Syntax

In this chapter I will discuss three aspects of the syntax of Tepa. The first is the placement of the clitics discussed in the chapter Particles, the second is the disposition of phrasal elements (extended words) within the sentence, and the third is the coordination or subordination of clauses in complex sentences.

Clitic Placement

Clitics in Tepa can appear in one of three positions: 1) at the end of nouns, 2) at the end of verbs, and 3) at the beginning of the first word of a clause. Clitics which appear at the end of verbs belong to the set of pronouns, and indicate an oblique argument of the verb.

(1)   wa-  talta  =ne  [waDaldane] <wataltane>
      1>3- give:L =3
      'She gave it to me.'

(2)   0-    naki yee =tte  [na3iyeette] <naki yeette>
      3>3'- eat  egg =someone
      'Someone ate the egg.'

There are several types of clitics which attach to the right edges of nouns. These are quantifiers, postpositions, and pronouns. If all three are present, they attach in the order [NOUN] =DET/Q =POST =PRON.

(3)   tiwitwi    =nte  =ma  [ciwiDwindema] <tiwitwintema>
      birds:DIST =some =with
      'with some birds'

(4)   0-   nakii yeyye =nka      =tte  [na3iiyeyyeqgatte]
      3>3' eat:B eggs:DIST =many =someone            <nakii 
yeyyenkatte>
      'Someone ate a lot of eggs.'

(5)   0- lea hai   =ka =tte  [leahai3atte] <lea haikatte>
      3- sit grass =on =someone
      'Someone is sitting on the grass.'

Conjunctions and modal particles appear in clause-initial position, regardless of the category of the first word in the clause. Thus it is possible for a noun to have modal clitics attached to it, when that noun is fronted for focus effects (see the section Simple Sentences). If both conjunctions and modal particles are present, they appear in the order CONJ= MOD= [WORD].

(6)   ku-  sulle a=  pe=  wa-  nakii  yeyee     teeli
      3>1- ask:L DS= IRR= 1>3- eat:B  eggs:DIST Teeli
      'Teeli asked me if I had eaten the eggs.'

The word together with the clitics which are attached to it form the "extended word", which is the domain for stress placement and lenition processes.

Simple Sentences

Basic Word Order

The only obligatory element in a Tepa sentence is the verb and its associated clitic-chain. When other sentence elements are present, they appear in the order V-O-IO/PP-S.

(7)   ha= ku-  naki  =tte  [ha3una3itte] <hakunakitte>
      !=  2>3- eat:B =something
      'Eat something!'

(8)   0-   naki hukma      tikwi     =nka  [na3ihu3mati3wiqga]
      3>3- eat  fruit:COLL bird:COLL =some         <naki hukma 
tikwinka>
      'Some (kinds of) birds eat fruit.'

(9)   mu=  lea hai   =pu nemaa  [mureahaivunemaa] <mulea haipu nemaa>
      NEG= sit grass =in man:B
      'The man is not sitting in the grass.'

For focus effects, sentence elements (usually noun phrases) can be placed before the verb. When this is done, the clitics which normally attach to the verb attach instead to the sentence initial element.

(10)  su= tikwi     0-   taleka nemaa =nu  [suZi3witare3anemaanu]
      ?=  bird:COLL 3>3- hunt   man:B =that     <sutikwi taleka 
nemaanu>
      'Is that man hunting BIRDS?'

(11)  ha= hai   =pu ku- lea  [hahaivukurea] <hahaipu kulea>
      !=  grass =in 2-  sit
      '(Go) sit IN THE GRASS!'

(12)  0-    pitee neqaa   teeli a=  humahma    =nka  0-    pulu
      3>3'- see:B woman:B Teeli DS= fruit:DIST =some 3>3'- pick 
      'Teeli saw the woman as she was picking SOME FRUIT.'

Equational and Existential Sentences

Equational sentences are sentences in which a noun phrase or postpositional phrase is taken to be a predicate. This syntactically derived predicate is always clause-initial, and takes normal inflections:

(13)  pakuu  =pu tiwii  [pa3uuvu ciwii] <pakuupu tiwii>
      tree:B =in bird
      'The bird is in the tree.'

(14)  su= ku- pakuu  =pu  [su3uva3uuvu] <sukupakuupu>
      ?=  2-  tree:B =in
      'Are you in the tree?'

Existential sentences are very similar in form to equational sentences. The difference between the two sentence types is the order of the constituents; the postpositional phrase is never sentence initial in an existential sentence.

(15)  tiwi pakuu  =pu  [ciwipa3uuvu] <tiwi pakuupu>
      bird tree:B =in
      'There is a bird in the tree.'

Complex Sentences

Coordination

The particle hu= serves to link sentences together, just as English "and". The resulting paratactic constructions are quite common in Tepa. Noun phrases are often omitted in all but the first clause when their referents are unambiguous; the result is a string of inflected verbs connected by hu=.

Subordination

The subordinating conjunctions serve to join embedded clauses to main clauses. In Tepa, subordinate clauses are not divided formally into types such as relative clause, complement clause, sentential subject clause, etc. Only two kinds of embedded clauses are distinguished in the grammar: 1) an embedded clause whose subject is the same as the subject of the main clause (or the head of the relative clause) in which it is embedded; and 2) an embedded clause whose subject is different from the subject of the main clause (or the head of the relative clause) in which it is embedded. This information is contained in the subordinating conjunctions. They are:

(16)  e= same subject
      a= different subject

Some examples of their use follow:

(17) 0- pitee neqaa teeli a= 0- pulu humahma =nka 3>3'- see:B woman:B Teeli DS= 3>3'- pick fruit:DIST =some 'Teeli saw the woman as she (the woman) was picking some fruit.' (18) 0- pitee neqaa teeli e= wa- pulu humahma =nka 3>3'- see:B woman:B Teeli SS= 3>3'- pick fruit:DIST =some 'Teeli saw the woman as she (Teeli) was picking some fruit.' (19) 0- pitee e= 0- pulu humahma =nka neqaa teeli 3>3'- see:B SS= 3>3'- pick fruit:DIST =some woman:B Teeli 'Teeli saw the woman (who was) picking some fruit.' Go back to the introduction.