Chamling Verb Morphology
Date
2015
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Central Department of Linguistics
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.
Description
Keywords
Chamling language, Verb morphology