ABOUT Thulung Rai
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Thulung Rai
Aimée Lahaussois
LACITO/CNRS, Villejuif, France
1. Introduction
Thulung Rai is a Kiranti language spoken by about a thousand people in Eastern Nepal.
The dialect represented here is that of Mukli. Mukli is near the confluence of the Solu Khola and
Dudh Khosi rivers, and the village is spread out over a hillside at an average elevation of 1500 m.
The language is in a situation of what I estimate to be ‘intense’ contact (using Thomason
and Kaufman’s standards, 1988: 83) with Nepali. Lexical borrowing is widespread, and there is
also a good deal of structural borrowing. This is due to the fact that most speakers are bilingual
with Nepali. There do not appear to be any fluent speakers younger than 20.
N. Allen spent several years in the village of Mukli in the early 1970’s and produced a
Sketch of Thulung Grammar (1975). This is a particularly valuable document in light of the
changes which have come about in the last thirty years. Ebert has also incorporated Thulung data
gathered from Allen’s texts into her comparative analyses of Kiranti languages (such as 1994).
2. Phonology
Initial consonants (in native words)
unvoiced unvoiced voiced voiced nasal
aspirated aspirated
glottal ç
velar k kh g «
affricate ts tsh dz dzh
dental t th d dh n
retroflex £
labial p ph b bh m
continuants h, s, l, r
semi-vowels j, w
Final consonants
k ¢ p « n m l r
Vowels
i y e a ¹ o » u
Vowel length
Allen marks length distinctions in vowels, but I do not consider vowel length to
be distinctive in the modern language. While some speakers sometimes produced
minimal pairs distinguishing vowel length in some words, these length distinctions
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were not found to be consistent. This may be the influence of Nepali, which does not
have long vowels.
Diphthongs
ai, au, eu, ¹i, ¹u, »i, ui
Falling diphthongs are considered to be glide plus vowel combinations, as they can occur
word-initially (while rising diphthongs cannot).
In the syllable cannon below, diphthongs are represented by the single V, but never occur
with a preceding glide.
Tone
Allen reports finding certain pairs of words for which “the most obvious difference
was that in... one member was pronounced faster and in a more fortis manner.”
(1975: 32) He describes these words “as having tense tone” and the other member of the
pair as having “lax tone.” He goes on to point out that “the great majority of Thulung
words are not members of such minimal pairs and sounded equally natural... whether
pronounced tense or lax.” (ibid.) I found no examples of tonal contrast, even in the pairs
listed in Allen. Presumably the traces of tonal contrast disappeared under pressure
from Nepali.
Syllable cannon
(Ci) (liquid) (glide) V (Cf)
3. Typological summary
Salient typological features of Thulung include the following:
• Basic S O V order.
• Nouns can be inflected for dual or plural number.
• Morphological ergative split, with ergative marking for second plural, third persons and
other NPs.
• Verbs are inflected for person and number, with up to two arguments marked.
4. Basic sentences
4.1. Intransitives
A basic intransitive sentence has an unmarked subject and a verb agreeing with it in person
and number.
1. a-wotsy pakha l¹-mri
1POSS-husband outside go-3sP:PST
‘My husband went outside.’
There are several types of predication with the copula, which also agrees with the subject.
Equative predication
2. m» mytsy a-pap-ku «ops» bu
that man 1POSS-father-GEN friend be:3s
‘That man is my father’s friend.’
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Locational predication
3. gumi neb-ra bu-mi
3sP house-LOC be-3sP
‘She is at home.’
Existential predication
4. dher prots»sama bu
many Rai caste be:3s
‘There are many Rai castes.’
Possessive predication
5. go-nu« £okpudzahanbu
1s-COM big family be:3s
‘I have a big family.’
4.2 Transitives
Thulung has ergative marking in transitive sentences, but with a split conditioned by person
and number: agents are nominative, with no overt marking, if they are from the class 1s, 1de,
1di, 1pe, 1pi, 2s, 2sP, 2d, and they are marked with ergative -ka if they are 2p, 3s, 3sP, 3d, 3p and
any other NP.
There is also primary object marking: -lai marks the animate object of monotransitives
(always when human, sometimes when non-human) and the recipient of ditransitives.
Monotransitive
6. go mag djo-uto
1s mug drop-1s/3s:PST
‘I dropped the mug.’
7. go mam-lai ts»m dwak-pu
1s mother-DAT much like-1s/3s
'I like my mother a lot.'
8. i-lwak-ka i-mam-lai khl»i
2POSS-y.sibling-ERG 2POSS-mother-DAThelp:3s/3s
'Your younger sibling helps your mother.’
Ditransitive
9. mam-ka u-ts»-tsi-lai po-mu-¢hok gwak-ty
mother-ERG 3POSS-children-DU-DAT eat-INF-stuff give-3s/3s:PST
'The mother gave her two children food.'
10. go a-mam-lai ts» gwak-tomi
1s 1POSS-mother-DATchild give-1s/3sP:PST
'I gave the child to my mother.'
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4.3 Experiencer constructions
Experiencer constructions are those for which the experiencer is expressed with dative
marking and the verb has 3s (agent) agreement.
11. go-lai kwara ly-ra
1s-DAT thirst feel-3s:PST
I am thirsty
12. go-lai tsoktsho b¹k-ta
1s-DAT anger arise-3s:PST
‘I am angry.’ (‘Anger arose in me.’)
13. go-lai bira «im ly-ra
1s-DAT leech fear feel-3s:PST
‘I am afraid of leeches.’
5. The Noun Phrase
5.1. Word and affix order
Thulung has the following basic word order in the noun phrase:
DEM NUM Classifier Adjective poss-N-case
N-GEN
Nouns can be marked for number (5.4), for case (5.8), and pragmatic status (5.9).
