Urim grammar

by

Ritva Hemmilä and Pirkko Luoma

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Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................... 7
1.1. BRIEF SUMMARY OF URIM PHONOLOGY ................................................................................................................... 7
1.1.1. Phonemic and Orthographic Inventory............................................................................................................... 7
1.1.2. Consonants .......................................................................................................................................................... 7
1.1.3. Vowels ................................................................................................................................................................. 9
1.1.4. Syllable Patterns ............................................................................................................................................... 10
1.1.5. Stress in Urim.................................................................................................................................................... 10
1.1.6. About Orthography............................................................................................................................................ 11
1.2. URIM MORPHOPHONEMIC RULES............................................................................................................................ 11
1.2.1. Insertion Rules: ................................................................................................................................................. 11
1.2.2. Deletion Rules ................................................................................................................................................... 15
1.2.3. Assimilation Rules ............................................................................................................................................. 16
1.2.4. Dissimilation Rules: .......................................................................................................................................... 17
1.2.5. Re-syllabifications ............................................................................................................................................. 18
1.2.6. The Ordering of Rules ....................................................................................................................................... 18
1.2.7. About Application of Rules................................................................................................................................ 19
2. WORD CLASSES AND MORPHOLOGY ................................................................................................................. 20
2.1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................................... 20
2.2. VERBS AND THEIR MORPHOLOGY .......................................................................................................................... 21
2.2.1. Realis-Irrealis Mode.......................................................................................................................................... 22
2.2.2. Reduplication of Verb Stems to Encode Imperfective Aspect: i.e, Repeated, Continual, or Habitual Action ... 25
2.2.3. Imperfective Aspect Suffix -e ............................................................................................................................. 26
2.2.4. The Applicative Suffix-(e)n ................................................................................................................................ 28
2.2.5. Applicative Construction Indicating Dative-Shift ............................................................................................. 29
2.2.6. Other functions of the applicative suffix -(e)n ................................................................................................... 29
2.3. NOUNS .................................................................................................................................................................... 31
2.3.1. Important Semantic Classes of Nouns ............................................................................................................... 31
2.3.2. Plurality............................................................................................................................................................. 36
2.3.3. Lack of Nominalized Forms............................................................................................................................... 38
2.4. PRO-FORMS ............................................................................................................................................................. 39
2.4.1. Pronouns (Pro-NPs).......................................................................................................................................... 39
2.4.2. Interrogative Pro-forms .................................................................................................................................... 48
2.5. PREPOSITIONS ......................................................................................................................................................... 50
2.5.1. Paucity of Urim Prepositions Compensated for by Serialized Constructions ................................................... 51
2.6. ADJECTIVES ............................................................................................................................................................ 58
2.6.1. Underived Adjectives......................................................................................................................................... 58
2.6.2. Derived Adjectives............................................................................................................................................. 60
2.6.3. Comparison of Adjectives.................................................................................................................................. 66
2.7. ADVERBS ................................................................................................................................................................ 69
2.7.1. Temporal Adverbs ............................................................................................................................................. 69
2.7.2. Manner Adverbs and Frequentative Temporal Adverbs.................................................................................... 72
2.7.3. Locative Adverbs ............................................................................................................................................... 75
2.7.4. Negation ............................................................................................................................................................ 75
2.7.5. Modal Adverbs .................................................................................................................................................. 77
2.7.6. Degree Adverbs ................................................................................................................................................. 79
2.7.7. Aspectual Adverbs and Other Aspectual Constructions .................................................................................... 79
2.8. QUANTIFIERS .......................................................................................................................................................... 82
2.8.1. Numerals ........................................................................................................................................................... 82
2.8.2. Non-Numeric Quantifiers .................................................................................................................................. 84
2.9. DEMONSTRATIVES .................................................................................................................................................. 90
2.9.1. The far demonstrative pa................................................................................................................................... 90
2.9.2. The Near Demonstrative ti ................................................................................................................................ 93
2.9.3. The Personal Pronoun kil as Demonstrative..................................................................................................... 94
2.9.4. The Remote Demonstrative ai as a Pronoun and its Other Functions .............................................................. 94
2.9.5. Verb plus Demonstrative Adverb Constructions ............................................................................................... 99
2.9.6. A list showing some of the many possible combinations of the deictics pa, ti, kil, ai and indefinite ur with
various types of NPs: ..................................................................................................................................................... 100
2.10. CONJUNCTIONS AND OTHER CONJUNCTIVE FORMS .............................................................................................. 101
2.10.1. The Place of Conjunctions.......................................................................................................................... 104
2.11. INTERJECTIONS ..................................................................................................................................................... 105
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2.12. COMPOUNDING ..................................................................................................................................................... 106
2.12.1. The Problem of Word Boundaries in Urim................................................................................................. 106
2.12.2. Compound Nouns ....................................................................................................................................... 110
2.12.3. Compound Verbs ........................................................................................................................................ 111
2.12.4. Other Types of Compounds ........................................................................................................................ 113
2.13. REDUPLICATION AND REPETITION IN URIM .......................................................................................................... 114
2.13.1. The Forms of Reduplication ....................................................................................................................... 114
2.13.2. The Functions of Reduplication.................................................................................................................. 115
3. URIM PHRASE STRUCTURE ................................................................................................................................. 122
3.1. OVERALL STRUCTURE OF THE URIM NOUN PHRASE ............................................................................................. 122
3.1.1 Noun Complexes.............................................................................................................................................. 124
3.1.2. Adjectives and Quantifiers in the Noun Phrase............................................................................................... 129
3.1.3. Appositional Noun Phrases ............................................................................................................................. 130
3.1.4. Relative Clause................................................................................................................................................ 130
3.1.5. Co-ordinated Noun Phrases ............................................................................................................................ 138
3.2. OTHER NOMINAL PHRASES ................................................................................................................................... 138
3.2.1. Adjectival and Adverbial Phrases ................................................................................................................... 138
3.2.2. Numeral Phrases ............................................................................................................................................. 139
3.2.3. Pronoun Phrases ............................................................................................................................................. 140
3.2.4. Prepositional Phrases ..................................................................................................................................... 141
3.3. LINKING OF PHRASES ............................................................................................................................................ 142
Additive Conjunction a .................................................................................................................................................. 142
Coordinated phrases (and words) without any markers................................................................................................ 143
Dual pronouns connecting NPs ..................................................................................................................................... 143
Accompaniment linking ................................................................................................................................................. 144
Disjunctive nominal phrases.......................................................................................................................................... 145
3.4. WHAT IS VERB PHRASE IN URIM?......................................................................................................................... 146
3.4.1. Negation .......................................................................................................................................................... 146
3.4.2. Time words ...................................................................................................................................................... 147
3.4.3. Modal particles ............................................................................................................................................... 148
3.4.4. Serial structures .............................................................................................................................................. 150
4. URIM BASIC CLAUSE TYPES ................................................................................................................................ 152
4.1. INTRODUCTION AND CHART OF CLAUSE TYPES .................................................................................................... 152
4.2. INTRANSITIVE CLAUSES ........................................................................................................................................ 155
4.2.1. Time Clauses ................................................................................................................................................... 156
4.2.2. Clauses Predicating Existence ........................................................................................................................ 157
4.3. SEMITRANSITIVE CLAUSES ................................................................................................................................... 158
4.3.1. Directioned Motion Clause ............................................................................................................................. 159
4.3.2. Locative Clause ............................................................................................................................................... 160
4.3.3. Resultative Clause ........................................................................................................................................... 161
4.4. TRANSITIVE CLAUSES ........................................................................................................................................... 162
4.4.1. Monotransitive Clauses................................................................................................................................... 162
4.4.2. Ditransitive Clauses ........................................................................................................................................ 163
4.5. NOMINAL CLAUSES .............................................................................................................................................. 164
4.5.1. Equative Clause............................................................................................................................................... 164
4.5.2. Descriptive Clause .......................................................................................................................................... 165
4.6. TOPIC CLAUSES .................................................................................................................................................... 166
4.6.1. Possessive Clause............................................................................................................................................ 167
4.6.2. Experience Clause........................................................................................................................................... 168
4.7. TYPOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS .......................................................................................................................... 169
5. COMPLEX SENTENCES .......................................................................................................................................... 172
5.1. RELATIVE CLAUSES............................................................................................................................................... 172
5.1.1. The form of relative clauses in Urim ............................................................................................................... 172
5.1.2. Syntactic role of the relative noun within the relative clause.......................................................................... 173
5.1.3. Functions of relative clauses in Urim.............................................................................................................. 175
5.2. COMPLEMENT CLAUSES ........................................................................................................................................ 177
5.2.1. About lexical and clausal nominalization in Urim .......................................................................................... 177
5.2.2. Clausal objects ................................................................................................................................................ 180
5.3. ADVERBIAL CLAUSES ........................................................................................................................................... 186
5.3.1. Time clauses .................................................................................................................................................... 186
5.3.2. Manner adverbial clauses ............................................................................................................................... 187
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5.3.3. Locative adverbial clauses:............................................................................................................................. 189
5.3.4. Purpose-reason clauses marked by eng .......................................................................................................... 189
5.3.5. Strong reason: eng ntei .................................................................................................................................. 193
5.3.6. ‘Negative’ reason: atnen (a) ‘because of, fault of’.......................................................................................... 194
5.4. SERIAL VERB CONSTRUCTIONS ............................................................................................................................ 195
5.4.1. The four functions of serial verb constructions in Urim.................................................................................. 197
5.4.2. Serial structures and lexicalization ................................................................................................................. 206
5.4.3. Examples of complex serial structures:........................................................................................................... 207
5.5. URIM CONJUNCTIONS ............................................................................................................................................ 207
5.5.1. Additive conjunction (w)a ............................................................................................................................... 208
5.5.2. Non-serialized clauses conjoined without any overt conjunction.................................................................... 209
5.5.3. Disjunctive / Alternative conjunction aki ‘or’ ................................................................................................. 210
5.5.4. Adversative / Contrastive conjunctions: ari and pake..................................................................................... 211
5.5.5. Temporal connectives...................................................................................................................................... 216
5.5.6. Causative conjunctions pa, ti, and combinations ............................................................................................ 222
5.5.7. The conditional conjunction pipa.................................................................................................................... 232
5.6. COMPARATIVE AND HYPOTHETICAL USES OF KOL, KOLEN ..................................................................................... 233
5.6.1. Kol(en) functioning as a preposition or complementizer expressing similarity .............................................. 234
5.6.2. Hypothetical kol and kolen in conditional sentences: ..................................................................................... 236
5.7. TAIL-HEAD LINKAGE ............................................................................................................................................. 239
6. ABOUT URIM DISCOURSE..................................................................................................................................... 242
6.1. WORD ORDER VARIATIONS AND DISLOCATIONS .................................................................................................. 242
6.1.1. Moving of subject after verb............................................................................................................................ 243
6.1.2. Object fronting ................................................................................................................................................ 243
6.1.3. Left Dislocation ............................................................................................................................................... 245
6.2. TRACKING OF PARTICIPANTS AND TOPICS—THE FUNCTIONS OF ANAPHORA ......................................................... 247
6.2.1. Introducing new participants and referents to discourse ................................................................................ 247
6.2.2. Tracking participants and maintaining topics; anaphora............................................................................... 250
6.2.3. The use of pa with pronouns to mark changing topic...................................................................................... 251
6.2.4. Uses of zero-anaphora in Urim....................................................................................................................... 252
7. ‘THEY WERE ASHAMED, AND THEREFORE WENT ...’TEXTS .................................................................... 254
7. TEXTS .......................................................................................................................................................................... 255
7.1. WAMPUNG ............................................................................................................................................................ 255
7.2. WAMPUNG ............................................................................................................................................................ 258
7.3. DAVID KAI UKARUMPA ...................................................................................................................................... 261
8. BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................................................................ 267
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Abbreviations
ADJ adjective-forming suffix
ADV adverb-forming suffix
AP adjectival phrase
ATR attributive modifier
BEN benefactive
C conjunction
CMP completive aspect
CNT continuative aspect
D definite
DIM diminutive
DIR directional
EMP emphatic
FUT future
G genitive
HES hesitation word
HYP hypothetical
ID indefinite
IMP imperative
IN instrument
INT intention
IO indirect object
IR irrealis
L locative object
LOC locative/directional clitic
M/ MAN manner preposition
NEG negative
NP noun phrase
N.Past near past
O Object
OBL Oblique marker
P predicate
PERF perfective aspect
POS possessive
Prep preposition
PUR purpose
Quant quantifier
REL relative pronoun
REC reciprocative
RED reduplication
S subject
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T topic
TR transitivizer
V verb
Vitr intransitive verb
Vtr transitive verb
Ve existential verb
Vm motion verb

Pronouns:
du dual
pauc paucal
pl plural
sg singular
Inc inclusive
Exc exclusive
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1. Introduction
Urim is a non-Austronesian language spoken in Papua New Guinea. Laycock (1973) classifies it as a
stock-level isolate of the Torricelli Phylum. It is spoken by about 3400 people, who live in 16 villages
in the southern foothills of the Torricelli Mountains. Twelve of the villages are located south of the
Sepic Highway, and one is north of the highway, in the Maprik Sub-District of East Sepik Province. The
remaining three of the villages are located west of the Bongos River in the Nuku Sub-District of the
West Sepik Province. The villages west of the Bongos River speak the Kukwo dialect, and the villages
east of the Bongos River speak the main Urim dialect (also called Yangkolen by the Kukwo people).
The Urim language has also been called Kalp, which comes from the word kalpm ‘no’ in the Kukwo
dialect.

Earlier linguistic work on Urim was done by Glasgow and Loving (1964) and D.C. Laycock (1966 and
1973). The authors entered the area in 1979 under the auspices ot the Summer Institute of Linguistics
The data for this paper were collected mainly between 1980 – 1995 in the village of Laningwap. The
data includes a corpus of about 40 spoken and written texts along with some elicited material. The team
participated in a grammar analysis seminar at the S.I.L. center in Ukarumpa in 1981. Their consultants
were Robert Bugenhagen and Robert Conrad. Pirkko Luoma participated in a second grammar analysis
seminar in 1993 and was greatly helped by her consultant Robert Bugenhagen. Paul Heinemann also
provided many valuable suggestions and helped with the formatting of the paper.
This grammar consists of three parts that have been written independently from each other. The first
part, chapters 1 to 3, was written by Pirkko Luoma with some additions by Ritva Hemmilä. Chapter 4 is
an unpublished article written by Ritva Hemmilä in 1984. Chapters 5 and 6 were written by Ritva
Hemmilä with some corrections and additions by Pirkko Luoma.

1.1. Brief Summary of Urim Phonology

1.1.1. Phonemic and Orthographic Inventory
 : e e: i i: k l m pm n tn  k o o: p r s t u u: w j h
a a e e i i k l m pm n tn ng kg o o p r s t u u w y
A A E E I I K LM N Ng O O P R S T U U W Y

1.1.2. Consonants
Bilab LabDen Dental Alveo Postalv Retro Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyn Glottal
Plosive p t k
Nasal m n 
Trill r
Tap/Flap
Fricative s h
Lateral
Fricative
Approx j
Lateral l
Approx
Ejective
Stop
Implos

/w/ voiced labial-velar approximant

/pm/ prestopped bilabial nasal
/tn/ prestopped alveolar nasal
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k
/ / prestopped velar nasal

p por 'story' r rep 'wild pandanus'

yapo 'to tie' tarel 'frog sp.'
wap 'tree sp.' yar 'sorcerer'
pringil 'part of a hook' krong 'mountain'
plulplel 'to turn around' arm 'to sow'
melp 'wasp' armpen 'to buy'
yaprekg 'smell' amprepm 'dry coconut leaf'
talpuk 'branch' arkul 'to catch'
makrep 'tree sp.'
p
m -
paipmel 'badly' s sulm 'orange sp.'
kipm 'you (plural)' asen 'to ask'
kipmteng 'you (paucal)' wes 'stone'
arpmen 'to watch' pispus 'to pop'
walpm 'liver' kansim 'to sweep'

m ma 'milk, breast' l lan 'to boil (water)'

amo 'to die' male 'cave'
lim 'nose' wel 'bird'
ampen 'breadfruit' plan 'to show'
kirmai 'plant sp.' palk 'skin'
almpen 'to mash' plalplal 'hang swinging'
yelm 'earthquake' almpil 'to turn around'
anelkgen 'untie'
angkleikg 'count'
w wan 'house'
yawor 'pork'
- k ka 'grasshopper'
kwap 'work' raku 'to give birth'
akwe 'to call' wak 'plant sp.'
kalkwon 'to knock' klak 'to wash'
werk 'feather'
t tam 'beetle sp.' akle 'to scold'
ata ‘only' karkuk 'to have a bath'
yat 'also, enough' angkli 'to throw'
trum 'silk cotton' tirktorket 'weak'
kotwang 'big axe'
manto 'pig' k
 -
yatman 'pairless' wakget 'hot'
wakg 'fire'
t
n - walkget 'hairy'
atnen 'because' takgni 'sun'
hatn 'walk, roam'
kruitnkruitn 'to crowl'  -
angen 'to win'
n nim 'slit drum' wang 'time'
wanukg 'greens' plalng 'finished'
yan 'father' elngen 'to stop'
wanteng 'rattan' angken 'to pick'
tulntul 'run' ungkwan 'to chase away'
kuin 'middle' plalngten 'all'

h or 'to come out or in'

(comp. or 'hit')
-
-
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j yul 'fish' wanyun 'door'
wayu 'taro' wrikya 'things, belongings'
-

1.1.3. Vowels
i u

e o

/ii/ /ee/ // /oo/ /uu/ /ei/ /i/ /oi/ /ui/

Vowel length seems to be phonemic in one-syllable words. Minimal pairs have been found between
// - // and /e/ -/e/ and /i/-/i:/. Examples: /w/ 'time', /w:/ 'tree trunk, middle part
of', /n/ 'name', /n:/ 'ridge', /hen/ 'wild sago', /he:n/ 'outside', /pir/ ‘noon’, /pi:r/ ‘to run’.

i ilm 'to shoot (irrealis)'

ngko 'fall (irrealis)' ii inowis ’funny’ [hinowis]
kil 'he/she'
kin ’woman’
wapin 'lizard (generic)'
weti 'now' witnin ’louse’
io 'to droop from side to side'
wail 'big'
ee -
e elng 'to put' hen ‘outside’
mel 'person' -
akle 'to scold'
preul 'yam type'  al ‘eat’
meen 'slowly' [mehe:n] wang ‘tree trunk, middle part of’
-
u ur 'indef. pronoun; one'
wris 'one'
mpu 'half, piece' [umpu] ei ei 'yes'
hul 'snake (generic)' keipmung 'tree sp.'
tu 'they' arein 'grieve, be sorry'
atnuurng 'to leave' [tnuhur] ampei 'vine (generic)'
maur 'spirit'
i aimol 'banana sp.'
o ok 'mouth' kaimung 'cococnut shell'
kainil 'moon'
ros 'tight, crowded'
mainmainen 'push to do something'
ko 'axe'
waiwai 'be hot, have fever'
io 'to droop from side to side'
kai 'to go'
moo 'pig trail' [moho]

ui muikgmayen 'sister'
 atne 'stay (habitually, long time); perform
muinwror 'brother'
magic'
komuin 'axe'
itna 'stand, stay'
melp kruruitn 'wasp grubs'
pal 'woven sago mat'
okipma 'food'
mai 'to gather into arms' [mhi] oi kroitnimpon 'grass sp.'
naurk 'mango' kwei poin 'yam type'
marmungkoin 'starfruit’
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1.1.4. Syllable Patterns

V a 'gen.mk' a.kor 'to look for' ilpm.a.ak 'lazy' i.o 'to droop, slumber'
ai 'loc.mk' ai.mol 'banana sp.' wan.ai 'to the house'
VC ok 'mouth' al.meng 'broom' al.al.el 'tossed it' ma.ur 'spirit'
aip 'lid' aim.po 'coconut shredder' aur.aur 'al kinds of'
VCC elng 'put' arm.pen 'to buy' ak.alm.pe 'to pay back' u.pa.arng 'to cover'
CV yo 'tree' na.mung 'banana' ku.ku.la 'light' a.wi 'to take, get'
kai 'to go' kai.nil 'moon' am.pei 'vine, rope'
CVC lim 'nose' kam.pel 'cut branch' a.kupm.en 'mine' ta.por 'to break'
kuin 'middle' waim.plu 'vine sp.' keim.keim.pet 'plant sp.' a.rein 'to be sorry'
CVCC kirk 'grave' walm.popm 'blood' kirng.kirng.ket 'close to' ng.kark 'to be afraid'
CCV kla 'mark' kro.wis 'sour' n.tra.wel 'strike him' ang.kli 'to throw away'
kwei 'yam' klei.nuk 'meteor' ang.klei.wel ‘swallow it’ kwei.kwei 'things, pl.mk’

CCVC klak 'to wash' klom.pis 'numb' ung.kwan.tel 'chase him' ang.klin 'to help'
kraik 'plant sp.' klaing.kil 'shred, piece' ang.kweing.en 'insisting' am.preing 'distribute'
CCVCC plelng 'to turn' plalng.ten 'all' krirng.krurng.ket 'clattering' kwelng.kwelng 'to whine'

1.1.5. Stress in Urim

Stressed vowels are usually longer, louder and less ballistic than the unstressed vowels. (Stress
has to have at least two of these features.) Stress is assigned to the word on the basis on the relative
height of the vowels involved. The stress is assigned to the vowel in the word that is the most open,
or to the second/last vowel if they are equally open.
The phonetic components of word stress are length (of vowel or whole syllable) and intensity.
Pitch is not a component of stress but functions independently at the clause level. This makes it
somewhat difficult to analyse the stress of words in isolation in Urim. Usually stress falls on the first
or second syllable of the word. The suffixes ( –e, -en, etc.) never get stress.
/’topen/ <atopen> ‘to rejoice’
/’k:mu/ <ikgamu> ‘greens sp.’
/’tlpuk/ <talpuk> ‘tree branch’
/u’ri:pm/ <wripm> ‘wind’
/’tpon/ <tapon> ‘wring’
/ti’pon/ <tipon< ‘wring (irrealis)’1
Certain morphological and phonologial features seem to co-occur with word stress in Urim.
Morphemic length of vowels and glides usually occur only in stressed syllables, and the vowels of
stressed syllables often are phonetically long.
In unstressed syllables preceding the stressed syllables, all vowels nearly always get reduced.
Reduced means that the full vowel /e, , o, u/ becomes centralized, short, sometimes phonetically
non-existent or sometimes it takes on the qualities of the stressed vowel following. This reduction
rule only operates inside the morpheme not over morpheme boundaries (except in a few strongly

1 A phonetic analysis of tapon and tipon was made at Turku Univerity Phonetic Department 1984. It was found that in
irrealis form the vowel shortens so much that the vowel disappears altogether phonetically. The pitch and intensity
contours instead are similar in both words.
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lexicalized cases like pipa /p-p/ [p’pa] 'if'. Compare the following examples: rmpa /rmp/
[rmp] 'lie', armpen /rm-en/ [rmpen] 'buy'.
Pitch and length are the main phonetic components clause and sentence intonation. Higher pitch
and lengthening of vowel mark interrogative clauses. Same features also occur at the end of tail-head
lingkages: .... kil rpma [rpma:]. Kil rpma [rpma::]...... ‘...... he stayed. He stayed and ....’.
Normally clause rhytm places the main stress to stressed syllables of words, but interrogatives and
tail-head lingkages are exceptions.
1.1.6. About Orthography
The phoneme /h/ is marginal. There are few one syllable minimal pairs that could be confusing
but usually the context helps to determine the right meaning. Therefore /h/ is not written in the
practical orthography.
<or> [o:r] ‘beat’ <or> [ho(:)r] ‘go,come in/out’
<am> [m] ‚now’ <am> [hm] ’hide’
<a> [] ‘and, REL’ <a> [h:] ‘wander’

The reduced vowel [] is handled in the orthography in two different ways: it is not symbolized
at all, or it is symbolized either with <i> or <u>.

Another area is the writing of [w(u) - u] word initially in an unstressed syllable. In the present
orthography word initial /u/ is usually written by < w >, especially if the next syllable starts with /r/
or /l/: wris /uris/ [uris wris wuris] 'one', wlikg [ulik  wulik] 'spittle'. In some
cases, like wris /uris/ above, the sound is also phonemically /u/, since the word derives from ur
[ur] 'one'. Closed syllables starting with [wu] are usually written by < wu > to avoid complex
consonant sequences: wulkga 'unripe', wurpmungen 'bushy'. Word initial /wu/ is written with <wu>
is the following syllable has /u/, and <wi> if the following syllable has any other vowel.
The orthography used in this paper differs a little from Urim practical orthography in that the
marginal phoneme /h/ and palatalization after vowel /i/ are overtly indicated (hokg ‘to sleep’, angkliin
‘to help’). In the present orthography they are not indicated.

1.2. Urim Morphophonemic Rules

1.2.1. Insertion Rules:
Rule 1. Morpheme final /m/, /n/, or /n/ have homorganic voiceless stops [p], [t], or [k] inserted
after them, if the following morpheme begins with a vowel, /h/, /w/, /y/, or /r/.

V
m ------------> mp w
n ------------> nt / ---------- + h
 -------------> k y
r
These rules apply both at morpheme boundaries and across word boundaries, but there are several
restrictions and exceptions:
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--The rule always applies between the verb (suffixed or not) and object pronominal clitics. In this
environment even the phonemes /pm/, /tn/ and /k/ and the palatalized [n] can get homorganic
clusives after them, but not always. Palatalized [n] changes [t] into [ts] as the rule 7 states.

nam-popm ‘bit me’

antin-topm ‘measured me’
talpulng-kel ‘drive him away’

ingkliin-topm [iklintopm] ‘help me!

help:IR-1sgO

elng-kirmpa (or elng-tirmpa)

put-sit ‘put somewhere’

- The rule almost always applies before nominal suffixes -is ‘attributive modifier’ and –et
‘attributive modifier’, and verbal suffix –en ‘applicative’. (Here it is not applied after palatalized
[n].)

pung-kis /pu-is/ ‘yellow’

ikg-wam-pet /ik-wm-pet/ ‘stealing’
look-hand-ADJ
wunong-ket /wuno-et/ ‘easy’
yo tilpming-ket /jo tilpmi-et/ ‘tree sp.’
karpon-tet /krpon-et/ ‘sticky’
stick-ADJ
alm-pen /lm-en/ ‘stir’
hit-TR
ain-et /in-et/ ‘hairy’
whiskers-ADJ

- The rule does not apply, if the syllable before the suffix is unstressed:
ampen-et /’mpen-et/ ‘slowly’
kapring-en /’kpri-en/ ‘round up game’

-- The rule does not apply when the noun suffix -en or other enclitics (locative ai and imperative
o) are attached to the word.

wunog-en ‘openly’
tilpming-en ‘wild, untamed’
yo tukgun-en ‘fruit-bearing tree’
tree ripe-ATR
hu kitnong-en ‘rain water’
 13

water sky-ATR
wang-en ‘middle one’
alung om ‘pour now!’
pour IMP.now
anong ai ‘to the village’
village remote
a-men-en ‘ours’
G-1pl-ATR

- The rule almost always applies in reduplicated words, compounds and noun complexes. The
more lexicalized and common the construction is, the more regularly the rule applies. In more loose
idioms and phrases the rule applies optionally depending on the speed of pronunciation.

nungk-wor /nu-wor/ ‘dry’

nump-ya /num-j/ ‘vagina’
body-road
wamp-arpm-e /wm-rpm-e/ ‘to hold (with hands)’
wamp-wam /wm-wm/ ‘ten’
Yant-am /jn-hm/ ‘a name’
father-hide

wont-rakol-e /won-rkol-e/ ‘to remember’

inside-break-TR
alm alm [lmp-lm] ‘shot and shot’
lelng-lelng [lelklel] ‘wriggle’
wrong wail [wrokwil] ‘crowd, people’
crowd big
num alkil [numlkil,numplkil] ‘his skin’ (rapid speech)
alung hu [luku:] ‘pours water’ (rapid speech)
tom rokopm [tomprokopm] ‘my backside hurts’ (rapid speech)
Rule 2. At morpheme boundaries a homorganic nasal is inserted before voiceless stops, if the
preceding morpheme ends with a vowel or /l/.

p -----------> mp V
t -----------> nt / + -------------
k -----------> nk l

This rule applies over morpheme boundaries in compound words and over word boundaries in
idiomatic expressions and reduplicated phrases. In orthography inserted nasal is usually written
inside a phonological word.

ipmampeipm/ [p’mmpeipm] ‘navel cord’

 14

aln-tu [’lntu] ‘their’ (emphatic)

kaing-kai [’kiki] ‘keep going’
kaing-kul [’kikul] ‘crossways’
itna kai Awon [’tnki] ‘is in Awon’
stand go Awon
Restrictions: The rule does not apply after an unstressed syllable:

‘ela kai mpang ‘is situated in the woods’

Possibly there are also other restrictions, since examples of this rule are comparatively few.

Rule 3. A semivowel /w/ is usually inserted between vowels at morpheme breaks, if the second
morpheme is a one-syllabic suffix or a bound personal pronoun. The semivowel /j/ is used instead of
/w/ if the phonetic features of the preceding word make pronunciation of /w/ more difficult (for
example, if the preceding syllable has /w/ already).

Orthographic form Phonemic form Gloss

ari-we /ri-e/ ‘know’

ela-we /el-e/ ‘be full’
aye-wo /je-o/ ‘brought us’
titno-wen /titno-en/ ‘crazy’
hiino-wis /hiino-is/ ‘funny’
hu-wet /hu-et/ ‘wet’
ak awi-ye /:k wi-e/ ‘to each’
awi-yel /wi-el/ ‘take it!’

When the second morpheme is a clitic, or if the rule is applied between word boundaries in rapid
speech, the inserted consonant tends to be /j/ after /i/, and /h/ if the preceding syllable has /w/ already.

Native speakers tend to write only those inserted semivowels that occur inside the phonological
word. The inserted semivowels between a bound personal pronoun and word are written but the
inserted sounds occurring between a clitic and word are not written:

Orthographic form Phonemic form Phonetic form Gloss

rpmi o! /irpmi o/ [r’pmijo] ‘sit!’

kai-no ai /kino i/ [’knowi] ‘up there’
kai ai /ki i/ [’kji] ‘over there’
ari-we o /ri-e o/ [ri’weho:] ‘look out!’
angklei o /klei o/ [’kleiho: / kleijo:]
‘swallow!’
hi ai /hi i/ [’hiji/’hihi] ‘never mind’
 15

When the rule is applied optionally between words in rapid speech the inserted consonant is more
often [h] than [w] or [j]. The Laningwap dialect tends to have more inserted [h] sounds, Yakrumpok
uses more the semivowel [w]. Laningwap people say that old people use more [h].
Orthographic form Phonetic form Gloss
kai are yo [kihre jo:] ‘went and cut trees’
ak ilkim [khlkim] ‘dug a hole’
rpma anong [rpm:hno] ‘stays in the village’

Rule 4. A transitional vowel is usually inserted between consonants at morpheme boundaries, if

these consonants do not combine with each other within a word. The vowel is typically an unstressed
central vowel [] alternating with [] and [e].

Ø ---------> V / C + ------------- + C
Orthographic form Phonemic form Phonetic form Gloss
wangnim /w-nim/ [wnim] ‘vine sp.’
kitn la /kitn l/ [kitnel:] ‘you say’
Kin-ling /kiin-li/ [kineli] ‘a name’

This rule applies always within a phonological word, and optionally within phrases or clauses.
1.2.2. Deletion Rules
Rule 5. If two vowels occur at word or root boundaries the second one is usually deleted.
V -----------> Ø / V + ------------ + V
Orthographic form Phonemic form Phonetic form Gloss

yo ok /jo ok/ [jo:k] ‘tree fruit’

ake-nti-we /ke nti-e/ [:kentiwe] ‘not enough, cannot’
pa angkat-en /p kt-en/ [pkten] ‘and carrying’
wulmpa arpm-e /wulmp rpm-e/ [wulmprpme:] ‘look out’

This rule does not apply when suffixes or clitics are attached to words. In those cases rule 3 is applied
instead.

Exceptions:
When bound pronoun is added to the verb la naki ‘tell’, first vowel is deleted:

Orthographic form Phonemic form Phonetic form Gloss

/l nki-etn/ [l:nketn] la nak-etn ‘told to you’

When the habitual-continuative suffix -e is added to the four existential verbs rpma, itna, rka, and
rmpa, the first vowel is deleted instead of the second.
 16

Orthographic form Phonemic form Phonetic form Gloss

/rpm-e/ [rpme:] arpm-e ‘sit habitually’
/rk-e/ [rk:e:] ark-e ‘occupy; bear fruit’

Rule 6. Morpheme-initial consonants /w/ and /h/ tend to be deleted in compound words, reduplications
and often also in phrases. When the deletion happens inside a phonological word, it is usually also
written.

Orthographic form Phonemic form Phonetic form Gloss

/k hu-el hu-el/ [k hu:weluwel] ak hu-wel hu-wel ‘walk in rain’
/hel-hel/ [helel] hel-el ‘desire, crave’
p
/mkres-hipm/ [mkresi m] makres-ipm ‘fan (of makres-tree
leaves’
/kul hor/ [kulor] kul hor ‘come outside’
/titl hm/ [ttlm] tital ham ‘altogether lost’
/wm-wsen/ [wmsen] wam-asen ‘arm’

1.2.3. Assimilation Rules

Rule 7. Palatalization rules:

a) The consonants /n/ and /tn/ are palatalized following the vowel /i/ and diphthongs /ai/, /ei/, /oi/,
/ui/. In the process the second vowel of the diphthong /i/ is lost.
b) If a morpheme starting with /t/ or /k/ follows a nasal, it loses its palatalization and the clusive
changes into an affricate or //.
This rule always applies over morpheme boundaries inside a stem, nearly always inside a compound
or phrase, and elsewhere only in rapid speech.

Orthographic form Phonemic form Phonetic form Gloss

ampriin /mpri-n/ [mbri:n] ‘hinder’

kai-no /ki-no/ [kno:] ‘go up’
kitn ti /kitn ti/ [kitnti] ‘you here’
pain tingkil /pin tikil/ [p:ntkil] ‘toilet pit’
kin-kipman /kin-kipmn/ [ki:ntpmn] ‘people, a couple’
akwin-sopm /kwin-opm/ [:kwinopm] ‘teased me’

Rule 8. Glide strengthening. When the consonant cluster /nj/ occurs over morpheme boundaries
inside a word, the phoneme /j/ changes into /s/, /ts/, or /z/. The rule does not apply over word
boundaries.
 17

Orthographic form Phonemic form Phonetic form Gloss

man-yan /mn-jn/ [m:nz:n] ‘parents’
but:
wan-yun /wn-jun/ [wnjun] ‘door’

wan wail yun [wn wil yu:n] ‘door of a big house’

1.2.4. Dissimilation Rules:

Rule 9. The suffix -n becomes /-/ following /r/ or /l/, because clusters /rn/ or /ln/ are not allowed
word finally.

n ---------->  / r, l + ------------

Orthographic form Phonemic form Gloss

kapor-ng /kpor-n/ ‘break’
pir-ng /pir-n/ ‘run to’
plel-ng /plel-n/ ‘turn around’
akul-ng /kul-n/ ‘to pick’

Rule 10. In successive syllables inside a morpheme, vowels are normally ordered from open to
closed. Any sequence of vowels which contravenes this or in which the vowels are phonemically
identical, will result in the first vowel being reduced to a central vowel [∂]. Exception: The vowels /u/
and /o/ do not change except sometimes when there is a phonemically identical vowel in the other
syllable. Stress is never on the syllable with a reduced vowel. This ‘vowel disharmony’ rule always
applies inside the morpheme. Sometimes it also applies over morpheme boundaries in compounds
and in those reduplications that are clearly phonological words.

Orthographic form Phonemic form Phonetic form Gloss

pipa /p p/ [pp:] ‘if’
men-tekg /men-wek/ [mnde:k] ‘we two’
rpma /rpm/ [rpm:] ‘sit’
le-las /lsls/ [lls] ‘crawl’
mil-mal /mlml/ [mlml] ‘thunder’
but:
erk-erk /erk-erk/ [erkerk] ‘stoop’
hir-ir /hir-hir/ [hirir] ‘close’
kork-wang /kork-w/ [korkw] ‘rickety’
kukwa /kukw/ [kukw:] ‘open’
 18

Reduced vowels in unstressed syllables tend to assimilate to the preceding full vowel or consonant
/w/ and /j/ at the beginning of that syllable.

ok-ipma /’ok-pm/ [‘okopm] ‘food’

wli /wi’li/ [wu’li] ‘will arrive’ (irrealis form
of wuli)
1.2.5. Re-syllabifications
Often the application of morphophonemic rules or application of suffixes changes the syllabic
structure of the word:

Orthographic form Phonemic form Phonetic form Gloss

kai am /ki m/ [ki.jm] ‘went now’
kai o /ki o/ [k.jo:] ‘go!’
kai ai /ki i/ [ki.ji] ‘went over there’
won-iket-en /won-iket-en/ [wo.ni.ke.ten] ‘forget’
maur-et /mur-et/ [mu.ret] ‘spirit-dwelling’
( ma’ur ‘spirit’)
1.2.6. The Ordering of Rules
Urim is not a very complicated language morphophonemically. In most cases one or two rules are
enough to explain the changes. Often the ordering of rules is not essential, but in some cases it is
crucial that the one rule be applied before the others:

/ki-nr/ ------> */knr/ (rule 7. palatalization) -----> (rule 10)

*/k’nr/ ------> /kinr/ <kinar> (rule 11. vowel harmony)

The vowel harmony rule applies only after palatalization rule.

The following words with alternative phonetic forms serve as good examples of alternative
possible orders of rules:
Orthographic form Phonetic form Gloss
elng rmpa [elndrmp:] or ‘put to lie’
[elndrmp:] or
[elkrmp:]
perngen [prken] or ‘quickly’
[prnden]

elng itna [ elnttn] or ‘put to stay’

[elttn] or
[elktn ]
 19

ordering 1

SD /el-n-rmp/ /el-n-tn/ /pir-n-en/

rule 9 (n -->) el-rmp el-tn pir-en

rule 10 (schwa) el-rmp el-tn pr-en
rule 1. (C-insertion) el-krmp el-ktn pr-ken

(the schwa-rule could be placed anywhere in the process without any change in the result)
ordering 2

SD /el-n-rmp/ /el-n-tn/ /pir-n-en/

rule 10. (schwa) eln-rmp eln-tn prn-en

rule 1. (C-insertion) elnd-rmp elnttn prnden
rule 9. elngttn
metathesis elnd-rmp

1.2.7. About Application of Rules

Many rules, especially the schwa-rule (rule 10) but also most consonant insertion rules (rules 1, 2)
and the palatalization rule (rule 7) are conditioned by stress so that they either occur only in
unstressed syllables (schwa-rule) or in or after stressed syllables (consonant insertions).
Assimilation rules 7 and 8 and dissimilation rules 9 and 10 apply only inside a phonological word
(except rule 7 b: t --> ts change after palatalization, which can occur over word boundaries). These
rules serve to help in recognizing the phonological word.
Insertion and deletion rules 1-6 apply frequently over word boundaries in phrases and also
elsewhere in rapid speech. The closer knit the structure is, the more regularly most of these rules
apply.

Examples of the application of rule 1.:

obligatory /num-et/ [numpet] numpet ‘sick’ (suffix)

/wm-wuhor/ [wmbuhor] wampuhor ‘fingernail’ (noun compound)
/wm-rpme/ [wmprpme:] wamparpme ‘hold by hand’ (verb compound)
/lm-lm/ [lmplm] alm alm ‘kept shooting’ (reduplication)
/yikk wom wekg/ [jikkwompwe ] yikak wom wekg ‘twelve’
k
(phrase)

optional /nm wrim/ [nmpwrim / nmwrim] nam warim ‘bit the child’ (clause)
 20

2. Word Classes and Morphology

2.1. Introduction
The following word classes are distinguished in the syntactic description of Urim:

1. verbs
2. nouns
3. pro-forms
4. prepositions
5. adjectives
6. quantifiers
7. adverbs
8. demonstratives
9. conjunctions
10. interjections

The remainder of this chapter will examine each of the word classes in more detail, describing
their syntactic characteristics and morphological structure.

It is typical of Urim words in all word classes, that the same phonological form may instance
multiple classes; for example functioning as a noun and a verb, or as an adjective and an adverb.
Some phonological forms exhibit even more than two word classes. In some cases one of the
functions is clearly primary and the other function(s) secondary (for example many verbs can function
as heads in noun phrases without any morphological marking to indicate a change in category). More
often it is impossible to tell which word class is primary for a phonological form; it is bi- or multi-
categorical.

Examples:
Kupm ariwe hapm angkut
1sg know.R cloth sew.R
’I know how to sew clothes’ (the verb ariwe ‘know’)

Itni kolti eng kitn uwi ariwe

stand.IR only OBL 2sg get.IR knowledge
’Be patient until you learn it’ (nominal use of ariwe)

Kil melnum paipm

3sg person bad
’He is a bad man’ (adjective paipm ‘bad’)

Kil nikg or-en paipm

3sg stomach hit-3sgO bad
’He is very hungry’ (adverbial use of paipm)

Kuina pa?
what that
’what is that?’ (demonstrative pa ‘that’)
 21

Hu wei pa, mentepm irki wan

water rain.IR if 1pl.Inc stay.IR house
’If it rains, we will stay at home’ (conjunction)

Mentekg atning pa!

1d listen.R EMP
’We are listening!’ (emphatic adverb)

2.2. Verbs and Their Morphology

Urim verbs are defined as forms having the following characteristics:
1. They may function as the main predicate in simple clauses

Kil alm manto, nalu wayu

3sg shoot.R pig pick.R taro
‘He shot a pig and took some taro’

2. They exhibit ablaut alternations for irrealis versus realis modality. Approximately two thirds of
the verbs exhibit this property. But all onomatopoetic and descriptive verbs and also many directional
verbs fail to exhibit this property: no irrealis forms of these verbs have been observed. One possible
reason for this might be that these types of verbs in Urim tend to occur together with other verbs (in
serial structures, etc.) rather than alone. To express modality several times in the same clause would
be unnecessary.

Realis Form Irrealis Form Meaning

alm ilm ‘shoot’
kansim kinsim ‘sweep’
rpma rpmi ‘sit’
pelng - ‘fly’
no - ‘come up’
lam - ‘hide’
kwekwek - ‘squeal’
(polng)polng - ‘drop’
lilos - ‘melt’
pluiplai - ‘blink’

3. Most verbs in Urim cannot occur in noun phrases. There are exceptions; 1) bi-categorial words—
the same lexical form can function either as verb or as noun. 2) Certain verbs have been
grammaticalized into prepositions. 3) The distinction between adjectives and stative verbs is not clear
in Urim. Many stative verbs may also function as adjectives in noun phrases, with no derivational
morphology to indicate a change in syntactic category.

4. Due to the realis/irrealis distinction, verbs as group also have some phonetic characteristics. A
large percentage of verbs begin with the vowel a (realis) or i (irrealis). Most Urim words beginning
 22

with the vowel /a/ are verbs. Verb roots usually consist of one or two syllables, with longer roots
being comparatively rare.

Morphologically, Urim verbs are simple in structure, not exhibiting any inflection for person or
number.2 The most important morphological category marked on verbs is a modal one. There is a
distinction of realis/irrealis mode that is indicated by the vowels i ‘irrealis’ and a ‘realis’. The
placement of these two vowels varies quite a bit depending on the canonical shape of the verb, but
usually they occur on the first syllable of the verb stem.
Aspectually, there is a habitual aspect suffix -e, and the use of reduplication of the verb stem to
express repeated or continued action. Most aspects in Urim are expressed by serial structures or
aspectual adverbs.
Two or three types of transitivity altering suffixes are also observed: 1) the transitivising suffix -
en , 2) the indirect object marker –n,which is possibly related to -en, and 3) the suffix -e which seems
to have both aspectual and transitivity changing functions. Forms homophonic with the suffixes -en
and -e are also used derivationally.

The overall order of constituents in the Urim verb is:

verb root (Habitual-Continuative -e) (Transitive -en) (IO-marker -n) (Object Pronominal Clitic)

In Urim a verb stem can be simple, reduplicated, compound, or consist of a root morpheme plus a
derivational affix (sometimes more than one) (see the section 2.12.3).
2.2.1. Realis-Irrealis Mode
Ablaut involving the modal morphemes i ‘irrealis’ 3 and a ‘realis’ is exhibited by approximately
two thirds of the verb stems. These vowels usually occur on the first syllable of the verb. In many
Urim verbs the first syllable consists of this vowel only. Consider the following forms:

Realis Form Irrealis Form Meaning Canonical Form Of Root

1. al il ‘eat’ _C
2. ak ik ‘do’ _C
3. alm ilm ‘shoot’ _C

4. a-mo i-mo ‘die’ _CV

5. a-ye i-ye ‘carry’ _CV
6. a-wi u-wi ‘take,get’ _CV
7. a-kor i-kor ‘search’ _CVC
8. a-lupm i-lupm ‘put into’4 _CVC

2 Although there is no Subject-indexing person-number inflection on the verbs, Urim does have a set of Object pronominal
enclitics, which are phonologically bound to the verb stem when they occur. These are analysed here as separate words on
the grammatical level, which fill the Object NP slot.

3 When i occurs before [w] or in a verb stem containing a following [u], then it is rounded to [u].
 23

9. ampe impe ‘extinguish’ _CV

10. arkol irkol ‘pull’ _rCV
11. antokg intokg ‘make’ _CVC

12. naki niki ‘tell’ C_CV

13. kalpo kilpo ‘beat, tap’ C_CV
14. tapor tipor ‘break’ C_CVC

15. kainsil kinsil ‘lie’ C_iCCVC

16. naimpil neimpil ‘twist’ C_iCCVC

17. rka rki ‘hang’ rC_

18. itn4a itni ‘stand’ VC_
19. rpma rpmi ‘sit’ rC_
20. rmpa rmpi ‘lie’ rC_
21. ela eli ‘be’ VC_

22. ark-e irk-e ‘hang (Habitual)’ _rCV

23. arpm-e irpm-e ‘sit (Habitual)’ _rCV
24. armp-en irmp-en ‘lie +transitivizer = buy’ _rCV

25. ng-ka-t ng-kit ‘lift’ ngC_C

26. ng-kark ng-kirk ‘fly from, be afraid’ ngC_C

27. ang-kli ing-kli ‘throw’

28. ang-ko ing-ko ‘fall’
29. angklin ingklin ‘help’

From the above forms we can see that the modal vowel usually occurs in the first syllable of the
verb. However there are some exceptions: forms 17-21 and 25-27. In these verbs the realis /irrealis
vowel occurs in the second syllable of the verb. Forms 17-21 are all locative verbs. The occurrence
of the modal vowel in the last syllable could be a feature of this verb class. Locative verbs are
exceptional in other respects as well. It is harder to say why verbs 25-27 differ from other
phonetically similar verbs 28-30. One possible explanation for all those cases is phonetic. When the
first syllable of the verb ends with a nasal or liquid, even the realis vowel a gets so reduced that the
distinction of realis/irrealis would be hard to hear. Notice that the verbs with a habitual or transitive
suffix (forms 22-24) place the realis/irrealis vowel at the beginning of the same verb-stem!
When the vowel of the second syllable is /a/, this process of reduction is even stronger - this might
explain why only some of the verbs having the consonant [] on the first syllable place the modal
vowel on the second syllable.5

4 Sequences of voiceless stop plus homorganic nasal release are interpreted as unit phonemes. The reversed sequences
of nasal plus homorganic stop are interpreted as consonant clusters. (See Luoma, 1985)
5 This data would seem to be an excellent candidate for an optimality theory approach (which assumes that languages
have multiple constraints interacting which are ranked as being more or less important, and the forms which have the least
weighty violations are the ones which actually occur).
 24

Phonetically, the irrealis vowel tends to get reduced and shortened so that it practically disappears,
especially when a verb stem begins with a nasal or liquid—i.e. a [-obst] consonant—the irrealis vowel
can the consonant coalesce, yielding a syllabic consonant. In these cases irrealis i is not written in
orthography (which follows pronunciation rather than the underlying morphemic form). Irrealis i is
sometimes pronounced (and written) [u] especially if the obstruents /k/ or /p/ precede or follow it and
if the second syllable or verb stem has u-vowel: karkuk - kurkuk ‘bathe’, nakure - nukure
‘decorate’, kaluk - kuluk ‘wash’’.

Irrealis verb forms are used in the following contexts:

1. Utterances having future time reference.
Kutnukg kitn kul pa, kupm ikilmpen -teitn marpm pa
later.IR 2sg come C 1sg pay.back.IR-2sgO money D
‘When you come back, I will pay you the money.’

Ti mpa kupm intokg kolai?

C FUT 1sg do.IR how
‘So what shall I do?’

Iri -weitn ik wang ur a kitn no.

see:IR-2sgO do.IR time ID G 2sg come.up
‘I will see you when you come’

2. Hypothetical Conditionals
Hu wei pipa, ake mpa kupm kai.
water rain.IR if not FUT 1sg go
‘If it rains, I won’t go.’

3. Protases and Apodoses of Counterfactual Conditionals

Kol a tu uwi -yopm iye kai karapus,
like C 3pl take:IR-1sgO carry.IR go jail
ti kol ake kupm iri anong al-kupm ai.
C like not 1sg see.IR place G-1sg remote
‘If they would have taken me to jail, I would not have seen my village any more.’

4. Commands

There seem to be several factors involved in the placement of the vowel, which have different rankings:
1. Avoid 3 syllable verbs (most important)
2. Avoid vowel clusters **VV
3. Avoid syllable final consonant clusters **CC
4. Avoid syllable initial consonant clusters **...CC
5. Place the vowel as near to the front of the root as possible (least important).
The forms occurring are those, which best satisfy these principles. If it is not possible to satisfy all of them, then forms
which violate the lower principles are preferred to those which violate the higher ranked ones.
 25

Mentekg il nok pa rpmi ti=wom!

1du eat.IR sago C sit.IR here=IMP.now
‘Let us eat sago sitting here.’

Kipm rkul yangkipm a maur wailen pa tongtong (o)!

2pl hold.IR talk G spirit big that tight IMP
‘Hold fast to God’s talk!’

5. Prohibitions
Kil ake mpa il hu titno pa.
3sg not FUT eat.IR water mad that
‘He must not drink alcohol’

Ampake ur rpmi ilpmak, kalpis.

should.not ID sit.IR lazy no
‘No one should be lazy.’
6. Past Habitual
Ik wang a hokg pa, kupm mpa la -nik -en la wang a hokg pa-ke
do.IR time G sleep D 1sg FUT say-tell.IR-3plO say time G sleep D-EMP
‘At the time of sleep I would tell them that it was time to sleep now.’, or ‘At the time of
sleep, I will tell them that is time to sleep now’.
2.2.2. Reduplication of Verb Stems to Encode Imperfective Aspect: i.e,
Repeated, Continual, or Habitual Action
In Urim reduplication is a common morphological device in all word classes. It functions both
inflectionally and derivationally. Reduplication of verb stems is used to express imperfective aspect;
i.e. habitual, repetitive, or continuative/durative action. The exact type of aspect that reduplication
encodes depends partly on the semantic type of the verb. With punctiliar verbs reduplication encodes
repeated actions; topratopra ‘jump several times’. With verbs encoding more continuous motion
reduplication marks durativity; kai-kai-kai ‘keep on going’. With transitive verbs reduplication may
encode either habitual or durative aspects, but sometimes is also used to express added intensity.
When reduplication encodes habitual aspect, the verb stem is repeated only once, but in reduplications
expressing repetition or continuity/duration, the verb stem can be repeated several times depending
how much the speaker wants to emphasize the length of the action. Reduplicated verbs often occur
between two clauses expressing that the action continues until something else happens or until the end
of the process is reached.
Examples of habitual aspect:

Pikekg ak wang hep pa tu al al melnum

PAST do.R time before that 3pl eat.R eat.R person
‘In olden times they used to eat men’

Melnum pa awi hapm wompel al-kil a ak alo-lo nimpik

man that take.R cloth piece G-3sg REL do.R wipe.R-wipe.R snot
‘The man took his handkerchief’
 26

Tu wrong-kwail al al mahing, kil al-kil wris pa al al yampon

3pl crowd-big eat.R eat.R undone 3sg G-3sg one that eat.R eat.R done
‘The people used to eat uncooked food, she herself used to eat cooked food.’
Examples of repetitive-continual aspect:
Kupm alm -alm -alm hining
1sg shoot.R-shoot.R-shoot.R in.vain
‘I kept shooting at it, but in vain’

Kupm ak yikal or -or -or-or-or, pa amo

1sg do.R bow hit-hit-hit-hit-hit C die.R
‘I kept hitting and hitting it with the bow, until it died’
Examples of reduplication expressing durative aspect.
Wakg angko al nar kai Mayen yilo pa kaing-kaing-kai
fire fall.R eat:R go.down go Mayen back that go -go -go
kinar ai
go.down remote
‘The fire fell and burned Mayen’s back all the way down.’

Mentekg hokg rmpa rmpa, takgni am no ti -ke

1du sleep lie.R lie.R sun now rise here-EMP
‘We went on sleeping until the sun was risen’

Phonologically, reduplication is usually complete, but it can also be partial. In the following
example only the reciprocal pronoun is reduplicated (not the verb itself) to encode durative aspect:

Ekg erkisen tita tita

two persuade.R REC REC
‘They kept persuading each other.’

Reduplication is also a derivational device in Urim. Especially onomatopoetic and descriptive

verbs are often reduplicated stems.
klilngklulng ‘wriggle’
pingpong ‘crack’

There are also a few verbs derived from other verbs by reduplication:
ari ‘see’ ariri ‘watch’
compare to: ari-ari ‘keep on looking, stare’

pirng ‘run to’ pirpir ‘run’

2.2.3. Imperfective Aspect Suffix -e
The suffix –e has both grammatical and derivational uses. It occurs in relative clauses when the
relative noun has the role of Locative Object within the relative clause, and serves to disambiquate the
relative clause from a chained clause. Since the principal function of this suffix is to express
continuity or habituliaty, it can only be used when the relative clause is semantically compatible with
it (see section 5.1.5.2).
 27

Uwi tangkurong pa irpm -e atom iser mi pa!

take:IR leaf.stem that sit.IR-CNT then weed.IR grass that
‘Take the leaf stem to sit on and weed the grass!’

Mentekg kawor wan mpa mentekg hokg-e pa

1du go.in house FUT 1du sleep-CNT that
‘We went to the house, where we would sleep in ‘

Melnum arpm-e helikota

man sit -CNT helicopter
‘Helicopter pilot’

Sometimes a verb stem can exhibit two –e suffixes in succession.

kipm melnum a nungkulkg atn -e -we pa, kipm itning o!

2pl person REL ear stand.R-CNT-TR that 2pl listen.IR IMP
‘If you people have ears, listen!’

anong paipm a wakg atn -e -we

village bad REL fire stand.R-CNT-TR
’place of fire, hell’

Since the first part of the verb form atne already expresses duration ‘stay a long time’, the second
-e can either be a second instance of the imperfective adding a further habitual component (‘used to
stay a long time’) or a transitive suffix referring to the location of the subject or Head of RC. Here it
is interpreted as transitive suffix referring to the head NP of relative clause, which is at the same time
the locative object of the verb in RC.
Derivationally, the suffix -e is especially common in verbs expressing movement and location.
Consider the following examples:

ari ‘see’ ari-we ‘know’ (continuity or transitivity)

alil ‘plant’ alil-e ‘pile up’ (action repeated)
akul ‘wipe’ akul-e ‘cut road’ (action repeated until goal reached)
alupm ‘put into’ alupm-e ‘fill’ (action repeated until goal reached)
no ‘come up’ no-we ‘to dress’ (transitivity)
nar ‘come down’ nar-e ‘drop down(tr)/flow down’ (continuity/transitivity)
kaino ‘go up’ kaino-we ‘climb up’ (transitivity)
angko ‘fall’ angko-we ‘fall purposefully’ (transitivity)
rpma ‘sit’ arpm-e ‘wear/sit a long time or habitually’ (transitivity,
habitual, continuity)
rka ‘hang’ ark-e ‘prick, hang a long time’ (transitivity,
continuity)
tna ‘stand’ atn-e ‘perform magic/stay a long time’ (transitivity,
continuity)

These examples of derivational uses of -e seem to indicate that the suffix -e is used to express
both continuity/duration/habitual and alter transitivity. Adding the suffix -e to the verb stem quite
often increases its transitivity. It is often used to change semitransitive verbs to fully transitive verbs.
 28

Semitransitive verbs are those verbs expressing motion or location, which have an obligatory
complement with the semantic role of goal, source or location. This second argument is
morphologically unmarked like the object of full transitive verbs (see the Chapter 4).
Conclusion:
The suffix -e is most probably imperfective (usually expressing duration) when used
inflectionally. If the suffix -e were a transitivity marker in the examples at the beginning of this
section, its function would be not to add another object to the predication, but rather to refer back to
the location where the action takes place much the same way as prepositions in the English
translation. Still, most probably the inflectional -e is a durative suffix.
When used to change the meaning of verbs this suffix has both durative and transitive functions,
often both at the same time so that the verb form has two separate meanings.
The fact that suffix -e can be occur twice on the same verb stem seems to suggest that there are
actually two homophonous suffixes with partly overlapping functions.
2.2.4. The Applicative Suffix-(e)n
When the applicative suffix –e(n) is added to an intransitive verb, it converts it into a
semitransitive or transitive predicate by promoting a peripheral argument into the clausal core as an
Object. The semantic role of the promoted argument seems to be lexically determined.

The term semitransitive refers here to situations in which the action does not highly affect the referent
of the object. Compare the following examples:

Kil hokg
3sg sleep
‘He sleeps’

Kil hokg kiin

3sg sleep woman
‘He sleeps with a woman (having sexual intercourse)’

Kil hokg-en wakg

3sg sleep-TR fire
‘She sleeps by the fire’

Kil hokg-en warim

3sg sleep-TR child
‘She sleeps with her child’

Tu kin atop
3pl woman dance.R
‘The women dance’

Man atop -en warim al-kil

mother dance.R-TR child G-3sg
‘Mother rejoices over her child’

Sometimes the alternation between V-(e)n NP and V eng NP does not seem to be correlated with any
obvious difference in the same meaning:
 29

Warim hakg-en yan

child cry-TR father
‘The child cries after his father’

Warim hakg eng yan

child cry OBL father
‘The child cries for his father’
2.2.5. Applicative Construction Indicating Dative-Shift
In a process called dative-shift a highly topical, pronominalized peripheral clausal argument is
promoted to core argument status. Formally this is done by 1) moving the argument from its position
after direct object before it, and 2) changing the oblique preposition eng to a suffix - n and free
personal pronoun to a bound pronoun. The suffix between the verb stem and pronoun is necessary,
since Urim does not have any separate bound indirect pronoun forms. The semantic role of the
derived predicative Object is commonly either Locative Goal or Recipient-Benefactive.
Pragmatically the promoted argument is highly topical and at the same time not in focus. Dative-
shift is not applied when the pronoun is in focus or emphasized. Consequently all modifiers on the
pronoun block the dative-shift. (Same thematic principles govern the uses of free and bound object
pronouns, see Section 2. 4. 1. 2)

Tu ale wan eng kupm

3pl build.R house OBL 1sg
‘They built a house for me’

Tu ale -n -topm wan

3pl build.R-TR-1sg house
‘They built me a house.

