/nh/
replaces the equational verb /nìh/ which itself is optionally
omitted in non-formal speech at will of the speaker.
In other words the negative auxiliary occurs after the
object or complement in the verb phrase as the terminal
element. The subject pronoun that usually occurs before
the verb in the affirmative, /kà, à/ etc., also occurs
before the negative element /nh/
‘is not’ and /n-/ of /nh/
is repeated with the pronoun /kà > kàn/, /à >
àn/ etc. The following examples could be seen :
/zìrtí:rtù
ká-nìh/
(teacher) (I)(am)
‘I
am (as) teacher’
/zìrtí:rtù
kán-nh/
(teacher) (I)(am not)
‘I
am not (a) teacher’
/nàupà
ìnsà
á-nìh/
(child) (tall) (he)(is not)
‘the
child is tall’
/sámsèi
á-nìh/
(hair long) (he)
‘(His
bunch of) hir is long’
/sámsèi
án-nìh/
(hair long) (he is) (not)
‘(His
bunch of hair) is not long’
/théi
thlùm án-nìh/
(fruit) (sweet) ) (it is)
‘The
fruit is sweet’
/théi
thlùm án-nìh/
(fruit) (sweet)(it is not)
‘The
fruit is not sweet’
It
may be seen that in the affirmative sentence /à/
or /àn/ a personal pronoun corresponding to the subject
noun expletively occurs with the verb. Similarly in
the negative structure also the same pronoun co-occurs
with the negative auxiliary /nh/.
4.5.2
Interrogative
Transformation
Hmar
employs two devices to transform assertive sentences
into iterrogative. From the view
point of the structure of the interrogative sentences
they could be classified into three types as under :
i.
Wh-type, generated
by the employment of interrogative pronouns or
adverbs,
ii.
Yes-no type, generated
by the change of the intonation pattern and
iii.
Counter echo
questions
The
‘Yes-no type’ could again be sub categorized into (a)
simple yes-no type and (b) tag questions. Bcause of
the very fact of simplicity of verb structure in the
language, the transformation of assertive sentences
into interrogative is also very simple.
4.5.2.1
Wh-type
Wh-type
of interrogative sentences are generated by substituting
the key nouns or pronouns by interrogative pronouns
or adverbs that are equivalent to hw- type of forms
in English. In Hmar it is only wh- substitution, and
not wh- movement. It is not obligatory in this language
to front the wh- element. The flexibility of word-order
in Hmar permits wh- element to appear in any position
other than the final position in the sentence. Secondly
an element like /àm/ ‘is’ also
appears optionally in some interrogative sentences;
and the verb /nìh/ ‘is/are’ generally change to /na:/.
Given
below are few pairs of sentences showing interrogative
transformation:
h/
replaces the equational verb /nìh/ which itself is optionally
omitted in non-formal speech at will of the speaker.
In other words the negative auxiliary occurs after the
object or complement in the verb phrase as the terminal
element. The subject pronoun that usually occurs before
the verb in the affirmative, /kà, à/ etc., also occurs
before the negative element /n
ìnsà
