When
qualifying verbs are used in a sentence, the existential
verb also occurs with it.
myu si jantu do.
‘the man is fat’
man det. fat exist
inka alyi si atu do.
‘that pig is small’
that pig det. small exist
Existential
Sentences :
more ho kle
do
‘there are rivers in the
forest’
forest loc. river exist
nka
aban k
mihi hiehe
du.nka
aban k
mihi hiehe
du.
‘my elder brother has
three wives’
I-gen. elder brother pos.
wife three exist
inso putu puro puve do
‘here is a big mountain’
here mountain big one
exist
Sentences
with Verb Predicates :
ka
anmi
gyone
‘my mother called me’
my mother I-acc. call-p.t.
s
h
mó mi ali tubune
‘the cattle kicked him’
cattle det. he acc. leg kick-p.t.
o
mó mi pulye bare bito
'I gave him cloth’
I he dat. cloth one give-p.t.
mó lu pat
mi aji ho membune
‘they killed the tiger in the paddy
field’
they tiger acc. field loc. kill-p.t.
As
mentioned already, the word order is free in a sentence
in Apatani. But, order is changed so as to focus on the
topic of the proposition in the utterance. Usually the noun
phrase on which focus falls appear in the sentence initial
position. In the following, the same sentence is given by
changing the word to illustrate how focus changes, when
word order changes.
án
hime mi ude ho bi
bn
e
mother child dat. house loc. beer give-p.
ude ho hime mi án bibne
hime mi án
ude ho bibne
ude ho án
hime mi bibne
án
o hime mi ude ho bibne
‘mother
gave beer to the hcild in the house When natural force, calamity,
etc., are the causes for the action identified by the verb,
the object takes the sentence initial position followed by
the subject.
ehe
du.n
bi
b