Modifiers can also function as nouns, and can be any of the following categories:
demonstrative
numeral (+ classifier)
adjective
relative clause
possessive pronoun, possessor-GEN
place-LOC-NOM
5.2. Pronouns
Thulung has a fairly complete set of pronouns, with dual forms, an inclusive/exclusive
distinction, and polite forms (marked 2sP and 3sP for 2 singular polite and 3 singular polite respectively.)
1s go, 1de gutsuku,1di gutsi,1pe guku,1pi gui
2s gana, 2sP gani, 2d gatsi, 2p ganimim
3s gu, 3sP gumi, 3d gutsi, 3p gumimim
Allen noted that polite forms were sometimes used, whereas this now seems to be a fairly
well-established pattern. The polite forms are based on what were, in Allen’s time, plural forms,
and the plurals have been reinforced by the plural morpheme.
5.3. Demonstratives
Thulung has proximal, o/oram, and distal, m»/m»ram (also meram), demonstratives.
The demonstratives can also be used for third person referents, optionally with dual and plural
forms formed with the corresponding suffixes (-tsip and –mim respectively).
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5.4. Numerals, number
5.4.1. Numerals and classifiers
Native numerals go up to ‘three’ for most speakers, and are ko, n¹, su (‘1’, ‘2’, ‘3’ respectively).
The etymon for ‘four’ (blu) appears in some temporal expressions (bluha££a ‘in four
years’, blunem ‘four days ago’, blu ‘in four years’, bluna ‘four years ago’) but is not used with
the remaining classifiers.
The only classifier seen with any frequency is the generic classifier -le, and this appears in
combination with the three remaining native numbers. The classifier is not used when what is
being counted are periods of time, such as year, week, day, in which case numerals occur alone.
The exception to this is ko-lem, n¹-lem, su-lem, used for ‘one day’, ‘two days’ and ‘three days’
respectively. Another somewhat productive classifier is –phe used for counting generally round
objects, such as coins, bananas, bread.
5.4.2. Number
The plural marker, -mim, is used to pluralize nouns, and its use with pronouns appears to
be a new phenomenon, calqued on the Nepali. The distribution of the pluralizer -mim is as follows
(and presumably the dual patterns paralelly, although I have fewer data on its distribution):
it is an optional plural marker, but there is a scale in the frequency of appearance with certain
noun classes. It appears most frequently with kin terms, where its use is fairly consistent, although
examples are found where it is ommitted. It is optional but generally used with non-kin
humans, and considerably less frequent with non-human animates, such as herd animals. It tends
not to appear very frequently with inanimate nouns (but this depends on the speaker). The same
distribution applies to the dual marker -tsip.
5.5. Adjectives
Adjectives in Thulung are defined by requiring no genitive or nominalizing material to
appear attributively. There is a small class of lexical adjectives, which are given in the following
list, while the biggest class of adjectives are deverbal, seen at the end of this section.
khrekhreja ‘bumpy, rough’
pl¹pl¹ja ‘smooth’
£okpu ‘big’
jakke ‘small’
«ats» ‘old’
malomtsʼ ‘young’
happa ‘much’
The color terms are based on a reduplicative pattern, which seems to be uniquely restricted
to colors.
lalam ‘red’
gigim ‘green’
kekem‘black’
çoçom ‘yellow’
bubum ‘white’
nunum ‘blue’
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The following adjectives are deverbal, being non-past participial forms, for which not all
input verbs are synchronically recognizable.
jepa ‘high’
???u«-y
???u«-ry
3d/3s lwa-tsi lwat-tsi tsa-tsi tsat-tsi £u-tsi £ut-tsi
3p/3s lwa-mi lwa-mri tsa-mi tsa-mri £u-mi £u-mri
6.6. Mood
6.6.1.irrealis
The irrealis is either -wa or -ja, with the following conditioning: -wa after back vowels, -
ja after front vowels. It is also seen assimilating to a preceding bilabial nasal resulting in -ba.
The irrealis appears in the following contexts:
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1) in some conditional clauses: either in both clauses (eg. 40), or in the protasis marked with -
mala (eg 41).
40. m» nem £i-s¹¢-pu-wa-mala
that day leave-DEF-1s/3s-IRR-COND
dzhjal-la«ka b¹tse-«a mi-dyp-sa-wa
window-ABL survive-EMPH NEG-become-2IMP-IRR
‘If I had left her alone that day, she would not have survived the window (ie
when she climbed out and fell)’
41. mi-tsap-sy-ja-mala kits» phul kam-mu basi
NEG-able-3s-IRR-COND little flour add-INF OBL
‘If one is not able [to guess the right amount], one must add a little flour.’
2) in the past tense forms of negative verbs (as mentioned in 6.3.)
6.6.2.imperative
The imperative is formed with the suffixes -a for 2s, -tsi for 2d, -ni for 2p.
jal-mu ‘to hit’ 2s jal-a 2d jal-tsi 2p jal-ni
Verbs which have alternating stems use stem 1 with the imperative suffixes.
ro-mu ‘to come’ (Subclass IIa) 2s rok-a 2d rok-tsi 2p rok-ni
bre-mu ‘to buy’ (Subclass IIc) 2s brer-a 2d bret-tsi 2p bre£-ni
The exception to this is for verbs from subclass IIb which use a suffix -ra for the 2s imperative
form.
rem-mu ‘to see’ (Subclass IIb) 2s rep-ra 2p rep-ni
For verbs from class III, stem 1 is only used for the 2s imperative form, and stem 2 for the
dual and plural forms.
£u-mu ‘to drink’ (Subclass IIIc) 2s £u«-a 2d £u-tsi 2p £u-ni
The imperative conjugation can also encode a second participant.
The verb in the following example is rem-ben-mu (look-CAU-INF)
i-k¹l rem-be¢-«i / rem-be¢-«itsi / rem-be¢-«ini
‘Show me your face.’
The participants encoded are, respectively, 2s, 2d, 2p as agent and 1s as recipient.
