Free lexeme classes

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An lsola t1ve lS any free lexeme Wh1Ch typ1cally OCCU1"3 as an 1mmed1ate const1tuent of construct1ons no smaller than an ent1re sJntact1c clause (except 1n hypostas1s), or 1n construct1on w1th other lsolat1ves. Isolat1ves typ1cally occur as sole lexem1c const1tuents of ent1re phonem1c rrrases Wh1Ch precede, follow, or 1nterrupt the larger syntact1c cons truct10ns I lla tare the1r co-const1tuents. All lsolat1ves may occur as sole lexem1c Cl1llst1tuents of ent1re clauses, but some typ1cally so occur. The class1f1cat1on of lSOlat1ves 1nto four sub-groups - 1) InterJect1ons, 2) Responses, 3) Vocat1ves, and 4) Im1tat1ves - lS based on typ1cal occurrence w1th respect to co-const1tuents. Isolat1ves occur only 1n the loosest k1nd of construct1on w1th the rema1nders of the1r clauses. Only as quotat1ons (e.g. 'He sa1d ouchl I) do they enter 1nto normal syntact1c relat1onsh1ps, and even here there lS often a phrase-boundary to set them apart. A few lsolat1ves seem also belong to other lexeme classes, but mean1ng relat1onsh1p lS so tenuous that the more reasonable analys1s lS two homonYmous lexemes. For example, the response /Ja~1 always means 'not yet, , whereas the modal IJaD/ means 'st1ll, even now. '


An 1nterJect1on lS any lsolat1ve all of whose allolexes 1nclude the element / 1 : /. (Th1S lS meant to exclude all syntact1c construct1ons 1n Wh1Ch II :/ lS a superf1x.) InterJect10ns typ1cally occur as sole lexem1c const1tuent of the f1rst phrase 1n a clause, or as sole lexem1c const1tuent of a whole clause. The class of 1nterJect1ons lS rather small, but not closed - new 1nterJect1ons enter ST rather frequently, and a few surV1ve for long per10ds of t1me. The pr1nc1pal respectable members of the class are 11sted below 1n the1r most common allolexes; mean1ngs are only roughly suggested. (Some extremely common members w1th obscene or profane connotat1ons have been purposely om1tted.) 1) 11aaw:/ 2) 11mEE::I 3) 11e,1 'WeIll (ch1d1ng or d1sappo1ntment) r 'Sayl My my 1 (surpr1se, adm1rat1on) 1 rWhat~ (surprlse, lack of understand1ng) , 81 4) /Joo:/ 5) /JuJ=/ 6) /Joo-h60:/ 8) /JooJ:/ 9) /JnaJ-m1J:/ 10) /!n8:/


'Oh! (Now I understand) , 'OuchJ ' (and many al101exes wlth the same tonal and consonantal pattern but dlfferent vowels-e.g. /!yy-hyy:/) 'How about that!' (and many compounds wlth /taaJ/ as flrst element) 'Good heavens! (horror, shock)' 'Wow! (amazement)' 'There, there. (soothing).' 'Look! '

A response lS any lsolatlve (other than an lnterJectlon) WhlCh typlcally occurs as the sole lexemlc constltuent of the envlronment /B,/, where 'B' represents the beginning of an utterance by some later speaker ~n an exchange (l.e. not the person who opens the exchange). In other words, the response lS the sole lexemlc constltuent of the flrst phrase of the flrst clause uttered by a respondlng speaker. Responses, llke many other classes of lexemes, can also occur as the sole lexemlc constltuent of whole clauses and even whole utterances.

The class of responses lS small, and closed except ln the semantlc area of 'yes' answers, where lnnovatlons are posslble. Most responses have para-llngulstlc behavlor accompanylng them (gestures, faclal expresslons, and unusual vocal effects) Which is not descrlbed here. Examples are glven ln the nearest morphophonemlc equlvalent of the most common allolex of each response. Where two allolexes are common, both are clted. Where meanlngs are vague, the entlre exchange lS glven:

1) /88/ 'Yes (famlllar, all speakers). I (ThlS ltem lS nasallzed throughout.)

2) /ee/ 'Yes (concesslve).' A. ko wan-n{l wan-saw: nll-khrab t . B. 88, CllJ: Sll • A. 'Well today ~ Sa turday! ' B. 'Yes, tha t 's true.'

3) /00/ 'Oh~ (skeptlcal or mlldly surprlsed) , A. JUu thll-paag saa J suan-phluu. B. 0a, JUu klaJ kh8E-n{1: eelJ t . A. 'It's at the entrance to Suan-phluu Lane.' B. Oh~ as close as all that!'

4) 'Oh! (sense of loss) I A. keb-w~J sag-saam baJ: na • B. 00, chan p;ag: sa-m;d-IfEw t . A. 'Save about three (of the frults), wlll you~' B. 'Oh, I've peeled them all! '

5) 'Well~ What~ (further explanatlon or actlon requlred), but, well but ' A. wan-n{l chan paJ-syy phaa: maa . B. naJ, aw-maa-duu kan-n;aJ: Sl t . A. 'I bought some cloth today. ' B. 'We117 Let's see It!' naJ , chuaJ SOlJ nalJ-syy n~n: maa-n;aJ . 'Say, hand me that book, wlll you~' na J , wa a lJa J: na t . 'What7 What dld you say7' naJ , waa camaJ-maa: lJaJ t . 'Well, but you sald you weren't comlng!'

6) /lJaJ/ or /lJaJ/ 'Why, well, anyway.' lJaJ , maa ch~a: nag-lao 'Well, you're pretty late.' v lJa J , JalJ ma J-maa • 'In any case, lt hasn't come yet. '

7) /ree/ I I s tha t sO'l'

8) 'No (That cholce lS not taken).' Answers only questlons contalnlng the flnal partlcle /rYy/· A. wan-nll khun tOlJ pa J-wad: ry-kha . B. maA J: kha , ma J- tOlJ paJ . A. 'Do you have to go to the temple today'll B. 'No, I don't have to. ' A. khun maJ-paJ wad: ry-kha . B. maJ: kha . A. 'Aren't you gOlng to the temple'2 ' B. 'No, I'm not. '

9) 'Not yet. ' Negatlvely answers all questlons 1n Wh1Ch an assumpt10n lS made that an event wlll occur, or a sltuat10n perta1n, sooner or later. A. thaan khaaw: leew rY-JalJ • B. JalJ, JalJ ma J- ds J- thaan • A. 'Have you eaten yet'l' B. 'No, I haven't eaten yet. '

10) /plaaw/ 'No (the assumptlon or 1nference 1S wrong).' Negatlvely answers yes-no quest10ns (other than those answered by 8) and 9), and p01nts out the 1nappllcablllty of quest10ns conta1n1ng lnterrogatlve words. A. wan-nan khun paJ-wad , chSJ: maJ-kha • B. plaaw: kha , chan maJ-daJ-paJ • A. 'You went to the temple that day, d1dn't you'2 ' B. 'No, ma'am. I dldn't go there.' A. paJ na'" JI kha . B. plaaw: kha maa-deen len . A. 'Where are you gOlng'2 B. 'Nowhere. I'm Just out for a walk. '

11) 'Yes (man speaklng polltely).' Occurs In answer to all types of questlons, but merely lndlcates that the speaker has followed the Ilne of dlscourse, not that he speclflcally agrees to everythlng sald. Also occurs after non-questlons. After commands, lt nearly always lmplles 1ntent to obey.

12) /khraab/ 'Yes~ (man answerlng a call polltely).' A. khun cid: khrab t . B. khraab. A. 'Say, Ch1 t .•• ' B. 'Yes" ' 13) /kha/ 15) /ca/ 16) Icaal

13) 'Yes (woman speaklng polltely).' Parallel to 11) /khrab/.

14) 'Yes" (woman answerlng a call polltely).' Parallel to 12) /khraab/.

15) 'Yes (among 1nt1mates, or to an lnferlor).' Parallel to 11).

16) 'Yes" (among 1ntlmates, or to an lnferlor) , Parallel to 12).

Responses 5-10 above are frequently followed 1n the1r phrase or clause by sentence part1cles (4.5.), a class of unstressed bound lexemes Some of WhlCh have a morphologlcal relatlonsh1p w1th responses 11-16 above. Because of the stress pattern, such cases are not examples of two responses In constructlon wlth each other; the flrst 1tem 1S always the response, the second the sentence part1cle.

Examples. naJJ khrab . 'What's that" ' 5 maJ. kha 'No, ma 'am.' 8 ,.. JalJ· ca . 'Not yet. ' 9 plaaw& khrab . 'No, Slr . , 10

All responses can be followed In the same clause by vocaClves (3.1. 3.), WhlCh are normally In a phrase by themselves.


A vocatlve l~ any lsolatlve WhlCh typlcally occurs as the sole lexemlc constituent of the environment /, • / (l. e. the flnal phra se of a clause). Most vocatLves also occur as the only lexemlc constltuent of an entlre clause, or wlth a sentence partlcle as co-constltuent, the usual case belng the speaker's attempt to attract the attentlon of a partlcular llstener. The class of vocatlves lS extremely large and open. There are four sub-categorles (semantl_cally classlfledJ a 1) general vocatlves, 2)~, 3) klnshlp terms, 4) tltles, and 5) complex vocatlves. Representatlve examples for each sub-category are glven below.

1) /nll/ 'general vocatlve' Llke most general vocatlves, /nll/ has homonYms, the prlnclpal one belng a demonstratlve meanlng 'here.' The vocatlve /nll/ lS also easlly mlstaken for a homonYmous sentence partlcle, but ltS classlflcatlon as a vocatlve lS corroborated by the fact that It occurs In a separate phrase after flnal partlcles llke /khrab/ and /kha/. Examples: khun maJ-paJ baaD-seen: r;g r8-kha , nll t 'Then you're not gOlng to Bangsaen after all~ pham maJ-daJ-paJ naJ: leeJ khrab , nll t 'I dldn't go anywhere at all, (you)!'

2) /c~d/ 'name of a man' (lS that what you mean")"' Used wlthout tltle or klnshlp term, glven names or nlcknames of people commonly occur In the typlcal vocatlve posltlons In famlllar speech. Examples: pham maJ-daJ-paJ nSJl leeJ ha , cld t . 'I dldn't go anywhere at all, Chlt!' cld: w~oJ t 'Hey, Chl t! '

3) /phll/ 'older brother, slster, or cousln; husband' Examplest Nearly all klnshlp terms occur as vocatlves, sometlmes wlth much broader meanlngs than they have as nouns. For example, /lu~/ technlcally means 'older brother of mother or father,' but as a vocatlve (and In other uses) can apply to any male stranger of a certaln age. waa Ja~aJ: na , phil 'What dld you say, (husband)~' phil t . 'SlsterJ' (calllng)

4) /naaJ/ 'Master.' Many tltles, llke /naaJ/, have homonyms WhlCh are vocatlves, but as In the case of klnshlp terms, the meanlng may be qUlte dlfferent. F~r example, /naaJ/ as a formal tltle meanlng 'Mlster' 1S low In the soclal scale, but as a vocatlve confers respect. Other tltles do not occur as vocatlves at all; e.g. /phaJaa! 'hlgh-ranklng C1Vll servant' lS replaced by /caw-khun/ In all forms of dlrect address. * Examplest pham maJ-daJ-paJ naJ: 198J khr~b , naaJ t . 'I dldn't go anywhere at all, master.' naa J: kha. 'Master~' (woman servant call1ng)

5) Apparent constructlons of two or more vocatlves always turn out to be morphologlcal rather than syntact1c constructlons. The cases In questlon are klnshlp term (3) or tltle (4) plus name (2), and tltle (4) plus klnshlp term (3). The result lS a slngle lexeme (always an lndlvlslble unlt, whether It lS a vocatlve or a noun, syntactlcally speak1ng), WhlCh lS an endocentrlc derlvatlve, rather than a compound, because the name Qr Klnshlp term Substltutes for the Whole. Examplest than samid 'Mr.. S:I! 1 4 2 , n~o.o lUaJ 'Younger slster Luay. ' 3 2 khun ph30 '(Mr. ) Father. 1 4 3

  • An as yet unpubllshed pamphlet by James N. Mosel, entltled 'Thai Names, Ranks, and Titles' contalns much lnformatlon on this subject.


An 1m1tat1ve lS any lsolat1ve (other than an 1nterJect1on, 3.1.1.) Wh1Ch lS, morpholog1cally speak1ng, a redupl1cat1on (2.4.3.). Im1tat1ves typ1cally occur 1n the same env1ronment as vocat1ves, /, • /, but 1f a sentence part1cle occurs, 1t follows the 1m1tat1ve (whereas 1t precedes the vocat1ve phrase). Im1tat1ves also occur, somewhat rarely, as co-const1tuents of d1scont1nuous syntact1c construct1ons Wh1Ch bracket them; 1n such cases, the 1m1tat1ve usually occup1es a whole 1nternal morphophonem1c phrase of 1tS own (see example under 3) below.)

