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/p/ : A voiceless bilabial plosive /ph/ : A voiceless bilabial aspirated plosive /b/ : A voiced bilabial plosive /t/ : A voiceless dental plosive /th/ : A voiceless dental aspirated plosive /d/ : A voiced dental plosive /k/ : A voiceless velar plosive /kh/ : A voiceless velar aspirated plosive /?/ : A glottal plosive /tl/ : A voiceless dental plosive released with a lateral /tlh/ : A voiceless dental aspirated plosive released with a lateral /tr/ : A voiceless alveolar plosive released with a trill /trh/ : A voiceless alveolar aspirated plosive released with a trill /ts/ : A voiceless alveolar affricate /tsh/ : A voiceless alveolar aspirated affricate /m/ : A voiced bilabial nasal /n/ : A voiced dental nasal /ng/ : A voiced velar nasal /l/ : A voiced dental lateral /r/ : A voiced alveolar trill /f/ : A voiceless labio-dental fricative /v/ : A voiced labio-dental fricative /s/ : A voiceless alveolar fricative /z/ : A voiceless alveolar fricative /h/ : A voiceless glottal fricative 3.1.2 Homorganic Sounds: /hm/ : A homorganic voiceless bilabial nasal released with a voiced bilabial nasal /hn/ : A homorganic voiceless dental nasal released with a voiced dental nasal /hl/ : A homorganic voiceless dental lateral released with a voiced dental lateral /hr/ : A homorganic voiceless alveolar fricative trill released with a voiced alveolar trill 3.1.3 Sound Inventory (To be discussed in the final Draft.) 3.1.4 VOWELS Monophthongs Table: 1 Front Central Back High i u Mid e o Low a Diphthongs Table: 2 I u e o a ui iu ia ai au ua ei eu oi ou Triphthongs iai, uai, uau, iau 3.1.5 Sound Inventory (To be discussed in the final Draft.)
Mizo does not have any grammatical gender. There are three genders in Mizo namely,
Masculine Gender, Feminine Gender, and Neuter Gender.
a. Masculine and feminine genders are sometimes distinguished by different words.
For example: boy mi-pa-naupan girl hmei-chia
b. Sometimes masculine and feminine genders are formed by affixing –pa for masculine and –nu for feminine.
For example: boih-pa ‘a male slave’ boih-nu ‘a female slave’
c. In case of non-human living beings –chal is used in place of masculine marker –pa with big animals, but the feminine marker for big animals is always –pui.
For example: kel-chal ‘he-goat’ kel-pui ‘she-goat’ When the gender is not specified these markers do not occur. d. A few words are the same in both the gender (may be treated as common gender). For Example: u ‘elder brother or sister’ nao ‘younger brother or sister’ e. All the proper names end in -a when they are masculine and in –i when they are feminine. For example: zova ‘name of a boy/man’ zovi ‘name of a girl/woman’ tluanga ‘name of a boy/man’ tluangi ‘name of a girl/woman’
All the names of the animals, unless specified their gender, and the names of inanimate objects are of neuter gender.
There are two numbers in Mizo–singular and plural. However, in most of the cases nouns are not marked with any plural marker and the plurality is encoded in the modifiers or numerals that modify the noun and also in the agreement pattern. But in few cases the following plural markers are used.
They are- te, ho, ho-te, zong-zong, zong-zong-te Pronouns Personal pronouns Singular Plural First Person keima/kei keimani/keini Second Person nangma/nang nangmani/nangni Third Person ani an-ni Case forms In Mizo, Case markers are invariant with respect to person and number. First Person Singular Plural Nominative keima/kei keimani/keini Ergative keima-in/kei-in kei-in-n Accusative keima min/kei min/min keimani/keini min/min Genitive keima/ka keimani/kan Second Person Singular Plural Nominative nangma/nang nangmani/nangni Ergative nangma-in/nang-in nang-in-n Accusative nangma/nang nangmani/nangni Genitive nangma/nanga/i nangma/nanga/in Third Person Singular Plural Nominative ani an-ni Ergative ani-n an-ni-n Accusative ani an-ni Genitive ani an-ni Indefinite Pronouns eng-lo ‘something’ engma/engma-lo ‘nothing’ tu-ma/tu-ma-lo ‘none, nobody’ tu-emaw ‘someone, somebody’ Demonstrative pronouns hei-hi ‘this’ (in the proximity) kha-kha ‘that’ (upward) khu-khu ‘that’ (downward) so-so ‘that’ (not in the proximity) cu-cu ‘that’(not in the proximity)
Reflexive pronouns and their forms Mizo has the form amaah corresponding to ‘self’ in English. It has a reduplicated form amaah leh amaah ‘self and self’.
