EPIC NECRO!
Ngolu / Iliaqu
In Ngolu, the complementiser
zuo inflects for case just as any nominal does:
zuo in nominative and
jo in accusative (underlyingly
zu+o /
zi+o, cf. the 3rd person singular indefinite specific inanimate nominals
zu and
zi in nominative and accusative respectively). Complement clauses are treated no differently than any other nominal phrase (argument/adjunct).
Because
tunazoi "(be a) report",
ba mahu "(be) sure" (literally ≈ very much know) and
zoi "say" are all one part of speech in Ngolu, there is nothing particularly interesting to say except that, because
tunazoi is embedded within a nominal phrase and its dependent complement clause must exist within that nominal phrase, modifying it, and must on no account begin a new nominal phrase (which would instead modify the predicate phrase), the prenasalising copula/verbaliser (glossed VB) is attached to the complementiser. Here, I opted for the nominative complementiser
zuo, giving
xi tunazoi nzuo ... "the report (which is) that ...", but another possibility would have been the topical case (marking a semantic topic, ≈ 'about', and not a grammatical topic), giving
xi tunazoi mvejo ... "the report (which is) about that ..."
This prenasalising copula/verbaliser can also be seen in this examples in
g-uni [ŋuní] VB-GEN.1S.ICS. Without it, the genitive "my" would not refer to the doctor, but back to the predicate phrase
zoi meaning that he one who 'says' is somehow mine. The one who says is, of course, the doctor, as indicated by the nominative argument, but my relationship with this person is that they are my "doctor", not as my "person who says", so it really must refer back to the doctor. In other sentences, both
g-uni and
uni may be used with only a small, nuanced difference in meaning, but here, the copula/verbaliser
g- must be used.
Ti zoizaha xi tunazoi [nzuo kue mienamiena ixu kuilakuaqa kikuoi].
[tí zojzahá ʃí tunazoí‿nzwó kwé mjenamjenâ‿jʃú kwilakwaʔá kikwoí]
The report [
that mobile phones cause memory loss] has been challenged.
Ba mahu eni [zuo mie ja Zuzi].
[bá mahú ení zwǒ mjě ʒá zuzí]
I am sure [
that Susie is coming.]
Zoi ju viaua guni [jo huna gegue nu lo bai].
[zoí ʒú vjawǎ ŋuní ʒó huná ŋeŋwě nú ló baí]
My doctor says [
that I drink too much].
Here are the glosses and phrase breakdowns.
For the dependency trees (which look more like vines) click here.
Code: Select all
(1)
ti zoi-zaha
PRF say-fight.without.weapons
[VP____________________________]
xi tuna-zoi n- zuo kue mienamiena ixu ku-ila-kuaqa ki-kuoi
ACC.3S.DEF.INAN text-say VB-NOM.C create forgetful NOM.3P.DEF.INAN tool-speak-far without-string
[ACC....................................................................................................]
[VP___________________________________________________________________________________]
[NOM......................................................................]
[VP________________][NOM...........................................]
[VP____________________________]
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(2)
ba mahu eni zuo mie ja Zuzi
extreme be.known DAT.1S.ICS NOM.C on.way NOM.3S.DEF.ACS Susie
[VP_______________][DAT.......][NOM.................................]
[VP____][NOM..................]
[VP___]
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
(3)
zoi ju viaua g -uni jo huna gegue nu lo bai
say NOM.3S.ICS doctor VB-GEN.1S.ICS ACC.C drink intoxicant NOM.1S.ICS ADV excessive
[VP_][NOM.............................][ACC.................................................]
[VP__________________] [VP_______________][NOM.......][ADV...........]
[GEN.......] [VP_______]