three major verbal categories,
i.e. tense, aspect and mood, can be classified into three different types:
tense-prominent, aspect-prominent and mood-prominent. The decisive factor of these
three different types is attributed to continuum. For example, the greater prominence
to tense is tense-prominent. English determines its temporal reading mainly by
verbal morphology; thus, English is a tense-prominent language. The greater
prominence to aspect is aspect-prominent. Mandarin Chinese determines its
temporal reading primarily by aspectual particles; hence, Mandarin Chinese is a
aspect-prominent language. The greater prominence to mood is mood-prominent36.
The occurrence of the realis-irrealis distinction as the central one can be exemplified
from Chalcatongo, an Alta dialect of the Mixtec language in Mexico (Macaulay
1996).

In Lha’alua, its temporal reading is principally determined by reality status.

Therefore, Lha’alua can be treated as a mood-prominent language since it exhibits
greater prominence of mood than of tense or aspect.

Reality indicates “a contrast between realis, referring to something that has

happened or is happening, and irrealis, referring to something that didn’t happen in
the past (but could have) and to all or most of the past-present domain” (Dixon
2010a:153). In Lha’alua, reality is slightly different from Dixon’s (2010) definition,
and defined as follows: realis refers to something that happened in the past, happens
now, or has happened (see §6.2.1.1), and irrealis indicates something that didn’t
happen in the past (but could have), something that would/will happen in the future,
or something that is happening (i.e. progressive) at the time of speaking (see §6.2.1.2).
Realis is zero-marked, whereas irrealis is expressed through prefixation a-, infixation

36
R.M.W. Dixon and Alexandra Aikhenvald suggest that the use of ‘mood-prominent’ be replaced with
‘modality-prominent’, since mood typically refers to declarative, interrogative and imperative moods.

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<a> or Ca/Caa reduplication on the verb.

6.2.1.1 Realis

In Lha’alua, realis refers to something that happened in the past, happens now or
has happened. There is no overt marker to express realis. Very often, the perfective
aspect marker lhi- and the change-of-state aspect marker =cu are the two aspectual
morphemes that help determine the temporal frame of an utterance.

(6.7) Zero marker

a. (lhi-)m-ali-likilhi(=cu) ‘boarded’
b. (lhi-)m-ari-tamaku(=cu) ‘smoked’
c. (lhi-)m-aru-riri(=cu) ‘spoke’
d. (lhi-)m-aru-taeve(=cu) ‘uncovered’
e. (lhi-)m-ima(=cu) ‘drank’
f. (lhi-)m-iungu(=cu) ‘arrived’
g. (lhi-)um-u(=cu) ‘ate’
h. (lhi-)um-ulungu(=cu) ‘took off’
i. (lhi-)u-pana(=cu) ‘shot’
j. (lhi-)ke-elese(=cu) ‘ate together’
k. (lhi-)kuri-muamuare(=cu) ‘shot slowly’
l. (lhi-)pi-salupu(=cu) ‘fished’
m. (lhi-)palhu-salhi(=cu) ‘sang songs’

(6.8) Zero marker

lhi-um-u=cu=’ai=maanai ka ilhaisa.
PERF.ASP-AV-eat=COS.ASP=MOD=MOD CORE 3.INDEP
‘Possibly, he has eaten.’ OR ‘Possibly, he ate.’

6.2.1.2 Irrealis

In Lha’alua, irrealis is expressed through a- prefixation, <a> infixation or

Ca/Caa reduplication. The prefix a- occurs before a free/bound root or a stem. The
infix <a> appears within a free/bound root.

(6.9) -a prefixation and <a> infixation

a. m-ali-a-likilhi ‘to board’
b. m-ari-a-tamaku ‘to smoke’

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 c. m-aru-a-riri ‘to speak’
d. m-aru-a-taeve ‘to uncover’
e. m-i<a>ma ‘to drink’
f. m-i-a-ungu ‘to arrive’
g. u-a-pana ‘to shoot’
h. um-a-u ‘to eat’
i. um-a-ulungu ‘to take off’
j. palhu-a-salhi ‘to sing songs’
k. pi-a-salupu ‘to fish’
l. ku-a-elese ‘to eat together’
m. kuri-a-muamuare ‘to shoot slowly’

(6.10) -a prefixation and <a> infixation

a. um-a-u=amu papa’a.
AV-IRR-eat=1PL.EXCL.NOM meat
‘We will eat meat.’
b. m-i<a>ma=ita salhumu.
AV-drink<IRR>=1PL.INCL.NOM water
‘We will drink water.’

Ca/Caa reduplication may, like a- prefixation, occurs before a free/bound root or

a stem when there is a lexical prefix.

(6.11) Ca/Caa reduplication

a. m-aa-ta-tuvu-tuvuku ‘to gulp’
b. m-aa-taa-tumulhu ‘to drink a lot’
c. m-aa-maa-m-a-ini ‘to drink a little’
d. m-ai-ka-kepele ‘to grasp’
e. m-ai-sa-savu-savuane ‘to cure/heal’
f. m-i-ka-kua ‘to put’
g. m-ia-pa-puale ‘to push’
h. m-ia-ta-tumu ‘to hit by fists’
i. m-ia-ta-turu ‘to point’

(6.12) Ca/Caa reduplication

m-ia-ta-tumu=ita lhalhusa=na maataata.
AV-thrust/push-RED-BOUND.ROOT=1PL.INCL.NOM man=DEF tomorrow
‘We will hit the man with fists tomorrow.’

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 When there is no lexical prefix but Actor voice marker <um> appears, Ca
reduplication is used to express irrealis.

(6.13) Ca reduplication with Actor voice marker <um>

a. c<um>a-capa ‘to broil’
b. c<um>a-culhu ‘to burn/start fire/set fire’
c. k<um>a-kalii ‘to dig’
d. k<um>a-kita ‘to look at’
e. k<um>a-kurange ‘to bake (in stones or coals)’
f. l<um>a-lemeke ‘to plant’
g. l<um>a-lili ‘to apply (ointment)’
h. lh<um>a-lhavu ‘to wash (clothes)’
i. s<um>a-sala ‘to repair roads’
j. s<um>a-sulhate ‘to write’
k. t<um>a-tineene ‘to weave’
l. t<um>a-timalha ‘to listen’
m. t<um>a-tulhucu ‘to put Derris trifoliate (plant name) so as to let it
flow and poison (fish)’

(6.14) Ca reduplication with Actor voice marker <um>

l<um>a-lemeke a langui mairange.
IRR<AV>-plant CORE female.name sweet.potato
‘Langui will plant sweet potatoes.’

When the Actor voice marker <um> is neutralised in negative constructions and
interrogative constructions, Ca/Caa reduplication is not used to express irrealis.
Instead, a- prefixation is employed.

(6.15) Irrealis without the Actor voice marker <um>

a. a-capa ‘to broil’
b. a-culhu ‘to start fire/set fire’
c. a-kalii ‘to dig’
d. a-kita ‘to look at’
e. a-kurange ‘to bake (in stones or coals)’
f. a-lemeke ‘to plant’
g. a-lili ‘to apply (ointment)’
h. a-lhavu ‘to wash (clothes)’

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 i. a-sala ‘to repair roads’
j. a-sulhate ‘to write’
k. a-tineene ‘to weave’
l. a-timalha ‘to listen’
m. a-tulhucu ‘to put Derris trifoliate (plant name) so as to let it
flow and poison (fish)’

(6.16) Irrealis without the Actor voice marker <um>

ku=aku a-tulhucu
NEG=1SG.NOM IRR-put.Derris.trifoliate.so.as.to.let.it.flow.and.poison
vutukulhu maataata.
fish tomorrow
‘I will not put Derris trifoliate (plant name) so as to let it flow and
poison fish tomorrow.’

6.2.2 Aspect

Aspect refers to different perspectives which the speaker views the internal
constituency of a situation (Comrie 1976). The speaker may view it as
completed/incomplete, on-going or not, and many other ways. Aspects can be
expressed in different ways, from verbal morphology, adverbials to particles. Aspects
in Lha’alua are discussed below.

6.2.2.1 Perfective aspect

Perfective aspect is an aspect that indicates a temporal view of an event or state

as a whole, irrespective of considering the internal structure of the time in which it
occurs. In Lha’alua, perfective aspect is represented by the prefix lhi-.37 It occurs
before a free or bound root and, if any, before an Actor voice marker and a lexical
prefix.

(6.17) Perfective aspect lhi-

a. lhi-m-ali-likilhi ‘have boarded’
b. lhi-m-ari-tamaku ‘have smoked’
c. lhi-m-aru-riri ‘have spoken’
d. lhi-m-aru-taeve ‘have uncovered’
e. lhi-m-ima ‘have drunk’

37
An alternative analysis of lhi- is to treat it as an aorist marker.

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 f. lhi-m-iungu ‘have arrived’
g. lhi-um-u ‘have eaten’
h. lhi-um-ulungu ‘have taken off’
i. lhi-u-pana ‘have shot’
j. lhi-ke-elese ‘have eaten together’
k. lhi-kuri-muamuare ‘have shot slowly’
l. lhi-pi-salupu ‘have fished’
m. lhi-palhu-salhi ‘have sung songs’

(6.18) lhi-u-pana ama-ku ’ukui kiira.

PERF.ASP-AV-shoot father-1SG.GEN goat yesterday
‘My father shot a goat yesterday.’

6.2.2.2 Imperfective aspect

Imperfective aspect is an aspect that denotes an event or state, with special

reference to its internal structure, instead of expressing it as a whole. In Lha’alua,
imperfective aspect is represented by the enclitic =mana. It occurs after a free or
bound root and, if any, after a bound pronoun, after the change-of-state aspect marker
=cu, before the evidentiality marker =ami, and before a modality marker.

(6.19) Imperfective aspect =mana

a. m-ali-likilhi=mana ‘still boards/boarded’
b. m-ari-tamaku=mana ‘still smokes/smoked’
c. m-aru-riri=mana ‘still speaks/spoke’
d. m-aru-taeve=mana ‘still uncovers/uncovered’
e. m-ima=mana ‘still drinks/drank’
f. m-iungu =mana ‘still arrives/arrived’
g. um-u=mana ‘still eats/ate’
h. um-ulungu=mana ‘still takes/took off’
i. u-pana=mana ‘still shoots/shot’
j. ku-elese=mana ‘still eat/ate together’
k. kuri-muamuare=mana ‘still shoots/shot slowly’
l. pi-salupu=mana ‘still fishes/fished’
m. palhu-salhi=mana ‘still sings/sang songs’

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(6.20) a. m-a-calhia=u=mana=i kari takacicilhi?
AV-STAT-know=2SG.NOM=IMPERF.ASP=Q language self
‘Do you still know (your)self’s language?’
b. m-a-aru=mana=iau ka saa-saree-ana
AV-STAT-exist=IMPERF.ASP=MOD CORE RED-soil/dirt-LOC.NMZ
m-aa-’ulutii.
AV-BE:LOC/TEMP-a.magic.object.that.provokes.an.earthquake
‘A magic object that provokes an earthquake still exists in the Earth. (from a
traditional story)’

6.2.2.3 Change-of-state aspect

Change-of-state aspect expresses a recent change of state or situation. In

Lha’alua, change-of-state aspect is represented by the enclitic =cu. It occurs after a
free or bound root and, if any, before a bound pronoun, before a modality marker and
before the evidentiality marker =ami.

(6.21) Change-of-state aspect =cu

a. m-ali-likilhi=cu ‘boards/boarded’
b. m-ari-tamaku=cu ‘smokes/smoked’
c. m-aru-riri=cu ‘speaks/spoke’
d. m-aru-taeve=cu ‘uncovers/uncovered’
e. m-ima=cu ‘drinks/drank’
f. m-iungu=cu ‘arrives/arrived’
g. um-u=cu ‘eats/ate’
h. um-ulungu=cu ‘takes/took off’
i. u-pana=cu ‘shoots/shot’
j. ke-elese=cu ‘eats/ate together’
k. kuri-muamuare=cu ‘shoots/shot slowly’
l. pi-salupu=cu ‘fishes/fished’
m. palhu-salhi=cu ‘sings/sang songs’

(6.22) pai-tealh-a=cu-ku a cacalaisa a palii.

find-ACHI-PV=COS.ASP-1SG.GEN CORE stuff GEN male.name
‘I found Palii’s stuff.’

The change-of-state aspect =cu often co-occurs with the inchoative prefix araa-,
conveying the meaning of ‘become’.

195
(6.23) The change-of-state aspect =cu with the inchoative prefix araa-
a. araa-cici=cu ‘becomes hot’
b. araa-lhaamaama=cu ‘becomes old’
c. araa-lhavai=cu ‘becomes drunk’
d. araa-ngane=cu ‘becomes dry’
e. araa-ruvana=cu ‘becomes evening’
f. araa-seesema=cu ‘becomes dark’
g. araa-tavulhiu=cu ‘becomes red’
h. araa-usalhe=cu ‘becomes rainy’
i. araa-verae=cu ‘becomes ripe’

(6.24) araa-seesema=cu a langica.

INCH-dark=COS.ASP CORE sky
‘The sky becomes dark.’

6.2.2.4 Progressive, continuous, iterative and habitual aspects

Progressive, continuous, iterative and habitual aspects in Lha’alua are

represented through the morphological process of reduplication.

Progressive aspect is an aspect that denotes action in progress and expresses

processes, not states. In Lha’alua, progressive aspect is represented through various
reduplication patterns. These include CV-, CV˘-, (C)V(C)V-, and triplication (i.e.
C1V1-C1V1-). Examples are provided below, respectively.

(6.25) Progressive aspect: CV- reduplication

a. ma-a-se-serepe ‘is washing face’
b. m-aka-a-lha-lhangulu ‘is swimming’
c. m-usu-a-ra-rauvu ‘is dancing’
d. s<um>a-su-sulhate ‘is writing’
e. t<um>a-ta-tapae ‘is drawing’

(6.26) m-usu-a-ra-rauvu a ma-m-a-ini alhaina

AV-make.like-IRR-RED-BOUND.ROOT CORE RED-AV-STAT-small woman
kana’a=na.
that=DEF
‘That girl is dancing.’

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(6.27) Progressive aspect: CV˘- reduplication
a. c<um>a-caa-capa ‘is broiling’
b. k<um>a-kaa-kalii ‘is digging’
c. k<um>a-kii-kita ‘is watching/looking at’
d. lh<um>a-lhaa-lhavu ‘is washing clothes’
e. m-usu-a-tuu-turu ‘is learning’
f. palhu-a-saa-salhi ‘is singing’
g. t<um>a-taa-tangi ‘is crying’

(6.28) t<um>a-taa-tangi a ma-m-a-ini alhaina kana’a=na.

RED<AV>-RED-cry CORE RED-AV-STAT-small woman that=DEF
‘That girl is crying’

(6.29) Progressive aspect: (C)V(C)V- reduplication

a. pasa-a-ula-ulaula’e ‘is playing’
b. um-a-ia-iape ‘is reading’
c. um-au-a-u ‘is eating’
d. um-a-usa-usalhe ‘is raining’

(6.30) um-au-a-u=u=i uuru?

AV-RED-IRR-eat=2SG.NOM=Q rice
‘Are you having a meal?’

(6.31) Progressive aspect: triplication (i.e. C1V1-C1V1-)

a. m-u-a-sa-sa-sala ‘is walking’
b. taku-a-li-li-liungu ‘is visiting’

(6.32) taku-a-li-li-liungu a ma-m-a-ini=na

patrol/work-IRR-RED-RED-BOUND.ROOT CORE RED-AV-STAT-small=DEF
tamu-isa.
grandparent-3.GEN
‘The children are visiting their grandparents.’

Continuous aspect expresses an ongoing, but not habitual, occurrence of the

state or event. In Lha’alua, continuous aspect is represented through a variety of
reduplication patterns, including CV-, CV˘-, (C)V(C)V-, and triplication (i.e.
C1V1-C1V1-). Instances are provided below, respectively.

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(6.33) Continuous aspect: CV- reduplication
a. araa-ve-velhe ‘keep on becoming fat’
b. m-a<ca>calhia ‘keep on knowing’
c. m-i<pi>pilhilhi ‘keep on flying’
d. m-u-lhuu<ngu>lhungu ‘keep on walking along a creek’

(6.34) m-a-aru=ami n alhalhapa-isa

AV-STAT-exist=EVI OBL above-3.AGR
m-i<a><tu>tungusu=na m-i<pi>pilhilhi.
AV-Ritual.of.Sacred.Shells<IRR><RED>=DEF AV-<RED>fly
‘It is said that (they) kept flying above the Ritual of Sacred Shells.’

(6.35) Continuous aspect: CV˘- reduplication

a. tu-a-puu-puru ‘to keep on sitting’
b. t<um>a-tuu-turu ‘to keep on teaching’

(6.36) tu-a-puu-puru a ma-m-a-ini alhaina kani’i=na.

sit-IRR-RED-BOUND.ROOT CORE RED-AV-STAT-small woman this=DEF
‘This girl keeps on sitting.’

(6.37) Continuous aspect: (C)V(C)V- reduplication

a. m-u-sake-sakeralhe ‘keep on walking along a river’
b. paka-lici-licilici ‘keep on shaking’
c. paka-tipi-tipitipi ‘keep on clapping (hands)’

(6.38) paka-lici-licilici a ’isisi-isa tamatitu.

hand.motion-RED-BOUND.ROOT CORE tail-3.AGR puppy
‘The puppy’s tail keeps on shaking.’

(6.39) Continuous aspect: triplication (i.e. C1V1-C1V1-)

a. t<um>a-tu-tu-turu ‘to keep on teaching’
b. u-pa-pa-palu ‘keep on waiting’

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(6.40) t<um>a-tu-tu-turu a kana pakiaturua=na
RED<AV>-RED-RED-teach CORE PAUSE.FILLER teacher=DEF
ma-m-a-ini=na um-iape.
RED-AV-STAT-small=DEF AV-read/write
‘The teacher keeps on teaching the children to read/write.’

Iterative aspect is an aspect that expresses the repetition of an event or state. In

Lha’alua, iterative aspect is represented through three reduplication patterns: CV˘-,
(C)V(C)V- and triplication (i.e. C1V˘1-C1V˘1-). They are exemplified below,
respectively.

(6.41) Iterative aspect: CV˘- reduplication

m-utu-a-taa-tapusu ‘jump repeatedly’

(6.42) Iterative aspect: (C)V(C)V- reduplication

a. m-ali-a-ese-esepe ‘blink’
b. paka-tuku-tuku ‘knock repeatedly’

(6.43) Iterative aspect: triplication (i.e. C1V˘1-C1V˘1-)

maa-maa-masu=cu ‘fruit repeatedly’

Habitual aspect is an aspect that expresses the occurrence of an event or a state

as characteristic for a period of time. In Lha’alua, habitual aspect is represented
through two reduplication patterns: CV˘- and (C)V(C)V-. Examples are shown below,
respectively.

(6.44) Habitual aspect: CV˘- reduplication

palhu-a-saa-salhi ‘to sing (often)’

(6.45) aari-aari=u=i palhu-saa-salhi?

RED-day=2SG.NOM=Q sing-RED-song
‘Do you sing every day?’

(6.46) Habitual aspect: (C)V(C)V- reduplication

a-kiri-kirimi ‘to search (often)’

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(6.47) a. puri-a-ngusu-ngusuu a tautau=na maaci m-alusape.
PREFIX-IRR-RED-mouth CORE male.name=DEF when AV-sleep
‘Tautau snores when sleeping.’
b. kani’i ia, ku karekelhe a-kiri-kirimi alemelhe.
this/now TOP NEG often IRR-RED-search/hunt wild.boar
‘Now, (we) do not hunt wild boars often.’
(lit. As for now, not often hunt wild boars)
c. ngalha-isa a-tama-tamalheng-a-mu aari-aari?
what-3.AGR IRR-RED-do-PV-2PL.GEN RED-day
‘What do you do every day?’

6.2.2.5 Diminutive/Attenuative aspect

Diminutive/attenuative aspect is an aspect that expresses the lessening degree of

an event or state. In Lha’alua, diminutive/attenuative aspect is represented through
three reduplication patterns, including CV-, CV˘- and C1V1C2V2-. They are
exemplified below, respectively.

(6.48) Diminutive/Attenuative aspect: CV- reduplication

ki-kit-u! ‘Try a quick look!’

(6.49) Diminutive/Attenuative aspect: CV˘- reduplication

a. paka-kuu-kulungu ‘make a light noise from shaking a small
container containing something small inside’
b. pari-vaa-varate ‘breeze’
cf. varate ‘wind’
cf. pari-varate ‘blow (of wind)’

(6.50) Diminutive/Attenuative aspect: C1V1C2V2- reduplication

a. pa-cepe-cepeng-a ‘think briefly’
b. ta-maca-m-acalhia ‘know a little’
c. u-kiri-kirimi ‘search briefly’

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(6.51) maacu a kana kani’i ta-maca-m-a-calhia=’ai
concerning LNK PAUSE.FILLER PAUSE.FILLER TA-RED-AV-STAT-know=MOD
ia, riane huii=na lha inguuruu38.
TOP all female.name=DEF CONJ.COOR female.name
‘Concerning possibly knowing a little (about the Lha’alua language), (they
are) Huii and Inguuru.’

6.2.2.6 Experiential aspect

Experiential aspect is an aspect that expresses the grammaticalisation of an event

or state that occurred at least once prior to the moment of speech. In Lha’alua,
experiential aspect is represented through an addition of the prefix lhi- to the verb.

(6.52) Experiential aspect lhi-

a. kisu-a-mua-muare=aku kisu-capa-capange kani’i
say-IRR-RED-slowly=1SG.NOM say-RED-casual/at.will PAUSE.FILLER
lhi-timalha-a-ku lhaamaama.
EXPE.ASP-hear-PV-1SG.GEN old.person
‘I will slowly and casually say what I heard from old people.’
b. ki-a-lha-lhamu ka lhaamaama kiariari n
talk-IRR-RED-talk CORE old.person past OBL
lhi-tima-timalha-isa lha meemea
EXPE.ASP-RED-hear(PV)-3.GEN CONJ.COOR also
lhi-kita-kita-isa.
EXPE.ASP-RED-see(PV)-3.GEN
‘The old people in the past would talk about what they had heard and also
seen.’

6.2.3 Evidentiality

“Evidentiality is a grammatical category that has source of information as its

primary meaning – whether the narrator actually saw what is being described, or made
inferences about it based on some evidence, or was told about it, etc” (Aikhenvald
2006:320). In Lha’alua, the marker =ami is used to signal the kind of evidence
(hearsay) on which a claim is based or the degree of strength with which assertion can
be made. It is a reported evidential, covering information acquired through someone

38
Inguuru ‘female name’ here is lengthened as Inguuruu in the text. It is likely that there is a
pragmatic implication.

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else’s narration. In terms of its grammatical status, it is a clitic in that it does not shift
the primary or secondary (if any) stress of its host. In addition, it is not selective to its
host. As shown in examples (a-d), the reported evidential =ami occurring once per
clause attaches to the subordinator maaci ‘if’, the negator uka’a ‘no’, the verb lhava-a
‘bring’ and the quantifier riane ‘all’, respectively.

(6.53) Reported evidential =ami

a. maaci=ami kana’a m-u-sala
if=EVI PAUSE.FILLER AV-motion.on.foot-road
m-ari-a-’intavange ia, …
AV-hand/head.motion-IRR-taro TOP
‘It is said that if (one) goes to dig taros,… ’
b. uka’a=ami ka tualhe-isa m-uriulhu isana ka ilhaisa=ami
NEG=EVI LNK can-3.GEN AV-exchange 3.INDEP CORE 3.INDEP=EVI
ka m-alhu-kaa-kua n m-ari-’intavange.
LNK AV-get.to-RED-get.to LNK AV-hand/head.motion-taro
‘It is said that he cannot exchange with him, so he goes to dig taros.’
c. saa-lhava-a=ami m-alhu-kua salia paa-paci um-u
3.GEN-bring-PV=EVI AV-get.to-get.to home CAUS-die AV-eat
um-aala um-u.
AV-take AV-eat
‘It is said that he brought (something) to home, killed (it) to eat, and take
(it) to eat.’
d. riane=ami alemelhe ka ma-m-a-ini-isa akuisa
all=EVI wild.boar KA RED-AV-STAT-small-3.GEN when
lh<um>ivuru isana ka ta-turua-isa.
stab<AV> 3.INDEP KA RED-cousin-3.GEN
‘It is said that when her children all turned out wild boars, her cousin
stabbed them.’

Omission of the evidential might produce unnatural and awkward sentences. The
evidential does not have any epistemic extensions dealing with probability and
speaker’s evaluation of the trustworthiness of information.

The evidentiality marker can be combined with declarative sentences, but cannot
be used in imperative sentences (§9.3.2).

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6.2.4 Modality

Epistemic modality, which connotes how much certainty or possibility a speaker

has for the proposition expressed by his or her utterance, is represented through the
morphological process of cliticisation in Lha’alua. There are four epistemic modality
markers in Lha’alua: =’ai ‘uncertain’, =ainii ‘uncertain’, =iau ‘uncertain’ and
=maanai ‘possible’. Typically, they are cliticised to the main predicate. Instances are
provided below, respectively (repeated from (3.46-49)).

(6.54) The modality marker =’ai ‘uncertain’

taia=’ai mata-ma-upate-lhe meemea.
approximate=MOD human-tens-four-tens also
‘(The number of population) also approximates forty.’

(6.55) The modality marker =ainii ‘uncertain’

taia=’ai m-ulavae n mata-ma-tulu-lhu=ainii.
approximate=MOD AV-reach OBL human-tens-three-tens=MOD
‘(The number of population) also approximately reaches thirty.’

(6.56) The modality marker =iau ‘uncertain’

m-a-aru=mana=iau ka saa-saree-ana
AV-STAT-exist=IMPERF.ASP=MOD CORE RED-soil/dirt-LOC.NMZ
m-aa-’ulutii.
AV-BE:LOC/TEMP-a.magic.object.that.provokes.an.earthquake
‘A magic object that provokes an earthquake still exists in the Earth. (from a
traditional story)’

(6.57) The modality marker =maanai ‘possible’

ku pai-ta-tealhe=’ai=maanai lhatareae i<a>ma-isa
NEG find-IRR-ACHI=MOD=MOD pheasant drink(PV)<IRR>-3.AGR
salhumu.
water
‘Possibly, the pheasant couldn’t find the water to drink.’

Different epistemic modality markers can occur together. However, three or more
epistemic modality markers do not occur together in a word. Examples of two
different epistemic modality markers on the same predicate are provided below.

203
(6.58) Different epistemic modality markers: =’ai=iau
a. maacu=ami alhaama kiariari ia, auniini=’ai=iau
concerning=EVI ancestor past TOP like.this=MOD=MOD
lhi-angalhe=’ai vuvulungaa rumalhae saa-maruka-a.
PERF-from=MOD mountain when 3.GEN-stray-PV
‘It is said that concerning ancestors in the past, like this, when they came
back from mountains, they got lost.’
b. m-a-aru=’ai vuvulungaa kana
AV-STAT-exist=MOD mountain PAUSE.FILLER
upiaini=’ai=iau vulalha=’ai.39
how.many/much=MOD=MOD moon/month=MOD
‘(The story teller) doesn’t know why/is not sure how many months (they)
stayed in mountains.’

(6.59) Different epistemic modality markers: =’ai=maanai

a. maacu a paiciana maaci iap-a ia,
concerning LNK ethnic.community.name if count-PV TOP
taia=mana=’ai=maanai mata-ma-upate-lhe meemea.
approximate=IMPERF.ASP=MOD=MOD human-tens-four-tens also
‘As for Paiciana (Chinese name:排剪社), if counting (its population),
perhaps (it) also still approximates forty.’
b. m-aa=’ai=maanai kani’i kani’i lhamunaa
AV-BE:LOC/TEMP=MOD=MOD PAUSE.FILLER PAUSE.FILLER just.now
maalhe vulalhe=na ia, m-a-vurai=cu
ten month/moon=DEF TOP AV-STAT-ripe=COS.ASP
m-ari-a-’evicingi=cu ka kana lhaamaama.
AV-harvest-IRR-millet=COS.ASP CORE PAUSE.FILLER old.person
‘When it’s just October, (millets are) ripe. Old people will harvest millets.’

6.3 Voice

In most Formosan languages, the grammatical coding of the subject lies in the
morphological markings on the verb and noun. The morphological marking on the
verb represents the semantic role of the nominal argument, i.e. Actor, patient, locative
and instrumental/beneficiary. The morphological marking on the noun, i.e. case
markers, represents the syntactic role of each nominal argument (see §7.2.2.3). Like

39
According to the oldest speaker, the modality marker =’ai on vulalha ‘moon/month’ is redundant in
this sentence.

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most Formosan languages, Lha’alua employs morphological markings on the verb
and noun to encode the grammatical subject. Instrumental/beneficiary voice is not
attested in Lha’alua. Actor voice is introduced in §6.3.1, patient voice in §6.3.2,
locative voice in §6.3.3 and case markers in §7.2.2.3.

6.3.1 Actor voice

Actor voice is understood as encoding a nominal argument with the semantic

role of Actor, and profiling the nominal argument as the grammatical subject (see, for
example, Blust 2009). In Lha’alua, Actor voice can be morphologically marked on the
verb or zero-marked. Actor voice markers consist of um-, <um>, u- and m-. Three
Actor voice markers are allomorphs: um-, <um> and u-. The choice of <um>, m- and
ø (i.e. zero-marking) is lexically determined. Examples of Actor voice markers m- and
ø are provided below.

(6.60) The Actor voice marker m-

a. m-ai-ruruma ‘builds/built’
b. m-ai-sapilhe ‘patches/patched’
c. m-ai-veterae ‘sweeps/swept’
d. m-aka-lhangulu ‘swims/swam’
e. m-i’a’a ‘sells/sold’
f. m-iaivu ‘urinates/urinated’
g. m-iane ‘pounds/pounded’
j. m-ipilhilhi ‘flies/flew’
k. m-u-aleve ‘follows/followed on foot’
h. m-u-culhu ‘burns/burned’
i. m-u-likape ‘steals/stole’
l. m-u-tii ‘defecates/defecated’
m. m-e-cekelhe ‘comes/came’
n. m-ere-ceka ‘hunts/hunted’
o. m-etelhekate ‘brings/brought down a fever’

(6.61) lhi-m-u-tii=u=i?
PERF.ASP-AV-have-excrement=2SG.NOM=Q
‘Did you defecate?’ (lit. Did you have excrement?)

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(6.62) Zero marker
a. alhicu ‘hopes/hoped’
b. avavu ‘cooks/cooked’
c. kira-ma-maini ‘walks/walked with little steps’
d. ke-seke-sekere ‘finishes/finished eating’
e. paaripa ‘blows/blew’
f. puliulhu ‘changes/changed’
g. pu’a ‘sells/sold’
h. ru-a-vici ‘to bring’
i. ru-pici ‘tears/tore apart’
j. tara-ene ‘washes/washed; brushes/brushed’
k. ti<a>pili ‘to choose’

(6.63) lhi-puliulhu=aku valhituku alhame.

PERF.ASP-change=1SG.NOM money bird
‘I changed coins.’

An allomorph (see §4.2.1) consists of one of two or more complementary

morphs manifesting a morpheme in its different phonological or morphological
surroundings. In other words, the allomorphs of a morpheme are derived by
phonological rules as well as any morphophonemic rules that may apply to that
morpheme. The Actor voice marker <um> has three allomorphs: um-, u- and <um>.
The choice of an allomorph is conditioned by the initial phoneme of the root/stem.

The prefix um- is attached to the root/stem beginning with a vowel. No stem
beginning with the high central unrounded vowel /i/ can be attested, thus forming an
accidental gap.

(6.64) The Actor voice marker um-

a. um-ai ‘deposits/deposited; preserves/preserved’
b. um-aala ‘takes/took’
c. um-ali-lepenge ‘graduates/graduated’
d. um-avali ‘smells/smelled’
e. um-iape ‘counts/counted’
f. um-i-kua ‘prepares/prepared (water); sets/set (fire)’
g. um-ilave ‘chews/chewed’
h. um-ulhi ‘borrows/borrowed’
i. um-upange ‘domesticates/domesticated (animals)’

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 j. um-usalhe ‘rains/rained’

(6.65) um-iapi=u=i sulhate?

AV-read/write=2SG.NOM=Q book
‘Did you study?’

The prefix u- is attached to the root/stem beginning with a labial consonant.

(6.66) The Actor voice marker u-

a. u-mia ‘passes/passed’
b. u-palu ‘waits/waited’
c. u-pana ‘shoots/shot’
d. u-pau ‘skins/skinned’
e. u-vuru ‘gives/gave’

(6.67) lhi-u-pana=u=i kiira alemelhe?

PERF.ASP-AV-shoot=2SG.NOM=Q yesterday wild.boar
‘Did you shoot a wild boar?’

The infix <um> is attached to the root/stem beginning with any other phoneme.

(6.68) The Actor voice marker <um>

a. s<um>alhia ‘basks/basked in the sun’
b. s<um>amusu ‘wipes/wiped’
c. t<um>aeve ‘covers/covered’
d. t<um>ineene ‘weaves/wove; knits/knitted’
e. t<um>avilhae ‘hews/hewed’
f. l<em>ecenge ‘conceals/concealed’
g. c<um>ulhu ‘burns/burned; is/was on fire’
h. c<um>apa ‘broils/broiled’
i. c<um>avu ‘wraps/wrapped’

(6.69) c<um>avu a langui vutukulhu.

wrap<AV> CORE female.name fish
‘Langui wrapped fish.’

When a root/stem begins with the unaspirated voiceless velar stop /k/ or
voiceless lateral alveolar fricative /¬/ (written as lh in the orthography in this

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grammar), the choice of Actor voice marker u- or <um> is lexically determined.

(6.70) Unaspirated voiceless velar stop /k/

a. k<um>alii ‘digs/dag’
b. k<um>ita ‘looks/looked; sees/saw’
c. u-kirimi ‘searches/searched’

(6.71) lhi-k<um>ita=aku eleke.

PERF.ASP-look/see<AV>=1SG.NOM female.name
‘I saw Eleke.’

(6.72) Voiceless lateral alveolar fricative /¬/

a. lh<um>avu ‘washes/washed (clothes)’
b. u-lhaulhange ‘keeps/kept’
c. u-lhamare ‘sets/set fire to mountains’

(6.73) lh<um>avu a langui tikuru.

wash<AV> CORE female.name clothes
‘Langui washed clothes.’

6.3.2 Patient voice

Patient voice is understood as encoding a nominal argument with the semantic

role of patient, and profiling the nominal argument as the grammatical subject (see,
for example, Blust 2009). In Lha’alua, patient voice is morphologically marked by a-
on the verb or zero-marked. Examples of patient voice are provided below.

(6.74) The patient voice marker -a

a. ia-pual-a ‘is pushed’
b. taev-a ‘is covered’
c. ulung-a ‘is taken off (clothes)’
d. ai-a ‘is deposited/preserved’
e. culhu-a ‘is burned’
f. urap-a ‘is sowed’
g. iap-a ‘is counted’

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(6.75) saa-ia-pual-a lhalhusa a likilhi kiira.
3.AGR-thrust/push-BOUND.ROOT-PV man CORE vehicle yesterday
‘Men pushed the vehicle yesterday.’

(6.76) Zero-marked patient voice

a. lhi-pu’a-isa langui kani’i eteve=na.
PERF.ASP-buy(PV)-3.AGR female.name this sugar.cane=DEF
‘Langui has bought the sugar cane.’
b. i<a>ma-isa na’apu ’au.
drink(PV)<IRR>-3.AGR female.name soup
‘Na’apu will drink the soup.’
c. ku lhi-timalha-ku na alhaama kiariari n
NEG PERF.ASP-hear(PV)-1SG.GEN OBL ancestor past LNK
kana m-uritalhivae n alemelhe.
PAUSE.FILLER AV-have.a.love.affair OBL wild.boar
‘I didn’t hear ancestors have a love affair with a wild boar.’

6.3.3 Locative voice

Locative voice is understood as encoding a nominal argument with the semantic

role of location and profiling the nominal argument as the grammatical subject (see,
for example, Blust 2009). In Lha’alua, locative voice is morphologically marked by
-a(na),-i or -ani on the verb. Compared with examples of Actor voice and patient
voice, those of locative voice are relatively rare in texts. One example of locative
voice marker -a(na) is given below.

(6.77) The locative voice marker -a(na)

lhi-aala-ana-ku a valhituku alhame-isa tamu’u.
PERF.ASP-take-LV-1SG.GEN CORE money bird-3.AGR grandparent
‘I took grandparent’s coins.’

In addition to -(a)na, there are two locative voice marker -i or -ani. The locative
voice marker -i is affixed to a trivalent verb, e.g. ‘give’. The locative voice marker
-ani is affixed to a lexical verb occurring in interrogative constructions.

209
(6.78) The locative voice marker -i
a-vur-i-ta elengane a tikuru a
IRR-give-LV-1PL.INCL.GEN male.name CORE clothes LNK
kana’a=na.
that=DEF
‘We will give Elengane that clothes.’

(6.79) The locative voice marker -ani

ini pai-ta-tealh-ani?
where find-RED-ACHI-LV
‘Where can (it) be found?’ (lit. Where find?)

6.4 Imperatives

In Lha’alua, the intensity in imperatives can be represented by polite and strong

requests. Uttering a mild command (i.e. polite request) can be represented by an
addition of the suffix =kia to the verb. Strengthening a command (i.e. strong request)
can be achieved by an addition of cuu , cuu=mau or =mau to the verb. In addition,
imperatives are marked differently in different voice constructions: -a in Actor voice
construction, -u in the patient voice construction and -i/-ani in the locative voice
construction.

Imperatives are further discussed in §9.2.

6.5 Negators

There are three different types of negators in Lha’alua: general negator ku

(§6.5.1), existential negator uka’a (§6.5.2), and imperative negator kuu (§6.5.3).40

6.5.1 General negator ku

The ‘general’ negator is a cover term consisting of all types of predicative

negation. The general negator ku occurs concomitantly with various types of verbal
roots/stems, e.g. dynamic in (6.80a), stative in (6.80b), adverbial in (6.80c) and
quantificational in (6.80d). In addition to negating verbal roots/stems, the general
negator ku also negates a nominal predicate in (6.80e), and can be used as an answer

40
There are two negative words in my corpus: sianata ‘do not’ and malivutu ‘do not’. No examples are
available at the moment.

210
to questions in (6.80f). Note that it is obligatory that the Actor voice marker on the
verbal predicate must be omitted in negative constructions.

(6.80) General negator ku

a. ku u a ma-m-a-ini a langui.
NEG eat CORE RED-AV-STAT-small GEN female.name
‘Langui’s child did not eat.’
b. ku a-tavulhiu a tavalhilha-isa kana’a=na.
NEG STAT-red CORE flower-3.AGR 3.INDEP=DEF
‘Her/his flower is not red.’
c. ku karekelhe a ma-m-a-ini=na m-asi-lha’a-lha’alua.
NEG often A RED-AV-STAT-small=DEF AV-speak-RED-Lha’alua
‘Children do not often speak Lha’alua.’
d. ku a-tumulhu a valhituku-isa eleke.
NEG STAT-a.lot CORE money-3.AGR female.name
‘Eleke does not have a lot of money.’
e. ku tucuku-ku a kana’a.
NEG friend-1SG.GEN CORE 3.INDEP
‘S/he is not my friend.’
f. A: um-a-usa-usalhe=mana=i?
AV-IRR-RED-rain=IMPERF.ASP=Q
‘Is it still raining?’
B: ku, m-uru-mita=cu a talhiaria.
NEG AV-come.out-BOUND.ROOT=COS.ASP CORE sun
‘No, the sun has come out.’

6.5.2 Existential negator uka’a

The existential negator uka’a negates the existence of a referent.

(6.81) Existential negator uka’a

a. uka’a lhupase-lhamu.
NEG coin-1PL.EXCL.GEN
‘We don’t have coins.’ (lit. Not our coin.)
b. uka’a ka ma-m-a-ini-isa na vilangane.
NEG CORE RED-AV-STAT-small-3.GEN OBL ethnic.community.name
‘Her/his child is not at Vilangane (Chinese name:美壠社/美蘭社).’

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6.5.3 Imperative negator kuu

The imperative negator kuu is uniquely employed in imperative constructions

(see §9.2.2). It typically occurs together with the polite request marker =kia.

(6.82) Imperative negator kuu

a. kuu=kia ia-taa-tumu lhalhusa=na!
IMP.NEG=POLITE.REQUEST thrust/push-RED-BOUND.ROOT man=DEF
‘Please don’t hit the man by fists.’
b. kuu=kia u-sa-sipare lhuulhungu
IMP.NEG=POLITE.REQUEST motion.on.foot-IRR-BOUND.ROOT creek
tapataparu!
creek.name
‘Please don’t wade across Taluoliu Creek (Chinese name:塔羅留溪)!’
c. kuu=kia a-kirimi alemelhe!
IMP.NEG=POLITE.REQUEST IRR-search wild.boar
‘Please don’t search wild boars!’
d. kuu=kia a-lhamare caacapukaa!
IMP.NEG=POLITE.REQUEST IRR-set.fire.to.mountain couch.grass.plain
‘Please don’t set fire to mountains’ couch grass plain!’
e. kuu=kia
IMP.NEG=POLITE.REQUEST
a-tulhucu ’arisakai!
IRR-put.Derris.trifoliate.so.as.to.let.it.flow.and.poison shrimp
‘Please don’t put Derris trifoliate (plant name) so as to let it flow and poison
shrimp!’
f. kuu=kia a-tineene tikuru!
IMP.NEG=POLITE.REQUEST IRR-knit clothes
‘Please don’t knit clothes!’