First Person kei-maah leh kei-maah Second Person nangmaah leh nangmaah Third Person amaah leh amaah
The reduplicated reflexive form occurs in the direct or indirect object position and does not carry any case marker.
The possessive pronouns and the subject pronominal clitics are identical in form.
Singular Plural First Person ka kan Second Person i in Third Person a an Interrogative pronouns tu-ng ‘who’ tu-emo ‘somebody’ tu-cu-nge ‘whom’ tu-taa-nge ‘whose’ eng-nge ‘what’ eng-emo ‘something’ en-tik-aa-nge ‘when’ en-vaang-in-nge ‘why’
Adjectives in Mizo are placed after the nominal they modify. For example, mi Tha person good ‘A good person’ When a noun is used as an adjective, it precedes the noun it modifies. For example, mao dawh-kan wood table ‘A table made of wood’
Comparative marker –zawk is added to the positive form of the adjective to derive comparative form and affix –ber is added to the positive form of the adjective to form superlative degree. For example,
Positive Comparative Superlative Tha Tha-zawk Tha-ber good better best
All Mizo verbs undergo a process of verb conversion, where the second form is derived from the first form. This classification is based on the grammatical properties of the verbs dependent on their syntactic distribution (Lalrindiki, 1992). From II verbs occur in clefts, passives, conditionals, and other non-finite constructions. As they do not take any agreement marker they can be classified as [-Tensed] verbs. The following are a few instances of stem alternation:
Stem-I Stem-II Gloss naa nat ‘to hurt’ mhang mhan ‘to use’ pot poh ‘to pull’ veel velh ‘to hit’ laa laak ‘to take’ aat ah ‘to cut’ phiat phiah ‘to clean’ thii thih ‘to die’ laai laih ‘to dig’ nei neih ‘to keep/have’ lou loh ‘to pluck’ zou zoh ‘to complete’ zoot zoh ‘to ask’ rum ruuk ‘to steal’ muu mut ‘to sleep’ These verbs of two stems differ in their finals and tones. Adverbs Adverbs of Time ni-tin ‘daily’ nakina ‘at present’ ngai ‘ever’ ngai-lo ‘never’ tuna-pawh ‘already’ kum-tin ‘yearly’ nimina ‘yesterday’ voi-in-a ‘today’ naktuk-a ‘tomorrow’ nimin-piah ‘day before yesterday’ fo ‘always’ nikuma ‘last year’ kum-ina ‘this year’ Adverbs of Place chunga ‘on top’ chung-lama ‘above’ heta ‘here’ saw-ta ‘there’ khi-ta ‘up there’ khu-ta ‘down there’ vel ‘around’ Adverbs of manner eng-tin-nge ‘how’ thuai/thuai-thuai ‘quickly’ zoi-zoi-in ‘slowly’ zawk ‘more’ ber ‘most’ vak ‘with force’ Affixing ‘tak-in’ to an adjective form forms some adverbs. For example, Adjective Adverb dik/fei dik-tak-in/fei-tak-in accurate accurately huai huai-tak-in bold boldly eng eng-tak-in bright brightly etc. Some adjectives are used as adverbs without any change in the form. For example: Adjective Adverb ring ring loud loudly hman-hmaw hman-hmaw hurry hurriedly etc.
Most of the Mizo words are monosyllabic in nature. There are a very few words which are non-derived polysyllabic words. Mizo uses two major devices to form words. They are – affixation and compounding.
There are very few derivational affixes in Mizo. The main morphological markers are: Prifixes ti/tih- This is a transitivizing prefix attached to an intransitive verb stem to form corresponding transitive verb.
For example: tlaa tlaak ‘to fall’ Stem-I Stem-II ti-tlaa tih-tlaak ‘to make X fall’
in- This functions as a reflexive and reciprocal marker, termed as verbal reflexive in Mizo (cf. Subbarao and Lalithamurthy, 1997).
For example: kaap kah ‘to shoot’ Stem-I Stem-II in-kaap in-kah ‘to shoot each other’
-Om- This is an adjectival marker, which is attached to verb stems to form adjectives.