The class of 1m1tat1ves lS large, and almost certa1nly open, although 1d1olectal var1at1ons make 1t d1ff1cult to determ1ne what k1nds of 1nnovat10ns are acceptable. The sub-categor1es of 1m1tat1ves are determ1ned by reference to structural type of redupl1cat1on, but th1S class1f1cat1on accords well w1th semant1c sub-categor1es as well.

1) Slmple-redupl1cat1on 1m1tat1ves are mostly onomatopoet1c, the 1m1tat1on presumably hav1ng to do w1th sound. 2) Double-1nf1xed 1m1tat1ves are largely concerned w1th manner of mot1on, and 3) Slngle-1nf1xed 1m1tat1ves w1th character1st1cs of people. One example lS glven for each sub-category below. 1) khaw daJ-J1n siaD , {ed-{ed . tHe heard someth1ng go creak-creak. I

2) mya-k{l hen khun deen , kaphloog-.kaphleeg • 'A moment ago I saw you walk1ng w1th a 11mp. I 3) khaw chaaJ Den kh80D-khaw , suruJ-suraaJ , paJ mod: thaD-nan. 'He used up all h1S money, 1n spendthr1ft fash1on. r (The 1mmed1ate const1tuents are the 1m1tat1ve /suruJ-suraaJ/ and the d1scont1nuous rema1nder of the clause.)


A substant1ve lS any free lexeme Wh1Ch occurs as co-const1tuent of a pred1cat1on of Wh1Ch 1t lS not the pred1cator. Thus substant1ves typ1cally funct10n as tOP1CS, sUbJects, obJects, and complements. (Any substant1ve wlllch fulf11ls not only the def1n1 t10n above but also tha t of pred1cat1ve, 3.3., lS referred to 1n th1S grammar by the more spec1f1c des1gnat1on. In fact, nearly all pred1cat1ves qual1fy as substant1ves, but the reverse 1S not true. To put 1t another way, a non-1solat1ve free lexeme lS cons1dered to be a substant1ve unt11 1t can be shown to be a pred1cat1ve; once the latter class1f1cat10n has been estab11shed, however, the 1tem 1S thenceforth a pred1cat1ve.) Some substant1ves also funct10n as equat10nal pred1cators, and nearly all occur 1n prepos1t10nal phrases. Substant1ves are class1f1ed, on the bas1s of typ1cal and absolute occurrence, 1nto S1X sub-groups: 1) Nouns, 2) Complement1ves, 3) Pronouns, 4) Numerals, 5) Class1f1ers, and 6) Demonstrat1ves.


A ~ 1S any substant1ve wh1ch occurs as the head of an endocentr1c express10n. (Other types of substant1ves, part1cularly numerals and class1f1ers, also sat1sfy th1s def1n1t10n, but are referred to by the more spec1f1c term once they have been shown to s8t1sfy further cr1ter1a.) The characterlSt1C syntact1c pos1t10ns of nouns are those of substant1ves 1n general; the only d1st1nct1ve use of nouns, as opposed to other substant1ves, 1S the1r frequent and typ1cal occurrence as heads of noun express10ns (see 2.4.2.). Of all the lexeme-classes of ST, the class of nouns 1S by far the largest, compr1s1ng well over half of the ent1re vocabulary. The class lS also one of the most open - nearly all new lex1cal 1tems enter1ng the language, whether by borrow1ng, 1nnovat10n, or new-format10n, beg1n as nouns. At the same t1me there 1S cont1nuous loss from the 1nventory, as nouns become pred1cat1ves by 1nnovat10n. Nouns are class1f1ed on the bas1s of the1r relat10nsh1ps w1th other form-classes 1nto e1ght sub-categor1es. One example of each 1S g1ven below.

1) Concrete nouns have a covert lex1cal relat10nsh1p w1th one or more of the un1t-class1f1ers ( necessary 1n count1ng opera t10ns. /maa/ maa SOOlJ tua • 'dog' 'T'wo dogs. '

2) Mass nouns are counted only by one or more of the metr1c class1f1ers ( /mlam/ 'water' , naam SOv OlJ thuaJ . 'Two cups of water. '

3) Common ~ are counted w1th both un1t class1f1ers and metr1c class1f1ers. Most ST nouns fall 1nto th1S category. /phaa/ 'cloth' 'Two cloths (str1ps or p1eces of cloth) . ' 'Two metres of cloth. '

4) Abstract nouns serve as thelr own counters, occurrlng both before and after numerals. /w{chaa/ 'subJect of study, dlsclpllne' 'Two dlsclpllnes. '

5) Place ~ are a speclal case of abstract nouns, WhlCh typlcally occur ln preposltlonal phrases and are counted elther wlth themselves or wlth the general classlfler /heE~/. /raan/ , " , raan soo~ raan • 'shop, store' 'Two stores.' 'Two stores.'

6) Tlme ~ are a speclal case of abstract nouns, WhlCh typlcally occur ln preposltlonal phrases and are used as classlflers themselves but do not occur tWlce ln the countlng-phrase. /dyan/ na J dyan r8Eg . phaaJ-naJ s;o~ dyan • 'month' 'In the flrst month. I 'Wlthln two months. '

7) Personal ~ occur also as vocatlves (3.1.3.), and are of four sub-types. names, klnshlp terms, tltles, and comblnatlons (derlvatlves). Personal nouns occur as heads of endocentrlc expresSlons much less often than any other type of noun. When counted, they usually take the classlfler /khon/ (as do many other nouns WhlCh do not belong to th18 category). 'older slbllng or cousln; husband' 'Two older slbllngs. I

8) Personal-attrlbute ~ flll the subJect posltlon ln equatlonal predlcates of WhlCh a personal noun 18 the tOplC. ThlS subcategory lS largely Ilmlted to parts of the body and lndlvldual characterlstlcs (such as 'name,' 'age,' 'welght,' etc.). I /myy/ khun-cid myy Jaaw • 'hand, arm' IChl t has long arms. '


A complementlve 1S any substant1ve Wh1Ch occurs only as a whole pred1cate const1tuent 1n 1tself, or as a mod1fler, never as a head. (Other substant1ves , e.g. demonstrat1ves, Wh1Ch sat1sfy th1S defln1t1on, but also meet more spec1f1c cr1ter1a, are referred to by the more speclf1c term.) The categor1es of noun and complementlve are thus mutually excluslve, and thelr behavlor wlthln the clause framework lS qUlte dlfferent. In predlca tlons conS1S t1ng of only two cons tl tuents (sub Ject and preJlcator, or predlcator and obJect), complementlves appear decept1vely llke nouns. When the same predlcatlons are expanded to lnclude real nouns, however, the complementlves 1nvar1ably move e1ther to the front or the end of the clause. Complement1ves do not occur between nouns and predlcators, unless there lS a speclf1c modlfylng relat10nshlp between them and the nouns (l.e. the complementlve lnvolved lS part of a noun express1on). In the followlng examples, /khruu/ 'teacher' lS a noun, and /mya-raJ/ 'when' lS a complement1ve.

khruu cab;~g . cab;~g khruu . mya-raJ cab;~g • cab;~g mya-ra J . mya-raJ khruu cab;~g . cab;~g khruu mya-raJ • 'The teacher w1II tell (them).' '(Someone) w1II tell the teacher.' 'When w11I (you) tell (me)~' 'When would (you) tell (me)~' 'When w1Il the teacher tell (them)~' 'When would (you) tell the teacner~'

Complement1ves by themselves occur typ1cally as tOP1CS and complements, less often as subJects and obJects. Sub-class1f1cat1on 1S made, on the bas1s of typ1cal occurrence, 1nto three categor1esl 1) those Wh1Ch are found most frequently at or near the beg1nn1ngs of clauses, 2) those Wh1Ch are found most frequently at or near the ends of clauses, and 3) those Wh1Ch occur freely 1n both pos1t1ons. The last category (and to some extent all complement1ves) have the common feature that pos1t1on before or after the pred1cator makes relat1vely 11ttle d1fference 1nsofar as the mean1ng of the ent1re clause 1S concerned, whereas the subJect-obJect d1st1nct1on lS a v1tal one where nouns are 1nvolved. In th1S sense, complement1ves are 'moveable' 1n the clause context, wh1le the pos1t1on of nouns 1S f1xed. members, class. The three sub-categorles of complement1ves are named, after typ1cal 1) the /ba~-een/ class, 2) the /ee~/ class, and 3) the /thamaJ/ 91 / ••• r6d sla ./

/baD-een! Class

The class conslsts of complementlves whlch occur at the beglnnlng of clauses, comlng even before the subJect or tOplC. The class meanlng lS 'settlng of the subJect-predlcate sltuatlon wlth regard to tlmlng, frequency, or relatlve lmportance.' Most members of the class are morphemlcally complex lexemes, /ba~-een/ ltself belng one of the few members whlch conslst of a slngle morpheme. Some members have characterlstlc echoes later In the clause, these are lndlcated where posslble.

The class lS open and very large, lncludlng many (but by no means ~ll) tlme expresslons, plus a large number of conJunctlon-llke transltlonal expresslons whlch are not themselves conJunctlons. Only the most common and representatlve members are lllustrated below, wlth reference to a slngle frames

' •.• the car broke down.' 1. /ba~-een/ or /pha-een/ 2. /ba~-thll/ 3. /thamadaa/ 4. /Juu dll-dll/ 5. /dooJ-maag/ and /suan-maag/ 6. /dooJ-chaph~/ 7. /s~d-lEew/ 8. /thYlJ-n~n/ 9. /phr5-chamin/ 10. /mi-chanan/ 11. /Ja~aJ-k5taam/ and / Ja~a J-k5dll/ 'accldentally' Often followed by /khYn/. 'perhaps, sometlmes' When followed by /lama~/, the meanlng lS nearly always 'perhaps.' 'normally, usually' 'out of a clear blue sky, unexpectedly' 'usually, for the most part' 'In partlcular, especlally' 'after tha t' 'In splte of that' 'because of that' 'otherwlse, except for that' 'nevertheless' Often followed by /mYan-kan/.

/een/ Class

The class conslsts of complementlves WhlCh occur at the end of clauses, Com1ng after the obJect and some types of complements. The class mean1ng 18 somethlng llke 'relnforcement of prlor lnformatlon about quantlty, excluslveness, or lncluslveness of the subJect matter or manner of actlon.' Several members, ln fact, are most commonly found after speclflc prlor elements In the predlcate (thlS lnformatlon belng glven In the 11Stlng). There are, however, no real palrs of semantlc Opposltes.

/een/ -class complementlves are among the most common of all clause constltuents. The class lS open and moderately large, and lt lncludes stressed homonyms of several common bound lexemes.

1. feeD! 'by ltself (themselves), wlthout asslstance or outslde lnfluence. ' meew man-maa: sa eeD • 'The cat came all by ltself. (It wasn't brought here by somebody.) , , pen thamadaaz JUu eeD • 'It's only natural. (It's nature by ltself.)'

2. !duaJ-kan! or !daJ-kan! 'along wlth others, In company. ' pham kho~ deen, paJ duaJ-kan , daJ: maJ . 'May I walk along (wlth you)~' khaw samag calen kab-khaw: duaJ-kan • 'He offered to play along wlth them. '

3. /llg/ 'In addltlon, further, st111' Often follows /JaD/. leew , khaw k5-maJ-maa: sa llg t . 'And he dldn't come thlS tlme, elther.' n~~D-chaaJ JaD pen nag-rlan: llg. 'Younger brother was stlll a student.'

4. /thaw-nan/ or /thaw-nan/ 'only, no more than that.' Often follows /tee/. khuan catham haJ-s~d: paJ , thaw-nan. 'We Just ought to get lt flnlshed, that's all.' khaw aw tee-klnz thaw-nan. 'The only thlng he wants to do lS eat.'

5. /duaJ/ lalso, 1n add1t1on to some other fact. ' 188w , khaw k5-maJ-maa: sa duaJ. 'And he hlmself d1dn't come, e1ther.' (Compare w1th f1rst example under 3. /i1g/.) n~~lJ-chaa J , pen nag-r1an: JUu dua J. 'Younger brother 1S also a student (In add1t1on to be1ng someth1ng else).' (Compare w1th f1rst example under 6. /mYan-kan/.)

