178 R. M. W. Dixon
clause. At an earlier stage, there was dependent-marking (involving an accusative
suffix on an NP) but this has been lost from modern Jarawara.
§§1-4 briefly review clause structure, predicate structure, the open word classes,
and NP structure, leading up to §5, which deals with the small class of adjectives.
1. Clause structure
The predicate may, optionally, be preceded by NPs referring to core arguments.
At the beginning and end of the clause there maybe peripheral NPs, subordinate
clauses, temporal and other elements.
There are three types of clause:
(a) An intransitive clause, with one core argument, in S function. This is realized
by a pronominal element within the predicate and, optionally, by an NP before
the predicate.
(b) A transitive clause, with two core arguments, in A and O function. There are
two sub-types of transitive clause which we call the A-construction and the
O-construction. The A-construction has its A argument as pivot, this being
coreferential with an argument in clauses which immediately precede and/or
immediately follow in the discourse. For an O-construction the O argument
is pivot, with similar discourse links.
The two sub-types have O and A arguments specified, in the same way,
within the predicate; each can optionally be expanded by NPs before the pred-
icate. If two NPs are included (which happens relatively rarely), that in A func-
tion tends to come first in an A-construction and that in O function first in an
O-construction. However, these are simply preferences; nothing concerning
the function of an NP can with confidence be inferred from its positioning.
The grammatical differences between these two construction types are given
in Dixon (20003, 20043).
(c) A copula clause, with one obligatory argument, in copula subject (CS) func-
tion, and an optional argument in copula complement (CC) function. Like S,
A, and O, the CS argument is obligatorily expressed by a pronominal elem-
ent within the predicate, optionally augmented by an NP before the predicate.
The CC argument is expressed just by an NP, which will normally immediate-
ly precede the predicate; see (14-15), (25-7), (29), and (31-3).
The head of an NP is generally a noun, but can be a complement clause (which
may then be modified by an adjective, as in (17) below). Consider the intransitive
verb hawa (to-)ha- 'be finished'. This can take a straightforward NP in S function,
asjobe 'house' in (i). In the examples we use '[...]' to enclose an NP,'{...}' to en-
close the predicate, and '{...}' to enclose a complement clause.