6.6 Third person agreement marking

In Lha’alua, there are two markers representing the Actor semantic role in third
person, i.e. -isa and saa-.41 They can either (i) manifest the Actor semantic role in
third person singular or plural (occupying the argument slot in A function), or (ii) act
as an agreement marker cross-referring the explicitly specified Actor semantic role. In

41
Tsuchida (1976) analyzes saa- as special focus. Paul J. Li (1997a) treats it as referential focus. C.-L.
Li (2009) argues that saa- is not a focus marker. This study agrees with C.-L. Li’s (2009) observation.
In this grammar, I analyse it as an agreement marker as well as a genitive pronoun.

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type (i), -isa and saa- are treated as genitive pronouns (see §7.2.1.2 and §7.2.3.1). In
type (ii), -isa and saa- are analysed as agreement markers (see §7.2.1.2 and §7.2.3.2).
Examples of -isa and saa- are provided below, respectively.

(6.83) -isa
a. alhava-a-isa ‘s/he/they/it brings/brought’
b. cavu-a-isa ‘s/he/they/it wraps/wrapped’
c. culhu-a-isa ‘s/he/they/it burns/burned; s/he/they/it
starts/started fire’
d. i-kua-a-isa ‘s/he prepares/prepared (water); s/he sets/set
(fire)’
e. kii-kirim-a-isa ‘s/he/they/it searches/searched’
f. kilhamulhamu-a-isa ‘s/he/they/it tells/told’
g. paitualh-a-isa ‘s/he/they/it finds/found’
h. panu-a-isa ‘s/he/they/it shoots/shot’
i. paraialh-a-isa ‘s/he divides/divided’
j. parangetelh-a-isa ‘s/he/they/it cuts/cut off’
k. para-pii-pici-a-isa ‘s/he/they/it is cutting’
l. pati-lhalhusa-isa ‘s/he/they/it catches/caught the person’
m. pi-taa-tamu-isa ‘s/he/they/it keeps/kept on sacrificing’
n. pi-vaca-vacang-a-isa ‘s/he/they/it speaks/spoke nice words’

(6.84) -isa as a genitive pronoun

pai-tualh-a[-isa]A [valhituku]O.
find-ACHI-PV-3.GEN money
‘He found the money.’

(6.85) -isa as a third person agreement marker

pai-tualh-a-isai [alhainai=na]A [valhituku]O.
find-ACHI-PV-3.AGR woman=DEF money
‘The woman found the money.’

(6.86) saa-
a. saa-alhava-a ‘s/he/they/it brings/brought’
b. saa-cavu-a ‘s/he/they/it wraps/wrapped’
c. saa-culhu-a ‘s/he/they/it burns/burned; s/he/they/it
starts/started fire’

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 d. saa-i-kua-a ‘s/he/they/it prepares/prepared (water);
s/he/they/it sets/set (fire)’
e. saa-kii-kirim-a ‘s/he/they/it searches/searched’
f. saa-kilhamulhamu-a ‘s/he/they/it tells/told’
g. saa-paitualh-a ‘s/he/they/it finds/found’
h. saa-panu-a ‘s/he/they/it shoots/shot’
i. saa-paraialh-a ‘s/he/they/it divides/divided’
j. saa-parangetelh-a ‘s/he/they/it cuts/cut off’
k. saa-para-pii-pici-a ‘s/he/they/it is cutting’
l. saa-pati-lhalhusa ‘s/he/they/it catches/caught the person’
m. saa-pi-taa-tamu ‘s/he/they/it keeps/kept on sacrificing’
n. saa-pi-vaca-vacang-a ‘s/he/they/it speaks/spoke nice words’

(6.87) saa- as a genitive pronoun

[saa-]A panu-a=cu [a alemelhe]O.
3.GEN-shoot-PV=COS.ASP CORE wild.boar
‘He shot the wild boar.

(6.88) saa- as a third person agreement marker

saai-panu-a=cu [paliii]A [a alemelhe]O.
3.AGR-shoot-PV=COS.ASP male.name CORE wild.boar
‘Palii shot the wild boar.’

6.7 Lexical prefix copying

Lexical prefixes are well attested in some Formosan languages, such as Bunun
(Nojima 1996; Su 2007), Kanakanavu (Wu 2007), Saisiyat (M. Yeh 2003a), Siraya
(Adelaar 1997, 2004, Tsuchida 2000) and Tsou (Tsuchida 1976, 1990, H. Chang
2005). Similar phenomena can be attested in Lha’alua. C.-L. Li (2007, 2009)
discusses prefix concord in Lha’alua and its structural implications in terms of a
formalist account.

Adelaar (2004) makes a clear distinction between lexical prefixes and

anticipating sequences in Siraya. Lexical prefixes form a verb with the bound root
they are prefixed to. Anticipating sequences refer to the prefixed element which does
not necessarily exhibit a formal agreement with the following lexical verb, but can
also agree semantically or iconically. The distinction may be pertinent to Lha’alua.
However, I leave this question open, and tentatively treat ‘lexical prefixes vs.

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anticipating sequences’ in Siraya as ‘lexical prefixes vs. lexical prefix copying’ in
Lha’alua throughout the grammar.

In Lha’alua, lexical prefix copying can occur concomitantly with adverbial

elements like -sakave ‘stealthily’, -elese ‘together’ and -muamuare ‘slowly’, numerals
like -sua ‘two’ and adjectival elements like taisa ‘big’. They constitute uni-clause
constructions; namely, they are complex predicates involving a modifier verb (i.e. the
element consisting of a copied lexical prefix) and a lexical verb.

(6.89) a. kuri-a-saka-sakave=aku kuri-vuuru alemelhe maataata.

shoot-IRR-RED-stealthily=1SG.NOM shoot-bow wild.boar tomorrow
‘I will shoot a wild boar with a bow stealthily tomorrow.’
b. ku-a-elese=ita maataata um-u uuru.
eat-IRR-together=1PL.INCL.NOM tomorrow AV-eat rice
‘We will have a meal together tomorrow.’
(lit. We will eat rice together tomorrow.)
c. ki-a-elese=ita ki-mua-muare ki-mairange
dig-IRR-together=1PL.INCL.NOM dig-RED-slowly dig-sweet.potato
maataata.
tomorrow
‘We will slowly dig sweet potatoes together tomorrow.’
d. m-aa-muamuare=amu cu-ruvana m-ima mapaci.
AV-drink-slowly=1PL.EXCL.NOM IRR-evening AV-drink wine
‘We drank wine slowly this evening.’
e. m-ai-sa-sua=aku salia
AV-action.involving.hands-RED-two=1SG.NOM house
m-ai-ruruma cu-cailhi.
AV-action.involving.hands-BOUND.ROOT IRR-year
‘I will build two houses next year.’
f. palhu-a-ta-taisa=aku palhu-salhi cu-ruvana.
sing-IRR-RED-big=1SG.NOM sing-song IRR-evening
‘I will keep on singing songs loudly this evening.’

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216
 CHAPTER 7

TRANSITIVITY

This chapter employs Basic Linguistic Theory (Dixon 2010a, 2010b, 2012) to
describe transitivity and argument structure in Lha’alua. Some notions which are vital
to the discussion of transitivity and argument structures in Lha’alua are discussed in
the introduction.

(i) Core arguments vs. peripheral arguments. As outlined in Dixon (1979, 1994,
2010a, 2010b) and Dixon and Aikhenvald (2000), it is useful to distinguish between
core arguments and peripheral arguments. The number of core arguments is
determined by the predicate head, usually a verb or another word. The core arguments,
which are obligatory, must be overtly stated or can be covertly retrieved from the
context of discourse. The peripheral arguments (sometimes labeled ‘adjuncts’), which
are optional, are less dependent on the nature of the predicate head and cover things
like place, time, cause, purpose, and so on.

(ii) Valency vs. transitivity. Dixon and Aikhenvald (2000:3) distinguish valency and
transitivity. Valency relates to the number of arguments. A verb with one core
argument is called monovalent. A verb with two core arguments is called bivalent. A
verb with three arguments is called trivalent. Thus, (7.1a) is monovalent (with S),
(7.1b) and (7.1c) are bivalent ((b) with S and E and (c) with A and O), and (7.1d) is
trivalent. Transitivity relates to the clause type and the predicate, either intransitive
(with one core argument in S function) or transitive (with two core arguments in A
and O functions) and the plain and extended subtypes of each.

(7.1) Valency vs. transitivity

CLAUSE TYPE/PREDICATE CORE ARGUMENTS
a. plain intransitive S
b. extended intransitive S E
c. plain transitive A O
d. extended transitive A O E

The S, E, A and O four core arguments are prototypically defined as follows. S is

the sole argument of a canonical intransitive verb and the core argument of a bivalent
intransitive verb. E (indicating ‘extension to core’) is the second core argument of a

217
bivalent intransitive verb. A is the argument of a plain transitive verb, whose referent
does (or potentially could) initiate or control the activity. O is the argument of a plain
transitive verb, whose referent is saliently affected by the activity.

There are five possibilities in marking A, O, E, and peripheral arguments: (i)

there is distinct marking for each, (ii) E and peripheral argument(s) behave identically,
(iii) O and E are marked in the same way, (iv) there is no distinction among O, E, and
peripheral argument(s), and (v) there is no distinction between A and O, and E and
peripheral argument(s) behave identically.

Table 7.1: Possibilities in marking A, O, E, and peripheral arguments

peripheral
A O E for example
arguments
(i) i j k l Latin
(ii) i j k Jarawara
(iii) i j l Kinyarwanda
(iv) i j Creek
(v) i j Lha’alua

Lha’alua belongs to type (v). A and O are marked identically by the core case.
There is no distinction between E and peripheral arguments; they are marked by the
oblique case. This will be elaborated in detail in §7.1 and §7.2.

7.1 Verbal clause patterns and argument structure

A number of Philippine-type languages have four-way distinction in subject

choice, that is, Actor voice (AV), patient voice (PV), locative voice (LV), and
conveyance voice (CV). It is claimed by a number of Austronesianists, e.g. Schachter
(1987), French (1988), Zeitoun and Huang (1997), Himmelmann (2002, 2005),
among others, that in a Philippine-type voice system, the semantic role of the subject
(marked by the nominative case) is indicated by the affix on verb.42 Hence, AV
signals the subject whose semantic role is Actor. PV indicates the subject whose
semantic role is patient. LV signals the subject whose semantic role is location. CV
indicates the subject whose semantic role is the conveyed theme. In Lha’alua, there
are three types of voice: AV (marked by um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø-), PV (marked by -a/-ø),
and LV (marked by -a(na), -i or -ani) (see §6.3). The voice marker on verb can

42
Nonetheless, Ross and Teng (2005) and Yeh (2003a) state that there is no one-to-one
correspondence between the different undergoer-voice affixes and the semantic role of the subject that
a given affix marks.

218
determine the verbal clause type as well as the argument structure in Lha’alua.

There are three verbal clause patterns in Lha’alua: (i) Pattern 1: monovalent
intransitive clauses, marked by the Actor voice marker (um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø-), (ii)
Pattern 2: bivalent intransitive clauses, marked by the Actor voice marker
(um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø-), and (iii) Pattern 3: (a) bivalent transitive clauses, marked by the
patient voice marker (-a/-ø), and (b) bivalent applicative clauses, marked by the
locative voice marker (i.e. -a(na), -i or -ani). These three clause patterns are
represented schematically in Figure 7.1.

PATTERN 1: um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø-V (a/ka) N ((na) N)

Intransitive CORE OBL
S
Actor-like/patient-like
PATTERN 2: um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø-V (a/ka) N (na) N ((na) N)
Extended intransitive CORE OBL OBL
S E
Actor-like patient-like
PATTERN 3a: V-a/-ø (a/ka) N (a/ka) N ((na) N)
Transitive CORE CORE OBL
A O
Actor-like patient-like
PATTERN 3b: V-a(na)/-i/-ani (a/ka) N (a/ka) N ((na) N)
Applicative CORE CORE OBL
A O
Actor-like location

Figure 7.1: Verbal clause patterns and argument structures in Lha’alua

In Lha’alua, there are three grammatical mechanisms to mark core and peripheral
arguments: (i) constituent order (§7.2.1), (ii) construction markers (including topic
markers (§7.2.2.1), linkers (§7.2.2.2), and case marking system (§7.2.2.3)), (iii)
personal pronouns and agreement systems (§7.2.3). As shown in Figure 7.1,
constituent order is quite fixed; that is, it is VS (pattern 1) if intransitive, it is VSE
(pattern 2) if extended intransitive, it is VAO (pattern 3a and 3b) if transitive or
applicative. With respect to case marking, arguments in S function, A function, and O
function are marked as core. Arguments in E function and peripheral arguments are

219
marked as oblique. More detailed discussions on the three grammatical mechanisms
of marking core and peripheral arguments will be provided in §7.2.

In Figure 7.1, pattern 1 consisting of the Actor voice marker on verb is an

intransitive clause. Pattern 2 containing the Actor voice marker on verb is an extended
intransitive clause. Pattern 3a consisting of the Patient voice marker on verb is a
transitive clause. Pattern 3b containing the locative voice marker on verb is an
applicative clause. More discussions verbal clause types will be provided in §8.1.1.

In pattern 1, the monovalent lexical verbs are morphologically unmarked ø- or

have the morphological shape um-/<um>/u-/m-.

(7.2) PATTERN ø-V

1: um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø
a. um-ani=cu [a tamuciake]S.
AV-call=COS.ASP CORE frog
‘The frog called.’43
b. t<um>a-taa-tangi [a ’a’ai]S.
IRR<AV>-RED-cry CORE baby
‘The baby is crying.’
c. u-a-lhamare [a kana’a=na]S maataata.
AV-IRR-set.fire.to.a.mountain CORE 3.INDEP=DEF tomorrow
‘They will set fire to a mountain tomorrow.’
d. m-u-sala=cu [a lhaamaama]S.
AV-motion.on.foot-road=COS.ASP old.person
CORE
‘The old person passed away.’ (lit. The old person went/has gone.)
e. [kaamu]S, tu-a-puru=kia!
father sit.down-IRR-BOUND.ROOT=POLITE.REQUEST
‘Father, please sit down!’

In pattern 2, the bivalent lexical verbs, similar to the monovalent lexical verb in
pattern 1, are morphologically zero-marked or have the morphological shape
um-/<um>/u-/m-.

43
In order to highlight the pragmatically profiled argument conditioned by voice affixes, underline is
used in English translation in this thesis.

220
(7.3) PATTERN ø-V
2: um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø
a. um-a-urape [a lhaamaama ]S [na ’evecenge]E.
AV-IRR-sow CORE old.person OBL millet
‘The old people will sow millet.’
b. k<um>a-kii-kita [a eleke]S [sulhate]E.
RED<AV>-RED-look/see CORE female.name book/word/paper
‘Eleke will be doing homework.’
c. u-a-kii-kirimi[=aku]S [na laare]E cu-ruvana.
AV-IRR-RED-search=1SG.NOM OBL flying.squirrel IRR-evening
‘I will be searching for flying squirrels this evening.’
d. m-i<a>ma [malhipilhipi]S [salhumu]E.
AV-drink<IRR> duck water
‘The duck will drink water.’
e. lu<a>liulhu [a ma-m-a-ini]S [vanukanuka-isa]E.
change(AV)<IRR> CORE RED-AV-STAT-small pants-3.GEN
‘The child will change his pants.’

In patterns 3a, the bivalent lexical verbs are morphologically unmarked ø- or

have the morphological shape -a, respectively.

(7.4) PATTERN ø
3a: V-a/-ø
a. lhi-pu’a-isa [apee]A [kani’i eteve=na]O.
PERF.ASP-buy(PV)-3.AGR female.name this sugar.cane=DEF
‘Apee has bought the sugar cane.’
b. [kani’i pituka=na]O ia, lhi-vur-a-isa [pauli=na]A
this bracelet=DEF TOP PERF.ASP-give-PV-3.AGR male.name=DEF
ilhaku.
1SG.INDEP
‘Pauli gave me the bracelet.’ (lit. As for the bracelet, Pauli gave me.)
c. lhi-paru-tumulh-a [tavelhevelhe]O m-aa-pa-panara.
PERF.ASP-plant-a.lot-PV banana AV-BE:LOC/TEMP-RED-flat.area
‘A lot of bananas were planted on flat areas.’

In patterns 3b, the bivalent lexical verbs are marked by the locative voice marker
-a or -ana, respectively. Due to low frequency of occurrence in the texts and a high
degree of language and culture obsolescence, no distinction can be made between -a
and -ana.

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(7.5) PATTERN 3b: V-a(na)
a. racu’u salia ia, italuailipi-a[-lhamu]A [parana]O.
bamboo house TOP relax(in.a.cool.place)-LV-1PL.EXCL.GEN place
‘We relax in the bamboo house.’
(lit. As for the bamboo house, we relax in the place.)
b. lhi-aala-ana[-ku] A [a cacalaisa-isa tamu’u]O.
PERF.ASP-take-LV-1SG.GEN CORE stuff-3.AGR grandparent
‘I took grandparent’s stuff.’

In patterns 3b, in addition to -a or -ana, the bivalent lexical verbs can be marked
by the locative voice marker -i or -ani. The locative voice marker -i is affixed to a
trivalent verb, e.g. ‘give’. The locative voice marker -ani is affixed a lexical verb
occurring in interrogative constructions.

(7.6) PATTERN 3b: V-i

a-vur-i[-ta]A tautau [a sulhate a kani’i=na]O.
IRR-give-LV-1PL.INCL.GEN male.name CORE book LNK this=DEF
‘We will give Tautau this book.’

(7.7) PATTERN 3b: V-ani

ini pai-ta-tealh-ani?
where find-RED-ACHI-LV
‘Where can (it) be found?’ (lit. Where find?)

7.2 Grammatical mechanisms for marking core and peripheral arguments

Almost every language has some surface grammatical mechanism(s) for listeners
to recognise which arguments are core and which arguments are peripheral. Dixon
(2010b:119) outlines that “argument functions may be identified (i) through marking
on an NP which provides realisation of an argument—by choice from a system of case
inflections, or by adpositions, (ii) by the form of a bound pronoun which realises an
argument; this may attach either to the predicate or to some other constituent of the
clause, and (iii) by constituent order, as in English”.

Constituent order, construction markers (including topic markers, linkers, and

case marking system), personal pronouns, and agreement systems are all crucial
grammatical mechanisms for marking core and peripheral arguments in Lha’alua.
Each of them will be discussed in the following subsections, respectively.

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7.2.1 Constituent order

The discussion of constituent order is divided into four parts: the order of full
noun phrases (§7.2.1.1), the order of pronouns and agreement forms (§7.2.1.2), the
order of elements in possessive constructions (§7.2.1.3), and the position of a
topicalised constituent (§7.2.1.4).

7.2.1.1 The order of full noun phrases

The relative order between predicates and full noun phrases is discussed in this
section. In §7.2.1.2, the relative order between predicates and pronouns will be
discussed.

Lha’alua is a right-branching and predicate-initial language. In Lha’alua,

predicates can be either verbal or nonverbal. In a nonverbal clause, a nonverbal
predicate appears in clause-initial position. As shown in (7.8a) and (7.8b), the nominal
predicates lhalhusa-ku ‘my husband’ and ngiau-ku ‘my cat’ followed by the full noun
phrases cucu’u a kana’a ‘that person’ and kana’a ‘that’, respectively, occur
clause-initially.

(7.8) Nominal clause: NP (predicate) NP (core)

a. lhalhusa-ku a cucu’u a kana’a.
man-1SG.GEN CORE person LNK that
‘That person is my husband.’
b. ngiau-ku ka kana’a.
cat-1SG.GEN CORE that
‘That is my cat.’

Verbal clauses can be headed by a lexical verb or verbs of various sorts, such as
existential verbs (§8.1.3), negative verbs (§6.5), and adverbial verbs (§3.3). In a
pragmatically unmarked verbal clause, the main verbal predicate precedes all other
elements, e.g. noun phrases, dependent verbs, etc, as shown in (7.9) and (7.10).

223
(7.9) Verbal clause headed by an existential verb:
m-a-aru a ma-m-a-ini-ku.
AV-STAT-exist CORE RED-AV-STAT-small-1SG.GEN
‘I have a child/children.’ (lit. My child/children exist(s).)

(7.10) Verbal clause headed by a negative verb:

uka’a ka ma-m-a-ini-isa na vilangane.
NEG CORE RED-AV-STAT-small-3.GEN OBL place.name
‘Her/his child is not at Vilangane (Chinese name: Guohe 過河).’

In a clause containing more than one verbal predicate, it is the first verbal
predicate in the string of verbal predicates that is treated as the main predicate. (The
main predicate is the element whereby bound pronouns, aspectual markers, and
modality markers are attracted to.) In other words, in clauses containing both one (or
more) verb (e.g. existential, negative, and adverbial) and a lexical verb, the first verb
in the string is the main verbal predicate, whereas all the other verbal predicates
including other verbs and the lexical verb are all dependent verbs. Lexical verbs are
eligible to be the main verbal predicate of a clause if and only if there are no verbs
(e.g. existential, negative, and adverbial) in the same clause.

In clauses including more than one verbal predicate, the main predicate (i.e. an
existential verb, a negative verb or an adverbial verb) occurs clause initially and is
followed by other verbs (if any) and then by a lexical verb. As shown in (7.11), the
main predicate ku ‘not’ occurs in clause-initial position and is followed by the
adverbial verb karekelhe ‘often’ and then by the lexical verb pari-a-varate. Similarly,
as shown in (7.12), the main predicate karekelhe ‘often’ occurs in clause-initial
position and is followed by the lexical verb um-a-usalhe ‘rain’.

(7.11) Verbal clause headed by a negative verb:

ku karekelhe pari-a-varate kiariari.
NEG often blow-A-wind past
‘There were no typhoons frequently in the past.’
(lit. (It) didn’t typhoon often in the past)

(7.12) Verbal clause headed by an adverbial verb:

karekelhe um-a-usalhe kani’i.
often AV-IRR-rain this/now
‘(It) often rains now.’

224
 In addition, in clauses consisting of more than one verbal predicate, the noun
phrase in A/S function always occurs immediately after the main predicate (i.e. an
adverbial verb), rather than immediately after the lexical verb. As shown in (7.13),
the noun phrase ma-m-a-ini ‘child’ in A function occurs immediately after the main
predicate karekelhe ‘often’.

(7.13) Verbal clause headed by an adverbial verb:

karekelhe [a ma-m-a-ini]A l<um>a-levenge valhituku.
often CORE RED-AV-STAT-small=DEF RED<AV>conceal money
‘The children often conceal money.’

However, in clauses consisting of more than one verbal predicate, while the main
predicate is a negative verb, the noun phrase in A/S function occurs either
immediately after the main predicate or immediately after the lexical verb. As shown
in (7.14a), the noun phrase ma-m-a-ini ‘child’44 in S function occurs immediately
after the main predicate ku ‘not’. In (7.14b), the noun phrase ma-m-a-ini ‘child’ in S
function occurs immediately after the lexical verb a-tangi ‘cry’.

(7.14) Verbal clause headed by a negative verb:

a. ku [a ma-m-a-ini=na]S karekelhe m-asi-lha’a-lha’alua.
NEG CORE RED-AV-STAT-small=DEF often AV-speak-RED-Lha’alua
‘The children do not often speak Lha’alua.’
b. ku=cu a-tangi [a ma-m-a-ini=na]S.
NEG=COS.ASP IRR-cry CORE RED-AV-STAT-small=DEF
‘The child does not cry anymore.’

Having discussed the relative order between various types of verbal predicates
and noun phrases, the relative order between verbal predicates and full noun phrases
in various verbal clause patterns is discussed as follows.

In the monovalent intransitive clause, marked by the Actor voice marker

(um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø-), a verb occurs clause initially and is followed by an NP in S
function (core-marked if the case marker is present), which in turn can be optionally
followed by a locative NP (oblique-marked if the case marker is present) or a

44
When a noun is in singular form, the meaning of either singularity or plurality is derived from the
context. In this case, the noun is glossed as singular. However, when a noun is in plural form (almost
always marked via reduplication), the meaning is always related to plurality only. In this case, the noun
is glossed as a plural one.

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temporal expression. In example (a), in a monovalent um- intransitive clause, the verb
lhi-um-aceka ‘got up’ occurs clause initially and is followed by the NP ma-m-a-ini
‘child’ in S function, and then by a temporal expression kimatata eneme pakiaturua
‘at six o’clock in the morning’. In example (b), in a monovalent <um> intransitive
clause, the verb s<um>a-suu-sulhate ‘writing’ occurs clause initially and is followed
by the NP amalhe ‘male name’ in S function. In example (c), in a monovalent u-
intransitive clause, the verb lhi-u-lhamare ‘set fire to a mountain’ occurs in
clause-initial position and precedes the NP lhaamaama ‘old person’ in S function, and
then by the temporal expression kiira ‘yesterday’. In example (d), in a monovalent m-
intransitive clause, the verb m-alusapi=cu ‘has slept’ occurs in clause-initial position
and precedes the NP ’a’ai ‘baby’ in S function. In example (e), in a monovalent ø-
intransitive clause, the verb tu-a-puru ‘will sit down’ appears clause-initially and
precedes the NP lhaamaama ‘old person’ in S function.

(7.15) Monovalent intransitive clause, marked by the Actor voice marker

(um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø ø-)
a. lhi-um-aceka [ma-m-a-ini]S kimatata eneme
PERF.ASP-AV-get.up RED-AV-STAT-small morning six
pakiaturua.
o’clock/teacher
‘The child got up at six o’clock in the morning.’
b. s<um>a-suu-sulhate [a amalhe]S.
RED<AV>-RED-book/paper/word CORE male.name
‘Amalhe is writing.’
c. lhi-u-lhamare [a lhaamaama]S kiira.
PERF.ASP-AV-set.fire.to.a.mountain CORE old.person yesterday
‘The old person set fire to a mountain yesterday.’
d. m-alusapi=cu [a ’a’ai]S.
AV-sleep=COS.ASP CORE baby
‘The baby has slept.’
e. tu-a-puru [ka lhaamaama]S.
sit.down-IRR-BOUND.ROOT CORE old.person
‘The old person will sit down.’

In the bivalent intransitive clause, marked by the Actor voice marker

(um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø-), a verb occurs clause initially and is followed first by an NP in S
function (core-marked if the case marker is present), and then by an NP in E function
(oblique-marked if the case marker is present), which in turn can be optionally

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followed by a locative NP (oblique-marked if the case marker is present) or a
temporal expression. When a locative NP or a temporal expression occurs, it can
appear either immediately before or immediately after the NP in E function. In
example (a), in a bivalent intransitive clause marked by um-, the verb um-a-ulhi ‘will
borrow’ occurs clause initially and is followed first by the NP ’angai ‘male name’ in S
function, then by the NP sulhati-u ‘your book’ in E function, and then by the temporal
NP maataata ‘tomorrow’. In example (b), in a bivalent <um> intransitive clause, the
verb l<um>a-lemeke ‘will plant’ occurs clause initially and is followed first by the
NP eleke ‘female name’ in S function, then by the NP mairange ‘sweet potatoes’ in E
function, and then by the temporal expression cu-cailhi ‘next year’. In example (c), in
a bivalent u- intransitive clause, the verb u-a-pana ‘will hunt’ occurs in clause-initial
position and precedes the NP lhalhusa ‘men’ in S function and then by the NP vutulhu
‘deer’ in E function. In example (d), in a bivalent u- intransitive clause, the verb
m-i<a>ma ‘will drink ’ occurs in clause-initial position and precedes the NP ’angai
‘male name’ in S function, and then by the NP mapaci ‘wine’ in E function. In
example (e), in a bivalent ø- intransitive clause, the verb lhi-luliulhu ‘have changed’
appears clause-initially and precedes the NP cucu takua-’i-’iare ‘workers’ in S
function and then the NP tikuru-isa ‘their clothes’ in E function.

(7.16) Bivalent intransitive clause, marked by the Actor voice marker

(um-/<um>/u-/m-/øø-)
a. um-a-ulhi [’angai ]S [sulhati-u]E maataata.
AV-IRR-borrow male.name book-2SG.GEN tomorrow
‘’angai will borrow your book tomorrow.’
b. l<um>a-lemeke [a eleke]S [mairange]E cu-cailhi.
IRR<AV>-plant CORE female.name sweet.potato IRR-year
‘Eleke will plant sweet potatoes next year.’
c. u-a-pana [lhalhusa]S [na vutulhu]E.
AV-IRR-shoot/hunt man OBL deer
‘The men will hunt deer.’
d. m-i<a>ma [’angai]S [mapaci]E.
AV-drink<IRR> male.name wine
‘’angai will drink wine.’
e. lhi-luliulhu [a cucu takua-’i-’iare]S [tikuru-isa]E.
PERF.ASP-change(AV) CORE person work-RED-BOUND.ROOT clothes-3.GEN
‘The workers have changed their clothes.’

In the bivalent transitive clause, marked by the patient voice marker (-a/-ø), a

227
verb occurs clause initially and is followed first by an NP in A function (core-marked
if the case marker is present) and then by an NP in O function (core-marked if the
case marker is present), which in turn can be optionally followed by a locative NP
(oblique-marked if the case marker is present) or a temporal expression. When a
locative NP or a temporal expression occurs, it can appear either immediately before
or immediately after the NP in O function. In example (a), in a bivalent a- transitive
clause, the verb pai-pekel-a ‘mould’ occurs clause initially and is followed first by the
NP alhaina ‘woman’ in A function, and then by the NP tangusulhu ‘rice cake’ in O
function and by the temporal expression kiira ‘yesterday’. In example (b), in a
bivalent -ø transitive clause, the verb aala ‘take’ occurs in clause-initial position and
precedes the NP ’angai ‘male name’ in A function, and then by the NP vutukulhu
‘fish’ in O function and by the locative NP lhuulhungu ‘stream’.

ø)
(7.17) Bivalent transitive clause, marked by the patient voice marker (-a/-ø
a. lhi-pai-pekel-a=cu [a
PERF.ASP-action.involving.hands-BOUND.ROOT-PV=COS.ASP CORE
alhaina]A [ka tangusulhu=na]O kiira.
woman CORE rice.cake=DEF yesterday
‘Women finished molding the rice cake yesterday.’
b. lhi-aala [’angai]A [vutukulhu]O na lhuulhungu.
PERF.ASP-take(PV) male.name fish OBL stream
‘’angai has caught the fish in a stream.’

In the bivalent transitive clause, marked by the locative voice marker (i.e. -a(na)),
like in the bivalent transitive clause (marked by the patient voice marker (-a/-ø)), a
verb occurs clause initially and is followed first by an NP in A function (core-marked
if the case marker is present) and then by an NP in O function (core-marked if the
case marker is present), which in turn can be optionally followed by a locative NP
(oblique-marked if the case marker is present) or a temporal expression. Again, like in
the bivalent transitive clause (marked by the patient voice marker (-a/-ø)), when a
locative NP or a temporal expression occurs, it can appear either immediately before
or immediately after the NP in O function. The difference between the bivalent -a(na)
transitive clause and the bivalent -a/-ø transitive clause lies in the fact that for the
former, the semantic role of the NP in O function is location, whereas for the latter,
the semantic role of the NP in O function is patient.

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(7.18) Bivalent transitive clause, marked by the locative voice marker (i.e.
-a(na))
a. lhi-aala-ana[-lhamu] A [a masu’u-isa alhalua]O.
PERF.ASP-take-LV-1PL.EXCL.GEN CORE fruit-3.AGR elder.sibling
‘We took elder sibling’s fruit.’
b. racu’u salia ia, italuailipi-a[-ku]A [parana]O.
bamboo house TOP relax(in.a.cool.place)-LV-1SG.GEN place
‘I relax in the bamboo house.’
(lit. As for the bamboo house, I relax in the place.)

7.2.1.2 The order of pronouns and agreement forms

Having discussed the relative order between the predicate and a full noun phrase
in §7.2.1.1, I now turn to the discussion of the relative order between the predicate
and a pronoun and between the predicate and an agreement form.

Basically, there are two main sets of pronouns in Lha’alua: free (i.e. independent)
pronouns and bound (i.e. affix and clitic) pronouns. Free pronouns do not behave
differently from full noun phrases in terms of constituent order; hence, they are not
included in the discussion here. Bound pronouns are further classified as genitive
pronouns (indicating non-subject Actors (i.e. A function) in NAV constructions and
possessors in possessive constructions), nominative pronouns (indicating arguments
in S function), and agreement forms (only the third person in patient voice
constructions). Since only one bound pronoun (either genitive or nominative) is
attached to the main predicate, there is no issue concerning the relative order between
genitive and nominative pronouns. Detailed discussion of pronouns will be provided
in §7.2.3. In this section, only the order of pronouns and also agreement forms is
discussed.

Nominative pronouns are phonologically attached to the main predicate of a

clause. When the main predicate of a clause is a lexical verb, a nominative pronoun is
cliticised to the lexical predicate; when the main predicate of a clause is a negative
verb or an adverbial verb, a bound pronoun is cliticised to the main predicate, rather
than the lexical verb.

Genitive pronouns can be attached to arguments in possessive constructions.

Since the constituent order of Lha’alua is either Pred S (E) or Pred A O, genitive
pronouns referring to the possessor in possessive constructions always occur after

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nominative pronouns. The order of elements in possessive constructions will be
discussed in §7.2.1.3.

Besides, genitive pronouns when functioning as A arguments are phonologically

attached to the lexical verb of a clause. When the main predicate of a clause is a
lexical verb, a genitive pronoun is affixed to the lexical predicate; when the main
predicate of a clause is a negative verb or an adverbial verb, a genitive pronoun does
not occur.

Specifically, in clauses including only one verbal predicate (i.e. a lexical verb),
the first, second, and third person pronoun in A function (marked as genitive) and the
first and second person pronoun in S function (marked as nominative) are always
immediately attached to the lexical verb which is the main predicate. Note that there
is no third person pronoun in S function (marked as nominative) in Lha’alua, and this
constitute an accidental gap in Lha’alua pronoun system. As shown in (7.19a)-( 7.19c),
the three personal pronouns -ta ‘1PL.INCL.GEN’, -mu ‘2PL.GEN’, and -isa ‘3.GEN’ in A
function immediately attach to the lexical verbs a-vur-i ‘will give’, lhi-aala ‘have
taken’, and a-vur-i ‘will give’, respectively. Similarly, as illustrated in (7.20a) and
(7.20b), the two personal pronouns =amu ‘1PL.EXCL.NOM’ and =mu ‘2PL.NOM’ in S
function immediately attach to the lexical verbs um-au-a-u ‘are eating’ and
t<um>a-taa-tapai ‘are drawing’, respectively.

(7.19) Verbal clause headed by a lexical verb: the first, second, and third person
pronoun in A function (marked as genitive)
a. a-vur-i[-ta]A ’aavi [a vutukulhu a
IRR-give-LV-1PL.INCL.GEN male.name CORE fish LNK
kani’i=na]O.
this=DEF
‘We will give ’aavi this fish.’
b. lhi-aala[-mu]A [vutukulhu]O.
PERF.ASP-take(PV)-2PL.GEN fish
‘You have caught the fish.’
c. a-vur-i[-isa]A amalhe [a kani’i=na]O.
IRR-give-LV-3.GEN male.name CORE this=DEF
‘They will give Amalhe this.’

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(7.20) Verbal clause headed by a lexical verb: the first and second person
pronoun in S function (marked as nominative)
a. um-au-a-u[=amu]S [uuru]E.
AV-RED-IRR-eat=1PL.EXCL.NOM rice
‘We are eating rice.’
b. t<um>a-taa-tapai[=mu]S kani’i.
RED<AV>-RED-draw=2PL.NOM this/now
‘You are drawing now.’

However, in clauses consisting of more than one verbal predicate, the first and
second person pronoun in S function (marked as nominative) are always immediately
attached to the main predicate (i.e. an existential verb, a negative verb, or an adverbial
verb), rather than immediately after the lexical verb. As shown in (7.21a) and (7.21b),
the personal pronouns =aku ‘1SG.NOM’ and =ita ‘1PL.INCL.NOM’ in S function are
immediately attached to the negative verb ku ‘not’. Analogously, as shown in (7.22a)
and (7.22b), the personal pronouns =amu ‘1PL.EXCL.NOM’ and =u ‘2SG.NOM’ in S
function are immediately attached to the adverbial verb karekelhe ‘often’.

(7.21) Verbal clause headed by a negative verb

a. ku[=aku]S a-vura=’ai isana valhituku.
NEG=1SG.NOM IRR-give =MOD 3.INDEP money
‘Perhaps I will not give him/her money.’
b. ku[=ita]S u-a-sala m-alhu-kua
NEG=1PL.INCL.NOM motion.on.foot-IRR-road AV-get.to-get.to
[na vilangane]E.
OBL place.name
‘We will not go to Vilangane (Chinese name: Guohe 過河).’

(7.22) Verbal clause headed by an adverbial verb

a. karekelhe[=amu]S m-u-saa-sala.
often=1PL.EXCL.NOM AV-motion.on.foot-RED-road
‘We often walk.’
b. karikilhi [=u]S lh<um>a-lhavu [tikuru]E.
often=2SG.NOM RED<AV>-wash clothes
‘You often wash clothes.’

In Lha’alua, when a clause includes more than one verbal predicate (i.e. an
existential verb, a negative verb, or an adverbial verb), the first, second, and third

231
person pronoun in A function (marked as genitive), unlike a clause with only one
predicate (i.e. a lexical verb), cannot be attached to the main predicate occurring in
the sentence-initial position.

(7.23) Verbal clause headed by a negative verb

*ku-ku a-vura=’ai isana valhituku.
NEG-1SG.GEN IRR-give =MOD 3.INDEP money
‘Perhaps I will not give him/her money.’

(7.24) Verbal clause headed by an adverbial verb

*karekelhe-lhamu m-u-saa-sala.
often-1PL.EXCL.GEN AV-motion.on.foot-RED-road
‘We often walk.’

Owing to the particular selectivity to host, genitive pronouns are analysed as

affixes; in contrast, nominative pronouns are analysed as clitics in that they are not
selective with respect to their host.

Having discussed the order between predicate and pronoun, I now turn to the
discussion of the order between predicate and agreement form.

Agreement forms differ from nominative bound pronouns (i.e. clitics) in their
distribution in two respects. Firstly, agreement forms are selective in their choice of
host, whereas nominative bound pronouns are not. The host that a nominative bound
pronoun is cliticised to can be a predicate of various sorts, e.g. verbal (such as an
existential verb, a negative verb, an adverbial verb or a lexical verb) or nonverbal, etc.
For instance, the host that a nominative bound pronoun attaches to is a negative verb
in (7.25), a degree word in (7.26), and a nominal predicate in (7.27). However, as
shown in (7.28), the host that an agreement form attaches to can only be the bivalent
verb (marked by the patient voice marker -a); it cannot be an existential verb, a
negative verb, an adverbial verb, a nominal predicate, etc.

(7.25) Verbal clause: a nominative bound pronoun cliticises to a negative verb

ku=aku palhu-salhi.
NEG=1SG.NOM sing-song
‘I didn’t sing.’

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(7.26) Verbal clause: a nominative bound pronoun cliticises to a degree word
tam=cu=aku m-a-alha.
very=COS.ASP=1SG.NOM AV-STAT-hungry
‘I am very hungry.’

(7.27) Nominal clause: a nominative bound pronoun cliticises to a nominal

predicate
kaa-relhece=aku.
person.of-place.name=1SG.NOM
‘I am a person of Kaochung Village (Chinese name:高中村).’

(7.28) An agreement form attaches to the bivalent verb, marked by the patient
ø
voice -a/-ø
a. i<a>ma-isa na’apu salhumu.
drink(PV)<IRR>-3.AGR female.name water
‘Na’apu will drink the water.’
b. saa-ia-pual-a na’apu a likilhi
3.AGR-thrust/push-BOUND.ROOT-PV female.name CORE vehicle
kiira.
yesterday
‘Na’apu pushed the vehicle yesterday.’

Secondly, while nominative bound pronouns attach after their host, the
agreement form saa- attaches before its host. As illustrated in (7.29), the nominative
bound pronoun =amu ‘1PL.EXCL.NOM’ follows its host, but in (7.30), the agreement
form saa- precedes its host.

(7.29) A nominative bound pronouns attaches after its host

palhu-a-saa-salhi=amu.
sing-IRR-RED-song=1PL.EXCL.NOM
‘We are singing.’

(7.30) The agreement form saa- attaches before its host

saa-panu-a=cu amalhe a alemelhe.
3.AGR-shoot-PV=COS.ASP male.name CORE wild.boar
‘Amalhe shot the wild boar.’

Similarly, agreement forms show two distributional differences, compared with

233
genitive bound pronouns (i.e. affixes). Firstly, while genitive bound pronouns always
attach after their verbal host, the agreement form saa- always attaches before its
verbal host. As illustrated in (7.31), the genitive bound pronoun -ta ‘1PL.INCL.GEN’
follows its host, but in (7.32), the agreement form saa- precedes its host.