6. /myan-kan/ or /men-kan/ '11kew1se, 1n add1t1on to some other sUbJect; anyway, at that' , f' v n~~lJ-chaaJ , pen nag-r1an: JUU myan-kan • 'Younger brother l.S also a stu.dent ( some other person. ) , kS pham chS~b: men-kan t 'Well, I l.t all rl.ght ..• (but)' khaw kS-talJcaJ waa , camaa myan-kan • 'He decl.ded he would come anyway (even so).'

7. /talJ-haag/ or /taalJ-haag/ 'on the contrary, l.nstead.' Usually untranslatable l.n Often preceded by a /maJ/ -modal l.n the preV10US clause. pham maJ-daJ-chyy ph~on • chyy phon: talJ-haag • 'My name 1sn't Porn. It's Pone. ' khaw klab baan: sa talJ-haag • 'He went home (rather than else).'

8. /Juu-dl.l./ 'l.n spl.te of everythlng, anyway' khaw r~u-tual waa , khaw maJ-sabaaJ maag t khaw k5-JalJ paJ tham lJaan: JUU-dll. 'He reallzed that he was very slck, but he went to work In sp1te of It. '

9. /than-th1l/ 'lmmedlately' klab baan than-thll1 si • 'go r1ght on home. '

10. /188J/ 'slmply,' after negatlve 'at all'. Often preceded by a a /maJ/ -modal 1n the same clause. khaw kS-klab baan: 188J • 'He slmply went home. ' (Now 1S the t1me.)' khaw maJ-daJ-klab baanr sa leeJ • 'He d1dn't go home at all. ' thl1-nl1 maJ-m11 satem: leeJ . 'There aren't any stamps here at all. '

11) /th11/ 'th1S one t1me, for once.' Often follows general modal verbs llke /kh8a/ ( 1n commands and requests. pham Jaag capaJ: sa th11 • 'I'd llke to go th1S once. kh8a ha J khaw duu: th11 . 'Let h1m have a look at 1t. ' paJ Sa-th111 Sl • 'Why don't you goJ r

12) /noaJ/ or /noJ/ 'th1s Ilttle th1ng, for a wh1le' Often follows general modal verbs llke /kh8a/ 1n commands and requests. phom Jaag capaJ: sa n;nJ . 'I'd llke to try gOlng. (It's the th1ng to do.)' waan na:t;] nl:t;]-nl:t;]: no J, da J' rna J. 'Can you Slt st1ll for a m1nute~ , kwaad baan sa-noaJ: si t . 'Sweep up the house, w1ll you~ ,

13) /k5-leew: kan/ 'and be done w1th 1t.' Common 1n suggestions and agreements, and 1S usually set off 1n a phrase of 1tS own. ploaJ haJ-paJ , k5-leew: kan . 'Let 1t go and be done w1th 1t. '

/thamaJ/ Class

These complement1ves belong to both the /ba:t;]-een/ (1. above) and the /ee:t;]/ (2. above) classes; that 1S, they occur at both the beg1pll1ng and end of clauses. The class mean1ng 1S 't1me, place, or manner-or1entat1on oJ the subJect-pred1cate sltuat1on.' The placement of the 1tems also makes a Sllght but cons1stent d1fference In the1r mean1ng; the clause-f1nal pos1t1on makes the t1me, place, or manner element d1st1nct1ve, and the clause-1n1t1al POS1t10n makes 1t 1nc1dental. The occurrence of bound elements llke /thy:t;]/ and /sa/ around the pred1cate re1nforces th1s d1st1nct1on (see f1rst pa1r of examples below). The class 1S probably closed, but 1S qU1te large, S1nce 1t 1ncludes a great many standard t1me express10ns, such as 'yesterday,' and most 1nterrogat1ve lexemeso The examples g1ven below are representat1ve ones.

1) /thamaJ/ 'why?' thamaJ , khaw thy~-maa haa khun • 'Why d1d he (happen to) come call1ng on you?' khaw maa haa khun: sa , thamaJ • 'What d1d he come ual11ng on you for?'

2) /Ja~aJ/ or /J~a~-raJ/ 'how?' Ja~aJ thy~-tham naa Ja~anl la t . 'How d1d your face get l1ke that?' tham naa Ja~an , daJ Ja~aJ' lao 'How can you make your face l1ke that?'

3) /mya-raJ/ of /meraJ/ 'when? r khun capaJ amee-rikaa , mya-raJ • 'When are you g01ng to Amer1ca~ , mya-raJ , khun capaJ amee-rikaa 0 'When would you ever go to Amer1ca? ' khun pen thahaan meraJ t 0 'When were you a sold1er?'

4) /thl1-naJ/ or /thinaJ/ 'where~' khaw cood rod: waJ , thl1-naJ • 'Where d1d he park the car?' thl1naJ , thl1 khaw cood rod • 'Where was 1t he parked the car~'

5) /Ja~~n/ 'that way,' and /Ja~{1/ 'th1s way' JaDan , khun maJ-t5~-kaan l1g: ryy • 'In that case you don't need 1t any more.2' khun t3~-kaan Ja~{1: ryY . 'Is th1s the way you want 1t~'

6. /ph0-dll/ 'Just then,' /diaw-n{l/ 'now,' /welaa-nan/ 'at that tlme, I /t~0-paJ/ 'from now on,' /t~0-maa/ 'from then on,' and many other tlme expreSSlons. raw kamla~ phuud thy~ khunl JUu thl-dlaw , ph0-dll khun maa . 'We were Just talklng about you, and then you came. ' raw kamla~ phuud thy~ khun-samag: JUu thl-dlaw , khaw maa ph0-dll . 'We were Just talklng about Samak when he came.' diaw-n{l , pham mll thura maag • 'Now, I'm very busy.' pham mll thura maag , diaw-n{l 'I'm very busy now.' welaa-nan , khaw Ja~-Juu naJ kru~-theeb • 'At that tlme he was stlll In Bangkok. '

7. /thll-nll/ or /thrnll/ 'here,' /thll-nan/ or /thrnan/ 'there,' /thll-noon/ or /thrnoon/ 'over there, at the other place,' /kha-thll/ 'on the spot,' and many other place expreSSlons. thll-nll , maJ-mll naam • 'There's no water here (lncldentally).' mll naam , thll-noon • 'There's water way over there (that's where It lS).' thll-nan mll khE~-maa th~g-wan . 'They have horse-raclng there dally (that's one of the thlngs they have).' man taaJ kha-thll • 'It dled on the spot.'

8. /khaa~-naJ/ 'lnslde' and all derlvatlves of /naJ/-class preposltlons (4.2.1.) belong In thls class of complementlves, except when they functlon as preposltlons themselves.


A pronoun lS any substantlve WhlCh occurs wlth weak stress ln one or more of the typlcal substantlve posltlons - l.e. as tOP1C, subJect, obJect, complement, or modlfler. Other substantlves, e.g. claSSlflers (3.2.5.), also occur wlth weak stress, but only as constltuents of enumeratlons, not as Slngle lexemes fllllng one of the maJor posltlons of a predlcatlon. Pronouns also occur wlth normal and even loud stress, and commonly flll the maJor posltlons. They are frequently modlflers, but seldom functlon as heads, except when an enumeratlon lS the modlfler: /khun/

/khun tha~-soo~/ 'you' 'both of you'

Slnce weak stress lS not always predlctable from the morphophonemlc transcrlptlon used here, lt must sometlmes be lnferred for pronouns. The general rule lS that, unless the rhythmlc pattern glves clear eVldence otherwlse, a glven pronoun has normal stress only when lt lS the head of an endocentrlc expresslon (example above), and has weak stress everywhere else. Example of weak-stressed pronouns ln subJect and lndlrect obJect posltlons: phil , khaw haJ sataa~ khun le€w • 'My brother, he gave you the money already. ' Slnce pronouns typlcally do not head endocentrlc expresslons, one of thelr maJor functlons lS to slgnal that a glven sequence of noun-plus-predlcatlve lS a predlcatlon rather than a noun expreSSlon. ThlS lS done by lnsertlon of the pronoun In the subJect slot; the orlglnal subJect then becomes tOP1C, and lS often set off ln a separate phrase. In the followlng examples /baan/ 'house' lS a noun, /JaJ/ 'blg' lS a predlcatlve (adJectlve), and /man/ 'It' lS a pronoun. or 'The house lS blg.' 'A blg house. ' 'The house (It) lS blg. ' (predlca tlon) (noun expresslon) (predlcatlon only)

Pronouns, llke classlflers, have covert relatlonshlps wlth nouns - for example, /khaw/ Substltutes for nouns llke /phil/ 'older slbllng,' and /man/ Substltutes for nouns llke /baan/ 'house' and /maa/ 'dog.' The meanlngs and soclal connotatlons of pronouns ln ST are so complex, however, that classlflcatlon on a semantlc basls lS extremely dlfflcult. (It should also be pOlnted out that many semantlc 'equlvalents' of pronouns are structurally nouns - for example, a prlest uses /aad-tamaphaab/, a noun meanlng 'I,' ln all the contexts where an ordlnary man mlght use a pronoun such as /pham/ 'I ' . )

The class of pronouns lS small, but not closed (for a recent lnnovatlon, see the 23rd set under 1) below). Whlle lt lS often dlfflcult to pln down the meanlngs of pronouns, to some extent they do occur ln structural sets. Such sets can be establlshed by analysls of slngle exchanges (lnvolvlng only two speakers), where soclal requlrements dlctate the cholce of flrst and second person pronouns, the same pronouns belng selected throughout the exchange. Thlrd person and other pronoun selectlon, however, does not depend entlrely on the relatlonshlp between speaker and hearer, but also on the status of persons referred to, and hence no slmllar sets can be establlshed beyond the flrst and second person level.

Pronouns are sub-classlfled, therefore, lnto two groups. 1) members of sets, and 2) general pronouns. Some lndlcatlon of meanlng and soclal connotatlons has been attempted, but translatlons are of necesslty vague. Certaln sets contalnlng only one real pronoun are fllled out wlth klnshlp terms, WhlCh have normal stress and are personal nouns ( other sets are fllled out wlth ordlnary nouns. The suppletlve ltems WhlCh are not pronouns are glven ln parentheses.

Where there are several varlant forms of a pronoun lexeme, the most common cltatlon form lS Ilsted flrst, wlth less careful varlants llsted below In descendlng order of formallty, under the flrst occurrence. 1) Pronoun sets Sltuatlon 1. General pollte, male speaker 2. General pollte, female speaker 3. Deferentlal, male speaker 4. Deferentlal, female speaker Flrst Person pham pham dlhan dian llchan ian aahan dlchan 99 Second Person khun khun

Sltuatlon Flrst Person Second Person 5. To non-royal but extremely hlgh- kraphom ( ta J- thaaw) ranklng superlors, male speaker 6. Same, female speaker dlChan ( ta J- thaaw) 7. Adult to Chlld chan nuu (or klnshlp term) 8. Chlld to adult nuv u (klnshlp term) 9. Parent to Chlld khaa (luug) (or klnshlp term) 10. Parent to Chlld khaa caw caw 11. Parent to Chlld khaa kee 12. Parent to Chlld khaa elJ 13. Parent to daughter kuu elJ 14. Parent to son kuu mYlJ 15. Chlld to parent nuu (klnshlp term) 16. Chlld to older slbllng v nuu (phil) 17. Intlmate, boy to glrl, or among very young boys and glrls chan thee 18. Intlma te, glrl to boy, or among older glrls chan khun 19. Intlma te, among young adult frlends of the same sex chan kee 20. Intlma te, among older glrls chan (naa J) 21. Intlma te, among older glrls (less often, boys) raw tua 22. Intlma te, among older glrls, or between man and wlfe khaw tua 23. Intlma te, among modern boys and glrls aaJ JUU 24. , Intlma te, among adolescent boys ua lyy , ue 25. Int1ma te, among boys and young men kan lyy 26. Int1mate, among men kan raw 27. Crude, among boys and men khaa elJ 28. Crude, among boys and men kuu mYlJ

Rema1n1ng sets are elther rec1procal k1nsh1p terms - e.g. /phua/ 'I (husband speak1ng), you (w1fe speak1ng)' and /m1a/ 'I (w1fe speak1ng), you (husband speak1ng)' - or pa1red express10ns - e.g. /khaa-phacaw/ 'I (publ1C speaker)' and /than thalJ-laaJ/ 'you plural (aud1ence).' 2) General Pronouns

The follow1ng pronouns have more general mean1ng, and all can be used w1thout regard to the soc1al relat1onsh1p of speaker and Ilstener. For those pronouns Wh1Ch also occur as members of sets, the number 1n parentheses after the translat10n 1nd1cates whether the set member 1S a f1rst person (1) or second person (2) pronoun.

