RGyalrong (Situ)/Grammar

Situ rGyalrong is a polysynthetic language with its parts of speech hard to differentiate, especially under eurocentric grammar categories. It is clear that Jiaomuzu Situ has pronouns. The line between nouns and verbs, however, is rather vague.

Number Marker

There are two basic number-markers/number-affixes in Situ, which are dual marker -ndj and plural marker -nio (or -nii). A number-marker can act as an enclitic of a pronoun. The same morphological change can also be interpreted as adding a suffix to the pronoun and result in a fused pronominal form. Both ways of glossing are shown in Prins' 2016 book on the grammar of Situ rGyalrong. Mumber-markers are wildly used to mark nouns. Enclitics and actual number words are mutually exclusive in marking quantities. Notably that the number categories do not overlap in meaning; this includes the dual marker, the plural marker, and numbers.

Dual Enclitics

• ta<n><prt_n>+ndj<num><du> ↔ detandj 'two books'
• kena<n>+ndj<num><du> ↔ kenandj 'two dogs'
• nde<prn><dem>+ndj<num><du> ↔ ndendj 'those two'

• nenjo<prn><pers><p2><sg> ↔ nenjo 2SG
• nenjo<prn><pers><p2>+ndj<num><du> ↔ nenjondj 2DU

Plural Enclitics

• gashigdeg<n>+nio<num><pl> ↔ gashigdegnio 'brothers'
• jnder<n><prt_n>+nio<num><pl> ↔ dejndernio 'fears'
• kormaŋ<n>+nio<num><pl> ↔ kormaŋnio 'people'

• wujo<prn><pers><p3><sg> ↔ wujo 3SG
• wujo<prn><pers><p3><pers>+nio<num><pl> ↔ wujonio 3DU

Contrast, Indefinite, and Prominence Marker

The contrast marker de only occurs when a speaker wants to convey information about the specific relation of certain objects to their environment. It cannot occur independently.

• wu<prn><pers><sg><gen>+niegju<n>+de<mod> ↔ wuniegjude 'His hatred (in contrast with other qualities)'
• senem<n>+de<mod>+nio<num><pl> ↔ senemdenio 'bSod.nams and his people, in contrast with others)'
• beshnu<n>+de<mod> ↔ beshnude 'today (in contrast with other days)'

The contrast marker can also mark referential in some cases:

• ta<n><prt_n> ↔ deta gesam<num>+de<mod> ↔ gesamde 'The three books'
• rmu<n><prt_n>+de<mod> ↔ dermude 'The person'
• jeʼm<n><prt_n>+de<mod>dejeʼmde ↔ {{{2}}} 'The house'

On the other hand, since there are no nouns that are inherently definite or indefinite, marker gi in sentences can (often) be used to mark indefiniteness. It is derived from numerals kerek and kergi, meaning 'one'. The indefiniteness marker only occurs directly after the constituent it modifies and cannot be placed in the middle of a syntactical unit.

• za<n><prt_n> ↔ deza wu<prn><pers><p3><sg><gen>+vog<n><prt_n> ↔ wevog gdu<v><prt_stat>+gi<det><idf> ↔ gegdugi 'a man with a big belly'

Indefiniteness cannot be marked on non-singular nouns; in certain cases, it is a number marker itself, similar to 'a' in English. A unmarked noun in Situ rGyalrong suggests unspecified number marking, which makes it the most general expression.

• ta<n><prt_n> ↔ deta 'book/books'
• ta<n><prt_n>+gi<det><idf> ↔ detagi 'a book; one book'
• gejoʼ<n> ↔ gejoʼ 'sheep'
• gejoʼ<n>+gi<det><idf> ↔ gejoʼgi 'a sheep; one sheep'

Bare nouns in Situ are also able to carry referential meaning from the context.

• nde<adj><dem><sg> ↔ nde njileg<n> ↔ njilek '(that) the stone'

Therefore, 'gi' is used to introduce a new person or topic or to express the speaker's lack of clarity about a fact.

