Combining clauses in Taba

John BowdenJakarta Field Station

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Taba – some background

• South Halmahera West New Guinea language– Closest relations in Indonesia to Oceanic group

• 40,000 or so speakers language still quite vibrant

• AVO language with very little interest in grammatical ‘control’

• Mixed split-S / accusative system

Tightness of bonding• Clauses joined in looser or tighter ways

- Paratactic sequences of clauses (loose bond)(1) Lhan appo Gitan, lyoadaerahl=han ap-po Gitan l=yoadaerah3pl=go ALL-down Gitan 3pl=search area

amanamansafe‘They went down to Gitan, they were looking for somewhere safe.’

–Complement clause (tight bond)(2) Ni suka nonkapayani suka n=onkapaya3sg.POSS desire 3sg=eat papaya‘He likes to eat pawpaw.’

Structure of talk

• Parataxis• ‘Co-ordinating’ conjunctions• ‘Subordinating’ conjunctions• Complement clauses• Relativisation• Iconicity in multiclausal constructions• ‘Discourse connectors’

Parataxis

• No overtly semantic relationship between clauses signalled by any specific conjunctions but a variety of different implicatures occur. Some of the most common examples include:

• Temporal relations• Causal relations• Conditional readings• ‘Clause chaining’

Temporal sequence in parataxis(3) Amul am lama Taba,

a=mul am la-ma Taba1pl.excl=return 1pl.excl sea-VEN Makian ayol sagala

a=yol sagala1pl.excl=fetch stuff‘We returned from seawards (i.e. Moti island) to Makian and we

fetched stuff.’

(3) Nwom nidi umli tesu,n=wom ni-di umli te-su3sg=come POSS-3pl house LOC NEG-POT

taplod haso nakta-plod ha=so nak DETR-erupt CLASS=one again‘He hadn’t yet arrived at their house when it erupted once again.’

Causality in parataxis(5) Ktala yotas tesu, kpe tesu.

k=tala yotas te-su k=pe te-su1sg=find thatch NEG-POT 1sg=make NEG-POT‘But I haven't found any thatch yet, so I haven't made it yet.’

(6) Di suka lpili mon maleo, mtagaldi suka l=pili mon maleo m=tagal3pl.POSS desire3pl=choose husband other 2sg=perch

mta’atm=ta’at2sg=be.obedient

‘They want to choose a different man, you remain obedient.’

Conditional readings

(7) Masyarakat masure, ncolmasyarakat masure n=solpeople be.good 3sg=be.wrong

lmaka haluso l=maka ha-lusa-o3pl=RECIP CAUS-say-APPL

‘If people are good, when something is wrong, they will tell each other.’ / ‘Because people are good, when something is wrong they will tell each other.’

Clause chaining(8) Yol sagala okik, saplik

yol sagala okik sapil-Vkfetch stuff be.finished board-APPL

okik, si lhan, yak e ktongookik si l=han yak e k=tongobe.finished 3pl 3pl=go 1sg FOC 1sg=stay

anea-neDEM-PROX‘Fetching stuff finished, stowing it on board finished, they go, as for me, I stay here.’

‘Co-ordinating’ conjunctions

• lo ‘and’• ada ‘and’• ma / mai / me ‘but’• pa ‘or’• malai ‘then’• turus ‘then straight away’• tapi ‘but’

lo ‘and’(9) Lhan appo dumik lo wang gulo myasi lo

l=han ap-po dumik lo wang gulo myasi lo3pl=go ALL-down be.complete and child baby small

andmamatuosi lhan dumikmamatuo=si l=han dumikold.people=PL 3pl=go be.complete

‘They went down and babies, children and old people all went.’

•Similar pragmatic readings available as with parataxis(10) Mina namtat lo nayok

Mina n=ha-mtat lo n=ha-yokMina 3sg=CAUS-fall and 3sg=CAUS-cry‘Mina fell over and cried.’

ada ‘and’(11) Indadimu lomo lmul ne ada

indadi-mu lomo l=mul ne adaso-then other 3pl=return PROX and

latala hu l=ha-tala hu3pl=CAUS-meetCONT‘So some have come back now and they met up with each

other again.’

(11) Similarities and differences between lo and ada(11)Both can be used to conjoin either clauses or NPs (like English ‘and’)

but lo more common with NPs and ada more common with clauses(12)Similar pragmatic readings available with the use of both

conjunctions

ma / mai / me ‘but’

• The forms seem to be in free variation(12) Lhan me lalusa

lhan tel=han me l=ha-lusa

l=han te3pl=go but 3pl=CAUS-say 3pl=goNEG

‘They went but they said they didn't go.’

pa ‘or’

• Like lo and ada can be used to conjoin both NPs and clauses

(13) Ntongo Keten pa ntongo Tarnate?n=tongo Keten pa n=tongo

Tarnate3sg=live Moti or 3sg=live Ternate‘She either lives on Moti or she lives in Ternate.’

malai ‘then’• (14) Lmaka yoa, malai lmaka tala,

l=maka yoa malai l=maka tala3pl=RECIP search then 3pl=RECIP meet

lmaka buak malai layokl=maka buak malai l=ayok3pl=RECIP hug then 3pl=cry

‘They looked for each other then they met up; they hugged each other then they cried.’

turus ‘then straight away’ and tapi ‘but’

• turus ‘then straight away’(15) Ulan kwat turus ni kihis

ulan kwat turus ni kihisrain EMPH then 3sg.POSS flood

ncopangn=sopang3sg=descend‘There was strong rain and straight away a flood

descended.’

• tapi ‘but’

(16) Tasakal tapi lloci teta-sakal tapi lloci teDETR-smash but a.lot NEG‘Stuff was smashed up but not a lot.’

