User:LhikJovan/Mermaid construction

A mermaid construction (人魚構文) is a type of grammatical construction found among several of the world's language families, includingJaponic, Ainuic, Korean, Sino-Tibetan, Austronesian, Kra-Dai Mongolic, Dravidian, Yukaghir, Indo-Aryan, Chukotko-Kamchatkan, Tungusic, and Cushitic. The description "mermaid" refers to two-halved nature: one part of the sentence resembles a verbal sentence, while the other part resembles a copular sentence.

Mermaid constructions appear to be mostly localized around East, Southeast, and South Asia. However, they are by no means limited to this area, as evidenced by their presence in the Yukaghir languages of Siberia and Sidaama language of Ethiopia.

Definition
As defined by Tsunoda (2013), a prototypical mermaid construction is defined by several key criteria:


 * 1) It has a structure consisting of three "slots":   +   + , in that order.
 * 2) The   is an independent noun.
 * 3) The  's subject and the   are not coreferential.
 * 4) The   can occur as an independent sentence.
 * 5) The   is not the subject of the sentence.

These prototypical criteria are based on the mermaid construction as found in Japanese, the first language for which the construction was studied in-depth. Many languages' mermaid constructions differ somewhat from this prototype, including some examples in Japanese, and those that deviate significantly are sometimes called "quasi-mermaid constructions." Some deviations include:


 * Use of verbs other than a copula, or of a zero copula, in the  slot. (Variation in #1)
 * Use of a different word order than  +   +  . (Variation in #1)
 * Use of a clitic, noun-derived affix, or zero for the  slot. (Variation in #2)
 * Use of nominalized, attributive, or other non-finite forms for the verb of the . (Variation in #4)

Individual mermaid constructions are usually differentiated from each other by the morpheme that is used in the  slot.

Examples
In each of the example sentences in the following sections, the  will be marked in bold text, and the   in red.

Japonic languages
Mermaid constructions are found in abundance among Japonic languages in general.

Japanese
Mermaid constructions were first studied in-depth as Japanese constructions. Tasaku et al. (2013) identified more than 106 nouns that can be used in prototypical mermaid constructions in Modern Standard Japanese, including:

The closely related Hachijō language also contains mermaid constructions with nouns such as toko "place," moN "thing," hazu "expectation," and go͡oN "seeming."

Old and Middle Japanese
Mermaid constructions are attested throughout the entire history of Japanese, the earliest being found in Old Japanese in the Man'yōshū, where the phrase mo no2 so2 "a person, a thing" is used (with a zero copula) to express inevitability, obligation, and related meanings:

carthamin=TOP fade.away-ADN thing=FOC // acorn.color=GEN get.used.to-PFV-INF-PST.ADN clothes=DAT further reach-TENT-EXCL FOC TOP

"Red (is flashy, but) is destined to fade. There is no match for a brown, well-used kimono." (Man'yōshū Book 18, Poem 4109)

"Someone who throws away old clothes is bound to think about things when the autumn wind comes." Poetic meaning: "The kind of man who deserts his wife who he has been married to for a long time is bound to regret it when his days are over." (Man'yōshū Book 11, Poem 2626)

This construction continued to be used in Early Middle Japanese in the form ものぞ mono zo. Early Middle Japanese also attests many more prototypical mermaid constructions:

"In the dusk, (Princess Kaguya) seems to not be worried about anything." (Taketori Monogatari)

Unlike Modern Japanese, Old and Middle Japanese distinguished attributive and sentence-concluding forms of verbs, meaning that the  was not necessarily able to appear as an independent sentence.

Miyako
The Irabu dialect of the Miyako language has mermaid constructions quite similar to Japanese. However, as Irabu Miyako allows for a zero copula, the  slot is often empty. Some example nouns for mermaid constructions in Irabu are:

Sino-Tibetan languages
In addition to in the varieties described below, mermaid constructions have been found in the Lolo-Burmese Lahu language, the Sal Jingpho language, and in Central Tibetan.

Amdo Tibetan
Amdo Tibetan is one of the four main spoken Tibetic languages within the Sino-Tibetan language family. Amdo Tibetan has six independent nouns that can be used in mermaid constructions:

In addition to these six nouns, Amdo Tibetan also has several clitics and affixes that can be used in the  slot, such as  = kʰawo "mood, appearance" and  = ɟə ~ = cə "thing to do, value of doing."

nDrapa
nDrapa or Zhaba is a Qiangic language within the Sino-Tibetan language family. nDrapa has four morphemes that can appear in the  slot of its mermaid constructions:


 * ndei3 ~ = ndei: Expresses a plan or intention.

