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7. Active :
    -n mp tn-c
hò
   
I-nom him hang-past
     I hanged him

Passive :
      mp-nà tn-chò
     
he me-by hang-past
      He was hanged by me

 

4.3. Tense :

  "The essential characteristic of the category of tense is that it relates the time of action, event or state of affairs referred to in the sentence to the time of the utterance". "(J. Lyons)1. Hockett2 defines the tense as "a grammatical category showing different locations of an event in time".

Verbs in Lotha are marked morphologically for tense. Lotha verb shows three way opposition for tense 1. present 2. past 3. future. Tense markers occur at the end of the verb.

 

 
4.3.1. Present tense :
  It indicates that action which takes place when the utterance is uttered. The present tense marker is-là, it gives the meaning of both present indefinite as well as continuous.

Examples :
1. -n         ótsì         ts-là
  
I-nom      rice        eat-present
   I eat rice or I am eating rice

_____________________________________________________
1. Lyons, John. Introduction to Theoretical Linguistics, Cambridge University Press, 1968, pp. 305.

2. Hockett, C.F. A Course in Modern Linguistics Indian Edition, Published in 1970, pp. 167.

 

  2. mp-n      kákò     mótsà     kh-là
     
He-nom   book          a          read-present
      He reads a book or He is reading a book

3. -n         n-kì           r-là
   
I-nom   your-house   come present
    I come to your house or I am coming to your house

 4. -n       mscá     hà-là
   
we-nom   cow pl.          see-present
    We see the cow or we are seeing the cow

5. mp-n    hnrì ts    -là
He-nom      bread     eat-present
He eats bread or he is eating bread

Present tense marker is not used in the following cases.
A. When the interrogative word A#lò is used with the verb.

Examples
1. n-n        cuà          -kì          r-lò ?    you-nom  tomorrow   my-house   come-Interrogative
   Do you come to my house tomorrow ?

2. mp-n     ótsì       ts-lò ?
   
He-nom  rice     eat-Interrogative
    Doess he eat rice ?

3. mp    lò    lò ?
  
He      here   Interrogative
   Is he here ?

(Note that in the example no 3 verb is absent)
B When the perfect aspect marker is added to the verb.

Examples
1. -n     ótsì     ts-th
   I-nom  rice    eat Perfect
  
I have eaten rice


2. -n   kákò    mótsà   kh-th
  
I-nom book        a        read-perfect
   I have read a book

 

 

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