1. /phra-olJ/ 2. /than/ 3. /kEE/ 4. /khaw/ 5. /thee/ 6. /map/ 7. /raw/ 8. /kan/ 9. /tua/ 10. /ton/ 11. /khraJ/ 12. /araJ/ 'royal or revered th1rd person' 'respected th1rd person' (2) 'fam1l1ar th1rd person of our group' (2) 'general th1rd person; outs 1der r (1) 'respected but younger or female th1rd person' (2) 'lnfer1or th1rd person; an1mal, Ch1ld, or th1ng; 1t' 'we; I and my group; you and I' (1,2) 'each other; mutually; as a group' (1) 'oneself; 1nd1v1dually' (2) 'oneself, 1tself' (Sllghtly Ilterary) 'who, someone, anyone' 'what, someth1ng, anyth1ng'

The slngular-plural d1st1nct1on 1S lrrelevant for thlrd-person (1-6 above), all of Wh1Ch can be translated 'he, she, they' (/man/ can also be translated 'It'). The pronouns /raw/ and /kan/ (7-8) are always plural when they are used as general pronouns, and are also nearly ln complementary dlstr1butlon. /raw/ occurs ch1efly before the pred1cator and 1n stressed POSlt10n (e.g. as head of a pronoun expresslon, or obJect of a preposlt1on).

/kan/ occurs after the pred1cator, and 1f there 1S no sUbJect, 1tS mean1ng 1S rrearly always 'we' or 'ourselves.' It can follow any subJect (lnclud1ng /raw/) and has the effect of plural1z1ng that subJect - 'they, you (plural), etc. '

The general pronouns /tua/ and /ton/ (9-10) are normally slngular 1n mean1ng, and llke /kan/ are often reflex1ve: /khaa tue taa J/ /khaa kan taa J/ 'to k1ll oneself' 'to k1ll each other. '

The pronouns /khraJ/ and /araJ/ (11-12) share an 1nterrogat1ve or 1ndef1n1te mean1ng, ne1ther slngula~ nor plural, but can be plural1zed by the add1t1on of a bound lexeme /baa~/ 'some': /khra J: baa~/ lara J: baa~/ 'who (plural)' 'wha t (plural)'

The pronouns /khaw/ and /khraJ/ are the most common Subst1tutes for personal nouns, and the pronouns /man/ and /araJ/ for other types of nouns. These four members of the general category are hence the most frequently used, w1th /phom/, /d1chan/, and /khun/ lead1ng the set category. 3.2.4. Demonstrat1ves

A demonstrat1ve 1S any substant1ve Wh1Ch 1S 1nvar1ably the last free lexeme 1n any non-pred1cate construct10n 1n Wh1Ch 1t occurs (e.g. enumerat10ns and endocentr1c substant1ve express10ns). Demonstrat1ves by themselves do occur 1n most of the typ1cal substant1ve pos1t1ons - tOP1C, sUbJect, obJect, complement - but of course are never heads. The1r ch1ef funct1on, however, 1S that of mod1f1er; hence they are a spec1al case of complement1ves (3.2.2.). The occurrence of a demonstrat1ve 1S a sure slgn that an endocentr1c express10n has come to an end; the same 1S not true of /ee~/-class complement1ves ( In the follow1ng examples, /n{l/ 'th1S' lS a demonstrat1ve. 'The house 1S b1g' or 'A b1g house. ' baan , , n11 Ja J . bcsan , Ja J n11 . , baan , n11 Ja J 'Th1S house 1S b1g. ! 'Th1S b1g house. ' 'Th1S lS the b1g house. '

The class of demonstrat1ves lS small and closed, and the members seem to exclude each other semant1cally. There are two sub-categor1esl 1) /n{l/class demonstrat1ves, and 2) /d1aw/-class demonstrat1ves. The members of th1S class are morpholog1cally complex (see All but one have d1st1nct emphat1c forms alongs1de the1r base forms; two have spec1al plural forms. The class mean1ng 1S 'spec1f1cat1on by relat1ve locat1on. '

1. /n{l/ /law-n{l/ /nll/ 2. /nan/ /law-nan/ /nan/ 3. /noon/ /noon/ 4· /naJ/ 'th1S, these; closer to me' 'these' 'th1S one here, these here' 'that, those; closer to you' 'those I 'that one there, those there' 'yon; d1stant from us; the other, the others' 'that one yonder, those yonder' 'Wh1Ch; one or ones of llm1ted poss1b1l1t1es' 2) /d1aw/ Class The class mean1ng 1S 'spec1f1cat1on ence to the ent1re range of poss1bll1t1es. ' 1ndependently (1.~. outs1de of enumerat10ns less often than /n{l/-class demonstrat1ves; (or non-spec1f1cat1on) by referThe members of th1S class occur or endocentr1c express1ons) much they are nearly always mod1f1ers.

1. /d1aw/ 2. /d1aw-kan/ 3. /nYlJ/ or /nYlJ/ 4. /daJ/ or /raJ/ 5. /rec;g/ 6. / sUd- thaa J/ 'one, a slngle one' 'the same one' 'a, a certa1n one (not spec1f1ed) t 'whatever; one of llm1tless poss1b1l1t1es' 'f1rst (h1stor1cally) , 'last'

7. /d88m/ 8. /yYn/ 9. /naa/ 10. /laIJ/ 'former, or1g1nal' 'other, others; unspec1f1ed add1t1onal ones' 'next' 'later, ones 1n the future'


A class1f1er lS any substant1ve Wh1Ch occurs w1th weak stress d1rectly before, and 1n construct1on w1th, demonstrat1ves (3.2.4.). L1ke pronouns (3.2.3.), claSS1f1ers also do occur w1th normal stress; unl1ke pronouns, thelf do not by themselves f111 all the norrr~l pos1t10ns of substant1ves, but are almost ent1rely restr1cted to occurre~c€ as complements. (In such cases the normal stress lS a morpheme mean1ng 'one of th1S 1tem' - see In the examples below, /S88IJ/ lS a class1f1er mean1ng 'pack. I khaw khaaJ pen-s88IJ • 'They are sold by the pack (as one pack).' aw bur11 phra-can , S88IJ • 'G1ve me a pack of Moon C1garettes. '


By far the most common use of class1f1ers, however, lS 1n enumerat10ns, where the class1f1er follows numerals (3.2.6) and precedes demonstrat1vesl /haa S88IJ/ / S88lJ- nan/ /haa SQ8IJ' nan/ 'f1ve packs' 'that pack' 'those f1ve packs'

The whole enumerat10n lS often a mod1f1er 1n a noun express10n of Wh1Ch the head noun mayor may not have a lex1cal relat10nsh1p w1th the classlf1er (In th1s case /bur11/ 'c1garette, tobacco' lS the head; see below) , /bur11 haa S88IJI nan/ 'those f1ve packs of c1garettes'

classifier phrases

ClaSS1f1ers also serve as f1rst lexemes 1n class1f1er phrases enumerat10ns 1n Wh1Ch the second const1tuent lS not a demonstratlve but some other k1nd of speclfylng 1tem, usually a noun, adJectlve, or ordlnal numeral (

/SQ'JIJ sll-1yaIJ/ / S8QlJ-J8.J/ /SQQlJ thll- s11/ 'the yellow pack' 'the b1g pack' 'the fourth pack' 104 (noun) (adJect1ve) (ordlnal)

Slnce all such phrases are exocentr1c,./sOo~/by 1tself cannot subst1tute for them, but whole class1f1er phrases are the syntact1c equlvalent of noun express1ons. In other words, classlfler phrases can f1ll all the substantlve pos1tlons, although classlflers by themselves cannot. Enumerat10ns lntroduced by numerals (numeral express1ons) behave In the same way (see examples 1n

The sub-categorles of classlf1ers are determlned on the basls of the1r relat10nshJps w1th other lexeme categorles. They are 1) unlt classlflers, 2) metr1c classlflers, 3) general classlflers, and 4) lmltatlve claSSlf1ers. Slnce all the sub-categorles except 3) have relatlvely large membersh1ps, only representat1ve ex~mples are glven. (Abstract nouns, 3.2. 1.4., Wh1Ch also occur d1rectly after numerals, are not classlf1ers, Slnce they do not occur wlth weak stress before demonstratlves.)

unit classlf1er

A~ classlf1er lS any classlf1er Wh1Ch has a speclal relatlonShlP wlth one or more concrete nouns ( For example, If an ST speaker 13 gOlng to enumerate (l.e. count or speclfy) members of the class of /rya/ 'boats, Sh1pS,' he has Ilttle cho1~e but to select the unlt classlfler /lam/. If he uses a general claSSlfler ( he lS not conslderlng 1nd1vldual boats but k1nds of boats. Most unlt classlflers are used wlth a great many concrete nouns of very d1fferent meanlng, but a few are restrlcted to a slngle noun. In the latter case, for example, It lS posslble to say not only that /chyag/ lS the classlfler for /chaa~/ 'elephant,' but also that /chaa~/ lS the noun for /chyag/.

The sub-category of unlt classlf1ers lS qUlte large, but probably closed. Most dlct1onar1es Ilst up to 200 ltems as class1f1ers, of WhlCh the great maJor1ty are unlt classlflers. An attempt lS often made to relate classlf1ers semantlcally w1th the nouns they represent, but a far better lex1cograph1cal technlque, used by Mary R. Haas and others, lS to glve the unlt classlf1er ln parentheses after each concrete noun 11sted - V1Z. /rya/ 'boat, Shlpl (/lam/). The semant1c connectlon between classlf1er and noun may be burled so deep In h1story that 1t makes no sense descr1pt1vely - e.g. the classlf1er for /na~-syy/ 'book' lS /lem/, Wh1Ch lS also the classlfler for kn~ves and combs (a hlstor1cal explanat10n perhaps be1ng that anc1ent books were long, slender, and sharp-edged). There are, however, a number of semant1cally predlctable noun-classlfler relat1onshlps, and even some overt relat1onshlps, where the classlfler recurs as head of a compound concrete noun.

Examples, Compound Noun /baJ-maaJ/ /d~og-maaJ/ 'leaf' 'flower' ClaSS1f1er /ton-maaJ/ /khon-sag-phaa/ /raan-sag-phaa/ 'tree' 'laundress' 'laundry' /ton/ /khon/ /raan/

Not all such compounds have heads recurrlng as classlflers, however the classlfler for /kham-thaam/ 'questlon' lS not /kham/ but /kh5o/. Followlng lS a 11St of the most common unlt classlflers for WhlCh noun-reference lS relatlvely predlctable.

1. 2. /khon/ /oYJ/ /tua/ Reference ordlnary people royal and revered personages, Buddha lmages non-human thlngs wlth anthropomorphlc characterlstlcs (arms, legs, etc.) - e.g. anlmals, coats, trousers, tables, chalrs 4· /phEEn/ 5. /baJ/ 6. /ton/ 7. /phyyn/ 8. /sen/ 9. /m~d/ 10. /luug/ 11. /k5on/ 12. /thEYJ/ 13. /chab~b/ 14. /kh5o/ flat thlngs contalners plants strlps long tubular obJects - e.g. strlng, Wlre small round obJects large round obJects lrregular lumps stlcks coples

ltems, pOlnts (of language) It frequently happens that there lS fluctuatlon ln the cholce of classlfler for a glven concrete noun, both from the pOlnt of Vlew of the whole speech communlty and for lndlvldual speakers. In such cases, however, no matter WhlCh unlt classlfler lS chosen, the meanlng lS stlll 'one of the ltem ln questlon.' For example, the compound noun /phon-lamaaj/ 'frult' lS classlfled wlth /baJ/ 'contalner,' /luug/ 'large round obJect, I and jphon/ (head of the compound).