(7.31) A genitive bound pronoun attaches after its host

i<a>ma-ta salhumu.
drink(PV)<IRR>-1PL.INCL.GEN water
‘We will drink the water.’

(7.32) The agreement form saa- attaches before its host

saa-panu-a elengane um-aru-mia lhalhitu a
3.AGR-shoot-PV male.name AV-use-BOUND.ROOT gun CORE
alemelhe=na.
wild.boar=DEF
‘Elengane shot the wild boar with a gun.’

Secondly, the agreement form -isa, like genitive bound pronouns, always
attaches after its nominal host in possessive constructions; however, the attachment to
its host of agreement form saa- in possessive constructions is not allowed. In other
words, only the agreement form -isa can be used in possessive constructions. As
illustrated in (7.33) and (7.34), the genitive bound pronoun -ku ‘1SG.GEN’ and the
agreement form -isa follow their hosts respectively, while in (7.35), the occurrence of
agreement form saa- produces an ungrammatical sentence.

(7.33) A genitive bound pronoun attaches after its host

ku ausi lhalhusa-ku a kana’a.
NEG possible man-1SG.GEN CORE that
‘It is not possible that that is my husband.’

(7.34) The agreement form -isa attaches after its host

i<a>ma-lhamu salhumu-isa na’apu.
drink(PV)<IRR>-1PL.EXCL.GEN water-3.AGR female.name
‘We will drink Na’apu’s water.’

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(7.35) The agreement form saa- attaches before its host
*i<a>ma-lhamu saa-salhumu na’apu.
drink(PV)<IRR>-1PL.EXCL.GEN 3.AGR-water female.name
‘We will drink Na’pu’s water.’

7.2.1.3 The order of elements in possessive constructions

This section centres on the discussion on the order between possessors and
possessed nouns in possessive constructions.

In Lha’alua, possessive constructions resemble unmarked main clause structures

in having the head noun occur before its attribute. In a single-possessor possessive
construction, the head noun (i.e. the possessed noun) precedes the dependent noun (i.e.
the possessor). The possessor in possessive constructions can be expressed by a bare
noun as in (7.36), a genitive case-marked noun as in (7.37) and (7.38), and a genitive
pronoun as in (7.39).

(7.36) Single-possessor possessive construction: Nhead [Npossessor]

i<a>ma-isa ka tamu-ku ’ususu [kalavungu]
drink(PV)<IRR>-3.AGR CORE grandparent-1SG.GEN milk cattle
ia, m-arakaaka=cu.
TOP AV-off/broken=COS.ASP
‘The cow milk my grandparent will drink is off.’
(lit. As for the cow milk my grandparent will drink, (it is) off.)

(7.37) Single-possessor possessive construction: Nhead [aGEN Npossessor]

pai-tealh-a=cu a valhituku [a langui].
find-ACHI-PV=COS.ASP CORE money GEN female.name
‘Langui’s money has been found.’

(7.38) Single-possessor possessive construction: Nhead [kaGEN Npossessor]

karekelhe a eleke k<um>a-kii-kita salia-isa [ka
often CORE female.name RED<AV>-RED-look/see house-3.AGR GEN
langui].
female.name
‘Eleke often guards Lanui’s house.’

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(7.39) Single-possessor possessive construction: Nhead [-Genpossessor (first, second or third person)]
a. ku tukucu[-ku] a kana’a.
NEG friend-1SG.GEN CORE 3.INDEP
‘He is not my friend.’
b. araa-tavulhiu a tikuru[-u].
INCH-red CORE clothes-2SG.GEN
‘Your clothes become red.’
c. maacu a ungulhu[-isa] ia, m-a-tavulhiu meemea.
concerning LNK foot(animal)-3.GEN TOP AV-STAT-red all
‘Concerning its feet, (they are) all red.’

In a multiple-possessor possessive construction, the possessed noun phrase

precedes the dependent noun phrases, and each dependent noun phrase can contain a
further possessed noun followed by a possessor, as in (7.40) and (7.41).

(7.40) Multiple-possessor possessive construction

maacu a viravira-isa [vungu[-isa]] ia, m-a-tavulhiu.
concerning LNK rooster’s.comb-3.AGR head-3.GEN TOP AV-STAT-red
‘Concerning the rooster’s comb of its head, (it is) red.’

(7.41) Multiple-possessor possessive construction

lhi-k<um>ita=aku ’alhingu-isa [ka ma-m-a-ini
PERF.ASP-look/see<AV>=1SG.NOM shadow-3.AGR GEN RED-AV-STAT-small
[langui]].
female.name
‘I saw a shadow of Langui’s children.’

One thing to be noted from the above examples is that the head-dependent
relationship between a possessed noun and its possessor in a possessive construction
is principally determined by word order (i.e. head first then dependent), rather than by
case marking. The reason is that the possessor in possessive constructions can be
expressed by a genitive pronoun as in (7.39), a genitive case-marked noun as in (7.37)
and (7.38), or a bare noun as in (7.36).

Also notice that the agreement form -isa can be attached to the possessed noun.
When it occurs, its function is to agree with the possessor.

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(7.42) Single-possessor possessive construction: Nhead [Npossessor]
lhi-k<um>ita=aku ’alhingu-isa [elekel
PERF.ASP-see<AV>=1SG.NOM shadow-3.AGR female.name
‘I saw Eleke’s shadow.’

(7.43) Single-possessor possessive construction: Nhead [kaGEN Npossessor]

karekelhe a eleke m-u-a-saa-sala
often CORE female.name AV-motion.on.foot-IRR-RED-road
m-alhu-kua salia-isa [ka langui].
AV-get.to-get.to house-3.AGR GEN female.name
‘Eleke often goes to Langui’s house.’

(7.44) Multiple-possessor possessive construction

maacu a viravira-isa [vungu[-isa]] ia, m-a-tavulhiu.
concerning LNK rooster’s.comb-3.AGR head-3.GEN TOP AV-STAT-red
‘Concerning the rooster’s comb of its head, (it is) red.’

7.2.1.4 The position of a topicalised constituent

While the basic constituent order in clauses is predicate-initial, Lha’alua has an

alternative ordering pattern in which another constituent (i.e. a core argument in
bivalent intransitive clause in S function, a core argument in bivalent transitive clause
in A function, a peripheral locative argument, or a peripheral temporal argument)
precedes the predicate. This constituent is labeled a topic. In this grammar, the term
‘topic’ is employed and used in the sense in which Vallduví (1992:47-48) uses ‘link’:
it tells the addressee what the new information in the sentence relates to; it usually
marks a discourse entity that is not mentioned in the immediately preceding discourse.

In Lha’alua, a topic is indicated by its pre-predicate position, the topic marker

a/ia and an intervening pause (indicated by a comma in this grammar). In
(7.45)-(7.48), a core argument ama’a ‘father’ in bivalent intransitive clause in S
function, a core argument talhiulu ‘barn’ in bivalent transitive clause in A function, a
peripheral locative argument lhilhala ‘Yanershe’, and a peripheral temporal argument
‘kani’i ‘now’ are topicalised and moved to sentence-initial (i.e. pre-predicate) position,
respectively.

237
(7.45) Topicalisation of a core argument in bivalent intransitive clause in S
function
ama’a=na ia, m-ari-a-vakese tasau.
father=DEF TOP AV-hand/head.motion-IRR-BOUND.ROOT dog
‘Father will beat a dog.’ (lit. As for the father, (he) will beat a dog.)

(7.46) Topicalisation of a core argument in bivalent transitive clause in A

function
talhiulu ia, aru-a-mia
barn TOP use-IRR-BOUND.ROOT
m-i-kua lhita’iarana.
AV-action.concerning.location-BOUND.ROOT farm.product
‘The barn is used to put farm products.’
(lit. As for the barn, (it is) used to put farm products.)

(7.47) Topicalisation of a peripheral locative argument

lhilhala ia, la-lima=mana
ethnic.community.name TOP RED-five=IMPERF.ASP
m-a-calhia m-asi-lha’a-lha’alua kani’i kana’a
AV-STAT-be.able.to AV-speak-RED-Lha’alua this PAUSE.FILLER
lhilhala.
ethnic.community.name
‘Still five people are able to speak Lha’alua in this Lhilhala (Chinese
name: Yanershe 雁爾社).’
(lit. As for the Lhilhala, still five people are able to speak Lha’alua in this
Lhilhala.)

(7.48) Topicalisation of a peripheral temporal argument

kani’i ia, ku karekelhe a-kii-kirimi alemelhe.
this/now TOP NEG often IRR-RED-search/hunt wild.boar
‘Now, (we do) not often hunt wild boars.’
(lit. As for now, (we do) not often hunt wild boars.)

Note that in Lha’alua, a topicalised constituent very often leaves a gap in its
original position. However, this generalisation does not hold at all times. For example,
as having shown in (7.47), the topicalised peripheral locative argument lhilhala
‘Yanershe’ does not leave a gap in its original position; instead, it occurs twice: one in
the topicalisation position and the other in the original (i.e. in-situ) position.

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 The topicalised constituent is not limited to occurrence in a verbal clause pattern.
In a nonverbal clause, a nonverbal predicate appears in clause-initial position. As
shown in (7.49), a nominal predicate followed by a full noun phrase occurs
clause-initially. The sole argument (i.e. core full noun phrase) in a nominal clause can
be topicalised and moved to the sentence-initial position. As shown in (7.50), the core
full phrase kana’a=na ‘3.INDEP=DEF’ is topicalised and appears in sentence-initial
position.

(7.49) Nominal clause: NP (predicate) NP (core)

alhaina-ku a cucu’u a kana’a.
woman/wife-1SG.GEN CORE person LNK that
‘That person is my wife.’

(7.50) Topicalisation of a sole core argument (i.e. core full noun phrase in a
nominal clause)
kana’a=na ia, pakiaturua.
3.INDEP=DEF TOP teacher
‘He is a teacher.’ (lit. As for him, (he is) a teacher.)

The topicalised constituent is not limited to a noun phrase; it can be a verb

phrase or a clause. As illustrated in (7.51), the verb phrase m-iungu kani’i ‘came here’
is topicalised. Analogously, as shown in (7.52a) and (7.52b), the clauses maacu a
vilangane ‘concerning Guohe (Chinese name: 過 河 )’ and maacu a
m-a-ca-calhia=mana m-asi-lha’a-lha’alua ‘concerning still being able to speak
Lha’alua’ are topicalised, respectively.

(7.51) Topicalisation of a verb phrase

m-i-ungu kani’i ia, ausi
AV-action.concerning.location-BOUND.ROOT this /here TOP perhaps
lailha=cu usua pilhingi.
ten=COS.ASP two clan
‘Perhaps twelve clans already arrived here.’
(lit. As for arriving here, perhaps already twelve clans.)

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(7.52) Topicalisation of a clause
a. maacu a vilangane ia, a-upati=cu a
concerning LNK place.name TOP RED-four=COS.ASP LNK
m-a-calhia m-asi-lha’a-lha’alua.
AV-STAT-be.able.to AV-speak-RED-Lha’alua
‘Concerning Vilangane (Chinese name: Guohe 過河), four people are able
to speak Lha’alua.’
b. maacu a m-a-ca-calhia=mana
concerning LNK AV-STAT-RED-be.able.to=IMPERF.ASP
m-asi-lha’a-lha’alua ia, umara-maalhi=cu=’ai=maanai ka
AV-speak-RED-Lha’alua TOP human-ten=COS.ASP=MOD=MOD LNK
m-a-calhia m-asi-lha’a-lha’alua n kani’i
AV-STAT-be.able.to AV-speak-RED-Lha’alua OBL this
kaa-relhece=na.
person.of-place.name=DEF
‘Concerning still being able to speak Lha’alua, perhaps ten people of
Relhece (Chinese name: Kaochung 高中) are able to speak Lha’alua.’

A sentence can have more than one topic. As shown in (7.53), there are two
topics in a sentence: the temporal peripheral argument kiira ‘yesterday’ and the verb
phrase lhi-u-pana ’ukui ‘shot a goat’.

(7.53) More than one topic: a peripheral argument precedes a verb phrase
[kiira] ia, [lhi-u-pana ’ukui] ia, ama-kuu45.
yesterday TOP PERF.ASP-AV-shoot goat TOP father-1SG.GEN
‘My father shot a goat yesterday.’
(lit. As for yesterday, as for shooting a goat, my father (did it).)

When a sentence has more than one topic, the preferred order of the topics is that
a peripheral argument precedes a core argument or a verb phrase. As shown in (7.53),
the temporal peripheral argument kiira ‘yesterday’ is followed by the verb phrase
lhi-u-pana ’ukui ‘shot a goat’. If a peripheral argument does not precede a core
argument or a verb phrase, they can still be topicalised all together and treated as one
topic only. As shown in (7.54), the temporal peripheral argument kiira ‘yesterday’
does not precede but follows the verb phrase lhi-u-pana ’ukui ‘shot a goat’; therefore,
there is only one topic lhi-u-pana ’ukui kiira ‘shot a goat yesterday’.

45
-ku ‘1SG.GEN’ here is lengthened as -kuu in the text. It is likely that there is a pragmatic implication.

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(7.54) Only one topic: a peripheral argument does not precede a verb phrase
[lhi-u-pana ’ukui kiira] ia, ama-kuu.
PERF.ASP-AV-shoot goat yesterday TOP father-1SG.GEN
‘My father shot a goat yesterday.’
(lit. As for shooting a goat yesterday, my father (did it).)

7.2.2 Construction markers

Three types of construction markers are identified in Lha’alua: (i) topic markers,
(ii) linkers, and (iii) case markers. The first two types of construction markers are
discussed in §7.2.2.1 and in §7.2.2.2, respectively. The case markers are discussed in
§7.2.2.3.

7.2.2.1 Topic markers a/ia

A topic marker is an element that links a topicalised constituent and the rest of a
sentence. In Lha’alua, a topic or topics can be linked to the rest of a sentence by the
topic marker a or ia. As shown in (7.55) and (7.56), the topics mapaci ‘wine’ and
maacu a viravira-isa vungu-isa ‘concerning the rooster’s comb of its head’ are
marked by the topic markers a and ia, respectively.

(7.55) Topic marker a links the topic to the rest of a sentence

mapaci a, i<a>ma-isa ka lhaamaama.
wine TOP drink(PV)<IRR>-3.AGR CORE old.person
‘Old people will drink the wine.’
(lit. As for the wine, old people will drink (it).)

(7.56) Topic marker ia links the topic to the rest of a sentence

maacu a viravira-isa vungu-isa ia, m-a-tavulhiu.
concerning LNK rooster’s.comb-3.AGR head-3.GEN TOP AV-STAT-red
‘Concerning the rooster’s comb of its head, (it is) red.’

Omission of the topic marker may produce ungrammatical or very awkward

sentences for the oldest speaker. However, younger speakers sometimes leave out the
topic marker in colloquial speech and in written texts. As illustrated in (7.57a) and
(7.57b), the constituents vaavararaa ‘dry field’ and vungu’u-isa ’ukui ‘goat’s head’
are topicalised without any topic marker, respectively.

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(7.57) Topicalisation with no topic marker
a. vaavararaa=na, t<um>angura=cu seesenge.
dry.field=DEF grow<AV>=COS.ASP grass
‘Grass grows in the dry field.’
(lit. As for the dry field, (it) grows grass.)
b. vungu’u-isa ’ukui=na, m-a-aru usua ’ungu.
head-3.AGR goat=DEF AV-STAT-exist two horn
‘The goat’s head has two horns.’
(lit. As for the goat’s head, two horns exist.)

The omission of the topic marker may well be due to the influence of Mandarin
Chinese constituent order (AVO, if transitive or SV, if intransitive). As illustrated in
(7.58), omission of a topic marker produces a sentence with the constituent order of
SV.

(7.58) Topicalisation with no topic marker

[’usai=na]S, m-ulhivu’u m-uru-cara’e.
male.name=DEF AV-hurt AV-come.out-blood
‘’usai is hurt and bleeds.’ (lit. As for ’usai, (he) is hurt and bleeds.)

7.2.2.2 Linkers a and ka

Lha’alua makes use of a special type of construction marker to link a head

(usually a noun or a verb) with its following attribute (e.g. a demonstrative, noun,
possessor, or relative clause). This type of construction marker is commonly referred
to as a ligature or a linker in the literature on Austronesian languages.

There are several elements that linkers a and ka can link. Firstly, a and ka are
used either to link a head noun (an entity-denoting word) with a relative clause (see
§8.2.1) or an adjectival word (a property-denoting word) or to link an adjectival word
(a property-denoting word) with the noun it modifies. As demonstrated in (7.59), a
links the entity-denoting word sulhate ‘book’ with a relative clause. Similarly, as
shown in (7.60a) and (7.60b), ka links the entity-denoting words alha’a ‘enemy’ and
ma-m-a-ini ‘child’ with the property-denoting word m-a-lhavae ‘drunk’ and m-a-alha
‘hungry’, respectively. Also, as shown in (7.61), a links the property-denoting word
m-a-licece ‘black’ with the entity-denoting noun tasau ‘dog’.

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(7.59) Link a head noun (entity-denoting) with a relative clause
uka’a=cu [a lhi-aala-isa langui] sulhate.
NEG=COS.ASP LNK PERF.ASP-take(PV)-3.AGR female.name book
‘The book that Langui took is gone.’

(7.60) Link a head noun (entity-denoting) with an adjectival word

(property-denoting)
a. m-ia-ta-tuu-tumu=aku alha’a=na
AV-thrust/push-RED-RED-BOUND.ROOT=1SG.NOM enemy=DEF
[ka m-a-lhavae].
LNK AV-STAT-drunk
‘I will be hitting the enemy who is drunk with fists.’
b. t<um>a-taa-tangi a ma-m-a-ini=na [ka
RED<AV>-RED-cry CORE RED-AV-STAT-small=DEF LNK
m-a-alha].
AV-STAT-hungry
‘The child who is hungry is crying.’

(7.61) Link an adjectival word (property-denoting) with a noun

(entity-denoting)
lhi-k<um>ita=aku m-a-licece [a tasau].
PERF.ASP-see<AV>=1SG.NOM AV-STAT-black LNK dog
‘I have seen a black dog.’

Secondly, a and ka are used to link a numeral with a head noun, when the
numeral serves as a modifier (rather than as a predicate). In (7.62), the linker a
associates the numeral sa-sua ‘two’ with the head noun ma-m-a-ini ‘children’.

(7.62) Link a numeral with a head noun

m-a-aru a sa-sua [a ma-m-a-ini-isa]
AV-STAT-exist CORE RED-two LNK RED-AV-STAT-small-3.AGR
cucu’u a kana’a.
person LNK that
‘That person has two children.’ (lit. That person’s two children exist.)

Thirdly, a and ka are used to link a head noun with a demonstrative. The
constituent order is that the demonstrative follows the head noun. As illustrated in
(7.63a) and (7.63b), the demonstratives kana’a ‘that’ and kani’i ‘this’ are preceded by

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the entity-denoting nouns ma-m-a-ini ‘children’ and cucu’u ‘person’, respectively.

(7.63) Link a head noun with a demonstrative

a. m-a-rumuku a ma-m-a-ini a kana’a46=na
AV-STAT-like CORE RED-AV-STAT-small LNK that=DEF
k<um>ita ’alhingu.
look/see<AV> shadow/TV
‘Those children like to watch TV.’
b. m-a-aru a ta-tulu a ma-m-a-ini-isa
AV-STAT-exist CORE RED-three LNK RED-AV-STAT-small-3.AGR
cucu’u a kani’i.
person LNK this
‘This person has three children.’ (lit. This person’s three children exist.)

Fourthly, a and ka are used to link a clause headed by maacu ‘concerning’ with a
noun. Within a ‘concerning’-clause, they link either an NP or an VP.

(7.64) Link a ‘concerning clause’ with an NP

a. maacu ka [alhame a kani’i] ia, m-aa n
concerning LNK bird LNK this TOP AV-BE:LOC/TEMP OBL
kani’i mapulhare.
this a.flat.land.of.low.altitude
‘Speaking of this (type of) bird, (it perches) at a flat land of low altitude
(tableland).’
b. maacu a [cailhi-ku] ia, ma-pitu-lhe ulima cailha.
concerning LNK age-1SG.GEN TOP tens-seven-tens five year
‘Concerning my age, (I am) seventy-five years old.’

46
The meaning of either ‘that’ or ‘those’ is determined by the head noun. When the head noun is
singular, kana’a is interpreted as ‘that’. On the contrary, when the head noun is plural, kana’a is
interpreted as ‘those’.

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(7.65) Link a ‘concerning clause’ with an VP
maacu a [m-a-ca-calhia=mana
concerning LNK AV-STAT-RED-be.able.to=IMPERF.ASP
m-asi-lha’a-lha’alua] ia, [umara-maalhi=cu=’ai=maanai ka
AV-speak-RED-Lha’alua TOP human-ten=COS.ASP=MOD=MOD LNK
m-a-calhia m-asi-lha’a-lha’alua n kani’i
AV-STAT-be.able.to AV-speak-RED-Lha’alua OBL this
kaa-relhece=na].
person.of-place.name=DEF
‘Concerning still being able to speak Lha’alua, perhaps ten people of
Relhece (Chinese name: Kaochung 高中) are able to speak Lha’alua.’

Fifthly, a and ka are used to link an expression (e.g. aunaana ‘like that’ and
auniini ‘like this’) with an embedded clause.

(7.66) Link aunaana ‘like that’ with an embedded clause

aunaana ka [lhi-timalha-ku na alhaama kiariari
like.that LNK PERF.ASP-hear(PV)-1SG.GEN OBL ancestor past
n kana m-uritalhivae n alemelhe].
LNK PAUSE.FILLER AV-have.a.love.affair OBL wild.boar
‘That is what I heard from ancestors in the past about having a love affair
with a wild boar.’

(7.67) Link auniini ‘like this’ with an embedded clause

auniini=’ai=iau ka [lhi-angalhe=’ai vuvulungaa rumalhae]
like.this=MOD=MOD LNK PERF.ASP-from=MOD mountain when
[saa-maruka-a].
3.GEN-stray-PV
‘Like this, when they came back from mountains, they got lost.’

Lastly, a and ka are used to link two verbs in a succession (usually a negative
verb and a lexical verb). For example, a links the negative verb ku and the lexical verb
atelhenge ‘remember’

(7.68) Link two verbs in a succession

ku=cu a atelhenge kana’a=na um-aala valhituku.
NEG=COS.ASP LNK remember 3.INDEP=DEF AV-take money
‘He forgot to take money.’

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 Three remarks with respect to linkers can be made in Lha’alua. Firstly, no
distinction between a and ka can be attested. Secondly, a and ka are often omitted in
texts and in colloquial speech. As illustrated in (7.69), the entity-denoting noun
tasau-ku ‘my dog’ occurs with the property-denoting word m-a-licece ‘black’ with no
linking marker. In (7.70), the numeral ucani ‘one’ occurs with its dependent noun
likilhi-ku ‘my vehicle’ without a linking marker. Also, in (7.71), the demonstrative
kana’a ‘that’ occurs with the head nouns ma-m-a-ini ‘child’ and tasau ‘dog’ without a
linker.

(7.69) Link a head noun (entity-denoting) with an adjectival element

(property-denoting) without a linking marker
m-a-aru a tasau-ku m-a-licece.
AV-STAT-exist CORE dog-1SG.GEN AV-STAT-black
‘I have a black dog.’

(7.70) Link a numeral with a noun without a linking marker

m-a-aru a ucani likilhi-ku um-aru-a-sapalhe.
AV-STAT-exist CORE one vehicle-1SG.GEN AV-use-A-foot
‘I have one bicycle.’ (lit. My one foot-use vehicle exists.)

(7.71) Link a demonstrative with a head noun without a linking marker

lhi-k<um>ita ma-m-a-ini kana’a na tasau
PERF.ASP-look/see<AV> RED-AV-STAT-small that OBL dog
kana’a=na.
that=DEF
‘That child saw that dog.’

Thirdly, linkers do not appear in the following three environments in my corpus.

(a) When a demonstrative occurs before a noun, no linking marker is used. In other
words, the linking marker is used when a demonstrative occurs after a noun, as
already illustrated in (7.63). Example (7.72) shows that when the demonstrative kani’i
‘this’ occurs before the noun mapulhare ‘flat land of low altitude’, the two
constituents are not linked by any marker.

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(7.72) Link a demonstrative with a head noun without a linking marker
maacu ka alhame a kani’i ia, m-aa n kani’i
concerning LNK bird LNK this TOP AV-BE:LOC/TEMP OBL this
mapulhare.
a.flat.land.of.low.altitude
‘Concerning this (type of) bird, (it perches) at a flat land of low altitude
(tableland).’

(b) When a numeral occurs with a classifier, no linking marker is used. As shown
in (7.73), when a numeral occurs with the classifier takupilhi ‘bowl’, they are not
linked by any marker.

(7.73) Link a numeral with a noun without a linking marker

tainiini a liulhu-isa kani’i ucani [takupilhi suva]=na.
how.much CORE price-3.GEN this one bowl noodle=DEF
‘How much is this bowl of noodle?’
(lit. How much its price the this one bowl noodle?)

(c) When a numeral and an adjectival element (property-denoting) occur with a

noun (entity-denoting), no linking marker is used. As shown in (7.74), when a
numeral ucani ‘one’ and an property-denoting word taisa ‘big’ occur with the
entity-denoting noun ’aravange ‘cave’, they are not linked by any marker.

(7.74) Link a numeral and an adjectival element (property-denoting) with a

noun (entity-denoting) without a linking marker
aisa caale m-a-aru a ucani taisa ’aravange.
middle mountain AV-STAT-exist CORE one big cave
‘There is a big cave in the middle of the mountain.’
(lit. A big cave exists in the middle of the mountain.)

7.2.2.3 Case marking system for full nouns

The third type of construction markers is pre-nominal elements that are referred
to as case markers.

In Lha’alua, case markers are typically monosyllabic forms that occur before
noun phrases. They are employed to mark the grammatical relations of noun phrases.
Full noun phrases themselves in Lha’alua do not exhibit any formal differences to

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mirror their grammatical functions; their grammatical functions can be manifested by
contrastive constituent order and/or by a class of pre-nominal monosyllabic forms.

Based on my corpus, the Lha’alua case marking system for full nouns is
provided in Table 7.2.

Table 7.2: Case marking system

CORE OBLIQUE GENITIVE

full nouns
a, ka n(a) a, ka
(common/personal)

As shown in Table 7.2, these monosyllabic forms are divided into three groups
according to their functions: core, oblique, and genitive. Arguments in S function, A
function and O function are marked as core. Arguments in E function and peripheral
arguments are marked as oblique. Arguments of possessors and possessees in
possessive constructions are linked by genitive case markers. Unlike some Formosan
languages, e.g. Kavalan, Lha’alua does not distinguish between common nouns and
personal nouns. Core, oblique, and genitive case markers will be further discussed in
§7.2.2.3.1, §7.2.2.3.2 and §7.2.2.3.3, respectively.

7.2.2.3.1 The core case markers a and ka

In Lha’alua, core case markers have two forms: a and ka. They mark the
argument in S function profiled by the Actor voice marker, the argument in O function
profiled by the patient or locative voice marker, and the argument in A function.

Based on my corpus, four remarks in relation to core case markers can be

addressed. Firstly, no difference between a and ka can be found. Secondly, a and ka
are often omitted in texts and in colloquial speech, and the omission does not result in
any semantic and pragmatic difference. In (7.75), the sole argument of the monovalent
intransitive clause vulailhi ina-ku ‘my mother’s eyes’ is not marked by either a or ka.
In (7.76), the argument in S function of the bivalent intransitive clause lhaamaama
‘old person’ is not marked by either a or ka. In (7.77), a non-Actor argument
vutukulhu ‘fish’ in O function of the bivalent transitive clause is not marked by either
a or ka. In (7.78) and (7.79), the Actor argument cucu’u ‘person’ of the bivalent -a/-ø
transitive clause and the Actor argument ma-m-a-ini ‘children’ of the bivalent -a(na)
transitive clause are not marked by either a or ka.

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(7.75) The sole argument (i.e. in S function) of the monovalent intransitive
clause without being marked by either a or ka
tam m-a-vacange vulailhi ina-ku.
very AV-STAT-good eye mother-1SG.GEN
‘My mother’s eyes are very beautiful.’

(7.76) The argument in S function of the bivalent intransitive clause without

being marked by either a or ka
m-i<a>ma lhaamaama mapaci.
AV-drink<IRR> old.person wine
‘The old person will drink wine.’

(7.77) A non-Actor argument in O function of the bivalent transitive clause

without being marked by either a or ka
lhi-aala cucu’u vutukulhu.
PERF.ASP-take(PV) person fish
‘The person has caught the fish.’

(7.78) The Actor argument in A function of the bivalent transitive clause

ø)) without being marked by the
(marked by the patient voice marker (-a/-ø
core case a or ka
lhi-aala cucu’u=na papa’a.
PERF.ASP-take(PV) person=DEF meat
‘The person took the meat.’

(7.79) The Actor argument in A function of the bivalent transitive clause

(marked by the locative voice marker (i.e. -a(na))) without being marked
by the core case a or ka
lhi-aala-ana ma-m-a-ini cacalaisa ina-ku.
PERF.ASP-take-LV RED-AV-STAT-small stuff mother-1SG.GEN
‘Children took my mother’s stuff.’

Thirdly, when marking the Actor argument in the bivalent transitive clause
(marked by the patient voice marker (-a/-ø)) and in the bivalent transitive clause
(marked by the locative voice marker (i.e. -a(na))), the frequency of occurrence of the
core case ka is much lower than that of the core case a.

Lastly, when the Actor argument in the bivalent transitive clause (marked by the

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patient voice marker (-a/-ø)) or in the bivalent transitive clause (marked by the
locative voice marker (i.e. -a(na))) is an independent pronoun, the form ka does not
occur. The independent pronoun is marked by the core case a. As illustrated in (7.80a)
and (7.80b), the Actor argument ilhaku ‘I’ is not marked by the form ka, but by the
form a.

(7.80) The Actor argument in the bivalent transitive clause (marked by the
ø)) marked by the core case a
patient voice marker (-a/-ø
a. lhi-tineen-a=cu a ilhaku a tikuru
PERF.ASP-weave-PV=COS.ASP CORE 1SG.INDEP CORE clothes
ki-ruvana.
REA-evening
‘I have woven the clothes this evening.’
b. urur-a=cu a ilhaku a ulare ki-ruvana.
needle-PV=COS.ASP CORE 1SG.INDEP CORE thread REA-evening
‘I needled the thread this evening.’

Core case markers are associated with seven functions. Firstly, they mark the
non-predicate nominal of a nonverbal clause. As shown in (7.81a) and (7.81b), the
non-predicate nominal cucu’u a kana’a ‘that person’ and kana’a ‘that’ are marked by
a and ka, respectively.

(7.81) Mark the non-predicate nominal in a nonverbal clause

a. lhalhusa-ku a cucu’u a kana’a.
man-1SG.GEN CORE person LNK that
‘That person is my husband.’
b. alhame-ku ka kana’a.
bird-1SG.GEN CORE 3.INDEP
‘It is my bird.’

Secondly, they mark the sole argument (i.e. in S function) of the monovalent
intransitive clause. As shown in (7.82a) and (7.82b), the sole argument vulalhe ‘moon’
and ’evecenge ‘millet’ are marked by a and ka, respectively.

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(7.82) Mark the sole argument (i.e. in S function) of the monovalent intransitive
clause
a. m-uru-mita=cu a vulalhe.
AV-come.out-BOUND.ROOT=COS.ASP CORE moon
‘The moon has come out.’
b. maaci m-a-vurai=cu ka kana ’evecenge ia,
if AV-STAT-ripe=COS.ASP CORE PAUSE.FILLER millet TOP
m-aa=’ai=maanai kani’i lhamunaa maalhe vulalhe.
AV-BE:LOC/TEMP=MOD=MOD this just ten moon
‘If millet is ripe, perhaps (it is) just in October.’

Thirdly, they mark the argument in S function of the bivalent intransitive clause.
As shown in (7.83a) and (7.83b), the argument in S function eleke ‘female name’ and
alemelhe ‘wild boar’ are marked by a and ka, respectively.

(7.83) Mark the argument in S function of the bivalent intransitive clause

a. lhi-k<um>ita a eleke na ilhaku kiira.
PERF.ASP-look/see<AV> CORE female.name OBL 1SG.INDEP yesterday
‘Eleke saw me yesterday.’
b. lhi-um-arace ka alemelhe na cucu’u=na.
PERF.ASP-AV-bite CORE wild.boar OBL person=DEF
‘The wild boar bit the person.’

Fourthly, they mark a non-Actor argument in O function of the bivalent transitive

clause, marked by the patient voice marker (-a/-ø). As shown in (7.84a) and (7.84b),
the non-Actor argument in O function tangusulhu ‘rice cake’ and cucu’u ‘person’ are
marked by a and ka, respectively.

(7.84) Mark a non-Actor argument in O function of the bivalent transitive

ø)
clause, marked by the patient voice marker (-a/-ø
a. lhi-pai-pekel-a=cu a
PERF.ASP-action.involving.hands-BOUND.ROOT-PV=COS.ASP CORE
vanau a tangusulhu=na.
female.name CORE rice.cake=DEF
‘Vanau has moulded the rice cake.’
b. saa-arac-a tasau ka cucu’u=na.
3.AGR-bite-PV dog CORE person=DEF
‘Dogs bit the person.’

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 Fifthly, they mark a non-Actor argument in O function of the bivalent transitive
clause, marked by the locative voice marker (-a(na)). As shown in (7.85), the
non-Actor argument in O function valhituku-isa ama’a ‘father’s money’ is marked by
a.

(7.85) Mark a non-Actor argument in O function of the bivalent transitive

clause, marked by the locative voice marker (i.e. -a(na))
lhi-aala-ana-ku a valhituku-isa tamu’u.
PERF.ASP-take-LV-1SG.GEN CORE money-3.AGR grandparent
‘I took grandparent’s money.’

Sixthly, they mark the Actor argument in A function of the bivalent transitive
clause, marked by the patient voice marker (-a/-ø). As shown in (7.86a) and (7.86b),
the Actor argument in A function ilhaku ‘I’ and ina-ku ‘my mother’ are marked by a
and ka, respectively.

(7.86) Mark the Actor argument in A function of the bivalent transitive clause,
ø)
marked by the patient voice marker (-a/-ø
a. u-sipar-a=cu a ilhaku a
motion.on.foot-BOUND.ROOT-PV=COS.ASP CORE 1SG.INDEP CORE
lhuulhungu kiira.
stream yesterday
‘I waded the stream yesterday.’
b. i<a>ma-isa ka ina-ku ’au ia,
drink(PV)<IRR>-3.AGR CORE mother-1SG.GEN soup top
m-arakaaka=cu.
AV-off/broken=COS.ASP
‘The soup my mother will drink is off.’
(lit. As for the soup my mother will drink, (it is) off.)

Lastly, they mark the Actor argument in A function of the bivalent transitive
clause, marked by the locative voice marker (i.e. -a(na)). As shown in (7.87), the
Actor argument in A function ma-m-a-ini ‘children’ is marked by a.

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(7.87) Mark the Actor argument in A function of the bivalent transitive clause,
marked by the locative voice marker (i.e. -a(na))
lhi-aala-ana=cu a ma-m-a-ini a
PERF.ASP-take-LV=COS.ASP CORE RED-AV-STAT-small CORE
’aratingi-isa ama’a.
chopsticks-3.AGR father
‘Children took father’s chopsticks.’

7.2.2.3.2 The oblique case marker n(a)

In Lha’alua, there is one oblique case marker na, and in texts it sometimes
becomes n. The oblique case n(a) is associated with five functions. Firstly, n(a) marks
an indefinite or nonindividuated theme of the bivalent intransitive clause. As
illustrated in the translation of examples (7.88a) and (7.88b), the n(a)-marked theme
phrases all have indefinite or nonindividuated interpretations.

(7.88) Mark an indefinite theme of the bivalent intransitive clause

a. c<um>a-caa-capa amalhe lha inguruu na papa’a.
RED<AV>-RED-broil male.name COOR female.name OBL meat
‘Amalhe and Inguruu are broiling meat.’
b. amilh-a amalhe lhi-k<um>ita=ami vuvulungaa n cumi’i.
say-PV male.name PERF.ASP-see<AV>=EVI mountain OBL bear
‘Amalhe said he saw a bear in a mountain.’

Secondly, n(a) marks a place name and a common location noun with
nondirectional interpretation and can mark an orientation and directional noun and a
cardinal direction with directional interpretation. As shown in (7.89) and (7.90), the
place name kalevenga ‘Taoyuan Village’ and the common location noun
saa-saree-ana ‘place’ are marked by n, respectively. Also, as shown in (7.91), the
oblique case na marks the orientation and directional noun ’ilikusu a kiu’u taisa=na
‘back of the big tree’.

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(7.89) Mark a place name (with a nondirectional interpretation)
maacu ka lhilhala ia, mairalhu
concerning LNK ethnic.community.name TOP originally
m-a-ulha-ulhangi=cu n kani’i kalevenga=na.
AV-STAT-RED-stay=COS.ASP OBL this place.name=DEF
‘Concerning Lhilhala (Chinese name: Yanershe 雁爾社), they originally stayed
in the Kalevenga (Chinese name: Taoyuan Village 桃源村).’

(7.90) Mark a common location noun (with a nondirectional interpretation)

ilhalhamu ia, m-a-aru=cu n kani’i
1PL.EXCL.INDEP TOP AV-STAT-exist=COS.ASP OBL this
saa-saree-ana.
RED-soil/dirt-LOC.NMZ
‘We lived in this place.’ (lit. As for us, (we) existed in this place.)

(7.91) Mark an orientation and directional noun (with a directional

interpretation)
m-ita-levenge a cucu’u na ’ilikusu a kiu’u taisa=na.
AV-hide-hide CORE person OBL back GEN tree big=DEF
‘The person hid at the back of the big tree.’

The n(a)-marked place name and common location are generally interpreted as
nondirectional. However, when occurring with a directional verb, they can be
interpreted as directional. As illustrated in (7.92) and (7.93), the place name kalevenga
‘Taoyuan Village’ and the common location noun saa-saree-ana ‘place’ are marked
by n, respectively.

(7.92) Mark a place name (with a directional interpretation when occurring

with a directional verb)
m-u-a-sala=aku n kalevenga=na.
AV-motion.on.foot-IRR-road=1SG.NOM OBL place.name=DEF
‘I will go to Kalevenga (Chinese name: Taoyuan Village 桃源村).’

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(7.93) Mark a common location noun (with a directional interpretation when
occurring with a directional verb)
lhi-m-u-sala=aku n kana’a
PERF.ASP-AV-motion.on.foot-road=1SG.NOM OBL that
saa-saree-ana.
RED-soil/dirt-LOC.NMZ
‘I have been to that place.’

Thirdly, n(a) marks an instrumental noun. As shown in (7.94), the instrumental

noun apulhu ‘fire’ is marked by na.

(7.94) Mark an instrumental noun

c<um>a-caa-capa amalhe na papa’a na apulhu .
RED<AV>-RED-broil male.name OBL meat OBL fire
‘Amalhe is broiling meat with fire.’

Fourthly, n(a) marks a beneficiary noun. As shown in (7.95), the beneficiary

noun ilhaku ‘I’ is marked by na.

(7.95) Mark a beneficiary noun

piracaucau a eleke na ilhaku ucani ilhu’u.
give(AV) CORE female.name OBL 1SG.INDEP one necklace
‘Eleke gave me a necklace.’

Lastly, n(a) marks a comitative noun. As shown in (7.96), the comitative noun
alemelhe ‘wild boar’ is marked by na.

(7.96) Mark a comitative noun

[saa-]Apala-va-vililh-a=ami [ka kana cucu]O
3.GEN-stealthily.follow-RED-stealthily.follow=EVI CORE PAUSE.FILLER person
[salia-isa]E k<um>ita aunaana=iau rumalhae
house-3.GEN look/see<AV> like.that=MOD when
m-uritalhivae [na alemelhe]E.
AV-have.a.love.affair OBL wild.boar
‘It is said that he stealthily followed the person to her house and had a look.
Like that, (he saw her) have a love affair with a wild boar.’

As illustrated in the above examples, the form n(a) can mark NPs with a wide

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range of grammatical functions: it can mark not only an indefinite or nonindividuated
theme of the bivalent intransitive clause in E function, but also a location noun, an
instrumental noun, a beneficiary noun, and a comitative noun. Paralleling to core case
markers (§7.2.2.3.1) and genitive case markers (§7.2.2.3.3), the oblique case marker
n(a) can be omitted. As exemplified in (7.97), the indefinite or nonindividuated
themes alemelhe ‘wild boar’ and uuru ‘rice’ are not case-marked by n(a).

(7.97) Unmarked indefinite or nonindividuated theme of the bivalent

intransitive clause
a. kuri-a-saka-sakave=aku kuri-vuuru alemelhe maataata.
shoot-IRR-RED-stealthily=1SG.NOM shoot-bow wild.boar tomorrow
‘I will shoot a wild boar with a bow stealthily tomorrow.’
b. ku-a-elese=ita maataata um-u uuru.
eat-IRR-together=1PL.INCL.NOM tomorrow AV-eat rice
‘We will have a meal together tomorrow.’
(lit. We will eat rice together tomorrow.)

