The
occurrence of the various constituents of a verb phrase was
discussed in this section. Unless otherwise specified, in
the following sections, i.e., the sections on the clauses
and on sentences a verb would be cited as the sole realization
of a verb phrase. |
|
A
clause may be defined as a group of words with its own subject
and predicate if included in a larger sentence, as in : |
pano
zÝ aye
ino únì |
`I
will go if he sleeps’
(lit. he sleep if I go will) |
|
The example given above has two classes viz. pano z Ý
aye `if he sleeps’ and ino un `I will go’. Each of these
clauses has its own subject and predicate, for instance. |
| (i) |
pano and ino are the subjects respectively of the first
and the second clause and |
| (ii) |
z Ý and
unì are the predicates respectively of the first and
the second clause |
|
Despite these clauses having their own subject and predicates, these
two clauses cannot be stated as the combination of two simple sentences
because the performance of the action referred to it clause two
is depended upon the completion of the action referred to in clause
two is depended upon the completion of the action referred to in
clause one, i.e. ino únì `I will go’ only when
pano z Ýö `he sleeps’. This condition is marked
by the conditional modal marker aye `if’. Even though the
second clause is depended upon the completion of the action referred
to in the first clause, the second clause, viz. ino únì
`I will go’ can occur by itself as an independent simple sentence,
whereas the first clause viz. pano z Ý
aye `if he sleeps’ cannot occur as an independent simple sentence,
rather, it must necessarily occur as part of a larger sentence.
It may, however, be noted that pano zÝö `he sleeps’
is an acceptable utterance in Sema and can occur as a simple sentence
independent of other factors whereas pan zÝö aye is
an acceptable utterance only in marginal cases, for instance, in
reply to a question like : |
| nono
únì kyá
one might reply : |
`will
you go? (lit. you go will what) |
pano
z Ý
aye |
`if
he sleeps’ |
|
|
In the case of such a reply, the second part, viz. ino únì
`I will go’ is implied, i.e. not expressed explicitly.
Therefore in the illustrative example given earlier, ino únì
`I will go’ which has the privilege of occurring independently
is considered as the principal clause and the first clause
viz. pano zÝöaye `if he sleeps’ which cannot
occur as a simple sentence is treated as a subordinate clause. |
| 3.6.1.
Types of clauses and their functions |
It is now possible to sub-divide the clauses in Sema primarily
into two types, viz; principal and subordinate clauses. A
formal definitions of these two types of clauses a along with
a statement of the functions are stated below. |
A
principal clause is defined as that clause or the constituent
of a larger utterance which is not subordinated to any other
clause and which can occur independently as a simple sentence
and conversely a subordinate clause is defined as that clause
of the constituent of a larger utterance which cannot occur
independently as a simple sentence. In other words, a subordinate
clause is one which is subordinate or another clause in the
same sentence. A principal clause in any larger sentence is
identical with a simple sentence. |
The
major function of the clauses is to link together two or more
simple sentences within a larger sentence. This is achieved
by two devices, viz., by coordination and by subordination. |
The
coordination is the linking together of two or more clauses
of equivalent status and function, as in : |
hatoli
i i |
`Hatoli
came’ |
ekili
úwya |
`Ekili
went’ |
hatoli
ii eno ekili
úwya |
`Hatoli
came and Ekili went’ |
|
In
the example given above, both the clauses, viz., hatoli iFi
`Hatoli came’ and ekili úwya `Ekili went’
are two independent sentences having equivalent status and
function and the two independent sentences are usually linked
by the particle eno `and’. The particle eno `and’
may be optionally deleted. This can be represented as : |
 |
eno
± |
|
|
A
subordinate clause has a non-symmetrical relation, holding
between two clauses, viz. A and B in such a way that A is
a constituent or part of B. In other words, A (the subordinate
clause) has no status or privilege of occurrence independent
of B. This relationship can be represented as : |
|
|
The
illustrative exmples of these two types of clauses are as
under : |
nono
iina ii
eno wúwe |
`he
came yesterday and went away’ |
|