• nde<adj><dem><sg> ↔ nde njileg<n>+gi<det><idf> ↔ njilekgi '(that) a stone'
• rmu<n><prt_n>+gi<det><idf> ↔ dermugi 'a person'
• magme<n>+gi<det><idf> ↔ magmegi 'a soldier (or something'
• shindehu<n>+gi<det><idf> ↔ shindehugi 'somewhere in Chengdu'

'gi' can even mark quantifiers.

• zji<num> ↔ zji qaʼm<qnt>+gi<det><idf> ↔ qaʼmgi 'about ten'

prominence marker undone

Personal Pronouns

First Person Pronouns

First person pronouns in Situ rGyalrong have unique dual and plural markings, and they are distinguished between inclusive and exclusive. First person pronouns has a special set of dual and plurals.

• ŋa<prn><pers><p1><sg> ↔ ŋa
• zhejo<prn><pers><p1><du><incl> ↔ zhejo
• zheno<prn><pers><p1><du><excl> ↔ zheno
• yijo<prn><pers><p1><pl><incl> ↔ yijo
• yino<prn><pers><p1><pl><excl> ↔ yino

There is also the emphatic first person singular pronoun:

• ŋejo<prn><pers><p1><sg><tn> ↔ ŋejo

Third Person Pronouns

Situ rGyalrong has seven unique expressions of third person, each with nuanced differences semantically. The most commonly used, indigenous third person singular pronoun is wujo.

• wujo<prn><p3><sg><pers> ↔ wujo

Many rGyalrong variations, as well as Jiaomuzu Situ, also borrowed the word for ʼpersonʼ in TIbetan, mi, as a third person pronoun.

• me<prn><p3><sg><pers> ↔ me

Situ rGyalrong has a condescending, despective, or humilific pronoun. It is usually used when the speaker wants to distinguish himself positively form the referred third person. A <emph> contrast marker can form enclitic with the pronoun the emphesize it. It is also sometimes used to refer to a child.

• wuna<prn><p3><sg><pers><desp> ↔ wuna
• wuna<prn><p3><sg><pers><desp><emph> ↔ wunade

gereg, derived from the numeral work for 'one', gereg, can be used to refer a third person that is out of the normal scope--for example, when the person is out of the speaker's sight. In such circumstances, the pronoun hosts the enclitic, gi, who marks indefinite.

• gereg<prn><p3><sg><pers><obv>+gi<det><idf> ↔ gereggi

The form expressing the most intimate relationship is Yargo. Yargo is rooted from the word dargobso, meaning ʼfriendʼ, and marked with first person plural marker y. Yargo is also preferred in storytelling.

• yargo<prn><p3><sg><pers><intm> ↔ yargo

Finally, zheʼ and nde are pronouns for non-personal objects. Generally, zheʼ means 'this', and nde means 'that'.

• zheʼ<prn><dem><p3><sg> ↔ zheʼ
• nde<prn><dem><p3><sg> ↔ nde

zheʼ and nde can also be in the adjectival position.

• zheʼ<adj><dem><sg> ↔ zheʼ 'This'
• nde<adj><dem><sg> ↔ nde 'That'

Person		singular <sg>	singular pronominal prefix <sg> <gen>	singular suffix	singular honor suffix	dual <du>	dual pronominal prefix <du> <gen>	dual suffix	plural <pl>	plural pronominal prefix <pl> <gen>	plural suffix
<pers> <p1>	inclusive <incl>					zhejo	zh-	-dj	yijo, yiji	y-	-y
	exclusive <excl>	ŋa	ŋ-	-ŋ	-yn	zheno			yino, yini
	emphatic <tn>	ŋejo
<pers> <p2>		nenjo	n-	-n, -w	-yn	nenjo=ndj	(nenjo)ndj-	-ndj	nenjo=nio, nenji=nio	ni-	-yn
						ndje=njo			niin=jo
						enii=ndj
<pers> <p3>	Original with reflexivity	wujo	w-	-w		wujo=ndj	wujondj-	-ndj	wujo=nio,wuji=nio	wujini-	-yn
	Loaned without reflexivity	me				me=ndj			me=nio
	Despective or humilific <desp>	wuna				wuna=ndj			wuna=nio
	Unfamiliar with referent / outside normal frame / between in-group and out-group <obv>	kerek				kerek=ndj			kerek=nio
	Intimate / story telling <intm>	jargo				jargo=ndj			jargo=nio
<dem> <p3>		zheʼ				zheʼ=ndj			zheʼ=nio
		nde				nde=ndj			nde=nio

There exists a much more complicated underlying pronoun system that each phoneme represents certain meaning. The underlying system can explain grammatical phenomena, such as the different pronoun choice for intransitive and transitive verbs, and nuanced phonological decisions like the drop of certain vowel in certain circumstances. Due to its complicity, this part will be left with ambiguity until such ambiguity starts affecting the result of language computation.

Nouns and Noun Phrases

"" In Jiaomuzu Situ, there are four nominal prefixes: "da-", "de-", "k-", and "g-". Nouns can exist without prefixes or with one of the nominal prefixes. For noun roots prefixed with "da-" and "de-", when forming genitives, the consonant /t/ would be replaced with the consonants from the pronominal prefix. Therefore, in the tag system, we consider "k-" and "g-" part of the noun roots and the prefixation of "da-" and "de-" productive, tagged as <prt_n>. Based on the Prins' book we refer to, there are no phonological constraints found for the distribution for "da-" and "de-", but there are indeed inherent semantic difference. The specific distribution of "da-" and "de-" might need to be hard-coded.

• wo<n><prt_n> ↔ dawo 'head'
• rmoʼg<n><prt_n> ↔ darmoʼg 'thunder'
• ba<n><prt_n> ↔ daba 'father'
• ndog<n><prt_n> ↔ dendog 'beak'
• rnog<n><prt_n> ↔ dernog 'brains'
• rshba<n><prt_n> ↔ dershba 'axe'

"k-" and "g-" are often used with animals. Some nouns, as well as numerous nouns have no prefix at all:

• korog<n> ↔ korog 'ant'
• kena<n> ↔ kena 'dog (a loan word from Tibetan that has a prefix)
• gewas<n> ↔ gewas 'fly'
• gembuʼ<n> ↔ gembuʼ 'calf'
• bazhu<n> ↔ bazhu 'bird'
• zndi<n> ↔ zndi 'stone wall'

Some words can occur with or without prefix. Most loan words from Chinese and Tibetan do not have prefix, but there are exceptions:

• koŋmbe<n> ↔ koŋmbe 'viscera'
• koŋmbe<n><prt_n> ↔ dekoŋmbe 'viscera'
• rŋamoŋ<n> ↔ rŋamoŋ 'camel (from "rnga-mong")
• rgammbe<n> ↔ rgammbe 'box (from "sgam")'
• jag<n><prt_n> ↔ dejag 'time (from "zhag")'
• tshaʼ<n> ↔ tshaʼ 'tea (from "chá")'
• <n> ↔ hajdsoʼ 'chili pepper (from "làjiāo")'

Genitives

Pronominal markings are employed to form genitives. The first term in a genitives is the possessor while the second term, the noun on which the head marking appears, is the head and the possessed.

• mendoʼg<n> ↔ mendoʼg 'flower'

• ŋa<prn><p1><sg><gen>+mendoʼg<n> ↔ ŋamendoʼg 'my flower'
• ne<prn><p2><sg><gen>+mendoʼg<n> ↔ nemendoʼg 'your flower'
• wu<prn><p3><sg><gen>+mendoʼg<n> ↔ wumendoʼg 'his/her flower'
• zhe<prn><p1><du><gen>+mendoʼg<n> ↔ zhemendoʼg 'our flower'
• ndj<prn><p2><du><gen>+mendoʼg<n> ↔ ndjemendoʼg 'your flower'

here an extra /ə/ is added after the pronominal prefix

• wujondj<prn><p3><du><gen>+mendoʼg<n> ↔ wujondjemendoʼg 'their flower'

here too

• yi<prn><p1><pl><gen>+mendoʼg<n> ↔ yimendoʼg 'our flower'
• nii<prn><p2><pl><gen>+mendoʼg<n> ↔ niimendoʼg 'your flower'
• wujinii<prn><p3><pl><gen>+mendoʼg<n> ↔ wujiniimendoʼg 'their flower'

