A Grammar of Nuosu

This is the first modern grammar of Nuosu written in English. Nuosu belongs to a little known section of Tibeto-Burman. The 2.5 Million ethnic Nuosu are part of the Yi nationality and live in Sichuan (China). This grammar informs Tibeto-Burman linguists, typologists, scholars of language contact and...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author Gerner, Matthias
Format eBook Book
LanguageEnglish
Published Germany De Gruyter 2013
De Gruyter Mouton
De Gruyter, Inc
Edition1
SeriesMouton Grammar Library [MGL]
Subjects
China
Grammar
Language
LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES
LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Linguistics / General
Languages
Yi language
Yi language > Grammar
Online AccessGet full text

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Table of Contents:
  • B denotes the dwelling or storing place of A -- A denotes the body part of disease B -- B is a representative symbol for A -- A denotes the sign in Chinese zodiac for time unit B -- 4.4.2 Verbal compounds -- A and B are unrelated -- A and B are antonymic -- A and B are parallel -- B denotes resultative state of A -- 4.4.3 Mixed compounds -- A is noun and B is verb -- A is noun and B is classifier -- A is verb and B is classifier -- 5 The noun phrase -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.1.1 Constructions of the noun phrase -- 5.1.2 The order of components in the noun phrase -- 5.2 Qualifying nouns -- 5.2.1 Noun classifiers -- A. Animate sortal classifiers -- B. Inanimate sortal classifiers -- C. Diverse small-range sortal classifiers -- D. Mixed nominal and verbal classifiers -- E. Collectivizers -- F. Partitioners and subclassifiers -- G. Measure Words -- H. Auto-classifiers -- 5.2.2 Possession -- 5.2.3 Adjectival modification -- 5.2.4 Nominalization -- A. The nominalizer su -- B. The nominalizers ddu and dde -- C. Appendix: The particle su -- 5.3 Quantifying nouns -- 5.3.1 Numerals -- A. Cardinal numbers -- B. Ordinal numbers -- 5.3.2 Noun quantifiers -- A. The quantifier mu 'whole/all' -- B. The quantifier zzix ap zzi 'every' -- C. The quantifier kep nyix 'several' -- D. The quantifier ax pa 'other' -- E. The quantifiers ax nyi 'much' / ix nyi 'few' -- F. The quantifier cyp gge 'some' -- G. The quantifier ax di 'only' -- H. The quantifiers ax nyi yix nyi 'at most' / ix nyi yix nyi 'at least' -- I. Other quantifying expressions -- J. Appendix: The particle mu -- 5.3.3 The additive noun conjunction si nip 'and' -- 5.4 Localizing nouns -- 5.4.1 Personal pronouns -- A. The basic pronouns -- B. The logophors -- C. The dual pronouns -- D. The possessive pronouns -- E. The personal pronoun sut 'someone else' -- F. The versatile pronoun go
  • A. Unrepeatable situations -- B. Weak-repeatable situations -- C. Strong-repeatable situations -- D. Synthesis -- 7.6.4 Verb classifiers -- A. Terminology -- B. Sortal verb classifiers -- C. Mensural verb classifiers -- D. Double classifiers of nouns and verbs -- E. Synthesis -- 7.7 Perfect -- 7.7.1 The stative perfect particle da -- A. Basic analysis -- B. The conjunctions mu da and nyi mu da -- 7.7.2 The dynamic perfect particle ox -- A. Basic analysis -- B. Co-occurrence of ox and da -- 7.7.3 Appendix: The particle da -- A. The main verb da 'put' -- B. The conjunction mu da -- C. The perfect particle da -- D. The perfect particle da with coverbs -- E. The location coverb da -- F. The source coverb da -- G. Historical development -- 7.8 Tense -- 7.8.1 The future tense particle mix -- A. Introduction -- B. First person effect -- C. Sufficient condition of future tense -- D. Relative future tense -- E. When the first