3.4.16.
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Impersonal Sentences |
There is no special
linguistic mode of passivization in Mao Naga in
that there is no interchange of the relations
of the subject and the object and no changes in
verb morphology etc. There is in a word no structural
passive in Mao. When the agent is not specified,
known or if known, has to be suppressed, the sentence
may acquire an impersonal force in the absence
of the subject, whose deletion is common in any
case. In examples 335.7 and 335.8, the particle
hi is an emphatic, attention-drawing
particle, and not a subject marker. In fact, the
following are structurally active sentences with
the subject deleted.
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335 |
1. |
ree io1
-lino2
oko3
pe4
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the news was announced
on the radio (= somebody (=O
) |
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announced4
(the) news3
on2
(the) radio1
) |
| |
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2. |
ayi1
larübvü2
koli3
movu pi-e4
a5
larücü6
-lino7
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| |
|
I1
was sent4
a3
book2
from7 my5
school6
|
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|
(= somebody ( = O
) sent4
me1
a3
book2
from7
my 5
school6
) |
| |
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3. |
osi so1
khe2 kali3
pfo vu-e4
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|
a3
plate of 2
dog-meat1
was brought4
|
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|
(= someone (= O
) brought4
a3
plate2
of dog meat1
) |
| |
|
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4. |
a1
pfoyi2
ora3
-lino4
so ha-oi-e5
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|
my father was killed
in (the) war3
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|
(= somebody (=O
) killed5
my1
father2
in4
(the) war3
|
|
(Note that the verb is not thi ‘die’)
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5. |
ni-yi1
da-o-i2
le3
lohe4
ko5
-li6
|
| |
you (sg.)1
will3
be beaten2
if 6
you (sg.) go5
there4
|
| |
(= somebody (= O
) will3
beat2
you1
if 6
you go5
there4
) |
| |
|
|
6. |
graamar1
hihi2
rübvemüicü3-no4
rü-e5 |
| |
this2
grammar1
was written5
in4
Punanamai3
|
| |
(= somebody (= O
) wrote5
this2
grammar1 in4
Punanamai3
village) |
| |
|
|
7. |
rüsho-hi1
loli2
cü3
-lino4
pi-we5
|
| |
rations1
are given5
at Loli’s2
house3
|
| |
(= somebody (= O
) gives5
rations1
at4
Loli’s2
house3
) |
| |
|
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8. |
alemo-hi1
izho-lo-i-e2
|
| |
Alemo1
was injured2
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(= Alemo injured (vi)) |
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THE PRACTICAL
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The particle constitutes a separate word-class. It is neither a
noun nor a verb because it takes neither case markers nor mood
markers. Some particles are nominal in that they occur only with
nouns, some others are verbal in that they occur only with verbs,
still others are nominal-verbal in that they occur both with nouns
and verbs. And the rest can occur independent of nouns and verbs. |
|
Particles in Mao Naga are 17 in number
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1. |
Particle marking topic
of discourse |
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2. |
Particle of emphasis |
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3. |
Specifier particle
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4. |
Intensifier particles
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5. |
Particle of contrast
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6. |
Particle of holisticity |
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7. |
Particle of piquant
expectancy |
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8. |
Particle of
extraordinary experience |
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9. |
Narrative particle
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10. |
Particle of joyous
emotional state |
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11. |
Quotative particle |
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12. |
Particle of Irresolute
Irresponsibility |
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13. |
Particle of
Responsibility |
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14. |
Misellanous Particles |
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15. |
Interrogative Particle |
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16. |
Particles of Negation |
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17. |
Particles of
Affirmation |
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Of these, the particles of negation, affirmation and interrogation
have been dealt with elsewhere
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