Complex locative expressions 241
(86) Ali a-careta ka sengko' bab Sampang.
Ali AV-story to me about Sampang
‘Ali told me about Sampang.’
The use of sabab as a preposition parallels that parkara and hal. Sabab is also
used as subordinating conjunction, as described in Chapter 12 section 3.2.
2.8 sabellunna ‘before’, sa'ellana ‘after’, samarena ‘after’
The temporal expressions ‘before’ and ‘after’ are complex forms in Madurese.
Each is composed of sa ‘one’ + root + na ‘DEF’: sabellunna ‘before’ is based on
the root bellun ‘not yet’, sa'ellana ‘after’ is based on the root ella ‘already’
(perfective), and samarena (and its variant samare) is based on the root mare
‘finish’. As will be shown in Chapter 9, bellun, ella, and mare are all preverbal
auxiliary-type elements that mark aspect. Examples of their prepositional use
are in (87-90).
(87) Nyo'on tolong dhateng sabellunna pokol ballu'.
AV.request help come before 8 o’clock
‘Please arrive before 8 o’clock.’
(88) Sabellunna taon 2001, a-jalan-an dha' Amerika lebbi gampang.
before year 2001 AV-travel-IT to America more easy
‘Before 2001, traveling to America was easier.’
(89) Aba'eng dhateng sa'ellana ngakan malem.
he come after dinner
‘He arrived after dinner.’
(90) Samarena pa-mele-yan, ekonomi sajan becce.'
after NOM-choose economy more good
‘After the elections, the economy improved.’
As is true of many other prepositions, sabellunna, sa'ellana, and samare-
na can take clausal complements and thus function as subordinating conjunc-
tions. This use is detailed in Chapter 12.
3. Complex locative expressions
As is true of Indonesian, Javanese, and the other Indonesian-type languages,
Madurese contains a set of locative nouns which combine with the basic loca-