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(3) khpur¹ z² ³-t u⁴	‘One¹ shouln’t sleep² early³’
pu1 vr u²	‘He¹ shouldn’t come²’
(4) ¹ hgl² th³ liknj⁴	‘I¹ cannot⁴ write³ English²’
mipurhn vr liknj	‘None can come here’
pu¹ tsl tsh² liknj³	‘She¹ cannot³ sing²’
(5) ch¹ v² m³	‘(The) road¹ is² not³ good²’
¹ ² m³	‘I¹ don’t³ know²’
k¹ tsits² tsy³ m⁴	‘We (incl. pl.)¹ don’t⁴ eat³ venison²’
pu¹ vr mt²	‘She¹ has not come²’
¹ z² m³ z⁴	‘I¹ did not³ sleep² at all⁴’
n1 v b m b²	‘Ni¹ is not well²’
lhk¹ myi² m³	‘Rice¹ is² not³ cheap²’

(6) mo is a matter of fact, flat negativizer.

another negative marker is less flat and matter-of-fact and more polite and the speaker evinces more interest in the discourse situation.

In answer to the question ‘Has he come?’

b¹ dr² pu³ ci⁴ vr-	‘No,¹ but² he³ will come
t ty⁵	now⁴’

In answer to a piece of advice to follow a certain course of action,

b¹ dr² ³ h⁴ tsh	‘No,¹ but² I³ want to do⁵
b⁵	this⁴’

6.11. The Interrogative

6.11.0 The Interrogative is marked by g

and

when an interogative pronoun or any other question word is present. g

and

are both used in speech with

being much more frequent. But in writing only g

is used. There are no morphophonemic changes when

a is added except that the word-final

is dropped.

pu¹ pu² ny³-⁴	‘Whose² son³ (is) he?⁴’
pu¹ pu² g⁴
¹ z² pu³-⁴	‘What³ (is) your¹ name²?⁴’
¹ z² pu³ g⁴ literally	‘Who³ (is) your¹ name²?⁴’
thmi h² pu³-¹	‘Who³ (is) this² man¹?⁴’
thmi h pu g
n1 lsk² k³ n⁴ phr⁵ g⁶	‘In⁴ which³ school² are⁵ you¹ studying⁵?⁶’
n1 lsk² k³ n⁴ phry⁵

The morphophonemic deletion of

is exemplified by the last example.

phr

® phr

6.11.1

also marks the Interrogative in questions with pronouns but is seldom used.

n1 kr(pu)² v³ ⁴	‘Where² did³ you¹ go³?⁴’
n1 kr (pu)² v³ g⁴

6.11.2 In the Yes-or-No interrogation, the interrogative particles are m

, or

, m

or m

and l

. Both m

and mo are information-seeking. The difference is that mo is used when the answer is doubted or expected or desired or assumed to be positive, while m

is matter-of-fact information-seeking with no such doubting or assumption on the part of the speaker.

mhr hu¹ ts² b³ m⁴	‘Do (you) have³ pain² any where¹?⁴’
n1 mhtslit² m³	‘Have² you¹ eaten²?³’
A¹ ls² hu³ b⁴ m⁵	‘Is there⁴ any³ letter² for me¹?⁵’
n1 hmi di² ³ m⁴	‘Do³ you¹ know³ English²?⁴’
n1 v² b³ m⁴ ‘Are³ you¹ well²?⁴;	‘How are you?’
n1 pris² hu³ khs⁴	‘Can⁵ you¹ give⁴ some³ money²?⁶’
liv⁵ m⁶


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