7.2.2.3.3 The genitive case markers a and ka

In Lha’alua, genitive case markers have two forms: a and ka. They link the
arguments of possessors and possessees in possessive constructions. As shown in
(7.98a) and (7.98b), the forms a and ka can mark common nouns (possessors) kiu’u
‘tree’ and papa’a ‘meat’, respectively. Also, as shown in (7.99a) and (7.99b), the
forms a and ka can mark personal names (possessors) eleke ‘female name’ and langui
‘female name’, respectively.

(7.98) Mark a possessor (a common noun)

a. m-ita-levenge a ma-m-a-ini na ’ilikusu a kiu’u
AV-hide-hide CORE RED-AV-STAT-small OBL back GEN tree
taisa=na.
big=DEF
‘The child hid at the back of the big tree.’
b. tam m-a-tumulhu a ’urai-isa ka papa’a=na.
very AV-STAT-a.lot CORE fat-3.AGR GEN meat=DEF
‘The fat of the meat is a lot.’

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(7.99) Mark a possessor (a personal name)
a. pai-tealh-a=cu a ilhalhamu a valhituku
find-ACHI-PV=COS.ASP CORE 1PL.EXCL.INDEP CORE money
a eleke.
GEN female.name
‘We found Eleke’s money.’
b. karekelhe a eleke m-u-a-saa-sala
often CORE female.name AV-motion.on.foot-IRR-RED-road
m-alhu-kua salia-isa ka langui.
AV-get.to-get.to house-3.AGR GEN female.name
‘Eleke often goes to Langui’s house.’

There is no semantic or pragmatic difference when the genitive case linking a

possessor with a possessee in a possessive construction is omitted. As shown in
(7.100), a noun phrase can be expressed as a possessor (that is, a dependent of its
possessed noun) without being marked by either a or ka. In this example, the
relationship between a possessor and its head noun is manifested by constituent order;
that is, a possessor follows its head noun.

(7.100) A possessor marked by neither a or ka

a. taa-m-a-ini ka luuvi vuvulungaa.
a.little-AV-STAT-small CORE kiwi.fruit mountain
‘Kiwi fruit of mountain is a little small.’
b. alhaama lha’alua ia, m-a-aru=cu n kani’i
ancestor Lha’alua TOP AV-STAT-exist=COS.ASP OBL this
saa-saree-ana.
RED-soil/dirt-LOC.NMZ
‘The Lha’alua’s ancestor lived in this place.’
(lit. As for the Lha’alua’s ancestors, (they) existed in this place.)

There are two remarks regarding the genitive case markers. (a) No distinction
between a and ka can be attested. (b) When marking possessors in possessive
constructions, the frequency of occurrence of the form a is lower than that of the form
ka.

7.2.3 Personal pronouns and agreement forms

Having discussed constituent order and construction markers, I turn to the

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discussion of personal pronoun and agreement forms. Section 7.2.3.1 discusses the
Lha’alua personal pronoun system. Section 7.2.3.2 discusses the agreement forms.

7.2.3.1 Personal pronoun systems

Unlike full noun phrases, personal pronouns in Lha’alua exhibit formal

differences depending on their syntactic functions. The forms and functions of
Lha’alua personal pronouns are summarised in Table 7.3.

Table 7.3: Personal pronouns

bound free
clitic affix absolute
independent
nominative genitive possessive
1SG =aku -ku ilha-ku isikana-ku
2SG =u -u ilha-u isikana-u
isa=na (3PL),
-isa (3PL) 47,
3SG - ilha-isa (3PL), isikana-isa
saa- (3PL)
kana’a=na (3PL)
1PL.INCL =ita -ta ilha-ta isikana-ta
1PL.EXCL =amu -lhamu ilha-lhamu isikana-lhamu
2PL =mu -mu ilha-mu isikana-mu
isa=na (3SG),
-isa (3SG), ilha-isa (3SG),
3PL - -lhisa, kana’a=na (3SG), isikana-isa
saa- (3SG) ilha-lhisa,
lha-kana’a=na48

As illustrated in Table 7.3, Lha’alua personal pronouns distinguish three persons

(first, second, and third) and two numbers (singular and plural). First personal plural
pronouns make a further distinction between inclusive and exclusive forms. The use
of inclusive or exclusive forms is conditioned by whether the hearer(s) is/are included.
Specifically, when the hearer(s) is/are included, inclusive forms are employed;
conversely, when the hearer(s) is/are not included, exclusive forms are used.

There are four types of personal pronouns in Lha’alua: nominative pronouns,

47
In this table, a bracket means that there is another function.
48
The two oldest speakers (born in 1924 and 1934) do not understand the word lha-kana’a=na
‘3PL.INDEP’ at all. This word is used by a small number of speakers who are below the age of 70.

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genitive pronouns, independent pronouns, and absolute possessive pronouns.
Nominative and genitive pronouns are bound; in other words, they cannot occur alone
and have to attach to their host. Bound nominative pronouns are identified as
pronominal clitics, indicated by the equal sign ‘=’, and bound genitive pronouns are
identified as pronominal affixes, indicated by the dash sign ‘–’ (§7.2.1.2). Independent
pronouns and absolute possessive pronouns are free form pronouns; that is, they can
occur alone and needn’t attach to a host.

Nominative pronouns have three functions: (i) non-predicate pronominal in a

nonverbal clause, (ii) sole argument of the monovalent intransitive clause (marked by
the Actor voice marker (um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø-)), and (iii) Actor argument in S function
of the bivalent intransitive clause (marked by the Actor voice marker
(um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø-)).

(7.101) Nominative clitic pronoun as the non-predicate pronominal in a

nonverbal clause
a. kaa-relhece=aku.
person.of-place.name=1SG.NOM
‘I am a person of Relhece (Chinese name: Kaochung Village 高中村)’
b. vilangane=amu.
place.name=1PL.EXCL.NOM
‘We are from Vilangane (Chinese name: Guohe 過河).’

(7.102) Nominative clitic pronoun as the sole argument of the monovalent

intransitive clause, marked by the Actor voice marker
(um-/<um>/u-/m-/øø-)
a. lhi-um-aceka[=aku]S kimatata ulima pakiaturua.
PERF.ASP-AV-get.up=1SG.NOM morning five o’clock
‘I got up at five o’clock in the morning.’
b. t<um>a-ta-tapae[=aku]S.
RED<AV>-RED-draw=1SG.NOM
‘I am drawing.’
c. lhi-u-lhamare[=amu]S kiira .
PERF.ASP-AV-set.fire.to.mountain=1PL.EXCL.NOM yesterday
‘We set fire to mountains yesterday.’
d. m-alusapi=cu[=amu]S.
AV-sleep=COS.ASP=1PL.EXCL.NOM
‘We slept.’

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 e. lhi-tu-puru=cu[ =amu]S.
PERF.ASP-sit.down-BOUND.ROOT=COS.ASP=1PL.EXCL.NOM
‘We have sat down.’

(7.103) Nominative clitic pronoun as the Actor argument in S function of a

bivalent intransitive clause, marked by the Actor voice marker
(um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø ø-)
a. um-a-u[=amu]S [vutukulhu]E.
AV-IRR-eat=1PL.EXCL.NOM fish
‘We will eat fish.’
b. l<um>a-lemeke[=aku]S [’intavange]E.
IRR<AV>-plant =1SG.NOM taro
‘I will plant taros.’
c. u-palu-palu[=amu]S [na cucu’u=na]E.
AV-RED-wait=1PL.EXCL.NOM OBL person=DEF
‘We were waiting for the person.’
d. m-ia-ta-tumu[=ita]S [cucu’u=na]E maataata.
AV-thrust/push-RED-BOUND.ROOT=1PL.INCL.NOM person=DEF tomorrow
‘We will hit the person with fists tomorrow.’
e. lhi-luliulhu[=aku]S [tikuru-ku]E.
PERF.ASP-change(AV)=1SG.NOM clothes-1SG.GEN
‘I have changed my clothes.’

Nevertheless, unlike their pronominal equivalents of a/ka core case-marked full

noun phrases, nominative clitic pronouns do not function as (i) non-Actor argument in
O function of the bivalent transitive clause (marked by the patient voice marker
(-a/-ø)) and (ii) non-Actor argument in O function of the bivalent transitive clause
(marked by the locative voice marker (i.e. -a(na))).

Genitive pronouns are the pronominal equivalents of a/ka genitive case-marked

full noun phrases. Like their pronominal equivalents of a/ka genitive case-marked full
noun phrases, genitive pronouns can function as (i) the attribute (i.e. the possessor) in
a possessive construction, (ii) the Actor argument in A function of the bivalent
transitive clause (marked by the patient voice marker (-a/-ø)), and (iii) the Actor
argument in A function of the bivalent transitive clause (marked by the locative voice
marker (i.e. -a(na))). As illustrated in (7.104a) and (7.104b), the genitive pronouns -u
‘2SG.GEN’ and -ku ‘1SG.GEN’ are the possessors of the possessed nouns tikuru ‘clothes’
and tasau ‘dog’, respectively. In (7.105a) and (7.105b), the genitive pronouns -lhamu

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‘1PL.EXCL.GEN’ and -ta ‘1PL.INCL.GEN’ occur as the Actor arguments in A function of
the bivalent transitive clauses (morphologically unmarked -ø), respectively. In (7.106),
the genitive pronoun -ku ‘1SG.GEN’ functions as the Actor argument in A function of
the bivalent transitive clause, marked by the locative voice marker -ana.

(7.104) Genitive affix pronoun as the possessor in a possessive construction

a. araa-tavulhiu a tikuru[-u].
INCH-red CORE clothes-2SG.GEN
‘Your clothes became red.’
b. tasau[-ku] ia, m-a-licece.
dog-1SG.GEN TOP AV-STAT-black
‘My dog is black.’ (lit. As for my dog, (it is) black.)

(7.105) Genitive affix pronoun as the Actor argument in A function of the

ø)
bivalent transitive clause, marked by the patient voice marker (-a/-ø
a. a-kiri-kirimi[-lhamu]A [a alemelhe]O maataata.
IRR-RED-search/hunt(PV)-1PL.EXCL.GEN CORE wild.boar tomorrow
‘We will be hunting the wild boar tomorrow.’
b. a-lhamare[-ta]A [caacapukaa]O maataata.
IRR-set.fire.to.mountain(PV)-1PL.INCL.GEN couch.grass.plain tomorrow
‘We will set fire to the mountain’s couch grass plain tomorrow.’

(7.106) Genitive affix pronoun as the Actor argument in A function of the

bivalent transitive clause, marked by the locative voice marker (i.e.
-a(na))
lhi-aala-ana[-ku] A [a cacalaisa-isa]O ama’a.
PERF.ASP-take-LV-1SG.GEN CORE stuff-3.AGR father
‘I took father’s stuff.’

Absolute possessive pronouns are pronominal forms that can be translated as

‘mine, yours, hers’ and so on in English. The formative of an absolute possessive
pronoun is isikana plus a genitive pronoun (as shown in bold-face in example (7.107))
of the same person and number.

(7.107) The formative of absolute possessive pronouns

a. 1SG: isikana + -ku → isikanaku ‘mine’
b. 2SG: isikana + -u → isikanau ‘yours’
c. 3SG: isikana + -isa → isikanaisa ‘his/hers’

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 d. 1PL.INCL: isikana + -ta → isikanata ‘ours’
e. 1PL.EXCL: isikana + -lhamu → isikanalhamu ‘ours’
f. 2PL: isikana + -mu → isikanamu ‘yours’
g. 3PL: isikana + -isa → isikanaisa ‘theirs’

Although both genitive pronouns and absolute possessive pronouns can express
possession in Lha’alua, they differ in their distribution. Specifically, genitive
pronouns must attach to their preceding head nouns (i.e. the possessed nouns),
whereas absolute possessive pronouns themselves can stand alone to represent
possession. This is typically used in verbless possessive clauses. In addition, absolute
possessive pronouns behave like common nouns in that they can be case-marked by a
pre-nominal monosyllabic form. As illustrated in (7.108a) and (7.108b), isikanaku
‘1SG.ABSL.POSS’ and isikanaisa ‘3SG.ABSL.POSS’ stand alone to denote possession. As
shown in (7.109), the absolute possessive pronoun isikanaku ‘1SG.ABSL.POSS’ behave
like a common noun and is case-marked by the pre-nominal monosyllabic form na.

(7.108) Absolute possessive pronouns stand alone

a. sulhate a kana’a ia, isikanaku.
book LNK that TOP 1SG.ABSL.POSS
‘That book is mine.’ (lit. As for that book, (it is) mine.)
b. tasau=na ia, isikanaisa.
dog=DEF TOP 3SG.ABSL.POSS
‘The dog is hers.’ (lit. As for the dog, (it is) hers.)

(7.109) Absolute possessive pronouns case-marked by a pre-nominal

monosyllabic form
lhi-um-u=cu=’ai=maanai ka ilhalhisa na isikanaku.
PERF.ASP-AV-eat=COS.ASP=MOD=MOD CORE 3PL.INDEP OBL 1SG.ABSL.POSS
‘Perhaps they have eaten mine.’

Independent pronouns themselves in Lha’alua, unlike English I/me, he/him,

she/her, etc, do not exhibit formal differences to reflect their grammatical functions;
their grammatical functions can be manifested by contrastive constituent order and/or
by a class of pre-nominal monosyllabic forms.

The formative of independent pronouns is ilha, =na or lha- plus a genitive

pronoun or kana’a ‘that’ (genitive pronouns and kana’a ‘that’ are bold-faced in
example (7.110)) of the same person and number. Virtually, the formative of

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independent pronouns is quite clear, in that morpheme breaks can be easily recognised.
For example, =na is the definiteness marker.

(7.110) The formative of independent pronouns

a. 1SG: ilha + -ku → ilhaku ‘I/me’
b. 2SG: ilha + -u → ilhau ‘you’
c. 3SG: ilha + -isa → ilhaisa ‘she/he/her/him’
d. 3SG: isa + =na → isana ‘she/he/her/him’
e. 3SG: kana’a + =na → kana’ana ‘she/he/her/him’
f. 1PL.INCL: ilha + -ta → ilhata ‘we/us’
g. 1PL.EXCL: ilha + -lhamu → ilhalhamu ‘we/us’
h. 2PL: ilha + -mu → ilhamu ‘you’
i. 3PL: ilha + -isa → ilhaisa ‘they/them’
j. 3PL: isa + =na → isana ‘they/them’
k. 3PL: kana’a + =na → kana’ana ‘they/them’
l. 3PL: ilha + -lhisa → ilhalhisa ‘they/them’
m. 3PL: lha- + kana’a + =na → lhakana’ana ‘they/them’

Independent pronouns in Lha’alua have a number of functions. Firstly, they can

be used as a topic within a topicalised constituent. As demonstrated in (7.111a) and
(7.111b), the independent pronouns kana’a=na ‘3.INDEP=DEF’ and ilhaku ‘1SG.INDEP’
both function as topics.

(7.111) Independent pronoun as a topic within a topicalised constituent

a. kana’a=na ia, ama-ku.
3.INDEP=DEF TOP father-1SG.GEN
‘He is my father.’ (lit. As for him, (he is) my father.)
b. ilhaku ia, vanau.
1SG.INDEP TOP female.name
‘I am Vanau.’ (lit. As for me, (I am) Vanau.)

Secondly, they can be used as a recipient/beneficiary. As shown in (7.112), the

independent pronoun ilhaku ‘1SG.INDEP’ functions as the recipient/beneficiary.

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(7.112) Independent pronoun as a recipient/beneficiary
piracaucau a tamu-ku na ilhaku ucani
give(AV) CORE grandparent-1SG.GEN OBL 1SG.INDEP one
ilhu’u.
necklace
‘My grandparent gave me a necklace.’

Thirdly, they can serve as the non-predicate nominal of a nominal clause. As

shown in (7.113), the independent pronoun kana’a=na ‘3.INDEP=DEF’ is used as the
non-predicate nominal of a nominal clause.

(7.113) Independent pronoun as the non-predicate nominal of a nominal clause

lhalhusa-ku a kana’a=na.
man/husband-1SG.GEN CORE 3.INDEP=DEF
‘He is my husband.’

Fourthly, they can be employed as the patient argument in E function of the

bivalent intransitive clause, marked by the Actor voice marker (um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø-).
As illustrated in (7.114a) and (7.114b), the independent pronouns ilhamu ‘2PL.INDEP’
and ilhau ‘2SG.INDEP’ function as the patient arguments in E function of bivalent m-
and <um> intransitive clauses, respectively.

(7.114) Independent pronoun as the patient argument in E function of a

bivalent intransitive clause, marked by the Actor voice marker
(um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø ø-)
a. m-ia-ta-tuu-tumu[=aku]S [ilhamu]E.
AV-thrust/push-RED-RED-BOUND.ROOT=1SG.NOM 2PL.INDEP
‘I will hit you with fists.’
b. lhi-k<um>ita[=ita]S [ilhau]E kiira.
PERF.ASP-look/see<AV>=1PL.INCL.NOM 2SG.INDEP yesterday
‘We saw you yesterday.’

Fifthly, they can be used as the Actor argument in A function of the bivalent
transitive clause, marked by the patient voice marker (-a/-ø). As illustrated in (7.115a)
and (7.115b), the independent pronouns ilhata ‘1PL.INCL.INDEP’ and ilhaku
‘1SG.INDEP’ are the Actor arguments in A function of bivalent -a transitive clauses,
respectively.

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(7.115) Independent pronoun as the Actor argument in A function of a bivalent
transitive clause, marked by the patient voice marker (-a/-ø)
a. lhamar-a=cu [a ilhata]A
set.fire.to.mountain-PV=COS.ASP CORE 1PL.INCL.INDEP
[a caacapukaa]O kiira.
CORE couch.grass.plain yesterday
‘We set fire to the mountain’s couch grass plain yesterday.’
b. lhi-tulhuc-a=cu
PERF.ASP-put.Derris.trifoliate.so.as.to.let.it.flow.and.poison-PV=COS.ASP
[a ilhaku]A [a vutukulhu]O kiira.
CORE 1SG.INDEP CORE fish yesterday
‘I put Derris trifoliate (plant name) so as to let it flow and poison the fish
yesterday.’

Sixthly, they can be employed as the Actor argument in A function of the bivalent
transitive clause, marked by the locative voice marker (i.e. -a(na)). As shown in
(7.116), the independent pronoun ilhaku ‘1SG.INDEP’ functions as the Actor argument
in A function of the bivalent -ana transitive clause.

(7.116) Independent pronoun as the Actor argument in A function of the

bivalent transitive clause, marked by the locative voice marker (i.e.
-a(na))
lhi-aala-ana=cu [a ilhaku] A [a sikame-isa ama’a]O.
PERF.ASP-take-LV=COS.ASP CORE 1SG.INDEP CORE mat-3.AGR father
‘I took father’s mat.’

Seventhly, they can serve as the non-Actor argument in O function of the

bivalent transitive clause, marked by the patient voice marker (-a/-ø). As illustrated in
(7.117a) and (7.117b), the independent pronouns ilhaisa ‘3.INDEP’ and ilhata
‘1PL.INCL.INDEP’ both function as the non-Actor arguments in O function of bivalent
-a and -ø transitive clauses, respectively.

(7.117) Independent pronoun as the non-Actor argument in O function of a

bivalent transitive clause, marked by the patient voice marker (-a/-ø)
a. kii-kirim-a=cu [a ilhaku]A [a ilhaisa]O.
RED-search-PV=COS.ASP CORE 1SG.INDEP CORE 3.INDEP
‘I was searching for them.’

265
 b. ia-ta-tuu-tumu-isa [ka ama’a]A
thrust/push-RED-RED-BOUND.ROOT(PV)-3.AGR CORE father
[ilhata]O maataata.
1PL.INCL.INDEP tomorrow
‘Father will hit us with fists tomorrow.’

Lastly, they can be employed as the non-Actor argument in O function of the

bivalent transitive clause, marked by the locative voice marker (i.e. -a(na)).

Among all the persons and numbers of free independent pronouns, the third
singular and plural pronouns should be discussed more in detail. In addition to the
above-mentioned eight functions, the third person singular and plural independent
pronouns can be used as (i) the sole argument in S function of the monovalent
intransitive clause (marked by the Actor voice marker (um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø-)) and (ii)
the Actor argument in S function of the bivalent intransitive clause (marked by the
Actor voice marker (um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø-)). In other words, there are in total ten
functions of the third singular and plural independent pronouns. As illustrated in
(7.118a) and (7.118b), the third person independent pronouns ilhaisa ‘3.INDEP’ and
kana’a=na ‘3.INDEP=DEF’ both function as the sole arguments in S function of
monovalent um- and m- intransitive clauses, respectively. Similarly, as shown in
(7.119), the third person independent pronoun lhakana’ana ‘3.INDEP’ functions as the
Actor argument in S function of the bivalent <um> intransitive clause.

(7.118) Independent pronoun as the sole argument in S function of the

monovalent intransitive clause, marked by the Actor voice marker
(um-/<um>/u-/m-/øø-)
a. lhi-um-u=cu=’ai=maanai [ka ilhaisa]S.
PERF.ASP-AV-eat=COS.ASP=MOD=MOD CORE 3.INDEP
‘Possibly, he has eaten.’
b. lhi-m-alusapi=cu=’ai=maanai [kana’a=na]S.
PERF.ASP-AV-sleep=COS.ASP=MOD=MOD 3.INDEP=DEF
‘Possibly, they have slept.’

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(7.119) Independent pronoun as the Actor argument in S function of the bivalent
intransitive clause, marked by the Actor voice marker
(um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø ø-)
k<um>a-kii-kita [a lhakana’ana]S [’alhingu]E.
RED<AV>-RED-look/see CORE 3PL.INDEP shadow/TV
‘They are watching TV.’

Although there are in total ten functions of the third singular and plural
independent pronouns, not every third singular and plural independent pronouns have
these functions. For example, isana ‘3.INDEP’ constitutes an exception and has just
five functions (four functions from the above-mentioned eight functions and one
unique function): (i) a location (unique function, not shared with other third singular
and plural independent pronouns ), (ii) a recipient/beneficiary, (iii) a patient argument
in E function of the bivalent intransitive clause (marked by the Actor voice marker
(um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø-)), (iv) a non-Actor argument in O function of the bivalent
transitive clause (marked by the patient voice marker (-a/-ø)), and (v) a non-Actor
argument in O function of the bivalent transitive clause (marked by the locative voice
marker (i.e. -a(na))).

(7.120) isana ‘3.INDEP’ as a location

lhi-upang-a tasau sa-sua m-a-aru a
PERF.ASP-raise-PV dog RED-two AV-STAT-exist CORE
sa-sua lhi-likuc-a kana tasau sa-sua
RED-two PERF.ASP-lock-PV PAUSE.FILLER dog RED-two
49
m-aa isanaa .
AV-BE:LOC/TEMP 3.INDEP
‘The two dogs are raised. Two locked dogs exist over there.’

(7.121) isana ‘3.INDEP’ as a recipient/beneficiary

u-a-vuru=aku isana na papa’a.
AV-IRR-give=1SG.NOM 3.INDEP OBL meat
‘I will give them meat.’

49
isana ‘3.INDEP’ here is lengthened as isanaa in the text. It is likely that there is a pragmatic
implication.

267
(7.122) isana ‘3.INDEP’ as the patient argument in E function of the bivalent
intransitive clause, marked by the Actor voice marker
(um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø ø-)
a. m-u-sala=ami a cucu-isa=na
AV-motion.on.foot-road=EVI CORE person-3.GEN=DEF
u-kiri-kirimi [isana]E.
AV-RED-search/hunt 3.INDEP
‘It is said that their people went to hunt it.’
b. ku=ami pai-ta-tealhe [isana]E m-u-sala
NEG=EVI find-RED-ACHI 3.INDEP AV-motion.on.foot-road
m-aki-ka-kua n kana ’u-’ukui-a.
AV-?-RED-? OBL that RED-goat-A
‘It is said that (they) went to the place where goats gathered but couldn’t
find it.’

(7.123) isana ‘3.INDEP’ as the non-Actor argument in O function of the bivalent

ø)
transitive clause, marked by the patient voice marker (-a/-ø
a. salhumu a, i<a>ma[-ta]A [isana]O.
water TOP drink(PV)<IRR>-1PL.INCL.GEN 3.INDEP
‘We will drink the water.’ (lit. As for the water, we will drink it.)
b. kii-kirim-a=cu [a ilhaku]A [isana]O.
RED-search-PV=COS.ASP CORE 1SG.INDEP 3.INDEP
‘I was searching for them.’

7.2.3.2 Agreement systems

In Lha’alua, the person and number features of the Actor argument in A function
of the bivalent transitive clause (marked by the patient voice marker (-a/-ø)) are
cross-referenced on the verb. This fact might be interconnected with the historical
development of agreement forms from genitive pronouns.50

Table 7.4 shows that genitive pronouns and agreement forms are both affixes,
indicated by the dash symbol ‘-’ and phonologically identical, except for the first
person and second person.

50
Reid (2001) states the development of agreement markers from genitive pronouns in some Northern
Philippine languages. Liao (2004) also mentions the development of agreement markers from genitive
pronouns in Kavalan, an Austronesian language of Taiwan.

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 Table 7.4: Genitive pronouns and their related verb agreement forms
bound
affixes affixes
agreement forms genitive pronouns
1SG - -ku
2SG - -u
51
3SG -isa (3PL) , saa- (3PL) -isa (3PL)
1PL.INCL - -ta
1PL.EXCL - -lhamu
2PL - -mu
3PL -isa (3SG), saa- (3SG) -isa (3SG)

The pronominal-related agreement forms are regarded as agreement markers

instead of clitic pronouns, due to the following distributional facts. Firstly, they must
co-occur with an overt Actor argument in A function of the bivalent transitive clause
(marked by the patient voice marker (-a/-ø)) or co-occur with an overt possessor in
possessive construction. As shown in (7.124) and (7.125), the agreement forms -isa
‘3.AGR’ and saa- ‘3.AGR’ co-occur with the Actor arguments in A function eleke
‘female name’ and ’aavi ‘male name’. Also, as shown in (7.126), the agreement form
-isa ‘3.AGR’ co-occur with the overt possessor papa’a ‘meat’. There is no semantic or
pragmatic difference between -isa ‘3.AGR’ and saa- ‘3.AGR’ when cross-referred with
an overt Actor argument in A function of the bivalent transitive clause, marked by the
patient voice marker (-a/-ø).

(7.124) -isa agrees with the Actor argument in A function of the bivalent
transitive clause (marked by the patient voice marker (-a/-ø)) in person
and number
i<a>ma-isa i [eleke i]A [’au]O.
drink(PV)<IRR>-3.AGR female.name soup
‘ Eleke will drink the soup.’

51
In this table, a bracket means that there is another function as well.

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(7.125) saa- agrees with the Actor argument in A function of the bivalent
transitive clause (marked by the patient voice marker (-a/-ø)) in person
and number
saa i-ia-pual-a [’aavi i]A [a likilhi]O
3.AGR-thrust/push-BOUND.ROOT-PV male.name CORE vehicle
kiira.
yesterday
‘’aavi pushed the vehicle yesterday.’

(7.126) -isa agrees with an overt possessor in possessive construction in person

and number
tam m-a-tumulhu a ’urai-isa i ka papa’a i=na.
very AV-STAT-a.lot CORE fat-3.AGR GEN meat=DEF
‘The fat of the meat is a lot.’

Secondly, agreement forms are selective in terms of their host (which must be the
bivalent transitive verb (marked by the patient voice marker (-a/-ø))) or a
non-first-and-second person possessor in a possessive construction), whereas clitic
pronouns are not. As shown in (7.127) and (7.128), the agreement forms -isa ‘3.AGR’
and saa- ‘3.AGR’ co-occur with a bivalent -a transitive verb. Also, as shown in (7.129),
the agreement form -isa ‘3.AGR’ co-occurs with the non-first-and-second person
possessor cucu’u ‘person’ in a possessive construction.

(7.127) -isa is selective with the bivalent transitive verb (marked by the patient
voice marker (-a/-ø)) in person and number
pai-tualh-a-isa i ma-m-a-ini =na i valhituku.
find-ACHI-PV-3.AGR RED-AV-STAT-small=DEF money
‘The child found the money.’

(7.128) saa- is selective with the bivalent transitive verb (marked by the patient
voice marker (-a/-ø)) in person and number
saa i-panu-a tautau i um-aru-mia lhalhitu a
3.AGR-shoot-PV male.name AV-use-BOUND.ROOT gun CORE
alemelhe=na.
wild.boar=DEF
‘Tautau shot the wild boar with a gun.’

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(7.129) isa- is selective with the possessor in possessive construction in person
and number
i<a>ma-lhamu salhumu-isa i cucu’u i =na.
drink(PV)<IRR>-1PL.EXCL.GEN water-3.AGR person=DEF
‘We will drink the person’s water.’

Thirdly, while the agreement form -isa ‘3.AGR’ like clitic pronouns occurs after
the verbal root, saa- ‘3.AGR’ occur before the verbal root. As shown in (7.130) and
(7.131), the clitic nominative pronoun =amu ‘1PL.EXCL.NOM’ and the agreement form
-isa ‘3.AGR’ occur after the verbal roots u ‘eat’ and ima ‘drink’, respectively. However,
as illustrated in (7.132), the agreement form saa- ‘3.AGR’ occurs before the verbal root
arac ‘bite’.

(7.130) Clitic pronoun occurs after the verbal root

um-au-a-u=amu uuru.
AV-RED-IRR-eat=1PL.EXCL.NOM rice
‘We are eating rice.’

(7.131) -isa ‘3.AGR’ occurs after the verbal root

i<a>ma-isa ka ma-m-a-ini-ku ’au ia,
drink(PV)<IRR>-3.AGR CORE RED-AV-STAT-small-1SG.GEN soup top
m-arakaaka=cu.
AV-off/broken=COS.ASP
‘The soup my child will drink is off.’
(lit. As for the soup my child will drink, (it is) off.)

(7.132) saa- ‘3.AGR’occur before the verbal root

saa-arac-a ngiau ka taluvucu=na.
3.AGR-bite-PV cat CORE mouse=DEF
‘Cats bit the mice.’

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272
 CHAPTER 8

CLAUSE TYPES

This chapter examines clause types. Lha’alua has independent clauses: verbal
clauses (§8.1.1), nominal clauses (§8.1.2), existential, possessive and locative clauses
(§8.1.3), and dependent clauses: relative clauses (§8.2.1) and adverbial clauses
(§8.2.2). In addition, Lha’alua exhibits 8 complementation strategies: utterance
predicates (§8.2.3.1), knowledge predicates (§8.2.3.2), perception predicates
(§8.2.3.3), predicates of fear (§8.2.3.4), desiderative predicates (§8.2.3.5),
manipulative predicates (§8.2.3.6), modal predicates (§8.2.3.7) and phasal predicates
(§8.2.3.8).

8.1 Types of independent clauses

8.1.1 Verbal clauses

There are four main types of verbal clauses in Lha’alua: ambient, intransitive,
transitive and applicative clauses. In intransitive clauses, monovalent verbs
semantically require only one argument, whereas other intransitives (bivalent or
trivalent, labeled as extended intransitives) require more than one. Verbs in ambient
and intransitive clauses carry the same intransitivizing affix (alternatively labeled as
Actor voice).

8.1.1.1 Ambient clauses

Ambient clauses are clauses that have no arguments. Typically, they refer to
weather conditions.

(8.1) um-usalhi=cu.
INTR/AV-rain=COS.ASP
‘It has rained.’

(8.2) tam m-a-sareme a aari-naani.

very INTR/AV-STAT-cold A day-here
‘It is very cold today.’

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(8.3) maaci araa-seesema ia, aniciki kipulhu.
if INCH-dark TOP just come.out
‘If (it) becomes dark, (it) just came out.’

8.1.1.2 Intransitive clauses

The verb in an intransitive clause carries an intransitivizing prefix, infix or

zero-marking (i.e. um-/u-/m-/<um>/ø-). This type of intransitivizing affixes is also
analysed as Actor voice markers throughout the whole grammar (§6.3, §7.1 and
§8.1.1). However, for typographical convenience, they are glossed as AV throughout
the grammar; only in §8.1, they are glossed as INTR/AV. Intransitive clauses refer to
those that take only one argument (monovalent) and those that take more than one
argument (bivalent or trivalent), i.e. extended intransitive clauses. Syntactically, in
extended intransitive clauses, one core argument is always marked as core and one or
two extended arguments are marked as obliques.

8.1.1.2.1 Clauses with a monovalent predicate

Monovalent predicates include predicates representing stative and dynamic

events. These two types of predicate are always marked by an intransitive marker
(um-/u-/m-/<um>/ø-) and have the same argument structure. Stative predicates are
often, but not always, prefixed by m-a- to mark stativity, a choice which is lexically
determined. Examples (8.4) and (8.5) are clauses headed by a stative predicate with
and without m-a-. Examples (8.6) and (8.7) are clauses headed by a dynamic
predicate.

(8.4) A stative predicate with a marker m-a- to mark stativity

m-a-lhavai=cu [a palii=na]S kiira.
INTR/AV-STAT-drunk=COS.ASP CORE male.name=DEF yesterday
‘Palii was drunk yesterday.’

(8.5) A stative predicate without a marker m-a- to mark stativity

tam taisa alemelhe=na m-aa-vuvulungaa.
very big wild.boar=DEF INTR/AV-BE:LOC/TEMP-mountain
‘The wild boars in the mountain are very big.’

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(8.6) A dynamic predicate
m-alusapi=cu [a ’a’ai]S.
INTR/AV-sleep=COS.ASP CORE baby
‘The baby has slept.’

(8.7) A dynamic predicate

lhi-tu-puru=cu [ka lhaamaama]S.
PERF.ASP-sit.down-BOUND.ROOT(INTR/AV)=COS.ASP CORE old.person
‘The old person has sat down.’

8.1.1.2.2 Extended intransitive clauses

The verb of an extended intransitive clause is typically bivalent and has a noun
phrase in S function and a noun phrase in E function. The noun phrase in E function is
indefinite and is downgraded to oblique status.

(8.8) a. um-a-aala [’angai ]S [vutukulhu]E na sakeralhe.

INTR/AV-IRR-take male.name fish OBL river
‘’angai will catch fish in a river.’
b. t<um>a-tineene [a langui]S [tikuru]E cu-ruvana.
IRR<INTR/AV>-weave CORE female.name clothes IRR-evening
‘Langui will weave clothes this evening.’
c. lhi-u-lhamare [a lhaamaama]S kiira
PERF.ASP-INTR/AV-set.fire.to.mountain CORE old.person yesterday
[caacapukaa]E.
couch.grass.plain
‘The old person set fire to a mountain’s couch grass plain yesterday.’

It is not necessary for the noun phrase in E function to be overtly expressed if the
meaning can be inferred or retrieved from the context.

(8.9) m-ala-li-likape m-ima [ngiau=na]S [ ø ] E.

INTR/AV-?-RED-stealthily INTR/AV-drink cat=DEF
‘The cat stealthily drank (water).’

In terms of morphosyntax, the sole distinction between an extended intransitive

and a clause with a monovalent predicate is the non-compulsory occurrence of the
oblique-marked noun phrase in E function in the extended intransitive clause. In many

275
cases, an extended intransitive clause has a transitive counterpart with a noun phrase
which is in O function and is definite.

(8.10) lhi-u-kirimi[=aku]S [n alemelhe]E kiira.

PERF.ASP-INTR/AV-search/hunt=1SG. NOM OBL wild.boar yesterday
‘I have hunted a wild boar yesterday.’

(8.11) kii-kirim-a=cu [a ilhaku]A [a alemelhe]O.

RED-search/hunt-TR/PV=COS.ASP CORE 1SG.INDEP CORE wild.boar
‘I kept hunting the wild boar.’

8.1.1.3 Transitive clauses

The verb of a transitive clause carries a transitivizing suffix -a, or it is

zero-marked. The choice is lexically determined. The transitivizing suffix is analysed
as a patient voice marker throughout the whole grammar. However, for convenience,
it is glossed as PV throughout the grammar. Only in §8.1, it is glossed as TR/PV. A
transitive clause has two core arguments: a noun phrase (Actor) in A function and a
noun phrase (patient) in O function. The noun phrase (Actor) in A function can be an
genitive pronoun, a free independent pronoun or a common noun phrase.

(8.12) The noun phrase (Actor) in A function is a genitive pronoun

i<a>ma[-ta]A [salhumu]O.
drink(TR/PV)<IRR>-1PL.INCL.GEN water
‘We will drink the water.’

(8.13) The noun phrase (Actor) in A function is a free independent pronoun

lhi-pai-pekel-a=cu [a
PERF.ASP-action.involving.hands-BOUND.ROOT-TR/PV=COS.ASP CORE
ilhaku]A [a tangusulhu=na]O kiira.
1SG.INDEP CORE rice.cake=DEF yesterday
‘I finished molding the rice cake yesterday.’

(8.14) The noun phrase (Actor) in A function, whose head is a common noun
lhi-aala [lhaamaama]A [vutukulhu]O na lhuulhungu.
PERF.ASP-take(TR/PV) old.person fish OBL stream
‘’The old people have caught the fish in a stream.’

276
 When the noun phrase (Actor) in A function is a noun phrase whose head is a
common noun, the third person agreement marker saa- or -isa can attach to the
transitive verb, cross-referring the A argument (§6.6, §7.2.3.2 and §7.2.1.2).

(8.15) a. pai-tualh-a-isa [ma-m-a-ini=na]A [valhituku]O.

find-ACHI-TR/PV-3.AGR RED-AV-STAT-small=DEF money
‘The child found the money.’
b. i<a>ma-isa [kuate]A [salhumu]O.
drink(TR/PV)<IRR>-3.AGR female.name water
‘Kuate will drink the water.’

(8.16) a. saa-ia-pual-a [apee]A [a likilhi]O

3.AGR-thrust/push-BOUND.ROOT-TR/PV female.name CORE vehicle
kiira.
yesterday
‘Apee pushed the vehicle yesterday.’
b. saa-panu-a=cu [piace]A [a alemelhe]O.
3.AGR-shoot-TR/PV=COS.ASP male.name CORE wild.boar
‘Piace shot the wild boar.’
c. saa-arac-a [tasau]A [a cucu’u=na]O.
3.AGR-bite-TR/PV dog CORE person=DEF
‘The dog bit the person.’

When the noun phrase (Actor) in A function is a noun phrase whose head is a
common noun, it can be omitted and retrieved by the context as in example (a) or by
the third person genitive pronoun, either saa- or -isa attached to the transitive verb, as
in example (b).

(8.17) a. i<a>ma [’au]O.

drink(TR/PV)<IRR> soup
‘(She) will drink the soup.’
b. i<a>ma[-isa]A [’au]O.
drink(TR/PV)<IRR>-3.GEN soup
‘She will drink the soup.’

8.1.1.4 Applicative clauses

The verb of an applicative clause carries an applicative suffix -a(na). The

277
applicative suffix is analysed as a locative voice marker throughout the whole
grammar. However, for ease of reference, it is glossed as LV throughout the grammar.
Only in §8.1, it is glossed as APPL/LV. An applicative clause consists of three
arguments: a noun phrase (Actor) in A function, a noun phrase (patient) in E function
and a noun phrase (location) in O function. The noun phrase (patient) in E function is
demoted from core status to oblique status. The noun phrase (location) in O function
is promoted from oblique status to core status. It is not compulsory for the noun
phrase (patient) in E function to be expressed overtly if it can be inferred or retrieved
from the context. In my corpus, applicative clauses are by far the least frequently
occurring clauses. Examples of applicative clauses are provided below.

(8.18) a. racu’u salia ia, italuailipi-a[-lhisa]A [parana]O.

bamboo house TOP relax(in.a.cool.place)-APPL/LV-3PL.GEN place
‘They relax in the bamboo house.’
(lit. As for the bamboo house, they relax in the place.)
b. lhi-aala-ana[-ku] A [a mapaci-isa tamu’u]O.
PERF.ASP-take-APPL/LV-1SG.GEN CORE wine-3.AGR grandparent
‘I took grandparent’s wine.’

8.1.2 Nominal clauses

Lha’alua is a right-branching and predicate-initial language. In Lha’alua,

predicates can be either verbal or nonverbal. In a nonverbal clause, there is no copula
and nominal clauses are formed through the juxtaposition of two NPs; specifically,
The noun in the predicate slot appears in the clause-initial position. The noun in the
predicate slot can be a bare noun and the clause can be defined as classificational. The
non-predicate noun can be topicalised to the sentence-initial position.

(8.19) a. um-a-ia-iape=aku.
INTR/AV-IRR-RED-write/study=1SG.NOM
‘I am a student.’ (lit. I am studying.)
b. kana’a=na ia, pakiaturua.
3.INDEP=DEF TOP teacher
‘She is a teacher.’

The noun in the non-predicate slot can be preceded by a demonstrative and form
a noun phrase, in which case the clause is identificational. As shown in (8.20a) and
(8.20b), the nominal predicates tukucu-ku ‘my friend’ and cacalaisa-ku ‘my stuff’

278
followed by the core full noun phrases cucu’u a kana’a ‘that person’ and kana’a ‘that’
occur clause-initially. The noun in the non-predicate slot can be topicalised to the
sentence-initial position, as shown in (8.21). Contrary to the noun in the non-predicate
slot, the noun in the predicate slot cannot undergo topicalisation.

