Chamling Verb Morphology

Abstract

The present study is an attempt to analyze the verbal morphology in Chamling. This study contains four chapters. The first chapter deals with the general introduction to the study. The second chapter deals with inflectional morphology. Likewise, the third chapter deals with derivational morphology. The last chapter deals with summary and findings. Chamling is a pronominalized Kiranti language which comes under Sino-Tibetan language family. It is mostly spoken in the Khotang and Udayapur districts. The verb morphology in Chamling is morphologically complex. Under inflectional morphology, different variable and invariable stems with stem alternation in the root final of the verb stems. The verb 'hiŋe' states locational and existential functions. The three types of verbs: verb 'to be' complement verb and identificational verb have been dealt. Identificational verb is realized only in negative sentences. The verbal affixes in Chamling are of three types: prefixes, suffixes and infix. The suffixes <-əῖ>, <-õ>, <-yo>, and <-e> are non-past tense markers and the suffixes <-uŋa>, <-a> and <-koʈhio> (It might have been borrowed from Nepali) are past tense marker in some cases only. In most cases, the past tense is unmarked. The dual marker is <-ci~-c>, the exclusive marker is <-ka> and the second person plural marker is <-ni>. The prefix < ʈa–> and <pa–> are second and third person markers. The suffix <-əĩc> is a reflexive marker and the suffix <-ŋas> is a progressive marker. The morpheme <na> is used in 1→2 configuration.

Under derivational morphology, The <-məiɖ> makes the verb causative. The consonants /ʈ/ and /ɖ/ are added to make intransitive verbs transitive. The noun incorporation is formulated as [X] noun + [Y] verb = [X Y] verb and verb compounding is formed as verb + verb = compound verb.