In this chapter I discuss the internal structure of adjuncts and the formation of complex sentences in Tokana, with an emphasis on the morphology and syntax of prepositions and conjunctions. In section 4.1 I discuss prepositional phrases, and in 4.2 I discuss conditional clauses (i.e. clauses headed by "if" or "when(ever)"). Section 4.3 deals with temporal adverbials, while in 4.4 I discuss coordination and ellipsis (the deletion of repeated material in conjunct and subordinate clauses).
Recall from section 2.5.4 that many of the relational notions which are expressed by prepositions in English are expressed by nouns in Tokana. For example, where English has a preposition to express location at an enclosed space (in, inside), Tokana has a spatial noun him "interior" in the dative case:
itai hime kotu the:Dat interior-Dat room "inside the room"
Tokana does have a handful of 'true' prepositions, however, which combine with a complement (or 'object') to form a prepositional phrase. As in English, the complement follows the preposition:
kunnai sokalema with-the:Dat husband-Dat-my:NA "with my husband"
Here kun is a preposition meaning "with", which takes inai sokalema "my husband-Dat" is its complement. Notice that the determiner inai fuses with kun to form kunnai; I discuss this phenomenon below.
Prepositional phrases may occur as predicates by themselves, or they may be used as modifiers or arguments within a noun phrase or verb phrase:
Mai kunnai sokalema I:Abs with-the:Dat husband-Dat-my:NA "I (am) with my husband" Ne iha kunnai sokalema lihpaha imai the:Abs woman with-the:Dat husband-Dat-my:NA sister-Pred me:Dat "The woman (who is) with my husband is my sister" Ami suke immiote line kunnai sokalema I:Erg work-Pst whole:time day-Dat with-the:Dat husband-Dat-my:NA "I worked all day with my husband"
Prepositions in Tokana take two types of complements, noun phrases and clauses. Noun phrase complements of prepositions appear in one of the oblique cases (dative, instrumental, ablative). For instance, the preposition kun "with" selects a dative case complement in the above examples, as shown by the form of the determiner which fuses with it, and by suffix -e on the noun sokal "husband". (The choice of case for the complement is entirely idiosyncratic, and must thus be memorised.)
When a preposition takes a clausal complement, the verb must appear in the dependent order form (see section 3.3.1). For instance, in the following sentence, the preposition elhkò "in order to" takes the embedded clause fisehthimano ten tsini "that (one) would plant the seeds" as its complement:
Asi tsuniete talpe elhkò fisehthimano ten tsini they:Erg plow-Pst-the:Pl:Abs field in:order:to plant-Subj the:Pl:Abs seed "They plowed the fields in order to plant the seeds"
Some prepositions (like elhkò) only take clausal complements. Others may take either a clause or a noun phrase complement. One of these is im "at, while, during":
Kim lyue im yisahoi we:Abs wake:up-Pst at sunrise-Dat "We woke up at sunrise" Kim lyue im nioktinne Mafe itai pule we:Abs wake:up-Pst when return-Dep:Pst-the:Abs Mafe the:Dat village-Dat "We woke up before Mafe (had) returned to the village"
In the first sentence, im takes the dative noun phrase yisahoi "sunrise" as its complement. In the second sentence, the complement is the dependent clause nioktinne Mafe itai pule "that Sakial had returned to the village". In section 4.1.1 below, I give additional examples of prepositions which take noun phrase complements, while in 4.1.2, I discuss prepositions which take clausal complements.
The number of prepositions in Tokana which take noun phrase complements is quite small when compared with English. These prepositions, listed below, take a noun phrase in the dative case unless otherwise indicated:
ie "with" ifa "in, within" im "at, during, when" iote "without" kama "for, on behalf of" kete "for" ku "for, for purposes of" (Inst) kun "with" ohpi "because of" (Inst) sikà "up to, as far as" tsuaha "from" (Abl) tukun "without" usin "instead of, in place of" (Abl)
Note that kun has two archaic variants, ikun and iahkun (or iafkun), which are sometimes found in formal speech and writing.
