90 Chapter 3 Lexical categories
The sentences in (92) illustrate the subordinating conjunctions mon ‘if’ (92a)
and sopaja ‘so that’ (92b).
(92) a. Mon red-mored dhateng lo' tellat, guru senneng.
if RED-student come not late teacher happy
‘If the students arrive on time, the teacher is happy.’
b. Ali nyare'-e obing sopaja bisa ma-teppa' sapedha motor.
Ali AV.seek-DUR screwdriver so.that can AV.CS-right motorcycle
‘Ali was looking for a screwdriver so that he could fix the motorcycle.’
Subordinate clauses are also introduced by a host of derived forms. Chapters 11
and 12 include a detailed discussion of complex sentences.
2.9 Particles and interjections
As is the case in any language, there is a set of expressions important to conver-
sation that do not fit neatly into any particular lexical categories. Many are ex-
pressions that signal the emotion or state of mind of the speaker. Others are
exhortations, expressions of agreement, and other sundry expressions. The posi-
tive and negative expressions are:
(93) Expressions of positive and negative
iya, ya ‘yes’ used in answering questions as well as for affirmative
emphasis and pausing in extended discourse
yut ‘yes’–alternate form used in the Bangkalan dialect area
ta' ‘not’–a verbal/adjectival negator
lo' ‘not’–dialectal variant of ta' used in the Bangkalan dialect area
enja' ‘no’–used in answering questions
ja' ‘don’t’–used in negative imperatives
ta'iya ‘right?’–combination of ‘no’ and ‘yes’ is used for tag questions
kan ‘right?’–used as a positive emphatic marker and a way for
speaker to check that the hearer is following
While some of these occur in fixed positions in a clause, kan can occur in a
variety of locations, including immediate preverbal position.
(94) Ba'eng kan ngatela' dibi'.
you EMPH AV-see self
‘You can see for yourself, right?’