Tu kul eng kupm

3pl come OBL 1sg
‘They come to me’

Tu kul –n -topm
3pl come-TR-1sgO
‘They come to me’

Atom kupm la naki kil pa:.....

then 1sg say tell.R 3sg DEF
‘Then I said to him:...’
2.2.6. Other functions of the applicative suffix -(e)n
In many instances the addition of the applicative suffix has semantic effects beyond the simple
promotion of an argument to core status, which are not completely predictable.

akur ‘hurt’ akur-ng ‘quarrel about something’

alm ‘beat’ alm-pen ‘beat a long time; react’
almpil ‘turn’ almpil-ng ‘turn repeatedly’
ampri ‘block’ ampri-n ‘forbid’
angklo ‘pluck off’ angklo-n ‘separate from, be forbidden’
 30

arkol ‘pull’ arkol-ng ‘pull, tempt’

elng ‘put’ elng-en ‘stop doing’
pir(pir) ‘run’ pir-ng ‘run to’

In some cases it is hard to tell whether the suffix is inflectional or derivational. Consider the
following examples:

aipur nung
bind.R firewood
‘Bind the firewood together for carrying’

aipur -ng nung

bind.R-TR firewood
‘Secure firewood (the basket or something where the firewood is in)’

ak rkwa
do.R basket
‘Make a basket’

ak -en yipmingki wring

do.R-TR fence garden
‘surround the garden with a fence’

Phonetically the derivational suffix -n has following forms:

- ng after /r/ or /l/
- en after other consonants
-ñ after palatalized vowels
-n after other vowels
The form of the applicative suffix produced by dative-shift is clearly -n but it does not follow
exactly the same phonetic rules as the derivational -n. (compare for example: arkol-ng ‘pull
something’ and tu kul-n-topm ‘they come to me’ ). This might be caused by the fact that the bound
pronoun affects the pronunciation of -n placed between it and the verb stem. The transitive suffix -
(e)n described in the previous section seems to follow same morphophonemic rules as the derivational
-n, but to be sure of this, more examples are needed.

It is possible for the imperfective suffix -e and the transitive suffix -n to occur together on a single
verb stem:

amo ‘be sick, die’ amo-we ‘be sick, paralyzed’ amo-we-n ‘be sick with
something’
angko ‘fall’ angko-we ‘drop itself’ angko-we-n ‘prepare, attack’
aye ‘‘carry’ aye-we-n ‘track game’
rpma ‘sit’ arpm-e ‘sit (long time), wear’ arpm-e-n ‘wait for, watch over
(sitting)’
rka ‘hang’ ark-e ‘bear fruit, live in, pierce’ ark-e-n ‘wait for’
ark-e-we ‘stuck with, bound by’
itna ‘stand’ atn-e ‘stay a long time’ atn-e-n ‘wait for, watch over
 31

(standing), lean against’

‘perform magic’

atn-e-we ‘stay permanently’ itna-we-n ‘track game’

examples:
Kil amo -we -n pisak
3sg die.R-CNT-TR cold
‘He is sick with cold’

Tu angko-we -n okipma
3pl fall.R-CNT-TR food
‘They prepared food’

2.3. Nouns
Nouns are distinguished in Urim by the following properties:
1. They may function in isolation, without any further morphological marking as arguments
in a predication
2. They occur initially in the noun phrase, with all noun phrase modifiers following them.
3. They can be optionally pluralized.

Nouns are not usually derived from other words by suffixes, but compound noun stems are
common (see the Chapter 2. 12).
2.3.1. Important Semantic Classes of Nouns
Among nouns, the following semantic distinctions have significant morpho-syntactic
consequences.

1. personal (thought of as being in the same class as people) versus non-personal

2. potent (self-moving) versus non-potent
3. temporal versus non-temporal nouns
4. inherently related nouns (inalienably possessed nouns)
Personal Nouns
Personal nouns have the following morpho-syntactic properties:

1. They are questioned by a distinct interrogative word mla ‘who? Sg/Pl. Non-personal
nouns are questioned with kuina (or na) ‘what?’

2. They are optionally explicitly pluralized using the third person plural independent pronoun
tu in a noun complex construction, e.g. tu melnum ‘they person / people’, and, in addition,
they can sometimes be reduplicated. As is the case with other nouns, reduplication
indicates indefinite plurality. The kinship words man ‘mother’ and yan ‘father’ can
additionally have an plural (?) suffix -in, tu yantin ‘the fathers’ (this suffix is not
 32

productive, and occurs only in few words). Non-personal nouns are overtly pluralized
either by reduplication or the use of quantifiers.

Ikga tu warim warim iri kul

FUT 3pl child child see.IR come
‘Later the children will see.’

Tu aye okipma wuli nimong nimong-en

3pl carry.R food arrive.R basket basket-ATR
‘They brought many baskets full of food’

Wan wekg pa
house two that
‘The two houses’

Wan wrong-kwail
house crowd-big
‘All houses’

3. Usually only personal nouns can be referred to with pronouns. 6 An exception is the
personal pronoun kil ‘he/she’, which is also used as a deictic (see 2. 9 ‘Demonstratives’).
Potent Nouns
Potent nouns (humans, animals, machines, and natural phenomena like the wind, the sun, the
earthquake and landslide) are distinguished by their ability to occur as subjects in transitive clauses
expressing action-processes. Transitive clause subjects in Urim are usually Agents.

Wripm tikale wan

wind break.R house
‘The wind broke the house’

Takgni al -o paipm
sun eat.R-1plO bad
‘‘The sun burned us badly’

Nepm wikgwikg karkur -opm wam

leg four smash:R-1sgO hand
‘The car smashed my hand’

Kirmpa kil mpa am iye -wo kinar ntokg -to paipm ur ti-ke
dove 3sg FUT now carry.IR-1plO go.down make.IR-1plO bad ID D-EMP
‘(I thought) the plane will surely crash and destroy us now.’

Sometimes non-potent nouns are raised to the status of subject of transitive clause. In the
following example, the person affected is in topic position and the instrument in subject position, to
express that the action was accidental.

6 In folk tales animals are frequently treated as personal nouns, since they act so much like people.
 33

(Kupm) ko angket-opm
1sg axe cut.R -1sgO
‘I accidentally cut myself with an axe’
Another means to raise an inanimate entity to the subject position of a transitive clause is to add
the verb ak ‘(use something to) do’ to the predicate. Consider the following examples:

Nok ak karpon tis

sago use.R stick.R plate
‘Sago sticks to the plate’

Kuntuk wulmpa ak aur okipma

pot eye use.R cover food
‘The lid of pot covers the food’

compare to:
Kil aur kuntuk ak hipm
3sg cover pot use.R leaf
‘He covers the pot with leaves’

Compare also following examples:

Ki ak ar wanyun
key use.R close.R door
‘The key closed the door’
Wripm ar wanyun
wind open.R door
‘Wind opened the door’ (potent noun as subject)

The semantic roles of the Subject in these transitive clauses are Cause or Instrument. The verb ak
in the second members of the example pairs could be interpreted as causative marker. On the other
hand, notice the use of ak as an Instrument marker in third and fourth example (see 2.5.1).
Temporal Nouns
Temporal nouns like kong ‘morning’ are distinguished by their ability to function as temporal
adverbials and their potential use as predicates in temporal clauses like the following:

Kong ise
morning PERF
’The morning came.’

Ran=o!
dawn=IMP
‘Let there be light!’ (From Genesis 1:1)

The following examples show that these words really are nouns that can function as head of a NP.
 34

ak kong ti
use.R morning this
‘this morning’

ran wris-wris
dawn one-one
‘every day’
Inherently Related Nouns (Inalienable Genitives)
Urim has three types of inherently related nouns, 1) kinship terms, 2) body parts, 3) other part-
whole nouns. Kinship terms behave syntactically like other nouns, but have some structural
peculiarities. Many kinship terms are semantically plural. Some kinship terms seem to have some
kind of non-productive gender suffix: mamiin ‘grandfather’, mamikg ‘grandmother’, yalmpiin ‘son-
in-law, yalmpikg ‘daughter-in-law’.
All part-whole nouns are distinguished by their ability to occur in genitive constructions
consisting of just two juxtaposed nouns (possessor-possessed ordering), without the presence of a
genitive pronoun or an intervening genitive preposition a. Consider the following examples:

mirmping talpuk
tree sp. branch
‘branch of a mirmping tree’

mayen yilo
old.woman spine
‘the old woman’s spine’

rkim walmpopm
python blood
‘the python’s blood’

wan kimpo
house top
‘top of the house’

Compare these five examples with the following alienable genitive examples (which have
possessed-possessor ordering):

por ketn a wampung

story little G tree.kangaroo
‘a little story of/about a tree kangaroo’

yangkipm a-kupm
talk G-1sg
‘my talk’

Part-whole relationships of inanimate entities are always expressed without a genitive marker, but
with body parts of animate entities, the genitive construction with a is quite common. It seems that
the genitive construction of juxtaposed nouns is used mainly when the possessor is referentially
generic:
 35

Kil awi manto tukgunakg ur pa

3sg take.R pig head ID D
‘He took a pig’s head’

Tukgunakg a manto ti
head G pig this
‘The head of this pig’

Kil ak nalulng wulmpa a wusok am al.

3sg use.R dig.out.R eye G small now eat.R
‘It dug out the little brother’s eye and ate it.’ (the expression *wusok wulmpa never
occurs)

When a genitive construction containing a body part occurs as the Object of a transitive clause the
possessor argument can be raised to object position before the noun. This happens only when the
possessor is topic, which is usually the case (same way as with bound pronouns; see the section 2. 4.
1. 2). The raising seems to happen only when the possessed noun is a body part:

Trapuk al -opm hi
fly eat.R-1sgO sore
‘A fly eats my sore!’

kil or itna -wopm wulmpa

3sg hit stand.R-1sgO eye
‘He hit me to the eye’

Kil ak ok nam -popm wam

3sg use.R mouth bite.R-1sgO hand
‘She bit me in the hand.’

Kitn aro -wopm won ok anong-en Urim

2sg break.R-1sgO inside mouth village-ATR Urim
you are teaching me the Urim language

When the possessor of a body part is expressed by a noun phrase (instead of pronoun), a third
person pronominal clitic -el is obligatorily attached to the noun phrase referring to the body part.7

Kipman aro won -el warim kipman al-kil

man break.R inside-3sgO child man G-3sg
‘Fathers are teaching their sons’

Genitive noun phrases containing a body part do not easily occur in subject position. Instead
topicalized experiencer constructions are used. Compare the following examples:

7 Possibly this happens only with those predicates that obligatorily require the use of a bound pronoun, for example: ak
akor (el) ‘quarrel with somebody’, alk(el) ‘give to somebody’, num wakget (el) ‘have a fever’, etc.
 36

Wan a-kupm-en paipm

house G-1sg-ATR bad
‘My house is not good’

Kupm nepm paipm-topm

1sg leg bad -1sgO
‘My leg is bad/I’m lame’ (More literally, ‘As for me, leg is bad for me.’)

Kupm num wakget-opm

1sg skin hot -1sgO
‘I have fever’ (More literally, ‘As for me, skin is hot for me.’)
Locative nouns
Locative nouns can be considered a special type of inherently related nouns since they can occur
in same kind of genitive constructions. In Austronesian languages, such locative nouns are the
primary means for encoding more specific locations. This seems to be the function of locative nouns
in Urim also. Locative nouns usually occur in genitive constructions, but can also occur in isolation.
In these cases the genitive is contextually given (see also locative adverbs 2.7.3).

Wan ela ya yamping

house stay road side
‘The house is near the road’

Manto itna kinar wan tipmakg watneikgen

pig stand.R go.down house verandah underneath
‘A/The??? pig is under the house’

Wan ela ya yamping

house stay road side
‘The house is near the road’

Manto itna kinar wan tipmakg watneikgen

pig stand.R go.down house verandah underneath
‘A/The??? pig is under the house’

Kitn rpma wulom

2sg sit.R edge
‘You are sitting on the edge’

anong wulom
village edge
‘the edge of the village’
2.3.2. Plurality
Two pragmatic factors seem to govern the use of the pronoun tu to mark plurality. It is not used if
the group of people referred to constitutes new information, is generic in reference, is non-topical, or
plurality is sufficiently clear from context or numerals:
 37

Kiin wekg ur pa itna ya

woman two ID D stand.R road
‘There were two women standing on the road’ (new information)

Pikekg ak wang hep tu al -al melnum

Past use.R time before 3pl eat.R-eat.R person
‘At olden times they used to eat people’

The pronoun tu is used to mark the combination of plurality and definiteness. That is why tu is
also used with inherently plural nouns, which do not need any additional markers for plurality:

Tu (kiin kipman) wrong wailet

3pl woman man crowd big
‘All (other) people’

Most inherently plural nouns in Urim are kinship terms. They are usually compounds formed
from other nouns:

man-san ‘parents’ (man+yan ‘mother-father’)

muikg-muin ‘siblings’ (muikgmayen+muinuror ‘sister-brother’)
mamikg-mamiin ‘grandparents’ (mamikg mayen + mamiin wror)
kiin-kipman ‘people’ (kiin+kipman ‘woman-man’)
watnom ‘children, descendants’
wrong(kwail) ‘crowd of people’
wrongmanto ‘enemy, enemies’
yikalik ‘bow and arrows’ (yikal-ik ‘bow-arrow’)
wrikya ‘things, cargo’

There are two other ways to mark plurality in nouns: the word kweikwei ‘things’ and
reduplication. The word kweikwei is used to mark the plurality of non-human nouns, usually when
the group of entities is indefinite. Reduplication can be used both with human and non-human nouns.
Also modifiers can be pluralized by reduplication - sometimes the plurality of noun phrase is
expressed only by reduplicating the modifier.

Kapaka kweikwei rka ti

bat plural hang.R here
‘There are bats here’

Men kinar awi namung kweikwei kinar elng rmpa

1pl.Exc go down take.R banana plural go.down put lie.R
‘We went down, took some bananas and put them down’

Ikga tu warim warim itning

FUT 3pl child child hear.IR
‘So that later the children and children’s children will hear’
 38

Kupm la por nirkgiin nirkgiin

1sg say story garden land garden land
‘I want to tell about garden lands’

Pa wang wor a kipm angkliin men wail-wail a-kipm

D time good REL 2pl help.R 1pl.Exc big-big G-1sg
‘That is a good time for you to (come and) help us big brothers and sisters’

hom-hom-pen ‘all kinds of (animals)’

clan-clan-ATR

Ampei wail-wail wanteing wor-wor men...

vine big-big ropes good-good 1pl.Exc
‘Many big vines and good ropes we...’
2.3.3. Lack of Nominalized Forms
Many forms in Urim may function either as nouns or verbs, with no overt morphological marking
a change of word class. The following two pairs of sentences illustrate this (for further details, see
Section 5. 2. 1):

Tu alm-wrong
2pl shoot-crowd
‘They were fighting’

Alm-wrong wail palng

shoot-crowd big appear
‘A big war came’

Kupm asen kol-kil...

1sg ask.R like-this’
‘I ask like this...’

Asen a-kupm-en pa kol-kil

question.R G-1sg-ATR D like-this
‘My question is like this...’

Some words can function either as heads or modifiers within the noun phrase, for example:
titnongket ‘strong/strength’
Wripm titnongket pa tikale wan
wind strong D break house
’The strong wind ruined the house’

titnongket a Wail-en
strength G big-ATR
‘The power of God’

There are a few (mostly personal) nouns that seem to be formed from adjectives, but probably
they are lexicalized results of ellipsis:
 39

Tu wail kai ise

3pl big go PERF
‘The big ones are gone’

Kupm karken maing

1sg dislike raw
‘I do not like raw food’

wail-en ‘big brother’ wusok-en ‘little brother’

big-ATR little-ATR

compare to:

(melnum) wailen ‘leader, older man’.

(person) big-ATR

2.4. Pro-forms
2.4.1. Pronouns (Pro-NPs)
Urim has a set of free pronouns (more properly pro-Noun phrases), a set of bound Object
pronominal clitics, and a set of genitive pronouns. In interrogative sentences, a number of different
interrogative pronouns can occur. Reciprocal action is expressed by the same pronoun for all persons
and numbers. Each of these types of pronouns will now be examined in more detail.
Independent / Free Pronouns
There are thirteen independent pronouns in Urim. These distinguish the following semantic
categories: 1) first, second, and third persons, 2) singular, dual, paucal, and plural numbers, and 3) (in
just the first person plural pronouns) whether or not the hearer is included.

Person Singular Dual Paucal Plural

1 kupm mentekg minto men (Exclusive)
mentepm (Inclusive)
2. kitn kipmekg kipmteng kipm
3. kil tuwekg tunteng tu

From this tabulation, it can be seen that the dual forms consist of the plural form plus the numeral
(w)ekg ‘two’. The non-first person paucal forms contain the formative -teng, which does not
resemble the numeral wraur ‘three’. The first person paucal form appears to consist of the first
person plural exclusive pronoun plus a formative -to. 7 The paucal forms are used to refer to three to
six individuals. This is why the term paucal has been used rather than trial. The first person plural
inclusive form appears to be formed by adding the second person plural object clitic =epm to the first
plural exclusive form men. The short forms ekg for the dual forms and to and teng for the paucal
forms are used often after it has been made clear first to whom they refer. Ekg is also used to co-
ordinate two NPs.

7 The formative -to is strongly reminiscent of the first person plural Object clitic =o commonly found on verbs. This
clitic appears in the form -to after the consonant /n/. The formative -to in the first person paucal pronoun possibly gets its
consonant /t/ in the same way (morphophonemic rule 1).
 40

Wapwar wekg pa naki tita, atom ekg no yo kitnimping pa akikgla.

cousin two that tell.R REC then 3du come.up tree tree.sp. D spy
‘The two cousins talked to each other and they climbed to kitnimping tree and spied.’

Tuwekg pa la-la, ‘Am ekg rpmi ti -ke,

3du DEF say-say now 3du sit.IR here-EMP

yek ti mpa nti mla rpmi!’ Teng rpma ha ha ...

DIM this FUT with.IR who sit.IR 3pauc sit.R be.R be.R
‘They said, “Poor thing she has no one to be with her, so we’ll stay here.” So they were
staying there...’

Muikmuin yek-wekg pa ekg rpma anong.

siblings DIM-two D two sit.R village
‘There were two dear children, sister and brother, in the village’

Atom men huk wampung pa Kinawor ekg Kinming, ekg lap.

then 1pl.Exc give tree kangaroo that Kinawor 3du Kinming 3du roast
‘Then we gave the tree kangaroo to Kinawor and Kinming and they roasted it.’

It will also be noted that all singular and second person forms begin with <k>; all non-singular
third person forms begin with tu-, and all non-singular first person forms begin with m (e,i)n-.

The pronouns may occur in the following clausal slots: 1) subject (or topic in topic clauses), 2)
non-topical first object, 3) second object, and 4) object of a preposition.

Tu alk =opm okipma

3pl give.R=1sgO food
‘They gave me food’ (Subject)

Kupm helengkep uleket

1sg head painful
‘My head hurts’ (Topic)

Kil ake awi men ti

3sg NEG take.R 1pl.Exc this/here
‘He did not take us.’ (Subject and topical Object)

Tu huk okipma kupm

3pl give food 1sg
‘They gave me food’ (Subject and second Object)

Tu ale wan eng kupm

3pl build:R house OBL 1sg
‘They built a house for me’ (Subject and Object of a preposition)

Kupm a la ok yangkipm inti kitn

1sg INT say mouth talk with:IR 2sg
‘I want to talk with you.’ (Subject and Object of a preposition)
 41

Since Urim verbs do not have passive forms, the third person plural pronoun tu is used when the
Subject referent is very generic or indefinite. Indefinite reference is sometimes also expressed by zero
anaphora, if some other NP is in the topic position in the clause. Third person singular indefinite
referents are also often expressed by using the noun kamel ‘body’ (comp. old English!) at least in the
object position. The third person plural pronoun tu is also used within the noun phrase to encode
plurality of human (or at least animate) entities (see section 2. 3. 1. 1)

Tu awi nampro a tu ak alm melnum amo pa

3pl take.R ginger REL 3pl use.R shoot.R person die.R D
‘They took ginger that is used to kill people.’ (generic reference)

Wang kil pa al al manto, pikekg-takai pa alm melnum al.

time 3sg/this D eat.R eat.R pig past-long.ago D shoot.R person eat:R
‘Nowadays people use to eat pigs, long ago they shot and ate men.’ (zero Subjects)

Nangil nam kamel

mosquito bite body
‘Mosquitoes bite men’ (generic reference)

The third person singular person pronoun kil sometimes functions as a demonstrative pronoun
instead of the near demonstrative ti, and may in this function be attached to other singular pronouns or
nouns (see also the first example above). In this function kil can refer both to animate and inanimate
entities:

Kupm kil anong yiprokg

1sg here village origin
‘I here am local’

Kitn uwi kil aki kitn uwi pa?

2sg take.IR this or 2sg take.IR that
‘Do you take this or that?’

Hapm kil ros!

cloth 3sg/this tight
‘This piece of clothing is tight!’

In Urim, personal pronouns may be modified by demonstratives and quantifiers. When the far
demonstrative pa occurs modifying a personal pronoun, this construction has thematic function. The
demonstrative pa is used with personal pronouns to emphasize, express contrast, and mark something
as topical. This last function of pa makes it possible that in Urim texts two persons can be referred by
personal pronouns all the way through after initial introduction, even when the actor or speaker
changes:

Kupm asen kil pa om:.... Ari kil pa la-la:...

1sg ask.R 3sg D now but 3sg D say-say
‘I asked him now:.... And he said:...’ (pa marks the change of speaker))
 42

Kipm pa wakg ur kol men kil aki?

2pl D fire ID like 1pl.Exc 3sg/here or
‘Do you have a fire like we here?’ (contrast, emphasis)

Personal pronouns may also occur as part of coordinated and complex noun phrases:

Wang ur pa mentekg Karis hel kainil

time ID D 1du Karis roam moon
‘One day I and Karis, we two went to hunt in moonlight.’

Ikga kupm mentekg kai

later 1sg 2du go
‘Later we two will go’
Object Pronominal Clitics
The Object pronominal clitics are phonologically adjoined to the verb. They conflate the non-
singular number categories of the free pronouns, distinguishing only: 1) first, second, and third
persons, and 2) singular versus non-singular numbers.

Person Singular Non-Singular

1 =opm =o
2 =etn/eitn =epm
3 ==el =en

Following the applicative verbal suffix -n, a further inclusive versus exclusive distinction is made in
the first person plural forms:
1 =(n)tilo /-(n)=ilo/ (Inclusive)
1 =nto /-n=o/ (Exclusive)

In the form –(n)tilo /n/ surfaces in quick speech, but not in slow and careful speech.

It can be seen that the singular Object pronominal clitics and the second person plural form
resemble the free pronouns, but have undergone two changes: 1) loss of initial /k/, and 2) lowering of
the high vowels /i,u/ to /e,o/.

The Object pronominal clitics occur in the first Object slot, immediately following the verb, and
are phonologically bound to the verb. Consider the following examples:

Takgni al =o paipm
sun eat.R-1plO bad
‘The sun burned us badly’

Kil antin =topm

3pl measure.R-1sgO
‘He measured me’

Nikg alm =popm

stomach shoot.R-1sgO
‘I’m hungry’
 43

Tu kul -n =topm
3pl come-TR-1sgO
‘They come to me.’

Tu ale =wen ya-ya

3pl put.R-3plO road-road
‘They left them out (of the car) along the road’

Uwi – n – til=o!
take.IR-TR-3sgO-1plO
‘Take it for us!’

As the examples show, there are some morphophonemic changes when the pronoun clitic is
attached to the verb. These changes follow the general morphophonemic rules explained in Chapter
1.

It is also possible for the free pronouns to occur in the Object slot. Compare the following examples:

Tu or-opm
3pl hit-1sgO
‘They hit me’

Tu or kupm ti-ke!
3sg hit 1sg this/here-EMP
‘It was me they hit!’

Atom kupm la nak -el: ...

then 1sg say tell.R-3sgO
‘Then I told to him:...’

Atom kupm la naki kil pa la-la: ....

then 1sg say tell.R 3sg D say-say
‘Then I told told to him:...’ (changing topic)

A bound pronominal Object is used when there is no need to highlight the pronoun for purposes
of contrast, emphasis, etc. The free pronoun is always used if any modifier co-occurs with the Object
pronoun. In the example immediately above, the demonstrative pronoun pa is used either for
emphasis or because the actor changes after this clause.
What is said here applies also when a personal pronoun is used to refer to a peripheral clausal
argument (its semantic role typically being Recipient-Benefactive or Locative-Goal) . It is promoted
to core argument in the form of bound pronoun when the referent is an already activated topic that is
simply being maintained. All uses of the bound Object pronouns are thematically unmarked ‘normal’
uses. The use of a free pronoun in this position indicates extra prominence or emphasis on the referent
(for more examples see Section 2.2.4).
The object pronominal clitics also occur as the result of a syntactic process of possessor
ascension, which lifts the possessor of an inalienable noun (usually a body part) out of the noun
phrase to serve as the Object of the verb. It is possible to have both the Object clitic and a co-
referential genitive pronoun if the possessor referent is especially emphasized or in focus, as in the
second example below:
 44

Drapuk al -opm hi
fly eat.R-1sgO sore
‘A fly eats my sore!’

Kil ak ok nam -popm wam (a-kupm)

3sg use.R mouth bite.R-1sgO hand (G-1sg)
‘She bit me in the hand.’

Kil or itna -wopm wulmpa

3sg hit stand.R-1sgO eye
‘He hit me in the eye’

When the verb and body part form a lexical unit, the Object pronominal clitic is obligatory. This
might be the origin of the use of suffix -el in idioms and lexemes as adverbializer. Compare
especially the two first examples below:

Kitn aro -wopm won ok anong-en Urim

2sg break.R-1sgO inside mouth village-ATR Urim
‘You are teaching me the Urim language’ (not lexical)

Kitn aro won -el kupm melnum titno-wen

2sg break.R inside-3sgO 1sg person crazy-ATR
‘You are teaching me, an ignorant person.’ (lexical)

Kipman aro won -el warim kipman al-kil

man break.R inside-3sgO child man G-3sg
‘Fathers are teaching their sons’ (idiom)

kansim epik-el wan

wipe.R trash-3sgO house
‘clean the house of trash’

al itna wam-pel
eat.R stand.R hand-3sg
‘eat while walking’

ingkit won -el-en!

carry.IR inside-3sg-3pl
‘remind them!’ (notice: two personal pronoun clitics!)

ak ikg-wam-pel
do.R look-hand-3sg
‘to steal’

ak hep-el tita
do.R first-3sg REC
‘ to compete’

la paipm-el
 45

say bad-3sg
‘to ridicule’
Genitive Pronouns
The genitive pronouns exhibit the same person, number, and exclusive-inclusive distinctions as
the independent pronouns, being formed by phonologically adjoining the relative clause
complementizer a to a following independent pronoun. In essence, then, genitives in Urim are
formally a kind of minimal relative clause: pig that (is) I/mine = my pig.
In addition, one or both of the following two modifications to the pronominal forms are possible:
1) the attributive suffix -en may be added to them, and 2) an /l/ may be added between the relative
clause complementizer a and the independent pronominal form. Thus, there are four possible forms
for each genitive pronoun. 8

Person Singular Dual Paucal Plural

1 a(l)kupm(en) a(l)mentekg(en) a(l(p))men(en) (Exc)
a(l)minto(wen)
a(l)mentepm(en) (Inc)
2 a(l)kitn)en) a(l)kipmekg(en) a(l)kipmteng(en) a(l)kipm(en)
3 a(l)kil(en) a(l(n))tuwekg(en) a(l(n))tunteng(en) a(l(n))tu(wen)
The genitive pronouns occur following the noun and indicate relationships like: 1) kinship, 2)
body parts, 3) ownership, 4) production, 5) belongingness, 6) Exclusion/Emphatis (only the forms
containing the consonant /l/ but lacking the suffix; alkupm etc.).

Kiin a-kupm-en raku warim

woman G-1sg-ATR deliver child
‘My wife gave birth to a child’

Ling awi tuwal a naimun pa elng itna meng al-kil-en

cassowary take.R beak G hornbill D put stand:.R throat G-3sg-ATR
‘The cassowary took hornbill’s beak and put it to his own throat.’

Kupm awi kosakal al-kupm pa aye

1sg take.R bush knife G-1sg that carry:R
‘I took my own bush knife with me’

Anong Laningwap a-mentepm-en

village Laningwap G-1pl.Inc-ATR
‘Our village Laningwap’

Kil kai anong a-kupm a-kil

3sg go village G-1sg G-3sg
‘He went to our (his and mine) home village’

Atom kupm mpa ikgilen kupm al-kupm,

then 1sg FUT take.care.IR 1sg G-1sg
a kitn pa mpa ikglen Tepit a-lkil.

8 The additions of extra [n] or [p] to certain forms are probably just results of emphatic pronunciation.
 46

and 2sg D FUT take.care.IR David G-3sg

‘Then I will take care of myself and you will take care of David himself.’

Pikekg tu aln-tu kipman pa ak kwap pa,

Past 3pl G-3pl man D do.R work that
‘The men themselves did that work’

Tu ngkaten nang al-kil -en a ak arkol nim pa ak

3pl start.R song G-3sg-ATR G do.R pull.R garamut that do:R
‘They started to sing the song of its own of pulling the garamut drum.’

Wrong tiur al-kil pa itna eng atop arkol eng nim pa

crowd some G-3sg D stand.R OBL dance.R pull.R OBL garamut D
‘There is its own group standing for welcoming the garamut drum by dancing.’

Why the genitive pronoun sometimes takes the attributive suffix -en and sometimes not needs to
be further studied. Probably the reason is pragmatic. The form with suffix -en is more emphatic. For
example, in a text dealing with a dispute about ownership of garden lands almost all of the genitive
pronouns have suffix -en because they are emphatic—i.e. ‘mine and NOT yours’. In the forms with
-en the possessor appears to be more “attributive”, not in focus and more tied to what is possessed.9
Whereas in the form without the suffix -en the genitive pronoun is more “loose” and more like a
relative pronoun. These two constructions may occur even as alternatives in the same context:

Yangkipm waiketn a-kupm(-en) am kai kol-pa-ke

talk small G-1sg-ATR now go like-that-EMP
‘That was my little talk’

Yangkipm a kupm (la) pa aklale.

talk REL 1sg say that true
‘My talk is true = The talk that I talk is true’ (relative clause)

The genitive pronoun forms containing /l/ are used when the possessor is focused information or
emphatic / in contrast to someone else. Such forms often have the meaning ‘one’s own’.

Wurkapm ti al-kitn-en aki a mla?

paper this G-2sg-ATR or G who
‘Is this book yours or whose is it?’

Kil kil wam a-kupm

3sg/this 3sg/here hand G-1sg
‘This here is my hand (not a snake).’

9 Here the suffix -en is very much like the attributive suffix -en that marks modifiers and forms adjectives from other
words. Also certain other modifiers of NP sometimes occur with -en, sometimes without it:
warim kin ‘girl, daughter’
child woman

warim kin-en tukgunakg ‘the oldest daughter’

child woman-ATR head
 47

Kil wam al-kupm-en

3sg/this hand G-1sg-ATR
‘This is my hand (not someone else’s)’

When there is more than one third person participant or group of participants in the immediate
context, the genitive pronoun forms with and without /l/ are used to distinguish possessors. The
forms with /l/ usually refer to the contextually nearest revious third person possessor (usually this is
the Subject) and those without /l/ to some other third person possessor. Compare the following two
examples:

Melming ukwa melnum pa kai wan al-kil -en

Melming send.R person that go house G-3sg-ATR’
‘Melming sent the man to his house (=the man’s own house).’

Melming ukwa melnum pa kai wan a –kil -en.

Melming send.R person that go house G-3sg-ATR
‘Melming sent the man to his house (=Melming’s house).’

Use of the demonstrative pronoun pa also helps to identify the referent since it marks topic and
the change of topic:

Kil antokg kupm palng wor kai wam a-kil -en.

3sg make.R 1sg become good go hand G-3sg-ATR
‘He caused that I became well in his hands’

Kil antokg kol-pa num a-kil pa kukula wor

3sg make.R like-that body G-3sg that light good
‘When he (Tingkorin) did like that, his (Ariyek’s) body felt light and good.’

Kil pirng kai anong naki wusok al-kil pa:

3sg run go village tell.R small G-3sg that
‘She ran to the village and told his younger brother:’

With body parts, genitive pronouns are used only if it is necessary to mark the right owner. An
‘unnecessary’ use of genitive pronoun with body parts is often emphatic and can be glossed ‘own,
himself’:

Tu am angkom ak nepm aln-tu am kai ise

3pl now walk.R use.R leg G-3pl now go PERF
‘Now they walked away using their own legs.’
Reciprocal Pronoun tita ‘each other’
The form tita ‘each other’ is used anaphorically to express reciprocal action, regardless of the
identity of the actors.

Tu or tita
3pl hit REC
‘They hit/fought each other.’
 48

tu or-en tita waring

3pl fight-TR REC betel nut
‘They are fighting each other over about betel nut.’

Mentekg nikg-walpm kalkut eng tita rpma

1du belly-liver heavy OBL each.other sit.R
‘We were worried (lit: ‘Our bellies were heavy) about each other.’

Tu huk tita nep kitnin pa plalng, tu huk tita manto

3pl give REC coconut sugarcane that finished 3pl give REC pig
‘After they had given each other coconuts and sugarcane, they gave each other pigs.’

wureren tita
near REC
‘near each other’

or-tita wail
hit-REC big
‘A big fight’
2.4.2. Interrogative Pro-forms
The interrogative words in Urim are listed below:
mla ‘who? (sg/pl)’
kuina, na ‘what?’ (kui- comes from
kwei ‘thing; yams’)
ahi10 ‘where?’
wang ahi, wangkarke, ak wang na ‘when?’
kolai [ko.la.i:] ‘how?’
ahi, (mla, kuina) ‘which one?’
eng (kui)na, eng ntei, atnen (kui)na ‘why?’
aripm ‘how many, how much?’

Interrogative words in Urim are not fronted. Instead, they occur in the same position where the
constituent being questioned normally occurs in declarative sentences. Some sentential examples of
the use of interrogative words are given below:

who?
Kitn mla (pa)? -Kupm Mowal.
2sg who (there) 1sg Mowal
‘Who are you (sg)? - I am Mowal.’

(Melnum) mla antokg pa?

person who do.R that
‘Who (sg) did that?’

10 In the expressions ahi and kolai there is a clear syllable boundary heard between the vowels /a/ and /i/.
Intonationally, the /a/ often has a higher pitch than what precedes it and it is followed by a rise on the /i/ starting lower
than the /a/.
 49

Tu mla (mla) antokg pa?

3pl who who do.R that
‘Who (pl) did that?’

what?
Kipm warim antokg na? Men ak katnong
3pl child do.R what? 1pl.Exc do.R playing
‘What are you (pl) children doing? - We are playing.’

Kitn alm kuina?

2sg shoot.R what?
‘What did you shoot?’

Tu kai ak wang na?

3pl go use.R time what?
‘When did they go?’ (preposition phrase)

when?
Tu kai ak wang na?
3pl go use.R time what?
‘When did they go?’

Wang-kark-e tu kai?
time-hang-CNT 3pl go
‘When did they go?’ (compound lexeme)

(Note that the form karke only has a temporal reading, whereas the expression ak wang
na ‘when’ is more general, being used to question events, things, and times)

where?
Kil rpma kai ahi Kil rpma kai ai
3sg sit.R go where? 3sg sit.R go remote
‘Where is he? - He is over there.’

why?
Kitn or warim pa eng na
‘2sg hit child D OBL what?
eng intei
OBL why?
atnen (kui)na
because what?
‘Why did you hit the child?’

how?
Mpa kupm intokg kol-ahi
FUT 1sg do.IR like-where?
‘How shall I do it?’
 50

how many?
Kitn alm manto aripm?
2sg shoot.R pig how.many?
‘How many pigs did you shoot?’

which one?

The word ahi ‘where’ is used for ‘which one?’ especially if the alternatives are there to be
seen. Otherwise mla ‘who?’ and kuina ‘what?’ are used.

Mpa kupm uwi hapm ahi?

FUT 1sg take.IR cloth where?
‘Which piece of clothing shall I take?’

Warim ahi a-kitn-en?

child where G-2sg-ATR
‘Which child is yours?’

Warim mla wet kai?

child who N.Past go
‘Which child just went?’

Kitn a anong kuina?

2sg G village which
‘Where are you from?’

2.5. Prepositions
Prepositions are defined as uninflected forms, which take a noun phrase complement and serve as
a mediating form between the noun phrase and the predicate, specifying its semantic role in the
predication. In Urim, there is only one ‘real’ preposition: eng.11 It is used to encode nearly all
oblique/peripheral arguments in the clause encoding a wide variety of semantic roles, including: 1)
Benefactive, 2) Recipient, 3) Locative Goal, 4) Purpose, 5) Reason, and 6) ‘about/concerning’. In
most cases eng appears to mark the referential domain with respect to which the predicate is true or
applicable. Perhaps this is its most basic meaning.
The form eng alternates with another, rarer form ekg. In the Kukwo dialect and in the western
villages of the Yangkolen dialect, this other form is more commonly used for these functions.

Kil ale wan eng kupm

3sg build.R house OBL 1sg
‘He built a house for me.’ (Benefactive)

11Note that the same phonological form eng followed by a is also used to express incipience ‘about to’; e.g., Kil eng a
angko ‘He was about to fall’.
 51

Uwi pa iye kul eng kupm!

take.IR that carry.IR come OBL 1sg
‘Bring it to me!’ (Recipient /Goal)

Kil la naki kupm eng kwap

3sg say tell.R 1sg OBL work
‘He spoke to me about the work.’ (‘about’/’concerning’)

Kupm tukwok eng okipma

1sg short OBL food
‘I am short of food.’ (‘about’/’concerning’)

Ngkom mehen eng mang!

walk.IR slow OBL mud
‘Walk slowly because of the mud!’ (Reason)

Tu kai ari -wel eng okipma

3pl go see.R-3sgO OBL food
‘They went to see him about food (most likely to get food).’ (Purpose)

Wan ti pik eng warim

house this full OBL child
‘This house is full of children’ (‘about’/’concerning’)

Tu la wasrongen eng armpen

3pl say like OBL buy
‘They want to buy’ (clausal object)

Eng can be used twice in the same sentence in two different meanings:

Kupm huk wor eng kipmekg eng wurkapm

1sg give good BEN 2dual REA paper
‘I thank you for the book.’

There is further discussion of eng in section 5.3 ‘Adverbial Clauses’.

2.5.1. Paucity of Urim Prepositions Compensated for by Serialized
Constructions
Given the paucity of ‘true’ prepositions in Urim, some other means of expressing peripheral
semantic roles like Instrument, Locative source, site/Location, Locative Goal, and Time are necessary.
These semantic roles are usually expressed by serial verb constructions. Some of these constructions
are more lexicalized and preposition-like than others, but the verbal modal distinction of realis-irrealis
is always present.
Instrument Serializations
The notion of Instrument is usually expressed using a serialization containing the verb ak ‘do’.
 52

Kupm ak yikal or or or, pa amo.

1sg use.R bow hit hit hit D die.R
‘I kept hitting it with the bow until it died.’

Kil ak marpm armpen hapm

3sg use.R money buy.R cloth
‘He bought the clothes with money.’

Kil awi ko ak are yo.

3pl take.R axe use.R cut.R tree
‘He cut the tree with an axe.’ (Literally, ‘He took an axe, with (it) cut the tree.’)

Kolen karek a ak hiplepm (ak) aur nampi al-kil pa

like hen REL useR wing use.R cover chick G-3sg D
‘Like a hen that with its wings covers its chicks’

In the following example it looks like ak were used to encode purpose, but it can also be
explained as a case of double deletion (both purpose eng and repetition of NP deleted).

Elk -opm wakg ak ari nangil

give.IR-1sgO fire use.R see.R mosquitoes
‘Give me a torch to see (with it) mosquitoes’

* Elk-opm wakg eng ak wakg ari nangil

give-1sgO fire PUR use.R fire see mosquitoes
‘Give me a torch in order to see with it mosquitoes’

Examples of the verb ak as a normal predicate:

Kil ak rkwa
3sg do.R basket
‘She is making a basket’

Kopi kitn ik kol-kil

coffee 2sg do.IR like-this
‘Coffee (trees) you should handle like this;...’
Temporal Serialization
Serializations consisting of the verb ak (IR ik) ‘use,do’ followed by a temporal noun plus the
predication are one means of expressing temporal arguments.

Ik Sande pa kil wuli

use.IR Sunday D 3sg arrive
‘He will come on Sunday.’

Pikekg ak mining
before use.R dark
‘last night’
 53

Ak-angklei kong pa kupm aro ikgyokg-el tu.

do.R-swallow.R morning D 1sg split.R sleepiness-3sgO 3pl
‘Every morning I woke them up.’

Tu kai ak wang na
3pl go use.R time what
‘When did they go?’

Kupm angko hu ak warim

1sg fall.R water use.R child
‘I was baptized when child’
Manner serializations
The same verb ak ‘(use something to) do’ is sometimes used to mark manner phrases. These
manner expressions are usually idiomatic.

tu ak wail wuli
3pl use.R big arrive
‘They came in crowds’
Locative Goal Serializations
Serializations with motion verbs (kai ‘go’, kinar ‘go down’, kaino ‘go up’, no ‘come up’, nar
‘come down’) usually express the notion of goal, but may also express the notions of source, origin,
or place of action.

Wa men awi kiin kipman wekg pa aye kinar Punam pa.

and 1pl.Exc take.R woman man two D carry.R go.down Punam D
‘And we took the couple to Punam.’

Atom kil pirng kaino wan

then 3sg run.to go.up house
‘Then he ran to the house.’

Rku kipm al-kipm iye kinar kanokg pa!

push.IR 2pl G-2pl carry.IR go.down ground EMP
‘Humble yourselves!’

Sisas awi mentepm ti kai wam a Seten aye kul

‘Jesus take.R 1pl.Inc here go hand G Satan carry.R come
wam a Maur Wail-en
hand G Spirit Big-ATR
‘Jesus has taken us from Satan’s hand to God’s hand.’

Kil lap wapiin kai wakg

3sg roast lizard go fire
‘He roasted the lizard on fire’

Kupm palng wor kai wam a-kil -en

1sg become good go hand G-3sg-ATR
‘I became well in his care.’
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Kitn kai anong ahi? Kupm kai Sepik

2sg go place where? 1sg go Sepik
‘Where are you from? - I’m from Sepik.’

Kai akwe nokg pa palng

go day salt that appear
‘The salt was ready by the next day.’
(The verb kai ‘go’ in time expression is rare. It is used here to mark the end of the
process)

Tu antokg kuina kai kil?

3pl make.R what go 3sg
‘What did they do to him?’

In the above examples the serial motion verb is necessary to define the semantic role of the NP.
When a position verb is predicate, the NP expressing Locative Goal has the status of Object in Urim
and is grammatically unmarked like the object of transitive verbs. (This is why these predicates are
called semitransitive in Urim.) With semitransitive verbs the serialization with motion verbs is used
to add extra information about the direction of the distance of the Goal in relation to the speaker.

Namung palk rmpa hipm

banana skin lie.R leaf
‘There are banana peels on the leaf.’

wan itna kai mpang

house stand.R go wood
‘The house is in the woods.’ (the house and the wood are not near the speaker)

Kil rpma anong

3sg sit.R village
‘He is in his home village’

Kil rpma kai anong

3sg sit.R go village
‘He is in another village’

Tu itna wring
3pl stand.R garden
‘They are in the garden.’

Tingkil itna kinar ai

toilet stand.R go.down remote
‘The toilet is over there.’
Outer Location
Serializations containing one of the position verbs rpma ‘sit’, rmpa ‘lie’, itna ‘stand’, rka ‘hang’,
ela ‘be situated’, or a ‘be’, are used to express Outer Location (= the site where the event takes place).
 55

Warim pa hokg akwekgel rmpa wrik

child that sleep soundly lie.R bed
‘The child slept soundly on the bed.’

Kil awi kai al rpma kai pa

3sg take.R go eat.R sit.R go there
‘He took the (food) and went and ate it over there.’

Atom men elng okipma pa (elng) rmpa tipmakg

then 1pl.Exc put food that put lie.R shelf
‘Then we put the food on the shelf.’
Locative Source Serializations
To express the notion of Source, a serialization consisting of: 1) a position verb (listed above)plus
2) a notion verb like kai ‘ go’, kaino ‘go up’ or kinar ‘go down’ is used.

Kil rpma wrik angko kai

3sg sit.R bed fall.R go
‘He fell off from his bed.’

Kil itna kai anong wuli

3sg stand.R go village come
‘He comes from the village.’

Kupm wet a(ng) kaino ya nar

1sg N.Past be.R go.up road come.down
‘I just came down from the road.’

Coming (or other action involving movement) from a direction (without the meaning of staying
there first a longer time) is expressed without a position verb:

kil kinar ya no
3sg go-down road ascend
‘He is coming from the direction of down river’

Kil awi kuntuk kai wakg

3sg take.R pot go fire
‘She took the pot from fire.’

In addition to this analytic construction expressing Source, there are a number of compound verb
stems expressing separation from some locative source which appears to begin with a bound verbal
form ang-/ing- (these forms come from the realis -irrealis forms a-i ‘be’). These are listed below:

angkark ‘flee’ (from kark ‘afraid’)

angkli ‘throw away (from kli ‘husk’)
angklon ‘be forbidden. separated from’
angko ‘fall from’
angket ‘cut off’
 56

Kil angko yo
3sg fall.from.R tree
‘He fell from a tree.’
Comitative Serializations
Serialized constructions with the verbal preposition nampokgen ‘accompany’ are used to express
comitative notions. This word is fully grammaticalized to a preposition and is not used as a verb
anymore, but has retained realis-irrealis form. Its original meaning is not known and especially the
young people do not seem to connect the different realis and irrealis forms with mode, but use them
inconsistently. There are several freely alternating or dialect dependent forms of the word:
nampokgen (IR nimpokgen) and nampikgen (IR nimpikgen) in Urim 1 sub dialect, nampon (IR
nimpon) and nampiin(en) (IR nimpiin(en)) in sub dialect 2 and in Kukwo dialect. These can be used
when the accompanying party is either human or non human.
Serialized constructions with the verb anti (IR inti) ‘agree, comply with’ are only used if the
accompanying party is human. The verb ngkaten (IR ngkiten) ‘lift up with, carry with’ is used in
constructions expressing accompaniment when the object is actually physically carried.

Kupm la inti kitn oklala

1sg INT with.IR 2sg speak
‘I want to talk with you.’

Men kai akyakur kiin al-kil nampokgen walpopm al-kil pa

1pl.Exc go fetch.R woman G-3sg with.R grandchild G-3sg D

aye kai anti Mantualep Kinawor hokg.

carry.R go with.R Mantualep Kinawor sleep
‘We went to get his wife with the grandchildren and took them to sleep with Mantualep
and Kinawor.’

Kol-pa ti kupm rpma nampokgen ipma kaikuten

like-that C 1sg sit.R with.R belly heavy
‘Therefore I am worried.’

Nangil nam-popm nampokgen hapm

mosquito bite-1sgO with.R cloth
‘Mosquito bit me through my clothes.’

Uwi kan tukgunakg pa nimpon nampro pa il rpmi ok pa!

take.IR grub head D with.IR ginger D eat:IR sit.IR mouth D
‘Take grub head with ginger and eat/chew it in your mouth!’

Kupm ngkaten monmon wuli

‘1sg carry.with.R baby arrive
‘I arrived carrying the child’

Kil ngkaten numpet ak kwap.

‘3sg carry.with.R sick(ness) do.R work
‘Although he is sick, he works’
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Wapin nugkworen angkat melnum nampokgen-tel aye kinar hu

lizard scaly carry.R person with.R -3sgO carry.R go.down water
‘Crocodile carries people with it into the water’
Frequentative Serializations
The verb anti ‘agree, comply with’ is also used in frequentative serializations with numerals and
quantifiers:

Karek kil la anti wraur.

rooster 3sg say with.R three
‘The rooster crowed three times.’

Kupm la nak -eitn anti aripm ur ise!

1sg say tell.R-2sgO with.R how.many ID PERF
‘How many times have I told you already!’
Reason Serializations
Serialized constructions with the word (ok)atnen are used to express reason relationships.
Morphologically, it is reminiscent of the two forms ok ‘mouth’ and atnen ‘wait for, watch, hit a
target’. This construction may take either a noun phrase or sentence complement. Usually atnen has
somewhat negative meaning:

Hu pa awe perper atnen tu alm nok kai wrik miring-ket.

water D rain.R often because 3pl shoot.R sago go place spirit-ATR
‘It rains so often because they are making sago at a place where ancestral spirit is
dwelling.’

Kitn or nimpa pa okatnen kuina?

2sg hit dog D because.of what
‘Why did you hit that dog?’

Kitn numpet atnen kweikwei (a) pekekg kitn al pa.

‘2sg sick because.of food (G) past 2sg eat:R D
‘You are sick because of the food you ate.’
Distributive Serializations
The following serial constructions with the verb ak ‘do’ are used to express distribution notions:
akawiye (ak-awi-e, literally ‘do-take-HAB’) and aknirake (ak-nirak-e, literally ‘do-differ-HAB’):

Melnum pa ampreing kwap pa akawiye warim pa.

person D share.R work D each.R child D
‘The man gave work to each child.’

Ngket wusok-wusok iknirake melnum aripm a rka wan pa.

cut.IR small-small each.IR person how.many REL hang.R house D
‘Cut it in small pieces enough for each person there are in the house!’

Melnum wris-wris aknarake anong

person one-one each.R village
‘One man from each village.’
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Additive Serializations
There are also two other serialized constructions containing the verb ak ‘do’, They are used to
express additional notions: aken ‘ to work with, add into’ (ak-en ‘do-with/TR’) and aklanti ‘in
addition to’ (ak-la-anti ‘do-say-with’):

Mpa kupm ikor yul iken /iklanti nung eng uwi hapm
FUT 1sg search.IR fish in.addition.to.R firewood OBL take.IR cloth
‘I’ll catch fish (and bring it) in addition to the firewood to exchange for clothing.’

2.6. Adjectives
Adjectives are defined as forms that can serve as either: 1) attributive modifiers of nouns within
the noun phrase, occurring immediately after the head noun and before all other modifiers, or 2) as
predicates. When adjectives occur as predicates, they never exhibit a realis-irrealis distinction. In
Urim, it is not usually possible for an adjective to occur in isolation as the head of the noun phrase,
except in elliptical contexts.

Pilpatni kaki kwei rampukg. Men a tu wrongkwail pa al

Pilpatni peel.R yam dry 1pl.Exc G 3pl crowd that eat.R
mahing, kil al-kil pa kai al yampon kai wan ai.
uncooked 3sg G-3sg that go eat.R cooked go house remote
‘Pilpatni peeled yam and dried it. We other people ate it raw, she herself went to eat it
cooked in the house.’

It is common in Urim for words to exhibit more than one syntactic function without any change in
form to mark the change in category, much like in English e.g. the word fish can function both as a
noun and a verb. This is especially true with the words that can function as modifiers of noun phrases
or as predicates. Very often the same word functions both as adjective and adverb in Urim without
any morphological change, for example such common words as paipm ‘bad; badly’ or wor ‘good;
well’.
2.6.1. Underived Adjectives
The class of underived adjectives in Urim is comparatively small. As in many other languages,
the basic, most common adjectives are usually morphologically simple. Semantically these basic
adjectives encode permanent properties of the entities, such as size, shape, age, or colour. Some of
the principal underived adjectives in Urim are listed below:

Form Meaning
wor ‘good’
paipm ‘bad’
wail ‘big’
wasek ‘small’
watin ‘long, tall’
tukwok ‘short’
kupuk ‘cold’
hute ‘straight’
wror ‘old’
kukula ‘light/not heavy’
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kalkut ‘heavy’
tingklak ‘dry’
waipmun ‘black’
walim ‘brown’
tukgun ‘ripe’
maing ‘undone, uncooked’
pirpik ‘soft, rotten’
malkgu ‘soft’

Examples of attributive and predicative uses of adjectives in Urim are given below:

Pa ya hute wor
that road straight good
‘That is a good, straight road’

manto wail pa kai mpang

pig big that go forest
‘The big pig went to forest’

Hapm pa ake tingklak, hu -wet itna

cloth that not dry water-ADJ stand.R
‘The cloth is not dry; it is still wet.’

Note from the last example above that when an adjective is used attributively, the noun phrase
being characterized is set off from the predicative adjective by a demonstrative (pa, ti, kil, ai).

The border between verbs and adjectives in Urim is in many cases difficult to draw. Even such
basic adjectives that denote less permanent properties may occur as predicates not only in nominative
clauses (first example) but also in intransitive clauses with the imperative clitic -o. (possibly only in
special uses like incantations) and in experiential clauses that have both a topic and a Subject (last
example):

Hu ti wakget ise
water this hot PERF
‘This water is already hot/has become hot.’

Hu ti watet-o!
water this red -IMP
‘Let this water become red!’ (incantation in a divination rite)

Kupm num wakget-opm

1sg skin hot -1sgO
‘I have fever’

Those adjectives that can occur in an experiental construction with an accusative object could also
be analysed as verbs.

On the other hand many stative verbs denoting state or change of state can function as attributive
modifiers within the noun phrase:
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kupm tapor yo
1sg break.R tree
‘I broke the tree’

kiin a nepm tapor pa rpma wan

woman G leg broken.R D sit.R house
’The woman with broken leg is in the house’

There are some minor syntactic differences between stative verbs and adjectives denoting non-
permanent properties. 1) The verbs expressing process or state (which can function as either
attributive modifiers in the noun phrase or as intransitive predicates) can usually also function as
transitive verbs. Pure adjectives cannot. 2) Only adjectives occur as complements of resultative
clause, that is, they require the help of some predicate when a process is described. But, as we have
seen, adjectives may occur as predicates with the completive aspect marker ise, when the attention is
focused to the actual result, not to the process itself. 3) Only adjectives occur as modifiers in noun
complexes, that is, in the animal and plant names.

Examples of a process verb:

Kil hum kuntuk

3sg break pot
‘he broke the pot’

Kuntuk pa hum ise

pot that break PERF
‘the pot broke’

Examples of adjectives as predicatives in resultative clauses:

Kil anip watin

3sg grow.R long
‘he grew tall’

Melnum pa palng wror ise

man that become old PERF
‘the man grew old’
2.6.2. Derived Adjectives
Adjectives formed by derivation are very common in Urim. There are a number of ways to derive
adjectives from other words: verbs, nouns, adverbs and other adjectives.
Adjectives derived with -et13
The suffix -et is one of the most productive and possibly the commonest way to form adjectives.
It can be added to verbs, nouns, and other adjectives.
Verb + et --> Adjective

13 -et has several other allomorphs: -pet, -tet, -ket, -wet (see morphophonemic rule 1.)
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Verb Meaning Adjective Meaning

wale ‘fold’ wale-wet ‘folded’
rakol ‘tear’ rakol-et ‘torn, tattered’
tirktork ‘sway, totter’ tirktork-et ‘weak’
ka(t)nukg ‘(go/come)behind’ ka(t)nukg-et ‘later(one)’
Noun + -et --> Adjective

Noun Meaning Adjective Meaning

tawong ‘hole’ tawong-ket having holes’
mingkirp ‘rust’ mingkirp-et ‘rusty’
mining ‘night, darkness’ mining-ket ‘dark’
kwap ‘work’ kwap-et ‘laborious’
num ‘body’ num-pet ‘sick’
wakg ‘fire’ wakg-et ‘hot’
tupmungkul ‘bone’ tupmungkul-et ‘bony’
nungkulkg ‘ear’ nungkulkg-et ‘stubborn’
warim ‘child’ warim-pet ‘having children,
with child’
Noun Phrase / Verb Phrase + -et ---> Adjective
Phrase Meaning Adjective Meaning
hu-nokg ‘sea’ (water-salt) hunokg-et ‘belonging to sea
suffering from tinea’
werk-alm feathers-shoot werkalm-pet ‘greyhaired’
Adjective + -et ---> Adjective
Adjective Meaning Adjective Meaning
wor ‘good’ wor-et ‘clean’
tingklak ‘dry’ tingklak-et ‘old’
Adverb + -et ---> Adjective
Adverb Meaning Adjective Meaning
man(man) ‘differently, separately’ man-et ‘other, different’
ampen ‘slowly, with difficulty’ ampen-et ‘slow, difficult’
titi ‘equally’ titi-wet ‘equal’

Examples:
Hunokg tapor
sea break.R
’The sea breaks’

Kil melnum hunokget

3sg person tinea
’He has tinea’
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Tu rpma wan man

3pl sit.R house other
’They sit/are in another house’

Kil melnum manet ur

3sg person different ID
’He is a different (strange) man’

Practically all adjectives formed by -et are transparent; the stem from which the adjective is
formed is recognizable and also occurs without the suffix. There are a few examples like watet
‘red’, lepet ‘sharp’, where the stem does not occur alone.
Adjectives derived with the attributive suffix -en14
Suffixing with -en is another important means for deriving new adjectives. This suffix can be
added to verbs, nouns, other adjectives, and adverbs.
Verb + -en ---> Adjective
Verb Meaning Adjective Meaning
titno ‘be mad, grazy titno-wen ‘crazy, ignorant’
aut ‘tie’ aut-en ‘knotty, in knots’
hum ‘break, yield’ humpen ‘loose, spread, open’
Noun + -en ---> Adjective
Noun Meaning Adjective Meaning
tungkur ‘pit, hole’ tungkur-en ‘rutty’
kuin ‘middle part’ kuin-en ‘middle’
hu ‘water’ huwen ‘watery, liquid’
kitnin ‘sugar(cane) kitnin-en ‘sweet’
kin ‘woman’ kin-en ‘married (of men)
nang ‘ridge’ nang-en ‘elevated, on the ridge’
klal ‘brightness, light’ klal-en ‘clear, bright, light in
color’
nikg ‘stomach’ nikg-en ‘always hungry’
yangkipm ‘talk’ yangkipm-en ‘talkative’
Adjective + -en ---> Adjective
Adjective Meaning Adjective Meaning
tukgun ‘ripe’ tukgun-en ‘fruit-bearing’
wuri ‘clear’ wuri-wen ‘clear’
wor ‘good’ wor-en ‘allowed, lawful’
Adverb + -en ---> Adjective
Adverb Meaning Adjective Meaning
kwa ‘up’ kwa-wen ‘early; high up (one)’
wet ‘today’s past’ wet-en ‘new’
en ‘outside’ en-en ‘outside (one)’

14 As is the case with -et, -en exhibits several different allomorphs: -en, -wen, -yen, -pen, -ten, -ken.
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Examples:
Warim titno!
child be.crazy
’The child it crazy’

Kupm titnowen ya
1sg ignorant road/way
’I do not know the road’

Namung pa tukgun
banana D ripe
’The bananas are ripe’

Walok tukgunen wor

papaya fruit-bearing good
’A good fruit-bearing papaya’
About the lexical and syntactic uses of -en:
The suffix -en is highly productive and can probably form an attributive modifier out of any
semantically suitable noun.

anong nang-en
village ridge-ATR
‘village on the ridge’

melnum hen -en

person outside-ATR
‘outsider’

mining kwa-wen
night up -ATR
‘early night’

melnum Maprik-en ur
person Maprik-ATR ID
‘a man from Maprik’

When added to a noun, the suffix -en usually has the meaning ‘belonging to something or
somebody’ or ‘with’. In this meaning the suffix is often more syntactic than lexical. One function of
he suffix possibly is to bind the parts of nominal phrases together:

kilpakg miring-en
fire place white man-ATR
‘a western style stove’

kiin kipman-en
woman man-ATR/with
‘both men and women
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nimong epik-en
basket rubbish-ATR
‘a waste basket’

Man al-kil pa nepm paipm-en rpma anong

mother G-3sg D leg bad-ATR sit.R village
‘His mother who was lame, stayed in the village.’

mining ran-en
night day-ATR/with
‘by day and night’

Note that the suffix -en is also used to mark the specifying or part-of-whole noun of a noun complex:
okmilip yipuk-en
tongue top-ATR
‘the tip of tongue’ (yipuk ‘top of something’)

yangkipm yiprokg-en
talk base -ATR
‘the meaning of talk’ (yiprokg ‘base, root; origin’)

In many cases the addition of -en to an adjective forms another lexical adjective or at least
changes the semantic meaning of the adjective slightly, but in some cases it is hard to detect what is
the semantic difference between the form with -en and the one without it. One possible explanation is
that the addition of -en emphasizes the adjective (see the similar use of -en with possessive pronouns;
Section 2. 4. 1. 3). Another explanation is that the addition of –en somehow metaphorically extends
the meaning; for example from physical bigness to a more abstract kind of bigness:

marpm wusok
money small
‘small amount of money’

marpm pa wusok-en
money D small-ATR
‘that is an easy price’

wan wail
house big
‘big house’

kwap wail-en
work big-ATR
‘a big task’
Adjectives derived with -is and -e
Some adjectives are derived by adding the suffix -is to a noun referring to the item or substance
having the property of the adjective. Only rarely does -is form adjectives from other word classes
than nouns. The suffix is not very productive anymore, which can be seen in the fact that there are a
number of cases where the bound formative of an adjective formed by -is does not occur in isolation
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anymore. Adjectives formed by - is are far less common than adjectives formed by -et or –en, but
many of them are common lexemes.
Noun + -is ---> Adjective
Noun Meaning Adjective Meaning
wanukg ‘greens, vegetables’ wanukg-is ‘green (color)’
pung ‘plant sp.(source of yellow dye)’ pung-kis ‘yellow color’
kinipm ‘gall’ kinip-is15 ‘bitter; stingy’
hiino ‘joke’ hiino-wis ‘funny’; joking
upmukg ’mold’ upmukg-is ‘moldy’
Verb + -is ---> Adjective
Verb Meaning Adjective Meaning
kungkurung ‘(to) thunder’ kungkuru-wis ‘furious’

Meaning of root is unknown in following cases:

kro* kro-wis ‘sour’

klom* klom-pis ‘numb’
mam* mam-pis ‘stinking, to stink’

Some numerals are also formed using the suffix -is:

ur ‘indefinite deictic’ ur-is ‘one’

Examples:
Men ak hiino alm -peitn
1excl do.R joke hit.R-2sgO
’We are poking fun at you’

Por ti hiinowis, a?
story D funny or
’Isn’t this story funny!’