metric classifier

A metrlc classlfler lS any classlf~er Wh1Ch occurs ln enumerat~ons that modlfy predlcatlves, as well as nouns. Metrlc classlf1ers do not have speclal relatlonshlps wlth nouns In the way that unlt classlflers do; each 106 metrlc classlfler occurs wlth a wlde range of heads, both mass nouns and predlc2tlves. The meanlng of the sub-category lS 'measure by flxed unlt or conventlonal contents of a contalner.' In the examples below, a metrlc classlfler, /caan/ 'dlsh (as a measure for food),' lS lllustrated In a slngle enumeratlon whlch occurs In lsolatlon, as a mass noun modlfler, and as a verb modlfler. /saam caan: n{l/ /kEE~ saam caan/ /kln saam caan/ 'These three dlshes (of food) , 'Three dlshes of curry' 'Eat three dlshes (of It).' The metrlc classlfler /caan/ has a homonym /caan/ whlch lS a concrete noun 'plate, dlsh' havlng ltS own unlt classlfler /baJ/: / caan saam ba J/ 'Three plates (utenslls).' The same mass noun can occur wlth many dlfferent metrlc classlflers, dependlng on the type of measure used. Examples wlth /buril/ 'clgarettes, tobacco' : /buril haa S;);)~/ 'Flve packs of clgarettes. I /buril haa h;;)/ 'Flve cartons of clgarettes. , /buril haa klloo/ 'Flve kllograms of tobacco. ' /buril haa baad/ 'Flve-baht clgarettes. ' or 'Flve baht worth of clgarettes. I The same /buril/ lS also a concrete noun 'clgarette' whlch has a speclal relatlonshlp wlth the unlt classlfler /muan/: 'Flve clgarettes.' The sub-category of metrlc classlflers lS not large, but It lS open; a falrly recent lnnovatlon lS /fud/ 'foot, feet.' Two examples are glven below for each of the broad semantlc groups whlch make up the membershlp. 1. Dlstance and Slze: 2. Welght: 3. Conta l_ner: 4. Value: 5. Tlme: /m~d/ 'metre,' /fud/ 'foot.' /klloo/ 'kllogram,' /p;);)n/ 'pound.' /caan/ 'dlsh,' /thuaJ/ 'cup'. /baad/ 'baht, tlcal,' /rian/ 'dollar.' /moo~/ 'hour of the day,' /wan/ 'day' The occurrence of value and tlme classlflers (4,5) after noun heads lS relatlvely rare, except when the head noun means somethlng llke 'prlce, value' or 'tlme, duratlon.'

general classlfler

A general classlfler lS any classlfler WhlCh occurs In enumeratlons after an extremely wlde range of nouns. General classlflers do not have speclal relatlonshlps wlth elther concrete nouns or mass nouns; most of them occur even after abstract nouns, replaclng the second occurrence of the noun (see The class lS small and probably closed. Examples: 1. /an/ 'plece, ltem' Reference All concrete nouns except those referrlng to people and anlmals; most abstract nouns 2. /khuu/ 'palr' Potentlally all nouns, but especlally personal attrlbutes e.g. eyes, shoes. 3. /khaalJ/ 'one of a palr I 4· /chud/ I set, ma tChlng group' 5. /phuag/ 'group' 6. /chan/ 'class, ca tegory' 7. /koolJ/ 'dlsorderly plle' 8. /talJ/ 'stack' 9. /JaalJ/ 'type, klnd' 10. /chan{d/ 'type, klnd' 11. /khralJ/ 'occa slon, lnstance' 12. /heElJ/ 'place, locatlon' and /thll/ Same as 2. Most nouns. Nearly all nouns. Nearly all nouns. Most concrete nouns. Many concrete nouns. Nearly all nouns. Nearly all nouns. Many abstract nouns, especlally those wlth verbal constltuents - e.g. 'meetlng' Potentlally all nouns, but especlally place-nouns. 13. /raaJ/ 14. /thll/ 'case' 'repeated lnstance' Many abstract nouns. Nearly all nouns.

lmltatlve classlfler

An lmltatlve classlfler lS any classlfler for WhlCh there lS a morphologlcally related redupllcated lexeme whlch lS an lmltatlve (see 3.1.4.). Most lmltatlve classlflers are of the onomatopoetlc varlety, and the sub-category meanlng lS 'lnstance of a nOlse, movement, or other sensory lmpresslon.' As such, the whole sub-category lS not merely a speclal case of general classlflers, because enumeratlons wlth lmltatlve classlflers In them rarely modlfy nouns (except nouns llke /sialJ/ 'sound') but enter lnto syntactlc constructlon W1. th predlcates. 108 faa le8b , s;o~ we8b • 'The llghtnlng flashed tWlce (there was llghtnlng In two flashes) • ' The membershlp lS very large, and also open, Slnce lmltatlves are frequently lnnovated, but occurrence of lmltatlve classlflers lS actually qUlte rare In comparlson wlth other types of·classlflers. Example:


A numeral lS any substantlve whlch occurs as the flrst lexeme of a two-lexeme enumeratlon havlng a Cla$Sl!ler as the second lexeme. The lnternal constructlon of compound numeral lexemes lS qUlte complex, but mathematlcally loglcal (see Because of the compoundlng posslbllltles, the class of numerals lS theoretlcally lnflnlte, but the actual numeral ~phemes lnvolved are only 24 In number (lncludlng the two prosodlc morphemes). The syllablc ltems, all of whlch also occur as numeral lexemes, are as follows:

l. /ny~/ 'one' 10. /s~b/ 'ten' 17. /laaJ/ ' several /r~oJ/ 2-9' 2. /s;o~/ 'two' 11. 'hundred' 18. /baa~/ ' some r 3. /saam/ 'three' 12. /phan/ 'thousand' 19. /k~l/ 'how many' 4· /S~l/ 'four' 13. /myyn/ 'ten thousand' 20. /maJ-k~l/ 'not many' 5. /haa/ 'flve' 14· /sE8n/ 'hundred thousand' 21. /n~oJ/ 'few' 6. /hog/ 'SlX' 15. /laan/ 'mllllon' 22. /thug/ 'each, /c~d/ 16. /khrYlJ/ every' 7. 'seven' 'half' 8. /pe8d/ 'elght' 9· /kaw/ 'nlne'

Items 17-22 are not true substantlves, Slnce they have suppletlve forms In lsolatlon (see, but qua1lfy as numerals otherwlse. Morphemes 17-19 also enter lnto compound lexeme constructlons wlth other numeral morphemes; ltems 2u-22 do not. Item 20. lS two morphemes, the remalnder are slngle morphemes.

Constructlon of compound numeral lexemes from morphemes 1-19, plus the prosodlc morphemes /-/ 'mu1tlply' and / / 'add,' lS almost entlrely regular. The morpheme 1. /ny~/ has an allomorph /~d/ after ~O. /sib/ In addltlons, and the morpheme 2. /s;o~/ has an allomorph /Jll/ before 10. /sib/ In that partlcular mu1tlp1lcatlon.

Morphemes 1-9 and 16-19 occur 1n mult1pl1cat1ons only as the f1rst const1tuent; morphemes 1. and 16. only before 11-15 as second const1tuent, the others before 10-15. Morphemes 10-15, beS1des occurr1ng as second cons~ ltuents, also occur as f1rst const1tuents 1n mult1pl1cat1ons, but only when 15. /l~an/ 1S the second const1tuent.

Add1t1on construct1ons take effect only after all mult1pl1cat1on lS complete. In add1t1ons, morpheme 16. /khry~/ 'and a half' follows all other morphemes and mult1pl1ed const1tuents; 1t never leads an add1t1on construct1on. Morphemes 1-9 precede only 16. and follow all other morphemes and mult1pl1ed const1tuents. Morphemes 10-14 and the1r mult1pl1cat1ons precede 1-9 and 16 1n add1t1on processes, and fellow only a h1gher-rank1ng member of the1r own set or 1tS mult1pl1cat1on (e.g. 14. /sEEn/ occurs only after 15. /l~an/, but 10. /sib/ after any of the group 11-15, etc.). Morpheme 15. and 1tS mult1pl1cat1ons are always f1rst const1tuent 1n an add1t1on construct1on. Morphemes 17-19 do not occur 1n add1t1on construct1ons.

Examples of 1nternal construct1on of compound numeral lexemes. Add1t1on sib v '13 ' saam-sib v saam saam '33 ' sib v '12 ' J ll- sib v S:J:J~ S:J:J~ '22 ' sib haa '15' haa-sib ~d '51 ' , r:J:JJ Sll '104' S"ll-r:J:JJ sil-sib '440 ' phan hog-r~:JJ '1,600 ' hog-phan kaw-r~:JJ '6,900' Jl1-sib '20' haa-sib '50' saam-sib '30' hog-phan '600' laaJ-phan 'thousands of, several thousand' Mult1pl1cat1on " , ced-myyn ki1-sEEn '70,000' 'how many hundred thousand' myyn ced-phan '17,000 ' 'one m1ll1on' '9 1/2' sO:J~-l~an saam-sEEn si1-myyn haa-phan hog-r~:JJ c~d-sib pEEd khrYD '2,345, 678 1/2 1

Add1t10ns 1n Wh1Ch the f1rst const1tuent 1S one of morphemes 11-15 or 1tS mult1pl1cat1on, and the second const1tuent lS one of morphemes 3-9 or morpheme 16, can be amb1guous, because there lS a second pattern whereby morphemes 3-9 and 16 can stand for the mult1ple of the next lo~er order. The amb1gu1ty recedes as the number of zeros 1nvolved 1ncreases, and the alternate pattern takes over.

Example s I v , '" s:J:J~-r:J:JJ haa p€Ed-phan hog '205, I or '250' 1f /haa/ equals /haa-sib/. '8006,' or '8600' 1f /hog/ stands for /hog-r~:JJI. 110 laan khrYlJ myyn ced 'a m1ll1on and half' (almost certa1nly 1,500,000) 'ten thousand seven' (almost certa1nly 17,000) Numerals h1gher 1n value than /laan/ 'm1ll1on' eX1st, but are not yet 1n general use, and may not 1n fact sat1sfy the def1n1t1on of 'numeral' 1f they become acceptable. The lexeme /suun/ 'zero' 1S not a numeral, but 1S used 1n construct1on w1th numerals (for example, 1n glv1ng telephone numbers), as are other numeral Subst1tutes.

Morphemes 1-3 have allomorphs w1th d1fferent tones 1n a spec1al lexeme of the lsolat1ve class used 1n ser1al count1ng (as when start1ng a race): 'One, two, three) ,*

Numeral lexemes, both slmple and compound, are sub-class1f1ed on the bas1s of the1r behav10r w1th respect to class1f1ers. All numeral lexemes of course occur before class1f1ers, but some also occur after class1f1ers and 1n lso1at1on. Because var1ant forms of lexemes are 1nvolved, there lS some overlapp1ng of the sub-categor1es.

1) Card1nal numerals occur 1n 1solat1on. The mean1ng lS the same as 1t lS before class1f1ers I 'number of 1 tems.' Card1nal numerals 1nclude the slmple lexemes represented by morphemes 1-15, and all the compound lexemes represented by the1r mult1pl1cat1ons and add1t1ons, except those 1nvolv1ng morphemes 17-19. Thus the membersh1p of the sub-category approaches that of numerals 1n general.

2) Ord1nal numerals occur 1mmed1ately after class1f1ers and 1n cqnstruct10n w1th them. The mean~ng of the sub-category 1S 'pos1t1on 1n a ser1es. ' /saam chan/ /cha.n saam/ 'Three classes' (card1nal) 'The th1rd class' (ord1nal) The membersh1p of the sub-category lS exactly the same as that of cardlnal numerals, except that each ord1nal numeral, whether 1t 1S slmple or compound, has a der1vat1ve allolex beg1nn1ng w1th the pref1x /thl1-/ 'ordlnal number.' (Numerals conta1n1ng the morpheme 16. /khrYlJ/ 'half' are marg1nal members of the category.) Whereas card1nalphrases (numeral plus classlf1er) are exocentr1c, ord1nal express10ns (classlf1er plus numeral) are endocentr1c. Examples: 'th1rd class' 'th1rd class' 'the eleventh person'

  • From pr1vate conversat1on w1th M1SS Kanda Sltach1tta, 1963. III

h0lJ saam-s:i.b kaw wan thll-p EEd thlaw thll-hog 'room 39' 'the elghth (day of the month) , 'the slxth race' Besldes occurrlng after classlflers, ordlnal numerals also serve as modlflers of nouns, In a slmllar constructlon: 'page 417' baalJ khon '~people (not all) ,

3) Partltlve numerals occur only In the cardlnal posltlon, never lD lsolatlon or In ordlnal constructlons. The sub-category lncludes ltems 17-22 plus the multlpllcatlons of 17-19, and e set of derlvatlves endlng In /kwa/ (see end of sectlon). The meanlng lS 'proportlonal, approxlmate or unknown number of ltems. '

Examples: 'how many classes~' laaJ-s:i.b tuu laaJ tua 'tens of cablnets' 'several (anlmals)' kil-r~QJ baad maJ-kil wan 'how many hundred baht~ , 'not many days' , nQQJ khan thug chan{d hog-sib kwabaad 'few people! 'every klnd' 'slxty-odd baht'

Partltlve nume~als are actually a bound lexeme class, Slnce they do not occur In ls01atlon, but are lncluded here because of thelr relatlonshlp wlth substantlve numerals. Thelr suppletlve lsolatlon-forms are, syntactlcally speaklng, members of the /eelJ/ class of complementlves ( WhlCh serve as numeral Substltutes. They are llsted below (rather than wlth the /eelJ/ class) to pOlnt up thelr speclal relatlonshlp wlth partltlve numerals.