For nouns prefixed with "da-" and "de-", it is more complicated:

• sgruʼ<n><prt_n> ↔ desgruʼ 'body'

• ŋa<prn><p1><sg><gen>+sgruʼ<n><prt_n> ↔ ŋesgruʼ 'my body'
• ne<prn><p2><sg><gen>+sgruʼ<n><prt_n> ↔ nesgruʼ 'your body'
• wu<prn><p3><sg><gen>+sgruʼ<n><prt_n> ↔ wesgruʼ 'his/her body'
• zhe<prn><p1><du><gen>+sgruʼ<n><prt_n> ↔ zhesgruʼ 'our body'
• ndj<prn><p2><du><gen>+sgruʼ<n><prt_n> ↔ ndjesgruʼ 'your body'
• wujondj<prn><p3><du><gen>+sgruʼ<n><prt_n> ↔ wujondjesgruʼ 'their body'
• yi<prn><p1><pl><gen>+sgruʼ<n><prt_n> ↔ yesgruʼ 'our body'
• nii<prn><p2><pl><gen>+sgruʼ<n><prt_n> ↔ niesgruʼ 'your body'
• wujinii<prn><p3><pl><gen>+sgruʼ<n><prt_n> ↔ wujiniesgruʼ 'their body'

Verbs and Verb Phrases

Nominalisation of Verbs

Nominalisation processes are common and exceedingly productive in Jiaomuzu Situ rGyalrong. Verbs consist of an infinitive marker ga- or ge and a verb stem. Most stative verbs have ge- as their infinitive prefix, while most dynamic verbs are prefixed by ga-. Compound verbs are common, consisting of a noun and one of a handful of compounding verbs.

• nefaŋnbyen<v><prt_stat> ↔ genefaŋnbyen 'convenient'
• jnder<v><prt_stat> ↔ gejnder 'scared'
• jnder<v><prt_dyn> ↔ gajnder 'fear'

Verbs can be derived from nouns by replacing the nominal prefixes with 'ga' or 'ge', but the process is rather derivational.

Make sure you're not including derivational forms here. -JNW

Compound verbs can be, on the other hand, productively, formed with a light verb and a noun:

• jenhwa<n>+leʼd<v><prt_dyn> ↔ jenhwagaleʼd 'make a phone call'
• bobo<n>+va<v><prt_dyn> ↔ bobogava 'kiss'
• rngaʼ<n><prt_n>+va<v><prt_dyn> ↔ darngaʼgava 'dance'
• ta<n><prt_n>+va<v><prt_dyn> ↔ detagava 'read, study'

Frequently there is a compound form as well as a heavy verb form expressing the same meaning. The heavy verb is basically a noun prefixed with process verb marker ga- and often a voice marker:

• va<v><prt_dyn>+rngaʼ<n> ↔ ganerngaʼ 'dance'
• leʼt<v><prt_dyn>+scog<n> ↔ garascok 'write (lit. hit letter)'
• va<v><prt_dyn>+loser<n> ↔ ganeloser 'celebrate New Year'

I don't understand this. Why is there an infinitive of a noun? What is a heavy verb, and where is it in the example? Also, are you sure this isn't derivational? -JNW Yes the productivity of this part is questionable -LYX

Wei (1993: 31) and Jacques (2008) mention another nominalisation marker, de-, which turns verbs into nominals with the meaning 'the act of …'. This can also be understood as the equivalent of the commonly existing nominal prefix "de-". Therefore, they are all tagged as <prt_n>

• shmo<v><prt_d kyn> ↔ gashmo 'steal'
• shmo<v><prt_n> ↔ deshmo 'the act of stealing'
• ŋa<prn><pers><p1><sg><gen>+shmo<v><prt_n> ↔ ŋeshmo 'the stealing of my property'

Here, the question is weather the stem "shmo" should be tagged as a noun or a verb.