"What do you intend to do tomorrow?"


 * -zɨ: Expresses an expectation.

"A monk is scheduled to come to our home today."


 * nkhei1 ~ = nkhei: Expresses evidentiality such as seeming or appearance.

ŋoro1 kaoʈoŋ1 l̥o=ɕi2 ɦdi=ʈɨ3 nkhei1 rɛ3

"He seems to want to go to high school."


 * mʌlo3: Expresses readiness to perform an action.

"He is ready to sleep in our house."

Newar
Newar or Nepāl Bhāṣā is a Newaric language within the Sino-Tibetan language family. In the Kathmandu–Patan dialect of Newar, there are two morphemes that can appear in the  slot of its mermaid constructions:


 *  = gu bhāgya: Expresses that an action was destined, lucky, or otherwise caused by fate. This construction uses the noun bhāgya "fate, destiny, lot, luck," borrowed from Sanskrit भाग्य bhāgya.

व​एक​:या ज्यल​ए सि: मा:गु भाग्य जुय च्वन​।

"That person was destined to die in the jail."


 * inanimate nominalizer  = gu: Expresses a variety of meanings such as assertion, explanation, and elaboration.

राम् दाक्तर् जु:गु ख​:।

"(It is the case that) Ram has become a doctor."

चान​ए वा व​:गु ख​ए मा:।

"It must have rained during the night."

Burmese
Burmese is a Lolo-Burmese language within the Sino-Tibetan language family. Burmese has many morphemes that can appear in the  slot of its mermaid constructions; among them are:


 * pòuɴ "shape": Expresses evidentiality such as seeming or appearance.

X X X X X

t̪ù dì híɴ=ɡò sá=dɛ̂ pòuɴ(=bɛ́)

"It seems that he ate this curry."


 * hàɴ "appearance": Expresses evidentiality such as seeming or appearance.

X X X X X

t̪ù dì híɴ=ɡò sá=dɛ̂ hàɴ(=bɛ́)

"It seems that he ate this curry."


 * d̪ăbɔ́ "nature": Expresses an assertion or a statement of fact.

X X X X X X

t̪ù dì híɴ=ɡò măhlwɛ́d̪àlô sá=dɛ̂ d̪ăbɔ́(=bɛ́)

"It is that he unwillingly ate this curry."


 * shɛ́zɛ́ "moment just before": Expresses that an action is or was about to happen.

X X X X X

t̪ù dì híɴ=ɡò sá=mɛ̂ shɛ́zɛ́(=bɛ́)

"He is about to eat this curry."

Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin is the dominant variety of Chinese within the Sino-Tibetan language family. Mermaid constructions in Mandarin are distinct from the Japanese-based prototype in that Mandarin's word order is subject–verb–object, not subject–object–verb. Mandarin mermaid constructions can occur in the following two structures:



In structure 1, the  is the subject of. In structure 2,  is the subject of the entire sentence.

Mandarin mermaid constructions can use the following nouns:


 * 样子 yàngzi "appearance, expression": Expresses evidentiality such as seeming or appearance.

大家 都 是 松了 一 口 气 的 样子

Dàjiā dōu shì sōng-le yì kǒu qì de yàngzi

everyone all COP relax-ASP one CL breath PART appearance

"Everyone seemed to be relieved."


 * 缘故 yuángù "reason, circumstance": Expresses a reason. (Uses structure 2.)

冯庆 从 小 便 长得 细高 精瘦 大概 是 吃 饭 时中 没 有 胃口 的 缘故

{Féng Qìng} cóng xiǎo biàn zhǎng-de xìgāo jīngshòu dàgài shì chī fàn shǐzhōng méi yǒu wèikǒu de yuángù

{Feng Qing} from young already grow-PART tall.and.slender thin probably COP eat meal throughout NEG have appetite PART reason

"Feng Qing has been tall, thin, and pretty skinny since he was a child, and this is probably because he has never had a (good) appetite."


 * 脾气 píqì "nature, character": Expresses someone's nature, personality, or propensity.

他 从 小 就 是 一 副 天 不 怕 地 不 怕 的 脾气

Tā cóng xiǎo jiù shì yí fù tiān bú pà dì bú pà de píqi

3SG from young already COP one CL heaven NEG fear earth NEG fear PART nature

"He has been afraid of nothing (lit. neither heaven nor earth) since he was a child."


 * 德行 déxing "bad attitude": Expresses the consequence of someone's poor attitude or behavior.