For example: hlaau hlauh ‘to be afraid/scared’ Stem-I Stem-II hlaau-Om hlauh-Om ‘fearsome/scary’ mi-hlaau-Om person fearsome ‘A scary/fearsome person’
-na- This is a nominalizer attached to verbs to derive nominals. This suffix is always attached to the second form of the verbs and never to the first form of verbs.
For example: hmangnai hmangnaih ‘to love’ Stem-I Stem-II *hmangna-nai hmangnaih-na ‘love’
-tak-in- This is an adverbial marker attached to adjectives to derive adverbs.
For example: Adjectives Adverbs huai huai-tak-in bold boldly eng eng-tak-in bright brightly etc.
-tu- This an agentive marker attached to nouns/adjectives/verbs to form agentive nominals.
For example: dawr/dawr-kei ‘shop’ dawr-kei-tu ‘shopkeeper’ rong-bawl ‘to attend’ rong-bawl-tu ‘attendant’ nei ‘to have/to keep’ nei-tu ‘owner/keeper’
As stated earlier, most of the polysyllabic words in Mizo are the result of compounding.
For example: Noun + Noun: kee + kor = kekor leg cloth trousers Noun + Adjective/Verb: kam + tam = kamtam mouth crowd to be talkative Noun + Verb: thil + pek = thilpek thing to give gift Basic Vocabulary 1. Body Parts Hair : sam Head : lu Skull : luruh Brain : thluak Face : hmai Forehead : chal Eyebrow : mithmul Eye : mit Eyelid : mittlangkawm Eyelash : mithmul Pupil : mitnote Nose : hnar Nostril : hnar kua Cheek : biang Cheek-bone : biangke Ear : beng Ear-drum : bengdar Mouth : ka Lip : hmui Teeth : ha Tongue : lei Moustache : hmuihmul Chin : khabe Neck : nghawng Shoulder : dar Arm : ban Elbow : kiu Hand : kut Palm : kutphah Finger : kutzungTang Thumb : kutzungpui Nail : tin Chest : awm Breast : hnute Belly : pum Waist : ka Thigh : malpui Knee : khup Ankle : keartui Toe : kezungpui Sole : kephah Ribs : nakruh Spine : hnungzangruh Bone : ruh Lungs : chuaf Stomach : pumpui Liver : thin Intestine : ril Heart : thinlung Muscles : tha Veins : thisenzam Blood : thisen 2. Calendar Year : kum Month : thla Week : kor Day : ni Days of the Week: Sunday : pathian ni Monday : thawhtan ni Tuesday : thawhleh ni Wednesday : nilai ni Thursday : nilaithawtan ni Friday : zirtuep ni Saturday : inrin ni Months of the year: January : pawlkut thla February : ramtuk thla March : vau thla April : Tau thla May : tomir thla June : nikir thla July : vawklniahzawm thla August : thitin thla September : mimkut thla October : khuangchawi thla November : sahmulphah thla December : pawltlak thla 3. Fruits Mango : theihai Banana : balhla Orange : serthlum Guava : kawethei Pineapple : lakhuih thei Watermelon : dewnpawh Pomegranate : theibuhfai Lemon : ser Papaya : thingphanghma Pinion Fruit : theihai 4. Vegetables Onion : purunsen Cabbage : zikhlum Cauliflower : parbawr Garlic : purunvar Eggplant : bawkbaun Potato : aalu Mushroom : pa Cucumber : fanghma Mustard : intam 5. Flowers 6. Spices 7. Dishes 8. Cooking Terminology 9. Colours Red : sen Orange : serthlum rawng Yellow : eng Green : hring Blue : pawl Violet : senduk White : var Black : dum 10. Numerals Ordinals: First : pakhatna Second : palnihna Third : pathumna Fourth : palina Fifth : pangana Sixth : parukna Seventh : pasarihna Eighth : pariatna Ninth : pakuana Tenth : sawmna Eleventh : sawm pakhatna Twelfth : sawm palnihna Thirteenth : sawm pathumna Fourteenth : sawm palina Fifteenth : sawm pangana Sixteenth : sawm parukna Seventeenth :sawm pasarihna Eighteenth : sawm pariatna Nineteenth : sawm pakuana Twentieth : sawm hnihna ……………………………… Twenty first : sawmhnih pakhatna Twenty second : sawmhnih palnihna Twenty third : sawmhnih pathumna Twenty fourth : sawmhnih palina Twenty fifth : sawmhnih pangana Thirtieth : sawmthumna ……………………………… Thirty first : sawmthum pakhatna Thirty second : sawmthum palnihna Thirty third : sawmthum pathumna Thirty fourth : sawmthum palina Thirty fifth : sawmthum pangana ……………………….. Fortieth : sawmlina Forty first : sawmli pakhatna Forty second : sawmli palnihna Forty third : sawmli pathumna Forty fourth : sawmli palina Forty fifth : sawmli pangana ………………………… Fiftieth : sawmngana Thus, it can be seen that –na is the ordinal marker that is consistent throughout the paradigm. Cardinals: One : pakhat Two : palnih Three : pathum Four : pali Five : panga Six : paruk Seven : pasarih Eight : pariat Nine : pakua Ten : sawm Eleven : sawm pakhat Twelve : sawm palnih Thirteen : sawm pathum Fourteen : sawm pali Fifteen : sawm panga Sixteen : sawm paruk Seventeen : sawm pasarih Eighteen : sawm pariat Nineteen : sawm pakua Twenty : sawm hnih Twenty One : sawmhnih pakhat Twenty Two : sawmhnih palnih Twenty Three : sawmhnih pathum Twenty Four : sawmhnih pali Twenty Five : sawmhnih panga Twenty Six : sawmhnih paruk Twenty Seven : sawmhnih pasarih Twenty Eight : sawmhnih pariat Twenty Nine : sawmhnih pakua Thirty : sawmthum Thirty One : sawmthum pakhat Thirty Two : sawmthum palnih Thirty Three : sawmthum pathum Thirty Four : sawmthum pali Thirty Five : sawmthum panga Thirty Six : sawmthum paruk Thirty Seven : sawmthum pasarih Thirty Eight : sawmthum pariat Thirty Nine : sawmthum pakua Forty : sawmli Forty One : sawmli pakhat Forty Two : sawmli palnih Forty Three : sawmli pathum Forty Four : sawmli pali Forty Five : sawmli panga Forty Six : sawmli paruk Forty Seven : sawmli pasarih Forty Eight : sawmli pariat Forty Nine : sawmli pakua Fifty : sawmnga ……………………………………………… ………………………………………………etc. Hundred : za Two Hundreds : zalmi One Thousand : sangkhat Ten Thousand : singkhat One Lakh : nuai-khat ………………………………………… …………………………………….etc. 12. Measurement Distance : hlat lam Height : san lam Weight : rih lam Volume : tam lam 13. Domesticated animals Dog : ui Cat : zawhte Cow : bawng Duck : varak Chicken : ar Bull : sial Pig : vawk Goat : kel Sheep : beram 14. Wild Animals Lion : sakeifaknei Tiger : sakei Deer : sakhi Monkey : zawng Elephant : sai Crocodile : awle Wolf : chinghnia Fox : sihal Tortoise : satel Bear : savawm Snake : rul Squirrel : thehlei Eagle : mu Vulture : mulukawlh Peacock : arawn 15. Kinship terms Mother : nu Father : pa Brother : unaupa Sister : unaunu Grandfather : pu Grandmother : pi Mother’s younger brother : putea Mother’s elder brother : pu Father’s younger brother : patea Father’s elder brother : pa Mother’s younger sister : nutei Mother’s elder sister : nu Father’s younger sister : nitei Father’s elder sister : nipuii Son : fapa Daughter : fanu Nephew : vahpa Niece : vahnu Stepmother : nuhrawn Stepfather : pahrawn Wife : nupui Husband : pasal Brother-in-law : makpa (family of the girl) Sister-in-law : mo (family of the boy) 16. Celestial Bodies etc. Sun : ni Sunset : ni tla Sunrise : ni chuak Dawn : vartian Dusk : thimhlim Day : chum Night : zan Evening : tlai Morning : zing Noon : chun lai Midnight : zanlai Stars : arsi Moon : thla Sky : van Planet : arsi Horizon : kawlkil Fire : meialh Earth : khawvel 17. Geographical Terms Land : ram Forest : rampnuiu Plain : phaizawl Plateau : tlang zawl Hill : tlang Mountain : tlang Cliff : awhpang Gorges : kawr thuk Cave : puk Peak : tlang chip Field : lo ram Rain : ruah Thunder : khawpui ri Lightning : kawlphe Hailstorm : rial Water : tui Ocean : tuifinriat Sea : tuipui River : lui Lake : dil Well : tuichun chuah Pond : tuikhuah
Mizo is a Tibeto-Burman language of the Kuki-Chin group spoken in the northeast of India. There are some speakers scattered in the adjoining hill states of Manipur and Tripura as well as along the border areas of Burma and Bangladesh. Like other Tibeto-Burman languages, Mizo, too, conforms to almost all the typological features of an SOV language. This section attempts to present some typological characteristics of Mizo. These characteristics are discussed in specific relation to word order universals.
