The perfective aspect shows a
two-way opposition in present perfective aspects. The perfective
aspect in the Angami variety is expressed by the simple past tense
form. This feature is shared by the Chokri, the Khez, the Zemi, the
Liangmei (SP), the Konyak (NP) and the Ao (CP) varieties, e.g. :
|
moy huyse
‘I slept/I have slept’
|
| The Rengma (Sp), the Phom and
the Chang (NP) varieties express this aspect differently : |
| moy huy dise ‘I have slept’ |
The form available in the
Angami variety for the past perfective is:
|
moy huys
 le ‘had
slept’
|
However, the simple past
tense form, namely huyse, can also be used for the past perfective.
All other varieties show only a simple past tense for the past
perfective also. Thus in all varieties the simple pst tense form can
be used for the simple past, present perfective and past perfective as
in :
|
moy huyse
‘I slept/I had slept/I have slept’.
|
The habitual aspect is marked
morpholotically only in the sema, the Khezha, the Zemi, the Rongmei,
(SP), the Lotha, the Ao and the Yimchunger (CP) varieties, e.g.:
|
moy huye
‘I always sleep’
|
In the other varieties, the
verb root itself indicates the habitual aspect as in :
|
| moy hoday huy
‘I always sleep’ |
| |
The modals:
|
The Agami variety shows a
total of ten-way opposition in modals. These are : indicative
(unmarked), simple imperative, polite imperative, probability,1
probability2, potential, injunctive, conditional
and the infinitive. Of these the injunctive, the postential and the
probability modals have both the past and the non-past forms, whereas
others have only non-past forms. The simple imperative is available in
all the varieties. The modals available in all the varieties are
indicative, polite imperative, permissive, conditional, infinitive,
injunctive non-past and probability, eg.,
|
moy jayse
‘I went’ (indicative)
jabi
‘please go’ (imperative)
jabude
‘Please allow to go’ (permissive)
moy jayle tay bi jabo pare ‘If I go, he may also go’
(conditional)
moy otu gorote jabole
se
‘I am to go to that house’ (infinitive)
tay tat jabo lage
‘He must go there’ (injunctive nonpast)
moy jabo pare
‘I may go’ (probability)
|
The occurrences of the other
modals are limited to a few varieties.
|
A brief statement of their
occurrences follows:
|
| 1. |
The simple
imperative jaba ‘go (imp) is available only in the Angami
variety.
|
| 2. |
The
non-past probability is available only in the Angami, the Chokri,
the Mao, the Sema (SP) and the Konyak (NP) varieties, e.g.:
moy jabo pare ‘I may go’
|
| 3. |
The
non-past probability is available only in the Angami, the Rengma,
the Sema,
the Mao, the Khezha, the Chokri (SP) and the Konyak (NP)
varieties, e.g.:
moy jayse pare ‘I might go’
|
| 4. |
The past
probability modal is available only in the Angami, the Zemi, the
Liangmei,
the Sema, the Mao (SP), and the Konyak (NP) varieties, e.g.:
moy jabo parisle
‘I might have gone’
|
| 5. |
The
non-past potential is available only in the Angami, the Sema
(SP), the
Konyak (NP), and the Lotha (CP) varieties, e.g.:
moy jabo paribo ‘I can go’
|
| 6. |
The
past potential is available in the Angami, the Rengma, the Mao,
the Khezha,
the Chokri, the Zemi, the Rongmei (SP), the Phom, the Konyak
(NP), the
Ao, the Lotha and Yimchunger (SP) varieties, e.g.:
moy jabo parise ‘I could go’
|
|
| The variations at the phonological and
the grammatical levels found with the different varieties
of the Naga Pidgin were stated above. Variations of
different degrees are found in all natural languages,
but through an historical process one of the variant
forms is accepted as the standard form which then fulfills
three functions, viz., the unifying, the prestige and
the frame of reference. The various aspects of standardization
are discussed in the following paragraphs.
|
|
|