他 从 小 就 是 一 副 姥姥 不 亲 舅舅 不 爱 的 德行

Tā cóng xiǎo jiù shì yí fù lǎolao bù qīn jiùjiu bú ài de déxing

3SG from young already COP one CL grandmother NEG kiss uncle NEG love PART bad.attitude

"He has a bad attitude such that his grandmother has not kissed him and his uncle has not loved him since he was a child."


 * 架势 jiàshi "posture, arrogance": Expresses the extent of someone's arrogance.

他 现在 完全 是 一 副 要 把 皇帝 拉下 马 的 架势

Tā xiànzài wánquán shì yí fù yào bǎ huángdì lā-xià mǎ de jiàshi

3SG now completely COP one CL will CAUS emperor pull-down horse PART arrogant.manner

"Now, he is totally arrogant enough to attempt to topple the emperor."

Austronesian languages
In addition to in Tagalog (described below), mermaid constructions have been found in the Oceanic Neku language and the Philippine Kapampangan language.

Tagalog
Tagalog is a Philippine language within the Austronesian language family. Mermaid constructions in Tagalog differ from the Japanese-based prototype in that Tagalog's word order is verb–subject–object, not subject–object–verb, and Tagalog is a zero copula langauge. As a result, its mermaid clauses take the form of  + , with a linking morpheme attached to the.

There is only one type of mermaid construction in Tagalog that is used used with a finite clause in the  slot, which uses the noun mukha "face."

"It seems he is still a bachelor."

face-LK AF:CONT-erupt=already TOP volcano

"It seems the volcano will erupt soon."

There are five types of quasi-mermaid constructions that can be made with infinitive verbs in the  slot:
 * plano "plan"

plano-ng b-um-isita ni Noya sa Davao bukas

plan-LK AF:INF-visit GEN Noy OBL Davao tomorrow

"Noy plans to visit Davao tomorrow."


 * tradisyon "tradition"

tradisyon-g ipag-diwang nang manga Filipino ang Easter

tradition-LK PF:INF-celebrate GEN PL Filipino TOP Easter

"Filipinos have the practice of celebrating Easter."


 * kapalaran "fate"

kapalaran-g ma-talo ni Erap noon-g eleksyon

fate-LK AF:INF-lose GEN Erap last-LK election

"Erap was destined to lose in the last election."


 * balak "plan"
 * destino "destiny"

Korean
More than 70 different nouns can be used for mermaid constructions in Korean. The  slot can be filled by the copula 이다 ida or by one of its variants depending on context. Some examples are:

Ainu
Ainu has ten nouns that are usable in mermaid constructions, all of which are used with the equative copula ne:

The noun kunip is so strongly grammaticalized that it does not appear outside of mermaid constructions.

Evidential-type nouns, namely ruwe, hawe, siri, and humi, have also been attested in quasi-mermaid constructions with the verbs an "to exist," isam "to not exist," and as "to stand" instead of the copular verb ne.

Thai
Thai is a Tai language within the Kra–Dai language family. Thai has structures similar to a mermaid construction, considered "quasi-mermaid constructions." There are three types within Thai, which are only used with verbs denoting psychological or speech actions.



To elaborate:


 * The  identifies the target, goal, etc. of the psychological or speech act.
 * A  is a verb denoting a psychological act such as "worry," "love," "want," "believe in," etc.
 * A  is a verb denoting a speech act such as "say," "mention," "criticize," "rumor," etc.
 * An  is an adjunct prepositional phrase.
 * The  and   are the agents of the psychological or speech acts.
 * The  is the quotative complementizer wâa plus a clause.
 * The, equivalent to the   slot of a prototypical mermaid construction, can be occupied by the noun thîi "place, entity" or kaan "activity, matter."

X X X X X X X X X

{phûu ráp cháy} thîi thɯ̌ɯ {khwaam sɯ̂ɯ troŋ} pen thîi {ʔùn cay} khɔ̌ɔŋ {hǔa nâa}

employee REL hold loyalty COP NMLZ feel.relieved GEN boss

"Employees with loyalty are a relief to the bosses."

X X X X X X X

phalìttaphan {làw níi} pen thîi {klàaw khwǎn} thɯ̌ŋ {yàaŋ mâak}

product these COP NMLZ criticize reach very.much

"These products are criticized very much."

X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X

pen thîi {yɔɔm ráp} kan thûa pay wâa wannakam lɛ́ʔ phâaphayon mii ʔìtthíphon tɔ̀ɔ {kan lɛ́ʔ kan} {yàaŋ mâak}

COP NMLZ admit RECP be.overall go COMP literary.work and movie have influence upon each.other very.much

"It is generally admitted that literary works and movies influence each other very much."