Partltlve Numeral /eeD/ -class Complementlve 'several, two to nlne' 'some, part of' 'how many' /mag-maag/ /thalJ-laaJ/ /baalJ/ /thaw-raJ/ /kil-man~QJ/ 'qUl te a few' 'the several' 'some' 'how much' fhow many' /n~oJ/ 'few' /th~g/ 'each, every' /maJ-thaw-raJ/ 'not much, not many' /l~g-n~oJ/ 'a few' /tha~-nan/ 'all of them'

Both the partltlve numerals and thelr related /ee~/-class complementlves frequently occur after /sag/-class preposltlons (4.?5.), and further examples of thelr use are glven under the headlng of /bAa~/-class postposltlons (4.4.3.)

A speclal set of partltlves lS made from cardlnal numerals by derlvatlon wlth a sufflX /kwa/, WhlCh attac~es ltself (unstressed and wlth mlnlmum syllable duratlon) to the classlfler WhlCh follows. The derlvatlves are made from any slmple cardlnal numeral lexeme or any multlpllcatlon, but not from acdltlons. The meanlng of each derlvatlve lS 'that number plus a fractlon' (for slmple lexemes) or 'that number plus an odd remalnder of lntegers of the next lower order' (for multlpllcatlons). In other words, the sufflX /kwa/ 'plus' operates In exactly the same way as the morpheme /Ikhry~/ 'and a half' operates In addltlons, but the meanlng lS less preClse.

Examples: sil-r~oJ kwamaJ sib kwachan 'Seven baht and a fractlon' 'Four-hundred-odd mlles' 'Mdre than ten classes'

The correspondlng lnexact cardlnal numerals, however, are not derlvatlves but syntactlc constructlons, cardlnal numeral plus postposltlon /kwakwaa/. (The dlfference lS that a classlfler can lntervene between the numeral and the postposltlon.)

Examples: sib: kwakwaa c~d baads kwakwaa sil-r~oJ maJ: kwakwaa 'Seven and a fractlon. ' 'Four hundred plus. ' 'In the teens' 'Over seven baht. ' 'More than 400 mlles. '

4) ClaSSlfler numerals occur before, and In dlrect constructlon wlth, demonstratlves (3.2.4.). The numerals WhlCh flll thls posltlon are not classlflers, however, because they have normal stress (see deflnltlon of classlflers, 3.2.5.). The usual pattern lS for the stressed numeral to have medlum-long duratlon, wlth the demonstratlve WhlCh follows havlng weak ·stress. The most common demonstratlve occurrlng In thlS constructlon lS /rlY~/ 'a, one,' but others are found as well. 113 nYlJ 'a hundred' ~ roo J' The membershlp of the sub-category of classlfler numerals lS conflned to the slmple lexemes 11-16 (mlddle column of chart at beglnnlng of 3.2.6.). Examples. ~ phan: nan 'that thousand' , , , myyn sud-thaaJ 'the last ten thousand' v sE:en, nYlJ h~an r8eg 'a hundred thousand' 'the flrst mllllon' 'a half'


A predlcatlve lS any free lexeme WhlCh occurs as a predlcator (In a non-equatlonal predlcatlon, see Any lexeme WhlCh quallfles as a predlcatlve lS no longer consldered to be a substantlve, Slnce the more speclflc classlflcatlon lS that of predlcatlve (see statement ln flrst parsgraph of 3.2.). BeSldes occurrlng as predlcators and heads of endocentrlc predlcates, many members of thlS class also flll the typlcal posltlons of substantlves: tOP1CS, subjects, objects and complements. Predlcatlves are classlfled, on the basls of typlcal and absolute occurrence, lnto four sub-groups. 1) Modal Verbs, 2) AdJectlves, 3) Transltlve Verbs and 4) Completlve Verbs. The thlrd sub-group lS also referred to slmply as 'verbs.'

Modal Verbs

A modal verb lS any predlcatlve WhlCh occurs as the predlcator, or as head of an endocentrlc predlcate, w1th an object WhlCh lS also a pred1cat1ve or pred1cat1ve expreSSlon. The test of pred1cate subst1tut1on lS made 1n the context of a yes-no quest10n and lts answer.

Examples: or Q. khaw tOlJ paJ: maJ • A. tOlJ. A. ma J tOlJ 'Does he have to go~' 'Yes, he does.' 'No, he doesn't. '

Slnce /paJI 'go' lS 1tself a predlcatlve, /tolJ/ 'muat' lS a modal verb. One klnd of modal verb (sub-class 1) below) lS restrlcted to occu~ence ln th1S type of constructlon, but there are other modal verbs (sub-class 2) below) WhlCh also take substant1ve objects. 114

Examples: Q. khaw ch5~b WllJ: maJ . 'Does he llke to run'? ' A. ch5~b 'Yes, he does. ' Q. khaw ch5~b Sll-dEElJ: maJ 'Does she llke red'? ' A. ch5~b . 'Yes, she does. ,

Slnce /WllJ/ 'run' lS a predlcatlve, and /Sll-dEElJ/ 'red' lS a substantlve, the modal verb /ch5~b/ 'to llke' occurs before both types of obJect. A feature of one sub-class, speclflc modal verbs (below) lS that they act as predlcators In any klnd of predlcatlon In whlch they occur, no matter what the membershlp of the other constltuents may be. For example, even In a predlcate conslstlng of a modal verb and an adJectlve (3.3.2.), the modal verb substltutes for the whole.

Example I Q. t5lJ dlll maJ • A. t5lJ. 'Must It be good'?' ,Ye s , l t must. ' The class of modal verbs lS not very large, as free lexeme classes go, but except for sub-category (1) below, It lS probably open. The class meanlng lS 'mode of actlon, or speclflc appllcablllty of sltuatlon descrlbed. ' Modal verbs are paralleled by a class of bound lexemes, called slmply 'modals, I whlch flll the same posltlon In predlcatlons but do not substltute for them (4.1.). They are also paralleled In the same way by a sub-class of adJectlves ( whlch flll the modal verb posltlon but do not substltute. Some true modal verbs have homonyms belonglng to other classes. For example, /aad/ lS a modal verb meanlng 'capable of' and also a modal meanlng 'apt to.' In the flrst case, the negatlve precedes /aad/; In the second case It follows: mSJ-aad capaJ aad camsJ-paJ 'Unable to go' 'Mlght not go. '

Two sub-classes of modal verbs are establlshed, on the basls of type of obJect occurrlng In thelr predlcatlons. 1) Speclflc modal verbs occur only wlth obJects whlch are themselves predlcatlves. The class lS small and closed, probably belng conflned to the followlng members.

1. /kh88J/ 'to have experlenced, to have done at least once; ever, used to' Occurs before verbs and verb expresslons, and before other modal verbs. 115 khun kheeJ loo~ rab-prathaan aahaan thaJ: rY-Ja~. 'Have you ever trled eatlng Thal food?' khee J. 'Ye s. ' ma J khee J. 'No. ' khaw kheeJ Jaag pen thahaan-rya • 'He once wanted to be a sallor.'

2. /ruu-cag/ 'to have been; ever, used to be' Occurs before adJectlves and adJectlve expresslons. pham len k~b , maJ-ruu-cag bya . 'I never get bored wlth playlng golf. '

3. /t3~/ 'must, lS obllged to, has to ' Occurs before all types of predlcatlves, lncludlng other modal verbs. khun maJ-t3~ paJ: rag t . 'You don't have to goJ' t3~ rewa ma J • 'Must It be soon~' naJ thll-sud , khaw k5-to~ Joom phe8 • 'In the end they had to admlt defeat.

4. /Joom/ 'be wllllng to, allow oneself to; accept' Occurs malnly before verbs (but may follow other modal -see last example above). m88W , man maJ-Joom klna sa sag-n~d . 'The cat won't eat a blt of It. ' pham Joom-rab waa dll • 'I'm wllllng to admlt that It'S good.'

5. /Jaag/ 'to want to, to wlsh for' Occurs malnly before verbs (but may follow other modal verbssee last example under 1. /kheeJ/.) khun Jsag capaJ duaJ: maJ • 'Do you want to go too?' khaw maJ-Jsag car~b-kuan khun • 'He doesn't want to bother you. '

6. /samag/ and /samag-caJ/ 'to volunteer, offer ones serV1ces.' Occurs ma1nly before verbs, but may follow other modal verbs. khaw samag capen thahaan: ryy . 'D1d he volunteer for m1l1tary serV1ce~' pham khoo samag pen samaa-ch{g • 'I would llke to make appl1cat1on to be a member. '

7. /khuan/ 'should, ought to; properly does' Occurs before verbs, adJect1ves, and other modals. khun maJ-khuan caphuud JaDan . 'You shouldn't talk llke that.' man khuan cad11 kwa-n~l • 'It ought to be better than th1S. ' khaw khuan caJoom-phe8 • 'He should be w1ll1ng to accept defeat. ' (/khuan/ has a der1vat1ve /sam-khuan/, an adJect1ve mean1ng 'f1tt1ng, proper. ,)

8. /aad/ and /saa-maad/ 'to be capable of' Occurs ma1nly before verbs. pham maJ-aad catoo-thla~: l88J 'I can't argue about 1t at all. ' k~aw maJ-saamaad catoo-suu. too-paJ-i1g . 'He was 1ncapable of f1ght1ng any further. '

9. /phaJaJaam/ 'to try, make a phys1cal effort' Occurs ma1nly before verbs. khaw phaJaJaam cat~o-suu: myan-kan . 'He was try1ng to f1ght, anyway.'

Modal verbs 1-4 normally precede the1r pred1cator-obJects d1rectly, wlthout the 1nterpos1t1on of the part1cle /ca-/ 'hypothet1cal pred1cate. I Modal verbs 5-9 occur e1ther w1th or w1thout /ca-/, more often wlth 1t (as In the examples above).

2) General modal ~ occur w1th both pred1cat1ve and substant1ve obJects. The class 1S much larger than that of spec1f1c modal verbs, and 1S almost certa1nly open. One or two 1nstances of each general semant1c category of these modal verbs 1S glven for 111ustrat1ve purposes.

1. Verbs meanlng 'to llke' /chS~b/, /r~g/ 2. 'to hate, to mlnd, to obJect' / 3. 'to thlnk, to plan' /kh{d/, /r{/ 4. 'to hurry' /rllb/ 5. 'to beg1..D, to start' /r88m/, /talJ-ton/ 6. 'to J top, to end' /188g/, /Jud/ 7. 'to tryout, to experlment wlth ' /l~~lJ/ 8. 'to help' /chuaJ/ 9. 'to ask a favor, to beg' /kh;~/, /waan/ 10. ' to depend on someone els6' /faag/, /aas.9.J/ 11. 'to lnVl te I /ch88n/, /nimon/ 12. 'to accept I /r~b/, /daJ-r~b/ 13. Many verbs descrlblng the act of speaklng-/b~ ~g/, /tyan/ 14· All completlve verbs (see 3.3.4. ) As a class, general modal verbs usually precede speclflc modal verbs when they occur In the same constructlon (see /kh;~/ In last example under /samag/, above) and they are almost never lmmedlately followed by the partlcle /ca-/, except sub-categorles 3. and 5.


An adJectlve lS any predlcatlve WhlCh occurs as a predlcator wlth a subJect WhlCh also a predlcatlve or predlcatlve expresslon. (Thus adJectlves are, so to speak, the dlrect Opposltes of modal verbs.) The test of substltutlon, as before, lS made In the context of a yes-no questlon and lts answer.

Example: Q. khun paJ w~d b~ J: maJ 'Do you go to the temple often'Z ' A. b;J rYes, often. ' or A. maJ b;J . 'No, not often. '

Slnce /paJ/ 'gor lS a predlcatlve, headlng a predlcatlve expreSSlon /paJ w~d/, then /b;J/ 'often' 1S an adJectlve. One klnd of adJectlve typlcally occurs In thlS klnd of constructlon, but there are other adJectlves WhlCh also take substantlve subJects. (Hence the sub-classlflcatlon of adJectlves In thlS respect parallels that of modal verbs.)

Q. khun paJ w~d sanug: maJ • 'D1d you have fun gOlng to the temple~' (llt. 'Was your gOlng to the temple fun~ ,) A. , sanug • 'Yes, 1t was fun.' Q. ~aan-ni1 sanug: maJ • 'Is th1S fa1r any fun~ r A. m'a" J sanu,g • 'No, 1t'S no fun.' /d11 maag/ 'Very good. '

Slnce /paJ w~d/ lS a pred1cat1ve express1on, and /~aan/ 'fa1r' lS a substant1ve, the adJect1ve /sanug/ 'fup' occurs after both types of subJect. AdJect1ves do not 'have obJects' 1n the way that other pred1cat1ves dO; they are, 1n a sense, 1ntrans1t1ve verbs. There eX1st, however, adJect1ve express1ons, 1n Wh1Ch one adJect1ve lS mod1f1ed by another. Example: /d11 kwaa/ 'Better. I

Both /d11/ and /maag/ are adJectlves. Another common type of adJectlve express10n has one of a spec1al class of bound mod1f1ers as the second const1tuent (see 4.4.2.).