Tu kai anel wanukg

3pl go pick.R greens
’They went to pick greens’

Kupm karken hapm wanukgis

1sg dislike cloth green
’I do not like green clothes’

A handful of adjectives are observed to end in a final -e. This suffix might be related to the suffix
-e that is used with verbs to mark transitivity or continuity. The idea of continuity or permanence can
be thought to exist also between the source noun and resulting adjective in the following examples:

15 The consonant /m/ disappears for some reason; compare to kinipm-et ‘not growing a big garden’.
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Noun etc. Meaning Adjective Meaning

raim ‘intestines’ raim-pe ‘crooked, bent, curly’

hut ‘completely, altogether’ hut-e ‘straight’
ak klal ‘do brightness’ aklal-e ‘true’

Examples:
Lam amo hut ise
lamp die.R straight PERF
’The lamp went completely out’

Kupm kul hute

1sg come straight
’I came straight/directly’

The adjective aklale ‘true’ has kept the realis/irrealis mode distinction:

Mpa kitn la yangkipm iklale kolti

FUT 2sg say talk true.IR only
‘You must talk only true talk’
2.6.3. Comparison of Adjectives
In Urim, there is no morphological means of expressing degrees of properties. Instead, various
phrasal constructions are used. A common device is the addition of a form identical to the adjective
paipm ‘bad’ after the adjective to express ‘very’. Frequently, the form namput ‘mention’ is also
interposed between the adjective and paipm. When namput paipm is not preceded by an adjective, it
has the meaning ‘very good’. With adjectives, however, it strengthens the goodness of the property
they encode. Sometimes also the word maur ‘spirit’ or the expression maur alkil is used in the same
meaning. This expression can also be used with adverbs.

kalkut paipm
heavy bad
‘very heavy’

kiin wor namput paipm

woman good mention bad
‘a very good woman’

kinipis maur
stingy spirit
‘awfully stingy’

watipmen maur (al-kil)

plenty spirit (G-3sg)
‘very much’

Some adjectives have their own special intensifiers. For example, the word manten (< man
‘main, principal, major’) is used after the adjective wail ‘big’ to express hugeness. In the same way
the word mileng ‘very’ is used with the adjective watin ‘long’; watin mileng ‘very long’.
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Kil wail man-ten

3sg big main-ATR
‘He is very big’

Wan wail man-ten

house big main-ATR
‘a huge house’

Meng al-ki l-en watin mileng

neck G-3sg-ATR long very
’Its neck is very long’

When two particular referents are compared with respect to some property, a serialized
construction containing the verb angen ‘surpass’ is used:

Kil wail angen -topm

3sg big surpass.R-1sg.O
‘He is bigger than me’

To express superlative notions, a similar construction is used:

Kil wail angen men plalng-ten

2sg big surpass.R 1pl.Exc finish-ATR
‘He is the biggest of us all’

The forms waiketn /waikotn ‘small, a little’, or its shorter forms ketn/kotn, or the reduplicated
forms waiketnketn/waikotnkotn, ketnketn/kotnkotn are used adverbially to indicate possession of a
property to a small degree.

Kitn wor waiketn-ketn aki kalpis?

2sg good small -RED or not
‘Are you a little bit better or not?’

To indicate an even lesser degree, the sympathetic diminutive word yek ‘poor’ is placed after the
adjective wasek ‘small’. If the modified noun is non-singular in reference, part of the adjective is
repeated, waseksek, and if the word yek is used it is repeated, too:

Kupm wet arkolng yul wasek-sek yek-yek kolti

1sg just pull.R fish small-RED poor-RED only
‘I only caught very small poor fish’

In the case of color adjectives, and a few other adjectives, (potentially multiple), occurrences of
the attributive suffix -en serve to indicate a progressively less vivid color, or lesser property e.g.

watet ‘red’
watet-en ‘a little bit red’

watet-en-en ‘even less red’

watet-en-en-en ‘hardly red at all’
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klalen ‘light’
klalen-en ‘a little bit light’
klalen-en-en ‘hardly light at all’

walim ‘brown’
walim-pen-en-en ‘just a little bit brown’

(compare to the similar way that time adverbs can have reduplicated suffixes to indicate the
length of time: pikekg ‘yesterday’, pikekg-tak-ai ‘long ago’ , pikekg-tak-tak-ai ‘very long
ago’)

Finally, complete possession of a property is expressed using the adverb wrisen ‘altogether,
totally, completely; once and for all’ (wris-en ‘one-ATR’). Some adjectives require the
‘comparative’ paipm ‘bad, very’ to appear before wrisen to strengthen the property; wail paipm
wrisen ‘altogether big’. Some adjectives can have wrisen follow them with or without paipm and in
both cases it increases the degree of the property. When it occurs with paipm, the degree is even
greater. For example wor wrisen or wor paipm wrisen means ‘totally good’ (or perfect?). One way of
expressing superlative notion with the adjective wasek ‘small’ is to add the word tikris(-et) after it,
which can in turn be followed by yek ‘poor’:

yul wasek tikris yek

fish small ? poor
‘a very tiny little fish’

Another way of expressing the superlative degree of any property is to use the locative (kai) ai
‘(go)over there’ after any of the degree adverbials:

kil wail man-ten paipm (wrisen) (kai) ai

3sg big main-ATR bad (totally) (go) remote
‘She is extremely big without compare’

With color terms, the word paipm ‘bad’ is used to indicate a darker shade of color. When the
word paipm is repeated in this kind of expression it does not indicate plurality but just further
strengthens the property:

Kil tapminei wanukgis paipm-paipm kil -ke,

3sg thread green bad -bad 3sg-EMP
kil pa wanukgis wor klalen
3sg D green good bright
‘This here is very dark green thread but this is bright green’

It is also possible to circumvent comparative constructions with functionally equivalent non-

comparative utterances, as in the following example:

Wurkapm wekg rmpa. Kitn uwi wail pa

paper two lie.R 2sg take.IR big D
iye kai (elng wasek pa rmpi)
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carry.IR go put small D lie.IR

‘There are two books. Take the big(ger) one (and leave the small(er) one).’

In the example above, even if both books were very tiny, this construction could be used.

2.7. Adverbs
Adverbs are modifiers of constituents other than noun phrases. They take in, therefore, 1) verb
phrase modifiers, 2) sentence modifiers, 3) modifiers of adjectives, and 4) modifiers of other adverbs.
Most adverbs in Urim are single morphemes but may also be derived words or compound
constructions.
2.7.1. Temporal Adverbs
Temporal adverbs and adverbials constitute a large and important subclass in Urim. Since Urim
verbs have no tense morphology indicating time of occurrence, temporal adverbials are especially
important. The deictic temporal adverbs form a system that distinguishes several degrees of
remoteness in the future and past.

The principal deictic temporal adverbs are listed below:

General Time Reference Form Meaning

Before Today - General Past pikekg (Earlier Past) (yesterday or

earlier)
kwekekg ‘2 days ago’
pikekgkil ‘yesterday’

Today wuten, wet ‘short time ago, today’

weti (wet ti) ‘just now, today’
am ‘now’
amti ‘now, next moment’
mpa (am pa) (General Future)

After Today hikg(kil) ‘tomorrow’

kwaikg ‘2 days from now’
kiki ‘3 days from now’
kwangil ‘4 days from now’
kwalel ‘5 days from now’
ikga (Later Future)
(tomorrow or later)

Note from the above forms in the list of deictic temporal adverbs that the system is somewhat
symmetrical around ‘now/today’. Pikekgkil ‘one day ago’ resembles the expression hikgkil ‘one
day from now’, and kwekekg ‘two days ago’ (< kwa+pikekg ‘above yesterday’) resembles the adverb
‘two days from now’ kwaikg (‘above tomorrow’).

In addition to the forms listed above the past temporal adverb pikekg can be modified in several
ways to indicate a more distant past. Some temporal adverbs (at least pikekg, kwekekg and hikg) can
also be modified by the distant deictic -ai. This makes the point of time even more indefinite:
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pikekg (itna) hep ‘long time before’

pikekg ak wang hep, ak pikekg hep ‘in olden times’
pikekg ai ‘sometimes earlier’
pikekg tak ai ‘long ago’
pikekg taktak ai ‘long ago’
pikekg tak ur ai ‘sometimes long ago’
ikg ai ‘sometimes later’

Examples:
Por a nokg a pikekg hep
story G salt G past before
‘Story about how the salt was made long time ago (time of parents and grandparents)’

Pikekg ai kupm kinar ai, hikgkil pa kupm wa kinar

past remote 1sg go down remote tomorrow D 1sg again go.down
‘I have been down there before/long time ago, tomorrow I will go there again.’

Pikekg tu mamikgmamiin pikekg-ta-wai

past 3pl ancestors past -? -ID
‘Long time ago the ancestors....’

The temporal adverb am ‘now’ expresses concurrent time. It usually occurs after the subject
immediately before the verb, but can occasionally occur before the subject, too. If there is pake or
tike at the end of the clause, their combined meaning is emphatic and could in many cases be
translated ‘it is --- that’, ‘it is ----- who’. (There is more about the uses of am in the section 5.5.5)

Wang al –kil -en kul wreren pa, tu am wuli eng arkol nim
time G-3sg-ATR come near D 3pl now arrive OBL pull.R slit.gong
‘When its time comes close, they come now to pull the slit gong’

Wet kipman pa ari, atom am kalpis ise.

N.Past man D see.R then now no PERF
‘The man had just seen it, therefore it does not work any more.’

Am wet kupm ti angkon wakg alk -en ti -ke.

now N.Past 1sg this shovel.R fire give-2pl.O this-EMP
‘It was me who just gave them the fire.’

In addition to the deictic temporal adverbs, there are also non-deictic sequencing adverbial forms:
hep ‘first, ahead, in front of’ and katnukg ‘later, afterwards, behind’. This adverb exceptionally gets
realis-irrealis mode; irrealis form is kutnukg (In the Kukwo dialect and in western villages of the Urim
2 dialect the forms are kanukg and kunukg).

These non-deictic adverbials are possibly bi-categorial, functioning both as adverbs and verbs
(this would explain why katnukg gets realis-irrealis mode like verbs do). Consider the following
examples:
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‘Hep o, kupm mpa kutnukg kai pa-ke’

first IMP 1sg FUT follow.IR go D-EMP
Atom kil hep, kupm katnukg
then 3sg go first 1sg follow.R
‘‘Go ahead, I’ll come later’. She went ahead and I went later.’

Kipman hep aye warim

man first carry.R child
‘The husband came first, carrying the child’

The most common position of occurrence for temporal adverbs and adverbials is clause/sentence
initially. When temporal adverbs occur sentence initially, they can be followed by the deictic pronoun
pa, especially when there is contrast to some other point of time or when the temporal adverb or
adverbial starts a new chapter in the text.

Pikekgkil kitn hokg rmpa kai ahi?

yesterday 2sg sleep lie.R go where
‘Where did you sleep yesterday?’

Hep pa kipm wangket mi-wel kopi pa

first D 2pl cut.R grass-3sgO coffee D
‘First, you cut grass from the coffee’

Kutnukg pa ikga kipm itopen eng kopi a-kipm

later.IR D FUT 2pl rejoice.IR OBL coffee G-2pl
ikga ok rke watipmen
FUT fruit hang.IR plenty
‘Later you’ll be glad because your coffee will bear a lot of fruit’

Sometimes the clause initial temporal adverb functions almost like a conjunction, starting a
dependent clause and marking its temporal relation to the previous clause (see also the Section 5.5.5):

Ingkut mehen-mehen, mpa masin aln-tu tipor

Sew.IR easy-easy FUT machine G-3pl break.IR
‘Sew carefully, lest their machine will break’

Itni kolti ikga kitn uwi ariwe

stand.IR only later 2sg get.IR knowledge
‘Just wait, you will learn it later’

Unfocused temporal adverbs usually occur following the subject and immediately before the verb.
Temporal adverbs can also occur after verb; this position is more focused.

Kitn wet kai ahi?

2sg N.Past go where?
‘Where did you (just) go’

Wangarke kil numpet, pikekg-tak -ur -ai aki pikekg-kil aki

when 3sg sick past -long time-ID-remote or past-this or
 72

weti?
now
‘When did he become sick, long time ago or yesterday or just now?’
2.7.2. Manner Adverbs and Frequentative Temporal Adverbs
In Urim, manner adverbs normally follow the predicate and both the direct and indirect object and
usually any eng prepositional phrases that are present (but they may occur before the eng
prepositional phrase if they are in focus). In this respect they differ from onomatopoetic and
descriptive verbs, which usually occur before the main verb (see also the section 5.4).

Kil kwal-kwal kai

3sg wail-wail go
‘He went wailing’

The class of manner adverbs is quite large in Urim. Some of them are bi-categorical, functioning
either as attributive modifiers in the noun phrase or as manner adverbs.

Form Adjectival meaning Adverbial meaning

paipm ‘bad, evil’ ‘badly, awfully

wor ‘good’ ‘well, very’
titnongket ‘strong’ ‘strongly’
hute ‘straight’ ‘straight’
raimpe ‘crooked’ ‘crookedly’
kalnten ‘strong, stubborn’ ‘strongly, stubbornly’
waiketn ‘small’ ‘a little’
watin ‘long’ ‘far, long way of’

Also some verbs and nouns can function as adverbs without any morphological change:

maur ‘spirit’ ‘awfully, very’

mis ‘heap, bunch’ ‘close to each other’
kirng ‘border, line’ ‘near, close by’
karng ‘(be)full of, tight’ ‘close, tightly’

Examples:
ya hute
road straight
‘the straight (right) road’

Kil angket hute

3sg cut.R straight
‘He cut (it) straight’

Kil melnum titnongket

3sg man strong
‘He is a strong man’
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Kil ak kwap (pa) titnongket

3sg do.R work (D) strongly
‘He worked hard (lit: He did that work strongly)

Manner adverbs are often formed from other words (verbs, nouns, adjectives, quantifiers) by
various derivational means: reduplication or suffixes -et and -en .

wris ‘one’ wris wris ‘one by one’

wrisen ‘altogether’
wekg ‘two’ wekg wekg ‘two by two’
pirpir ‘run’ pirpiren ‘fast’
kapring ‘circle’ kapringen ‘around’
kati ‘follow’ katikati ‘level, even’
man ‘other’ man(man) ‘differently, separately’
ampen ‘try’ ampenet ‘slow, difficult; slowly’

There are also some manner adverbs that are formally reduplicated but there is no corresponding
uneduplicated form:

ihr ? hirir ‘evenly’

tong ? tongtong ‘slowly, carefully’
repm ? repmrepm ‘evenly’

Some adjectives are transformed into adverbs by addition of the suffix -el. This suffix seems to
only be used to form adverbs, whereas reduplication and the other derivational suffixes mentioned
above are also used to form adjectives and verbs (See section 2.4.1.2 for a discussion of the possible
origin of -el.).

paipm ‘bad’ paipmel ‘badly, not properly’

wor ‘good’ worel ‘well’
kalpm ‘shore’ kalpmilel ‘in vain, for nothing’

Quite a few adverbs are lexicalized verbal constructions with realis/irrealis distinction:

ak-klal-e ‘do-brightness-CNT’ aklale/iklale ‘truly’

ari-wor ‘see-good’ ariwor(wor)/iriwor(wor) ‘well, nicely’
ari-paipm ‘see-bad’ aripaipm/iripaipm ‘badly’

Examples of the placement of adverbs are given below:

Ntokg mehen mpa kitnangku!!

do.IR carefully FUT break.off.IR
‘Do it carefully lest it break off’

Yipo tongtong!
tie.IR tightly
‘Tie it tightly’
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Kil amo hut

3sg die.R completely
‘He died / became completely unconscious’

Yo karkur -el kiminin

tree smash.R-3sgO completely
‘The tree smashed him to death’

Tiker wurkapm pa wris wris

loosen.IR paper D one one
‘Turn the pages one by one’

Kuntuk itna kalpmilel

pot stand.R nothing
‘The pot is empty’

Kwap pa kil ak ari -wor-wor

work D 3sg do.R see.R-good-good
‘He did the work very well’

Hapm pa kil awi kalpmilel

cloth D 3sg get.R nothing
‘He got the clothes free’

Ampur la yikakatnen!
may.not speak loudly
‘Do not speak loudly!’

The frequentative temporal adverbs yongkyong ‘all the time, for a long time’, perper ‘constantly,
often’, pen (or pem) ‘again, still, first’ and lanen/lanlan ‘a long time’ also occur after the predicate
rather than before it.

Hu awei itna yongkyong

water rain.R stand.R long.time
‘It was raining a long time’

Kil karkuk perper

3sg bathe.R often
‘He bathes often’

itna lanen
stand.R long time
‘wait a long time’

Kitn itni o, kil il okipma pa pen.

2sg stand.IR IMP 3sg eat.IR food D first
‘Wait, he will eat food first’
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2.7.3. Locative Adverbs

The most important locative adverbs in Urim are: yela ‘everywhere’, hen ‘outside’, kwa ‘up’.
Their position in the clause is the same as the position of locative objects; i.e. they usually occur
immediately after the predicate.

Kil hatn kol-pa yela

3sg wander.R like-that everywhere
‘He wandered around everywhere’

Tu kawor hen
3pl go out/in outside
‘They went outside’

Kupm itna kwa ti nepm rok -opm

1sg stand.R up C leg be.tired-1sgO
‘My legs are tired because I have been standing’

Urim has also locative nouns that function very much like locative adverbs in noun phrase and
sometimes occur in isolation like adverbs; kuin ‘middle, center; in the middle’, yamping ‘side; near,
by’, watneikgen ‘underneath’, wulom ‘edge, margin, side’ (see 2.3.1.5).

Kil kaino yo kwa

3sg go.up tree up
‘He climbs up the tree’

No watin, kinar watin, anong pa kuin

ascend long way descend long way village D in the middle
‘A long slope, the village in the middle’

wuring kuin
garden center
‘the center/middle of the garden’
2.7.4. Negation
There are two basic negators in Urim: ake ‘not’ (for verbal clauses) and kalpis (for non-verbal
clauses) (=Kukwo dialect kalpm) ‘no’. Instead of kalpis the more injection-like a’a can also be used.
The verbal negator ake can occur either immediately before or after the subject (more usual in
texts), but if the subject is prominent and therefore fronted, then ake always occurs between it and the
verb. Ake is also used in verbless equative and descriptive clauses.

Ake kil atning

NEG 3sg listen.R
‘He did not listen’ (emphatic)

Tu ake kai anong

3pl NEG go village
’They did not go to village/home’
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Tu ipma wris pa ake atnurng-kopm

3pl belly one D NEG leave.R-1sgO
‘The Christians have not left me’

Kupm ake yul rmpa

1sg NEG fish lie
’I do not have fish.’

Okipma ti ake wor

food this NEG good
’This food is not good.’
Kalpis is used to negate non-verbal existence and possessive clauses, occurring at the end of the
clause. It frequently takes the attributive suffix -en. Kalpis (or sometimes a’a) is also used to answer
yes/no questions and at the end of the clause to strengthen the ake negation of the clause.

Kupm hapm kweikwei pa kalpis.

1sg clothes things D NEG
‘I do not have things like clothes.’

Kupm ya kalpis-en eng kupm awi kweikwei a kol-pa.

1sg road NEG-ATR PUR 1sg take.R things REL like-that
’I have no way to get things like that.’

Kupm marpm kalpis-en-topm

1sg money NEG-ATR-1sgO
‘I have no money’

Kitn ari? Kalpis, ake kupm ari.

2sg see.R NEG NEG 1sg see.R
‘Do you see(it)? No, I do not see (it).’

A’a am yikak am no ti -ke

NEG now footprints now ascend here-PERF
‘No (what you said is not true), the footprints are coming up here.’

Ake kupm hokg, kalpis

NEG 1sg sleep NEG
‘I did not sleep, indeed not’

Kalpmen (more seldom kalpis) is used to negate, or actually correct, a fact in the previous statement.

Pikekg kupm anti Lam kinar nirkgin, Lam kalpmen, Layun

PAST 1sg with.R Lam go.down woods lam NEG Layun
‘I went with Lam to the woods, no - not with Lam, with Layun’

Kupm yul kalpis. Kalpis kalpmen, ilk -opm o!

1sg fish NEG NEG NEG give.IR-1sgO IMP
‘I have no fish’ - ‘No, (you do have some.)Give me (some)!’
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Obligations are negated by ampake and akempa ‘should not, ought not’, and am(p)ur ‘don’t’. These
words always occur first in the sentence.

Ampur ak ikgwam!
don’t do.R theft
‘Do not steal!’

Ampake ur rpmi ilpmahak, kalpis

should.not ID sit.IR lazy NEG
‘No one should sit lazy’

Ampake kil iri

may.not 3sg see.IR
‘He is not allowed to look’

There are also some other means of expressing negation, e.g. the expression ‘kai ahi? ‘where’
gives a scolding meaning. There are also other roundabout ways to express negative answers (second
example):

Kupm a il yul. Yul kai ahi?

1sg want eat.IR fish. fish go where
‘I want to eat fish. There is no fish (Where you think there’s fish!)’

Mla aser mi? Kupm karken!

who weed grass 1sg dislike
’I do not want to weed grass’
2.7.5. Modal Adverbs
In Urim most modal notions are encoded using modal verb + VP/S complement constructions, or
various serial constructions. One of the negative words explained in the previous section could be
analyzed as a modal verb; am(p)ur ‘don’t’.
There are also a few modal adverbs in Urim. Imperatives are encoded with a sentence final modal
adverb that is cliticized onto the last word of the sentence:

Kai o!
go IMP
‘Go!’

Tepm kaino om
1pl.Inc go.up IMP+now
‘Let us go now!’

Permissive imperative is encoded with repeating the predicate at the beginning of the sentence:

Kai kitn kai o!

go 2sg go IMP
’You may go now!’ or ‘Okay, go now!’
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Urim also has two modal adverbs that are used to encode probability; pilpa ‘perhaps, must be’ and
kol ‘possibly’. The word kol also has several other usages; therefore it will be described in more
detail in Section 5.6. It is commonly used in conditional or other clauses where the event or action is
less probable. It is not used when the condition is considered a fact or at least quite possible.

The modal adverb pilpa always occurs sentence initially. When it occurs after predicate, it has
the meaning ‘about, summarily’ (the third example below). Also kol usually occurs sentence
initially as modal adverb, but may also come between the subject and the verb, but has not found after
the predicate in modal meaning (see the last examples below).

Pilpa watokumplun al
perhaps insect.sp. eat.R
‘Maybe insects are biting’

Pilpa aln-tu ur ai!

perhaps G-3pl ID remote
‘That must belong to somebody else!’

angkli tatu pilpa

throw.R around summarily
’throw around summarily’

Kol kirmpa pa kai ile itni tipmining pa, pa antiwe.

HYP plane D go lay.IR stand.IR mountain C C enough.R
‘The airplane could very well have crashed to the mountain (it was so near)!’

Kol kil wuli pa mpa kupm ikle -wel

HYP 3sg arrive C FUT 1sg scold.IR-3sgO
‘If/in case he comes, I will scold him’

Kol pikekg kil wuli pipa, kil kol am kupm ikle -wel pake
HYP past 3sg arrive C 3sg HYP now 1sg scold.IR-3sgO EMP
‘If it had happened that he arrived yesterday, I certainly would have scolded him’

Am tu mansan a Aknes pa rpmi

now 3pl parents G Aknes D sit.IR
pa ti am kol a kipm inel kai hokg
C C now HYP C 2pl pick.IR go sleep
‘Now if the parents of Agnes had been there, then you all would have gone to sleep
(there)’

Kipm pa wakg ur kol men kil aki?

2pl D fire ID like 1plEx 3sg or
‘Do you there have a lamp like we here (have) ?’
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Impim kol a al mpangkil tatu ti

borers like REL eat.R timber all.over here
‘Wood borers like the ones that are eating timber around here’
2.7.6. Degree Adverbs
Certain adverbs are used in Urim to encode the degree of adjectives. Most of the degree adverbs
have been already described in the section 4.5.3, since they are also used to encode the comparison of
adjectives. The most important degree adverbs are:

paipm ‘badly, very

namput paipm ‘badly, very
maur alkil ‘awfully, exceedingly
waiketn ‘a little bit’
wrisen ‘altogether, totally, completely’

Degree adverbs follow the adjectives they modify.

kalkut paipm
heavy bad
‘very heavy’
2.7.7. Aspectual Adverbs and Other Aspectual Constructions
Urim has several means to express aspectual notions. Although aspect is not usually expressed
by verb morphology, the suffix -e, which usually encodes transitivity, seems at least with some verbs
also express continuing action. Some aspects are expressed by serial verb constructions (Section 5.4)

The serial verb constructions expressing aspect differ from other serial constructions in that the
aspect marking verb occurs after the verb it semantically modifies.. In other serial constructions the
modifying verb usually occurs before the main verb. This formal difference probably means that the
serial verbs expressing aspect have been more or less grammaticalized into adverbs.

The most important and most adverb-like of these verbs is plalng ‘be finished, over’. It is used to
express completive aspect. Plalng occurs clause finally or before clause final function words like ise,
pa or imperative o. Plalng also occurs together with conjunctions pa, pipa (or rare form pilpa),
expressing consequal happenings (after completing this, he will do that) (see the section 5.5.7). As
an aspect marker plalng can also be followed by another aspect marker ise.

Nung eng a plalng om

wood OBL G finish now
‘The wood is almost gone now’

Kipm a men plalng

2sg G 1plExc finish
‘You have become one of us’
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Kil kai am plalng ise

3sg go now finish PERF
‘It is now totally lost’

Warim akitn kangku yampis al-kupm angkli angkli plalng

child 2sgPos pull.out.R bean G-1sg throw.R throw.R finish
‘Your child pulled out all my beans and threw them all away’

Men lap namung pa plalng, apis

1pl.Ecl roast.R banana D finish scrape.R
‘We roasted the bananas and then scraped the ashes off’

There are also some other aspect marking verbs that occur in the clause final position, but they are
more clearly serial verbs and are therefore described in Section 3.3.6. ‘Serial Structures’.

The most common and important aspectual adverb is ise (ase in Kukwo dialect and western
villages of Yangkolen, ike in eastern villages of Yangkolen). This adverb always occurs clause
finally. Ise is a very common word in Urim and expresses usually that the action or process has been
completed and that the described state is valid at the time of speaking. Therefore it often can be
translated ‘already’. With process verbs ise points to the final result or goal of process. For these
reasons ise can be called a perfective marker in Urim (see Comrie). Since completed action is
usually past action, ise also expresses general past and often finality as well.

Hu kapm al warim ise

water pond eat.R child PERF
‘The pond ate the child’

Kong ise
morning PERF
‘Morning has come’

kil palng wail

3sg become big
‘he grew big’

kil wail ise

3sg big PERF
‘He is already big/ an adult’

Kuntuk hum ise

pot break PERF
‘The pot broke’ or ‘The pot is completely broken’

Kupm antokg ampei wakg ti kol am ilm melnum pa imo ise!

1sg make.R rope fire C HYP now shoot.IR man D die.IR PERF
‘I connected the electric cord, and I could have killed that man!’
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The last example shows that ise can also be used in a clause having irrealis modality to denote
finality of action. (The word amo means either ‘be sick’ or ‘die’). Ise can also occur in clauses
having future tense; in these cases it’s meaning is less aspectual. In the following example ise
expresses intensity of the wish.

Kupm a il ampen ise

1sg INT eat.IR breadfruit PERF
‘I want to eat breadfruit’

When ise occurs in a clause having the verb plalng ‘finish’ as predicate, it usually expresses that
not only the action has been completed but also some entity (food, time etc.) has been finished.

Hapm plalng ise

cloth finish PERF
‘There are no more clothes left’

Timpalen ok kil am wang plalng ise

tree.sp fruit 3sg now time finish PERF
‘The time of timpalen fruit is over now’

Am tu wrong wailet kawor am tu ngkat plalng ise

now 3pl crowd big go.out/in now 3pl lift.R finish PERF
‘‘A lot of people went (to the road), so they had carried everything already (nothing left
for me to carry).’

A wurkapm pa am kupm antokg anti -wen plalng ise

and paper D now 1sg make.R with.R-3plO finish PERF
‘About the papers - I have already gone through with them’

In the following examples ise also seems to express that the action or process is final or
irrevocable:

Kai am plalng ise

go now finish PERF
‘Is totally lost’

Or tita plalng ise

fight RES finish PERF
‘The fight has stopped’

In the available data ise seems to occur only sentence finally, while the verb plalng which also
expresses completion frequently occurs connecting two clauses in the meaning ‘when that is finished,
then’ (see the section 5.5.7).

Kil la kinar Maprik plalng wa no

3sg INT go.down Maprik finish and come.up
 82

‘He wants to go to Maprik and then come back’

The notion ‘about to’ is expressed by the expression eng a, which occurs before the verb and the
verb is in irrealis mode. Often eng a is preceded by wreren ‘close to’. Eng a can also be used with
plalng to express that the action is about to be completed.

Kwikwai eng a ik nanikg mpe

frog.sp about.to do.IR urine extinguish .IR
‘The frog is about to extinguish (the fire) with its urine!’

Manto wet wreren eng a iro kanokg ti, ari kitn ungkwan ise
pig N.Past close.to about.to break.IR ground D but 2sg chase.R PERF
‘A pig was close to break the ground but you chased it away’

Itni o kupm al kai eng a plalng pa-ke

stand.IR IMP 1sg eat.R go about.to finish D-EMP
‘Wait, I am about to finish eating’

2.8. Quantifiers
Quantifiers occur in the noun phrase after adjectives encoding quality and before relative clauses
(which includes genitives) and demonstratives. Quantifiers can be subdivided into: 1) numerals, and
2) non-numeric quantifiers.
2.8.1. Numerals
Urim Counting Words
The Urim counting words contain numerals and tally-directions, which are presented below with
morphemic glosses.

1 wris (Kukwo dialect: writs) ur-is one/a-ATR

2 wekg
3 wraur
4 wikgwikg (Kukwo dialect: witnwetn) wekg-wekg two-two
5 wampomis wam-wom-mis hand-other-whole
6 wampomis wampom wris wam-wom-mis wam-wom wris
hand-other-whole hand-other one
7 wampomis wampom wekg wam-wom-mis wam-wom wekg
hand-other-whole hand-other two
8 wampomis wampom wraur wam-wom-mis wam-wom wraur
hand-other-whole hand-other three
9 wampomis wampom wikgwikg wam-wom-mis wam-wom wekg-wekg
hand-other-whole hand-other two-two
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10 wampwam wam-wam
‘hand-hand’
11 wampwam yikak(wom) wris wam-wam yikak-(wom) wris
hand-hand leg-other one
12 wampwam yikak(wom) wekg wam-wam yikak-(wom) wekg
hand-hand leg-other two
15 (wampwam) yikakwomis wam-wam yikak-wom-mis
hand-hand leg-other-whole
16 (wampwam) yikakwomis yikakwom wris
wam-wam yikak-wom-mis yikak-wom wris
hand-hand leg-other-whole leg-other one
19 (wampwam) yikakwomis yikakwom wikgwikg
wam-wam yikak-wom-mis yikak-wom wekg-wekg
hand-hand leg-other-whole leg-other two-two
20 kamel wris
person one
21 kamel wris tuwek wris
person one plus one
25 kamel wris tuwek wampomis
person one plus hand-other-whole
26 kamel wris tuwek wampomis wampom wris
person one plus hand-other-whole hand-other one
30 kamel wris tuwek wampwam
person one plus hand-hand
37 kamel wris tuwek wampwam wampomis wampom wekg
person one plus hand-hand hand-other-whole hand-other two
40 kamel wekg
person two
50 kamel wekg tuwek wampwam
person two plus hand-hand
100 kamel wampomis
person hand-other-whole
200 kamel wampwam
person hand-hand
300 kamel wampwam alung kamel wampomis
person hand-hand over person hand-other-whole
379 kamel wampwam alung kamel wampomis kamel wraur
person hand-hand over person hand-other-whole person three
tuwek wampwam wampomis wampom wikgwikg
plus hand-hand hand-other-whole hand-other two-two
 84

400 (and higher numbers up to infinity) kamel kamel

person person
Urim Counting System
The Urim counting system is a finger-and-toe tally system with three basic numerals. Numerals
divisible by five like 5, 10, 15, 100, 105, 110, 115, 200, 205, 210, 215, 300, 305, 315, 400 (405,
410, and 415) areare expressed by phrases containing names of body parts which function as quantity
classifiers. The words used in such phrases are: hand, leg, person, other, whole, plus, over, e.g. 115
kamel wampomis wampwam yikakwomis ‘person hand-other-whole hand-hand leg-other-whole’. The
quantity classifier for 5 means ‘whole other hand’ and for 10 ‘hand-hand (two hands)’, for 15 ‘hand-
hand (two hands and) whole other leg’. The quantity classifier for 20 is kamel wris, which means
‘one person’. All other numerals are formed by combinations of these quantity classifiers and
numerals, e.g. 8 wampomis wampom wraur ‘hand-other-whole hand-other three’

The three basic numerals are 1, 2 and 3. The numeral 4 is derived from the numeral 2; wikgwikg
‘two-two’ (the e-vowel of wekg has probably changed somewhere along the line into an i; the
corresponding word in Kukwo dialect is witnwetn). The first four numerals have the form 1, 2, 3,
2+2.

The Urim counting system has a modified (1, 2, 5, 20) cyclic structure, each cycle representing
the tallying of the fingers of a hand or the toes of a foot, and there is and explicit 20- or ‘person’ cycle
on the completion of tallying all the fingers and toes of a person (see Lean 1986).
Tallying with fingers and toes
All numbers can be tallied with fingers and toes and persons. Tallying begins on the little finger
on the left hand which is bent down (often with help of the right hand) and proceeds in order until the
thumb is bent down, the corresponding tally-direction is wampomis, literally ‘hand-other-whole’.
Tallying then continues by bending down the little finger of the right hand continuing in order until
the thumb is reached, thus giving the total of ten (wampwam, literally ‘hand-hand’). Sometimes upon
reaching 10, the two fists are brought together.

Tallying then proceeds to the toes so that 11 is wampwam yikak wris, literally ‘ hand-hand leg
one’. Preceding from the big toe to the little toe of the left foot in order, 15 is reached, ‘hand-hand
leg-other-whole’. One holds the left fingers on those toes tallied. Tallying continues by holding the
right fingers on the toes tallied on the right foot beginning on the big toe and preceding in order until
the little toe is reached, thus giving a total of 20, (kamel wris, literally ‘person one’).
2.8.2. Non-Numeric Quantifiers
The most important non-numeric quantifiers are listed below: Some of them are bi-categorical.

Form Word Class Function:

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Quantifier Adverb Adjective Deictic

(ye)kimeket ‘all, everybody’
plalng(ten) ‘all, everybody’
waiketn(ketn) ‘a little of’ (uncountable) ‘a little’ ‘small’
watipmen ‘much, plenty’
wailet ‘plenty, a lot’
mrer alkil ‘a lot’
wrongkwail ‘many, lots of’
yaten(en) ‘both’
ur ‘some’ ‘a, one’
ur .... ur ‘one ... another’
tiur ‘some’
wriswris ‘every, each one’ ‘one by one, now and then’

The indefinite quantifier ur is a good example of a word that exhibits several class functions. Its
most common and probably basic function is indefinite deictic ‘a, one’ (in negative clauses ‘any’ ).
When it occurs with a mass noun, its meaning is ‘some’:

il ur pen!
eat.IR some/one again
‘eat one/some more!’

akor okipma ur
find.R food some
‘find some food’

With countable nouns the combinations ur ai or ti ur are used to express indefinite amount:

Awi hipm ur ai kul

take.R leaf ID remote come
‘Brought some leaves’

Hapm ti-ur huwet

cloth this-ID wet
‘Some clothes are wet’

Examples of other quantifiers are gven below:

Kitn pa ikgelen minto wris-wris

2sg D look.after.IR 1pauc one-one
‘Take care of us each’
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Tu kimeket kai mpang

3pl all go forest
‘They all went to the bush’

Alupm muikmayen pa kai ur, muinuror pa kai ur.

put.into.R sister D go one brother D go one
‘They placed the sister into one, the brother into another (box)’

Some quantifiers, especially those that encode small or large amounts of something, can be
modified by degree adverbs in the same way as adjectives (see the section 2. 6. 3 ).

Kil awi yul wailet paipm

3sg get.R fish plenty bad
‘He got very much fish’

Certain words that encode part-whole relationships are semantically close to quantifiers but differ
from them in that they occur after adjectives only if the adjective refers to the whole entity (not to the
part). They also can occur as the head of a noun phrase.

umpu ‘half, piece, remainder’

wom(pel) ‘other one, other side of’
tiwel ‘half, other half, piece, part of’
mis(en) ‘whole, solid’

Examples:
tapminei umpu
rope end
‘rope’s end/ piece of rope’

marpm umpu
money remainder
‘the rest of the money’

tiwel ur misen ur
half one whole one
‘One was part only, one was whole’

misen ur tiwel
whole ID half
‘one and half’

kainil misen wraur tuweket/wompel

moon whole three double/other
‘Three and half months’
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More about the indefinite quantifier-pronoun ur

The indefinite quantifier ur is a good example of a word that has several word class functions. It
resembles indefinite articles occurring on many languages, and like these, is clearly related to the
numeral uris ‘one’. In Urim, the numeral uris morphologically looks like a attributive form of ur
(ur-is ‘ATR’).

The most common and probably basic function of ur is to mark indefiniteness ‘a, one’ (in
negative clauses ‘any’). Ur is commonly used to introduce new referents to the text, but not every
time. Ur is used in the following cases:
- when it is important to know the number of referents introduced, but the context or other
modifiers do not tell it. For this reason ur is almost always used when persons are introduced. Often
it can be glossed ‘one’ like the numeral uris, but the numeral does not have the function of
introducing new referents. Even if the numeral occurs, ur is still required to show that a new referent
is being introduced (see the first example below).

Angkat warim uris ur a manyan ha pa am kai se.

carry.R child one ID G parents be.R there now go PERF
‘Carried away the only child of certain local family’

Kiporng ur pa ingkli nar!

break.IR one D throw.IR come.down
‘Break one of them and throw down!’

Mentekg Dik nampokgen melnum Maprik-en ur kai Pakwi.

1dual Dik with.R man Maprik-ATR ID go Pakwi
We, I and Dik, went to Pakwi with a man from Maprik.’

Kil armpen-topm hapm ur a nowe

3sg buy.R -1sg.O cloth one G go.up
‘She bought me a pair of trousers.’

Manto wasek ur mentekg katin plalng...

pig small ID 1dual surround.R finish
‘Asmall pig we got surrounded..’

Kupm la uwi hapm ur ti

1sg say take.IR cloth ID this
‘I will take this one (garment)’ (ur refers to the fact, that there are more than one
garment to choose from)

- In the following examples, the number of the referent is already clear from the context or from
the presence of a numeral, so ur only has the meaning of indefiniteness:
 88

Kil kai wan wusok ur a ela kuin

3sg go house small ID G be middle
‘He went into a house which was situated in the middle’

Tu kai hu kwokg ur ai
3pl go water creek ID remote
‘They will go to some creek (any one that is near)’

Nangil aye numpet ur man

mosquito carry.R sickness ID other
‘Mosquito carries another kind of sickness’

Wayu ur weten
taro ID new
‘a new kind of taro’

Irmpen-topm yul wris ur pa!

buy.IR-1sgO fish one ID D
‘Buy for me one tin of fish!’

- The combination ur pa (demonstrative pronoun) is used to introduce newly topical or

otherwise important items to the text. In this combination ur has only the meaning of indefiniteness:

Wang ur pa, mentekg Karis hel kainil.

time ID D 1dual Karis roam moon
‘One day we - I and Karis - hunted in moonlight.’

Men ari tu kiin, kiin wekg ur pa itna ya

1pl.Exc see.R 3pl woman woman two ID D stand.R road
‘We saw women, two strange women standing at the road’

Kiin ur pa ekg naren ampen tukgwan.

woman ID D two pick.R breadfruit ripe
‘Two women were picking ripe breadfruits.’

- When ur is used with an uncountable or inherently plural noun, it indicates indefinite quantity
‘some’
il ur pen!
eat.IR some/one again
‘Eat one/some more!’

Ikor okipma ur
find.IR food some
‘Find some food!’

Kupm kai akor nung ur.

1sg go find.R firewood ID
‘I went to get some firewood.’
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- With countable nouns indefinite amount is expressed by using the combinations ur ai or ti ur

Kil awi hipm ur ai kul

3sg take.R leaf ID remote come
‘She brought some leaves.’

Hapm ti-ur huwet

cloth this-ID wet
‘Some clothes are wet.’

- In questions and negative clauses ur is used meaning ‘any, anything, anyone’. In this context
the meaning is ur is very indefinite, even the existence of referent is often unsure:

Kitn alilng yul tingklak ur aki?

2sg smoke.R fish dry ID or
‘Do you have any smoked fish to sell?’

Ake kupm ari wel ur.

not 1sg see.R bird ID
‘I did not see any bird.’

Ake kupm al ur
neg 1sg eat.R ID
‘I did not eat anything.’

Ake ur la.
not one say
‘Nobody said anything/ Nobody spoke.’

Kuina ur klak -t -opm hapm?

who ID wash.R-TR-1sgO cloth
‘Who will wash my clothes?’

Compare the following uses of ur alone and with various other quantifiers:

melnum ur ‘a stranger’
melnum ur ti ‘this unknown man’
melnum ur pa ... ‘there was a man...
melnum ur ai ‘some (unknown) men, strangers’
melnum ti ur ‘some men (from a known group)’
melnum uris ur ‘one certain man (from a known village or group)’
melnum wekg ur ‘two unknown men’
melnum manet ur ‘another unknown man’
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2.9. Demonstratives
There are four demonstratives. Each of these can have both referential and psychological uses.
All can also be used to refer to time and as parts of pro-adverbs. The basic deictic functions of these
demonstratives are as follows:

ti ‘this, here’ indicates physical nearness to the speaker, to the hearer, or to both. It can also
indicate psychological nearness to the speaker.
pa ‘that, there’ indicates a referent that is some distance away from the speaker, the hearer, or both.
The referent is usually near enough to be seen. Pa can also signal an indefinite distance.
ai ‘far away, over there, somewhere’ is phonetically a clitic, but native speakers usually write it
separately. Ai indicates that a referent is relatively far away from both the speaker and hearer.
The referent is usually not near enough to be seen. Ai also often indicates an indefinite spatial
or temporal distance.
kil ‘3sg; this, here’ marks physical or psychological nearness and is sometimes used instead of ti
when referring to humans or animals, or when the proximity of a referent is emphasized. Kil is
basically a third person singular pronoun with its use as demonstrative pronoun being secondary
(see section 2.4).

The demonstratives pa and ti have a wide range of discourse functions. These are discussed
more thoroughly in the paper ‘Demonstrative Pronouns in Urim Discourse’ (LLM 1989). Here we
will indicate those functions only briefly. Both pa and ti are also used as conjunctions. These
functions are described later in section 5.5.6.
2.9.1. The far demonstrative pa
The word pa is by far the commonest word in Urim. In a corpus of 28,000 words, pa occurs over
3,500 times. About half of these are conjunctive uses of pa. In spoken Urim, intonation often helps
to distinguish the different functions of pa. When pa is used as conjunction, it tends to be longer and
more stressed than when it is a noun phrase constituent (see also section 5.5.6).

The following examples illustrate the use of pa as a demonstrative pronoun:

Waring ti, yikal pa

betel nut this bow that
‘The betel nut is here, the bow palm is there’

Kupm wakrongen eng la uwi ok manet-manet, pake

1sg like OBL say take.IR mouth other-other but
pa wonet paipm
that difficult bad
‘I would like to learn many kinds of languages, but it is very difficult.’
 91

Because of its many functions at discourse level the purely demonstrative function of pa is
somewhat restricted in Urim. It can freely occur as independent demonstrative pronoun in most
positions, like the examples above show, but does not often occur as the subject of transitive or
intransitive clauses. The reason is probably that an independent word pa starting a clause could
easily be interpreted as a conjunction. Also it seems, that pa occurring as locative object would be
easily interpreted as emphatic particle. For this reason a deictic adverb is used instead. Compare the
following examples:

Mentekg rpma ti!

1dual sit.R here
‘Here we are!’

Mla itna -wai?

who stand.R-remote
‘Who is there?’

Kupm rpma pa!

1sg sit.R EMP
‘I am alive!’

Ti kai itni kai pa!

C go stand.IR go there
‘Go to stand over there!’

Tu awi wayu ela pa

3pl take.R taro be.R there
‘They took that taro’

This last example was elicited. The native speaker did not accept the expression wayu pa in this
clause, possibly because the clause was not part of any context or text. When pa is used with NP, it
almost always marks givenness (refers back to something mentioned in the text or known from the
context) and the demonstrative meaning is bleached. Therefore different combinations of verb + pa
are used instead to make it clear that the speaker refers to location, not to givenness.

Examples of deictic and discourse functions of pa with NP:

Kil ake wakrongen kipman pa eng kil tukgunakg kiangen

3sg not like man D C 3sg head bald
‘She did not like (as husband) that man because he was bald.’

Ling manto ur topra kinar kapm pa?

cassowary pig ID jump.R go.down pond D
‘Has a pig or cassowary jumped into that pond (and made the water dirty)?’

Kweikwei pa ak aripm?
things D do.R how.much?
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‘How much is that?’

(Notice, that while in English a demonstrative can occur by itself to encode a
Subject argument, in Urim the word kweikwei ‘thing’ is added, because pa does not
usually occur by itself in the Subject position)

Man warim aser mi, pa man pa aser hep,

mother child weed.R grass then mother D weed.R first
warim kiin pa aser kanukg
child woman D weed.R behind
‘There was a mother and child weeding, and the mother weeded ahead, the daughter
weeded behind.’
(Here pa functions as marker of textual givenness)

Kinyom pa ma wor pake, Kinepan ma pa horen

Kinyom D breast good EMP Kinepan breast D swollen
‘Kinyom’s breasts were good, Kinepan had swollen breasts.’
(pa marks contrast here. With proper names it would be unnecessary to mark
definiteness)

Atom kupm la naki kil pa lala ... Atom kil lala ...
then 1sg say tell.R 3sg D talk then 3sg talk
‘Then I said to him: .... Then he said: ....’
(pa is used here to mark a topic change rather than givenness, because the personal
pronouns already indicate given referents.)

The combination ur pa has special uses introducing new topics into a discourse (see section
4.7.2.1). In some cases pa is used without ur in the same introducing function despite the fact that the
referent is being mentioned for the first time and cannot be known to the hearer. In this function both
deictic and definite meanings have become bleached and the sole function of pa is to indicate the
introduction of a topic:

Warim kiin ur pa kaino rmpa kaino Untun-ai

child woman ID D go.up sit.R go.up Untun-remote
‘A girl went to live at Untun’

Wusok wail wekg pa ekg kai miring.

small big two D two go white.man
‘(There were) two brothers (that) went to mission station.’

Kiin warimpet pa kai karkuk, atom ...

woman young D go bathe.R then
‘A young woman went to bathe, and then ...’
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The position of pa (and other demonstratives) in the noun phrase is after quantifiers and before
the indefinite pronoun ur. Exceptionally pa may occur before qualifier or quantifier. In these cases
the function of pa is to emphasize the modifier instead of whole NP:

Irmpen-topm hapm siket pa watipmen!

buy.IR-1sgO cloth shirt D plenty
‘Buy for me lots of skirts!’

Warim alkupm pa ile wan pa wail!

child G-1sg D build.IR house D big
‘My child, build a big house!’
2.9.2. The Near Demonstrative ti
The demonstrative pronoun ti ‘this, here’ always signals proximity to the speaker or hearer.
When ti occurs in texts, the nearness can also be psychological. This demonstrative pronoun can
have almost same discourse functions as pa has (givenness, contrast etc.) but concrete or
psychological meaning of nearness is always present in all uses (see the paper ‘The Demonstrative
Pronouns pa and ti in Urim Discourse). Ti is also used as conjunction (see section 5.5.6).

Following are examples of the occurrence of of ti as a locative adverb, a demonstrative pronoun,

and as a demonstrative modifier within the noun phrase:

Mentekg rpma ti!

1dual sit.R here
‘Here we are!’

Ti kar a ak kwap
this car G do.R work
‘This is a truck (not for passengers)’

Manto pa kinar angko minip ti,

pig D go.down fall.R river this
‘The pig has crossed this river.’

Ti can also refer to objects not physically near, for example to mark sudden realization or strong
emotion like in the following example, where the woman has just realized that the snake killed her
husband:

Wui, kipman a-kupm ti am hul ti angklei ise!’

Oh, husband G-1sg here now snake here swallow.R PERF
‘Oh, the snake has swallowed my husband’
(In this quote from a story the speaker is located in a village as she talks, while the
snake and husband are in the jungle.)
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2.9.3. The Personal Pronoun kil as Demonstrative

The third person pronoun kil funtions sometimes as near demonstrative substitute for ti. It is used
especially often when referring to humans, but can also refer to non-human entities (see also the
section 2. 4. 1. 1). Sometimes kil seems to be used to mark even closer proximity than ti, like in the
first example below:

Pa mentepm kil kaino plalng ti paipm, kai kipm pa kaino -wom,

C 1pl.Inc 3sg/here go.up finish here bad go 2pl D go.down-IMP.now
kupm ikga ikupe tunteng ti kinar hokg.
1sg later with.IR 3pa here go.down sleep
‘It would be bad if we all went up, you can go now, I will go later down to sleep with
these few.’

In the following two examples, kil functions as a demonstrative pronoun:

Kitn uwi kil, aki kitn uwi pa?

2sg take.IR 3sg/this or 2sg take.IR that
‘Do you take this or do you take that one?’

Kuina kil?
what this
‘What this is?’
2.9.4. The Remote Demonstrative ai as a Pronoun and its Other
Functions
As a demonstrative ai refers to entities that are even further away than those referred to with pa
and seems in this respect to belong to the same set as ti and pa. The referent is far from both speaker
and hearer and is usually not visible. Ai functions as a modifier within the noun phrase, as a locative
adverb, and as a demonstrative pronoun.

Kil palng anong alkupm ai

3sg arrive village G-1sg remote
‘He/She/It arrived at my village (which is situated far away from the speaker and hearer)’

Wuring itna ya watinet ai

garden stand.R road long remote
‘The garden is situated a long distance away’

Tu kai antokg kot kai anong wail ai

3pl go make.R court go village big remote
‘They went to have the district court session in that distant big village
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Ekg no kitnimping ur itna kinar hup ai

two go.up tree.sp. ID stand.R go.down slope remote
‘They two climbed the kitnimping-tree which was standing at the slope’

Ingkon wakg ur a irkim ai!

shovel.IR fire ID G boa remote
‘Get some fire from the snake (who is living) over there!’

Usually ai refers to a known and definite long distance, but it can sometimes have the meaning of
an indefinitely long distance or stretch of time:

Mla itna -wai ari kupm ti?

who stand.R-remote see.R 1sg here
‘Who is there watching me here?’ (The speaker knows that somebody is looking at her
since her magic fails to work, but does not know where the onlooker is)

Jisas pikekg anti Got ai rpma

Jesus before with.R God remote sit.R
‘Jesus was before with God’ (who lives indefinitely far or in place not known)

In some cases ai refers more to the direction than to the actual location of the referent and is
therefore frequently used with verbs expressing movement. As direction marker ai can also have the
meaning ‘till, as far as’:
Kupm yangkipm kalpis. Al-kitn-en ai
1sg talk not G-2sg-ATR remote
‘I have nothing to say. Its your turn to talk.’

Kaino itna kaino wulom-ai

go.up stand.R go.up tail- remote
‘Went up to the tail.’

Tu kai wuring ya wai plalng...

3pl go garden road remote finish
When they had reached the garden road.’

Tu melnum a kinar hu kanokg ai

3pl man REL go.down water ground remote
‘The men who dived until they reached the bottom of the water’

Syntactically ai differs from other demonstratives (ti, pa, kil) in many important ways:
1) Ai seems to occur alone only when it functions as a locative adverbial adjunct. (This is
contrary to pa which can occur alone in Subject or Object position). Sometimes it occurs as Head in
time expressions as well, but this seems to be the result of ellipsis.

Hu awe wuli ai
water rain.R come remote
‘There is rain coming over there’
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Warim pa hokg rmpa wai

child D sleep lie.R remote
‘The child is sleeping over there.’

Ak ai kul ai am antokg kol-pa ur pake

do remote come remote now make.R like-that ID EMP
‘From the ancient times (we) perhaps did like that’

2) Also when occurring with NP, ai usually modifies only those NPs that function as Locative
Adverbials or Locative Objects. It is also used in time adverbials. But if the NP has the role of
Subject or Object in the clause, locative marker ai usually modifies it with the help of a relative
clause. Some exceptions do occur (see the last example):

Kil wurekg ang -kinar kirk -ai kul no

3sg get.up from-go.down graveyard -remote come come.up
‘She got up and came here from that far-away graveyard’

Yo kaino wai trum

tree go.up remote kapok
‘The tree over there is a kapok-tree.’ (tree is visible)

Tu alm pikekg kolen Kukwo-ai alm

3pl shoot.R before like Kukwo-remote shoot.R
‘They shot in the same way as the people of Kukwo (which is far) used to shoot.’

3) Ai is commonly used with time adverbials referring to the length of time while the word pa
occurs with time adverbials only as a thematic particle. The near demonstrative ti ‘this,here’ and kil
‘he,this’ instead can be used demonstratively also in time expressions.

Hikgkil aki, kwahikg ai aki

tomorrow or after tomorrow remote or
‘Tomorrow or perhaps the day after tomorrow’ (the meaning of indefiniteness also?)

Pikekg ai kupm kinar ai, hikgkil pa kupm wa kinar

Past remote 1sg go down remote tomorrow D 1sg again go.down
‘I have been down there before/long time ago, tomorrow I will go there again.’
(In this example above ai refers to a more distant point of time than plain pikekg ‘in
past’, pa instead has only emphatic meaning)

Kil kaling plan ang-kai paipmen -ai

3sg teach.R show from-go little child-remote
‘He taught (him) from the time when he was still a little child.’

4) Sometimes ai is used almost like a derivative suffix forming adverbials from adjectives:
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Ake kupm la yiprokg-en-ai

NEG 1sg say root -ATR-remote
‘I did not explain it thoroughly/ did not tell everything’

Kil angko watin-ai

3sg fall.R long-remote
‘He went far away’

Compare:
Kil angko watin
3sg fall.R long
‘ He grew tall’

Ai is also oblicatorily occurs in some temporal adverbial expressions:

pikekg ai ‘before, (sometimes)earlier’
pikekg tak ai ‘long ago’
pikekg taktak ai ‘very long ago’
pikekg tak ur ai ‘sometimes long ago’
ikg ai ‘sometimes later’

5) The demonstrative ai does not have same thematic functions than ti and pa. It is never used to
mark topicality, emphasis or focus. Occasionally ai is used to replace pa as mark of anaphoric
reference if the speaker wants to refer to the distance or direction of the referent.

