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4.1.1.3
If gender reference of the head noun is required to be made the NP gets further expanded by insertion of the gender-marking post position just after the adjective pushing thereby the repeated dp a little away from the noun. Thus, the above phrase would appear as under
If definiteness is to be indicated, the marker gets affixed directly to the head noun or to the pronoun, if there is any.
4.1.1.4 Thus NP may consist of 5 constituents. Such an NP could occur in the predicate slot as well.
4.1.2
Structure of VP
4.1.2.1
The NP proper in Hmar shows a peculiar pattern. In sentences where there is a 3p subject the VP always carries an element of the subject pronoun with it which is invariably prefixed. Thus, the smallest VP in Hmar does not always consist of a verb alone; there could be an element of subject pronoun of 3rd person too. In the following example the VP /a-nìh/ consists of two elements: /a/ means ‘he’ and /hìh/ means is’. It is customary in Hmar to mention the relevant pronoun for the subject along with the verb. In sentences with 1st or 2nd person pronouns the VP needs not necessarily to contain a personal pronoun of appropriate person. The following example could be seen.
4.1.2.2
The VP can be expanded further by adding other constituent auxiliaries for tense, aspect, mood etc. In a sentence like
the verb phrase /à-hríet/ obtains an element of 3p pronoun /à/ and a verb /hríet/ meaning ‘knows’. It can be expanded further by adding the auxiliary for the past tense as given below.

 

 

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