6.7. Aspect
6.7.1. “aspectivizers”
These are suffixed onto the verb root to convey aspectual shadings. (There is a piece of
agreement morphology which appears between the aspectivizer and the verb stem for certain persons;
this point needs further study.)
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Habitual -thal
42. go athal iskul l¹«-thal-«u
I nowadays school go-1s-HAB-1s
‘I go to school regularly these days.’
Stative -ta (‘to keep on doing X’)
43. g¹n-ta-si-mu
sit-STA-DET-INF (the detransitivizer is also in this example)
‘to keep sitting’
Definitive -so (perfective + permanence of action)
44. gu-ka surti £u-mu £i-so£-£y
3s-ERG tobacco drink-INF stop-DEF-3s/3s:PST
‘He gave up smoking for good.’
Ponent -dz»l (perfective + actions carried out ahead of time)
45. go beno-lai ghas ph¹l-dz»l-to-m bu
1s ox-DAT grass cut-PON-1s/3s:PST-NOM be:3s
‘I have cut grass for the ox.’
Resultative -le (perfective + focus on end-point of action)
46. go mi-g¹k-thi-«a a-bep si-m-le-mri
1s NEG-be.born-NEXP-EMPH 1POSS-grandfather die-3p-RES-3p:PST
‘My grandfather was dead before I was born.’
6.7.2. perfect construction : nominalized finite verb followed by an inflected copula
47. bante l¹-mri-m bu-mi
where go-3p:PST-NOM be-3p
‘Where have they gone?’
6.7.3. progressive construction: verb root + -sa??????a followed by an inflected copula
48. anebdika pare-pa-ka ¢au-«a mi-lwa-sa«a bu-mi
nowadays study-Npst.PRT-ERG place-EMPH NEG-find-PROG be-3p
‘Nowadays people who study are not finding jobs.’
6.8. Non-finite forms
6.8.1. “Infinitive”
The infinitive suffix is –mu.
The very notion of infinitive is challenged by the fact that these forms can sometimes
show agreement with the patient/recipient, in the context of an expression of obligation or negative
obligation.
For patients/recipients which have number marking (ie duals, plurals, and polite referents),
the infinitive suffix can be augmented to make reference to number. In other words, patients/
recipients corresponding to the following person.number combinations can bring about alternative
infinitive marking as follows:
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1pi, 2sP, 2p, 3sP, 3p: infinitive form in –mmi (as an alternative to the form in –mu)
1de, 1di, 2d, 3d : infinitive form in –mutsi (as an alternative to the form in –mu)
The context on these infinitives forms if somewhat limited though. While they can be
used in obligation constructions, they cannot be used in complement constructions that normally
take infinitives.
49. go a-pap-lai lwa-mu la-u
1s 1POSS-father-DAT see-INF see-1s
‘I get to see my father.’
50. *go a-pap-lai lwa-mmi la-u
1s 1POSS-father-DAT see-PL.INF see-1s
51. gumi-lai dzam £e-mmi basi
3p-DAT rice feed-PL.INF OBL
‘(I) must feed them rice.’
52. *go m»-mim-lai dzam £e-mmi khap-u
1s that-PLU-DAT rice feed-PL.INF be.about-1s
‘I am about to feed them rice.’
53. go m»l-lai dzam £e-mu khap-u
I that-DAT rice feed-INF be.about-1s
‘I am about to feed him rice.’
6.8.2. Participles
There are two participles in Thulung, the past and the non-past. The past participle is
formed by suffixing -ma to the verb root, whereas the non-past is with suffix -pa. These participles
are used in relativization (see 5.7.2.)
6.8.3. Converbs
Thulung has two converbs: one is for expressing simultaneous events, and the other for a
sequential relationship between clauses. In both cases, the converb is built by suffixing the relevant
converbal affix to the verb root: -to for the simultaneous converb, suffixed to stem 1 (for
verbs from classes II and III); -saka for the anterior converb, suffixed to stem 2 (for verbs from
classes II and III). The converbs are seen in 7.5. and 7.6.
6.9. Evidentiality
Thulung has a hearsay evidential marker, used with great frequency in narratives to relate
an event not personally witnessed. This particle is -çe.
54. meram khram-lo m¹ni l¹-mi-çe
he cry:3s-SS good.man go-3p-HS
‘Apparently, when he cries, good people die.’
Sentence nominalization can occur before or after this marker.
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55. “dape-£ola re ¹«-«u” rak-ta-çe-ma ¹ms-ta-çe-m
rack-above FOC sleep-1s say-3s:PST-HS-AS sleep-3s:PST-HS-NOM
‘“I’ll sleep up on the rack” he said and slept.’
56. meram tsahi kits» u-kantshi.aula-ra
that CONTR little 3POSS-baby.finger-LOC
£ar-ry-m-ka dh¹milo luk-ta-m-çe
meet-3s/3s:PST-NOM-INSTR cloudy.liquid exit-3s:PST-NOM-HS
‘Because he had been injured in the baby finger, cloudy liquid came out.’
7. Complex sentences
Complex sentences are those in which multiple clauses are combined. These clauses can
be based on either a finite or a non-finite verb, the input depending on the construction. In the
category of non-finite verbs, the possibilities are bare stems, infinitives, converbs, whereas for
finite verbs, the possibilities are finite verbs or nominalized finite verbs. It is interesting that regardless
of the type of complex sentence, the subordinate clause is frequently nominal in form:
either finite and nominalized, or non-finite and infinitival (which results in a nominal element).
7.1. Complement clauses
Complement clauses are of two types: those which are finite, and those which a nonfinite.
These divide along semantic lines, with complements to verbs of cognition and sensation,
such as to hear, to see belonging to the finite types; complements to modals, on the other hand,
and non-finite, and based on an infinitive verb form, the bare stem (or the reduplicated bare
stem), or a verbal noun (-si suffixed to the verb stem).