(8.20) Nominal clause: NP (predicate) NP (core)

a. tukucu-ku a cucu’u a kana’a.
friend-1SG.GEN CORE person LNK that
‘That person is my friend.’
b. cacalaisa-ku ka kana’a.
stuff-1SG.GEN CORE that
‘That is my stuff.’

(8.21) a. kana’a=na ia, taluvucu.

that=DEF TOP mouse
‘That is a mouse.’
b. kani’i=na ia, tamuciake.
this=DEF TOP frog
‘This is a frog.’

8.1.3 Existential, locative, and possessive clauses

8.1.3.1 Existential and locative clauses

Existential clauses in Lha’alua consist of the existential verb m-a-aru and two
nominals; one is a theme argument whose existence is asserted, and the other refers to
a location. The location is optional. Pragmatically, the fundamental function of an
existential construction is to assert the existence of an entity or to introduce an entity
into the discourse. Syntactically, two properties are often considered to be universal in
existential constructions: the indefiniteness restriction and the underlying obligatory
locative element (cf. Lyons 1967, Kuno 1971, Clark 1978, Ziv 1982, Freeze 1992).
Other related literature in Formosan languages and languages in general can be seen,
for example, in Zeitoun, L. Huang, M. Yeh and A. Chang (1999), Zeitoun (2000b),
Dixon (2010b) and Stassen (2009). In Lha’alua, in existential clauses the theme
argument is interpreted as indefinite, whereas the optional locative argument is often
interpreted as definite, as shown in examples (a-b). In Lha’alua, the topicalised
argument is interpreted as definite. This is why the locative argument is often
topicalized, as shown in examples (c-e).

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(8.22) Existential clauses
a. m-a-vacange=mana kiariari lhuulhungu=na ka
INTR/AV-STAT-good=IMPERF.ASP past stream=DEF LNK
m-a-aru ka ’apase m-a-aru ka ’arisakai
INTR/AV-STAT-exist CORE crab INTR/AV-STAT-exist CORE shrimp
m-a-aru ka vutukulhu.
INTR/AV-STAT-exist CORE fish
‘The stream was still good in the past. There were crabs, there were shrimps,
and there was fish.’
b. aisa caale m-a-aru a ucani taisa ’aravange.
middle mountain INTR/AV-STAT-exist CORE one big cave
‘There is a big cave in the middle of the mountain.’
(lit. A big cave exists in the middle of the mountain.)
c. vungu’u=na ia, m-a-aru usua ’ungu.
head=DEF TOP INTR/AV-STAT-exist two horn
‘There are two horns of the head.’ (lit. As for the head, two horns exist.)
d. alhalhapa tuu’u ia, m-a-aru utulu tepelha=na
above/top table TOP INTR/AV-STAT-exist three CL=DEF
sulhate.
book
‘There are three books on the top of the table.’
(lit. As for the top of the table, three books exist.)
e. salia=na ia, m-a-aru la-lima cucu’u.
house-DEF TOP INTR/AV-STAT-exist RED-five person
‘There are five people in the house.’
(lit. As for the house, five people exist.)

A locative clause denotes the location of a certain entity. Like many existential
clauses, a locative clause has four elements: the existential verb m-a-aru, the
temporal/locational verbal prefix m-aa, one theme argument and one locative
argument. In locative clauses, the theme argument may be interpreted as definite even
if there is no definite marker =na. Clark’s (1982) typological study of locative
constructions shows that there is a strong tendency for a definite theme to precede the
location. In Lha’alua, in most cases it is consistent with this observation as shown in
(8.23). However, different ordering (i.e. the location precedes a definite theme) can be
attested, as shown in (8.24).

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(8.23) Locative clauses
a. m-a-aru=i ’ukui m-aa-vuvulungaa?
INTR/AV-STAT-exist=Q goat INTR/AV-BE:LOC/TEMP-mountain
‘Are there any goats in mountains?’ (lit. Goat exists in mountain?)
b. m-a-aru=mana=i cuvu’u
INTR/AV-STAT-exist=IMPERF.ASP=Q bamboo.shoots
m-aa-kesenge?
INTR/AV-BE:LOC/TEMP-pan
‘Are there still bamboo shoots in the pan?’
(lit. Bamboo shoots still exist in the pan?)
c. m-a-aru a ucani alhame
INTR/AV-STAT-exist CORE one bird
m-aa-langica kiu’u=na.
INTR/AV-BE:LOC/TEMP-above/top tree=DEF
‘One bird is on the top of the tree.’ (lit. One bird on the top of the tree
exists.)

(8.24) Locative clauses

a. m-a-aru a m-aa-miararuma taalhiapeta.
INTR/AV-STAT-exist CORE INTR/AV-BE:LOC/TEMP-village firefly
‘Fireflies are in the village.’ (lit. Fireflies in the village exist.)
b. m-aa-langica kiu’u m-a-aru a
INTR/AV-BE:LOC/TEMP-above/top tree INTR/AV-STAT-exist CORE
ucani kuuri.
one song.thrush(bird)
‘One song thrush is on the top of the tree.’
(lit. One song thrush on the top of the tree exists.)

In locative clauses, when the existential verb m-a-aru does not occur, the
temporal/locational verbal prefix m-aa appears clause-initially and serves as an
existential predicate.

(8.25) Locative clauses

a. m-aa=aku ariiakasekasea
INTR/AV-BE:LOC/TEMP=1SG.NOM elementary.school
um-a-ia-iape.
INTR/AV-IRR-RED-write/study
‘I am studying in an elementary school.’

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 b. m-aa-liliunga ariiatekerana=na
INTR/AV-BE:LOC/TEMP-neighborhood school=DEF
salia-ku.
house/home-1SG.GEN
‘My house is in the neighborhood of a school.’

The existential predicate m-a-aru does not possess all verbal properties. For
example, it cannot attract bound pronouns and inflect with irrealis. However, it can
take aspectual, modality and evidentiality markers. An example of the imperfective
aspectual marker =mana has shown in example (8.23b).

8.1.3.2 Possessive clauses

Clark (1978:87) distinguishes two types of predicative possessive construction:

the ‘have’ possessive (i.e. Tom has a book) and the ‘be’ possessive (The book is
Tom’s). The difference between these two possessive constructions lies in the
definiteness of the theme. In Lha’alua, the two possessives are manifested by different
constructions. The Lha’alua equivalent of the ‘have’ possessive construction
resembles the existential construction. Unlike the existential construction, the
possessive construction consists of a possessor. The possessor is manifested as a
genitive bound pronoun or a common noun phrase. This type of predicative
possessive constructions is called ‘the Genitive Schema (i.e. X’s Y exists > X has Y)’
in Heine (1997:58).52

(8.26) ‘have’ possessive clauses

a. m-a-aru a ma-m-a-ini-ku.
INTR/AV-STAT-exist CORE RED-AV-STAT-small-1SG.GEN
‘I have a child/children.’ (lit. My child exists. Or My children exist.)
b. m-a-aru a la-lima a ma-m-a-ini-isa
INTR/AV-STAT-exist CORE RED-five LNK RED-AV-STAT-small-3.GEN
cucu’u a kana’a.
person LNK that
‘That person has five children.’ (lit. That person’s five children exist.)
c. m-a-aru a tasau-ku m-a-licece.
INTR/AV-STAT-exist CORE dog-1SG.GEN INTR/AV-STAT-black
‘I have a black dog.’ (lit. My black dog exists.)

52
This is also discussed in Aikhenvald (2012).

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 d. m-a-aru a ucani likilhi-ku um-aru-a-sapalhe.
INTR/AV-STAT-exist CORE one vehicle-1SG.GEN INTR/AV-use-A-foot
‘I have one bicycle.’ (lit. My one foot-use vehicle exists.)
e. m-a-aru a ucani ’usae-isa ama’a=na.
INTR/AV-STAT-exist CORE one grey.hair-3.AGR father=DEF
‘Father has one grey hair.’ (lit. Father’s one grey hair exists.)
f. m-a-aru a tasau-ku ca-cilhi.
INTR/AV-STAT-exist CORE dog-1SG.GEN RED-one
‘I have one dog.’ (lit. My one dog exists.)
g. m-a-aru a maalhe pingi-ramucu-ta.
INTR/AV-STAT-exist CORE nonhuman.ten finger-hand-1PL.INCL.GEN
‘We have ten fingers.’ (lit. Our ten hand fingers exist.)

The ‘be’ possessive construction is expressed as a verbless clause (i.e. nominal

clause, which is a type of identity clause) in Lha’alua. Identity clauses are used as
possessive clauses, as illustrated in (8.27). This type of predicative possessive
constructions is called ‘the Equation Schema (i.e. Y is X’s (property) > Y belongs to
X)’ in Heine (1997:65).

(8.27) ‘be’ possessive clauses

a. tukucu-ku a cucu’u a kani’i.
friend-1SG.GEN CORE person LNK this
‘This person is my friend.’
b. ’ikare-ku ka kani’i.
bamboo.partridge-1SG.GEN CORE this
‘This is my bamboo partridge.’

8.1.3.3 Quantifiers and numerals as existential predicates

Quantifiers such as m-a-tumulhu ‘a lot’ and tumalhae ‘a lot’ can function as

existential predicates.53 The difference between m-a-tumulhu ‘a lot’ and tumalhae ‘a
lot’ lies in the animacy of the referent. With respect to the distinction, lower animates
like mosquitoes and higher animates like deer both count as animates. Examples in
(8.28) and (8.29) provide an illustration of the predication of inanimate and animate
referent existence, respectively.

53
Quantifiers (i.e. quantifying expressions) are analysed as stative verbs in chapter 3, in that they
possess morphosyntactic properties of stative verbs.

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(8.28) Quantifiers (referring to inanimate referents) as existential predicates
a. tam m-a-tumulhu a luuvi
very INTR/AV-STAT-a.lot(inanimate) CORE kiwi.fruit
m-aa-kiu’u=na.
INTR/AV-BE:LOC/TEMP-tree=DEF
‘There is a lot of kiwi fruit on the tree.’ (lit. Kiwi fruit on the tree very a
lot.)
b. tam m-a-tumulhu a ’urai-isa papa’a=na.
very INTR/AV-STAT-a.lot(inanimate) CORE fat-3.AGR meat=DEF
‘There is a lot of fat of the meat.’ (lit. The meat’s fat very a lot)
c. alha-m-a-cici ia, tam m-a-tumulhu a
season-INTR/AV-STAt-hot TOP very INTR/AV-STAT-a.lot(inanimate) CORE
pari-a-varate.
blow-A-wind
‘In summer, there are a lot of typhoons.’
(lit. As for the summer, typhoons very a lot.)

(8.29) Quantifiers (referring to animate referents) as existential predicates

a. tam tumalhae a tukucu-ku.
very a.lot(animate) CORE friend-1SG.GEN
‘I have a lot of friends.’ (lit. My friends very a lot.)
b. ruvuna alha-m-a-cici ia, tam tumalhae a
evening season-INTR/AV-STAT-hot TOP very a.lot(animate) CORE
lhatikase.
mosquito
‘In the evening of summer, there are a lot of mosquitoes.’
(lit. As for the evening of summer, mosquitoes very a lot.)
c. tumalhae a talhana-ta kiariari
a.lot(animate) CORE clansman-1PL.INCL.GEN past
lhi-um-upange vutulhu.
EXPE.ASP-INTR/AV-domesticate deer
‘A lot of our clansmen used to domesticate deer in the past.’
(lit. Our clansmen domesticated deer a lot in the past.)

Numerals, like quantifying expressions, can function as existential predicates.

Numerals can be differentiated in terms of their reference to nonhuman or human
participants. These two different distinctions formed by different morphological
processes can be regarded as two types of numeral classifiers in Lha’alua. Similar

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devices have been attested in Aikhenvald (2000). Examples in (8.30) and (8.31)
provide an illustration of the predication of nonhuman and human referent existence,
respectively.

(8.30) Numerals (referring to nonhuman participants) as existential predicates

a. m-utulu=ita talha’ana.
INTR/AV-three=1PL.INCL.NOM tribe
m-upate=iau. m-upate talha’ana.
INTR/AV-four=MOD INTR/AV-four tribe
‘We have three tribes. Perhaps four. Four tribes.’
b. lhi-m-utulu a si-taku-a-mia-lhamu.
EXPE.ASP-INTR/AV-three CORE NMZ-work-A-BOUND.ROOT-1PL.EXCL.GEN
‘We used to have three kinds of work.’ (lit. Our work used to be three.)
c. usua alhiilha-isa alemelhe=na.
two tooth/fang(animal)-3.AGR wild.boar=DEF
‘The wild boar has two teeth/fangs.’ (lit. The wild boar’s teeth/fangs two.)

(8.31) Numerals (referring to human participants) as existential predicates

a. pa-pitu a tukucu-ku.
RED-seven CORE friend-1SG.GEN
‘I have seven friends.’ (lit. My friends seven.)
b. ta-tulu a ma-m-a-ini-ku.
RED-three CORE RED-AV-STAT-small-1SG.GEN
‘I have three children.’ (lit. My children three.)
c. lhilhala ia, la-lima=mana
ethnic.community.name TOP RED-five=IMPERF.ASP
m-a-calhia m-asi-lha’a-lha’alua kani’i kana’a
AV-STAT-be.able.to AV-speak-RED-Lha’alua this PAUSE.FILLER
lhilhala.
ethnic.community.name
‘Still five people are able to speak Lha’alua in this Lhilhala (Chinese
name: Yanershe 雁爾社).’
(lit. As for the Lhilhala, still five people are able to speak Lha’alua in this
Lhilhala.)

Numerals will be examined in detail in chapter 10.

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8.1.3.4 pi- ‘have’ and u- ‘have’

There are two verbal prefixes denoting ‘have’ in Lha’alua: pi- and u-. The verbal
prefixes pi- ‘have’ and u- ‘have’ can be analysed as possessive derivations, thus
functioning like existential predicates.54 They are prefixed to a root or stem, which is
noun, and further derive a new word class, which is a verb. Unlike quantifiers and
numerals, the verbal prefix pi- ‘have’ and u- ‘have’ do not select the referent in terms
of the semantic category of animacy or humanness. Examples below provide an
illustration of the predication of referent existence.

(8.32) a. ngalha-isa pi-vlhhituku

who-3.AGR have-money
m-aa-saa-saree-ana=na?
INTR/AV-BE:LOC/TEMP-RED-soil/dirt-LOC.NMZ=DEF
‘Whose money is on the ground?’ (lit. Who has money on the ground?)
b. langica ralhenge kiu’u=na, pi-’apirange taapu’ai.
top/sky leaf tree=DEF have-nit butterfly
‘There is a butterfly’s nit on the top of tree leaf.’
(lit. As for the top of tree leaf, (it) has a butterfly’s nit.)
c. pi-lhica’a saae-isa vanau=na.
HAVE-mud leg/foot-3.AGR female.name=DEF
‘There is mud on Vanau’s leg/foot.’ (lit. Vanau’s leg/foot has mud.)
d. lhi-m-u-tii=aku.
PERF.ASP-AV-have-excrement=1SG.NOM
‘I have defecated.’ (lit. I have had excrement.)

When forming a possessive derivation, the prefixes pi- and u- ‘have’ may have
some verbal characteristics. For example, they can take irrealis, aspectual, modality
and evidentiality markers. Examples of the irrealis marker a- are provided below.

(8.33) a. pi-a-’asare a ina’a turukuuka=na.

have-IRR-egg CORE mother chicken=DEF
‘The hen will hatch.’ (lit. The hen will have eggs.)
b. m-u-a-tii=aku.
AV-have-IRR-excrement=1SG.NOM
‘I will defecate.’ (lit. I will have excrement.)

54
Aikhenvald (2012) discusses similar possessive derivations from a cross-linguistic perspective.

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 The choice of using either pi- ‘have’ or u- ‘have’ is lexically determined.

8.2 Types of dependent clauses

Lha’alua has a set of bi-clausal constructions where one clause can be said to
modify the other in a way similar to the way in which an adverb modifies a
proposition. Three types of dependent (i.e. subordinate) clauses can be distinguished
in Lha’alua: those which function as modifiers of nouns (i.e. relative clauses), those
which function as modifiers of verb phrases or entire propositions (i.e. adverbial
clauses), and those which are an alternative to an NP for filling a core argument slot
(i.e. complement clauses). Relative clauses, adverbial clauses and complementation
strategies are dealt with in the following subsections.

8.2.1 Relative clauses

Relative clauses involve two clauses: a main clause and a relative clause. The
underlying structures of these two clauses share a common argument. I adopt Dixon’s
(2010b) terms of MC, RC, and CA to mean main clause, relative clause, and
common argument, respectively. With respect to the relative position of the common
argument (CA) and the relative clause (RC), Andrews (2007) distinguishes three types
of embedded RCs cross-linguistically: external RCs, internal RCs and free RCs. The
external RCs can be further subdivided into post-nominal external RCs and
pre-nominal external RCs. Keenan (1985:143-144) notes that the tendency of having
post-nominal RCs across languages is favored, and post-nominal RCs are almost the
only type attested in verb-initial languages. He states that Tagalog and possibly other
Philippine languages have both pre-nominal RCs and post-nominal RCs. In Lha’alua,
there is one type of RCs: external RCs, which include pre-nominal external RCs and
post-nominal external RCs. Usually, the CA is overtly specified. In the following
examples, the CA is bold-faced, and the RC is indicated by brackets.

(8.34) Post-nominal external RC

a. m-a-lhavai=cu a tautau
AV-STAT-drunk=COS.ASP CORE male.name
[lhi-m-ia-tuu-tumu ma-m-a-ini]RC.
PERF.ASP-AV-thrust/push-RED-BOUND.ROOT RED-AV-STAT-small
‘Tautau, who was hitting a child with fists, has been drunk.’

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 b. uka’a=cu naani ka turukuuka [lhi-kita-isa
NEG=COS.ASP here CORE chicken PERF.ASP-look/see(PV)-3.AGR
ka ma-m-a-ini]RC.
CORE RED-AV-STAT-small
‘The chicken that was seen by children is not here.’

The examples shown above are post-nominal external RCs. In my corpus, by far
the most frequently occurring RC is the post-nominal external one. Post-nominal
external RCs predominantly outnumber pre-nominal external RCs. Although both
types of RCs are acceptable and grammatical, Lha’alua language speakers typically
favor post-nominal external RCs more than pre-nominal external RCs.

(8.35) a. Post-nominal external RC

lhi-m-ita-livingi=cu ka alha’a
PERF.ASP-AV-hide-hide=COS.ASP CORE enemy
[lhi-m-ia-tuu-tumu ma-m-a-ini]RC.
PERF.ASP-AV-thrust/push-RED-BOUND.ROOT RED-AV-STAT-small
‘The enemy whom the child was hitting with fists has hidden.’
b. Pre-nominal external RC
lhi-m-ita-livingi=cu ka
PERF.ASP-AV-hide-hide=COS.ASP LNK
[lhi-m-ia-tuu-tumu ma-m-a-ini]RC alha’a.
PERF.ASP-AV-thrust/push-RED-BOUND.ROOT RED-AV-STAT-small enemy
‘The enemy whom the child was hitting with fists has hidden.’

(8.36) a. Post-nominal external RC

uka’a=cu ka tasau [lhi-um-arace na ilhaku]RC.
NEG=COS.ASP CORE dog PERF.ASP-AV-bite OBL 1SG.INDEP
‘The dog that bit me has been gone.’
b. Pre-nominal external RC
uka’a=cu ka [lhi-um-arace na ilhaku]RC tasau.
NEG=COS.ASP LNK PERF.ASP-AV-bite OBL 1SG.INDEP dog
‘The dog that bit me has been gone.’

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(8.37) a. Post-nominal external RC
uka’a=cu a valhituku [lhi-aala-isa
NEG=COS.ASP CORE money PERF.ASP-take(PV)-3.AGR
lhaa’u]RC.
female.name
‘The money that Lhaa’u took has been gone.’
b. Pre-nominal external RC
uka’a=cu ka [lhi-aala-isa ka lhatingai]RC
NEG=COS.ASP LNK PERF.ASP-take(PV)-3.AGR CORE female.name
valhituku.
money
‘The money that Lhatingai took has been gone.’

Topicalisation is a productive syntactic operation in Lha’alua. RCs can be

topicalised to the sentence-initial position.

(8.38) a. RC without topicalisation

uka’a=cu ka ma-m-a-ini [ka
NEG=COS.ASP CORE RED-AV-STAT-small LNK
m-ari-vakese tasau]RC.
AV-hand/head.motion-BOUND.ROOT dog
‘The child who beat a dog is gone.’
b. RC after topicalisation
ma-m-a-ini=na [ka m-ari-vakese
RED-AV-STAT-small=DEF LNK AV-hand/head.motion-BOUND.ROOT
tasau]RC, uka’a=cu.
dog NEG=COS.ASP
‘The child who beat a dog is gone.’
(lit. As for the child who beat a dog, (he is) gone.)

In terms of semantics, two roles are played by the CA: one in the MC and the
other in the RC. Keenan (1985:146-154) mentions that there are four ways of
presenting the CA in the RC across languages: a personal pronoun, a special
pronominal form peculiar to RCs, a full NP or a gap. In Lha’alua, the CA in the RC is
always a gap. However, two different RC strategies are adopted, according to whether
the CA in the RC is an Actor or not. If the CA in the RC has the semantic role Actor,
the RC is manifested as a finite clause. In contrast, if the CA in the RC does not have
the semantic role Actor, the RC behaves like a nominalised clause. An argument of

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the nominalised verb other than the CA in the RC is manifested as a possessor, i.e. as
a possessor (i.e. genitive) pronoun suffixed to the main predicate in the RC.

(8.39) The CA in the RC leaves a gap

a. uka’a=cu a lhalhusa [m-ari-vakese
NEG=COS.ASP CORE man AV-hand/head.motion-BOUND.ROOT
tasau]RC.
dog
‘The man who beat a dog is gone.’
b. marakaaka=cu a mapaci [i<a>ma-isa]RC.
AV-broken/off=COS.ASP CORE wine drink(PV)<IRR>-3.GEN
‘The wine he will drink is off.’

As mentioned above, RCs can be topicalised to the sentence-initial position.

Although the CA in the RC always leaves a gap, it could be explicitly specified in the
topicalised clause, therefore leaving a gap in the matrix clause rather than RC.

(8.40) The CA in the RC does not leave a gap when topicalised

a. [m-ari-vakese a cucu’u tasau]RC,
AV-hand/head.motion-BOUND.ROOT CORE person dog
uka’a=cu.
NEG=COS.ASP
‘The person who beat a dog is gone.’
(lit. As for the person who beat a dog, (he is) gone.)
b. [i<a>ma-isa ka tukucu-lhamu mapaci]RC ia,
drink(PV)<IRR>-3.AGR CORE friend-1PL.EXCL.GEN wine TOP
m-arakaaka=cu.
AV-broke/off=COS.ASP
‘The wine our friends will drink is off.’
(lit. As for the wine our friends will drink, (it is) off.)

The RC functions as a syntactic modifier of the CA in the MC. In Lha’alua, RCs

modify the definite argument of the CA in the MC (i.e. the voice profiled argument,
marked by the core case), as shown in example (a). The non-voice-profiled argument
can be modified by the RC if it co-occurs with the definiteness marker =na, as shown
in example (b).

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(8.41) a. t<um>a-taa-tangi a ’a’ai [ka m-a-alha]RC.
RED<AV>-RED-cry CORE baby LNK AV-STAT-hungry
‘The baby who is hungry is crying.’
b. m-ia-taa-tuu-tumu=aku alha’a=na
AV-thrust/push-RED-RED-BOUND.ROOT=1SG.NOM enemy=DEF
[ka m-a-lhavae]RC.
LNK AV-STAT-drunk
‘I will be hitting the enemy who is drunk with fists.’

8.2.2 Adverbial clauses

In Lha’alua, adverbial clauses are labeled and categorised with respect to the
semantic role they play. Conditional clauses, or ‘if’-clauses, are clauses which name
the condition (§8.2.2.1), and temporal clauses include ‘when’-clause,
‘since/from’-clause, ‘until/to’-clause, and ‘after’-clause (§8.2.2.2). Another special
type of adverbial clauses in Lha’alua is the ‘concerning’-clause (§8.2.2.3), by far the
most frequently occurring type of adverbial clauses in the texts. The last type of
adverbial clauses to be introduced is the concessive clause (§8.2.2.4). As mentioned in
Thompson and Longacre (1985:172) and Thompson, Longacre and Hwang
(2007:238), “there are three devices which are typically found among languages of
the world for marking subordinate clauses, all of which are found with adverbial
clauses”. They are subordinating morphemes, special verb forms and constituent order.
In Lha’alua, both of the two main types (i.e. conditional clauses and temporal clauses)
of adverbial clauses use subordinating morphemes to mark subordination. Apart from,
some of the temporal clauses use an unmarked form (i.e. zero strategy) to mark
subordination.

8.2.2.1 Conditional clauses

A basic semantic distinction between types of conditionals which is signaled in

most languages is the distinction between reality conditionals and unreality
conditionals (Thompson and Longacre 1985:190, Thompson, Longacre and Hwang
2007:255). While reality conditionals refer to real present, habitual, generic or past
situations, unreality conditionals signify unreal situations, which one imagines what
might be or might have been, or one predicts what will be.

Lha’alua signals conditionals by means of the subordinating morpheme maaci

‘if’. It always occurs in the clause-initial position, and can be preceded by the main

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clause or followed by the main clause.

(8.42) a. [taia=’ai utulu tingatinga],

approximate=MOD three Taiwanese.kilogram
[maaci m-a-liseelhe=’ai].
if AV-STAT-heavy=MOD
‘Perhaps (it) approximates to three Taiwanese kilograms, if perhaps (it is)
heavy.’
b. [maaci m-ikaaci=cu], [tualhi=cu-ku=i
if AV-stop.raining=COS.ASP can=COS.ASP-1SG.GEN=Q
m-u-sala salia-isa ka inguruu]?
AV-motion.on.foot-road house-3.AGR GEN female.name
‘If it stops raining, can I go to Inguruu’s house?’

Very often, the clause introduced by the subordinating morpheme maaci ‘if’ is
topicalised to the sentence-initial position in the texts. The whole topicalised clause is
immediately followed by the topicalisation marker ia.

(8.43) a. [maaci ku-tumulhu kamusia ia], [patacurumu’ua alhii].

if eat-a.lot candy TOP decay tooth
‘If one eats a lot of candy, teeth decay.’
b. [maaci m-iamilhi=cu ia], [aali=cu-ta
if AV-dry=COS.ASP TOP take(PV)=COS.ASP-1PL.INCL.GEN
m-aatarase].
AV-cut
‘If (it is) dry, we take (it) to cut.’
c. [maaci lhi-culhu-a=cu ia], [u-a-pa-palu=cu
if PERF.ASP-burn-PV=COS.ASP TOP AV-IRR-RED-wait=COS.ASP
n kani’i utulu vulalhe=na].
OBL PAUSE.FILLER three moon/month=DEF
‘If (grass is) burned, (we) wait till March.’
d. [maaci utulu=cu vulalhe ia], [um-a-urapi=cu].
if three=COS.ASP moon/month TOP AV-IRR-sow.seed=COS.ASP
‘If (it is) March, (we) sow seeds.’

Since multiple topicalised elements are allowed within one sentence in Lha’alua,
the S/A argument in the main clause or subordinate clause can be topicalised to the
sentence-initial position after the ‘if’-clause has been topicalised.

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(8.44) [luuvi=na] [maaci kana p-araa-vurae ia],
kiwi.fruit=DEF if PAUSE.FILLER CAUS-INCH-ripe TOP
[m-a-taingale kana i’a’ana sa’au lha maamii].
AV-STAT-exceed PAUSE.FILLER store tasty CONJ.COOR sweet
‘If kiwi fruit becomes ripe, it is more tasty and sweeter than stores’.’
(lit. As for the kiwi fruit if (it) becomes ripe, (it is) more tasty and sweeter than
stores’.’

The subordinating morpheme maaci ‘if’, like predicates in Lha’alua, exhibits

some verbal characteristics. For example, it can attract modality markers which are
analysed as enclitics.

(8.45) [maaci=’ai usua=cu vulalhe ia],

if=MOD two=COS.ASP moon/month TOP
[a-lhamare=c-isa].
IRR-set.fire.to.mountain=COS.ASP-3.GEN
‘Perhaps if (it is) February, they set fire to mountains.’

Conditional and temporal meanings can be neutralised. For example, some

languages like Indonesian and certain languages of Papua New Guinea have no
distinction between ‘if’-clause and ‘when’-clause (Thompson and Longacre 1985:193;
Thompson, Longacre and Hwang 2007:257). In many languages, the neutralisation
holds only for predictive conditionals and future temporal clauses. In Lha’alua, the
subordinating morpheme maaci ‘if’ is sometimes translated as ‘when’. However, it
does not hold only for predictive conditionals like (8.46a). In contrast, it can also be
used in habitual/generic situations like (8.46b).

(8.46) a. [tetere=i m-u-a-’avange], [maaci

must=Q AV-motion.on.foot-IRR-boat when
m-u-sipare]?
AV-motion.on.foot-BOUND.ROOT
‘Must one take a boat when crossing a river?’
b. [puri-a-ngusu-ngusuu a tautau=na], [maaci m-alusape].
PREFIX-IRR-RED-mouth CORE male.name=DEF when AV-sleep
‘Tautau snores when sleeping.’

Similar to ‘if’-clauses, the subordinating morpheme maaci when translated as

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‘when’ also allows multiple topicalised elements within one sentence. As illustrated in
the following examples, the S/A argument in the main clause or subordinate clause is
topicalised to the sentence-initial position after the ‘when’-clause has been
topicalised.

(8.47) a. [eleke=na]S [maaci um-a-ia-iape ia], [m-au-auaua].

female.name=DEF when AV-IRR-RED-read/study TOP AV-RED-yawn
‘When Eleke is studying, she keeps on yawning.’
b. [viaru=na]A [maaci avava alha capa] [riane tam
corn=DEF when boil(PV) DISJ.COOR broil(PV) all very
sa’au].
tasty
‘The corn is all very tasty when (it is) boiled or broiled.’
(lit. As for the corn when (it is) boiled or broiled, (it is) all very tasty.)

8.2.2.2 Temporal clauses

In Lha’alua, adverbial clauses that denote temporal relations can be categorised

into three classes in terms of the kinds of temporal relations they express. The three
temporal relations discussed below are based on Cristofaro’s (2003:156) classification,
which includes temporal simultaneity (i.e. ‘when’-clause), temporal sequence (i.e.
‘after’-clause) and temporal boundary (i.e. ‘since/from’-clause and ‘until/to’-clause).

8.2.2.2.1 Temporal simultaneity

Relations of temporal simultaneity refer to two events which happen at the same
time or overlap for a certain period of time. Based on my corpus, there are three types
of temporal clauses denoting temporal simultaneity in Lha’alua: (i) akuisa, (ii)
rumalhae and (iii) unmarked form (i.e. zero strategy). Except zero strategy, (i) and (ii)
are expressed through the same morphological device, i.e. subordinating morphemes.

(i) ‘WHEN’-CLAUSE ‘akuisa’. The subordinating morpheme always occurs in the

clause-initial position. It can appear before the main clause as in example (a) or after
the main clause as in examples (b-c). Unlike multiple coordinands in coordinate
constructions (see §3.7.2.1.1), multiple temporal clauses in succession within one
sentence are awkward in Lha’alua.

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(8.48) a. [akuisa lh<um>ivuru civuka-isa],
when stab<AV> belly/stomach-3.GEN
[m-utu-pulhu=ami a ma-m-a-ini-isa
AV-locomotion-come.out=EVI CORE RED-AV-STAT-small-3.GEN
riane=ami alemelhe].
all=EVI wild.boar
‘It is said that when (he) stabbed her belly, the children came out, and all
(children) were wild boars.’
b. [m-u-lhivu’u a lasalhe-isa amalhe=na], [akuisa
AV-have-injury CORE knee-3.AGR male.name=DEF when
m-ereceka].
AV-hunt
‘Amalhe’s knee got injured when hunting.’
c. [m-u-sala m-eleve], [akuisa k<um>ita n kani’i
AV-motion.on.foot-road AV-follow when look/see<AV> OBL this
lhatareae=na].
pheasant=DEF
‘(They) walked to follow (it), when (they) saw the pheasant.’

(ii) ‘WHEN’-CLAUSE ‘rumalhae’. Unlike the ‘when’-clause ‘akuisa’, the

‘when’-clause ‘rumalhae’ occurs in the clause-final position. The subordinate clause
can appear before the main clause as in examples (a-d) or after the main clause as in
example (e).

(8.49) a. [pari-varate rumalhae], [tam m-a-tumulhu a vatu’u

blow-wind when very AV-STAT-a.lot CORE rock
angalhi vuvulungaa m-i-lingi-lingikilhi].
from mountain AV-action.concerning.location-RED-roll
‘When typhoons came, a lot of rocks rolled down from mountains.’
b. [aari-naani pasa-ulaulae rumalhae], [m-ilakupu=aku].
day-here play-BOUND.ROOT when AV-tumble=1SG.NOM
‘Today, when I played, I tumbled.’
c. [maacu=ami alhaama kiariari ia, auniini=’ai=iau
concerning=EVI ancestor past TOP like.this=MOD=MOD
lhi-angalhe=’ai vuvulungaa rumalhae] [saa-maruka-a].
PERF-from=MOD mountain when 3.GEN-stray-PV
‘It is said that concerning ancestors in the past, like this, when they came
back from mountains, they got lost.’

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 d. [saa-pala-va-vililh-a=ami ka kana
3.GEN-stealthily.follow-RED-stealthily.follow=EVI CORE PAUSE.FILLER
cucu salia-isa k<um>ita rumalhae]
person house-3.GEN look/see<AV> when
[m-uritalhivae na alemelhe].
AV-have.a.love.affair OBL wild.boar
‘It is said that when he stealthily followed the person to her house and had a
look, (she) had a love affair with a wild boar.’
e. [m-u-sala=cu m-eleve isana], [m-etealhe
AV-motion.on.foot-road=COS.ASP AV-follow 3.INDEP AV-find
kana salhumu rumalhae].
PAUSE.FILLER water when
‘(They) walked to follow (it), when (they) found water.’

(iii) ‘WHEN’-CLAUSE ‘ø’. In Lha’alua, ‘when’-clause can be expressed without a

subordinating morpheme, i.e. through zero strategy. Unlike zero strategy which is
often used in coordination, the frequency of occurrence for unmarked form in
‘when’-clause is much lower.

(8.50) [kilaliali ka miararuma], [m-a-aru a cucu’u picua

practice.ritual CORE village AV-STAT-exist CORE person brew
mapaci], [m-a-aru a cucu’u paa-pa-paci talhake].
wine AV-STAT-exist CORE person CAUS-RED-die pig
‘When the village practices rituals, there are people brewing wine and
there are people killing pigs.’

8.2.2.2.2 Temporal sequence

Relations of temporal sequence (i.e. ‘after’-clause) involve two events occurring

in a sequence. The event denoted by the adverbial clause occurs later in time the event
denoted by the main clause, and serves as a temporal reference point for the event in
the main clause. In my corpus, Lha’alua uses unmarked form (i.e. zero strategy) to
mark temporal sequence. The adverbial clause occurs before the main clause. Irrealis
markers are not used in the adverbial clause.

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(8.51) ‘AFTER’-CLAUSE ‘ø’
a. [m-ali-lepenge a elengane nua
AV-verbal.action-finish male.name CONJ.COOR
CORE
na’apu=na m-ari-sangilhi],
female.name=DEF AV-verbal.action-BOUND.ROOT
[t<um>u-sa-sua=cu t<um>angi].
CRY<AV>-RED-two=COS.ASP cry<AV>
‘After Elengane and Na’apu quarreled, both of them cried.’
b. [lhi-um-usalhe], [anici-ta tara-tealhe valalhevalhe].
PERF.ASP-AV-rain just/only-1PL.INCL.GEN see-ACHI rainbow
‘After raining, we can just see rainbow.’
c. [ke-lepenge=amu ku-ruva-ruvana],
eat-finish-1PL.EXCL.NOM eat-RED-evening
[m-i-a-elese meemea k<um>ita
AV-action.concerning.location-IRR-together all look/see<AV>
n vulalhe=na].
OBL moon=DEF
‘After we eat dinner, we will all watch the moon together.’

The ‘after’-clause can co-occur with a main clause in imperative mood. The
example below shows that the main verb in the main clause takes the imperative clitic,
while the adverbial clause appears before the main clause.

(8.52) [ke-lepenge um-u uuru], [m-i<a>ma=kia ucani

eat-finish AV-eat rice AV-drink<IRR>=POLITE.REQUEST one
takupilhi ’au]!
bowl soup
‘After finishing having a meal, please drink one bowl of soup!’

The ‘after’-clause can undergo topicalisation. As shown in the following

example, the adverbial clause is topicalised to the sentence-initial position. The
topicalisation marker ia is immediately followed by the adverbial clause.

(8.53) [um-aceka ia], [tumua=kia taraene alhii]!

AV-get.up TOP need=POLITE.REQUEST rinse/brush tooth
‘After getting up, please make sure you brush teeth!’

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8.2.2.2.3 Temporal boundary

“Relations of temporal boundary involve two events in which the event in the
adverbial clause specifies the initiation or termination of the event in the main clause”
(Teng 2007:412, 2008). In Lha’alua, both relations of temporal boundary are formed
through ‘since/from’-clause and ‘until/to’-clause.

(i) ‘SINCE/FROM’-CLAUSE. The verb angalhi is used to mark temporal boundary with
respect to the initiation of the event in the main clause. It can be treated as a verb, in
that it possesses several verbal characteristics. For example, it can be inflected with an
aspectual marker.

(8.54) ‘since/from’-clause ‘angalhi’

[m-etealhe kana salhumu], [angalhi=cu isana
AV-find PAUSE.FILLER water since/from=COS.ASP 3.INDEP
ka kana alhaama kiariari].
CORE PAUSE.FILLER ancestor past
‘Ancestors in the past found water since it (that time began).’

‘Since/from’-clause can co-occur in succession with ‘until/to’-clause, equivalent

to the English ‘from N to N’. The difference between Lha’alua and English is that in
Lha’alua, owing to their possession of verbal characteristics, ‘angalhi’ and ‘m-i-ungu’
are analysed as verbs, thereby generating verbal clauses, whereas in English, ‘from’
and ‘to’ are prepositions, thus forming prepositional phrases.

(8.55) ‘since/from’-clause ‘angalhi’ and ‘until/to’-clause ‘miungu’

a. [ki-a-lha-lhamu=aku kani’i si-taku-a-mia
tell/talk-IRR-RED-tell/talk=1SG.NOM this NMZ-work-IRR-BOUND.ROOT
lha’alua], [angalhi ucani vulalhe
Lha’alua since/from one moon/month
m-i-ungu lailha usua
AV-action.concerning.location-BOUND.ROOT ten.something two
vulalhe].
moon/month
‘I am talking about Lha’alua’s life from January to December.’
(lit. I am talking about Lha’alua’s life, since January begins and December
arrives.)

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 b. [aunaana ka kana si-taku-a-mia lha’alua],
like.that LNK PAUSE.FILLER NMZ-work-A-BOUND.ROOT Lha’alua
[angalhi ucani vulalhe
since/from one moon/month
m-i-ungu lailha usua
AV-action.concerning.location-BOUND.ROOT ten.something two
vulalhe].
moon/month
‘That is Lha’alua’s life from January to December.’
(lit. That is Lha’alua’s life, since January begins and December arrives.)

In addition to the reference of time, the ‘since/from’-clause marked by ‘angalhi’

can have locational reference.

(8.56) [pari-varate rumalhae], [tam m-a-tumulhu a vatu’u

blow-wind when very AV-STAT-a.lot CORE rock
angalhi vuvulungaa m-i-lingi-lingikilhi].
since/from mountain AV-Action.concerning.location-RED-roll
‘When typhoons come, a lot of rocks roll down from mountains.’

(ii) ‘UNTIL/TO’-CLAUSE. The verb miungu is used to mark temporal boundary with
respect to the termination of the event in the main clause. It is a verb, due to the fact
that it exhibits verbal properties. As exemplified below, it can attract an aspectual
marker. Apart from, the ‘until/to’-clause can be topicalised to the sentence-initial
position, and immediately followed by the topicalisation marker ia.

(8.57) ‘until/to’-clause ‘miungu’

a. [m-i-ungu=cu a alhavungula
AV-action.concerning.location-BOUND.ROOT=COS.ASP CORE spring
ia], [ku pipasamia alhu’u=na tarapange].
TOP NEG free/available honeybee=DEF pick.flower.honey
‘Until spring arrives, honeybees are busy in picking flower honey.’
b. [m-iungu=cu a alhavungula
AV-action.concerning.location-BOUND.ROOT =COS.ASP CORE spring
ia], [tara-te-tealhi=cu a luulucu].
TOP see-RED-ACHI=COS.ASP CORE wasp
‘Until spring arrives, wasps can be seen.’

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8.2.2.3 ‘Concerning’ clauses

‘Concerning’-clause is the most frequently occurring type among all types of

adverbial clauses in the texts. The ‘concerning’-clause always occurs in the
sentence-initial position. It can be topicalised and immediately followed by the
topicalisation marker ia. The subordinator of the ‘concerning’-clause is a
subordinating morpheme maacu. Very often, it is immediately followed by the linker
a or ka. Within a ‘concerning’-clause, the linking marker can link a head noun, an NP
or an VP, as shown in examples (8.58) and (8.59), respectively.

