Block 28 · pages 263-272

Chapter 4: Discourse Particles, Clause Coordination, Purpose and Causal Clauses

4.7.4 Other particles

4.7.4.1 ya exclamation / surprise

ya expresses surprise or general emphasis, often set off by a pause (e.g., ya a-yyéd áy-n naná 'indeed, he returned to his mother'; ya gánda n caráy! 'watch out! a snake!').

4.7.4.2 za 'so' logical consequence

za marks logical consequence, translatable as 'so'. It frequently occurs in the phrase h(e) adí za 'so this' (e.g., Aɣa-n t-a-nə́fus-t za / əs-káhar aɣa-dd(á)-á ana... 'So my story, if I tell it to you...').

4.7.4.3 da 'really, exactly' intensification

da INT cliticizes to NPs, independent pronouns, verbs, and conjunctions for positive emphasis (e.g., húllən d(a) ay-tə-d(á)-á ana 'I very much (like to) tell it to you'; məʃʃín dá aṭṭáalib a-kkás alwalí 'but really, the student became a seer').

4.7.4.4 je ~ jen 'only'

je emphasizes the action or limits the referent. It often follows the verbal word (e.g., íizace a-háaṣi-a jé 'the young man simply looked at her'). In subordinate clauses with har 'until' or sa 'when', it encodes immediateness 'as soon as' (e.g., har jé a-záɣan a-ss-oɣtá 'as soon as it was dawn').

4.7.4.5 daɣ, harkíd 'in addition, too'

daɣ 'too' can follow a verb or noun (e.g., a-báara daɣ t-órf-in ən kó-en 'there are also the car owners'). harkíd 'also' adds NPs, preceding the noun (e.g., a-yyírṣək ənd(a) áy-n kamb-én harkíd ay-n c-en 'he made sweeping movements with his arms and also his legs').

4.7.4.6 inʒín 'like'

inʒín stands between two NPs or an NP and a verb phrase, meaning 'like' or 'as if' (e.g., feeji aɣ(o) óoda inʒín ay-wáni 'this sheep is like mine'; ée-dag aɣo sénda inʒín ni-yyíkkəl-a 'this matter is like (as if) you take it up').

4.8 Complex Sentences

4.8.1 Clause coordination

4.8.1.1 Clausal 'and'

There is no clausal 'and' conjunction. Main clauses are conjoined without an explicit marker.

4.8.1.2 Clausal 'or' meɣ, mádaɣ, and wala

The same markers used for NP disjunction also occur between clauses. meɣ and mádaɣ only encode 'or' (e.g., n(e) áyda k(a) a-dd(á) ay-n maamála meɣ n(e) áyda k(a) a-kkúḍ ay-n almán 'it's here he was a merchant, or it's here he kept his herd'). wala also appears between clauses (e.g., əs-kábahar ni-bbáaɣa ní-n caráy wala ni-bbáaɣa ni-n céena 'if you care about your friend or you care about your younger relative').

4.8.2 Purpose and causal clauses

4.8.2.1 Purpose 'in order to' marked with subjunctive mood

Purpose clauses are often marked only by the subjunctive mood without an overt conjunction (e.g., ay-tə-dáy-an aɣa-n t-óoruf-t aɣa-m-dáy-kat áa-k(a) almán 'I will sell my car in order to buy a herd'). The conjunction har 'until' may also introduce purpose clauses (e.g., yíddər aɣay áa-har har aɣa-m-wí-a 'hold the lion for me in order that I kill it').

4.8.2.2 Causal clauses

Causal clauses are introduced by the clause-initial particle iddá ~ igdá 'because' (dialectal variants) (e.g., igdá a-ttə́gor a-munsu a-b-díydi bor-én ən í-ʃʃan-an ká 'because the food begins to penetrate in people's teeth'). The PP hé bé 'on (some)thing' can also introduce a reason clause, similar to 'why?' (e.g., tanə́fust aɣ(o) óoda áŋga néeda hé bé (a)-ttén sa surgóy a-ssə́-may-ənda... 'this story, here is why it is such that a woman ought not to...'). Cause can also be expressed with the postposition ka 'from' (e.g., ni-m-jeej(í)-á tugúdu ka hé ká hánʃi (a)-sə-ṭáaw-a 'hang it in a tree, because a dog cannot reach it').

Keywords : discourse particles ya za da je daɣ inʒín clause coordination purpose clauses causal clauses subjunctive