person effect is suspended -- 7.8.2 Appendix: The particle mix -- A. As solicitation particle -- B. As focus adverb -- 8 Modality and evidentiality -- 8.1 Introduction -- 8.2 Modality -- 8.2.1 The morphosyntax of modal auxiliaries -- A. Modal auxiliary verbs versus matrix verbs -- B. Modal auxiliaries verbs versus adverbs -- C. List of modal auxiliaries -- 8.2.2 The semantics of modal auxiliaries -- A. The modal ddie ddur 'need' -- B. The modal tat xi 'should' -- C. The modals ssox 'should' and ddip ssox 'should' -- D. The modal qi 'want' -- E. The modal hna 'willing' -- F. The modal but 'dare' -- G. The modal get 'can, able' -- H. The modal hxit 'can' -- I. The modal dop 'can' -- J. The modal yix syp 'able, know-how' -- K. The modal hxi nyi 'intend' -- L. The modal mo mgu 'intend' -- M. The modal mo ddix 'committed' -- N. The modal jox dop 'prepared' -- 8.3 Evidentiality -- 8.3.1 The quotative information source
  • A. The coverb six 'take' -- B. The coverb sat 'point to' -- C. The coverb mga 'pass' -- D. The coverb mgep/mgex 'mix' -- E. The coverb rrox mu -- F. The coverb qo 'follow' -- G. The coverb wa mgot 'pursue' -- 6.3 Locative phrases -- 6.3.1 The structure of locative phrases -- 6.3.2 The position of locative phrases -- 6.4 Directional phrases -- 6.4.1 Directional particles and verbs -- 6.4.2 Types of directional phrases -- 7 Tense and aspect -- 7.1 Introduction -- 7.1.1 The theory of situation types -- A. The four Vendlerian situation types -- B. Object, event and state structure -- 7.1.2 The theory of tense -- 7.1.3 Aspect and tense categories in Nuosu -- 7.2 Phasal auxiliaries -- 7.2.1 Specialized expressions -- A. go mox 'beginning' -- B. jjup zot da 'continue' -- 7.2.2 Grammaticalized verbs -- A. hxep 'look' -- B. la 'come' -- C. go zix 'insert' -- D. ddur 'exit' -- 7.3 Resultative auxiliaries -- 7.3.1 Specialized expressions -- 7.3.2 Grammaticalized verbs -- A. wex 'get' -- B. sha 'send' -- C. ssop 'shine' -- D. ndox 'put' -- 7.4 Progressive aspect -- 7.4.1 The progressive particle njuo -- A. Punctual events -- B. Homogenous events -- C. Quantized events -- D. Bounded events -- E. States -- 7.4.2 The progressive particle ge -- A. Punctual events -- B. Homogenous events -- C. Quantized events -- D. Bounded events -- E. States -- 7.5 Perfective aspect -- 7.5.1 The exhaustion particle sat -- A. Objects -- B. Events -- C. States -- D. Synthesis -- 7.6 Quantitative aspect -- 7.6.1 The experiental particle nzox -- A. Unrepeatable situations -- B. Weak-repeatable situations -- C. Strong-repeatable situations -- D. Synthesis -- 7.6.2 The periodical particle ndit -- A. Unrepeatable situations -- B. Weak-repeatable situations -- C. Strong-repeatable situations -- D. The verbal meaning of ndit -- E. Synthesis -- 7.6.3 The habitual particle go shex
  • A. The quotative particle ddix
  • G. Appendix: The particle go -- 5.4.2 Reflexive anaphors -- A. zyt jie 'self' as short-distance anaphor -- B. zyt jie 'self' as long-distance anaphor -- C. zyt jie 'self' as emphatic pronoun -- D. yip dde 'original-self' as emphatic pronoun -- 5.4.3 Demonstratives -- A. The demonstratives cyx and a zzyx -- B. The demonstrative xip -- C. The demonstratives cyp xip, a zzyx xip and xip mu -- D. The demonstratives tit and a ddit -- 5.4.4 Bare common nouns -- 5.4.5 Indefinite and definite articles -- 5.4.6 Interrogative / indefinite pronouns -- A. The pronoun kax ddi 'who' -- B. The pronoun xix 'what/which' -- C. The pronoun kep nyix 'how much/many' -- D. The pronoun kat go 'where' -- E. The pronoun kep te go 'when' -- F. The pronoun kep mu 'how' -- G. The pronoun xix jjip hnex 'why' -- 6 The verb phrase -- 6.1 Predicative