Mentekg ak kuntuk apaharng rmpa wan pa .. .

1dual use.R pot cover.R lie.R house D
mentekg rpma wan ai ...
1dual sit.R house remote
‘We have it in the house covered with a pot .. we sit in that house ..’

6) Ai never functions as a conjunction like pa and ti.

Sometimes ai is used as an alternative for pa to mark general remoteness in contrast with the
near demonstrative ti. This happens because in certain contexts pa would be always interpreted as a
discourse marker. For example when pa occurs after the indefinite quantifier ur, the combination ur
pa indicates the introduction of a new topic to the discourse.
When occurring together with indefinite pronoun ur, ai usually also has the meaning of
indefiniteness; it refers either to indefinite amount or to the indefiniteness of the referent itself.
Consider the following examples:

Uwi hipm ur ai kul!

get.IR leaf ID remote come
‘Bring some leaves!’
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Mla ur ai kul
who ID remote came
‘Whoever came’

melnum ur ai
man ID remote
‘somebody / an unknown man’

compare to:
melnum ur pa
man ID that
‘This certain man’ (introducing a new participant)

Ai is used as far demonstrative instead of pa also with locative words like hen ‘inside’ or wompel
‘other side’. For example, the expression wan wunen pa could easily be interpreted as ‘in the
mentioned house’ or ‘inside the house’ (as contrast to outside) in discourse context:

Kil kawor wompel ai

3sg go.in other remote
‘He went to the other side (of river)’

Kupm rpma wompel ti

1sg sit.R side this
‘I live on this side (of the river)’

Wan wunen ti
house inside this
‘Inside this house’

Wan wunen ai
house inside remote
‘Inside that house’

Kawekg hipm rpma wunen ai, kiyom hipm rpma hen ti

tree.sp. leaf sit.R inside remote tree.sp. leaf sit.R outside here
‘Kawekg-leaves are (bound) inside (the arm), kiyom-leaves outside (upper part of the
arm)

Notice that in the last example ai and ti are clearly in contrast and the referent marked with ai is
not very distant spatially from that marked with ti.

Phonologically ai behaves like other clitics; it is pronounced together with previous word and is
usually unstressed. Native speakers generally write it as an independent word same way as other
clitics.
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Another possible connection exists between ai and the interrogative pronoun ahi. The phonetic
form of the interrogative pronoun can be derived from the word ai by adding rising question
intonation. As the result of rising intonation the second vowel /i/ lengthens. After that the word is re-
syllabified and /h/ is added between the vowels to mark the syllable break. Notice, that also the
demonstrative pronoun ai tends to have indefinite meaning.

Kitn kai anong ahi?

2sg go village where
‘Where are you going to (to what place)?’

Kitn a kai ahi?

2sg INT go where
‘Where are you going to go?’

Kupm kai ai ikor ka-ka!

1sg go remote find.IR grasshopper-RED
‘I will go over there (somewhere) to get grasshoppers!’ (to a child)
2.9.5. Verb plus Demonstrative Adverb Constructions
Urim has also special type of construction consisting of a motion or locative verb and
demonstrative adverb. These seem to be partly lexicalized serial structures functioning adverbially.
All three demonstrative words, pa, ti, and ai, can occur in this construction, kil only seldom.
Actually these three demonstratives are found in clear contrast only in this construction:

Kil rpma kai-pa

3sg sit.R go-there
‘He sits there’ (the referent is visible)

Kil rpma kai-ti / ti

3sg sit.R go-here / here
‘He sits here’ (near the speaker)

Kil rpma kai-ai

3sg sit.R go-remote
‘He sits over there’ (more distant compared to something else or not visible at all)

Often the serialized verb is added just to give more information about the location of referent like
in the following example:

Kil kul karkok wang-wang rmpa-wai

3sg come blaze.R stem-stem lie -remote
‘He came and blazed the tree-stems lying there.’

Yo kinar ai trum
tree go.down remote kapok
‘The tree down there is kapok’
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In other cases the serialized construction is used because plain demonstrative adverb could
potentially be misinterpreted as a topic or emphatic marker. This is particularly the case with pa:

Ti kai itni kai pa!

so go stand.IR go there
‘Go then to stand over there!’
pa alone could be interpreted as emphatic marker.

Tu awi wayu ela pa

3pl take.R taro be there
‘They took that taro’
Here pa alone would be interpreted as givenness marker.

There is also a more lexicalized construction ha-pa /ha-ti which is usually pronounced as one
word. It is used only when introducing new non-topical referents into the text, usually inanimate
instruments or objects. Its function is to show that the instrument or object was already at hand or
near by when the action started.

Kil alok hipm ha-pa kul, alok hipm ha-ti kul.....

3sg pull.R leaf be-there come pull.R leaf be-here come
‘She took leaves from that pile and others from this pile ....’

Kil kinar rpma hunokg yampikg ha-ti.

3sg go.down sit.R sea shore be-here
‘He went down to sit on the sea shore that was near.’

... alok ampei ur aln-tu ha-pa

bind.R rope ID G-3pl be-there
‘...bound with a rope they had with them.’

Am awi ko akis ha-pa am ikakatnen kai tukgunakg tike.

now take.R axe axe be-there now suddenly go head here:EMP
‘Now he took an axe he had with him and suddenly hit its head.’
2.9.6. A list showing some of the many possible combinations of the
deictics pa, ti, kil, ai and indefinite ur with various types of NPs:
NPs referring to humans

Singular Plural

warim ‘child’ (tu) warim ‘children’

warim pa ‘the child (that child)’ (tu) warim pa ‘the children (those children)’
warim ur ‘an unknown child’ warim ur ai ‘unknown children’
‘any child’
warim ti ur ‘some children’
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warim uris ur ‘one unknown child’

warim ur pa ‘a certain child’ (topic) warim wekg ur pa ‘certain two children’ (topic)
(tu)warim warim ‘children’ (indefinite number)
warim kil (pa ) ‘(this) child here’ /’the child, he.’?
warim ti ‘this child’ tu warim ti ‘the children here’
warim ai ‘to the child’

NPs referring to inanimate countable things:

wan ‘house’ ‘houses’

wan pa ‘the house, (that house)’ ‘those houses’
wan ur ‘a house, any house’ wan ti ur ‘some houses’
wan ur pa ‘a certain house (introducing topic) wan wekg ur pa ‘certain two houses
wan wan ‘houses’ (indef. amount)
‘each house’
wan kil ‘this house here’
wan ti ‘this house’
wan ai ‘in/to the house over there’

NPs referring to uncountable items:

okipma ‘food’ okipma kweikwei ‘meals, various foods’

okipma pa ‘the food, (that food)’ okipma kweikwei pa ‘the meals, foods’
okipma ur ‘some food’
okipma ur pa ‘some food (emphasized)’
okipma ti ‘this food’

With other pronouns:

men pa ‘we (emphasized or topical)’
men kil ‘we here (emphatic?)’
men ti ‘we here’

2.10. Conjunctions and Other Conjunctive Forms

In Urim, most conjunctions and conjunctive forms are clause initial. Some, however, are clause
final, and some are discontinuous. Many conjunctions operate on more than one level. For example,
the conjunctions a ‘and’, aki ‘or’ and kol ‘if, like’ can connect phrases, clauses, or sentences. Some
conjunctions, like atnen ‘because of’ and eng ‘therefore, so that’ govern embedded adverbial clauses,
but never connect independent sentences. Some conjunctions connect only clauses (pipa, titan), while
many connect both clauses and sentences (pa, atom etc.). In Urim there are following conjunctions.

Coordinating conjunctions:
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a (sometimes wa after words ending in a vowel) ‘and’

wa.....wa ‘and....again/also/further’
aki ‘or’
ari ‘but’
pake ‘but’ (combination of pa ‘that’ + ise ‘PERF’ ---> pa-ke)

Coordinating or weakly subordinating, temporal or expressing continuity:

... plalng, .... plalng pa, ... plalng pipa ‘after that, (when that had happened or finished)’
....titan, ....ninan ‘after that (a longer happening or action
finished)
am ‘now, then’ (immediately) (basically time word
‘now’)
atom ‘then, and’

Subordinating conjunctions:
- causative and conditional:

pa ‘when’
... pa, ‘when, if’
pipa ‘if’ (combination of pa +pa ---> pipa)
.... pipa,/pilpa, ‘when’, if
pati ‘so then’ (combination of pa +ti- ‘this’ --> pati)
....pati ‘what comes to that’
(kolpa) atom ‘so, therefore (often past)’
(kolpa) ti ‘this is why, therefore (often future)’
kolpa ‘therefore, being like that, like that (before quotation)’ (combination of kol ‘like’ +
pa
‘that’)

- hypothetical:

kol / kolen ‘if’ (also comparative ‘like’)

kol ... pa / kol ... pipa/pilpa ‘if’

- expressing reason:

eng ‘so that, therefore’ (also preposition: Benefactive, Goal, Purpose etc.)
eng ntei ‘therefore’ (originally interrogative pronoun ‘why?’)
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atnen ‘therefore, because of’ (also preposition and verb ‘wait for, watch)

- semantically neutral:

la ti ‘what about’ (starts a new topic, from the verb la ‘speak’)

la ‘that’ (semantically neutral complementizer governing the clausal
object of certain verbs)

As is the case in many other languages, in Urim a number of the conjunctions appear to be built
out of demonstratives. The commonest conjunction in Urim, pa, is a near demonstrative ‘that’. This
demonstrative occurs also as part of conjunctions pake, pipa, pilpa, kolpa and pati. Three
conjunctions, kol, eng, and atnen a transparently related to prepositions. As well as taking nominal
complements, eng and atnen can also govern a clausal complement. Atnen is probably originally a
verb (there is a verb atnen ‘wait for, watch; hit). The conjunction ari ‘but’ is phonetically similar to
the verb ari ‘see’, but it is not clear whether or not this is an accidental resemblance. The verbs la
‘see’ and plalng ‘finish’ function as conjunctive forms too. The function of plalng as conjunction
resembles tail-head linkage which connects full sentences. Very much like conjunctions function the
words titan and nanan and reduplicated verb marking continuity. These words and reduplication
occur (often together) between clauses to show that the action described in the first clause continues
until the action of second clause starts. This structure and tail-head linkage are described in Chapters
5.5.7 and 5.7. Other conjunctions are described more fully in the Chapter 5. 5.

Examples of conjunctions:

Kil kaino yo pa atom wa katila ampei pa nar pipa, kupm or.

3sg go.up tree D then and follow.R vine D descend when 1sg hit
‘It climbed up the tree and then when it came down along the vine I hit it.’

Ilm -t -ilo ling ti no eng ekg ntokg il

shoot.IR-TR-1pl.O cassowary this come.up OBL 1dual make.IR eat.IR
‘Shoot for us this cassowary and bring it here so that we can prepare it for food.’

Kol kitn la ntam nokgwi pa pa-ti,

like 2sg say cook.IR pandanus that that-this
mpa am kitn ngkom nokgwi ...
FUT now 2sg pick.IR pandanus ...’
‘Regarding cooking pandanus / If you want to cook pandanus (it is like this), you pick a
pandanus ...’

Am pirng kai anong ise.

now run go village PERF
‘And immediately run to the village’
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Ti men akor ya hining

C 1pl.Exc search.R way in.vain
‘That is why we search the way in vain’ (refers to the story just told)

Mentekg al al ninan, mining paipm

1dual eat.R eat.R CNT difficult bad
‘We kept on eating until we could not eat any more (very difficult to eat all)’

La ti wuring weten, ake kitn alin wor-wor

say this garden new not 2sg plant.R good-good
‘And what comes to the new garden, you did not plant it very well.’
2.10.1. The Place of Conjunctions
Usually Urim conjunctions occur clause initially. Some conjunctions have two possible positions
between clauses, either at the end of the first clause before the pause, or after the pause starting the
second clause. This position seems to make the conjunction stronger, emphasize it, and sometimes is
also provides slightly different meaning compared to the initial position. In speech the conjunction
occurring clause finally usually gets prominent (high pitch - long vowel) intonation.

Tu rapon itna Melapmok atom, Akalpm alm Olng.

3pl fight.R stay Melapmok then Akalpm shoot.R Olng
‘They were fighting at Melapmok and then, Akalpm shot Olng.’ (focuses the shooting)

Nakle hipm wekg alk -en atom, wailen pa la -la

take.R leaf two give.R-3plO then big brother D say-say
‘She took out of the basket two wrappings of food and gave [them] to them, but the big
brother said’ (frustrated succession))

Atom, walkipman al-kil pa nar...

then grandfather G-3sg D come.down
‘And then, his grandfather came down..’

When the conjunction pa is placed before the pause, its meaning is often intensified (more
emphatic or causative meaning added):

Kil elng kul nar pa, kupm perng talpuk

3sg put come descend C 1sg shoot.R spear
When it started to come down, and then - I threw the spear.’

Kil wuli pa, mpa kupm ikle!

3sg arrive C FUT 1sg scold.IR
‘If he comes, I will scold him!’
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More rarely the conjunction in Urim may also occur inside the clause. In most cases the position
of conjunction in the middle of clause can be explained thematically. Fronting of object can move it
even to the front of conjunctions. This may be a feature of spoken language only.

..wampor wam, wam kai ari aro pain...

stretch.hand hand hand go but break.R stools
‘She stretched her hand, but the hand went into a pile of stools’

Amti ake kitn wor pipa hikgkil, kitn kaino iri Nik
not not 2sg well if tomorrow 2sg go.up see.IR Nik

eng kil ingklin-peitn sut marasin kaino eidpos.

PUR 3sg help.IR-2sgO injection medicine go.up clinic
‘Now if you are not well by tomorrow, go to see Nik at the clinic so he canhelp you with
an injection.’

2.11.Interjections
The most common interjections in Urim are listed below:

Calling the attention of a person who is far away:

oi!
When lamenting due to pain or sorrow:
Woi!
Lawoi! or Lawui!
Mamam! ‘Mom (vocative)’
Yayai! ‘Dad (vocative)’
When surprised about something:
yo!
Yekei! or Yekai!
Ai! (or when impatiently waiting or angrily stopping a child from crying /
chasing a pig away)
Aklale!

When startled by something sudden:

Lawi!
Wui!
Others:
o! compassion or surprise
Wei! when something unwanted happens
Tsa! ‘I startled you !’ (usually a child)
E’e! assent
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O’o! negation
la (similar to verb la ‘say’) starts an impatient command
(P)apm ‘Be quiet!’
Oe! ‘It’s a lie!’ or expression of joy
kukuk! hunter or warrior shouts when the arrow hits the target (pig, cassowary,
person)
uwouwo call to all to come (after killing a pig)

Idiomatic expressions used as interjections:

Am ntei! ‘Why not!’ ‘It’s OK, no matter’
(m)pa ntei! ‘Why not!’ ‘It’s OK, no matter’
Yo, ti ntei! Surprise

Examples:
Wui! Mla ari kupm ti?
ITJ who see.R 1sg here
‘Oh! Who saw me? (since magic does not work anymore)’

Yekei, mla wuten wuli akikgwampel kweikwei a-kupm-en ti!

yekei who recently arrive steal.R things G-1sg-ATR here
‘Damn, who has been here and stole all my things!’

Wei, mpa mentepm rpma okipma kalpisen

wei FUT 1dual sit.R food nothing
‘Oh dear, we have no food!’

La, itning kai ai!

say hear.IR go remote
‘Oh, go away (impatiently)!’

2.12.Compounding
2.12.1. The Problem of Word Boundaries in Urim
In Urim there are some difficulties in determining whether a construction is a compound word or
a phrase. Phonological criteria alone are not sufficient, because a grammatical phrase may
phonologically be one word, especially idioms. On the other hand, the boundaries of a phonological
word are not very clear in Urim. Many morphophonemic rules can be applied over a larger domain,
some apply over a more restricted domain than phonological word. Here we will briefly consider
various rules and other boundary marks that help to determine word boundaries in Urim.

a) Stress
Stress is the clearest mark of a phonological word in Urim. A phonological word can have only one
main stress in Urim, as indicated in the following examples:
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‘kol ‘ti ‘like this’

like this

‘kol#ti ‘only’
like-this

‘wris ‘ata ‘only one’

one only

ki’pman ‘wris#ata ‘only men’ (not ‘only one man’!)

man one-only

‘yankipm#ok ‘talk’
talk-mouth

i’lkim ‘ok ‘mouth of a pit’

pit mouth

‘maur ‘kanokg-en ‘a spirit living inside the ground’

spirit ground-ATR

‘ka ‘maur#ka’nokg-en ‘grasshopper sp.’

grasshopper spirit-ground-ATR

However, stress is not very reliable in determining whether or not the construct is grammatically
one word, because two nouns or two verbs can be joined phonologically under one stress when no
modifiers occur in between:

‘wan#yun ‘door’
house-door

‘wan ‘wail ‘yun ‘door of a big house’

house big door

compare to:

‘wan#yun ‘wail ‘ur

house-door big ID ‘a big door’

elng#’kirmpi! ‘put (it) down!’

put-lie:IR

‘elng wur’kapm rm’pi! ‘put the book down!’

put paper lie.IR

These constructions could easily be interpreted as compounds, if it was not known that another
word could be inserted. The expressions are phonologically words but grammatically phrases.
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b) Morphophonemic rules.
Many morphophonemic rules apply over word boundaries both in compound words and in
phrases. Those rules that apply only inside a word, actually are often restricted to the stem or to the
stem with suffixes, and do not apply between words in compound construction.

- Rule 10 (the rule that converts any vowel that is not followed by a more close vowel to a schwa)
operates almost exclusively inside the morpheme, not inside the phonological word. It can be applied
also to words derived by reduplication, but usually only when these words are so lexicalized that the
parts are not recognizable and do not occur alone anymore. In most words formed by reduplication
this rule is not applied, even if the constructions are clearly words phonologically, lexically and
grammatically:

Rule 10 applied:
milmal [m∂l’ml] ‘thunder’
kirkar [k∂r’kr] ‘shout’
pipa [p∂’p:] ‘if’

Rule 10 not applied:

kwalkwal [kwlkwl] ‘wail’
karngkarng [krkr] ‘corn husk’
warwar [wrwr] ‘shake’

- Rule 7a (palatalization) usually operates only inside the phonological word. It is applied when a
suffix is added to the word or between the parts of a compound or phrase, but not over word
boundaries except sometimes in rapid speech.

Orthographic form Phonemic form Phonetic form Gloss

ampriin /mpri-n/ [mbri:n] ‘hinder’

kaino /ki#no/ [kno:] ‘go up’

but:
tu ari nep wekg
3pl see.R coconut two
’They saw two coconuts’

iye no rpmi no ti-ke!

carry.IR come.up sit.IR come.up here-EMP
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‘bring it up here’

- Rule 8 marks the boundaries of grammatical word quite clearly since it is not applied unless the
two words under a single intonation contour form a compound:

/man#yan/ [mnzn] mansan ‘parents’

but:
/wan##yun/ [wnyun] wanyun ‘door’

compare:
wan wail yun ‘the door of a big house’
house big door

c) Phonemic and phonetic restrictions:

- /pm/, /k /tn/ never occur word or morpheme initially

- // never occurs word or morpheme initially

There are also restrictions in the consonant clusters that occur word/morpheme initially or finally,
compared to the clusters allowed morpheme medially. Inside reduplicated and compound words, a
much larger set of clusters is allowed than inside morphemes.

mel-num ‘person’
body-skin

muikg-muin ‘siblings’
sister-brother

The clusters ln and kgm never occur morpheme initially.

Conclusion:
It seems that in Urim morpheme or root boundaries are more clearly marked than actual word
boundaries. Especially the restrictions of consonant clusters and the operation of the schwa-rule mark
morpheme boundaries. There are boundary marks for word too, but some of them mark both words
and phonological phrases (stress) some only words (rule 8) so that the whole concept of word is
somewhat vague in the language. This makes it difficult to determine exactly which expressions are
compounds, which should be called noun complexes. This reflects in orthography, too. Native
speakers tend to write as one word also those expressions that are grammatically clearly two words
(wanyun etc.). From the other hand, enclitics are usually written separately from the stem (anong ai ‘
to the village’) even when they are pronounced as one phonological word.
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2.12.2. Compound Nouns

Urim has a number of compound noun stems. Most of them are combinations of two nouns, but
also noun-adjective, adjective-adjective, verb- verb, verb-noun, even noun-pronoun combinations
occur. Most compound nouns are semantically transparent; both parts are easily recognizable and
occur also independently. Compared to noun complexes (see 3.1.1), the amount of compound nouns
is relatively small in Urim. Most animal and plant names for example, are noun complexes. The
most common noun compounds are semantically plural kinship terms (‘parents, siblings etc.’)

Noun + Noun Compounds

man yan ------> mansan ‘parents’

mother father
yangkipm ok ------> yangkipmok ‘speech’
talk mouth
lim ok ------> limpok ‘muzzle (of pig, possum etc.)’
nose mouth
nikg walpm ------> nikgwalpm ‘heart, thinking’
stomach liver

kamel num ------> (ka)melnum ‘person

body skin

hu nokg ------> hunokg ‘sea’

water salt

Verb + Noun Compounds

anti hi ------> antihi ‘diarrhea’
measure/with sore

Verb + Verb Compounds

ikg akg ------> ikgakg ‘tears’

look cry

Noun + Adjective Compound

hu wail ------> huwail ‘mushroom sp.’

water big

nang wor ------> nangkwor(en) ‘adult; older sibling of same sex’

name good

Adjective + Adjective Compound

wusok wail ------> wusokwail ‘brothers/sisters’

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small big

Noun + Pronoun Compounds

mpang kil ------> mpangkil ‘timber’

forest 3sg/this
2.12.3. Compound Verbs
Compounding is a major means of forming verb stems in Urim. The following types of
compounds have been observed:

1. Verb-Verb
2. Verb-Noun
3. Verb-Adv
4. Noun-Verb
5. Verb-Noun-Verb?
6. Verb-Adj-Verb?
7. Verb-Noun-Noun

Compound verbs are either verb-verb or (most of them) noun-verb combinations. The auxiliary
verb ak ‘do’ can be added to these types, which makes the combinations verb-verb-verb or verb-noun-
verb. Other types of compound verbs are rare. The maximum number of roots observed in a
compound verb stem is three.

Verb + Verb Compounds

kai nar ------> kinar ‘go down, go down river’

go descend

kai hor ------> kawor ‘enter, go in’

go enter

ak alm-e ------> akalmpe ‘answer, revenge’

do shoot-TR

ari angko-e ------> aringkowe ‘covet’

see fall-TR

Noun + Verb Compounds

won rakol-e ------> wontrakole ‘remember’

inside break-CNT
wam alen ------> wampalen ‘push with hands’
hand put to
ak won alok ------> akwonalok ‘restrain’
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do inside steer
ak won alm-en ---> akwonalmpen ‘think’
do insides shoot-TR
arm won-el ------> armponel ‘flatter’
sow inside-3sg
ik atn-e-n ------> ikatnen ‘stare’
spear stand-CNT-TR
ok la-la oklala ‘talk’
mouth say-say

Verb + Noun Compounds

ak ikg wam-el ------> akikgwampel ‘steal’

do look hand-3sgO
alm wrong ------> almpwrong ‘shoot enemies’
shoot crowd

In Urim compound verbs are quite common, but it is not always easy to tell whether two verbs
form a serial structure or a compound verb stem. Consider the following examples that show how a
verb phrase which is phonologically one word, can be grammatically a phrase (as we saw with nouns
in the section 1.5.1):

kil ak-kwap [‘:kw:p] ‘he works’

3sg do-work.R

kil ak- n -opm [‘:ktopm] kwap ‘he works for me’

3sg do.R-TR-1sgO work

Some idiomatic verb phrases containing ak are pronounced as two phonological words with more
than one main stress, others as one phonological phrase with one main stress. In both cases the
phrasal idiom is a single lexeme with a single, non-compositional meaning. No objects or other
constituents can be placed in between the parts of these idioms:

ak -won-alm-pen ‘to think’

do.R-inside-shoot-TR

ak -ok-la ‘to beg’

do.R-mouth-say

tu ak nokg-el-opm ‘they are laughing at me’

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they do.R salt-3sg-1sgO

Compounding with the verb ak ‘(use something to) do’ is a common means of expressing
causativity in Urim. Consider the following examples, which are phonologically one word but can be
interpreted as either lexemes or grammatical structures:

Kil alupm wurkapm ak -malkgu-wel masin pa

3sg put.in.R paper use.R-soft -ADV machine D
‘He put paper in to make it soft for the machine’

Yangkipm a Maur Wailen ak -titnongket-el maur a-mentepm-en

talk G spirit great use.R-strong -ADV spirit G-1pl.Exc-ATR
‘God’s talk strengthens our spirits’

Men awi wes elng rmpa ak -kalkut -el kar

1pl.Exc take.R stone put sit use.R-heavy-ADV car
‘We got stones and put them in the car and made it heavy’
2.12.4. Other Types of Compounds

Urim also has compound adjectives and adverbs, although they are much less common than
compound nouns. Almost all numerals are formally compounds or complex phrases. Many personal
pronouns, especially dual and paucal forms are compounds. All this shows that compounding is a
very productive means of forming words in Urim.

Compound Adjectives

werk alm(-et) ------> werkalm(pet) ‘gray or white headed’

feathers shoot(-ATR)

ak wekg-el ------> akwekgel ‘ignorant, unconscious’

do two-3sg

ari wor ------> ariwor ‘beautiful’

see good

Compound Adverbs and Quantifiers

nar no ------> narno ‘lengthwise’

descend ascend

yikak atnen ------> yikakatnen ‘strongly’

limb watch

pikekg kil ------> pikekgkil ‘yesterday’

past this

wris ata ------> wrisata ‘only, alone’

one only
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wor ampei ------> worampei ‘all kinds of’

good rope

Compound Numerals
wam wam ------> wampwam ‘ten’
hand hand

wekg wekg ------> wikgwikg ‘four’

two two

Compound Pronouns
men wekg ------> mentekg ‘we two’
1pl two

wang arka-e ------> wangkarke ‘when?’

time hang-CNT

2.13.Reduplication and Repetition in Urim

In Urim reduplication is a very common morphological device; it has both derivational and
several different grammatical uses. In reduplication the word or stem is usually repeated once, in
some cases several times. Almost all word classes can be reduplicated: nouns, verbs, adjectives,
adverbs, quantifiers, etc.
The term reduplication refers to the copying of part (or all) of a stem and by this definition can
happen only inside a phonological word. The repetition of free forms (words) is not usually called
reduplication, but here both are described together. In Urim it is sometimes hard to tell, whether or
not a a repeated expression has been lexicalized. The whole process of lexicalization is a gradual
phenomenon, a continuum, where there are often border cases between full lexemes and phrases (see
Givon 1979 Ch.5). This is also reflected in the developing Urim writing system.
When new words are formed by reduplication, the two parts usually form one phonological word
and are written together. When the reduplication or repetition has grammatical functions, parts are
usually written separately, but may also be written together. The problem whether reduplicated
construction is one or two words can be compared to the similar problem with compounds (see
2.12.1).
2.13.1. The Forms of Reduplication
Both full and partial types of reduplication occur in Urim. Usually words or stems are
reduplicated but sometimes also whole phrases or clauses.
In full reduplication the word or stem is repeated fully and in most cases without any phonological
changes. If the result of reduplication is a phonological word, morphophonemic rules are applied.
For example, homorganic stops are inserted between the parts, or there occur changes in one or more
vowels. Also further phonological changes occur in the more lexicalized forms.
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wam-wam (hand-hand) ---> wampwam ‘ten’

pa-pa (that-that) ---> pipa ‘when, if’
hel-hel (swell-swell) ---> helel ‘desire’.
wekg-wekg (two-two) ---> wikgwikg ‘four’
prus-prus (crunch-crunch) ---> prisprus ‘crackle, crunch’

In partial reduplications usually the last syllable is repeated:

ari-ari (see+see) ---> ariri ‘watch’
kinar-kinar-kinar (go.down-go down-go down) ----> kinar-nar-nar ‘keep going down’
wasek-wasek (small-small) ---> waseksek ‘very small’

Usually the parts of reduplicated word retain their meaning but in the more lexicalized
reduplications the meaning of parts tend to be partly bleached. For example the word kweikwei comes
from the word kwei ‘yam type’. This is the most important tuber variety grown in the area and
therefore the reduplicated form means generally ‘food’. The words kwei and kweikwei also have a
more general meaning: ‘something, anything’. The reduplicated form kweikwei is also used as a
general plural marker modifying noun phrases. Some lexemes have the form of partial reduplication
but no corresponding unreduplicated form occurs: tukuk ‘sorcery’; walelel ‘cicada’. In Urim most
onomatopoetic words are reduplicated in form. The parts of these words usually have no independent
meaning; warwar ‘shake’.

Also whole phrases can be repeated fully or partially. Some of these tend to be written as one
word too:

Tu aye kwei nimong nimong-en

3pl carry.R yam basket basket-ATR
‘They carried basketfuls of yams’

Kil no wuli hup wom hup wom

3sg come.up arrive edge.of.steep other edge.of.steep other
‘She went from the other side of the hill to the other side.’

akwonalmpen-almpen watipmen
think.R –think.R plenty
‘ponder it, doubt it’ (lit: keep thinking a lot)
2.13.2. The Functions of Reduplication
Reduplication has many functions in Urim. It is a common means of forming new words.
Repetition and reduplication both also encode plurality, intensity and several verbal aspects.
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Reduplication as Means of Forming Words

There are partial and full reduplications of noun, verb, adjective, numeral and adverb stems. The
fully reduplicated words present the same kind of problem as compounds: it is not always clear
whether they are compounds or phrases.

Examples of nouns formed by reduplication:

nangnang ‘singsing-feast, song’ nang name’
mammam ‘Mom (vocative)’ man ‘mother’
kirngkarng ‘corn hulks’ kirng ‘border’
paipmpaipm ‘sins, wrongs, troubles’ paipm ‘bad’

Adjectives formed by reduplication are comparatively rare (possibly because reduplication is

commonly used to intensify adjectives):

pulpulpilpalet /pulpul#pilpal-et/ ‘spotted’

krukgkrakget /krakg#krakg-et/ ‘multicolored’ krakg ‘string, mark’
kirngkirng ‘thick’ kirng ‘border’

Examples of adverbs:
yongkyong ‘for ever’
hirir ‘similar; close’
ariworwor ‘very well’ ari ‘see’, wor ‘good’

Examples of numerals and other quantifiers:

kamel kamel ‘a lot, 400’ kamel ‘person’
wampwam ‘ten’ wam ‘hand’
auraur ‘all kinds of’ aur ‘cover’

Verbs formed by reduplication are very common, especially onomatopoetic ones:

pirpir ‘run, hurry’ pirng ‘run to’
prisprus ‘crunch’ prus ‘crunch’
kwelngkwelng ‘wail’ (onomatopoetic)
lala ‘talk, chat’ la ‘say’
Reduplication and Repetition Encoding Intensity
With adjectives and adverbs, reduplication is often used to express increased degree.

waseksek ‘very small’ wasek ‘small’

aripaipmpaipm ‘very badly’ aripaipm ‘badly’ (ari ‘see’ paipm ‘bad’)
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Kitn ngkom mehen mehen, mpa kitn angko!

2sg walk.IR slowly slowly FUT 2sg fall.R
‘Walk very slowly lest you fall.’ (in quick speech men-men)

Tu wrong-wail-en wrong-wail-en
3pl crowd -big-ATR crowd-big-ATR
‘a lot of people, crowds of people’

Kapm am pilpilet pilpilet rka ti.

pond now muddy muddy hang.R here
‘But this pond is very muddy!’

The suffix -en with adjectives lessens the property of the adjective the more it is repeated (see
section 4.5.3 ‘Comparison of Adjectives’):

kongket-en -en -en ‘just a little bit black’

black -ATR-ATR-ATR

In the same way, the partial repetition of a temporal adverb can be used to express increased
length of time:

pikekg-tak-ai ‘long ago’

past - ? -remote

pikekg-tak-tak-ai ‘very long ago’

past -? -? -remote

Also the words paipm and wor that are used as increased degree with adjectives, can be
reduplicated to strengthen the degree even more:

watet paipm-paipm
red bad-bad
‘very dark red’
Repetition Encoding Plurality
One way of encoding plurality is to repeat the noun. This usually encodes indefinite amount of
referents. (see 3.3.2) Often the modifiers of NP—adjectives, adverbs, or numerals—can be repeated
instead of the Head noun. Sometimes even the verb can be repeated to encode the plurality of one of
its arguments (subject or object). In this case it usually encodes distributive aspect at the same time
(see also 2.13.2.4). Repetitions encoding plurality are only seldom written as one word.

Verbs:
Tu wrong-wail pa wuli wuli eng howen nim.
3pl crowd-big D arrive arrive OBL beat drum
‘The people kept coming to the dance ceremony.’
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Nouns:
Tu warim warim ikga iri kul
3pl child child F.Fut see.IR come
‘The children will see it later’

Kupm wrekg antam kweikwei ak kong kong pa al

1sg get.up cook.R food do.R morning morning D eat.R
‘I get up and cook food every morning (for them) to eat’ (a woman describing her daily
work)

Adjectives:
In the following examples the repetition of an adjective marks the plurality of the whole NP.

Men ampei wail wail, wanteng wor wor.

1pl.Exc vine big big rattan good good
‘We have big vines and good [types of] rattan.’

Yo hipm watet watet

tree leaf red red
‘red tree leaves’

kopi talpuk a watinet paipm paipm a nowen anel pa.

coffee branch G long bad bad G climb pick.R D
‘the coffee branches that are very long so that one has to climb up in order to pick
[them].’

In the last example the word paipm ‘bad’ serves as intensifier of the adjective watinet ‘long’, and
the reduplication of paipm encodes the plurality of the whole NP.

Adverbs and numerals:

Repetition of the verb is commonly used to express repetition, but sometimes also other words
like adverbs or numerals are reduplicated to indicate repetitive action. Usually repetition of verb in
these cases encodes plurality at the same time (see also the examples of complex nouns below):

Elng wris wris itni kopi kuin kuin pa.

put one one stand.IR coffee middle middle D
‘leave one (tree) between each coffee tree.’

eng mpa huk wrik krakg pa itni watin watin.

OBL FUT give place sign D stand.IR far far
‘…so that it would give space to letters to stand far from each other.’

Kil ak kwap kol-pa ak -angklei (wang) ak-angklei (wang.

3sg do.R work like-that do.R-swallow (time) do.R-swallow (time)
‘She works like that every day.’ (shorter form: ak-angklei-angklei)

Noun complexes
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In the case of noun complexes, only one of the constituents needs to be repeated or reduplicated to
mark the plurality of the whole complex. Usually it is the second noun serving as modifier that is
reduplicated (This second noun usually expresses a part of the head noun or further specifies the
referent):

Kil angken wanukg mpil mpil (-en)

3sg pick.R greens bundle bundle(-ATR)
‘She picks many bundles of greens.’

In this example the repetition/reduplication has a special function: it refers more to repeated action
than to the plurality of the whole noun phrase itself. In the situation the actor takes something from a
plural entity of things one by one. These examples do not indicate whether the actor handles (picks or
cuts) all the greens; some might be left.
Reduplication Encoding Verbal Aspect
Some verbs are formed of repeated roots, which do not occur by themselves or occur in a changed
form. Usually these verbs describe happenings or actions that are repetitive in nature or
onomatopoetic:

pir-pir ‘run’ pir-ng ‘run to’

plul-plel ‘turn back and forth’ plelng ‘turn’
lelng-klelng ‘wriggle’

Grammatically the reduplication/repetition of verb is used to express imperfective aspect:

habitual, repetitive, durative, iterative or continuative. Whether reduplication encodes durative or
repetitive aspect often depends on the meaning of the verb. For example, with momentary verbs
reduplication usually indicates repetitive aspect, and with locative verbs it expresses durative aspect.
For habitual aspect the verb (or part of it) is repeated only a single time. For the other aspects, it can
be repeated several times depending on the extent of the happening.

Habitual:
Kupm ake al al waring pa.
1sg not eat.R eat.R betel nut D
‘I do not chew betel nut’ (can also be written al-al)

Hapm wompel al-kil a ak alo -lo nimpik.

cloth piece G-3sg G do.R wipe.R-RED snot
‘His handkerchief’

Kil ak ak ikg-wamp-el
3sg do.R do.R look-hand-3sgO
‘She used to steal’
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Repetitive:
Kitn atning atning pa!
2sg hear.R hear.R EMP
‘You have heard it many times!’

hor kawor kawor wan

come.in go.in go.in house
‘goes in and out all the time’ (partial reduplication of a serial verb phrase)

Repetition of a verb can also encode distributive aspect when the subject or object of the verb is
plural:

Kipm ungkwan kopi man talpuk a pikekg elng itna itna pa.
2pl remove.R coffee mother branch G past put stand.R stand.R D
‘Take away the main coffee branches that you had left there before.’

Tu wrong-wail pa wuli wuli eng howen nim.

3pl crowd-big D arrive arrive OBL beat drum
‘The people kept coming to the dance ceremony.’

In these examples, the noun phrase in subject position already contains overt plurality marking, so
that repetition of the verb is not needed to indicate plurality of the referent. In the first example the
action affects the objects one by one, in the second example the people arrived to the singsing-feast in
small groups one after another.

Durative aspect is often expressed by repeating the verb more than once:

Mentekg rpma ha ha hining, ake tu ur wuli, kalpis.

1dual sit.R stay stay in.vain not 3pl ID arrive not
‘We two waited and waited in vain, nobody came.’

Kupm alm alm alm hining.

1sg shoot.R shoot.R shoot.R in.vain
‘I shot and shot and shot, in vain.’

Mentekg hokg rmpa rmpa, takgni am no ise.

1dual sleep lie.R lie.R sun now go.up PERF
‘We kept sleeping until the sun was up.’

Especially in narrative texts several times repeated verbs often occur between two clauses to
express that the action or happening continues for a long time before something else happens.

Tu or or or or or, amo wekg-en

3pl hit hit hit hit hit die.R two-ATR
‘They kept hitting and hitting until they both died’

Mentekg nar nar nar nar, angko Maprik

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1dual go.down go.down go.down go.down fall.R Maprik

‘We went and went and went to down river direction and landed to Maprik’

In speech durative or intensifying repetition is sometimes replaced by lengthening of a vowel in

the verb: kai watiinai ‘go very far’; arkooolng ‘pulled and pulled’.
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3. Urim Phrase Structure

Phrases are traditionally defined as structures falling between clause and word. In Urim the
borderline between words and phrases is not always clear. This has been discussed earlier in section
4.9.1.
In Urim phrases, modifiers usually occur after the head, except in verb phrases, where the
modifiers usually occur before the head.

3.1. Overall Structure of the Urim Noun Phrase

Overall, the constituents in the noun phrase have the following linear order (from first to last):

1. Inalienable Genitive
2. Head (This may be either a single noun or a sequence of nouns occurring as a noun
complex. See below for further discussion.)
3. Attributive Modifiers (Multiple occurrences of these are possible. When this happens, they
occur in the order: Colour > Size > Quality.)
4. Quantifiers (Multiple occurrences possible)
5. Alienable Genitives
6. Relative Clauses
7. Demonstratives

Almost all modifiers can co-occur. Exceptions to this are: 1) alienable genitives do not co-occur
with inalienable genitives, and 2) alienable or inalienable genitives do not co-occur with relative
clauses. There are examples of two relative clauses modifying a Head noun.
A number of examples of Urim noun phrases will now be given which illustrate the above
ordering of noun phrase constituents.

HEAD ATTR ATTR QUANT DEM

wel watet wail-en wekg pa

bird red big-ATR two D
‘those two big red birds’

INAL.GEN HEAD ATTR ATTR ATTR QUANT

yo hipm watet wail wor wraur

tree leaf red big good three
‘three good, big, red tree leaves.’
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HEAD (NOUN COMPLEX) RC DEM

tu melnum a kitn anti rpma pa

3pl people REL 2sg with.R sit.R D
‘Those people with whom you are staying.’

HEAD (NOUN COMPLEX) QUANT

men melnum watipmen

1pl.Exc person many
‘we (excl) many people’

HEAD (NOUN COMPLEX) ATTR ATTR AL.GEN APPOS

warim kiin wusok wor a-kupm-en Kapi

child woman small good G-1sg-ATR Kapi
‘my good little daughter Kapi’

HEAD (NOUN) RC RC

Kopi a watinet paipm paipm a now-en anel pipa kipm ik kol kil
koffee REL long bad bad REL go.up-TR pick.R if 2pl do:IR like this
‘In the case the coffee is so very tall that you need to climb to pick [it], you should do like
this.’

The emphatic adverbs/particles ata ‘only’ and yat ‘also’ usually occur after other modifiers in the
noun phrase.

kiin a-kupm-en wris ata

woman G-1sg-ATR one only
‘only my wife.’

wan wail a tu Maprik yat

house big G 3pl Maprik also
‘Also the big house of the people of Maprik’

wapiin wasek yek wekg ata

lizard small poor two only
‘only two poor little lizards’

Interrogative pronouns may occur as postmodifiers of NP:

warim mla yek?

child who poor
‘Which poor child?’

There are some exceptions to the order of constituents in the noun phrase given above. Often
these exceptions are textually motivated. When the speaker wants to stress a qualifier, quantifier, or
genitive pronoun, the emphasized element is extracted to the end of the phrase:
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Kil la irpmen-tel spot pa wekg, tiset pa wekg.

3sg say buy.IR-3sgO shorts D two t-shirt D two
‘He wants you to buy for him shorts two pairs, and t-shirts, two of them’

Warim al-kupm pa ile wan pa wail!

child G-1sg D build.IR house D big
‘My child, build a big house!’

Atom Tingkorin kil melnum pa wor a kil...

then Tingkorin 3sg person D good C 3sg
‘And Tingkorin, he is a good person because he..’

Possibly this structure should be analysed as some kind of appositional structure, not a coherent
noun phrase.
With relative clauses, the position of demonstrative pronouns varies; sometimes it occurs after the
relative clause, sometimes before it:

Melnum pa a pikekg antokg...

person D REL past do.R
‘That man (is) the one who did.’

Kiin wekg ur a tu Wenamon

woman two ID G 3pl Wenamon
‘Two (unknown) women from Wenamon’

Por ur pa a Pilpatni kaki rampukg

story ID D G Pilpatni peel.R dry.R
‘There is a story about Pilpatni peeling and drying (yams)’

Ak wang a men kul pa men numprampen wrikya ...

use.R time REL 1plExc come D 1plExc prepare.R things
‘At the time when we came, we prepared the things ...’

In the following example, the demonstrative pronoun occurring after the relative clause clearly
refers to a noun inside the relative clause, not to the head noun:

Tu wrong kiin-a-kipman wrong wail a rka rka bot pa

3pl group woman-and-man group big REL hang.R hang.R boat that
‘The big group of people who were in that boat’ (the boat has been mentioned earlier)
3.1.1 Noun Complexes
In Urim, it is possible to have the head of the noun phrase filled by either a single noun or
sequences of up to three concatenated nouns. These tight sequences of nouns are here termed noun
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complexes. Common types of noun complexes are: 1) the sequence of pronoun + noun, and 2) the
sequence of a generic noun followed by a one or more specific noun(s).

1) Sequences of pronoun + noun are usually plural. The sequence of third plural pronoun plus
following noun is a common means of overtly indicating plurality.

men melnum
1pl.Exc person
‘we people’

tu melnum
3pl person
‘the people’

tu Ayum
3pl Ayum
‘the people of Ayum’

Sequences of a singular pronoun + noun also occur. Appositions are normally separated from the
main clause by a pause. Only the last example below has a clear pause between the pronoun and
appositional NP:

kupm Melming la nak -etn por ti

1sg Melming say tell.R-2sgO story this
‘I Melming told you this story’

mentekg Karis hel kainil

1dual Karis roam moon
‘I and Karis hunted in moonlight’

Waralm, kupm, mentekg kainar kwokg

Waralm 1sg 1dual go.down creek
‘we two, Waralm and I descended to the creek’

mentekg, melnum Maprik-en pa, awi wekg

1dual person Maprik-ATR D get.R two
‘We two, men from Maprik received two (of them)’

Other means of expressing plurality are reduplication and the word kweikwei ‘things’. These
form structures that are formally noun complexes:

namung kweikwei a -tu-wen

banana things G-3pl-ATR
‘Their bananas’
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ikga tu warim warim atning

later 3pl child child hear.R
‘later the children and grandchildren will hear’

2) Sequences of generic noun + specific noun are usually phonologically two words with two
separate main stress. The second noun functions as modifier, helping to further specify the identify
the referent:
yo kimping
tree sp.
‘tree species’

hu kop
water lake
‘lake’

wel kuliin
bird bird.sp.
‘kuliin-bird’

wakg kuntuk
fire pot
‘cooking fire’

The specifying part of noun complex may be also a name, or a combination of two words:

mayen Warmpale yek ti

old.woman Warmpale poor this
‘This poor old woman Warmpale’

warim kiin -en tukgunakg a –kil -en

child woman-ATR head G-3sg-ATR
‘his eldest daughter’

nung kampong
wood tree.sp.
‘wood of kampong-tree’
Resemblance of some co-ordinated noun phrases to noun complexes
Since sequences of co-ordinated nouns can occur both with and without a coordinating
conjunction, the coordinated sequences without a conjunction formally resemble a noun complex.
However in co-ordinate noun phrases, unlike noun phrases, no noun is semantically modifying
another noun; both nouns have equivalent syntactic status.
There is a slight phonological difference between a coordinate sequence of nouns and a noun
complex. In the case of noun complex, main stress tends to fall on the second noun. Coordinated
nouns are stressed equally.

kiyom a kimining umpu

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kiyom and kimining piece

‘pieces of kiyom and kimining trees
(coordinated NP as premodifier)

wan a kiin a warim aln-tu-wen

house G woman and child G- 3sg-ATR
‘the house of their wives and children’

nimpa karek wor wekg a-kitn-en

dog chicken good two G-2sg-ATR
‘Your two good animals, dog and chicken.’

tuwekg inu nongko wekg pa

2dual female.cousin male.cousin two D
‘They two, the two cousins.’ (noun complex head of an appositional noun phrase)

wuring timping
garden old.garden
‘gardens (new and old garden)’
(an almost lexicalized noun phrase)

There are more examples of coordinated phrases below and in the section 3.5.
How Noun Complexes differ from Apposition, Coordinative Noun Phrases,
Compound Nouns and Inalienable Genitive Constructions
Phonologically, the sequences of nouns in noun complex usually are separate words but the
difference between these structures and compounds is not always clear. The noun complexes
consisting of pronoun and noun are clearly two phonological words as well as the animal and plant
names. Other specifying noun+noun combinations and kinship terms tend to be pronounced as one
phonological word with one main stress, and can be termed compounds. The borderline between
compounds and phrases is a continuum.
Semantically, the noun complex is relatively transparent, with each of the subsequent nouns
functioning attributively to restrict the reference of the head noun. Here they differ clearly from
coordinated phrases where none of the parts functions as a modifier of another. Coordinated nouns
always exhibit separate intonational contours, while in noun complex one noun (almost always the
second one) usually has the main stress. Sequences of coordinated nouns can function as a complex
head of a noun phrase and as a unit be modified by other NP modifiers:

nimpa karek wor wekg a-kitn-en

dog chicken good two G-2sg-ATR
‘Your two good animals, dog and chicken.’

tuwekg inu nongko wekg pa

2dual female.cousin male.cousin two D
‘They two, the two cousins.’ (noun complex head of an appositional noun phrase)
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Coordinated noun phrases tend to get lexicalized and be pronounced as one phonological word.
Compare the following examples:

kiin (a) watnom

woman (and) children
‘wife and children’

tu kiin watnom al-kil

3pl woman children G-3sg
‘his family (wife and children)’

tu wrong kiin a kipman

3pl crowd woman and man
‘all the people’

Men awi kiin-kipman wekg kinar Punam pa

1pl.Exc take.R woman-man two go.down Punam D
‘We took a couple from Punam (into the plane)’

man-san (mother-father) ‘parents’

The most important difference between a noun complex and an appositional noun phrase is that
the parts of noun complexes are not interruptible by other noun phrase modifiers. This is in contrast
to true apposition, in which the appositional noun phrase occurs after the full noun phrase, and
therefore there can be multiple modifiers intervening between the head noun of the noun phrase and
the head noun of the appositional noun phrase. Consider the following examples:

warim a-kupm Karis

child G-1sg Karis
‘My child, Karis’ (apposition)

warim Karis a-kupm-en

child Karis G-1sg-ATR
‘My Karis-boy’ (noun complex?)

anong Laningwap wail a-mentepm-en

village Laningwap big G-1pl.Inc -ATR
‘Our big Laningwap village ’

Inalienable genitive constructions and noun complexes are similar formally and phonologically,
but differ in that the initial noun phrase functions as a genitive modifier of the following noun rather
than the following noun functioning as a modifier of the initial noun. Also, the genitive noun phrase
itself can contain modifiers, whereas the head noun in a noun complex would not have any modifiers:

wan-yun (house-door) ‘door’

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wan wail yun

house big door
‘The door of a big house’ (inalienable genitive NP with a modifier)

wam-wuhor (hand-nail) ‘fingernail’

wam man wuhor

hand mother nail
‘thumbnail’
3.1.2. Adjectives and Quantifiers in the Noun Phrase
It is possible to have more than one adjective modifier in a noun phrase, although occurrences of
more than two adjectives modifying one noun phrase are not common in texts (see section 5.1 for an
example of three adjectives modifying a head.). The typical ordering of multiple adjectives is color >
size > quality. The adjective paipm ‘bad’ tends to occur before other adjectives, because the same
form is also used as degree adverb ‘very’ modifying adjectives (third example). The diminutive word
yek ‘poor’ usually occurs after other adjectives.

wan wusok yek ur pa

house small poor ID D
‘a poor small house’

hu paipm wail ur
water bad big ID
‘A big bad pond’

compare to:
hu wail paipm ur
water big bad ID
’a very big pond’

nung mis wail paipm

firewood heap big bad
‘one big piece of firewood’

The exact order of quantifiers in the noun phrase has not been investigated enough yet. Usually
numerals occur after non-numeric quantifiers. The indefinite ur ‘a, one’ can be classified either as
quantifier or deictic; in the noun phrase it occurs between these two constituents.

kil awi tikayo watipmen ur

3sg take:R basket plenty ID
‘She took several (indefinite) baskets’

Kiin wekg ur pa itna ya

woman two ID D stand.R road
‘There were two women on the road’
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3.1.3. Appositional Noun Phrases

Appositional noun phrases are fairly common in Urim, although it is sometimes hard to tell
whether a given structure should be called left dislocation or apposition. Appositional noun phrases
differ from coordinated phrases in that both parts refer to the same entity. In Urim appositional noun
phrases mostly occur when new referents are introduced into the text and their function is to add some
more information about it. The only phonological feature is that there is usually a pause between
apposition and the main NP.

Some examples of appositions:

melnum, yan a -kupm ...

person father G-1sg
‘the man, my father ..’

tuwekg, inu nongko wekg

3dual female male two
‘they two, the two cousins’

wrong wailen kiin a kipman

crowd big woman and man
‘a big crowd of men and women’ (an almost idiomatic expression)

In Urim names are always introduced appositionally, even when the word nang ‘name’ is present.
They are never introduced using relative clauses or genitive phrases:

Anong wor a-kupm-en Laningwap

village good G-1sg-ATR Laningwap
‘My good village Laningwap’

miring yek wekg ti, Pirkko Rita ekg

white.person DIM two this Pirkko Rita two
‘These two dear white women, Pirkko and Rita’

tu warim Kipra Yakakir

3pl child Kipra Yakakir
‘The children, Kipra and Yakakir.’
3.1.4. Relative Clause
Structure of Relative Clause
Relative clauses occur following the head noun they modify and have the structure [a [S] ], with
a functioning as a complementizer. The argument within the relative clause that is co-referential with
the head noun that the relative clause modifies is omitted unless it functions as a genitive. In Urim the
same noun can be modified by more than one relative clause:
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Marpm wurkapm wekg a pikekg kupm alk -etn Ø pa.

money paper two REL past 1sg give.R-2sgO D
‘The two kina that I gave you.’
Grammatical Roles that can be born by the Relative Noun
Relative noun = Subject

Atom nimpa pa aru wampung mark ur a Ø rmpa kawor yo tawong

pa.
then dog D bark.R possum sp. ID REL sit.R go.into tree hole
D
‘And the dog barked at the mark possum that was in the hole of the tree.’

Ampei a Ø kol kil

rope REL like this
‘A rope like this’

Mentekg akwe tu a Ø rka kai ya pa.

1dual call.R 3pl REL hang.R go road that
‘We called the ones who were at the road.’

Mpa kil ilo krakg a Ø paipm pa.

Fut 3sg wipe.IR carving REL bad D
‘It will wipe out the letters that are bad.’

Relative noun = Object

Atom tu tiur pa langkiin kweikwei a maur paipm aye

then 3pl some D not.give.R things REL spirit bad carry.R
Ø itna pa, la;
standR D say
‘Then some people did not want to give away things that bad spirits had hold of, saying:
...’

Marpm wurkapm wekg a pikekg kupm alk -etn Ø pa.

money paper two REL past 1sg give.R-2sgO D
‘The two kina that I gave you.’

Kol tu ari wuring a tu antokg Ø pa la palng wor pipa, ...

like 3pl see.R garden REL 3pl make D say become good if/when, ...
‘When they saw that the garden they had made was becoming good, ...’

…mpa kitn rku ungkuran pa kai itni krakg tiur

FUT 2sg push.IR arrow D go stand.IR carving some

a kitn antokg Ø paipm pa..

REL 2sg make.R bad D
‘…press (the key to move) the arrow to the letters that you wrote wrong.’
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Instrumental relative clauses have the form [a [ak [Ø Verb…]]], where the instrument functions as
the Subject of a clause embedded under the verb ak ‘do, cause’. Instrumental relative clauses are often
used when speaking about new things for which the language does not yet have a word.

Tu awi nampro a tu ak Ø alm melnum amo pa, aye wuli.

3pl take.R ginger REL 3pl use.R shoot.R person die.R D carry:R arrive
‘They brought out ginger that is used to kill people.’ (More literally: ’They brought out
the ginger that they cause it to kill people.’

Kitn uwi – n - topm ampei a ak Ø angkut hapm iye - n - topm no.

2sg take:IR-TR-1sgO rope REL use.R sew.R cloth carry.IR-TR-1sgO come.up
‘Bring me sewing thread.’ (More literally: ’Bring me the rope/threat that they cause it to
sew cloth’)

Ari melnum pa awi hapm wompel al-kil a ak

but person D take.R cloth piece G-3sg REL use.R
alo-lo nimpik ti.
wipe.R-RED snot this
‘But the man took his handkerchief.’ (More literally: ’The man took his piece of cloth
that he causes it to wipe snot.’)

It is rare but possible for the relative noun to function as a genitive in the relative clause. Unlike
the preceding examples, the relative noun does receive overt expression, being encoded as a genitive
pronoun.
Am melnum a pikekgkil tu akikgwampel karek a -kil-en am pake.
now person REL yesterday 3pl steal.R hen G-3sg-ATR now D.EMP
‘He is the person whose hen was stolen yesterday.’ (=’He is the person that they stole his
hen yesterday.’)

Kupm la melnum ur a warim al-kil – en pikekgkil amo pa.

1sg say person ID REL child G-3sg-ATR yesterday die.R D
‘I am talking about the person whose child died yesterday.’ (More literally, ’I am talking
about the person that his child died yesterday.)

Am melnum a wet mentepm alm manto ak yikal a –kil -en am

now person REL N.Past 1pl.Incl shoot.R pig use.R bow G-3sg-ATR now
pake.
D.EMP
‘Now he is the person whose bow we just shot the pig with...’ (More literally, ’Now he is
the person that we caused his bow to shoot the pig.’

Kiin a pikekgkil mentepm ant -el kinar Kainantu pa.

woman REL yesterday 1pl.Incl with.R-3sgO go.down Kainantu D
‘The woman with whom we went to Kainantu yesterday.’
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tu melnum a kitn anti rpma pa

3pl people REL 2sg with.R sit.R D
‘Those people with whom you are staying.’

When the relative noun has the role of Locative within the relative clause, the verb in the relative
clause sometimes gets the suffix -e added to it. The principal function of this suffix is to express
continuity or habituality and can therefore only be used when the relative clause is semantically
compatible with it. In relative clauses, the suffix helps to disambiguate the relative clause from a
chained clause.

Tu wrong pa kai wrik a arkol nim pa.

3pl crowd D go place REL pull.R slit gong D
‘People went to the place where the slit gong was pulled.’

…atom kitn lang kawor ampei ur a tawong pa kul hor itna pa.
then 2sg slip enter rope ID REL hole D come come.out stand:R D
‘…then plug it into the cord where there is a hole at the end of it.’

anong a kitn kai-e pa kupm mpa kai

village REL 2sg go-TR D 1sg FUT go
‘where you go, I will go’

Am nepm wikgwikg awi -yo am aye kaino wan anong

now leg four take.R-1plO now carry.R go.up house village

mpa ark - e ise.

FUT hang.R-CNT PERF
‘So the car took us to the place where we would stay’

Locative relative clauses are often used to express new concepts for which a lexeme is lacking in
the same way as instrumental relative clauses.

Wrik a arpm-e
place REL sit.R-CNT
‘Chair (place that one sits)’

The relative noun can also function as a temporal adverbial within the relative clause.

Ri -weitn ik wang ur a kitn no.

see.IR-2sgO do.IR time ID REL 2sg come.up
‘See you when you come.’

ak wring wikgwikg a kupm rpma kinar skul pa.

do.R year four REL 1sg sit.R go.down school D
‘during those four years when I was in the school.’
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Wang a melnum pa la men oklala pa men kaino.

time REL person D say 1pl.Excl talk D 1pl.Excl go.up
‘the time the man said that we would talk we went.’

ak a men warim wasek-sek

use.R REL 1plExcl child small-RED
‘when we were little children’

In the next two examples the use of relative clauses with a in association with particular head
nouns encode adverbial reason and manner adjuncts

Itna hep a kupm hatn pa.

stand.R first REL 1sg wander.R D
‘The first thing/reason that I go around’

Kupm a la nik - epm ya a ikgalen kopi

1sg INT say tell.IR-2plO road REL take.care.R coffee
‘I will tell you the way that one takes care of coffee plants.’

In the following example, a functions as a complementizer, introducing the sentential complement

of ari ’see’.

Ampake kil ari a kiin kalkwon, kalpis.

must.not 3sg see.R REL/C woman knock.R no
‘He must not see the women knocking (at the sago trunk)’

Kipman wris pa itna akikgla a kiin kalkwon pa.

man one D stand.R spy.R R/C woman knock.R D
‘One man was standing there and spying how the woman was knocking (at the sago
trunk).’

