| The
Existential Verb |
| As already mentioned,
the existential verb in Apatani specifies the posture of referent.
In the case of animate nouns, the posture at the time of speech
act is indicated. If it is an inanimate object, then the posture
is decided conceptually. The standing posture is expressed through
the existential verb ‘da’. ‘da’ means ‘stand’ (when used as
a regular verb). |
| so
myu da. |
‘here
is a man (standing)’ |
| here
man exist |
|
s |
‘there
is a cow (standing)’ |
| cow
there exist |
|
| so
alyi da. |
‘here
is a pig (standing)’ |
| here
pig exist |
|
k i
da. |
|
| river
loc. fish exist |
‘there
are fish in the river’ |
|
|
| ‘do’ which means ‘sit’
(when used as a regular verb) is used as existential verb to
specify the sitting posture. |
| so
myu aku du. |
| here
man one exist |
| 'here
is a man (sitting)' |
|
| so
ceyar du. |
| here
chair exits |
| 'here
is a chair' |
|
| ho
rediyo du. |
| there
radio exits |
| 'there
is a radio' |
|
|
| bije ‘bamboo’, yaso
‘cane’, tanyi ‘maize’, etc. also take the existential verb ‘du’. |
| ‘do’ which means ‘lie’
(when used as a regular verb) is used as existential verb to
specify the lying posture. |
| so
myu ako do |
‘here
is a man (lying)’ |
| here
man one exist |
|
| tebil
do |
‘there
is a table’ |
| table
exist |
|
| poten
do |
‘there
is a pen’ |
| pen
exist |
|
bajar
ho i
do |
‘there
is fish in the market’ |
| bazar
loc. fish exist |
|
| inso
putu puto puve do |
‘there
is big mountain’ |
| here
mountain big one exist |
|
|
|
| As mentioned earlier,
the existential verbs are used to express possessive meaning
and in such constructions, the presence of a possessive noun
phrase with the possessive relation with the verb is obligatory.
Examples are given below |