Mizo is a verb-final language and is left branching in the unmarked word order. It has postpositions and a post sentential complementizer occurs to the right of the embedded sentence. The auxiliary verb always follows the main verb. The very rich pattern of agreement in Mizo allows ‘heavy pro drop’. Subject normally precedes all other arguments. Locative precedes instrumental and instrumental precedes indirect object. Direct object follows the Indirect Object. As it is a split-ergative language, all the transitive subjects are marked with the ergative marker –n/-in and the object with-f.
Subjects normally precede all other arguments. Locatives precede instruments, which in turn precede indirect objects. Direct objects follow all other arguments. The order is: S X IO DO V Mizo is a split-ergative language: ergative-absolutive in the NPs and nominative-accusative in the VPs. The subject NPs are marked with the ergative marker –in of all transitive verbs and objects are unmarked ф as they are the subjects of intransitives.
As it is mentioned earlier, Mizo is a split-ergative language: ergative-absolutive in the NPs and nominative-accusative in the VPs. The subject NPs are marked with the ergative marker –in of all transitive verbs and objects are unmarked ф as they are the subjects of intransitives. The VP construction in Mizo is discussed in the next chapter.
Mizo verbs are marked with subject and object agreement clitics. The agreement clitics are obligatory for all constructions except imperatives and wh-subject questions.
The intransitive verb constructions are simpler than that of transitive verbs as the intransitive predicate does not categorizes any internal argument. The verb carries only subject agreement markers. They are given below:
Singular Plural First Person ka kan Second Person i in Third Person a an For example, 1. ka-bual 1sg-bathe ‘I bathe.’ 2. -bual 2sg-bath ‘You bathe.’ 3. a-bual 3sg-bathe ‘He/She bathes.’ These pronominal agreement clitics are also genitive markers in NPs. For example, 4. ka -bawng i -bawng a -bawng 1sg cow 2sg cow 3sg cow ‘My cow’ ‘Your cow’ ‘His/Her cow’
Since transitive predicates select an internal argument, the transitive verbs are marked with object agreement markers in addition to the subject agreement markers. The paradigm for the object agreement marker is given below:
Singular Plural First Person mi/min mi/min Second Person ce ce-u Third Person ф ф
As Subbarao and Lalithamurthy (ms) point out, the order of the agreement marker affixation is determined by a person hierarchy where the first person dominates the rest and second person takes supremacy over the third person. If the object is second person then the verb carries both the markers subject agreement marker as well as object agreement marker. For example,
5. ka-tanpui-ce
1sg help 2OAM
‘I helped you.’
6. ka-tanpui-ce-u
1sg help 2OAM
‘I helped you all.’
7. a-tanpui-ce
3sg help 2OAM
‘He/She helped you.’
Third person objects receive no agreement marker.
8. ka-tanpui- ф
1sg help OAM
‘I helped him/her.’
9. i-tanpui- ф
1sg help OAM
‘You helped him/her.’
Word Order
1. Mizo is a verb-final ( SOV ) language.
10. ka pa -in ka hneenah lekhabu-cu a -than –ang
my-father Erg 1sg Dat book DefD 3sg send Fut
‘My father will send a book for me.’
2. The Indirect Object precedes the Direct Object in the unmarked word order in Mizo.
11. zova -n zovi -hneenah lekhabu a -than -ang
Zova Erg Zovi Dat money 3sg send Fut
‘Zova will send a book to Zovi.’
3. Greenberg’s (1996) universal 4 states that ‘….with overwhelmingly greater than chance frequency, languages with normal SVO-order are postpositional.’ Mizo conforms to his claim.