Sometimes the relative pronoun can be left out, especially when the relative clause has a time
word that clearly shows that the relative clause does not refer to the present time of the story.

Ti melnum wekg la mpa kai Ukarumpa ti ahi?

so person two say FUT go Ukarumpa this where
‘So where are the two men who want to go to Ukarumpa?’

Atom miring ur pikekg ak kwap hep rpma Yangkuru pa la.

then white.man ID PAST do.R work first sit.R Yangkuru D say
‘Then a white skin who used to work in Yangkuru said,’

Men awi wrikya pa aye kawor itni wan mpa mentekg hokg
1pl.Exc take.R cargo D carry.R enter stand.IR house FUT 1dual sleep
pa.
D
‘We took our cargo to the house where we would be sleeping.’
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Kupm a la kwap pikekg kupm ak.

1sg INT say work PAST 1sg do.R
‘I want to talk about the work I did.’

Marpm kitn angkli kai Dreikikir, pa ake marpm wail.

money 2sg throw.R go Dreikikir that NEG money big
‘The money you spent to Dreikikir, that was not a big amount of money’

Yangkipm a Maur Wailen mpa mentepm itning

talk G spirit great FUT 1pl.Incl hear.IR

ik kong ti pa ela kai Matyu 10

use.IR morning this D stay.R go Matthew 10
‘The talk of God that we are going to hear this morning, is from Matthew 10.’

Urim also has one special type of relative clause where the relative marker never occurs. This is
the combination of existential verb (usually ha) and a demonstrative pronoun which functions as a
pro-adverb specifying where the referent of head noun is located. The use of this rather lexicalised
expression is approximately like the use of the so-called ‘deictic relative clause’ in English (Hawkins
1987:136)

Tu kinar rpma hunokg yamping ha ti.

3pl go.down sit.R sea shore be:R here
‘They went down to the sea shore that was near there’

Alok hipm ha-pa kul, alok hipm ha-ti kul, ...

pull.R leaf be-there come pull.R leaf be-here come
‘Pulled together leaves from here and there’
Relative clause and deictic modifiers
As we have seen earlier, the relative clause follows all other modifiers. The only exception is the
deictic modifier pa ‘ that’, which can occur either before or after the relative clause. Possibly the
demonstrative pronoun is placed after the relative clause when it denotes contrast or focus, and before
it to express that the whole referent is mentioned earlier or otherwise known. Since a referent usually
is specified with relative clause when it is first introduced to the story, there are not many instances
where pa or ti after an RC is used to refer to the givenness of the whole referent - often it just refers to
the givenness of an NP occurring inside the RC. Sometimes it’s difficult to tell whether the deictic
placed after the RC refers to the head NP or to a NP inside the RC.

Melnum pa a pikekg antokg...

person that REL past do.R
‘That man is the one who did .’
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…nampokgen tu wrong tiur yat a aye wrikya a tuwekg

.. with:R 3pl group some also REL carry.R things G 2dual
pa, men kinar wrik a kirmpa angko-we pa.
D 1plExc go.down place REL plane fall.R-TR D
‘also with some people who carried their cargo, we went down to the airstrip.’

In the following example pa occurring after relative clause clearly modifies a noun inside the RC,
not the head noun.

Tu wrong kiin -a-kipman wrong wail a rka rka bot pa

3pl group woman-and-man group big REL hang.R hang.R boat D
‘The big group of people who were in that boat’ (the boat is earlier mentioned)

In the following examples the demonstrative pronoun occurring after the RC must refer to the
Head NP since no other possible NPs are present. Possibly the demonstrative occurring in this
position also functions demarcatively, separating the long relative clause from the rest of the sentence.

Ak wang a men kul pa men numprampen wrikya...

Use.R time REL 1plExc come D 1plExc prepare.R things..
‘At the time when we came, we prepared the things..’

Kil alm tu wrong kiin -a -kipman a pikekg or - en pa

3sg shoot.R 3pl group woman-and-man REL past hit-3plO D
‘He shot all the people who had beaten them (the actor and his sister)’

Atopen a kweikwei wrongkwail wet a kupm angkleikg hep nak -epm pa,
joy G things all.of.them just REL 1sg list.R first tell.R-2pl D

pa ake atopen aklale wrisen a Maur Wor ikga itni yongyong pa, kalpis.
that NEGjoy true honest G spirit good FUT stay.IR for.ever D not
‘The joy about all the things I just listed to you, that is not the true happiness of Holy
Spirit that will last forever, not indeed.’
Genitives Expressed by Relative Clauses
In Urim genitives and relatives have the same form. Both are formed by using a. The difference
between genitives and relatives has to do with the nature of the Complement of a. In relative clauses,
a takes a sentential Complement, while in genitive constructions it takes a noun phrase Complement.
The genitive really expresses the fact that one noun is subordinate, and modifier of, to another
(Shopen 1987 III, p. 185). Therefore the marker a can be called a general subordinate marker which
marks both modifying nouns and full clauses. On the other hand, genitives in Urim could be viewed
as a kind of minimal relative clause whose predicate consists only of a noun. Recall also that the
genitive pronouns are formed using a (cf. a-kupm ‘mine’/’that [is to] me).
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Examples of genitive constructions:

kanokg a ninol
ground REL mushroom
‘ground where mushrooms are growing’

warim a kiin
child REL woman
‘woman’s child’ How would ’the child that is a woman’ be different???

wang a hokg
time REL sleep
‘time to sleep’

yiprokg a wakg
roots REL fire
‘the origin of fire’

In Urim the use of this type of genitive construction has some restrictions. Inalienable genitive
constructions usually formally resemble noun complexes, since they lack an overt genitive marker
(see section 5. 1. 2. 1). The same applies to genitive constructions introducing the name of a person
or place. If the head of an inalienable genitive construction is animate, occurrence of a is possible,
but topic constructions are usually preferred instead (the first example below):

Muinuror yek wam kai nakle...

brother poor hand go pick.R
‘The hand of poor brother picked...’

Kil wampor wuhor kai wulmpa a wusok.

3sg hit.R claw go eye G small
‘He hit with his claws straight to the eye of the younger brother.’
(notice that the expression wusok wulmpa is impossible in Urim. Only generic
expressions like manto tukgunakg ‘pig head’ are possible))

Not even the presence or absence of verb always makes clear difference between a genitive
structure and a relative clause. In the following examples an embedded clause occurs modifying a
noun; in this respect they look like relative clauses. Nevertheless, there is no noun in the embedded
clause (not even an underlying one) that could be co-referential with the head noun.

nang a nar hu
name REL descend water
‘a name given in baptism’

Kupm la ok yankipm a wet (wet a) minto kinar Pakwi

1sg say mouth talk REL N.past (N.past REL) 1pauc go.down Pakwi
‘I’ll tell about our recent visit to Pakwi’
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3.1.5. Co-ordinated Noun Phrases

Co-ordinated noun phrases can function as heads of noun phrases, although they are not nearly as
common as noun complexes. In a co-ordinate noun phrase both nouns have equivalent syntactic
status. In Urim co-ordinated noun phrases are usually marked by conjunction (usually a ‘and’), but
nouns can also be conjoined without any overt conjunction.

kiyom a kimining umpu

kiyom and kimining piece
‘pieces of kiyom and kimining trees
(coordinated NP as genitive premodifier)

wan a kiin a warim aln-tu-wen

house G woman and child G -3pl-ATR
‘the house of their wives and children’ (coordinated noun phrase as Complement of a)

wuring timping
garden old.garden
‘gardens (new and old garden)’

There are more examples of coordinated phrases below and in section 5.1.2.

3.2. Other Nominal Phrases

3.2.1. Adjectival and Adverbial Phrases
Comparison and degree with adjectives and degree with some adverbs is usually expressed
phrasally via the use of following intensifiers (see also section 2. 6. 3):

Kiin pa [wail [manten [paipm ai]] ]

woman that big extremely bad remote
‘That woman is very big, without comparison’

Kitn wor waiken-ketn, aki?

2sg good little -RED or
‘Do you feel a little better?’

Kil pa kinipis maur

3sg D stingy spirit/badly
‘She is very stingy’

Kil awi yul wailet paipm

3sg get.R fish much bad
‘She got very much fish’

Kupm watipmen paipm ai

1sg plenty bad remote
‘I have a lot already’
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kiin wor namput paipm

woman good call bad
‘a very good woman’

Other examples of adjectival and adverbial phrases:

Kil nimpa nimpa paipm wrisen

3sg laugh laugh bad indeed
‘She laughed and laughed loudly’

wor wrisen
good indeed
‘Excellent’

pikekg ai
past remote
‘sometimes earlier’

mehen mehen
easy easy
‘carefully’
3.2.2. Numeral Phrases
Most numerals in Urim are formally coordinate phrases, which have the structure:

(Quantity Classifier (numeral))n (numeral)

with the quantity classifiers—e.g. wampomis ’hand-other-whole’/’5’, wamwam ’hand-hand’/’10’,

yikakwom ’leg-other’ / ’numeral beyond 10’, yikakwomis ’leg-other-whole’ / ’five beyond 10’, and
kamel ’person’ / ’20’—being ordered from larger to smaller

wam-pomis wam-pom wekg

hand-other hand-other two
‘seven’

kamel wris tuwek wris

body one plus one
‘twenty-one’

Other kinds of numeral phrases are rare. Demonstratives and a few adverbials occur as modifiers
in these phrases:
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wris yat
one also
‘One also’

Mele wris ata antokg

Mele one only do.R
‘Only Mele/Mele alone did it’
Wris pa kul
one D come
‘One arrived’
3.2.3. Pronoun Phrases
In Urim texts, personal pronouns often co-occur with demonstratives and quantifiers. When
demonstratives co-occur with pronouns, they typically indicate that a change in topic (often speaker)
has occurred or emphasis.

Kupm asen kil pa om:.... Ari kil pa la-la:...

1sg ask.R 3sg D now but 3sg D say-say
‘I asked him now:.... And he said:...’ (pa marks topic and the change of speaker)

Kipm pa wakg ur kol men kil aki?

2pl D fire ID like 1pl.Exc 3sg or
‘Do you have a fire like we here?’ (contrast, emphasis)

Kupm al-kupm wris antokg

1sg G-1sg one do.R
‘I did (it) by myself’

Tu ti ur
3pl this ID
‘some (unknown) people’

Tu ur ai alm ise
3pl ID remote shoot.R PERF
‘Some strangers shot (them)’

Personal pronouns may also occur as part of coordinated noun phrases, either with another pronoun or
with a noun:

Wang ur pa mentekg Karis hel kainil

time ID D 1dual karis roam moon
‘One day I and Karis, we two went to hunt in moonlight.’

Ikga kupm mentekg kai...

later 1sg 1dual go
‘Later we two will go..’
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Kil kai anong a -kupm a -kil

3sg go village G-1sg G-3sg
‘He went to our home village’

Personal pronouns can also sometimes be modified by genitives or relative clauses, especially the
3rd person plural pronoun tu ‘they’.

tu a nikg -walpm wor

3pl G stomach-liver good
‘The benevolent people’

tu a ikgalen kweikwei
3pl REL look.after.R things
‘Those who take care of things’

Also interrogative pronouns can be modified by demonstratives and quantifiers. Some

interrogative pronouns are formally phrases.

Mla ur ai kul...
who ID remote come
‘Whoever came..’

Kitn hor warim pa eng ntei?

2sg hit.R child D PUR ?
‘Why did you hit the child?’

The near demonstrative ti ‘this’ can sometimes occur as head of pronoun phrase.

Ti kil ake wor

this 3sg/here NEG good
‘This here is not good’

Hapm ti ur hu -wet
cloth this ID water-ATR
‘Some clothes are wet’
3.2.4. Prepositional Phrases
In Urim prepositional phrases are very common and consist of a preposition plus its following
noun phrase Complement [P [NP] ]:

Tu ale wan [eng kupm].

3pl build.R house PUR 1sg
‘They built the house for me’
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Uwi pa iye kul [eng kupm]!

take.IR D carry.IR come OBL 1sg
‘Bring it to me!’ (Recipient /Goal)

Kil la naki kupm [eng kwap].

3sg say tell.R 1sg OBL work
‘He spoke to me about the work.’ (‘about’/’concerning’)

Kupm tukwok [eng okipma].

1sg short OBL food
‘I am short of food.’ (‘about’/’concerning’)

Ngkom mehen [eng mang]!

walk.IR slow OBL mud
‘Walk slowly because of the mud!’ (Reason)

For more examples see section 5.2.

3.3. Linking of phrases

Additive Conjunction a
The most common device of coordinating phrases is the conjunction a ‘and’. This conjunction
homophonous with the genitive and relative marker a, but is not the same lexeme. Examples:

kiin a kipman
woman and man
‘women and men’

wanukg a nimun
greens and pitpit
‘greens and pitpit’

kiyom a kimining umpu

tree sp. and tree sp. piece
‘Pieces of kiyom and kimining trees/wood???’

kipman alin kwei a namung, wayu

man plant yam sp. and banana taro
‘The men plant yam, bananas, and taro’

Kupm a Akalpm a Layun a Melawor...

1sg and Akalp and Layun and Melawor
‘I and Akalpm and Layun and Melawor...’
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Coordinated phrases (and words) without any markers

Listing is usually done without any overt connecting conjunction. Also when there are multiple
coordinated modifiers of the head noun/noun complex with the noun phrase, no connectives conjoin
the modifiers:

kwei, kimpa, kimpa wasulu...

yam sp. yam sp. sweet potato
‘Yams, mami-yams, [and] sweet potatoes’

Tu anong Laninguap Yakrimpok Paklo

3pl village Laninguap Yakrimpok Paklo
‘the villagers of Laninguap, Yakrimpok and Paklo’

nimpa karek wor wekg a-kitn-en

dog chicken good two G-2sg-ATR
‘Your two good animals, dog and chicken’

hapm watet, wanukgis, tangkoren, pungkis

cloth red green white yellow
‘red, green, white, and yellow clothes’

Kil wail watin

3sg big tall
‘He is big and tall’

Some coordinated phrases have been lexicalized:

wring timping
new.garden old.garden
‘gardens’ (almost lexicalized idiom)

man -yan
mother-father
‘parents’

wusok-wail
small -big
‘brothers, sisters (of same sex)’

kiin -a -kipman (or: kiin-kipman)

woman-and-man
‘people’

Dual pronouns connecting NPs

When speaking about several people using their names, no conjunction usually occurs. Instead a
suitable personal pronoun occurs either before or after the names. The dual pronoun tuwekg ‘they
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two’ is usually reduced into (w)ekg ‘ two’. This pronoun can occur before, between, or after the two
NPs. When the connecting pronoun occurs before, the structure looks more like an appositional
construction :

Kinming Kinikgen, ekg...

Kinming Kinikgen two
‘They two, Kinming and Kinikgen’

Rita ekg Pirkko pa

Rita two Pirkko D
‘Rita and Pirkko, they...’

Monto Kinelpmak Yanantokg

1trial Kinelpmak Yanantokg
‘We three, me, Kinelpmak and Yanantokg’

warim a Wrongkatnur ekg Wrisarpme

child G Wrongkatnur two Urisarpme
‘The child of Wrongkatnur and Wrisarpme’

Mentekg Karis
1dual Karis
‘I and Karis’

Mentekg kiin a-kupm-en wuli pa...

1dual woman G-1sg-ATR arrive C
‘I arrived with my wife...’

Accompaniment linking
The verbs nampokgen ‘together with’ and anti ‘with’ are used when coordinative relation
between NPs has the additive meaning of accompaniment. These words could perhaps also be
interpreted as prepositions, especially since nampokgen does not occur as predicate. Both still exhibit
an irrealis form. Anti seems to occur only with human NPs, nampokgen can occur also with non-
human NPs although it normally is used about humans. These conjunctions never occur between
clauses.

Mentekg Dik nampokgen melnum Maprik-en ur...

1dual Dik with:R man Maprik-ATR ID
‘I and Dik and a man from Maprik..’

Kupm inti kiin a-kupm-en..

1sg with.IR woman G-1sg-ATR
‘I with my wife...’

Pirko ekg Debi pa nampokgen mentekg Dik pa nampokgen tu wrong

Pirkko two Debi D together.with.R 1dual Dik D together.with.R 3pl crowd
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tiur yat a aye wrikya a Pirkko ekg Debi pa, men kinar..
some also REL carry.R things G Pirkko two Debi D 1pl.Exc go.down
‘Pirkko and Debi together with us two, me and Josech, and also accompanied by some
people who carried Pirkko’s and Debi’s things, we went down...’

Men ari hu kop Ramu a nampokgen hu kop wasok-wasok

1pl.Exc see.R water river Ramu and with.it.R water river small-small
tiur ai.
some remote
‘We saw the river Ramu and also some tiny rivers’

aye wakg nampokgen wurkapm

carry.R fire with.R book
‘carried both a lamp and a book’

Some phrases are formed by adding the suffix –en to the modifier. The function of this suffix is
to mark the construction as a phrase, and it also has the semantical meaning ‘with’ (see also section
4.5.2.2). These phrases often function as adverbials in the sentence :

Kiin kipman-en
woman man-with
‘both men and women’

Man al-kil pa nepm paipm-en rpma anong

mother G-3sg D leg bad -with sit.R village
‘His mother was lame and stayed in the village’

Mining ran-en kupm akwap

dark day-with 1sg work.R
‘Day and night I work’

Kil pa num kakir-en wail paipm ise

3sg D skin hard-with big bad PERF
‘He is already far too old (lit. far too hard-skinned)’

Disjunctive nominal phrases

The disjunctive conjunction aki ’or’ conjoins both phrases and clauses. It also functions as a tag
in questions. Here we only present some examples of it conjoining noun phrases. Other uses of aki
are described later in the section 5.5.3.

man al-kil aki man a-kupm aki, tu...

mother G-3sg or mother G-1sg or 3pl
‘Her mother or my mother or [somebody else], they..’

Ake wrik watipmen itna kar ti. Kitn aki kil ai kai.
NEG place plenty stay.R car this 2sg or 3sg remote go
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‘There is not much space in this car. Only you or he can go.’

Wor aki paipm?

good or bad
‘Is it good or bad?’

Kil amo aki antokg kolai? Malaria awi -yel aki?

3sg die.R or do.R how malaria get.R-3sgO or
‘Is she sick or what is wrong? Did she get malaria or what?’

3.4. What is Verb Phrase in Urim?

The term verb phrase is used in two senses. ‘Traditionally, it refers to a group of verbs which
together have the same syntactic function as a single verb (is coming, may be coming, get up to). In
such phrases, one verb is the main verb and the others are subordinate to it. In generative grammar,
the verb phrase has a much broader definition, being equivalent to the whole of the predicate of a
sentence’ (Crystal pp.325-326).
In this grammar the different types of predicates will be described later in the Chapter 4 ‘Urim
Basic Clause Types’. If we follow the traditional definition of verb phrase, most serial phrases do fit
the definition, but not all of them. Many serial verb phrases function syntactically as prepositions.
Negation and some modality could possibly be described as part of verb phrase, but the scope of most
modal particles is rather the whole clause or sentence than verb phrase. Therefore it might be better to
leave the whole term ‘verb phrase’ out of Urim grammar.. Serial structures have already been
described in the sections 3.2.7 and 3.3.6. The grammatical functions commonly expressed in
languages within verb phrases, like negation, modality and time, have been partly described earlier
(3.2.2.) but we will shortly discuss them here too.
3.4.1. Negation
Negation is usually considered part of verb phrase. In Urim the verbal negator ake normally
occurs immediately before the verb (or serial verb phrase), but is often also placed first in the clause,
especially in answers:

Kil ake kul

3sg NEG come
’She did not come.’

Kalpis, ake kil ari

no NEG 3sg see
’No, he did not see (it)’

Also non-verbal equative and descriptive clauses are negated with the word ake. Existence
clauses and verbless possessive clauses instead are negated using the word kalpis(en):
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Ake wang a kai

NEG time REL go
’It is not time to go yet.’

Kupm ake kipman

1sg NEG man
’I am not a man’

Kipman a -kupm-en ake wail

man G-1sg -ATR NEG big

Kupm kipman kalpisen

1sg man not
’I have no husband’

Kupm ake yul rmpa

1sg NEG fish lie
’I do not have fish’

Obligations are negated by ampake’should not’, akentiwe ‘cannot’, and am(p)ur ‘don’t’. Also the
combination ake mpa is often used in negative exhortations. All these occur first in the clause.
Akentive can be interpreted as a idiomatized phrase (ake antive ‘not enough/able’). All these
expressions are more like clause adverbs than parts of verb phrase.

Ampake kil iri

may.not 3sg see.IR
’He is not allowed to look.’

Ampur hakg!
don’t cry
Don’t cry!’

Akentive kil kai

not able 3sg go
’He cannot go’

Kupm la -nak -epm la, ake mpa kipm ntokg paipm tu pa

1sg say-tell.R-2plO say NEG FUT 2pl do.IR bad 3pl D
’I tell to you that you should not treat them badly.’
3.4.2. Time words
Since Urim verbs have no tense morphology indicating time of occurrence, time is expressed with
time adverbs. These have been described earlier in the Section 2.7.1. In Urim, these words occur in
the clause independently of the verb, except perhaps the non-deictic sequencing adverbials hep ‘first,
ahead’ and katnukg ‘later, behind’: and the time adverb wet ‘now, recently, a short time ago’. These
are usually placed immediately before the main verb (or serials).
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Pikekgkil kitn hokg rmpa kai ahi?

yesterday 2sg sleep lie go where
’Where did you sleep yesterday?’

Kipman hep aye warim

man first carry child
’The husband comes first carrying the child’
(hep could also be interpreted as verb in a serial structure)

Kupm wet al ise

1sg just eat PERF
’I just ate’

Kitn wet ang -kai ai wuli?

2sg just from-go where arrive
’Where are you coming from now?’

Also the temporal adverbs am ‘now’, mpa ‘in future’, and ikga ‘later in future’ are more closely
attached to the verb. Some of them can function also as conjunctions: see Section 5.5.5.

Kil kinar mpa il hu

3sg go down FUT eat water
’If he goes down (into the water), he will drown.’

Sop am plalng ise

soap now finish PERF
’Soap is now finished.’

Antiwe ikga kupm uwi aki kalpis?

enough later 1sg take.IR or not
’Can I get it later of not?’
3.4.3. Modal particles
Imperatives and the clitic –o(m)
Imperative modus is in Urim optionally expressed by using the clause-final imperative clitic –o.
In imperative clause the verb or verbs are always in irrealis mode. Sometimes this clitic occurs in the
form –om, which adds the meaning ‘now’ (possibly shortened from am ’now’). Imperative clitic is
always attached to the last word of the clause or sentence:

Wrekg o!
rise IMP
’Get up!’

Kitn ti wrekg eng ekg kai om!

2sg here get.up OBL 1dual go IMP.now
’Get up and lets go!’
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Ikor nung o!
search.IR wood IMP
‘Get firewood!’

Mentepm kaino anong o -m!

1pl.Inc go up village IMP-now

Hu ti watet o!
water this red IMP
’Let this water be red!’ (incantation)

Mehen o!
carefully IMP
’Be carefull!’ (notice that mehen is an adverb!)

As the examples above show, in imperative clauses the subject may or may not appear on the
surface. Reason is pragmatical, since Urim verbs do not encode person or plurality.
Following examples show that the clitic –o appears only once in the sentence:

Kipmekg pa il mpa kaino o!

2dual D eat.IR FUT go IMP
’You two eat and go then!’

Kirpo pa il yangkipm hute elngen o!

grab.IR D eat.IR talk straight stop IMP
’Take heed of this straight talk and stop it!’

Am kai uwi nep mangkon ur iye kul elk -opm il

now go get.IR coconut green ID carry.IR come give-1sgO drink.IR
o!
IMP
‘Now go get some green coconuts and bring me to drink!’

Permissive imperative is encoded repeating the verb (possibly only the verb kai ‘go’, since no
other examples have been found this far) at the beginning of the clause. In this type of imperative the
personal pronoun is obligatory::

Kai kitn kai om

go 2sg go IMP.now
’You may go now!’

Kai kitn iye eng al-kitn o!

go 2sg carry.IR PBL G-2sg IMP
’You can keep it!’

Imperatives can be expressed also without the particle –o. Possibly this is a weaker or ‘more
polite’ way to express orders and wishes.
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Kitn kul ingkliin-topm!

2sg come help.IR-1sgO
’Come to help me!’

Irmpen rais ur iye kul!

buy.IR rice id carry:IR come
’Buy some rice and bring it here!’

Kipmekg ilm -topm hu ur eng kupm il!

2dual shoot.IR-1sfO water ID OBL 1sg drink.IR’
You two, fetch some water for me to drink!’

Other modal particles

Urim also has two modal adverbs that are used to encode probability; pilpa ‘perhaps, must be’ and
kol ‘possibly’. Both occur sentence initially, and hardly can be considered part of a verb phrase. The
word kol also has several other usages; therefore it will be described in more detail in Section 5.6.
Pilpa has been described earlier in Section 3.2.2.
3.4.4. Serial structures
Serial structures are formally of four types: coordinated, subordinated with main verb last,
subordinated with main verb first, and preposition-like serials. The functions of serial structures are
very various.

It is common to juxtapose several verbs together in Urim with no intervening conjunctions. In

some cases, the meaning of the combination is quite transparent, whereas in others it is more
opaque/idiomatic.

awi aye kul

take.R carry.R come
‘bring’

arukge aye kai

move.R carry.R go
‘push’

ak ikg la
do.R look say
‘spy’

Kil awi aris wampung

3sg take.R smell.R marsupial
‘He took the possum and smelled it’

Aye nar minto lap al

carry.R come.down we.few roast.R eat.R
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‘(They) brought (it) down and we roasted and ate’

Verbs expressing the manner of action usually occur before the semantically main verb in the verb
phrase. Normally no other constituents occur between the manner verb and the predicate following
it.

Kil ngkat-en numpet ak kwap

3sg carry-with sick do.R work
‘He is working while sick’

Kiin kwalkwal kai

woman wail go
‘The woman left wailing’

Kil hokg kaing-kul

3sg sleep go -come
‘He sleeps crossways’

Compare to:

Wan am pik atnen tu tike wailet paipm

house now full because.of 3pl here.EMP much bad
‘The house was very crowded because of them’

Most verbs indicating aspects also occur preceding the predicate they semantically modify,
forming a verb phrase with it.

Kil elng angko kainar hu

3sg put fall.R go.down water
‘He dived down into the water’ (voluntary elng)

men kai-no ari tu anel hakg

1pl.Exc go-go.up see.R 3pl pick.R cry
‘we went but they all cried’ (anel ‘all in group’)

Tu la ilm wel
3pl say/INT shoot.IR bird
‘They are going to shoot birds’ (intentional la)

In Urim peripheral semantic roles like Instrument, Location, and Time are usually expressed by
serial verb constructions. Some of these constructions are more lexicalized and preposition-like than
others, but the verbal modal distinction of realis-irrealis is always present.

Kupm inti mla rpmi anong?

1sg with.IR who sit.IR village
’Who will stay with me in the village?’

Kupm angko hu ak warim

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1sg fall.R water use.R child

‘I was baptized when child’

Kil lap wapiin kai wakg

3sg roast lizard go fire
‘He roasted the lizard on fire’

4. Urim Basic Clause Types

4.1. Introduction and Chart of Clause Types
The clause is the basic syntactic unit occurring between the phrase and the sentence.1 When
describing the clauses of a language, it is important to clearly distinguish between the notions of text
clause and basic or kernel clause. Text clauses consist of both nuclear and peripheral elements, and
quite often some of the nuclear elements are not present in the clause if they are known from the
textual context or environmental context or are part of the semantic content of the verb. A basic
clause consists of nuclear elements only and is a ‘perfect’ or ‘full’ clause in the sense that it does not
have any elided constituents and it can be understood without a text context. Generative grammar
defines kernel clauses or sentences as being minimal in the sense that they cannot be derived from
other clauses. This excludes passive, imperative, interrogative etc. types from basic clause types.
(Lyons 1979, Givon 1984)

Nuclear elements of the clause are the predicate, which is usually a verb, and its obligatory or core
arguments. In nonverbal clauses the NP or adjective phrase functions as the predicate. In Urim a
clause can minimally consist of only a single predicative noun phrase. Basic clauses consisting only
of a verb are not allowed2, although this kind of text clause is very common as the result of ellipsis
and clause chaining. All clauses can also have various types of optional adjuncts: accompaniment,
instrument, time, location, reason, etc. In Urim the number of optional elements in a clause is usually
restricted to at most two. The occurrence of these is semantically determined, and does not affect the
description of the basic clause types.
Chart of Urim Basic Clause Types
Name Constituents Functions

1 This chapter is an unpublished paper written 1991.

Many grammars talk about predication types instead of clause types, but we have chosen this traditional way of
structuralist grammars to describe these basic syntactic structures of Urim. Also the ideas of dependence grammar have
been used when describing Urim clause types.
2 Some languages allow basic clause types without any ‘proper’ semantic or grammatical subject. For example, in
Finnish the clause Sataa ‘It rains’ consists only of a verb without any semantic subject or subject NP on the surface,
although the verb has third person singular Subject indexing inflection.. The corresponding clause in English has a
semantically ‘empty’ subject it. In Urim these kinds of structures are not possible, unless the structure called here the
time clause is interpreted as having a verb instead of a noun as the only constituent (see section 4.7).
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A. Intransitive clauses NP + Vitr S V

B. Semitransitive clauses
1. Directional clauses NP + Vm + NP S V L
2. Locative clauses NP + Ve + NP S V L
3. Resultative clauses NP + Vm + NP/AP S V L

C. Transitive clauses
1. Monotransitive clauses NP + Vtr + NP S V O
2. Ditransitive clauses NP + Vtr + NP + NP S V O IO

D. Nominal clauses
1. Equative clauses NP + NP S P
2. Descriptive clauses NP + NP/AP S P

E. Topic clauses
1. Possessive clauses NP + NP (+ Ve) T S (V)
2. Experience clauses NP + NP + V (+Pron) T S V (O)

About defining clause types

The following criteria have been used here to determine the basic clause types in Urim:
- 1) How many obligatory arguments does the verb have? This is the main criterion. The
presence or absence of a verb is often also used as the main criterion for dividing clauses
into types. While Urim has both verbal and nonverbal clause types, there are also some
minor types where the verb is optional or is deleted when negated. Therefore the presence
of the verb is only used as a secondary criterion in determining Urim basic clause types.
- 2) What are the syntactic functions (subject, object etc) and the semantic roles (agent,
patient etc) of the arguments of the verb?
- 3) Clause types may also have special syntactic features such as word order, negative
form, case morphology etc. These, along with the meaning of the clause, have been used
here only as secondary criteria in separating clause types.

The important notion of transitivity distinguishes the two most common basic clause types in any
language: intransitive and transitive clauses. There are degrees of transitivity in clauses, since the
notion of transitivity is a graded continuum (Givon 1984: 98, 152-157). In the prototypical, highly
transitive clause the subject referent is a volitional, controlling agent or a non-volitional cause/effector
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and the object is a concrete, result-registering effect or patient. Many objects are less than
prototypical
In Urim certain clause types have an intermediate degree of transitivity, and are therefore called
here semitransitive. Clearly transitive verb stems are not as common in Urim as in many other
languages. Many verbs can have both transitive (or semitransitive) and intransitive (or reflexive) uses
( 1a), (1b), with no morphologically marking to indicate a change in transitivity. In Urim transitive
verbs are often derived from intransitive ones via addition of the transitive suffixes -en or -e.3. These
suffixes can increase the transitivity of an intransitive verb or clause, making it transitive or
semitransitive (1a), (1c). They can also change semitransitive verbs into fully transitive verbs.
Consider the following examples:

(1a) Kil hokg rmpa nung.

3sg sleep lie.R log
‘He slept on a log.’ (intransitive)

(1b) Kil hokg-en wakg.

3sg sleep-TR fire
‘He slept by the fire.’ (semitransitive - result of a productive rule)

(1c) Kil hokg kiin.

3sg sleep woman
‘He had sex with a woman.’ (transitive)

(2a) Kupm angko ya.

1sg fall.R road
‘I fell off the path. (into a ditch)’ (semitransitive)

(2b) Kwei ur angko-wen manto.

thing ID fall.R -TR pig
‘Something attacked the pig.’ (transitive - derivational)

(3a) Warim hakg.

child cry
‘The child cries’. (intransitive)

(3b) Warim hakg eng wayu.

child cry PUR taro
‘The child cries for taro.’ (intermediate degree of transitivity)

3 The suffix -en is much more common and occurs with all kinds of intransitive verbs, while the suffix -e increases the
transitivity of motion verbs only and occurs more frequently as a continuative aspect marker.
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(3b) Warim hakg-en yan.

child cry-TR father
‘Child cries after father.’ (transitive - inflectional)

4.2. Intransitive Clauses

The basic difference between transitive and intransitive clauses is that an intransitive verb has
only one obligatory argument, whereas a transitive verb has two or more obligatory arguments. In
Urim the difference between obligatory and optional nominal constituents of the clause is quite
consistently reflected in the surface structure. The obligatory constituents are almost always
morphologically unmarked noun phases (no prepositions, no markings on the verb), whereas optional
constituents are usually expressed as prepositional phrases. There are only a few exceptions to this
rule. With certain verbs the second obligatory NP in the clause ( the second argument of the verb) is
morphologically unmarked when it is a pronoun, but requires a preposition when it is a full noun
phrase. These verbs are probably on the borderline between transitive and intransitive verbs Thus
far only a few verbs of this type have been found.

(4a) Tu wakrongen-tetn.
3pl like - 2sg.O
‘They like you.’

(4b) Tu wakrongen eng mansan

3pl like PUR parents
‘They love their parents’

The subject of an intransitive clause always occurs before the verb and can exhibit almost any
semantic role. In this respect intransitive clauses differ from all other clause types in Urim.

(5a) Hu awe wail paipm.

water rain.R big bad
‘It’s raining hard.’

(5b) Nampa haru.

dog bark
‘The dog barks.’

(5c) Hapm plalng.

cloth finished
‘There are no more clothes left.’

(5d) Tu warim akatnong.

3pl child play.R
‘The children are playing.’
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In Urim the subject noun phrase is obligatory in all basic clause types. Even expressions
describing natural phenomena which in many languages have no semantic or surface subjects, or have
a ‘dummy’ subject (like the it in English it rains) require overt subjects in Urim (5a). In text clauses,
however, subjects are often absent as the result of ellipsis, when the identity of the subject referent is
clear from the previous context.
4.2.1. Time Clauses
There are two structurally peculiar types of clause that could be described as subtypes of the
intransitive clause. One of them, which is here called the time clause, consists of one element only;
a noun phrase denoting time of day. The reasons why these words are not considered lexical verbs
are: 1) these time words do not have any case frame with arguments, in other words, the time clause
never has any other obligatory elements except the time word itself, which functions both as the
subject and the predicate of the clause. 2) In Urim nouns and verbs do not usually have the same
morphological form in the lexicon (like English ‘love’ or ‘fish’ for example), although verbs and verb
phrases can easily be nominalized without any formal marking. 3) Another reason fro classifying time
words as nouns is that adjectives can be formed from them by the suffix –et. This is rare with verbs.
4) Aspectual, temporal, and modal particles can occur in this time clause the same way as in verbal
clauses. This is possible, because they do not belong to the verbal morphology but are clausal
particles.
Time words also resemble verbs semantically more closely than most other nouns, since the
points of time are not actually fixed units but processes. Normally nouns represent the most
permanent states, verbs the most rapidly changing states, and adjectives are somewhere in between
(Givon 1979a: 265-266).4
The time clause is fairly common in texts but is sometimes difficult to differentiate from
dislocations.

(6a) Kong, atom men kai.

morning then 1pl.Exc go
‘When the morning came, we left’

(6b) Mining ise.

dark/night PERF
‘The night has fallen/ It has become dark.’

4 In Urim time is not associated with location like in many other languages (Lyons 1977:669). No locative prepositions
appear in time adverbials; instead the verb ak ‘do’ is used. This word is used also as the instrumental and manner phrase
marker.
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4.2.2. Clauses Predicating Existence

Another subtype of intransitive clause, the existence clause, is also common in the texts. It
usually takes the same sort of posture verbs as the locative clause as predicates, but does not have any
locative object. Another difference from locative clauses (described in the section 6.4.2) is that the
negative form of existence clause is always verbless, and it is possible to omit the verb in some
positive existence clauses as well. Verbal clauses are negated using the verbal negative particle ake
(see example 7d), but in a negated existence clause the nominal negative word kalpis is used instead,
and the verb is missing.

(7a) Men kai-nar ari nangnang pa kalpis.

1pl.Exc go-descend but singsing D not
‘We went down but there was no singsing-feast’

(7b) Kitn yul rmpa? Yul rmpa pa!

2sg fish lie.R fish lie.R D.EMP
‘Do you have any fish? ‘Yes, I do have some fish.’

(7c) Kitn yul rmpa? Yul kalpis!

2sg fish lie.R fish not
‘Do you have any fish? ‘There is no fish!’

(7d) Kupm ake yul rmpa!

1sg NEG fish lie.R
‘I do not have fish!’

Another special feature of this clause type is that the subject can easily occur after the verb. In
other intransitive clauses this is very rare and probably impossible in other clause types.

(8) Kapm kalpis, rmpa werpm kolti.

pool not lie.R bottom only
‘There was no pool, just the dry bottom.’
(Here the first clause is negative and verbless. Second clause has werpm as subject and rmpa as
predicate.)

The existence clause often has the same thematic functions as certain left dislocations in Urim and
the existential clause in English; it is used to introduce new items to the text. This explains also why
the subject in this clause type can move so easily after the verb. The position after the verb is
universally the place of new information in the clause, and in existential clauses the subject usually is
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new information, while in other clause types it is usually given information. The following examples
illustrate how existence clauses and left dislocation are used the same way to introduce main
participants at the beginning of a text. They also show how difficult it is sometimes to tell the
difference between left dislocation and existence clause.

(9a) Man warim wekg pa atom, man pa ukwa warim pa la ...

mother child two D then mother D send child D say
‘There was a mother and a child. The mother sent the child on an errand
saying ...’

The expression man warim wekg pa here is a verbless existence clause. It cannot be interpreted
as a left dislocation because of the conjunction atom ‘then’ between it and the next clause.

(9b) Walmamikg yek-wekg pa ekg rpma,

grandson grandfather D two sit.R
atom maur pa kai-no ...
then spirit D go-ascend
‘There was a grandfather and grandson, then a ghost went upriver....’

The underlined part of the sentence here is interpreted as an existence clause with verb.

(9c) Wusok wail wekg pa, ekg kai miring ...

small big two D two go mission
‘There were two brothers who went to the mission station ...’

This is a typical case of a left dislocation introducing the main participants in the story. The
dislocation is typically set off intonationally, so that a pause occurs between it and the main clause.

4.3. Semitransitive Clauses

In many languages clauses having motion or locative verbs and locative adverbials are classified
as intransitive. Here these clauses are called semitransitive since they are semantically and
syntactically somewhere between transitive and intransitive clauses. The word order and functional
structure of semitransitive clauses is very much like that of transitive clauses in Urim. Both have two
obligatory nominal constituents situated before and after the verb.
Dependency grammar classifies these verbs as two-place predicates since the location or goal can
be considered semantically obligatory with verbs like ‘arrive’ or ‘be situated’. For this reason the
goal or location in these clauses is often called locative object.(Givon 1984: 110, Lyons 1977:496) In
Urim there are no morphological differences between direct objects of transitive clauses and locative
objects; both are morphologically unmarked and always occur immediately following the verb.
Optional locative arguments of the verb are marked by prepositions. The only syntactical difference
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between direct objects and locative objects is that direct objects can be fronted while no fronting of
locative objects has been found in our data.
The ‘less transitive’ status of these clauses is reflected also in the use of transitive suffixes. The
same suffix -en which can change intransitive verbs or clauses into transitive or semitransitive ones
can also change semitransitive verbs into transitive ones. Actually deriving transitive verbs from
semi-transitive ones is much more common in Urim than deriving transitive verbs from intransitive
ones. Compare the following examples (10a,b) with examples (1a,b).

(10a) Kil rpma kanokg.

he sit.R ground
‘He sits on the ground.’

(10b) Kil arpm -en kar.

he sit.R - TR car
‘He is waiting for the car.’

Semitransitive clauses are here divided into three subtypes: locative clauses, directional clauses,
and resultative clauses. The basic structure of these clause types is the same, but they differ in
meaning, in respect to what semantic role the locative object has, and what verbs can function as
predicates.
4.3.1. Directioned Motion Clause
The locative object usually encodes the goal of the motion but also sometimes encodes the source
or starting point. Usually a motion verb (there are about 10 verbs in this special verb class) functions
as predicate. These verbs do not exhibit a realis-irrealis mood distinction. In serial verb phrases
some of them can function to encode locative arguments and as aspect markers (see section 3.3.6).
Directed motion clauses are very common in Urim texts and often form clause-chains. Following are
some examples of directional clauses.

(11a) Melnum pa kawor wan.

man D enter house
‘The man went into the house.’

(11b) Hu angko-we wan kimpo.

water fall.R-CNT house roof
‘Water comes in through the roof.’

(11c) Am ok kai lukg ise.

now mouth go money PERF
‘Now they started to talk about money.’
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(11d) Kil angko kai-nar hu

3sg fall.R go-descend water
‘He fell into the water’

4.3.2. Locative Clause

The locative clause is structurally similar to the directed motion clause but differs semantically
and in respect to which verbs can function as predicates. This clause type can have as predicates one
of only six posture verbs: rpma ‘sit’, rmpa ‘lie’, itna ‘stand’, rka ‘hang’, ela ‘be situated’, and
ha ‘be around’. Any specific referent can occur as the subject, and the second argument denotes the
location of the subject. A locative object is morphologically unmarked but sometimes a serial verb
construction with one of the motion verbs is used to more precisely specify the location.

(12a) Hu wail paipm ur rmpa ya.

water big bad ID lie.R road
‘There was an awfully big pool of water on the road.’

(12b) Yangul rmpa (kaino) wrik.

pencil lie.R go.up table
‘The pencil is (up there) on the table.’

The locative clause is often used to introduce new information. This does not have any effect on
the word order, which seems to be very rigid just like in the directional clause. The subject always
occurs before the verb and the locative object after it.

(13a) Panis pukpuk ur pa itna kainar pake.

farm crocodile ID D stand.R go.down EMP
‘There is a crocodile-farm down there.’

(13b) Kolpa kai-kai, wapwar wekg ur ha -pa. Atom ekg la ...

thus go-go cousins two ID be.R-there then two say
‘This went on for a long time. There were two children, cousins. They said...’

In both (13a) and (13b) the locative clause marks the beginning of a new paragraph or section in
the text, because it introduces a new important participant or other topic to the text. If the new items
are not topical, i.e. important in the text, they are often introduced by using an embedded locative
clause, as in the following examples.

(14a) Men kawor wan ur pa ela wureren wrik a kirmpa

1pl.Exc enter house ID D stay.R near place G aeroplane
‘We went into a house near the airport.’
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(14c) Wa bot al-tu ha-pa am wa aye kul ...

and boat G-3pl be-there now HES carry.R come
‘And their boat they had brought...’

4.3.3. Resultative Clause

Resultative clauses differ from other semitransitive clauses in that they can have either nominal or
adjectival phrases as their second obligatory argument. Otherwise they are structurally similar to the
directional clauses. Usually they have one of the same motion verbs as the predicate. There are only
one or two verbs that occur in resultative clauses (see example 15d). Semantically the resultative
clause always denotes some kind of change in the subject referent. The second argument expresses
the direction or result of the change. This can be considered an extension of the semantic role GOAL
attached to the motion verbs in their basic use. Syntactically and semantically the resultative clause is
closely related to certain nominal clause types; the only differences being: 1) the dynamic meaning,
and 2) the occurrence or non-occurrence of a verb (see section 4.5)7

(15a) Tu kai uror perngten.

3pl go old quickly
‘They grow old quickly.’

(15b) Warim angko wail.

child fall.R big
‘The child grew big.’

(15c) Kupm palng wor kai wam a-kil-en.

1sg arrive good go hand G-3sg-ATR
‘I became well in his care.’

(15c) Kil pa wake kanil

3sg D change. into moon
‘She changed into the moon.’

7 Compare the following examples:

(a) Warim pa wail

child D big
‘The child is big’ (descriptive clause)

(b) Warim angko wail ise

child fall.R big CMP
‘The child has grown big’ (resultative clause)

(c) Warim pa wail ise

child D big CMP
‘The child is already big’ (descriptive clause)
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4.4. Transitive Clauses

4.4.1. Monotransitive Clauses
The characteristic of this clause type is that it has an obligatory direct object with the usual
semantic role of affected patient or patient-of-result. Unlike locative objects, this object can be easily
fronted for thematic purposes.. The verb in this clause can either be a non-derived transitive verb or a
transitive verb derived by a transitivizer suffix.

The semantic role of the transitive subject is almost exclusively that of agent. This means that
usually only animate referents occur as subjects of transitive clauses. Agents are prototypically
animate, volitional and active causes of an action. In Urim forces of nature and moving machines can
also frequently occur as transitive subjects. When other, less prototypical kinds of inanimate entities
occur as transitive subjects there are usually some morphological changes in the clause: the ultimate
agent occurs as clause topic at the beginning (16b), or an instrumental serialization with the verb ak
’do’ is used(16a).8

(16a) Hu kop ak almpen yo.

water river use.R turn.around.R tree
‘The flooded river carried trees away.’

(16b) Mowal ko angket-el.

Mowal axe cut.R -2sg.O
‘Mowal (accidentally) cut himself with an axe.’

In example (16b) the actor hurts himself accidentally. In this case the instrument usually appears
as the subject and the actor as the object of the clause

A number of examples are now given of normal transitive clauses with clause initial subjects
bearing the semantic role of agent. Transitive clauses can also have an optional indirect object, which
is usually marked by the preposition eng or the affix -n on the verb (underlined).

(17a) Karis alm manto.

Karis shoot.R pig
‘Karis shot a pig.’

8 There are also ways to express that an action normally considered involuntary is performed voluntarily:

(a) Kil angko hu (b) Kil elng angko hu

3sg fall.R water 3sg put fall.R water
‘He fell into water’ ‘He jumped into water’
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(17b) Uripm takale wan.

wind break.R house
‘Wind damaged the house.’

(17c) Kar awi -yo aye kai-nar Maprik

car take.R-1sg.O carry.R go-down Maprik
‘The car took us to Maprik’

(17d) Tu ale wan eng Mowal

3pl build.R house OBL Mowal
‘They built a house for Mowal’

(17e) Kil nalu -n- topm wayu

3sg pull.R-IO-1sg.O taro
‘They took us taro (from the garden).’

(17f) Kupm la armpen-topm hapm ur

1sg say/INT buy.R- 1sg. O cloth ID
‘I am going to buy myself some clothes.’
4.4.2. Ditransitive Clauses
Transitive clauses can be divided into two subgroups in Urim: monotransitive and ditransitive
clauses. There are relatively few verbs that require three obligatory arguments. The semantic role of
the third argument can be benefactive or recipient and sometimes also locative or instrumental. The
ditransitive subtype is here defined purely on a structural basis. Optional benefactives etc. are almost
always marked by the preposition eng, which is reduced into a suffix -n occurring between the verb
and direct object, if the direct object is a personal pronoun (17d), (17e). Obligatory benefactives etc.
are morphologically unmarked.
In some cases the border between obligatory and optional third argument is not clear
morphologically. If the verb already has a suffix -en, there will be no other suffix -n as the result of
dative shift (17 f). Certain verbs behave sometimes like ditransitive verbs, sometimes like mono-
transitives; compare examples (18c) and (18d). The example (18d) is monotransitive since the
locative phrase kai ampei cannot occur without the preposition. This shows the same kind of
phenomena of gradual transitivity that was discussed earlier in the section 2.

(18a) Kil plan -to wan.

3sg show-1sg.O house
‘He showed us around the house.’
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(18b) Nangil huk numpet kamel.

mosquito give sickness body
‘Mosquitos give one sickness.’

(18c) Men hore wark wan tangkelepm.

1pl insert cane house wall
‘We strengthen the walls with cane.’

(18d) Tu arki -wopm yangkipm kalpmelel.

3pl prick.R-1sg.O talk empty
‘They blamed me without cause.’

(18e) Tu ik -en hu kuntuk.

3pl do.IR-TR water pot
‘They pour water into the pot.’

4.5. Nominal Clauses

The nominal clause consists of two nominal phrases or a nominal phrase and an adjective phrase.
No overt copula occurs linking the subject/topic noun phrase and the nominal or adjectival predicate.
There are two types of nominal clauses: equative and descriptive.
A negative nominal clause is formed by the verbal negation word ake (22e) even if there is no
verbal predicate. This distinguishes the nominal clause from the possessive clause, which sometimes
looks similar (23d).
4.5.1. Equative Clause
The equative clause has two noun phrases as obligatory constituents; both denote the same
referent. If the order of these noun phrases is changed, the first NP automatically becomes the
subject of the clause and the meaning of the clause often changes too - this means that the word order
of this clause type is very rigid. Consider the following examples:

(19a) Wail pa kipman a-kupm-en.

big that man G-1sg-ATR
‘That big one is my husband.’

(19b) Kipman a-kupm-en pa wail.

man G-1sg-ATR D big
‘My husband is a big man.’

The subject of an equative clause is nearly always given information and is therefore marked as
definite by the demonstrative pa. Pa ‘that’ and ti ‘this’ also frequently function as demonstrative
pronouns and encode the subjects of equative and descriptive clauses. In other clause types this
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pronominal function is very rare - at least there are no examples of it in the text material used here as
data. A possible reason for this might be the potential for confusion with the numerous instances of
pa and ti functioning as conjunctions and discourse markers in more complex sentences. In the
structural simple nominal clauses, there is less possibility of confusion between the various functions
of these demonstrative forms. The equative clause can, contrary to the descriptive clause, also have
proper noun phrases or pronouns as predicates (20a), (20b). Quite often equative clause consists of
one nominal phrase only (20d). In this case the subject pronoun has been deleted.

(20a) Waring ti, yikal pa.

betel this/her bow that/there
‘The betel palm is this here, the black palm is that over there’.’

(20b) Nang a -kupm-en Pol.

name G-2sg -ATR Pol
‘My name is Pol.’

(20c) Ti kiin yek a-kupm am-pake!

this woman DIM G-1sg now-EMP
‘This is my poor little wife!’

(20d) Tu la: “Manto tilpmung”.

3pl say pig wild
‘They said: “This is a wild pig”.

4.5.2. Descriptive Clause

The predicate of a descriptive clause differs from the predicate of an equative clause in that it is
non-referential. It only qualifies and describes the subject-referent. The predicate can either be a
nominal phrase as in an equative clause, or an adjectival phrase. The word order is inflexible - the
result would be either unintelligible or an equative clause with different meaning. The subject is
almost always definite and therefore marked by the demonstrative pa, or a pronoun (22c). Without
this demonstrative the clause would look like an attributive noun phrase. Compare the following two
examples:

(21a) Melnum pa wor.

man D good
‘The man is good/well.’

(21b) Melnum wor

man good
‘A good man’
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Other examples of descriptive clauses:

(22a) Namung pa okopma wor.

banana D food good
‘Banana is good food.’

(22b) Pa melnum manet ur.

that man other ID
‘That is a special kind of man indeed.’

(22c) Tingkorin kil melnum, Ariyek kil wampung.

Tingkorin 3sg man Ariyek 3sg tree kangaroo
‘Tingkorin was a man, Ariyek was a tree kangaroo.’

(22d) Ale wan akwap pa a kipman.

build,R house work D G man
‘House-building is men’s work.’

(22e) Ti ake kar a awi melnum pa, ti kar a akwap

this not car G take.R man D this car G work
‘This is not a bus, this is a truck!’

4.6. Topic Clauses

The notion of ‘topic’ is basically a textual notion, not a syntactic function in the clause. In Urim
textual topics and left dislocations are a very common discourse device. Some of these sentential
topics seem to have been lexicalized into fixed, obligatory parts of certain types of clauses. The status
of these as basic clause types is somewhat marginal the same kind of topicalization structures also
occur as productive discourse devices. Nevertheless, it seems that certain verbs in Urim require an
obligatory argument, which can be called topic. Li-Thompson calls these kinds of structures ‘double-
subject constructions’ (Li 1975: 481). The name conveys the idea that in these constructions the
prototypical features of subject have been split into two constituents: topic and grammatical subject.
Subject is prototypically what the clause is about and also the actor in control in transitive clauses-
especially so in Urim (see section 6.4.4). If there is a lack of control in the situation expressed by a
transitive clause, there are usually also some changes in the morphosyntax of the clause. One of these
changes is to move the agent to the clause initial topic position and promote some other referent into
the grammatical subject. In Urim culture certain types of actions are always considered to be outside
of the control of the person involved. Emotions and sensations, as well as most sicknesses are
expressed by verb frames requiring topic arguments. Possession is considered not fully controlled by
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the individual possessor, and for this reason also possessive clauses are topic clauses.9 In topic clauses
both nominal constituents, topic and subject, precede the verb when it is present, but the verb itself
may be omitted too.
4.6.1. Possessive Clause
In the possessive clause the semantic possessor occurs in topic position and the possessed item
occurs as grammatical subject. This is thematically consistent with the normal ordering of
information in the clause, since the referent of the possessor is usually given information, and the
thing possessed is new information. Since there is no agreement morphology on the verb to show
which NP is the grammatical subject, only word order and semantic content reveal it. The word order
seems to be fixed; the topic and the subject cannot change places in the clause. One example was
found where the subject appeared to occur between the two parts of an appositional topic noun phrase
(23e). The possessor is usually animate, and most often human. Possessive clause may have a verb
denoting the position of the possessed object. There are both verbal and verbless possessive clauses,
but positive possessive clauses are more frequently verbal. The verb seems to be obligatory if there
is another nominal constituent in the clause. Possessive clauses structurally resemble three other
clause types: equative clauses (23b), existence clauses (23e) and locative clauses (23a).

(23a) Melnum pa hi itna wam.

man D sore stand.R hand
‘The man has a sore in the hand.’

(23b) Kil kiin wekg.

3sg woman two
‘He has two wifes.’

(23c) melnum ur pa wan okipma watipmen.

person ID D house food plenty
‘A certain man has plenty food in his house.’
or: ‘There is a man with plenty food in his house’

(23d) Kupm wan kalpis-en.

1sg house not-ATR
‘I have no house.’

(23e) Kitn nerkgiin Klimanglen kalpis.

2sg gardenland Klimanglen not
‘You Klimanglen have no garden land (here).’

9Foster (in Plank 1979) discusses the notion of possession in different cultures and how it affects the structure of
possessive clauses.
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The possessive clause is negated differently from most other clause types. Instead of the usual
negative particle ake the nominal negative word kalpis is used and there is no verb.10 Elsewhere,
only existence clauses are negated in this way (see Section 6.3.2). There are two other features shared
between existence clauses and possessive clauses: 1) use of the same verbs, and 2) the existence of
verbless variants. It might be possible to derive some types of possessive clause from an existence
clause or a locative clause by adding a topic, but the structure is fully grammaticalized and the topic is
obligatory.
4.6.2. Experience Clause
The topic of an experience clause is also always animate and semantically an experiencer. The
grammatical subject is usually either a body part, where the feeling etc. is located, or an inanimate
referent which is the cause of the feeling or the object of wanting etc. The only common features
such clauses exhibit are: 1) the semantic meaning of involuntary experience, and 2) the presence of an
obligatory topic constituent before the grammatical subject. Most experience clauses have a bound
object pronoun which is coreferential with the topic (24a), (24d), but this pronoun can be absent,
especially if the grammatical subject is a body part of the experiencer (24b), (24c).
The experience clauses with body parts differ structurally from genitive constructions, which are
always of the form Npossessed + a + Ngenitive (wam a melnum ‘man’s hand’) when the possessor is
specific (see section 3.1.4).

(24a) Kupm hu wak-opm.

1sg water ?-1sg.O
‘I am thirsty.’

(24b) Kupm ake num wakget, kalpis.

1sg not skin hot not
‘I do not have fever.’

(24c) Kupm ok kark(-opm).

1sg mouth afraid(-1sg.O)
‘I feel nauseated’

(24d) Kitn yaprekg paipm-en-tetn?

2sg breath bad-ATR-2sg.O
‘Are you out of breath?’

10 Although no instances of possessive clauses having the negative word ake have been found thus far, it remains a
possibility that such a construction could exist. If this were to be the case, clauses negated with ake might have a slightly
different meaning (perhaps having to do with scope of negation) than those negated with kalpis.
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In contrast to the possessive clause, the experience clause is normally negated using the verbal
negator ake.

4.7. Typological Considerations

In summary, some clear tendencies can be seen. First, SVO word order occurs in all clause types.
Urim is a very consistent and rigid SVO-language. In particular, the position of subject is very fixed.
In most clause types it cannot be moved after the verb or anywhere else. In certain intransitive
clauses this is possible, but not very common. Also the position of locative object and topic is quite
rigid. In transitive clauses the second argument, object, is easily fronted for thematic reasons. There
is not so much danger of mixing the grammatical functions of subject and object in transitive clause,
because the transitive subject always is the more animate and agent-like referent in the clause. As
we have seen, the transitive subject is almost exclusively agent, and if not, this is shown by the
structure of the clause.

Typologically it is a common phenomenon that rigid word order and lack of morphological case
markings occur together in a language. This is especially common in SVO-languages like Urim.
Urim does not have any case marking morphology on either the subject or object, nor is there any
agreement marked on the verb either. Since there is no morphological way to mark which noun
phrase in the clause is subject and which is object, the syntactic position of the noun phrase before or
after the verb is what shows its syntactic function. Not only the subject and transitive object are
unmarked, but also all other obligatory arguments of a verb are morphologically unmarked. This
increases the importance of word order for delineating the functions of NPs in the clause. The
following examples illustrate how a change of word order changes the meaning of clauses and even
the clause type:

(25a) Kupm wan itna.

1sg house stand.R
‘I have a house.’ (possessive clause)

(25b) Kupm itna wan.

1sg stand.R house
‘I stand in the house.’ (locative clause)

(26a) Melnum nikg alm -pel.

man stomach hit.R-3sg.O
‘The man is hungry.’ (experience clause)

(26b) Melnum alm -pel nikg

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man hit.R-3sg.O stomach

‘The man hit him in the stomach.’ (transitive clause)

Urim has been classified as a Papuan language, stock level isolate in the Torricelli Phylum.. The
question of isolation can be re-considered when some of the neighbouring languages have been
studied in more detail. All Torricelli languages display some similarities with Austronesian
languages: fixed SVO word order, lack of medial verbs, use of transitivity-changing suffixes and
realis-irrealis mood, etc. It seems that Urim has these non-Papuan features to a greater extent than
many other Torricelli languages. It lacks subject-agreement on the verb, and is also in other respects
morphologically simpler than the other Torricelli phylum languages.