Examples: /sanug: th1d1aw/ I QU1 te amus 1ng. ' 'old, dark' 'flre' (noun) 'dark from the flre) overcooked' /k€8/ /f8J/ /k€8-fa J/

Other endocentr1c construct1ons (for example an adJect1ve plus a substantlve) WhlCh appear at flrst glance to be adJectlve express10ns are usually best analyzed as slngle lexemes. Example: The comb1nat1on 1S a compound adJect1ve lexeme. One k1nd of adJect1ve, (sub-class 3) below) does occur, however, 1n the modal pos1t1on. The constructlon 18 exocentr1c, because such adJ8ctlves do not Sub8t1tute for the ent1re pred1cat1on In the way that true modal verbs do.

BeSld~s fllllDg the predleator poslt10n. adJect2ves of sub-classes 2) and 3) ~requently serve as modlf2ers of substantlve and predlcat~ve expresslons. In substantlve express10ns the head 13 usually a noun or a classlfler; 1n predlcatlve expresslons, 1t lS a verb, a complet1ve verb, or another adJectlve.

Examples I Noun Head: /baan Ja J/ Classlfler Head. /lalJ JaJ/ Verb Head: /WllJ rew/ such as /WllJ rew maJ-daJ/ Completlve Verb Head: /daJ rew/ such as /WllJ ma J-da J rew/ AdJectlve Headl /rew maag/ 'a blg house, blg houses' 'the blg one (speaklng of houses) , 'run fast' (In a context 'Cannot run fast') 'successfully fast' (In a context 'Was unable to run fast enough') 'very fast'

AdJectlves of sub-class 1) do not normally occur as modlflers. A feature of the entlre class of adJectlves lS that they act as predlcators In every klnd of two-part predlcatlon except those lntroduced by modal verbs. In other words, In a constructlon conslstlng of ordlnary verb plus adJectlve, It lS always the adJectlve rather than the verb whlch substltutes for the whole.

A morphologlcal characterlstlc of adJectlves lS that nearly all lexemes belonglng to thls class have slmple redupllcatlons ( These adJectlve derlvatlves cannot flll the predlcator posltlon, however.

Example. /b;J/ 'often' /b;J-b;J/ 'often' /maJ-b;J/ 'not often' /b;J: maJ/ 'often~l (Forms llke ·/maJ b;J-b;J/ and /b;J-b;J: maJ/ do not eXlst.) Some adJectlves also redupllcate In other ways: /sanug/ 'fun' /sanug-sanug/ 'fun' /sanug-sanaan/ 'be amused' (a general adJectlve llke /sanug/ ltself - for redupllcatlon type, see The class of adJectlves lS extremely large, and, except perhaps for sub-class 1), open. By far the largest number of adJectlves belong to subclass 2) 'gen~ral adJectlves.' The total number of adJectlve lexemes lS stlll smaller than that of nouns or transltlve verbs, however. Examples of the tl,lce sub-classes follow.

-,) Speclflc adJectlves typlcally occur wlth subjects whlch are pred~ cato~s, predlcates, and predlcatlve expresslons, and are rarely found wlth substantlve subJects and as substantlve modlflers. The sub-cless lS small and probably closed; lts meanlng lS 'manner, tlmlng, or frequency of actlon.' Redupllcated lexemes from speclflc adJectlve bases almost lnvarlably belong to the /ef,I,,/ class of complementlves ( Speclflc adJectlves themselves frequently occur at the ends of clauses In the complementlve posltlon (cut off from the maln predlcatlon by speclal bound lexemes or by rhythmlc patterns), and In other non-predlcatlve constructlons. (The term 'adverb' refers to a member of some other form-class, such as speclflc ad- Jectlves, occurrlng In a typlcal complementlve constructlon. 'Adverbs' are not a free lexeme class In thelr own rlght.) The prlnclpal members of the sub-class are lllustrated wlth reference to a slngle frame.

/khaw tham-Daan: sa .•. / 'He works (or worked) •.. 2. /samee/ 3. /b~J/ 4. /J£E:/ 5. /phleen/ 'contlnuously' • (Sentence1 'He keeps on worklng. I) 'always' 'often' 'wlth unbearable dlfflculty' 'wlth pleasurable absorptlon' (Sentence: 'He was absorbed In hlS work. ,) 'bUSlly, wlth unpleasant absorptlon' (Sentence: 'He was busy worklng. r) 8. /C1D/ 9. Ik~;)n/ 10. /leE:w/ 'borlngly' (Sentence: rreally' 'prevlously' 'already I (Sentence: 'He was bored wlth the work. ,) 'He has done the work. ,)

In most respects, members of the class behave exactly llke other adJectlves. FolloWlng are some example of speclflc adJectlves negated, modlfled, and redupllcated:

pham kheeJ paJ-thlaw thll-nan , maJ-b~J' n~g . II haven't been to V1Slt the place very often. ' khun tOD prakh~b kh€E:n: ryaJ paJ . 'You have to keep on soaklng your arm. ' pham hna thll-c~;)d: sa , th£b JE:E: . 'It was almost lmposslble to flnd a parklng place. ' phuud kakhaw , naan ch~g-cabya • 'I talked wlth hlm so long lt was startlng to be a bore. I 121 khuJ kakhaw Juu-phleen: thldlaw . 'I was qUlte absorbed In talklng wlth hlm. ' luug-krataaJ nab-wan-tEE catoo khyn: ryaJ-ryaJ • 'In no tlme the baby rabblts wlll start gettlng blgger and blgger. ' kh5w tham haJ leEw-leEw: paJ , thaw-nan. 'He dld It Just so as to get lt over wlth. ' Internal order of the class lS apparently 1-8, 9, 10, but examples of two speclflc adJectlves In the same clause are hard to flnd, except for those lnvolvlng 10. /leEw/ as second member: pham t~d thura JU~: leEw 6 10 '1 'm already tled up In all klnds of buslness. 1 mll khon na~ Juu-k;8n: leEw 9 10 'There had been somebody Slttlng there prevlously. '

2) General adJectlves occur In all the posltlons of speclflc adJectlves, but also have substantlves and substantlve expresslons as subjects, and occur as modlflers of nouns and classlflers (see examples at beglnnlng of 3.3.2.). ThlS subdlV1Slon lS by far the largest In the class of adJectlves, and the membershlp lS open. Semantlc categorles covered are too numerous to permlt any meanlngful breakdown, but In general the sub-class correlates well wlth form-classes such as ladJectlve l and Ilntransltlve verb' In other languages.

Examples: 'The food lS not good. ' or 'Tasteless food. ' caan tEEg • , , caan Ja J- Ja J • or 'The dlshes broke. ' 'Broken dlshes. ' 'The larger dlshes. ' Redupllcated forms of general adJectlves (see last example) occur as modlflers and as complements.

3) Modal adJectlves are general adJectlves WhlCh lntroduce exocentrlc predlcatlve phrases, occurrlng In the modal posltlon (lnstead of the U'sual adJectlve posltlon toward the end of the predlcate.) The sub-class lS small but probably open. The meanlng lS 'general personal characterlstlc applled to a glven sltuatlon.' Members lnclude many derlvatlves endlng In the sufflX 122 /-caJ/ ( or beg1nn1ng w1th the pref1xes /khl1-1 ( and /naa-/ ( The pred1cate lS nearly always 1ntroduced by /ca-I. Examples: pham J1n-d11 . pham J1n-d11 catham haJ • Ja~ maJ phDo-caJ • Ja~ maJ phoo-caJ cadaJ-rab khon khl1-kiad . khaw khl1-kiad capaJ • naa-klua capaJ maJ-than •

Trans1t1ve Verbs

'I'm glad.' 'I'll be glad to do 1t for you.' 'St1ll not sat1sf1ed. ' 'st1ll not sat1sf1ed (W1ll1ng) to rece1ve 1t. ' 'A lazy person. ' 'He's (too) lazy to go.' '(I'm) afra1d of not gett1ng there 1n t1me. '

A trans1t1ve verb 1S any pred1cat1ve, other than a modal verb (3.3.1.) or complet1ve verb (3.3.4.), Wh1Ch occurs as pred1cator 1n pred1cates that have substant1ve obJects. (The term 'verb' 1S used to apply to all three classes of verb, Wh1Ch share the feature of 'hav1ng obJects,' as opposed to adJect1ves, Wh1Ch do not 'have obJects,' but lS also used to apply to translt1ve verbs, the central and most numerous class of pred1cat1ves.) L1ke all pred1cat1ves, trans1t1ve verbs occur 1n pred1cat1ons Wh1Ch have substant1ve subJects, and also occur, llke adJect1ves, 1n endocentr1c express10ns headed by nouns and class1f1ers.

Examples 1nvolv1ng trans1t1ve verb /lyag/ 'to choose, p1ck out': khaw lyag phaa sll-araJ . 'What color cloth d1d she choose7' phaa n{l lyag Jaag. 'Th1S cloth 1S hard to choose from.' (llt. 'chooses hard. ,) khaw-ee~ pen khon-lyag . 'She herself lS the one who chose 1t.'

All trans1t1ve verbs occur both w1th and w1thout obJects, and both w1th and w1thout subJects. The mean1ng of the verb-obJect construct1on, lS that the referent of the obJect lS the goal of the act10n des1gnated by the verb. The mean1ng of the subJect-verb-obJect construct1on 1S that the referent of the subJect lS the actor 1n1t1at1ng act10n toward that goal. But the mean1ng of the subJect-verb construct1on by 1tself lS amb1guous - the subJect TIlay refer e1ther to the actor or the goal (as 1t does w1th many Engl1sh verbs- cf. 'Th1S bread sllces well' and 'Th1S kn1fe sllces well. ,) 12~

The meanlng of the toplc-subJect-verb constructlon lS that the referent of the tOplC lS the goal and the subJect deslgnates the actor, or that both tOPlC and subJect refer to the actor. The meanlng of the verb-obJect-lndlrect obJect (or verb-abJect-complement) constructlon lS that the obJect represents the goal and the referent of the lndlrect obJect or complement may be elther actor or secondary goal. Examples of these constructlons follow, the transltlve verb always belng /pid/ 'to close.' (Symbols used In the formulae are 'T' for tOPlC, 'S' for subJect, 'V' for transltlve verbs, '0' for obJect, and 'C' for lndlrect obJect or complement.) VOl pid pratuu . SVO: khaw pid pratuu . SV: khaw pid . SV: pratuu pid . TSV(C) • pratuu , khaw pid: mod . 'Shut the door.' 'He shut the door.' t He shut (l t) • ' 'The door lS shut. ' 'He shut all the doors.' (L1 t : ' The doors, he shut 'em all. ' ) VOC: pid pratuu r6d . 'Shut the car doors. ' (Llt. 'Perform door-shuttlng operatlon on car. , -cf. /ssJ kuncE:E: r6d/ 'lock the car. ,) VOC. pid pra tuu: kan • 'You (plural) shut the door. ' (/kan/ refers to the actor, not the goal.) TSVOC(C) kan mod • 'The students, (they) shut all the doors.'

The dlfflculty In lnterpretlng transltlve-verb predlcatlons lS often not so much one of ST structure as It lS of Engllsh translatlon. For example, /mll/ lS a typlcal transltlve verb, but constructlons llke 's /mll/' have to be translated'S eXlsts, there lS S' whlle constructlons llke '/mll/ 0' must be translated 'someone has O. I The constructlon 's /mll/ 0,' on the other hand always means'S has 0.' khaw th~ug tll • 'He was beaten. '

The amblgulty of the constructlon SV (actor-actlon or goal-actlon) can be avolded by the placement of speclal functlonal words wlth passlve meanlng between Sand V. There are a few common lexemes (members of the class of completlve verbs, 3.3.4.) that have thls effect: /th~ug/ 'suffer (a bad actlon)' and /daJ/ or /daJ-rab/ 'recelve the beneflt of (a good actlon).' Examples: 'I was invited. '

The class o~ transltlve verbs lS very large (probably second only to the class o~ nouns) and lS open. Sub-classl~lcatlon could posslbly be made on an lntrlcate structural basls, and certalnly by semantlc crlterla, but lS not attempted here. There lS one group o~ transltlve verbs, however, whlch are dlstlngulshed ~rom the others by the covert lexlcal relatlonshlp whlch they have wlth certaln specl~lc completlve verbs (see examples In next sectlon).