constructions -- 6.1.1 Nominal predicates -- 6.1.2 Copular predicate -- A. Basic functions -- B. Derived functions -- 6.1.3 Adjectival predicates -- 6.1.4 Verbal predicates -- A. Intransitive verbs -- B. Monotransitive verbs -- C. Ambitransitive verbs -- D. Ditransitive verbs -- E. Simplex/complex verb pairs -- 6.2 Coverbs -- 6.2.1 Agent coverbs -- A. The coverb gep 'add' -- B. The coverb sip 'take' -- C. The complex coverb gep sip -- D. Appendix: The particles sip/six -- 6.2.2 Patient coverbs -- A. The coverb ddie 'prepare' -- 6.2.3 Causee coverbs -- A. The coverb bbyp/bbyx 'give' -- B. The coverb ddie 'prepare' -- C. The coverb ga 'drop' -- D. The coverb shu 'make' -- 6.2.4 Recipient coverbs -- A. The coverb bbyp/bbyx 'give' -- B. The coverb jox -- 6.2.5 Locative coverbs -- A. The coverb da 'put' -- B. The coverb ddip/ddix 'say' -- C. The coverb zyp/zyx 'lean' -- D. The coverb mo 'see' -- 6.2.6 Directional coverbs -- A. The coverb xi 'arrive' -- B. The coverb hxep/hxex 'see' -- C. The coverb chop 'along' -- 6.2.7 Oblique coverbs
  • Intro -- Acknowledgement -- Preface -- List of Tables -- Abbreviations -- 1 The people and their environment -- 1.1 Nuosu history -- 1.2 Nuosu society -- 1.3 Nuosu culture and religion -- 2 Language background -- 2.1 Genetic affiliation of Nuosu -- 2.2 Nuosu and its dialects -- 2.3 Literature survey on Nuosu -- 2.4 Typological profile of Nuosu -- 2.4.1 Phonology -- 2.4.2 Morphology -- 2.4.3 Syntax -- 2.4.4 Pragmatics -- 3 Phonology -- 3.1 Sounds and tones -- 3.1.1 Consonants -- A. Stops -- B. Fricatives -- C. Affricates -- D. Nasals and laterals -- 3.1.2 Vowels -- 3.1.3 Tones -- 3.2 Phonological processes -- 3.2.1 Creaky voice -- 3.2.2 Tone sandhi -- 3.2.3 Syllable structure -- 3.3 The logographic script -- 3.3.1 Introduction -- 3.3.2 Nuosu syllabary -- 4 Word structure -- 4.1 Word categories -- 4.1.1 Open categories -- 4.1.2 Closed and semi-closed categories -- 4.2 Affixation -- 4.2.1 Inventory of prefixes -- A. Size prefixes -- B. Fruit prefix syp- -- C. gga- 'road' -- D. co- 'person' (also as free morpheme) -- E. ddop- 'word' -- F. hxie- 'heart' -- G. ke- 'mouth' -- H. mu- 'place, sky, steam' -- I. o- 'head' -- 4.2.2 Inventory of suffixes -- A. Nominalizer suffixes -- B. Gender/age suffixes -- C. Adjectivizer suffixes -- 4.3 Reduplication -- 4.3.1 Nouns -- 4.3.2 Classifiers -- 4.3.3 Personal pronouns -- 4.3.4 Verbs -- 4.3.5 Adjectives -- 4.3.6 Colour ideophones -- 4.3.7 Idioms -- AABB -- ABAB -- ABCB -- ABAC -- ABCD -- 4.4 Compounding -- 4.4.1 Nominal compounds -- A and B are unrelated in meaning -- A and B are figuratively related -- A and B are parallel -- A is the material of which B is made -- B denotes a part of A -- A is the producer of B -- A is processed into B -- A describes the kind or nature of B -- B is a unit of A -- A denotes the body part on which B is worn -- B is a piece of equipment used in a means of transport, A
  • References --
  • Abbreviations --
  • Chapter 6. The verb phrase --
  • Acknowledgment --
  • Preface --
  • Chapter 11. Valency changing constructions --
  • Chapter 3. Phonology --
  • Chapter 5. The noun phrase --
  • Chapter 12. Versatile constructions --
  • Name Index
  • List of Tables --
  • Chapter 8. Modality and evidentiality --
  • Chapter 13. Complex sentences --
  • Appendix: Folk Stories --
  • Table of Contents --
  • Chapter 9. Adverbs and negation --
  • Chapter 15. Speech act particles --
  • Chapter 2. Language background --
  • Frontmatter --
  • Chapter 4. Word structure --
  • Chapter 7. Tense and aspect --
  • Chapter 14. Topic and focus --
  • Chapter 1. The people and their environment --
  • Chapter 10. Subject and object --