12. lekhabu dOkaan cung a- Om book table on 3sg be/exist ‘There is a book on the table.’ 13. hi leekhabu zova taam a -ni Det book Zova for 3sg be ‘This book is for Zova.’
4. The marker of comparison follows the standard of comparison. The comparative marker zOk and superlative marker ber remain uniform through out the paradigm.
14. zova zovi ay-in a -fing zOk
Zova Zovi than 3sg intelligent more
‘Zova is more intelligent than Zovi.’
15. he lekhabu hi kha lekhabu ay-in a -liyan –zOk
Dem book DefD Dem book than 3sg big more
‘This book is bigger than that book.’
Normally in verb final languages, time adverbials precede place adverbials in unmarked word order and they occur in descending order. Like many other verb-final languages Mizo too, has the same order.
16. zovi-n hna a -thOh zOh hun-ah zova hetah a- lo kal-ang
Zovi Erg work 3sg finish after Loc Zova here 3sg come Fut
‘Zova will come here after Zovi finishes her work.’
Adverbial Clause of Place
17. nimin -a ka -hmu hna -ah ce khaan ka -hmuh –ang ce
yesterday Loc 1sg meet place Loc 2sg time 1sg meet Fut 2sg
‘I will meet you where I met you yesterday.’
(Subbarao and Lalitha Murthy,ms)
18. nikum -ah aizOl –ah mi tamtak an-kal tOh
last year Loc Aizawl Loc people many 3pl go Asp
‘Many people went to Aizawl last year.’
19. PM -cu january ni sOm thum khan lunglaei-ah a -kal
PM Def January be ten three DefD Lunglei Loc 3sg go
‘The prime minister went to Lunglei on January 30.’
Adverb Clause of Manner
20. i -thOh-ang ciah –in kei-pOh-in he hna hi ka -thOk -tOh
2sg work manner Adv I also Erg DEM work DefD1sg work Asp
‘I also did this work like you did it.’
(Subbarao and Lalitha Murthy,ms)
In Mizo conditional clauses are formed by adding cuan ‘if’ to the right of the verb. cuan is a subordinating conditional marker.
21. zova a –lo kal cuan in kan- chuk -ang
Zova 3sg come if COMP 1pl go out Fut
‘We will go out if Zova comes.’
22. kan -sOm cuan in an -lo kal -ang
1pl invite if COMP 3pl come Fut
‘They will come if we invite them.’
Mizo has postposed Final Complementizers (FC) occuring to the right of the embedded sentence.
23. zova -n [naktuk cu colni a -ni -ang ti? ] a -hria
Zova Erg tomorrow Def holiday 3sg be Fut COMP 3sg know
‘Zova knows that tomorrow will be a holiday.’
24. [zova voin -ah a -lokal in ] ka -ring
Zova today Loc 3sg come COMP 1sg think
‘I think zova might come today.’
The adjectives and numerals follow the noun, which is modified. But demonstrative adjectives precede the modified noun.
25. zova mipanaupang tSa a -ni
Zova boy good 3sg be
‘Zova is a good boy.’
26. bom –ah thei pasarih an - Om
basket Loc fruit seven 3pl be/exist
‘There are seven fruits in the basket.’
Like most of the Tibeto-Burman languages, a determiner in Mizo consists of two parts. The demonstrative occurs to the left of the modifying noun and its counterpart definite determiner occurs to the right of the modified noun. This nature of determiners is referred to as split determiners (Subbarao and Lalitha Murthy, ms).
27. heihi lekhabu heihi
this book this
DEM N DefD
28. so paa so thaau tak a -ni
DEM man DefD fat very 3sg be
‘That man is very fat.’
Apart from the simple adjectives, Mizo uses the strategy of relativization to modify the NPs. Mizo has different structures for relativizing a subject and non-subject NPs. It has Externally Headed prenominal and postnominal relative clauses. Though it does not have any relative pronoun, it has head internal relative clause that resembles Internally Headed relative clauses.
Subject relativization
Externally Headed Postnominal Relative Clause
29. [[(kha) zirtirtu] [caOimaOina dong –tu -tuur f ]kha (i)n ]kan –sikul
DEM teacher honour receive AGT Fut Def.D our school
a -tlOh –ang]
3sg visit Fut
‘The teacher who will receive the honour will visit our school.’