Completlve Verbs

A completlve verb lS any predlcatlve whlch occurs both as a predlcator wlth a substantlve obJect and as a predlcator wlth a predlcatlve subJect. Thus completlve verbs satls~y the de~lnltlons o~ both adJectlves (3.3.2.) and transltlve verbs (3.3.3.), and are commonly ~ound In typlcal constructlons o~ both types, sometlmes slmultaneously. Examples wlth the completlve verb /than/ 'to catch up, be In tlme,' contrasted wlth a transltlve verb and an ad.J e c t l vel than r~d- ~a J • 'Caught the traln.' na~ r~d-~aJ . 'Rode the traln.' (/na~/ lS a transltlve verb meanlng 'Slt l ) maa than 'Came In tlme. ' maa chaa 'Came late.' (/chaa/ lS an adJectlve meanlng 'slow') maa than r~d-~aJ • 'Came In tlme to catch the traln.' The class o~ completlve verbs, besldes ~llllng all the posltlons o~ verbs and adJectlves, has another lmportant ~unctlon. Its members co~only occur wlth whole predlcatlons (lncludlng a subJect, but rarely a tOPlC) as thelr objects. The same thlng lS true o~ those transltlve verbs whlch have 1exlca1 relatlonshlps wlth completlve verbs. In the examples below two palrs o~ such verbs (transltlve and completlve) are lllustrated, ~lrst together In the de~lnltlve context, and then separately wlth an ldentlcal predlcatlon as the obJect o~ each. 'Can't see anythlng. ' (llt: 'look at somethlng not-seel t. ,) moo~ khaw-Ien don-trll • 125 'Can't hear anythln9. ' (Llt. 'llsten to somethlng nothear- l t. ,) 'Watched them play mUSlC. ' 'Saw them playlng mUSlC. ' fa~ khaw-Ien don-trll • daJ-Jln khaw-Ien don-trll • 'Llstened to them play mUSlC. ' 'Heard them playlng mUSlC. '

Three completlve verbs have already been mentloned (3.3.3. end) as havlng a speclal paSSlve meanlng when they occur dlrectly before transltlve verbs. These same ltems can also have entlre predlcatlons as thelr obJects, In whlch case the subJect of the predlcatlon remalns the actor. Example I chan th~ug man-tll aw rEE~-rEE~ . 'I was hlt hard by It. ' Completlve verbs In the adJectlve posltlon can be followed only by other adJectlves, whlch then become the predlcator: v , .., Q. maa~ hen chad: maJ • 'Can you see It clearly~' A. ch~d. 'Yes, clearly.' A common feature of all completlve verbs lS that when they occur In a syntactlcally amblguous context (such as a response In whlch the completlve verb stands for an entlre predlcate or predlcatlon), the form of negatlon clearly shows whether they are playlng the role of adJectlve or transltlve verb. Examples wlth the completlve verb /~n/ 'warm': Y. un IEEw • "" .. N. Ja~ maJ-un . Q. un khrya~ IEEw • rY-Ja~ • Y. ~n IEEw 'Is the englne warm yet? ' 'Yes, It lS.' 'No, l t 's not. ' 'Have you warmed up the englne yet~l , Ye s, I ha ve. ' ,No, I ha v en' t. '

The negatlve /maJ/ lS characterlstlc of adJectlve predlcates, and /maJdaJ/ of transltlve verb predlcates. The class of completlve verbs lS relatlvely small, but not closed, Slnce any adJectlve or transltlve verb lS a potentlal candldate for membershlp. The class meanlng lS 'successful completlon of attempted actlon,' and the class meanlng of the transitlve verbs occurrlng In the same predlcate wlth them lS 'attempted actlon. ' In such predlcates, the negatlve precedes the completlve verb, but other pre-verbal modlflers (e.g. modals) precede the transltlve verb.

Example: 'I stlll can't see anythlng. '

Sub-classlflcatlon of completlve verbs parallels that of classlflers (3.2.5.), but there are only two groups, and these two are not mutually excluslve.

1) General completlve verbs occur as predlcators after a wlde range of transltlve verbs. The prlnclpal members of the sub-class are the followlng (some of WhlCh recur as speclflc completlve verbs, 'to be able, posslble; to succeed.' pa J da J ' ma J • kln da J • rna J • tham da J lJaa J • 'Can one go'" 'Can It be eaten'" 'It can be done easlly. '

2. /pen/ tham maJ-pen • suub pen: maJ • 'to know how to, to do from hablt.' 1(1) don't know how to.' 'Do you smoke'"

3. /wa J/ tham ma J- wa J • kln maJ-waJ , ph~d pa J. k88n- 'to be physlcally capable of' '(I) can't posslbly do It.' '(I) can't eat It - It'S too peppery.' 'Is It safe to smoke It' 'to accompllsh safely or freely' '(We) won't make It (not safe to go). ' 'to follow through all the way' 'Sweep It all the way through, wlll you" ' pham JalJ haa- duu ma J- tal;;:,d • 'I stlll haven't searched all the way through l t. '

4. /r5;:,d/ paJ maJ-r5;:,d . suub r5;:,d : maJ

5. /tal;;:,d/ kwaad haJ-tal;;:,d na .

6. /thua/ and /thua-thYlJ/ 'to cover an entlre area, accompllsh thoroughly' kwaad haJ-thua , na • 'Sweep allover, wlll you" ' khaw duu-lEE maJ-thua-thYlJ • 'He dldn't supervlse It thoroughly. ' 7. /thYlJ/ yam myy thYlJ : maJ • naa-klua capaJ maJ-thYlJ • Jib maJ-thYlJ • 'to reach, go far enough' 'Can you reach It (wlth your hand)" ' 'Afrald we won't get that far.' 'Can't reach It. 1

'to be 1n t1me, reach soon enough' 'W111 we get home 1n t1me~' 'Afra1d we won't get there 1n t1me. ' 'St111 haven't used them up. ' 'to use up, exhaust a set' 'Buy the rest of the books, w111 you? ' 'St111 haven't found all of them. ' 'to succeed 1n f1111ng up a set, to complete'

8. /than/ naa-klua capaJ maJ-than . klab baan than v

maJ .

9. /khr~b/ , syy nav lJ-syv y haJ-khr~b ch~d : na . JalJ haa maJ-khr~b .

10. /mod/ JalJ ch~aJ maJ-mod .

11. /sed/ 'to f1n1sh, accompl1sh a temporary or 1ndef1n1te task' pham r1an nalJ-syy sed 188W • 'I'm f1n1shed study1ng (for now).' 'Not f1nlshed work1ng. '

12. /cob/ 'to f1n1sh, accompl1sh a prescr1bed t~sk w1th def1n1te Ilm1ts' pham v v cob , r1an nalJ-syy 188W . 'I've f1nlshed my stud1es (gradua ted) • ' khaw rO~lJ-phleelJ cob , 188W 'They've f1n1shed slng1ng the song. I But khaw rO~lJ-phleelJ sed le8w . 'They're f1.n1Shed slng1ng songs . , 2) Spec1f1c complet1ve verbs occur as pred1cators after certa1n translt1ve verbs or groups of trans1t1ve verbs w1th Wh1Ch they have a covert relat1onsh1p. The sub-class mean1ng 1S 'to be able to,' and th1.s lS a poss1ble Engl1sh translat10n for nearly all 1.nstances of spec1f1.c comp18t1ve verbs. The relat10nsh1p between a verb and 1.ts complet1ve verb lS therefore very slm11ar to that between a concrete noun ( and 1tS un1t claSS1f1er ( Whereas the un1t class1.f1er always means 'one 1nstance of the part1cular class of th1ngS denoted by the noun,' the spec1f1c verb always means 'one 1nstance of ach1evement of the attempted act10n denoted by the verb.' Verbal act10ns not pred1cated w1th verbs (spec1.f1.c or general) are no more f1n1te than are concrete nouns w1thout the1.r class1f1ers.

Examples of the most lmportant members of thlS sub-class are glven below, along wlth some of the transltlve verbs they are used wlth. For each transltlve verb glven, at least two constructlon~ wlth ltS completlve verb (appearlng In the headlng) are posslble - one meanlng 'able to V' and the other 'll.nable to V,' wlth /maJ/ comlng between the two constltuents In the latter case. For example, under ltem 1., the flrst two such constructlons would be as follows:

'can put In, able to be put In (wlll go In) , 'cannot put In, unable to be put In (won't go In).'

1. /khaw/ 'to enter' Used after: /saJ/ 'to put In' /pid/ 'to close (door, etc.) , /c;/ 'to drlll' /klyyn/ 'to swallow' /Jad/ 'to stuff' /peed/ 'to open (door, etc. ) ,

2. /a;g/ 'to emerge' Used after: /thoan/ 'to wlthdraw' /th;ad/ 'to take off I /peed/ 'to open (door, etc. ) , /dYlJ/ Ito pull' /kaaw/ 'to advance' and nearly all verbs of speaklng, thlnklng, uSlng the vocal apparatus and deallng wlth language: /phuud/ 'to speak' /aan/ 'to read' /nyg/ 'to thlnk' /plee/ 'to transla te ' /r~alJ/ 'to cry out' /kh{d/ 'to flgure out' /hua-r~/ 'to laugh'

3. /khyn/ 'to rlse' Used after: /J6g / 'to ralse' /aaclan/ 'to vomlt' /Jib/ 'to plck up' /peed/ 'to open (a cover, etc. ) ,

4. /lolJ/ 'to descend' Used after: /thaan/ and /kln/ r to ea t' /syy/ 'to buy' /pid/ 'to close (cover, etc.) , 129

5. /hen/ 'to see' Used after verbs of look1ng: /duu/ /m881;]/ 'to look at' 'to try to d1st1ngU1Sh' - and the1r compounds /lee/ 'to watch'

6. /daJ-J1n/ 'to hear,' /khaw-caJ/ 'to understand,' and /r~u-rya1;]/ 'to know what someth1ng 1S about' All used after: /fa1;]/ 'to Ilsten'

7. /daJ-kl~n/ 'to 1dent1fy the odor of' Used after: /dom/

8. /daJ-r~d/ /chlm/ 'to sn1ff, try to smell' 'to ldentlfy the taste of' Used after: 'to taste'

9. /th~ug/ 'to h1t' Used after: /Jl1;]/ 'to shoot' /khwaa1;]/ and /Joon/ 'to throw' /daw/, /thaaJ/, and /khaad/ 'to guess' 'to beat'

10. /waJ/ 'to mover Used after: /khlyan/ 'to Sh1ft' /laag/ 'to pull (cart,' etc.) I /thon/ 'to endure' /khen/ 'to push ( cart, etc. ) I

11. /ph~b/, /cee/, and other verbs mean1ng 'to meet' Used after: /haa/ 'to look for, try to f1nd' /kh~n/ /khwaa/ 'to grope' -and the1r compounds.

12. /tog/ 'to fall' Used after: /kee/ 'to solve, f1X, undo' /kh~d/ 'to thlnk out (come to a declslon)' 'to rummage'

13. /than/ 'to catch' Used after. /laJ/ 'to chase' /laa/ 'to hunt (anlmals)' /taam/ 'to follow'

14. /ph~n/ 'to get clear of' Used after: /nll/ 'to flee' /l~lg/ 'to avold' /l~b/ 'to escape' - and thelr compounds.

15. /lab/ 'to close the eyes, sleep' Used after: /noon/ 'to lle down, try to sleep'

16. /l~g/ 'get up' and /tyyn/ 'wake up. , Used after. /plug/ 'to awaken' /noon/ 'to be lylng down' (/noon maJ-l~g/ means 'unable to get up')

17. /haaJ/ 'to recover' and /fiYn/ 'to regain consclousness' Used after expresslons relatlng to slckness and these verbs: /rag-saa/ 'to treat, cure' 'to re SUSCl ta te '

18. /taa\J/ 'to dle' Used after verbs of vlolent actlon, wlth the meanlng 'to dea th'. /tll/ 'to beat' /thab/ 'to over-run' /chon/ 'to colllde wlth' /khaa/ 'to klll'

19. /tld/ 'to stlck, be stuck' Used after: /Juu/ 'to remaln' (/Juu maJ-tld/ means 'won't stay In place. ,)

20. /lud/ 'to come loose' Used after: /dln/ 'to wrlggle' /dy~/ - and other verbs meanlng 'to pull. '

Some constructlons WhlCh appear to be transltlve verb plus completlve verb are actually slngle compound lexemes.

Examples: /s;ob-IaJ/ 'to pass an examlnatlon' /s;ob- tog/ 'to fall an examlnatlon' /tog-loI;J/ 'to COme to an agreement' /r~u-than/ 'to catch on (to a fact) ,

These comblnatlons do not pass the crltlcal test of lnsertlon of the negatlve between the flrst and second constltuents.