(8.58) ‘concerning’-clause ‘maacu’

a. [maacu a ungulhu-isa ia], [m-a-tavulhiu meemea].
concerning LNK foot(animal)-3.GEN TOP AV-STAT-red all
‘Concerning its feet, (they are) all red.’
b. [maacu a viravira-isa vungu-isa ia],
concerning LNK rooster’s.comb-3.AGR head-3.GEN TOP
[m-a-tavulhiu].
AV-STAT-red
‘Concerning the rooster’s comb of its head, (it is) red.’
c. [maacu ka alhame a kani’i ia], [m-aa n
concerning LNK bird LNK this TOP AV-BE:LOC/TEMP OBL
kani’i mapulhare].
this a.flat.land.of.low.altitude
‘Concerning this (type of) bird, (it perches) at a flat land of low altitude.’

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(8.59) ‘concerning’-clause ‘maacu’
a. [maacu a m-a-ca-calhia=mana
concerning LNK AV-STAT-RED-be.able.to=IMPERF.ASP
m-asi-lha’a-lha’alua ia], [umara-maalhi=cu=’ai=maanai ka
AV-speak-RED-Lha’alua TOP human-ten=COS.ASP=MOD=MOD LNK
m-a-calhia m-asi-lha’a-lha’alua n kani’i
AV-STAT-be.able.to AV-speak-RED-Lha’alua OBL this
kaa-relhece=na].
person.of-place.name=DEF
‘Concerning still being able to speak Lha’alua, perhaps ten people of
Relhece (Chinese name: Kaochung 高中) are able to speak Lha’alua.’
b. [maacu ka kana taia=’ai=maanai
concerning LNK PAUSE.FILLER approximate=MOD=MOD
m-a-taingale m-a-liseelhe ia], [taia=’ai
AV-STAT-exceed AV-STAT-heavy TOP approximate=MOD
utulu tingatinga].
three Taiwanese.kilogram
‘As far as being heavier is concerned, it weighs about three Taiwanese
kilograms.’
(lit. As for concerning perhaps approximating to be heavier, it
approximates to three Taiwanese kilograms.)

The subordinating morpheme of the ‘concerning’-clause can attract the clitic

referring to reported evidentiality.

(8.60) [maacu=ami alhaama kiariari a, auniini=’ai=iau

concerning=EVI ancestor past TOP like.this=MOD=MOD
lhi-angalhe=’ai vuvulungaa rumalhae] [saa-maruka-a].
PERF.ASP-from=MOD mountain when 3.GEN-stray-PV
‘(The story teller) doesn’t know why/is not sure when it is said that ancestors
of the past came back from mountains, they strayed.’

8.2.2.4 Concessive clauses

A concessive clause is used to make a concession, against which the proposition

in the main clause is contrasted. In Lha’alua, the concessive clause is marked by the
concessive subordinator maniki ‘although’. It always occurs in the clause-initial
position. The concessive clause can be topicalised to the sentence-initial position and

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immediately followed by the topicalisation marker ia.

(8.61) a. [maniki m-a-aru a taisa varate ia],

although AV-STAT-exist CORE big wind TOP
ku urualhe a cucu pari-a-vutukulhu=na meemea.
NEG afraid CORE person catch-IRR-fish=DEF all/also
‘Although there is heavy wind, fishermen are all not afraid.’
b. [maniki ku a-calhia m-asi-lha’a-lha’alua ia],
although NEG STAT-be.able AV-speak-RED-Lha’alua TOP
tam tumalhae a cucu-isa.
very a.lot CORE person-3.GEN
‘Although (they) are not able to speak Lha’alua, they have a lot of people.’

8.2.3 Complementation strategies

Dixon (2010b:370) addresses three defining characteristics of a complement

clause:

(8.62) a. It has the internal structure of a clause, at least as far as core arguments are
concerned.
b. It functions as core argument of another clause. The range of functions
available to a complement clause always includes O (object in a transitive
clause).
c. It describes a proposition, which can be a fact, an activity or a state (not a
place or a time).

Not all embedded sentences can be considered as complements. For example,

relative clauses, purpose and manner clauses, locative and temporal clauses, and so
forth cannot be regarded as complements, in that they are not arguments of verbs
(Noonan 1985:43; 2007:53). Lha’alua has a restricted set of complement-taking
predicates (i.e. CTP) which may have either an NP or a complement clause
corresponding to a core argument slot. There is no overt complementiser in Lha’alua.
Complement clauses are zero-marked. In the following subsections, I will introduce
several types of strategies whereby a clause occupies an argument slot in the structure
of another clause, in terms of the classes of CTPs. None of these can form an
independent clause type. This is why I opt to consider them complementation
strategies.

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8.2.3.1 Utterance predicates

“Utterance predicates are used in sentences describing a simple transfer of

information initiated by an agentive subject. The complement represents the
transferred information, and the CTP describes the manner of transfer, the
illocutionary force of the original statement, and can also give an evaluation of the
speakers (as opposed to the agent subject’s) view of the veracity of the proposition
encoded in the complement” (Noonan 1985:110, 2007:121). In Lha’alua, when a verb
of this type takes a complement, it is always a clause. Two utterance predicates are
used very often in the Lha’alua story-telling texts. The first one is ki-lhamu
‘talk/tell/say’. Except for the S/A argument, the other argument slot can be an NP or a
complement clause, as shown in examples (8.63) and (8.64), respectively.

(8.63) ‘Talk’
a. ki-a-lha-lhamu=aku [na kani’i lhatareae].
talk-IRR-RED-talk=1SG.NOM OBL this pheasant
‘I am going to talk about this pheasant.’
b. ki-a-lha-lhamu=aku [kani’i palhu<mia>mia-isa
talk-IRR-RED-talk=1SG.NOM this meaning<RED>-3.AGR
kana palhaungane=na].
PAUSE.FILLER feather.on.head.ornament=DEF
‘I am going to talk about this meaning of feather on head ornaments.’

(8.64) ‘Talk’
a. karekelhe a lhaamaama ki-a-lha-lhamu [maaci
often CORE old.person say-IRR-RED-say if
um-ani=cu a tamuciake ia, um-a-usalhe].
AV-call=COS.ASP CORE frog TOP AV-IRR-rain
‘Old people often say if frogs call, it will rain.’
b. karekelhe a lhaamaama ki-a-lha-lhamu [maaci
often CORE old.person say-IRR-RED-say if
um-ani=cu a takaukau ia, araa-’arimalhenga].
AV-call=COS.ASP CORE crested.hawk TOP INCH-clear.up
‘Old people often say if crested hawks call, it will clear up.’

There is another utterance predicate in Lha’alua: amilh-a ‘say’, which usually

occurs in the texts when language speakers talk about traditional folk stories. The
information given in the complement of this utterance predicate is presented as a

303
direct or indirect speech report. Its function serves to reproduce the words of the
speaker.

(8.65) ‘Say’
a. amilh-a amalhe=na, [lhi-k<um>ita=ami vuvulungaa
say-PV male.name=DEF PERF.ASP-look/see<AV>=EVI mountain
n cumi’i].
OBL bear
‘Amalhe said, “he saw a bear in a mountain.”’
b. amilh-a pakiaturua, [ku-a-tumulhu=kia lhatenge
say-PV teacher eat-IRR-a.lot=POLITE.REQUEST vegetable
paa-m-a-vacange tilha’alhe].
CAUS-AV-STAT-good body
‘Teachers said, “please eat more vegetable (because it) makes body
healthy!”’

When the S/A argument in the main clause and the S/A argument in the
complement clause have the same referent, the S/A argument in the complement
clause is omitted.

8.2.3.2 Knowledge predicates

As pointed out in Noonan (1985:118; 2007:129), this type of CTPs has been
called ‘semifactive’ (Karttunen 1971; Terrell and Hopper 1974) and
‘epistemic-qualifying’ (Guitart 1978). Knowledge predicates include examples like
‘know’, ‘discover’, ‘realise’, ‘find out’, ‘forget’, ‘remember’, and so on.

In Lha’alua, knowledge predicates can be followed by a phrase or full clause.

When the experiencer of the knowledge predicate has the same referent with the S/A
argument of the embedded predicate, the experiencer is overtly specified, but the S/A
argument is omitted. Examples of knowledge predicates, such as ‘know’, ‘find’,
‘forget’, and ‘remember’, are collectively illustrated below. ‘Forget’ can be expressed
through a lexical verb asapuu or through a negator plus ‘remember’ ku atelhenge. In
Lha’alua, when an aspectual marker, modality marker or evidential marker occurs, it
typically co-occurs with the knowledge predicate rather than embedded predicate.
This phenomenon is parallel to the cross-linguistic generalisation that evidentiality
and all these other categories can only be expressed within the main clause
(Aikhenvald 2004:253).

304
(8.66) ‘Know’
a. tara-tealhe=aku ’alhingu cucu’u, a-calhi=cu
see-ACHI=1SG.NOM shadow person STAT-know(PV)=COS.ASP
[kana’a].
3.INDEP
‘When I saw a person’s shadow, I knew it’s him.’
b. ku a-calhia [m-a-aru a kana meemea
NEG STAT-know AV-STAT-exist CORE PAUSE.FILLER all/also
kana luuvi-ta m-aa kani’i
PAUSE.FILLER kiwi.fruit-1PL.INCL.GEN AV-BE:LOC/TEMP this
vuvulungaa=na].
mountain=DEF
‘(People) don’t know we also have kiwi fruit in the mountain.’

(8.67) ‘Find’
ku pai-ta-tealhe=’ai=maanai lhatareae [i<a>ma-isa
NEG find-IRR-ACHI=MOD=MOD pheasant drink(PV)<IRR>-3.AGR
salhumu].
water
‘Probably, the pheasant couldn’t find the water to drink.’

(8.68) ‘Forget’
ku=aku asapuu [m-u-sala vuvulungaa=na].
NEG=1SG.NOM forget AV-motion.on.foot-road mountain=DEF
‘I did not forget to go to the mountain.’

(8.69) ‘Forget’: not + remember

a. ku atelhenge a kana’a=na [um-u savuane].
NEG remember CORE 3.INDEP=DEF AV-eat medicine
‘He forgot to take medicine.’
b. ku=cu a atelhenge kana’a=na [um-aala saunga].
NEG=COS.ASP LNK remember 3.INDEP=DEF AV-take umbrella
‘He forgot to take an umbrella.’

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(8.70) ‘Remember’
a. atelhenge=aku=mana [um-a-u savuane].
remember=1SG.NOM=IMPERF.ASP AV-IRR-eat medicine
‘I still remember to take medicine.’
b. atelhenge=mana kana’a=na [m-i<a>ma salhumu].
remember=IMPERF.ASP 3.INDEP=DEF AV-drink<IRR> water
‘He still remembers to drink water.’

8.2.3.3 Perception predicates

Perception predicates, like ‘see’, ‘hear’, ‘watch’, and ‘feel’, name the sensory
means by which the experiencer perceives the event denoted by the complement. In
Lha’alua, if a verb of this type takes a complement, it is always a clause. Examples of
‘hear’ are provided below. The perceived events are existing facts, and therefore,
irrealis and negation are not coded in the complements of perception predicates.

(8.71) ‘Hear’
a. ku tarariane kana cucu lika’a kaaiu [m-a-aru
NEG hear that person outside far.there AV-STAT-exist
luuvi-ta vuvulungaa=ami].
kiwi.fruit-1PL.INCL.GEN mountain=EVI
‘It is said that those outsiders didn’t hear that we have kiwi fruit in the
mountains.’
b. aunaana ka lhi-timalha-ku na alhaama kiariari
like.that LNK PERF.ASP-hear(PV)-1SG.GEN OBL ancestor past
[n kana m-uritalhivae n alemelhe].
LNK PAUSE.FILLER AV-have.a.love.affair OBL wild.boar
‘That is what I heard from ancestors in the past about having a love affair
with a wild boar.’

8.2.3.4 Predicates of fear

Predicates of fear, such as ‘be afraid’, ‘fear’, ‘worry’ and ‘be anxious’, are
characterised by semantically having the experiencer and expressing an attitude of
fear or concern that the complement proposition will be or has been realised (Noonan
1985:119, 2007:130). Languages vary in the assignment of negation to such
complements (Noonan 1985:119, 2007:130). For example, in English, the
complement is expressed as a positive statement if it is interpreted affirmatively.

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Nevertheless, in Latin, it is expressed as a negative statement if interpreted
affirmatively, and it is expressed as a positive statement if interpreted negatively. In
Lha’alua, this peculiarity does not hold. Namely, a complement that is interpreted
affirmatively is put in the positive, and a complement that is interpreted negatively is
put in the negative. Except for the experiencer, the other argument slot can be an NP
or complement clause, as shown in examples (8.72) and (8.73), respectively.

(8.72) ‘Afraid’
tam m-urualhe a eleke [na ipici].
very AV-afraid CORE female.name OBL caterpillar
‘Eleke is very afraid of caterpillars.’

(8.73) ‘Afraid’
ku urualhe a cucu pari-a-vutukulhu=na [m-a-aru a
NEG afraid CORE person catch-IRR-fish=DEF AV-STAT-exist CORE
taisa varate].
big wind
‘Fishermen are not afraid if there is heavy wind.’

8.2.3.5 Desiderative predicates

Desiderative predicates, e.g. ‘want’, ‘wish’, ‘desire’, and ‘hope’, are

characterised by having the experiencer which expresses a desire that the complement
proposition be realised (Noonan 1985:121; 2007:132). In Lha’alua, the verb of ‘want’
expresses a desire that some state or event may be realised in the future, and the S/A
argument of the verb of ‘want’ is the same as that of the complement clause. As
shown in the example below, the complement in bracket can only have future
reference, and the person name Elengane is the S argument of the verb ‘want’ as well
as that of the complement clause.

(8.74) ‘Want’
lhatumua elengane=na [m-ati-a-sangale
want male.name AV-action.involving.hands-IRR-BOUND.ROOT
tangalulhu m-u-sala pilhalupu vutukulhu].
earthworm AV-motion.on.foot-road catch.with.a.fishing.rod fish
‘Elengane wants to catch earthworms and to go fishing.’

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8.2.3.6 Manipulative predicates

As mentioned in Noonan (1985:126; 2007:136), “manipulative predicates may

be simple (‘cause’), or when lexical structures in a language permit, they may in
addition encode information about the manner of causation (‘force’, ‘make’,
‘persuade’, ‘tell’, ’threaten’, ‘’let’, ‘cajole’), sometimes including an illocutionary act
(‘command’, ‘order’, ‘request’, and ‘ask’ and other predicates that are primarily
utterance predicates)”.

In Lha’alua, simple causation is expressed by prefixing a causative prefix to a

complement-taking predicate, as shown below. The complement-taking predicate
expresses a relation between a S/A argument or a situation which functions as a cause,
an affectee and a resulting situation.

(8.75) Causative prefix apaa-, paa- or p-araa- (p- plus araa-)

a. apaa-a-tuu-tulhucu=aku
CAUS-IRR-RED-put.Derris.trifoliate.so.as.to.let.it.flow.and.poison=1SG.NOM
ilhau vutukulhu maataata.
2SG.INDEP fish tomorrow
‘I will make you put Derris trifoliate (plant name) so as to let it flow and
poison fish tomorrow.’
b. m-a-aru a cucu’u paa-pa-paci talhake.
AV-STAT-exist CORE person CAUS-RED-die pig
‘There is someone killing pigs.’
c. p-araa-tarengiri=cu a caepe=na vanukanuka-isa.
CAUS-INCH-wet=COS.ASP CORE male.name=DEF pants-3.GEN
‘Caepe made his pants wet.’
d. saa-p-araa-tarengere a tasau=na a tikuru-ku.
3.AGR-CAUS-INCH-wet CORE dog=DEF CORE clothes-1SG.GEN
‘The dog wetted my clothes.’

8.2.3.7 Modal predicates

Broadly defined, in Lha’alua, modal predicates consist of any predicate

expressing modality which is epistemic (concerned with degree of certainty of
knowledge), deontic (concerned with obligation), or related to permission or ability.
Complements to modals refer to either future events or states, relative to the time
reference of the complement-taking predicate. Lha’alua examples of tumua ‘need’,

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tetere ‘must’, tualhe ‘can’ and m-a-calhia ‘be able’ are demonstrated below.

(8.76) ‘Need’
m-e-cekelhi=cu a varate.
AV-motion.on.foot-come=COS.ASP CORE wind
tumua si-pangelhev-a cingare [m-a-vaca-vacange m-angelheve].
need INST.NMZ-close-PV window AV-STAT-RED-good AV-close
‘Wind is coming. The door and window need close with care.’

(8.77) ‘Must’
[tetere=i m-u-a-’avange], [maaci
must=Q AV-motion.on.foot-IRR-boat when
m-u-sipare]?
AV-motion.on.foot-BOUND.ROOT
‘Must one take a boat when crossing a river?’

(8.78) ‘Can (permission, possibility)’

a. tualhe a ’iilhi=na [paa-taku-calhia m-a-vacange
can CORE portent.bird=DEF CAUS-patrol-know AV-STAT-good
lha takuliace].
CONJ.COOR bad
‘The portent bird can predict (what is) good and (what is) bad.’
b. tualhe a ’avu’u=na [aru-miae paa-ramange vulhi’i].
can CORE lime=DEF use-BOUND.ROOT CAUS-avoid snake
‘Lime can be used for avoiding snakes.’
c. tualhi-ku=i [um-u kani’i vaake=na]?
can-1SG.GEN=Q AV-eat this tangerine=DEF
‘Can I eat this tangerine?’
d. tualhi-u=i [t<um>aleleve ilhaku um-ulare takemene=na]?
can-2SG.GEN=Q help<AV> 1SG.INDEP AV-thread needle=DEF
‘Can you help me to thread the needle?’
e. maaci m-ikaaci=cu, tualhi=cu-ku=i
if AV-stop.raining=COS.ASP can=COS.ASP-1SG.GEN=Q
[m-u-sala racu’u salia-isa ka caepe]?
AV-motion.on.foot-road bamboo house-3.AGR GEN male.name
‘If it stops raining, can I go to Caepe’s bamboo house?’

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(8.79) ‘Be able (ability, knowing how to)’
a. m-a-calhia=u=i [palhu-salhi]?
AV-STAT-be.able=2SG.NOM=Q sing-song
‘Are you able to sing a song?’
b. m-a-calhia=aku [t<um>apae].
AV-STAT-be.able=1SG.NOM draw<AV>
‘I am able to draw.’
c. m-a-calhia kana’a=na [m-usu-rauvu].
AV-STAT-be.able 3.INDEP=DEF AV-make.like-BOUND.ROOT
‘He is able to dance.’
d. m-a-calhia a ama-ku nua ina-ku
AV-STAT-be.able CORE father-1SG.GEN CONJ.COOR mother-1SG.GEN
[m-asi-a-lha’a-lha’alua].
AV-speak-IRR-RED-Lha’alua
‘My father and my mother are able to speak Lha’alua.’
e. m-a-calhia ma-m-a-ini lhalhusa kana’a=na
AV-STAT-be.able RED-AV-STAT-small man that=DEF
[lh<um>avu tikuru].
wash<AV> clothes
‘That boy is able to wash clothes.’
f. m-a-calhia ma-m-a-ini lhalhusa kana’a=na
AV-STAT-be.able RED-AV-STAT-small man that=DEF
[m-aserepe].
AV-wash.face
‘That boy is able to wash face.’

8.2.3.8 Phasal predicates

According to Noonan (1985:129; 2007:139), “phasal predicates refer to the

phase of an act or state: its inception, continuation, or termination.” An example of
inception ruami ‘start’ in Lha’alua is provided below. Typically, phasal predicates are
associated with reduced complements; that is, the S/A argument in the embedded
clause has already been specified overtly in the main clause, and thus it is omitted in
the complement.

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(8.80) maaci m-a-vacange=’ai ka kana uumuma ia,
if AV-STAt-good=MOD CORE that farm TOP
ruami=c-isa [um-a-saasape].
start=COS.ASP-3.GEN AV-IRR-bring.wasteland.under.cultivation
‘If that farm is good, they will start to bring wasteland under cultivation.’

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312
 CHAPTER 9

SPEECH ACT DISTINCTIONS

Three basic sentence types are traditionally distinguished for European

languages and also found useful for a number of languages in the world: declarative,
interrogative and imperative sentences (König and Siemund 2007). Declarative
sentences are typically used for speech acts such as assertion, claim, statement,
accusation, criticism, promise and guarantee. Declarative sentences are often regarded
as the unmarked one of the three sentence types. As claimed by Payne (1997:294), “if
there are special markings for speech act types, declarative is usually expressed via a
zero marker.” Typically, interrogative sentences are employed to elicit information,
address inquiries, introduce deliberations, and so on. Imperative sentences are
typically used for attempts to get or advise the addressee to do something, correlating
speech acts like commands, demands, proposals, prescriptions, petitions, and so forth.
There are various properties demonstrating that imperative sentences are a type of
their own, different from other two types (Aikhenvald 2010a:113).

Like a number of languages in the world, the three sentence types can be attested
in Lha’alua. Interrogative sentences will be discussed in §9.1, imperative sentences in
§9.2 and declarative sentences in §9.3.

9.1 Interrogative sentences

Conventionally, interrogative sentences are linked to the speech act of

demanding information (König and Siemund 2007). In terms of their different
syntactic structures and different types of requests of inquiries, interrogative sentences
in Lha’alua fall into two major types: polar interrogatives (§9.1.1) and constituent
interrogatives (§9.1.2). Answer to questions will be addressed in §9.1.3.

9.1.1 Polar interrogatives

“Polar interrogatives are typically used to inquire about the truth or falsity of the
proposition” (König and Siemund 2007:291). Polar interrogatives (or yes/no questions)
in Lha’alua are characterised by morphological (i.e. interrogative particle) and
prosodic (i.e. intonational marking) properties.

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9.1.1.1 Interrogative particle

In Lha’alua, the polar interrogative is marked by the particle =i. It does not occur
in constituent interrogatives, and it always cliticises to the predicate. For example, the
interrogative particle =i is added to the verbless clause complement sulhate ‘book’ in
(9.1), the nominal predicate pakiaturua ‘teacher’ in (9.2), the existential predicate
m-a-aru ‘have’ in (9.3), the stative predicate m-a-liseelhe ‘heavy’ in (9.4), and the
dynamic predicate lhi-m-alhava ‘have brought’ in (9.5).

(9.1) Interrogative particle added to a verbless clause complement

sulhati-u=i?
book-2SG.GEN=Q
‘Is it your book?’ (lit. Your book?)

(9.2) Interrogative particle added to a nominal predicate

pakiaturua=i ama-u?
teacher=Q father-2SG.GEN
‘Is your father a teacher?’

(9.3) Interrogative particle added to an existential predicate

m-a-aru=i tasau-u ca-cilhi?
AV-STAT-exist=Q dog-2SG.GEN RED-one
‘Do you have one dog?’ (lit. Your dog one exists?)

(9.4) Interrogative particle added to a stative predicate

m-a-liseelhe=i ta’elha kana’a=na?
AV-STAT-heavy=Q chair that=DEF
‘Is that chair heavy?’

(9.5) Interrogative particle added to a dynamic predicate

lhi-m-alhava=u=i saunga?
PERF.ASP-AV-bring=2SG.NOM=Q umbrella
‘Have you brought an umbrella?’

When there is more than one verb in a sentence, the interrogative particle =i is
cliticised to the main verb, which occurs in the sentence-initial position. It is the main
verb that attracts clitics, e.g. nominative pronouns, in addition to the interrogative
particle =i.

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(9.6) Interrogative particle added to the main verb
a. m-a-calhia=u=i palhu-salhi?
AV-STAT-be.able=2SG.NOM=Q sing-song
‘Are you able to sing?’
b. m-a-rumuku=u=i t<um>apae?
AV-STAT-like=2SG.NOM=Q draw<AV>
‘Do you like drawing?’
c. karekelhi=u=i m-asi-a-lha’a-lha’alua?
often=2SG.NOM=Q AV-speak-IRR-RED-Lha’alua
‘Do you often speak Lha’alua?’

9.1.1.2 Intonational marking

The intonation contour used in interrogative sentences is the opposite of the one
found in declaratives. In Lha’alua, while it is typical of declarative sentences to show
falling or level intonation, rising intonation is used in conjunction with interrogative
sentences. The rising intonation in interrogative sentences reflects the fact that high
pitch signals uncertainty, indecision, hesitation, and insecurity. In Lha’alua, when the
polar interrogative particle =i occurs in the sentence-final position, the intonation rises
and falls at the penultimate syllable and then levels at the final syllable.

(9.7) Intonational marking of a polar interrogative in the sentence-final position

m-a-vacangi=u=i?
AV-STAT-good=2SG.NOM=Q
‘How are you?’

While the polar interrogative particle =i occurs in the non-sentence-final position,

the intonation rises and falls at the position where the polar interrogative particle =i
appears and then levels to the end of the sentence.

(9.8) Intonational marking of a polar interrogative in the non-sentence-final

position

m-elengese=i vekee-isa kana’a=na?

AV-long=Q hair-3.AGR 3.INDEP=DEF
‘Is her hair long?’

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9.1.2 Constituent interrogatives and their interrelations with other
grammatical categories

In this section, constituent interrogatives and their interrelations with other

grammatical categories are examined. There are eight major types of constituent
interrogatives in Lha’alua: ‘what’, ‘who’, ‘when’, ‘where’, ‘why’, ‘how much/many’,
‘how’, and ‘which’.

Table 9.1 provides an overview of the overall characteristics of constituent

interrogatives, examined in terms of verbal features (e.g. voice inflection, irrealis
marking, aspect marking and bound pronoun attraction). Here, in lieu of verbal
features, a summary of each constituent interrogative’s word class can be described.
‘What’ and ‘who (only ngasa and cucu’u misaini)’ are analysed as nouns. ‘Who (only
nalha)’, ‘when’, ‘where (only ini)’, ‘why’, ‘how much/many (only tainiini)’ and
‘how’ are analysed as verbs. Further examination and description of each type of
constituent interrogatives are provided in the following subsections.

316
 Table 9.1: Characteristics of constituent interrogatives
VERBAL

SEMANTIC TYPES VOICE IRREALIS ASPECT BOUND PRONOUN WORD CLASS

INFLECTION MARKING MARKING ATTRACTION

‘WHAT’
1. ngalha N N N N noun
2. misaini N N N N noun
‘WHO’
1. ngalha N N N Y verb
2. ngasa N N N N noun
3. liacucua ? ? ? ? ?
4. cucu’u misaini N N N N noun
‘WHEN’
1. ki-lhaumange N N N Y verb
2. cu-lhaumange N N N Y verb
‘WHERE’
1. ini N N N Y verb
2. niinau ? ? ? N ?
‘WHY’
1. tiara Y Y Y Y verb
2. taa’iara Y Y Y Y verb
‘HOW MUCH / MANY’
1. tainiini Y Y ? N verb
2. pa-piaini ? ? ? N ?
3. u-piaini ? ? ? N ?
‘HOW’
1. auniini ? ? ? Y verb
2. tainiini ? Y ? N verb
‘WHICH’
auniini ? ? ? N ?

In Table 9.1, ‘Y’ denotes that the constituent interrogative has the characteristic,
and ‘N’ indicates that the constituent interrogative does not exhibit the characteristic.
Note that ‘?’ does not imply that those properties are not existent; instead, it means
that the available data are not able to make a decision.

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9.1.2.1 ‘What’

‘What’ in Lha’alua is rendered by ngalha and misaini. Ngalha ‘what’ occurring

in the sentence-initial position is followed by a dummy subject -isa. It does not have
any verbal properties like voice, reality status and aspectual markers. Ngalha-isa
‘what’ can be followed by a demonstrative pronoun functioning as a verbless clause
complement , as shown in (9.9).

(9.9) ngalha-isa kana’a=na?

what-3.AGR that=DEF
‘What is that?’

Ngalha-isa ‘what’ can be followed by a verb, as shown in (9.10). The verb can
be inflected with non-Actor voice only. The verb can also be the host of bound
pronouns. Ngalha-isa ‘what’ itself cannot take any voice marking.

(9.10) a. ngalha-isa a-tama-tamalheng-a-u aari-aari?

what-3.AGR IRR-RED-do/make-PV-2SG.GEN RED-day
‘What do you do every day?’
b. ngalha-isa a-rumuk-a-u um-u?
what-3.AGR STAT-like-PV-2SG.GEN AV-eat
‘What do you like to eat?’
c. ngalha-isa ima-a?
what-3.AGR drink-PV
‘What to drink?’

In addition to being inflected with non-Actor voice and being the host of bound
pronouns, other verbal properties, e.g. aspectual markers, can be attached to the verb
rather than ngalha-isa ‘what’.

(9.11) ngalha-isa lhi-tapai-u?

what-3.AGR PERF.ASP-draw-2SG.GEN
‘What did you draw?’

Another word denoting ‘what’ is misaini. Like ngalha ‘what’, it does not show
any verbal properties, such as voice, reality status and aspectual markers.

318
(9.12) a. m-i’a’a misaini?
AV-sell what
‘Sell what?’
b. pu’a misaini?
buy(AV) what
‘Buy what?’

Ngalha and misaini differ in two respects. The first difference is that they occur
in different positions; ngalha occupies the clause-initial position, but misaini remains
in situ. The second difference is that the main verb takes a patient voice marker when
ngalha is used, whereas the main verb takes an Actor voice marker when misaini is
used.

9.1.2.2 ‘Who’

‘Who’ in Lha’alua is rendered by ngalha, ngasa, liacucua, and cucu’u misaini.

Ngalha ‘who’ appears in the sentence-initial position, as in (9.13). It can co-occur
with the dummy subject -isa, as in (9.14).

(9.13) ngalha lhi-makukua?

who PERF.ASP-treat
‘Who treated?’

(9.14) ngalha-isa?
who-3.AGR
‘Who?’

Ngalha ‘who’ can be followed by a verb as in (9.15).

(9.15) ngalha-isa pi-’arivungua=na?

who-3.AGR have-phone=DEF
‘Whose phone call?’ (lit. Who had a phone?)

Ngalha ‘who’ itself shows only one verbal property; that is, it can attract a bound
pronoun as in (9.16). In the whole Lha’alua grammar, this example constitutes the
only exception in which two bound pronouns occur on a verb together. Other verbal
properties like aspectual marking in (9.17) are attached to the verb, rather than ngalha
‘who’.

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(9.16) ngalha-isa=u?
who-3.AGR=2SG.NOM
‘Who are you?’

(9.17) ngalha-isa lhi-makari?

who-3.AGR PERF.ASP-call
‘Who had called?’

Ngasa ‘who’, like ngalha ‘who’, occurs in the sentence-initial position. However,
it cannot attract any bound pronoun and does not display other verbal properties like
reality status and aspectual markers. Verbal markers, e.g. causative and irrealis, are
attached to the following verb as in (9.18).

(9.18) a. ngasa a-vura?

who IRR-give
‘Whom will it be given to?’ (lit. Give whom?)
b. ngasa paa-a-kita?
who CAUS-IRR-look
‘Who will be allowed to look at?’ (lit. Let whom look?)

Ngasa ‘who’ can form an absolute possessive equivalent to English ‘whose’ by

the addition of pi- ‘have’ and isikana ‘ABSL.POSS’.

(9.19) ngasa-pi-isikana
who-have-ABSL.POSS
‘Whose?’

Cucu’u misaini ‘who (lit. person what)’ does not exhibit verbal properties like
reality status and aspectual markers. It always occurs in the sentence-initial position.
It can be topicalised as in (9.20).

(9.20) cucu’u misaini ia, lhalhusa kana’a=na?

person what TOP man that=DEF
‘Who is that man?’ (lit. As for what person, that man?)

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9.1.2.3 ‘When’

There are two words denoting ‘when’ in Lha’alua: ki-lhaumange and

cu-lhaumange. The difference between the two words lies in semantics.
Ki-lhaumange refers a realis event, whereas cu-lhaumange refers to an irrealis event.
In terms of syntactic position, ki-lhaumange ‘when’ and cu-lhaumange ‘when’ occur
in the sentence-initial position and can be followed by a verb. An example of
cu-lhaumange ‘when’ is provided below.

(9.21) cu-lhaumange ru-ngalha?

IRR-when go-again
‘When (will you) go again?’

Ki-lhaumange ‘when’ and cu-lhaumange ‘when’ exhibit only one verbal

characteristic; that is, they can attract a bound pronoun as in (9.22). Other verbal
properties like voice marking and redupliction for irrealis and progressive are attached
to the verb, rather than ki-lhaumange ‘when’ and cu-lhaumange ‘when’. An example
of cu-lhaumange ‘when’ is provided below.

(9.22) cu-lhaumangi=u t<um>a-taa-tangi?

IRR-when=2SG.NOM RED<AV>-RED-cry
‘When will you be crying?’

9.1.2.4 ‘Where’

In Lha’alua, two words denote ‘where’: ini and niinau. Ini ‘where’ occurs in the
sentence-initial position and can be followed by a verb, as in (9.23). Unlike ini
‘where’, niinau ‘where’ does not occur independently. It must co-occur with a
locational prefix m-aa/p-aa, as shown in (9.24).

(9.23) ini lhi-angalhi m-e-cekelhe?

where PERF.ASP-from AV-motion.on.foot-BOUND.ROOT
‘Where does (someone) come from?’ (lit. Where come from?)

(9.24) m-aa-niinau a salia-u?

AV-BE:LOC/TEMP-where CORE house-2SG.GEN
‘Where is your house?’

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 In (9.25), ini ‘where’ and niinau ‘where’ can co-occur within a sentence. The
sentence is natural, and the information provided is not superfluous. The
co-occurrence of ini ‘where’ and niinau ‘where’ appears to have emphatic
connotation.

(9.25) ini paa-ninau?

where BE:LOC/TEMP(AV)-where
‘Where (is it)?’

Ini ‘where’ itself exhibits one verbal property; that is, it can attract a bound
pronoun as in (9.26). Other verbal properties like aspectual and voice markers are
attached to the verb rather than ini ‘where’, as in (9.27) and in (9.28).

(9.26) ini=u alhu-ka-kua?

where=2SG.NOM get.to-RED-get.to
‘Where are you going?’

(9.27) a. ini=amu alhu-ka-kua maataata?

where=1PL.EXCL.NOM get.to-RED-get.to tomorrow
‘Where are we going tomorrow?’
b. ini=u lhi-paaru m-usu-turu?
where=2SG.NOM PERF.ASP-exist AV-make.like-BOUND.ROOT
‘Where did you learn?’

(9.28) ini pai-ta-tealh-ani?

where find-RED-ACHI-LV
‘Where can (it) be found?’ (lit. Where find?)

9.1.2.5 ‘Why’

‘Why’ in Lha’alua is rendered by tiara and taa’iara. They exhibit verbal

properties such as attraction of bound pronouns, as in (9.29), and aspectual markers,
as in (9.30).

(9.29) tiara=u t<um>a-taa-tangi?

why=2SG.NOM RED<AV>-RED-cry
‘Why are you crying?’

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(9.30) lhi-taa’iara=cu?
PERF.ASP-how/why=COS.ASP
‘What’s wrong?’ (lit. Why (about something/someone)?)

9.1.2.6 ‘How much/many’

‘How much/many’ is rendered by tainiini, pa-piaini, and upiaini. Tainiini ‘how

much/many’ occurs in the sentence-initial position and precedes a nominal argument.

(9.31) a. tainiini kani’i a valhituku-u?

how.much/many this/now CORE money-2SG.GEN
‘How much money do you have now?’
b. tainiini a cailhi-isa tamu’u lhalhusa?
how.much/many CORE year-3.AGR grandparent man
‘How old is your grandfather?’ (lit. How many years your grandfather?)

Tainiini ‘how much/many’ shows some verbal properties, e.g. co-occurrence with
aspectual and reality status markers, as illustrated in (9.32). However, it cannot attract
a bound pronoun.

(9.32) a. tainiini=cu pakiaturua?

how.much/many=COS.ASP o’clock
‘What time (hour only) is it?’ (lit. How much o’clock?)
b. a-tainiini?
IRR-how.much/many
‘How much/many?’

Most Formosan languages distinguish human and nonhuman numerals, and the
distinction can be found in cardinal numerals and in quantifying expressions, such as
‘how many/how much’, ‘many/much’, and even ‘few/little’ (P. Li 2006b). In
Lha’alua, in addition to tainiini, pa-piaini and upiaini also denote ‘how much/many’.
The only difference between these two terms is that pa-piaini (pa- from Ca
reduplication) selects an argument referring to a human participant, as in (9.33), but
upiaini selects an argument referring to a nonhuman referent, as in (9.34). A similar
distinction reflected in different selections of referents is attested in Lha’alua
numerals (§10.1). As illustrated in (9.33) and (9.34), pa-piaini ‘how much/many’ and
upiaini ‘how much/many’ occur in the sentence-initial position and precede a nominal
argument.

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(9.33) a. pa-piaini a cucu’u salia-u?
RED-how.much/many CORE person house-2SG.GEN
‘How many people are there in your family?’
(lit. How many person your house?)
b. pa-piaini a tukucu-u?
RED-how.much/many COREfriend-2SG.GEN
‘How many friends do you have?’ (lit. How many your friends?)

(9.34) a. upiaini pakiaturua?

how.much/many o’clock
‘What time is it? (hour only)’ (lit. How many clocks?)
b. upiaini aari?
how.much/many day
‘How many days?’
c. upiaini a ta’elha-isa ma-m-a-ini a
how.much/many CORE chair-3.AGR RED-AV-STAT-small LNK
kani’i=na?
this=DEF
‘How many chairs does this child have?’
(lit. How many chairs of this child?)
d. upiaini a taelhekai-isa ma-m-a-ini a
how.much/many CORE ball-3.AGR RED-AV-STAT-small LNK
kana’a=na?
that=DEF
‘How many balls does that child have?’ (lit. How many balls of that child?)

The question word upiaini ‘how much/many’ may co-occur with the existential
predicate m-a-a-ru.

(9.35) a. m-a-aru upiaini tavelhevehe-isa?

AV-STAT-exist how.much/many banana-3.GEN
‘How many bananas does he have?’ (lit. How many his bananas exist?)

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 b. m-a-aru upiaini tepelhana sulhate-isa
AV-STAT-exist how.much/many CL:booklike book-3.AGR
ma-m-a-ini=na?
RED-AV-STAT-small=DEF
‘How many books does the child have?’
(lit. How many the child’s books exist?)

At present, Lha’alua speakers have a tendency to use pa-piaini ‘how

much/many’ to refer to referents of higher animacy or animals in domestication, in
addition to referring to human participants.

(9.36) Referring to referents of higher animacy

pa-piaini a tasau-u?
RED-how.much/many CORE dog-2SG.GEN
‘How many dogs do you have?’ (lit. How many your dogs?)

(9.37) Referring to animals in domestication

pa-piaini a turukuuka-u?
RED-how.much/many CORE chicken-2SG.GEN
‘How many chickens do you have?’ (lit. How many your chickens?)

The use of pa-piaini ‘how much/many’ referring to referents of lower animacy is

NOT favoured by the Lha’alua speakers.

(9.38) Referring to referents of lower animacy

*pa-piaini a tamuciaki-u?
RED-how.much/many CORE frog-2SG.GEN
‘How many frogs do you have?’ (lit. How many your frogs?)

9.1.2.7 ‘How’

‘How’ in Lha’alua is rendered by auniini and tainiini. Auniini ‘how’ can be

followed by a nominal argument.

(9.39) auniini a palhu-camai?

how CORE flavor/taste-side.dish
‘How do side dishes taste?’ (lit. How about flavor of side dishes?)

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 Auniini ‘how’ can attract a bound pronoun as in (9.40). The attraction of other
verbal properties, e.g. reality status, aspectual and voice markers, cannot be attested.

(9.40) auniini=u?
how=2SG.NOM
‘How about you?’

Tainiini ‘how’ can be used to ask degree and quality. Unlike auniini ‘how’, it
cannot attract a bound pronoun. The bound pronound is attached to the predicate,
immediately followed by tainiini ‘how’, as in (9.41a). Tainiini ‘how’ exhibits one
verbal property. That is, it can take an irrealis marker, as in (9.41b).

(9.41) a. tainiini langica=u?

how tall=2SG.NOM
‘How tall are you?’
b. a-tainiini raalhua-isa?
IRR-how long-3.GEN
‘How long will it take?’

9.1.2.8 ‘Which’

Auniini ‘which’ occurs in the sentence-initial position and is followed by a

nominal argument as shown in (9.42). The third person singular/plural agreement
marker -isa can attach to auniini ‘which’ and cross-refer with the nominal argument as
in (9.43).

(9.42) auniini a tapae?

which CORE color
‘Which colour (is it)?’ (lit. colour which?)

(9.43) sia-auniini-isa ka saunga-u?

SIA-which-3.AGR CORE umbrella-2SG.GEN
‘Which is your umbrella?’

9.1.3 Answer to questions

In Lha’alua, there are four positive answers: a’e ‘yes’, m-a-aru ‘exist’, m-acalhia
‘able’ and lhaa ‘yes’. These four positive answers occur in the sentence-initial

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position. The two positive answers a’e ‘yes’ and lhaa ‘yes’ may be interchangeable,
and can be used as answers to various predicates, as shown in the following
examples .