Externally Headed Prenominal Relative Clause
30. [[caOimaOina dong –tu -tuur f][(kha)zirtirtu] kha (i)n]kan sikul
honour receive AGT Fut DEM teacher Def.D our school
a -tlOh –ang]
3sg visit Fut
‘The teacher who will receive the honour will visit our school.’
Head Internal Relative Clause
31. [[[vOin -ah [ (kha) zirtirtu][ caOimaOina dong –tu -tuur f ]
today Loc DEM teacher honour receive AGT Fut
kha (i)n ] kan – sikul a -tlOh – ang]
Def.D our school 3sg visit Fut
‘The teacher who will receive the honour will visit our school today.’
Like most of the Tibeto-Burman and Dravidian languages, Mizo does not have any relative pronoun and displays two different structures for the relativization of subject NP and non-subject NPs.
Non-Subject Relativization Direct Object Relativization 32. mujiem [zova-n a –hmuh] cu liyaan tak a –ni museum Zova Erg 3sg see DefD big very 3sg be ‘The museum which Zova saw is very big.’ (Subbarao and Lalitha Murthy,ms) Indirect Object Relativization 33. nimin -a [zova –n co a –pek ]bOng (a) –kha a-thi –tOh yesterday LocZova Erg food 3sg give cow 3sg DefD 3sg die Asp ‘The cow which Zova gave food to yesterday died.’ (Subbarao and Lalitha Murthy,ms) Oblique Object Relativization 34. dohkaana[lekhabu ka –daah -na ] cu a –liyaan table book 1sg keep INF DefD 3sg big ‘The table on which I kept the book is big.’ (Subbarao and Lalitha Murthy,ms)
Unlike most of the Tibeto-Burman languages, Mizo does not have a genitive Postposition and possessive interpretation is contexual. However, pronominal clitics occur with the head noun to mark the genitive form.
35. zova lekhabu Zova book ‘Zova’s book’ 36. ka pa 1sg. Father ‘my father’
Normally in SOV languages the quantifiers precede the noun they modify. However, in Mizo, quantifiers follow the noun they modify.
37. in –ah mi tamtak an – Om house Loc. people many 3pl. be/exist ‘There are many people at home.’ 38. no - ah hnute tleem a -Om cup Loc. milk little 3sg. Be ‘There is a little milk in the cup.’
Mizo has a very rich pattern of agreement. Subject as well Object pronouns are preferably dropped. However, they are recoverable via pronominal clitics that are incorporated in the verbal morphology.
39. pro ka hmu pro ce 1sgSAM see 2sg OAM ‘I saw you.’
Personal pronouns in subject, direct object, indirect object and oblique object positions are dropped. But they are recoverable through pronominal clitics incorporated in verbal morphology. The subject agreement marker and the first person direct object agreement marker precede the verb stem whereas the second person direct object agreement marker follows the verb stem.
40. lekhabu-cu ka chiar book Acc 1sg read ‘I read the book.’ 41. ka hmu ce 1sgSAM see 2sg OAM ‘I saw you.’
Like most of the South-Asian languages in general and Tibeto-Burman languages in particular, Mizo has wh-expression in situ. There is no obligatory wh-movement.
42. zova -n enge nilein -in a -ti Zova Erg what all day 3sg do ‘What did zova do all the day yesterday.’
As it is stated earlier there is no obligatory movement for the question formation in Mizo. Yes-No and tag question markers occur rightmost to the final constituent.
43. zovi sikul -ah tsangin a- loh em Zovi school Loc from 3sg return y/n q-mkr ‘Is Zovi coming from school?’
Mizo has future –non-future contrast. The tense and aspect markers follow the verb stem. Mizo does not mark present and past tense.
Simple sentence/ embedded sentence mek / laay Prog. Aspect Marker ang / tur Fut marker
Negative element always follows the verb and occurs post verbally in Mizo. Neg in Mizo can carry agreement marker.
44. kan -hmu -lo -ce 1pl see Neg 2sg ‘we didn’t see you.’
Like Dravidian languages such as Telugu, Tamil and Kannada and some of the Tibeto- Burman languages such as Hmar, Angami, Ao etc. Mizo, too, has verbal reflexives / reciprocals (VR). The VR follows the agreement marker but precedes the verb stem. When the VR occurs, the occurrence of the lexical anaphor is optional. However, when a lexical anaphor occurs in argument positions, the VR occurs obligatorily. In Mizo, the presence of the VR prohibits the occurrence of an ergative marker –in/-n. Verbal Reflexives are always subject oriented.