When selecting a specific noun phrase, certain prepositions undergo 'fusion' with the determiner of their complement. This was illustrated in the previous section, where I noted that kun "with" + inai sokalema "my husband" becomes kunnai sokalema "with my husband". There are several different fusion patterns attested:
(i) Like nouns and verbs, the preposition kama "for" selects the non-absolutive clitic form of a following determiner (see 2.1.2), yielding the paradigm below:
kamama "for me" kamakma "for us" kamako "for you" kamakyina "for you" kamana "for him/her" kamasa "for them" kamai "for it" kamata "for them" kamana mikale "for the boy" kamasa mikale "for the boys"
The prepositions ifa "in", im, "in, at, when, during", and kete "for" also select non-absolutive clitic determiners. However, since ifa, im, and kete take inanimate complements referring to events or periods of time, only the inanimate clitics -i and -ta are attested. As shown below, attaching -i and -ta to these prepositions yields certain sound changes:
ifai "in it, in the..." ifata "in them, in the..." imi "in it, in the..." inta "in them, in the..." ketè "for it, for the..." keteta "for them, for the..."
Examples:
inta tuhsai lhakmi during-the:Pl:NA winter-Dat that "during those winters" ketè miotè ume for-the:NA whole-Dat year "for the whole year"
(ii) The prepositions kun "with" and tukun "without" (as well as the archaic forms ikun and iahkun/iafkun) combine with the dative forms of the determiners (imai, ikoi, inai, etc.): The i- prefix of the determiner drops and the preposition and determiner fuse together, yielding the following paradigm:
kunmai "with me" kunkime "with us" kunkoi "with you" kunkyine "with you" kunnai "with him/her" kuntsai "with them" kuntai "with it" kuntene "with them" kunnai mikale "with the boy" kuntsai mikale "with the boys"
Notice that kun + -sai is pronounced kuntsai, in accordance with the rule whereby s becomes ts when preceded by a nasal (section 1.3).
(iii) The prepositions ku "for" and ohpi "because of" combine with the instrumental forms of the full determiners (iman, ikon, inan, etc.). As with the dative determiners discussed above, the i- prefix drops prior to fusion, yielding the following forms:
kuman "for me" kukimne "for us" kukon "for you" kukyinne "for you" kunan "for him/her" kusan "for them" kutan "for it" kutenne "for them" ohpiman "because of me" ohpikimne "because of us" ohpikon "because of you" ohpikyinne "because of you" ohpinan "because of him/her" ohpisan "because of them" ohpitan "because of it" ohpitenne "because of them" ohpinan mikalne "because of the boy" ohpisan mikalne "because of the boys"
(iv) The preposition usin "instead of" combines with the ablative forms of the full determiners (imaul, ikoul, inaul, etc.). Again, the oblique prefix i- drops prior to fusion:
usinmaul "instead of me" usinkimul "instead of us" usinkoul "instead of you" usinkyinul "instead of you" usinnaul "instead of him/her" usintsaul "instead of them" usintaul "instead of it" usintenul "instead of them" usinnaul mikalu "instead of the boy" usintsaul mikalu "instead of the boys"
Notice that usin + -saul is pronounced usintsaul.