7.1.1. Verbs of utterrance and cognition:
‘to tell’
57. a-lwak-ka mysy-s» py-ry-m a-mam-ka
1POSS-y.sibling-ERG buffalo-meat eat-3s:PST-NOM 1POSS-mother-ERG
bastaka s»-mri
yesterday tell-3sP:PST
‘My mother said that yesterday my brother ate buffalo meat.’
‘to hear’
58. sokmu-ra gupsy «ur-mim ¹sin£a th»-si
forest-LOC tiger roar:3s-NOM here hear-1pi
‘Here we hear the tiger roar in the forest.’
59. ¹ni sintha s¹lla by-ry-m u-£okpu ts»-ka
and night counsel do-3s/3s:PST-NOM 3POSS-big child-ERG
th»s-ty-m
hear-3s/3s:PST-NOM
‘And the big child heard as they made a plan at night.’
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‘to say’
60. ma«-ka ne hopmam mi-dz»pa lamdi
mother-ERG TOP like.this NEG-good road
khrekhreja be-pa lamdi l¹k-tsi rak-ta-m bu-mi.
bumpy make-Npst.PRT road go-2D say-3s-NOM be-3sP
‘Mother said “take the bad, bumpy road like this.”’
7.1.2. Modals:
‘to want to, to like to’
V-V dwamu, V-mu dwamu
(the case of the subject can be either nominative or dative--when it is dative, the verb agrees with
a neutral 3 person)
61. go-lai phaplu l¹-l¹ dwa2
1s-DAT Phaplu go-go want:3s
‘I want to go to Phaplu.’
62. go/go-lai phaplu l¹-mu dwak-pu/dwa
1s-DAT Phaplu go-INFwant:1s/want:3s
‘to need to, have to’
V-mu tsahemu/tsahe bomu, V-mu basi
63. go homlo ljasi po-mu tsahe-u
1s now banana eat-INF need-1s/3s
‘I have to eat bananas now.’
64. go dika mukli l¹-mu basi
1s tomorrow Mukli go-INF OBL
‘I need to go to Mukli tomorrow.’
‘to be able to’
V-mu tsammu, V-si then-mu
65. ko«mi tsokpu-mim hun-mu tsam-mi, ko«mi mi-tsam-mi
some bird-PLU fly-INF can-3p some NEG-can-3p
‘Some birds can fly, others cannot.’
66. lamdi-si then-mu
walk-VN know-INF
‘to know how to walk’
7.2. Causative
There are several ways to express the causative in Thulung. The most common is to use
the suffix –be, which attaches to the verb root and is followed by agreement morphology.
2 Reduplication of the verb root before the modal dwa-mu ‘to want, to like’ is seen quite frequently, but by no means
necessary. If the verb complement is not reduplicated, then it must be in infinitive form, as in examples 7 and 8.
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An alternative means of expressing causativity is seen below. The verb b??????nemu ‘to
make, to prepare’ (which is a borrowing from Nepali banaaunu) is used in combination with a
non-past participial form.
67. go a-lwak-lai ri-pa b¹ne-u
1s 1POSS-y.sibling-DAT laugh-Npst.PRT make-1s/3s
‘I make my brother laugh.’
68. go a-lwak-lai mysy-s» pe-pa b¹ne-u
1s 1POSS-y.sibling-DAT buffalo-meat eat-Npst.PRT make-1s/3s
‘I make my brother eat buffalo meat.’
7.3. Purpose clauses
A purpose clause is built from the bare stem of the verb, with locative marker -ra suffixed.
The cognitive connection seems to conceptualize the purpose as being a goal, which has a
locative connotation.
69. grenem theb-£a l¹s-ta-m bu
nettle pick-LOC go-3s:PST-NOM be:3s
‘She went to pick nettles.’
7.4. Causal clauses
A nominalized finite verb is the base for a causal clause, with the ergative/instrumental
marker as a suffix.
70. go basi dzam pe-uto-m-ka homlo n»pa bu-«u
1s leftover rice eat-1s/3s:PST-NOM-INSTR now sick be-1s
‘Because I ate leftover rice, I am sick now.’
7.5. Temporal clauses
7.5.1. Simultaneous relationship
A simultaneous relationship between two clauses can be expressed with three different
constructions: an infinitive verb followed by the loan word bela ‘time’ and a temporal marker -
ka; with a converbal form in -to; with a sequencer -lo suffixed onto a finite verb. The converbal
clause is subordinate to the main clause, as a converb is by nature a non-finite verb form. The
sequencer on the other hand is suffixed to a finite verb, and it serves to coordinate the clauses in a
certain temporal relationship. Equivalent examples are given of both, as well as of another means
of expressing another simultaneous temporal relationship, with the expression bela-ka following
an infinitive verb form.
71. m» lo b¹ne-mu bela-ka m» deuta rok-ta
that frog prepare-INF time-TEMP that god come-3s:PST
72. m» lo b¹net-to m» deuta rok-ta
that frog prepare-SC that god come-3s:PST
73. m» lo b¹ne by-ry-lo m» deuta rok-ta
that frog prepare do-3s/3s:PST-SS that god come-3s:PST
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‘While he was preparing the frog, the god arrived.’
7.5.2. Sequential relationship
Like a simultaneous relationship, a sequential relationship can be expressed in three ways:
a finite nominalized verb followed by the loan word patshi ‘after’; a converbal form -saka, on the
root; a sequencer construction, with -ma suffixing to the finite verb. The relevant suffixes are the
anterior converb –saka and the anterior sequencer –ma (the label anterior serving to express the
notion that the marked clause contains the material coming first temporally).
74. mari mu ho¢-miri-m patshi happa mwasy tshabe¢-miri
much fire light-3p/3s:PST-NOM after much soot spread-
3p/3s:PST
75. mari mu ho-saka happa mwasy tshabe¢-miri
much fire light-AC much soot spread-3p/3s:PST
76. mari mu ho¢-miri-ma mepmam happa mwasy tshabe¢-miri.
much fire light-3p/3s:PST-AS like.that much soot spread-3p/3s:PST
‘After lighting a huge fire, they spread the soot all over.’