Torricelli phylum languages have been thought to be basically Papuan languages which have been
subjected to heavy Austronesian influence. There are some Austronesian languages along the north
coast. Word order is one of the Austronesian features in the Torricelli language group, since Papuan
languages usually are SOV- languages. It is a common theory that SVO- languages often have
developed from earlier SOV-languages either through the influence of some neighbouring SOV-
languages or from language internal reasons. One of these reasons could be the disappearance of
morphological case-marking, which in a way forces the language to rely on the word order in marking
these functions. (Givón 1979a 145-146). If a language were to change its word order from SOV to
SVO, it would be expected that there would be some residues from the former SOV-type structure.
The more recent this change has been, the more residues would be expected. Word order change
most commonly starts from the main-clause level, and later spreads into more complex structures.
According to Givón (1984:220-228). “the longer a language has maintained a rigid OV or VO word
order, the more it is likely to bear out Greenberg’s predictions (1966).” If this is true, then Urim has
been SVO-language at least during the last two thousand years, since it is an unusually pure SVO-
language following all the predictions that Greenberg mentions. All modifiers of the noun phrase and
almost the entire verb phrase occur after the head. There are suffixes, but this is quite a common
feature in SVO-languages in general, and not a strong indicator of a recent change of word order.
Most commonly the residue of the presumed word order would occur in dependent and embedded
clauses and other structures like nominalizations and idioms. But in Urim these have SVO-word
order, except when the subject referent is generic:

(27) Kil ariwe hapm angkut.

3sg know.R cloth sew.R
‘She knows how to sew.’

This is the only observed possible residue of a former SOV-word order. Assuming this theory is
right Urim is an almost ideal SVO-language typologically. One could perhaps question if it were
easier to derive a language like Urim from an Austronesian group having some heavy Papuan
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influences than the other way around? But this and the whole question of the classification of Urim
needs much more work before any definite answers or even suggestions can be given.
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5. Complex sentences
Usually three types of subordinate clauses are distinguished in languages: those which function as
arguments of the predicate (i.e. complements), those which function as modifiers of nouns (relative
clauses), and those which function as modifiers of verb phrases or entire propositions (adverbial
clauses). (Thompson and Longacre, 171). We can find these clause types also in Urim, although with
adverbial clauses it is difficult to distinguish between subordinated adverbial clauses and more
coordinate combinations of clauses. Therefore we conflate the description of adverbial clauses and
coordinate combinations of sentences.

5.1. Relative clauses

Relative clauses are very common in Urim. They are used especially often when introducing new
participants to the text. Thus far it seems that Urim relative clauses are mostly restrictive. Non-
restrictive information about a referent is usually introduced in the form of apposition or a main, non-
subordinated clause.
5.1.1. The form of relative clauses in Urim
In Urim, the relative clause is always post nominal. The noun phrase within the relative clause
that is co-referential with the head noun being modified is normally omitted and a complementizer a
usually separates the relative clause from the Head noun or noun noun complex. This same form
functions as a genitive preposition . Usually there are no formal changes to the relative clause, but
certain types of relative clause do have features that help to separate them from the rest of the
sentence (see section 3. 1. 4).

Head Noun/Noun Complex (Dem) ± Complementizer RC (Dem)

Kweikwei ilmpowen a Rita atnuhurng

things orphan REL Rita leave.R
‘Things that Rita left behind’

Maur a rpma kinar hu kapm pa la:...

spirit REL sit.R go.down water pond D say
‘The spirit who lived in the pond said:..’

The complementizer a can be left out, especially when the relative clause starts with a time word.
This makes it sometimes difficult to separate relative clauses from clause chains.

Men kainar kawor wan ur (a) ela wureren Maprik

1Pl.Exc go-down go-enter house ID (REL) be.R near Maprik
‘We went down entered a house near Maprik’
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Tu kipman (a) wet karkuk pa no

3pl man (REL) N.Past bath.R D come.up
‘The men who went to have bath are coming’ or
‘The men just went to have a bath and are coming now’

It also seems that when one of the temporal adverbs like wet ‘recently, just before’, mpa ‘future’,
ikga ‘later, far future’ etc. is used, the relative pronoun tends to be left out. This is possible because
the time adverb already separates the relative clause from the present time of the story. Notice that the
relative pronoun can sometimes occur after the time adverb, like in the two first examples:

Tu wrong kiinkipman wet (a) kaing-kai wuring pa, wuli wuli pake
3pl group people NP (REL) go-go garden D come come EMP
‘The people who just had went to the garden were arriving now’’

Atopen a kweikwei wrongkwail wet a kupm angkleikg hep nak -epm

pa,
joy G things all.of.them just REL 1sg list.R first tell.R-2pl
D
pa ake atopen aklale wrisen a MaurWor ikga itni yongyong pa,
that NEG joy true indeed G spirit good FUT stay.IR for.ever D
kalpis.
not
‘The joy about all the things I just listed to you, that is not the true happiness of
Holy Spirit that will last forever, not indeed.’ (from a written text)

Tu wrong wet itna pa ari-ari, tu ari...

3pl group N.Past stand.R C(there?) see.R-see.R 3pl see.R
‘The people who had been standing and (or: there) looking, they saw...’
(this example is from written text)
5.1.2. Syntactic role of the relative noun within the relative clause
In Urim relative clauses are very common in texts. The co-referring relative noun within the
relative clause can exhibit almost any syntactic role. Thus far, relative nouns with the roles of Subject,
Object, Indirect Object, Locative Object, Locative, Accompaniment, Time, and Instrument have been
observed.

Subject:
Tu melnum a kinar hu kanokg-ai
3pl man REL go.down water bottom-LOC
‘The men who dived to the bottom of the water’

Melnum a wamparpm-e helikota pa la

man REL hold.R -CNT helicopter D say
‘The helicopter pilot said…’
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Kupm la la -nik -eitn tu melnum a amo

1sg INT say-tell:IR-2sgO 3pl man REL die.R
‘I will tell you about the men who have died’

Tu kukwa wan wusok yek ur a ela kuin.

3pl open house small DIM ID REL be.R middle
‘They opened a tiny house that was in the middle (of the village)’ (first mention)

Subject of descriptive and other verbless clauses:

Kopi a watinet paipm paipm a no-wen anel pipa kipm ik kol kil.
coffee REL long bad bad REL go.up-TR pick.R C 2sg do.IR likethis
‘Those coffee trees which are far too tall so that you need to climb in order to pick, you
handle like this.’ (two RCs modifying one NP)

Object:
Kil wel a wuten nimpa a-kupm-en akor ise
3sg bird REL recently dog G-1sg-ATR search.R PERF
‘It is the bird my dog found’ (a verbless equative clause)

Tu tiplam nol eng manto tu alm ise

3pl blow horn OBL pig 3pl shoot.R PERF
‘They blew the horn to announce that they shot a pig’ (lit: for pig they shot)

Hakg eng men a tu kaluk-o pa.

cry for 1plExc REL 3pl wash.R-1plO D
‘Cried for us whom they washed’

Locative object (notice the suffix –e marking the predicate in RC):

elng-rka pilmpal a wuten tuwekg elng kweikwei atn -e -we pa.

put-hang.R shelter REL just 2dual put things stay.R-CNT-TR D
‘hanged it in the shelter where they two had left their things’

Kil kai katila ya a wuten mentekg kul -e pa.

3sg go follow.R road REL near past 1dual come-TR D
‘She went back along the road that we had just come along’

Wan pung a tu wrong wail-en ark -e

house meeting REL 3pl group big-ATR hang.R-CNT
‘A meeting house where the big group hung out.’

Locative:
Tu palng kaino wrik a wuten tu la mpa ikor manto pa
3pl arrive go.up place REL near.past 3pl say FUT search.IR pig D
eng ilm.
OBL shoot.IR
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‘They arrived upriver to the place where they had said they would search for the pig in
order to shoot it’

compare to:
Tu akor manto pa kainar wrik ti
3pl search.R pig D go.down place this
‘They searched for the pig in this place’

Indirect Object (Benefactive)

Notice that the indirect object is marked on the verb using the bound personal pronoun -el.

Kil melnum a (pikekg) kupm alk-el wurkapm ise

3sg man R (before) 1sg give-3sgO book CMP
‘He is the man I gave the book to’

Instrument leaves to the RC its marker ak.

Kil yangul a kupm ak nara

3sg pencil REL 1sg use.R write.R
‘It is the pencil that I use to write’

hapm a ak angkat-en kuntuk

cloth REL use.R carry.R-TR pot
‘a pot holder’ (literally ‘cloth that is used to carry pots’)

marpm a ak armpen yul

money REL use.R buy.R fish
‘money that is used to buy fish’

Time:
Irmpen atom wang a kitn kul pa iye-tolo kul
Buy.IR then time REL 2sg come C carry.IR-1pl.IO come
‘Buy it and at the time when you come back, bring it to us with you’

Wang a tu rpma pipa, kupm ak -antokg

time REL 3pl sit.R if 1sg use.R-do.R
‘If they are at home, I use it’
5.1.3. Functions of relative clauses in Urim
In Urim relative clauses are very common and occur both in both formal and informal texts. It
seems to be more common in written texts. Almost all clauses embedded into a NP are relative
clauses. New concepts are freely and frequently described and named by using relative clauses.

hapm ur a no -we
cloth ID REL come.up-TR
‘a shirt/blouse/dress’
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wang a hokg pake!

time REL sleep EMP
‘It is time to sleep now!’

wal a tapor
tree REL break.R
‘A broken tree’

melnum a antokg hi numpet

man REL treat.R sore sickness
‘doctor’

wrik a kirmpa angko arpm-e arpm-e

place REL plane fall.R sit.R-CNT sit.R-CNT
‘place where the airplanes land to stay’ (An airstrip)

wes a ak angket ko
stone REL use:IN cut.R axe
‘a file’

Relative clauses are used especially often when introducing new items or participants in the story.

Ake kupm ariwe la hul paipm a nam kamel pa rmpa.

NEG 1sg know.R say snake bad REL bite body D lie.R
‘I did not know that a bad (=poisonous) snake that bites people was lying. ’

Wang a pikekg kupm la ing-kai anong pa kul.

time REL past 1sg say stay.IR-go village D come
‘The time that I came here from the village’

Kil kawor wan opis ur a ela wreren ples balus

3sg enter house office ID REL be.R near place airplane
‘She went into an office building that was near the airstrip’

Kupm la por a mayen Pilpatni pikekg rpma kaino Wesakrokg

1sg say story G old.woman Pilpatni past live.R go.down Weskrokg
‘I [will] tell a story about the old woman Pilpatni that lived at Wesakrokg.’

In the last example the relative clause is embedded into the genitive phrase (about the old
woman) modifying the head noun por ‘story’

When some essentially extraneous information is added about the Head Noun (information that
does not specify its referent) an independent clause or an apposition is often used instead of RC. In
the following example, the new person is introduced using both a relative clause and a ‘normal’
descriptive clause:
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Melnum ur a tu namput la-la Bill kinar Manam,

person ID REL 3pl call.R say-say Bill go.down Manam
kil pa kil melnum wor, nikgwalpm wor. Kil wuli...
3sg D 3sg person good heart good 3sg arrive
‘‘A man they called Bill, [that] came from Manam (first mention, non-restrictive?), he
was a good, a good-hearted man. He arrived...’

Relative clauses frequently are quite complex and may occur for example embedded into a
genitive phrase or coordinated as modifiers of the same NP. Relative clauses provide a way to
background less-important information so that the main story line remains in focus:

Kol atopen tiur a mentepm a itna kanokg ti..

C pleasure some G 1pl.Inc REL stand.R ground this
‘Like some of the pleasures of us [people] that stand/live on this ground.’

Tu tiur a rpma wan wor, antiwe kweikwei marpm a wrikya

3pl some REL sit.R house good enough.R things money and belongings
pa tu atopen
D 3pl rejoice.R
‘Some who live in good houses and have enough money and things, they are happy’

Kupm la la -nik -epm wang a men kul nampokgen

1sg say say-tell:IR-2plO time REL 1plExc come with.R
kweikwei a men ari a antokg ak wang pa
things REL 1pl.Exc see.R and do.R use.R time D
‘I want to tell you about the day we came and what we saw and did on that day’

5.2. Complement clauses

Complement clauses are embedded subordinate clauses, which function as core arguments of
certain verbs.
Clauses functioning as subjects or objects are quite common in Urim with all verbs. Most verbs
of communication take clausal objects.
5.2.1. About lexical and clausal nominalization in Urim
The term ‘nominalization’ means in essence ‘turning something into a noun’. It can mean one of
two things, either “the process of forming a noun from some other word class or the derivation of a
NP from an underlying clause” (Crystal 1985). Here we will focus on the second sense of
nominalization, as the formal process by which clauses are changed so that they can also function as
Heads of a noun phrase.
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Urim seems to have no formal morphological devices to form lexical nouns from verbs or
adjectives. Both simple verbs and whole clauses can function as NPs without any overt change in their
morphological structure. Many lexemes freely function as both nouns and verbs, so that it is difficult
to tell which category is more basic. Others seem to be basically verbs but can function also as heads
of NPs.

Examples of verbs functioning as arguments:

Pa ikg ake Maur Wailen ilk-epm ariwe ur.

C FUT NEG Spirit Big give.IR-2plO knowledge ID
‘God will not give you any knowledge.’ (noun)

Kil ak rkwa pa ak ariwe weten

3sg use.R basket D use.R know new
‘She makes the basket in a new way’ (noun)

(from the verb ariwe ‘to know’)

Ake kupm ariwe hapm angkut

NEG 1sg know.R clothes sew.R
’I do not know how to sew’ (verb)

ti ti ake angkliin wail, angkliin waiketn

this this NEG help big help little
‘This here is not a big gift, it is a small gift’

Kupm palng kolen angkliin ur.

1sg become like help ID
‘I became like an assistant’

(angkliin ‘to help’)

kupm a isen -tepm ak -asen ur kil

1sg INT ask.IR- 2pl use.R-ask ID this
‘I will ask you this one question’

In the same way, clauses can function as NPs and heads of NPs without any marking, especially
in subject position:

Antokg waprekg, al yampis, wekg ata (pati) angklon

make.R smoke eat.R bean two only (therefore) forbidden
‘Smoking and eating beans, only these two are then forbidden’

Ipma arein a kil pa wail

stomach feel sorry G 3sg D big
‘His compassion/mercy is great’
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Instrumental subject:

melnum wail ur aln-tu pa amo ak angket-en nangnang.

person big ID G-3pl D die.R use.R cut-TR singsing
‘The death of one of their leaders cancelled the singsing’ (alternative explanation; ak
angketen is an embedded manner clause)

In Urim these kind of embedded clauses easily come to be idioms.

Al -wor huk
Eat.R-good give
‘to give an offering (good food)’

hokg angket a-kupm-en kai itna kol-pa-ke:...

sleep cut G-1sg-ATR go stand.R like-this-EMP
‘My dream was like this:...

Pa hu awei kunukg wuli

C water rain later.IR come
‘Rain will come’

Because of the lack of morphological marking, it is often difficult to tell whether a construction is
part of a clause chain or a nominalization. One common feature to all nominalized verbs is that they
do not get irrealis mode.

Certain types of embedded clauses have also other formal features that separate them from normal
clauses:

a) reversed word order

Nominalized clauses can exhibit a reversed word order OV (instead of VO) when an object is present
but there is no surface subject in the embedded clause. Reversed word order also occurs in many
idioms and lexicalized expressions (e.f. won-huwen ‘inside-bury = forget’). It is especially non-
referential, generic objects, both nominal and clausal, that tend to occur before predicates in
embedded clauses. In following example an embedded clause functions both as the Subject and the
Object.

Nep mangkon al ak arkol hu wak

coconut green drink use.R quench.R water desire
‘Drinking green coconut helps to quench thirst’

(comp. kupm hu wak-opm ‘I am thirsty’)

Kupm ake ariwe waprekg antokg

1sg NEG know.R smoke do
‘I do not smoke’
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kil ariwe hapm angkut

3sg know.R cloth sew
‘She knows how to sew clothes’

compare to:

Kil ariwe angkut hapm ak-angklei wang

3sg know sew cloth use-swallow time
’She uses to sew all the time.’

The parts of this construction are never pronounced or written as one word. Another feature is that
the verb in this construction never gets irrealis mode. When the clause functions as object of a
‘normal’ verb (that is, not one of those verbs taking clausal objects, that are described later in 7.2.2.) it
always ha reversed word order OV. Reason to this might be pragamtical; reversed word order
disambiquates embedded clauses from serials (see the last example above). When the clause
functions as subject, reversed word order is optional. Consider the following example:

Antokg waprekg al yampis wekg ata, pa ti angklon.

make smoke eat bean two only that this forbidden
’Smoking and eating beans, so these two only are forbidden.’

b) habitual-continuative marker -e
In Urim the habitual-continuative marker -e often occurs in nominalized clauses, although this is
not the primary function of this device. Primarily it serves to mark continuity and habituality. This
device is more commonly used in relative clauses and sometimes also in adverbial clauses (see the
sections 3.1.3.2 and 5.2). It seems to be used in all types of embedded clauses that are of locative
type:

kar arpm -e ari paipm

car sit.R-CNT see.R bad
‘It feels bad to travel in a car’

These two devices, word order OV and suffix -e, may occur in any kind of embedded clauses, but
are not obligatory.
5.2.2. Clausal objects
The number of verbs taking clausal objects is restricted in Urim. Most of the verbs co-occurring
with clausal objects fall into the following semantic groups: causative, emotional verbs, verbs of
sensation, cognitive, and quotative verbs. Some verbs may take either a noun phrase object or a
clausal object, but not both together. Others (especially quotative verbs) can take both a noun phrase
object and a clausal object at the same time. In such cases, the clausal object is usually the second
object. The object NP has the role of Benefactive or Dative. A few verbs take only clausal objects..
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Clausal objects are usually unmarked morphologically and in speech no pause separates the main
clause from the complement.
Clausal objects are sometimes governed by the conjunctions la ‘speak/that’ or eng ‘OBL’. With
some verbs, the use of a conjunction is obligatory (and these complement clauses are not considered
real clause objects)

With other verbs, semantically obligatory clausal objects are sometimes marked by conjunctions,
and sometimes not. Typically the nominal objects of these verbs are likewise sometimes marked, and
sometimes not. The presence of a governing conjunction in the complement clause seems sometimes
to depend on transitivity, in that a conjunction is used when the action is considered weakly transitive.
For example the action of ‘liking’ / ‘wanting’ in the following examples does not much affect its
object:

Kupm wakrongen-teitn / man -yan

1sg like - 2sg / mother-father
‘I like you / my parents’

Kupm wakrongen la irmpen namung

1sg like say buy.IR banana
‘I want to buy bananas’

Tu la wasrongen eng irmpen

3pl say like C buy.IR
‘They say they want to buy’ (double embedding).

The verb la ‘say’ is commonly used to mark quotations, but can also be left out:

kupm ariwe (la) ak wang ti kaikuten palng-tepm pa

1sg know.R (say) use.R time this heaviness appear-2plO D
‘I know that you are having difficulties in these days’

Wurkapm pa la kol-pa (la), tu melnum a antokg kweikwei

book D say like-that (say) 3pl person G do.R things
katnun wakrongen a Maur Wailen pa tu itopen o.
follow.R will G spirit big D 3pl rejoice.IR IMP
‘The Bible says that those people who follow God’s will, they can rejoice
Examples of different types of verbs taking clausal objects:
Causative verbs: - take only one object, either NP or clause.

kil ak klalen hor wan

3sg use.R light enter house
‘He makes the house lighter (making windows)’
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Kil antokg kupm ti palng wor kai wam al-kil-en

3sg do.R 1sg D become well go hand G-3sg-ATR
‘I became well in his care’

Kitn elng-en antokg kol-pa

2sg put-tr do.R like-that
‘Stop doing that!’

Di-transitive verbs - take two objects (NP+NP or NP + clause)

kaling ‘to show, teach’ (two objects, the clause object usually generic)
plan ‘to show’ (always two objects, the clause object generic)

Kiin kaling wanukg angken

woman show.R greens cut.R
‘The woman shows how to pick greens’

Pirkko ik plan-to hapm angkut

Pirkko use.IR show-us clothes sew.R
‘Pirkko will teach us to sew clothes (with the sewing machine)’ (NP + Clausal Object
order)

ak kopor ‘to win’ (always two objects, the clause object generic)

kupm ak-kopor-eitn angkut hapm

1sg do.R-win-2sg sew.R clothes
‘I win you in sewing clothes’ (NP+Clausal Object order)

Tu kiin ak-kopor-en-tita kipman wor

2pl woman do.R-win-TR-RES husband good
‘The women are competing for a good man’

Perception verbs - verbs of seeing and hearing.

Semantically these verbs denote events experienced by animate subjects via their eyes, noses or
ears. They can take either a morphologically unmarked clausal object or a nominal one. In this
respect, they are distinct fromthe cognitive verbs. They take only one object (either NP or clause),
but the subject of embedded clause can possibly be raised into object position in the clause (see the
last two examples).

kil ari kiin wekg ur pa itna ya

3sg see.R woman two ID D stand.R road
‘He saw two women standing on the road’

kupm ari wripm antokg yo tapor

1sg see.R wind make.R tree break.R
‘I saw the wind breaking the tree (lit. making the tree to break)’
(notice that here another clausal object is embedded into this clause object)
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kupm atning nimpa hakg

1sg hear.R dog cry
‘I hear the dog howling’

Ti kwei ur kipm ari rmpa kinar hu kanokg ai aki?

C thing ID 2pl see.R lie.R go.down water ground LOC or
‘So did you see anything laying on the bottom?’

Tu kai ari Kinikgen ekg Kinming pa wa ekg aro lanin pa rpma.

3p go see.R Kinikgen two Kinming D and two break.R nut D sit.R
‘They went down and saw Kinikgen and Kinming, those two were breaking nuts’

Emotional verbs - can take only one object, either a NP or a clause.

kil karken dokta

3sg dislike doctor
’She dislikes (is afraid of) the doctor’

kupm karken (a) kai mpang

1sg dislike (INT) go forest
‘I do not want to go to the forest’

Kupm wakrongen kitn la nik -opm

1sg like 2sg say tell.IR-1sgO
‘I want you to tell me’

Cognitive verbs - one object, either NP or clause.

Mansan akwonalmpen kupm

parents think.R 1sg
’My parents are thinking about me’

kupm akwonalmpen la kupm a kai Maprik

1sg think.R say 1sg INT go Maprik
‘I think I will to go to Maprik’

Ake kil ariwe (la) hul a angklei -el pa.

NEG 3sg know.R (say) snake INT swallow.R-3sgO EMP
‘He did not know that the snake swallowed him’

Intentional verbs - only clause objects

Kitn la hokg watipmen

2sg say sleep plenty
‘You want to sleep a lot’

Kupm la-la rmpen sop ur ari kupm woniketen

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1sg say-say buy.IR soap ID but 1sg forget

‘I was planning to buy soap but I forgot it’

kupm ampen la nak-el

1sg try.R talk tell.R-3sgO
‘I tried to talk to him’
Quotative (or communicative) verbs
Usually verbs expressing human speech are considered as separate class. The most common
quotative verbs are la ‘say’ and its reduplicated form lala ‘talk’. One of the most frequently occurring
quotative verb phrases is la naki ‘tell somebody’. Many quotative verbs can get two objects.

Kil la tu warim akatnong

3sg say 3pl child play.R
‘He said/says that the children are playing’

Kupm la nak -etn ka

1sg say tell.R-2sgO grasshopper
‘I tell you about grasshoppers’

Kupm la naki kitn eng ka

1sg say tell.R 2sg about grasshopper
‘I tell you about grasshoppers’

Wailen pa nak-el la-la ‘Kai kitn kaino o-m!’

big brother D tell.R-3sO say-say go 2sg go up now-IMP
‘The big brother told him, ‘You can go now!’

Kil naki Ariyek ‘Kitn ikor nung ur pa!’

3sg tell.R Ariyek 2sg find.IR wood ID D
‘He told to Ariyek, ‘Get some firewood!’

Kupm asen nang akilen

1sg ask.R name his
‘I’m asking his name’

Atom kil asen, ‘Mamam kitn rpma?’

then 3sg ask.R mama 2sg sit.R
‘Then she asked, ‘Mama, are you there?’

Kupm asen kil pa ‘Ukarumpa ti wreren om?’

1sg ask.R 3sg D Ukarumpa this near now
‘I asked her , ‘Is it long way to Ukarumpa now?’

Mentekg asen -tetn la kitn pa kul inti mentekg aki?

1dual ask.R-2sgO say 2sg D come with.IR 1dual or
‘We are asking if you are coming with us or not?’

Kil kansil -opm al okipma paipm

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3sg trick.R-1sgO eat.R food bad

‘He tricked me to eat bad food’

Kil kansil-opm eng okipma

3sg lie.R-1sgO about food
‘He lied to me about food’

kil kansil-opm la (mpa kil) ilm wel

3sg lie.R-1sgPoss say (FUT 3sg) shoot.IR bird
‘He lied to me that he would shoot birds’
Quotations: direct and indirect.
Urim has both direct and indirect quotations. The quotes occurring in narratives are usually direct
quotations. Almost all indirect quotes in our data are from discussions, but they probably also occur
in other expository discourses like sermons and exhortations. Indirect quotations mainly differ from
direct quotations in their person deixis..

Direct:
Ari man pa la itna, ‘Kupm angket hipm’
but mother D say stand 1sg cut.R leaf
‘But the mother kept saying, ‘I am cutting leaves’

Kil pa nak -opm, ‘Wreren waiken-ketn’

3sg D tell.R-1sgO near little-little
‘She told me, ‘we are not far now’

Ari Pestus kil la kolpa, ‘melnum tukgunakg Agripa, kitn pikekg.....

but Festus 3sg say like-that person head Agripa 2sg past
But Festus spoke thus,’You king Agripa, did...’

Indirect:
Kil la ake mpa mentekg or-tita
3sg say NEG FUT 1dual fight-RES
‘He says that we should not fight’ (mentekg ‘we two’ does not refer the kil ‘he’ but to
the the speaker of the story)

Akwekgel la kil a kai eng kipm.

Akwekgel say 3sg intend go for 2pl
‘Akwekgel says she wants to go to live with you’

Kupm atning Pirkko asen -topm la-la kupm no ise?

1sg hear.R Pirkko ask.R-1sgO say-say 1sg come.up PERF
‘I heard Pirkko asked whether I had arrived or not’

Atom kil akwe kupm pa la kupm nar, ..

then 3sg call.R 1sg D say 1sg descend
‘Then she called me to come down...’

Mentekg atning tu la nak -o la-la kitn ti am amo ise!

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1dual hear.R 2pl say tell.R-1pO say-say 2sg this now die.R PERF
‘We heard them tell us that you had died!’ (kitn ‘you’ refers to the hearer)

There are no other major formal differences between direct and indirect quotations except perhaps
the word kolpa ‘this way, thus’ which seem to occur only before direct quotes.

Urim also has a very curious type of quotation, which is basically direct but also exhibits features
of an indirect quotation. Thus far examples of this have only been observed in oral texts:

Kil akwe -wopm la, Kupm, kitn nar-o!’

3sg call.R-1sgO say 1sg 2sg come down-IMP
‘He called me saying, you, come down!’

In speech both pronouns, kupm ‘I’ and kitn, ‘you (sg)’ have the same kind of raised imperative
intonation. The first pronoun in the quotation refers to the subject of calling and at the same time to
the speaker. The second pronoun refers to the one being called. (It is not clear whether this structure
is also possible for other person combinations. Also, it would be interesting to know, whether this
kind of double-pronoun imperative clauses are pragmatically special. If so, then the first pronoun
could be a kind of ‘signature’ or identification of the caller meaning something like ‘it is me here who
is calling’.)

5.3. Adverbial Clauses

Adverbial clauses are embedded clauses, which modify some other clause, in a way similar to the
way adverbs function as modifiers within a clause. Just as with adverbs, which are single words or
phrases, adverbial clauses can be labelled and categorized semantically according to the type of
modification they provide (Sandra A. Thompson in Shopen II p.171). In Urim we have found at least
following semantic types of adverbial clauses: time, manner, locative, and purpose-reason. Other
subordinated clauses, like conditionals, are described in sections 7.5.7 and 7.6.
5.3.1. Time clauses
Almost all temporal adverbial clauses in Urim, as well as many manner adverbial clauses, are
really instances of relative clauses modifying a generic head noun, as in the examples below (for more
examples see section 7.1.). Temporal adverbial clauses are usually introduced with the
time/instrumental preposition ak, but it can also be left out.

Ak wang a men kul pa, men numprampen wrikya ...

use.R time ReL 1plExc come D 1plExc prepared.R things
‘At the time when we came, we prepared the things ...’

Men kinar Brugam pa ak wang awi kol wam-pomis wam-pom-wekg.

1pl.Exc go down Brugam D use.R time get.R like hand-other hand-other-two
‘We arrived in Brugam at 7 a clock’
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Wang a kil hokg rmpa wan upung pa am kol-pa -ke.

time REL 3sg sleep lie.R house menstruation D now like-that-CMP
‘At the time she slept in the menstruation hut (it was) now like that’
5.3.2. Manner adverbial clauses
In Urim manner is usually expressed by serial constructions, which almost always occur before

the main verb (like manner adverbs usually do) and can therefore possibly be considered

subordinated:

Kil pa tuwal mlak ela

3sg D beak hanging be
‘It was lying beak hanging down’
Manner serials marked by ak:
Manner serials can be marked by the Instrumental marker ak (originally verb ak ‘do’) same way
as manner adverbs.
Tu anel ak atatu wuli
3pl pick.R do.R hurry.R arrive
‘They got up and came quickly’

Ak nimong apaharng rpma, rpma wan.

Use.R basket cover.R sit.R sit.R house
‘It was hidden under the basket in the house’ (notice the reversed word order!)

Compare to the following use of ak to mark manner phrase:

tu ak wail wuli
3pl use.R big arrive
‘They came in crowds’

Often ak functions almost like the purpose marker eng and can be translated in English the same
way ‘for’. The difference is that ak can also indicate the role of instrument, while eng never does.

Tu aye okipma wuli ak arpmen hapm

3pl carry.R food come use.R buy.R cloth
‘They brought food to buy clothes with it’

Men lap yul ak al namung

1pl roast fish use.R eat.R banana
‘We roast fish to eat it with bananas’

Ilk -opm wakg ik iri nangkil

give.IR-1sgO fire use.IR see.IR mosquitoes
‘Give me a torch to see mosquitoes’
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nung talpuk ik ilile wakg

firewood stick use.IR light.IR fire
‘firewood sticks for lighting the fire’

Uwi spun ik ukuhal

take:IR spoon use.IR scrape
‘Take a spoon for scraping’

compare to:
Uwi spun pa ik ukuhal
take.IR spoon D use.IR scrape
’Take a spoon and scrape with it’
Manner clauses marked by -en
In Urim there is also a special type of adverbial manner clause, which always occurs in the middle
of the clause and has a verb morphologically marked by the suffix -en. This attributive suffix has
been described earlier in the section 2.6.2.2. Sometimes this embedded (or nominalized) manner
adverbial clause also has a reversed word order (O V). Curiously though, only a few verbs in Urim
seem to take this suffix in a manner clause, while simple manner adverbs can freely be formed from
all kinds of verbs by the same suffix. It seems that this embedded construction also has the additional
meaning of two actions having temporal overlap. This could explain why so few verbs can occur in
this construction; there are not so very many actions that one actor can perform two at the same time.
Often the manner suffix -en could be glossed ‘with’ in English. Consider the examples:

Kupm ngkat -en monmon wuli

‘1sg carry.R-ATR baby arrive
‘I arrived carrying the child’

Wel ngkat -en hungkuran elng nar kanokg

bird carry.R-ATR spear put come.down ground
‘The bird with the arrow in it fell down to the ground’

Tu nangnang-en wuli..
3pl singsing-ATR arrive
‘They came singing and dancing..’

Akentiwe kitn al wampung ngkat-en walkg

not-able.R 2sg eat.R possum carry-ATR skin
‘You can not eat possum with the fur’

Waring anip am ak aye-wen kainil pa kaino ise.

betel nut lengthen.R now use.R carry.R-TR moon D go.up PERF
‘The betel nut palm grew longer taking the moon with it higher and higher’
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nar nim, hapm wail pa ngkat-en kai-nar rpma nim tiwel pa

come.down drum cloth big D carry.R-TR go-down sit.R drum other D
‘..went into the garamut-drum, carrying/with a big net bag went down to sit on the other
end of the garamut-drum’ (notice the reversed word order)

Compare to the function of –en in the following example where it functions in much the
same way as above:

Man al-kil pa nepm paipm-en rpma anong

mother G-3sg D leg bad-ATR sit.R village
‘His mother who was lame (lit: with bad leg or having a bad leg), stayed in the village.’
5.3.3. Locative adverbial clauses:
Locative adverbial clauses in Urim are comaratively rare. Sometimes adverbial clauses
expressing location are governed by prepositions, as in the following example.

Kirngka pa am rpma wreren kupm atne-we tike.

snake.sp. D now lie.R near 1sg stand.R-TR EMP
‘The kirngka-snake was lying near where I was standing’
5.3.4. Purpose-reason clauses marked by eng
The basic function of the word eng is to mark oblique arguments. As a preposition, it governs
especially indirect objects (mostly Benefactive and Recipient roles) and also some direct objects of
less transitive verbs. To show the range of eng, I will first present here some examples of its use
governing noun phrases and then examples of its use as a complementizer within subordinate clauses.
Eng with noun phrases and clauses
Prepositional phrases with eng are used to encode various types of Oblique arguments. It is
commonly used to encode Benefactive-Recipient and Subject Matter ‘about/concerning’:

Uwi pa iye kul eng kupm!

take.IR D carry.IR come OBL 1sg
‘Bring it to me!’

Kil la naki kupm eng kwap

3sg say tell.R 1sg OBL work
‘He spoke to me about the work’

Kil kansil-opm eng okipma

3sg lie.R-1sgO OBL food
‘He lied to me about the food’

Eng is also used to mark some optional non-Subject arguments of some verbs. The semantic role
is usually Associative ‘concerning, with respect to’, Goal or Reason/Cause:
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Kupm antokg wonet paipm eng kwap al-kupm-en

1sg do.R hard bad OBL work G-1sg-ATTR
I work hard at my job’

Kil hakg eng man-yan

3sg cry OBL mother-father
‘He cries after his parents’ (alternative form: hakg-en ‘cry-TR’)

Wan ros eng warim

house tight OBL child
‘The house is full of children’ (can be explained OBL here: because of children)

Kupm tukwok eng namung

1sg short OBL banana
‘I am in need of bananas’

Kil ngkark eng nimpa

3sg be.afraid.R OBL dog
‘He is afraid of the dog’

Subordinate clauses headed by eng express purpose, reason, or explanation. There is no

difference whether the purpose is expressed by using a full clause or just a noun phrase - eng is used
in both cases to mark it.

Atom kiin a-kupm-en pa kul eng la or hul pa

then wife g-1sg-ATR D come OBL say hit snake D
‘Then my wife came back intending to kill the snake..’

Kupm a kai stua eng rmpen yul tin wris ur

1sg INT go store OBL buy.IR fish tin one ID
‘I want to go to the store to buy a tin of fish’

In the following examples the clause marked by eng is actually functioning as a modifier of an
NP, much like the relative clause (see the Chapter 5.1):

Kupm ak-kwap al-kupm plalng eng nira wurkapm ak masin

1sg do.R-work G-1sg finish OBL write paper use.R machine
kai mining
go dark
‘He finished his work of typing at night’

wanukg eng ik ntam kwei

greens OBL use.IR cook.IR yam
‘greens to be cooked with yams’

Kipm ti rka rka eng mpa mla uwi -yepm?

2pl here hang.R hang.R OBL FUT who take.IR-2plO
‘Whom do you wait here for expecting him to pick you up?’
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In Urim the use of preposition eng has probably increased by the influence of Pidgin language.
This is reflected by the many cases where either eng or some other function word can be used without
any great change of meaning. There are also cases when eng occurs in speech but is rejected in good
written language (the fourth example):

Tu toplam nol eng/la manto tu alm ise

3pl blow.R horn OBL/say pig 3pl shoot.R PERF
‘They blew the horn to announce that they shot a pig’

Wrik eng/a arpm-e

place OBL/R sit.R-TR
‘seat’

Kupm la yangkipm eng* / a skul

1sg say talk OBL* /REL school
‘I am talking about school’
Semantic functions of subordinate clauses governed by eng
Purpose
In the following examples eng can be glossed ‘for, to, so that, in order to’. Notice the position of
imperative in the first example; it shows that this eng-clause in fact is embedded. Note that the
purposive interpretation of eng is favored when it governs a clause having irrealis modality

Kukwa wanyun pa eng tu kawor wunen pa-wo’

open door D OBL 3sg enter inside D-IMP
‘Open the door for them to go inside!’

Ukulam wrik kilpmat (pa eng) ikga mentepm irpm-e

straighten.R place sago palm leaf stalk D OBL later 1pl.Inc sit.IR-TR
‘Make a seat for us to sit later’

Melnum a itna hep eng ikgalen nangnang

man REL stand.R first OBL take.care.of.R song
‘The man who leads songs’ (embedded into a relative clause)

Pa wa angkliin eng ilkg pa nowen itna yiprokg pa.

D and help OBL sprout D grow stand.R base D
‘And that helps the sprouts to grow from the base’

Tuwekg la ikor manto pa eng ilm

2dual say search.IR pig D OBL shoot.IR
‘they two wanted to find the pig and shoot it’

Kupm hor eng ekg irpmi

1sg enter OBL two sit.IR
‘I came to visit you’
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Reason
When eng governs a realis clause referring to something that has already happened or is
happening at the moment, it expresses reason or explanation rather than purpose. In the following
examples eng can usually be glossed ‘because’.

atom ukwa -wel kul eng hapm yek ur pikekg kitn

then send.R-3sgO come OBL cloth DIM ID past 2
alk-el pa am rakol ise
give.R-3sgO D now break PERF
‘and send to him because the clothes you gave to him are now in rags’

Men al aktatu eng nikg –alm -po

1pl.Exc eat.R quickly.R OBL belly-shoot.R-1plO
‘We ate quickly because we were hungry’

Men rka wan eng hu awei wail

1pl.Exc hang.R house OBL water rain.R big
‘We are staying in the house because of the heavy rain’

Kiin ake wakrongen kipman pa eng kil tukgunakg kiangen

woman NEG like man D OBL 3sg head bald
‘Women do not like that man because he is bald’

Kil anti numpet eng kil al kweikwei paipm

3sg with.R sickness OBL 3sg eat.R thing bad
‘She is sick because she ate something bad’

Ake kupm antokg taipreita pa perper, eng taipreita pa

NEG 1sg use.R typewriter D often C typewriter D
tu elng rmpa kinar wan a Lipen
3pl put lie.R go.down house G Lipen
‘I am not using the typewriter often, because they have put the typewriter into the
house of Lipen’ (from a letter)
Reason/Grounds
Eng is also used to govern subordinate clauses expressing reason or grounds, i.e. why the
preceding clause is uttered, or why the proposition it expresses is valid.

Kupm asen Jon eng kupm akwonalmpen kil antiwe mpa ingkliin topm
1sg ask.R Jon OBL 1sg think.R 3sg enough.R FUT help.IR 1sgO
‘I’m asking Jon because I think he will be able to help me’

Kil la aklale eng kil la kol-pa

3sg say true OBL 3sg say like-that
‘He must talk the truth because he is saying that (his saying that is proving that he
talks the truth)’
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A-ti wreren eng-a hu wei eng waipmunu kalkut paipm

perhaps near for-? water rain.IR OBL cloud heavy bad
‘Perhaps rain will come soon (I think this) because there are heavy clouds’

Ating kil rpma ur ha pa eng wakg rka wan ha-pa

perhaps 3sg sit.R ID be.R there OBL fire.R hang house be.R-there
‘Perhaps he has some (kerosene) (I assume) because there is light in the house’

Kitn a kai wan aki kalpis,

2sg INT go house or not
eng kupm a la yangkipm-ok nimpokgen teitn
OBL 1sg INT talk talk -mouth with.IR 2sgO
‘Are you going home or not (- I’m asking), because I want to talk with you’

It is possible to have several subordinate clauses governed by eng in the same sentence. Both
examples are from a written text:

Kol-pa ti kipm la-niki Mowal pa eng mpa kil ilk -opm ki ur pa

like-that C 2pl say-tell.IR Mowal D OBL FUT 3sg give.IR-1sgO key ID D
eng mpa kupm iye eng mpa kupm ik kukwa wanyun a kipmekg
OBL FUT 1sg carry.IR OBL FUT 1sg IN.IR open.IR door G 2dual
eng uwi taipreta eng ikintokg wurkapm ikingklei Trinde wris-wris.
OBL take.IR typewriter OBL handle.IR paper every.IR Thursday one-one
‘So you must then tell Mowal that he should give me the key so that I can take it and
open your door with it and take the typewriter and type every single Thursday’ (written
letter)

Talpuk wris pa pati kipm elng-itni eng ikg-a kil irkolng hu pa

branch one D C 2pl leave-stand.IR OBL later 3sg pull.IR water D
iye kaino eng ik ingklin talpuk pa eng kil ingko
carry.IR go.up OBL use.IR help.IR branch D OBL 3sg fall.IR
‘This one branch you should leave so that it will pull water up so that it helps the
branches to bear fruit’
5.3.5. Strong reason: eng ntei
The basic meaning of eng ntei is interrogative ‘why?’; its use to mark strong reasons is secondary.
Strong reason means here, that the speaker feels an extra need of explanation (answers to a question
etc.), or wants to emphasize the reason. The expression eng ntei in this use is not very common in
texts - all examples below are elicited. Its function is much the same as an ordinary rhetoric question,
which the speaker himself answers. Its use probably reflects the influence of Tok Pisin bilong
wanem.

Melnum pa tu wakrongen-tel eng-intei, kil antiwe nikgwalpm wor

man D 3pl like-3sgO why 3sg have heart good
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‘Why is that man is liked so well? Its because he is a good man’

Stua al-kil pa palng wor engintei, kil ikgalen marpm al-kil ari-wor-wor
store G-3sg D become good why? 3sg look.after money G-3sg see-well-
well
‘His store is prospering, why - because he takes good care of his money.

Kil awi marpm klangkil eng-intei, kil ak kwap ak Sarere yat

3sg get money extra because 3sg do work IN Saturday also
‘The reason why he got extra money is that he worked also on Saturday’ (explanation –
could be an answer to a question ‘why?’)

Compare to:

Kupm alk -eitn marpm eng pikekg kitn akwap

1sg give.R-2sgO money OBL before 2sg work.R
‘I give you money for your work you did’ (just states the reason)
5.3.6. ‘Negative’ reason: atnen (a) ‘because of, fault of’
The word atnen appears to be morphologically composed of the verb itna (atna) ‘stand’ and
transitive suffix -en. Like eng, it is basically a preposition. When a clause follows this preposition, a
relative clause marker (?) a is usually added after it (atnen a). This shows that all occurrences of
atnen should probably be analyzed as a preposition having either a NP or a nominalized clause as the
head. Semantically, atnen (a) usually refers to the reason for something bad happening.

Atnen -teitn pa-ke

because of.R-2sgO D-EMP
‘That was your fault’

Kil or melnum pa ok atnen kiin alkil

3sg beat man D mouth because.R woman 3sgO
‘He fought the man because of his wife’

Hu pa awei perper atnen tu alm nok kai wrik miring-ket

water D rain.R often because.R 3pl shoot.R sago go place ancestral spirit-
ATR
‘It rains often because they are making sago in a place where an ancestral spirit is
dwelling.’

Pa-ti atnen a kipm atnurng, ake kipm ikgalen

that-this because.R REL 2pl leave.R not 2pl take.care.of.R
‘This happened because you left it alone and did not take care of it’

Kil amo atnen a oktelp a palng

3sg ail.R because of REL tooth INT appear
‘He is ailing because his?? teeth are coming’
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There are still other types of subordinated clauses (for example conditionals), which could be
described in this chapter. But, because the various functions of Urim conditional conjunctions are
quite complex, and because they often serve to connect more loosely related clauses as well as
subordinated clauses, we will describe them with the other Urim conjunctions , in the following
sections.

5.4. Serial Verb Constructions

A serial verb construction consists of two or more verbs which: 1) are immediately juxtaposed
with no intervening conjunctions, 2) share at least some core arguments (normally subject and/or
object/goal), and 3) in some sense function together semantically as a single predication (James
1983).

Other properties of serial constructions:

1) Serial verb constructions are typically pronounced together under a single intonational
countour with no intervening pauses
2) The whole combination can be neagated with a single negator
3) All serialized clauses must have the same modality

Examples:
kitn aye kuina kul?
2sg carry.R what come
‘What are you bringing?’

Kil akor ari ise

3sg search.R see.R CMP
‘He found(it)’

Kil numpet paipm ti akentiwe ikga ntokg kweikwei huk mla ur

3sg sick bad D not-able later make.IR things/food give who ID
’She was badly sick and therefore could not make food to give anyone.’

Uwi nep mangkon ur iye kul ilk -opm il

get.IR coconut green ID carry.IR come give.IR-1sgO drink.IR
’Get a green coconut and bring it give to me to drink.’

Serial verb constructions are very common in Urim. However, since Urim verbs have very few
inflectional morphemes, it is often difficult to tell whether a certain construction is a clause chain (i.e.
a series of coordinateclauses with deleted topics) or a serial structure. In Urim conjunctions (usually
pa ‘and, then’) often distinguish the two types of structure.

Consider the following examples:

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Tu la intokg okipma il.

3pl say make.IR food eat.IR
They want to make food for a feast’

Compare to:
Kitn ariwe antokg okipma wor-wor pa al.
1sg know.R make.R food good-good C/D? eat.R
‘You know how to make and eat good food’

tu al rpma
3pl eat.R sit.R
‘They are eating (at this moment)’ (serial verb encoding imperfective aspect)

tu al pa rpma
3pl eat.R C sit.R
‘They sit/sat eating’ or ‘are/were eating’ (not necessarily at the moment of speaking)
(clause chain encoding temporal overlap)

compare to:
tu rpma (pa) al.
3pl sit.R (and) eat.R
’They sat down and ate’

On the other hand, it is also often difficult to tell whether a chain of verbs is an idiom or a serial
structure. When a particular combination of verbs is used frequently enough, it gradually comes to be
more lexicalized and idiomatic. Some expressions are somewhere between a serial structure and a
lexeme, others are fully developed into an idiomatic lexeme. The endpoint of the process is when the
combined verbs are phonologically one word and the meaning of the combination is opaque. The
following examples, proceed from verb combinations which are more phrasal and semantically
transparent to those which are more reduced phonologically and/or semantically opaque.

uwi iye kul!

take.IR carry.IR come
‘Bring it here!

kil hokg angket ari yul

3sg sleep cut.R see.R fish
‘He slept and dreamed about fish’

elng wurkapm ti rmpi kaino wrik

put paper this lie.IR go.up table
‘put this paper on the table’

(The verb elngtirmpi ‘put somewhere’ is pronounced as a phonological word when there
is nothing in between the two parts)
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kil hokg kaingkul

/kil hokg kai-kul/
3sg sleep go-come
‘He sleeps crossways’

kawor wan
/kai-hor wan/
go-enter house
‘enter the house’

ikg-ale-n
look-put-TR
‘take care of.R’
5.4.1. The four functions of serial verb constructions in Urim
Serial verb constructions have four functions in Urim. The first function is to encode a single
complex action or set of commonly co-occurring actions. Serial verbs can also serve as an abbreviated
way to express purpose and causation. The third function of serial verbs is more grammatical, for
example adding modal or aspectual meaning to a predication or marking peripheral semantic roles.
These kind of aspectual or modal verbs have historically developed into full clause particles or
prepositions and finally lost their verbal meanings altogether in other languages. The fourth function
of serial verb constructions in Urim is as a means of introducing new lexical items into the language.
All these types of serialization are very common in Urim.
Serialized structures expressing a series of closely related events
Examples of serial verbs encoding a single complex action or series of actions that commonly
occur together are given below:

tu akor kai ari wekg ham rpma

3pl seek.R go see.R two hide sit.R
‘They searched and found them hiding’

kil awi aris wampung

3sg take.R smell marsupial
‘He took the possum and smelled it’

Mentekg antokg al ak kainil

1dual make.R eat.R use.R moon
‘We cooked and ate in the light of the moon’

kil no la nak -opm la-la:....

3pl come.up say tell.R-1sgO say-say
‘He came and told to me...’

Serial verbs describing uninterrupted movement from one place to another are very common in
texts, especially in stories:
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kil kai kai kai kinar wuli kwokg

3sg go go go go.down arrive creek
‘She kept going, went downwards and arrived to the creek’

kil pa kai kawor wan

3sg D go enter house
‘She went and entered the house’

Mayen ak atatu kul hor la;....

old.woman use.R hurry.R come enter said
‘The old woman quickly came, entered the house and said’

Aye nar minto lap al

carry.R come.down 1pauc roast.R eat.R
‘(They) brought (it) down and we roasted and ate’
Serialized structures expressing purpose
With certain verbs, serialized structures can serve as an abbreviated way of expressing purpose ,
without requiring the oblique preposition eng.

Akwekgel huk ma al -kil-en al.

Akwekgel give breast G– 3sg-ATR eat
‘Akwekgel breastfed (the bady)’

Antokg alk-en al
make.R give.R-3plO eat.R
‘Cooked and gave them to eat’

Kil kai ari Nita

3sg go see.R Nita
‘He went to see Nita’

Compare to:

Kil kai pa ari Nita

3sg go D see Nita
’He went and saw Nita’

kupm kinar anong hu

1sg go.down fetch.R water
‘I go to get water’

Awi ko ak are yo
take axe IN cut tree
‘Get an axe to cut down the tree with (it)’

tu takwem marpm alk-o

3pl gather money give-1plO
‘They gathered money for us’
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Causation expressed by a serial verb construction with ak ‘(use something to) do’
and antokg ‘do, handle’.

kil ak klalen hor wan

3sg do.R light enter house
‘He made the house light (caused the light enter the house)’

kil antokg kupm palng wor

3sg make.R 1sg become good
‘He healed me’
Serialized structures expressing manner
Serialized structures are also used to denote manners of action. Verbs occurring in this structure
are usually onomatopoetic.

Itatu kul-o!
hurry.R come-IMP
‘Hurry up!’

kil kwal-kwal kai

3sg wail-wail go
‘He went wailing’

kil pilng kai itatu mes pa

3sg splash go hurry.R lake D
‘She quickly splashed into the lake’

kil angkli kweikwei tulng kai kanokg ti

3sg throw.R things tumble go ground this
‘He threw the things tumbling to the ground’
Serialized verbs expressing modal or aspectual meanings
Most instances of of verb serialization expressing modal meanings involve the serial verb
expressing the grammatical category occurring before the clause/sentence it semantically modifies,
while those expressing aspect tend to occur following the clause they semantically modify.
Intensity expressed using ak ‘do’
The verb ak ‘do’ is used to express intensity.

ak angket
do.R cut.R
‘cut quickly’
Doing something in a group or Inceptive modality expressed by anel ‘pick’
The verb anel ‘pick’ when serialized expresses action done in a group or inceptive aspect.

Anel antokg kolpa rka rka

pick.R make.R like-that stay.R stay.R
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‘they all kept doing like this’

men kai-no ari tu anel hakg

1pl.Ecx go-go.up see.R 3pl pick.R cry
‘we went but they all cried’

Tu am anel ak atatu wuli

3sg now pick.R use.R hurry.R arrive
’They now started quickly to come.’
Intentional, cognitive, and quotative modality expressed by la ‘to say’
The verb la ‘say’ is used as amain verb to express intention.

Kil la ilm wel

3sg say shoot.IR bird
‘He is going to shoot birds’

Kupm la kai wring ari warim numpet

1sg say go garden but child sick
‘I intended to go to the garden but the child was sick’

The combination [la + sentential complement] also frequently functions as the object
compelement of various cognitive, emotional, perceptual and speech verbs.

Kil ngkark la mpa tu alk-el kaikuten a uleket

3sg be.afraid.R say FUT 3pl give.R-3sgO heavyness and pain
‘He is afraid that they will persecute him.’

Pa plan la kupm melnum wor.

D show say 1sg person good
‘That proves that I am a good man’

Kupm rpma titnowen num kipm pa wa palng kol-pa eng-ntei?

1sg sit.R ignorant body 2pl D and become like-that why?
‘I am perplexed why you have become like that?’

Kol-pa ti wang ti pa, wang wor a-mentepm-en la mentepm plan

like-that this time this D time good G-1pl.Excl-ATR say 1pl.Excl show
nikg-walpm wor a wa ngkliin tu wrongkwail
stomach-liver good and also help.IR 3pl people
‘Therefore this time is a good time for us to show love and help people.’

Ake kitn ari la kupm al-kupm wris numprampen okipma?

NEG 2sg see.R say 1sg G-1sg one prepare.R food
‘Don’t you see that I am preparing the meal alone?’

Kipm kol a riwe la kupm am rpma wan

2pl HYP R? know.IR say 1sg now.R sit house
‘You should have known that I would be at home.’
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Voluntarity-directional
The verb elng ’put’ occurs in a serialized construction expressing voluntary actions directed to a
location.
kirmpa elng kinar elng kaino..
plane put go.down put go.up
‘the plane kept going downwards and upwards (intentionally)..

mpa kitn inung elng kinar wrkapm ti

FUT 2sg vomit.IR put go.down paper this
‘Vomit into this paper bag!’
Permissive modality expressed by the verb kai ‘go’ in serialized constructions
Kai kitn kaino o!
go 2sg go.down IMP
‘You may go!’

Kai tu melnum a amo pa huwen tita o!

go 3pl person REL die.R D bury RES IMP
‘Let the dead men bury themselves!’
Completive aspect expressed by a serial verb construction with plalng ‘finish’
Unlike the preceding verbs, the verb plalng ‘to finish’ occurs following the clause it semantically
modifies when expressing completive aspect:
al plalng
eat.R finish
‘ate (it) all’

Contrast this with the following example, where the sentence final perfect aspect
adverb ise occurs.
Hu pa wakget ise
water D hot PERF
‘The water is hot (has boiled)’

In the following cases as well, the serial verb marking modality or aspect occurs after the clause it
semantically modifies. This order helps to differentiate the aspectual meaning of the verb from other
meanings.
Conative modality expressed with ari ‘see’
Conative modality—attempting to do something—is expressed using the verb ari (irrealis form
iri)‘to see’.
Ti kipm ik-won-ilmpen iri!
C 2pl do.IR-inside-stir.IR see.IR
‘So you think about it!’
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Ekg kukwa wanyun ti iri!

two open door this see.IR
‘lets try to open this door!’
Continuative aspect expressed with locative verbs (itna ‘stand’, rpma ‘sit’, rmpa ‘lie’,rka ‘hang’,
ela ‘be situated’, ha ‘be, stay’)
Kil atn-en itna
3sg stand-TR? Stand.R
‘He was waiting in ambush’

Kuina tu lam-to rmpa kawor wan wusok?

what 3pl hide.R-1plO lie.R go.into house small
‘What are they hiding from us in the small house?’

‘Kitn pa ake aser kul?’ Ari kalpis, am rpma ketn pa ha pake.

2sg D not weed.R come but not now sit.R still D be.R there:EMP
‘You are not coming on with the weeding?’ But no, she was just sitting still in one spot
there’
Durative aspect expressed via repetition of verbs
Especially in spoken texts, verbs can be repeated several times at the end of clauses expressing
durative aspect; i.e. the action continues for an extended period of time. This repetition of verb seems
to never occur at the end of a sentence, only between clauses. Sometimes the adverbs ninan or titan
are used in addition or instead of the repetition of verb. Rising intonation always occurs with these
devices. Written texts do not exhibit this repetition of verbs to express durative aspect, whereas ninan
and titan do occur in written texts.

Examples of reduplication of verb:

Kil nar kai kai kai, katila kwokg

3sg descend go go go follow.R brook
‘She went downhill a long time, following the brook’

Tu or or or or, amo wekg-en

3pl beat beat beat beat die.R two-with
‘They kept beating them until they both died’

Mentekg nar nar nar nar, angko Maprik

1dual descend descend descend descend fall.R Maprik
‘We traveled and traveled (down river direction) until we landed in Maprik

compare to ‘normal’ uses of reduplication:

Kil kai kai kai kinar wuli kop

3sg go go go go down arrive river
‘He kept going, came down and arrived to a river’
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Tunteng kai kai kinar Arpunya ai

3trial go go go down Arpunya DIR
‘They three went a long way to Arpunya’

Examples of ninan, titan:

Kil lap wayu ur ninan, apis

3sg roast taro ID CNT scrape.R
‘He roasted some taro and scraped’

Mentekg al al ninan, mining paipm

1 dual eat.R eat.R CNT difficult bad
‘We kept of eating until we could eat no more (difficult to eat all)’

karkuk karkuk pa ninan, nowe hapm

bathe bathe.R C CNT dress cloth
‘bathed and bathed and when finished, dressed’

Wrongkatnur pa katin ninan plalng pa elng rmpa pa.

Wrongkatnur D encircle.R CNT finish C put lie.R D
‘Wrongkatnur completed its encircling and left it there

Kil ak ak ikgwampel kolng-kol-pa pa ninan, tu arki arki man.

3sg do.R do.R stealing like-like-that C CNT 3pl blame.R blame.R mother
‘She kept stealing like that a long time, they kept blaming her mother.’

Mentekg lap titan, plalng pipa, apis

1dual roast CNT finish when scrape.R
‘We kept roasting and when they were done, scraped the ashes’
‘Prepositional’ uses of serial verbs to encode various peripheral semantic roles
like location, manner, accompaniment, etc.
The only true preposition in Urim is eng. Most peripheral semantic roles in a clause are encoded
via serial verb constructions.

kil topra angen yo

3sg jump.R win.R tree
‘he jumps over the tree’

ak nanikg alei hapm

do.R urine put.on.R cloth
‘piss on the cloth’

kil hokg rmpa nung

3sg sleep lie.R firewood
‘He slept lying on a fallen tree’
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kil ari kai Kineling

3sg see.R go Kineling
‘He dreamed about Kineling’

kil melnum kai Sepik

3sg person go Sepik
‘He is from Sepik’

manto an num ela wes

pig rub.R skin be.R stone
‘The pig rubs its skin to the stone’

uwi kuntuk kai wakg!

take.IR pot go fire
‘Take the pot from fire!’ (the verb kai ‘go’ never gets source as locative object)

Examples of the verb ak ‘do’ encoding manner and temporal adjuncts.

lap ak wakg
roast do.R fire
‘roast in/with fire’

ik Sande
do.IR Sunday
‘next Sunday’

tu ak wail wuli
3pl do.R big arrive
‘They came in crowds’

The lexeme anti ‘with; fit, suit’ is used to encode accompaniment, while atnen ‘because of; wait
for, watch’ is used to encode causal adjuncts.

kupm inti mla rpmi anong?

