Page:Cornyn Outline of Burmese Grammar.pdf/19

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16
LANGUAGE DISSERTATION NO. 38, 1944

dílóubê θwâjàzòu ‘let us go this way (and no other)’; θúdòu nauphmábê laiʔ lálèimmé ‘they will probably come following behind (and no place else)’; dájàun tôdêhmábê néiyàdé ‘for that reason (they) have to live right in the jungle’; hóulúhá (,) lúgâumbê ‘that person (is a) good person (emphatic)’.

69. -theʔ ‘more than, above’. This is added to a noun expression denoting that to which something is compared:

dideʔ myánʔáun, makhouthnáimbûlâ, ‘can’t (trains) go faster than this?’; myîndeʔ khwêi ŋédé ‘a dog is smaller than a horse’.

70. -tò ‘as for, concerning’. Marks a noun expression as the topic of the sentence:

θú ʔacâundò mapyôbánè ‘as for him—don’t talk’; θwâzayádò mašibábû ‘as for having to go, (I) don’t; bédò lóujínðalê ‘when do (you) want it)?’

71. -yé. This is often added to each member of an enumeration, and often to a noun used in address:

badúnè badú θwâðalê. máun phyúyé, máun mêyé… ‘who went? Mr. Black, Mr. White…’.

72. -léi ‘of course’. Emphasizes assertions and commands:

kâunðalâ ‘is (it) good?’: kâundéléi or kâunðaléi ‘(of course it) is good’; θwâjínyín, θwâléi ‘if (you) want to go, go (ahead)’.

This particle is common in aphoristic statements, where it replaces the final particle (36):

ŋwéi šádé ‘looks for money’: khetté ‘is difficult’: ŋwéi šáléi, khelléi ‘the more you look for money, the more difficult (it is)’.

73. -nó expects acquiescence. Infrequent:

θwâdòmé ‘(I) will have to be going, i.e. goodbye’; θwâdònó ‘go (then), i.e. goodbye [to person leaving]’.

74. -lòu marks what precedes as a quotation of another’s speech or of one’s own opinion. If no verb expression follows, this particle often marks what precedes as intended:

lámélòu pyôdé ‘(he) said (he) would come’; ywá šìdélòu mathímbû ‘(I) do not think there is a village’; dí θauyyéihá makâumbûlòu thíndé ‘(I) think this drinking water is not good’; hóu chéiyáhá, bá chéiyálòu thínðalê ‘what (sort of) footprint do you think that footprint (is)?’

bé θwâmalòulê ‘where (is it your intention to) go?’: ʔéiŋgóu θwâmalòu ‘(I intend to) go home’.

75. -tè marks what precedes as a quotation, but differs from -lòu (74) in that it is not followed by a verb expression:

lámédè ‘(he said he) would come’; sabwêdè ‘(he said the word) table’.

76. -θá ‘only’:

myòujîhmáðá hóté šìdé ‘there are hotels only in big cities’; θwâðá θwâbá ‘just go (don’t hold back)’.

Minor Sentences, 77

77. A sentence which does not consist of a verb expression or of two noun expressions equated (34 ff.) is a minor sentence: