Subordinating particles in the West language
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Adverbial and relative subordinate clauses
| Main clause first | Subordinate clause first | Embedded subordinate clause | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Restrictive | ab ab | èá ṇạ | ab … hid ab … hid |
| Non-restrictive | im im | næ nẹ | im … hid im … hid |
Completive subordinate clauses
| Main clause first | Subordinate clause first | Embedded subordinate clause | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Object | uz wz | ôz óz | uz … hid wz … hid |
| Subject | ub wb | ôb ób | ub … hid wb … hid |
| Reported speech | vê vé | hid hid | vê … hid vé … hid |
Construction
An adverbial or relative subordinate construction consists of the following elements:
- a subordinating particle, which may not be omitted; it is placed between the main and the subordinate clauses if the main clause comes first, or between the subordinate and the main clauses if the subordinate clause comes first;
- an adverb (for adverbial clauses), a noun or a pronoun (for relative clauses) shared between the main and the subordinate clauses.
The subordinate clause may either follow or precede the main clause. It can also be embedded within the main clause.
Example of an adverbial clause following the main clause:
1. tudé gùténùr xagá ab udé dobïcá sî.
Twdǝ gœtǝnœr xagạ ab wdǝ dobúŋạ sí.
Here turned aside the man SUB there [was] a trail.
“The man turned aside where there was a trail.”
Example of an adverbial clause preceding the main clause:
2. od soicí un èá çod fîzeµ swnidaziw sî.
Od soiŋị wn ṇạ ḷod fízeń sunidaziu sí.
For the reason [that] sun [there is] not SUB for that reason around the things [there is] like a pall.
“Because there is no sun, there is like a pall around the things.”
Example of a relative clause following the main clause:
3. fîzeµ swnidá im swnidyriteb sacgig saidyr sî.
Fízeń sunidạ im sunidyriteb saŋgig saidyr sí.
Around the things [there was] a pall SUB under that pall was darkening the daylight.
“There was a pall around the things, under which the daylight was darkening.”
Example of a relative clause preceding the main clause:
4. dok£onter ségæ àicon èá $ezonam wlêdh àiconizó sî.
Dokĺonter sǝgẹ ṃiŋon ṇạ cezonam ulédh ṃiŋonizọ sí.
Into [my] calf bit the dog SUB to the neighbour belongs that dog.
“The dog that bit my calf belongs to the neighbour.”
Reduction of the shared phrase
The adverb, the noun or the pronoun shared between the main and the subordinate clauses is usually omitted in one clause to avoid repetition. In the case of relative clauses, the shared noun may alternatively be replaced by a pronoun.
Example 1 usually becomes:
5. gùténùr xagá ab udé dobïcá sî.
Gœtǝnœr xagạ ab wdǝ dobúŋạ sí.
Turned aside the man SUB there [was] a trail.
or, with emphasis on tudé twdǝ “here”:
6. tudé gùténùr xagá a dobïcá sî.
Twdǝ gœtǝnœr xagạ a dobúŋạ sí.
Here turned aside the man SUB [there was] a trail.
Example 2 usually becomes:
7. soicí un èá çod fîzeµ swnidaziw sî.
Soiŋị wn ṇạ ḷod fízeń sunidaziu sí.
Sun [there is] not SUB for that reason around the things [there is] like a pall.
or, with emphasis on od od, which expresses causality:
8. od soicí un èá fîzeµ swnidaziw sî.
Od soiŋị wn ṇạ fízeń sunidaziu sí.
For the reason [that] sun [there is] not SUB around the things [there is] like a pall.
In example 3, the shared noun swnid sunid “pall” may be replaced by a pronoun in the relative clause:
9. fîzeµ swnidá im elwteb sacgig saidyr sî.
Fízeń sunidạ im eluteb saŋgig saidyr sí.
Around the things [there was] a pall SUB under that was darkening the daylight.
But it is far more common to omit the shared noun phrase and to replace the postposition -eb -eb “under” by the corresponding verb local prefix be- be-:
10. fîzeµ swnidá im besacgig saidyr sî.
Fízeń sunidạ im besaŋgig saidyr sí.
Around the things [there was] a pall SUB under was darkening the daylight.
In example 4, it is possible to substitute a pronoun for the shared noun àicon ṃiŋon “dog” in either the subordinate or the main clause:
11. dok£onter ségeçù èá $ezonam wlêdh àiconizó sî.
Dokĺonter sǝgeḷœ ṇạ cezonam ulédh ṃiŋonizọ sí.
Into [my] calf bit it SUB to the neighbour belongs that dog.
or:
12. dok£onter ségæ àicon èá $ezonam wlêdhéço sî.
Dokĺonter sǝgẹ ṃiŋon ṇạ cezonam ulédhǝḷo sí.
Into [my] calf bit the dog SUB to the neighbour belongs it.
However, in ordinary speech, the shared noun is simply omitted in the subordinate clause or, less usually, in the main clause:
13. dok£onter ségæ èá $ezonam wlêdh àiconizó sî.