(v) Finally, the prepositions ie "with", iote "without", sikà "up/down to, as far as", and tsuaha "from" do not fuse with a following determiner:
sikà itai sihkunoi "down to the river" tsuaha itaul sihkunou "from the river"
The meanings of these prepositions are discussed below:
(1) The preposition im indicates a location in time, and is no doubt related to the temporal adverbial prefix in-, discussed in section 4.3. Im takes a dative noun phrase complement denoting an event, occasion, season, measure of time, etc., and corresponds to English in, on, at, or during:
Kima hostane imi solate we:Erg dance-Pst at-the:NA wedding-Dat "We danced at the wedding" Ne kimina usutoine imi tuhsai the:Abs baby-her:NA living-become-Pst in-the:NA winter-Dat "Her baby was born during the winter"
Note that the use of im is more or less optional here, since location in time can also be conveyed by simple use of the dative case. The second sentence above could also be expressed as follows:
Ne kimina usutoine itai tuhsai the:Abs baby-her:NA living-become-Pst the:Dat winter-Dat "Her baby was born in the winter"
Im also shows up as the second element in a series of compound temporal prepositions, shown below (note that in casual speech, ynale im and ysame im are often shortened to nale im and same im):
himne im "during, all during, through(out)" sikà im "(up) until" tsuaha im "(ever) since" ynale im "before" ysame im "after"
Examples:
Sai niokta ynale im ihmete they:Abs return before spring-Dat "They will return before spring" Te ohte tieliakma tsuaha imi kihe tonkalanon the:Abs land take:care:of-we:NA since-the:NA time-Dat ancestors "We have been farming this land since the time of the ancestors" Nai lanie lyuat himne imi hune he:Abs keep-Pst wake:up-Dep throughout-the:NA night-Dat "He kept waking up throughout the night"
Note that not until and not since are expressed by negation accompanied by usna ysame im (lit. "except after") and usna ynale im (lit. "except before"), respectively:
Nai nioktotima kuolat usna ysame im tuhsai him:Abs return-Neg-I:NA meet-Dep except after winter "I won't meet him again until winter" Nai kuoponotima usna ynale imi inlotka him:Abs talk:with-Neg-I:NA except before-the:NA yesterday "I haven't talked to him since yesterday"
(2) The prepositions kete "for" and ifa "in, within" both take dative case complements denoting a span of time. Phrases headed by kete indicate the duration of an event or activity:
Asi kas sulhtai Kemothasie kete huoie ume they:Erg already live-the:NA Kemothasi-Dat for twelve-Dat year "They have been living in Kemothasi for twelve years now" Miante'n ketè ikahpa sù? how:long-Qu for-it:NA Foc-fall rain "(For) how long has it been raining?"
Note also the following example, where kete miantè translates as "for as long as" or "so long as":
Na tata lania sukat kete miantè eima huliat the:Erg my:father continue work-Dep for how:much-Dat still healthy-Dep "My father will continue to work so long as he stays healthy"
Phrases headed by ifa refer to the amount of time required to perform an action:
Ami tule etampai Uilumai ifa lhohene lò I:Erg would walk-can-the:NA Uiluma-Dat in half-Dat day "I can walk to Uiluma in half a day" Te halma ifa hene ume isiespema this:Abs book in two-Dat year Foc-write-Pst-I:NA "It took me two years to write this book" lit. "This book, it's in two years that I wrote (it)"
(3) The preposition kama "for" marks the beneficiary of an action, and takes a dative noun phrase complement (usually animate):
Na iha pusuke homa meile kamasa latie the:Erg woman make-Pst bread honey for-the:Pl:NA children-Dat "The woman madehoneybread for the children"
Kama should not be confused with ku, which is also often translated "for". Ku takes an instrumental complement (usually inanimate), and is used to indicate the purpose, occasion, or objective of the action denoted by the verb:
Kima pusuke homa meile kutan solatne we:Erg make-Pst bread honey for-the:Inst wedding-Inst "We made honeybread for the wedding"
(4) Kun and ie, which take dative complements, both correspond to "with" in English. Adjuncts headed by kun usually denote accompaniment or alienable possession, while those headed by ie denote inalienable possession. Compare the following:
Ani suke itene talpè kunnai soihai he:Erg work-Pst the:Pl:Dat field-Dat with-the:Dat wife-Dat "He worked in the fields with (his) wife" Ani sase iha ie kine pyi he:Erg meet-Pst woman with four-Dat child "He met a woman with four children" Ikime iala miua ie iniè lune we:Dat have cat with eyes-Dat blue "We have a cat with blue eyes"
In addition, kun may mark the instrument with which an action is performed:
Ami iasè mas kun tause lotsan I:Erg eat-Pst-the:Abs soup with spoon-Dat wood "I ate the soup with a wooden spoon"
Instruments marked with kun differ semantically from instruments marked with instrumental case. Compare the following sentences, for example: In both sentences, the wooden spoon is an instrument; however, in the first sentence the instrumental case is used, while in the second sentence kun is used:
Ami kahten ikei tausne lotsan I:Erg hit-Pst-the:Abs dog spoon-Inst wood "I hit the dog with a wooden spoon" Ami iasè mas kun tause lotsan I:Erg eat-Pst-the:Abs soup with spoon-Dat wood "I ate the soup with a wooden spoon"
These sentences differ in terms of the relationship between the instrument and the action denoted by the verb. In the first sentence, the wooden spoon is the participant which actually carries out the action: The speaker manipulates the spoon, causing it to hit the dog (thus, I hit the dog with the spoon implies The spoon hit the dog). In the second sentence, by contrast, the spoon does not itself carry out the action, but merely facilitates it (thus, I ate the soup with the spoon does not imply The spoon ate the soup).
Tukun and iote are the negative counterparts of kun and ie, respectively. They both correspond to without or lacking in English:
Sai suehte tukunmai they:Abs go:away-Pst without-me:Dat "They left without me" Ami iasè mas tukun tause I:Erg eat-Pst-the:Abs soup without spoon-Dat "I ate the soup without using a spoon" or "I ate the soup without the aide of a spoon" Imai hiele ikei iote ese anakalia I:Dat see-Pst dog lacking one-Dat front:leg "I saw a dog which was missing a front leg"
(5) The preposition sikà takes a dative complement, and indicates an endpoint or upper limit; while tsuaha takes an ablative complement, and indicates a starting point or lower limit. When the complement refers to a location, sikà corresponds to to, up to, or as far as, and tsuaha corresponds to from:
Asi ete sikà itai hitole they:Erg walk-Pst up:to the:Dat door-Dat "They walked up to the door" Kim inlotka lhiane tsuaha itaul Kemothaseu we:Abs yesterday come:here-Pst from the:Abl Kemothasi-Abl "We came here yesterday from Kemothasi"
Sikà and tsuaha may also be used with complements denoting an amount, in which case sikà refers to an upper limit and tsuaha to a lower limit:
halma sikà kiane book up:to five-Dat "no more than five books" or "as many as five books" halma tsuaha kianu book from five-Abl "at least five books" or "no fewer than five books"
When combined with the temporal preposition im or with a temporal adverb prefixed with in- (see section 4.3), sikà corresponds to "until", and tsuaha corresponds to "since":
Puniekma sikà im kahpahoi travel-Pst-we:NA until sunset-Dat "We travelled until sunset" Kima sulhtai lhai tsuaha inumitka we:Erg live-the:NA here since last:year "We have lived here since last year"
(6) The preposition ohpi "because of" takes an instrumental noun phrase complement, while usin "instead of, in place of" takes an ablative complement. Examples of these prepositions are given below:
Tiefu ohpinan ammene mouti ilanian itai tiesate only because:of-the:Inst mother-Inst sick Foc-stay-he:Abs the:Dat city-Dat "It's only because of (his) sick mother that he stays in the city" Nai etei Uilumai usintaul Tenmothaiu he:Abs go-Pst-the:NA Uiluma-Dat instead:of-the:Abl Tenmothai-Abl "He went to Uiluma instead of Tenmothai"
In this section I discuss those prepositions which take clausal complements, containing a verb in the dependent order (section 3.3.1). A list of these prepositions is given here. Some of these prepositions also take noun phrase complements, as discussed in the previous subsection.