7.6. Conditionals
Conditional clauses are marked with -mala (sometimes just -la), and either one of the
clauses can be non-past or past, or irrealis.
The following sentence has non-past verbs in both clauses.
77. go mukli mi-bi-«u-mala ama-mam-ka dykha bo-mi
1s Mukli NEG-come-1s-COND 1POSS-mother-ERG difficulty do-3sP
‘If I don’t come to Mukli, my mother will struggle.’
The same sentence, refering to an unrealized past situation, is in the irrealis mode3.
78. go mukli mi-bi-«-wa-m-mala
1s Mukli NEG-come-1s-IRR-NOM-COND
ama-mam-ka dykha be-m-ba
1POSS-mother-ERG difficulty do-3p-IRR
“If I hadn’t come to Mukli, my mother would have struggled.”
The past can also be used in both clauses to refer to a hypothetical situation.
79. ama-wa-ka £okpu mytsy-num bia be-mri-mala
1POSS-o.sibling-ERG big man-COM marriage do-3sP/3s:PST-COND
£okpu neb-ra dym-mi
big house-LOC become-3sP
‘If my big sister marries an important person, she will live in a big house.’
3 A prototypical irrealis mode makes no assertion that a specific event or state of affairs has actually happened.
(Payne 1998: 244) This calrifies why the irrealis would occur with an unrealized event.
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8. Comparison
Comparative constructions: -ram, probably a locative (-ra) followed by a relativizer (-m),
is suffixed to the object of comparison. (The Nepali bhanda is also used)
80. ama-lwak go-ram jepa bu
1POSS-brother 1s-than tall be:3s
‘My brother is taller than I am.’
Superlatives also show this alternation between native and borrowed material, in addition
to which the very form of the superlative construction is the same across the two languages.
81. ama-del khotle-ram/-bhanda dz»pa bu
1POSS-village all-than/-than beautiful be:3s
‘My village is the most beautiful.’
Most clear as far as comparatives and superlatives go is that Nepali is the source of an alternative
comparative, with bhanda. Also possible, but potentially an areal pattern instead, is the fact that
Nepali is the source of the superlative construction using ‘all’ followed by the comparative.
Abbreviations
ABL ablative
AC anterior converb
AS anterior sequencer
CAU causativizer
COND
conditional
CONTR contrastive
DAT dative
DEF definitive
DET detransitivizer
DU dual
EMPHemphasis
ERG ergative
FOC focus
GEN genitive
HAB habitual
hiLOChigh locative
HS hearsay
INF infinitive
INSTRinstrumental
IRR irrealis
levLOC level locative
LOC locative
loLOClow locative
NEG negative
NEXP negative experiential
NOM nominalizer -m
NOM2
nominalizer -mim
Npst.PRT non-past
participle
OBL obligation
PL.INF plural infinitive
PLU plural
PON ponent
POSS possessive
pronoun
PROG progressive
Pst.PRT past participle
RES resultative
SC simultaneous
converb
COM comitative
SS simultaneous
sequencer
STA stative
TEMP temporal
TOP topic
VN verbal-noun
Personal agreement markers show the person and number of the two arguments
separated by a / in the order A/O.
Reference to person/number combinations is as follows: 1, 2, 3 are for first, second
and third persons respectively; s is singular, d is dual, p is plural, sP is singular polite,
and e and i stand for exclusive and inclusive respectively.
Himalayan Linguistics: Archive No.1
25
All lexical items (not grammatical) borrowed from Nepali (and in a few cases,
English) appear in italics in the examples. Within the text of my discussion, italics serve
to distinguish Thulung words from the English.
Bibliography
Allen, Nicholas J. 1975. Sketch of Thulung grammar. Ithaca: Cornell University [Cornell
University East Asia Papers No. 6].
DeLancey, Scott. 2002. “Relativization in Bodic.” Berkeley, CA. Proceedings of the 28th
annual meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society.
Ebert, Karen. 1994. The structure of Kiranti languages. Zurich: Universitaet Zuerich
[Arbeiten des Seminars fuer Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft 13].
Thomason, Sarah, and Terrence Kaufman. 1988. Language Contact, Creolization, and
Genetic Linguistics. Berkeley: University of California Press.
aimee@vjf.cnrs.fr
???u«-ry
3d/3s lwa-tsi lwat-tsi tsa-tsi tsat-tsi £u-tsi £ut-tsi
3p/3s lwa-mi lwa-mri tsa-mi tsa-mri £u-mi £u-mri
6.6. Mood
6.6.1.irrealis
The irrealis is either -wa or -ja, with the following conditioning: -wa after back vowels, -
ja after front vowels. It is also seen assimilating to a preceding bilabial nasal resulting in -ba.
The irrealis appears in the following contexts:
Himalayan Linguistics: Archive No.1
17
1) in some conditional clauses: either in both clauses (eg. 40), or in the protasis marked with -
mala (eg 41).
40. m» nem £i-s¹¢-pu-wa-mala
that day leave-DEF-1s/3s-IRR-COND
dzhjal-la«ka b¹tse-«a mi-dyp-sa-wa
window-ABL survive-EMPH NEG-become-2IMP-IRR
‘If I had left her alone that day, she would not have survived the window (ie
when she climbed out and fell)’
41. mi-tsap-sy-ja-mala kits» phul kam-mu basi
NEG-able-3s-IRR-COND little flour add-INF OBL
‘If one is not able [to guess the right amount], one must add a little flour.’
2) in the past tense forms of negative verbs (as mentioned in 6.3.)