1sg with.IR who sit.IR village
‘ Who will stay with me in the village?’

hatn ak kwap anti mansan

wander.R do.R work with.R parents
‘live and work with parents’

Akwen Wailen atnen -tetn

call.R Big-one because.of-2sgO
‘Pray God to take care of you’

kitn numpet atnen kweikwei pikekg kitn al pa

2sg sick because.of food before 2sg eat.R EMP
‘You are sick because of something you ate’
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The source phrase and the origin of prefix ang-

Another productive serial structure involves the use of existential or motion verbs plus a locative
noun to express source / ‘from’. . This construction is used when an actor is coming from a place
where he has been for a while. In fast speeh, the existential verb (especially the most common ones,
ha ‘be’ and tna ‘stand’) frequently phonologically reduce into a prefix-like form ang-.

kil tna kainar anong pa no

3sg stand.R go.down village C come.up
‘He comes from the village’

kupm rpma kai Finland kul

1sg live.R go Finland come
‘I came from Finland’

kil ang-kai-no ya pa nar

3sg be.R-go-ascend road D descend
‘He is coming down from the road’

(The source phrase expresses the direction of movement from the point of subject, while the last
verb no expresses the direction of movement from the point of speaker)

Wang a pikekg kupm la ing -kai anong pa kul

time REL yesterday 1sg say stay.IR-go village D come
‘The time when I was coming here from the village’ (spoken text)

kitn wet ang-kai ahi wuli?

2sg recently be.R-go where arrive
‘Where did you come from?’

Kupm Josech, kupm la nik -epm la-la kupm am no ise,

1sg Josech 1sg say tell.IR-2plO say-say 1sg now come.up PERF
ang -kinar Tau no ise.
stay.R-go.down Tau come.up PERF
‘I Josech, I will tell you that I already came here, came from Tao’ (written text)

The last example, which is from a written text, shows that the reduced form ang- is not just a
feature of rapid speech. Source phrase is partly idiomatized.

Coming from a direction (without the meaning of staying there first) is expressed without
existential verb:
kil kinar ya no
3sg go-down road ascend
‘He is coming from the direction of road’

This phrase can also occur as a part of locative phrase.

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Wan a-kupm ela wreren ang -kinar mission

‘house G-1sg be.R near stay.R-go.down mission
‘My house is near the mission station, just before it’

The prefix ang appears to have become obligatorily bound to several verbs in the language, all of
which have an inherent centrifugal orientation. Notice, that the verbs listed below have the component
‘from somewhere’ in their meaning. Two of these have corresponding forms without ang, while the
others do not.

ang-kark ‘flee from, be afraid’ (from kark ‘dislike, afraid’)

ang-kli ‘to throw away (from kli ‘husk’)
angken ‘pick (from) ?
angket ‘cut’(from) ?
angklo ‘pluck (from)’ ?
angkror ‘tear from’ ?
5.4.2. Serial structures and lexicalization
A number of compound verbs in Urim seem to be derived from serial verb constructions.

ari la (see-say) ‘judge, decide

arkol aye kul (move-carry-come) ‘pull’
arkol aye kai (move-carry-go) ‘push’

ak-ikg-la (do-look-say) ‘spy’

kai-no (go-ascend) ‘go up(river), upwards)

Examples of serial structures lexicalized into adverbials:

kupm hokg nar-no

1sg sleep come.down-come.up
‘I sleep lengthwise’

tu ak nare pa wuli
3pl do.R come.down D arrive
‘The people living in the down river part of the village arrived’

kil ikg kai pa kai pa

3sg look go D go D
‘He looked wildly around’

men anel kul, akor kul akor nar

1plExc pick.R come search.R come search.R come.down
‘We all came, searched from this and that direction’
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5.4.3. Examples of complex serial structures:

In Urim it is possible to have multiple serial verb constructions with different functions
juxtaposed. Consider the following examples:

kil kintir-kuntur no ang -kai ya ha ti

3sg rush-rush ascend stand.R-go road be.R this
‘He is just coming rushing down the road’

(kintirkuntur no - a serial verb construction consisting of onomatopoeiic verb plus a

motion verb
angkai ya ha ti - source phrase)

kuina tu lam-to rmpa kawor wan wusok?

what 3pl hide.R-1plO lie.R go.into house small
‘What are they hiding from us in the small house?’

(rmpa functions as an aspect marker while the motion verb kawor expresses a locative semantic
role)

manto harng kai la nam kamel

pig rush.R go say bite person
‘The pig went rushing intending to bite the man’

mentepm no karkuk rpma kainar minip wenting

1pl.Incl come.up bath.R sit.R go.down river junction
‘We came upriver and stopped to bath down in the place where the rivers separated’
(kainar refers to the location of the bathing place - they had to go down to it)

tu anele pisurpusur elng kinar hu

3pl in.group splash put go.down water
‘They all dropped themselves splashing into the water’ (intentionally)
(This clause has two verbal aspect markers, anele ‘one by one’ and elng ‘voluntary’, and one
onomatopoetic verb functioning as manner adverbial)

5.5. Urim conjunctions

It is difficult to motivate a coordinating versus subordinating distinction for many of the
conjunctions. Therefore conjunctions are described here simply on a semantic basis according to the
type(s) of relationship they express. As is the case in many languages, some of the most common
Urim conjunctions seem to be morphologically composed of deictic forms. These are pa, ti, pake,
pipa and their combinations The deictic form pa has an especially wide range of conjunctive
functions. Some prepositions and time words (like a, eng, ak, am) play a role in connecting sentences,
as do a few verbs as well (e.g. la).
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5.5.1. Additive conjunction (w)a

The additive conjunction (w)a ’and’ links clauses and sentences expressing propositions that are
only loosely related, where neither a temporal or causal relationship is particularly evident.i

Often the clause marked by wa adds further information that is similar in nature to that of the first
clause (‘and also’).

Kil awi-n-opm hapm ur ak akul num wa

3sg get.R-IO-1sO cloth ID use.R wipe.R skin and
kil awi-n-opm hapm ur a no-we.
3sg get.R-OI-1sO cloth ID G ascend-TR
‘She bought me a towel and she bought me one pair of trousers.’

Kil ake wakrongen kopi wa kupm ake wakrongen yat.

3sg NEG like coffee and 1sg NEG like also
‘She does not like coffee and neither do I’

Kil ake ariwe wam-arpme kar, wa kupm ake ariwe yat.

3sg NEG know.R hand-hold.R car and 1sg NEG know.R also
‘He does not know how to drive a car and I do not know either’

Compare the preceding two examples to the following one, where a paraphrastic
relationship is expressed via simple juxtaposition without wa:

Kupm atning waiketn, ake kupm atning watipmen

1sg hear.R little NEG 1sg hear.R plenty
‘I understand only a little, I do not understand much (language)’

Wa also binds together two clauses expressing successive, loosely connected actions without any
causative or other dependent relationship. The following two examples are from a written text where
the short form of the conjunction a is used:

Atom sipsip pa pir-ng kaino a nar am itna pake.

then sheep D run-TR go.up and descend now stay.R EMP
‘Then the sheep ran up and were coming down’

Jim pa nar elng kar pa rpma a kil kul hor en pa.

Jim D descend put car D sit.R and 3sg come enter outside D
‘Jim came down, parked the car, and he came out.’

Wa can occur sentence initially. In this position it is not always easy to separate it from the
unstressed form of pa that is often weakened into [wa].
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A men ari hunokg ak wang a men kai hokg kai Madang

and 1pl.Exc see.R sea use.R time REL 1pl.Exc go sleep go Madang

a wa men ari nimpen pa yat.

and then 1pl.exc see.R flying.fox D also
‘And we saw the sea when we went to sleep at Madang, and we also saw those bats.’

Wa also often occurs together with other conjunctions. Especially common are the combinations
atom wa ‘and then’ and ari wa ‘but then’. In this combination wa often has the meaning ‘again,
also´.

wa men kinar angko Lae.

and 1pl.Exc descend fall.R Lae
Men kinar pa atom wa men yaper no.
1pl.Exc descend there then and 1pl.Exc back come.up
‘And we landed to Lae, we landed there and then we started off again’

Manto pa wail atom wa kalkut yat

pig D big then and heavy also
‘The pig was big and therefore also heavy’

Kil la,... Ari wa kupm la-la;...

3sg say but and 1sg say-say
‘He said,.... But I said, ....’
5.5.2. Non-serialized clauses conjoined without any overt conjunction
It is quite common in Urim to simply juxtapose coordinated, non-serialized clauses without any
overt conjunction. Juxtaposed, non-serialized clauses are distinguished from verb serialization
constructions by intonation. Pauses usually occur between coordinated clauses, never in
serializations. Often there is rising intonation on the last word of each non-final coordinated clause,
especially in lists. In lists, juxtaposition of the conjuncts is the norm:

Tu kai nangnang, howen nim, antokg kweikwei kol-pa, tu atopen.

3pl go singsing beat drum do.R things like-that 3pl rejoice.R
‘They go to singsings, beat drums, do things like that, they get joy (from those things)’

When a second clause/sentence is a paraphrase of the first, it is typically just juxtaposed.

Tu okipma kalpis, tu wayu paipm wris ur kolti rmpa

3pl food not 3pl taro bad one D only lie.R
‘They have no food; [they only have] just a few poor taros’
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Juxtaposition is also sometimes used in adversative meaning:

Wet tu urai na-kopm, ake kupm atning nang a-kil-en

N.Past 3pl some tell.R-1sgO NEG 1sg hear.R name G-3sg-ATR
‘Somebody just told me (but) I did not hear his name’
5.5.3. Disjunctive / Alternative conjunction aki ‘or’
The alternative conjunction aki ‘or’ is used to connect both noun phrases and clauses:

Ake wrik watipmen itna kar ti. Kitn aki kil ai kai
NEG space plenty stand.R car this 2sg or 3sg LOC go
‘There’s not much space in this car. Only you or he there can go.’

Kil amo aki antokg kolai? Malaria awi-yel aki?

3sg die.R or do.R how malaria get.R-3sgO or
‘Is she sick, or what is wrong? Did she get malaria, or what?’

Ampake men or-etn aki akle -wetn, kalpis

cannot 1plExc. beat-2sgO or scold.R-2sgO no
‘We will not beat you, or scold you, no’

In questions the pronoun aki gives the hearer two or more alternatives. The speaker either asks
which one is the right one or gives a choice of action.

Wangarke kil numpet, pikekg-tak-ur-ai aki pikekg-kil aki weti?

when 3sg sick past-long time-ID-L or past-this or now
‘When did he become sick, a long time ago, or yesterday, or just now?’

Kitn pa wa kul anong aki hokg kai mpang?

2sg D again come village or sleep go forest
‘Will you return to the village, or sleep in the bush?’

Kupm asen-teitn la kupm la wor aki la paipm?

1sg ask-2sgO say 1sg say good or say bad
‘I am asking you, do I speak well or badly?

Ampur kitn itna wanyun pa, kitn hor aki kitn kawor hen ai!
do.not 2sg stand.R door D 2sg enter or 2sg go.enter outside LOC
‘Do not stand at the door, come in, or go outside!

Kitn uwi kil aki kitn uwi pa?

2sg take.IR this or 2sg take.IR that
‘Do you take this or that one?’

Sometimes an additional occurrence of aki at the end of the sentence expresses doubt or hesitation
(the speaker is not sure about the right alternative):
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Tu urai, Yakimping aki, Repulp aki...

3pl some Yakimping or Repulp or
‘The strangers, from Yakimping, or perhaps from Repulp,...’

Quite often aki occurs in questions in the final position either alone or together with kalpis ‘no’.
The combination aki kalpis also often expresses accusation or other negative attitude;

Kil kai ise aki?

3sg go PERF or
‘Didn’t he go?’ (hesitating)

Kil kai aki kalpis?

3sg go or not
‘Did he go or not?’

Kitn atning aki kalpis?

2sg listen.R or not
‘Didn’t you listen?’ (blaming a child etc.)

Kitn kul aki kalpis?

2sg come or not
‘Are you coming or not?’ (impatiently)

Questions having irrealis mode and the tag aki express polite requests:

Kitn ilm wampung aki?

2sg shoot.IR marsupial or
‘Would you shoot the possum?’ (gives an option)

Kupm la yangkipm aki?

1sg say talk or
‘Is it my turn to speak? - Should I speak?’ (hesitant question)

Intiwe (mpa) kupm inti-weitn aki?

may.IR (FUT) 1sg with.IR-2sg or
‘May I come with you?’ (polite request)
5.5.4. Adversative / Contrastive conjunctions: ari and pake
Urim has two adversative or contrasting conjunctions: ari and pake. Their uses seem to overlap at
least partly, although there are cases when the native speakers accept only the other one.

ari expresses a change, sometimes unexpected.

contraexpectation
ari kalpis emphatic contraexpectation
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pake contrastive
limitation
Ari - contrast and surprise
Ari is the most common contrastive conjunction. Its function is to mark contrast or
contraexpectation. Typically there is an unexpected event or sudden (especially negative) surprise,
sometimes just some new turn of story. Sometimes ari just marks the change of actor or speaker in
discussion, especially if the speaker answers negatively or otherwise against expectations.

Tuwekg antokg kol-pa itna ari Jim pa awi kar pa nar

3dual make.R like-that stay.R but Jim D take.R car D come.down
‘They two kept doing that (running around) but Jim took car and came down’ (contrast)

Kil hokg akwekgel rmpa ari hul rkim lelng-klelng kawor.

3sg sleep ignorant lie but snake rkim crawl-crawl go.in
‘He was sleeping soundly not knowing that an rkim -snake crawled in.’ (unexpected)

Monto kaino palng kaino ya anong ai. Ari Balus pa ari

1pauc go.up arrive go.up road village remote but Balus D see.R
manto...
pig
‘We three went upwards until we arrived at the road that goes to the village over there.
But then Balus saw a pig...’ (turn of story)

Warim pa la-la; ‘Kupm karken pa mla aser mi’

child D say-say 1sg dislike C who weed.R grass
ari wa kupm la-la: Iser -o!’
but and 1sg say-say weed.IR-IMP
‘The child said ‘I do not want to weed’, but I said ‘You weed!’ (change of speaker)

Ari Jim la; ‘Kalpis, kukwa wanyun pa-wo!’

but Jim say no open door D-IMP
‘But Jim said, ‘No, open the door!’ (change of speaker)

Often the surprise element is strong enough to hinder the intended action:

Tu la kai wring, ari warim numpet

3pl say go garden but child sick
‘They wanted to go to the garden, but the child is sick’

Kupm la-la nira por ur, ari yangul tangkalak ise

1sg say-say write story ID but pen dry PERF
‘I was planning to write a story, but the pen is dry’

Mentekg akor hul pa la or ari hul pa am ngkark kai ise.

1dual seek snake D say hit but snake D now afraid.R go CMP
‘We searched that snake intending to kill it, but the snake had escaped.’
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Sometimes the conjunction ari is hard to tell apart from the verb ari ‘see’ (possibly developed
from this verb?).
Kil kai ari wring al-kil ari manto al.
3sg go see.R garden G-3sg but pig eat.R
‘He went to see his garden but (or: saw that) a pig had eaten (it)’

Kil tita hiplepm ari wail

3sg stretch wing see.R big
‘She stretched the wings (to look) big’

Kupm angkat ari kalkut

1sg carry but/see?.R heavy
‘I carried it but it was heavy’ or: ‘carried and it felt heavy’

Ari seems to more often mark negative rather than positive changes or surprises in the story. This
tendency is highlighted in the way it combines with the negator kalpis to emphasize even more the
negative nature of the surprising event. The combination ari kalpis is commonly used in narrative
texts to indicate a turning point of a story.

Tu armpen ketn ur, aye no. Ari manto yaprekget ise

3pl buy.R little ID carry.R come.up but pig smelly PERF
‘They bought a little, carried it up home. But the pork was already smelling.’

Ari kalpis, Aburata ake kukwa wanyun pa kalpis.

but not Aburata NEG open door D not
‘But Aburata did not open the door’ (although he had been told to do it).

Kil almpil almpil warim pa. Ari kalpis! Amo ise.

3sg turn.R turn.R child D but not die.R PERF
‘She kept turning the child around. But it was to no avail. It was dead.’

‘Kitn pa ake aser kul?’ Ari kalpis, am rpma ketn pa ha pake.

2sg D not weed.R come but not now sit.R still D be.R there:EMP
‘You are not coming on with the weeding?’ But no, she was just sitting still in one spot
there’
Pake - contraexpectation and comparison
A second, less common contrastive conjunction is pake.

Kil alm.... Pake manto pa ake amo kalpis,

3sg shoot.R but pig D NEG die.R not
atom wa Akalpm alm ak yikal-ik pa atom kil kai amo.
then and Akalpm shoot.R use.R bow-arrow D then 3sg go die.R’
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‘He shot it....But the pig did not die, and then Akalpm shot with a bow and arrow and
then it went and died.’

Kil al tukuk pake ake kil amo.

3sg ate.R poison but NEG 3sg die.R
‘He ate poison but did not die’

Kupm la ingket kop pake kop hu paipm.

1sg say cut.IR river but river water bad
‘I wanted to cross the river but the river was badly flooded’

Kil la ik kwap pake wakg kalpis

3sg say do.IR work but fire not
‘He wanted to work but there was no light’

Kil lala mpa kil ingkliin-topm pake ake kil angkliin-topm, kalpis
3sg say-say FUT 3sg help.IR-1sgO but NEG 3sg help.R -1sgO not
‘He promised to help me, but did not.’

The conjunctions ari and pake often seem to overlap in their meanings.

Wreren eng kil a imo pake/ari dokta awi -yel sut

near OBL 3sg INT die.IR but doctor give.R-3sgO injection
‘He almost died but the doctor gave him an injection’

Kupm la kurkuk ari am mining ti-ke

1sg say bathe.IR but now dark this-CMP
‘I wanted to bathe but it’s already dark outside’

Tu la irmpen kar pake marpm wail

3pl say buy.IR car but money big
‘They wanted to buy a car but it is too expensive.’

Ari seems to be used more often when the clause expresses some new incident that hinders the
plan, while pake is used more often when the hindering element already exists or is known (like the
price of a car). This is just a tendency, not a rule. The uses of these conjunctions seem to overlap at
least partly.

This far it seems that only pake occurs in following cases:

1) When the two clauses express contrastive comparison, either in quantity or in quality or on
positive-negative.

Kupm ari anong wrongkwail pake ake kupm ari Lae pa.
1sg see.R village many but not 1sg see.R Lae D
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‘I have seen lots of places, but I have not seen Lae’

Kupm wakrongen okipma wrongkwail, pake kupm ake wakrongen

1sg like food many but 1sg not like
laning pa.
peanut D
‘I like many kinds of food but peanuts I do not like’

Tu wrongkwail am amo ise, pake wris ata rpma

3pl many no die.R PERF but one only sit/live.R
‘All have died, one only is left’

Yawor ti marpm ak wail, pake yul pa marpm ak wusok.

meat this money do.R big but fish D money do.R small
‘This meat is very expensive, but the fish is cheap’

Jon kil wail, pake Bil kil angen tel

Jon 3sg big but Bil 3sg win 3sgO
‘John is big but Bill is bigger than he’

Kil ake ak kwap al-kil atatu, pake kil ak ari-wor wor.

3sg NEG do.R work G-3sg quickly but 3sg do.R see-good good
‘She does not work quickly, but she does good work’

2) Pake is sometimes also used in clauses expressing alternatives or conditions:

Pisket kalpis pake uwi pret ur pa

biscuit not but take.IR bread ID D
‘There are no biscuits but take a piece of bread’

Kar pa mpa iye -weitn kai anong,

car D FUT take.IR-2sgO go village
pake kitn la niki draiva pa pen.
but 2sg say tell.IR driver D first
‘This car will take you to the village, but you must tell the driver first’

3) The word pake also functions an emphatic particle having scope over either the whole
sentence or particular noun phrases. In the available corpus of texts, the emphatic particle function of
pake is much more common than its conjunctive function. Emphatic pake is especially common in
narrative texts and conversations, while the conjunction pake is comparatively rare in narrative text.
When pake has scope over the whole sentence, it usually occurs last in the sentence, and therefore is
not easily confused with the conjunction pake.

Minelam pake mentepm la-la trakta

Minelam but/EMP? 1pl.Incl. say-say director
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‘But Minelam we called director’ (or: Minelam we called a director/It was Minelam we
called director)

Hikg pa kupm itnuhurng-ten pake.

tomorrow D 1sg leave.IR -3plO EMP
‘It is tomorrow that I will leave them’

Kwap a kiin pake.

work G woman EMP
‘It’s women’s work, that!’
5.5.5. Temporal connectives
In Urim temporally related clauses can be simply juxtaposed without any intervening
conjunctions. The conjunctions wa ‘and’ and the causative pa, can mark also time relationships in
addition to their other functions. These are described elsewhere (see. 7.5.1 and 7.5.6). The
conjunction atom ‘then’ is more specialized to show temporal relationships between clauses. It seems
that atom is used whenever there is temporal sequence with a relatively greater amount of
discontinuity, due to a change in speaker, or the end of a sequence of closely related, normally co-
occurring events, whereas juxtapposition and wa would indicate the juxtapposition of events which
more commonly co-occur. Also certain temporal adverbs, especially am ‘now’, function as temporal
connectives between clauses.
The temporal conjunction atom ‘then’
The conjunction atom indicates temporal sequence, basically expressing that the second action
occurs relatively soon after the first action. It is especially common in narrative type of texts. In
those types of texts it can also mark the change of speakers in conversations (here its use overlaps
with the use of ari, see 5.5.3.): In spite of its frequency, atom is not the most frequently used
connective between clauses denoting subsequent happenings and actions in texts. More common are
clause-chains without any markers, and conjunctions wa ‘and’ and pa ‘ then’. In spoken texts also the
time word am ‘now’ and tail-head linkage are quite commonly used in this function (see 5.7).
In narrative texts atom seems to occur most often when there is a change of actor or speaker or
some other kind of change of topic. There are some stories where atom occurs in almost every second
clause but these kinds of stories are apparently not of the best style in Urim. The best storytellers use
atom more sparsely.
It looks like atom is used whenever there is temporal sequece with a relatively greater amount of
discontinuity. The continuity can be due to a change in speaker, or the end of a sequence of closely
related, normally co-occurring events, whereas juxtaposition and wa ‘and’ would indicate the
juxtaposition of events which more commonly co-occur.

Jim pa nar..... Atom kil asen -ten:... Atom Bayuna pa la

Jim D come.down then 3sg ask.R-3plO then Bayuna D say
‘Jim came down.... Then he asked them;.....Then Bayuna said:...’
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Men kinar Kainantu pa, atom ale -wo kai maket

1plExc go.down Kainantu D then put.R-1plO go market
‘We went down to Kainantu and then he let us off at the market’

Atom tunteng rpma, kil la naki tuwekg pa lala:...

then 3pauc stay.R 3sg say tell.R 2dual D say
‘Then they stayed and she said to them... ‘

Tu la nak -el la-la ‘Man al-kitn am amo ise Atom kil hakg...
3pl say tell.R-3sgO say-say mother G-2sg now die.R PERF then 3sgcry
‘They told to her ‘Your mother has died’. Then she cried..’

Wrongkatnur a Balus ekg pa kaino, atom Balus kaino ya no...

Wrongkatnur and Balus two D go.up then Balus go.up road ascend
‘Wrongkatnur and Balus went together, then Balus took the road going upwards’

Atom often marks beginning of a new paragraph. Occasionally it is used in the beginning of a
story after introduction:

Man warim wekg pa atom, man pa ukwa warim pa la...

mother child two D then mother D send.R child D say
‘There was a mother and child. The mother send the child to an errand saying,...
(beginning of a story)

(The occurrence of atom before pause makes it more emphatic. In this position it is also
pronounced with strong and rising intonation)

The conjunction atom quite often occurs together with the conjunction pa when there is
conditional and causative meaning connected with the time sequence:

Men kinar pa atom wa yaper no.

1pl.ex go.down D then and back come.up
‘we went down and then came back up’

Kipm ntin nepm kilko alkipm pa atom kipm ire.

2pl measure:IR leg knee 2plPoss D then 2pl cut:IR
‘Measure the height of your knee and cut the trees from that point’

In its function of marking a change of actor or some other kind of discontinuity in the story, atom
often occurs together with the neutral coordinative conjunction wa ‘and’:

Atom wa Dik la...

then and Dik say
‘But Dik said’ - And then Dik said...(a joke follows)

Kil amo atom wa tu huwen melnum pa.

3sg die.R then and 3pl bury man D
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‘he died. And then they buried that man. (end of story)’

In certain types of conjoined events atom is usually not used:

- If the actions form an habitual sequence of actions. Compare the following examples

Kwei men ntam pa al

yam sp 1pl.Exc cook C eat.R
‘The yams, we cooked and ate’ (normal action)

Kil alkil antokg, atom kil alkil al.

3sg herself make.R then she herself eat.R
‘She herself made [the food] and then she herself ate it alone’ (unusual action)

- When the clauses just tell about moving from one place to another or some other sequence of
actions in which there are no pronounced breaks:

Mentekg kai ak nove tipmining pa, angket tipmining pa,

1 dual go do.R climb mountain D cut.R mountain D
kol-pa kai kinar nampek ai, kul no mentekg angko rpma.
like-that go go.down grass DIR come ascend 1 dual fall.R stay.R
‘We flew up a mountain, crossed it and went down towards an open field of grass, came
and landed’

We have seen above that atom has a double function: 1) it conjoins clauses relating successive
events, and 2) it indicates some sort of discontinuity in the story—change of actor, change of direction
of movement, change of topic etc.

Men antokg kol-pa rpma ha, nungkurikg. Atom Orwompel naki...

1plExc do like-that sit stay afternoon then Orwompel tell
‘We did this until it was afternoon. Then Orwompel told us...’

Kipm ntin nepm kilko alkipm pa atom kipm ire.

2pl measure:IR leg knee 2plPoss D then 2pl cut:IR
‘Measure the height of your knee and cut the trees from that point’

In addition atom can sometimes also denote causative relationships between subsequent actions.
In this function it can be glossed ‘so, therefore’:

Manto pa wail atom wa kalkut yat.

pit D big then and heavy too
‘The pig was big and so it was heavy too’

Mikgen irkgin wakg, wropuk, mayen atom wropuk-et

Mikgen crouch fire cold old.woman then cold -ATR
‘Mikgen sits at the fire, she is cold, she is old, therefore cold.’
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Kupm maminikg eng elng kaino elng kinar, atom kupm asen la, ...
1sg afraid OBL put go.up put go.down so/then 1sg ask.R say
‘I was afraid when the plane went up and down, and therefore I asked her, ...’

Kupm palng wor kai wam akilen. Atom kupm alk-el manto uraur
1sg become well go hand 3sgPoss so/then 1sg give.R-3sO pig three
‘I became well in his care. Therefore I gave to him three pigs..’

Waipmunu pa ak-ampri ya a kirmpa hore pa, atom men

clouds D do.R-block.R road REL plane enter D so/then 1pl.Excl
plelng yaper kinar angko Madang.
turn back go.down fall.R Madang
‘The clouds blocked the way of plane so we had to return to Madang and land there.’

Kil awi malaria atom kil hokg rmpa wrik

3sg get.R malaria so/then 3sg sleep lay.R bed
‘She got malaria and is therefore sleeping in bed’

Wet kipman pa ari, atom am kalpis ise

N.past man D see.R then now not PERF
‘The man had seen it, therefore the magic did not work anymore’

Atom ak pa am-ti pa mentepm al manto.

then do.R D now-this D 1pl.Inc. eat.R pig
‘And therefore we are nowadays eating pigs’ (explanation, refers to the whole
previous story )

Wuten mla kukwa wanyun pa atom sipsip pa hor en pa?’

recently who open door D then sheep D enter outside D
‘Who opened the door so that the sheep came out?’ (written story)

The use of atom overlapping with other conjunctions.

The use of the conjunction atom partly overlaps that of pa. Both can have temporal or causative
interpretations. The conjunction pa is more often used to express causal relations, however, while
atom is more favored for temporal ones. Another difference is that atom usually expresses some sort
of discontinuity.

Atom also overlaps with ari (change of speakers in conversations). The difference is that ari
emphasizes the element of surprise or contrast.
Temporal adverbs as connectives
Urim language has several temporal adverbs (am, wet, weti, wuten, ikga, katnukg, mpa) which
are used to mark the time when situations occur. These typically occur without an associated
conjunction and indicate temporal discontinuity; i.e. a switch to a different temporal setting.
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Ake kitn al pa mpa kupm or-eitn

NEG 2sg eat.R D FUT 1sg beat-2sgO
‘If you do not eat this I will beat you’

Ingkut mehen-mehen, mpa masin aln-tu tapor

sew.IR easy -easy FUT machine G -2pl break.R
‘Sew carefully, lest their machine will break’

Itni kolti ikga kitn uwi ariwe

stand.IR only later 2sg get.IR knowledge
‘Just wait, you will learn it later’

The temporal adverb am ‘now’ functions more like a conjunction. This word is one of the
commonest words in Urim spoken texts (750 occurrences in a corpus of 37 texts). Its basic meaning
is ‘now’, but if present time is really in focus, then usually other expressions are used instead (like ak
wang ti, am ti). Am seems to be especially common in discussions and other spoken texts and less
common in written texts. In spoken discussions it seems to replace the conjunction pa emphasizing
the actions suddenness or immediateness, or referring to present time.

In following examples am between clauses indicates that the second action follows immediately
after the first meaning something like ‘and right away’.

Kil am kai-hor kul-hor kai am kwalkwal kai ak ilka,

3sg now go-enter come-enter go now wail go do.R rush down
ak ilka, kai-nar... hu Mayenkilko tike, ari ake antiwe.
do.R rush down go-descend water Mayenkilko this.EMP but not enough.R
‘She went in and came out and wailing rushed and rushed down the slope, went down ...
to the pond of Mayenkilko, but it was not (deep) enough’’

Walkipman al-kil pa atning kol-pa, am kaino...

grandson G-3sg D hear.R like-that now go.up...
‘The grandson heard this and went (to do it)’

Am pirng kai anong ise.

now run go village PERF
‘And quickly run to the village’

Ak kong miningket paipm ai tuwekg akwe nimpa aln-tuwekg pa

use.R morning dark bad DIR 3dual call dog G -3dual D
am tuwekg kai. Atom tuwekg kainar....
now 3dual go then 3dual go down
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‘Very early in the morning, when it still was dark, the two of them called their dogs and
left straight away. Then they descended...’

When am occurs in a clause having the perfect aspect adverb ise, it can refer to something that
happened earlier but is still valid at the time of utterance. For example the state or action is still
continuing at the time of utterance (see also the first example above). Am often occurs in clauses
giving added background information to a story (second example below):

Mentekg akor akor hining, am kai ise

1dual search.R search.R in.vain now go PERF
‘We searched and searched in vain, it had (already) left.’

Man-yan a-tu-wen am amo ise

mother-father G-3pl-ATR now die.R PERF
‘Their parents had died’ (were dead at the time of the happenings told in the story)

The combination am ... pake is used also in modal meaning to add emphatic certainty to the
proposition:

Kol pikekg kil wuli pipa, kil kol am kupm ikle-wel pake
HYP past 3sg arrive C 3sg HYP now 1sg scold.IR-3sgO EMP
‘If it had happened that he would have arrived yesterday, I certainly would have scolded
him’

In the same way as pa, am is also used to add vividness at important points in oral narratives. In
such instances, it is often repeated two or more times in the same clause or sentence.

Mentekg kawor ariri kalpis, am wet warim awi am ale

1dual go.in look.R no now recently child take.R now put.R
ti am kai no kitnong ise
C now go come.up sky PERF
‘We went to search but it was not there, the children had taken it (the moon) and let it go
so that it went up to the sky’

A’a, am yikak am no tike!

aha now foot now come.up here.EMP
‘Aha, the footprints are coming to this direction!

Man pa am almpil am hakg ari kalpmen

mother D now turn.R now cry but not-ATR
the mother turned her around and cried but in vain

In spite of its connective functions, am is primarily a temporal adverb. As a connective it adds a

sense of immediateness and urgency to the action. As a replacement for pa, it mainly occurs in
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spoken texts. In written texts connective instances of am are much less common. since it can be
often left out without big changes in meaning. Still, it can occur in written texts.
5.5.6. Causative conjunctions pa, ti, and combinations
Introduction
In Urim both the near demonstrative pronoun ti ‘this, here’ and the far demonstrative pronoun pa
‘that, there’ can serve as conjunctions. In addition to functioning as a demonstrative modifier in the
noun phrase, a locative adverb, and a topic marker, it also serves as a conjunction. The conjunction pa
is by far the most frequent of all Urim conjunctions, and occurs in a wide range of constructions from
coordinative to conditional. These demonstratives also occur as components in the following
compound conjunctions: conditional pipa ‘if’ (pa+pa - reduplicated form of pa), adversative pake
(pa+ completed aspect marker ise), which was illustrated earlier in Section 5.5.4.2 and in
combinations pa ti and ti pa.

It is a very common phenomenon in languages that deictic pronouns or words derived from
deictic pronouns also function as conjunctions. It is especially common to have causative
conjunctions formed out of demonstratives, since they point to textual material as the explanation,
reason, or basis for what is said.
The conjunction pa
The different functions of pa
The word pa is the commonest word in Urim. In a corpus of 35 texts containing over 28,000
words pa occurs about 355 times. This corpus contains mostly spoken texts but also some written
ones. Pa is somewhat less common in written texts. In some clauses the word pa occurs 4 times.
This is possible because of the many functions of this morpheme. The basic meaning of pa is far
deictic—‘there’. When it functions as a modifier within a noun phrase, pa usually marks givenness /
psychological accessibility of a referent to the hearer, but it can also function as a topic marker
following various sorts of topicalized or left-dislocated constituents indicating a new temporal setting,
a new or changed topic, or focus. As a phrasal head, pa can have following functions: deictic pronoun
‘that’, locative adverb ‘there’, emphatic particle, and conjunction.

In speech pa has certain phonetic features that help distinguish its various functions. As a
conjunction, pa is either preceded or followed by a pause. Native speakers are often unsure about
where to write the comma in written language. But in spoken language the differences of function
associated with pre- or post-pausal occurrence of pa are clearer. It is generally the case in the
language that whenever a conjunction occurs before a pause, it is pronounced with a distinctive rising
intonation and often its final vowel is also lengthened. This is true for pa as well.
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- When pa occurs after a pause, it usually functions as a coordinating conjunction linking

clauses encoding two successive event. Sometimes pa is also used when there is some sort
of weak causation involved; for example the previous event must occur before the following
one can happen (time sequence, local connection etc.). The conjunction pa that occurs after
a pause is usually unstressed, but can be stressed in order to emphasize the temporal or
causal relationship between the conjoined clauses. When pa is unstressed, it is difficult to
distinguish it from the coordinative conjunction a, since both can be pronounced and written
as wa. Still, the fact that these both can occur next to each other in the same clause shows
that they are separate words (as in the following example).

A men ari hunokg ak wang a men kai hokg kai Madang,

and 1pl.Exc see.R sea use.R time G 1pl.Exc go sleep go Madang
a wa men ari nimpen pa yat
and then 1pl.Exc see.R bat D also
‘And we saw sea at the time when we went to sleep at Madang, and then we saw also
those bats’

- Pa occurs before a pause following causal adverbial clauses or the protases of conditions,
but it can also express temporality, when the speaker wants to emphasize what follows, like
in the example below where something unexpected happens:

Kil amo plalng pa, kil wa yaper kul wa rpma

3sg die.R finish C 3sg D return come again sit.R
‘She died, then she returned back to life’

- Phonetically a conjunction occurring before a pause is quite distinct: it is pronounced with

rising intonation and the final syllable (usually the final vowel but also for example the final
nasal in the word atom) is lengthened. This intonation helps to separate it from an anaphoric
pa attached to an NP, which often occurs in the same position in the clause.
- When the phonetic features of the various occurrences of pa in one oral text were
instrumentally analysed27, the vowel in the conjunctive occurrences of pa (both stressed and
unstressed) was on the average approximately twice as long as the vowel in the anaphoric
occurrences of pa.. This difference in length helps to distinguish the different uses of this
morpheme. In written Urim the above-mentioned phonetic distinctions are not marked,
except for the pause. Many writers tend to write all three—the deictic pa, the coordinative
conjunction wa, and the causative conjunction pa—the same way when they are unstressed:
wa . Other writers, however, distinguish them.

27 This was done at the Phonetic Department of Turku University 1984.

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About the coordinative-temporal uses of pa.

In stories the conjunction pa is used in much the same way as the conjunction atom to mark time
sequence and weak causality (see Section 7.5.5.1). Some writers seem to prefer the conjunction pa,
while others prefer the conjunction atom in exactly the same contexts. Atom seems to generally be
more common in narrative texts, and spoken texts tend to have more occurrences of the conjunctive
pa than written texts.
When pa exhibits this function, it is usually, but not necessarily, preceded by pause in oral texts.

In the following examples pa marks only time-sequence or possibly weak causation (for example,
one had to land to Madang first in order to sleep, but sleep does not necessarily follow). In the
following examples, commas are used to indicate where the pauses occur.

Kil amo plalng pa, kil wa yaper kul wa rpma

3sg diev finish C 3sg D return come again sit
’She died and then, she returned back to life’

Atom men plelng yaper-kinar angko Madang pa, hokg mining wris
then 1pl.Exc turn back-go.down fall.R Madang C sleep night one
‘So we turned back, landed to Madang and slept there one night’

Wrongkatnur kai no ya, pa kaino erpun yo klung pa,

Wrongkatnur go ascend road D go.up creep.R tree stump D
pa ari kalpis, manto kai ise.
C but not pig go PERF
‘Wrongkatnur went up the road, crept up to the tree stump, but the pig had gone’

The use of coordinative pa between clauses is often optional; it can be left out without any change
in meaning:
Kil kaki kwei (pa) rampukg
3sg peel.R yams C dry.R
‘She peeled and dried the yams’ (there is very little difference in intonation between these
two possibilities, except possibly a very short pause before pa)

In the following example pa is more emphatically temporal and can be glossed ‘when- then’ in
English. (The example is from written text with no comma before or after pa) In this example pa
clearly functions as a subordinating conjunction:

Tu mansan pa imo pa ikga kitn uwi iriwe kai ahi?

3pl parents D die.IR C later 2sg get:IR knowledge.IR go where
‘When the parents die, then where will you get the knowledge from?’
.
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In some cases pa occurring after pause could be interpreted as either temporal or causative
(marking result or conclusion).

Tu tiur a rpma wan wor, antiwe kweikwei marpm a wrikya

3pl some G sit.R house good enough.R things money and belongings
pa tu atopen
C 3pl rejoice.R
‘Some live in good houses and have enough money and things, therefore they are happy’
(written example)

Il okipma watipmen, pa nikg-wor, pa rpmi wrisen

eat.IR food plenty D stomach-good D sit.IR indeed
‘Eat lots of food, then you will stay satisfied a long time’

Pa can also have emphatic uses. When the speaker wants to highlight some parts of story, pa is
repeated several times in the same sentence seemingly ‘unnecessarily’. In the first example below
repeated use of pa seems to emphasize the certainty of promise. Second example is an important
turning point of the story. Last example is from a sermon. Repeated pa is also often used to
emphasize the ‘teaching’ point of a traditional story.

Antiwe kupm itni waikenketn aki? Pa nungkurikg pa kupm kai

may.R 1sg stand.IR a little or D afternoon D 1sg go.
‘May I sit a while? I will surely go by night.’

Kil atning pa, kil awi wuri alkil pa,

3sg hear.R D 3sg take.R spear 3sgG D
awi krim al-kil pa, puntu nol
take.R shell money G-3sg D hand drum shell trumpet.
‘When he heard this, he took his spear, his shell money, drum, and shell trumpet.

Mentepm pa ikwonilmpen pa kweikwei pa...

1pl.Inc D think.IR D things D
‘We must carefully consider this...’
About the uses of pa occurring before pause
Most Urim conjunctions can occur in two phonological positions, either before a pause
intervening between two clauses or after it. When a conjunction occurs before the pause, it is always
pronounced with a distinctive rising intonation, and often its final vowel, or syllable (also the final
nasal can be lengthened!) is lengthened as well. The placing of a conjunction before pause does not
basically change its meaning, but makes it more emphatic, for example expressing surprise. Quite
often prepausal pa is subordinating, with the potential for being interpreted as ‘when’, ‘because’, or
‘if’. In Urim pa conjunction occurring before a pause can have a causative, conditional, or temporal
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interpretation. Possibly there is no clear-cut difference between causatives and conditionals in Urim,
as far as the use of pa goes. When the speaker wants to express that the reason etc. is uncertain or
hypothetical, he adds irrealis mood and/or the particle kol to the clause.
Conditional clauses are clauses whose semantic role is the expression of hypotheses or conditions
(Crystal 1980). There are some similarities between topics and conditionals. In many languages both
may be marked by similar morphemes. This is also true in Urim - one of the main functions of pa is
to mark topicalized constituents.
The conjunction pipa is more common in conditional constructions than pa, especially in written
texts (see section 5. 5. 6. 4).

Examples:

Also a presuppositional pa occurring before the pause can be used purely in the meaning ‘when’
or ‘then’ - without any kind of clear causativity, like in the following examples:

Wang a tu alm pa kai wreren pa, tu numprampen kweikwei pa.

time G 3pl shoot.R D go near C 3pl prepare.R food D
‘When the time to kill it came near, they prepared the food’ (temporal ‘when’)

Kil elng kul nar pa, kupm perng talpuk

3sg put come come down C 1sg shoot spear
When it started to come down, then I threw the spear.’ (at that moment)

Kil amo plalng pa, kil wa yaper kul wa rpma

3sg die finish C 3sg D return come again sit
’She died and then, she returned back to life’ (surprice)

The following examples are from a written procedural text about how to operate a computer.
Note the use of irrealis mode, which is typical in such texts:

Atom uwi wulom a kongket atom tawong-ket pa, atom kitn

then take.IR tail G black then hole-ATR D then 2sg
lang kawor waya ur a tawong pa kulor itna pa, pa
put through go in wire ID be hole D come out stand.R C C
ampake, am kitn lang elng or pa kawor itni pake.
enough now 2sg put through put enter C go in stand.IR D.EMP
Plalng pipa, rku kweiur kongket ur a kulor nang-en itna pa,
finish C push.IR thing black ID G come out ridge-ATR stand.R C
mpa-m kitn rku pake, pa kil “on”.
FUT-now 2sg push.IR EMP C 3sg ‘on’
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‘Then take the end of that black (cord), then the one with hole, then you push it into the
hole where a wire is sticking out from, that’s it, it is that where you plug it in now. After
that, push the black thing that is uphill (elevated) push that now, so then it will be ‘on’.’

When pa occurs before a pause following a clause with irrealis mode, the combination typically
functions as a conditional protasis:

Hu wei pa, mentepm rki wan

water rain.IR C 1pl.Inc stay.IR house
‘If it rains, we will stay at home.’

Kil wuli pa, mpa kupm ikle!

3sg arrive C FUT 1sg scold.IR
‘If he comes, I will scold him!’

Ake kitn al pa, mpa kupm or-eitn

NEG 2sg eat.R C FUT 1sg beat-2sgO
‘If you do not eat, I will beat you’

Compare the preceding examples with the following ones:

Kitn ik kwap pa, mpa kitn uwi marpm

2sg do.IR work if FUT 2sg get.IR money
‘If you work, you’ll get money’ (irrealis in the conditional clause plus pa marking
condition)

Ake kitn ak kwap, pa ake antiwe mpa kupm ilk-etn marpm

NEG 2sg do.R work C NEG enough.R FUT 1sg give.IR-2sgO money
‘You did not work, therefore I cannot give you money’ (realis modus in the reason
clause,
(pa referring to the reason, glossed ‘therefore’)

Kitn pikekg ak kwap, atom kupm alk-etn marpm

2sg before do.R work then 1sg give.R-2sgO money
‘You worked yesterday, so then I gave you money’ (atom used causatively)

Kupm alk-etn marpm eng pikekg kitn ak kwap

1sg give-2sgO money OBL before 2sg do work
‘I gave you money because you worked yesterday (reason)’

A conditional pa occurring before pause can be followed with another pa occurring at the
beginning of the next clause; the double use is possibly emphatic:

Tu la intokg okipma il pa, pa ilm manto

3pl say make.IR food eat.IR C C shoot.IR pig
‘When they intend to make a feast, they will shoot a pig’
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Kol kirmpa pa kai il itni tipmining pa, pa antiwe

HYP airplane D go eat.IR stand.IR mountain C C enough.R
‘It could have easily happened, that that airplane had touched the mountain (so close we
were flying)’

Tu katin manto pa, pa kiin ampake kai wreren

3sg encircle.R pig C C woman may not go near
‘When they are encircling a pig, women are not allowed to go near.’
Near demonstrative ti as conjunction indicating a response to something which is
happening/being said or has just happened/been said
Ti is basically a demonstrative indicating proximity: ‘this’, ‘here’. As a conjunction, it is used to
link clauses exhibiting a causal relationship. Often ti preserves it’s meaning of proximity when used
as conjunction, indicating that something which has just happened is the reason for something else
happening.
The conjunction ti tends to occur instead of pa in spoken conversations and direct quotations
when clauses exhibit a reason-result relationship..It does not have the other functions that the
conjunction pa has. So it is not used to mark temporal relationships, neutral/logical coordination, or
conditions.

Hu awei wail, ti men irka wan

water rain.R big C 1pl.Exc stay.R house
‘Because there is a big rain [right now???], we are staying at home’ (reason - result.
Could be a response to a question)

Compare :
Kol hu wei pa, mentepm irki wan
if water rain.IR C 1pl.Inc stay.IR house
‘If there is rain, we will stay at home’ (conditional reason - irrealis result)

Men irka wan eng hu awei wail

1pl.Exc stay.R house OBL water rain.R big
‘We are staying at home because of the big rain’ (fact-reason)

Usually the result clauses marked by ti refer to something that has actually happened or is
considered to be a fact. Consequently the verb in the result clause is usually has realis mode. All the
following examples are from conversations, expressing reactions to present situations or
explanations/answers in response to questions. The conjunction ti refers to something that has just
been said or has just happened, or to a present condition:

Kitn al kweikwei paipm, ti ipmanikg kitn uleket

2sg eat.R things bad C stomach 2sg painful
‘You have eaten something bad, that is why your stomach is hurting’
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Tu la-wopm kai anong a-kupm-en, ti kupm antikg mahing

3pl talk-1sgO go village G-1sg -ATR this 1sg sneeze big
‘They are talking about me in my village, therefore I sneezed’

Kupm akwekgel ti kupm la kol-pake

1sg ignorant C 1sg say like-that
‘I did not know, that’s why I said that’ (the speaker refers to something he just said)

Kupm a hokg ti nikgwalpm woniketen kweikwei

1sg INT sleep C stomach forget things
‘I am sleepy and keep forgetting things’ (speaker explains why he just forgot something)

Kupm ake ak kwap ur, ti tu akle -wopm

1sg NEG do.R work ID C 3pl scold.R-1sgO
‘I did not work and so they rebuked me’ (an elicited example)

Kalpis kai ahi? Ti kipm rka al al kuina?

NEG go where C 2pl stay.R eat.R eat.R what
‘How is it,is it finished? If so, what are you eating then?’

Pa tep pa awi, ti kupm la pen

C tape recorder D take.R C 1sg say again
‘While the tape recorder is on, I will continue talking first.’ (to children who are
disturbing)

The conjunction ti only rarely marks a result that has not happened or is uncertain:

Weti hu awei wail, ti hikgkil ikga ake hu wei

now water rain.R big C tomorrow lager NEG water rain.IR
‘It is raining a lot today, so perhaps there will be no rain tomorrow.’`

Kupm akor yul ari kalpis, ti mpa kupm ik wanukg ile.

1sg search.R fish but not C FUT 1sg use.IR greens garnish.R
‘I could not find any fish, so I will eat (the sago) with greens.’

Ti often refers to the content of a longer stretch of speech or to a whole story, which has just been
told, as the explanation for a current state of affairs.

Ti men akor ya hining

C 1pl.Exc search.R way in vain
This is why we search the way in vain (refers to the story just told)

Atom, ti am kupm la kweikwei stori pa

then C now 1sg say plural story D
‘So, that’s why I am telling these stories.’

Ti kipm ikwonilmpen iri!

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C 2pl think.IR see.IR

‘So you think about it!’ (refers to reasons which have just been given.)

All the examples presented in this section clearly show that the near demonstrative ti is used as
causal conjunction instead of pa to mark the grounds or reasons for responses in cases where the
speaker wants to point to a context or comment that is temporarily or spatially near.
Combinations pa ti and ti pa.
pa ti
The combination pati also refers back to something told or happened as explanation or reason, but
it differs from pa or ti in that it often refers further back than to just the previous clause or a present
situation. It is also more emphatic (meaning something like ‘for this reason and no other reason’ or
‘in that case’) than plain pa or ti. In conversations pati is very common:

Asen pa pati pa kupm hatn-hatn hining. Ampake kupm ansil kwei ur.
ask.R D C D 1sg roam.R-roam.R in vain unable 1sg meet.R thing ID
‘(You) asked and for this reason I wandered in vain. I could not find any game.’
(refers to a situation where the hearer broke the taboo of not speaking to a hunter - this
happened some days earlier, not recently)

Am tu manyan a Aknes pa rpmi pati am kol kipm anel kai hokg

now 3pl parents G Aknes D stay.IR C now like 2pl pick.R go sleep
‘Now if the parents of Aknes had been there, then you all had gone to sleep (there)’
(conversation about a trip made some days before)

Pa ti may also refer to things that have recently happened or been said:

Pati atnen kipm atnurng, ake kipm ikgalen.

D because 2pl leave.R NEG 2pl look.after.R
‘This is (happens) because you don’t look after it’ (pati refers to things just told).

Kipm yul kalpis pa pati am kai uwi nep mangkon ur

2pl fish not D D now go get:.IR coconut green ID
iye kul ilk-opm il
carry.IR come give.IR-1sgO drink.IR
‘OK, since you have no fish (as you just said), then bring me some green coconuts to
drink’

Atom kapm pa pati am kipaka kweikwei pa arke arke

then pond D C now bat plural D hang.R-CNT hang.R-CNT
pake.
EMP
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‘And this is why there are bats living on that pond (in a cave)’ (refers as explanation to
the part of story just told)

Iye tukulelng yan pa kai-kai mpang pati ilm kweikwei pake,

carry.IR clear.from father D go-go forest C shoot.IR game EMP
wampung wel pa.
possum bird D
‘If she takes the child away from the father going to forest, in that case he will shoot
game, possums and birds.’ (hypothetical result)

Pati is often used to mark a new theme/topic, which the speaker is about to begin (‘as for’ /
‘regarding’).

Am wet kol a Kinyapmoro la pa pati am aklale pake.

now recently like G Kinyapmoro say D C now true.R EMP
‘And as for the things Kinyapmoro has just said, they are true.’

Talpuk wris pa pati kipm elng-itni eng ...

branch one D C 2pl leave-stand.IR OBL
‘As for that one branch, you must leave this one branch because....’

Kol atopen tiur a mentepm a itna kanokg ti..

C pleasure some G 1pl.Inc G stand.R ground this
pa-ti kupm ari kol-en tu melnum a antiwe...
that-this 1sg see.R like-ATR 3pl man G have.R...
‘As for some of the pleasures of us people living on this ground I have noticed are like
this, the men who have...’

Atopen wor ikga itni yongyong pati wurkapm la kol kil-ke:

happiness good FUT stand.IR forever C book say like this-EMP
melnum a arku kil alkil hor-ng-watneikgen mla ur
person G depress.R 3sg G-3sg enter-TR-underneath who ID

pati kil itopen o!

C 3sg rejoice.IR IMP
‘So, as for the true happiness that will last forever, the Bible tells like this:’ (refers to the
text before) A man who humbles himself to anyone he can rejoice.’

Tuwekg am muikgmuin yek-wekg pa pati manyan pa amo ise

3dual now siblings DIM-two D C parents D die.R PERF
‘Concerning those two poor children, their parents were dead’
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ti pa

The combination ti pa occurs mainly in conversations and seems to largely synonymous with pa
ti:. Often it also has explanatory meaning (‘so, you see’).

Kong akwe ti pa tu aye-wen manto kul katin

morning call.R C C 3pl carry.R-TR pig come encircle.R
‘So, early in the morning they tracked the pig and surrounded it’
5.5.7. The conditional conjunction pipa
The conjunction pipa seems to be a reduplicated form of pa (pa+pa). It always occurs before
interclausal pauses and has same functions as unreduplicated pa in this position. It is much more
common as the terminus of conditional protases than pa.

Pipa occurring in a clause together with realis modus expresses that the proposition either really
has happened or is sure to happen. In these clauses pipa could be glossed ‘whenever’. These cases
are comparatively rare..

Wang a tu rpma pipa, kupm ak-antokg, tu kai hatn kol

time G 3pl sit.R if 1sg use.R-make.R 3pl go wander.R like
ur ai pa, ake kupm ak taipreta pa antokg wurkapm pa
ID LOC D NEG 2sg use.R typewriter D make.R paper D.
‘Whenever they are at home, I work with it, when they have gone away, I do not write
with typewriter’

More commonly pipa occurs with clauses having irrealis mode functioning as the protases of
conditional sentences.

Ti kupm la paipm pipa, kitn la nik -opm

C 1sg say bad if 2sg say tell.IR-1sgO
‘If I talk badly, you must tell me’ (In case I speak badly...)

Kitn la-la inung pipa, mpa kitn inung elng-kinar wurkapm pake
2sg say-say vomit.IR if FUT 2sg vomit.IR put-go.down paper EMP
‘If you feel like vomiting, you must vomit into this paper bag’

Kitn iye namung kul pipa, kupm rmpen

2sg carry.IR banana come if 1sg buy.IR
‘If you bring bananas, I will buy them’

Tu tilpulng ok yangkipm a-kupm pipa, kupm la-niki Dik,

3pl push:IR mouth talk G-1sg if 1sg say-tell.IR Dik
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kil kaino wa la
3sg go.up and say.
‘If they will not listen to my talk, I’ll tell Dik, he will go and talk to them’

Kipm ri yo tiur a ak ikg mining itna wreren kopi

2pl see.IR tree some REl use.R look dark stand.R near coffee
pipa, kipm ware wo!
if 2pl fell.R IMP
‘If you see some trees standing near coffee so that they shade it, you cut them down!’

When conditional protasis is much less certain in its potential factuality, or even counterfactual,
then the adverb kol is attached at the beginning of the protasis clause (see Section 7:6):

Kol huk ur pa, kupm a kai ngkli huk eng yul

HYP hook ID C 1sg INT go throw.IR hook OBL fish
‘If I had hooks, I would go to angle for fish’

Kol kitn pa ikgelen Akwekgel, kil rpmi ti

HYP 2sg D take.care.IR Akwekgel 3sg sit.IR here
‘If you had taken care of Akwekgel, she would have stayed here (with you)’

Some conditional sentences do not have any overt conjunction intervening between the protasis
and the apodosis, for example when the future temporal adverb mpa starts the clause:

Kil kinar mpa il hu

3sg go down FUT eat.IR water
‘If she goes down (into the water), she will (possibly) drown’

Kipmekg utnuhurng mpa nimpa kawor al

2dual leave.IR FUT dog enter eat.R
‘If you leave it, the dog will (certainly) come in and eat it’

The conjunction pipa is also used in the combination plalng (pi)pa (see Section 7.6.7):

Atom tu lap manto plalng pipa, tu anel.

then 3pl burn pig finish C 3pl cut.up
’Then they seared the pig first and then they cut it up.’

5.6. Comparative and hypothetical uses of kol, kolen

One characteristic of the Urim language is that the same phonological form can have several
different functions without any morphological change, for example as a verb, noun and preposition..
One of these multi-categorial words is kol(en). It functions as a preposition/complementizer
expressing similarity ‘like’ and also as a modal adverb expressing hypothetical modality.
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5.6.1. Kol(en) functioning as a preposition or complementizer expressing

similarity

When it expresses similarity,kol can be glossed as ‘like, similar to, as’. With this meaning it
governs both phrases or clauses,and often co-occurs with demonstratives (kolpa ‘like that’, kol ti
‘like this’, kolai ‘how’ and kolti ‘only’, etc.). The longer form kolen is less common, but seems to
have approximately the same range of uses as kol.

Uses of kol with noun phrases:

1. Both kol and kolen function as prepositions taking a noun phrase as their complement. There does
not seem to be any clear difference in meaning between kol and kolen. Possibly kolen is a bit more
emphatic: ‘just like’. (In Urim prepositions can be formed by the suffix -en; for example nampokgen
‘together with’ and atnen ‘because of’.)

Kil ari kol yan alkilen

3sg look.R like father 3sgPos
‘He looks like/resembles his father’

Ikgokg a-tu-wen ari kol tita

face G-3pl-ATR look.R like RES
‘They resemble each other, look alike’

Mentekg hokg kol melnum yipmiri kolti tuwa.

1dual sleep like person dead body only EMP
‘We slept just like dead men’

Impim kol a al mpangkil tatu ti

borer like REL eat.R timber all.over here
‘Wood borers like the ones that are eating timber around here’

Kil pa kukula kol Kinwanteing pa

3sg D light like Kinwanteing D
‘She is light (not pregnant) like for example Kinwanteing’

Hapm wekg ti kolen tita

cloth two this like RES
’These two garments are alike (of same material)’

Ikgokg ari kolen yan al-kil-en

face look.R like father G-3sg-ATR
’He looks just like his father’
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2. Kol and kolen also occur as modifiers of numerals expressing approximate quantity; ‘about,
something like’:

Ak kong miningket paipm ai wang awi kol wampomis pa pipa,

use.R morning dark bad LOC time get.R like five D C
kupm antam kwei a pekekg kupm kaki ak mining elng rmpa.
1sg cook.R yam REL before 1sg peel.R use.R dark put lie.R
‘Very early in the morning, about 5 o’clock, I cooked some yam I had peeled the
previous night and put ready.’

Mentekg rpma kol Sante wekg kweikwei ur kolpake.

1dual sit.R like Sunday two something ID like.that
‘We stayed there about two weeks’

Kipm elng kolen wikgwikg hi pa yaper nar pake.

2pl put like four be.IR there return come.down EMP
‘You (should) leave only about four sprouts or less’

3. In the following example kol can be glossed ‘for example’ and marks several entities picked
from a group of suitable ones:

Kipm paipmpaipm a-kupm-en ti, wang wor a-kipm-en a nar

2pl bad-bad G-1sg -ATR here time good G-2pl-ATR G come.down
rpma kol Sarere, Sante aki nar rpma kol Krismas pa.
sit.R like Saturday Sunday or come.down sit.R like Christmas D
‘You my younger brothers, a good time for you to come (to visit) is for example on
Saturday, Sunday or come to visit for example at Christmas time ‘

4. Kolen sometimes governs the complements of the verb palng ‘become’. It also occurs in the
predicates of equative clauses indicating a lack of precision.

