4. SYNTAX
he his shirt stitch-prog is
He (i) is stitching his (j) shirt.
- vah (i) ]nako (j) baccao pZ,a rha hO.
vah (i) unke (j) bacce parha: raha: h ́.
he their children teach-prog is
He(i) is teaching their (j) children.
Similar to nominative and ergative subjects, the dative subject also
controls the possessive reflexive Apnaa apna:. The possessive
structure also permits reduplicated reflexives.
- vao Apnaa Apnaa kama kr rho hOM.
ve apna: apna: ka:m kar rahe h ́~.
they refl work do-prog are
They are doing their respective jobs.
The scope of reflexivity is usually restricted to the clause in which it
is used.
- maaohna nao kha ik vah /Apnao Aap samaya pr Aaegaa.
mohan ne kaha: ki vah/apne a:p samay par a:yega:.
Mohan-erg said that he/*refl time at come-fut
Mohan (i) said that he (i) would come on time. - maaohna nao pUCa ik ]sakI/ApnaI p%naI kba AaegaI.
mohan ne pu:cha: ki uski:/apni: patni: kab a:yegi:.
Mohan-erg asked that his/*refl wife when come-fut
Mohan (i) asked when his (i) wife would come.
Sentences (20) and (21) show that reflexivization does not go down
into subordinate clauses. Notice that reflexivization does not always
meet clausemate constraint, as shown in (22).
- Aimat maaohna kao Apnaa Sa~u maanata hO.
amit mohan ko apna: šatru: ma:nta: h ́.
Amit Mohan-dat refl enemy consider-ptc is
Amit (i) considers Mohan (j) his (i,j) enemy.