(9.44) Positive answer a’e to a nominal predicate

a. A: valhituku-ku=i kani’i=na?
money-1SG.GEN=Q this=DEF
‘Is this my money?’
B: a’e, valhituku-u a kani’i=na.
yes money-2SG.GEN CORE this=DEF
‘Yes, this is your money.’
b. A: pakiaturua=u=i?
teacher=2SG.NOM=Q
‘Are you a teacher?’
B: a’e, pakiaturua=aku.
yes teacher=1SG.NOM
‘Yes, I am a teacher.’

(9.45) Positive answer a’e to a stative predicate

A: m-a-vacange=i talhiaria=na k<um>a-kita?
AV-STAT-good=Q sun=DEF RED<AV>-look/see
‘Is sun beautiful?’ (lit. Sun good look?)
B: a’e, tam m-a-vacange.
yes very AV-STAT-good
‘Yes, (it is) very beautiful.’

(9.46) Positive answer a’e to a dynamic predicate

A: um-a-ia-iapi=u=i sulhate?
AV-IRR-RED-read=2SG.NOM=Q book
‘Are you studying?’ (lit. Are you reading a book?)
B: a’e, um-a-ia-iape=aku sulhate.
yes AV-IRR-RED-read=1SG.NOM book
‘Yes, I am studying.’ (lit. I am reading a book.)

(9.47) Positive answer lhaa to a nominal predicate

A: pakiaturua=i kana’a=na?
teacher=Q 3.INDEP=DEF
‘Is she a teacher?’

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 B: lhaa, kana’a=na ia, pakiaturua.
yes 3.INDEP=DEF TOP teacher
‘Yes, she is a teacher.’ (lit. Yes, as for her, (she is) a teacher.)

(9.48) Positive answer lhaa to a stative predicate

A: m-a-calhia=mu=i m-u-a-cekelhe
AV-STAT-be.able=2PL.NOM=Q AV-motion.on.foot-IRR-BOUND.ROOT
maataata tamu’u alhaina?
tomorrow Grandparent woman
‘Do you know whether Grandmother will come tomorrow?’
B: lhaa, m-a-calhia=amu.
yes AV-STAT-be.able.to=1PL.EXCL.NOM
‘Yes, we know.’

(9.49) Positive answer lhaa to a modal predicate

A: tualhi-ku=i um-u kani’i vaake=na?
can-1SG.GEN=Q AV-eat this tangerine=DEF
‘Can I eat this tangerine?’
B: lhaa, aan-u=mau!
yes eat-PV.IMP=STRONG.REQUEST
‘Yes, eat (it)!’

When replying a question consisting of the existential predicate m-a-aru ‘exist’,

m-a-aru ‘exist’ is used as a positive answer.

(9.50) Positive answer to an existential predicate

A: m-a-aru=i valhituku-isa kana’a=na?
AV-STAT-exist=Q money-3.AGR 3.INDEP=DEF
‘Does he have money?’ (lit. His money exists?)
B: m-a-aru, m-a-aru a valhituku-isa kana’a=na.
AV-STAT-exist AV-STAT-exist CORE money-3.AGR 3.INDEP=DEF
‘Yes, he has money.’ (lit. Exist, his money exists.)

When answering to the stative predicate m-a-calhia ‘be able to’, either lhaa ‘yes’
as already shown in (9.48) or m-a-calhia ‘be able’ is used as shown below.

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(9.51) Positive answer to the stative predicate m-a-calhia
A: m-a-calhia=i ma-m-a-ini a kana’a=na
AV-STAT-be.able=Q RED-AV-STAT-small LNK that=DEF
m-usu-rauvu?
AV-make.like-BOUND.ROOT
‘Is that child able to dance?’
B: m-a-calhia, m-a-calhia kana’a=na
AV-STAT-be.able AV-STAT-be.able 3.INDEP=DEF
m-usu-rauvu.
AV-make.like-BOUND.ROOT
‘Yes, he is able to dance.’ (lit. Able, he is able to dance.)

In Lha’alua, there is one negative answer: kuu ‘no’. Like positive answers a’e
‘yes’ and lhaa ‘yes’, kuu ‘no’ can be an answer to various predicates, as illustrated in
the following instances.

(9.52) Negative answer to a nominal predicate

A: valhituku-ku=i kana’a=na?
money-1SG.GEN=Q that=DEF
‘Is that my money?’
B: kuu, valhituku-ku a kana’a=na.
NEG money-1SG.GEN LNK that=DEF
‘No, that is my money.’

(9.53) Negative answer to a stative predicate

A: tam langica=i palii=na?
very tall=Q male.name=DEF
‘Is Palii very tall?’
B: kuu, tam m-a-ini a palii=na.
NEG very AV-STAT-short/small CORE male.name=DEF
‘No, Palii is very short.’

(9.54) Negative answer to a dynamic predicate

A: um-a-usa-usalhe=i?
AV-IRR-RED-rain=Q
‘Is it raining?’

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 B: kuu, m-uru-mita=cu a talhiaria.
NEG AV-come.out-BOUND.ROOT=COS.ASP CORE sun
‘No, the sun has risen.’ (lit. No, the sun has come out.)

9.2 Imperative sentences

“Imperative mood is the most common way of expressing commands in

languages of the world—covering directive speech acts with their multiple meanings”
(Aikhenvald 2010a:2). Two types of imperative sentences are discussed in this section:
positive imperatives (§9.2.1) and negative (prohibitive) imperatives (§9.2.2). All
examples presented in these two subsections consist of the second person imperatives.
Another type of command, hortative, is mentioned in §9.2.3.

9.2.1 Positive imperatives

Positive imperatives vary in terms of politeness and grammatical categories, such

as voice, evidentiality, modality, aspectual and reality status markers. These varieties
are examined in the following subsections.

9.2.1.1 Politeness varieties

“The degree of an imperative’s strength can vary, from a strict order implying
unquestionable authority and compliance to a soft and mild command bordering on
suggestion” (Aikhenvald 2010a:203). A similar phenomenon can be attested in
Lha’alua. In Lha’alua, the intensity in imperatives consists of a distinction between
polite and strong requests.

Uttering a mild command (i.e. polite request) can be achieved by an addition of

the suffix =kia to the verb, as shown in (9.55). When expressing a mild command, the
irrealis marker formed by -a or Ca-/Caa- reduplication must occur on the verb. In
addition to the addition of an irrealis marker, the main verb must be inflected with
Actor voice (um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø-).

330
(9.55) Polite request =kia
a. m-ia-ta-tumu=kia takuliace
AV-thrust/push-RED:IRR-BOUND.ROOT=POLITE.REQUEST bad
cucu’u=na!
person=DEF
‘Please hit the bad person with fists!’
b. m-aa-maa-m-a-ini=kia m-ima mapaci!
AV-drink-RED:IRR-AV-STAT-small=POLITE.REQUEST AV-drink wine
‘Please drink wine a little bit!’
c. m-aa-a-elese=kia m-ima mapaci!
AV-drink-IRR-together=POLITE.REQUEST AV-drink wine
‘Please drink wine together!’
d. kuri-a-ngalhangalha=kia kuri-vuuru alemelhe!
shoot-IRR-again=POLITE.REQUEST shoot-bow wild.boar
‘Please shoot a wild boar with a bow again!’
e. lu<a>liulhu=kia tikuru-u=na!
change(AV)<IRR>=POLITE.REQUEST clothes-2SG.GEN=DEF
‘Please change your clothes!’
f. l<um>a-lili=kia savuane!
RED:IRR<AV>-apply=POLITE.REQUEST ointment
‘Please apply ointment!’
g. ki-a-mairange=kia!
dig-IRR-sweet.potato=POLITE.REQUEST
‘Please dig sweet potatoes!’
h. l<um>a-levenge=kia valhituku!
RED:IRR<AV>-conceal=POLITE.REQUEST money
‘Please conceal money!’

Strengthening a command (i.e. strong request) can be achieved by the use of cuu,
=mau or cuu=mau. The command degrees of cuu, =mau and cuu=mau do not exhibit
any semantic or pragmatic difference. In principle, cuu plus =mau should be stronger
than just cuu or =mau in command. It turns out that this surmise is not upheld by
Lha’alua speakers. In terms of constituent order, cuu and cuu=mau always occur in
the sentence-initial position, whereas =mau always attaches to the main verb.
Examples are provided below.

331
(9.56) Strong request cuu
a. cuu u=mana!
STRONG.REQUEST eat=IMPERF.ASP
‘Keep eating!’ (lit. Still eat!)
b. cuu m-alusap-a!
STRONG.REQUEST AV-sleep-AV.IMP
‘Sleep!’
c. cuu pan-u a alemelhe!
STRONG.REQUEST hunt-PV.IMP CORE wild.boar
‘Hunt the wild boar!’
d. cuu ari-pi-pici-u a kiu’u=na!
STRONG.REQUEST hand/head.motion-RED-split-PV.IMP CORE tree=DEF
‘Chop the tree so as to make it split!’

(9.57) Strong request cuu=mau

a. cuu=mau u-pala-pal-a tasau!
STRONG.REQUEST=STRONG.REQUEST AV-RED-wait-AV.IMP dog
‘Wait for a dog!’
b. cuu=mau puatus-a camai!
STRONG.REQUEST=STRONG.REQUEST give.as.a.present-AV.IMP side.dish
‘Give a side dish as a present!’
c. cuu=mau alhav-u a vutukulhu!
STRONG.REQUEST=STRONG.REQUEST bring-PV.IMP CORE fish
‘Bring the fish!’
d. cuu=mau vur-i camai!
STRONG.REQUEST=STRONG.REQUEST give-LV.IMP side.dish
‘Give the side dish!’

(9.58) Strong request =mau

a. ia-pual-u=mau likilhi
thrust/push-BOUND.ROOT-PV.IMP=STRONG.REQUEST vehicle
um-aru-a-’urai!
AV-use-IRR-oil
‘Push the motorcycle!’
b. pai-pilil-u=mau tangusulhu!
action.involving.hands-BOUND.ROOT-PV.IMP=STRONG.REQUEST rice.cake
‘Mold the rice cake!’

332
 c. capa-u=mau papa’a!
broil-PV.IMP=STRONG.REQUEST meat
‘Broil the meat!’
d. m-u-capi-a=mau!
AV-motion.on.foot-BOUND.ROOT-AV.IMP=STRONG.REQUEST
m-u-a-elese=ita=mana kana
AV-motion.on.foot-IRR-together=1PL.INCL.NOM=IMPERF.ASP PAUSE.FILLER
m-i<a>tungusu.
AV-Ritual.of.Sacred.Shells<IRR>
‘Come down! We will still go to the Ritual of Sacred Shells together
(Chinese name:貝神祭).’

Strong requests are typically used in an emergent situation or in a circumstance

when a person who is senior talks to a person who is junior. Polite requests can be
employed in any circumstance, and treated as a symbol of courtesy.

9.2.1.2 Voice varieties and imperative suffixes

Table 9.2 presents an overview of voice varieties and imperative suffixes in

positive imperatives examined in this section.

Table 9.2: Voice varieties and imperative suffixes in positive imperatives

POSITIVE IMPERATIVE
VOICE IN DECLARATIVES VOICE IN IMPERATIVES
IMPERATIVES SUFFIX
AV: um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø- ø
POLITE
PV: not applicable not applicable
AV: um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø- REQUEST
LV: not applicable not applicable
PV: -a/-ø
AV: um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø- -a
LV: -a(na)/-i/-ani STRONG
PV: ø -u
REQUEST
LV: ø -i/-ani

When the polite request =kia is used, no imperative suffix is added to the main
verb, and the noun phrase in S or A function is not specified.

(9.59) Polite request =kia

a. um-a-urape=kia!
AV-IRR-sow=POLITE.REQUEST
‘Please sow!’

333
 b. m-ari-a-[’evecenge]E=kia!
AV-hand/head.motion-IRR-millet=POLITE.REQUEST
‘Please harvest millet!’

When the strong request cuu, =mau or cuu=mau is used, an imperative suffix is
added to the main verb. The noun phrase in S or A function is omitted. The intensity
degree of the three strong request markers in different voice constructions does not
display any semantic and pragmatic difference.

In Actor voice constructions, the imperative marker -a is suffixed to the main

verb. The Actor voice form (i.e. um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø-) used in declarative sentences is
maintained.

(9.60) The imperative suffix -a in Actor voice constructions with strong request
cuu
a. cuu m-aru-taev-a ‘uncover’
b. cuu m-ia-pual-a ‘push’
c. cuu m-ai-kepel-a ‘grasp’
d. cuu m-ati-sangal-a ‘catch’
e. cuu m-ia-tumu-a ‘hit by fists’
f. cuu l<um>ili-a ‘apply (ointment)’
g. cuu l<em>eveng-a ‘conceal’
h. cuu t<um>aev-a ‘cover’
i. cuu t<um>ulhuc-a ‘put Derris trifoliate (a plant name) and let it
flow’
j. cuu um-ailh-a ‘deposit/preserve’
k. cuu um-urur-a ‘thread’
l. cuu u-lhamar-a ‘set fire to mountains’
m cuu u-kii-kirim-a ‘search’
n. cuu ru-pici-a ‘tear apart’
o. cuu kira-pulit-a ‘step on so as to separate’

(9.61) The imperative suffix -a in Actor voice constructions with strong request
=mau
a. m-aru-taev-a=mau ‘uncover’
b. m-ia-pual-a=mau ‘push’
c. m-ai-kepel-a=mau ‘grasp’
d. m-ati-sangal-a=mau ‘catch’

334
 e. m-ia-tumu-a=mau ‘hit by fists’
f. l<um>ili-a=mau ‘apply (ointment)’
g. l<em>eveng-a=mau ‘conceal’
h. t<um>aev-a=mau ‘cover’
i. t<um>ulhuc-a=mau ‘put Derris trifoliate (a plant name) and let
it flow’
j. um-ailh-a=mau ‘deposit/preserve’
k. um-urur-a=mau ‘thread’
l. u-lhamar-a=mau ‘set fire to mountains’
m u-kii-kirim-a=mau ‘search’
n. ru-pici-a=mau ‘tear apart’
o. kira-pulit-a=mau ‘step on so as to separate’

(9.62) The imperative suffix -a in Actor voice constructions with strong request
cuu=mau
a. cuu=mau m-aru-taev-a ‘uncover’
b. cuu=mau m-ia-pual-a ‘push’
c. cuu=mau m-ai-kepel-a ‘grasp’
d. cuu=mau m-ati-sangal-a ‘catch’
e. cuu=mau m-ia-tumu-a ‘hit by fists’
f. cuu=mau l<um>ili-a ‘apply (ointment)’
g. cuu=mau l<em>eveng-a ‘conceal’
h. cuu=mau t<um>aev-a ‘cover’
i. cuu=mau t<um>ulhuc-a ‘put Derris trifoliate (a plant name) and let
it flow’
j. cuu=mau um-ailh-a ‘deposit/preserve’
k. cuu=mau um-urur-a ‘thread’
l. cuu=mau u-lhamar-a ‘set fire to mountains’
m cuu=mau u-kii-kirim-a ‘search’
n. cuu=mau ru-pici-a ‘tear apart’
o. cuu=mau kira-pulit-a ‘step on so as to separate’

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(9.63) Examples of strong request and the imperative suffix -a in Actor voice
constructions
a. cuu=mau kira-pulit-a
STRONG.REQUEST=STRONG.REQUEST step.on-separate-AV.IMP
[a racu’u=na]E!
CORE bamboo=DEF
‘Step on the bamboo so as to separate it!’
b. cuu=mau m-aa-tumulh-a m-ima
STRONG.REQUEST=STRONG.REQUEST AV-drink-a.lot-AV.IMP AV-drink
[mapaci]E!
wine
‘Drink a lot of wine!’
c. cuu=mau m-aa-eles-a m-ima
STRONG.REQUEST=STRONG.REQUEST AV-drink-together-AV.IMP AV-drink
[mapaci]E!
wine
‘Drink wine together!’’
d. m-aa-m-a-ini-a=mau m-ima [mapaci]E!
AV-drink-AV-STAT-small-AV.IMP=STRONG.REQUEST AV-drink wine
‘Drink wine a little bit!
e. kuri-alualu-a=mau kuri-vuuru [alemelhe]E!
shoot-first-AV.IMP=STRONG.REQUEST shoot-bow wild.boar
‘Shoot a wild boar with a bow first!’
f. luliulh-a=mau [tikuru-u=na]E!
change(AV)-AV.IMP=STRONG.REQUEST clothes-2SG.GEN=DEF
‘Change your clothes!’
g. l<um>a-lili-a=mau [savuane]E!
RED<AV>-apply-AV.IMP=STRONG.REQUEST ointment
‘Apply ointment!’
h. m-u-likap-a=mau ki-[mairange]E!
AV-motion.on.foot-BOUND.ROOT-AV.IMP=STRONG.REQUEST dig-sweet.potato
‘Dig sweet potatoes stealthily!’

In patient voice constructions, the imperative suffix -u is added to the main

verb. The patient voice marker employed in declarative sentences is deleted.

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(9.64) The imperative suffix -u in patient voice constructions with strong
request cuu
a. cuu aru-taiv-u ‘uncover’
b. cuu ia-pual-u ‘push’
c. cuu p-ai-kepil-u/p-ai-kipil-u ‘grasp’
d. cuu p-ati-sangal-u ‘catch’
e. cuu ia-tum-u ‘hit by fists’
f. cuu lili-u ‘apply (ointment)’
g. cuu leving-u/living-u ‘conceal’
h. cuu taiv-u ‘cover’
i. cuu tulhuc-u ‘put Derris trifoliate (a plant name) and let
it flow’
j. cuu ailh-u ‘deposit/preserve’
k. cuu urur-u ‘thread’
l. cuu lhamar-u ‘set fire to mountains’
m. cuu kii-kirim-u ‘search’
n. cuu ru-pici-u ‘tear apart’
o. cuu kira-pulit-u ‘step on so as to separate’

(9.65) The imperative suffix -u in patient voice constructions with strong

request =mau
a. aru-taiv-u=mau ‘uncover’
b. ia-pual-u=mau ‘push’
c. p-ai-kepil-u=mau/p-ai-kipil-u=mau ‘grasp’
d. p-ati-sangal-u=mau ‘catch’
e. ia-tum-u=mau ‘hit by fists’
f. lili-u=mau ‘apply (ointment)’
g. leving-u=mau/living-u=mau ‘conceal’
h. taiv-u=mau ‘cover’
i. tulhuc-u=mau ‘put Derris trifoliate (a plant name)
and let itflow’
j. ailh-u=mau ‘deposit/preserve’
k. urur-u=mau ‘thread’
l. lhamar-u=mau ‘set fire to mountains’
m. kii-kirim-u=mau ‘search’
n. ru-pici-u=mau ‘tear apart’
o. kira-pulit-u=mau ‘step on so as to separate’

337
(9.66) The imperative suffix -u in patient voice constructions with strong
request cuu=mau
a. cuu=mau aru-taiv-u ‘uncover’
b. cuu=mau ia-pual-u ‘push’
c. cuu=mau p-ai-kepil-u/p-ai-kipil-u ‘grasp’
d. cuu=mau p-ati-sangal-u ‘catch’
e. cuu=mau ia-tum-u ‘hit by fists’
f. cuu=mau lili-u ‘apply (ointment)’
g. cuu=mau leving-u/living-u ‘conceal’
h. cuu=mau taiv-u ‘cover’
i. cuu=mau tulhuc-u ‘put Derris trifoliate (a plant name)
and let it flow’
j. cuu=mau ailh-u ‘deposit/preserve’
k. cuu=mau urur-u ‘thread’
l. cuu=mau lhamar-u ‘set fire to mountains’
m. cuu=mau kii-kirim-u ‘search’
n. cuu=mau ru-pici-u ‘tear apart’
o. cuu=mau kira-pulit-u ‘step on so as to separate’

(9.67) Examples of strong request and the imperative suffix -u in patient

voice constructions
a. cuu=mau kira-pulit-u
STRONG.REQUEST=STRONG.REQUEST step.on-separate-PV.IMP
[a racu’u=na]O!
CORE bamboo=DEF
‘Step on the bamboo so as to separate it!’
b. cuu=mau lili-u [savuane]O!
STRONG.REQUEST=STRONG.REQUEST apply-PV.IMP ointment
‘Apply ointment!’
c. tara-ena-u=mau [tilha’alhi-u]O!
rinse-BOUND.ROOT-PV.IMP=STRONG.REQUEST body-2SG.GEN
‘Rinse your body!’
d. living-u=mau [valhituku]O!
conceal-PV.IMP=STRONG.REQUEST money
‘Conceal money!’

In locative voice constructions, the imperative marker -i/-ani is suffixed to the

main verb. The locative voice marker used in declarative sentences is deleted. In my

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corpus, the locative voice construction is the only one voice construction in which the
strong requests cuu, =mau and cuu=mau are not used.

(9.68) The imperative suffix -i/-ani in locative voice constructions

a. vur-i ‘give’ (Tsuchida 1976:80)
b. taru-cuvung-ani ‘meet’ (Tsuchida 1976:80)

(9.69) Example of the imperative suffix -i in a locative voice construction

vur-i a kana’a=na salhumu!
give-LV.IMP CORE 3.INDEP=DEF water
‘Give him water!’

9.2.1.3 Other grammatical categories: evidentiality, modality, aspectuality and

reality status

In Lha’alua, grammatical categories like evidentiality, modality and some

aspectual distinctions like change-of-state and perfective do not occur in imperative
sentences. The imperfective marker =mana is the only one aspect marker that can
occur in imperative sentences in my corpus. The example consisting of the
imperfective aspect =mana is given below.

(9.70) cuu u=mana!

STRONG.REQUEST eat=IMPERF.ASP
‘Keep eating!’ (lit. Still eat!)

Regarding the grammatical category reality status, irrealis formed by a- or

Ca-/Caa- reduplication is required to occur in imperative sentences when the polite
request =kia is used. The irrealis marker is not required to occur in imperative
sentences when the strong request cuu, =mau or cuu=mau is used.

(9.71) Obligatory irrealis marking in imperative sentences with polite request

=kia
a. m-u-a-sala=kia lh<um>avu tikuru=na!
AV-motion.on.foot-IRR-road=POLITE.REQUEST wash<AV> clothes=DEF
‘Please go and wash the clothes!’
b. lh<um>a-lhavu=kia tikuru!
RED:IRR<AV>-wash=POLITE.REQUEST clothes
‘Please wash clothes!’

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(9.72) Optional irrealis marking in imperative sentences with the strong request
cuu, =mau or cuu=mau
a. luluilh-a=mau [tikuru-u=na]E!
change(AV)-AV.IMP=STRONG.REQUEST clothes-2SG.GEN=DEF
‘Change your clothes!’
b. l<um>a-lili-a=mau [savuane]E!
RED:IRR<AV>-apply-AV.IMP=STRONG.REQUEST ointment
‘Apply ointment!’

9.2.2 Negative imperatives

In Lha’alua, negative imperatives (also called prohibitives) deserve special

mention, in that they are similar to their positive counterparts marked for polite
request =kia, rather than to those marked for strong request cuu, =mau or cuu=mau.
In addition, negative imperatives employ a similar negative strategy found in
declarative sentences. Specifically, in negative imperatives, =kia is obligatorily
attached to the imperative negator kuu (cf. ku in declarative sentences) and occurs in
the sentence-initial position. Due to the occurrence of polite request =kia, the main
verb in negative imperatives must be inflected with an Actor voice form (i.e.
um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø-), and the grammatical category irrealis formed by a- or Ca-/Caa-
reduplication must occur on the verb.

In Lha’alua, Actor voice is neutralised in interrogative and negative sentences.

The Actor voice marker must be formally unmarked or undergo m/p alternation. The
choice is lexically determined. Due to the use of imperative negator kuu, a similar
phenomenon can be attested in negative imperative sentences. Examples are
illustrated below.

(9.73) a. kuu=kia ia-ta-tumu takuliace

NEG.IMP=POLITE.REQUEST thrust/push-RED:IRR-BOUND.ROOT bad
cucu’u=na!
person=DEF
‘Don’t hit the bad person with fists!’

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 b. kuu=kia u-sa-sipare
NEG.IMP=POLITE.REQUEST motion.on.foot-RED:IRR-BOUND.ROOT
lhuulhungu!
stream
‘Don’t wade a stream!’
c. kuu=kia a-kirimi alemelhe!
NEG.IMP=POLITE.REQUEST IRR-search/hunt wild.boar
‘Don’t hunt wild boars!’
d. kuu=kia
NEG.IMP=POLITE.REQUEST
a-tulhucu vutukulhu!
IRR-put.Derris.trifoliate.so.as.to.let.it.flow.and.poison fish
‘Don’t put Derris trifoliate (plant name) so as to let it flow and poison fish!’

The main verb in negative imperatives can undergo CV-, CVV- or CVCV-
reduplication to convey the continuous (i.e. literally, ‘continuously’) or diminutive (i.e.
literally, ‘a little bit’) meaning. These two meanings can be disambiguated by the
contexts only. Based on my corpus, the following examples acquire the ‘continuous’
meaning.

(9.74) a. kuu=kia ia-ta-tuu-tumu

NEG.IMP=POLITE.REQUEST thrust/push-RED:IRR-RED-BOUND.ROOT
takuliace cucu’u=na!
bad person=DEF
‘Don’t hit the bad person with fists continuously!’
b. kuu=kia u-sa-si-sipare
NEG.IMP=POLITE.REQUEST motion.on.foot-RED:IRR-RED-BOUND.ROOT
lhuulhungu!
stream
‘Don’t wade in a stream continuously!’
c. kuu=kia a-kiri-kirimi alemelhe!
NEG.IMP=POLITE.REQUEST IRR-RED-search wild.boar
‘Don’t search wild boars continuously!’

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 d. kuu=kia
NEG.IMP=POLITE.REQUEST
a-tulhu-tulhucu vutukulhu!
IRR-RED-put.Derris.trifoliate.so.as.to.let.it.flow.and.poison fish
‘Don’t put Derris trifoliate (plant name) so as to let it flow and poison fish
continuously!’

In negative imperatives, the noun phrase in S or A function is very often omitted.

Not uncommonly, the noun phrase of second person in S or A function can be
expressed overtly. When explicitly specified, the noun phrase should be an
independent pronoun rather than a bound pronoun. Bound pronouns are not used
because of structural incompatibility.

(9.75) kuu=kia ilhamu

NEG.IMP=POLITE.REQUEST 2PL.INDEP
i-a-cikiri salia!
action.concerning.location-IRR-BOUND.ROOT house
‘You don’t leave a house!’

Like positive imperatives, grammatical categories like evidentiality, modality

and some aspectual distinctions like change-of-state and perfective do not occur in
negative imperatives. The imperfective aspect =mana is the only one that may occur
in negative imperatives in my corpus.

(9.76) kuu=kia=mana au-a-u uuru!

NEG.IMP=POLITE.REQUEST=IMPERF.ASP RED-IRR-eat rice
‘Please still don’t eat rice!’

9.2.3 Hortative

In Lha’alua, there is another type of command: hortative. Hortative does not

require verbs to occur in imperative forms. The formation of hortative is expressed
through the cliticisation of first person plural inclusive pronoun =ita.

(9.77) ki-sa-sua=ita ki-talhivakuralhai.

dig-RED-two=1PL.INCL.NOM dig-wild.yam
‘Let’s dig wild yams together.’

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9.3 Declarative sentences

In Lha’alua, a declarative sentence itself cannot be distinguished inflectionally.

In other words, no special marking is particularly used for a declarative sentence.
However, there is a reliable indicator (prosodic characterisation) of declarative
sentences, i.e. a leveling intonation pattern or a falling intonation contour. As shown
in (9.78), a declarative sentence may have a leveling intonation pattern or a falling
intonation contour.

(9.78) Prosodic property of a declarative sentence

or

um-au-a-u=aku uuru.
AV-RED-IRR-eat=1SG.NOM rice
‘I am having a meal.’ (lit. I am eating rice.)

More characteristics of declarative sentences which can distinguish them from

interrogative and imperative sentences will be discussed in next subsection.

9.3.1 In relation to the other basic types

Compared with interrogative and imperative sentences, declarative sentences in

Lha’alua can be considered as the unmarked one. There are several reasons to uphold
this statement. Firstly, declarative sentences, dominantly, are the most frequent
sentence type in my corpus, whereas interrogative and imperative sentences are
relatively rare. Secondly, the constituent order exhibited by declarative sentences
(VAO/VS) is regarded as the basic constituent order in Lha’alua.

(9.79) Declarative sentences: VAO/VS

a. lhi-m-alusapi=cu [a ’a’ai]S.
PERF.ASP-AV-sleep=COS.ASP CORE baby
‘The baby has slept.’
b. lhi-aala [’angai]A [vutukulhu]O na lhuulhungu.
PERF.ASP-take(PV) male.name fish OBL stream
‘’angai has taken the fish in a stream.’

In contrast to declarative sentences, the constituent order of imperative sentences

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is V(E) (if intransitive) or VO (if transitive).

(9.80) Imperative sentences: V(E)/VO

a. m-u-likap-a=mau ki-[mairange]E!
AV-motion.on.foot-BOUND.ROOT-AV.IMP=STRONG.REQUEST dig-sweet.potato
‘Dig sweet potatoes stealthily!’
b. tara-ena-u=mau [sapalhe-u]O!
rinse-BOUND.ROOT-PV.IMP=STRONG.REQUEST foot-2SG.GEN
‘Rinse your feet!’

Thirdly, compared with interrogative and imperative sentences, declarative

sentences in Lha’alua are less restricted in their distribution. For instance,
dependent/embedded clauses often possess the same formal characteristics as
declarative sentences, rather than those of interrogative and imperative sentences (see
§8.2).

Fourthly, in contrast to imperative sentences, declarative sentences exhibit the

full paradigm of modality and aspectual markers available in Lha’alua. As already
mentioned in §9.2.1.3, grammatical categories like modality and most aspectual
markers like change-of-state and perfective are not found in imperative sentences. The
imperfective aspect =mana is the only one occurring in imperative sentences in my
corpus.

Fifthly, contrary to imperative sentences, declarative sentences exhibit the full

paradigm of reality status markers available in Lha’alua. As already mentioned in
§9.2.1.3, irrealis marked by a- or Ca-/Caa- reduplication obligatorily occurs with the
polite request =kia in imperative sentences. However, the irrealis marker is not
required to occur with the strong request cuu, =mau or cuu=mau in imperative
sentences.

Sixthly, in contrast to imperative sentences, declarative sentences exhibit the full

paradigm of voice varieties. The full paradigm of voice varieties in declarative
sentences is AV: um-/<um>/u-/m-/ø-, PV: -a/-ø and LV: -a(na)/-i/-ani. Though polite
request and strong request in positive imperatives have the same AV paradigm as
declarative sentences do, PV and LV paradigms are not applicable in polite requests
and zero-marked in strong requests (§9.2.1.2).

Lastly, in Lha’alua, interrogative and partly imperative sentences can be analysed

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as being the result of some operations (adjunction, omission, change of constituent
order) performed on declarative sentences, rather than the other way around. For
example, the constituent order in imperative sentences can be regarded as omission of
an argument in S or A function in declarative sentences.

9.3.2 Interaction with evidentiality

In Lha’alua, the marker =ami signals the kind of evidence (hearsay) on which a
claim is based or the degree of strength with which assertion can be made (§6.2.3).
The evidentiality marker covering information acquired from someone else is
combined with declarative sentences in Lha’alua, and this is typical for languages all
over the world (Aikhenvald 2004:242). This is not surprising in that, as mentioned in
König and Siemund (2007:288), “declarative sentences are typically used to express
claims, assertions, statements about the world (of discourse) and thus indicate an
attitude of belief (in the truth of the proposition expressed)”. Two examples of the
evidentiality marking in Lha’alua are provided below.

(9.81) akuisa lh<um>ivuru civuka-isa,

when stab<AV> belly/stomach-3.GEN
m-utu-pulhu=ami a ma-m-a-ini-isa,
AV-locomotion-come.out=EVI CORE RED-AV-STAT-small-3.GEN
riane=ami alemelhe.
all=EVI wild.boar
‘It is said that when (he) stabbed her belly, the children came out, and all
(children) were wild boars.’

(9.82) saa-lhivur-a=ami a alhaina=na.

3.GEN-stab-PV=EVI CORE woman=DEF
‘It is said that he stabbed the woman.’

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346
 CHAPTER 10

NUMERALS AND THE COUNTING SYSTEM

This chapter deals with numerals and the counting system, including word
formation of numerals and the counting system (§10.1), and syntactic functions of
numerals (§10.2). This is a system which preserves numerous features reconstructed
for the Proto-language (see, for example, Blust 2009). Speakers of Lha’alua are
‘number-proud’; that is, they value competence in this lexical field. This lexical field
is also remarkably well preserved by the speakers who are highly competent in it,
which corroborates its importance for a comprehensive study of the language.

10.1 Word formation of numerals and the counting system

This section discusses word formation of numerals and the counting system,
including numerals from one to ten (§10.1.1), numerals higher than ten (§10.1.2),
derived numerals (§10.1.3) and the counting system and person names (§10.1.4).

10.1.1 Numerals from one to ten

Blust (2003:205) suggests that PAN (Proto-Austronesian) “had two

morphologically related sets of numerals, an unaffixed set used in serial counting and
in the enumeration of non-human referents, and a second set derived from the first by
Ca-reduplication and used in counting human referents”. Table 10.1 illustrates the two
sets, reproduced from Blust (1998:31).

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 Table 10.1: Simple and reduplicated forms of the PAN numerals
Set A Set B
*pija *pa-pija ‘how much, how many?’
*esa/*isa *a-esa ‘one’
*duSa *da-duSa ‘two’
*telu *ta-telu ‘three’
*Sepat *Sa-Sepat ‘four’
*lima *la-lima ‘five’
*enem *a-enem ‘six’
*pitu *pa-pitu ‘seven’
*walu *wa-walu ‘eight’
*Siwa *Sa-Siwa ‘nine’
*puluq *pa-puluq ‘ten’

Examples of Thao (also mentioned in Zeitoun (2007:253)), an Austronesian

language of Taiwan, are provided below.

(10.1) Thao
a. tusha wa qali
two LNK day
‘in two days’ (Blust 2003:1026)
b. a kan ta-tusha yamin mu-qariwan.
FUT go RED-two 1PE.NOM go-place.name
‘We two (excl.) are going to Puli.’ (Blust 2003:1027)

“PAN had a decimal system of counting that has been retained in most of its
decedents” (Blust 2009:268). Analogous to the great major of Austronesian languages
which are subsumed under this system, Lha’alua has a structurally intact decimal
number system, i.e. 1-10.

Most Formosan languages, including Lha’alua, distinguish human and

nonhuman numerals, and the distinction can be found in cardinal numerals and
quantifying expressions, such as ‘how many/how much’, ‘many/much’, and even
‘few/little’ (P. Li 2006b). Lha’alua distinguishes serial counting, nonhuman, and
human numerals. The distinction can be established in cardinal numerals,
interrogatives ‘how many/how much’ and other derived numerals (§10.1.3). Table
10.2 illustrates numerals from one to ten in Lha’alua, based on the distinctions of
serial counting, nonhuman, and human.

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 Table 10.2: Numerals from one to ten
From one to ten (1-10)
Translation and
Serial counting Nonhuman Human
gloss
‘how much /
n/a upiaini pa-piaini
how many’
caani ucani ca-cilhi ‘one’
suua usua sa-sua ‘two’
tuulu utulu ta-tulu ‘three’
paate upate a-upate ‘four’
ku-lima ulima la-lima ‘five’
ke-neme eneme a-eneme ‘six’
ku-pitu upitu pa-pitu ‘seven’
ku-alu ualu la-la-alu ‘eight’
ku-sia usia sa-sia ‘nine’
ku-maalhe maalhe ’umara-maalhe ‘ten’

Serial counting numerals from one to ten are based on the numeral forms (i.e.
roots) of nonhuman and human numerals. Numerals from ‘one’ to ‘four’ are formed
by vowel lengthening. Numerals from ‘five’ to ‘ten’ are formed by prefixing ku- to the
numeral bound root. For the numeral ‘six’, ku- undergoes vowel harmony (§2.4.1.2)
and becomes ke- in that the following syllables contain the high central unrounded
vowel [i], transcribed as e.

Nonhuman numerals from one to ten begin with the initial u. For ‘six’, u
undergoes vowel harmony (see §2.4.1.2) and becomes e because the following
syllables consist of the high central unrounded vowel [i], transcribed as e. It is
difficult to make a decision that the initial u is a nonhuman prefix (i.e. u-) which is
added to the numeral root (e.g. ucani ‘one’ as u-cani). The reason can be attributed by
the fact that numerals from ten to ninety (§10.1.2.2), numerals from one hundred to
nine hundred (§10.1.2.3), numerals from one thousand to nine thousand (§10.1.2.4),
and numerals higher than ten thousand (§10.1.2.2) all consist of the nonhuman
numerals from one to ten as base to derive human numerals.

In human numerals, ‘one’, ‘two’, ‘three’, ‘four’, ‘five’, ‘six’, ‘seven’, ‘nine’ and
‘how much/how many’ are formed by (C)a- reduplication. a- reduplication applies
when the numeral root is vowel-initial. ‘Eight’ is formed by Ca- triplication. Ca-

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triplication applies when the numeral root is vowel-initial. Compared with the PAN
form *wa-walu ‘eight’, Lha’alua has already lost the initial consonant of the numeral
root for ‘eight’ (i.e. alu). Since the consonant was lost, this may be the reason why the
adjacent consonant l of alu is used in Ca- triplication. ‘Ten’ is not formed by (C)a-
reduplication or Ca- triplication but formed by addition of the human prefix ’umara-.
The human prefix ’umara- is also used in numerals from eleven to nineteen
(§10.1.2.1).

In line with the discussion of Blust (1998:31) and P. Li (2006b), human and
nonhuman distinction can be found in Lha’alua numerals. Typically, human numerals
are used to refer to human participants; nonhuman numerals are employed to indicate
nonhuman referents.

(10.2) Human numerals referring to human participants

a. m-a-aru a-eneme cucu’u salia-ku.
AV-STAT-exist RED-six person house-1SG.GEN
‘There are six people in my family.’ (lit. My house six people exist.)
b. m-a-aru a ca-cilhi alhalua-ku alhaina
AV-STAT-exist CORE RED-one older.sibling-1SG.GEN woman
lha sa-sua lhimilavae alhaina.
CONJ.COOR RED-two younger.sibling woman
‘I have one older sister and two younger sisters.’
(lit. One my older sister and two younger sisters exist.)

(10.3) Nonhuman numerals referring to nonhuman referents

a. m-a-aru a ucani si-a-samusu-ku.
AV-STAT-exist CORE one NMZ-A-wipe/erase-1SG.GEN
‘I have one eraser.’ (lit. One my eraser exists.)
b. usua alhiilha-isa alemelhe=na.
two tooth/fang(animal)-3.AGR wild.boar=DEF
‘The wild boar has two teeth/fangs.’ (lit. The wild boar’s teeth/fangs two.)
c. vungu-isa ’ukui=na, m-a-aru usua ’ungu.
head-3.AGR goat=DEF AV-STAT-exist two horn
‘The goat’s head has two horns.’
(lit. As for the goat’s head, two horns exist.)

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 d. m-a-aru a utulu tepelhana sulhate-isa
AV-STAT-exist CORE three CL:booklike book/paper/word-3.AGR
kuate.
female.name
‘Kuate has three books.’ (lit. Three Kuate’s books exist.)

Nowadays, Lha’alua speakers tend to use all human numerals (including

human numerals higher than ‘ten’) to refer to referents of higher animacy or
animals in domestication.

(10.4) Human numerals referring to referents of higher animacy

a. m-a-aru a sa-sua tasau-ku.
AV-STAT-exist CORE RED-two dog-1SG.GEN
‘I have two dogs’ (lit. Two my dogs exist.)
b. m-a-aru a a-upate ngiau-ku.
AV-STAT-exist CORE RED-four cat-1SG.GEN
‘I have four cats’ (lit. Four my cats exist.)

(10.5) Human numerals referring to animals in domestication

a. m-a-aru a ’ukui-ku ca-cilhi.
AV-STAT-exist CORE goat-1SG.GEN RED-one
‘I have one goat.’ (lit. One my goat exists.)
b. m-a-aru a turukuuka-ku sa-sia.
AV-STAT-exist CORE chicken-1SG.GEN RED-nine
‘I have nine chickens.’ (lit. Nine my chickens exist.)

The use of human numerals referring to referents of higher animacy or animals

in domestication is subject to a speaker’s personal judgement. As shown in the
following conversation, speaker A uses a human numeral to refer to a dog while
speaker B adopts a nonhuman numeral to do so.

(10.6) Human or nonhuman numeral referring to the same referent

A: m-a-aru=i tasau-u ca-cilhi?
AV-STAT-exist=Q dog-2SG.GEN RED-one
‘Do you have a dog?’ (lit. Your one dog exists?)
B: m-a-aru a ucani tasau-ku.
AV-STAT-exist CORE one dog-1SG.GEN
‘I have one dog.’ (lit. My one dog exists.)

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 The use of human numerals referring to referents of lower animacy is NOT
acceptable for the Lha’alua speakers.