6.6.2.imperative
The imperative is formed with the suffixes -a for 2s, -tsi for 2d, -ni for 2p.
jal-mu ‘to hit’ 2s jal-a 2d jal-tsi 2p jal-ni
Verbs which have alternating stems use stem 1 with the imperative suffixes.
ro-mu ‘to come’ (Subclass IIa) 2s rok-a 2d rok-tsi 2p rok-ni
bre-mu ‘to buy’ (Subclass IIc) 2s brer-a 2d bret-tsi 2p bre£-ni
The exception to this is for verbs from subclass IIb which use a suffix -ra for the 2s imperative
form.
rem-mu ‘to see’ (Subclass IIb) 2s rep-ra 2p rep-ni
For verbs from class III, stem 1 is only used for the 2s imperative form, and stem 2 for the
dual and plural forms.
£u-mu ‘to drink’ (Subclass IIIc) 2s £u«-a 2d £u-tsi 2p £u-ni
The imperative conjugation can also encode a second participant.
The verb in the following example is rem-ben-mu (look-CAU-INF)
i-k¹l rem-be¢-«i / rem-be¢-«itsi / rem-be¢-«ini
‘Show me your face.’
The participants encoded are, respectively, 2s, 2d, 2p as agent and 1s as recipient.
6.7. Aspect
6.7.1. “aspectivizers”
These are suffixed onto the verb root to convey aspectual shadings. (There is a piece of
agreement morphology which appears between the aspectivizer and the verb stem for certain persons;
this point needs further study.)
Lahaussois: Thulung Rai
18
Habitual -thal
42. go athal iskul l¹«-thal-«u
I nowadays school go-1s-HAB-1s
‘I go to school regularly these days.’
Stative -ta (‘to keep on doing X’)
43. g¹n-ta-si-mu
sit-STA-DET-INF (the detransitivizer is also in this example)
‘to keep sitting’
Definitive -so (perfective + permanence of action)
44. gu-ka surti £u-mu £i-so£-£y
3s-ERG tobacco drink-INF stop-DEF-3s/3s:PST
‘He gave up smoking for good.’
Ponent -dz»l (perfective + actions carried out ahead of time)
45. go beno-lai ghas ph¹l-dz»l-to-m bu
1s ox-DAT grass cut-PON-1s/3s:PST-NOM be:3s
‘I have cut grass for the ox.’
Resultative -le (perfective + focus on end-point of action)
46. go mi-g¹k-thi-«a a-bep si-m-le-mri
1s NEG-be.born-NEXP-EMPH 1POSS-grandfather die-3p-RES-3p:PST
‘My grandfather was dead before I was born.’
6.7.2. perfect construction : nominalized finite verb followed by an inflected copula
47. bante l¹-mri-m bu-mi
where go-3p:PST-NOM be-3p
‘Where have they gone?’
6.7.3. progressive construction: verb root + -sa??????a followed by an inflected copula
48. anebdika pare-pa-ka ¢au-«a mi-lwa-sa«a bu-mi
nowadays study-Npst.PRT-ERG place-EMPH NEG-find-PROG be-3p
‘Nowadays people who study are not finding jobs.’
6.8. Non-finite forms
6.8.1. “Infinitive”
The infinitive suffix is –mu.
The very notion of infinitive is challenged by the fact that these forms can sometimes
show agreement with the patient/recipient, in the context of an expression of obligation or negative
obligation.
For patients/recipients which have number marking (ie duals, plurals, and polite referents),
the infinitive suffix can be augmented to make reference to number. In other words, patients/
recipients corresponding to the following person.number combinations can bring about alternative
infinitive marking as follows:
Himalayan Linguistics: Archive No.1
19
1pi, 2sP, 2p, 3sP, 3p: infinitive form in –mmi (as an alternative to the form in –mu)
1de, 1di, 2d, 3d : infinitive form in –mutsi (as an alternative to the form in –mu)
The context on these infinitives forms if somewhat limited though. While they can be
used in obligation constructions, they cannot be used in complement constructions that normally
take infinitives.
49. go a-pap-lai lwa-mu la-u
1s 1POSS-father-DAT see-INF see-1s
‘I get to see my father.’
50. *go a-pap-lai lwa-mmi la-u
1s 1POSS-father-DAT see-PL.INF see-1s
51. gumi-lai dzam £e-mmi basi
3p-DAT rice feed-PL.INF OBL
‘(I) must feed them rice.’
52. *go m»-mim-lai dzam £e-mmi khap-u
1s that-PLU-DAT rice feed-PL.INF be.about-1s
‘I am about to feed them rice.’
53. go m»l-lai dzam £e-mu khap-u
I that-DAT rice feed-INF be.about-1s
‘I am about to feed him rice.’
6.8.2. Participles
There are two participles in Thulung, the past and the non-past. The past participle is
formed by suffixing -ma to the verb root, whereas the non-past is with suffix -pa. These participles
are used in relativization (see 5.7.2.)
6.8.3. Converbs
Thulung has two converbs: one is for expressing simultaneous events, and the other for a
sequential relationship between clauses. In both cases, the converb is built by suffixing the relevant
converbal affix to the verb root: -to for the simultaneous converb, suffixed to stem 1 (for
verbs from classes II and III); -saka for the anterior converb, suffixed to stem 2 (for verbs from
classes II and III). The converbs are seen in 7.5. and 7.6.
6.9. Evidentiality
Thulung has a hearsay evidential marker, used with great frequency in narratives to relate
an event not personally witnessed. This particle is -çe.
54. meram khram-lo m¹ni l¹-mi-çe
he cry:3s-SS good.man go-3p-HS
‘Apparently, when he cries, good people die.’
Sentence nominalization can occur before or after this marker.
Lahaussois: Thulung Rai
20
55. “dape-£ola re ¹«-«u” rak-ta-çe-ma ¹ms-ta-çe-m
rack-above FOC sleep-1s say-3s:PST-HS-AS sleep-3s:PST-HS-NOM
‘“I’ll sleep up on the rack” he said and slept.’
