| |
expresses
the state of foolishness on the part of some one to
have done certain thing |
icà |
`oh
yes’ it expresses 100% agreement of what the
other has said or done |
i
chalè |
roughly
equivalent tot he Hindi expression ja! ja! it expresses
the indifference of the listener to what the other
says |
a elepi |
expresses
a pleasant memory when a III person is referred to
in conversation. |
|
|
The
major type of sentences can be sub-divided into three, viz.
simple, complex and compound, for instance : |
| 1. |
ino únì |
`I
will go’ |
| 2. |
pano
z aye ino únì |
`I
will go if he sleeps’ |
| 3. |
hatoli
zwe eno ekili
úwya |
`Hatoli
slept and Ekili went’ |
|
In the illustrative examples given above, the sentence I consists
of a single clause, while sentences 2 and 3 consist of two
clauses each. Between sentences 2 and 3 both of which have
two clauses, the sentence 2 consists of a principal clause
and a subordinate clause and the sentence 3 consists of two
principal clauses connected by a particle. The sentences 1,
2 and 3 are instances respectively of simple, complex and
compound sentences. From this it could be stated that the
criteria for sub-dividing the major type of sentences is the
number of clauses each sentence has and the type of relationship
the clauses within a sentences has amongst themselves. On
the basis of these criteria, the three types of sentences
can be formally defined as : |
| 1. |
Simple
sentence : Any sentence having a principal clause alone
is a simple sentence in Sema. |
| 2. |
Complex
sentence : Any sentence having two clauses of which
one is a principal clause and the other is a subordinate
clause is a complex sentence in Sema, though sometimes
the subordinate clause is not overtly expressed. |
| 3. |
Compound
sentence : Any sentence having two or more clauses of
which at least two are principal clauses is a compound
sentence in Sema. |
|
Having defined the type of sentences occurring in Sema, it
is proposed to discuss the components within each type of
sentences. |
Simple sentence |
| A
simple sentence in Sema would normally have a subject and
a predicate but one type of simple sentence would not have
a predicate. Thus a simple sentence in Sema can be sub-grouped
primarily into two sub-classes, viz., those having a predicate
and those not having a predicate, as in : |
| (i) |
pa
ipu |
`he
(is) my father’ |
| (ii) |
pa
úwe |
`he
went’ |
|
Of
the two types, the ones that do not have a predicate consists
of NP1 NP2 of which the NP2
could either be a NP including a noun as its sole realization
or an adjective phrase including an adjective as its sole
realization, as in : |
hiye
acqó
|
`these
are dogs’ |
1
2 3 4 |
(lit.
this (focus marker) dog (plural)
1 2 3 3 |
ikìye
kize |
`my
house (is) big’ |
|
Since
the NP1 and the NP2 of sentences of this type refer to the
same person/object, and since the NP1 indentifies the NP2,
sentences of this type are designated as equative sentences. |
The other type of simple sentences, viz. the simple sentences
having a predicate can in the first instance be sub-divided
into two, viz. (i) the ones having a VP with a locative verb
as its head and (ii) the ones having a VP with a principal
verb as its head, as in : |
| (i) |
iwu kakuqó hile anì kini
niye ikì kize anì |
`my
books are here’
`I have two big houses’ etc. |
| (ii) |
ipu úwe
ino pa ithulu anì |
`my
father went’
`I am seeing him’ etc. |
|
A brief discussion of both these two sub-divisions of sentences
having a predicate follows. |
It
was seen in the previous section (3.6.4.) that the VP with
a locative verb as its head has two different types of structure,
viz., NP + adv. + 1v and adv. +1v. Of these, the former is
invariably a discontinuous unit whereas the latter is usually
a continuous unit, but could occur as a discontinuous unit,
as in : |
| (a) |
niye
ikì kize kini anì |
`I
have two big houses’ |
| (b) |
iwu kaku hile ani |
`my
books are here’ |
| (c) |
hile
iwu kaku anì |
`here
is my book’ |
|