Kupm palng kolen angkliin ur a tu melnum a kaling plan-to

1sg become like help ID G 3sg man G teach.R show-1plO
kweikwei pake.
things EMP
‘I became (something like) the one who helped our teachers’

Kipm la palng kolen warim a Maur Wailen aki kalpis?

2pl say become like child G Spirit Great or not
‘Do you want to become (like) God’s children or not?’

Men pa kolen ok a tu warim.

1pl.Exc D like mouth G 3pl child
‘we were (something like) the spokesmen of the students’
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Kol is also used to compare whole clauses. The verb of comparative clause is quite often deleted:

Kipm pa wakg ur kol men kil aki?

2pl D fire ID like 1plEx 3sg or
‘Do you there have a lamp like we here (have) ?’

Kil ak yalipm kol manto (ak yalipm)

3sg do.R nest like pig (make nest)
‘She made a nest like a pig (makes a nest)’

eng ak traim pilip al-mentepm-en pa, kol pikekg ak wang

OBL use.R try faith G-1pl.Inc-ATR D like before use.R time
a tu rka bot pa anti Sisas.
REL 3sg stay.R boat D with.R Jisas
‘to try our faith, same way as the faith of disciples was tried when they were with Jesus in
the boat (lit. ‘ like before at the time when they were in the boat with Jesus).’

Aur kanokg pa kai ak aur, kol pikekg kipmekg ari Kinikgen

cover soil D go use.R cover like before 2dual see.R Kinikgen

antokg aur kaino Wansompya

do cover.R go.up Wansompya
‘Covered with soil, same way as you saw Kinikgen doing at Wansompya’
5.6.2. Hypothetical kol and kolen in conditional sentences:
The form kol occurs in the protases of conditional sentences as a modal adverb expressing less
certain hypothetical modality, along with the demonstratives pa, pa pa or pipa.

Ik wang a kil kul pa mpa kupm ikle-wel

use.IR time G 3sg come C FUT 1sg scold.IR-3sgO
‘When he comes, I will scold him’

Kil wuli pa, kil mpa kupm ikle.

3sg arrive C 3sg FUT 1sg scold.IR
‘If/when he comes, I will scold him’

Kol kil wuli pa mpa kupm ikle-wel

HYP 3sg arrive C FUT 1sg scold.IR-3sgO
‘If/in case he comes, I will scold him’

Kol kil kul pipa, mpa kupm ikle-wel

HYP 3sg come C FUT 1sg scold.IR-3sgO
‘If he should come, I will scold him’
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Kil kul aki kalpis pa, kol ake kupm ikle-wel

3sg come or not C HYP NEG 1sg scold.IR-3sgO
‘If he had come or not, I would not have scolded him’

From the examples above we can see that kol is used in those conditional clauses where the
situation is less likely to occur or is even known to have not occurred (i.e. counterfactual modality). It
is not used when the condition is considered a fact or at least quite probable.

Kol is always used in counterfactual conditionals:

Kol kirmpa pa kai ile itni tipmning pa, pa antiwe.

HYP airplane D go lay.IR stand.IR mountain C C enough.R
‘If the airplane had touched the mountain (and it was near!), it would certainly have been
the end!’

Kol pikekg kil wuli pipa, kil kol am kupm ikle-wel pake
HYP past 3sg arrive C 3sg HYP now 1sg scold.IR-3sgO EMP
‘If it had happened that he arrived yesterday, I certainly would have scolded him’

Kol kitn pa ikgelen Akwekgel kil rpmi ti pa ikgelen

HYP 2sg D take.care.IR Akwekgel 3sg sit.IR here C take care.IR
watnom tu rpmi kai-nar pa.
children 3pl sit.IR go-descend D
‘If you had taken care of Akwekgel she would have stayed here and would have taken
care of her children and they would have lived in the lower part of village in that case’’

Shopen (1987:250) states: “The typical conditional sentence consists of a condition and a
consequent. Both condition and consequent can in principle be evaluated for their degree of
(epistemic) actuality.” In Urim, kol indicates states of affairs that are assumed to be less likely to
occur or are assumed to have not occurred. The form kolen also occurs in conditional sentences,
possibily indicating events that are even less likely to have occurred, but it is difficult to be sure of
this on the basis of present data. Often it can be glossed ‘as if, in case of’ and is more like a clause
adverbial than a conjunction. Consider the following examples:

Kolen kil wuli ur aki kalpis pa, mentepm ampake kai

HYP 3sg arrive ID or not if 1dual not.able go
‘Whether he maybe comes or not, we will not go’

Kil wet la kolen la mpa kil mpa kul pa

3sg recently say HYP say FUT 3sg FUT come D
‘He talked as if he would certainly come’
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Kolen kil wuli ur, pa mpa kupm ikle

HYP 3sg arrive ID C FUT 1sg scold.IR
‘In case he perhaps comes, I will scold him’

Kol kipm itnuhurng okipma a Maur Wor pa kipm mpa nikg ilm-pepm
HYP 2pl forsake.IR food G spirit good D 2sg FUT belly shoot.IR-
2plO
pa kolen ikg ake kipm itni titnogket eng kutnun Maur Wailen’
C HYP later NEG 2pl stand.IR strong OBL follow.IR Spirit Big
‘If you do not eat the food of the Holy Spirit, then you’ll become hungry, this means that
you won’t stay firm to follow God’

Kol is commonly used in procedural and other texts when the speaker uses examples to clarify his
message. Here it can be glossed as ‘for example, for instance, supposing, in case’ etc. (Compare this
to the similar use of kol governing noun phrases). Notice in the second example that kol is
accompanied by the conjunction atom (if -then) instead of the usual pa or pipa:

Kol Mowal pa mpa ngklon, eng kupm kalkut.

like Mowal D FUT forbid.IR OBL 1sg heavy
‘For example, for Mowal it would be taboo (to go hunting), because I’m pregnant’

Kol warim ur pa hakg-en kol kupm ti. Pa kol kil ti la-la, amur hakg
like child ID D cry-IO like 1sg D C like 3sg D say-say don’t cry
‘For example, if a child cries after me for example, then she would say; don’t cry!’

Kol kipman ak al-kil kai atom, kol kupm ti, kupm al yampis
like man use.IR G-3sg go then like 1sg here 1sg eat.R bean
‘Supposing the men alone go, then - like me here, I would eat beans then’

Wa kol kitn la nira krakg wail pipa, mpam kitn rku ‘shift’ pa,
and like 2sg say write letter big if FUT 2sg push.IR ‘shift’ D
pa mpa kil nira krakg wail. Wa ‘lock’ pa am wa kol shift’ pake.
D FUT 3sg write letter big and ‘lock’ D now and like ‘shift’ D.Emp
Kol kitn rku ‘lock’ pa pa, mpa kil nira krakg wail.
like 2sg push.IR ‘lock’ D if Fut 3sg wrote letter big
‘And when you want to write big letters, you should press the ‘shift’ and it will write big
letters. The button ‘lock’ is just like the ‘shift’. If you press ‘lock’ it will write in
capitals.’

Kol ake tu atning yangkipm a kupm la pa, tu ik katnong

HYP NEG 3pl listen.R talk G 1sg say C 3pl do.IR play
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aki itn op ik mining pa kupm awi-yen nang ti kolti

or roam.IR wander use.IR dark C 1sg take,R-3plO name C just
atom rmpa eng uk melnum a kaling plan-to kweikwei pa.
then sit.IR OBL give person G teach show-1plO things D
‘If they did not listen to what I said, but played and wandered around in dark (after the
lights were off), then I would just take their names down to give to the teachers’

5.7. Tail-head linkage

Tail-head linkage is a very common cohesive device in spoken texts, especially in narratives. Its
function is to bind together sentences of the same paragraph, and it expresses that the events follow
each other without any other important events intervening. The sequence of actions does not need to
be immediate.
Formally, tail-head linkage consists of a repetition of one or more predications from the end of
one sentence at the beginning of the next sentence. . In oral texts tail-head linkages are pronounced
with the pitch of the last syllable rising and often the vowel of last syllable (or the whole syllable)
increases in length.
Kong weti atom lap. Lap alm anel tu trop.
morning now then burn burn shoot.R pick.R they cut into pieces
‘At morning they burned (the pig’s hair). Burned and scraped it, they cut it into
pieces (for selling).’

Warim kiin pa kinar angket wark pa. Kinar angket

child woman D go down cut.R cane D go down cut.R
wark pa ari untu lape yo. Untu lape yo kinar
cane D see mushroom cover tree mushroom cover tree go down
yirokg kaino yipuk-ai. Warim kiin pa anel anel alule.
roots go up top-DIR child woman D pick.R pick.R wrap.R
Alule kolti am aye kaino wan ise. Aye kaino elng rmpa
wrap.R like this now carry.R go-up house PERF carry.R go up put.R lie
‘The girl went down to cut canes. When she went down to cut canes she saw
mushrooms covering a tree. Mushrooms covered the tree from the roots to the top.
The girl picked and picked and wrapped. Wrapped and carried up to the house.
Carried up and put (into the house).’

Some parts of the preceding sentence like the perfect aspect marker ise, are never repeated in a
tail-head linkage construction.
.
Am pir-ng kai anong ise. Pir-ng kai anong naki tu...
now run-TR go village PERF run-TR go village tell.R 3pl
‘Immediately (she) run to the village. Run to the village and told them...’
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In Urim tail-head linkage functions paragraph-internally. Usually (but not necessarily) sentences
linked in this way have the same subject.

In the following two examples the tree wallaby and its movements are the overall topic, despite
the brief switch to the speaker as subject.

Am wa katila tilpmung talpuk pa kul, karpo wurpmini.

now and follow.R tilpmung branch D come grab.R wurpmini
Karpo wurpmini pa, kupm no alm. Katila wurpmini pa,
grab.R wurpmini C 1sg come up shoot.R follow.R wurpmini C
kul karpo wunei. Karpo wunei pa, kupm no alm.
come grab.R wunei grab.R wunei C 1sg come up shoot.R
‘Now (the tree wallaby) came along the branch of tilmpung-tree, moved to a
wurpmini-tree. When it moved to the wurpmini-tree, I came up and shot. It
continued along the wurpmini-tree, came took to a wunei-tree. When it moved
to the wunei-tree, I came up and shot.’

When topic changes inside the paragraph, tail-head linkage is left out like in the following extract
of a story:.
Wang ur pa kil awi yikal. Kil awi yikal kai rpma wring pa.
time ID D 3sg take.R bow 3sg take.R bow go sit.R garden D
Am Kinkainil pa kul no wring pa. Kul no no,
now Kinkainil D come come up garden D come come up come up
wam kai nalu wayu pa..
hand go pick.R taro C
‘One time he took a bow. He took a bow and went to wait in the garden. Now
Kinkainil came up to the garden. She came up, hand went to pick a taro...’

Tail-head linkage seems to indicate that events follow each other in sequence and that the various
events take place in approximately the same location. It also marks that the topic keeps the same
inside the paragraph. Possibly it’s basic meaning is simply continuity (of action, location, actors).
Tail-head linkage in written text:
Tail-head linkage mainly occurs in oral texts. In written texts it is relatively rare. When tail-head
linkage occurs in a written text, it is often more truncated than in spoken texts. Compare the
following extracts from the spoken and written versions of the same text by the same speaker. The
tail-head linkage of the spoken version is shortened in the written version into plain conjunction pa
‘and then’:
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kul-hor kinar ankglei wes kinar kwokg.

come-enter go down swallow.R stone go down creek
Angklei wes kinar kwokg pa ninan, kul no awi tuk...
swallow.R stone go down creek D CNT come come up take.R stick
‘came out went down swallowed stones in the creek. After swallowing enough
stones down in the creek she came up, took a walking stick..’ (spoken text)

Kul-hor kinar angklei wes kinar kwokg pa

come-enter go down swallow stone go down creek C
kul no awi tuk
come come up take.R stick
‘came out went down swallowed stones in the creek and then came up, took a
walking stick...’(written text)

Consider also the following extracts of another story spoken and written by one person. Here all
tail-head linkages of spoken text are missing from the written version:

Wang ur pa mentekg Karis hel kainil. Mentekg hel kainil

time ID D 1dual Karis roam moon 1dual roam moon
kinar Walpang. Mentekg hel kainil kinar-nar-nar
go down Walpang 1dual roam moon go-down-down-down
wreren minip ise. Mentekg kinar wreren minip pa, atom
near river PERF 1dual go down near river D then
kil pa ikgyokg al-el paipm. Atom hokg rmpa nung rmpa pa.
3sg D sleepyness eat.R-3sgO bad then sleep lie.R wood lie,R C
Hokg rmpa nung pa kupm arpmen-tel rpma.
sleep lie.R wood D 1sg watch.R-3sgO sit.R
‘Once we two, I and Karis hunted in moonlight. We hunted in moonlight down at
Walpang. We hunted in moonlight descending down and down near the river. When
we had descended near the river, he felt very sleepy. And he slept lying on a trunk of
a fallen tree. He slept on the tree, I sat watching him.’

Por wang ur pa mentekg Karis hel kainil kinar Walpang.

story time ID D 1dual Karis roam moon go down Walpang
Atom mentekg kinar kinar wreren minip pa, atom kil pa
then 1 dual go down go down near river D then 3sg D
ikgyokg al-el, atom hokg rmpa nung pa. Kupm arpmen-tel
sleepyness eat.R-3sgO then sleep lie.R wood D 1sg watch.R-3sgO
rpma.
sit.R
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‘Story about me and Karis hunting in moonlight down at Walpang. Then we two
went down and down near the river, and he felt sleepy, and he slept on a fallen trunk
of tree. I sat watching him.’

Written texts can be more concise than spoken texts, without the danger of the hearer missing
some of the information. Therefore devices like tail-head linkage, which slow down the rate of
information flow, are not so necessary in written texts as in spoken text. Still, some of the best
authors of Urim do use tail-head linkage in their written texts to bind the paragraphs together, and
especially to highlight the important points in the story:

Ak wang ur pa Aburata a Bayuna elng sipsip pa hor hen.

use.R time ID D Aburata and Bayuna put sheep D enter outside
Tuwekg elngen hor eng la tu il mi itni hen pa...
3dual release enter OBL say 3pl eat.IR grass stand.IR outside D
Tuwekg antokg kol-pa itna ari Jim pa awi kar pa nar.
3dual make.R like-that stay.R but Jim D take.R car D come.down
Jim pa nar elng kar pa irpma...’
Jim D come down.R put car D sit.R
‘Once Aburata and Bayuna let the sheep outside. They let the sheep come outside so
that the sheep could eat grass outside ....While the two men where doing this, Jim
took car and came down. Jim came down and parked the car.....’

In this text tail-head lingkages occur only at this point, which describes the most important event
in the story.

6. About Urim Discourse

6.1. Word Order Variations and Dislocations
Word order in Urim is basically very rigid. Since there are hardly any morphological means to
distinguish core arguments like Subject, Object, Locative Object and Second Object, they are solely
marked by their position. For this reason the core constituents cannot move very freely in the clause
for thematic reasons. Subjects almost always occur before the verb in Urim clause. Objects can be
fronted, but this is still comparatively rare in Urim.

Dislocations and topic constructions instead are very common in Urim. In these constructions the
topicalized or emphasized constituent occurs separately in front of the actual sentence, which relates
to it in some way. In most cases the external topic corresponds to some NP constituent in the clause
in which the external topic has some function. In left dislocation there is a grammatical element in the
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clause (usually a pronoun), which refers to the same entity. In topic constructions this does not occur
(Shopen p. 355).
6.1.1. Moving of subject after verb
Placing the subject after the verb is rather rare in Urim but can occur at least in certain clause
types and when there is no danger of misinterpretation. No examples of this have been found in
transitive clauses, but it seems to happen with subjects of transitive verbs in topic constructions
(second example).

Kil al-al plalng ise, rmpa nepm wris

3sg eat.R-eat.R finish PERF lie.R leg one
‘He ate up everything, only one leg was left.’ (existential clause)

Kupm alm-popm kwaipu ampei

1sg shoot.R-1sgO basket strap
‘I was poisoned with the help of basket strap’ (topic clause where the subject is kwaipu
ampei)

Pikekg angkon huk plalng, rka wekg.

Past pick.up.R give finish be.R two
‘They have given them away (the piglets), there is two left.’ (existential clause)

The thematic motivation of moving the subject after the verb seems to be strong emphasis or
focusing of new information. In spoken utterances the subject NP is usually phonologically
emphasized, being pronounced with high pitch and stress on the last word.
6.1.2. Object fronting
The Object can occur in front of the subject, or sometimes between the subject and verb, without
any danger of misinterpretation, since in Urim transitive clauses the subject referent is usually more
animate and than the object referent. If both subject and object are animate, a fronted subject is
usually overtly marked as topic via use of the demonstrative pa or a pronoun:

Nol tu ak eng manto

trumpet shell 3sg use.R OBL pig
‘Trumpet shell they blow after shooting a pig’

Wui, kil kil am kwei ur al ise

Alas, 3sg 3sg now something ID eat.R PERF
‘Alas, some animal has eaten him!’

Kupm pa Yiwonel al-kupm langkin!

1sg D Yiwonel G-1sg forbid.R
‘Me, I forbid my child Yiwonel to go!’
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Most frequently object fronting occurs in texts, where the topic is an inanimate entity, which
cannot freely occur as subject. In following examples the fronted object represents new information:

Nokg tiur mpa la kunukg pa.

salt some FUT say later.IR D
‘Other kinds of salt will be told about later.’

Manto wasek ur mentekg katin plalng rpma pake...

pig small ID 1dual surround.R finish sit.R EMP
‘A small pig we have surrounded...’

Fronting of the object can also express contrast or emphasis:

Irkwa wet mla al -ketn?

basket nearPast who give.R-2sg
‘That basket, who gave it to you?’ (emphasizes the object)

Pikekg ekg ntam kweikwei pa wa yampon pa kil al-kil

Past two cook food D and done D 3sg G-3sg
al, maing pa rampukg eng tu wrong al.
eat.R raw D dry OBL 3pl crowd eat.R
‘The two of them cooked food and the cooked food she herself ate, raw food she dried for
the people to eat.’

It has been possible to elicit an example of a fronted locative objects, but none have been found in
natural texts, and some speakers do not consider it to be very good language:

Kupm wan okipma rmpa

1sg house food lie.R
‘I do have food in the house’

Compare to:
Kupm okipma rmpa kai wan
1sg food lie.R go house
‘I have food, in the house’

In certain cases object may occur before verb also in subordinated clauses. This seems to be
possible only when the object is generic. The construction does not seem to have any thematic
function.

Kompi ik plan-topm hapm angkut

Kompi do.IR show-1sgO cloth sew.R
‘Kombi teaches me to sew (with the machine)’
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6.1.3. Left Dislocation

Left dislocations and topic constructions are common thematical devices in Urim. Their main
function is to mark topics, especially when new topics are introduced or when a topic changes. When
a constituent occurs at the beginning of a sentence, outside the clause proper and there is also some
kind of co-referring constituent within the remainder of the sentence, this is termed here “left-
dislocation”. Those constructions where no such coreferring element exists are termed “topic
constructions”. In Urim this formal distinction is not very important pragmatically, since both types
of construction have the same discourse functions.
In a typical left dislocation construction, the dislocated NP occurs separated from the sentence
proper, while a co-referring pronoun within the following sentence indicates its syntactic role. In
Urim the dislocated NP can also be represented in the sentence by other means, depending on the
syntactic role of the dislocated constituent. Almost any argument of a clause can be left-dislocated,
while usually only Objects are fronted. Sometimes only a pause separates the dislocated NP from the
sentence, but often the dislocated NP is marked by a following demonstrative or personal pronoun.
Left dislocated Subjects
Subjects are commonly dislocated in Urim and are usually represented by a coreferring pronoun
within the sentence. Subject dislocations are a common way of introducing new topics. If the topic
is new information, the left dislocated Subject is often marked by a combination of the indefinite
quantifier ur and the demonstrative pa:

Melnum ur pa, kil kai ari wuring al-kil pa

person ID D 3sg go see.R garden G-3sg D
‘There was a man who went to see his garden.’ (beginning of a story)

Wusok wail wekg pa, ekg kai miring.

small big two D two go white.man
‘There were two brothers, they two went to the mission station.’

Wakg pa am kol-pa; wakg pa am wapiin angkon ...

Fire D now like-that fire D now lizard showeled.R
‘What happened to the fire was this; lizard took the fire ...’
Left-dislocation of syntactically ‘heavy’ constituents
Syntactically ‘heavy’ (i.e. complex) constitutents are often left dislocated.

Melnum uraur a arpm-e motokanu pa, tunteng kul...

person three G sit.R-TR motorboat D 3pauc come
‘Those three men who were in the motorboat, they came ..’

Kitn kai awi okipma a melnum manet, pa ake wor

2sg go take.R food G person other D not good
‘It is not good for you (SG) to go and take another person’s food.’
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Antokg waprekg al yampis wekg ata, pa ti angklon.

make.R smoke.R eat.R bean two only D D forbidden.R
‘Smoking and eating beans, only those two are forbidden.’
Left-dislocated Objects and other arguments
Left-dislocation of an Object is used especially when the topic changes or an Object referent is be
emphasized. Dislocated Objects always have a co-referential pronoun in the sentence proper, or are
fully repeated:

Kinulaipmung pa, men alil nang-kel Kinulaipmung eng ...

Kinulaipmung D 1pl.Exc plant.R name-3sgO Kinulaipmung OBL
‘About Kinulaipmung, we gave her the name Kinulaipmung because ...’

Melnum pa, tu wakrongen-tel engintei, kil antiwe nikg-walpm wor

person D 3pl like -3sgO because.of 3sg have.R stomach-liver good
‘This man is liked because he has a kind heart.’

Kalpis, nerkgiin kitn Kilmangkleng nerkgiin kalpis-en

no garden land 2sg Kilmangkleng garden land not-ATR
‘No, as far as the garden land is concerned, you Kilmangkleng have no
garden land (here)’

A left-dislocated instrumental NP leaves its instrument marker ak behind to the sentence:

Ampei yek-yek a kol-pa, mpa kipm ik ntokg

rope DIM-DIM REL like-that FUT 2pl use.IR do.IR
kuina, mpa kitnangku!
what, FUT break
‘Poor rope like that, what do you do with it, it will break!’

Time adverbials frequently occur sentence initial, marked as topics and providing the temporal
setting of a story or indicating a new section of the discourse:
Wang ur pa, mentekg Karis hel kainil
time ID D 1dual Karis roam moon
‘One day, I and Karis, we hunted in moonlight.’

Ak Fonde kong pa, poliskar awi-yo aye-wo kawor Borom

use.R Thursday morning D police car take.R-1plO carry.R-1plO enter Borom
pa.
D.
‘Thursday morning, the police car took us to Borom.’
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In the following examples, the external topic has actually developed into a clause-like ‘heading’
which are especially common in spoken traditional stories. In the second example the heading
corresponds with the object of the subsequent sentence, and this object is also fronted to further
emphasize the new, surprising participant in the story.

Muikgmuin yek-wekg, warim wasek yek-wekg. Tuwekg pa arkol

siblings DIM-two child small DIM-two 3dual D pull.R
‘[There were] a sister and brother, two small children. The two of them pulled ...’
(beginning of the story)

Ekg naren ampen tukgwain pa kai-kai, hul wangklung.

two gather breadfruit nut D go-go snake wangklung
Hul wangklung pa ekg awi nampokgen ampen tukgwain.
snake wangklung D two get.R with.R breadfruit nut
‘They kept gathering breadfruit nuts, there was wangklung-snake. Wangklung-snake
they got with breadfruit nuts.’

6.2. Tracking of participants and topics—The functions of

anaphora
6.2.1. Introducing new participants and referents to discourse
In Urim new participants and referents are introduced by various means: full NP, full NP plus
relative clause, full NP plus indefinite ur, full NP plus the demonstrative pa, full NP plus a
combination of ur and pa. In addition, there are also special clause and phrase types, which are used
for introducing new participants.
New items that are not topical, are usually introduced by a full noun phrase, with or without the
indefinite quantifier ur. Ur is not used if it is clear from the context that there can be only one
referent:

Kil no minip, kaino karpo kwokg

3sg come up river go up grab.R creek
‘He went upriver, took to a creek’

Ei, rep wail ur rmpa kinar hu kanokg pa.

Yes, pandanus big ID lie.R go.down water ground D
‘Yes, there is a big pandanus down on the bottom’

Mentekg Dik nampokgen melnum Maprik-en ur kai Pakwi

1dual Dik with.R person Maprik-ATR ID go Pakwi
Along with Dick and a man from Maprik we went to Pakwi (beginning of story)
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There are different ways to introduce topical new referents. Left dislocations and special
presentative constructions are used. This is especially the case at the beginning of texts, but also
happens sometimes at the beginning of a new paragraph.. When new main participants are introduced
in a narrative text, very often the combination of ur pa is used (with or without left dislocation). Here
the indefinite ur expresses that the participant is new information, while the demonstrative pa marks
the referent of the NP as topical. If the identity of the new participant is further specified by a
relative clause, pa is not used:

Kiin wekg ur pa ekg naren ampen tukgwain.

woman two ID D two gather.R breadfruit kernel
‘There were two women gathering breadfruit kernels’ (story beginning)

Kar wekg ur pa ekg am arkgni itna tita...

car two ID D two now bump.R stay.R REC
There were two cars had been in accident... (introducing new topic in the middle of story)
Melnum ur a tu Weinamon pikekg rka kaino Aimpoya.
person ID G 3pl Weinamon past stay.R go.up Aimpoya
‘A certain man from Weinamon lived before up at Aimpoya’ (story starts)

Men ari kiin wekg ur pa itna ya.

1pl.Exc see.R woman two ID D stand.R road
‘We saw two women standing by the road.’ (new participants, middle of story)

Generic and some inherently definite items are introduced without any indefinite quantifiers or
demonstratives , regardless of whether or not they are topical. When the introduced participants are
inherently definite NPs like pronouns or proper nouns, the beginning of a story is often marked by
adding pa or ur pa to a sentence-initial time adverbial.

Wang ur pa mentekg Karis hel kainil

Time ID D 1dual Karis roam moon
‘One day I and Karis went to hunt in moonlight’

If the new participant or other topic is introduced using special presentative clauses like the
following, no deictic particles are used:

Tuwekg walmamiin. Tuwekg kai ...

2dual grandfather and grandson 2dual go
‘There were a grandfather and grandson. They went...’

Kupm a la manto. Manto a Kinming kinar angko minip

1sg INT say pig pig G Kinming go.down fall.R river
‘I will tell about a pig. Kinming’s pig went down and crossed the river..’
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Kupm a la am wel wunin. Melnum ur pa

1sg INT say now bird wunin person ID D
kinar ari wel wunin hokg itna wap talpuk ...
go.down see.R bird wunin sleep stand.R tree sp. Branch
‘I will tell now about [a] wunin-bird. A man went down and saw a wunin-bird sleeping
on a
branch of wap-tree...’

In the last example the theme or name of this traditional story is mentioned in the presentative
clause, and the main actor is marked as topical via use of ur pa.

New important participants can also be introduced by using just pa. This commonly happens in
traditional narratives, where the participants are already familiar to the hearers:

Wusok wail wekg pa ekg kai miring

Small big two D two go white.man
‘There were two brothers who went to the mission station’

Pikekg-tak ai maur komong pa al -al melnum.

Past-long.ago spirit bird sp. D eat.R-eat.R person
‘Long ago the komong- sprit used to eat people’

In case the new referents are not topical, i.e. they will not be recurringly referred to in the text,
they are often modified by an embedded locative clause when first introduced, as in the following two
examples.

Men kawor wan ur pa ela wureren wrik a kirmpa

1pl.Exc enter house ID D stay.R near place G aeroplane
‘We went into a house near the airport.’

Plalng pipa, alok ampei ur aln-tu ha-pa aye kaino ...

finish C stear.R rope ID G-3pl be.R-there carry.R go up
‘After that they secured it with a rope they had with...’

There is universal tendency in languages to avoid having new information introduced into the text
in Subject position (Givon 1979a :72-74). In Urim, however, it is possible to have Subjects introdu-
cing new information, but often left-dislocations, existence clauses or topic structures are used to
avoid this. Only topical, important items are introduced to the text in subject position. Less important
items are usually introduced in the typical position of new information after the verb. In Urim this NP
introducing new information quite often has an embedded locative clause as a constituent. Some of
these are lexicalized into deictic adverbials, like the expression ha-pa in the examples above.
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6.2.2. Tracking participants and maintaining topics; anaphora

Urim speakers can refer back to known referents by using pronouns, zero-anaphora, or full noun
phrases. With noun phrases, the demonstrative pronoun pa usually occurs as a modifier in order to
mark of givenness of the referent:

Kil kai ari wan, kukwa wanyun pa

3sg go see.R house open door D
‘He went, saw a house and opened the door.’

Kil elng tulng nar kapm ise. Kapm pa kunturng

3sg put tumble come.down lake PERF lake D boom
‘He dropped himself tumbling into a lake. The lake boomed ...’

Kil alm manto, nalu wayu ... tu al okipma pa.

3sg shoot.R pig pull.R taro 3pl eat.R food D
‘He shot a pig, pulled taro, they are the food.’(the food being the things mentioned
earlier)

Kiin pa kinar alupm hu,... elng hu pa ela.

woman D go.down put.into.R water put water D stay.R
The woman went down to get water, put the water (there).’

Man warim aser mi, man pa aser hep,

Mother child weed.R grass mother D weed.R go.first
warim kiin pa aser kanukg .
child woman D weed.R behind.R
‘A mother and child were weeding, and the mother went weeding first, the girl weeded
after her.’

Mentepm antokg nok. Are nok pa.. ngkat timpalokg pa ...

1pl.Inc Make.R sago cut.R sago D carry.R sago-channel D
‘We make sago. Cut the sago palm ... carried the sago-channel ...’

If the referent is not particularly important and there can be only one such item at the certain point
of the story, no marker of definiteness or indefiniteness is necessarily used. Consider the following
examples:

Kil no minip, kaino karpo kwokg

3sg come.up river go.up grab.R creek
‘He came upriver, went up along a creek.’

Ir wanyun!
close.IR door
‘Close the door!’
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In the first example it is assumed that the river is the nearest one, and it is not really important
which creek he followed. In the second example the referent is known from the situation.

From the examples above one can see, that pa is more a marker of textual givenness rather than
just a general marker of giveness. Items known from the speech situation are referred to by NP + pa
usually only when there is a real meaning of distance.
6.2.3. The use of pa with pronouns to mark changing topic
When the deictic particle pa occurs with pronouns or other inherently definite noun phrasess, it
has special functions. It can be used to emphasize or clarify the referent, but usually its occurrence
with a pronoun marks a changing topic.

In Urim the same pronoun can occur in successive clauses referring to two different participants
without any occurrences of full noun phrases in between. This is possible, because the demonstrative
pa can also be used with pronouns to indicate a changing referent.

Kil antokg kolpa, num a-kil pa kukula wor.

3sg make.R like-that body G-3sg D light good
‘When he made this way, he felt releaved.’
(the use of pa marks that the pronouns refer to different persons)

In following examples, pa is used with pronouns or generic nouns to mark changing actor-topic:

Kupm pa ake pikekg la mpa ... Am men kai ... kil pa la-la, ...
1sg D NEG past say FUT now 1pl Exc go ... 3sg D say-say
‘I did not intend to ..... Now we went ..... she said...’

Pa kiin aser mi, anel kopi, kipman pa antokg ak masin

C woman weed.R grass pick.R coffee man D handle.R use.R machine ...
‘And the women weed, pick the coffee, the men peel with machine...’

Mentekg kul angko Wewak ti, kil arum karek ilmpa wris
1dual come fall.R Wewak this 3sg break.R hen egg one
pa, mentekg al ... ari kupm pa la; ... Mentekg kul-kul
C 1dual eat.R but 1sg D say 1dual come-come
kupm asen kil pa om, .... Ari kil pa la-la...
1sg ask.R 3sg D now but 3sg D say-say
‘We came landed here at Wewak, she broke an egg and we ate ... But I said, ... We kept
travelling and I asked her now, ... And she said, ...’

The use of pa is not automatic with a change of Subject. Its use seems to require that the referent
of the pronoun will persist as the Subject in more than just one sentence; i.e.topicality governs this use
 252

of pa. In the last example, the pronouns kil ‘he’ and kupm ‘I’ are without pa in spite of the fact that
they represent changing actor. The reason why pa never occurs with plural pronouns in this example
might be, that since ‘we’ includes both actors, the topic is not really viewed as changing. Notice also
that Object pronouns can be marked by pa when its referent occurs as actor-topic in the next sentence.
In the following example, the pronominalized Object is marked as topical by using pa, before the
referent occurs as subject:

Atom kupm la naki kil pa la-la, ... Atom kil la, ...
Then 1sg say tell.R 3sg D say-say, ... then 3sg say, ...
‘Then I told to him, .... And he said, ...’

The following example shows clearly how pa is used to show that topic keeps the same, while
subject changes:

Kil antokg nangnang pa, kiin alkil ampake huk waprekg kil pa,
3sg make.R sing-sing D woman 3sgPOS not.can give smoke 3sg D
kil pa ampake huk kweikwei kiin pa, pa angklon
3sg D not.can give food woman D C forbidden.R
‘When he is doing singing and dancing, his wife cannot give tobacco to him, nor can he
give anything to his wife, that is forbidden.’

This text describes men’s initiation. The man is topic here, not the woman.

The topic-changing function of pa is especially clear in these instances where it occurs with
pronouns, since the referents of the pronouns are clearly known. This use of pa makes it possible to
to track two different referents in long stretches of text using just pronouns.
6.2.4. Uses of zero-anaphora in Urim
As is the case in many languages (Givón, 1979:300), zero-anaphora is the commonest form of
anaphora in Urim. Zero-anaphora is used to refer to highly topical referents that are being
maintained over multiple clauses. The topic may be represented by a zero anaphora pronoun in quite
many subsequent clauses. Zero-anaphora is not restricted to referents bearing a particular semantic
role like actors. In the following short quote the topic is instrument:

Ampei yek-yek a kol-pa mpa kipm ik O ntokg

rope poor-poor G like-that FUT 2pl use.R (it) do.IR
kuina, mpa O kitnangku
what FUT (it) break

‘Very poor rope like that, what can you do with [it] , it will
break.’
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In the following example zero-anaphora refers first to the car, then without any explanation, to the
driver of the car. Both represent the topic of the story.

Men ari kar ur pa, pa-ti 0 kai kinar ansil -o,

1pl.Exc see.R car ID D that-this (it) go go.down meet.R-1plO
Atom 0 klas kalpis-en. Atom 0 rapo-wo la ...
then (it) glass not -ATR then (he) ask-1plO say
Men la ... Atom 0 aye nar kar al-kil pa ...
1pl.Exc say ... Then (he) take.R go.down car G-3sg D
‘We saw a car (marked as new topic), coming towards us and it has no window glass.
The driver asked us .... We answered ... Then he drove his car down ...’

In the example above, zero-anaphora seems to indicate that the same topic is being maintained,
even though the Subject changes.

Sometimes it is possible to refer to two different participants by zero-anaphora without any

pronoun or full NP to show the change in referents, if this is clear from the semantic content of verb.
This has been found in spoken text only:

Ran pa kil wrekg .... am 0 katnun 0 ....

Dawn D 3sg get.up now (it) follow.R (her)
0 antokg kolpa kolpa am 0 num patningke-wel tike.
(it) do.R like.that like.that now (she) skin tired -3sgO EMP
‘At dawn she rose ... and it followed her ...It did that a long time and finally she was
sick and tired of it.’

In the text, from which the above example is taken, the main participant is a girl and the second
participant is a snake. The snake is only referred to with zero-anaphora or a full noun phrase, never
with a pronoun. The girl, on the other hand, is referred to using pronouns or zero-anaphora. In the
example above, all cases of zero-anaphora refer to the snake except the last one, which refers to the
girl. The identity of the referent of the last zero-anaphora is pragmatically inferred. Usually, however,
if the actor changes, a full pronoun with topic marker pa would be used

In those texts, where the topic is an Object, it is frequently represented by zero-anaphora when it
is maintained across multiple clauses:

Kupm a la nokg, am nokg a mamikg-mamiin

1sg intend say salt now salt REL ancestors
pikekg tu antokg. Tu apur takreing nokg-nok, pa tu lap
past 3pl make 3pl break.R gather,R salt-sago C 3pl burn
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0 angket akrik, tu lap 0 nampikgen tita, plalng pipa,

(they) cut.R akrik-plant 3sg burn (them) with.R RES finish C
tu nampis 0 kai nar kuntuk wail. Tu angkat 0 kai
3sg gather.R (ashes) go come down pot big 3sg carry.R (pot) go
itna wakg, ntam ... Kai akwe nokg pa palng.
stand.R fire cook go dawn.R salt D appear
‘I will tell now about salt, the salt ancestors used to make. They broke and gathered
sago-stems and burned, cut akrip-plants, they burned them together, when that was done,
they gathered the ashes into a big cooking pot. They carried the pot to fire, cooked ... At
dawn the salt was ready.’

Notice in this example, that the actor tu ‘they’ (actually an impersonal plural in Urim) is mostly
mentioned as a full pronoun and only once represented by a zero pronoun. This shows very clearly
that zero-anaphora in Urim is not governed by actor role, nor the grammatical role of subject. In
narrative texts where the topic is usually one of the participants, zero-anaphora usually refers to the
actor- subject.

Even in topic-chain, if it is long enough, there is a need eventually to insert a pronoun. Pronouns
are always used, when there is a switch from background to foreground or vice versa. In Urim
pronoun or full NP is often used also after a topic clause (see the section 4.8 about topic clause) even
when the topic keeps the same. Zero-anaphora never refers to the subject of a topic clause, which is
natural since the subject is hardly ever topical even in grammaticalized or lexicalized topic clauses.

Kil ikgyokg al -el paipm, atom O hokg rmpa nung

3sg face eat.R-3sgO bad then (he) sleep lie.R wood
‘He felt very sleepy, and slept lying on a fallen tree.’

Nikg alm-popm paipm, ti kupm a il tike

Stomach shoot.R-1sgO bad C 1sg INT eat.IR EMP
‘I am very hungry, so I will certainly eat this’

Atom la num klangket-el pa, eng kil amo waiketn ..

Then say skin ? - 3plO D OBL 3sg be.sick.R little
‘Then she said that she felt weak because she was a little sick..’

Tuwekg num paipm, atom tuwekg wrekg kai ...

2dual skin bad C 2dual get.up go

7. ‘They were ashamed, and therefore went ...’

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Texts
7.1. Wampung
Tree wallaby (spoken story)

Wang ur pa mentekg Karis hel kainil.

time ID D 1dual Karis roam moon
‘Once we, I and Karis, hunted in moonlight.’

Mentekg hel kainil kinar Walpang.

1dual roam moon go down Walpang
‘We two hunted in moonlight down at Walpang.’

Mentekg hel kainil kinar -nar -nar wreren minip ise

1dual roam moon go down-down-down near river PERF
‘We two went hunting in moonlight down and down, near the river.’

Mentekg kinar wreren minip pa, atom kil pa ikgyokg al -el paipm.
1dual go down near river C then 3sg D sleepyness eat.R-3sgO bad
Atom hokg rmpa nung rmpa pa
then sleep lie.R wood lie.R D
‘When we had gone down near the river, he felt very sleepy, and he slept lying on a fallen
tree trunk.’

Hokg rmpa nung rmpa, kupm arpmen-tel rpma,

sleep lie.R wood lie.R 1sg watch.R-3sgO sit.R
kupm kaino itna nungkwang, nungkulkg lan hor kaino pa
1sg go.up stand.R wait ear pierce enter go.up D
nungkulkg lan itna hining.
ear pierce stand.R in vain
‘He slept on a tree trunk, I sat watching him, I went up to stand waiting, listened towards
uphill, stood listening in vain.’

Kupm nar aro -wel ikgyokg la-la; kitn ti wrekg eng

1sg come.down break.R-3sgO sleep say-say 2sg this rise OBL
ekg kai om!
two go nowIMP
‘I went down, woke him up and said; ‘you there, get up and lets go!’

Atom kil pa wrekg am ekg no ise.

then 3sg D get up now two come up PERF
‘Then he got up and we two came up.’
 256

Ekg kul no, no ari wampung yawormangkalpm wail pa

two come come.up come.up see.R tree wallaby (species name) big D
al mirpming ok pa rpma.
eat.R tree sp. fruit D sit.R
‘We two came up, came up and saw a big yawormangkalpm tree wallaby eating the fruit of
mirmping-tree.’

Atom kupm la nak -el la -la; kitn tipon wakg pa

then 1sg say tell.R-3sgo say-say 2sg wring.IR fire D
elng kaino am mirpming talpuk.
put go.up now mirpming branch
‘Then I told to him; ‘make a torch and put it up to a branch of the mirpming-tree!’

Kil tapon wakg pa elng kaino ari rpma

3sg wring.R fire D put go up see.R sit.R
‘He made a torch and took it up to give light.’

Am wa katila tilpmung talpuk pa kul, karpo wunei karpo wurpmini.

now and follow.R tree sp. branch D come grab.R tree sp. grab.R tree sp.
‘And then – it came along the branch of tilpmung-tree, took to a wunei-tree – to a wurpmini-
tree.’

Kul karpo wurpmini pa, kupm no alm.

come grab.R tree sp. C 1sg come up shoot.R
‘When it took to the wurpmini-tree, I got up and shot.’

Katila wurpmini pa, kul wa karpo wunei

follow.R tree sp. C come and grab.R tree sp.
‘Followed wurpmini-tree, came and took to a wunei-tree.’

Karpo wunei pa, kupm no alm.

grab.R tree sp. C 1sg come up shoot.R
‘When it took to the wunei-tree, I got up and shot.’

Kupm alm -alm -alm, hining.

1sg shot.R-shot.R-shot.R in vain
‘I shot and shot and shot, in vain.’

Yikal wanteing am kitnangku ise.

bow string now break PERF
‘The bow string broke.’

Wa yaper wa kai, wa kaino tilpmung

 257

and back and go and go up tree sp.

‘And it went again back and took to a tilpmung-tree.’

Kupm wale lak kai amawa mirmping

1sg bind.R loop go HES tree sp.
‘I made a climbing loop to go to the mirpming-tree.’

Kupm no mirmping kai-kai, kaino ela mirmping pa alm hungkuran wris.

1sg come up tree sp. go-go go.up be.R tree sp. D shoot.R arrow one
‘I climbed the mirmping-tree up and up and from the mirpming-tree shot one arrow.’

Ari har
but miss
‘But it missed.’

Yaper kul pa nar

return come C come down
‘It turned back and came down.’

Kul wa nar – nar - nar, kil pa nak -opm la; kitn pa

come and come.down-come.down-come.down 3sg D tell.R-1sgO say 2sg D
itatu -wo, itatu -wo, eng a kai kilke, itatu-wo!
hurry.IR-IMP hurry.IR-IMP OBL G go EMP hurry.IR-IMP
‘And it came and came downwards, he said to me; ‘you there, hurry up, hurry up, it escapes,
hurry up!’

Kupm ras – ras – ras kul itna kanokg ti

1sg rush-rush-rush come stand.R ground this
‘I rushed down from the tree to the ground.’

Kupm pirng kai kaino itna wunei yiprokg pa

1sg run to go go up stand.R tree sp. base D
‘I run up to the base of the wunei-tree.’

Kil elung kul nar pa, kupm perng talpuk

3sg wind come come down C 1sg shoot.R spear
‘When it came winding down, I threw a spear,’

Hor kai meng ise

enter go neck PERF
‘It pierced its neck.’

Angkat-en elng tulng nar kanokg

carry-ATR put tumble come down ground
 258

‘The spear threw it tumbling down to the ground.’

Am wa mentekg or - or - or kil pa wam-arpme wurom pa

and then 1dual hit-hit-hit 3sg D hand-put.R tail D
‘And then we two kept hitting it and he grasped it by the tail.’

Pa wampung pa tarkgim la -la nam-pel.

C wallaby D turn.R say-say bite-3sgO
‘But the wallaby turned trying to bite him.’

Kupm almpil am ak yikal ti or tike

1sg turn.around now use.R bow this bit EMP
‘I turned and hit it with the bow.’

Kupm ak yikal or-or-or-or-or, pa amo

1sg use.R bow hit-hit-hit-hit-hit C die.R
‘I kept hitting it with the bow, until it died.’

Mentekg angkat-en no palng anong ti ise, tu antokg al

1dual carry.R-ATR come up arrive village this PERF 3pl make.R eat.R
‘We came up carrying it and arrived to this village, they cooked and ate it.’

Stori ketn a wampung pa am kai itna kol-pa-ke

story little G wallaby D now go stand.R like-that-EMP
‘This is the end of the little story about wallaby’

7.2. Wampung
Tree wallaby (written story)

Por wang ur pa mentekg Karis hel kainil kinar Walpang.

story time ID D 1dual Karis roam moon go–down Walpang
‘Story about how I and Karis once hunted in moonlight.’

Atom mentekg kinar kinar wreren minip pa, atom kil pa

then 1dual go.down go.down near river D then 3sg D
ikgyokg a l -el, atom hokg rmpa nung pa.
sleepyness eat..R-3sgO then sleep lie.R wood D
‘And when we had descended a long way down near the river, he felt sleepy and slept on a
fallen tree.’

Kupm arpmen -tel rpma, kil hokg rmpa rmpa, kupm kaino itna tatu
1sg watch.R -3sgO sit.R 3sg sleep lie.R lie.R 1sg go up stand around
kaino -wai, nungkulkg lan lan hining.
go down-remote ear pierce pierce in vain
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‘I kept watching him, he slept a long time, I went up stood around there and listened in vain.’

Kupm nar akw -el la-la; wrekg eng ekg kai-om!

1sg come down call.R-3sgO say-say rise OBL two go -IMPnow
‘I came down and called him saying, get up and lets go now!’

Atom am ekg no ise, ekg ari wampung yawormangkalpm pa

then now two come.up PERF two see.R tree wallaby (species name) D
al mirmping ok pa rpma.
eat.R tree sp. fruit D sit.R
‘Then we came up, and saw a yawormangkalpm tree wallaby eating the fruits of mirmping-
tree.’

Atom kupm la naki kil pa la-la; kitn tipon wakg tos pa iri!
then 1sg say tel.Rl 3sg D say-say 2sg wring.IR fire torch D
see.IR
‘Then I told him, make a torch to see!’

Atom kil tapon wakg pa elng kaino ari rpma.

then 3sg wring.R fire D put go up see.R sit.R
‘And he made a torch and put it up to give light.’

Atom kupm la nak -el la -la; kitn itni kupm kaino ilm.
then 1sg say tell.R-3sgO say-say 2sg stand.IR 1sg go.up shoot.IR
‘And I told him; stay here, I go up to shoot.’

Atom mentekg itna ari tatu tilpmung talpuk pa kai am karpo

then 1dual stand.R look.R around tree sp. branch D go now grab.R
wurpmini kai am wa karpo wunei ise.
tree sp. go now and grab.R tree sp. PERF
‘And we two stood looking towards the mirmping branch, it went to a wurmpini-tree and then
took to a wunei-tree.’

Ari kupm kaino alm kaino wunei pa, alm alm alm, hining.
but 1sg go.up shoot.R go.up tree sp. D shoot.R shoot.R shoot.R in vain
‘But I went up to wunei-tree to shoot, shot and shot and shot, in vain.’

Ungkuran taluk am plalng ise, yikal wanteing am kitnangku ise.

arrow spear now finish PERF bow string now break.in.two PERF
‘Arrows and spears were finished, the bow string broke.’

Kil pa la-la; wa itni kai kupm ilm iri.

3sg D say-say and stand.IR go 1sg shoot.IR see.IR
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‘He said; ‘ you wait there, I try to shoot.’

Atom wa kil pa alm ari har, atom am wa yaper kaino mirmping ise.
then and 3sg D shoot.R but miss then now and back go up tree sp. PERF
‘And he shot but missed, and the wallaby climbed back to the mirmping-tree.’

Kupm arkol ampei pa wale lak pa kai kaino mirmping.

1sg pull.R rope D make.R climbing-loop C go go.up tree sp.
‘I pulled a liana and made a climbing loop and went up to the mirmping-tree.’

Pa kupm alm hungkuran wris ari har.

D 1sg shoot.R arrow one but miss
‘And I shot one arrow but it missed.’

Wa yaper nar atom wa kil pa akwe-wopm lala;

and back come.down then and 3sg D call.R-1sgO say-say
itatu -wo eng a kai kil-ke
hurry.IR-IMP OBL G go here-EMP?
‘And it turned back down and he called to me; hurry up, it escapes!’

Kupm ras-ras kul nar kanokg ti, pirng kaino itna wunei yiprokg pa
1sg rush-rush come descend ground this run.to go up stand.R tree sp. root D
‘I rushed down to the ground, run up to the base of the wunei-tree.’

Kil la-la nar eng elng kai wap pa, ari kupm
3sg say-say descend OBL put go breadfruit-tree D but 1sg
perng taluk am kai meng ise
throw spear now go neck PERF
‘It tried to come down and go to a breadfruit tree, but I threw spear and hit it to the neck.’

Angkat-en elng nar kanokg ti pipa mentekg or-or amo,

carry.R-ATR put come down ground here C 1dual beat-beat die.R
yikal a-kil pa tapor.
bow G-3sg D break.R
‘When the spear threw it to ground we two beat it to death, and his bow broke.’

Am ekg aye kul no anong ise.

now two carry.R come come up village PERF
‘And we two carried it up to the village.’

Stori am kai kol-pa-ke.

story now go like-D -PERF
‘This is the end of the story.’
 261

7.3. David kai Ukarumpa

David goes to Ukarumpa

Kupm la la nakepm wang a men kul

nampokgen kweikwei a men
Kupm la la naki-epm wang a men kul nampokgen kweikwei a men
1sg say say tell.R-2plO time REL 1pl.Exc come with.R things REL 1pl.Exc

ari a antokg ak wang pa

ari a antokg ak wang pa
see.R and do.R use.R time D

‘ I want to tell you about the day we came and what we saw and did on that day.’

Ak wang a men kul pa men

numprampen wrikya pa kinar rpma
Ak wang a men kul pa men numprampen urikya pa kai-nar arpma
use.R time REL 1pl.Exc come D 1pl.Exc prepare.R things D go.down sit.R
kinar wrik a kirmpa angkowe pa.
kai-nar urik a kirmpa angko -e pa
go.down place REL airplane fall.R –TR EMP

‘ The day we came we put together the luggage and went down to the airstrip.’

Pirkko ekg Debi pa nampokgen mentekg Josech pa

nampokgen tu wrong
Pirkko wekg Debi pa nampokgen mentekg Josech pa nampokgen tu urong
Pirkko two Debi D with.R 1dual Josech D with.R 3pl people
tiur yat a aye wrikya a Pirkko ekg Debi pa, men kinar wrik
tiur yat a aye urikya a Pirkko wekg Debi pa men kai-nar urik
some also REL carry.R things G Pirkko two Debi D 1pl.Exc go.down place

a kirmpa angkowe pa.

a kirmpa angko -e pa
REL airplane fall.R-TR D

‘Pirkko and Debi together with us two me and Josech and some people also who carried Pirkko’s and
Debi’s things, we went down to the airstrip.’

Kirmpa pa kul angko awiyo aye kul.

kirmpa pa kul angko awi -o aye kul
airplane D come fall.R take.R-1plO carry.R come

‘Airplane landed and took us with’

 262

Men kul ari hu kop Sepik pa men kul angko wreren ari waipmunu
men kul ari hu kop Sepik pa men kul angko ureren ari waipmunu
1pl.Exc come see.R water river Sepik D 1pl.Exc come fall.R near see.R cloud

pa akampri ya a kirmpa hore pa, atom men plelng yaper kinar

pa ak-ampri ya a kirmpa hor -e pa atom men plelng yaper kai-nar
D do.R-block.R road REL airplane enter-TR D then 1pl.Exc turn back go.down
angko Madang pa hokg mining uris.
angko Madang pa hokg mining uris
fall.R Madang and sleep night one

‘We travelled and saw the Sepik river and we came nearer but clouds were blocking the way of the
airplane, and we turned back and landed to Madang and slept one night there.’

Plalng ak kong miningket takgni a alm num pa men no.

plalng ak kong mining-et takgni a alm num pa men no
finish use.R morning night –ATR sun INT shoot.R skin C 1pl.Exc come.up

‘Then early at morning when the sun started to shine we came up.’

Wreren eng takgni no kwa pa men palng Ukarumpa.

ureren enga takgni no kwa pa men palng Ukarumpa
near almost sun come.up up C 1pl.Exc arrive Ukarumpa

‘When the sun was getting high (at noon) we arrived at Ukarumpa.’

Ak wang a men tatu ya pa kul

pa men ari hu kop wailwail
ak wang a men tatu ya pa kul pa men ari hu kop wail-wail
use.R time REL 1pl.Exc about road D come C 1pl.Exc see.R water river big -big
tipmining wailwail anong watipmen.
tipmining wail-wail anong watipmen
mountain big –big village plenty

‘When we were coming, on the way, we saw big rivers, big mountains and many villages.’

Men ari hu kop Ramu a nampokgen hu kop wasokwasok tiur ai.

men ari hu kop Ramu a nampokgen hu kop wasok-wasok tiur ai
1pl.Exc see.R water river Ramu and with.R water river small-small some Remote

‘We saw the Ramu river and also some tiny rivers.’
 263

A men ari hunokg ak wang a men

kai hokg kai Madang,
a men ari hu-nokg ak wang a men kai hokg kai Madang
and 1pl.Exc see.R water-salt use.R time REL 1pl.Exc go sleep go Madang
a wa men ari nimpen pa yat.
a wa men ari nimpen pa yat
and again 1pl.Exc see.R flying foxes D also

‘And we saw the sea when we slept at Madang, and we saw those flying foxes also.’

Wan a men hokge pa men hokg kai

wan wail ur a tu Lutren
wan a men hokg–e pa men hokg kai wan wail ur a tu Lutren
house REL 1pl.Exc sleep-TR D 1pl.Exc sleep go house big ID G 3pl Lutherans

nampokgen melnum a wamparpme kirmpa pa.

nampokgen melnum a wam-arpma-e kirmpa pa
with.R man REL hand-sit -TR airplane D

‘About the house we slept in, we slept in a big house of Lutheran Mission with the pilot.’

Ak wang a men kul palng ti pa

kupm pa wang hep
ak wang a men kul palng ti pa kupm pa wang hep
use.R time REL 1pl.Exc come arrive this that 1sg D time first
akupmen
a-kupm-en
G-1sg -ATR

a kul ti.
a kul ti
REL come here

‘The time we arrived was the first time I came here.’

Atom wropukopm paipm wrisen.

atom uropuk -opm paipm uris-en
then feeling.cold-1s.O bad one –ATR

‘Therefore I felt very cold.’

Bas pa kai awiyo kai wrik a kirmpa

angkowe pa ayewo kai
Bas pa kai awi –o kai urik a kirmpa angko-e pa aye -o kai
 264

bus D go take.R-1pl.O go place REL airplane fall.R -TR C carry.R-1pl.O go

kaino wan a Pirkko ekg Debi pa.

kai-no wan a Pirkko wekg Debi pa
go.up house G Pirkko two Debi D

Bus picked us from the airstrip and took us up to the house of Pirkko and Debi.

Monto rpma waiketn plalng pipa mentekg Josech nar Translator Lodge.
minto arpma waiketn plalng pa-pa mentekg Josech nar Translator Lodge
1pauc. Sit.R little finish D -D 1dual Josech come.down Translator Lodge

‘We sat a little while there and then I and Josech went down to the Translators Lodge.’

Melnum a ikgalen Translator Lodge pa alko ki

a wan ok ur pa
melnum a ikgalen Translator Lodge pa alk–o ki a wan ok ur pa
person Rel look.after.R Translator Lodge D give.R-1plO key G house fruit one D

nampokgen wrik kweikwei a hokge pa atom mentekg kokwa wanyun

nampokgen urik kweikwei a hokg–e pa atom mentekg kokwa wanyun
with.R bed plural G sleep-TR and then 1dual open door

pa elng wrikya almentekgen pa elngkirmpa.

pa elng urikya al-mentekg-en pa elng-armpa
D put things G -1dual -ATR D put –lie.R

‘The man who looked after the Translator Lodge gave us key to one room and sleeping things and then
we opened the door and put our things inside.’

Mentekg ar wanyun pa mentekg kinar armpen

wurkapm wompel
mentekg ar wanyun pa mentekg kai-nar armpen wurkapm wompel
1dual close.R door D 1dual go-down buy.R paper piece
kinar Printshop ai.
kai-nar Printshop ai
go-down Printshop LOC

‘We locked the door and went down to the print-shop to buy pieces of paper.’

Atom mentekg aye wurkapm wompel pa kai plan melnum a arpmen wan.
atom mentekg aye wurkapm wompel pa kai plan melnum a arpma-en wan
then 1dual carry.R paper piece C go show man REL sit -TR house
 265

‘Then we took the pieces of paper and showed to the man who looked after the house.’

Mentekg armpen okipma pa mentekg aye kaino wan

pa mentekg
mentekg armpen okipma pa mentekg aye kai-no wan pa mentekg
1dual buy.R food C 1dual carry.R go.up house C 1dual
ntam al mentekg rpma.
antam al menekg arpma
cook.R eat.R 1dual sit.R

‘We bought food and carried it to the house and cooked and ate and stayed there.’

Mentekg rpma wang wampomis plalng pipa mentekg kinar

mentekg arpma wang wam-wom -is plalng pa-pa mentekg kai-nar

1dual sit.R time hand-other-ATR finish C-C 1dual go.down

Trening Senta pa ak wang a itna hep eng wang a ak kwapel pa.
Trening Senta pa ak wang a atna hep eng wang a ak kwap-el pa
Training Centre D use.R time REL stand.R first OBL time G do.R work-3sgO D

‘We stayed there five days and then we went down to the Training Centre at the first day of the
course.’

Wang a mentekg kinar Trening Senta pa Debi kil akayewo kinar.

wang a mentekg kai-nar Trening Senta pa Debi kil ak-aye–o kai-nar
time REL 1dual go-down Training Center D Debi 3sg do.R-carry.R-1plO go-down

‘When we went down to the Training Centre, Debi took us there by car.’

Mentekg awi wan pa rpma plalng pipa kil

kaino wan
mentekg awi wan pa arpma plalng pa-pa kil kai-no wan
1dual get.R house C sit.R finish C-C 3sg go.up house

alntuwekgen Pirkko pa.

al-tu -wekg-en Pirkko pa
G-3pl-two-ATR Pirkko D

‘When we had received a house (to stay) she went up to the house of her and Pirkko.’

Ampake yangkipm waiketn plalng.

Am-pa-ise yangkipm waiketn plalng
Now-that-PERF talk little finish
 266

‘The little talk is finished now.’

 267

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