Aspectual -an, -e, reduplication 265
(54) Rudi moger-ri ka’-bungka’an dhu jam.
Rudi AV.chop-DUR RED-tree two hour
‘Rudi cut down trees for 2 hours.’
The iterative suffix -an indicates multiple unbounded events. The event
which is iterated is often interpreted as frequently happening or habitual, as in
(55b) and (56b).
(55) a. Soleha noles sorat dha' Rohima.
Soleha AV.write letter to Rohima
‘Soleha wrote a letter to Rohima.’
b. Soleha noles-an sorat dha' Rohima.
Soleha AV.write- IT letter to Rohima
‘Soleha frequently writes letters to Rohima.’ (or at least wrote more
than one)
(56) a. Burus juwa ngekke' Ahmad.
dog that AV.-bite Ahmad
‘That dog bit Ahmad.’
b. Burus juwa ngekke'-an Ahmad.
dog that AV.-bite- IT Ahmad
‘That dog often bites Ahmad.’
When a time frame for the action is specified, it is not the case that the speaker
asserts that the activity lasted the whole time.
As described in Chapter 5, multiple events can also be indicated by redup-
lication of the predicate, as in (57) and (58).
(57) Fatima a-rem-kerem buku ka ale'-na.
Fatima AV-RED-send book to yngr.sibling-DEF
‘Fatima sends books to her little sister.’
(58) Amir kol-nokol ng-angguy kaju.
Amir RED-AV.hammer AV-use wood
‘Amir hammers using a stick.’
Habitual iteration can also be indicated by reduplication (59), sometimes in
combination with a verb such as dujan ‘like’ or kadi ‘like’ (60).