‘Subordinating’ conjunctions

• de ‘in order that / so that’• polo ‘if / when’• tutik(ma) ‘until’• ndadi ‘so’• karna ‘because’• sabab ‘because’

de ‘in order that’(17) Ktoban hadala de kadala.

k=toban ha-dala de k=ha-dala1sg=wait CAUS-breakfast(breakfast) RES 1sg=CAUS-breakfast‘I wait for breakfast (to be ready) so I can eat breakfast.’

(18) Direct reported speech

Nculak wangsi hmul akle!n=sul-ak wang=si h=mul ak-le3sg=order-APPL child=PL 2pl=return ALL-land‘He told the children “Go home!”.’

(19) Indirect reported speech (de as complementiser)

Nculak wangsi de lmul aklen=sul-ak wang=si de l=mul ak-le3sg=order-APPL child=PL RES 3pl=return ALL-land‘He told the children to go home.’

polo ‘if / when’(20) Ine polo tpe tadia, ni sso tapa

i-ne polo t=pe ta-dia ni sso tapaDEM-PROX if 1pl.incl=make SIM-REM POSS name

thatchThis, if we make it like this, it’s called ‘tapa’ (thatch).’

•Direct reported speech

Yak kkutani ‘mhan appo pa te?yakk=kutan i m=han ap-po pa te1sg1sg=ask 3sg2sg=go ALL-down or NEG‘I asked him “are you going down (to Ternate) or not?”.’•Indirect reported speech

Yak kkutani polo nhan appo pa teyakk=kutan i polo n=han ap-po pa te1sg1sg=ask 3sgif 3sg=go ALL-down or NEG‘I asked him whether he was going down (to Ternate) or not.’

tutik(ma) ‘until’ and ndadi ‘so’(23) Ngan ngan nlah nlah,

ngan ngan n=lah n=lahday day 3sg=grow 3sg=grow

tutikma llocisi tutikma lloci=siuntil many=PL‘Day by day it grew and it grew, until there were a lot of people.’

(24) Ni reng tadopas ndadi nini reng ta-dopas ndadi ni3sg.POSS seal DETR-perish so 3sg.POSS

ol ncopalik.ol n=sopal-ik

oil 3sg=grow.out-APPL‘Its seal is perished so oil leaks out of it.’

karna / sabab ‘because’(25) Karna au ya mnagara aboyam,

karna au ya m=nagara aboyambecause 2sgREC 2sg=be.cleverfishing

mot llocim=ot lloci2sg=catch many‘Because you had are good at fishing, you caught a lot of fish.’

(26) Kbahagia kwat, sabab au masik=bahagia kwat sabab au masi1sg=be.happy be.strong because 2sgstill

mtanoan yak m=tanoanyak

2sg=remember 1sg‘I’m really happy because you still remember me.’

Complement clauses• As in most languages there are a range of verbs that take

complement clauses including verbs of perception, belief, speech, desire, etc.

(27) Kbafikir ndadi tek=bafikir n=dadi te1sg=think 3sg=become NEG‘I think it won’t work.’

(28) Ni suka kmulni suka

k=mul3sg.POSS desire 1sg=return‘She wants me to come back.’

Relative clauses• Just one example because there is no time to deal with

this in detail(29) Lcayang mamatuosi ltagil

l=sayang mamatuo=si l=tagil3pl=love old.people=PL 3pl=walk

lahates do l=ahates do3pl=impossible REAL‘They loved the old people who can't walk

any more.’

Iconicity in multiclausal constructions• It is noteworthy that most multiclausal constructions occur

with the relative ordering of clauses in the order they occurred (or hypothetically occurred) rather than in the opposite order.

(30) Polo ulan tane, Yase buko kwat.polo ulan ta-ne ya-se buko kwatif rain SIM-PROX up-ESS noise be.strong‘If it’s raining like this, there will be a lot of noise

above.’

(31) (From a pop song)Krasa mapot polo koik auk=rasa mapot polo k=oik au1sg=feel heavy when 1sg=leave.behind 2sg‘I (my heart) will feel(s) heavy if I leave you.’

Cause and result(32) He went to the shop because he had run out of cigarettes.

(33)He had run out of cigarettes so he went to the shop.

(34) Ni tabako dumik do ndadi nhan apponi tabako dumik do ndadi n=han ap-po3sg.POSS cigarettes be.exhausted REAL so 3 sg=go ALL-down

toko litoko lishop LOC

(35) Nhan appo toko li karna ni tabakon=han ap-po toko li karna ni tabako3sg=go ALL-down shop LOC because 3sg.POSS cigarettes

dumik dodumik dobe.finished REAL

‘Discourse connectors’• mai / me ‘contrary to indications’• malai ‘then’• (i)ndadi(mu) ‘and so’• odo ‘on the other hand’• tutik(ma) ‘until / and then / eventually’• pu pu ma ‘but what if’• de (supaya) ‘eventually’• turus ‘so then’• tapi ‘but’• karna ‘because’• tee ‘if not’

Many discourse connectors have the same forms as conjunctions

• Role of discourse connectors is not to link one clause with another but to link one clause with an indeterminate amount of preceding material. I give just a couple of examples:

(36) Bonci ine... Mai kutu-kutu hu.bonci i-ne mai kutu-kutu

hupeanut DEM-PROX but small-small CONT‘These are peanuts. But they’re still small.’

(37) Gamos hu, woya nantobi.Turus kaklida idia.

gamos hu woya n=an-tobiturus kaklida i-dia

dry CONT water 3sg=INCH-descendthen hard DM-RM

‘While it’s still drying there’s water falling out of it. Then it hardens.’