164 Chapter 6 Clause types
5. Exclamatory clauses
Exclamatory interjections can be used with most simple clauses indicating the
speaker’s sense of surprise, pleasure, distress, realization, and so on. These are
interjections such as adhu, wa', lo', and others. In most cases, the interjection
introduces the clause.
(84) Wa' neng settong kennengngan joh pas ce' senad-da!
oh at one place EMPH then very clear-DEF
‘Oh, but at that one spot, it is so bright!’
(85) Lo' gagaman me' ce' sakte-na!
EXCL knife EMPH very sakti-DEF
‘Oh, this weapon is filled with magic power!’
(86) Keyae Bato Ampar takerjat, “Adhu, baji' se dhalem tabu'-eng
Kiai Bato Ampar surprised oh baby REL inside stomach-DEF
ba'eng jiya, Nyae, se a-jawab!”
you this nyae REL AV-answer
‘Kiai Bato Ampar was surprised, “Oh, Nyae, the baby inside you is the
one who answered!”’
(87) Adhu, mella' mata kaula ano, Ka' mas! Bisa ngatela' pole neka!
oh AV.open.eye eye I do elder brother can AV.see again this
‘Oh, I can see, Husband! I can see again!’
The exclamatory interjections begin each of the relevant clauses in these exam-
ples, and other emphatic particles joh and me' also occur in (84) and me' occurs
again in (85). In (84) and (85) the intensive construction with ce' ‘very’ also
occurs. In (87), which uses one of the higher speech levels, the subject inverts
with the verb and its object, mella' mata ‘open eyes’. These two properties
combine in a special exclamatory construction in which the subject follows the
intensive structure, (88-90).
(88) Ce' raddin-na Ita!
very beautiful-DEF Ita
‘How beautiful Ita is!’
(89) Ce' nyaman-na nase' jiya!
very delicious-DEF rice this
‘How delicious this rice is!’