Verb stems nominolised by ga- can also form genitives:

• w<prn><pers><p3><sg><gen>+nempshu<v><prt_dyn> ↔ wuganempshu 'his acquaintance'

Lastly, the nominaliser sa- is an oblique marker, deriving nouns that denote place or instrument of the corresponding verbs.

Tense ad Aspect

Jiaomuzu Situ has both tense and aspect; tense and aspect markers share one slot in the verb phrase. It distinguishes between universal tense, absolute tense and relative tense. Aspect marking occurs on the verb for past progress with marker na-, while past imperfective is marked by do-. Present imperfective has ge- for first and second person, with ŋa- for third. Terminative aspect is marked by medo- and mada-. A special case is marking for impending action or prospective aspect with viewpoint marker ve-.

The Jiaomuzu dialects have regular as well as irregular verbs. Regular verbs display the same stem whatever the marking for tense, aspect and mood. Irregular verbs have more than one stem. For Jiaomuzu dialect there are three stems found; an irregular verb uses at most two distinct stems, either Stem 1 and Stem 2 or Stem 1 and Stem 3. Stem 1 appears in non-past situations, which is normally the stem that appears in the citation form of the verb. For example, Stem 1 of the verb galeʼt, 'hit' is -leʼt; for the verb gavi, 'come', is -vi. Many verbs have a different form that occurs in past tense situations, Stem 2. Often verbs distinguish between Stem 1 and Stem 2 by means of an alternation of glottal stops. If Stem 1 has a glottal stop, Stem 2 does not and vice versa. A verb in this category is gasriʼ, 'bind'. The prefix ge- in the tense marker for the past tense forms:

Suffix marking is derived from the personal pronouns and contains mainly, though not exclusively, information on number. Prefixes marking person are to a large extent fused, and they contain information on the relationship between subject and object as well as on person hierarchy. The Jiaomuzu animacy hierarchy is as follows: 1 > 2 > 3 human > 3 animate > 3 inanimate

For orientation marking, Jiaomuzu Situ uses three contrasting sets of directions, vertically up and down, up and down river, and towards the mountain or towards the river.

Evidentiality can also be marked in Jiaomuzu Situ. The neutral situation, in which the speaker is an eye witness to the action or event, goes unmarked. Information that is not first-hand knowledge is marked by a-. The second instance of evidentiality is marked by na, which marks knowledge or information acquired by the speaker through personal experience though not necessarily by being an eyewitness to a certain situation. This observation marker is versatile; it signals reliability based on an outside authority.

The viewpoint is marked by shi- and ve-. They indicate the direction in space in which a person or object is moving at the time of an action, from the perspective of the speaker.

Jiaomuzu Situ marks voice in the narrow sense of the word by prefixing ŋo- to the verb stem, forming passives. Reciprocity is marked by ŋa- or wa-, usually in combination with a reduplicated stem. Canonical reflexivity is marked by mbja- while ne marks emphatic reflexivity as well as autobenefactive.

Causality markers sa-/se- and sha-/she- mark indirect causativity, while ra-re- and va-/ve- mark direct causatives.

Volition is marked by me-. The markers na- and ne- form applicatives by adding objects. The impersonalising marker ŋa- signals the defocusing of the causal participant of an event.

Jiaomuzu Situ, finally, has mood as one of their essential marking elements. Mood includes negation, interrogative marking, different kinds of imperatives, real conditionals and a variety of irrealis constructions.

• Negation uses ma- for imperfective situations, ji in perfective frames and me- for prohibitives. Polar questions are formed by prefixing a verb with me-.

Verbs can be derived from nouns or from other verbs, often with the help of voice markers which are inserted before the verb stem.