Chapter 3: Noun and Verb Phrases
4.3 Spatial and temporal constructions
4.3.4 Temporal adverbs
國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
s<em>a-kungkuan.
<AV>go-school
‘Student must be obedient to go to school.’ (sinapayan)
(4.21) a. ka-pi-tja-i-vililj vaik a ma-umaʔ timadju,
PST-pi-SPEC-LOC-next go LIG go.to-homeplace NOM.3SG
ljaʔua vaik timadju a ma-cakar
however go NOM.3SG LIG go.to-teenager.rally.center ini a ma-tjumaʔ timadju.
not LIG go.to-home NOM.3SG
‘Afterwards, he went back to the tribe. However, he went to the teenager rally center, not go home.’ (narrative1)
b. ʔ<em>ireʔir a pi-riuk i-sangas.
<AV>pan-fry LIG put.in-wok LOC-first
‘(recipe) First, pan-fry it in the wok.’ (sinapayan)
The prefix tja- may also be used in the two temporal nouns, sangas ‘first’ and vililj
‘next’, to denote the specificity of time. In (4.22a), the time expressed by the temporal word ka-pi-tja-i-vililj ‘later [PST.SPEC]’ is specific, while (4.22b) is the counterexample. The expression i-sangas ‘first’ does not denote specific time(s).
4.3.4 Temporal adverbs
Temporal adverbs include tucu ‘now’ and those formed by a temporal noun (see Table 4.3 in Section 4.3.2) or an ordinal numeral (see Table 3.4 in Section 3.3) and the time deixis ka- / ta- ‘(past)’ or nu- ‘(irrealis)’. Common temporal adverbs are shown in Table 4.4.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
Table 4.4
Temporal adverbs
Temporal adverbs Constituent Elements
tucu ‘now’ tucu ‘now’
ka-tiav / ta-tiav ‘yesterday’ ka- / ta- ‘(past)’ + tiav ‘yesterday or tomorrow’
nu-tiav ‘tomorrow’ nu- ‘(irrealis)’ + tiav ‘yesterday or tomorrow’
ka-sauni / ta-sauni ‘a moment ago’ ka- / ta- ‘(past)’ + sauni ‘moment’
nu-sauni ‘a moment later’ nu- ‘(irrealis)’ + sauni ‘moment’
ka-ka-djaman / ta-ka-djaman ‘the last morning’ ka- / ta- ‘(past)’ + ka-djaman ‘morning’
nu-ka-djaman ‘the next morning’ nu- ‘(irrealis)’ + ka-djaman ‘morning’
ka-ʔezemetj / ta-ʔezemetj ‘the last evening / night’ ka- / ta- ‘(past)’ + ʔezemetj ‘evening’
nu-ʔezemetj ‘the next evening / night’ nu- ‘(irrealis)’ + ʔezemetj ‘evening’
ka-sika-tjelu / ta-sika-tjelu ‘the day before yesterday’ ka- / ta- ‘(past)’ + sika-tjelu ‘third’
nu-sika-tjelu ‘the day after tomorrow’ nu- ‘(irrealis)’ + sika-tjelu ‘third’
ka-sika-sepatj / ta-sika-sepatj ‘two days before yesterday’ ka- / ta- ‘(past)’ + sika-sepatj ‘fourth’
nu-sika-sepatj ‘two days after tomorrow’ nu- ‘(irrealis)’ + sika-sepatj ‘fourth’
ka-tja-i-sangas / ta-tja-i-sangas ‘in the past [SPEC]’ ka- / ta- ‘(past)’ + tja-i-sangas ‘before [SPEC]’ nu-tja-i-vililj ‘in the future [SPEC]’ nu- ‘(irrealis)’ + tja-i-vililj ‘later [SPEC]’
In a clause, the temporal adverb may occur in the initial or in the final, as illustrated in (4.23).
(4.22) a. nu-tiav uri vaik=aken.
