| in
Sema take the oblique forms. The genitive function of a possessive
pronoun differs from the other case functions of the pronouns in that
a possessive pronoun is functionally a determiner in a determiner-determined
construction, as in : |
| ipu |
`my
father’ |
| lipu |
`her
father’ |
| iu |
`my
hand’ |
| pau |
`his
hand’ etc. |
|
|
| In
the pronominal function of a possessive pronoun, the co-referential
item that is replaced may be in the same clause or in a neighbouring
one, as in : |
ekili
eno lic
iFiwya |
`Ekili
and her dog came’ |
| ekili
acö lakhģ anģ, lic
tile anģ |
`Ekili
has a dog, her dog is there’ |
| ekili
acö lakhģ anģ, tipaw lic |
`Ekili
has a dog, that (is) her dog’ etc. |
|
|
| (4)
Relative pronouns |
| The
relative pronouns connect the relative clause to the principal clause.
In other words, the relative pronouns introduce relative clauses post
modifying nominal heads, i.e., co-referential with the head noun.
Sema does not have relative pronouns, rather it has a single particle
kew `who’ that relates both the animate and inanimate beings class
of nouns, as in : |
| (i) |
lino
axatģ iFiq
kew kicelu |
`she
collected the fruit’ that has fallen |
| |
1
2 3 4
5 |
1 5 2
4 3 |
| (ii) |
niye
a a
lakhģ ka kew ithulu |
`I
saw a child who was crying |
| |
1 2 3
4 5 6 |
1 6 3
2 4 5 |
| (iii) |
niye
aa
aka kew lakhģ ithulu |
`I
saw a crying child’ |
| |
1 2 3
4 5 6 |
1 6 5 3 4
2 |
|
|
| In
the sentence (iii) a´a akakew lakhģ `a crying child’ is an endocentric
noun phrase with a´a `child’ as the nucleus, hence the sentence is
identical to : |
| niye
aa
lakhģ ithulu |
`I
saw a child’ |
|
|
| While
in the sentence (ii) kakew is not part of the NP a´a lakhģ, rather
it forms a subordinate clause in itself, though both sentences have
the same form of the participial form of the verb. And the sentence
(i) may mean both `she collected fruit that has fallen’ and also `she
has collected the fallen fruit’. Therefore it is pertinent to note
here that there is no difference in the participial form of the verb
and the form of the verb available in the relative clause. The two
types of constructions, are differentiated on the basis of the position
of the numeral lakhi `one’ |
| Another
point that needs to be noted is that in Sema the interrogative pronoun
khś `who’ is different from the relative pronoun kew `who’ and as
far as the relative particles in Sema are concerned, there is no distinction
between personal relative particles like `who/whom’ and non personal
ones like `which’. The same form is used for both. |
| (5)
Interrogative pronouns |
| The
interrogative pronouns also have both nominal and attributive function,
as in: |
| (a)
Nominal - |
| khu
śwe kyį? |
`who
went’? |
| khś
no iFi kyį? |
`who
came’? |
| khś
asi cśwya kyį? |
`who
ate the meat’? |
|
|
| A
point to be noted here is that in addition to the interrogative word,
the interrogative sentences are usually marked by a sentence final
particle like kyį, ma etc. as in : |
| noye
hipaw silu nanģ ma? |
`can
you do it’? |
| khś
śwe kyį? |
`who
went’? |
|
|
| The
basis of selection of one particle or the other would be discussed
in detail in the section on `interrogation’. |
| (b)
Attributive - |
| khś
pu |
`whose
father’? |
| khś
khursi |
`whose
horse?’ etc. |
|
|
| (6)
Demonstrative pronouns |
| Like
the possessive pronouns and the nouns the demonstrative pronouns also
have both the determiner and nominal function. In both these functions
they show opposition in number by taking the plural marker qó. They
also take the focus marker ye as in : |
| hiye
ac
lakhģ |
`this
is a dog’ |
| apu
tķpanaqó akinipo |
`that
boy (is) deaf’ |
|
|
