| 3.4.3.8 |
/lá/
‘a marker for present perfect progressive’ |
|
This
occurs preposition ally to the present tense verb forms
and co-occurs with /lái zì /
which marks past progressive; they all together indicate
that the action has been going on for quite some time.
Since Hmar does not distinguish present perfect from
past, /lai/ in this environment could be construed as
present only. Examples- |
/kà
lá th
lái zì/mè:k/ |
‘I
have been doing’ |
| /ì
lá hrìl lái zì/mè:ik/ |
‘you
have been telling’ |
| /a
la pék lái zì/mè:k/ |
‘he/she
has been giving’ |
| |
|
|
| 3.4.3.9 |
/èl/
or /èl thèi/ ‘may’ |
|
This
occurs postpositionally to the present tense verb forms
to add the sense ‘may’; another function word /thèi/
marking future generally follows it. Examples- |
/a
th
èl thèi/ |
‘he
may do’ |
| /kà
fá:k èl thèi/ |
‘I
may eat’ |
| |
|
|
| 3.4.3.10 |
/tà/
‘a marker for total completion in conditional
sentences’ |
|
This
occurs preposition ally completion in conditional sentences
to suggest the possible completion of actions described
in the sentence. Examples- |
| /ká
th
tà dí
bàh/ |
‘I
would have had done’ |
| /í
hrìl tà dí
bàh/ |
‘you
would have had told’ |
| /á
thàt tà dí
bàh/ |
‘he
would have had killed’ |
| |
|
|
| 3.4.4 |
Closing
Remarks on Function words |
|
Function
words represent a close of words. They are limited in
number. It is not possible to add new entries to this
list. The above is only a sample list to give an idea
as to how the function words function in Hmar. There
may not be any second opinion about the status of the
functions words carrying case functions but there may
be a dispute regarding the status of those listed under
the verbal category. Some scholars
may not like to call them as ‘function words’ They may
like to call them ‘particles’ or ‘post positions’. But
these terms merely describe their syntactic word order,
not the grammatical function. Because of their, presence
only the verb forms could signal the involvement of
the agent, patient or instrument, and so on in the accomplishment
of the actions specifying accurately the time, mode
and aspect of the happenings suggested by the verbs.
Therefore, it is logical to call them as function words
as opposed to content words. |
|
| 3.5.1 |
Types
of Derivations |
|
Derivation4
plays an equally important role in Hmar. It is employed
as a morphological process to form new words from existing
ones. As in most other languages derivation here also
could be discussed under tow major heads: |
1.
Class-changing derivation, and
2. Class-maintaining derivation. |
Class
here refers to the word classes that have been dealt
with before. Of these two types of derivation, the former
is more productive than the latter. |
| 3.5.2 |
Class-changing
Derivation |
|
Class-changing
derivation implies derivation of new words of one class
from words belonging to another class. For example,
derivation of nouns from adjectives or derivation of
verbs from adjectives, and so on, come under this category.
Such derivations are accomplished, in most cases, by
suffixation and in a few cases, by prefixation. Given
below are a few specific cases. |
| 3.5.2.1 |
Derivation
of Adjectives from Nouns |
|
Like
many other languages, Hmar also has a mechanism to derive
a few adjectives from nouns. This is done by suffixation.
The following suffixes are commonly used. |