IRR-tomorrow IRR go=NOM.1SG
‘Tomorrow I will leave.’ (sapulju)
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
b. uri vaik=aken nu-tiav.
IRR go=NOM.1SG IRR-tomorrow
‘I will leave tomorrow.’ (sapulju)
The time deixis ka- / ta- ‘(past)’ denotes preterite, and nu- ‘(irrealis)’ expresses irrealis, which denotes an event that does not happen.
(4.23) a. ka- / ta- ‘(past)’
ʔ<em>aljup ti vuvu ta
<AV>hunt NOM.PRL.SG grandparent OBL.CMN
takec ta-ʔezemetj.
Formosan.muntjac PST-night
‘Grandfather hunted a muntjac last night.’ (sinapayan) b. nu- ‘irrealis’ (future)
uri vaik=aken a s<em>a-dripung nu-sika-tjelu
IRR go=NOM.1SG LIG <AV>go-Japan IRR-ORD-three
‘I will go to Japan the day after tomorrow.’ (sinapayan) c. nu- ‘irrealis’
pakitaga-in ti vikung na ljaʔediʔedi remind-UVP NOM.PRL.SG PR.M GEN.CMN neighbor maya ʔiljengal nu-ʔe-zeme~zemetj
do.not make.much.noise IRR-night-RED~night
‘Vikung was warned by the neighbor (that he should) not make so much noise at night.’ (sinapayan)
‧
In (4.24a), ta-ʔezemetj ‘last night’ expresses the previous night from the time point of utterance. The temporal adverb sika-tjelu ‘the day after tomorrow’ in (4.24b) and nu-ʔe~zeme~zemetj ‘at night’ in (4.24c) are both irrealis expression. The former denotes a future time, and the latter conveys the time of a frequently occurred event, which may happen in the future.
The temporal adverb tucu ‘now’ expresses the present time, as shown in (4.24a), or serves as a time deixis that points to the time interval that contains the time of utterance, as shown in (4.24b), in which tucu a
(4.24) tucu ‘now’
a. k<em>a~kan tiamadju tucu.
<AV>PROG~eat NOM.3PL now
‘They are eating now.’ (sinapayan)
b. na=vaik=anga (a) ma-dripung ti buka a
PFV=go=COS LIG go.to-Japan NOM.PRL.SG PR.M LIG
kin-tjelu-lj tucu a cavilj.
MULTI-three-MULTI now LIG year
‘Buka has been to Japan for three times this year.’ (sinapayan)
Other temporal adverbs may also combine with nouns or other expressions of time to form temporal adverbial phrases. In (4.25a), the temporal adverbial phrase is nutiav a kadjamadjaman [IRR-tomorrow LIG morning] ‘tomorrow morning’ headed by the temporal adverb nutiav ‘tomorrow’. In (4.25b), it is kasikatjelu a ʔezemezemetj [PST-third LIG evening]
‘night of the day before yesterday’ headed by the temporal adverb kasikatjelu ‘the day before yesterday’. (4.25c) is a temporal adverbial phrase including the exact time siva milingan
‘nine o’clock’.
‧ 國
立 政 治 大 學
‧
N a tio na
l C h engchi U ni ve rs it y
(4.25) a. nu-tiav a ka~djama~djaman uri
IRR-tomorrow LIG morning-RED~morning IRR
vaik=aken a s<em>a-kungkuan.
go=NOM.1SG LIG <AV>go-school
‘Tomorrow morning I will go to school.’ (sinapayan)
b. na=ʔ<em>aljup ti kama ka-sikatjelu
PFV=<AV>hunt NOM.PRL.SG father PST-third a ʔe~zeme~zemetj.
LIG night~RED~night
‘Father hunted in the night of the day before yesterday.’ (sinapayan) c. ta-tiav a ʔezemezemetj a siva milingan
PST-yesterday LIG evening LIG nine o’clock
‘nine o’clock in the last evening’ (sinapayan)