(10.7) Human numerals referring to referents of lower animacy

a. *m-a-aru a ca-cilhi lhatikasi-ku.
AV-STAT-exist CORE RED-one mosquito-1SG.GEN
‘I have one mosquito.’ (lit. One my mosquito exists.)
b. *m-a-aru a sa-sua tamuciaki-ku.
AV-STAT-exist CORE RED-two frog-1SG.GEN
‘I have two frogs.’ (lit. Two my frogs exist.)

10.1.2 Numerals higher than ten

Knowledge of higher numerals is regarded as a token of expertise in the

language. At present, old and fluent speakers tend to use Japanese numerals in
everyday life, whereas young and non-fluent speakers employ Mandarin Chinese
numerals instead.

In Lha’alua, the distinction between serial counting and nonhuman numerals is

neutralised in numerals higher than ten.

10.1.2.1 Numerals from ten to nineteen

In Lha’alua, numerals from 11 to 19 are formed by addition, namely 10+1, 10+2,

etc. Numerals from 11 to 19 can be differentiated in terms of their reference to
nonhuman or human participants. When expressing nonhuman numerals from 11 to
19, the nonhuman prefix lailha- ‘TENS-’ is added to the numeral root from 1 to 9. For
example, lailha-ucani ‘11’ is expressed by lailha- ‘TENS-’ plus ucani ‘one’. The
nonhuman numerals are used in counting numbers from 11 to 19. The formation of
human numerals from 11 to 19 is indicated by the human prefix ’umara-rai- ‘TENS-’
added to the human numeral stem from 1 to 9. For example, ’umara-rai-ca-cilhi ‘11’
is expressed by ’umara-rai- ‘TENS-’ plus ca-cilhi ‘one’.

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 Table 10.3: Numerals from eleven to nineteen
Serial counting /
Human Translation and gloss
Nonhuman
lailha-ucani ’umara-rai-ca-cilhi ‘eleven’ (TENS + one)
lailha-usua ’umara-rai-sa-sua ‘twelve’ (TENS + two)
lailha-utulu ’umara-rai-ta-tulu ‘thirteen’ (TENS + three)
lailha-upate ’umara-rai-a-upate ‘fourteen’ (TENS + four)
lailha-ulima ’umara-rai-la-lima ‘fifteen’ (TENS + five)
lailha-eneme ’umara-rai-a-eneme ‘sixteen’ (TENS + six)
lailha-upitu ’umara-rai-pa-pitu ‘seventeen’ (TENS + seven)
lailha-ualu ’umara-rai-la-la-alu ‘eighteen’ (TENS + eight)
lailha-usia ’umara-rai-sa-sia ‘nineteen’ (TENS + nine)

10.1.2.2 Numerals from ten to ninety

Zeitoun (2009) and Zeitoun, Teng and Ferrell (2010) points out that there are two
groups of Formosan numerals from ten to one hundred: “(i) languages whereby tens
are expressed by a numeral followed by a linker and the word ‘ten’ ; (ii) languages
whereby tens are formed by a bound numeral form to which is attached a circumfix
which can be reconstructed as *ma-…-N”.

In Lha’alua, numerals from 10 to 90 are formed by multiplication, namely 10x1,

10x2, etc, indicated by addition of the circumfix ma-…-lhe. Some numeral bound
roots undergo morphophonemic alternations. For example, -cani of the numeral ‘10’
becomes -a. For ‘20’, -sua becomes -pua. For ‘80’, -alu becomes -ale. The expression
of ma-tulu-lhu ‘thirty’ constitutes an exception for numerals from 10 to 90. Due to
vowel harmony, ma-…-lhe becomes ma-…-lhu. The nonhuman numerals are used in
counting numbers from 10 to 90. The formation of human numerals from 10 to 90 is
indicated by the prefix mata- referring to a human participant and the nonhuman
numerals from 10 to 90 as a base in derivation. For instance, mata-ma-pua-lhe ‘20’ is
formed by mata- plus ma-pua-lhe.

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 Table 10.4: Numerals from ten to ninety
From ten to ninety (10-90)
Serial
Nonhuman Human Translation and gloss
counting
ku-ma-a-lhe ma-a-lhe ’umara-ma-a-lhe ‘ten’ (TENS X one)
ma-pua-lhe mata-ma-pua-lhe ‘twenty’ (TENS X two)
ma-tulu-lhu mata-ma-tulu-lhu ‘thirty’ (TENS X three)
ma-upate-lhe mata-ma-upate-lhe ‘forty’ (TENS X four)
ma-lima-lhe mata-ma-lima-lhe ‘fifty’ (TENS X five)
ma-eneme-lhe mata-ma-eneme-lhe ‘sixty’ (TENS X six)
ma-pitu-lhe mata-ma-pitu-lhe ‘seventy’ (TENS X seven)
ma-ale-lhe mata-ma-ale-lhe ‘eighty’ (TENS X eight)
ma-sia-lhe mata-ma-sia-lhe ‘ninety’ (TENS X nine)

10.1.2.3 Numerals from one hundred to nine hundred

*RaCus is the proto-form for ‘100’ in PAN (Blust 2009). In Lha’alua, the
numerals from 100 to 900 are formed by multiplication, namely 100x1, 100x2, etc,
indicated by the word lhimi’ungu ‘hundred’. Numerals from 100 to 900 can be
divided into two groups in terms of their referents or participants: nonhuman or
human. The expression of nonhuman numerals from 100 to 900 is indicated by the
nonhuman numerals from 1 to 9 together with the word lhimi’ungu ‘hundred’. For
example, ucani lhimi’ungu ‘100’ is expressed by ucani ‘1’ and lhimi’ungu ‘hundred’.
It is not necessary to specify the numeral ucani ‘one’ when expressing ‘one hundred’;
that is, just lhimi’ungu ‘hundred’ can denote ‘one hundred’. When ucani ‘one’ is not
overtly specified, it only refers to nonhuman referents rather than human participants.
The nonhuman numerals are used in counting numbers from 100 to 900. Human
numerals from 100 to 900 are formed by the human prefix mata- added to the
nonhuman numerals from 100 to 900 as a base in derivation. For instance, mata-ucani
lhimi’ungu ‘100’ is expressed by mata- and ucani lhimi’ungu.

354
 Table 10.5: Numerals from one hundred to nine hundred
From one hundred to nine hundred (100-900)
Serial counting /
Human Translation and gloss
Nonhuman
(ucani) mata-ucani ‘one hundred’
lhimi’ungu lhimi’ungu (one X 100)
usua mata-usua ‘two hundred’
lhimi’ungu lhimi’ungu (two X 100)
utulu mata-utulu ‘three hundred’
lhimi’ungu lhimi’ungu (three X 100)
upate mata-upate ‘four hundred’
lhimi’ungu lhimi’ungu (four X 100)
ulima mata-ulima ‘five hundred’
lhimi’ungu lhimi’ungu (five X 100)
eneme mata-eneme ‘six hundred’
lhimi’ungu lhimi’ungu (six X 100)
upitu mata-upitu ‘seven hundred’
lhimi’ungu lhimi’ungu (seven X 100)
ualu mata-ualu ‘eight hundred’
lhimi’ungu lhimi’ungu (eight X 100)
usia mata-usia ‘nine hundred’
lhimi’ungu lhimi’ungu (nine X 100)

There is a difference between numerals from 10 to 90 (including lower numerals)

and numerals from 100 to 900 (including numerals from 1000 to 9000). While the
numerals from 10 to 90 form a phonological and grammatical word, numerals from
100 to 900 consist of two separate phonological and grammatical words. In (10.8a),
ma-upate-lhe ‘forty’ is the place where morphophonemic rules apply (i.e. vowel
fronting, e becomes i) and where primary stress is produced. Similarly, in (10.8b),
upate ‘four’ is the place where vowel fronting is applied, e becoming i); the trigger of
the morphophonemic rule (i.e. aspectual and modality markers) is not cliticised to the
expression upate lhimi’ungu ‘four hundred’. The expression upate lhimi’ungu ‘four
hundred’ has two distinct primary stresses, one falling on upate ‘four’ and the other on
lhimi’ungu ‘hundred’.

355
(10.8) a. ma-upate-lhi=cu=’ai aari.
tens-four-tens=COS.ASP=MOD day
‘Perhaps it has been forty days.’
cf. ma-upate-lhe ‘forty’
b. upati=cu=’ai lhimi’ungu aari.
four=COS.ASP=MOD hundred day
‘Perhaps it has been four hundred days.’
cf. upate lhimi’ungu ‘four hundred’

10.1.2.4 Numerals from one thousand to nine thousand

*kuDuN is the proto-form for ‘1000’ in PAN (Blust 2009). Though words for
‘1000’ are found in a number of languages, they are often borrowing words (Blust
2009:275).

In Lha’alua, numerals from 1,000 to 9,000 are formed by multiplication, namely

1,000x2, 1,000x3, etc, indicated by the word lhimi’a’ili ‘thousand’. There is a clear
distinction between nonhuman and human numerals. Nonhuman numerals from 1000
to 9000 are indicated by the nonhuman numerals from 1 to 9 together with the word
lhimi’a’ili ‘thousand’. For instance, ucani lhimi’a’ili ‘1000’ is expressed by ucani ‘1’
together with lhimi’a’ili ‘thousand’. The nonhuman numerals are used in counting
numbers from 1000 to 9000. Human numerals from 1000 to 9000 are formed by the
prefix mata- (referring to human participants) added to the nonhuman numerals from
1000 to 9000 as a base in derivation. For example, mata-ucani lhimi’a’ili ‘1000’ is
expressed by mata- and ucani lhimi’a’ili.

Like numerals from 100 to 900, numerals from 1,000 to 9,000 consist of two
phonological and grammatical words.

356
 Table 10.6: Numerals from one thousand to nine thousand
From one thousand to nine thousand (1,000-9,000)
Serial counting /
Human Translation and gloss
Nonhuman
ucani mata-ucani ‘one thousand’
lhimi’a’ili lhimi’a’ili (one X 100)
usua mata-usua ‘two thousand’
lhimi’a’ili lhimi’a’ili (two X 1000)
utulu mata-utulu ‘three thousand’
lhimi’a’ili lhimi’a’ili (three X 1000)
upate mata-upate ‘four thousand’
lhimi’a’ili lhimi’a’ili (four X 1000)
ulima mata-ulima ‘five thousand’
lhimi’a’ili lhimi’a’ili (five X 1000)
eneme mata-eneme ‘six thousand’
lhimi’a’ili lhimi’a’ili (six X 1000)
upitu mata-upitu ‘seven thousand’
lhimi’a’ili lhimi’a’ili (seven X 1000)
ualu mata-ualu ‘eight thousand’
lhimi’a’ili lhimi’a’ili (eight X 1000)
usia mata-usia ‘nine thousand’
lhimi’a’ili lhimi’a’ili (nine X 1000)

10.1.2.5 Numerals higher than ten thousand

Formosan languages like Thao ban ‘10,000’, Saisiyat ban ‘10,000’ and Atayal
maN ‘10,000’ borrowed words for ‘10,000’ from non-AN sources (Blust 2009:275).
These three forms are loan words from Taiwanese Southern Min ban ‘10,000’.

Unlike other Formosan languages, there is no word for ‘10,000’ in Lha’alua. The
formation of numerals from 10,000 to 90,000 is formed by multiplication, namely
10x1x1000, 10x2x1000, 10x3x1000, etc. Numerals from 10,000 to 90,000 have a
basic distinction in terms of their reference to nonhuman or human participants. The
nonhuman numeral ‘10,000’ is indicated by the nonhuman numeral ma-a-lhe ‘10’
together with the word lhimi’a’ili ‘thousand’. Nonhuman numerals from 20,000 to
90,000 are formed by a nonhuman numeral from 2 to 9, the nonhuman numeral
ma-a-lhe ‘10’ as well as the word lhimi’a’ili ‘thousand’. For instance, usua ma-a-lhe
lhimi’a’ili ‘20,000’ is expressed by usua ‘2’, ma-a-lhe ‘10’ and lhimi’a’ili ‘thousand’.

357
The nonhuman numerals are used in counting numbers from 10,000 to 90,000.
Human numerals from 10,000 to 90,000 are indicated by the prefix mata- (referring to
human participants) added to the nonhuman numerals from 10,000 to 90,000 as a base
in derivation. For example, mata-ma-a-lhe lhimi’a’ili ‘10,000’ is expressed by mata-,
ma-a-lhe ‘10’ and lhimi’a’ili ‘thousand’..

Similar to numerals from 100 to 900 and numerals from 1,000 to 9,000, the
expression of ‘10,000’ consists of two phonological and grammatical words. Unlike
‘10,000’, the formation of numerals from 20,000 to 90,000 is composed of three
phonological and grammatical words.

Table 10.7: Numerals from ten thousand to ninety thousand

From ten thousand to ninety thousand (10,000-90,000)
Serial counting /
Human Translation and gloss
Nonhuman
ma-a-lhe mata-ma-a-lhe ‘ten thousand’
lhimi’a’ili lhimi’a’ili (TENS X one X 1000)
usua ma-a-lhe mata-usua ma-a-lhe ‘twenty thousand’
lhimi’a’ili lhimi’a’ili (two X [TENS X one] X 1000)
utulu ma-a-lhe mata-utulu ma-a-lhe ‘thirty thousand’
lhimi’a’ili lhimi’a’ili (three X [TENS X one] X 1000)
upate ma-a-lhe mata-upate ma-a-lhe ‘forty thousand’
lhimi’a’ili lhimi’a’ili (four X [TENS X one] X 1000)
ulima ma-a-lhe mata-ulima ma-a-lhe ‘fifty thousand’
lhimi’a’ili lhimi’a’ili (five X [TENS X one] X 1000)
eneme ma-a-lhe mata-eneme ma-a-lhe ‘sixty thousand’
lhimi’a’ili lhimi’a’ili (six X [TENS X one] X 1000)
upitu ma-a-lhe mata-upitu ma-a-lhe ‘seventy thousand’
lhimi’a’ili lhimi’a’ili (seven X [TENS X one] X 1000)
ualu ma-a-lhe mata-ualu ma-a-lhe ‘eighty thousand’
lhimi’a’ili lhimi’a’ili (eight X [TENS X one] X 1000)
usia ma-a-lhe mata-usia ma-a-lhe ‘ninety thousand’
lhimi’a’ili lhimi’a’ili (nine X [TENS X one] X 1000)

10.1.3 Derived numerals

This section examines three types of derived numerals: ordinal numerals

(§10.1.3.1), distributive numerals (§10.1.3.2) and frequentative numerals (§10.1.3.3).

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10.1.3.1 Ordinal numerals

In PAN, ordinal numerals were derived by prefixation with *Sika- (Blust

2009:281). In Lha’alua, ordinal numerals are formed by addition of the prefix siia-.
The form is a reflex of PAN *Sika-. Different from the Proto-form, the prefix siia- has
lost k, and i is lengthened as ii.

(10.9) a. siia-u-cani ‘first’

b. siia-u-sua ‘second’
c. siia-u-tulu ‘third’
d. siia-u-pate ‘fourth’
e. siia-u-lima ‘fifth’
f. siia-e-neme ‘sixth’
g. siia-u-pitu ‘seventh’
h. siia-u-alu ‘eighth’
i. siia-u-sia ‘ninth’

10.1.3.2 Distributive numerals

Distributive numerals are formed by reduplication. CV- reduplication is used for

numerals referring to human participants as in (10.10a), whereas CVCV- reduplication
is adopted for numerals referring to nonhuman referents as in (10.10b). When units of
specific time spans, e.g. ‘day’ and ‘year’ in (10.10c-d) are expressed, the numeral
‘one’ is not used. The distributive meaning of these temporal nouns are formed by full
reduplication, whereby reduplicants come from the temporal nominal root rather than
numeral root.

(10.10) a. CV- reduplication

a-ca-[ca-cilhi]
A-RED:distributive-RED:human-one
‘each one (person)’ cf. ca-cilhi ‘one (person)’
b. CVCV- reduplication
a-uca-ucani vulalhe
A-RED-one moon
‘every month’ cf. ucani vulalhe ‘one month/January’

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 c. full reduplication
cailhi-cailhi
RED-year
‘every year’ cf. cailhi ‘year’
d. full reduplication
aari-aari
RED-day
‘every day’ cf. aari ‘day’

A criterion to distinguish numeral from other word classes is reduplication.

While reduplicants of human numerals may come from the stem in acquiring the
distributive meaning as in (10.10a), those of other word classes generally come from
a free or bound root as in (10.11).55

(10.11) a. Verb of motion

m-u-sake-sakeralhe
AV-motion.on.foot-RED-river
‘keep on walking along a river’ (continuous)
b. Verb of inception
araa-vu-vurae
INCH-RED-ripe
‘becoming ripe/ripening’ (progressive)
c. Adjectival element
m-a-tavu-tavulhiu
AV-STAT-RED-red
‘pink/light red’ (diminutive/attenuative)
d. Adverbial expression
kira-ta-taisa
step.on-RED-big
‘step on something very heavily’ (intensification)
e. Noun
ta-ta-tavalhilha
RED-RED-flower
‘flowers’ (plurality) (via triplication)

55
The word um-au-a-u (AV-RED-IRR-eat) ‘eating’ is the only exception to this statement, in that the
reduplicant au- comes from the stem. The reason can be attributed to the fact that the verbal root u ‘eat’
only has one syllable, so the root itself cannot be used for (C)V(C)V- reduplication.

360
10.1.3.3 Frequentative numerals

A frequentative numeral is formed by addition of a lexical prefix and a numeral

root. Unlike other derived numerals whereby 1 to 10 are formed by addition of the
bound root of numerals from 1 to 10 as in (10.12), a frequentative numeral from 1 to
10 is formed by a bound root based on numerals from 10 to 20, as in (10.13).

(10.12) a. ki-sua=cu=aku k<um>ali mairange .

dig-two=COS.ASP=1SG.NOM dig<AV> sweet.potato
‘I dug two sweet potatoes.’
b. pu-cani a vanau sulhate m-araialhe.
buy-one CORE female.name book AV-similar
‘Vanau bought a similar book.’

(10.13) a. t<um>u-pa-pua-lhe
cry<AV>-tens-two-tens
‘cry two times’
b. lhi-paa-ku-pa-pua-lhe
PERF.ASP-CAUS-eat-tens-two-tens
‘have fed milk two times’
c. m-ai-pa-pua-lhe
AV-action.involving.hands-tens-two-tens
‘sweep two times’

10.1.4 The counting system and person names

The counting system can be reflected in Lha’alua person names according to

different social statuses and birth orders. For example, some person names may
undergo morphophonemic alternations in order to reflect their variations in different
social status and birth order (particularly in relation to the first-born children). The
morphophonemic alternations of person names in mirroring new social status are
determined by (i) whether the baby is a male or a female and (ii) whether the baby is
the first-born one. No morphophonemic alternations of person names can be attested
when the children are second-born, third-born, and so forth.

Table 10.8 shows female names in different social statuses. For example, when
the first-born child the woman named apee has is a male, then the woman acquires the
new name ina-laa n-ape. If the first-born child is a female, the woman obtains the
new name ina-lu k-ape.

361
 Table 10.8: Female names in different social statuses
Names for adults The firstborn child is a male The firstborn child is a female
apee inalanape / ina-laa n-ape ina-lu k-ape
aruai ina(l)anaruai / ina-laa n-aruai inalukaaruai / ina-lu k-aruai
eleke ina(l)aneleke /ina-laa n-eleke ina-a p-eleke
inguruu inala(a)ninguru / ina-laa n-inguru ina-li k-inguru
vanau inala(a)vanau / ina-laa vanau inalukuvanau/ina-lu ku-vanau

Table 10.9 shows male names in different social statuses. For instance, when the
first-born child the man named amalhe has is a male, then the man acquires the new
name ama-laa n-amalhe. If the first-born child is a female, the man obtains the new
name aa k-amalhe.

Table 10.9: Male names in different social statuses

Names for adults The first-born child is a male The first-born child is a female
amalhe amalanamalhe / ama-laa n-amalhe akamalhe / aa k-amalhe
amaamalhelengane /
elengane amaamalhelengane
ama-ama lh-elengaane
palii amalaapalii amalaapalii

10.2 Syntactic functions of numerals

Numerals can function as modifiers or predicates in Lha’alua. When they behave

as modifiers, they occur before the modifiee in (10.14a-b) or after the modifiee in
(10.14c).

(10.14) As modifier:
a. tainiini a liulhu-isa kani’i ucani [takupilhi
how.much CORE price-3.GEN this one bowl
suva]=na.
noodle=DEF
‘How much is this bowl of noodle?’
(lit. How much its price the this bowl noodle?)
b. m-a-aru a ucani [likilhi-ku um-aru-a-sapalhe].
AV-STAT-exist CORE one vehicle-1SG.GEN AV-use-A-foot
‘I have one bicycle.’ (lit. My one foot-use vehicle exists.)

362
 c. lhi-um-u=cu=aku [vaake] usua.
PERF.ASP-AV-eat=COS.ASP=1SG. NOM tangerine two
‘I have eaten two tangerines.’ (lit. ‘I have eaten tangerine two.’)

When numerals function as predicates, they occur in the clause-initial position as

in (10.15a-d). Like dynamic verbs and stative verbs (including adjectival elements
and quantifying expressions), numerals can exhibit grammatical characteristics of
being a predicate. For example, numerals can be the host of lexical prefixes, and
attract bound pronoun clitics like =aku and aspectual clitics like =cu and lhi-.

(10.15) As predicate:
a. t<um>u-sa-sua=cu t<um>angi.
cry<AV>-RED-two=COS.ASP cry<AV>
‘Two people cried.’
b. ki-sa-sua k<um>ali mairange .
dig-RED-two dig<AV> sweet potato
‘Two people dug sweet potatoes.’
c. m-ai-sua=cu=aku
AV-action.involving.hands-two=COS.ASP=1SG. NOM
m-ai-ruruma salia.
AV-action.involving.hands-BOUND.ROOT house
‘I built two houses.’
d. lhi-ku-sua=cu=aku vaake.
PERF.ASP-eat-two=COS.ASP=1SG. NOM tangerine
‘I have eaten two tangerines.’

There is a difference between human and nonhuman numerals here. For human
numerals, Ca- reduplication (i.e. indicating human participants) from the numeral
bound root is required when a lexical prefix is attached as in (10.15a-b). However, for
nonhuman numerals, the initial u is deleted when a lexical prefix is attached as in
(10.15c-d). In other words, a lexical prefix attaches to a numeral stem when referring
to a human participant, but attaches to a numeral root when referring to a nonhuman
referent.

Another characteristic of numerals is that when numerals function as predicates,

the numeral itself may be inflected with a voice marker (§6.3). Voice marking is a
typical characteristic of verbs in Lha’alua as well as in the majority of Formosan
languages.

363
(10.16) a. m-utulu=ita talha’ana. m-upate=iau.
AV-three=1PL.INCL.NOM tribe AV-four=MOD
m-upate talha’ana.
AV-four tribe
‘We have three tribes. Perhaps four. Four tribes.’
b. lhi-m-utulu a si-taku-a-mia-lhamu.
EXPE.ASP-AV-three CORE NMZ-work-A-BOUND.ROOT-1PL.EXCL.GEN
‘We used to have three kinds of work.’ (lit. Our works used to be three.)

364
 Appendix: Selected Excerpts from Lha’alua Stories

Extract from text 1: Introducing myself and my children.

Recording location: Selhengane (Chinese name: Jianchashao 檢查哨)

Date: 01 December 2008
Narrator: Langui Tavuiana (Chinese name:石唐里金)
Person who helped me to transcribe: Eleke Lhauracana (Chinese name:余宋美女)

(1.1) ki-a-lha-lhamu=aku n kana ngalha-ku.

tell/talk-IRR-RED-tell/talk=1SG.NOM OBL PAUSE.FILLER name-1SG.GEN
‘I am going to talk about my name.’

(1.2) langui ka ngalha-ku lha maacu a

female.name CORE name-1SG.GEN CONJ.COOR concerning LNK
cailhi-ku ia, ma-pitu-lhe ulima cailha.
age-1SG.GEN TOP TENS-seven-TENS five year/age.
‘My name is Langui, and concerning my age, (I am) seventy-five years old.’

(1.3) maaci a ki-a-lha-lhamu=aku n ngalha-isa

if LNK tell/talk-IRR-RED-tell/talk=1SG.NOM OBL name-3.GEN
ma-m-a-ini-ku lhalhusa...
RED-AV-STAT-small-1SG.GEN man
‘If I am going to talk about my sons’/boys’ names, ...’

(1.4) pa-pitu a ma-m-a-ini-ku.

RED-seven CORE RED-AV-STAT-small-1SG.GEN
‘I have seven children.’

(1.5) maaci a kana alhalua ma-m-a-ini a,

if LNK PAUSE.FILLER older.sibling RED-AV-STAT-small TOP
amalhe.
male.name
‘The oldest child is Amalhe.’

365
(1.6) maacu a kana lhimilavae lhalhusa ia,
concerning LNK PAUSE.FILLER younger.sibling man TOP
’angai lha palii.
male.name CONJ.COOR male.name
‘Concerning younger brothers, they are ’angai and Palii.’

(1.7) maccu a ma-m-a-ini a alhaina ia, ta-tulu.

Concerning LNK RED-AV-STAT-small GEN woman TOP RED-three
‘Concerning daughters/girls, (there are) three people.’

(1.8) maacu a alhalua ia, eleke inguruu

concerning LNK older.sibling TOP female.name female.name
aruai.
female.name
‘Concerning older siblings, (they are) Eleke, (then) Inguruu (and then) Aruai.’

(1.9) tainaana ma-m-a-ini-ku.

that.is.what RED-AV-STAT-small-1SG.GEN
‘That is (the story about) my children.’

366
Extract from text 2: Daily life of the past.

Recording location: Selhengane (Chinese name: Jianchashao 檢查哨)

Date: 01 December 2008
Narrator: Langui Tavuiana (Chinese name:石唐里金)
Person who helped me to transcribe: Vanau Tumamalikisase (Chinese name:余寶珠)

(2.1) ki-a-lha-lhamu=aku kana

tell/talk-IRR-RED-tell/talk=1SG.NOM PAUSE.FILLER
si-taku-a-mia-mia-lhamu kiariari akuisa
NMZ-work-A-RED-BOUND.ROOT-1PL.EXCL.GEN past when
kana m-i-a-elese=mana lhaamaama-lhamu.
PAUSE.FILLER AV-PREFIX-IRR-together=IMPERF.ASP old.person-1PL.EXCL.GEN
‘I am going to talk about our life in the past when we were still together with
our old people.’

(2.2) aunaana=amu kiariari maaci um-aceka=amu

like.that=1PL.EXCL.NOM past when AV-get.up=1PL.EXCL.ABS
mai<ve>verenga tualhe-isa upate pakiaturua=na
morning<RED> can-3.GEN four o’clock=DEF
m-iane=mana m-u<a>laku=mana.
AV-pound=IMERF.ASP AV-carry<IRR>=IMPERF.ASP
‘That is what our past is about. When we got up in the morning, (they) could
still pound (husked rice) and still carry water at four o’clock.’

(2.3) maaci puaili=cu lhi-m-ulaku=na ia, ava<a>vu=cu.

when return=COS.ASP PERF.ASP-AV-carry=DEF TOP cook<IRR>=COS.ASP
‘When returning from carrying water, (they) would cook.’

(2.4) maaci lhi-um-u=cu=na ia, m-u-a-sala=cu

when PERF.ASP-AV-eat=COS.ASP=DEF TOP AV-motion.on.foot-IRR-road=COS.ASP
m-aiiangangalhe alhavu-isa m-alhu-kua uumuma, angalhi salia
AV-prepare bring-3.gen AV-get.to-get.to farm from house
m-u-sala m-alhu-kua uumuma.
AV-motion.on.foot-road AV-get.to-get.to farm
‘When having had a meal, (they) would go to prepare something they would
bring to a farm, from home to farm.’

367
(2.5) maaci ruvana=cu ia, puaili ia, piapi=mana kiu’u
when evening=COS.ASP TOP return TOP carry=IMPERF.ASP wood
m-iungu salia.
AV-arrive house/home
‘When it was evening (and it was time) to return (home), (they) still carried
wood home.’

(2.6) maaci uka’a avavau-isa everae ia, tualhe=mana

if NEG cook-3.GEN husked.rice TOP can=IMPERF.ASP
m-i<a>ane avavau-isa.
AV-pound<IRR> cook-3.GEN
‘If there was no husked rice to cook, (they) could still pound (it) to cook.’

(2.7) maacu=amu aunaana ka

concerning=1PL.EXCL.NOM like.thatLNK
si-taku-a-mia-isa ka kiariari.
NMZ-work-A-BOUND.ROOT-3.AGR GEN past
‘Concerning us, that’s the past life.’

(2.8) ilhalhamu a kiariari ka aunaana ka

1PL.EXCL.INDEP GEN past LNK like.that LNK
si-taku-a-mia-lhamu.
NMZ-work-A-BOUND.ROOT-1PL.EXCL.GEN
‘About us in the past, that is our life.’’

(2.9) si-taku-a-mia-isa ka kiariari maaci taku-’iare.

NMZ-work-A-BOUND.ROOT-3.AGR GEN past when work-BOUND.ROOT
‘It’s the past life when (they) worked.’

368
Extract from text 3: How to make a mat.

Recording location: Selhengane (Chinese name: Jianchashao 檢查哨)

Date: 02 December 2008
Narrator: Langui Tavuiana (Chinese name:石唐里金)
Person who helped me to transcribe: Eleke Lhauracana (Chinese name:余宋美女)

(3.1) ki-a-lha-lhamu=aku n kana tu-a-sikame.

tell/talk-IRR-RED-tell/talk=1SG.NOM OBL PAUSE.FILLER make-IRR-mat
‘I am going to talk about how to make a mat.’

(3.2) maacu a tu-a-sikame=na ia,

concerning LNK make-IRR-mat=DEF TOP
m-u-a-sa=kia=mana um-aala
AV-motion.on.foot-IRR-road=POLITE.REQUEST=IMPERF.ASP AV-take
kana tapae=na.
PAUSE.FILLER Shell.flower=DEF
‘Concerning making a mat, (you) please still go to take the Shell flower!’

(3.3) m-u<la>lengese tapae=na m-angetelhe paari.

AV-long<RED> Shell.flower=DEF AV-cut dry
‘The Shell flowers, which are cut to dry, are all long.’

(3.4) tualhe-isa usua aari a aali=cu kana

can-3.GEN two day LNK take=COS.ASP PAUSE.FILLER
k<um>ulici t<um>aki-renge-renge.
peel<AV> bind<AV>-RED-bind
‘It takes two days to take it to peel and bind.’

(3.5) t<um>aki-renge-renge maaci m-a-ngani=cu=na ia,

bind<AV>-RED-bind if AV-STAT-dry=COS.ASP=DEF TOP
aali=cu kana m-ariungengece.
take=COS.ASP PAUSE.FILLER AV-straighten
‘If (it is) dry after peeling, (it is) taken to get straightened.’

(3.6) m-aiengengece.
AV-straighten
‘(It is) straightened.’

369
(3.7) aali=cu m-aiengengece.
take=COS.ASP AV-straighten
‘(It is) taken to get straightened.’

(3.8) maaci lhi-paiengengec-a=cu=na ia, aali=cu

when PERF.ASP-straighten-PV=COS.ASP=DEF TOP take=COS.ASP
tu-sikame.
make-mat
‘When (it) has been straightened, (it is) taken to make a mat.’

(3.9) maaci tu-sikame ia, tualhe-isa meemea t<um>alhenge

when make-mat TOP can-3.GEN also make<AV>
valangevange.
clothing.box(made.of.mat)
‘When (one) makes a mat, it can also be used to make a clothing box.’

(3.10) tu-sikame.
make-mat
‘(One) makes a mat.’

(3.11) maaci ka kiariari a ucani ka uka’a=mana

if LNK past LNK one LNK NEG=IMPERF.ASP
ka kiariari lhi-pu’a na kana sikame ia,
LNK past PERF.ASP-buy OBL PAUSE.FILLER mat TOP
m-a-aru=ami a tapae=na meemea tu-sikame.
AV-STAT-exist=EVI CORE Shell.flower=DEF also make-mat
‘As for one thing that there was no money to buy a mat in the past, it is said
that the Shell flower could be used to make a mat.’

(3.12) aunaana ka kana kiariari ka uka’a=mana

like.that LNK PAUSE.FILLER past LNK NEG=IMPERF.ASP
ka lhi-pu’a na sikame.
LNK PERF.ASP-buy OBL mat
‘That’s what the past was about when there was no money to buy a mat.’

370
Extract from text 4: How to make sticky rice cakes.

Recording location: Selhengane (Chinese name: Jianchashao 檢查哨)

Date: 08 December 2008
Narrator: Langui Tavuiana (Chinese name:石唐里金)
Person who helped me to transcribe: Eleke Lhauracana (Chinese name:余宋美女)

(4.1) ki-a-lha-lhamu=aku n cucu kiariari maaci

tell/talk-IRR-RED-tell/talk=1SG.NOM OBL person past when
kana paka-paipai.
PAUSE.FILLER make-sticky.rice.cake
‘I am going to talk about people of the past when (they) made sticky rice
cakes.’

(4.2) lhi-paka-paipai ia, m-iane=kia=mana

PERF.ASP-make-sticky.rice.cake TOP AV-pound=POLITE.REQUEST=IMPERF.ASP
maaci lhi-aan-a=cu.
if PERF.ASP-eat-PV=COS.ASP
‘As for having made sticky rice cakes, please still pound (it more) if (it) has
been consumed!’

(4.3) everae ia, aali=cu semengere aali=cu paucili.

husked.rice TOP take=COS.ASP immerse.in.water take=COS.ASP steam
‘Husked rice is taken to immerse in water and is taken to steam.’

(4.4) maaci m-a-sulu=cu=na ia, aali=cu m-iarekere.

when AV-STAT-cooked=COS.ASP=DEF TOP take=COS.ASP AV-pound
‘When (it) has been cooked, (it is) taken to pound.’

(4.5) maaci lhi-iareker-a=cu=na ia, paipai=cu

when PERF.ASP-pound-PV=COS.ASP=DEF TOP sticky.rice.cake=COS.ASP
akuisa ka lhaamaama.
thus KA old.person
‘When (it) has been pounded, old people have thus finished making sticky rice
cakes.’

371
(4.6) maaci kana kiariari a ku karekelhe um-au-a-u
if PAUSE.FILLER past LNK NEG often AV-RED-IRR-eat
paipai, ucani maaci m-a-aru ka kana
sticky.rice.cake one if AV-STAT-exist CORE pause.filler
um-aala alhaina lha m-a-aru a taiara-isa.
AV-take woman CONJ.COOR AV-STAT-exist CORE work-3.GEN
‘In the past, (they) did not often eat sticky rice cakes. This was done on one
occasion if there was someone marrying a woman and there was preparatory
work for the marriage.’

(4.7) taru-cu-cuvungu=na ia, ucani kana ka

visual.action-RED-BOUND.ROOT=DEF TOP one PAUSE.FILLER LNK
tualhe-isa paka-paipai ia, aane-isa kukakuaku=cu.
can-3.GEN make-sticky.rice.cake TOP eat-3.GEN together=COS.ASP
‘On one occasion, (they) could make sticky rice cakes and eat
together.’

(4.8) aunaana ka kiariari maaci kana um-u paipai.

like.that LNK past when PAUSE.FILLER AV-eat sticky.rice.cake
‘That’s the past (life) when (they) ate sticky rice cakes.’

(4.9) aunaana acalhi-ku n kiariari

like.that know-1SG.GEN OBL past
lhi-k<um>ita=aku=mana kiariari.
PERF.ASP-look/see<AV>=1SG.NOM=IMPERF.ASP past
‘That’s what I knew about past (stories) which I had witnessed in the past.’

(4.10) maaci paka-paipai ia, aunaana ka kiariari maaci

when make-sticky.rice.cake TOP like.that LNK past when
paka-paipai ka kukakuaku=cu um-u.
make-sticky.rice.cake LNK together=COS.ASP AV-eat
‘As for making sticky rice cakes, that’s the past (life) when (they) made sticky
rice cakes to eat together.’

(4.11) tainaana=cu.
that.is.what=COS.ASP
‘That’s what the story is.’

372
Extract from text 5: Introducing seaweed.

Recording location: Selhengane (Chinese name: Jianchashao 檢查哨)

Date: 02 December 2008
Narrator: Langui Tavuiana (Chinese name:石唐里金)
Person who helped me to transcribe: Vanau Tumamalikisase (Chinese name:余寶珠)

(5.1) ki-a-lha-lhamu kana palhumiamia-isa um-a-u

tell/talk-IRR-RED-tell/talk PAUSE.FILLER meaning-3.gen AV-IRR-eat
lhangulhanguvi.
seaweed
‘(The story teller) is going to talk about its meaning of eating seaweed.’

(5.2) maaci kiariari a ucani lhangulhanguvi ka camai-isa

when past LNK one seaweed GEN side.dish-3.GEN
ka m-a-vacange=mana kiariari lhuulhungu=na ka
LNK AV-STAt-good=IMPERF.ASP past creek=DEF LNK
m-a-aru ka ’apase m-a-aru ka ’arisakai
AV-STAT-exist CORE crab AV-STAT-exist CORE shrimp
m-a-aru ka vutukulhu.
AV-STAT-exist CORE fish
‘In the past, (we) used one (kind of food), seaweed, as a side dish, when the
creek where there were crabs, there was shrimp, and there was fish, was still
good in the past, ’

(5.3) m-a-rumuku a lhaamaama kiariari m-alhu-kua lhuulhungu

AV-STAT-like CORE old.person past AV-get.to-get.to creek
pari-lhangulhanguvi um-aala kana ’arisakai=na.
catch/take-seaweed AV-take PAUSE.FILLER shrimp=DEF
‘Old people in the past liked to go to a creek to get seaweed and to catch
shrimp.’

373
(5.4) ailhivuru-isa ’arisakai=na ava<a>vu ia, maaci kana
add.together-3.GEN shrimp=DEF cook<IRR> TOP when PAUSE.FILLER
lhi-um-aala=cu lhangulhanguvi=na
PERF.ASP-AV-take=COS.ASP seaweed=DEF
m-ali-ka-kua salia ia, a-teve-teve=mana
AV-hand/head.motion-RED-get.to house/home TOP IRR-RED-cut=IMPERF.ASP
hai.
PART
‘When they had taken seaweed home, they added the shrimp to cook together;
they would still cut it.’

(5.5) a-teve-teve-isa=mana lha maaci a ava<a>vu

IRR-RED-cut-3.GEN=IMPERF.ASP CONJ.COOR when LNK cook<IRR>
isana ia, maaci a kana ailhivur-a isana
3.INDEP top if LNK PAUSE.FILLER add.together-PV 3.INDEP
maaci m-a-aru a ailhivur-a isana ia,
if AV-STAT-exist CORE add.together-PV 3.INDEP TOP
ailhivuru ava<a>vu.
add.together cook<IRR>
‘They still cut (it), and when (they) cooked it, if there were other ingredients,
(they) added (them) to cook together.’

(5.6) tualhe-isa meemea kana ku-m-a-ta’e pa-camai.

can-3.GEN also PAUSE.FILLER eat-AV-STAT-raw combine-side.dish
‘It could also be eaten raw to combine with a side dish.’

(5.7) maaci i-kua=cu kana mailhi=na

if action.concerning.location-get.to=COS.ASP PAUSE.FILLER salt=DEF
ia, tualhe-isa meemea kana ku-m-a-ta’e pa-camai.
TOP can-3.GEN also PAUSE.FILLER eat-AV-STAT-raw combine-side.dish
‘If salt was added, it could also be eaten raw to combine with a side dish.’

(5.8) maaci a kana aunaana ka kana kiariari.

if LNK PAUSE.FILLER like.that LNK PAUSE.FILLER past
‘That’s what the past life was.’

374
(5.9) maaci kana pari-a-lhangulhanguvi ia, kiariari a
if PAUSE.FILLER catch/take-A-seaweed TOP past LNK
ucani ka lhangulhanguvi pa-camai-isa ka
one LNK seaweed combine-side.dish-3.AGR CORE
lhaamaama kiariari.
old.person past
‘If (they) got seaweed, old people of the past could combine one share of
seaweed as a side dish.’

(5.10) lha ucani ka kuu=kia kana

CONJ.COOR one LNK NEG=POLITE.REQUEST PAUSE.FILLER
ali-ka-kua isana salia maaci um-u na
hand/head.motion-RED-get.to 3.INDEP house/home if AV-eat OBL
m-aa-lhuulhungu=na.
AV-BE:LOC/TEMP-creek=DEF
‘And one thing, please do not take it home if (you) eat a creature of the creek!’

(5.11) m-a-aru=kia valhita kulupungu ia,

AV-STAT-exist=POLITE.REQUEST outside full(stomach) TOP
m-ara-ramucu=kia maaci lhi-um-u isana.
AV-wash-hand=POLITE.REQUEST if PERF.ASP-AV-eat 3.INDEP
‘Please eat so as to be full outside and please wash hands if (you) have eaten
it!’

(5.12) aunaana ka lhaamaama kiariari maaci ki-lhamu-lhamu.

like.that LNK old.person past when tell/talk-RED-tell/talk
‘That’s what old people of the past talked about.’

(5.13) tainaana ka acalhi-ku.

that.is.what LNK know-1SG.GEN
‘That’s what I knew.’

(5.14) tainaana.
that.is.what
‘That’s what the story is.’

375
376
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