45. zova - n ama leh ama a- in hmu zova Erg self and self 3sg VR see ‘Zova saw himself.’
Mizo, like some of the Tibeto-Burman languages has split ergativity in person. However, it does show consistency and in some cases the ergative marker becomes optional.
Nominative-Accusative 46. zova-n anni-cu a - hria Zova Erg they Acc 3sg know ‘Zova knows them.’ Ergative-Absolutive 47. zova-n min - hmu Zova Erg 1sg see ‘Zova saw me.’ 20. The Position of the Plural Marker Plural markers follow the noun in simple sentences. 48. dOkan cun-ah leekhabu te an- Om table on book Pl 3Pl be ‘The books are on the table.’
However, when a noun phrase is modified by a clause, the plural marker occurs to the right of the complex NP followed by the definite marker.
49. nikum-a mi zong zong amerikaa kal ta te kha an hone lutul last year people many America go sec pl DefD 3Pl rich very ‘Many people who went America last year became rich.’ (Subbarao and Lalitha Murthy,ms)
The formation of Passive in Mizo is basically a FOCUSING operation where the logical DO or IO, which is treated as derived subject, is marked with the Focus marker –cu. However there are other morphological changes that are observed.
Simple Active and Passive construction 50. zovi -n lekhabu a -ru Active Zovi Erg book 3sg steal ‘Zovi stole the book.’ 51. zovi -n lekhabu-cu a -ru Passive Zovi Erg book FOC 3sg steal ‘ The book was stolen by Zovi.’
As Subbarao and Lalithmurthy (cf. 1997) point out ‘…the passive of the older generation is basically a FOCUSING operation…the passive is formed by focusing direct object or indirect object either to the left or to the right of the original sentence…the passive in younger generation is different from that of the older generation…an extra sentence node with verb Om ‘be’ (existential) or ni ‘be’ (copula) is created. For example,
52. zovi -n lekhabu-cu a -ru in a -Om Passive
Zovi Erg book FOC 3sg steal linker 3sg be
‘The book was stolen by Zovi.’
The formation of clefts in Mizo shares most of the features with the Passive. The NP, which is modified, is marked with the Focus marker –cu and no other change has been observed.
53. zovi-cu cancui hre -tu a -ni
Zovi FOC news know AGT 3sg be
‘It is Zovi who knows the news.’
54. sakei-cu zova –n a -tha ? a -ni
tiger FOC Zova-Erg 3sg kill 3sg be
‘This the tiger that Zova killed.’
An extra node is created for–ni verb be which is a copula. As it is statedearlier there is not much difference between the formation of passives and that of clefts. The only difference that makes a passive different from a cleft is the occurrence of linker –in in passive. The following example is illustrative.
55. sakei -cu zova-n a tha? in a- Om/*ni
tiger FOC Zova Erg 3sg kill linker 3sg be/exist
‘The/A tiger was killed by Zova.’
To summarise, Mizo is a verb-final languages and is left branching in the unmarked word order. It has postpositions and a post sentential complementizer occurs to the right of the embedded sentence. The auxiliary verb always follows the main verb. The very rich pattern of agreement in Mizo allows ‘heavy pro drop’. Subject normally precedes all other arguments. Locative precedes instrumental and instrumental precedes indirect object. Direct object follows the Indirect Object. As it is a split-ergative language, all the transitive subjects are marked with the ergative marker –n/-in and the object with-ɸ. The genitive precedes the governing noun and the marker of comparison follows the standard of comparison. Time adverbials precede place adverbials. The occurrence of elements in time as well as place adverbial phrases is in the descending order. Like many other languages of the world, Mizo, too, has the nonrestrictive relative clauses. The formation of clefts in Mizo shares most of the features with the Passive. The NP that is modified is marked with the Focus marker –cu and no other change has been observed. The formation of Passive in Mizo is basically a FOCUSING operation where the logical DO or IO which is treated as derived subject is marked with the Focus marker –cu. Apart from the simple adjectives Mizo uses the strategy of relativization to modify NPs. It has different structures for relativizing a subject and non-subject NPs. It has Externally Headed prenominal and postnominal relative clauses. Though it does not have any relative pronoun, it has head internal relative clause. Like most of the Tibeto-Burman languages Mizo does not have any relative pronoun.
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