Mongolian (Khalkha)
Khalkha Mongolian is the predominant variety of the Mongolian language within Mongolia. It has only one type of mermaid construction:


 * xereg "occurrence, fact, circumstance, necessity": Adds a tone of explanation like English "I mean that ..." or inquiring an explanation like "Do you mean that ...?" in a question).

Визээр бизнес хийгчид чухам хаана орогнодог хэрэг вэ.

viz-eer biznjes xijgč-i-d čuxam xaana orogno-dog xereg ve

visa-INS business.NOM doer-EP-PL.NOM actually where flee-VN.HAB occurrence Q

"Where on earth do (illegal) visa dealers flee to?"

Эндээс аваачсан хэрэг үү?''

end-ees avaač-san xereg üü

here-ABL take-VN.PST occurrence Q

"Did they take (it) from here?"

Гадаадад хаанач билээ хуралтай байсан хэрэг.

"He was going to have a meeting in a foreign country; I cannot remember which."

Khalkha Mongolian also has two types of quasi-mermaid constructions:


 * (gesen) üg and (gedeg) üg: Elaborates on the meaning or significance of something, like English "This means that..." This is not a true mermaid construction because the  üg is coreferential with the subject of the , e.g. enen’ "this" in example 4 below:

(Энэнь) амьнаснь аюулгүй байнал гэсэн үг.

"(This) only means that their lives are safe."


 * -taj ~ -toj ~ -tej: A proprietive adjective-deriving suffix that attaches to a noun. This is not a true mermaid construction because the  slot is filled by an adjective, not a noun.

Би маргааш хөдөө явах төлөвлөгөөтэй байна.

bi margaaš xödöö jav-a-x tölövlögöö-tej baj-na

1SG.NOM tomorrow countryside go-EP-VN.NPST plan-PROP be-TV.NPST

"I am planning to go to the countryside tomorrow."

Монголчууд өвөгдээдсээ хүндэлдэг заншилтай.

mongol-čuud övög+deeds-ee xündel-deg zanšil-taj

Mongolian-PL.NOM ancestors-REFL respect-VN.HAB custom-PROP

"Mongolians have the custom of ancestor worship."

Yakut
Yakut or Sakha is a Siberian Turkic language within the Turkic language family. Yakut has 28 nouns that can be used in quasi-mermaid constructions. They are considered not to be true mermaid constructions because the  must be non-finite, and the   is required to take a proprietive suffix meaning "having," essentially filling the   slot by an adjective. For example:

Мин Токиоҕа барар былааннаахпын.

min tokio-ʁa bar-ar bɯlaan-naax-pɯn

1SG Tokyo-DAT go-VN.PRS plan-PROP-COP.1SG

"I plan to go to Tokyo."

{Үлэтэ суох} хаалар кэскиллээхтэр.

{ylete suox} xaal-ar keskil-leex-ter

without.work remain-VN.PRS future-PROP-COP.3PL

"They will still be unemployed."

Дьолломмут дьүһүннээххин.

žollom-mut žyhyn-neex-xin

feel.happy-VN.PST shape-PROP-COP.2SG

"You look happy."

Kurukh
Kurukh or Oraon is a language within the Dravidian language family. It has two clitics and one noun that can occupy the  slot in its mermaid constructions.

इ: रे:ल्ग:ड़ि को:डर्म​: क​:लु:मधेद् हिके।

"This train is scheduled to go to Koderma."

अ:स् चिं:ख़न​:बेसे: रह्चस्।

"It was as if he would cry," or "He was about to cry."

अ:स् तम्बसिन् इल्च्क​: चड्डे: बोङगस् केरस्।

aːs tamba-s-in ilc-kaː caɖɖeː boŋg-as ker-as

3SG.M.NOM own.father-M-ACC fear.B2-PST.VADJ because run.away-PST.3SG.M go.B2-PST.3SG.M

"He ran away because he was scared of his father."

Sidaama
Sidaama is a Highland East Cushitic language within the Afroasiatic language family, and the first language outside of Asia to be described as having a mermaid construction. It has three types of mermaid constructions:


 * ɡara "manner, way": Expresses evidentiality such as seeming or appearing.

X X X

"It seems like she (habitually) runs."


 *  = ɡede "like, as if, so that": Expresses evidentiality such as seeming or appearing.

X X

"It seems like she will run."


 * dative-locative suffix -ra: Expresses that an action is or was about to occur.

X X

"She is about to run."

