| 10. CLAUSE STRUCTURE AND PHRASE STRUCTURE |
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In the last four sections (Chapters 2 to 5) the phonological system, the morphological system and the variations in phonemic representation of morphemes in Abujhmaria have been discussed. This section on syntex describes the structure of clauses and phrases which only hints at the total complexity of this phase of Abujhmaria grammer.
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A simple sentence, a grammatical form which is not in construction with any other grammatical form: a constitute which is not a constituent, (Hockett, 1958 : 199) consists of a single clause. A compound sentence consists of two or more clauses joined by conjunctives. A complex sentence has a clause as head and often has a subordinate clause formed by verbal constructions with infinitives, conditional suffixes, adverbial participals, etc.
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The maximal unit of utterance, i.e., the unit into which we can sub-divide utterances taken as wholes - is the clause. Claueses in Abujhmaria are of ‘topic-comment’ nature (i.e., a speaker announces a topic and then says something, about it), constituting very often subject-verb type. A phrase is type. A phrae is a form consisting of two or more words without a verb.
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| 10.10. Description of Clause Structure |
| (1) Major clause types: SV, SOV, SO2O1V, SCV, SOCV, DSV. |
| (2) Word order. |
| (3) Deletion. |
| (4) Obligatory elements: Subject, object, complement,verb. |
| (5) Optional elements: Time, location, manner, purpose, reason and sequential phrases. |
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| 10.1.1. The clause structure found in Abujhmaria language may be classed into six major clause types. They are: |
| (1) Subject-Verb type. |
| (2) Suject-Object-Verb type. |
| (3) Sujbect-Object2(indirect)-Object1 (direct)-Verb. |
| (4) Subject-Subjective complement-Verb. |
| (5) Subject-Object-Objective complement-Verb. |
| (6) Dative-Subject-Verb. |
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| 10.1.1.1. SV Type |
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In this type of clause structure the obligatory components are only subject plus verb. The verbs are intransitive verbs like, sit, fly, run and the like.
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| Examples: |
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pe:ka:l nilto:r |
‘boy stands (there)’ |
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 uwa:l gu·ita: |
‘tiger sleeps’ |
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nanna: arta:n |
‘I fell down’ |
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