56. meram tsahi kits» u-kantshi.aula-ra
that CONTR little 3POSS-baby.finger-LOC
£ar-ry-m-ka dh¹milo luk-ta-m-çe
meet-3s/3s:PST-NOM-INSTR cloudy.liquid exit-3s:PST-NOM-HS
‘Because he had been injured in the baby finger, cloudy liquid came out.’
7. Complex sentences
Complex sentences are those in which multiple clauses are combined. These clauses can
be based on either a finite or a non-finite verb, the input depending on the construction. In the
category of non-finite verbs, the possibilities are bare stems, infinitives, converbs, whereas for
finite verbs, the possibilities are finite verbs or nominalized finite verbs. It is interesting that regardless
of the type of complex sentence, the subordinate clause is frequently nominal in form:
either finite and nominalized, or non-finite and infinitival (which results in a nominal element).
7.1. Complement clauses
Complement clauses are of two types: those which are finite, and those which a nonfinite.
These divide along semantic lines, with complements to verbs of cognition and sensation,
such as to hear, to see belonging to the finite types; complements to modals, on the other hand,
and non-finite, and based on an infinitive verb form, the bare stem (or the reduplicated bare
stem), or a verbal noun (-si suffixed to the verb stem).
7.1.1. Verbs of utterrance and cognition:
‘to tell’
57. a-lwak-ka mysy-s» py-ry-m a-mam-ka
1POSS-y.sibling-ERG buffalo-meat eat-3s:PST-NOM 1POSS-mother-ERG
bastaka s»-mri
yesterday tell-3sP:PST
‘My mother said that yesterday my brother ate buffalo meat.’
‘to hear’
58. sokmu-ra gupsy «ur-mim ¹sin£a th»-si
forest-LOC tiger roar:3s-NOM here hear-1pi
‘Here we hear the tiger roar in the forest.’
59. ¹ni sintha s¹lla by-ry-m u-£okpu ts»-ka
and night counsel do-3s/3s:PST-NOM 3POSS-big child-ERG
th»s-ty-m
hear-3s/3s:PST-NOM
‘And the big child heard as they made a plan at night.’
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‘to say’
60. ma«-ka ne hopmam mi-dz»pa lamdi
mother-ERG TOP like.this NEG-good road
khrekhreja be-pa lamdi l¹k-tsi rak-ta-m bu-mi.
bumpy make-Npst.PRT road go-2D say-3s-NOM be-3sP
‘Mother said “take the bad, bumpy road like this.”’
7.1.2. Modals:
‘to want to, to like to’
V-V dwamu, V-mu dwamu
(the case of the subject can be either nominative or dative--when it is dative, the verb agrees with
a neutral 3 person)
61. go-lai phaplu l¹-l¹ dwa2
1s-DAT Phaplu go-go want:3s
‘I want to go to Phaplu.’
62. go/go-lai phaplu l¹-mu dwak-pu/dwa
1s-DAT Phaplu go-INFwant:1s/want:3s
‘to need to, have to’
V-mu tsahemu/tsahe bomu, V-mu basi
63. go homlo ljasi po-mu tsahe-u
1s now banana eat-INF need-1s/3s
‘I have to eat bananas now.’
64. go dika mukli l¹-mu basi
1s tomorrow Mukli go-INF OBL
‘I need to go to Mukli tomorrow.’
‘to be able to’
V-mu tsammu, V-si then-mu
65. ko«mi tsokpu-mim hun-mu tsam-mi, ko«mi mi-tsam-mi
some bird-PLU fly-INF can-3p some NEG-can-3p
‘Some birds can fly, others cannot.’
66. lamdi-si then-mu
walk-VN know-INF
‘to know how to walk’
7.2. Causative
There are several ways to express the causative in Thulung. The most common is to use
the suffix –be, which attaches to the verb root and is followed by agreement morphology.
2 Reduplication of the verb root before the modal dwa-mu ‘to want, to like’ is seen quite frequently, but by no means
necessary. If the verb complement is not reduplicated, then it must be in infinitive form, as in examples 7 and 8.
Lahaussois: Thulung Rai
22
An alternative means of expressing causativity is seen below. The verb b??????nemu ‘to
make, to prepare’ (which is a borrowing from Nepali banaaunu) is used in combination with a
non-past participial form.
67. go a-lwak-lai ri-pa b¹ne-u
1s 1POSS-y.sibling-DAT laugh-Npst.PRT make-1s/3s
‘I make my brother laugh.’
68. go a-lwak-lai mysy-s» pe-pa b¹ne-u
1s 1POSS-y.sibling-DAT buffalo-meat eat-Npst.PRT make-1s/3s
‘I make my brother eat buffalo meat.’
7.3. Purpose clauses
A purpose clause is built from the bare stem of the verb, with locative marker -ra suffixed.
The cognitive connection seems to conceptualize the purpose as being a goal, which has a
locative connotation.
69. grenem theb-£a l¹s-ta-m bu
nettle pick-LOC go-3s:PST-NOM be:3s
‘She went to pick nettles.’
7.4. Causal clauses
A nominalized finite verb is the base for a causal clause, with the ergative/instrumental
marker as a suffix.
70. go basi dzam pe-uto-m-ka homlo n»pa bu-«u
1s leftover rice eat-1s/3s:PST-NOM-INSTR now sick be-1s
‘Because I ate leftover rice, I am sick now.’
7.5. Temporal clauses
7.5.1. Simultaneous relationship
A simultaneous relationship between two clauses can be expressed with three different
constructions: an infinitive verb followed by the loan word bela ‘time’ and a temporal marker -
ka; with a converbal form in -to; with a sequencer -lo suffixed onto a finite verb. The converbal
clause is subordinate to the main clause, as a converb is by nature a non-finite verb form. The
sequencer on the other hand is suffixed to a finite verb, and it serves to coordinate the clauses in a
certain temporal relationship. Equivalent examples are given of both, as well as of another means
of expressing another simultaneous temporal relationship, with the expression bela-ka following
an infinitive verb form.
