Download Bhumij Book

 
in Bhumij are okoii ‘who’, okoiai ‘whose’, okoaai ‘which’, ‘that’, okoarei ‘where’ and okoikec&i ‘whom’. The following are some Bhumij sentences with relative clause. 
1.  situ moyon h heke okoii hai
Sithu one man  is who fish
sasu?p seno hayawa
catch  go like

‘Sithu is a man who likes to go fishing’

2.  roibari moyon-ge kuihon  heke okoike
Roibari  are-emph.  girl  is whom
soma  sukua-g-i-a
Soma like -pr cop
‘Roibari is the only girl whom Soma likes.’
3.  aiŋ  moyon hona-ke  darom-l-i-a -iŋ okoii
I one girl-case meet-past -PT who
bugina duraŋ-a
well sing-cop
‘I met a girl who sings well’
2. It could be observed in the above constructions that the relative pronoun is not immediately after head NP. The relative pronoun ocurs with the subordinate clause after the matrix sentence. However, the relative clause may precede the head NP as an adjective.
4a. soma moyon h heke okoii besaiŋ haama
Soma  one man is  who very old
b.  soma moyon besaiŋ haam hheke.

‘Soma is a very old man’

5a. a?e moyon hheke okoii haŋa
he one  man is who  tall
‘He is a man who is tall’
b.  a?e moyon aNa  h heke

‘He is a tall man’

6a  a?e moyon kuihon heke okoii besaiŋ alaka
she  one girl  is  who very intelligent.
‘She is a girl who is very intelligent
b.  a?e  moyon besaiŋ alak kuihon heke

‘She is a very intelligent girl’

3. In the relative clause construction, wh-question cannot occur in the sentence final position as in the following sentences. However, there are simple wh-type of questions which allow more than one interrogative pronoun in a question. Further, no element within the relative clause can be questioned.
7.

*aiŋ

ha-ke darom - l - i - ŋ  am bia oma-l-i-a
I  man -case meet  -tense-PT you book give -tense
-m

okoikei

-PT

 whom

‘I met a man whom you gave a book’
8.  *aiŋ ha-ke  darom l-i-ŋ okoii kana  kaji -l
I man -case  meet - tense-PT who what say - tense
-a
-cop

‘I met a man who said what’

9.  * ‘aiŋ      ha - ke darom - l-i -ŋ okoii okoike
I man  -case  meet -  tense-PT who whom
kana oma -l-i -a
what  give - tense  - cop

‘I met a man who gave what to whom’.

10.  okoi  kana kaji - l - a
who what say - tense -cop

‘Who said what?’

11.  kana  imtaŋ suni kami -l -a
what  when Suny do - past - cop

‘What did Suny do when?’

12.  okoi  okoike  kana oma -l -i -a
Who  whom  hwat give - past - cop

Who gave what to whom?’

 
Bhumij Index Page
 
FeedBack | Contact Us | Home
ciil grammar footer