Dokĺonter sǝgẹ ṇạ cezonam ulédh ṃiŋonizọ sí.
Into [my] calf bit SUB to the neighbour belongs that dog.
or:
14. dok£onter ségæ àicon èá $ezonam wlêdh sî.
Dokĺonter sǝgẹ ṃiŋon ṇạ cezonam ulédh sí.
Into [my] calf bit the dog SUB to the neighbour belongs.
Restrictive vs. non-restrictive subordination
The main distinction for adverbial and relative subordinate clauses is between restrictive and non-restrictive subordination. The restrictive subordinating particles are ab ab if the main clause comes first and èá ṇạ if this is the subordinate clause which comes first. The non-restrictive subordinating particles are im im if the main clause comes first and næ nẹ if it follows the subordinate clause. All these particles are preceded by a pause. They are proclitics and become respectively a a, èan ṇan, i i and nen nen before an incompatible phoneme.
Compare example 6
tudé gùténùr xagá a dobïcá sî.
Twdǝ gœtǝnœr xagạ a dobúŋạ sí.
“The man turned aside where there was a trail.” (restrictive)
with:
15. tudé gùténùr xagá i dobïcá sî.
Twdǝ gœtǝnœr xagạ i dobúŋạ sí.
“The man turned aside here, where there is a trail.” (non-restrictive)
and example 13
dok£onter ségæ èá $ezonam wlêdh àiconizó sî.
Dokĺonter sǝgẹ ṇạ cezonam ulédh ṃiŋonizọ sí.
“The dog that bit my calf belongs to the neighbour.” (restrictive)
with:
16. uré ségæ dok£onter næ $ezonam wlêdh àiconazó sî.
Wrǝ sǝgẹ dokĺonter nẹ cezonam ulédh ṃiŋonazọ sí.
One day bit into [my] calf SUB to the neighbour belongs this dog.
“This dog, who one day bit my calf, belongs to the neighbour.” (non-restrictive)
In the case of restrictive subordination, the head (provided it is not omitted) is ordinarily marked with a deictic in the main clause. If the subordinate clause follows the main clause, a close deictic is used. If the subordinate clause comes first, a remote deictic is used.
In example 6, the head adverb tudé twdǝ is marked with the close deictic t- t- referring to the following subordinate clause. In example 7, this is the remote deictic ç- ḷ- which is prefixed to the head adverb çod ḷod because it comes after the subordinate clause. In example 13, the remote deictic -í -ị is found in the head noun phrase àiconizó ṃiŋonizọ ṃiŋon-ị-zọ (-zọ is a case marker), referring to the preceding relative clause.
Non-restrictive subordinate clauses are not signalled by deictics. In example 16, the close deictic -á -ạ in àiconazó ṃiŋonazọ ṃiŋon-ạ-zọ “this dog” does not refer to the subordinate clause.
Though unusual and generally avoided, it is possible that a head adverb be fused with the restrictive particle ab ab. The resulting compound is equivalent to a subordinating conjunction.
Example of a subordinating conjunction:
17. kesêl tor àeda èêgedz whonôçon ezezögoréxyr sî.
Kesél tor ṃeda ṇégedz uhonóḷon ezezœ́gorǝxyr sí.
Immaculate [was] all as much as through [his] eyes he could see ahead.
“As far as his eyes could see, it was all immaculate.”
But it is more natural to disjunct àedé ṃedǝ from ab ab:
18. kesêl tor àedédar a èêgedz whonôçon ezezögoréxyr sî.
Kesél tor ṃedǝdar a ṇégedz uhonóḷon ezezœ́gorǝxyr sí.
Immaculate [was] all as much at least as through [his] eyes he could see ahead.
A completive subordinate clause may follow, precede or be embedded within the main clause. It is marked by a subordinating particle placed between the main and the subordinate clauses if the main clause comes first, or between the subordinate and the main clauses if the subordinate clause comes first. It may not be omitted.
For completive subordinate clauses, the essential distinction is between object and subject clauses. If the main clause comes first, the subordinating particles are uz wz for object clauses and ub wb for subject clauses. If the main clause follows the subordinate clause, the subordinating particles are ôz óz for object clauses and ôb ób for subject clauses. All these particles are preceded by a pause and are proclitics. Before an incompatible phoneme, both uz wz and ub wb become u w and both ôz óz and ôb ób become ô ó.
Example of an object clause following the main clause:
19.
The object clause may also precede the main clause:
20.
Example of a subject clause following the main clause:
21.
The subject clause may also precede the main clause:
20.
The subject of an object clause is liable to anaphora/prolepsis. It is then put at the beginning of the sentence, then followed by ôz óz then the main verb and the rest of the subordinate clause treated as a relative and introduced by ab ab.
Example without prolepsis
Same example with prolepsis
Word-by-word translation
When a subordinate clause is embedded within the main clause, the particle hid hid is used after the subordinate clause for resumption of the main clause. As other subordinating particles, hid is a proclitic and may not be omitted.
Examples of embedded subordinate clauses
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