| |
|
|
| The Agent
may be the source (trasmitter) or goal (recipient) of the action
identied by the verb in what are referred to as coreferential
case roles. |
| |
| 3.1.4. The
Forces is the natural force which causes the action identified
by the verb. |
| |
(6)(a)
t khri
(b )1
s 
wh tsw t
|
‘The wind1broke3
the tree2’ |
(b)
tr
(b)1
thm
p is
|
‘The rain2 caused3
the landslide2’ |
(c)thz(b)1 ip k
v pu wt
|
‘The frost destroyed the flowers’ |
|
| |
| Agent unlike
Force may co-occur with the Executor as defined. b
in the above sentences indicates the nature of the Force as the
sole cause of the action rather than denote the Executor case
role, which presupposes the presence of a higher cause. |
| |
| 3.1.5. The
Executor is the animate executor of the action identified by the
verb. As opposed to the Agent, which is volitional, intentional
or responsible (for the action), the Executor precludes
volition, intention and responsiblity. It is marked overtly by
b and is in fact the
DO in the underlying representation. |
| |
| Contrast |
(4) (a) pu
blh
d khrw
‘He1killed3 Belho2’ |
| with |
(7) pu
b
blh
dkhrw ‘He killed Belho’ |
|
|
where pu b
exemplifies the Executor case relationship. Since b
marks the DO, it follows that senntence (7) is the output of a
deletion transformation which deletes the noun referring to the
cause. |
|
|
Another instance where the DO rather than the Agent is the
surface subject is when some transitive verbs which do not
permit object-deletion occur as ‘one-participant’, verbs at the
surface level. Verbs like mhts
‘eat’, dkhr
‘to kill’, gou ‘to hang’ belong to this class of transitive
verbs. |
|
|
(8)(a) pu
dkhrwt ‘He1was killed2’ |
(b)
 d
pu
gowt ‘He2 was hanged3
yesterday1’ |
|
|
|
3.1.6. The Affectative expresses the animate or inanimate being
affected by the predication. The verbs of such subjects are
process verbs. |
|
|
| (9) (a) pu it
|
‘He1died2’ |
(b)
kpr
gn
t
c rt
|
‘I1fell down4
from3 (the) roof2’ |
(c) sb
ts t
|
‘The tree1broke2’ |
(d) c n
zt
|
‘Sugar1melted2’ |
|
|
|
|
3.1.7. The Experiencer is the animate experiencer of a physical
or physiological state, sensation or emotional or cognitive
state identified by the verb. |
|
|
(10) (a) n
punu
b
|
‘Ni 1
is sad2’ |
(b)
n
s b
|
‘I1am very happy2’ |
(c) svli
mr
b
|
‘Savilie1is hungry2’ |
| (d)
pu
hpii ny
|
‘I1like3
her2’ |
(e) pu
tdi
b
|
‘He1knows3
Angami2’ |
|
|
|
|
3.1.8. The Existantial denotes the animate or inanimate being
whose natural properties, qualities, attributes or whose
indetity-natural or acquired-the predicate expresses. This case
function accounts for existantial sentences with stative verbs
(see 1 la- 1 ld below) and equational sentences, which have no
copula. |
|
|
| (11)(a) pu
rkri
|
‘He1is tall2’ |
(b) ktr
mb
|
‘(The) knife1is blunt2’ |
| (c) rn
z
|
‘The village1is big2’ |
(d) pu
lu
m
dz
|
‘She1is short4
and3 fat2’ |
(12)(a)
hik
 hgmmi
|
‘We1(are) Angamis2’ |
(b) h 
lsd
|
‘This1(is) my2
book3’ |
|
|
|
|
3.1.9. The subject may also be a locative phrase or time phrase |
|
|
| (13)(a) kwhr1
rn2
km3
|
‘Kohima1 (is)(a) clean3
city2’ |
|
(b) mrir1
tkhri
r
|
‘Merema1 is too windy2’ |
(c) thi1
dy b2
‘Today1 (is) Sunday2’ |
‘Today1 (is) Sunday2’ |
| (d) rd
khr2
mk
s
ty3
|
‘The month2 of
December2 will be very cold3’ |
|
|
|
|
3.2. The Subject-choice hierarchy |
|
|
|
When the Agent is present, it becomes the subject (the verb may
be an ‘included-instrument’ verb as in 15-b); or else if Force
is present, it becomes the subject, or else the Executor becomes
the overt subject, (the Executor subject may occur with an
‘included-instrument’ verb but not the Force subject). Otherwise
the object is the subject. The Instrument cannot become the
subject. |
|
|
| (14) puh
khti
ts3
|
‘He1 ate3
rice2’ |
| (15)(a) pu
pu
kmi3
dkhrwt
|
‘He1 killed4
his2 wife3’ |
| (b)
sb
citsh
|
‘I1 broke3
the tree2’ |
| (16)
tkhri
(b)1
s
whts
swt
|
‘The wind1broke3
the tree2’ |
| (17) pu
b1
pu kmi
dkhrwt
|
‘He was made to1kill3
his wife2’ |
| (18)(a) pu
dkhrwt
|
‘He1was killed2’ |
|
(b) sb
tst
|
‘The tree1broke2’ |
|
