ドム語の所有を表はす表現

Abstract

The Dom language has several types of expressions to denote possession, including serial verbs meaning 'to have', and a construction equivalent to 'A's B' of English. Although the English question 'Do you have this lamp?' cannot be equated with 'Is this lamp yours?' in Dom, the serial verbs of possession, the 'A's B' construction as nominal predicates, and the 'A's B' construction predicated by existential verbs have similar meanings. First, I show that possessor person-number suffixes, which can be suffixed to B of the 'A's B' construction, are obligatory for inalianably possessed nouns. The morphology of the suffixes is mainly described at this point. Second, I examine serial verbs of possession, and illustrate the following formal and semantic features, and usages: 1) Most of the serial verbs of possession are composed of a verb meaning 'to make' or 'to get' and a verb meaning 'to use' or 'to consume'. 'I made it and I am using it' means 'I have it' in Dom. The composition of the two verbs is determined by the object nouns. Therefore, in the case of a house, 'I built it and I sleep in it' forms a serial verb meaning 'to have'; 2) Combining two verbs into serial verbs of possession is not a synchronic productive process, but determined conventionally; 3) The meaning of serial verbs of possession can retain the original meaning of each verb; 4) The possessor can be different from the person who made or got the thing. The person who says 'I made it and I am using it' is sometimes not the same person who actually made it; 5) The object of the serial verbs can be referential, so 'this lamp' in 'Do you have this lamp?' in Dom can be the very lamp right before one's eyes, as in 'Is this lamp yours?' 6) Serial verbs of possession may be used to refer to the categories of the object nouns, because the serial verbs are distinct as to kinds of object nouns. 'That which I built and sleep in' is a kind of house of mine.