elhkò "to, in order to" ie "with" iekò "since, because, inasmuch as, given that" im "as, when, while" iote "without" ku "to, for, in order to, in order that, so that" kun "by, by means of" sikà "until" talhkò "because" uskò "as, like, as if" usnakò "instead of, rather than"
Im and the compound prepositions formed with im (listed below) are used to indicate a temporal relation between the event denoted by the complement clause and the event denoted by the main clause.
himne im "while, as" sikà im "until" tsuaha im "since, ever since" ynale im "before" ysame im "after"
Examples of these are given below:
Ne Sakial sianei kotoi im muelhanma the:Abs Sakial enter-Pst-the:NA room-Dat when sleep-Dep-I:NA "Sakial came into the room when I was sleeping" Ne Sakial uithe itai ekase tsol himne im muelhanma the:Abs Sakial sit-Pst the:Dat side-Dat bed while sleep-Dep-I:NA "Sakial sat beside the bed while/as I slept" Lyuekim ynale im nioktinne Mafe itai pule wake:up-Pst-we:Abs before return-Dep:Pst-the:NA Mafe the:Dat village-Dat "We woke up before Mafe (had) returned to the village" Kyina peutulhka sikà im emuktinma sukat you:Pl:Erg wait-must until finish-Dep:Pst-I:NA work-Dep "You must wait until I have finished working" Te katia lhon ekpa tsuaha im tiokinne kahamme the:Abs house there empty since die-Dep:Pst-the:Abs aunt "That house has been empty since (my) aunt died" Etekim muelhat ysame im nelhintse kutahon go-Pst-we:Abs sleep-Dep after leave-Dep:Pst-the:Pl:NA guest "We went to sleep after the guests had left"
Other prepositions are used to form modifying subordinate clauses of various kinds. These are discussed below:
(1) Purpose clauses: Elhkò and ku, meaning "to" or "in order to" or "so that", are used to form purpose clauses. They generally take complements headed by a verb in the dependent subjunctive order. Examples of ku are given below:
Te maka ksitaniena Han ku lantano the:Abs meat salt-Pst-the:NA Han for preserve-Subj "Han salted the meat in order to preserve (it)" Te maka ksitaniena Han ku iasanokma tuhsai the:Abs meat salt-Pst-the:NA Han for eat-Subj-we:NA winter-Dat "Han salted the meat so that we could eat (it) during the winter"
As discussed in 3.6.3, stative verbs in the relative form (prefixed with the relative marker an-) may take complements headed by ku:
Te tomla tsuò anlaima ku hielano the:Abs mountain too Rel-far for see-Subj "The mountain is too far away to see" lit. "The mountain is too far away for (one to) see (it)"
The complex form ku aun (lit. "for if") is used to mean "in case":
Slune peuta ku aun nioktotion Sakial please wait in:case return-Neg-Dep:Subj-the:Abs Sakial "Please wait in case Sakial doesn't return"
(2) Reason clauses: Talhkò and iekò are used to form adjuncts which indicate the reason for an action or event. Adjuncts formed with talhkò "because" indicate the motive for a p articular action, while those formed with iekò "since, inasmuch as, given that" denote an event or situation from which the main clause event follows as an effect or consequence.
Na Elim uthme meun inai pyie talhkò halhkuotanna the:Erg Elim give-Pst milk the:Dat child-Dat because thirsty-Dep-she:NA "Han gave the child some milk because she was thirsty" Na Han afanamotunkima iekò sukulhkuna the:Erg Han accompany-cannot-Cpl-us:NA since work-must-Dep:Pst "Han couldn't come with us since (he) had to work"
(3) Adverbial clauses: Ie "with" and iote "without", along with sikà "to, until" and uskò "as, as if", may be used with clausal complements to form adverbial-type expressions. When ie takes a clausal complement headed by a stative verb, it indicates something about the manner in which the event denoted by the main verb is carried out. Such expressions often correspond to adverbs in English:
Ani kuoponema ie thonkat he:Erg speak:with-Pst-me:NA with be:loud-Dep "He spoke to me loudly" Na Sakial ie klotat ipente the:Erg Sakial with be:quick-Dep Foc-run-Pst "Sakial ran quickly"
Here ie thonkat, from thonka "be loud", corresponds to the adverb loudly, while ie klotat, from klota "be quick", is translated as quickly.
When ie takes a clausal complement headed by an eventive verb, the adjunct indicates an action which occurs concomitantly with the main event of the sentence:
Na pyi pente itaul kotou ie hesulat the:Erg child run-Pst the:Abl room-Abl with cry-Dep "The child ran out of the room crying"
Here ie hesulat corresponds to the participle crying in English, denoting an event which takes place at the same time as the event of running out of the room.
Iote "without", indicates an event which fails to occur concomitantly with the main event:
Nai nelhe iote itsano eliapi she:Abs leave-Pst without say-Subj ease "She left without saying good-bye" lit. "She left without saying ease"
Sikà "to, up to, until" may be used to form clauses which indicate the end result of the action denoted by the main verb. For example:
Na ysuta nakilhten tsike sikà tiokanne the:Erg spider sting-Pst-the:Abs fly up:to die-Dep-it:Abs "The spider stung the fly to death"
Here, sikà tiokanne, literally "up to (the point that) it dies", denotes the situation or event resulting from the act of stinging. Additional examples are given below:
Ten hitol naliekma sikà luniat the:Pl:Abs door paint-Pst-we:Erg up:to blue-Pred-Dep "We painted the doors blue" lit. "The doors, we painted (them) until (they were) blue" Ani fitsomè lhot sikà tamnailane he:Erg hammer-Pst-the:Abs metal up:to flat-Dep-it:Abs "He hammered the metal flat" Ne kimi lefena ahte sikà muelhoinat the:Abs baby rock-Pst-the:NA father up:to sleep-begin-Dep "The baby was rocked to sleep by the father"
Uskò "as, like, as if" is used to indicate something about the manner or capacity in which a particular action is performed. The complement of uskò is usually stative - often involving a nominal predicate (section 3.9.3) or a complex predicate headed by the copula he (section 3.7.3). For example, in the first sentence below, the complement of uskò is the predicate kunaha "be a friend (to)", formed from the noun stem kuna "friend". In the second sentence, the complement of uskò is he ne kuna ankilhiunehti "be the oldest friend":
Ami oponena uskò kunahat I:Erg speak-Pst-her:NA as friend-Pred-Dep "I spoke to her as a friend" Ami oponena uskò hiat ne kuna ankilhiunehti I:Erg speak-Pst-her:NA as be-Dep the:Abs friend Rel-old-Comp-Part "I spoke to her as (her) oldest friend"
When the clausal complement is indicative, as in the above examples, then uskò means "as", in the sense of "acting as" or "in the capacity of". When the complement is subjunctive, then uskò means "as if" or "like". This is illustrated below:
Ani eta uskò miuahano he:Erg walk as cat-Pred-Subj "He walks like a cat" or "He walks as if (he) were a cat" Kutan, ani suke uskò ahtano imai for-it:Dat he:Erg do-Pst as father-Pred-Subj me:Dat "In this matter, he acted as if (he) were my father" lit. "For this, he did as if (he) were father to me"
(4) The preposition kun "with, by, by means of" is used to form adjuncts indicating the action by means of which the event denoted by the main clause verb is accomplished:
Na ysuta supohen tsike kun nakilhtat the:Erg spider kill-Pst-the:Abs fly with sting-Dep "The spider killed the fly by stinging (it)"
(5) The preposition usnakò "instead of" is used to form adjuncts indicating an event in place of which the event denoted by the main clause takes place. It normally takes a complement headed by a dependent subjunctive verb:
Nai etei Uilumai usnakò tahano lhai he:Abs go-Pst-the:NA Uiluma-Dat instead:of stay-Subj here "He went to Uiluma instead of staying here"