71. m» lo b¹ne-mu bela-ka m» deuta rok-ta
that frog prepare-INF time-TEMP that god come-3s:PST
72. m» lo b¹net-to m» deuta rok-ta
that frog prepare-SC that god come-3s:PST
73. m» lo b¹ne by-ry-lo m» deuta rok-ta
that frog prepare do-3s/3s:PST-SS that god come-3s:PST
Himalayan Linguistics: Archive No.1
23
‘While he was preparing the frog, the god arrived.’
7.5.2. Sequential relationship
Like a simultaneous relationship, a sequential relationship can be expressed in three ways:
a finite nominalized verb followed by the loan word patshi ‘after’; a converbal form -saka, on the
root; a sequencer construction, with -ma suffixing to the finite verb. The relevant suffixes are the
anterior converb –saka and the anterior sequencer –ma (the label anterior serving to express the
notion that the marked clause contains the material coming first temporally).
74. mari mu ho¢-miri-m patshi happa mwasy tshabe¢-miri
much fire light-3p/3s:PST-NOM after much soot spread-
3p/3s:PST
75. mari mu ho-saka happa mwasy tshabe¢-miri
much fire light-AC much soot spread-3p/3s:PST
76. mari mu ho¢-miri-ma mepmam happa mwasy tshabe¢-miri.
much fire light-3p/3s:PST-AS like.that much soot spread-3p/3s:PST
‘After lighting a huge fire, they spread the soot all over.’
7.6. Conditionals
Conditional clauses are marked with -mala (sometimes just -la), and either one of the
clauses can be non-past or past, or irrealis.
The following sentence has non-past verbs in both clauses.
77. go mukli mi-bi-«u-mala ama-mam-ka dykha bo-mi
1s Mukli NEG-come-1s-COND 1POSS-mother-ERG difficulty do-3sP
‘If I don’t come to Mukli, my mother will struggle.’
The same sentence, refering to an unrealized past situation, is in the irrealis mode3.
78. go mukli mi-bi-«-wa-m-mala
1s Mukli NEG-come-1s-IRR-NOM-COND
ama-mam-ka dykha be-m-ba
1POSS-mother-ERG difficulty do-3p-IRR
“If I hadn’t come to Mukli, my mother would have struggled.”
The past can also be used in both clauses to refer to a hypothetical situation.
79. ama-wa-ka £okpu mytsy-num bia be-mri-mala
1POSS-o.sibling-ERG big man-COM marriage do-3sP/3s:PST-COND
£okpu neb-ra dym-mi
big house-LOC become-3sP
‘If my big sister marries an important person, she will live in a big house.’
3 A prototypical irrealis mode makes no assertion that a specific event or state of affairs has actually happened.
(Payne 1998: 244) This calrifies why the irrealis would occur with an unrealized event.
Lahaussois: Thulung Rai
24
8. Comparison
Comparative constructions: -ram, probably a locative (-ra) followed by a relativizer (-m),
is suffixed to the object of comparison. (The Nepali bhanda is also used)
80. ama-lwak go-ram jepa bu
1POSS-brother 1s-than tall be:3s
‘My brother is taller than I am.’
Superlatives also show this alternation between native and borrowed material, in addition
to which the very form of the superlative construction is the same across the two languages.
81. ama-del khotle-ram/-bhanda dz»pa bu
1POSS-village all-than/-than beautiful be:3s
‘My village is the most beautiful.’
Most clear as far as comparatives and superlatives go is that Nepali is the source of an alternative
comparative, with bhanda. Also possible, but potentially an areal pattern instead, is the fact that
Nepali is the source of the superlative construction using ‘all’ followed by the comparative.
Abbreviations
ABL ablative
AC anterior converb
AS anterior sequencer
CAU causativizer
COND
conditional
CONTR contrastive
DAT dative
DEF definitive
DET detransitivizer
DU dual
EMPHemphasis
ERG ergative
FOC focus
GEN genitive
HAB habitual
hiLOChigh locative
HS hearsay
INF infinitive
INSTRinstrumental
IRR irrealis
levLOC level locative
LOC locative
loLOClow locative
NEG negative
NEXP negative experiential
NOM nominalizer -m
NOM2
nominalizer -mim
Npst.PRT non-past
participle
OBL obligation
PL.INF plural infinitive
PLU plural
PON ponent
POSS possessive
pronoun
PROG progressive
Pst.PRT past participle
RES resultative
SC simultaneous
converb
COM comitative
SS simultaneous
sequencer
STA stative
TEMP temporal
TOP topic
VN verbal-noun
Personal agreement markers show the person and number of the two arguments
separated by a / in the order A/O.
Reference to person/number combinations is as follows: 1, 2, 3 are for first, second
and third persons respectively; s is singular, d is dual, p is plural, sP is singular polite,
and e and i stand for exclusive and inclusive respectively.
Himalayan Linguistics: Archive No.1
25
All lexical items (not grammatical) borrowed from Nepali (and in a few cases,
English) appear in italics in the examples. Within the text of my discussion, italics serve
to distinguish Thulung words from the English.
Bibliography
Allen, Nicholas J. 1975. Sketch of Thulung grammar. Ithaca: Cornell University [Cornell
University East Asia Papers No. 6].
DeLancey, Scott. 2002. “Relativization in Bodic.” Berkeley, CA. Proceedings of the 28th
annual meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society.
Ebert, Karen. 1994. The structure of Kiranti languages. Zurich: Universitaet Zuerich
[Arbeiten des Seminars fuer Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft 13].
Thomason, Sarah, and Terrence Kaufman. 1988. Language Contact, Creolization, and
Genetic Linguistics. Berkeley: University of California Press.
aimee@vjf.cnrs.fr 