Kolyma Yukaghir
Kolyma Yukaghir is one of the two extant Yukaghir languages. Kolyma Yukaghir has two varieties of mermaid construction that deviate from the Japanese prototype:


 * 1) The   slot is occupied by an enclitic  = ben ~ = bed, and the verb of the   is in a non-finite participle form. This type of mermaid construction usually describes past (uncommonly, present) actions and also has a modal meaning of assertion.
 * 2) The   slot is occupied by a nominalizing suffix -joːn ~ -joːd ~ -d’oːn ~ -d’oːd ~ -t’oːn ~ -t’oːd, and the verb of the   is in its stem form. This type of mermaid construction also describes past actions, but does not have a modal meaning.

The  slot can generally be filled by the focus marker -(e)k for either type, or by the copular verb "to be" for type 2.

Тудэл тудаа миидьиилэ хонрошмэлэбэдэк.

tudel tudaː miːd’iː-le xonroʃ-mele=bed-ek

"He broke a sledge before."

Мэт төвкэ йуомэбэдэк.

"I saw a dog."

Тэт тудаа хондьоон оодьэк.

tet tudaː xon-d’oːn oː-d’ek

2SG before go-d’oːn be-INTR.2SG

"You went (there) before."

Титтэл киэтьоонпэк.

tittel kie-t’oːn-pe-k

3PL come-t’oːn-PL-FOC

"They came."

Hindi
Hindi is an Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-European language family. Hindi has one mermaid construction, where the  slot is filled by the enclitic  = vālā "one who ~s," and the verb of the   is in the non-finite infinitive form. This mermaid construction can indicate:

Aspectual meaning, expressing that an action is about to occur. Deontic modal meaning, expressing an intended or scheduled action. Epistemic modal meaning, expressing the speaker's belief about the occurrence of an action. 

मैं यूनिवर्सिटी जानेवाला हूँ।

"I am about to go to the university," or "I am on my way to the university."

वह आज कल मरनेवाला है।

"He will die in a day or so."

Hindi -vālā "one who ~s" is thought to derive from Sanskrit पाल pāla or पालक pālaka, both meaning "guardian, protector, maintainer."

Koryak
Koryak is a Chukotkan language within the Chukotko-Kamchatkan language family; this section specifically deals with the Chawchəvan dialect. Koryak has one quasi-mermaid construction, where the  slot is filled by the nominalizing suffix -jolqəl, and the verb of the   is in its stem form.

Koryak does not have a copula, instead marking subject complements (in this case, -jolqəl) by personal pronoun suffixes. For quasi-mermaid construction, this suffix follows ergative–absolutive alignment: it agrees with the intransitive subject or transitive object of the.

The nominalizing suffix -jolqəl expresses a deontic modal meaning of obligation:

(Гыцци) эцги вайолӄылэгэ гэньпицитэ йайак.

(ɣəcci) ecɣi va-jolqəl-eɣe ɣ-eɲpici-te jaja-k

(2SG.ABS) today stay-should-2SG.S COM-father-COM house-LOC

"You should stay at home with your father today."

(Ыццу) ав’йэйолӄыло ав’йэйак.

(əccu) awje-jolqəl-o awje-ja-k

(3PL.ABS) eat-should-3PL.S eat-house-LOC

"They should eat at the buffet."

(Гымнан) инг’э г’айӈав’йолӄыл ӄайыкмиӈын.

(ɣəmnan) inʕe ʕajŋaw-jolqəl-∅ qajəkmiŋ-ə-n

(1SG.ERG) soon call-should-3SG.O boy-EP-ABS.SG

"I should call the boy soon."

(Митив’) гынан ӈэлвылг’ыӈӄо йылэйолӄыл тымйон.

mitiw (ɣənan) ŋelvəlʕ-ə-ŋqo jəle-jolqəl-∅ təm-jo-n

tomorrow (2SG.ERG) reindeer.herd-EP-ABL bring-should-3SG.O kill-NMLZ-ABS.SG

"You should bring the killed (reindeer) from the herd tomorrow."

Xibe
Xibe or Sive is a language within the Tungusic language family, and a close relative of Manchu language. Xibe has at least two different mermaid constructions, which are used with a zero copula:


 * aliŋe "like": Expresses likeness or seeming.

X X X. X X X X.

{merxenje da} ji-xe aliŋe. {kicebu da} ji-xe aqu aliŋe.

Merxenje come-PRF.ADN like. Kicebu come-PRF.ADN NEG like.

"It seems that Merxenje came, (but) it seems that Kicebu didn't come."


 * nominalizer  = ŋe: Expresses discourse-relative functions such as assertion.

X X X X? / X. X X X.

"Are you Chinese? / No, I came from Japan."

X X X? / X X.

"What are you doing? / I'm reading a book."