Plural
counterparts of deictic pronouns are formed by adding the plural
word - ata
or the numeral to the demonstratives. |
| sika
hime any |
‘these
(two) boys (proximate) |
| this
boy two |
|
inka
pulye ata |
‘those
clothes (intermediate distance)’ |
| that
cloth pl. -word |
|
|
|
| It
is possible to use forms like |
| sika
anye |
‘this
two’ |
| ‘these
two’ |
|
inka
ata |
‘those
(items)’ |
| that
pl. - word |
|
|
|
|
Interrogative
Pronouns : |
|
A
two-way distinction between in the vicinity of the speaker
and not in the vicinity of the speaker is maintained in interrogative
pronouns also. If the referent is not in the vicinity of the
speaker, then ‘na’ is suffixed to the interrogative pronouns
that are used for referents in the vicinity of the speaker.
See the list below : |
| In
the vignity if the speaker |
Not
in the vignity of the speaker |
| nu
‘who’ |
huna
‘who’ |
n
‘what’ |
nna
‘what’ |
nh
‘which’ |
nihina
‘which’ |
|
|
| For
the interrogative - no ‘where (in the vicinity of the speaker)’,
the non-vicinity counterpart is formed by suffixing ‘-ho’ as
below : |
| |
|
The
other interrogatives are |
nta |
‘what
sort’ |
ntampa
|
‘how’ |
nmpa |
‘why’ |
ndo |
‘when’ |
nhe
|
‘how
many (countable)’ |
nnkane |
‘how
much (uncountable)’ |
|
|
| Among
the above interrogative pronouns, ‘n‘
functions as the interrogative morpheme, except -hu ‘who’. ‘no’
can be analysed as ‘n'
+ o’ like the place adverbs (See, the section place adverbs
on p.32 for details). |
| Deixis |
The
notion of deixis handles certain features of language which
are relative to place and time of utterance. Deictic categories
are found in Apatani that are used to identify typical spatial
and social situation. As already mentioned, this feature is
found in the pronominal system. A two-way distinction is made
in the social situation, i.e., known Vs. unknown coupled with
the spatial situation, i.e., visible vs. invisible. The pronoun
‘si’ is used for referents that are known/in the vicinity
of the speaker and ‘h’
is used for referents that are unknown/not in the vicinity
of the speaker. A parallel difference is maintained in interrogatives,
i.e., in the vicinity of the speaker Vs. not in the vicinity
of the speaker. It is done through the marker ‘na’ added to
the interrogative pronouns that are used for referents in
the vicinity of the speaker. |
